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The Song of Sparrows 2009
Despite watching this on German TV with no subtitles to help me, this story of an Iranian man (an ostrich rancher no less) struggling to support his family through abject poverty was a tale that easily crossed language barriers. The lead performance from the father (forgive me for not hearing his name) was truly captivating and some of the cinematography was excellent. I'll certainly have to find this again as I could sense it was a film that deserves to be watched under better circumstances.
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Surf's Up 2007
As you can see from the poster, it’s an animated film about surfing penguins. The best thing about this was Jeff Bridges as a washed-up, ex-pro surfer–penguin and the mockumentary style it was animated in, which intercuts voice-overs and interviews with the actual story. Surfers are likely to get a kick out of it, with a couple of characters and cameos based on various pros. Other than that, it was all fairly expected with some hit-and-miss family comedy and optimistic themes of love and friendship etc. Pretty harmless when you’re looking for something to eat in front of on a Sunday evening.
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Accepted 2006
Accepted is a dumb movie for dumb people but that was ok, because for once I wanted to watch something with my brain switched off. It’s a college movie about a guy (Barnaby something played by Justin Long) who gets rejected from college, so he and his friends decide to start their own. This premise essentially sets up an hour and a half of goofy college humour with the only minor conflict appearing late in the third act when the…
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Ruby Sparks 2012
When a successful writer suffering from creative block, Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano), is told by his therapist to write about someone who likes his dog, he dreams about a chance encounter with a girl called Ruby Sparks. This new-found muse inspires him to write for the first time since his international best-seller 10 years earlier and he finds himself falling uncontrollably in love with this figment of his imagination. When she suddenly appears in his apartment—manifested as a real woman…
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Body Heat 1981
Steamy 80s noir with enough moustache to keep any man entertained. Worth watching for the sharp turns, wise-cracking script and ample amount of sax (yes, sax). Ted Danson and Mickey Rourke deserve special mentions for their supporting performances—especially Ted Danson’s role as a ridiculous pair of glasses.
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Hugo 2011
While it took me a few minutes to warm to its blue-tinted world, Hugo thoroughly took me by surprise. Billed as Scorsese’s first “children’s film”, it was amazing to see a director renowned for his masterful oeuvre of violent gangster movies branching out from his usual style and conjuring up a family feature with this much magic. With its elaborate production design and truly lavish sequences the film is a real treat to watch, supporting the visuals with a strong…
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A Trip to the Moon 1902
After watching Hugo this morning it was hard to resist revisiting this classic from Georges Méliès (a film I'd only ever seen once in an art history class). Giving it an accurate rating is almost impossible because it deserves nothing but respect for its groundbreaking nature and status as the first ever sci-fi film. It’s incredible to think it was made over 110 years ago.
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Son of Rambow 2007
I got tired of this one very quickly. While it had some charm in its attempt to capture the innocence of childhood, particularly at the age when all you want to do is play with guns outside, so much of it became irritating, with really uneven pacing and almost no emotional drive until its predictable ending. All the more annoying was the feeling that so many of the elements were clumsily thrown in with no real purpose or plan, such…
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Cold Fish 2011
A twisted serial killer thriller about a timid tropical fish shop owner who unwillingly finds himself caught in the plans of a charismatic rival, big-time fish entrepreneur, Murata, who happens to have a taste for murder. Japanese actor, Denden absolutely kills it with his performance as the maniacal yet painfully likeable killer, entertaining with his charm before reversing the mood with his powerful presence. Some of the scenes are a little over-indulgent in their use of gore, and the two…
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The Master 2012
The Master is a film that will probably require multiple viewings and many hours of analysis for me to understand it completely, a characteristic that Paul Thomas Anderson imbues into all of his creations. On one side of the story we have a post-war drifter named Freddy Quell—brilliantly played by Joaquin Phoenix—who, through unlikely circumstances, finds himself part of a religious movement, known as “The Cause”. We watch as he fails to blend into society, and then later when he…
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Silver Linings Playbook 2012
Great script and good performances. I particularly appreciated De Niro and Chris Tucker’s contributions but the two leads were fantastic. The film’s romantic ending wasn’t as successful as it’s angsty first half though the final dance sequence and the bet that was hinging on it were great to watch.
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Solaris 2002
Having watched both adaptations of Stanisław Lem’s sci-fi classic Solaris within the past 24 hours, I'm in quite a dilemma about what to make of them. Not only did watching Tarkovsky’s 1974 original affect my opinion of the 2002 version I’d already seen, but watching Soderbergh’s adaptation again today has changed yesterday’s opinion of the original!
For a start, I wasn’t even too impressed yesterday at Tarkovsky’s Russian–language version; it was far too long-winded, especially in its first hour, and…
