Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Carnal Knowledge 1971

  Rewatched 22 Aug 2012

  Raw, sharp film that feels like the brutal forefather of Woody Allen's late 80's - early 90's relationship dramas, though this great quote from Nichols gets to the real heart of it:

  “Time is in fact what this film is about, I don’t think it’s sex and I certainly don’t think it’s love. I think it’s time and the way that time has of finding out who you are.”

  Has to be one of the most beautifully photographed films of the 70's, though lord knows that is a LONG list.

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  Something Wild 1961

  Watched 06 Jan 2012

  Enjoyably raw, low-budget drama shot mostly - entirely? - on real locations in New York City, 1961. Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker interestingly ambiguous to watch, the story/characters by turns creepy and sad. (For similar man-steals-girl-to-turn-into-wife films see: 'Hoffman' (1971) and 'The Collector' (1965), although these are, frankly, just plain creepy...).

Popular reviews

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  Snake Eyes 1998

  Watched 27 Nov 2011

  Wonderfully kinetic, over the top first half unfortunately brought crashing down to earth by the second. Reminded me of this brilliant quote from Olivier Assayas:

  “A lot of Hollywood genre films, action films, start off very ambitious, like something that involves the whole universe, something metaphysical, and they end up with two people having a fistfight in a warehouse.”

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  Everyone Says I Love You 1996

  Rewatched 23 Dec 2011

  Every year I end up watching this film at Christmas - and only ever at Christmas. It's the only time that a film as sloppy, sentimental and, well, not-very-good as this is forgivable, and every year I love it as much as the last. How many other films end with a Groucho Marx song and dance number in French? None, that's how many.