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From The Guardian:

It may be a critics’ favourite and a candidate for this year’s best film Oscar, but it seems that the Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men is no match for the combined might of a bunch of digitally created extra-terrestrials - losing the battle to Aliens vs Predator: Requiem at the top of the UK box office.

Oh dear.
Is this the end serious cinema as we know it?

From Mark Kermode’s latest film review, referring to Ratatouille and Black Sheep.

Money can buy art but it can’t make squishy sheep movies

From The Guardian

Director Ridley Scott turned grumpy old man yesterday, declaring 97% of modern films “stupid”…..

Yup. With you so far…..

…..and claiming mobile phone and other modern technology was killing cinema.

Um?
The only quote from Ridley Scott regarding this in the article is…..

“I’m sure we’re on a losing wicket but we’re fighting technology. Whilst it is wonderful in many aspects, it also has some big negative downsides.”

Yeah OK. The internet is a double edged sword for the film industry, but mobile phones?
I’d really like to read the rest of the interview…..

From The Guardian

A long-running private squabble over who deserves most credit for the film Babel has escalated into a public row between one of the most important cinematic duos of recent years.

Who deserves the most “credit” for Babel?
Who cares? It was shit!

Could it possibly be time for another Stephen King book to film adaptation that’s actually good?

John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson in starring roles, and, from the trailer, 1408 looks great!

Watch the trailer

I like John Cusack, so I hold out some kind of hope for this. From the short clip (and I must admit, I’ve not read ANY Stephen King since Dolores Claiborne), I can see similarities to Kubrik’s ‘The Shining’. Cusack’s character even seems to look remarkably like Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson from The Shining).

Good films based on Stephen King’s works are remarkably few and far between, when you consider the extensive list that’s been made.

Personal faves would be Misery, Carrie, Stand by Me, Shawshank Redemption, and the Green Mile.

Atrocities? Lawnmower Man, It, The Tommyknockers, The Langoliers, Cujo……
I could go on.
It’s a long list unfortunately. Let’s hope this doesn’t end up on it.

My initial reaction to today’s Oscar nominations.

Firstly:
Pan’s Labyrinth receiving 6 nominations:

Achievement in Art Direction
Achievement in Cinematography
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Achievement in Makeup
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
Original Screenplay

I loved Pan’s Labyrinth. Easily my favourite film of last year, and, if I had my way, it would walk away with Best Foreign Language Film and Original Screenplay. A real shame it’s not nominated in best film (more on that later….)

United 93 receiving two nominations:

Achievement in Directing (Paul Greengrass)
Achievement in Film Editing

Another of my favourite films from last year. I thought it might have been overlooked, and am really happy that it hasn’t been.

Children of Men gets 3 nominations:

Achievement in Cinematography
Achievement in Film Editing
Adapted Screenplay

The Best Actor in a Leading Role category is interesting:

Leonardo Di Caprio (Blood Diamond)
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)
Peter O’ Toole (Venus)
Will Smith (Pursuit of Happyness)
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)

I would love to see Peter O’ Toole take the award. He’s been nominated 6 times in the past. He has been awarded an Academy Honorary Award in 2003 which he accepted saying that he would still like to “win the lovely bugger outright”.
I can’t help but feel that he’ll be beaten to the statue again this year. Forest Whitaker’s performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland is simply incredible.

And then there’s Babel getting 7 nominatons:

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Achievement in Directing
Achievement in Film Editing
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Original Screenplay

I’m sorry. Maybe I’m missing something. What is so great about this film?
I found it dull, really dull. It has some of the most contrived plot points I’ve seen in a film.
Granted, the performances are good, as is the direction, but the script sucks, and without a half way decent script…….

Anyway, full list of nominations is available from the Oscars website

As voted for by users on MSN Movies.

1. Spice World
2. Titanic
3. Grease 2
4. Waterworld
5. Hostel
6. Anaconda
7. Batman & Robin
8. Gigli
9. Catwoman
10. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

I haven’t seen all the films on the list, but……

Titanic wasn’t that bad. Fair enough, it’s no masterpiece, but compared to something like Raise the Titanic, then (to quote Mark Kermode) it’s Citizen Kane.

Waterworld didn’t live up to the hype, fair enough, but it’s not as bad a film as say….. Razor Blade Smile…..

Hostel just a gore flick. An endurance test for teenagers, and not that bad either…..

And why isn’t Little Man on that list?!
Worst film of all time surely?!

From The Guardian

Sci-fi thriller Children of Men yesterday won the University of Southern California’s Scripter prize.

The award recognises book-to-film adaptations, with the honours in this case going to crime writer PD James and screenwriters Alfonso Cuáron, Timothy J Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Cuáron also directed the film.

I really enjoyed Children of Men. Having not read the book, I can’t really comment on whether or not it should have won.

Other nominations were:

• The Devil Wears Prada
• The Illusionist
• The Last King of Scotland
• Notes on a Scandal

A list of films I’ve seen in the last view months, seeing as I’ve been lame about posting!

Pan’s Labyrinth - Easily my choice for best film of 2006. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing a masterpiece. IMDB

United 93 - Superb retelling of the hijacking of the 4th plane on September 11. IMDB

Capote - A wonderful performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, but I didn’t really like the film. IMDB

Wisconsin Death Trip - Beautiful film based on newspaper articles in Wisconsin between 1890 - 1900. IMDB

Roman Holiday - Not seen it in years. Still as good as I remembered it. IMDB

To Kill a Mocking Bird - Better than I remembered it, and that was amazing! IMDB

Casino Royale - A gritty Bond movie. And it’s good! IMDB

Requiem - Hard hitting German exorcism film. Really powerful, but not a fun watch. IMDB

Wizard of Oz - It was a joy to see it projected. IMDB

Hellboy - Really enjoyable comic book to film adaptation, something that rarely goes well! IMDB

Ghost in the Shell 2 (Innocence) - Really good sequel to one of the most amazing animes ever. IMDB

Children of Men - Superb dark dystopian thriller about a society where women are infertile. IMDB

I’m sure I’m missing some in there. I’ll update it as I remember.

Having followed a link from kottke.org to a converstaion between Errol Morris and Adam Curtis, I stumbled across a wonderful short film made by Errol for the opening of the Oscars in 2002 (I think…..)
In a brief exchange, Jerry Brown (Mayor of Oakland, CA) says:

Jerry: Movies are an escape.
Interviewer: Just an escape?
Jerry: Well what’s wrong with that? That’s quite a lot.

Movies are exactly that. An escape.
The difference between great moves and other movies is that a great movie gives you something to take back to reality.

A personal example:
From Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When
meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run
quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under
the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved
from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still
get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

This is actually from the Hagakure (the book of the Samurai, available to download here).
This single paragraph of text (and its significance and importance within the film) not only changed my understanding of the film, but my understanding of life (made it a better film second time around too).

Just a small example of the power of movies.

Technorati Tags: hagakure, movies, undulattice

This time, from film critic Jim Emerson. His list of 102 films you must see is copied below with an asterisk next to the ones I’ve seen (a la Jason Kottke)

* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* The 400 Blows
* 8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
* Alien
* All About Eve
* Annie Hall
* Apocalypse Now
* Bambi
* The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
* The Big Sleep
* Blade Runner
Blowup
* Blue Velvet
* Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
* Carrie
* Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
* Chinatown
* Citizen Kane
* A Clockwork Orange
* The Crying Game
* The Day the Earth Stood Still
* Days of Heaven
* Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
* Double Indemnity
* Dr. Strangelove
* Duck Soup
* E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
* Easy Rider
* The Empire Strikes Back
* The Exorcist
* Fargo
* Fight Club
* Frankenstein
* The General
* The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
* Gone With the Wind
* GoodFellas
* The Graduate
* Halloween
* A Hard Day’s Night
Intolerance
It’s a Gift
* It’s a Wonderful Life
* Jaws
The Lady Eve
* Lawrence of Arabia
* M (This is one of my favourite films of all time…..)
* Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
* The Maltese Falcon
* The Manchurian Candidate
* Metropolis
Modern Times
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
* The Night of the Hunter
* Night of the Living Dead
* North by Northwest
* Nosferatu
* On the Waterfront
* Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
*Psycho
* Pulp Fiction
* Rashomon (or indeed anything directed by Akira Kurosawa)
* Rear Window
* Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
* Scarface
* The Scarlet Empress
* Schindler’s List
* The Searchers
* The Seven Samurai
* Singin’ in the Rain
* Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
* A Streetcar Named Desire
* Sunset Boulevard
* Taxi Driver
* The Third Man
* Tokyo Story
* Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
* Vertigo
West Side Story
* The Wild Bunch
* The Wizard of Oz

So that’s 75 out of 102. There are a few films on there I’d not heard of so i reckon I’m going to have to find some DVDs to watch!
It’s nice to see two Kurosawa films on the list. I’ve yet to see a film he’s made that I haven’t liked, and I’ve seen about 19 so far. My personal favourite is Red Beard which should have made the list, but hey, can’t have everything!

Technorati Tags: movies, undulattice

From NY Daily News.

Denise Richards fears her estranged husband, Charlie Sheen, may have had a hand in the death of a porn star and alleged hooker who ratted him out to a tabloid last year, court papers reveal.

In a bombshell sworn declaration, ex-Bond Girl Richards says she flat-out asked Sheen, 40, if he had anything to do with sex star Chloe Jones’ death — and he didn’t deny it.

Technorati Tags: movies, undulattice

According to The Guardian.
I thought I’d join Michale Hanscom and Jason Kottke in marking which ones I’ve read and which ones I’ve seen.
B=book
M=movie

Here goes…..

1. [BM] 1984
2. [BM] Alice in Wonderland
3. [BM] American Psycho (not a great movie if you ask me)
4. [M]Breakfast at Tiffany’s
5. [M]Brighton Rock
6. [BM]Catch 22
7. [BM] Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (both versions, second one sucks)
8. [BM] A Clockwork Orange
9. Close Range (inc Brokeback Mountain)
10. [M]The Day of the Triffids
11. [M]Devil in a Blue Dress
12. [BM] Different Seasons (inc The Shawshank Redemption)
13. [M] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Bladerunner)
14. [M] Doctor Zhivago
15. [M] Empire of the Sun
16. [M] The English Patient
17. [M] Fight Club
18. The French Lieutenant’s Woman
19. [M] Get Shorty
20. [M] The Godfather
21. [M] Goldfinger
22. [M] Goodfellas
23. [M] Heart of Darkness (aka Apocalypse Now)
24. [BM] The Hound of the Baskervilles (about 4 different versions!)
25. [M]Jaws
26. [BM]The Jungle Book
27. A Kestrel for a Knave (aka Kes)
28. [M] LA Confidential
29. [M] Les Liaisons Dangereuses
30. [M] Lolita
31. [M] Lord of the Flies
32. [M]The Maltese Falcon
33. [BM]Oliver Twist
34. [M]One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
35. Orlando
36. The Outsiders
37. [BM] Pride and Prejudice
38. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
39. [M]The Railway Children
40. [M]Rebecca
41. [M] The Remains of the Day
42. [M] Schindler’s Ark (aka Schindler’s List)
43. [M] Sin City (sucked)
44. [M] The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
45. The Talented Mr Ripley
46. Tess of the D’Urbervilles
47. Through a Glass Darkly
48. [BM]To Kill a Mockingbird
49. [M] Trainspotting
50. The Vanishing
51. [M]Watership Down

A couple of films I would have liked to have seen on there (apart from the obvious Lord of the Rings)

Misery
The Shining
Ghost in the Shell
The Day of the Jackal
High Fidelity

I could go on……

Technorati Tags: movies

I’ve had a copy of Nausicaa in my collection for about 2 months now, and only yesterday managed to sit down and watch it. It’s the fourth of Hayao Miyazaki’s films that I’ve seen, the other three being Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle.

If you’re familiar with any of Miyazaki’s work, you’ll have some idea what to expect. Lots of fantastic creatures in fantastic places you only wish you could visit someday. Nausicaa is a bit more than that though. It has more in common with Princess Mononoke than the other two for one very simple reason - the story and the characters are more important than the images on screeen.

For me, both Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle are very visual films, both focusing more on what you see than what you are told. This is not a criticism of either film. Far from it. Spirited Away is one of favourite animes ever!

But Nausicaa is a very different beast. The characters are complicated and the story quite political (though thankfully not in a “Star Wars - Episode 1″ kinda way!). If you are expecting another friendly, “Alice in Wonderland”-esque tale, then guess again. This is quite aggressive story telling combined with Miyazaki’s amazing ability to amaze and enchant children. This is what Disney wants to be when it grows up!

If you have not encountered Hayao Miyazaki’s work before, I highly recommend any of the above. Just bear in mind that some may not be entirely what you expect!

Technorati Tags: anime, movies