It's been almost a months since I posted in here... I have not seen PA3, even though I forced myself to endure the awful first two at the cinema. I don't think I'll bother this time around. Not worth my time or money - might wait for a DVD release and rent it.
Anyway, a lot of films from me, as usual:
I watched
Insomnia. I love Chris Nolan as a director and writer - he's one of my all time favourites - and I'd been meaning to watch Insomnia for a while now. I enjoyed it. It was a great crime piece which focussed more on the characters than the crime itself and it really kept me quite hooked throughout. The acting was superb, the story was very good, but nothing really stood out as "exceptional" unlike most of Chris Nolan films I have seen. Still, a good watch.
7.5/10
Watched
Jackass 3. I've yet to see the second, but this was just like the first - painful, funny, mindless, revolting and somewhat dies towards the end. Jackass works best as a 30 mins TV show as you can laugh all the way through, however, as a 90 or so min film, you end up finding a lot of it unfunny after a while. Nonetheless, many of the 'pranks' were classics, and that's what secured it the rating I gave it.
7/10
I watched
Punch-Drunk Love. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, especially as it had Adam Sandler in whom I do enjoy, but can get a tad boring and over the top. I actually enjoyed it far more than I thought. Surrealism elements, interesting story and bizarrely romantic. The only thing that annoyed me was deliberate and awful natural lens flare throughout.
7/10
I watched
Tyrannosaur which was brilliant, followed by a Q&A with director Shane Meadows - excellent social realism piece which was shocking at times, very emotional at others and had simply superb acting in all round. I was on the verge of tears at points and it was simply beautiful to watch. Some bits were a tad predictable, but oh well, it's amazing British cinema. Shane is a lovely man as well - we had a nice talk for about 5 minutes once I told him I was a film-maker. Much more time than he gave anybody else who approached him afterwards
8/10
Apocalypse Now was stunning. Wow. Some scenes were just so visually and technically brilliant with so many explosions, deaths, gunfire and just vast and huge that it blew my mind. Excellent technically, excellent gripping story line and brilliant acting. I think it slots just outside my top 20 films. Amazing film-making.
9.5/10
Micmacs was very enjoyable. Gripping storyline, great humuour and the style was very much Amelie which was directed by the same director - Jean-Pierre Jeunet. A good mix of the old, traditional idea in the story and modern times.
7.5/10
Watched Buster Keaton's
College. I absolutely LOVE Buster Keaton silent films. He is without doubt my favourite actor/director from the silent-film era. College is far off of his best, and yet it still provided endless jokes and the charm and wit of his films shines through. However, the humour does die a little and the film hasn't got the overall uniqueness that makes most other Buster Keaton films - such as The General and Sherlock Jr. - shine through.
7/10
I watched
Blade Runner. I think it's one to watch again, mainly as I don't think I was able to watch it and absorb all of its beauty. It's a stunning looking film and the story was very interesting, but unfortunately it didn't get my full concentration throughout so I may have missed bits which would have made the film make more sense. But I love the tech-noir elements. Very nom.
8/10
I watched
Citizen Kane with a very open mind. Not knowing as much about it as perhaps a film fan like me should, I was looking forward to seeing why many consider it one of the best films ever made. I think I now know why. It is crafted magnificently. Everything from the way it was shot to the story structure and narrative is so unique and wonderful. It's fresh - and that's something coming from an 18 year old in 2011. It made me go 'wow', and all films that do that tend to end up in my top 20. This slots in right in the middle at 10 on my list. Classic, magnificent.
10/10
I watched
Half Nelson. I'd no idea what it was about, and maybe that was the downfall of the film. It looked like it would have a very deep, perhaps disturbing storyline as the film developed, and yet it never amounted to nothing. I saw a relationship build between the teacher and the student, but it never went further than being 'friends'. I felt I'd been robbed of maybe a naughty-naughty teacher-student story, or maybe even soft drug usage by them both... it just never amounted to anything. Disappointing. But otherwise, solid acting, a refreshing film.
6.5/10
The other day I started on Krzysztof Kieślowski's
Three Colours Trilogy. I've been meaning to watch them for a while, and I finally found copies of each, so I sat over three consecutive nights and watched the films.
First up was
Three Colours: Blue. A great start to the series showing real emotion from the protagonist and displaying its theme explicitly and very well. The film - like the rest of the series - isn't for the traditional film viewer, it is for film fans. It's an intelligent film which requires not blank observation, but thought, depth and leaves you carrying something away with you. It certainly did that to me.
8/10
Three Colours: White was equally as brilliant as Blue. Similar parallels between the two films begun to show through and this would continue into Red. This was strangely comic, a contrast from Blue and a nice change. Once again, brilliance.
8/10
Three Colours: Red was my favourite of the three, and in my eyes was the better. I felt a lot more emotion in this film towards the protagonist and was saddened by the end of the film. It had a perfect conclusion to the series showing all the protagonists in the way it does (not going to spoil it) and I genuinely loved the story and its developments. It is a film to be marvelled at in a beautiful trilogy. Masterpiece.
8.5/10
We Need To Talk About Kevin this afternoon...
