What We Watched: 18th - 24th

Well it's that time of the week again where you are able to see exactly how we wasted our time this week. Joe and I have taken two different paths this week, whereas Joe has watched a lot of obscure "out there" films including one "gay, surrealist art house biopic" I've done a lot of re watching and have seen at least two "ridiculously smeh" films. So, let us begin with Joe's filmic adventures:


JOE'S WEEK.


Chronicle (2012)

Not since the first  Spider-Man movie has a super hero film felt this fresh and original. It's a bit naff in parts and I don't want to ruin the film but they shoot themselves in the foot at least twice but I can't say I didn't really enjoy it. 4 stars me thinks.

Le Quattro Volte (2010)

It's a film about life, nature and spirituality. As pompous as that sounds this film is just plain beautiful and really does make you see things in an interesting way. It's also surprisingly funny and compassionate. I really really recommend it. 4 stars.

MY FILM OF THE WEEK

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Paul Thomas Anderson is quite simply the boss. He's not just a director with no bad films, he's a director with no just good films, they're all simply awesome. Magnolia, ace, Sydney, great, Boogie Nights, freakin' A and There Will Be Blood. Look at that list, what a career. And on top of that he made Adam Sandler's comedy bit into something quite astounding. This film is weird, true, but when I reached the end I quickly realised that I loved every second. The music, aces. 5 Stars.

Looking For Langston (1989)

There is some real beauty in this poetic biopic but it just can't help itself from occasionally turning into a tacky mess of stereotypes and some average voice acting. If you just read the script and looked at some of the beautiful black and white photography, it'd be great. 3 Stars. 

BASEketball (1998)

Every single Zucker film post-Airplane! is just a really sad sight. The Naked Gun is alright but everything else just reeks of a guy who struck lucky trying to recapture his glory days over and over again. In most cases he even uses the same jokes. This is no exception the only thing that makes it slightly less painful is the rare sight of  Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame, acting in the flesh. Randy....is that you? "Stan....Staaaaaan." 2 Stars I'm afraid. 

The Lives of Others (2006)

What hasn't already been said about this Oscar winning thriller? Very little I imagine. It's reasonably smart and it's lead character is stunning. The one thing I really dig about it is that it never tries to vilify the Stasi, it shows them as flawed people in a terrible regime. It would have been so easy to give one a nasty scar and have him beat women all the time but this film lets it play out naturally and somewhat realistic. 4 Stars.

Food, Inc. (2008)

A documentary about the industrialization of the food industry. It covers all sorts of horrific topics like kids dying from E.coli and families living off burgers cause they're cheaper than lettuce. It's well made and as entertaining as it is shocking. 4 Stars.

Videodrome (1983)

Do you remember when David Cronenberg made really cool twisted sci-fi movies about mind control and mysterious conspiracies. Well technically I don't actually as I'm far to young but posthumously do you recall? This has to be my favourite though (After The Fly) it's bizarre and yet the story is deeply interesting. Also James Woods is awesome. What I really like about this film though is that it never really explains itself but if you look all the information is there. Very almost 4 stars

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

This documentary about a wrongly convicted drifter, accused of killing a policeman is an incredibly interesting recreation. It's a bit tacky though in some regards, there are many moments where someone will be saying "He ate an apple" and the camera will zoom in on this apple as if to say "hey.........that's an apple like what that dudes talking about". 3 stars pushing a 4.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008)

Warlords and rape and explosions and men acting horrifically. This Documentary tells the tale of a enormous woman's peace movement that freed Liberia from some ridiculously horrific tyranny. As a film it's all facts and little beauty but it really gets into the root of the story and what a story it is. Like The Thin Blue Line, 3 pushing on 4 stars.

The Garden (2008)

The forth of my documentary binge and this one is really really one sided. It centers around a public garden (allotments to us normal folk) where many low income families grow crops to feed their families. They are evicted and are told to leave in two weeks. It then follows the group of farmers as they fight for the right to keep the land. It vilifies everyone who doesn't support the gardeners cause. Was Horowitz denying an interview? To me not having some talks with him seems like an oversight. Having said that it's an amazing story and the gardeners are probably in the right. It's incredibly interesting and pretty moving to boot. I just wish I could be more certain that I know all the facts and that I'd seen all the angles. 4 stars. 

SAM'S WEEK.


Ichi The Killer (2001)

This film is mental, absolutely crazy amazing OTT Japanese martial arts epic gross out uber revenge film, with kills taken straight out of a Mortal Kombat finishing move. The plot is at times super confusing and decidedly hard to follow but to be honest you don't really need to follow the intricacies of the story when you can see a Japanese man rip a man in twain with a blade he has secreted in his shoe. 3 going on 4 stars.

Blades of Glory (2007)

I first watched Blades of Glory quite a few years ago when I was going through a "madly in love with Will Ferrell" phase (a phase I still occasionally slip into) and I massively enjoyed it, laughing like a mad man and entertaining the prospect that Jon Heder would definitely be able to make a career for himself post Napoleon Dynamite. I am happy to say that all those old feeling bubbled once again to the surface, sure it's dumb but that's the fun of it, it's about two blokes doing figure skating for pete's sake. Loopy, but gloriously so. "We're gonna skate to one song and one song only." 4 stars.

The Deep End (2001)

Tilda Swinton is in this film. I love Tilda Swinton, Tilda Swinton is amazing and her performance as Margaret Hall as she tries to keep her head above water as her life spirals out of control in The Deep End is captivating, engaging and excellent. If the supporting cast of this blackmail thriller were a third of a talented as Tilda Swinton this film would be unbearably amazing, alas the supporting cast are pants, bobbins and occasionaly more stilted and hackneyed than the performance of a b-movie star. Great potential but sadly only Tilda Swinton makes it worthwhile. 3ish stars.

The Woman in the Fifth (2011)

Smeh, Smeh and thrice Smeh. Please see review for more details as to its Smehness.

MY FILM OF THE WEEK

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

I went into this film fully expecting to like it. It looks funny, is about heartbreak, Hawaii and romance, has man crush of the moment Jason Segel in it and is the sort-of prequel to filmienjoyedwaymorethanexpected Get Him to the Greek. I however wasn't prepared for quite how much I loved it, absolutely phenomenal film, funny, clever, kind, heartwarming, funny, involves puppets and Jason Segel gets his wang out. As soon as it had finished I really wanted to watch it again, that's how much I damn enjoyed this. 4.5 stars.

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

But rather than watch FSM again I decided to pop in the continuing adventures of Aldous Snow and see him try and get to the Greek. Fun fact: I got my copy of this film free on DVD when a letter I'd written about not being as attractive as Ryan Reynolds was printed in Total Film. It may be down to the bizarre but brilliant chemistry between Jonah Hill and Russel Brand or it may be down to the unbearably glorious scene stealing brilliance of P.Diddy ("You can't outrun me, I'M BLACK!") or it might be because the DVD was free either way I love this film. Such a glorious guilty pleasure. 4 stars.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

I'm not sure if there's anything new to be said about this heartwarming tale of friendship, corruption and triumph over adversity suffice to say that every piece of praise and accolade that has been heaped upon it is well deserved. There's some fine acting, brilliant storytelling and is one of the few film instances of use of narration without it being too cheesy or annoying. And that ending, my word that ending leaves you feeling more warm and fuzzy inside than any film about prison should do. 4.5 Stars.

Vanishing Point (1971)

Barry Newman plays Kowalski, an ex-race driver who is tasked with delivering a 1970 Dodge Challenger to San Francisco, he takes a bet  with a friend that he can get it to it's destination in less than 15 hours. Shortly after speeding away a passing police officer pulls him over, he doesn't oblige and a chase across the USA commences. It's an achingly cool chase that follows with some smashing driving and amazing music. With echoes of films like Drive and  Easy Rider it is a cracking Bonnie and Clyde tale that is nearly as thrilling as Kowalski's driving. 4 stars.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

OK, first things first; Borat is amazing. It manages to be amazingly silly and wonderfully clever in one fell swoop and it never stops being fascinating quite how brave Sacha Baron Cohen is in putting himself on the line creating this incredible comedy creation. However, this is the fourth time I've watched Borat in about six months and on this viewing I couldn't shake a feeling of pity for the people he manipulates. Some, like the redneck who wants murder of gays, are just gonks who fully get their just desserts whereas others, like the southern dinner party folk, i feel are somewhat pushed and manipulated into giving an extreme reaction. That being said it's still very funny and furiously quotable, right now someone somewhere will be doing a cack-handed Borat impression and contemplating getting a mankini. 4 stars.