Au Hasard Balthazar

Posted on March 1, 2011 by jaycluitt

Au Hasard Balthazar is the kind of film that just couldn’t be made today, at least not with the same result. Today, it would most likely be made by Dreamworks, telling the tale of a morose animated donkey, voiced by Christopher Plummer, as he sets out an epic journey to be reunited with the family he’s worked for his entire life. Along the way, he learns lessons about friendship not judging by appearances, with the help of a lazy squirrel (Kathy Bates) a know-it-all platypus (Jemaine Clement) and a wise-cracking raccoon (Cuba Gooding Jr.).

As it is, Balthazar is a tale of the life of a donkey, from children’s plaything, through toiling away for various family’s, finding fame in a circus and finally, tragically, used for drug trafficking. It took me two attempts to watch this film, as after the first viewing I did not fully comprehend the cause of the mass adulation poured upon the picture, although I was quite tired and may have drifted off a couple of times, as it’s not necessarily the most captivating of films. That said, on the second viewing I more greatly understood the reasons for the various plot jumps, as for the most part the film is shot from the viewpoint, and therefore the understanding, of Balthazar himself, thereby it would not always be clear as to why some characters behave the way they do.Choose life 4/10

The Jazz Singer

Posted on February 22, 2011 by jaycluitt

Today I watched the Jazz Singer, infamous for being the first film to use dialogue, or more accurately, singing, as this is a semi-musical, presumably to showcase the new sound technology of 1927, as I felt that the inclusion of full-length song performances detracted from the plot, of a young Jewish boy who runs away from home to become a jazz singer. I feel that this film was included in the 1001 Films to Watch Before You Die purely due to its significance in cinema history, of being the first ‘Talkie’, not because it is one of the ‘great’ films.

Choose life 4/10

Sideways/Les Vacances de M. Hulot

Posted on February 15, 2011 by jaycluitt

Cross off two more! I watched Sideways on Sunday, still loved it, but then I’ll watch anything with Paul Giamatti in, even Shoot ’em Up, and I’m looking forward to watching Cold Souls at some point in the future too, as well as Barney’s Version. Choose Film 7/10

Rented les Vacances de M. Hulot too. Wasn’t overly impressed if I’m honest, I found the lack of a driven narrative to be annoying, and that most of the occurrences were contrived merely to allow a few slightly humorous pratfalls. Plus, the character of Monsieur Hulot is a clear inspiration for Mr. Bean, the character that lessened Rowan Atkinson as a comedy genius in the public mindset, for which there is no possible forgiveness. Choose Life 4/10

Black Narcissus/An Education

Posted on February 13, 2011 by jaycluitt

Nearly finished the list! Just editing out the duplications. Fortunately, I seem to own a good couple of hundred of the required films, but I feel I may be re-joining LoveFilm pretty soon, and learning how to set my VCR (yes, VCR, what’s the weather like in the present?) for the random daytime gold that is Film4. I’ve also discovered the library of DVDs at the university my girlfriend attends, offering up to 3 rentals at a time, for free! Alas, she is only there for a few more months, so I’m going to be renting as many as I can whilst she’s there.

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Second Chance: Sex and the City the Movie 2

Posted on February 8, 2011 by jaycluitt

I must have done something wrong. I’ve no idea what it was, but believe me I’m sorry, as the punishment for this unknown wrongdoing was a viewing of Sex and the City the Movie 2. I’ve never watched an episode, and certainly haven’t seen the original film, but I knew of the characters, their names and basic cliche stereotypes (Charlotte = prim and proper, Carrie = whiny clotheshorse, Miranda = businesslike, Samatha = whore) from pop-culture. I’ve never had any desire to watch anything even vaguely related to this show, and this viewing has only furthered this mission.

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Second Chance: P.S. I Love You

Posted on January 31, 2011 by jaycluitt

For every good film, there must be an equally bad film (Newton’s Third Law of Motion Pictures). Like most people, I tend to not watch a film if I hear that it’s bad, even more so if this opinion comes from a review. But a review is merely one person’s opinion, and I’m not going to agree with them all the time, surely? So in this column I’ll be providing badly reviewed films with a second chance, seeing if they are as bad as everyone seems to think.

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Point Break, clearly broken

Posted on October 13, 2010 by jaycluitt

Last night I watched Point Break again. This was only the second time I’ve watched it, the first being a few years ago, after the recommendation of Seargeant Danny Butterman. On first viewing, I found it very easy, and often more enjoyable, to stop paying attention to the film and do something else, and the same can most definitely be said of this second viewing. I’m going to place the blame for this mainly upon the shoulders of Keanu Reeves, as the improbably, but somewhat awesomely monikered Johnny Utah.

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