Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Posted on March 6, 2011 by jaycluitt

The second pirates film is not as good as the first, but is still thoroughly entertaining, and features several enjoyable set pieces, not least of which is the three-way swordfight between Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Jack Davenport (who really should be in more films). This is probably my highlight of the trilogy, especially once the giant wheel comes into play.

The special effects are stepped up from the first film, with Davy Jones and his crew looking exceptional, with the many hours of work involved being well worth the effort. Still, the cliffhanger endings do make this seem more of a set-up for the trilogy closer.Choose life 6/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl

Posted on March 6, 2011 by jaycluitt

The original Pirates of the Caribbean film, the greatest ever made best on a theme park ride, is tremendous family-friendly fun, especially in its first half. It loses its way towards the end of the second reel, as the plot becomes inundated with various bluffs and double crosses, although in a film about pirates this is only to be expected. The CGI is excellent and well used, as is the comic relief, mainly provided by Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook, surely the closest any human being can get to being a scarecrow without an awful lot of hay. Geoffrey Rush could well have been cast as villain Barbossa on the strength of his piratical laugh alone, and for that deserves at least a mention.Choose film 7/10

Juno

Posted on March 3, 2011 by jaycluitt

I live my life by a predetermined set of rules. These rules are not written down, and they are frequently adapted to however I fancy, but one rule that remains is that a film cannot be added to a list of favourites until at least 6 months after its release, and at least two viewings. Upon its release many people of a relevant age, including several acquaintances of mine against my frequently versed opinions, elected Juno to the hallowed status of their favourite films, thereby explaining it’s presence upon the list.

Ah, Juno, yes, you won the Oscar for best original screenplay, but really, did you deserve it? Although witty and endlessly quotable (“Honest to blog”, “Your eggo is preggo”), the main character is very unlikable and rude. Yes, she’s supposed to be a teenager, so these characteristics are entirely suitable, but I find her to be very annoying, although I’m sure she wouldn’t mind that at all.Choose life 5/10

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

L’Avventura

Posted on March 1, 2011 by jaycluitt

L’Avventura reminded me a lot of Hitchcock’s Psycho, released the same year, in that the first segment set’s the plot up to follow the female lead, only to have her disappear from the screen, never to be seen again before the halfway mark. In this instance, the plot concerns a young woman who, whilst holidaying on an island with her friends, goes missing, causing her best friend and her lover to search for her. When compared to more modern day missing-person films, such as Ben Affleck’s excellent Gone Baby Gone, the plot tends to meander a bit, with the supporting characters not seeming to care about the fate of the missing girl.

I was also reminded slightly of Polanski’s the Tenant, in which a man moves into a new apartment, only to slowly turn into the apartment’s previous occupant, as the missing girl’s best friend seems to inhabit the life of her missing mate, becoming closer with her former lover during the search. It almost seems like this was the plan of the missing girl, setting up the transformation by giving the friend some of her clothes before she goes missing. This all seems an improvement for the friend, and indeed for the life she inhabits, as she seems much happier within it than her predecessor. This is most clearly seen by comparing the almost identical shots of the original girl kissing her lover, and how little emotion she shows during this, contrasting with her friend kissing him much more passionately later in the film. There are other parallels between the two ends of the film, such as the friend being initially concerned at the girl’s disappearance, only to end up more concerned that she has returned to claim her life back.Choose film 7/10

Toy Story Trilogy

Posted on February 27, 2011 by jaycluitt

Today’s volatile weather conditions allowed for a productive afternoon film-wise, as a planned bike ride along the beaches of Bournemouth was cut short by sporadic torrential downpours, meaning I crossed a trilogy off the list; Toy Story 1-3.

Watching the original Toy Story, the first feature-length motion picture created entirely using computer animation, always send me back to my childhood, aged 8 years old, sat in the cinema watching in wide-eyed wonder as the pixels were brought to life before me, with my Dad sound asleep in the next seat. It’s one of my earliest film-related memories (my earliest cinema experience that I know of was the Lion King, but that’s another post).
Continue reading →

Out of Sight

Posted on February 19, 2011 by jaycluitt

Last night I watched Out of Sight. I’d seen it before, but never really paid an awful lot of attention to it, but this time I made an effort to follow the plot. I think the film is a little over-rated, with editing style taking precedence over actual substance. In places, it seems to want to be a modernised version of classic cinema, with freezeframes, snappy dialogue and a plot that sees George Clooney’s prison escapee and Jennifer Lopez’s federal marshal thrown together and falling for one another, but it is this plot device that in my opinion lets the film down. I’ve always hated the tacking on of an arbitrary romance subplot almost ruining what would otherwise be an incredible picture (see also the Nightmare Before Christmas, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars), and this is definitely the case with Out of Sight. If the film had focussed on Clooney’s Jack Foley, his escape from prison and the heists before and after, I feel it would have been a far superior picture. By all means keep J-Lo’s character, (but for the love of cinema, recast) but drop the frankly ridiculous romance between the two. The best part of the film was the cast, with Don Cheadle eating up the screen as hoodlum Snoop, whilst Ving Rhames supports well as Buddy, Foley’s redemption-craving partner in crime. And the last minute cameo is one of the greatest I’ve ever seen.

Choose film 7/10

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.

Continue reading →

The King’s Speech/12 Angry Men

Posted on February 4, 2011 by jaycluitt

I’m still working on the full list, its quite long so may take a while to sort through any duplications, but suffice to say I’m thinking I’ve bitten off slightly more than I can chew, as I haven’t heard of many of the 1001 Films to See Before You Die, let alone seen.

Continue reading →