One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Posted on July 4, 2011 by jaycluitt

Jack Nicholson, in an arguably career best (so far) performance, is R.P. McMurphy, hopes to complete a short prison sentence without resorting to hard labour, and therefore pleads insanity and is transferred to a psychiatric hospital run by the steely Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Ratched’s treatment methods, including humiliation and a mind-numbing daily routine appall McMurphy, as he realises the other patients are more focused on their fear of her than of functioning in the outside world. Although the main two performances are excellent, both winning well deserved Oscars, the film remains memorable more for the supporting cast that makes up the other inmates. Each has a specific and instantly recognisable personality, be it Brad Dourif’s stutteringly naive suicide risk Billy, Danny DeVito’s childlike Martini or Christopher Lloyd’s crazed loose cannon Taber, used whenever anyone is required to awake to a surprise situation, as Lloyd owns the greatest instant ‘what the Hell’ face on the planet.

The film is remarkable, not only for the acting but also the depths to which the story plunges, with an ending both horrific and genuinely surprising. Throughout the film it is obvious that McMurphy will be discovered as a fraud (something never actually stated during the film), and will of course be sent back to prison where he belongs (the sentence he is attempting to avoid is the statutory rape of a 15-year old girl), but the fate in store for him is far worse than could possibly be imagined. It also features possibly the most elaborate plan to have sex ever, hijacking a busload of patients, commandeering a boat and teaching said loons how to fish.

Choose film 9/10

Total Recall

Posted on July 3, 2011 by jaycluitt

I‘m not really a fan of Dick (prolific 60’s science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, of course). I’ve never made it through Blade Runner without falling asleep, admired A Scanner Darkly purely for its innovative visual style and, though I’ve read several of his novels, I find his spontaneous approach to plotting unsatisfying, but I appreciate his visionary concepts and radical yet plausible predictions of the progression of then-modern culture.

Total Recall is based on one of his short stories, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. In the year 2048, technology has advanced to allow people to be implanted with memories of lives and vacations they otherwise could never experience. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s frustrated Doug Quaid undergoes such a treatment, only for something to go wrong. He awakes to discover the memory he requested may well be of a life that’s already his, but pleasingly this is left slightly open-ended come the conclusion of the film. There are some memorable touches, including robotic taxis, a confrontation behind a giant x-ray, the infamous triple-breasted hooker and a mutant creature growing on a man’s chest, but the overcomplicated plotting, featuring too many twists, betrayals and switched allegiances, leaves the movie far too close to one of Dick’s own novels for my liking, and the cars look as though they were rendered on a PlayStation. That being said, Michael Ironside is gloriously unhinged as bad guy Rictor.

Choose life 6/10

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Posted on July 3, 2011 by jaycluitt

A kind of working class Alfie, this tells the story of twenty-something factory worker Arthur Seaton, spending his weekends getting fall-down drunk, chasing women and sleeping with a stiff co-workers bored wife. Seaton is played with an animal intensity by Albert Finney in a breakout role, captivatingly bitter and indignant (check out the primal glare he gives his opponent in an early drinking contest), but some of the supporting cast are terrible, notable Shirley Anne Field as Arthur’s latest fancy Doreen. Predictably plotted and having aged terribly (One character dreams of “a new house, with a bathroom and everything!”) this is notable for Finney’s portrayal of a man confined by his own sense of self, but little else.

Choose life 5/10

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Posted on June 25, 2011 by jaycluitt

Character driven and with a meandering, unhurried pace, this is most definitely not the war epic I had always assumed it to be. Following Roger Livesey’s Clive Candy over a forty year period as he climbs the ranks of the British army, insulting the entire German movement during the Boer War, retiring twice, forming a firm bond with a German officer and three separate relationships, all portrayed by Deborah Kerr. Livesey is excellent, adeptly showing the difficulties Candy faces trying to impose his old school sportsmanship and honourable values on the more modern ideology of total warfare. Admittedly, I would have liked more battle scenes, but this is more than made up for with the absurd comedy of the technicalities and formality of a duel, and the inclusion of Dad’s Army’s Frazer, a young John Laurie.

Choose film 7/10

Grease

Posted on June 25, 2011 by jaycluitt

Back when high school films were about the popular kids, before the likes of American Pie and the Breakfast Club introduced the world to the less mainstream aspects of the educational sub-groups, Grease tells the story of a unexpectedly elongated summer romance threatening the street cred of a popular guy amongst his friends, themselves involved in a fairly tame turf war with a rival gang. As with most musicals, there isn’t enough plot to fill a film if you removed the musical numbers, but most of the cast are perfect (specifically Stockard Channing (Abbey Bartlet!) as bad girl Rizzo and Didi Conn as the more timid Frenchie), and the songs are pretty catchy, most notably Grease Lightning, but the overall message is incredibly dated. Apparently, the best way to keep a guy is to change everything about yourself to exactly how he wants to be, your clothes, appearance, personality, everything. Oh, and the final drive-into-the-sky shot is possibly the cheesiest moment ever committed to film.

Choose life 5/10

Local Hero

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jaycluitt

I really wanted to like this more than I did, as Peter Riegert’s Mac is sent from a Texas oil company to smooth over a land deal in Scotland, only to become captivated by the polar opposite way of life and the gaggle of eccentric locals (an African priest, web-footed diver, drunk Russian fisherman and devious, opportunistic landlord/lawyer), but alas I found the whole affair to be rather slow. Burt Lancaster steals the show as Mac’s astronomy obsessed eccentric boss Happer, and a young Peter Capaldi is a million miles away from the Thick of It’s Malcolm Tucker, all nervous laughter and gangling run (surely inspiration for Toy Story’s Woody and his flailing lope), and they did well not depicting the locals as completely ridiculous and twee, but there’s not a lot to really recommend about the film. The business meeting at the start being held in whispers after the manager falls asleep did make me chuckle, and the fickleness of a bosses decision making process hit a chord with my own experiences, so there’s something at least.

Choose life 5/10

Lebanon

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jaycluitt

A novel concept, portraying war experiences from almost entirely inside a cramped, battered tank, pays off in what should be considered a worthy addition to films about modern warfare. Telling the tale of four Israeli soldiers, a driver, gunman, shell loader and their superior officer, receiving orders only through the radio or brief appearance from their CO and only viewing the outside world through the tank’s turret crosshairs or small, dirty windows, many comparisons have been made to Das Boot (itself shot inside a German submarine, and also appearing on the list). The cast all perform admirably under obviously restrictive conditions, and the camerawork is amazing, each movement of the turret along a jerky linear path, accompanied by the whirr and crunch of the gears, and for such a claustrophobic, poorly illuminated setting it is still always clear what is happening and to whom.
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Breathless

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jaycluitt

I’m doing this list for several reasons. Firstly, I want to broaden my cinematic horizons, watching those films I’ve often read about being legendary and must-see, yet never gotten around to actually watching. Secondly, I want to revisit some truly incredible films I’ve not seen recently, or perhaps haven’t watched well enough at this point. Thirdly, I’m shamelessly showcasing my admittedly phenomenal writing talents, to allow the literary world to recoil in shock and awe, ultimately paying me a princely sum for stringing sentences together. Finally, I want to give a second chance to films from the first reason that I have seen previously, but didn’t necessarily ‘get’. And so it is with a heavy heart that I approached Breathless (A Bout de Souffle). I first watched this about 3 years ago, when I first dabbled with Lovefilm. Admittedly, I only half-watched the film (a cardinal sin, especially if a movie is subtitled), but I found it silly, boring, and featuring a deeply unlikable lead character in Jean-Paul Belmondo’s sexist, arrogant, pretentious Michel Poiccard, on the run from the police after stealing a car and shooting a policeman, heading to Paris to collect some money and a girl to take with him to Rome. Regrettably, I found myself agreeing with my earlier judgement, as Poiccard proves continually a chauvinistic and rude kleptomaniac, consistently blaming others and never accepting his fate as being a product of his own irrationally actions. Quotations from his dialogue are probably supposed to be profound and thought-provoking, but under closer scrutiny mean nothing (“I want to become immortal, and then die”). Add to this editing tics such as wholly unnecessary (and nonsensical in the context of the scenes) jump cuts and occasions where characters seem to directly address the camera, then the film shows it is in fact largely over-rated. And I’m sure the main character closing his own eyelids after his inevitable brush with justice is supposed to be cool, in the end it’s just stupid.

Choose life 3/10

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jaycluitt

They actually got Robert Redford to run along the top of a moving train. How amazing is that? Yes I’m sure these days there are some actors willing to do their own stunts (and by stunts, they are probably referring to such extreme activities as riding a horse) but running along a moving train? Redford probably needs a wheelbarrow with him at all times to carry those balls of his in. It’s this devil-may-care, balls to the wall sensibility that shines through in Butch and Sundance, throwing in any number of cinematic tricks and keeping what stuck, from showing a road trip taking in destinations including New York and South America entirely in photographic stills, to probably the most famous and iconic freeze-frame ending in history. It is this, combined with Redford and Paul Newman’s co-dependent relationship and easy banter, even in the tightest of situations, that makes the film still a genre classic to this day.

Choose film 9/10

Holy unnecessary statistics, Batman!

Posted on June 12, 2011 by jaycluitt

Right, finished Portal 2 (single player, alas I don’t have the friends required for the co-op game, any takers apply to the usual address), back to the list. Supreme apologies for the lack of posts of late, I assure you I’ve been watching films, just need to type up my notes.

In the mean time, I’ve looked more deeply into the films on my mission, check out the super-cool graphs! Don’t they prove just how fun and exciting my existence is! You can check out these graphs (of which the seen, rank and rating ones will be updated regularly) on the Stats page, just as soon as I’ve made it.

Films by country