The Hateful Eight

What to say about this one...

It was really slow to begin with, and I wasn't really feeling the setting and dialogue. It didn't help that my dad pointed out the goof he'd read in the newspapers about the stagecoach moving through the snow: it wouldn't have been able to get through without them running a snowplow ahead of the stagecoach. And once you see those snowplow tracks, it kind of ruins the illusion.

However, it did start to heat up about half way in, and I enjoyed the parts where Samuel L. Jackson's character became a sort of Poirot figure and the film transformed into a Western Agatha Christie. But, at the same time, I wasn't such a fan of all the racial hatred bubbling away in the plot. At times it was just too much, and too depressing. My overall impression of the film was that Tarantino can do, and has done, much better than this.

I'm gonna give it a hateful 6/10

Humpday

Watched over several sittings – perhaps because I didn't enjoy it so much.

There were moments where the acting was just plain terrible, and for a film billing itself as a comedy, there just weren't any lines that made me laugh...at all.

I just didn't get the point of this film. 5/10

The Little Girl Who Lived Down The Lane

It had the feeling of a stage play, but after finishing the film I checked online and it said it was based on a novel.

There was a lot to like about this film – it sets up a sense of danger right from the get-go. There are some interesting characters, and the plot unfolds at a good pace. Martin Sheen plays a convincing creep, and the scene with the hamster is horrific.

Jodie Foster puts in a great performance.

Good film. 8/10

Edge of Tomorrow

Surprisingly good.

I wasn't expecting much going into this, but it actually turned out to be really entertaining. Tom Cruise was good in it, not playing a typical bad-ass, but a cowardly kind of guy who progresses and develops throughout the film. Emily Blunt was absolutely excellent too.

Similarly to another film I watched recently (Premature), the film utilises the Groundhog Day principle, whereby every time Cruise dies, his day is reset. I'm not spoiling it that much given the tagline for the film is "Live Die Repeat".

But what made this film good was the way it used that familiar device. It never felt boring or belaboured. In fact, it explored so many eventualities and possibilities it made the film feel really fun and fresh. I read afterwards it was based on a Japanese Sci-Fi novel/manga called All You Need Is Kill by Sakurazaka Hiroshi, which explains a lot. There were a few minor plot holes and issued glossed over here and there, but nothing that prevented enjoyment.

I would definitely recommend this. 8/10

Sully

This was pretty enjoyable. Exciting and fascinating subject matter, and Clint Eastwood always tells a story well.

Tom Hanks was good.

Not a bad film. 7/10

Don't You Forget About Me

So this sounded great in principle: a group of filmmakers set out to document the career of John Hughes, interviewing previous cast members and crew from his films.

I grew up with John Hughes films, and I'm a big fan of both Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, so I went into this documentary expecting something brilliant.

And that's where I was let down... They had some nice interviews with cast etc. but I think the model they went with to tell a story in the documentary was the undoing of the film. They decided to turn up on John Hughes's front door step with cameras, having not contacted him before or securing an interview.

Needless to say, they got no interview and went home empty handed. Which kind of ruined the whole premise. Very disappointing. 3/10

David Brent: Life on the Road

This film is a stinking piece of garbage.

Watching a man selling out is doubly hard when he's made his career with a great series called Extras which harped on about integrity and not selling out. And that's exactly what this film is: selling out.

It's cringeworthy, but not in a clever ironic way like The Office. It's cringeworthy because the fictional David Brent mirrors the real life crumbling integrity of Ricky Gervais. Surrounded by yes men and constantly praised by critics, he's now unable to realise that this is cack.

Well done – you've shat on your own creation. 1/10

Over The Top

You know why you've never heard of this Sylvester Stallone film from 1987? Because it's an absolute POS.

Stallone is a humble trucker, estranged from his son. The premise of the film: he picks up his son from a military school and goes on a bonding road trip with him. Along the way, it becomes apparent that Stallone is a bad-ass at arm wrestling, and of course, there's some big tournament in Vegas he's gonna take part in at the end.

Predictable, silly, rubbish. 4/10

The Room

Watched this drunk in the early hours of the morning with my brothers. It was my first time to sit through the whole thing from start to finish. I'd seen so many clips of it over the years, so a lot didn't come as a surprise to me, but it still managed to crack all three of us up uncontrollably.

This is the best worst film ever made, and because of that, I deem it un-rateable

The Station Agent

What a beautiful, charming film. One of my favourites I've watched recently. I'm torn between awarding it an 8 or a 9, but I think I'll go with 8. Just. Still, it goes straight into my Love category. Possibly my favourite film I've watched this year, alongside Schultze Gets the Blues.

Fin works in a train shop in the city of Hoboken, NJ with his friend, the shop owner. His friend dies suddenly and leaves him some land and an old train depot in rural New Jersey (Newfoundland). Fin heads up there into early retirement on his own, hoping to live a life of solitude in his old train building near the train tracks. But what he doesn't count on is making new friends.

I loved this film. It had a real grace to it, and ultimately it was a great examination of pure friendship. Joe, who runs a coffee shack outside Fin's new home, was the most loveable character. These adults all have their issues, but deep down they are all just like children in the playground again – looking for friendship.

I think the film did that magical thing whereby it hit upon an original truth in life, but it did so without using clichés. It wasn't about finding a girlfriend for Fin, it was about finding friends who accepted and loved him for who he was – in the way that society in general didn't.

I think I'll watch it again. 8/10

Premature

My little brother made us watch this off the back of Weird Science. Jesus Christ. What did I just watch? A Groundhog Day scenario where a boy wakes every morning having just had a wet dream. Every time he orgasms, the day is reset.

Absolute insanity.

7/10

Weird Science (Re-watch)

At home with my brothers and they are making me watch dumb films. Classic John Hughes.

Definitely not my favourite John Hughes film by a long shot, and this one in particular is pretty inane and offensive (in so many ways). But there's something attractive in the way he depicts these desperate teenagers looking to get ahead in capitalist 80s America. Couple of what the fuck moments: Anthony Michael Hall speaking jive when he gets drunk in a jazz club, and the weird biker gang that crashes the party at the end.

Actually, I think the whole film was a metaphor for how the new wave of computer scientists would become the new rich and powerful of capitalist America. I'm sure there was some Cold War shit in there, with them making a nuclear rocket at the end by mistake. An allegory for technology reaching out and grabbing too much? As my older brother said: The geek shall inherit the Earth.

I think it was all about the rise of silicon valley, the dot com boom, and what we're seeing now with app developers. And it was also just about women with big tits. 7/10

Office Killer

I'm not sure I liked this film much at all. I just didn't really get what it was about, and it could've been made better.

I took from it the parallel of people losing their jobs (corporate downsizing) and this mental person murdering everyone in the office, but I'm just not sure that it all sat together well enough. The ending too sounded a bit weak. Was it a warning that we shouldn't be so capitalistic, because it'll turn us into psycho killers?

At times it was a little bit sick for my tastes. 4/10

La Jetée

This was OK. Nothing special really. Although I'm sure it was revolutionary at the time.

I found the still in images and sound track with narration to be quite a fun way of telling a story. But the story itself wasn't quite as interesting as it could've been. 7/10

48 HRS. (Re-watch)

I enjoyed watching this film, and I also enjoy thinking back on a time when films were fun. When they were a bit more self-conscious of what it was they were doing, and that they had more room to breathe and develop character.

I like the dynamic between Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. The fight scene was funny too.

The only negative thing I'll say about this film is that it suffers slightly from being too much 'of its time'. There was far too much casual sexism, racism and bigotry in it.

8/10

I, Olga

Bloody hell...

I had to take a shower after watching this film. God almighty I hated the main character. She was terrible! I wrote some notes as I was watching:

"This girl is such a prick. She's rude to everyone. She gets beaten up in some kind of borstal. Her mum brings her a heater and gives her money, then she shouts at her mum and tells her to get out of the house that she bought for her. She hangs her washing outside just as it starts raining, then goes for a wank inside. She has shit lesbian sex. She gets dumped by her girlfriend then calls the ex-girlfriend a whore."

And the climax of the film involves her mowing down a load of innocent pedestrians on the street with her truck, because apparently society picks on her.

After watching, I read it was based on a true story.

Now I hate the world too. Thanks, Olga. 5/10

Krisha

Dark shit.

This was a tough film to watch, but a good one. It was a great exercise in camera movements and soundtrack creating a feeling of unease in the viewer. At times it even reminded me of an extended music video. The dialogue was pretty smooth, and I felt from the beginning that we were in good hands as the story slowly unfolded.

Despite being slightly shocked at Krisha's behaviour, there was something human to her character, which made her relatable. Very sad.

Definitely didn't leave me filled with hope about existence and the human condition though. 8/10

Robot & Frank

Hmmm... This film was a bit of a stinker. I'm not sure how to express my hatred towards it well though.

Such a wasted opportunity to examine some really cool concepts. I guessed they were shoehorning in ideas from Don Quixote, and even though I've never read it, I got the feeling they were fumble fucking it to death. I think I'm over this whole he had Alzheimer's all along! cliché. Oh, and the storyline involving she was his wife all along! was really fucking dry.

Frank Langella did put in a commendable performance. But other than that hate hate hate. 3/10

London to Brighton

One word for this film: brutal.

It gets going with a bang, and doesn't really let up till the end. Difficult subject matter, terrible characters, suspense and fear. It's good to see a film coming out of the UK that does something interesting for a change. And this one was certainly horrific.

At times the script suffered from clunky dialogue – there was a lousy deployment of exposition on the train at one point – and I personally think there was a bit too much swearing.

I guessed the twist at the end, but that didn't really stop me from enjoying it. 7/10

Mascots

Not a bad film, but not really a great one either.

Other films by Christopher Guest I've really enjoyed (Spinal Tap, Best in Show), but this one just seemed dull in parts. Like it was lacking humour, or direction. A lot of the time that it was just a bunch of actors getting together again and saying, 'Hey, we did it before and it was funny, so I suppose we just have to keep doing the same thing?'

Characters and plots just fizzled out all over the place, and nothing felt tightly structured or resolved. The mocumentary thing, with people looking at the character, is getting so old now, and I feel like all irony and originality has been bled from that format.

I'll give this a 6/10 and move on with my life.

After thought: The scene with the plumber and the poo was amazing.

Arrival

Saw this at the cinema. Nothing better than a good old sci-fi blockbuster on the big screen. I really enjoyed this film – it was really gripping and engrossing, and I liked how the action unfolded.

I liked the linguistic element, and it reminded me of something one of my Japanese friends used to talk about: how he was always in awe of the first Japanese and English-speakers who came into contact with each other and how they went about learning each other's languages without dictionaries or any kind of fixed reference point in terms of culture.

I loved the use of time in the film, and it was really cleverly organized.

There were just a couple of quibbles I had, and a few things I would've done differently (if I'd been the director of a big-budget film), but none of those detract from making this worth seeing. 7/10

Fried Green Tomatoes (at the Whistle Stop Cafe)

God. What a cheesy piece of shit film. I seriously want back the time I spent watching this. It took me two sittings to get through it, because the sickly sweet schmaltziness of it was making me want to gag.

"Yessir, we're from the South, so we tawk funny, and everything is a loooonnng ass stowry. I remamber way beck wen..."

What a pile of toss. Why the hell did Kathy Bates's character sit through the mental ramblings of an old lady in a hospital? I would've rather she'd flipped out and gone all Misery on her.

And what's with the little twist at the end? So cannibalism is OK? Feeding a dead body to an officer of the law is fine, is it? We're OK with that? We're going to walk off arm-in-arm into the sunset with big goofy smiles on our faces, knowing full well that A HUMAN BEING FED ANOTHER HUMAN BEING WITH SOME HUMAN BEING MEAT?!!?

Seriously, get in the fucking sea. 3/10

Freaks and Geeks

I'm not planning on writing about TV series on this blog much (mainly because I don't really watch that many), but I just finished watching this and thought it deserved a mention.

I liked how they focused on the kinds of characters who normally get glossed over, or just act as supporting characters in standard sitcoms. It was fun how they explored all sorts of different storylines and themes. At times it was quite touching and sad.

I really grew to like the character of Bill a lot, and possibly the two 'main' characters sort of drifted into the background as they developed others. Good fun, overall 8/10

Days of Heaven

Hmmmm.... What to say about this one... I thought the cinematography was absolutely stunning and some of the shots just blew me away. It was a very atmospheric film with great visuals. I'm told the film was shot in almost entirely natural light (like Barry Lyndon) and it really did look great.

However, I'm not sure I like the way that Terrence Malick tells stories, and this was also the problem I had with Tree of Life. The editing seems jumpy, and sometimes the characters change expressions or feelings too quickly through choppy editing. It feels wobbly, or unnatural, and I don't like much regarding the pace of the film.

I hated Richard Gere's character, and it was difficult to watch him being such a d-bag all the way through the film. Despite what I said about the cinematography earlier, I dislike the movement of the camera in the film. It always seems to swoop around, or zoom in, when it shouldn't. Kind of a frustrating film, but not a terrible one. 6/10

Nocturnal Animals

Saw this at the cinema tonight. Knew nothing about the film before going to see it, and I was mildly disturbed with the weird intro (chubby naked ladies dancing in slow motion with confetti flying everywhere). But when the plot got going – bored lady in the art world, sent completed novel by ex-husband – I was really sucked in.

The film was dark, the story within a story even darker. Michael Shannon played a great sherif-type out in West Texas, and he cracked up the whole audience with some of his witty dialogue.

I loved the ending, because it made me reassess the film as a whole. 8/10

Switchblade Sisters

Crikey. I tried really hard to hate this film, but found myself liking it despite myself. If you do decide to watch it, you'd better brace yourself for shock and amusement in equal proportions.

My favourite scene was probably the classroom scene where the nervous teacher accidentally wiped his face with a pair of panties...

So much that goes on in this film is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Absolutely mental. 6/10

Jackie Brown (Re-watch)

Put this on to kill some time on a hungover Sunday. I'd forgotten how engrossing it is. At times the pace is slowed right down, and I loved some of the experimentations with chronology (especially the split-screen part where the Bail Bondsman clocks that Jackie has taken the gun from his glove box).

The soundtrack is amazing, and I'll probably be listening to it for a few weeks to come. Lewis (Robert DeNiro) is insane, Samuel L. Jackson's character was a ruthless asshole, the dynamic between Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) and the Bail Bondsman (Robert Forster) is great.

Such a sad ending as well. Really touching. 9/10

Samaritan Girl

God. What a sad and brutal film. I wasn't sure what to expect at the beginning, and I have to say the way the film evolved was completely different to the kind of film I was expecting it to be. But it was really moving, and definitely worth sticking through some of the shaky early parts.

I'd seen another film by the director (Ki-duk Kim) many years ago called Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring and I remember very much enjoying that when I saw it. This film definitely had some similarities in terms of aesthetic and also the ideas explored. 8/10

Lupe Under the Sun

Yeah... What can I say about this film? Very slow, and possibly never really delivers as much as you think it will. Each shot was really well composed -- almost like a photograph, and sometimes the dialogue was so slow and stilted it reminded me of Ozu. I liked the opening scenes with him drinking a beer beneath the cherry blossoms, and I felt like there was a bigger story to tell about this kind of guy, living his life under harsh conditions, but I felt like the film itself fell short in telling us anything real.

I watched another film recently called Schultze Gets the Blues which I thought did something similar to this film, but a lot better. 6/10

Election

Topical film to watch today. Matthew Broderick's second best role after Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I'd seen this film before (a long time ago now) and I'd forgotten a lot of what happened. I enjoyed the fact that most of the characters were dislikable, and did some pretty reprehensible things. But, hey, that's politics folks... Fingers crossed things go favourably tonight. 8/10

Margot at the Wedding

This was a bizarre film. I didn't really understand it at times, and the dialogue felt like it was trying to do more than it was actually achieving. It wasn't as good or funny as The Squid and the Whale. Jack Black's character was quite funny at times, but overall I didn't really like any of the other characters. 6/10

I, Daniel Blake

Went to see this at the cinema. Cracking new film from Ken Loach. Very moving and sad. Reminded me of Koreeda in its pacing and aesthetic. Would definitely recommend watching.  8/10

Schultze Gets the Blues

This was brilliant. I really enjoyed the slow pace, humour and intrigue of the main character.

Schultze and a couple of his friends reach retirement age, and can no longer work in the mines. They get given some weird lamps as retirement gifts, hit the pub for a few beers, then proceed to go smack bam into existential retirement. Schultze seems to take it the hardest, and is restless without a job. His hobby as an accordionist becomes threatened when he gets a taste for the blues. There's a great scene where he visits the doctor to ask if it's normal for a person's musical taste to change so suddenly.

Schultze ends up taking a trip to America to find himself, and then getting a boat to travel down the Mississippi. Really recommend this film.  9/10