He's Just Not That Into You

Please don't ask me what I was thinking watching this late at night when everyone had gone to bed.

I think I'd seen bits of it before, but weirdly, I actually quite enjoyed this. I think the acting was cheesy, and the characters were pretty flimsy, but at the same time I felt like the attributes of romantic relationships were pretty realistic, and touching too.

After I watched it, I went on IMDB and saw some of the terrible reviews it got, but really, what was so terrible about it compared to all the other shitty rom coms out there? I actually felt that there was a lot of human honesty in this film regarding the attitudes between men and women which was quite refreshing. There was an awareness of how we can be idealistic or selfish or overbearing in how we deal with romantic partners.

God. What am I becoming? 7/10

In Bruges (Re-watch)

I was re-watching this one because my viewing partner hadn't seen it.

Dark, disturbing, intelligent, funny, sad, moving.

I'm pleased to report that it went down well. 9/10

Girl, Interrupted

Not that I didn't like the story, but I thought the film was badly made in some ways.

I think it could've been so much better if it had better filmmakers behind it. Because there was most definitely a great story here. And I suppose that's what held the film together ultimately. 6/10

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Classic Woody Allen film. I watched it some time ago now, so not sure what I can say about it now. This will teach me to write my reviews ASAP.

Off the top of my head: Liked this film. Hated the dude in it. 8/10

Inherent Vice

Well... I'd been really looking forward to watching this film. Paul Thomas Anderson is definitely one of my favourite directors making films at the moment, and I think The Master is possibly my favourite film of the past 10 years or so.

But I wasn't so keen on this film. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I didn't like the story? I felt like it was going nowhere. I haven't read any Thomas Pynchon, but he's just one of those writers I can tell I'm not going to like. Most definitely I can tell these kinds of writers, because they're usually recommended to me by people who like all of the same writers I know I am not going to like.

So this film was a good way to test out whether I liked Pynchon's idea of a story (without having to read his books). And yes, I can safely say that Pynchon remains a writer who I'm pretty sure I don't want to read.

If his books are anything like this, I know they'd just frustrate me. It all just went nowhere.

It was saved by a great performance from Joaquin Phoenix, and some lovely cinematography.

But other than that, it was pretty lukewarm. 7/10

The Keep

This film was BIZARRE.

Reading about it online afterwards it turns out it's some kind of cult classic now. But what a weird film... Possibly the strangest thing I saw in 2017.

The opening seemed really strong, and I was looking forward to a classic 80s hidden gem. But it just felt all over the place. It seemed like they were just making it up as they went along.

Golems? Jewish myths? Nazis? A haunted old castle? Some dude with shining eyes?

No idea what was going on here...  6/10

Chicken People

This documentary was crazy.

I don't really want to spoil it for me people, but all I'll say is, if you liked Best In Show, this might be the documentary for you.

Eggselent. 8/10

Spider-Man: Homecoming

What the hell was I thinking?

I don't know. I think I had a hangover. I wanted to watch something that wasn't very challenging. I dunno. Forgive me.

The thing is, I've always had a soft spot for Spiderman. I don't like all of these superhero films coming out these days, and to be honest I feel pretty sick of them in general. But Spiderman reminds me of my youth when I used to watch the old cartoons.

But this film was just so self referential. I didn't know what the hell was going on! What the hell was Ironman doing there? I suppose because I don't watch these films, I'm not in on the stupid world that's been created surrounding all of these films.

But they might've thought of the idle watcher coming to this for the first time. I didn't get any of the stupid jokes that I think everyone who'd seen every Marvel film under the sun would get. Because of this, I can't really say I enjoyed it that much.

My spider senses weren't tingling. Sorry. 5/10

Your Name

I'd heard all the hype about this anime all the way from Japan to England, but thought I'd give it a go.

Well, it was spectacular. I don't just mean in terms of storyline and characters (these were OK, but not what made this film so amazing to me). What made the film so incredible to me was how realistically it depicted Tokyo.

I'm writing a book set in Tokyo right now (I've been working on it for about 2 years now), and I have to say that this was one of the greatest depictions of the city I've ever seen in an anime film. So realistic, and so true to life there.

I loved the countryside setting as well, and it all just made me so excited for a trip to Japan I'll be making in March of 2018. Can't wait now.

The premise for this story was pretty standard, and something we've seen before – body switching, the town mouse and the city mouse, gender swapping etc.

But it did it very well, and I can really say I enjoyed this. 8/10

When Harry Met Sally (Re-watch)

OK. OK. OK.

I've been really slack over the past month. I've added films to my blog, and I've just let them sit there without any thoughts or comments on them. I'm going to try to be better about this.

I've also recently got into the habit of putting on old films I've seen before and just re-watching things I already like. Perhaps in the coming year I can get a bit more adventurous and try to watch new films rather than just re-watching old ones.

All this being said, this film doesn't need much comment. It's a sappy hate/friendship/love story that does what it does very well. The film works because we get two very interesting characters who work very well with each other – we want them to get together, we root for them to get together, and they do at the end. And that's how you do a love story.

Guilty pleasure. 8/10