Dave's Film Diary: July 2013

Monday, 29 July 2013

The Girl Next Door 2004 (Luke Greenfield)

28 Weeks Later 2007 (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)

Stars: Robert Carlyle, Rose Burn, Jeremy Renner

Score: 78%

As sequels go, the audience usually expects more monsters more gore at the expense of plot and originality. '28 Weeks Later' did not disappoint. The view of a decimated London held much less power than 28 days and on the whole this film had less fear effect and more jump scares. Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful establishing shots in this film, and the jump scares are done very well but it misses the old paranoia of the original.

Something the sequel does really well is the use of music. The awesome opening sequence makes it clear to the audience that the 'zombies' now have their own theme. The gore factor in the movie is a step up from 28 days later and is arguably greatly desired by it's viewers.

Snatch 2000 (Guy Ritchie)

Stars: Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina

Score:80%

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Amelie 2001 (Jean Pierre-Jeunet)

Stars: Audrey Tautuo, Mathieu Kassovitz

Score:90%

Amelie is not a surrealist film, and it is not an average blockbuster. Jean Pierre-Jeunet's creation is full of eccentricities which create a unique and charming style. This film draws attention to finite details of lives seemingly unconnected with the main narrative e.g "at the exact same time as this, this other thing was happening" by doing so it makes the audience attentive of it's uniqueness as a film.

This erratic style also subtly hints at Amelie's state of mind, as she is overthinking and over-analysing the narrative we are shown mirrors her thought process. Indeed there are a few hints that Amelie herself is perhaps suffering from quasi-psychotic symptoms. Such examples as the Television giving her specific messages, and the absurd worries and fantasies she creates.

Although the film presents a childish energy there are a couple of scenes unsuitable for children. That and children might not appreciate the eccentric impishness of Amelie, they have enough stimulation in everyday life.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Se7en 1995 (David Fincher)

Stars: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow

Score: 82%

Hot Fuzz 2007 (Edgar Wright)

Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman

Score:80%

Zombieland 2009 (Ruben Fleischer)

Sin City 2005 (Frank Miller)

Stars: Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke,

Score: 86%

300 2006 (Zack Snyder)

Stars: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West

Score: 86%

Pulp Fiction 1994 (Quentin Tarantino)

Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman

Score:84%

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

War Horse 2011 (Steven Spielberg)

Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis

Score:76%

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012 (Peter Jackson)

Stars: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman,

Score: 80%

Alice 1988 (Jan Svankmajer)

Stars: Kristyna Kohoutova

Score:72%

Greedy Guts 2000 (Jan Svankmajer)

Stars: Veronika Zilkova, Jan Harti

Score:80%

Ravenous 1999 (Antonia Bird)

Stars: Guy Pearce, Robert Carylyle, David Arquette

Score:84%

The History Boys 2006 (Nicholas Hytner)

Stars: Samuel Anderson, Richard Griffiths, Dominic Cooper

Score:80%

Bowling for Columbine 2002 (Michael Moore)

Stars: Michael Moore, Marilyn Manson, Charlton Heston

Score: 80%

Withnail & I 1987 (Bruce Robinson)

Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths

Score:84%

Watership Down 1978 (Martin Rosen)

Stars: Richard Briers, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox

Score:84%

Man Bites Dog 1992 (Remy Belvaux)

Stars: Benoit Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde

Score:80%

Monday, 22 July 2013

Suspiria 1977 (Dario Argento)

Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci

Score:88%

I absolutely adored this film. The music and colourful lighting created a unique atmosphere of unsettlement. What the film lacks in action it makes up for with eerie sounds and gory "accidents".

House of Flying Daggers 2004 (Yimou Zhang)

Stars: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Ziyi Zhang

Score:80%

Rashomon 1950 (Akira Kurosawa)

Stars: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori

Score: 88%

Transsiberian 2008 (Brad Anderson)

Stars: Woody Harrleson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley

Score: 74%

The City of Lost Children 1995 (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

Stars: Ron Perlman, Judith Vittet

Score:82%

Happiness 1998 (Todd Solondz)

Stars: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Score: 82%

The Piano Teacher 2001 (Michael Haneke)

Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Giradot

Score: 86%

Sunday, 21 July 2013

Enron 2005 (Alex Gibney)

Stars: John Beard, Tim Belden

Score:80%

Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust 2000 (Yoshiaki Kawajiri)

Stars: Hideyuki Tanaka, Ichiro Nagai

Score:86%

Un Chien Andalou 1929 (Luis Bunuel)

Stars: Simone Mareuli, Pierre Batcheff

Score:86%

Gruesome. Abstract. Different. This short film is a clear example of the early surrealist film movement and the film that jumpstarted Luis Bunuels' career.

As you can see in the image, there is some graphic content that is designed to shock the audience. One feature of this film is to use juxtaposing music. For example, where the young woman's eye is slit there is joyful upbeat music (an Argentinian Tango). This simultaneously makes the audience feel excited about the violence and repulsed by their own excitement as well as the scene itself.

Fantasia 1940 (James Algar)

Stars:Leopold Stokowski

Score:84%

L'Age d'Or 1930 (Luis Bunuel)

Stars: Gaston Madot, Lya Lys

Score:85%

And Now for Something Completely Different 1971 (Ian MacNaughton)

Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam

Score:84%

The Corporation 2003 (Jennifer Abbott)

Stars: Mikela Jay, Christopher Gora

Score:80%

Vincent 1982 (Tim Burton)

Stars: Vincent Price

Score:82%

An animated short voiced over by Vincent Price, a young boy who does not fit with parents' expectations is described in a rhyming poem. Even as early as '82 Burton's recognised macabre animated style can be easily recognised. If you are a Burton fan this is certainly worth chasing up. I found this on a special edition of ' The Nightmare Before Christmas' DVD. Fortunately it is easily accessible through Youtube.

I admire how the child's fantasy world and reality are represented and how the poem guides us. Wittingly always able to both rhyme and progress. A very melancholy take on childhood, with an almost ironic childhood rhyming structure.

Repulsion 1965 (Roman Polanski)

Stars:Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser

Score:91%

A Clockwork Orange 1971 (Stanley Kubrick)

Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee

Score:88%

Husk 2011 (Brett Simmons)

Stars: Devon Graye, Wes Chatham

Score:88%

The Thing 1982 (John Carpenter)

Stars:Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley

Score:89%

An awesome adaptation of the 1951 film 'The Thing from Another World.' Much better than the latest 2011 release. A master of pace and suspense.

This film is great on first viewing and every viewing after. Each time you can play the game of guessing who is 'The Thing' at what points and how. Films that engage it's audience in such an encapsulating way are certainly worthy of a high score. You can really feel the hopelessness and paranoid fear of the characters throughout and it was this concept of a hidden enemy that terrified me and not the outright action.

Don't get me wrong though, the work that has gone into the creature itself is absolutely superfluous. It's good to see some awesome horror puppetry as a change to new CGI, which can look fake and over-glossed.