Watched in 2019

02.01

A difficult film to watch at times but it was a rewarding experience. Once again Joaquin Phoenix delivers an amazing performance. Another impressive entry to Gus Van Sant's filmography.He even edited this one. A really strong film overall.

07.01

This has many echoes with today's technological developments in A.I. with 'Alexa' and 'Google'. In theory, the idea behind the film is great but the execution is awful. Clearly influenced by 2001 A Space Odyssey's Hal 9000 and the way technology was developing at the time. It isn't even a tad bit scary though. And I don't see why it was called 'Demon Seed'. It lacks a demon. It should have been called 'Android Seed'. This entered my list of worst ever films.

09.01

Great performance by Reese Witherspoon in this gritty urban thriller drama. The mood shifts all over the place in this one and there are some really off-the-wall scenes. Not a classic in my book but well worth a watch.

10.01

Kubrick's final masterpiece gave me even more to ponder on my third viewing. I loved the references to his previous films, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Lolita and 2001 A Space Odyssey. Visually and atmospherically excellent.

16.01

This was a pretty unsettling film. It kind of gnaws away at the viewer by repeating visual cues and sounds, building up to an extremely unnerving atmosphere. Smiling naked people standing in darkness freaked me anyway.

17.01

Awful addition to the Hellraiser series. Even Lance Henriksen and the beautiful Katheryn Winnick (star of Vikings) couldn't save it from being the worst film in the series. The Lament Configuration only shows up towards the end. A big mistake.

19.01

Although there were some interesting ideas and characters, as well as a strong performance from Isabelle Huppert, it felt very dated. The jokes don't hold up so well.

At times it was heavy handed and it almost had a student film feel to it. This was further emphasised by its needless references to French cinema. The scene towards the end where the detective gets shot 10 times recalls Jean Luc Godard and the 'sensitive' police officer Melville is presumably named after Jean Pierre Melville.

A relatively good film but it lacks an edge.

22.01

I really appreciated how it never tried to be the Dario Argento original. It had its own distinctive look and feel whilst retaining elements of Argento's masterpiece.

The cinematography is beautiful. At times it reminded me of Robert Altman and Stanley Kubrick, with its movement and zooms. The muted and 'cold' colours gave the film a very distinctive look and enhanced its atmosphere.

Thom Yorke's soundtrack is beautiful and compliments the film's tone nicely.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised by how well this film turned out, considering it was always going to be compared to Argento's masterpiece. I think it's a film that will improve on repeat viewings.

23.01

Gripping, intense and disturbing. The most unsettling thing about it is you could easily see this series of events happening these days with the medical system that's in place. This is chilling. Read the fine print.

25.01

An absolutely pointless mess of a film. Devastatingly bad in every way.Painfully long. It added very little to the story of the previous two films. It is puzzling why this was ever made at all. But then again, it was obviously just for the money.

28.01

A disappointing end to the trilogy. At times it is atmospheric and it does have some good elements but as a whole it didn't grab me that much. Some scenes were very gruesome and a bit over-the-top. It lacked the subtle atmospheric approach of Suspiria and visually it was far less interesting.

29.01

This has aged terribly. So many cringe-worthy scenes and awful dialogue. Very dated.

05.02

The wandering, non-committal camera worked well this round for Malick, as it mirrored the life of the 'protagonist' played by Christian Bale. This cinematographic approach was also used in Malick's earlier films 'Tree of Life' and 'To the Wonder'. Third time lucky perhaps because I really didn't like these two prior films.

Knight of Cups is a big improvement over 'Tree of Life' and 'To the Wonder'. A much more seamless experience, the wandering, disengaged camera functions to place the viewer within a transient perspective. We are given glimpses of the characters life. This felt a lot more tedious and laboured in the two earlier efforts, whereas this time it felt more appropriate and justified. I felt something on this occasion but in the other two films I didn't. Despite that, there is something a bit cold about this approach to narrative. It is certainly cinematic but it doesn't give you much. Rather, it forces you to keep pace and flow within its purely visual and aural structure.

07.02

Not much atmosphere in this one. Didn't pull me in at all. Visually it is somewhat interesting. Story-wise it is run-of-the mill 'built on an old burial ground' affair.

11.02

Hou Hsiao Hsien's signature style is minimal, meditative and slow-paced, choosing to focus on 'dead-time' rather than plot-driven stories. Three Times is beautifully shot. Broken into three parts, the second part recreates an old silent film, with musical accompaniment and onscreen captions. The film as a whole is so quiet and has so little dialogue that it is practically a silent film.

I loved the first part of the film and as a whole it was nice.

12.02

Another beautifully shot film from director Hou Hsiao Hsien. A lot more character driven than Three Times. The story of a young man who gets drafted to the military is subtle and heartfelt. The influence of Ozu is seen throughtout, with the minimal framing and repeated camera set-ups. Much like in Ozu, shots of nature and mountains punctuate the narrative's structure.

13.02

80's cheesefest with so-bad-its-good acting performances and ludicrous script and dialogue. Some highlights include: "bodacious boobs sis", "My daddy told me how to pray real good" and "festering fuckwads". Abrasive 80s horror synth soundtrack adds to the vibe.

Apart from the usual stupid dialogue and acting common to 80s comedy-horror, the ending of this film is peculiarly dark and sinister. An elderly woman serves up a slice of pie to her husband at breakfast. Trouble is, the pie is filled with sharp blades and so he, eh......gets his throat slit and dies in a bloody gruesome manner. Pretty dark really.

17.02.2019

A relatively fun and entertaining film. Some nice visuals.

18.02.2019

Amazingly powerful film. Intense and gripping from the get-go and doesn't let up til the final credits roll. Brilliantly acted and superbly shot. The narrative structure and editing give it a real intensity. You are immediately pulled in to the story and you are hooked until the final moments.

Dennis Villeneuve is quickly becoming one of my current favourite directors. Incendies, Sicario and Blade Runner 2049 are stand-out films that easily rank amongst the best films of their respective years of release.

26.02.2019

Visually excellent. Cool jazz score. The lighting and stage design were also stand-out elements of this early slasher.

05.03

Another excellent film from Ben Wheatley. At times it feels like a theatre production with its minimal cast and its limited setting - all of it takes place in a field. It moves from the theatrical to the cinematically spectacular. The black and white chiaroscuro cinematography is a visual treat. The hallucinogenic visuals and sounds are wonderful.

There are some very funny scenes too and the dialogue is witty and unexpected, particularly when a dying man requests as his final message to his wife that he hates her and that he f***ed her sister up the ass. Very unorthodox final words.

A very atmospheric and visually brilliant film.

Mar.09

Hard-hitting despite being a kind of 'Rom-Com'. Funny and dark. Exceptional performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Quite brilliant in a lot of ways. Understated yet powerful.

Mar.11

Another terrible entry into the Hellraiser series. The guy who plays the character Nick, one of the young guys, gives one of the worst acting performances I've ever seen. So bad it's hard to watch. The best thing about the film is the opening credit which displays the film's title on a black empty screen, that lasts about 2-3 secs. After that it goes downnnnnnnn hill.

Mar.30

I'm a fan of Aubrey Plaza, Matt Berry and Jermaine Clement. But this was pretty disappointing. It's not that funny and it tries too hard to be quirky. Felt a bit like Napoleon Dynamite at times. Had so much potential to be good but is a let-down.

Mar.31

This is probably the best Hellraiser since Hellraiser III. Visually and narratively a huge improvement over the other films in the series. It has some memorable moments but at the same time I can't say it will be a classic. Pinhead barely features and it sorely missed Christopher Young's score.

April.02

A weird and wonderful trip of a film. Difficult to describe but has hints of comedy, surrealism and spiritualism. Although the running time of the film is close to 3 hours it builds to a beautiful and touching finish. Nice to see a film that treats the father-daughter relationship in this humourous and heartfelt way. It never veers into the cheesy territory of Hollywood cinema and retains a sense of humour and emotion throughout.

May 19th

A reasonable good effort by Eastwood. Had some nice elements and a good performance in the lead role but lacked that edge.

May 20th

Visually impressive in terms of settings, lighting and colour but it bored the shit out of me. Atmospherically it lacked a bit of menace that should have come with the unknown alien entity.

May 29th

Disappointing. Terrible in every way. Nothing positive to say about this one. A poor adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Hammy acting and corny dialogue can't be carried without atmosphere and an amazing score.

May 30th

Rewatch

Stupid 80s fun. Whacky and off-the-wall. Deliciously cheesey. A good example of when a cheese-fest works well.

May 31st

Incredibly dull and very underdeveloped. This was severely lacking in atmosphere. The ending couldn't come soon enough. I would have been willing to eat my own hand than to suffer through such tedious mediocrity but I am always compelled to finish a film once I've started it.

June 4th

Incredibly dated. Very light on atmosphere for a film centred around an Ouija board.

June 5th

Brilliant score by Nora Orlandi. Pulls you into its unsettling and weird atmosphere from the offset. Very well shot. Not my favourite Giallo but certainly a very solid film.

June 8th

As to be expected from a Terry Gilliam film, it is wild and whacky and wonderful. Gilliam finished the project he set out to make 25 years ago and he deserves credit for seeing out his vision. The cinematography is beautiful and it is no doubt helped by the amazing locations in which the film is set. Adam Driver is great in the lead role of Sancho. Very funny at times and extremely playful throughout. It is a really good film but it is perhaps a little bit too long winded. Surely Gilliam can be forgiven for this considering that it took a quarter of a century for the film to be completed.

June 9th

Jonah Hill's directorial debut is very impressive. It has incredible performances by the young cast and it really captures the look and feel of the era it depicts. Extremely engaging and cinematic. I would hazard a guess that it is in some way auto-biographical because it is so vivid and intense in its treatment of the characters and their stories and the wider era itself.

Also the sound track is excellent. This is one of the best films I've seen in recent years and my favourite film of 2018 that I've seen so far.

June 10th

Rewatch

An 80s throwback. Used to love watching this one as a kid. Good harmless cheesey 80s fun. Doesn't hold up so well in the year 2019 but nostalgia is a powerful thing.

22.06.2019

A big change of direction for director Steve McQueen on this one. At times it is visually interesting, but despite its all-star cast it is disappointing. Some of the story and plot details are a bit ridiculous. It shows that the strength of the director lies in his ability to tell stories visually rather than relying on plot details and genre. Has none of the power and intensity of films like Shame and 10 Years A Slave.

27.06.2019

Harmony Korine continues to underwhelm me with his naive stories. Much like his previous film it was a bit pretentious. It was an improvement over Spring Breakers but it was more of the same shit.

29.06.2019

I'm late to the party on this one. I could see how it would have made a big impact at the time of its release due to the topics it deals with. It takes a peculiar turn, going against expectations and turns into a thriller.

29.06.2019

I'm a fan of Claire Denis and Juliette Binoche but I found this fairly dull. Binoche delivers a good performance as usual but I couldn't really feel much of a connection with it.

30.06.2019

I was expecting a bit more from this one but it was still pretty good. It was a very interesting take on the apocalypse. The scene where Elisabeth Moss is crawling in her own blood is priceless. She calls out to Alexa to call the cops, only to result in "Fuck the Police" by N.W.A. blaring throughout the house sound-system. A very clever moment indeed. Peele delivers another interesting film.

03.07.2019

An incredibly dull and unimaginative remake. Pointless and watered-down. Has none of the original's atmosphere. An attempt to cash in on the success of Stephen King's current wave of film adaptations, such as It and Gerald's Game. Hugely disappointing.

July 16th

An okay effort. Funny at times but doesn't do much. A run-of-the-mill romantic comedy.

July 18th

A dull slasher with very little intrigue.

July 24th

Rewatch

Seeing this years later is a hugely different experience. Also the Uncut is much more 'coherent'. In this sense it completely loses any ambiguity and it is fairly straight-forward. Donnie is an extremely intelligent teenager who has special abilities. One of them being that he can see into the future. This ability forces him to make a sacrifice. He commits a selfless act for the sake of his family and a girl that he falls in love with.

A well written film who interesting subtexts of depression, adolescence and paedophilia.

July 30th

Aug 09th

Rewatch

On my second viewing this was even more impressive. It is cut like butter, so well executed in its editing. Visually it is great to look at. The soundtrack is excellent too, so effective in the combat scenes, especially those in the nightclub.

The way Wick's character is set up is very clever and witty. The myth behind his character is done brilliantly.

This will go down as a classic action film in years to come. Slick as f### and immaculate in every way. Very close to being the perfect action film.

Aug 10th

A relatively good follow up to the brilliant first film. It has some great action scenes, as to be expected, but it is far too drawn-out. 2 hours is too long for this type of film in my opinion. The first one got it right in 90 mins. Pacing is perhaps the biggest flaw of this sequel.

Aug 11th

Rewatch

First time seeing this in many years. Still holds up well. A brilliant directorial debut. Great characters, great dialogue and great music, hallmarks of Tarantino's later films. Watched this in the run up to the release of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Tarantino season in full swing.