Weekly Screening Log (19/04/10 – 25/04/10)

Sorry dudes, I’d slacked up on this for a few weeks, but I’m 20 now, I’ve decided to shove some consistency into my life (lol). Anyway, here we go.

The Nanny (Seth Holt, 1965)
Curious drama starring Bette Davis as a competent nanny who works for mentally fragile mother Wendy Craig, her husband and their bratty son (played by William Dix), who despises his nanny. At first, his antipathy toward her seems to be nothing more than a by-product of his spoilt brat attitude, but then we see that there is a dark reason behind it all. The old fashioned style of the film both works to its advantage and disadvantage – it’s unashamedly unfashionable, so the focus is on substance rather than style, but as a result, the clunky acting from Craig makes it, at times, difficult to take the film seriously. Bette Davis is, as ever, superb, and there was horror in the surprise.



In My Father’s Den (Brad McGann, 2004)
Matthew Macfadyen stars as a war photographer who goes home after the death of his father and his presence alone starts unravelling bitterly resentments and hidden family secrets. Although the film was fairly languid in tone and pacing, it still held my attention throughout. The characters were all fairly detestable, though the depiction of Macfadyen’s relationship with a girl that may well be his daughter was well done and intriguing. The twist, when it came, was as surprising as disturbing. Bizarre little movie, I appreciated it far more than I enjoyed it.

Clash of the Titans (Louis Leterrier, 2010)
Entertainment, though not the smartest. Full review here .

Chloe (Atom Egoyan, 2009)
Somewhat of a let-down considering the sheer volume of talent involved. Full review here .

Cruel Intentions 2 (Roger Kumble, 2000)
Cruel Intentions worked so well because of the sexual magnetism between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Philippe. Cruel Intentions 2, which tells the story of how the two characters came to be how they were, serves as a prequel to Cruel Intentions. Only this time, Amy Adams and Robin Dunne plays the respective roles. I quite enjoyed Cruel Intentions 2, even though it was extremely crappy, just because it knew it couldn’t live up to the original and didn’t attempt to. There was a weak, weak twist, which doesn’t even shock because the whole film itself is so weak. However, my main problem with the film was Amy Adams. She’s so lovely and warm and her attempt to play it bitchy just didn’t carry off at all.

Love, Honour and Obey (Dominic Anciano, 2000)

Oh dear. I don’t even. If you want to see bad acting, shitty camerawork and Kathy Burke and Denis van Houten get buggered, then watch this. If you have any appreciation for good cinema, then don’t.

I didn't mean to break it, b-b-b-break it babe.

Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009)

Adam Sandler plays a jaded comedy star who, on discovering he may die of leukaemia, takes a step back and tries to sort his life out, with the help of eager-to-please Seth Rogen. This film dragged far too much for me, not gonna lie, and a lot of the jokes weren’t even funny. Rogen was charming in his own way, but Sandler, who seems to have three modes, two of which I love – serious actor Sandler and loveable comedy gold Sandler, instead spent most of the movie in the third mode – irritating goon Sandler who laughs at his own unfunny jokes. The subplot with ex-girlfriend Leslie Mann and her husband Eric Bana made me lol, quite a bit, but on the whole, 150 minutes running time was about 140 too many. Not that funny.

The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

Absolutely wonderful film noir set in New York, both a joy in terms of plotting and tension as well as technical elements- editing and cinematography (particularly the dark, ominous shadows) stunned. New York is caught in both its glory and its fugliness, just how I like it. The Naked City set the tone for many other (and inferior) modern day thrillers, such as The Black Dahlia. As per most crime movies, there's a murder, there's an investigation and there's a case of did-he-didn't he, but it never gets old. If I had any criticisms with this film, I suppose it would be that it resembles plenty other noirs, I’ve seen before, but the film manages to have its own plot and the semi-documentary style gives it an extra edge.

Up (Pete Docter, 2009)
Well, you had my initial reaction and full review here, but needless to say, I loved it. Beautiful, beautiful movie, so witty and cute and featuring that transcendent 4-minute clip at the start which stayed with me longer than any other 2009 film scene, and most other films scenes, come to think of it. "Tonal modulation" is a phrase I use frequently, but that four-minute vignette had it in spades, highlighting the sweet moments and the sour ones of Carl's life. I'm informed that my initial supposition that the bit I'd interpreted Ellie to have been told she was barren was actually being told she had miscarried, and that Disney dared to touch upon this, in their poignant way, completely blew me away. The bright colours, clash of happy and sad, and ultimate portrayal of love in this film is too beautiful.



In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
Nicholas Ray does dark dramas with impending sense of foreboding better than anyone, and this is no different. The chemistry between Gloria Grahame (who deserved more starring roles) and Bogie is incredible, the man himself giving one of his finest performances, a wonderful example of how love can make a man vulnerable. The "did he/didn't he" element lacks a little punch as so many poor imitations have been churned out, but with zingers of lines like “I didn’t say I was a gentleman, I said I was tired”
and “I always go home with the man who brought me”, In a Lonely Place is far ahead of the crap they churn out today. Classic noir.

44 Inch Chest (Malcolm Venville, 2009)
Basically in this movie, Ray Winstone’s wife Joanne Whalley leaves him for another man, completely bruising him. His mates kidnap the bastard that done it leave him in a room alone with Winstone, whilst they wait impatiently outside, wanting him to hurry up and kill him so they can go down to the boozer. The language in this film is coarse for coarse’s sake, with John Hurt in particular doing a none too impressive impression of Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, with his wild abuse of the c-word. Winstone is, by his own standards, not up to much in this movie (though his woefully underwritten character has a lot to do with that), but Tom Wilkinson, as the hardman with a heart who still lives at home with his mother, Stephen Dillane as the curt accomplice and Ian McShane, playing terrifically against type as a coy homosexual, make terrifically great fun, almost making this movie worth watching.

À ma soeur! (Catherine Breillat, 2001)
Um, ew. I watched this with my best friends Luke and Anna and we were just so sickened throughout. Catherine Brellait needs locking up or something, paedo. I can’t think of any redeeming qualities in this movie whatsoever. The sister in the movie was a particularly nasty piece of work, and the scene in which she gets taken up the chuff by some pervert whilst her little sister watches is beyond grim. This isn’t cinema, this is child exploitation. That said, at least the fat girl in question is a looker.