Movies

To elaborate on my earlier comments: when a movie starts with a montage of one character’s life which runs through a lost pregnancy (or possibly news of infertility, it’s hard to tell), a lifelong regret at not having fulfilled a dream, the death of one of the principal character’s wife and then plunges into him going to court and being committed to elderly care with the resultant loss of his home, I find myself thinking a number of things; high amongst them are “No wonder Ada wanted to re-watch this with me so she could ask questions about what’s going on after seeing it at her creche’s movie day”, and “What the hell? Did her creche really think this was a great movie for three year olds?”

(And yes, I know a three year old is probably missing/glossing over a bunch of stuff in Up that I might find disturbing or distressing; the fact she wanted to re-watch it with me so she could ask questions rather suggested she noticed something was up, though.)

I can also add that when there’s the scene where Fredrickson sets the chairs back in the house, the most poignant question you can be asked is, “Daddy, why is he putting the chairs back up and sitting in them?”, because getting “Because he misses his wife” out is something of a challenge at that point.

Is it a good movie? Absolutely. But definitely one that may require a bunch of talking through with a small.

(On the other hand it’s less disturbing than Ice Age, which Ada doesn’t, unlike Ice Age 2, want to watch again.)

“Shall we if there’s good music on the radio?”

“No. I want Nightwish.”

“I see. Which Nightwish song do you want?”

“The one where he is running away because they think he has done something wrong.”

Daddy’s little metalhead.

Also, Up. Ada likes it. I found it verging on the harrowing. Good, you understand, but, my, that’s a pile of emotive in a kid’s movie.

The fact the writer and director combo for The Eagle of the Ninth is the same as for The Last King of Scotland, and that the writer gave us Her Majesty, Mrs Brown, gives me some cause for optimism that it could be rather good.

Whatever Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe do with Robin Hood cannot-cannot-be worst than Kevin Kostner’s butchery.

This time out: Starlight and Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey.

Don’t bother reading further if you’re looking to see what I’m like when saying lots of nice things about films.

In which I examine Layer Cake, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and V for Vendetta.

I watched Lipstick on Your Collar when it was on TV; I think it may be the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen on TV. Time has, if anything, made it even more so, especially given where the actors have popped up since then.

I would not believe Baz Luhrmann hadn’t seen the first of these clips before doing his version of Like a Virgin.

One of those classics of the Eighties I never got around to see at the time, I whipped this out for the semi-regular dinner-and-a-movie-with-Amy.

First impression: the muzak is awful. Really, really awful. Getting Alan Parsons to do the soundtrack may have seemed like a good idea in 1985, but it wasn’t.

Once I got over that, I liked it. Granted, I couldn’t resist making fun of the bit where Rutger Hauer takes out Michelle Pfeiffer’s dress and is nuzzling it, because at that point, if I was Matthew Broderick, I’d be thinking worried thoughts about how the knight who saved me might be into a whole world of swapping black leather for nice silks and being known as Rutgina, but anyway…

The special effects haven’t aged well, but the cast members all turn in decent enough performances, there’s a suprising lack of cringe inducing lines, and Matthew Broderick makes his little theif pretty amusing; the Evil Bishop is nicely done. An enjoyable little swords and sorcery/love story film.

OK, it fades a little after a strong start, but I still love 300 getting the treatment it begs for.

Thanks to Pearl.

This was… awful. The comic was a mixed bag; Frank Millar’s love of one of the nastier societies of the ancient world (does anyone reading this really need it explained to them that the Spartans were not exactly representative of the best of ancient Greece? I mean, when your treatment of slaves is crap compared to ancient Athens, you’re pretty shit) and incredible gaffes (Athens are boylovers, hurf, durf. You can write all the defences of that line you like, Frank, but it’s monumentally stupid in the context of Spartan and ancient Greece generally) was balanced by his usual good art.

The movie has no real redeeming features.

The heavy metal soundtrack and sub-Gladiator fight sequences, the painfully unnecessary slow, lingering shots of nothing in particular, the mediocre acting (can Leonidas keep a consistent accent? I think not!); all these things combine to make it one of the worse films I’ve seen in a while.

Not the short story; instead, a 2005 exercise in retro film making. This is a silent black-and-white gem of a movie. A faithful adaptation, it’s wonderfully lit, has a fine soundtrack, and was actually pretty gripping for all 47 minutes.

The retro special effects are surprisingly effective; the ‘non-Euclidian geometry’ so beloved of Lovecraft makes some novel appearances toward the end. Thoroughly recommended.