Film Log, 2010

Submitted by khriz on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 19:13
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  1. [Loved] Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)
  2. [Loved] Rosemary's Baby (1968, Roman Polanski)
  3. [Ok] The Headless Woman (2008, Lucrecia Martel)
  4. [Ok] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010, David Yates)
  5. [Really Liked] A Cock and Bull Story (2005, Michael Winterbottom)
  6. [Liked] American Pie (1999, Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz) [rewatch]
  7. [Meh] Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies (2004, Danny Leiner)
  8. [No] Saw VI (2009, Kevin Greutert)
  9. [No] Saw V (2008, David Hackl)
  10. [No] Saw IV (2007, Darren Lynn Bousman) [rewatch]
  11. [Ok] Good Will Hunting (1997, Gus Van Sant) [rewatch]
  12. [Meh] The Ring 2 (2005, Hideo Nakata)
  13. [Ok] Zeitgeist (2007, Peter Joseph) [rewatch] Large portions of the content may be dubious but damn, this is just the perfect template for propaganda. Even watching this again while knowing many of the sources are unreliable it really draws you in. In persuasiveness, this is a masterpiece.
  14. [Really Liked] Office Space (1999, Mike Judge) [rewatch] "Did you get the memo about putting a cover sheet on your TPS reports?"
  15. [Really Liked] Juno (2007, Jason Reitman)
  16. [Loved] Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondrey) [rewatch]
  17. [Really Liked] The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004, Stephen Hopkins)
  18. [Really Liked] Toy Story 3 (2010, Lee Unkrich)
  19. [Ok] Twelve Monkeys (1995, Terry Gilliam)
  20. [Really Liked] Blazing Saddles (1974, Mel Brooks) [rewatch] It's nice to watch such a cleverly done comedy film that isn't a black comedy for once, just a good funny film that doesn't have some cynical or satirical message at its heart.
  21. [Loved] There Will Be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson) [rewatch]
  22. [Liked] The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)
  23. [Loved] Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg) This and The Fly shared some similarities thematically however I believe Videodrome was executed better in terms of its message probably because the narrative structure of Videodrome allowed a deeper exploration of its theme.
  24. [Really Liked] The Fly (1986, David Cronenberg)
  25. [Liked] Eastern Promises (2007, David Cronenberg)
  26. [Really Liked] A History Of Violence (2005, David Cronenberg) [rewatch] It felt like the whole film contributed more on a second viewing, rather than only the second half. However, I still believe the first half does not match the second.
  27. [Really Liked] Finding Nemo (2003, Andrew Stanton) [rewatch]
  28. [Loved] The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick) [rewatch]
  29. [Loved] (500) Days of Summer (2009, Marc Webb) 'This is not a love story. This is a story about love.' The tagline for the film. Such a perfect tagline. Certainly more thought seems to have gone into it than that classic tagline on the Citizen Kane poster 'It's terrific!'.
  30. [Hated] The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009, Tom Six) Ok, I'll just post what I had as a facebook status: "Was The Human Centipede the worst film I've watched this year? Without question. I never thought a gorefest could be drawn out so badly that I was bored. And Jesus they're going to make a sequel. Tom Six makes Michael Bay seem a credible director and the actors should go back to porn or whatever else they came from which requires terrible acting skills." I'll post neptune's response, who struggled through this with me, as well: "THIS IS BULLSHIT! Such a good film. Clearly you've misunderstood Six's dynamic message and misinterpreted his allegoric methods, which place us in the shape of consciousness only previously achieved by McGee. Blasphemy, I tell ya"
  31. [Loved] Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan) [rewatch] Ok, to give my thoughts on this I'm going to have to discuss what may be considered a spoiler. I will say I overrated this slightly on first viewing.
    Spoiler: Highlight to view
    Cobb is dreaming throughout the film in my honest opinion, certainly he never leaves limbo at the end. The totem not finishing spinning in the final shot is supposed to make us consider that that final sequence is not real and the manner in which it is all shot especially him running over to his children heavily implies that isn't reality. Also, they are playing in exactly the same position, in exactly the same clothes. This is because it is memory not reality and as we know Cobb loves to use memory in his dreams even though he warns against this. As for the rest of the film being a dream, there is a lot to discuss. This article articulates many of the things I noticed as well as others I did not so I may as well leave that here. I should add I do not agree with the 8 and a half style comparisons of the film being a Nolan autobiography in the article. I'm merely using it to highlight many of the sequences in the film which demonstrate dreamlike qualities.
  32. [Ok] Robin Hood (1973, Wolfgang Reitherman) [rewatch]
  33. [Loved] Fantasia (1940, James Algar etc I can't be bothered to list the other ten) [rewatch]
  34. [No] Small Soldiers (1998, Joe Dante) [rewatch]
  35. [Really Liked] Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter) [rewatch]
  36. [Liked] Toy Story 2 (1999, John Lasseter) [rewatch]
  37. [Loved] Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan) I shall give my thoughts on this on the rewatch. For now all I will say is that this nearly matched Memento for me.
  38. [No] The Football Factory (2004, Nick Love) [rewatch]
  39. [Liked] V for Vendetta (2005, James McTeigue) [rewatch]
  40. [Liked] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, Terry Gilliam) [rewatch]
  41. [Liked] The Hurt Locker (2008, Kathryn Bigelow)I did think this was a good film and some scenes really were excellent. However, I couldn't help but feel it didn't live up to all the hype surrounding it.
  42. [Liked] Chopper (2000, Andrew Dominik) [rewatch]
  43. [Really Liked] Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, Shane Black)
  44. [Really Liked] Caché (2005, Michael Haneke)
  45. [Loved] Moon (2009, Duncan Jones) Pays homage to a number of sci-fi films especially 2001 Space Odyssey and yet this manages to do so without feeling that is ripping off any of them. That and the fact I just seem to love this style of sci-fi film.
  46. [Liked] Solaris (2002, Steven Soderbergh) I cannot comment on how this compares to the Tarkovsky version, I haven't seen that. I think that allowed me to watch this with a less biased opinion and to me it seemed to be well above average in terms of aesthetics (I'm not claiming it is Tarkovsky) and presented what I thought was a fascinating plotline fairly well. It certainly made me eager to see how one of the regarded masters of cinema dealt with this plot.
  47. [Ok] Alice in Wonderland (1951, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske)
  48. [Liked] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, Terry Gilliam) [rewatch]
  49. [Loved] Un prophète (2009, Jacques Audiard) Oh noes; a better prison film than Shawshank! But seriously the gritty social realism does make this film light years ahead of the formerly mentioned Hollywood darling.
  50. [Ok] A Fistful Of Dollars (1964, Sergio Leone) [rewatch]
  51. [Liked] A History Of Violence (2005, David Cronenberg)
  52. [Really Liked] Four Lions (2010, Chris Morris) Morris' latest work is definitely up to standard with the balance between the seriousness of the issue and the witty satire being measured perfectly. The issue incidentally is terrorism so that balance is hard to achieve.
  53. [Really Liked] When You're Strange (2010, Tom DiCillo) ZOMG Doors documentary!!11oneoneone But seriously, nice balance between the facts given from naration provided by Johnny Depp and letting the footage itself tell the story. Morrison you beast.
  54. [Ok] X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, Gavin Hood) Weaker than the other three, didn't really feel like the film ever got going.
  55. [Liked] Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, Wes Anderson)
  56. [Really Liked] The Brothers Bloom (2008, Rian Johnson)
  57. [Loved] Brick (2005, Rian Johnson) [rewatch]
  58. [Loved] The Ghost Writer (2010, Roman Polanski)
  59. [Loved] Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese) [rewatch]
  60. [Really Liked] Easy Rider (1969, Dennis Hopper)
  61. [Liked] 24 Hour Party People (2002, Michael Winterbottom) [rewatch]
  62. [Liked] Shutter Island (2010, Martin Scorsese) I agree with Marquee, if you look at this film purely as an exciting horror film then it is worth a watch. Not up to par with Scorsese's greatest but still better than 99% of horror films.
  63. [Loved] The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese) [rewatch] Yeah, again.
  64. [Ok] Trainspotting (1998, Danny Boyle) [rewatch]
  65. [Loved] The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese) [rewatch]
  66. [Ok] Alice in Wonderland (2010, Tim Burton)
  67. [Meh] Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994, Steven Peter Segal)
  68. [Liked] Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)
  69. [Liked] 24 Hour Party People (2002, Michael Winterbottom) If you find the punk, new wave and rave scenes interesting especially with relation to Manchester and New Order/Joy Division you will find this film interesting. Otherwise probably don't bother.
  70. [Loved] Werckmeister harmóniák (2000, Béla Tarr) Finally seen the whole thing! I adored this, some very poignant messages were carried across regarding nature and man's interference with it. Were the ideals of György Eszter regarding the harmonies of Werckmeister and The Prince's views on civilisation really that different? I may write a short critique on this eventually but probably after a couple of rewatches and also after I've seen a few more of the 'classics'. Oh the editing of this was ridiculously powerful as well in conveying the message and the slow pace of the film reflected the much less frantic lives of those it portrayed.
  71. [Meh] Animal Farm (1999, John Stephenson) [rewatch] Nothing particularly stands out in this adaptation. Read the book.
  72. [Liked] Mean Streets (1973, Martin Scorsese) [rewatch] Feels like Scorsese is still getting into his groove with this one. Certainly interesting moments but still surprising he came up with Taxi Driver only three years later.
  73. [Meh] Choke (2008, Clark Gregg)
  74. [No] Robocop (1987, Paul Verhoeven)
  75. [Loved] Fa yeung nin wa (2000, Wong Kar-Wai) Continuing the theme of mastery of form and content Kar-Wai demonstrates this also but unlike Hitchcock does it through the pure aesthetic beauty of the shots and appropriate music which he combines with the emotionally charged story. Coincidentally found out that Kar-Wai himself compares this to Vertigo in many ways.
  76. [Loved] Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) This is indeed his masterpiece. Of the three others I have seen Rear Window and The Birds demonstrate a mastery of form, while North By Northwest demonstrates a mastery of content. However this demonstrates a mastery of both, combined to perfection.
  77. [Ok] American Pie 2 (2001, James Baxter Rogers) [rewatch] Also funny, but not as much so as the first as some jokes are redone.
  78. [Loved] Touch Of Evil (1957, Orson Welles) This shouldn't work but it does. I imagine the story in many directors' hands would have led to a forgotten film. But Welles simply proves he can make a masterpiece with anything. Some very interesting shots, not only the famous opening tracking shot. Also confirms to me that Orson was a more than capable actor beating Heston at his own game. Although admittedly Heston was at a disadvantage having been ludicrously cast as a Mexican.
  79. [Meh] Mystic River (2003, Clint Eastwood) All of Clint's films from the 00s feel a bit samey. Only succeeded with this formula once and this is not it. Recommended to Shawshank Redemption fans.
  80. [Loved] Brick (2005, Rian Johnson) Yes, yes, yes! It's neo-noir and by god I love it. In some ways this is the most quintessential neo-noir film of the 00s (at least that I've seen), especially with the alienated main character with the world against him.
  81. [Liked] Watchmen (2009, Zack Snyder) Wow, this film is dark. Makes The Dark Knight look like Batman & Robin. Despite the attempt at a neo-Noir superhero film though this will not be remembered like The Dark Knight for the simple reason the direction was quite gimmicky in parts (like his 300). I think what I liked most about this was the very character driven screenplay which was a welcome change from the usual plot driven superhero movies.
  82. [Liked] American Pie (1999, Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz) [rewatch] Perhaps the definitive teen movie of its age, like Superbad is for its age, this does still provide a lot of laughs
  83. [Really Liked] City Of God (2002, Fernando Meirelles) [rewatch] Talking of Goodfellas we have Brazil's response. And it certainly provides a harrowing demonstration of the endless cycle of crime that these people are born into. Repetition is a poignant theme of this film.
  84. [Really Liked] Inglourious Basterds (2009, Quentin Tarantino) [rewatch] Despite the Tarantino-bashing further down this was his best film other than Pulp Fiction. This is essentially pulp + Leone which is quite a cool combo. Not as good as on first watch however, I think solely because I was surprised at how much better it was than anything after Jackie Brown.
  85. [Loved] The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese) [rewatch] His best since Goodfellas, there is not a moment where Scorsese does not engage the audience.
  86. [Hated] Nine (2009, Rob Marshall) I watched this with neptune in the cinema. We walked out halfway through so this probably tells you just how poor this was. I don't like musicals at the best of times and this was bad for a musical. There is also the obvious fact that this is based on 8½ which continues to be a gaping hole in my viewing history. No doubt once I have seen it, I will despise this even more. Worst Day-Lewis performance I've seen as well; he is not suited to the character.
  87. [Loved] Breathless (1960, Jean-Luc Godard) I enjoyed this a lot. The jump cuts served as a constant reminder to the audience that Michel was on the run from the police because it's as if each shot is on the run from the next. I also particularly like the final scene. I can see what people mean about Tarantino being influenced though the execution in this was in a different league to Tarantino's films other than perhaps Pulp Fiction. It certainly made me want to discover more Goddard (specifically Contempt and Perrot Le Fou, and perhaps Histoire(s) du cinéma) and the French New Wave.
Author Comments: 

There are probably others I am forgetting but they are probably not great films anyway. Looking at this there are too many rewatches.

Cloned From: 
Film Log, 2010
neptune01/26/2010

Indeed too many rewatches. Cool reviews though.

kaplan01/29/2010

Hey, don't you want to play again?

khriz01/29/2010

Yeah, I'm actually planning to update this this year. Count me in

Elston02/03/2010

"Recommended to Shawshank Redemption fans" heh. I actually liked it better than Million Dollar Baby. And while it does pander like Shawshank does, I appreciated the grim tone of the film, the inevitability of fate and what have you. Also like the performaces (great cast).

callanyvegetable02/03/2010

Yeah, Million Dollar Baby was the most formulaic garbage film. Mystic River was superb.

khriz02/05/2010

Hmm I've only watched Million Dollar Baby once and although it also belongs to that sort of Shawshank/Slumdog Millionaire category of films I felt it did execute this style more masterfully. I probably should watch it again as I can't see myself defending it as strongly as I would have expected. Either way it doesn't make my top films of the 00s anyway. Mystic River just felt like a bit of a snoozefest in all honesty. It's possible it seemed worse because I watched it between Brick and Touch Of Evil both of which I felt were much more gritty and awesome.

Now as for Gran Torino, there's a damn awful film. This new one about South Africa from Eastwood looks like it will be gringeworthy too.

Marquee07/28/2010

I'm interested on seeing your fleshed out thoughts on Inception, I was left fairly cold, I didn't think it was even a competent thriller. Conceptually it was quite strong--and showed great potential--but the execution completely missed the mark. Some parts would just drag on, particularly the sequences that seemed as if Nolan was getting inspiration from Michael Bay's oeuvre. Sure it had good effects, and the acting was convincing; but the script was clumsy and I just couldn't get a feel for the whole thing. It had its moments, but with disappointing paucity.

khriz08/02/2010

Spoiler: Highlight to view
When you say you were left cold I'm assuming the characters didn't affect you on an emotional level? But if you consider it as potentially entirely a dream then this makes sense. We're told numerous times throughout that people never have the depth that they possess in reality when you are merely dreaming them. I think this was a conscious decision by Nolan and is the reason why only the character of Cobb seems to have any depth to him. Likewise, many scenes do not flow as smoothly as possible but again I think part of this can be attributed to being in a dream. I must however agree that the concept was not perfectly executed although I think that it would be very hard to do this and that Nolan does a great job. Maybe I am getting blown away by the idea of a blockbuster being so ambitious in its concept that I'm in denial over the execution. I will end up watching this again although perhaps not in the cinema and my opinion may well be revised. Can I ask how many times you have watched it and if more than once did you go in with the attitude of the entire film being a dream?
As you may be able to tell from above, if you're adverse to Mr Bay you may want to check out some Tom Six. Makes for an awesome use of your time.

Marquee08/02/2010

Only seen it once, but yeah I thought it was a dream for the reasons you (and the article) stated. It is nice to see a mainstream movie be ambitious, but that's damning with faint praise, let's call a spade a spade. It still fits neatly within the narrow parameters of typical Hollywood films, although granted it sits closer to the margins than most. The concept means nothing if it isn't fleshed out with any intelligence. I like Nolan's The Prestige the bestest, he isn't nearly as heavy-handed there as he is in Inception, TDK, etc.

The Human Centipede seriously disturbs me conceptually... I've seen Antichrist, Irreversible, etc but fuck that shit.

Elston08/08/2010

HofViolence is an interesting one. The first half is all about fooling the audience. He lures us into thinking this is a perfect little family in a quaint little town. even the way he films it is cliche. there's the typical bully, typical nerd, typical nice guy, beautiful wife. if it wasn't Cronenberg i would have shut it off, but that's what makes the second half so great. shit gets real. and i think it's all about how we deny our dark past. we're a barbaric race with centuries of blood on our hands. the gangster story is just the tip of the ice burg. it's all about living in a Christian world that has buried the ghost of Old Testament past. they might as well a called him Cain, since he kills his brother. the movie is all about waking up to the reality of human nature and not to sugar coat things (i mean, not to sound like Roger Avary or anything).

khriz08/12/2010

I agree with the points you made about Cronenberg shooting the first half of the film that way intentionally in order to heighten the drama of the second half. It's probably not a good thing the first time I watched it that it was the first Cronenberg film I had seen. So I was watching it thinking 'what the hell do people see in this guy?' for a good portion of the film. I particularly like your analogy to Christianity and Cain and Abel, I hadn't considered that but I agree with it. Now I'd say it probably just misses my favourite films. Videodrome on the other hand just blew me away and is a firm favourite.

Marquee08/12/2010

Yeah, Videodrome is amazing, glad to see you loved it. One of the most ambitious and far sighted films I can think of. I can think of. Cronenberg completely foresaw, with ridiculous accuracy, the culture that was to emerge-- from the effects of violent/sexual images, reality TV, the net, censorship, Video Nasty, and the current state of pornography. Its design is so intelligent, he understands he's using mass media as a podium to discuss mass media; so he puts a film in a film. It's crazy, one of the film's films spreads the disease to Cronenberg's film and ultimately Videodrome infects us.