No Country For Old Men

The choice not to have a traditional soundtrack for this film was perfect. It helped create tension, and the shoot out/chase scene before was one of the best I’ve ever seen. While a small part of me feels that the Coen’s are treading over old ground, at least stylistically, it’s certainly one of their best films.

Tommy Lee Jones was perfect, with a world weary tone in his narration that said as much as the words he used.

9.5/10

Michael Clayton

SPOILERS: While I’m not sure that Tilda Swinton’s performance was oscar worthy, and I don’t think I agree with kottke’s assessment of her character (I think what he sees as “weakness” was her morals surfacing against her career ambitions) and was to a degree a parallel of what Michael Clayton was going through, except that he managed to do the right thing.

I’m certainly glad that films like this are being made. The plot isn’t spoon fed, and you need to be paying attention.

8.5/10

Death Proof

8/10

Man, that’s a serious foot and leg fetish you got going on there Quentin.

Hot Fuzz

8/10

Funny as all hell. Not wishing to sound like a wanker, but thought that the third act was a bit long. Nonetheless: cool.

The Bourne Ultimatum

8.5/10

People criticised the camerawork, but I felt it suited the film, and really helped involve you in the action. Need to re-watch the first two to determine if it’s as good/better than the first two. Regardless, I really enjoyed it. And actually got to go out to a cinema to see it! OMG.

Children of Men

9/10

Not sure what to say about this. A great film, but it’s still being processed in my head. Fantastic.

Babel

9.5/10

Communicate Fools. COMMUNICATE!

Layer Cake

8/10

So, how much Matthew Vaugh is in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch ?

The Queen

8/10

Makes her look human, though the point with the stag was a bit laboured.

The Departed

9/10

The joke about the rat felt simultaneously brilliant and tacky beyond belief.

What's that about the eggs?

In an unintentional, but happy set of circumstances I ended up watching a couple of Natalie Portman (OMG SO HOTT!) movies over the past couple of days: Closer and V For Vendetta.

I thought both were excellent films, and that Ms Portman, often criticised for not being the most emotional actress around, was fantastic (an opinion no doubt helped by her aforementioned hottitude).

I have one question about each film however:

In V for Vendetta, what’s the point with the two guys cooking her the same egg breakfast? Is it to symbolise that she’s a prisoner in both of their houses? Or that both men, though different people, aim to do the same thing, albeit via different methodologies? Or were they in cahoots?

In Closer, (SPOILER ALERT), we learn at the end that her name is Jane Jones, the name she said was her real name to Clive Owen’s character in the strip club, though he wouldn’t believe her. So, what’s the point of that? Am I dense? Should I stop watching films completely?

Borat!

Apple – Trailers – Borat – Trailer

In this hilariously offensive movie, Borat travels from his primitive home in Kazakhstan to the U.S. to make a documentary. On his cross-country road-trip, Borat meets real people in real situations.

Cinematic gold awaits us.

Batman Begins

A quick trip to the cinema tonight for some Hans Cafe goodness (mmm, Squid Pepper Rice, my old friend) and Batman Begins. Rather good I must say.

Not that I was worried, but it was good to see that the approach of the last 2 Batman films, directed by (shudder) Joel Schumacher, hadn’t been continued, and the story was actually treated with some respect.

While obviously set in a different reality, there was a concerted effort to explain

• a) why there is a guy flying around in a batsuit fighting crime, and
• b) how he manages to do what he does. One problem with the earlier films is that there was no real explanation of how this guy got to the mental state that he is in (except “Oh, his parents died, and he fell into a well with some bats in”).

Second to Unbreakable, probably the best origin story of a cartoon/superhero character I’ve seen.