Category: Films

Spurred on by the Top Ten List below, I decided it was time to get around to watching a couple of films that I’ve had on video for ages but unbelievably have never gotten around to watching. There’s a game in David Lodge novels where academics in English departments have to name works of literature…

Sight and Sound magazine, published by the BFI, have just announced their Top Ten Poll 2002. This has been published every ten years since 1952, conducted by polling film critics around the world. An additional poll among directors has also taken place for the last couple of times. There has been some press comment (sorry…

What can I say – I love John Sayles films. He undoubtedly has his own style of movie (at least the ones he directs himself), but they’re masterpieces that show elements of real world America usually avoided. This film is much like Lone Star in it’s telling a story through several different families and groups…

Finally got around to seeing Nueve reinas yesterday, as London was being deluged by flash floods. I absolutely love the con-artist film sub-genre. The likes of David Mamet’s House of Games or Stephen Frears’ The Gifters. The sort of film where you know that there’s a scam behind the scam but you’re not sure what…

I read the Independent on Sunday this weekend for the first time in quite a while, and was very pleased to learn that David Thomson, the author of the awesome Biographical Dictionary of Film (new edition coming out I see) is compiling his Top Ten Films. If there is one reason to buy the Independent…

Spent yesterday afternoon convalescing with this Kevin Costner film. I missed it in the cinema and did mean to catch it since a trip to Cuba meant that I was interested in all things Cuban last year. Really well put together film about a period of which I knew little. The only thing that I…

I must admit to having picked this up after reading something about the excellent new (to Channel 4 at least) series Six Feet Under. Both were written/created by Alan Ball, and here’s another film I saw once at the cinema and not at all since. There are some wonderful lines in this film, and I…

Spent yesterday afternoon watching this ahead of an enormously predictable British Grand Prix and very poor Mens’ Final at Wimbledon. I’m disappointed with myself that I didn’t catch this at the cinema. The film takes a very cynical view of US politics, as Jeff Bridges’ President attempts to make Joan Allen Vice President, while Gary…

Not a bad little film, but nothing spectacular. I must admit that I haven’t seen the original since I saw it the first time at the cinema, and I can’t exactly see myself rushing out to buy the DVD of this one. Some good lines, and entertaining performances, but the CGI is not used with…

The new Jack Ryan film seems to take a James Bond approach to the character, in that you can introduce a new actor into the role, and totally reinvent his world. So following on from Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, suddenly we get a very junior Ben Affleck in the role. In actual fact I…

Saw this on it’s UK opening night last night, and have got to say that I was quite impressed. I think that it’s possible that a few people may be disappointed when they see it – but Spielberg is grown up these days, and makes interesting and though provoking films. The plot, as explained in…