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Films I watched this week:
I took a week's holiday last week, and having very little money/plans I just watched a load of films instead (mostly), via cinema, Lovefilm and DVDs I'd bought but not watched. I found it very enjoyable indeed. Anyone seen these? Care to comment? Recommend some things that are a bit like these things?
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World- Took a little longer to warm to it than I would have thought, but got there in the end and much fun to be had. Edgar Wright is a genius at including little details that make you fall in love with his work. And the evil exes were obviously having a riot playing their villains, including Annabell. Sorry, Ann, I just said that because she's shaped like a be...'cause she's the belle of the ball!
Toy Story 3- FINALLY got around to this, exactly as great as expected. Loved the "Night & Day" short.
EXTE: Hair Extensions- Because when Sion Sono makes a film about a murdered teenager found in a transporter crate whose wounds grow hair at an incredible rate who is then stolen by an evil morgue assistant who uses the hair from said corpse to make cursed hair extensions that kill people, it's always going to be worth a watch. Batshit mental and generally brilliant.
I'm A Cyborg But That's OK- Loved this. Complete confection from Park Chan-Wook, a hint of the Gilliam about it (especially in its not-entirely-PC attitude to mental illness and how wacky it can be) and the older sister from A Tale Of Two Sisters is adorable in it, even when she becomes a machine gun lady.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford- I've seen this several times, but my girlfriend hadn't, one of my all-time favourite films. Tense as hell, achingly beautiful to look at and (arguably) the finest Cave/Ellis score. For my girlfriend, the main point of the film is that for career criminals these people were all terrible liars.
Columbo: Murder, Smoke and Shadows- Almost finished my season 1-8 boxset, not a classic ep but it had some weird flourishes and everyone's favourite skateboarding cybervillain, Fisher Stevens from "Hackers". Unfortunately, he didn't do his impression of an Indian like in "Short Circuit". He was, however, annoying. Good murder though, even if the Universal Studios setting feels a bit played out by now. They'll never top the Shatner episode. Falk got very, very old between seasons 7 and 8. And there's no way that Dog survived the decade, sad to say.
The Hangover- Was nice to watch this relatively hype-free. Zach Galifianakis was as great as expected. Ed Helms was better than expected. Bradley Cooper was adequate. The film was pretty good and for a knockabout comedy had surprisingly great cinematography in places. I'd probably watch it again, but not in a hurry.
The Time Traveller's Wife- What a pointless film. I liked the book, without quite loving it, but the film skipped over chapters to the extent that I wouldn't even call it an adaptation, more like crib notes. No heart, miscast, missed the point entirely. Basically, the one thing I think it got right was one shot where a palm print could be seen fading from a window, in a call back to an earlier scene. Meaning everything bar that was a waste of my time.
Youth Without Youth- Couldn't engage with it, except in flashes. Looked great, nice to see Coppola doing what he wants to, didn't really 'get' what he was going for. I found it very esoteric and remote, which was a problem more with the material, than the presentation. Looking forward to "Tetro" though.