Viewing log: 26/3/10

New Releases

The Blind Side C–

We've seen worse, let's face it, but it's hard not to feel unduly hugged and patronised

In the Land of the Free B–

I question the manipulative score and odd omissions; still, potent and commendable

Lion's Den B+

Trapero's direction is characteristically great on detail, texture and rock-solid humanism

Lourdes B

Often dazzling, and great around the edges; does seem evasive about its own point at times

Nightwatching D–

Exposition Hell: one-time alchemist Greenaway transmutes lead into more lead

Perrier's Bounty D+

An inspiration vacuum, with little going for it except the reliable Gleeson

Storm B–

Impressive leads in a welcome feminist take on reconciliation politics, but thrill it does not

(still haven't seen: No One Knows About Persian Cats, Shank, Nanny McPhee)

Other Epic Adventures

Appaloosa C–

Bumbles along, shackled to a terminally musty conception of male camaraderie

on flight to...

...34th Hong Kong Film Festival and Filmart

Crossing Hennessy D+

Helped with my city geography, but not with my ongoing bafflement at opening-night selections

Bloody Shake zzz (jetlag)

Road Train D (but!)

Nothing makes any real sense, but it just about kept me awake

Fire of Conscience B+ (review)

on flight back...

Vengeance C–

Same old sentimental score-settling; the line between this and Taken is thinner than To's fans admit

and on the same day(!)...

...24th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

I Killed My Mother B+

I expected precocious and up itself, which it is - but too damn confident not to impress

Mississippi Damned B

Admirably tough, forceful and well-acted, until the pile-up of misery just gets too much

Christopher Strong (1933) B–

Flippant fun when it's being flippant fun, though it's technically dodgy and hard to take seriously

(36 hours' sleep)

Raging Sun, Raging Sky B+

Gay love explicated through a dreamscape of danger and myth; a gorgeous homo-odyssey

Viewing log: 19/3/10

New Releases (youch, what a week this was)

The Bounty Hunter C–

Should have loathed this, but Aniston lifts surprising swathes of it to near-watchability

Happy Ever Afters D–

Two depressing weddings for the price of one, and they've really skimped on the photography

The House of the Devil B+

The Far From Heaven of retro slasher homages: precise and shivery, even if it's all build-up

I Love You Phillip Morris C+

Never establishes a workable tone, but it's surprisingly full-on with the guy on guy stuff

Old Dogs F

I could emit distressed animal noises but don't know how to spell them

My Last Five Girlfriends C

Not unpromising, but it juggles too many conceits and drops them one by one

Salvage W/O

Couldn't discern any degree of formal flair, just lots of syrupy orange blood

The Scouting Book for Boys C

Starts well, looks great, but too much is hard to buy, and the acting wobbles

Sons of Cuba B–

Initially like every other kiddie-contest documentary, then gains muscle as it proceeds

Other Adventures

The Exorcist III* (1990) B

The shape's a bit random, but I love its thoughtfulness; moving and eerie by turns

Young and Innocent (1937) B–

Middling Hitch for the period, dawdling a bit towards its one great set piece

Viewing log: 12/3/10

New Releases

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo C

Disappointingly stodgy at best, and leaves a rather acrid taste in the mouth

Green Zone C+

Obviously compromised, pulled off watchably within its limits: still, a shame

Hachi: A Dog's Tale C–

What's with Gere and the Japanese remakes? Sits, lies down, begs for your love

The Kreutzer Sonata B

An astute incision into pathological jealousy, matchmaking Rose's passions

Shutter Island D+

Clanks its way through an ill-conceived plot with futile look-at-me craft

Other Adventures

Black Death B

Almost too grim, but I'm all for serious British horror and admire its integrity

Viewing log: 5/3/10

New Releases

1234 B–

Modest but engaging; a more charismatic lead might have helped it fly

Alice in Wonderland D+

Confused about what it's for, visually unenticing, and traitorously generic at the end

Case 39 D

I've started feeling sorry for Ren-Zel, but really, the whole contraption is risible

Chloe C–

Julianne shines in a fast-nosediving project Egoyan clearly doesn't care about

Father of My Children B+

Deceptively artless, as befits a philosopher's movie, assembled with thought and grace

Legion C–

Crummy... but there's some trash pleasure to be had when it's not yapping on and on

Motherhood F

A dubious brief -- Uma does Mrs Dalloway -- which becomes parodic and nightmarish

Ondine D

Hard to see how anyone thought this was a good idea, least of all Chris Doyle

Other Adventures

The Killer Inside Me B–

Strangely academic, but Affleck's committed, and it's an honest stab at the book

Whip It B+

Wasn't sure at first, but the ensemble fill it up with life like some joyous balloon

The Messenger B+

Powerfully sober, with Harrelson only the third best in show; Foster is wonderful

Red Dust (1932) B+

Count me a Jean Harlow convert! Pleasurable as more than just camp

Viewing log: 26/2/10

New Releases

The Crazies C–

Promising set-up, but devolves rapidly into a no-brain, resonance-free apocalypse

Everybody's Fine C+

Perfectly harmless, even pleasant, save for the garish kiddie apparitions

Extraordinary Measures D

Unduly mawkish disinterring of a manky old chestnut; the "light" bits are deadly

From Paris with Love D–

Lots of guilt, no pleasure -- noxiously retrograde, and the leads don't help

Leap Year D–

To be sure, eejit leprechauns trapped Amy in this charmless, gone-off confection

Micmacs C–

Tiny bits pop, but the whole proposition is so tactless and off-putting

Other Adventures

Sleeper B

Iffy gender politics lessen but can't spoil the inspired makeshift silliness

Viewing log: 19/2/10

A Closed Book

C–

Not exactly Nabokov, plus too smug and threadbare to function cinematically

Crazy Heart

C+

Can't begrudge Bridges, and easily indulged, though the Maggie stuff feels tepid

The Headless Woman

A–

A glancing yet exacting moral puzzle which turns the viewer into a detective

The Last Station D+

I've dissed this already, but forgot to employ the words "porridgey" and "why?"

The Lovely Bones

D–

Let's make a Nancy Drew cartoon of love and loss! Almost eerily misguided

Robey's Oscar Rewrites: (2)

BEST DIRECTOR, 1962

They said...

Pietro Germi, Divorce — Italian Style

*David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia

Robert Mulligan, To Kill a Mockingbird

Arthur Penn, The Miracle Worker

Frank Perry, David and Lisa

I say...

Luis Buñuel, The Exterminating Angel

John Frankenheimer, The Manchurian Candidate

David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia

Sidney Lumet, Long Day's Journey Into Night

Andrei Tarkovsky, Ivan's Childhood

With a huge roster of unusually worthy runners-up: Stanley Kubrick (Lolita), John Ford (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane), Michelangelo Antonioni (L'eclisse), Roman Polanski (Knife in the Water), Arthur Penn (The Miracle Worker), Tony Richardson (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner), Jean-Luc Godard (Vivre sa vie), Edward Dmytryk (Walk on the Wild Side), Otto Preminger (Advise and Consent) and Herk Harvey, for my beloved Carnival of Souls. What a year! Plus I haven't even seen Ozu's An Autumn Afternoon yet. And I don't really get Jules et Jim, hence its exclusion.

Oscar Symposium

@The Film Experience. Join us!

Get to The Point

It's not often I have something to plug other than my Telegraph reviews, but I'm chuffed to announce that a longer piece commissioned from me by a fledgling Chicago-based magazine is both up online and available in the print edition. It's about David Cronenberg. You'll see there's much else to browse through, and though I haven't made time yet for a proper perusal of their second issue, I loved the first: the intellectual scope of the thing, ranging from classical philosophy to politics and the arts, is massively refreshing, and it was a real privilege to write for them. I may write more, if their increasingly prestigious roster of guest contributors leaves any room for the likes of me. If you like what you're reading, and agree with me that it's the kind of publication that needs to be championed, do spread the word!

Berlin: Days 5+6+7

Red Hill (Patrick Hughes, Aus: Panorama) B
Wobbly script, but cracking drive, sound and intensity for a debut

Caterpillar (Koji Wakamatsu, Japan: official competition) W/O

Literally pitches itself as gruelling arthouse gimp porn, so don't blame me

Gentlemen Broncos (Jared Hess, US: Generation 14+) B–

Wildly up and down, but hard done by, particularly given the delightful perfs

Amphetamine (Scud, Hong Kong: Panorama) D

Nothing but copious nudity and insane naiveté to recommend it. I did stay...

The Illusionist (Sylvain Chomet, UK/France: Berlinale Special) A–

A beautiful wisp of a thing: captures the Edinburgh twilight just sublimely

Please Give (Nicole Holofcener, US: out of competition) C+

Pleasant enough, though the want of ambition or novelty disappoints

Winter's Bone (Debra Granik, US: Forum) B+

Superb community flavour around a bracing Dardenne-ish narrative grip

The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, US: out of competition) B+

Radical no, generous and hilarious and expertly performed? Absolutely

Berlin: Days 3+4

Making the Boys (Crayton Robey, US: Panorama Dokumente) C+

Valuable anecdote trussed up in wearing, gossipy montage

Submarino (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark: official competition) B–

21 Grams-ishly grim, but does have guts, and it's memorably acted

La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1961: Retrospektive) A–

A marriage in freefall: pristinely disconsolate, and Moreau's terrific

Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, US: official competition) C

Morose People? Tries hard to say things, but too often drab and taxing

Exit Through the Gift Shop (Bansky, UK: out of competition) B+

Riotously funny, shape-shifting doc, full of ironies about art and profit

World on a Wire (RW Fassbinder, Germany, 1973: Berlinale Special) B

The story's confounding, but it's so delirious design-wise you don't care

Berlin: Days 1+2

Apart Together (Quanan Wang, China: official competition) C+

Too much on-the-nose reminiscing, and the static style gets mannered

The Ghost (Roman Polanski, France/Germany/UK: official competition) B–

Frisky and wittily played, if limitingly lightweight as a political thriller

Beautiful Darling (James Rasin, US: Panorama Dokumente) B

Good for this overplayed genre, thanks to some piercing archival finds

Howl (Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, US: official competition) B–

Animation (and poetry) aside, it's a thoughtful and touching portrait

Bill Douglas Trilogy (Forum) A

Perfect, rapt, quiet, mundane poetry with sullen soul -- lives up to its rep

Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, US: out of competition) D+

Why, Marty, why? Loony, gimmicky and pretentious -- it's like Gothika

Viewing log: 12/2/10

New Releases (blurbs to follow)

Anonyma: A Woman in Berlin B

Brave with its ambiguities, rock solid in filming and structure

Battle for Terra C

Kind of gawkily well-meaning, but I mainly felt sorry for it

Beyond the Pole C

Laughs at the start, but gets sketchy and unrewarding

Food, Inc. B–

It's a shame the movie makes its case so darn politely

Letter from an Unknown Woman* B

Used to love this, now just like it: the acting is kind of shallow

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief D–

The kind of processed cheese I wouldn't wish on anyone

Ponyo B–

Oddball yes, cutesy yes, beguiling only sporadically

A Single Man* C

Worth it for Firth, but only just: the style doesn't mean anything

Takeshis' D

A thoroughgoing rhyme and reason drought, from a director I don't get

Valentine's Day D+

Mosaics of love lost and found rarely come fuglier

Winter in Wartime C

The Dutch Resistance as a blandly handsome, Boy's Own exercise

The Wolfman C

Some capable craft at the service of scared, MOR compromise