Film-a-day: Week 5: 13-19 Feb 2011

We'll start with a film I watched purely because 65daysofstatic were doing a live re-score of the film at the Glasgow Film Festival. The rest are, as usual, behind the cut.

Silent Running (1972) ***

Silent Running [live re-score by 65daysofstatic] ****

Not that I was, but if I were in any doubt before, now I'm certain. Music can dramatically change the impact of a film and how it's ideas and messages come across. Silent Running by itself is a bit of a strange beast. The story is a little on the perplexing side for one, especially for the rating it was given. Keep in mind that this was given a U for universal in the UK and G for general audiences in the USA. The main character kills three of his crew, two of them are blown up and the other strangled. I had this argument with a friend about whether the message outweighed the reason for ratings, and to be honest I kinda felt like rating this a so low is pretty irresponsible. Still, that has more to do with the BBFC and MPAA, but it does shine a light on where the film has this character.

Bruce Dern does no wrong here as the main man, left at his wits end trying to protect the worlds last forest from everyone else in the universe, who have plans to turn this sanctuary ships into cruise liners. He shines in a film that was built to have one strong main character tell his own story, and the look of the ships is incredibly well done too, especially considering how long ago it came out. However, the plot drifts a lot in the middle when the idea falls to it's basic elements, and the soundtrack is one of the worst I have ever heard. Which is where 65daysofstatic come in. I've never been to a live re-scoring before, but this was definitely a match made in heaven. The band used their post-rock to set the scenes and used their electronic side to ramp up the sci-fi element perfectly, and left me feeling more for the issues at hand than the first viewing ever could. It was a perfect marriage, and I came out wanting that to be the final cut of the film; wanting them to record the re-score and have Universal release it on the films 40th anniversary next year. Who's with me?

After The Cut: The Terminal, Marley And Me, The Cocoanuts, Choke, Paper Heart and The Goods (Live Hard, Sell Hard).

Film-a-day: Week 4: 6-12 Feb 2011

More Film-a-day from the past month, kicking off with a double header from the Glasgow Film Festival.

Boy (2010) ****/

This is actually my second time seeing this New Zealand based gem from Taika Waititi, and it was just as good as the first time. I absolutely love all the character and the way they interact with each other, especially in regard to Waititi as Alamein, the Boy in question's father. The relationship between the two is interesting to say the least and gives the film some of it's finest moments, although either of them could hold the film in their own right, which is a great compliment to James Rolleston who played Boy. Not only was this his first acting experience, but he was only picked from a cast of extras when it turned out that their first choice had grown up too much since the casting. He has a wonderful comic timing and is downright perfectly cast, and does an incredible job of playing the lead at such a young age. Boy is an insightful, lovely, funny, sweet, surprising and touching film that should be seen by all. So go see it, egg!

Paul (2011) ****/

My lovely fiancée and I caught this at the festival too, and found it to be a hilariously entertaining film, which adequately filled up my geek quota for the week, as I thought it might. It's puts Simon Pegg and Nick Frost back together again, this time with director Greg Mottola instead of their usual cohort Edgar Wright, and sets them off on a road trip through points of extraterrestrial importance. The relationship between the two is, yet again, wonderful and helps carry the film when it hits the tiniest of dry spells. Don't worry though, they don't last long, and even the highly annoying Kristen Wiig is brilliant here, so something must be going right. The whole film is an utter triumph that solidifies the bond between the two actors as a vital double act that should work together in every second film. Even though separately one is definitely stronger than the other, together they are unbeatable, and this film proves that even without the incredible Wright directing they are still a force to be reckoned with.

After the cut: Mean Girls, Cop Out, Fanboys, The Informant! and Knowing.

Film-a-day: Week 3: 30 Jan-5 Feb 2011

I've really neglected this over the last month, so I figured I'd get caught up with the notes I've got for the films I've seen. As usual, the best is at the top, the rest follow after the cut!

Con Air (1997) ****

I don't know if I mentioned, but I am currently on a bit of a crusade to watch all of Nicolas Cage's films. One of which that came most highly recommended was Con Air, and I had a great time finding out why. From the outset, it's one of the dumbest films I've ever heard of, but that is its charm, and why it works so darn well. The whole cast are at their nutty best, and the whole two hours is spent ramping up every situation to it's most ridiculously plausible conclusion. The fact that a sequel is in the works to help Cage fund his IRS problems is superb.

After the cut: The Rescuers, Sherlock Holmes, Extract, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science and The Other Guys.

Film-a-day: Week 2: 23-29 Jan 2011

Another week passes and I didn't even made it to the required seven films I set myself, I only got to 6 and even that was a push! Bad Carl! Still, I'm sure I'll make it up to myself and any readers that feel ripped off by this week's instalment! As with last week, the best of the week is here, and the others follow after the cut!

Up (2009) *****

A geniune classic of modern cinema, and there's no two ways about it. Up joins Wall-E as the best Pixar films so far. It's my third time watching it and I was still in tears for the opening scene, and my worst blubber scene, when he looks at the adventure book again. Of course, it's incredibly funny like the majority of Pixar films, but also quite emotionally affecting, which sets it hugely apart from every other animation studio out there, including their owners, Disney. One of the most powerful parts of the film is truly the score, as Michael Giacchino continues to build an impressive back catalogue of the best soundtracks you will ever hear. If you haven't seen it, it's more than just worth getting a hold of, as it was definitely one of the best films of 2009.

After the cut: Black Swan, 300, I Could Never Be Your Woman, MacGruber and Pokemon: The First Movie.

Film-a-day 16-22 Jan 2011

Another regular feature I plan on updating every week is what film's I've been watching during the week. My plan for the rest of the year is to try and watch a film every day, or at least seven films in a week. I haven't done brilliantly this first week (this is more of the last 10 days really), but the plan is to update every week with a little review and star rating for each one. The best one of the week is here, the others are beyond the jump!

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) ****/

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) *****
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi (1983) ****

Of course, what a way to start! While it's easy to pick out the bad parts of the trilogy, if you just let it wash over you and just enjoy it the good parts are brilliant and plentiful. Of course Empire is the best of the three, especially considering most of Jedi can be boiled down to Jabba the Hutt, Ewoks and a lot of shots of Luke Skywalker waiting to get angry enough to almost turn to the dark side. While it's not as easy to pidgeonhole A New Hope, it barely misses the five star mark and is as fine an introduction to a trilogy as there has ever been. But of course, The Empire Strikes Back is the best! It introduced Yoda, Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett and included the brilliant scenes of the battle on Hoth, the wonderful looking Cloud City and the classic training scene from Yoda on Dagobah. And that's just for starters. Superb!

This week was a bit all over the spectrum of film with Lord Of War, Safe Men, Inception and Dog Day Afternoon getting a look after the jump!