Garden State (2004)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by badblokebob

2007 #45
Zach Braff | 98 mins | DVD | 15 / R

Zach Braff of Scrubs fame writes, directs and stars in this coming-of-age-style comedy-drama, his first feature as writer and director. While it’s not devoid of predictable elements, there are some good scenes and performances along the way, as well as a few laughs (only a handful of them in any way marred by the trailer). It’s probably the directing that really stands out, so it’ll be interesting to see what his next film (2008’s Open Hearts) is like.

nb: I don’t know what happened to Open Hearts, but Braff’s second feature wound up being 2014’s Kickstarter-funded Wish I Was Where.

Casanova (2005)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by badblokebob

2007 #44
Lasse Hallström | 107 mins | DVD | 12 / R

As expected, this film pales in comparison to the Russell T Davies-scripted, David Tennant-starring BBC production from the same year. Where that version is witty, clever, entertaining and actually does something with the characters, this film is silly, predictable and only occasionally graced with an amusing moment. Heath Ledger isn’t in the same league as Tennant as Casanova-in-his-prime, and obviously few could compare to Peter O’Toole as old Casanova (in the BBC one, that is).

Basically: avoid this, but be sure to see the BBC one.

(Additionally, it says a lot about America that the vague innuendo and sexual themes of this gained it an R rating over there, while in the UK it only managed a (much more appropriate) 12.)

Hidden (2005)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by badblokebob

aka Caché

2007 #43
Michael Haneke | 113 mins | DVD | 15 / R

Empire’s 15th best film of 2006 is very European. “How so”, you may ask? Well, firstly, it is French; but it certainly feels it: it takes a very good concept/plot for a thriller and then stretches it out a little thin, with a notably slow pace, and a concentration on the dramatic impact on characters rather than plot movements. Not necessarily bad things, and it walks a fine line somewhere between them working and them failing (that is to say, it’s not wholly successful). There’s an irritating apparent lack of resolution, though reading one theory in an online review has suggested maybe I missed (or misinterpreted) it.

The performances also deserve mention — as with everything else they teeter between excellent (mostly) and a bit unbelievable (see: the rather muted ‘arguments’, or the unusual order of reactions to the son going missing). Some also might argue the direction is flat, with many long shots and relatively few cuts. You could argue this reflects the theme/plot, but on the other hand it is somewhat symptomatic of some areas of European cinema.

Three Colours: Red (1994)

Posted on May 8, 2007 by badblokebob

aka Trois couleurs: Rouge

2007 #42
Krzysztof Kieslowski | 95 mins | DVD | 15 / R

The final film in the trilogy takes on the theme of fraternité/brotherhood, in a relatively obvious way: Irene Jacob befriends a lonesome old man who spies on his neighbour’s telephone calls. There’s much more to it than that, all on broadly the same theme, but I’m sure to say too much would be to ruin what is an excellent film.

Best of all, in my mind, is the intriguing and oddly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I still recommend it.

Three Colours Red placed 8th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.

2007 | Weeks 15-18

Posted on May 8, 2007 by badblokebob

After a glut of movies during the middle of the holiday things have slowed down a tad again. I say “a tad” — you can see how much by the sheer volume of weeks included in this entry and the relatively sparse number of films! (To be technical, the average-films-per-week in this entry is 1.75, compared to 2.72 overall and 6 (yes, 6!) last time.)

Nonetheless, things are progressing, and overall I’m still on track to make it well past the 100 mark. That’s from the overall average mind, not from the one for this period. From that I’ll make it to about 90. Maybe I should worry… except that summer movie season is on the way! Plenty of new films there. Plus all the ones I’ve recently missed out on DVD.

Well, that sure is shiny.

This time, I break my self-imposed rule about the length of reviews to witter on about Hidden for double the time. I also didn’t watch a single new film in week sixteen (Three Colours Red fell right at the end of week fifteen, Hidden a little way into week seventeen). And I’ve nearly hit the halfway point, a third of the way through the year. Oh my!

For anyone who may be trying to keep track, this period covers nearly all of April — from the 9th to the 30th, in fact — plus pretty much the first week of May (up to the 6th). That’s basically a month. Well well well…

#42 Three Colours: Red

#43 Hidden (Caché)

#44 Casanova

#45 Garden State

#46 Breathless

#47 Bonnie and Clyde

#48 Stormbreaker