Category Archives: Genre

Crash: Director’s Cut (2004)

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2007 #27a
Paul Haggis | 115 mins | DVD | 15

Crash: Director's CutOK, I must confess, this one is something of a cheat — I’ve seen Crash before, and whilst some ‘director’s cuts’ can be vastly different, this one is only around two minutes longer. But I'll take any chance I can get to go on about how this is a much better and more Oscar-deserving piece than a certain overrated film about gay cowboys.

In my opinion this is a film that should be seen, not necessarily for its message, but for its quality in terms of performance, direction, etc.

5 out of 5

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

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2007 #27
George Clooney | 109 mins | TV | 15 / R

Confessions of a Dangerous MindGeorge Clooney’s directorial debut is part biopic, part comedy, and part spy thriller.

It’s the last part that works best, but perhaps that’s just because I have a predilection for spy thrillers; that said, the filmmakers would seem to agree as, after a late appearance in the plot, it comes to dominate its climax. It’s also nicely shot, especially the excursions to Europe.

I would recommend it (though not quite as heartily as Clooney’s second film, the excellent Good Night, and Good Luck).


4 out of 5

Flight 93 (2006)

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2007 #26
Peter Markle | 85 mins | DVD | 12 / PG-13

Flight 93Oh dear.

The Other Film About United 93 is just that. With poor acting, pedestrian direction, dreadful effects, and a young child in every single scene involving a relative, this film is infinitely inferior to Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Where that was subtle, realistic and moving, this is over-worked, cheesy and laughable — yes, laughable; we spent half the running time taking the piss out of it! Not good for a film about a tragedy.

Some have called this a worthy companion piece to United 93. It’s not. United 93 is essential; Flight 93 you can take or, preferably, leave.

1 out of 5

Flight 93 featured on my list of The Five Worst Films I Saw in 2007, which can be read in full here.

Doom (2005)

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2007 #25
Andrzej Bartkowiak | 113 mins | DVD | 15 / R

DoomDoom is quite flawed in many ways. I don’t say this because I inherently dislike mindless action films (while I am perfectly aware they are not usually Great Films, I enjoy them as entertainment); I say this because Doom doesn’t really succeed at being one. It takes too long to get anywhere — I think someone thought it was building suspense, when really it’s just nothing happening.

When it does kick off it’s brief and only vaguely entertaining. And the much-discussed first-person sequence is far too much like watching someone play a video game.

2 out of 5

The Reckless Moment (1949)

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2007 #24
Max Ophüls | 79 mins | DVD | 12

The Reckless MomentOphüls’ film noir about a mother who covers up the death of her daughter’s much older boyfriend. I think I’m perhaps erring on the side of generosity with the rating, but it is still quite a good film. Certainly it allowed me to play one of my favourite games: what would I change if I remade it? I had a few quite good ideas, actually. I’m tempted to start writing…

4 out of 5

Postscript #1 (9/7/2014)
The Reckless Moment was probably only the second or third film noir I’d ever seen, and I don’t think I properly appreciated what I was watching. It doesn’t really come across in this ‘review’ (being as it is from the era when I was only providing a couple of lines on each film), but I’ve felt for several years now that the sense of apathy I felt then (which I think is implied) no longer reflects my memory of the film. I would dearly like to get round to revisiting it and form a fresh opinion, but until then this is archived as-is.

Postscript #2 (22/10/2017)
Having finally rewatched it, I posted a couple of brief thoughts on Letterboxd, here.

Fargo (1996)

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Fargo2007 #23
Joel Coen | 94 mins | DVD | 18 / R

Fargo is the latest film to have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry, donchaknow. It’s also 105th on the IMDb Top 250 [it’s now 153rd], and the 21st film from the 1990s. So it’s pretty much a modern classic then.

It is indeed very good; the only thing holding me off giving it 5 is a lack of that Something which leads me to rate so highly after one viewing. Maybe it will go up in time.

4 out of 5

United 93 (2006)

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2007 #22
Paul Greengrass | 107 mins | DVD | 15 / R

United 93It’s very hard to find what to say about this film. It’s a shame the Oscars were too cowardly to nominate it for much; Greengrass probably deserved Best Director for this more than Scorsese did for The Departed (he is, all round, a talented and excellent director). At least the BAFTAs were brave enough to give it to him (cos British is best ‘n’ all).

But the film itself: it is above all affecting; it feels real and true; it is hard to imagine a more competent and respectful film being made about 9/11; it is impossible to imagine one being made about flight 93. This is filmmaking of the highest order. Perhaps most importantly of all, the families want you to see it.

Absolutely essential.

5 out of 5

United 93 placed 1st on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.

Johnny English (2003)

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2007 #21
Peter Howitt | 84 mins | DVD | PG / PG

Johnny EnglishAlmost the flip-side of Hot Fuzz’s coin. Johnny English doesn’t quite manage the action sequence thing (though the car chase is quite good), and the humour is a lot gentler. Every joke is sign-posted at least a good few seconds in advance, sometimes several minutes, yet that’s half the fun — you know what’s about to go wrong and that nothing can stop English doing it anyway.

Not brilliant, then, but an entertaining enough bit of nothing.

3 out of 5

Hot Fuzz (2007)

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2007 #20
Edgar Wright | 121 mins | cinema | 15 / R

Hot FuzzHere come the fuzz!

I wasn’t hyped enough about this film to pay £10 to see it a week before release, and instead paid just £3.75 to see it in a big screen with just myself and a friend. Now that’s entertainment.

The brilliance of the situation aside, this is a damn good film. Most of its running time is devoted to high-quality comedy, and then it kicks into a full-blown action movie! Fantastic! I unreservedly recommend this to everyone, and especially to fans of action films and British comedies — do not miss this.

5 out of 5

Hot Fuzz placed 2nd on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.


UPDATE (16/9/2012)

Having had a rant about current cinema prices on twitter the other day, the fact this review mentions how much I paid back in 2007 led me to look up the current cost of tickets at the same cinema (a branch of a well-known chain).

It’s five-and-a-half years on, so of course prices will have gone up, but nonetheless I have two observations:

1) The cost of a regular (peak time) adult ticket is now £9.
2) The cost of the equivalent ticket to the one I bought is £5.40. That’s a 44% increase. An inflation calculator tells me that my 2007 ticket would today be exactly 20% more expensive.

Make of that what you will.

Blood Diamond (2006)

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2007 #19
Edward Zwick | 143 mins | cinema | 15 / R

Blood DiamondIn some respects this also suffered from hype, though only to a small degree — Jonathan Ross loved it, which is usually a very good recommendation to me; I ‘merely’ thought it was very good.

Its most impressive achievement is mixing important real-life information with a compelling narrative in a way that does not feel preachy. It also doesn’t compromise on its moral messages for the sake of a twist, and has some great action sequences to boot. There are almost as many endings as Lord of the Rings mind.

4 out of 5

Blood Diamond placed 10th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.