craigboney Reviews

Gosford Park (2001)

a bit of a sows ear made from a silk purse...

[6/10 · 11 March 2002]

With a who's who cast of fine British actors (Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren et al), and Robert Altman at the helm, the portents seemed good. The presence of Emily Watson was also a major factor ('Breaking The Waves' -for me, one of the saddest, most beautiful and most brilliant pieces of cinema ever).

I'd heard this was maybe a little above the usual English country house period drama fodder. Indeed, the start was impressively done, as you get sucked into the world as it was in the 1930's and the way the extended family suckle at the fat belly of Sir William McCordle (played by Michael Gambon). Upon his death, it's rather stultifying to witness the calmness, almost warm wave of apathy that seems to infuse most of the gathering. Unfortunately, this lack of emotion from the characters infected me as well.

It's sometimes difficult with such a large cast simply remembering who is who and how they interrelate with each other. To overcome this, it helps if there is enough depth to encourage repeat viewings. Unfortunately, it takes so long for anything beyond character development and scene setting to occur, that repeat viewings are (for me anyway) unlikely. The volume of characters and their equality in terms of importance unfortunately renders the viewer's relationship with even the most interesting ones - such as Robert Parks (Clive Owen) and Mrs Wilson, The Housekeeper (Helen Mirren) - not necessarily intimate enough to generate any real feeling when their denouement comes.

The absolute nadir of the movie is the atrocious Inspector Thompson (portrayed by Stephen Fry), such a ridiculous unbelievable caricature of an incompetent 1930's Detective that by his appearance he sucks out all seriousness and believability from the final third of the story. Handling unfingerprinted decanters? Ignoring clues found by enterprising Constables? You betcha. Thankfully the good points - the performances of Emily Watson, Maggie Smith and Richard E Grant, the articulation of the class differences and arrogance of the upper-classes - balance this somewhat. Unfortunately, for me, this was still a bit of a sows ear made from a silk purse.

Fat Girl (2001)

Better than expected tale of adolescent sexuality

[7/10 · 11 March 2002]

Directed by the 'controversial' Catherine Breillat (she showed a hard-on in her last movie, 'Romance'), the story revolves around a family on holiday with two adolescent sisters, the chubby 13 year old Anaïs (played by Anaïs Reboux) and the rather more svelte Elena (Roxane Mesquida) who is two years her senior, although rather less mature. Both girls are still virgins, although Elena is clearly aware of the power of her beauty over the opposite sex. Effortlessly she pulls Italian law student Fernando (Libero De Rienzo, with whom she begins an intense relationship. Fernando talks of love, but is obviously keen for sex. Poor Anaïs is unfortunately sharing a room with the pair as they fumble towards a deflowering. Indeed, this is one of the most beguiling scenes in the movie; you feel awkward bearing witness to what is going on - the constant demands of Fernando for 'a demonstration of love', which after refusals brings forth the sorts of coercing phrases regarding anal sex that so many girls must dread to hear.

The animosity is often intense between the sisters, Anaïs' bitterness towards her sister combined with a resigned maturity that only rejection and frustration can breed. But at the same time there are wonderful scenes of the two sharing sisterly moments; albeit with bile never far away. The point is well made, the bond is there, no matter how much of a bitch Elena can be. Anaïs is such a lost, sad character; the melancholic beauty of one scene on the beach where she is singing to herself whilst Elena and Fernando 'make out' is incredible. Also well portrayed is the relationship with the parents. Mother is very much like Elena; Father is a workaholic who hates holidays and returns home before the others. Although the parents are mostly secondary in the story, you sense that they tend to reinforce Anaïs insecurities and knock her down further. This is exemplified in the scene the morning after the first Elena & Fernando night together. Anaïs is clearly really low, crying and choked. Her parents offer zero warmth, the only solace coming from a still caustic Elena shoving bread into her mouth to comfort her.

The story climaxes as the sisters and their mother return home from their holiday, after a gloriously comic scene where Fernando's mother (Laura Betti) visits to reclaim a precious ring that he had given to Elena as an engagement ring. The journey toward home is fantastically shot; the claustrophobia of motorway driving - especially since the mother doesn't like driving, and is pretty p****d at Elena's antics and Anaïs' miserableness - metaphoring the unease between the three, even more so as night wears on and mother becomes more wary of the huge dangerous lorries that she overtakes incautiously on the freeway. If I was an absolute ponce (or totally fearless), I would say these trucks are a metaphor for the male predatory sexuality against the tiny feminine car (which still manages to nimbly overtake at will most of the time). But I'm not (?), so I won't. Anyway, the ending comes as a huge shock. So I'm not going to tell you it. But safe to say you don't leave the cinema with a laugh and a giggle.

Overall, I was actually surprised by how deep this story was; there was only one gratuitous erection, and even that was covered by a condom. A brave attempt to analyse adolescent female sexuality, often leaving an unplesant taste in the mouth, but well worth a go if you're in the mood.

Amélie (2001)

Mindblowingly imaginative, magical but a bit overlong

[9/10 · 16 October 2001]

Amelie is a beautiful film. Visually it is absolutely stunning, with some marvelous sequences that delight the eye; the story is wonderful, quite well balanced although (only very) occasionally becoming saccharine.

The first third introduces you to Amelie as a child and her family. This is superbly done, at a frenetic pace with delicious jaunty humour and is truly inspiring to watch. Particularly good is the development of the characters; many have endearing quirks which are wonderfully explained in a comical quasi-documentary style. 'Amelie' is perfect in every way up to and including Amelie's first good deed, a moment which is truly wonderful to experience and as life affirming as anything I've seen since The Straight Story.

After this, the movie is a little less inspiring, detailing the peripheral people in Amelie's town and their lives. Were it not for the momentum lost in this section, this would undoubtedly be a 10/10 picture. Some of the repeated jokes (gnomes, confusing grocers) begin to lose their edge. The feel of the film here becomes more reminiscent of 'Delicatessen', also directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

However, the final third picks up on shy Amelie's quest for love and regains some of the vigour previously lost. Audrey Tautou is brilliant in the title role, and it's good to see Matthieu Kassovitz (writer and director of La Haine) in the wonderful role of Nino. All credit, it's a lot harder too make a good 'feelgood' film than a cynical one, and Jeunet has succeeded with aplomb here.

9/10.

The Parole Officer (2001)

Insubstiantial one watch fun, if after beers

[3/10 · 23 August 2001]

Very much in the 'best to see after a few pints' school of British comedy, this is fair, if unspectacular viewing, with a few good gags and lines and some effective characters. Nicely put together in places, but a bit insubstantial. Not the sort of film you'd see twice. Excellent cameo from Omar Sharif though, and the rollercoaster scene is hilarious. 5/10.

Amores Perros (2000)

Thoughtful, engrossing but overlong

[8/10 · 5 August 2001]

*Possible Spoilers* The three stories that interweave in this intriguing picture are all linked by themes of loss or betrayal. A man trying to get his brother's wife to run off with him (and failing), a supermodel who suffers a career-ruining accident and an old man who gave up his family to join a guerilla movement and has deep regrets. The best character in the movie and also the most moral, is the latter, El Chivo (Emilio Echevarría). He is an occasional hitman, has the appearance of a tramp but has a lively mind and a caring disposition (not to mention a penchant for opportunist thievery). Really, it is this character that carries the heart of the film. The dogfighting scenes are cleverly done, using minimal footage of the dogs actually fighting. However, there are many scenes of what look like damaged or dead dogs after fights which are quite unnerving. Indeed, 3 people left the showing I went to, presumably because of the dogfights. In the grand scheme, the dogfights are a useful metaphorical device, although to the film's credit, two of the dogs featured are crucial characters in the story. In a similar manner to Magnolia, all three stories interlink via catastrophe. No raining frogs here, this time a calamitous car crash.

This is in places, very impressive stuff, quite powerfully done and quite bleak. I found that I was expecting bad stuff to happen all the time, and it did. My main criticism is that probably 25 minutes could have been cut without much damage to the overall story, which would've put the running time at just over 2 hours. But asides from that, a well acted, well directed debut feature from director Alejandro González Iñárritu.

7/10.

Audition (1999)

Oh my God!

[7/10 · 11 June 2001]

Audition starts deceptively slowly, building up the characters of a lonely middle aged widowed guy, Aoyama. Encouraged by his son, Aoyama realises he needs to remarry, and with the help of his friend Yoshikawa, a fake audition is arranged to attract some 'talent' for Aoyama. One girl in particular, Asami, stands out and he starts to date her. She seems timid but thoughtful, but gradually hints at a dark past. I won't ruin the rest of the movie, but suffice to say if you stay patient past the first 70 minutes or so, you'll get your reward (?!) for it. The last 45 minutes are truly amongst the most intense of any movie I've seen, comparable on recent terms with 'Requiem for a Dream'.

Highly recommended (9/10)

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Intense, dark, deep, moving

[7/10 · 9 May 2001]

Some people don't like films like this. They call them depressing. I have to say that I find a lot of happy, jolly, false stuff unbelievable and depressing a lot more than stuff like this. Admittedly, Requiem is frighteningly intense in places; but this is a quality which is rarely found nowadays; only Magnolia in parts and oddments of Fight Club compare to this in terms of nerve-shattering emotional intensity. Or perhaps Monkey Trouble. Only joking :).

Ellen Burstyn plays a lonely widow & mother named Sara Goldfarb who becomes addicted to diet pills in an attempt to make herself presentable for a TV appearance she applies for. This becomes the focus for her lonely existence. Aronofsky skilfully compares this with the lives of Sara's son, Harry (Jared Leto) and his girlfriend and friend who are all regular Heroin users. Marlon Wayans in particular is fantastic as Harry's friend Tyrone, but the star is undoubtedly Burstyn who, especially in the second and third parts of the story, had me in almost constant tears.

I really can't recommend this enough. I think you know if you'll appreciate (key word that) this movie.. if you think you will, don't for god sake miss it.

Stunning..10/10.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Disturbingly believable

[9/10 · 8 May 2001]

A wonderfully disturbing story about a woman who fears she is carrying the Devil's child, it sounds a difficult task to make a convincing movie out of it, but under Polanski's direction and with an amazing performance from Mia Farrow as Rosemary, this is an absolute gem.

Tales of witchcraft are as old as the hills, as are many of the witch-type characters whose heads surface during the course of the just over 2 hours running time. The claustrophobic atmosphere and paranoia that engulf Rosemary as she realises exactly what has been going on is palpable. This is a definite precursor to The Exorcist in terms of brooding suspense, and although there is very little visually that is horrific, I came away from Rosemary's Baby with a real feeling of sickness in my gut and feeling genuinely unnerved.

Excellent 9/10.

Almost Famous (2000)

Warm and wonderful

[5/10 · 4 May 2001]

This is a beautiful film; fantastic performance, especially from Fugit, Crudup and especially Frances McDormand as William's worried mother. Wonderful music, really good story, the characters all warm and believable. Slightly overlong, but what the hell!

9/10.

Following (1998)

Intelligent but patchy

[6/10 · 3 May 2001]

This is a very well put together film. The chronology is played around with, leaving you aware of future situations but unsure of the events which lead to them. In Following, as with Memento, illusions are suggested which lure you away from guessing what could happen next. This is done quite well, and often creates a nervous atmosphere, much like you might expect a cat-burglar (as is in the story) to experience. Clever twists, a sharp plot, cannily shot in black and white, which was a very good choice, this has a lot going for it; especially for a cheap first picture for Christopher Nolan. However, in spells it's a little dull. The momentum sags and once it's clear what's going on, the eventual ending is logical but perfunctory.

Worth a watch, but could've been cut down to about an hour dead or less and been much better.

6/10

The Hole (2001)

Could've been a 'whole' lot better..

[4/10 · 24 April 2001]

The story of 4 Uni students spending a few days in a World War II Bunker. It could've been soo much more. A hugely promising start, with the characters given emotional depth in the early scenes and the key relationships clearly defined. In particular, Martin Taylor (Daniel Brocklebank) is a fantastic character..it's a shame he wasn't in the hole as well, it would've been more interesting.

The main crux of the film revolves around Liz (Thora Birch) and her youthful desire for son-of-a-rockstar Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington). However, a false start recollection and the way the film is conducted by flashbacks under psychoanalysis is not overly effective, slowing the pace down quite a lot. The claustrophobia of being trapped in an underground bunker rarely comes across and the impression I got from the trailer turned out to be false.

I didn't expect a huge amount from this movie..It was one of those, much like "The Gift", where I thought it might be good and it might be bad, hopefully interesting.. The only solace I could find in this really was the intensity that was built up at various points. In flashes some of the cast are excellent, particularly in portraying the interrelations of the group members, but only in flashes. A lot of things are left unexplained. There is a death where the body is strangely scarred, and the reason for this is unexplained; the autopsy would not appear to have required such a scar to be caused, so why?

Overall, disappointing 4/10.

Smashing Time (1967)

Lunacy

[6/10 · 21 April 2001]

WARNING : This is a very silly film. :D . Therefore, watching it in the right state of mind will make you laugh a lot. You will be irritated if in the wrong mood.

The story of two northern lasses, Yyvone and Brenda (Redgrave & Tushingham) who come to London to get down with the cool hepcats. The film documents in astonishing cinema-verite style the trials and tribulations of late 60's living and partying. There is fantastic irony in some sections of the film, particularly the Gauche perfume adverts that Brenda does..truly astonishing in fact - examples of post-modernism at it's finest. Michael York is wonderfully hammy as the swinging photographer who weaves in and out of Yyvone and Bren's lives on a regular basis with only thought of himself.

Two fantastic restaurant sequences as well...you just can't beat a good food fight! I must admit I've always had a huge crush on Rita Tushingham, which helped me through some of the lamer comedy moments, but overall it's light enough to be enjoyable.

Oh yeah, the music is absolutely awful, but I think that's intended. At least I hope so..please tell me it's meant to be a parody??

6/10.

High Fidelity (2000)

Warm and sad

[5/10 · 16 April 2001]

As a music obsessed 25 year old single male..this film is aimed right at my consciousness! And it mostly hit the mark. Extra points for Stereolab obscurities, Belle & Sebastian album tracks and The Beta Band (even if only 20 seconds!).

Seriously, this is a warm but sad tale of an anal but well intentioned record store owner who has been through a series of failed relationships and is trying to analyse what is wrong with him. This analysis is going on on the back of a split up with Laura, who is No.5 in his all-time hardest break-ups list (I told you he was anal!).

John Cusack and the whole cast are excellent, the characters well observed, the script full of laughs and emotion. I haven't read the book so I can't judge it against that, but I would recommend the film to anyone, but especially post youth music obsessed folk.

8/10.

Hard Eight (1996)

Sublimely crafted never predictable

[6/10 · 8 April 2001]

I came to this movie being a fan of Boogie Nights and Magnolia. I'd never heard of this film until a normally very hard to please friend, who had rented it at random, enthused heavily about it. The cast is recognisable; most of the Magnolia cast are there and even an Aimee Mann track features over the end credits.

Philip Baker Hall stars as Sydney, a mysterious figure who helps out John, a guy he meets sitting outside a diner who's fell on hard times. Their relationship develops, with Sydney acting as a mentor for John (John C Reilly). Time moves on and John and Sydney meet a stewardess, Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), and John becomes friendly with Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson). I won't go any further plotwise, as part of the joy of this film is the way it unravels, but there are some truly fantastic moments such as the last frame is beautifully symbolic of Sydney's life as a whole.

It's highly recognisable as a production with many techniques later used by the director. The feel is warm, the characters take centre stage and the dialogue is superb and engaging.

9/10.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Scary disturbing and funny as hell

[9/10 · 5 April 2001]

I knew nothing about this film before I saw it. It starts amazingly well, with some rag-tag & bobtail acting in the early scenes which familiarise us with Mari. Her father (played brilliantly in a one off film appearance by Gaylord St.James) fantastically portrays the inate potential for psychosis by manically observing his wife making a 17th Birthday cake for Mari.

I won't spoil anymore for anyone, because this is definitely a film where the less you know the better. But suffice to say, the violence is done menacingly, but the whole film has a tremendous black humour to it which juxtaposes edgily in places with horrific scenes of rape and humiliation.

Considering the tiny budget and limited resources, this is an absolute classic and a true gem. The inept slapstick police are a comedy joy (including a future Karate Kid & Cagney+Lacey star in their midst), the music, which was done by the geezer who played the head psycho Krug is hippie period joy(especially the 'Road to Nowhere' song that pops up at opportune moments) and the film is short enough not to outstay its welcome.

9/10 :)

The Gift (2000)

Enjoyable but predictable

[5/10 · 14 March 2001]

*Some possible spoilers*

I'd heard mixed reviews of this, but being a Sam Raimi fan (well, Evil Dead II+III and A Simple Plan..) I was intrigued enough to go along on a view of the trailer. The story is good, although almost too plain to be gobsmacking. Blanchett is fantastic as Annie Wilson, the widowed Psychic whose dreams give her (often horrific) insights into the future. In fact the shining highlight of this movie is the way Raimi allows us to glimpse into Annie's mind, whilst she is trying to come to terms with the visions that present themselves to her. Annie is wonderfully balanced, kind and level headed and selfless.

When a pillar of the community's sluttish daughter, Jessica King (played by Katie Holmes) goes missing, Annie is visited by the Police as a last resort. She leads them via a dream she has the night after they visit to where her corpse lies in a pond..soon it seems justice has been done, but Annie, via another dream, is convinced that this is not the case. The finale is frantic, but in my view, there was only ever one person who was logically the real killer.. That was the main disappointment. Despite an American Beauty style "oh no..it's too obvious..let's quickly implicate everyone just before the killer's identity is revealed" sequence, there is only momentary doubt with regard to the identity of the guilty party.

However, fantastic performances from most of the cast and good (especially the longer the film goes on) direction mean The Gift is an entertaining movie with a few jump out of your seat moments, but probably not one to watch more than once.

Overall, 7/10.

Traffic (2000)

Good but not fantastic

[7/10 · 6 March 2001]

This is a beautifully put together interwoven story of the drugs industry and clientelle. Michael Douglas is absolutely superb as the Drug Czar father with the Freebaser for a daughter, and Benicio del Toro is also fantastic as Javier, the world weary Tijuana cop. However, I have to say, most of the other characters in this story are underdeveloped and it was hard to really get into a lot of them. Also at 2 and a half hours nearly, the movie didn't really hang well, being quite one paced and meandery in parts. But when it worked it worked really well. Don Cheadle is fantastic as always and the ending is quite a satisfying conclusion. Overall, well worth a look, but you'd probably have to be in the right (patient) mood. Disappointing compared to Soderburgh's recent efforts (especially The Limey).

7/10.

Hannibal (2001)

Very good, but not "filling"

[7/10 · 24 February 2001]

This movie is beautifully shot, incredibly acted, superbly scored and at times gut-wrenchingly gruesome. However, the script is variable, some very unfunny jokes tossed in, and the story, which I won't go into detail with exactly how and why, seems a bit weak.

The premise is simple. Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) is the top female FBI agent. An attempted drug arrest goes wrong, and Starling is left with egg on her face. She is put back onto the case of Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to give her an opportunity to, ahem, get her teeth into something. Lecter has been whereabouts unknown for 10 years. An Italian detective named Pazzi (Giancarlo Gianni) stumbles across Lecter unknowingly during another case and via checking the FBI most wanted website suddenly realises that he has a huge reward possibly staring him in the face. Clarice contacts Pazzi with regard to a security tape which confirms Lecter's presence in Florence, but Pazzi wants the 3 million dollar reward on offer from the gruesomely disfigured Mason Verger (Gary Oldman) who suffered at Hannibal's hands some years before and is out for revenge. That's the bare bones of the story in the first half and the film starts brightly, at a good pace and creating a great atmosphere.

The pace drops in the middle and certain questions you can't help but ask. How does Hannibal, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted, fly on a public jumbo jet from Florence to the US with consumate ease? OK, the guy is a master criminal but y'know? Anyway the action moves to the US and Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta - hey long time no see!) ;who has some sort of no-brain macho mindset and is trying to stymie Starling's faltering career; comes more into the story a bit more.

My main problem with this film was it's ending. Not to give anything away, but I was really getting into the film and it just sort of finished. I was entertained but felt a little short changed by the suddenness of it, and was genuinely surprised and disappointed when the credits rolled. This may be, I admit, because the story didn't develop how I'd expected it to, and hey, that's my fault I suppose. But the movie had promised a little more in it's starter and main course to leave me with a rather annoying lack of pudding(not that I was really hungry after the end, you understand).

But still, well worth watching and one that you think about after you've seen it.. 8/10.

The Limey (1999)

Mesmeric revenge flick with a warm heart

[8/10 · 17 February 2001]

I was initially amused by Stamp's overemphasised Cockney-isms, but as you familiarise yourself with the character, this fades away, although his insistence on quoting rhyming slang and then explaining it can grate a little!

Seriously, this is a nugget of a film, the sort of thing you stumble across on TV by accident and think "wow, that was amazing!". The story involves a just-out-of-prison Londoner named Wilson (Stamp) whose daughter has died in LA, apparently in a car accident. A friend of the daughter implicates Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) as being a negative life influence and party perhaps in her demise. To complete the triumvirate of 60's cult actors, Barry Newman appears as Avery, Valentine's erstwhile head of Security.

All of the men have an air of their time of true living being passed, a quiet pining for the lives they used to or (in Wilson's case, due to incarceration) never quite had.. This is the true magic of this movie, the huge emotional subtext of ageing and loss, which in some way reminded me of Jackie Brown in that the reflective side of the characters is given more room to breathe than you normally expect.

Soderbergh, as in Out of Sight (1998), uses editing trickery to evoke his characters feelings. Wilson has regular flashbacks to seeing his late daughter on the beach as a child, or threating to shop him to the police as a 7 year old! Old footage from Ken Loach's classic Poor Cow (1967) show Wilson in his late 20's, at his prime, and give a poignancy to the whole film which leads to the ending having an emotional gravitas that took me be surprise somewhat.

Fonda is effortlessly good as he is, more or less, playing himself. His slimy, inept, past-it 60's nostalgic record producer is as easily dislikeable as Wilson is simple and from the heart likeable.

Overall, a stunning, if slow movie that touches in a way that other similar films rarely do.

9/10

Witchfinder General (1968)

Eerie, Brutal but dated

[7/10 · 4 February 2001]

I first saw Witchfinder General about, ooh 15 years ago, before my teens, and it scared the living daylights out of me.. Vincent Price terrified in the title role, along with his vicious assistant. The eerieness and overbearingness of the film stayed with me for quite some time. Watching it again more recently, elements of the initial impact still remain. The locations are fantastic, plenty of desolate English countryside, and the feel of the period is captured extremely well. However, the acting is very HAMmer-esque and although the brutality of the torturing remains quite effective, other scenes (especially the ducking scene) are are almost laughable. The story is quite basic, based on an old tale anyway, and quite effective, but the ending comes a bit too suddenly and swiftly paced in comparison with the Western-style feeling of much of the rest of the film.

Overall, it's enjoyable but dated.. but is superceded in its genre by "The Devils" (1971) and also "The Wicker Man" (1973), both of which capture some of the medievality and barbarism a lot more satisfyingly.

7/10

Memento (2000)

A movie about amnesia I'll never forget

[22 January 2001]

Memento runs in reverse chronology - one of the main characters dies in the first scene. For a split second, I thought the whole movie would flow backwards, but scenes link in and it's pretty easy to keep track, but you need full concentration!

The basic plot revolves around Leonard Shelby (Pearce) who has no short term memory since the rape and murder of his wife. He tattoos himself, takes numerous photographs and makes notes in order to conduct his life, which is focused on the task of gaining vengeance for her death.

The logic of time suggests that knowing what has happened in the future would help with understanding the past - however, this is a dangerous route to follow in the case of this picture and I was constantly furrowing my brow trying to put into context what I was seeing. I'd heard of anterograde (apologies if that's a mispelling?) amnesia before from studying Psychology and had seen a documentary about a sufferer, who's wife killed herself because she couldn't cope with the heartache of her husband not remembering her, which gave Memento a real emotional edge for me, and there were some quite poignant moments where Leonard recalls his wife and the intangiables which truly characterise 'knowing' someone..

Guy Pearce (who if he keeps up like this, will never, ever be referred to as 'Mike out of Neighbours' again is good in a difficult role, but the supporting cast are tremendous, especially Joe Pantoliano as Teddy and Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie, two of Lenny's 'friends'.

It's hard to say too much about this without spoiling it, so I'd just recommend anyone to give this a go.. It's certainly not your average run of the mill revenge thriller, but it is engrossing from start to finish and the 2 hours seemed to pass in about half the time!

9/10.

Billy Elliot (2000)

Absolutely stunned

[7/10 · 4 December 2000]

Billy Elliot is the story of a young lad from the North-East of England in the early 1980s whose Mother has passed away and is being brought up by his Father & Brother. Both are Miners involved in the strikes. Beyond that, I advise you to go and see it yourself!

Slow at the start, but once into the meat and bones of the story you set off on an emotional rollercoaster. Incredibly poignant scenes are immediately followed by brazen comic sequences. The fruity language throughout helps with the realism as you feel that in other hands, this could've been Disney material.

As I was growing up at a similar time, a lot of this rings true, and lots of childhood memories came flooding back (some nice, some long forgotten) and I was a gibbering wreck by the end.

There are plenty of amazing characters in this, from the hothead brother, the senile Gran and the effeminate boy down the road who has a paricularly soft spot for Billy.

Absolutely stunning. If you like this, then I recommend The Straight Story, the only film of recent years to have a similar emotional effect on me.

Ringu (1998)

Disturbingly good!

[8/10 · 12 October 2000]

Very well directed, subtle, well crafted story. I was surprised it was made as recently as 1998, as it could easily pass for being from the 1980's. But that's Japanese style for you. One of those films where when you try to describe to other people the scariest bits, they look at you daggers. Well worth watching, I'm not sure if it's out on video, but I can't think of better late night viewing.

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Dark but beautiful

[5/10 · 8 October 2000]

What a film!

Obviously not to everyone's taste as only 2 other people were at the showing I went to!

The film starts uncertainly, with Selma's childlikeness and clumsiness appearing awkward. This makes you wonder whether this is just hammy acting, but once you are familiarised with the characters you realise this is how Selma actually is. Catherine Deneuve is wonderful as Selma's guide. One of my particularly favourite scenes was where Kathy (Deneuve) is in the movie theatre with Selma (Bjork). By this stage, Selma is practically blind. They are watching a musical and Selma asks Kathy what is happening on the screen. Kathy's fingers dance on Selma's hand to illustrate what is going on. The other amazing things about this film are the musical sequences. The handheld camera used for that footage seems to be slightly differently colour calibrated, giving a slight 'technicolor' classical feel to those numbers. The way background sounds suddenly turn into Autechre/LFO style rhythms to provide the backbone of the musical numbers is incredibly inventive. Don't be fooled into thinking this film was made in accordance with the Dogme95 manifesto, as at least 2 criteria that I can think of are broken. But the technique of using handheld cameras does make everything feel a bit more real and unstable and draws you closer to the characters. Overall, a stunning, wonderful film, if slightly overlong. The ending is truly breathtaking and as a whole another astonishing piece from Lars Von Trier.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Good but flawed

[5/10 · 13 August 2000]

Superbly shot, excellent cast and effects. The tree of death was fantastic. There was a slight style over content problem, and the moment of revelation I wasn't really satisfied with - having someone basically tell you a story instead of you seeing it - It smacked of "Oh heck, we've done 2 hours, whadda we do?!" and was disappointing. But otherwise, pretty good and worth seeing.