November-December catch up time

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 8/10
Moon 7/10
Solaris (original) 7/10
A Serious Man (Barbican) 6.5/10
Fish Tank (BFI) 7/10
The Cottage -1/10

The London Film Festival 2009

So many to see...and in the end we only saw three:

Cold Souls: It didn't really know what to do with the flimsy subject but was entertaining enough (even though we only just made it the cinema in time...phew!) 6.5/10

Mother...An utterly brilliant thriller from the director of 'the Host'. 9/10

Bunny and the Ball. A visually superb debut from the director of the Mighty Boosh...let down by one major flaw...it ain't funny enough 6/10

Just seen....

Let the Right One In

brilliant! 9/10

Encounters at the End of the World

Another great documentary from Werner Herzog 7.5/10

Laitakaupungin valot

Lights in the Dusk 7.5/10

Aki does it again...I really liked it

Wants list

Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Anvil (9/10)
Let the Right One In (9/10)
Martyrs (total shit! 1/10)
Hellen
Hansel and Gretel (Korean DVD)
Soi Cowboy

Running with Scissors 7.5/10

Running with Scissors 7.5/10...weird but apparently all true.
Factotum 7/10
Waltz with Bashir on DVD 8/10
Jar City on DVD 7.5/10
Best DVD: Man on Wire...magical, it reclaims the image of the twin towers.

CHE part one 5/10

Che Part One (Curzon Soho, London): 5/10. Dreadful...I fell asleep within an hour., but lasted until the lacklustre end. Way too long, it doesn't work as entertainment or as a Biopic, and whilst Del Torro is ok, you won't learn a thing about 'why' Che did anything. An empty experience and disapointing to say the least.

Fear[5] of the Dark (DVD): 6/10. Style over substance. Brilliant animation let down by average stories, especially the pointless connecting sections and the Saul Bass-lite opening credits

Rocco and his Brothers (DVD): 7/10 A long (170 minute?) B&W Italian film from the 60's. Not bad, but I won't want to see it again

Rome, Open City (DVD) 6.5/10: B&W Italian (once again!)...poor quality DVD, but an historic film, shot in 1946.

If (DVD) 7.5/10: not bad, although most of original impact will be lost on anybody who wasn't around in 1968. Still watchable, but 'of its time' I think

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Region 1 DVD) 7/10. Once again not bad, and it was great to see so many familar faces in it

Waltz with Bashir 8.5/10

One of the best things I've seen all year. Unlike anything you will have seen, it comes highly recommended!

Mad Detective 7.5/10

Yeah, not at all bad. The structure puts you slightly on the back foot, whilst reminding you of several films 'Old-Boy lite'?. However it's a solid little film, with some nice cinematography and music.

Version watched: Region 3 DVD

Persepolis 7.5/10

A really good B&W cartoon dealing with a young girl growing up in Iran during the revolution.

Burn After Reading 6/10

Really average for the Coen's, it's only the dark humour (check out the chair), a few laughs ("Come back when it all...er makes sense") and some solid performances that save it. As the Kermode would say 'Stuff happens' but that doesn't make it a good film. An average 6/10

Gomorrah 6/10

Just saw Gomorrah, really overated IMHO, even though it's received some great reviews....the documentary style doesn't pull you in, however 'hard-hitting' the subject matter I couldn't give a monkey's about any of characters, simply because not one of them seemed to have any character whatsoever, they were just walking plot devices. Once again it's another case of a film with at least one reel to many. It's a shame as the subject could make an interesting film, it's just that Gomorrah isn't it 6/10

Unknown White Male 9/10

The best documentary I've ever seen, certainly the most thought provoking (highly recommended):





The Fugue State:

sudden, unexpected travel away from home or one's customary place of work, with inability to recall one's past,
confusion about personal identity, or the assumption of a new identity, or
significant distress or impairment.

Jar City: 8.5/10

Jar City: an excellent little Icelandic film, with some amazing photography. Highly recommended!

Planned viewing:

Jar City at the Cinema...report to follow

ON DVD: Miller's Crossing, I hadn't seen this in ages, and it be honest it was better than I remembered it. 8/10

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes...one of best SH movies IMHO (Although I should add I'm not that big a fan of Sherlock Holmes). It's just a shame that so much is missing from the version currently available on DVD, two major scenes have be lost over the years; firstly the story of the upside room and I seem to remember another one where Holmes takes part in rowing at Henley (I should check really, especially as I seem to remember I have a magazine lying around somewhere that covers the film and the missing reels). Perhaps not as good as I remembered it on DVD, but still worth a look. 7/10

Just watched: The Girl on the Bridge 6/10

The Girl on the Bridge (La Fille sur le pont 1999)...hmmm this didn't really float my boat at all. What get's me is that a film like Angel A is panned for being empty and shallow and yet TGOTB basically does the exactly the same thing (an unlikely pairing, with a potential romance, within a Parisian backdrop) and gets praised to the hilt. OK, to be fair the photography was fantastic, but at no stage were any emotions evident. Maybe that's the whole point and I'm missing the whole arc of the film. However the film didn't make much of an impact on me and, if I'm honest, I'm glad I spent only a few quid on it.

Currently watching: Fox and his friends, er yes, Rainer Werner Fassbinder stars in his own film about a gay bloke who wins the lottery...cue full frontal nudity and every Gay cliche imaginable. I guess it might have meant something in the '70's but currently this isn't keeping my attention glued to the screen.

Final score: an average 6/10

On Order

It's a mad, mad, Mad Detective:



Available now on region 3 DVD and from November 2008 on region 2

UPDATE: REGION 3 DVD DELAYED!

Somers Town 7/10

Yesterday afternoon we watched Shane Meadows' latest film Somers Town. Not too bad at all, although to be honest it's pretty slight (not to say short, at just 71 minutes long). I doubt whether you'll remember much of it in the long term, but it was nicely shot (on DV in B&W) and even the Eurostar plugged coda is watchable, although the change to colour for the final reel is a bit OTT and sticks in my craw if I'm honest. 7/10

The Kermode's verdict:

I also watched a couple of DVDs:

Wim Wenders: Wrong Move (Ugh...totally pretenious crap! avoid it at all costs). It's hard to believe that a director as good as Wenders could come up with something as empty and pointless as this. 2/10 (the 2 is for the photography only!).

Version watched: region 4

Rainer Werner Fassbinders': Mother Kusters goes to Heaven. Not too bad, an interesting film that shows how a tragic event can be exploited for personal gain 6/10

Version watched: region 2

The Marriage of Maria Braun 7.5

I saw Rainer Werner Fassbinder's classic film 'The Marriage of Maria Braun' last night. A bit stagey, but that's Fassbinder for you, you might as well complain that a wheel is round (nice print though, and the cinemaphotography was brilliant). Anyway it's good to see the actress Hanna Schygulla again, it's an over used term perhaps but she is luminous in this film, the camera simply loves her (another over used term!) but her performance is remarkable. Recommended



I also saw Wim Wender's 'Kings of the Road' the other week (on region 4 DVD, as part of the Directors Suite/ Road Movie boxset). Only Wim would get away with a shot of an actor actually having a shit and still keep the audience on board (strong stomachs are needed). It's interesting to see how the basic concept of the road movie taken to it's logical conclusion as a metaphor for how people, even when physically close to each other (by distance) can also be a million miles away emotionally, and the road is a metaphor for that huge gap. Great soundtrack as well.

7.5/10 recommended but for adults only (and patient ones at that as it's a L-O-N-G film). The film also contains one scene of masturbation, so it ain't fer yer grannie.

The Dark Knight 8/10

The Dark Knight, first off it's way too long* (but then again what's new these days? everything is too long), in some ways it's a strangely cold and detatched film... but...still worth watching. Heath Ledger is very good, creepy, deranged and violent, but Christian Bale looks almost out of place, oddly he's side-lined in a Batman film. However there's some great set pieces, especially a chase sequence with the Joker in a large lorry (all bike riders will want the Bat-bike pronto).

One side note, this is a 12A film, so it's not a kids film, so you'd have to be a complete moron to want to bring your very young kids along to it (as some did today, it makes you wonder what a 4 year old would have thought of it). Let's put it another way, it's called the 'the Dark' Knight...you know...Dark, in tone, as in Violent with a vein of sadistic humour. Oh and one last thing, the film is very loud...that's VERY LOUD! so mind those ear drums down at the front :)

Worth watching though and still recommended, even though I'm no comic-book film fan

*Take my word for it your bladder will soon tell you this (actually make that it'll be 'screaming it'...you have been warned). At the Screening I went to the toilet looked like Glastonbury's finest after the film ended...splosh!

Cineworld Glasgow

Alice in den Städten/Alice in the City. 7.5/10

One of Wim Wenders earlier films. In some ways it's a minor masterpiece, even if Wim hates it being referred to as having the three AAA: Angst, America and Alienation, once again it's a road movie with a twist. It's also notable for having a soundtrack by the Krautrock group Can. Recommended.

Version watched (Region 4 DVD)

The Mist 7/10

Just saw 'the Mist', some poor CGI in places, a few genre cliches, and some solid acting, but the ending saved this film and raised above the norm. Probably one of the best downbeat endings I've seen for some time...and one of the greatest betrayals of a Lovecraftian horror ever.

Update (24 hours later): There's 'something' about the ending that's so out of character with the rest of the film (basically a daft creature-feature based on a novella by Steven King) that will stay with you for a long time. A perfect example of Lovecraft's 'Cosmic horror' (shock and awe in the ultimate sense), where the mind cannot/will not comprehend what is happening, and yet (all along) it's not 'without' where the real horror lies, it's always 'within'. Given certain conditions what would we do? Would we make the right decissions at the right time?

I watched the American (region 1) special Edition version. If you get this you'll also find the whole movie again on the second disc, but this time in glorious B&W....unusual for a horror film these days.

Das Experiment 7.5/10

The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.

Yeah, not bad at all, it's got a bit of a TV-feel to it, but it's nicely shot and fairly well acted throughout. Worth a look. As the trailer says 'What would you do'?

More on the real Stanford Prison Experiment:

The Visitor 5/10

I saw this last night at the cinema, very dull and twice as predictable. The acting was ok, but the film telegraphed every part of the plot. Within 20 minutes you could have guessed the whole film.

GFT: Glasgow Film Theatre

The Singing Detective 10/10

Today I've been watching Dennis Potter's TV series 'The Singing Detective' on DVD. IMHO it is one of the 3 most important programmes to be broadcast during the eighties, perhaps 'ever' (the other two are of course: The Edge of Darkness and Boys from the Blackstuff).

The Singing Detective is a masterpiece, note perfect from beginning to end, enjoyable on loads of different levels, in fact it's was TV should be like (all the time) in an ideal world. Sadly we don't live in that idea world, and I've almost given up on TV altogether. Sad really, but Dennis reminds what real TV is all about.

The Third Part of the Night 6/10

Trzecia czesc nocy an interesting little film from 1971, with some great cinematography. Checkout this chase sequence for example:











The music used in the film is also quite odd, think Morricone meets TD circa Electronic Meditation (Nasty Twangy electric guitars) meets lounge jazz (Vibraphone) with some Florian Fricke/Popol Vuh (strange stuff) with strings. It certainly creates a weird dream-like atmosphere.

The film rather tails off at the end, but overall it's just about worth the effort

The 'problem' with Morgan Freeman

Rewind back many years ago and I had just seen Se7en at a cinema in Derby. We left suitably impressed with the film and the actors...only that we differed in who we thought was the better actor. On one hand my mates thought that Brad Pitt was the best, and on the other I thought it was Morgan Freeman who gave the best performance (I seem to remember I used the phrase he had 'acted Pitt off the screen'). Fast forward to the present...and I've got to admit 'they' were right afterall. In the last year Pitt has appeared in the brilliant 'the Assassination of Jessie James by the coward Robert Ford' a very subtle and errie performance, whilst Morgan Freeman...just does...'the Morgan Freeman thing', as I like to call it. Basically he's just playing a version of himself, charismatic maybe, but still playing himself nevertheless. As bad as I feel about it I'm beginning to get annoyed by his acting...he's become the Sean Connery of America. This opinion hasn't changed after I saw Gone Baby Gone, where yet again Morgan plays a cop...zzzzzzzzzz...come on man, you can do better...do something different!

Currently watching: the Third Part of the Night

Films I should be watching at the cinema

So weird it must be good



Giant insects and Lovecraftian horrors...who could resist?



the Visitor

Gone Baby Gone 6.5/10

I saw Gone baby gone at the cinema last night, not bad, not perfect, but all in all very watchable. Definitely at least one reel too long and to be honest I'm growing bored with the whole plot twist/ explanation thing, it's old hat and script writers need to move on. Casey Affleck puts in a solid performance as a private investigator in search of a missing child, pitted against not only the police but also a family that's not all that it seems.

Bargain time at Fopp

I'm hot-foot from Fopp (can you have three words in row starting with one letter? they never told me at Oxford ;))..anyway it's always good to see what bargains can be had in their Glasgow branches. Today I found 4 which might be watchable:

A History of Violence (£3). For the record I should point out I hated Eastern Promises (total one dimensional pish and that fight scene was over hyped to hell....I've seen better fights in the town on saturday night!), but for this price it's well worth the risk

The Girl on the Bridge (La Fille Sur Le Pont) (£6)

Das Experiment (by Oliver Hirschbiegel the director of Downfall) (£7)

The Third Part of the Night (Poland 1971) (£8)