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I've got a little behind, so short cuts basically. I've probably forgotten something.
XLI: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
Actually a bit of a mess, as it knits three narratives together - Roy Neary going insane with his UFO obsession, Jillian Guiler going insane with the kidnapping of her son and Francois Truffault going mad finding missing boats in a desert. Guiler's strand is the most disturbing - almost like a horror film, a couple of years after The Exorcist, and Neary's abandonment of his family is darker than I'd give Spielberg credit for.
XLII: King Kong (John Guillermin, 1976)
I think this has aged less well than the 1933 original - with Jessica Lange's dim/intelligent starlet wannabe just not making sense (and what's a Deep Throat reference doing here?). Jeff Bridges is watchable here, but he's no dude.
XLIII: Dave Gorman's America Unchained (Andy Devonshire and Stef. Wagstaffe, 2004)
Cheat no. 1. Documentary in which Gorman tries to cross the US without using anything from the chains and megacorps - and it makes you wonder how nasty he can get given what they do show... But funny and inspiring and depressing.
XLIV: O Lucky Malcolm (Jan Harlan, 2006)
Cheat no. 2. Documentary about Malcolm McDowell. Focuses mostly on his three early hits then leaps to more recent fare.
XLV: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1973)
Brings the saga full circle (or does it?), with some alternate timelines chat shoved in to allow for the future to be rewritable. Guess I'd better watch the tv series soon. Do I get let off the cartoons?
XLVI: Soya Cuba (I am Coooba, Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)
Fantastic propagandist history of Cuba prior to the revolution - a counterpoint to Che: four stories - corrupt tourists and prostitutes, being kicked off the plantation, death of an activist and a rebel is formed. Fantastic camerawork, whatever one might think of the politics.
XLVII: Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
I'm not sure even David Fincher can remake this and stay faithful - surprisingly dark and nasty thriller, in which a discredited journalist attempts to solve a forty year old murder with the aid of a punk hacker. I wasn't entirely convinced by their shagging, but I guess I can see the psychology at work. See it before the Hollywood version.
XLVIII: Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore, 2009)
I've long been a fan of Moore, since Roger and Me came to the local cinema. But here I can't help but feel that less is more - it would have been effective if it had lost half an hour, the stunts weren't sufficiently funny and it was shapeless. I would have liked more on the workers' cooperatives and democracy being hijacked by the markets seemed all too apt this last few weeks.
XLIX: Winstanley (Kevin Brownlow, 1975)
Low budget and appealing (if badly acted) Levellers/Diggers/Ranters drama.
L: Third Man Out (Ron Oliver, 2005)
First of a series of films - made for tv? - about a private eye played by Chad Allen. Here he investigates death threats against an activist who has been outing people. Rather better acted than this sort of film tends to be, including the cameos from real porn stars.
LI: Last Holiday (Henry Cass, 1950)
J.B Priestley scripted semi-fantasy, in which Alec Guinness is diagnosed with a fatal disease, and goes to blow his savings on one last holiday. He finds everyone suddenly wants him to become a partner, financially or romantically. Like An Inspector Calls there's a sense of something, what, numinous?, and the obvious twists don't undermine the social commentary.
LII: The Ghost (Roman Polanski, 2010)
Presumably Polanski's last movie, reminiscent of Chinatown, with ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) in every scene after the prologue, and a walk off screen at the end. Perhaps the most leisurely thriller of all time and shot on sets against green screens rather too much.
LIII: Io sono l'amore (I Am Love, Luca Guadagnino, 2009)
Latest in a long line of great Tilda Swinton roles, with a great John Adams score. Here she is Emma (although that's not her real name), the Russian wife and mother of the heirs of a Milanese textiles corporation. As her family negotiate various crises, she embarks upon an unexpected but convincing affair. I wish she wasn't punished so much for this - but you can't have so many family meals in a movie without at least one moment of melodrama - but it ends better than it might. And beautifully shot.
Totals: 53 (Cinema: 15; DVDs: 29; TV: 9)
XLI: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
Actually a bit of a mess, as it knits three narratives together - Roy Neary going insane with his UFO obsession, Jillian Guiler going insane with the kidnapping of her son and Francois Truffault going mad finding missing boats in a desert. Guiler's strand is the most disturbing - almost like a horror film, a couple of years after The Exorcist, and Neary's abandonment of his family is darker than I'd give Spielberg credit for.
XLII: King Kong (John Guillermin, 1976)
I think this has aged less well than the 1933 original - with Jessica Lange's dim/intelligent starlet wannabe just not making sense (and what's a Deep Throat reference doing here?). Jeff Bridges is watchable here, but he's no dude.
XLIII: Dave Gorman's America Unchained (Andy Devonshire and Stef. Wagstaffe, 2004)
Cheat no. 1. Documentary in which Gorman tries to cross the US without using anything from the chains and megacorps - and it makes you wonder how nasty he can get given what they do show... But funny and inspiring and depressing.
XLIV: O Lucky Malcolm (Jan Harlan, 2006)
Cheat no. 2. Documentary about Malcolm McDowell. Focuses mostly on his three early hits then leaps to more recent fare.
XLV: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1973)
Brings the saga full circle (or does it?), with some alternate timelines chat shoved in to allow for the future to be rewritable. Guess I'd better watch the tv series soon. Do I get let off the cartoons?
XLVI: Soya Cuba (I am Coooba, Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)
Fantastic propagandist history of Cuba prior to the revolution - a counterpoint to Che: four stories - corrupt tourists and prostitutes, being kicked off the plantation, death of an activist and a rebel is formed. Fantastic camerawork, whatever one might think of the politics.
XLVII: Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
I'm not sure even David Fincher can remake this and stay faithful - surprisingly dark and nasty thriller, in which a discredited journalist attempts to solve a forty year old murder with the aid of a punk hacker. I wasn't entirely convinced by their shagging, but I guess I can see the psychology at work. See it before the Hollywood version.
XLVIII: Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore, 2009)
I've long been a fan of Moore, since Roger and Me came to the local cinema. But here I can't help but feel that less is more - it would have been effective if it had lost half an hour, the stunts weren't sufficiently funny and it was shapeless. I would have liked more on the workers' cooperatives and democracy being hijacked by the markets seemed all too apt this last few weeks.
XLIX: Winstanley (Kevin Brownlow, 1975)
Low budget and appealing (if badly acted) Levellers/Diggers/Ranters drama.
L: Third Man Out (Ron Oliver, 2005)
First of a series of films - made for tv? - about a private eye played by Chad Allen. Here he investigates death threats against an activist who has been outing people. Rather better acted than this sort of film tends to be, including the cameos from real porn stars.
LI: Last Holiday (Henry Cass, 1950)
J.B Priestley scripted semi-fantasy, in which Alec Guinness is diagnosed with a fatal disease, and goes to blow his savings on one last holiday. He finds everyone suddenly wants him to become a partner, financially or romantically. Like An Inspector Calls there's a sense of something, what, numinous?, and the obvious twists don't undermine the social commentary.
LII: The Ghost (Roman Polanski, 2010)
Presumably Polanski's last movie, reminiscent of Chinatown, with ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) in every scene after the prologue, and a walk off screen at the end. Perhaps the most leisurely thriller of all time and shot on sets against green screens rather too much.
LIII: Io sono l'amore (I Am Love, Luca Guadagnino, 2009)
Latest in a long line of great Tilda Swinton roles, with a great John Adams score. Here she is Emma (although that's not her real name), the Russian wife and mother of the heirs of a Milanese textiles corporation. As her family negotiate various crises, she embarks upon an unexpected but convincing affair. I wish she wasn't punished so much for this - but you can't have so many family meals in a movie without at least one moment of melodrama - but it ends better than it might. And beautifully shot.
Totals: 53 (Cinema: 15; DVDs: 29; TV: 9)
