July 2009 films

It's been a busy time for films this month - I seem to have watched rather a lot! Here's the full list:

• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009)
• Half Nelson (2007)
• A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
• Lost Horizon (1937)
• Hidden (2005)
• Public Enemies (2009)
• Shark Tale (2004)
• Coach Carter (2005)
• Confetti (2006)
• The Great Train Robbery (1903)
• The Killing (1956)
• Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (1951)
• Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D (2009)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• Persepolis (2007)
• An Unfinished Life (2005)

I'm not sure what possessed me to watch quite so many - I was often just in the mood, and making a bit of a concerted effort to catch up on things I had recorded. Not that it really worked - for every film I watched I seemed to record at least one more... perhaps a little more effort needs to be involved? There were even 3 cinema visits in there, so it's not like I was neglecting going out.

Another bright side is that I have finally managed to watch some older movies - both recorded ones and ones that just happened to be on TV. By old, I'm talking as far back as 1910 - and as recently as 1988 for classics too.

Although I have watched a lot of films, picking a film of the month isn't actually too hard. Only two films scored 5 out of 5, and I stick by those ratings (although Dan was quite adamant that really A Fish called Wanda should have scored 5 - and it does come fairly close). For sheer enjoyment factor, the only winner can be Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. This is a film I could happily watch over and over again.

As for film not to waste your time on, this is a little harder. Nothing was awful enough to score as little as 1, but a couple of films were bad enough to score 2 or 2.5. Going on score alone, Confetti wins (or loses?), as it scored 2 rather than 2.5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was clearly more questionable than Ice Age 3, but I think they both outperform Confetti slightly by not being quite so distressingly cheesy and, on occasion, painful to watch.

Film of the month: Scrooge : A Christmas Carol
Film not to waste your time on: Confetti