Once

Wednesday 26th February 2014

Director: John Carney
Year: 2006
Stars: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova

Watching Once is like watching an hour and a half long music video. Which isn't actually as bad as it sounds. Sure, you have to be in the right mood to watch it, and that means not wanting a complex, involved plot. Or much dialogue. But if what you're after is something easy on the brain and pleasant sounding, Once isn't a bad choice.

There is a semblance of a plot here. A guy who busks (Hansard) and an immigrant girl (Irglova) meet, get to know one another and spend lots of time singing songs and playing instruments together. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Once works because it doesn't try to be anything more than it is - it all feels very real, and in many ways quite voyeuristic. The actors sem so normal, and the camerawork is so unintrusive, that you feel as if you're watching people just go about their normal lives. Which might be why I spent quite so much time questioning the girls choice to wear her slippers to the local shop.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Nowhere Boy: Film #147 of Film 365

Wednesday 28th March 2012

Director: Sam Taylor-Wood
Year: 2009
Stars: Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff

Another movie that I've been meaning to watch for some time, but hadn't quite got around to yet. I had hopes that Nowhere Boy would be pretty good, as it had been recommended by a friend when it was first released.

Nowhere Boy tells the tale of John Lennon before he became famous, focusing on his relationship with his aunt and his mother. It's not something I knew very much about, never having been an especially big John Lennon fan.

However, it's an enjoyable, interesting film - and the fact that it's about John Lennon is, in some ways, irrelevant. Nowhere Boy is primarily about people's relationships, and how they are never as simple as we would like them to be. Thankfully, whether or not you are a John Lennon fan doesn't really matter - although you are, of course, more likely to know the details of this story already if you are a fan.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Boat that Rocked: Film # 104 of Film 365

Friday 23rd December 2011

Director: Richard Curtis
Year: 2009
Stars: Tom Sturridge, Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Frost, Tom Brooke, Rhys Ifans, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Davenport

I had wanted to see this since it had been released, so when it was shown on TV and it was recommended to me, I thought I'd give it a try.

The Boat that Rocked is a comedy about the pirate radio boats that floated off the coast of Britain in the '60s - you know, the ones that broadcast rock 'n' roll when traditional radio stations wouldn't.

There's not really a message here - except that rock 'n' roll is good. That doesn't mean it's not a fun movie though, and if you're in the right mood it's very enjoyable. You just have to feel, well, happy.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Quadrophenia: Film #94 of Film 365

Sunday 27th November 2011

Director: Franc Roddam
Year: 1979
Stars: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Philip Davis, Sting, Ray Winstone

OK, I admit it, I have never seen Quadrophenia. Which is the reason for me recording it, so that I could! I didn't really know what to expect - I knew it was set in the '60s, and it involved mods and rockers, but not much more than that.

It turns out, that pretty much sums up the plot. There is a central character Jimmy (Daniels), but his life is quite firmly built around the concept of being a mod. Oh, and there's a very young-looking Ray Winstone in it for a bit too. And lots of The Who's music.

I didn't dislike Quadrophenia, so much as was just non-plussed by it. The story is an enjoyable one, but the main problem is that I found it very hard to identify with Jimmy. I was never bored, and always intrigued by what was coming next - but I often found myself wondering what the point of it all was. And it felt like the sort of movie that should have a point - it had just gotten lost somewhere along the way. Or maybe that was the point...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Red Shoes

Sunday 6th February 2011

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Year: 1948
Stars: Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Anton Wallbrook

This has been sat waiting to be watched for some time - mostly because of what I was afraid the film might be. I know it's meant to be a wonderful, beautifully visual classic, but I was worried it would essentially just be two hours of ballet.

Unfortunately, I was right. There is a semblance of a plot (girl wants to be a ballet dancer, boy wants to be an opera conductor - you can guess the rest, and after the ballet scene, you'll know the rest), but essentially it's two hours of ballet. That's not to say there aren't some visually stunning scenes - the ballet itself especially has some stunning moments. But, for me, they belong in a piece of visual art, not a movie.

I know it's probably controversial, but I just found the whole thing a little, well, boring.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Wednesday 26th January 2011

Connie and Carla

Director: Michael Lembeck
Year: 2004
Stars: Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, Stephen Spinella, David Duchovny

It took me a few minutes to settle down and start watching this film properly. But when I did, I enjoyed it immensely. I have no idea why it's taken us so long to watch it - I think it's been about 2 years since we recorded it. Perhaps it was just the review for it that was putting me off - whatever the reason, it took us a long time!

I guess you could call Connie and Carla a (very) fluffy Thelma and Louise or Moulin Rouge-lite. Certainly at first that was the impression I was getting. Two singers have to run away from Chicago because they are being chased by a killer, and end up at a drag club in Los Angeles (yes, there are reasons for all of this - however obscure they may seem).

To compare it to Thelma and Louise or Moulin Rouge, is, however, perhaps a little unfair. The film very much has its own plot, and despite all the indications does actually end up feeling quite unique - and a lot of fun. It was certainly a film to cheer up a dreary Wednesday evening!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Wednesday 8th September 2010

American Dreamz

Director: Paul Weitz
Year: 2006
Stars: Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Chris Klein, Willem Dafoe, Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Golzari

This is meant to be a satire of all those talent shows which thoroughly annoy me. On many levels it works - however, on one incredibly frustrating level, it doesn't. It is way too much like actually watching one of those horrendous talent shows. Thankfully I was ill enough so that I could treat it a little bit like a bad dream, but if I want to see something satirised I don't really want to watch the thing it's satirising quite so realistically.

Hugh Grant is Martin Tweed, the host of American Dreamz. Along with the standard "poor girl done good" he decides that, this season, he wants an Arab and a Jew on the show - leading to all kinds of possibilities for terrorist's plots and generally blowing things up. Somehow even the American president gets involved.

Not a bad movie, and not a bad idea at all, it was just not quite executed correctly. It'll alienate the talent show fans, and annoy those that hate them.

Rating: 3 out of 5