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Jack is using Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists with friends. Favorite films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Let the Right One In (2008), Persona (1966), Lost in Translation (2003). Jack’s profile contains 156 films and 6 lists. Bio: 19. English. Lit Student

This blog is on hiatus until I find the time to catch up. In the mean time I'm using this site, so follow me there (and join and add me if you want) if you're interested in this blog

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356. Elephant

What Elephant does in what some will call an excruciatingly slow pace is, as far as I'm concerned, a vastly important thing when approaching material such as this. By showing the mundane, ordinary events of these schoolchildren the inevitable conclusion becomes a truly dreaded event that provides no satisfaction. The bullied outsider taking revenge on those he feels wronged him can come across as a perverse wish-fulfilment exercise if approached the wrong way. This problem is side-stepped by focusing more on the lives that are to be destroyed or otherwise tragically disturbed. The use of non-professional actors and improvisation likewise adds to the stability of the initial environment, problems that these characters face in all their significance are slowly drained of importance as we are relentlessly teased with a hinted atrocity to come.

B

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356. Swingers (2nd Viewing)

Oh wow, remember when Vince Vaughn was good? At this point it must have seemed like a fresh new face had appeared on the scene, and it's really a shame that he made a career out of reducing his performance here to a shtick. What I find so great about this movie is that it has a fondness for its characters and yet isn't afraid to gently mock them. For every mildly sexist remark there's an undermining of this, and every false expectation is revealed to be not only untrue but the wrong way of going about things in the first place.

B-

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355. In The Name Of The Father

What's surprising about this movie, aside from the obvious injustice suffered by the real-life victims of this story, is that it's a movie where Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't turn in the best performance. Pete Postlethwaite does. I've seen him pop up in small roles over the years but this is the first time I've had a chance to see him really do his thing, and he kills it - a heartbreaking performance that makes me respect his (too short) life even more. The detail that goes into the plot makes the crimes committed and the reactions they incite within the cast of characters carry even more emotional heft. The interrogation scenes feel especially relevant given the recent War On Terror and Guantanamo Bay, and can help show how an innocent person can confess to anything under duress. The script doesn't shy away from making Day-Lewis' character be flawed, real, and pretty stupid and irresponsible - he doesn't help himself in early scenes, and yet is a victim of bigger things in a very Kafkaesque way.

B

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354. This Is The End

I really wanted to like this movie - the majority of critics I respect found it hilarious, and every single person I know seemed to love it to pieces. This isn't a case of inflated expectations however, as the trailer didn't look great to me. I didn't find the movie very funny, and sometimes idiotic. Note that I don't mind silly humour - I mean Anchorman is 95 minutes of pure ridiculous comedy gold - but sometimes the dick jokes wore thin here and when I'm given a 'shocking' moment as its own punchline I find it really hard to crack a smile. There are a few amusing moments, particularly the exorcism scene; and the way that James Franco and Jonah Hill's characters are parodies of their real selves was a nice satirical touch (Franco's art/culture persona, Hill's affected self-deprecating affability). Even a explicit Rosemary's Baby reference wasn't enough to evoke any response from me. A disappointing practice in indulgence as far as I'm concerned.

C-

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353. Hard Eight

This a much more conventional, realistic (rather than hyper-realistic) film than any other in Anderson's catalogue - there's little melodrama that isn't grounded by the weighty, world-weary performance from Baker Hall. Reilly, even this early on, shows a knack for dramatic acting (just as he does in his more popular comedic outings), and will become a dependable casting choice for Anderson. There's little to really say as the plot isn't too important, the directing not so stylistic and the score commonplace - but the character feel real and carry with them unexplained pasts that don't need to be - we care about them in the moment. It's also worth noting Samuel L. Jackson in one of his few interesting performances (instead of the Pulp Fiction-rehashes); it's refreshing to see, because he can turn in a good performance that doesn't lean too much on his public persona.

C+

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352. Good Vibrations

The most special thing Good Vibrations accomplishes is that feeling that music can give you, when in that moment you feel as if you have discovered something monumental. My only problem is that it needed to be shorter to further capture that feeling of immediacy, if it clocked in even 10 minutes shorter at 90 minutes it would have upheld the joyous tone more successfully. Despite this, it is still one of the most enjoyable movies I've caught at the cinema in the last few years.

B

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351. Happiness

Wow. This is a tough film. I wouldn't expect much else from a Todd Solondz film with this name but it genuinely ruined my day. It's a look from the other side of those we label 'weirdos', or pedophiles/killers we hear about in the news and reduce to a sentence or two. It's uncomfortable sympathising with sick, depraved people - but you can't help it when they are so clearly motivated by loneliness, depression, and ostracization. Some say it's a black comedy, and if that's the case it's the darkest shade it could be. Despite the outstanding acting all around (Seymour Hoffman just can't turn in a bad performance) it was Lara Flynn Boyle who grabbed my attention. She fantastic as a cynical, pretentious writer who is both desperately lonely and goes out of her way to make others feel the same - and sets up the funniest moment in the film. As usual, it's Roger Ebert who puts it best in his review (he is sorely missed):

In a film that looks into the abyss of human despair, there is the horrifying suggestion that these characters may not be grotesque exceptions, but may in fact be part of the mainstream of humanity. Whenever a serial killer or a sex predator is arrested, we turn to the paper to find his neighbors saying that the monster "seemed just like anyone else." "Happiness" is a movie about closed doors--apartment doors, bedroom doors and the doors of the unconscious.

B

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350. Lost Highway

With all weirdness (to be glib) that permeates his work, its easy to forget that when he wants to Lynch can be damn scary. Much of this movie keeps you hiding behind your hands because it is so proficient at maintaining the tone of 'there might be something around that corner'; and as Mulholland Drive shows - Lynch can show what's there, and have it live up to the tension built. This is wonderfully encapsulated in a scene where our protagonist (of which an inclusive explanation would be fruitless) slowly walks into a pitch black corridor and seems to be swallowed up by the darkness - from there things become strange, genre-bending and nightmarish.

The only real criticism of this movie that I have is the (majority of) the soundtrack. It's strange because on paper it should be perfect - a David Lynch movie with Trent Reznor and Angelo Badalamenti on soundtrack duties. I've loved Reznor's work on Fincher's recent films but here it's more in the vein of Nine Inch Nails and it makes a lot of the film feel sillier and less effective. It is, of course, not like this when Badalamenti's soundscapes mix in, and the wonderful slow-mo introduction of Lou Reed's This Magic Moment. Out of all Lynch's filmography that I've got around to seeing this is my least favourite - but it's an effective work nonetheless.

B-

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349. Machete

A mildly entertaining exploitation piece; Rodriguez always struck me as the poor man's Tarantino, similarly obsessed with 1970s b-movie genre homages yet lacking even the subtlety that he brings. That's not as relevant in this film, which doesn't even attempt to do more than exploit the exploitation angle. This self-awareness is a little grating, but the movie is anchored by the reliable Danny Trejo. What elevates this movie from a lot of the directors other works in my opinion is the politics behind it - and any fairly popular movie talking about immigration in America is deserving of a pat on the back.

C

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348. Stoker

Stoker is an unfortunate example of a movie that sets itself up with great promise yet, through no clear individual fault, finds itself slacking towards the end and losing what made it feel so special. Chan Wook Park is an excellent director, further shown by this movie, but what is visually striking is less the framing but the design; the fashion; the colour palette. At its best moments it revels in strange psychosexual spaces, with bursts of violence and hate that comes across as both shocking and acceptable, familiar and alien. Mia Wasikowska is definitely an actress I'll be paying closer attention too, as she approaches her character with a believability I didn't expect - and Matthew Goode excels as a charming and despicable character. In all honesty it's Nicole Kidman who steals the show - perfection in every scene and once again reminding audiences that she is a powerhouse actor when she needs to be.

B-

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347. Evil Dead II (2nd Viewing)

I have had an prevalent love for this movie that makes me always rave about how fantastically absurd it is, but on re-watch I found myself a little disappointed. It is as I remembered it, but without the shock and awe of my original viewing I felt less involved and longed for the simpler (and more emotional dare I say it) tone of The Evil Dead. What grasped me before was how despite the comedy and deliberate outlandishness I was convinced of Ash's descent into insanity - something that eluded me this time around.

B

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Review of 2013 (part 1)

Movies seen in 2013 so far: 76 Movies seen released in 2013: 12

Recent Releases

I can't tell what kind of year 2013 will be in film, but it could be a lot worse. Early on in the year I got to see a screening of the small yet effective Irish film What Richard Did, living up to the tone set by its title and trailer (which cleverly avoids any spoilers). It creates a world so familiar to me as a young adult myself, its location does little to distance the audience. It plays out as a 'What If?' scenario, and its close proximity to the everyday life of those in their teens and early twenties makes this a haunting exercise. It has moments of optimism and joy, but takes a slow decent into something darker and full of moral ambiguity. Reynor is marvellous in the titular role, and with Malcolm Campbell's script the story is highly engrossing. Similar avenues of guilt and moral ambiguity are explored in Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to 2010's astounding Blue Valentine with The Place Beyond The Pines. It is definitely my favourite of the year so far, though I haven't had a chance to see No or Stoker which both look great. Cianfrance plays with the idea of the myth in family history, consitantly bringing beautiful images and excellent performances to the screen. Gosling and Cooper are very very good and manage to avoid character traits they've leaned on before, while the supporting cast in Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Rose Byrne are strong too.

On the lighter, more manichean side of things, comes Wreck-It Ralph, which is a real joy. It's all you really need from an Pixar-like animation - there are strong characters, an original concept, the voice actors are suitably cast, it's funny, it's exciting and it's emotional. The gaming references don't intrude on the flow of the movie at all, which is a relief, and you don't necessarily need to have any knowledge of retro gaming to find them funny anyway. It's refreshing to come across a movie of such an engaging sincerity that dramatic moments have more weight. More unbalanced than Disney's offering is Oz: The Great And Powerful, though when it got it right it was similarly moving. As Scorcese did with Hugo, evident in the style and story is Raimi's sense of wonder in movie-making. Some people have been dismissive of the movie as a cash-in, too silly and not even worth talking about. I on the other hand, had a great time with it, and was impressed with Mila Kunis' portrayal of a character that could have gone very wrong.

Although they were nominated at this year's Oscars, and were released in the U.S in 2012, four best picture nominees weren't out here in the U.K until early this year. Lincoln only suffered from a long running time, when I feel the last twenty minutes could have been cut and a much more entertaining experience could have been sculpted. Daniel Day-Lewis is excellent as is to be expected, but what stole the show for me was Tommy Lee-Jones' subtle performance as a man learning the need for compromise in making the world a better place. Django Unchained was a disappointment at first, but quickly pulled itself together, being both fun and not skimping on moments of sobrieity. In fact, this has the best acting and emotional rawness in a Tarantino movie since Rerservoir Dogs. Unfortunately, once the movie came to its natural close the director seemed to be enjoying himself so much he repeated himself for half an hour before coming to a less satisfying conclusion - a prime example of how Tarantino can be indulgent in his filmmaking and needs to be told 'Okay, that's enough' every once in a while. The third is the surprising Zero Dark Thirty, for which directorKathryn Bigelow was horrendously overlooked at the Oscars, not even getting nominated. What I found so effective about the movie was how factual and politically neutral it seemed, so the shocking moments weren't played up as some sort of audience manipulation but instead a silence follows in which we can make up our own minds. Les Miserables stirred a lot of conflicting thoughts in me. The acting is all superb, the story and music is all great, yet Tom Hooper's direction is weird misstep after weird misstep, which leaves a movie that varies from surprisingly good to surprisingly bad. To explain exactly why this comes across, read this insightful article.

I also watched A Good Day To Die Hard, or Die Hard 5 (*sigh*). All I can really say is that for the first few minutes I thought the proficiency shown in all aspects of production was so awful that it was amusing, then for the rest of the run-time I felt very very bored and very very sad about where this franchise has gotten,

Other

The amount of movies I have watched per week has dropped considerably from last year so far, but out of the older movies I've seen I have been lucky to catch some fantastic stuff (9 of them I graded A- or higher). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original classic) has to be the best horror movie I've ever seen. Every single minute of this movie had my mouth agape and my hands nearly pulling my hair out. After a mysterious introduction of the gruesome, mad side of life near the start, the movie takes an increasing decline into a nightmare. There's barely any blood, but its directed so skilfully I never noticed.

Looking back on the great films I've seen for the first time in the last five months or so is really remarkable, I've discovered some of my favourite movies. Simultaneously jumping onto this list of favourites as well as my list of soul-crushing movies is The Bicycle Thief, which I recently had the pleasure of writing an essay about for a Post-War European Cinemas module. I was reminded that a good zombie movie can be scary, haunting, and have social themes  with Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead, and found my own sense of catharsis with my love and pains with the Star Wars movies in the balanced and lovingly made The People vs. George Lucas. I saw two excellent and deeply moving documentaries that were released last year, though unfortunately one failed to win and the other failed to be nominated at the Oscars. Marley is worth the slightly long running time for the insight into the music legend's life through his friends, family and colleagues; while 5 Broken Cameras is a look into the daily struggle of Palestinians whose land is slowly being illegally taken over by Israeli settlements. Both are really entertaining and interesting, but check out the latter if you can, it's really important that people hear about this kind of thing.

After finishing David Lynch's excellent TV series Twin Peaks I immediately sought to get more of the wonderful weirdness of that universe. I had been told that Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is very different from the show, and a lot of fans were disappointed by how it chose not to tie up loose ends from the show and instead focused on events that seemed unnecessary to explore, even changing certain things so they don't line up with the show's storyline exactly. I think that people's rejection of this masterful production stems from the fact that you can be a Twin Peaks fan without being a David Lynch fan. I came into the show because I loved his work, and so the large tonal shift and refusal to conform to audience expectation was only jarring for a short while. It's a horror film, scary as hell, tense and so cleverly written, directed and edited I'm still thinking about it now. What really surprised me however was Sheryl Lee's exquisite performance as Laura Palmer, expanding on what was a fairly small role in the show to something layered and gripping. Funny Games scared me too, but not in the way you'd expect. What was so terrifying wasn't just the relentlessly steady and unnerving tension, but how Haneke refuses to give the audience any kind of relief - and even taunting them. Although it's inherently a difficult watch, an element (mostly found in horror films) I respect the successful inclusion of is convincing the audience against their better judgement that things are going to be okay, and then taking that all away again. Audition is the best case I've seen of this, though last year's Berberian Sound Studio was very adept at this also.

Fargo has tough competition to be chosen as my favourite Coen brothers film, and I think I may rank it after No Country For Old Men and only just ahead of A Serious Man, but I believe this is their most tonally balanced picture. The now-familiar elements of plans spiralling out of control, noir-like intricate plots and a dark sense of humour are brought to a pleasant equilibrium by Francis McDormand's sweet-natured performance and the melancholy that sets right any chance of cynicism. I also got a chance to watch and study the funny and quintessentially British The Man In The White Suit - a quirky, satirical and yet fond look into the dangers of technology in the post-war period, brought to life by Alec Guinness' offbeat portrayal of a driven scientist with enemies on all sides. Though not on the same level as the aforementioned films, last year's Pitch Perfect was funny, entertaining and refreshingly (mostly) free of the bawdy humour that has become the norm in comedies of late; but most of all it was fantastic to see a majority-female cast showing that a movie doesn't have to be male-centric, expensive or stupid to be a success. Finally, a possible inclusion into my top 10 films and definitely one of the best animations I've seen is Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, a beautifully drawn, scored, and written film with plenty of raw emotion and thrills. The world created is so creatively rendered, with enough mystery to remain interesting, sparingly giving exposition to an unfamiliar world.

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346. National Lampoon's Animal House

They really don't make them like this any more, there was a confidence and patience in a lot of comedies of the 70s and 80s that is hard to find in recent times, where it's more about the exploitation of demographics. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but most of the time it's enough to make you grin. It's fun and fast-paced, but has the intelligence to focus on the characters. There isn't a huge amount of character development in the way   I usually mean, but the entire cast bring a warmth and sincerity to their roles and it really pays off. The plot itself toes the line between ridiculous antics and realism very well, it would be stupid to call it realistic but I always felt connected and moved by the directions taken.

B+

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345. Iron Man 3

I'm glad I had a little time finishing other drafts before I got to write this, as my opinion has changed somewhat. I'm not quite on the side of those who claim it is some kind of masterful film, in the same way that I don't celebrate Shane Black as most seem to. After the first few scenes, the movie gets into its stride and manages to balance comedy, thrills and mystery with good characterization. There was that wonderful feeling of not knowing where the plot would go, but having the distinct feeling it was going to a good place. Then, there came a twist - a controversial one for fans of the comics.

At the time I liked the twist, but as my expectations were dashed for something more safe and easy for mainstream audiences the nerd inside of me felt like it was being laughed at. So for a while, I hated this direction, however well it was pulled off. Over the last few weeks I've thought about it, and am more favourable towards it. However, I still think that from this point onwards, the movie suffers - though it gives the appearance of subverting what we come to expect from these kind of movies, there isn't much underneath it except a good idea or two. The last battle is large improvement on those of the first two movies but still becomes boring fairly fast. I did appreciate the way they handled Pepper, and the rest of the supporting cast got their time to shine too. Amazingly, there's an adult-child-reluctant-team-up that isn't annoying as hell, in fact it's one of the best parts of the movie.

I liked the mentioning of the events of the Avengers as 'New York' to be quite effective in drawing attention away from comparisons by facing them front-on, and bringing parallels with 9/11 fairly subtly. There is a lot to like here, and when I think  about it Iron Man 3 is much more satisfying conclusion to a trilogy than The Dark Knight Rises ever was. It's just unfortunate that later in the film the creativity that gave it weight earlier on is left behind and wrapped up in a predictable, fairly dull way.

And as far as the end-credits sequence goes - I approve.

B-

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344. Evil Dead (2013)

*some spoilers*

It's weird to say so, but as a fan of Raimi's original Evil Dead series, I'm grateful that this reboot isn't awful. It could have given me that sinking feeling that comes with something I love is mistreated (see: Spider-Man 3), but instead it was merely problematic. The tree-rape scene is still gauche enough for it to be worth removing altogether; originally it served to shock and Raimi regretted it (I believe he called it the product of an 'immature mind'), now it serves to shock but is 'legitimised' as fan-service. I'm a huge fan, but I still don't get any pleasure from seeing a woman sexually assaulted by evil spirits in the name of horror or comedy.

I'm happy enough that the movie didn't make me angry. It wasn't stupid, just flaccid. This is a pretty big problem with a property like this, there's no sense of fun or even that many scares. They nailed the cringe-horror, and the choice of primarily using practical effects instead of CGI added another level that was nice to see. I do think that Alvarez has some directorial skill and may make a good film one day, but there's nothing memorable here. By time you get an hour in all the gore becomes superficial, and yet the tone remains entirely serious. This created a crisis at the centre of it all for me that was never really resolved, and stopped it from really being anything.

It's worth noting the two positives - Jane Levy, and the initial conceit. Levy really went full out in giving a believable performance as a young girl trying to overcome drug withdrawal symptoms, and then completely let loose once transformed into a deadite. The plot is served well towards the beginning by the idea that the group have seen her relapse before and so intend on keeping her in the cabin by force once she starts feeling the effects - no matter what she does or says. This is pulled off reasonably well towards the first half, and sets up interesting avenues the character work could take later in the movie, but it's never really followed up. Similarly, at one point a character is forced to kill his possessed girlfriend after she self-mutilates in what initially feels like an attack on misogynist conventions in horror - but then once its discovered no one seems to care. The movie is an interesting topic of discussion, but once considered as a whole I don't really care either.

C-

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343. Lincoln

I don't see how I forgot to make a post about this since it was one of the biggest films released this year. This reminded me of how good Steven Spielberg still is, and how somehow he seems to be the most underrated and yet well-known director working today. Everyone knows him as 'the' movie guy, yet people always seem to talk of him as undeserving of that role. This isn't ground-breaking, and what you'd expect from an Abraham Lincoln biopic is pretty much what you'll get, but it's important to focus on how imaginative it is and how good it is on a script and performance level.

Daniel Day-Lewis is really good as expected, and somehow takes the sideline to his own movie in a quite, nuanced portrayal that is respectable yet edgy enough to refrain from straying from the character known to history books. It's a reminder that he doesn't always rely on passionate, explosive performances like in There Will Be Blood. Sally Field is extremely good too, but in the end what feels like the central component of the piece is Tommy Lee Jones. By time the amendment is passed I felt like cheering (thankfully I didn't). The film suffers in the same way that Django Unchained, it just went on too long. There was a clear-cut ending, yet it went on for little reason. The key difference is here it seems to be a simple misjudgement in the editing room rather than indulgence on the director's part.

B-