I have been watching : A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Watched over a few nights because it is really quite long, A Bridge Too Far is on of those rainy Sunday afternoon films. It recounts the events leading up to and the events of Operation Market Garden, the audacious attempt to seize a series of bridges miles behind enemy lines in a effort to shorten the war.

The film dose not shy away from highlighting both the inadequacy of the planning and outright mismanagement of the operation. Ambitious one paper we see the operation undermined as equipment is lost, air drops that give equipment to the Germans, intelligence on German movements ignored, landing zones miles from the objective and refusal to 'rock the boat' by highlighting malfunctioning radio equipment.

We also get an insight to the German response as they try to understand what is happening, at first a high-ranking officer fears he is the target of the operation before it becomes clear that the bridges are the target.

Director Richard Attenborough is even handed and meticulous in his depiction of events and calls upon a stellar cast to bring home the drama; James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Elliot Gould, Ryan O'Neil, Laurence Olivier and Robert Redford all amongst the cast.

It is almost a dramatised documentary rather than a more typical war fiction and generally more effective for it although it can be a little dry in places where more could have been made to really put across the scale and cost of the mistakes made both in terms of the war and the number of lives lost.

Is it the end of the road for Bob and Harvey?

Bob and Harvey Weinstein have been two of the biggest players in Hollywood for nearly two decades, their company Miramax dominated the box office and critical kudos across the nineties.

It's a rise thrillingly documented in Roger Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures" as the brother rose to prominence and helped to shape the American film making landscape (all tied together with the rise of the 'Sundance Generation') but not it seems things are not going so well.

The pair sold Miramax to Disney during the nineties and in 2005 set up The Weinstein Company to once again have their Independence. However a number of under performing releases from the both the 'prestige' side of the operation (think Miss Potter) and the brash junk side- Dimension by name (Halloween) not to mention the sinking of Grindhouse has led to the brothers having tighten their company belts and staff numbers have been slashed.

So it seems that Bob and Harvey are about to meet everyone they royally p*ssed of on the way up on they way back down (even star asset Quentin Tarantino is of little help with half of Basterds take going to Universal), you get the feeling they might well not enjoy the experience.

Trailer Of The Day : In The Valley Of Elah

An excellent drama with another fantastic performance from Tommy Lee Jones supported by strong turns from Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron. Intelligent storytelling that looks what it is to be a front line trooper in Iraq and the families left behind when tragedy strikes

Flash Forward

Tonight saw the first in a new series by the name of Flash Forward, it comes from the genre power team of Braga & Goyer and at first glance appears very similar to Lost sharing as it does a central concept which is fantastical combined with non-linear storytelling.

Plot wise so far basically we have the entire population of the planet blacking out at the same time for two minutes and seventeen seconds during which time everyone sees a flashforward of their lives six months in the future. So what happened and why did it happen?

The first episode introduced the key cast and laid down a few interesting threads about what's ahead. The central character's flash involved him distressed and in mortal danger over something he's found in an investigation into the blackout, elsewhere his wife has seen herself having an affair with a man she has not yet met and someone else fears for his life having seen nothing at all.

Even in the present day we are given a few threads and questions, who where they chasing at the beginning and what exactly were they planning? Who is the man who seems not to have been affected?

The premise is promising (after all the excellent Minority Report is built an similar conceit) and with the whole thing being based on an existing novel and the show runners saying it all fits into a three season arc there is a full story planned out here.

In truth it was a low-key start but showed enough to give the impression that things well build up and interconnect in an interesting ways.

The other one has thoughts too over at http://squidfromspace.blogspot.com/

Get stalking

Now Twitter is a strange thing that to be honest I'm yet sold on as a concept. But it can be quite fun to read the random verbage of the great and good. So find below a list of cinematic players to stalk internet style (Twitter handles on the right there);

Judd Apatow - JUDDAPATOW
Wes Craven - WESCRAVEN
Jon Favreau - JON_FAVREAU
David Lynch - DAVID_LYNCH
Kevin Smith - THATKEVINSMITH
Daiblo Cody - DIABLOCODY
Hugh Jackman - REALHUGHJACKMAN
Willam Shatner - WILLIAMSHATNER
Arnie - SCHWARZENEGGER
Lindsay Lohan - sevinnyne6126
Quentin Taratino - QJTarantino

Of those, I'm not sure the Tarantino one is real, seems quite hard to find the real people out there and Lindsay Lohan's is by far the most illuminating and entertaining

Trailer of the day : Legion

Paul Bettany's career takes a somewhat surprising turn as he turns up is this rather non sensical looking actioner with a biblical flavour. Looks like it's going to rubbish in that dumb ass entertaining way.

Peeping On

Just a quick one for now to say that after a low key opening last week, Peep Show this week was again firing on all cylinders as the hapless duo contend with a new boiler, both having a date in the flat at the same time and revelation of whose baby Sophie is carrying.

Painful to watch, often oh so wrong but also oh so funny.

Straight outta' New Mombasa

Ladies and gentlemen the ODST of the UNSC truly are hardcore. The heroes at the center of Halo 3 : ODST really are top of the pile and do it all without being genetically enhanced supermen.

The game itself is essentially an expansion pack for Halo 3 and takes place in the hours before events we've already seen in the main game. On a mission into the great city of New Mombasa the squad is scattered to the winds in a heretic jump into the hot zone.

Inti ally you take control of the squad's rookie (one is every bit as stoic as Master Chief when comes to communication) as he emerges from his drop pod after being out for six hours. You travel round the city streets in what serves as a hub location for the game, looking for clues to what happened to the rest of your squad.

Upon finding a clue the player is given a flashback to what happened and the asked to play through events as each of the different troopers in turn as they fight to find each other and complete a vital mission for the way effort under the noses of an entire enemy fleet.

It's a game structure that works well as it juggles the quiet of stalking the abandoned city streets at night with the frantic action of the earlier hours. Each of the flashback mission holds at least one brilliant set piece moment, from desperately holding off an assault on a vital building to hotfooting it across a building crane hundreds of feet in the air as the covenant swoop around rocking you improvised bridge violently as you go.

The game also works a great men on mission narrative aided by the work of Nathan Fillion who voices the squad commander (a character who also holds a resemblance to the former Firefly captain) with back up from Adam Baldwin and Tricia Helfer.

The campaign is quite short but makes up for it with the variety and imagination in the mission design from the Bungie team. Added value is given with the inclusion of a new Firefight mode (essentially Halo does Horde but fun none the less) and all the content for Halo 3's online mutliplayer that has been released so far.

It's not a leap forward and as the title suggests more expansion than new game but it still leaves a lot of other FPS games in it's wake in terms of sheer entertainment value.

Yesterday I watched : Resident Evil (2002)

A schlock B-movie for the modern age, Resident Evil is a bit rubbish but in that oh so enjoyable way.

Taking the bare bones of the video game; zombies and an evil corporation the film throws a squad of special forces troopers and a memory addled Alice into the bowls of a sinister research facility where the T-Virus and malevolent AI have combined to make things very dangerous.

Hitting familiar points as it goes along (a jump scare here, a loud noise there, a tough nails Michelle Rodriguez here) the film is at it's best when it goes for something new of it's own. In fact the film's best sequence comes fairly early and involves a short run of very ordinary looking corridor. Those who have scene he film know exactly what I mean and those lucky enough to see it first time will whoop with wicked delight.

Come at Resident Evil in the right frame of mind and it will entertain but if you expect anything remotely smart from it you'll be disappointed.

Master Chief? Who?

Having been playing Halo 3 : ODST I can declare that the Master Chief is a big girl's blouse of a peace loving beat-nik hippy.

More to follow.

I have been watching

A quick double header to cover yesterday and Monday;

Nurse Betty (2000)

A decent little film about a unhappy housewife who witnesses a horrendous murder, goes a bit crazy and heads across country to with the intention of marrying the fictional super surgeon from her favourite soap opera.
In the central role Renee Zellweger puts in a winning performance as Betty in the year before she really exploded into the big hitters in Bridget Jones. There is able support from Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock as a team of hitmen on her trail and Greg Kinnear as the object of Betty's affections.
The script holds one or two nice surprises that you don't see coming and overall the film is a sweet feel good tale albeit one that includes scalping and drug dealers.



Mean Girls (2004)

Yes, it's a film aimed mainly at teenage girls, but that it doesn't stop it from being a wicked sharp comedy that lays into many aspects of today's image obsessed culture whilst stopping to say something about how alienated people (especially kids) can feel.

Raised in the African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron thinks she knows all about the "survival of the fittest". But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 16-year old enters public high school for the first time. Trying to find her place between jocks, mathletes, and other subcultures, Cady crosses paths with the meanest species of all - the Queen Bee, aka the cool and calculating Regina George, leader of the school's most fashionable clique, the Plastics. When Cady falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, though, the Queen Bee is stung - and she schemes to destroy Cady's social future. Cady's own claws soon come out as she leaps into a hilarious "Girl World" war that has the whole school running for cover (thanks to IMDB for that summary)

Built around Tina Fey's (Saturday Night Live alumnus and driving force behind the excellent 30 Rock on TV) sharp script the film is a lively and engaging 90 odd minutes and is pretty much a spin on Heathers for a new generation.

It also shows that Lindsay Lohan does indeed have talent and screen presence to burn in the central role and maybe one day if she gets herself together she'll still go one to be the film star that Mean Girls seemed to suggest she was destined to become. Rachel McAdmans also makes a strong impression as the Queen Bee of the piece.

Only a suspiciously positive and upbeat ending (it just feels like the film's claws are blunted just as it goes for the throat) prevents it from being an outright classic in it's genre.

Trailer Of The Day : Southland Tales

A crazy mess of a film but strangely fascinating, Kelly's next up with 'The Box'.

The Sound Of Music strikes

A great little video

On Thursday I watched : District 9 (2009)

District 9 comes from first time feature director Neil Blomkamp, given the greenlight and backing of Peter Jackson after the pair's tauted Halo project collapsed.

It's the tale of aliens who arrive over Johannesburg in a powerless ship who then find themselves ghettoised in the eponymous district of the city. We follow hapless bureaucrat Wikus as big time corporation MNU begins to transfer the alien population to a new holding centre. Of course things don't go to plan and Wikus finds himself thrown into the middle of events as comes across one of the aliens who is working to get back home.

The key feature of the film is the style, as it begins we are presented with a faux documentary style. Chopping from talking heads, vuax pops and CCTV footage. It's an idea that brings something new to the film and is expertly used to drip information on a very well realised alternate reality.

However the film then reverts back to a more traditional film making approach, as we are rather clumsily presented with a trio of aliens scouring a scrap yard for technology complete with subtitles. As the film continues the two styles are inter-mixed although there is less and less of the more imaginative documentary style until going into the final third of the film it becomes pretty much a standard sci-fi action film, with the other style only returning right at the end to provide a unsatisfying code to the film.

With a bit more thought and bravery the whole film could have been produced with the faux style which would have been much more interesting and truly set the film apart in the crowded sci-fi market.

Elsewhere much has been made of the location the film is set in, but nothing is made of it. Accents apart the film could easily be set in any major city in the world, there is no real sense of any kind of cultural aspects that set the place apart from New York or London.

We only ever really see the slum district and even then beside the aliens the only group we see that show any kind of cultural identity if from the Nigerian gangs that have moved into the ghetto to take advantage of the situation. Which moves onto another aspect

The film clearly sets to say something about racism (much like Alien Nation) but fails to really say much. Admittedly Wikus starts out as casually racist towards those he is charged with marshaling and does in the end form a partnership with Christopher (the amusingly named main alien of the piece). However by the films end Wikus is still using derogatory terms of reference and is all to ready to turn on Christopher without a pause when he puts his condition ahead of Christopher's entire people.

Also the representation of the aliens is so undeveloped and neutered that it's hard to really feel for them. We see the nasty racist types calling the dumb and animal like but it's hard to look down on this when (Christopher apart) all we see is the aliens actually being mindlessly destructive, addicted to cat food (an idea lifted from Alien Nation with it's milk) and displaying no drive or many smarts.

Combined with the fact the in-ghetto gangs appear to be exclusively black and the company executives (albeit evil as they are) somewhat confuses and dilutes the message here.

Plot wise many interesting questions are raised and then never addressed and as many of these stories are the tale revolved around a McGuffin that is never clearly defined and serves whichever purpose its called to when the plot dictates it. Likewise the relationship between Wikus and his wife is underdeveloped where it could have served to form a emotional core of the film.

The production design is strong though (impressive stuff given the budget), from the 'Prawns' themselves through to the imposing mothership, the incredibly realistic slum setting and the alien mechsuit is a particular highlight.

But I have to say apart form the design the film is fairly forgettable, neither sure of what it wants to say or how it wants to say it, as such it soon becomes something no different from the loud and flashily likes of any other sci-fi actioner



On a side note we have what Blomkamp's Halo would have looked like

Trailer Of the Day

Warm and witty in Juno, now be terrified by Ellen Page

Tongiht I have been watching : Leon

Leon (or The Professional to American audiences)is the tale of, well, Leon. And of course Matilda. Leon is "a cleaner", a hitman at the very top of his professional whose life is turned upside down by the 12 year old Matilda after he saves her from the massacre of her wretched family by Gary Oldman's crew of drug runners.

From here builds a strange relationship between two people who only really have each other, complete with an edge of tension in terms of the Matilda's eagerness to build a physical relationship between the pair also.

Director Luc Besson is often accused of being very much part of the 'cinema du look' movement, that is to say films that are all about the look of it but are hollow with nothing to really say and lacking in emotional connection. But there is heart here in the developing relationship between Leon and Matilda, with Leon slowly learning to connect with the world and people around again as Matilda learns valuable lessons as she is forced to grow up all too fast (albeit she's already older than her years at film's start).

Having said the film is also filled with excellent visuals from Besson's use of tracking shots to his use of light and shade throughout the film. One point of view shop towards the end in particular is a brilliant use of technique and storytelling, though to say more is to give things away.

Performance wise this marks the American breakthrough of the ever excellent Jean Reno (he was even great in Godzilla) playing a version of the character that first appears in La Femme Nikita (also worth checking out). Gary Oldman is frankly terrifyingly malevolent as the villain of the piece (you won't listen to Mozart in quite the same way again) but the real news of course is Natalie Portman.

12 years old herself at the time of filming she brings a real believability to the part of Matilda in role that easily could break the film apart if not done right. Managing to display childlike playfulness alongside desperation, loneliness and the uncomfortable begin and misdirecting of sexual interest that starts when people hit those early teenage years. A performance easily up their with Jodie Foster's Iris from Taxi Driver.

After this Besson moved pretty much into standard action fair with only The Fifth Element really standing and more recently he seems happier in the producing role. Still we'll always have Leon the blending of the mainstream crime thriller with the more European drama of the strange relationships that come and go through life as people are throw together.

A film that moves effortlessly from action set piece to tender bonding and with one of the greatest examples of learning on the job thrown in for good measure (look out for the confused drug runner about halfway through)

Tonight I have been watching : Best Laid Plans (1999)

Largely overlooked upon it's release Best Laid Plans is a compact little thriller than twists and turns towards it's conclusion.

As the tale opens when join Nick as meets old college buddy Bryce in a bar, later that night he receives a panicked phone call from Bryce who fears the girl he picked up earlier that night is going to file rape charges against him. It just gets more complicated from there and to say much more is to spoil it for those who haven't seen it.

The taught Mamet like tale essentially rests on a central trio of characters with Josh Brolin, Alessandro Nivola and Reese Witherspoon just starting to break into the big leagues coming of the back of Election and Cruel Intentions. All three put in good performances and take you with the characters as the plot curve balls keep coming.

The film is boosted by a evocative score from Craig Armstrong and a vibrant colour pallet that divides up the bright early days of relationships, the dark desperate night and the drudgery of lives stuck in small town ruts. Although it seems director Mike Barker's career has stalled somewhat over the last few years.

Admittedly the tightly wound threads unravel towards the end as we learn the truth behind events but the emotional resolution is strung enough to carry the film through to the end. To be honest it is hard to really talk too much about the film without giving away details (and I fear already I have here as is) but I can say I recommend it and you'll find a engaging thriller here.

Oh, it does have one of my favourite soundtracks.

http://uk.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2950759193/
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0133412/

Tonight I have been watching : Watchmen

Zach Synder's film version of the graphic novel that could. Now I've not read the book so I'm only going off the film here (also bear mind that only graphic novels I've ever read that I consider to be actually really good and just like proper books are Neil Gaiman's Sandman series)

Now Watchmen is a film that takes it's time to get anywhere, two hours and forty three minutes of it's time to be exact. I don't have an issue with long films if they are good enough to sustain the running time, Watchmen isn't quite there. During the film it often feels like the film is about to launch into top gear and really start rattling along, only it never really does. Everytime it threatens to it eases back off again.

For example the prison break is at first appears to make a seas change in the pace of the film, only for it to slow right back down again. It's never quite gripping enough to make you forget the time is passing.

In terms of what it has to say, well, there is nothing really new here that I haven't see before. Basically heroes aren't all perfect people, sometimes you have to sacrifice for the greater good and mankind is essentially douchey with touches of being occasionally great. Also big blue man parts attract the ladies. Ok, the man parts bit might be new.

I'm told the book was the first to break a lot of this ground when first printed, but as I've said I've not read it and go only from the film which arrives with the message and themes about ten minutes too late to the party and there's already a whole bunch of moody 'complicated' guys hanging around looking cool in the corner.

Two people stand out performance wise, Malin Akerman for being a bit ropey as Silk Spectre II and Jackie Earle Hayley for being the best thing in the film as Rorschach. In fact I think the film would have worked much better if Synder had been brave enough to move away from the source material a little and front & centered Rorschach.

Seriously it could have been a dark thrilling investigative thriller with him at the middle of it, instead what have a film that wanders off on tangents a couple of times and as such the pace suffers.

Sadly the best sequence of the film is the opening title sequence craftily riffing off a number of famous pop culture images to timeline the story so far in this alternate world with costumed vigilantes are a real thing. After this it is a bit by the numbers really, only a moment with the men's toilets during the prison break comes close to matching the imagination and sly wit at play here.

So we have a solid effort here and it does show a bit more range for Synder after '300' but it's not overly memorable and at times it is actually cringe worthy (the softcore interlude for example) but it does show that another 'unfilmable' book is perfectly filmable just not that interesting as a film.

Trailer of the day

It's a mess of a film but I still rather quite like it. Screwball comedy meets pretty much a bit of everything else.

Tonight I Have been watching : England vs Croatia World Cup Qualifying

Ok, a little bit different today, as I watched the football instead of anything else since it was an actual proper meaningful game.

So 5-1 to England and qualification for South Africa 2010 is job done. Well, you have to admit that's a good thing, a very good think if you remember there are two games spare.

Overall it was a good performance, more so in the first half with the team understandably taking the foot of the pedal in the second half. Lennon was a sight to see, a winger than runs at his defenders. Lo and behold it unsettles them and they give away fouls and a penalty. I'm thinking that right side is looking pretty good at the moment seeing as the opposition have take Lennon and Johnson out of the game to shut it down.

Yes, Johnson is still a little suspect going back but then that used to be Ashley Cole and as much as I think Cashley is a bit of a tool you have to admit the guy can play and has become arguably one of the best left backs in the world at this stage.

Seems Lampard and Gerrard are starting to learn to play in the same side together although it could be interesting when Joe Cole comes back to see if Capello thinks he can fit the three of them in at once.

Heskey retains his ability not to score. Though I do concede his presence does seem to upset backlines.

I also feel it will be important to wrap John Terry in cotton wool and sit him down in a nice quite room at the back of next May, he is going to be vital at the back.

As for Croatia well, they were disappointing on the night never really getting their game together after the early conceding of the penalty. Still guess I shouldn't really complain about that.

So bring on next June (by which of course Sunderland will have achieved a mid-table finish and poor old Durham may have won a game)

Trailer Of The Day

"I wanna go fast..!" A film funnier everytime I watch it I swear.

Tonight I been watching : Marie Antoinette

Sofia Coppola's 2006 take on the life of the eponymous queen. We follow Marie from her introduction to the French court at 15 as she is married to the future King Louis XVI through to the fall of Versailles.

We are given in Marie at first a young girl bemused and confused by the pomp and ceremony of the royal court, then a young woman under pressure to bear an heir to finally a women who refuses to flee in the face of the mob and proudly stands her ground alongside her husband.

In the title role Kirsten Dunst does a decent job, she is most at home in the earlier , brighter half of the film but does slowly manage to bring an edge of determination to Marie in the closing stages and does give bring an air of frustration and loneliness at times.

Elsewhere in the cast it is hard to judge since Jason Schwatzman has not a lot of things to say as the King and others such Danny Huston and Steve Coogan appear in roles as small enough to be cameos and not much else.

There is not a lot of substance to the film and not a lot there that it's trying to say, merely that Marie was a youthful, excitable girl thrown in to the high life and then unable to do anything to stop the collapse of France around her (after all her bad rep it was the frailty of France's Ancien Regime and costly funding of American independence that pushed it over the edge).

Where the film succeeds is in style and soundtrack. Nearly every scene is awash with lavish costumes and sets with a soundtrack full of indie pop, we are given the period piece as teen film. It partially works and is a striking film to watch (a number of sequences sharing the ethereal feel of The Virgin Suicides) but much like Maire's favourite confections it is bright and brash but does not hold much substance.

So worth seeing for the craftsmanship in the costuming, the choice of soundtrack and a few sequences that confirm Sofia has the family eye for a shot, but by no means essential. So The Virgin Suicides remains the best of Sofia Coppola's films so far with Lost In Translation not far behind with Maire Antoinette as the airy chocolate moose to the main meal.

Trailer of the day.

Writer of Juno does horror, should be interesting.

Tonight I have been watching : Brick

Tonight's viewing has been Director/Writer Rian Johnson's Brick. A Raymond Chandler-esque noir tale of a missing girl and the determined ex-boyfriend trying to find her. Only it all takes place in a modern day Californian High School.

One day Brendan receives a mysterious message and a panicked phone call from his ex-girlfriend Emily who seems to have gone missing. Trying to found out what has happened to her Brendan is drawn into a world of crime and double dealings that lurks beneath the surface.

From the tight and twisting plotting to the use of fast talking dialogue full of slang (Brendan in particular has a way with words) the film really does feel like someone lifted Farewell My Lovely and pitched it into the present day and for me it works brilliantly.

Joesph Gordon-Levitt (currently at your cinemas in (500) Days Of Summer) is front and center as Brendan and he makes a (youthful) Bogart for his day. Perfectly capturing the feel of someone both totally out of their depth but also in much more control than all those around him. The hardened loner trying to save the only person he has ever bonded with.

Around him is an interesting roll of characters, from the gangster's moll who is possibly more dangerous than anyone, to the drug lord (who lives at home with his mum), the thick headed muscle , the school brain who everyone calls 'Brain', the school drop out and of course Emily whose presence haunts the film throughout - always just out of reach.

Given an almost dream like quality in the haze of the Californian sun (looking even better in HD on Blu-Ray) and with a haunting score the film captures that sense of lives changing through long summer days and grips to the last as allegiances change and the audience is kept wondering how it will all play out.

The last scene in particular is a gut wrencher but played out in muted tones, the film maybe detective noir for a new generation but there is no by the numbers melodrama here. A wicked smart thriller laced with humour and heart, highly recommended

Today I have been watching : The Dark Knight

Chris Nolan's bat-follow up to Batman Begins is a film with much to admire but it is by no means perfect.

First of all let's look at what is good. Well, you have to start with Heath Ledger, his Joker is a twitching maniac with no apparent rhyme or reason and that makes him all the more effective. Here is the fully formed madman bowling in from nowhere with chaos in his wake. Ledger is the beating (albeit dark) heart of the film. Whenever he is on screen it is a vibrant and thrilling experience, his presence exciting and terrifying at the same time.

The second tier cast is also strong, Maggie Gyllenhall is given a lot to do but carries her corner of the love triangle well whilst Aaron Eckhart succeeds admirably in making Harvey Dent likable rather than insufferable. Plus of course Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman are quality in what ever you put them in.

The ferry sequence is excellent concept and executed well managing to really emphasis the gut wrenching feeling of having to choose between potential death and killing others while someone else makes the same choice at your expense. I particularly like the reaction of the 'cons boat.

There is some interesting discourse in the film over the nature of people, the nature of heroism and the sacrifices people must make to safeguard what they hold dear.

"We'll be doing this forever" is surely to go down as one of the great memorable film moments

So what are the weaknesses? For a start the film could easily bear to be at least twenty to thirty minutes shorter, the whole excursion to Hong Kong is unneeded for a start and a couple of scenes between Gordon and Dent, then Dent and the Mayor essentially cover the same ground as each other so one could easily be dropped.

I still don't like the structure in the last third, Dent feels sidelined at first and then takes center stage at the end without warning. I feel something could be worked out to dovetail the climax of Harvey's and Joker's storyline much more effectively.

Batman himself spends too much time reacting and Bale's gruff voice as the B-man still grates. And the few pieces of detective work he does are either non-sensical or fortuitous.

Harvey as Two-Face is wasted and I think he could have been kept around for the next installment that or the change needs to occur earlier in the film so we can really get a sense of him beyond he's pissed 'cos his girlfriend is dead.

Also the notions of boundaries and sacrifice that are raised whilst interest are never fully engaged with. For me it would have been much more interesting if Bruce has chosen Harvey over Rachael rather than saving Dent due to the Joker's misdirection.

And perversely Ledger's Joker is a big weakness as well as a strength. So strong a voice and performance from him means that once he's properly introduced you spend the time when he's not on screen waiting for him to come back, once again Bruce Wayne is the least interesting person around.

As it is The Dark Knight is good solid (if slightly over long) film with a memorable performance from Heath Ledger. With a bit more of tighter edit and look at the structure it could have been a classic.

Today I have been watching : Gladiator

Now I'm pretty much watching a film every (or every other) day I might as well blog on what I've been watching.

Today it was Gladiator. Ridley Scott's 2000 sandals and swords epic. The film that truly made a star of Russel Crowe and showed Hollywood could still put out the odd old school epic. A tale of revenge, retribution and fathers, it is thoroughly entertaining stuff built upon Crowe's career defining performance.

Of course he is surrounded by a cast of classical British actors in the supporting cast, with Olly Reed turning in his last role before those years of abusing his liver caught up with him. And Connie Nelson and Joaquin Phoenix ( a fine performance that makes you wish his retirement from acting is only temporary). complete the top lining triumvirate that drive the story along.

Hans Zimmer's score is also a fine addition; both evocative and emotional. The refrains for Elysium and Maximus's dreams of home in particular being memorable.

So, just a few notes for that one and we'll see how we go from here.

Inglorious Basterds

QT is back to form..for the most part. Fistly this is easily his best since Jackie Brown. Essentially a spagehetti western set in WWII (authentically everyone speaks the right language, no RSC Nazi leaders here) it tells a tale of revenge and wrath, don't be fooled by the marketing the Basterds are not the main players here.

Starting with a scene of nail baiting tension the film follows QT usual habit of dividing things into chapters and this time we get two distinct lines of narrative that dovetail at the end of the film.

Now as mention the opening sequence is outstanding and there at least three sections equal to it but it has to be said the end of the film is something which will either spoil it for people or be seens as an outrageous piece of wish fullfillment. I have to say I feel that's it is the end that holds the film back from truely classic status, but I shall say no more. The very end however is a cheeky masterstorke.

The film is packed with strong, real feeling and memorable characters. Pitt's Lt Rane is a southern man on a mission and throws himself into things accordingly. Shosanna is the daughter out to avenge her family and is a role that recalls the driven strong women of both QT's previous films and those of the noir films of the '40s.

But most memorable is Waltz as Colonel Landa, a chilling and calculating man and I suspect a villian that will go down as one of the best created. He is the charming and deadly snake in the grass.

I admit I got more from the film as they referenced old school film movements, stars, producers and directors, I kept film studies geeking out, but even without this I highly recommend this.

It's very nearly I feel another stone cold classic from QT but just not quite, so catch this and keep your eyes peeled for Quentin's next one

Where THe Wild Things Are

Spike Jones returns with an adaptatio of the children's classic and it put simply it already looks enchanting.