The Conformist

Cast
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Stefania Sandrelli
Gastone Moschin
Dominique Sanda
Screenwriter
Bernardo Bertolucci
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Running Time
113 minutes

Set in Rome in the 1930s, this re-release of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 breakthrough feature stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as a Mussolini operative sent to Paris to locate and eliminate an old professor who fled Italy when the fascists came to power.

This I guess is where my review blog falls down because I didn't like this. It looks great, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is striking and beautiful but I really didn't think it was any good and the problem is that it's an acclaimed masterpiece. If someone criticises a great work of art it doesn't damage the artworks reputation but that of the critic. I'm not going to give this a score because clearly I misunderstood it entirely. It has a very slight story, the main character being driven to the assassination of his former professor reflects back on his life including joining the fascists, meeting his wife, being attacked as a child through to meeting the professor and his wife in Paris. It's just very drawn out, long, ponderous, dull. It looks great I say again but I just didn't like it which is a problem on my part I guess.

Horton Hears A Who!

Cast
Jim Carrey
Steve Carell
Carol Burnett
Seth Rogen
Will Arnett
Isla Fisher
Dan Fogler
Amy Poehler
Screenwriters
Ken Daurio
Cinco Paul
Directors
Jimmy Hayward
Steve Martino
Running Time
86 minutes

Based on the beloved children's book by Dr. Seuss, this is the tale of an imaginative elephant named Horton who hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Although Horton doesn't know it yet, that speck houses an entire city named Who-ville, inhabited by the microscopic Whos, led by the mayor. Despite being ridiculed and threatened by his neighbors, who think he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to save the particle...because "a person's a person, no matter how small." (20th Century Fox)

Dr. Seuss' stories are probably better suited to 20 minute shorts but the extra material added here is fine, it's just that some magic is lost when the dialogue doesn't rhyme.

Son Of Rambow

Cast
Neil Dudgeon
Jessica Hynes
Bill Milner
Will Poulter
Eric Sykes
Ed Westwick
Screenwriter
Garth Jennings
Director
Garth Jennings
Running Time
95 minutes

Summer, 1982. Will Proudfoot (Milner) is a quiet 10-year-old with a fierce imagination and a member of the ultra-religious Plymouth Brethren. Lee Carter (Poulter) is a school outcast, forever in trouble. Unexpectedly, the pair connect over their love of First Blood, which spawns an attempt to make their own sequel and enter it into TV’s Screen Test competition…

Fun and fast moving with some early eighties fashion thrown in.

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Cast
Mathieu Amalric
Emmanuelle Seigner
Marie-Josée Croze
Max von Sydow
Screenwriter
Ronald Harwood
Director
Julian Schnabel
Running Time
112 minutes

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of French Elle, who believes he is living his life to its absolute fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life-altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby's fate leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life's passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundaries. (Miramax Film)

It is good but I wasn't involved in it or drawn into the story. The beginning 30 minutes or so where you see it from his eye point is clever and interesting but I felt detached from what was going on but maybe that's just me. When a film is more low key maybe I'm more aware of my surroundings and distracted by them than if the film has a more intense driving narrative. It was good, there's no denying it but I just wasn't drawn into it.

Lovefilm

Lovefilm sent me a three month free rental voucher in December. A follow up to a one month free trial I had in January '07. I waited until after the Xmas period to start:

L Word, The - First Season - Disc 1  
The disc only had the feature length first episode so it's difficult to judge the whole but it was kind of flat and dull.
Stranger Than Fiction
An ingenious film that was a joy to watch.
Ten Canoes
When you watch the making of documentary you realise it's a miracle that anything came out of this. It's alright but kind of amateur in feel.
30 Days of Night
Looks good but has clumsy pacing which the lead actor points out on the commentary.
Gun Sword - Vol. 1
Good giant mecha action.
Last Exile - Vol. 1
Beautiful, reminded me of Studio Ghibli films.
Drunken Master
Absolute classic, Jackie Chan's athleticism is astounding!
Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 - Disc 1
Stupid beyond belief. I got it because of Katherine Heigl but regretted it.
Gungrave - Beyond The Grave - Vol. 1
Gantz - Vol. 1
Weird and interesting.
Berserk - Vol. 1
Clunky animation but good with fun blooper reel.
Karas - The Prophecy
Spectacular but confusing.
Requiem From The Darkness Vol. 1
Stand-alone ghost stories.
Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys
Appalling remake.
Next Door
Alright horror movie.
The Son's Room
Emotionally minimalistic which given the subject matter is completely wrong.
The Black Book
A rip roaring war melodrama.
Hellboy Animated - Blood And Iron
Much better than the first.
Bleach - Series 1 - Vol.1 - Disc 1
The Kingdom
Well done with a great gun battle ending.
Witchblade - Vol. 1
Blood - The Last Vampire
Stunning visual design which from the extras seems to have been an experiment to test the  blending of CGI and line drawing.
Tell No One
Mesmerising thriller.
Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust
Even better than the original with great animation.
Appleseed
Hellboy Animated - Sword Of Storms
Horrid Scooby Doo level animation.
Vampire Hunter D
Tremendous but has basic animation.
Adaptation
Superbad
Not that funny.
Bubba Ho-Tep
Dull super low budget horror.
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 10 - Vol. 54
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 10 - Vol. 53
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 10 - Vol. 52
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 10 - Vol. 51
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 10 - Vol. 50
Claudia Black returns and much better overall but unfortunately the Ori storyline is rushed and doesn't get rapped up.
Rent
Chrono Crusade - Vol. 1
Ninja Scroll
Stunning!
Shoot 'Em Up
Knock off John Woo.
The Host
Great comedy horror movie.
Stephen King's The Shining
Pointless and somewhat incompetent mini series.
Death Proof
Not as great as Tarantino seems to think it is or set out to achieve.
Knocked Up
Not that funny.
V For Vendetta
Better than I expected.
Battlestar Galactica - Razor
Yea it was alright.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Vol. 1
Difficult to tell from the first disc but this has an enormous reputation.
Samurai Champloo 1
Funny and cool samurai action.
The Animatrix
Mixture of stunning animations.
Speed Grapher - Vol. 1
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 49
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 48
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 47
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 46
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 45
Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 9 - Vol. 44
The quality drops when Claudia Black leaves and they are not fighting the Ori. It just doesn't make sense that when faced with such a dangerous foe they would spend time doing anything else except finding ways to deal with that threat. It reminds me of the X Files, when faced with hostile alien invasion they wouldn't tell anyone, seemingly forget it and go off to investigating some poltergeist or whatever instead.
Cowboy Bebop - Vol. 1
Funny and cool sci-fi.
Little Children
Absorbing drama but very downbeat, I'm not sure I'd want to see it again. Jennifer Connelly is stunning.
Inland Empire
As a Lynch fan I thought I'd love this but didn't.
Letters from Iwo Jima
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3 - Discs 1-5