Back to the Future (1985) *** Pt. 2 (1989) * Pt. 3 (1990) **

Directed by Robert Zemeckis
PART ONE
It took me 23 years before I watched Back to the Future. It's fun, kinda sad I missed out as a kid. Michael J Fox stars as Marty McFly, the not-quite-a-loser with a crazily dysfunctional family. He skateboards, he plays in a band, he has a pretty girl, but life ain't great. He's been hanging out with "Doc" Brown who is a mad scientist who happens to discover time travel. When Marty gets sent back to 1955 he runs into a problem: his mom falls for him instead of his dad like he's supposed to, jeopardizing Marty's very existence. Things get a little messy but McFly manages to pull it off with some help from the (younger version) Doc and some fancy skateboarding moves. Not to mention some Chuck Berry imitations. Time travel is messy business though and when Marty gets home there are a lot of changes (though all of them good.)

Slapstick humour, 50s memorabilia and a lot of fun pseudo-science and effects make the movie a lot of fun. They don't make comedies like they used to. I was surprised by the amount of swearing but it's way tamer than most things these days. I now understand why Back to the Future is up there with Indiana Jones and Star Wars for 80s adventures (although it touches neither of them).

A good, lighthearted romp.


PART TWO
Well, Pt. 2 is disappointing. It's all over the place (or time) and the only moments worth laughing at are the ridiculousness, rather than any sort of wit or cleverness. The effects were great for the time, and some of the stunts are fun. The parts which were the most fun involved multiple selves in the same time, dodging each other, filling in what Marty got up to in the first movie, while not being able to actually encounter the other Marty...

That's really the extent of the movie...
Merely a bridge to PART THREE...

Which takes place in the old west. The final installment rekindles some of the charm of the first movie but again doesn't quite live up to the fun or brilliance of the original. Doc's scientific explorations make for a quirky SF feel to a western and Marty's continued lack of understanding of anything going on around him as well as his stubborn and cocky attitude's keep getting him in trouble. Once again there is Delorean trouble which needs some ridiculous scheme (this one involving a train) in order to get back to the future. This time it's complicated by a love interest for Doc (since Marty always is leaving his girl behind...) There's a happy ending and some decent gags but I was really only watching because I liked the first one.

Fun but shallow.

300 (2006) **

Directed by Zack Snyder

300 is 7 parts testosterone, 2 parts history and, 1 part acting. Zack Snyder appears to me to be a nerdier and James Cameron, raised on comics instead of the great film epics. He's visual and highly stylized, but his films feel hollow. Everything is over calculated and precise...to a fault. This was my third time (kind of) watching this film and it was the first time I didn't hate it. Yes it's visually stunning and "epic" and has some great action sequences...but its self narration drags on and is really obnoxious. Whereas in The Matrix slow motion was made to heighten senses and bring things into a shocking perspective, every other moment in this Spartan tale occurs in slow motion, I think in order to make it feel more like the comic book is was made after. But I don't watch movies to read comics...that's what comics are for. I haven't read the graphic novel 300 but I've seen Snyder's take on The Watchmen and so I can figure out what's going on. He has a hard time adapting the script to film. It's almost purely an issue of translation.

The best parts are the one liners ripped from Herodotus and other contemporary Greek historians but the rest is a mere vehicle for slaughter. And beautifully flowing and choreographed slaughter it is. But I find no fulfillment in any of it. Or very little. Occasionally something would actually make me go "Wow that was cool," but mostly I was...bored. There is NO sense of pacing. At all. Just full out war from start to finish with some female nudity occasionally to mix things up. And then there are the freaks: The Fat guy with bone axes for hands and the armless concubines. It's pointless and just doesn't work in film. Especially a pseudo history.

One thing I do appreciate is the flow of the action sequences themselves. You can follow everything and see everything and that makes such a huge difference. I'd love to have Zack Snyder direct a Christopher Nolan movie. Maybe then I could have a good story with intelligible action sequences. But it would probably end up stale anyway...

A visual triumph dragged down by everything else.
I will end with what I think is the most succinct review of the film I have ever heard, courtesy of my cousin Dan.
"That would have been an excellent 20 minute silent film."

The Graduate (1967) *****

Directed by Mike Nichols

Dustin Hoffman is Ben, who has just graduated from college and has no idea what to do with his life when he gets seduced by Mrs. Robinson. It's awkward and weird...and then he falls in love with her daughter. This is a movie about neurosis. Everyone is neurotic, with perhaps the exception of Elaine Robinson (the daughter).

A provocative plot, phenomenal actings, and really great editing and direction makes this film tense, funny and depressing all at the same time.

This is the movie that Wes Anderson tries to make every time, and fails. The Royal Tenenbaums (one of my favourite movies) came close, but crossed too far into the ridiculous to keep it believable. Every twisted thing in The Graduate could happen, the characters could be real. Anderson's films are charicatures, and great ones, but Nichols makes it hurt by keeping it close to home.

Brilliant. (and it doesn't hurt to have a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack...)

Spy Game (2001) ***

Directed by Tony Scott

Spy Game (Starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt) is my dad's new favourite movie. He's a big Jason Bourne fan and this film fits that sort of build. When former FBI operative Tom Bishop (Pitt) is caught trying to break someone out of a Chinese prison, he is convicted of being a spy and sentenced to be executed. His former boss Nathan Muir (Redford) is on his last day on the job and tries to figure out why he was in China and how to get him out while most of the rest of the FBI are deciding that letting him be executed would be better for damage control. Redford has to spy his way around the FBI offices to find the information he needs while having less and less access to areas because of his retirement. Bishop's back story is told in flash backs which involve a love interest which isn't super interesting but a key point for the plot. The weakest moments involve her. The best moments are when Redford makes his colleagues look stupid by dodging their questions, finding out information and working around any loopholes he can find.

A fun spy thriller, but nothing phenomenal.

Casino (1995) ****

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Casino follows the exploits of Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) in late seventies/early eighties Vegas. Rothstein is a brilliant bookie who finds favour with Santoro's mob fathers and given run of the Tangiers Casino. Santoro is sent to keep an eye on things and keep everything running smoothly - which usually means beating people up or killing them. Their two different philosophies - Ace the efficient and more level headed type and Nicky as the thug - begin to clash as both try and leave their mark and make the most money. Despite being best friends, things get ugly when Ginger (Sharon Stone) gets involved and eventually greed and drugs end up sending everything to hell with FBI, kidnappings, murders, and plenty of profanity. Scorsese is a great director but as always is a little over the top with violence. Thankfully though, the movie never descends into the stupidity of some scenes in Gangs of New York.

Organized crime is fascinating to me, and I understand the appeal and the glamour that seems to surround it, however it truly does border on madness the worldview/mindset required to be part of such an institution, and the movies can make it seem over-glorified - it's easy to be caught up one isn't careful. The consequences always seem to be portrayed in a tragic light rather than...well, than being what they are: the just ends. Despite any moral qualms with the subject matter, the acting and direction are top notch, the characters have flare, and the plot kept me wound tight until the end. And that's why it's a good movie. It tells a story smoothly and effectively and churns the brain and heart. Scorsese scores again with Casino.

A Note On Rating Alterations

I have decided to rate movies out of 5 rather than 4 now. I like having a middle ground in which to put average movies. Ratings will be amended. Like My album ratings the majority will be middling with less on to the extremities.

The King's Speech (2010) *****

Directed by Tom Hooper

The King's Speech is an easy pick for my favourite movie of the year. It's funny, it's touching, and it's brilliantly executed. Colin Firth is poor Prince Albert who has a terrible stammer. The impediment is painful not only for "Bertie" but for anyone around him who must listen to him speak. That includes the audience. Firth does a magnificent job at expressing the pain, and the frustration of therapy and the expectations of those around him. Having abandoned all hope, his wife resorts to the classified ads of the newspaper and ends up with an eccentric Aussie speech therapist, brilliantly played by Geoffrey Rush. The movie touches on many subjects - class, anxiety, leadership to name a few - and deals with them all within the context of pre WWII Britain. But more than Hitler's rising threat, Albert must overcome his anxiety as he suddenly finds himself as King George VI after his brother abdicates to marry an American of questionable honour. A stirring tale of friendship, honour, and overcoming personal trials.

Rating *****

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (2010) CD [5/10]

Mumford & Sons build their music around big builds, banjo flourishes and strained and pained vocals. It kind of sounds like they're trying to be the Frames...but aren't quite as melancholy. They write decently catchy songs and have some hopeful lyrics in amongst the moping which is refreshing. The three singles "Sigh No More", "The Cave" and "Little Lion Man" and the additional "Roll Away Your Stone" are easily the best tracks with the rest of the album sounding like less successful versions of said tracks. That is my biggest complaint. It all sounds cut from the same cloth, but instead of that contributing to and overarching sound it merely leaves me dry and bored. Some decent tracks worth listening to though.

Gone With The Wind (1939) ****

Directed by Victor Fleming

Gone With the Wind is an epic story of love and loss set in the Southern states during the American Civil War. Scarlett O'Hara is a rich young beauty who can have any man she wants...except the one she wants: some guy named Ashley who marries one of her best friends. Rhett Butler is a rich and powerful man who wants her but can't have her because of her stubbornness and her love for Ashley. Rhett ends up having to try and tame his shrew. The Civil War destroys any sense of security any of the characters have which adds to the relational tension.

Besides the war, Scarlett's stubborn pride is the cause of most of the problems and she drove me crazy. The best scenes involve Clark Gable's (Rhett) attempts to get Scarlett to come around to his side of things and those which show the devestation of the south in the war. One particularly powerful scene has hundreds of extras dressed as wounded soldiers filling a train yard. Other great moments involve minor characters being the foil to Scarlett's selfishness and revealing to her her own terrible nature.

The cinematography is well done with impressive effects for the time. The acting is over dramatic as was the style at that time, but it doesn't take away from the film too much.

Over all a very impressive film.

Titanic (1997) ***

Directed by James Cameron.

So I watched Titanic. First time. It is both better and as bad as people say. The acting is pretty rubbish. But then we don't watch James Cameron films for the acting do we? No we watch because he's a visual titan. His biggest critical success (11 Oscars tying with Ben Hur and Return of the King for most ever.) won no oscars for acting, but won pretty much everything else. And it deserves it. The sound, the set, the costumes, the CGI and the direction are all exceptional. It's hard, more than 10 years after the musical theme was original to not burst out laughing every time it appears. It has after all been parodied since the movie first came out. And the classic lines are as cheesy as ever. "Jack! I'm flying Jack!" "Put your hands on me Jack." "I'll never let go!" etc etc.

I preferred to see the fairly lame plot as a vehicle for exploring the actual historical event. The bravado of the engineers at the outset. The lavish accommodations. The class prejudice. The musicians going down with the ship. The cries of "Women and children first." The frozen bodies. It's all super impressive and quite powerful.

As far as romances go it's not very great, but Titanic is a visual accomplishment and that makes it worth seeing at least once.