scaryblog

Some thoughts on my trip down Empire magazine's Top 100 Films Of The Century (so far!). I really enjoyed this exercise - I fully admit to approaching some of the films with something less than 100% enthusiasm, but for the most part I was at least intrigued to see what the fuss was about and in some cases they were films I'd wanted to see and just missed.  I'd also say that generally the list was a very high quality - there were no absolute stinkers in there, just some films that weren't to my taste but I can understand the reason for their inclusion. All in all, I'd seen 73 of the films before which means I watched 27 as part of this exercise - which took me almost exactly 9 months to get around to completing.  Of these 27, I was going to try and say how many I liked - but it's not that simple because there were films I admired but didn't "like" eg Whiplash, Joker, Call Me By Your Name and then there were films I just didn't like eg Before Suns...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #94 - Batman Begins I remember liking this, but I have a suspicion there was some Phantom Menace rose tinted glasses action going on and it's actually a bit of a mess.  I must rewatch some time to either confirm or deny. Which brings us to my very last film to watch on this list - Un Prophète.  I remember this being raved about at the time and I started watching it, but somehow got distracted and never finished it.  But I managed it this time - well done me!  And it's a pretty strong film, following our protagonist on his journey from naive first time prisoner to - well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it?   Overall, the story is a strong one and mixes reality with some elements of fantasy well - but a film like this is going to live or die by the quality of the central performance and Tahar Rahim most certainly delivers.  I was struggling to remember where I'd seen him before un...

  Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #92 - Baby Driver I generally really like Edgar Wright films, but just couldn't get into this one after the fantastic first 15 minutes. Which brings us to Phantom Thread - a film about which I had quite mixed feelings because I generally tend to admire rather than enjoy both Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis films - and I'm not even entirely sure I even admire There Will Be Blood, which is their previous collaboration.  I was also not entirely convinced I'd relate to the 1950s fashion house setting - it's not exactly home territory for me. But I actually really enjoyed it.  It's a very repressed, English kind of film (particularly for a US director) with a lot of meaningful glances and silences and it really suits the fashion house setting.  Daniel Day Lewis and Lesley Manville are fantastic (as you'd expect) but Vicky Krieps more than holds her own in such exalted company.  The plot...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #90 - Crouching TIger, Hidden Dragon One of the first DVDs I ever owned - I so have to watch it again on my big telly! Which brings us to In The Mood For Love - a unique film in this list because it was the only one I'd never heard of before.  To be honest, I was quite surprised there were any such films on the list, but I'm very happy to be educated.  Empire describes the film as "a chingly sad and mesmerisingly gorgeous, akin to Brief Encounter -  but with far fewer cups of tea" and, although I've never seen Brief Encounter, this film is almost exactly what I imagine it to be like (but with far fewer cups of tea.  And slightly more Asian actors).  It's a poignant story, beautifully shot and well acted - Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung are both excellent as the leads, pretty much carrying the whole film by themselves. In a lot of ways, it's a reasonably straightforward plot (some might arg...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… No other films to write about because we're on another "two in a row" (my last one!) which takes us to Her, which I hadn't exactly avoided but I never find Joaquin Phoenix a particular draw, so I hadn't actually watched either.  But, for the most part, I enjoyed it - it does a good job of portraying possible events in a normal romantic relationship, but played out between a man and his virtual assistant (interestingly, the film came out a year before Alexa took over our lives).  Joaquin and Scarlett Johansson both do a good job in playing the two sides of the relationship in a very natural fashion which you don't question for a minute as they take their journey together - Scarlett does particularly well given it's purely a voice role.  It also has a cracking supporting cast - Chris Pratt, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara amongst others and the score (by Arcade Fire) also works very well. As you...

  Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #86 - Iron Man Rewatched this recently snd still enjoyed it! #87 - Bridesmaids I'm not a big fan of comedy (I'm a serious fellow) but I do recall laughing at this one a few times Which brings us on to a film there would have been absolutely no danger of me watching unless forced to - Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.  I'm not a massive fan of musicals and for some unclear reason I think I don't like Stephen Sondheim musicals, despite only ever having seen Into The Woods and enjoying it.  I'm also not a huge fan of either Tim Burton (particularly his later stuff) or Johnny Depp (ditto), so you can tell this film was really ticking all my boxes. And whilst I didn't hate it, it was a bit of a drag.  It's both stylish and stylised, being good to look at - when they're not stumbling around in the pitch black, which happens more often than it needs to.  The performances are ...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #84 - Coco Just a lovely, beautiful film! Which brings me to the snappily titled The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of Westerns but, for some strange reason, I had started watching this one and given up on it reasonably quickly on grounds of dullness.  But, off I went again - to the end, this time! And it's definitely still a Western - and I suspect I'd have given up on it again if I'd had any choice in the matter!  It's a beautifully shot film with some amazing scenery and some excellent performances to match.  Brad Pitt took a lot of the plaudits, but he didn't seem to have an awful lot to do for large portions of the film - whereas Casey Affleck did impress me and the supporting cast certainly hold their own in such lofty company.  And the story is quite interesting (and it was one I didn't know and it didn't go exactly where I was e...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #81 - District 9 This came out of nowhere and is really good, intelligent sci-fi combined with social commentary #82 - Skyfall My favourite of the Daniel Craig outings although I'd have to say the trailers for No Time To Die look pretty good - if there are any cinemas left for it to ever open in 😢 Which brings me on to Frances Ha, which having watched Ladybird, I had high hopes for.  And, well, I'm not sure what I think.  It's less a film as such - more like a collection of arty cut scenes (in black and white, naturally!) of varying lengths, which sometimes contribute to the "plot" and sometimes don't. It's beautifully shot (although I wasn't entirely convinced about the black and white) and the performances are generally good and feel quite natural - although the characters don't actually feel like anyone I've ever met, but maybe I just don't move in those social circle...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #79 Little Miss Sunshine 100% indie quirkiness which I don't remember a lot about, but I remember I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, that's all the films I have to talk about this time around so that means I had to move along and watch another *##^£!@&^£ Richard Linklater film.  In case you missed it last time  around , I didn't particular enjoy Before Sunset - so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to yet another sequel featuring two people I didn't like, after another 9 years of their lives, to hear them discuss yet more things I didn't care about.  At length.  Hoorah for Before Midnight! Well, the good news is that there are more other people involved this time around so some of the conversations are a little less self-centred and I also found the central characters a little less annoying and a little more grounded in reality.  So the film managed to hold my attention better, but t...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… No other films to talk about here because we're on another run of two films in a row that I haven't seen.  Although that's not entirely true, because (and this is the first time this has happened in this list) I had seen Michael Clayton before but I couldn't remember anything about it, so felt it probably deserved a rewatch. And having watched it, I'm somewhat perplexed as to why I didn't remember anything about it - it's a fine "paranoia thriller", beautifully shot with an engaging plot and some cracking performances.  It's also prime George Clooney (probably only bettered by Out Of Sight) - maybe I just forgot about it because it made me realise I'm only the second best looking silver fox out there 😀! Tilda Swinton also deserves recognition for doing a good job of someone slowly realising they are out of their depth and everything she does just makes things worse.  I...

Continuing my trip down Empire’s top 100 films of the century so far… #74 Oldboy Probably not the most watched film on the list but well worth checking out - overall it's intriguing/batshit crazy (depending upon your viewpoint) but has some absolutely stunning set pieces. #75 Training Day Surprisingly low on the list imho, this is a great film with a terrific central performance. #76 Logan Not what you'd expect from a superhero film but very enjoyable with some great performances from some actors really enjoying themselves. Which brings us on to Dunkirk - a film I'd always meant to watch but never quite got around to.  I generally like Christopher Nolan films (although I gather Tenet may prove to be a challenge!) and I'd have to say this one didn't disappoint. Having said that, I don't think I actually have an awful lot to say about it.  It's beautifully filmed and well acted by an impressive cast  (I'm sure that news isn't going to surprise anyone) ...