Full Metal Jacket (6)

This is another famous film that I hadn't yet seen. By Stanley Kubrick, this is a fairly chilling portraying of war, and of course the Vietnam war of which it was set in. During training the new Marine recruits chats "we are not robots" but is the brutal training and ritual that turns them into robots and strips them of identity. And in the war, they do their job... kill. The story was interesting, the filming was straight forward and not intrusive. There was no emotional appeal, no heroes to cheer for or enemies to boo against - which is probably just what it was trying to show. 6 (I enjoyed it - it is not a war action film, it about turning guys into war machines and the insanity of war).

The first half is of the brutal training by the Hartman - a Sargent who all future Sargents are probably based on. His continuous yelling, verbal and mental abuse pushes them all to the limits, and one beyond with deadly results. Private Joker passes his training and become a reporter in Vietnam where he is soon battling in bombed cities. A film crew interviewing interviewing the men produces some of the most insightful lines in the film. Then as Joker's men are pinned by a sniper, conflict on how best to proceed leads to him executing a sniper - some are elated, some are angry, and his partaking the horror has now switched from outsider to those with the "1000 yard stare".

What is most outstanding about this film is how it is so true and applicable to today's war in the deserts and the mountains of the Middle East. The characters believe that they are doing good for the country, where they Vietnamese can choose either "freedom or death". But they don't really know what's going on, they are just there to kill. This could have been filmed today and it would identical in every way - for a film that is 20 years old, it is up-to-date.

This is a fantastically cleverly done anti-war film without being obvious or in any way preachy about it.

Strangers On A Train (7)

This may be one of Alfred Hitchcock's more famous films, but I hadn't seen it before. And while the story is good and the acting is fine, for me it doesn't quite make it as a thriller since sometimes it became a comedy! It's a 7 (the story was ok, but the filming was faultless).

The story is well known - two strangers meet on train and discover that they both would like to kill someone. The eccentric Bruno suggests that they "swap murders", but the tennis pro, Guy, thinks he is joking. Bruno turns out to be more than eccentric, eccentric in fact, and he murders estranged Guy's wife on a island at a fun fair lake. Bruno then starts pressuring Guy to murder his father, but when he refuses, Bruno threatens to leave a clue on the island will frame guy. The cops are already very suspicious of Guy and so must avoid them, and race bruno to prevent the evidence from being planted.

Insane Bruno, along with his dotty mother add comedy to the film. And when he gate crashes Guy's party it's even more funny. The thriller part of the film is well executed, the murder on the island accompanied with fun fair music, and the ending race and fight and very memorable. But by the far, the filming was superb - wild angles and points of view, such as the murder reflected in glasses, the stretching for the lighter, poses by desk lamps, crawling under carousels, and even distant standing ominous silhouettes, there's just so much!

Who is doing such brilliant filming theses days?

Akira (2)

As I've said before, I'm not much of a fan of Japanese animation. This was classic Japanese animation. And I'm not much of a fan of stories that are totally way out there and don't any sense whatsoever. This was such a story. This was simply unwatchable, a 2 (I ended up fast forwarding through it).

It began with promise, in a post World War III Tokyo, fighting motorbike gangs battle on the streets. But when Tetsuo crashes his bike in front of a strange kids, the military take him and the kids to a research centre. Meanwhile his friend Kaneda is getting involved with a girl and the rebels. In the research centre it is found that Tetsuo has some sort of uncontrolled power, and is somehow connected to some super power called Akira. Ultimately, I think he ends up fighting against his power and he and other kids with super powers all transcend to a new whole level of existence.

I liked the start of this film, the gangs, the underworld, the revolt against the government, and even some good music. But as it progressed, it became more and more surreal until I just gave up on it. After enjoying The Ghost In The Shell, this was a big let down.

Alien Vs Predator 2 (6)

When writers are desperate, they sometimes resort to the secret chamber below the bottom of the barrel and brings characters from other films together, usually to fight. Like Godzilla versus Mothra, this is Alien versus Predator. The goods news was that I had low expectations, and it lived up (or down) to them so I wasn't disappoint. It's a 6 (just enjoy the monsters, the fights and guns and ignore everything else).

A Predator (an alien species that hunts for fun) spaceship is carrying Aliens (wildly dangerous bugs) past Earth but when one escapes and creates on board havoc, the ships crashes on Earth. Conveniently, it crashes in a remote forest town. The aliens escape and begin multiply. A predator meanwhile receives the crash signal, and goes (probably just for the hunt, not a rescue). As more and more of the town folk get killed, the heroes all cluster into a gun store and battle their way out. But spooks in the military has other plans.

This film is very dark - not the story line, the filming. It mostly takes place at night, in the rain, and I wonder if they over did the black just too much. The humans are all just cannon fodder, neither species cares about them and neither did I, they were just cardboard characters to be cut down. I didn't really care for the heroes but that probably shows little I was involved in the film, and hence that it turned out better that I had hoped. I suggest it is watched with similar low expectations and it will happily suffice.

Sicko (5)

In Sicko, Micheal Moore look into the American health service, or lack of it, bit I feel that was a typical polemic by him and didn't paint a full picture. It was still entertaining though - a 5 (good for some sound bites and to get you thinking a little, but not much more).

Moore focuses in on how the medical insurance company's are doing harm than good, by refusing people cover, not paying for reasonable claims, and creating huge pressure on doctors to offer less than best advice and services. Political links to the huge medical insurance companies are also shown. He compares this structure with social, government run system like the NHS in the UK, and similar organisations in France, Canada and Cuba. As a stunt, he takes people who need treatment to Cuba where they get the care they require, for free!

However, the whole film is extremely one sided - the NHS is hardly the magical all working system that he glosses over. Through stories he describes some of deplorable actions carried out in the name of the medical insurance companies, but not where does he detail statistics and numbers - I don't know if it was just a few poorly treated people, or if it is endemic. I don't know how it compares to other countries, as interesting as people's stories in those countries were. In the end, it's all entertaining and interesting hype, but missing real substance. Let's hope a substantial documentary is next.

Hairspray (3)

I wanted a momentary escape from reality, something that could my mind on a tiny trip. Unfortunately, this film was so far removed from reality that I could see the edge of the universe from it. A friend I was talking with said that it's pretty good, and most of the time she is right, most of time, just not this time - it's a dismal 3 (I wish I hadn't seen it).

Two school girls, Tracy and her friend Penny, are big fans of the music and dance show hosted by their heartthrob, Corny. Tracy's mother (John Travolta! in make up) won't let Tracy audition for the show, but when she does, she is rejected anyway for not looking good enough. She and Penny begin dancing with the black kids, and since this is 1950's America it is quite a shock to all. Her new dancing style is a hit on the show and Tracy is now one of the dancers. But the show manager (Michelle Pfeiffer) wants her off so that her own daughter will winner the shows award, and she also doesn't want the black kids mixing in the show either, as Tracy wants.

This film began so badly that I almost stopped watching it, but being told it was pretty good, I thought that it would improve. After you get over the shock that this musical and dance film takes place in a world that's seemingly been decorated and filled by people from the McDonald's marketing team, and after you have endured the banal plot introduction, and after you have finished throwing up, things do actually get better... just ever so slightly. Once the racism and the black/white relationships storyline begins, it all improves, but let me stress again, ever so slight. Queen Latifah who has such a great voice, is given wimpy little songs to sing and is not able to let her voice fly. Does Michelle Pfeiffer sing, if she did, it was so bad that my self protection system has blocked the horror from my memory. And John Travolta in heavy make up doing a romantic duet with Christopher Walken!?! Did I miss some in-joke?

Perhaps I was in the wrong mindset for this film, but I definitely know that I was not in the target audience - girls under 10 ears old.

Get Cater (6)

In a bookstore I heard a snippet of music from this film that was quite good, sadly the rest was mediocre. And this is pretty much the same as this film. It did have quite a few things going for it, but also there were also things didn't really grab grab me. I'll give it a 6 (slightly better than average).

The police believe it was drink-driving accident but Jack Carter, a gangster from London, doesn't think so and goes to investigate the dead of his brother in Newcastle. Old relatives are friends re cagey, so Carter beings looking enquiring various gangs there. At first, Carter suspects that an old enemy, Kinnear, but a friend of his London boss Fletcher, might be involved. But when another local gangster leader Thorpe, suggests that the leaves Newcastle, rather forcibly, he changes his focus. Thorpe blames Kinnear and offers Carter money to kill him, but Carter isn't sure of the facts. Then to his great shock and sadness, he discovers that his brother's daughter has been filmed in a porn movie and that everyone is to blame. So, he starts to seek his revenge!

The realistic story takes place in the post-industrial, bleak Newcastle, and the characters are in a similar state of mind. They are all cold and cruel. Carter is particularly violent! There's is no hero in this film to root for - except perhaps for "J" to do his job! Maybe at the time it was at the cutting edge of fashion and style, too far on the cutting edge, because now it all looks very dated. But the ugliness of gangsters, drugs and porn, are depicted with a brutally harsh, uncomfortable, light. The acting is superb (complete with Cane's catch phrase "Do you know..?") and the story a twisted tangle of threads good to follow. Watch this for anti-heroes and don't mind realistic violence, otherwise, something with a little more fantasy escapism might be a better pick.

The Big Sleep (6)

I was looking forward to a "Sam Spade" film noir, complete with narration and fainting damsels in distress, but this wasn't quite that and wasn't quite as good as I hoped. It was a 6 (I'll watch it again but only to fully enjoy the plot).

Private detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) has been hired by a wealthy general to investigate a blackmail attempt on one of his daughters, Carmen. His other daughter, Vivian (Lauren Bacall, suspects that he has been hired to look into the disappearance of a previous detective. The blackmailer is soon found dead in a house where Carmen can't remember a thing because she is high, and a film from a secret camera is missing. Then the generals chauffeur, who was involved with Carmen, is murdered - maybe he killed the blackmailer? Then Vivian received a blackmail demand for Carmen's photos. It seems that the previous detective, as well as a local mobster and his wife, are all involved in a complex plot of lies and cover-ups.

While the complex story was fun to keep track of - everyone is lying or covering something up - the filming is nothing spectacular, the acting is so-so and the music often too loud for the speech. And I still just simply don't understand how two people who are so cold to each other and utter in a matter of fact manner, can suddenly claim that they love each other!?! Maybe it's a Bogart thing. The most outstanding feature was Lauren Bacall - stunning beautiful and some very well filmed portraits. Another thing was the convoluted and complex plot involving many characters - you'll need your thinking hat on to follow it! This is very much a film about characters - for one of a similar style but much better, I'd say see The Third Man (which I've now got queued up, woohoo!).