Horton Hears a Who!:
"Who are these
adults for whom sitting through
Horton
Hears a
Who will be made more palatable by the
fact that a line from
Apocalypse Now
is reworked to refer to bananas
rather than napalm? I would have hoped that adults might be more likely
to
respond to the qualities of Seuss’ book: the beautiful purity of its
visual
style; its sense of aesthetic harmony between message and imagery; its
touching
moral; and the endearing loyalty and patience of its protagonist."
2001: A
Space Odyssey: "
2001's
influence extends well beyond the occasional self-conscious attempts
to replicate it (such as
Contact
or
Sunshine). This
isn't just because it opened the door to smarter Hollywood science
fiction, but also because it combined those high brow concepts with
more pulp-ish, enjoyable aspects of the genre."
Cloverfield:
"There
are no doubt a whole host of film academics working on books and
theses about the post-traumatic psychology of post-9/11 Hollywood
filmmaking, but watching
Cloverfield
you almost see their work becoming redundant. There's nothing really
to analyse: all the post-traumatic themes are right there on the
surface, to the extent that you could barely call the 9/11 imagery
here a subtext."
The Darjeeling Limited:
"What’s really interesting and
impressive about Anderson’s style is the way he combines those
freewheeling and (seemingly) semi-improvised performances with a visual
style
that obviously requires rigid planning. An actor-oriented style usually
concentrates on simple camera movements and loose blocking to give the
actors
as much freedom as possible, but Anderson’s style is much more tightly
controlled."
Enchanted:
"In an age of smug
Shrek-style
parody,
Enchanted's genuine
fondness
for the source material is its chief distinguishing feature, and some
will find that enough. Ultimately, though, it feels like a good idea
not developed far enough."
Rescue
Dawn: "The film is sufficiently mainstream
that it may cause some to have the critical equivalent of jungle
hallucinations: when the film ran at the Melbourne International Film
Festival, the program described the final scenes as “an
ironic comment on the Hollywood happy ending.” I don't think so
– the end of the film is just a normal Hollywood happy ending,
sans irony."
Bee Movie:
"If slipshod plotting and insincere
characterisation are given a passing grade in a film aimed at kids,
we risk simply defining kids movies as those too bad for adults to
watch. And that is what bothered me most about
Bee
Movie.
It feels like more of a kid's movie than
Antz
not because it's aimed at a younger audience – indeed, most of
Seinfeld's comedic patter will be lost on children – but
because it's just not very good."
Eagle vs Shark:
"Waititi and actor Jemaine Clement keep confounding your
expectations that Jarrod's nerdish exterior hides a heart of gold: he
really is an irredeemably dislikable man-child. In saying that, I'm
not trying to put you off seeing the film. On the contrary, this is a
big part of why
Eagle
vs Shark
is worth your movie-going dollar."
Beowulf: "
Beowulf
gives the distinct
impression that Zemeckis, while fiddling around with the computers,
has fallen off the crest of the wave creatively. Every scene in
Beowulf is spectacular,
but in a manner that recalls another
spectacular scene in a recent movie."
Ratatouille:
"
Ratatouille is far and away
the best-looking computer
animated
film I have seen.... and a
reminder that there’s no longer a need to
skew the subject matter of computer animated films to objects that look
good in
the medium.
Everything looks
wonderful here."
Dr Plonk:
"I suspect the film might work better on DVD, where there is more
ability to
pick and choose the sequences to watch, or to see it in short bursts.
Those
kinds of distracted viewing patterns might normally be frowned on by
film
purists, but in this case, they would effectively help turn
Dr Plonk into
the short film that it probably should have been."
The Simpsons Movie:
"One of the main symptoms of the show’s decline has been the
devolution
of Homer, to the point where he has become a completely self-involved
moron.
His journey of redemption in the movie is therefore effectively a quest
by late-season
Homer to rediscover the better qualities of early-season Homer."
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix: "The pink and frilly fascist
Umbridge,
easily the most memorable character in the book, is played with relish
by
Imelda Staunton and is satisfyingly despicable. This is the Harry
Potter
series’
Revenge of the Sith,
the episode where the forces of darkness
manage to cause society to rot from the inside through misdirection and
fear."
Spider-man
3: "I thought the original
Spider-man
reversed the usual trend of Hollywood films in
that it had good plot and characterisation but not enough action; the
second
was so good because it managed to keep the affinity for the characters
while
adding some really good action set-pieces.
Spider-man 3 sees the
balance
tip the other way, with action sequences aplenty but a completely
dysfunctional
plot."
Other
recent additions: Tideland, McCabe & Mrs Miller, Hot Fuzz,
Rocky
Balboa, Little
Children, The Thin Blue Line, Happy Feet,
Rififi, Flushed Away, Casino Royale,
Time
to Leave, Mad Max, Cars, Network, Brokeback
Mountain, Munich, King
Kong (1933 and 2006), The
Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Or see the full list.