Here are some brief appraisals of a few films I've seen so far this year, cinema trips not included. Some of them have been for my ongoing movie lesson but most have been for my leisure.
- Ted (2012) Seth McFarlane - Not half as funny as it wishes to be and annoyingly referential.
- Haywire (2011) Steven Soderbergh - Boring 'covert ops' action film from a very over-rated director. I don't understand how he always seems to attract the big(-ish) name stars to appear in his films. I can't recall actually liking any of his movies.
- The Hunger Games (2012) Gary Ross - A bit slow to get going and, of course reminiscent of Battle Royale but watchable enough for a lark. First part of another fucking franchise as well.
- The Tree of Life (2011) Terrence Malick - Eye-burningly terrible. My wife accused me of making her watch 'a two hour screen saver'. Guilty as charged. I can never get back the time that I wasted watching this dross.
- Wish You Were Here (2012) Kieran Darcy-Smith - Really gripping story and well played by all, especially Joel Edgerton. Clever and believable.
- The Imposter (2012) Bart Layton - Doco that plays like a fiction about a nutter who adopts the lives of certain missing persons. Still don't know if the whole film is a put-up job or not but it's definitely worth a gander.
- Life of Pi (2012) Ang Lee - Quite well made and dazzling on the surface but a polished turd is still a turd.
- Looper (2012) Rian Johnson - Not the worst time travel flick but a little underwhelming. And just the merest of logical questioning undoes the whole plot.
- The Dictator (2012) Larry Charles - As broad as you'd expect with some pretty woeful misfires (massive boob assassin, anyone?). Not as painfully funny as Borat, or even Bruno, yet still plenty of giggles, thanks mainly to Sacha Baron Cohen's clumsy timing.
- Mamma Mia! (2008) Phyllida Lloyd - Somewhere beyond awful sits this oddity. So far beyond that it comes out the other end inversely judged. Somewhere where the spectrum of quality reverses up itself. Still better than Moulin Rouge though.
- Intouchables (2012) Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano - Dire, soft-pedalling 'odd couple' drama that had me gaping at all the lifeless cliches on show. Need more time to thoroughly dissect the corpse. Francois Cluzet should be ashamed of himself. An American remake ominously approaches.
- Network (1976) Sidney Lumet - A bit preachy but still packs a punch with great performances throughout. Nice to watch as a slice of history - an era of American film-making that wasn't purely cash driven.
