My film watching has been fairly sporadic over the last few weeks, due to being quite busy, and not having a great deal of energy in the evenings. I’ve found it hard to watch anything too challenging, and as a result I found myself dipping back into the sort of films I’ve not watched for a few years. I also found myself writing less about them, but hopefully just enough to make recording them here a worthwhile exercise.
30th June – Captain America – Enjoyable enough to have on in the background, but it didn’t really draw me in, and I’m beginning to think this isn’t the genre for me.
3rd July – Europa – I really should have ripped this with subtitles. My German isn’t quite good enough it seems. I think I will have to come back to this one.
21st July – Xmen : First Class – One of the better superhero films. I actually quite enjoyed it, and I think that the people who made Captain America could learn a lot about how to do a historical superheroes film well. Or maybe I just like Xmen more?
26th July – Xmen – The original and best. I’ve seen this about 10 times and it’s very much a comfort film for me. I can’t even really articulate quite why I like it though.
1st August – Festen – My first Dogme 95 film, and certainly not my last. Powerful stuff for a Friday night, but compelling from beginning to end. I like the fact that the director set himself limitations, as it resulted in something that doesn’t look quite like any other film I’ve seen. And I do think that the total lack of music and effects made the story stand out all the more.
See http://www.dogme95.dk/dogma-95/ for more details on the Dogme 95 movement and an explanation as to why this film looks a bit odd in places.
4th August – Manderlay – The sequel to Dogville, although with a change of lead actress (Nicole Kidman being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard). John Hurt’s narration is the highlight for me, and while I’m not sure the story is quite as strong as Dogville, it is still very watchable and has a strong social message. I think it’s probably worth watching the two films back to back, and I am very much looking forward to the third part of the trilogy. I also particularly liked the fact that Bowie’s Young Americans was played over the credits, as it was with Dogville. I think Lars Von Trier is fast becoming my favourite director, having now seen and enjoyed his last 5 films (I think that’s right – Dogville, Manderlay, Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomania).