Page 1 of What I watched this week (w/e Sunday 2nd October)

On DVD:

The Third Man - With great direction from Carol Reed, a lively and witty screenplay and a tremendous performance from Joseph Cotten in the lead, The Third Man is a masterpiece. :D

The Terminator - A groundbreaking sci-fi film which is probably James Cameron's best, The Terminator is dark, gritty and easily worth its place at #3 on Empire magazine's top 50 independent films. :D

Ghost World - My favourite comic book movie, Ghost World is wonderfully written and acted with fully rounded characters. :D

Mean Streets - One of Scorsese's very best films, Mean Streets is given an anamorphic widescreen transfer and, to the best of my memory, a slightly better soundtrack which is still disappointingly only in stereo. :D

Sin City - One of the best films of last year, Sin City is one of those rare films that improves with every viewing. :D

Alexander - Directors Cut - There are many changes to the theatrical version with Alexander's bisexuality almost completely removed, together with some sections of Anthony Hopkins' voiceover and cuts made to some lengthy scenes. I thought the theatrical version was rubbish and Oliver Stone improves on it here but, as the saying goes, you can't polish a turd. :(
Commentary - Whatever you say about Oliver Stone, the man is well educated and knows how to talk; I've yet to hear a bad commentary from him and this is no exception, telling the audience what changes he made, the dramatic licence he took, filming and more about the life of Alexander. :)

Resident Evil - Paul W. Anderson is well deserving of his reputation as he has no idea how to create a film with characters, tension or a cohesive story. For a film based on a game in which the principle activity is killing zombies, the living dead were pretty thin on the ground and the CGI 'licker' creature looked awful. :(

Brotherhood of the Wolf - Director's Cut - This has to be one of the best looking films around - the DVD also has a superb DTS track. The film is a hard one to pigeon hole being a historical/action/adventure/mystery/horror/martial arts film but doesn't seem to suffer from the wide range of genres and is a beautifully constructed film with some superb fight scenes. :)

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning - For a reason known only to the writer, Ginger and Brigitte emerge in colonial Canada and seek to find a cure for Ginger's curse; the film is basically Ginger Snaps only set hundreds of years ago but with less success. :¦

Night of the Living Dead - The original zombie movie that created the genre is still powerful with moments of high tension and a story which was obviously influenced by the major issues of the day, namely racial tension and Vietnam. :) Good review BTW Stuart - I already own the 30th Anniversary Edition and the Millennium Edition so don't think I'll 'triple dip'!

Dawn of the Dead - My favourite of the original trilogy is an attack on consumerism with Tom Savini providing the make-up and FX and Romero blending horror and subtle comedy to great effect. :D

Day of the Dead - As with the others, Day takes its cue from the social and political climate of the day and acts as a commentary on Reagan's militarism and vivisection. Widely overlooked, this is still a superb horror film which still has the power to shock. :)


At the cinema:

Land of the Dead - I went in with low expectations but found myself really enjoying the film and was impressed by the level of gore and the political subtext; whilst not as good as Dawn, Land is probably on a par with Night and Day. :)

Howl's Moving Castle - Not Miayzaki's best but an accomplished film with some great lines and very good voice acting in the dubbing. :)


On cable:

The British A1 Grand Prix - Although this was a fantastic opening race day, I don't see this ever challenging F1 as the dominant motorsport format but it was exciting enough to have a hell of a future and keep F1 on its toes. :D

No Direction Home - Screened over two nights on BBC2, Martin Scorsese's documentary of Bob Dylan is a fascinating account of the man, his music, his upbringing and his influences. :D

East of Eden - Elia Kazan's adaptation of John Steinbeck's story of a young man (James Dean) fighting for his father's love is a brilliant film which owes much to the acting talent of Dean whose career was cut sadly short. :D

Arsenal vs. Birmingham City - Good, eventful game with Birmingham deserving a draw. :)

Liverpool vs. Chelsea - Nightmare. :(

NFL Sunday -
Houston Texans @ Cincinnati Bengals - I expected Cincinnati to run away with this one but Houston made a game of it. :)
New York Jets @ Baltimore Ravens - Without a single first choice quarterback on show, this turned out to be a low scoring affair with both teams low on confidence. :¦


Downloaded:

Family Guy 503 - So funny it could almost be illegal. :D

American Dad 203 - More straightforward and structured than Family Guy but maintains MacFarlane's high standards. :D

The Simpsons 1703 - Starting to show it's age but still a funny and well written programme. :)

Lost 202 - Excellent. :D

Grey's Anatomy 201 - Picks up where season 1 left off with another well crafted piece of television. :)



My Top 20 Horror Movies ---- My DVD Collection
They're coming to get you, Barbara.

Watched

Cheers season 4
Cheers season 5
Early Doors season 1 and commentary
Early Doors season 2 and commentary

Well, a quiet week compared to Wossname but then what`s new?

Love Hina Eps 1-5 - Thoroughly enjoyable anime based on the manga of the same name. Very cute with a faintly subversive air... :D

The Wolf Man - the original Universal pic. with Lon Chaney Junior, Bela Lugosi and Claude Rains. This is part of the legacy set and is a really superb print. Also has a very informative audio commentary and Wolfman documantary. Not a patch on `Frankenstein` or Dracula` but still thoroughly enjoyable! :D

The Longest Yard - no, not the incredibly bad Adam Sandler version (saw on a plane -ouch!), but actually a very enjoyable period piece from Burt Reynolds and Directed by Robert Aldrich. A bit of a comedy-drama but very effective and a lot of fun. Pi**es all over the remake. :)

The African Queen - given away free in papers, sold for a couple of quid in HMV sales etc etc . Never interested in seeing this but it arrived as a review disc on a DVD-R. Actually thoroughly enjoyed it. A good action-romance if such a genre exists. If you have this lurking in your pending pile (as a freebie from a paper) then push it back up to the top of the pile, Surprisingly entertaining. :)

Overnight / The Boondock Saints - don`t know if this was this week or last? Anyway - posted the review... :)

Fame - yes, the Alan Parker movie. Never liked anything he`s done really but was pleasntly surprised by this gritty movie. Sure it degenerated into `The Kids from Fame` but this movie was actually very nicely done... :)

Reckon that`s it! (Thanks for the positive comment on my `NOLD` review Wossname....felt nervous posting a review on such a cult favourite..felt sure I`d get a detail wrong somewhere but if you were OK with it that`s good enough for me...easily pleased!) ;)

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd October 2005, 21:57

Debbie Does Dallas! :x :p