Square Eyes

Hughesy wrote:My Life As A Dog. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll make a vow to watch more subititled films!

If its anything like the 90s citv series Woof, then you'd barking mad not to love it!

I saw The Wrestler at the weekend. 8 out of 10. I would recommend it.

The Simpsons - The Movie

I'd gone off The Simpsons for a few years, but having watched an episode or two lately I though I ould watch the film.

It was quite good but very generic of the characters. Nothing new and everything we knew what to expect. Still a good family film though (apart from naked Bart on a scateboard!).

I would watch it again.

7/10

Go To Blazes. 1962 British comedy caper - in colour! - about a gang of crims who plan to rob a bank safe while using the cover of being firemen on a call-out (to the shop next door to the bank). It stars someone called Dave King, who I must confess to never having heard of before. Some familiar faces in supporting roles though: Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Maggie Smith, Derek Nimmo. Easily the best thing about this film for me was the early-sixties London backdrop; most British films from this era seem to have been made in black & white so this was a bit of a novelty for me, seeing the old capital in glorious colour.

Man and boy - based on the book by Tony Parsons. Forgot I had this film, discovered it when sorting through my old videos & seeing which ones to transfer onto dvd before chucking. Ayway saved this one & watched it again this afternoon, really enjoyed it Not sure if tht was the first book he wrote

American Splendor. Terrific film. I really related to the miserable, cantankerous bloke whose life the film's based around! Never read any of his comic books but I might have to seek them out (or at least an anthology of them) now.

Hughesy wrote:American Splendor. Terrific film. I really related to the miserable, cantankerous bloke whose life the film's based around! Never read any of his comic books but I might have to seek them out (or at least an anthology of them) now.

Yeah I really enjoyed that when I saw it. I loved the fact that Harvey Pekar kept his normal job for all those years while also writing that comic book. I love the history of ordinary people. Who knows I might get round to reading the book too one day!

savage sounds wrote: Yeah I really enjoyed that when I saw it. I loved the fact that Harvey Pekar kept his normal job for all those years while also writing that comic book.

There's a moral in there somewhere: the moral being, erm, writing popular comic books isn't (or wasn't) quite as lucrative as you might think! Also, if he'd have left his menial job he wouldn't have been able to write about the lives of any of the oddballs he worked with any more and thus all those lovely storylines would dry up!

This week I've seen two very different films: The Ghost & Mrs Muir, a 1947 comedy starring Gene Tierney (who I'd always previous assumed must've been a bloke; not for the first time, I was wrong!) and Rex Harrison. And Rude Boy a film about The Clash wot I wrote a bit about on the so-called music blog Too Much Apple Pie, if anyone's interested (which they're probably not, understandably!).

The Counterfeiters. Harrowing. It's based on the true story of the Nazis' counterfeiting operation during World War II, when they forced Jewish concentration camp inmates to forge millions of pounds' worth of British bank notes in order to flood the UK market with them and destabilize the pound. A very good film, but very harrowing as I say. When you see the way humans can treat other humans like animals so readily it makes you realise how fragile society as we know it is, and how easily the whole thing can turn mental (to use a technical phrase), like in Nazi Germany.

The Visitor. All you need to know about this film is that it's by the same writer/director as The Station Agent. Now go and seek it out!

Loot a 1970 Joe Orton film with screenplay by Galton and Simpson starring Richard Attenborough. Film is spoilt a little by poor audio on the DVD - goes quiet during dialogue and enormously loud during music.

Gosford Park

I didn't find this film appealing when it was first released and only decided to watch it on the TV when I found out me Mam had given her video to a charity shop.

I found it rather boring while I was watching it, only saving grace was Maggie Smith, but, then it started to seep into my thoughts over the next few days and I totally rethought it. Maybe thats the sign of a good film.

Shallow Hal

I borrowed the DVD, saw it previewed as coming to the little screen and dismissed but one of my mates insisted I'd like it.

I was expecting it to be just silly humour, insulting to the larger person and with little actual substance, but, was pleasantly suprised that the film was amusing and had quite a lovely message without being too sickly.

I liked the extras on the DVD too, especially when Gwynny recalled how she dressed as the large girl and went out in public and how it affected her.

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People

Really enjoyed this film. It still feels a bit surreal seeing Simon Pegg as a movie star, but that's what he is now. His performance in this lifts it above run-of-the-mill romantic comedy status. It has a typically cheesy 'Hollywood' ending though, which lets down an otherwise funny and enjoyable film. But that's only a minor gripe.

I watched Peter's Friends a couple of days back. It has a fantastic cast (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Kenneth Branagh) but I can't help but feel this film wasn't good enough for them. I've seen half a dozen films with a similar premise and all of them were better than this one!


I'm also half way through watching Maverick (again). It's always a fun and easy film. I like seeing Jodie Foster do lighter films sometimes.

Ghost Town

Ricky Gervais plays Ricky Gervais in this supernatural romantic comedy. Bit of a daft ending but an enjoyable enough 102 minutes nonetheless. I'll give it a seven on the Hughesyometer.

Also this week I've seen Fast Times At Ridgemont High (7 more Hughesyometer points) and Persepolis which romps home as my film of the week with an impressive 9. Shame the subtitles were so bastard small though.

Sutti's big hair wrote:I watched Peter's Friends a couple of days back. It has a fantastic cast (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Kenneth Branagh) but I can't help but feel this film wasn't good enough for them. I've seen half a dozen films with a similar premise and all of them were better than this one

I saw Peter's Friends before the similar ones (including The Big Chill) and liked it very much, eventhough it did have me addicted to Bruce Springsteen for a while, Hungry heart is going through my head as I type. The Big Chill had a little more impact though but Peter's Friends well, it had a fabulous cast and it was British. What more can I say.

Sutti's big hair wrote:I'm also half way through watching Maverick (again). It's always a fun and easy film. I like seeing Jodie Foster do lighter films sometimes.

The first Western I've ever liked. I won't tell you my favourite bits if you're only half way through but, oh, did it make me laugh.

My last watch was the X Files Movie

I thought it was good but didn't have the Big Screen impact as the first X Files movie did. If I'd seen it as a feature lengt TV episode I would have been more impressed. All the same I enjoyed it.