Watching

Just quickly then, this is the funniest non-comedy I've seen since Mission Impossible 3. Really, Hollywood takes itself so seriously that there's no room left for us.

Like MI3, it's funny because it's pompous; like Lord of the Rings, it ends 45 minutes after it ran out of plot; and like so many films of late, it was totally rescued by the presence of a proper actor from the RSC. In the case, Sir Ian.

I just have one question: Who in the name of Behojat puts Audrey Tatou in a film and decides to make her look frumpy, dowdy and middle-aged? Jeez...

What wonderful timing - just as I'm really starting to get into Johnny Cash's music, they release a biopic for me. And it's brilliant, and Joaquin Pheonix gives a monster performance as the lead role, and only one thing bothered me about this film: In the world today, 1 in 5 of all the men, women and children on the planet work as professional Elvis impersonators, and yet they still managed to find the worst one I've ever seen. Thank God it was a bit part.

Full thumbs up to The Man in black.

Okay - no-one here is worried about any of the accepted principals of physics, biology, geography or seafaring, are they? No? Good. Then you're gonna love this film.

I didn't want to see King Kong. I couldn't see any interest in yet another monster movie, no matter how famous the monster. Who cares? Evidently Peter Jackson does, and he's got me convinced.

The film breaks down into three clearly-cut acts, with the whole thing weighing in at three very fast hours. Act one is the kicker. Since the whole story is so blastedly simple, the thing lives or dies on how well the characters are built, how much we care about them by the time the action begins, and Jackon's very wise to take his time about it. It was a marvellous character study. By the end of the first act, I would have followed the boatload of them anywhere, even to meet a giant CGI monkey. Acts two and three you pretty much know - girl meets monkey, girls screams, monkey climbs tall building - but you don't know it at all until you've taken the ride the way Jackson paints it. Truly touching. And Naomi Watts is my new heroine.

I caught a bit of this with my flatmates last night. It's funny soley because the title is so wrong. It ought to be called, "Jack Osbourne: Morose Junkie". Weird show, weird family, and they're all working harder than Ozzie these days...

Sean Penn stars in this pot-boiling drama as a self-sabotaging salesman whose frustrations with life becoming increasingly focussed on the injustice of "the system", until he squeezes all his rage into a single target. Richard Nixon.

Penn is terrific in this film, and draws you into a well-paced story of a man's complete breakdown. Though there's no direct connection, the shape, pace and payoff of this film is very, very similar to Taxi Driver - indeed, the blurbs refer to Penn as a young De Niro - but it doesn't feel like a copycat film; just a delicious piece of cinema that deserves equally rich rewards.

I have to admit, this documentary about Bob Dylan's early years left me a little cold. It was a three and a half hour piece with some fantastic songs, but almost no emotional engagement outside of those songs; it was full of points, facts and ideas, but had a stubborn refusal to offer any interpretation of those ideas; and it was too heavily populated by uninteresting hangers-on. In that sense, the documentary was a good representation of Dylan, but I think I would have gotten more entertainment out of three hours of good music.

Glad I watched it, but I couldn't recommend it to anyone but the die-hards Dylan fans who are ready to hear the word of Bob.

Cruise and Spielberg were having drinks together one night, and Cruise said, "You know Steve, I could really go for a project that doesn't stretch me for a change. Something where I could just get up late, do what I do, and then go home and shag someone who isn't Nicole."

"I know what you mean Tom," said Stephen, "Sometimes I hark back to the glory days of Jaws, when I didn't have to think about it. I could just go, 'Ooh, it's a shark' and that would be enough storytelling for anyone."

At that moment, Morgan Freeman walked in and said, "Hey guys, I've just finished reading this old H. G. Wells book. It's dull and lacking in purpose, and most of the book is just, 'Ooh, it's an alien', but goddam if this boy hasn't written a great opening and closing monologue. I'd love to read them out aloud some time."

The rest is history.

I went into this film with very low expectations. They were mildly exceeded.

The Fantastic Four is a story about...oh, do you care? There is no story. Just a series of set pieces that happen, and in happening, require another set piece a few minutes later. I hate to say it, but Jessica Alba's bum was the only thing that stopped me drifting off entirely.

What is it about Hollywood that causes so many great special effects technicians and graphic designers to flourish, while systematically tearing writers and storytellers to shreds?

As my flatmate Brian has mentioned, last night we watched the BBC3 dramatisation of the life of Casanova.

With a wonderfully witty script, written by Russell T. Davies and brought to life by a winning performance from David Tennant, it had use in stitches for the last of Sunday evening. Peter O' Toole gave a seductive and stately performance as the elder incarnation of the great lover, and some wonderful costumes filled the whole production with an air of decadence worthy of the legend himself. Amazingly, this is first TV program in many years so good that I actually plan to stay in to catch the remaining episodes.

Incidentally, Russel T. Davis is also the writer for the new Dr Who series. This bodes very well indeed.

The DVD of the stage show, it's a series of Kung Fu feats and Kata thinly woven around the plot of an ancient legend. An impressive watch, but not enough narrative substance to hold its length. Having said that, it was fun to watch, and make you want to get up, stop watching DVDs and get some exercise...

Best gig I've ever been to. Here's my full review

Clearly it has great source material, as the art direction is pure comic book at often gorgeous. Sadly both the direction and the script lack and additional inspiration, and as a result the overall effect passes you by. All the enemies are dispatched far too easily (especially the surprise end hell demon, who is Yet Another Grey Thing With Tentacles) the characters are as two dimensional as comic book adaptations often leave them, and the not-much-of-a-build-up ends in...not much.
Not a bad film, but not a good one either. You're best off waiting 'til 2008, when BBC1 will show it on boxing day.

It's said that Spielberg made this movie as a B-movie, only with higher production values. It's absolutely true, and yet it's also deliciously playful with the genre it follows. This movie is an absolute delight to watch, Harrison Ford is clearly having a whale of a time throughout, and the Nazis prove yet again to be history's favourite baddy.

Cinematic gold.

A film about the life of an Louis I. Kahn; a truly great architect who died having completed very few buildings, largely due to his troublesome personality. This film is made by his only son, who charts his troubled life, his strained relationship, his passion for materials and structures, and the wife, two mistresses and three children he left behind.

This film is the greatest contribution to my appreciation of the value of architecture since seeing that Thessalonika has none. If you've ever wondered why people go to Morden to die, watch this film and learn the value of magificent spaces.

Another film that tragically didn't make it out of the 80's alive. Unmotivated character acting stops it from being a good drama; too much drama stops it succeeding as an IRA-based thriller. Not a bad watch, just a bit messy.

All the 80's fashion choices didn't help much either.