Films are likely to engage my attention if they have some of the following characteristics Small people’s small life’s Minor melodramas Idiosyncratic characters in absurd situations Ironic viewpoint Deadpan humour Poetic evocation Authentic set-ups Credible characters undergoing empathizable dilemmas Depictions of the downtrodden Situations involving deprivation and impoverishment Sad scenarios involving life’s unlucky little losers [...]
So: I’m now 2 years into this blog; that’s 209 films watched and reviewed. Phew! Time for me to have another go at a kind of “Manifesto” of what constitutes a good or bad film. Purely from my point of view; i may as well be as personal and as partial as i like here. [...]
Been watching alot of French films in the last couple of months. In fact I’ve watched by far more films from France (26) than any other nation – and that includes England (9) and the US (6) In fact I’ve not – deliberately – watched an American film since Goodfellas back in June. I’ve wanted [...]
I’m not going to go into too much analysis of what these various dialogues mean – otherwise this post will go on forever (and anyway, i don’t have any genuine desire to pick away at them) How about getting this advice from a friend: Valerie has figured out how to make her existence an insult [...]
Thought it might be an idea to include some of the dialogue from L’ennui in a separate post. Then i can take my film reviewer hat off and put my “analysis” hat on. We’ve got philosopher Martin, who’s up to his eyebrows in heady abstraction: “A man without sublimation is pathetic, a lunatic with a [...]
This is the great thing about Dvd’s: the “extras” you get can sometimes be more interesting than the film itself. The chatty commentary Richard Jobson does is entertaining – and kind of revealing: about how much sweat and toil, and commendable effort he went to in the making of his film; and also it reveals [...]
Thats how many I’ve reviewed already in the last 5 months or so. So it feels like time to take stock. First thing to say is: just because a film is not made in Hollywood doesn’t necessarily make it a better, more worthwhile film. Considering I’m self-selecting all the films i watch, its interesting – [...]
I’m writing this blog to: Define and refine the kind of things I might be looking for , and wanting to see – in my watching of films. It’s gonna be a slow process; moving tentatively towards articulating the features, and fleshing out the characteristics, of what i consider to be my kind of film. [...]
