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Films

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)
[#9 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

This is on Film4 on Friday, so I shall endeavour to have a full review up by then. But I will say that it's an awful lot of fun.

this week on 100 Films

Four new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part II (2013)

two big battles form the cruxes around which the story works: Batman vs the Joker, and Batman vs Superman. I won’t spoil the outcomes for those who’ve not read the book, but both are excellently realised on screen... I’d go so far as to say the Superman fight improves on the novel’s version

Read more here.


Repo Chick (2009)

the second of director Alex Cox's “microfeatures”: films shot for a budget below the Screen Actors Guild cut-off of $200,000. By shooting his actors quickly (in ten days) on green screen, then putting in sets made from toys, Cox made the entire film for closer to $180,000. It’s not going to work for every film, but perhaps there’s some lessons big over-expensive Hollywood productions could learn…

Read more here.


Room on the Broom (2012)

It’s a simple story with simple rhyme for little kids, of course, but that’s where its joy lies. Pre-schoolers are treated to far better poetry (because, ultimately, that’s what it is) than the dreary stuff us adults are meant to engage with.

Read more here.


Special (2006)

If you’re looking for comparisons, Special is more in line with Super than Kick-Ass. It doesn’t quite have James Gunn’s crazy surreal touch, but it shares the low-budget realist aesthetic and a surprisingly recognisable cast (albeit with smaller, TV-er faces here).

Read more here.



And new to the new blog...


Ashes of Time Redux (1994/2008)

Reviews talk about it being a confusingly-plotted art film — and those are the positive ones — which, coupled with my relative dislike of Chungking Express, meant I didn’t really expect to like it a great deal. But I found myself surprised, because I really enjoyed it.

Read more here.


The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Hurt Locker is episodic, moving from one bomb-based set-piece to the next. But this is surely a realistic depiction of the environment and this job: they’re not going to end up on the tail of some master bombmaker, or single-handedly end the war in Iraq

Read more here.


Panic in the Streets (1950)

not a particularly film noir-y film noir [but] there’s still a criminal underworld, a (slightly) downtrodden hero, criminal wrongdoings, some shadow-drenched photography, and a smattering of other traits that do place it within the genre, but it’s not a textbook example.

Read more here.


The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007)

allegedly based on Susan Cooper’s five-volume fantasy series... Changes from book to screen abound, however... Fan-baiting changes aren’t the only things wrong with the film, though. For much of the first half I was almost considering a scene-by-scene account of the irritations and weaknesses, but that would mean watching it again.

Read more here.


Son of Paleface (1952)

It slowly morphs into a live-action cartoon, in the process becoming a lot funnier and, in recreating the style of cartoons, technically impressive too. The comedy is genuinely entertaining when it finally reaches these sections

Read more here.


More next Sunday.