TV

The Simpsons
25x20 Brick Like Me
I haven't watched The Simpsons in a very, very long time (so long it's never been mentioned on this blog aside from the movie, in fact), but the promise of a LEGO-themed episode (i.e. this one) got my attention. It was pretty good, though the fact so many reviewers have described it as "the best of the season" proves the show must be a shadow of it's former self: not bad -- in fact, funny and entertaining on the whole -- but not laugh-out-loud, instantly-memorable, classic TV. Which I suppose would happen to anything after 25 years and 550 episodes.

this week on 100 Films

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


Amélie (2001)

My quirky review of a quirky film about the quirky life of a quirky girl.

Read more here.


Cloudy 2: Extra Toppings (2013)

On Blu-ray, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 comes with a selection of four “mini-movies” — that’s “shorts” to you and me. When the film airs on Sky Movies Premiere, each screening will be preceded by three of these, under the Extra Toppings title.

Read more here.


And seven were new to the new blog...


Fatal Instinct (1993)

It’s a little difficult to understand exactly why it flopped so badly in the US... perhaps its targets were just too broad to attract a mass audience. While it ostensibly tackles then-recent thrillers like Basic Instinct, Cape Fear and Fatal Attraction, it also has a lot of time devoted to the tropes of film noir, in particular Double Indemnity. Relying so heavily on a 50-year-old film isn’t likely to earn you much favour among the masses.

Read more here.


High Anxiety (1977)

Mel Brooks pays comedic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock — in case you can’t tell, the second credit is a prominent dedication — but those unfamiliar with the Master of Suspense’s output need not apply.

Read more here.


Matchstick Men (2003)

Twists are fine. Twists can be great. You can guess a twist is coming and it can still work. A really good twist works even when you know for certain it’s coming; its existence raises what you’ve seen, makes it all work even on repeated viewings when the element of surprise is obviously gone. Matchstick Men doesn’t have that kind of twist. It has the kind of twist that undermines everything you’ve just seen. Not because it’s illogical — it isn’t in the slightest — but because it tramples over the film’s emotional resonance.

Read more here.


Nosferatu (1922)

One of the earliest and most-referenced horror films, and the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (faithfully, albeit unofficially). With such a weight bearing down upon it I found it quite hard to watch it objectively...

Read more here.


Seraphim Falls (2006)

it makes for an unusual story. It’s centred neatly around Neeson chasing Brosnan, but the encounters they have along the way are increasingly bizarre. It’s readily apparent that there’s some Meaning and Subtext here... but I’m not sure if one has to process this to appreciate the film — it’s a still a chase movie

Read more here.


Sunshine (2007)

what some would call "grown-up science fiction", often more concerned with the crew's moral dilemmas than thrilling action set pieces or dazzling CGI. Luckily, though, the former aren't too pretentious and both of the latter are still present.

Read more here.


Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborate for the sixth time (as the DVD’s blurb is so keen to point out) for a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical adaptation of the classic tale of the titular barber who slaughters instead of shaves and sells the resultant meat to all of London in the pies of his accomplice, Mrs Lovett.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.