this week on 100 Films

This week has just dipped into a new month, meaning it's time to look back at February on 100 Films in a Year:




Plus, three brand-new reviews were published this week...


Big Hero 6 (2014)

This year’s Best Animated Film Oscar winner is not this year’s best animated film. Not by a long stroke. What it is is one great character, one great emotional plot/subplot, and a lot of stuff that feels like every other big-budget action-orientated CGI animation of the past few years. Most succinctly, this is little more than “How to Train Your Baymax”.

Read more here.


Oldboy (2003)

It’s hard to summarise the effect of Oldboy without just watching it... It’s a film predicated on mysteries, but one that doesn’t rely on remaining mysterious — there are answers for every question, you just have to follow the strange path it leads you on and wait for the answers. Try not to get spoilered.

Read more here.


Song of the Thin Man (1947)

After the small-town detour of the previous film, Song sees the Charleses back in the more glamorous environs we associate with the series, all swanky apartments and floating casinos. That’s a big plus point for me, at least. The mystery is a particularly solid one, with a nice denouement that plays out slightly differently to the series’ regular formula.

Read more here.


And finally, there were three archive reviews reposted too...


Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

German silent movie depicting a day in the 'life' of Berlin, part of the 'city symphony' genre that was popular around the 1920s. This makes it one of those films that is in some way Important, but sadly it's still a bit, well, boring.

Read more here.


Hard Boiled (1992)

Chow Yun-Fat single handedly slaughtering a warehouse full of heavily armed gangsters? Well, of course! Or directly hitting a small object wedged in an electrical pipe with a shaky shooting arm? Naturally! ... It’s a cliché, but there’s something about Woo’s action that makes you want to use the word “balletic”. Not that I’ve ever really watched ballet. I expect it involves fewer guns.

Read more here.


Saturday Night Fever (1977)

couldn't be more '70s if it were made today as a period piece. From the posters on Tony's walls, to the fashions, to how it's shot, it seems to have been designed specifically to exude seventies-ness in a way few other things seem to.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.