Reflection of the Television

So, as predicted this blog is already looking lonely and unloved. What a bad Blog Mistress I am!

But I have been watching lots of films, so you could call it 'research'! Lately, I have been mostly watching....

Sam Rockwell films:

Quite a few of them! After Moon, I acquired Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke, and Welcome to Collinwood (which I had seen before). I also saw Everybody's Fine in the cinema the other week. And I don't really know what to say about all of these films, apart from: go watch them! They're all great in their very different ways, and all have one thing in common: the brilliance of Sam Rockwell!

Funny Games (the English language remake):

A very strange film. Creepy, shocking, and with an ending that is not typical of this type of horror film (which also makes it quite surprising!). I don't know if it is much like the original (but since it was remade by the director if the original I imagine it's not far off), but it is a brave and pretty original shocker, with lots of psychological tension and relatively little gore (compared to a lot of modern horrors), with most of the really horrible stuff happening off screen (which just makes it all the more disturbing). Not sure you could call it 'entertaining', it's too grim for that, but it certainly is compelling!

The Best Man:

From one extreme to the other - this is a fluffy, funny, charming Stuart Townsend film. With Seth Green attempting a half-successul London accent (which is a little weird!). A fairly conventional chick flick, but quite a sweet one. And it has Stuart Townsend. What more do you need?...

Dorian Gray:

...maybe Ben Barnes? He is a very, very attractive man. And not a bad Dorian, even though he's dark rather than blonde and cherubic, and despite the fact that the writers of the movie felt the inevitable Hollywood need to make Dorian a half-likeable character, which, in the book, he really is not. You pity him finally, right at the end, but you can't like him. I had sort of expected to hate the film, having read and loved the book not too long before it came out, but it was very entertaining (and Ben Barnes is very pretty), so I can forgive it for deviating from the book. It is, as a film, pretty good, and I can enjoy it and the book on different levels. Which is quite rare with book adaptations, because I do get very attached to my books and hate to see them butchered! But while the story is changed here, it is not actually butchered. At least, not enough to ruin the film! So Dorian Gray gets a surprised thumbs up from me!

Easy Virtue:

Yes, I get a bit obsessed. I watched Dorian Gray, so I had to go find another Ben Barnes film! Easy Virtue is adapted from a Noel Coward play that I've not read. Part musical, part drama, part comedy, it could be quite disjointed, but it actually combines these elements quite successfully, and is a very good film. With some very good singing from all the cast (except Colin Firth, who is a superb and classy actor, but who thankfully doesn't attempt to sing here! I've seen St Trinians, and the singing at the end was not pretty. But it was damned funny!), the heavy lifting being done by Barnes, who can both sing and play piano! Who knew? (having been in a boy band is not a guarantee of talent!).


So that's what I've been watching lately. The highlights, at least! And my favourite of all these films? Choke. A lewd, funny, charming and rather sad film. And a bloody good one!