Films

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 13: Favourite Chick Flick

by Dennis••0•Posted inFilms

Most chick flicks are pretty shit. They are too simple, too formulaic and therefore too predictable. At least, most of the romantic comedy films — and I count these among the chick flicks — are pretty terrible. Some romantic films are interesting, some period pieces are pretty good, but as you probably expected, I’m not a big fan.

I think my favourite chick flick is probably Jerry Maguire, but mostly because it’s also a bit of a bromance as well. Cuba Gooding is quite good in it. Hmm, I feel dissatisfied with this pick, but it’s all I’ve got.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 11: Favourite Kid’s Movie

by Dennis••0•Posted inFilms

I hardly ever gone for the standard kid films. The films I liked when I was  young were things like Back to the Future and stuff like that, but I hardly ever watched stuff like The Goonies or something. I think the thing that comes the closest to something that would qualify is either The Toy with Richard Pryor or The Lost Boys if I stretch it. So, I think I’m going to stretch it, because I like The Lost Boys more than I liked The Toy. I mean, come on, it has the Corey’s in it!

The Lost Boys

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 10: Favourite Foreign Film

by Dennis••0•Posted inFilms

I suppose what is meant by this category is favourite non-English film. The one that comes to mind immediately is John Woo masterpiece The Killer, starring Chow Yuen-Fat and Danny Lee. It’s a story about an assassin who, while on a job, blinds an innocent girl. He decides to use his earnings to try and restore her vision while at the same time trying to get even with a crime boss that double crossed him. All the while, a driven police detective is hot on his trail, chasing him with a skill and zeal that matches his own. It’s a beautiful, late 80s film that shows John Woo’s true artistry. Set in a pre-handover Hong Kong which is atmospheric and enigmatic. I should really see this film again.

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 8: Favourite Thriller

by Dennis••0•Posted inFilms

Black SwanFor every article and category in the 30 Day Movie Challenge, I’ve been helping myself by reading the best/worst lists that iMDB compiles on each genre. Just to get a feel for which films fall into that category and to make sure I haven’t overlooked any really good films. (I’ve seen quite a few and my memory isn’t so great.) Based on the list for Thrillers, I should be picking The Godfather, but I don’t consider that a thriller, so I won’t. Pulp Fiction? Nah. Inception? Very, very good so possibly. The Dark Knight wasn’t much of a thriller. Neither was Fight Club or Goodfellas. Most of these films resist being pigeonholed into one genre and the first real thriller on that list is Psycho, which I haven’t taken the time to watch yet.

The film on that list that I’ve seen that comes closest to being a thriller is Black Swan, which I thought was absolutely amazing. There’s a good chance I might be overlooking a few top notch, classical thrillers out there at the moment, but this is the most recent film that I’ve seen that a) I consider an actual thriller and b) I was amazed by to the point where it remained on my mind for a long time afterwards. The subject matter is just so disturbing, especially when you start seeing the mother/daughter sexual abuse theme. It was incredibly well played — to the point that I got genuinely annoyed at Natalie Portman’s character — and visually incredibly solid. The suspence was properly built up and the foreshadowing was subtle yet impactful. All in all I thought this was a truly amazing film.