My mate Nicholas wrote about the IMDB Top 100 film list and revealed which ones he’s seen.

I thought it might be fun for me to do the same. The ones I’ve seen are in bold:

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
8. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
9. Casablanca (1942)
10. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
13. 12 Angry Men (1957)
14. Rear Window (1954)
15. Goodfellas (1990)
16. Cidade de Deus (2002)
17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
19. C’era una volta il West (1968)
20. The Usual Suspects (1995)
21. Psycho (1960)*
22. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
23. Fight Club (1999)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
26. North by Northwest (1959)
27. Memento (2000)
28. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
29. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
30. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
31. The Matrix (1999)
32. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
33. There Will Be Blood (2007)
34. Se7en (1995)
35. Apocalypse Now (1979)
36. Taxi Driver (1976)
37. American Beauty (1999)
38. Léon (1994)
39. Vertigo (1958)
40. Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
41. American History X (1998)
42. The Departed (2006)
43. No Country for Old Men (2007)
44. Paths of Glory (1957)
45. M (1931)
46. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
47. Chinatown (1974)
48. The Third Man (1949)
49. Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)
50. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
51. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
52. Alien (1979)
53. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
54. Laberinto del fauno, El (2006)
55. The Shining (1980)
56. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
57. The Pianist (2002)
58. Double Indemnity (1944)
59. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
60. Forrest Gump (1994)
61. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
62. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
63. L.A. Confidential (1997)
64. Das Boot (1981)
65. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
66. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
67. Untergang, Der (2004)
68. Aliens (1986)
69. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
70. Raging Bull (1980)
71. Metropolis (1927)
72. Rashômon (1950)
73. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
74. Modern Times (1936)
75. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
76. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
77. Sin City (2005)
78. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
79. Rebecca (1940)
80. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
81. All About Eve (1950)
82. Some Like It Hot (1959)
83. City Lights (1931)
84. Amadeus (1984)
85. On the Waterfront (1954)
86. Vita è bella, La (1997)
87. The Great Escape (1963)
88. Touch of Evil (1958)
89. The Prestige (2006)
90. The Elephant Man (1980)
91. Jaws (1975)
92. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
93. The Sting (1973)
94. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
95. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
96. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
97. The Apartment (1960)
98. Braveheart (1995)
99. The Great Dictator (1940)
100. Blade Runner (1982)

*I was working in a cinema when Psycho was rereleased in 1998, and I can remember hearing the soundtrack from outside the screen door, but not actually being able to watch more than a few minutes of the film.

I’ve only seen 36 out of the 100, which isn’t a great score. I bet some of you have seen loads more than me. What’s your score?

My demonic adversary, J.D., turns five today.

According to my astrologer friend, our Joe was born in the year of the Rooster. How fitting is the description of roosters: “Vain and talkative, roosters have a reputation for being self-obsessed…”

Be sure to visit him and pretend that his creepy adoration of Saoirse Ronan is normal behaviour. Just for today, anyway.

I saw Cloverfield the other day, and thought that it was B-Movie heaven.

Who doesn’t love to see gorgeous people being attacked by evil creepies?
Who doesn’t love to watch a guy who puts his life and those of his friends’ in jeopardy to save a hot girl?
Who doesn’t love having a queasy stomach while watching an incessantly shaky viewpoint?
Who doesn’t love spotting the gaping plot holes, inconsistencies and predictable moments?
Who doesn’t love having little context in which to place the events of the movie, and no explanation for the monsters’ origins?

(more…)

AKA You’re all going to hate me - Part 1

So I saw Juno last week at the cinema. I enjoyed the movie, but I’m sorry to say that I didn’t think it was Oscar-worthy. (more…)

Hey dudes! Three bodacious babes, A.Writer, Liane Spicer and Ms Canterbury Soul have each awarded me the Excellent Blog Award. Another accolade to add to my mantle-piece.

I’m supposed to pass it on to another 10 bloggers, but as I’ve got three awards I’m going to give it to 15 instead:

Nicholas
BMT
Semaj
Becca
SamuraiFrog
J.D. (in his case it’s E for eejit)
Ben V
Me ole China
Capt. Incredible
Westcoast Walker
Evil Spock
Journeying
The Korean Lady’s Boy Toy
Dr M
Splotchy

Party on, dudes!

–

Demi Moore, American actress

Here’s a music video (Sexual Capacity by Color Me Bad) which features clips from her 1996 Striptease movie

–

Will Smith, American actor

Here’s his music video for his song Switch:

The other day, when I went to see I am Legend, I also saw the Dark Knight prologue; a trailer showing the movie’s first scene plus a few snippets of later events. You can see a really horrible recording version of it if you like seeing the head-back of the person in the row in front…

It was a very nice taster of the movie, but very surreal to see that brief moment at the end when Heath Ledger unmasks himself and speaks to the gun-toting banker. The robbery itself was genius, with everyone knocking off the other players once their parts had been played. There was only a brief view of Batman himself near the end, looking out pensively over Gotham.

I must see this movie, and I must see it at the IMAX. That is all.

Vid: a different DK trailer

(And Beowulf’s back at the IMAX - by popular request - and I’m tempted to see it a third time…)

Ziyi and I would like to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year. I hope that the Year of the Rat will bring you joy and prosperity. (I hope it brings J.D. the gift of sanity.)

Vid 1: The Beauty Dance from House of Flying Daggers

A rare beauty in the north,
She’s the finest lady on earth,
A glance from her,
The whole city goes down,
A second glance,
leaves the whole nation in ruins,
There exists no city or nation,
That has been more cherished,
Than a beauty like this

–

Vid 2: The Scarf Dance from House of Flying Daggers, with a surprising ending…

I watched I am Legend at the IMAX recently, and found it really compelling. All the way home my friend and I talked about the plot, and various issues that had intrigued us from the movie.

Last year I started to study the precepts of storytelling, mythology and related psychology so I thought that it might be fun to analyse this story from the point of view of one of these perspectives: The Hero’s Journey.

The Hero’s Journey is a mythic storytelling structure which was first identified by Joseph Campbell, then adapted for writers by Christopher Vogler in The Writer’s Journey. This device identifies a basic structure which has been used in stories from ancient times to our modern epics like Star Wars.

While I was watching I am Legend I could pinpoint some of the turning points featured in the Hero’s Journey, so I thought that instead of a normal review I’d give you a mythological review of the movie. Due to the subject matter some of the aspects of the Hero’s Journey will not apply, but I still think it’s an interesting study.

There are going to be spoilers. Lots and lots of infected, carnivorous spoilers, so stop now if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to do so.
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Na na na na na
na na na na na
na na na na na na

BATMAN!

The Dark Knight 1966 Style (via)

I’m looking forward to watching the Dark Knight during the summer, but there’s nothing that could stop me loving the original.