I had never really understood the appeal of cinema until I went to the Cineworld on Renfrew Street. Unlike all previous cinemas I had been to, this one had comfortable seats, a place for your drink, and acres of leg room. It is also the world’s tallest cinema and has breathtaking views over the North of Glasgow.
Suitably impressed, Laura and I decided to give each other a subscription to the Cineworld for Christmas. At £10.99 a month, you only need to go to two films per month to make it worthwhile. And it is a lot less hassle than trawling the shops to buy unread books and unwatched DVDs.
In total we saw 46 films over the year, almost one a week. Of this 46 there are about 30 that I would have paid to see and 5 total stinkers.
All in all, I think Hollywood is doing pretty well. Spectacle, ideas, sex, violence — what more does a good cineaste need?
Five Worst Films of the Year
5. The Heartbreak Kid
There’s Something About Mary without the humanity.
4. Sunshine
I liked everything about this film until one by one its redeeming features were killed off: the actors were ungainly, the ending dragged through a pseudo-metaphysical mill, the effects were sketchy, and the plot was unsatisfying.
3. Sugarhouse
I’m a big fan of high concept films, but this one set claustrophibically in a warehouse in the East End of London did what high concept films should avoid: repetition.
2. The Hoax
Richard Gere is a smug liar . . . do I need to go on?
1. Outlaw
Danny Dyer and Sean Bean in one of the dreariest most humourless films I’ve ever seen. The violence is flaccid, the plot paper-thin and the acting abysmal.
Five Best Films of the Year
5. Edmond
The beauty of a Mamet film is the way the characters speak in a stilted Mametian style from the off: it is an A-effect that guarantees absorption. Edmond depicts a dark night of the soul of a man unable to cope with the meaningless of his life, seeking out violence and sex instead.
4. Next
There isn’t enough straight, PKDickian science fiction made and, unfortunately, that which does get made is critically dismissed, like Next. This is a shame because I really enjoy playing with such silly ideas. In this a man who can see five seconds into the future, not a great premise for a film but serviceable. With a lot of these films though, it is what you bring to them that counts. As Lichtenberg said: if an ass looks into a mirror, it can’t expect an angel to look back.
3. This is England
Or, This is the Eighties. It was so unbelievably evocative of the Eighties that I had shivers running down my spine continuously. Apart from the pleasures of nostalgia, the film was a great coming of age story.
2. Shooter
Mark Wahlberg is a crack shot who is the victim of a set-up to kill an African politician by an evil American Senator. Or something like that. In an age of stylized action films, this one had a rare intensity. Perhaps it is Wahlberg’s blankness that allows the viewer to project emotion, I don’t know, but Shooter is fantastic.
1. Apocalypto
Confirming that ad hominem criticism is a waste of time, Mel Gibson’s recreation of the decline of Mayan civilization is a work of genius. It’s like Lord of the Flies with higher stakes, more madness and more satire of contemporary society. We know that the world is coming to an end, but only Gibson has the will to make art that doesn’t ignore the fact.
Cinema Subscription 06/07
2006
• Pan’s Labyrinth
• Deja Vu
• Stranger than Fiction
2007
• Night at the Museum
• Apocalypto
• Rocky Balboa
• Blood Diamond
• The Last King of Scotland
• Hot Fuzz
• The Science of Sleep
• The Illusionist
• Outlaw
• Sunshine
• 300
• The Lives of Others
• Shooter
• Mr Bean’s Holiday
• This is England
• Blades of Glory
• Spider-Man 3
• Next
• Zodiac
• 28 Weeks Later
• Ocean’s 13
• Die Hard 4.0
• Edmond
• The Simpsons
• Sherrybaby
• Eagles vs Sharks
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• The Hoax
• Sugarhouse
• Knocked Up
• Two Days in Paris
• Shoot ‘em up
• Superbad
• Michael Clayton
• The Heartbreak Kid
• The Invasion
• Control
• Eastern Promises
• The Lookout
• American Gangster
• Rescue Dawn
• Beowulf 3-D
• The Magic Flute
• The Golden Compass
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I liked Sunshine! I thought it was a great cinematic experience. Narrative aside, the presentation of the concept of ’size’ was great!
How was The Golden Compass? Also, I’ve wondered about ‘Stranger than fiction’ - is it quality Groundhog-Day “avant-garde-lite” or just plain rubbish?
The Golden Compass was superb, I thought. People are compared it badly with the novel, but I haven’t read the novel, so there! Makes me want to though.
Stranger than fiction was very nice as well: mildly existential, funny and endearing.