films and tv

My habit of posting non tracks and gigs related stuff on here continues:

I have had a week off work this week and so far my girlfriend and I have been to the cinema no fewer than three times. Each of the films we have seen has been brilliant in its own way so I thought I would post about them.

On Saturday we saw Sweeney Todd. Being a big Johnny Depp and Tim Burton fan, I had high hopes for this. I was aware that it was a musical and that I don't like musicals but I had been led to believe that "there isn't that much singing". Well, there's loads. Most of the interaction between the characters is in the form of song, dialogue only really serves to build up to the next song, but to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed this. The songs and the singing were entertaining, often funny and always effective. In particular I thought Helena Bonham Carter was absolutely superb at this. Also, as you would expect from Tim Burton the visuals are stunning and the film is a real treat for the eyes as well as the ears. I left the cinema really happy to have seen such an enjoyable, well made film and I would recommend it to anyone, even if you think you "don't like musicals". 9/10

On Monday, we took advantage of the cheap prices for the 'Monday Classic' slot at our local cinema and went to see Atonement for £2.50 each. We were joined by a large number of pensioners who were also happy to take advantage of the free cup of tea that was provided for everyone! I had no expectations for this film really and for the first half an hour, I was really bored. I don't especially like Keira Knightley and I don't like costume dramas full of large families with lots of running around meadows etc etc. About halfway through though, this became a fascinating film about war and about redemption and I found myself gripped. Without giving too much away though, things got a little contrived towards the end and literally, lost the plot somewhat. It is well worth seeing for the striking wartime imagery though. 7/10

And then on Tuesday we saw Cloverfield. We entered the cinema clutching our smelling salts and Anadin after some over-zealous warnings from Cineworld about motion sickness and nausea. This film was a kind of mix of Blair Witch Project and a 9/11 movie. Set in New York, it followed a group of partygoers who are suddenly caught up in a disaster movie when a huge monster attacks the City, destroying everything and everyone in its path. We see the action through the videotape recorded on camcorder by one of the group, he admirably keeps filming even when most people would have dropped the camera long ago. Some of the decisions made by the group are debatable to say the least, but which of us have any experience of being faced by a huge monster, so I guess we can't criticise too much. The film is hugely exciting and the 84 minutes goes incredibly quickly. With a film like this you just have to abandon disbelief and enjoy the ride and I thought this was a brilliantly made, innovative film that is pure enjoyment. 9/10

We're off to see Juno tomorrow so I will probably blog about that. Also I should mention a documentary shown on BBC1 last night about the Munich air disaster, following Harry Gregg as he returned to Munich to visit the scene of the crash. It was amazing, one of the most poignant TV films I have seen in a long time.

Incidentally, we now have our laptop and broadband internet access so posts here will now be much more regular!