60-second cinema

2 out of 10 Pants. But then I’m not one for vampire flicks anyway, so it didn’t stand much of a chance. My instinct to give it 2 rather than 1 must mean it has at least one redeeming feature, though. Question is, what is it? Oh yes: Kate Beckinsale in rubber. :)

5 out of 10 Strangely uninvolving. It passed the time well enough while I was watching it, but looking back, I can’t say I was ever drawn in by it. Some of the scenes were suitably horrific, but it never really engaged me. It was more like reading a newspaper report than watching a film.

7 out of 10 A film that felt half an hour too short. I blame Peter Jackson. Regardless, it certainly lives up to the title. While, out of necessity, it’s relatively slow-paced, there are two moments of sheer brilliance that made me wish the whole film were like that. Had it been, this would be a 10, without doubt. Both Mortensen and Cronenberg deserve great praise. As it is, these gems merely sparkle magnificently in the midst of a good-but-not-great film. I’ll not spoil it by describing the scenes, but it’s a long time since I’ve sat in a silent auditorium so absolutely thrilled. Maybe I should give this an 8 after all? P.S. when considering my score for this movie, I realised it was less than I gave King Kong. And that was wrong. Kong has been suitably downgraded to a 6.

7 out of 10 Finally, a film involving Brendan Fraser that isn’t crap. Michael Caine, too, just about pulls off his performance as a jaded, ex-pat journo in this tale of foreign involvement in 50’s Vietnam. Though I’ll never know how accurate it was, the world portrayed made for a solid platform on which to tell a decent story.

8 6 out of 10 A familiar story, but Peter Jackson’s done a pretty good job on it. At 3 hours, it’s a long one, but I can’t begrudge him a moment of that time. As for the CGI , some of the scenes may be a bit too video-game, but the close-ups of Kong himself are wonderful. Well worth seeing.

8 out of 10 A second viewing sees the impressive Zach Braff uprated to an eight. A quietly, humourously weird film that sits somewhere between the self-discovery and love story themes. I really liked this movie.

6 out of 10 It was ok, I guess. Nothing spectacular. Actually, it felt quite pedestrian in its pacing and therefore quite lengthy as a result. Not as good as Potter #2 (the only other one I’ve seen), but not bad.