let the right one in (John Ajvide Lindqvist)

i loved the beginning, especially the pissball (the pissball idea is amazing!) and all the bullying, or, rather, how the wee kid deals with it: the pig squeal as a kind of spider sense to protect him from major harm, his escapades to stab trees... and, of course, his relationship with eli. but the rest? the (swedish) film is much better. yes, they give you more background and more detailed information about the peripheral characters, but that's not necessarily a good thing. in this case i much preferred being kept in the dark. it's not incredibly well written, so it kind of drags towards the middle, you simply don't care about the other characters (the drunkards, the policeman...) and you just want to get to the end. and the end is not that good either, i felt kind of detached. so, yeah, one of these strange cases in which the movie adaptation is much better than the book.

Rating: 6.5/10

the edukators (hans weingartner)

i was very pleasantly surprised. i thought it was going to be just an ok film, but no, i actually really liked it, it's really good. i admit i kind of identified with them, so that might have helped, i could perfectly picture myself when i was 18 or 20 years old. not that i ever did anything remotely comparable to what happens in the film, but we had the same ideals and energy and anger and passion. even the clothes. the actual premise of the story is just fantastic, such an awesome idea. but i loved everything; not just the premise, but the whole story, with its several twists; it held my attention for the entire duration of the film. and the ending is fantastic. i love that shot of the three of them sleeping in bed.
on a side note, i couldn't help but cringe when i noticed the spanish army t-shirt. i wonder if that's how germans feel when they see the german army shirts and jackets people wear...

Rating: 9/10

how to train your dragon (dean deblois, chris sanders)

maybe i just wasn't in the mood for it, but i wasn't impressed at all. there were several things that really annoyed me: i found the dragons incredibly cheesy ('toothless' was better, but still...); i couldn't understand why the adult vikings spoke with a scottish accent and the children had an american one; and, the worst bit, kids speak like adults, and I HATE THAT. oh, and the emo girl character was appalling. still, as a whole it's ok, but very far from amazing. nonetheless, i have to admit i couldn't help but feeling rather emotional after the final fight scene.

Rating: 5.5/10

the last exorcism (daniel stamm)

i was very pleasantly surprised, to be honest, i didn't expect to like it that much. i have nothing against the mockumentary style, i actually like it if it's well done, and this really is superbly done. i don't think i have anything negative to say about it. i love the initial twist in the main character, the whole premise of the trip, and how we stick with the priest up until the end, despite the title of the movie. the premonitory drawing is amazing, i love that bit, and the ending, of course. oh, and if you ever are in need of inspiration about what to get me for my birthday, you can always get me a copy of the old book with all the descriptions of demons. thanks.

Rating: 9/10

punk: attitude (don letts)

 it was only after the first 5 min that i realised i had watched this before. i loved it the first time and i loved it again. i really appreciate the fact that they talk about something else than british punk, as i've always preferred the american bands. so seeing the ramones, the stooges and mc5 on the screen was a total joy. i'm not that keen on the last part of the documentary, when they talk about east-coast hardcore and the like, never been a big fan, but, yeah, two thumbs up for this wonderful documentary. Also, it's always a pleasure to hear sensible people like thurston moore, siouxsie and henry rollings speak.

Rating: 9/10

the ninth gate (roman polanski)

at first i thought: it's bad, but c'mon it's not that bad. but after 30-40min i had to agree with critics and public: this is awful. polanski managed to make a really entertaining book into something that feels both rushed and boring at the same time. it didn't help that i dislike the main actors, i guess; but the film is awful in itself. i don't know what else to say, really. oh, yes, why do rich satan worshippers tend to wear very flimsy silky cloaks? don't they have money to get nice thick material or what? jokes aside, if you like esoterical thrillers, read the book, it's a thousand times better. i love all the book-detective stuff (a dream job), and the book with all the old prints. and satan, of course!

Rating: 4/10

fox and his friends (rainer werner fassbinder)

i actually enjoyed this, a classic tale of a lower-class guy who suddenly earns a fortune and starts mingling with the upper-twats, who, nonetheless, are in need of money. they just use him, abuse him, and fleece him. yes, rather predictable, but still enjoyable. most of the relationships seem far too shallow, but that didn't bother me that much, even though i would have liked to see a gay character that wasn't fashion and money obsessed, predatory, superficial and libertine (maybe fox?). i adored fox´s sister, she looked like a german marianne faithful, and eugene's moustache was incredibly sexy.

Rating: 7/10

gerry (gus van sant)

one of the few films in which i tolerate the annoying matt babyface damon. maybe because i was just in the right mood for a film with such a slow pace and small story (you really do have to be in the mood for it). and also because i kind of like casey affleck. he's kind of creepy. i loved the fotography, especially the salty white plains at the end, and the half-arsed fight scene. but i think my favourite bit was the music choice, though. the genius of arvo pärt fits the mood of the whole film just perfectly. not a film for everybody, but i did enjoy it. and it might very well be one my favourite van sant movies (after 'elephant', 'my own private idaho' and 'drugstore cowboy').

Rating: 8/10

tale of two sisters (ji-woon kim)

great idea, i especially love how you are kind of lost for most of the time, not really knowing what's happening. and the twists at the end work really well, both of them. pity that after the second one they have to spell it out for the viewer, as if your are stupid or something, and they show you all the previous scenes 'like they really happened'. why do they do that? i always thought it was an american thing, but it seems to be something korean, too. or maybe it's the effects of globalisation. anyway, apart from that, i really enjoyed it. and i loved the composition of the scenes, all the frames, so beautiful; and the colour palette, so intense and saturated, and how it gradually turns to softer duller colours after each twist. a beatiful and stylised horror movie.

Rating: 8/10

we have always lived in the castle (shirley jackson)

i can't think of any other word to describe this book than ms dundas's omnipresent 'wondrous'. it's absolutely appropriate. i love the atmosphere it creates and the strangeness of it all, the self-invented magic, the sociopathic feelings, the unreliable narrator, everything. i enjoyed every single line. and how it's everything but pretentious, it's just a perfect little gem of a book. mind you, it might be a case of either loving it or hating it, who knows, it might only work if you buy the premise in the first place. nonetheless, if you don't like it, well, you are a fool.

Rating: 10/10

asterios polyp (david mazzuchelli)

i'm still in awe. what an amazing piece of art. i loved everything, every little detail of the design and the story. it's so visually stunning. mazzuchelli has always been one of my favourite artists (ever since his adaptation of auster's 'city of glass'), i love how he follows the will eisner school of breaking the frame and letting the pictures tell the story by themselves. if to this you add the genius changes in typography, to match each character's personality, the result is quite simply magnificent. the story is also wonderful, i especially liked all the mythology references, from the duality of apollo and dioniysus to the wonderful orpheic trip to the underwold. basically, if you don't like it, you are quite simply the biggest fool on earth.

Rating: 10/10

exit through the gift shop (banksy)

i fucking loved this. i thought it was going to be a documentary where a lot of people just sat in front of the camera and said how amazing banksy is. not at all. it's an incredible journey following this deranged character who just wants to film and film and film his own life and who by chance gets into the world of street art. simply amazing. and the bit i love the most is that it entertains but also leaves you thinking about what's art and what's an artist, about whether m.b.w. is an opportunistic chancer or not, and why not. as i said before, i loved it.

Rating: 8.5/10

europa europa (agnieszka holland)

this was, basically, rubbish. not very well acted, not very well directed, it looks made for tv... it has it all. i think the main problem is that it's a 'true' story. and i'm afraid i've always been 100% with aristotle in that i don't fucking care whether it's real or not, i just want it to be believable. i didn't believe any of the relationships and i didn't believe most of the characters. again, they might have been real, but they seemed fake. the story itself is just anecdote after anecdote after anecdote. and the ending, when we can see the real solomon perel, was the icing on the cake. something on the line of: when i grew up i moved to palestine, and when i had children i barely doubted to have them circumscised. what an eejit. didn't he learn anything from it all?

Rating: 3/10

watership down (martin rosen)

i don't think there's a single aspect of this film i don't like. i love the hand-drawn art, i think it goes very well with the story, i loved the no-nonesense action scenes, and the story itself. i can't wait to read the book. yes, the characters are incredibly anthropomorphic, but we can't forget we are watching a film about talking rabbits. and i think it avoids presenting an all-cuteness picture of the animal world very well, definitely one of its best points. my favourites were fiver and the one with chewed-off ears. poor thing.

Rating: 9/10

lone star (john sayles)

i wasn't very convinced at the beginning, i was kind of enjoying it, but wasn't gripped by any of the stories. the direction was ok, the acting was good (cooper, kristofferson and, of course,  mcdormand give impeccable performances), but i couldn't help but feeling there was something missing. nonetheless, i really liked the ending , how the mystery is resolved and how all the storylines come together. i'm glad i watched it, and the more i think about it, the more i like it, which is something good, i guess.

Rating: 7/10

monsters: a bestiary of the bizarre (christopher dell)

probably my favourite xmas gift this year. just wonderful. the focus is on the illustrations, which are nice and big, and the truth is that i didn't expect the text to be that special, but i was proved wrong. it's incredibly well researched and it covers not only the western world but also asia and other parts of the planet. it even mentions the cuélebre, from my region!! twice! it's true i wanted the chapters to be longer, i wanted to know more, but as i said before, the text accompanies the illustrations in this book, and not the other way around. and it gives you an extensive bibliography for further reading.

Rating: 9/10