ginger snaps (john fawcett)

i know, i know, the script is full of cheesy bits (highschool, sexed-up teens, hallowe'en, shy misfits...) but they actually work and the film also has very original touches. i love the fact that she grows a tail. well, more than i love it, i'm jealous of it, really.  and their photo project portraying themselves dead in gruesome accidents is amazing (by far my favourite bit of the film!). all in all great fun to watch, cool idea, entertaining, gruesome... i love the younger sister, she's so believable. i would have liked the make-up effects to be a bit more subtle, but i think that's the way it goes with horror films nowadays...

Rating: 8/10

the autobiography of alice b. toklas (gertrude stein)

this was a strange one for me. i love the playfulness of the title: is it really an autobiography? but it's two different people! and i love the period in history, and the subject matter. but somehow it didn't work for me. i didn't like the style (even though i learnt to tolerate it), i found all the 'and then i did this, and then i saw that, and afterwards i did something else' rather tedious. and the name dropping too. here i had some amazing historical characters in front of me, and i finished the book without knowing anything about them. especially about the relationship between gertrude and alice. but i quite liked the bit about the war, and the final paragraph, as well as some witticisms here and there; but as a whole, i'm not really convinced. i'm glad i've read it, though.

Rating: 5/10

aguirre: the wrath of god (werner herzog)

whenever someone decides to write a list with 'the best movies of all time', or something of the like, 'aguirre' always makes at least the top 100, if not the top 10. well, no wonder. from the beginning you have the feeling of watching something 'big', a grand story, something deep and transcendental. the obvious highlight of the whole experience is kinski's performance, not many actors manage to achieve such a strong screen presence. you can't escape his insanity, his crazed look, his thirst. the rythm is slow and poetic, leaving the viewer in a sort of hypnotic trance... a trance enhanced by popol vuh's beautiful minimalistic krautrock music (for me the best part of the film). plus, a film that features a baby sloth creature and a raft full of monkeys can't be bad, can it?

Rating: 9/10

society (brian yuzna)

there's something about the flamboyancy of the 80s that makes them perfect for horror movies. especially when the story is set in an upper-class family house. the interior design and the clothes are amazing! i'm a big fan of a background character (i don't think she even has one line), a friend of the 'bad' boyfriend. she has the biggest big hair ever. the story is good, even though it takes quite a while to unravel and when it does it becomes a bit of a teenage action movie full of cheesy fx. but all in all it's good, i like the idea a lot, that 'belonging to society', that 'being of the same breed' thing. fun to watch. oh, and did i notice a reference to dali's 'soft construction with beans' in the 'surreal' group scene?

Rating: 7/10

das boot (wolfgang petersen)

this film was on my list for many years, but i was always put off by its length (3.5h inside an u-boat seemed a tad too long for me). nonetheless, i was wrong. it's incredibly exciting! i really enjoyed it, this will probably rank amongst my favourite films of all time. it's so beautiful, and sad, and opressive and human. i love how it portrays all the aspects, not only the missery and the tension but also the joy, the friendship and the camaraderie... i felt very impressed when i saw they included a party scene with one of the guys dressed up like josephine baker, dancing like crazy... that was amazing!! directors tend to 'forget' that side of life on board... but my favourite part is how germans are not demonised, you change the flag and this could have been an allied vessel. brilliant, brilliant, brilliant movie. and such brutal final 10 minutes, too.

Rating: 10/10

paranormal activity 2 (tod williams)

well, obviously, don't watch this if you didn't like the first installment. but if, like me, you actually rather enjoyed it, this will not disappoint you. the idea of a prequel situated immediately before the first one works really well. like in the first film, almost every character is mostly annoying, but at least they are not trying to record every second of their lives with a handycam. the idea of the cctv works much better as a concept. i made the mistake of watching the extended version, and that meant i had to endure a rather long intro where i just found myself thinking 'oh, please, let something happen soon!'. anyway, once everything starts going belly-up, the story actually gets really good. my favourite bit is the kitchen cupboards violently opening themselves all at once... oh, and the cctv footage of the swimming-pool robot going for a stroll. but, whatever happened to the doggie? they never say!
on a side note, i watched this like a month ago, but completely forgot to write the review about it, and this is the first time something like this happens to me... maybe it was a ghost?!

Rating: 7/10

let me in (matt reeves)

my problem with this was that i started watching it thinking i wasn't going to like it (american remake! vade retro satana!). but the truth is it's not that bad, especially if you haven't watched the fabulous original or read the book. but if you have, well, you can't possibly help comparing, can you? for me, this story is about the two kids, and i prefer the swedish ones. the original wee boy looks just so defenseless, and the girl is so freakish that they make the perfect partnership. i didn't feel the same with their american counterparts. yes, the girl is a bit 'warmer', but that's not necessarily good. it doesn't work as well for me. regarding the script, i was glad they got rid of secondary characters (mainly the drunks), and it was fun to see how they tried to include all 'the big scenes' anyway (like the burning girl in the hospital). the film as a whole looks good, there are some really beautiful scenes in it, but the cgi scenes with the girl jumping around as if she was a character in a videogame were truly horrible. what's wrong with filmmakers nowadays? it's so not necessary! it's as if they have justify the fx budget... grrrrr.

Rating: 6/10

my dog tulip (paul fierlinger, sandra fierlinger)

this is one of the sweetest and most honest films i've ever seen. i loved the sincerity and bluntness of the scatology, told in such a matter-of-fact way, simply beautiful. their relationship is just so warm and caring and deep. even though i'm not a big fan of the 'hand-drawn' style, it really works here, especially the sketchy backgrounds, and the schematic drawings on notebook paper. the story itself is so simple and told with so much love. my favourite bits were the poetic antropomorphic drawings, like when the dog delivered her litter, illustrated with the dressed-up dog delivering a parcel, taking out the puppy and eating the ribbon and wrapping paper... simply genius. i just couldn't help smiling for almost the whole duration of the film. i'll definitely watch this again.

Rating: 8.5/10

into eternity (michael madsen)

really interesting, especially the part where they discuss what to do for future generations after they finish building the nuclear waste cemetery: should they put danger signs outside or should they keep the location secret? and i loved the use of kraftwerk's 'radioactivity' at the biginning (i know, it might seem a bit obvious, but it works really well!). nonetheless, not everything is good news. i wasn't convinced at all by the guy himself, neither his narration nor his scenes talking to the camera with a burning much for added dramatic effect. mind you, had it been orson welles, with the same match and his amazing voice and diction, it would have been genius! but madsen is just 'a guy', and the result is just a bit wanky...trying, but not really getting there. but maybe it's just me! don't get me wrong, i really liked the documentary as such, the content is top notch and there are some really beautiful scenes in it, it's just the actual guy that annoys me a little bit...

Rating: 7/10

the crimson petal and the white (marc munden)

i wasn't 100% convinced when i saw the first installment, mainly because i had problems with chris o'dowd playing a dramatic character. i couldn't help but smile when i saw him. but after a while i kind of got used to it. as a whole, this is a brilliant adaptation. i'd even say that it might be better than the book. i liked the book, i enjoyed reading it, but i didn't think it was amazing (especially reading it after faber's far superior 'under the skin'), but i actually think the visuals added something to the story. i loved the colour palette, especially the burnt summer lights so present in the last two episodes, and it's always a joy to see actors like shirley henderson, richard e grant or... gillian anderson! (i know, i know, she's not the best actress in the world, but c'mon, she's scully!). Jokes aside, a very pleasant surprise.

Rating: 8/10

headwig and the angry inch (john cameron mitchell)

i can't believe it's already been ten years since this was first released. i rewatched it again last weekend and i'm glad to say it hasn't dated at all. hedwig will always be one of my favourite films and will always have a place in my heart. i love the aesthetics, the music, the acting, the clothes, the script, the story... everything. there are so many memorable moments in this film. hedwig is the personification of the beauty of the (im)perfect. all hail hedwig! hedwig, we love you.

"this is the best way that i've found to be the best you've ever seen"

Rating: 11/10

nanny mcphee (kirk jones)

again, thank you simon for showing me the magic of the nanny mcphee universe. i loved the second installment, and i loved this. nonetheless, i think this is kind of inferior compared to the sequel (even though it could very well be because i watched the second one first and it had a bigger impact on me). i really enjoyed this one, too, but i felt the beginning was a bit too obvious, a bit too disney, if you like. i guess the fact that i don't really like the actor who plays the older kid didn't help either. but once the story starts to unfold, you forget about everything  else and just enjoy the fun. oh, and, by the way, i was really jealous of colin firth's wardrobe.

Rating: 8/10

it happened one night (frank capra)

the more i think about this film, the more i like it. it's wondrously sweet and so funny. there are some scenes that will always stay with me: the (non) piggyback, the hitch-hicking... the chemistry between gable and colbert is incredible, you can see it grow and grow by the minute. i know it could seem a bit dated nowadays (i'm talking about social conventions and gender issues), but i'm sure it must have been rather revolutionary when it was released, let's not forget we are talking 1934. oh, and i want an autogyro.

Rating: 8/10