the island (michael bay)

i liked the idea, the interior design and the clothes (apart from the trainers. i mean, trainers? whose idea was that?). i actually rather enjoyed the first half, but only when i managed to forget how much both main characters annoyed me. as i say, the premise is actually good, i always find the ethics of cloning really interesting. however, the second part was a bit too run-run-run-run-boom-boom-run for me, and too crazy on the product placement; but as a whole it's kind of ok for a quiet night in. oh, look, i've managed to write a review about this film without mentioning 'logan's run'! oh. no, i haven't. damn.

Rating: 5/10

cape fear (j. lee thompson)

much much better than the remake, in my humble opinion, and all thanks to robert mitchum's cold and contained performance, much more believable than the monster that de niro portrayed. no coming back from the dead a thousand times freddy krugger style, either (which i welcomed, i got bored with the boat scene in the remake). so, all in all, much more believable and creepy than the other one. what a surprise eh? it's true that, as far as i can remember, the secondary characters (especially the daughter) are much more developed in the 1991 version of the film, but as i said, as a whole i prefer this one. and gregory peck vs nick nolte? well, the fight was won before it even started.

Rating: 8.5/10

plagues and pleasures of the salton sea (chris metzler, jeff springer)

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mysterious skin (greg araki)

it doesn't matter how many times i watch this movie, i always love it. the way it's filmed, the music, the acting, the storyline itself, everything is five stars. my favourite bits are definitely the dreamy sequences (the rain of candy, the snow in the open-air cinema, the flying saucer...) and, of course, brian's ufo stories and obsessions, but i also love neil's relationship with his best friend... and elisabeth shue! she's amazing. i don't know, i can't find a flaw. i love how brutal and sensitive it can be at the same time. the scene when neil's sick punter asks him to simply stroke his back is one of the sweetest moments i've ever seen in a movie.  and, yes, mr simonotron, i even like the americanism in the plot of having a traumatic event in childhood that haunts people as adults :-p

Rating: 10/10

agnosia (eugenio mira)

jeeeeeeeeesus, mary and joseph this was tedious. booooooring! yaaaaaaawn! it looks really slick and the clothes are actually amazing (make actors sport moustaches and 19th century suits and even eduardo noriega looks good), but that's about it. the story is really predictable (and boring). i can't understand why this is marketed as sci-fi and spooky, when it's actually neither one nor the other. it's a (boring) period  drama trying very hard to be steam-punk and not really getting there. at all. oh, and did i mentioned it was boring?

Rating: 4/10

animal kingdom (david michod)

i really enjoyed this. i love the gangster family and the relationships between their members, especially the more extreme ones, like the unhinged brother or the big mamma (i love how she unsheaths her claws and protects her cubs in the second half), but every single one of them is important in order to obtain a balanced family portrait. both the photography and the score are really moody, my favourite shots being the scenes filmed almost in slow motion with the important thing happening in the background (i.e. when the police storm in the house). and the end... the end is awesome!! perfect for the story it wants to tell.oh, and on a more shallow level, the blond bearded brother is really hot.... and guy pierce sports a moustache!

Rating: 8.5/10

the kids are alright (lisa chodolenko)

the best thing i can say about this film is that i have nothing against it: it's highly enjoyable, it's well acted (julianne moore is, as usual, incredible), well directed, the story is entertaining... however, i don't think its biggest triumphs reside in any of this. in fact, the script is rather predictable. for me the best thing is that it portrays a gay couple... and their homosexuality is not an issue at ANY point of the film (neither for them nor for the people around them). its other asset is julianne moore's conception of sexuality as something fluid and not monolithic (don't forget we are talking hollywood here, it's an indie movie, but not that underground, it's still appealing to a general, if discerning, public). so yeah, top marks for that. and, as i said before, i actually enjoyed the story itself, too.

Rating: 8/10

house (nobuhiko obayashi)

crazy like only japanese films can be. i really like some bits, but in general i was put off by the 'kids tv' feel the whole thing oozes. i love the painted animated effects, though, like some of the blood and skeletons, as well as the gory bits and the fact that each of the girls had one defining characteristic. but as a whole the film didn't live up to my expectations. glad i watched it, though, it's enjoyable, but i expected more.

Rating: 6/10

persona (ingmar bergman)

thank you, mr tyler, for recommending this to me. definitely 'my cup of tea'. i liked the philosophical resolution one of the characters takes of remaining silent and only watch the world; i love their relationship, especially in the country house, the tension, the one-way conversations, the confessions, how the nurse kind of explodes after too much talking... and the buñuelesque introduction and interval, with the random footage. no wonder this is said to have influenced many other movies and filmmakers. and the end? probably the best bit. that last shot where it all becomes metacinema is just genius.

Rating: 8.5/10

kaboom (greg araki)

this is daft awesomeness. definitely not his best, but i couldn't help but smiling all through the film. i even cackled several times. perfect movie for a sunday afternoon. i love araki and his stylised view of the world and his freaky imagination. everything seems so refreshing. writing the script must have been great fun! it really looks like he just put in everything that came to his mind: sex, drugs, music, dorms, witches, conspiracies, sects, guns, car chases... animal heads! simply brilliant. definitely a return to his pre-mysterious skin period. and definitely great fun.

'straight guys are gayer than gay guys'

Rating: 7/10

malefique (eric valette)

a film based on a lovecraft a story and set in prison: good enough premises to watch a movie. i really like the atmosphere, and the occult elements (obviously), but find the ending a bit too predictable. pity about the effects, too; at the beginning they are really good, gruesome but subtle, but they fuck it all up with 'the big cheesy ending'. not horrible, just cheesy. however, my favourite bit are the characters, especially that adorable and freakish couple formed by marcus the muscular trannie and paquerette, the hyperactive lunatic who enjoys getting his fingers chopped off (by his partner) in order to spend some time in the infirmary, as well as making a collage with cut-outs from porn magazines (at some point decorating his work with some golden tinsel, a very nice touch). definitely one of my favourite couples in all film history.
Not sure if this will please the more hardcore lovecraftian fans, though, but it's well worth a watch.

Rating: 7/10

wakewood (david keating)

i really liked the rural setting, all the ritualistic crap, the enclosed community, the re-birth ceremony and the 'brutality' of nature... the story is actually rather good, it ticks most of my boxes, and i actually liked seeing carcetti from the wire in it... but there was something missing, and i'm not sure what it is. i was entertained, but never felt i cared for anything that was happening on the screen. maybe it was a bit too obvious. maybe i've watched too many horror movies. well, i'm not going to stop now, am i?

Rating: 6.5/10

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

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

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