Film notes

Triangle – 5/5 and I bet you’ve never heard of it! Not a horror, more of a mystery-thriller like ‘Memento’, very clever script, highly recommended.
Red – 4/5 – Helen Mirren with a Gatling gun, oh yes.
Harry Potter 7.1 – 4/5 – satisfying
Legion – 3/5 – entertaining hokum
The Book of Eli – 4/5 – visually interesting, plot solid without being great
Edge of Darkness – 3/5 – Mel being Mel
Into the Wild – ?/5 – I turned it off after 15 minutes as I wasn’t in the mood to watch some adolescent being obnoxious and stupid for the next two hours – might go back to it one day
Holes – 4/5 – satisfying family film with a good message (older children)
Invictus – 3/5 – OK
The Box – 4/5 – I’d like to rewatch this at a later date, the rating might rise to 5/5; the trouble with movies like that is that they are too clever for the mainstream audience at which they are pitched (says the very low-brow Rector!!)

Doubt

Absolutely superb, and I was thinking about it for ages afterwards in order to come to my own conclusions about the question at hand! 5/5

(In that alternate universe where they were making a film of my life, PSH would be the one playing me…)

Film notes

Big Fish – 4.5/5 – rather wonderful, though not at all the family entertainment that I was expecting (children were ushered out from the film half way through…)
Pandorum – 4/5 – better than expected, a collage of classic sf tropes
Horton Hears a Who – 5/5 – tho’ I haven’t read the book, just before watching it I read Michael Connelly’s ‘Chasing the Dime’ which features the motifs. I want to say ‘My name is Sam and I approve this message!’
Sherlock Holmes – 4/5 – great fun, look forward to the sequel

I also rewatched A History of Violence the other day. It’s climbing into my ‘top ten all time favourites’…

PS – am enjoying Dexter series 4, and Fringe has returned! Saw the first episode of series 3 last night (thank you Sky+) – all sorts of interesting paths lined up to follow.

TBTMs

It’s been a strange few days. Some of these links might have been shared before.

An article by Joseph Tainter.
Space and Time are NOT the reward for getting your priestly ministry done: they are the necessities for getting your priestly ministry done.
The importance of Evensong.
How the Tea Party organises without leaders.
The most spiritually literate films of… (follow links on bar on left)
The 50 funniest scenes in the history of film.
The habit forge

Synecdoche, New York

Surreal, tragic, absorbing, brilliant.

I want to know: is this a portrait of a man destroyed by the fear of death – and thus a warning? Or is this the expression of the film-maker’s vision of life, in that it is Kaufman who has the tragic and self-destructive fear of death? If it is the former, then 5/5. If the latter then 4/5.

Highly recommended, for those who like films that aren’t run of the mill.

Film notes

Up in the Air: very enjoyable, moving, satisfyingly ambivalent ending 4.5/5
Slumdog Millionaire: wow! 5/5
Saw VI: I am a completist; I like the premise but not the execution (at least watching it at home meant I could fast forward certain sequences). 3/5

The Last Exorcism

Came out of the cinema fuming – but have been having second thoughts about whether I was right to do so ever since. The first 85 minutes or so are undoubtedly excellent – suspenseful and character driven – and the first ten minutes are hilarious (favourite quote: “Lucifer was the choirmaster in Heaven” no comment ;). The last five minutes, though, threaten to undermine all the previous good work – or do they? Can’t say more without spoilers, but I’m off to do a bit of research as to the director’s intention. At least 4/5