herbiehancock

No 158 - Unforgiven Director - Clint Eastwood Well, April has been a bit of a write off hasn't it?! But do not blame me, blame the Ash Cloud for turning a 5 day business trip into a 2 and a half week fiasco in the Philippines. Not that I'm complaining in any way shape or form. It does mean I've been out of the loop for this top 500 and have instead been reading and burning in the stupid heat. But - today I reached sun saturation point and have hidden myself indoors and I remembered, I have two films I've not yet written up. So please excuse me if these are a bit hazier than normal but I watched them a fortnight ago and just never got round to blogging. Unforgiven is a harsh film. The tone is set immediately as it opens up on a rape and knife attack. This not only informs you that the Wild West was not a nice place (hell this aint Back to the Future 3) but it is also the key event which fuels the rest of the film, for regardless of what Bill (Gene Hackman and, I assum...

No 174 - Superman Director - Richard Donner This film is LONG. I do not remember this film being so long. It is 25 minutes before we even see little Kal -El, almost an hour before we get to Metropolis. But it manages to fit so much into those 143 minutes that despite many other newer slicker films, this may still be the finest Superhero origin film. We begin on Krypton with a scene which made me so happy. The trial of General Zod and his banishment to the Phantom Zone. The reason this scene made me so happy is that it is solely there to create a set up for the sequel but it is done at the BEGINNING of the film in a way which is logical to the introduction of the characters. In films nowadays it is becoming the norm to crowbar a final scene which sets up a sequel . I saw it most recently in Kick Ass (I really hope they don't make a sequel to Kick Ass) and it upsets me. It is usually forced and dampens the film's resolution, so it is lovely to see it well done. In fact the fil...

No 159 - The Royal Tenenbaums Director - Wes Anderson This is my favourite film. I really ruddy love it. I'm going to try and explain what it is about this film that I love so much and why I think it is a truly wondrous cinematic experience, both poignant and funny, and how it shoes a real human dynamic in a twisted version of the world. I am very fond of Wes Anderson's directorial and story telling style, and I think the reason I hold this film in such high esteem is that it was the first of his films that I saw. Wes Anderson's films share a visual style, they also share similar story elements (dysfunctional families and relationships, father issues). Therefore, once you have seen one of the films, you get an idea about what to expect in future films. I once discussed this with my former flatmate Phil. His favourite Wes Anderson film was Rushmore , whilst mine is this one. However our reasons for liking the films were identical. We both liked our preferred films because t...