herbiehancock

No 472 - Le Doulos Director - Jean Pierre Melville Before we begin it is important to talk about the title. The reason I think it is important is that it is the first thing that the film talks about. It should therefore be the first thing I talk about. To quote the pre -title disclaimer: In slang " doulos " refers to a hat, but in the private language of police and underworld it refers to a man "putting it on", a police informer. The film essentially covers a group of gangsters and 3 individual jobs they perform which are all interweaved (a jewel theft, a murder and a robbery). They get in increasing levels of trouble because within the group is a police informant, a snitch. What then follows is a quite painful hour and a bit of watching the main character, Faugel (who will never be as cool as the protagonists of Melville's later work Le Cercle Rouge ), get further and further into trouble and getting more and more pissed off with the informant. We are int...

Number 370 - Rocky Director - John G Avildsen Another day and yet another film classic I've failed to see. Has to be said that I was very impressed by this film. It isn't the greatest film n the world, it has a lot of weaknesses, but it is far better than I had anticipated. The first thing that grabs me is just how young Stallone is, its been a while since I've watched First Blood, so now when I think of Stallone I think of the older modern Stallone . So youth was a surprise, but not as much as the whole dweebyness of the film. Adrien is certainly nerdier than I thought (I had no idea what Adrian looked like, and it makes sense that she is the Basis for Mrs Gideon in the Killeroo episode - a rocky pastiche). Yes, her physical appearance is nerdy but it is more her character. She is quiet and shy. As is Rocky. The two of the fumble and mutter and are painfully awkward in each other's company. In fact, I found myself feeling quite a surprising feeling, I though Rock...

No 327 – Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Director – Henry Selick It has always been difficult to know when exactly one should watch the Nightmare before Christmas. The Halloween setting means you can realistically play it anytime round late October. But the Christmas theme makes it seem strange. There are, after all certain Christmas films that only work at Christmas. I could watch Die Hard in August and still get the same adrenaline rush, but the Muppet’s Christmas Carol is too steeped in tradition that I’d be unable to enjoy the film without th e other trappings of the season. Nightmare is certainly seasonal, but which season? This is why I’ ve opted for watching it now. We’re almost exactly half way between Halloween and Christmas which fits the film’s timeline perfectly. We’re neither here nor there when it comes to the events. We just sit nicely in the middle. I’m a big fan of this film. I saw it at the cinema as a youth and have loved it ever since. It still looks m...

No 362 – The Elephant Man Director – David Lynch There are two things in particular which I intend to focus on in this blog. Firstly, my surprise that this is a David Lynch film, secondly the fact that John Merrick was a real person (though he was actually called Joseph Merrick fact fans) and that therefore this story is based in truth. I have a John Merrick biography which I attempted to read over the summer. I found it a bit too intense, too heavy and sad to read on a poolside in France. However as the winter months draw in it might be worth crack it out and reading up on the poor man. However, first things first. I wish to talk about Lynch and the visual style of this film. I have a bit of a confused relationship with David Lynch, the first film I saw of his was Eraserhead which scared me to pieces. Ever since then, his films have left me feeling confused and uncomfortable. Yet with Elephant Man we have a fairly normal story. A story with a clear overarching plot, with a linear s...

No 374 - Hot Fuzz Director - Edgar Wright I feel like I let Baz Luhrmann down. I tried to blog about Romeo and Juliet but Big Train was playing in the background. Hot Fuzz seems like the most fitting film to watch for a number of reason. 1) I've already watched The Wicker Man and this is the only film I own with Edward Woodward in and I felt that I should watch something to salute such a great man . 2) Big Train ballsed up my last blog and this has many key members of the Big Train cast. 3) Sandford's amateur dramatics company put on a show of Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. So there is a connection... Hot Fuzz is the second film in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's Blood and Ice Cream trilogy. Where Shaun was a horror, this is the action film. It also shares a lot of jokes and sly nods to the Shaun. Most notably with the repetition of jokes such as the shortcut over garden fences and the cornetto punchline. Most amusingly though, the DV...

No 142 - Almost Famous Director - Cameron Crowe Almost Famous has been the 'almost' film for a couple of months. I keep putting it on the shortlist of films I want to watch, but then picking something else. So I decided that I should finally get round to watching it. Anyway, it has also been a long time since I last watched a film with Zooey Deschanel in. So with those tenuous reasons put into play and the most infernal of hangovers thumping in my brain, I slipped into the warmth and comfort of this beauty of a film. Almost Famous is not a realistic study of the music scene in the 70s (actually, it might be... I wasn't there, but it doesn't seem it). It is a love letter, purely and simply - and whilst you might think that rock and roll is the key focus of the film, it isn't. This is a film about friendships. The excitement and mystery of new friendship and the pain and reconciliation when old friendships go through rough patches. It is about befriending your hero...

No 423 - Kill Bill Volume 2 Director - Quentin Tarantino Whereas Volume 1 was a tribute to Eastern cinema, Volume 2 is a modern western. Gritty and dirty and dusty. It also begins by telling a bit more about the character of The Bride, introducing the wedding rehearsal, and also introducing the all important Samuel L Jackson role as Rufus, the Organist . But, most importantly, in those o pening scenes we finally meet Bill . The saga of Kill Bill appears to be about timing, about the slow leak of information. Volume 1 meant we never saw Bill - just his hands, or his gun, or his voice, as soon as Volume 2 begins, he is there and we see his face. It is the same with The Bride's true name. For the entire of Volume 1, her name is edited out of conversation (for reasons that I do not understand) until, in Volume 2, we learn she is called Beatrix Ditto. Whilst I understand the suspense in not showing the viewer the titular Bill, I did not gain anything from knowing The Bride's true ...

No 288 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Director - Robert Zemeckis Sometimes, you rewatch films from your youth and realise that they should not be children's films. Some films are far too harrowing . Others are far too adult. I'm sure I enjoyed the cartoons in the real world or the bright colours but I don't think I appreciated Roger Rabbit till I became an adult. This may be a PG, this may be a world populated by cartoons . But this is a genuine film noir . The only thing that isn't in this film is serious swearing or violence. But swearing and violence is there in moderation, as is sex, death, blackmail and scandal. There are also some moments of true horror. We are in Hollywood, circa 1946. A fabulous time (made even better by all the cartoons) Eddie Valient is a private eye. He used to be a private eye for ' toons . Until a ' toon dropped a piano on his brother and killed him. He has never gotten over the death of his brother and has become an alcoholic. A sha...

No 88 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off Director - John Hughes I have been proved wrong. Toy Story was not my hundredth blog. Don't Look Now was.... I have been erroneous. I apologise. This weekend I have enjoyed the delights of the London Film Festival and have been fortunate to see three fantastic films: The Road - bleak, harrowing and full of hope. Fantastic Mr Fox - Gorgeous anarchic excellence. Cold Souls - quirky and slow burn and lovely. However none of them are on the list (though the next time they do one, The Road should be there) so I won't dwell on it. This morning, well... this afternoon... I dragged my broken hungover body off to watch films and watched this genius snapshot of John Hughes brilliance. This film is brilliant because of the bizarre presentation, actively breaking the fourth wall as Ferris discusses his thoughts directly to the camera. Plans on how best to skip school, his thoughts on Cameron, his best friend. His worries about new school. Rather t...

No 369 - The Breakfast Club Director - John Hughes I was going to watch this film months ago. As a fitting tribute to the late great John Hughes. However I don't own it. It arrived today and I watched straight away and I had forgotten how spot on it is. The film follows a bunch of teenagers who have been sent to detention on a Saturday and who all conveniently all into stereotypes. So we have Andy, the Jock, played by Emilio Estevez . Claire, the Prom Queen, played by Molly Ringwald . Brian, the Nerd, played by Anthony Michael Hall, John, the Criminal, played by Judd Nelson and Allison, the Basket Case, played by Ally Sheedy . Together they make up the titular Breakfast Club . The thing is, this film embraces the stereotypes. Wants the stereotypes. It is asking you to begin the film with preconceptions about the characters, because each character has preconceptions about the others. We know that High School (American more so than British) is a very cliquey place. See exhibit one ...

No 353 - Bugsy Malone Director - Alan Parker I love Paul Williams . The man is a legend. He wrote some of the best songs of the 70s and is brilliant in every medium. From cartoon to performing with Muppets . Nothing can phase him and he played the greatest crap villain ever . Despite how much I LOVE Phantom of the Paradise, Bugsy Malone is Paul's real high point. A superb film and the greatest school play ever. I wanted, more than anything, to be Fat Sam - I certainly had/have the physique for it. However our school never did the show, so I just watch the show and enjoy the sheer bonkers wonderfulness. The genius behind this film is the juxtaposition with children and the gritty film noir of the 20's gangster era. It is the same with Who Framed Roger Rabbit - it is a brave move to show this gritty world and both show the world as dark and gritty. The children or cartoons just make it all a bit more palatable. In this film - all the gangsters and citizens are children. This ...

No 458 - Batman Director - Tim Burton All has been rectified. I have watched the last of the four Batman films to be in the list, and indeed the earliest. However, don't let the title fool you. Despite everything, this is not a film about Batman. This is a film about Joker. The film begins in the deep, Gothic and fantastically murky architecture of Gotham City. The criminals and hoodlums are nervous there is talk of a vampire bat stalking the streets and picking off the muggers. We are introduced to Gotham after the establishment of Batman and we will not get anything like an origin story, besides a flashback of Bruce Wayne's parents getting shot at. That is all the motivation Batman seems to need. But considering how dull (once again) the character of Batman is in Burton's world, it doesn't really matter. This film follows one man. Jack Napier aka The Joker . Jack Nicholson's Joker is an odd character. It seems that his insanity is only there for show as when he i...

No 242 - King Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World (1933) Directors - Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack It was difficult to find out who directed King Kong... couldn't find it in the credits at all. For these are the 30s baby! Where producers manned the loudhailers and called the shots. There are several films in this blog which have begun at BFI Southbank's Museum of the Moving Image. In the 'Golden Age of Cinema' section, we were graced with the King Kong animatronic . Or a replica of it. Either way, it was fascinating to watch the film and relate the beast on the screen to the mass of faded wires and fur I had seen at MOMI . It is even more impressive when you realise that the film is 75 years old! Whilst King Kong isn't the first big monster film it is probably the most famous of the early ones, and may be the most famous of all time. What is really impressive is the level of scale and imagination within the film. You'd think that there would be se...

No 189 - Ghostbusters Director - Ivan Reitman Ah nostalgia! It is a truly beautiful thing. The G hostbusters were a big thing when I was a kid. I admit that I didn't have much experience of the actual film, but the cartoons were fabulous and the toys were pretty much the coolest (non Lego ) toys I had. You could squeeze their arms and their head would change expression . Genius. Incidentally.... why is Egon blonde in the 'Real Ghostbusters ' cartoon and toy franchise? What a strange thing to change.... The problem about nostalgia is it makes everything seem better than it was. However, Ghostbusters is not a victim of nostalgia at all - it is brilliant. The film is really well made, mixing slapstick comedy with witty banter and moment that are genuinely creepy. It also introduces the character of Peter Venkman - I don't care how much I loved the cartoons, there is no way that cartoon Peter could ever challenge the mighty Bill Murray. Murray is one of the best sarcast...