I've got tons of new DVDs. Was in a pretty listless state of mind for the past two days and got some stuff to fill my time.

The lame ones first:-

Blades of Glory - Not as funny as I hoped it would be. Talladega Nights is heckuva lot better than this, it had Will Ferrell as well (only got turned to his talents after the impressive Nazi performance in "The Producers" (not the Mel Brooks' version)). Only really funny scene is the kiss without any pretext whatsoever and a rather startling sequence of the "Iron Lotus" skating move where the female skater got decapitated.

Next - Blame it on my PKD fetish as I want to watch all films based on his books/short stories. This one's based on "Golden Man" which I never liked as a short story in the first place. Rather interesting edits as Nic Cage can see two minutes into the future and a rather excellent scene where he examines all the probabilities within that 2 mins but a pretty run-of-the-mill action movie overall. What can you expect from Lee Tamahori (MI 3, XXX 2)? His early Maori film (Once Were Warriors) was a good debut though....

Middling:-

The Last King of Scotland - Pretty interesting fictitious take on General Idi Amin. Some events are real but told from a made-up person. I grew up during the wild stories about his reign in Uganda (cannibalism, mass murders, etc.) and it's pretty interesting to know the man more.

Hot Fuzz - Unfortunately not as funny as "Shaun of the Dead" which had me in stitches. Still, some good gags are in here. Although the main plot, ripped off from "Wicker Man" is not that well executed. Could do without the pointless action at the end also.

Grease - Just to revive my memories of Rydell High. As yet again, treads the same vein as "Saturday Night Fever", where a rewatching is not as good as the memories. But still gives me some thrill as I relived my childhood. A lot of Cindy Bullens and Louis St. Louis songs (on the soundtrack), which are recordings of the original songs from the musical, are not here. Damn!

Excellent:-

The Wild Bunch - Haven't watched this in full. But looks like a pretty violent and sturm and drang revisionist Western from my fast-forwarding previews. Lotsa nude ugly Mexican women as well. Seems like Peckinpah couldn't get the pretty ones to strip (or couldn't afford it).

Polanski's MacBeth - My fren in college was so caught up in the nude scene of Lady MacBeth so decided to give this a go. I'm very familiar with the text (did it in A-Levels literature) and this is an excellent rendition overall. I could do without the stupid "floating dagger" effect, as the absence of a dagger (in the "is this a dagger before me?" soliloquoy) has a better effect. However, could do with some modern music. CCR's Bad Moon Rising would fit it in the arrival of King Duncan scene, Hendrix's Dolly Dagger when Lady Macbeth is planting the daggers on the patsy murderers and of course, Dylan's Idiot Wind, before the "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" soliloquoy. Oh well, jus have to wait til I direct it.

Nuit et Bruillard (Night and Fog) - An absolutely chilling documentary about the Holocaust and gives an indication to what Spielberg said about an accurate filmic depiction, if there ever was one, that it would be confined to a museum (of horrors) and not the general public.

One I haven't see - Total Eclipse - Verlaine and Rimbaud's love affair. This DVD doesn't work well but I don't have high hopes as it was universally panned. Still, I love Leo.