Audition

Takashi Miike's under-stated "homage" to Misery. Not really a full-blown horror movie but some scenes are way scarier than generic shockers that you get these days. I liked this a lot. If only for its unsettling feel throughout, the social interactions have so much dead air it's eerie, even the sex scene. Add to the fact that the antagonist talks like she's in a vacuum. The build-up is really slow and boring, like a Sunday afternoon television serial but I guess the last 30 minutes of mayhem is a very good pay-off. The torture sequence blows all four hours of Hostel 1 and 2 out of the water for its sheer intensity, so intense I was covered in sweat when it was over. Next up - Shinjuku Triad Society, Rainy Dog and Gozu.

Blow Up

Had high expectations for this but ended up being a bit bored by the laborious and lingering pace. I think it has been surpassed in almost all aspects by its re-imagining, Brian De Palma's Blow Out, which was a rollercoaster ride. Michaelangelo Antonioni's masterwork, however, is probably the first movie to question reality. I liked the fact how coldly everybody reacts to the fact that a murder has been committed. I got this also because it had a Yardbirds cameo and "Stroll On" is my fave song by them. Worth watching for Jeff Beck thrashing his guitar and throwing the neck to David Hemmings ending in a weird chase sequence, but only just. Also has a tennis mime sequence which has to be seen to be believed. From a technical point of view, this is excellent, though. As entertainment or thought-provoking material, it is only so-so.

Hendrix Live at Woodstock

Despite having both his solo spots chopped off, Larry Lee features prominently in the various documentaries here. The main frontispiece, Hendrix's performance in Woodstock, suffers from not much flashiness and showmanship, although he does bite his guitar. The playing is incendiary, however. The film quality leaves something to be desired as I noticed the tarp changing colour and it's daytime. I suppose with the tonal pallettes and sonic textures presented in the concert, Hendrix would have come up with some more gems had he not died. Also has a superflous "Second Look" with only one additional song - Hear My Train A Comin' with the other tracks shot from a different angle. I thought they'd at least make it a two-fer with "Live at Monterrey". Comes with some irrelevant interviews with the lead singer of Sha-Na-Na. WTF does he know about Hendrix anyway, besides being in the same festival?

The McCartney Years redux

First Disc

1970 - 1983. Watched this again with Macca's commentary in subtitles. The 22-odd songs here are mainly good, with clunkers in "With a Little Luck" and "My Love", which is so saccharine it gives me cavities. Highlights are "Heart of the Country", "Band on the Run", "Mamunia" and "Coming Up" which the last still remains my fave Macca music video. "Mull of Kintyre" has two takes here, one in the eponymous location and the other in an Elstree studio. Had no idea "Band on the Run" (the song) was about the Beatles. Also has a shot of the famous Martha. Misses some crucial material like "Rockshow" and a glaring omission of "Live and Let Die" although there're live versions of them ln the 3rd disc. Bit peeved there's no video of "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". "Wonderful Christmastime", which always annoys me during said season, sounds cool taken out of context.

Second Disc

Covers 1984 till present. Pretty good the second time watching. "Put it There", "Hope of Deliverance" and "No other Baby" are all excellent stuff. The "Press to Play" material is hardly as bad as some reviews would suggest, being inoffensive synthy poppy fluff like "Pretty Little Head" and the title track. I also enjoyed "Spies Like Us" tremendously as I've said before. Peeved that "Flowers in the Dirt" is only represented by one song "My Brave Face" and there's no "Flaming Pie" or "Driving Rain" material. Since this DVD came out in 2007, it would be nice to include "Dance Tonight" from "Memory Almost Full" . Contains a documentary "Creating Chaos in Abbey Road", which is not about the fabulous 2005 album but more about how Macca works. Boring! Has "So Bad" in the extras section, which is a nice song.

Third Disc

3 Live shows. Rockshow and Unplugged are trimmed down. Rockshow shows Wings in full-fledged Led Zep mood and is nice although I didn't really like the 16 mm film quality. Unplugged is barely going through the motions although it does have his very first song "I Left my Little Girl". The highlight of this disc is the 2004 Glastonbury headlining performance which is THE most exciting concert DVD I have ever watched. Nary a dud song, with some brilliant renditions of his Beatle songs and the Band on the Run material, with the ebullient incandescent version of "Let Me Roll It" being almost orgiastic. No surprise NME readers voted it "The Live Event of 2004". Has a Superbowl half-time performance which is a scaled-down Glastonbury (same band, around the same time) and is perfunctory.

Frankenstein (1931)

Yeah, the absolute classic James Whale version. Loved this when I first saw it on British TV. Second time around, maybe not so great as the nicking of German expressionism is more evident as I've watched quite a few Weimar films. Limp-wristed Hollywood ending as well. Wasn't it in the book that the monster killed the mad doctor's fiancee which then precipitated a chase by said mad doctor after his creation till the ends of the earth? I suppose it's remarkable for being the very first monster movie. I'm pissed the hunchback assistant's name is Fritz not Igor. Boris Karloff is wonderful, though. Actually saw the actual costume in a British film museum and always wondered how he walked about in THOSE boots. A bit overshadowed by its wackier sequel also, Bride of Frankenstein.

Touch of Evil

Bit intrigued by Orson Welles after watching Citizen Kane. This one, however, moves along at a breakneck speed, in that if it had colour and better stunts, would be mistaken for a 90s movie. I've got the "Director's Cut", edited to Welles' written specifications. Charlton Heston puts in a superb performance as the exasperated Mexican cop caught in a struggle with Welles' corrupt cop, in an inconsequential and lazy role probably just showing Welles in his grumpiest mood. I liked this, if only for its modernism - the plot moves so fast there's hardly time to catch a breath.

My Blueberry Nights

Wong Kar Wai's Hollywood debut. Discarding all the heavy themes of urbane social alienation and the lingering boredom of "mood" scenes, this one just cuts into the jugular of themes of love. Doesn't really work that well, as the usual motifs of Wong's work are merely reprised here for not much effect besides prettifying the picture. And the result are hardly as good as with Christopher Doyle's cinematography, who is not in employ here. Wong's average grasp of the English language also offers no profound vignettes, evident in his Hongkie works. Norah Jones also tends to over-emote. Well average, I would say.

No Country for Old Men
I enjoyed this thoroughly even if my gf thought it was long-winded. I loved the whole movie for its gritting and realistic depictions. If nothing else, just to admire Javier Bardem's "snazzy" haircut. Anyways, the plot flows along quite well and the ending is inevitable. Not really a big fan of the Coen brothers but have to admit this is quite rivetting. Makes me wanna pick up the book.
The Seventh Seal

Was really expecting something profound and deep with this, but it tends to fall into a medieval soap opera at times. Primarily I watched this just to know what Monty Python & The Holy Grail was parodying. Sad it's not THAT profound although great big issues on God and life are espoused, albeit with no really satisfying discussions. Also was expecting heavy-laden symbolism but it comes out as cliches, maybe not so when it was released but even then they are pretty simple metaphors at its time, even if original then. Sheesh!

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Park Chan-Wook's tour de force. Basically a movie about desperation. And falling on hard times. And yes, the characters can be sympathised with easily. Emotionally manipulative with all the right degrees, without being too forced or overdone. I loved this! In contrast with Oldboy which was basically a simple revenge movie, although that one is more action-packed.

The McCartney Years

2 DVDs of music videos and 1 filled with some concerts. The first disc covering the early years is tremendous but with one extremely glaring omission - Live and Let Die. How could they leave that out? Otherwise, very good, even if it misses some of my favourite songs from his early era - Let Me Roll It and Admiral Halsey/Uncle Albert. Probably not his fave songs since they're not here. The second disc is a bit patchy, I liked Pipes of Peace, Spies Like Us and My Brave Face but it lacks the "Flowers in the Dirt" and "Driving Rain" material. Why why why? The third disc is a Wings concert and some other recent concert and I haven't watched it yet.

Paul Simon - Graceland : The African Concert

Watched this yoinks ago. Somehow less addictive the second time around, as I overdosed on the album. Highlights are the guest stars - Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela. Somehow the African songs are better than Simon's middle-aged musings. Or perhaps I listened too much to Graceland.

Bob Dylan - Desire

Finally got this. Despite all the hype and hoopla, this one is hardly as essential as I thought it would be. Sure it's good but Dylan has been better.

Best bits - the memorable violin breaks especially the ones on "Hurricane" which I already have on a comp. "One More Cup of Coffee" is the best song here, what with its semi-Arabic intonations. Of the "story" songs I found the story of "Joey" particularly gripping.

"Isis" and "Romance in Durango" pales next to their Rolling Thunder Revue versions, both on "Biograph" and "Live 1975", without the manic energy of the latter song nor the bluesy breaks on the former. They're still quite nice though but hardly sticks in my mind.

The warmest and richest song here is probably "Sara" which sees the Big-Nosed One simply accepting his loss, free of the hubristic venom and bile spouted on "Blood on the Tracks" and on which said album also see him imbibed with bitterness, which is absent in this song.