Return of the Killer Tomatoes

There are some films where it's impossible to go in with a completely open mind. Whether it's because it's a sequel to a film you've seen a hundred times, it's the work of a director or actor you're very familiar with or you've been bombarded with a relentless marketing campaign, there are many factors that can influence your opinion of a film before you go and see it. And, of course, there's the title. The one inescapable truth about this film is that it's called Return of the Killer Tomatoes, and is therefore not going to be anything even close to highbrow or arthouse, and might just about scrape the underbelly of being entertaining.

Clueless

Is this the most 90s movie ever? If not, it must certainly crack the top 10, for though it is based on a novel written 180 years earlier, everything about Clueless, from the slang, the opinions and most vehemently the fashions positively scream 1990s. Upon release, this may have been topical and timely, but now it severely dates the film, and is mostly comical. Although saying that, there is a chance that it may have been funny at the time (I can't remember, I was 8 in 1995), as I can't imagine any time period in which a two-piece yellow plaid suit jacket and skirt were ever in fashion, even amongst teenage girls.

Top 5... Movies That Should Be In 1001 (2012 Edition)

Monday sees the release of the next edition of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, which sees my recently reviewed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the cover. This release got me thinking, what films would I most like to be added in this edition? As usual, my first instinct regarded efficiency and time-saving, so of course the films I'd post want to be added would be ones that I'd already reviewed, so I wouldn't have to review them again. But then I thought no, that's not really what I want. I want to watch new films, experience new things and write about them, that's why I'm writing a blog in the first place; to discuss movies. Why would I want an excuse to do that less? So as well as my already-reviewed list there's another for films that not only have I not reviewed, but that I haven't even seen, and I think should probably be on the List. Thirdly, because it's a super-bumper-bonus day, there's a final top 5 for the films that haven't appeared on either list, but will most likely be on the actual list, for which I haven't been consulted. What films do you all think will be on there?

Never So Few

A Steve McQueen film set during World War 2 where at one point he talks about brewing his own alcohol? No, sadly I've not yet reached The Great Escape (one of my consistently top 5 films of all time), I'm onto Never So Few, the Frank Sinatra-starring final obstacle before I get to watch The Magnificent Seven again, when I'll actually start to enjoy going through all of Steve McQueen's films.

Never So Few sees Sinatra as Captain Tom Reynolds in North Burma during the Second World War. He and his band of highly trained men, including Peter Lawford's be-monocled Captain Grey Travis and Charles Bronson's Seargeant Danforth, are training the native Kachins to defend their land against their attackers, but the hardships of jungle warfare and the difficulties posed by his commanding officers - particularly the lack of an assigned doctor in his troop - begin to weigh on Reynolds.

Battle Royale

There are some films where you hear about the concept and think "Yes, this will be a truly amazing film." Battle Royale is such a film, with the premise being a class of 42 schoolkids are kidnapped, dropped onto an island and given weaponry and basic provisions. They are told that they have three days to kill all of their fellow classmates until only one survives, and if they fail, they'll all be killed. Sounds pretty awesome, right? Well that's what I thought the first time I watched it too, about 5 years ago, and since then I'd kind of forgotten a lot of it, and thought to myself that surely that film but have been amazing, because how can you go wrong with a concept like that? There's endless possibility for inventive deaths and character drama, what with these kids now having to kill their best friends or even their boyfriends and girlfriends, but unfortunately there were perhaps some reasons as to why I'd forgotten it.

Jude

I had a discussion with my girlfriend recently about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, instigated by my viewing of the unimpressive trailer for the new remake (in 3D, of course). When I explained the basic premise - a group of kids run into a family of skin-wearing cannibals - she was appalled at A) why someone would watch such a film, B) why someone would make it, and C) what kind of depraved soul would own such a monstrosity. I then answered questions A and C (she wouldn't have cared that Tobe Hooper made it) by pointing to the copy of the film on my DVD shelf. Why do I bring this up? Well, though I'm not a massive fan of horror (I haven't seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre since I bought it), I will occasionally watch a film for the same reasons I go on rollercoasters; they add a certain element of thrill and excitement - and terror - otherwise missing from my humdrum existence on this Earth. My question is, who would watch, make or own a film like Jude?

Man on Wire

Another film I reviewed for the So You Think You Can Review tournament at the Lamb, this also sees the start of my attempting to review at least one documentary a month for this site. 

I’ve had the debate many times with various people as to whether a documentary can really be considered as a film. This usually happens when I use the phrase “I watched a great film last night; it was a documentary about...” The conversation’s other participant invariably glazes over at the ‘D’ word, as how could anything compiled entirely from archive footage and talking-head interviews be seen as entertaining? After all, there’s the danger they might actually learn something. I feel that if there was ever going to be a documentary that could sway the naysayers, then that film is Man on Wire. Even though it is very much a true story, told by those involved with the aid of photographs, footage and re-enactments, this tale of a man attempting to infiltrate the World Trade Centre and walk a tightrope between the towers is compelling, nail-biting stuff, and for the most part feels like a work of fiction.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Seeing as the cover of the next edition of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die has been announced (the book is due to be released next month), I thought it'd be a good time to review the film on said cover, as it's a certainty to become a member of the hallowed list in the imminent future. So, without further ado, I present Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a film that I was very surprised to see on the cover, as personally I don't think I'd have included it in the book at all, giving the cover space instead to probably The Artist, even if the Tinker Tailor poster is better.

Champagne

There are some films that are just difficult to like, mainly because the lead is so detestable. Recent examples I've seen include Napoleon Dynamite, Vagabond and Transformers, and Champagne joins that far from hallowed list, although this time I feel that the lead, Betty Balfour's simply named The Girl, is meant to be unlikable as she's a spoilt little brat who only comes to realise she can be a good person when her father (Gordon Harker, Hitchcock alumnus from The Ring and The Farmer's Wife) loses all his money and she is forced to take care of him.

Top 5... Bill Murray Films

It's Bill Murray's birthday! The guy is a prime contender for a future Film-Makers Career Review, but until I see all of his work, here's my favourite of his films. Now, in my looking back at his career I noticed Murray has tended towards two kinds of roles, leads/major parts, or brief cameos, so I've made two lists to celebrate this fact:

5a. Caddyshack
I'm fairly sure the main reason this film is remembered as a comedy classic - by me at least - is because of Murray's breakthrough role as the deranged gopher-hunting groundskeeper Carl Spackler. His scene in his shed, talking to the little clay models of squirrels and rabbits he intends to use to destroy the golf course terrorising rodent is just wonderful, even if the gopher himself looks like one of the worst puppets ever put on screen.

5b. Get Smart
OK, so the film is pretty terrible, but Murray's cameo as the tree-dwelling lonely sad sack Agent 13 in this lacklustre spy reboot is one of the few watchable moments, and came as such a surprise to me when I watched the film that it almost made the experience worthwhile. Almost.

Winchester '73

The first things I have to say about this film are that it features one of the earliest credits for Tony Curtis, and that Rock Hudson is buried in the cast, and he plays an Indian. Right, now that's out of the way, let's talk about the film.

I like this kind of film. Now, that statement's not much good to you without knowing what kind of film it is, but regardless of that I like it anyway. It's the kind of film where several smaller stories are all tied together through coincidence, or an object being passed from one to another, as is the case here. There are some exceptions - I wasn't wild about Au Hasard Balthazar or Babel - but these types of collective narratives, like Magnolia, Short Cuts, Crash and Traffic, usually appeal to me, and having a great ensemble cast never hurts either. Here, the element that ties the stories together is a rifle.

The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

The second film in my travels through Steve McQueen's career is actually his fifth movie, as I've yet to come in contact with a copy of Girl on the Run, Never Love a Stranger or The Blob, and is the second film in which he plays the lead (after The Blob, which I really want to see am annoyed I can't find).

Here, McQueen plays George Fowler, a man in need of some funds to pay his way through college after being kicked out years ago. He accepts the job of driver for a bank robbery being conducted by his friend Gino (David Clarke) and two others, John and Willie (Crahan Denton and James Dukas), neither of whom trust George, as he's lived a clean life and hasn't even been to prison. Meanwhile, George meets up with Gino's sister Ann (Molly McCarthy), an old flame of his, and complications arise when she works out the real reason George is in town.