Breaking News

I won't be doing a film a day anymore. I missed yesterday's film and so obviously the run has ended. I'll still watch films and write about them from time to time but what has been happening shall be no more.

Day 197: Doodlebug

In a tiny apartment a man armed with a shoe is chasing something around the room, desperately trying to kill it.

Shot in black and white, the man’s evident suffering seems even more intense. The ticking of the clock is oppressive and the ringing phone is intruding on the scene. He looks like he has been chasing this creature for a while and he is reaching the end of his sanity. Finally he manages to catch it and we see that it is a smaller version of him (and it’s also in the process of chasing an even smaller version of himself), he strikes and seems happy at finally catching it. But just behind him we see a larger version of his own face that then kills him. Despite clearly knowing that it is a smaller version of himself that he’d be killing, he just seems happy to have finally done it. But then he’s trapped in an infinite loop - he will always be killing himself over and over. He most likely knows this, and from the stress we can see earlier, it’s clear he isn’t against ending it for whichever version he has to.

This is an early film from Christopher Nolan, and it has quite a student-y vibe. But that doesn’t make it any less interesting or thought-provoking. If you could end your own suffering but you would incur the ultimate loss, would you?

7/10

Day 196: The Rescuers Down Under

A child is kidnapped by an evil poacher and the Rescue Aid Society step in to help.

The golden eagle is terrifying, let’s not be daft here. She doesn’t speak (unlike the rest of the animals?), she just squawks, she’s horrifically massive and she has demon eyes. I’m pretty sure she’s evil in bird form. But despite all that, the boy becomes friends with her and tries his best to save her and her eggs even though he is in danger himself. He’s not alone though, Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) and Bernard (Bob Newhart) are on hand to help. I liked that Bernard became more sure of himself as the film progressed and it led to him finally being able to propose to Miss Bianca. They’re a sweet couple and they seem like they’d have a really interesting life together.

7/10

Day 195: The Full Monty

Unemployment hits Sheffield and in order to make some money, six men decide to strip.

The men of the town are out of work and desperate for money. Although they each have motivations outside of earning some extra cash. Gaz (Robert Carlyle) wants to earn enough to be able to see his son. Their relationship is a bit rocky but it seems like his son comes to understand that his dad is doing the best with what he has. Dave (Mark Addy) is feeling insecure in his relationship and although he is reluctant to take part in the dancing, his wife helps him see that it’s perhaps a good thing for him to do. Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) can’t provide for his wife in the way he used to and is humiliated at being stuck on the dole. He can dance though and so he enjoys his time teaching the guys to dance and taking part himself. The men bond over the time spent training and it gives them the boost they need during this hard time.

I quite like this film. It seems like the kind of thing that could potentially go on.

7/10 

Day 194: Hotel Transylvania

Dracula (Adam Sandler) has created a hotel that no human can find so that the monsters have a safe space to stay. He’s preparing for his daughter’s birthday and everything is going according to plan until a human shows up and falls in love with his daughter.

Apparently you only get one ‘zing’ moment in your life. ‘Zing’ is referring to the moment when you know you’re meant to be with this person. They are ‘the one’, essentially. I thought this idea of ‘the one’ was dying out now but it’s still alive and kicking in films. I’m not sure why that is. Perhaps it’s just easier to make a love story sound epic if it’s the big one, rather than knowing that you’ll meet lots of people who could potentially be the one. I’m not sure if I believe that Johnny (Andy Samberg) is Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) ‘one’. She has been cooped up in the hotel for 118 years and the only interaction she’s had is with monsters who are much older than her and they all have dull (according to her) tastes. Along comes this young guy who tells interesting stories and she thinks he’s the one. But if someone else had wandered into the hotel and done the same thing, would she have thought they were the one? Or was it something particular to Johnny? I think she just wanted to escape and he represented the place she wanted to escape to. I could be wrong, who knows.

This was actually kind of enjoyable. I mean, it’s not exactly memorable or gripping but it’s an easy film to watch. It’s the classic story about an over protective father who has to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is growing up and will be living her own life. But with a monster twist.

6/10

Day 193: Deep Impact

A comet is found to be heading directly for Earth and its impact will have devastating consequences unless it can be diverted away.

We experience the events through different characters. There’s the journalist who wants to make it big but then is shaken by what’s going to happen. There’s the kid who was the person to actually discover the comet. There is the shuttle crew who are attempting to destroy the comet before it reaches Earth. In these films, the crew who are trying to stop the comet (or whatever it happens to be) are always really brave. They accept that they have to sacrifice themselves (spoiler! The film was out in 1998 though, there’s no excuse for having not seen it) to save their families and everyone else and they do it without any fuss. When they’re saying goodbye to their families it just breaks my heart. How do you even begin to say goodbye to the person you love? Nothing would seem like enough. But I suppose it would spur you on because you'd know that they were going to be safe.

I really love this film. And all disaster films, really. I know they’re cheesy and whatever but I just don’t care. They make me sad. Partly because of the sadness of what’s happening but also because people can end up being so lovely and it’s sad that it’ll end. I had more to say about the film but all the crying has kind of knackered me.

9/10

Day 192: The Blair Witch Project

Three students head off into the woods in search of the Blair Witch and end up hopelessly lost.

I’ve never seen this before but I’d heard all the hype about it. And I have no idea why people find this film scary. Like, at all. I’m the easiest person to scare and yet I didn’t find this scary. Well, there was one scene that freaked me out a bit (when Michael was facing the wall) but that was it. It was interesting to see their descent into fear but that was about it. I hate the handheld camera thing, it’s just never done well and it bores me.

4/10