Paul's journal

I found Death Proof a bit boring really. There was a lot of talking, lots and lots of talking and it wasn't all that interesting talk.

The aged effects were nice, the dodgy editing and scratches, but like in Kill Bill I felt that Tarantino did all the fun stuff at the start and then got a bit bored and the movie became more mainstream. There were long chunks of the second half that seemed like a perfectly modern film.

The two big car moments were fantastic. The first was probably the best crash ever shot and very memorable. The fate of Jungle Julie isn't something easily forgotten.

In the second the car chase was amazing and helped incredibly by having a stuntwoman playing herself and doing her own stunts. It really felt like she was in danger and I had to convince myself I hadn't read about her being injured/killed to keep my eyes on the screen.

I think I would have preferred the shorter Grindhouse version, at two hours it was just too long.

I cut it a bit fine to get to the movies today, really misjudged the time it would take to get to Camberwell. Then as I'm pulling into a carpark I hit the car in front. Embarrassing enough but the car owners were still in it. They had a huge 4WD and the back of their car was taking up a could deal of the space I wanted, hence the misjudgement. All that happened was my licence plate got a little dinted by their tow bar.

I backed out and got another spot and then found I had no change to pay for a parking ticket, so I had to find another spot. I got to the cinema and found a slow moving queue but it all timed nicely and I walked in as the film, Stardust, was starting. Except the film starts with pretty much a pitch black scene so it was hard to see where other people were sitting and choose a seat.

I enjoyed the film, some of it quite familiar from the book but a lot I had forgotten. Claire Danes was beautiful but Charlie Cox? Gorgeous. It's been a while since I've been so captivated by a new guy on the big screen.

I needed my jacket in the cinema but once outside the day was hot. It was a nice warmth except for in the car where it was way too hot. I didn't end up chilling out anywhere, other than home.

I'm making up for a few weeks off by seeing a couple of movies this weekend.

Last night I watched Cabin Fever on TV. I missed the start and wonder if I needed to see it to understand the perplexing ending.

This morning I saw "Ratatouille" which I enjoyed. It was a good story, funny (not overly but some big laugh out loud moments), and superbly animated. There was one shot of Paris in particular(it comes after an arguement in the rain) that I would swear was real life. Overall, while I didn't love this as much as some other Pixar films, it was a quality film.

This afternoon I saw The Year of the Dog. It was a bit bleak and my heart went out to Molly Shannon's character whose life was falling apart even as she found a way to make her life start happening. There were interesting comments above love at the end that have me still going over them in my head. Not really something that needs to be seen on the big screen, but also not something I'd probably watch again.

The weekend?

Well it started on Friday night with me seeing Hairspray. I didn't love it or hate it. I feel a bit indifferent about it. I've seen a lot of musicals this year, and although this was fun it felt a bit fluffy despite the themes. I would like to the see the original movie now.

I bought the soundtrack last week prior to seeing the film and the soundtrack is better. On the big screen the music seemed to drown out the lyrics more. It it's impossible not to dance when listening to "You Can't Stop The Beat".

Saturday I went and picked up a secondhand Beta VCR. I started ripping the old tapes to DVD and at long last got to rewatch Come Midnight Monday. It's just as I remembered and holds up well. One thing that keeps rocking me is seeing the teenage bully smoking nearly every time he's onscreen, something that wouldn't happen in a children's show nowadays. I've got four and a half of the episodes and I think the missing one and the start of the other are waiting to be found on another tape.

This morning after watching a fighter jet do laps before the racing started a few suburbs overs, I went to the new video shop. Their TV range is really good. I planned to borrow Deadwood series one but they were missing one of the four discs so I decided to wait (since to hire them at 95 cents per disc you have to hire a minimum of three).

The power went out for about 20 minutes before tea. That fierce wind that's been blowing all day must have finally knocked something into a power pole.

Went to The Gate this afternoon and saw License to Wed with my sisters. As expected a lot of the best bits of the film were in the trailer but there were some hilarious scenes that weren't. Helps to be a fan of John Krasinski (well when I saw fan I mean have a crush on). Four cast members of The Office appeared in the film, once it got to the fourth I was wondering just how many more might appear!

It was pretty full cinema but what was more interesting was what was happening outside cinema 4 with two policemen interviewing someone. Looked like he'd been caught trying to tape the movie. I will have to try and get the scoop next time I'm there.

I saw Die Hard 4.0 this morning in a very quiet VMAX cinema. I really enjoyed it. It was just so much fun. I reckon you could pull the film's plot apart, and there were several really bad edits where you could see the character's mouths weren't moving to the dialogue they were saying. But it was just so much fun. The action sequences were very exciting and well paced. The overall attack was well conveyed and the pace was good. The show down on the freeway? Maybe that went too far. Kevin Smith's hacker had a very similar role to Anthony Anderson's hacker in Transformers.

Spoilers
( One night only! )

Spoilers
( Finally a good film this year. )

Spoilers ahead...
( and I didn't like the movie )

A-

Pan's Labyrinth

B

Dreamgirls

C+

Deja Vu

C-

The Fountain