july film and book review

FILMS

FIRED UP! (2009) d-Will Gluck. One of those films that appeal to the sort of teen boys who probably liked Roadtrip and American Pie, but this is in fact quite well written and curiously enjoyable.
LES ENFANTS TERRIBLE (1953) d-Jean-Paul Melville (written by Jean Cocteau) A young man takes to his bed for reasons unclear. His possessive sister colludes, and brings another girl and boy into the bizarre mix of personalities. A strange, frightening and quite stunning piece of movie making. They seriously do not make them like this any more...
ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969) d-J-P Melville. A grim account of the French Resistance as the end of the war approaches and both German and French participants become steadily more brutal. Disturbing stuff.
ROLE MODELS (2008) d- David Wain. 2 losers are assigned as carers to a couple of kids who don't really need them, and indeed end up helping the "carers" more than vice versa. Moderately entertaining.
THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956) d- David Miller. Joan Collins as the gorgeous gold-digger who gets her comeuppance in the end. She's never looked better.
THE LAST CASTLE (2001) d-Rod Lurie. Robert Redford plays his favourite role- the good guy against an inhuman establishment, this time represented by James Gandolfini as the prison warder who gets rings run around him. Implausible, but somehow watchable.
X MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE.(2009) d- Gavin Hood. I think I'd have preferred "X Men 4" but this will do at a pinch. The fight scenes are terrific, but the rest is a bit dull, really.
GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2009) d- Niels Arden Oply. The film they had to make, like they had to make Da Vinci Code. Our video shop told us that several people brought it back, disgusted when they found it was subtitled. And not apparently, because it's a bit pedestrian, which it is.
DOWN BY LAW (1986) d- Jim Jarmusch. Beautiful piece from Jarmusch, which comes over a lot like an early Fellini film, say, La Strada or Nights in Cabiria; this feeling doubtless augmented by the presence of the marvellous Roberto Begnini.
THE IRON GIANT (2007) d-Brad Bird. Very good adaptation of Ted Hughes's story. Perfect for a ten year old, and not bad for me either.
BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS (2003) w-d- Sylvan Chomet. Very funny, and superbly animated feature about a Tour de France rider kidnapped by evil gambling interests. Highly recommended.

BOOKS

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larson. I like to read at least one book a year that absolutley everybody else is reading, so it sort of had to be this one. And I have to say it is a passable thriller, and the character of Lizbeth Salander ("the girl") is a powerful creation. So I suppose you might want to give it a try.
LIGHT THICKENS, by Ngaio Marsh. Inspector Alleyn walks the boards, as it were, as he shakes the murderer out from a theatre company engaged in putting on a production of Macbeth. There's lots of fascinating material about the Scottish Play itself, mixed into the plot throughout the book, and the whole is indeed very satisfying.
LORD JIM, by Joseph Conrad. A strange, and apparently at the time of its publishing, somewhat controversial method is deployed, namely one character telling the entire story to some friends.It takes a while to get used to it, but once there, a superlative tale unfolds, of Jim's disgrace, rehabilitation and ultimate atonement. Superior stuff.