A Movie a Day: The Invention of Lying

Wednesday 27 January - THE INVENTION OF LYING (2009)
Ricky Gervais plus the title concept equals so much potential, but I was seriously let down. Such a concept could have and should have been so funny but instead this is a sadly mundane film with an awfully bland feel about about it--something to do with the look of it and particularly its musical score, which made me think I was designing a house in The Sims. As a huge Gervais fan, I tried and tried to like The Invention of Lying, but it was poisoned by that blandness and also clichéd heartfelt speeches.

I skimmed through the movie again today (having watched it last night) and gave it more respect after watching some of the funnier dialogue again, which Gervais delivered with his gift for comic tone and timing. He really did shine in this film (not only comically but emotionally: see scene where his character's Mum dies), so it's a shame everything around him was so far behind. The first time I watched this it barely made me laugh--although I was amused by this alternate world, one without lying, or even tact or euphemism. I'm not advocating anti-Americanism but I imagine The Invention of Lying would be sharper as a British film. 5/10

A Movie a Day: Chop Shop

Tuesday 26 January - CHOP SHOP (2007)
What drew me to this independent film was its not only its critical praise (especially for its 12-year-old star, Alejandro Polanco) but also its setting; a slum in Queens, NYC, because the poorer side of the celebrated city is rarely shown in the media. Anyway, it was a really grim film, about an orphan boy working in an auto-body repair shop (a 'chop shop'), almost living in poverty, saving money for his own food van so he and his sister can run their own business.

This trailer explains a bit more, but it makes the movie look more action-packed than I remember--it was fairly slow-moving. I thought it was a really good movie, though surely my impression was raised by the knowledge it was a small, independent film.. I gotta stop over-thinking my enjoyment of films. Honestly, I was impressed by Chop Shop, the only problem for me being its ending, though I still recommend it. 7.5/10

A Movie a Day: 12 Angry Men

Monday 25 January - 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Watched this from the direction recommendation of Sacha, who said I'll like it, and that made me expect to be let down, but he was right, I did like it. 12 Angry Men is about a jury (consisting of the 12 'angry' men) debating the guilt of an 18-year-old boy charged with murdering his father. Save for the characters entering and exiting the jury room at the beginning and end, the entire film takes place within a jury room.

The film's appeal lies in its thought-provoking and outstandingly intelligent dialogue. Only briefly in the film's last moments are any characters' names used, but even more impressive is that the entire film is a discussion about hypothetical events, with the jurors offering theories and persuading one another as personalities collide and egos clash. While the film had a common running length of 96 minutes, I found myself feeling like I'd been watching for hours. This could be good or bad but I see it as good; feeling like I was in that jury room with them, not that it was dragging on but that I was absorbed in it. 8/10

A Movie a Day: Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs marks 31 consecutive days on which I've watched a movie; a whole month. I'm surprised I managed to keep the streak going this long, originally aiming to watch A Movie a Day for two weeks, so I'm very happy with this milestone. Right now, though, I have no reason or plans to end this project...

Sunday 24 January - RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
I'm not sure what to make of Quentin Tarantino films. They have cult fame and for a long time I've told myself that they are excellent movies and that I'll love them all. I think the first of his I watched was Kill Bill, which was entertaining, and then last year Inglorious Basterds, which I also liked. A little over a month ago I saw Pulp Fiction, perhaps the highest-praised Tarantino film. However, partly due to that hype and partly due to my cynical wariness of the hype, I was disappointed by the film, perplexed by its bizarre narrative style. This altered my expectations of Reservoir Dogs, but luckily I enjoyed it a lot more than Pulp Fiction.

Like Tarantino's later films, Reservoir Dogs is an unorthodox movie, with the story jumping around within the narrative timeline between characters. My problem with Pulp Fiction was that it pretentiously emphasised its dialogue, which I found to be delivered with an unnatural smoothness. Its plot was fairly compelling, but like I said, it unfolded in a peculiar fashion which didn't sit well with me. A lot of people will argue that's the quality that charactierises Tarantino's work, and I understand it's a deliberately sideways take on cinema, but Pulp Fiction didn't appeal to me. Anyway, enough on that--Reservoir Dogs I enjoyed a lot, being much more straight-forward and resembling the more traditional crime thrillers. The bottom line is that it was a strange movie that I enjoyed more than I had hoped, without embracing it to the extent of cult fans. 7/10

A Movie a Day: The Boat That Rocked

Saturday 23 January - THE BOAT THAT ROCKED (2009)
Really liked the look of this when I saw its trailer about a month ago, but again I was disappointed by the actual movie. Almost everything about this comedy film was actually quite good, but I didn't find it very funny--the most important part. The Boat The Rocked (released as Pirate Radio in the US) is about a fictitious pirate radio station in 1966, broadcast by a crew of disc jockeys on-board the Radio Rock ship anchored off Britain.

One of the film's most appealing traits was its ensemble cast, which included some actors I liked and knew from other works, like Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead), The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson, and Rhys Darby of Flight of the Conchords fame. I felt the chemistry within the cast was very fluid, natural and heartfelt but some of these guys could have been so much funnier. Of course, the movie was full of great 60s rock and pop music (hence the title's double-meaning, the boat that rocked), and to be fair it was a genuinely warming, entertaining movie, despite it lacking depth in its characters. 6/10

A Movie a Day: Zombieland

Thursday 21 January - ZOMBIELAND (2009)
My desire to see this film was fed by this review on YouTube by TomSPerkins, and I'm glad I took his advice because I really enjoyed it. The film has a brilliant, sharp, fast opening sequence that really engaged me, and I was happily entertained for the rest of the movie.

Zombieland is, of course, a zombie movie, but also a comedy. I'm not a big fan of horror movies; the only zombie films I've seen off the top of my head are 28 Days Later (not a comedy) and Shaun of the Dead (a comedy--that I loved), so I pretty much expected this to resemble the latter. Aside from the genre elements of zombies and humour, the two films are fairly different (although I wasn't comparing them while watching Zombieland). Anyway, this was a really fresh, well-made movie. 7.5/10

A Movie a Day: Shaolin Soccer

Wednesday 20 January - SHAOLIN SOCCER (2001)
Can't believe I never got around to this one; I've had a copy for such a long time and I've been told I should watch it, knowing that I would like the film--so I did watch it, and I did like it very much. My copy had dubbed English audio but without subtitles for the occasional shots of chinese text, although that wasn't really important, because this film's appeal lies not in its story but the special effects.

You can watch an American trailer for the film here, although it doesn't really do justice to the style of the film. That trailer comes across as flashy, thrilling and action-packed, but Shaolin Soccer makes hilariously absurd use of its spectacular special effects, rather than high drama. While predictable, it is a well entertaining film all-round. 7.5/10