The Great 365 day movie experiment!

I always have trouble coming up with New Years Resolutions.  I don't smoke.  I don't want to drink less.  I don't want to go running 5 times a week.  But on New Years Day this year I finally came up with a good one for a movie lover like me - Watch a movie a day.

It's not going to be easy.  On January 3rd I had to watch a movie after a 14 hour shift.  Went for Blade Runner as that is a movie that has no problem holding my attention.  There may be days I'm not in the mood, but I'll soldier on and go for a movie with a shorter running time!

January 1st - The Bourne Identity

The first part of Jason Bourne's story.  This is a trilogy with no weak links, and is one of my favourite trilogies ever made.  It may even be the best, though Lord of The Rings, Back to the Future and Toy Story may have something to say about that! The Bourne Identity follow's Matt Damon's amnesiac spy, as he desperately tries to piece his life back together after he is found unconscious in the water with two bullets in his back. The story takes him from Marseille to Zurich finally ending up in Paris.  This is a cut above your average thriller, with an intelligent script and great performances.  It gave Matt Damon a new lease of life and made James Bond up his game.  A great standalone movie which is made even better when watched with the movies that follow them.

9/10

January 2nd - Drive

Along with The Tree of Life, Drive was my favourite movie of last year.  It's just so effortlessly cool.  From the performances, to the soundtrack and direction.  Everything is note perfect and it just washes over you as you watch it.  What I think is great about it is that it could have succeeded just as much by following any of the plot threads.  It could have been a sports movie about the Driver's Nascar career.  It could have been one heist after another as his driving skills were showcased.  It could have been a simple romantic movie where the protagonist has a dark secret.  Instead they made a realistic Superhero movie with the Driver being indestructible in protecting a woman and her son.  Any justice and this would be sniffing around the Oscars. But they don't tend to reward movies that have the main character stomping a man's head into pulp.  But they should do.....

10/10

January 3rd - Blade Runner

Forget Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey or E.T., Blade Runner is THE definitive Science Fiction movie.  It features Harrison Ford's best ever performance as Rick Deckard (Given that this man played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, this is no small compliment).  Deckard is a 'Blade Runner', a bounty hunter who specialises in 'retiring' replicants.  Several of these replicants have escaped from a mining colony, and have integrated themselves in human society.  Given they are human in appearance, right down to the fact they sweat, they are very hard to target.  Deckard is on the case.  But is he human or a replicant himself? What does it even mean to be human?  Is it showing compassion like the last replicant shows to Deckard?  Are all of our memories real or can they be injected?  Does that make them any less real to that individual?  Blade Runner asks some big questions, all the while being a damn entertaining and visually stunning movie.  Science fiction just doesn't get any better.  Though I would argue it has been matched since with Inception...

10/10


January 4th - Rocky IV

And I followed one 10/10 movie with another.  Albeit a very different beast!  I make no apology for my love of Rocky IV ie Rocky single handedly defeats Communism!  This movie, better than any other I think, defines the 80's.  Black and White heroes and villains.  Big heavy synth soundtrack.  Pro America messages.  Montages.  Passionate speeches about doing the right thing.  It has it all.  It's just one of those movies that gets your blood pumping.  You know Rocky is going to win but that doesn't matter.  It wears its heart on its sleeve.  This is the kind of movie they just don't make anymore.  Rocky Balboa was actually a great attempt at recapturing former glories, but it was never going to match this highpoint.


10/10

January 5th - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

This was the first movie I tackled that I hadn't seen before.  I've actually owned it for quite a while as I'm a big fan of Tommy Lee Jones, but I just never got round to watching it.  Turns out, it was a gem of a movie just waiting to be discovered.  The story follows an old ranch hand played by Jones.  He is befriended by an illegal immigrant, who is then killed in a tragic shooting accident by the local authorities.  It is covered up and as no-one really knew Estrada, they bury him quickly and hope the whole mess will just blow over.  Jones finds out, digs up the body and kidnaps the killer.  He wants him to help escort the body back to Mexico, so that Estrada can be buried in his village.  It's a very old fashioned piece and that is one of its strengths.  It echoes the work of John Ford.  It is exquisitely shot, the vistas of Texas and Mexico appearing stunningly beautiful, especially on blu ray.  Makes me wish that Tommy Lee Jones would direct a bit more.

9/10

January 6th - Closer

Otherwise known as the movie where Natalie Portman plays a stripper.  It's a very 'grown up' movie for lack of a better phrase.  It deals with intertwining relationships in modern day London. The dialogue is at turns witty and laced with vitriol.  There is genuine hatred between characters and it can be pretty brutal about relationships.  It also has the benefit of having a scene where Clive Owen tells Julia Roberts to 'Fuck off and die', something we've all wanted to say for inflicting Mona Lisa Smile on the world.  It's a pretty good movie, though I would have loved to have seen the play on which it was based.  Might work better within that environment.  But still, it's probably Jude Law's best ever performance, and also Julia Roberts.  But be warned, it's not a movie to watch with your mother!  The Anti-Rom Com.

8/10


January 7th - Chinatown


An undisputed classic.  This is one of the finest movies ever made, in any genre.  Jack Nicholson has never been better (Though his performance in The Shining does come close).  Roman Polanski was at the height of his powers, and Robert Towne's script remains the template for budding scriptwriters (like me!).  It's set in pre war Los Angeles, as Nicholson plays Jake Gittes, a private investigator.  He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband, who she suspects of cheating on her.  The further down the rabbit hole Gittes goes, you just know he's not going to come out clean.  Polanski apparently had a huge run in with the Towne, who wanted to change the films now iconic ending for a happier resolution.  Years later, Towne admitted he was wrong.  Note perfect filmmaking.

10/10

And there you have it.  Week 1 complete!  On my slate for the next week I have M:I 4 on IMAX, Warrior and Bourne Supremacy amongst others.

Until next time.........