December Filmathon

With the horrible weather outside and an order to rest over the holidays, I've become a bit of a film junkie, reverting back to my teenage days when I watched way over 300 films a year. In the last week, I've been working my through a wide range of films of variable quality: classics, musicals, arthouse, Muppets, and a Martin McDonaghfest, and thought I'd share them on here.

Seven Psychopaths- Martin McDonagh, 2012 My most anticipated film of the year. In Bruges is one of my favourite films, and I've been waiting a long time for this second feature from Martin McDonagh. As he told IdeasTap, he's very protective of his work, and wants the finished piece to be perfect, which is why it has taken YEARS, but it was worth the wait. Clever and funny in equal measure, Seven Psychopaths also benefits from one of the most impressive ensemble casts I've seen in recent years.

Project X - Nima Nourizadeh, 2012 Apparently this is quite a famous film, but I've never heard of it before. It's the story of a teenage birthday party that gets way out of hand, told through footage supposedly taken on video camera as events unfold. not recommended for parents about to leave their kids alone!

Killer Joe - William Friedkin, 2011

When I first saw the trailer of Killer Joe, I knew I had to see it. I've never been a fan of Matthew McConaughey, but it seems that while he's been wasting his time all these years on soppy rom-coms, he's made to play a psychopathic assassin. This film is not for that faint-hearted though: from the beginning it has graphic violence, nudity, strong language, sex and extremely disturbing scenes. If you can get passed all that, it's brilliantly shocking and atmospheric.

Pitch Perfect - Jason Moore, 2012 The complete opposite of Killer Joe, Pitch Perfect is a real feel-good film, about a loner (Anna Kendrick) who begrudgingly becomes a member of her college's all-girl a cappella group and obviously finds loves, happiness and success. It's like Glee only much sillier and where you can see the happy ending coming a mile away, but lots of fun.

The Breakfast Club - John Hughes, 1985

The Breakfast Club plays a pivotal role in Pitch Perfect, so as soon as I finished watching that I had to watch this 80s classic. "Won't you, come see about me..."

The Five-Year Engagement - Nicolas Stoller, 2012

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star as a couple whose lives keep pulling them in opposite directions in this quite average rom-com. There were some funny parts, but it's certainly not a classic, unlike....

The Apartment - Billy Wilder, 1960

Now this is how rom-coms should be. Jack Lemmon stars as mild-mannered, eager to please C. C. Baxter, who can't say no to his exploitative bosses, and Shirley MacLaine as the elevator operator he's hopelessly in love with. An absolute joy. It may be a huge cliché, but they really don't make actors like they used to. The Apartment has started me on a bit of a classics binge.

First Night - Christopher Menaul, 2010

A rich industrialist's (Richard E Grant) attempt on a production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti to impress Sarah Brightman, is fraught with backstage drama as life imitates art. I've been wanting to see this film for years, since it was still in post-production and I found the trailer for it in one of my regular searching for Julian Ovenden on YouTube sessions. It took a long time to get to the cinema, and even then it didn't come out in Cardiff at all (where I was living at the time), then another age to get to DVD, but finally I got to see it. The acting is terrible and the writing is worse, loaded with clichés, but it is a lot of fun and the singing at least is really good.

2046 - Wong Kar-wai, 2004

A friend recommended this Hong Kong film and I was seduced by the very surreal trailer, which reminded me of David Lynch, but in the end all 2046 had in common with Twin Peaks was an excessive use of red curtains. It's the final part of a loose trilogy by Wong Kar-wai, which started with Days of Being Wild (1991) and In the Mood for Love (2004, widely regarded as a masterpiece). Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about either of those films before I watched 2046 and I wish I had as characters and plot points recur which would have made a lot more sense had I known about them previously. It is possible to understand the film without any prior knowledge of the other two though; nonetheless, it drags, as interactions seem drawn out, and it is overly repetitive. It's aesthetically very interesting, especially the use of green and red, and the use of music is great, but it's just not engaging enough.

Grand Hotel - Edmund Golding, 1932

The first of three Best Picture Oscar winning films I watched this week. I've been meaning to watch Grand Hotel since I first saw the musical seven years ago, but the final push was Baxter watching it in The Apartment. I know the story, and most of the dialogue, off by heart, from listening to the musical too many times, but it was a real pleasure to watch it played by such an extraordinary cast - Greta Garbo (fading prima ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskya), John Barrymore (bankrupt but loveable Baron von Gaigern), and above all Joan Crawford, who steals the show as stenographer Flaemmchen.

West Side Story - Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961 Best Picture Winner number 2. I may have watched The Balcony Scene from this years John Wilson Prom at least fifty times, plus the Glee version of WSS several times, so it was only right I went back to where it all began. Pretty much every song has been sung better somewhere else, but the aesthetic of the film is still unbeaten, especially the relationship between Natalie Wood as Maria and Richard Beymer as Tony (although since I found out he grew up to play the rather scary Ben Horne in Twin Peaks I can't look at him in the same way). I've seen many versions of Romeo and Juliet, but this is my favourite.

It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie - Kirk R. Thatcher, 2002

I love The Muppets, but this is one of the worst of their films... Within the first two minutes, I remembered having watched it before, but still sat through the whole two hours, 'cause even when they're rubbish, the Muppets still make me smile, and there are some gems here and there, especially the Moulin Scrooge scene. This film also has the bonus of a lot of Pepe the Prawn who has become one of my favourite Muppets in recent years.

Gentleman's Agreement - Elia Kazan, 1947

Best Picture Winner number 3, Gentelman's Agreement launched Gregory Peck as the star of the 'social conscious' film. He stars as Phil Skylar Green who begins telling everyone he is Jewish in order to really understand anti-Semitism and write a series of articles on it. Green is shocked by the treatment he receives, as was I as a viewer - I had no idea anti-Semitism was still so prevalent in post-war America. It's a really wonderful film which is particularly impressive in its ability to balance heavy issues with sympathetic characters and genuine entertainment.

Six Shooter - Martin McDonagh, 2004, short

Ending the week as I started it, with Martin McDonagh, and the Oscar winning short which started it all, a first taste of his trademark mixture of dark humour, wry observation and graphic violence. The whole 27 minutes is available on YouTube.

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh, 2008

And finally, we've gone full circle. I've seen In Bruges at least four times now, but it still makes me laugh out loud, and I'm still impressed by how cleverly the twists and side-plots all fit together. I also love how no-one can think of the tourist town anymore without thinking of this film: whenever anyone says they are going to/have been to Bruges, the first question is always about the alcoves.