Don't Look Now, 1973 - ★★★★½

Quietly unsettling in a such a way that it often feels like nothing is happening and yet still manages to be terrifying.

November 01, 2016 at 07:02PM

Corpse Bride, 2005 - ★★★

I saw this in the cinema but didn't really remember anything about. It seemed like a good choice to watch on Halloween afternoon and whilst it has many nice moments and looks great it is ultimately forgettable.

November 01, 2016 at 06:53PM

Wake in Fright, 1971 - ★★½

I had a feeling I wouldn't like this but I was still curious to find out for myself. Unfortunately my instincts were correct and this never reached the depths I thought it would and I just found it dull.

November 01, 2016 at 06:50PM

It Follows, 2014 - ★★★★

With a live score arranged by Emma-Jean Thackray

It was always the soundtrack I liked the most about It Follows so it was great to get the opportunity to see it performed live. I was nervous if an orchestral arrangement would work but it absolutely did and hope it might be available as a recording someday. Seeing (hearing?) the music performed live really highlighted how many quiet moments there are in the film which was strange after listening to the soundtrack so much.

I felt more or less the same way about the film on this second viewing. The opening didn't feel as strong as I remembered but the rules and story made more sense. There are still a number of annoying things (nudity, hair pulling, the roof) which I still think damage the film and wish they weren't there, however this remains one of the best recent horror films.

The film was preceded by a Q&A with composer Disasterpeace.

November 01, 2016 at 06:47PM

Doctor Strange, 2016 - ★★★★

It's so refreshing to see a film that doesn't feel formulaic especially one from Marvel. Having said that Doctor Strange is hardly original, it's heavily influenced by Inception, Nolan in general, The Matrix and the climax is inspired from one surprising source. However it all works together so well and that's why it feels refreshing. If there are problems then it's that the action scenes are too busy. I can't help feel that they would have been more effective if there was less going on but although perhaps these scenes will stand up to repeated viewing. I also though the opening sequence was unnecessary and would have preferred to build to the special effects showdown. All the twisty-wisty stuff does feel like a dumbed-down-over-the-top Inception it's the films "second chance" scene that's the real highlight. I don't think I've seen anything like this before and I'm sure it will be copied elsewhere in the same way that The Matrix's bullet time was.

October 30, 2016 at 08:49AM

I, Daniel Blake, 2016 - ★★★★

An important film that manages to be both heartwarming and depressing. The story is strong enough to hide the flaws of which there are many. Apart from the two leads the weak (non-professional) actors are distracting and the frequent fade to blacks get annoying quickly. It's really obvious what's going to happen especially if you've seen any of the marketing material or even just heard how audiences have reacted so far. But at it's heart it's a really powerful film perhaps highlighted the most by the scene at the food bank.

October 25, 2016 at 10:36PM

The Keeper of Lost Causes, 2013 - ★★★★

It feels more like a pilot for a new TV series and doesn't stray too far from what is now a well known formula. Somehow it manages to rise above the cliches to be an entertaining and engaging mystery.

October 23, 2016 at 11:03PM

Black Mountain Poets, 2015 - ★★½

Beautiful looking improvised comedy that never really amounts to much.

October 23, 2016 at 10:53PM

The Look of Silence, 2014 - ★★★★½

A more personal story than Killing and as a result I found it much more effective. The scariest thing watching it now is feeling that we are moving closer to a world where these things can happen again.

October 20, 2016 at 06:20PM

American Honey, 2016 - ★★★★

For a film that doesn't appear to have a plot or much structure there's an awful lot going on. I was worried about the lengthy running time but I'd have happily spent more time staring out of the van's window watching America pass by; or spent another night at a motel with their ubiquitous dogs.

Music plays a big part of the film and for me it was also one of the problems. Usually if it's a type of music I don't normally like I find it still works in the right context of a film but here I struggled to accept the music - perhaps more of a sign of my age than a flaw with the film. My other problem with the film is also personal and not helped by the fact I was visited by a door to door salesman earlier in the day. In this day and age I really struggle to understand how anybody buys anything from a cold call. So I found myself struggling to believe that this group could exist from selling magazines - even though I know it still happens and is based on a real thing. Both these problems aren't a fault of the film but did cause me enough issues that I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

I also thought the film had a great ending with the final shot of the scene set to the titular song, unfortunately there a whole other scene before the film ended. The real final scene was good but I do wish it had ended earlier.

So I'm left being impressed by so much of the film but not being able to get fully behind it, which is a shame.

October 16, 2016 at 06:55PM

My #LIFF30 Plan

The films I plan to see at the 30th Leeds International Film Festival

• Paterson
• Timecode
• Certain Women
• Chi-Raq
• In a Glass Cage
• Breakfast at Tiffany's
• The Master Cleanse
• I Am Not a Serial Killer
• Pet
• Train to Busan

...plus 39 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

October 12, 2016 at 06:08PM

30th Leeds International Film Festival

A list of most of the films showing at the 30th Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF30)

3rd-17th November 2016

www.leedsfilm.com

The following films are known to be missing:

Cinage: Mining the Memories
Films from Nowhere: Utopian Visions of Leeds
Mirrors to Windows: The Artist As Woman
Old Czech Legends
Paris Tower 13 at Left Bank
The Land Beneath Our Feet at the University of Leeds

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• A Divorce Before Marriage
• Journey Through French Cinema
• A Man Called Ove
• A Monster Calls
• A Silent Voice
• A United Kingdom
• Aliens
• Amadeus
• Ambulance

...plus 132 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

October 07, 2016 at 02:03PM

A United Kingdom, 2016 - ★★★★

An ordinary romance with extraordinary consequences. This prestige film signals the start of the awards season and it does it with style. It does have that 'oscar bait' feel to it but it's also incredibly funny in places and better than a lot of recent award winners.

October 07, 2016 at 10:44AM

Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas, 2015 - ★★★

Pleasant enough but the loft hatch moment was just fantastic - even if I could see it coming.

October 03, 2016 at 07:38PM

The Girl with All the Gifts, 2016 - ★★★★

Combining elements from so many familiar sources has the surprisingly result of creating something that feels original. Apart from the ending, there's no doubt about how well this has been put together. It's good enough to ignore any minor plot mishaps that often come up. The ending feels odd though. For a film that feels inspired by many games it was strange to later realise that the ending I thought didn't like wasn't that dissimilar to how I chose to end Life Is Strange and so it can't be that bad.

October 03, 2016 at 07:36PM

Terminus, 1961 - ★★★

Interesting documentary although I guess it's what we'd now call constructed reality. I'd really like to see a remake showing the modern equivalent.

October 03, 2016 at 07:25PM

Exhibition, 2013 - ★★½

Even expecting this to be slow it was a lot harder to watch than I had anticipated. The characters are so distant it's hard to feel much. I did like the ambient sounds, hearing everything going on in the background was much more interesting to me than the artists' lives.

October 03, 2016 at 07:23PM

The Counselor, 2013 - ★★

At the end of the film I was asked "so what actually happened to The Counsellor", I flippantly replied "nothing" which is unfair but also kind of true. Of course things do happen throughout the film but it never feels like anything of any interest.

When this was shown on Film4 people on Twitter were suggesting the original bad reviews were unfair and it wasn't that bad, perhaps it isn't bad but it just feels like a waste of time. With the people involved it should've been better. Ridley Scott has made bad films before, it was Cormac McCarthy first screenplay so he was untested but for me it was
Michael Fassbender who disappoints the most, I didn't realise it was possible for him to act badly.

October 01, 2016 at 02:47PM

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 2016 - ★★★★

One of my most anticipated films of the year so my expectations were high and I really wish they had been met but it didn't all quite come together. That's not to say the film isn't a complete joy because it wonderfully manages lots of big laughs and at it's heart has an emotional story that really works. In a different mood (or if the most of the punchlines hadn't been in the trailer) perhaps I would have been laughing as much as the rest of the cinema at the earlier broader humour.

I'm not sure what the problems are and why it felt like it didn't work as well as it should. It definitely feels longer than the fairly brief running time and there are definitely far too many helicopter/drone shots of the bush. Overall it just feels like it's lacking something to make it truly majestical.

September 27, 2016 at 11:03PM

Zootopia, 2016 - ★★★½

After hearing so many good things about this it was slightly disappointing to discover it was only good rather than great. It is one of the smartest films of the year, dealing with prejudice in a way that should work for all ages. The attention to detail is also incredible and the sloths provide one of the funniest scenes of the year.

September 25, 2016 at 10:02PM

Hell or High Water, 2016 - ★★★½

When people kept saying they don't make films like this anymore I should've remembered that I'm not always that keen on 70s thrillers. It's good to see something original and relatively smart even if some of the finer details of the plot were lost in heavy Texan drawl. For me it was only really the final third including a really satisfying ending that stood out as anything special.

September 23, 2016 at 06:38PM

Captain Fantastic, 2016 - ★★★½

A film I liked enough to forgive its flaws but was flawed enough to prevent me from loving it. Earlyish there's a scene featuring Noam Chomsky's which didn't make much sense. It may have just been bad editing but it stood out and could just be labelled a mistake without doing any damage. Towards the end of the film there's another scene that could also be badly edited but it may also be deliberately trying to set up some ambiguity, however because of the earlier mistake it ends up just being a distraction; was it deliberate or just poor film making. On reflection I don't think there was supposed to be any ambiguity to the ending but I can't help feeling the film would have been stronger if that had been the case.

The whole film looks great, all the performances are engaging and there a quite a few great musical moment including one of the best scenes of the year when a cop comes on the bus. I also really like the final scene which is odd because it's the type of thing I usually have a big problem with.

September 17, 2016 at 11:34PM

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach, 2016 - ★★★½

A nicely put together documentary giving a great (but far from comprehensive) overview of Loach's work.

September 08, 2016 at 10:10PM

Tickled, 2016 - ★★★★

Another one of those accidental documentaries that start as one thing and become something much more fascinating than anyone could have expected. Often unbelievable (in the good way), frequently very funny and thrilling throughout. It's only let down by spending too much time leading up to a midpoint 'reveal' which was really obvious (to me, anyway) from the start of the film. The ending also lacks a satisfying conclusion to the story but that's can't be helped if that's how things actually happened.

September 02, 2016 at 04:46PM

The Summit, 2012 - ★★★

Didn't really know what this was about so it was a bit of a shock to find out. It's better put together than other documentaries with reenactments but structurally could've done with a bit more coherence and less repetition.

August 26, 2016 at 07:19PM