Role Models (2008 David Wain)

Essentially a decent-hearted movie, filtered with crudity rather than sentimentality, and that's a good thing: shall we call it the Apatow Effect? Stands the acid test of still being laugh-out-loud funny after zero glasses of wine.

Energetically performed. And talking of the Apatow influence, there seems to be a stock company of recognisables who appear frequently such as:

Paul Rudd (everything)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad)
Jane Lynch & Elizabeth Banks (both 40 year old virgin)
Ken Jeong (Knocked Up, Pineapple Express)
Joe Lo Truglio (enthusiastic game player) (Pinepple Express, Superbad)
and all the others I didn't recognise.

Seann William Scott and Bobb'e J Thompson seem to be having a lot of fun with risqué material.

Photographed by Russ T. Alsobrook.

Comfort and Joy (1984 Bill Forsyth & scr)

A year after Local Hero Forsyth delivers another offbeat, gently funny little gem about a DJ (Bill Paterson) who's getting over the sudden departure of his girlfriend (he actually helps her move her things out of the apartment in a typically understated scene) and gets involved in ice cream wars between rival Italian families in Glasgow.

Eleanor David, Clare Grogan, Patrick Malahide support. Many funny and sweet moments e.g. psychiatrist discovery, friend's kids.

With more lovely low light photography from Chris Menges, night scenes look fabulous and perhaps not diffused but resulting from fast film? (research.)

Interesting Mark Knoplfer score, though use of Love Over Gold passages isn't quite right for the material.

Michael Ellis edits.

Out of Sight

Cool, hip movie (reviewed here) probably led to the lesser Ocean's films.

Sabrina (1995 Sydney Pollack)

Not a bad remake with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear in the lead roles, adapted by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel. Unfortunately it's not so different that you can't help comparing it to the original the whole way through, with predictable results. The supporting characters are particularly lacking in comparison: played by Nancy Marchand, John Wood, Richard Crenna, Angie Dickinson and Dana Ivey. (Look out for a young Paul Giamatti in the kitchen.) Even Giuseppe Rotunno's photography is a notch below the richness of say Regarding Henry.

Edited by Frederic Steinkemp (since 1960, many Pollacks, and Wilder's Fedora), using a lot of dissolves, with a nice John Williams score.

Good lines not from the original:

"More isn't necessarily better. Sometimes it's just more."
"Paris is always a good idea."

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004 Wendy Apple)

Fascinating documentary takes us through the progression of the art form:

Hollywood: invisible editing
The Russians
The Nouvelle Vague
Fracturing space and time
Shaping the actor's performance

Great clips from the likes of Anne Coates, Dede Allen, Sally Menke and Quentin Tarantino, and Michael Kahn (who claims he lies around all day chatting and eating chocolate!), though I would have reduced the focus on films like XXX and The Matrix to give more time to Anthony Gibbs (who's in it too briefly) and not to mention Powell & Pressburger's incredible way-ahead-of its-time editing (John Seabourne and Reginald Mills). And Orson Welles. And Ralph Rosenblum. And that chap who edited 49th Parallel...you know, what's his name... someone Lean.

Thelma Schoonmaker I guess was too busy!

Highlights for me:

The brilliant Walter Murch talking about the opening of Apocalypse Now
Anne Coates and Steven Soderburgh making that famous bedroom scene in Out of Sight
Overlaying the audio tracks to hasten an argument
The opening of A Bout de Souffle

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007 Sidney Lumet)

Shown by Channel 4 as a tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman without any ad breaks (nor announcement of this), which I thought was rather cool (unheard of, in fact). Here he encourages his hard-up brother Ethan Hawk to join him in robbing their parents' (Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris) jewellery store, with unfortunate results. Flashbacks reveal past lives and moments, including girlfriends Marisa Tomei and Aleksa Palladino and brother Michael Shannon.

PSH is good as creepy and unlikeable drug addict.

We were slightly thrown by an opening sequence which looks like it's the end - but it isn't.

Debut of screenwriter Kelly Masterson; Lumet's swansong, aged 83.

Hugo (2011 Martin Scorsese)

Marty's love letter to cinema is also his most enjoyable film of late, a recreation of Brian Selznick's illustrated children's book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" which supplies many of the key visual ideas (eye in clock, station, toy shop, automaton):

Asa Butterfield (Son of Rambow), Chloe Grace Moretz (great as usual), Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Helen McCrory, Ray Winstone, Jude Law, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Kevin Eldon.

A great technical achievement, it is gorgeously photographed by Robert Richardson and designed by Dante Ferreti: they both won their third Oscars (Dante's were for The Aviator and Sweeney Todd) as did the sound design and mixing and special effects, which offer us a slightly artificial but cute CGI Paris, and it is of course superbly edited, by Thelma Schoonmaker. Music is by Howard Shore.

Loved the still-terrifying clip from Safety Last and the compilations of silent classics and Méliès' own highlights.

Why I'm such a sucker for dragons I have no idea.

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003 Charles Hurman-Wurmfeld)

Our pink heroine ("she's so shiny!") shakes up Washington to get her dog's mother released from animal testing.

It had been a hard week and we just needed something frothy, though it does finally drift too far in the silliness spectrum. It does go to prove though that the interpretation of a film is governed as much by the mood you are in as anything else.

Reese Witherspoon confronts Sally Field, Regina King and May Lynn Rajskub and senators Dana Ivey and Bruce McGill with blank authority; Bob Newhart is the world's most useful hotel door man.

Shot by Elliot Davis (Out of Sight, Lawn Dogs, I Am Sam).

Enough Said (2013 Nicole Holofcener & scr)

Divorcees James Gandolfini and Julia-Louis Dreyfus meet at a party and start a relationship. Meanwhile she befriends massage client Catherine Keener not knowing she's his ex. They both have teenage daughters who are soon leaving home for college.

A decent, human film featuring real and complicated characters (including friends Toni Collette and Phillip Brock). Dreyfus is really very good.

Petulia (1968 Richard Lester)

Derived from the novel "Me and the Arch Kook Petulia" by John Haase, adapted by Larry Marcus, this seems at first sight like the first Nic Roeg film (he shot it beautifully, using spit on the lens in places!) but it's unmistakably the work of genius editor Antony Gibbs, who smashed up the storyline jumping back and forward in a way that is flashy, mysterious and ultimately makes the already fascinating material even more so. (OK, some of the flashback stuff is in the script, but not in the way it's done here. For example, early on Gibbs throws in a shot of a street at night which doesn't seem to link to anything but it's just one piece of the jigsaw...) Gibbs modestly won't take credit for inventing the flash forward but thinks it was the first time he'd seen it.

Fascinating glimpses of San Francisco culture, such as self-service motel with giant key!

Begins in a very quirky manner (kooky girl Julie Christie offers an affair with older doctor George C. Scott) but becomes very dark. The leads are fantastic, supported by Richard Chamberlain, Shirley Knight, Joseph Cotten, Austin Pendleton (very briefly) and The Grateful Dead, and with a haunting John Barry score.

Funny, odd, beautiful film is absolutely brilliant. It makes you want to watch it again even while you're watching it.

Legally Blonde (2001 Robert Luketic)

We were in the mood for something funny and this fitted the bill perfectly, a highly enjoyable performance from Reese Witherspooon written by Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith, from Amanda Brown's novel. With Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Jennifer Coolidge (perhaps quietly stealing the show), Holland Taylor and Raquel Welch.

Shot by Roeg's camerman Anthony Richmond and assisted by his two sons Jonathan 'Chunky' and George!

Fright (1971 Peter Collinson)

Poor Susan George is not really cut out to be a babysitter as she screams at virtually anything (except, oddly enough, when she's being raped).

About the only decent shot in the film

Collinson was not a great director and the film is full of tricksy and annoying shots through furniture and an endearing over-use of the zoom lens, which really dates it accurately. The one effective moment is when film cuts between George and Ian Bannen's wife Honor Blackman.

It's all grooving down at the local pub

Also features George Cole, looking somewhat bored, Dennis Waterman, John Gregson and (briefly) Roger Lloyd Pack.

It's so bad it's funny, e.g scene where police marksman says "I can't get a clear shot" and the very next shot shows Bannen clearly visible and alone at the window. And then the marksman just puts the gun down. Man, it's bad, but great fun for that reason.

The little boy is Collinson's son, really named Tara, and some of the scenes involving him must have been quite frightening.

State and Main (2000 David Mamet & scr)

We needed some cheering up after that, and David Mamet's relentlessly funny and acerbic view of the film making process was just what was needed, viz.

"They're holding the old mill to ransom."
"The only second chance you get is the chance to make the same mistake again."
"You've got to get me main street for nothing."
"I need that dead horse scene."
"It looks like Edith Head puked and the puke designed these costumes."

Macy, Paymer and doctor Michael Higgins in background

And

"What does he like?"
"14 year old girls."
"Well get him half of a 28 year old girl."

The actor in question is Alec Baldwin and the (in fact 19 year old) girl Julia Stiles, but it's William H Macy's film as the director.

Philip is a compromised screenwriter.

Plus: Michael Higgins (doctor), Rebecca Pidgeon, Clark Gregg, Charles Durning, Sarah Jessica Palmer, David Paymer.

Shot by Oliver Stapleton.

Love Liza (2002 Todd Louiso)

With Philip Seymour Hoffman's premature death from heroin overdose, Love Liza is a painful watch, with the actor clearly mining his own addictive personality in soulful story of petrol-addicted man mourning suicide of his wife. It's perhaps his best performance and an eerily fitting obituary.

Outstanding superimposition of PSH and Kathy Bates by (gasp) female DP Lisa Rinzler

J.D. Walsh provides some comic relief as a remote controlled boat enthusiast, Stephen Tobolowsky a disappointed employer.

Breaking Bad Season 5 (2012-13)

Walt (and Skyler) has become a monster and as the bodies pile up we're left with precious few to root for. Echoes Treasure of the Sierra Madre and ends up as a spaghetti western.

Has one of their unforgettable beginnings ( a boy riding his motorbike through the sand dunes) and we think "What's that all about?" Then there's a perfectly executed train heist....

It's been a gripping journey and ends in the only way it could have that was somewhat pleasing but it was not, I think, the greatest thing ever (its user rating on IMDB is a ridiculous 9.6/10). Also I don't think the money scheme would have worked (Walt Jr and Skyler would have known where it came from and refused it; the charity would have no way of explaining the sudden appearance of $10m; the DEA would have pounced).

Well acted though, and frequently brilliant in its storylines, it's been a pleasure watching an intelligent man thinking his way out of situations. It appears that Vince Gilligan did not have the whole story figured out from the start. He reportedly was surprised that no matter how bad Walt became, the diehard fans remained loyal to him. Personally I found that left a big vacuum and all we were left with was the Poor Jesse Show.

Robert Forster appears in latter episodes.


Shots from Dave Bunting's series of cinematography highlight videos:

Like a complete idiot, I'd totally missed the reference to the real Heisenberg, referenced elsewhere in these jottings, an eminent physicist who amongst other things came up with the uncertainty principle.

The Savages (2007 Tamara Jenkins)

Perceptive look at how adult siblings cope with managing aging, estranged father.

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are as good as you'd expect; so is Philip Boscoe as Dad.

Tamara has done nothing since.

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999 Anthony Minghella)

I'm not sure we picked the greatest tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died today aged 46, as he's not in it a great deal. In fact the recently viewed Jack Goes Boating is a much more fitting memorial.

However he makes a good impression here, and following Jude Law's execution, we need another strong character to fill the void left from his Force Ten super-charismatic performance.

The film is superbly edited by Walter Murch and is a textbook example of the marriage of film images (John Seale) and sound.

But the film seems to go on for ever, even though it's only two and a quarter hours, and Damon can't sustain it (perhaps the character is the problem). With Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Davenport, from Patricia Highsmith novel.

Nice locations though (Ischia, Positano, Venice, Rome).

Body Heat (1981 Lawrence Kasdan & scr)

Begins in exactly the same smart, double entendre wisecracking way as a Big Sleep, but it's quickly apparent we're in Double Indemnity territory, with added candid sex scenes between William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (can you imagine seeing Bogie and Bacall screwing? It doesn't bear thinking about!) John Barry's score begins great, back in his jazz sax and trumpet days, but then becomes a bit more routine, which is a shame.

Sweaty Florida action nicely shot (with bags of diffusion) by Richard H Kline (The Boston Strangler) and edited by Carol Littleton (The Big Chill, The Rum Dairies).

With Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, Mickey Rourke.

Good film noir update.

And Soon the Darkness (1970 Robert Fuest)

Pamela Franklin keeps a cool head when friend Michelle Dotrice disappears on a bright and sunny French road, populated by sinister farm labourers and other slightly hostile inhabitants. Robert Fuest's treatment is inventive when you consider this sort of thriller material is often reserved for night, frequently providing creepy shots of the road, distant motorbikes, the woods etc. But Brian Clemens and Terry Nation's script really fucks up in the behaviour of French policeman Sandor Elès (why does he ruin the dead girl's film, for example?) and spoils an otherwise tense and inventive film.

Some of the pop music (including the theme music) sounds really awful.

Enchanted April (1935 Harry Beaumont)

Substantively the same story as we've more recently been used to, this feels like it's more than a few miles away.

Ann Harding is the free spirit with Shop around the Corner's Frank Morgan as her author / husband, and Katharine Alexander and Reginald Owen, Jane Baxter and Jessie Ralph (known to us for giving Nick a hard time in After the Thin Man), and Ralph Forbes as the somewhat strange host.

A studio set RKO production scored by Roy Webb and shot by Edward Cronjager it at least benefits from concision (66 minutes). Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel 'The Enchanted April' was converted first into a Broadway play.