Midnight in Paris

I cannot stay away from this film - well it was almost a year ago.

Woody's always loved magic (Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Shadows and Fog, Stardust Memories ).

What's Up Doc? (1972 Peter Bogdanovich)

Bogdanovich pulls off a thirties screwball comedy - no mean feat (not as easy as it looks).

Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Streisand essentially are Grant and Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby. This film though may be funnier than the old ones, incorporating as many silent gags as mad moments of dialogue. In particular, the car chase with ladder and plate glass is inspired. And "Use your charm" one of the crooks is told, to distract the old improbably-dressed lady - so he kicks her in the shin!

With Austin Pendleton, Madeline Kahn, Michael Murphy.

Written by Buck Henry (The Graduate, Catch 22 ), David Newman and Robert Benton (both Bonnie and Clyde ), shot by Laszlo Kovacs, edited by Verna Fields. Has a proper credits sequence with shots of actors identified by name. Also terrific stunt work (Barbara hanging outside of hotel; crash into the bay).

World's Greatest Dad (2009 Bobcat Goldthwait & scr)

Different. Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara (the horrible teenager), Naomi Glick (Ginger), Henry Simmons (teacher), Alexie Gilmore (girlfriend), Evan Martin (the friend), Lorraine Nicholson (goth).

Skyfall (2012 Sam Mendes)

What I said last time, only the Shanghai scenes really are fabulously shot!

Plenty of good writing but yes, too long (143 minutes). Refreshingly eschews sex altogether; concentrates instead on loyalty between Bond and M.

Really great idea to bring in Mendes and his team, resulting in a rather different (and better) Bond film. Mendes' Bond 24 is apparently in rewrites.

Also features the best credit scene ever, by Daniel Kleinman, and the best song in ages.

Editing credit is shared with Kate Baird, presumably related to Stuart in some way.

The Devil's Knot (2013 Atom Egoyan)

Odd sort of romcom if you ask me. Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon barely share any screen time, she doesn't seem to like him for most of the film, and they don't get together in the end. Plus, the sub-plot about who murdered three boys seems like a bit of a downbeat story.

I found the film pale, dull and badly conceived.

Mrs Doubtfire (1993 Chris Columbus)

"I could have sworn this was directed by Sydney Pollack" I mused. "And where's the TV show she's in?" I was, of course, thinking Tootsie. This is the other one, in which Sally Fields behaves most unreasonably (for no good reason), requiring Robin Williams to dress as the eponymous lady, cueing several laboured gags.

Pamela Westmore, who makes up Sally Field here and Sandra Bullock in everything, is of course one of the Westmore dynasty (granddaughter of Wally).

I could have sworn Mrs Doubtfire's first name is Euvaginia.

Howard Shore's music is a bit yucky.

The Honorable Woman (2014 Hugo Blick)

Hugo Blick's follow-up to his sensational The Shadow Line is this equally sensational, timely and incisive look at the Israel-Palestine situation, viewed through the eyes of orphan Jewish business owners Maggie Gyllenhaal and Andrew Buchan, over eight hours.

Gyllenhaal is magnetic: her usually stoical face keeps you guessing whether it will suddenly start laughing, or crying, or even remaining stoical.

With great sound design (the sort you rarely find anywhere), an exciting way of cross-cutting between scenes, dark photography of the politico-noir school of the seventies (think The Parallex View ) and brilliant details, such as the chess piece that lands perfectly upright.

Blick's revitalisation of Stephen Rea is put to good use again. Great strong female characters abound, in particular Lubna Azabal as Gylenhaal's Palestinian friend, Janet McTeer as the expedient boss of MI6, Eve Best an FBI agent, Katherine Parkinson and Linday Duncan. Igal Naor is the suspicious long-term family friend, Tobias Menzies the faithful bodyguard, Nicholas Woodeson the Jewish intelligence guy who plays chess with Rea, and John Mackay the great private investigator.

Shot by Zac Nicholson and George Steel, edited by Jason Krasucki (Parade's End, The Shadow Line, Glorious 39, Generation Kill ), music by Martin Phipps.

Morocco must be getting a lot of location work these days.

The Love Punch (2013 Joel Hopkins & scr)

From the writer of Last Chance Harvey, though this is more like a Day-Hudson movie made by late period Blake Edwards: though lacking both style and wit it is enjoyable if the brain is in neutral. Over-directed and over-edited film breaks up the performances, and widescreen really doesn't help either.

Pierce Brosnan and ex Emma Thompson journey to Cap d'Antibes to steal a diamond from Louise Bourgoin who's about to be married in it; friends Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie are enlisted to help.

At one point Celia Imrie says 'motherfuckers' but it's over-dubbed as 'melon farmers' - presumably to get the film its 12 certificate.

The Shopworn Angel (1938 H.C. Potter)

Jimmy Stewart's mom made the best apple pie in the world; after she died, no one else's was good enough. Will good time girl / performer Margaret Sullavan fall for this? It's not as clear-cut as you might expect, and nor is involvement of sugar daddy Walter Pidgeon, in lead-up to WW1 posting (1917), triggered by a fabulous, feverish montage sequence by Slavo Vorkapich in which newspapers become waves.

Dana Burnet's story "Private Pettigrew's Girl" was filmed before in 1928, with Gary Cooper. Here it's adapted by Waldo Salt. Now we're over at MGM, we're in the confident hands of Joseph Ruttenberg (who won his first Oscar that year for The Great Waltz ), and recognise Sam Levene and Nat Pendleton from Thin Man films; also with Hattie McDaniel (the year before her monumental triumph in GWTW ), who's allowed to be in fairly sassy mood:

Sullavan: "Answer the phone!"
Hattie: "I did, but it jus' keeps ringin'."

Two Weeks Notice (2002 Marc Lawrence & scr)

Post 9/11 New York comedy is quite fun, with Grant somewhat unbeliveably playing a powerful business magnate who hires activist lawyer Sandra Bullock. Lawrence hasn't done a lot. Childs Restaurant Building was made NY Landmark in 2003.

Bringing out the Dead (1999 Martin Scorsese)

Requiring more of Thelma Schoonmaker we return to Marty's mean streets of New York, in the hands of Paul Schrader, from a novel by Joe Connelly based on his own ten years' experience as a paramedic. In febrile, frankly astonishing film we repeatedly had to stop and rewind scenes edited at all manner of arbitrary film speeds, dazzlingly shot by Robert Richardson in Panavision. 'Dream' (drug) sequence is amazing and makes me think of Michael Powell (Hoffman and The Red Shoes ).

Nicolas Cage is magnetic as the burned out driver, supported by John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore and finding some salvation with Patricia Arquette. Could have been overwhelmingly bleak without flashes of black humour e.g. accusing coma patient.

The Age of Innocence (1993 Martin Scorsese)

Marty shows us his New York of the 1870s. Not really known for being an emotional director, he certainly conveys the hypocrisy and insidious sadness of Edith Wharton's story, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 (adapted by the director and Jay Cocks). Daniel Day Lewis (excellent) is to marry Winona Ryder, but falls for (literally) scarlet woman Michelle Pfeiffer. With Miriam Margolyes, Richard E Grant, Alec McCowen (Travels with My Aunt, Frenzy), Geraldine Chaplin, Norman Lloyd (Saboteur).

Marty sets up many intricate shots and details, giving Thelma Schoonmaker the material to develop sequences made up of elegant dissolves, matching the mood of the piece. Shot by Michael Ballhaus (with son Florian assisting) with a handsome score by Elmer Bernstein, film is a great success.

Features probably the only fade to yellow in film history.

Doc Hollywood (1991 Michael Caton-Jones)

Based on book "What.. Dead Again?" by Neil Shulman, adapted by Laurian Leggett, written by Jeffrey Price, Peter Seaman and Daniel Pyne - with that many writers it should be passably entertaining, and it is more than that.

Michael J Fox is the titular medic who falls for Julie Warner (I know, who?) whose dramatic naked opening appearance and lines are laughably missing from ITV's version. Town characters include David Ogden Stiers, Woody Harrelson, Bridget Fonda (good; she seems to have retired, unfortunately), Frances Sternhagen, Roberts Blossom (judge), Barnard Hughes and Eyde Byrde as the nurse.

Amusement with car repairs, pig etc. And why not?

Calvary (2014 John Michael McDonagh)

Certainly hooks you in right from the off. Sinewy, brilliantly written and performed film addresses all sorts of issues and in Brendan Gleason portrays the antithesis of the corrupt, child-abusing Irish Catholic priest - a type who we are reminded does actually exist (and from that point of view, it's quite refreshing). Has the same terrific sense of humour as The Guard but is considerably darker, deceptive, in fact, in the same way as Giu La Testa. One or two minor niggles over the editing (particularly in climactic scene) and feel it may have been over-directed (in church hall scene there are two too many shots) but these don't really detract from film's corrosive power and intelligence, which left me really moved.

With Kelly Reilly, Chris O'Dowd, Aiden Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach de Bankolé, M Emmet Walsh.

Shot by Larry Smith and cut by Chris Gill.

Leatherheads (2008 George Clooney)

Bloody good stab at Golden Age comedy-romance with Clooney pitted against Renée Zellweger and super footballer John Krasinski. Well put together, good, enjoyable script by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, beautifully shot (in a tinted pallette) by Newton Thomas Sigel and well cut by Stephen Mirrione again (whose assemblage in Clooney-Zellweger nightclub scene is a lucious series of dissolves). Clooney puts it all together with bounce and isn't afraid to show himself looking stupid. Composer Randy Newman and producer Grant Heslov appear in bit parts.

Peter Gerety stands out as the commissioner brought in to professionalise football in 1925, an interesting bit of history we're not familiar with, like that of The Monuments Men (and, come to think of it, Good Night and Good Luck ). Leading me to deduce that Clooney - as well as his other outstanding talents - is a covert history teacher.

The Big White (2005 Mark Mylod)

Premise of film - that cash strapped Robin Williams passes off body he's found in the garbage as his dead brother, to collect the insurance - is of course daft, but Collin Freisen's screenplay has interesting stuff going on, with Williams' sweet relationship with kooky Holly Hunter, insurance investigator Giovanni Ribisi and phone psychic girlfriend Alison Lohman, friendly kidnappers Tim Blake Nelson and W Earl Brown, and finally, the long-missing violent and unpleasant brother Woody Harrelson.

James Glennon (Alexander Payne's Election and About Schmidt ) catches the Alaskan scenery well; Julie Monroe (Mud ) cut it.

The World According to Garp (1982 George Roy Hill)

It's not even been a year since we last watched this quixotic flamenco of a film.

I had never realised that the old gentleman who so memorably says "I will not have the word sperm spoken in this house!" is none other than Hume Cronyn.

To Have and Have Not (1944 Howard Hawks)

In tribute to Lauren Bacall, who has died aged 89, her debut is the film which brought Bogie and her together, aged 19, and it's a blast. Written by Jules Furthman and novelist William Faulkner (the source for Sirk's The Tarnished Angels) loosely based on Hemingway's novel, features some really crackling dialogue such as Bogie's Steve saying "I need to loosen her clothes" to which Slim comes back "You're doing all right with her so far", and other similar exchanges

I love the moment where Steve confronts the man who is going to skip town without paying him: it looks like he's about to hit him but at the crucial moment, Slim lights his cigarette for him - so smooth. Also the way that people constantly interrupt each other, especially Slim (actually Hawks' wife's nickname) interrupting Steve, and the way they are always throwing things at each other and perfectly catching them.

Walter Brennan ("Now I'll have the two of you to take care of") great fun as Steve's alky co-sailor (why these two are together is never explained), Hoagy Carmichael also boasts great empathy with Bacall, Dolores Moran is the knockout other woman.

Of Bacall's famous wiggle at the end (which we had to watch three times) "I did it spontaneously when we were rehearsing. Hawks liked it and wanted me to do it." (Mark Cousins, Scene by Scene 2002.)

Shot by Sid Hickox with moody lighting, the uncredited music is by Franz Waxman, future director Christian Nyby edited.

Good Will Hunting (1997 Gus Van Sant)

In memory of Robin Williams, who committed suicide at the weekend, and who we will now always see had sad eyes behind the humour.

"It's not your fault."
"For 10 seconds I have the best part of the day."
Minnie Driver's Irish joke.
"I live with my three brothers."
"The bad stuff reminds you of the good things you were too busy to notice."

Van Sant directs much of the time in close-up, thereby robbing himself of the effect that shot size can bring, but it seems to work to me, and provides intense scenes. Editor Pietro Scalia knows when not to cut great moments of acting, thereby contributing to Williams' Oscar. Considering Matt Damon and Ben Affleck apparently wrote the screenplay in order to get some acting work, they must have been rather pleased that it won. Other nominations were for Driver (a very natural performance, as always, her giggles always sound so real but then she'll make you cry), the always watchable Van Sant, film, Damon, Scalia, song (Miss Misery) and music (Danny Elfman). Titles by the legendary Pablo Ferro and shot by Jean-Yves Escoffier.

There's a fight scene edited at varying speeds - I'm sure there's a 'slow mo' shot in there that is just people pretending to move slowly. That might appear to be a stupid thing to say, until you remember those 'freeze frames' in My Own Private Idaho which are the actors standing still. Scalia, a Sicilian, won Oscars for JFK (with Joe Hutshing) and Black Hawk Down, also nominated for Gladiator.

The Awful Truth (1937 Leo McCarey)

According to Peter Bogdanovich (in Who the Hell's in it?), the film that introduced the screwball version of Cary Grant that is so familiar, as he tries to divorce Irene Dunne.

Film features the then highest paid animal actor in Hollywood, Asta (actually 'Skippy'), and Ralph Bellamy who then aged 33 had already appeared in dozens of films and would continue to do so until his final performance in Pretty Woman aged 86.

It's pretty funny: written in the screwball style; Grant and Dunne amusing; good stuff with Asta and a bowler hat; cuckoo clock; Grant's dancer friend's dance. McCarey also directed Duck Soup and so it seems similar stylistically. Shot by Joseph Walker for Columbia and written by Viña Delmar, from Arthur Richman play.

Back to Bogdanovich, there's a great story on Hitchcock from McCarey in his directors' book:

I had the idea one day of making a film with him [Hitch] as an actor. I wanted to direct him in a horror film. We spent a lot of time together discussing it, but we never found a moment when we were both free. I wanted him to commit the perfect crime in the film. He was fascinated by the idea...