Films!

Just thought I'd write a quick review of some of the films I've been watching.   Firstly, Planet of the Apes.  The original one.   Just another one of those films that I really should have seen, but never quite got round to watching.   So I thought it was about time I filled the gap in my education.   And I have to say I really enjoyed it.   It was very compelling.   I'm not quite sure why, but the style reminded quite a lot of 2001 Space Odyssey.   Of course, I knew the story already, it being rather a famous film, so the twist at the end came as no surpirse.   I imagine to a naive audience it would have been gripping stuff.   I enjoyed the harsh landscapes and Charlton Heston's cynical, world-weary performance.   And all the topless men, of course.   Although it has mostly aged very well, with the make-up and special effects still being pretty impressive, there are bits of it that are pretty dated.   The attitude to the women in the film is a prime example.   At one point one of the apes remarks: I didn't know man could be monogamous.   Charlton Heston casually replies: On this planet, it's easy.    Good old-fashioned casual sexism!

     



Next up, Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2.   Not being a Tarantino fan, I didn't really expect to enjoy these.   Just another gap in my education to be filled.   But I have to say, they were great!   Unusual and interesting.   The storyline wasn't really that original, being a fairly typical tale of revenge, but the way it was done made these pretty unique films!   There is probably an awful lot that can be said about the filmography by clever people who know about that sort of thing.   There's the way the heroine's name is beeped out right up until the end, and the random switches into black and white at certain points, the lady with the eye patch, the bright yellow outfit, the way a lot of the important conversations in the film are in Japanese with no subtitles so that we don't understand what's going on, the very unrealistic and old fashioned way of showing bleeding, and the unrealistic portrayal of Japan as being all sushi and katanas and kimonos and getta...   I have to say that I don't really understand the reasons behind most of those things, but i loved it all the same!   It interested me.   Being a Tarantino film there was obviously a lot of gratuitous gore and blood, but somehow it wasn't as offensive as I usually find it.   No picking bits of skull off the backseat of a car in this.   I very much enjoyed the soundtrack as well, and the performances.   I especially liked David Carradine as Bill.   The other little touch that I liked was how these hard, deadly women could instantly be tamed by the appearance of a child.   I'd like to believe that's the truth.

 

And Finally, A Nightmare on Elm Street.   Not really a fan of this, but I can definitely understand why it's so famous.   It doesn't hold back, and it's pretty damn scary for a horror film of its age.   There's some pretty iconic imagery in it, like Freddy Krueger's red and green jumper and metal claws.   I can see why these memorable images turned the film into a franchise.     I did enjoy the way the boundary between dreams and reality were blurred and I would have liked to see a little bit more of this to be honest.   I also enjoyed watching an early performance of Johnny Depp's as well.   It's always interesting to go back and watch really big stars when they were just starting out.