Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)

8/10
Pretty great late Western from Nicholas Ray that manages to be both conventional and very avant-garde...the dueling female protagonists (one excellently played by Joan Crawford) was an interesting, unique touch. The color in this movie is absolutely screaming, and many of the scenes manage to look more like paintings than anything else. Sterling Hayden is a little stiff as the titular character but he's still fun. Shame this is (last I checked) unavailable on any region 1 DVD. I'm not sure where the print I downloaded came from but it's beautiful.

L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)

4/10
My second Antonioni (after Blow-Up) and the second I haven't been particularly impressed with, I wonder just how well his films age...L'Avventura certainly seems to be more of its era. Its characters and their dialogue share something with the French New Wave but I find those films (the ones I've seen) to still come off more vital. I found L'Avventura less interesting as it wore on (to the point of boredom) and not necessarily because the "disappearance of Anna" was phased out. I just didn't find the remaining characters, their ensuing relationship, or anything else particularly engrossing. Maybe Antonioni just isn't for me, but I'll keep an open mind since I also have L'Eclisse to watch eventually.

Ivan's Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962)

8/10
After Solaris, Stalker and now Ivan's Childhood, I'm learning that film rarely looks so beautiful as when it's in the hands of Andrei Tarkovsky. Ivan's Childhood, like the other two, contains some absolutely stunning cinematography...all the more impressive because it's Tarkovsky's first feature and it's shot in black and white. The film feels more restrained than the others and not quite as far-reaching in scope but it's still very satisfying and an ultimately very sad look at a boy's life pre- and post-war.

The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009)

0/10
Certainly the most putrid movie I've seen all year, and it's down there among the worst I've ever seen. That this is supposedly one of the ten Best Pictures of the year is so mindboggling and so unfathomable I can only reason that politics or payola are playing a role. And Sandra Bullock's performance is decent, serviceable, functional, what have you...but Best Actress? No, sorry.

I'm not sure how close to its source The Blind Side is but it's a non-stop string of clichés and morals assaulting the viewer with the subtly of a sledgehammer, and there's such an abhorrent amount of smug, self-congratulatory white guilt catharsis that my stomach was almost in knots watching it I was so embarassed. The conflict in this movie lasts for about 4 minutes and equals little more than a brief argument. Every scene is wrapped up with such neat, predictable rigour it turns laughable after the first hour. The logic being used is unbelievable on any level (glaring example: scouts from colleges clamour to sign Michael Oher based, from what we see, of a DVD shot, burned, and sent out to high schools across the U.S. by his 8-year old adopted little brother. I'm not kidding when I say this sequence lasts about 20 seconds, and then bam the scouts are at his next game falling over themselves to offer him a scholarship). Something I thought would turn out to be a pivotal plot point involving a car crash is laughed off by the characters so nonchalantly and dismissed so quickly, I can't even comprehend the logic of including it.

As some kind of Disney sports movie like The Mighty Ducks or something, The Blind Side would at least be passable or more forgiveable for its blithe idiocy, gigantic leaps in logic, stereotypical characters and everything-turns-out-OK plot...but Best Picture? BEST PICTURE? Is this a joke? How? What planet am I on? Jesus Christ I get worked up just thinking it. Even my movie-going companion, usually more lenient in her criticism than I, hated it to its core.

But it was still better than Inglourious Basterds.

Haha nah just kidding, it was worse. Way, wayyy, wayyyyy worse.

Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960)

6.5/10
Not really much to say about this one, it was an okay, enjoyable and interesting enough British horror from 1960. I enjoyed the screaming Technicolor the most but otherwise, eh.

A Single Man (Tom Ford, 2009)

8/10
Another movie I started off hating but eventually came around to enjoy, and quite a bit too. A Single Man almost loses itself early on with its irritating, subtle-free mise-en-scenes, over the top score, and po-faced gravity. As you gain more insight into Colin Firth's character the story becomes much more enjoyable and even there aren't any really great shakes to be found it's still plenty interesting, thoughtful, and at times rather funny. I'd recommend it.