Film: Match Point

When I first saw the trailer for Match Point I remember being shocked when 'Written and Directed by Woody Allen' appeared on the screen at the end. I'm not a great lover of Woody Allen films, I tend to only see them if there's someone I like appearing. His last effort Melinda and Melinda (starring Radha Mitchell and Chloe Sevigny), which I saw on DVD, was decidedly average. I was hoping that 'Match Point' starring Scarlett Johansson would be different, but in the end it wasn't. The movie is set in London and it's a thriller, not what I would normally expect from a Woody Allen film. I saw it on a cold Saturday afternoon, with a fellow audience comprised mainly of a bunch of noisy people, who insisted on talking throughout, giggling and shouting out in suspenseful moments. My repeated attempts to quieten them with a 'Shhhh!', fell on deaf ears. Yes, they were largely teens.

I was expecting a Fatal Attraction type thriller, and Match Point is to a certain extent, but the sex scenes let it down on this score. They are vital for a film of this nature, but Woody appeared embarrassed by the sex scenes as no sooner did they start than we cut to the next scene. What would Body Heat, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Basic Instinct or Fatal Attraction have been like with cut sex scenes?

The first half of the film, which sets up the characters and the basic premise of the film was enjoyable, but things went downhill in the second half. The way the ending fits in neatly with the beginning and underscores the fact that some things are simply more luck than judgement was clever. However, that doesn't explain how someone can go from passionately loving someone to being capable of murdering them in cold blood.

Film: Underworld: Evolution

This is the most highly anticipated film for me since last spring's Star Wars episode III. I loved the first Underworld film and am really looking forward to this one. I hope that it lives upto my expectations. I'm going to see it tonight at 9.20pm. I can't wait!

Film: A Cock and Bull Story

This was another free preview courtesy of the Daily Telegraph movie monthly offer, which I saw on Tuesday a mere 4 days after last week's unmemorable 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. It stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon and tells the making of a film based on the supposedly unfilmable book 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman' by Laurence Stern, which was written in 1760. The book can be read online.

As a film it was very funny but lacked structure, however having read a little about the novel online it's not at all surprising as the book does not have a true beginning, middle, and end as you would normally expect. At times the film felt a bit like the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon show, which in the end was no bad thing. Their conversation over the closing credits lifted the film from its unsatisfactory ending. As for the rest of the cast; Keeley Hawes spent most of her screen time screaming in child-birth agony. Gillian Anderson was hardly in it at all, which was not only disappointing for me but for her too as she stated at the end of the film. Caz pointed out to me that the woman playing Gillian's American agent was in fact Sara Stewart (Kim's mum Stella in 'Sugar Rush'), although you wouldn't know from looking at the IMDB as she's not credited. I'll have to fix that! Caz found the film quite hilarious and had to reign in her laughter when she realised that often she was the only one laughing.

So, in summation it was more of a miss than a hit but considering the origin it's not surprising really. I gave it 5/10 at the IMDB. It was an enjoyable hour and a half but once again it's another free film that I'm glad I didn't have to pay to see or I would have felt a little cheated.