Weekly Collection of Random Film Thoughts

• I can't say that I was looking forward to Peter Jackson's The Hobbit much when it was first announced.  But after seeing this video I have changed my mind, Jackson is obviously very passionate about the film and is the best choice for director of the film, even if I still believe this film should have been made before the LOTR trilogy. Despite my few reservations when it comes to the LOTR films, I still think they are very good adaptations of the books and I'm sure The Hobbit is going to be just as good; although the fact that there seems to me much added material worries me a bit. And of course it is being shot in 48 fps, the first film in history to be shot in that format. So, good luck Peter Jackson!

• Due to my semi-obsession with Pink Floyd, I've recently got two films of Barbet Schroeder, More and La Vallee, which both have soundtracks composed by Pink Floyd. I thought I might as well get Barfly, also from Schroeder, so I might be writing a post about those three films sometime.If you would recommend any other of Schroeder's work, the please don't hesitate to comment below!

• But mostly I'll just be working my way through the massive pile of unwatched films I have, the majority of them are Classics: Bergman, Kurosawa etc.

•  I'm also pretty pleased with the fact that this week I've managed to complete my knowledge of not only one but two directors filmographies. That of Paul Thomas Anderson and that of Boon Jong Ho. I know they're hardly the most prolific directors, with five and four films to their name respectively. They are two of my favourite directors, some of the best working today. I'm glad to have watched all their films, and I'll probably post a couple of posts on them sometime. 

•  Luis Guzman is everywhere! After watching Punch Drunk Love, in my mission to see all of Anderson's films, I noticed Luis Guzman is one of his innumerable supporting roles and recalled having seen him in films as varied as The Limey, Boogie Nights, The Taking Of Pelham 123 (I'm surprised I even remember that film at all), Snake Eyes, Carlito's Way and many many more. He's one of those great supporting actors that seem to pop up everywhere and yet have never really starred in a film.

• After recently rewatching The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, I was surprised to find that my opinions on the film were completely different. At first, years ago, I had not cared for the film much at all. But it had stayed in my mind enough for me to revisit it not long ago and I'm glad I did as I ended up really enjoying it. This kind of reversal of opinions doesn't happen, very often to me, if happened to a lesser degree with Apocalypse Now and a couple of others but generally when I revisit a critically acclaimed film that was also wildly successful I always find my initial opinion to be how I truly feel, as in the case of most of Nolan's films, Casino Royale and The Matrix. In fact my opinion of the film often decreases upon second viewing.

Time for some links:

Chelsea reviews The Age Of Innocence

Chris reflects on the often tough process of writing the very first words of something.

I enjoyed doing the Cinematic Alphabet, so here a few more from other bloggers:
Lime Reviews
On The Road Again
Films from The Supermassive Black Hole
ScarletSpider's Blog
One Million Films BC
Rupert Pupkin Speaks has put together a list of many of those who took part in the Cinematic Alphabet.

Fletch reviews Hanna, and has completely convinced me to see the film.

Andy reviews the newly released Scream 4.

The Film Connoisseur lists his most memorable movie robots!

Bonjour Tristesse continues the Bresson marathon, it's very interesting and I would highly recommend reading these reviews.

Andy Buckle is working his way through Tarkovsky's filmography, his review for The Mirror and his equally great review for Stalker are particularly interesting.

Nathanael reviews Decasia: State Of Decay, an experimental film.


themoviesnob dedicated the past week to the memory of the great director Sidney Lumet, all of the posts are very interestign together form a fitting tribute to Lumet.

And finally here's a link to Reverie In Words, a pretty cool review site.

As usual, consider this post to be an open thread and don't hesitate to post whatever is on your mind, be it recommendations, feedback or anything else...