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What On Earth Have I Done Wrong
Taiwanese film shot as a mockumentary (i.e. shaky cam ) , but far too narrative and dramatic to be ever convincing as either mock- or doc-umentary, about a film maker wanting to make a mockumentary.

Doze, a TV director, wants to shoot his first key feature and in trying to obtain funds gets involved with gangsters and cheats repeatedly on his moody girlfriend.
Not too bad, but far too self-indulgent and self-important semi-autobiographical (or is it? Or isn't it? ) portrait of actor/director-wannabe Niu Chen-zen.
Director Doze is not interesting (or nice) enough to be engaging, and while the supporting cast tries, it never gets off the ground.
In the end, not very original, nor very interesting.

There is no soundtrack (apart from some songs in the background and some rhythmic ambient noise here and there).

3 out of 5


La Maison Jaune
Algerian film about a dirt-poor farmer who's informed his only son has died in a traffic accident. He sets off to reclaim the body, but coming home finds that his wife has become so depressed she won't eat any more.

Beautifully shot by a director who really knows his business. It's style is a HUGE (and very welcome) departure from mainstream films: it's very languishly paced taking all the time it needs, the camera lingering on landscapes, faces and movements, at times seeming to be even lovingly stroking them.
There is very little action, granting the audience ample time to come to grips with the farmer's family grief, which is unbroken by artificial plot points (most every single person they meet is empathic, sympathetic and kind).

It's a lovely, sweet, poetic little film, obviously made with great love for Algeria and its people. For those who don't mind their scenes lasting longer than thirty seconds with about sixteen angle changes, a wellworth and beautiful experience.

The soundtrack is a surprisingly occidental-sounding and very accessible mix of oud, guitar and vocal music, I guess from ethnic Algerian artists. If a CD comes out, I'll buy it in a second!

5 out of 5

Black Sheep

Crazy but fun horror shclock from New Zealand about the true nature of sheep. I knew it!

Has quite a nice score from composer Victoria Kelly. No score CD available as yet though.

^ Sweet, have to watch that then!

I;m proud to announce that my compatriot is responsible for the cinematography

I commented on the music in Rabin's thread, but National Treasure 2 as a movie is trash.

Did you? I watched it last night and I'm still there!I couldn't agree more with Bob!Depp by the way was wonderful!100% inside the role,revenge and desperation mirrored in his eyes!One of the films I'm definately watching again!

watched SWEENY TODD last night..........

one word: BRILLIANT!

And the music is simply awesome!!!!!!

YEAH MAN, welcome to the fanclub!!!

Btw, can't wait till my ordered DeLuxe edition of the soundtrack arrives!

I hope you guys have the chance to see "[REC]" someday, a spanish horror film (the americans are making a remake called "Quarantine") with the same concept of handcamera, stunning sound effects but much more realistic than Cloverfield, which never procuced fear simply because it´s too unbeliavable even if they are pushing the envelope to make it realistic (that girl´s rescue a la Misison Impossible, for example was like oh, ok ). [REC] was the closest I´ve seen to a real thing, basically ´cause they deal with real people facing real people....well, almost real people.
Anyway, Cloverfield is entertaining and technically perfect, but nothing else.

I just saw There Will Be Blood last night. A cinematic masterpiece.

I want to see There Will Be Blood after seeing all the clips from it on the BAFTAs last night. It did look pretty good.

I know, i haven't seen it yet, it's that the trailer looked really yaaaawn. You've seen it yet Michael?

I wasn't too crazy about it when i watched it a couple of months back, nor for the score either but overall i can say it's a very good work indeed. Nothing TOOOOO special imo, but very good.

Just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey again with my father... Wow, what a mindjob, but stunning it still is. Revolutionary when it came out, this sci-fi movie is incapable of explanation, you have to experience it yourself. The audio is just as important in this movie as the visual aspect, but the marriage of these two is what stands out in 2001, thanks to the artistic vision of director/writer Stanley Kubrick. The classical music is perfectly glued to everything that the special effects wizards and set designers came up with. Remember this movie is 40 years old, yet the effects still look fantastic. 2001 takes you on a journey that is full of symbolic meaning, yet leaves you hypnotised by the happenings on screen. And I still can't make heads nor tails of the ending, but it ends on a satisfying note nonetheless in the knowledge I saw something extraordinary.

Now I have to watch that other fantastic sci-fi flick that IMO is the equal of 2001. I'm talking about the emotional and deeply intelligent roller coaster ride that is Contact. I can't help but feel amazed everytime I watch it.

Watched Ratatouille on Blu-Ray last night. A wonderful film, and a stunning experience in HD.