Been a while since I last updated this, but in that time I've watched more than a few films (only one in the cinema though), so I'll just say a quick word and give a quick rating to all the ones I can remember.
The Lives of Others (2006)
I thought this film was fabulous, and I think this is largely thanks to the performance of Ulrich Muhe, who plays the Stasi employee who listens in to the lives of suspected enemies of the state and ends up becoming attached to a certain couple he is spying on. It's just a film you have to see
Rating 9/10
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
This film I decided to watch because of its reputation, and I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. I very much enjoyed the courtroom segment in which Brock Peters gave a great performance as the black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman, Tom Robinson. Other than that though I felt the film somewhat dragged a bit, I wasn't really drawn into the stories of Scout and Jem's childhood, and this was the main focus of the story. Gregory Peck was very good as well, but again his character Atticus Finch wasn't the focus, Scout was, so although I'd like to have seen more of him outside of homelife, but the story didn't allow for that. All in all, not a bad film, but not anywhere near as good as I was led to believe.
Rating 6/10
The Searchers (1956)
This was another one I decided to watch on the basis of reputation, and also because I've very much enjoyed a fair few westerns I've watched but have never really watched much of John Wayne, and this is meant to be his best. Firstly, I have to say that this film looks absolutely phenomenal, I got it on Blu-Ray and was blown away by just how magnificent some of the shots look. Quite simply the film is beautifully shot, but sadly I felt the film fell down in other areas. It seemed to just drag on for me, I could never really get engaged in the story and I thought it went on longer than it had to. Once again, a film with a great reputation that's let me down.
Rating 6/10
L.A Confidential (1997)
This was another one I hadn't seen before, saw it cheap on Blu-Ray and decided to give it a bash. It wasn't a great film, but it was fairly good. I enjoyed seeing the case unravel but some parts of the story left a fair bit to be desired, like how someone could manage to cover up killing as many people as happens in the film, and I wasn't particularly a fan of Kim Basinger's role, or any of the parts with her. Danny DeVito's voice overs were fairly irritating as well.
Rating 7/10
Apocalypse Now (1979)
I had seen this film before but it was a good few years ago, so watching it again was like watching it for the first time since I had forgotten nearly everything about it. I thought the film was good first time round, and better the second. Some of the sequences look truly breathtaking, like real war-zones. The acting performances are also good, Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando put in very good performances, but Robert Duvall does the best job as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, delivering his famous "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" line. The only character I didn't like was the surfer character, Lance Johnson, who seemed to serve no purpose but to irritate me with his idiocy. Although the film lasts over 2 hours it's not one that'll lose your interest, it's paced well and engaging to the end.
Rating 8/10
Apocalypse Now is a product of extraordinary will - the fruition of madness and genius. Rewatch - on the largest screen you can find, and be in awe.
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L.A Confidential was a delicious, stylish and confident mystery - mostly well-acted, paced like a panther and the story holds water. The shoot-out finale was a let-down, but I found it quite easy to believe that there's a considerable soup of corruption in the City of Angels police.
We saw how easily the straight moral compassed Bud White was led to beat the hell out of suspects (Russian Roulette confessions, anyone?); imagine several more of those like him - a team of corrupted thugs being the enforcement for a large conspiracy, being well-paid and looked after by the impeachable Captain Smith. Noone would stand a chance.
Basinger - I found her to be the crux of the story - where the arrogant Exley is humbled and Bud reconnects with his dormant humanity. She's more of a story construct than a character, but very necessary - and a welcome beat against the unyielding evils of the city.
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To Kill A Mockingbird's great achievement was to make children its protagonists - in the eyes of children, the world appears fearful, or exciting. The great E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial knows this, too.
We see everyone through their eyes - Boo Radley, the terrifying headcase next door, or the common people - bashful about their debts. It's the child's voice that restores sanity, if not Tom Robinson's life. "Somehow, it was hotter then," the voice of the older Scout says. She's not talking about politics.
It's other extraordinary ideal is Peck's casting. Quiet, obvious authority - but with an unyielding will and compassion for everyone. A great performance, one for the ages in one of the most humane films ever made about tolerance and truth.