Film roundup March

The bad:

The Other Boleyn Girl.
OK, so it was based on a book rather than history but just *where* did the Reformation go? Not exactly the sort of event that can be summed up in one sentence during a lovers' tiff. And how could anyone make the combination of Henry VIII and Eric Bana so dull?

10,000 BC.
I knew what I was letting myself in for so I can't complain. I'm a sucker for all things prehistoric, that's my excuse. Really bad sfx for the sabre tooth but the mammoths were ace. Overall it felt like about 5 different films jostling for attention, none of them that great.

The good:

Les chansons d'amour.
Films where characters break into song instead of dialogue don't usually appeal to me but this was very endearing. The French pop songs were surprisingly catchy and it helped no end that the singing was good rather than showstopping. And a very French pragmatic attitude to sex!

The Edge of Heaven.
Possibly a few too many coincidences for it's own good, but it still packs a powerful emotional punch. Somehow knowing just who is going to die in the first two sections makes their interaction with the other characters far more poignant.

Charlie Wilson' War.
Much better than I expected though the ending was a total copout. Really, this is what put the weapons into the hands of the people who are now the new enemy. The film manages to duck out of getting that point across. On the plus side, every time Philip Seymour Hoffman was on screen the film was hilarious - especially the whisky bottle scene.

The excellent:

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.
A real tour de force. It was quite a trick to make a visually interesting film from such a limited POV. Far more funny than one would expect too. I loved the irony of this womaniser now surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women seeing to his every need and he can't take advantage of it. "It's not fair" indeed.

Lars and the Real Girl.
This could have been awful. Introverted male plus sex doll. Not an encouraging pitch. However, suspend disbelief and be drawn in by the sheer good-natured tone. I haven't seen a funnier film all year, and the unsung hero is Paul Schneider. Priceless reaction shots. It's the attention to detail that impresses i.e. the tiny holes in Lars' jumpers. An absolute joy.

The Orphanage.
Yet more proof than a film can be far scarier when it doesn't use violence and gore. I didn't think it was quite as good as The Devil's Backbone which had so many layers to it's tale of a child ghost but certainly FAR better than anything from Hollywood. Two genuine "jump" moments, an eerie masked child and that totally heartbreaking ending.

Out of the Blue.
So glad I made the effort to track this down at the *one* cinema in London where it's showing. It benefits hugely from the slow build up. You get to know the characters and that makes it far worse when the shooting starts. You can feel the loss. rather than the dead being disposable extras. Most heartrending scene: Karl Urban talking to the badly wounded little girl while his partner cradles her dead playmate. Early contender for the top 10 of the year.