Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)

This was the film I regretted most missing at this year's Fantastic Fest. Everyone I spoke to who saw it called it the best film of the festival, an opinion that was ratified by its receipt of the audience award. Since then, the film has continued to win accolades, most recently inclusion on the Austin Film Society's top-ten list for 2008.

With a limited release including Austin, it's time to soak this in. For all the cold, darkness, and stillness, both in the brilliantly-frigid cinematography and in the souls of the characters, the film is filled with a warmth of devotion. This film starts with a slow build, and never really ramps up the pace, but it doesn't need to; it go just far enough and gets there is just the right time. I have to give credit to the author/screenwriter, director, and editors for such wonderful pacing.

If you have a chance to see this film, please, let it in.

Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)
2008, 114 minutes, directed by Tomas Alfredson

Secret Window

This is Johnny Depp at his character actor best. Build a character that the audience likes so much, it doesn't matter where it goes.

Secret Window
2004, 104 minutes, directed by David Koepp

The Incredibles

Incredibly, I've never seen this before, but I watched it with my father Thanksgiving evening on TV. Wow, they put a lot of commercials in shows now. You'd think they're asking the few without a DVR to go buy one.

This was a good film. A little dark, sure - I was surprised to see death in a "children's" film, but the plot was solid, the pacing great, and the dialog entertaining. Where's the sequel?

The Incredibles
2004, 115 minutes, directed by Brad Bird

Quantum of Solace

I'm disappointed. Sure, it started fast - picking up right where Casino Royale leaves off - but the action is frantic and choppy, lacking the focus and drive of the first film. Then the drive just goes into neutral, and the film drops into a mobster-of-the-week story. The intensity of the story line just doesn't maintain the action I hoped for.

I look forward to the next film, so we can again see driving action and get anywhere in the overall arc.

Quantum of Solace
2008, 106 minutes, directed by Marc Forster

Casino Royale

Raw. Rash. Sharp. Brutal. Tragic.

Casino Royale
2006, 144 minutes, directed by Martin Campbell

To be honest, I saw two separate, 30-minute snippets at my wife's aunt's house on Independence Day - Miami and Venice. I knew what to expect, but it is still a shock.

Eagle Eye

I could have seen this last month at Fantastic Fest, but I chose to see small-budget Surveillance instead. Afterwards, having been not-so-enthralled with my choice, I thought that maybe the big-budget studio dropping would have been the better option.

Anyway, back from vacation, I finally caught up to the point that I could catch a film, and this was still on my list. It starts well - action scenes unfolding in a way I hadn't seen before. But then, halfway through, all that unexpectedness ends and it becomes rote formula. I guess it's an acceptable run-of-the-mill modern thriller, but I think the independent film was the better option.

Eagle Eye
2008, 118 minutes, directed by D. J. Caruso

Friends & Crocodiles

I saw this tonight on BBC Prime, in an efficiency apartment close to the heart of Vienna, Austria. It was, as my wife said, a little strange film.

It's a thought-provoking film, full of the kind of inter-personal struggle and self reflection that I used to despise in film. This one wasn't awful; it just doesn't really go anywhere far enough to provide satisfaction.

Friends & Crocodiles
2005, 109 minutes, directed by Stephen Poliakoff