The Best Movie You'll Never Want to Watch Again

The title isn't hyperbole, and this isn't a review or a discursive article, just an introduction, a plea, and a warning. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is the the most emotionally exhausting, tragically heart-breaking and unequivocally demoralising film I've ever seen, but I refuse to explain it to you. It's an incredibly impassioned, majestically visceral experience, but I can't describe it any further. You must know nothing about Dear Zachary before watching for it to be truly, profoundly affecting. It's a documentary, you should know no more than this.

I beg of you to watch this film, it's absolutely magnificent, but, equally, I feel like it would be wrong not to warn you. Your emotional state will be irrecoverable. You will feel hollow, empty. You might come out of it despising the human race, and me for recommending it, but you shouldn't.

As upsetting and distressing as it is, it is also a beautiful (unparalleled cinematically, in my opinion) affirmation of the human spirit in the face of inconceivable anguish and evil.

It is, at its core, a story about the eternal conflict between good and evil. But, you might not like what it has to say on the subject...




The full film is available on Youtube. (Avoid the description)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVAzioPSKm4

I cannot overstate how amazing Dear Zachary is. You'll never want to watch it again, but you will not regret doing so in the first place.

Much Ado About Nothing (2013) Review

In Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, there’s a moment, an exquisite meeting of the Renaissance and the now, that epitomises the success of Whedon’s collaboration with The Bard: during one of Benedick and Beatrice’s ‘skirmish[es] of wit’, immediately after the former discovers the latter’s (supposed) love for him, Benedick employs himself in a series of stretches to emphasise his masculinity. It’s a scene of hilarious slapstick not implied in the original text yet perfectly in keeping with the comic tone of the play, a synthesis of Whedonesque silliness and Shakespearean wit.

The concept of artistic unionisation, and moreover historical transcendence, is applicable for the rest of the film. This is still purely Shakespeare’s work; Whedon leaves the dialogue untouched, the Tudorian rhetoric referring to battles, duels and princes remaining intact. Most settings (Whedon’s mansion is used for the majority of scenes) and props are distinctly unmodern; cars and mobile phones are present but never feel intrusively contemporary. It’s a determinably timeless lovestory-the pioneer romantic comedy-its humour and romance as relevant in suits and summer dresses as doublets and ball-gowns.

However, an injection of originality to elicit intrigue in a particularly niche audience is still required, to stand out amongst the mediocrity abundant in Shakespeare adaptations. This was never going to be a problem with the enigmatic writer/director. Much Ado inevitably displays Whedonesque blemishes. Alongside the introduction of more physical comedy, Whedon utilises reflective surfaces and windows in his cinematography to highlight the comic confusion vital to the progression of the play. By shooting his actors using translucent objects as secondary frames Whedon suggests the possibility of character-motivation ambiguity; in an interview about Much Ado he states that the text is fundamentally about ‘perception and misperception’.

It’s beautifully shot, the exteriors look gorgeously natural and the interiors squeakily clean, it’s almost Kubrickian, this theory corroborated by some fantastic symmetrical shots. Whedon alternates from sporadic cuts during four-way conversations to epic, sometimes claustrophobic, tracking shots during soliloquies. Although the black-and-white camerawork will predictably put some off as being too ‘artsy’, it complements the low-key quaintness of Whedon’s vision. The film is obviously understated; it barely leaves Whedon’s, admittedly glamorous, mansion, and save for a delectably executed garden party, the on-screen cast rarely rises into double figures. It’s self-knowingly small; it doesn’t aspire to be anything grand, but then again this isn’t a dramatic Shakespearean History or Tragedy, perhaps it shouldn’t aim for grandeur. It certainly works in its favour, keeping the attention on the most important component of the play; the quintessentially love-hate relationship of Beatrice and Benedick, and the almost-never-happened love of Claudio and Hero.

Much Ado About Nothing is magnificently acted. Denisof is flawless in the role of Benedick, capable of veering from charming womaniser to puerile romantic on a whim. Acker is equally strong as Beatrice, ferociously feminist, venomously witty but also heart-breakingly vulnerable. Franz Kranz and Jillian Morgese are effective as Claudio and Hero, but, while likeable, aren’t as captivating as Denisof and Acker, although this is mostly down to the dialogue. The supporting cast perform brilliantly. Gregg and Diamond are excellent as Leonato and Don Pedro, the older instigators of the love affairs, while Nathan Fillion, as he so often does, nearly steals the show in his hysterical portrayal of Dogberry. It was about as clever a piece of casting as you’re likely to see from Whedon.

Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing is the best version of the play I’ve seen, and one of the finest Shakespeare film adaptations. It’s very funny, adorably romantic and visually stunning. One of the best films of the year so far.

Whedon has announced his intention to adapt another Shakespeare. I would love to see him tackle a more dramatic play with his entourage. Clark Gregg as Henry V? Amy Acker as Ophelia? Who knows. But I absolutely, positively cannot wait.

Man of Steel Review

Whoever edited the Man of Steel trailer isn’t getting paid enough. The trailer is hugely compelling, the bombastic brass (since Inception French Horns have become the hip thing in blockbuster scores) and fluttery editing providing a dramatic urgency and importance of astronomical proportions. It was thrillingly captivating; previously I couldn’t have cared less about Zak Snyder’s Superman reboot, yet within two-and-a-half minutes it was one of my most anticipated films of the Summer. The film, sadly, isn’t hugely compelling; it’s a melodramatic, self-indulgent, wholly vacuous, unstructured, horribly written, awfully acted colossus of unmitigated pish. Man of Steel is this year’s Prometheus. I reiterate; whoever edited the trailer isn’t getting paid enough.

It starts well enough. Within moments Krypton descends into political anarchy as the army revolts against the corrupt government while a bored-looking Russell Crowe pours the atoms of a blackened skull into his infant child’s pancreas using magic powers. Or something. It’s ridiculous trite of course, but gripping and exciting. This doesn’t continue past the opening twenty minutes. You see, Man of Steel is literally devoid of a narrative structure. There is no second act, no time given for character development or plot exposition. Proceeding the explosive prologue there’s an hour long montage of Superbland hitch-hiking around rural USA in search of selfhood like the subject of some terrible Bruce Springsteen song, interrupted intermittently by scenes from his childhood desperately trying to portray Superbland as the confused, tormented school outcast. His foster father establishes the layout of Superbland’s destiny, that he must choose whether to use his great powers for good or bad etc. The foundations are laid for a narrative journey, the second act, but Snyder and Goyer inexplicably skip to the film’s climax. It’s as if they only wrote one draft of the screenplay, realised they had far too long an introduction, leaving no time for plot or character progression, then thought ‘meh’.

For the final 45 minutes Snyder exhibits a remarkably good Michael Bay impression by making explosions boring. It’s an intriguing contrast, the opening and climax, because why would the action sequences alter from thrilling to dull? Perhaps this is down to Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer’s Krypton characters being more human than the human characters, and therefore, we actually care. They're motivated, emotive and vaguely endearing. Conversely, Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is off-puttingly smug, Clark Kent’s adopted parents, insipidly hackneyed. Henry Cavill’s HenrySuperbland himself, although not human, isn’t very alien either, in fact he’s so wooden he’s essentially a talking tree that knows his lines reasonably well. He’s built like a tree too, so at least he has that in his favour.

What saves the acting, however, is that it’s not Man of Steel’s worst aspect; the screenplay is a masterpiece of crap. It’s riddled too greatly with straight-faced clichés, and too bereft of any form of humour or warmth, to justify its unapologetic self-importance and ridiculous, melodramatic seriousness. It’s as if, with its relentless inspireaquote technique to screenwriting, Man of Steel was scripted by a member of the Twitter Famous. It’s embarrassingly uninteresting, and pathetically boring.

Occasionally the script creaks open the doors to thematic potential before slamming them in the viewer’s face dramatically screaming ‘I’M GOING TO REMIND EVERYONE ABOUT SUPERMAN’S AMERICAN IDENTITY NOW USA OBAMA GUN-LOBBYISTS DRONESAREGOOD.’ There is a passing theological suggestion that Superbland could be interpreted as a God by humanity. Nothing is ever made of this. The Kryptons destroy themselves through excessive overuse of their natural resources; could parallels be drawn with humanity’s own ecological self-destruction? No, again nothing is ever made of this. There is the implication that human nature will drive every human being to inevitably betray their moral principles in the face of adversity. Nothing is ever made of this. But, the special effects are quite pretty.

Man of Steel is quite simply terrible. It lacks characterisation, plot structuring and any form of inherent theme. More importantly considering it's a Summer blockbuster, it isn’t at all entertaining. There’s no comedy or character chemistry to keep you interested, it’s just a never-ending barrage of buildings, bombs and banality. Just watch The Avengers, it's infinitely better. I think I care less about the plight of humanity after viewing Man of Steel. Whoever edited that trailer isn't getting paid enough.

500 Favourite Films

1.       Red Shoes

2.       Seven Samurai

3.       Apocalypse Now

4.       The Apartment

5.       Once Upon a Time in America

6.       Lives of Others

7.       Come and See

8.       Chinatown

9.       Brief Encounter

10.   Taxi Driver

11.   Third Man

12.   Blade Runner

13.   Raging Bull

14.   Lord of the Rings

15.   Rear Window

16.   Big Lebowski

17.   Jaws

18.   La Regle du Jeu

19.   Alien

20.   Ikiru

21.   Mean Streets

22.   Andrei Rublev

23.   12 Angry Men

24.   Once Upon a Time in the West

25.   Y Tu Mama Tambien

26.   Princess Bride

27.   Se7en

28.   Naked

29.   Mulholland Drive

30.   Goodfellas

31.   There Will be Blood

32.   Duck Soup

33.   Aliens

34.   Miller’s Crossing

35.   City Lights

36.   Godfather Parts 1 and 2

37.   Local Hero

38.   Thin Red Line

39.   Manhattan

40.   Shining

41.   Rebecca

42.   Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

43.   A Clockwork Orange

44.   Psycho

45.   Double Indemnity

46.   Lost in Translation

47.   Ran

48.   Good, Bad and Ugly

49.   The Exorcist

50.   The Castle

51.   Some Like it Hot

52.   Rashomon

53.   Assassination of Jesse James

54.   In the Mood For Love

55.   To Kill a Mockingbird

56.   Long Good Friday

57.   Kind Hearts and Coronets

58.   Fargo

59.   Battle of Algiers

60.   Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

61.   Casablanca

62.   Lawrence of Arabia

63.   A Bittersweet Life

64.   Paths of Glory

65.   Hoop Dreams

66.   Lilya-4-Ever

67.   2001

68.   Festen

69.   Let the Right One In

70.   Network

71.   Rififi

72.   Talk to Her

73.   Bicycle Thieves

74.   M

75.   It’s a Wonderful Life

76.   Memento

77.   His Girl Friday

78.   Memories of Murder

79.   Hugo

80.   Dead Man’s Shoes

81.   Citizen Kane

82.   Raiders of the Lost Ark

83.   Sunset Boulevard

84.   Annie Hall

85.   Metropolis

86.   Far From Heaven

87.   Oldboy

88.   Raising Arizona

89.   Seventh Seal

90.   Brazil

91.   Schindler’s List

92.   On the Waterfront

93.   A Matter of Life and Death

94.   Dr. Strangelove

95.   Evil Dead 2

96.   Hidden

97.   Spirit of the Beehive

98.   Crash (1996)

99.   Shawshank Redemption

100.                        Lion King

101.                        Treasure of the Sierra Madre

102.                        Spartacus

103.                        If...

104.                        Chaser

105.                        Zodiac

106.                        Pulp Fiction

107.                        Throne of Blood

108.                        Heat

109.                        When Harry met Sally

110.                        Tree of Life

111.                        Social Network

112.                        Animal Crackers

113.                        Insider

114.                        Monsters Inc

115.                        No Country for Old Men

116.                        Distant Voices, Still Voices

117.                        La Haine

118.                        Black Swan

119.                        United 93

120.                        Boogie Nights

121.                        Chung King Express

122.                        Unforgiven

123.                        North by North West

124.                        Toy Story 3

125.                        The Host (2006)

126.                        Fight Club

127.                        Bad Education

128.                        Ghostbusters

129.                        Shadow of a Doubt

130.                        Reservoir Dogs

131.                        A Bout de Souffle

132.                        True Grit (2011)

133.                        Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

134.                        Stand by Me

135.                        Magnolia

136.                        American Werewolf in London

137.                        Before Sunset

138.                        Three Colours Blue

139.                        In the Loop

140.                        Diving Bell and the Butterfly

141.                        Control

142.                        Anchorman

143.                        Barton Fink

144.                        Streetcar Named Desire

145.                        The Raid

146.                        Topsy Turvy

147.                        Rope

148.                        Woodsman

149.                        Court Jester

150.                        McCabe and Mrs Miller

151.                        Solaris (1972)

152.                        Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

153.                        Vera Drake

154.                        One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

155.                        Fitzcarraldo

156.                        Das Experiment

157.                        O Brother Where Art Thou

158.                        City of God

159.                        Inland Empire

160.                        Infernal Affairs

161.                        Harvey

162.                        LA Confidential

163.                        Synecdoche New York

164.                        Caddyshack

165.                        Four Lions

166.                        Serenity

167.                        Get Carter

168.                        Wages of Fear

169.                        Fish Tank

170.                        Los Olvidados

171.                        King of Comedy

172.                        Clerks

173.                        Last of the Mohicans

174.                        American Psycho

175.                        Chasing Amy

176.                        Bridge Over the River Kwai

177.                        Tyrannosaur

178.                        Hurt Locker

179.                        Zulu

180.                        Incredibles

181.                        Brick

182.                        Winter’s Bone

183.                        Broadway Danny Rose

184.                        Yojimbo

185.                        This is England

186.                        Toy Story

187.                        The Guard

188.                        Waltz with Bashir

189.                        Zelig

190.                        Secret in their Eyes

191.                        Rosemary’s Baby

192.                        Heart of Darkness

193.                        Shaun of the Dead

194.                        Downfall

195.                        Batman Begins

196.                        A Tale of Two Sisters

197.                        Princess Mononoke

198.                        My Name is Joe

199.                        Horse Feathers

200.                        Aristocats

201.                        Leon

202.                        A Canterbury Tale

203.                        A Shot in the Dark

204.                        Great Escape

205.                        Where Eagles Dare

206.                        Wings of Desire

207.                        Lost Weekend

208.                        Night of the Hunter

209.                        The Prestige

210.                        Die Hard

211.                        Bourne Ultimatum

212.                        Love and Death

213.                        Badlands

214.                        Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

215.                        Jules et Jim

216.                        Incendies

217.                        Truman Show

218.                        Dark Knight

219.                        Drive

220.                        Grosse Pointe Blank

221.                        Terminator

222.                        Wild Bunch

223.                        Johnny Mad Dog

224.                        WALL E

225.                        Skin I Live In

226.                        The Hustler

227.                        Requiem for a Dream

228.                        Man From Nowhere

229.                        Jurassic Park

230.                        High and Low

231.                        All About my Mother

232.                        The Thing

233.                        A Scanner Darkly

234.                        Magnificent Seven

235.                        Blue Velvet

236.                        4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

237.                        Royal Tenenbaums

238.                        Bloody Sunday

239.                        Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

240.                        Young Frankenstein

241.                        Donnie Darko

242.                        Ladykillers (1955)

243.                        Monty Python: Life of Brian

244.                        In Bruges

245.                        Adventureland

246.                        King of Kong

247.                        Das Boot

248.                        Terminator 2: Judgement Day

249.                        Touch of Evil

250.                        Maltese Falcon

251.                        Mysterious Skin

252.                        Purple Rose of Cairo

253.                        Elite Squad

254.                        Mary and Max

255.                        Pan’s Labyrinth

256.                        Stalag 17

257.                        Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

258.                        Kingdom of Heaven (Director’s Cut)

259.                        Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

260.                        400 Blows

261.                        A Dirty Carnival

262.                        Sword in the Stone

263.                        Adaptation

264.                        Before Sunrise

265.                        For a Few Dollars More

266.                        Up

267.                        Days of Heaven

268.                        Full Metal Jacket

269.                        Lady Vengeance

270.                        Atonement

271.                        Back to the Future

272.                        Trainspotting

273.                        The Long Goodbye

274.                        Sanjuro

275.                        Rushmore

276.                        Once Were Warriors

277.                        Sunshine

278.                        Porco Rosso

279.                        Hard Boiled

280.                        Toy Story 2

281.                        The Conversation

282.                        I Saw the Devil

283.                        Invisible Man

284.                        Hot Fuzz

285.                        A New World

286.                        Darling

287.                        Superbad

288.                        Day of the Dead

289.                        Submarine

290.                        Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

291.                        Red Road

292.                        Illusionist (2010)

293.                        Up in the Air

294.                        Goldfinger

295.                        Face Off

296.                        Another Year

297.                        Delicatessen

298.                        Ed Wood

299.                        Bugsy Malone

300.                        Constant Gardener

301.                        The Good, the Bad, the Weird

302.                        Cinema Paradiso

303.                        Avengers

304.                        Dead Ringers

305.                        Lavender Hill Mob

306.                        Hero

307.                        A Day at the Races

308.                        Notorious (1946)

309.                        The Descent

310.                        Persepolis

311.                        The Motorcycle Diaries

312.                        Fantastic Mr Fox

313.                        Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

314.                        Moon

315.                        Good Dick

316.                        Who Framed Roger Rabbit

317.                        Stalker (1979)

318.                        Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

319.                        Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

320.                        Rec.

321.                        Traffic

322.                        Belleville Rendezvous

323.                        The Orphanage

324.                        Hamlet (Royal Shakespeare Company)

325.                        Muppet’s Christmas Carol

326.                        Little Miss Sunshine

327.                        Whisky Galore

328.                        Fistful of Dollars

329.                        The Birds

330.                        Dogville

331.                        Finding Nemo

332.                        Kung Fu Hustle

333.                        Star Wars: A New Hope

334.                        Man on Wire

335.                        Chicken Run

336.                        Blazing Saddles

337.                        How to Train Your Dragon

338.                        Bourne Supremacy

339.                        Strangers on a Train (1951)

340.                        Radio Days

341.                        Sweet Sixteen

342.                        Henry 5^th (Branagh)

343.                        Into the Wild

344.                        The Conformist

345.                        Goodbye Lenin

346.                        Animal Kingdom

347.                        Monkey Business

348.                        The Killer

349.                        Casino Royale (2006)

350.                        Kick Ass

351.                        Blues Brothers

352.                        Proposition

353.                        All Quiet on the Western Front (1933)

354.                        2 Days in Paris

355.                        Happy Go Lucky

356.                        Public Enemies

357.                        American History X

358.                        Gone Baby Gone

359.                        The Big Sleep

360.                        Confessions

361.                        Three Colours White

362.                        Volver

363.                        Hudsucker Proxy

364.                        Glengarry Glen Ross

365.                        Kill Bill (Parts 1 and 2)

366.                        Once

367.                        Moneyball

368.                        Collateral

369.                        Monty Python and The Holy Grail

370.                        Robocop

371.                        Batman (Burton)

372.                        Black Dynamite

373.                        Odd Man Out

374.                        Election (Hong Kong)

375.                        Starship Troopers

376.                        Dawn of the Dead (1978)

377.                        Last Samurai

378.                        Graduate

379.                        39 Steps (1933)

380.                        Almost Famous

381.                        A Town Called Panic

382.                        Lethal Weapon

383.                        Zombieland

384.                        Manhunter

385.                        A Serious Man

386.                        Heathers

387.                        Kes

388.                        Sympathy for Mr Vengeance

389.                        Bad Lieutenant (2009)

390.                        Snatch

391.                        American Friend

392.                        Inglorious Bastards (2009)

393.                        The Fall

394.                        Elephant Man

395.                        Groundhog Day

396.                        A Knight’s Tale

397.                        Sunny

398.                        House of Flying Daggers

399.                        Dumbo

400.                        Mother (2009)

401.                        Magnificent Ambersons

402.                        History of Violence

403.                        Night of the Living Dead

404.                        Ratatouille

405.                        Crying Game

406.                        Lebanon

407.                        Cyrano de Bergerac

408.                        Dazed and Confused

409.                        Brotherhood

410.                        Looking for Eric

411.                        Meantime

412.                        A Room for Romeo Brass

413.                        Dog Soldiers

414.                        A Few Good Men

415.                        24 Hour Party People

416.                        Cabin in the Woods

417.                        Outlaw Josey Wales

418.                        Crimes and Misdemeanours

419.                        Elf

420.                        Speed

421.                        Ivan’s Childhood

422.                        Pirates

423.                        Away we Go

424.                        Carrie

425.                        Spiderman 2

426.                        Office Space

427.                        Road to Perdition

428.                        Army of Darkness

429.                        Spider

430.                        Killing Fields

431.                        Where the Wild Things Are

432.                        L’Aventurra

433.                        Girl With Dragon Tattoo

434.                        Never Let me Go

435.                        Scream

436.                        Closely Observed Trains

437.                        Insomnia

438.                        High Heels

439.                        Elite Squad: Enemy Within

440.                        Somewhere

441.                        Master and Commander

442.                        You Only Live Twice

443.                        Scott Pilgrim

444.                        Rio Bravo

445.                        Kagemusha

446.                        Lars and the Real Girl

447.                        Munich

448.                        Shutter Island

449.                        Planes, Trains and Automobiles

450.                        Wrestler

451.                        Beauty and the Beast

452.                        500 Days of Summer

453.                        Believer

454.                        Series of Unfortunate Events

455.                        Three Colours Red

456.                        Sicko

457.                        Layer Cake

458.                        The Rock

459.                        Hunger

460.                        Ocean’s Eleven

461.                        Breakfast Club

462.                        Batman Returns

463.                        Naked Gun

464.                        Life is Sweet

465.                        Frankenstein

466.                        A Prophet

467.                        Amadeus

468.                        Sexy Beast

469.                        Easy A

470.                        Intolerable Cruelty

471.                        Thirst

472.                        Finding Neverland

473.                        Coraline

474.                        Chopper

475.                        School of Rock

476.                        Exiled

477.                        Midnight Run

478.                        Tangled

479.                        Ghost World

480.                        Wonder Boys

481.                        Swingers

482.                        In the Heat of the Night

483.                        Exit Through the Gift Shop

484.                        Spiderman

485.                        Slither

486.                        Changeling

487.                        Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

488.                        Bullitt

489.                        Ringu

490.                        Con Air

491.                        Duel

492.                        Together

493.                        A Bande Apart

494.                        Half Nelson

495.                        Belle de Jour

496.                        Predator

497.                        Napoleon Dynamite

498.                        High Fidelity

499.                        My Cousin Vinny

500.                        Poltergeist