Films on the big small screen

Although this post is about films I've watched, in bed, on my unbelievably awesome new TV with my gorgeous 7.1 surround sound, I'll try to just keep it about the films. No promises though, when I first got the thing, I found it hard to form sentences without replacing most of the nouns with 'TV'.

Snakes On A Plane
Awful. Absolutely awful. With a premise like this, it was never going to be good, but I've never seen something as bad. The snakes were obviously CGI, Samuel L. Jackson was just prostituting his otherwise great reputation, as opposed to developing it, and no-one else in the film even knew how to act.
Saying that, I quite liked some of the outro music. A film you have to watch, so that you can then legitimately compare every other awful film to it.

The Illusionist
Particularly enjoyed this film, though I can't quite put my finger on why. The attention to detail in all of the locations around turn of the century Vienna was remarkable, and the acting was superb all around. The plot became a bit predictable towards the end of the film, but by the time you've realised what is going to happen, you're already completely enthralled in the film and watch anyway. Highly recommended.

The Prestige
Another film about magic, and set at the exact same time as The Illusionist, though this time in London. Full of twists and surprises the whole way through, the drama and rivalry between the two magicians is built up brilliantly, and superbly acted. A great performance from Michael Caine too, as the creative genius behind the tricks. I really liked the flavour for the show-biz world of the time, and the (sometimes gruesome) details behind all of their tricks.
Unfortunately, the film rather lets itself down when it overplays the rivalry between Edison and Tesla (played, for no reason I could discern, by David Bowie), and comes up with some fantastical sci-fi that doesn't really fit in. A pity really, as the film overall is great.

Scoop
Hugh Jackman again, this time effortlessly pulling off the role of an upper-class brit, despite, in true Hollywood style, not actually being British. A fun and entertaining film, but unfortunately lacking in substance. The plot is transparent from the word go, and Woody Allen is unfortunately playing..Woody Allen, who I simply can't stand. When he's out of the picture it's a charming and utterly believable film, but overall it was just too hard to airbrush him out in my head.


Thanks to Smigs for the post...format..idea, thing.