TMTW September 2014 Review

This month I watched 20 films, which includes 7 rewatches. Of the 20, my recommendations would be anything I rate 3 or more out of 5. For me, 3 stars is a good film, worth watching once. The best first time watch this month was Blue Is The Warmest Color. Read my brief review on Letterboxd here

Films

5 star films

-

4.5 star films

Blue Is The Warmest Color
The Social Network (rewatch)
Zodiac (rewatch)

4 star films

The Terminator (rewatch)

The Prestige (rewatch)

The Town (rewatch)

John Carter (rewatch)

The Equalizer (review here)
Rosemary's Baby

3.5 star films

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) (review here)

The Devil's Backbone

Adore

The Maze Runner (review here)

Midnight Express
Panic Room (rewatch)

3 star films

Rover (review here)
Griff The Invisible 
Combustion
Mimic
Maleficient

Below 3 star films

-

I usually write a short review for most films, with major blog entries for some. My short reviews can be found here on letterboxd.com

TV

This month on the TV front was a bit slow. Wedding plans and long work hours mean I have rarely had the time to watch anything. I have stalled on The Strain, but plan on finishing that in October. Same with The Vampire Diaries. I did however get back into Agents of Shield, and finished off season 1. That show really kicked it into gear after about half way through the season. That first half was tough to get through, as it was just the same stuff each episode. But, I'm glad I went back to it. I did start Rectify season 2. I loved season 1, so was keen to see some more hardcore drama. I also started Gotham, which had a so so pilot episode. I'll let this show get some more episodes under its belt so I can see a few in a row. I hope it gets a lot better though.
 

Thanks for reading. Share your thoughts and/or recommendations below. 

Review: Gone Girl (2014)

It is difficult to review this film without potentially spoiling it. I read the book last year in preparation for the film, and I think this has affected my love for it. So, the colder you can go in, the better. But, all that is not to say it is not a good movie. In fact, it is very good - great even.

David Fincher is one of those directors that film goers highly anticipate the next feature of. I recently rewatched The Social Network and Zodiac, and loved them. I also rewatched Panic Room, and that is quite enjoyable too. In fact, I don't think Fincher has made a bad film. I'm unsure how this one would fit in with his overall filmography as far as rankings go, but further viewings will help me to figure that out.

Ok, back to Gone Girl. In brief, the plot is about a couple that are about to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. Slight catch though - the wife disappears on the morning of it. What follows is a mystery thriller, with fingers slowly pointing in the direction of the husband as the culprit. Ben Affleck plays the husband, and Rosamund Pike is the wife. Both are very good in their roles. There are also some good support roles provided by Kim Dickens, Carrie Coon and Tyler Perry.

If you know Fincher's work, then you can expect a pretty dark ride. The script work is very good, with some funny lines and character interactions being thrown in here and there. The book to screen adaptation is quite faithful. The ending is a bit different, but it is not a major change. I think the ending in the film actually works better than the one in the book.

Overall, I found the build up to the very good finale to be a fun ride. Until the last 45 to 60 mins, I had been feeling the film was not a great as I thought it might be, but the last third or so really helped push it into a great film category for me. It's been only a few hours since I've seen it, and now I actually feel I could watch it again. Whenever you feel that, you know you're onto something special.

Rating:

4 out of 5.