Monday

I've been watching lots of films but failing to write about them. It may take time, or be impossible, to catch up. I saw Six Degrees of Separation last night. It's a movie based on a play, which popularised the notion of how all of us might be separated by only six degrees. It is without doubt still a play, not making the successful leap to cinema: it's preoccupied with dialogue, and visually and musically uninteresting. It is noticeable, however, as the first serious role for Will Smith. As a play, then, it is thought-provoking, even if its issues are a little out of date by now. It has a tweeness (I'm guessing that's not a real word) that is a bit annoying as well. I don't think I'd watch it again. Looking up the film, though, I did find a bizarre movie connection. J. J. Abrams played the role of Doug in this film, and then went on to produce two TV series connected to the idea: Lost and Six Degrees.

Thursday

I hadn't been particularly keen to see Watchmen, until I was offered the chance to watch it at the IMAX - London's largest cinema screen. It is an impressive size, but once you begin watching the film, you quickly forget. It is not a huge step beyond most cinema screens, and as such seems a bit over-hyped. Perhaps a 3-D film would be more interesting. As for Watchmen itself, I have to say the plot was fairly lame. I'm not sure how much we were supposed to take seriously, the characters took themselves very seriously, but it was comical, and there was a rather adolescent philosophy. The character of Dr Manhattan was rather absurd, and seemed like he belonged in the Blue Man group. The film's plot was more complicated than it needed to be, and it built to a slight, morally ambiguous, anti-climax. Nonetheless, I am seduced by the style of these movies - the great soundtrack, the slow-motion, the perfectly framed photography - although there is something motionless about them, as if by capturing the exact picture as it appears in the graphic novel they somehow remove it from the movement that is inherent to movies. This is a very strange film, I found, quite had to get your head around, and definitely only for fans of the genre.

Monday

I think it's important to warn that the second half of the title Marley & Me is almost as important as the first half. The movie is as much about 'Me', the reporter John Grogan, as it is about 'Marley', a slightly insane dog. Mentioning that I'd seen the film to people they would say: 'oh, the dog movie, why did you see that?'. I did wonder as I sat down in the cinema what I was about to watch: there were large groups of young girls sitting with us in the theatre. I turned to Gill and said 'what have you done to me?'. Nonetheless, I can safely say that this is quite an adult film. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are suitably heart-warming and sweet, with believable on-screen chemistry. It's a sunny, easy film, not too sentimentally written, although the 'low points' are cushioned and easy to swallow. I wonder if it's destined to be one of those movies that adults in twenty years talk about watching as a child. I think it lacks a dynamic edge to be truly memorable. If you aren't manipulated into tears by the ending, you're a better man than me. Although the site of all the bawling girls did make me start to laugh. I have to say this film succeeds in everything it set out to do, and of course you already know if you want to see it or not. As you might expect, I won't be seeing it again.