Starting this week on ITV 4 there is going to be a John Carpenter Season. This sounds much better than the Van Damme or Steven Seagal seasons that seem perpetually on Channel 5. I think Carpenter is one of the best directors in cinema history. A trifle bold, you might say. Admittedly his skill isn't in the intellectual film, but it's in the perfectly crafted movie-movie. In this area I think he's a genius. He writes, directs, edits and creates the music. Even his bad movies (They Live, Vampires, Ghosts of Mars) are great fun on one level. His best (Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween) are classics, endlessly reproduced. Although many people try, no one does action and suspense quite as well. The key is a kind of minimalism. Whenever he's reproduced or imitated, they go over the top, over-exaggerating the elements he portrays subtly. He does the 'group of strangers in trouble together' film better than anyone else.
In other news, I'm a little concerned about Ocean's 13 tonight. According to theguardian, it's received bizarrely mixed reviews. The Independent gave it 1 out of 10, whilst the Independent on Sunday gave it 9 out of 10. A similar reversal happened with the Times and the Sunday Times. So, we'll see.
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