Movie of the week: The Lion King
While I started off this week pretty slowly, I ended this week with a bang, heading off to the cinema 3 times in one weekend as well as watching heaps of great other films. The week began with what is still Hitchcock's greatest film, Psycho, which I not only used for entertainment purposes, but also for study purposes. It was a film I had to write on, along with Donnie Darko for an exam. With the The Thing remake being released this week, I decided to go and watch John Carpenter's 1982 version. While it wasn't the classic masterpiece that many claimed it to be, it was still a great horror film with wicked special effects and a nice amount of suspense throughout.
This week I was also introduced to the character of Harry Callahan with the great Dirty Harry, which perhaps wasn't the brilliant film I was hoping it to be, but was a great and entertaining film all the same. That character, and Eastwood, was something else though. My first cinema viewing of the week was that of Real Steel, which wasn't exactly my choice of film (not that there was much else to see at the cinema we were at), but I'll be honest: I enjoyed it quite a bit. I mean sure, it wasn't The Dark Knight, but it was certainly a lot of fun and one of the year's guiltiest pleasures.
I managed to squeeze in two Kubrick films this week, one of them being his 1950's heist flick The Killing, which I felt was a bit underwhelming until that ending, which I think is one of the best ending I've seen. The Killing pales, though, next to Dr Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which is undoubtedly one of the funniest films ever made. They were both worthy additions to my Kubrick viewing canon, though I still have shit loads to see. I'm hoping to watch Paths of Glory this week. One film that really impressed me this week was an Australian psychological erotic drama The Book of Revelation, one of the more underrated films I've seen in quite sometime. It was arty, it was gutsy, it was brave, intriguing and featured a powerhouse central performance from Tom Long. It's something that you should consider checking out, although it's definitely not for kids (hence the R rating).
My second cinema trip was to what is now one of my favourite films of the year: Midnight In Paris. Woody Allen's latest was one of the most enjoyable times I've had in the cinema all year. It had an awesome screenplay, a cast to die for (any film that has Rachel McAdams AND Marion Cotillard is a keeper) and a great visual sense, making for a real treat. I was underwhelmed, though, with the animated film Rio, which I had high hopes for, but was ultimately let down. Make no mistake, it was a pleasant enough watch, with some breathtaking visuals, but it just added up to nothing.
Despite all these films, the week belonged to one film and one film only: The Lion King. Yes, hear it roar. I actually viewed it twice this week, which shows you how much I love the film. I bought it on Blu-Ray first, on which it looks absolutely stunning. That viewing literally had me in tears of nostalgia, as it brought back so many childhood memories. The second time was actually in the cinema, which was an incredible experience. Not because of the 3D (which unfortunately but unsurprisingly dimmed the beautiful colour palette), but because I got to see this classic in the cinema, something that'll probably never happen again.
So there you have it. A great week dominated by a certain animated film that will forever live in my memory. Here are my ratings for the week:
Psycho 5/5
The Thing (1982) 4.5/5
Dirty Harry 4.5/5
Real Steel 3/5
Dr Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The
Bomb 5/5
The Lion King 5/5
The Lion King 3D 4/5 (The 3D, not the film itself)
Midnight In Paris 4.5/5
Rio 3/5
The Book of Revelation 4/5
The Killing 4.5/5
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