Its been so long since I have added my short reports on films I’ve seen, I thought I would do a catch up exercise. I’ll try to add a 1-2 line comment to each.
This is about 15 months of DVD rentals via a mail service + a few I own. Still trying to remember some.
(most recent first)

No Man’s Land (aka Nicija Zemlja) - a film about ennemi soldiers stuck in a trench while the UN try to get them out. Manages to be both profoundly “human” and terribly cynical at the same time. An incredible story, with humour but very dark in the end. Some incredible lines… like this bosnian soldier in a sad trench, reading the paper and going “what a terrible mess, in rwanda!”

The Chorus (aka Les Choristes) - lovely film, excellent acting including by the children and teens. The story is “teacher changes pupils’ life”, a classic theme, but the whole film is quite subtle and understated and so enjoyable. The music can only be described as luminous. I enjoyed it. I hear they are going to remake it in the UK/US and can only worry - they will probably add mounds of drama (one or more of death! sex! guns!)…

Brotherhood (aka Taegukgi) - a film about the Corean war, following two brothers recruited by force. Not knowing much about the Corean war I found it very good, as it seemed to show the chaos and absurdity of war, and a lot of incompetence and malice on all sides. I totally got immersed in it, the supension of disbelief held through which is quite rare for me

Spring, Summer, Autumn Winter...And Spring - kind of a zen buddhist film, hard to describe. It is poetic, and sad, and full of morals about detachment and such things. Had great reviews and I did like it, but i would not recommend it to everyone.

Everything Is Illuminated - I loved this one. It had the kind of surreal-humoristic tone I love (which you find in lots of film I like from Drive to Big Fish to Black Cat/White Cat...) in spite of tackling a very sensitive subject… and doing it with great care. It seems the book is even more surreal and irreverant, I will have to dig it up.

Etre Et Avoir - a documentary which simply films a teacher in a small town in rural france, and how he gets about with his pupils etc. It doesnt comment or explain, just shows what happens. It’s kind of luminous as a result, and I think it shows that the profession of teaching deserves more prestige than it has…

Infernal Affairs 3 - I got confused and I have seen both previous films about a year ago. Seemed one for the fans, as it just expects you to remember everything. It also “closes” some of the threads left open from IA 1

Old Boy - another surreal film. A man is brutally jailed for years as revenge for something he did, but he doenst know what. When he gets out and tries to figure out why, things get very brutal. The mutilation bits really bothered me…

Black Cat, White Cat (aka Crna macka, beli macor) - Lovely wacky slightly surreal film about life in a small town on the danube. Very fun.

Zatoichi - I was a bit disappointed in that one compared to all the reviews around it. It has some very clever characters, though, and hugely enjoyable moments, but somehow i just didnt buy into it…

Kung Fu Hustle - surreal and fun and so full of hommage and pastiche and references to great films that came before. Hugely clever, maybe too clever at times.

Sin City - I was a bit disappointed again, but it’s certainly not bad

Million Dollar Baby - predictable but nice

King Kong - predictable but nice. Far too many scenes put it for CGI show off (dinosaurs tumbling downhill and stuff)

Infernal Affairs 2 - I really enjoyed it. Entangled with recent Hong Kong history and the changes with the handover as well as the internationalisation of the networks (both police and mob).

Garden State - Again a slightly surreal film in which very little happens but you’re fascinated by it. Absurd situations and dialogue… I enjoyed it.

The Island - competent

Fantastic Four - competent

Home On The Range (Animation) - competent

Robots (Animation) - competent

Kingdom Of Heaven - competent. doesnt rewrite history as much as i feared it would

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - didn’t wow me as I thought it should have. still, well done film and clever

Laissez Passer (aka Safe Conduct) - I thought that was a well acted and quite ambiguous film on people trying to continue their lives and continue their job (making films) while not compromising too much

The Station Agent - another slightly surreal independant film, about a dwarf moving into a dilapidated train station and making friends. Very subtle, very human… about fitting in and not fitting in and human friendship

Mr And Mrs Smith - I thought it was quite clever

Shark Tale - competent

Madagascar (Animation) - competent

Bridget Jones : The Edge of Reason - didnt work for me. watchable, though… but too much “more of the same”

Cold Mountain - I’d say its a story about human courage and going on… It was certainly ok didnt leave as much of an impression though

Joan Of Arc: The Messenger - was ok

The Life Aquatic - that one is a pastiche and just wacky and surreal. Interesting casting in the roles, totally off-the-wall characters… I laughed quite a bit.

Jakob The Liar - kind of had totally passed me by when it first came out, but quite enjoyable in spite of the subject of it

The Motorcycle Diaries (aka Diarios de motocicleta) - I enjoyed it

Rabbit Proof Fence - quite an incredible true story behind it

I, Robot - ok, in the end. With the start material though they could have done a lot better. Hopefully someone will, one day

Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events - surreal, funny, just weird.

The Royal Tenenbaums - surreal, funny, just weird.

Hotel Rwanda - quite an incredible true story. kind of an interesting “circle” with the film i watched recently, no mans land, which happens in bosnia and has the same “UN people on the ground trying to help with what little they can”

Team America : World Police - irreverent but stops being funny after about 30 minutes, then its just the same over and over…

House Of Flying Daggers - beautiful, but seemed a bit confused and pointless at times. the film ends and you’re like “oh, that was it, what was the point”. “The last of the mohicans” was another film that left me thinking they really didnt need to make a film about it… OK i am unfair

Infernal Affairs - I love this film. Now remade in the us as “the departed”. Both are worth seeing.

Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow - watchable

Pot Luck (aka L’Auberge Espagnole) - funny, weird and so profoundly human

8 Women - another weird story, brilliantly acted, with surprise musical interludes… agatha christie meets “on connait la chanson”. Surprise twists, and I am not often surprised

Ray - brilliantly acted

Starsky & Hutch - competent

Open Range - I really liked that one. Now I did grow up on a diet of westerns and this is like visiting an old friend. A good film.

The Day After Tomorrow - it was OK

Lost In Translation - another one of those surreal, humanistic films I like