Caché, The Man in the Iron Mask, Hollywoodland

This week, I have mostly been watching MOVIES. Many of them. This is the first of three blogs I have queued up, and it's the first time I've had a chance to write it in between watching them. In fact, I'm watching The Merchant of Venice right now.

#1 - Caché (Hidden)

Stars - Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou
Director - Michael Haneke
Memorable Quote - Not a quote, but actually the more memorable part for me was the unintelligible dialogue at the end.
Review - MICHAEL HANEKE, YOU GUYS. I think I finally have a favourite director. This man is quite clearly a genius, and one of the DVD gems of this is the interview he did about the film, which reveals a lot. Anyway, the film - normally I would find an ending like this so frustrating, but I like it because of that "thing" in the final scene (which, according to Haneke, only about 50% of viewers actually notice). It gives you the chance to have your own ideas about what happened - and I love the ambiguity of the whole storyline, actually. Always having to guess what is real and what is a tape, whether Auteuil's character is telling the truth, and who is the culprit behind the videos - I love it! I don't want to give anything about this film away so I'll say no more, except that I recommend this heartily. 6/5

#2 - The Man in the Iron Mask

Stars - Leonardo diCaprio x2, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu
Director - Randall Wallace
Memorable Quote - 'I'm a genius, not an engineer.'
Review - So, shortly after watching The Three Musketeers, I returned to D'Artagnan and co with this rewatch, courtesy of channel 5. And this is another of the same line of thought as the previous, though the comedy comes from the wrong places - Malkovich's acting, for instance. He's just far too camp to play a hero! Also, diCaprio's strangely effeminate screams and fits of anger inspire laughter rather than fear. Still, who wouldn't want a chance to look at that pretty little face for an hour or so? And at least by watching a film version you don't have to read your way through all that flowery prose that Dumas would have presented to you. 3/5

#3 - Hollywoodland

Stars - Adrien Brody
Director - Allen Coulter, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins
Memorable Quote -
Review - I've always been a fan of Adrien Brody, and his performance here is no less brilliant than you might expect from him. I enjoy the way the film is set out - with the three different possibilities all played out and you as the viewer left to choose (though it seems the Brody character believes it was suicide). Certain parts of the movie feel a little awkward, however, and Affleck's part seems almost uncomfortably true to life. Not a bad movie, not an amazing spectacle either, but somewhere inbetween. 3.5/5