[Handyman Joe]

Merry Xmas everyone -managed to cram in a few this week

The Lady From Shanghai - My fav Welles movie - there's a wonderful dreamlike flow to this, from the soundtrack (torch songs, tiki tiki, flamenco - it's Tarantino before he was conceived) to the show stopping, breathtaking set pieces to the sheer star power of Rita Haywoth, I just love this film. it lives in Kane's shadow but is tighter, stranger and somehow more timeless - check it out.

To Have and Have Not - Pretty much Casablanca's little brother - Bogie a cynical loner who ends up fighting the Nazis despite himself - sound familiar? I miss the strength in depth of Lorre, Raines and Greenstreet but what a front two in Bogart and Bacall. It's beautifully shot and the musical numbers are cool personified - oh to be in this bar drinking bourbon, fag in hand. Superior Hollywood in its greatest period, enough said.

Oblivion - While since I've seen a Cruise movie, but nothing much has changed. This is one of those hypocritical contemporary movies that predicates and justifies human survival on its cultural, artistic yearnings while at the same time being an incarnation of the exact opposite - a pretty picture, dialogue dumb CGI cash grab. OK for its type but that's not saying too much.

The Fantastic Mr Fox - I put this off for ages because I love Wes Anderson and didn't fancy him spending movie making time doing a kids film - more fool me, it's brilliant, actually indistinguishable from the rest of his oeuvre in terms of dialogue, look, music - everything in fact, bar species type. Great stuff.

The Woman in Black (1989) - I needed a late night Xmas night creep out - where else to turn but this sadly buried and forgotten masterpiece. The remake was over set designed to within an inch of its life (hey let's have 60 creepy dolls!) but this gets it right - 5 appearances by the WiB every one of them terrifying (especially no. 4 which is in my top 5 nightmare inducing what the f*** moments in cinema)) - I would LOVE Arrow to get their hands on this, one of the truly great ghost stories.

Stagecoach - Phenomenal western - the climactic chase with its unbelievable non trickshot stunt work has moe excitement than the entirety of Oblivion. It's a funny, exciting, melancholy movie and essential viewing whether you like Westerns or not.