Recent flicks

Watching The Graduate for the umpteenth time. I just found out that the director, Mike Nichols, also directed the truly diabolical ‘Wolf’ (which from memory starred Jack Nicholson?). How the mighty fall – The Graduate must be one of the finest films ever made, Wolf, one of the worst?

The Last Party 2000 – a gripping doco that anyone with an interest in the 2000 US presidential election should watch. Hosted by that Seymour Hoffman dude, it features interviews with Noam Chomsky, Jesse Jackson, various democratic and republican senators and representatives, movie stars and musicians, and Michael Moore (who shouldn’t really be mentioned in the same sentence as the Chomster, but there you go). What can I say? This is a fantastic doco – go to the movie rental joint and rent it ASAP.

This is Spinal Tap – ha ha ha! Really funny. Now I see where David Brent comes from – The Office has pretty much ripped this idea off (and not that I have anything against The Office – I think that it is superb, but now I know whose shoulders it stands on).

And lastly, Jane Campions ‘In the Cut ‘. Beautifully made and acted, but it is none the less routine. It adds nothing to the genre (a ‘thriller ‘ which revolves are a serial killer preying on young woman. Yawn.) as not only is the obligatory twist rather predictable, but the characters aren’t especially likable. I’m not a Meg Ryan fan, but this must rate as one of her better performances. This is typically gritty sexual Campionesque drama, but not a shade on some of here previous work.