contra mundum

365 films

#35 Hot Fuzz

The amount I love Edgar Wright as a writer/director cannot be understood. Everything has a purpose, and not just some obscure pretentious purpose only the director understands. There’s a moment when an actor looks down the camera? Let’s not reshoot. We’ll just stick a till noise on the top and emphasise that breaking of the fourth wall. We’ll give away the entirety of the plot in the first few minutes, if you know what you’re looking for. Everything has a point. Even throwaway lines, like ‘even farmers’ mums carry guns’. Also, it makes me homesick. 

365 films

#34 High School Musical 2

It may be implied that I didn’t like the first film. I do. I just think it’s bloody awful as well. The second one is so much better. Ryan gets screen time, for one thing, and has such a lovely bit of development. Better songs. Fabulous. There’s hardly anything you need to skip through! Except Gabriella’s song. Even Bet On It is hilarious, because Troy is ORANGE and wearing some kind of all-black outfit to better display his emotional pain.

365 films

#33 Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Most people I’ve ever met are split between wanting to have sex with Jack Sparrow or Will Turner, or wanting to be one of them. To varying degrees, obviously - some people just go for the eyeliner or the overly expansive gestures. Not me. I’d like to be Barbossa’s mate. I’d be an amazing pirate. And Barbossa is blatantly the coolest one. Not the best pirate film (Muppet Treasure Island, obviously), but still a classic of my teenage years. 

365 films

#32 The Princess and the Frog

This is the film that makes me happy, because Disney are making good films again. It’s proper classic animation. Dr Facilier is one of the great Disney villains. The songs make me want to dance. 

365 films

#31 High School Musical

I get so much flak for liking these films. But I think they are good. Not for the main couple. I tend to skip through all Troy and Gabriella bits. But LUCAS GRABEEL’S HIPS. Also, I wrote an essay about the films. They have so much stuff in the film about how you can be whoever you want to be, but then go about reasserting the norm constantly. You can be different, but only ‘in a good way’. There are bad ways to be different. Like the repressed homosexuality.

365 films

#30 Tage Wie Jahre

We watched this because our friend is in it. It’s a short film, but a good one. 

365 days of film

#29 True Grit

Long time no tumble. But True Grit! I don’t like Westerns much. There’s just something about them that bores me slightly. I think the only reason I agreed to see this was because it was getting so much Oscar buzz. Bloody hell, it deserved it. Every piece of dialogue just crackles (oh, the amount I could write about the Coen brothers and their scripts) and the acting’s brilliant. Hailee Steinfeld fully deserved her Oscar nomination. 

365 days of film

#28 Basil The Great Mouse Detective

This is one of the lesser known Disney films. I can kind of understand why – a lot of its humour and storyline doesn’t make sense unless you have a good working knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. Basil’s mercurial moods, his dependence on the violin, the bumbling nature of Dawson in reference to so many portrayals of Watson.

I know I didn’t like it much as a child. It was only when I turned 11 and started reading all the books that I went back to it. The ending is actually a load of nightmare fuel, isn’t it? As soon as it all starts going wrong for Ratigan – Basil bursting out at the palace – Ratigan turns into a terrifying figure. Up until that point, he’s been bad enough. Being voiced by Vincent Price can do that. But when he fully embraces his rat nature? Argh. And the inside of Big Ben? Double argh.

365 days of film

#27 Tangled

I thought Tangled was all right. I liked the thugs. And I thought Mother Gothel got an amazing song. Maximus was fun, although possibly too reminiscent of Achilles from Hunchback. And then the big romantic song was essentially A Whole New World, only on a boat rather than a carpet. I think my main issue was that after everyone raving about it, I expected it to be better than The Princess and the Frog. And for some people, maybe it was. But for me, it really wasn’t.

365 days of film

#26 Rocky Horror Picture Show

Despite how it may appear, I’m not actually a massive fan of musicals. On occasion, it’s an excuse not to think about plotline, and some brilliant songs are just forced into cliched and boring stories.

Not so with Rocky Horror, I think. Ok, so maybe it’s not the most original. It’s essentially a sex-obsessed version of Frankenstein. But it’s glam, and it’s OTT, and it’s unapologetic about itself.