"Betty Blue" (1986)
Really enjoyed this. Beautifully shot with a great soundtrack. Both the leads are excellent, particularly Béatrice Dalle as Betty. Has a kind of tragic tone that runs throughout which I always like in films. Only thing I would say is that at around 3 hours it did feel a little long.
8/10
"Our Little Sister" (2015)
Another great one by Koreeda. Like most of his films it's quite subtle with not much happening for large periods. Still, the characters are interesting and very well developed, great dialogue and interesting locations. He gives you a great insight into the culture of the town and by the end you almost feel as though you've been there yourself.
9/10
"Submarine" (2010)
Wow, I really hated this one. It's directed by Richard Ayoade who I usually like and find funny and the reviews were good so I had reasonably high expectations. For me the comedy just didn't work at all mainly due to the main character. The whole film just lived and died with him. He was annoying, whiny, self-centred, cruel and just generally reprehensible. Also I thought the actor who played him was pretty poor. I haven't seen him in anything else though so it might have just been the script. Some of the other characters were pretty insufferable as well (his girlfriend especially) but nobody even compared to him. The story was very weak and never even tried to do anything noteworthy or thought-provoking. My mam was in the room while I was watching this but she left and wouldn't come back in until it was over because she thought it was that bad. I think that's a pretty fair assessment.
1/10
The Karate Kid (1984)
I've had the DVD for this I'd say for at least 10 years but never got around to watching it until the other day. I've also never seen any of the other ones so I didn't know what to expect but I was a bit worried that I might find it too childish. Overall, I thought it was pretty good actually. Ralph Macchio was excellent. His humour was on point and made me laugh several times. The relationship between him and Pat Morita was really nicely handled. Even when they did go into the student-master clichés, the good chemistry between them stopped it from becoming stale. Only slight drawback was that I thought the music was a bit erratic. At times, particularly for the first hour or so, it didn't seem to be matching what was happening on screen at all. Overall, enjoyable movie that I'd have no problems watching again.
7/10