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Billy Elliot - (2000)
It would be easy to dismiss
Billy Elliot as "one of those movies nan likes" - but it really is well made and has that spark of creative magic about it that all great films have. It's not just a "chase your dream" movie - it's a "chase your dream,
and be whoever you want to be" movie. For a boy growing up in a mining town to ditch the boxing gloves and take up ballet, there's always going to be resistance - from Billy's (Jamie Bell) brother to his father - so for him it takes a true belief that he should go ahead and answer the call to be a dancer, despite whatever others say. The movie tries to instill that belief in others. Julie Walters can still manage 'down to earth' and shade it with a little "I should have amounted to more". The soundtrack is to die for as far as I'm concerned. Just stuffing it with T. Rex songs was inspired. Jamie Bell himself (how did Stephen Daldry get that performance out of him?) is absolutely brilliant - and a supreme pleasure to watch. Watching Gary Lewis (Billy's dad) go from disappointed in him to fretting about Billy getting into the dance academy is so satisfying. All of it is - I love
Billy Elliot, and nan is right for liking it.
8/10
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Night Watch - (2004)
I remember watching this when it came out and not liking it. This second time was a little better - perhaps it's because I watched it in Russian with English subtitles - that can make all the difference. To tell you the truth though, I remembered
nothing, so maybe I never payed it enough attention. In
Night Watch it's the forces of good versus the forces of evil - vampires and mystics, etc, who are at peace but will one day go to war - normally I'm not into that, but this film puts more of a darkly comic slant on everything and that makes a difference. Tries a little too hard in the end to become a real "epic" though, and I wished it had of stayed a simpler, funny film - there's no competing with big budget Hollywood CGI monstrosities, and why would you want to anyway? During some of the stuff with the yellow van, you can tell toys are being used. It's heart is in the right place, with much dry Russian humour and many down to earth characters.
6/10
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The Visitor - (1979)
Absolute lunacy at 24fps - but wonderful all the same. Reviewed
here, on my watchlist thread.
7/10