Movie Madness

Over the last week I seem to have watched a lot of movies, heres a quick run down.

American Psycho

Had this kicking around and finally watched it. Very messed up and with a delicously wicked sense of humour. Christian Bale puts in a fine performance as the 80s businessman/psychotic serial killer who just seems to completely lose control. The end does leave you stroking your chin though, makes me want to read the book…

NARC

A lot grittier than I was expecting, this isn’t Bad Boys 2. It follows two washed-up detectives as they look into the death of an undercover officer. The opening sequence realy grabs your attention, dropping you in at the deep end. Not the happiest film in the world, but it has its surprises. Its also good to see a (slightly chubby) Ray Liotta in a decent role, as he seems to do very little these days.

Harry Potter 2

Ok, ok its not just for children. I was pleasantly surprised with the first film, its a cracking good fantasy film. The 2nd is probably not as good but still has the dark edge, superb special effects and annoying child acting. Excellent comedy performance by Kenneth Branagh as ‘Gilderoy Lockhart’ the big-headed celebrity ‘magician’. If I was 10 though I think I would have trouble following the plot. There were quite a few leaps and bounds, which if you haven’t read the book (I know, I know, its on the list of doom) can be a bit jumpy.

25th Hour

This is the cat among the pigeons, directed by Spike Lee and starring Ed Norton. Norton is a drug dealer about to spend a long stretch in prison and wants to have one last night out with this friends. Over the ’25 hours’ he realises how much of his life he has thrown away and basically how much he has screwed-up. Spike Lee somehow crowbars in a load of 9/11 stuff that in my opinion doesn’t quite sit right, just a bit too much american chest-beating. But, on the upside, Norton has a brilliant f**k-you speech where he confronts himself in a bathroom mirror, one of the highlights of the film. The end of the film is also quite crafty and really has you going for a minute…