filmic!

I've had quite a good strike-rate with films recently, so I thought I'd write up what I've seen:

The Social Network - as long as you don't go into this film thinking it was going to be true to life, it was an engrossing yarn. I'm sure that the real story is way more boring than what was depicted here, so it was interesting to see how they engineered conflict and drama where in reality it was probably weeks of boring coding and programming! It's amazing that all of this has happened so recently! They had a great scene at the Henley Regatta which was shot through this weird filter to make it look like a toy town. Really good performances too, I especially liked Andrew Garfield as the deposed co-founder and initial investor - he'd been in a couple of BBC things that I'd liked.

The Ghost Writer - the story (a thinly veiled approximation of Tony Blair getting indicted for war crimes) was really what attracted me but it also had a good cast (especially Olivia Williams and Kim Catrall) and Roman Polanski as the director. Story didn't disappoint and the moody, cold, wet setting on Long Island (actually filmed Denmark or somewhere I think) was suitably claustrophobic. It did get a bit silly and overdramatic in some bits but I did get suitably swept up.

The American - George Clooney and Anton Corbijn, what's not to like! Story itself was a bit average but it was nice and moody, although shocking in bits

Also, what's with all the definitives?

Next up - Harry Potter!