FILM: Nosferatu: The Vampyre

Another film by Herzog, this is a really interesting look at the legend of Dracula; Nosferatu being an archaic Romanian word for 'vampire'.
Our main character, Jonathan, rides from Wismar, Germany, to Dracula's castle in Transylvania (yeah, he rides the entire way on horseback seemingly without any breaks...) to talk to Count Dracula about the deeds to a large house Dracula wishes to buy in Wismar.
Dracula locks Jonathan in his castle and drinks his blood at night. He leaves the castle hidden in a pile of coffins and is shipped onto a boat to Wismar, followed by a swarm of disease-ridden rats.
Dracula is particularly fascinated by Jonathan's wife, Lucy, who lets him drink her blood one night to be caught by the morning sun, which kills him.
Each role is brilliantly played. Klaus Kinski plays the sinister and haunted Dracula, Isabelle Adjani plays Lucy, the unheard heroin who suffers Dracula and the wake of chaos he leaves behind, and Bruno Ganz plays Jonathan who slowly turns into a vampire because of Dracula's bite. Kinski plays Dracula in a way that shows he is cursed, not merely evil. It's a haunted and lonely character - I began to feel sorry for him.
The story of Dracula is too famous for the film to be full of surprises, but it is wonderfully suspenseful and full of surreal moments and great acting that we forget we know the story.

FILM: Aguirre, The Wrath of God

This was the first in a line of Klaus Kinski films directed by Werner Herzog. Kinski, possibly mad himself, is brilliant at playing the insane.
This is a slow moving film about a group of Spanish soldiers (though the film is in German) who are searching for El Dorado against all odds.
They befall many troubles along the way, a lot of them due to the madness of Aguirre, and the following he gathers when threatening violence.
From starvation and sickness, the group of soldiers all die, and the film ends with a mad Aguirre stumbling around, talking to himself.
With hints of incest, and clear madness, and a lot of death, this film is dark in a calm sort of way.
It's a 'stick at it' kind of film - it's an exploration into madness and leaders, not plot.
If you're interested in discovering arty foreign films, this is a good start.

FILM: Leon - TOP 5

This film shot it's way into my top 5 favourite films of all time before it had even finished.
Jean Reno is now one of my favourite actors of all time. He's always brilliant at every role he does.
This film sat in my 'to watch' pile for months - why on earth did I neglect it?

 A 12 year old girl, Mathilda, (Natalie Portman's first role!) finds her abusive family murdered in her flat and takes refuge with her neighbour, Leon, who turns out to be a hit man. With a lot of persuasion, Mathilda has Leon teach her how to be a hit man - how to use guns, how to hit a moving target etc.
Mathilda wants to get revenge on the corrupt and malicious policeman who murdered her family (played by Gary Oldman).
It's a dark film that addresses the issues of childhood and innocence, and the relationship between a fully grown man and a 12 year old girl who is, in some sense, incredibly mature for her age, and in others, very vulnerable and in need of love and care.

You will totally fall for Leon within minutes - he's a down to earth, hard-hearted, depressed man, yet the most wonderful father-figure; so understanding, so kind, so thoughtful, and protective.
No, it doesn't have a happy ending  - or a happy anything, really. But it's beautiful, and the acting is astoundingly good.

FILM: Mullholland Drive

I struggled with this one.
Basically, the plot is told backwards. The question is, when you reach the end of the film, can you work out the sequence of events? Can you work out what is actually going on?

The acting is great, and the cinematography etc etc, however, the plot is very hard to grasp and, though that's kind of the point of the film, there's being subtle and mysterious, and then there's downright confusion.
It's always good when you finish a film and find yourself discussing its finite details - but what if? Why did he do that? I loved it when...etc. It's not so good when you finish the film so dumbfounded that you have to spend half an hour working out what actually happened - and even when you've worked it out, you're not 100% sure you're right.
That could appeal to some - those who like films about madness, films full of mystery, films that play with the idea of plot...I just found it difficult to keep track of things.
There were so many bizarre things that went unexplained (what was the homeless guy about?). I suppose you could say they were left to the imagination...but we were given no hint as to how some scenes had any correlation to anything that the imagination simply has no idea what to do with itself.
The concept itself, once you begin to understand what you just watched, is brilliant. It's a really clever look into madness. Sometimes you hear people say "just stick with it, it's gets good" or "things start to unravel soon". With this film...stick to the end (I know that may be a big ask for some). It becomes a very good film at the end, and it might unravel itself to you.

FILM: Jason Bourne

The latest film in the Bourne saga, this film did not disappoint.
Remember when they thought it was a good idea to have a Bourne film without Matt Damon? Yeah...we're glad that idea is down the drain.
This film harkens back to the Matt Damon's brilliant portrayal of Jason Bourne, looking at things from a new angle, this time.
So Jason knows who he is, he mostly knows his background, he remembers why and how he was shot in the first place...but there's more history to be uncovered - history that he didn't forget, he just didn't know about it.
It's all centred around the mysterious death of his father...

It's full of the action and great dialogue we've come to know. We get a car chase! It's back to the brilliance of the old Bourne films, with intelligence and wit, emotion, and brutal reality.
I've always loved the Bourne films.
The first film will always be the best in the series, the second  lacked a bit, the third picked up, the Bourne Legacy was a traincrash, and the fourth - this new one - sits somewhere inbetween 1 and 3.
If you like action films, Matt Damon, and/or the old Bourne films, watch this new one!

FILM: Le Visiteur

So you thought The Princess Bride was silly?
This is of the same ilk but sillier. 
A 12th century knight get accidentally sent to the end of the 20th Century by a wizard (who looks suspiciously like Merlin). 
Hilarity and chaos ensues. Our knight, Godefroy, finds the descendent of the woman he was supposed to marry, who is convinced he is her estranged cousin (they look so alike) who has gone mad and thinks he's a 12th century knight.
The descendent of the servant, Jacquouille, is rich and owns a large hotel and the two families still work closely together.
Jacquouille befriends a woman who lives on the streets.
While trying to convince everyone of their true identity, Godefrey and Jacquouille must find the descendent of the wizard to give them the right potion and send them back in time. 

The film is done brilliantly. It is a hilarious, light-hearted fun watch. 
Jean Reno, the wonderful french actor (who is known for much more serious roles!) is fabulous, somehow managing to keep a straight face. 
If you like Monty Python and The Princess Bride, I guarantee you'll like this film! Don't be put off by the fact that it's in French. If you're put off by subtitles, you're going to miss some of cinema's greatest films.

FILM: The Martian

Matt Damon totally shone in this film.
It's one of those close looks at one person's survival in a bizarre situation (compare it to '127 Hours' and 'Gravity'). Mark Watney is part of an astronaut crew who have gone to Mars to research the soil on its surface. A huge storm forces them to hurry back to the ship - the crew all make it except Mark. He is presumed dead and is stranded. He must survive on his own scientific skill and survival tactics to keep himself alive long enough to be rescued.
The film jumps from his situation to the rescue attempt back on earth (it takes quite a while for them to figure out he's still alive).
Mark thinks up incredibly clever ways of growing food, of keeping himself occupied, and finally, of communicating with earth.
We watch Mark Watney go through so much - pain, fear, joy, excitement, loneliness... of all things, what troubles him most is his loneliness.
There are so many barriers for him to break through, and so many ups and downs that it keeps the plot moving. The majority of the film is watching his mind at work.
It's not an easy part to play - Matt Damon is having to slowly and subtly develop the character's mental state throughout the film, showing his character's change from beginning to end.
It's not an earth-shattering film as the survival idea has been done before, but the ingenuity of Mark Watney is done well, and Damon's acting is fabulous (not sure if I could say the same for the characters on earth and the rest of his crew, though...)

FILM: Captain Fantastic

If you like Viggo Mortensen, watch this film. If you're interested in alternative ways of bringing up children, watch this film. If you're interested in education, watch this film. If these three things don't appeal to you...watch this film - because they will afterwards.
Ben Cash (Viggo) and his wife decided on a radical way to bring up their children. They bought a camper van and set up a self-contained home in a forest in America. The children are being brought up in the woods, away from normal society, learning to survive by the land. They are educated by their father who has them reading literature, philosophy, and history from a young age, and quizzes them on their knowledge and opinions; it is very important to him that they have their own opinions.
That is, until their mother kills herself.
They have to leave home and drive a long way across America, integrating with modern society, to go to their mother's funeral.
It has hilarious consequences, interesting consequences, and some quite gruelling consequences.
The children do not fit in with modern society; they think and behave differently to other children, and were educated differently. As a result, there are some hilarious encounters with the outside world. It also brings up some interesting points about child-rearing, and education. At first, we're enchanted with the radical path Ben and his wife chose, but it soon becomes clear that it's not as perfect as it seems.

FILM: The Jungle Book

For those who don't know the story: Mowgli is an orphan child who was found in the jungle by Bagheera, the panther, and raised by wolves (Mowgli is referred to as the 'man cub'). Shere Khan, the infamous tiger (who killed Mowgli's father) has come back to their part of the jungle looking for the 'man cub', so Mowgli must leave the wolf pack to keep them out of danger. The plan is to take him to the man village though, of course, this plan is derailed and Mowgli ends up having adventures and meeting some new animals...

This remake of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' is inevitably going to be compared to the famous Disney version. It stays closer to the book than the Disney version is however, for fans of the Disney version, it does reference some of the famous songs, such as Bear Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You.
The visual effects in this film are astounding and the brilliant animation of the animals really adds to the story.
Ignoring the fact that it is set in India, yet his accent is distinctly American, the part is played pretty well considering the age of Neel Sethi, and the fact that he's having to act on his own since all of the other characters are digitally made.

FILM - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The wizarding world's new story - based on the non-fiction book referenced in Harry Potter, Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them, written by Newt Scamander.
It explores the coming together of his to-be-written book which, later, makes him a famous magi-zoologist.
However, the writing of this book isn't the focus of the story. Newt has come to New York to find a rare creature for his suitcase - a suitcase which holds a huge sanctuary for endangered species and injured animals that Newt has saved and learned about in his travels.
His simple plan to retrieve one creature soon spirals out of control and his creatures manage to find their way out of his suitcase...in a society where wizards and muggles are more divided than ever.
The plot is set up nicely, with promise of a hilarious adventure, and the great Eddie Redmayne playing our main character.
However, I felt that the film didn't quite live up to the hype. There comes a time when a successful franchise just needs to stop - I think the world of Harry Potter has already gone on too long (don't get me wrong - I am a big HP fan).
There are two main characters in the film that I think they could have done without (the mind-reading flapper girl, and the baker); they're not very fleshed out characters. There are also quite a lot of plot holes - how is our detective woman an auror in the American ministry of magic when she's such a bumbling mess all the time? There are wizards and witches who can read minds (without having studied occlumency)? There are also a few issues with the rules set out in the wizarding world - eg wand law (but I won't go into that now as it's super-nerd stuff).

Book: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Short and simple (much like this post), but brilliantly written. I read this cover to cover on a 3 hour train journey.
I think if I hadn't known the oh-so-famous twist it would have been more interesting - I suppose the phenomenon of double personality disorder was less known when this was written, hence the fictional, fantastical exploration of insanity in this book.
I loved the sinister description of Mr Hyde, and the magic elements of chemistry experiments. It's very much about the magic-like qualities of the basic elements of nature; scientific elements mirroring the basic elements of human nature.
When I say 'magic', I don't refer to the magic we see in Harry Potter or Narnia; it's more a darker, sinister, unnatural phenomena.
It's brilliant for a 'classic literature' fix, especially when you have got the strength/time/energy to make your way through the significantly heavier books of this sort, eg Dickens, Hardy etc.

I hadn't read anything by Robert Louis Stevenson before, but I'll be adding some of his to my mile long reading list...

This is another tick on my reading challenge!