Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

To remember David Lynch after his recent death, I've decided to watch his last three films. I might even rewatch "Twin Peaks", but it won't be now. Maybe later this year.

Today was the first time that I watched the bonus features on the Blu-ray. There's an interview with Richard Kelly, the director of "Donnie Darko". He said that he first saw the film in the cinema with Jake Gyllenhaal. Two films were being shown that evening. On one screen it was "Donnie Darko", probably the reason they were at the cinema, and on the other screen it was "Mulholland Drive". Richard felt honoured to see the name of his film written next to a film by David Lynch, and they decided to watch "Mulholland Drive". He says that he and Jake were blown away. Understandable. After this they went to visit Jake's parents, who lived on Mulholland Drive. It was a surreal experience.

Richard Kelly also said that he immediately understood the film. He must be smarter than me. I understand the film's main outline, but I still don't understand all the details. For me it's a more complex film than "Lost Highway". But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.

As I've said in an earlier post, the BBC has voted "Mulholland Drive" the best film of the 21st Century so far (2000-2016). I can't disagree with that, although I find some of the other inclusions on the BBC's top 100 list remarkable.

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Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

When I watched the 20th anniversary 4K restoration in the cinema earlier this month, I said that I expected a new version on disc soon. I was right. The new version of "Mulholland Drive" had already been released on 31st January, so I ordered it straight away, and it arrived in the post this morning.

The picture quality is excellent. I don't have a top quality sound system, so I can't judge the fine details of the newly mixed sound, but I can recognise some big changes. The dialogue stands out better from the background music, especially in the Club Silencio.

Normally I complain about the film critics who've lost touch with cinema audiences, but today I'll praise them. In 2016 the BBC wrote to the world's top 177 film critics and asked them to name their ten top films since 2000. I don't know what criteria the BBC used to pick the critics. I just know they didn't pick me, but they didn't pick Mark Kermode either. Or maybe he didn't want to participate. The BBC says that they invited many others who didn't want to send a list.

"The critics who participated hail from 36 countries: 81 from the US, 19 from the UK, five each from Canada, Cuba, France, and Germany, and four each from Australia, Colombia, India, Israel and Italy. Lebanon, the UAE, China, Bangladesh, Chile, Namibia, Kazakhstan and many others are represented too. Of the 177 critics, 55 are women and 122 are men".

Here's the list that was created from the replies received:

1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)

8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)

9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)

10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)

12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)

13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)

15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)

16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)

18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)

19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)

20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)

21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)

22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)

24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)

25. ​Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)

27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)

28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)

29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)

30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)

31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)

35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)

36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)

37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)

38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)

39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)

40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)

41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015)

42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)

43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)

44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)

45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)

46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)

47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)

48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)

49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)

51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)

53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)

55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)

56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)

57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)

59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)

60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)

61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)

64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)

65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)

66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)

67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)

68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)

70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)

71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)

72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)

73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)

74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)

75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)

76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)

77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)

78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)

79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)

80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)

81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)

82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)

83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)

84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)

85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)

86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)

87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)

89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)

90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)

91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)

92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)

93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)

94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)

96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)

97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)

98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)

99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)

This is probably the most representative best film list ever published. I confess that I've only seen 39 of the films in the list. For comparison, here are my top 50 films since 2000, simply put together by deleting all the older films from my all time top 100 list.

1. Donnie Darko (2001)

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

3. Tag (2015)

4. Spider-Man (2002)

5. The Wall (2012)

6. Kill Bill (2003-2004)

7. The Last Circus (2010)

8. Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)

9. The Life of Pi (2012)

10. The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

11. House of Flying Daggers (2004)

12. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

13. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

14. Downfall (2004)

15. Witching and Bitching (2013)

16. King Kong (2005)

17. Cold Fish (2010)

18. 800 Bullets (2002)

19. Django Unchained (2012)

20. Triangle (2009)

21. Deadpool 2 (2018)

22. Deadpool (2016)

23. The Door (2009)

24. Love Exposure (2008)

25. Phone Booth (2003)

26. Legend of the Fist (2010)

27. Night Train (2009)

28. Death Proof (2007)

29. Adaptation (2002)

30. The Raid 2 (2014)

31. Summer in Orange (2011)

32. Flowers of War (2011)

33. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

34. The Gift (2000)

35. Ip Man (2008)

36. Ip Man 2 (2010)

37. Snatch (2000)

38. Tragedy Girls (2017)

39. Gladiator (2000)

40. The Virgin Psychics (2015)

41. John Rabe (2009)

42. The Walk (2015)

43. Perfume (2006)

44. Little Nicky (2000)

45. Monster (2003)

46. We are the night (2010)

47. Dark Water (2002)

48. What to do in case of fire (2001)

49. Azumi (2003-2005)

50. Wie Feuer und Flamme (2001)

There are big differences between the two lists, but I have great respect for the BBC's list. It's my intention to watch all of the films in the BBC's top 20. There are 10 films in the top 20 that I've never seen, and I'll also re-watch the other films if I haven't watched them for a long time. I shan't watch them in order. I'll just slip them in with my regular viewing.

I just have a few thoughts about the BBC list for now.

I'm pleasantly surprised that "Mulholland Drive" is in first place. I already regret not including it in my own top 100 list.

It's been a long time since I watched "In the mood for love". I'll make sure that I watch it again soon.

"Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" is the highest placed film (6th place) that was also high in my list (second place).

There are three Christopher Nolan films in the BBC list, of which "Memento" is the highest. It's already on my list of films to re-watch.

I'm surprised that "Spring Breakers" made it into the list. I'll have to give it another chance.

After watching "Mulholland Drive" in the cinema this month I read film reviews by several critics, including Roger Ebert. I initially intended to quote and comment on what he wrote, but I've already written a long post today, so I'll save my thoughts till next time. If I don't forget.

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Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

I run a meetup group in Stuttgart called the Stuttgart Cinema Club. As of today, it has 2384 members. That might sound like a lot, but look what happened today. "Mulholland Drive" was shown in the cinema today, one day only, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Apart from simply posting the film for a meetup and relying on the automated messages, I wrote to all the members telling them that this is a special event and it'll be years before they can see "Mulholland Drive" in the cinema again. So how many people came? Three! Only three people for a masterpiece of cinema like "Mulholland Drive"? I have to ask why they're even members of the group. It's true, I don't expect everybody to come. Some people don't like David Lynch, some people might not have had time today. There are lots of reasonable excuses. But I expected a 1% turnout at the very least. 23 people wouldn't have been a good turnout, in my eyes, but I would have grudgingly accepted it. But three? Sometimes I despair!

"Mulholland Drive" is a film about Los Angeles, or to be precise, a film about Hollywood. Los Angeles is the City of Dreams for some and a City of Nightmares for others. "Mulholland Drive" shows the latter. When hundreds of people are competing for a few jobs in the film industry, you don't know who you can trust.

Most fans of David Lynch's films say that "Mulholland Drive" is his best film. I personally prefer "Lost Highway", which is my favourite film. Many critics call "Mulholland Drive" one of the best films ever made. When the BBC made a poll of 177 respected film critics in 2016, "Mulholland Drive" was voted the best film of the 21st Century. Click here to read the BBC's list.

I didn't include "Mulholland Drive" in my own top 100 film list. That was a mistake that I'll rectify when I (eventually) publish my revised top 100 list.

Today's film was described as being a new 4K transfer from the original negatives, supervised by David Lynch himself. That means a new 4K disc can be expected soon.

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Dark City (5 Stars)

After watching the theatrical version of "Dark City" in May, I decided to watch the director's cut today. It's noticeable how much has been re-edited. The only thing about it that I dislike is the way Kiefer Sutherland screams when he's approaching Shell Beach. That's a comment for my readers who already know and love the film. It'll confuse anyone who's never seen it, so my advice is that you go out and buy it straight away, preferably on Blu-ray. I'm not aware that it's available on any streaming services.

Rufus Sewell plays John Murdock, who's at the centre of a conspiracy. He wakes up at midnight in a bath tub with amnesia. He doesn't even know his own name until he looks at his driver's licence. There's a dead woman in the next room. He's the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Six prostitutes have been killed, and John doesn't know whether or not he's innocent.

John's wife Emma is a night club singer. John left her three weeks ago, but she thinks he's innocent.

Frank Bumstead is a lonely, brooding detective who's determined to find the murderer. The closer he gets to solving the case, the more he realises that it doesn't make sense. The last detective who was working on the case went insane, telling everyone that there is no case. It's all a game.

This is Melissa George's first role as a prostitute called May. John visits her to test himself. He wants to know whether he's capable of murder.

The psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Schreber is the only man who knows what's happening, but nobody believes him.

This is a brilliant film. It's a mystery that will thrill you from beginning to end.

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Triangle (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #36

I've read reviews criticising this film because it isn't scary enough. Shame on the reviewers who've been fooled by the packaging! The film poster and the DVD cover make it look like a horror film, but that isn't what it is. It's a supernatural mystery film. Admittedly, there's some blood in the film, but not a lot of it. If it were intended to be a horror film, there would be a lot more.

Yes, there's a message in blood written on a mirror.

Yes, there are 25 or more corpses scattered on the ship's deck, but what's more important is that the corpses are all identical.

Mirrors are significant in the film. There are many scenes where we see Jess, played by Melissa George, looking into a mirror. There's more than one of her.

Why is Jess caught in a time loop? Is she being punished for physically abusing her son? Is she being punished for not paying the taxi driver? I suspect it's the latter. After her car accident (the first time it happened) she was dead. The taxi driver is really Charon, the ferryman sent to carry her across the river to Hades. Instead of paying him, Jess thought she could cheat death by telling Charon to keep the meter running while she fled on a yacht. It's not that easy. She's forced to relive her death over and over again. Tragically, her five friends are collateral damage in Jess's punishment and have to die with her.

The film isn't totally unknown. It was a box office flop, but in the following years it's attracted fans who've seen it on DVD and Blu-ray. It's now considered a cult classic.

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Dark City (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #37

This is an amazing science fiction film with aspects of film noir and added hints of German expressionism. Calling it science fiction is already a spoiler, because the film opens without revealing its genre. After the first 15 minutes the mystery could still go in any direction, and even when there are supernatural occurrences the viewer is unsure what to make of them.

Today I read the Wikipedia page and found some interesting thoughts that weren't on the page the last time I read it. I'll quote them in full:

Theologian Gerard Loughlin interprets "Dark City" as a retelling of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". For Loughlin, the city dwellers are prisoners who do not realize they are in a prison. John Murdoch's escape from the prison parallels the escape from the cave in the allegory. He is assisted by Dr. Schreber, who explains the city's mechanism as Socrates explains to Glaucon how the shadows in the cave are cast. Murdoch however becomes more than Glaucon; Loughlin writes, "He is a Glaucon who comes to realize that Socrates' tale of an upper, more real world, is itself a shadow, a forgery". Murdoch defeats the Strangers who control the inhabitants and remakes the world based on childhood memories, which were themselves illusions arranged by the Strangers. Loughlin writes of the lack of background, "The origin of the city is off-stage, unknown and unknowable". Murdoch now casts new shadows for the city inhabitants, who must trust his judgment. Unlike Plato, Murdoch "is disabused of any hope of an outside" and becomes the demiurge for the cave, the only environment he knows.

Today I watched the original theatrical version, which is spoilt by an ugly voiceover in the opening scene. The director Alex Proyas has confirmed that the studio forced him to add the voiceover against his will. A Director's Cut was released 10 years later, removing the voiceover and making many small changes. I welcome the omission of the voiceover, but I have mixed feelings about the other changes. The additional 10 minutes footage is noticeable, but makes no difference to the film's quality. The musical score is different in places, and is definitely inferior in the Director's Cut.

My recommendation is: if you've never seen the film, watch the Director's Cut. You'll enjoy it. You won't be aware of any problem with the music, so you won't have anything to regret. Nevertheless, I consider the Director's Cut to be unnecessary. It would have been enough to add a second audio track to the theatrical version without the opening scene's voiceover.

I intend to rewatch the Director's Cut soon. Maybe next week. That's only a Maybe, so please don't hold your breath while you're waiting.

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A Lonely Place to Die (4 Stars)

I'd change one letter in the film's title. "A Lovely Place to Die" would be fitting. With the exception of the town scenes, the film was made in the area between Glen Coe and Fort William, the most attractive scenery on Earth, in my humble opinion. Scotland's highest mountains are by the sea, giving amazing backdrops. It's true, Scotland's mountains aren't as high as the mountains in central Europe, but where else can you climb a mountain starting at zero meters above sea level?

I have holiday photos that closely match this view. The forest on the right of the picture is still the same shape as it was in the 1980's. I was probably walking across the ridge in the middle of the photo. That brings back memories. I wasn't a mountain climber, I was a hiker. The west side of Ben Nevis has a path to the peak that isn't steep and can be easily climbed by anyone with average fitness.

At first glance the film looks like the story of a mountain climbing disaster. That's what I expected when I picked up the film from the bargain bin of a store in Stuttgart. That isn't the case.

Five friends (three men, two women) are in the Scottish Highlands for mountain climbing. When they're hiking towards a peak they find Anna, an eight-year-old Serbian girl, trapped in a hole. They free her and decide to take her back to the nearest town. They have no way of communicating with her to find out why she's there. The viewers soon find out. She's the daughter of a Serbian warlord who's been kidnapped and held to ransom. She was being kept in a secure place while the kidnappers were waiting for the payment of six million Euros.

The kidnappers discover that Anna is missing and hunt down the hikers. Only two survive the journey to the town, but that isn't the end. They're caught in the middle of a battle between the kidnappers and Serbian soldiers, while the Beltane festival is being celebrated in the streets around them.

This is an exciting action film. It's slightly difficult to believe that young hikers could survive while being hunted by trained soldiers, but I can accept it in the context of fiction. Melissa George is the only actress in the film that I know, and she's as excellent as always. Other reviewers criticise the plot, and I have to agree with them, but I've given it a high rating for the scenery alone.

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Triangle (5 Stars)

Beware! This review contains spoilers!

The last time I watched this film I said that I intended to listen to the director's commentary. It took me two months, but I've finally got around to it.

When I bought my first few DVD's I always listened to the commentary track, usually immediately after watching the film. That's because commentary tracks were so new and exciting. I'd never had them on video tapes. After a while I became more selective. Some commentaries just aren't interesting. It's obvious that they were recorded as a chore, because the film studio expected it. It's the commentary track that encourages fans to buy a film on disc rather than watch it on Netflix.

When I think about it, the most entertaining commentary tracks I've heard aren't the ones made by the directors. The best commentary track I've ever heard is the one by Adam West and Burt Ward on the "Batman" DVD/Blu-ray disc. I'd also buy any disc with a commentary by the film critic Joe Bob Briggs, however bad the film is. Next time I watch one of the films I'll make a full list. It's on my to do list.

Russ Meyer's film commentaries are entertaining, but not very informative. He tends to talk about everything except for the film itself.

One of the best film commentaries I've heard is the commentary by Professor Camille Paglia for "Basic Instinct". She's an intellectual and a fan. In the commentary she claims it's her favourite movie, and then she analyses each scene from a feminist perspective. Immediately after listening to her commentary I restarted the film to listen to the commentary by Paul Verhoeven, the director, but I turned it off after 10 minutes. It was much too boring.

Now let's get to "Triangle". I've watched it a few times over the years, but there are a few things I don't understand about it. In my last review I mentioned the seagulls as something that seemed to be significant in the film.

After spending 90 minutes listening to the director Christopher Smith talking about the film I understand no more than I did before, but it doesn't matter. He talked in detail about his intentions in making the film and the steps he took towards the final project. I don't want to repeat everything he said -- buy the film for yourself if you want to hear his commentary -- but I'll tell you what were the most significant things for me.

His first intention was to make a horror film in which the same person was the killer and the victim. From this he had the idea of a woman coming back from the future to kill herself and her friends. At first he wanted her to come back from the distant future, 20 or 30 years in the future, but then he decided to put everything into a single day. An early plan was to set the film in the Bermuda Triangle, but he soon abandoned this idea as too hackneyed, and all that remained of the idea was the film title. He fleshed out the story with allusions to Greek mythology, in particular the story of Aeolus and Sisyphus.

The biggest influence for "Triangle" was "The Shining" (the film, not the book). Christopher Smith wanted to make a film that would have a similar effect on the viewer. He wanted to make a film that would be unnerving, though not directly a horror film. He wanted to make a film that would be a riddle, logically structured but leaving open questions. In preparation for filming "Triangle" he read as much about "The Shining" as possible, reviews by critics and interviews with Stanley Kubrick himself.

Christopher says that there are three possible interpretations for the film. Each person must choose the one he thinks most feasible.

1. The whole film is a dream that Jess has, which begins after the car crash that kills her son.

2. The film shows Jess's mental breakdown. She suffers from schizophrenia and creates a new persona that she can blame for the evil she does.

3. Jess is caught in a mystical time loop as a punishment from the Gods.

Until now I had never considered the first two possibilities. The time loop solution is so logical to me as a science fiction fan that I never thought it could be anything else. As soon as I heard these three interpretations I thought about my favourite film, "Lost Highway". The three interpretations can also be applied to "Lost Highway". Most people interpret the film as showing Fred Madison's schizophrenia, inventing a new persona to escape the guilt of killing his wife. I've always rejected this interpretation, because a time loop is more obvious, but maybe I should accept it as an equally valid explanation of the film. In the same way the story in "Lost Highway" can be explained as a dream that Fred has at the moment of his execution in the electric chair.

I'm an intellectual. I'm not saying that to compliment myself, it's just the way I am. I have a tendency to over-interpret things, especially the films I love the most. It's not necessary. "Triangle" is a fantastic film, and it can be enjoyed by anyone, whether he understands it or not.

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Triangle (5 Stars)

Today I was discussing this film with a friend, and I realised I hadn't watched it for two years. I couldn't resist, I had to watch it again straight away. Well, maybe not immediately. I had some household chores to do, so I had to wait a few hours.

When I watch a film that I've already seen a few times I try to put myself into the mindset of not knowing what will happen next. I attempt to forget that I've seen it before. That's not completely possible, but I do it as well as I can. Today I was relatively successful. Each development in the film shocked and surprised me. I really felt as if it were a new film for me.

I also tried to understand the film again, forgetting what I had deduced in the past. This wasn't quite as easy. I quickly agreed with what I wrote in my review in 2013, which I shan't repeat here. Read that review if you want to, but beware, it contains spoilers. Today I became aware that there's one detail of the film that I don't understand. What's the significance of the seagull? I know that the film is based on Greek mythology, so there's probably a connection somewhere. I know that doves are associated with Aphrodite, but I'm not aware of seagulls playing a part in any legends. It's interesting that Jess kills a seagull every day and throws it to be eaten by crabs, after which another seagull -- or maybe the same one -- follows her on her journey.

Sometimes I'm disgusted with the viewing public. "Triangle" was filmed with a budget of $15 million, but it earned less than $2 million at the box office, making it officially a big flop. How did this happen? How could such a brilliant film have failed to attract the public's attention? Was it badly marketed? Film posters present it as a horror film, which it certainly isn't. Even the DVD covers make it look like a horror film. I wonder whether the artists responsible for the posters and DVD covers had even seen the film.

I haven't yet listened to the director's commentary on the film. That's something I ought to do. Soon.

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Dark City (5 Stars)

This is one of the best films ever made, if we turn a blind eye to the horrible voiceover at the beginning, a blunder that was fortunately removed in the Director's Cut. I included "Dark City" in my list of 30 films to watch before you die, so if you haven't seen it yet I have only one question: Why not?

Rather than write any more about the film today I'll point out a few details that you might miss if you only watch it casually. It has to do with some newspaper clippings that John Murdock finds in his coat pocket concerning a serial killer who has been murdering prostitutes. All of the following screenshots can be enlarged by clicking on them.

In the first newspaper clipping the headline reads "Killer Strikes Again", but carry on reading. The text of the article has nothing to do with a serial killer, it's about a battle between America and Japan in World War Two.

The headline of the second newspaper clipping is "Hunt for Murderer Continues", but the article's text is very curious.

A very casual woman and a man that didn't mind were very much in evidence in the police records lately. An old hatter near Castlemaine came home to find his domicile invaded by a strange woman. He admitted that he didn't mind, and next day she proposed that he should give her a legal status as his wife. As he was still indifferent, the banns were called, but before their conclusion the lady was missing.

Eventually he found her habitating with with another man. He still didn't mind, and allowed that he was willing to marry her, but before the wedding day had arrived the bride wandered into matrimony with another casual stranger, and brought the husband in to live with the late intended. He didn't mind, and continued that way until the newcomer decided to turn him out and did it in a half minute.

Very strange. The same text is repeated in the next column.

The third newspaper clipping has the headline "Street Walker Killer still at large", but read on. The article's text is the same story of the man who didn't mind that was in the second clipping. Was the man who didn't mind a killer?

The fourth newspaper clipping has the headline "Police Baffled by Murders". I'm more baffled why the article about the man who didn't mind is repeated yet again.

The fifth newspaper clipping is perhaps the most interesting. The headline reads "Killer Stalks City's Street Walkers", but the article's text has nothing to do with the murders. The picture is too blurred to read much of the article, but one paragraph is clear in the second column:

Of no less importance was the common recognition shown of the fact that any menace from without to the peace of our continents concerns all of us and therefore property is a subject for consideration and cooperation. This was reflected in the instruments adopted by the conference.

Does that sound familiar to you? I recognised it straight away. It's the same text that's written in the newspaper in "Basic Instinct" and "A Horse For Danny".

There are only five words I can use to describe these five newspaper texts.

Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy.

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Dark City (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #20

This film, made by the Australian director Alex Proyas, was a financial flop when it was released in 1998. It was filmed with a budget of $40 million, but only earned $27 million at the box office. However, it was later recognised as a cult classic, and after being released on DVD enough copies were sold to make it profitable. More than $13 million of DVD sales? That's healthy.

Visually, the film could be mistaken for film noir. It's literally a dark city, a city in which the sun never shines. There's a murder mystery, but as the film progresses it becomes less and less relevant. It's more important to find out the secret hidden in the city. The first person to discover the secret is Detective Walenski, but what he uncovers drives him mad.

The similarity between this film and "The Matrix" is unmistakable. Roger Ebert went as far as to say that "The Matrix" recycled the premise of "Dark City". Obviously the Wachowski Brothers were strongly influenced by "Dark City", but as is often said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Alex Proyas hasn't made many films in his career, but you might want to check out

• The Crow (1994)
• I, Robot (2004)
• Knowing (2009)

Triangle (5 Stars)

Is Melissa George running away from herself or trying to find herself? When she tries to do something new she ends up repeating the things she has done many times before.

One of the bad things about being a member of a film club is that I'm frequently asked awkward questions. The most awkward question is "What sort of films do you like?" For someone with tastes as varied as mine it's a difficult question to answer, and however often the question is posed it doesn't get any easier.

Maybe if I want to tell people what sort of films I like most I should point at "Triangle". It's a film that says something new to me every time I watch it. I like films with nuances, with hidden secrets that don't become obvious until the fifth or sixth time I watch them. In that respect "Triangle" is a perfect film. It's not a horror film, whatever is written on the posters, but it is very dark and unsettling. In fact, the film's dark nature is even more obvious because of the bright sunny pictures for most of the film.

"Triangle" is a film worth watching and discussing. Maybe I'll show it on one of my Saturday night film evenings.

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

No hay banda!

It might interest you to know that David Lynch opposes viewers jumping to scenes in his films. Most of the DVD releases of his films, including this one, have no chapter breaks. The Blu-ray follows a different strategy. There are 56 chapters, and there's a "Scene Selection" menu. However, it isn't possible to select a precise chapter. The Blu-ray menu selects a chapter at random. As well as this, the buttons to skip a chapter forwards or backwards are disabled.

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

Silencio!

Imagine you dream that you're dead. Then you wake up and you find out it's true. How can that be? Maybe you weren't the one who was dreaming. Maybe you were a character in someone else's dream. Maybe you still are. It could be that you only live in the dream of a dead person. If that's the case your actions are without consequences. It doesn't matter if you do good or bad. You can kill someone and never be caught. But be careful who you kill. If you kill the person in whose dream you live your existence is over.

Silencio!

30 Days of Night (3½ Stars)

This film is based on a simple premise, so simple that I'm surprised it wasn't dealt with long ago. Vampires are awake at night and sleep during the day. (Unless, of course, they happen to be in "Twilight"). So what if vampires are in the Arctic circle, where the sun doesn't rise for weeks during the winter?

The film takes place in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States. On the first day of the Arctic night, a period that lasts 30 days without sunlight, a vampire coven arrives in town. They have no intention of settling in and laying low. They want to kill every man, woman and child in the town. The film develops into a survival story. The married couple Eben and Stelle Oleson, played by Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, lead a group of survivors attempting to hold out until the sun rises. As the film progresses the group shrinks as their members are caught and killed.

This was a highly successful film, making a profit of $70 million when it was released in 2007. I don't see why. It's a good film, but I wouldn't praise it too highly. The acting is first rate, but the plot is weak. From beginning to end it's just a question of who will die next. The vampires are decidedly unglamorous, little more than wild animals. I enjoy vampire films, but I like to get to know the vampires, their thoughts and their motivations. There is nothing at all in these vampires for me to empathise with.

Turistas (4 Stars)

"Turistas" is the film's original title. In England it's been released as "Paradise Lost".

This film has been compared with "Hostel". Even the American DVD cover, shown above, mentions "Hostel". I can see the reason for the comparison, but they are very different films, both in content and style. This review will contain more spoilers than usual, so if you think you might watch the film and want to avoid spoilers, please stop reading here. The review continues after the movie poster with the delightful Melissa George, looking much sexier than she did in "Triangle".

The film follows the journey of a group of young holidaymakers in Brazil. Some are travelling together, others are meeting for the first time. After a bus crash they're stranded in a beautiful isolated location. The place is so wonderful that they don't want to leave. The fun turns into terror when they're robbed and left with nothing: no money, no luggage, no passports. Not even shoes. With the help of a native boy they try to find their way back to civilisation, but bigger danger is waiting for them. They're captured by a gang led by a surgeon who makes money from selling body organs. He operates on foreign tourists, removing their internal organs while they're still conscious.

This is, of course, the connection with "Hostel". Both films are about tourists being cut up. However, the gore in this film isn't as exaggerated as in "Hostel". There is only one comparable scene. Rather than relying on torture porn, "Turistas" contains a lot of suspense and action scenes. For me the most terrifying scene is where the surviving tourists have to flee from their pursuers by swimming through underwater caves. Almost instinctively I was holding my breath to test whether I would survive as long.

This is an enjoyable film. Even my dog Buster likes it. He rates it four Head Tilts.