Noticed that it's been quiet recently?

I have, and that's because I haven't been doing much writing in the last couple of weeks. I apologise, and can only say that SOON things will get back to normal. I'm in America -- the land of Roger Ebert, George Clooney's smug acceptance speeches, Brangelina's collection of half of Africa's children, and the set of "Untitled Tom Cruise Project". I'm working at a summer camp and probably won't get much of a chance to go to the movies (although I'm definitely seeing Wall-E and The Dark Knight at some stage). I'll write more when I get home. Promise.

I did, however, see some films on the plane over here, including Cassandra's Dream, Horton Hears a Who and Paranoid Park. I liked Cassandra's Dream, Woody Allen's film about two brothers who commit murder on behalf of a wealthy uncle who promises to secure their financial futures. I found it similar to his recent film Match Point, and while it doesn't pack quite the same punch as that one, I found it pretty gripping -- Allen is obsessed with the idea of committing murder and getting away with it (that was also the subject of Crimes and Misdemeanors), and it's very interesting watching these two brothers (Colin Farrell and Ewen MacGregor) grapple with their consciences and the security of their futures. The ending is nicely tragic and poetic, too. For me, Allen's on the way back to form (although I didn't like Scoop that much).

Horton Hears a Who is, I think, the best Dr. Seuss adaptation thus made, and I hope that isn't damning with faint praise. The Cat in the Hat and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas aren't exactly masterpieces. But Horton finds the right mix of whimsy and morality, and the animation accurately captures the spirit of Dr. Seuss' books.

Paranoid Park is a movie I've been looking forward to for a while. Gus van Sant (of Elephant and Good Will Hunting fame) hasn't made many 'mainstream' films in a while, and this one doesn't break his streak. It's about a young teen who becomes involved in a manslaughter, and follows him as he struggles to decide what to do. I'm a little on the fence on this one. Some parts of it work really well -- the kid playing the main character is a promising actor and his scenes with the detective assigned to the case are very good. But van Sant gets carried away with his artiness at times -- for example, he includes these long, long, long LONG skateboarding sequences that only peripherally relate to the story. It's also framed in a very confusing way, as it's told about 80% through flashbacks, and jumps back and forth through time without informing us of where we are.

Around this time every year I usually list my favourite films of the year so far. I'm not going to list them in order because I don't have much time right now but my favourite film of the 2008 to date is The Black Balloon, followed (in no particular order) by In the Shadow of the Moon, Iron Man, The King of Kong, The Orphanage and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.