Recent viewings: The last patrol, Ride with the devil & Chasing Amy.

[Neville]

Yeah, well, I know I have posted more coherent posts in the past, but these are the last interesting movies I've seen.

1) "The last patrol": Avoid at all cost. It is a Dolph Lundgren flick directed by the man who filmed some early Van Damme stuff. Plot is almost non-existant, humour childish and, more important, it lacks in the action department. Anything worth mentioning? Well, I never though talk shows would survive apocalypse, but that's all.

2) "Ride with the devil": A western by the maker of "Sense and sensibility" and "Hidden tiger, crouching dragon", Ang Lee. Pretty good, and being a western scripted by americans there's almost no place for the languid and contemplative filmmaking that (in my opinion) ruined the above mentioned films. A pleasant surprise, but I found the southern accents pretty annoying.

3) "Chasing Amy": Highly recommended. I had only seen one film by Kevin Smith before, "Mallrats", and I had enjoyed it despite of being conscious of its silliness. I really liked this one, it is a sweet and sour comedy about a comic writer who falls in love with a lesbian. Smith does a good job trying to avoid cliches, and the dramatic scenes work very well. If you've ever experienced a sentimental disaster, it is difficult not to be moved by the movie. Only one complaint: We all know Smith can write good dialogue, but ultimately it becomes excessive and at some stages I felt like watching theatre. And you know, in movies sometimes it is good idea to use images as well.

[Scott]

RIDE WITH THE DEVIL was a surpisingly good film.