Two To Avoid. One To See.

September 4th, 2007 | 5:11pm by Jim Bliss

Last night I sat through The Contract starring John Cusack and Morgan Freeman. Even if it’s a dull Sunday afternoon and it’s on TV for free. Even then, do not watch this film. Instead spend 90 minutes scrubbing your bathroom. You’ll get more out of it in the long term and, crucially, it’ll be a more enjoyable experience at the time.

Also in the “to avoid” pile. And what a steaming pile it is. Also in the “to avoid” pile is The Number 23. Of course it’s not like I didn’t know what I was getting into. Jim Carrey in a Joel Schumacher film? Let’s face it, it’ll struggle to be ground-breaking. In fact it doesn’t even put up a struggle.

Right at the other end of the scale, and thanks to a friend wanting to borrow the DVD from me, I got around to rewatching The Seven Samurai again a few weeks ago. And then again the following night. Seriously. It really is that good. If it’s one of those films you “keep meaning to see”, then might I suggest you use this reminder to actually get round to doing so. It’s recognised as one of the best films ever, because it is.

5 responses to "Two To Avoid. One To See."

  1. It’s all worth it, but Seven Samurai is a long film.

  2. Well, but so are The Red Shoes, Barry Lyndon, The Wages of Fear and Céline and Julie Go Boating. They’re all long, and they’re all worth it. As are Sátántangó and Hitler, A Film From Germany, which run to about seven hours each.

  3. All Kurosawa is worth a look.

  4. The Number 23 is one of the few films I swore I would never ever pay money to see. (One other was Constanteen.)

    Why? Because while that multi-million dollar extravaganza was being made, Robert Anton Wilson was dying in poverty – and the shoot didn’t give him a fucking penny (or even a credit), despite coming up with the whole 23 enigma in the first place.

  5. The Number 23 is one of the few films I swore I would never ever pay money to see. (One other was Constanteen.)

    Why? Because while that multi-million dollar extravaganza was being made, Robert Anton Wilson was dying in poverty

    There’s that, plus the persuasive fact that it was obviously going to be a total pile of shite.

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