Film nite 21: Lizzie's pick - KUNG w00o!!

My double bill of martial arts comedy nonsense. There will be Drunken Master, an early and very silly Jackie Chan film; and there will be Kung Fu Hustle, Stephen Chow’s cartoony and perhaps sillier still chopsocky homage. Both are a lot of fun and feature quite dazzling feats of acrobatic falling-over.

Film Nite 20: Kate's choice "The (Hollywood) Hills are alive with the sound of music..."

Film nite #20 is a (faintly seedy) music double bill. First up is 'Gainsbourg' (2010), a Serge biopic. Biopics can faul foul of being overly detail-orientated and lacking spark, this film (for me) succeeds due to a decent injection of imagination and is also visually stunning. Much of its success is also down to the superb leads. Eric Elmosnino dazzles as Serge, Lucy Gordon (Birkin) and Laetitia Casta (Bardot) are both perfect, charming and very charismatic. Whilst the film is reasonably accurate in terms of Serge's life, it doesn't slavishly follow the details preferring a more characterful, loose approach, somewhat reflecting the man himself. Oh and it's stylish as fook.

Second up is Dig! (2004). A documentary detailing jaw-dropping levels of ego, rivalry and obsession is about two bands who started off as friends and peers, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. A righteous-indignation-off unfolds between the two bands, focussing on main protagonists, BJM's frontman, fantasist and a*hole Anton Newcombe and The Dandy's possibly even more odious and opportunistic frontman, Courtney Taylor. The results are both hilarious and appalling in equal measure. Mostly hilarious....

Film Nite 19: Emma's choice "bought to you by the letter E, an Ealing double bill"

It's the fag end of winter: it's cold and grey; you're skint; you've not seen the sun for months and your skin is so pale it glows in the dark. What better counterpoint to this abject misery than some rollicking, charming and cheeky Ealing comedies: "Kind Hearts and Coronets" (1949) followed by "The Lavender Hill Mob" (1951).

Both star everyone's cinematic surrogate grandfather, Alec Guiness, on top form.

To fully restore your faith in humankind and the world in general, look out for the scene in Lavender Hill Mob where Stanley Holloway and Alex Guinness are descending the Eiffel Tower - it's magic!

Film Nite 18: Jimmy's choice "Terror Beyond the Stars"

Film Nite 17: Kev & Elisa's "Fake Musicians"

Sweet and Lowdown:

 This is Spinal Tap:

Film nite 16: Bryan's choice "Two non-Bonds"

Film Nite 15: Lone Star / Dazed and Confused

For my third double-bill, I had to think long and hard about what I would subject my quarry to. All I knew was that I wanted a geographical theme. Initially, I was bent on a Scottish sortie, with a brace of the little-seen Orphans (Dir. Peter Mullan, 1998) and Whisky Galore! (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick, 1949). Accidental Hero and Gregory's Girl weren't far behind, Bill Forsyth lovers.

Then it struck me... "All right, all right, all riiiiiiight." It was time to resurrect the cinematic tookus of Texas by way of Matthew "two good films" McConaughey.

Lone Star (Dir. John Sayles, 1996)

Indie director John Sayle's most cinematic film to date is also one of his most successful. Ostensibly a whodunit with a central love story, Lone Star is an ensemble piece in which a small town sheriff, Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper), must solve the mystery of who murdered the loathsome Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson) many moons ago. The suspect: his late father and legendary former sheriff, Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey).

Chris Cooper is absolutely incredible as Sam; understated, compassionate and riddled with dad issues. It's not often you get to see a character actor lead a film, and Cooper gives compelling evidence as to why he's so highly regarded by Hollywood bigwigs and outsiders. But the real star of the show is director John Sayles. With ace DP Haskell Wexler in tow, Sayles turns the town of Frontera, Texas, into a real, living and breathing community. It's so palpable that you feel like you're there with Sam investigating the murder.

Chris Cooper: Either watch Lone Star or spend a night in the cooler - it's your choice.

The dialogue is nuanced and often majestic, but sometimes the social commentary - preoccupied with shared history and the need to remember/forget, figuratively represented by US/Mexican relations within the community - feels forced and heavy-handed. However, it's striking how similar the beats of the dialogue are in HBO’s The Wire, which was definitely influenced by the socially-conscious films of John Sayles.

How more people haven't seen this film is a riddle that I'll never be able to solve. Watch it for the tremendous performances, the scintillating dialogue and an ending that packs a quietly devastating punch not without hope for a better future. Nice work, John.

Now watch the Lone Star trailer below:

Dazed and Confused (Dir. Richard Linklater, 1993)

There's not much to say about Dazed and Confused that I haven't said elsewhere (you can read my lovingly-written nostalgia piece here). Linklater's masterpiece is one of the best 'day in the life' films around, and it's definitely the greatest movie about being a teenager.

Set during the last day of term in 1976, Dazed and Confused follows the misadventures of freshman Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins), senior Randy "Pink" Floyd and a whole host of geeks, cool kids and jocks from end of school to the early hours of the next morning.

From the brutal high school hazing to the ensuing debauchery of the beer bust, the film recreates the highs and lows of teenage life with unerring ease and poignancy without being mawkish or heavy-handed. Linklater knows that teenagers are naive, self-indulgent arseholes, but that that they can also be great fun, too. He also knows how to put together a cracking soundtrack, which is very much of mid-seventies era (read: slightly embarrassing).

Special mention must go to the man of the article, Matthew McConaughey. Wooderson is one of my favourite cinematic slackers, simultaneously cool and creepy as the older guy determined to keep on livin'...L...I...V...I...N. On the other hand, 'Special' mention goes to Wiley Wiggins who spend most of the time clinching the bridge of his nose as though he's just drank too much milkshake. Bloody kids.

Matthew McConaughey, Jason London and Wiley Wiggins: Passing down the baton of cool.

My university friends and I (mainly film studies students) used to put Dazed and Confused on before we went out and it regularly brightened up even the gloomiest of evenings trawling the bars of Sheffield in the winter. If you don't have any friends, I suggest you get a big bag of weed and light one up in honour of this genuine cult classic, my friend.

You can watch the Dazed and Confused trailer below: