I just finished watching Last Year in Marienbad, directed by Alain Resnais.



It's set entirely in a beautiful mansion, which has been turned into a hotel, and it's grounds. The story tells of an unnamed man and a similarly unnamed woman who may, or may not, have had an affair the previous year. The woman may, or may not, be married to someone else. It's a beautifully made film, but very obscure. Reality, memory and fiction blend together, actions and dialogue are repeated several times, and characters tend to freeze in time. Some people find it a mesmerising piece of art, while others find it a pretentious bore. It's kind of a cinematic puzzle in which the pleasure is more in the puzzle itself, rather than it's solution, because there really isn't one. I watched the film and all the special features on the DVD, and I still don't know what the movie was actually about.

Tonight's episode of Doctor Who was one of the best episodes of the show I've seen. I really hope that they keep it on. In my opinion, it's one of the very few things worth watching on TV.

Movies

Last night I watched a couple of movies on TV. I saw Enduring Love, which was based on a novel by Ian McEwan, and stars Daniel Craig as a university lecturer who witnesses a fatal accident involving a hot-air balloon, but shortly afterwards finds himself being stalked by a fellow witness (played by Rhys Ifans) who has become obsessed with him. It's very well made, well-acted and beautifully shot, but extremely slow-moving much of the time. However it is kind of creepy in a quiet way, and given time and patience, the film turns out to be quite chilling.

I also watched Rambo III, in which Sylvester Stallone attempts to annihilate the entire Soviet army in Afghanistan, in order to rescue his friend. At the time it actually held the record as the most violent film ever made, and is really pretty much wall to wall killings and explosions.

I went out today and bought another load of DVDs in the sales: Last Year at Marienbad, Cronos and Infernal Affairs which was the film that inspired The Departed, so there should be plenty to enjoy there, then.

I'll be watching Doctor Who this evening, of course. Actually, I read some bad news on the internet this week saying that the BBC plan to axe Doctor Who after the next season, despite it's popularity because apparently the series is too time-consuming and complex to make.