Entry Seventeen

Rocknrolla: The first Guy Ritchie film I've liked, and I liked it a lot. Funny, though a little shaggy plotwise, this is a good lads movie, with a fine ensemble cast who seem to be having just as much fun as the audience.

The Atomic Submarine: Trashy sci-fi movie (surprisingly put out by the usually respectable Criterion) about a subamrine who encounters an alien spaceship under the ice of the antarctic. It features some nonsensical melodrama between crewmates at the beginning which is dropped once the plot kicks in and is never really mentioned again, and though it has some nice design aspects, it's terribly generic.

Whisper of the Heart: Utterly wonderful studio Ghibli movie about a teenage girl who becomes interested in a boy's name which keeps reoccuring in the numerous books she takes out at the library. It's a beautifully understated look at the relationships between teenagers with a slightly magical air to the whole proceedings and I couldn't recommend it high enough.

On Any Sunday: Documentary about the sports around the world involving bike-riding. That's basically it, though it certainly approaches the subject with an obvious passion for the whole thing, and features some really nice photography. It's a little wearing though, and the monotone narration doesn't help.

Phantom from Space: Unremitting dreck from the 50s, where a film was made based on its poster and its title. A couple of the special effects are decent, but otherwise it's an awful trudge through the dregs of science fiction.