Last week was a bit stressful. A lot of work to do plus I had some car problems. But then the weekend came around and things relaxed. Pretty quiet weekend. On Saturday night I went down to some bars in St. Kilda with a few of the guys. Good night. Also, a brief respite from homework meant that I got to watch some movies.

'Pretty In Pink' (1986) directed by Howard Deutch

It's a little slow to get going, some of the relationships between characters don't quite work and the main character Andie, well, I didn't find her particularly likeable. The story of this film is built around this idea of quite strict segregation between groups at a high school, an idea that seems pretty dated now. Having said that, there are some great performances in this movie. Jon Cryer is great as a kind of lovestruck joker, adding a real depth to a character that could perhaps have become simply comic relief. I thought James Spader played a really interesting role too.

'W.' (2008) directed by Oliver Stone

A biopic, detailing the life of George W. Bush. It's a strange viewing experience because it came out so recently so I found it very difficult to divorce my perception of the real Bush with the Bush portrayed in the film. It also made me think of the Matt Stone and Trey Parker show 'That's My Bush!' although 'W.' is not a parody. Anyway, it was a little hard to know how to take this film, although it's quite good. For the most part, it's played pretty straight and Josh Brolin is convincing as George W. The film really focuses on George W's life, his relationship with his father and his entry into politics. Interestingly, it has a pretty light tone throughout. Politically, the film feels fairly impartial, although the focus here doesn't seem to be the politics so much, but the title character. I think this film would be really interesting to watch in about ten years time.

'Whip It' (2009) directed by Drew Barrymore

I didn't expect this to be great but I was actually pleasantly surprised. It's a solid film and I really enjoyed it. It has a great cast, some really nice moments plus Ellen Page is always very watchable. The dynamic between the characters is always interesting too. I think this is a really important element in movies that often gets overlooked. When you see two or more characters on screen, it has to work, there has to be something interesting going on between them. Not only that, but I reckon there should be a number of different dynamics going on between a variety of characters. This is what really works in 'Whip It' and makes it engaging throughout. Plus the subject of roller derby is interesting and good to watch.

'Bronson' (2008) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

When I was pretty young, I remember watching some Refn films on SBS, the 'Pusher' films and also 'Bleeder'. There was something about them that really captivated me at the time. They were dark, violent but they had this amazing visual quality to them. These are the things that I noticed in 'Bronson' too. It's an incredibly visual film, shots are extremely well thought out and are kept still, allowing the viewer to really take them in. At one point, I paused the film and just by chance it had paused in the middle of a transition fade. I noticed the colours, the overlapping images; just stunning stuff. Also, the central perfomance of Tom Hardy as Bronson is intense, it is at once theatrical and menacing, brooding and violent. It definitely keeps you watching.