h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh indeed. Seen some great films recently.

Children of Men

A futuristic Brit-thriller dystopia set in a world where something has caused sterility, and the youngest person alive is 18. Never mind the thriller plot, the real revelation here was the backdrop. It's said that all scifi is about the present, and this certainly was - taking many contemporary fears and running with them. You'd see an image from a dark future - facisitic guards etc - but then they'd suddenly run in front of an old phonebox. Bexhill is turned into a refugee camp. Brilliant and terrifying at the same time.

The Departed

Just great. I never thought I'd say that about a film with LDiC in it, but he was good, as was Matt Damon playing his opposite. People talk about Jack Nicholson, but for me, Mark Walhberg's acidic 'bad cop' stole the show. Funny, tense, unpredictable - the best film I've seen in a long time. And what an ending.....

Whisper of the Heart

This is a Japanese animated film which I stumbled across on Film4 by accident. It's essentially about a teenage girl finding her soulmate and finding herself, and gaining the confidence to use her talents. Usually I'd run a mile from romances or romantic comedy films, but this was very, very beautiful. I missed the first 20 minutes or so of this, so I didn't catch everything, but it was really engrossing and engaging. I'm not sure why. In terms of plot, it's fairly straightforward, though I know I missed a complicated setup involving library books. I also enjoyed 'Spirited Away', but I wonder whether what was engaging was the Japanishness of the films, because I really can't picture myself watching an English version of either film. Perhaps it was the music - including a really haunting Japanese version of 'Country Road', which the main character translates into Japanese early in the film, and which sums up a lot of what the film is about.