Months

Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997) -There's something infinitely unsatisfying about this film's true purpose-here's the basic layout:two smartly-dressed maniacs invade the house of a small,helpless family of 3-and all the beef's in seeing how far the torture tactics go,and if the family gives in or somehow devises an escape at any point.Besides that,there's a very small,tongue-in-cheek message about entertainment (and what it really means for some people)-so it all boils down to the Funny Games they play,and that's not saying much.It's not as smart as it thinks it is,and beneath its clinical veneer of psychological dementia there's a huge space that begs to be filled with a substantial story.

4 Months,3 Weeks,2 Days (Cristian Mungiu,2007)-Breathtaking,it just seeps into you with its bleak,yet realistically portrayed view of a person's feelings when having to deal with something extremely uneasy.The director,in his patient and naturally impartial manner,allows you access into this young woman's heart-as she faces up to responsibilities,and having to push through it all on her own.There's nothing else I can say about it-immensely affecting,5/5.

Hidden (Michael Haneke, 2005)-Now here's a real story in comparison to Funny Games,one with deals with a incredibly difficult subject (which I can't reveal without spoiling).Somewhere in the middle the pacing gets a bit sloppy and the mother-son parts seems annoyingly pointless,plus other characters (aside from the main guy) are limited,like how the wife's either whining,being suspicious or throwing a ruckus all the time.Overall,a decent horror film that's more conceptual than meaningful-too caught up with its many secrets and mysteries,resulting in a somewhat muddled character study.

Horton Hears a Who (Jimmy Hayward,2008)-The thing about animated movies is that a lot of them undermine the real power of a child's imagination-where great visuals exist,a conventional story does along with a heap of dumb fart jokes and deceptive depictions of uncreative kookiness.With Horton-you get a whole tiny universe of beautiful odd things that don't necessarily make sense and of course,the titular character who's indestructible will and heart make him easy to love.It still follows a bulk of the Recipe-there's the important message,a couple light slapstick jokes and the clear-cut situation that promises sweets and lollipops at the end of a tough journey.But,on top of all that-there's the devious bizarreness of Dr Seuss' world,great voice-acting (Jim Carrey's unusually restrained here,you can hardly tell it's him behind Horton's warm,balmy sound) and a vast collection of adorable characters-this is what the inside of a child's mind must look like-it's fantastically wild,dangerous (but in a way utterly innocuous),an extraordinary place with grounded notions of community and giving-best thing since Finding Nemo.