Friday Round-Up

This is a round-up of the past two weeks, just to make up the numbers. It should be a brief one this time because I don't have a lot to say about two of these films. I found Looking for Eric to be totally depressing. It actually took me three days to finish. It felt disjointed, like the main story didn't fit with the fantasy elements, which were absolutely the best parts - I loved every minute Eric Cantona was on screen but very little else. Even those scenes were kind of tiresome, particularly the earlier ones in which regular Eric reminisces about some great moments in Cantona's career. Although I was a quasi-Man United fan at the time (I've since seen the error of my ways), I don't remember any of those highlights, so it was pretty much impenetrable.

Anchors Aweigh was a pleasant surprise - I had always vaguely known it as the film in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry of Tom and Jerry, so I didn't have any preconceptions. None of the songs really stood out to me, although I do recall liking one of Clarence's songs but I don't remember which one. Still, it was fun to watch. I found Gene Kelly to be charming as always and I enjoyed Kathryn Grayson, but I really loved Sinatra. He was absolutely adorable as the shy Clarence, and even though he was still awkwardly skinny and gawky, his voice is as great as ever. It was interesting to hear Kelly, Grayson and Sinatra all sing because their voices are so strikingly different. I don't think people really sing like Grayson anymore - she had a very operatic voice - although I guess people don't sound like Sinatra anymore either.

I'm not prepared to say much about the first part of Red Riding yet because I'm sure it works better as a whole. I'm hesitant even to admit that I didn't like it because what I didn't like - I thought it felt lightweight and formulaic, like a half-hearted TV crime procedural - may be reconciled in the other two parts. I will say that Andrew Garfield, as he keeps demonstrating, is really something. I think I'll leave it at that for now and revisit it when I can see the three films as a complete narrative.