Shelf #3 ended with Bourne, and shelf #4 is Bourne again (ahem, sorry)...
The Bourne Supremacy (2004, dir Paul Greengrass) This is where the Bourne films really began to get noticed by people, thanks to the wild and kinetic style of Greengrass' camera work. It’s certainly a lot of fun and brilliantly filmed, although in retrospect I'm not sure you really lose anything by skipping it after Identity and going straight to Ultimatum…
The Bourne Supremacy (2004, dir Paul Greengrass) This is where the Bourne films really began to get noticed by people, thanks to the wild and kinetic style of Greengrass' camera work. It’s certainly a lot of fun and brilliantly filmed, although in retrospect I'm not sure you really lose anything by skipping it after Identity and going straight to Ultimatum…
Brass Eye (1997/2001, dir Michael Cumming) I'm not really the type to buy DVDs of television comedies, as they're usually repeated ad nauseum anyway. However, anything by arch-satirist Chris Morris is something special – and this is an essential DVD for anyone who relishes dark, political, controversial, spiky comedy.
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, dir Don Coscarelli) Yeah, I was suckered by some geeky hype into buying this. The premise sounded like lots of fun (the "real" Elvis, and a black man who thinks he's JFK, battle an Egyptian mummy in their retirement home). It has a few decent moments, and Bruce Campbell is superb as an elderly Elvis, but it's a good idea badly done.
A Bug's Life (1998, dirs John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton) This was the first CGI animation I ever bought on DVD, and I really only bought it to see how brilliant the picture would be. Back when this came out, Pixar weren't yet the goliaths of the industry, but this really proved Toy Story was no fluke. The film itself is okay, but not a particularly memorable entry in Pixar's canon.
Cabin Fever (2002, dir Eli Roth) I'd heard this was a really great horror debut, so took a chance on buying it. I was disappointed, although you could sense some talent was present in Eli Roth, who went on to do the Hostel films. I'm actually struggling to remember much about it, actually...
Charlie's Angels (2000, dir McG) A guilty pleasure; sort of. I think the first film in the Angels' update was a pretty wild, day-glo, lively and occasionally exciting bundle of sexy, action-packed nonsense. I had fun, which was the main thing.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003, dir McG) More of the same in then sequel, but twice as nonsensical and crazy for crazy's sake. It passes the time, but in retrospect this was a bad purchase.
Chicken Run (2000, dirs Peter Lord & Nick Park) I'm a big Wallace & Gromit fan, so Aardman Animation's big-screen DreamWorks-backed debut was eagerly awaited… and this is a fine kid's film. The premise (chickens do The Great Escape) is one of those ideas you can’t believe nobody thought of before, and it's great how the charm of Aardman's work transferred to the big-screen.
Children Of Men (2006, dir Alfonso Cuaron) A brilliant, intelligent film, and a technical marvel at times. It's rare a filmmaker can create such a plausible world, but Cuaron does that here with a dystopian near-future Britain. Fantastic thinking man's science-fiction, with solid performances from Clive Owen and Michael Caine.
The Chronicles Of Riddick (2004, dir David Twohy) This is actually far better than people give it credit for. It suffered because, as a follow-up to Pitch Black, it was everything that sleeper hit wasn't: big, bold and brash. Sure, there's too much to take in at times, but Vin Diesel makes a great action hero, and there are some genuinely tense, exciting scenes. Not to mention a very amusing/clever open-ended climax. It's a shame there won't be more in this planned trilogy.
Collateral (2004, dir Michael Mann) A solid little thriller, with Tom Cruise playing against type as an assassin who gets driven around L.A by Jamie Foxx's nice-guy cabbie. Great stuff for the opening two-thirds, before it kind of squanders its premise for a silly climax. Still a good watch, though.
Contact (1997, dir Robert Zemeckis) A really early DVD purchase for me. This is a totally underrated and intelligent sci-fi from Zemeckis. I fondly remember a smack-in-the-face turning point mid-way through, while the climax is a dazzling and evocative finale that gave me goosebumps. I really don't understand why people don't rave about Contact more often. Excellent.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, dir Ang Lee) I bought into the hype that surrounded this film, as the world was in a post-Matrix love-affair with wire-assisted martial arts. It's stunningly beautiful to look at, and the sequences of flying and sword-fighting are staggering, but I wasn't particularly gripped by the storyline. Very good, though.
Cypher (2002, dir Vincenzo Natali) A low-budget sci-fi from the director of Cube, this is a rather slick and efficient mystery more people should see. If you like clever sci-fi with twisty plots, you really should seek it out. I really enjoyed it.
Daredevil (2003, dir Mark Stevenson Johnson) I'm not sure why I bought this, as I'm not a Daredevil fan – so perhaps that's why. It makes a change to watch a comic-book film you're not overly familiar with. I think it's quite solid in some areas -- particularly in the acting from Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Colin Farrell – but it's kind of boring for the most part. I hear the Director's Cut is a big improvement, but haven't seen that.
Dark Water (2002, dir Hideo Nakata) The original Japanese film, not that useless US remake. I bought this thanks to the surge of interest in "J-Horror" post-The Ring. It's very slow and melancholy, but very eerie. I'd mainly recommend it for a frightening moment towards the end – one of very few scenes in a horror that genuinely unsettled me. To say more would ruin the surprise. Definitely get this if you like J-Horror.
Dawn Of The Dead (2004, dir Zack Snyder) Yes, the remake. One of the best examples of a remake -- because it took the basic premise of George Romero's original, soups it up, and takes it into fresh areas. I had a great time watching this; it's slick, the characters are well-drawn, and the storyline keeps you gripped. A commendable revamp of a 70s zombie classic.
Four shelves down... er, quite a few more to go in this occasional series. That fourth shelf was very hit-and-miss in terms of quality, with some rash purchases in hindsight -- but there were a few decent films to balance things out, I think...
