Nick Page

A bit of a ‘film’ weekend, with, unusually for me, a trip to the cinema (most of my film watching occurs on DVD with the surround system up as high as Claire lets me get away with).

The Science of Sleep is by Michele Gondry who directed Eternal Sunshine. It shows all the Gondry flair – visual inventiveness, wild surreal humour, but it lacks a strong enough story. In the end the plot isn’t substantial enough to carry the weight of the visuals. It also has that love of French whimsy which at its best can be magical (e.g. Amelie) but at its worse is just twee.

The Golden Compass, on the other hand, has too much plot by half. It’s visually stunning (although it looks very like Myst at times) but everything happens too fast and too many events are explained rather than shown. The result is that you hurtle from character to character, each of whom explains a bit more of the plot. The characters are caricatures, the casting is way too obvious and the pacing frenetic. But then I thought that about other book as well. Still, it has to be said I am in a minority of one within my family on this.

The Bourne Ultimatum. Now this is the real thing. Fantastic plotting, perfect pace, wonderful visuals. One of the best thrillers I’ve ever seen. The scene in Waterloo station is marvellous and the rooftop chase across Tangiers is thrilling. Loved it.