update:
Empty - 2/50 books | 8/50 films
Books -
1. never let me go by kazuo ishiguro
2. the left hand of darkness by ursula k. le guin
Films -
1. the bicycle thief
2. brokeback mountain
3. the thin blue line
4. mission: impossible
5. life of pi 3d
6. the girl who leapt through time
7. les miserables
8. mean streets
had a good time with les mis. songs were good and thought the casting was near impeccable; jackman was wonderful and full of heart as jean valjean, crowe wasn't the best singer but brought lots of presence to jalvert, eddie redmayne is spot on in a hopeless romantic role and hathaway was just amazing and it's a shame her character isn't in it for long. i've read criticsm of hooper's direction for being over the top but i thought the shakey camera and closeups worked well and created an intimate feel and was quite hypnotic, i'm not sure if i'd have liked it as much if it'd been more straightforwardly directed, it felt more cinematic this way and less staged. main issue that the plot is a bit too sprawling and it doesn't have time to breath in two and a half hours.
mean streets is an early scorsese film about the struggling relationship between two friends going in different directions in the new york mob scene. i thought it was interesting. i mean it's kinda rough round the edges, you can see scorsese's style all over it but it's not as honed as in later films, there's some shit dubbing and it's not really a clear story, it's more about mood and character relations than anything. still the core relationship between keitel and de niro's characters is really good, the way charlie struggles with his love for johnny boy and his irritation at his constant fuckups feels very real, and i like how they show them both coming from this certain culture of young mobsters drinking, fighting etc - the film has more fights than a bond film - and the really dirty 70s new york setting. it's kinda weird how ne niro vanishes in the middle of the film though i didn't like that, ending wasn't that well done either.
still haven't worked out what book to read next :/ need to get cracking.