Recent films I've seen:

A television movie "With Savage Intent" (AKA "With Murder in Mind") (1992) about an estate agent (Elizabeth Montgomery) who is shot, survives, and then by chance identifies the gunman. It's a routine television movie. Montgomery's aunt in the film was played by Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane in the 1930s Tarxan films).

True Grit (2010), the Coen Brothers version, Jeff Bridges as "Rooster" Cogburn, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Grimmer than the John Wayne version but a better film. Hailee Steinfeld was excellent,

One of the rare times where the remake is actually the better film

John Wayne should never have won the oscar over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy

Gloria (2013) 7/10

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) 6/10

Seven Days To Noon (1950) 8/10

Dead Reckoning (1947) 7.5/10

Whisper With The Wind (Sirta la gal ba) (2009) 8/10

Guns & Talks (Killerdeului suda) (2001) 7/10

Dreams For Sale (Yume uru futari) (2012) 8.5/10

Organ (1965) 8/10

A Wonderful Night In Split (Ta divna Splitska noc) (2004) 8.5/10

Cycling With Moliere (Alceste A bicyclette) (2013) 6/10

The Blue Kite (Lan feng zheng) (1993) 8.5/10

Blood Of The Condor (Yawar mallku) (1969) 7.5/10

Bridesmaids 7.5/10

Red Beard (Akahige) (1965) 10/10

Throne of Blood is on Film 4 this morning at 11.00. I rate this as Kurosawa's best film (of the ones I've seen).

I saw Dark Storm (2006) which is a Canadian television movie. Truly dreadful science fiction as signified by the IMBD rating of 3.4. The lead actor (Stephen Baldwin) just sleepwalks through the film, the storyline is preposterous and is so derivative that it may have been written by a computer.

Throne Of Blood is excellent, must give it a 2nd viewing sometime as i last saw it nearly 8 years ago

Also brilliant films are Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai (all 3 10/10), also really like The Bad Sleep Well, High And Low, The Lower Depths, Yojimbo, Stray Dog, I Live In Fear.... have yet to see Ran

Japanese films were at their best in the 50s and 60s

Champion (1949) 8.5/10

The Detective (C+ jing taam) (2007) 7/10

I have seen Ran and think it was the best of the later Kurosawa films. Like Throne of Blood it was based on one of Shakespeare's plays, in this case on King Lear. I wouldn't say it was as good as Throne of Blood but it is definitely worth watching.

Amazon have renamed Lovefilm Amazon Instant Video. If you are one of their Prime customers some of their films and television series can be watched for free as part of their Prime subscription fee. At present there are 2,152 movies and 818 television series, Of the movies there are 303 of them.

By coincidence, one of them is Ran.

I have Ran on my lovefilm (now Amazon instant) queue and will most likely put it on my high priority list soon

La Maison Du Pecheur (2013) 7/10

I resaw Sleepless in Seattle (1993).

Always (O-jik geu-dae-man) (2011) 7/10

Two Lives (Zwei Leben) (2012) 7/10

Cold Summer Of 1953 (Kholodnoe leto pyatdesyat tretego) (1987) 8.5/10

Morning For The Osone Family (Osone-ke no ashita) (1946) 7/10

Hell Is A City (1960) 8.5/10

All I Desire (1953) 8/10

The Verdict (Het vonnis) (2013) 6/10

The Other Son (Le fils de l'autre) (2012) 7/10

Petty Romance (Jjae Jjae Han Romaenseu) (2010) 5/10

Omar (2013) 8.5/10

I resaw Pinocchio (1940) on DVD, some 50 years since I saw it at the cinema as a child. Still as enchanting as ever.

The most effective scenes are where Lampwick turns into a donkey and the whale scenes at the end of the film. It's also has some little songs which are as memorable as the film.

Ilo Ilo (2013) 8/10

The Past (Le passe) (2013) 9/10

Blue Valentine (2010) 6/10

Muddy River (Doro no kawa) (1981) 9/10

Fando Y Lis (1968) 4/10

All The King's Men (1949) 8.5/10

Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957) 8/10

Gods Of The Plague (Gotter der Pest) (1970) 7/10

Live Today, Die Tomorrow (Hadaka no Jukyu-sai) (1970) 8/10

Hotell (2013) 6/10

I watched Bachelor Knight (1947) which starred Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple in one of the handful of films she made as a young adult at the end of her film career. The film is also known as The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, but Bachelor Knight is a much better title.

Pleasant simple comedy. If Shirley Temple hadn't retired from films she might have been a rival to Debbie Reynolds.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) 3/10

I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010). It's not meant to be a film of the book as the Alice character returns to the land as a 19 year old on the verge of being married off. The film uses characters from both Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and there are references to events in the books.

The land is called Underland. Lewis Carroll wrote a draft of Alice in Wonderland which he called Alice's Adventures Under Ground so Underland may be a combination of the two names.

The film has none of the magic of the books but it is quite fascinating and is very stylish.

The film Tim Burton is currently making is very different from most of his other films. It's called Big Eyes and is a biopic of the artist Margaret Keane starring Amy Adams. And for once neither Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter is in it.

The picture shown on IMDB site is of a typical painting of hers:

There's a gothic look about that painting and I think that could be what drew Burton to this project.

If you watched the 118 minute version, I'm sure you will be eager to watch the longer 143 minute version.

(Or may be not )