ERASERHEAD

Walked out. Why does anyone watch this? I guess you could go and watch people in a real life mental hospital with the same effect. And in colour.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON: THE NIGHT OF WOODY ALLEN

JASMINE BLUE

Watchable. I'm not a fan of watching mentally derailed people and Cate Blanchet seems to act the same whether acting sane or disturbed. But both plots are involving and so realistic that it's easy to empathise with the characters.

ANNIE HALL

Watchable. Quite entertaining but not memorably so.

WHATEVER WORKS

Watchable the second time round. An upgraded variation on "Annie Hall". Seeing it the first time I loved the dry humour, e.g. "You're going to pass out here or go in the living room?", and the unpredictability of the story. It's also extremely well acted. What I found detracting this time is the lousy gay joke and the cheesy happy ending.

TRISHNA

Watchable. British Bollywood? Well, in this case it's a heart-wrenching storyline with Bollywood music enacted with a stiff upper lip.

TULPAN

Watchable. Interesting ethnographically but slow and silly otherwise.

TRON

Walked out. I loved it in childhood but it's too archaic nowadays.

NIGHT FILM MARATHON: THE SF NIGHT

ELYSIUM

Watchable. Much better than "District 9". Great acting, cinematography, CGIs, interesting plot. A standard Hollywood chase and idealistic ending spoil the effect.

DISTRICT 9

Skipped. I hadn't liked it much the first time round.

AFTER EARTH

Watchable. Great acting, CGIs, cinematography, action. Just a bit too cheesy.

LOOPER

Watchable. The best film of the night. Twisted, unpredictable, innovatively transforming old American motifs (corn fields, telekinesis, the mob), with great music. Some minor inconsistencies in the plot and the overall psychological implausibility (I can't imagine hating my future self) detract from otherwise great fun.

And from a different venue and event:

ALTERED STATES

Walked out. I left the weed-smelling junkies in the audience. The story doesn't make any sense to a sober person.

STRANDED

Recommended. A harrowing account of survival. Very informative as well. If you get stranded high in the mountains, first make yourself visible for the rescue helicopter. Failing that, make your way down to greener areas as soon as you can. They waited too long and only 16 survived.

REBELLE (WAR WITCH)

Recommended. An involving and moving story which is incredibly true to African culture (even the phantoms are white).

THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1962)

Watchable. Finally a "Day Of The Triffids" which I managed to watch till the end. Less naff than more modern versions. Still, a catastrophe followed by a mayhem is such a standard cinematic fare that it would be hard to make it any more than watchable.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Watchable. A profound source of information on what's it like to live and work in Antarctica. Yet, it's little revelatory.

KIRSCHBLUETEN - HANAMI

Watchable. An involving and moving story about grieving and modern families, cleverly showing a clash of different perspectives, just a bit silly and over the top for me but my family is quite traditional.

ALAMAR

Watchable. Beautiful cinematography and little plot. Purely for watching, the only depth in it is in the sea.

THE FLY (1958)

Recommended. I've never managed to get through the 80s version. This one amazed me. It's like an old-fashioned detective story with science fiction bits sprinkled on top. Very atmospheric and frightening in the message it conveys.

FROM BEYOND (1986)

Watchable. Gratuitous nudity among monsters looking like plastic toys. It somehow has a style though.