Viewing context:
The classic, got it off some bloke from work routine. There were two reasons for wanting to watch it. One, that I had just seen Hurt Locker and had been underwhelmed at its commentary on America's involvement in post invasion Iraq; I knew that Buried had something to do with Iraq and hoped it would succeed more competently. Also, I had 127 Hours lined up to watch that week and wanted to see how the two films compared in their ‘one guy stuck in one place’ plot.
Creators:
Written by Chris Sparling, who has since written a film called ATM that I will be looking out for. Directed by Rodrigo Cortes.
What Happened:
American truck driver wakes up in a coffin, buried somewhere in Iraq. He is contacted, via a phone that was buried with him, by his kidnappers and was given a fixed amount of time to organise ransom money, otherwise he will be left there.
What it did particularly well:
I am always interested by films that take a chance or do something different. They are often epic fails, but still worth it for taking a leap of faith. Well this film took a chance and executed with precision. The originality and the inventive scenarios presented are what made the film stand out, but this had to be - and was - supported with a great central performance.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
There were possibly two scenes that seemed to just go on a little too long, which was my worry about the film in general going into it, but it was easily within acceptable standards. Plus, who knows, had they been shortened, the film may well have been missing the tension that it created.
Theme/Message:
American contractor (representing the American public, the everyman, not even a member of the armed forces) stuck in Iraq and paying for things that his government have chosen, and continue to choose. He cannot choose the consequences, but inevitably is the one that suffers them.
Critical of many aspects of contemporary western culture: deference of responsibility via the company he works for; putting material and trade interests above that of people; even the impersonal, ineffective and just plain depressing nature of call centres, created through the American invented principle that Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor pioneered in the 1920s: deskill employees in order make them as replaceable, uninvested, unintelligent and amoral as possible - ah the capitalist dream.
Performance of the film:
Well it would be pretty strange to give it to one of the voices on the phone, so it has to be Reynolds. I thought he did what he had to do perfectly well. He still had a little of that ‘everyguy’ feel that he had in Two Guys and a Girl; he was convincingly real in there. Not particularly calm, yet not ridiculously freaking out and dealt with the call centre conversations convincingly.
Scene of the film:
The claustrophobia was at its height when he had to turn around in the coffin. Ooh that really had me tensing up.
Final Word:
The script writing must be commended here. To inject the narrative with just the right amount of obstacles at just the right intervals was essential in a narrative like this. Tense film with great allegorical commentary on America's involvement with post invasion Iraq.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Sunday, 20 February 2011
The Last Airbender (2010) - Underrated
Viewing context:
Movies For Juniors screening (£1 a film) on a Saturday morning at Cineworld with Corey. Benefited from the direct opposite to Hurt Locker in that it was so undervalued and underrated that I went in there with very low expectations. Although, it should be acknowledged that I was looking forward to the possibility of it bucking this horrid reputation.
Creators:
Written and directed by the controversial M Night Shyamalan. Only controversial because of his meteoric rise with the likes of 6th Sense and - the fantastic - Unbreakable, but has been on a pretty steady downward trajectory, particularly in the eyes of the critics.
Obviously it's worth pointing out that the film is an adaptation of the much celebrated (and deservedly so) children's animation Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Shyamalan wrote but did not direct Devil earlier this year, which is yet another film that I really rated but nobody else seems to like.
What Happened:
Set in some sort of fantasy, otherworld realm, which in many ways resembles earth, but just not quite. The world is separated into four regions, each region with only a very narrow ethnic group. There is the Middle East/Sub Continent based Fire Nation, the Far Eastern based Earth Nation, the Tibetan monk-looking Air Nation and the seemingly Anglo-American mixed with a sort of Inuit looking Water Nation. Certain individuals from each of these nations can ‘bend’ their nation’s element, yet once in a generation one is born who can bend all the elements, he is known as the Avatar. The Fire Nation pretty much rules the world and is determined to stop this Avatar from fulfilling his prophecy of destroying their empire.
What it did particularly well:
The dialogue was enjoyably terrible as far as I was concerned, and it was obviously a non issue for Corey. The simplistic, yet epic setup made for a great kids' adventure. These four different nations, all containing masters of different elements and abilities along with the idea of this unprepared child being sent as their protector, their saviour and their leader is quite charming and a lot of childlike fun.
The action was tremendously dazzling; particularly the martial arts, which is often done so wrong in Hollywood, who cut too frequently and make the whole thing really choppy. This for most of the time let the action flow with extended shots of action, increasing appreciation of the technical ability and heightening the spectacle.
I only wish that I could be a child again to appreciate what an impact such a film-world would have had on me. It definitely worked on Corey, as for the rest of the day he was dancing round the street doing martial arts gestures in an attempt to bend the air and the water around him.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
Despite how much I loved its cheesy nature, I do think that there is a missed opportunity to make the same thing, but just a bit better. Keep some of the cheesiness but just make it a bit cooler; even a bit more over the top may have done it - as crazy as that may sound.
Theme/Message:
I thought the film dealt with the Avatar's problems of accepting such a fate at such a young age, whilst not getting too into it. There was also really obvious commentary on what it's like for an empirical nation keeping the rest of the world in a state of fear, and how that leads to inevitable revolution.
Performance of the film:
It is quickly becoming apparent how much I love villains in films, as I thought that Dev Patel playing the outcasted son of the Fire emperer, Prince Zuko was the performance of the film, albeit in a film where a certain type of over the top performance (as opposed to real acting) is needed. There was a lot said about him coming off the back of Slumdog Millionaire and doing something pulp-trashy like this, but he was nowhere near what made that film good; he was wooden and lifeless, well he used that in this, but just ramped up the villain-cheese style.
Scene of the film:
When the Earth benders stood up and joined the revolution was uplifting for naive child-minded individuals like myself.
Final Word:
Have to remember that this is a kids' film, and as such it was a great adventurous narrative, with some of the best martial arts I have seen outside of Hong-Kong or Luc Besson films. It created a an big, big world and Unapologetically (and possibly prematurely) set up the sequel.
Movies For Juniors screening (£1 a film) on a Saturday morning at Cineworld with Corey. Benefited from the direct opposite to Hurt Locker in that it was so undervalued and underrated that I went in there with very low expectations. Although, it should be acknowledged that I was looking forward to the possibility of it bucking this horrid reputation.
Creators:
Written and directed by the controversial M Night Shyamalan. Only controversial because of his meteoric rise with the likes of 6th Sense and - the fantastic - Unbreakable, but has been on a pretty steady downward trajectory, particularly in the eyes of the critics.
Obviously it's worth pointing out that the film is an adaptation of the much celebrated (and deservedly so) children's animation Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Shyamalan wrote but did not direct Devil earlier this year, which is yet another film that I really rated but nobody else seems to like.
What Happened:
Set in some sort of fantasy, otherworld realm, which in many ways resembles earth, but just not quite. The world is separated into four regions, each region with only a very narrow ethnic group. There is the Middle East/Sub Continent based Fire Nation, the Far Eastern based Earth Nation, the Tibetan monk-looking Air Nation and the seemingly Anglo-American mixed with a sort of Inuit looking Water Nation. Certain individuals from each of these nations can ‘bend’ their nation’s element, yet once in a generation one is born who can bend all the elements, he is known as the Avatar. The Fire Nation pretty much rules the world and is determined to stop this Avatar from fulfilling his prophecy of destroying their empire.
What it did particularly well:
The dialogue was enjoyably terrible as far as I was concerned, and it was obviously a non issue for Corey. The simplistic, yet epic setup made for a great kids' adventure. These four different nations, all containing masters of different elements and abilities along with the idea of this unprepared child being sent as their protector, their saviour and their leader is quite charming and a lot of childlike fun.
The action was tremendously dazzling; particularly the martial arts, which is often done so wrong in Hollywood, who cut too frequently and make the whole thing really choppy. This for most of the time let the action flow with extended shots of action, increasing appreciation of the technical ability and heightening the spectacle.
I only wish that I could be a child again to appreciate what an impact such a film-world would have had on me. It definitely worked on Corey, as for the rest of the day he was dancing round the street doing martial arts gestures in an attempt to bend the air and the water around him.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
Despite how much I loved its cheesy nature, I do think that there is a missed opportunity to make the same thing, but just a bit better. Keep some of the cheesiness but just make it a bit cooler; even a bit more over the top may have done it - as crazy as that may sound.
Theme/Message:
I thought the film dealt with the Avatar's problems of accepting such a fate at such a young age, whilst not getting too into it. There was also really obvious commentary on what it's like for an empirical nation keeping the rest of the world in a state of fear, and how that leads to inevitable revolution.
Performance of the film:
It is quickly becoming apparent how much I love villains in films, as I thought that Dev Patel playing the outcasted son of the Fire emperer, Prince Zuko was the performance of the film, albeit in a film where a certain type of over the top performance (as opposed to real acting) is needed. There was a lot said about him coming off the back of Slumdog Millionaire and doing something pulp-trashy like this, but he was nowhere near what made that film good; he was wooden and lifeless, well he used that in this, but just ramped up the villain-cheese style.
Scene of the film:
When the Earth benders stood up and joined the revolution was uplifting for naive child-minded individuals like myself.
Final Word:
Have to remember that this is a kids' film, and as such it was a great adventurous narrative, with some of the best martial arts I have seen outside of Hong-Kong or Luc Besson films. It created a an big, big world and Unapologetically (and possibly prematurely) set up the sequel.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Hurt Locker (2008) - Epitome of overhype
Creators:
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (still haven’t seen Point Break but have only heard good things), written by Mark Boal, who also wrote In the Valley of Elah.
Not doing the usual lot of questions because it was a bit of a fail film for me. Just gonna ramble on a little
Finally came through LoveFilm despite it being one of the first films on there (about a year ago). It obviously came with all the baggage of having won best film at the Oscars. I should disclaim that even having not seen it, I wanted Avatar to win, as it just seemed a bigger movie event, which will be remembered for decades, whereas Hurt Locker just seemed it would be forgotten, as much more sophisticated texts dealing with the Iraq war obfuscate its significance. Already I would say that something like the TV series Generation Kill is much more apt to deal with the subject matter. It's one of those things that reinforces my taste for films that are either trashy, pulp genre, with all the mythic pop-culture significance, or at the other end of the spectum, pretentiously obscure. Films in the middle rarely get me as hyped, which is where I think the Hurt Locker sits; not big enough to be cool, not real enough to be genuine. The Iraqi kid was by far the most interesting element, but for a genuine look at post invasion Iraq, I would rather watch Mohammed Al-Daradji's Son of Babylon or Bahman Ghobadi's Turtles Can Fly.
The characters all seemed so obvious and wooden. The British characters in particular were so cliched, typecast and unengaging. I really cannot see how it was awarded best film.
Rant over.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (still haven’t seen Point Break but have only heard good things), written by Mark Boal, who also wrote In the Valley of Elah.
Not doing the usual lot of questions because it was a bit of a fail film for me. Just gonna ramble on a little
Finally came through LoveFilm despite it being one of the first films on there (about a year ago). It obviously came with all the baggage of having won best film at the Oscars. I should disclaim that even having not seen it, I wanted Avatar to win, as it just seemed a bigger movie event, which will be remembered for decades, whereas Hurt Locker just seemed it would be forgotten, as much more sophisticated texts dealing with the Iraq war obfuscate its significance. Already I would say that something like the TV series Generation Kill is much more apt to deal with the subject matter. It's one of those things that reinforces my taste for films that are either trashy, pulp genre, with all the mythic pop-culture significance, or at the other end of the spectum, pretentiously obscure. Films in the middle rarely get me as hyped, which is where I think the Hurt Locker sits; not big enough to be cool, not real enough to be genuine. The Iraqi kid was by far the most interesting element, but for a genuine look at post invasion Iraq, I would rather watch Mohammed Al-Daradji's Son of Babylon or Bahman Ghobadi's Turtles Can Fly.
The characters all seemed so obvious and wooden. The British characters in particular were so cliched, typecast and unengaging. I really cannot see how it was awarded best film.
Rant over.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Skeletons (2010) is Britain does Inception in the same way that Misfits is Britain does The X-Men
Viewing context:
Saw it at the monthly event, Minicine, which takes place in the Leeds Industrial Museum in a tiny 26 seat cinema. Free tea, home made cake and a DVD swap box. I knew nothing about the film at all except that Jason Isaacs is in it and that he has been doing some big time promoting for it. Glad he did.
Creators:
Written and directed by Nick Whitfield; this is his feature debut and I will be looking out for more from him.
What happened:
Two fellas, Davis (Ed Gaughan) and Bennet (Andrew Buckley) go about extracting people's metaphoric skeletons from their literal wardrobes. They set up lo-fi scientific/paranormal detection-looking equipment, then literally enter the wardrobe and are subsequently transported into the memories of those who own said wardrobe. The bulk of this film is spent on one particular case where a mother of two wants our mind wandering protagonists to enter her families' wardrobe/memories to see if they can locate her husband, who has been missing for eight years, but one of these extractors has been conducting his own trips into his own memories, hence the Inception link.
What it did particularly well:
The dialogue was captivating; it was incredibly inventive and funny at the same time as giving insight and depth to the characters.
It struck the right balance for me; it somehow managed to be ludicrously funny and far fetched whilst still convincingly dealing with sincere, weighty issues of loss, death and bereavement. One thing that helped prop up the gravitas of the subject matter, despite the zany setup, was the powerful powerful score, which maintained its own balance of being big, but non intrusive.
What unimpressed or missed potential:
The only loose knot was that the first example couples, that introduced us to this peculiar occupation, were really overacted and didn't capture the balance I mention above, of being unconventional yet still believable; they just seemed disingenuous. This got it off to an uncertain start (despite the fantastic opening conversation), but when they were out of the way, every other performance got it right.
Themes/message:
It stressed the need to let things go; that you cannot - and should not - hold on to things that have gone. Holding onto falsified notions of how things are, based on what they were, can only damage the soul and cease any personal progression. Things can start anew, but they cannot do so until it can be accepted that some things must stay in the past.
There is a related sub-theme, regarding being true to your decisions rather than following what you are told should be. Further, that you will not be in a position of self worth, in order to achieve this level of self-confident decision making with skeletons in your past.
Scene of the film:
The scene when Davis wakes up Bulgarian is a contender, as is the very opening scene; the line of dialogue wherein Davis explains how, due to grounds of moral ambiguity, Rasputin cannot be deemed an assassination in the sane vein as someone the likes of JFK. Rasputin was straight up, rather than leading a double life of being one thing in public and another in private, so therefore was a different entity altogether. This comedic opening scene immediately sets up the theme of being true, honest and accepting responsibility.
Performance of the film:
Tuppence Middleton was great as the detached twenty one year old Candy, but the leads are what makes it what it is, particularly Ed Gaughan. It is worth inserting this link, that I stumbled across whilst checking up on who they are and what else they have done, only to discover that they aren’t actually film actors, but a comedy duo.
Final word:
Funny, yet weighty. Well paced, with great music and even better performances.
Saw it at the monthly event, Minicine, which takes place in the Leeds Industrial Museum in a tiny 26 seat cinema. Free tea, home made cake and a DVD swap box. I knew nothing about the film at all except that Jason Isaacs is in it and that he has been doing some big time promoting for it. Glad he did.
Creators:
Written and directed by Nick Whitfield; this is his feature debut and I will be looking out for more from him.
What happened:
Two fellas, Davis (Ed Gaughan) and Bennet (Andrew Buckley) go about extracting people's metaphoric skeletons from their literal wardrobes. They set up lo-fi scientific/paranormal detection-looking equipment, then literally enter the wardrobe and are subsequently transported into the memories of those who own said wardrobe. The bulk of this film is spent on one particular case where a mother of two wants our mind wandering protagonists to enter her families' wardrobe/memories to see if they can locate her husband, who has been missing for eight years, but one of these extractors has been conducting his own trips into his own memories, hence the Inception link.
What it did particularly well:
The dialogue was captivating; it was incredibly inventive and funny at the same time as giving insight and depth to the characters.
It struck the right balance for me; it somehow managed to be ludicrously funny and far fetched whilst still convincingly dealing with sincere, weighty issues of loss, death and bereavement. One thing that helped prop up the gravitas of the subject matter, despite the zany setup, was the powerful powerful score, which maintained its own balance of being big, but non intrusive.
What unimpressed or missed potential:
The only loose knot was that the first example couples, that introduced us to this peculiar occupation, were really overacted and didn't capture the balance I mention above, of being unconventional yet still believable; they just seemed disingenuous. This got it off to an uncertain start (despite the fantastic opening conversation), but when they were out of the way, every other performance got it right.
Themes/message:
It stressed the need to let things go; that you cannot - and should not - hold on to things that have gone. Holding onto falsified notions of how things are, based on what they were, can only damage the soul and cease any personal progression. Things can start anew, but they cannot do so until it can be accepted that some things must stay in the past.
There is a related sub-theme, regarding being true to your decisions rather than following what you are told should be. Further, that you will not be in a position of self worth, in order to achieve this level of self-confident decision making with skeletons in your past.
Scene of the film:
The scene when Davis wakes up Bulgarian is a contender, as is the very opening scene; the line of dialogue wherein Davis explains how, due to grounds of moral ambiguity, Rasputin cannot be deemed an assassination in the sane vein as someone the likes of JFK. Rasputin was straight up, rather than leading a double life of being one thing in public and another in private, so therefore was a different entity altogether. This comedic opening scene immediately sets up the theme of being true, honest and accepting responsibility.
Performance of the film:
Tuppence Middleton was great as the detached twenty one year old Candy, but the leads are what makes it what it is, particularly Ed Gaughan. It is worth inserting this link, that I stumbled across whilst checking up on who they are and what else they have done, only to discover that they aren’t actually film actors, but a comedy duo.
Final word:
Funny, yet weighty. Well paced, with great music and even better performances.
Control (2007) Visually breathtaking throughout, with great characters, capturing a time and a sentiment.
Viewing context:
Rcorded off of FilmFour. Wouldn’t have bothered, had I not seen The American about a month prior. Still had it on the +box for a while before watching it and only put it on because I fancied something that I could maybe watch a bit of, and if I get tired leave it for the next day, but this commanded my attention from start to finish.
Creators:
Directed by Anton Corbijn, who directed The American, which was the reason I watched this film in the first place. Clearly I rated The American but this is a far superior film. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the screenplay by adapting the book by Debora Curtis. Greenhalgh went on to write last year’s John Lennon biopic, Nowhere Boy, which I am yet to see.
What Happened:
Follows the (short) life of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis, starting with his daydreaming days in upper school, through his time forming Joy Division and becoming the phenomenon he had always seen himself becoming, then his Rock & Roll induced, inevitable and self destructive decline. The basic model for a musical biopic, but like Gainsbourg earlier in the year, one that did things just differently enough to make them really engaging (I am not usually a fan of the long, drawn out biopic).
What it did particularly well:
Great performances that transcended the real life characters they were playing and spoke about society of the era by using their story.
When he was on stage before it let on to his epilepsy (I had no idea, prior to watching, that Curtis was an epilepsy sufferer), I already had some kind of impression just from that stage performance that he looked like he was about to have a seizure. This anecdotal example just goes to show the attention to detail that went into the acting and the camerawork in order to capture the essence of what was going on in Ian's life. The epilepsy suffering girl in the job centre may have contributed to the laying of these seeds which, is genius scripting.
Most importantly, the visuals were breathtaking, despite the complete lack of exoticism. Funny that The American was vibrant in aesthetics, but emotionally numb, whereas Control, shot in black and white and without the large expansive visuals was full of passion, life and the importance of caring for somthing. Both of these visually captivating films were shot for Corbijn by Martin Ruhe.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
This is one I will be leaving blank.
Theme/Message:
It was no mistake that the film showed the sign/poster on Ian's wall of Jim Morrison and his years of birth and death. It is something about these artists; the same thing that makes them great is what causes them to struggle to fit in, to ever feel right and therefore leads to their young demise.
Debbie seemed to embody macclesfield, or home; what should be right, but what is also simple, easy and expected. A mind as great as Curtis' felt it needed more, so Anika embodied the different, the exotic, the foreign, the other, the wider world, but ultimately this pursuit of something to fill his 'lack' only contributed to his downfall.
Performance of the film:
Great supporting cast, particularly Toby Kebbell as the manager, but I guess in such a film it has to go to Sam Riley's Ian Curtis performance, particularly considering the actors performed all of the songs.
Scene of the film:
The fact that he told his wife he didn't love her when they were just walking home in the middle of the street. Something that would be so dramatic in a simpler film rang volumes by being set in such an unlikely situation and with no fancy work from the camera. It summed up Curtis and where his head was at; how he just didn't know what to do, what he wanted to do, what was the right thing to do, or how to do it, unless he was on stage.
Final Word:
Visually breathtaking throughout, with great characters, capturing a time and a sentiment.
Rcorded off of FilmFour. Wouldn’t have bothered, had I not seen The American about a month prior. Still had it on the +box for a while before watching it and only put it on because I fancied something that I could maybe watch a bit of, and if I get tired leave it for the next day, but this commanded my attention from start to finish.
Creators:
Directed by Anton Corbijn, who directed The American, which was the reason I watched this film in the first place. Clearly I rated The American but this is a far superior film. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the screenplay by adapting the book by Debora Curtis. Greenhalgh went on to write last year’s John Lennon biopic, Nowhere Boy, which I am yet to see.
What Happened:
Follows the (short) life of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis, starting with his daydreaming days in upper school, through his time forming Joy Division and becoming the phenomenon he had always seen himself becoming, then his Rock & Roll induced, inevitable and self destructive decline. The basic model for a musical biopic, but like Gainsbourg earlier in the year, one that did things just differently enough to make them really engaging (I am not usually a fan of the long, drawn out biopic).
What it did particularly well:
Great performances that transcended the real life characters they were playing and spoke about society of the era by using their story.
When he was on stage before it let on to his epilepsy (I had no idea, prior to watching, that Curtis was an epilepsy sufferer), I already had some kind of impression just from that stage performance that he looked like he was about to have a seizure. This anecdotal example just goes to show the attention to detail that went into the acting and the camerawork in order to capture the essence of what was going on in Ian's life. The epilepsy suffering girl in the job centre may have contributed to the laying of these seeds which, is genius scripting.
Most importantly, the visuals were breathtaking, despite the complete lack of exoticism. Funny that The American was vibrant in aesthetics, but emotionally numb, whereas Control, shot in black and white and without the large expansive visuals was full of passion, life and the importance of caring for somthing. Both of these visually captivating films were shot for Corbijn by Martin Ruhe.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
This is one I will be leaving blank.
Theme/Message:
It was no mistake that the film showed the sign/poster on Ian's wall of Jim Morrison and his years of birth and death. It is something about these artists; the same thing that makes them great is what causes them to struggle to fit in, to ever feel right and therefore leads to their young demise.
Debbie seemed to embody macclesfield, or home; what should be right, but what is also simple, easy and expected. A mind as great as Curtis' felt it needed more, so Anika embodied the different, the exotic, the foreign, the other, the wider world, but ultimately this pursuit of something to fill his 'lack' only contributed to his downfall.
Performance of the film:
Great supporting cast, particularly Toby Kebbell as the manager, but I guess in such a film it has to go to Sam Riley's Ian Curtis performance, particularly considering the actors performed all of the songs.
Scene of the film:
The fact that he told his wife he didn't love her when they were just walking home in the middle of the street. Something that would be so dramatic in a simpler film rang volumes by being set in such an unlikely situation and with no fancy work from the camera. It summed up Curtis and where his head was at; how he just didn't know what to do, what he wanted to do, what was the right thing to do, or how to do it, unless he was on stage.
Final Word:
Visually breathtaking throughout, with great characters, capturing a time and a sentiment.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Marketa Lazarova (1967) - Beautiful, but a bit dull and pointless
Viewing context:
LoveFilm - watched it over a couple of nights as it just wasn’t gripping me; gave up in the end. I have limited spare time in an evning and didn’t think that the rest of this film warranted that time.
Creators:
Directed by Frantisek Vlacil, who - despite having quite the negative reaction to this - I would like to see more of.
What Happened:
Follows a band of native, pagan czechaslovakians as their land is being taken over by the Prussian empire and the Christianity (grand empirical ideology) that goes with it. Along with the conquering Christians and the native pagans there are the native converts, who accept this Christianity and the order it brings. Can't say what happens past the first half as it was so dull and unstructured that I didn't think it was worth the time. Which is a shame as it was breathtaking to look at, but this cannot stretch over two and a half hours.
Theme/Message:
A confused or conflicted nation. The setting of this medieval period was allegorical for the kind of changes that were sweeping through Eastern Europe post World War 2 and the film seemed to be dealing with that. The tensions that can arise between new ideologies entering the fold, old ideologies that wish to conserve their heritage, those that are of the established culture but willing to change and a final group that don’t want to change but aren’t fussed enough to do anything about it.
What it did particularly well:
Looked absolutely beautiful; the photography was sublime. Had I not seen Control this week then it would have been the prettiest film of the year. There was one particularly beautiful sequence near the beginning, a sort of dream sequence; if the whole film would have been more of that, then I would have liked it more.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
I think the thing that let it down the most was the acting. Half the actors seemed like they were in a school play and destroyed any sort of atmosphere created through the visuals. the sublime cinematography cannot carry a two and a half hour film that has almost no structure yet is also not quite abstract enough to warrant being so incoherent.
Performance of the film:
NA nobody particularly impressed
Scene of the film:
The dreamy sequence with the nuns and the doves = sublime.
Final Comment:
Really beautiful in bits, but in the bits where it wasn’t so beautiful, there just wasn’t enough going on.
LoveFilm - watched it over a couple of nights as it just wasn’t gripping me; gave up in the end. I have limited spare time in an evning and didn’t think that the rest of this film warranted that time.
Creators:
Directed by Frantisek Vlacil, who - despite having quite the negative reaction to this - I would like to see more of.
What Happened:
Follows a band of native, pagan czechaslovakians as their land is being taken over by the Prussian empire and the Christianity (grand empirical ideology) that goes with it. Along with the conquering Christians and the native pagans there are the native converts, who accept this Christianity and the order it brings. Can't say what happens past the first half as it was so dull and unstructured that I didn't think it was worth the time. Which is a shame as it was breathtaking to look at, but this cannot stretch over two and a half hours.
Theme/Message:
A confused or conflicted nation. The setting of this medieval period was allegorical for the kind of changes that were sweeping through Eastern Europe post World War 2 and the film seemed to be dealing with that. The tensions that can arise between new ideologies entering the fold, old ideologies that wish to conserve their heritage, those that are of the established culture but willing to change and a final group that don’t want to change but aren’t fussed enough to do anything about it.
What it did particularly well:
Looked absolutely beautiful; the photography was sublime. Had I not seen Control this week then it would have been the prettiest film of the year. There was one particularly beautiful sequence near the beginning, a sort of dream sequence; if the whole film would have been more of that, then I would have liked it more.
What unimpressed or didn't quite reach potential:
I think the thing that let it down the most was the acting. Half the actors seemed like they were in a school play and destroyed any sort of atmosphere created through the visuals. the sublime cinematography cannot carry a two and a half hour film that has almost no structure yet is also not quite abstract enough to warrant being so incoherent.
Performance of the film:
NA nobody particularly impressed
Scene of the film:
The dreamy sequence with the nuns and the doves = sublime.
Final Comment:
Really beautiful in bits, but in the bits where it wasn’t so beautiful, there just wasn’t enough going on.
Best picture nominations in order of my preference
I must admit, until I came to list these I wouldn't have thought they would come out in this order; I quite shocked myself.
It seems really harsh having something like 127 Hours so low down, as I really did like it, but there are just some stronger films above it. The only film on here that I whole-heartedly do not like, is The King's Speech, but even that I recognise the technical quality of the strength of the performances; I just hate what it has to say about society (supporting that 'honour thy duty and know your place, stiff upper lip, the empire (or any dominant ruling ideology) needs you' bullshit).
1. Black Swan
2. Toy Story 3
3. Inception
4. Winter's Bone
5. True Grit
6. The Social Network
7. The Fighter
8. The Kids are Alright
9. 127 Hours
10. The King's Speech
It seems really harsh having something like 127 Hours so low down, as I really did like it, but there are just some stronger films above it. The only film on here that I whole-heartedly do not like, is The King's Speech, but even that I recognise the technical quality of the strength of the performances; I just hate what it has to say about society (supporting that 'honour thy duty and know your place, stiff upper lip, the empire (or any dominant ruling ideology) needs you' bullshit).
1. Black Swan
2. Toy Story 3
3. Inception
4. Winter's Bone
5. True Grit
6. The Social Network
7. The Fighter
8. The Kids are Alright
9. 127 Hours
10. The King's Speech
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