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Category: Film Review

  • Blue Valentine: Movie Review

    Blue ValentineThanks to The Lighthouse Cinema and Le Cool, I got to see a preview of Blue Valentine, the new film directed by Derek Cianfrance.

    The movie centers around a married couple in their late twenties, played by Michele Williams and Ryan Gosling, who have to deal with changes in themselves and each other.

    From the off, the movie is intense, Cianfrance’s background in documentary is apparent. The use of handheld cameras, close up shots of the characters and quick changing focus all add to the intensity and show a confining stifling relationship.

    Williams and Gosling are a delight to watch and have a believable couple chemistry onscreen, beautifully playing off each other. Grizzly Bear provide a fantastically apt soundtrack. The script is interesting and moves delicately with a crossing timeline, letting us in on the story of Dean and Cindy.

    Blue Valentine is  captivating but tough viewing as we see the couple’s trials.  Cianfrance has managed to retain an indie feel to the film while having a mainstream appeal.

    Definitely one to watch, I’m going to go see it again.

    Watch the trailer.. (more…)

  • Twelve Days of Films

    Scott PilgrimSeeing as its the twelfth day of Christmas, I thought I’d do a quick recap/review on what movies I watched over the Festive season.

    Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

    Loved it. Directed by Edgar Wright, this movie beautiful incorporates the vibe of the comic book with fantastic graphics and editing. Michael Cera plays the lead role in which Scott Pilgrim must defeat Romona’s seven evil exes in order to win her heart. Aw Shucks! Some great laughs, great fights (loved the vegan one) and a brilliant soundtrack. Score!

    micmacsMicMacs

    This is another quirky little tale from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the man that brought us Delicatessen and Amélie. This tells the story of Bazil (Dany Boon), a video shop worker who gets hit in the head with a stray bullet. Once back on his feet, Bazil finds himself homeless and is adopted by a group of people living in a junkyard. Together, they scheme and plot to bring down two of the biggest weapons companies. Mix their plans with the eccentric folk of junkyard, a human cannonball, a contortionist, a measurement genius and a robot maker and there’s lots of laughs.

    Beautiful colours and vibe, another imagery filled  cracker from Jeunet. (more…)

  • Movie Quest 2010

    Movie Quest 2010

    Movie Quest 2010

    I’ve been really bad with doing this, I’ll see how many movies I’ll watch between now and New Year’s Eve until its Movie Quest 2011.

    the-kids-are-all-right-movie-poster

    The Kids Are Alright

    This movie started off really well, laugh out loud funny in places. Unfortunately after the first 15/20 minutes things went downhill. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, who also directed episodes of The L Word and Six Feet Under, ‘The Kids Are Alright‘ tells the story of a lesbian couple played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore who have used a sperm donor to have two kids. When the eldest turns eighteen, the childrens’ father (Mark Ruffalo), is brought into their lives.

    After the story background, the story starts failing. Bening’s character is a complete bitch who treats her partner like crap but instead of working out the extra subplots properly the story relies on the fact that the story is about a lesbian couple. Let’s it down a lot. Worth a look if you are completely snowed in and don’t mind never getting that hour and a bit back.

     

    Salt

    salt_movie_poster_2_angelina_with_gun

    Angelina Jolie is overlooked a lot as being a great actor, mainly because she’s hot. She’s back in action mode here as a CIA agent, Evelyn Salt, who may or may not be a Russian spy, I’m not going to tell. Interesting story, more interesting as sleeper spies were found in the US earlier this year.

    Salt goes on the run as a Russian defector names her as the person about to assassinate the Russian president who is in NYC. Failing to get in touch with her husband, Salt goes on the run fearing for his safety.

    Directed by Philip Noyce this is an extremely enjoyable film, great fight scenes, a few crashes and buildings being blown up. Pity Angelina’s blonde look is so awful though.

  • Tron Legacy: Preview Review

    On Thursday morning I was one of the lucky one to see 23 minute preview of Tron Legacy which is due for theatre release in December.

    Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Tron Legacy is the sequel to the 1982 movie Tron. The 23 minutes of what I saw contained a selection of scenes from the first half of the movie, which gave a rough idea of the script. We were told by the Walt Disney rep that it wasn’t the final audio mix and that Daft Punk were supplying the soundtrack.

    Visually, Tron Legacy looks stunning. The 3D technology makes what I saw completely amazing. The colours are so vivid and electrifying. It’s only a matter of time before there is a game based on all this and perhaps something featuring the suits worn by the characters. Extremely visually striking. The trailers currently on the net don’t come close to being able to compliment the movie.

    Can’t wait to see the full thing.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9szn1QQfas]