2010
Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis
In a post apocaliptic world, 30 years after a 'big flash'. Eli (Washington) is heading out West on a mission. On the way, he meets Carnegie (Oldman) who is the leader of a town in the middle of nowhere, desperate to get his hands on a certain book so that he can be more powerful. He also meets the wife of Carnegie and her daughter Solara (Kunis) and learns that Carnegie is not one to be messed with. We learn that Eli is carrying said book and Carnegie will do almost anything to get his hands on it.
Denzel is good as the lone wanderer Eli. Oldman does what he does best as the manic bad guy, Carnegie (he is certainly the most memorable character) Kunis, is well.....eye candy but a very bland actress for me.
Despite about 20 thousand plot holes, i like this film. The music is bleak, the lighting is bleak and the acting, on the whole is good and believable.
8/10
"WHAT WE DO IN LIFE ECHOES IN ETERNITY"
Sunday 27 February 2011
Shutter Island
2010
Leonardo Di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams.
Teddy Daniels(Di Caprio) is a US Marshall sent to investigate the disapearence of a woman from a mental institution on Shutter Island. Along with his partner, Chuck(Ruffalo). Teddy begins to see and hear things that are impossible to fathom...and begins to doubt his own sanity and the truthfulness of the staff and inmates. Haunted by visions of his own violent past, Teddy stumbles into a living nightmare. One that is almost impossible to escape from.
Di Caprio is fantastic as the tortured ex war veteran Teddy.It is almost painful to watch him relive his worst nightmares. Ruffalo is great as the sidekick Chuck....from the beginning it is very easy to spot that he may not be telling Teddy the truth. Ben Kingsley is great as the aging Psychiatrist, Cawley. Always nice but again, never quite sure how truthful he is actually being.
It is a complete mind f**k and im still not quite sure what my interpretation of the ending is....but thats what i love about it.
10/10
Leonardo Di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams.
Teddy Daniels(Di Caprio) is a US Marshall sent to investigate the disapearence of a woman from a mental institution on Shutter Island. Along with his partner, Chuck(Ruffalo). Teddy begins to see and hear things that are impossible to fathom...and begins to doubt his own sanity and the truthfulness of the staff and inmates. Haunted by visions of his own violent past, Teddy stumbles into a living nightmare. One that is almost impossible to escape from.
Di Caprio is fantastic as the tortured ex war veteran Teddy.It is almost painful to watch him relive his worst nightmares. Ruffalo is great as the sidekick Chuck....from the beginning it is very easy to spot that he may not be telling Teddy the truth. Ben Kingsley is great as the aging Psychiatrist, Cawley. Always nice but again, never quite sure how truthful he is actually being.
It is a complete mind f**k and im still not quite sure what my interpretation of the ending is....but thats what i love about it.
10/10
Saturday 26 February 2011
Gang de qin - The Piano in a Factory
2010
Shin-Yeong Jang, Wang Qian-Yang, Hailu Qin
Was lucky enough to see the gem of a film yesterday after wandering into my local cineworld and, finding nothing else on..thought i would go and see this (if it looks utterly random i will probably go and see it over a big Hollywood blockbuster) . It was on as part of the Glasgow Film Festival - which was also something i didn't know was on BAD ME!!!! After being introduced to the film by one of the Film Festival workers (another nice touch which i liked) the film started straight away- no trailers is not a bad thing.
It is a Chinese film set in China in the early 90's when the steel workers were in uproar. It focuses on a young man Chen, who is divorcing his upmarket wife....desperate to keep the custody of his young daughter, who says the she will stay with whomever can give her a piano (nothing like emotional blackmail)...Chen can't afford a piano and tries all different tactics to help her play...he tries to sneak her into the local school with the help of a friend but gets caught and then tries to steal the school piano which doesn't work, not surprisengly. In desperation, Chen makes a piano keyboard out of wood, and even though it can't be played so a sound is made, he gets his daughter to use her imagination just so she is still getting the finger movements and the sound- there is a wonderful scene at this point where they play Beethoven together on a silent piano.
Realising that none of this is going to win back the daughter he do desperatly wants, Chen rounds up all his oddball friends and persuades them to help him make a piano from scratch at the local steel factory.......
The music was wonderful - i desperatly want to get my hands on a song which was used during alot of the factory scenes, some sort of russian hip hop or something.
The cinematography was wonderful, it really did feel bleak.
What i loved most though was the random songs that would burst out of nowhere when Chen and his girlfriend and their band needed to practice for gigs.....Spanish Flamenco style in the middle of a Chinese steel factory...why not!
I am not sure if this will ever get a proper uk release....so im very glad i had the chance...
10/10
Shin-Yeong Jang, Wang Qian-Yang, Hailu Qin
Was lucky enough to see the gem of a film yesterday after wandering into my local cineworld and, finding nothing else on..thought i would go and see this (if it looks utterly random i will probably go and see it over a big Hollywood blockbuster) . It was on as part of the Glasgow Film Festival - which was also something i didn't know was on BAD ME!!!! After being introduced to the film by one of the Film Festival workers (another nice touch which i liked) the film started straight away- no trailers is not a bad thing.
It is a Chinese film set in China in the early 90's when the steel workers were in uproar. It focuses on a young man Chen, who is divorcing his upmarket wife....desperate to keep the custody of his young daughter, who says the she will stay with whomever can give her a piano (nothing like emotional blackmail)...Chen can't afford a piano and tries all different tactics to help her play...he tries to sneak her into the local school with the help of a friend but gets caught and then tries to steal the school piano which doesn't work, not surprisengly. In desperation, Chen makes a piano keyboard out of wood, and even though it can't be played so a sound is made, he gets his daughter to use her imagination just so she is still getting the finger movements and the sound- there is a wonderful scene at this point where they play Beethoven together on a silent piano.
Realising that none of this is going to win back the daughter he do desperatly wants, Chen rounds up all his oddball friends and persuades them to help him make a piano from scratch at the local steel factory.......
The music was wonderful - i desperatly want to get my hands on a song which was used during alot of the factory scenes, some sort of russian hip hop or something.
The cinematography was wonderful, it really did feel bleak.
What i loved most though was the random songs that would burst out of nowhere when Chen and his girlfriend and their band needed to practice for gigs.....Spanish Flamenco style in the middle of a Chinese steel factory...why not!
I am not sure if this will ever get a proper uk release....so im very glad i had the chance...
10/10
Saturday 19 February 2011
Requiem for a Dream
2000
Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans
This film should pretty much put you off the idea of ever taking drugs....
A young couple, Harry (Leto) and Marion (Connelly) set up a drug dealing business and their friend (Wayans) and like most things in life, starts off pretty perfect and the money is rolling in. Meanwhile, Harry's mother Sara (Burstyn) has been left out in the cold with not much company apart from the television that she craves so much to be on one day. She recieves a call one day that she has been picked to be on a game show and this spurs her on to lose weight. She begins taking diet pills to help her....and they work....until they start to become an addiction. Harry and Marion's business takes a turn for the worse aswell and they have to resort to horrendous measures to get their next hit.
It is grim..it is to put it bluntly absolutly hellish but it is essential viewing. The camera angles are engulfing and on more than one occasion i felt sick and dizzy and my heart began to beat faster than normal.......only because of the film....it is quite an experience.
Leto and Connelly are a fantastic pair and i do wonder why they both don't get more work. They transform themselves into the roles and Leto especially is very very thin by the end and makes for uncomfortable viewing.
Burstyn is heartbreaking as the mother, Sara. On more than one occasion, i cried for her...
I don't personally get why people find it over rated.....it is gritty and it is raw and i think it was a film that needed to be made and should be seen by everyone.........it is not a positive film but you can take the positive fact away from it that you will be very unlikely to go near any drugs after watching it.
10/10
Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans
This film should pretty much put you off the idea of ever taking drugs....
A young couple, Harry (Leto) and Marion (Connelly) set up a drug dealing business and their friend (Wayans) and like most things in life, starts off pretty perfect and the money is rolling in. Meanwhile, Harry's mother Sara (Burstyn) has been left out in the cold with not much company apart from the television that she craves so much to be on one day. She recieves a call one day that she has been picked to be on a game show and this spurs her on to lose weight. She begins taking diet pills to help her....and they work....until they start to become an addiction. Harry and Marion's business takes a turn for the worse aswell and they have to resort to horrendous measures to get their next hit.
It is grim..it is to put it bluntly absolutly hellish but it is essential viewing. The camera angles are engulfing and on more than one occasion i felt sick and dizzy and my heart began to beat faster than normal.......only because of the film....it is quite an experience.
Leto and Connelly are a fantastic pair and i do wonder why they both don't get more work. They transform themselves into the roles and Leto especially is very very thin by the end and makes for uncomfortable viewing.
Burstyn is heartbreaking as the mother, Sara. On more than one occasion, i cried for her...
I don't personally get why people find it over rated.....it is gritty and it is raw and i think it was a film that needed to be made and should be seen by everyone.........it is not a positive film but you can take the positive fact away from it that you will be very unlikely to go near any drugs after watching it.
10/10
The Machinist
2004
Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Trevor Reznik (Bale) is a machine worker at a downtown factory. He has not slept in a year....after a stranger at work causes Reznik to accidentially saw off the arm of a fellow worker and strange post it notes begin appearing round his house causing him to doubt the truthfullness of his workmates and also his own sanity.
Bale is fantastic as the horrendously thin, Reznik. To say he put himself into the role puts it lightly...the man looks like a walking skeleton. It is very uncomfortable to watch sometimes. His weight seems to be the only thing he can control as he slowly loses his mind......to cleanse himself he washes his hands with bleach.....makes my hands tingle just to write that...
Jennifer Jason Leigh is good as the prostitute with a heart, Stevie. She is the only person in Trevor's life that he can trust.
The music is haunting.. and the lighting is dark, dingy, and grey.......almost like Trevor as a shadow of his former self. The lighting almost reminds me of The Book of Eli at some points.
Most definatly worth the watch....even if it is slightly predictable....
10/10
Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon
Trevor Reznik (Bale) is a machine worker at a downtown factory. He has not slept in a year....after a stranger at work causes Reznik to accidentially saw off the arm of a fellow worker and strange post it notes begin appearing round his house causing him to doubt the truthfullness of his workmates and also his own sanity.
Bale is fantastic as the horrendously thin, Reznik. To say he put himself into the role puts it lightly...the man looks like a walking skeleton. It is very uncomfortable to watch sometimes. His weight seems to be the only thing he can control as he slowly loses his mind......to cleanse himself he washes his hands with bleach.....makes my hands tingle just to write that...
Jennifer Jason Leigh is good as the prostitute with a heart, Stevie. She is the only person in Trevor's life that he can trust.
The music is haunting.. and the lighting is dark, dingy, and grey.......almost like Trevor as a shadow of his former self. The lighting almost reminds me of The Book of Eli at some points.
Most definatly worth the watch....even if it is slightly predictable....
10/10
Thursday 10 February 2011
El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)
2006
Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil,
A beautiful, beautiful movie.
It is 1944. Spain is in the throes of Facism and the rebels are fighting against authority. In the midst of this chaos, we meet Ofelia (Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Gil). They are heading to the home of Carmen's new husband Capitian Vidal (Lopez). Carmen is pregnant with Vidal's son and is very very ill. Vidal pays little attention to his new stepdaughter and dotes on his unborn child. Lonely, Ofelia stumbles across an old labryinth in the grounds of her new home. There she meets a faun who tells her she must complete magical and dangerous tasks to become who she was born to be.....
Captain Vidal is possibly one of the most sadistic villians i have ever seen on film......the man is incapable of any empathy (although it would be nice to know why this is the case). The scene with the glass bottle is the one of only two scenes in any films where i have had to look away........
Ofelia is a beautiful little girl and it is lovely to see the world from her point of view.......Baquero is a wonderful young actress and has lots ahead of her.
The cinematography and music are just wonderful and even now i can hear the lullaby in my head and it makes me tearful. I physically sob by the end of this film....no matter how many times i watch it.
Never mind in your face spiders and trolls, this film has one of THE (in my opinion) scariest creatures ever...............The Pale Man will haunt your dreams forever.
10/10
Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil,
A beautiful, beautiful movie.
It is 1944. Spain is in the throes of Facism and the rebels are fighting against authority. In the midst of this chaos, we meet Ofelia (Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Gil). They are heading to the home of Carmen's new husband Capitian Vidal (Lopez). Carmen is pregnant with Vidal's son and is very very ill. Vidal pays little attention to his new stepdaughter and dotes on his unborn child. Lonely, Ofelia stumbles across an old labryinth in the grounds of her new home. There she meets a faun who tells her she must complete magical and dangerous tasks to become who she was born to be.....
Captain Vidal is possibly one of the most sadistic villians i have ever seen on film......the man is incapable of any empathy (although it would be nice to know why this is the case). The scene with the glass bottle is the one of only two scenes in any films where i have had to look away........
Ofelia is a beautiful little girl and it is lovely to see the world from her point of view.......Baquero is a wonderful young actress and has lots ahead of her.
The cinematography and music are just wonderful and even now i can hear the lullaby in my head and it makes me tearful. I physically sob by the end of this film....no matter how many times i watch it.
Never mind in your face spiders and trolls, this film has one of THE (in my opinion) scariest creatures ever...............The Pale Man will haunt your dreams forever.
10/10
Mamma Mia
2008
Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper
Mamma Mia is the blockbuster, big screen adaptation of the ABBA musical of the same name. It focuses on Sophie(Seyfried), who lives on an island in Greece with her mother Donna (Streep). She is about to get married to her fiance Sky(Cooper)but feels something is missing and has been missing her whole life. Her father to walk her down the aisle. She stumbles across her mothers diary that Donna kept the year she was pregnant with Sophie and finds out that she has three possible fathers..........and invites them all! Hilarity ensues.
Such a feel good film. Pretty much all the cast do a great job, apart from Dominic Cooper, who in my opinion, couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Pierce Brosnon can't sing for toffee but it doesn't matter, he is a likeable character. Meryl Streep defies her age and runs about like a woman of 30! Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are a great double act and "Chiquitita" is absolutly hilarious. Amanda Seyfried can come across as very annoying and childish but i guess that is the point of the story (if you have seen the end you know what i mean) Colin Firth, well i can't say much without giving away a little of his character but seeing him play something else apart from the noble englishman is a breath of fresh air.....Stellan Skarsgard, i had never seen before this film but he is really good. Gruff and rough round the edges.......
The music is of course fabulous (if you like ABBA) and you will be up dancing and singing in no time. The scenery is beautiful and works so well with the story.
Only bad point for me is Dominic Cooper....sorry mate but you can't act....nice body tho!
9/10
Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Dominic Cooper
Mamma Mia is the blockbuster, big screen adaptation of the ABBA musical of the same name. It focuses on Sophie(Seyfried), who lives on an island in Greece with her mother Donna (Streep). She is about to get married to her fiance Sky(Cooper)but feels something is missing and has been missing her whole life. Her father to walk her down the aisle. She stumbles across her mothers diary that Donna kept the year she was pregnant with Sophie and finds out that she has three possible fathers..........and invites them all! Hilarity ensues.
Such a feel good film. Pretty much all the cast do a great job, apart from Dominic Cooper, who in my opinion, couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Pierce Brosnon can't sing for toffee but it doesn't matter, he is a likeable character. Meryl Streep defies her age and runs about like a woman of 30! Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are a great double act and "Chiquitita" is absolutly hilarious. Amanda Seyfried can come across as very annoying and childish but i guess that is the point of the story (if you have seen the end you know what i mean) Colin Firth, well i can't say much without giving away a little of his character but seeing him play something else apart from the noble englishman is a breath of fresh air.....Stellan Skarsgard, i had never seen before this film but he is really good. Gruff and rough round the edges.......
The music is of course fabulous (if you like ABBA) and you will be up dancing and singing in no time. The scenery is beautiful and works so well with the story.
Only bad point for me is Dominic Cooper....sorry mate but you can't act....nice body tho!
9/10
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