Enjoy It While It Lasts
Project 365 here 365Pieces
Dec 18th, 2011 @ 10:09 pm
June Movies
The Runway
AWFUL - WHY DO PEOPLE GIVE MONEY TO OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE THIS SHIT!? Giving Irish cinema a bad name. It was just inexplicably bad.
1/5
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Senna
Over-rated but tense documentary about Ayrton Senna. It unfortunately tries to make villains out of people for doing their jobs, however, and that took away massively from my enjoyment of it as a film. Neutrality is what makes a good documentary. Still, a definitive portrait of both the man and the sport.
3.5/5
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Jack Goes Boating
Saw this at the IFI Open Day for free! Pity it sucked… Phillip Seymour-Hoffman’s debut was disappointing and dull. A boring characters study of boring people. A few funny moments just can’t lift this typical typical typical film from being typical (I’m articulate!!!). It tries so hard to be twee and has this typical quasi-folk soundtrack that hinders the film rather than helps it. Hopefully Hoffman pulls something vaguely original out of the bag with his next film because, by the looks of this, he should really stick to acting.
2/5
Cell 211
Another free screening, this one was very good though. Spanish drama following a police man who gets trapped in a prison during a massive revolt. He has to pretend to be one of the inmates to survive. It was tense, suspenseful and well acted but it always felt like a superior tv movie (very melodramatic - not that that’s a bad thing, it just wasn’t very cinematic). It would have made a much better 3-part tv series. Still, very enjoyable.
3.5/5
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The Messenger
Surprisingly touching drama following the men who tell the families of deceased soldiers of their loved ones’ deaths. I really didn’t expect much but this film was so well observed. It makes the most melodramatic of things incredibly cinematic and the love story that festers throughout the film was simple and beautiful. Woody Harrelson, however, steals the show with his performance as an experience but troubled casualty notification officer.
4/5
Bridesmaids
Everyone’s seen this and rightly so. Smart, funny and perfectly cast, Bridesmaids was, and remains, the must-see comedy of 2011. Don’t listen to all the “look, funny women!!!!!” jargon. This film is funny and smart and therefore it should be seen, not because its cast is composed mainly of women. As is typical with any multiplex comedy, however, it disappointingly descends into cliché far too often but the unforgettable jokes (she broke a blanket in two!) and set pieces make up for it.
4/5
Incendies
Inexplicably lauded Canadian film about.. well about what? International relations? Racism? Xenophobia? It’s all well and good to have an overly complex (and ultimately glib) storyline if you can back it up with some kind of well executed emotional impact or notable style but Incendies can’t. It has bits and pieces of each, It laps up any cliché it comes across and for what? It doesn’t resonate in any way. A handful of incredible scenes and shots can’t stop Incendies from being a partially well-executed shambles.
2/5
Bad Teacher
Exactly what you’d expect. Cameron Diaz is great but she can’t save an awfully dull script which was further hampered by no distinct direction.
1.5/5
X-Men: First Class
Enjoyable but forgettable super-hero movie. It served as a nice podium for Fassbender, McAvoy and Lawrence and the timeless X-Men message is still there but there was nothing new about it. Essentially the Born This Way of cinema in 2011 - glossy, well intentioned but ultimately forgettable.
2/5
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As part of the IFI Open Day I also got to see the iconic Donnie Darko on the big screen - one of my all time favourites. It was mesmirising and chilling and must-see cinema.
