Enjoy It While It Lasts
Project 365 here 365Pieces
Dec 18th, 2011 @ 10:47 pm
July Movies
I was in the gaeltacht for the majority of this month so I didn’t see many films. Two of the my most eagerly anticipated of the year turned out to be two of the worst…
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2
So the film I was anticipating most of all this year turned out to be kind of crap. It wasn’t awful, it was just a bad way to end the series. Such an iconic series of movies and it ends on the dullest note of the lot. What happened to the utter style and focus of Part 1 (the best of all the films in my opinion)? From the confused tone to the unimaginative set pieces, what should have been an unforgettable and thrilling film was a cringe-worthy and disappointing closing chapter to the Harry Potter movies. I guess we’ll always have 3 and 7 to remind us why the HP is a worthwhile and distinguished group of films.
2.5/5
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The Tree of Life
So the film I was anticipating the second most of all in 2011 turned out to be the most pretentious, pointless, shallow, boring and did I say pretentious piece of cinema I have arguably ever seen. I had never seen a Malick film before but the buzz around this much delayed movie had me really excited. It sounded fascinating and the trailer was decent. But no.
Don’t believe the hype - it’s a nature documentary with an angelic voice-over that has no. focus. or. any. kind. of. narrative. I try not to let expectations and disappointment cloud my judgement of a film but this film appalled me to my very core that I’m not sure I really can leave those things to the side. But ok, I’ll try. Sean Penn, what are you doing? No, you’re doing your job, fair enough. TERRENCE MALICK WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? What is your film about? Oh “religion” and “the universe”? If you’re going to make a film about that kind of thing it needs to be smart and focused. This film lacked both of those qualities to the extent that it was about nothing. I’m not sure whether Malick, who wrote it too, buys his own bullshit or whether he knew that excited cinephiles would be queuing up to see his film anyway so he put no effort into the script. It consisted of a load of randomly selected inspirational, quasi-philosophical sentences thrown sparsely here and there. It was just devastating.
Fair play to Pitt and Chastain for keeping straight faces though, and Chastain did a good job at sounding as if she believed all the shite she had to say for the voice-over. If the film has another redeeming quality after Chastain, however, it’s the cinematography. Probably the best you’ll see all year. Shot using natural light and natural tones, Emmanuel Lubezki excels and made the most pretentious film of the year look like the best film of the year.
But do not get me started on that fucking light…
2/5
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The Guard
Surprisingly funny Irish film about a contrary and lazy policeman who gets teamed up with an American agent to investigate drug smuggling. Sounds like a recipe for mediocrity right? But a hilarious and often biting script, combined with Gleeson and Cheadle’s perfect comic timing make this a comedy that deserves all the praise it’s received.
3/5
