Enjoy It While It Lasts
Project 365 here 365Pieces
Apr 3rd, 2011 @ 11:26 pm
January Movies
Monsters
This is the first film I saw in 2011 and it was a near-perfect way to start the year. I already wrote about this film here so I won’t repeat myself but it’s one of the most original love stories I’ve ever seen as well as one of the best monster movies (probably) ever. Great sex scene too.
4/5
127 Hours
I was really looking forward to this one. The premise was interesting (but similar to the fantastic Buried) and I was interested to see if James Franco and Danny Boyle could pull it off. Fortunately the script focuses on a lot more than a man with his arm caught in a rock - it explores Ralston’s past, masculinity and manages to keep us interested in what is essentially the same scene for 70 minutes. Boyle’s direction was superb and watching the film you would know it was by no one else. Quirks like the opening credits, the big Scooby-Doo thing and the beautifully shot car-in-the-snow scenes were all outstanding. Franco’s performance was great but surprisingly forgettable. And unfortunately this film just doesn’t have the staying-power that it should. While it is a hopeful story, the film loses any grit it had towards the end. Hope is underrated in cinema but should be done well, and even if 127 Hours is quite an uplifting film, it was far too obvious in how it did so.
3/5
The King’s Speech
Having stolen all of the awards from more deserving films I really started to hate this film. But of course, just because I don’t agree with the Academy doesn’t take away from this film’s merits. For one, Firth gives the performance of his career and thoroughly deserved his avalanche of awards. As usual he was completely believable and invested a lot in playing this character. The set designs were exquisite and the script surprisingly funny. I’ve given the cinematographer a hard time before but I suppose dull greys and browns were the best choice for a film set in a speech therapists office and the King’s residence. The film, however, is devoid of any original ways of making us sympathise with Bertie and his high-class problems. The score is as obvious as it gets and despite random moments of hilarity, the script is a tad by-numbers. In saying all that though this is the most uplifting film you’ll see all year and I sure was delighted when - SPOILER ALERT!!! - he made that speech.
3.5/5
Blue Valentine
Sold as some sort of serious 500 Days of Summer, Blue Valentine similarly follows the highs and lows of a couple’s relationship. From first meeting to eventual demise, we see Cindy and Dean - played searingly by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling respectively - fall in and out of love and everything that brought them there. The film begins well into the couple’s marriage and they (~*~KIND OF!!~*~) have a daughter. Cindy’s a nurse and Dean is a painter and decorator. We are then taken back a few years and introduced to Cindy and Dean before they were a couple. Then back to the “present” then back to them at the start of their relationship. Such a simple premise could so easily be messed up but Blue Valentine is so seamlessly edited and directed that it all works perfectly. The film is shot through a grainy, boxy lens and we rarely see the couple in the same shot together. This simple “what he sees”/”what she sees” method of shooting made this film harrowingly realistic and their arguments are so familiar and raw that it’s hard to watch at times. Williams and Gosling tear each other apart in the performances of their respective careers. This film is devastating but not for the sake of it. We get to know these two people so well so when they eventually break up it just ruins you. Let’s not even mention the beautiful devastating end credits. Effortlessly one of the best relationship dramas ever committed to screen.
4.5/5
Black Swan
Unfortunately my first viewing of this film was on a television. You’d expect that this would take away from the movie, but not with Black Swan. You all know what it’s about at this stage so I won’t harp on. Natalie Portman is fantastic as Nina. The music is soaring. The cinematography is deceptively good. The supporting cast are all spot-on and with the help of one Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan becomes so much more than the sum of its parts. Terrifying and heartbreaking in equal meaure (and often at the same time), BS is one of the most interesting and best executed character studies I’ve ever seen. Nina has already become an iconic character since the film’s release 4 months ago; she wants to be perfect but unlike most people she does something to make it happen. She’s a fallen angel, an overprotected little girl, schizophrenic and a black swan. She personifies Western culture’s constant search for perfection (Did I really just say that?) and how detrimental that is. All that sounds pretentious but above all Black Swan is entertaining - and it never stops being so. A strange kind of horror film and a psychological thriller, Black Swan will not be forgotten quickly and we’re not likely to see anything like it again.
4.5/5
Biutiful
I wasn’t really a fan of Iñárritu (the film’s director), having only seen Babel and not having liked it. So I was hesitant about seeing this film. The trailer made it look like another misery-porn piece from the director but in Spanish. I was, however, wrong and Biutiful was fantastic. It follows a dying man, Uxbal (played perfectly by Javier Bardem), and his hunt for money to give to his children once he dies. The film explores his other various relationships with people in Barcelona including his depressed wife, a Chinese sweatshop owner and his apparent supernatural powers. It sounds like an awful lot, and it is. The film is long and messy but never loses sight of where it wants to go. The director handles the multiple subplots surprising well and creates a very complex character in Uxbal. You see, while he is the hero of the film he is still an awful man who does awful things. He begs the question: how far should you go to secure the stability of your children? He goes far but Bardem’s sublime performance is still one full of regret. For the past and the present and his lack of a future. The first two scenes of the film are as haunting as cinema gets as are various other scenes. For example, the scene on the beach and the club scene. Biutiful is a messy, harrowing but engrossing character study and Bardem’s knock-out performance had me close to tears.
4/5
Tangled
I saw this the day after Biutiful and it couldn’t have been more different. Biutiful was sad, serious and devoid of any humour (BUT STILL GR8) while Tangled was… well, Tangled was Disney. Going to see this, you’re not going to be expecting anything revolutionary in terms of themes or plot but that didn’t make Tangled any less brilliant. I’m sure you all know the deal: thief finds himself in Rupunzel’s tower and she forces him to take her on what becomes a whirlwind tour of the land. Music, comedy and romance ensue. While the premise is formulaic, Tangled succeeds because of how genuine it all feels. I buy into cheesy things easily enough but with Tangled there was nothing to buy into - you believed it all and you wanted Rupunzel to find her way to the King and Queen and you wanted her and Flynn to get together. It’s no spoiler to tell you that there’s a happy ending but Tangled deserves points for going down some dark paths. The Mother character is as scary as Disney has been since that bitch with the apple in Snow White and for a long while the film doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. The songs were your usual cheese-fest but lads, who didn’t get a bit teary eyed during I See the Light? Tangled is engrossing and emotive entertainment. The best animation I’ve seen since Up and the most beautiful since Wall.E, Tangled has proven that Disney can still make high-quality animation for both adults and children without the help of Pixar. Outstanding.
4/5
Pick of the month: Everyone has seen Black Swan which would have been my choice so I really reccommend you seek out Monsters upon its DVD release on Friday.
Wish I had seen: I’ts Kind Of A Funny Story
