A bunch of recent releases
Okay, it's decided. I will be abandoning the scattershot approach of the Freakpit and very, very soon this blog will be replaced with a brand new one. If you're here for the coverage of documentaries, spaghetti westerns or any other marginalised form of movie then I apologise but let's be honest. There are countless blogs out there devoted to such things and lots of them have a great deal more effort put into them than this one.
The Scottish and Irish stuff has been getting more and more common of late and that's the interest on which I'm going to concentrate. But before I hammer the final nails into the Freakpit's coffin and start talking about tartan and blarney, I thought I'd finish off with a brief round-up of a bunch of recent films that I never got round to reviewing.
FROST/NIXON boasts a couple of decent lead performances and is a gripping enough film about a fascinating incident. It was probably the best of the big Oscar movies but was still rather conventional and unspectacular, a testament to how weak the last year or so has been for films.
AUSTRALIA was almost every single type of awful. I'll single out the expression-free Nicole Kidman trying desperately hard to act (again) as being the "highlight" but really it's difficult to know where to start, or end, when describing just how much this film stinks of terrible.
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED slips a little towards the end of the film when the actual wedding goes on forever - to the point where you genuinely feel like you're watching an entire video of the wedding of two people you've never met - but otherwise is a fine ensemble piece dominated by an incredible Oscar-nominated turn by Anne Hathaway.
MILK was an entertaining study of important true events, a nice reconstruction of time and place and a showcase for a great performance by Sean Penn but as far as biopics go, it was another case of ticking boxes.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD was a fantastically dark look at fifties American suburbia and the futility of the American dream, with good performances for the most part. Miserable, cynical and various other adjectives that people also use to describe me all apply.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D. Yeah, this one's a bit out of place. On the one hand, I like 80s slashers, including the original of this. On the other hand, I despise the current trend of remaking every film ever made and try not to give them my money. So I got into this one using a voucher I had been given, so my conscience is clear. It's in 3D, it's got gore and female nudity and Tom Atkins is in it. If none of those things interest you, steer clear because they are literally the only things that come close to being reasons to see it.
THE CLASS is the Cannes prize winning French drama combining semi-improvisation and verite style to take a look inside a school full of troubled kids. It's all well handled but don't go expecting easy answers to anything. Or any kind of answers at all. I can't make up my mind if it's a terrifically realistic look at the problems of modern education or if it's just a cynical expression that there's nothing we can do to help these people, no matter what we try.
GRAN TORINO is another entertaining entry in Eastwood's canon as he plays the miserable old war vet who hates pretty much everyone. He's a racist bigot, some Asians move in next door, blah blah blah. Yeah, you know what's coming, but Eastwood proves again why he's such an interesting director (and storyteller, more importantly). Not without flaws (and is it right that a racist is so funny?) but still a crowd pleaser all the same. This is what Dirty Harry looks like when he's retired.
Watch this space for updates on the status of the blog. Bye for now.
The Scottish and Irish stuff has been getting more and more common of late and that's the interest on which I'm going to concentrate. But before I hammer the final nails into the Freakpit's coffin and start talking about tartan and blarney, I thought I'd finish off with a brief round-up of a bunch of recent films that I never got round to reviewing.
FROST/NIXON boasts a couple of decent lead performances and is a gripping enough film about a fascinating incident. It was probably the best of the big Oscar movies but was still rather conventional and unspectacular, a testament to how weak the last year or so has been for films.
AUSTRALIA was almost every single type of awful. I'll single out the expression-free Nicole Kidman trying desperately hard to act (again) as being the "highlight" but really it's difficult to know where to start, or end, when describing just how much this film stinks of terrible.
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED slips a little towards the end of the film when the actual wedding goes on forever - to the point where you genuinely feel like you're watching an entire video of the wedding of two people you've never met - but otherwise is a fine ensemble piece dominated by an incredible Oscar-nominated turn by Anne Hathaway.
MILK was an entertaining study of important true events, a nice reconstruction of time and place and a showcase for a great performance by Sean Penn but as far as biopics go, it was another case of ticking boxes.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD was a fantastically dark look at fifties American suburbia and the futility of the American dream, with good performances for the most part. Miserable, cynical and various other adjectives that people also use to describe me all apply.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D. Yeah, this one's a bit out of place. On the one hand, I like 80s slashers, including the original of this. On the other hand, I despise the current trend of remaking every film ever made and try not to give them my money. So I got into this one using a voucher I had been given, so my conscience is clear. It's in 3D, it's got gore and female nudity and Tom Atkins is in it. If none of those things interest you, steer clear because they are literally the only things that come close to being reasons to see it.
THE CLASS is the Cannes prize winning French drama combining semi-improvisation and verite style to take a look inside a school full of troubled kids. It's all well handled but don't go expecting easy answers to anything. Or any kind of answers at all. I can't make up my mind if it's a terrifically realistic look at the problems of modern education or if it's just a cynical expression that there's nothing we can do to help these people, no matter what we try.
GRAN TORINO is another entertaining entry in Eastwood's canon as he plays the miserable old war vet who hates pretty much everyone. He's a racist bigot, some Asians move in next door, blah blah blah. Yeah, you know what's coming, but Eastwood proves again why he's such an interesting director (and storyteller, more importantly). Not without flaws (and is it right that a racist is so funny?) but still a crowd pleaser all the same. This is what Dirty Harry looks like when he's retired.
Watch this space for updates on the status of the blog. Bye for now.
posted by Alan at 1:04 am
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