Code 46(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People were near-masterpieces in my mind so I was definitely taken aback with A Mighty Heart with it's excruciating blandness(I'm starting to feel I might have overrated it with my ** rating). This film, unfortunately, doesn't take me back to the esteem I had for him prior to seeing that Angelina Jolie Oscar baiting extravaganza. It is quite bland much like that film, but it's not nearly as painful to watch since it doesn't reek of being a vanity project for any of it's lead actors and doesn't strive to be "socially important" by being "topical." This film has some fleeting moments of brilliance, but as a whole, it's a pretty frustrating experience. The biggest problem lies with it's two lead actors, who aren't bad, they're just bad for each other. Since this story is a romance, chemistry is crucial and while there are some glimpses of it throughout, there's just not enough of it to make the film truly engaging. It's sci-finess wasn't really all that interesting and the story dwells on it consistently because if it didn't, you would start to wonder why it's even a sci-fi movie. It's story reminds us of Blade Runner with it's forbidden love in a futuristic society theme and if you compare the two, Blade Runner easily comes up on top with it's beautifully extravagant imagining of the future and a romance that actually has chemistry. I say it's better than average but not by much.
**1/2 out of ****
Showing posts with label winterbottom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winterbottom. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Oh Brangelina...
A Mighty Heart(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Taking an opposite approach to the material than the one he took on for 24 Hour Party People, he employs a deliberately bland style in an attempt to hide the fact that the thing is a film. Too bad this attempt at appearing more "honest" and "real" is undermined by Angelina Jolie's performance. All her character is is simply an accent and a pregnant belly. You never for once believe that this is an actual person. Jolie performs in a way as if she is asking the audience to love her character when there's nothing to love. The narrative is only somewhat effective with the flashbacks with her husband since he's easily the most sympathetic character in the story and the film would have benefited if it at least gave a snippet of what his experience was like during his brief time being detained. The film's narrative is incredibly uninteresting. I'm not saying this type of story needs to be exciting or anything, but it lacks insight and doesn't bother to examine anything around this situation in any type of profound way, making the film seem utterly pointless. The only logical reason in my mind for this movie to exist is to simply get Jolie an Oscar, which it might very well do. It was mediocre.
** out of ****
Taking an opposite approach to the material than the one he took on for 24 Hour Party People, he employs a deliberately bland style in an attempt to hide the fact that the thing is a film. Too bad this attempt at appearing more "honest" and "real" is undermined by Angelina Jolie's performance. All her character is is simply an accent and a pregnant belly. You never for once believe that this is an actual person. Jolie performs in a way as if she is asking the audience to love her character when there's nothing to love. The narrative is only somewhat effective with the flashbacks with her husband since he's easily the most sympathetic character in the story and the film would have benefited if it at least gave a snippet of what his experience was like during his brief time being detained. The film's narrative is incredibly uninteresting. I'm not saying this type of story needs to be exciting or anything, but it lacks insight and doesn't bother to examine anything around this situation in any type of profound way, making the film seem utterly pointless. The only logical reason in my mind for this movie to exist is to simply get Jolie an Oscar, which it might very well do. It was mediocre.
** out of ****
Friday, August 10, 2007
Oh Renée, Mel, and Shirley...
Miss Potter(dir. Chris Noonan)
Too cutesy. The sad moments in this film could possibly pass off as the happy moments in another bleaker film. The characterization was shallow, but the film was still kind of whimsical in it's overtly cute way. It seems almost drunk on it's cuteness. How cute.
**1/2 out of ****
Apocalypto(dir. Mel Gibson)
I really don't know what to say about this film. It feels wrong, but I got some enjoyment out of it. Mel obviously isn't a very subtle director and obviously loves to fuck around with slow mo a lot. The characters are all pretty over the top and while some will think the violence is disgusting, it seems almost comic-book-ish. It reminds me of a videogame like Mortal Kombat and if Mel ever played that, he was probably a fan of Kano's fatality. The violence is just there. The cinematography looks TV-ish probably due to using digital. The jungle is probably lush and beautiful, but the film doesn't really make it look all that beautiful. The New World? This is not. It's like a mindless action movie masquerading as a National Geographic documentary. It's almost scary that people actually watch this and feel like they're learning about Mayan culture. The film has a mad genius to it in terms of it's scope and attention to detail. I slightly recommend?
**1/2 out of ****
24 Hour Party People(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
I'm a fan of Joy Division. Just wanted to get that out of the way. One review I've read concerning this film talked about how it doesn't really give you a completely truthful view of the era. I'd understand that especially how nonsensical the film can become especially with it's more fantastical scenes like pidgeons dying for no apparent reason and a UFO sighting re-enacted. These scenes, thankfully, have a very artificial feel so it never feels like it's totally trying to interwine these events with the storyline, but makes them seem like playful excursions. The film as a whole is playful in terms of it's self-reflexive nature. The style is excessive, but so are the characters on display. I really liked it.
***1/2 out of ****
Too cutesy. The sad moments in this film could possibly pass off as the happy moments in another bleaker film. The characterization was shallow, but the film was still kind of whimsical in it's overtly cute way. It seems almost drunk on it's cuteness. How cute.
**1/2 out of ****
Apocalypto(dir. Mel Gibson)
I really don't know what to say about this film. It feels wrong, but I got some enjoyment out of it. Mel obviously isn't a very subtle director and obviously loves to fuck around with slow mo a lot. The characters are all pretty over the top and while some will think the violence is disgusting, it seems almost comic-book-ish. It reminds me of a videogame like Mortal Kombat and if Mel ever played that, he was probably a fan of Kano's fatality. The violence is just there. The cinematography looks TV-ish probably due to using digital. The jungle is probably lush and beautiful, but the film doesn't really make it look all that beautiful. The New World? This is not. It's like a mindless action movie masquerading as a National Geographic documentary. It's almost scary that people actually watch this and feel like they're learning about Mayan culture. The film has a mad genius to it in terms of it's scope and attention to detail. I slightly recommend?
**1/2 out of ****
24 Hour Party People(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
I'm a fan of Joy Division. Just wanted to get that out of the way. One review I've read concerning this film talked about how it doesn't really give you a completely truthful view of the era. I'd understand that especially how nonsensical the film can become especially with it's more fantastical scenes like pidgeons dying for no apparent reason and a UFO sighting re-enacted. These scenes, thankfully, have a very artificial feel so it never feels like it's totally trying to interwine these events with the storyline, but makes them seem like playful excursions. The film as a whole is playful in terms of it's self-reflexive nature. The style is excessive, but so are the characters on display. I really liked it.
***1/2 out of ****
Monday, April 02, 2007
Oh Some British Actor/Actress...
Wonderland(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
I was hungry and now I'm convinced that if I'm hungry, my brain doesn't function at maximum capacity and that means I won't be able to get into a movie. After I ate some food, I started getting into this. I had a similar thing with Children of Men with eating food and getting into the movie. Maybe it's only with movies with British actors. I don't know. I thought the ending was pretty much perfect in its simplicity. I'll probably rewatch it, but I don't think my opinion will change that much.
***1/2 out of ****
I was hungry and now I'm convinced that if I'm hungry, my brain doesn't function at maximum capacity and that means I won't be able to get into a movie. After I ate some food, I started getting into this. I had a similar thing with Children of Men with eating food and getting into the movie. Maybe it's only with movies with British actors. I don't know. I thought the ending was pretty much perfect in its simplicity. I'll probably rewatch it, but I don't think my opinion will change that much.
***1/2 out of ****
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