This is one of those films you need to watch on a big screen to fully appreciate just how beautiful it is. Those colours, the grain of the film (real or digitised, I have no idea), those costumes… oh my.
One of my (now former) colleagues is an Isherwood. She wishes she was related to Christopher Isherwood, who wrote the novel A Single Man (from which the film was adapted). I’ve got the book on my wishlist, too. It was Ms Isherwood who recommended the film that I was planning to watch, but wasn’t adamant that I needed the cinema experience.
From what I understand, a lot has been said (written) about the homosexual storyline. It could have been a straight storyline and still be an amazing film. It wasn’t the fact that George Falconer had a boyfriend, but the loss and loneliness he felt at losing him that actually hurt (although the theme of minority groups clearly wouldn’t have worked otherwise). The easy comfort and contentment we saw between George and Jim in the flashbacks almost made me cry because I know how mature a relationship must be to reach that level of intimacy, and losing that suddenly and unexpectedly would be unimaginable.
Colin Firth really needs to win that Oscar, he is such an excellent actor who can communicate a whole range of complex emotion with just one look. Tom Ford also needs to win awards for his brilliant direction. And we all need to thank the fridge guy.
- Verdict: Go watch it now. It's gorgeous and starts with a naked Colin Firth; that's a win-win.
Neil and I saw Die Welle on the weekend. It’s based on a true story, and in this version the seemingly ultra left-leaning teacher Rainer Wenger sets up an experiment with his students to see if fascism could thrive in Germany today.
At first the students are completely sceptical, but once the experiment starts, many of them are wholly absorbed in The Wave (the name of their group) — especially the social outcast, Tim, who finds a real sense of belonging as The Wave ends up becoming a real phenomenon.
You can see where this is going. I don’t actually need to spell it out for you, do I — it’s got a fairly predictable plot, but it’s still a decent film. It was also interesting to note that German neds are pretty much the same as Scottish neds.
(Neil drew my attention to this film because I’d told him about something I’d heard about in my Psychology class, the Stanford prison experiment. That was really fascinating.)
- Verdict: Predictable, but worth renting on DVD.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus, William Ernest Henley
Yup. We saw Invictus (released here on Friday). What a great film.
I, on the other hand, do not have as generous a nature as Mr. Mandela. That’s why he could be President. Yeah. That’s the only reason.
- Verdict: Worth every penny.
Wow. Primer was a weird film.
From what I’ve been able to understand by thinking incessantly about it for a couple of hours and consulting Wikipedia, I think I’ve finally grasped how time travel works in the film (which helps explain the narrative). (Read more.)
- Verdict: It deserves its cult status and critical acclaim.
Don’t blame me, Neil wanted to see Daybreakers.
All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Remember I Am Legend (the book)? Give it the Hollywood treatment and you get that thing that starred Will Smith. Sanitise it even more (so no one could possibly get offended) and you’ll get Daybreakers.
The human race has been all but eliminated by a disease that turns them into vampires. This is clearly a step back in evolution as vampires can only live on human blood and with the human population dwindling, toothy haematologist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is desperately trying to find an alternative to feed the vampiric populace.
He helps a few humans escaping the vampire military and they have some very interesting things to show him.
It’s not one of those movies you see that makes a commentary on current affairs like most good SF tends to; it’s purely entertainment and you should leave your analytical mind at the door. Willem Dafoe is hilarious. Claudia Karvan, average. Sam Neill? I like Sam Neill. Ethan Hawke is looking good — the only reason I was willing to pay full price to see this film (as opposed to waiting to rent it on DVD).
- Verdict: Ethan Hawke is wearing well. Worth watching if you have a thing for him and like a little brainless entertainment.
Over the weekend, we saw π (Pi) on DVD. Hmm. I’m not too sure why it’s classified as sci-fi when there should be a genre for weird instead. It’s about a mathematician who seems to suffer from extreme migraine while searching for patterns in the stock market. I’m not exactly sure why it’s titled Pi except that 3.142 (etc) is an irrational number and the main character’s computer is nicknamed Euclid.
And I saw Where the Wild Things Are on Sunday night with my friend Rebecca. I’ve never read the book or known anything about it, so I’m not sure how to talk about the film. I can see that it was made by someone who loves the book, so perhaps this is a movie for the adults who loved the book as children. My favourite character was Douglas — anyone who’s seen it will know why!
I was all set for a frightfest with The Devil’s Backbone, but it turned out to be a pretty decent story and no just-for-effect shocks. Overall, good special effects supporting a poignant tale of mostly-forgotten children and their carers during the Spanish civil war.
Then we watched We Own The Night, which (according to the director in the bonus behind-the-scenes featurette) was supposed to be a ‘different’ sort of cop movie. Sadly, he has failed in this regard. It’s shot well and the story isn’t bad, but I felt I’d seen it all before (the language, the lighting, the tension…). It naturally gets compared to The Departed — but even that was a remake of Infernal Affairs, something we finally got to see not too long ago. So basically I would compare We Own The Night to Infernal Affairs, and I prefer the latter.
Blockbuster is my friend.
We re-watched Suspect Zero last night. I vaguely remembered it was about remote viewing and psyops and serial killing. We got it because it starred Ben Kingsley, I think. As Neil likes to say about films he chooses, it had a good concept but suffered from poor execution. I found Aaron Eckhart not very good, the chemistry between him and Carrie Anne Moss non-existent, and the plot a bit hard to believe (I wasn’t convinced enough to suspend my disbelief).
Verdict? Watch The Men Who Stare at Goats instead.
(Neil does not feel as harshly as I do about Suspect Zero.)