Film Review: The Fall

A year-or-so back, I passed by a movie kiosk and this caught my eye. I was delighted to be able to acquire a copy when Block Buster closed (the ending of an era?). The premise seemed rather basic from the back of the box, but it is accurate: in a 1920's Los Angeles hospital, Alexandria, the child of a migrant worker meets an injured stunt-man, Roy, who begins to tell her the tale of heroes from a distant land who each seek vengeance upon the evil governor Odious. However, elements of the Roy's own life become apparent within the story and we begin to learn how he came to be in the hospital...

Stated simply, the film begs to be seen. The imagery and visuals conjured forth by director Tarsem lend themselves to a largely visual tale with, I would say, strong performances. Alexandria's story among the hospital residents meanders through interesting vignettes while the heroes' tale is where we are allowed to see the fantastic at work. The story itself also reveals a few surprises. Is it the most-complex story? Perhaps not, though I certainly found it engaging.

I GIVE IT 4.8 / 5

Film Review: Time Bandits

It's no secret; I a Terry Gilliam fan be. Brazil? One of the most-best films very much evar. His dark sense of humour and aesthetic intrigue and inspire. Time Bandits was a film that was a childhood favourite of my elder siblings, but we never seemed to have a copy around as I grew up. Needless to say, I went into the film with high expectations...




The premise: a young boy with a fascination in history is stifled by his TV-obsessed parents. However, in the middle of the night, a crew of dwarves bursts into his bedroom guns a-blazing and gets swept up in their adventure; they have stolen a map from their employer (The Supreme Being) and are intent upon exploiting this map to jump through holes and time-space and acquire riches. Nevertheless, The Supreme Being is in pursuit of the stolen map as well as others who might exploit the map for nefarious purposes...

Though my wife hated this film, I rather enjoyed it, especially upon its completion. This is to say, the film had very good aspects about it, but flaws as well. The humor and aesthetic crackle with Gilliam-style imagination (A Goode Thinge), but the films needlessly draws out and drags in some scenes. Also, I would have liked more character development, especially for the length of the film. Nevertheless, the ending held quite an unanticipated and delightful twist. Recommended if you are a Gilliam or Sci-Fi fan.

I GIVE IT 4.4 / 5

Quick (Film) Reviews from the Past

Instead of mustering forth any genuine effort, I dredged up a tonne of reviews from my old LiveJournal account. Quickly cursory reviews dating as far back as '05. I have a batch of full(er) reviews to follow this summer.

Idiocracy

Something about the imagery and sets really reminded me of a low-brow version of Brazil. Nevertheless, despite such a depressing premise (idiots have sex far more than smart people, causing a "dumbing down" of humanity over time), I actually enjoyed it. It was silly and vulgar, the latter by which I am not usually amused.

I GIVE IT 4.4 / 5

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Incredible, innovative film-making from director Michel Gondry. An original story: for a fee, a crew will come into your house and take away from you any unwanted memories. Great performances.

I GIVE IT 4.5 / 5

Little Miss Sunshine

A good story, but it kind of feels like I've seen this movie befor

e, y'know?; a detached family that comes together through the course of the film (think Royal Tannenbaums). Very good performances. Some goods laughs.

I GIVE IT 4.0 / 5

The Departed

An intriguing story; based on the Hong King film Internal Affairs. The whole film is just one big set of reflections between the police and the mob, and it's truly interesting to watch it all play out. The ending is rather abrupt though. The soundtrack is pretty awesome.

I GIVE IT 4.4 / 5

eXistenZ

Truly bizarre, yet creative, original organic imagery (think Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle). A pretty good score and decent directing as well (David Cronenberg). It's the same concept as The Matrix (like, what is real, man?), but it's expressed through playing a game as opposed to being manipulated by machines. Don't think too much about the plot; at least to me on one viewing nothing particularly leapt out at me of super-relevance. The acting is interesting, given that actors are acting as characters that are acting as well. THINK ABOUT IT.

I GIVE IT 4.5 / 5

Thank You for Smoking

A startlingly original concept, a wonderful ride of a film. Great performances.

I GIVE IT 4.4 / 5

Marie Antoinette

I honestly thought that it was wonderfully directed (Sofia Coppola); the cinematography was very well-done as well. The acting is fairly good as well. Very little actually happened though, not that I minded so much; it was a good watch. MA doesn't exactly get portrayed as a saint, frivolously spending all of her time at parties and such, but you do get attached to her throughout the film, even though you know what's going to happen.

I GIVE IT 4.2 / 5

Garden State

A very believable, well-delivered people-story. Zach Braff gave a great performance, as did Natalie Portman and the

seemingly immortal Ian Holm. Kudos again to Braff for his phenominal job of writing and directing the film. The characters are all very real, like people you probably know, which makes them all the more likable. There's not much of a strong central plot, but the personality of and interaction between the characters pull the film along; the film does tend to get slow though when it focuses on Braff. So, overall, a semi-artsy character-driven slowish film, but very endearing and personal. I GIVE IT 4.4 / 5