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Showing posts from February, 2015

Thoughts on: Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything was released at the same time as The Imitation Game, and a cursory glance would make them look very similar – they’re both basically biographies of genius scientists, right? This assumption somewhat dampened my experience of The Theory of Everything, because it’s very much focused on being a love story, based on a book written by Hawking’s first wife. It does what it aims to do very well, but don’t watch it expecting the same sort of drama or themes as The Imitation Game. One thing that cannot go unmentioned is the acting, specifically Eddie Redmayne playing Hawking. The number of times I found myself thinking “Wait, this guy isn't actually disabled is he? He’s just pretending right?” was incredible. Watching him trying to pull his body up a flight of stairs with fingers that don’t work… It’s incredibly powerful stuff and there’s no doubt he deserves his Oscar nomination. As much as the movie succeeds in portraying Hawking’s relationship with his wife

Thoughts on: Grand Budapest Hotel

While nobody expects Wes Anderson to use anything other than his iconic style, it’s a style done by nobody else, and it really shows you the infinite creative potential of film-making. Merely by being so different, it begs the question – why are all the other movies coming out these days just so damn “same-y”? Once you move past similar directors like Quentin Tarantino, why does everyone else seem to insist on just churning out the same style, movie after movie? The same color palette, the same editing techniques, the same narrative structure, the same camera angles, the same music; the list goes on. It’s a real shame. The Grand Budapest Hotel doesn't really need any praise beyond that. You’ll know within the first 5 minutes whether it’s a movie for you, but try not to be put off by the initial oddness. From start to finish, I kept saying to myself, “this is so weird ”. Never did I do so without grinning like a Cheshire cat though. It’s been a long time since I've had such a