Protecting The Private Life

The Good: Gravity is the most visually breathtaking movie I've ever seen. It is exactly the kind of movie that the 3D effect was meant for, and is absolutely worth seeing on a big screen and in 3D. It wouldn't nearly have the same effect at home in 2D. The technical brilliance of the film lends itself perfectly to its main aim: immersion. My experience involved a racing heart, white knuckles gripping my chair for dozens of minutes on end, and praying for the tension to be over. And of course as soon as it calmed down, I couldn't wait for it to ramp up again. The music fit perfectly with this, punctuated at just the right times with the utter silence of space. The silence had a surprisingly huge effect on the action as well – after being desensitized to most of the explosions in movies these days, to see it happen in 100% silence was extremely eerie and intense. The complete lack of gravity added to this as well – nothing moved like I expected it to, and suddenly every ...

Having seen other works from Sophia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Somewhere) I knew what to expect, but I still wasn’t prepared for the surrealism that permeates through “The Virgin Suicides”. Within the first 30 seconds I was enthralled; unable to guess what would happen or how things would play out. The basic plot of the movie is utterly depressing, and yet the somewhat alien interactions between the sisters (and their interactions with the world) negate this depression to the point of being a pleasant curiosity. And yes, it’s as unusual as it sounds. It’s the kind of movie that makes you sit there at the end, staring dumbfounded at the credits, soaking in exactly what it was you just saw. Absolutely nothing is resolved or explained by the end, and yet it remains extremely satisfying with no real questions remaining. It should by no means be described as “entertaining”, at least not in the traditional sense, but instead as “compelling”. It’s definitely not for everyone. Ki...

Despite the bland name, “The Lookout” is a surprisingly insightful look into the lives of damaged, flawed people. Nearly every character with even a handful of speaking lines had an interesting, nuanced background, while remaining very much rooted in reality and the lives of ordinary people. It’s a pity that by the end of the movie, there really wasn't time to resolve all the different relationships and character struggles, and it left me feeling unsatisfied despite the objectively excellent climax.  By far the most glaring example was his ex-girlfriend, who only gets a quick conversation in a dream when there was a hell of a lot more potential for exploration. In many ways, the bank heist actually gets in the way of the main character’s opportunities for growth, rather than enabling it. After putting all that attention into introducing and growing a swathe of characters, it was a pity to see it all ultimately boil down to a movie about money. The movie certainly doesn't ...

“Dear Zachary” could very well be the saddest movie you will ever see in your life. Just when you think things are starting to turn around and get better, the movie slams you back down, over and over again. What starts as a biography quickly turns into a true crime documentary, with an audience that is extremely emotionally invested by that point. Not only is it a true story, but everything from the filming, interviewing, producing, music, and editing was done by one family friend of Zachary’s father. It’s incredible how good of a job he did – especially with the editing. Bits of the narrative are cleverly hidden until they can have maximum impact, and the result is some really impressive pacing that keeps you constantly on edge. The emotional turmoil "Dear Zachary" puts you through really can’t be described. The movie puts the complete annihilation of an elderly couple’s hopes and dreams on full display, and doesn't pull any of its punches. Moments like when they desc...

Contrived, cliché, and uses “magic” as a free pass to fill the movie with ridiculous plot holes. CGI is constantly used instead of real illusions, losing all credibility and sense of magic. There’s some clever one-liners and cool action scenes every so often, but they’re few and far between. It’s a movie about magic without actually having any magic of its own. Unless you’re after some extremely light entertainment, just go and re-watch The Prestige. 4/10

I am so sick of shaky cameras. After being blown away by District 9, it was shocking to see Neill Blomkamp stoop to such lazy filming. None of the fight scenes were fresh or engaging, and the camera only stood still long enough each fight to show off some new gadget before going back to indiscriminate blurs of punches or guns firing. Everything was just so derivative and ordinary. Occasionally you’d see a cool camera angle, a clever use of silence or a particularly nice special effect, just to let you know there was at least some creative spark left. However these were few and far between and were nowhere near enough to salvage the movie. Blomkamp showed us in District 9 that he likes to commentate on society, and he did an excellent job of handling discrimination in that movie. In this movie, however, whatever commentary he might have originally had clearly got lost in the process. While the first quarter of the movie has some nice scenes of Matt Damon living in slums and dealing w...

Drinking Buddies is a subdued drama depicting very real relationships. What might seem like an open-and-shut plot actually turns out to have a very human story. In fact it appears to be right on track to have a fairy tale ending, until you realise that it’s only 90 minutes long, not 120. It’s important to keep this mind, because the otherwise satisfying ending might come as a bit of a shock to some and feel very abrupt. With a story like this, success rests almost entirely in the hands of the script and actors. Fortunately, Drinking Buddies delivers on both. The chemistry between Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson is a pleasure to watch, and leaves the audience in no doubt that “Drinking Buddies” was a good title choice. The chemistry between Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick is also great, but in a much more intriguing way. Their relationship shows just how much complexity can be involved when trying to define “love”, and avoids all the standard tropes for a relationship like theirs. Th...