Sorry for dampening the spirit on the one day of a year where you are meant to love someone so much, you buy them trips out, dinner, chocolates, flowers and jewellery. After all that's what Valentine's Day truly is, a holiday made by corporate conglomerations and card companies to extort money from couples. Same as Christmas, Easter, Fireworks Night and Black Friday (which has since been extended to Black Friday Weekend).
In movie terms, all a screenwriter has to do, is tailor the script to a season or a theme, to take advantage of large audiences. Now this is where I begin ranting about '50 Shades of Grey' (forgive me). Its a pornography book that depends on one thing alone: The viewers imagination. Each reader has a different perception on what the lovers look like, and the scenes that take place, no two imaginations are identical. Adapting it for the big screen, removes the one thing the book had going for it, turning it into a crappy porno. Its the consequence of a Universal Studios executive finding the most popular thing, and, with cash symbols for eyes, says "lets exploit the really dumb members of society and make shitloads of money". He goes on to say "Lets do it with no artistic control, with 2 actors which hate the guts off each other, making a bad film and angering the fans of the book". Universal has always been my least favourite studio, particularly with the force-it-down-your-throat advertising of anything Minion related. They may distribute good films (Wolf of Wall Street, Gravity), but when it comes to making them, they are literally the worst.
Nothing else has really happened. Australia is now in Eurovision. That's weird. So enjoy the reviews!!!
Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher
US
Fincher has to be one of the most reliable directors in Hollywood, with a near flawless filmography. His films are darkly mysterious, with problematic characters and intricate stories with many layers. The latest is more of the same, but doesn't stop it from becoming a brilliant watch. Ben Affleck plays the husband of missing Wife (played by Rosamund Pike). Saying anything more, would essentially be spoiling the film, as the first part plays out as a first-class mystery, while the second part watches the events unfold. All the events in 'Gone Girl' are superbly paced, something common in most of Fincher's films.
Affleck may not seem the best at acting in his role, but I think it matches the tone of the film. The aspergers-style performance, makes the audience aware that he himself could have kidnapped her, and thus, adds even more to the film. Everything about this film makes it exhilarating to experience, which I cannot recommend enough.
SCORE 82
Missing (1982)
Costa Gavras
US
During a military coup in a South American country, a writer goes missing. His father soon arrives, to aid his wife in trying to find what happened to him. In the same vein as Gone Girl, there is a similar mysterious tone surrounding this film. However, that is where the similarities end.
The thing this film has done, which no others in cinematic history has done, is show a third-world country under a terrifying military coup. Dead bodies and rampant soldiers fill the streets, with the sound of gun-shots sporadically firing into the air. Its an atmosphere that is unique to this film, making it iconic in some regards. After the kidnapping, the story plays out with no surprises. That said, its really great to watch two acting legends (Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon) play off against each other in a tropical South American country during dangerous situations.
SCORE 80
Calais: The Last Border (2003)
Marc Isaacs
UK
This documentary has 16 votes on IMDB, so I'll forgive you for not having heard of it. Despite it being completely unknown, the film is truly wonderful. It shows Calais as a mid-point of a journey in a variety of different people's lives. Isaacs interviews a man from England that has just opened a failing pub, an old couple trying to make their businesses turn a profit and an immigrant trying to enter the UK. Don't let those descriptions fool you, the one-on-one interviews are so heartfelt and emotionally gripping, they almost had me crying at one point. Isaacs has a tendency in his films to show the best of humanity at the worst of times. He seems to be the only director around which thinks "humanity ain't so bad".
Calais itself, is not a beautiful city, and is usually the place where us, from the UK, stop off and buy cheap alcohol. They even have the same dreary weather we have! The film is a shining ray of hope in a cold depressing world. Watch it if you can.
SCORE 85
Calcutta (1969)
Louis Malle
India/France
This feels like an extension of Malle's 6 hour epic 'Phantom India'. Calcutta is one of India's poorest cities, with most of the inhabitants living in poverty. Cue lots of shots of sewerage running through villages and children picking rubbish off of garbage-heaps. India is much more of a country than that. There are large culture differences, including lots of dedication to religion and faith. There is over-crowding, causing people to travel atop of trains and farmyard animals to run uncontrollably through the busy streets. A street performer swinging his daughter from a pole may be shocking to us in the West, but in Calcutta it is quite usual. If anything this documentary shows a venture into a wildly interesting yet alien world, that is right here on Earth.
SCORE 72
Bitter Lake (2015)
Adam Curtis
UK
Adam Curtis is the most important documentary maker alive. He is unbiased (*cough* Michael Moore), and delves into complicated subjects in a clear and precise manor. He states facts without any exaggeration, and makes films without the in-your-face style editing. They are still wonderful.
Previously he has made documentaries about psychoanalysis (the Century of the Self) and the use of fear in politics (The Power of Nightmares). His latest film 'Bitter Lake' is about Afghanistan's development in the latter half of the twentieth century to present day. First they were friends with America, constructing a massive dam and hoping to create a new wonderland there called "Little America". This dream failed. Curtis then chronicles the years after, with presidents being assassinated and different countries attempting to inhabit and modernize Afghanistan. More subjects are explored with the introduction of Wahhabism, America's agreements with Saudi Arabia and the use of fear by leaders of the western world. Its a lot to understand, so you may want to see it multiple times to get the most from it (I've already seen it twice). Not for a second are any of these topics dull or tedious, quite astonishing as its nothing I've been interested in before. The news tend to put a biased slant on news stories, so its brilliant to get a fresh neutral perspective.
'Bitter Lake' does follow in the footsteps of 'The Power of Nightmares', with their paths crossing a couple of times, but both are vastly different. Bitter Lake seems to have more impact through visual images, such as teaching Dupont's urinal to a class of Muslims, a soldier playing with a bird, and epic scenes of helicopters landing.
I can't call the film perfect, as the pacing and editing is all over the place, with some images and narration not fitting together. It causes the viewer to think, as everything that the film has to offer is not "put on a plate" (which I think is great, but it might deter the casual viewer). Still I think its a classic.
SCORE 89
Le Amiche (1955)
Michelangelo Antonioni
Italy
Antonioni may be the most pessimistic and depressing of the world's auteurs but it hasn't stopped him from being one of the most acclaimed. Nearly all his films end in divorce or suicide and they usually deal with themes of isolation and fractured relationships. This film was before 'L'Avventura' and even before my favourite of his films 'Il Grido'. All of his films feel like super artsy and stylized neo-realism. Le Amiche has nothing going for it. The film follows a group of woman as they talk about relationships. Nothing interesting at all. The camera-work isn't as beautiful as his later films, but still may be the best thing about this film. Only die-hard Antonioni fans will get something from this.
SCORE 58
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