Castaway On The Moon (2009) Review

It´s like Castaway just in Korean. Except not. Not at all actually. The only similarity is that it resolves around a man stranded on an island, the twist here is that it is an island under a bridge in the middle of a major city, only problem is that he can´t swim. His phone is dead and so he has no way of communicating with anyone and since he can´t swim he is stuck there and has to find ways to live on this island. Eventually he starts to communicate with someone through him writing on the sand and her replying with paper. Before arriving on the island the man is suicidal due to all the daily-day stresses, but on the island he starts to gain a new appreciation for life. It´s a fairly obvious message, but it is effective and portrayed in a satisfying way.

The first things you will notice is that the film is visually and audibly beautiful. The score is odd and very unorthodox, but it is very fitting and effective in the film, complementing the sort of quirky, offbeat tone the film has, while staying subtle. The cinematography uses an often shallow focus to enhance the characters isolation. The film is filled with vibrant and popping colours to the point where it almost becomes surreal at times, especially in some of the more surreal sequences.

The film is very humorous and for the most humour hits, though there are some gags that fall flat by just being a tad gross for the sake of gross. The humour often works thanks to great comedic timing by the lead actor, however while he was great on the comedic stuff, he didn´t always hit the emotional notes needed in some scenes.

So far so good yes? Yes, it starts off nothing short of amazing, but the second hour comes along and the film starts to crumble and decay. After an amazing hour on the island, the film starts to shift focus to the girl he is conversing with and the film started becoming a very convectional romance. During the last thirty minutes or so it got so bad that I kept hoping for it end, so to not further ruin what originally seemed to be such a great film.

The problem in the last hour, and particularly the final thirty minutes or so, is that it all of a sudden takes itself far too seriously and so all of a sudden it becomes ridiculous due to how emotional it is trying to be. Not only that, but it also becomes about as cliché as every character in Avatar and it all comes down as a mess.

It is a real shame that the film deteriorated the way it did, as it had the potential to be something uniquely spectacular, but instead become a very mixed bag. However, I would say the first hour alone is so good that the film is worth watching, and you would almost be better off turning off as you enter the self-contradictory and self-destructive, last hour.

3/5 

Up In The Air (2009) Review

Whilst Jason Reitman´s previous effort, Juno, dealt with someone being forced to grow up far too early, Up in The Air deals with someone who is starting to realize that they are getting old and have not yet completely grown up, but instead fled from adult life. Ryan Bingham spends two-thirds of year travelling all over America, firing people for bosses who “don´t have the balls for it”. He has no family, except his sisters, and he doesn’t want one. He thinks he is happy with is life, but through two, very different, relationships, he eventually starts to get a better understanding of how miserable his life is and how his life´s philosophy maybe isn’t as great as he originally thought.

George Clooney, who is the perfect casting of this very charming, yet unknowingly lonely man, excellently plays Bingham. The film is very dependent on this kind of performance, as Bingham isn’t necessarily the most likeable character, yet Clooney´s charming performance makes him likeable and relatable. His character eventually gets quite a lot of development, something which he seems to be resisting, however what becomes very interesting here is that where is character eventually ends up is largely based not only on his development and revelations during course of the film, but also on how he was before the development began. This brought a sense of honesty to the film, which seems to be missing in many Hollywood films, showing that while we can all change, we can not always change our way of life drastically, some people have simply locked themselves into certain ways of living. That being said there is still a sense that, even in a situation like this, we can assimilate new aspects of the person we have become. It is an interesting direction for the film as it becomes more honest then the usual, more hopeful, idea that we can do anything if we just try and if that was the case there would be more A-list actors then nurses in the world.

Clooney is well complimented by his two main supporting actresses in the film. Alex seems to be a female version of Ryan, but eventually turns out to be something quite different, which is central in Ryan understanding who he is and creates an interesting character dynamic. The other is Natalie, a psychology minor who accompanies and observes Ryan a few weeks at works. She is young and inexperienced, unharmed, boiling with optimistic life philosophies who tend to counter those of the older, more experienced Ryan. She tries to rationalize everything with her knowledge from studying psychology, yet Ryan for most of the film seems immune to any form of psychological study and tries to help her understand that her textbooks can´t always explain everything. It is interaction with these two characters that makes the film great, as the dynamic with both of them is interesting and leads the characters in interesting places.

Reitman direct well, like he did in Juno, he gets us emotionally invested, but he never makes it sentimental, as so many films tend to do. He gets every act to feel natural and relatable, as well as likeable and relatable. This is not as humorous of a film as Juno was, but when it is there it works, while being subtle enough to not distract from the drama.      

The film is honest to the bone, it doesn’t try hide that dirty truths of life, whether is unemployment, our disconnected lifestyle, or our stasis in life. It is entertaining and moving thanks to great acting, writing and directing.

4.5/5

Cloud Atlas (2012) Review

Cloud Atlas is a film so big that two brothers weren’t enough, not only did they have to include another person as director, one of them even had to get sex change to broaden their creative horizon in order to have any hope of pulling this of. Is this the truth? Yes probably, I fell confident this is why Larry is now Lena. Yes.

So what is the massive film about? Well pretty much everything you can imagine, yet maybe not so much at all when you really think about it. The film depicts six different stories at six different points in past present and future with several actors playing reincarnated versions of themselves. Some of the stories are clearly linked when it comes to character relationships or conflicts, though what bind them all together are the themes of action and consequences, revolution, justice and love in particular.

While this in it self is pretty damn ambitious, that was not really what worried me, what worried me the most was that while the Wachowski´s directed three of the timelines, Tykwer directed the other three and that is scary. That basically means half the film is director by one director and the other half by some else, which could cause it to feel very uneven and incoherent, yet somehow they worked it out really well and it flows quite nicely. Despite going from historical drama, to whimsical comedy, to hopeless romance, to dark sci-fi, it manages to feel coherent and keep its tone and that is a really impressive feat. It is also pretty damn impressive that they kept my attention and interest for three hours, and that despite some very bad pacing at times, I was rarely bored with this picture.

The acting in the film is for the most part pretty good, though silly at times. The stand out performance came from Ben Whishaw (also known as Q from Skyfall) who had some of the very best moments in the film. You could say Tom Hanks is the lead of sorts in this film and he had an appearance in every timeline with very different characters, some very good, some very cringe-worthy. One of the most annoying parts of the film was in the post-apocalyptic timeline where they had their own language of sorts, which sounded kind of like Jar Jar Binks from The Phantom Menace, who everyone of course loves..heh, with phrases like tru-tru (meaning truth) and yeah… it was silly to say the least, even though I enjoyed this timeline outside that.

One think that desperately needs to be talked about however is the make-up. The make-up here is actually a good representation of the overall film, it is ambitious and brave, and had a lot of brilliance in it, yet at times it just really does not work and becomes silly. Most notably when dressing Hugo Weaving as a large lady… it looked so silly, however the worst was trying to make white actors look Asian, which honestly just felt offensive as they looked like they were making fun of Asian appearances. In all fairness it is very hard to do for the make-up artist and they did do the best work possible without going to CGI, but sadly it just became laughable.

The films biggest problem however is that, while it is ambitious and ambiguous, it is also kind of empty. It spends three hours of somewhat ambiguousness, yet upon reflecting upon the film I quickly solved the puzzle and realized there really isn’t that much beneath the surface in this film. It is kind of like having a heavily reinforced bank vault protected by armed guards, but with only a 100 dollars inside. There was however one thing that I was unable to quite crack, relation the a birthmark that is seen again and again. I tried to research the meaning of this to see if the idea I had in my head relating to this was correct and it was. According to the book it was correct at least, however the way it has been done in the films coincides with this interpretation which to my understanding is fairly obvious in the book, so why the filmmakers chose to do it this way, neglecting how it is in the book is beyond me.

All the issues I have with the film aside, there is one thing that I thought upon leaving the movie; the filmmakers had kept my interest for through hours through six thematically connected stories and I had been entertained the whole way and that is really important. So while the film may have not fully accomplished its ambition, it was interesting to say the least, it was something very different and you just could help, but admire the ambition, and last, but not least, those three hours went by pretty easily and I had fun despite its many flaws.

3.5/5  

Top 20 Films Of 2012

I decided to a list as well as my fabulous awards, even though everyone know my favourite film, nobody knows the order from there on. I have seen most major films of 2012, almost every Oscar nominee so I feel I can give a pretty good list here, with both blockbusters and dramas, as well as some smaller films. Of course there are many smaller films that are supposed to be great, but which I haven’t seen yet.

1. Argo

I have praised this film quite a bit now so I will keep it short. As I have said before, this film is a simple thriller, yet it is so incredibly well executed. It manages to be hilarious, nail-biting, touching and interesting, and masters all of these aspects and blends them wonderfully together thanks to tight 

directing.

2.  The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson is arguably the greatest American filmmaker of this generation. He is slowly building a filmography that few can compete, and that has the potential of reaching the heights of greats like Kubrick. The Master is another very worthy entry in this filmography. It is a beautifully made, meditate character piece of two very different men. The film may seem a bit ambiguous on it´s first viewing, yet it still captivates and strongly impresses.

3. Beasts Of The Southern Wild

One of the most unique films I have seen in some time. The film is endlessly charming, with the brilliant lead performance from the girl with the impossible name. The filmmakers are trying something different, and it really paid off, making something beautiful and unique.

4. Moonrise Kingdom

This is the second Anderson film in the top 5, this guy is truly one of the be- oh wait never mind, there is two of them, this is Wes. This corky comedy about a bunch of pretty melancholic people on a small island in 60s is truly something unique. It is very funny and cute and has some great characters, as well as some amazing visuals.

5. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Why this film hasn’t gotten more recognition is beyond me. It is one of the most honest films I have seen of what high school is like for many people, not just in the story, but in finer details we get through the characters. Speaking of the characters, they are all so well written and acted, giving us the sense of being someone we could know at our school.

6. The Dark Knight Rises

Probably the film that I will keep watching for years to come, as I do find Nolan´s films very re-watchable. It concluded one of the greatest blockbuster trilogies ever made with possibly the most personal, yet grandest story of them all. While it was even bigger in it´s action then the predecessors, it was also much more about Bruce Wayne. The film was all about concluding his story and it did so perfectly, giving him the best arc imaginable, and this focus on character made it stand out. Outside the character there was also a great story and villain accompanying it and it could have taken the top spot if wasn’t for some flaws that at times seemed like Nolan was just lazy.

7. Amour

A very hard film to sit through, yet very rewarding. The lead performances are outstanding and so is just about everything here. The film may not leave you with a smile on your face, but it will leave thinking for days on end, as you study the different ideas raised in the film.

8.  Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow once again knocks it out of the park with this political thriller. Made in almost documentary style it tries to tell how the hunt for bin-laden may have gone down. It may not be accurate (or it may be), but it is exhilarating and thrilling, with one of the best climaxes of the year.

9. The Hunt

Mads Mikkelsen at his greatest; the underrated Danish actor shows us once again that he is one of the strongest actors out there. The film is best enoyed going in fresh an energized as it will drain you, but it is so worth it in the end. The film is a drama-thriller, but what really sets it apart is that is has a story that I haven’t really seen before and it managed to stay completely unpredictable until the very end (which was a perfect ending by the way).

10.  Les Misérables

Like I mentioned in my review, I really don’t enjoy musical, however this managed to win me over. The acting was some of the best overall acting of the year, which really helped in creating an emotional connection to what was happening on screen. The film was an epic tale of hope that was a joy to witness. Below are 11 through 20.

     11. The Intoucables

     12. This Ain´t California

     13. Silver Linings Playbook

     14.  Franenweenie

     15. Lincoln

     16. Oslo, August 31th

     17. The Grey

     18. Skyfall

     19. Paranorman

     20. Prometheus