Posts Tagged ‘genre’
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Review
After the huge success of the first Pink Panther, and my absolute adoration for it, I had high hopes for the sequel. They had the right ingredients, a great cast, and a huge history to create a good story from but too my great dismay this sequel isn’t even slightly entertaining.
Filled with slap stick comedy and an extremely boring plot line the movie fails to take off before crashing miserably with a horrifically predictable ending. There’s no presence in the film because the actors are totally underutilised and diminished to stupid conversations about nothing. Gone is the originality and unpredictability of the first film. We know what’s coming and this time, it’s not funny.
The Pink Panther 2 can’t hold it’s own for a diverse audience anymore. It’s taken a step down and began catering for young kids with repeated pie in your face jokes that anyone over eight is officially sick of. I would like to speak to whoever came up with the script; they must have some serious form of writers block.
1/10
Tags: Aishwarya Rai, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, cast, Comedy, details, director, Emily Mortimer, genre, Harald Zwart, Jean Reno, John Cleese, PG, rated, release date, South Africa, starring, Steve Martin, synopsis, The Pink Panther 2, Theatrical Release, USA
Posted in Comedy, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Review
As an aspiring film maker and a critic I sometimes forget what it is that makes me love movies, because seeing so many bad ones puts you off. Slumdog millionaire reignited that flame for me two fold. The movie is an inspiration to filmmaking, a masterpiece, a shining light in a dull room. If you watch one movie this year it has to be Slumdog Millionaire.
The story of a man who came from the slums of India to be on Who wants to be a Millionaire?. He’s just one question away from the twenty million rupee grand prize. However the authorities can’t see how a slumdog could know the answer to questions that doctors and lawyers couldn’t answer. They pull him in for questioning and an amazing life story unfolds before their eyes. Could it be that it’s this man’s destiny to win the grand prize?
From the opening minutes you can just feel that there’s something special about this movie. The cinematography is fantastic and the score awe inspiring but all of that is blown away by fantastic acting, especially from the kids, and an amazing story. I’ve said it countless times; many movies should never have left the screenplay stage. The screenplay is the most important thing. Without an amazing story you can’t get an amazing movie. What really brings this story to life is that it’s so real. It’s not trying to prove a point or change a perception, it’s telling an amazing story from start to finish.
That doesn’t mean to say the story isn’t done in style. Danny Boyle has put together an amazing movie and deserves all the recognition this film is giving him. The acting is raw, real and crisp. All the elements have come together perfectly.
Hollywood has forgotten to a large extent why movies are made. It’s not all about money; it’s about the age old art of telling great stories, where the tribe gathers around the fire to hear the best stories over and over again. This movie gets that right.
What makes this movie more real is the reality that this is a story that in actuality takes place in our own country, within our own townships. It tackles those universal questions of is it ever OK to do wrong and when will we ever get over our discrimination of all kinds?
This is a tribute to Indian film making and an honouring of the hard lives slumdogs live. It’s hard not to fall head over heals in love with Slumdog Millionaire.
Tags: A.R. Rahman, Anil Kapoor, British, cast, Christian Colson, composer, Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, director, Drama, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Freida Pinto, genre, Irrfan Khan, Jamal Malik, Madhur Mittal, Marc Williams, producer, release date, review, Runtime, sa, screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, slumdog, Slumdog Millionaire, South Africa, starring, street kid, studio, USA, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Posted in Drama, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
Review
Drug abuse is something that continues with the entire world around us telling us it’s wrong. It’s a serious reality and Rachel Getting Married takes a look at how it affects families and the people themselves.
Anna Hathaway is brilliant as the drug addict undergoing rehabilitation. We are used to seeing her in coming of age roles but this gritty look at reality shows she can really act. The other actors and actresses are fine but this movie is really Hathaway’s show. Jenny Lumet takes the writers chair for the first time as the plot follows Kym (Anne Hathaway) returning home from rehab for her sister, Rachel’s (Rosemarie Dewitt), wedding. Among all the celebrations, friends and music Kym brings a history of crisis and tragedy.
The film carries shaky camera work and extremely irritating music which, I hope, is intentional on the part of the crew. By adding that irritating undercurrent you become uncomfortable from the opening credits, helping you to connect with what the characters are experiencing at the time.
The movie is depressing, real and at times heart wrenching. This movie is definitely one for passionate movie goers but for a main stream audience this movie smacks you over the head with reality. Most people go to the movies to escape reality but this rollercoaster emotional ride is far from relaxing. In fact it can unnerve you for the day.
This movie may get a nod for being bold, different and telling a story but it won’t do much at the box office. When people see Hathaway like this they won’t be impressed with what she looks like or how she behaves. People don’t want to see their favourite actresses as ugly, smoking, swearing drug addicts and the box office numbers will prove it.
8/10
Tags: Anisa George, Anna Deavere Smith, Anne Hathaway, Bill Irwin, box office, composer, Debra Winger, director, Donald Harrison, Drama, drugs, film, genre, Jenny Lumet, Marc Platt, Mather Zickel, movie, Neda Armian, Rachel Getting Married, rating, review, Rosemarie Dewitt, smoking, Sony Pictures Classics, South Africa, swearing, Tunde Adebimpe, Zafer Tawil
Posted in Drama, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
Review
People are interesting to say the least. Have you ever sat and watched how funny people are? Have you ever looked at yourself and seen how funny you are? We do weird things, behave irrationally and take ourselves far too seriously. Burn After Reading pokes fun at life and people in general.
The story in itself is so confusing and ridiculous that it’s funny. The plot balances on a thin spy-thriller rope. It involves a CD lost by a disgraced CIA employee and found by a couple of, to put it nicely, unintelligent gym employees. What it really covers though is a collection of caricature (fancy word for exaggerated personality) studies stirred together and displayed for the world to see. It’s real are raw and different to most movies you will ever see. It is a commentary on the complete idiocy of man kind. With the catch phrase, “intelligence is relative,” it has to be.
What keeps this movie from going in all the wrong directions is essentially brilliant acting. Brad Pitt and George Clooney seem to love playing their idiotic characters as they experience some of the most absurd things. Full credit must be given to Frances McDormand who really shines as a totally believable idiotic gym worker, Brad Pitt’s co-worker, who is obsessed with having cosmetic surgery.
As usual, movies with sex, nudity, violence, and bad language loose points with me. For two main reasons: As a Christian I don’t appreciate it, an explanation which comes with so many different questions but I will leave it at that. The second is that it limits the amount of people who can watch it or would be willing to. This is not a family movie in any sense. This movie is only rated 13 yet it contains the full collection of SNVL. Although I will not rant about the disgusting job the ratings board is doing at the moment it should have been rated 16 at least.
Although the movie can and probably will be totally overbearing to the average viewer it provides an originality and truth that is undeniable. This one is for an acquired taste.
7/10
Tags: and Brad Pitt, burn after reading, cast, Comedy, crew, D.C., date, Eric Fellner, Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand, genre, George Clooney, Joel Coen, John Malkovich, release, review, Richard Jenkins, Robert Graf, South Africa, Tilda Swinton, Tim Bevan, Washington
Posted in Comedy, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
Review
Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) is a young girl married to a much older duke (Ralph Fiennes) for the sole purpose of producing an heir. Her passion and life causes her to be loved by the people of Briton, becoming a fashion icon and having a growing influence in the political arena. But at home things aren’t well. Her husband has continuous affairs and she is unable to give him a son.
The Duchess is set at the end of the eighteenth century, a time when woman had little power while men ruled uncontested. With beautiful locations, detailed costumes and forbidden love this movie will delight history-drama fans.
Keira Knightley shines in this picture as she goes through the emotional struggles of a free spirited woman imprisoned by her husband. She has grown tremendously as an actress but she is consistently playing period characters, from Pirates of the Caribbean to Pride and Prejudice. For her to grow as an actress she needs to take the risk and branch out into roles we have never seen her in.
We’ve seen so many period films that the interesting storyline and good acting seems wasted. It feels like we’ve seen it all done before. Although it may provide for an entertaining drama it is in no way a groundbreaking film which could hurt it at the box office.
Sensitive Viewer’s Points
The movie contains nudity and sex which is in the context of the film. It contains scenes of rape and unfaithfulness, again within the context of the film. It also seems to promote the idea that if one’s marital partner is having an affair it is fine for you to do the same. The rating is rightly set at sixteen.
Tags: actress, age restriction, costumes, Drama, duke, feminist, genre, Georgiana Spencer, history, images, Keira Knightley, locations, men, movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice, Ralph Fiennes, release date, review, sensitive viewers, South Africa, synopsis, The Duchess
Posted in Drama, Movies, Reviews | No Comments »
