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Sake-Bomb (2013)
Crude Japanese comedy trying too hard to be American
Sake-Bomb is a Japanese comedy that play's on Asian stereotypes and crude adult culture in order to display its message deep within, that these stereotypes take advantage of innocent people, and create impressions that define them, instead of showing the beauty of their personalities.
Naoto; played fittingly by Gaku Hamada, takes a visit to Los Angeles to locate his one true love; his ex-teacher and lover Olivia. This romantic journey is tinged by the constant incompetence of his wannabe-internet-star cousin, Sebastian; brought to life by the energetic performance of Eugene Kim. Throughout the journey Naoto is fed these racial stereotypes in order to prevent himself being seen like a FOB (From off the boat) Asian to Sebastian's American friends. Making the trip mould into a selfish ploy for Sebastian to nurture his ego and turn Naoto into a smaller version of himself. After the constant hate Sebastian received from his controversial opinions about the contrasting cultures, he suddenly began realise the racism surrounding Asian heritage, revealing his vlog (FOB motherf*cker) was only a plea for attention and began to respect his cousin Naoto a lot more because of his mental strength. Despite Naoto's reason for travelling to Los Angeles was to understand why Olivia left him in Japan, he wasn't shaken by the harsh reality that she was already married, and was when she was with him in Japan. Instead he saw the bigger picture and showed his strong mentality.
However, the film was covered by crude humour surrounding these controversial stereotypes, which made it hard to find funny. This humour really polluted the message, however sweet it was. Especially with a dreary storyline that became increasingly predictable. Everything seemed to fit together too perfectly.
It's unfair to say this crudeness overpopulated the whole feature, because there was some funny moments, especially the scene with the racist police man who summarised the cultural blindness of some Americans, making generalisations and acting on the stereotypes previously mentioned by Sebastian. I felt that the crudeness out weighed the genuinely funny parts of the film, which made it loose the essence that was intended for such a sweet character like Naoto. Furthermore, it seemed like it was trying too hard to convey messages about the Japanese to the Americans, making it loose its essence as a Japanese film and adopt a cheesy American viewpoint, which added to the dreariness and predictability of the storyline.
Understandably this humour was only used to make such a controversial issue seem more light hearted, but instead it made the film come across quite tacky. Regardless of this, if you brush away the surface, there is a sweet inside that leaks out gradually; through the (surprisingly long) 82minute duration. The predictability that Sebastian would start to show more tolerance to Naoto's interest, insensitive to how stereotypical, or how FOB like it was, made this sweetness almost obsolete. But still, it gave a sweet after taste that followed the 70 minutes of on and off cringe worthy comedy
Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013)
'Tim is just Tim'
The film was an expert insight into the 'life and time' of Tim Hetherington, created by good friend and collaborator Sebastian Junger. As well as giving invaluable information about arguably the most talented photo-journalist of his generation, the film shows Hetherington as who he was, not what he was. There was a beautiful quote from James Barabazon saying 'He was just Tim
its very hard to find that'; and this is the key message of the film, Hetherington wasn't political or war orientated, he was a humanitarian trying to make the world a better place. Other photo-journalists capture what they see, Hetherington captures what the audience needs to see to bring humanity to the situation and try and make a change. Instead of being a traditional documentary, it felt like an adapted screenplay because of the emotional story, which if you knew nothing about Hetherington before, you would feel the world still needs his photographs to comment on the latest human tragedies. It feels as if he brings clarity to photography, his new ideas about sleeping soldiers and bravely breaking barriers seem so right, but they were very much is unique traits in the medium, and its such a sadness to loose such a brilliant personality as Hetherington. The film showed an unedited visual of the photo-journalist; Hetherington speaking how he felt about what he stood for, it didn't just show what he stood for, but who he was as well and how everyone felt the same way.
About Time (2013)
A true feel good film
To pick apart this film would be far too cruel, because it's innocence has left most with a skip in their step and tear in their eye. Behind the extremely long duration, it was a sweet picture that expressed itself well and took audiences' through the rewarding story of Tim's (Domhnall Gleeson) life, after the discovery of his father's (Bill Nighy) secret, that the men in the family could travel in time. It featured warming performances from Bill Nighy, Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson, creating relatable characters and making an unbelievable story bitter-sweet. The comedy was both written and presented well by Richard Curtis, despite been more melancholy than his previous work it made an excellent caricature of a nervous romance and was in places, really funny. Being labelled as a romantic comedy, one would believe 'About Time' is a story of boy means girl, which is true at the start, but it develops more harmony throughout. Different relationships were explored and as each developed, the film developed a broader, more universal meaning. Even though it was a feel good portrait, it also felt very safe. Over explanatory, and slow; not making it lose it's essence but causing glances to watch now and again. Definitely worth the watch, but as films go, it could have been much better.
Rush (2013)
An insightful film into the real danger of (1970's) Formula 1
Ron Howard has directed a tense insight into the dangers of Formula 1, while showing how determination and intelligence strive in a world of distractions. Both Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl gave performances that summarised the drivers personalities artfully, especially the later. However, the film's constant bombardment of tense race after tense race made it lose sight, it was slightly dreary. But, it left a sweet after taste, expressing the real passion Niki Lauda had for the sport, and even more universally, that grit and determination is rewarded, despite all the negativity surrounding working hard in a world of distractions.