Change Your Image
marlenefreema
Reviews
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Perfect cinema?
This may indeed be perfect cinema!
It has everything a film needs in my view. The message of the film is subtle yet clear enough for all to grasp. The main theme (there are many) to me was 'What is madness? Where does the line get drawn? and If McMurphy is mad then what are you?'
The issue if insanity is essential for all humans to explore as we may be closer than we think to it at any given point in our lives. Not just old age!
But like all great films, Milos Forman skilfully teases us and does not give any concrete answers. Like life itself, all is ambiguous and incomplete and mysterious.
The story is warm yet cold, funny yet tragic, beautiful yet ugly, entertaining yet important. How did they do it? That's the mystery of a great film!
One thing I know...'at least I tried...god damit...at least I did that.' is the greatest scene and quote in cinema that I know.
Ill Manors (2012)
Shame
What a shame! I was looking forward to this, as I am a single mother who has lived on a council estate my entire life.
I also quite like Plan B, as my son is a huge fan and I quite like his intelligence as a musician/rap artist.
I was invited to the premiere by my cousin who worked on the movie. He loved it! Not sure how objective he can be though.
It is realistic in the sense that the events do happen in real life. And some of the acting is actually quite good.
But much like Kidulthood and other mediocre attempts at portraying Council Estate life on film, it only shows one shade of the story.
The grim is coupled with the opposite in real life. It is not all doom and gloom etc. I actually doubt how much these young filmmakers seem to know about the complexity of working class life in urban poor London, which I know a lot about.
There is light, there is humour, there is love, there is fun. Show that also! There is more than one shade in the 'endz'. Stop only showing darkness. It is inaccurate and insulting to people such as myself who love films and come from the world they want to portray and make money out of.
I am glad movies are getting made about my world. But please show the whole spectrum.
Prometheus (2012)
Visually stunning, narratively good.
I have a feeling that if you took 'Ridley Scott' off the credits to this visually spectacular piece, then it would not have the same high level of respect.
Do not get me wrong. Scott is a remarkable filmmaker but this is not his best. It has incredible cinematography, VFX and ambiance. He truly is a master at pacing and rhythm. The framing and editing are wonderful!
But...this is no 'original' story...excuse the pun :-) It is actually quite derivative. The dialogue is OK, the characters are good but made better by the actors (Fassbender and Theron stood out for me) and the narrative is decent. But added together it is no Alien or 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I got the impression that Scott is aware of getting old and knocking on heaven's door, so (like Terence Malick with Tree of Life) he is playing to his strengths to such an extreme that he slightly forgets about his weaknesses. In other words, he creates some of the greatest visual sequences I have ever seen, but let's clunky screen writing slightly hamper the experience.
Having said that. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is truly cinematic and my 3D glasses were used well (for once!) and I felt like a kid again watching an 'experience' rather that thinking too much.
Do not be fooled, it is not as smart as it thinks it is. But, it is sure worth going on the Prometheus space journey for the price of a cinema ticket.
Ridley...please work with a great screenwriter next time. Not a good one. Because you sir, can be great, and great artists need great artists to create a great film. Prometheus is very good.