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Reviews
Blue Like Jazz (2012)
An Unfortunate, Poorly Thought-out Script with Some Nice Filming
I briefly wanted to give my two cents on this film, which I watched without any realization that it was a "Christian" film or having read the book. From the standpoint of an unbiased movie watcher, I found the framing device of the film to be just visually awful. The astronaut in space with the characters' faces photoshopped in, with typed words appearing in space... plainly put, it was bad. As was the hideous carrot and rabbit "traveling to the West Coast" scene. Such poorly placed/developed animated moments essentially ruined the presentation of the film's literary aspects with their artificial and hard-to- look-at appearances. My second thought is the lack of transitions in this film/strange delineation of time in correspondence with the equally strange depiction of college students ended up rubbing me the wrong way. The highly unrealistic and varying sense of time in this film just sent the viewer in all different directions. Along with the purely bizarre and two-dimensional portrayal of students, none of the illustrations of the college and its student body made any sense to me at all (I have never, ever come across an American campus like that, not even on the West Coast). One more thing about character development that bugs is me is that the protagonist is a person trying to cover up his past - but this motif is undeveloped, as the main character never really displays his "shame" of his past, and the film in fact skips over the ambivalence and confusion of his actual attempting to hide his former self. Actually, he seems like he fits in pretty damn well. (It's like the situation in Mean Girls, when Cady tries so hard to forget who she was that she actually does become one of the Plastics). Also, where's the conflict in this film? Obviously, it's not about the girl because she's always forgives him, and it's not about his Christianity because he seems to have quite forgotten about it over his year at college, and it's not about his mom's affair because she really only shows up twice or thrice in the entire movie. One other thing that annoyed me was how much the ending came out of nowhere - Don's emotional confession to Justin and his heedless cry for forgiveness for covering up his past, and his declaration that throughout the pot brownies, alcohol kegs and various activities that southern Baptists would frown upon, he never forgot about God. Interesting return to the "main idea" of the film. There are a lot of issues with this film, from the poor acting to the strange jumping around of themes and messages. Four stars for some well-shot scenes (the big party) and some comedic moments (the Christian/non-Christian debate).
Polisse (2011)
Imperfect, but I'm still absolutely captivated.
Polisse is a film that has struck me with its powerful dialogue, a few very intimate and heartbreaking scenes, and the strange, tragic ending. Starting with the elements of the film that stung my heart... 1. The girl with the stillborn child, the result of a rape. The baby was so small and so obviously premature that it couldn't really be categorized as an infant - but the young girl didn't refer to it as a fetus. She ignored the tacit anxiety of the nurses and asked to hold her baby, and she cradled it with the most heartbreaking look of denial in her eyes. She was completely in a daze, and when she finally began to cry I just couldn't believe how real it felt. 2. The scene in which Melissa and Fred were having dinner with her family. The editing just made everything seem so fresh and breezy, and the way this scene was cut just made me incredibly nostalgic. The lines were so adorable too - from Melissa's sweet grandfather to the close-ups of delighted smiles and familial love. Also, seeing Melissa on the balcony, taking pictures of people on the street - who actually were people involved who went the CPU as victims or predators - was so powerful. First of all, the composition of Melissa photographing just blew me away. Secondly, I was so completely touched when I saw little denouements for the minor characters, like the African woman reunited with her son. This entire scene was something I really found valuable and meaningful. 3. Nora's intense screaming at the religious man about the Q'uran and respect. He absolutely deserved it, especially after he told her that she should have been at home with her husband and children. 4. The most beautiful and poignant scene in the entire movie, for me, was after Mathieu got shot and was in the hospital with Chrys. I began to hold my breath as soon as he, with a lap full of Pepito cookies that Chrys bought him, touched her hand with this unbearably honest sense of devotion and affection. Chrys' husband left the room. They entwined their fingers together, and he said, "You do love me a bit, don't you?" She kissed him with a sad passion, and they both began sobbing. I have never, ever seen a more intimate or perfect moment of love and sadness. I commend both actors - Nicolas Duvuauchelle and Karole Rocher - for portraying their flawless chemistry in a way that I will never, ever forget.
Things I liked and disliked: 1. Balloo's outrage at his wife when suggested to "talk about work" incited him into screaming about how he would have to wake up at 4AM in order to take children away and rip families apart. I found this scene to be powerful, but it was a little too early on in the film for such an overwhelming and self-deprecating commentary on the justice system. There were many other scenes in which "talking about work" caused there to be overly offensive language that escalated too quickly to be realistic. The CPU workers would give numerous examples of pedophilia and prostitution in their speeches concerning their dislike for talking about work; I just found these examples to be crudely insensitive and way out of line, even for a CPU worker. 2. The spitfire dialogue between Gabriel and the older officers in the cafeteria. I found it to be realistic and interesting to observe, but it did become too noisy and thus slightly ineffective. 3. The large cast and each character's highly distinctive character. The acting in this film was just amazing. I found that I was able to distinguish each person for myself. However, by the time I did (and with such a big cast) I found myself missing out on the little details that defined each character. 3. Melissa. I think some aspects of her character added to the film - like her fake glasses and failing to shoot the gun well - but overall she was an awkward addition to the cast, and was too much in between; she never really was distant enough to be isolated (would always be around, even at their social gatherings) but didn't bond at all with any of them except for Fred. Her romance with Fred I found to be a beautifully filmed and executed relationship - but it was NOT something to be shoved in the middle of a fast-paced and gritty film like this one.
Things I didn't like: 1. Nadine interrupting the judge and slowly kissing her husband passionately on the neck, in front of the judge/lawyers. I just wanted to ask, what purpose does such an action serve? All it did was make me feel uncomfortable. 2. The weird relationship between Melissa and her husband. What was his purpose? Since he isn't the foil to Melissa's character (she basically has none), what purpose does he serve? As I see it, he only adds more sadness bulk to the film when he is watching Melissa pack her things and move away. 3. The very last part of the ending... Just, why?
Overall, I will say that most of the ending really was what warmed my heart. Though there were quite a few unanswered questions, the peppering of sweet lines ("You couldn't even be an extra") and the powerfully convincing dialogues (Nadine and Iris) really made up for the plot holes and problems with filming. There are so many more things I would like to discuss about this film but maybe the best thing would be for you to watch it yourself. I definitely recommend it!
Love and War (2006)
A Lovely 15 Minute Film!
I agree with the other reviewers - this short film initially came across as a rather bizarre screening. However, it actually turned out to be an adorable and winning short movie. Hands down, favorite part about this film was its operatic and orchestral soundtrack. Its sweet melodies and moments of lilting, swaying waltz made the music its own art within this film. The Italian singing was beyond lovely and was instrumental in creating a little bit of character development. A perfectly done soundtrack, in my opinion. The plot, though almost exactly fitting into a clique and hackneyed category (this is where some points came off), was made by Emilson into something much more exquisite. The great use of composition and color was eye-catching and memorable, and the animals, though confessedly a little bit strange, made the film unique. Overall, "Love and War" was a really nice feel-good film that I would not mind listening to or watching again!
The Book of Eli (2010)
A film that will leave you thinking about it long after it's finished.
On the whole, I finished this movie just fifteen minutes ago and am compelled to write a movie review concerning the flaws and fortes of this film. I liked it! There were certainly both good and bad elements to "The Book of Eli." Sometimes I found myself questioning, "How did that happen?" or simply, "Why?" but the rest of the time, I was completely and utterly entranced by the film, especially the incredible lead roles of Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. They were simply spectacular - SPECTACULAR. In defense of the themes of the plot, I would strongly disagree with the plethora of reviews attacking the movie as a Catholic evangelical mish-mash conspiracy film. I was actually pleased to see the religious aspects of this film emerge (and by the way, I am an atheist). It was refreshing to have a sense of spirituality and an emphasis on literature in a modern blockbuster, as I think we are lacking those two things in American film. I don't think the Christianity of this film detracted from the plot whatsoever, and I found the guardian angel motif of Eli very beautiful. There were other weak points which contributed to the downfalls of the plot - but the religion components of this film did not. I will begin with flaws. The beginning of "The Book of Eli" was somewhat excessively slow and languorous, but soon the film began to flow and pick up the pace. I agree with other reviewers who wish the film had ended earlier on. The narration of Washington is appreciated, but needed to be more succinct. As for character development, in my opinion, a lot of Mila Kunis' lines and acting were really detrimental to the film. For example, her violent interest in Eli's book was melodramatic, and her extremely blatant and almost immediate throwing of Eli under the bus (in telling Carnegie that Eli was reading) was not realistic either. Similarly, neither was her obvious prayer that she exhibited right in front of Carnegie. If Eli helped Solara out by letting her stay in his room to help her mom out, she should at least put a little bit of effort into being subtle in keeping Eli's customs and secrets a secret as well. I was annoyed by the seduction scene because of course any director would jump at the opportunity to dress Kunis up in a short mini dress... too Hollywood. I also didn't like the ending with her being the next religious warrior. How could she have been at all prepared to be as good a fighter as Eli was? She threw a few grenades, so what; I never saw her use a sword once. Other flaws included how there were way too many shots of men with guns aiming from on top of buildings, the non-realistic badass-ness (though it's forgiven because so badass), the seemingly endless amount of fuel in Solara's truck, the superfluously kind and gentle Lombardi, several cuts of inartistic cinematography, the lack of cohesiveness and lack of expansion on the "human flesh" idea, and the loss of the modern twists such as beats and KFC from most of the middle/end of the storyline (though perhaps it's supposed to show transition into from the ordinary into the transcendent over time). Despite the long list of flaws, these were just nit-picky details that I picked up on. There was a myriad of great things about this film. For one, I really, really loved the performances by Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon - their scenes were hilarious yet very sad. Like I said, most of the acting was great, and the dialogue felt very natural; there were few clichés in the script. I relished in the exciting action scenes, even though I usually don't like them. I did enjoy most of the cinematography, including the vast scenes of clouds and very tiny silhouettes. Moreover, remember that my list of failings of the film were just several details, and that overall this film was great! Watch it!
Slovenka (2009)
Thrilling at First, But Melted into a Letdown
This film started off with a strong and exciting plot. The tension between Alexandra, her friends and Greg piqued my interest in each character's development, and the horrifically realistic scene with the pimps had me on edge and biting my nails. These were two things that were done especially well. But soon after that, the plot and character development began to degrade, as nothing but minute details occurred from then on - none of which had any substantial effects on Alexandra's character or emotion. Many pressing aspects of the plot were left unfinished in this movie - from the "tumor" idea to her relationship with her mother; to the whole deal with the pimps; to her ambitions after the exam. There is also no real resolution with her father, Vesna or her mother. I felt like the middle and end of this film turned into nothing more than unnecessary scenes of her riding the train back and forth between her home and the city. Not to mention, Alexandra has no true inner desire - she seeks neither love nor a deeper relationship with her family and friends. This idea of living in her nice apartment overlooking a highway being the sole reason she sells herself is rather unsettling, because honestly, she shows little attachment to the place except when she's showing it off to her friends. Perhaps a slightly more compelling ambition would have made me like her character better. Overall, like another reviewer said, this film is very nihilistic. The lack of emotion and character change (besides the balcony scene) leave for a bland, repetitive and static storyline. I feel like if the film had continued its momentum from the first section of the movie, it would have been a gripping and worthwhile film.