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Reviews
The Arbor (2010)
Problematic
I was hugely disappointed by this. The description of the film is wrong - it's not really about Andrea Dunbar at all - she only features in the first third of the film. Rather it's about the desperate life of one of her children - a spiral into addiction hell and everything which that entails, all described in graphic detail. I felt very uneasy at the 'poverty porn' aspect of the film - what are we to take from it other than these people are in desperate cycles of violence and addiction and alcoholism, with no redeeming features at all? The lip-synch acting is clever initially but is too strained to last the length of a feature and becomes gimmicky. Andrea Dunbar's story is hugely compelling but the story of the tragedy of her family and focus on her desperate child is not. Made me sad and angry.
Love Actually (2003)
Sexist nonsense actually
I have never felt it necessary to write a review before. However I feel compelled to do so having watched this film last night. My wife and I looked on utterly flabbergasted as sexist stereotypes and 'awkward English' clichés spewed forth before our eyes. It's the sort of film I will be actively encouraging everyone I ever meet for the rest of my life to never watch, even for 'a bit of fun' - it really is that bad. Why? Several reasons, not least of which is the despicable misrepresentation of women throughout the film. For some reason all women are in a subservient role, for example secretaries, cleaners, housewives etc. while all men are powerful: writers, creative directors, photographers, Prime Ministers(!) etc. We witness many men lustfully pursuing women and manipulating them to their own end. Lessons to be learned here are for example that being a man and not being able to form a relationship in your own country is not a problem because you can go to another and women will throw themselves at you; a dad advises his son to take up drums because Ringo Starr has a beautiful girlfriend he's a drummer in a band; also, we are to look out for attractive 'femme-fatale' secretaries who will try to lead us astray from our middle- class English family unit. This movie is not a 'bit of fun' - it is a dangerous mix of off-the-shelf, ill-considered, misogynist fantasy which confuses love with sex, all from a disturbingly predatory male- centric viewpoint. When I give it 1 star, I mean it - it is utterly awful. Free-thinkers - avoid this movie and encourage others to follow.