The Tree of Life (2011, Terrence Malick)

It's extemely hard to say if I liked this epic or not. I enjoyed it lots, but I don't know if I liked it.

It's not very easy to explain either but I'll have a bash.

No doubt it's a masterpiece of filmmaking; highly original, absolutely stunning to look at and masterfully constructed.

It's also got some of the most interesting visual art montage elements I've EVER seen in a film.

There's a crossover here with Melancholia in its contemporary, almost documentary-style CGI of space and cosmic beauty which are just fantastic.

Malick's films are obsessed with nature and our relationship with it, and The Tree of Life is no different. There is a section of the film which breaks away from the rest of the film and just focuses on many beautiful spectacles of the natural world which are both breathtakingly serene and volatile.

Some of the nature documentary-style footage seems like all it's missing is Sir David Attenborough's soft dulcet tones.

A modern twist see's Malick transferring this technique to the urban city landscape, with no less calculated beauty and awe inspiring shots.

Narratively it is quite strange, surrounding the life and death of a young boy, and how his family cope with the grief of his death and his life. It starts with death and parental grief and then goes into the family melodrama dynamic, showing the boy growing up around his two brothers and his parents.

It takes quite a while to set itself into a narrative groove and there are many elements which distort the conventional spacio-temporal journey, including many whispery voiceovers, multiple perspectives and some strange shots where there seems to be a flash of an object entered into shot, only to be taken away instantaneously, like it was never there.

Elements of montage are used and reinforces a very surreal and dream-like quality, which plays on the themes of memory and grief.

It's construction is one of the most beautiful things about it, 5 editors were needed as it has a very complex web of shots and angles, all tied together perfectly, jumping around but managing to give an inane clarity and fantasy to the fairly dry philosophical, existential and spiritual subject matter.

I really don't know what else to say about The Tree of Life. I found it a bit too emotionally laden for me to be absorbed. It's very reflexive and sad also, which can get a bit much at times.

It almost seems like it suffers from a 'burden of representation' in that it's trying to fit way too much in, but the surreal, non-conventional structure lightens this, as it seems to trancend reaching any sort of set out catharsis. Just like lyf m8.

Stunning film, really interesting and a cinematographers dream.

I'm gonna give it a 8.5/10 'cause to be honest it still has me thinking about it. Strong.

Trailer:


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Melancholia (2011, Lars Von Trier)

I saw this at The Cornerhouse in Manchester. Before the film had started a woman at the back shouted 'Can you stop crinkling your packets please, this is a sad film'...

Everyone chortled, but she wasn't wrong.

It opens with a series of almost still images, which I've never really seen in film before.

Hyper-real, super-edited photographic images, set the tone for a slightly different take on the disaster movie aesthetic and are genuinely mesmorising.

The film is set around the wedding of a manic depressive, Justine (Kirstin Dunst) at a country manor, owned by her filthy rich brother-in-law John (Keifer Sutherland), complete with it's own 18 hole Golf course.

The location is amazing, and is beautifully shot with typical Von Trier spin with lots of hand-held, eratic but smooth camerawork, incredible framing and beautiful soft warm lighting.

The film is split down the middle into two parts. The first is more of a character focus, dealing with how depression can over ride 'the happiest day of your life' and how Justine spirals down to the darkest depths of human dispair.

The relationship of the two sisters is the main focus, Justine's depression stifles her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who organised the wedding, to be left wondering why she bothered...

The second part (which I enjoyed a lot more) explores the anxiety and impending doom of how the approaching extinction of the human race affects relativly level-headed Claire, who is fearful for the life of her son, and her planet.

The celestial tango of the planet Melancholia is shown through some extaordinary CGI, set to some beautiful pieces of music and is entrancing to watch.

Extremely beautiful and profound, Melancholia is very dark and relentless, giving a rather tame (by Von Trier's standards) insight into the psychological trauma of the human mind and the fear of planetary apocalypse.

Artistically unique, original and increasingly intense, I can't recommend it enough...

7.5/10

Trailer:


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Midnight in Paris (2011, Woody Allen)

Woody Allen’s recent career has been a little patchy.

The last of his films to have a lasting impact on me were Melinda and Melinda and Small Time Crooks, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

His latest effort, Midnight in Paris is an existential exploration into the historical prevalence that Paris has played in forging, harbouring and inspiring many of the greatest writers and artists the world has ever known.

From Hemmingway to Picasso, Faulkner to Dali (played by that cheeky Brody), Owen Wilson is lead around the city of the past by various notorious figureheads of modern culture, scooping him up in a magical and philosophical whirlwind tour of the City of Love...

Very charming, beautifully lit and shot, Paris is showcased at an elevated level of sophistication and aesthetic quality, brilliantly giving a snippet of the grand Paris of yesteryear.

Thematically, issues of time and memory are focused on. Allen comedically debunks the myth that the past holds the ‘golden age’ stamp of adverse quality and artistic superiority. Especially resonant is that our perceptions of 'the good old days' and the recurrent belief that they were better or more influential times is portrayed as a farce.

Lovely music too....

Allen's best film in ages, very funny, lighthearted and philosophical.

8/10

Trailer:


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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011, Thomas Alfredson) & Drive (2011, Nicholas Winding Refn)

This film is UNBELIEEEEVE...

The story unfolds incredibly slowly and is precision orchestrated, providing a lot of details and characters, yet managing to sustain an increasing air of tension and interest throughout.

The acting is world class. I'm a massive John Hurt fan and frankly could just listen to him talk shit for hours on end, but his and Gary Oldman's performaces in particular are just epic and stand apart from the rest.

Big up Tom Hardy in his flares, too...

The costumes and set design are beautiful; they both compliment and accent the fairly drab, run-down 1970's aesthetic by contrasting it with a very stylish, slick and well arranged mise-en-scene.

This is again built upon by the cinematography which is so smooth and constructed (I'm pretty sure there's some near-on invisible digital pans and zooms) that it just looks like perfection, neither a frame out of place, nor a hair on anyone's head.

This film is so atmospheric it hurts, John le Carre's story (adapted for the screen by Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor) is just incredibly dark and brooding, perfectly exploding the innards of a stale war where information and words are the weapons.

Some great set pieces and conversations are as thrilling as explosions and car chases from the biggest Hollywood blockbuster.

9/10

Trailer:




Slick Rick suck a dick, Drive starts out smooth as, with a brilliant and tense bank robbery/car chase action packed opening sequence which has a very Michael Mannish look about it. Sadly there's no Heat after the burn...

*EDIT: It's been pointed out that this is not infact based on the game Driver which could have fooled me, with it's adversely videogame influenced stylistic features. (that and not doing any fucking research). It's in fact based on a Novel by James Sallis, published in 2005. If I wrote that novel I'd be extremely pissed off. (Thanks Will Jones).

Here's the subjectivity: Gosling's shit at acting and is trying and failing to be as badass as Steve Mcqueen. Homage or no homage there's not enough action or interesting characters to keep up with the visuals.

It does look pretty good and the soundtrack has some bangers, and I happened to enjoy the ONE good chase scene (seriously wtf? it's called Drive) but sadly that's all it has to offer for me.

A terrible love story takes up too much screentime and puts the shit-stained cherry on top for me; Gossy ends up doing some crim stuff with the girl-he-fancies recently-released-from-prison husband, which ends up getting him killed! Too much man! Gossy you twat!

Flawed but slick. No Bulitt in the gun.

4.5/10

Trailer:


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SUSPIRIA (1977, Dario Argento)

This is one of my all time favourites, by the Giallo master Dario Argento.
He masterfully creates the eeriest vibes going with his audacious use of colour and ultra modern camerawork.

Part of his 'Three Mothers' trilogy Suspiria takes place at a remote ballet school in Germany run by some dodgy looking women...

An American ballet student is granted a place and before she's even arrived some freaky shit starts kicking off.

Goblin provide an equally sinister soundtrack, marrying with Argento's visuals perfectly, providing a dark, brooding and downright disturbing aural spectacle.

If you have never seen an Argento: his style can seem a little dated... and Italian, but the almost self-conscious 'tacky' elements all add to the overall unsettling, surreal and distinctly original vibes.

Oh and I forgot to mention this film is scaaaaaaaary!

Other Argento's well worth a look are Phenomena (1985), Tenebrae (1982) and Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970).

Original Theatrical Trailer:



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WELCOME (BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD, THE KING OF KONG & SENNA)

Alright then, I'm a 3rd year Film student, and I watch a hell of a lot of films so I'll try and list and give a brief description of why they're the mutt's nuts or not... plus chuck a few all time fave reccomendations in for good cinematic measure.

HOKAY... so, I'm gonna start of this blog with a pick of recent documentaries which are off the chain insane.

All these docs share a similar theme; the extremities of human obsession.
The addictions vary; Chess, Donkey-Kong and Driving, but all showcase a brilliant portrait of people with unique talents and how they deal with all the burdens that come with gaining notoriety...




1980's arcade videogames were fucking mental.

First of all, they were built up level by level until they literally ran out of space, so beating the game is literally impossible.

Secondly, they were coin operated so are not designed to even let you win at all.

It turns out there's quite a few people stuck in an 80's time-warp still well into these games, precisely because of their imense difficulty, simplicity and requirement for an unworldy amount of concentration, dedication and skill.

The King of Kong (2007, Seth Gordon) explores this crazy little sub-culture with the help of an inspiring, frustrating and ultimately uplifting tale of a man's battle to OWN DONKEY KONG.

Many entertaining obstacles make for a real treat and an insight into a small world with BIG problems.

8.5/10

Trailer:








Another internal and external battle to master and control extreme skill (and the burdens that come with it) are amazingly portrayed in Senna (2010, Asif Kapadia).

The story of Brazilian Ayrton Senna's racing career is documentary gold, superb original footage and interviews take us through every bend and hairpin in his magnificent but short career as one of the worlds most talented drivers and as Brazil's most revered national sporting hero of all time.

Truly brilliant and horrendously tradgic, Senna's career is full of amazing stories and moments that are already stitched into narrative form.
I'm not a Formula 1 fan, on the surface it can seem a little boring, but Senna follows some defining moments in it's evolution as a sport and also manages to highlight mistakes that can be made in such a dangerous business.

9/10

Trailer:





The life of Bobby Fischer is a very interesting one. Brought up on a diet of chess and chess washed down with more chess, he understandably dreamed of becoming chess grandmaster when he grew up, so that's what he did....

Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011, Liz Garbus) is truly an incredible portrait of genius and the internal conflict that such intelligence brings to the human condition. Like Senna the film follows his life and career in an enlightened and rewarding spectrum, witnessing the highs and lows of not only his chess playing but his own life.

A disturbing ending sees Bobby adopting some rather frightening mantra's, but the film manages to make Bobby a victim of circumstance and understand, rather than explain his apparent social and psychological collapse.

8.5/10

Trailer:




You should also check out Morgan Spurlock's latest feature, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold which is about product placement and advertising, well worth a look.

Trailer:





I'm really looking forward to these documentaries out in the near future:

Project Nim:



Vigilante Vigilante:




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