Rating: C+
I generally stay away from watching foreign films. I don't particularly like watching movies where I have to stare at the bottom of the screen because I can't understand the words that are coming out of the people's mouths. But subtitles are a heck of a lot better than poor attempts at dubbing films. But Biutiful was one of those movies that piqued my interest with Javier Bardem in the starring role and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directing.
Quite honestly, I didn't know what to expect. The trailer doesn't seem to tell you a whole lot, although it makes much more sense after you've sat through 2.5 hours of Uxbal(lead character)'s life spiraling out of control in a downward race to devastation and despair. Bardem's portrayal of Uxbal is flawless and is absolutely the saving grace to this otherwise depressing film. In an otherwise brutal depiction of how devastating the world can be to a person and their family, Bardem's eyes alone tell the tale of a man's love for his family and his struggle to set things right.
But unfortunately, Inarritu tries too hard. Perhaps there are things in Spanish culture I'm missing, but there were so many parts of the movie that I found were absolutely unnecessary. There were storylines that had no bearing on the main storyline itself, as well as relationships inserted seemingly for the sole reason of making the audience uncomfortable. In an otherwise straightforward and painfully beautiful story about a man and his family, these scenes dragged the movie on, and made the movie somewhat arduous to watch.
~Cheers
Showing posts with label Artsy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Artsy. Show all posts
Monday, 27 June 2011
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Movie: Big Fish (2003)
Rating: A
Tim Burton tells an ebullient story by doing what he does best; bringing reality into a realm of fantasy and wacky wonder. Armed with heartfelt warmth from the likes of Andrew Finney and Jessica Lange, it was probably one of the most touching movies of 2003, and probably my favourite movie from Tim Burton.
Aside from making Danny DeVito unfortunately look like Ron Jeremy, it's hard to think of anything I didn't like about the movie. And if it doesn't bring a tear or two to your eyes and leave you with a smile feeling like a kid again, I've got to wonder if you've got a heart.
This isn't a movie that you want to make sense out of everything. It's like lying in bed as a kid, eager to hear your grandfather re-tell stories of his glory years in a bedtime story form. It's seeing those stories come to life, and never really knowing which part is true and which isn't, and in this movie, seeing all of that come to life. It's sweet, it's sad, it's wonderfully wacky.
~Cheers.
Tim Burton tells an ebullient story by doing what he does best; bringing reality into a realm of fantasy and wacky wonder. Armed with heartfelt warmth from the likes of Andrew Finney and Jessica Lange, it was probably one of the most touching movies of 2003, and probably my favourite movie from Tim Burton.
Aside from making Danny DeVito unfortunately look like Ron Jeremy, it's hard to think of anything I didn't like about the movie. And if it doesn't bring a tear or two to your eyes and leave you with a smile feeling like a kid again, I've got to wonder if you've got a heart.
This isn't a movie that you want to make sense out of everything. It's like lying in bed as a kid, eager to hear your grandfather re-tell stories of his glory years in a bedtime story form. It's seeing those stories come to life, and never really knowing which part is true and which isn't, and in this movie, seeing all of that come to life. It's sweet, it's sad, it's wonderfully wacky.
~Cheers.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Movie: The Tree of Life (2011)
Rating: B-
OK. I get it. The world is like a tree. And like a tree, it grows and spreads, and splits, and blossoms. Our lives too, reflect that. But in all that imagery and symbolism and beauty and awe, there needs to be some sense of cohesion, flow, and continuity. Somewhere. Anywhere.
Terrence Malick starts the movie off with random shots of the past, the present, and the future with some awe inspiring shots of absolute magnificence that is so randomly perplexing that while some might call it cinematic poetry, I can only describe as a convoluted collection of photographic genius that left me to wonder if this was some randomised National Geographic footage. All that was missing was the Alexander Scourby narration (although I guess these days, it would probably be done by Morgan Freeman. Haha).
Aside from the first 40 minutes where Malick tries to randomly select beautifully crafted footage to symbolise the creation of the world, including shots of waterfalls, volcanoes, and I'm sorry...Dinosaurs(?!)...There is a feebly concocted jagged story of a father (played by Brad Pitt) and his family. While some of the arbitrarily selected snippets showed a boy's struggle growing up, it's a pretty weak collection of memories for the boy to grow up to be so morose and tormented. The boy grows up to look remarkably like Sean Penn, which makes no sense because there's really no reason for him to be in the movie. Oh right...so that they could put his name on the poster.
If, somehow, you're able to see past the arbitrary randomness to the symbolic abstractions, this distorted metaphor for "The Tree of Life" is a visually stunning, cinematically perplexing experience.
~Cheers.
Blogger's Note: I loved the way Mike Ward from Richmond.com finished off his review of the movie:
"I admire “The Tree of Life” – in the same way I admire the white-haired lady in the “Guinness Book of World Records” with 28-foot fingernails. By the way, after “The Tree of Life,” you’ll probably have to cut your nails, just saying."
OK. I get it. The world is like a tree. And like a tree, it grows and spreads, and splits, and blossoms. Our lives too, reflect that. But in all that imagery and symbolism and beauty and awe, there needs to be some sense of cohesion, flow, and continuity. Somewhere. Anywhere.
Terrence Malick starts the movie off with random shots of the past, the present, and the future with some awe inspiring shots of absolute magnificence that is so randomly perplexing that while some might call it cinematic poetry, I can only describe as a convoluted collection of photographic genius that left me to wonder if this was some randomised National Geographic footage. All that was missing was the Alexander Scourby narration (although I guess these days, it would probably be done by Morgan Freeman. Haha).
Aside from the first 40 minutes where Malick tries to randomly select beautifully crafted footage to symbolise the creation of the world, including shots of waterfalls, volcanoes, and I'm sorry...Dinosaurs(?!)...There is a feebly concocted jagged story of a father (played by Brad Pitt) and his family. While some of the arbitrarily selected snippets showed a boy's struggle growing up, it's a pretty weak collection of memories for the boy to grow up to be so morose and tormented. The boy grows up to look remarkably like Sean Penn, which makes no sense because there's really no reason for him to be in the movie. Oh right...so that they could put his name on the poster.
If, somehow, you're able to see past the arbitrary randomness to the symbolic abstractions, this distorted metaphor for "The Tree of Life" is a visually stunning, cinematically perplexing experience.
~Cheers.
Blogger's Note: I loved the way Mike Ward from Richmond.com finished off his review of the movie:
"I admire “The Tree of Life” – in the same way I admire the white-haired lady in the “Guinness Book of World Records” with 28-foot fingernails. By the way, after “The Tree of Life,” you’ll probably have to cut your nails, just saying."
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