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Reviews
Under the Skin (2013)
Beautiful but needed more emotion!
This has been the first Jonathan Glazer movie that I have watched and it most definitely encouraged me to see his other work. A visual spectacle that holds this film together since the plot is not such a huge part of the movie. The film is more of an experience and relies on these imagery to intrigue and get "under your skin", but the title has a deeper meaning that refers to our humanity and our society. A film that talks about how we look upon women, how we view gender roles and how we are more focused on the exterior rather than interior. The film was accompanied by the most exceptional soundtrack I have ever heard composed by Mica Levi that will frighten as well as fill you with emotion.
Coming to the problems I had with the movie Scarlett Johansson's character didn't emote enough for me to feel empathy for her. She develops a lot through out the movie as she begins to experience emotions of fear, confusion and compassion but never sadness. Accompanied with the sad nature of some of the music i felt a scene was needed for her character to or feel sadness since it would have projected the directors message much clearer. The message being human emotions are difficult to understand and we are kind but at the same time evil. We rape, we laugh, we help each other when we fall, we dance, we fall in love. I never really see the sadness in the main character's eyes towards the human race and that is what i felt was needed. It also would have made the narrative clearer as if a tear fell from her eye we would recognise the woman at the beginning was an alien who ended up similarly to Johansson's character.
Upon first viewing a lot of the director's messages weren't projected clearly and i felt that detached from my experience. I also had to have people explain certain elements of the movie which I felt could have been avoided had the director's symbolism and metaphorical display been clearer. But who know maybe it was just me who didn't understand the movie the first time i watched it. I felt the ending left a bit of a negative message but maybe that just sums up our race.
All in all this movie was beautiful, surreal, real and frightening. But needed more emotion.
Cyberbully (2015)
Fantastic!
This movie was like Locke and 12 Angry Men in the sense that it was filmed in one location throughout the entirety of the movie. The dialogue and performance was what sustained the brilliance of the chilling plot. The acting by Maisie Williams was very real and it just completely engaged me in the storyline from the first scene. The fact that the hacker's identity is made unclear makes the villain unique and very sinister. What I also like about it is that the location that takes place is very innocent because it takes place in a teenage girls room, however you are still left on edge for every second that goes on. As the story goes on the girls life begins to crumble and spiral into a disaster she cannot escape from. Brilliant, Exciting, Original and thrilling, all I can say is... Watch the movie!!!
Boyhood (2014)
Dull, boring and average
I liked the idea that we were following the same actors throughout the entirety of the movie. We follow a character, Mason, through his childhood and teenage journey in life and it was interesting to see the actors actually grow along with the movie. For me it made it more believable and very relatable. However, i did not feel the character's personality grew on me at all. As soon as Mason reaches his teens he becomes very dull and monotonous. The only character who I enjoyed watching was the father and how he could somehow save the audience from Mason's vanilla character.
I felt that the movie dealt with a lot of life experiences you go through as a child and in some way you can relate to the character but I felt that the director did this in a very plain and dull fashion using very little symbolism and no creativeness. It felt like a film anyone could make. To be honest, 'Boyhood' felt way too long. I understand that the director must have needed 3 hours to accomplish an experience and take us through a journey but the adventure was like a trip to the dentist. You just wanted it to end. Talking about endings, I somewhat liked the ending however for this movie I think it was a wrong directorial decision and felt unsatisfied. In my opinion the idea of a 12 year moving picture saved the movie and without it, it would have become a very ordinary movie.
Interstellar (2014)
Best Sci-Fi Movie of All Time
In fact, the best movie of all time.
What can I say, I saw Interstellar with my friends and two days later I saw it again. This movie has completely changed my perspective in film and the effect it can have on an audience. I left the theatre awe struck and attempting to process the genius of a movie I had just seen. Personally, Si-Fi is not my favorite genre, in fact I do not enjoy most science fiction movies however this one is somewhat different to the others. For one the storyline is amazing and it had me hooked from the very beginning to the very end. Not in any point did i become bored or tired during the three hours, it took me through a thrilling, exciting and enthralling journey. The characters are phenomenal and the casting was prefect. The visuals are out of this world and completely slaps 'Gravity' across the face. The only problem I had with the movie is that there were some plot holes and problems with logic which you are obviously going to deal with black holes which humans have little knowledge of. However it didn't bother me much because I was too busy falling in love with the movie.
All i have to say is watch this movie! it is equipped with a gripping storyline and spectacular special FX making this movie an absolute masterpiece.