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Reviews
Another Earth (2011)
A Must See Film, Enigmatic and Beguiling
An excellent film a real slow burner that keeps you on tenterhooks right to the very last second. This is an intriguing plot that is kept aloft by the device of asking and answering questions as the story unfolds. Will she won't she, will he won't he. The plot cul-de-saqs like the hypothermia, his employment status, her days off, the other lady visitor, the whole other planet thing remain unanswered and unimportant. The emotional journey the characters go through is all important.
Definitely a film to go see, prepare to be kept in suspense and to have imagery of it remain with you long after it has finished.
A fantastic performance by both leads, Brit Marling is desirable, enigmatic and vulnerable, and certainly a star in the making.
Roadie (2011)
Didn't Catch Fire
OK the good news is as there are only 12 reviews on this film so there is a chance someone will actually read mine, woohoo. The bad news is I'm not sure many people will watch the film, especially to the end and be bothered to come here.
For a start I doubt if anyone under the age of 30 could understand the situation the lead finds himself in, let alone sympathise with him. For a second not a lot happens.
The film seems like a play, scenes in the house and the bar with 2 or 3 people talking take up a large part of the footage, feelings and emotions are aired but there is no moving on or culmination, let alone redemption.
The movie only steps up a gear in the motel but then you are left frustrated and more disheartened with the characters. The film has a downbeat, melancholic feel and lacks complexity, there are no surprises. The characters enter the film with nothing and leave with less.
I watched it for the culture links and the expectation of the big man returns to small town play out but it never really happened. Fine acting, interesting concept but failed to catch fire.
TT3D: Closer to the Edge (2011)
The gritty reality of motorcycle racing, don't take your women
For me it was an excellent film that concentrated on the personalities of motorcycle racing. It is not Hollywood and it is not Formula One it is not even a film about winning races it is a film that looks at the characters that return year on year to dice with death. It is a well put together documentary with a narrative about the obsessive.
The real star of the film is Guy Martin he is born to have a camera pointed at him, the film comes alive whenever he is on screen. There is little glamour there is obviously little money, there is the hard grime of reality that drives people to the edge of oblivion, only to eventually lose.
The film is shot in 3D and this was a disappointment to me. The old stock shots were obviously not in 3D and these have been transferred and look OK. The 3D footage shot for the film to me makes the objects and people look ironically 2 dimensional. The components of a shot move in front of each other and you can see the distance between them but the individual components appear to have no depth themselves. To me they often looked like paper cutouts being slid over each other. The explosion towards the end of the film looks very strange and to looks as if they tried to make it 3D. The filmmakers do plenty of front to back shots but with the foreground in sharp focus you can be distracted from what you should be looking at.
There are emotional highs and lows throughout, Guy Martin brings smiles and laughter and the footage of the bereaved family is heartbreaking. I was expecting lots of scary point of view 3D footage (camera strapped to headlight) of bikes just missing (or hitting) walls, trees, buildings and the like but there was not much of this.
The film will only appeal to a small market, those interested in motorbikes who can go to the cinema without a female in tow. I'm not saying women won't like the film it's just that if you do take one at best they will say "You are NOT doing that" but more likely "That's it your selling that thing tomorrow". Our local multiplex had one single showing of the film and the audience consisted of 50 blokes over the age of 30 (with the sole exception of my teenage son).
A good honest film that will make you laugh and cry and your head buzz, well worth a watch. The end credits made me smile, I expect these to be in priority order you know, director, star #1, star #2 ending up with assistant tea boy and fluffer, this started with the producer and then listed the accountants. Who said art was dead.
Revolver (2005)
It was dire
I too was very disappointed - I should have been suspicious when there were only 7 other people in the cinema on a Saturday night !. Take out all the psycho babble and it would have the potential of a good old gangster film with some mystery thrown in. There were obvious references to the existentialism of 2001, fight club and Matrix reloaded (or whatever it was) - Guy should just get down and get gritty again. The acting was very good and the story line intriguing. There was not enough black humour. The dialogue was interesting enough although it was made more mid Atlantic than London. Where was the prison and why were there 2 Americans and a British guy in adjacent cells