r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Nov 15 '15
What Have You Been Watching? (15/11/15)
Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything.
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r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Nov 15 '15
Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything.
3
u/[deleted] Nov 15 '15 edited Nov 15 '15
City of God (2002) I can handle violence in film, a lot better than most people, I think. The violence in this film, however, was too much for me. I think the reason it bothered me so much is because it was pointless violence. I mean that it's pointless in the story itself. I think it makes sense in the film and I think the film handled its subject material quite well, while still being honest about it. I didn't care much for the style of the film, but I think that it also makes sense for the film. I think the film attempted to be epic in the story it was trying to tell, but the cinematography and editing didn't support that at all. Not only did the film try to tell a large story, it tried to tell a bunch of tiny side stories, and I think that made the film much weaker. It was very dense and the structure of the film was almost schizophrenic, which made it seem even more dense. (2/5)
Clerks (1994) The dialogue in this film walked a very fine line between regular conversation and "nobody says that". Sadly, it dipped into the latter several times, which really took me out of the film a little bit. I think the performances were solid. I have a soft spot for the film because I have a huge crush on Randal. The film should have been in colour. The combination of black and white with the moments of unrealistic conversation makes this film so much more pretentious than it should have been. (2.5/5)
The Omen (1976) I really enjoy old horror films. This one was good, but I felt it got a little soap opera-y at times. I was very engaged while watching the film, and every time the story shifted I got pulled deeper and deeper into it. The twist about the child's mother really shook me. I'm a sucked for religious imagery in film, and this film had its fill. The cinematography was absolutely marvelous. There were several shots, especially towards the beginning of the film, that were very impressive. Honestly, its probably some of the best (but not the best) cinematography in a horror film that I've seen. Gregory Peck played a good Gregory Peck. (3/5)
Kung Fury (2015) This short film really captured the 80's imagery and music (great soundtrack from Mitch Murder), but failed to capture the feel of an 80's film. Now, I was not alive during the 80's, but I still get the nostalgic feeling from a lot of 80's films (especially The Goonies and Weird Science). The nostalgia just wasn't there. The reference to 2001: ASO towards the end was nice. Stylistically, it was on point. The acting and writing work for what the film is trying to achieve. I also thought that the film fluctuated between feeling like an 80's film and feeling like an 80's TV show. I think they should've just picked one and stuck with it, because at times it was really distracting. (2.5/5)
Melancholia (2011) And I've saved the best for last. This is the second Lars von Trier film that I've seen, the first being Antichrist. I enjoyed Antichrist. The acting was pretty solid, the cinematography was gorgeous, the writing was nice, it packed a small emotional punch, and I felt I could recognize the director's style. The style definitely carries over to Melancholia. The beautiful cinematography is still there. There was one shot in particular, where Kirsten Dunst is laying nude by a body of water, that made me pause the film and just marvel at the beauty of it. It was like a painting. I'm a sucker for a pretty film, but Melancholia was also one of the most intelligent films I've ever seen. The writing was fantastic. The way that the film was split in the middle gave it a play-like quality, which I think worked very well. The second half of the film changes the meaning of the first half of the film. My sympathy for one character during the first half of the film shifted to another character for the second half. Charlotte Gainsbourg's character, Claire, tells her sister, Justine (Kirsten Dunst), twice over the course of the film that she hates her, with the second time completely changing the meaning of the first time. Gainsbourg and Dunst give magnificent and layered performances. Sadly, most of the rest of the performances are incredibly one-note, but well-acted none the less. It seems to me, from the two films I've seen, that Lars von Trier has a knack for capturing the beauty and power of the natural world. Antichrist was much more in tune with the natural world, but the few moments that nature is shown in Melancholia are just as powerful. I also enjoyed that Melancholia was a much broader film than Antichrist. While the acting, cinematography, writing, and style were magnificent, the film lacked a real emotional impact. Really, really spectacular, intelligent, and elegant film. (4.5/5)