Latest Films

I've been busy lately but below are the most recent films i've watched since Paranormal Activity 2 and the scores i've given them!

I'd have liked to have written a review for all of them but uni work gets in the way! None of them were stand-out exceptional films, American Psycho is a favourite of mine, but a few hinderences keep it from recieving a higher rating IMO.

I Spit On Your Grave (2010)	09-Feb	6
Friends With Money	12-Feb	5
American Psycho (2)	14-Feb	8
The Switch	17-Feb	6
Case 39 (2)	18-Feb	7
Fracture (2)	20-Feb	6
Paul	24-Feb	7
Due Date (2)	27-Feb	7
In Good Company	27-Feb	7

The 2 in brackets means it's the second time i've seen the film. I'm curious to look back and see if I rate films higher or lower upon multiple viewings.

I hadn't started recording my ratings when I first saw American Psycho or Fracture, altlhough I think I probably would've given them a 9 and 8 respectively.

I gave Case 39 a 8 the first time I saw it, and Due Date an 8 as well. So it appears I don't like films as much if it is a repeat watch :P .

Paranormal Activity 2

This will likely be a short review, because on the surface, the film is fairly simple.

I enjoyed the first film. I'm a fan of low-budget, indie, films - especially those which use handheld cameras to capture 'true' mysterious events in people's life. There's something particularly harrowing about this style. For me, it comes across as more real, and more horrific.

Though many, myself included, were nervous about the sequel becoming more 'Hollywood' (given it's much bigger budget), nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the problem with the sequel is that it is too mundane.

The film revolves around the lives of a typical family, Ali, Daniel, and their children Kristi and Hunter (a newborn baby). The first issue I had with the film was that I never felt particularly attached to any character. I don't want this to be a comparative review, but ultimately the first film was much stronger in its willingness to convey the relationship, and characterisation's, of the couple Katie and Brad (who make an appearance in this film - the timelines of both films crossover).

Without giving too much away, strange things start to happen to the Rey family, leading up to an increasingly tense and climactic finale - the last 10 minutes are tense, exciting, and worth watching the film for. But the sense of dread that is supposed to be developed throughout the first hour of the film just isn't here. The scares are few and far between. I understand the concept of creating a scary atmosphere without directly showing us that which we are supposed to fear - and I support it, of course it is scary for our minds to conjour up images than it is to show us fake blood and lame scares. But this film doesn't get the balance right, save for a few expertly crafted moments. By and large, you spend half the film staring at a surveillance camera waiting for that scare, and waiting, and waiting, until the superb ending.

I enjoyed Paranormal Activity 2, don't get me wrong. If you enjoyed the first film, you should watch this one as well. I just think that the potential was there for so much more, hopefully the inevitable third installment will take on some of the complaints aimed at the sequel and take them into account.

Story - 7
Sound - 6
Acting - 7
Immersive - 6

Overall - 6

Black Swan

Black Swan was a heavy hitter at award ceremonies this year, and with good reason. Originally, I was sceptical about it. The trailers were poor in my opinion, and they didn't sell the film to me. I assumed it was another pretentious film, shot at strange angles, with colour playing a big role. Something we have seen many times before, and something that doesn't particularly strike me as innovative, immersive, or memorable in any light. How wrong I was.

On a basic level, the plot revolves around the life of a determined, single-minded ballet dancer Nina (played expertly by Natalie Portman). She wants to move up in the ranks of her ballet company, become a key performer in plays, and be renowned for her dancing prowess and ability.

I cannot praise her enough. All preconceptions I had about her performances were blown away, this is the defining role of her career. If she tops this, it will be outstandingly brilliant. Not once in the duration of the film was I not transfixed on the story, the character, and ultimately, eagerly awaiting the conclusion.

Likewise, other actors and actresses played impressive roles. The story predominantly revolved around 4 persons, Nina, Nina's mother, Lily, and Thomas. I thought having Lily played by Mila Kunis was a strange decision at first. But again, the casting was spot on here. She perfectly balanced her role between suspicion and innocence, rather like Portman. Every notion and idea we have of Lily changes from one scene to the next. The complexity of the film is shown in its ability to constantly change and adapt our conception of character's personas. Thomas, as well, played by Vincet Cassel, is a magnificantly engrossing, compelx character.

The film switches from a comedy, with the audience laughing several times, to a horror, with a women in the audience literally screaming at a scene. Remarkable. You just don't know what to expect. As the film decendes into madness, it is so gripping and so evocatively conveyed by the imagery of differing amounts of black and white surrounding characters and environments, that you simply cannot look away.

I really didn't want to give any of the plot away in this review, so I hope it isn't too brief. I just want to convince whoever reads this to watch the film - now.

Story - 10
Sound - 8
Acting - 10
Immersive - 9

Overall - 9