Movies reviews

• Juno

  Watched on 19th February 2008

  9

  Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

  

  Review

  Juno has been touted as the best ‘indie’ movie since Little Miss Sunshine and the amazing box office success has confirmed this.

  Juno is a young girl who has found herself in the ultimate caper; being a pregnant teenager at high-school.

  The movie deals with issues such as teenage pregnancy, high-school dymanics and adaoption all in an extremely quirky, witty yet intelligent way. The acting is pretty much flawless and every line is poetically crafted and delivered. I think this movie requires multiple viewings to fully appreciate everything on offer due to the subtly, cleverness, quirkiness and multiple-levels of the humour.

  I have seen this movie twice and both times I loved it – I could even watch it again. This is a hallmalk of a remarkable movie which is exactly what Juno is.

  I hope Juno will win the Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay” this year just like Little Miss Sunshine did in 2007.

  You should go see this movie. Nine out of ten.

• Juno

  Watched on 2nd February 2008

  9

  Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

  

  Review

  Juno has been touted as the best ‘indie’ movie since Little Miss Sunshine and the amazing box office success has confirmed this.

  Juno is a young girl who has found herself in the ultimate caper; being a pregnant teenager at high-school.

  The movie deals with issues such as teenage pregnancy, high-school dymanics and adaoption all in an extremely quirky, witty yet intelligent way. The acting is pretty much flawless and every line is poetically crafted and delivered. I think this movie requires multiple viewings to fully appreciate everything on offer due to the subtly, cleverness, quirkiness and multiple-levels of the humour.

  I have seen this movie twice and both times I loved it – I could even watch it again. This is a hallmalk of a remarkable movie which is exactly what Juno is.

  I hope Juno will win the Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay” this year just like Little Miss Sunshine did in 2007.

  You should go see this movie. Nine out of ten.

• I'm Not There.

  Watched on 22nd January 2008

  7

  Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.

  

  Review

  I'm Not There. is a strange movie. It's about Bob Dylan. But it's not about Bob Dylan. It features six characters who represent different aspects of the musician's life and work – played by five different actors and one actress. Cate Blanchett steals the largest amount of screentime and her performance is absolutely incredible.

  The individual storylines seem to paint six distinctive periods in Dylan's life. The movie starts with Dylan as a young boy hitch-hiking on a railroad car. Christian Bale seemed to represent the singers rise. Heath Ledger followed Dylan's success and touching of the start of difficulties with his celebrity status. Cate Blanchett tackled the media intrusion and questioning of the singers initial passion. For me, the most confusing and least rewarding segment was that played by Richard Gere – although this segment brought the movie full circle with Gere disappearing on a railroad car. The following quote explains the final piece fairly well - "a self-imposed exile from the modern world, reflecting some of Dylan's retreats from the public eye and his lifelong love of traditional music and its outlaw past. The themes of Dylan's country songs and basement recordings." and seems to show the complexity of the entire movie. The movie was tied together with black & white segments featuring sporadic quotes by 'Arthur Rimbaud'.

  The movie is full of amazing quotes. Probably the most memorable and representative of the movie is "Never create anything, for it will be misinterpreted. It will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life, and it will never change."

  Overall, the movie is pretty difficult to watch, understand and follow but rewards the viewer in visual appeal, performance, direction, editing and individual narrative. I know very little about Bob Dylan and I'm sure fans will get a lot more out of the movie than I did. Browsing the imdb forum for I'm Not There. gives some insight in to the complexity of the movie and I highly recommend reading a few threads if you've seen this movie.

• Helvetica

  Watched on 6th January 2008

  7

  A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.

  

  Review

  I do not interact with different fonts on a daily basis, however, I do appreciate good typography. This film was a good introduction in to the most important typeface in todays society. The film follows the timeline of the font, from it's inception 50 years ago, through a rebellion period and emerging as the 'defecto' font in everyday society (whether you realise it or not!).

  I felt some parts of the film put too much emphasis on the importance of the font in relation to globalisation, commercialism and politics – even relating the font to the Vietnam war and the current invasion of Iraq. However, the segments by Erik Spiekermann, Experimental Jetset and Michael C. Place were interesting and educational without being pretentious.

  The film is well shot and the cinematography of the stills which artfully reveal the use of the font all around us are beautiful.

• Before Sunset

  Watched on 29th September 2007

  9

  It's nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

  

  Review

  Before Sunset is the absolutely beautiful sequel to Before Sunrise, two films by Richard Linklater starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Both movies focus on two very interesting characters, an American (Hawke) and a French woman, when they meet at junctures in their lives.

  In the first movie they meet for the very first time on a train and take a whimsical walk around the streets of Vienna. It's about discovering a place, memories, love and relationships, all of which are pieced together with beautiful dialogue and a fantastic story.

  Before Sunset is the sequel, set and filmed nine years after original. This time it follows the couple around the streets of Paris, and amazingly the dialogue surpasses the beauty of the previous movie. The cinematography is passive, yet intensive, which only enhances the stunningly crafted monologues. The couple meander, discussing what happened on that night all those years ago and how their lives have been influenced by their encounter.

  The dialogue is mesmerising - a real insight to both sides of emotion and love. I recommend watching 'Before Sunrise' before watching 'Before Sunset' to fully appreciate the magical journey of this romantic masterpiece.