If they can rap, why can't I?
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
On a lighter note: The Spirit...
Despite outlining my plans to spend the month watching Oscar nominated/worthy films, I'm also likely to watch the usual trashy popcorn flicks.
So the first film I actually saw this month was Frank Miller's solo directorial debut (after working with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City) The Spirit.
I'd like to say I went into the cinema with high hopes, but I'd heard rumbling that the film was a bit of a stinker... and on the whole it is. Plodding and clunky, The Spirit could do with some major editing and much much better dialogue. However it does have it's moments (the foot scene) and undoubtedly has the best looking cast of the year (Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes and Paz Vega amongst others) so it's worth a DVD watch. I'd say the ideal viewing conditions would be on a night in with friends when you just wanna watch something fun and your not going to pay too much attention to dialogue (which is truly awful throughout) or plot. The sexy cast and ludicrous cartoon violence would be well matched with alcohol and frivolity, rather than serious concentrated viewing.
As a fan of Frank Miller's comic output, I hope this film is a blip and that he gets the chance to redeem himself, but in the end I can't give it more than a 5/10 (only half an hour into the film some of my friends wanted to leave, if that's any indication to it's quality.)
So the first film I actually saw this month was Frank Miller's solo directorial debut (after working with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City) The Spirit.
I'd like to say I went into the cinema with high hopes, but I'd heard rumbling that the film was a bit of a stinker... and on the whole it is. Plodding and clunky, The Spirit could do with some major editing and much much better dialogue. However it does have it's moments (the foot scene) and undoubtedly has the best looking cast of the year (Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes and Paz Vega amongst others) so it's worth a DVD watch. I'd say the ideal viewing conditions would be on a night in with friends when you just wanna watch something fun and your not going to pay too much attention to dialogue (which is truly awful throughout) or plot. The sexy cast and ludicrous cartoon violence would be well matched with alcohol and frivolity, rather than serious concentrated viewing.
As a fan of Frank Miller's comic output, I hope this film is a blip and that he gets the chance to redeem himself, but in the end I can't give it more than a 5/10 (only half an hour into the film some of my friends wanted to leave, if that's any indication to it's quality.)
Motski's Oscar Watch Part 1
Hi folks, it's Oscar season again and I'm endevouring to catch all of the biggins before the big day, so I though I'd give you my lopsided views on what I've seen.
First up is...
Slumdog Millionaire
Which I felt was very good, but not excellent. Essentially your standard boy meets girl fairy tale, but with a vibrant Indian based twist. Dev Patel (off of Skins) was far better than I imagined in the lead role of Jamal (mostly nice and restrained) and the rest of the casting was spot on. Using the Who Want to be a Millionaire? show format to link the disparate elements of Jamal's past was clever and well integrated, but fequently less compelling than the flashbacks themselves. These flashbacks offer involving, exciting and often disturbing insights into life growing up in India's slums. Overall, it's an extremely well crafted piece of film making (the cinematography is uniformly stunning), but don't expect too many suprises...
It seems to have ended up as the Best Picture front runner, but I'd give it a 7.5/10
(If you've visited India however, you'll probably want to whack another 1.5 to that score. Friends I watched it with who've been to India absolutely loved it.)
Coming soon... The Wrestler, Milk and Frost/Nixon.
(I've actually already seen The Wrestler and Milk, but I thought breaking up the reviews would make for easier comprehension. Frost/Nixon's up next week...)
First up is...
Slumdog Millionaire
Which I felt was very good, but not excellent. Essentially your standard boy meets girl fairy tale, but with a vibrant Indian based twist. Dev Patel (off of Skins) was far better than I imagined in the lead role of Jamal (mostly nice and restrained) and the rest of the casting was spot on. Using the Who Want to be a Millionaire? show format to link the disparate elements of Jamal's past was clever and well integrated, but fequently less compelling than the flashbacks themselves. These flashbacks offer involving, exciting and often disturbing insights into life growing up in India's slums. Overall, it's an extremely well crafted piece of film making (the cinematography is uniformly stunning), but don't expect too many suprises...
It seems to have ended up as the Best Picture front runner, but I'd give it a 7.5/10
(If you've visited India however, you'll probably want to whack another 1.5 to that score. Friends I watched it with who've been to India absolutely loved it.)
Coming soon... The Wrestler, Milk and Frost/Nixon.
(I've actually already seen The Wrestler and Milk, but I thought breaking up the reviews would make for easier comprehension. Frost/Nixon's up next week...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
