Review: I Am Love (2009)

★★★☆☆

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher

❝ HAPPY IS A WORD THAT MAKES ONE SAD. ❞

Synopsis: When Emma Recchi (Tilda Swinton) meets Antonino Biscaglia (Edoardo Gabbriellini), she is introduced to a world of pleasures she never knew existed beyond her bourgeoisie lifestyle. 

This is a film you understand or you don't. It's plot is insignificant in the grand scheme of things - this is a film to be visually pleasing and looked at more than anything. Of course, Tilda Swinton played her role marvellously as a bourgeoisie housewife who discovered there was more beyond her well-off lifestyle. Themes were well addressed, from her daughter's new romantic encounter to Eduardo's overall sadness about his life. What I couldn't connect with was the characters themselves, regardless of how well they addressed their personal struggles. There was nothing there to make me care that Emma was discovering this new, natural and exciting love, and even in the end, her choice of wardrobe to stress her removal from that house and the confines of that life didn't make me applaud and burst with joy the way the pacing of that final scene demanded. It was beautiful to look at, and I highly congratulate the cameraman and cinematographer on the attention to detail and the exploration of how to shoot scenes. This is definitely a film for those who want to experience something new the way she did. Perhaps on a second viewing I may feel differently about it, but on first viewing, as much as I understood it, I couldn't find any more meaning beyond it. It's strange to give a movie Tilda Swinton is in a mere three stars, but the truth is that she carried this film with her performance and kept me interested along with some excellently detailed frames. I really wanted to like this more than I did.

The Anticipation: The Bling Ring (2013)

Director: Sofia Coppola

Starring: Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang

Synopsis: Based on real life events, fame obsessed teens Rebbeca (Katie Chang), Mark (Israel Broussard), Nicki (Emma Watson), Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Chole (Claire Julien) start to track the whereabouts of celebrities houses in order to rob them. Calling themselves 'Bling Ring', they make a name for themselves and attain the fame they desperately crave, with unavoidable repercussions.

I am absolutely elated that this is Sofia's next choice of film because I don't think anyone else could handle this real life event with more class, style and substance. The teaser's visual style is very reminiscent of Marie Antoinette (2006), another one of Sofia's films and of course, the quick snappy cuts, with just the basics of what we need to know for now is classic Sofia. This film, surprisingly has caused some controversy as critics seem to believe it glorifies the idea of fame and robberies. Whilst this movie is about the fame hungry youth attempting to become the celebrities they idolise with minimal effort, Sofia isn't going to casually brush off the idea that this is a mentality that is detrimental to the youth of today. She knows that most teenagers nowadays are obsessed with the idea that: fame equals glory - look at how badly facebook is going downhill because teenagers are hungry to gain subscribers and are doing anything to get them, look at the desperation of people on twitter to gain followers (and other contacts) by posing as celebrities - the list goes on. The teaser seems to show the repercussions of such actions - they steal, are happily partying with their new found money and possessions and get caught - the pace is slowed down here because the fast life stops somewhere and reality hits them only then and there, in the eye of the public where they can't hide. This is probably my most anticipated film of the Summer, not only because I am a huge Sofia Coppola fan but because this story needs some more exposure now that a lot of teenagers are hungering for some kind of fame.

Check out the full teaser below.

Review: The Room (2003)

★☆☆☆☆

Director: Tommy Wiseau

Starring: Tommy Wiseau, Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero, Philip Haldiman

❝ I'M GOING TO DO WHAT I WANT TO DO, AND THAT'S IT. WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO? ❞

SPOILER ALERT

Synopsis: Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is in a loving relationship with his girlfriend (or future wife), Lisa (Juliette Danielle). Unbeknownst to him, Lisa begins to have an affair with his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero). Some strange, irrelevant and unresolved subplots later, Johnny becomes suspicious and sets out to find the truth (even after she's admitted it in a conversation he overhears).

Director: Tommy Wiseau. Writer: Tommy Wiseau. Starring: Tommy Wiseau. This is a classic example of what NOT to do when making your first feature length film, with no prior (or successful) background in film. In fact, everything in this film might as well be an example. One dimensional characters, continuity errors galore, irrelevant dialogue, subplots that go nowhere, serious issues of cancer and domestic/emotional/substance abuse dropped...it all makes for one strange experience. It comes across as a misogynistic (in the most basic sense too), shallow, nonsensical mess. I don't think I could explain it any better than Cinema Sins does in this video, so I think I'm going to leave this video here for your viewing pleasure. 

My first experience with this film was simply a youtube clip of one of the scenes (the infamous "Oh hai Mark!") and I went through almost every clip of it I could find because I was in utter disbelief this was a real film. I was laughing far too much. The film has managed to create a huge cult following who appreciate it's absurdity and even Tommy himself has profited somewhat from this experience. This is what I love most about the whole thing - Wiseau is kind of a genius; he creates one of the worst movies ever, and instead of trying to bury it and erase it from his mind, he still loves it and treats it as a triumph/dream come true. He stands by his art. Hell, screenings of this film still happen, even years after its release and are often major events for the fans, who dress up, quote along, throw spoons at the screen, toss footballs around - everything. What can't be denied about this movie is the fact that it does have a lot of heart, and you can see how eager Wiseau was to create it. Bless.

Review: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

★★★★★

Director: Rich Moore

Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

❝ IT BECOMES KINDA HARD TO LOVE YOUR JOB...WHEN NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO LIKE YOU FOR DOING IT. ❞

Synopsis: Ralph (John C. Reilly) is unhappy with the way his life is going - he is ignored and disliked by his colleagues who work with him in a game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. Ralph decides to obtain a medal in order to gain respect from his peers, and abandons his game to go in search of one. This leads to an adventure involving a bizarre cast of characters and a life lesson for everyone involved.

Wreck-It Ralph was so much fun. In typical Disney fashion, the film addresses the issue of the outsider, but makes it more complex by giving Ralph the edge of being the 'bad' guy who just wants friends. Nothing was black and white, and every character had motivation and a purpose. There were two kinds of 'bad' people in this and the first thing I took away from this was the acceptance of a certain kind of bad - the necessary evil versus the unnecessary and how to distinguish between the two. As well as layering beautiful connections between complete opposites in terms of characters, the film also had a great way of handling minor characters too. This is probably the most interesting Disney film that doesn't have any Pixar involvement (apart from John Lasseter, the film's executive producer). At first glance, this does look like a Disney Pixar picture considering the sleek visuals and the innovative story however, it's clear they have taken notes from Pixar and are exploring new territory. If Wreck-It Ralph is what they are capable of accomplishing on their own, then Pixar need to step up their game for some friendly but fierce competition!