blogue

Clints’ Oscar nominated film is certainly well crafted. The acting is solid, cinematography is impressively sombre and almost monochromatic. There are well crafted battle scenes but it is never overdone, as Clint focuses on the characters themselves so that we can feel sympathy for the soldiers caught in a doomed battlefront on Iwo Jima. Ken Watanabe is great as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, whilst the best role has to be that of the reluctant soldier Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) who, despite generally being seen as a coward, is actually one of the brightest, bravest and most humane characters in the movie.

Overall though I felt that the film was a little overlong or lacking in pace, given the heavy atmosphere and feeling of claustrophobia that you are drawn into. There were one or two brief comic moments that give relief, but it was not enough to prevent you from leaving the cinema feeling a little depressed. Perhaps that was Clints’ intention, given the outcome of the conflict and the fact that he probably wants to send out an anti-war message.

War - what is it good for? :)

So, had to go and see the most hyped up film of the moment, although I’d probably seen enough clips on utube already to assemble a mini borat movie myself.

From the start it seemed to me that some of Borats inspiration must have come from the satirical guide to the fictional country of Molvania. And just like the book, we laugh but then feel slightly guilty about taking such a condescending and derogatory stance on some Eastern European countries.

The movie moves on quickly to the scenes in New York and across to California, where Borat uses his clever interview technique ,which he honed to perfection on the Ali G show, whereby hapless Americans are tricked into saying things that reveal some very alarming, amusing and shameful truths about themselves.

Overall not a bad movie, but it is definitely more of a cringe and laugh nervously film than an outright funny, side splitting comedy.

After a summer of excruciating, tedious, bland and generally sh*t blobkbusters (I haven’t been to the movies apart from once since I returned from Down Under), I’m really glad that semi-independent movies like this one are gracing our screens again. It’s one of those little gems about dysfunctional families, growing up, getting old and going on a roadtrip of self discovery.

Most of the movie will have you laughing, even though most of the time it is dealing with serious issues such as suicide, death and the horror of beauty pageants for children. Serious types will probably say it’s a bit shallow and contrived, and I’ll agree that it lacks any real depth, but at the end of the day it made me smile. Hah!

Great performances all round, but for me the standouts were Alan Arkin as Grandpa, and Abigail Breslin as Olive.

Forget plot, good lines and likeable characters. Try to ignore Farrels handlebar moustache. What you can appreciate is the amazing HD camerawork by Mann. The film has a pseudo-documentary style that really grips you in the high octane gun battle scenes at the end of the movie. The night time panoramic shots of Miami and high speed boats are awesome. Not one for the ladies, probably not even for the gents really, but it’s definitely trying to do something different in terms of style.