Let's watch a movie, or three.

I have no real excuse for my recent lack of blogging, but I’m going to use one anyway. I’ve been busy (not lazy). Busy doing what, you ask. Busy watching movies to write about, for your pleasure of course. (Nice save Morgan!)

I’ll try my best not to give spoilers away, but be wary if you haven’t seen the films.

The first movie I went to see was the documentary (mockumantary?), Catfish.
Thank you $6 Mondays at Nova!
 What drew me to this, apart from the intriguing interview the three boys who star/direct/produce the film, gave on Ellen months ago, was the way it focuses on Facebook. The film, I honestly don’t know what to call it, so film seems like a winner, follows the story of Yaniv Schulman, known as Nev, his brother and best mate. Nev begins a friendship with a family on Facebook, and falls ‘in love’ with the family’s eldest daughter. Ariel Schulman (Nev’s brother) and Henry Joost (Nev’s mate) decide to film Nev, and the blossoming relationship. When the trio head across the country to meet the family, all isn’t as it seems. I’ll leave it there, but if you’ve seen the trailer, or heard anything about the film, you know something odd is about to go down.
In my opinion, what has made the film so intriguing is the debate raging over whether it is real or fake. The three boys are adamant that everything that happened is true, and the only editing the film has are the bits they added (pictures of Facebook messages, maps etc.). But, that doesn’t seem to be the whole truth, especially if you go snooping. This is my favourite site for speculation. *Please note: Only look at this if you’ve SEEN Catfish.
VeryAware.com

I’d definitely recommend going to see it. Especially if you aware of Facebook, and the dangers it creates. It is a bit obscure, but you can always watch it like a movie, not a documentary. If you read the synopsis or see the trailer and it doesn’t hold your interest—this isn’t going to be for you. Oh, and take Panadol. The handheld camera technique can cause a headache or two.
And if anyone can remember the blog URL given at the end of the film, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

I’ve also recently seen The King’s Speech (unfortunately, paid $15 to see this one at Hoyts, pfft). Wow, wow, wow. It’s the best movie I’ve seen in a long time, take that Twilight! I really wanted to see the film, mainly because of the brilliant buzz that surrounded it, and also I was curious to see Helena Bonham Carter play a ‘normal’ role. I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy it though, thinking it would suit an older audience. After viewing, I still think it is targeted at an older audience, but hec it’s a good film, and if a nineteen-year-old-history-dead-brain can enjoy it, anyone can. The storyline is brilliant, and something I was completely unaware of, only having a limited knowledge of recent royalty, not the history of the blood-line. And even if the story doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can appreciate the performances. Within the first twenty minutes to half an hour, it’s clear why Colin Firth is the favourite for the Oscar. My favourite thing about the film was watching the exchanges between Colin Firth (King George) and Geoffrey Rush (Speech doctor, Lionel Logue), two brilliant actors playing two brilliant roles.
The real footage shown towards the end of the film adds a nice touch too.
This is a real winner. I’d recommend everyone see this one. Go, now. Have you gone yet? Wait, no, there’s one more movie to write about! Please keep reading, and then go.

What’s the last film? You guessed it. Black Swan. Oh, what expectations I had for you! And how I think I’m going to be shot down in flames for this. I didn’t dislike it, but well, I didn’t like it either. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I’ll do my best. The performances outshone the story line, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when the story line is as intriguing and perplexing as Black Swan is, it makes it difficult. Maybe I just expected more because of all the reviews raving about it? Because when you strip it back, it is a good film, just not as good as I was anticipating.

Natalie Portman is good as troubled ballerina Nina Sayers, and Mila Kunas is good as rival/friend Lily, but there wasn’t enough of her. And I don’t question her nomination for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but I will question a little if she wins. For me, the highlight performance came from Barbara Hershey, who plays Nina’s mother, Erica. Oh, and a (small) surprising performance by Winona Ryder as ‘old’ ballerina, Beth. I only say surprising, because whenever I think of Ryder, I think of Mr Deeds. I know, I’m a bad person.
The film does keep you guessing until the end, but I only really got into it about half an hour from the end, and before I knew it, it was over. It’s worth sitting through, just to get to the end though, because wow, what an ending.
It’s a film you can appreciate even if you don’t like ballet, but there is A LOT of ballet, not enough crazy, for me anyway. Worth a view, but only so you can say you’ve seen it. It wasn’t for me, but it could be the film of the year for you. The Oscar’s certainly seem to think so.

Now that’s over, what to do know? I have a real urge to go and see 127 hours. Where did I put my car keys?

The extra (boring) info:


CATFISH (2010): Directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. Rated PG 13. Run time: 87 mins. Trailer.

THE KING’S SEECH (2010): Directed by Tom Hooper. Screenplay written by David Siedler. Rated R (For strong language) Run time: 118 mins. Trailer.

BLACK SWAN (2010): Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Rated R (For sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use) Run time: 108 mins. Trailer.