Blake-D Reviews

Blue (1993)

Blue- Good film, especially if you like the colour

[8/10 · 11 March 2005]

Blue had the prestige to be the first film to be shown on television and broadcast on radio at the same time, something not likely to be challenged for a long time. Naturally this doesn't make it a good movie, and if you think the films blue screen is a gimmick then you'll probably feel the same about this, however, you'd be wrong.

Pretentious? Well, i think an hour and a half of blue screen by anyone who wasn't going blind at the time would be pretentious, with Blue he was operating within his capabilities, and at the same time giving the viewer an appreciation of what it is to be blind. You think an hour and a half of this is irritating, well I presume Jarman thought that too. Watching the blue screen isn't meant to be fun, but it certainly helps draw attention to what is being said, which is the most important part of all. There was no blue screen when aired on the radio, so you could even argue its superficiality on that point. Once you get over the fact that Jarman has robbed you of anything visual, then can you truly appreciate a very honest piece of work by a talented man

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

We call Tater Tots potato in the UK

[8/10 · 10 February 2005]

The American High school has been a comedy setting for nearly three decades now, with the nature of the jokes, generally speaking, focused on dick jokes and problematic sex. Napolean Dynamite isn't the first film to subvert this, but its approach is certainly a refreshing one. The protagonist, Napolean, is what would be termed as a geek, nerd, whatever. He triumphs despite his social stance. Nothing new here, Revenge of the Nerds already did the triumphant geek thing years ago, but the approach is wholly different, and perhaps more satisfying for a different generation.

It is impossible not to side with Napolean, who like Donnie Darko, has a super heroes name but is seemingly powerless. Indeed, if Donnie Darko proved his superhero status through angst ridden, schizophrenic justice, Napolean achieves his pips through accomplishing the impossible. He is naturally the main focus for the movie, but all his actions are for his friends and families benefit. He fights against the evil that is his leeching uncle, campaigns for his social equal, Pedro, to be class president against the omnipresent head cheerleader, whilst pursuing the love interest throughout. Thing is, he does it in his own, sometimes surreal, usually idiotic way, which is what makes this movie so funny. Indeed, he straddles that thin line between fool and genius, seen with his dance, choice of prom suit, as well as pretty much every decision he makes. This is what makes the film so funny, because you have to respect him for his actions, but they are so absurd that it is impossible to take them seriously.

Despite the nature of the characters, what they say and how they act, the roles are played in a very naturalistic fashion, and by the end of the film you would not question why Napolean has a Llama for a pet, it just seems apt. This is another factor that makes it a great high school movie over the general American Pie fodder, the characters are played in a straight way, but they are fundamentally left field. Instead of Sean Willam Scott gurning his way through some over the top sex addict, Napolean Dynamite has nice believable performances for characters with sometimes unbelievable personalities.

The film is consistently effective at what it does, and has a lovable cast that will guarantee this movie a cult status indefinitely. The only gripe maybe is that some things could be explored better. Napoleans brother, Kif, is not exploited enough, in my opinion, and the nature of the film is not ground breaking, Wes Anderson has being doing films like this for a while. However, it is easily worth the attention, and definitely one to own, as the humour is able to stand against repeated viewing. This will be a fan boy favourite for a while.