very_evil_me Reviews

Dikoe pole (2008)

Diluted isn't always a bad thing.

[7/10 · 13 July 2009]

A doctor in the middle of barely anywhere is made to treat several strange ailments with barely any medicine.

Wild Field is so different to Hollywood films. Though really its not, it's just the bare bones of one. It's been starved of drama and clichés, there's no super-happy ending and an interesting lack of strong plotting. Films like this is going to take some getting used for me, but I am open to them.

It is watered down Hollywood, but Hollywood has been coming across too strong anyway. I really liked the humour that resulted, its was natural, and light. It didn't have me in stitches, but what's wrong with pleasant chuckles?

The film deals with so many key aspects of human nature, ethics, isolation, loneliness, faith, and dependency, is really human. It doesn't feel contrived like a blockbuster, or boring like a documentary, its not dramatic like a drama or as slow as some indie. It finds itself a nice middleground between them all.

Wild Field lacks a wow factor, it instead was soft and pleasant and I enjoyed it.

Moon (2009)

A good film.

[6/10 · 13 July 2009]

Moon is about a future where the majority of mans power comes from harvesting the rocks on the moon and tells the tale of Sam Bell who has almost finished his three-year contract working there.

The acting is probably the best and most distinct part of this film. Sam Rockwell is practically the only actor in the entire hour and forty minutes and shows so many sides to this Sam Bell its captivating to watch.

The film looks the part. Its not revolutionary, its pretty much classic space station. There were some gorgeous shots of the moon though, the monochrome grey and long shadows very effectively created a sense of cold and isolation.

The pacing was off. There was no real suspense leading up to the turning point and the way they dealt with the aftermath was predictable and boring.

Granted, new ideas are difficult to come by, so there's nothing wrong with re-using some old one - only it's got to be done better. Moon has taken so much from other films but just hasn't added anything new or different or interesting.

Moon is a good film but would be much better if you had nothing to compare it to.

Treeless Mountain (2008)

Should've just made a documentary.

[6/10 · 10 July 2009]

This is the second film I saw at the New Zealand International Film Festival and they had some projection problems with it, that must've been a sign to leave, but no, I stayed.

This is film an interesting look at Korean life, we are shown some very intimate aspects of the lives of these two young Korean girls, but unfortunately, that's all it is. It is rather personal but my parents grew up in the Chinese countryside and I've been to visit my grandparents farms and there the lives of my second cousins were very similar to those of these girls. This film depicts the ordinary for so many poor people, it wasn't engaging. I was bored half-way through and waiting for it to be over.

The film is very doco-like. There was the annoying shaking hand-held when everything else was still, the straight-forward shots and the complete lack of drama. Perhaps I am too used to Hollywood, but this film was flat all the way through. Without a climax of some sort, without excitement then why would the audience continue watching? I didn't want to. And the ending was very sudden and unexpected and offered no satisfactory conclusion.

I did like the lack of a real male presence. The two men that had even minor roles - the father and grandfather were depicted badly. The feminism and themes were dealt softly and subtly. The film shows the strength women have, the strength we have to have especially when abandoned by men and I really do think this film shows that women don't need men - even in a developing Korea.

I just think this film is too much like life itself. Or have I missed the point?

Seraphine (2008)

As amazing as the paintings themselves

[8/10 · 10 July 2009]

Seraphine is this bumbling, childish, 'naive' woman. She is a humble cleaner who has a penchant for walks in the countryside and yet she paints gorgeously.

This film is very straight-forward. Its your usual artists tale and Seraphine depiction is rather clichéd. That artists are misunderstood, outcasts, and have crazed or in this case crazed religious beliefs. So the story isn't new, but it's told with simplicity and directness. The cinematography and art direction reflect this, nothing fancy here. The plot is again simple no twists to get lost on, little subtlety and few characters.

It's this simplicity from which the film draws its realism. That and the acting of Seraphine. The actress was spectacular, Seraphine is not an easy part to play, this innocence and true crazed underpinnings. Special note at hobbling, awkward walk, and difficult breathing. Another thing is that there are no beautiful people. Hollywood seems to have this obsession with beauty, so much so that everyone in their films is beautiful, Hollywood would never make Seraphine but if they did there's no doubt they have made her a stunner.

The beginning of this film is marvelous, as I went in not knowing what Seraphine was about and for the first say half hour we saw her as others saw her and when she started doing these weird things I thought, she is crazy! Then, when she started painting I went, Oh! The surprise was delightful. The film then went on in a regular way but I don't like the ending, I think perhaps I just feel sorry for her.

The paintings are crazy like her, they're intense and the flowers sinister and unreal. The paintings show that under the simplicity, there's something more. And that is like this film.

Gattaca (1997)

Only the most under-rated film of all time.

[10/10 · 11 December 2008]

I have never heard of this movie, yet when I saw a bit at school, I knew I had to see more. Now I have, I really don't understand why I hadn't heard of it. Most underrated movie I've ever seen.

Very ambitious this movie was. It tackled so many themes, discrimination, genetic modification, and most importantly that anything is possible.

This film played out like a dream. An innovative, bold, powerful, emotional, dream, in which you will wake up feeling truly inspired.

I enjoy watching science fiction, but I hate aliens, robots and time travel, the only aspect I actually like is genetics, for its psychobabble. It's metaphors are poetic, the game of chicken between the two brothers, Jerome travelling in the incinerator, where his medal turns to gold, Vincent's relationship with his brother.

The art direction is very clever. Gattaca doesn't show us a whole new world, just a modified version of our own. It uses existing architecture and design to create a futuristic look. Its all very subtle and everything is implied. Brlliant.

As a movie it is superb, acting, special effects, writing etc, all superb, at the end of the movie you'll feel that it doesn't really matter. Its purpose is to deliver a message, which is has done and done well. It really didn't have much special effect, which will certainly bore some, but it shows that it wants to evoke a feeling that differs from excitement for once; it wants to get you thinking.

The only reason this film has collected dust for so long is because people are scared. They're scared of what this means, they're scared to think and most of all they're scared to admit that this could happen. Simply sublime.