| Posted by Lou | The time is 12.11am here in London UK |
It seems I haven't mentioned any films since gushing about Oscar!Winning! The King's Speech. To get through them with speed I'm limiting myself to one sentence for synopsis, one sentence for what I thought of it...
The Social Network
A super nerd codes some website you might have heard of, then bickers over ownership, intellectual property and money in court with some rich twins. I genuinely think this film is going to fade into meh-ville with the passing of time, and I'm not just saying that because I took a sleeping tablet halfway through (I was on a plane, FYI).
Black Swan
A ballerina pushes her body and mind to the limit as she battles against an over-involved mother, creepy director, and free-spirited rival in a quest for perfection. Normally I hate films that blur the lines of what is real, but I thought this one brilliantly set a real foundation and then layered it with just the right amount of fantasy, ambiguity, genre elements, dance, themes, beauty, ugly beneath the beauty, creepiness... and basically I loved it.
True Grit
A good ol' Western with a twist in that the person seeking revenge is a girl. I thought this was really good, but was disappointed as I wanted it to be great - for me it didn't have enough Coen magic to really capture my attention.
The Fighter
A boxer has to deal with a whole lot of family shit and one hell of a set of sisters in his quest to be a champion. Whilst the previews for this film made it seem like just another dumb boxing film, it is actually really, really great and contains the best acting performance of a looong time (Christian Bale).
Animal Kingdom
A boy finds himself drawn into the fold of a helluva fucked up family crime ring. This film is the best thing I have seen on the big screen in a really long time and you are missing out if you don't do everything necessary to see it: I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I loved it.
The Town
A bank robbing gang hit a complication when their ring-leader falls for a potential witness. Whilst this is theoretically a good film, I watched it on the same day I saw Animal Kingdom and it just couldn't compete (and I thought Ben Affleck was a bit shite on the acting side of things, but a competent director).
Due Date
A kinda weird situation evolves in which a guy has to get in a car with a random weird dude and drive across country to get home in time for his wife's birth. I didn't think it was all that funny and wasn't able to fully showcase RDJ's supreme charisma, but it wasn't bad.
Get Him to the Greek
A record company pleb is given the task of getting a druggie pop star to the Greek on time. I didn't really like the film but sort of wanted to shag Russell Brand big-time.
Love and Other Drugs
A drug sales rep falls for a girl suffering from a degenerative disease, and they get it on a lot. I expected more Jake G nudity from what I had heard (maybe it was edited for the plane?), but it was actually better than advance word had led me to expect.
Fair Game
A CIA operative and her husband find themselves being targeted for revenge by their own government when he speaks out against the WMD lies. Whilst as an individual film it won't set your world on fire, it is very watchable and I hope is just one of a landslide of films that will emerge capturing the many and varied ways in which the Bush regime and their buddies (I'm talking to you Blair) fucked over the whole world as they lied their way to war.
Yes. Animal Kingdom left me speechless. So good. And the woman who plays the matriarch? Amazing. Normally I hate drug films (you know, "as a mother") but I knew I had to see this and I didn't regret it. Although I did maybe cry a bit too much at the bit with the girl... (you know, "as a mother")
I loved the film too (in an excruciating kind of way!). Ever since Lou saw The Fighter I've been bullying her to see it so we could compare and contrast the Oscar-nominated matriarchs!
"As a mother" (hehehee) how did you feel about Black Swan??? hahhahaaaa
I haven't seen Black Swan yet. But I'm sure some motherly horror shall unfold. I've been rewatching Mad Men too and reeling some more at Betty's inability to parent. And, you know, hearing things I've said come out of her mouth...
Brilliant - can't wait for the "as a mother" Black Swan review. In fact, perhaps this could be a whole stream of blogging for Sunday Crafternoon...
Have you ever read the 'Guide for Parents' sections on films on IMDb?? It's a completely arbitrary section added by concerned parents on bits they think might upset other people's children. Sometimes they are helpful, other times they just LULZ at conservative right wing bullshit!