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Reviews
Festen (1998)
Don't watch this sober
I must admit to consuming inordinate amounts of Scotch whilst watching this. The premise of the movie is a bit far-fetched (I mean, statistically, how many father actually molest their children?), but the movie is very well done indeed.
From the slightly forced family get-togethers, to the masonic overtones, to the "responsibility" of the toastmaster to see the rituals of the dinner through (how many crimes in history have been justified on the basis of the imagined "responsibility" one holds to one's station!), this movie speaks truths about family, repressed passions, and catastrophically bad decisions.
I am not sure what crimes of cinema-making this Dogme 95 is meant to protect us against, but the input it had in this movie is worth all the fuss.
Highly recommended.
The Ghost Writer (2010)
What a movie, what a denouement!
What a slap to the face of overbearing authority (which just so happens to be the US in our case). Polanski really delivers a very Euro-feel movie experience, despite its being largely based on a notional US island (which felt more like a crossover between Scotland and Nova Scotia).
You could easily tell there was something wrong with Lang's wife, so calculating, so using sex as a tool, and while Adam did come across as something of a lightweight, you will have to watch to have a chance at untying this particular story/mystery thread.
The moral of the story, if there is one, is do not even consider entering the arena of the big (economic, political, power) beasts unless your upbringing, education and circle of friends have severely and (figuratively speaking) savagely prepared you for it...or you risk ending in an unseemly state somewhere on Regent's Street, London, UK...
Cosmopolis (2012)
Yet another symptom of the malaise afflicting the West
The novel this movie is based on was written before the financial crisis, so kudos to the writer for being that prophetic.
The movie explores the uneasiness, angst, malaise, call it what you will, and primarily FEAR that has gripped the West since the global financial crisis: a number of little things that could be understood-forgiven-managed individually when times were good (rise of Asia, increasing complexity of free-market capitalism, increasing inequality, impact of technology on wealth production, the sheer speed of change), suddenly came together forcefully and catastrophically. The hole the West has since fallen in is a particularly tricky one to dig ourselves out of.
The dialogue can be pretentious at times, and the movie doesn't really put you in the protagonist's shoes, with the camera acting in a more voyeuristic mode.
The movie succeeds in bringing in stark contrast the dualities (East vs West, winners vs losers of globalization, proponents vs opponents of wealth redistribution) that will define conflict and violence in the first half of the 21st century.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Fun, novel, picture of our times
A true multimedia spectacle, based on good old-fashioned human experiences (love, friendship, betrayal, angst, renewal), with a generous helping of what people of our generation will recognise: the Legend of Zelda tunes; bass and band battles; J-pop vs American rock; all the way to the Tania Chalkin "Kiss" poster adorning Wallace's wall...
With good natured humour on Canada, gays, actors and the shenanigans of romantic triangles between 20-year olds, this is a movie that should age well, even in this frenetic, rapidly superseded age of ours...
The main character could have been less dorky, but regardless, one life up, and thumbs up for the Scott Pilgrim experience.
Hoshi no koe (2002)
A tale of heroism and love
This anime puts a human face on intergalactic warfare.
If you have been even remotely fascinated by the portrayal of war between humanity and alien species, e.g. as depicted in "The Forever War" and "Starship Troopers", while at the same time appreciating the delicateness and sensitivity that typically characterize boy-girl love relationships in Japanese manga, you owe it to yourself to watch this piece of 21st century art...
The fact that it was done largely by a single guy working off his computer is indeed phenomenal, not enough kudos can really go to him...
Finally, the song "Through the Years and Far Away", providing the soundtrack to the final dramatic battle and act of apparent self-sacrifice by the mecha pilot, never fails to bring a tear to the eye and a jump to the heart.