Happy #MovieMonday
Post-graduation has left me with some more than needed spare time, so I thought I would catch up on books and films that I have been wanting to see. As well as being a little more adventurous and open minded when picking films. Netflix has been a helpful tool in the process, guiding me in obscure directions with it's ridiculously specific categories that go beyond Recently Added. Generally, my appeal to unknown films are enhanced by the interesting poster display or title, but for these selections, I just dove right in with having only read a sentence of the synopsis. Having free time really gives you the freedom to do stuff you wouldn't normally do. I was just interested in going beyond my mainstream favorites and test out a few new movies that kept popping up in my Neflix feed.
This batch of films are mainly independent that range from sci-fi, erotic drama, thriller, and fantasy. Click the title of each movie for a link to their trailers. Enjoy
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst, Timothy Spall
Director: Juan Solanas
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Adam (Sturgess) falls in love with Eden (Dunst) but they are both from different worlds, separated by opposite gravitational pulls. Ten years after their last encounter, Adam finds Eden and sets out on a journey to restore their lost connection.
My Review: Although Rotten Tomatoes and other sources have given this film somewhat low ratings, I think it deserves more credit. It is like a futuristic vision of Romeo and Juliet but with an interesting and thought provoking concept of two parallel worlds. It is definitely not a low budget film ($50 Million), and you can definitely see where the production value goes…cinematography and effects! I can agree the script was woefully dull but the visual elements really brought the film to a whole new level. I highly recommend this film, especially if you are interested in romantic stories or mind bending, sci-fi imagery.
Grade: A-
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Adam (Sturgess) falls in love with Eden (Dunst) but they are both from different worlds, separated by opposite gravitational pulls. Ten years after their last encounter, Adam finds Eden and sets out on a journey to restore their lost connection.
My Review: Although Rotten Tomatoes and other sources have given this film somewhat low ratings, I think it deserves more credit. It is like a futuristic vision of Romeo and Juliet but with an interesting and thought provoking concept of two parallel worlds. It is definitely not a low budget film ($50 Million), and you can definitely see where the production value goes…cinematography and effects! I can agree the script was woefully dull but the visual elements really brought the film to a whole new level. I highly recommend this film, especially if you are interested in romantic stories or mind bending, sci-fi imagery.
Grade: A-
Cast: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie
Director: Julia Leigh
Released: 2011
Synopsis: Lucy (Browning) is a student at an Australian university and desperately searches for new ways to earn money. She sees an ad in a newspaper and seeks out Clara (Blake) who describes the job as a freelance silver service girl, in lingerie. Lucy continues on this erotic path, battling her own desires and questioning how far she will go to earn that extra buck.
My Review: Haunting. This film was able to tastefully interpret the unseen world of erotic pleasures through the eyes of a young college student. Browning does a pretty good job developing her character but I do not feel that she took it far enough. There were many opportunities to break through the mundane appeal of a curious university student, but she remained flat through a conceptually interesting idea. Visually, it was very artistic and similar to most dramatic independent films. The curiosity of how the film would play out is what kept me interested.
Grade: B
Released: 2011
Synopsis: Lucy (Browning) is a student at an Australian university and desperately searches for new ways to earn money. She sees an ad in a newspaper and seeks out Clara (Blake) who describes the job as a freelance silver service girl, in lingerie. Lucy continues on this erotic path, battling her own desires and questioning how far she will go to earn that extra buck.
My Review: Haunting. This film was able to tastefully interpret the unseen world of erotic pleasures through the eyes of a young college student. Browning does a pretty good job developing her character but I do not feel that she took it far enough. There were many opportunities to break through the mundane appeal of a curious university student, but she remained flat through a conceptually interesting idea. Visually, it was very artistic and similar to most dramatic independent films. The curiosity of how the film would play out is what kept me interested.
Grade: B
Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Antiviral is a near-future sci-fi thriller emphasizing modern day obsession with celebrities, beauty, and the need to fit in with an idealistic society. Syd March (Jones) works for a company that creates virus and other pathogens from celebrities own illnesses and sells the products to clients. Syd infects himself with a virus from Hanna Geist (Gadon) who represents the most iconic celebrity but she dies from her virus and Syd must find a way to survive his.
My Review: This film is one big mind-gasm. It is a dramatized interpretation of how much people are obsessed with celebrities and they will do anything to be connected to them. Caleb Landry Jones is one of my favorite indie actors and I would see no one else playing Syd's role. Creepy but fascinating, you are lead through his own battle of dependency with these injections and you see the biological transformation through visually thrilling effects. You are lost between what is real and what is in the mind but in this case, they both seem to be relevant to the overwhelming addiction to consumer products. Be warned, if you get queasy around blood…because there is a lot of it. Also limited dialog but that doesn't distract from the main theme of film which is the visual propaganda of obsession.
Grade: B+
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Antiviral is a near-future sci-fi thriller emphasizing modern day obsession with celebrities, beauty, and the need to fit in with an idealistic society. Syd March (Jones) works for a company that creates virus and other pathogens from celebrities own illnesses and sells the products to clients. Syd infects himself with a virus from Hanna Geist (Gadon) who represents the most iconic celebrity but she dies from her virus and Syd must find a way to survive his.
My Review: This film is one big mind-gasm. It is a dramatized interpretation of how much people are obsessed with celebrities and they will do anything to be connected to them. Caleb Landry Jones is one of my favorite indie actors and I would see no one else playing Syd's role. Creepy but fascinating, you are lead through his own battle of dependency with these injections and you see the biological transformation through visually thrilling effects. You are lost between what is real and what is in the mind but in this case, they both seem to be relevant to the overwhelming addiction to consumer products. Be warned, if you get queasy around blood…because there is a lot of it. Also limited dialog but that doesn't distract from the main theme of film which is the visual propaganda of obsession.
Grade: B+
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth, Paul Anderson
Director: Brian De Palma(Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible)
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Christine (McAdams) and Isabelle (Rapace) work together at an advertising agency in Berlin in this thriller-drama. Christine is manipulative while Isabelle is having an affair with Christine's boyfriend, Dirk (Anderson). Both, being power hungry, are capable of ruining each others lives to get the extra leverage in their careers but it will ultimately lead to murder.
My Review: I love evil McAdams! She played the part convincingly but I feel some parts of the film were over dramatized, on purpose I suppose, but it took away from character and made her seem more cheesy. Although, it was a nice change from her normal RomCom setting. Rapace on the other hand was perfect for the role because she provided a certain bewilderment to the character that constantly made you question what kind of person she was. Good? Bad? Wrong place, at the wrong time? She was able to move beyond a linear scope of a normal, evil mastermind and gave you the tools to actually sympathize with her. There were a few interesting cinematographic effects but they seemed mismatched and inconsistent. I understand the reasoning for certain lighting and hue changes but it just didn't flow right overall. But you will still be on the edge of your seat while watching the film, trying to solve the mystery behind the murder.
Grade: B
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Christine (McAdams) and Isabelle (Rapace) work together at an advertising agency in Berlin in this thriller-drama. Christine is manipulative while Isabelle is having an affair with Christine's boyfriend, Dirk (Anderson). Both, being power hungry, are capable of ruining each others lives to get the extra leverage in their careers but it will ultimately lead to murder.
My Review: I love evil McAdams! She played the part convincingly but I feel some parts of the film were over dramatized, on purpose I suppose, but it took away from character and made her seem more cheesy. Although, it was a nice change from her normal RomCom setting. Rapace on the other hand was perfect for the role because she provided a certain bewilderment to the character that constantly made you question what kind of person she was. Good? Bad? Wrong place, at the wrong time? She was able to move beyond a linear scope of a normal, evil mastermind and gave you the tools to actually sympathize with her. There were a few interesting cinematographic effects but they seemed mismatched and inconsistent. I understand the reasoning for certain lighting and hue changes but it just didn't flow right overall. But you will still be on the edge of your seat while watching the film, trying to solve the mystery behind the murder.
Grade: B
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Caleb Landry Jones, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller
Director: Neil Jordan (The Borgais)
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Mother-daughter Vampire duo are on the run in this modern day story, while holding the burden of their past life's secrets. Flipping from modern day to flashbacks before they were changed, we are told the story of Eleanor Webb (Ronan) and her mother Clara (Arterton). They are both challenged with traditional struggles of surviving as a single mother, while also trying to save their lives by avoiding The Brethren, a secret society of vampires, who do not approve of women in their brotherhood.
My Review: I am frustrated with this film because I really enjoyed the conceptual idea behind it, a humanistic approach to the idea of Vampires but it failed to develop more than a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Saoirse Ronan is well known for her fantasy and period piece filmography but she seemed so disconnected from her character that I was constantly confused. At least Gemma Arterton, who plays her mother, was able to secure a strong character with traits that were easily identifiable but Arteton and Ronan together had no chemistry. Caleb Landry Jones was also in the film, my favorite indie actor, and he was able to create a stable character that worked well with Ronan. Of course the production value was well done, also being the fact that the director and writer of The Borgais was also the director of this film. I don't know if it was just me but I felt Neil Jordan slacked off more in the modern day scenes then that of the historical, flashback scenes. Still, overall, I think it is a well done film and worth checking out.
Grade: B-
Released: 2012
Synopsis: Mother-daughter Vampire duo are on the run in this modern day story, while holding the burden of their past life's secrets. Flipping from modern day to flashbacks before they were changed, we are told the story of Eleanor Webb (Ronan) and her mother Clara (Arterton). They are both challenged with traditional struggles of surviving as a single mother, while also trying to save their lives by avoiding The Brethren, a secret society of vampires, who do not approve of women in their brotherhood.
My Review: I am frustrated with this film because I really enjoyed the conceptual idea behind it, a humanistic approach to the idea of Vampires but it failed to develop more than a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Saoirse Ronan is well known for her fantasy and period piece filmography but she seemed so disconnected from her character that I was constantly confused. At least Gemma Arterton, who plays her mother, was able to secure a strong character with traits that were easily identifiable but Arteton and Ronan together had no chemistry. Caleb Landry Jones was also in the film, my favorite indie actor, and he was able to create a stable character that worked well with Ronan. Of course the production value was well done, also being the fact that the director and writer of The Borgais was also the director of this film. I don't know if it was just me but I felt Neil Jordan slacked off more in the modern day scenes then that of the historical, flashback scenes. Still, overall, I think it is a well done film and worth checking out.
Grade: B-
Cast: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum
Director: Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Magic Mike)
Released: 2013
Synopsis: A star studded, mystery-thriller, centering around the complications of Emily Taylor's (Mara) depression and antidepressant drug prescriptions from her psychiatrist, Jonathan Banks (Law). Emily's husband had served four-years in prison after some insider trading problems, which left Emily in an undesirable state. Although she is getting steady treatment from Jonathan, she subsequently starts having disastrous side effects from the drugs he prescribes her. Now it is Jonathan's battle to find out what went wrong and to not let his whole life unravel.
My Review: The movie was kind of slow in the beginning and seemed slightly predictable. But it was able to develop into a more fascination concept that had me intrigued the whole time. Rooney Mara did an amazing job, and her chemistry with all the other actors was spot on, making the whole film very believable. Jude Law was able to give just enough crazy to make his character seem overly obsessive with trying to regain his credibility. Zeta-Jones and Tatum had smaller roles in the film but were both very important characters to the whole dynamic. The direction seemed so effortless, especially with the eclectic resume Steven Soderbergh has. Everything fit together perfectly, while also providing the viewer with just a little bit of chaos to throw you off track and surprise you with some unforeseen twists and turns.
Grade: A
*[all but Byzantium are available on Netflix still]
Released: 2013
Synopsis: A star studded, mystery-thriller, centering around the complications of Emily Taylor's (Mara) depression and antidepressant drug prescriptions from her psychiatrist, Jonathan Banks (Law). Emily's husband had served four-years in prison after some insider trading problems, which left Emily in an undesirable state. Although she is getting steady treatment from Jonathan, she subsequently starts having disastrous side effects from the drugs he prescribes her. Now it is Jonathan's battle to find out what went wrong and to not let his whole life unravel.
My Review: The movie was kind of slow in the beginning and seemed slightly predictable. But it was able to develop into a more fascination concept that had me intrigued the whole time. Rooney Mara did an amazing job, and her chemistry with all the other actors was spot on, making the whole film very believable. Jude Law was able to give just enough crazy to make his character seem overly obsessive with trying to regain his credibility. Zeta-Jones and Tatum had smaller roles in the film but were both very important characters to the whole dynamic. The direction seemed so effortless, especially with the eclectic resume Steven Soderbergh has. Everything fit together perfectly, while also providing the viewer with just a little bit of chaos to throw you off track and surprise you with some unforeseen twists and turns.
Grade: A
*[all but Byzantium are available on Netflix still]
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