Force Majeure (2014)

Original Title

Turist

Genre

Drama

Director

Ruben Östlund

Country

Sweden

Cast

Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius, Karin Myrenberg, Brady Corbet, Johannes Moustos

Storyline

A Swedish family travels to the French Alps to enjoy a few days of skiing. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche turns everything upside down. With diners fleeing in all directions, mother Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) calls for her husband Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) as she tries to protect their children. Tomas, meanwhile, is running for his life... The anticipated disaster failed to occur, and yet the family's world has been shaken to its core, a question mark hanging over their father in particular.

Opinion

Months ago, this film not getting an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film made quite a stir. I've finally watched it, it's a good film, but in my opinion not Oscar worthy.

With a very fascinating, and interesting plot, Force Majeure is a good drama that unfortunately drags way too much, thus resulting occasionally boring.

As said before, the idea on which the film revolves around is very interesting. The avalanche that stops and does not turn into a tragedy leads us to reflect on the nature of the human being. Our actions are not moved by any noble intentions, the survival instinct erases civilization, and we have to face the fact that we are not much different from animals after all.

One of the major issues is the length. The event happens in the first 15 minutes and the effect begin immediately after that. From then on, the argument is just dragged, and the film ends up being more than 2 hours long.

The other one is the ending. It feels like the film doesn't know how to end. On the one hand, the ugly truth previously mentioned is soften up by Tomas trying to redeem himself by helping his wife when in need. On the other hand, in one of the last scenes, the survival instinct comes back in a very hurried way, and feels like a forced emphasis on instinctuality.

Ruben Östlund's direction is great and along with the cinematography by Fredrik Wenzel wonderfully captures the beauty as well as the force of the film's scenery. The acting is all good, Norwegian Lisa Loven Kongsli stands out though. 

Quotes

Tomas: I get it that you're disappointed in the person who materialized. I'm really disappointed in him too. I hate him... I hate him so damn much. And I... I can't forgive the guy... He's done other stuff before this, too. He has... He's lied. He's been unfaithful. Yes, he confesses. He cheats at games when he plays with Harry and Vera. He's so goddamn pathetic. And I can't live with him any longer. I don't want to. You're not the only victim here. I'm a victim too! I'm a bloody victim of my own instincts!

Starred Up (2013)

Genre

Drama

Director

David Mackenzie

Country

UK

Cast

Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell, Anthony Welsh, David Ajala, Peter Ferdinando, Raphael Sowole, Gilly Gilchrist, Duncan Airlie James, Gershwyn Eustache, Ashley Chin, David Avery, Tommy McDonnell, Frederick Schmidt, Sian Breckin

Storyline

19-year-old Eric Love (Jack O'Connell), arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father (Ben Mendelsohn). As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past breaking point, Eric is approached by a volunteer psychotherapist (Rupert Friend), who runs an anger management group for prisoners. 

Opinion

Well acted, Starred Up is brilliant, brutal, and smart prison drama about anger, father-son relationship, and forgiveness.

Written by an actual voluntary therapist following his own experiences at Prison Wandsworth, the great script appears genuine, and realistic in describing the psychological condition and behavior of the inmates, and with the same authenticity brings us on the path of redemption of a young prisoner. The extremely realistic view of prison gives the feel of watching a documentary, feeling increased also by the almost complete absence of music.

Director David Mackenzie succeeds in dosing the dramatic element, and offers a compelling portrait of the complex relationship between father and son, both with a disturbed personality, and conflicting with each other.

If I had a gun pointed at my head, and being asked what's the problem with this film I'd go with the accents. The violence and the bad language didn't bother me at all, but not being a English native speaker, and not knowing English perfectly, I had some problems understanding, but there were captions, so problem solved.

The acting is great. Jack O'Connell gives a superb performance and delivers one of the most memorable prisoner character I've seen. Ben Mendelsohn also gives a fantastic performance as O'Connell's estranged father. The supporting cast also gives great performances.

Quotes

Eric: I'm just saying. Said this therapy goes well and it changes my life and I rehabilitate. And then you lay it on for the next geezer and it works for him, and the next. And everything's sweet yeah? Crime rates starts to come down, police got less people to nick, courts got less people to convict. Pretty soon you're out of a job.

Easy A (2010)

Genre

Comedy | Romance

Director

Will Gluck

Country

USA

Cast

Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes,  Dan Byrd, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Aly Michalka, Stanley Tucci, Mahaley Manning, Jake Sandvig, Bryce Clyde Jenkins, Johanna Braddy, Fred Armisen, Stacey Travis, Juliette Goglia, Braeden Lemasters

Storyline

After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone), a clean cut high school girl, sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in "The Scarlet Letter," which she is currently studying in school - until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Opinion

One day, about 4 years ago, I was fooling around on the iTunes Store looking for a film to watch. As my eyes landed on this one's poster, I was enraptured by it: I couldn't help but watch it. And boy if I'm glad I did, first because this film feels like one of John Hughes' 80's movies, second because I saw the wonderful Emma Stone acting for the first time.

Funny, yet very realistic, Easy A is the redemption of teen movies, lead by a charming Emma Stone.

Will Gluck manages to handle a very strong theme in today's society without slipping into banality or vulgarity, and teaches us two things. One, sometimes lies travels faster than the truth. Two, people are talking behind your back? Who cares, just shake it off.

The writing is clever and spontaneous, and the dialogue is pretty good for its kind, and there are several great jokes. The plot has some flaws and is quite predictable, yet the events are portrayed with such skills, they are still a pleasure to be witnessed.

The best part of the film is the main character. Olive is not the teenage girl we are used to see thank to Hollywood. She is not a sour, ugly girl with braces and eyeglasses, considered a loser because still a virgin. And she is neither that beautiful, popular girl from school, the one that goes around throwing her cat at everybody, and is envied by all the girls. No, Olive is a beautiful girl, yet bright and intelligent, and represents that kind of girl that is now fading, the one that doesn't follow the flow, and tries to preserve her dignity.

Emma Stone certainly steals the show. She is lovely, sweet, and sarcastic as Olive, and words can't express how much I love her voice. Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, and Aly Michalka all do a fine job. Dan Byrd has a great potential as a comedian, as also proved in TBS' TV Series Cougar Town. Great acting also comes from the veteran supporting cast. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson have a great chemistry, and are the stars of a few of the most funny scenes. Thomas Hayden Church does a good job as Mr. Griffith, Olive's teacher. Lisa Kudrow is also good as the mean school counselor Mrs. Griffith.

Closing note. There's been lot of complaining about the casting of Emma Stone. Tons of people believe she is too good looking to pass unnoticed, and that takes credibility from the story. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, because that happens in real life high school. At least it happened in my high school. This is how it works, if you are not an easy girl, if you don't like partying, or doing thing a teenager is supposed to do and enjoy - aka you are different from the mass -, you are less likely to be popular and more likely to pass unnoticed, regardless of your exterior aspect.

Quotes

Olive Penderghast: I was used to being by myself, but I had never felt more alone.

WALL·E (2008)

Genre

Animation | Adventure

Director

Andrew Stanton

Country

USA

Cast

Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, MacInTalk, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver

Storyline

In a distant future where mankind has abandoned Earth because there is too much trash on it, garbage collecting robot WALL·E (Ben Burtt) has been left to clean up the mess. After hundreds of lonely years, he discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a search robot named EVE (Elissa Knight). EVE comes to realize that WALL·E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans, who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home.

Opinion

Flawless. This is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of this animated film. Pixar has always made great animation films, but this outdoes all of their own films, and most other films.

Sweet, touching and full of love, yet thoughtful, WALL·E is a cinematic gem that suits everybody: while the kids will enjoy the cute, and funny characters and gags, the adults will have something to think about due the film's bitter social commentary about environmentalism, obesity, and commercialism.

Everything about this film is just perfect. The story, clearly an homage to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", is brilliant. The animation is absolutely stunning; the robots, the Earth, the humans, they all feel real. It's impossible to be let down by Pixar in this regard. The humour is also great. The characters are interesting, and involving.

WALL·E is such a lovable character, you will immediately fall for him. He is not strong, particularly beautiful, nor has super powers, but the devotion he puts into his work, and the perseverance he pursues its goals with will make your heart melt. He teaches us what human means. For us, human has become nothing but a biological classification. But it's not just about breathing and living, but also about never giving up, trying to save the world that we did put in danger, loving others unconditionally. This robot may not talk, but man if he speaks.

Among the themes, in my opinion, the one that pops out is commercialism. Everybody talks about obesity and environmentalism, but I feel like commercialism has been left behind. As shown by the first shots, the whole world is a superstore. Humans, assisted day and night by robots, follow the trends displayed in the screens they spend the whole day looking at. And they are not even aware of what surrounds them. One wonders who are the real robots.

To conclude, I can't help but thank Pixar for this piece of art. 

Quotes

Captain: Wait, that doesn't look like Earth. Where's the blue sky? Where's the-the grass?