Mmmmm, working in cinemas means cheap popcorn and icecream...
While I was in Auckland I saw a couple of new movies.
Children of Men first. I am a huge Clive Owen fan. Even when he's doing wierd little english comedies like Green Fingers or Croupier, he's a really cool guy to watch onscreen. He was about the only part of Closer that I enjoyed (well, apart from the scantily clad Natalie Portman of course)
And Children of Men offered a very interesting scifi conceit, that no-one was having children anymore and no-one had done in eighteen years. The youngest guy in the world is killed in the first moments of the film and it is seen on worldwide newsflash billboards. Many many people appear traumatised.
But what I found really really interesting about all that is that it never really tells you what happened. I talked to some people who hadn't seen it and they assumed the movie was going to be about finding out what had happened, was it a conspiracy, some new technology's unforeseen side-effects, what? But that isn't the point of the story at all. You get some ideas from a few people, but nothing that can be certain.
The camerawork does become noticable sometimes, appearing like long documentary shots, but the way it holds on and watches unflichingly during action and tension really makes the film fun to watch.
All the other actors are great too. Basically, I thought this movie was brilliant. It's very slow moving though, and not really very bright (you certainly feel a melancholy as you leave), so make sure you're in the mood before you see it.
Tina, when can I get my poster from Berkeleys? I want to put it on my door as soon as possible.
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The second movie was that ever awesome Borat.
What can I say.
That movie was the most cringingly funny movie I have seen in a long long time. I didn't like the humour in Tom Green's Freddy Got Fingered, and yet somehow when Borat walks back into the fine dinner carrying a baggie with his... doings... in it, I found the expressions and attempts to keep composure of the hosts absolutely stunning.
It won't be for everyone. Clearly. There's some pretty nasty things going on here, and some icky parts of humanity rising to the surface as Borat makes them feel comfortable saying that they're trying to get all the Gays taken to the gallows in the U.S., just for one example.
And there's far too many naked hairy men.
But yeah, I've seen it twice now and I'd still see it again!
Children of Men first. I am a huge Clive Owen fan. Even when he's doing wierd little english comedies like Green Fingers or Croupier, he's a really cool guy to watch onscreen. He was about the only part of Closer that I enjoyed (well, apart from the scantily clad Natalie Portman of course)
And Children of Men offered a very interesting scifi conceit, that no-one was having children anymore and no-one had done in eighteen years. The youngest guy in the world is killed in the first moments of the film and it is seen on worldwide newsflash billboards. Many many people appear traumatised.
But what I found really really interesting about all that is that it never really tells you what happened. I talked to some people who hadn't seen it and they assumed the movie was going to be about finding out what had happened, was it a conspiracy, some new technology's unforeseen side-effects, what? But that isn't the point of the story at all. You get some ideas from a few people, but nothing that can be certain.
The camerawork does become noticable sometimes, appearing like long documentary shots, but the way it holds on and watches unflichingly during action and tension really makes the film fun to watch.
All the other actors are great too. Basically, I thought this movie was brilliant. It's very slow moving though, and not really very bright (you certainly feel a melancholy as you leave), so make sure you're in the mood before you see it.
Tina, when can I get my poster from Berkeleys? I want to put it on my door as soon as possible.
---
The second movie was that ever awesome Borat.
What can I say.
That movie was the most cringingly funny movie I have seen in a long long time. I didn't like the humour in Tom Green's Freddy Got Fingered, and yet somehow when Borat walks back into the fine dinner carrying a baggie with his... doings... in it, I found the expressions and attempts to keep composure of the hosts absolutely stunning.
It won't be for everyone. Clearly. There's some pretty nasty things going on here, and some icky parts of humanity rising to the surface as Borat makes them feel comfortable saying that they're trying to get all the Gays taken to the gallows in the U.S., just for one example.
And there's far too many naked hairy men.
But yeah, I've seen it twice now and I'd still see it again!