grome Reviews

Much Ado About Nothing (I) (2012)

Glorious fun and hugely entertaining

[7/10 · 12 August 2013]

Joss Whedon never really had a significant spot on my radar. I've never really followed any of his television work, but I've known his name from Toy Story and I watched Cabin in the Woods with some sense of anticipation because his name was attached to it. However, now that I've had the joy of experiencing Much Ado About Nothing, he's concreted into my radar and he holds a pretty special spot.

No consideration of Much Ado About Nothing can ignore the context in which the film was made. On a break from The Avengers, Joss Whedon invited a bunch of friends over to make a movie and spent 12 days shooting it at his house. This context had helped establish something very special for the film. There is a authentic ring to it and it feels fun to watch because it feels like it was fun to make. This is the spirit of the text, and this is why Whedon beats Branagh with this adaptation - he nails it tonally.

There is so many joyful aspects to this production. The casting is sublime, mainly unknowns playing well-trodden roles with strong intentions and no over-the-top desperation for laughs (cough, Michael Keaton, cough). The cinematography, shot in black and white all hand-held, is stunning; lots of times the camera just discovers characters and moves with ease through the location - again adding to the authentic feel. Of course there is one off note, the wedding scene, which I've never seen done convincingly, and I'm cynical in thinking it will never be done well because it probably doesn't work on the page anyway. It's a tough emotional arc to buy and to contrast it in against the comedy could be considered brilliant, though I favour the 'no-quite- right' camp.

Glorious fun, hugely entertaining. This is the film that has inspired me to read the text again, and book a holiday with friends in a house like this. However, pulling off the same amount of drinking (a prerequisite for any character in any scene appears to be to have a drink in hand) might be a challenge too far.

Valentine Road (2013)

Stunning Documentary

[10/10 · 12 August 2013]

On February 12th 2008, in Oxnard California, a 14 year-old student Brandon brought a school to gun and shot his classmate Larry from point blank range in the back of his head while we was working on a computer in class. The day before Larry, who had a crush on Brandon, had asked him to be his Valentine in front of his friends embarrassing him. In the weeks leading up to the incident, Larry had begun to wearing makeup and accessorising, and had come out to friends.

The documentary, Valentine Road, slowly unpacks the incident through interviews with the community. There are endless perspectives here, from Larry's friends at school - including Marina, a classmate who came out to her Mum when she was picked up after the shooting; the defense lawyers, who were so moved by the case that they decided to represent Brandon pro bono; the foster parents who used to look after Larry; the Jurors who joined the 'Save Brandon' cause after the trial was declared a mistrial. The only voice that was really missing from the film was Larry's.

The remarkable journey that this film took was an emotional roller coaster. The film fluctuated between taking the audience to incredibly sad places, emphasising the life that was lost. But the real sadness is the embedded homophobia that still exists in the community. Some of the perspectives are hard to listen to. There were times that I felt so much anger towards the people that were expressing their intolerance and this failure to understand that people are different which only breeds Brandon's who believe they have no choice but to use violence. There's also the incredible joy of seeing hope through the people that had learned from this incident and learned to stand up for what is right.

Not blaming Brandon was one of the incredible feats of the film. Instead the film kept at a distance, remaining objective. It was clear at times where the film was leveling its critique: the scene in which a bunch of jurors hang out discussing the case is long, as the statements they make about the case becoming increasingly stupid, naive and upsetting. This is so topical and so relevant. It must be seen and people must talk about this. For me, the most striking thing was the dominance of the intolerance. When intolerance makes up the hegemonic viewpoint bad things happen. I hope that Oxnard can, at some point, learn from this.

Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Beautifully different and intriguing

[7/10 · 12 August 2013]

I found 'Stranger by the Lake' an odd mix. On the one hand, I loved the stillness it captured. Yet another beautiful film in the NZ film festival, some of the shots of the idyllic beach setting were breathtaking. There were times when the camera lost our protagonist, and simply explored the setting. At times this meant capturing the voyeuristic nature of the cruising context, but other times it simply panned off to take in the beauty of he surroundings.

But on the other hand, it was the strange overlay of the thriller narrative with a investigator character who must have played some symbolic role. I couldn't understand how he worked in the world of the film. He roamed like someone who didn't belong in Guiraudie's realm and was more than just a stark contrast to the other characters, he was a sore thumb. The thriller element worked on the erotic level, but not on the police procedural.

It was the attraction and intrigue generated from the intense gazes across the beach that made the dynamic so fascinating. The layers of attraction were peeled away, and I found myself feeling sorry for Franck as he searched for a connection in such a wrong wrong place. The centrals couple's second swimming scene was a worthy centrepiece: the tension in preparing for death, attempting futilely to form a bond that is mistaken for love. A sad, and entrancing tale.

The Bling Ring (2013)

Great film - captures a culture really well

[8/10 · 3 August 2013]

What really got me about this film was how accurately it captured a lifestyle, or - perhaps more accurately - a desire for a lifestyle, that I see all the time in the teenagers that I teach. Celebrity fascination is not new, and what the film captures is a period of time where celebrities were not ready for a new kind of fandom; the obsessive culture that robbed them was two steps ahead. I believe what occurred could never happen again - we may be a consumerist throwaway society, we will find a new brand of celebrity, but the fan culture that finds them will discover new ways of breaking through their privacy barriers.

One of the things I admire the film for was the way that while it largely presented the 'frivolous living' of the characters, the camera found ways through this and invested in character moments that critiqued on a deeper level. Like the expression of Emma Watson (who was brilliant) in the club dancing, or the truly uncomfortable interaction between Marc and Chloe after she finds a gun in Megan Fox's house. It was the searching and slow creeping of Coppola's camera that allowed this. There was something surveillance-esque about the way that we as an audience were invited into the corner of the teenagers' rooms, or were left to observe from more distance than we are used to as the camera tracked around the characters. This was juxtaposed with some really stylistic sequences that captured the alcohol and drug culture that crept in. However, these sequences - that are so often clichéd - felt fresh and conveyed both the hype of the moment and the sadness behind their decline.

The shot of the film was the one shot robbery, where Marc and Rebecca are observed from a wide shot making there way around the house and then emerging with several goods. It marked a shift for the characters, as up until then I felt that their predominant reason for being in a celebrity's house was to be in the house. This is an episode that is solely about stealing. It's a planned event carried out in an ordered and diligent way: in and out. The sound design here was outstanding, signally to the audience the increasing tension and that the teens had ventured far beyond something frivolous.

The film wasn't perfect. There were times where I wondered if the film was doing enough to justify itself given that the conclusion was foregone. I also wondered whether or not the editing scheme which mirrored the way that the teens would enter a celebrity's wardrobe and grab at things - it doesn't necessarily need to make sense what they grab at but being in the moment if what was important for these characters. Was this too much - would featuring the post-arrest interviews more dominantly have created a more robust spine for the film? Regardless, I'd recommend this film - I think it captures a culture more accurately than other films that venture into similar territory. And have I even mentioned the outstanding soundtrack!?

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind was a Beautiful masterpiece

[8/10 · 24 August 2002]

The movie is one of those movies that is made good by that main character, whose role and ability to light up the screen, makes the movie and actors around him look good. Take Jennifer Connelly, she was pretty good on the screen by herself, but in scenes with Crowe she looked outstanding. Ed Harris was someone I thought that stood up and showed his stuff without the help from Russel Crowe. All in all I think the movie was all in all pretty average, just made fabulous by Russel Crowe.

Monster's Ball (2001)

I'm still thinking...

[7/10 · 23 August 2002]

I still have not made up my mind about this film. It tackles sensitive issues head on, with great success, but...I still can't make up my mind on wether it was a good film or not.

Halle Berry's performance was...well...average. I've certainly seen better. I thought Billy Bob's performance was better by a mile, however the Academy thought differently.

All in all I have to say there were plenty of high points in the film, but the one that topped them all was walking out of the cinema at the end.