'Perfect Blue'

Long before there was 'Black Swan' or 'Shutter Island' there was 'Perfect Blue': a Japanese Manga cartoon which was no doubt the inspiration for many psychological horrors that found their way into Hollywood.

Mima Kirigoe is a pop idol, and fronts a little-known group called "CHAM!".  After landing a small role on a TV show, she decides to pursue a career as an actress.  Some fans appear to be displeased with her sudden career change, but as strange things begin to happen, Mima discovers that she has darker things to worry about.

Made in 1997, 'Perfect Blue' is hailed as one of the best Manga cartoons out there, and I certainly agree that it's captivating and nicely structured.  I would have preferred a more ambiguous ending (or a different ending altogether!) but nonetheless this is a great slice of Japanese Anime.

WATCH IT HERE:   'Perfect Blue'

Review: "BLACK SWAN"

Nina is a dedicated ballet dancer, who dreams of being the star of her company.  Her chance comes when she is unexpectedly offered the role of the Swan Queen in "Swan Lake".  The part demands that one dancer play two diametrically opposed characters: the White Swan, and the Black Swan.  Beautiful and frigid, Nina plays the White Swan with conviction, but struggles with the baser nature of the Black.  Fearful of losing the role to another dancer, Nina begins to delve into the depths of her own darkness.

In spite of being a film maker, it takes a lot for me to go to the cinema.  The film has to excite me, or else create so much hype that I go out of curiosity.  "Black Swan" falls into the latter category, and so my (very low) expectations were exceeded.

It was good, I was riveted.  The film is based on Jungian psychological concepts of projection and repression:  Nina (Portman), the product of an overbearing and unfulfilled mother, sees darkness everywhere in the world because she refuses to see it within herself.  If you're not into Jung, Aronofsky keeps your attention by using every shock tactic there is.  Horror sound effects, mutilation, lesbian sex scenes:  this film has it all.  Riveting, like I said.  Until about half way through when it all started to get a bit much.  Aronofsky isn't exactly known for his subtly: but did he really have to make Portman start looking like the monster from "Jeepers Creepers"?  I came out of the cinema feeling like I was on drugs and someone had just hit me in the face.

Nonetheless, I do think it's a film worth seeing on the big screen.  It's visually beautiful, and Portman (who I've never been a fan of) gives an incredible performance, on par with any of the Hollywood greats.  Give that lady the Oscar - she deserves it.

"SPELLBOUND"

"If you haven’t seen this, you don’t like documentaries."  - Ben Steinbauer (Film maker)

The remark above was all it took for me to finally watch "Spellbound" - a documentary about the American National Spelling Bee.

Eight teenagers hoping to win the Spelling Bee trophy are followed from their hometowns to Washington D.C.  Here, they compete to spell their way to victory, glory, and the American Dream.

Trophies and competition are practically synonymous with American culture, and for the competitors, the Spelling Bee represents a first step towards a successful life.  Most of them come from immigrant families, and express a strong desire to make something of themselves.  And where else is this possible but America: land of the free (as we're continually reminded), and country where anyone can excel with hard work?

Apart from the blatant flag-waving, "Spellbound" is an interesting slice of life.  It opens a door into an adorably geeky world, and shows the successes and failures of young teenagers in quest of their dream. Some you root for, some you pity (particually the ones with the over zealous parents), and some you cringe at.*

Despite being a little too long, the journey is entertaing, and you're keen to see who wins.  A feel-good film (particularly if you're American).

7/10

WATCH IT HERE

*And some should not even be featured in the film - like the boy who blatantly has Aspergers!

"TYSON"

"I'm a good person, but at that moment I was insane"
- Mike Tyson

Picture this:  82 minutes of Tyson's talking head, with some archival footage and photographs.

Boring, right?  According to commissioners, an audience is not going to watch a documentary where nothing happens.  But more a monologue than a documentary, this insight into boxing legend Mike Tyson moved me in ways I didn't expect.

How can a man famous for boxing, rape, and biting (off?) people's ears possibly say he's a good person?  As Tyson recounts events from his crazy life he reflects upon his character with a nakedness that is instantly disarming.  He has no problem analysing himself, and speaks about his early days as a fat, bullied child, the fear of humiliation this instilled in him, and how this fear became the fuel for his ferocious fighting spirit.  His meteoric rise to glory, his steady descent, his messy divorce, his rape conviction, his managers stealing his money, and the Hollyfield fight where he bit the man's ear  (twice) are all candidly addressed.

If I was a jury and this film was Tyson pleading his case, I'd be pretty tempted to let him walk free.  The man makes quite a convincing argument for everything that he's done.  And Hollyfield had it coming, right?  Definitely worth watching.

8/10
Watch it here

'THE BRIDGE'

"Tactlessly morbid or remarkably sensitive? Deeply disturbing or viscerally fascinating? Critics are divided on Eric Steel’s unique documentary on the Golden Gate Bridge, wonder of the modern world and notorious suicide destination." 

-Critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes 

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the most popular places on earth to commit suicide.  In 2004 director Eric Steele filmed the bridge all day, every day, for the whole year.  He captured 23 suicides on camera.  He then tracked down the families of some of the people he had filmed jumping, and found out about their lives, and their motivations for killing themselves.  What follows is a difficult, moving, and controversial film about the darkest places the human mind can go.

In terms of it being a documentary about suicide, it is very well done.  I don't know any other film on the subject that creates as much empathy, or gives as much insight into the desire to take your own life.  The subjects range from the clinically depressed, to the mentally ill.  One of the interviewees is a jumper who survived the fall, and he reveals that as soon as he jumped, he realised he wanted to live.  It poses a very interesting question - is suicide preventable?

Which makes it difficult for me to write a critique of the film without considering how the footage was acquired. 

When people think of film making, they think of glamour, and excitement.  But actually, many film makers are motivated because they want to create something meaningful that will help others.  Because of this noble intention, a film maker will sometimes act against their own humanitarianism, believing the film's impact will justify the means.  I've kept the camera rolling in situations where people have broken down in tears.  My human instinct is to cut, but my film making instinct overrides that.

In this documentary, Eric Steele has taken things one step further, walking a fine line between observational film maker and... well... cold-blooded human (a man who could have done something).  'The Bridge' is a powerful film, but I honestly don't know if it was worth it.

No rating... How can you rate something like this?!  All I can say is that since it's been already made I would definitely recommend seeing it.

WATCH IT HERE

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

"This film is the story of what happened when this guy tried to make a documentary about me.... but he was actually a lot more interesting than I am.  So... now the film's about him!  It's not 'Gone with the Wind', but there's probably a moral in there somewhere."  - Banksy

So begins the first film to star the world's most commercially-successful enigma. 

Street Art has a cornerstone in my heart (my first film was a documentary on the Irish graffiti scene), so I've been eagerly anticipating a documentary about the Street Art movement.  And in spite of my own vague bias that Banksy "isn't as good as he used to be", 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' did not disappoint me.

Shop owner Thierry, is a French man living in L.A with his family.  He has one unusual habit - he films absolutely everything that happens to him and around him.  This obsession proves useful when Thierry discovers that his cousin is the world-famous French Street Artist 'Space Invader'.  He begins filming him, and his journey takes us on a street art tour of L.A.  Along the way we meet some of the giants in the Street Art scene - particularly Banksy and Shepard Fairy.  However, after some time, the excitement of hanging out with these talented, and commerically successful artists, begins to go to Thierry's head...

'Exit Through the Gift Shop' is fantastic for several reasons.  It's fun to watch, has a good story, and gives a consolidated overview of the Street Art movement (which is by no means an exhaustive overview, but it covers certain aspects very well).  On top of that, it poses interesting questions about the legitimacy of Art and the Art World (which graffiti writers and street artists tend to ridicule).

But for me, the best thing was the realisation afterwards that the whole thing was a hoax!  In a subversion of the mockumentary genre, the events in the film really happened (with one or two exceptions orchestrated especially for the film), but the protagonist (Thierry) is a fictitious character.  Street Art by its nature, pokes fun at anything that encourages people to be mindless - whether these are institutions or trends.  Banksy takes Street Art one step further, creating a film about duping that dupes us!  He even had the premiere in a tunnel near Waterloo Station (referred to as "London's darkest and dirtiest cinema") and I can just picture him laughing his head off at all the trendies who were paying money to sit in the cold and filth because they were thought it was cool (I would have sat there!). If only he hadn't done that terrible Simpson's intro, I would be tempted to call the man a genius.  Well done sir!

THE LOVELY BONES

Peter Jackson undertakes another literary adaptation, this time morphing Alice Sebold's 2002 novel "The Lovely Bones" into a visual symphony of heaven, and hell on earth.

The film's protagonist is Susie Salmon: a 14 year old who has been murdered, and now speaks to the viewer from beyond the grave. The film details her brief life, her blossoming personality, and her family's struggle to cope with her death. As Susie watches over them from a place called "her heaven", concepts of the afterlife are explored, and themes of violence, retribution, loss, and love are touched upon.

I watched this film on plane, hours after I got the news that my grandfather had died. There was a certain poetry to the timing, so I decided to read the book, and did this during the week of his funeral. But even in my weakened emotional state I wasn't convinced by these mediocre works dressed in epic clothing.

I found both works somewhat hyperbolic. They dealt with hard-hitting themes, and interesting philosphical and spiritual concepts, but somehow fell short of offering an original perspective on life.

Jackson doesn't bring much to the translation. His obvious excitement at creating a CG heaven leads to some very cheesy musical montages that don't really support the story. I enjoyed the acting of Saoirse Ronan, and Stanley Tucci, but Susan Saradon was an embarrassment as a carbon-copy eccentric, alcoholic grandmother. Of course I did have moments of empathy, but it's hard not to when you see people dying (emotionally, physically) on screen. By the time I was two thirds of the way through the book I just wanted it to be over. Not because it was depressing - but because I didn't care.

Actually, this was one rare moment in literature to film translation where I felt the book and the film were equal. Equally average.

5/10