Frank/Harbour Lights Picture House Cinema

Frank was a very interesting film - definitely worth a watch. Good themes, characters, music etc...

However, I think I want to talk about the cinema experience.. Despite some rather loud popcorn-plunging and crunching near me *cough* my dad *cough*, I think that might have been the best cinema experience I've encountered.
I went to the 21:00 showing of Frank and there were just a few groups of 2 scattered around the room - I figured we could make up a row/a row and a half if we all sat next to each other. It was quiet and calm.
Tonight was also Eurovision (which I normally watch, but I'm glad I chose Frank over it tonight), a big event that takes up a lot of everyone's lives on the day.. As I was sat there watching the film, I was thinking about how great cinemas are. You lose all track of time, you have no idea whether it is dark or light outside, that facebook message or important email doesn't exist until you get home and you don't need to think about it. It's so nice to be extracted from everyday life to sit in a dark room and experience entertainment like this.
What fascinated me about tonight was that when the film ended, no one moved. Everyone was still sat there, soaking up every second of the credits with each other. It was actually very sweet to see couples still cuddled up, people still reading off the screen, sitting back, motionless, enjoying the music and appreciating everything they had just seen.

So.. shout out to everyone who made that cinema experience perfect - everyone who proved exactly why cinemas should still be around and why Harbour Lights Picture House will always be my favourite cinema.

Safety Not Guaranteed

Safety Not Guaranteed was a nice little movie that was a perfect mix of everything. Comedy, romance and a main plotline that is based around figuring out this mysterious, potentially insane man and his plan to go back in time.
At first, I was unsure of the characters and actors. I've seen Jake Johnson as Nick Miller in New Girl and Aubrey Plaza as Julie in Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. I was hesitant about whether their characters would work, given Plaza's deadpan style and the demolishing of Johnson's previous innocent and flappy character from New Girl to a somewhat vile, composed man in Safety Not Guaranteed.
However, I was proved wrong - they worked incredibly well.

The characters of Darius and Kenneth were intense, with Kenneth being almost scary due to his potentially mad characteristics and unpredictability. You didn't feel safe, but wanted to through Darius' clear feelings for him, shown by the way she looks at him and smiles around him. (Kudos to Mark Duplass for creating such a uneasy character).

I thought the mystery surrounding the concept of the time travel was brilliant. You really don't know what is going to happen - it's restricted narrative at its finest. (And I'm not going to say what happens - spoilers).

Definitely worth a watch.

We Are The Best!

We Are The Best! is a Swedish film set in 1982 about 13 year old punks.
It has this incredibly realistic feel about it, through the use of cinematography and diegetic sounds which can either be a good thing or a bad thing. In this case, it suited the film very well but I feel that if I hadn't been stuck in a cinema, and I was watching it by myself, I might get bored.
In terms of plot, I appreciated the fact that it didn't have the big Hollywood movie plot of introduction, problem, resolution. Instead, it focused in on just a moment in time in these girls' lives.

It was amusing in places due to the script and its funny way of documenting the way young teenagers think. Moments that stood out were how slight feelings for a boy were discussed as being 'in love' and freaking out about a small cut on a hand: "I don't want to die!".

The character of Karla was interesting. She would be a bit of fun to be around, but any longer than a few minutes, I could see myself getting very irritated with her. Karla captures the essence of pesky year 7 students that push the boundaries a little too far.
The more subdued character of Bobo was just as interesting and is the one that gets left behind by everything and everyone.
I feel like there is a character for everyone to relate to in the film, be it the wannabe punks full of pretentious rebellion or the quieter characters getting upset by the tiniest of things.
The advert says it all: a film for everyone who's 13 years old, a film for everyone who will be 13 years old, a film for everyone who used to be 13 years old. 

(Although, I must admit that my favourite character had to be Karla's dad who gets an undignified yet hilarious appearance during the credits and several very funny scenes).

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - bookstore scene

Like Donnie Darko, I had this film on my shelf for a long time, completely unopened. Thanks to August, I decided to watch it last night and this scene stood out to me a lot. The film and it's aspects of mise en scene, cinematography etc have a lot of meaning because the film is so surreal.
This scene is set in a bookstore and throughout the scene, the books on the shelf are turned around so that the shelves are white and blank by the end of the scene.
Not only does this show how all the colour, memories and stories are being taken away from the main character (Joel), but the contrast between his dark clothing, the white pages and Clementine's clothes and hair emphasise the focus on Clementine's character and begin to give an insight of how colourful, bright and important she is to Joel.
Clementine's red hair, top and lipstick all symbolise her fiery character (which is seen quite a lot in this scene).
I just thought this scene was a very interesting one to think about...
And I never thought I would enjoy a film starring Jim Carrey so much - but he actually plays the character incredibly well.

Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008, starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings) is beautifully simple. Its tiny cast play characters with no given surnames and its plot is set entirely in one night. It definitely isn't the best film I've ever watched, but it's elegant and artistic enough for me to watch it for the second time last night. The soundtrack is heavily centred within the Indie/Alternative genre and the film's plot itself is based around music.

What I like about Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist is how it subtly shows the audience the reality of how perfect nights are never perfect throughout, and always have some bad moments. It demonstrates how one person in a group of free, happy night-owls can be having an awful time. It communicates the grand imperfection of what could be great and (in a very cliche movie way) proves that life isn't a flawless story.

Through the personality of the character of Norah, the film emphasises how things don't happen smoothly: people are awkward, people are shy and situations are uncomfortable. (Sidenote: whilst I say Norah, this is also demonstrated through Nick's character, but that's generally what you get when Michael Cera plays a character so it's not much to comment on).

Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist is a 'Netflix at 10:00pm with a pile of blankets and a cup of tea' kind of film and it achieves that amazingly. It's enchanting, so free and it manages to be unpredictable - the kind of film you fall in love with.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

(In hindsight, this post is probably a bit of an overreaction - but I guess it details just how I felt immediately after watching Catching Fire...)

Right. Where do I even start?

Okay, I watched Catching Fire on DVD just 20 minutes ago.
My immediate response?

That was NOT enjoyable.

In terms of mise-en-scene and cinematography etc the film was brilliant. The camera shots were a bit iffy at times in the way that they could have been smoother - my sister described some scenes as 'clunky' and, at times, you felt quite aware of the idea that it was something that was being filmed.

However, the plot, the acting and the general feel of the movie tore me apart. I used to be pretty invincible when it came to films, and the only movie to ever bring a slight tear to my eye was a few years ago when I watched Dean Spanley which contained a scene where a dog is shot. However, it now seems that I have become a bit of a weakling and I do cry a lot easier at films.
Catching Fire, though, was incredibly intense. Words to sum the film up would include: distressing, traumatic and upsetting.
It was one of those heart-wrenching films from start to finish where characters have to be wished good luck very sincerely, have to say goodbye through streams of tears and end up screaming with emotional pain. And I don't understand how anyone could sit through 146 minutes of that and feel like they've had a good time.
However, the fact that I feel so strongly about this show how good the film must be to shake its audience in such a hard-hitting way. So kudos to everyone that took part in the making of the film, from the acting all the way to the set design.

For now, though, I think I might stick to more light-hearted films like Juno.

The Last Seduction - Scene Analysis

 From 1:00:                                                                                                      

 The initial camera shot in the apartment scene (from 1:00) shows the flat in low key lighting with many shadows surrounding the rooms that can be seen. This lighting, despite being in colour, is very typical of the film noir genre where shadows and darkness are used excessively throughout the films in order to create a dark atmosphere. When the character of Bridget begins to move and circle round the sofa as if enclosing her "prey", she is mainly in the shadows and a clear shot of her full face isn't seen until she is towering above Clay, displaying her control, dominance and power over him. The use of shadows and the way her hair hides her face fully represent the character's hidden, deceiving identity and portray her as the "spider woman" or the femme fatale that is creeping around in the shadows, manipulating and luring the people (men) surrounding her.
When the shot of Bridget's face is used, what immediately strikes the audience is her red lipstick and dark hair. This is similar to the way the femme fatale of the film Double Indemnity, Phyllis, is portrayed. The aspects of the characters' physical appearances are used to demonstrate their falseness. Whilst in Double Indemnity, Phyllis has "bottle blonde" hair and garish make up, Bridget in The Last Seduction has dark hair that hangs in her down, obscuring the clear view of her face and supports the idea of lies and sinister mystery.
The notion of Bridget masking herself is reinforced through the clothes she wears, again, similar to Double Indemnity. Phyllis in Double Indemnity wears excessive amounts of cheap-looking jewellery and elaborate clothes with ruffles, which displays her falseness and masked identity. However, when Bridget wipes her fingerprints off of the can of mace using her coat in The Last Seduction, it can be seen very clearly that her outfit is pretty much completely without any sort of colour which suggests at her dark, mysterious character. Bridget's dark, long coat hides her figure causing her to remain in the background without standing out too much. This differs from the scenes where Bridget wants to stand out in order to attract people that she can manipulate.The other characters in the scene contrast with Bridget's dark, shapeless figure, especially the character of the "fall-guy", Mike, who's "innocence" of sorts can be seen through the bright blue clothes that he is wearing and the rolled up sleeves which show open body language.
In a documentary about The Last Seduction it is noted that the characters from Beston (Mike) were purposefully dressed in blues and browns that contrast with the New York characters' (Bridget and Clay) monochrome outfits. This hints at the idea of the New York characters being scheming and hidden in contrast to the Beston characters being open and a bit more vibrant (to a certain extent).

I found the very last scene quite interesting as, when Bridget's darkened-windowed stretched car drives away during the last 15 seconds of the film (from 5:45), it is dark, murky and it is raining. People are in the street with umbrellas and running around with coats. I think what this last scene is trying to say is that the ending doesn't deserve sun and bright skies because Bridget is surrounded by and surrounds people with a cloud of darkness and the rain and gloomy skies are Bridget's future. However, she is safe, warm and dry in her expensive car whilst everyone else is left out in the awful weather which represents her selfish way of making everything perfect for her and watching, and enjoying watching, everyone else struggle.