A playful and entertaining production dealing with the world of secret society, bringing to mind classic action movies, James Bond intrigue, Die Hard sense of honor. The aura of English humor and manners, the addition of contemporary backstreet boy and the appreciated appearance of Colin Firth made this film entertaining and enjoyable. Can you ask for more?
What I like about Woody Allen's productions is the setting he chooses for his films. From Paris to Rome and New York, from urban to rural, pastoral and modern. The setting of this film is doubtlessly magical as magical is the whole film. And its peculiar humor complements it both by the romanticism and art. Delicious dish sprinkled by the play of its actors and the beauty of its landscapes. And again, is there really the world of supernatural or all that is real is love?
Doubtlessly teenagers nowadays grow up faster than they used to. The level of violence and lack of innocence can be seen everywhere we cast our eyes. Not so long ago a teacher in Barcelona was killed by a thirteen-year-old student with a crossbow. Are there still any values held by the young ones, or are they just deprived of the beginning by the internet, porn, a desire for material possessions? Who is to blame? Teachers? Parents? Society? Media? Is it okay for a teenager to sell one's body or, taking into account all the circumstances, are we the ones to judge, being sinless ourselves? A film visually beautiful but dark on the inside. Can you really stop once you start sinning?
Boarding schools are always intriguing by the magical aura of desolation, their distance to parents and deprivation of ordinary circumstances of life. Boarding schools are schools at school and schools after schools. Interestingly though, boarding schools for girls always connote with evil, either on the side of girls: their mischievous nature, jealousy, competition, constant comparisons. Due to the lack of comradeship, instead of being united them as a group, they are divided. It tells something about women. A good film to watch on a light spring day. Sometimes it's good to imagine we're back at school. Cracks. Every girl is impeccable only on the surface.
Do you fall in love with a human being or do you fall in love with sex? What if the sex of the beloved is changed during the course of your relationship? Do you love a product created within decades of man and woman division, cultural conventions, gender, patriarchal family, or do you still love the same human being? Do you need the sex label to feel fully in a relationship? The issue is still perceived controversial by many. On the other hand, ask yourself what you would do if your partner decided to change, to be true to oneself, to be happy. Would you rather make him unhappy, by clinging to your old ways? People change. It's a lovely journey to be finally true to oneself. And Xavier Dolan can beautifully tell us all this by the means of his camera-eye.
Don't you love it when the film takes you to a completely different place on earth when you can forget about your past problems and current worries, about the home you are living in, about the people who hurt you? Wouldn't you like to begin again? Don't you love the cathartic experience of someone's else pain, loss and the realization that there can be a happy ending? Maybe not the same, maybe slightly different from what you had expected. The Shipping News is such a story. Maybe you also need a fresh start or a change of place. Possibly your love life needs a few tinkering works. This is a film for you.
Family life on the verge of breaking up. A friendship on the verge of a romance. An interesting story of a burnt out teacher and an inspirational student. Love and desire which might have serious consequences. A wise film about the continual lack of certainty that accompanies our lives. Human and family bonds are weakened and strengthened according to the circumstances. We constantly meet new people in life. We constantly fall in love, whether at a young age or in the winter of our lives. Breathe in is so sensual that maybe you all wish a completely different ending...
European society is still divided into classes, even though the 21st century was welcomed by us over a decade ago. Rural vs urban. Blue-collar workers and white-collar workers. Simple and intellectual. Popular vs high-brow. I wish everyone would be classless since it makes all human interactions unprejudiced and devoid of financial status expectations. This is a fantastic film about a relationship between two girls, who are divided by everything but end up in the circumstances unlikely for any class and education. A totally girl's film, showing how strong as a woman you may be if your life requires you to act accordingly. Even if it might prove shocking for some.
Sometimes it's good to see a film which wasn't invented by a group of fiction addicts and in a more down-to-earth manner tells something about real life. Relationships are difficult, human attachment to another human being has its stages and layers. Everybody craves true love and a lifelong relationship. We trick ourselves into career, work, money, material things but all you need is love, as the Beatles once were singing. It's not an easy film. And not entertaining enough to sit on the verge of your seat, struck by the dazzling tons of special effects. But I still remember when I first saw Brokeback Mountain, and I was moved by the simple strength of the story of love. This is also the film I will remember for long.
Global village equipped us with something more than the internet, the same films, the same brands, the same computer games. Global village of our civilization provided tons of tasty fast foods which we all like consuming. From time to time it changes into often, from often it turns into every day. Even though Europe still keeps traditional cuisine running clockwork, there are more and more American fast food chains which we all enjoy. In America the problem in huge. It's easier to be a conscious consumer when you're an adult. When you're an overweight kid who doesn't know where the problem is lying and has to face bullying, low self-esteem, and health issues at such a young age, your life might be burdened with frustration. As a kid of capitalism, I was eating those bags of crisps, drinking bottles of Cola and visiting McDonald's every now and then. What changed? Now the problem is bigger as crisp bags are bigger, the selection of fast foods is bigger and bigger are the people. Bite the right size of the right food. This is a documentary which will make you think.
I remember when I saw it for the first time, expecting it to be a teen drama with a twist. I was shocked. Since then I watched it many times, not with the intention of tormenting myself with the consolation of final death, as I'm against suicide in any form (think about people who you're living behind), but as a kaleidoscope of women. Five sisters growing in the same house, eating the same food, raised by the same parents. Completely different young women, with dreams, wishes, and experiences. Making the same crucial decision when those dreams are taken from them by their seemingly beloved. A worth watch.
A film for every family. The complicated nature of three geniuses facing a family crisis in their home. An estranged father. A mother in love. Siblings fully grown-up but unable to face the bleak reality of adulthood. Wes Anderson tends to be a genius himself when it comes to portraying the vivid nature of his characters. The intricacies of the plot are a pleasure for every entertainment addict as his creations are never boring.
A classic story of two Americas. Modern day one dealing with contemporary problems of consumptive capitalism and typically middle class marriage problems, and America in the past, racially prejudiced, still growing and developing. A relationship between two women in two historically apart moments of time. Two unhappy marriages and two very different friendships. Even though it was filmed over 20 years ago, it is still worth seeing at this day and age.
Don't you want to have a taste of a film which will broaden your horizons by means of thousand images? Seemingly without a plot, overwhelming you with the magnitude of our planet, providing pictures of the beauty and cruelty of our world. There's no greater plot than the scenarios written by the decades of our civilizations, by wars waged, systems overturned, racial differences broadened and landscapes, with the forces of uncontrollable nature, created. To our everlasting awe. Baraka.
A relationship within a relationship. A play within a play. Modern age film inception. A close bond between women who are divided by time and experience, while youth and life-wisdom are what attracts them to each other. In the mountains of Switzerland there's an actress, an assistant and a remake of a story once told but, by sheer coincidence of events, retold again.
We are always intrigued by people on the side of evil. They carry out what we can (I hope) only fantasize about, what, out of sheer fear of being found out and traced by the police, we never fulfill. The danger of making such stories is that they might prove inspirational for the more maniac-like individuals. Perfume is sophisticated. It comprises the sacred and the profane. It combines the unique variety of colors which make us believe that we feel the scents. A tragic story of a genius who made people mad from desire. A lonely individual in a world of a limitless number of smells. And you almost forget that it's a story of a murderer.
Sometimes I'm under the impression that people in the past were far smarter than we are today. They used different, more sophisticated language. They considered their significant life decisions significantly longer than we do it today. They read more books and spent less time online as online wasn't even possible. Still, I do appreciate it when classic novels are inspirations for contemporary stories and films which we can identify with. France. This time not Madame Bovary but an English Gemma Bovery. And the plot more so enjoyable.