My week of indie movies

   

   Okay. Firstly I need to apologise for the pictures that are dotted randomly across this

page. I am technologically inept, and the computer's not too great either. But anyway. I've had a very uneventful last week or so, job hunting, and wedding finishing off (nightmare) but I have managed

to fit in some films that have come out on dvd that i wanted to see, but were a little less mainstream than the

ones on at vue in Newcastle Under Lyme...

Like the Pictures, my writing is all over the place too, yay. The first two movies I watched

(one after the other) were 127 hours directed by Danny Boyle and tarring James Franco, and Monsters, a low key independent movie directed by Brit Gareth Edwards, and made on a shoe string budget.127 hours is the most mainstream of all the movies I've been watching, but this isn't a bad thing. The film follows the true story, of adrenaline junkie Aron Ralston, while he's mountain climbing in Utah. I don't really think I'm spoiling the plot when I say that Aron falls down a steep edge and has his arm pinned beneath a huge rock, resulting in him being stuck there for days with no food, very little water and only absurd hallucinations to keep him entertained. Now, with the exception of Open Water, I quite like "survival" films, where the camera and the film is focused on one person (occassionally more) and their battle to survive (like the superb "Buried"). This film did not let me down. Boyle's direction, and artistic way of shooting and merging the real life with Aron's vivid hallucinations, is both crazy and frightening, and not once does the viewer become bored by Aron's fight for survival. Equally, Franco is brilliant, as the man who is so desperate to live, that he drinks his own urine. Even the part where Franco has to cut off a certain limb *ahem*, is done in a realistic and respectable way, regardless of the fact that I wanted to weep and scream at the same time. This film, is a great example of how to shoot a movie about a real life battle, and how to do it well. 4 and a half out of 5.

   I think whatever film was watched after 127 hours was always going to be a little disapointing, I'd be very surprised if any film could compete with the amount of tension that Boyle and Franco managed to create. Sci fi and alien based films are not usually me genre, but Monsters got very good reviews, and I was extremely curious to see how a film on such a low budget, with no known actors (in fact a lot of the extras were actually just people who lived in the area) and low cost props could create such high critical acclaim. It's not a bad movie. The two main characters Samantha (Whitney Able) and Andrew (Scoot McNairy) are likable enough, and do a good job with what they are given. The fact is, they're not given much. The plot goes something along the lines of Samantha is Andrews boss's daughter, they are both in the "infected" area of mexico, and Andrew needs to escort Samantha safely to the uninfected America. The actors are good, the extras, to say that some of them really were just asked on the day to read some lines, were actually quite brilliant, and the area is lush and exotic. However, the "monsters" are pretty rubbish. It is too slow for the most part, and the title of the film is let down by the lack of such. But, it does look good, and Edwards has proven that decent movies can be made without the hollywood injection of millions of pounds.

3 / 5.

My last two movies, are very different in pretty much every way. First there was Blue Valentine, Starring Michelle Willams as Cindy, and Ryan Gosling as Dean, Cindy's Husband. Do not watch this film if you are expecting another "Notebook", because you're not going to get it. Rather, what we do have, is a stark and bitter look at a marriage that's falling apart, and the horrible situation that occurs when one half of a marriage is loveless. It's not that I have an interest in unhappy marriages, but I do have an interest in good acting, beautiful cinematography and sitautions that are actually more real than the idealistic and sickly sweet chick flicks that inundate our cinema. I was expecting a film similar to Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road", although a lot of people disagreed, I thought that film was beautiful, devastating and very well acted, but what I got wasn't quite up to scratch.

Whilst Gosling and Williams are good, their characters are really not very likeable, especially the seemingly apathetic Cindy. This makes it harder to care when their marriage falls apart. However, it is watchable and the soundtrack by Grizzly Bear is very good. 3 /5.

And this (to your relief) brings me to the last film: Rabbit Hole. Again, not a light and happy context, based around married couple Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) who are trying to deal with grief after having lost their young son in a road accident. Again, not a lot happens here, as you can probably imagine, yet the acting is beautiful, and the message of it is just right. Not that I have any experience with such awful circumstances, but it does not feel falsely morbid or hopeful. I think director John Cameron Mitchell, tried really very hard to set a realistic atmosphere and create a film that looked truthfully at how a couple could possibly deal with such devastating circumstances.

You can't really call a film like this entertaining, but it is moving, and it is watchable. 3 and a half out of 5.



Bridesmaids

   This isn't a blog about the merits of bridesmaids (though i'm sure i could probably blog about that soon), but about the highly entertaining new film, deemed as "the hangover for women".

The story is set around two childhood best friends Annie (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian (Maya Rudolph). Lillian announces that she is getting married an appoints Annie as the Maid of honour. Chaos (and much laughter ensues) as Annie organises quite catastrophic events, whilst trying to compete against fellow bridesmaid Helen (a very versatile Rose Byrne). Meanwhile, Annie's love life is a mess, her job is dire, she has no money, and her life in general is falling apart around her. The film follows Annie as she tries to be a "good" maid of honour, whilst dealing with the messy situations in her life.

This film could have gone one of two ways. It could have actually been the female version of the Hangover: extremely crude, rude, vulgar - funny yes, - but with no substance, or, it could be too whimsical and chick flick - esque, replacing the laughs with bad unrealistic sentiment. However, Bridesmaids somehow manages to create a brilliant mixture of the two. There are some genuinley gross out moments (normally involving larger than life bridesmaid Megan - Melissa McCarthy), including a scene where the girls have food posioning in a bridal shop, and cannot control their bodily functions... However, what makes this such a good film, are the laughs that you get alongside the reality of living in a recession, the laugh out loud moments that come from a really rubbish sexual relationship, and the sentimentality of friendship, and the importance it plays in this film.

All the characters are well cast and played out, but Kristen Wiig, is as always brilliant. She just seems to have a natural funniness that comes across on screen brilliantly. Chris O Dowd was also extremely enjoyable and sweet to watch, as the goofy but good guy Nathan Rhodes.

My only criticism, is that this film could have focused more on the bridesmaids and their outings, mainly because of the name of the film which implies that the focus was going to be on the group, rather than just Annie. But that really is only a tiny niggle, compared to this feel good, funny and sweet movie, that i imagine could also appeal to guys (even if they wouldn't admit it).

4/5