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Reviews
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
The most sexual children's film ever
Well, I enjoyed it. I really did. Having read the reviews, I expected something truly bad. What I saw was certainly not the best film ever, but a pretty decent watch.
There were of course ups and downs for the film. Let's start with downs, as there are fewer of them. First, I was glad to see that there were few so-called "cute moments" (e.g. snipe playing with Russell in Up) so characteristic of all Disney and Pixar films, and many modern day children's films in general. But there still were some, and this is a downside.
Sometimes the plot was hard to follow, some things started happening out of nowhere. In the end, it turned out the plot was pretty straightforward and I missed a bit of mystery / surprise in the story. Generally, the character development, the "wtf factor" and the deep thought behind the story was still nowhere near Carroll's talent, but then again, Carroll was an exceptional man.
The good things now. The visuals are stunning and beautiful, although I already start to hate the computerised fimmaking. But I guess that is the industry's problem. Mia Wasikowska as Alice is great. She is just the Alice you could imagine, and act very much like Alice.
But my favourite thing about this film is its sexuality. Guess why Alice has to be 19 all of a sudden? So that you can make all the sexual subtleties. Alice's growing and shrinking constantly makes her change dresses and on one occasion even leaves her naked. The dialogue addressed lesbianism ("she was loved by men, by women"), both the bad guy and the Hatter showed sexual interest in Alice, etc. I love how subtle these sexual things are. It's like the creators are winking at us, telling don't worry, kids are not bright enough to get the point.
Finally, I love the feminist ending :) it's a great message that you should not let others (your parents especially) decide what to do with your life and that you can achieve something what others couldn't have hoped for.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Must be in my top 5 movies ever
The first time I went to the cinema to watch it with my friends, I was not a huge Tarantino fan. I have seen Pulp Fiction and kinda liked it, but that's it - it was a good film for me, but not at all the best I have seen. I also liked the World War 2 topic - all the books, films, games etc. have always interested me. To be honest, I did not know what to expect.
What I saw just blew my mind. This film gripped me from the first seconds and never let go. The scenes, the characters, the dialogues just changed each other and each one of them seemed even better than the last. I have no words to describe the spectrum and intensity of emotions that overwhelmed me - fear, tension, laughter, and joy mixed into a strange feeling of awe and bittersweet joy, which haunted me for days afterwards and which still haunts me whenever I watch clips from the film, listen to its soundtrack or read about it.
Personally, I have always thought that a good plot and a message (or a moral) is needed for the film to really be good. Don't get me wrong, the plot is good and unpredictable, but it is very simple and could be told in about an hour, to be honest. The message? Well, there is none, at least I did not get it. But the other things in the film make up for that, and give you the best cinema experience ever.
The filming. As usual for Tarantino, the film is stunningly aesthetic and beautiful. The colours, the faces, expressions get stuck in your brain. The characters. Should the film have been called as it is? I don't know. The basterds themselves only play a secondary part in the film. However, everyone does. It is a wonder how there is no main character in this film. Quite possibly, the man who is the main character is Nazi colonel Hans Landa, whose presence is always felt even if he is not here. The characters are interesting, lovable, and developed to the extent that one feels to know them personally, especially when you understand the context which determines their actions. The jokes are fresh and funny - the guys speaking Italian is just wonderful, as is Landa's reaction to Ms. von Hammersmark's explanation how she hurt her leg. The music is brilliant. I adore when the music fits with what you see, and the most powerful scenes with that is the one with David Bowie's "Cat People" and the one with Ennio Morricone's "Un'amico". The romance and love stories are in the background, but their power is still very much felt. The farewell kiss of Marcel and Shosanna, sacrificing their love and lives for the good of humanity, is just heart-tearing. The romantic interest of Fredrick Zoller towards Shosanna is fun to watch. When you see Fredrick trying to reach Shosanna, you still don't know she is with Marcel. And you start wondering to yourself, would he succeed if the circumstances were different?
The film lasts for 2 and a half hours. It felt like 15 minutes. I have never felt time fly by so easily as when I was watching this. Sometimes when you watch a good film, you have to put effort into watching it, and only later you get your reward. Here, you are just immersed.
Zero 2 (2010)
Nothing great, but watchable
While the first Zero film was really something new in the Lithuanian film industry, the second film in the series does not feel all that fresh. To be honest, I expected that this film would keep the good things about the first film and add something deeper, some philosophical point or moral.
What I saw was the plot which followed the same formula as the first film and did not seek to invent something. Add some bad acting, some unanswered questions which I consider to be plot holes (what happened to the Asian guy? Where did he ever come from? Did Max buy implants for his wife? Did the boss ever find out what really happened?), even some mistakes (which are clearly not intended) in spelling, and what you get is what you could expect from a movie created and shot in several months.. It feels rushed, unfinished, and kinda cheap. Which, surprisingly, was not so much felt in the first film. The advertisements in the film are plentiful, but hey, you have to get the money from somewhere, and although I can immediately name 5 companies which advertised themselves in this film, the ads are more in place than in the first feature and spoil the fun much less.
This one really left you with a feeling that another sequel in on the way. Do we need one? I hope that this band of filmmakers is capable of taking new topics and maybe even addressing some eternal questions which arise in good films. There was no such moments when you start to wonder, is the film I am watching really about what I see, like in Pulp fiction when the mysterious case is opened.. Clearly the film was inspired by Tarantino and Ritchie, but they did not continue making gangster films forever.. I hope this will also be the case here. I would love to see this company making a history film or adaptation of a book, as Tarantino and Ritchie did.
The good things. Lithuanian cinema is so bad that things like swearing in the film and non-linear plot are still novelties here. These things are really well used and measured. The jokes are mostly not funny, but the whole situation is fun to watch. There is some potential for this film's crew. Therefore, I have to give a 7 for this film, for its possible legacy in the future.
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
A non-typical romance film
I know only two films qualifying as romance which I think are better (The Science of Sleep, and of course, The Graduate). Well, you know, I hate the genre in general, so I guess any film which has something more to it than just a happy love story with a wedding between the main characters in the end would make it in my top romance films.
First with the problems. There are some clichés in this film (the smart little sister, the righteous guy who transforms and sets to follow his true vocation, fight in the bar for a girl etc.), sometimes the situations seem unnatural (the drunken singing, fight in the bar, the somewhat strange boss and coworkers).
Now the good things. One of the first things you notice is the wonderful indie soundtrack. It really sets a nice mood on the film and is fun to listen. I really liked some of the decisions the director made. The "expectations vs reality" scene is wonderful, the city fading to a drawing which is then erased is also nice, the IKEA scene is also very lovable, although I can't get over the feeling this idea has already been somewhere. But I liked the most the moral of the story. I myself have had my Summer, and now I am so happy with my Autumn. With the first girl, there was so much expectations from my side that I was terribly upset when it went wrong. I then of course met another girl and this time after 3 years we are still happy with each other and it looks she might just be the one. Both my relationships happened by accident. So I have also come to realise that although I love my girl so much at the moment, I would have found another and fallen in love with her instead if not that accident. That love is not something fate determines, but what you make of the series of relationships by the method of trial and error, finding the person who is really good for you.
To all who argue this film has a happy ending which spoils the film. Where is it said that they lived happily ever after? It's just a new relationship, a new page which could be anything. Which could be whatever the persons make of it. They could say bye to each other after that cup of coffee, or they could marry and have kids eventually. This is just a reminder that there's always a next chance after your heart is broken.
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Possibly the worst Oscar's winner ever..
Where do I begin.. You have Inglourious Basterds, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar (not to mention films which didn't make it to the list, such as The Antichrist), and THIS is what is supposed to be the best film of the year? Really?
OK, so let's begin with the positive stuff. The film is intense and quite suspenseful to watch. I found it quite interesting, although not always. Now to the negative stuff. I will make several points. First, the plot. There is no plot - just a bunch of scenes put together. OK, I get it, they meant to show the everyday life of soldiers and do not need a plot for that? Well they failed, because, second, the everyday life of soldiers is not like that. I do not want to repeat all the goofs, errors, anachronisms, etc. in this film. Errors like there was no YouTube in 2004 and the soldiers mention it just shows a lack of education by the people responsible for dialogue. But the fact that the rascal such as Will in reality would not be tapped on the shoulder when he repeatedly unnecessarily puts his fellow soldiers in danger just strikes at the very core of the film's premise and makes it all nonsensical. Oh, some people say that at least the opening scene is realistic. Well, do you really think just because a wheel broke off they would risk the soldier's life? No, they would prepare another carriage. If they are desperate, they would even tie some explosives to the robot and detonate it - a life is worth more than this. Third, the film's message really confuses me. I do not know if it is plain propaganda showing how "the boys are fighting for USA" or that the soldiers cannot easily find their place after the war in the real life? If it's first, it's really bad, and if second - well everyone knows that people are not the same after the army or prison, and may develop a sort of addiction. Fourth, the characters are stereotypical and bland. You have the adventurous type, the cowardly newbie type, the doctor who has no field experience and gets killed the first time he goes to fight type.. Fifth, the pretentiously stupid filming style, unjustified by anything - the shaky camera thing, the slow motion bullet cap dropping.. This is just terrible. Nevertheless, I have to give it 5 out of 10 - it is still much better than Home Alone 4 or Jingle All the Way.