Film 18 - Ladyhawke

Fantasy drama/adventure Ladyhawke was a film I recorded off Film4 a couple of days ago, and it didn't disappoint at all. I started watching it with no pre-conceptions, having forgotten why I recorded it and what sort of film it was at all. The story developed well and gradually up to the point where the mission to reverse the curse was clear.

The main storyline was about Navarre's attempt to square things with the man who set the curse on him and the woman he loves, causing them to be forever apart, him being a wolf at night and her being a hawk during the day. Phillipe Gaston "The Mouse" meanwhile is the only man ever to escape the prison at Aquilla and is enlisted by  Navarre to get him to Aquilla. Gaston colludes with the monk Imperius to try to lift the curse, a solar eclipse eventually providing the metaphor of it being both day and night, Navarre and Isabeau confronting the Bishop who set the curse and lifting it in a glorious happy ending.

The movie was strong on storyline and there were four strong characters, but the most impressive part of the film for me was the cinematography which was visually stunning, the music just added to this to give a slightly spooky at times but always mysterious atmosphere to the film.

Definitely better than the last one, a very good film.

Film 17 - The Incredibles

Standard Saturday night family fare in this animated superhero movie. It wasn't a bad film, in fact it was about as average as a film can be. As I normally do with animated films, I spent most of it trying to work out who was voicing the characters. The voice of the villain - whose name I don't recall - proving very recognisable but one I couldn't quite work out without the help of Wikipedia which reliably informs me that it was Jason Lee, most famous for My Name Is Earl.

The animation, as always with Pixar films, was excellent and the action sequences were fun as well. The main drawback of the film was the storyline which seemed rather generic and derivative of superhero movies and any film in which the protagonist comes out of retirement for 'one last fight.'

For kids a bit younger than me, the film is almost perfect but, after watching Inception, kids films don't have the required complexity for me.... although I do still want to see Toy Story 3.

Film 16 - Inception

Only the second film on this list I've actually seen in the cinema, and one of the best of the sixteen films I've seen this year so far. It's the only film that I've ever seen in the cinema that provoked such an audience reaction; the whole cinema was willing Cobb's totem to stop spinning at the end and there was a collective groan as the film ended on that cliffhanger.

When you take a step back, the totem was a brilliant ending and so much about the film was constructed with such care, the concepts all made sense in their world and the introduction of Ariadne was an inspired move, forcing the whole process to be explained by someone new to it and thus us the audience. Before that point it had been a fairly average and thoroughly confusing film.

After that point the film became a classic caper movie but with an added emotional edge, the whole idea Cobb was doing this final mission to get home to his kids. The insight into his dreams, showing his children but Cobb never seeing their faces, set up for the finale - which almost reduced me to tears - of Cobb walking through immigration at a US airport, walking home and him seeing his kids faces as they turn round from the pose they strike throughout the film, the spinning totem spinning forever and the realisation for me, almost a day later, that he must be in limbo.... I really hope I'm wrong.

 

Film 15 - Capitalism: A Love Story

On an earlier blogpost, about Bowling for Columbine, I linked to a Morning Star article which put forward the theory that Michael Moore is a closet socialist.

After watching this film I can see exactly why you could think that. Moore takes the audience through a whistle-stop tour of capitalism, from the good old days where everything was fine, to the mortgage foreclosures and bank bailouts of the current financial crisis. He handles it all with his usual humour and thoughtful discussion, approaching the subject almost from the standpoint of someone who knows little about the subject. This was how he pulled off stunts like putting crime tape around Wall Street and the hilarious segment when he tried to find a trader who would explain derivatives too him. I don't think anyone really understands those financial terms.

Whilst the rest of the film was interesting and informative - especially in relation to Dead Peasant funds - it didn't change my opinion about anything. The end however was genuinely touching and inspiring, showing the raw people power that the 99% have that isn't possessed by the privileged few, and how when workers unite, great things can be achieved.

Fight the power!