Quick Review Update
Reviews will be back on track in a couple of weeks but for now, while my laptop is unavailable to me, I will just have to give a quick update on the films I have seen recently. I'm simply not willing to deal with this computer long enough to give full length reviews of the films I have seen.
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009): 6/10 - Great performance by Robin Wright Penn and an enjoyable film that falters in the last half hour and wraps up things in too conventional a manner to be good. It indulges in its light and fluffy tone which matches the title characters' calm, quiet and pleasant demeanor which some considered a major flaw but not I. However, the Winona Ryder character seemed like a big joke which threw off the rest of the slightly comic tone making way for outright goofiness. Blake Lively does a nice job as young Pippa and the two actresses do seem like they were playing the same character. It is unfortunate that awards suck and will not recognize Robin Wright Penn's performance, adding this to a long list of upcoming snubs to take place in the narrow minded Oscars. All in all though, the film is nice, then dissapointing and ultimately forgettable.
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): 7.4/10
To get into the mind of Precious is to experience how this girl lives, functions and goes on with the trauma and hate surrounding her. For this reason and for the performances Precious is indeed an emotional and fulfilling experience. The film allows the audience to sink into her and her thoughts and it tries throughout to show us what life for her is like and the different ways she escapes and finally how she takes control of her situation out of the fundamental need for survival. The performances are something else. Gabourey Sidibe plays all of the characters' notes beautifully and brings a natural quality to a character who has so fully sheilded herself from everything that her voice has been forced into a low mumble (although not all the time). Monique is terrifying and gut wrenching to say the least. Her final scene is a whopper, bringing heaps of inner turmoil to the viewer as we try to work out what we are seeing. Paula Patton as Miss Rain is a bright light, giving a performance just as worthy of an Oscar nomination as Monique. Lee Daniels' direction is certainly important to the success of the film but it also holds the biggest flaw. Daniels is indulging a bit where it is not needed and instead of keeping the fantasy and reality elements distinct, at times he brings little experiments to the table in the raw and real scenes of the film which are the vast bulk of it, distracting from the scene instead of enhancing it. Precious is not an amazing film but it is a good one and one that many people out there might need.
OK; my mouth is hurting from the wisdom teeth again so I am going to go lie down. Here are the grades for the other films I have seen.
A Christmas Carol (2009): 2.5/10
Mary and Max (2009): 9/10
House of the Devil (2009): 8/10
The Messenger (2009): 9.2/10
The Box (2009): 5.5/10
Invictus (2009): 6/10
Public Enemies (2009): 4/10
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009): 6/10 - Great performance by Robin Wright Penn and an enjoyable film that falters in the last half hour and wraps up things in too conventional a manner to be good. It indulges in its light and fluffy tone which matches the title characters' calm, quiet and pleasant demeanor which some considered a major flaw but not I. However, the Winona Ryder character seemed like a big joke which threw off the rest of the slightly comic tone making way for outright goofiness. Blake Lively does a nice job as young Pippa and the two actresses do seem like they were playing the same character. It is unfortunate that awards suck and will not recognize Robin Wright Penn's performance, adding this to a long list of upcoming snubs to take place in the narrow minded Oscars. All in all though, the film is nice, then dissapointing and ultimately forgettable.
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): 7.4/10
To get into the mind of Precious is to experience how this girl lives, functions and goes on with the trauma and hate surrounding her. For this reason and for the performances Precious is indeed an emotional and fulfilling experience. The film allows the audience to sink into her and her thoughts and it tries throughout to show us what life for her is like and the different ways she escapes and finally how she takes control of her situation out of the fundamental need for survival. The performances are something else. Gabourey Sidibe plays all of the characters' notes beautifully and brings a natural quality to a character who has so fully sheilded herself from everything that her voice has been forced into a low mumble (although not all the time). Monique is terrifying and gut wrenching to say the least. Her final scene is a whopper, bringing heaps of inner turmoil to the viewer as we try to work out what we are seeing. Paula Patton as Miss Rain is a bright light, giving a performance just as worthy of an Oscar nomination as Monique. Lee Daniels' direction is certainly important to the success of the film but it also holds the biggest flaw. Daniels is indulging a bit where it is not needed and instead of keeping the fantasy and reality elements distinct, at times he brings little experiments to the table in the raw and real scenes of the film which are the vast bulk of it, distracting from the scene instead of enhancing it. Precious is not an amazing film but it is a good one and one that many people out there might need.
OK; my mouth is hurting from the wisdom teeth again so I am going to go lie down. Here are the grades for the other films I have seen.
A Christmas Carol (2009): 2.5/10
Mary and Max (2009): 9/10
House of the Devil (2009): 8/10
The Messenger (2009): 9.2/10
The Box (2009): 5.5/10
Invictus (2009): 6/10
Public Enemies (2009): 4/10
Cinema is Truth
Cinema is Truth