2011 Movies - In Time

In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

When this film first came out I was really excited to see it... then I missed it at the cinema. Bummer, major bummer... but I'm kind of glad. But only because I was glad to be able to pause it when I needed a bathroom break, or had to get a drink or something, because I feel if you missed even a second of this film you'd kind of be a little out of the loop.

It's really important to watch the first 20 minutes, because otherwise you'll be left out in the cold, with no time on your hands and no lifelines. Time really is important in this movie. Go figure.

So the general concept is as above - you get to live a normal life until you hit 25, and when you DO hit 25 you then have to work your ASS off to get time coded into your life clock so you don't time out and die. Justin Timberlake's character lives in the poorest 'time zone', which means he's basically living day to day, only ever having about an hour on his life at any given moment, and he strives to get more so he doesn't die... with me so far? It's a really cool concept, a great idea and sci-fi gold. But something was missing...

The story line was a little annoying - Amanda Seyfried's character was the 'bored rich girl', who didn't want to live on Daddy's time anymore because it wasn't really living. She only came up with this new lifestyle choice when she was faced with JT's rugged chops, getting all up in her bid'ness. Huh, pretty important decision to make, cutting yourself off from your dad and in the process becoming an outlaw, but, you know, when you have a chance to hit it up with the self-proclaimed Justified Body-rocker, you can't help but say Hasta la Vista, wealth and youth. Right? 

I'm being judgy. I did like the film, I thought it was good, despite a little bit of confusion with the story arcs - why were all those guys after them? Who was his real dad? Why were all the background actors so... awkward? 

It's a good watch if you like action/adventure sci-fi's with a semi romantic twist. And if you like Amanda Seyfriend in tight clothes, running in high heals with a wig on. And if you like Justin Timberlake... 

Final Verdict:

2012 Movies - The Artist

The Artist

Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

What can I say? The Artist... after so much hype... I enjoyed it. Quite a bit, actually. The film truly is silent - so don't do as the ill-informed and ask for your money back because you "didn't know". It's black and white, and instead of dialogue it's title cards with the lines on. But this isn't every time the characters speak.

Let's start from the top. The story is, luckily, easy to follow. A silent film star, who is quite cocky and famous for what he does is all of a sudden out of favour when the production company want to start making 'talkies' instead. This isn't his niche, and unwilling to change he stands by his genre but with terrible consequences on his life. Simultaneously, a woman launches her career and surpasses his fame, eventually making the films he refuses to make himself. 

Their relationship is what carries the film, because they, at first, flirt and it's apparent they have feelings for one another, but as he career explodes and his fizzles out it all goes quite wrong for them, in many ways.

Like I say, the story is good because you can keep up, the dog, who belongs to the main protagonist, steals the show every shot he's in. You've probably seen or heard of him already though because everyone seems to have fallen in love with him - the new 'eddy' (oh, come on, Fraiser reference... anybody). 

When the characters talk you feel quite clever being able to figure out what they are saying without the use of title cards (which are used sparingly), but I couldn't help but feel confused in parts - as though maybe I should have been able to tell what was being said, but I didn't... was that just me?

Overall, I actually really enjoyed it, yet it did drag a bit, but the ending more than made up for it. I loved the ending. 

Final verdict:

2012 Movies - Shame

Shame

In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

Hmm, the synopsis of this one doesn't really reveal too much about it, mind you, there isn't much to reveal. This was one of those 'glimpses' into the world of one man and his sexual appetite. And it is a big appetite... in more ways than one.

If you don't like full frontals from either men or women, I'd look away for 30% of the film. It's one of those ones where you look, but you're very aware you're in a room with 30 strangers, and as I sit on the back row I tend to look around to see how other people are reacting (guilty pleasure!), well, I had to make sure there weren't any perverts enjoying it too much!

I didn't like this film when I was watching it. The shots are too long, it seems. As though the camera has just been left 'on' and you're sat watching someone's dull life. But it kind of works at the same time. After all the sex and violence, and watching a man destroy himself with his own obsessions, I actually came out of the cinema with a lot of appreciation for it. 

I liked that it wasn't a full story, it really was a look into the life of a sex-aholic. It ended with so many unanswered questions about why he was the way he was, what was with his relationship with his sister, what the hell was he going to do about it all, that I couldn't stop thinking about it. I still can't to be honest. 

All in all I like films that leave me with something to think about. I read it today in one of my uni books, it was a quote from a story and it went:

"...nothing is so distasteful to me as when, in a story or a novel, the stage on which the imaginary world has been in action is swept so clean by the historic broom that not the smallest grain or particle of dust is left on it; when you go home so completely sated and satisfied that you have not the faintest desire left to have another peep behind the curtain..."

It's very apt, of many films, but especially this one. 

Final rating: