Film Reviews
Open Grave has been described as a philosophical journey, but it’s just a story about fear and survival that leaves you in the dark for most of it. Review by Tyler Rowe.
Dallas Buyers Club isn’t just a story about a dude in the 1980’s that got AIDS and built a drugs emporium – it’s much more than that.
Don’t we all love overpriced coffee? For one, The Lego Movie is chock full of adult humor, and makes for an excellent watch for the grown-ups among us, too.
Anyone who enjoys a complex character should see Filth. We discuss the movie’s representation of corruption and explanations for criminal behavior.
Identity is a short film by KJ Adames. The short film criticizes the dominant cultural norms of identity and the self, and beautifully stylized, suggests we be ourselves instead of try to conform to those norms. Although the use of masks is a tad literal, I found it interesting nonetheless.
Oblivion was a movie I’d been looking forward to as I’m a huge (dystopian) sci-fi fan. Unfortunately, it was quite a disappointment. Rarely have I seen a movie as unoriginal as this one.
I had already previewed Prisoners a while ago, and was quite interested in seeing the movie. However, I didn’t have the chance until yesterday due to… life.
I’m honestly not much of a horror fan, especially the ghosts I cannot handle (nor the high-pitched violin shrieking and shots that give me heart attacks). Zombies are something else, though. I’m pretty good with the blood and gore and they’re generally not too scary.
First of all, I was struck by the impressive cast of this movie. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo… That’s quite the list. Now You See Me tells us the story of four street-wise magicians, not afraid to scam a person or two while they’re at it.
Here’s a bit of a darker short film for you (certainly compared to the one I shared last week): the Iranian short film Tonight is not a Good Night for Dying (2011), directed by Ali Asgari. This short is shot from the perspective of a man who just fell from a building.
Only God Forgives is a movie not for the faint of heart. It’s highly violent and highlights that violence as if it is a virtue. This movie wasn’t received by the critics nor by the public favorably, but I’d like to vouch for this movie.
I came across this animated short film called Wind. It’s a graduation film by a film student, Robert Löbel, of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. I loved this.
How To Make Money Selling Drugs (2012) is a documentary discussing the lucrative world of drugs and drugs dealing and how people get involved in the world, and, essentially, what should change to make the business less attractive. In a 90-minute feature, director (and melodramatic narrator) Matthew Cooke interviews a multitude of people among which musicians and actors like Curtis Jackson (50 Cent), Susan Sarandon, Woody Harrelson, Marshall Mathers (Eminem), a whole bunch of drug traffickers among which Brian O’Dea and Freeway Ricky Ross, people from the law enforcement, both pro and against the War on Drugs. I went into this movie without any prior knowledge.
In The Purge, a happy, wealthy family gets ready for the annual night of the Purge, a 12-hour period during which all crime is legal. This new way to fight crime has been very successful – crime is at an all time low, as is unemployment. Moreover, it is supposedly an easy way to rid society of those who do not contribute.
In Elysium, the world has gone to shit. It is heavily polluted and poverty has risen to extremely high levels – the ghettos stretch as far as you can see. This is where the poor working class lives.