Bumper Film Review Post
I've seen quite a few films lately as it's the summer and I'm not exactly bursting with busy-ness, but the holidays also have a tendency to make me immensely lazy so I haven't gotten around to reviewing many of them. I will now rectify this by providing you with my thoughts 'in briefs' (and the films will indeed be marked out of briefs, because I couldn't resist that highlarious pun) on some of the things I've seen in the past few weeks...
(NOTE: More briefs are good, not bad in the sense of the film being pants!)
A Good Year
I must admit it was the trailer that made me watch this, because it has Alizée's gorgeous hit single Moi... Lolita as its soundtrack, and it also stars one of the loveliest actresses around, Marion Cotillard (Love Me If You Dare, Innocence etc.). A Good Year was not a terrible film but it was not a very exciting one either. It did improve towards the end but compared to actual French films (as opposed to this which is only set in France) it captured only the beauty of France and its people, not their spirit. And where was the hot young Frenchman that all French films absolutely have to have? Couldn't they bring in Romain Duris or Gaspard Ulliel for a cameo, even Guillaume Canet would do!
Hairspray
Being a big fan of modern musicals, as I mentioned in my last post, it was no surprise I loved this film. It was interesting to see it just after Dreamgirls as it's set at a similar time and covers some of the same issues (for example songs written by black artists being given to white ones) but from a different perspective, as the main characters are white. The music is great and the whole thing is very jolly in a High School Musical-ish way - if you enjoyed that you'll definitely like Hairspray. My sister thought it was "too weird", which we now know (since she disliked Dreamgirls) is a very positive sign!
Running With Scissors
I finally got to see the film version of the best book I've read this year, and luckily it didn't live up to my cautiously low expectations. I didn't expect it to be as good as the book but actually I think it captured Augusten's unique perspective pretty well and did the book justice as much as possible. I even found myself not really hating Rachel Evan Wood, which was quite a shock, as you'll agree if you read my review of Thirteen. I would definitely recommend this film, but I recommend the book even more.
(NOTE: More briefs are good, not bad in the sense of the film being pants!)
A Good Year
I must admit it was the trailer that made me watch this, because it has Alizée's gorgeous hit single Moi... Lolita as its soundtrack, and it also stars one of the loveliest actresses around, Marion Cotillard (Love Me If You Dare, Innocence etc.). A Good Year was not a terrible film but it was not a very exciting one either. It did improve towards the end but compared to actual French films (as opposed to this which is only set in France) it captured only the beauty of France and its people, not their spirit. And where was the hot young Frenchman that all French films absolutely have to have? Couldn't they bring in Romain Duris or Gaspard Ulliel for a cameo, even Guillaume Canet would do!
Hairspray
Being a big fan of modern musicals, as I mentioned in my last post, it was no surprise I loved this film. It was interesting to see it just after Dreamgirls as it's set at a similar time and covers some of the same issues (for example songs written by black artists being given to white ones) but from a different perspective, as the main characters are white. The music is great and the whole thing is very jolly in a High School Musical-ish way - if you enjoyed that you'll definitely like Hairspray. My sister thought it was "too weird", which we now know (since she disliked Dreamgirls) is a very positive sign!
Running With Scissors
I finally got to see the film version of the best book I've read this year, and luckily it didn't live up to my cautiously low expectations. I didn't expect it to be as good as the book but actually I think it captured Augusten's unique perspective pretty well and did the book justice as much as possible. I even found myself not really hating Rachel Evan Wood, which was quite a shock, as you'll agree if you read my review of Thirteen. I would definitely recommend this film, but I recommend the book even more.
| | | Permalink 
