A serious man 2009

Hey again!

I'm back with an update on all the films I've seen over the past, 2 weeks, I think. Yea so, again I've been watching loads but I only went to the cinema once :(. We went to the Cornerhouse in Manchester to see the new Cohen Brothers film "A Serious Man" which for some reason is only being shown in selected cinemas, which is why we went to see it there. Tell you more about that later though, I've done my "The Third Man" review but it's being marked so it'll be up if it's done good :).

Hmm where to start, things that stick out hmm. Well one of the funniest, in places films Iv seen has to be the south Korean film "The Host" (Gwoemul). It's a sort of "Godzilla", "Cloverfield" thing, but a lot better. This is only my second south Korean film that I've seen, the first one was "I am a cyborg" which is really good, check it out. It's basically about a mutant fish that grows in a river and causes havoc all around the city. The things I liked about this film were, the humor because you laugh at things in this film that you wouldnt even dare laugh at in American/westernised films. And also the story which is just amazing, completely entertaining from start to finish and fills you with a million different feelings all the way through.

In quicker news, I've also watched "Closer", the Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen film that is extremely personal and sometimes makes you think "should I be watching this" great acting though. "Run Lola Run" which for some reason I always thought was American but it's not, it's German and very good. Quick pased and never boring. And probably a few more films which I cant remember so they obviously wasnt that good.

I am a big Cohen Brothers fan, Fargo and Barton Fink, oh and No country for old men will all be on my favourite films of all time list. But sadly, this film wont be.
Larry Gopnick's (played by Michael Stuhlbarg)life is'nt going so well, his wife, Judith has decided she has had enough and wants a divorce so she can get together with patronising Sy Ableman (played by Fred Melamed). His brother is living on his couch and his neighbour is planning to build a shed that he doesnt agree with. But with his son's aproaching bar mitzvah he must carry on as normal for the sake of his family and his sanity.
So it's a film about a Jewish family living in Midwest America, just your usual Cohen Brother type stuff. Everyday, normal people going through a normal life disruption with relatively funny moments seems like the basis of a good film but why does the most interesting part happen in the last scene of the film?. At the end I felt cheated and a little annoyed, I watched this 2 hour film, which was really rather boring in places to be left unfulfilled and wishing I had'nt bothered.
Yea ok, the Jewish family aspect was interesting and funny at times but it just was'nt enough to keep it going. I didnt connect with Larry, I thought he was annoying and I was glad his wife wanted to leave him. I have often heard the Cohen Brother's argument that there films are pointless and lead nowhere but I have always disagreed. I have stood up for them, time after time even with "Burn after reading" but I can't with this film. It just did'nt do it for me, honestly boys, the next one has to be better.
2 (out of 5) STARS!!

We accept you, one of us! Gooble gobble!

Hello,

I have been busy, busy watching lots of films lately and getting some stuff down for uni work. But I thought I best check in.
There has been some really good little films I'v seen over the past couple of weeks, some of them were a bit rubbish but y'know my saying is "you have to watch the bad ones to appreciate the good ones". I do plan to go to the cinema at the weekend, not sure what to see though hmm...

Most recently, well this morning I watched "Son of Rambow" just a little British comedy, something lighthearted that made me giggle in places.
Last night though! I got round to watching "Freaks" y'know, the one that was banned back in the day. Well, I watched it and it's still playing on my mind. I dont think it was offensive really, I understand why it would of been but I thought the storyline was really interesting and not something I ever could of imagined being written all them years ago. The chicken woman though, really scared me.

I have also watched "The Third Man", which I wont talk about because Im doing a review on so you shall see that another time. I watched "The Life Aquatic" with Bill Murray which was really interesting and had some really great music in from Seu Jorge. I also watched two biographical films, on the same day. "Veronica Guerin", with Cate Blanchett was really not as good as it could of been but what do you expect really from Joel Schumacher.

But the film I wanna talk about is "Control", the Ian Curtis story directed by photographer Anton Corbijn. I have been doing a lot of work on this film for uni, I think I've written about 3 pieces but they're not really that good. I got round to watching the film last week and the more I think about it now actually the more I like it.
I was majorly impressed by the director Corbijn, I thought there was some spectacular shots in the film that just were mind blowing. It was almost like the pictures we had seen from the 70s had been brought to life and the feel of the film being in black and white made it feel so much more real.
The actors in the film are great to watch, my favourite performance was Samantha Morton playing his wife Debbie she played her with the subtleness you would of expected her to be but also with the strong willingness it must of took for her to leave him.
The story however started it off really good, I was getting into the music, because I am a Joy Division fan so them parts were entertaining. But then towards the end it gets a bit boring, I dont really know why because thats probably when it should get interesting but I think it was this. Curtis was a man of great talents, few muscians can write like this man and he was in one of the biggest up coming bands of the 70s. He was married (sort of happily) and had a child, the only bad part about his life was his epilepsy. He starts an affair and it all seems to go belly up and then he kills himself. I just could'nt grasp that and the thing that I dont understand the most is that it actually happened, its not just a badly written film, it's a real persons life. Maybe he felt trapped and confused and maybe the film cut or added things to the story to make it seem better but even so, it's difficult to understand why he did it.

4 STARS!