Lilula

Coming soon.

Fourth Batch of Films

This has been the best bunch to date I’ve received in the post. I got Breakfast on Pluto, the Fountain and the Science of Sleep. My interest in foreign films is starting to expand, but I did not know that the Science of Sleep was of French origin and told in a mixture of French, English and Spanish. Anyway, on with the reviews:

Breakfast on Pluto was simultaneously charming, heart-breaking and entertaining as it told the story of Patrick a.k.a. Kitten - one transvestite from a small town in Ireland. It’s dramatic but realistic, and at times gritty as Patrick stumbles on the fine line between life and death. His innocent belief in love coupled with what I believe was sarcasm on his part make for a compelling, humourous and complex character. Oh and Cillian Murphy in drag is an instant win. He’d make a very pretty woman (in the same way he’d make a very pretty anything). Four out of five for the spellbinding performance by Cillian.

Soon afterwards I watched the Science of Sleep which didn’t really impress me much at first, but in retrospect it’s grown on me. Gael García Bernal is absolutely gorgeous (you can’t say no to his jawline) and also endearingly charismatic as the slightly deranged but adorable Stéphane. Coupled with the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg they tell a surreal story of dreams, reality and how the two clash to form an unlikely romance and unique story. Not to mention the aesthetics are as wonderful as portrayed on the website - great for the creative within. Four out of five, only because I found the storyline a little simple, and felt it ended unrequited.

Lastly was the Fountain whose website by Hi-Res I’ve adored for years. It’s probably one of the best films I’ve ever seen, mixing together philosophies and realities concerning life, death and life thereafter - a particular fixation of mine. The film moves slowly, but only to better capture the melancholic dark mood which is then released in a mad fury of sublimity in the end. The three separate stories being told entwine like branches, growing slowly towards the devastatingly beautiful conclusion. Like the Science of Sleep, it’s simplistic and not something to be over analysed but enjoyed as a visual masterpiece. Five of out five, and a new addition to my most loved films.

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Second Batch of Films

As mentioned in my review of LOVEFiLM, this second batch arrived in two pieces with Blades of Glory being the second lot. Not that I was hoping to relish in the cinematic glory that is another Will Ferrell film, but damnit I sometimes require something that does not demand a single brain cell in order to be watched. And isn’t Jerry Springer. Anyway, this time round I received Some Like it Hot and Children of Men. Rated in the order I watched them:

Despite wanting to watch Some Like it Hot for years, Mike and I decided to watch Children of Men first since we both haven’t seen it. My brother insisted that I burn it instead, harping about how it was the worst film he had ever seen in his short eighteen year life span. He wasn’t too far off. Children of Men raises some spectacular issues, and reminded me a lot of V for Vendetta in that it takes place in a controlled British state. However the dialogue could have been written by, well, my brother, and the story was riddled with inconsistencies and loose ends. A barely there two out of ten - with the two given simply for the beautiful scene where the army cease fire to hear a baby’s cry.

Since Blades of Glory didn’t take too long to follow the other two, we sat down to watch it one late evening whilst I did my nails. As aforementioned this is another Will Ferrel film, with appearances from that goon who played Napoleon Dynamite (and we all know how ‘amazing’ that was). There were a few stupid moments which made me laugh pretty loudly, but otherwise that nothing too memorable. Good as background noise whilst painting my nails, so three out of ten will suffice. Oh, and the ice skating costumes were pretty kick ass.

Last but not least, the best of the bunch was Some Like it Hot starring Marylin Monroe. I can see why this is loved even so many years after it’s release. It’s a classic comedy with a little bit of dirty humour. Even so I felt some part of the films dragged themselves out, and felt sorry for Monroe’s character as she was wooed by the romantic yet shameless saxophone player played by Curtis. However the dialogue was sharp and there were some really funny moments (mostly with Lemmon’s character who had me in stitches with practically everything he said). I’d definitely recommend it, it’s a timeless film which I’m giving a well deserved eight out of ten.

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First Batch of Films

I’m going to do quick reviews of films old and new that I receive from LOVEFiLM. Ideally I should do it over on their site, but this is a better way for me to gain hitz ya’ll expoze sure readership. Lovely, buttery readership. The films in question here are Volver, Sunshine and V for Vendetta. In the order I watched them:

The one I started with was the one I wanted to watch the most - V for Vendetta. I had only glanced at the film once whilst drunk at a friend’s party. I don’t even remember what we were celebrating, but it certainly was not Guy Fawkes. I had no clue what the film was about which is a great premise for wanting to watch a film however I can say I genuinely enjoyed it. V for Vendetta is in the vein of 1984, with Britain being a highly controlled state. I loved V’s persona and I found his cryptic chats with Natalie Portman’s character an enchanting relief to the otherwise gritty and political subject matter. It’s also less predictable than I initially thought which is always good. A modest six out of ten for this little slice of anarchy.

Then there was Sunshine. It’s funny this wasn’t first on my list because it has Cillian Murphy as one of the lead characters. The film is simply a space mission gone wrong like so many other films, however it pays homage to classics like Alien, 2001 and The Shining, using camera angles, dodgy lighting and music (or lack thereof) to create atmospheric tension as the crew start developing space dementia. All very lovely, but the plot was somewhat predictable and a little drawn out to my taste. However there were some sweaty close-up scenes of Cillian screaming “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK” which left me uncomfortably hot and bothered in front of my whole family. Four out of ten overall, but if those scenes were to stand alone as a film it’d be higher.

I knew I had to rent Volver simply because it appealed to my infatuation with Hispanic culture being Latina myself. The only reason I hadn’t seen it earlier was because no one else I knew was interested, and to top it off I was very sceptical about Penelope Cruz being able to act having seen such masterpieces like Sahara and Woman on Top. However forty-one wins and forty-six nominations certainly draws ones attention and I have to say that I am very glad I rented this film. It is one of the best films I’ve seen all year, and my only regret is not seeing it earlier. I saw a lot of myself and my aunt in Raimunda. Even Mike liked it, and his usual genre involves gore, chainsaws and Bruce Campbell. Intricate plot, wonderful characters and a shocking ending - nine out of ten. I will be buying this film.

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LOVEFiLM Review

Yes the dodgy capitals are intentional - it’s how they ’spell’ their company name and since they’re established and all who the hell am I to dispute it. Anyway, LOVEFiLM is an online rental company operating in Europe. They recently caught my attention when they sent me a £50 voucher in the post for three months worth of free rentals - I had signed up at some point in the past presumably.

I thought that it was worth giving a shot, since there’s no local video rental shops around here (the nearest one is more than fifteen minutes away, and with it taking around twenty minutes or so to pick out a video that’s nearly an hour’s worth of just picking a fucking movie - might as well go to the cinema for all that effort).

I was a bit sceptical at first, since I am familiar with these sort of scams where they make you sign up and then you’re contracted for a minimum amount of time whereby you end up paying for all those supposed ‘free’ months you were presumably ‘rewarded’. There were no snags, so I went ahead, compiled a list of DVD’s to rent and waited.

A few days later (literally) my first three DVD’s arrived. One of them was scratched a little but didn’t present a major problem in the overall viewing of the film - although I do hate it when films jump since I like to fully immerse myself in the moment. Anyway, it was free so no complaints. The postage back is free since I was provided with a prepaid envelope so when I was finished I just popped the DVD’s back in and sent them back.

No more than three days later my next lot of DVD’s arrived. Unfortunately one was missing, and another one was pretty scratched - we ended up missing a five to ten minute chunk of the film. Luckily the film wasn’t that amazing, so it didn’t otherwise hinder the experience. The missing DVD arrived separately a few days later - weird!

The monthly fees are very affordable being £15.99 a month to rent three DVD’s at a time as well as having unlimited DVD’s for the entire month. That means if you rent three a week (perfectly feasible) you pay a little over £1 per DVD. Other tariff’s are £9.99 for one DVD at a time plus unlimited for the month and £7.99 for two DVD’s at a time and four lots of rentals a month. Bargain.

Overall I would highly recommend this service, but not without a little caution. I’ve only rented a few DVD’s and already some have not played properly. I’m a total film buff and love watching films so this sort of service is ideal if nothing else. If they pull their finger out and manage to impress me more within my free trial I will seriously consider signing up to them.

If any of you want to sign up, by the way, please reference me The website is LOVEFiLM.com and the e-mail I registered with is film@hey-girl.org. Cheers!

Oh and I will be posting reviews soon.

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