I have been very bad recently! This is my first post in far too long and I heartily apologise. To try and explain I have been pretty busy, still doing two jobs and the world cup has started (essential viewing for all!) and I've had some recent money issues, so it was this week I decided to get back on track and chose a lazy, sunny Monday afternoon to go and see Please Give, new indie comedy from writer/director Nicole Holofcener. Interesting to note at this point I was the only person in the cinema, so anyone who doesn't love noisy popcorn crunching audiences I recommend this time slot to be ideal!
Now on to the film. It follows two families. The first consisting of Kate and Alex and their 15 year old daughter Abby. They have the very morally noble livelihood of buying furniture from the children of the deceased cheap and selling for a huge price in their hip little vintage furniture shop. Nice. The second group is headed by shy but worthy Rebecca, who administers mammograms to frail old ladies. She also visits her dying grandmother, who lives next door to our first family (who have purchased the decrepit woman's apartment and are waiting for her death...even nicer) Rebecca has a sister, Mary, who while being addicted to tanning is one of the best played bitches I have seen on screen for a long time (credit to Amanda Peet) The lives of these two clusters becomes linked as the film progresses as they all try and battle with their own moral dilemmas. Kate is guilty about her career and feels compelled to hand out cash to every homeless person she sees, even if it turns out they're not homeless but waiting to be seated in a busy restaurant (a particular highlight) she is also dealing with a teenage daughter, skin and weight tantrums to follow . Her husband Alex also begins an affair with the charming Mary on the chair of her facial administration room, well it's clean at least? And poor Rebecca is struggling to cope with her ageing, and very blunt, grandmother's demanding ways.
The razor sharp script is certainly the most prominent feature of this film, and some moments feel like early an Woody Allen. Initially I thought this was just going to be a typical cynical black comedy. And the first third of the film does feel a bit like this, the relationships seem too clichéd, especially between mother and daughter. But just give these character time to grow and they suddenly become three dimensional. This is when the real humour of the piece comes out, and I can assure you laughing in an empty cinema is quite a surreal experience! But as I said this certainly is a dark comedy which really gets at the crux of some issues which face society, that of charity. How much should people give? Should we all feel guilty about how much we consume when others have so little? These are some of the questions which Kate battles with. Excellent acting is also seem by almost every member of the cast from Rebecca Hall playing her namesake with another flawless American accent to Catherine Keener as guilt ridden Kate. Also to be given special mention is Ann Guilbert as the elderly grandma, who's blunt tongue provide some of the funniest moments in the film. All these are signs of some first class Directing from Ms Holofcener, who I will certainly be looking out for in the future.
I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for some laughs with a brain behind them and is prepared to actually think during a film and perhaps question some of our own actions as a result. So I will reward this with a fully deserved 8/10. And I will be sure not to leave things so long next week!!
Monday, 21 June 2010
Friday, 4 June 2010
Sex and the Sit down your in for a long ride....
Well I promised that I would see a variety of cinema both art house and Hollywood money makers. Therefore this week I have most certainly gone for the latter. It was the turn of those four women from New York in Sex and the City 2, set to be one of the biggest grossing film of the season. This was quite dramatically demonstrated to me when I went to see it in the Richmond Odeon screen 1, which was completely sold out consisting solely of women...I was already getting worried at this point.
Now here is where I would normally give a synopsis of the film, explain the initial equilibrium the characters find themselves in and then the various twists and turns the plot takes and the moral and physical journeys the characters are facing. However in this case I feel this to be almost completely unnecessary as the plot in this film seemed almost non-existent. OK, maybe this is being too cruel the film is almost 2 and a 1/2 hours after all so something must happen in it...some characters must change in some way and learn some life lessons...surely? Well, lets take a closer look. So two years have passed since the last look at these women when Carrie finally took the plunge and married 'Big'. So today in 2010 they find themselves all in fairly similar situations. It begins at a big gay wedding, something which I would never normally be averse to, but when you are quite boldly confronted with a gyrating Liza Minnelli singing Beyonce's 'All the Single Ladies' it's quite a different matter...I assure you. So that was all quite good fun for all but Carrie's getting worried her marriage is stale, and Charlotte isn't coping well with two children (and a Nannie...poor thing) Miranda isn't happy at her high powered law firm and Samantha is about to face the menopause. Well it certainly looks like these women are close to breaking point, I don't know how they're surviving...hmmm. Well Samantha comes to the rescue and whisks them all away to Abu Dahbi on and all expenses paid trip. Now the flurry of money that is hurled at this sequence is quite astonishing, private jets, private butlers, private cars, hotel rooms, swimming pools, wardrobe's...you get the picture. And they're all having a wonderful time in the sun and sand. But it couldn't really justify itself as a film if things didn't go wrong so some things do...Charlotte fears her husband is cheating, Samantha is facing hot flushes AND indecency charges when she has a little fling with a man in the hotel, Carrie meets an ex boyfriend and kisses him! (OMG) and Miranda is fine...so how will they ever get home after Carrie leaves her passport at a spice market? oh wait it's still there when they go back, thank God for that there could have been an interesting plot development there for a second. Then in my opinion the real low point in the film comes. When trying to escape the market they are taken into a little side room by a group of women, covered up in the traditional burka's, which of course the New Yorker's find shocking. But then these women reveal they in fact love fashion and toss their burka's to the side to flaunt their fabulous hair and make-up and everyone is happy. Now the thought that these women would only be interested in the materialistic culture of those women rather then embrace any of their natural heritage seems slightly odd to me. But may I'm just being too sensitive? So they all return safely to their natural habitat and everyone is forgiven and everyone is happy. I felt here that my usual discretion when revealing film ending's to be somewhat unnecessary. Another key point to bring up is that these women are just slightly too old now to be these glamorous sex kittens, I just don't think Sarah Jessica Parker's face can handle a close up. Or I can't!
Now it's not all bad to be fair, it's true that this film doesn't take itself too seriously and provides some light relief for thousands of women, and being honest I had a fun time in the cinema with my girlfriends. But that's all it is...a fun time. And I think such popular films owe it to their audience to give something more, if escapism is all it is then why do these women lead lifestyles most people could never achieve, driven almost entirely by money. And people shouldn't aspire to lead such vacuous lives, they deserve more. While these women are unquestionably strong and independent, all they want is money, sex and fashion. Is there really nothing more to a happy life? If that is the case that is a depressing thought to be faced with. I will leave you with the image that in the cinema as soon as an attractive man threw is shirt off to reveal his sweaty abs the audience spontaneously burst into applause and whooping...enough said really.
Therefore I believe this film really only deserves 4/10, for irresponsible film making...shame on you Michael Patrick King. Keep reading for next week for something completely different!
Now here is where I would normally give a synopsis of the film, explain the initial equilibrium the characters find themselves in and then the various twists and turns the plot takes and the moral and physical journeys the characters are facing. However in this case I feel this to be almost completely unnecessary as the plot in this film seemed almost non-existent. OK, maybe this is being too cruel the film is almost 2 and a 1/2 hours after all so something must happen in it...some characters must change in some way and learn some life lessons...surely? Well, lets take a closer look. So two years have passed since the last look at these women when Carrie finally took the plunge and married 'Big'. So today in 2010 they find themselves all in fairly similar situations. It begins at a big gay wedding, something which I would never normally be averse to, but when you are quite boldly confronted with a gyrating Liza Minnelli singing Beyonce's 'All the Single Ladies' it's quite a different matter...I assure you. So that was all quite good fun for all but Carrie's getting worried her marriage is stale, and Charlotte isn't coping well with two children (and a Nannie...poor thing) Miranda isn't happy at her high powered law firm and Samantha is about to face the menopause. Well it certainly looks like these women are close to breaking point, I don't know how they're surviving...hmmm. Well Samantha comes to the rescue and whisks them all away to Abu Dahbi on and all expenses paid trip. Now the flurry of money that is hurled at this sequence is quite astonishing, private jets, private butlers, private cars, hotel rooms, swimming pools, wardrobe's...you get the picture. And they're all having a wonderful time in the sun and sand. But it couldn't really justify itself as a film if things didn't go wrong so some things do...Charlotte fears her husband is cheating, Samantha is facing hot flushes AND indecency charges when she has a little fling with a man in the hotel, Carrie meets an ex boyfriend and kisses him! (OMG) and Miranda is fine...so how will they ever get home after Carrie leaves her passport at a spice market? oh wait it's still there when they go back, thank God for that there could have been an interesting plot development there for a second. Then in my opinion the real low point in the film comes. When trying to escape the market they are taken into a little side room by a group of women, covered up in the traditional burka's, which of course the New Yorker's find shocking. But then these women reveal they in fact love fashion and toss their burka's to the side to flaunt their fabulous hair and make-up and everyone is happy. Now the thought that these women would only be interested in the materialistic culture of those women rather then embrace any of their natural heritage seems slightly odd to me. But may I'm just being too sensitive? So they all return safely to their natural habitat and everyone is forgiven and everyone is happy. I felt here that my usual discretion when revealing film ending's to be somewhat unnecessary. Another key point to bring up is that these women are just slightly too old now to be these glamorous sex kittens, I just don't think Sarah Jessica Parker's face can handle a close up. Or I can't!
Now it's not all bad to be fair, it's true that this film doesn't take itself too seriously and provides some light relief for thousands of women, and being honest I had a fun time in the cinema with my girlfriends. But that's all it is...a fun time. And I think such popular films owe it to their audience to give something more, if escapism is all it is then why do these women lead lifestyles most people could never achieve, driven almost entirely by money. And people shouldn't aspire to lead such vacuous lives, they deserve more. While these women are unquestionably strong and independent, all they want is money, sex and fashion. Is there really nothing more to a happy life? If that is the case that is a depressing thought to be faced with. I will leave you with the image that in the cinema as soon as an attractive man threw is shirt off to reveal his sweaty abs the audience spontaneously burst into applause and whooping...enough said really.
Therefore I believe this film really only deserves 4/10, for irresponsible film making...shame on you Michael Patrick King. Keep reading for next week for something completely different!
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