#2013 FILM

[oakensheilded]

Kill Your Darlings (2013)

I just finished watching Kill Your Darlings for the first time. It's rated R, but it isn't highly sexual or violent though there are scenes. I honestly enjoyed the movie and would recommend it. It was great, and honestly, I'm glad I watched it. It was recommended by someone saying that it fits the dark academia aesthetic, so I decided since I enjoy that aesthetic, I'd watch the movie. I wasn't disappointed, also the main character Allen Ginsberg is played by Daniel Radcliffe. So if you're a big Daniel Radcliffe fan you should watch.

[yesterdanereviews]

Snowpiercer (2013)

Film review #567

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

SYNOPSIS: After an attempt to halt climate change by releasing a chemical into the atmosphere, the Earth has turned into a frozen wasteland. The only survivors live aboard a trans-continent train that takes one year to travel the globe. At the front of the train, the people live in luxury, while those at the rear live in squalor. Among them is Curtis, who is scheming to revolt and make his way to the front of the train, and lead the people there to a better life...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Snowpiercer is a 2013 sci-fi post-apocalypse film based on the French graphic novel of the same name. The opening introduces us to the premise of the film; in which a solution to climate change was to disperse a chemical into the atmosphere, but this had an effect of completely freezing the earth and rendering it uninhabitable. The only survivors are living aboard a train that is constantly moving around the world, completing one full trip every year. The train is separated into a very specific order, with the wealthy and privileged living a life of luxury in the front cars, and the lower class living in squalid conditions in the rear carriages. One such person, Curtis, is working on a plan to stage an uprising to get to the front of the train and take control. The film follows the revolution as it travels through the train from the back to the front, and while you might be a little sceptical of how much variety and action you can fit in a 2-hour film set inside a train, you need not worry, as the film does a solid job of keeping things interesting, and varied. You get the claustrophobic feel of the carriages thanks to the impressive camerawork and crowded sets that generate a unique environment. Different carriages look like slums, factories, classrooms, restaurants, and nightclubs, all bound up in the same physical dimensions of a train carriage, and it's very solidly executed. The story is a fairly simple one to follow, and again, despite it's linearity, the film is able to drop in plenty of surprises and unique obstacles as the cast travel through the train. Perhaps they could have done something a bit more impactful with the ending, but that's the only criticism I can think of.

The cast of characters are well defined, and often exaggerated personifications of different facets of society. Curtis is the reluctant leader of the revolution, and you get a decent insight into the decisions he makes and how they weigh upon him. There's also a constant element of danger, as the stakes are constantly raised as a reminder that no one is safe; as main characters get killed left and right, and the revolution is always in a precarious position. The cast feels genuine, and on the whole the film is well acted, with a good, varied cast.

As mentioned, the film really shines in it's design and atmosphere: the train is able to encapsulate all these familiar environments, but with the twist of being contained in a carriage. It doesn't rely on cheap special effects, but rather well-co-ordinated action sequences that, thanks to the cramped settings, put you right in the action. The premise of a global-spanning train might sound a bit silly, and a post-apocalyptic setting that is used because only the best ones have already been done to death, but Snowpiercer genuinely offers something refreshing and exciting, combining a harsh and gritty setting with some stylish and exuberant characters. While the ending leaves things open-ended, it's a satisfying journey that combines a layer of seriousness and high stakes with some more absurd and exaggerated characters that lift the film out of being a total gloomfest just enough. Yes, the train is a thinly-veiled metaphor for the class-system, and there's not a lot of surprises in that regard, but the film genuinely surprises in being an entertaining, action-packed story despite the kneejerk impressions you might have of a revolution taking place on a train. I genuinely enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and again, while not perfect, excels in enough ways to take it an entertaining and interesting watch.

[bl-bam-beyond]

BL/GAY-ATW (BOYS' LOVE/GAY AROUND THE WORLD)

Movie: GEOGRAPHY CLUB (2013, USA)

A story about high school life as LGBTQ teens in very different stages of decisions about their lives. Caught kissing during a school sanctioned trip Russell (Cameron Deane Stewart) and Kevin (Justin Deeley) are summoned by the girl that caught them.

Kevin is deep in the closet, at a stage where though he knows his own desires he doesn't want to be seen as gay. A man with a love of football he wants only to play the game get a scholarship without his sexuality coming to light EVER. So to spend time with Russell he gets him on the football team and also ask him to deal with the girl that caught them.

She means no harm, she's a lesbian and creator of the Geography Club which mask a gay teen support group.

Russell joins the club but is still outed thanks to his selfish best friend who in effort to have sex with a girl who actually likes Russell. When he declines her advances she calls him the f-word making fliers hanging them all over school.

The next day he is kicked off the football team by Kevin and his homophobic teammates.

While Russell decides to take the "Geography Club" public. Kevin digs his feet in about staying in the closet.

There are several people that come to support the new Gay Straight Alliance. Even Russell's asshole best friend but Kevin is a no show. Ending their secret relationship permanently.

[indigomood]

Freier Fall (2013)

[hydravns]

PACIFIC RIM (2013) Dir. Guillermo Del Toro

[stil-lindigo]

image i made for a powerpoint night with friends

[andrew3garfield]

EVIL DEAD (2013) dir. Fede Álvarez

[n3kodorobo]

Evil Dead (2013), dir. Fede Alvarez

[yvain]

Robin Wood, “Psychoanalysis of Psycho”

Stoker (2013) dir. Park Chan-wook

[yesterdanereviews]

Lucy (2013)

Film review #627

Director: Luc Besson

SYNOPSIS: A young woman is tricked into delivering drugs for a organised crime ring. She has the drugs planted in her intestines to smuggle through the airport, but when the bag starts leaking, her body absorbs the experimental substance, giving her superhuman abilities. As her powers increase and her grip on reality fading, she reaches out to a Professor in the hopes of passing on her experiences before she transcends to whatever happens next...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Lucy is a 2013 sci-fi film. Lucy is given a briefcase full of experimental drugs to give to a Korean crime syndicate. Things quickly escalate as she is roped into smuggling a packet of drugs to Europe inside her intestines. When the package inside her starts leaking, her body starts absorbing the drugs, unlocking more of her brain power and slowly transcending human existence. She enlists the help of a university Professor to help her pass on her experiences before she unlocks one hundred percent of her brain and transcends her very existence. Blending action, philosophy, and a sprinkle of humour, Lucy achieves a finely balanced weave that viewers can ride on from beginning to end. I enjoyed this film for mainly two reasons: the aforementioned balancing of action, philosophy, suspense, humour and more that allows the film to hit the ground running and never stop. The second is that it's short: clocking in at just over one and a half hours (about one hour and twenty four minutes excluding the credits), it does what it needs to do and is over. The film covers the philosophical ground of what it means to be human, but doesn't have the big scenes of silence like 2001 or something similar to give us the space to reflect that. That's not a bad thing though, it just offers us a different way of doing this kind of speculation.

The film revolves around the popular misconception that humans use only use ten percent of our brains, and speculates what would happen is we started to use more: as Lucy unlocks more of her brain power, she is able to control more and more things around her, including her appearance, matter, and so on. The film has a clear start and end point, and moves along fairly evenly, while still keeping things exciting. The action scenes are well choreographed, and while the premise of the film is based on the aforementioned urban myth about the use of the human brain, it still evokes enough wonder and speculation about what makes us human and purpose to sow the necessary philosophical seeds. The film bears the fingerprints of it's director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets), with colour, energy, and purpose in all the scenes, and Scarlett Johannsen portrays Lucy as both a human figure, who is slowly becoming something else entirely well. The more you think about the scie3ne behind the film, the less it really makes sense, but the philosophical ground is fairly sound. Lucy is a film that never overstays its welcome: it's careful balancing of action, speculation, and humour does everything it needs to do with a sense of style, and makes it an entertaining ride from start to finish. Just a damn good ride really.

[bragascreenshot]

[blackthornluce]

Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio as Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (2013), co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann.

It's so sad, because it's so hard to make her understand. It's so hard to make her understand. I've gotten all these things for her. I've gotten all these things for her and now she just... she just wants to run away.

[indigomood]

FREIER FALL (2013)

[i-nabi]