And The Winner Is....

My word! I have so many films to review!!!

But first things first.

A week yesterday was the end of our annual film week (Woohoo.) Last year was very official.. We had notepads and rated the films to decide a winner. We scraped that. This year was about enjoyment. We didn't decide a winner all together but I know what came out on top for me. (Note: The winner isn't my favourite out of the films on the list. Just the one that I enjoyed most in film week.)

Here are the films:

• DAY 1


• The Beach (****)
  
• Moon (*****)


• Goodfellas (*****)


• The Good, The Bad and The Weird (See previous review)


• DAY 2


• Into The Wild (****)


• The Holy Grail (*****)


• The Pianist (*****)


• Being John Malkovich (*****)


• DAY 3


• In Bruges (*****)


• Brick (*****)


• Walk The Line (****)


• The Shining (*****)


• DAY 4


• Leon (We were half asleep - or asleep- for (ooer))


• Garden State (****)


• Taxi Driver (Which we never got around to.. This year or last year.)


• [500] Days Of Summer (*****)
  

You can tell from my mini star ratings which films I loved.

But the winner is.........

[500] Days Of Summer!

So lets review it.

The story of one man called Tom and his love with Summer. A girl... Not the season. The tag line of the movie is, 'Boy meets Girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.' Sound original? No? Well it is. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works in an office and falls for colleague Summer (Zooey Deschanel.) She may or may not love him back. We follow the 500 days of their relationship, good and bad, but not in chronological order. We jump from day 22 to 204. (Maybe not those exact days but you get the point.)

The film doesn't take itself too serious. We're randomly treated to a documentary about love with opinions from characters. There is a huge dance sequence complete with an animated bird. There is a split-scene comparison between reality and expectations for a whole scene. The film is very funny. Check out the date scene in Ikea, "Honey. I don't know how to tell you this, but there is a Chinese family in our bathroom." But it is also sad... After all it is (not) a love story.

The soundtrack is epic. Every song is brilliantly selected. Some camera work is outstanding and the acting is just... wow.

Watch this movie. No exception.

Best bit? Either the dance sequence or the first date to Ikea. Classic.

Timecrimes OR Los Cronocrimenes

You may well have guessed that this film isn't an English language film. That's okay right? We don't mind some subtitles, do we? No. Because one cannot claim to love films without first accepting films in all of its forms and varieties.

Anyhoo. Do you like Time travel? Paradoxes? Naked Women? Crazed bandage wearing freaks? Then boy do I have a film for you! In English it's called Timecrimes though its real name is Los Cronocrimenes, directed by Spanish director, Nacho Vigalondo (His first feature film may I add.) I was first attracted to this film when they showed this picture in Empire Magazine:

Only a real man can pull off pink...

I love crazy, psychotic characters and when I saw those bandages I knew he'd be a good'un. And so I read the article but alas it wasn't that informative.... But HMV had the answer; there it was in the foreign films section for only £3. How could I refuse? I couldn't is the answer. And it didn't disappoint.

The plot is awesome. It feels like one should think more but really you just have to sit back and watch the events occur. It's mind bending nevertheless; How does the loop start? Did any paradoxes occur? Did Hector affect the timeline at all? The simple answers to all these questions is... It doesn't matter. IMDB message boards will answer them correctly but the simple truth is you don't need to know.

Next, the acting. I very much enjoyed Karra Elejalde's change from a mildly grumpy middle aged man to a dark, sinister character as he battles himself for his life. (You'll get it if you watch the film) He travels back in time a couple of hours and has to preserve the timeline and ensure that he (Hector 1) proceeds to carry out Hector 2's actions. Confusing? Nah. Watch it... it'll make sense.

"Damn I knew I should've brought my telescope"

Overall the film is an enjoyable waste of 90 minutes or so. There are some excellent camera shots, an awesome score, some OMG NO WAY moments and some funny times. Also look out for a crew member trying to get out of camera shot at around 4 minutes when Hector picks up the phone.

Best Bit? Another Tricky one but I'm gonna go with The first chase in the woods with the bandaged guy. (See second picture for exact moment.)