The Blindside

Whilst it's normally difficult for me to produce brief and relatively uninspired film reviews, The Blindside is a film deserving of one. Somehow nominated for Best Film, and Sandra Bullock won Best Female in a Leading Role, The Blindside is the fairytale American real-life story of how a timid, academically-lacking black man made his way from the ghetto into the big time that is the NFL.

Though the exact motives for this film aren't clear, the level of patronisation throughout is appalling. What Hollywood doesn't seem to have learned in the last two decades is that by actively and aggressively showing leniency towards the supposedly inferior races, it doesn't condemn racism within films or the media, it simply highlights how obvious positive discrimination is.

In The Blindside, there are examples all over of how the middle class Republican housewives - and indeed the rest of the WASPs as a collective - perceive the so-called inferior characters within their idea of what America is. They're the slaves, the valets, their gardeners, their maids and cleaners. This viewpoint will not change until the media tells the suburban American to.

For these exact reasons, The Blindside cannot be treated as a genuine or serious film. Sure, it's based on true events, but I refuse to believe that the infuriatingly racist views portrayed in the film are necessary to essentially propel what is basically an anti-racism story into the audience's brains.

A film which is so clearly lacking in substance, in genuine moral highground, and in sincerity doesn't deserve a good score.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Having watched Beautiful Boy last year, I was aware of the prevalence within Hollywood of approaching the Columbine-esque nature of teenage killers. Whilst America's right-wing media (normally led by Fox News) continues to blame all forms of media, including products Fox produces itself, there is still a lingering fear that no one really notices what triggers such violent - and seemingly unfounded - acts of mass murder

We Need To Talk About Kevin is am ambitious project in that it provides a slow-burner of a film, one which documents the journey and challenge that is bringing up a rebellious, bad-mannered child who doesn't want to take a safe or considered route in life.

We see various scenes from Kevin's life. As a toddler, he's unruly, as a young boy he ignores all instructions and only ever seeks to have his own way in life. For many, the first 45 minutes will be somewhat tiresome and forgettable. So I thought, myself.

However, the film really comes into its own in the second half, as we see just how truly evil, vindictive - and more worrying - how calculated Kevin really is. As him and his mother (played by Tilda Swinton) eat dinner in a swanky restaurant, he specifically tells her what she wants from the experience, and openly mocks the idea of a happy family. Kevin's only concerns in life are for himself, his ego, nis narccicism, and to make sure anyone who tries to stop this will be harmed. The one strange note however, is his love and adoration for his father, an aspect of the story which doesn't seem to be covered anywhere.

As the second half of the film builds towards the climax, there are shots interspersed of Eva (Swinton) leaving a courthouse, with the general public yelling in the background and sirens blazing. This, combined with flashbacks to Eva removing vandalism from her house, hint at a bigger image. Something that much more harrowing than the tedium that she has endured throughout her life as a mother.

Without spoiling the film's pay-off, I choose only to comment on the strengths of the film. The director, Lynne Ramsay, adopts a quite incredibly appreciation of the significance put upon audio and visuals. Whilst the audience is thrown right into the mix with the shots of sirens, of mobs of parents condemning Eva to hell for what she has brought into the world, we're also treated to the minimalistic shots of her house. A noticeably empty shell of a living. The house has no personality, no sounds of joy or children's happiness. The direct contrast between the bland whites and greys of the house from hell, and the crowded (both auditary and visually) courthouse shots present the polarising - and demonising - nature of Eva's life, brought on by what Kevin has put her (and many others) through.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is an odd film. There are no likeable characters, but we massively empathise with the Mother. Though we rarely see anything in the film's final chapter, it's what we envisage, based ont the 1 hour 40 minutes, that scares us even more. As with the horror genre, it's often what we imagine happening, rather than what actually happens, which scares the audience more.

For that reason, this is a film everyone should watch.

8/10

Midnight in Paris

The not-so surprising: Rachel McAdams is the worst thing about the film.

Surprising: Owen Wilson doesn't play Owen Wilson, and the film benefits massively from this.

The film's message is straightforward but the way it delivers it makes it more intriguing but also really insightful. Marion Cotillard is stunning (as per usual) and Alison Pill pops up with her weird head again, but there's not much else to say. This is only my second Woody Allen film, though I don't know if it's a typical Allen film, so can't really comment on that. It's a nice film, it doesn't force anything upon you and it leaves you thinking.

The film's moral is that everyone is basically looking for an escape from their busy and crappy lives. They often seek a time allegedly better than their own, but the reality is that there was no real Golden era. Hindsight paves the streets of history with Golds, as if there was any really magical era or decade or particular revolution, but the truth of the matter is that what makes anything special is how you choose to live your life.

Sure, it's corny as hell, and the film's ending shoves that down your throat, but for a Woody Allen film, it's nowhere as tongue-in-cheek as it should be.

7/10

Paranormal Activity 3

Having been a massive fan of the first Paranormal Activity film, and still enjoying the sequel, I felt it made sense to check out the third.

The original film employed minimalism to perfection, calling upon very subtle noises and anomalies to call attention to what was effectively a film shot in a bedroom over the course of a few weeks. The sequel, taken up by new producers I believe, decided to overhaul the formula and bring to the fray what every cheap horror film lover craves. Jumps. The film brought with it an intriguing back story, involving a demon (shocker) who wanted to steal the couple's son, and would let nothing get in its way of achieving this disturbing objective. Cue plenty of crashes, bangs and wallops as cinema audiences across the world screamed and shrieked their way through this over the top and frankly cheapened horror experience.

Watching the third film made me realise just how decent the first film is/was, simply because the idea of the POV style is horribly abused in this film. When using POV throughout a film, you leave the audience open to be scared at the drop of a hat, simply because anything popping out of the periphery can scare the audience. In PA3, it happens far too often, especially towards the end, and it feels horrible, tacky and cheap. The only real element of interest was the notion of the cult, which - led by Kate's grandmother - was urged to make sure that a baby boy was taken by the demon. One particular scene sees Kate's father (I think) stumble into what seems to be an assortment of cult members, who subsequently follow him in a disturbing manner. Sadly, this was the only real moment of surprise.

It becomes very repetitive and boring very quickly. Sadly, there is a fourth in the works.

6/10

The Descendants

An Oscar nominee, I felt it was worth reviewing this.

A film which, for me, never really gets going. There are often scenes where it feels like something dramatic will happen, and the film is certainly emotionally-charged enough to warrant as such, but it doesn't really threaten to leave first gear. There were times when it felt like a Coen film, with odds pieces of comedy added to particularly moving/sombre scenes, and it was quite difficult to gauge at times. Clooney is good, but the acting on the whole just isn't particularly good. Nice to see Judy Greer pop up (Kitty from Arrested Development), and the older daughter is pretty hot, but there wasn't much else to say about it.

7/10