Film Reviews

tangerinebreem · Film Reviews

Going to do some film reviews for teh blog when we can get back on, so will stick em here for now.

Zidane: A 21st century portrait

Ostensibly a cinematic version of Sky's player cam, 'Zidane' is both the best and worse of the contemporary fethistic view of football. On the one hand, this claims made about this film are almost ludicrously pretentious yet on the other, the resulting watch is both sumptiously rich and refreshingly stark. How, I hear you cry, can this dichotomy exist?
Simple: Zidane - Why is 90 minutes of one man running up and down, fleetingly touching the ball and occaisionly yelping 'hey' strangely compelling - Because, simply, it's Zidane, because it's the genius, the enigma, the dark, moody magic, a player who existed without hype, without hyperbole who seemed to just, well, be fucking amazing.
The film captures his intense concentration, his incredable touch, his fantastic knack of drifting into space - To a none football fan, I really doubt whether this film has appeal beyond 5 or ten minutes, but to someone like me, then this is curiously compelling watching. - In short, the richness is the physical genius of Zidane, one headed pass alone is just outragously good and ridiculously cooly executed -

What then, of the starkness? - The cinematography gives us no replays, no slo-mo's, no voice over, just vision and crowd and some times the yelps and breaths of the players. It felt good to watch football on a screen and escape from the conventions of the football production, to feel like an onlookers at a recorded event, not a consumer of a designed product.

Mogwai's soundtrack blends well with the layers and textures of the stadium noise and gives a lovely floaty feel to some of the less edifying passages of action, which in turn give the film a refreshing snse that, actually, you are being given time to reflect and study, rather than sold an icon in a highlights reel.

Football's place in culture is an uneasy one for me - I do think the world's greatest game deserves recording and examing for it's ability to elicit passion and bring together millions weekly - conversely I also think much of this attention is sloppy, lazy, sentimental and aimed at selling a nice comfy version of 'the football experience' or 'the most important thing in the world TM' - For me, Zidane avoids the latter and despite obvious difficulties for a wider audience achieves something simple - provides a document of one of the greatest modern players and as such is an admirable success.

If you avoid the bullshit about 'this film represents a physical musing upon existential questions blah, blah, blah' - you can't help but like it. [/img]

tangerinebreem · Little Miss Sunshine

Well, hmmm - It's not really the most y'know, ker-azy avant-garde genre bender on the market but what the heck, I watched it, I had thoughts, so here goes...

I did and didn't like this film, I liked the fact it was well acted - Abigail Breslin as 7 yr old Olive was outstanding and I say that as someone who thinks kids should be shot for appearing in films - Toni Collette was also especially believable as harrased but caring mother. I liked the fact it was family friendly without being too 'cute' and I loved one sequence in particular near to the end where aforementioned 7 yr old Olive does a strip tease-esque routine in a kid's beauty pageant.

Now, I didn't love this because I am a budding Johnathan King, but because it got directly and amusingly to the point that such events are hideously wierd and way more fucked up than any amount of other things. The central message appeared to me to be a lovely softy 'be you, not some model cos being you is way cooler' - which is fine, I know that (he says....) but this film could concievably play to a 12 yr old and yeah, removing my cynical hate for a moment - that ain't actually such a bad old thing to say.

The subtext troubled me a little though, for though we are introduced to an interesting blend of 'anti stereotypes' - Grandad's on cocaine and Uncle Frank is a (get this!) not totally effete gay man. Yet by the end of the film, Gramps is dead and Frank's homosexuality seems to be the sole cause of all his considerable misery - So kids, be yerself but remember, drugs kill yer and being a fag is fine, but it makes yer really unhappy.

Am I being overly sensitive? I suspect if this film were french I would be praising the whimsical, gentle humour and citing 'a sensitive portrayal of gender and sexuality' or something, but though I undoubtedly enjoyed it, somehow it just didn't sit quite right with me. Could have been far, far, far worse though...[/img]

tangerinebreem

a) I realised I could get on the blog
b) I noticed the sticky
c) I am a twat...

wraeth

Ninjadmin

they were good reviews

i'd say you were a fool rather than a twat tho

tangerinebreem

I ain't nobodies fool you young pup..

Film Reviews

Little Miss Sunshine