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The Gambler (2014)
Much better than lead to believe
Not buying the terrible reviews on this one. A lot of thought, skill and effort went into this film and for me it was a step above. Focus - that should get 1 star. This was original and well crafted, immensely watchable. Marky Mark did a fine job, as did Greig Fraser in shooting it, and for a clearly bigger budget, over-marketed film I think it was well worth the entrance fee.
And I managed to write all that without mentioning the soundtrack. Jon Brion of Punch- Drunk Love fame has composed a compelling score while an all round strong choice of music. More people should see this film than will be put off by the negative reviews.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Not as bad as I'd heard
Not brilliant by any means, but after a jumbled opening 30 minutes it settles into itself as soon as Moses is exiled. There's some lovely cinematography in there and I find Bale as watchable as ever. Some of the scenes were breathtaking, others, as other reviewers have said, rely heavily on CGI to the point of being off-putting.
My feeling is this all comes down to editing choices. There is a lot of story to cram in to 2 1/2 hours and perhaps a lighter, slower touch would have done this film some good. Moments of thoughtfulness and reflection are absent in this cut, and even though a four hour film would be too much, Peter Jackson has already solved this problem, twice, and I think Exodus could take a leaf from it's book, be a bit more soulful and let the excellent cast do the rest.
180° South (2010)
Self-mythologising Crap
I'm sure somewhere beyond the dull, carefully chiselled facades of meaningful looks and old traveller clichés are some ordinary, nice guys. But this meandering tale just seems to dissolve into endless shots of themselves surfing, or looking at a fire, accompanied by a never-ending series of just dreadful Jack Johnson-esque tunes. The only reason this movie exists beyond these guys own Macs back home, is clearly a misguided attempt by one of the two rich benefactors to promote their conservation efforts (the other rich guy just seems manically depressed). Occasional nice landscape cinematography is your only respite from this blatant attempt at self-mythologising, and creating a story where there really isn't one. Oh, and the narrator is making a book out of it all! The joy!
Gayby (2012)
Fresh and hilarious
Reading the two absurdly negative reviews here I felt compelled to write a brief rebuttal. This was hilariously funny, sharp and extremely enjoyable (yes even to non-target audience like me), and if you enjoy supporting independent film, this should be up near the top of your list to see.
Someone else mentioned soft core pornography. This is a film about a woman trying to get pregnant, for which one must (in most cases) have sex. In this case it happens to be with her gay best friend. I thought these scenes were brilliantly handled - very funny and original. I cannot imagine how that could fall into any other category.
See this film, trust me, you'll enjoy it.
The Help (2011)
Civil RIghts for the Eat Pray Love set
For people who've never seen a movie depicting the civil rights movement, this would not be a good place to start. If you watched it and found it 'entertaining', then shame on you. Making up a story about this time to entertain and manipulate for profit is pretty despicable in my view, and I'm afraid I'm incredibly disappointed that this film seems to be getting positive reviews on here.
If you lack education and a general sense of right and wrong - this is the film for you. There are so many important great works in film and in literature on the era and topic. How did this get made? It's also racist in and of itself in its depiction of black people and the white people are so disgusting and caricatures of evil. It's entertaining only if you are almost completely ignorant of that period of time - for the rest of us it's just offensive. It's also got that well worn trope of the black women helping a white woman to succeed / act as an apologist for (here's the spoiler) her taking off to NY in her big successful career while one happily continues to be beaten by her husband and the other loses her job.
100 thumbs down.
P.S. I'm not alone: "The Association of Black Women Historians finds it unacceptable for either this book or this film to strip black women's lives of historical accuracy for the sake of entertainment." Yes!