Change Your Image
shirlty56
Reviews
Watermark (2003)
On another level-scary
I came out of this film just shaking. It was so moving. It is a bit like Morvern Callar and you can tell its made by a young director because it takes so many risks. The film is a bit slow at the beginning but then it gathers pace and it is so frightening at the end that anything could happen. The young actor Jai Koutrae plays a man who is very disturbed under the calm exterior. It is a difficult role but he gives an amazing performance and is able to transform between time periods seemlessly. He is really looking like the next big thing because of his degree of subtle transformation that he is able to make. The scrrenplay is unusual because it is a film that is light on dialogue but there is plenty of action. However I think the film will shock a lot of people who go and see it. It's a brave film and some will find its themes and depiction very uncomforting.
Perfect Strangers (2003)
unsettling but entertaining
Perfect Strangers is amazing because it swaps genres constantly and therefore is unsettling because you never know in what direction it is going to go. One minute you are laughing the next you are wondering if someone is going to be killed as it turns into a thriller.
Raising Victor Vargas (2002)
the teenage years
This film captures the true struggle with identity that is ongoing in our teenage years. It is really moving and it feels strangely like a documentary-not contrived but very real. It is very interesting and unsettling
Black and White (2002)
Not very realistic
It tries this film but ultimately it does not live up to the expectations that are on it. Despite some very good actors it gets bogged down in a slow script. It contains important issues but unfortunately the director cant really deliver
Travelling Light (2003)
a film without purpose
Travelling Light is a film that really doesn't go anywhere. It is a film about 1970's Adelaide which had very little life but the director fails to find an interesting angle on this. It could have been interesting but it really does not capture anything new. It's another lost opportunity.
Love Actually (2003)
Light entertainment at its best
Love Actually is such great light entertainment. If you feel like a bit of a light night out it is the perfect film. In some ways it feels a bit American as it is full of sugar- but for a Friday night flick it's great. I also love Rowan Atkinson and Huh Grant- perfect casting all round
Japanese Story (2003)
Not a very engaging film
This is a very slow paced film that has the emptiness of the desert and no real soul. Toni Collette goes through the paces but really she is not interested in exploring her character. I think the director has some ability but the writing is really too weak. It has flashes of interesting moments but nothing is sustained.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Weird and wonderful
Punch Drunk Love won at Cannes and I can see why. Adam Sandler plays a role that is so different from anything he has played before. There are so many parts in the film when you don't know whether to laugh or cry. His sense of frustration with his life is so extreme because of his normal lack of emotion then he erupts into uncontrolled anger. It is the most interesting American film I have seen in a very long time. A strange yet rewarding experience.