Carl watches Motion Pictures I aim to share my thoughts and opinions on the films I watch as I watch them

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008). This film caught me by surprise, I was expecting a usual teen film consisting of plastic looking guys and girls with the usual boy meets girl, looses girl and gets girl back formula. Ok it still subscribes to the formula but it’s the way the film has been put together that makes it stand out. The entire style enhances the honesty of the story; it comes across with an uncanny honesty which makes it easy to relate to.


I often get frustrated with American films that have no sense of reality attached to them, no grit, no real emotion. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is full of cheesy dialogue but it’s exactly what I would expect the characters to say, I felt like I know people like this! The City is shot as the characters see it, no long flying shots over the great New York, but rather the street and buildings seen from the characters point of view, Reign over me, shot New York in a similar fashion also with fantastic results.

Anyway it’s a cool film with an awesome soundtrack, directed and acted well, no real surprise to the plot line but overall it is still quite satisfying

“I will not be a goody bag at your pity party, Nick.”

IMDB stars: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Get it: Take2

Goya’s Ghosts (2006). It was late, I was tired but I did want to see what was going to happen. Goya is a well know painter who is entangled in a crazy time in Spain’s history. The Spanish Inquisition is coming to an end and Napoleon’s army is invading. The film takes you on a journey with the mindsets of the time, which are quite disturbing and absurd when compared to our current standards. Natalie Portman plays Francisco Goya’s muse, she is accused of heresy and locked up, the drama unfolds as her family (and eventually Goya) tries to help her.


I know very little about the Spanish Inquisition but now I feel I know the outline of what was going on. It’s amazing how a film can transfer knowledge; it’s also amazing how many people base their historical knowledge on films they have seen.

Can we trust a fictional film for historical facts? Or should we stick to the History Channel?

Most producers and directors have a sense of responsibility to people that lived in the times they are setting their films in to get it right, but at the same time they have a responsibility to make the film entertaining and often the adjustment of a fact is made to benefit the storyline or character. I think this type of adjustment is justified, and the line “Inspired by a true story”, should not be interoperated as “this is how it happened”

In Goya's Ghost, Francisco Goya turns deaf during the French Invasion, in actual fact he goes deaf much ealier.

Even the filmmakers’ point of view can skew the historical facts. Take Saving Private Ryan for example; if you knew nothing of WWII, after the film you might have the impression that America was the only ones fighting the Germans (this is true for many American war films).

So don’t throw away the history books just yet, and before getting in an argument about how America won the war, think about where you learnt your facts.

IMDB Stars: 7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 29%

Get it: Take2

Total Recall (1990) is an absolute classic from the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven who is better known for Basic Instinct. Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi /action style is quite unmistakeable: gore, girls and guns. If you liked Starship Troopers (1997) you will love this!


Total Recall was a great block buster film in the 90s which show cased many advances in computer graphics, makeup and other special effect fields. Today its available on Blu-ray and a must see. I must admit it has not aged incredibly well but that does not distract from the story line. It is a lot of fun to watch.

If you don’t feel like thinking too hard during a film and you are bored with the over produced special effects of today’s films take a look at Total Recall it’s a rollercoaster ride that no one should miss!

Let me know what you think of the film.

"If I am not me, then who the hell am I?"
IMDB stars: 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton

Hi all, some of you have let me know that the comment function is not working on the blog!! Ahh, anyway Please try again. IF it still does not work please let me know.

Carl

I rented X-Men Origins: Wolverine on Blu-ray, unfortunately I will be honest, I fell asleep but it did remind me of Gavin Hood, local hero.

Gavin Hood, local director went from directing A Reasonable Man in 1999 to acting in Stargate SG1 to winning an Oscar for Tsotsi in 2005, after that its block buster after blockbuster the last one being X-Men Origins Wolverine. He has gone from directing local talent to huge casts of the likes of Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhall, Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Jackman!

This very motivated hard working director deserves everything he now has but I cant help asking the what if question. What if he never won the Oscar? Gavin Hood’s career has absolutely skyrocketed after the Oscar. So how come no one noticed his talent before? Why could he not get a star studded block buster to direct before the Oscar?

Its a crazy industry where the know are know and the unknown (no matter how talented) stay unknown, the studios with the money only bet on sure things, so how does an unknown director from South Africa become known?

All you need is an Oscar.

The Road (2009). Here is one I can’t wait to see, something about a post apocalyptic films that make me excited, maybe that is why I love the Japanese Anime so much. I am planning on reading the book first, The Road written by Cormac McCarthy is last year’s winner of the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished fiction by an American author. He is also responsable for No Country for old Men


Apparently hugely depressing , The Road is a post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible, don’t miss it!



IMDB stars: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

The Abyss (1989). Ok I only caught the last half of this last night as I was doing other things, but having seen the film before and since it seems to be James Cameron month I thought I would blog it.

Set in the time America was under the fear of the Russians, I can’t quite place the film in a genre: action, adventure, Si-If, thriller? It has elements of it all. It is a great script by James Cameron, who also directed the film. I love the tension he creates between the characters environment, the antagonists and the unknown. Trapped on the ocean floor in an underwater base (which is flooding) with a psychopath marine who is on his own mission to blow everything up and on top of all that there are some mysterious beings floating around causing all kinds of tension between the characters.

You are kept on the edge of your seat as the plot twists and turns around the characters stuggle to survive, a great film.

"Sixty knots? No way, Barnes. The Reds don't have anything that fast"

IMDB stars: 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%