FILM CHALLENGE: 169) Poltergeist

169) Poltergeist

Director: Tobe Hooper

Year: 1982

Plot Summary: The daughter of an American family is taken by a host of ghosts who invade their home.

Produced and written by Steven Spielberg, it would be wrong to expect an atmospheric, haunting and genuinely frightening horror movie from Poltergeist. Instead, the legendary film-maker who has brought us the likes of Indiana Jones, E.T. and Jurassic Park does exactly what he's best at here: He crafts a spectacular piece of escapism that brings the cinema screen to life.

Collaborating with director Tobe Hooper, they together tell the story of a young family are visited by ghosts in their home. At first the ghosts appear friendly, moving objects around the house to the amusement of everyone, then they turn nasty and start to terrorise the family before they kidnap the youngest daughter.

While the narrative and the characters both play out exactly as you would expect here and, very frequently, Poltergeist slips into cliched and overly conventional territory, the movie's held together by the fact that it's such good fun. There are moments of suspense that'll keep you on the edge of your seat, moments of humour that'll bring a smile to your face and moments of breathtaking action that take you on a thrill ride.

In many ways, because Poltergeist never aims to be a work of art and, instead, simply asks you strap yourself in and enjoy the ride, picking apart the glaring issues in the storytelling and character development feels somewhat unfair. After all, it succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do.

A visually stunning and exciting slice of entertainment, Poltergeist is about as much fun as the horror genre could ever be. Suspend your disbelief and switch your brain off and you'll be taken on a thrilling journey.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

The Scariest Movie Scenes Ever

It's Halloween and to celebrate The Cinema Blog has compiled a list of the ten most frightening movies scenes.

But be careful because there are spoilers ahead!

10) Hidden - Suicide.

"I just wanted you to be present for this..."

These are words of an old acquaintance of Hidden's main character. What follows is one of the most unexpected and shocking scenes in cinema as he suddenly grabs his knife and slits his throat. The still, quiet nature of the scene makes it all the more chilling as the camera doesn't move once or cut away for an entire minute.

09) The Descent - Hand-held camera footage.

Who isn't scared of the dark? The Descent not only shrouds the background in total darkness keeping us afraid of what may jump out, but also messes with our sense of direction and places its characters in an underground prison for this scene. Therefore, the monster could be lurking anywhere and there's no escape for the characters when he appears.

08) The Birds - Gathering outside the school.

"Do not make a sound until I tell you to run..."

A mother waits outside a school when, all of a sudden, she notices hundreds of black birds sitting eerily on the climbing frame. Silent but for some distant squarks, they look on from above while a sense of doom gradually begins to arise. As someone admittedly afraid of birds, Hitchcock's horror was at its most terrifying here.

07) The Ring - The little girl walks out the TV set.

Something so innocent and harmless as a TV set. Something so inanimate and unthreatening as a VHS tape. The Ring takes both of these everyday household items and turns them into a dangerous tool of evil that no-one can escape from. After this particular scene, you'll view every old video tape with fear and discomfort.

06) Jaws - An attack in the water.

You'll never want to go in the water again after seeing Jaws. Playing on our fear of the unknown, the opening scene cleverly hides the shark underneath the water and focuses entirely on the victim's suffering as she is thrown about like a child with a doll.

05) The Shining - Danny meets the twins.

The long tracking shot, the bizarre camera work, the surprising cut aways and the creepy score, when Danny meets the twins in The Shining it'll send goosebumps down your body.

04) Rosemary's Baby - Birth of Satan's child.

"Hail Satan!"

There's something wrong with the apartment complex in Roman Polanski's masterpiece and in the last ten minutes, the grand decor and caring tenants give way to an eerie undercurrent of satanism. One of cinema's most haunting moments.

03) Psycho - Shower scene.

Brilliantly directed and edited to create the illusion of stabbing and complemented by a piercing score, the iconic and frightening shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho deserves recognition if only for kicking off the entire mainstream horror genre.

02) The Exorcist - Crucifix masturbation.

"Let Jesus fuck you!"

There's something utterly demonic about this scene from The Exorcist. Maybe it's the washed out colour scheme, the chaotic editing, the disturbing hybrid of blood, sex and religion or just the possessed voice of a young girl as she spouts off some disgusting language. Whatever it is, you won't quite feel the same watching this.

01) Alien - Dallas in the ventilation.

I'm not jumpy. I never have been. All through my life I've told people this and they have, in response, tried to jump out at me and startle me with little success. But one movie scene changed all that; when Dallas encounters the alien in Ridley Scott's 1970s masterpiece. It's terrifying work of suspense and impending doom that uses the Spaceship's mise en scene to terrific effect.

By Daniel Sarath with 5 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 168) It's Complicated

168) It's Complicated

Director: Nancy Meyers

Year: 2009

Plot Summary: When attending their son's college graduation, a couple reignite the spark in their relationship, but the complicated fact is they're divorced and he's remarried.

An insight into a modern relationship, It's Complicated is the story of Jane who, after her son's graduation party, hooks up with her now re-married ex-husband Jake. At the same time, she finds herself attracted to her recently divorced architect Adam.

By no means is It's Complicated a great movie. The complication in writer and director Nancy Meyers' new movie, for example, remain more in the scenarios than the emotions. Therefore, it's difficult to connect to any of the characters and what they go through. Nancy Meyers' characterisations, moreover, are a little obvious and, despite the fact that they appear for a good slice of the screen time, Jane's children serve little purpose to the narrative expect for in one or two small scenes.

Nevertheless, it does succeed in one area that elevates the whole movie above its faults: The acting.

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin are having so much fun in this romantic comedy that it's impossible not to get swept up in the good time they're having as well. Streep is a pleasure to watch as her character rediscovers her attractiveness and worth during a mid-life crisis, Baldwin stirs up many laughs with the confident satisfaction he exudes in seducing his ex-wife and juvenile jealousy he exhibits when another man comes across Jane's radar, and Martin shows a rare tenderness and fragility in how he deals with post-divorce life.

Even when, in reflection, you realise that It's Complicated is entirely meaningless and has nothing to say, it's impossible to deny the entertainment that these three bring to the screen.

In the end, what you are left with here is a well-acted romantic comedy that, in spite of its faults, is a mature insight into a modern relationship. Don't expect anything profound or artistic and you'll have a good time.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 167) Tetro

167) Tetro

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Year: 2009

Plot Summary: Bennie travels to Buenos Aires to find his long-missing older brother, a once-promising writer who is now a remnant of his former self. Bennie's discovery of his brother's near-finished play might hold the answer to understanding their shared past and renewing their bond.

A deeply personal picture that's overflowing with passion, this is the Godfather of American cinema's best work in over twenty years.

Set in Buenos Aires, Tetro is another Francis Ford Coppola tale of familial discord, following young American Bennie as he tracks down his mysterious older brother who has completely cut his ties with his family and reinvented himself as a writer named Tetro. During Bennie's stay with Tetro and his girlfriend, he begins to piece together what made his brother run away and the two brothers grapple with the haunting experiences of their shared past.

The story and themes here are nothing new, but what elevates Tetro above its familiar subject matter and turns the film into something extraordinary is its remarkable style. The director's compositions, with the chiaroscuro black-and-white cinematography provided by Mihai Malaimare, are inventive and surreal, giving it a gleaming appearance that I've never seen anything like before. Though in his 70s now, it's obvious that this is the work of an artist making a film purely for the sheer love of filmmaking.

His plotting and narrative, moreover, is very operatic drawing influence from the South American plays that appear in the story. That isn't to say it's perfect as there are, after all, sequences that are far too long, completely pretentious and not all of it makes sense. But, nevertheless, Tetro never runs out of interesting things to say about rivalry, family, art or the weight of expectations at any point in its 2 hour running length. Or at least, it never runs out of an interesting way of presenting these themes.

Vincent Gallo, one of the most controversial figures in the cinema industry, turns out a fantastic performance as Tetro seemingly with ease. It's a part that Gallo was born to play blending together the madness, genius, mystery and fascination of the movie's protagonist.

Some will role their eyes at this work of high-art calling it indulgent and pretentious, but there will surely be just as many people who will be left in wonder by it.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 166) The American

166) The American

Director: Anton Corbjin

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: An assassin hides out in Italy for one last assignment.

Released on Labour Day weekend in America, stateside audiences flocked to see George Clooney's latest movie The American, many under the belief that they were in for an action-packed ride. Therefore, The American was a box office success making tens of millions of dollars on its opening weekend. Nevertheless, the critical and audience reception ranged, generally, from disappointment to outright hatred. After all, Anton Corbijn's latest drama is a quiet, subtle and minimalistic study in existentialism and far from what you'd have expected from Mr. Clooney.

After a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for an American assassin, Jack, he retreats to the Italian countryside where he relishes being away from death for a spell. Holed up in the small medieval town, Jack takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact, accepts the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto and pursues a beautiful woman, Clara. Jack and Clara's time together evolves into a romance, one seemingly free of danger, but by stepping out of the shadows he may be tempting fate.

Despite the aforementioned reception that it got across the pond, The American may well be one of the best films of 2010. While it's not for everyones liking, it is extremely slow paced and features very little dialogue or drama whatsoever, Anton Corbijn has crafted a haunting and subtle insight into the effects that living a life of isolation, privacy and loneliness has had on Jack now that he is growing old.

It's an intricate character study and one that, for a narrative we've seen many variations of before from films like In Bruges and Grosse Point Blank to The Bourne Identity, is quite unique. It's also fantastic in the way that it doesn't, not even for a second, play the viewers for fools or conform to the typical Hollywood style of tearing the protagonist to pieces before your eyes and explaining each and every aspect of the character for you. In The American you will instead have to piece together who the real Jack is through what is suggested and implied in ordinary, everyday moments.

This character study becomes part of the narrative during the second half of the movie while the opening 40 minutes set the atmosphere and tone of the picture. Both the direction from Corbjin, who made the superb Control, and the screenplay by Rowan Joffe give it a wonderful sense of impending dread that puts us in the shoes of the constantly fearful Jack. The American also gives us a terrific insight into his aforementioned isolation through long takes, repetition and an understated performance by George Clooney. Though he is recognised mostly for his cool, well-composed portrayals of Danny Ocean in the Oceans trilogy, he gives his character a dark edge in this drama that, underneath the Italian suits and sunglasses, has a troubled core that has come from years of paid murder.

A victim of expectations and poor marketing, The American may have not have been recognised as the great movie it is upon the movie's American release. Similarly, it's likely to befall the same fate when it hits the UK in a few weeks time. Nevertheless, Anton Corbjin has created something beautiful here. A unique drama that is atmospheric, well-observed, gorgeously photographed and features one of the best performances of the year.

And look how amazing that poster is!

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 165) Howl

165) Howl

Director: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: A drama centered on the obscenity trial Allen Ginsberg faced after the publication of his poem Howl.

Allen Ginsburg is one of the most iconic poets of the 1960s and this film, Howl, explores the creation, delivery and feedback of his most controversial work, a poem that the poster aptly states "started a revolution" and "rocked a generation".

The movie switches between five scenes: The court room in which a trial commences in order to determine whether Howl is obscene or not, a mock interview with Ginsberg who explains how the poem came to be, flashbacks of the events he describes in his interview, the reading of the poem and animated sequences which bring the visuals to life. In it's style, therefore, Howl is not unlike I'm Not There, taking a conventional story and approaching it in a unique and unconventional manner. However, the similarities don't end there as this drama suffers from exactly the same issues as Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan picture did too. In the way that I'm Not There will be entirely insufferable to anyone unfamiliar with the singer, if you have no interest in either Ginsberg or poetry in general, Howl is likely to bore you to death.

To tell the truth, even if you are a huge fan of famous poet and his work, there's little about Howl that will grab you either. Firstly, the episodic style of the narrative leaves it almost impossible for you to make an emotional connection with Ginsberg. Secondly, the animated sequences, though fascinating at first, become tedious by the time they're used for the third or fourth time. Thirdly, there's absolutely no character development or narrative development whatsoever. And lastly, the issues that the film-makers explore aren't all that interesting.

The most involving scenes are those in the court and, frankly, they start to become repetitive by the second half of Howl as Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman continue to hammer the same nail that they did for the opening 40 minutes with no developments or tension at all.

It's difficult to totally pan a work that, while not very good, at least tries to be unique in an era when cinema can be so predictable. However, Howl is a frustrating little art-house movie that will leave you cold and empty.

2/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 164) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

164) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Director: Shane Black

Year: 2005

Plot Summary: A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role.

A hilarious parody of films like The Big Sleep or Double Indemnity, Shane Black takes all the conventions of a film noir and turns them into a darkly funny buddy comedy in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a movie that hits you with jokes so fast and hard that you won't fnd a minute to catch your breathe.

A petty thief, Harry, finds himself on the run from the police after a robbery goes wrong. In an attempt to shake his tail, he runs into an audition for a crime movie. Much to his surprise, the producers and director think Harry is perfect for the part and immediately send him out to Hollywood to prepare for the role. There, he is given detective lessons by private eye and film consultant Gay Perry and soon finds himself entwined in one of Perry's cases when they witness a murder.

The film does a spectacular job of taking the hard-boiled dialogue of 1940s noir flicks and turning it into a work of comedy gold. Though only used a few times in the movie, Harry's voiceover is a perfect example of this as the usual first-person perspective that you'd find in films like Out Of The Past is replaced by a bundling, wholly unreliable narration that hilariously jumps back and forth as Harry 'remembers' important things he forgot to mention earlier. It also amusingly breaks the fourth wall as Harry, in one scene, actually asks the audience "Gee, do you think that scene will come back later?".

Like The Big Lebowski before it, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is also very funny for its intentionally convoluted and far-fetched mystery story. Shane Black is, quite obviously, teasing the audience to keep up as he throws more and more names into the mix and makes the roots of the murder run deeper and deeper. However, Black is also a talented writer and, therefore, he knows the limits to which he can run this idea. Although he may want it to be ridiculous and tangled, he understands the fine line between entertaining and infuriating.

Furthermore, its rare that a film finds a perfect balance between action, mystery and comedy. A movie like Tropic Thunder suffered for letting the humour slide into the background during the last act as the action scenes took centre stage, while In Bruges few faults come in the finale in which the action feels forced into the comedy. However, even when everything starts to tie up with a torture scene, car chases and a shoot out on an L.A highway, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang remains both thrilling and jaw-achingly funny.

A cool, sharp, fast and constantly funny satire of both Hollywood and the film noir genre, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the very definition of entertainment.

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment

FILM CHALLENGE: 163) Lost In Translation

163) Lost In Translation

Director: Sofia Coppola

Year: 2003

Plot Summary: He's doing a commercial, parlaying his fifteen minutes of movie stardom. She's just graduated from college, recently married, and tagged along with her husband, a photographer on assignment. He's married with children, but he's never home. She's supporting her husband, but has no idea what she wants to do with her own life. Both are searching for the meaning of their lives and begin to find it when they meet each other at the bar of the hotel they're staying in.

Sofia Coppola has created one of cinema's most soulful stories with her underrated masterpiece Lost In Translation.

Loosely plotted and set over a few days, Lost In Translation is the story of Bob Harris, an American film actor far past his prime who visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting rock photographer. Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage while Charlotte is looking for her place in life. When they meet in the hotel bar and spend their free time together, their friendship becomes a life-changing experience. Bob teaches Charlotte about life and she teaches him to reconnect with his.

The movie is essentially just a compilation of moments from both of these individual's experiences in Tokyo. However, what makes these moments so strikingly beautiful is how they explore both Bob and Charlotte's emotions and desires and how, when they eventually meet just over a third of the way through, learning about each other helps them overcome their problems.

Moreover, Coppola's style of storytelling in Lost In Translation has a subtle and quiet atmosphere that makes it honest and realistic. You won't find any grand gestures or Hollywood dialogue here as she, instead, challenges the viewer to find the subtext hidden with seemingly ordinary and average sequences much like you would if you were studying two people in real life.

We see in these aforementioned scenes, for example, that Charlotte is a character looking for a direction or path for her life. She wanders around the neon lit streets and the religious temples searching for it in this new place but is only feeling more lost with each day. How she personalises her by room by hanging origami decorations from the ceiling symbolises her desire to make this foreign place into a 'home'. Furthermore, her conversations with friends at the hotel bar help to also enforce this displacement; Charlotte is more interesting in philosophy and, therefore, feels unable to discuss power cleansing and action movies the way everyone around her seems able to.

Similarly, we see Bob's unhappiness and discontent with his life in these moments. A famous actor who longs for an escape from his celebrity, he unenthusiastically poses for a two-million dollar photo shoot or politely ignores the conversations of adoring fans in a bar. But he's also looking an escape from the commitment of his home-life as he forgets his son's birthday and is bored of the unromantic pleas of his wife to choose a carpet and shelves for his study. His inability to find happiness can be found in the subtle moments when, even cocooned underwater in the swimming pool or flirted with by a masseuse, he still seems lost. Isolation nor an affair can cure this sadness.

Neither of these characters are particularly likeable which adds an extra dose of honesty to Lost In Translation. Bob, after all, treats his son and wife terribly by neglecting them while Charlotte is moody and constantly discontent. Nevertheless, the fact that they are so well drawn and well observed helps you connect with them.

The Japanese setting of Lost In Translation also not only allows for Coppola to indulge in her ability to capture extraordinary visuals, but it also helps to intensify the above characters' alienation and displacement.

The performances from the two leads, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, who are given the difficult task of capturing these complex individuals, are outstanding in Lost In Translation. Fitting into Sofia Coppola's subtle and quiet style of filmmaking, much of what they achieve is done internally. There's few tears and no declarations of sorrow or love here, instead it's all played in the mannerisms and the eyes. The way Johansson almost unattainably inches away from her husband or shrugs herself out of a cuddle shows and one look Murray's emotionless eyes and tired face say more than any dialogue could.

As touching a story you are likely to find in a modern American indie movie, but one that is equally intelligent, creative, deep in meaning and extraordinarily well-made from a woman who is destined to become one of this generation's most promising auteurs.

5/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 162) Catfish

162) Catfish

Director: Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel's brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of their lives.

Catfish is a horror movie for our times. You won't find crazy chainsaw wielding monsters lurking in the darkness in this one though and you certainly won't see any shadows crawling along the walls. Instead, this documentary is about the terrifying everyday dangers that people face in the world of social networking.

Nev Schulman is an up-and-coming, young photographer from New York City. After seeing one of his photos, 8 year old Michigan-based artist Abby paints a portrait of the work and Nev is overwhelmed. They become Facebook friends and soon, Abby's good looking half-sister, Megan, attracts Nev's attention. As he and Megan hit it off, his brother and best friend, Ariel and Henry, decide to film the growing and deepening relationship.

However, things soon take a turn for the sinister as Nev discovers that Megan isn't all she's made up to be.

Catfish tells the same kind of story that we've seen in the news time and time before. However, this documentary succeeds because it has such a huge heart. In the first 20 minutes of the movie you truly feel for Nev and connect with his love for Megan. These moments are filled with such warmth that, even knowing that things are soon to turn ugly, you still feel moved as he hears her voice for the first time and compulsively scrolls through pages of her Facebook photos. When the aforementioned turn does occur, therefore, a chilling moment in the movie, we truly feel Nev's confusion and experience how crushed the man is.

It also succeeds as being a thoroughly engrossing mystery story. Like Nev, you won't want to just leave the story at the moment that he realises that things aren't what he thought they were, you instead want to dig deeper and find out who 'Megan' really is, who is real and who is fictional, and just what their plans were for the New York photographer. As this slowly unfolds before your eyes, Catfish becomes an enthralling experience that is tense, shocking and disturbing.

At first, I found the closing act of Catfish a little underwhelming. Maybe, with no help from the marketing people who built up these final moments to be something explosive and frightening, I was expecting something a bit more dramatic or action-packed. However, I now see the beauty in it: 'Megan' and her family are real people. These aren't monsters or villains, these are just ordinary human beings who are messed up by the way their lives have turned out. Sure, it certainly leaves you with the impression that Nev and the filmmakers were lucky that these people weren't violent or dangerous, but it is equally fascinating and chilling to pull back the skin of these people and see what has led them to coursing naive people on the internet.

Despite its low production values, Catfish is a spectacularly made documentary from two very talented filmmakers. Its sense of emotion and its ability to place you right alongside Nev is unbelievable while the use of Facebook photos and Google Maps instead of establishing shots and stock pictures gives it a contemporary feel.

A haunting documentary that will stay in your mind for weeks after its finished. You won't want to accept your next anonymous friend request on Facebook.

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 161) Babel

161) Babel

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Year: 2006

Plot Summary: Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's drama, Babel, is an interesting yet flawed examination of four different families on three different continents connected by the consequences of their actions.

Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Moroccan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. Out of boredom, they decide to test how far their rifle can shoot by firing at a passing bus. The bullet goes farther than they thought it would and it hits an American tourist, Susan, on the coach. Susan and her husband Richard are forced to seek medical assistance in a local village while the Moroccan police search for the culprits. Back home, their babysitter decides to take their children across the border to her son's wedding having unexpectedly been told she must look after them longer than anticipated. Meanwhile, in Japan, the deaf-mute daughter of a Japanese arms dealer searches for human contact despite her disability.

The concept of Babel is a fascinating one exploring how one act of violence, in an instant, ruins the lives of many different people. It is also well constructed as you begin to realise the order in which the events occur. However, the individual stories of these characters really aren't connected by much more than that. Therefore, especially with such a long running time of just over two hours, it's easy to question why exactly we are watching these stories unfold. None of them are held together by one mystery or theme, for example, and instead play out like four short stories that are intertwined. The Japanese segment feels especially redundant as you only see the loose connection to the other events form at the end. Far too little and too late, in my opinion, for it to justify its place in the narrative.

Furthermore, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's work is always so unentertaining making it difficult to re-watch. Of course, the stories of a dying tourist, an illegal immigrant, a deaf-mute looking for a connection and two boys on the run from the police aren't going to create the most exciting of movies. But my issue comes from the fact that there are opportunities of hope in Babel: The father's love for his daughter in Japan, the determination of Brad Pitt in helping Cate Blanchett to safety, etc. Yet, Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga focus so heavily on the darkness and the despair. As the final scene fades you can't help but feel anything other than depressed and empty.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that the actual storytelling is pretty average, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's filmmaking is worthy of praise. He gives each location and story a very distinctive feel, his direction is very forward and honest rather than enhanced by meaningless stylistic devices and he says a lot more through his visuals than he does his script. It's also got an ensemble of spectacular performances, especially Adriana Barraza as Amelia and Brad Pitt as Richard.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments

FILM CHALLENGE: 160) Love Actually

160) Love Actually

Director: Richard Curtis

Year: 2003

Plot Summary: Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Love Actually could easily have been a visual supplement with the book 'Screen Writing For Dummies'. By that, I don't mean that Richard Curtis has managed to craft the perfect script in his seasonal romantic comedy. In fact, I mean it more in the sense that any aspiring writer should view this is a guide for to how not to write a script.

Connected through work colleagues, friendships and family members, Love Actually explores the love lives of eight different characters in the build up to Christmas.

Proudly boasting the tagline "The Ultimate Romantic Comedy" I have always been intrigued by the feature. Especially after hearing that a favourite film critic of mine feels that Love Actually is one of the most underrated romance stories of the 21st century and one look at IMDB will show you that it has a high 7.9 rating. But, in fact, Love Actually is a terrible movie.

First of all, eight stories are far too many to allow any viewer to connect with any of the characters. Especially when, in reflection of the whole thing, there are a good number of the segments that have absolutely no need to be there. I challenge anyone to explain the relevance of the pornography shoot relationship, for example, as well as the utterly stupid segment involving a man who goes to America believing women will love him there.

Furthermore, because of having so many stories, a good number of these characters only appear once or twice in the entire two hours. This makes their narratives as predictable as a North Korean election and also doesn't allow any room for their characters to be explored or developed.

The very few that are explored, such as the relationship between Liam Neeson and his son or the god-awful segment with Colin Firth and a foreign women, end up being so sentimental and schmaltzy that you'll spend the entire time cringing. They're completely unrealistic scenarios that play right into the fantasies of lonely, desperate middle-aged women. In other words, Love Actually for the most part, as well as being a supplement for the aforementioned 'Screen Writing For Dummies', could also just be a visual Hallmarks poem.

It doesn't exactly help either when the performances are this bad. There are a few child characters in film and TV that would probably make the narrative better if they were neglected in a basement, but the horrible performance by Neeson's aforementioned son makes Sam one of the worst I've seen. The appearance of Joseph Fritzel wouldn't have been unwelcome by the time he starts to hatch a plan to make his primary school sweetheart love him. Also horrendous is Bill Nighy who is so miscast here as a rock star that he might as well be playing Nelson Mandela.

Curtis becomes so bogged down, moreover, in his ambition of making this a British event that he neglects any resemblance of story. The cameo appearances by Michael Parkinson and Jo Whiley are just plain unnecessary while his humour is so stereotypical that at times it frankly becomes embarrassing.

Sentimental, obvious, awfully written and badly performed, Love Actually is, despite what critics and audiences may tell you, shit actually.

1/5

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

20 Best Original Scores Of The Decade (2001-2010)

01. There Will Be Blood

Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood has been described as one of the greatest movie monsters of all time. Not only that but the oil well which stands in the centre of the small town in which the film is set is much like the monolith in 2001: An inanimate yet fearful contraption that has the power to cause great evil. Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead helps to bring both of these aspects to life with a fantastically unconventional and haunting score full of violin shrills, dizzying percussion and an escalating sense of danger.

02. The Assassination Of Jesse James

A thing of heart-stopping beauty, the raw sounds of Nick Cave's piano and Warren Ellis' violin create one of the most gorgeous film scores of all time in The Assassination Of Jesse James. It has the power to break your heart and chill you to the bone in the same bar and perfectly complements the glacial pace of Andrew Dominik's masterpiece.

03. The Dark Knight

Hans Zimmer can be criticised for essentially reworking the same score for every movie. But when he does put his all into it, the famous composer is the very best there is. The Dark Knight, in my opinion, is his masterpiece. The ear-splitting crescendos of the violins as The Joker appears on screen, the way his music for Harvey Dent flows from heroic to tragic as the man becomes Two Face and the sustained sense of tension throughout is outstanding. A memorable score that will soon join the ranks of Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Jaws.

04. Slumdog Millionaire

Gone are the stereotypical sounds of zithers and tablas that Hollywood usually associates with India. For his Oscar winning score for Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman brings the real culture of Mumbai to the big screen. Here, he treats us to a thumping soundtrack of rock, dance and hip-hop music that, as well as complementing Danny Boyle's visual flair, places us right into the streets of Mumbai.

05. Far From Heaven

The Magnificent Seven. To Kill A Mockingbird. The Great Escape. Elmer Bernstein is the sound of the Hollywood golden era with compositions that are vibrant, emotional and elegant. So when Todd Haynes decided to recreate a 1950s melodrama with Far From Heaven, there was only one person he could approach to score it. It would be the Hollywood legends final work and a fitting swan song to an illustrious career. Beautiful and heartbreaking.

06. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

It's impossible to find a movie so full of bliss as The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Alexandre Desplat brings this to his Oscar nominated score. Using chimes, banjos and acoustic guitars, his music is as cheerful and uplifting as you'll find in this era of American cinema.

07. Pan's Labyrinth

This dark fairytale from Guillermo Del Toro requires a similarly haunting score that fits right into the fantasy genre. But I don't think anyone could prepare themselves for Javier Navarrete's foreboding and chilling lullaby that works its way through the narrative. An unforgettable piece of music that was rightly nominated for an Oscar.

08. Amelie

Very fitting to the Parisian setting, Yann Tiersen's score for Amelie, consisting of traditional instruments like accordions, music boxes and harpsichords, wonderfully enhances the joyful, poetic nature of the French classic.

09. The Fountain

Collaborating with Scottish prog-rock group Mogwai, Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet are able to create a score so transcendental and celestial that you will literally be blown away. Awesome in its scope and depth, this is the most ambitious works of music that you'll find in all cinema.

10. A Single Man

A Single Man, above anything else, is about a man trying to rediscover the beauty in life. Therefore, the score screamed out for something that would inspire wonder and amazement. Not an easy feat for most composers, that's for sure. Nevertheless, Abel Korzeniowski seemed to tackle the challenge with ease with this amazing and criminally underrated piece of work.

11. Brokeback Mountain

It's not just influenced by the country music of Brokeback Mountain's setting, it's an intimate and powerful work of romance that helps you experience the emotions of its two main characters.

12. Moon

At times it sounds like the lonely ambient sounds of the space station while at others it perfectly captures the growing sense of foreboding and the confusion of the protagonist, Clint Mansell's score for the British sci-fi, Moon, is another work of genius.

13. Where The Wild Things Are

Populated by the playful screams of children, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs almost forces you to reminisce on your happiest childhood memories in her score for Where The Wild Things Are. It's the perfect companion to a movie about what it means to be a child and tt will leave you with a huge smile on your face.

14. The Social Network

The Social Network is a fantastic study of modern society. Therefore, how does one score such a contemporary work of art? Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails does so by scrapping the orchestral sounds of 99% of Hollywood movies and, instead, gives David Fincher's latest movie a flurry of electronic loops, blips, whirs and hums. The result is a soundtrack that not only fits its modern style but perfectly portrays the endless and uncontrollable flow of the online information and the flurry of genius that populates the dark world of Mark Zuckerberg.

15. The Proposition

This is the sound of a barren wasteland; the thuds of a dull drum, the constant hum of a low noise and the sole whine of an old violin. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' first attempt at a film score is a haunting one that captures the blood-thirstly, grizzly nature of The Proposition.

16. Finding Nemo

Close your eyes and listen to Thomas Newman's score for Finding Nemo. Immediately, this beautiful work of music will take you deep into the ocean. Need I say any more? This is perfect companion to a movie set almost entirely in this setting and Pixar's best score.

17. Atonement

While it retains the sound of the period's classical music, this Oscar winning score for Atonement also brilliants experiments with the sounds of a typewriter, symbolising what the effects of one letter have had on three characters' entire lives. At some points these sounds also cleverly resembles the marching of an army, reminding us that this letter has resulted in James McAvoy's draft into the war while the piano and strings ring of the heartbreak and regret that Kiera Knightly and Saoirse Ronan feel.

18. 28 Days Later

One of the most famous pieces of music from this decade, the score from 28 Days Later is an epic and slow-burning work that wonderfully symbolises the ever-growing sense of panic that Cillian Murphy suffers upon waking in the hospital at the film's beginning.

19. The Incredibles

Fast paced, energetic and lively, the score from The Incredibles by Michael Giacchino is spectacular. Bringing to the mind the music of James Bond and the vibrant, ecstatic works of 1960s comics, it suits the genre, the animation, the story and the setting spectacularly.

20. The Lives Of Others

A suspenseful work of music that is so simple yet effective, The Lives Of Others' score will have you thinking that the East German secret police are going to be invading your home too.

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments