REVIEW: Restrepo

Restrepo

Director: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan's most strategically crucial valleys reveals extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully push back the Taliban.

Winner of this year's documentary award at Sundance and tipped for an Oscar nomination, Restrepo is a documentary that follows a group of soldiers positioned in the most dangerous area of Afghanistan for just over a year.

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment

REVIEW: Monsters

Monsters

Director: Gareth Edwards

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

Monsters has been causing some giant waves within the film industry. Made on only £500,000, shot by only two people and pieced together by a minuscule crew, it's a testament to the power of low budget film making during a period when everyone is keeping an eye on their wallets. Director Gareth Edwards proudly uses his talent for visual effects and expert eye for cutting corners here to create this science fiction movie that proves you can still achieve stunning visuals with just a handful of cash. All you need is a good imagination.

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REVIEW: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Year: 2009

Plot Summary: When renegade Sergeant James takes command of a highly trained bomb disposal unit, he frequently risks the lives of himself and those around him with his suicidal methods and a complete disregard to danger.

It's the season for film awards with the Golden Globe nominations announced this week and the Oscars looming closer and closer. Therefore, it's only appropriate to revisit last year's big winner: Kathryn Bigelow's war film The Hurt Locker.

By Daniel Sarath with No comments

REVIEW: 300

300

Director: Zack Snyder

Year: 2007

Plot Summary: In the midst of the Persian-Greco war, Spartan King Leonidas leads his army of 300 soldiers into battle against the invading Persian army during the Battle of Thermopylae.

Although I hated his adaptation of Watchmen with a strong passion, I was convinced by a friend to watch Zack Snyder's acclaimed 300 a few weeks ago. Adapted from the graphic novel by Frank Miller, the man who created the surprisingly entertaining neo-noir Sin City, it tells the story of Spartan king Leonidas who took his army of just 300 men to war against an invading Persian force. Nevertheless, despite what IMDB users or various critics have said, I found 300 to be even more terrible, cringe-worthy and infuriating than the aforementioned Watchmen.

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment

EDITORIAL: Analysing the Golden Globe nominations

The Golden Globes leave me disappointed year after year.

While the Oscars, though admittedly not perfect, have had a fairly good history of choosing nominees who truly deserve to be recognised, the Golden Globes instead seem to get it all wrong.

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REVIEW: Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go

Director: Mark Romanek

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.

One of the most anticipated releases of the year comes in the form of Mark Romanek's Oscar-tipped drama Never Let Me Go. Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, which was called the book of the decade by Time, it follows three children at a seemingly idyllic boarding school as they grow up.

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REVIEW: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Director: Julian Schnabel

Year: 2007

Plot Summary: The true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body.

To simply call The Diving Bell And The Butterfly masterpiece of film-making would be an injustice because, in fact, Julian Schnabel has crafted one of mankind's greatest works of art with his beautiful, stunning and overwhelmingly emotional tale of Elle magazine's former editor Jean-Dominique Bauby.

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REVIEW: Somewhere

Somewhere

Director: Sofia Coppola

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: A hard living Hollywood star is forced to re-examine his life when his 11 year old daughter turns up on his doorstep.

Sofia Coppola's movie is one that causes a strange response in the viewer; it is both wonderful and disappointing at exactly the same time. After all, it's hard to deny that Somewhere is a work of high-art that confirms Coppola as a master behind the camera, but it's also something of low entertainment leaving you cold, emotionless and frankly a little bored.

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REVIEW: Badlands

Badlands

Director: Terrence Malick

Year: 1973

Plot Summary: Young lovers, Kit and Holly, go on a killing spree across towards the Badlands of Montana.

Malick's first debut remains one of cinema's finest moments almost 40 years after its release charting the road trip that Kit Carruthers, a young garbage collector, and his girlfriend, Holly Sargis, take towards the Badlands of Montana after killing Holly's father.

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REVIEW: Public Enemies

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann

Year: 2009

Plot Summary: The Feds try to take down famous American criminal John Dillinger during a booming crime wave of the 1930s.

It all seems like a recipe for greatness. Combining the story of America's most notorious criminal, John Dillinger, with the direction of Michael Mann and the performances of Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard, Public Enemies promised to be one of the finest films of 2009. However, it is somehow a major disappointment.

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment