With Love, but without feeling.
After a surprising resurgence in 2011 with the triumphant Midnight in Paris, renowned romantic comedy director Woody Allen returns to cinemas with another venture in Europe. The once great director’s unique filmmaking approach typically balances wit and satire with an indulgent personal sentiment, often in the form of a love letter to a city.
Identity Crisis
It was around this time last year that moviegoers were rewarded for their perseverance through the inconsistent period of five genesis movies with the breathtaking Avengers Assemble. With eye-popping action, acute self-awareness and exemplary Hollywood conventions, Joss Whedon’s incredibly successful blockbuster may not have redefined the popular superhero genre, but it did set a remarkably high standard for any film or filmmaker who dared to follow.
You don’t have to be murderous to work here…
Unfortunately, it’s likely that the majority of us have had the experience of working for a horrible boss, but as nightmarish as our own experiences may seem they are nothing compared to those featured in Seth Gordon’s 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses. The entire film hinges on the presentation of its three antagonistic bosses and its prime strength is the actors cast in these roles; Spacey, Aniston and Farrell.
Low standards won’t be enough to help you here
While I don’t recognise a direct correlation between the violence presented on cinema screens and the horrors a disturbed and spiteful person might wreak in public, it’s tasteless films like Red Dawn – with its senseless glorification of teenage gun violence – that give ammunition to those wanting to make that connection.
The good old days.
From its potent idiosyncrasy to its ceaseless, yet stylistically flexible humour Moonrise Kingdom is childlike, but in no way simpler or less serious than any of Wes Anderson’s previous films. In fact, it eclipses each of them with a mature expression of childhood complexities. Beneath the varying layers of peculiarity, eccentricity and comedy is a meaningful reflection of relationships, family and love.
Here’s an idea…
Having earned them a colossal amount of money with The Dark Knight, Warner Bros rewarded Christopher Nolan with the finances to create an entirely original film.
Hopefully it won’t leave you craving the end of the world.
Budding screenwriter Lorene Scafaria makes her directorial debut with the intriguing comedy drama Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. What’s immediately impressive about Scafaria’s films is the way in which she approaches the disaster movie subgenre. Rather than being obsessed with explosions, astronauts or superheroes, Scafaria is refreshing by crafting her narrative around a considered presentation of how ordinary people react to extraordinary situations.
Continue reading ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Review’
