Change Your Image
doyobimas
Reviews
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
"Have you ever confused a dream with life?"
Girl Interrupted explores what goes on inside the minds of young confused girls within a 1960s Mental Institution. It stars Winona Rider and Angelina Jolie both of which give amazing performances in this underrated movie directed by James Mangold who would later go on to directed many other intelligent screenplays such as Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma.
Set in a time when you could be placed away in a mental institution for being gay or having an eating disorder a young freshly graduated Susan (played by Rider) finds herself in such a place for an apparent suicide attempt.
Unsure of what to do in life and having no real goals or achievements to her name (despite being quite intelligent) the young depressed Susanna soon finds herself thrown into the mix of some very disturbed and quite mentally ill patients. One of which is Lisa an apparent sociopath who cleverly manipulates everyone around her and is unable to feel any empathy.
The two girls hit things off and a toxic friendship begins in which we see Lisa slowly drag Susanna into her bleak world.
What make's this movie great is the incredibly well written young female characters which is so hard to come across, with each actress delivering an amazing performance giving this movie a sense of great realism.
As Susanna sets upon the quest to discover her true self and find out if she is really sane we are forced to ask the question, Is it the institution that makes her crazy or did she have deep seeded problems she chose to lock away all along?
Vamps (2012)
"I don't appreciate being called the V-Word... extended life form-Yes"
We were first introduced to writer-director Amy Heckerling with her quirky comedy cult classic of the late 80s and 90s with Look Who's Talking, Clueless and Loser. Now a decade later Heckerling bring us Vamps, which despite its quirky comedy and simple naïve characters that have given her cult status in the past Vamps sadly falls short.
Vamps see's Heckling reunite with Clueless star Alicia Silverstone who plays Goody a Vampire who has grown tired of her modern life and modern day men, longing for a more simplest time of her former glory days in the 1920s. Her and her best friend also a vampire Stacy spend their days living off the blood of rats, partying and meeting boys.
Heckerlings vampires are a long way from the bloodsucking ghouls of its predecessors; both characters are youthful, girly, bubble and naïve, and despite the fact that they are vampires are fairly relatable and realistic.
The overall plot of the film is fairly weak. A loose story of Vampire confidentiality under attack due to the rise in technology comes into play, but not really necessary as it does nothing to further the characters development or carry the film anywhere important.
Both Goody and Stacy have love interests, Goody meets a former lover from the 60s, while Stacy still a relatively new Vampire meets the dashing Joey at uni with the surname of "Helsing" a plot devise which again doesn't evolve greatly and could have been expanded more.
The film also features Sigourney Weaver, Goody's maker, a one dimensional character filled with blood lust and evil tendencies, a role the actress won't be remembered for.
One of the other set backs in the film are the poor special effects which really make you cringe and take you right out of the film. The film would have done way better to just cut out the cheesy effects all together.
The main shortcomings of this film however fall back on the poor script. The storyline has a lot of potential, the characters are likable and funny and vampire stories are highly marketable, but with a weak plot and lack of character development it becomes a story much about nothing and doesn't bring anything new to the table that hasn't already been explored in the other countless Vampire films.
The ending of the film was rather good, but due to the lack of build up and plot development you end up not caring either way, which is a shame because if done right this movie could have been something really good.
Clueless (1995)
"He does dress better than I do, what would I bring to the relationship?"
Clueless is almost a film about nothing. We follow the story of sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Cher who is popular, rich and beautiful, and has everybody around her at her fingertips. She's manipulative, selfish and a snob who seems to only have one other high school friend Dionne.
Yet despite her major flaws that would generally have the audience hating her, we don't. Cher comes through as a character we really adore and care about due to one major reason, her childish innocence or as the title of the movie puts it her cluelessness.
The general synopsis of the film follows Cher (Alicia Silverstone) as she attempts to con and manipulate her teachers into increasing her low grades. A feat her lawyer father encourages and praises her for. She soon gets a taste for meddling into peoples lives and takes in upon herself to give a new girl at the school Tai (Britney Murphy) a makeover and spring her into popularity. Much of the story then follows her naivety in controlling other people and the dynamics of her friendships with a loose love story coming into play towards the end.
Despite the weak plot much of what makes Clueless work well as a film is the subtle humor and innocently naive characters you grow to appreciate. It's the film that propelled Alicia Silverstone into the Hollywood spotlight, and of course was also the late Britney Murphy's break through role. It's a high school movie classic that will cause you to laugh out loud many times and a must see for the 90s nostalgia.
If you really enjoy the movie check out the 90s follow up TV series of Clueless which see's much of the cast from the movie reunited minus Miss Silverstone.
Where the Heart Is (2000)
"I ain't never lived in a house that didn't have wheels on it"
Life is full of challenges that are thrown at us every day. "Where the Heart Is" explores what we do as individuals when faced with these challenges with two impending truths, to accept fate or to grow from our setbacks.
Set against the backdrop of the countryside Oklahoma the movie follows the story of Novalee a pregnant teenager (played by Natalie Portman) who's life seems to go from bad to worse when her boyfriend abandons her at a Wal-Mart. With no one to turn to for help she seeks refuge at the department store for several weeks, ultimately becoming a local celebrity when she gives birth inside.
Novalee is constantly overcoming the harsh cards of fate as she tries to give herself and her child the best in life she can. We meet many characters that come into her life along the way, each with a lesson to share and a story of their own looming set backs in life to tell.
Ashley Judd gives an amazing performance as Novalee's best friend Lexie, a single mother of five who struggles to juggle motherhood, work and finding Mr Right.
Novalee's love interest a mysterious and reserved librarian Forney (Played my James Frain) is also an admirable character who's life has been put on hold to be a full time care giver for his gravely ill sister.
All the characters in this film are well written, with interesting back-stories and admirable features that make you care about them all the way to the end.
Much of the story plays upon fate and chance. We see some very depressing stories unfold and you may find yourself asking; What would you have done in their situation?
The Cup (2011)
Entertaining but cheesy.
The Cup is based on the true events that happened during the 2008 Melbourne Cup and the dedication, motivation and tragedy of the trainers, jockeys and all those closest to them.
It's directed by Simon Wincer who's most familiar pieces of work was Free Willy, The Phantom and Phap Lap.
The story is primarily told from the perspective of Damien Oliver and is semi auto biographical. It show's his struggles with the death of his brother who was killed while horse racing only two weeks before the Cup, and the anticipation of all those closest to him as Oliver is faced with the heavy decision, to follow is heart and keep racing or his head and pull out.
Stephen Curry is great as Damien Oliver he both acts and looks the part of the famous jockey. His supporting cast includes many well known Australian actors like Shaun Micallef and Daniel MacPherson but its Brendon Gleeson from Harry Potter fame that really give a likable performance.
There are a few things that do let this film down. One criticism was the overall feel of the movie which felt like a day time soap opera with cheesy editing, over use of montages and at times poor acting.
The major problem for me was the flash back sequence's which showed Damien Oliver's Mother re-live the memories of her Husband's fateful fall off a race horse. Not only were they not needed they were over dramatised and gave it a genuine Neighbour's feel.
While may people know who wins the race, the behind the scene's insight into the weeks of preparation it takes to compete in the Cup is very entertaining and the film also does a good job of showing the challenges Damien Oliver had to go through, which I had little knowledge of.
The Tree of Life (2011)
A film that explores the meaning of existence.
The Tree of Life is not a film for everyone the range of reviews has made this very clear. You will either love it or hate it. Most of the criticism from audiences has been that there is there is no clear narrative or story and the images are confusing and make no sense, and to a degree they are absolutely correct.
However this is an experimental film that breaks free of the tradition Hollywood story telling and takes the audience to places and ideals some will appreciate and others will find themselves lost and confused.
This is a deep and meaning full film that explores the meaning of life, nature versus grace and that every action has a consequence. The film cleverly composes images of lost youth to images of the creation of time and how we are all connected.
There are elements that are very reminiscent of 2001 a Space Odyssey similarly to the famous scene where we see the ape turn a harmless bone into a deadly weapon we are taken to the age of dinosaurs to witness the moment were animals first shows mercy to one another.
Don't go into this film with expectations you must lose yourself in the images and interpret the story for yourself.