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Witty_Kibitzer
Reviews
The Great New Wonderful (2005)
Interesting ideas, not so interesting film.
This film was seemingly advertised as a romantic comedy, which doesn't usually peak my interest, yet thankfully had little to do with comedy or romance. I found the title ironic as the overall tone of this film is bleak and full of loss, the characters pitiful and depressed. As a series of glimpses into the character's lives, this movie excelled in its portrayal of longing for something unknown. Each character has a seemingly decent, if not "wonderful", life and yet when the film digs deeper you notice all the things that are missing and the voids that are left behind. No character realizes what they are doing without or how to remedy their situation, as each struggles in their own unique way. I felt a bit disturbed by this film. It seemed to me that the only characters that ended up in a better place in their lives made awful decisions to get to that place. They did things that I could never do, no matter the justification. My main focus was a young couple with an elementary school aged son, who find themselves unable to cope with his behavioral problems. Theirs was the most heart-wrenching story, I felt, and yet they seemed the most contented in the end. In order to reach that end, however, they sent their child away and seemingly started from scratch with their relationship to each other. This disgusted me, but most likely it was because this was an affront to my highest held beliefs. I could never betray my child that way, no matter how difficult he/she became. I felt that they didn't deserve the happiness they derived as a result of their decision. All in all, I didn't really enjoy this movie and wouldn't recommend it. I am, as always after watching a film, glad to have watched it and I felt that it conveyed several important and often overlooked messages: As humans we will always have intrinsic values that we may not even understand ourselves. We often value quality of life over quantity without realizing it. We will often pursue goals and attitudes in our lives that put higher values on monetary and material goods, rather than the unseen goals and attitudes that would bring us our true happiness. In this way, we hurt ourselves.
Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
Watch it!!! Unless you are sensitive.
Battle Royale was easily one of the more unique plots for a movie that I have ever watched unfold. It takes place in a time where unemployment is at an all-time high, Japan is chaotic, and the young and old are at odds with each other. In an attempt to regain some power over the youth, the adult population implements the BR Act, which allows them to randomly choose a class of students (in the film's case, a grade nine class) and take them to an island where they are forced to kill off all the other children, or be killed themselves at the end of the 3 days allotted.
While this was not my usual sort of pick for a film, I found it to be pretty amazing. It was raw and (surprisingly) full of convincing acting. There were gorgeous shots of the land and very effective shots of the children experiencing the anguish that comes when they start to panic and fight for their lives.
I was sure that a plot like this would be upsetting to me as it developed, but I felt like it was just personable enough that you care slightly about these people, but it didn't evoke the kind of emotion that tugs at your heart every time a character dies. I think this may have been intentional, the point was to look at the big picture and the social commentary involved. There were, however, a few scenes meant to illuminate the more personal sides of some of the students, but they fell short of captivating and didn't do much to move me.
In the end, this film made me think. Usually this is what satiates me in my movie watching endeavors, so I can say I really enjoyed this film. I'm sure some would watch it purely for the gore, others for the fight scenes or purely for the chaos. I watch movies because they make me feel something and make me ponder their meaning long after I watch them. Whatever the reason, I'd recommend people give it a watch.
Lake of Fire (2006)
Stunning and Unsettling
Lake Of Fire was stunning! This film literally took my breath away and left me feeling physically ill. I can easily see why it took Tony Kaye fifteen years to complete it. Filmed in stark black and white, this documentary about abortion is almost entirely made up of direct shots that do not suggest any bias on the director's part and it is never clear which side of the fence he falls on in this debate. It does, however, illustrate what can be wrong with either being pro-life or pro-choice. This film enraged me, sickened me, scared me, and even made me tear up a little bit. Really all it left me with was this feeling that any choice regarding the abortion issue would be "wrong" in some way instead of everyone being "right", as one of the speakers (Alan Dershowitz, Professor of Criminal Law at Harvard University) so eloquently put it. I have always considered myself to be pro-choice, although I have never believed that abortion was an option for me. This film highlighted many of the reasons why I feel this way, both that I feel that modern women need to have the right to choose and that I feel that abortion is in many cases horrific, and should not be taken lightly. On a purely visual level; the shots were flawless, the color choice (or lack of a use of color) was enthralling, and the editing flowed seamlessly back and forth between two sides of an issue that heeds extreme opinions on both ends. I found this to make for a very taut viewing experience. Just as you were digesting a scene from a Leftist point-of-view, the focus would shift to a speaker or compelling event from the right. It wouldn't surprise me if this were deliberate, as it made it hard for me to connect with the statements being made and forced me to pile every argument on top of another in my mind. I was elated that Kaye chose to close the film with a woman's emotional response after her abortion procedure. It very clearly illustrated that women are not just running out to get abortions on a whim, that they are difficult and painful decisions even for women that know without a doubt that they are making the best choice for themselves.