Let Me In

Year: 2010
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Kodi Smite-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins

In My Own Words
I often wondered (until about 2 days ago) why American studios decideto adapt foreign films not too long after they are released in their home countries. It used to make me slightly angry why they did, it was like I thought they couldn't come up with ideas of their own so they had to "steal" ideas from other countries. Now I realise that I was being really unfair by thinking this. Now I see that foreign films are remade as a means of exposing the story to a greater audience. Many people do not take pleasure in watching foreign films as they are too far removed from what they know, and they also involve a fair bit of reading of subtitles unless you know the language. So making the film into an English speaking film exposes the story to a greater audience. And if it is a great story, why shouldn't it be exposed to an audience? It would be selfish to let language barriers get in the way of great storytelling! Especially when it is a story like "Let The Right One In", the Swedish film which "Let Me In" is based on. I must admit, I was extremely weary going into this film, as I normally am when seeing a remade film, or watching a vampire film. However, it has cometo my attention as of late that a remade film doesn't mean a bad film, especially those that are remade from a foreign film. Just look at "The Departed"!

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The thought of another vampire movie may bring on a cringe for some people. With so many vampires going around in movies and on television, one can be forgiven for thinking that "Let Me In" is just another one of those films that has come along with the fad. It isn't. It is far darker and more disturbing than any other vampire phenomenon you have seen in a long. long time. Like it's mother movie, "Let The Right One In", it evokes a number of emotions which are strange to see together in a film. There is tenderness and innocence, as well as fear and horror. Young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an outsider at school, badly bullied and is in the middle of his parents divorce. He is without a friend in the world, until he meet a mysterious little girl by the name of Abby ( Chloe Moretz) in his courtyard of his apartment block. He develops a strong friendship and falls for her in the way only a 12 year old can. He finds out in the worst way possible that Abby is a vampire and that everything is far more complicated than it should be for 12 year old best friends.

"Let Me In" is dark, but somewhat beautiful. It stays true to the film which it is remade from, but it is set in New Mexico rather than in Sweden. There is nothing corny about this vampire film, and it represents what vampires should represent, fear in the heart of those who meet them. It is extremely unsettling at times and very intense and suspenseful. However, there is a feeling of sympathy for both Owen and Abby. The film focuses of human emotion and the troubles of a child growing up being bullied and in a troubled family. There is a real sadness to the film, as well as real terror. It wouldn't be a vampire film or a main stream remake without having more blood than it did in the original and therefore leading to some cringe-worthy moments. The "scary" scenes are definately not subtle. "Let Me In" is very dark and not for the faint hearted, it is everything a traditional vampire movie should be.

Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz are perfectly cast for the lead roles. Smit-McPhee is wonderful in this film. He shows so much emotion and his performance will ring true to many parents who are watching their children going through the same things he is going through. He really has a bright future ahead of him. Moretz is no stranger to horror movies or to playing roles of the young girl who is beyond her years. She is not the traditional vampire girl, but that only makes her more suited to the role. She is very good in her role as she is cute and sweet, but also an absolute horror.

"Let Me In" takes the vampire movie back to where it belongs. When vampires were beings that were capable of violent killings and would kill without rhyme of reason and there is no corniness to be seen. There is always something troubling about children in horror films, and this movie is no different. Yet, there is still something very sweet about the friendship between Owen and Abby and that is what makes "Let Me In" work. The combination of childhood love and the presence of pure terror.
8/10

The Town

Year: 2010
Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, John Hamm

In My Own Words
I am proud of Ben Affleck. It's like he was taken seriously when he and pal Matt Damon won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for "Good Will Hunting" back in 1997, then had a period for awhile where critics could not see him in a serious light with films like "Daredevil" and "Surviving Christmas", but his last few major projects have shown just how far Affleck has come. He has given some of the best performances of his career in films such as "Hollywoodland" (which is actually one of my personal favourite films) and "State Of Play", and had an extremely successful full length directorial debut in the 2007 film, "Gone Baby Gone". In "The Town", he shows his true talent as a director and an actor. It is great to look at someone like Ben Affleck and see true potential being reached. Being an Affleck fan for a long time, I left the cinema bursting with pride for him. Nothing like a film to prove what you knew all along!

I have often spoken about how films can be a great tourism tool, but this film actually got me thinking about how they can sometimes not be such great tourism tools. Boston is a beautiful city, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks this. "The Town" does actually show some of the beauty of Boston, but it shows the bad side of the city as well. It represents Boston in a dangerous light showing the crime and poverty. There is nothing wrong with what Affleck has done here, as he is madly in love with Boston and I am sure he would love people to visit it, but there are people who haven't been to Boston and know nothing of it besides what they see in the film. These people probably wouldn't want to visit Boston after seeing this film. Shame if they are going to base their opinion of all of Boston on a film that focuses only on Charlestown, which is only one part of Boston.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review"The Town" is one of those truly unpredictable films. There is nothing worse than sitting through a movie with a clear idea of where it is heading and how it will end. With its unpredictability, fine acting and brilliant cinematography, Ben Affleck proves himself as a successful director, if there was any doubt before. Doug MacRay (Affleck) is living in a world plagued with crime and theft which he is trying to escape, but keeps finding himself drawn back into the lifestyle of Charlestown that he and is friends have grown up in. When they rob a Boston bank and take hostage the bank's manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), Doug feels that he should follow Claire to make sure she doesn't do or say anything that will get them caught out. However, the two start falling for each other, which means that Doug must do all he can to keep who he really is hidden. Being from Charlestown, escaping who the world he has grown up in impacts every aspect of his past, present and more than likely his future.

"The Town" is extremely well done. The story is well written and is perfectly adapted for the screen. It is extremely clever and interesting from the beginning to the end. Although it can be slow in parts, every scene is meaningful and is there for a reason. The cinematography is definately a stand out. It is extremely impressive and often beautiful, as well as being completely appropriate for each instance. "The Town" is very well pieced together with the range of camera shots, sound and locations that help explore the emotion and reality of the film.

Perhaps one of the strongest points of "The Town" is its character development and it's cast. By the middle of the film, it is as though the audience knows each of the main characters personally and is able to empathize which each one of them. Affleck gives a stellar performance as Doug. The audience feels each of his emotions that he passes through and see's that he is desperate to escape the way of life in Charlestown. At times he does come across as perhaps too nice of a guy that you have to wonder how such a nice guy can even contemplate being involved in the type of activities he is.It is as though he doesn't have a reason to commit theft, he just does it for the sake of it. However, this is the way Affleck shows how Charlestown can make people do things that they wouldn't be exposed to anywhere else. Jeremy Renner is perfect as Doug's partner in crime and long time friend, Jem. He has the right amount of aggressiveness and intensity to make the audience believe that a person like this could really do the unspeakable. Rebecca Hall also gives a great performance and perhaps the best performance of her career to date. She is extremely likable and can light up the room with her smile, yet when she is upset or angry, it ignites fear. Blake Lively does well as Doug's ex love interest, Krista, although she does not come across as quite as trashy as the film makes her out to be.

"The Town" is complete success and it brings out the best in everyone involved. The acting is superb, story thrilling and direction a tribute to Affleck. He has really shown what he is capable of with both his direction and acting in this film. Well done.
8.5/10

Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love
Year: 2010
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco

In My Own Words
The worst thing about living in Australia is that you hear the whispers come from overseas about films which have yet to be released here. So when I started to hear that “Eat Pray Love” was getting bad reviews, it wasn’t a massive surprise to me. I read “Eat Pray Love” in the middle of last year and I loved it. I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s tale of self discovery while travelling over the world. Some people severely dislike the book or find it really hard to get into. I think I loved it so much because I went through a stage of selfishness where I jet-setted to the other side of the world to do something for myself after giving too much of myself to someone else. However, my journey took me to LA, not to Italy, India and Indonesia. LA was the right place for me to go and find myself though so I’m not complaining! Being big on travel as well, I loved hearing about the three countries that Gilbert visited. Italy, India and Indonesia are three countries I am dying to go to, even though I have been to Bali before. Again, films act as a great tourist tool. I stand by this fact because people love going places and identifying with it because of a movie. And there is no better way to get excited about going somewhere than to watch movies about it.

Anyway, before I went into “Eat Pray Love”, I knew what to expect of it and why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. “Eat Pray Love” is a selfish memoir. It is all “me, me, me” for Gilbert. It doesn’t bother me, but I could see how it would other people. And memoirs are great storytelling for books, but they are not always well interpreted on the big screen. I knew “Eat Pray Love” would be one of those memoirs that wouldn’t be. There is no real beginning, middle or end and no major conflict where the story takes a turning point. Gilbert’s book is really a collection of thoughts, which can only be thought, not seen. It may seem like a great idea for a film, but it should have just been left as is. It’s a good book, let’s not destroy it.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert could well be known as the most successful girls book to be released in the past 10 years, the movie is very far from the best chick flick to be released in the past 10 years. It is purely a case of the book should have been left alone and not meddled. There are some good points about the movie, but it isn’t a story. The book isn’t even a story, it is a collection of Gilbert’s travels and thoughts about her life and her past few years. There is no suspense in the book at all as it is not that type of story. Therefore, putting it on the big screen was never going to work and was always going to leave a sour taste in audiences and critics mouths who were going to see it. Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) has decided for the first time in her life to devote her life to herself rather than her ex husband or current boyfriend. She has decided to go on a journey of self-discovery by spending 4 months in Italy, 4 months in India and 4 months in Indonesia. Along the way she meets lots of people who make a difference in her life and make her see the world differently.

The production of “Eat Pray Love” has good intentions behind it. It is bringing Gilbert’s book to the big screen in order to send out a message to women out there, who may not read the book that sometimes you do need to be selfish and let yourself go in order to be at peace with yourself. It is a good message to be sending out, but it gets entangled in this film that falls short of the bar which its enormous amount of promotion has set. The movie just comes across as an enormous amount of selfishness set up against some amazing landscapes. The best thing about the film is definitely the presentation of Italy, India and Bali. These three countries are sure to attract many tourists because of the beautiful way in which this film was shot. The camera techniques chosen are amazing, and Julia Roberts is a wallflower compared to the scenery. For the life changing experiences that Gilbert goes through, there isn’t as much emotion as what you would expect. There is no feeling to the beginning or any part through it. It’s all nice is the only word to describe it. The majority of the film is just bland. It is also not a short film as there is so much to cover. Two and a half hours of this film may be way too long for some people.

Julia Roberts is not bad in this film. She does give her role as Gilbert everything she’s got and performs to the best of her ability role the role she played. It is certainly no “Erin Brokovich”, but she does well in a bland film. Richard Jenkins also does well in his role as Richard from Texas. His character perhaps has the most amount of character out of any in the film. On a side note, it is interesting that Tuva Novotny, who is a Swedish born actress, can manage to play Swedish girl, Sofi and speak with an American accent. Something has gone wrong there.

It is sad to see a film which is hyped up so much fall short of everyone’s expectations. What is even more depressing is that the book shouldn’t have been made into a movie at all and should not have been subject to the back lashing it has received just by existing. It should have been left as a type of self-help book for girls and the peace would not have been disturbed. On the other hand, it will always be a good movie to watch if anyone is planning on eating gelato in Italy, meditating in India or just chilling out in Bali.
5/10