What movies have you seen recently?

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Life
an underrated film staring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence about two men in the Depression who get sent to prison for life in Mississippi for a murder they did not commit. Hilarity ensues.

The Tempest
(Helen Mirren version)

Turbo

Spaceballs
A funny sci-fi parody movie from the 80s.

America. The one from 2009 with Rosie O' Donnell.

Io sono l'amore (I Am Love)

A 2009 Italian drama by Luca Guadagnino and the fantastic Tilda Swinton (pre-FOX Narnia movies, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Beach).

In short, after 20 years of being a dutiful glamorous housewife to a successful textile enterpreneur, Russian-nee-Italian Emma Recchi decides to throw caution to the winds and begins to have an illict affair. Partially inspired by her daughter's rebelliousness (by accident, Emma discovers Elisabetta is a lesbian and under the guise of studying in London, she has been hiding this from the rest of the family, due to their very conservative beliefs), Emma falls in love with her son's chef friend, Antonio. To complicate matters further, Antonio beat Eduardo Jnr (Emma's son) to becoming a chef, so instead Eduardo Jnr is lumbered with inheriting the family textile business, which doesn't go too well. Excited by leading a double life and feeling alive for the first time in years, Emma continues to play a dangerous game with Antonio and (barely) outwitting her son and husband but as per these things, the secret is discovered leading to very tragic consequences.

The ending was a little abrupt, but it was a very enjoyable arthouse movie, with excellent use of mere background noise and various excerpts of classical music chosen by John Adams to narrate the story. And watching Tilda Swinton act as the multi-layered conflicted Emma was phenomenal, especially as she had barely any English-language dialogue at all. Totally recommended if you want to lose yourself in the art and drama of another (beliveable) world.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

A 2011 BBC Films adaptation of the 2005 novel by Lionel Shriver.

Starring Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Jasper Newell and Erza Miller (young and adult Kevin), the film focuses on the difficult life story of Eva Katchadourian. Told out of order, the film jumps between the present and recollections of the past from Eva's point of view.

The present-day Eva is a much-hated pariah, suffering verbal and regular abuse from the community two years after her son committed a high school masscare, murdering several students by bow-and-arrow. She visits her son on his last day in juvenile hall, as rarely, Kevin expresses concern, chiefly about being moved to an adult prison. On her way there, Eva reflects on how difficult life has been with her detached and anti-social son ranging from detached emotional behaviour to outright psychological (and later physical, as Kevin gets older) sadism.

A very emotive and gruelling film with excellent performances all round, especially from young Jasper Newell as the nightmare child.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Daniel Craig and Roonie Mara version.

Apocalypse Now Redux

Extended version of the 1979 movie set during the Vietnam War about Martin Sheen who is Army Captain Willard. He is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.

The Hunt - Danish film staring Mads Mikkelsen (yeah, I only watched it coz he was in it) but it was quiet an unusual film. It won an oscar for best foreign language film of 2012. It's about a teacher who is falsely accused of child molestation because an insulting comment made by a 5 year old got taken literally by a teacher and the it blows up into a whole town wide saga where even his friends don't believe he is innocent. It's a dark subject, but interesting from the point of view that the director makes it so that there are no good guys and bad guys in the film. It's just a study of people and how they interact with one another.

And then for light entertainment after that I watched Not Another Teen Movie. It's ok. I love 80s teen movies so enjoyed the parody, but some of the jokes were just too crude for me and ruined it for me. Just my sense of humour I guess. It was a very good parody though and poked fun at the stereotypes that are used again and again in these teen movies. I loved how the main character had the same bed as Andie from Pretty in Pink and a similar library was used for detention as the one in the Breakfast Club. And the dining hall is called Anthony Michael Dining Hall and the school is called John Hughes High School, which I thought were nice touches.

The Lunchbox

Bollywood romantic dramedy with a scenario similar to that of You've Got Mail, except this movie is set in India. The plot is centered around a grieving accountant and an unhappy housewife who connect without ever actually meeting face-to-face.

I'm not a fan of foreign-language movies, but I did enjoy watching The Lunchbox. The inspiration for the title comes from Mumbai's famous lunchbox delivery system, hence the title of the movie.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch

I saw the new "Captain America" film last night, and was truly impressed by it. I can't go into many details without using spoilers, but the plot definitely took some twists I wasn't expecting. All the main cast members brought their best game to the table, along with some familiar supporting players like Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill. My only complaint is that Emily VanCamp didn't have more of a role in it. All told, the movie gets an excellent 9/10 from me.

Skin

A 2008 South African biopic based on the real life events of Sandra Laing through the Apatheid, starring Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Alice Krige (I think she was in Star Trek Voyager?) and Sophie Okenedo (Hotel Rwanda, Dr Who).

Due to a rare genetic irregularity called atavism, Sandra was born with black genetic traits (afro hair, a wide nose, dark skin) to white Afrikaaner parents. The film follows Sandra's difficult life, ostracised by the white community she was raised in, and later estranged from her father (who strongly saw his daughter as white, rather than coloured) due to her falling in love with a black man (a taboo in its time)

I found this a fairly challenging and very emotive film though I may be slightly biased in liking it. This is due to the fact I was born and raised in Southern African, but was fortunately spared the racism of the apatheid (though the fallout of this period remains, even today). And I do like my biopics.