Tag: Drama

100 Word Review – Memento (2000)

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Based on a short story by his brother Jonathan, this is the earliest Christopher Nolan film to make it on to the IMDb Top 250 list. It currently places at number 45.

Guy Pearce stars as Leonard, a man with short term memory loss on the hunt for his wife’s murderer. To cope with his disability he creates a strange system to help him remember and piece the clues together.

Full of violence, heartache and confusion, the story is told through two timelines running in opposite directions making this is more of a brain teaser than Inception could ever dream to be.

100 Word Review – Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

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Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox) explores the weird and wonderful world of childhood in this charming feature film.

Set on a small island off the New England coastline, a pair of 12 year old lovers run away together causing an island-wide search party.

This really is an ensemble piece, with the likes of Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormond, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman making up the inhabitants of this strange and beautiful community.

Part comedy, part drama with a touch of romance and tragedy thrown in for good measure, watching Moonrise Kingdom is watching Art.

100 Word Review – Full Metal Jacket (1987)

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In my opinion this is an example of Stanley Kubrick at his finest.

Based on the novel The Short Timers by Gustav Hasford which he wrote while serving in Vietnam about his own experiences, this is a searing look at the U.S.-Vietnam war, through the eyes of the pragmatic Private Joker (Matthew Modine).

Vincent D’Onofrio gives a truly memorable performance as Pyle, and Firefly fans may spot Adam Baldwin among the leads.

Starting in the training camps, this film is nothing if not brutal from beginning to end. It is a story brilliantly told, but visceral and harrowing to see.

100 Word Review – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

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This is my all-time favourite film. 

Hugo Weaving, Terence Stamp and Guy Pearce star as a pair of drag queens and a transsexual who drive to  a hotel in the middle of the Australian outback to perform a show.

Priscilla is their magnificent bus and as the title would suggest this film is all about the journey.

The costumes are fabulous, the soundtrack is unapologetically camp and the characters are perfection; filled with hilarious one-liners, an unapologetic (at times almost nihilistic) determination to be themselves and genuine affection for each other that gets them through what life throws at them.

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100 Word Review – The Wind Rises (2013)

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Another truly beautiful animation from the creators of Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro. This is the sort of biopic that could only come from the mind of the breathtakingly talented Hayao Miyazaki.

Based on the life of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi fighter planes that were used by the Japanese during World War II. In true Miyazaki style, it follows not only the facts of Horikoshi’s life but also his dreams, where he has conversations with Giovanni Battista Caproni, the famed Italian aeronautical engineer.

It combines the historical and the fantastical with moments of romance and tragedy.

100 Word Review – The Artist (2011)

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If you haven’t seen this already where were you in 2011? It is a masterpiece of silent filmmaking in the modern age.

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and his dog are silent movie stars at the peak of their career in Hollywood’s golden years. He meets Peppy (Berenice Bejo) an aspiring dancer and helps her with her career. But as talking pictures takeover, their lives are sent spinning in very different directions.

Hilarious, romantic and dramatic, writer and director Michel Hazanavicius perfectly captured the essence of that tumultuous time in Hollywood’s history and translates it for a modern audience. It’s technically flawless!

100 Word Review – Coherence (2013)

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I don’t want to tell you anything about the plot of this film for fear of giving away something crucial, so instead I’m going to tell you about how this wonderful independent Sci Fi film was made.

Writer and director James Ward Byrkit spent over a year constructing the concept for this feature. The actors never saw a script. It was shot in one house over five nights. At the beginning of each shooting session each actor was given information about their character and what they should reveal.

The result is magnificent. It’s trippy, thought-provoking and just brilliant. Watch it!

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100 Word Review – Leon (1994)

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This film should be compulsory viewing. It’s that simple.

Leon (Jean Reno) a reclusive professional assassin reluctantly takes in a young girl, Mathilda (an 11 year old Natalie Portman in her feature film debut) after her family is murdered by a corrupt FBI agent Stansfield (Gary Oldman).

Written and directed by the truly talented Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), this is part buddy film, part shoot-em up action drama. There is even a little romance.

It is beautifully shot, completely compelling, exciting and quite simply a wonderful film. I am not surprised it has made it to #27 on IMDb’s Top 250 List.

100 Word Review – Gone Girl (2014)

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Not as good as the book, in part because of Ben Affleck, this is still one of the best films I saw in 2014.

Adapted from the novel by its author, Gillian Flynn, this film about a missing wife (brilliantly portrayed by Rosamund Pike) has the suspense of the best crime thriller and the emotional gravitas of a personal drama.

Neil Patrick Harris is superb as the eerie ex, which makes it even more of a shame that Affleck couldn’t bring the depth his character needed.

Despite this it’s truly fantastic and chilling, and will leave you on edge for weeks.

100 Word Review – The Big Lebowski (1998)

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“That rug really tied the room together.” – The Dude

Chances are you have quoted this film without even knowing it.

The Dude (Jeff Bridges) a.k.a. Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, and gets caught up in a series of events made worse by his barmy friends, Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi).

Narrated by The Stranger (Sam Elliott), this has all the twists and turns you would hope for from a Coen Brothers feature. With a supporting cast of the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore, it is little surprise that it’s currently in IMDb’s top 250.