Monthly Movies for March, by ash

Still blogging, and we are up to March. I am doing these blogs more for myself to just shout out to the world, in written form, but I hope for the few readers which do read the blogs, that they have gotten something out of them. This month I watched a fantastic European movie 'Headhunters' (for me the best movie so far in 2012), another National Theatre Live production 'The Comedy of Errors', the Oscar nominated 'The Descendants' and the last movie 'A Dangerous Method' (which is the worst movie for me in 2012).

Headhunters: Being MIFF members we get to see a few free movies during the year, of which if I wasn't a member I would not think of normally seeing, this one included. I am glad I did see it though, it was a fantastic thriller. The start was slow and I thought it was going to be an average movie, but then after the first ten minutes, it had enough twist in it to keep you on your toes, and I think the movie flowed really well. It had a good sense of humour in it and they really got the right actors for the main players. Now it is Norwegian, and so it has sub titles, which did nearly scare me being that we went to see it at 10 am on a Sunday morning. Looks like this film is going to be remade by Hollywood, staring Mark Wahlberg, I would highly recommend, if this is the case, to see the original first. No disrespect to 'Marky Mark', but I am not sure if Hollywood can give this movie the justice and respect that it deserves. I am not sure if Hollywood will be able to translate the Norwegian humour, which is part of what makes this movie what it is. I'm giving this one a 4.5/5.

The Comedy of Errors: The second National Theatre Live production that I have seen for 2012. This is of course a classic Shakespeare play, set in modern day times. I will have to admit that when Lauren mentioned these live theatre productions to me, about a year ago, the first thing which come to my mind was 'the theatre' BORING. But, now after seeing this and One man, Two Guvnors I am into these live play performances. I think the next one I am looking forward to seeing is the return of the successful play, Frankenstein, in April. I'm not going to lie to you, William Shakespeare's language is something that sometimes I am lost in the translation. However, the cast was fantastic, and I found it was very funny, for the 2 hours that it went for, it only felt like an hour. The way that the set was designed with the great little four piece band, meant that it had an excellent and smooth changes in-between the scenes. I think with the National Theatre Live productions you go and see, you do have to pick the one which would suit your style, but I cannot highly recommend going to one at Cinema Nova. I give this a 4/5.

The Descendants: What can I say about this movie, Oscar worthy? I didn't think so, but then I got the wooden spoon for picking the least amount of Oscar winners this year at the Oscar Party I attended, so I don't think I am the best judge on what is or is not Oscar worthy, just the best judge on Ashley Worthiness. We did see Headhunters on the same day, so for me there was a clear winner on that day. The pros, well it is in Hawaii and I love Hawaii, the guy from the funny TV show, Community, was a co writer, and I love Community. We also saw this at the moonlight cinema, which was an experience, where I did find myself staring at the sky and watching the bats fly from tree to tree, and just praying that I didn't get bat poo on me or my food, so had some distractions. I enjoyed the movie, but probably want be in my top ratings for 2012. I give it a 3/5.

A Dangerous Method: Unlike Edgar, which was too long, at least they kept this one to a reasonable time frame. I found the main actress to have over acted big time, which put me off the film right from the start. This movie just wasn't ticking the boxes for me, and I am just glad being a MIFF member that I saw it for free, because I don't think it is worth the movie ticket, for me anyway. From the audience mood on the day I went, it did get some good responses, so maybe don't get put off by my experience of it. But, I am only giving it a 2.5/5.

Also, don't forget to listen to the latest of Hell is for Hyphenates, where you will hear expert movie critics/writers/directors/radio commentators/all round good guys, Lee Zachariah and Paul Anthony Nelson, with special guest host Marc Fennell, you know 'that movie guy'. These guys actually know what they are talking about with everything to do with movies, and very entertaining and interesting to listen too. Maybe I should put this at the top of the blog, because it is far more entertaining and informative about movies than my blog. But,I am just assuming you might read all of it.

That's all the movies I have seen for March. Thanks for reading.

Monthly movies for Feb, by ash

Ok, here are the movies which I saw in February. I ended up seeing Martha Marcy May, Chronicles, The Artist, Any Question for Ben and Travelling Light. You might have notice (or maybe not) that the last one mention, Travelling Light, is not a movie, it is a theatre play, but I did see it on the movie screen at Cinema Nova. The Nova screen's the National Theatre Live productions. I would say if you have not gone to one of these productions before, they are a must, they cater for all kinds, from comedies to Shakespeare and more, and but instead of paying ticket prices as per going to the theatre, you pay the price of a normal movie ticket. It is a great innovation which is catching on worldwide, and its at a classic cinema in Carlton, the Cinema Nova. It allows a lot more people to see more plays because of how cheap it is and it also is a good way of seeing plays which might not even come to Australia.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: The type of movie which lets your imagination do the thinking, very Hitchcock style, which I do enjoy. You come out of the cinema with a lot to think about. All the characters were well cast and played. It had some creepy scenes in it, and you were never told the full background story, you were only shown and told what was needed. So, from that perspective, I felt like I was seeing it from Martha's sister and brother-in-law view (with of course more knowledge of what was going on to what they knew), and could feel for them. They wanted to help Martha, yet they had no idea where she had been and what she had gone through. The movie really played with your mind and could be slightly disturbing for some, but if you want to see a great thriller, then this is for you. For me it was 4/5.

Chronicle: Judging from the previews I was expecting another Cloverfield style of movie, which at the time I was looking forward to, but it let me down. So, I was not expecting much from Chronicle. I saw this one with my wife and our friends son who is eleven. I was surprised with the character types and how well they where used in the movie, in that we were able to have an in depth discussion with our friends son about the characters. Why it was right or wrong for what they did in the movie, and why they did what they did. If it is still out at the movies, go and see it. I gave it 4/5.

The Artist: Talk about taking it back to where it started. Nothing complicated about this script, seeing that it is a silent movie. Great cinema photography and music. This movie takes you back to the 1920's era of what a movie would have been like, with some modern input. It had very complex visuals, and well worth seeing, 4/5.

Any Questions For Ben: Probably lots of people will say this, but after seeing the movie, I have loads of questions for Ben. Done by the great Working Dog productions. This is lacking the 'vibe' of what The Castle and The Dish had, and these are two classic Australian films, done by Working Dog. Did have a lot of funny moments, but the story was not syncing for me. I would wait for it to be on DVD, because there are a lot more quality movies showing now, which are more worthy of big screen viewing. 3/5.

Travelling Light: It went for around 3 hours, but I found that it kept me interested enough in the story that it seem to fly by. I would say if you have not seen a National Theatre live production yet, then this would be a good one to start with, the characters were well played out, and the set was well designed and perfect for the play. I give this a rating of 3.5/5.

I would recommend going to Hell Is For Hyphenates, if you want to listen and read from some real film critics. They have great knowledge of everything to do with films, and their latest podcast for February is now available.