Last October I realised I had a lack of understanding when I came to music, troubling considering my interest in the topic. So I started on a journey to absorb as much music as possible in the form of albums. I’m happy to report that it’s been very successful as I’ve listened to over 300 albums in six months. But, this post is not about my music crusade rather the fact that I realised the same thing about films. I realised that my music crusade had almost entirely stopped me from watching any movies. So I did the same thing I did with albums for films: I created a list of over 200 films I should watch and started watching. This list includes, but is not limited to: The Shinning, The Great Escape, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, No Country For Old Men, Good Will Hunting, Dr Strangelove, Reservoir Dogs and many more. So here are some short reviews of a few I’ve watch over the past weekend.
Blade Runner (1982)
I feel the need to preface this short review by underlining the fact that this is my first viewing and I expect, or at least hope, my opinion will change over time. This is a movie I wanted to like but I did not. I certainly didn’t hate it, I’m glad I spent the time watching it rather than mindless scrolling through reddit or YouTube for and hour or two, but I wasn’t taken by it like I have been with other classics like Apocalypse Now or 2001.
It felt overall very slow in terms of pacing, which usually I don’t mind if it’s still interesting, but I didn’t find it interesting enough to justify the slow pacing. The fact I didn’t find it interesting could be down to a couple of things: I probably didn’t pick on a lot of the more subtle things that make the film engaging as it was my first viewing; it’s portrayal of the future and concepts relating to A.I. may have been some-what revolutionary at the time but I have seen many movies made since inspired by Blade Runner such as Terminator and Ex Machina (which I also watched this weekend).
Despite the fact that the experience wasn’t as positive as I’d hoped, I can still appreciate it’s influence and impressive visuals, or at least I can try. Streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube and Sky, which is where I watched Blade Runner, have agreed to downgrade the quality of their content as the EU was worried the increased traffic, due to… well… you know, would ‘break the internet’. So everything I’ve watched was quite heavily compressed and blocky.
Ex Machina (2014)
Overall, I’d describe Ex Machina as an uncomfortable experience but not necessarily in a negative or unintentional way. From the get go things seem off. The fact that the facility is so remote and that Nathan (played by Oscar Isaac) holds such power over Caleb, being his boss, makes it feel as if Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) is closer to a prisoner than a guest.
Often plot twists can get irritating but in this movie, despite their frequency, they serve a purpose. Their purpose being to make the viewer flip flop between siding with Ava and Nathan. The morality and intentions of both come into question throughout the film and in the end it turns out neither were in the right. Ava and the other A.I. manipulated and trapped Caleb and murdered Nathan. However, Nathan enslaved as well as physically and emotionally abused the A.I.
Despite the fact that it’s not entirely original it does bring up some interesting concepts relating to consciousness and morality. It is also very well shot and the CG is realistic to the point where you don’t even realise it’s there.
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a film that has been so frequently referenced I pretty much knew the entire plot before I got to actually watch the film but I still enjoyed it. Viewing it now it’s a very stereotypical teen film but at the time it wasn’t nearly as stereotypical as it is now. The Breakfast Club acted as a kind of base that movies such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, movies I prefer, used to build upon.
I did also watch Ocean’s Thirteen, Airplane!, Cast Away and Beverly Hills Cop this weekend but I don’t feel like I have much to say on any of them, plus this post is already 750 words long.