Film
A Separation
A film that I had been meaning to catch up with following all the Awards season buzz and success that surrounded this Iranian film, I finally managed to see what all the fuss was about and it's clear to see why it had been so successful on those fronts - the setting of an Iranian family home and depicting the legal system of Iran in terms of a domestic issue as well as tackling a couples divorce, subject matter alone this appeals to the Academy crowd, not just this alone though; as the film does showcase some truly outstanding performances across the board (except with maybe one of the younger actors) and it certainly delivers on the drama, but I did end up seeing this film over 2 days and even then at times it felt like a slog. I did feel that the film dropped the ball in the way they handled the child's story within this piece; given the affect of a divorce would play most heavily on the daughter, the script and direction just didn't do enough to hit a home run. You could argue the film to be tedious and you could argue the film to be compelling, its certainly an organic film with natural performances that's heavy on drama and not much else; not a film I'd recommend to everyone, but rather suggest watching the trailer first and if you like a steady slow paced drama then A Separation might just be a film for you.
7/10
The Past
Just by coincidence this week also I manage to pick out a film at random from the same director of A Separation; again it's dramatic, it all revolves around a divorce within a family this time outside of Iran and in France. More contrasting dynamics and while the director has clearly learned from his mistakes with handling the characters most affected from these terrible ordeals, I can't really argue that this is an improvement on A Separation. The drama works and its well acted but it you can't get away from that repetitive feeling that we've seen this all before; you can do it twice, but not again; this director has potential but he really needs to deliver something different next time around or be seen as a one trick pony with nothing more to offer than the same experience with a different skin. I'd probably recommend checking out A Separation first over The Past and if you really end up enjoying A Separation very much then and only then would I recommend catching up with this film, if on the other hand you are only mildly warm to the film as I was, then I'd say that you can quite easily give The Past a miss unless you're really short of films to watch.
6/10
3/10
10/10
8/10
Documentary
Hot Girls Wanted
This recent documentary had seemed to be hitting me in the face via Social Media in the past few weeks and given that the film played at Sundance Film Festival and offered a peek into little explored world of amateur porn and the young girls that find themselves drawn into at the prospect of money and escapism. What should really be a very interesting and revealing film on this subject matter is nothing more than a lazy and surface level look at amateur porn and the lives of some of the young girls that seem to flood into the business to escape their ordinary family lives. Much of what I took out of this film came from me looking outside of the parameters that the filmmakers had caged themselves into; while the camera is caught up with the mundane and dull aspects of the films agenda going in, there are some elements that can be taken away from this experience if you look really hard and away from the direction this documentary lead us down. Its dull and boring and given the subject matter that is a huge crime to commit; this is nothing more than festival bait and given it's screening at Sundance - it can be deemed a success at achieving it's goal, but looking at the documentary as a whole and its effectiveness - What was its purpose? What is the point/outcome? - Did it make me feel dirty? Yes, but ultimately did the film make me care? No. Quite simply I recommend ignoring this film completely.
3/10
Virunga
The democratic republic of Congo - Virunga where a national park is protected by its own task force, some of which were drafted into the national army straight out of school; It's The Killing Fields meets The Cove, where the wartime photographer is a wildlife documentary filmmaker and the dolphins are gorillas instead. A documentary that is so wonderfully edited together that there are numerous moments in the film where the tension is brought up to extremely high levels, at times you really feel like you're in their with the filmmaker within such a dangerous world of rebels fighting against the government, and whilst this is all going on an Oil company has bought land that puts the National Parks very existence under threat - through politics and civil unrest. With some truly breathtaking photography and some truly heartfelt stories told on screen, its really hard not to love this film, and while I must admit that I'm a sucker for documentaries that showcase the wonders of the natural world and animals for who we share this planet with; outside of that I really feel that this is something special; portraying both the best and worst sides of humanity the film really strikes a chord and on more than one occasion had me welled up with emotion and not only at the sad scenes but also with the love shown between man and gorilla. If you like documentaries then this is an absolute must.
10/10
Anime
Psycho-Pass - (Episodes 19-22) Complete
Well this week saw me come to the very end with Psycho-Pass and I'm happy to report that the series really did nail the ending; truth be told watch the last 4 episodes back-to-back actually felt like a film; pretty much the finale plays out over this last few episodes and doesn't veer from the course both with the characters and the storyline. To the series credit there were a number of surprises and some edge of your seat action moments that gave the series the pay off that it deserved and made all the ups and downs of some of the earlier episodes feel unimportant. Of recent Anime series this has been one of the better ones and while I don't think it is up to the same level as Stein;s Gate - Psycho-Pass is a must see for Anime fans, it certainly not a show that is easy to get into and it does have some problems but overall it manages to overcome this issue and by the time the credits roll, those issues won't even matter - I just hope that a second season follows as the ending leaves you wanting more in the best possible way and the world itself has so so much more to offer us.
8/10
Tokyo Ghoul (Episodes 1-3)
And here comes the Anime warning that I hinted at at the top of this post - as I was informed via Facebook through my activity post that this series has been heavily censored on Netflix and there are some serious issues with the subtitling for this show (all of which came from a friend who I would call an Anime junkie/guru and a reliable source on all things Japanese from Manga to Anime) - now I can't really judge the show going on these first three episodes and knowing about these issues know kind of explains the issues that I had been having with the show; as it came across as a show where the gore seemed more important that story and characters - whereas from what I hear the Manga from which the show is based is highly regarded in terms of story/character development. Stylistically it looks great, but for me it's Dead on Arrival in its current state on Netflix; I personally don't want to waste my time on a show that I now know has been butchered and messed around with in translation; but the fact that its a suspenseful horror adult Anime makes it a show that I really want to catch up with later down the line, just in its full glory and not what is being offered on Netflix. I recommend seeking this show out when its available uncut and in its true form, but really avoid this version on Netflix; as really - why bother with something that has the potential to be great if you know it's been so heavily censored and adjusted?
Knights of Sidonia (Episodes 1-5)
This Netflix original anime series is a little be more different in terms of artistic style than I would normally prefer, with its heavy CGI visuals that do at times really spectacular but don't naturally appeal to my personal taste and that's pretty much translates into my feelings for the show so far. From the opening credits that can be best described as a Eurovision style adaptation of an anime introduction, its catching it's poppy and ridiculously rhythmic and what follows is a super race into the meat and potatoes of the story line and after only the first two episodes, I felt a little lost within the world of Sidonia and even after the first 5 episodes - it's only really the action set pieces that really standout as being truly enjoyable as the characters and the world building along with the character development seems to have been left unattended to at the side of the road. Knights of Sidonia feels like Starship Troopers but as Pacific Rim in space without the social commentary - so much more like Pacific Rim than Starship Troopers, and while I love Pacific Rim - all the negatives that I overlook within that film, I just can't do for Knights of Sidonia. Not to be overly negative on the show, as it is genuinely pretty on the eye and enjoyable to watch, but at this moment in time, I'm really not invested into either the characters, the world or the overall storyline; I'll stick with the show as it's something that could definitely be resolved as the series develops and the further the story develops, but at this moment in time, I can't really say that this is a recommendation without any reservations. Oh and not forgetting the bizarre use of Fan Service in this show is rather odd and most of the time does feel rather out of place by quite some way.
TV
Daredevil (Episodes 7-12)
This show just seems to get better and better with every episodes; and since that slight issue that I had with the episode that had some rather cheap and cheerful moments that dealt with Daredevil's love interest within the series, the show has slipped back into that shit since and has dealt with their relationship in this episodes far more fitting to the tone of the rest of the show. It's been nice to see that the show hasn't been afraid to jump back in time and show us the back story of Matt Murdock including both his childhood after the accident that blinded him and the origins of his friendship with Foggy - the latter has proved to be some of the better stuff the show has to offer as we now have a greater insight into their friendship and it has really made the conflicts between the two in the later episodes certainly carry some extra gravitas. There has been some rather unexpected turns and twists with a number of characters and the direction of the storyline itself and not a single twist or shock hasn't felt natural and organic within the world of Hell's Kitchen. It was so difficult not to finish off the series this week and to just leave that season finale waiting on Netflix for when I next get the chance to tune in to see how this first season all wraps up, but I have every confidence that this show is going to go out with a bang and will end up being one of the highlights of TV in the year of 2015 for me. I'm eager to hear the news about Season 2 and when we can expect to see that appear on Netflix as this show certainly has the quality and definitely has the legs to warrant at least 2 more season, if not more.
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