Blue Valentine (2010)

A perfect example of everything to adore and fear about the concepts of love.

This is such a refreshing Romance that thankfully grants an example of the real and well made artistic level of a “chick flick” ruined genre. Blue Valentine is equal in some ways to the brilliance of "Before Sunrise" for its intricate portions of personality in an elegantly paced love story.

Although Blue Valentine acts out in two different times of the entire relationship on show, one being its bloom and the other an inevitable withering of love. I mentioned "Before Sunrise" as in some small ways Blue Valentine had made me think of "Before Sunrise" and its sequel being spliced and edited together in a Tarantino way but with many different, far more heartfelt outcomes.

Aside from the utterly poetic visual orgy that Blue Valentines cinematography displays, the thing that really makes this film stand out in a way most overly hyped Romance films seem to lack is an on screen relationship you find yourself being charmed by. Here you can truly understand the reason to love one or both of the relationships characters and despise them as the much as those involved.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams make these characters weave a romance with some real volume behind every miniature act and expression. And for a fair comparison Gosling even though always an actor I enjoy, has gained a romantic fame with "The Note Book" a film that to this date I still see no real aspect of a well-told or well-woven love story with any hint of the said volume to a relationship that Blue Valentine provides.

Hanna (2011)

Being dazzled by the cinematic juxtaposition of visual treats is one of my usual film geek goals when looking out for obscure and often under the radar art films so its always surprising when the spotlight of interest for these qualities falls on something much more up on the surface. HANNA, I can happily say is a great film, in my view it has managed what would have been more expected of an indie/art house film style but with a bit of a deceiving blanket of blockbuster hype. I am very willing to bet that had the cast been without Blanchet playing the role of a Cruella Deville like villain and Erik Bana as a somewhat more real version of Kickass' Big Daddy character that this film may have become a little more on the unknown and obscure borderline of film popularity. That perspective aside you cant not fall totally in love with the odd moments of melodic visuals darting around the screen, that paired with a sinister baddie selection and some beautifully organised scenery should be enough to hook anyone on re-watching this

Enter the Void (Soudain le vide) (2009)

Not for the timid this film it will throw any big film lover Blockbuster, Art house or whatever else into a hallway of twisted mirrors and I credit anyone who comes out the other end without some major deep thoughts on the state of death. It's enjoyable but very provoking in way of a disturbing truth of the nastiness in life and undeniable end that will one day come for us all. On that aspect it can be extremely depressing but that all depends on your outlook on life.

There are some grand spots of beauty in this be it the visual ride and way your guided through the film or the sliding of shocking scenes, its these titbits of beauty that relate the film to its initial theme of life and death. As most of the events seem to be unfortunate ones yet in any of unfortunate situation faced in life, you still manage to find those odd shades of perhaps accidental beauty.

You might think this to be something similarly said with allot of films but "Enter The Void" more than most for me works much like a Jackson Pollock painting in its variety of perspectives it welcomes on the topic covered. With so many different splashes of colour and shape thrown into it, it's likely on return viewings that your first idea on the piece and its content may have changed.

Mr. Nobody (2009)

From the empty dead glance of Jared Leto at the beginning you are then off without signal or warning of what's to come, pushed forcefully into an odyssey of highly intellectual film editing and utterly dazzling story production. But not on one level alone as the smarts of this mind-blending film reach several alternate layers of story skill, all of which swirl out from the basis of variables laid out for us in our life's choices.

This is "an" (if not "the") ultimate "What if" film, the kind that succeeds so well at its aim you can imagine the likes of David Lynch or Michel Gondry getting giddy in their seats.

If like myself you have the imagination and enjoy the notion that there are likely a dozen different versions of you spewing out of one, be it a meaningful or totally miniscule moment. And from each of those alternate roots you also then go through just as many indecisive hurdles resulting in the growing vines from those made choice's reaching out in so many more different ways

.... Well then your going to love this film.

I Saw the Devil (2010)

This film puts me in a place of spine tingly delight.

One of the biggest glories for me with this film was that the roles of the main characters where being taken on by Byung-hun Lee of "A Bitter Sweet Life" and Min-sik Choi of both "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance" all of which are equally some of the best revenge tales ever dreamed up in cinema. This however is easily my favourite film yet to give a grotesquely specific example of being in the grip of an inhumane and truly monstrous form of satisfaction. It's not just about the revenge with this piece its also beautifully detailing the horror inside that devilish lust for an unattainable balance of agony.

I advise all who have not done so, to first watch the previously mentioned films in order to fully enjoy the brutal grace of the two actors in this masterfully made vengeance face off.

Confessions (Kokuhaku) (2010)

This film is a great example to give people when you need to emphasise to someone what you mean by Art house or indie world cinema. Its got a grand buffet of tastes for you to feast upon. If you are a big fan of the "Vengeance series" by Park Chan Wook then prepare to enjoy an instalment you never expected to get, however with a kind of visual beauty that you'd expect only from an experimental artist who decided to have a shot at using the camera.

What im trying to say is that aside from the general Vengeance tale being told there are near still life scenes in this film that stick in your head, stills that need to be taken in for there beauty and not just speeded along like any other film might do. Admittedly the fact that theres use of slowing effects on these scenes to the point where they near become still shots may seem a tad overboard at times and make you realise that Zach Snyder films may have sentenced us all to a slow bullet-time doom with future films, but on a high note it also, for me clashes great art film perspectives like Steve McQeens(artist) "Hunger" along with the poetic justice of ChanWooks "Vengeance series".

Unmade Beds (2008)

A pleasing nuance of indie styled cinema with some very poetic even if beautifully simple portions of scene design and dialogue. The comedy is quite varied and odd, I found the romance being more at the helm although the laughs for some people, may be found more in the nostalgia of vacant memories similar to the people and social scenes featured. This is a good film to expect a blissful calm from once your really into it and one id expect to be enjoyed by all night party people and music lovers, who like myself may find a few sounds worth looking up.