Melancholia (3)

(Trailer)

2011 Sci-Fi/Drama about the lives of two sisters as a foreign planet begins its collision course with Earth.

This movie was beautiful and the cast worked really well together but this movie felt like it would never end.

It took me all of 2 minutes (literally, maybe less) before I thought to myself "Hmm, this reminds me of Antichrist..." and sure enough this was written and directed by Lars von Trier. That gave me a hint at what I was going to watch. I mean, I like his films but they seem to drag on to me and take forever to wrap up the simple story. Although, by simple, I mean the plot and then he covers that with strange metaphors and wild female characters and leads you on this brain chase and then boom, it's over. Yup.

I normally do not like Kirsten Dunst ( All Good Things ) but she was pretty good this time around. She played the emotional rollercoaster crazy female quite well. It seemed like a great role for her and she did well from start to finish.

Ever since Antichrist I cannot look at Charlotte Gainsbourg without being scared. That was great during that film but now I find that every other role of hers pales in comparison. Which sucks, because she is good. Merh.

The story wasn't what the trailer lead me to think it was, but Lars is known for that too so I tried to go with it. I just got really bored and was waiting around for things to happen. Really cool shots though, this guy nails cinematography...but, I just couldn't really care about what was going on. Cool idea though and it was beautiful but didn't do it for me.

Bonus: Kiefer Sutherland.

3/5 ADSENSE HERE

Shame (3.5)

(Trailer)

2011 drama by director Steve McQueen about a New York City resident and sex addict Brandon finds his life begins to fall apart upon the arrival of his sister.

This movie is...weird (and SUPER rated R). Well, not weird, but definitely something strange. It was not what I was hoping for at all and instead I just got thrown into the very sad life of this brother and sister. 2 hours of sitting and watching two people fall apart and remain hopeless was not the way I wanted to spend my evening.

I did want to watch Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Inglorius Basterds ) who played Brandon as he is quickly becoming on of my favourite people to watch on screen. He was great in this movie. He nailed both sides of this character and also blew me away when the character starts to disintegrate. There was always something more going on behind his eyes. Like.

Carey Mulligan (Drive, An Education) is awesome and I was completely surprised with her as this crazy sister. The relationship that she and Fassbender had was intense, just like their characters. It's good to see Carey doing all these different roles, I like when actors spread their wings so to speak and try different things. Make for a hopeful career and you bet I will be following hers.

Now. The Story...

I was pretty bored. Not going to lie. I did think that some of the cinematography was interesting and the characters were interesting but there was a lot of standing around and pace changing and I just couldn't stay invested in the story. Not sure why, I just found my eyes wondering.

Wanted more. The performances were great but I didn't get much from the story.

Liked the ending though. And by the end I felt ashamed for no reason which means the story wasn't a complete failure, it just wasn't enough to stimulate my silly, little brain.

3.5/5 ADSENSE HERE