Infographic #1: ORIGINAL VS REMAKE

A comparison between original films and their remakes.

The Little Death (2014) review

 After explaining that “little death” is a French euphemism for orgasm, Josh Lawson’s film introduces its characters, a series of couples. The fact that they live in the same neighbourhood is the only thing they would seem to have in common, if the film did not give us an insight of their sexual life. What really connects all these people, however, is that each couple’s effort of satisfaction or rekindling the fire in their sexual life is being tested by sexual fetishes. Masochism, role play, dirty phone calls and other, more unusual situations give to each of the film’s five different stories its main theme. Also, they make the film’s subject sound far more daring than it actually is…

In reality, The Little Death is but a common dramedy or even a rom-com. The interesting subject and its division into different stories may make the film a bit special, but, for the most part, the theme of sexual fetishes is exploited simply as a way to produce comedy rather than approached with realism. The result is undoubtedly amusing, as well as tender, but there is always a sense of lacking enough dare and honesty. Thankfully, Lawson avoids the danger of clichés and forced happy-endings and, truth be told, we would have no reason to complain about the film had its stories been truly solid and resolved. Its main flaw, however, is that after its ending (which might be unexpected, but it is also sloppy) most of the stories remain literally unfinished! 

Nevertheless, the beautiful final story leaves a sweet aftertaste, being arguably the best of them all. Along with the story about masochism, these two clearly stand out as notably sensitive and actually complete.

(2½ out of 5 spinning tops)

White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) review

Shailene Woodley might only be twenty-three years old, yet she has already given a series of truly amazing performances. It feels like she always brings a part of herself into her characters, no matter how different each time they may be. And her role in White Bird in a Blizzard is not an exception. To be precise, Woodley’s performance is the best thing Gregg Araki’s film has to offer, even though her character is not as memorable as other roles she has played. Besides the talented actress, however, the film proves to be rather weak.

It would be considerably interesting to watch a film which never reveals in what direction it’s going to move next, as long as the film itself knows! Unfortunately, White Bird in a Blizzard feels disoriented: it is not the atmospheric thriller it sometimes tries to be, nor does it use very effectively the element of mystery as a disguise for a coming-of-age drama. The script never manages to make Woodley’s character likeable enough for us to actually care for her, while the finale seems to mostly focus on the mystery side of the story rather than the drama, unlike the rest of the film. The biggest mistake, however, Araki makes is that he chooses to conclude the film with an epilogue which explains -in a far more straightforward way than expected (and needed)- everything that could have remained subtly hinted. And it feels like a letdown, since it was the film’s subtlety that made it interesting in the first place.

(2 out of 5 spinning tops)

Coherence (2013) review

Eight friends gather in a house for a common dinner party, while a dangerous comet passes over the Earth. The comet seems to have only affected the house’s electrical devices, but it is not until the guests are forced to leave the house that they discover its real effects.

Having been developing the film’s concept for a year, James Ward Byrkit (who has previously participated in the art department and screenplay of Gore Verbinski films) gathers an eight-member cast and shoots, almost entirely within a house, an independent, experimental science-fiction thriller on a tight budget and… with no script! In the beginning, Byrkit as the director gives the impression of the simple observer of a random dinner party between eight everyday people and the realism of dialogues and performances reveals undoubtable improvisation. Actors speak on top of one another and at times even mix up their words, making the film feel impressively realistic.

In the first fifteen minutes of the film, one can link it to the sci-fi genre only through random hints. However, the development of the plot leads to us being surrounded by an engrossing science-fiction atmosphere, as well as to a number of enjoyably unpredictable twists, which not even the actors themselves (excluding co-writer Alex Manugian) knew about.

Given all the above, it may sound like it is impossible for the film to be actually decent (outside the margins of an interesting experiment). Still, all those elements end up being the exact reason Coherence proves out to be such a remarkable sci-fi thriller. And this is because its success does not rely on the special effects -which it avoids in an exemplary way, not simply due to the small budget, but because it doesn’t need them- but on the imaginative development of an extremely compelling idea. Lance Pereira’s achievement in editing, which is as excellent as it is difficult, seems to give a vital pulse to the improvisational scenes and the found-footage-like realism makes us even more surprised at the unexpected plot twists. This way, the film plunges us deeper and deeper into an existential nightmare, which never runs out of surprises.

Of course, there’s no doubt the film loses its strength at some points, as Byrkit does not avoid the -rather common in American independent cinema- focus on unnecessary dramatic subplots focused on individual characters. Also, the film’s finale, although it does climax the story’s existential spirit, feels disappointingly awkward. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to reconsider these flaws from the point of view indicated by the film’s original title, The Understudy, which refers to the character of the protagonist Emily Baldoni. In any case, James Ward Byrkit’s impressive achievement proudly manages to prove that good science-fiction films do not necessarily need dazzling visual effects to be impressive and it turns out to be -in the simplest way possible- unsettlingly suspenseful and nearly mind-blowing. 

(3½ out of 5 spinning tops)

Media Diary & Reflection

My media diary. Please click to enlarge.

One’s media diary can lead to many conclusions about one’s media usage. In my own media diary, I have not included internet usage as a form of media, because the amount of websites I have visited throughout the week and the amount of hours I have spent on the internet are too large to record. My media diary therefore consists of the films and episodes of television shows I have watched throughout this particular week and it also includes one radio show I listened to.

The first thing one would notice by looking at my media diary is that I watch at least one film and one TV series episode every day. This is because of multiple factors. First of all, it is my own pursuit to watch as many films as possible, as the total amount of films I need to watch in order to gain enough experience as a film student is immense. 

Besides that, watching films and TV series is probably my main form of daily entertainment. One could probably describe me as kind of a loner. I do not go out as much as other people do and sometimes I even prefer to be on my own. This is also apparent through the fact that I watched almost all these films and TV episodes at home. I like to feel devoted (in both a passive and an active way) to the arts I love, such as that of film. Therefore, one can realise why watching films and TV shows is so important to me, whether it can be seen as a way of cultural development or simply as pure entertainment.

Judging from the media diary, there is no particular film genre I have shown preference to, but it is interesting to examine what kind of TV shows I have watched throughout the week. It has been almost exclusively animation and in particular the famous shows The Simpsons and Family Guy. There is a reason why I watch at least one episode of these shows every single day. It is firstly because they last only twenty minutes and secondly because they usually request no sentimental attachment, as they only aim to make you laugh. This way, you can watch them any time of day, no matter what mood you are in or how much time you have. By doing this, it feels like I have almost got addicted to them and I always need to watch at least one episode a day. As one would probably realise by looking at my media diary, this has almost become a typical procedure. I always watch an episode in the afternoon while having lunch, because I feel like I need to somehow distract my mind while eating, with those episodes being the easiest and most entertaining way to do this. Also, it is very usual for me to watch them right before I go to bed. I am not sure why I feel the need for this, but it could be seen either as a way of slightly postponing to turn off the computer and go to bed or as a way to distract my mind before I sleep.

Had I been keeping a media diary for longer than just a week, there would have certainly been more things to discuss and a broader understanding of my media usage. What I analysed above, however, is what I consider the main points in a week’s media diary.

Chappie (2015) review

Neil Blomkamp, director of District 9 and Elysium recently apologized for the latter, admitting he had relied too much on its appealing concept and neglected to pay the same attention to a satisfactory screenplay. This statement sounds sincere on one hand, but we would appreciate it more if it meant that Blomkamp has learned from his mistakes. Unfortunately, everything he accuses his previous film for can be used to describe his new one as well…

Chappie is, precisely, a promising idea that would need a much more powerful script in order to be effective. This idea is the creation of a form of artificial intelligence (Chappie) that needs to discover the world from the beginning, in a process that resembles a child’s upbringing. As a concept, it contains an intrinsic humane element, as well as the potential for substantial parallelisms with man himself and the formation of his perception of the world. But most of all, it shows that Blomkamp can still demonstrate a sense of filmmaking creativity: he consciously tries to follow the rules of different genres simultaneously, creating a violent, R-rated… “family” film, with no intention of compromising by subjugating one genre to the other.

As expected, unfortunately, this is exactly what the South-African director stumbles upon. He creates a film that doesn’t really know what kind of film it wants to be. The violent action often gives its place to a humane approach and the latter to the lighthearted humour, with the film being disorientated and almost never truly functional. Moreover, the music composed by Hans Zimmer, despite being otherwise interesting, often seems to force the transition from one tone to the other, thus only making it clumsier. Chappie’s biggest flaw, however, is its script’s incapability to convince about almost anything that happens throughout the film. From the criminals’ transformations into either tender parental figures or repentant heroes to the naively humanized robot Chappie, the film’s concept feels annoyingly rough. Also, some details like the battery sign on Chappie’s chest and the obvious product placements cannot but make things worse. As a result, the sentimental elements seem melodramatic and the action never feels exciting, with the humour being the only actually amusing thing left, although it tonally confuses the film even more.

It is worth mentioning that here, apart from certain hints about religion, the social subtext of Blomkamp’s previous works is absent. Lastly, Yolandi Visser and Ninja, members of South-African rap group Die Antwoord, star in the film as themselves for some reason –and some of their songs are included in the soundtrack. Ninja is at times enjoyably comical, whereas Yolandi Visser should have given a considerably stronger performance for her poorly written character to feel engaging.

Chappie has undoubtedly good intentions but it would need a more elaborate screenplay in order to be sufficiently solid and convincing. Blomkamp misses a second chance (after decent, but not memorable Elysium) to live up to the triumph of District 9, only this time, his sci-fi vision seems worryingly ‘blurred’…

(2 out of 5 spinning tops)