Since, opera floated right out of my life, I’ve became very attached to an item called TV. For the first time in years, I went to Xtravision and rented some DVDs out. They’re doing a really appealing deal where you can rent 2 new releases for 2 nights, 2 drinks and a popcorn for €10. Pretty, pretty good.
So, I went for Black Swan and Bad Lieutenant, pulled the curtains in the sitting room tight and sat back ready to be entertained.
Hmmmm.
Problem was that Terry had been raving about Bad Lieutenant since forever and seeing as Nicholas Cage rocks and Terry is normally correct in these matters, the standards were set high! Don’t get me wrong, the film was good but it was not amazing, excellent or even hilarious.
I laughed slightly at 2 bits, I enjoyed it but I felt like I had seen it all before. Get this-a cop goes bad. He takes illegal drugs. He blackmails bad guys. He does naughty things to even naughtier people. The other characters are rubbish, bad acting and impossible to be sympathetic towards. In short, Nicholas Cage saves the film. I didn’t like the iguana and lizard that rambled throughout the film that symbolised Nicholas’ character’s mental state. In fact, I think the ending was quite mainstream and predictable.
I’ve seen a film like this before. Similar to the Town or the Departed but not as slick.
Or maybe, I’m just a grump.
The second film was Black Swan. Very disturbing. Unnerving. Odd. But vaguely fascinating. Natalie Portman was truly excellent but the film couldn’t make up its mind. Was it a thriller or a wacky, off the wall, all in the head similar to American Psycho? Certainly not as clever as American psycho, where you never quite believed what was going on yet you did somehow. When Natalie’s character, Nina takes a jump at the end, I was left feeling thankful that it was all over for her and for us.
The last film was called His and hers. We recorded it on Sky, so it was free, free, free! Ish.
It started off on a bad note, the basic premise is that this documentary filmed loads of different women from the age of 4 up till 80+. The women spoke about the men in their lives-their fathers, their sons and their boyfriends and husbands. The interesting thing about this film was that all the women were incredibly traditional and Irish. They worshipped the Daddy. They met their “man” at a young age, yearned for a wedding ring and children. The young women came across as being insecure, immature and unappealing to me. However, the women started to get interesting when they got to about 40+. Their relationships, their take on life, their sense of humour came out. The film ends with the wives being left without their husband, their life partner that have grown to love. A perfect circle of life comes about. The film is beautifully shot with moving music and complete honesty. I really liked it and I don’t know why. It made me reflect and created conversation between the two of us. It entertained in a simple way.
Go get it.
