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Reviews
Extracurricular (2020)
Gripping
Twists, turns, unintended consequences, all spiralling out of control. Brilliant. We need a second season. I really feel for our protagonists!
Locke (2013)
Intense and thought-provoking
Very intense - and yet the movie is essentially about a man driving a car whilst making and receiving telephone calls. A "talking heads" movie with only a single talking head, as the other actors are voice actors speaking over the telephone line.
And yet despite this simplicity, Tom Hardy manages to convey a great deal of emotion whilst speaking in a very calm Welsh accent, (or at least the accent of a Welshman who has been living in England for a long time), playing a man who has made a momentous decision to do the right thing and is now attempting to deal with all the consequences that flow from that decision.
It seems such a simple premise for a film - but at the same time it simply works very well indeed. Highly recommended.
Black Angel (1980)
Dark, Brooding, Atmospheric
This movie has stayed with me ever since seeing it as a teenager when it was played as an accompanying short film to "The Empire Strikes Back". I thought it was absolutely brilliant however I also remember the comments of "Eh?" and "I don't get it" I overheard at the cinema.
It is dark, moody, brooding and atmospheric. Something to be experienced and slowly digested rather than passively watched - much of what a viewer will take out of this movie will be based upon what they themselves read into it.
I am so glad to have finally found out what the movie was called and even better to have found it is finally available. I am downloading it on iTunes as we speak!
Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006)
Bizarre, Poignant and Strangely Compelling
It's difficult to truly describe what this film is other than to say it has to be experienced in order to really understand. It blends comedy interspersed with occasional animations so as to lighten up what would otherwise be an almost unrelentingly dark and tragic story of a young woman's desperate yearning to be loved despite abuse and misunderstandings.
The leading actress (Miki Nakatani) is superb playing her character from wide-eyed innocent onwards, having in effect to play several different parts.
The closest film in both style and substance is probably the film "Malèna" starring Monica Bellucci - the style being sufficiently close as to perhaps suggest that it may even have been an inspiration.
Worth watching.