The King's Speech rekalled...

The King's Speech is the newest Oscar fodder from England based on the true story of the ascension of a king and his trials as he comes to come to grips with the pressures and reality of the station. Colin Firth plays Berty, heir to the throne and soon to be ruler of a war bound England and does an admiral job as a stammerer with a regal flair. There were no wink links in the acting or screen writing, it was rather entertaining. There was one moment that I felt the music and scene didn't mesh and that is the only problem I had with the film.

What I found most interesting about the film was the use of the art direction and the framing of the scenes. Many shots were composed with a character sitting in the right of the frame and looking to the right which could cause the the viewers eye to lead out the frame. But the side of the frame with no character was usually filled with a pattern of wallpaper or a repetitive texture to give it something interesting but no distracting. This style was used throughout the film and was an interesting stylistic choice. Also the use of a shallow depth of field on close ups gives the viewer a taste of the hyper focus of Colin Firth's tension and the use of head room in shots of the homes and palaces exemplifies his feeling of being minimized by others by being dwarfed by his surroundings.

Overall a good film and an entertaining glimpse of history.

Marwencol rekalled...

MARWENCOL is a documentary about an artists work and his journey with his unique style. The documentary focuses on Mark Hogancamp and his art of photographing G.I. Joe style dolls depicting the fictional WW2 era Marwencol. Hogancamp's medium is not a ironic or mocking tone but it is a happenstance of his therapy from a traumatic event in his life. Marwencol is an incredibly layered and moving story with odd twists and turns as if it was written by Charlie Kaufman. It amazed me that something that is so traumatic and painful could produce a true artist whose motivation is only self and dealing with his own life in a unique way. More than photography or displays, this is more pure artistry than one would imagine at first glance when the whole story is told. A must see.

The Green Hornet rekalled...

The Green Hornet is a modern retelling of the classic radio serial of a "super hero" and his supremely talented partner. Even though I am well versed in the super hero universe I am not too familiar with the Green Hornet, the extent of my knowledge is that Bruce Lee's big western break many years ago before becoming the world famous martial arts master. The history of this particular incarnation had a long and troubled road to fruition. Written by and staring Seth Rogen, it definitely had his stamp all over it with his standard improv like comedic sensibilities. Combined with Rogen's style of performance and writing was Michel Gondry as the director whose own unique visual style had peaked my interested. My expectations were rather low for this film going in and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Not a great film but enjoyable. The crowd that I saw it with seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, a real crowd pleaser. Despite only having a few fleeting moments of Michel Gondry's quirky style which I was hoping for, I still enjoyed the Rogeness of the film. What I think I enjoyed most or noticed at least was the constant use of of screen dubbing of comments. I am not sure if they added them to speed up or enhance the film but I enjoyed it and it helped me enjoy it even more. Jay Chou holds up his end in the action department as Kato but I had difficulty understanding what he said but Seth Rogen covered up it up with exposition. Overall an interesting film that isn't a perfect mix but an enjoyable blend of talents that you wouldn't expect to work together in the first place but is still fun.

Rare Exports rekalled...

Rare Exports, a Finnish import film, is an ambitious film about a boy coming to grips with the true nature of Santa Claus of Finnish legend. The film builds up tension with the design of a horror film that ends very differently. With a clever misdirection the film changes in tone about two-thirds of the way which comes as a bit of a disappointment. The film almost had a Thing vibe, an excellent film set in the arctic but the comparisons end with the snow. Overall the film had drawn me into the style and mythos they were establishing, I respected the small twist and then the final tonal shift left me disappointed. Rare Exports ended as a children's triumph film, much like my childhood this film was a bit of a disappointment. This was another instance of a much ballyhooed foreign film that I believe get's more respect than it deserves.