Early in the holidays I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (I'll use ES from now on), but felt that it was a bit difficult to review so I've left it for a bit. It's not that the movie was too confusing, it's that it has a very unique way of telling the story, through 'flashbacks'. Without giving too much away, it explores the concept of removing specific pieces of memory regarding a single person. So for example if you wanted to forget your deceased grandfather, you could have your memories of him removed, thus taking away your grief. Overall, ES is a very thoughtful and somewhat murky film, but I would still have to say there are bits of romance and comedy in it. At first there is confusion as with most great sci-fi films, however as the plot develops, you catch up quite quickly and get enthralled in the story. I think it was made even better by having subplots, which helps the main plot seem faster in my mind. Ultimately it was very enjoyable and made me feel 'happy' despite some of the darker themes explored in the film; the ending was logical and felt perfectly timed. 9/10
Out of stupidity I then watched Transformers: Dark of the Moon. If you've watched either of the first two films, then you've seen this one. Lots of explosions and big robots like the past two films with less comedy. The plot is: good guys have to beat bad guys in robot fights. 3/10
Shutter Island, directed by the great Martin Scorsese, is a dark mystery thriller, revolving around a mental institution. The amazing thing about this movie is that despite the fact I watched a version that looked like it was recorded on a calculator, Scorsese still managed to create a sense of suspense and fear. The lighting, music and acting were all very well done, with Mark Ruffalo playing a very nice support character. However the major downfall of the film is its ridiculous plot. Set up very nicely, it just seems so random and almost unedited at points. The ending seems quite illogical and feels as if the audience is back at the start of the film. Again without giving too much away, there is a lot of confusion throughout the film and little of it is resolved by the ending. 6/10
Lastly I watched Harry Potter 7 Part 2 with relatives (free tickets and free food woot!). Not to be a party pooper but I only watched the first 4 or 5 movies and finished the books so many years ago I forgot the whole thing. Therefore I had to Wiki the plot the night before to catch up. This led to the highlight being the free popcorn. The graphics were awesome as always (in a theater), the plot seems interesting (but hard to follow if you don't know what's happened in the last 3 years), but that was about it. I guess for followers, fans and young children the movie was amazing, but not for a random film-goer like me. The thing that irks me so much is the wasted talent in the film. So many great British actors just stood there saying the dumbest lines. Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman (Voldemort and Snape) were the only ones who had much input and did quite well (however Hans Gruber will always remain my favourite Rickman role). But for actors/actresses like Gary Oldman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters and even Helena Bonham Carter (Sirius Black, Trelawney, McGonagall, Slughorn, Molly Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange) all seemed wasted in their roles. Looking at the list, the only input came from the bad characters. If you've watched all the others then this should be a good film for you. 7/10
I know it seems like I had lot of time in the holidays but one movie every two days doesn't take long. Reviews to come: Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, Memento.
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