When you are going to see a movie, even if you don’t know anything about it, you go in with certain expectations. Of course you hope the movie you payed for is going to be good, but that is not what I’m talking about. You expect that you will join a character in his or her journey, getting to know them and care for them (even if they are bad). You might also expect a three-part setup, one introducing the character, the second something happening to them and the third act resolving their issues. Not many movies stray away from that formula and if they do they can divide opinions. I personally love those type of movies, 21 Grams and Pulp Fiction are prime examples. The Place Beyond the Pines maybe does not cut up its story in the same way as those movies, but it will not meet expectations people will have about it. The trailer of the movie does not prepare you for what the movie is providing and in this case this is a good thing.

During a long, beautiful opening shot you see Luke (Ryan Gosling) walking from his trailer trough carnival grounds to his motorcycle. He is part of stunt team and he travels a lot. He meets up with Romina (Eva Mendes), who he saw when he previously was in town. He finds out she has been keeping something from him and it is reason for him to change his life. Unfortunately it is not one on the straight and narrow, but a life of crime robbing banks. Luke isn’t the only focus of the movie however as it also looks at the life of Avery (Bradley Cooper), a cop who takes pride in his work and who always wants to do what is right. When that belief is shaken he starts to struggle with what he should do.

There is so much I love about this movie. As mentioned earlier the movie has some long, beautiful shots. The first part of the movie has some high adrenaline moments and it manages to portray that feeling very well. An example of this is a scene in which Luke is driving through the woods on his bike, making jumps and riding very closely through the trees, but also when he uses that same bike to get away after a robbery and weaves through traffic. Because of that convincing way of showing the action it leaves an impression and as the movie progresses it lingers in your mind, which it should do as it is important to remember it. It is a movie which really made me realise how big the passage of time can be and how history can be whatever you make it. I do not want to give away too much, but the movie has a great story, great actors in starring and supporting roles and it strongly reminded me of a Hitchcock movie. It also currently is one of my favorite movies of the year. Not need to tell you that you should see this.

 
 
This review is part of the Japanorama feature started by Paragraph Film Reviews

Lately I’ve been trying to watch more movies which are about time travel, so I was interested in checking this one out. It’s about a schoolgirl, Makoto Konno, who is having a bad day. She has to hurry to get to school in time, gets an unexpected test and also has an accident during cooking class. When she has to put away some tests in the science lab she falls and discovers a strange subject. Later during the day she has a strange experience. Her aunt explains it as a time leap. She finds out that, if she wants to, can leap through time.

The fact that this movie looks at the life of a teenage girls makes it interesting. Her focus isn’t on her job or on big things, but on teenage issues, like boys and finding your own identity. As she uses her power to improve some things, it turns out that she isn’t in control of the consequences. Some of the changes have big impact on the lives of others and as time progresses she tries to use it to undo those changes.

The characters themselves might not be the most complex, but you care for Makoto’s journey . If you are into time travel movies then I really suggest you try to get your hands on this one and check it out. It tells a very cool story and uses the time travel concept with great effect.

Another Monday and over here it is a national holiday, so it is a long weekend for me. Recently I was listening to the Filmjunk podcast. They were talking about the way they were watching movies and one of the points which I found interesting was the sound part of it. There always is a lot of discussion of watching movies in 3D, but how about surround sound. When you watch movies at home do you insist of watching it with surround sound or don’t you care if the sound is only coming from the TV. I thought it was interesting since I always have surround sound when I’m watching a movie at home, but it made me think if it really made a lot of difference. To me it does when I’m watching an action film, but if it is a relative simple drama I do not think I would miss it.

Do you think surround sound adds a lot to a movie or don’t you mind watching it with TV sound (or no sound and subtitles)?

So which actor/actress would you like to see this Friday? Please vote on one of them below!

What do you do to become a better blogger/writer? Do you challenge yourself in order to grow or have you slowly gotten into the groove of things and enjoy being in that comfort zone? Recently I saw the documentary/movie The 5 Obstructions and it inspired me to create a new blogathon which will start very soon.

What is the movie The 5 Obstructions about?
If you have not heard of this film, let me give a short summary of it:
Director Jørgen Leth got the assignment from Lars von Trier to remake one of his movies (The Perfect Human) a total of 5 times. Each time there were rules he had to adhere to (for example: the movie has to be set in Cuba and the maximum length of a shot is 12 frames or the movie had to be animated). The idea behind it was to challenge the filmmaker, forcing him to come up with something worth watching with those restrictions in place. It has been announced that Martin Scorcese will also do the same thing in The Five Obstructions: Scorsese vs. Trier, which will finish shooting this year.

So what is the 5 Obstructions blogathon about?
This is not a blogathon where you write one post and you are finished. This is a blogathon for which you have to write 5 posts (1 per month) with 1 restriction in place each time. The goal? To challenge yourself as a writer and force you to get out of your comfort zone (hopefully) resulting in lessons learned to improve your blogging in various ways. If you are worried, I have some fun obstructions in mind which I think you will enjoy.

So how will this blogathon work?
At the beginning of each month I will post the obstruction for that month and you will have the whole month to write your post. You can do it immediately or take your time, but it has to be done before the month ends. You can send me the link to the post or leave it in the comments underneath the obstruction. At the end of the month I will check who has managed to pass the challenge and post an overview of the posts. This will be repeated for the other 4 obstructions.

When will this blogathon start?
This blogathon will kick off on June 1st, when the first obstruction will be posted.

Where can I find the logo for this blogathon?
I’ve created two versions of the logo, one with a black background and one with a white background, which can be found here.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments.

Carey Mulligan was born on the 28th of May 1985 in London, England. She lived in Germany from age 3 to 8. Her interest in acting began at six when she saw her brother perform in a school play. In her teens she was busy with theatre and was the student head of the drama department at woldingham School. Her ambition to act kept growing, despite her parents not being a fan of it. She secretly tried to get into drama schools, but was denied. It was actor Julian Fellowes who invited her to a dinner with aspiring actors where she met a casting agent who gave her a role in Pride and Prejudice. She still kept appearing in plays, but also was in several TV shows including Bleak House, Waking the Dead, Trial & Retribution, Doctor Who and Agatha Christie Marple: The Sittaford Mystery. Since 2009 she has been doing more movies. Some of these are An Education, Public Enemies, Brothers, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Never Let Me Go, Drive, Shme and The Great Gatsby.

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What’s your favorite Carey Mulligan role?

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As you may know my favorite movie is Black Swan and when I read that director Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to Perfect Blue I knew I had to watch it. In Requiem for a Dream he has remade one of the scenes exactly. Watching Perfect Blue I could also see that Black Swan has some similar subject matter.

The movie revolves about Mima (Junko Iwao), who is part of a very successful all girl singing group with lots of (or should I say almost onlY) male fans. After having done it for a long time, she decides to leave the group and start a new career in acting. She finds out that being a very popular singer doesn’t immediately give you a head start in acting and she agrees to some questionable jobs, including a photo shoot where she bares it all and a role in a Tv show where the character she plays experience some horrible situations. During this period she slowly starts to lose her sanity as she discovers a website written in her name, describing minute details she doesn’t share with anyone. As a viewer you know this is written by an obsessed fan, who wants to defend the image of Mima which she had when she was part of the singing group. He is willing to do anything to protect that image, even murder. Mima loses her grip on reality, no longer knowing what is real.

Perfect Blue, just like Black Swan, looks at the sanity of a young girl who wants to excel in something and who slowly begins to lose her sanity. Sexuality also plays an important role in both movies. In Black Swan it is her teacher who wants to seduce her, she dreams about having sex with one of her fellow dancers. In Perfect Blue Mima has decisions made for her to do a photo shoot and agrees to do a scene in a TV show where she is raped. Despite the similarities there are differences as well. Within Black Swan it is Nina who is fighting her inner demons, but in this movie there is an external factor contributing to Mima losing her sanity. Director Satoshi Kon was also responsible for Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika (movies also worth checking out). Just like in Paprika he expertly mixes reality with dreams and nightmares, leaving the viewer to join the main character in her descent into a confused state and her struggle to deal with it. A must see for Black Swan fans, but even if you are not I think you should give it a watch.

I can’t believe I have not featured this blog before, so it is time to turn on those spotlights to the brightest level and shine them on Tyson Carter from Head in A Vice, who runs an awesome site and has a community many other bloggers will envy. Time to get to know him a bit better.

What’s the history of your site, why did you start it?Basically, as a youngster I walked in and saw Casino on the TV. Something hit me. I felt different, almost as if my little mind started to realize that there was this new world of films out there that wasn’t aimed at children, and I began my quest to see as many of them as I could. The underlying theme would be the more adult/violent orientated style of film, and since I watch a lot of indie horror and films a lot of people don’t go out of their way to see, or know about, I felt blogging would be my way of sharing some thoughts on films people may have otherwise missed.

What makes your movie blog different from the other ones out there?
I aim more for the niche within the horror community, and I dont review new, big releases. I try and run projects and review films others don’t so I try and keep as unique as posible, but ultimately someone will always have done the same stuff (and better probably!) so I just try and have fun with it.

What do enjoy most about your site and what is the reason you keep doing it?
I have an amazing community that visit and chat, and when I see better sites than mine getting no reader interaction, it makes me realise how lucky I am, and I must be doing something right. I always thought if just one person responds and ‘gets’ what I’m trying to do then it’s all worth it. I have that, and I’ll keep going until no one shows up!

In which ways has your blogging changed the way you watch movies?
I honestly don’t think it has. I still watch as many as usual, and I don’t make notes or anything for me reviews. I have a pretty good memory and remember scenes for my reviews. I guess now I get a lot more free films/screeners so its a definite positive blogging has given me.

What’s your favorite article you have written?

I would say my write up for LOVE.
It’s a film not many people have seen, and those that have either love it or hate it, but I was fascinated with it and feel it’s my best review. Mainly because I stole lots of facts to make me sound more intelligent.

Could you name five of your all time favorite movies?
Just a random 5:

Goodfellas

The Godfather

Casino

Drive

Anchorman

How many movies do you watch on average each week?
Normally a couple a day, working nights and not sleeping a lot is a useful trait as a movie fan.

Do you own any movie related items that you are very proud of?
For my 21st birthday (10 years ago……wow……) my wife bought me a 5 foot high framed poster of The Godfather Part II, all signed by the cast. It hangs pride of place in my house, and is the first materialistic thing I’d rescue in a fire (after my wife and cat). I would love the full size Billy Doll on a tricycle from Saw, but my wife is terrified of it and refuses to let me buy it. One day I’m hoping someone buys me it as a gift (fancy it Nostra?!) then I can’t get rid of it.

Anything else you want to tell us about yourself?
I have a lot of fantastic images on my site, and 99% of them are designed by my Canadian friend Chris from Film Hipster. I love to thank him in random places as he refuses my money, and I may as well do that here as I’m sure people are bored with me saying how great I am.

The discussion is as old as time: Are people a product of their environment or is most of it genetics? After watching this documentary my conclusion would be that environment is the biggest influence. This documentary is a riveting example of it. A failed robbery aboard a bus, which then changed into a hostage situation (and was broadcasted live) was something which kept Brazilians glued to their TV in 2000. The perpetrator, Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, was unpredictable, threatening, but also in control of his situation. This single event is used to make clear that there are some pressing issues in Brazilian society, which might have led to this hostage situation.

It is clear that Nascimento had a tough time growing up, witnessing the murder of his mother and not being able to cope with it, resulting in a lot of bad choices and him living the life of an outcast. But it also looks into other problems. The police force consists of a lot of people who didn’t get a lot of training, they don’t have the technical means to keep each other informed (during the hostage they have to signal with their hands). Some of them give the force a bad name as they beat up street children (or even worse). Once someone is arrested the situation in the jails isn’t much better as some people have to wait for ages in cramped cells for a trial, being treated very badly while they are locked up.

Bus 174 is told through various interviews with policemen, friends and family of Nascimento and those taken hostage. It also uses footage of the hostage situation, where you see Nascimento screaming against the police and threatening the hostages with his gun. If you have never heard of the story (like I did) it is as exciting to watch as any other good thriller and the ending, to me, was a very unexpected one. As all sides of the story are told, you are able to construct a good idea of what issues lead to this situation and what changes would need to be made in society to improve the situation.

It’s Monday and this past weekend the LAMMY winner for best blogathon was announced. Although I was nominated I (unfortunately) did not win, but I’m happy to congratulate Mettel Ray for her Movie Alphabet blogathon. We have already decided we’ll go head to head for next year’s Lammy, so look forward to some great blogathons. Now back to the regular program, this week’s question:

Going to the cinema is something which we all do as almost nothing beats seeing movies on a huge screen. A lot of frustration at the cinema will come from your fellow moviegoers, whether it’s because they are looking at their phone during the movie, talking loudly or eating smelly food, these are simply facts about seeing a movie at the cinema which we won’t be able to change. But forget about the other people watching the movie and look at the cinema itself, that’s what this week’s Monday question is about:

What’s the most annoying thing about your local cinema which you wish they’d change?

I have to say that the cinemas I go to are very good so the annoyances are pretty small. The only things I’d like to see different would be that in one of the cinemas there are only two spot to pay for the snacks, which means there are usually huge lines. It always surprises me as that’s the place where a cinema makes the most money. The second thing is that sometimes the lights will be turned on before the credits have finished (or sometimes even during the last scene). I’m interested to hear about your annoyances.