Luke Baldock (kiriyamakazou)
Luke's Recent Reviews
The Substitute
R
A wonderfully made little Danish gem. A class of 6th graders discover that the new substitute is an alien. Of course, the parents don't believe them and the teacher is an expert at manipulation. It puts aside the usual, alien conquers the world story and goes for one of an alien trying to understand love and empathy. It's actually a way of saving her own species, rather than dooming ours, though she doesn't go about it in the best way. It looks good, but also plays it a bit too serious.
In Time
PG-13
Great idea with incredibly dumb execution. In the future, time is currency and everyone stops ageing at 25 for some reason. Timberlake finds himself receiving thousands of years from some guy tired of immortality. He ends up being chased by the cops in charge of time, and by some very non-threatening gangsters. The idea is wonderful, and the perfect vehicle for social satire. The poor spend their lives on food and essentials, literally living day to day, meanwhile the rich just spend, spend, spend. It also has the great chance to view the pain of immortality and how it's not how long you live but how you live. Which is why I'm so angry at the stupidity and nonsense in this film. I understand that nobody ages, but why does everyone look like a model? Characters just vanish, and it just becomes one huge assault on the 1%. Like a teenager with a good idea, but doesn't understand what they are talking about. There are huge lapses in logic. A major character dies because of time running out, even though simple maths would show that she would have survived. People run at each other in slow motion, with dramatic countdowns, but it doesn't play in real time. Timberlake's character knows how to fight, which I put down to his mention of his father being able to fight, and then we find out that fighting just involves holding hands. This makes for the most boring confrontation between Timberlake and the antagonist. Let's hope for an intelligent remake in the future, because this just ruins the premise.
Luke's Favorite Movies
Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai)
Unrated
Quite simply the greatest film ever. It's perfect. Kurosawa uses all his skill to create an influential action masterpiece. Each of the characters gets their own amount of screen time and is developed upon. Kurosawa blurs the lines between good and evil, as we discover the farmers are not as pure and weak as they claim to be. The battle scenes have never really been matched, as most battles today lack real emotion. We feel there is something worth losing. Simply fantastic.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc)
Unrated
Simply and utterly gorgeous. A silent gem that shows how far cinema can go on simply visuals. Mainly told in close ups, the performances are just restrained enough to avoid the comical silent overacting. An artistic masterpiece.
