Category: 2013

Movie Review – Enemy

a24 visions

Enemy (2013)
Written by Javier Gullón
Directed by Denis Villeneuve

enemy

Adam Bell is a college history professor that live a very routine and mundane existence. He teaches in the day, comes home to his dingy apartment, where he has sex with a non-committal lover, and sleeps. The monotony is broken when a colleague suggests he rent a movie he had seen, “Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way.” Adam watches the film but that night has a dream about one of the scenes and there, in the background, playing a hotel bellhop is a man who looks exactly like him. He watches the film again, and yes, that wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. Through internet sleuthing, he discovers the actor’s name, Daniel St. Claire and begins searching out his home and learning about his life. As Adam descends down this path of madness, he comes to a point where everything he thought he knew about his reality begins to crumble.

Continue reading “Movie Review – Enemy”

Movie Review – The Spectacular Now

a24 visions

The Spectacular Now (2013)
Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Directed by James Ponsoldt

the spectacular now

Sutter Keely is a high school senior under the impression he and his girlfriend, Cassidy are the life of the party. Their relationship crashes and burns when he is caught in a compromising situation where he is honestly not cheating. However, as the film goes on, we begin to understand where Cassidy is coming from. In the meantime, Sutter goes on a bender and wakes up in the front yard of Aimee, a girl in his year. She is reserved and more studious than Sutter, but he feels drawn to her, both as a rebound and because she has such a pure caring spirit. However, Sutter begins to pull Aimee into his way of life, hiding a flask of liquor and coming to work and school at least buzzed if not more. There are also questions about Sutter’s dad and why his parents divorced. The answers will lead to the young man being forced to make tough choices about his life.

Continue reading “Movie Review – The Spectacular Now”

Movie Review – The Bling Ring

a24 visions

The Bling Ring (2013)
Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

bling ring

For almost a full year between October 2008 and August 2009, homes of celebrities in Los Angeles were being robbed while their owners were absent. The culprits were a group of teenagers from Calabasas who used celebrity blogs, looking for notices that a celeb was going to be out of town for an event, to pick their marks. Led by Rachel Lee and Nick Prugo, they managed to steal $3 million in cash and belongings. Fifty homes in all were hit, with public figures like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Orlando Bloom among them. Their eventual arrests and trial made for a moderate media circus and led to one of the gang getting her own reality show on the American channel E! This is the absurd pseudo-celebrity of The Bling Ring.

Continue reading “Movie Review – The Bling Ring”

Movie Review – Spring Breakers

a24 visions

Spring Breakers (2013)
Written & Directed by Harmony Korine

spring breakers

Faith and her friends are sliding into a state of monotony and apathy at college. While Faith attends class and Bible study, her friends Brit, Candy, and Cotty split their time between academics and partying. The tension of the mundane finally breaks them, and Brit and Candy rob a local restaurant to fund their trip to St. Petersburg for spring break. Faith is unaware of the criminal activities that lead her south. Once in Florida, they meet a rapper/drug dealer called Alien who begins espousing his warped reimagining of the American Dream. Faith becomes uneasy with where they have ended up with Brit and Candy become increasingly enthralled with the dangerous world they are becoming a part of. Continue reading “Movie Review – Spring Breakers”

Movie Review – A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

a24 visions

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2013)
Written & Directed by Roman Coppola

charlesswan

Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen) is a successful graphic designer who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Ivana. The aftermath has him ending up in the hospital being told to watch his stress. His sister, best friend, and business manager (played by Patricia Arquette, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray respectively) come to his aid, assuaging his ego while he loses himself in flights of fancy. Charles finds his emotions ping-ponging between loving and hating Ivana, unable to make a clean break with her. He begins to suspect she is seeing someone else and gets into a series of unfunny predicaments to discover the truth.

Continue reading “Movie Review – A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III”