Paige’s Edinburgh Film Reviews

Wall-e directed by Andrew Stanton is about a little robot who lives on Earth, and is cleaning up the filth that has been left behind. Years have passed and many Wall-e robots have broken down, but one remains still doing his job cleaning the Earth. This little robot has been around a long time and has grown his own personality. New events unfold when a robot named Eva comes to Earth, and Wall-e is taken on the ride of his life.

I think that Wall-e was a very cute movie. Like all Disney movies, this movie is a great one for the kids. The graphics were really nice, and not all the scenes were too extravagant so that it didn’t distract from the movie. Also, Walle’s character was very well developed, and the plot as well didn’t leave out details. The images and scenes narrated them selves, and there was no question about what was happening. This film was very good in plot and cinematography.

I give Wall-e 4.5 stars out of 5.

The Fall directed by Tarsem Singh is a very beautiful dramatic fantasy about a little girl named Alexandra (Catinca Untaru) who broke her arm and is temperately staying at a hospital. One day she throws a letter, from the second floor, to one of the nurses, and it falls into a window into another patient’s room. Alex finds the letter in the hands of Roy (Lee Pace), a man who is deeply depressed about losing his girlfriend. Roy decides to tell little Alex a story in order to get what he wants.

This film is by far the most beautiful I have ever seen. The style was great, and I really loved the film art. I enjoyed how as Roy told the story the audience saw Alexandra’s vision of the story. It was quite interesting when it showed realism the colors were neutral and soft, and when you were seeing the story through Alexandra’s eyes Singh used very bright colors. It reminded me of exactly being in a child’s mind. To a five year old words can easily be misinterpreted, and the images she sees are quite different compared to an adults. The film and story scenes aren’t as literal as if a adult were listening to the story. This movie I could actually buy, watch several times, and would like to share it with others, and every time I would still cry at the same parts.

I give The Fall 5 stars out of 5.

Transsiberian directed by Brad Anderson is about a couple who are traveling to Beijing to Moscow by the Transsiberian railway. Things turn when Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) meet a shifty couple who are on their way to Moscow. Secrets and lies twist the hands of fate as it comes time for Jessie to make the right decisions to save Roy and herself from certain death.

Transsiberian was an okay movie. I still got bored because I have seen plenty of movies such as this, and it all seemed the same. The way the characters act to certain things also makes me cringe because you can see the simplest choice while the character does not. I have also never been the fan of the action peaks and then mellows, and when you think it is all good and done, it peaks again and you wonder what else could possibly go wrong?

I give Transsiberian 2 stars out of 5.

The UK Shorts is a collection of short films. There was no theme, but most of the shorts were drama filled or a little horrifying. A film such as Wish directed by Matt Day, is a lovely film of two girls inviting two guys over for a party. Things turn when the girls tell the boys to make a wish, and to see if it comes true later.

Most of these UK Shorts really stunk. Shorts should be what they are intended to be, short. I only really enjoyed Wish, Dead Dog directed by Edward Jeffreys, and Slapper directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. They were short and enjoyable to watch. Dead Dog was enjoyable because it was pretty self explanatory, and had some humor. The reason I didn’t enjoy most of the shorts were they were too confusing and didn’t explain well enough for it’s audience. Plenty of times I was lost, and didn’t understand what was going on in majority of them.

I give most the UK Shorts 2 stars out of 5.

Sleep Dealers directed by Alex Rivera is a political sci-fi that takes place in future Mexico. Memo (Luis Fernando Peña) is a boy who lives in a small town in Mexico. He helps his father with the crops, and in his spare time he builds a transmitter to intercept calls by catching their radio waves. The setting is based in a future where people’s bodies are able to connect to the Internet. A time where immigrant workers can work for America in their own country.

I personally thought that Sleep Dealers was very intriguing. The political aspects are shown in good detail such as; some cooperations are buying water rights in different countries. This is a big issue in a lot of third world countries. Also, I found it interesting when most of the currency used in Mexico was the US dollar. A subliminal message that the American dollar could someday be the international currency to eliminate all others. I felt that some characters were not fully developed. Such as Rudy (Jacob Vargas) who should have been given some more of a chance to show his background.

I give Sleep Dealers 4.5 out of 5.

Let the Right One In directed by Tomas Alfredsson is not your typical vampire movie. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy who is regularly bullied at school. One night he meets a strange, withdrawn little girl named Eli. As the story unfolds more and more paranormal things begin to happen.

The storyline was very interesting. I enjoyed the relationship between Oskar and Eli. Their relationship was innocent and has a very deep bond. They both knew they had someone to watch their backs. Many scenes were well shot and nothing seemed to be forced into the script; every scene had a role in building structure for the horror flick. The film had very good continuity, and there wasn’t anything out of place for the time period.

I give Let the Right One In 4 stars out of 5.

Portrait of Jason directed by Shirley Clarke is a old interview of Jason Holliday in the year 1967. The film is recorded over at 12 hour span during the night. The whole time Jason puts on a act for the camera. He is himself, but not. As the night wears on Jason drinks and smokes himself into a more comfortable state of mind. Nearing the end of the night, he begins to show his true self to the audience.

Portrait of Jason was rather boring and lengthy, even though Jason was rather funny at some points. I believe it took a long time for him to finally be comfortable in front of the camera. The director could have cut most of his “acts” out of the picture. In another since, I understood why they would portray the film as so. It takes a long time for a person to really open up to a large audience. So this film showed it’s flaws, it did not entertain the audience is chief among them. The Director portrayed the true personality of Jason Holliday by story’s end.

I give Portrait of Jason 2.5 stars out of 5.

When a girl, named Joy, goes missing police ask to have a reconstruction of where she was last seen. Helen directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor is about Helen (Annie Townsend) a quiet girl who is given the role of Joy because she looks almost exactly like her. Helen is asked to dress like Joy and to follow the steps that Joy took last. Slowly, Helen starts to enjoy taking on the life of Joy.

This was an awful movie. It was too slow even to the point people moved like sloths in the film. This is not a typical plot motivated film. Helen is suppose to revolve around Helen who apparently has no identity as a character. Trust me, if you don’t like movies for entertainment or don’t like them for film art, then this movie is for you. The whole movie has a more theoretical way of looking at it, which went right over my head.

I give Helen 1.5 out of 5.

Faintheart directed by Vito Rocco is a film that was developed by people on MySpace. It portrays a man who enjoys medieval reenactments, comic conventions, and a abundance of geek-like activities. With his marriage on the brink of disaster and his son not wanting anything to do with his father anymore, will Richard (Eddie Marsan) be able to man up, or will his boy-like fantasies keep him “young” forever?

I believe this was an awesome film for being constructed from a large diverse of people off the internet. Also, it had a good flowing plot that didn’t seem to be miss leading or broken with little information. This film exceeded my expectations because at first glance I thought it was suppose to be a parody of Braveheart. But much to my surprise it was a well played out film that had an actual purpose, rather than being really annoying and stupid like most parodies.

I give Faintheart 5 out of 5.

Death Defying Acts directed by Gillian Armstrong is about the great escapologist, Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce). When Harry’s mother dies he is on a quest to find a psychic to reach his mother from the dead, and to tell him what her last words were. On his stop to Edinburgh, Scotland, the con-woman Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter, Benji (Saoirse Ronan), step up to the challenge to hopefully win the prize money.

This film was excellent because it had a good structure and plot line. The casting roles were perfectly matched up with their own characters. Guy Pearce certainly had the true Harry Houdini look to him. I also enjoyed scenes where a character would get visions, but the visions didn’t get too flashy and kept good continuity with each one. Also, there wasn’t anything that was out of place for the era of the film.

I give Death Defying Acts 4 stars out of 5.