Film Review: BLUE VALENTINE (2010)

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis, Cami Delavigne
Running time: 112 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama/Romance
UK Release date: 14^th January 2011

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 13^th January 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember this film came out to a lot of critical acclaim, not least for the performances of the two leads. In fact, the lead actress, Michelle Williams, picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance. I must say the acclaim and the accolades are well deserved; the film either lives or dies on these two performances and they are both delivered with great skill. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

A couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) and their daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka), have lost their dog. The gate was left open and the dog got out; this leads to a train of events that will eventually lead to the break-up of Dean and Cindy. But before we get there we are told the story of how they got together in the first place and learn an awful lot about these two quite different characters. I guess that’s all I want to say here; that, in a nutshell, is what the film is about.

The two central performances from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are truly excellent. They take the audience through a whole range of emotions and back again! The film is shot using quite a lot of hand-held camera; but not too shaky; which makes for a realistic feel to the drama. To me it seemed a little odd to show just the beginning and the end of the relationship; maybe I missed something, but I wanted to know what happened in the middle. Could be it was doomed from the start. I enjoyed this one and would watch it again (making sure I was in the mood first); definitely worthy of my recommendation.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.4/10.

IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 72,300 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/

MetaScore: 81/100: (Based on 42 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 88/100 (based on 185 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 75/100 (based on 50,895 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blue_valentine/

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http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Dean: I feel like men are more romantic than women. When we get married we marry, like, one girl, 'cause we're resistant the whole way until we meet one girl and we think I'd be an idiot if I didn't marry this girl she's so great. But it seems like girls get to a place where they just kinda pick the best option... 'Oh he's got a good job.' I mean they spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then they marry the guy who's got a good job and is gonna stick around.

Dean: In my experience, the prettier a girl is, the more nuts she is, which makes you insane.
Cindy: I like how you can compliment and insult somebody at the same time, in equal measure.

Dean: I can't really sing. I have to sing goofy, in order to sing. I have to sing stupid.

Cindy: I thought the whole point of coming here was to have a night without kids.

LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.bluevalentinemovie.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010)

Director: Kelly Reichardt
Writer (screenplay): Jonathan Raymond
Running time: 104 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Western/Drama
UK Release date: 15^th April 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 5^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is another of those films that got recommended during an online discussion. This time the topic was Westerns and those that know me will know I’m not particularly a fan of the genre. I did, however, add it to ‘The List’ and it finally came into view this week. I must say I found it quite different to anything else I’ve seen in its genre, quite gritty and realistic without any of that Hollywood ‘polish’. I will tell you more after this very brief summary.

It is 1845 and many settlers are making their way along the Oregon Trail. A group of three families have split off with their guide, Stephen Meek, to take a short cut across what proves to be a very harsh wilderness. We follow the families as their water supply dwindles and they become more desperate. They come across a Native American who some of the group hope can lead them to water. Others, including Meek are less trusting. I won’t say any more or the Spoiler Police (Western’s Division) will be taking my Sherriff’s badge and six shooters off me (again).

I was surprised to find the film was made in a 4:3 aspect ratio which (I felt) did not lend itself to the landscape. The audience is restricted to a box-like view of what looks like an amazing landscape and I was slightly disappointed by that. All of the performances were very good, the dialogue is quite unusual and there is some interesting use of sound where some dialogue is partially drowned out by other sounds, it’s quite naturalistic. So I’ll give honourable mentions to; Michelle Williams as Emily Tetherow, Bruce Greenwood as Stephen Meek, Will Patton as Soloman Tetherow, Zoe Kazan as Millie Gaitley, Paul Dano as Thomas Gaitley, Shirley Henderson as Glory White and Rod Rondeaux as The Indian.

The very natural style put me in mind of the work of Terrence Malick although this is very different in a lot of ways too. I must warn potential viewers that the film has a very slow pace and the narrative doesn’t follow the traditional beginning – middle – end pattern. You will also find that the scenes at night are extremely dark, there seems to be no additional lighting apart from that given off by camp fires and lanterns. All in all though I did find this one quite enthralling; I became invested in the characters and was interested in the outcome of their adventure. If you’re interested in early American history then I can highly recommend it; it’s certainly not your traditional Western that’s darn tootin’.

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 6.6/10 (based on 3,962 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1518812/

MetaScore: 85/100: (Based on 36 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 85/100 (based on 116 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 55/100 (based on 7,589 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeks_cutoff/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
None available

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://meekscutoff.com/
Trailer: