Film Favourites: July Edition

Ever since I was a child, the way I've watched movies is by watching them with my family. This has largely continued up until now, since I am a very bad solo-watcher and can never seem to finish a film or a TV-show if there's no one else with me. When I got to film school everyone kept talking about classics and mentioning movies I knew I should've seen but I hadn't. So now I have a list on my phone of what movies I need to see eventually, and I'm trying to work my way through. As a bit of a motivator I've decided to collect my favorites of every month and provide some kind of a review of them in case anyone else is interested in seeing some of them! These films are not necessarily from the list, and might just be something I happened to see or was recommended to me, so do not quote me on the "classics" part!

It goes against all of my writers instincts to post something that is essentially me expressing my opinion on a film, because I still find it hard to believe that anyone would be interested in what I find entertaining and worthwhile. But this is for any of you who are open to suggestions!

The first of my favorites this month is a film called Midnight Special, written and directed by Jeff Nichols (whom I'd never heard of before watching this film). It's essentially about a little boy who has special powers, and his father trying to escape with him as they are chased by various people. I went into this film blind about what it was about and hadn't even seen the trailer, which in this case was definitely a good idea. A lot of the feedback I saw online after I watched it was that the trailer made it up to be something it wasn't, and people were disappointed with the (probably) anti-climactic nature of the film when compared to the trailer. The only thing I knew was that it was a sci-fi film, and really that's all you need to know. My twitter review after the film was basically just a thank you for not making the film another "crash boom OH MY GOD explosions"-kind of flick, but rather just a cool take on extraterrestrialism through one small story. It wasn't anything special in terms of the cinematography, but I enjoyed the tension and there were a few really wonderful moments with the boy and his powers. Speaking of which, the CGI and special effects of this film were well made. They were sparsely used, but when they were used it looked really good and almost natural, if light shooting out of somebody's eyes can look natural. I'd recommend this film for anyone interested in sci-fi and tired of the same kinds of aliens and same kind of "save the world and get the chick"-storylines.

My second suggestion is a documentary film called Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. I know, it sounds really heavy, and well, it kind of is. I don't think a documentary about something as oppressive and awful as Scientology can or even should be light. So, if you're easily spooked by or just plain uncomfortable with religious cult type stuff don't watch this! It took me several nights of watching to get through this, but it was worth it. Up until seeing this documentary all I knew about Scientology was limited to the weird backstory about aliens and a galactic overlord, and that you needed to pay loads of money to advance and that was why celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta were up really high in the "levels" of the religion. What I learned was that not only is it a religion that takes all your money (not only payment for courses which raise you in the ranks, but there's also ginormous pressure to give the church huge donations), but it's also a religion that commits horrifying mental and physical abuse toward it's members. I'm not going to explain everything in detail because that's what the documentary is for, but it was really eye opening to hear the accounts of people who have been in the church for decades and finally escaped. If you're at all interested in documentaries or religious cults or just increasing your knowledge in things please do watch this! There's a small Scientology sign on a building near Hunter's Square in Edinburgh and me and my friends always joke about the "free personality tests"-sign in front of the door, but this documentary really made me see how scary it is. 

Third, and last for this month is The Darjeeling Limited directed by Wes Anderson, and co-written with Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola. This film has been on my list for a while now, mostly because I love Wes' movies and I own this huge book on his films and haven't been able to read the essay and interview because I hadn't seen the film yet. So, yesterday a good friend of mine agreed to watch it and I finally got to read those parts in my book! As all of Wes Anderson's movies, it is visually beautiful and needs a second watch before you really understand all that it has to offer, but even with first viewing I saw a lot that I liked. The film tells the story of three brothers: Francis, Peter and Jack, and their journey on a train in India. The film has no initial exposition of who they are or what they are on the train for, and I won't spoil that for you as it is quite interesting seeing as the story folds out and you find out bits and pieces of information when it seems natural. One of the themes that Wes discussed in the interview I read was the theme of spirituality, and the concept of being a foreigner in another country. As someone who has travelled, though not a lot, I can definitely identify with not knowing the language or the culture and just kind of trying your best, but still being in your own little bubble. This film has a lot of funny moments, a lot of "what the hell is happening"-moments and as per usual, a lot of beautiful shots. I might just watch it again for the sets and sequences alone. Definitely not my favorite of Wes' films, but well worth a shot. As a final remark, it was nice to see a movie set in India that didn't pick up on any specific stereotypes or disrupt the cultural picture, but rather flowed smoothly within the setting. I guess symbiosis would be the word to use, but I feel I have already filled my pretentious-meter for today. 

Thanks for reading this far, I hope some of you see some of these films and report back to me. And if you already have, please tell me your opinions! I quite like having discussions about movies when they don't deal with absolutes like "this was the best ever" or "this was the shittiest film" (mostly because those don't really facilitate any real discussion, they're just opinions.) 

Join me in my film enthusiasm please,

Becks