"This is England"

This is England (2006)
Definitely one of the greater British films in the past decade, "This is England" depicts the lives of a group of alternative teens and the struggles and influences on them in 80s "Thatcher" Britain. An all-round great film which won a number of awards for its marvelous plot and directing.

Plot synopsis:
"After being bullied at school, 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) comes across a small band of Skinheads lead by Woody (Joseph Gilgun), a charismatic and benevolent teenager who befriends the boy immediately. Bringing him into the fold as one of their own, Woody quickly initiates Shaun as a Skinhead to the dismay of his widowed mother.

Having lost his father in the Falklands War, Shaun gleefully embraces his new found friends until the group is split with the arrival of Combo (Stephen Graham), an older, nationalist skinhead just released from prison. Once friends, now bitter rivals, Combo and Woody divide the group along political lines. Blaming England's economic woes, growing unemployment and post-war grievances on the influx of foreign minorities, Combo persuades Shaun and other members of the pack to make a stand, preserving England for the English.

After attending a meeting of right-wing nationalists, Combo takes his new found gang of hooligans to threaten the local Pakistani community. In his contempt for others, Combo begins to reveal his own emotional battles with loss, loneliness and isolation. When his romantic advances are later rebuffed by Woody's girlfriend and former fling, Lol (Vicky McClure), Combo turns his hate, envy and prejudicial rage against one member of the group to disastrous effect... changing Shaun's viewpoint in an instant."

- BD (elevated-2)

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed "This is England". It gives you an insight into life as an alternative teen in the UK during the 1980s, including skinheads, New Romantics, punks, etc. The actors perform to their best as they struggle with emotional conflicts amongst eachother. The film does appear quite heavy at times, as we wonder whether a 12 year old Shaun could understand what he is getting into. The ambigous ending is gripping not knowing whether the worst has happened or not.

All in all, a great film raising some issues about Thatcher's time. If you don't get anything out of this film, you will still appreciate the nostalgic value.

8/10

"American Beauty"

American Beauty (1999)
"American Beauty" can definitely be called one of the greatest films of our time in showing the effects of American sub-urban culture on the middle classes. Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari, the movie deservedly won a whopping 5 Oscars in the categories of Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Cinematography, Best Writing and the most important, Best Picture. The movie has become an almost cult classic and has inspired such hit shows as "Desperate Housewives".

Plot synopsis:
Lester Burnam (Spacey) seems to be going through a middle-life crisis. He is slowly slipping further and further into his depression despite of living the "perfect" life in a "perfect" neighbour with his "perfect" wife. This sadly is not true. He feels that all excitement in life has been taken away with having the same, mundane routine day after day.

His wife, Carolyn (Bening) seems like a successful estate agent, perfect in every way but behind closed doors, she isn't the same woman as she appear to be, breaking down in tears and bossing her husband about.

Their daughter, Jane (Birch), seems a reclusive teenager, depressed by the same old suburban life. She befriends her new neighbour, Ricky, a strange, quiet drug-dealing camera-man with a strict, homophobic military father. After a few unfriendly first encounters, they eventually find happiness in each other's company, perhaps realising how much they need each other in this society.

The story centres around Lester's choice to change his life completely around and living for today all in the hope of having an affair with Jane's schoolfriend, Angela (Suvari). The story shows the changes each character experiences over a short space of time, from their mundane, repetitive lives, to their new remotely interesting and enjoyable secretive activities, none of which could be accepted in middle-class suburbia. The ouctomes, however, don't end in as happy a way as they all had hoped.

My thoughts:
I personally love "American Beauty". The American middle-class suburban culture has always fascinated me since reading "Death of Salesman" and watching it performed on stage. Just as "Death of Salesman" can be seen as a tragedy of contemporary society, so can "American Beauty".

The performances from all actors are incredible, pulling you into the story and allowing you to feel their sheer boredom at the beginning to their secretive fervour they all indulge in. The awards for acting are well deserved in all of the award competitions they entered into.

The black humour of it all is something that makes the film thoroughly enjoyable - from one of Lester's opening statements ("Within a year, I will be dead.") up until we see that Lester dies with a smile on his face. The darkness of sub-urban American really makes the film worth watching, so I suggest if you haven't already, go find the film and enjoy all it has to offer!

10/10

"Mean Girls"

Mean Girls (2004)
Definitely a defining teen movie of the 21st century, "Mean Girls" is an all-round great film depicting the bitchy, high-school lives of a group of self-proffessed "popular" girls. Starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAddams and Tina Fey, this movie is a great watch for everyone.

Plot synopsis:
Cady Herron (Lohan) moves back to America after living in the African bush with her zoologist parents most of her life. She thinks she can handle her first time in an American high-school but sees it's a lot different than the vicious wild - it is A LOT more vicious!
After an awful few days being judged and excluded, she befriends two of the less-popular students, Janis and Damian, who show her the ropes and unwritten rules of teen culture.

The mean but fashionable girl group, the "Plastics", made up of Regina George (McAddams), Gretchen and Karen, are known at school for their bitchiness and how they show no mercy in destroying the social standing of other girls. Cady, is noticed by the clique and she soon finds herself wrapped up in their world, as Janis and Damian stand by the side-lines and ask Cady to infiltrate their group and destroy them, from the inside out.

As the plot thickens, Cady finds herself totally immersed in the Plastic Culture and as she brings down Regina George, the apparent "Queen Bee", she notices how she could in fact take her place rendering her the new "Mean Girl" of the school.

As the film gathers momentum, Regina's plans to bring Cady down along with her former partners-in-crime ends in a hilarious "battle scene" amongst teenage girls.

My thoughts:
"Mean Girls" is definitely one of my favourite teen movies. It is one of the only ones that shows contemporary teen culture. Just as "Pretty in Pink" and "The Breakfast Club" categorized the 80s, and "Clueless" categorized the 90s, this movie definitely shows the forever present rivalry between girls with a 21st century twist.

The film is hilarious, made so by some of the witty remarks made by all characters. The bitchy seediness of it makes it a very funny film that you can watch again and again.

This film, in general, is a great one which will leave you in stitches the whole way through.

8/10

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

Arguably one of the funniest films of the 21st century, Borat (for short) is a hilarious film using original concepts to shock audiences with its outrageous, unbelievable sequences of sheer comedy.

Borat (main character played by Sascha Baron Cohen) won several awards including a Golden Globe for best actor and won a place in the American Film Institute's Official Selection of the "Top 10 Films of the Year". The film also raised a lot of controversy with several law cases following it but the effect seems to pay off in what is a shockingly hilarious movie.

Plot synopsis:
Borat begins in a village in Kazakhstan where he introduces his neighbours and family. He tells us he is also a reporter for Kazakh television, which viewers of the original "Da Ali G Show" would already have known. His mission is to go to America with his producer, Azamat (Ken Davitian) so that they may learn the ways of the Americans so that he may bring all his "learnings" back to his homeland to make it a better place.

As he arrives in America, we see his initial apparent culture shock at such things as escalators. He then interviews countless real Americans under the pretense of learning about American society and culture. The hilarious consequences come from the vast "cultural differences" between Borat and the Americans. Scenes include interviews with feminists, stopping in at a bed and breakfast owned by an elderly Jewish couple, singing the Kazakh national anthem at a Texas rodeo and many more.

His quest for knowledge is soon side-tracked when he watches "Baywatch" on the television in his hotel room. He is mesmerized by CJ Parker, played by Pamela Anderson, and he makes it his goal to find Anderson and to make her his wife. The film peeks when he finally meets Anderson at a book signing. The results are as shocking as they are hilarious!

My Thoughts:
Borat is one of those films that you don't know whether to be shocked at or to laugh at. The jokes and pranks all entail real people who indeed believe that Cohen is Borat, a Kazakh journalist. They want to teach him the American way but are often offended, shocked or even afraid of Borat's Kazakh way of doing things. I think these "cultural differences" are at the core of this film, but there are scenes where you think it may have been taken a little too far. Most, I would say, are just hilarious though!

A lot of the people in the film felt misled and thus portrayed as close-minded or even discriminating. The scene at the beginning of the film sparked a lot of controversy in depicting an actual Roma village as violent, polygamous and even incestuous. Kazakh people were also offended from the film. This defamation of character has led to a lot of people not liking the movie and even acting against it.

My advice is to enjoy the film as it is. I mean not to look to deep into the words and actions of some of the characters or real people in the movie. I enjoy it again and again and find Cohen's way of acting is thoroughly convincing and should be admired. If your humour is a little bit twisted, this is definitely the movie for you but if you prefer your humour to be witty, I'd steer clear of it.

7/10

"Memoirs of a Geisha"

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

I begin my film-reviewing blog with a film that I have watched countless times and have never become bored with, "Memoirs of a Geisha."



This masterpiece of cinematography, art direction and costume design won 3 Oscars in the afore-mentioned categories. Featuring Ziyi Zhang ("House of Flying Daggers", "Hero"), Ken Watanabe ("Batman Begins", "The Last Samurai") and Michelle Yeoh ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Tomorrow Never Dies"), "Memoirs of a Geisha" is truly a pearl of the Orient.

Plot synopsis:
The film tells the tale of Chiyo as she is sold to a Geisha house at a very young age along with her sister in pre-wartime Japan. She is separated from her sister in the bustling town of Hanamachi, a far cry from her own fishing village, and is put to work in the Nitta Okiya in Kyoto's Gion district.

She is emotionally and physically abused at the Okiya and is at the mercy of the strict Nitta and the vinidictive, cold-hearted Hatsumomo, the head Geisha at the Okiya. As time goes on, her prospects of becoming a geisha herself look bleak. In one scene, as she sits lonely upon a bridge amidst all her work as a virtual slave to the Okiya, she comes upon the Chairman who shows her such kindness that she has not yet experienced. She swears to herself at that instant that all the determination she has to become geisha comes from the one desire to see the Chairman once again. After her countless prayers, she finally gets the chance to become meiko (apprentice geisha) after a rival geisha, Mameha, takes her on as her protegée very unexpectedly.

Chiyo's training begins and the more she learns the art of elegance, the more she learns the harsh reality behind the life of a geisha. Her dreams come true as she meets the Chairman again but soon learns of the rules of love amongst geisha. Her determination to see him more and more increases. Within months, she is renamed Sayuri and becomes a full-fledged geisha. Her progress is so great that she becomes the most celebrated and famous Geisha in Kyoto. But as war approaches Japan and life is uncertain for everyone, her fame is short-lived and all that she has striven for is cruelly taken away.

As war ends and Sayuri tries to revive the geisha way, her struggle to win the love of the Chairman peeks and we wonder whether or not she is to achieve that which she set out to do from years gone by.

My thoughts:
I enjoy this film every time I watch it. The costume design and the art direction is unbelievable. The scenery of pre-wartime Japan is exquisite and it is a feast for the eyes throughout. The music also contributes greatly to it creating that perfect Oriental aura.
I am aware that the film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. Unfortunately, I am yet to read this and could not make a just statement on how true the film is to the novel.
I really find it captivating to learn about Japanese culture through film but I wouldn't, by any means, take this as true about Japanese culture. The film was produced in America, it was largely for an American/Western audience and the majority of actors are Chinese - this contributes to the inaccuracy to true contemporary Japanese culture. Despite this, the film is still great in portraying one woman's story, her struggles and her achievements in a world that was evidently forced upon her.
The story is esentially a love story and we can see throughout the film that it may not just centre on Sayuri's issues with love but also of Hatsumomo and Mamahe. They show 3 different angles to the problems they all had to face, all of which are from Sayuri's perspective.
The performances in the film are generally good but with no scenes "powerful" enough to be remembered years from now.

All in all, it is a great film. If the story doesn't interest you, the attention to detail in design, set, effects, etc. is enough to put on your "Films I Have To Watch!" list!

9/10

Atomic Film Reviews

Welcome to Atomic's Film Reviews.

My name is Ciaran, I'm from Ireland and I study at Sheffield University.
I thought it was about time I jumped on the blogging-bandwagon so I decided to create my own movie review blog, where I will review an array of popular and independent movies from across the globe on a regular basis. As the blogs essential nature is to discuss films and their content, there will be many SPOILERS here, so this is where I ask you to be cautious when reading.

I hope to update this blog as often as I can, including my thoughts and feelings on all my favourite films, and all my not-so-favourite ones too.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you all find my film reviews useful and insightful.

Ciaran