June Blind Spot Review: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

“When you separate an entwined particle and you move both parts away from the other, even at opposite ends of the universe, if you alter or affect one, the other will be identically altered or affected.”
– Adam

SYNOPSIS: A depressed musician reunites with his lover, though their romance – which has already endured several centuries – is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister. – via IMDB

You know, this was an odd one. Even after all these years, I was not quite sure what this was all about, only that the characters were vampires. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie, after I had spent some time chewing on it, that is.

Okay, right off the bat I want to say that the film was extremely visually appealing. It was all shot at night, and everything looks dark but never really dreary, just sort of… I don’t know, typically that dark and romantic vampiric vibe. It really was pretty to look at. The score, too, complements the film every step of the way, and the sight and sound combining like they do really set the tone and the atmosphere for the movie, and then the rest is up to the cast, and boy, they really work that. The comedy in this is also very sharp, and delivered effortlessly throughout and never comes across as jarring, yet it is also extremely subtle.

Tom Hiddleston is fantastic. Really. His Adam is quite a complex character who truly entertained me. He is reclusive, haunted and depressed, yet brings massive amounts of humour to the table, which I thoroughly enjoyed. He is classy to boot, and absolutely gorgeous. Tilda Swinton, as always, delivers a solid character, and Eve is one that I quite liked. She gets this almost childlike joy out of things in the world still, despite having been around so long. Adam and Eve perfectly complement each other, and are just this incredibly beautiful, mysterious couple. Hiddleston and Swinton worked wonders together – they just click, everything falls into place when they are together. There is this comfortable, passionate energy between them.

Wasikowska, while breezing in and out, irritated me, and yet provided comedic scenarios in the midst of all the heaviness that was present. Hurt, of course, is excellent here, and his character is a good one, one I could definitely have seen more of. Naturally Yelchin shone here, as expected. While Adam might hate the “zombies”, he has quite the appreciation for Ian, and I liked how that was handled.

Only Lovers Left Alive is dark, haunting, comedic, sophisticated, and most certainly well worth a watch. It’s a movie you chew on after the fact, and that is something that I appreciate. Definitely a different kind of vampire film, and I liked that. This movie is not going to appeal to those who do not enjoy a slow burn film though, or a movie which is not spoon fed to you. There are a lot of little nuances here, things that make the bigger picture that much better.

October Blind Spot Review: On The Waterfront (1954)

“Isn’t it simple as one, two, three? One: The working conditions are bad. Two: They’re bad because the mob does the hiring. And three: The only way we can break the mob is to stop letting them get away with murder.”
– Father Barry

SYNOPSIS: An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses. – via IMDB

Man, been waiting for ages to eventually get to this, and I am glad that I did. I thought that On The Waterfront was a pretty good movie, but now that I have seen it, I won’t be rushing to rewatch it in a hurry (not because it is bad). I was pleased to hear that there would be some mob focus here (y’all know how I am about that stuff), but was disappointed when there was not as much mob as there was about Terry talking big and trying to not get too involved with everything, once again. The romance in this was old school and clean, something I really enjoyed. I thought that Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint worked really well together. The performances were especially good here from Brando and Karl Malden. Father Barry was a character that impressed me endlessly. I have to admit that, while I was engaged throughout, I did feel that the movie was a tad long – I felt it, which is a pity, because other than that it was pretty much smooth sailing. I enjoyed the morals and the issues that were addressed in this, and think that the pacing and development for the story was handled quite well for the most part. I might get shot for not scoring this higher, but I thought that this was good, but not the greatest movie of all time. I don’t really have too much to say, as this movie has been discussed endlessly by a heck of a lot of people. All I can say is that I liked it, enjoyed it, and I was engaged, and thought that it was solidly directed, and carried by good performances.