KynoJones Reviews

28 Days Later (2002)

Good flick, let down by poor scripting

[12 December 2002]

Not a big zombie movie fan but saw this to see what it looked like. Tho' the last time I saw a film to see what the technology looked like on the screen - Rohmer's the Lady and the Duke - I was disappointed. This was pretty good and looked great. The London scenes were impressive/amazing. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a film in two parts (potential spoilers) with the second half being in a manor house taken over by a group of soldiers. with lots of running around reminiscent of Blade Runner. sure, they had to get out of London, but it became predictable after that. and they could have gotten out of London quicker and had a bit more character development once they'd gotten to the Manor house (the character development was poor overall. the only really strong character, the female protag, had all her credibility thrown away at the end when she kisses the blood soaked male protag). Alex Garland (the writer), Danny Boyle (the director) and Andrew MacDonald (the producer) spoke after the screening. Mr.Garland stated that he enjoyed smoking then seeing films like the day of the triffids and the living dead when he was young. and thus was writing a film for himself when he was 18. not sure I would have wanted to see 28 days later after smoking... He also noted that he thought the film was better for the plot holes/lack of polish in the writing. I don't agree with this. there were two expositional scenes planted late in the film which stood out like a sore thumb. they seemed to be, just when you're wondering about a major plot hole, a scene was added to explain it away. the exposition should have been dealt with earlier/quicker, in my opinion. He also noted that a scene with people trying to escape by plane at an overcrowded airport was cut for cost reasons. sounded like a good scene. Overall, it worked. Story reminded me a little of Jeff Noon's "Vurt".

Ten (2002)

Ten conversations about depending on others to find happiness

[3 December 2002]

Went to see this with my sisters. Well, we were going to see another film which was advertised to show at 7pm. We duly arrived and were told that the film we were going to see started at 6pm. A refund was complicated so I asked if there was something else we could see and - to cut a long story short - "ten" was showing at 7 so we saw that. It's something I'd been wanting to see, but the fact that it was marketed as a film by a briliant Iranian director was a double-edged sword in attracting people to see it with me. and having seen it, I thought this was unfortunate since the themes are pretty universal. (potential spoilers) it's about 10 conversations in a car between the driver and the passengers she picks up, namely her son, her sister, a friend, an old lady and a prostitute. her relationship with her son is strained - she's had a messy divorce. the discussions revolve around each of the passengers' search for happiness in their relationships. and it's well worth the watch. it's an unusual film because there's not really any conflict between the driver and the passengers, except between the mother and the son and, to some degree, the prostitute. the passengers unload their worries and the driver listens. it works. but the countdown (each conversation is interspersed by a number counting down, 10, 9, 8... which break up the rythm of the piece since some conversations are long and some very short) works to make it feel more like a short than a feature. by the end of the countdown, yer definately ready to get out and on with yer life!

Talk to Her (2002)

A quiet masterpiece

[24 October 2002]

Seeing this was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I'd been a bit put off by the Almovador's (Kika, All about my Mother...) since "Women on the Verge" but I guess this found the connection which those other one's lacked for me. It seems to be about repressed emotions, about people finding unconventional ways to find emotional fulfillment rather than running around - in a focused and driven fashion - getting what they want. The European feel was refreshing, the acting superb. I was happy.

Sweet Sixteen (I) (2002)

Surprisingly uplifting

[9/10 · 11 October 2002]

The kind of film I usually intend to see but don't end up seeing. In this case I did see it and was handsomely rewarded. I expected it to be a little on the depressing side but found it strangely uplifting. Perhaps because you realise that you don't have it so bad after all. Perhaps because it was extremely tight - with no needless scenes. I half expected the protag's relationship with the girl to result in a teenage sex scene. But it didn't and there's no way it would have fitted in with the film's race towards it's inevitable conclusion. Inevitable but not exactly predictable either. Stunning.

Following (1998)

One for the big screen

[9/10 · 11 October 2002]

Saw this at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, over three years ago. I went in with no expectations since Christopher Nolan was a no-name at the time, but it sounded interesting and turned out to be one of the best things I saw at that festival. It worked well on the big screen, with the technique of cutting the scenes out of sequence adding to the mood. Mr.Nolan gave a good account of its making at the end, enough to put anybody off starting out as a film-maker! I liked it better than Memento although this was, perhaps, due to the lower expectations. And the fact that it was more of an art house movie.