Reviews

I watched this film mainly because of Javier Bardem and was not surprised that his performance delivered. Kudos goes to Maricel Álvarez and Guillermo Estrella as well, who gave an incredibly convincing performance considering his young age.

I loved Babel and Biutiful is just as engaging though somewhat heavier. The scenes were beautifully shot and very deliberate and precise. The film showed a Barcelona I had not seen in films and I almost nearly thought it was shot in Mexico until I sighted a Pharmacia. The colours of the interiors were rich and varied and this contrasted with the external surroundings which was usually grey and dark.

Notwithstanding, I was not really drawn into the storyline which was unrealistically grim. In fact, I found the 2 gay Chinese characters comical. I do not know what message, if any, Iñárritu intended to get across through the portrayal of the gay Chinese.

I bought the complete series of Gavin & Stacey in a box-set and could not stop watching it even though I wanted to delay watching the third and final season as it would mean that my viewing pleasure would be shortened.

Gavin & Stacey is a story centred on 2 individuals, their family and friends. It has a very simple storyline showing how the characters relate to one another in their ordinary day to day lives.

The romance between Gavin & Stacey aside, what I loved about the series is the friendship between Gavin & Smithy and Stacey and Vanessa. It is easy to identify with how the separate pairs of besties relate to each other and remain besties throughout the series despite their changing circumstances, like Gavin & Stacey getting married and each having to leave their hometowns and their besties at different points in the series.

I particularly liked how Vanesssa (played by Ruth Jones) is so tough and yet vulnerable. Vanessa also makes makes some very terse remarks in her Welsh tongue which cracked me up. I love the soundtrack, and how the characters relate through music (music by New Order, for one).

All the actors hold their own and both scriptwriters Ruth Jones and James Corden deserve the all accolades they have received for this series.

This is my first review for IMDb so please excuse it if it is not what a typical film review is like.

Arthur is not a film with substance but it has a sparkle to it because there are real life lessons that can be drawn from it. It mirrors the life of Russell Brand in some ways, who has himself lived quite a life and I admire him for being able to portray a likeness of himself in the film.

Helen Mirren and Greta Gerwig did well in the film. It is the first film I have seen with Greta Gerwig who reminds me of the late Brittany Murphy and it was a huge surprise to read her biography and discover that she is multi-talented.

The film has quite good punchlines and made me laugh. There were some crass bits but they were excusable because they helped to bring out the story. There were parts that were rather predictable but I enjoyed the film as a whole notwithstanding. I liked the way Russell Brand delivered his lines in his accent which was clearly distinguishable from Helen Mirren's despite both of them being English.