Mulholland Drive - A Movie Review by Andrew Lawrence

"Silencio.... Silencio.. Silencio!"

When I began watching David Lynch's Mulholland Drive last night, I had no idea what kind of ride I was in for. It was pitch black outside, everyone else in the house had gone to sleep, and I had no clue what this movie was about or who the director was; all I knew was that it was supposed to be good. About five minutes into the movie though, I suddenly realised something strange; I had goosebumps. After five minutes. Five. 

Mulholland Drive is directed and written by David Lynch, and it stars Naomi Watts and Laura Harring in the two leading roles. The movie starts out with Harring's character being in a terrible car accident, from which she is the only survivor. She's hit her head badly and can't remember anything that has happened up until the accident, not even her own name, and after having wandered about for a few hours, she stumbles into a random apartment and falls asleep in the floor. Instead of calling the police and having her thrown out, the resident of the apartment, Naomi Watts' character, befriends her, and the two young women begin a search for Harring's character's lost memories. Their journey eventually takes them through the deepest and darkest corridors of the city of Los Angeles, and along the way, things start to get out of hand. Fact and fiction seem to become the same thing, and Mulholland Drive, a movie that seemed fairly straight forward in the beginning, turns into a twisted blur of city lights and fever dreams. 

Describing how I feel about Mulholland Drive is gonna be a tough task, because I've never really been affected or moved by a piece of cinema, or any other kind of art for that reason, in the same way that I was by this film. Sure, I've been mystified, taken aback and emotionally overwhelmed before by movies such as Drive, Black Swan and Take Shelter, but none of those movies had me completely and utterly transfixed and hypnotised in the same way that Mulholland Drive had last night. That being said though, this movie definitely is the most abstract and artsy of all the movies I've seen since I started blogging, which automatically makes it one of those movies that only one out of ten people is going to like. It's a very long movie as well; it falls three minutes short of being two and a half hours long, which is yet another reason why it's never gonna be a mainstream hit. However, if you're one of those people that are able to sit down and "lock in" on a movie and let it absorb you completely, and if you don't require everything to make perfect sense in order for you to enjoy a piece of art, I swear on everything that's sacred and holy that you'll love Mulholland Drive as furiously as you've ever loved anything before. 

To me, the most important thing about this movie is its atmosphere and its moods. The musical score always plays an incredibly important role in this regard, and Mulholland Drive is lucky enough to have one the most haunting and effective ones I've ever heard. There's one specific scene in this movies that exemplifies this perfectly, and it also just happens to be one of the most incredible and powerful ones I've ever seen. What I'm talking about is the scene in the theatre where Rita and Betty go to watch a play in the middle of the night. When the dark and mystifying score started rolling in the background about three fourths into this particular scene and I realised what was going on, the widest grin I've ever produced slowly spread across my face, and no matter how much I've tried and how hard I've been thinking, I can't remember being as impressed by anything as I was by the pure genius of this particular moment, and the musical score is an incredibly important part of the movie magic that is this scene. 

Another thing that plays an infinitely important role in creating this movie's ghostly environment and spellbinding atmosphere, is its characters and their personalities and individual traits. The one character that springs to mind in this regard is Rita, Laura Harring's character. Even though she's supposed to seem vulnerable and innocent, I found her absolutely terrifying as well, and I have no idea why. I can't explain this feeling any better without spoiling an important part of the movie and her character, but she's a picture perfect example of how vital well created and mysterious characters are to the success of an arthouse movie. Betty, played by Naomi Watts, is the more symbolically important of the two main characters, and an argument could be made that this character's thought process and naive look on the twisted world of Hollywood is the main theme of the entire movie. There are a lot of surprisingly funny moments associated with Betty's disneyfied ideas of how the glorified movie-world of Hollywood is, and David Lynch included a few minor plot lines about an unlucky director and a dim witted hitman, that serves to exemplify this element that ultimately is Mulholland Drive's main theme.

The thing about this movie that surprised me the most, is how terrifying it actually is. The fact that I started watching it at one o'clock in the AM in a dark room might have a part in this, but the fact of the matter is that I was legitimately terrified for a large portion of the film. Not only is it filmed in a way that makes is extremely intense and mystifying, but Mulholland Drive does something that 99% of all horror movies aren't capable of, which is to make its audience fear the unknown and the unsaid. Even though the horror genres' sole purpose is to frighten its audience, its extremely rare to find one that manages to be legitimately scary without the use of cheap jump scares and an infuriatingly high amount of shakycam. With Mulholland Drive however, David Lynch managed to create a movie that is insanely scary and nerve wracking at some points, but at the same time so enchanting and unique that looking away or closing your eyes simply isn't a possibility. This is writing and directing at its absolute finest in my opinion, and never have I seen a movie that demands attention in the same way that Lynch's Mulholland Drive does. 

I don't know how it happened, but David Lynch and his movies had just completely gone under my radar up until yesterday. I've gained a tremendous amount of respect for this talented individual over the last twelve hours though, and based on the incredible experience I had watching Mulholland Drive, I absolutely can't wait to see his other movies. The fact that this man managed to create a movie that blurs the line between dream and reality as much as Mulholland Drive does is very impressive, but the fact that he also was capable of giving it such an incredible amount of emotional and thematical power is a true feat of directorial greatness. Had the academy not been as afraid of wholly original and groundbreaking movies as it is, Lynch would have won the 2002 oscars for best writing and best directing, and that's a guarantee. I've never had my mind blown as much and as violently as it was when I watched this piece of true cinematic art for the very first time, and I know for a fact that homeless demons, blue haired ladies and slow panning shots of people walking down dark hallways will haunt my thoughts for weeks to come. In my opinion, Mulholland Drive is the very quintessence of movie magic, and if you're a fan of this kind of artistic and mysterious film creation, you'll know exactly what I mean. (6/6)

Mulholland Drive IMDb page here

Mulholland Drive trailer here

Mud - A Movie Review by Andrew Lawrence

"The real reason Mud's in all the trouble he's got is because of her. He's been in love with that girls since he was your age. The trouble is she don't care about nobody but herself. I've told him as much."

Ellis, a 14-year-old Arkansas boy played by Tye Sheridan, lives in a makeshift houseboat on the Mississippi River with his parents. He's done so his entire life, and can't imagine living any other way. When Ellis and his best friend Neckbone, played by Jacob Lofland, one day discover an abandoned boat and its owner, Matthew McConaughey's titular character 'Mud' on a remote island in the Mississippi River, both of their lives change significantly as a direct result of their relationship to this weird yet strangely fascinating individual. The movie is written and directed by 35-year-old trailblazer Jeff Nichols, who also made the movie 'Take Shelter' which I've reviewed in the past, and watching his third directorial effort was a true eye-opening experience for me personally. Mud is a movie that focuses on a wide variety of life's aspects, and all of them are handled incredibly well in my opinion. The movie does have some flaws here and there, which I'll get into later, but all in all I have to admit that this movie is one of the most satisfying and well created pieces of cinema I've seen since I started this blog. 

First of all, let's talk about the different characters in Mud, and the actors that play them. Nichols' third movie contains the largest cast he's worked with as of yet, including names such as Michael Shannon, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard and of cause Matthew McConaughey. I expected these well established actors to do great, which they did, McConaughey especially, but one thing I did not see coming, is how stunningly good the two kid actors Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland were. These young boys' performances impressed me on a level that I find hard to put into words, and I think that both of them have great careers ahead of them. I saw an interview with Nichols on YouTube yesterday in which he explains how these young individuals were able to understand their characters' motivations, emotions and situations on a level that he'd never seen 14-year-olds do it before, and I think that this ability to truly grasp their characters and put themselves in their shoes helped them a lot in pulling off these incredibly believable and honest performances. I totally got why these tho boys were friends and why they stuck together through everything they experienced, and rather than being a distraction, which kid actors in movies mostly are, Tye and Jacob are two of the most memorable and distinctive things about Mud.

How lucky do you have to be to not only have two, but three incredible and oscar worthy performances in your movie? Well, if your name is Jeff Nichols, you don't need luck; you just use your inhumane writing talent to create characters with such deep and thought out personalities that they become more than just a character; something so believable and multiayered that the character in question turns into a person that your audience can reach out and almost touch, because of how real he is. I'm of cause talking about Matthew McConaughey's character, Mud, who reaches the level of Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lector and Heath Ledger's Joker in terms of sheer impressiveness. There's nothing incidental about this character that Nichols and McConaughey have created; everything from his past experiences, his physical looks, his psychological state of mind, his behaviour and his code of conduct is so carefully crafted that my jaw physically dropped, just a tiny little bit, several times throughout this film. You're never sure whether or not he's telling you the truth or lying straight to your face, whether he's using you for his own good or actually cares about you, but you're absolutely sure of the fact that you want to witness as much of this character as humanly possible. 

Nichols character writing ability is awe inspiring for sure, but Matthew McConaughey's power house performance is crucial to the success of Mud, the character, as well. I'd like to see him get a nomination for best actor come oscar season, even though I doubt it'll happen. The fact that Michael Shannon won just about everything there is to win for his performance in Take Shelter, except for the five major awards, which he wasn't even nominated for, says a lot in my opinion. Awesome characters aside; let's talk about what else Jeff Nichols' third movie has to offer. Cinematically, Mud is very fortunate as well. There are several shots in this movie that truly captures the beauty of the story that Nichols tries to tell, and they aid in expressing how the characters are feeling in specific crucial moments of the plot as well. I also thought that a lot of the editing was done very cleverly; more specifically in terms of how McConaughey's character was able to just appear and disappear as he pleased from shot to shot. This might seems like a continuity error to some viewers, but I'm 100% sure that this was done to add a tiny bit supernatural spice to the character. It works very well in the end, and it's a great example of how Nichols uses everything he possibly can to develop and evolve his characters; even editing. 

In terms of the actual story of the movie, it does sadly fall a little short. Except for one scene near the end that felt odd compared to the rest of the movie in terms of style and feel, there's nothing in particular that I'm able to put my finger on and explain why it shouldn't have been done the way it was, it's just that the whole story kind of underwhelmed me a little bit. Had it not been for the depth of all the principal characters, the plot of Mud would have been noticeably more bare and visibly bland I think. As I said; there's nothing quote on quote "bad" about the story, it does what it needs to do just fine, it just doesn't stand out in any particular way. Another movie that recently came out that feels very similar in this aspect is Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Only God Forgives', and in the same way that this movie's predecessor, Drive, felt more convincing in its story, the plot of Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter feels more striking and exiting than Mud's. I hope that analogy didn't confuse you too much, but I'm pretty sure that it explains what I mean perfectly. As a result, this lead to me being awkwardly aware that I was watching a movie at all times whilst watching it. This might seem like a weird statement, but as I've mentioned on several other occasions, real movie-masterpieces has the ability remove the barrier between fact and fiction, thereby allowing its audience to dissolve into the experience and live and breathe the story that is being told on the screen. Mud did not have that ability. 

In telling this story however, Nichols does manage to say a thing or two about a wide variety of human emotions; the main one being love, in all its shapes and purposes. The main characters Ellis and Mud both use love and affection as their main motivations to do what they do, and Ellis in particular, being only 14 years old, has a lot to learn about these elements of life. His parents' relationship, Mud's relationship to a girl he met when he was even younger than Ellis, and Ellis' own relationship to a high school student that he likes, are all controlled by different kinds of love, and they're a crucial part in our young hero's journey to becoming a grown up human being. More important than any of those kinds of human affection though, is the bond that Ellis shares with his best friend Neckbone. These guys stick with each other no matter how bad things get for them, and even though they probably don't realise it, they have something eternally important together; the power of true friendship. Neckbone's and Ellis' coming of age story and their dependency on each other might be the most important subplot of this movie, and even though it's subtle and discrete, it's an extremely powerful element to this films character progression. 

Considering the fact that this incredibly honest, character driven and multilayered piece of cinematic art only is his third picture, I think it's safe to say that Jeff Nichols has a very bright future ahead of him; I know I'll be waiting eagerly to see what he comes up with next myself. The plot of this one might not be as striking as his earlier films' stories, but rarely have I ever seen as well created and carefully crafted movie personalities as in Mud. They're good, almost Heat or Magnolia good, and I hope that Jeff Nichols will keep on making this kind of character centric movies for many years to come. He's the future of this business, it's that simple. As for my rating for this movie, Mud did not have that ability to blur the lines between fiction and reality which I described earlier, and that's the only reason why I'll say that it's "only" worth buying on BluRay. (5/6)

Mud IMDb page here

Mud trailer link here

Vertigo (1958) - A Classic Movie Review by Andrew Lawrence

"Scottie, do you believe that someone out of the past - someone dead - can enter and take possession of a living being?"

"Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece". "The best mystery movie of all time". "The most enchanting depiction of human emotion ever made". "One of the most important movies of the last 100 years." These are only a few of the many praises that have been sung about Vertigo, the 1958 romantic thriller that immediately split audiences and critiques in two, and continues to do so even 55 years later. Taking on these kinds of movies, the ones that everyone seems to love and admire, the so called "all time greats", is a humongous challenge for me as a blogger, because of how "set in stone" the world's opinion on these movies have become. As far as I know, disagreeing with the "fact" that Citizen Kane and Casablanca are two of the best movies ever made, would be just as insulting to most hardcore movie buffs as taking a dump on their porch would be. Seeing as this is my blog though; the place where I can write about everything and anything I want to, I'm just gonna go ahead and spill my beans. I don't like this movie. There it is. 

Now that that's out of the way, let's go ahead and get this review started. Vertigo takes place in San Francisco in the middle of the 1950's, where John 'Scottie' Ferguson, played by James Stewart, is forced into early retirement from his job as a police detective, because of his immense fear of heights following a tragic event. Having been unemployed for just a few days, an old college friend reaches out to him, and asks Scottie to stalk his wife, played by Kim Novak, around the streets of San Francisco for a while, in an attempt to find out why she's been acting "weird". Scottie reluctantly agrees to help out his old friend, and as his mission gets going, he discovers that there's a lot more to this woman than he initially though. As the movie goes on, Alfred Hitchcock's incredible understanding of human emotions and behavior quickly becomes apparent, and Vertigo virtually transforms into a study of devotion, deceit, manipulation and loneliness. 

In terms of technical precision, care, experience and devotion, few directors are as skilled, talented and innovative as Alfred Hitchcock was; that's pretty much a solid fact. Because of this, Vertigo is very impressive in terms of camera work and craft, but apart from that, I honestly don't find anything about this movie that exiting. I guess the performances of the main characters were alright, and the point of view shots of Scottie experiencing his fear of heights probably were impressive and innovation for the movie's time, but other than that? I'm not so sure. To answer the questions that most hardcore fans of Vertigo will be eager to ask me after this statement of mine, I've decided to do this next part of the review in a 'question and answer' sort of way. Here we go!: 

Q: "But Andrew, what about the nerve wracking suspense and the nail biting tension that follows this movie throughout?" 

A: Frankly, I've experienced more excitement in movie trailers and video game advertisements. Vertigo might have been groundbreakingly suspenseful and exciting when it came out 55 years ago, but compared to todays standards, it falls flat in every way possible, at least in my opinion. Take away the musical score, and you have one hour of someone driving around in a car looking weirdly confused, and another hour of someone trying to make an awkward and unbelievable relationship work out. I personally found Vertigo to be boring almost all the way through, which deeply saddens be, because of all the great things I'd heard about it prior to actually seeing it. The ending also felt really weird, abrupt and indecisive to me, and I wasn't surprised to found out that there were several different ideas thrown around regarding how the final moments were supposed to go down. 

Q: "What about the main mystery and the twists and turns that Hitchcock creates? Weren't you surprised and impressed by these?"

A: Well, I'd like to be able to say that I was. Movies that force its audience to think about what's going and put pieces together in order to experience some great revelation are infinitely exciting to me, but this movie's twists and mysteries didn't even have the power to make me raise my eyebrows. Vertigo's main mystery is explained in full detail just one hour into the movie, which was way too early for me to care enough about it, and it turned out to be no way near as jaw dropping as I'd expected. The whole thing honestly seemed very weird to me, and I couldn't help not caring about the underwhelming twists and mysteries. 

Q: "It's because your too young and too inexperienced that you're saying these things. You just don't understand how great this movie is, do you?"

A: That's the way opinions work. Disagreeing with a popular one brings people in trouble all the time, but I'd like to think that I've stated my case as clearly and respectfully as possible in this review. I do get why a lot of people love the living shit out of Hitchcock's Vertigo, because as I mentioned, this movie was innovative and ahead of it's time back in 1955. Being an 18-year-old kid who lives in a time where suspenseful and mystifying movies like The Unusual Suspects, Fargo and Memento exist though, I simply don't find Vertigo exiting and nerve wracking enough. I won't apologize for my opinions, because that's what they are; opinions, and accusing me of "not knowing what true movie magic is" or "not understanding what's great about this classic movie" just because I come from a period of time where things are different from what they used to be, honestly seems a little immature to me. 

In the end, I want to make one thing very clear: I do understand why this movie is considered a classic, and why a lot of people will defend it to their dying breath. I personally just didn't find it as entertaining as I'd hoped I would, and that's not just because I'm too young and too stupid to "get it", go ahead and read my review of On the Waterfront, an even older "all time great" that I've reviewed in the past, if you don't trust me. Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece underwhelmed me severely, and I'm truly sad that it didn't turn out to be the mind blowing and jaw dropping experience I'd hoped for. Instead of overwhelmed, surprised and taken aback, Vertigo left me bored, saddened and facepalming. (2/6)

Vertigo IMDb page here

Vertigo tailer here

Requiem for a Dream - A Movie Review by Andrew Lawrence

"Fuck. I need a rush."

Every time I come across an exciting, engrossing or in other ways interesting film, I tend to do a lot of research about the director of said movie, which often times leads to me watching several of his or her other movies, in hopes of finding something just as satisfying as that original movie. When a good friend of mine introduced me to Darren Aronofsky through his third directorial feature "The Fountain", I initially didn't think too much of it. As time passed by though, its complex theories, beautiful visuals, spellbinding soundtrack and emotional performances grew on me, and I've been a big fan of everything he's done ever since. I now own The Fountain, The Wrestler and Black Swan on BluRay, and the last one of those is one of my all time favourites. That being said, it might seem weird to a lot of people that I hadn't seen Requiem for a Dream, one of Aronofsky's biggest successes as of yet, until very recently. The main reason for this is that I, being the movie-research maniac that I am, had heard a lot of mixed things about it, and honestly, I now fully understand why a lot of people are having a hard time recommending this movie to others. Requiem for a Dream isn't bad at all, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I am willing to swear on a huge pile of bibles that I've never seen a movie more depressive and dark than this one. 

Requiem for a Dream takes place on Cony Island, New York, and centers around four characters who're all dealing with some kind of addiction. Harry Goldfarb, played by Jared Leto, this movie's main protagonist, suffers from an increasingly demanding addiction to drugs like cocaine, heroin and weed, and so does his best friend Tyrone C. Love, played by Marlon Wayans, and Harry's girlfriend Marlon Silver, played by Jennifer Connelly. Additionally, Harry's mother, Sara Goldfarb, played by Ellen Burstyn, becomes more and more addicted to her diet pills as well as her television set as the movie progresses. In the beginning though, all of our four main characters seem to be in a pretty good place. They're all experiencing success with their individual goals and projects, and the best seems to be ahead of them. However, as their addictions grow stronger, all of them suddenly find themself on a steep, spiralling descend into complete and utter misery, and along the way, themes like broken dreams, shattered illusions and the loss of innocence comes into play, and ultimately becomes the center of this unforgiving and gruesomely realistic depiction of what living with a drug addiction truly is like. 

One of the persons who warned me about the harsh nature of this movie was my dad, and even though he quite possibly doesn't have a clue, I respect his opinions immensely, and not just when it comes to movies. He described Requiem for a Dream as being a very heavy movie to watch, and now that I've seen it, I couldn't agree more. It's a methodical movie that slowly but surely builds up intensity, and even though it has one or two moments that'll make you smile faintly, mostly thanks to Marlon Waynes' character, 99 % of its content is incredibly harsh to watch, and sometimes even flat out depressing. 

However, the incredible thing about Aronofsky's second feature film is that no matter how much you want to, you simply can't look away from this movie once you've started watching it. There's something surreal about the way Requiem for a Dream is crafted that kept me glued to the screen from beginning to end, and part of the reason for this lies in the way it's edited. I read on the trivia page on IMDb that most movies have something like 600-700 cuts, but that this movie has more than 2000, and I don't find that hard to believe at all. A lot of these cuts come from some incredible sequences that appear throughout the movie; sequences that consists of several close ups of different things such as a belt being strapped around an arm, a needle filled with heroin partially dissolved in blood being inserted into another arm, lines upon lines of cocaine disappearing into rolled up dollar bills, weed being rolled into joints, shifting eyes, expanding pupils, and so on. These sequences add an incredible amount of atmosphere to the movies, and the fast, twitchy way they're put together create a realistic depictiong of how it is to live a fast and nervous life that never goes any further than to the next fix, in other words; the life of a drug addict. 

Another thing that immediately struck me when I watched this movie for the first time, is how controlled and believable the main actors make their individual characters. I personally believe that Jared Leto delivers the finest performance of his career in this movie, and Jennifer Connelly does a very good job as well. Both characters meet unbelievably sad and emotionally devastating faits; Connelly's being the worst of all the character's in my opinion, and the final moments of the movie are surprisingly heartbreaking because of the way these two characters have bonded throughout the movie. Tyrone C. Love, Marlon Wayans' character, might be considered the weakest of the four characters by most audiences, but I personally found his character very interesting and relatable, because of the way his humble goals and ideal way of living is depicted. However, arguing against the fact that Sara Goldfarb, Ellen Burstyn's character, completely and utterly steals the show would be foolish. The most interesting part about her character is the way her addiction differs from the other characters', and she actually becomes an overexaggerated and satiric yet still extremely potent example of how the media, growing old, being lonely and losing loved ones can damage a person's mental stability. Burstyn's performance is shockingly realistic and relatable, and it wouldn't surprise me if characters like the one she displays in this movie exist in real life.

All throughout the movie, one of the most effective and intimate soundtracks of all time is played in the background. You've probably heard it a million times before, and you might be surprised that such an epic score originates from this movie, seeing as how depressive and methodical it is. It's not often that something as "minor" as the soundtrack is my favourite part of an entire movie, but in the case of Requiem for a Dream, that's exactly the case. Sadly though, I have to admit that I probably wouldn't have cared half as much about 75 % the characters in this movie as I did, had it not been for said soundtrack. I honestly didn't feel that connected to Harry, Tyrone and Marion as it were, seeing as their characters are more interesting and well acted/created than they are relatable and emotionally captivating. Additionally, as I'm writing this review, only a few hours after seeing the movie, I've almost lost that lasting feeling that sticks with you for days after seeing a truly great movie for the very first time. My conclusion to this is that Requiem for a Dream benefits greatly from one of the best and most iconic soundtracks ever put on screen, but at the same time, I don't think the movie would have been as effective as it is without said score. Requiem for a Dream truly is a great movie, it just doesn't make the cut as one of the all time greats in my opinion. A link to the soundtrack can be found here.

Nevertheless, Darren Aronofsky has created one of, if not the most captivating and breathtaking depictions of the way drug abuse and other addictions can affect the human mind and soul. Watching Requiem for a Dream is one of the saddest and most gruesome experiences I've had in terms of fiction; be it book, movie, theater or comic book, yet I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world. It's a powerful, twisted and sometimes even demonic picture that doesn't leave any room for happy endings or gentle pats on the head, and it's definitely a must see for anyone who loves incredible film making and atmospheric, realistic character depiction. However, If you only like movies where the hero comes out on top and where love defeats all evil in the end, this movie might not be for you, and that's a big underexaggeration. I mentioned in the beginning of this review that I already own three of Aronofskys movies, and now that I've finally watched it, I'll probably end up buying Requiem for a Dream on BluRay and add it to my collection sometime down the line. (5/6)

Requiem for a Dream IMDb page here

Requiem for a Dream trailer here