- Messages
- 14,899
- Reaction score
- 2,424
- Trophy Points
- 228
^ I'm glad it's got it's fans. I watched Chris Stuckman's 2016 review (who is big anime fan) and he seemed to be similarly underwhelmed.
<hr style="border: 1px solid white;" />
The Bling Ring (2013)
Emma Watson (who gives a spot on performance) stars as one of a real life gang of LA school kids who easily committed a spree of thefts totalling millions on celebrity houses after simply ascertaining their whereabouts on social media. It doesn't just blur the line between these vacuous, criminal wannabee-celebrities and their celebrity victims, it positively obscures it. The film highlights that some of the celebrities they target were also guilty of the same sorts of crimes they were committing, theft, hard drug possession and repeatedly driving under the influence and had done jail time for it. So it's surprising how many of the celebs Director/writer/producer Sofia Coppola convinced to appear as themselves. Part of why the thieves could get away with robbing the same mansions repeatedly was because the owners had so many valuables and so much cash stuffed everywhere they were unable to recognise any of it was missing. Then like the lifestyle of those they were leeching off, the gang are shown openly posting all their activities on social media for clicks, then converting the notoriety into their own celebrity. Coppola mostly avoids demonising the kids (and sometimes shows them being kind), she simply puts their behaviour out there, shows you the context and leaves you to think on it. Although some details have dated this to 2010-2013, the social media decent of the last decade has made this feel more relevant now. Oh and some of the satire is very funny too, especially Watson's character's airy-fairy mum.
<hr style="border: 1px solid white;" />
The Dig (2021)
Netflix's 'The Dig' is all impeccably acted and beautifully directed by Simon Stone but I didn't care for the way the story was told. It recreates the 1939 discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial mound, a game-changing archaeological event. While some of the runtime is devoted to archaeologist Basil Brown's work (played with great subtlety by Ralph Fiennes), too little of the actual dig is shown and we see mere glimpses of one or two artefacts. Instead the movie prefers to depict this little known event called "World War Two" (because that's never been show in a British film before!) and a fictional romance between the two fictionalised young and attractive characters, rather than the boring old real archaeologist who is only changing known history. Stefan Gregory's overbearing soundtrack underlines this misjudgement from the start, scoring a simple opening sequence of a bike ride like it was a space-opera action scene. He's constantly trying to tell the viewer how exciting archaeology is because I don't believe the film-makers trusted the viewer to think it was.
There are plenty of documentaries to augment the film, so you can watch one of those and just enjoy the performances in 'The Dig' I suppose.
<hr style="border: 1px solid white;" />
The Bling Ring (2013)
Emma Watson (who gives a spot on performance) stars as one of a real life gang of LA school kids who easily committed a spree of thefts totalling millions on celebrity houses after simply ascertaining their whereabouts on social media. It doesn't just blur the line between these vacuous, criminal wannabee-celebrities and their celebrity victims, it positively obscures it. The film highlights that some of the celebrities they target were also guilty of the same sorts of crimes they were committing, theft, hard drug possession and repeatedly driving under the influence and had done jail time for it. So it's surprising how many of the celebs Director/writer/producer Sofia Coppola convinced to appear as themselves. Part of why the thieves could get away with robbing the same mansions repeatedly was because the owners had so many valuables and so much cash stuffed everywhere they were unable to recognise any of it was missing. Then like the lifestyle of those they were leeching off, the gang are shown openly posting all their activities on social media for clicks, then converting the notoriety into their own celebrity. Coppola mostly avoids demonising the kids (and sometimes shows them being kind), she simply puts their behaviour out there, shows you the context and leaves you to think on it. Although some details have dated this to 2010-2013, the social media decent of the last decade has made this feel more relevant now. Oh and some of the satire is very funny too, especially Watson's character's airy-fairy mum.
<hr style="border: 1px solid white;" />
The Dig (2021)
Netflix's 'The Dig' is all impeccably acted and beautifully directed by Simon Stone but I didn't care for the way the story was told. It recreates the 1939 discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial mound, a game-changing archaeological event. While some of the runtime is devoted to archaeologist Basil Brown's work (played with great subtlety by Ralph Fiennes), too little of the actual dig is shown and we see mere glimpses of one or two artefacts. Instead the movie prefers to depict this little known event called "World War Two" (because that's never been show in a British film before!) and a fictional romance between the two fictionalised young and attractive characters, rather than the boring old real archaeologist who is only changing known history. Stefan Gregory's overbearing soundtrack underlines this misjudgement from the start, scoring a simple opening sequence of a bike ride like it was a space-opera action scene. He's constantly trying to tell the viewer how exciting archaeology is because I don't believe the film-makers trusted the viewer to think it was.
There are plenty of documentaries to augment the film, so you can watch one of those and just enjoy the performances in 'The Dig' I suppose.