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Rachel Getting Married, a review by Jon

Rachel Getting Married
3 out of 5

When Kym (Anne Hathaway) returns to the Buchman family home for the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), she brings a long history of personal crisis, family conflict and tragedy along with her. The wedding couple's abundant party of friends and relations have gathered for a joyful weekend of feasting, music and love, but Kym – with her biting one-liners and flair for bombshell drama – is a catalyst for long-simmering tensions in the family dynamic. Filled with the rich and eclectic characters that remain a hallmark of Jonathan Demme's films, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED paints a heartfelt, perceptive and sometimes hilarious family portrait.

I've found Rachel Getting Married pretty tough to give a fair rating to. While it's quality is beyond reproach and it can ultimately be seen as a very adult film with a purpose and superb craftmanship, I disliked it immensely!

I largely agree with Matthias' review and while I can't go as far as saying it could have been the film of 2008, it's certainly in the upper tier, with first and foremost a very good cast delivering a well judged script, although I will say it is predictable and oft convenient. Jonathan Demme's documentary experience though gives the handheld style sharp relevance and realism. It's easy to dismiss it as "shaky cam", but this is no gimmick. It's organic and Cinema Verite at it's finest for some time and the atmosphere is tangible. As a whole, there are no gimmicks and everything is absolutely convincing and honestly told. Which may be part of the problem.

My problem with the film is I simply did not like anyone in it! I cannot stomach that family who are so far up their own collective arse, the only noise they can make is incessant whining. If I was at that wedding, I would scream in frustration. I mean, they chant the bride and grooms names as they enter the ceremony; they have dishwasher filling races; they sing to each other. It's all very bloody bohemian, I'm sure, but I was struck with the feeling that this is the sort of class in a classless society that can afford to be bohemian (they wear Saris, yet none of them are actually Indian, so far as I could tell). They can also afford therapy, another refuge of the well-off.

That's unfair of me though. I don't fully understand what seems to be an accepted and encouraged practice in America. Kymmie (Hathaway) is clearly a deserving case, but it's pushed so front and centre to be taken for granted by her and her family. The fact the Best Man happens to go as well, plus the sodding hairdresser even, just shows how much so! In the UK we probably have too much of a "just get on with it and stop whinging" attitude, but still, I know one person who went to a psychiatrist, and I was only told in absolute confidence. One. Kymmie talks about it openly, meets two fellow sufferers by accident and her sister is in training, it's so prevalent. Different world. I should point out, the script does note the ironies and addresses them very cleverly (the hairdresser mentions briefly not being able to get the level of help Kym had, which is a sobering thought). It should be funny how touchy-feely everyone is, yet they get nowhere until its almost too late. If I was enjoying the film more, I would have appreciated it better.

But, on a lighter note, I'm alienated further by the way they speak. The script is well written, but the characters practice lazy sarcasm. A sentence doesn't seem complete without a raised eye here and a "what-ev-errr" there. It's said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Only by people who can't use it properly, I say!

I did find the story predictable, but then we have this sort of stuff on TV every night in soap operas, which while they err on the side of short lived sensationalism, are also very well produced, written and acted. I don't like Eastenders, but I can identify with the people in it far easier than this lot.

Anne Hathaway gives a brilliant performance of the best character and she frequently kept me watching and not pressing fast-forward. Kym just needs a bloody good slap though, which would be duly delivered if the story was set in the UK! Empire's review first got me interested in the film as it led me to imagine a less realistic dialogue that lent itself to pithy one-liners as Kym acts as a cat amongst the pigeons of her family, but the truth is, it's too realistic to be any fun. That's clearly the aim and in the end, it's my fault, but this is not a film for everyone.

(From Jon's Random Reviews on May 18th, 2010)

Don't Look Now, a review by Danae Cassandra

Don't Look Now
Year of Release: 1973
Directed By: Nicholas Roeg
Starring: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania
Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Overview:My Thoughts:
This is a film of atmosphere. There is a palpable tension throughout, a certainty that something lurks just beyond the visible. It's a film that starts of slow, and builds up to the final climax. It's also a film that will keep you wondering what exactly is happening, especially when everything is seems foreboding, every character potentially sinister, every dark corner hiding something.

Christie and Sutherland are fine in their roles, but this is very much Nicholas Roeg's film. He is a director with a distinctive style, and it's very much in evidence here in the lightning, the cinematography, the editing choices and intercuts. This is the third film of Roeg's I've watched and he's easily moved into a list of my favorite directors.

Recommended if you like slow-building creeping thrillers. Highly recommended if you have liked any of Roeg's previous films.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 4/5

(From Off Day Alphabet Marathon on August 10th, 2014)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Spike has two goals now: To find a cure for Drusilla's illness and to finally get rid of the Slayer. To achieve the latter he hires bounty hunters from the Order of Turaka whose members are both Humans and demons. They will not stop until they have Buffy and so they send one after another after her. Both Angel and Giles are really worried. And there's someone else in town: Kendra - the Vampire Slayer.

My Opinion: I really liked the idea of a second Slayer and I liked how they set it up in a way where you had to think she is another member of the Order. I really like her accent although I have no idea where she's supposed to come from (accent-wise). And Xander finally introduced the term "Scooby Gang". I always liked it better than "Slayerettes", but I have to admit that Scooby Doo and Shaggy are childhood favourites of mine and I found it very funny when SMG took the role of Daphne in the Scooby Doo movies.



Synopsis: When Buffy died in her fight against the Master, the next Slayer was called. But Kendra is very different from Buffy. Kendra was trained all her life to be a Slayer, she has no life outside her duty. Together they try to find Angel (OK, Buffy tries and Kendra accompanies her) who was nearly killed by Kendra. But Angel is now a prisoner of Spike's who needs him. The blood of the Sire to heal Drusilla and the Sire will die in the process.

My Opinion: A good conclusion to the story and I am truly thankful that Joss Whedon didn't kill Spike in this episode (as it was planned). I thought it was really great how Drusilla grabbed him from under the debris and how she carried him outside. Too bad Kendra was already leaving again but we will see her again.

Synopsis: Joyce Summers has a new boyfriend: Ted. Ted is a computer software salesman and a hobby chef. At the beginning Buffy she has a hard time accepting him but her patience is over when he threatens to hit her because she cheated at mini golf. And when he later actually hits her, she hits back - hard. He falls down the stairs and dies. But that's not the end of the story.

My Opinion: I loved the appearance of John Ritter in this show. He was a great robot. I especially like this episode for the scenes after the apparent death of Ted. How Buffy tortured herself for killing a human being. It shows how human she herself is even though she has to kill demons nearly every day. She will harden throughout the series and especially in the last two seasons but in the end her heart will always guide her.

Synopsis: Both Xander's and Cordelia's as well as Buffy's and Angel's relationship is intensifying. But Xander and Cordelia don't know yet what kind of relationship they actually have and they keep it as a secret for now. On this very day the health class gets the assignment to parent a chicken egg and document the care. Since Buffy wasn't there (as usual) she becomes a "single mother". But these eggs aren't chicken eggs at all.

My Opinion: The body-snatchers episode. Nothing special about it. The bugs reminded me of the alien creatures in Star Trek TNG's episode Conspiracy who tried to take over the Federation in pretty much the same way this episode did.

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on April 19th, 2009)