Met Ball Gala Photos

It's been a while but Amateur Reviews is back and blogging, sorry for going AWOL (assuming people actually had noticed hahaha). Was having a trawl around online and decided to collate the photos of all of the actresses who attended the Met Ball in New York City last night. Which took me a surprisingly long time as I sometimes struggled to ascertain who was an actual actress worthy of inclusion on a film blog! Anyway, here are some of the ones I found, enjoy the Punk Couture-ness!

 

Side Effects - Review

SIDE EFFECTS 

2013

15

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Starring Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Emily Taylor (Mara) welcomes the release of her husband Martin (Tatum) after a spell in prison. As the couple get back to their old life, she struggles with depression and falls into a downward spiral. When psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Law) is assigned to her and prescribes a new drug Ablixa, Emily’s behaviour takes a startling turn.

If this is to be Steven Soderbergh’s last splash on theatre screens, Side Effects goes out with an unsettling yet exhilarating bang. It’s hard to talk in too much detail about the finer plot nuances given the fact the cast have done so much to keep it under wraps on the press junket. And actually in an age of the internet, it’s rare to enter a screening being more or less unaware of the direction a film will take. So if you are thinking of going to see Side Effects – do yourself a favour and keep clear of any literature on the film.

With that said, Soderbergh structures this picture with impeccable and clinical precision. The way in which your allegiances towards characters changes almost undetectably is bracing and even surprising by the end of the movie. Victim turns mastermind, the profiteered becomes duped. Each piece in this epic chess game of a film settles into their shifting characters with ease that can only be expected from a talented cast such as this. There is a nerve-jangling yet oddly beautiful score by Thomas Newman that commences from the opening scene that just enhances the unnerving nature of what you are about to witness.

In Mara’s first leading role since The Girl With The Dragon tattoo she evokes vulnerability and a chilling detachment that is poles apart from any thing we have seen from her previously. It’s quite sinister actually. Jude Law is the beating heart and glue which holds this film together. Act one is Mara’s, by act 3 there is a seamless perspective shift and the story becomes his. Every time you think you've got a hold on the plot and think you can predict the direction of the next part, you probably can’t.  I don’t say this often, but Side Effects in a must see.

Rating : 8 

Here is a post from a year ago about this project under its initial title The Bitter Pill

Kick Ass 2, Hangover Part III - Trailer

Bit late on the uptake with this, but here it is for any people who live under a rock (such as myself). Also, maybe pop back later today to read my review of Side Effects starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum.

Modern Classics – The Social Network

The Social Network

12A

Directed by David Fincher

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake

You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

Amateur Reviews are embarking upon a new series of posts celebrating modern classics from recent years. Today’s feature is the 2010 Oscar Winning film The Social Network. Given the fact this post has the word ‘Classic’ in the title you can rest assured that these movies do not need a rating out of 10 because they are all examples of impressive film making at its peak.

One evening way back in 2003, Harvard undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg started what was soon to become a global phenomenon in world wide communications. The success, however, was not without its controversies and The Social Network chronicles the various legal and personal issues that stemmed from the inception of Facebook.

Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) heads up the writing credits, alongside Ben Mezrich whose book, The Accidental Billionaire, was the basis for the script. It is probably worth mentioning straight off that The Social Network is not 100 percent fact based and plays with multiple perspectives. In our opinion, the main strength of the movie lies within the script. These characters are the smartest in their game but all have a vulnerable side which makes it impossible not to empathise with them. The script has Sorkin written all over it – the witty banter is extremely clever and there is an elegant level of humour that is just superb. The storyline is told in a non linear style from the various court cases that eventually took place and this allows Sorkin to play with character perspective and memory in an interesting way.

Director David Fincher is up to some of his best work also. The whole film is glossy, sleek and sexy. If someone had said a film about computer coding and lawsuits would be this attractive, it would have seemed unlikely before watching The Social Network. Fincher has succeeded in creating an incredibly well paced and flowing film that moves through a significant amount of content in a modest time: a little over two hours.

Jesse Eisenberg takes on the role of Mark Zuckerberg and makes it his own. To be honest, it is hard for us to judge if he was a ‘good’ Zuckerberg because it is not like we really know who he is. Given that, Eisenberg is incredible. Prior to The Social Network he was quite similar to Michael Cera... We were used to seeing him in nerdy and endearing roles (Zombieland), but The Social Network is a stage where Eisenberg really shows what he's made of. He still channels a lot of that awkwardness and his delivery of lines in light speed time is impressive, but there is a crueller edge to him that is something we have not seen before. Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker and you genuinely manage to forget you are watching the great JT… He is genuinely charming and shows he is capable of humour as well. The role of co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who is later shunned out of the business, is played by Andrew Garfield who is definitely a young actor on the rise. Armie Hammer tackles both Winklevoss twins and manages to give both Cameron and Tyler distinct personalities. Rooney Mara stars too and rounds of what is a stunning cast of young talent.

One of the reasons The Social Network has been earmarked as a modern classic is because it emulates the best of everything. The best of directing, writing and acting. Facebook is something millions of us use every single day without even considering it so The Social Network is more relatable than so many other films. And while the story is deeply rooted in technology and the impersonal nature of social networking, Fincher manages to bring it back to very human qualities that strike a chord with us all: the need for recognition and acceptance.

The Social Network is definitely a favourite with Amateur Reviews and also friends of our blog! Go check out http://moos-ramblings.blogspot.com/ for more musings on TV, film and life in general!