The Book of Life (REVIEW)

I went to see The Book of Life purely because Ron Perlman has been talking about it A LOT on Facebook and Twitter for the past few weeks. With a cast boasting Perlman, Zoe Saldana, Christina Applegate and Danny Trejo and production by Guillermo del Toro, I felt it was definitely worth a watch.

I was expecting a pretty standard kid’s film and I was pleasantly surprised.

The plot is simple. A group of children are on a school trip to a museum where a tour guide tells them the story of the Book of Life. The story is of two young boys who both love the same young girl. On the Day of the Dead, two gods (La Muerte, who reigns over the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba, who rules the Land of the Forgotten) bet on who will marry the girl. They each give their chosen boy their blessing and then watch the story unfold.

The story is well told and interesting enough to keep you watching, but what really sets this movie apart from the rest and makes it truly glorious is the attention to detail by Director, Jorge Gutierrez. The art work is out of this world. It's so beautiful that while you're watching you feel like you're reading an intricately illustrated book. The characters both alive and dead are fantastically designed and really brought to life by the animation.

Value is added to the incredibly vivid art by the gorgeous music. The soundtrack is something I would actually buy on CD. There's a mix of beautiful covers (most notably Creep by Radiohead) and original songs written for the movie by Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams. Lead actor, Diego Luna, isn't a half bad singer either!

The movie also serves as a wonderful tribute to Mexican culture. Educational and entertaining! I knew nothing about the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead and now I'm on an enlightening Wikipedia journey. Although I recognised the art of the dead faces I had no idea they were called sugar skulls - an excellent name for something so delicate and pretty, and a lovely way to represent the dead.

An all round great movie. Definitely not just for children!

Gone Girl (REVIEW)

Is it too early for an Oscar run?

Ben Affleck’s latest movie Gone Girl is simply incredible. You have no idea!

When Affleck's wife goes missing he calls the police but seems a bit numb and unemotional. The signs all point to a break in and abduction, but is he as innocent or ignorant as he claims? As a whole, the movie serves as a rather cynical and sad comment on marriage and relationships - except obviously in quite an extreme situation.

The story telling is perfection. It gives just enough to keep you wanting more, but never so little that you’re lost and confused (as so often can be the case). I can’t fault the acting. Affleck really pulls off “dickhead husband who might be involved in the disappearance of his wife”. Truly believable performances all round. Rosamund Pike is fantastic. This is the first role I’ve seen her in and she absolutely rocked it. Meanwhile, Trent Reznor’s haunting score beautifully underlined the intense drama – providing just what the atmosphere needed.

Written by Gillian Flynn (who also wrote the novel) and directed by David Fincher, this movie stands as high in my regard as last year’s standout crime thriller Prisoners. They were both released at roughly the same time of year. Hopefully for my birthday next year I’ll get another gritty mystery/drama to be enthralled by!

Trying not to provide any detail so as not to ruin your viewing experience. Just go watch it.