Best Films Seen in April

127 Hours

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Year: 2010

One of 2010′s heaviest impacting films, I would say. Despite not caring for Boyle’s preceeding Slumdog Millionaire, this would join 28 Days Later and Sunshine as my favorites from the filmmaker. Much has been talked about Boyle’s aesthetic approach, some not caring for it and finding it unnecessarily overdone like in Slumdog Millionaire. I wouldn’t agree, I found the approach appropriate to the frequently visceral journey that Aron experiences. Particularly digging the use of split screen, at different moments we may see parallels of his lows next to his highs, or in the case of the cap above, the draining energy. Franco’s performance is fantastic and his best to date by far, I don’t know how much is actually improvised, but Franco brings sometimes even a faint aura of charisma to get himself through the hell he endures.

Lost In Translation

Directed by: Sofia Coppola

Year: 2003

When talking about this one, its impact on me was more gently touching. Its characters are not so much lost in a different world from their own, but lost in their emotions. The meanings of love, how that effects one and its evolutions throughout time and the giant canvases of our lives. How sometimes a shortlived relationship can be one of the most meaningful ones you share with someone. Perhaps it’s my own wanderings through many of these feelings and thoughts recently, but the film’s moodier tone (than perhaps suggested in advertisement) struck a chord with me. Likely to be enjoyed in even greater depth on repeat viewings, Lost In Translation affected me in more personal ways than most have recently, a complete succession on Coppola’s part.

Minority Report

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Year: 2002

No doubt one of the finest sci-fi action thrillers of the 21st Century, noirsy in atmosphere and mood, Spielberg’s Minority Report ranks amongst his greatest sci-fi films that contain all the necessary trademarks of his filmography, while yet also offerring something fresh and startingly different from anything else prior to it. Cruise, when the call demanded, has proven himself to be more than the average action star, as one whom is capable of emotional range to equal the physical challenges. This is a prime example where Cruise is both the renowned action star and dramatic actor to carry an equal character piece. What stood out to me the most however, beyond just the thrills and compulsively watchable evolution of its plot, is its rather ingenious screenplay. Expanded from its original short story, it contains implausible elements handled in a intelligent and masterly crafted manner.

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