Having gone over the first “Update Recommends” article, I have decided to tell the readers why we at The Update recommend these titles. While small details about each of the three pieces of art were mentioned in the original article, I feel each deserve a lot more detail and analysis.
Broadchurch
Catherine: Have you seen Broadchurch yet? If not, then go all Shia LaBoeuf and “JUST DO IT!”
Finn: There is nothing that gets my blood pumping more than hearing either Olivia Colman’s stern English or David Tenant’s edgy Scottish accent muttering the lines “Previously, on Broadchurch”. Broadchurch (2013) is a British Crime drama revolving around the murder of an eleven year old boy. It’s different from other crime dramas, as rather than focusing solely on the relationship between the two detectives (although their chemistry is amazing) a lot of attention is given to the family and friends of the murder victim, and their emotional grief. It is a much more human crime drama than something like, say, CSI: Whichever-American-City-is-Left, I-Dunno, Detroit-Maybe?. It also brings on all the feels, making me personally cry several times throughout just the first season. The show is so good that once the murderer is revealed, you’ll even feel sorry for him/her.
No review of Broadchurch can be made without acknowledging the acting. Watching the first episode again, I can assure you that the acting gets better with every episode (which is thankful, considering the state of the acting of the father of the murdered boy in the beginning. Yeesh) Standouts are, of course, the leads Olivia Colman (from the indie smash hit Locke) and David Tenant (The Tenth Doctor, anyone?). To all the Game of Thrones fans out there (which, statistically, at least 120% of you must be) the show features both the actors of Grey Worm and Lord Walder Frey (who also plays Mr. Filch in Harry Potter, not related, just a fun fact)
Trainspotting
Jonesy: Trainspotting is absolutely amazing.
Joe: The baby scene is possibly the most messed up scene I have ever watched.
Catherine: It’s a qualiteee moooovie fanks blud.
Finn: I have to be honest, I was very disappointed in this movie. Sure, it was a comedic and sobering view of drug addiction and poverty in the “culturally rich” Edinburgh, but it taught me absolutely nothing I didn’t already know about spotting trains! To be honest, I felt the same way about To Kill A Mockingbird. Still, it’s a good movie, and one that deserves to be recommended.
Trainspotting (1996) was director Danny Boyle’s second movie ever, and probably his most famous (it’s in competition with Slumdog Millionaire) He directed it with a style reminiscent of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, although significantly less violent than either. Danny manages to create a style that perfectly brings one into the feeling of doing heroin (not that I would know… Well… As far as you know)
In terms of acting, Trainspotting is outstanding. Performances of note include Renton (Ewan McGregor OBE, Obi-Wan Kenobi for all the nerds out there) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle OBE, Adolf Hitler for all the obscure-Canadian-TV-miniseries-watchers out there).
To truly sell this to you, I feel the need to point out a specific fact. I have a friend that always says the newest movie he has seen was “The BEST MOVIE EVARZ!!!!!!!”, but about two weeks later he tends to recant. We all have friends who act like this. What doesn’t tend to act like this is the BFI (British Film Institute), which named Trainspotting the 10th best British film after only three years of release. If that doesn’t give you a good enough reason to watch Danny Boyle’s masterpiece, all I can do is quote Renton by saying “Who needs reason when [its] got heroin?”
In a World
Ruhamah: In aaaa worllddd. Who put it in the recommends list? Excellent choice. I’ll admit this: I have not seen the movie. But I have watched the trailer 7-19 times, that’s got to mean something (I’m just hoping they didn’t put the only funny lines in the preview).
Finn: “In a World… Where Lake Bell’s comedy is underappreciated… only one website can right that wrong.” Joking aside, In a World (2013) was the smash Sundance Indie hit of 2013, netting the Director/Writer/Actress Lake Bell heaps of accolades, yet barely any of that box office moolah (Well, by “barely” I mean almost $3 million on a budget of less than $1 million, but still)
In a World is about one of the most criminally underrepresented talents in the movie industry, movie trailer voiceover artists, which I shall abbreviate to MTVA from here on out. Lake Bell plays a MTVA who isn’t getting a lot of jobs due to her being a woman and women don’t exactly get a lot of offers for jobs involving giving their voiceover skills to a movie trailer. She does get a job, but has to compete fiercely with others while trying to [SPOILERS REMOVED]
In a World is quick, clever, witty, intelligent, hilarious and a bunch of other synonyms for funny. It’s multi-talented auteur Lake Bell leads the film with her incredible voice, on-time humor and creative direction. She deserves all the accolades she got and then some. Her movie touches on many social problems without being preachy, and is consistently entertaining. It’s humor is very much derived from somewhat of a post-Bolshevik Socialist Realism perspective. Or, in a non-pretentious way, it’s humor is about regular things that happen to fairly regular people, while taking down the upper class. It needs all you readers to watch, far more than the previously mentioned works. To quote my Mother, “Yeah, I guess its good. Can’t you get a real job? Or at least one that makes you money? Jeez, you’re a disappointment.”
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