A Serious Man Review

Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen Screenplay: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen Cast: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Wagner Lennick, Fred Melamed Time: 106min Age Restriction:16SLVPD

Genre:
Comedy

Summary Review:
A Serious Man is a hilarious dark comedy that poses many of the questions that any religious person asks of their God.

Synopsis:
Larry Gopnik is just an ordinary Jewish man. He has tried to be a serious and responsible mane, a good person. But now, through an unfortunate twist of fate and a series of highly improbable coincidences, so weird as only to be possible in real life, his life is falling apart and Larry feels helpless and bewildered.

In his quest for answers and advice, he pays three fruitless visits to each of the town's three unhelpful rabbis, which leave him more hopeless than ever.

A Serious Man is a deeply ironic story that will resonate with just about anyone. The Coen brothers are two of the quirkiest filmmakers around and are known for their offbeat films, the last of which was Burn After Reading. I honestly did not like Burn After Reading, but A Serious Man is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen all year.

Filled with wry humour, A Serious Man orbits around the search for the meaning of life and will leave you feeling grateful for how simple and easy your life is. Watch it.

I Now Pronounce You Black And White Review

Director: Oliver Rodger Screenplay: Oliver Rodger Cast: Tyrel Meyer, Astara Mwakalumbwa, Ian Roberts, Sylvia Mdunyelwa Time: 81min Age Restriction: 13MDL

Genre:
Comedy

Summary Review:
I Now Pronounce You Black And White is a side-splitting movie that proves South Africa really can do comedy.

Synopsis:
Simon Dawson (Tyrel Meyer) and Jackie Msolisi (Astara Mwakalumbwa) meet by chance at a mutual friend's braai. They fall in love and start living together. Simon is a white Jew, Jackie is black.

Both Simon and Jackie's parents had hoped that their living arrangement would be nothing more than a brief phase, but these hopes are shattered when Simon asks for Jackie's hand in marriage.

I Now Pronounce You Black And White follows the days leading up to Simon and Jackie's wedding – the family tensions, the parents' plotting to foil their union and their friends' awkward support.

The editing is not as smooth as we've grown accustomed to from international films, and I Now Pronounce You Black And White has a distinctly home-made feel (not sure if this is a good or a bad thing?). There are many classic jokes that only a South African audience would get.

I wouldn't say that I Now Pronounce You Black And White quite does for South African comedy what District 9 did for South African action films, but it definitely deserves a place in the archive of national film treasures.

Filled with first-rate South African humour and a melting pot of typically South African characters, I Now Pronounce You Black And White shows that South Africans really can do comedy films and that we have a unique sense of humour one can be proud of.

Show your support for South African film and go watch I Now Pronounce You Black And White, not just because you're patriotic, but because you'd be doing yourself a favour and guaranteeing yourself 81 minutes of laughter.

Away We Go Review

Director: Sam Mendes Screenplay: Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida Cast: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo Time: 98min Age Restriction: 16L

Genre:
Drama/Comedy

Summary Review:
Away We Go is a gentle, but slow-moving story about figuring out life and preparing to have a baby.

Synopsis:
Away We Go is about a 30-something year-old couple who are still struggling to make ends meet and figure out how to live. The woman is six months pregnant and the only family they have living nearby is ? parents, who have suddenly decided to emigrate to Belgium.

This makes them realise that, with nothing tying them down, they can go anywhere. So they travel around the USA, visiting all the people they know, trying to find a place to settle down and raise their daughter.

Now that they are themselves in the family way, however, they see their friends and family in a different light and notice different aspects of their lives and relationships. They begin to understand the kind of life they don't want and the sort of people they don't want to be.

Although Away We Go is listed as a comedy, and it has its funny moments, I found it largely unfunny. The acting is superb from all the players, even in the smallest supporting roles, but the movie flows slowly, like thick syrup oozing from a spilled jar.

Away We Go is sweet and intimate, but in a tedious kind of way. Sunday afternoon fare.

What Happened To The Review?

As some of you (loyal) followers may have noted, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays tend to be my days for posting reviews. So then where's today's review, you may ask?

Well, a few weeks ago I met Gerhard Potgieter (aka @diekloon) on Twitter and we started chatting. Gerhard is a very talented developer, who's done some great work, and he has recently started a blog for bloggers and other people interested in the South African online environment. If you're a new blogger, I'd definitely suggest checking out some of his posts on iGeek - he's got some great tips!

So anyway, Gerhard recently invited me to be a guest blogger on his site and to post a few film reviews every now and then. Yesterday was my debut (yay!) and you can check out his site to see my review of The Tooth Fairy. 

PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  C: wait...