bk753

I've seen this described as a "mood piece" and that sounds about right. The story of a rogue planet (Melancholia) on a potential collision course with Earth is shown in two parts, with a lengthy intro in almost still images that foretells the story. That into is artistically fascinating but long and bizarre.

Part 1 follows... it's Justine's wedding day and I thought this was the weaker story. Obviously the bride is overwhelmed by emotions that aren't fleshed out well enough, seemingly having to do with Melancholia... but it just plays as weird. That story segues into Part 2 which tells the story of Justine's sister Claire, and her terrible fears about the potential collision of worlds. This segment is touching and poignant, and folds Justine's story into it well. From the meandering Part 1 to a melancholy Part 2, the movie softly weaves a tale of the potential end of the world, not with science fiction panic and chaos, but with an otherworldly (no pun intended) calm and sense of loneliness, that builds to a climax and then abruptly ends (as it should).

I enjoyed it, and the performances of Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg are laudable. I wish Part 1 hadn't dragged and been so obtuse. I loved Part 2, and would like to have seen that be the gist of the film. It really was almost like two separate movies, and I feel like the overall story was muted by the artistic attempts to set up Part 2 with the strange events of Part 1. I'd recommend it for those who read the description and find the concept compelling, but I'd caution people not to be put off by the weirdness of the first hour, and to hang in there for the ultimate reward.

"Locke" is a one-man tour de force by the brilliant Tom Hardy... and when I say "one man," I mean it. Hardy's Ivan Locke is the only character who physically appears in the film, which is set almost exclusively in a car. We follow his life for 85 minutes as it wholly unravels, all of his own doing. Is he a hero, a bum, a victim of his past? He might be all of them.

It's hard to review this without spoilers... but this line will sum it up. "Garett, when I left the site just over two hours ago, I had a job, a wife, a home. And now I have none of those things. I have none of those things left. I just have myself and the car that I'm in." How he gets to this point is meticulously outlined through a series of phone calls... we watch as the stoic Locke stares down crises in every direction trying to do what he feels is right. Many will not agree with what he does. And many will not like this film, driven fully by dialogue with no explosions or serious plot twists. But Hardy and Steven Knight (of "Peaky Blinders" fame) have crafted a tense and melancholy film that is unlike anything you will see. I applaud them for what they accomplished, and I enjoyed Hardy's performance immensely.

The critics got it right with this one... just a bad and distressing film with virtually no redeeming value. 5 individual vignettes showing the worst of people in SoCal... this is almost like a propaganda film depicting liberal immorality... but each story is so laughably over the top that they all become patently unbelievable. There are some legit actors in this, and for the life of me, I can't understand why they would be involved... (Zoe, I still love you, but yeesh!).

If you're into glorified rape, suicide, child abandonment, disfigurement, and cheap slaps of racism & homophobia, then this is a movie for you. If not, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you skip this film... it's absolutely awful. I've watched over 500 movies in the last two years, and this was easily one of the 2 or 3 worst.