REVIEW | Nostalgia For The Light

This is a poetically narrated, stunningly photographed, blissfully philosophical look at two groups of people who inhabit the Atacama desert in Chile. Firstly we are introduced to the astrologers who have descended on the desert to take advantage of the clear and thin skies. Telescopes have been built that stand in stark contrast to the dry surface of the desert, a place that has been said to resemble the surface of Mars due to it’s lack of humidity and moisture. Secondly we meet a group of women who have searched and dug amongst the rubble for almost thirty years for the remains of their loved ones who were initially dumped into grave pits in the desert before being dug up and apparently dropped into the sea. It it this juxtaposition between the two groups and the idea of them both desperately trying to find answers to our past in very different ways that is the main thesis behind the film and it is equally as compelling in it’s visuals, narration, subjects and point of view, a mesmerizing piece of documentary film-making.

Verdict: Movie

DAN

REVIEW | Katy Perry: Part of Me

This is a fun movie. Sure it’s PR propaganda that never paints Katy Perry in a bad light whether in conceiving her ‘art’, her family history or the eventual downfall of her marriage, but it’s fun all the same. If you’re not a fan of her music then you might find it hard going what with large amounts of live footage carefully chosen to represent the topic being discussed at that time, but if you don’t like her music then why the heckings would you watch the movie or even read this? There are a few moments that teeter on becoming moving, mostly those occurring in the aftermath of the relationship breakdown, but, if you’re a cynical bastard like me, you’ll find even the cuter, more natural scenes somewhat manipulative as you know that they would not paint Katy in a bad light so how do you know the difference between a genuine nice moment and a falsified one? Regardless, while this doesn’t quite manage to be a documentary in my eyes, I had a good, fun time with it.

Oh and the 3D is exactly what you would expect from it, purely there for firing foam canons and the like at the screen. I enjoyed it a great deal as, while I like the technology being used to create depth, I bloody love big balls coming at my face.

Verdict: Spunk

DAN