Holy Motors

Leos Carax, 2012


4/5

Mr. Oscar (Denis Lavant) is a man with a busy schedule, spending the day traveling around Paris via limousine. Each stop he makes involves him changing his wardrobe, speech and overall persona to fit that particular appointment.

It's a Surreal Art-House piece that's so confidently artistic, so boldly eccentric that you spend most of the film in sheer confusion as to what you are watching but can't take your eyes off the screen. It's an abstract piece that is likely controversial in terms of its appeal. This is not a film with a three-act structure. It's not even necessarily a film with a beginning or end. Oddly, Certain elements of the film reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut. Without a doubt one of the strangest films I've ever seen. I had thought initially that there would be some kind of significant reveal at the end of the film, but I soon realized that it doesn't even matter. It's a film that changes form, much like Mr. Oscar's attire. At times you feel as if you are watching a performance art piece. At others, a musical. In the end, it's a wild ride but a provocative one.

Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011

5/5

If "Heat" and "Taxi Driver" had a baby, it would be Drive. This had everything that I want in a film. It is very stylistic, dark/disturbing at times, and had an amazing soundtrack. The limited dialogue helped to maintain a hypnotic effect. A lot of people have called this an Art-house Noir. Considering there was quite a bit of star-power in the cast, it was made on a relatively small budget of $15M. Gosling evidently hand-picked Refn to direct Drive after Neil Marshall pulled out. Gosling has become one of my favorite actors, and I think Refn figured out a way to really let Gosling play to his strengths - even if in this case it is a lot of standing around, looking cool with a toothpick in his mouth. I loved seeing Albert Brooks playing the antagonist (were his eyebrows shaved?) and I now have a crush on Carey Mulligan after seeing this and I am interested in seeing some of her other work. My only criticism of the film is I wonder if the storyline with purchasing the race car was even necessary - it seemed confusing but I guess I am willing to let that go. Refn's films seem to be very consistent in the sense that they are very heavily stylized, have spontaneous gore and very pronounced scores/soundtracks. Refn is definitely the kind of director I would want to have a beer with. Overall, its probably my favorite film of 2011.