Films You Should Be Watching On Pay Per View

Tonight my husband and I decided to make some pizza, pour some vodka sodas and watch pay per view. Two excellent films later I thought it was worth giving them a shout out on my blog.

Drive

I know there has been a lot of hype about this movie. It came out just as my husband and I made our big move across the Pacific so we didn't get to catch it at the cinema. I really loved this film and here's why.

1. Editing
I could go on and on about how spectacular the vision of this film was. The way they shot it and then arranged the shots was nothing short of brilliant in my eyes. The shots toyed with the timeline giving you moments that were conflicting in all the right ways. This film relies heavily on visual as it is very sparse on dialogue. The shots tell the story and they do so in a beautiful way. If you're interested in film editing then I recommend that you check this film out. You could turn the sound off and watch it and still catch all the emotion.

2. Soundtrack
The music in this film is so great, like a flashback to the '90s. I loved the mix of genre. In some scenes there was upbeat, fast-paced techno pop and in others there were slow, melodic, haunting tunes. This combined with editing and the use of slow motion married sound and image in a perfect and surprising combination.

3. The Dialogue
Or more importantly, the lack there of. At one point I turned to my husband and commented on how the sparse dialogue rendered the film more realistic. In life there are so many moments of silence where all the words are played out in our thoughts and eyes. In most films directors fear the silence and fill it with nonsense. This film did not. It not only allowed silence, it reveled in it. I felt myself captivated by the story because I was able to follow it without being force fed the constant thoughts of characters.

4. Ryan Gosling
This was a spectacular performance by Gosling. To be a truly great actor you have to be able to tell the story, the emotion through your eyes. If you can show me rather than tell me then I know you can act. It was about 20 minutes into the film that I realised he'd hardly spoken. I was able to get the essence of the film purely through the emotion he projected through his eyes. When he does speak however, you listen, his words are few but they hold a certain power.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was refreshing to be able to watch a film and make sense of it on my own without all the words. There are some pretty epic car chase scenes too.

50/50

My husband and I saw this at the cinema and loved it so much we thought we'd re-watch it. It's a simply but beautifully told story of a 27 year old who has just found out he has a tumor with a name no one can pronounce and a 50% chance of survival.

There are a couple of scenes that I wanted to mention. The first is the one where Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds out about the cancer from his detached doctor who seems more interested in his conversation with his tape recorder. When I was 18 I had a tumor removed and I will never forget what it was like sitting on the other side of that desk as the doctor explained things to me that were beyond my knowledge. All the words were lost on me except for when she mentioned that it could be cancer. That word hits you like a knife through the heart. Luckily for me my tumor was benign, but I really loved this scene because it was so true to what I remember of that traumatizing experience.

The other scene I have to mention is the one where Adam's best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) confronts Adam's girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard). This was one of those scenes where you really want a character to do something and they follow through. I wont say anything in detail because I don't want to ruin it for you but when you see the film you'll know what I mean.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a wonderful job as Adam, carrying the weight of the burden he carries with grace and a dawning understanding. You would think that a film about such a serious and life altering topic would be heavy, but the film does a great job of showing humor in even the worst moments. The characters are lovable and the relationships between them authentic. I really enjoyed the connection between Adam and his sweet therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick).

So that's how I spent my Sunday night. What about you? Seen any good films lately?