connorveenstra

As a recovering addict (though not of drugs) I can relate to this one a lot more than most. Its portrayals of what addiction does to you and the ones around you, how somebody could get addicted to something so destructive and how difficult it is to get back on your feet are all real and pack a heavy punch.

This is a real eye-opener for both addicts and their loved ones who might not understand what their friend or relative is going through. Real, gritty and brutally honest in its depiction of the sad pathetic life of an addict, this is one for the ages that's not to be missed.

It's difficult to describe Seven Samurai because firstly it's a movie that is best experienced knowing nothing about it. Secondly, because it's so packed with things to talk about it's difficult to know where to start.

The slow beginning and ridiculously long run time might turn some viewers off, but with enough patience you'll be rewarded with a rich, nuanced experience that few other movies can match. The film uses this slow, deliberate pace to flesh out the characters and explore the world in which they live until you're completely sucked in and invested.

The camera work is fantastic, with every single shot being perfectly blocked, composed and lit. The costume and set design are all so perfect that you think you've just stepped into feudal Japan. The acting from the entire cast is amazing and the action scenes are superbly epic.

The characters are all well fleshed out (some more than others) and you root for all of them throughout the film. The themes are heavy and dramatic: honor, romance, the selfishness of human nature, deconstruction of the samurai myth. The movie might also have the greatest climax of any film in history, perfectly paying off the last three and a half hours you just spent sitting in your chair.

Seven Samurai is a masterpiece of filmmaking and is everything a movie should be: simple but complex. Entertaining yet not shallow. Funny and dramatic. Action-packed, yet slow. It's one for the ages that should've be missed.

Mad Max: Fury Road is everything I want an action movie to be and more. The action is spectacularly filmed, with cinematography that makes me salivate to think about. The pace is so fast that you never get bored and it constantly keeps your attention by having very little dialogue, making sure that you have to watch the film to get what's going on.

The characters have a surprising amount of depth to them, with Furiosa being a huge standout among female action heroines. She's tough, but not emotionally cold. Competent, but not invincible. Her motivation to save a group of women from a patriarchal tyrant is immediately sympathetic and you root for her all the way to the end.

Fury Road might not be the smartest movie in the world, but nobody can deny the craftsmanship that went into making what I consider to be the greatest action film of all time.