Impossible to pigeonhole. Winterbottom doesn't stick to genres or conventions, he's done everything from off-kilter comedies to brooding crime and documentary/narrative hybrids. Not always great, but always interesting.
Movies
A lo-fi, but lively and strangely realistic sci-fi film from Winterbottom. It's a very willful mix of sci-fi, romance and drama where no single genre takes a strong lead. The cinematography is slick, the score is moody and performances are solid. An experience more so than a clear narrative, but that's what makes it so interesting.
A fine Winterbottom film. At first, I was a bit hesitant about the subject matter. Films like this have a tendency to be quite heavy-handed, the film's list of accolades didn't look too promising either (as film fests tend to be drawn to that same type of film), but it's nice to see Winterbottom managed to keep it genuine. In This World follows two refugees on their trip from Pakistan to the UK. It's not a jolly journey and there's quite a bit of drama to wade though, some of is quite confrontational, but it never feels overly cinematic or dishonest. It's simply a trip many try to make in search of a better life. The semi-documentary style really does wonders for this film. It gives it a more natural feel and puts you right into the action. The soundtrack is also an asset, making the experience that tiny bit more polished. The actors do a good job too and even though the film is somewhat repetitive, it never loses impact. Very good.Read all
Time to revisit Winterbottom's little experiment. 9 Songs is one of those films I liked a lot the first time I watched it, but mostly because it was so different from other films I'd seen. Watching it again it's still easy to see the initial appeal, but with an extra 8000 films or so beneath my belt, I need a little bit more to win me over. Matt and Lisa meet each other at a concert in the UK. They immediately fall for each other and they start hanging out together. Their little fling evolves into an actual relationship, but with time, the first cracks form. Not everything remains as innocent as their first days together, which is the real test of any relationship. The film alternates between gigs and intimate scenes between the couple, two ways to illustrate how their relationship is evolving. The big shocker at the time was the fact that the sex scenes between the two leads were real, but people hoping to find anything pornographic here should temper their expectations. It's a novel way to dissect a relationship and Winterbottom plus his leads do a great job, but it's not quite enough to turn this into a real masterpiece.Read all
Pretty interesting comedy where Coogan and Brydon play themselves, going on a culinary trip through the north of England. The chemistry between the actors is nice, the imitations are pretty funny and the boundary between film and reality feels ever so thin, but it's a bit too long and the drama isn't that strong.
60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero
Another micro-shorts anthology. They were relatively popular for a while, but they rarely lived up to their potential. With just a single minute to make an impression, directors were given a tricky challenge. One that proved a bit too daunting for most involved, as too many of the entries failed to make an impact. This isn't so much a real film as it was an experience though. There doesn't remain a proper copy of this anthology since it was only screened once, then burned right after. I usually stray from watching low-quality recordings, but with nothing else available, it was either that or not watching it ever. There are some interesting names here, but few of them stand out. The goals of the project are lofty, but it's all very conceptual and the films themselves never really match or strengthen the project's ideals. It's a good thing that the score is pretty interesting, which at least kept me going. Not all that interesting.Read all