Together, Edith Finch, Dunkirk

After 6 long years of days about talking about literally swatting flies or over-boiling eggs on this blog, you know, the gripping features of everyday life, I actually think I have too much to share for one blog post. Stick with me though and I'll try and give it my best shot to squeeze it all in.

Probably the coolest bit first, the trailer for the film I worked on in July has landed. Didn't expect to see it this early actually, but the announcement came up in my inbox and I have to say, it's looking pretty good. Here's the official website with the trailer. Make sure to watch the video in the highest quality as possible, Mika was excellent on the camera and it shows.  

I also successfully edited my latest video review on my laptop. It all got a bit hairy at one point as it all froze just as I was about to export it, and I hadn't saved the project once. I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted the back-up folder Premiere automatically made. Anyway, without further delay, here is my latest video review for What Remains of Edith Finch, an excellent little PC game:

 

Also went out to see Dunkirk which I would compare most to United 93 in that they were both event driven films without a real central character. As such, Dunkirk already gives itself a bit of a glass ceiling in terms of how much you can really get involved and care about the action,. sure there are a lot of cool looking shots and insanely loud explosions, but without characters to back it up, there weren't any stakes to keep you invested in it all.

Speaking of those 'cool looking shots,' I felt like the whole film romanticised the event a little to much too. Everything was a little too 'period' and it occasionally looked like they were constantly looking for new and epic ways to shoot extras drowning to justify the IMAX cameras. It lost of lot the gritty-ness as a result and I found myself being taken away from the scene, rather than being immersed in it.

The slipping time-line thing it tries sounds really clever on paper, but in practise it doesn't add a whole lot to the piece outside expanding the existence of multiple mini stories. It feels like a bit of a missed opportunity as it seldom does anything of interest with the idea; Nolan used to be the master of this too.

In retrospect though, it's a film I did enjoy watching, but I don't enjoy the thought of having to re-watch it any-time soon. There's a ride at Thorpe Park called 'X No Way Out,' whenever you describe it to a friend it sounds like the best thing ever, but when they ask you to ride it with them again you always say you'd rather go on Inferno. Dunkirk is worth the experience for sure, but Nolan is capable of so much more.