Double Indemnity (1944) review

Hailed by many as the greatest Film-Noir of all time, I was definitely in need of checking out Double Indemnity. As someone who is growing a love for classic films, I decided not to have any sort of high expectations and thankfully, Double Indemnity is not only an intriguing film but it is a film as close to perfect as possible. It does something interesting that most films at the time of its release would never have done, which is reveal the big “secret” within the opening minutes hence allowing the audience to be fully invested within the characters and in order for them to effectively enjoy the film that much more.

Fred MacMurray plays a salesman named Walter Neff who recounts the events leading to the death of Mr Dietrichson, as he meets Ms Dietrichson and forms a strange affair with her. The strange affair leads to the seductive Phyllis Dietrichson persuading Walter to join her in a scheme to kill her husband and in order to receive an indemnity. Realizing that there is indeed ‘a double indemnity’ if killed on a train, they agree to do so but an insurance manager, Keyes, shows his suspicion about the death of Mr Dietrichson and attempts to solve the crime.

Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is one of the greatest films from the Golden Age of cinema, featuring fantastic performances by Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, who resemble and embody the characters. Barbara is shown as a rather lifeless woman, yet seductive especially how she initially acts around Neff. Walter is portrayed as a rather wise and cunning man, as portrayed at the end of the film. Keyes, played by Edward Robinson was truly fantastic in his role as he truly embodies every bit of characterization of Keyes. He outsmarts those around him, his determination to solve the death is evident and his inability to be fooled is quite easily evident.

The story is fantastic, complex and deeply layered giving each character enough depth, even Mr Dietrichson’s daughter. Each character is still easy to understand and their motivations are clear. The story telling structure is very clever and how the story unfolds is even better. The cinematography is gorgeous, the lighting often stands out.

It isn’t just a crime/drama tale. It has all the essentials for a masterpiece with an ability to mix in various genres such as thriller and romance. With this, Wilder accomplishes far more than he otherwise would have. A near perfect film that exceeds in every department of film making. 

Grade- 10/10

Charlie Chaplin: City Lights (1931) review

I have never before seen a full silent movie and obviously, never seen a Chaplin film. I didn't know, going into the film, what to really expect. I didn't think I would be able to stand a whole film without any dialogue. I honestly didn't think that slapstick humor, to the extent that I've seen in a few clips from Chaplin films would appeal to me. Thankfully, I was more than wrong. Charlie Chaplin is not only a funny film, but it is an extremely touching film. The performances are fanastic, especially by legend Charlie Chaplin who was perfect as the often clumsy Tramp. The story was so moving that the 90 minute duration was forgotten by me right throughout the film. 

The Tramp meets a blind flower girl and immediately falls in love with her. On eday, he rescues a millionaire as he was about to commit suicide and convinces him to not destroy his life. The drunk millionaire befriends The Tramp to the extent of allowing him to stay at the man's mansion, use his car and even borrow money. The Tramp, one day, spies on the blind girl's window and sees a doctor by the girl's bedside and realizes that she is sick. He also discovers that the girl and his grandmother may be forced to leave if they cannot pay their rent in time. 'City Lights' then follows The Tramp's hilarious adventure to try and get enough money to save the girl and her grandmother, whilst running into plenty of trouble.

Charlie Chaplin perfectly portrays the Tramp as an extremely peculiar looking and clumsy man yet also brings extreme heart and love to the role. His fantastic performance is matched by Virginia Cherrill who portrays the blind flower girl extremely well. Inarguably, both were fantastic but their brilliance is more evident due to the fact that 'City Lights' is a silent film that has no dialogue. The ability to portray an entire film simply out of facial expressions is absolutely fantastic. 

My expectations for 'City Light' were to see a completely slap stick humored film. Whilst there is plenty of slapstick humor, the film is incredibly touching and powerful written and directed brilliantly by Sir Charles Chaplin. The humor is plenty throughout the 90 minute duration of the film and whilst the emotion is limited, when emotional scenes are shown in the film they work brilliantly. 'City Lights' is yet another one of those films that many people underestimate and jump to speculations which turn out wrong. 

'City Lights' is such a brilliant film that is pretty much flawless, making for the most entertaining 90 minutes without any words uttered out of mouths! The brilliance of this film is more evident for myself, as I now wish to see more Chaplin classics! Featuring fantastic performances and a great story, City Lights is definitely one of the classics that every movie lover must view sometime in their life. It is the Star Wars of its era. 

Grade- 10/10 

#10- Casablanca (1942) review

Of all the films coming from the era of classics, Casablanca is what I believe to be the greatest, the most memorable and simply the most enjoyable of all the greats. Featuring fantastic performances, to amazing storytelling, Casablanca is 100 minutes of cinematic perfection- a word that I have rarely used to call a film. 

Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart star in Casablanca, a 1942 romance film which is often considered the best of its genre, rivalled only be the 1939 Gone With The Wind. Casablanca tells the tale, set during the late stages of WW2, regarding letters of transit which were given to Rick, the owner of the most popular shop around. One day, his former lover from Paris, who coldly left him returns to Casablanca and seeks the letters of transit for herself and her husband. Casablanca is a film that is more than what it sounds. What may appear to the eye can be misjudged in its depth characters and engaging storyline. 



The cast for the film is fantastic and Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are virtually unbelievable in the film, sharing incredible chemistry and perhaps, the most iconic relationship in cinema history which has now been countless parodized. Both deliver incredibly powerful performances that truly elevate the film. The film is further elevated by amazing storytelling and iconic quotes and sequences to add to an already amazing film. The cinematography in the film looks great and even to this day, has aged fantastically. None of the comedic lines in the film seem to have aged badly but instead still make you giggle. The rest of the cast do a fantastic job, each playing interesting characters.

Casablanca is quite possibly, the most iconic film of its era featuring classic lines such as "We'll always have Paris", "Play it once more Sam, for old times sake!", "Here's looking at you kid!", "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" and various other lines. The entire sequence at the end of the film is unbelievably iconic, having been imitated several dozen times. To love movies is an incorrect judgment for any who have not seen the film as the amazing characters and story, along with fantastic direction and writing and incredibly powerful performances are a true loss to any who have yet to view this film. Do take your time and do view the film. You'll be doing yourself a favor!  

It's A Wonderful Life (1946) review

Praised to death by movie buffs and critics alike, 'It's A Wonderful Life' is often considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and for certain, one of the greatest family films and Christmas films alike. As a person who is currently planning to view classic films, I realized that I had to check out 'It's A Wonderful Life' and did not regret it afterwards. 

James Stewart stars as George Bailey and Donna Reed stars as his wife, Mary Hatch in this absolute family classic. The story is one of extreme depth and emotion as the film takes around three quarters of the duration before the actual plot begins, but never does the film truly bore you. Filled with amazing black and white cinematography, fantastic acting and often great humorous relief, 'It's A Wonderful Life' truly succeeds at creating such a universe and letting one immerse themselves in the story. To not care entirely for
'It's A Wonderful Life' would clearly show that one would not be human at all as this film deals with great emotion as George Bailey comes the lowest point in his life, full of struggle and frustration that he wishes he were dead so that he would not have to deal with this pain and so that his film would be happier. It is then, that George's guardian angel, Clarence, who had been paying attention to him since he were a child, arrives and gives a tour of what life would be for everyone had George not been born. 



I had absolutely no idea how this film would turn out. I wasn't even sure whether this would be a film that I would enjoy very much but the film is structured fantastically and the writing and directing is amazing. The best element of the film is the attention to detail on George's character and how much backstory there is. Even the small things such as his father or his brother turn into something more important for George. The way the film depicts everything about George was fantastic. From the scene with him as a child, saving his brother, I was endeared by the character. Of course, a great character only works with fantastic acting and Jimmy Stewart delivers just this in the grandest of style! His ability to display emotion throughout the film is unbelievable, completely allowing anyone to buy the character and the performance. In fact, for much of the film, you forget that Stewart is actually acting in the film! 


Not only is the film amazing in terms of cinematography and depth of characters but the film offers such fantastic moments such as everything at the end of the film involving Clarence. The emotional aspect of the film is truly terrific with each scene carefully crafted, featuring just the perfect amount of emotion to it. Even the humor, which is plentiful in such a film, is done in a way that it does not overplay the humorous side of the film and unbalance the tone. These sequences are so immersive and the fact that this is a feel good Christmas film just truly ensures that this film delivers. The characters are truly unforgettable, the acting and story is amazing, written and directed intelligently, 'It's A Wonderful Life' truly exceeds at being a masterpiece in every way and it is indeed, no surprise that this film be ranked so highly on many of the top films list, most notably IMDb's infamous top 250, to which it holds a place at 29. 'It's A Wonderful Life' is truly an unforgettable classic that shall live for generations. Literally, the greatest Christmas film ever made. They don't get better than this. 

 
Grade- 9.5/10 

Beautiful Creatures (2013) review

This year has definitely got off to an unstable start with most films turning out to be a major disappointment. Amongst some popular films, so far such as Gangster Squad comes one of the small films, a teen romance called 'Beautiful Creatures' 

Just by taking a look at the cover, it doesn't seem like a promising movie at all. But thankfully, this movie does deliver in many ways to be an enjoyable enough experience. The story telling wasn't perfect but it was good enough to enjoy the story and the characters

I myself would never sit down and watch one of these teen romances, simply because it seemed like it would be Twilight. My choice was to watch the 2013 action flick, Parker but unfortunately it wasn't working so I, for some strange reason put this film in. As I was watching this, there was somewhat a smile on my face! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Not that its one of the great films or anything but it was definitely exceeding my expectations. 

Beautiful Creatures focuses around a young eccentric, mythical girl named Lena who is soon about to turn 16 and then she will either be cast as light or as dark, when she meets a young boy from school named Ethan Wate, with whom she starts a relationship that may well effect who she grows up to be. 

The plot along seems too much like Twilight for my tastes and even when reviews came in saying that this wasn't Twilight, it didn't change the fact that I thought it was going to suck. Beautiful Creatures is one of those 'guilty pleasures' of mine. For some reason, most elements of the film worked really well especially the dialogue which was at times, extremely funny. It often made me giggle and kept me entertained. Something that I did not expect with this film is how depth some of the characters are, particularly Lena. Most of her past is explained throughout the film but not in any frustrating and time wasting way. A lot of it is emotional and is something that I would buy. 

The main reason I eventually began watching this film was for Jeremy Irons and his amazing performances in films such as The Lion King. He was outstanding in this film and easily gives the best performance of the film. Jeremy Irons is the one that ensures that we take the world presented in this film very seriously, with his very serious performance. Alice Englert plays Lena, and honestly up until now, I've never heard of this actress. She seems extremely young in the film but actually gives a rather decent performance. Sometimes it is evident that she cannot give what is required of her but overall she does a good job. Another name that I've never heard of is Alden Ehrenreich, who plays Ethan and gives a fantastic performance! He possessed every trait required for the role and gave a truly fantastic performance. Emmy Rossum plays Lena's cousin, who prior to being casted was afraid she would cause harm and left her cousin for her safety. She was also good in this film, giving yet another believable performance and yet another funny and likeable performance, even if her character isn't supposed to be! 



The characters are written well in this film, the premise is corny but on screen, it actually works. Now, this is adapted off a novel which I have not read so whether this is loyal to the novel and whether this will please fans of the book, I cannot tell. That said, this film is definitely an enjoyable film, mainly due to the writing.

The special effects in this film are extremely lame yet that is forgettable simply because the film keeps you invested in the characters and story enough for you to put it aside. There are many scenes where the effects are clearly bad such as the spinning table sequence, after Ridley annoys Lena and a scene involving lightning to keep back Lena and Ethan. These sequences did look rather awful yet forgettable. The fact that special effects are only required to tell a story are clearly evident and the bad effects isn't a huge downsider to the film. 



Laying aside the poor special effects, most of the film is actually interesting and somehow, enjoyable. Mostly great acting, followed by an interesting story and characters, mixed with good writing make 'Beautiful Creatures' a good film. Perhaps ten minutes too long but the film keeps you invested enough to forget about that. Not the greatest film of the year but a film that possesses the traits of a decent film. What mainly hurt the film was some elements of the story, but not too much. Overall, a good film. 

Grade-7.5/10 
Definitely not Twilight, a rather enjoyable experience still suffers in many ways such as unnecessary scenes and a tad overlong. Not perfect, but enjoyable enough