The Revenant (2016)

Toilet Review: Turns out that not only is Leonardo di Caprio a great actor, he is also impervious to nature!

This is one of those movies that I wanted to like more than I actually did. Technically, its a fantastic movie. The cinematography is great, the score is great, the performances are outstanding, but it never quite settles into being the sort of movie that I hoped it would be.

The movie takes place in the depths of the uncharted American wilderness at the beginning of the 19th century. Our main character, Hugh Glass (Leonardo di Caprio) is leading a fur acquisition expedition when suddenly the group is attacked, causing plans to change, and already boiling tensions between men that haven’t seen a warm bed or a bath in months, simmer over. Throw in some racism and a whole bunch of greed and you get “The Revenant”.

What I liked about this movie is just how wonderful it looks. From the beautiful scenery to the perfect lighting, this movie just oozes character from the very beginning. You know from the outset what sort of world this is without a character ever saying anything. I also liked the tactile sense that the movie had. Every scene made you feel colder, made you feel more isolated, more scared of your environment, I certainly felt like it was me and Leo, hoofing it together it out in the wilderness.

I will probably watch the movie a second time just to get a better of sense of it, as I have previously mentioned that I feel like it just didn’t gel all to well, and I want to see if that was a problem with me or the movie! I feel like the pacing was a bit slow, even for this slow paced movie. We got to see Leo in a whole variety of different “Oh NO!” situations that seemed to get old really quick. I think this movie has more day to night, and night to day transitions that I’ve seen in a long time.

If you want to see a movie set in the wilderness, in the 1800s, with a story that makes you pause, I would probably recommend “The Hateful Eight” over this movie. I didn’t feel the nearly three hour run time of that movie, but my god, did I feel every second of the two hour and forty minute run time of this.

Inside Out (2015)

Toilet Review: Tiny people control your emotions in your head.

All my life I’ve spoken, jokingly,  about how there is a small drunk man driving my body and he is either too pissed or asleep at the wheel most of the time. It explains my propensity to stick my foot in my mouth and my inability to walk in a straight line really well!

This movie does one better. It shows that not only is there one man, but there are five, all taking on different emotions and each taking turns to “drive” or interact with the outside world. We meet Joy (Amy Poehler). Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Fear (Bill Hader), all of whom live in an eleven year old girls head, Riley. Normally Riley is a happy child who enjoys hockey and being with her friends, but when her parents pack up the family and move from Minnesota to San Francisco, things start to go downhill.

I don’t want to spoil this movie. It wouldn’t be fair. I really enjoyed it. The absolutely delightful systems that are shown as to how memory is stored and how some memories end up fading away is just so unique. Most of the movie takes place within Riley’s own mind, but we get to see how she manages to function when Joy and Sadness end up going on a bit of a road trip.

Some of my absolute favourite sequences involved seeing inside other people’s heads, and how their emotions interact. We see inside Riley’s parents’ minds and the subtle differences are great. I loved the end sequence, with the boy, the dog and especially the cat.

Well worth watching even if you don’t have kids to watch it with