305 days, 305 films- Fish Tank

Mar 4, 2010 by Sami

Film #3 Fish Tank

I wasn’t going to write about Fish Tank because it’s still in that unfortunate purgatory state. Not at theaters but not at your friendly neighborhood video rental store either. It’s somewhere in between and therefore you cannot be provided with the instant gratification of seeing it after you read this. There are some good news, however.  You can “save” it to your Netflix que, forget about it then be pleasantly surprised when it’s finally available to be mailed out to you. 

If you’ve read Catcher in The Rye and enjoyed it then I can tell you that you’ll enjoy Fish Tank. I couldn’t help but keep thinking about Holden Caulfield every time I witnessed the delusional ambitions that belonged to Mia. One scene that keeps coming back to memory is one when she gets into a fight with her peers by vocalizing her dislike of their dance routine. Mia, who is 15,  is a horrible dancer herself but she is also depressed (rightfully so) and the only way she chooses to cope with it is by living in the illusion that she’s much more talented then everyone surrounding her. There’s also the  undeniable  sexual desire she harbors for her mother’s new boyfriend that you know will lead to terrible results.

Fish Tank has a great cast and does a great job portraying a fatherless lower-class family in Essex, England. Katie Jarvis received much praise for her role as Mia but I can’t help but give my thumbs up to Sarah Bayes for her captivating portrayal of Mia’s mother, Keely. Finally, the film also contains an unpredictable twist or two in it’s storyline.

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An Education

Dec 22, 2009 by Sami

In life, when you try to take shortcuts it will likely not go well. That’s what we learn from watching An Education. This is a story of a master manipulator. A story about being young and wanting to run off with more experience that your young soul can handle. It was painted with lovely music, smiles and giggles. It reminded me of being young and so full of naive love. There is also much betrayal and deceit in this film. Even better, it’s filled with the intoxicating voices of Brenda Lee, Beth Rowley and Juliette Greco as the soundtrack. I would have to give my biggest musical mention to Duffy‘s Smoke Without Fire. It might be one of the best finales of a film I have ever heard.

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