Spirited Away 7.5/10
Hadn't seen this movie for about 9 or so years, so this was pretty much my first viewing. It's the third Miyazaki film that I've seen (the other two being My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle) and I have to say that this was my least favourite so far (although I can't really comment on Totoro; it's been way too many years since I've seen it). I think this was overrated. Now, don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great film, and it was beautiful to watch, but it just felt very unfocused and disjointed; the plot didn't really get going until there was 40 minutes or so left, it seemed. There was no real grounding element to it. I found it hard to really care about what happened. I felt that Moving Castle did a much better job at striking the balance between the mystical and the real worlds. Now, there were parts that I loved. Kamajii the Boilermaster was a great character, and I really enjoyed all the scenes he was in. No-Face was a great and mysterious presence, and I loved the subtle expressions that his mask had. The train scene was simply beautiful. But, overall, it just didn't work for me.
Hunger 9/10
This was simply a great film. It shows the events leading up to and including the 1981 hunger strike by prisoners in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. And when I say show, that's what I mean. This movie was one of the best examples of film as a visual medium. There's an incredibly small amount of dialogue; everything is told through composition of shots and the emotions and actions of the characters. Needless to say, the performances by everyone were fantastic; Stuart Graham as the prison guard Raymond Lohan, calmly checking under his car for bombs before his daily commute; Liam McMahon and Brian Milligan as Gerry Campbell and Davey Gillan, two IRA members getting info from the outside, organizing protests. The definite standout was Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands, the ringleader of the hunger strike; the pain and emotion of his character were completely believable. He looked like he was starving to death. Liam Cunningham as Father Moran was another standout. I mentioned that this film had very little dialogue; this is true, for the most part. However, there was one roughly 20-minute continuous shot of a conversation between Sands and Moran, and it is one of my favourite scenes from any film. I've found out that Cunningham is going to be in season 2 of Game of Thrones, which makes me very glad. He's perfect for Davos Seaworth.
The Descendants 5/10
This film is very overrated. George Clooney was fantastic in his role, and he definitely deserves his Oscar nomination, but this film did not deserve one for Best Picture. I can name many films from the past year that weren't nominated, but were much better (50/50, Drive, The Adventures of Tintin, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy...). Yes, it was emotionally powerful at points, but the film as a whole, not that good.
