Indie Gems: White Bird in a Blizzard

-
She's just gone and she's never coming back.

In the fall of 1988, seventeen year old Kat's (Shailene Woodley) mother, Eve (Eva Green) disappears without a trace. Her soft spoken father (Christopher Meloni) clams up over this. Eve had been acting strange lately, and the police think she may have just left on her own.

I had kind of a visceral reaction to this film. It has it's flaws. Eva Green's American accent is extremely shaky, you have to suffer through Shiloh Fernandez's "acting," but damn did I enjoy this. 

Director Gregg Araki just makes interesting films, though they're not everyone's cup of tea. I liked the flow of this one. I liked that the dialogue wasn't overly stylized and that Kat's narration actually sounded like it was from a teenager. Woodley is a very capable actress when she's given good material, and she was very good here. She got a lot of press for doing nude scenes in the film, but her performance speaks strongly enough on it's own. Green and Meloni were also perfect for their roles. I worried at first because Green is way too young to look like she could be a seventeen year old's mother, but she pulled it off. Then there's the costume design. I thought it was superb in recreating the late 80's/early 90's fashion. 

This film is based on a book, and Araki drastically changed the ending. Apparently that didn't sit well with everyone. I never read it.

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "We told you that. You just didn't want to hear it." - Beth (Gabourey Sidibe)

Comments

  1. KatyMarch 13, 2015 at 11:07 AM

    Nice review! Shailene and Eva are simply amazing. I am happy to see this one finally arrive on Netflix. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 14, 2015 at 9:37 AM

      I hope you like it! They are wonderful, even if Eva still needs to work on her American accent.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 13, 2015 at 3:26 PM

    Well now I need to see this one too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 13, 2015 at 4:55 PM

    It wasn't interestingly told in my opinion. But man, that twist ending in the end.. if you know what I mean.. was priceless! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 14, 2015 at 9:38 AM

      Yes, it was. Not what I was expecting for sure. lol

      Delete
  4. thevoid99March 13, 2015 at 7:36 PM

    I want to see this because of Gregg Araki as I do like his films but yeah, I don't like Shiloh Fernandez either. He can't act for shit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 14, 2015 at 9:38 AM

      He's not in this a whole lot, but I agree, he's horrendous. I hope you check it out though, especially if you like Araki.

      Delete
  5. UnknownMarch 13, 2015 at 11:13 PM

    This definitely sounds intriguing. I love the way you reviewed it, conveying the flow of it, without giving too much away.

    ReplyDelete
  6. .March 14, 2015 at 10:26 AM

    I watched this a while back already, but JUST watched it last night with my sister for the first time. Like me, she really enjoyed it.

    I love that the mystery being not such a mystery at times isn't that big of a deal. There were other things to be said, so when things hey to obvious they throw more at you. If that makes any sense...

    Woodley was really good, and Eva was great. The scene where Woodley' s character catches Eva's gawking at her from the hallway and she slams the door in her face is a riot. Eva didn't even flinch.

    This was a YA book done right.

    Great review!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 15, 2015 at 9:02 AM

      Did you read the book? What did you think of the ending switch up? It seemed like it pissed quiet a few people off.

      Delete
  7. s.March 14, 2015 at 10:39 AM

    I wanted to see it for Eva but Woodley is in it :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 15, 2015 at 9:01 AM

      She's actually very good. She's pretty insufferable in interviews, but I think when given the right material she's a very good actress.

      Delete
  8. m.brownMarch 16, 2015 at 6:22 PM

    So...this is what I'm watching tonight. Sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lights Camera ReactionMarch 19, 2015 at 6:56 AM

    Ow, I have to disagree. I thought this was such a disappointment. Shailene Woodley was pretty good (especially during her last scene with her dad), but I just found it very weak. I normally love Eva Green but she was just too OTT for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 19, 2015 at 7:46 AM

      Green was shaky, but I just loved it. I'm a big Araki fan too.

      Delete
  10. JoshApril 3, 2015 at 1:20 PM

    I was a little underwhelmed by the movie (B-), but the cast was VERY good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 4, 2015 at 6:47 AM

      I can see that, but yes the cast was excellent. I think even I liked it more than I was expecting to.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more