Heartbeats

For You

Pretty, touching, ridiculous and hilarious. Okay, not always hilarious but there are plenty of delightful moments that balance out the surprisingly sad and honest ones. Now that I've used every possible adjective, I think you should see it. If you're "into" film you'll like it, if you don't and just use movies to "escape" - yup you'll still like it. At the end of the day though its kind of a film for ladies and gays (can't imagine Tomasz or Ben being interested in it other than the fact its one giant homage to Truffaut and Goddard), so I guess this makes Heartbeats a date movie. Or a Miss Crystal party of one.

For Me

Enough with the slow mo! There's too much - but at the same time it signifies that the film is modern. French New Wave was too busy spazing about the jump cut to be bothered by excessive slow mo so I'll let Exavier Dolan get away this. Most of Heartbeats is spent recreating (although I hear Mr. Dolan denies this) our favorite movies from the past and in most cases I am infuriated and annoyed by this - I still can't justify the Fellini portion of I'm Not There - but all this recreation mixed with the story mixed with the soundtrack mixed with the cinematography makes this particular movie stand out. Not in the Oh Lord he's broken the mold kind of way - Mr. Dolan uses old methods to tell a modern story and I commend him for it. I liked the movie AND saw through it (its not even close to perfect) which usually says to me that the filmmaker is talented but still having fun and not taking himself too seriously. All I have to say is I can't wait to see his next film. Oh yea, and fuck the Oscars.