Carlos A Torres – Designer & Photographer

Just saw Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones a couple of days ago and the more I think and ponder on it the better the movie gets. This is a film that has no secrets to it. Pretty much everyone that goes to see it knows exactly what this movie is about and what’s going to happen. Credit is then due to the original material and to the filmmakers for weaving a story that even though sounds familiar, ends up being anything but. We’re all conditioned to see certain plot lines occur in movies of this topic but it is in these caveats that we find the difference between this film and others of similar topic. Think What Dreams What May Come, Premonition, The Invisible, all good films but all had the same predictable outcome and the same goal in mind. The Lovely Bones deviates from the norm to surprise us as the story unravels and as the ending arrives. You may not get the answers you’re looking for, you may not get the closure you desire but you’ll definitely get this film for the great story that it is.

Here’s a list of films you should definitely catch in case you haven’t. These aren’t your mainstream sort of fare but more of the independent variety. Great films, great endings and overall films not to be missed although they’ve been way overlooked. Some of these go back a few years but they need to be seen anyway.

Elephant – 2003
The Jacket – 2005
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004
Donnie Darko – 2001
Sling Blade – 1996
Lost In Translation – 2003
City of God – 2002
Memento – 2000
Pi – 1998
Let The Right One In – 2008