The Bling Ring (2013)

Sofia Coppola gets it, she gets this social media generation. How do I know? I'm part of it. I know girls like this; the types that don't believe something exists unless it's been posted on their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. In her latest film The Bling Ring, Coppola gives us a vibrant portrait of a society thats culture is so lost it's hard to decide who you hate more; wannabes or celebrities.

I was lucky enough to attend an early screening of The Bling Ring tonight and if there's one word I could use to describe this film it would be: precise. Every edit intricately planned to have a purpose. Upon the first time viewing I don't blame people for missing it. The Bling Ring is intentionally scattered, as if the film itself had a serious case of ADD. The attention span of the edit is about as long as the attention span of our narrators. At times when the narrative shifts focus from one character to another the edit changes with them. If you watch it closely you can almost see the film as a thought process, how each character relives the crimes.

I loved the way this film was shot. It's interesting, the way we view these characters is almost in the background, as if we the audience are in fact the surveillance camera we remain distant from the people on screen not understanding what drives them or even feeling the thrill of robberies. Don't get me wrong there is tension, but only at very interesting times that aren't because of the fear of the robbery. Even scenes where they are almost caught are shown to us very flat trying to detach us from the characters as much as possible.

I've always appreciated Sofia's slow moving dolly shots and they work stunningly in this film. Rarely does a seemingly static shot hold an audiences attention, especially one that takes place outside the house that's being robbed; thanks to the sound design the low ominous tones, as subtle as they are, really drive the scenes.

Emma Watson is fantastic. The way she portrays Nicki's vacant need to fulfill her meaningless desires was striking and the accent and voice inflections made the performance all the more impressive. Besides Emma, most of the other girls are forgettable which I enjoyed; at times you can confuse them with one another because they try so hard to be the same style of person.

Another thing I loved is the amount of "selfies" these girls take. As Coppola herself said it's as if "your experiences don't count unless you have an audience watching them" and you can really feel that in this film. None of the characters really have any "moments" despite their attempts at proving it.

Overall I really enjoyed the film. The entire thing feels like this giant master plan that will need multiple viewing to take in everything Coppola was trying to say. While not as surprising as I thought it was going to be the themes explored near the end of the film were worth the fabulously detailed ride we knew to expect from the trailer.

The Bling Ring is a unique social commentary, which on the surface layer is bound to be compared to Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, both giving us their take on sociopathic young teens. Where the films differ thematically is the interesting part. You'll have to figure that one out on your own.

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Fmovies: The Bling Ring (2013)

First, what this is: a re-creation of a series of actual robberies by spoiled rich high school girls of spoiled adult celebrities in the L.A. area. They do the crimes, they get caught. This is evident from the beginning with some interviews after the fact.

Second, what this is: nothing more than the above. That's the big big problem here. This feature length movie re-creates and re-creates.

We see these indifferent, superficial girls in house after house (and in Paris Hilton's house a lot), trying on clothes and jewelry and taking home whatever they want by the purse-load. And we see all the parties between, party after party. Some with drugs, some without, all with music and dancing and utter detachment from consequences and culpability.

I guess that's the point, to make visible this world and make clear how really repulsive such prettified, well dressed, fashion imitation girls can be. This is the territory of Lauren Greenfield's photographic essay in the book "Fast Forward," but with a very specific focus on this group of half a dozen girls (and one boy who is sort of sucked in by his willingness to fawn and give attention).

There is zero attention to really what makes these girls tick. A very slim attempt is made at showing they have no true education, and no acculturation beyond fashion magazines. But really, what are these girls about? Where are there jealousies, their aspirations, their sex lives, their doubts? The movie is as superficial as the subject, and for Sofia Coppola that's a real shame and inexcusable, as if she just got lazy. Not that making a movie like this is easy, but someone somewhere should have said, hey, look, this amounts to nothing at all.

Where are there comparables beyond Greenfield (whose book has its own flaw of making glorious what she apparently means to critique)? Larry Clark's "Kids" is one place to consider (or his other films, which deal with youth more disturbingly). Or maybe the even more horrible "Murder in Greenwich" which dealt with the East Coast version of spoiled kids losing their bearings (and at least created a plot you could follow with some curiosity).

Coppola has gone this direction before in "The Virgin Suicides" and there she created a semblance of depth. Not this time. And the spoiled title character in "Marie Antoinette" gave her at least a fascinating subject, which she layered up in really compelling ways. And to be sure this isn't "Lost in Translation" (her masterpiece) in any manner. These are all written and directed by Coppola.

If you are the type of person who recoils at the Paris Hilton antics, skip this movie. This is a bunch of wannabe Hiltons and you don't feel sorry for anyone, perpetrator or victim. You just hope it ends fast.

The collective level of vapidity on display in the Bling Ring might (like totally) reach epic proportions.

Award-winning, insightful director, Sofia Coppola, has once again made a film that is highly successful in portraying fame and celebrity ... only this time she has turned the cameras onto those who obsess over and covet the fame and celebrity others have.

The Bling Ring is a character study/meditation of a group of people -- based on real life individuals in SoCal -- with NO character whatsoever. They are all beautiful bling on the outside with no inner core of morality. They are shells of a mass emptiness who worship others for merely having stuff they want ... or being on their TVs.

Coppola's story is based on real-life events of a group of five vacuous and insipid teenagers (one boy and four girls) who used the internet to track the whereabouts of their "celebrity" idols -- some were merely "reality stars" -- so that when the stars were out of town the five could play. The five would break into celeb houses and play with beautiful things that belonged to Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Audrina Patridge or ... their ultimate idol, Lindsay Lohan. They also ended up pocketing and stealing a lot of designer goods and merchandise (you know, like to wear and be cool with). They had fun and bragged about their shenanigans at parties and on social media all the while believing that they had done nothing wrong. One even believes this happened in order for her to become more charitable -- her comment on "karma" must be heard to be believed. Coppola wisely lifted this line word-for-word as it is tragic comic gold.

Emma Watson (Harry Potter, Perks of Being a Wallflower) is the most-recognizable face in the cast and she totally has the film's bestest lines! Watson is a genius comedienne ... who knew? Her line delivery and depiction of oblivious shame are perfect.

Coppola understands the world of fame and she has proved she also understand the world of those who dream of it. This isn't a movie in which characters learn life lessons and change ... this is a depiction of people who believe they do no wrong (like never ever). It is eye-opening because these people walk amongst us. The film is full of face palm, jaw drop and eye rolling moments. Like ... a lot. Totally.

The Bling Ring fmovies. Only one word can describe this movie: boring. I imagine there are plenty of indie-loving, artsy types that loved it but I found it very dull. There were a lot of nonsensical scenes that had no point and didn't add to the story at all. One in particular saw the male lead dancing and smoking weed in front of a night visioned camera by himself for a good 2 minutes. Don't ask me what the purpose of that was; I just don't know. The movie was sloppily cut and jarring in it's transitions at times. Not to mention repetitive. How many times can you watch this group of kids break in to Paris Hilton's house and try on hats? The only saving grace was Emma Watson. She played her character's self-centered, shallow, vapid nature with subtle believability. Other than that, I'd say avoid this movie at all costs. The level of boredom it conjures is mind-numbing at best.

Sofia Coppola is one of the most interesting and divisive filmmakers working today. It seems that with every new film she releases there's always a wide array of responses, both positive and negative. And that's very true with her new film, The Bling Ring. Some love it, and some loathe it. I personally enjoyed it very much, and the more I think about it, the more I like it and would maybe even see it again. It's an interesting and atmospheric look at American celebrity and media culture that bleakly shows how we can think being rich and famous can make us "happy."

The film is based on a Vanity Fair article about how in 2008, a group of Californian teenagers (4 girls & 1 boy) stole millions-of-dollars worth of clothing and jewelry and possessions from celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, and others. It's a stranger-than- fiction kind of story that could lend itself to exploitation, satire, or even heavy-handed moralizing, but Coppola distances herself from the lurid material and simply displays it as a set of facts. It's a cold, deadpan film, but there's several fascinating moments of insight and darkly funny commentary that make it interesting. It's been compared to Harmony Korine's similar film "Spring Breakers," which also features several young girls trying to experience the media's view of what a fun Spring Break is. Whereas that film is knowingly repetitive in its dialogue and images and very violent and exploitative to get its point across, Coppola goes for a more restrained and almost documentary type of style. In fact, there's several instances where the main action is interrupted and we see scenes of the characters being interviewed after the events or TMZ-like celebrity news stories.

The Bling Ring is benefited by its central young actors who give strong, naturalistic performances that feel so live-in that they give an improvisational feel. The leaders of the Bling Ring are Marc (Israel Broussard) and Rebecca (Katie Chang). Marc is the quiet, insecure gay kid who soon is taken under the wing of Rebecca, who's troubled yet confident and cold-as-ice. Broussard is charming and subtly sympathetic and Chang is hyper-perceptive, smart, and cold but not without a conscience. There's Chloe (Claire Julien), the loud and outgoing one in the group. Then there's sisters Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Nicki (Emma Watson). It's interesting seeing Watson in a supporting role since she's arguably the most famous out of the central gang, but it pays off because of Nicki's larger-than-life, self-absorbed Valley Girl personality. Watson is the scene-stealer of the film with her smart and satirical performance that never goes over-the-top and always feels real, which makes the character that much more misguided and tragic. It's early to say something like this, but it's a performance that deserves some Best Supporting Actress recognition. Also very good and inspired here is the always funny Leslie Mann, who plays the flighty mom of Sam and Nicki and teaches them the ever so spiritual teachings of "The Secret." There's a scene near the end of the film between Watson and Mann that is just pure, dark comedy gold.

The plot mostly consists of the gang clubbing, breaking into houses, driving around, and trying on clothes. It sounds repetitive, and well, technically it is. But Coppola distinguishes each break-in with its own tone and style and you can very subtly see how the characters change as t

This movie probably lacks everything you want out of a good movie. To begin with there is no proper story, 90% of the movie is just kids playing around with shoes and bags, the characters are never really established or properly evolved, they are just there, doing things. The acting is dull and the dialogs are annoying, I'm not sure if this was intended to portray the bland L.A. wannabe lifestyle or just poor writing and acting, either way, it's boring to watch. You will also most likely want to slap some of these kids for being so vain and stupid. The directing is good, not great, but good, and I like the colour schemes in most of the scenes which gave the sense of the washed-out pictures you find on Tumblr and Pinterest. There isn't much action here either, you'd think in a movie about robbery would have some cool Ocean's 11 type sequences or something but not, none of that, most of the time the scene just cuts to when they are already in the house partying. The court trial at the end is also mashed up into a silly 5 second sequence where the court room door opens and closes. Emma Watson, is isn't the lead, is overly in focus through out the movie in a more than obvious attempt to sell her celebrity, in a movie like this, I just found that ironic. In short watch this if you want to see teenage girls play around with designer shoes and handbags.