Titreenp
SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
pointyfilippa
The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
James
We live in a hideous world in which the top 8 richest people are richer than HALF of the ENTIRE human population. In California, these disparities may not be quite so great, but they are pretty great, and ordinary-ish school kids there find themselves in the incongruous situation of studying as pupils literally a few miles from the homes of music- and film-industry icons known from stage and screen (no matter how messed up their lives may be), and enjoying both wealth and celebrity (and even a measure of real influence). In those circumstances, it actually seems surprising how rarely "something has to give"In Sofia Coppola's 2013 film "The Bling Ring" something does indeed give, as leading characters still in (nothing-special) education decide that they are going to help themselves to a bit of the wealth, the bling, that the celebrities have at their disposal; and for some time at least that proves trivially easy to achieve.I came to "The Bling Ring" entirely by chance, not quite from the start, but at the moment when Marc Hall (played by Israel Broussard) first arrives at the Indian Hills High School. I therefore lacked background, and did not realise until later that this film was in essence a rendition of a true-life 2008-2009 story. The discovery changed many of my perspectives in an interesting way, given the film's tightrope-walk above total moral relativism, indeed decadence which represents a dilemma I only add to by reporting on the above disparities in American and world society that one cannot help thinking on as one watches, stunned with near-disbelief as the film unfolds. If such background facts can be seen in anyway to justify a wanton, judgment-free crime spree (with $3M in takings in the real-life case), how long is it before society - or at least society as we know it - collapses?Fair enough, flash-forwards make it clear regularly enough that our protagonists get their punishment and comeuppances soon enough in various different ways; but it's hard to resist the impression that their exploits are being praised - and if we are really not that far from Robin Hood here, how can that come as a surprise? Far more troubling even than the crime, though, are the ROUTINE drugs and smoking and alcohol; as well as the lack of discipline and ad hoc nature and don't-really-give-a-damn-about-anything and anyway-it's-consequence-free lifestyle of the kids protrayed here. Scarier still is the way that I can vaguely, ever-so-slightly, understand how they might (be persuaded to) behave that way.Shocking, in fact. Hence the EXTREMELY subversive nature of this film.A further frustrating (actually jealousy-inspiring) aspect is how misfit Marc, who comes to something of a school for msifits, is actually adopted, allowed to fit in supremely well - with what is extreme speed - by Rebecca (Katie Chang), who rapidly introduces him to a wider group of teen females up to and including Nicki Moore, whose portrayal by a 23-year-old Emma Watson makes her - with hindsight - the most famous face of all here. Distant memories of similar cases from one's own schooldays suggest that this ostensibly dream circumstance for a schoolboy can only be accounted for by Marc's being gay, but the section of the film I saw did not make this especially clear, hence one's inclination to scream "what are you waiting for?" at the screen!Ultimately, whether one likes it or not, "The Bling Ring" is a film that says much about the one heck of a mess our tech-savvy, celebrity-obsessed, morally-uncertain, disparity-ridden society has got itself into. The fact that this is a true story may detract from that a bit, in fact, but not too much. As an adult I am fit/enfranchised/experienced/world-weary enough to make the above statement, can condemn the film and its makers for what they say or fail to say, but also find myself uttering the aforementioned "who can be surprised?" remark. On the other hand, as a father of somebody about the age of the protagonists at the time the film was made, I would have moved heaven and earth to stop that person watching this film when it hit the cinemas. So is this a teen flick, or one for seasoned and sensible adults?My attitude surely amounts to hypocrisy, but then that is only the hallmark of the times we live in.
petrelet
This movie contains about one hour and fifteen minutes of repetitive burglaries and drug use plus fifteen minutes of aftermath. But the first part could have been boiled down to fifteen minutes without the loss of a shred of meaning. That would leave 30 minutes of footage, which could perhaps have been supplemented by some other footage about more interesting characters or more interesting issues. But that would have been a very different movie.I always check the spoiler box, but I swear there is nothing to spoil. After the first five minutes you know exactly how the whole thing is going to go: (0001) young women and a young man with no real plans in their heads break in to celebs' homes and paw through their stuff and steal bling and money and drugs, then they get high, then GO TO 0001. There is no character development and very little to differentiate the young women from each other, with the exception of the Emma Watson character and her family who have the makings among them of a satiric Netflix comedy.Also, even in the first few minutes there are flash-forwarded snippets of the rationalizations the burglars will use when they are telling their stories after they get caught. Even without those, you would know that they are going to get caught because have no sense and boast to all their friends what they are doing and leave clues all over the Internet. So there is not even fake suspense - you are just waiting for the police to show up.So, seriously, the whole burglary and drugs part is just boring. Now you could say that "these empty-headed people really were just like this", but that's not an excuse. You could say that it provokes thought about the ironies of it all: "they rob the homes of celebs, but then they become ephemeral D-list celebs themselves" or "but what did Paris Hilton do to earn all her money? Are they worse than she?" (Short answer - yes.) But then how about addressing the real social problems? How do people grow up with this little sense of how to live? What is it like to be their judge, their parole officers, or even the Vanity Fair writer whose article sparked this effort, who try to make sense of this? Nothing like that here, though.There are some good lines at the end, voiced by the Watson character, which are a genuinely skillful send-up of the whole concept of people who have become celebs for nothing and demand, with general success, that you take them at face value as planet-saving humanitarians while they run their con game on you. (Lines with real relevance in the wake of the 2016 election.) But frankly, if you can find them in a YouTube clip, you have gotten the best part of the movie.
Uncle Marvin
The Bling Ring is a true crime story about a teeny hole-in-the-wall gang targeting celebrities. The kids used social media to follow the comings and goings of the celebrities and ironically learned when to break-in. Rather than sell the jewelry, or "bling," they keep it as fashionable souvenirs they model on facebook, leading to their own discovery and arrest. Director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Diaries) said she got the idea from a magazine article entitled "The Suspects Wore Louboutins." The Bling Ring satirizes Southern California and the Cult of Celebrity. The characters live in Calabasas, California, home to the Kardashians, and dream of reality stardom, and careers in lifestyle marketing. Leslie Mann makes a cameo as a shallow stage mom. Something I found interesting about The Bling Ring is that there was no real protagonist. Enjoy it with a bottle of Sofia Coppola's Blanc de Blanc from the Coppola winery. I recommend them both.
s-18950
such a waste of time. nothing happens .just a bunch of teenagers robes celebrities houses and finally get arrested. not comedy, drama just nothing!i really feel sorry for the efforts of the people who made this movie. now am really wondering why do i have to write 10 lines for my comment to be posted cause i really feel that my point is clear. okay i was just trying to give a piece of advice so people don't waste your time on this movie . really guys 10 lines hahaha ................. ............... ... ......... .............. ....................................... hhjjjjj.......m...mm........ bbbuuuuuuuu. ..........................