The Reel Thing

Genius series no.8 : Les Yeux Sans Visage/ Eyes Without A Face (1960)

2011-11-11T10:22:00.004Z

Directed by Georges Franju ; written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Jean Redon and Claude Sautet.

From the opening scene, in which a woman is seen driving through the countryside at night with a look of intense concentration on her face and a mysterious passenger in a hat and coat in the back seat, Eyes Without A Face works by disorientating the viewer and by building and maintaining an atmosphere of curious dislocation.

The shocking conclusion to this opening scene sets the tone for what is to come - often wrongly classed as a horror film, Eyes Without A Face is more accurately a psychological thriller with a couple of moments of genuinely disturbing horrific shock.

Pierre Brasseur leads the small ensemble cast as Dr. Gennessier a brilliant cosmetic surgeon who is attempting to rectify a personal tragedy involving his daughter (Edith Scob).

He's helped in his personal work by Alida Valli as Louise, a former patient and the woman we met in the opening scene, and in his professional life by Francois Guerin, the former fiancee of his daughter.

The only other substantial characters are a trio of police officers investigating the disappearance of young female students of oddly similar physical appearance from the university in Paris.

Away from the story - which, despite its echoes of Frankenstein, was remarkably innovate at the time of it's release and has been recycled and rehashed dozens of times since - a great deal of the successful creation of mood and the ultimate effectiveness of the film is down to the luminous black and white photography of Eugen Shuftan. Almost all of the action takes place at night and the glowing whites and blacker than black darkness are used to remarkable effect.

Words too for production designer Auguste Capelier and costume designer Marie Martine who provides Edith Scob with some remarkable floor length outfits. Scob is clearly not much of an actress but this plays to the films advantage : her expressionless face is perfect to convey the internal turmoil that her character is suffering. The gowns that hide the lower part of her body give the impression of a disembodied head floating in a ghostly way through the scenes. A very simple but effective trick.

And above all of these elements is Franju's absolutely perfect direction - he doesn't put a foot wrong throughout. The camera spins in and out of the action, the location filming is superbly done and the set-piece central grand guignol scene is shot with the unblinking eye of the neutral observer despite the obvious technical difficulties he would have encountered at the time.

A proper old-fashioned thriller, out of step with the majority of French cinema of the time which is brilliantly constructed by it's director and his technical team and delivered to the screen as near perfect as it's possible to be.

Genius series no.7 : The Birds (1963)

2011-11-08T10:32:00.003Z

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock ; written by Evan Hunter.

"...And remember, the next scream you hear could be your own!"

After the enormous popular success of Psycho (1960) Hitchcock was a genuine director-superstar; he took his commercial clout and status at the studio and used them to support this adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's story, in which the action is transported from Cornwall to northern California.

The first of the many brilliant things about The Birds is the structure : watching the first 25 minutes cold you could be forgiven for assuming that it was a romantic comedy. The two leads (Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren) circle around each other - his character giving the impression that he hates Hedren's spoiled rich girl; she affecting disinterest and standing aloof. This is behaviour we recognise from so many Hollywood films of the thirties and forties - it's an obvious mask for a mutual attraction. As they joke, josh and poke fun back and forth it's obvious from our prior knowledge that they are moving towards a romantic entanglement.

Hedren buys Taylor a gift of a pair of caged lovebirds (ostensibly for his younger sister, but we know the signs well enough to recognise a symbol when we see one!) - finding him away from his San Francisco apartment for the weekend she travels north to deliver them to his family home.

So far, so straightforward - we've seen set-ups like this dozens of times before and know it's only a matter of time until upturned faces are being kissed in soft focus under a big country moon.

Then - at about the half-hour mark - the mood changes with an abruptness that is still shocking.

From that point on the film becomes an entirely different proposition with the small ensemble cast fighting for survival as the avian attackers become bolder, smarter and more vicious.

There's any number of superb set pieces throughout the film ; the attack on the petrol station, the near silent retreat from the school, Jessica Tandy's open mouthed shock following her discovery at the her neighbour's farm, the birthday party for Taylor's sister and the climactic siege of the Brenner house.

All of these are handled brilliantly by Hitchcock, bringing to their filming all of his knowledge of the ways in which suspense can be built within a scene and the viewer kept off balance by mis-direction and sheer visual imagination.

There's no score - all of the background sound is "natural" or "found" - the waves, the radio, the noise of the township : then there's the electronically treated bird song and call of Remi Gassman and Oskar Sala which add to the strange dislocated nature of the film. Things we recognise from our own lives that have being subtly changed to become something darker and more sinister.

This is another of the brilliant things about the film - there's no explanation for the events. Are the birds attempting to reclaim territory that they owned long before the arrival of man? Is it the effects of radiation (there's an atmosphere here shared with many of the nuclear paranoia animal mutant sub-genre films of the 1950's) - is it, though probably not, an attempt to liberate the caged lovebirds that feature throughout the story?

The causes for the attacks are never explained and the ending of the film is famously open - the radio tells us that bird attacks have been reported further afield as if it's a contagious disease that's spreading throughout the state/country. As Taylor's car rolls silently away into the (fake) sunset we are left with the question - where are they going to go and what will they find if they ever get there.

The casting is superb : Tippi Hedren is by turns flirtatious, solid, brave, practical and caring; Taylor is handsome, manly, capable and in-charge. Jessica Tandy is Taylor's mother - bitter, deserted, suspicious - and Suzanne Pleshette impresses as Anne, the local school teacher still carrying a torch for her former lover Taylor.

Among the supporting cast Ethel Griffies stands out as Mrs. Bundy the local ornithologist who herself seems almost birdlike in her movements - turning her head quizzically as she absorbs new information, bobbing on her diner stool like a lovebird on it's perch.

The Birds is the middle film in the trio of classics that Hitchcock directed between 1960 and 1964 - the terrific psychological thriller Marnie being the third. A master craftsman of the cinema at the height of his powers. Psycho might attract the attention and be a watchword for the Hollywood thriller at it's best but The Birds has an enormous amount to attract the viewer's interest; the unrelenting atmosphere of mystery and fear of the unknown during the final hour marks it out as a very special film.

Villa Amalia (2009)

2011-11-07T10:14:00.004Z

Directed by Benoit Jacquot ; written by Jacquot and Julien Boivent.

Isabelle Huppert is Ann, a concert pianist and composer, who discovers that her partner of fifteen years is having an affair.

She reacts to this discovery by attempting to remove herself entirely from society - with the help of an old school friend she meets by chance in the street she sells her shared apartment and all her belongings and divests herself of all the trappings of modern life - phone, e-mail etc.

After an aimless wander around central and southern Europe she ends up renting the titluar villa on an isolated Italian island and attempts to lose herself to solitude.

Huppert is perfect in the lead role - on screen in every scene of the film she is the emotional and narrative centre of events. As she slowly shrugs off the trappings of her former life she is determined and forceful and then, by turn, broken and lost. The devastating effect of her betrayal is in her expression of blank refusal and the subtle changes of her body language.

There are no great explosions of rage or bitterness - just a steady refusal to any longer participate in a world that has let her down so badly.

As the film moves through it's story and Huppert's character discovers that no matter how much you may long for solitude fate has a way of throwing people together there's a growing warmth to her performance. a softening and humanising of her original emotional distance.

Jacquot directs with skill and fluidity - he's not afraid of stillness when necessary and there are several moments where the screen is filled by nothing but Huppert's face in close-up as she moves through the changes her experiences cause her.

He also makes the very best use of some stunning landscape, especially in and around the Italian villa.

It's a slow-burning but hugely effective film that makes it's central point (about the difficulty of emotional and physical detachment from the real world) with an engaging clarity.

2011-10-27T00:35:00.001+01:00

Very busy with other things at the moment. Daily film posts will return in the very near future.

(should anyone actually care)

Genius series no.6 : All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

2011-10-21T14:12:00.003+01:00

Directed by Lewis Milestone ; written by Erich Maria Remarque with Maxwell Anderson and George Anderson.

"At last....the motion picture!"

Milestone's film version of Remarque's hugely successful novel is one of the first great films of the sound era.

The film opens in a classroom in a small German town during the early days of World War I : a group of older teenagers is listening to a lecture from a teacher that suddenly changes direction and becomes a patriotic call-to-arms, a passionate appeal on the subject of the need to protect their country and lifestyle from the foreigners who seek to wreck them.

As he finishes the young men spontaneously and (almost) without hesitation decide that they will leave their studies and enlist. The setting then changes to the battlefield as the students arrive at the front line and begin their tour of duty.

From there the film follows them through years of trench warfare, loss, regret and a growing questioning of the value of their sacrifice.

Milestone's remarkable direction puts the viewer in the centre of much of the action- there are some tremendous (and at the time technically difficult) tracking shots used as the German army advances into no-mans land, retreats again, then slowly pushes forward once more. The abject squalor and misery of daily life in the trenches is on the screen and it's unremitting.

Given the static nature of so much of Hollywood's output during the early days of sound recording there's a wonderfully fluidity to much of the camera work here. Milestone clearly put a lot of thought into how to use his camera to capture the sheer bloody awfulness of daily life for the enlisted men.

And then there's the closing scene - one of the most famous series of frames in any twentieth century film. Beautifully constructed and perfectly shot and still, more than 80 years later, with the ability to shock.

There are one or two weak performances among the cast - a little too much theatricality that's odds with skilfully cinematic nature of so much of the film, but it's not enough to undermine the message, purpose and utter brilliance of this earliest and best realised of anti-war films.

Modern Classics series - number 8 : Kairo/ Pulse (2001)

2011-10-18T13:03:00.004+01:00

Directed and written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

"Yûrei ni aitai desu ka? (Do you want to meet a ghost?) "

"Japanese university students investigate a series of suicides linked to an Internet Web cam that promises visitors the chance to interact with the dead."

Another example of the skill of Japanese directors in creating atmospheres within a film that provide the viewer with a far greater dread than any amount of CGI severed limbs and gore can ever provide.

There's a sense of dislocation that runs throughout this film - none of the characters seem to be anchored in the moment, they appear to float through scenes as if they were already ghosts or spirits and the dialogue is largely superficial.

Kurowasa takes the viewer by the hand and introduces them to a world where the dead walk freely among us and (literal) red tape is used to keep them at arms length. Having made that leap he then asks us to accept that people can literally fade away under the burden of their own ennui and sense of hopelessness.

It shares with Ringu (1988) and Chakushin Ari /One Missed Call (2003) the trick of making technology the agent of the horror. Here it's not videotape or mobile phones but the internet itself - it requires the viewer to remember an age where the web wasn't commonplace but rather new and rather strange to many people. One of the characters sits in front of his computer with a book called "How To Get On The Net" and then goes through a slow process of set-up -which should provide a clue as to the time in which the film is set.

There's a few stand-out set pieces : one especially memorable scene has a character pursued by a (ghostly?) woman; he hides behind a sofa and we switch to his point-of-view to see that her feet are no longer visible, implying that she has gone. The next shot is pure genius.

The film is photographed in greys, blues and browns - the "ghosts" seem to be always present, just out of shot or glimpsed in the corner of the eye, as in an impressive scene set in the University library.

The tone is downbeat throughout and the apocalyptic, unresolved ending isn't going to lift your sense of gloom and despair any.

Beautifully made and put together, it's an object example of how to take an idea and build a world around it for the characters to inhabit.

There's a US remake (2006) with Kristen Bell in the lead with is totally lacking in any of the far superior strengths of the original.

Modern Classics series - number 7 : Honogurai mizu no soko kara / Dark Water (2002)

2011-10-14T14:13:00.003+01:00

Directed by Hideo Nakata ; written by Ken'ichi Suzuki, Yoshihiro Nakamura and Nakata.

Nakata made his name in the West as the director of the breakout cult hit Ringu/ The Ring (1998) and four years later he returns to many of the themes of his previous film for this excellent release.

Once again it's alienation within modern society, the ties of family and the persistence of memory that provide the jumping off points for the story.

Hitomi Kuroki is Yoshimi, a woman in the midst of a divorce who moves with her six year old daughter Ikuko (Rio Kanno) away from the family home and into a run-down apartment in a dilapadated old tower block. There she begins to be haunted by visions and physical manifestations of the daughter of a former resident who went missing a few years previously.

Yoshimi and Ikuko are the only two fully realised characters in the film; others are there only to help move the story forward or to provide context. One or other of them is on screen in every scene of the film.

If there is a supporting cast it's provided by the apartment building itself which seems to develop a character and personality of it's own as the story progresses - the damp patch on the apartment's bedroom ceiling growing in size as Yoshimi's paranoia increases, the lift which has a distinct air of menace about it, the deserted corridors with their dark corners and shadows and the water tank on the buildings roof which becomes of increasing significance to both main characters.

The entire piece is an exercise in the building of tension - it's obvious almost from the first that there's something not entirely right about the new home but Nakata allows the pace to slow so that each new event or revelation contribute to a bigger picture. By the time we reach the last third of the film there's an almost tangible sense of dread in every shot.

Clever audio design allows sound (or it's absence) to contribute to atmosphere, the whole thing is artfully shot Jun'ichiro Hayashi and the two leads are both excellent.

A clever, well designed and delivered old fashioned horror story that relies on atmosphere and character to provide it's shocks rather than CGI monsters and/or buckets of gore.

There is a dubbed into English version which is pointless and less effective and a 2005 US made version with Jennifer Connelly in the lead (directed by Walter Salles) which manages to do away with almost every element that makes the original so absorbing.

Cult Classics series number 14 : The Uninvited (1944)

2011-10-12T13:18:00.002+01:00

Directed by Lewis Allen ; written by Dodie Smith and Frank Partos.

"From the Most Popular Mystery Romance since "Rebecca"! "

"A composer and his sister discover that the reason they are able to purchase a beautiful gothic seacoast mansion very cheaply is the house's unsavory past." [IMDB]

As the film opens you might be forgiven for thinking that there's a light romantic comedy coming up. Victor Young's title music is full of lush strings and swelling chords - it gives you little sense of the film that's to follow.

The title sequence ends and there's a long panning shot of stormy waves breaking on rocks which, we're told in voice over, is the "myserious Atlantic coast of Cornwall, Devon and Ireland" there's a lot of seeming nonsense about the locals being more attuned to the spirit world because they're used to the sound of the waves and an oblique line about a dog that wouldn't climb some stairs and then there's a disolve into a young man and woman walking up a picturesque cliff-side. A-ha! it is a romantic comedy after all, the voice over was just a bit of scene setting.

Their dog chases a squirrel into a beautiful and clearly deserted house, we learn that they aren't a couple but brother and sister and before you can say haunted house mystery we're in the home of the local squire and owner of the house where his grandaughter is behaving strangely and they're offering him £ 1,200 for the freehold.

From that point on (about fifteen minutes in) the tone slowly starts to shift - the leads (Ray Miland and Ruth Hussey) continue to joke back and forth in the manner of the comedies of the day, but now the repartee takes on slight overtones. They are reassuring each other, attempting to make light of some strange events - the dialogue starts to turn darker (in a metaphorical sense) as the pictures on the screen become very much darker (in a literal sense).

The black and white photography is gorgeous -Director of Photography Charles Lang is using deep focus and wide angle lenses and film noir lighting to create eerie shadows, patterns across the screen and a real sense of something lurking in the darkness.

As events escalate during the second half of the film light almost disappears from the screen altogether. In the story the house is lit by candlelight at night and, as the unseen presence starts to close in, the characters faces are lit on one side only, the rest of the screen in total darkness with flashes of white as a candle is moved or the light catches a reflective surface.

For a film that was made on a tight budget as a programme filler it has some quite remarkable moments - the direction, photography and set design are all important elements and the cast are (for the most part) likeable and beliveable as they get sucked further and further into the mystery of the house and it's past.

Many of the elements may feel cliched now more than seventy years on; but it's easy to see how, on it's original release it was able to break free of it's lowly origins to reach the point where many film guides rate it as a five star example of it's genre.

Genius series no.5 : American Beauty (1999)

2011-10-11T14:14:00.002+01:00

Directed by Sam Mendes ; written by Alan Ball.

"... look closer "

If the definition of a classic film, one that is worthy of entry into the list of the greatest films ever made, is that each of the elements that go to make it up are perfectly executed then Sam Mendes' directorial debut American Beauty fits comfortably into that definition.

At a carefully judged languid pace it tells the story of two families, neighbours in a perfectly realised US suburb, each with their own set of problems - their lives begin to intersect, causing complications and ultimately tragedy.

It opens with a voice over to rival that in Sunset Boulevard (1950) as the disembodied voice of Kevin Spacey announces, without histrionics : "My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don't know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already. "

Spacey's Lester Burnham appears to be a man suffering the classic symptoms of a cliched middle-class middle-aged crisis. He's bored at work and at home and suffering from an almost overwhelming sense of ennui.

He's married to Annette Bening who appears to have carved herself out a career as a successful self-employed real estate agent, we soon discover though that she's racked by self doubt, neurosis and a huge fear of failure.

She's also consumed by jealousy of local real estate bigwig Peter Gallagher.

Their daughter is Thora Birch - sullen, withdrawn and disconnected from the majority of her High School contemporaries.

Her best friend is Mena Suvari, blonde, pretty and popular and apparently brimming with confidence and knowledge of the way in which her looks can be used to create a life different from that which awaits most of the other students.

Spacey and Bening's new neighbours are made up of ex-Marine colonel Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper) regimented, ordered and socially & morally conservative (see the scene where gay partners Scott Bakula and Sam Robards turn up on his doorstep with a welcome basket!) - he's married to Allison Janney who appears to exist in a near catatonic state as though she's suffered a series of overwhelming catastrophes throughout her life. Their teenage son (Wes Bentley) has some odd habits and, it quickly becomes clear, has Serious Issues.

This small ensemble cast are, to all intents and purposes, the only ones with lines in the film - which is Ball's first major achievement. By focusing all of our attention on a group of no more than ten people and not worrying about creating too much of an external world for them he allows us to concentrate on the small moments and interactions upon which all of the story development is constructed.

One of the other joys of the film is that it is impossible to characterise - it's part drama, part social satire, partly a (very funny) black comedy while also being an essay about suburbia, work vs. life and the quest for happiness among the American middle-class.

Alan Ball's script wanders through all of these genres, making it's point quickly and succinctly before moving on. The characters have believable conversations - no huge grandstanding outpourings of emotion, just a steady drip of information to inform and round out our view of them.

Each of the actors is perfectly cast - Spacey leaving behind the more showy style that he had used in many of his earlier films and relaxing into a more natural performance. He begins round-shouldered, rumpled and downtrodden and slowly emerges as a newly empowered man at with peace with himself and his future.

Allison Janney and Chris Cooper are both superb in their roles, Beningis note-prefect as the businesswoman/wife on the edge of something she can't control and doesn't understand and the trio of young actors are all note-perfect.

For a theatrical director Sam Mendes does a remarkable job of both resisting the temptation to shoot the conversations as though they were scenes from a play and of ignoring all of the possible soap opera cliches when dealing with a story such as this. His direction is genuinely cinematic without resorting to flashiness or cleverness in order to make the point that we are watching a film.

The pacing is also perfectly judged - creating a hypnotic rhythm that sucks the viewer into the world and creates it's own sense of momentum.

There's also a superb score from Thomas Newman - minimal and unobtrusive yet perfectly underpinning the action on the screen.

Director, script, cast and soundtrack all working beautifully and in unison - the result is a modern classic of the American cinema that easily sits alongside those from the hundred years that precede it.

Dark Waters (1993)

2011-10-10T14:11:00.002+01:00

Directed by Mariano Baino ; written by Baino and Andy Bark

"Sometimes, evil lurks where you least expect it. "

"A girl travels to an island, after the death of her father, to find out why he funded a monastery on the island. " [IMDB]

Wonderfully atmospheric film - the story (such as it is) make little sense, some of the acting is a bit stilted and there are very obvious problems with the budget as film stock changes as scenes are inserted.

But it's shot in a very inventive way by Biano, who's obviously absorbed his country's heritage in the field of the slightly off-kilter thriller film.

And his director of photography Alex Howe deserves a huge amount of respect for the look of the film which is absolutely gorgeous. Light is used in a remarkable way, some of the scenes look like paintings come to life and there's some extraordinarily well done shots that seem to be lit only by candlelight - there's also the conflagration of a hut on a beach in which you can almost feel the warmth of the flames it' s photographed with some luminous intensity.

Howe later worked on such diverse films as Casino Royale, Danny Boyle's "Sunshine", Batman Begins and The Tree Of Life - it's very obvious from this film that he has a real talent, even working under the tightest of budgetary constraints.

Louise Salter is the English lead among the mainly Russian cast and does a fairly good job of conveying her character's growing dislocation from her reality.

There's no real gore, no big jumps or scares and it does take a degree of concentration to follow the story; but it's atmosphere and look make it well worth seeking out.

Genius series no.4 : All That Jazz (1979)

2011-09-30T14:05:00.003+01:00

Directed by Bob Fosse ; written by Fosse and Robert Alan Aurthur.

"All that work. All that glitter. All that pain. All that love. All that crazy rhythm. All that jazz. "

Broadway and Hollywood choreographer Fosse directed five feature films before his untimely death in 1987 - of these only Star 80 (1983) could be considered a disappointment. The other entries on his CV - Sweet Charity (1969), Cabaret (1972) Lenny (1974) and this film - constitute a fairly substantial body of work, some of the best and most interesting films made during the hectic period where mainstream American cinema was attempting to redefine itself in the wake of "Easy Rider"and it's boundary shifting contemporaries.

When watched today All That Jazz has an added level of poignancy - always a clear semi-autobiographical work it now feels as though Fosse was attempting both to atone for past transgressions and, to a degree, justify himself both to those who knew him and to the wider public.

The story, told in flashback, concerns a choreographer turned film maker who is struggling with the pressures of preparing a new Broadway show and working on the final cut of a feature film about a night club comedian (clear echoes of Fosse's own problems with Lenny).

On top of this he's juggling the demands of his ex-wife and young daughter, his current girlfriend, his attraction to a new young dancer in his troupe and the demons caused by his abuse of pills, booze, fags and any other stimulant that might happen to have been left lying in his path.

The structure is flighty, nervous and insecure, just like it's subject : jumping from straight reportage, through fantasy sequences, surreal inserts and dazzling dance numbers.

Each scene is perfectly staged and photographed : there's moments of touching whimsy (Kate and Michelle's dance for Joe/Fosse), of Berkley style grand Hollywood precision formation choreography, of laugh out loud humour and of precise neatness in both the detailing of a daily routine and the ways in which it comes to fall apart.

At the film's heart there's a terrific performance by Roy Scheider as the Fosse manque Joe Gideon - cigarette seemingly permanently attached to his lower lip as he dances, drinks, bawls, weeps, laughs and misbehaves his way through the running time.

There's also the luminous presence of the wonderful Jessica Lange as the etheral Angelique; the final object of Joe's magnificent obsessions.

It's a spinning, whirling malestrom of a film rushing headlong in a dozen different directions at once - all anchored by the sure footedness of the director and his leading man.

A genuine one off talent in late twentieth century Hollywood delivering his masterpiece. It's a delight from beginning to end.

The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)

2011-09-28T14:36:00.003+01:00

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer ; written by Jack Lewis

"A nation at his mercy!"

"A crazed scientist invents an invisibility formula. He plans to use the formula to create an army of invisible zombies. "

Ultra-low budget (approx. $100,000) B movie, part of the well documented post-War genre of films that are drenched in paranoia about the possibilities and realities of the science of nuclear warfare.

James Griffith (ex- of the Spike Jones Band!) is the evil madman bent on using radioactive technology to create an army of invisible soldiers to help him take over the world (mmmmwwwaaaaaahhhhaha!) and the only one of the cast who delivers his cliched lines in anything other than a catatonic state.

Marguerite Chapman and Douglas Kennedy are the supposed leads but neither generates even a modicum of interest as they drift through their parts without ever engaging with either each other, the other actors or the audience.

The "transformation" scenes as Kennedy becomes the titular character are somewhat less than amazing - using visual effects that the director of a 1965 "Top Of The Pops" would have rejected as too lame.

The only real interest is the fact that legendary creature make-up designer Jack Pierce (Frankenstein, Dracula etc.) receives a crew credit - although there's no evidence of anybody wearing any make up other than that which was available at the local store!

In summary : rubbish, with the exception of James Griffith's rather fun villain.

Sabotage (1936)

2011-09-27T14:19:00.002+01:00

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Charles Bennett with Ian Hay, Helen Simpson and E.V.H. Emmett from the novel by Joseph Conrad.

"A Bomb Plot ...A Killing ...Justice"

"A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel."

British made Hitchcock thriller following hard on the heels of The Secret Agent (also 1936) and the previous year's The Thirty Nine Steps.

Here he's already playing around with some of the ideas that were to make him the best known film director in the western world a few years later - there's misdirection and false leads in the story, there's innovative and startling choices of staging and camera angles and there's a (for the time) shocking and surprising plot twist. There's also evidence of his growing interest in the psychology that underlies the actions of his characters.

He frequently lights and shoots his villain (Oskar Homolka) from above which casts the shadow of his brow over his eyes and upper face, giving him a slightly sinister appearance even when his face is in repose.

Much of the action is set in the cinema that Homolka and his wife own and operate - this allows Hitchcock to have some fun with the mechanics of the industry at the time and to make a point about the anonymity of a cinema audience. It also allows his lead actress (Sylvia Sidney) to take a seat in the audience and laugh at a typically dark-edged Disney cartoon, an experience that allows her to process the enormity of Homolka's actions and decide on a course of action.

John Loder is the square jawed hero and there's a parade of interesting character parts for British actors to build up into strong supporting roles.

Though the pace does flag from time to time and it's a lot less fluid than the director's later work there's still plenty going on to keep both the casual watcher and the Hitchcock fan watching. The long (partly location shot) section which provides the climax to the plot is both expertly shot and directed and also contains a great deal of genuine suspense and ultimately shock.

A strong entry in Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood body of work.

Please Give (2010)

2011-09-26T13:39:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Nicole Holofcener.

A middle-aged couple who make a living buying and selling retro-chic furniture that they buy from the relatives of the elderly after their death become briefly involved with the granddaughters of their 91 year old neighbour. Their lives briefly intertwine before seperating again.

Nicole Holofcener's skill as a film maker is to create small ensemble pieces that are populated by characters who it is possible to believe actually exist in a world away from the cinema screen. In this she differs from many of the "mumblecore" writers and directors whose creations are either impossibly glamorous or who exist with no visible means of support in a milieu that they would be unable to sustain in real life.

Having learned her trade in television (Six Feet Under, The Gilmore Girls and Sex And The City all appear on her CV) she made her feature debut with Friends With Money (2006) - a warm and likeable comedy-drama noteable for giving Jennifer Aniston her best film role to date (by some comfortable distance).

Please Give is her follow-up to that film and once again it has a beating heart of humanity over which is played out the slight story of middle-aged, middle-class angst.

As with the earlier film Holofcener is helped considerably by the graceful presence in a leading role of Catherine Keener. Keener is one of the most talented and reliable actresses currently working in US cinema; she has a natural charisma that she brings to all of her parts which allows her to invest them with a likeable, natural air of "ordariness".

Of course the ability to portray the ordinary in a believable way on screen is itself an extraordinary talent.

The film has a small ensemble cast (no more than six of the main characters ever appear together at the same time) and while it has points to make and ideas to convey it never lectures or points fingers. The comedy is amiable and gentle and the drama element is delivered smoothly and without grand gestures.

Good use is made of the New York locations and the direction is direct, sharp and confident.

Ann Guilbert is the elderly next door neighbour, Rebecca Hall and Mary Peet her granddaughters; Oliver Platt plays Keener's husband and Sarah Steele their daughter.

A small but thoroughly enjoyable film.

Modern Classics series - number 6 : Map Of The Human Heart (1993)

2011-09-20T13:40:00.002+01:00

Directed by Vincent Ward ; written by Ward and Louis Nowra

"Born in the magic of youth. Forged by the passions of war. Their love knew no boundaries. "

A mythic story with a pan-global stage about an Inuit (Jason Scott Lee) and a French-Canadian (Anne Parillaud) who meet as children and forge a bond that survives through separation on different continents, by global war and the passage of time.

It's a fairly simple story of enduring love but it's told in such a charming way and in such a strong lyrical style that it's impossible not to feel pulled by the attraction of the youngsters and want their love to flourish despite all of the difficulties placed in their way.

There are some beautiful scenic shots of Miller's Arctic homeland - vast, sprawling and uninviting yet home to a close-knit community of people who care about each other and take responsibility for each other's well-being.

As the story unfolds we visit Canada, England, the interior of a World War II bomber and the aftermath of the blanket bombing of Dresden (probably a direct reference to "Slaughterhouse 5" and Vonnegut's idea of the seeming random nature of events that are, in fact, connected).

Very ambitious in scope the film succeeds through Vincent Ward's careful visual style which combines the lyric and the poetic with some impressive set pieces - the young lovers intertwined on a deflating barrage balloon being only one of several - and the winsome nature of the two young lovers.

A film about a universal truth that manages to avoid coating itself in a saccharine coat and adds just enough tough edges to avoid falling into morbid sentimentality.

Ward later returned to the themes of this film with the big budget What Dreams May Come (1998), although the greater amount of money available and the box-office pull of his stars on that film didn't allow him to come anywhere near the inventive and engaging results he achieved on this film.

Cult Classics series number 13 : Quatermass II (1957)

2011-09-15T10:29:00.003+01:00

Directed by Val Guest. written by Nigel Kneale

"A horrible enemy from the unknown strikes terror across the earth! "

Hammer's second entry into the Quatermass canon again stars Brian Donlevy, the American lead from The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) .

The irascible scientist is this time caught up in a mystery surrounding a super-secret "government" research facility, strange meteorites that are falling to Earth in an very specific manner and a largely indifferent response from the Establishment, in the shape of the local council and police and even the upper tiers of government.

Although the fans were greatly divided by Donlevy, many unhappy at his move across the Atlantic, he delivers the part well. At times grumpy and irritable but at others showing a grim determination to Get Things Done.

The real stars, though, are Nigel Kneale's wonderful script and Val Guests's direction. The script taps into the 1950s paranoia about nuclear power and weapons and provides plenty of opportunity for characters to discuss the moral and philosophical implications of contemporary scientific advances.

It also remembers to throw in some levity - mainly in the form of a sozzled journalist, perfectly delivered by Sid James, complete with trilby hat.

The direction works hard to get around obstacles of budget; there's good use of location filming, keeping the action away from mega-cheap sets wherever possible and a fairly well realised "monster" at the film's conclusion.

Not as genuinely creepy as the later Quatermass And The Pit (1967) which remains a touchstone for urban sci-fi/horror but it's still a well crafted, well delivered piece of British film making with an obvious intelligence at work among the creative team.

Modern Classics series - number 5 : Des Hommes et des dieux/ Of Gods and Men (2010)

2011-09-14T13:14:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Xavie Beauvois.

"Under threat by fundamentalist terrorists, a group of Trappist monks stationed with an impoverished Algerian community must decide whether to leave or stay."

An utterly compelling story about a group of people under the most intense pressure; the differing ways in which they react to that pressure and the effect that the decisions they make has on their own lives and the group dynamic.

The early scenes set the scene perfectly - we learn all that we need to know about the monks attitude towards their work, their beliefs and their calling in a few beautifully shot and understated non-verbal sequences. We understand completely how they have, over a long period of time, won the respect and trust of the local population, integrated themselves into the society and contribute fully to it. Rather than acting as outsiders supplanted into a strange land we are shown how this small group of men have adapted to and fully adopted their new circumstances.

As the story progresses and the threat to their survival becomes increasingly great their (collective and individual) reaction seems natural and unforced - it's not overplayed for the sense of drama or tension, but seems to represent a real response to the rapidly changing world they live in.

Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale lead the ensemble cast but each and every part in the film is perfectly cast. Individual identities are established easily and as a consequence of the story; there are no long scenes of exposition where a character's backstory is established. Each of the nine central characters is given significant dialogue to allow us to understand how they feel about the threat to their existence without the need for them to take turns to verbalise it.

Beauvois' direction is fluid yet languid; at times the camera lingers over a long or medium shot in order to emphasise it's point - the integration of the monks into the Algerian countryside is perfectly demonstrated through these shots. When the mood and tone change he's equally comfortable pitching us into the middle of the action - the shocks in the story are all the greater because they spring on us from within the story without elaborate set-up or foreshadowing. The bald, almost documentary, style in which the moments of brutality are shown emphasises the extent to which they differ from the tranquil gentility of the monks' lives.

There is, towards the end of the film, one long near-wordless scene between the brothers which has already became famous for the power that it has to evoke any number of different emotions simply by allowing us to study the faces of the actors in close-up as they go about preparing and eating a simple meal.

A beautiful and affecting film made with skill, care and precision by all of those involved.

The Chronicles Of Riddick (2004)

2011-09-13T09:35:00.003+01:00

Directed and written by David Twohy.

"There is no future until you settle the past."

Twohy and his star Vin Diesel resurrect the character of Riddick from the earlier film Pitch Black (2000) - a well made and effective sci-fi thriller in which ex-con Riddick attempts to help a group of people escape from an alien planet.

As the new film opens Riddick is on the run from bounty hunters in a well realised alien landscape; which updates the story very quickly and smartly.

Eventually he becomes involved in the main action of the film as he battles against a race of near-dead/undead/space zombies who travel the universe seeking out civilisations to either enslave or eliminate.

The sets, both digital and physical, certainly look impressive and it's easy to see where most of the reported budget of $110 m. was spent.

It's a shame though that some of that money wasn't spent on hiring a scriptwriter to better deliver Twohy's ideas and story outline to the screen.

Although the action moves along at a brisk enough pace and there's plenty of set-piece action sequences the story is so badly under written that there's no tension or surprise in the film, characters are flat and one-dimensional so that it's impossible to care about them, sub-plots are introduced and then disappear without resolution and the ending is telegraphed from several miles out and it becomes simply a matter of waiting for it to arrive.

The revised directors cut available on DVD adds nothing to the story and, in fact, simply lumps in some flab to a film that could already have done with a bit more of a ruthless edit.

Clearly a "one man's vision" film , it's harmless enough and but could really, really have done with a second person being involved on the creative side - if only to tell the director-writer when to cut a scene or move the action along a bit quicker.

Not a bad film (whatever that means) by any means - but nowhere near as gripping and engaging as it's predecessor.

Michael Clayton (2007)

2011-09-12T14:09:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Tony Gilroy

"The truth is what he makes it."

George Clooney is the titular lead in this paranoid thriller. Michael Clayton is a lawyer at a huge and very wealthy New York law firm who has, over a period of many years, become the firm's "fixer" extricating it's clients from all manner of trivial and not-so-trivial legal difficulties while keeping the matter well away from the press, their family and anybody else who it has been decided doesn't need to know.

As the film opens he's seen at work advising one of his firm's clients following a traffic accident; he's called away by an emergency phone call: one of the senior partners (Arthur Edens- Tom Wilkinson) appears to be undergoing a mental breakdown and Clayton is needed to resolve the ensuing chaos.

It transpires that Arthur has spent several years working to defend a chemical company against a multi billion dollar class-action suit brought be people who believe their new product has seriously damaged their health.

And the film plays out from there...... Clooney/Clayton is dragged further and further into the conspiracy that Edens/Wilkinson is involved in and as he does so comes to understand more about the nature of the case and the pressures that his colleague was working under. As he moves slowly closer to the truth it becomes clear that someone is very determined to prevent him from uncovering some significant evidence.

In bald outline this approach to the legal drama will be very familiar to anyone who's watched TV over the past decade or so, especially the three series of the superior US show "Damages" which worked in much the same sort of area.

However, while the story is (over) familiar and littered with genre cliches, the film works perfectly well - probably because of the ability of the actors in the main roles - Clooney, Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton paying the rent as lead counsel for the petro-chemical giant.

There's also a nice enlarged cameo from Sydney Pollack as the senior partner at Clayton's firm.

Clooney's problem as an actor, which slightly unbalances the first half of this film, is that he has such a clearly defined screen image as a charming, well meaning, wise-cracking leading man that it's difficult to believe the proposition that he's an amoral louse with no shred of conscience.

It's what we are asked to believe of him here as we were in Up In The Air (2009) and The American (2010) and, as with those films, there's a lack of conviction in the part as it soon becomes obvious that Clooney's character is nowhere near as wholly black as he's at first painted- fairly quickly allowing us to glimpse his inner George despite the outer veneer of slick venality.

Clooney seems to be suffering the same problem as Cary Grant did at the height of his fame : his obvious acting ability being obscured by his looks, his established on-screen persona and his off screen fame and reputation; it would be nice to see him get his teeth into a wholly irredeemable character once in a while.

"Michael Clayton" is a well made, nicely structured and strongly acted piece which, though very short on surprises and having a wholly predictable narrative is certainly entertaining enough while it's playing. Clooney and Swinton are engaging in their roles and Wilkinson is, as ever, solid and dependable.

Pleasing without being exceptional.

Revolt Of The Zombies (1936)

2011-09-12T12:27:00.002+01:00

Directed by Victor Halperin ; written by Halperin, Howard Higgin and Rollo Lloyd - although none get an on-screen credit(!)

"Weirdest story in 2000 years!"

"An international expedition is sent into Cambodia to destroy an ancient formula that turns men into zombies. "

Utterly forgettable, micro-budget B-movie quickie : all preposterous dialogue, a story that makes no sense whatsoever, studio bound production with some awful sets and backdrops and a collection of some shockingly poor acting.

The only thing of interest is the fact that it's the only zombie film I know of where the action is not set in Central America (as was usual up until Romero brought them to the US mainland in the 1960s) but in the (then French controlled) Vietnam; which, from the way it's treated, must have seemed to the writers the very last word in an exotic esoteric location.

Truly awful with only one good point - it's running time is only a few minutes over the hour mark.

Dagon (2001)

2011-09-09T13:45:00.002+01:00

Directed by Stuart Gordon ; written by Dennis Paoli

Paul Marsh (Ezra Godden) and his girlfriend Barbara (Raquel Merono) are the guests of their friends Howard and Vicki on their luxury yacht sailing around the Mediterranean. A freak storm shipwrecks them and the couple find themselves in the Spanish village of Imboca where things are not quite what they seem.

Stuart Gordon found fame with the (rightly) massively popular horror-comedy "Reanimator" (1985) - since then although he's continued to release films on a regular basis although he's struggled to find a mainstream audience or repeat the success of his breakthrough film.

Dagon is directed in very much the same style as his hit - tight close-ups, lots of fluid camera movements and a flat, almost deadpan, lighting that hints at the documentary as if attempting to persuade us that the events we are watching are real.

Godden tackles the lead role in the Bruce Campbell style; his glasses and preppy clothes create an outer nerd who sheds his skin to become a one man army as events become increasingly fraught; Merono is a perfectly adequate leading lady, forever becoming imperiled and relying on an impressive set of lungs to summon help while proving pretty much useless at fending for herself.

The main problem with Dagon is that the bulk of the exposition is left to the character played by Francisco Rabal who may well have been a fabulous character actor but whose thick accent and the layers of prosthetic work mean that you're left straining to hear what he's saying. Miss a couple of lines and the plot becomes even more impossible to follow.

The main protagonist for Godden's character is the local priest, played by Ferran Lahoz who, frankly, can't act; which makes the suspension of disbelief required even more difficult to attain.

There's some well executed set-pieces and special effects shocks, Macarena Gomez is suitably otherworldly in her role as the princess of the de-evolving humans and Gordon certainly knows how to direct this sort of thing.

Sadly though the film is hamstring by it's tiny budget and the fact that anybody without prior knowledge of the story is going to be left wondering what the hell is going on for large portions of the film. The final scenes set inside Dagon's followers underground lair aside the film feels and looks like a final project piece by a talented student who set out to make a film in the style of Stuart Gordon.

Average where it could so easily have been very good indeed. Shame.

Dragonwyck (1946)

2011-09-06T15:24:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

"DANGEROUSLY She dared to LOVE!"

A simple Connecticuit farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

Mankiewicz is something of a Hollywood legend. After all he wrote more than fifty produced screenplays including All About Eve and Guys And Dolls, so he was clearly no fool behind the typewriter. His directing CV includes the cult favourite Sleuth (1972), All About Eve (1950) itself and The Quiet American (1958).

So why on earth is Dragonwyck such an unholy mess? You've got an A-List screenwriter working from a proven source novel and while this might only be his second film as director there's enough visual evidence to suggest that he already knew how to compose and light a scene.

On paper the cast is strong enough - Gene Tierney in the lead role as the transplanted innocent, Vincent Price as her sinister cousin, Walter Houston as her bible-bashing dad - looks like it would be harder to get it wrong than it would to get it right.

Yet the thing simply fails to work.

Part of the problem must be budget : the sets are lightweight and insubstantial and there's clearly been huge great workrounds from the original shooting script. Price's troubled daughter is prominent in the first half of the film and totally absent from the second. Where does she go? Why does no one notice that she's gone?

There's also a problem with tone. The film's not sure what it wants to be - is it a spooky old house mystery? A psychological thriller? A love story? A slice of social realism about the different lives of the rich and the poor in mid-century 1800's USA? If it's attempting to be a balance of all these elements then it fails miserably; each is picked up for a while and then dropped again as the tone shifts to the next element.

There's problems in the casting as well - Price is always good as the deranged, mysterious figure but this role calls for a more subtly pitched performance and it's clear he was either incapable of this or wasn't asked for it. Glenn Lanagan as the "nice" young doctor/secondary love interest is, frankly, awful. Shockingly bad.

And in the supporting cast of domestic staff, local farmers etc. there's nothing but cliche and stereotype.

There's only really two plus points : the beautiful and vastly under rated Gene Tierney in the lead role and Alfred Newman's neo-gothic score.

A massive mess that also commits the cardinal sin of being deadly dull to watch.

American Graffiti (1973)

2011-09-06T11:19:00.003+01:00

Directed by George Lucas ; written by Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck

"Where were you in '62?"

With High School behind them and their futures due to start in the morning a group of friends spend the night cruising the strip in their small California hometown, listening to Wolfman Jack on the radio and getting involved in small but significant adventures.

Lucas graduated from the same film school as Francis Ford Coppola and Spielberg and while the former had The Godfather (1972) on his CV already and the latter was just a couple of years from changing the face of mainstream US cinema for ever with Jaws, Lucas only had the failure of his debut feature THX 1138 (1971), a dreary and dull sci-fi film to show for his talent and ambition.

Taking a back-to-basics approach he decided that if audiences didn't want to join him in a journey into the future he would take them back into his past. American Graffiti is an amalgam of events and people he recalled from his teenage years growing up in Modesto, California.

The central characters are composite stereotypes - Richard Dreyfus is the smart, sensitive loner; Ron(ny) Howard the conflicted All American teen; Paul Le Mat is John, the grease monkey car enthusiast whose interests extend no further than the Strip and his place on it and Charlie Martin Smith is the partial outsider - the nerd/dweeb whose loyalty and friendship is valued sufficently by the "cool kids" to allow them to tolerate his presence on the fringes of their activity.

From these building blocks Lucas and his co-writers then fashioned a believable world for them to live in - a world where small events are inflated to life-changing proportions and where it's safe to stay out all night and indulge in your favourite pastimes while the police and parents take a "boys will be boys" atttitude and the worst that can happen is your car gets wrecked or your heart gets (temporarily) broken.

The script, the cast, the recognisable near-past world and the direction are all spot on the money : it's a beautifully paced movie with moments of high energy counterpointed by smaller, quieter ones of reflection and repose. And it's funny; the script crackles and fizzes with great lines, clever physical gags and an overall sense of fun and innocence.

And then there's the soundtrack : a perfectly chosen selection of pre-Beatles teen pop that both acts as a background for events and as a commentary upon them. The inclusion of the voice of legendary cult rock'n'roll DJ Wolfman Jack and his anarchic links between records is inspired and adds another layer to the beautifully constructed sense of time and place.

Yet nagging away in the background all the time is the spectre of Vietnam : the kids of American Graffiti's world were the last for a generation who were able to indulge in such simple pleasures and dream of brighter futures without the fear of the draft and death in a foreign country hanging over them at every step. The war is never mentioned but it's there in the background all the time; as is the looming moment when American youth lost it's sense of innocence for ever.

JFK gets a passing mention, just enough to jerk you back from the lost fantasy world to the cold hard reality that's about to impinge on the lives of these (mostly) carefree young people in the most brutal way.

Lucas adds a postscript screen card that updates the story of the four main players ; two are dead, both well before their time, in senseless killings while two others have lived out their lives in almost excatly the way that we would have imagined. The physical location given for the grown-up Curt suggests that the Vietnam War was also a life changing event for him even though he never fought in it.

American Graffiti is an outstanding film that shows a film maker finding his populist touch and creating a fully functioning world for his characters to live in; an ability that he would develop further with his next projects which would reward him with enormous financial wealth but declining artistic recognition and respect.

For the time it's on screen the film is perfect, loveable and wholly believable - the kids are alright and so is everything else in the world. It's only as the end credits role that we realise that these certanties were to be gone for ever within a few short months and that there's no going back in the real world to a time of soda pop and fries at the drive-in with the thumping beat of rock'n'roll radio as your constant companion.

A genuine classic of mainstream American cinema.

Cult Classics series number 12: Buck Privates (1941)

2011-09-05T13:42:00.002+01:00

Directed by Arthur Lubin, written by Arthur T. Horman

Abbott and Costello' second film finds them as "peacetime recruits" (i.e. draftees) into the US army after they mistake a recruiting centre for a movie theatre while attempting to escape from a beat cop who catches them street selling.

There's plenty of verbal sparring in the script, some excellent gags (both physical and in their famous cross-talk style), a few routines lifted from their vaudeville act and some excellent specially written comic material by John Grant for the duo to perform.

While they're on screen the film is perfectly fine - hurtling along at breakneck speed and suffused with the innocent anarchy for which Abbott & Costello were famous at the time and which was to become their legacy.

Elsewhere, sadly, there's a rather strange love triangle involving a wealthy playboy and his former chauffeur both of whom have been drafted to the same platoon as our heroes and both of whom fall for the same girl (Jane Frazee - future star of "Hellzapoppin'" and the iconic "Rosie The Riveter" (both 1944) ).

This love triangle is oddly left unresolved and is, of course, a complete waste of time as all we really want is to see more of the boys fooling around.

The playboy (Lee Bowman) also has a micro-subplot involving his attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his politician father and his fellow recruits.

Things are livened up a little by the unaccountable and unexplained appearance at various points by hot singing group of the day The Andrews Sisters who deliver a series of big production song numbers - including a really badly synced version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"!

Not my favourite Abbott & Costello film - that remains "Meet Frankenstein" for it's unabashed silliness and surreal casting - but there's at least half a film's worth of very decent comic material here. Just a shame about all the filler.

The Loved Ones (2009)

2011-09-04T12:36:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Sean Byrne

"You don't have to die to go to hell"

The thing I like about Antipodean horror-comedy films is that, unlike too many of their US and UK equivelents, they usually manage to get the balance between the two genres right.

In "The Loved Ones" troubled teen Brent (Xavier Samuel), who has suffered a recent Unfortunate Event, rejects the advances of "Plain Jane" Lola (Robin McLeavy) who wants her to be her date for the forthcoming High School dance. Brent opts instead to spend the evening with his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine) which turns out to be a huge mistake.

Lola and her doting father (John Brumpton) organise an alternative event for Brent which turns out to be even more hellish than attending a dance populated by his teenage peers.

The comic-relief sub-plot involves Brent's best friend (Richard Wilson, not that one) who lands a date with his dream girl (Jessica McNamee) only to find that his big night also goes calamitously wrong, although not on the same scale as his friend's.

Both elements are carried off very well - Samuel is handsome, stoic and manly in the lead male role and McLeavy puts in a tour de force of demented obsession as his "date". As Lola's father Brumpton wears a mask of simplistic idiocy while hinting at much darker forces at work inside his soul.

Wilson, as the best friend, is winningly goofy and McNamee posts a good turn as she slides from aloofness into reckless abandon and beyond as the cop's daughter running wild.

The moments of horror and gore are efficiently handled and steer clear of the gross-out over reaching of the "torture porn" sub-genre and there's even time for a few moments of sweet sentimentality and affection between some of the main characters.

A charming, low budget, film with plenty of jolts, shocks and laughs contained in a very compact running time. Fun.

Modern Classics series - number 4 : The Lives Of Others (2006)

2011-09-03T11:01:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

"Before the Fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's Secret Police Listened to Your Secrets "

A staggeringly confident first feature from it's writer/director "The Lives Of Others" is set in East Berlin before the fall of the wall. An actress (Martina Gedeck) and her writer boyfriend (Sebastian Koch) drift into the circle of attention of the state secret service through a combination of unfortunate association and the (seemingly commonplace) abuse of power by a well placed member of the government.

Their lives become the subject of intense scrutiny by a Stasi surveillance team lead by Ulrich Muhe's career civil servant/bugging expert. As the film develops Muhe comes to question the purpose of his work and to form a bond of affection with his subjects, even though they are totally unaware of his close presence in their world.

It's a film about communication (and failure to communicate), the importance of a loving relationship and friendship, even under the most repressive of regimes, the basic human need to connect and survive.

von Donnersmarck's superb script tackles all of these issues in such a way that his points are made very carefully and clearly without the viewer feeling at any time as though they are being lectured. There's an obvious intelligence at work in the careful plotting with hardly a line of dialogue wasted, littered with clues and connections and creating a very believable world for the well-drawn characters to live in.

The three leads are all perfectly cast and deliver terrific performances. Silence is a key part of the story and each of the actors deliver strong physical performances where highly complex emotions are delivered through a look or a change of body position.

Muhe has a scene where his character is listening in on the couple and a slight tilt of the head and change of facial expression tells us everything that we need to know about his changing attitude towards both his work and his subjects.

Muhe also has the last line of the film ; one of the best since Some Like It Hot.

The direction is spot on throughout - scenes are held and allowed to develop in a natural way without the need for constant furious inter-cutting; when the characters meet outdoors the camera is held at some distance from the conversation giving the impression that we, as well as the Stasi, are unwelcome observers of events.

It's also worth making the point that, despite the deadly serious nature of the story and the subject, the film is shot through with dark humour - both as defence mechanism and as release from the oppressive reality in which the characters live.

And a word also for Stephane Moucha and Gabriel Yared's perfect score which both illustrates and illuminates events on the screen in the way in which the very best film music should.

A wonderful and deeply impressive film that will live with you for days afterwards as well as one of the very few that you have an immediate urge to rewatch as soon as it ends.

The Disapeared (2008)

2011-09-02T13:48:00.002+01:00

Directed by Johnny Kevorkian; written by Kevorkian and Neil Murphy.

"Evil is among us"

Matt (Harry Treadaway) is a trouble teenager who is released from a mental institution back into the care of his father (Greg Wise) and daily life on a rundown, anonymous housing estate. Both Treadway and Wise have suffered a personal tragedy - one that sent the former "over the edge" and into the arms of the mental health care system.

The first hour of "The Disappeared" plays like an urban ghost story, something that the Japanese have made very much their own in recent years, before turning into a slightly more conventional thriller-with-horror-touches for the last half hour.

Treadaway takes the part very well - pitching it somewhere between frightened incomprehension and stoic resolve to discover the truth about recent events in his neighbourhood; and Greg Wise is solid as the traumatised father with no outlet for his grief and bewilderment other than the near omnipresent bottle of scotch.

Some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, especially among the supporting cast some of whom are (frankly) not really up to the job - a glaring exception being Tom Felton, a near unrecognisable turn from Draco Mallfoy, as Treadaway's best friend.

And of course there's the predictable and depressing scene where the local "tough youth" live up to stereotype by beating Treadaway up for no plot purpose that I could see.

Directed with some nice touches and with some good performances at it's heart, the film suffers a little from it's shifting tone and some unresolved issues within the plot but, overall, it's distracting enough for the time it's on the screen and there are suggestions of very good things in the future of it's director/writer.

Eden Lake (2008)

2011-08-31T11:26:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by James Watkins.

"A weekend by the lake, with views to die for."

Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender are a young professional urban couple who leave the city behind for a romantic weekend of camping, swimming and scuba diving at the titular lakeside.

There they encounter a group of teenagers led by Jack O'Connell and including Finn Atkins and the always excellent Thomas Turgoose.

Culture clash and inflexibility on both sides leads to verbal and then physical aggression with wholly predictable results.

The film itself is fairly well done - the performances are perfectly fine, the horror set-pieces well carried out and the direction creates the required air of desperation and panic as the film progresses. It sits in the tradition of "city folk out of their normal environment meet less than friendly locals" that runs back to Southern Comfort (1981) and Deliverance (1972) as well as the more recent Wrong Turn (2003).

The problem, for me, is that also sits within a newer tradition among British films where children in general and working class teenagers in particular are portrayed as feral youth of whom we should all be very afraid - see also The Children (2008) and the vile Harry Brown (2009).

In attempting to play up the contrast between the comfortable life of the two adults and the teenagers they encounter, the film only creates a set of two-dimensional stereotypes and sets them in opposition. The level of retribution sought and carried out lacks proper motivation from within the story and is predicated upon the idea that O'Connell's character is both murderously amoral and has unquestioning loyalty from his cohorts. Neither of these suppositions are supported by anything we learn from the film; and since there's no attempt at back story, justification or explanation we are left with the impression that this is simply the way things are and that they are wholly normal.

The early scene where the couple arrive at a pub offering bed & breakfast offers another, equally thinly drawn, set of "ordinary" people for Reilly and Fassbender's characters to feel superior towards; the sub-text is clearly "look at these people and their common ways - isn't it good that we're so much better than them".

The final act is thoroughly reprehensible in it's depiction of the locals who become involved in the story following the main action. The tone and events are totally at odds with any recognisable section of Britain in the 21st century and sound a very sour note of aloof condescension.

A decent enough film totally undermined by the flat characterisation and massive assumptions made about the behaviour of both sides of the class divide throughout.

Cult Classics series : No.11 The Locket (1946)

2011-08-30T11:23:00.002+01:00

Directed by John Brahm ; written by Sheridan Gibney and Norma Barzman

"Her Mysterious Secret Wrecked 3 Men's Lives! Not love, not money...but a haunting hunger drove her to lie, cheat, steal. Why? IT'S THE STRANGEST SECRET EVER TOLD!"

On his wedding day Gene Raymond (John Willis) is visited by a stranger (Dr.Blair - Brian Aherne) who tells the baffled Raymond that he is his bride's ex-husband, despite Nancy - Larain Day - never having mentioned that she was previously married.

Not only this but Blair also claims that he was Nancy's psychiatrist for five years and that she suffers from some very serious mental health issues.

In flashback he tells Raymond the story of their first meeting and subsequent life together ; within that flashback there's a second in which Raymond learns more about Nancy from her former lover Norman Clyde (Robert Mitchum) and within that flashback there's a third where Nancy tells Clyde about a significant event from her childhood.

Away from the tricksy nature of the structure (which director Brahm actually manages to keep under very tight control, the story moves forward at a strong pace despite being set almost entirely in the past) there's some good performances : Aherne is excellent as the straight laced doctor won over by Nancy's seductive charms, Mitchum is wonderfully louche as the struggling artist and Larain Day holds a position just short of melodrama as her strange journey unfolds.

Part of 194o's Hollywood's growing interest in popular psychology (Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) for example), it's a well made film with some good film noir touches in the direction and delivers it's story efficiently and in an interesting manner.

House of a Thousand Dolls (1967)

2011-08-23T09:36:00.002+01:00

Directed by Jeremy Summers, written by Maria del Carmen Martinez Roman

"Here are the SHOCKING FACTS discovered within the House of a Thousand Dolls"

When a vacationing couple in Tangiers run into an old friend there, they discover that he is searching for his missing girlfriend who has been kidnapped by an international gang of white slavers. Nader investigates but before he can come up with anything, his friend is murdered. Meanwhile, nightclub magician Price and his mentalist partner continue their nefarious activities--they hypnotize and kidnap young women for the white slavers, and spirit them to the "House of 1000 Dolls."

Near exploitation movie which pushes hard at the boundaries of what was allowed at the time ; there's plenty of female flesh on display and a rather over-lovingly photographed torture/abuse scene where one of the girls is flayed for trying to escape.

Badly plotted, poorly acted (for the most part) and seemingly directed in an opium haze by TV director Summers. Also numerically inaccurate as there's only about a dozen "dolls" working in the titular house.

The film is saved by Vincent Price, cool and thinking of the payday behind his sixties state-of-the-art shades (what is it about Price and dark glasses? Remember his eyewear in Tomb Of Ligeia (1964) ?) and by the interesting location shooting in and around Tangiers which does, to an extent, capture the exotic flavour that north Africa had for Europeans in the middle of that decade.

Summers later directed episodes of The Protectors and Howard's Way and an affection for these confections of soap and money and 'exotic' locations could well have been learned here.

Disappointingly poor.

The Resident (2011)

2011-08-22T13:35:00.004+01:00

Directed by Antti Jokinen ; written by Jokinen and Robert Orr

"She Thought She Was Living Alone"

In the second title from the revived Hammer imprint (following the very good Wakewood [2011]) Hilary Swank is a young doctor, recently single, who moves into a seemingly perfect apartment at the invitation of the charismatic landlord Jeffery Dean Morgan.

Superb location, very, very spacious, great views, dirt cheap and Morgan's grandfather (Christopher Lee) as a neighbour. What could possibly go wrong?

Of course, things do start to go very wrong very quickly and Swank soon begins to regret her haste in both relocating and forming any sort of bond with Morgan.

On the negative side - there are plenty of echoes of other films, most notably the Sharon Stone vehicle Sliver (1993) as well as the yuppie-nightmare sub-genre (e.g. 1990's Pacific Heights); in addition I wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of Christopher Lee's character was, other than to tie the film back to Hammer's wonderful legacy.

Also, in the 21st century some of the direction is a little too prurient in the way that it lingers on Swank's partially undressed body at times. I understand the point that's been made about voyeurism but it's a bit too laboured and a shade too close to old school sexual objectification.

Those doubts aside it's a well put together thriller, the direction is taut and the running time doesn't allow for too much in the way of unecessary padding of the story. It shifts along at an admirable pace and there's plenty going on to keep the viewer watching.

The leads are perfectly watchable, Morgan is suitably charming and creepy by turn and Swank's tough-but-tender doctor is well delivered. Nice direction and a good use of location shooting add to the feel of 'the terror just below the surface of normality' that is the main tone of the film.

Not essential viewing but interesting enough and an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.

Pathology (2008)

2011-08-22T11:12:00.002+01:00

Directed by Marc Scholermann, written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

"Every body has a secret"

Milo Ventimiglia is Ted Grey, a high flying young doctor ("first in his class at Harvard" - of course) who arrives at a prestigious New York hospital to begin his pathology rotation.

A clique of his fellow doctors are at first antagonistic but then relax a little to allow him into their circle. It seems they've been playing silly buggers in a supposedly unused section of the sub-basement and Grey is quickly pulled into their world of booze, substance abuse, bed-hopping and even darker doings.

Silly, pointless and very badly acted - the plot (such as it is) unfolds in a script-by-numbers style with each step along the way signposted well in advance for the hard of thinking. The entire cast appear to have inhaled some form of sedative before shooting each day and it's directed with all the skill of a drunken bear attempting to liberate a picnic basket from Fort Knox.

I always try to take something positive from a film but I'm afraid Pathology has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and is a complete and utter waste of time.

Los Cronocrimines /Timecrimes (2007)

2011-08-21T13:31:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Nacho Vigalondo.

A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.

Getting the balance right in a film like this is always the difficult bit - balancing the thriller element off against a comedic edge takes a real skill and finesse.

Vigalondo manages this feat very well indeed in this thickly plotted yet deceptively simple story of time-travel and mystery set in some gorgeous looking Spanish countryside.

I especially liked the fact that the hero is not some square jawed all-action superman but rather a fat, balding middle-aged man who frequently needs to rest and catch his breath after his latest feat of athleticism (even if that's just running up a slight incline!)

Karra Elejalde as Hector is perfect in the lead role (in fact, his performance carries the whole film as the other characters are only there to push Hector's story along). A perfect example of his command of the role being the way that his reaction to the possibility of time travel changes from wonder and mystery to one of relaxed routine as the miracle becomes commonplace.

A hugely enjoyable lightweight and lighthearted film that doesn't bother with tedious plot explanations but just gets on with the job of being thoroughly entertaining. Terrific fun.

After.Life (2009)

2011-08-20T12:23:00.002+01:00

Directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo, written by Wojtowicz-Vosloo & Paul Vosloo and Jakub Korolczuk

"How do you save yourself when you're already dead?"

Christina Ricci has a bad day - her languid mood of ennui follows her from a listless argument with her boyfriend (Justin Long) and an unrewarding day at her job as a school teacher and culminates in a misunderstanding based argument with Long. She storms out into the night and drives off, tears blinding her....

She wakes up on the slab of local mortician/funeral director Liam Neeson who appears to have the ability to speak to the recently deceased to help them transition from the world of the living to the afterlife.

The script is rather pleased with itself and in it's attempts to keep the viewer guessing what's actually going on ends up mystifying and confusing. There's at least one too many twist/trick endings.

That said - it's an interesting idea and well delivered by the director and two leads. When they are alone on the screen the film works really well; however the sub-plots involving Long's reaction to his loss and an unnecessary storyline involving one of Ricci's pupils is both unresolved and distracting.

Neeson is suitably creepy - unctuous, oleaginous and of dubious moral standards - and delivers the part well. It's a very brave performance by Christina Ricci, an actor that has always been on the fringes of mainstream Hollywood (probably because she doesn't fit their image of what a leading lady should look like) but has consistently turned in worthwhile work in indie and indie-spirited films such as this.

There's enough going on to keep you interested for the 104 minutes running time and the direction is functional and efficient without amounting to much more than point-and-shoot as the two leads go about their business.

A film I really wanted to like much more but was frustrated by the time wasted in getting from A to B via C, D and E and the self-conscious, tricksy nature of the resolution.

The Nun (2005)

2011-08-20T09:36:00.002+01:00

Directed by Luis de la Madrid, written by Manu Diez.

"Pray she doesn't see you"

A teenage High School student (Anita Briem) comes home to find her mother dead in mysterious circumstances; a series of events leads her to trace former classmates of her mother (some of whom have also met suddden ends) and she and two friends then travel to Barcelona to investigate a former nun-run school.

The script ties it's itself in knots attempting to knit together all of the fragmented elements of the story, the acting of the supporting cast ranges from average to fairly poor, the special effects and process shots are weak and the denoument makes absolutely no sense.

On the plus side : the direction is compotent, if a little too pleased with itself at times; the photography is nicely brooding and atmospheric, there's some nice shots of Barcelona and Anita Briem is a tough but likeable lead - more likely to face the danger than to run away screaming or collapse in hysterics.

Watchable but ultimately ridiculous.

Orphan (2009)

2011-08-19T10:37:00.002+01:00

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, written by David Johnson

"You'll never guess her secret "

"A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be. "

Fairly straightforward cuckoo-in-the-nest horror thriller with a twist ending that's fairly easy to spot if you've seen enough of this sort of film.

Serra's direction is tight and he conveys the sense of unease and growing menace well, special mention is needed for director of photography Jeff Cutter who creates some interesting moods and process shots to add to the atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty.

Peter Sarsgaard leads the cast in a solid and dependable way as the sold and dependable father, Vera Farmiga does her best with an underwritten character racked by troubling dreams and an uncertain reality - she has a good line in overwrought emotion and physical reaction to events ; and there's a very good turn by then (then) twelve year old Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther, the cause of all of their problems.

Not groundbreaking but certainly entertaining enough - the three leads and the direction are enough to keep you interested and there's enough dark shocks to elevate it out of the run-of-the-mill.

Pour Elle / Anything For Her (2008)

2011-07-26T12:02:00.002+01:00

Directed by Fred Cavaye ; written by Guillaume Lemans and Cavaye

"Dans un instant, leur vie va basculer... (In a second, their life will change...) "

With no legal means left to him, a high school teacher devises a daring plan to rescue his wrongfully imprisoned wife from jail.

This is a small film in terms of scale which has a huge idea at it's heart : exactly what lengths would an "ordinary" person go to in order to right a wrong? Is it possible for anybody to perform the extraordinary if the need and desire is great enough?

Vincent Lindon is superb as the teacher driven to the point of obsessive madness when his and his wife's idyllic life is destroyed when she (Diane Kruger - also impressive) is snatched from their home by police investigating a murder : as the film develops we learn in flashback the real sequence of events that leads to the mistake.

The full force of the law seems arrayed against them and, as appeal after appeal fails, Lindon is driven to a desperate course of action.

Some terrific close camerawork builds a tense air of claustrophobia which is then unleashed during the exciting final third of the film. A good sense of place is developed through intelligent use of location shooting and all of the cast are spot-on (even the young Lancelot Roth as the couple's son who stays just the right side of cute).

For a film whose basic premise is in the psychological it also manages to work very well on a cinematic level.

An intelligent, well constructed and delivered thriller whose central idea is played over a gripping 96 minutes and which doesn't fail to provide an emotional pay-off and resolution.

Identity (2003)

2011-07-25T11:54:00.002+01:00

Directed by James Mangold, written by Michael Cooney

"Identity is a secret. Identity is a mystery. Identity is a killer."

Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rainstorm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.

Another entry in the long list of films in which a disparate group of people are brought together in an isolated location by an unseen hand; of which Ten Little Indians (1965) may be the first and best known and which is knowingly referenced in the script of "Identity".

The film is raised above the average late-night TV slot fate that would normally await it by the strength of the cast - John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Alfred Molina et al. seem to be having enormous fun - a neatly done (if predictable) twist, some well done shocks & jumps and some atmospheric direction by Mangold whose later work includes Walk The Line (2005) andwho has now graduated to big-budget comic strip adaptations with The Wolverine (scheduled 2012).

There are problems : the twist and reveal are misplaced and weaken the structure of the second half of the film, one or two of the surprises are too obviously teased before they need to be and there's some weakness in a couple of the sub-plots.

Overall though, it's a well constructed dark and stormy night thriller that sets out it's stall early on and delivers on it's promise. A little tightening around the edges wouldn't have gone amiss but it's a perfectly reasonable film in it's own right and sits easily in the tradition of it's sub-genre.

Pontypool (2008)

2011-07-20T11:23:00.002+01:00

Directed by Bruce McDonald, written by Tony Burgess

"Words lose their meaning when you repeat them"

Low budget ($1.5 million) psychological thriller in which the titular small town in Ontario is infected by a deadly virus that turns the inhabitants into a blood thirsty mob.

Stephen McHattie leads the cast as Grant Mazzy, a small town radio DJ who (it's implied) is attempting to relaunch his career having once been a much bigger name but who has been brought low through his own reckless behaviour.

The film follows Mazzy through what appears to be a typical day of snow reports, school closures missing cats and boredom until the station begins to receive reports of citizens forming into mobs and attacking a local doctor's office.

The tiny cast of four people - Mazzy, his station manager Lisa (Sydney Briar), engineer Laurel-Ann (Georgina Reilly) and the doctor (Hrant Alianak) then live through (seemingly in real time) the spread of infection and the events that follow from it.

At times the film feels more like a stage play due to the small cast and the fact that the focus is almost entirely on one set but McDonald has enough of a director's eye to bring cinematic elements to bear in what is, in essence, a speech driven drama.

Well played by the cast and neatly scripted; the 'explanation' for events is less than convincing but it doesn't really matter as there's enough going on to keep you entertained and the characters are sufficiently believable to help you invest in their story.

Confident and engaging it's a film that manages to break out of the bounds of it's budget and deliver an atmospheric thriller that kept me watching for an hour and a half.

Legion (2009)

2011-07-18T11:45:00.002+01:00

Directed by Scott Charles Stewart ; written by Peter Schink and Stewart.

"When the last angel falls, the fight for mankind begins."

When God decides that mankind has once again displeased him he opts to destroy it by sending not a flood but an infestation of demonic angels briefed to wipe out the entire human race. A renegade angel, Michael (Paul Bettany) "a general in His army", decides to rebel against his orders and fight with the humans in an attempt to give the unworthy species another chance.

The film sets it's stall out early on : Bettany's angel crashes to Earth in a back street in Las Vegas, breaks into the least well protected arms warehouse in the world, hacks off his wings with a hunting knife (like you do) and tools up with all manner of heavy duty machine guns before setting off on his one angel rescue mission.

He finds his objective in an out-of-the-way diner in the desert outside the city where a disparate group of people have been brought together by circumstance - they are then forced to protect one of their number from the menace outside in order to save the human race from extinction.

Every single scene, plot line and development are lifted wholesale from other films : from the opening scene of Bettany's arrival (Terminator) through the small group of people desperate to defend themselves in a building (Night Of The Living Dead, Assault On Precinct 13 etc.) to the arrival of the avenging angel (The Rapture) : there's also a touch of The Exorcist thrown in for good measure.

Some of the dialogue is laughable, the entire plot revolves around an unexplained need to protect one of their number and the resolution is so badly handled as to leave the viewer feeling cheated.

On the upside : a good cast do what they can with the material (Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh and Tyrese Gibson try really, really hard to breathe life into flatly drawn characters) ; the CGI effects are sufficiently well done not to cause embarrassment and Paul Bettany's close-cropped gun-toting angel does at least have some sort of screen presence.

Built like a B movie, delivered like a B movie but a disappointment because of the obviously large budget available and the collected talent of the cast.

Harmless but annoyingly in need of some tough love script editing.

In Search Of A Midnight Kiss (2008)

2011-07-16T10:52:00.002+01:00

Written and directed by Alex Holdridge.

"14 hours until the new year. 12 million people in Los Angeles. 1 connection shouldn't be this hard."

It's New Year's eve in Los Angeles and would-be scriptwriter Wilson (Scoot McNairy) is depressed. He's haunted by a failed relationship, his career is becalmed and he's facing the prospect of another year beginning with him without a partner.

His room-mate suggests that the solution to his problem might lie on-line and, through his advertisement, he meets Vivian (Sara Simmonds) who is poised, in control and organised - all of the things that Wilson isn't.

Together they begin a physical and mental journey that takes them through the hours up unitl midnight and beyond.

Holdridge makes the absolute best of his ultra-low budget; using LA as both the backdrop to and the catalyst for events. Shot in clearly defined black and white, the city is by turn a world of infinite possibility and a trap for dreamers caught up in the clash of reality and hope.

McNairy and Simmonds make a likeable leading couple and there is a small but able cast of friends, family and ex-lovers.

Smoothly changing tone between romance, comedy and tragedy it's a small but very well realised film that benefits from the intimacy of it's subject matter and the enforced but effective use of location filming.

Surprisingly effective and a triumph of imagination over resources.

Trauma (2004)

2011-02-09T11:36:00.003Z

Directed by Marc Evans ; written by Richard Smith.

"Believe what you see what you believe."

Available on DVD

"Awaking from a coma to discover his wife has been killed in a car accident, Ben's world may as well have come to an end..."

Marc Evans is an interesting director; "Resurrection Man" (1998) and "My Little Eye" (2002) demonstrated that he was worth keeping an eye on. He seemed to have a visual style that was suited to stories that had a non-linear structure and played around with the defining lines between reality and dreams - the unreal and the solid.

The script of "Trauma" gives him full range to play around with these ideas. Ben (Colin Firth) exists in a permanent state of semi-awareness ; we (as viewers) are unable to tell whether we are seeing an accurate representation of actual events or a reality filtered through the damaged consciousness of the lead character.

Firth gives an impressive performance - on screen for almost the entire length of the film he is wholly convincing as a character unsure if he's a victim of or the cause of the events happening around him.

At times the script leads the film into dead ends and blind alleys but this has the effect of increasing the generally hallucinatory feel and, while confusing on a narrative level, actually gives further substance to Ben's dreamlike existence.

A long way from perfect but an interesting film in it's own right and certainly worth watching to enjoy Colin Firth's performance and Evans' direction.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

2011-02-07T11:49:00.003Z

Directed by Robert Rodriguez ; screenplay by Quentin Tarantino

"One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it's going to be a hell of a night."

Available on DVD

"Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in an establishment populated by vampires, with chaotic results."

Robert Rodriguez's urban vampire film.

He directs with his usual pyrotechnic , flashy style and the script (largly by Tarantino) matches it for flair and whizz.

George Clooney, Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis are all excellent in the lead roles, although QT demonstrates why he's a better scriptwriter than actor and slightly lets the side down.

Not as good as the ne plus ultra of the genre, Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" but it's still tongue-in-cheek fun if you can handle the more gross out moments of cartoon gore and horror.

The Kite Runner (2007)

2011-02-05T11:28:00.003Z

Directed by Marc Forster ; screenplay by David Benioff

"There is a way to be good again. "

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

"After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. "

"The Kite Runner" is a film set in two different countries and two different time-frames, separated by a generation of the most extreme and radical change.

While the storytelling is non-linear the separation is real and obvious ; and the effect is to unbalance the film and create a sense of missed opportunity.

The events set in Afghanistan prior to the intervention of the Russians deal with boyhood friendship, loyalty and distrust and the creation of a debt that will need to be paid in the future. The other half is set in a near-contemporary United States and Afghanistan and concerns itself with the repayment of that debt and the difficulties of adjusting to a new way of life and of retaining the traditional aspects of your native society in vastly changed circumstances.

While the events set in the past are warm, touching and engaging with superb performances by the two child actors at the centre of the action the parts of the film set in the later time frame often fail to convince - events seem to conspire to create a perfect storm of every 'coming to America' used in films for at least the past thirty years.

I'd have prefered a more straightforward approach to the source material; dispensing with the shifts in setting would have given the work a greater sense of unity and allowed us to concentrate better on the changing circumstances of Amir, rather than simply having to accept all that happens to him as either pre-destined or unavoidable.

The film deserves to be watched though for the scenes set in 1970's Afghanistan (a country now disappeared forever) and the superb work of the two young leads Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada who are both convincing as the childhood friends who are aware of the differences between the them and unaware of the secret that connects them.

Half of a very good film; half of a missed opportunity.

Ponyo (2008)

2011-02-04T11:43:00.004Z

Directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

"Welcome To A World Where Anything Is Possible."

"An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human. "

Japanese animation master Miyazaki continues to release the most beautiful and visually striking hand drawn films despite the seemingly unstoppable rise of the computer generated films of the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks.

Because of the subject matter "Ponyo" invites comparison to Disney's "The Little Mermaid" (1989) but any direct connection ends at the broad storyline.

"Ponyo" is distinguished by both the sheer care and love that's gone into the drawing of the characters and backgrounds, the imagination that's been poured into creating breathtaking set-pieces of fluid animation and by the continuing of Miyazaki's concern for ecological matters that is here given full expression having been a strong undercurrent in most of his previous work.

The (dubbed) English language version features some fine voice work by Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon as well as Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Lily Tomlin as a comedy chorus of opinionated senior citizens.

Liam Neeson also reads some lines.

Not in the top draw of the writer/director's work : not as surreal as "Spirited Away" or as charming as "My Neighbour Totoro" but an assured, complex film that entertains at the same time as getting it's eco-message across without beating you around the head with it.

A very worthwhile film that works for all ages and which will delight animation fans.

New on DVD : Winter's Bone (2010)

2011-02-02T11:25:00.003Z

Directed by Debra Granik; written by Granik and Anne Rosellini

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

"An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact."

Ree Dolly is a young woman who is taking care of her younger siblings and catatonic mother in lieu of an apparently absent father. However, we soon learn that the father is a bail absconder and, worse than that, he's put up the family home and land as security against his bail bond and Ree now has a week to produce her father to the court or face losing the little that she and her family have.

She sets out on her mission to track down the errant parent : a quest that leads her to family, friends and neighbours who, for the most part, either know nothing of his whereabouts or are determined to prevent him being found.

Filmed (as far as I can tell) entirely on location with no studio sets used : the Ozarks provide a brutal but beautiful backdrop to Ree' story - the world that the story inhabits is so far removed from the experience of most of us as to appear alien, even other-worldly. Debra Granik's skillful direction makes the absolute most of the stunning locations while reminding us of the isolation and separateness of her characters from mainstream US society.

Even an at home singing session takes on air of malevolence and mystery such is the strength of the superbly developed atmosphere of the film.

Jennifer Lawrence is spellbinding as Ree : almost constantly on screen throughout - by turns caring, nurturing, determined, brave and resolute. It's an absolutely superb performance fully deserving all the award nominations that she's received.

A magical film : superb script, brilliantly directed with a lead performance of rare skill and beauty and a supporting cast who are all pitch-perfect. One of the films of 2010.

Kick-Ass (2010)

2011-01-29T11:01:00.004Z

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, written by Jane Goldman and Vaughn

"I can't read your mind. But I can kick your ass."

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

"Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan with a few friends and who lives alone with his father. His life is not very difficult and his personal trials not that overwhelming. However, one day he makes the simple decision to become a super-hero even though he has no powers or training."

There's two ways of making a film based on a graphic novel or long running comic book : you can treat the source work with reverence (but the danger then is that you end up with "Wolverine") or you can accept the fact that the concept of super heroes is inherently absurd and make a film that delivers plenty of fun, fighting and frolics while not taking yourself seriously or treating the material as sacred text.

Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman did some impressive work with their previous film, the charming and very funny adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust", and they apply the same formula here. There's plenty of laugh out loud moments and sly humour in among the expected fists'n'fury set-pieces.

Rising British star Aaron Johnson (so believable as Lennon in "Nowhere Boy") leads a cast who are firing on all ironic cylinders : Mark Strong as the baddest of all evil doers equally happy dispatching those in his employ who fail him or attempting to stamp on a child's face! ; Nicolas Cage is superbly wooden as the personification of a traditional comic book hero, complete with faltering Adam West speech patterns.

And the astonishing turn by Chloe Moretz as a potty-mouthed tiny teen one-girl wrecking crew, which is superbly handled by the director and executed by the young actor.

"Kick-Ass" is two hours of brilliantly constructed fun that everybody needs to see at least once.

Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003)

2011-01-26T11:36:00.002Z

Directed and written by Robert Rodriguez.

"The Time Has Come."

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

In this sequel to 'Desperado', a Mexican drug lord pretends to overthrow the Mexican government, and is connected to a corrupt CIA agent who at that time, demands retribution from his worst enemy to carry out the drug lord's uprising against the government.

Rodriguez revisits his El Mariachi hitman character (played again by Antonio Banderas), the titular star of his breakthrough self-financed film and his first US film ("Desperado"). The obvious question is - why? Did he have anything new left to do with the character? and the answer is a resounding no.

This second or third (depending on how you're counting) El Mariachi film has a plot that either makes no sense whatsoever or is overly complicated that it defies untangling. There's a whole mass of well known faces in the cast list who don't really have an awful lot to do and the dialogue seems to exist only to link the set-pieces together.

However, the action sequences are remarkable : Rodriguez has a real talent for choreographing fight scenes and gun battles ; each one is slightly more frenetic than the last and they give the film a real sense of momentum.

There's some small splashes of humour in among the killing sprees : the undercover CIA man wearing a CIA branded T-Shirt to a bull fight for example.

And there's another winning, slightly off-kilter turn from Johnny Depp who walks away with the acting honours despite the presence of Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, Eva Mendes, Salma Hayek and Danny Trejo among the sprawling cast.

An utterly pointless and unnecessary film but still enormous fun for the 100 minutes or so that you're watching it.

Cult Classic series number 10 : Ms. 45 (1981)

2011-01-25T11:54:00.003Z

Directed by Abel Ferrara, written by Nicholas St. John

"She was abused and violated. It will never happen again!"

Ferrara's previous (debut) feature film "The Driller Killer" (1979) had generated plenty of interest, mainly from those who wanted it banned, partly on the basis of it's title alone.

With his follow-up he picked up the thread of Zarchi's 1978 film "I Spit On Your Grave" to explore what happens when an abused woman sets out to take revenge.

In Zarchi's film the lead character avenges herself on those directly responsible for assaulting her; here the targets are much more general - the implication being that a society that allows such things to happen is just as guilty as those who actually carry out the acts.

After being brutally assaulted twice in the same afternoon mute fashion industry worker Thana (the tragic Zoe Lund) gives herself a drastic makeover and, armed with the gun of her first victim, takes to the streets on a one-person crusade to re-balance society.

Eventually her nocturnal activities begin to have an effect on her daytime "normal" life leading to a seemingly inevitable conclusion.

As an attempt to redress the then commonly used device of 'woman as victim' in the thriller genre (see "Death Wish" et al.) the film is an interesting point in the development both of the empowered woman thriller and in the "final female" device that was to become the calling card of the slasher films made during the eighties (and later).

Ferrara, even at this early low-budget stage of this career, demonstrates an ability far beyond the necessary limitations - there are plenty of pointers here to the film maker he would become in later years (Bad Lieutenant, King Of New York, The Addiction, The Funeral etc.) .

It's a long way from being a perfect film, some of the acting is rather poor and the dialogue is frequently stilted and meaningless, but the film glows with the conviction of it's message and the talent of it's director.

An interesting film in the development of the genre and an opportunity to see a future director of some considerable talent learning his craft.

Genius series no.3 : The Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

2011-01-24T11:51:00.002Z

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick ; written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman and Mackendrick.

"This is the story of J.J. - But not the way he wants it told!"

Available on DVD

"J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful newspaper columnist in New York, is determined to prevent his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a jazz musician. He therefore covertly employs Sidney Falco, a sleazy and unscrupulous press agent, to break up the affair by any means possible. "

This film has what is probably Tony Curtis' best performance in a 'straight' dramatic role and Burt Lancaster at the very top of his game.

Curtis' Sidney Falco is by turn odious, repellent, broken, pleading, flattering and simpering; Lancaster's Hudsucker is a serial abuser of his power who delights in his ability to make or break (usually the latter) the careers and dreams of others.

The third element that makes this film so special is Mackendrick's superb direction of both his main actors and the skill he brings to the location shooting on the rain drenched, neon-lit streets of New York.

The story itself is rather slight : Lancaster uses his power and the desperation of Curtis for his approval to attempt to prevent what he views as an unsuitable liaison between his sister and a jazz musician.

All of the interest is generated when the central plot line is shuffled off to the side; the dealings that both men have with those they come into contact during the course of their business is a far more interesting use of screen time than when the lifeless Susan Harrison (as Hudsucker's sister) and Martin Milner (as the least believable jazzer ever) are centre stage.

And the Chico Hamilton Quintet as a dangerous jazz combo? Don't think so!

The asides, put-downs, platitudes and breakneck banter in the scenes set in NY supper clubs is smart, witty, sharp and poisonous and perfectly delivered by Lancaster and Curtis.

Fabulous to look at with three quarters of a very decent script and two towering performances it's a very special film that also needs to be seen as an example of how effective naturalistic location shooting can be when done this well.

It's Winter (2006)

2011-01-23T10:10:00.003Z

Directed by Rafi Pitts, screenplay by Pitts from a story by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi.

Available on DVD

"The struggle to survive for a generation torn between wanting to leave its country, yet bound by blood to home."

Pitts' warm, intelligent, involving and poignant film tells the story of a transient mechanic who arrives in town looking for work and love and falls for the (abandoned?) wife of a local man who has left to seek work overseas and hasn't been heard from since.

Every scene is loaded with meaning and nuance; as we follow the characters through the circular arc of the story we learn a little more about their backgrounds, their daily struggle for survival and their hopes and dreams for the future.

Beautifully shot and constructed : the scenes set during snow showers and in the depth of the winter are bone-chillingly cold and the denouement of the final scene is perfectly underplayed and realised.

With a running time of just 86 minutes Pitts packs an enormous amount of story into his film ; but the events never feel rushed or forced and each plot-line is allowed to grow and develop in it's own time.

Wonderful film making and an involving and beautiful film.

New on DVD : Certified Copy (2010)

2011-01-21T11:15:00.002Z

Written and directed by Abbas Kiarostami.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

"In Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged English writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano. "

A beautifully shot, cleverly put together film in which nothing much happens but everything happens. The Italian locations are used to maximum effect to provide a gorgeous backdrop to am unfolding romance/love story/mystery played out in three languages during the course of one afternoon.

Juliette Binoche is absolutely magical in the lead female role : sometimes small and vulnerable, at others big and in command and at others playful and entrancing. She has genuine screen presence to spare and dominates the entire film ; Kiarostami's camera adores her, especially in several scenes which have multiple shots of her staring straight down the lens.

William Shimell is an effective to foil to Binoche in the male lead role - restrained and controlled throughout.

The entire film is an absolute treat from beginning to end but Binoche's performance is staggering and heartbreaking.

Staten Island (2009)

2011-01-19T11:25:00.002Z

Directed and written by James DeMonaco.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

A small budget, small scale film about the intersecting lives of three people who live in New York's "forgotten" borough.

Parmie Tarzo (Vincent D'Onofrio) is a mobster who survives an attempted hit and becomes an eco warrior (as you do!); Sully (Ethan Hawke) is a septic tank cleaner who wants a better life for his unborn child and Jasper (Seymour Cassel) is a deaf-mute deli. clerk with a penchant for a daily bet on the horses.

In the style of Doug Liman's Go (1999) the individual stories criss-cross and each of the main protagonists' actions begin to have an effect on the life of the others.

Cassel walks off with the acting honours : Jasper's silent but happy world of pleasure at the small things is beautifully portryed and DeMonaco uses some neat techniques to give the viewer an insight into his reality.

It's a warm, affectionate and occasionally touching film about people's struggle to survive and the lengths that some will go to in order to find a small happiness or provide for a better future for their loved ones.

It suffers slightly from an over ambitious reach - portions of the stories feel rushed and unresolved - but this is by no means a bad failing to have.

An interesting and worthwhile watch; not least for Cassel's beautiful acting.

The Disappearence Of Alice Creed (2009)

2011-01-18T12:39:00.003Z

Directed and written by J Blakeson

Available on DVD and Blu-Ray

"Two criminals, Vic and Danny, kidnap Alice Creed. They fastidiously set-up an apartment building and handcuff Alice to the bed, all in a careful attempt to make sure that she won't escape and they won't get caught. But what do Vic and Danny really want with Alice? And is Alice cunning enough to foil their plans and escape?"

Absolutely terrific small budget/small scale British film, easily one of the best released in this country during 2010.

The tiny cast and confined nature of the action could easily have led to a film that resembled a stage play or TV drama and it's to Blakeson's enormous credit that he makes an absolute virtue out of the limitations placed upon him (as director) by the story.

His direction is fluid and genuinely cinematic, even when confined to the smallest of physical areas. The wordless opening sequence grabs the viewers attention immediately and after that there's an unrelenting sense of pace and tension for the entire 96 minutes of the running time.

All three cast members give strong, bold performances : especially Eddie Marsan who has developed into a rather special screen actor. There's tough scenes throughout - not least the early sequence showing Alice Creed's arrival at the house being used for her incarceration, but these are handled subtly and sympathetically while retaining the roughness necessary to emphasise the plight of the kidnap victim.

Each twist and turn in the script serves to move the story forward - there's not an ounce of fat in the film nor is a moment wasted.

An excellent story and script provides the basis for an exceptional film. Highly recommended.

Skeletons

2011-01-17T09:52:00.002Z

Directed and written by Nick Whitfield.

Available on DVD

Andrew Buckley and Ed Gaughan star as employees of a mysterious "company" who organise the exorcising of secrets and skeletons from the past for their clients.

Given the opportunity of a big break by their boss (Jason Isaacs) they visit the home of Jane (Paprika Steen) and her truculent, silent daughter (Tuppence Middleton) with a brief to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of Jane's husband.

The assignment doesn't go according to plan and personal problems and issues become entangled, leading to a surprising reversal of roles.

It's the sort of small scale, quirky comedy that Britain should be producing more often : there's some lovely character development and some touching scenes in among the laughs and giggles.

There's nice attention to detail - the exorcists constant need to ensure that all their paperwork is up to date, for example - and the entire film has a genial, warm feeling to it, even when dealing with subjects of the utmost seriousness for the characters.

Thoroughly enjoyable and a fine example of the small budget film made to work by the vision and skill of the writer/director. Well worth the effort.

Where The Truth Lies (2005)

2011-01-15T10:51:00.002Z

Directed by Atom Egoyan, screenplay by Egoyan from the novel by Rupert Holmes.

Available on DVD.

Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman) , a journalist known for in-depth celebrity profiles, is hired to write the biography of retired Las Vegas comedy star Vince (Colin Firth) whose professional partnership with Lanny (Kevin Bacon) came to an end some years ago following A Mysterious Death involving a female pushy would-be reporter, a Mafia connection and a night no one appears to be able to recall clearly.

Egoyan is an interesting and inventive director (although wildly inconsistent) whose films always have something of interest to offer the viewer. Here he uses multiple narrators, shifting time-frames and constantly altering points of view to create a dreamlike, almost surreal narrative.

Firth and Bacon are very strong in the lead male roles, whether in the present-day scenes where they live in a semi-retired fug of memories and perception-altered bewilderment or in the flashback scenes to their glory days as a Martin & Lewis style 'a joke and a song' cabaret turn. The sense of power and unquestioned authority that such performers surround themselves with in the United States of the 1950's is captured very well in scenes set at a television charity telethon or in the more intimate nature of a supper club.

As things start to fall apart and go horribly wrong the sense of desperation that all of this fame, glory and power may be snatched away is very well conveyed; as is the present-day worry that the events of the past may be about to be uncovered.

There are, however, two problems with the film : the first is Alision Lohman -so effective as the Innocent thrown into a world of supernatural turmoil in "Drag Me To Hell" (2009) - here she fails to convince as the supposedly hard-nosed award winning celebrity biographer. The ease with which this supposedly professional writer allows her subjects to enter her personal life is never fully explained either in the character's back-story or in those scenes set in the contemporary time period.

The second is that the film suffers by comparison with Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (2001), a film set in a similar milieu and which explores many of the same themes - fame and it's cost, identity, the deficiencies of memory. At times "Where The Truth Lies" resembles a TV movie version of Lynch's superior film.

That said : it's an enjoyable and well put together film and while it's not in the same league as Egoyan's 1994 breakthrough film "Exotica" it's a far better effort than his later work, especially the very weak "Adoration" (2008).

Worth watching for the performances of Firth and Bacon and for the well constructed atmosphere of a dream balancing on the edge of falling into nightmare.

The Lovely Bones (2009)

2011-01-14T14:05:00.002Z

Directed by Peter Jackson ; written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens & Jackson.

"The story of a life and everything that came after... "

Available to buy on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Jackson turns his back on Middle Earth and giant gorillas to have a go at depicting the afterlife.

Susie Salmon (Saiorse Ronan), a 14 year old girl from suburban Pennsylvania, is abducted and murdered; from beyond the afterlife she then tells the story of the search for her killer, the effect of her murder on her family and friends and her own quest for release from limbo.

The difficulty faced by the film maker attempting to adapt Alice Sebold's acclaimed novel is obviously the need for setting so much of the action in a world that is entirely the creation of the individual reader. Jackson's solution - a super-lit CGI world that is constantly morphing and reshaping itself - is a clever idea but sadly is the biggest problem with the film.

The afterlife as rendered here is too solid, too rooted in the everyday and the recognisable : obviously there's no clear-cut pattern to work with here but, compared to the surreal beauty of the beyond depicted in Powell's masterpiece "A Matter Of life And Death" (1946), the world we see here is a little....well disappointing and ordinary, I suppose.

That issue aside there's a very strong film struggling to free itself from the necessary constraints

of place : the script is coherent, sympathetic and affecting.

There's some terrific performances among the cast : Saoirse Ronan is excellent in the role of Susie, Stanley Tucci turns in another of his quiet, understated suburban monsters and there's a cameo of some skill from Susan Sarandon as the dead girl's grandmother. Michael Imperioli's police detective is warm and believable.

Mark Wahlberg is a bit anonymous as Susie's grief-stricken father, only really coming to life in moments of frustrated violence; Rachel Weisz does the best she can with the badly under written role of Susie's mother.

But the acting and the script are constantly fighting against the CGI effects and the abrupt changes of tone that attempting to follow both the earthbound and the ethereal storylines exert on the film.

A brave, but flawed, attempt redeemed by some terrific acting.

Black Death (2010)

2011-01-12T11:15:00.006Z

Directed by Christopher Smith, written by Dario Poloni.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

British director Smith continues to produce interesting work that has yet to find a large mainstream audience. He made his feature debut with "Creep" (2004) which suffered from being too easily compared to the superior "Death Line" (1972), then moved on to something-nasty-in-the -woods thriller "Severance"(2006) before really finding his feet with the superb mystery thriller "Triangle" (2009) - one of the most under appreciated films of that year.

"Black Death" is an ambitious project : as well as the thriller/horror genre setting which he seems happy working in, Poloni's script throws in plenty of discussion about the nature of faith and the various character's relationship with religion.

Set in rural England during the 14th. century outbreak of bubonic plague the story concerns a young monk, Osmond (Eddie Redmayne) who is recruited by Ulric (Sean Bean) ostensibly to lead his group of mercenaries through treacherous country in order to find a village that seems immune to the outbreak, there to carry out a mission set from them by the local Bishop.

It soon transpires that the mission that Bean and his men are pursuing is very different to the one of research that they sell to Osmond and his fellow monks.

The film has an authentic grimy feel (they've remembered that gleaming white teeth were rare in the 14th. century, for example) and there are some very well staged fight scenes. It moves towards it's inevitable conclusion at a decent pace and there are enough moments of surprise and shock to keep you watching but it does feel a little episodic. The story seems to exist solely to link together the set-pieces.

That minor criticism aside it's an intelligent, well made, exciting (at times) film that manages to blend together well full-blooded brutal combat and quieter passages where the characters reflect on the nature of their mission.

Bean and Redmayne hold the lead roles together well and there is a creepily effective turn by Tim McInnery as the leader of the mysterious villagers and a suitably ethereal performance by Carice van Houten as their guru/teacher.

An enjoyable, well directed film with the cast and German locations all adding to the sense of creeping unease that permeates the story.

Not as gripping or involving as "Triangle" but still a worthwhile viewing experience.

Starter For 10 (2006)

2010-09-22T11:07:00.002+01:00

Directed by Tom Vaughan, written by David Nicholls.

Slight but enjoyable British comedy-drama based on Nicholls' autobiographical novel.

It follows Brian Jackson (James McAvoy) as he leaves home for his first year at Bristol University where he fulfills a childhood ambition by appearing on the TV quiz show "University Challenge"and has some romantic adventures.

As a film it suffers from the smallness of the story and the restricted number of sets - it feels like a ninety minute TV drama or an adaptation of a stage play.

It's well cast - Catherine Tate, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Henshaw, Lindsay Duncan and Charles Dance all turn up at various points but there's no time for character development so they are restricted to speaking their lines and moving off screen again.

James Cordon and Dominic Cooper appear as McAvoy's childhood friends left behind, just before their breakthrough in the film adaptation of "The History Boys".

The best developed performance is by Rebecca Hall as the politically active student who acts as McAvoy's characters conscience two years before her title role in Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona".

Special mention for Mark Gattis' spot-on impersonation of TV quiz master Bamber Gascoigne.

A light and fluffy film with no surprises in the script, direction or acting but it's all competently done and pleasing to watch.

Cult Classic series number 9 : Trouble Every Day (2000)

2010-09-21T10:27:00.002+01:00

Directed by Claire Denis, written by Denis and Jean-POl Fargeau.

"The ability to love. The inability to love... The hunger to love. "

Shane Brown (Vincent Gallo) and his new wife June (Tricia Vessey) are travelling to Paris on what appears to be their honeymoon.

Meanwhile Leo (Alex Descas) is desperately searching for his wife Core (Beatrice Dalle) - when he finds her he incarcerates her in one room of the heavily fortified family home.

Elsewhere Christelle (Florence Loiret) goes about the everyday mundanity of her life as a chambermaid at the hotel where Gallo and Vessey will shortly be staying.

The story (such as it is) revolves around the way in which these five character's lives come to intertwine and revolve around each other and the ultimately destructive effect that this has on each of their lives.

While the story is slight and faintly preposterous (there's some pseudo-scientific explanation for everything at the mid-point that left me more baffled than before) the reasons to watch and enjoy this film are in the skilled direction, the haunting sense of impending disaster and the visually impressive photography of Agnes Godard.

The film moves at an extremely leisurely pace between it's set pieces, but this creates a more effective shock when the flash points and moments of extreme violence occur.

Denis created a mood piece around a slight and preposterous central concept - filled with shadows, nightscapes and the juxtaposition of the drab and the extraordinary.

A film that's going to disappoint the horror film attracted by the hyper-gory DVD sleeve or it's reputation and which was never going to find a mainstream audience of any kind; it's success is as a piece of pure film making in which each and every scene is carefully constructed and shot in order to contribute to the overall tone of the piece.

A word of praise too for the band Tindersticks whose custom-written soundtrack music and songs adds perfectly to the mood of the film.

The Informant (2009)

2010-07-13T09:46:00.004+01:00

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Scott Z. Burns from the book by Kurt Eichenwald.

Matt Damon stars as Mark Whitacre a bio-chemist and vice president at a giant US corn oil distiller who appears to uncover a price-fixing scandal and becomes a wire-man for the FBI agents sent to investigate the claim.

Very similar in tone to Clooney's Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002) a feeling heightened by seeing George Clooney listed as executive producer in the credits. Both have a very obvious sense that what we are seeing and being told may not be true - however "The Informant!" suffers from too clearly telegraphing the underlying duplicity of the narrator far too early in the film.

None of the supporting characters are drawn nearly clearly enough, the structure is jumbled and the resolution feels rushed and forced.

Not nearly as clever or witty as it thinks it is.

Walk The Line (2005)

2010-06-08T11:13:00.002+01:00

Directed by James Mangold; written by Gill Dennis and Mangold.

"Love is a burning thing. "

A fairly standard Hollywood bio-pic of a musical star ; it tells (in flashback) the story of Cash from his upbringing on an Arkansas cotton farm, the death at an early age of his brother; military service; a failed marriage and his relentless pursuit of the woman who was clearly his soul mate June Carter.

It ends with his triumphant return to the top echelon of sixties pop superstars with the recording of the legendary "Live At Folsom Prison" concert album in May 1968.

Along the way it quietly ticks all the standard boxes for films such as this - the poor upbringing, the misery and suffering brought about by his struggle for recognition and (too) early marriage.

The big break, the difficulties of sudden fame, unrequited love, growing dependence on drink and drugs and finally redemption through the love of a good woman.

Cash's life story is, in fact, much more remarkable than the fairly straightforward point-and-shoot storytelling that Mangold uses. As a "beginner's guide" though it's a perfectly adequate mainstream film.

The makers are unable to avoid the fascination with Cash's contemporaries - Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Elvis all feature in cameo impersonations : some better than others. "Bob Dylan, the folk singer I was telling you about" and "The Byrds have gone electric"are two other examples of needless name dropping in an attempt to contextualise Cash in the milieu of sixties pop and rock.

The concert footage is by far the most convincing and best parts of the film - Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon deserve a great deal of praise for singing their parts "live" rather than lip-syncing to recordings of the originals (or even their own voices). Phoenix's on-stage mannerisms are a fairly accurate impression of Cash's - suggesting some of the presence that made him such a magnetic live entertainer.

A warm and affectionate solidly made film that suffers from the too-literal and linear nature of the storytelling and which spends too long on Cash's early years at the expense a closer examination of the causes and effects of the problems he faced in his post-fame years. Cash's growing political awareness through the sixties is also curiously glossed over.

Cult Classic series number 8 : Dead Presidents (1995)

2010-06-07T11:04:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Albert and Allen Hughes.

"In this daring heist, the only color that counts is green "

A fast-moving and swirling attempt to document the experience of young black men growing up in the United States of the late sixties, the effects of the Vietnam War on those that served and the social and financial pressures that ultimately lead to a seemingly inevitable return to crime.

It's a massive subject to attempt to cover in just under two hours and the Hughes brothers sacrifice in-depth sociological probing of their characters development (or lack of it) in favour of a series of impressionistic sketches from the lives of the protagonists.

Anthony (the excellent Larenz Tate) journeys from high school graduate without much of a plan to US Marine in a superbly realised guerrilla jungle war and back to his original neighbourhood where he struggles to find steady work before becoming enmeshed in the bank heist that opens and closes the film.

Along the way he meets representatives of the generational change taking place around him - the old school numbers racketeer, the newly radicalised generation of revolutionary youth (a superb turn by N'Bushe Wright), the creeping effect of hard drug use and the controlling influence that the criminal lifestyle could have on those at the bottom of the social pyramid.

The Hughes Brothers had exploded on the film world with "Menace To Society" (1993) and that film coupled with "Dead Presidents" suggested that they would, along with John Singleton and Spike Lee, become documenters of the black American experience. Sadly their career appeared to stall : the disappointing "American Pimp" followed in 1999 before they turned their attention to more mainstream film making with the interesting comic book adaptation "From Hell" (2001) starring Johnny Depp and 2010's "The Book Of Eli"

What "Dead Presidents" shows is an ambition and an abundant natural talent - it's detractors lament it's lack of depth and character study; but in attempting to encapsulate a symbolic life over a fairly lengthy time span there's little running time left for anything other than an edited highlights package which attempts to show how Anthony turns from carefree teenager into desperate gun wielding bank robber.

Three special mentions : the superb soundtrack of period appropriate soul and funk and Danny Elfman's original theme and score; the visually arresting "ghost face" make up used by the characters during the heist and a couple of surprising cameos from big name Hollywood stars (watch especially the scene where Anthony hails a Bronx cab in the early seventies segment of the film).

A bold and distinctive film visually that might have benefited from a little script editing but overall a hugely satisfying watch.

Cult Classic series number 7 : Serenity (2005)

2010-06-05T14:09:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Joss Whedon.

"Can't stop the signal"

Whedon's post-Buffy 'space western' TV series "Firefly" was cancelled in 2003 after just one season leaving it's fans unhappy and several series-long story arcs unresolved.

"Serenity" the film, therefore, had two hurdles to jump. Would it satisfy the fans of the TV series and would it work as a stand alone film?

The answer to both is yes - the first half of the film sets up the conflict, establishes the premise and brings those without prior knowledge up to speed on the back story; the second-half is made up of full tilt action sequences and scenes of quiet despair as the series' underlying mystery is resolved and characters stories are completed.

Being able to reassemble all of the TV series cast helped as Whedon is able to use with our and their shared backstorys to good effect. A sprinkling of new characters are introduced, most effectively Chiwetel Ejiofor as the ice-cold operative on the crew's trail with a deadly agenda of his own.

It's pace, wit and charm never let up and a superb balance is maintained between the demands of the story telling and the steady stream of great one-liners as the crew of the ship interact with each other. Hugely enjoyable.

New on DVD : The Unloved (2009)

2010-06-02T13:29:00.002+01:00

Directed by Samantha Morton ; written by Tony Grisoni and Morton.

A made-for-TV film sensibly given a DVD release on the ICA label.

Lucy (Molly Windsor) is a twelve year old who has been failed by both her parents. After one too many instances of abuse she enters the social care system where she meets Lauren (Lauren Socha) a street wise sixteen year old. The film tells of Lucy's struggle to come to terms with her new life and her stoical refusal to let go of her innocence.

It has an underlying message about abuse and neglect, even with the best intentions in the world, and is unflinching in it's analysis of an overworked and under resourced system.

The story and performances are all absolutely fine, especially the mesmeric Molly Windsor in the lead role, ably supported by Robert Carlyle and Susan Lynch as her parents; but what sets it above a standard issue television "issues" drama is the overwhelming visual style of the piece, especially remarkable as it's the directoral debut of actress Samantha Morton.

She's long since been one of Britain's best but largely under rated actresses demonstrating her versatility by appearing in films as diverse as the big-budget "Minority Report" and "The Libertine", the ultra-arthouse "Mr.Lonely" and worthwhile indie pieces including "Control", "In America" and Lynne Ramsay's wonderful "Morvern Callar" (2002).

It's the last of these which is closest in style and feel to "The Unloved". Morton, like Ramsay, is happy to let the camera comment on the action and to alter her style in order to better reflect what we are seeing on the screen.

In "The Unloved" the initial scenes set in the children's home are shot in extreme close-up with frenetic cuts as if to emphasise Lucy's feelings of disorientation, the more prosaic scenes as the process of the system are seen at work are brightly (even overly) lit and filmed in a hyper-realist style, the moments where Lucy is alone and happy with her own thoughts are presented in warm, fuzzy tones with the camera ever so slightly out of focus.

There are several overhead shots - the camera looking down on Lucy as she performs some routine daily action : coupled with the insert shots of Catholic iconography these give a sense of the central character being watched over (or believing that she is) even during the most trivial activites.

The bravest directorial decision that Samantha Morton makes though is to allow the camera to do nothing, to remain motionless or to move with exreme slowness. These moments of stillness are used to emphasise Lucy's isolation and aloneness and are handled superbly - held for just the right length of time to break the narrative flow but not sufficently to annoy the viewer. This is especially brave given that the film was originally made for TV where the still image is anathema these days.

Based on the evidence of "The Unloved" it would seem that Morton could become one of the leading young British film makers if that's the direction that she wants to move in. It's also possible that her name recognition would make it easier to attract finance and support for her projects, unlike the criminally under used Lynne Ramsay.

A remarkable and striking directorial debut and I look forward with huge anticipation to her next project.

New on DVD : Zombieland (2009)

2010-06-02T10:58:00.004+01:00

Directed by Ruben Fleischer ; written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

"This place is so dead"

Jesse Eisenberg is a luckless, repressed, list-obsessed college student (a "loser" in teen-speak) who somehow has avoided falling foul of a plague that transformed the vast majority of the world's population into flesh craving zombie mutants.

He sets off to travel from college in Texas to his home in Columbus, Ohio and along the way meets cynical Twinkie devotee Woody Harrelson, worldy wise girl-of-about-his-age Emma Stone and her younger sister Abigail Breslin. The action of the film then unfolds as the four of them travel together and separately across the western United States, ending with a set-piece showdown at the Pacific Playland funfair.

Eisenberg's wild eyed naivety is the perfect centre for the film - it's essentially the same character that he played in "Adventureland" (2009) - only this time he has slightly more pressing problems than unrequited love (although that's present here as well).

Harrelson's tough-guy-with-a-secret-sorrow is given all the cliches from previous zombies v humans films and delivers them with just the right amount of tongue in cheek straight-faced charm. Stone and Breslin are both perfectly fine in the slightly under-written female roles.

And then there's The Secret Cameo - which is funny, effective and very well played.

Fleischer directs in a stylised and fluid manner - using on-screen graphics neatly to illustrate Eisenberg's character's love of lists is a neat trick. He handles the big set piece action sequences (and there are plenty of them) just as well as the smaller more intimate moments.

There's nothing here too scary or repulsive for the mainstream audience and it's UK rating of a 15 certificate is probably about right. In fact the film has a warm heart at it's centre, which helps us to warm to the four main characters - none of whom would be too likeable without this splash of humanity.

It's a slight and light film and, with it's 88 minute total running time, feels a little unfinished; although it has to be said there's more than a hint of "sequel" or "franchise opportunity" about the final scenes.

But it's funny, sharp, witty and very well delivered by all those involved. Perfect brain-in-neutral fun that nips along at an enjoyable pace.

Am I Black Enough For You? (2009)

2010-06-01T10:56:00.002+01:00

Directed by Goran Olsson.

"Am I Black Enough For You?" is a documentary centred around seventies Philly soul star Billy Paul (probably best remembered for his global hit "Me And Mrs. Jones); his rise to stardom, the problems it caused him, his decline and his rehabilitation in later life.

There's three elements to the film : the story of his success and the effects that it had on him, the massive popularity of Philadelphia soul in the mid and late-seventies and his later decline into heavy drug use and redemption through love when he met his current wife.

The archive footage of Paul at the height of his fame is the most interesting - although the contemporary interviews have their moments Paul himself has an irritating habit of having "forgotten" or choosing to gloss over some of the lower points in his life story.

The pivotal moment in his career came in the wake of "Me And Mrs. Jones" and there is an interesting section that details the conflict caused by his record company and management's desire to package him as a smooth soul balladeer while his original fan base and the wider community condem him for "selling out".

It was the later response that led to him recording the anthemic massive funk song that gives the film it's title and a couple of albums in the same vein where he attempted to prove that fame hadn't changed him : "conscious" soul/funk albums mining the same areas of concern as Marvin's "What's Going On?" and other socially aware soul albums of the seventies.

The major failing of the film is that there's far too much footage of the now elderly Paul performing in Europe with a pick-up band; I'd have preferred more from the archives and more honest and open retrospective interviews with the subject and his associates.

Verging on hagiography a little too often for a mass audience, it's still of interest to fans of the artist and those who already have a working knowledge of the scene he emerged from and briefly dominated.

Worthwhile but badly flawed.

The Vengeance Of She (1968)

2010-05-27T11:08:00.002+01:00

Directed by Cliff Owen; written by Peter O'Donnell.

"The ultimate female who used her beauty and her body to bring kingdoms to their downfall and men to their knees"

Carol, a young European woman of uncertain nationality and accent (Olinka Berova), is possessed by the spirit of Ayesha, Queen of the lost city of Kuma.

Hammer had had an earlier success with the film "She" (1965) based on the source novel by H.Rider Haggard and starring Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing and John Richardson. While not a brilliant film by any stretch of the imagination, the strength of the cast and some inventive direction at least makes it an interesting watch forty five years later.

The same cannot be said of this insipid attempt at a sequel which is simply dull.

The best scene in the entire film is the pre-credits sequence of Berova wandering absently along a French country road before being picked up by a lustful lorry driver. His unwanted advances ending badly for him.

After that it's a long trek to the end with seemingly endless scenes of plodding through "deserts", a myriad of pointless sub-plots and an utterly ridiculous conclusion.

Olinka Berova may have been touted as an "exotic new beauty" (it was the mid-sixties, but even so!), however they really should have checked if she could act before they started filming. She's at her most believable when called upon to do nothing in order to suggest a trance-like state. Other than that she's pretty much ghastly throughout.

Elsewhere in the cast John Richardson returns and looks distinctly uneasy; George Sewell and Colin Blakely struggle on manfully and Andre Morell is underused and borderline racist in the role of an Arab mystic.

Utterly without redeeming features and a low point even in the 'B' movie output of the studio.

Cult Classic series number 6 : Thieves Like Us (1974)

2010-05-26T11:14:00.002+01:00

Directed by Robert Altman; written by Altman, Joan Tewkesbury and Calder Willingham.

"Robbing 36 banks was easy. Watch what happens when they hit the 37th. "

The story is derived from Edward Anderson's novel of the same name which was also the source of Nicolas Ray's noir classic "They Live By Night" (1948) - Altman, however, opts not to shoot the film in a neo-noir style but instead presents the story as a period drama; in much the same way as his earlier "McCabe And Mrs. Miller" (1971) was a 'western' only in terms of time and place of it's setting.

The story revolves around a trio of fugitives (Keith Carradine, Bert Remsen, and John Schuck) who rob banks in Mississippi while trying to stay out of the hands of the law; meanwhile, Carradine develops a crush on a gas station attendant (Shelly Duvall), Remsen falls for a blonde beauty school student (Ann Lathan), and Schuck shows increasingly violent tendencies.

Viewed as a period drama (like Arthur Penn's 1967 "Bonnie And Clyde") this is a beautifully constructed and photographed film - d.p. Jean Boffety gives it a warm and alive tone, a lived in look and the sense of hyper-realism is added to by the attention to the minutest detail in the set construction, costumes and props.

It's like a very violent Merchant Ivory production.

The same level of care is taken with the story. At it's heart there are two (possibly three) love stories and it's here that the focus of the film falls - only one of the bank robberies is shown in any detail, the death of one of the central characters happens off-screen.

Instead Altman immerses us in the human relationships : Carradine is a man in love who just happens to rob banks for a living. The mechanics of his work life are a commonplace to him, the driving force in his life is his desire to spend every waking moment with Duvall.

It's a beautifully told story that unfolds on screen, as with all Altman's best work he engages the viewer and makes you care enough about the characters that you really do want to know how things work out for each of them.

Perfectly cast and almost flawlessly delivered it's a real shame that "Thieves Like Us" has ended up in the 'neglected gem' file. Well worthy of your time and of critical re-evaluation.

Modern Gems series number 3 : Milk (2008)

2010-05-25T10:36:00.003+01:00

Directed by Gus van Sant, written by Dustin Lance Black

"His life changed history. His courage changed lives."

"Milk" is a biopic of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), a gay activist who became engaged with the political process and ultimately rose to the position of power in San Francisco before meeting an untimely death at the age of 48 in 1978.

The film follows only the last eight years of his life when, having relocated to the West Coast from New York, Milk opens a shop that becomes a hang-out, information exchange and talking shop for the local gay community. He becomes an organiser and social campaigner (not just for Gay Rights but as representative of all excluded people), runs for city office unsuccessfully several times before finally becoming elected as a City supervisor on the same day as his nemesis, the arch-conservative Dan White (Josh Brolin).

van Sant cleverly mixes archive footage of the United States at the time and of the real Harvey Milk with the scripted portions of the film, giving it a feel closer to a documentary than a drama ; he opens with newsreel of late fifties and early sixties police persecution of gay men (and women) - busting up their drinking places and herding them into paddy wagons in the style of a thirties Speakeasy bust.

It then roles into Penn as Milk living a closeted life in New York. Unhappy and unfulfilled a chance encounter provides the catalyst for a move to San Francisco where the action of the remainder of the film is played out.

Despite the obvious input that van Sant has to the look and feel it's Sean Penn's film from beginning to end - he is in practically every scene and makes Milk a believable real life figure.

As he transforms and evolves from wild-eyed idealist into mainstream political animal not only does the superficial aspect of his appearance (clothes, hair etc.) change so does Penn's physical portrayal - he becomes "bigger" as he emerges from his safety zone and into the larger world. His mannerisms and speech patterns change; the transformation is complete in the final section of the film where Milk has become the establishment figure and the role of fire-brand wielding tyro is passed to others.

A confident, poised and fully engaged Milk emerges from Penn's performance - striding up the steps of the Town Hall to address protesters in conciliatory terms rather than the language of defiance and opposition that he was using earlier.

It's a film with an obvious message but it's delivered in a non-hectoring style; placing the Gay Rights movement within the context of the ongoing civil rights campaign in the United States and delivering a piece of filmed social history that has it's faults (mainly caused by the need to reduce a story with massive scope to a highlights package) but is entertaining, humane, warm and uplifting.

Cult Classic series no.5 : Go (1999)

2010-05-24T10:43:00.003+01:00

Directed by Doug Liman; written by John August

"life begins at 3am."

The lives of three store clerks (Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes and Desmond Askew) intertwine with those of two soap actors (Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr) and a sociopathic drug dealer (Timothy Olyphant) in the course of a hectic weekend in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

It's often described as being similar to Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (1950) in which the same event is told from multiple viewpoints; this isn't strictly accurate - each of the three chapters have the same jumping off point but then tell a different part of the story rather than a different version of the same story. In fact it's actually closer to being a junior version of Altman's "Short Cuts" (1993) - each of the characters has a separate adventure but at various points these cross and mix.

The story itself is fairly slight - even though several of the characters are placed in threatening situations there's never any real doubt that they'll all make it to the end of the film OK.

The pleasure comes from the light and frothy dialogue - much like a nineties version of a screwball comedy there's plenty of snappy double talk - and Liman's arresting visual style.

He'd already made a critical impression with "Swingers" (1996) and this film seemed to confirm that here was a brash new talent with a bright future. His style here is kinetic and fast paced - plenty of jump cuts and hand held work.

Oddly he then seemed to lose his way for a while and after 2002's "The Bourne Identity" seemed to find work hard to come by (although initial reports on "Fair Game" (2010) are generally positive.)

The lead actors are all perfectly fine, especially Sarah Polley but the real fun is among the support characters. Olyphant oozes louche charisma, Taye Diggs as Askwith's uber cool buddy during his Vegas adventure and William Fichtner and Jane Krakowsi as a married pair of police officers with an odd approach to domestic life are all excellent.

A word too for the superb soundtrack : breaks and old school rave (Lionrock, Massive Attack, Leftfield) rubbing up against some classy rock from the likes of Steppenwolf and No Doubt.

Fast paced and fun - it's an excellent way to spend an hour and a half and doesn't require too much input or commitment from the viewer.

Film Noir classic : Crossfire (1947)

2010-05-22T10:14:00.003+01:00

Directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by John Paxton.

"Sensational? No, it's dynamite!"

"Crossfire" has a lot of things to say about the America of the immediate-post World War II period; it's based on a novel by Richard Brooks (who later became a director of some repute : Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958), In Cold Blood (1967) etc.) and like the source novel the film addresses issues of displacement, social uncertainty and prejudice among those returning home from military service.

Robert Mitchum is Keeley, the de facto leader of a group of soldiers recently discharged from the army who find themselves adrift in the big city with money to spend and time to kill. They fall in with Joseph Samuels (Sam Levene) an urbane and sophisticated man-about-town who ends up dead.

Police detective Finlay (an excellent performance by Robert Young) sets about solving the murder while Mitchum attempts to prevent the finger of suspicion pointing at his friend Mitchell (George Cooper) who would appear to be the obvious suspect.

Slowly both men come to the same conclusion about the identity of the murderer and his motives. A discovery that shocks and sickens them.

It's a truly remarkable film with all the usual signifiers of a noir (including a smoldering femme fatale performance from Gloria Grahame) - the deep focus photography, pitch black shadows and convincingly realistic setting are all present; but the story, the way it works through and the reveal are all radical for the time (although a change was made from the original novel in order to placate the censor).

Terrific performances, great photography and superb direction all contribute to a stand out film that won an award at Cannes for 'Best Social Film' and picked up five Oscar nominations including Best Picture - it lost out to "A Gentleman's Agreement" which tackled a very similar subject matter.

Shifty (2008)

2010-03-10T12:33:00.002Z

Written and directed by Eran Creevy.

A young man (Chris) returns to his home town after four years away to visit his former best friend Shifty (Riz Ahmed). In this time Shifty has become a big noise on the local drug scene and over the course of 24 hours Chris is witness to the downward spiralling of Shifty's life as a combination of circumstance and bad luck lead to his life falling apart.

A wholly creditable directorial debut by Creevy with warm performances by the two leads and able support from (among others) Jason Flemying and Francesca Annis.

The story is told simply and with the minimum of fuss, the characters are believeable and the location shooting gives the film a well developed sense of place. The screenplay sounds natural and the street patois well used without seeming laboured.

There's no flashy camerawork or attempts at grandstanding or moralising - it's a fairly simple story told very well in the same vein of modern urban British drama as the work of Shane Meadows or Andrea Arnold.

A well constructed story that plays out over a tight time frame (both on-screen and in terms of run time) that bodes very well for Creevy's future.

Hugely enjoyable.

New on DVD : The Hurt Locker (2008)

2009-12-31T11:12:00.002Z

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by Mark Boal.

"You'll know when you're in it."

There's going to be a lot of films made about the US involvement in the continuing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have already appeared the best of which has been Brian de Palma's "Redacted" (2007).

Unlike the Vietnam War, which was beamed directly in to the homes of TV viewers across the Western World during the sixties, the US military (having learned the lesson of the negative effect that nightly film of US troops being slaughtered had on popular opinion at home) have tightly restricted the access of TV news to events in Iraq. This places a greater burden on film makers to show the "reality" of the situation to those not directly involved but whose lives are being affected and changed by the ongoing military action.

Like de Palma's film, "The Hurt Locker" focuses on the work and life of a small group of US service personnel - unlike the earlier film it has no overt political statement to make or undercurrent of comment about the morality of the actions being taken by the protagonists.

Bigelow's film centres around three members of Bravo Company's bomb disposal squad as they enter the final weeks of their rotation. Will James (Jeremy Renner) is the battle hardened, flamboyant bomb tech - apparently fearless and absorbed in the technical aspect of his work; Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) the career soldier with a rigorous approach to his work and Eldridge (Brian Gerghaty) the relative newcomer left confused and part traumatised by earlier events.

The film follows them as they go about their potentially deadly missions and uses a variety of techniques (both visual and verbal) to show the enormous pressure that they work under on a daily basis and the lengths that they go to in order to attempt to relax at the end of the day.

The film spends less time in the off-duty world of the soldiers than "Redacted" - it's less concerned with the relationship between the men and their isolation from their home lives than with the nature and effect of their working day.

The bomb disposal scenes themselves are very well done; there's a real sense of tension and the nearness of death about them. A long central scene away from Baghdad points up the constant threat to their lives even in the most common place situation and we learn more about the characters attitudes and inner lives during this stand-off than from any amount of barrack room exposition.

It's not the masterpiece that some critics hailed it as but it's a very, very good film that will certainly resonate during awards season. All of the acting roles are handled with skill and Bigelow directs with the same kinetic energy that she brought to the fantastic "Near Dark" (1987) and "Strange Days" (1995).

It works well on the smaller screen too - the intimate nature of the film making comes over well and there's an added sense of claustrophobia.

An intense and involving film that sets the bar fairly high for those to come.

Special Features:

Behind the Scenes
Interviews with Cast and Crew

New on DVD : Hush (2009)

2009-08-03T12:33:00.004+01:00

Written and directed by Mark Tonderai.

Debut film from former BBC Radio1 DJ Tonderai.

Zakes, a would be writer with a dead end job (William Ash) and his girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) become involved in a tussle with a murderous truck driver while driving on the M1 in Northern England.

Exactly the sort of low budget thriller that the British film industry should be producing more of if they want to help to develop and nurture young talent and move away from a slate consisting of Curtis-style "charming" comedies and costume dramas.

It's a very well constructed film, with a claustrophobic feel that reflects Zakes' growing panic and fear as he's dragged further into the nightmare. Lots of hand held camera work makes the action feel intimate and there are enough small scale shocks and twists to keep the viewer hooked throughout.

At 88 minutes there's not too much of the running time used for exposition, character development or scene setting - it's a lean and taut story told convincingly and with the minimum of fuss.

There's moments where the low budget available are obvious and some of the dialogue and acting could have done with a little sharpening up; but overall, as an example of what can be achieved with a little creativity and imagination, it's a thoroughly decent debut.

New on DVD : Gran Torino (2008)

2009-07-27T12:33:00.002+01:00

Directed by Clint Eastwood , written by Nick Schenk.

Following the death of his wife, Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is forced to recognise that his neighbourhood has changed and come to terms with the new society that he now lives in.

The mature Eastwood's work behind the camera, from Unforgiven (1992) to Changeling (2008) has been uniformly interesting and well executed. The fact that this run also includes Mystic River (2003), The Bridges Of Madison County (1995) and Million Dollar Baby (2004) demonstrates that he's equally comfortable and adept moving across and between different genres, always bringing a quiet and unfussy style to bear on the material and always with a simple grace that makes the film highly watchable.

In "Gran Torino" Nick Schenk's script has Eastwood suddenly alone (his wife has died and his grown-up children have effectively deserted him) in the neighbourhood he's lived in for most of his adult life; the sub-text being that previously he and his wife had been able to live an insular life, ignoring the social changes that were happening around them.

Now he's forced to confront (both physically and emotionally) the changes : most significantly that he's now surrounded by immigrants from South East Asia, with their "alien" customs and practices. As a former conscript in the Korean War he has difficulty recognising that these economic and social refugees are unconnected to the enemy that he was once sent overseas to fight.

Kowalski's racism isn't born of prejudice or fear : it's a conditioned response taught to him by his time in the army. It becomes apparent that it was necessary for him to dehumanise those that he was fighting in order for him to survive his tour of duty and that, previously, he's never had reason to question this indoctrination.

As the film progresses he is forced to adapt and accept his new neighbours, mainly through the continued efforts of his new next door neighbour Sue Lor (Ahney Her) who refuses to accept his initial bluffness and perseveres with him, eventually entrusting her wayward brother Thao (Bee Vang) into his care as a sort of apprentice American.

Kowalski and Thao have a symbiotic relationship : the older man teaching his young protegee about the American way of life while himself learning lessons about acceptance and tolerance.

Eastwood's acting is superbly judged - the growl that signifies displeasure one of the greatest inventions in recent cinema- he beautifully portrays the initial isolation and distrust and then the subsequent mellowing before returning to a steely-eyed determination as the film reaches it's (inevitable) climax.

The two young Hmong actors are both excellent and some of the minor characters are superbly realised ( Kowalski's barber and construction gang boss friend, for example).

There are moments of comedy, of quiet poignancy, of genuine pathos and of real tension.

A hugely watchable film that still manages to make it's philosophical points without lecturing, a worthy addition to Eastwood's canon as both actor and director. Unmissable.

New on DVD : Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

2009-07-24T12:39:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Woody Allen.

"Life is the ultimate work of art"

Down to earth, sensible, engaged to be married Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and her free-spirited friend Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) travel to Barcelona where they encounter a bohemian painter (Javier Bardem) and both become, to various degrees, enmeshed in his world and life.

Every time that Allen releases a new film the critics and reviewers go into paroxysms and attempt to divine whether it's "a return to form", "a partial return to form" or "shows no signs of a return to form".

There's two points to be made about this attitude and approach to his work :

1) It's highly unlikely that Allen even wants to make films like Love And Death, Manhattan or Annie Hall any more. He's an older man with changed priorities, to not evolve over the course of the thirty years since Manhattan would be much more of a crime than to no longer be producing films that make mainstream cinema goers laugh.

2) It's a remarkable achievement that a man in his seventies still has the energy and desire to produce a new film every single year without failure. It should also be celebrated that he seems to do so with a dedication to the independent spirit, steering clear of big studio money wherever possible and, thus, avoiding any sort of conflict with his artistic vision.

From this stand point "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" stands as a perfectly fine and reasonably amusing film. It's not got huge messages to send, instead looking gently at the way that people of different temperament and background react when faced with something outside their previous experience.

The two titular leads are both very well cast and delivered and Bardem takes the role of the boho artist and adds some depth, life, charm and sensitivity.

The city plays it's part in the film too, providing an intriguing background to many of the location shots - part of Allen's continuing fascination with cityscapes and architecture (Manhattan, the Venice segment of Everybody Says I Love You.)

The screen is stolen though by Penelope Cruz who turns up at the half way mark to throw in a performance that's all wild hair, bared teeth and barely suppressed natural force. Working in Spanish (for the most part) certainly seems to help too; as with her work with Almodavar she's an alluring and captivating screen presence and Allen makes the absolute most of her ability.

On the downside I could have done without the voice-over narration, on the plus side it's good that Allen no longer feels the need to cast himself as the romantic lead (or at all) in films to which he's physically clearly unsuited.

It's a short, snappy (96 minutes) reminder of why Allen should be allowed to carry on making films for just as long as he feels the need.

Le Serpent (2006)

2009-07-23T15:07:00.002+01:00

Directed and written by Eric Barbier from the novel by Ted Lewis.

"Vincent's life is being destroyed. Now he must find out why. "

From the same school of paranoid mystery thriller as Cache [Hidden] (2005) and Ne Le Dis A Personne [Tell No One] (2006) "Le Serpent" revolves around "why is he doing this to him?" rather than "why is this happening to them/him?" .

Vincent (Yvan Attal) is a fashion photographer in the midst of divorce proceedings who finds himself a murder suspect following the death of girl-for-hire Sofia (Olga Kurylenko) at his studio.
The sudden reappearance of a former classmate Plender (Clovis Cornillac) who is now a private eye at first offers hope and then turns into something much more sinister.

In fact, very early in the film we learn how Plender supplements his income with the help of Sofia. The film's mystery for the viewer (rather than Vincent) is less on who's making his life a misery but rather his reasons for doing so.

It's suitably hard-edged with one or two nicely staged set-pieces and the script resolves all of the questions that it asks.

Although it's not as gripping or enthralling as either of the two previously mentioned near contemporary films, nonetheless there's enough of interest to keep you watching and entertained for two hours.

Not from the top drawer and not essential - but an interesting and worthwhile addition to the burgeoning canon of 21st. century French thrillers.

New on DVD : Valkyrie (2008)

2009-07-23T13:05:00.002+01:00

Directed by Bryan Singer, written by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander.

"Many saw evil. They dared to stop it. "

Injured while serving with the German Army in North Africa Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) returns, badly injured, to Berlin where he is recruited to take part in the "Valkyrie" plot to assassinate Hitler.

The difficulty for the writers and director here is that, obviously, everyone watching knows the outcome of the plot.

It's to their credit therefore that they manage to make the film as engaging and even (in places)thrilling as it is .

The film splits into roughly four parts : Cruise's repatriation and recruitment, the planning of the assassination, the event itself and the aftermath.

The second and fourth parts work best. During the planning stage Cruise and his fellow conspirators (Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terrence Stamp, Eddie Izzard and others) wrestle with both the logistics and the moral implications of their actions.

There's a taut sense of their understanding of why this action is necessary, together with plenty of illustration of the lengths that they go to in order to ensure the success of their plan in the aftermath of Hitler's death.

In the final section, the bomb having been detonated and the conspirators having taken control of Berlin's militia, there's some very well put together scenes as forces loyal to Hitler are rounded up by a confused and diffident civil defence corps.

There's a couple of attempts at throwing some twists into the ending but again with the foreknowledge that we bring to the film there is little tension in these moments and they become simply exercises in writing and acting.

Well acted throughout the cast (wandering accents not withstanding), tightly directed and impressive in some of it's set pieces - it's saturday night with a few drinks fare with no pretensions to be anything else.

Enjoyable despite consisting almost entirely of surface with no depths (hidden or otherwise) to worry the viewer.

Special Features:
Commentary by Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie
Commentary by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander
The Journey to Valkyrie
The Valkyrie Legacy

Cult Classic series no. 4 : Vanishing Point (1971)

2009-07-22T12:42:00.002+01:00

Directed by Richard C. Sarafian, written by Malcolm Hart and G. Cabrera Infante.

"It's the maximum trip... at maximum speed"

"Vanishing Point" is so embedded in the time in which it was made that it could stand as a museum exhibit for the early seventies counter-culture idea of "sticking it to The Man".

It's the four wheeled signifier that sits alongside Two Lane Blacktop as the car driving response to Easy Rider.

Kowalski (like Prince or Madonna, just the one name) is a car delivery driver taking a cross country journey from Colorado to San Francisco. After an early run-in with the local traffic cops he becomes involved in a car chase across three States, meeting some interesting "outsider" people along the way.

The chorus/exposition/ commentary is delivered by radio DJ Super Soul (Cleavon Little) and all that we know of Kowalski is revealed in flashback and through the police investigation of his background.

Thus Super Soul tells us that Kowalski is "the last beautiful free soul on this planet" and "the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul" and he asks "The question is not when's he gonna stop, but who is gonna stop him. "

Those phrases encapsulate the spirit of the film and are wholly representative of the script's attitude to it's subject. Kowalski is symbolic of the American state of youthful independence being crushed by the inflexibility of the rule of law and it's enforcers.

Each of the people he meets up with along his journey have likewise stepped outside The System : Dean Jagger's snake wrangling prospector, Timothy Scott's hippie biker, Seven Darden's J.Hovah, a travelling faith healer and a (possibly hallucinatory) encounter with an odd hitcher (Charlotte Rampling).

The authorities are consistently shown as stupid and/or unquestioning in their attitude, following orders and determined to stop the free spirited fugitive.

Those who attempt to stop Super Soul's broadcasts of support are portrayed as racist rednecks.

Kowalski himself is portrayed as a belief less nihilist - only the job matters to him, everything else is just distraction. (Although it's worth pointing out that whenever a patrolman appears to be injured he does stop and check that they're OK before speeding off again).

Viewed at nearly forty years distance the film appears clumsy and hopelessly idealistic, but there is something bordering on the magical about the shots of Kowalski's Dodge Challenger barrelling through the Nevada desert. It's essentially one long car chase with some elements of cod-social commentary and mysticism bolted on.

But - and here's the point - it's perfectly representative of the viewpoint that many young Americans held at the time and the spirit of opposition that was abroad among US film makers in the newly independent post-Easy Rider world of the early seventies.

Viewed on these terms it's both a fascinating historical document and an allegory for the Woodstock generations belief system. Neither the director or screenwriter ever reached these levels again, adding to the idea of "Vanishing Point" as an extraordinary one-off chance accident of timing and material.

Interesting, if a little one dimensional.

New on DVD : The Young Victoria (2009)

2009-07-21T12:35:00.002+01:00

Directed by Jean-Marc Valle, written by Julian Fellowes.

A costume drama that contains two separate stories that intertwine and wrap around each other. On the one hand there's the fairly well known story of Victoria's romance with Prince Albert on the other there's the lesser known struggle that she faced to be accepted (because of her gender) by the political big hitters of the day.

Early on her teenage life is made a misery by John Conroy (Mark Strong) chief of staff to her mother (Miranda Richardson) who seeks power and advantage for himself by attempting to force Victoria to appoint her mother as regent until she reaches the age of twenty five.

When she ascends to the throne she falls foul of the influence of the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany at his most charming ), a course of action that almost ends in disaster and causes a rift with her new husband Albert (a winning turn by Rupert Friend).

The courting of Victoria by Albert is the best realised section of the film; his fretting over an inability to dance, the difficulties of a long distance relationship conducted entirely by letter, the political manoeuvring of both the British and the Belgian courts.

The stand-out performance is that of Emily Blunt in the title role - at times confident and poised at others brow beaten and used. The growth of Victoria from an over protected teenager with little idea of the world to a fiercely independent young woman determined to make a difference is very well handled, and Blunt plays each stage of the development very well indeed.

There's a couple of moments in the last third of the film where Victoria's determination to be her own woman and nicely demonstrated in small, understated scenes.

Nice support work from Bettany and Friend as well as Harriet Walter as the dowager Queen and by Jim Broadbent as Victoria's doting uncle, William IV.

As with all costume dramas there are moments when the period detail and obsession with dresses, hats and coats threatens to overwhelm the story, but the sheer strength of the central story and performances keeps the film moving along nicely.

A couple of dodgy matte effects in the background aside it's a technically accomplished film that at least attempts to portray Victoria as as a woman with beliefs and principles and show how difficult it was for even the most powerful female in the country to make her voice heard in the male dominated world of mid-19th century society.

The love story is charming and sweet, the politics nicely handled and the message delivered with smoothness.

Perfectly enjoyable on several levels.

(1 DVD release with the standard extras)

Marie Antoinette (2006)

2009-02-17T14:58:00.002Z

Written and directed by Sofia Coppola.

"Let Them Eat Cake"

Coppola sets out to tell the story of France's (in)famous Queen as though Marie Antoinette was a modern day celebrity royal. There's no attempt at historically accurate language (thank goodness) and the soundtrack booms and cracks to the likes of The Gang Of Four, The Cure and Bow Wow Wow.

Kirsten Dunst plays the title role as a confused, insecure teenager - which she may well have been - constantly being led by her mother's mouthpiece (Steve Coogan as the Austrian representative at the French Court). She is bored by the routine of the court, amused by the stupidities of protocol, surrounds herself with giggling friends of her own age and is constantly on the look out for the next distraction from the predictable and well ordered life that has been arranged for her.

At a stupidly young age (fifteen in reality, but this isn't stressed in the film) Marie Antoinette is taken, almost by force, from her native Austria to be married to the Dauphin of France in order to strengthen the ties between the two countries. She finds her new husband Louis (Jason Schwartzman with the same wide eyed innocence he used in I heart Huckabees ) to be more interested in hunting and locks (!) than his new wife and soon becomes bored by life at court, leading to a series of attempts to liven things up, a feud with the King's mistress and a growing taste for expensive luxuries to distract herself with.

When the King dies Louis and his (child) bride ascend to the throne where, through a mixture of youthful idiocy and bad advice, they manage to near bankrupt the country, alienate the citizenship and eventually bring about the downfall of the monarchy.

All of this is taken at something of a breakneck speed and the final resolution is little more than a footnote to the story of Marie Antoinette's sixteen years of living life to the full at somebody else's expense.

Sofia Coppola directs with an assured and confident style and the set dressing, hair and make-up departments work over time but the failings are in the slightness of the story compared with the hugely dramatic events in the history of France that were, in reality, being played out at the time.

Not a bad film by any means, and certainly watchable, especially Dunst who is excellent throughout and Judy Davis as her best friend, but the inevitability of the ending means that we could have done with more to explain how the revolution came about and the part that Louis and his court played in making it happen.

A worthwhile exercise but a bit too close to chewing gum for the eyes

Children Of The Revolution (1996)

2009-02-03T15:36:00.003Z

Written and directed by Peter Duncan

"What do you do when your father is no ordinary Joe?"

Another in the chain of small, charming, comedy drama films that emerged from Australia during the mid and late nineties. Very much mining the same vein as the likes of Muriel's Wedding (1994) , Diana & Me (1997) and The Dish (2000) .

Judy Davis plays a young woman living in 1940's Australia besotted with the idea of bringing Russian-style worker's revolution to her homeland. She's pursued romantically by Geoffrey Rush, who has no love of revolutionary politics but feigns an interest in the course of his wooing.

She's also of interest to Sam Neill as an Australian secret service agent with a secret or two of his own to keep.

After being invited to Russia to meet Stalin she returns to Australia and, nine months later, there's a rather surprising addition to her life.

It's a very slight and sound plot, more of a stage play than a cinematic experience, but the performances are all so adept that the shortcomings are easily covered over and the film moves along smartly to it's predictable but still well handled conclusion.

Davis and Neill are both excellent and there's sure handed work among the support cast from Rachel Griffiths as a pseudo S&M clad police officer and the always fine F.Murray Abraham as Joe Stalin.

The scenes within the Kremlin before and during Davis's visit are clever and funny by turn, the "disappearance" of several of Stalin's secretaries for unspecified crimes against the state is especially amusing.

Duncan cleverly cuts newsreel footage (both real and doctored) into his film and has a fluid style (although this sometimes runs away from him leaving shots hanging in mid-air) and it never quite lives up to it's satirical ambitions.

Despite this the film cracks along at a sprightly pace, has some moments of genuine comedy and farce and scores with a few of it's satirical points.

An enjoyable, if lightweight, film.

Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

2009-01-13T12:43:00.002Z

Written by Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows, directed by Shane Meadows.

"He's in all of us. "

Absurdly talented British writer/director fourth feature length film was this revenge story, steeped in the tradition of "Deliverance", "Death Wish" and "Straw Dogs".

The story is straightforward and simple : Richard (co-writer Considine) returns to his home town from the army to revenge the brutalisation of his mentally challenged brother by a local group of drug dealing lowlifes.

As well as focusing on the acts of revenge (and contrition) the film also has a story to tell about the way in which even the smallest and most tightly knit of communities will have living among them people with little or no respect for the concept of "society".

The film belongs in almost equal measure to Meadows and Considine. The latter's performance as the dead-eyed desensitised soldier with a personal mission to fulfill is mesmeric ; Meadows' s visual style and flair carry the film along at a brisk and absorbing pace, while not shying away from the more visceral moments as Considine takes his revenge or the bullying of his brother (told in flashback).

Many of the supporting cast are non-actors or non-professionals and yet they are handled with such skill and ease that this never becomes apparent. There's very good work especially by former boxer Gary Stretch as Sonny, leader of the drugs gang.

The story ends with a couple of massive twists and surprises which I won't spoil for you but they both add an enormous amount to a thoroughly worthwhile and interesting viewing experience.

Scream Of Fear (1961) (aka "Taste Of Fear")

2008-11-12T12:39:00.003Z

Written by Jimmy Sangster, directed by Seth Holt.

"For maximum thrill . . . we earnestly urge you to see this motion picture from the start!"

When you think of the UK's Hammer Studio you tend to associate it with their "monster movie" quickies, the Dracula and Frankenstein series for example. They were, however, equally adept at the more calculated psychological thriller and produced many fine examples of the genre throughout the sixties and in to the early seventies.

This, though, is their finest moment in the field. Released within a year of the first showing of Hitchcock's Psycho it's clearly learned the lesson that a top class horror film doesn't require buckets of gore and severed limbs to be effective.

Jimmy Sangster's script is a beautifully realised thing : in a pre-credits sequence we see police in an unnamed European country removing the body of a dead young woman from a lake. We then meet Susan Strasberg (career best performance) arriving at the south of France home of her step-mother (Ann Todd) and father, who has left suddenly for a business trip.

Feeling alone in the strange house she befriends Robert(Ronald Lewis), her father's driver, and shares oddly staged meals with her step-mother and a local doctor friend of her father (Christopher Lee, best Robert Blanc French accent at the ready).

A series of strange and unusual events and meetings then unfold and the story seems to be taking us down the path of "driving her insane to claim her inheritance" path which has long been a staple of this branch of the old dark house story.

It's then that Sangster's script really shifts up a gear and the final third of the film brilliantly opens up the story to reveal that absolutely nothing is as we assumed it was. It's one of those films that bear a repeated viewing shortly afterwards in order to watch the pieces of the story being manipulated and moved into place.

A word for Seth Holt's direction as well, which is precise and effective throughout and throws in two very, very good underwater sequences.

Sadly unavailable currently on DVD but if it turns up on TV or on video in your local store or charity shop it's well worth investigating.

Rendition (2007)

2008-11-11T12:26:00.002Z

Written by Kelley Sane, directed by Gavin Hood.

"What if someone you love...just disappeared?"

There is a smart and clever twist towards the end of the film that makes it difficult to discuss the film in too much detail without giving away the surprise.
In summary though : Jake Gyllenhaal's newly promoted CIA officer becomes involved in the case of an Egyptian national (Omar Metwally) who is been held at the request of the CIA and questioned apart his part in an anti-west bombing campaign.

So far, so flat and bland - however, the film is put together in such a way that it quickly rises above that rather obvious and trite plot outline.

The early scenes introduce us to each of the characters separately : Gyllenhaal's low level CIA advisor, the Egyptian secret policeman he's on his way to meet, his daughter who is beginning a romance with a young man from the same school. We see Metwally's scientist leaving a conference in South Africa to travel back to his home in the US and his heavily pregnant wife Reese Witherspoon.

The central section of the film shows how all of these people's lives begin to interact and draws further charcters into the story, most interesting are Alan Arkin as a liberal-leaning Senator who turns out to be more interesterd in achieving the small scale and the possible rather than dealing with a larger, more problematic, issue; Peter Sarsgaard as his idealistic aide and Meryl Streep as a "the ends justify the means" CIA commander.

The film has a point to make and the script makes it loudly and forcefully; you're unlikely to finish watching the film and be left in any doubt as to Sane's view on the policy of extraordinary rendition, surely one of the murkiest aspects of Bush and the US's recent history.

There are no outstanding acting performances, but each of the central characters is rounded and well delivered. It has the mood of an ensemble piece in which those characters who need to connect are kept away from each other.
The script is a little lightweight given the enormity of the subject matter, but I suppose it would have been an even harder sell to the studio and the public if the humanising touches thrown into the story had been removed in favour of more debate and discourse on the effectiveness of the policy of rendition.

In essence it's a thriller hung around a political point about the nature of intelligence gathering in the post 9/11 world and on that level works as both a mainstream film and a polemic.

You can buy it here

Track 29 (1988)

2008-09-08T14:56:00.002+01:00

Written by Dennis Potter, directed by Nicolas Roeg.

"He Was Her Dream And Her Obsession. Her Son... And Her Lover"

Linda Henry (Theresa Russell) is slowly going out of her mind as a stay at home wife to doctor Henry Henry (Christopher Lloyd). He's obsessed with his model train set and (odd) affair with Nurse Stein (Sandra Bernhard). She spends too much time alone, drinking and floating around their house in search of something to do.

At a diner one day she meets a young British man (Gary Oldman)who reminds her of a man from her own past. The meeting triggers a series of events which lead, in the end, to a tragedy, a release and a new beginning.

As you would expect from a script by Potter directed by neo-surrealist Roeg, nothing that you see on the screen can be taken at face value and it is necessary to keep your wits about you to differentiate between the real and the internalised throughout the film.

As an unfolding story of one person's creeeping insanity though it's very effective. There are any number of set-pieces designed to demonstrate Russell's increasing loss of any sort of grip on reality : including a scene where Oldman, at his most effectively creepy, serenades with her the cornball ballad "M-O-T-H-E-R" and a bar scene that provides the first clue as to the coming storm. There's also a marvellously filmed slow-mo (model) train wreck.

And a scene of genuine hilarity during which Lloyd gives a speech to his fellow model enthusiaists only for the whole thing to collapse into a bizarre colision of musical song and dance and political rally.

Lloyd is agreeably distant and disconnected throughout, Oldman does his standard slightly menacing outsider turn and Russell floats and wafts through the film with no fixed accent but with a good line in Thirty Yard Stare vacancy.

Not one of Roeg's best films, certainly nowhere near the brilliance of "Walkabout", "The Man Who Fell To Earth" or "Insignificance", but interesting none the less and will certainly make you concentrate on the on-screen action.

Genius series no.2 : Anatomy Of A Murder (1959)

2008-08-04T15:04:00.002+01:00

Written by Wendell Mayes from the novel by John D. Voelker. Directed by Otto Preminger.

A groundbreaking and exceptional film and a marvellous starring vehicle for one of America's most talented screen actors of all time.

Paul Biegler (James Stewart) is a washed up lawyer, a former DA who now divides his time between fishing, drinking and modern jazz. And not doing much law work.

Out of the blue he's engaged by Laura Manion (Lee Remick) to defend her husband (Ben Gazzara) on a charge of murder.

As the story unfolds we learn that Gazzara shot his victim following his wife's claim that she was raped by him. An act of summary justice carried out by a career soldier who now faces the death penalty.

The first half of the film follows Stewart as he carries out his preliminary interviews with the Manions and others aided by his Arthur O'Connell as his booze hound best friend and the splendid Eve Arden as his absurdly loyal secretary.

The last hour is dedicated almost entirely to an extended courtroom drama in which Stewart wrestles with the hot-shot prosecutor (a splendidly well acted part by George C. Scott).

In the course of the trial Stewart exposes acts of selective memory among the witnesses, some slipshod and fatally biased scientific evidence produced by the police and Scott's win at all costs attitude towards prosecuting the case.

The strong script and Preminger's tight direction allow the actor's to get on with telling the story. There's no flashbacks or reconstructions, no niggling narration or characters explaining the plot to each other. The film is driven by the story and the main actors all deliver.

James Stewart is, of course, superb. Alternating between his out of court bumbling everyman figure and his defence counsel with a mind like a steel trap. Every second he's on the screen he's totally believable and, in the court room sequences, delivers a perfectly pitched turn.

Gazzara delivers a fine performance as the tormented husband, unsure of almost everything : what happened on the night in question, why did he do what he did, is he totally sure of his wife's story?

And Lee Remick is superb as the free spirit trapped within the small town morality. Playing the role almost as a femme fatale in the Barbara Stanwyk mould at times before Stewart peels off the layers to expose the frightened young woman underneath.

Two other contributions worth noting : Joseph N. Welch as the trial judge (by turns amused and amusing, exasperated and wise is excellent as is the soaring and flying jazz score by Duke Ellington, who also makes a brief appearance.

On the film's release it had a huge effect of pushing forward the boundaries of what exactly was allowed to be presented to the public as entertainment : apart from the obvious issue of the subject matter (which is referred to openly, not hidden by words such as "assault") there's a lot of technical evidence introduced which refers in detail to the methods that the police of the time used to investigate rape cases.
There are numerous reference to women's undergarments, which was also unusual at the end of the fifties. References to girdles, panties, penetration, sperm, slut, illegitimacy etc. would have been shocking in the context of a 1959 mainstream film. In fact it was banned from public exhibition in Chicago for just this reason.

A very brave film that is also extremely watchable and constantly entertaining. Well worth the five star rating that is usually awarded to it in film guides.

The Clearing (2004)

2008-07-23T14:48:00.003+01:00

Written by Justin Haythe, directed by Pieter Jan Brugge

Notable really only for the central performance by a "mature" Robert Redford, The Clearing has it's aim set on being a more sophisticated (or "clever") variation on the kidnap thriller that Hollywood has mined countless times over the past twenty years.

Car rental businessman Redford is abducted from outside his house by lone kidnapper Willem Dafoe who then leads him through some out of the way woodland to a rendezvous with the other gang members. During their tramp through the woods secrets are revealed, the balance of power swings back and forth and both men face up to some truths about themselves.

Meanwhile, Redford's wife (Helen Mirren) has to deal with the effects of his disappearance on her family and the business like FBI team who take up residence in their house.

There's nothing too much wrong with the film, it's stars do what's required of them, the direction is professional and the story moves along at a decent pace.

But : it does have some major failings which collectively add up to a less than satisfying viewing experience.

Firstly, Helen Mirren adopts a curious American accent that distracts from her dialogue every time she opens her mouth. There is no reason whatsoever why her character couldn't be English, so why on earth why was she asked to use an accent she clearly wasn't comfortable with?

Secondly, the split narrative (Redford and Dafoe in the woods, Mirren , family and FBI in the house) is a clever idea - allowing us to see both sides of the kidnapping. Unfortunately someone decided that they shouldn't run in parallel time . The scenes at the home running ahead of those in the woods for the greater part of the film, before switching around in the last reel. The effect of this is to rob the film's central premise of a lot of it's tension. It becomes fairly obvious early on what the outcome of the crime is going to be and from that point on you become more interested in the "why" rather than the "how".

And the "why", when we get to it, is badly handled and clumsily written; again the viewer feels slightly cheated.

A workmanlike film that plays out like an extended version of the TV show "Without A Trace" and manages to fumble a potentially strong central idea. Shame.

Wise Guys (1986)

2008-07-07T15:05:00.002+01:00

Written by George Gallo and Norman Steinburg, directed by Brian de Palma.

"What kind of guys gamble with the boss's money, swipe a killer's Cadillac, and party on the mob's credit card? "

I've got a lot of time for de Palma as a director - whether it's crowd pleasing action blockbusters like The Untouchables (1987), Hitchcock style suspense (Blow Out (1981) or smaller more personal films such as last year's Redacted, he (generally speaking) always to bring something interesting and/or watchable to the screen.

But he clearly can't do comedy.

"Wise Guys" is a horrible mess of a film. The tagline above tells you everything you need to know about the plot : Danny De Vito flails and wails and battles the script (and ends up losing), Harvey Keitel appears in an embarrassed, typecast cameo and the rest of the cast (especially co-lead Joe Piscopo) are allowed far too much freedom to log hyperactive pantomime performances.

There's one decent visual gag - and that's pinched wholesale from Airplane.

An absolute mess of a film that commits the greatest sin of all for a comedy - it's simply not funny.

Ghastly.

Cult Classics Series no.3 : Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1964)

2008-07-05T15:05:00.002+01:00

Written by Bryan Forbes from the book by Mark McShane, directed by Forbes.

Somewhat overlooked and partially forgotten British film that takes the realistic style that was popular at the moment and overlays it with an air of the supernatural and other worldly to extraordinary good effect.

Myra, a fake medium, tired of eking a living "contacting" the dead on behalf of her tiny group of adherents once a week, devises a plan to find fame, fortune and celebrity for herself and, with the aid of her down trodden husband Bill, sets about putting it into practice.

There's all sorts of themes and ideas being explored here : the nature of self-deception, the lure and pull of fame (long before it became fashionable to comment on), insanity, loss, delusion and desperation.

Kim Stanley as Myra is utterly astonishing. She holds the centre of the film and turns in a magnificent performance; by turns dominating, beguiling, wheedling, cunning and (ultimately) broken. Nominated for an Oscar (she lost to Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins) it's a fine piece of work, even down to an almost note perfect English accent.

She was to be nominated again in 1983 for her supporting role as Jessica Lange's chillingly dominant mother in Frances (1982) (losing again) - in between times working only fitfully and then mainly in TV; another example of a woman of enormous talent that Hollywood found difficult to slot into it's rigidly stereotyped casting moulds.

The other lead role - the defeated and compliant Bill, Myra's husband - is taken by Richard Attenborough, again giving one of his quiet unshowy performances that he was capable at one time. Meekly sublimating himself to his mentally scarred wife's every whim and command until, in the final reel, she pushes him just a little too further bringing about the hugely satisfying climax to the film.

Good support work from Nanette Newman as a clutching-at-straws young mum, Mark Eden as her husband and Patrick Magee as the investigating superintendent, all charm and urbanity.

A quick word for John Barry's score which is not only excellent (as you would expect) but adds superbly to the general air of strangeness that pervades the film.

And special words for director Bryan Forbes whose best film this is by some comfortable distance. He builds tension into every scene by the use of unusual camera angles (there's a lot of low angle shots), some well used extreme close-ups and constructive use of lighting. He subsumes the entire film in an aura of other wordiness and drops in the shocks and surprises with a deft touch.

Finally praise for the location shots of London just on the edge of becoming "swinging". A document of lost times including some great scenes shot in and around the Underground system.

A truly excellent and thoughtful film.

Genius series no.1 : The Player (1992)

2008-07-02T14:56:00.003+01:00

Written by Michael Tolkin, directed by Robert Altman.

"The Best Movie Ever Made! - Griffin Mill "

Altman was able to continue making outsider pictures with Hollywood money throughout his long career, despite his refusal to play according to any established set of rules.

At his very best he was in the top five of post-Golden Age American directors. Film such as MASH (1970), The Long Goodbye (1973), Nashville (1975) and Short Cuts (1993) are superb examples of the independent spirit flourishing within the Hollywood studio system.

Even his relative commercial failures (such as Popeye(1980), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) or Cookie's Fortune(1999)) have a great deal to be said in their favour in terms of invention and innovation.

"The Player" is a pitch black comedy mocking the mores of the Los Angeles film community in the late eighties/early nineties, when self-absorbtion and the pursuit of wealth became the new gods of cinema production.

Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is a studio vice-president whose job it is to "green light" pitches and scripts for production.

His venal life of self-gratifiaction is disturbed when he starts to receive death threats from (apparently) a writer whose work he's previously rejected. After an ill advised drunken meeting with his prime suspect his life begins to spiral into a vertigo of fear and potential ruin.

All the while his lifestyle and postion are also under threat from the arrival of new kid on the block Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher) who Robbins sees as a threat to his status and a potential usurper.

The final third of the film (the most succesful part of all) deals with his attempts to engineer Gallagher's decline and fall while maintaining his own position.

All of which is neatly resolved in a laugh out loud final ten minutes.

Altman directs with enormous skill throughout : changing style to match the various stages of Mill's descent. The opening is full of cross-cuts and tracking shots (in the style of Short Cuts) emphasising Mill's maxim of "twenty five words or less" which uses as a defense against aspirant film makers.

As the mood and scene move away from the studio and business and into the personal, Altman slows down the camera and produces some striking shots lingering on the various participants. A scene in a police station is over-lit and filmed in a flat style to emphasise Mill stepping out of his comfort zone and into a world he doesn't recognise or understand, except by reference to his own films.

Tolkin's script is full of barbed satire at the expense of the "system" and the "process" of film making and scores with most of it's shots. Never tipping over into pure comedy it builds the characters at the same time as poking fun and keeps the various threads of the story contained and moving forward throughout.

Tim Robbins gives a perfectly pitched performance as the egomaniac central character and Peter Gallagher is suitably oily and weasel like as his presumptive heir. There's also a fine performance from Richard E. Grant whose pitch to Robbins of a film about "truth" is beautifully done - it also sets up the final reel of the film and the very clever final scenes.

In fact, the supporting cast are all fine : especially Whoppi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett as a slightly demented pair of police officers and Cynthia Stevenson, Sydney Pollack and Dean Stockwell as those who enter Mill's orbit and are affected in different ways by his single minded pursuit of his own ends.
Even Greta Scacchi turns in an almost beliveable performance as a bohemian artist and Mill's potential saviour.

Altman's Hollywood is populated by recognisable "real" actors - almost two dozen pop up at various points, adding a veneer of realism to the film. This does have it's downside though, unless an actor in a cameo is referred to be name it's easy to assume that they are part of the cast. Grant's first appearence suffers from this - is he a new character or is he Richard E. Grant?
It's quickly resolved and a tiny fault - but there is a case to be made for the sheer weight of cameos being an unecessary distraction; a layer too much on the cake.

"The Player" is a superbly realised and beautifully finished film : hardly a moment is wasted and it's a joy and a pleasure to watch from beginning to end. Enjoy.

Tape (2001)

2008-07-01T14:56:00.002+01:00

Written b y Stephen Belber from his play, directed by Richard Linklater.

"Some things can't be erased"

Linklater is an interesting, sometimes a great, director. From his early films like Slacker (1991) and Dazed And Confused (1993) through the uber commercial The School Of Rock (2003) and onto the critical success A Scanner Darkly (2006) he always seem to be doing something interesting and a little bit different.

With Tape he attempts to take a very dialogue heavy stage play and translate it to the screen in a "pure" form : there's no music, little in the way of camera trickery and the action unfolds in "real" time.

In many ways it's similar to the attempts by von Trier and others of the "Dogme 95" school who attempt to realise films in the most "naturalistic" way possible.

"Tape" concerns itself with only three characters and one set : Vince (Ethan Hawke) is a booze and drug addled waster, Jon (Robert Sean Leonard) is a wannabee "serious" film maker while Amy (Uma Thurman) is now an Assistant DA. The three High School friends meet up over the course of ninety minutes in Vince's motel room, where the actions of each of them interact with the others to produce an unwanted result.

It's a play about the permanence of jealousy, the ability of memory to distort the past and the changing nature of friendship. As a stage play or on the written page it's quite an interesting idea that's well developed, however (as with many stage plays) it translates a little awkwardly.

There's some inventive camera work and some care was obviously taken in the construction of the set, but it does still end up being three actors in a room with a script full of a lot of words.

Each of the actors is fine : Hawke all fizzing energy and bubbling rage counterpointed by his own sullen withdrawal as things fail to work out according to plan ; Leonard moving from sophisticated charm through desperation to resignation and Thurman coupling an icy sang froid with a steely inner resolve.

An interesting experiment and certainly worth making the effort with, but ultimately slightly disappointing.

Las Vegas Lady (1975)

2008-06-27T15:20:00.002+01:00

Written by Walter Dallenbach, directed by Noel Nossek.

"The most daring Vegas career. "

Lucky (Stella Stevens) is a young woman with no job or other visible means of support in mid-seventies Las Vegas. At the behest of a mysterious disembodied voice she and two female friends attempt to carry out a daring heist, stealing the ill gotten gains of casino security chief Eversull (George DiCenzo). Meanwhile ex-cop turned security guard Vic (Stuart Whitman) fights his own personal battles with Eversull, while finding comfort in Lucky's arms.

Gloriously low budget and tacky, the whole film plays out like a slightly overblown episode of the TV show "Charlie's Angels" (but with worse production values).

The exterior shots on location in and around Las Vegas are interesting from an historical perspective, giving a glimpse of the town in transition from the Rat Pack era to the present day where the multi-million dollar corporations moved in.

However, the interiors suffer badly from being set bound. The "luxury bedroom" at the casino would embarrass a Berkshire Travel Lodge, the "gaming room" would appear to be somebody's back bedroom with extras standing on each others toes ass they attempt to stay in shot.

Stuart Whitman has something of a cult following these days, but after his Oscar nomination for The Mark (1961) it was a steady downward career path that he trod heading inexorably towards "Knot's Landing" and "Superboy" in the 1990's.

Here he's still playing off his craggy, weathered looks - but he was in his mid forties at the time of filming and there's a slightly disturbing scene where he (shirtless) and Stevens are making out. You want to reach out and just *pluck* out that white chest hair that's in the top right of the shot throughout.

Stella Stevens is surprisingly good - a mixture of pixieish charm and unfulfilled dreams.

Her two assistants (Lynne Moody and Linda Scruggs) are both routinely poor and DiCenzo's "method" for displaying steely menace is to affect an under bite and a grim smile while threatening his employees.

Other characters appear and disappear for no real reason, nobody seems to notice or care.

Obvious B movie/drive-in/DTV fooder with no pretensions to be anything else.Worth making the effort for the exteriors and some interesting hand-held camera work.

Pointless fun.

Cult Classics Series no.2 : Fat City (1972)

2008-06-25T15:06:00.002+01:00

Written by Leonard Gardner from his book, directed by John Huston.

Tully (Stacy Keach at his most languid and world weary) is a one time professional boxer now on his uppers, Ernie (Jeff Bridges) is a bright eyed, faintly star struck young hopeful. As his career begins to take off the older mans wanes.

Yes, it's A Star Is Born but with boxing as a replacement metaphor for singing!

In actual fact, there's very little boxing in the film. There's some training and a few sparring bouts but, until Tully's comeback fight in the final reel, the film's main concern is a character study of the Keach character, his interaction with others who come into his orbit and his continuing downward spiral.

Most of the film was shot on location in Stockton,North California and Huston captures the skid-row setting with an unfailing eye for detail.

Away from the two leads special mention for Susan Tyrrell who earned herself an Oscar nomination for her role as Oma, a serial romantic with a drink problem who briefly helps Keach overcome his self loathing by providing him with someone worse off than himself to care for.
She too, of course, ultimately rejects him.

The final scene, where Keach and Bridges meet in the street and then relocate to a diner, is perfectly and beautifully handled. The younger man's desperate attempt to avoid his former friend (hampered by his station wagon refusing to start) followed by Keach imploring him to "stay awhile - talk some" before slipping into a comatose silence is almost heartbreaking.

Unremitting gloomy and downbeat it's still a very special and worthwhile film.

Modern Gems Series number 2 : Sunshine (2007)

2008-06-24T15:14:00.002+01:00

Written by Alex Garland, directed by Danny Boyle.

"If the sun dies, so do we."

Garland and Boyle, having done British social commentary and zombies (as well as the less than wonderful The Beach (2000) ), turn their attention to sc-fi.

Fifty years in to the future a team of astronauts are sent to reignite the dying sun on board a spaceship armed with a thermonuclear device.

Whenever science fiction films are mentioned people tend to roll their eyes upwards and mutter darkly about "spods, yet there is a lot more to the genre than the "Star Wars" franchise and the numerous copycat films that followed in it's all consuming box office wake.

There's a tradition of well made, thoughtful sci-fi films which include (but not limited to) John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974), Doug Trumbulls' Silent Running (1972) and the less successful but worthy Event Horizon (1997) and of course Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey(1968).

Boyle's obviously seen all of these and a lot more beside. The film is packed with references to the tradition, some obvious some more subtle.

The visual style of the film is remarkable : to describe it as "retina scorching" is not over stating the case. There's a lot of CGI work involved; but it enhances rather than detracts or distracts, as is too often the case in sci-fi films.

Although it's essentially an ensemble piece (like Alien) it's Cillian Murphy who puts in the star turn, a believable and honest performance from an actor who, when he's on his game, has a lot to offer.

There's excellent support work from the likes of Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh and Mark Strong as well.
Underworld's Karl Hyde provides a score that underpins, illuminates and works beautifully with the visuals.

Sunshine is an excellent film, it's message and meaning may not be obvious at first, but it will seep into your consciousness over the course of a few days after viewing. It also bears repeated watching, usually the sign of a rather special film.

Thoroughly recommended, even to the on-spod!

In the cinema : "The Happening" (2008)

2008-06-23T15:20:00.002+01:00

Written and directed by M.Night Shyalaman
"We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening. "

Seldom, if ever, have the laws of diminishing returns applied so accurately to a director who began his career with an enormous critical and box-office hit and then immediately started to slide down the slope, with each release finding less and less favour.

Welles may have joked that he "started at the top and worked my way down" but at least he had the talent and ability to follow Citizen Kane with The Magnificent Ambersons and then (when he could find the money, energy and time) pull off a Confidential Report or (especially and specially) a masterpiece like 1958's Touch Of Evil.

Shyalaman arrived, seemingly fully formed, with The Sixth Sense (1999) his third film and a multi-million dollar box-office smash. It seemed to herald the arrival of a genuinely intelligent and different talent.

He held position with Unbreakable (2000) which is possibly a better film (as a film) and pre-echoed many of the conventions now used in the rash of comic book adaptations that have become the mainstay of the multiplex screens during this century.

Then came the slide : Signs (2002) was, well it was OK, didn't make a lot of sense and visually a little forced but overall it was no worse than OK. The Village (2004) was pretty rotten and fared badly both with the critics and with the cinema and DVD audience.

Then came 2006's Lady In The Water which was so utterly preposterous, pompous and self-regarding that (general consensus agreed) it would have to mark some sort of nadir for him.
Casting himself as a writer who alone would turn out to be the saviour of the world raised eyebrows about his general world view and level of self awareness. Writing as a villain a film critic who meets a grisly end was never going to endear him to those people who had helped launch his career in such spectacular style. The reviews were unsurprisingly and uniformly poor and, after a weak opening weekend, the film disappeared from view fairly quickly.

So, make or break time or the start of the journey back up the slope?

The Happening isn't as bad as Lady In The Water which is at least some sort of saving grace.

However, it is horribly smug from the cringe inducing tag-line (see above, although I'm happy to admit it probably wasn't Shyalaman's work it does sort of set the tone) through to the moralistic, pandering and lecturing tone taken throughout.

The acting is perfectly fine : the always interesting Mark Wahlberg especially, with solid support from the dependable John Leguizamo .
The direction is a serious improvement on Signs and The Village, which is a blessing.

However, the script is utterly rotten : leaden, plodding and with line after line where characters explain the plot to each other.

The overall tone though is the main problem : I've no problem with "message" films as long as that message is made clear to the audience and not dangled in front of you and then whipped away by a writer more concerned with his own sense of superiority than actually delivering either entertainment or any sort of cerebral engagement.

Not as wholly awful as Lady In The Water or The Village but nowhere near the same league as Shyalaman's breakthrough successes. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here and how much latitude the studios are prepared to allow him in future as, with a strong producer and/or script editor there's a half decent film in here struggling to get out.

Modern Gems Series number 1 : Corpse Bride (2005)

2008-06-19T15:07:00.002+01:00

Written by Tim Burton, Carlos Gangel, John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler
Directed by Tim Burton and Michael Johnson

"Loving You Is Like Loving The Dead "

Burton's second feature length animation uses the same stop-frame and puppets technique as the equally lovely The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

The story revolves around a nervous young groom Victor van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp) who is being forced into an arranged marriage to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson). On the eve of his marriage he instead finds himself accidentally married to a dead woman, the titular Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Victor is then forced to choose between the two women and life above or below ground.

This is typical Burton territory and it's where he excels. There's a terrific sense of purpose and place about the direction and the two worlds are both beautifully realised.

He cops a lick from Powell & Pressburgers's A Matter Of Life And Death (1946) by presenting the "real" world in a washed out grey and white, while the underworld blossoms into vivid, vibrant colours.

The sense of difference is emphasised in song (provided by Danny Elfman) : above ground the songs are about duty and responsibility, below they are celebratory and (paradoxically) full of life.

The script is tight and sharp : there's drama, some (very good) jokes, some pathos and moments of true sadness.

Depp's British accent is perfectly pitched and envokes his character's dilemma beautifully, Watson and Bonham Carter (especially) are also both excellent. All of the supporting voices ( including Albert Finney, Joanna Lumley, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Christopher Lee and Richard E. Grant) are perfectly matched to their on-screen character's size, shape and place in the story.

Overall absolutely charming and visually stunning some of the scenes may be a bit much for very young viewers (hence the PG rating) but anyone with a healthy imagination and a sense of pleasure induced by the fantastic and the (slightly) gruesome is almost guaranteed to enjoy it.

Shakes on a plane : Red Eye and Flightplan (both 2005)

2008-06-18T15:01:00.002+01:00

Interesting that something that, for a decade or so, was considered the definition of sophistication and then became so common place as to be almost everyday should, in the wake of the 9/11 outrages, become the setting for two thrillers released within months of each other. Both of which use the confined setting of an aeroplane to provide the driving force behind the action.

Justified paranoia among travellers as to just who is sitting next to you or across the aisle becomes the starting point for both of these films.

To take the poor one first : "Flightplan" stars Jodie Foster as Kyle Pratt, a recently widowed woman returning from Germany to the United States with her young daughter and her husband's coffin in the cargo hold.

Mid-flight she dozes off and, when she wakes, discovers that her daughter has gone missing. Worse still none of the crew or passengers recall ever having seen her daughter.

The film then dissolves into two seperate plots : Pratt's desperate attempts to convince the captain (Sean Bean, phoning it in) that she's not mad despite all the evidence to the contrary and, after he refuses to continue searching the plane, her own desperate attempts to find her daughter.

There's holes in the plot you could pilot a 747 through and the entire thing hinges on a coincidence that's almost laughable. The villans are one dimensional caricatures and Robert Schwentke's direction is straight out of the point and shoot school of film making.

There are moments of unintentional hilarity during Foster's search of the plane that could be outtakes from "Airplane", they're so insanely leaden and pointless.

There's no tension, there's no thrill and there's no enormous plot twist to swipe you off guard.

And the central plot device is a lift from Hitchcock, so blatant that it made me laugh out loud.

Wes Craven's "Red Eye", on the other hand, has much smaller ambitions, is much less concerned with showcasing it's stars and uses the claustrophobia of the confined setting to much better effect.
It also picks up the paranoid motif that I mentioned earlier, that sometimes a stranger on a plane isn't all that they seem to be.

Lisa Reisart (Rachel McCadams) makes a random connection with the charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) while waiting for her flight back to work after visiting her dad (Brian Cox).

During the flight Rippner's true motives are exposed. Rather than a chance meeting Reisart has been targeted because, using the threat of the murder of her father, she is able to help Rippner's terrorist mercanaries achieve their aim.

Carl Ellsworth's script doesn't bother itself too much with motivation or the psychology of either character but settles instead for moving the story forward at a decent pace.
Craven directs with a lot of extreme close-ups and two shots in order to heighten the sense of McCadams being trapped in Murphy's orbit.

The whole thing is neatly put together; there's a genuine sense of tension, a couple of very strong performances from the two leads and (as you would expect from Craven) taught and lean direction with hardly a shot wasted.

The denoument may be a little fantastic but it's a satisfying end to a film that knows it's limits and doesn't make any attempt to overstep them.

Cult Classics Series no.1 : Carny (1980)

2008-06-16T15:09:00.002+01:00

Written by Phoebe and Robert Kaylor. Directed by Robert Kaylor.

"Where love is just another sucker's game"

A genuine oddity from 1980.

Produced by Robbie Robertson, formerly guitar player with sixties/seventies alternative heroes The Band, who also co-stars along with Gary Busey and Jodie Foster.

Robertson and Busey are a pair of carnival ("carny") workers/grifters whose attraction is based around something that resembles a more sophisticated and adult version of the "stocks" game that you see at village fairs and the like.

Busey sits inside a cage suspended over a tank of water, abusing and mocking the customers while Robertson hustles them into buying three throws worth of balls with which to hit a target and dump Busey into the water.

Of course anger and the constant torrent of verbals from Busey make aiming very difficult, ball after ball misses the target while Robertson pockets the dollars.

The opening ten minutes of the film focuses itself on the sideshow. We watch Frankie (Busey) preparing himself, applying the grotesque make up he affects, climbing into the cage and readying himself for that evening's "performance".
Meanwhile, Patch (Robertson) walks the midway, chatting with the other operators, resolving problems, relaxed, cool and enjoying himself.

Frankie and Patch are perfectly content : they travel light, drink and smoke (there's an awful lot of smoking) and (we assume) womanise through the south with (it seems) not a care in the world.

Until, at one small middle of nowhere town, Frankie encounters Donna (Jodie Foster) a bored and frustrated waitress. She falls for Frankie's charm and air of mystery outsiderness.
Frankie assumes it's a one-off liaison, until Donna appears bag packed and ready to go, seduced by the glamour of the carny lifestyle and determined to be part of it.

The film then explores this unexpected (and largly unwanted) intrusion into the perfect lifestyle of Patch and Frankie, the effect it has on them, the traumatisation of Donna as she realises some of the truth beneath the exterior glamour (especially when she tries her hand as a burlesque dancer in a truly creepy scene).
There's a few sub-plots that keep the action moving along : the way that the carnival is constantly given the shake down by corrupt town officials, and the way in which Frankie and Patch deal with one especially nasty slimeball; the carny's constant dream of giving up the travelling life and the rather brutal way in which they are reminded that for most it's a lifetime job.

Kaylor (who previously directed the strange Roller Derby (1971)) keeps the camera moving throughout, giving a sense of the claustrophobic nature of the carnival workers inter-connected lives, allowing himself a few flashy camera tricks here and there especially during the denoument of the shakedown story mentioned above.

A lot of the background artists are genuine carnival workers, including a large number of "freak show" workers, as such the film is a record of a part of the entertainment industry that has all but disappeared in the US (and makes no moralising point regarding their exploitation or otherwise, to the other carnival staff they are merely co-workers)

Busey was hot off his utterly splendid title role in 1978's The Buddy Holly Story and is, once again, mesmerising in the dual role as the taunting sideshow attraction and the best buddy whose life suddenly loses a lot of it's anchoring.
Robertson, for a non-actor, is surprisingly good - exuding a sort of effortless cool as the always slightly-in-the-background brains behind the operation.
Jodie Foster is slightly anonymous in the role, 18 at the time she's perfectly cast but always seems to be slightly too knowing to be entirely convincing as a wide eyed small town girl in awe of this travelling melange of oddballs.

It's not a great piece of cinematic art, but there's a lot going on of interest. I guarantee that the first fifteen minutes will hook you in and provide you with sufficent reason to stick with it to the end.
Odd but enjoyable independent (in every sense) film from a time when such things existed within the mainstream in far greater numbers than they do today.