Friday 27 December 2013
BIFF Movie #8 - OXV: The Manual
After the very disappointing A Touch of Sin, I was looking forward to OXV: The Manual which promised to be a very unique Australian film. And so it was, an absolutely fascinating and intelligent little movie that puts a nice spin on the 'alternative future' sub-genre of science fiction film. The emphasis here is very much on philosophy.
The film opens up in a school with young children lining up to get their report cards for the year. We meet Marie, a young girl with an obviously high 'score', perfect and yet lacking in empathy. We also meet Zak, who has a low 'score' but is a lovely and likeable boy. Zak likes Marie, but she knows they can't spend any time together due to being in a different 'class'. However, her curiousity is aroused and she decides to experiment with spending a minute with Zak each year. At first you have no real idea what is happening, but it doesn't take long for it to become apparent. The movie is set in one of those 'not quite now, not quite the world we live in' type settings where you can't really pinpoint the date or city. There are lots of British accents but it's not Britain. There are deliberate 70s props in an otherwise modern setting with mobile phones but you know it's the future. And it's a future where society is split up not according to wealth or IQ, but luck. We now have a way to test how lucky or unlucky different people are, and if lucky people interact with unlucky people, something bad happens to the unlucky person. So contact is limited to that one minute per year or people in your own luck class.
The movie is based around Zak and his friend Theo's attempts to find a way to beat the 'luck' issue so that Zak can be with Marie. Ongoing experiments eventually yield a system that they believe works - that the energy field which causes the bad luck can be neutralised by saying a series of three letter words. The scene where Zak tries this on Marie as a grown up is fantastic, and Marie quickly falls into a happy relationship with Zak. That is until they discover that there is a downside to the system - it actually seems that the use of the words can force the person to do whatever you want with no free will. So does Marie love Zak or does Marie love Zak because he told her to love him? Is there such a thing as free will? How does this power even work and what are the implications for society which has been organised this way for so long?
The third act of the movie explores these themes in great detail and throws in a tension building storyline about the secret organisation that knows about the system and tries to keep it from being revealed publicly, imprisoning Zak and Marie and their fellow scientists until they can find a way to undo what they've done. This builds into a highly enjoyable climax which I can't reveal without giving away the mystery. It is an absolute delight of an ending though.
A Q&A with the director Darren Paul Fisher afterwards (this was the Australian premiere of this Aussie/British production) revealed the depth of thought that has gone into this storyline and the details that you may have missed in the movie (for example the fact that each class of luck (high, low, medium) wear different colour ties in their school uniforms) which now make me hungry for a couple of repeat viewings so I can take it all in. It's obviously been a passion project for the director but it's one that with the right word of mouth, could pay off when the film is eventually released in Australia. I know I for one will be going back to see it again and would recommend that anyone who likes to ponder the meaning of life and free will would be well entertained by this film. Clever, funny and endearing!
BIFF Movie #7 - A Touch of Sin
This is a difficult movie to review (especially now so long after attending BIFF) so I'll keep it short. This movie is actually four short stories woven into one larger movie, with no real connection between them and even the underlying theme is barely felt. The movie is set in modern day China and from the blurb read in the Film Festival guide it was trying to deal with a sense of alienation and the struggle of the underclass against pointless lives, erupting in random violence. However, just because you feel annoyed at the repetitiveness of your work or bosses or the big company you work for, or your lover who won't leave their husband, or your inability to keep and hold a job, that doesn't excuse the violence portrayed here which are largely senseless murders. The movie was too long, slow and could not keep up the drama which was set up quite well in the first story but drifts into nothingness as the film progresses. I walked out feeling like it was a waste of a movie ticket as I got nothing out of the film at all.
Movie #32 - The Railway Man
A very warm Boxing Day always pulls the crowds into the cinema, the day that the biggest summer releases usually come out. I heard that the second Hobbit movie had sold out screenings in many cinemas. But it seems there are plenty of people wanting to see the other serious movies that are out too. Our screening of The Railway Man was very full, almost sold out although it was a small cinema at Balmoral that we chose (love those prices!). I think this is a great achievement for a movie that would appear to be so "un-Christmas-y".
The Railway Man is a story of an English man who survived being imprisoned by the Japanese and working on the Thai-Burma railway during World War 2, but has never really overcome the suffering even 20 years on. Compressing all the pain and shame inside has not really worked, as memories and dreams invade everyday life regularly. Meeting a woman on a train who he falls in love with and marries seems to be a catalyst for him to slide even deeper rather than coming out of it. Patti though is determined not to be shut out and sets out to find out what happened to Eric so she can help him overcome it. Flashbacks to the war are used through Eric's own dreams and memories and those of his friend Finbery (Stellan Skaarsgard) as he recounts what he knows to Patti. This leads to an extraordinary series of events as Eric travels back to Thailand to confront the Japanese interpreter who treated him so cruelly.
The thing about this story is that you would never believe it was true if it wasn't for the fact that it is indeed a true story. Based on the memoirs of Lieutenant Eric Lomax, the things that the Japanese do in this movie all really happened and Eric really did travel to Thailand and confront Nagase armed with a nasty looking knife. For those who are not intimately familiar with the atrocities committed by the Japanese in World War 2, this movie will open your eyes with some very confronting scenes, although the director has mostly spared us the real grit and grime by having the impact of many blows off-screen and you feel them through the winces and sorrow on the faces of the witnesses. You're also spared the worst by the fact that Lomax and his crew were engineers with skills the Japanese needed, so they were treated a lot better than the common soldiers and the absolute misery they suffered is more of a backdrop to this story than front and centre.
For those like me who know the stories (my grandfather was taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and survived being on the Thai-Burma railway as well) and who have travelled to Kanchanaburi and Hellfire Pass, it is no less confronting for being familiar in both story and locations. It does give you a better understanding of why these men never talked about their experiences afterwards, even with each other.
Colin Firth is superb in the role of the current day Eric Lomax, battling his demons while trying to be a loving husband. There is so much depth in this performance without ever being histrionic as it could have been. Jeremy Irvine is excellent as the young Lomax trying to keep morale up and maintain his honour in the face of extreme horror, though he gets few happy scenes. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada is also excellent as the tormentor who has tried to repent for his deeds by becoming a Buddhist and guiding tour groups and promoting reconciliation.
As directed by Aussie Jonathan Teplitzky, The Railway Man is an emotional and tense ride, only slightly lightened by the few tender scenes with Patti. It's a great shame that Eric passed away last year age 93 and didn't get to see his story made into a tough but wonderful movie that audiences seem to be loving.
The Railway Man is a story of an English man who survived being imprisoned by the Japanese and working on the Thai-Burma railway during World War 2, but has never really overcome the suffering even 20 years on. Compressing all the pain and shame inside has not really worked, as memories and dreams invade everyday life regularly. Meeting a woman on a train who he falls in love with and marries seems to be a catalyst for him to slide even deeper rather than coming out of it. Patti though is determined not to be shut out and sets out to find out what happened to Eric so she can help him overcome it. Flashbacks to the war are used through Eric's own dreams and memories and those of his friend Finbery (Stellan Skaarsgard) as he recounts what he knows to Patti. This leads to an extraordinary series of events as Eric travels back to Thailand to confront the Japanese interpreter who treated him so cruelly.
The thing about this story is that you would never believe it was true if it wasn't for the fact that it is indeed a true story. Based on the memoirs of Lieutenant Eric Lomax, the things that the Japanese do in this movie all really happened and Eric really did travel to Thailand and confront Nagase armed with a nasty looking knife. For those who are not intimately familiar with the atrocities committed by the Japanese in World War 2, this movie will open your eyes with some very confronting scenes, although the director has mostly spared us the real grit and grime by having the impact of many blows off-screen and you feel them through the winces and sorrow on the faces of the witnesses. You're also spared the worst by the fact that Lomax and his crew were engineers with skills the Japanese needed, so they were treated a lot better than the common soldiers and the absolute misery they suffered is more of a backdrop to this story than front and centre.
For those like me who know the stories (my grandfather was taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and survived being on the Thai-Burma railway as well) and who have travelled to Kanchanaburi and Hellfire Pass, it is no less confronting for being familiar in both story and locations. It does give you a better understanding of why these men never talked about their experiences afterwards, even with each other.
Colin Firth is superb in the role of the current day Eric Lomax, battling his demons while trying to be a loving husband. There is so much depth in this performance without ever being histrionic as it could have been. Jeremy Irvine is excellent as the young Lomax trying to keep morale up and maintain his honour in the face of extreme horror, though he gets few happy scenes. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada is also excellent as the tormentor who has tried to repent for his deeds by becoming a Buddhist and guiding tour groups and promoting reconciliation.
As directed by Aussie Jonathan Teplitzky, The Railway Man is an emotional and tense ride, only slightly lightened by the few tender scenes with Patti. It's a great shame that Eric passed away last year age 93 and didn't get to see his story made into a tough but wonderful movie that audiences seem to be loving.
Sunday 8 December 2013
BIFF Triumphant Thursday - Prince Avalanche and Rigor Mortis
The second Thursday of BIFF was a triumph of good choices after a couple of disappointments earlier in the week and weekend.
Movie #11 was Prince Avalanche. A small indie movie which seems to be the best Wes Anderson movie that Wes Anderson never made. Paul Rudd plays an uptight middle aged guy called Alvin who has taken on a contract to fix roads ruined by large fires in the woods of Texas in 1988. It's a lonely life camping out in the wilderness overnight and painting lines/fixing posts by day. He takes on his girlfriend's oddball younger brother Lance (Emile Hirsche from Speed Racer/Into the Wild) for company and to help with the work.
This movie is really S-L-O-W but charming and beautiful. There are some amazing shots of the natural environment and some really contemplative scenes as Alvin is the type of guy who can just be comfortable on his own out in the middle of nowhere enjoying his hobbies. This leads to the occasional clash with Lance, who like many young people these days cannot handle doing nothing. He ventures back into town at the weekends to party and the discussions with Alvin about this are gently comedic.
Gentle, slow moving and odd but charming would be the best way to describe this. One for fans of director David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls" not his slacker comedies "Your Highness" or "Pineapple Express".
Movie #12 was Rigor Mortis. Our supernatural horror movie faith is restored after the disastrous mess of "Sapi" earlier in the week. A Hong Kong film paying tribute to Chinese TV series "Mr Vampire" in Japanese style. Way cool! You don't need to be familiar with the Chinese show to appreciate this film at all though. This is one we will be chasing up to own on DVD for it's dark and cool visuals married with an almost steampunk setting reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro.
The film opens with retired actor Sui Ho moving into an abandoned apartment in a scary looking apartment block, following the separation from his wife and young son. Depressed, he tries to take his own life, but is saved at the last minute by Yau (a Taoist priest who is trying to retire from vampire hunting) who senses that depression is not the only reason - Ho has been possessed by the evil spirits of two girls who previously died in the apartment. Ho recovers and meets the various residents of his apartment building who gather in Yau's excellent food hall. Auntie May the seamstress lives with her beloved husband Uncle Tung, the building caretaker Yin seems unperturbed by spooky events, Kau is a mysterious healer who may dabble in the Black Arts, and weird Feung is a seemingly crazy lady hanging around outside Ho's apartment with her albino son. There are also some ghostly residents.
While spooky from the get-go, events escalate when Tung meets with an accident and May cannot handle losing her lifelong husband. She works with Kau to bring Tung back to life, but his renewed self is not the expected outcome and it puts all the residents of the building in grave danger. Ho and Yau must band together with Kau to stop a major bloodbath from the now vampiric Tung and the aforementioned evil spirits.
The movie is well plotted, well acted, and the visuals are quite stunning. The graphic violence, body horror and suicide scenes will disturb sensitive viewers but if you can handle it, this is a really cool film with a bit of a headscratcher of an ending that will keep you thinking.
Movie #11 was Prince Avalanche. A small indie movie which seems to be the best Wes Anderson movie that Wes Anderson never made. Paul Rudd plays an uptight middle aged guy called Alvin who has taken on a contract to fix roads ruined by large fires in the woods of Texas in 1988. It's a lonely life camping out in the wilderness overnight and painting lines/fixing posts by day. He takes on his girlfriend's oddball younger brother Lance (Emile Hirsche from Speed Racer/Into the Wild) for company and to help with the work.
This movie is really S-L-O-W but charming and beautiful. There are some amazing shots of the natural environment and some really contemplative scenes as Alvin is the type of guy who can just be comfortable on his own out in the middle of nowhere enjoying his hobbies. This leads to the occasional clash with Lance, who like many young people these days cannot handle doing nothing. He ventures back into town at the weekends to party and the discussions with Alvin about this are gently comedic.
Gentle, slow moving and odd but charming would be the best way to describe this. One for fans of director David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls" not his slacker comedies "Your Highness" or "Pineapple Express".
Movie #12 was Rigor Mortis. Our supernatural horror movie faith is restored after the disastrous mess of "Sapi" earlier in the week. A Hong Kong film paying tribute to Chinese TV series "Mr Vampire" in Japanese style. Way cool! You don't need to be familiar with the Chinese show to appreciate this film at all though. This is one we will be chasing up to own on DVD for it's dark and cool visuals married with an almost steampunk setting reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro.
The film opens with retired actor Sui Ho moving into an abandoned apartment in a scary looking apartment block, following the separation from his wife and young son. Depressed, he tries to take his own life, but is saved at the last minute by Yau (a Taoist priest who is trying to retire from vampire hunting) who senses that depression is not the only reason - Ho has been possessed by the evil spirits of two girls who previously died in the apartment. Ho recovers and meets the various residents of his apartment building who gather in Yau's excellent food hall. Auntie May the seamstress lives with her beloved husband Uncle Tung, the building caretaker Yin seems unperturbed by spooky events, Kau is a mysterious healer who may dabble in the Black Arts, and weird Feung is a seemingly crazy lady hanging around outside Ho's apartment with her albino son. There are also some ghostly residents.
While spooky from the get-go, events escalate when Tung meets with an accident and May cannot handle losing her lifelong husband. She works with Kau to bring Tung back to life, but his renewed self is not the expected outcome and it puts all the residents of the building in grave danger. Ho and Yau must band together with Kau to stop a major bloodbath from the now vampiric Tung and the aforementioned evil spirits.
The movie is well plotted, well acted, and the visuals are quite stunning. The graphic violence, body horror and suicide scenes will disturb sensitive viewers but if you can handle it, this is a really cool film with a bit of a headscratcher of an ending that will keep you thinking.
BIFF Movie # 6 - The Congress
This is quite a difficult movie to review, especially so far after the fact. But "The Congress" was so good it's not hard to throw my mind back to it. The Congress is a real mind-bender of a film, definitely one for those with more adventurous tastes in movies and you need to be prepared that half the movie has been done in animation rather than live action.
The Congress starts off as a very sharp satire of the Hollywood movie industry. It stars Robin Wright (who most will know as the beautiful Buttercup in "The Princess Bride" but she has had an on and off hit and miss acting career over time which is quite relevant to this movie) and it's important to know she was also a producer on this film. Robin here plays Robin Wright, an actress in her mid 40s who still looks beautiful but given her age and poor career choices doesn't have many prospects for film roles from here on. She is approached by the head of fictional movie studio 'Miramount' to sign a contract for a new concept whereby she is scanned, digitalised and owned by the studio to use in any movies or any way the studio deems appropriate for the rest of time. The real actress must retire and never act again. The studio boss (played well by Danny Huston) uses some very sharp personal criticism to goad Robin into signing the contract for a cheap price. The debate about whether to sign between Robin, her agent Al (played by Harvey Keitel) and her children, a son with a serious medical condition (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and a precocious teen daughter (Sami Gayle) is interesting and raises many valid points about the current Hollywood system and our general fame obsessed culture. This takes up about the first third of the movie.
The next phase takes place when Robin agrees to the contract and gets scanned - an extremely powerful extended scene between Robin and Harvey Keitel. Then an indeterminate period of time has passed and an older Robin is driving to a town where she has been invited to appear at "The Congress". To enter she must take a pill that converts her into animated form in an animated world, and this is where the film a huge leap which you may or may not be able to follow. Robin is ostensibly being feted but decides to use the platform to criticise Miramount, which sets off a chain reaction of events weird and wonderful. You definitely find yourself wondering "is this all a dream" before a scene towards the end starts to clarify what is really happening, so stick with it.
While this film doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of sense plot wise, it is a visual treat and a very smart commentary on our current pop culture obsessions versus what is really important in life. Totally original and a lot of fun if you are willing to take a bit of a risk.
The Congress starts off as a very sharp satire of the Hollywood movie industry. It stars Robin Wright (who most will know as the beautiful Buttercup in "The Princess Bride" but she has had an on and off hit and miss acting career over time which is quite relevant to this movie) and it's important to know she was also a producer on this film. Robin here plays Robin Wright, an actress in her mid 40s who still looks beautiful but given her age and poor career choices doesn't have many prospects for film roles from here on. She is approached by the head of fictional movie studio 'Miramount' to sign a contract for a new concept whereby she is scanned, digitalised and owned by the studio to use in any movies or any way the studio deems appropriate for the rest of time. The real actress must retire and never act again. The studio boss (played well by Danny Huston) uses some very sharp personal criticism to goad Robin into signing the contract for a cheap price. The debate about whether to sign between Robin, her agent Al (played by Harvey Keitel) and her children, a son with a serious medical condition (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and a precocious teen daughter (Sami Gayle) is interesting and raises many valid points about the current Hollywood system and our general fame obsessed culture. This takes up about the first third of the movie.
The next phase takes place when Robin agrees to the contract and gets scanned - an extremely powerful extended scene between Robin and Harvey Keitel. Then an indeterminate period of time has passed and an older Robin is driving to a town where she has been invited to appear at "The Congress". To enter she must take a pill that converts her into animated form in an animated world, and this is where the film a huge leap which you may or may not be able to follow. Robin is ostensibly being feted but decides to use the platform to criticise Miramount, which sets off a chain reaction of events weird and wonderful. You definitely find yourself wondering "is this all a dream" before a scene towards the end starts to clarify what is really happening, so stick with it.
While this film doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of sense plot wise, it is a visual treat and a very smart commentary on our current pop culture obsessions versus what is really important in life. Totally original and a lot of fun if you are willing to take a bit of a risk.
Wednesday 20 November 2013
BIFF Dud Movies - Movie #5 and Movie #10
When you see 20+ movies in 10 days each year, based on a few words printed in the guide, you are bound to see some bad movies here and there. Each year I have had 1 or 2 duds, although last year was either of a higher quality or I chose better. This year, I've had 2 duds, so below I cover them so you don't have to go through the same pain.
Movie # 5 - The Act of Killing
The Act of Killing is a documentary which explores the mindset of a group of men who were known as "executioners" during the Indonesian purge of communists in 1965 and 1966 following a military overthrow of the government. The doco follows 3 of these people in particular, all of whom are extremely proud of their role in abducting and killing up to thousands of people who were, or more importantly were deemed to be, communists and a danger to the new ruling power. An absolutely shocking chapter of world history that is probably largely unknown and in my opinion, deserved much better treatment than this film gives it.
I hated this movie, while I was watching it and every time I have thought of it since. I cannot understand how this has won "audience favourite" prizes at other film festivals and has such a good rating on IMDB and so many good reviews. It is not only morally objectionable (the perpetrators were so proud of their killing techniques and quantities without being able to explain why so the filmmakers decide to allow them to re-enact the killings for the cameras in any way that they choose - which results in truly offensive scenes performed by people with no remorse for their victims) but it is extremely poorly constructed. The film takes up almost 3 hours when anyone with any film editing skills could have cut that down to around 2 hours or less - so many boring, unnecessary scenes are included that add nothing but exasperation for the viewer. There is no focus and we follow random people at random times with no direction at all.
I suspect that the reason for all the prizes is the fact that the process seems to have ended with one of the key perpetrators coming to regret his actions and really understand the depth of the horrors he perpetrated, particularly after acting as a victim in one of the many annoying "movies" the participants create. It also sheds a little light on the ridiculousness of these paramilitary groups that have so much power in Indonesia (which might have made a better subject matter). This is a great outcome but unfortunately it is not going to bring any justice to the victims, and in fact I believe that several of the other perpetrators simply had their egos stroked even more and really enjoyed reminiscing about the murder of thousands of innocent people that they justify as "doing what we were told and what was right". They seem to have no conscience at all. I just found it all morally sickening, especially given that the filmmakers can't have known that any of the subjects would actually "reform" their views. Don't be fooled by all the prizes.
Movie #10 - Sapi
Last night produced our second unexpected dud. Billed as a "supernatural thriller", the description of this Phillipines movie turned out to be only 50% right. The movie covered some supernatural events, but had 0% thrills. It sounded promising and started alright, as we watch two journalism crews from 2 rival news stations as they roam the city of Manila looking for exciting stories to cover to boost their ratings in the wake of major storms and floods. Apparently there have been reports of "mass possessions" with people experiencing demonic possession. Crew A gets to a house in time to record footage of a possessed middle aged school teacher, who is soon cured in the lamest exorcism ever put to film. Crew B arrive a bit later and get some interviews but no possession footage. It seems we are going to get some good commentary on whether the media is making the news or filming the news and how much manipulation goes on. But all that really falls by the wayside after a camera man working freelance for Crew A and B gives Crew B the footage from Crew A. Crew B's station unknowingly airs the footage uncut first, which upsets the formerly possessed lady and seems to result in some "demonic" activity following Crew B around.
The "demonic" activity in this movie is laughable and in my book barely registers as ghostly let alone a demon. We get a few doors slamming shut, some bad dreams (which none of them seem to actually take any notice of whatsoever or have any ramifications), a bit of scary whispering. Any time there seems to be some kind of tension building, it finishes with a ridiculous scene which evaporates the mood and leaves you wondering what is going on. There is just so little logic to the construction of the movie and the script that you can't take it seriously. There is no tension or frights. And there is no resolution. Possibly because it had no budget and no special effects at all.
This is just an out and out bad movie which has failed to make any point. Disappointing that this has come from director Brillante ma Mendoza who has had several popular movies at the film festival in past years. This is definitely not going to sit in the Top 10. And it doesn't even fall into the "so bad it's good" category as there is just nothing to enjoy.
Movie # 5 - The Act of Killing
The Act of Killing is a documentary which explores the mindset of a group of men who were known as "executioners" during the Indonesian purge of communists in 1965 and 1966 following a military overthrow of the government. The doco follows 3 of these people in particular, all of whom are extremely proud of their role in abducting and killing up to thousands of people who were, or more importantly were deemed to be, communists and a danger to the new ruling power. An absolutely shocking chapter of world history that is probably largely unknown and in my opinion, deserved much better treatment than this film gives it.
I hated this movie, while I was watching it and every time I have thought of it since. I cannot understand how this has won "audience favourite" prizes at other film festivals and has such a good rating on IMDB and so many good reviews. It is not only morally objectionable (the perpetrators were so proud of their killing techniques and quantities without being able to explain why so the filmmakers decide to allow them to re-enact the killings for the cameras in any way that they choose - which results in truly offensive scenes performed by people with no remorse for their victims) but it is extremely poorly constructed. The film takes up almost 3 hours when anyone with any film editing skills could have cut that down to around 2 hours or less - so many boring, unnecessary scenes are included that add nothing but exasperation for the viewer. There is no focus and we follow random people at random times with no direction at all.
I suspect that the reason for all the prizes is the fact that the process seems to have ended with one of the key perpetrators coming to regret his actions and really understand the depth of the horrors he perpetrated, particularly after acting as a victim in one of the many annoying "movies" the participants create. It also sheds a little light on the ridiculousness of these paramilitary groups that have so much power in Indonesia (which might have made a better subject matter). This is a great outcome but unfortunately it is not going to bring any justice to the victims, and in fact I believe that several of the other perpetrators simply had their egos stroked even more and really enjoyed reminiscing about the murder of thousands of innocent people that they justify as "doing what we were told and what was right". They seem to have no conscience at all. I just found it all morally sickening, especially given that the filmmakers can't have known that any of the subjects would actually "reform" their views. Don't be fooled by all the prizes.
Movie #10 - Sapi
Last night produced our second unexpected dud. Billed as a "supernatural thriller", the description of this Phillipines movie turned out to be only 50% right. The movie covered some supernatural events, but had 0% thrills. It sounded promising and started alright, as we watch two journalism crews from 2 rival news stations as they roam the city of Manila looking for exciting stories to cover to boost their ratings in the wake of major storms and floods. Apparently there have been reports of "mass possessions" with people experiencing demonic possession. Crew A gets to a house in time to record footage of a possessed middle aged school teacher, who is soon cured in the lamest exorcism ever put to film. Crew B arrive a bit later and get some interviews but no possession footage. It seems we are going to get some good commentary on whether the media is making the news or filming the news and how much manipulation goes on. But all that really falls by the wayside after a camera man working freelance for Crew A and B gives Crew B the footage from Crew A. Crew B's station unknowingly airs the footage uncut first, which upsets the formerly possessed lady and seems to result in some "demonic" activity following Crew B around.
The "demonic" activity in this movie is laughable and in my book barely registers as ghostly let alone a demon. We get a few doors slamming shut, some bad dreams (which none of them seem to actually take any notice of whatsoever or have any ramifications), a bit of scary whispering. Any time there seems to be some kind of tension building, it finishes with a ridiculous scene which evaporates the mood and leaves you wondering what is going on. There is just so little logic to the construction of the movie and the script that you can't take it seriously. There is no tension or frights. And there is no resolution. Possibly because it had no budget and no special effects at all.
This is just an out and out bad movie which has failed to make any point. Disappointing that this has come from director Brillante ma Mendoza who has had several popular movies at the film festival in past years. This is definitely not going to sit in the Top 10. And it doesn't even fall into the "so bad it's good" category as there is just nothing to enjoy.
Monday 18 November 2013
BIFF Movie # 4 - Bethlehem and Movie # 9 - must-see The Square
Each year at the Film Festival I try to avoid the comedies and the American and English movies, and some of the Australian movies if I know they'll get a release anyway. Instead I use the limited time and tickets to head towards the low budget horror flicks, Asian cinema and particularly Middle Eastern cinema. The goal here is pretty simple - try to find out more about what is happening in the world around me, from the perspective of those who are there and have something to say. Despite the rise of social media as a way of getting the stories out to the rest of the world, it still takes a fair bit of effort to really understand what is going on in some of these places and I must say I don't really make the time to do it regularly. So the Film Festival is one way that I can gain a deeper understanding. Two films so far this festival have achieved that to different degrees.
One of those choices I made for that reason was to see "Bethlehem". Not a religious movie at all, it is set in Palestine and looks at how the Israeli Secret Service is activating people in Palestine to spy for them to try to stop further acts of terrorism. The trouble is that there is still so much division between the Israelis, Jews, Arabs and more radical Islamic groups. Even though there is a Palestinian National Authority which rules the West Bank, the Hamas group has taken the Gaza Strip and continue to fight both the Isrealis and their 'own' people in the PNA.
The movie sets up with establishing the relationship between Israeli Secret Service agent Razi and young Palestinian teen Sanfur. Sanfur has become a 'collaborator' in jealousy of his older brother Ibrahim who is a leader of the Martyr's Brigade which is undertaking suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Razi has been getting close to Sanfur in an attempt to gather intelligence on Ibrahim who they are trying to shut down but he has gone into hiding. Ibrahim is planning something big when the film opens but Sanfur doesn't know much....or does he? Razi discovers through other agents that Sanfur has been transferring money for Ibrahim and lying to Razi. This is a blow but he determines to use it to flush out Ibrahim while trying to protect Sanfur with whom Razi has become too close. Events then begin to accelerate and the stakes increase and Sanfur begins to be torn apart by the pressure of hiding his spy activity and helping his brother and making his father proud of him.
The thing about Bethlehem is that it is a very well written, authentic film with a lot of tension and strong acting. But it keeps the focus in very tight on these characters and therefore you don't really get a solid understanding of the political factors and the motivations behind either side. So it didn't really achieve my goal of understanding the conflict but it did give me a feel for what day to day life must be like in these areas where there is so much violence and conflict. It is a great film and the ending is absolutely devastating - in the screening I attended on Friday night, the film ended and the screen went black and there was an audible "oh" from the audience which signified to me that most had not expected it could end that way. No Hollywood happy endings with things wrapped up neatly here at BIFF! Bit like real life!
The second choice I made for this reason was to see "The Square". The Square is a documentary unlike the fictional Bethlehem. This film was amazing and deserves to be more widely seen than it was and than it will be. It is screening again this Sunday 24 November 2013 at 12pm so if you are interested in this sort of thing, I'd recommend you get along.
The film follows the events surrounding the revolution in Egypt which occurred in 2011 when the people of Egypt decided they had 'had enough' of the military regime ruling Egypt. Egypt had been under "Emergency Law" since 1967 (apart from a small period in the 80s) and under the rule of Hosni Mubarak since 1981 - an unprecedented 30 year reign with no end in sight as he was grooming his son to take over when he was ready to retire. The issues that people were angry about included the lack of free elections, no free speech, police brutality (secret police regularly arresting and beating anyone who spoke out), corruption of the government and army, economic conditions such as low wages, and just the emergency law conditions in general.
In early 2011, a series of mainly peaceful protests began which we see first-hand through a camera crew following an intelligent young revolutionist, a well respected Egyptian actor, a singer who became the voice of the revolution, a girl seeking more rights for women amongst other justice issues, and a man who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood religious group. This mixed group of friends are well involved and we see fascinating footage of them gathering more people to their cause and how they use unity across different religions (Christian, Jew, Muslim) and political views as their tool of protest. The action all takes place in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square which often hosted millions of protestors. While largely peaceful, there were several violent clashes which look to have been escalated by the armed forces to using live ammunition on the people. In the first revolution, at least 846 people were killed and more than 6000 injured. In February 2011 they got their way and Mubarak stepped down, appointing the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to run the country for six months. However, our revolutionaries notice that nothing has really changed despite the announcement of a free election in June 2012, and so the protests start up again, at first peacefully and again becoming more violent as the days drag on. The problem is that there will only be 2 parties in the election - the military who had effectively already been ruling (badly) and the new party started by the Muslim Brotherhood. Not much of a choice.
The acquittal of Mubarak from charges arising from being complicit in the murder of the original protestors starts a new protest and an interim government is appointed until the elections. The election brings the Muslim Brotherhood into power in both the parliament and as the President of the country. The problem is that the Muslim Brotherhood has some fairly strong views on religion and with only 51% of the vote, they are far from having the support of all people. In time, nothing has really changed, there is no new constitution, no raising of the emergency law and in fact, the leader Mohamed Morsi votes himself extensive new powers and makes himself virtually a new Pharoah. This stirs the protestors again, who gather regularly to call for the removal of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood and installation of real democracy. In July 2013, Morsi is removed in a coup and a civilian installed as interim president. However, to this day the military still effectively rule and not much has changed, and in fact there are more issues due to the pro-Morsi groups who continue to protest and fight against the other revolutionaries to reinstate Morsi to power. Violence against the people continues by the army and by each other.
As you can see from the above, there are a lot of big issues in Egypt and although the main events did make the news here, before seeing this doco I had no idea how frequent the protests were (on an almost daily basis over weeks and months, and in 4 main blocks) and what they involved. The injection of the Muslim Brotherhood into the previously secular protest movement certainly seemed to derail it quite a bit without improving the situation markedly. What amazed me were the scenes were citizens were arguing with the protestors about why they didn't need to protest because everything was fine. Clearly everything was not fine when you see the shocking footage of the armed forces firing on unarmed (apart from a few rocks) citizens or driving over them in tanks and vans. Yes, there is some footage in here that some will not be able to tolerate and certainly made me gasp out loud at how brutal it was.
The best thing about this film is that it depicts both the personal and the bigger picture successfully. You get a good understanding of what has happened to date, with the personal impact to make you really care about it. I just wish there were some solutions or some way to help. All I can do for now is reflect on what a lucky country this is and how we need to continue to ensure that we maintain our democracy and freedom of speech so that this never happens to us. Maybe if more people watched this (along with perfect doco partners "The Reluctant Revolutionary" which portrayed the so-called Arab Spring from Yemen's point of view, and "Mugabe vs the White African" which shows what non-free elections will do to a country with a terrible dictator in power). Essential viewing.
One of those choices I made for that reason was to see "Bethlehem". Not a religious movie at all, it is set in Palestine and looks at how the Israeli Secret Service is activating people in Palestine to spy for them to try to stop further acts of terrorism. The trouble is that there is still so much division between the Israelis, Jews, Arabs and more radical Islamic groups. Even though there is a Palestinian National Authority which rules the West Bank, the Hamas group has taken the Gaza Strip and continue to fight both the Isrealis and their 'own' people in the PNA.
The movie sets up with establishing the relationship between Israeli Secret Service agent Razi and young Palestinian teen Sanfur. Sanfur has become a 'collaborator' in jealousy of his older brother Ibrahim who is a leader of the Martyr's Brigade which is undertaking suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Razi has been getting close to Sanfur in an attempt to gather intelligence on Ibrahim who they are trying to shut down but he has gone into hiding. Ibrahim is planning something big when the film opens but Sanfur doesn't know much....or does he? Razi discovers through other agents that Sanfur has been transferring money for Ibrahim and lying to Razi. This is a blow but he determines to use it to flush out Ibrahim while trying to protect Sanfur with whom Razi has become too close. Events then begin to accelerate and the stakes increase and Sanfur begins to be torn apart by the pressure of hiding his spy activity and helping his brother and making his father proud of him.
The thing about Bethlehem is that it is a very well written, authentic film with a lot of tension and strong acting. But it keeps the focus in very tight on these characters and therefore you don't really get a solid understanding of the political factors and the motivations behind either side. So it didn't really achieve my goal of understanding the conflict but it did give me a feel for what day to day life must be like in these areas where there is so much violence and conflict. It is a great film and the ending is absolutely devastating - in the screening I attended on Friday night, the film ended and the screen went black and there was an audible "oh" from the audience which signified to me that most had not expected it could end that way. No Hollywood happy endings with things wrapped up neatly here at BIFF! Bit like real life!
The second choice I made for this reason was to see "The Square". The Square is a documentary unlike the fictional Bethlehem. This film was amazing and deserves to be more widely seen than it was and than it will be. It is screening again this Sunday 24 November 2013 at 12pm so if you are interested in this sort of thing, I'd recommend you get along.
The film follows the events surrounding the revolution in Egypt which occurred in 2011 when the people of Egypt decided they had 'had enough' of the military regime ruling Egypt. Egypt had been under "Emergency Law" since 1967 (apart from a small period in the 80s) and under the rule of Hosni Mubarak since 1981 - an unprecedented 30 year reign with no end in sight as he was grooming his son to take over when he was ready to retire. The issues that people were angry about included the lack of free elections, no free speech, police brutality (secret police regularly arresting and beating anyone who spoke out), corruption of the government and army, economic conditions such as low wages, and just the emergency law conditions in general.
In early 2011, a series of mainly peaceful protests began which we see first-hand through a camera crew following an intelligent young revolutionist, a well respected Egyptian actor, a singer who became the voice of the revolution, a girl seeking more rights for women amongst other justice issues, and a man who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood religious group. This mixed group of friends are well involved and we see fascinating footage of them gathering more people to their cause and how they use unity across different religions (Christian, Jew, Muslim) and political views as their tool of protest. The action all takes place in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square which often hosted millions of protestors. While largely peaceful, there were several violent clashes which look to have been escalated by the armed forces to using live ammunition on the people. In the first revolution, at least 846 people were killed and more than 6000 injured. In February 2011 they got their way and Mubarak stepped down, appointing the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to run the country for six months. However, our revolutionaries notice that nothing has really changed despite the announcement of a free election in June 2012, and so the protests start up again, at first peacefully and again becoming more violent as the days drag on. The problem is that there will only be 2 parties in the election - the military who had effectively already been ruling (badly) and the new party started by the Muslim Brotherhood. Not much of a choice.
The acquittal of Mubarak from charges arising from being complicit in the murder of the original protestors starts a new protest and an interim government is appointed until the elections. The election brings the Muslim Brotherhood into power in both the parliament and as the President of the country. The problem is that the Muslim Brotherhood has some fairly strong views on religion and with only 51% of the vote, they are far from having the support of all people. In time, nothing has really changed, there is no new constitution, no raising of the emergency law and in fact, the leader Mohamed Morsi votes himself extensive new powers and makes himself virtually a new Pharoah. This stirs the protestors again, who gather regularly to call for the removal of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood and installation of real democracy. In July 2013, Morsi is removed in a coup and a civilian installed as interim president. However, to this day the military still effectively rule and not much has changed, and in fact there are more issues due to the pro-Morsi groups who continue to protest and fight against the other revolutionaries to reinstate Morsi to power. Violence against the people continues by the army and by each other.
As you can see from the above, there are a lot of big issues in Egypt and although the main events did make the news here, before seeing this doco I had no idea how frequent the protests were (on an almost daily basis over weeks and months, and in 4 main blocks) and what they involved. The injection of the Muslim Brotherhood into the previously secular protest movement certainly seemed to derail it quite a bit without improving the situation markedly. What amazed me were the scenes were citizens were arguing with the protestors about why they didn't need to protest because everything was fine. Clearly everything was not fine when you see the shocking footage of the armed forces firing on unarmed (apart from a few rocks) citizens or driving over them in tanks and vans. Yes, there is some footage in here that some will not be able to tolerate and certainly made me gasp out loud at how brutal it was.
The best thing about this film is that it depicts both the personal and the bigger picture successfully. You get a good understanding of what has happened to date, with the personal impact to make you really care about it. I just wish there were some solutions or some way to help. All I can do for now is reflect on what a lucky country this is and how we need to continue to ensure that we maintain our democracy and freedom of speech so that this never happens to us. Maybe if more people watched this (along with perfect doco partners "The Reluctant Revolutionary" which portrayed the so-called Arab Spring from Yemen's point of view, and "Mugabe vs the White African" which shows what non-free elections will do to a country with a terrible dictator in power). Essential viewing.
BIFF Movie # 3 - Almost Human
Almost Human is a cracking little horror comedy with what must be one of the lowest budgets ever. The film was made on the credit cards of the writers and producers but don't let that stop you from enjoying this creepy little film if you're a fan of gore/slasher films/alien abduction.
The film starts with the protagonist, Seth, driving in a very distracted scared manner to his friend Mark's house. Strange noises and lights are following him. When he arrives we discover that a third friend has disappeared, "sucked up by a blue light into the sky" according to Seth. The weird noises and lights flickering on and off continue until a very loud ear piercing scream is heard, and Mark is hypnotised and walking out into the yard. Seth and Mark's wife Jen see him get sucked up by the blue light also. Cut to 2 years later, where a series of news reports fill us in on what has happened with Seth and Jen not remembering exactly what has happened but they have lost contact with each other. Seth gets nose bleeds and nightmares, but Jen has moved on and got a new fiancée and seems fine.
The action starts when a news report states that flickering lights were seen the night before which are identical to the ones from 2 years ago. Seth has a bad feeling about this and what is about to happen. He tries to warn Jen but she doesn't want to hear it. Next thing we are following some hunters in the forest and what do you know, they stumble across a naked, goo covered Mark shivering. They go to his aid, but apparently he doesn't need it....Mark looks like Mark but in reality is now an alien intent on killing anyone he comes across. That's not giving anything away either, as all this happens in the first 20 minutes. It's what happens next that forms the bulk of the movie, as Mark tries to get back to his great love Jen and start colonising earth.
Despite the acting being of a fairly low standard due to inexperienced actors, this is more than made up for by the special effects which are pretty damn good. As a killing machine, Mark is almost 100% effective but not in any rush, which helps build suspense. He also uses a good selection of weapons. The splatter is used regularly and mainly on camera, and there is also a fair bit of 'goo' involved which my friend P said it was funny that I said "ewww" for that and not for the blood flying around. I can't help that I find blood splatter funny! As I've said in previous BIFF reviews, I'm pretty desensitised to that stuff.
If you can get hold of it and you're a bit of a gore hound, I'd say this is worth spending about $10 on. It's super fun, avoids the typical Hollywood neat ending and never really explains anything, just takes you on the ride.
The film starts with the protagonist, Seth, driving in a very distracted scared manner to his friend Mark's house. Strange noises and lights are following him. When he arrives we discover that a third friend has disappeared, "sucked up by a blue light into the sky" according to Seth. The weird noises and lights flickering on and off continue until a very loud ear piercing scream is heard, and Mark is hypnotised and walking out into the yard. Seth and Mark's wife Jen see him get sucked up by the blue light also. Cut to 2 years later, where a series of news reports fill us in on what has happened with Seth and Jen not remembering exactly what has happened but they have lost contact with each other. Seth gets nose bleeds and nightmares, but Jen has moved on and got a new fiancée and seems fine.
The action starts when a news report states that flickering lights were seen the night before which are identical to the ones from 2 years ago. Seth has a bad feeling about this and what is about to happen. He tries to warn Jen but she doesn't want to hear it. Next thing we are following some hunters in the forest and what do you know, they stumble across a naked, goo covered Mark shivering. They go to his aid, but apparently he doesn't need it....Mark looks like Mark but in reality is now an alien intent on killing anyone he comes across. That's not giving anything away either, as all this happens in the first 20 minutes. It's what happens next that forms the bulk of the movie, as Mark tries to get back to his great love Jen and start colonising earth.
Despite the acting being of a fairly low standard due to inexperienced actors, this is more than made up for by the special effects which are pretty damn good. As a killing machine, Mark is almost 100% effective but not in any rush, which helps build suspense. He also uses a good selection of weapons. The splatter is used regularly and mainly on camera, and there is also a fair bit of 'goo' involved which my friend P said it was funny that I said "ewww" for that and not for the blood flying around. I can't help that I find blood splatter funny! As I've said in previous BIFF reviews, I'm pretty desensitised to that stuff.
If you can get hold of it and you're a bit of a gore hound, I'd say this is worth spending about $10 on. It's super fun, avoids the typical Hollywood neat ending and never really explains anything, just takes you on the ride.
Movie # 30 - Thor: The Dark World
As with Iron Man 3, it definitely helps to have seen "The Avengers" before you see Thor: The Dark World, and you must have seen the original Thor. This movie is part of Marvel's "Phase 2" which furthers the universe and existing characters and is beginning to setup for Phase 3 which will kick off with the Avengers sequel in 2015. This review will therefore unavoidably contain spoilers for "The Avengers" and "Thor 1" so stop reading now if you haven't seen those.
The Dark World opens up immediately after the events of The Avengers, with Thor back on his home planet of Asgard celebrating his newfound maturity and victory over the Chitauri to save Earth. Loki is to be dealt with by the Allfather Odin after his transgressions. While Thor's mind should be turning to his future as ruler of the Asgardians, instead he cannot stop thinking of his paramour Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) whom he left on Earth at the end of the first movie and didn't even have the decency to stop by and say "hi" to during the (admittedly more important) events occurring in The Avengers. So with Odin's okay if not his blessing, Thor heads down to Earth to reacquaint himself with Jane. But Jane has been having an interesting adventure of her own...
Jane and her super cool assistant Darcy (2 Broke Girls' Kat Dennings) have discovered a glitch in the universe in their new base of London, where things dropped in to the vacuum mysteriously disappear. Thanks to an Anthony Hopkins voiceover in the prologue, we know this will be the location of an object called the "Aether" which was hidden by the Asgardians a long time ago after getting it off the Dark Elves who were going to use it to return the entire universe to darkness and rule us all. Instead of destroying the Dark Elves and their evil leader Malekith (former Dr Who Christopher Eccleston), Odin only banished them and now with Jane's discovery and interaction with the Aether awakens them all to try and obtain it once more. Thor takes Jane back to Asgard but this brings the Dark Elves attention so Thor turns to Loki for help to find the Dark Elves and stop their universe destroying plan.
This film has a very different feel to the first one, definitely following the typical 'darker' path of many superhero sequels and losing some of the humour (with the exception of comedy sidekick Darcy who cracks me up near the end with her name for Mjolnir {Thor's hammer} from the first movie). The stakes are a lot higher in this movie and there is a deeper exploration of the conflicted relationship between Thor and Loki. There is plenty of drama for all the actors to get their teeth into, but Tom Hiddlestone again proves to be the best thing about the franchise with his portrayal of Loki.
The action is well choreographed and particularly the climactic battle between good and evil is exciting and well executed. The movie is pure entertainment and manages to keep the pace perfect without overstaying the welcome. Don't forget to stay for the now-standard post-credits scenes, although they key one for future Marvel properties is only a few seconds after the credits roll, whereas the one right at the end of 10 minutes of technical credits is less essential.
I'm giving this four hammers out of five, and maybe I'll add an extra half for the girls for the scene of Chris Hemsworth shirtless as he washes his face after the victory celebration!
The Dark World opens up immediately after the events of The Avengers, with Thor back on his home planet of Asgard celebrating his newfound maturity and victory over the Chitauri to save Earth. Loki is to be dealt with by the Allfather Odin after his transgressions. While Thor's mind should be turning to his future as ruler of the Asgardians, instead he cannot stop thinking of his paramour Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) whom he left on Earth at the end of the first movie and didn't even have the decency to stop by and say "hi" to during the (admittedly more important) events occurring in The Avengers. So with Odin's okay if not his blessing, Thor heads down to Earth to reacquaint himself with Jane. But Jane has been having an interesting adventure of her own...
Jane and her super cool assistant Darcy (2 Broke Girls' Kat Dennings) have discovered a glitch in the universe in their new base of London, where things dropped in to the vacuum mysteriously disappear. Thanks to an Anthony Hopkins voiceover in the prologue, we know this will be the location of an object called the "Aether" which was hidden by the Asgardians a long time ago after getting it off the Dark Elves who were going to use it to return the entire universe to darkness and rule us all. Instead of destroying the Dark Elves and their evil leader Malekith (former Dr Who Christopher Eccleston), Odin only banished them and now with Jane's discovery and interaction with the Aether awakens them all to try and obtain it once more. Thor takes Jane back to Asgard but this brings the Dark Elves attention so Thor turns to Loki for help to find the Dark Elves and stop their universe destroying plan.
This film has a very different feel to the first one, definitely following the typical 'darker' path of many superhero sequels and losing some of the humour (with the exception of comedy sidekick Darcy who cracks me up near the end with her name for Mjolnir {Thor's hammer} from the first movie). The stakes are a lot higher in this movie and there is a deeper exploration of the conflicted relationship between Thor and Loki. There is plenty of drama for all the actors to get their teeth into, but Tom Hiddlestone again proves to be the best thing about the franchise with his portrayal of Loki.
The action is well choreographed and particularly the climactic battle between good and evil is exciting and well executed. The movie is pure entertainment and manages to keep the pace perfect without overstaying the welcome. Don't forget to stay for the now-standard post-credits scenes, although they key one for future Marvel properties is only a few seconds after the credits roll, whereas the one right at the end of 10 minutes of technical credits is less essential.
I'm giving this four hammers out of five, and maybe I'll add an extra half for the girls for the scene of Chris Hemsworth shirtless as he washes his face after the victory celebration!
Sunday 17 November 2013
The BIFF is harder this year
Well we are on Day 5 of the BIFF and I'm 7 movies into it and finding it hard to keep up with the blogging and letting you know what's good and what's bad. Here is a quick summary of the Festival until I can get a breather which should be tomorrow, as I have another 2 movies today.
1. The new ticketing system SUCKS so get there early
This year they have decided to use Ticketek as the method of buying tickets, and it is terrible. If buying tickets at the cinema, you should probably plan to get there up to 30 or 45 minutes earlier than the start time, as the ticketing system is plagued with problems (passes must be linked to a Ticketek account, you can't see how many tickets you have left on a pass, you have to use all your 'evening' tickets on a pass before you can redeem your free daytime movies, the staff can't understand the codes to sort out problems that arise with the free daytime movies) and it is also really slow. I've seen lots of people waiting in line 5 minutes before a movie and by the time they get their tickets, the movie has already started. I've also seen some people standing at the counter flipping through the guide trying to decide what tickets to buy while people in line behind them who know what they want slowly start to boil over. Be prepared people and don't hog the counter. I've stepped aside a few times when buying advance tickets to let people buying for a movie starting soon go ahead of me.
2. The Congress was amazing but has already finished
Sorry folks but the best film I've seen so far has already completed it's second screening last night. The Congress is worth searching out on DVD if you like mind-bending movies which satirise Hollywood, blend eye-popping animation and live action and leave you thinking "wow" even though you have no idea what it was really about.
3. Watch the trailer to decide rather than using the Guide
The program guide can be misleading and can make things sound better than they really are, and awards from other festivals don't mean it will be good. An example is the guide saying that "The Act of Killing" is 'the documentary of the festival season' whereas I found it horrible and annoying and a waste of almost 3 hours. How this won an audience favourite prize at the Berlin Film Festival I don't know. There isn't another showing to take warning against, but my advice would be to try to watch the trailer to get a feel for movies before you go see them. The BIFF team this year seem to have obtained a trailer for every film and set up a Youtube channel to screen them, which is a great way to see if you might like something. Pity I didn't do it before yesterday's waste of time.
4. Allow for movies to start/finish late
If you are thinking of going to back to back movies, allow enough time to get to your second movie and build in somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes for it to be late. If you don't think you'll make the second one, you will have to cut one of those movies out. Most movies start on time, but not all. Sometimes the film reel has literally not arrived from overseas on time, and other times I have no idea why they start 10 minutes late (my theory is they are trying to sell more tickets before starting due to the aforementioned queue problems). Last night we missed the first 5-10 minutes of our second film due to the first one running late. This problem can be compounded if you have to walk between different cinemas - allow yourself plenty of time.
So far I've enjoyed Almost Human (gory horror movie fans should see this low budget comedy), The Congress, Spirit of '45 and Bethlehem. A Touch of Sin was ok but slow, same goes for Outrage Beyond. The Art of Killing was terrible. Today there are 2 movies which I have high hopes for: Oxv: the Manual and The Square. If you have a spare afternoon, it's well worth getting along to something but follow my tips above!
1. The new ticketing system SUCKS so get there early
This year they have decided to use Ticketek as the method of buying tickets, and it is terrible. If buying tickets at the cinema, you should probably plan to get there up to 30 or 45 minutes earlier than the start time, as the ticketing system is plagued with problems (passes must be linked to a Ticketek account, you can't see how many tickets you have left on a pass, you have to use all your 'evening' tickets on a pass before you can redeem your free daytime movies, the staff can't understand the codes to sort out problems that arise with the free daytime movies) and it is also really slow. I've seen lots of people waiting in line 5 minutes before a movie and by the time they get their tickets, the movie has already started. I've also seen some people standing at the counter flipping through the guide trying to decide what tickets to buy while people in line behind them who know what they want slowly start to boil over. Be prepared people and don't hog the counter. I've stepped aside a few times when buying advance tickets to let people buying for a movie starting soon go ahead of me.
2. The Congress was amazing but has already finished
Sorry folks but the best film I've seen so far has already completed it's second screening last night. The Congress is worth searching out on DVD if you like mind-bending movies which satirise Hollywood, blend eye-popping animation and live action and leave you thinking "wow" even though you have no idea what it was really about.
3. Watch the trailer to decide rather than using the Guide
The program guide can be misleading and can make things sound better than they really are, and awards from other festivals don't mean it will be good. An example is the guide saying that "The Act of Killing" is 'the documentary of the festival season' whereas I found it horrible and annoying and a waste of almost 3 hours. How this won an audience favourite prize at the Berlin Film Festival I don't know. There isn't another showing to take warning against, but my advice would be to try to watch the trailer to get a feel for movies before you go see them. The BIFF team this year seem to have obtained a trailer for every film and set up a Youtube channel to screen them, which is a great way to see if you might like something. Pity I didn't do it before yesterday's waste of time.
4. Allow for movies to start/finish late
If you are thinking of going to back to back movies, allow enough time to get to your second movie and build in somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes for it to be late. If you don't think you'll make the second one, you will have to cut one of those movies out. Most movies start on time, but not all. Sometimes the film reel has literally not arrived from overseas on time, and other times I have no idea why they start 10 minutes late (my theory is they are trying to sell more tickets before starting due to the aforementioned queue problems). Last night we missed the first 5-10 minutes of our second film due to the first one running late. This problem can be compounded if you have to walk between different cinemas - allow yourself plenty of time.
So far I've enjoyed Almost Human (gory horror movie fans should see this low budget comedy), The Congress, Spirit of '45 and Bethlehem. A Touch of Sin was ok but slow, same goes for Outrage Beyond. The Art of Killing was terrible. Today there are 2 movies which I have high hopes for: Oxv: the Manual and The Square. If you have a spare afternoon, it's well worth getting along to something but follow my tips above!
Friday 15 November 2013
BIFF Movie # 2 - The Spirit of '45
I have a confession to make. I am a super nerd. What, you hadn't guessed that from all the gushing reviews of superhero movies and the fact that I take time off work each year and spend my holidays watching multiple movies per day rather than sunning myself on a beach? Well if you hadn't already worked it out, I'm confessing it now after having it confirmed last night when I enjoyed "The Spirit of '45" so much. A documentary based on how England rebuilt the country and economy after World War 2, and what happened since. This film will have another showing this week so if you like the sound of it, look it up and get along.
The drawcard for those not into economics and politics could be the fact that this is directed by the British director Ken Loach, who may not be well known here but is renowned in film circles for his 'social realism' style of movie making. Which is appropriate, because the doco is concerned with the social impacts of real events around the end of the war and it is clear that the filmmaker is a socialist.
The message is all important in this documentary, which has kind of copied the Michael Moore approach where you take your view of an issue and then just put stuff on the screen which backs that up and don't worry about interviewing anyone with a different opinion at all. Now I can say that and still say I liked the movie ok? The message here is "socialism works, unfettered capitalism doesn't" which is why I, a nerd with an Economics degree, found it really interesting.
The theory put forward by all involved is that England would never have recovered from the great depression and overcome the malaise that could have occurred after World War 2 was won, had the people not elected the Labour Government which had a strong socialist policy and passed many laws to nationalise many industries and sectors for the greater good. The employment, healthcare and housing this provided definitely looked to have been beneficial and the film spends a long time focusing on the "5 pillars" that were the key to England's revitalisation, and how the elderly folk they interviewed felt about it. A short amount of time is spent at the end looking at how the structures created then began to be dismantled in the Thatcher era and continue to have been since, and links the decline of socialist policy with a decline in British society in general - rising unemployment, drug and crime problems, poor health etc. Whether this is due to the privatisation of key industries and sectors in England or just a general symptom of the current global economy structure
Loach has constructed this documentary in a fairly basic style, which combines archival footage of people living and working in England from the 1930s to today with footage of political leaders of the time, intercut with current interviews from various folk reminiscing about the times. The 'talking heads' are half ordinary people who lived through the time (or their parents/grandparents did) and half experts on the particular topic at hand, but nobody famous. This ensures you are not distracted from the message. The ordinary folk included have been well chosen, as it's just like hearing your grandpa talk about the olden days, and their memories and the smiles or tears they bring to their eyes give the documentary some heart and some humour. Without them it would have been exceedingly dry. With them, it's fascinating stuff for those with fairly liberal views of economics.
The only downsides to this movie were the inclusion of subtitles (everyone was speaking English and not hard to understand!) and to my mind, a lack of statistics and numbers. I understand the focus was not on that, but I was fascinated by how the British Government had the money to undertake all the spending that is shown in the film, and where that came from. This is not explored. So, a little unbalanced and it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea (get it?) but fascinating stuff and it may be quite instructional given the governments that most of the world are living under at the present time.
The drawcard for those not into economics and politics could be the fact that this is directed by the British director Ken Loach, who may not be well known here but is renowned in film circles for his 'social realism' style of movie making. Which is appropriate, because the doco is concerned with the social impacts of real events around the end of the war and it is clear that the filmmaker is a socialist.
The message is all important in this documentary, which has kind of copied the Michael Moore approach where you take your view of an issue and then just put stuff on the screen which backs that up and don't worry about interviewing anyone with a different opinion at all. Now I can say that and still say I liked the movie ok? The message here is "socialism works, unfettered capitalism doesn't" which is why I, a nerd with an Economics degree, found it really interesting.
The theory put forward by all involved is that England would never have recovered from the great depression and overcome the malaise that could have occurred after World War 2 was won, had the people not elected the Labour Government which had a strong socialist policy and passed many laws to nationalise many industries and sectors for the greater good. The employment, healthcare and housing this provided definitely looked to have been beneficial and the film spends a long time focusing on the "5 pillars" that were the key to England's revitalisation, and how the elderly folk they interviewed felt about it. A short amount of time is spent at the end looking at how the structures created then began to be dismantled in the Thatcher era and continue to have been since, and links the decline of socialist policy with a decline in British society in general - rising unemployment, drug and crime problems, poor health etc. Whether this is due to the privatisation of key industries and sectors in England or just a general symptom of the current global economy structure
Loach has constructed this documentary in a fairly basic style, which combines archival footage of people living and working in England from the 1930s to today with footage of political leaders of the time, intercut with current interviews from various folk reminiscing about the times. The 'talking heads' are half ordinary people who lived through the time (or their parents/grandparents did) and half experts on the particular topic at hand, but nobody famous. This ensures you are not distracted from the message. The ordinary folk included have been well chosen, as it's just like hearing your grandpa talk about the olden days, and their memories and the smiles or tears they bring to their eyes give the documentary some heart and some humour. Without them it would have been exceedingly dry. With them, it's fascinating stuff for those with fairly liberal views of economics.
The only downsides to this movie were the inclusion of subtitles (everyone was speaking English and not hard to understand!) and to my mind, a lack of statistics and numbers. I understand the focus was not on that, but I was fascinated by how the British Government had the money to undertake all the spending that is shown in the film, and where that came from. This is not explored. So, a little unbalanced and it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea (get it?) but fascinating stuff and it may be quite instructional given the governments that most of the world are living under at the present time.
BIFF Movie # 1 - Outrage Beyond
Opening my account of BIFF 2013 was the new film from legendary Japanese director and actor 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano. He is probably best known in Australia for acting as the teacher in "Battle Royale" but also for his earlier yakuza films such as "Boiling Point" and "Violent Cop". He has explored different genres over the years but returned to the yakuza subject matter in the 2010 movie "Outrage". This movie is the sequel to that, although I had no idea that it was a sequel to anything beforehand or while watching it (thanks IMDB). The BIFF guide did not mention the film was a sequel and I think looking back now, it might have been pretty handy to have seen the first film. Although this film made total sense on its own when I didn't know there was a previous movie, as it did mention past events, I think seeing both would deepen and enhance the appreciation of the second movie.
As I understand it, Outrage Beyond starts immediately after events in the first film which from my reading seemed to concern rival Yakuza clans the Sanno, Otomo and Hannabishi. There is a new head of the Sanno family and new young upstart 'executives' whose plans for changing the operation and making more money than ever are unsettling the old guard. The Hannabishi have a pact not to start a war with the Sanno. And the Otomo family is no more, with Otomo himself (played by Beat Takeshi) not appearing in the first few chapters of this movie but eventually being revealed to be in prison. But a nosy, possibly corrupt cop seems determined to stir things up again by plotting and setting people against each other while trying to remain 'neutral'. Will he succeed and what are his motives?
Anyone expecting full blown violent yakuza action from the get go could be disappointed with this, as it takes quite a while to set up all the characters and the conflict between them. However, the final third of the movie does suddenly explode into gun battles, stabbings and torture although not as in your face gory as you may expect. There is some very clever use of sound in these scenes. The action is all pretty easy to follow but it does require some concentration in the dramatic scenes to remember who is who when a lot of them involve Japanese men of a similar age in similar black suits yelling at each other in non-descript offices and boardrooms.
I enjoyed the themes of the film in relation to honour, forgiveness, brotherhood and the changing of the guard within the yakuza ranks. This last item provides most of the few humourous moments. However I have to say I didn't totally love it the way I have loved most of his other films I've seen. This I put down partially to the very strange character of cop Kataoka and I think just to not having seen the first film so you are always playing a bit of catch up. However it does work as a stand alone movie with all previous slights and betrayals explained. For those who like serious Yakuza films rather than over the top Japanese craziness, you would enjoy this film.
It's showing again this Friday 15 November at 9pm.
As I understand it, Outrage Beyond starts immediately after events in the first film which from my reading seemed to concern rival Yakuza clans the Sanno, Otomo and Hannabishi. There is a new head of the Sanno family and new young upstart 'executives' whose plans for changing the operation and making more money than ever are unsettling the old guard. The Hannabishi have a pact not to start a war with the Sanno. And the Otomo family is no more, with Otomo himself (played by Beat Takeshi) not appearing in the first few chapters of this movie but eventually being revealed to be in prison. But a nosy, possibly corrupt cop seems determined to stir things up again by plotting and setting people against each other while trying to remain 'neutral'. Will he succeed and what are his motives?
Anyone expecting full blown violent yakuza action from the get go could be disappointed with this, as it takes quite a while to set up all the characters and the conflict between them. However, the final third of the movie does suddenly explode into gun battles, stabbings and torture although not as in your face gory as you may expect. There is some very clever use of sound in these scenes. The action is all pretty easy to follow but it does require some concentration in the dramatic scenes to remember who is who when a lot of them involve Japanese men of a similar age in similar black suits yelling at each other in non-descript offices and boardrooms.
I enjoyed the themes of the film in relation to honour, forgiveness, brotherhood and the changing of the guard within the yakuza ranks. This last item provides most of the few humourous moments. However I have to say I didn't totally love it the way I have loved most of his other films I've seen. This I put down partially to the very strange character of cop Kataoka and I think just to not having seen the first film so you are always playing a bit of catch up. However it does work as a stand alone movie with all previous slights and betrayals explained. For those who like serious Yakuza films rather than over the top Japanese craziness, you would enjoy this film.
It's showing again this Friday 15 November at 9pm.
Friday 18 October 2013
Movie # 28 - Mystery Road
Last week I had the privilege to attend the Brisbane premiere of new Aussie flick 'Mystery Road' with the director, Ivan Sen, and lead actor, Aaron Pederson, in attendance. While the boys didn't seem to have prepared their speeches, the off the cuff introductions gave us the indication that this was a 'campfire' story. And so it was. And it's a film that should be seen.
Mystery Road is very well named, as it follows Jay Swan (Pederson), an Aboriginal man from an unnamed outback town who has just returned home a qualified detective, as he tries to unravel the mystery of the murder of a young Aboriginal girl. The girl is a teenager, and one that Jay actually knows as she is a friend of his daughter. Despite Jay's desire to launch a major investigation, the sergeant advises that there are not enough resources available and Jay will have to look into it himself. There's too many drug busts and other crimes to deal with (the film is set in the present day). This leads to a great amount of good old fashioned detective work, building up slowly to a white knuckle suspenseful ending.
The film has attracted an absolute top shelf Aussie cast which is a lot of fun as you play "hey that's X". Aaron Pederson gives a very powerful performance as the dogged detective, as he runs up against a lot of people accusing him of betraying his Aboriginal heritage as a cop (from white and black people alike) and has a few run-ins with his ex-wife (Tasma Walton) and tries to connect with his estranged daughter and protect her. His previous appearances on police procedurals such as Wildside, Water Rats and City Homicide) have given him the necessary experience to pull off the lone wolf detective. I didn't realise it at the time, but he is in virtually every scene of the film which keeps the focus nice and tight as we work through the 'who' and 'how' of the murder. Unlike other films which show the action from different points of view, by staying with the detective we only know as much as he knows at any point in time and are trying to figure it out along with him. It's an understated but undeniably strong performance.
Pederson is ably backed by the rest of the cast including Tony Barry as the police sergeant who is suspiciously relaxed about the murder, Hugo Weaving as "Johnno" who leads the drug squad and is acting suspiciously, David Field as the owner of a farm near where the girl is found who acts suspiciously when questioned, Damian Walshe-Howling as the local drug dealer who acts suspiciously, Ryan Kwanten as a suspicious kangaroo hunter living on the aforementioned farm, small cameos from Bruce Spence, Jack Thompson and Ray Billing etc etc. You get my drift here I think: everyone is acting suspiciously. Red herrings galore! The mystery will have you thinking, but the next day I had pieced it all together and found it very satisfactory.
Ivan Sen, the Aussie director still best known for "Beneath Clouds", has done an amazing job with the film. It looks absolutely beautiful, filmed on location in Winton (outback town in Queensland) where you can get rundown homes in suburbia, grassy farms and red desert and some of the most beautiful lighting in the morning and evening. As well as directing, he was also the writer, composer of the music, cinematographer and editor. Wow! The film is a triumph of well paced storytelling, strong acting and stunning visuals. I really recommend you give this your time.
Mystery Road is very well named, as it follows Jay Swan (Pederson), an Aboriginal man from an unnamed outback town who has just returned home a qualified detective, as he tries to unravel the mystery of the murder of a young Aboriginal girl. The girl is a teenager, and one that Jay actually knows as she is a friend of his daughter. Despite Jay's desire to launch a major investigation, the sergeant advises that there are not enough resources available and Jay will have to look into it himself. There's too many drug busts and other crimes to deal with (the film is set in the present day). This leads to a great amount of good old fashioned detective work, building up slowly to a white knuckle suspenseful ending.
The film has attracted an absolute top shelf Aussie cast which is a lot of fun as you play "hey that's X". Aaron Pederson gives a very powerful performance as the dogged detective, as he runs up against a lot of people accusing him of betraying his Aboriginal heritage as a cop (from white and black people alike) and has a few run-ins with his ex-wife (Tasma Walton) and tries to connect with his estranged daughter and protect her. His previous appearances on police procedurals such as Wildside, Water Rats and City Homicide) have given him the necessary experience to pull off the lone wolf detective. I didn't realise it at the time, but he is in virtually every scene of the film which keeps the focus nice and tight as we work through the 'who' and 'how' of the murder. Unlike other films which show the action from different points of view, by staying with the detective we only know as much as he knows at any point in time and are trying to figure it out along with him. It's an understated but undeniably strong performance.
Pederson is ably backed by the rest of the cast including Tony Barry as the police sergeant who is suspiciously relaxed about the murder, Hugo Weaving as "Johnno" who leads the drug squad and is acting suspiciously, David Field as the owner of a farm near where the girl is found who acts suspiciously when questioned, Damian Walshe-Howling as the local drug dealer who acts suspiciously, Ryan Kwanten as a suspicious kangaroo hunter living on the aforementioned farm, small cameos from Bruce Spence, Jack Thompson and Ray Billing etc etc. You get my drift here I think: everyone is acting suspiciously. Red herrings galore! The mystery will have you thinking, but the next day I had pieced it all together and found it very satisfactory.
Ivan Sen, the Aussie director still best known for "Beneath Clouds", has done an amazing job with the film. It looks absolutely beautiful, filmed on location in Winton (outback town in Queensland) where you can get rundown homes in suburbia, grassy farms and red desert and some of the most beautiful lighting in the morning and evening. As well as directing, he was also the writer, composer of the music, cinematographer and editor. Wow! The film is a triumph of well paced storytelling, strong acting and stunning visuals. I really recommend you give this your time.
Saturday 12 October 2013
Movie #29 - 3D Metallica: Through the Never
Attention rock fans: you have 1 week to get yourself to the cinema to witness Metallica's new concept. A live concert mixed with a short film. I have never seen anything quite like this before and I give massive kudos to the guys (who wrote the film together with director Nimrod Antal) for coming up with what could have been a complete disaster but is a unique and very cool experience.
The film is basically a Metallica concert filmed in Canada using their stunning "in the round" stage show which in my honest opinion would have to be the most ambitious and amazing stage show since, well, pretty much ever. Props, lights, projected images, fire, lasers are all part of this mind-blowing show. After a short introduction where we meet low level roadie Trip (played by actor Dane de Haan) as he delivers some burgers to the crew, we follow him into the arena as Metallica take the stage and kick off their show with "Creeping Death" - woo hoo! Trip's enjoyment of the concert is interrupted as he is sent off on a mission to take some gas to a stranded truck that contains something Very Important. The rest of the movie is then the concert spliced with a short film that becomes increasingly surrealistic as Trip's adventure takes some very strange turns, with events outside seeming to affect events inside the stadium.
If you see this at the movies, you will experience the most beautiful sound you have probably ever heard - I take my hat off to the sound guys on this. My current short-term hearing problem just got a lot worse, but gee I'm happy about it! The camera work has been carefully crafted and designed so that every image is exactly what you want to be seeing at that particular moment, whether it is Lars' feet on the double kick in "One", Kirk's classic guitar solos, Robert's crab walk or James' vocals when he is pulling the best faces. You absolutely will not have better access to the band than in this film. And the visual effects on the fiction side of things are pretty good. The music is well matched to the action outside as well.
The film is not without flaws though. One is frustration at the ending (do not leave until the credits have finished rolling although that still doesn't stop the frustration) which was pretty widespread in the cinema we were in. Another is that the 3D is a bit wobbly in parts, especially at the beginning. It's not in your face but it does provide a super immersive experience as though you are at the concert at times. There are some pretty full-on images and concepts as well, so it's not for young kids if any old metalheads out there have brought up your kids to love Metallica as well.
Any Metallica fans should see this at the cinema. Non Metallica fans who still like rock music and fantasy films would really like it too. Non metal fans are probably not even reading this review!
For those who have seen the movie and want to discuss it (including some of the flaws I've mentioned briefly) , please go to my new page I have set up separately which is where you can write whatever you want about it because only people who have seen the movie should click on it! I've labelled it "Spoilers" so that people don't click on it by mistake: http://melocracy.blogspot.com.au/p/discussions-and-spoilers.html
The film is basically a Metallica concert filmed in Canada using their stunning "in the round" stage show which in my honest opinion would have to be the most ambitious and amazing stage show since, well, pretty much ever. Props, lights, projected images, fire, lasers are all part of this mind-blowing show. After a short introduction where we meet low level roadie Trip (played by actor Dane de Haan) as he delivers some burgers to the crew, we follow him into the arena as Metallica take the stage and kick off their show with "Creeping Death" - woo hoo! Trip's enjoyment of the concert is interrupted as he is sent off on a mission to take some gas to a stranded truck that contains something Very Important. The rest of the movie is then the concert spliced with a short film that becomes increasingly surrealistic as Trip's adventure takes some very strange turns, with events outside seeming to affect events inside the stadium.
If you see this at the movies, you will experience the most beautiful sound you have probably ever heard - I take my hat off to the sound guys on this. My current short-term hearing problem just got a lot worse, but gee I'm happy about it! The camera work has been carefully crafted and designed so that every image is exactly what you want to be seeing at that particular moment, whether it is Lars' feet on the double kick in "One", Kirk's classic guitar solos, Robert's crab walk or James' vocals when he is pulling the best faces. You absolutely will not have better access to the band than in this film. And the visual effects on the fiction side of things are pretty good. The music is well matched to the action outside as well.
The film is not without flaws though. One is frustration at the ending (do not leave until the credits have finished rolling although that still doesn't stop the frustration) which was pretty widespread in the cinema we were in. Another is that the 3D is a bit wobbly in parts, especially at the beginning. It's not in your face but it does provide a super immersive experience as though you are at the concert at times. There are some pretty full-on images and concepts as well, so it's not for young kids if any old metalheads out there have brought up your kids to love Metallica as well.
Any Metallica fans should see this at the cinema. Non Metallica fans who still like rock music and fantasy films would really like it too. Non metal fans are probably not even reading this review!
For those who have seen the movie and want to discuss it (including some of the flaws I've mentioned briefly) , please go to my new page I have set up separately which is where you can write whatever you want about it because only people who have seen the movie should click on it! I've labelled it "Spoilers" so that people don't click on it by mistake: http://melocracy.blogspot.com.au/p/discussions-and-spoilers.html
Monday 7 October 2013
MARVEL's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
So, who caught the new television show "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" this week? Last Wednesday night we got the first and second episodes and are apparently now caught up to where the show is in the United States. I watched both but am now torn about whether to continue watching.
I know you're thinking, what does this have to do with movies and why are you writing about it? However, the thing that makes me want to watch it is the way that it expands on the Marvel universe and builds on the movies that we are all loving so much of late - Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America. As a casual comic book fan during my life rather than a devoted regular buyer and reader, I have a reasonable awareness of the Marvel characters but the run of movies we've had since Marvel Comics decided to build their own movie studio and control the output has really turned me into much more of a fan. You get the comic book action and themes but so far most of the movies have had great heart and scripts to back it all up.
So a new TV show from Marvel Studios is an exciting prospect. It should, in theory, be able to expand on the universe they have created to give us a better understanding of the motivations of different races and organisations (especially the ultra mysterious S.H.I.E.L.D which has barely been scratched in the films to date) and introduce a wider range of exciting characters with different superpowers. And from watching two episodes, I did get that. The casual references thrown in to things like "Hydra" (aka the German Nazi research program headed by the Red Skull that Cap'n America fought in his first film) and "the best combat results since Romanov" (Natasha Romanov aka The Black Widow who was played by Scarlett Johanssen in the Avengers) or "Tesseract" (the power source that Loki was using to try and bring the Chitauri to Earth from Asgard) are gold to a geek trainspotter.
The problem I had though is that for a movie studio with seemingly never-ending resources to pump out multi-million dollar budgeted blockbusters that make billions of dollars, the budget for the TV show seems to be incredibly low. The action scenes were pretty pathetic when compared to one of my favourite shows at the moment, Hawaii Five 0. They have very little gloss and there seems to be a lot of low-quality CGI being used. It's really distracting for someone who has been spoiled by the high production values of so many action based TV shows these days e.g. Lost, Heroes, Hawaii Five 0, even recent stuff like Sleepy Hollow and Once Upon a Time seem to have better effects. The script is also layered with more cheese than a triple cheese pizza. I groaned a few times in two episodes. The lack of major characters crossing over to TV will also disappoint many people but honestly, Robert Downey Jr is probably not going to appear is he? I was cheered up a fair bit though by a cameo from the man, Samuel L Jackson, as S.H.I.E.L.D commander Nick Fury, towards the end of episode 2. I mean, how can he not be in it!
Will I keep watching? Probably. There is the little matter of the mystery about how Agent Coulson is now actually alive after being killed by Loki in the first Avengers movie. It looks like they have a very good explanation for this up their sleeve which is going to be unveiled extremely slowly over the course of a season. And will the new recruit in the team come over to the 'right' side or will they discover the rat in the ranks? I do love a good mystery. And in the end, any TV series that is not a sitcom is going to work if it keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. It seems I will just have to get over my expectation of high quality production!
If anyone else is watching, please feel free to post here about the in-jokes and references and what they mean.
I know you're thinking, what does this have to do with movies and why are you writing about it? However, the thing that makes me want to watch it is the way that it expands on the Marvel universe and builds on the movies that we are all loving so much of late - Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America. As a casual comic book fan during my life rather than a devoted regular buyer and reader, I have a reasonable awareness of the Marvel characters but the run of movies we've had since Marvel Comics decided to build their own movie studio and control the output has really turned me into much more of a fan. You get the comic book action and themes but so far most of the movies have had great heart and scripts to back it all up.
So a new TV show from Marvel Studios is an exciting prospect. It should, in theory, be able to expand on the universe they have created to give us a better understanding of the motivations of different races and organisations (especially the ultra mysterious S.H.I.E.L.D which has barely been scratched in the films to date) and introduce a wider range of exciting characters with different superpowers. And from watching two episodes, I did get that. The casual references thrown in to things like "Hydra" (aka the German Nazi research program headed by the Red Skull that Cap'n America fought in his first film) and "the best combat results since Romanov" (Natasha Romanov aka The Black Widow who was played by Scarlett Johanssen in the Avengers) or "Tesseract" (the power source that Loki was using to try and bring the Chitauri to Earth from Asgard) are gold to a geek trainspotter.
The problem I had though is that for a movie studio with seemingly never-ending resources to pump out multi-million dollar budgeted blockbusters that make billions of dollars, the budget for the TV show seems to be incredibly low. The action scenes were pretty pathetic when compared to one of my favourite shows at the moment, Hawaii Five 0. They have very little gloss and there seems to be a lot of low-quality CGI being used. It's really distracting for someone who has been spoiled by the high production values of so many action based TV shows these days e.g. Lost, Heroes, Hawaii Five 0, even recent stuff like Sleepy Hollow and Once Upon a Time seem to have better effects. The script is also layered with more cheese than a triple cheese pizza. I groaned a few times in two episodes. The lack of major characters crossing over to TV will also disappoint many people but honestly, Robert Downey Jr is probably not going to appear is he? I was cheered up a fair bit though by a cameo from the man, Samuel L Jackson, as S.H.I.E.L.D commander Nick Fury, towards the end of episode 2. I mean, how can he not be in it!
Will I keep watching? Probably. There is the little matter of the mystery about how Agent Coulson is now actually alive after being killed by Loki in the first Avengers movie. It looks like they have a very good explanation for this up their sleeve which is going to be unveiled extremely slowly over the course of a season. And will the new recruit in the team come over to the 'right' side or will they discover the rat in the ranks? I do love a good mystery. And in the end, any TV series that is not a sitcom is going to work if it keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. It seems I will just have to get over my expectation of high quality production!
If anyone else is watching, please feel free to post here about the in-jokes and references and what they mean.
Movie # 27 - Gravity 3D
I know I have skipped Movie #26 but it is no longer on at the movies so I thought I'd go straight to movie #27 and I'll get back to Kick-Ass 2 later.
Gravity is a new movie which has hit our screens with very little build up or fanfare. It's a small movie that I suspect is going to be a 'big' movie that features on many people's "Movie of the Year" lists come December/January. The less you know about it going in, I think the better off you will be so I won't give you any spoilers.
The movie kicks off with a group of 3 astronauts working on the Hubble telescope being monitored by NASA on the ground and their crew in the space shuttle. One of the astronauts is a veteran on his last mission to space, while one is on her first mission since she is actually a doctor and not an astronaut. They are installing a system she has developed to monitor astronaut's health and has had only 6 months of training. All 3 are actually out in space, tethered to the telescope or using a jetpack. All is going swimmingly until NASA advises that a Russian rocket launch has accidentally hit a satellite and created a fast moving swarm of space debris. The mission has to be aborted so the astronauts can return to safety inside their ship. But things don't quite go to plan, and Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are soon floating free in space and trying to find a way to get back to Earth despite being cut off from communication with Earth. Will they make it?
All of the above happens in the first 20 minutes of the movie, with the remainder being a tremendously tense adventure as we follow Ryan and Matt in their desperate battle for survival. The power of this movie comes from two main sources: the immersiveness and the performances.
The movie is so immersive because the scripter and director, Alfonso Cuaron (best known for either Children of Men or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) has taken an excellent decision to limit the film to the characters in space and not, as so many others do, cut to NASA control or the families on the ground or potential rescuers or some other perspective. By staying with the two characters the whole time, you really feel like you are there with them and on the journey, there is no distraction and no let up in the tension. The other immersive aspect comes with the impressively rendered space shots and 3D. This would have to be the best use of 3D since Avatar for making you feel like you are really there. The shots of earth from space are stunning, and there are some of the most technically amazing shots I've seen included in here, especially as they were dealing with the depiction of zero gravity. A shot of tears falling in zero gravity is one of the most beautiful I've seen and will definitely stay with me.
The performances here are flawless, which is lucky when the success of the movie was always going to rely on the actors given the number of characters is so limited. Sandra Bullock is the key and she gives a performance which makes you totally forget about Sandy the comedic goofy chick and there is already talk of Oscar nomination here. She really gives her all and lends an emotional resonance to what could have been cheesy. George Clooney equals his best performances as the elder statesmen calming the rookie, and he adds the movie's very few moments of lightness. Totally charming.
Gravity is not a film to miss at the movies. The big screen and 3D is an absolute necessity to really facilitate the edge of your seat storyline. A must-see movie for 2013!
Gravity is a new movie which has hit our screens with very little build up or fanfare. It's a small movie that I suspect is going to be a 'big' movie that features on many people's "Movie of the Year" lists come December/January. The less you know about it going in, I think the better off you will be so I won't give you any spoilers.
The movie kicks off with a group of 3 astronauts working on the Hubble telescope being monitored by NASA on the ground and their crew in the space shuttle. One of the astronauts is a veteran on his last mission to space, while one is on her first mission since she is actually a doctor and not an astronaut. They are installing a system she has developed to monitor astronaut's health and has had only 6 months of training. All 3 are actually out in space, tethered to the telescope or using a jetpack. All is going swimmingly until NASA advises that a Russian rocket launch has accidentally hit a satellite and created a fast moving swarm of space debris. The mission has to be aborted so the astronauts can return to safety inside their ship. But things don't quite go to plan, and Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are soon floating free in space and trying to find a way to get back to Earth despite being cut off from communication with Earth. Will they make it?
All of the above happens in the first 20 minutes of the movie, with the remainder being a tremendously tense adventure as we follow Ryan and Matt in their desperate battle for survival. The power of this movie comes from two main sources: the immersiveness and the performances.
The movie is so immersive because the scripter and director, Alfonso Cuaron (best known for either Children of Men or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) has taken an excellent decision to limit the film to the characters in space and not, as so many others do, cut to NASA control or the families on the ground or potential rescuers or some other perspective. By staying with the two characters the whole time, you really feel like you are there with them and on the journey, there is no distraction and no let up in the tension. The other immersive aspect comes with the impressively rendered space shots and 3D. This would have to be the best use of 3D since Avatar for making you feel like you are really there. The shots of earth from space are stunning, and there are some of the most technically amazing shots I've seen included in here, especially as they were dealing with the depiction of zero gravity. A shot of tears falling in zero gravity is one of the most beautiful I've seen and will definitely stay with me.
The performances here are flawless, which is lucky when the success of the movie was always going to rely on the actors given the number of characters is so limited. Sandra Bullock is the key and she gives a performance which makes you totally forget about Sandy the comedic goofy chick and there is already talk of Oscar nomination here. She really gives her all and lends an emotional resonance to what could have been cheesy. George Clooney equals his best performances as the elder statesmen calming the rookie, and he adds the movie's very few moments of lightness. Totally charming.
Gravity is not a film to miss at the movies. The big screen and 3D is an absolute necessity to really facilitate the edge of your seat storyline. A must-see movie for 2013!
Tuesday 1 October 2013
Movie # 25 - Now You See Me
Egads, a whole month has gone by with no posts from me! Whoops. I'm back though!
Now You See Me is actually still showing in 1 or 2 cinemas, but be quick if you do decide to see it.
The latest offering from director Louis Leterrier (who directed Transporter 2, Clash of the Titans and what is often referred to as the good version of The Incredible Hulk) is an extremely slick tale of a group of four magicians brought together to pull off an audacious series of heists. The movie starts out by introducing us to this group of magicians who all have very different talents: sleight of hand, escapology, illusion, mind reading. They are brought together by a mysterious benefactor, with an invitation to an exclusive group if they can pull off his or her instructions. The first big setpiece is the robbing of a French bank by an audience member from a magic show in the US. This attracts the attention of Interpol, who send an agent (Melanie Laurent, best known for Inglourious Basterds) to work with an FBI Agent (Mark Ruffalo, who ironically now plays the Hulk in The Avengers series) to pin the crime on the magicians.
With no evidence to make the charges stick, the '4 Horsemen' are soon free and promoting their next big stunt. Their major financial backer is on board (a small role for Michael Caine) and the FBI and Interpol agents are soon consulting a guy who used to be a magician but now debunks magic for his own highly profitable TV series (played by Morgan Freeman). Will thinking about how the tricks are done help them catch the crooks in the act? Well that is the great mystery that you have to solve in this movie before the big reveal at the end.
Now You See Me is one big magic trick of a movie. You think it's going to be one thing (good) but then it turns out to be something else (average). The problem I think is that you just get so focused on solving the puzzle that you don't really enjoy the ride. At least that is what happened to me. But looking back, I think the major problem is that there are too many main characters in the film and you never really get to know any of them very well at all. So you just don't really end up caring very much once the master magician shows his hand (boom boom!). And thinking back over it, you're not really sure if all the tricks actually do work and whether the pieces of this particular puzzle do fit together.
One of my key reasons for looking forward to this movie was Jesse Eisenberg as one of the 4 magicians, along with Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco. All strong actors, they actually get very little time to reveal any personality or motivation, as they are merely in service to the script and the twist. So yes, I was more than a tad disappointed. Ruffalo and Laurent are great as the increasingly confused and frustrated detectives, but in the end it's all style but no substance.
I'd give this 2.5 out of 5.
Now You See Me is actually still showing in 1 or 2 cinemas, but be quick if you do decide to see it.
The latest offering from director Louis Leterrier (who directed Transporter 2, Clash of the Titans and what is often referred to as the good version of The Incredible Hulk) is an extremely slick tale of a group of four magicians brought together to pull off an audacious series of heists. The movie starts out by introducing us to this group of magicians who all have very different talents: sleight of hand, escapology, illusion, mind reading. They are brought together by a mysterious benefactor, with an invitation to an exclusive group if they can pull off his or her instructions. The first big setpiece is the robbing of a French bank by an audience member from a magic show in the US. This attracts the attention of Interpol, who send an agent (Melanie Laurent, best known for Inglourious Basterds) to work with an FBI Agent (Mark Ruffalo, who ironically now plays the Hulk in The Avengers series) to pin the crime on the magicians.
With no evidence to make the charges stick, the '4 Horsemen' are soon free and promoting their next big stunt. Their major financial backer is on board (a small role for Michael Caine) and the FBI and Interpol agents are soon consulting a guy who used to be a magician but now debunks magic for his own highly profitable TV series (played by Morgan Freeman). Will thinking about how the tricks are done help them catch the crooks in the act? Well that is the great mystery that you have to solve in this movie before the big reveal at the end.
Now You See Me is one big magic trick of a movie. You think it's going to be one thing (good) but then it turns out to be something else (average). The problem I think is that you just get so focused on solving the puzzle that you don't really enjoy the ride. At least that is what happened to me. But looking back, I think the major problem is that there are too many main characters in the film and you never really get to know any of them very well at all. So you just don't really end up caring very much once the master magician shows his hand (boom boom!). And thinking back over it, you're not really sure if all the tricks actually do work and whether the pieces of this particular puzzle do fit together.
One of my key reasons for looking forward to this movie was Jesse Eisenberg as one of the 4 magicians, along with Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco. All strong actors, they actually get very little time to reveal any personality or motivation, as they are merely in service to the script and the twist. So yes, I was more than a tad disappointed. Ruffalo and Laurent are great as the increasingly confused and frustrated detectives, but in the end it's all style but no substance.
I'd give this 2.5 out of 5.
Thursday 29 August 2013
Movie # 24 - Elysium
Warning - this review contains spoilers that may ruin your enjoyment of the film, as I've found it impossible to review honestly without including this information. Suggest you don't read this one unless you've seen the movie. If you're not sure whether to see the movie, I'd rate this a 2.5 out of 5 and say that it passes the time but isn't anything new or particularly compelling.
I read a review of this movie recently which suggested it was the best blockbuster of the year so far. This really surprised me, because when I saw it, I thought it was okay but not that spectacular and I feel that it asked more questions than it had answers for, so it was a little bit of a let-down compared to the director Neill Blomkamp's previous intelligent sci-fi "District 9".
Elysium is a strangely topical release in Australia right now. The story is set on a 'near future' Earth where all the poor and sick people remain living in relative poverty, working in the dreary factories creating the robots that keep them all in line, and medical care is stretched to the limit; while the wealthy have left Earth and moved to a floating nirvana in space called Elysium, where they have endless leisure and advanced healthcare in the form of medi-pods which can heal anything instantly. To be in Elysium and use a medi-pod, you must be a registered citizen with a barcode. Occasionally, citizens of Elysium deign to travel to Earth to keep the robot production ticking along but they make sure their heavily armed robot guards are on hand at all times. Occasionally, citizens of Earth try to get to Elysium to beg for help, but they are either returned immediately to Earth or in some cases brutally shot down in outer space before they can even arrive. Does this sound familiar to anyone? The 'boat people' issue of people arriving on Australian soil by boat and claiming asylum has some very close parallels to the film's plot.
The film follows our 'hero' Max (played by a buffed up again Matt Damon) who has a bit of a dodgy past but is trying to stick to the straight and narrow. One day Max is involved in a workplace accident brought on by his dodgy foreman, ending up with extreme radiation poisoning and only five days to live. The company manager, John Carlyle (played with his usual slimy aplomb by William Fichtner) shows little sympathy to Max as he's essentially let go and left to die. So he goes back to the local 'people smuggler' Spyder and asks for help to get to Elysium so he can be healed. Spyder agrees to help Max with an illegal barcode and trip to Elysium on the condition he helps him with a mission he's had for a while - hijack a legal citizen and steal some important information that might help Spyder's ultimate objective to get all the illegals on Earth made legal members of Elysium.
Once Max embarks on his mission, the action really heats up as his hijack is picked up the 'Government' of Elysium that is constantly monitoring Earth, and a dangerous undercover operative kept on Earth (ham factor set to overdrive and outrageously bad South African accent by Sharlto Copley who was so good in District 9 - stick to playing good guys Sharlto and just use your normal South African accent please) sets out to stop him and an old flame he accidentally drags into it along with her sick daughter. Jodie Foster is the 'Secretary of State' on Elysium whose plans for world domination are disrupted, but her character is pretty wasted as we never really get to understand her motivations in full detail.
This is not a film for those with a weak stomach as there are a series of gruesome scenes included along with the more high-brown concepts. These gave me the giggles as we all cringed as bits of people went flying. But the action and gore are not enough to put you on the edge of your seat and I really felt that the biggest issues that could have been addressed are just pushed aside and not answered. If all the people on Earth are let into Elysium and healthcare is so advanced that nobody ever dies, how will the resources cope with this? Unless we've all evolved to not need food anymore by 2154, the mission is noble but the outcome could be a disaster. Overpopulation is a very real issue in real life, but it's brushed aside like an ant as the film looks for a happy ending for our heroes.
I'd be really interested to know, but probably never will, whether anyone who sees this movie and cheers Max on his mission, which is undoubtedly the right thing to do, then walks out and says that Australia's asylum seekers should be 'sent back to where they came from'. Because ultimately the asylum seekers are Max and the people on Earth, and Australia and its citizens are the Elysiums, just without the technology. I wonder how many will even realise the comparison. Food for thought, but just as there are no easy answers to the issue in real life, there are no answers provided by this movie either.
I read a review of this movie recently which suggested it was the best blockbuster of the year so far. This really surprised me, because when I saw it, I thought it was okay but not that spectacular and I feel that it asked more questions than it had answers for, so it was a little bit of a let-down compared to the director Neill Blomkamp's previous intelligent sci-fi "District 9".
Elysium is a strangely topical release in Australia right now. The story is set on a 'near future' Earth where all the poor and sick people remain living in relative poverty, working in the dreary factories creating the robots that keep them all in line, and medical care is stretched to the limit; while the wealthy have left Earth and moved to a floating nirvana in space called Elysium, where they have endless leisure and advanced healthcare in the form of medi-pods which can heal anything instantly. To be in Elysium and use a medi-pod, you must be a registered citizen with a barcode. Occasionally, citizens of Elysium deign to travel to Earth to keep the robot production ticking along but they make sure their heavily armed robot guards are on hand at all times. Occasionally, citizens of Earth try to get to Elysium to beg for help, but they are either returned immediately to Earth or in some cases brutally shot down in outer space before they can even arrive. Does this sound familiar to anyone? The 'boat people' issue of people arriving on Australian soil by boat and claiming asylum has some very close parallels to the film's plot.
The film follows our 'hero' Max (played by a buffed up again Matt Damon) who has a bit of a dodgy past but is trying to stick to the straight and narrow. One day Max is involved in a workplace accident brought on by his dodgy foreman, ending up with extreme radiation poisoning and only five days to live. The company manager, John Carlyle (played with his usual slimy aplomb by William Fichtner) shows little sympathy to Max as he's essentially let go and left to die. So he goes back to the local 'people smuggler' Spyder and asks for help to get to Elysium so he can be healed. Spyder agrees to help Max with an illegal barcode and trip to Elysium on the condition he helps him with a mission he's had for a while - hijack a legal citizen and steal some important information that might help Spyder's ultimate objective to get all the illegals on Earth made legal members of Elysium.
Once Max embarks on his mission, the action really heats up as his hijack is picked up the 'Government' of Elysium that is constantly monitoring Earth, and a dangerous undercover operative kept on Earth (ham factor set to overdrive and outrageously bad South African accent by Sharlto Copley who was so good in District 9 - stick to playing good guys Sharlto and just use your normal South African accent please) sets out to stop him and an old flame he accidentally drags into it along with her sick daughter. Jodie Foster is the 'Secretary of State' on Elysium whose plans for world domination are disrupted, but her character is pretty wasted as we never really get to understand her motivations in full detail.
This is not a film for those with a weak stomach as there are a series of gruesome scenes included along with the more high-brown concepts. These gave me the giggles as we all cringed as bits of people went flying. But the action and gore are not enough to put you on the edge of your seat and I really felt that the biggest issues that could have been addressed are just pushed aside and not answered. If all the people on Earth are let into Elysium and healthcare is so advanced that nobody ever dies, how will the resources cope with this? Unless we've all evolved to not need food anymore by 2154, the mission is noble but the outcome could be a disaster. Overpopulation is a very real issue in real life, but it's brushed aside like an ant as the film looks for a happy ending for our heroes.
I'd be really interested to know, but probably never will, whether anyone who sees this movie and cheers Max on his mission, which is undoubtedly the right thing to do, then walks out and says that Australia's asylum seekers should be 'sent back to where they came from'. Because ultimately the asylum seekers are Max and the people on Earth, and Australia and its citizens are the Elysiums, just without the technology. I wonder how many will even realise the comparison. Food for thought, but just as there are no easy answers to the issue in real life, there are no answers provided by this movie either.
Saturday 24 August 2013
Sharknado!!
Sharknado. The title alone was enough to send a buzz around the world. Does it live up to the hype? Absolutely. This movie is so bad it's good. It's hilarious. Do not watch alone though, it's much better with a group of friends and a big dose of sarcastic comments.
Sharknado is the latest production in a long line of Z grade, low budget, straight to DVD movies from "The Asylum". The Asylum is an American movie studio which realised back in 2007 that it could make more money from capitalising on cheap knock-offs of big budget studio productions than it could from making cheap movies with their own original ideas. And very proud of it! They zip between these similarly named knock offs and making their own 'original' horror films such as Sharknado, Mega Piranha, 2 Headed Shark Attack. According to that scion of accuracy Wikipedia, the budgets for each movie are less than $1,000,000 (a sliver of most Hollywood independent films let alone the mega-blockbuster) and the scripts are usually knocked up in 4 to 6 weeks with pre-production times of a few weeks and actual filming taking a few weeks. That's extremely short. And it really shows!
The ridiculous premise to the film is that, due to some bad weather (I think anyway), a huge pack of sharks have moved in close to the California coast. Then they are picked up by a storm and deposited into various land-locked areas of Hollywood thanks to various far-fetched water borne methods. The culmination of which is a tornado containing multiple sharks. The word ridiculous doesn't go far enough to describe the ways these sharks get where they're trying to go.
The main character in the film is Fin Shepard, played by Iain Ziering (annoying Steve from Beverly Hills 90210). He owns a bar right on the beach, whose chief bartender is a kick-ass chick who happens to be in love with him but Fin's too dumb to notice. Fin decides that he has to take her, his Aussie mate Baz and old mate George on a mission to 'rescue' Fin's daughter, son and ex-wife from the sharky emergency about to hit their inland Hollywood Hills home. Fin's ex-wife is played by Tara Reid (still best known for American Pie) and she shows absolutely no acting skills whatsoever in this, her big comeback film.
The movie is a series of battles with the sharks, connected by Fin, Nova, Baz and George travelling around and trying to save everyone, because Fin is like the biggest hero ever, he's so heroic duuuude. One of the most ludicrous scenes occurs where he spots a school bus trapped in rising flood waters, which appear to get lower and lower as the rescue progresses, taking several minutes in the movie but would actually take several hours in reality. The continuity in this movie is absolutely non-existent, and I am still yet to figure out whether this is deliberate to be funny, or accidental because of the short production times and low budgets. Regardless of which reason, it makes for rich pickings for your own sarcastic commentary. One minute there's a hurricane, the next it's sunny and blue skies, then we get a graphic of rain on a camera which is unrelated to anything.
I spent a large amount of the running time saying "Why would they do this" or "Why would that happen" which tells you that the script has a few problems. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and got a huge amount of laughs from it. Some movies are just plain bad, but this one definitely makes it into the so bad it's good category. I wish to thank my friends B & W for taping this off Foxtel and inviting us over for a Sharknado party, which really made my week. Highly recommended for a fun night in! Hopefully the already in production sequel "Sharknado 2: The Second One" - I kid you not - will be out really soon and keep up the same low standards.
Sharknado is the latest production in a long line of Z grade, low budget, straight to DVD movies from "The Asylum". The Asylum is an American movie studio which realised back in 2007 that it could make more money from capitalising on cheap knock-offs of big budget studio productions than it could from making cheap movies with their own original ideas. And very proud of it! They zip between these similarly named knock offs and making their own 'original' horror films such as Sharknado, Mega Piranha, 2 Headed Shark Attack. According to that scion of accuracy Wikipedia, the budgets for each movie are less than $1,000,000 (a sliver of most Hollywood independent films let alone the mega-blockbuster) and the scripts are usually knocked up in 4 to 6 weeks with pre-production times of a few weeks and actual filming taking a few weeks. That's extremely short. And it really shows!
The ridiculous premise to the film is that, due to some bad weather (I think anyway), a huge pack of sharks have moved in close to the California coast. Then they are picked up by a storm and deposited into various land-locked areas of Hollywood thanks to various far-fetched water borne methods. The culmination of which is a tornado containing multiple sharks. The word ridiculous doesn't go far enough to describe the ways these sharks get where they're trying to go.
The main character in the film is Fin Shepard, played by Iain Ziering (annoying Steve from Beverly Hills 90210). He owns a bar right on the beach, whose chief bartender is a kick-ass chick who happens to be in love with him but Fin's too dumb to notice. Fin decides that he has to take her, his Aussie mate Baz and old mate George on a mission to 'rescue' Fin's daughter, son and ex-wife from the sharky emergency about to hit their inland Hollywood Hills home. Fin's ex-wife is played by Tara Reid (still best known for American Pie) and she shows absolutely no acting skills whatsoever in this, her big comeback film.
The movie is a series of battles with the sharks, connected by Fin, Nova, Baz and George travelling around and trying to save everyone, because Fin is like the biggest hero ever, he's so heroic duuuude. One of the most ludicrous scenes occurs where he spots a school bus trapped in rising flood waters, which appear to get lower and lower as the rescue progresses, taking several minutes in the movie but would actually take several hours in reality. The continuity in this movie is absolutely non-existent, and I am still yet to figure out whether this is deliberate to be funny, or accidental because of the short production times and low budgets. Regardless of which reason, it makes for rich pickings for your own sarcastic commentary. One minute there's a hurricane, the next it's sunny and blue skies, then we get a graphic of rain on a camera which is unrelated to anything.
I spent a large amount of the running time saying "Why would they do this" or "Why would that happen" which tells you that the script has a few problems. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and got a huge amount of laughs from it. Some movies are just plain bad, but this one definitely makes it into the so bad it's good category. I wish to thank my friends B & W for taping this off Foxtel and inviting us over for a Sharknado party, which really made my week. Highly recommended for a fun night in! Hopefully the already in production sequel "Sharknado 2: The Second One" - I kid you not - will be out really soon and keep up the same low standards.
Saturday 17 August 2013
Movie #23 - This is the End
OK, this is the first comedy I've LOVED this year. As soon as I walked out of this movie, I wanted to see it again. But it's not gonna be for everyone - it's rude, crude and lewd. But hilarious!
This is the End is a film starring Seth Rogen as Hollywood comedy actor and writer Seth Rogen. His best friend Jay Baruchel (played by Jay Baruchel) still lives back in Canada but as a film writing partner for Seth he often visits Los Angeles where Rogen now lives. He's in town for the weekend to hang out with Seth, but Seth has agreed to go to a party at James Franco's house (they co-starred in Pineapple Express) and drags Jay along, much to his distaste as he really doesn't like Hollywood or Seth's new friends. James Franco (played by James Franco) and Craig Robinson (played by, yep, you guessed it, Craig Robinson who is probably best known for Hot Tub Time Machine) aren't too friendly to Jay, but Jonah Hill (played by Jonah Hill) is super nice to Jay, but only to please Seth. So yep, this is a movie where everyone is playing themselves, but allegedly these are "exaggerated" versions of what everyone thinks these famous people would be like. Which leads to much hilarity.
The first 20 minutes of the movie are outright hilarious, as Franco's party heats up and plenty of celebrities are happy to send themselves up. Michael Cera (Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) is in top form and steals the whole movie as a complete asshole version of himself. Jay is struggling to break into the Hollywood crew and decides to take a walk to the nearest convenience store for smokes and snacks, convincing Seth to accompany him. There, a bizarre event occurs which feels like an earthquake to Seth but Jay thinks it is the apocalypse. With blue lights sucking people up into the sky, mass destruction and car accidents and the earth itself splitting, Seth and Jay decide to get back to Franco's recently built fortress for safety. Inside, nobody has a clue what's going on in the outside world. After hearing Jay's story, everyone runs outside which sets the scene for some very funny celebrity deaths as a sinkhole to hell opens up on the lawn. Our core crew (Jay, Seth, James, Jonah and Craig) become the sole survivors left barricaded in Franco's house as they try to figure out whether it is in fact the apocalypse or just some random act of nature.
Act Two is the survival period as the boys (augmented with Danny McBride who takes his annoying persona from Pineapple Express, 30 Minutes or Less and Eastbound and Down and dials it up to 11) try to figure out what the hell is going on, how they can ration the only food and water remaining and how they can find more supplies when they don't know what's out there. When they do eventually have to venture outside, we get a glimpse of some pretty nasty monsters that are roaming around. At this point, we still don't really know what's really going on. But the bickering is damn funny and so is the way they pass the time (I loved the 'sequel' to Pineapple Express that they make). This is where the jokes turn towards the gutter, but if you're fairly liberal minded and in the right mood, it's consistently funny and highly quotable.
Act Three I won't give away too much, but Franco's mansion is no longer safe and so forced to split up and venture out, we get a bit more action and a lot more explanation. There are actually a few scary moments as the boys deal with some demonic beasties (I jumped out of my seat at one point). But it stays funny and there is a late cameo that is absolutely hilarious.
The most interesting thing for me about this movie was wondering how close to real life the story and acting really are. This film was written and directed by Seth Rogen and his frequent writing partner Evan Goldberg, who just happens to be Seth's best friend since high school, still live in Canada and has confirmed in interviews that he does not enjoy coming to Hollywood to write with Seth and doesn't exactly love Seth's new friends in Hollywood. But since Evan is not an actor, they have subbed in Jay Baruchel to play the "Evan" character. But other than that, all these guys do know and work together regularly, and James Franco would have to be a pretty pretentious and yet laidback guy I'm sure. But very handsome, so I'll forgive him!
This is a 5 star comedy in my opinion. Our whole group all enjoyed it a lot and spent the drive home regurgitating the quotes and what we thought were the best scenes. A must-see if you're not easily offended.
This is the End is a film starring Seth Rogen as Hollywood comedy actor and writer Seth Rogen. His best friend Jay Baruchel (played by Jay Baruchel) still lives back in Canada but as a film writing partner for Seth he often visits Los Angeles where Rogen now lives. He's in town for the weekend to hang out with Seth, but Seth has agreed to go to a party at James Franco's house (they co-starred in Pineapple Express) and drags Jay along, much to his distaste as he really doesn't like Hollywood or Seth's new friends. James Franco (played by James Franco) and Craig Robinson (played by, yep, you guessed it, Craig Robinson who is probably best known for Hot Tub Time Machine) aren't too friendly to Jay, but Jonah Hill (played by Jonah Hill) is super nice to Jay, but only to please Seth. So yep, this is a movie where everyone is playing themselves, but allegedly these are "exaggerated" versions of what everyone thinks these famous people would be like. Which leads to much hilarity.
The first 20 minutes of the movie are outright hilarious, as Franco's party heats up and plenty of celebrities are happy to send themselves up. Michael Cera (Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs the World) is in top form and steals the whole movie as a complete asshole version of himself. Jay is struggling to break into the Hollywood crew and decides to take a walk to the nearest convenience store for smokes and snacks, convincing Seth to accompany him. There, a bizarre event occurs which feels like an earthquake to Seth but Jay thinks it is the apocalypse. With blue lights sucking people up into the sky, mass destruction and car accidents and the earth itself splitting, Seth and Jay decide to get back to Franco's recently built fortress for safety. Inside, nobody has a clue what's going on in the outside world. After hearing Jay's story, everyone runs outside which sets the scene for some very funny celebrity deaths as a sinkhole to hell opens up on the lawn. Our core crew (Jay, Seth, James, Jonah and Craig) become the sole survivors left barricaded in Franco's house as they try to figure out whether it is in fact the apocalypse or just some random act of nature.
Act Two is the survival period as the boys (augmented with Danny McBride who takes his annoying persona from Pineapple Express, 30 Minutes or Less and Eastbound and Down and dials it up to 11) try to figure out what the hell is going on, how they can ration the only food and water remaining and how they can find more supplies when they don't know what's out there. When they do eventually have to venture outside, we get a glimpse of some pretty nasty monsters that are roaming around. At this point, we still don't really know what's really going on. But the bickering is damn funny and so is the way they pass the time (I loved the 'sequel' to Pineapple Express that they make). This is where the jokes turn towards the gutter, but if you're fairly liberal minded and in the right mood, it's consistently funny and highly quotable.
Act Three I won't give away too much, but Franco's mansion is no longer safe and so forced to split up and venture out, we get a bit more action and a lot more explanation. There are actually a few scary moments as the boys deal with some demonic beasties (I jumped out of my seat at one point). But it stays funny and there is a late cameo that is absolutely hilarious.
The most interesting thing for me about this movie was wondering how close to real life the story and acting really are. This film was written and directed by Seth Rogen and his frequent writing partner Evan Goldberg, who just happens to be Seth's best friend since high school, still live in Canada and has confirmed in interviews that he does not enjoy coming to Hollywood to write with Seth and doesn't exactly love Seth's new friends in Hollywood. But since Evan is not an actor, they have subbed in Jay Baruchel to play the "Evan" character. But other than that, all these guys do know and work together regularly, and James Franco would have to be a pretty pretentious and yet laidback guy I'm sure. But very handsome, so I'll forgive him!
This is a 5 star comedy in my opinion. Our whole group all enjoyed it a lot and spent the drive home regurgitating the quotes and what we thought were the best scenes. A must-see if you're not easily offended.
Movie #22 - The World's End
This was the first movie I saw of two similarly named and
kinda similarly themed movies which just happen to have come out at the same
time. This is not the Seth Rogen/James
Franco/comedian filled version set in Hollywood. That one will be reviewed next.
I already had a soft spot in my heart for this film before I even went to see it, due to the makers of it and what it represents as the final movie in what has come to be known as the “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy started off with ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and followed by ‘Hot Fuzz’. All three are directed by Edgar Wright (also known for ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’) and co-written by Wright and star of all three movies Simon Pegg (Scotty in the Star Trek reboots) and ably assisted by Pegg’s real life best friend Nick Frost (‘Paul’). These guys are geeky and funny and they do a great job of mining comedy gold from the bromance between Pegg and Frost. So I was prepared to love it and I have to say I really, really, liked it but I didn't totally love it. Not sure if it was too much expectation by me, or they wrote it too fast and didn't have time to polish it (it was written when they discovered a producer they'd worked with had cancer and they wanted to make this before he passed away).
The World's End is the name of the film, and the name of the pub at the end of a series of 12 pubs that a group of friends did not get to on a pub crawl after finishing high school. Bad boy Gary (Pegg) and best mate Andy (Frost) almost made it, but Gary's rival/bandmate Steven (Paddy Considine), uptight Oliver (Martin Freeman) and passed out early Peter (Eddie Marsan) pulled out early. All have lost touch over time. All but Gary have built successful careers and/or good family lives. All but Gary have forgotten about the unfinished pub crawl. Gary is a pretty pathetic character who has never moved beyond his high school glory days and is generally just a really unlikeable guy. So what better idea than for Gary to visit the old gang and convince them through bribes or trickery to head home to Newton Haven and finish that pub crawl?
The early part of the film is enjoyable for the 'getting the gang back together' humour, mostly at the expense of Gary. It is particularly fun to see Frost as an uptight non-drinker on a pub crawl and Pegg and Frost not being best friends (Andy has the least love for Gary after he OD'd, causing Andy to drive him to hospital, have a serious car accident on the way only for Gary to come to and run off). As the afternoon wears on, the guys are seriously considering pulling the plug on Gary when a weird turn of events spins it into becoming essential to finish the mission. And that weird turn of events is a fantastic scene in a men's toilet where Gary is first to discover that some of the residents of Newton Haven seem to have been replaced with some kind of alien robots, soon confirmed by the other 4 in a fantastic humans vs robots fight scene. From there we are more in sci-fi mystery territory rather than straight comedy.
Most of the 'twists' are pretty easy to pick and ultimately the sci-fi elements are just a plot device to get back to what the "Cornetto" trilogy is really about - friendships between men. The bond between these 5 guys and particularly Gary and Andy is revived as they soon become the potential saviours of Earth. The jokes continue right through almost to the end, but they're of a fairly gentle variety. A running joke through all 3 movies about jumping over fences really hits the spot for fans. But it's just not hilarious, and this one is a bit of a case of falling a bit short of what 'might have been'.
Saturday 10 August 2013
Movie # 21 - The Way Way Back
So we are over half way through the year (already?) and it looks like I'm on track to beat last year's number of movies seen. For helping with this goal, I have to thank my Brisbane International Film Festival Film Club. As a member, you're entitled to at least 8 free movie screenings per year. And for 2013, they have been even more active with some months having 2 screenings. And now they have given me free tickets to what would have to be the feelgood movie of the year to date.
The Way Way Back is a silly title as it tells you nothing about the movie. It's actually a sweet movie about an awkward 14 year old boy who gets dragged on a summer vacation to his mother's boyfriend's beach house. Duncan is really not happy about the idea as he'd rather be with his dad, gets a hard time from the two-faced boyfriend, is ignored by the boyfriend's cool daughter and is unsure how to react to the boyfriend's summer group of friends who act as though they are on Spring Break. What is a shy, geeky young boy to do? Befriend the local king slacker man-child who runs the local water park of course! And keep his daily activities a secret from his mum too.
The movie succeeds for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is no gimmick, no flashbacks and no big revelations. It's a simple tale, told in straight-forward linear fashion, of a young guy trying to find somewhere where being himself doesn't feel bad. But it doesn't hit you over the head with big life lessons to get there. The script is really restrained and well-written. The movie isn't distracted by being set in the 80s or 90s as so many 'coming of age' films tend to be, keeping itself pretty much time neutral - it could be any time in recent history really.
Secondly, the performances are really strong across the board. Liam James isn't a newcomer but you won't know his face I reckon, but he does a great job of conveying the misery of holidaying with parents and their friends. So many awkward moments are handled well. Toni Collette as the mum is excellent as usual, as the outwardly nice veneer of her boyfriend Trent is gradually peeled back as the summer progresses. Steve Carell as Trent gives the first really 'asshole' performance of his career and pulls it off convincingly. Alison Janney, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash provide good support as the often childish grownups. But Sam Rockwell (Moon, Charlie's Angels) steals the whole thing as slacker king Owen. A guy whose life is about running the local water park and being the king of the kids, while trying to hold onto a functional relationship with co-worker Caitlin (my favourite SNL comedian, Maya Rudolph). He does a great line in snappy banter and impressions but the core is a sweet heart which takes Duncan under his wing and helps him to be okay with himself.
I really can't find fault with anything in this movie. The great shame is that it has virtually no profile despite the big-name cast and no marketing push, so most people probably won't see this movie. What a crime. It's just a really nice movie that makes you feel good afterwards. Highly recommended.
The Way Way Back is a silly title as it tells you nothing about the movie. It's actually a sweet movie about an awkward 14 year old boy who gets dragged on a summer vacation to his mother's boyfriend's beach house. Duncan is really not happy about the idea as he'd rather be with his dad, gets a hard time from the two-faced boyfriend, is ignored by the boyfriend's cool daughter and is unsure how to react to the boyfriend's summer group of friends who act as though they are on Spring Break. What is a shy, geeky young boy to do? Befriend the local king slacker man-child who runs the local water park of course! And keep his daily activities a secret from his mum too.
The movie succeeds for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is no gimmick, no flashbacks and no big revelations. It's a simple tale, told in straight-forward linear fashion, of a young guy trying to find somewhere where being himself doesn't feel bad. But it doesn't hit you over the head with big life lessons to get there. The script is really restrained and well-written. The movie isn't distracted by being set in the 80s or 90s as so many 'coming of age' films tend to be, keeping itself pretty much time neutral - it could be any time in recent history really.
Secondly, the performances are really strong across the board. Liam James isn't a newcomer but you won't know his face I reckon, but he does a great job of conveying the misery of holidaying with parents and their friends. So many awkward moments are handled well. Toni Collette as the mum is excellent as usual, as the outwardly nice veneer of her boyfriend Trent is gradually peeled back as the summer progresses. Steve Carell as Trent gives the first really 'asshole' performance of his career and pulls it off convincingly. Alison Janney, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash provide good support as the often childish grownups. But Sam Rockwell (Moon, Charlie's Angels) steals the whole thing as slacker king Owen. A guy whose life is about running the local water park and being the king of the kids, while trying to hold onto a functional relationship with co-worker Caitlin (my favourite SNL comedian, Maya Rudolph). He does a great line in snappy banter and impressions but the core is a sweet heart which takes Duncan under his wing and helps him to be okay with himself.
I really can't find fault with anything in this movie. The great shame is that it has virtually no profile despite the big-name cast and no marketing push, so most people probably won't see this movie. What a crime. It's just a really nice movie that makes you feel good afterwards. Highly recommended.
Sunday 4 August 2013
Movie # 20 - Pacific Rim
Sometimes life can be a bit rough and tough to you, and you think "I just want to get away from reality and problems and have a bit of mindless fun". So this is how I and my friend L came to be sitting at the movies on a Monday night, marvelling at the fact that us two girls were about to watch a dumb giant robots vs giant monsters movie, which the men in our lives didn't really want to see. And it was EXACTLY what we wanted and needed. Giant robots smacking the fluorescent guts out of the giant monsters invading Earth! Hell yeah! End of review. Oh, you want a bit more information?
Pacific Rim might come across from the ads as a Transformers rip off. But I can assure you it is a lot better than Transformers. This is the latest film from Guillermo del Toro, the man whose wonderful imagination has given us the brilliant Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 and 2, Cronos, Blade 2 and Mimic. If there is one thing del Toro excels at, it is inventing amazing monsters and creatures, and he has done a fantastic job with this movie. And that's because it's a subject close to his heart. Empire Magazine has a great feature article this month written by del Toro himself, outlining how as a child growing up in Mexico he saw many Japanese 'kaiju' (giant monster) movies, loved robots and sci-fi and also enjoyed Mexican wrestling. These three major influences are combined with a lot of love into this blockbuster action film.
A portal has opened deep in the ocean, and a giant monster comes through and destroys San Francisco. Another follows some time later to destroy Milan. The various countries stop fighting each other and come up with a way to defeat the bigger enemy: build a giant robot which is operated from within by a brave pilot to kick, punch, saw, shoot, burn and generally slice and dice the monsters. These are known as "jaegers". Sadly the movie has missed the opportunity to use the term "jaegermeisters" for the operators and has gone with the much less fun title of "jaeger pilots". The jaeger pilots operate the machine through something known as "the drift" and there must be 2 pilots who are extremely compatible with each other and the drift which is a mental link that allows them to know each other's thoughts and operate the giant robot in unison. Because the portal is in the ocean, a lot of the fights take place, or at least start, in the ocean.
The jaegers initially win the war, but the problem is that the portal seems to be sending through more and bigger kaijus all the time, who seem to be intent on destroying the entire planet and can defeat the jaegers. The jaeger program is in danger as the world searches for a better solution.
So after getting all that out of the way in the first 5 minutes, we open with a cool jaeger vs kaiju fight, with pilot Raleigh Beckett (played by Charlie Hunnam who is Jax Teller in TV's Sons of Anarchy) and his brother seemingly kicking the crap out of the kaiju, who uses the old wrestling trick of playing dead but it's not! Raleigh's brother is fatally injured but he manages to finish the kaiju and get to land. He then disappears from the jaeger program, which is being shut down anyway. But one man, Major Stacker Pentecost (played by Idris Elba) is given one last chance to save the world by using the remaining jaegers to try to plug the portal and stop the kaijus for good.
The movie then follows Pentecost as he recruits the best remaining jaeger pilots and combines them with a couple of mad scientists to come up with the best plan to save the world - use the jaegers to throw a nuclear bomb down the portal while fending off any kaijus that come through. The mad scientists are really overdone but at least they provide some much needed comedic moments as the rest of the film is deadly serious and full of weighty speeches.
The best part of this movie are the fight scenes. They are filmed really well and anyone familiar with wrestling will recognise certain moves or plays being used. You can actually understand what is going on most of the time, so you cheer along with the good guys. At some times I was either clapping my hands or throwing my fists up in victory! And the special effects and use of 3D are pretty spectacular, with del Toro's typical skill with industrial design showing in the jaeger bunker.
The worst part of this movie is the "Australian" jaeger pilots. As played by two non-Australian actors who have obviously never been to Australia, they sound like a mangled cross between English, South African and New Zealand, and have some terrible clichéd dialogue. Every time they spoke, which was frequently in the middle section of the movie, I laughed. Surely there are enough Aussie actors in Hollywood these days that we could have had something authentic? It really ruined my immersion in the film. The acting by Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi (best know for Babel) and Idris Elba is convincing but ultimately the characters are just hero clichés. But it didn't stop me from wanting them to succeed!
I give this a very enthusiastic four out of 5 for anyone who likes a good robot vs monster rumble or just a big, dumb action flick that has more style than most Hollywood blockbusters.
Pacific Rim might come across from the ads as a Transformers rip off. But I can assure you it is a lot better than Transformers. This is the latest film from Guillermo del Toro, the man whose wonderful imagination has given us the brilliant Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 and 2, Cronos, Blade 2 and Mimic. If there is one thing del Toro excels at, it is inventing amazing monsters and creatures, and he has done a fantastic job with this movie. And that's because it's a subject close to his heart. Empire Magazine has a great feature article this month written by del Toro himself, outlining how as a child growing up in Mexico he saw many Japanese 'kaiju' (giant monster) movies, loved robots and sci-fi and also enjoyed Mexican wrestling. These three major influences are combined with a lot of love into this blockbuster action film.
A portal has opened deep in the ocean, and a giant monster comes through and destroys San Francisco. Another follows some time later to destroy Milan. The various countries stop fighting each other and come up with a way to defeat the bigger enemy: build a giant robot which is operated from within by a brave pilot to kick, punch, saw, shoot, burn and generally slice and dice the monsters. These are known as "jaegers". Sadly the movie has missed the opportunity to use the term "jaegermeisters" for the operators and has gone with the much less fun title of "jaeger pilots". The jaeger pilots operate the machine through something known as "the drift" and there must be 2 pilots who are extremely compatible with each other and the drift which is a mental link that allows them to know each other's thoughts and operate the giant robot in unison. Because the portal is in the ocean, a lot of the fights take place, or at least start, in the ocean.
The jaegers initially win the war, but the problem is that the portal seems to be sending through more and bigger kaijus all the time, who seem to be intent on destroying the entire planet and can defeat the jaegers. The jaeger program is in danger as the world searches for a better solution.
So after getting all that out of the way in the first 5 minutes, we open with a cool jaeger vs kaiju fight, with pilot Raleigh Beckett (played by Charlie Hunnam who is Jax Teller in TV's Sons of Anarchy) and his brother seemingly kicking the crap out of the kaiju, who uses the old wrestling trick of playing dead but it's not! Raleigh's brother is fatally injured but he manages to finish the kaiju and get to land. He then disappears from the jaeger program, which is being shut down anyway. But one man, Major Stacker Pentecost (played by Idris Elba) is given one last chance to save the world by using the remaining jaegers to try to plug the portal and stop the kaijus for good.
The movie then follows Pentecost as he recruits the best remaining jaeger pilots and combines them with a couple of mad scientists to come up with the best plan to save the world - use the jaegers to throw a nuclear bomb down the portal while fending off any kaijus that come through. The mad scientists are really overdone but at least they provide some much needed comedic moments as the rest of the film is deadly serious and full of weighty speeches.
The best part of this movie are the fight scenes. They are filmed really well and anyone familiar with wrestling will recognise certain moves or plays being used. You can actually understand what is going on most of the time, so you cheer along with the good guys. At some times I was either clapping my hands or throwing my fists up in victory! And the special effects and use of 3D are pretty spectacular, with del Toro's typical skill with industrial design showing in the jaeger bunker.
The worst part of this movie is the "Australian" jaeger pilots. As played by two non-Australian actors who have obviously never been to Australia, they sound like a mangled cross between English, South African and New Zealand, and have some terrible clichéd dialogue. Every time they spoke, which was frequently in the middle section of the movie, I laughed. Surely there are enough Aussie actors in Hollywood these days that we could have had something authentic? It really ruined my immersion in the film. The acting by Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi (best know for Babel) and Idris Elba is convincing but ultimately the characters are just hero clichés. But it didn't stop me from wanting them to succeed!
I give this a very enthusiastic four out of 5 for anyone who likes a good robot vs monster rumble or just a big, dumb action flick that has more style than most Hollywood blockbusters.
Friday 26 July 2013
Movie # 19 - The Conjuring
Oooooh spooky. An old Rhode Island farmhouse in the 1970s. A loving family of husband, wife, five young daughters move in. Creaky doors, stopped clocks and a lot of much, much worse nastiness breaks out. Husband and wife university lecturers with a young daughter and a sideline in 'supernatural investigations' try to help.
From such a simple story, a gripping and at times terrifying movie has been made. The mystery of who or what is terrorising this normal family is kept under wraps for approximately the first half of the movie, and I did not guess exactly who was the host until it was revealed. Maybe because I was concentrating on "what the hell is that?" as each new episode unfolded.
The movie has a good mixture of genuinely spooky, hair-raising moments, and noisy, jump out of your seat slaps in the face. It moves along at a cracking pace. Director James Wan has good experience for this as the director of the original Saw and other scary/horror movies such as Insidious.
The acting is solid all round if not outstanding. Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor are sympathetic as the parents just trying to rid their family of these scary events, while all the young actresses endure the horrific events very bravely and convincingly. Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) is extremely handsome in his early 70s gear but a little too perfect as man of the cloth and demon fighter Ed Warren. Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, Source Code) is probably the best as Lorraine Warren, who uses her gift of 'the sight' rather than religious conviction to help her husband fight off supernatural beings. She is an extremely empathetic character and her natural warmth is much needed in what would otherwise be a fairly chilly movie.
The only downside I can think of looking back at it now is that there is a complete lack of scepticism on behalf of any character in the film. Every person that becomes involved in the tale immediately believes and accepts what is going on and that the Warrens can fix it. Which slightly reduces the effectiveness of the fact that the Warrens are indeed real people and the Rhode Island family was real and were helped by the Warrens. You may know them from the more famous "Amityville" case which has been made into movies a few times now (you can look up their adventures on Wikipedia or the New England Centre for Psychic Research) . However I'm sure that in real life, there would have been someone who initially thought this was "all in the mind" or that there was some rational explanation for the events that were occurring. But despite all that, there seems to be a belief by the Warrens and many others that they have in fact captured enough evidence of demonic possessions to be convinced. So be warned, this could be a real story!
So is it the scariest movie ever? Close! But not quite for me, I was more nervous and scared in last year's Sinister. But a good scary movie should have you a bit nervous as you unlock the front door or settle in to go to sleep, and it certainly did that. Thinking of some scenes days later still evokes a shiver. Mission accomplished I'd say.
From such a simple story, a gripping and at times terrifying movie has been made. The mystery of who or what is terrorising this normal family is kept under wraps for approximately the first half of the movie, and I did not guess exactly who was the host until it was revealed. Maybe because I was concentrating on "what the hell is that?" as each new episode unfolded.
The movie has a good mixture of genuinely spooky, hair-raising moments, and noisy, jump out of your seat slaps in the face. It moves along at a cracking pace. Director James Wan has good experience for this as the director of the original Saw and other scary/horror movies such as Insidious.
The acting is solid all round if not outstanding. Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor are sympathetic as the parents just trying to rid their family of these scary events, while all the young actresses endure the horrific events very bravely and convincingly. Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) is extremely handsome in his early 70s gear but a little too perfect as man of the cloth and demon fighter Ed Warren. Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, Source Code) is probably the best as Lorraine Warren, who uses her gift of 'the sight' rather than religious conviction to help her husband fight off supernatural beings. She is an extremely empathetic character and her natural warmth is much needed in what would otherwise be a fairly chilly movie.
The only downside I can think of looking back at it now is that there is a complete lack of scepticism on behalf of any character in the film. Every person that becomes involved in the tale immediately believes and accepts what is going on and that the Warrens can fix it. Which slightly reduces the effectiveness of the fact that the Warrens are indeed real people and the Rhode Island family was real and were helped by the Warrens. You may know them from the more famous "Amityville" case which has been made into movies a few times now (you can look up their adventures on Wikipedia or the New England Centre for Psychic Research) . However I'm sure that in real life, there would have been someone who initially thought this was "all in the mind" or that there was some rational explanation for the events that were occurring. But despite all that, there seems to be a belief by the Warrens and many others that they have in fact captured enough evidence of demonic possessions to be convinced. So be warned, this could be a real story!
So is it the scariest movie ever? Close! But not quite for me, I was more nervous and scared in last year's Sinister. But a good scary movie should have you a bit nervous as you unlock the front door or settle in to go to sleep, and it certainly did that. Thinking of some scenes days later still evokes a shiver. Mission accomplished I'd say.
Movie #18 - World War Z
As my very intelligent man said "If you don't think of this as a zombie movie, you can really find it to be a good movie".
Very loosely based on the popular novel by Max Brooks, World War Z takes a global apocalypse and looks at it through the eyes of a single man. How is this possible? By creating a character not in the book, which is Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) who used to work for the United Nations in a never-quite-explained job involving going into high risk zones. Now out of the UN and a contented family man in Philadelphia, Gerry and his wife are stuck in a traffic jam which turns out to be no ordinary day. The movie has barely begun when we are thrown into a tense, chaotic scenario along with Gerry and his family as emergency services vehicles fly by with sirens blazing and people start attacking others. Narrowly escaping, Gerry is contacted by his UN boss and told to get to a safe extraction point so they can get them out - Gerry is needed by the UN to investigate the origin and cause of the outbreak. Cue Gerry flying in and out of different countries, having a series of exciting adventures.
While this has been referred to as a zombie movie, you should not go expecting the usual slow moving undead searching for brains and guts to munch on. This movie is much more akin to the excellent "28 Days Later" from a few years back which had an outbreak of a virus which caused intense rage. This movie has fast moving people attacking others but there is very little goriness. Some may be disappointed with this, but if you give it a chance it is actually a very good mystery thriller.
I found it to be extremely tense for long stretches of time, and the guy sitting beside me was literally on the edge of his seat regularly. This is largely due to the director (Marc Forster) deciding to use a lot of handheld style shots with narrow focus so that it felt quite chaotic and close and you don't really know what's going on. It really gave you a sense of 'being there' which I know I felt would be really scary. There are a few large scale shots, particularly in Israel, but the majority of the action takes place in close confines.
There are few other characters who make an impact since the movie is full of whirlwind visits to each country in Gerry's quest for clues and answers. A female Israeli soldier is probably the best support as she bravely helps a man she doesn't know, against seeming incredibly odds. Gerry's wife is well drawn as a reason for him to take on this crazy task but doesn't get much else to do. Brad Pitt really has to carry this movie and he does a sensational job of doing just that.
This is not a zombie movie and I really liked it.
Very loosely based on the popular novel by Max Brooks, World War Z takes a global apocalypse and looks at it through the eyes of a single man. How is this possible? By creating a character not in the book, which is Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) who used to work for the United Nations in a never-quite-explained job involving going into high risk zones. Now out of the UN and a contented family man in Philadelphia, Gerry and his wife are stuck in a traffic jam which turns out to be no ordinary day. The movie has barely begun when we are thrown into a tense, chaotic scenario along with Gerry and his family as emergency services vehicles fly by with sirens blazing and people start attacking others. Narrowly escaping, Gerry is contacted by his UN boss and told to get to a safe extraction point so they can get them out - Gerry is needed by the UN to investigate the origin and cause of the outbreak. Cue Gerry flying in and out of different countries, having a series of exciting adventures.
While this has been referred to as a zombie movie, you should not go expecting the usual slow moving undead searching for brains and guts to munch on. This movie is much more akin to the excellent "28 Days Later" from a few years back which had an outbreak of a virus which caused intense rage. This movie has fast moving people attacking others but there is very little goriness. Some may be disappointed with this, but if you give it a chance it is actually a very good mystery thriller.
I found it to be extremely tense for long stretches of time, and the guy sitting beside me was literally on the edge of his seat regularly. This is largely due to the director (Marc Forster) deciding to use a lot of handheld style shots with narrow focus so that it felt quite chaotic and close and you don't really know what's going on. It really gave you a sense of 'being there' which I know I felt would be really scary. There are a few large scale shots, particularly in Israel, but the majority of the action takes place in close confines.
There are few other characters who make an impact since the movie is full of whirlwind visits to each country in Gerry's quest for clues and answers. A female Israeli soldier is probably the best support as she bravely helps a man she doesn't know, against seeming incredibly odds. Gerry's wife is well drawn as a reason for him to take on this crazy task but doesn't get much else to do. Brad Pitt really has to carry this movie and he does a sensational job of doing just that.
This is not a zombie movie and I really liked it.
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