As promised....
DVD Review: Crank (Neveldine/Taylor, 2006, USA)
Speed in a body. Four such brilliant words. An incredible premise. The best pure action film for a good few years.
Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) has been posioned with the "Beijing Cocktail"; if he doesn't keep his adrenaline up he will die. Before he dies, Chelios has to get revenge on the man who did it to him, Verona (Jose Pablo Casillo).
That's all you need to know. To say anything else would spoil some of the fun of this picture as you are never sure where it is headed next and the spontaenity is very much part of the appeal. Directing duo Neveldine/Taylor (surely previous music video directors) use many tricks in the book and stage some new ones to make this feel truly like an action movie for the 21st century. The eidting smacks of MTV school esque filmmaking but the sheer bravado and surreality of much of the film (the scene with the Japanes businessman seems to mimic Statham;'s Revolver weirdly enough) seem to suggest that these guys have more brains than most hack action directors (Ratner, I'm looking at you). The use of HD cameras is also evident and impressively so. Unlike some of the earlier digitally shot filmsreleased in cinemas, this film retains a very clean and sharp image and iit brings out the more iinventive uses of the camera very well.
The film also has a wicked streak of black humour running throughout it, and while very funny, is very much men's-only humour. It certainly struck a chord with me and my good friend Neil when we saw this at the cinema, and it lost none of its appeal
The film belongs to Statham, barely any characters get a look on and you do not care. Seeing him tear up the streets of LA is surely one of the most enthralling cinematic treats of 2006 and he pulls it off with aplomb. That being said, I found his girfriend played by Amy Smart less annoying than many reviewers seem to have thought.
That's about all I really want to say, I feel I may ruin your experience if I say much more. It's a shame this kind of died in cinemas and as I really do mean it when I say this is one of the best pure action films made in years. Also, if its tagline "Poision in his veins, vengeance in his heart" doesn't get you going, you can't call yourself an action fan lol.
Video: As said in the review the film itself is shot incredibly well with HD cameras. Assuming this is a digital-to-digital transfer as I think it is, it is pretty much the best picture quality you can hope for on DVD.
Audio: Slightly disapointing Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The front gets a lot of action but I didn't feel the rears were used half as much as they could have been. When it does kick in, its more a suprise than anything else. Very nice bass though.
Extras: Teaser trailers for two of my most anticipated films for the first half of 2006, Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, and the follow up to Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright's "Hot Fuzz". Good stuff to have. Trailer for Crank which reflects the film's style rather well. And that is it.... Would have loved a commentary. Is it just me or are commentaries starting to die out? Real shame.
Great film, average DVD. I couldn't wait to buy it, but if you want, rent it for now and wait until its a fiver in a few months time.
Happy New Year everyone, I'm working at 8 tomorrow morning. Balls.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
DVD Review: Snakes On A Motherfucking Plane
Yep, I'm back, not with a review of the best action film of the year, but THE BEST FILM EVER MADE.
DVD Review: Snakes On A Plane (David R. Ellis, 2006, USA).
"Eddie Kim let a load of vemonous snakes onto the plane".
How's that for a synopsis?
I have quite a long reltionship with this film. Not as long as with Donna but... actually nearly as long. Thats kind of creepy... Anyway, last year I heard of this film on various internet sites. A film starring Samuel L Jackson, the coolest actor alive, starring in a film called Snakes On A Plane. That was before the whole internet got buzz of it (And I mean that, as lame as it sounds). But when it came to the cinema, I didn't see it. I wanted to ee it with a bunch of people, I even offered to pay for Donna's bus fare, ticket, popcorn and drink just so I could have someone there with me, but eventually I admitted defeat. I waited for the DVD. WHY DID I WAIT? I grabbed a few tinnies and stuck it on....
Sean (Nathan Phillips, who two minutes ago I recgonised as being the guy from Wolf Creek), an extreme sports addict, shown by um.. his riding a bike during the titles, witnesses a mob hit by gangster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson, main villian in two scenes!) and has agent Flynn (Samuel L Jackson) to protect him on a flight to the trial for the murder Kim commited. Obivuously Kim doesn't want this to happen, and so after "exhausting all other option", decides to unleash a load of posioinous snakes on the plane to either a. kill Sean, or b. (and this is the kicker) make sure the plane crashes and no one survives. The plane, its crews, and passengers must band together to try and get out of the situation alive.
Where do I even begin? I can't be objective, I was prepared to be disapointed but god it blew me away, it is absolute pure cheese of the highest order. Very much as well as Crank but in a different way. The dialogue is terrible such as...
"Sir, Are you telling me that your only flight time is on a video game?"
"This plane will go down faster than a Thai hooker"
Two particular favourites. The effects are fucking terrible, I mean really very bad, it looks unfinished, much of the acting is shocking and the titliation in the film is absurd. But it seems to know this. Everyone plays it straight but there are signs. The shitty effects seem to be done so purposefully to illicit laughs, one thing which springs to mind is when a guy gets hit by a nsake smacks his head on a wall and seems to start bleeding through the sheer mild force of the hit to the head. Of the film was being played straight, it could not have got past spec stage without lines such as those above being cut. The actors seem to have been given the instruction to play the thing straight but with a sense of knowing behind the perfomances. Samuel L Jackson is clearly having the time of his life and that comes across in every frame he is in. My favourite part of the film? Sounds odd out of context but some lights come on and you hear a random passenger shout "Snakes!" Love it. That's all I can say. I think many people may very much hate this film, it is rubbish really but rubbish which hits my buttons dead on.
This was a rental copy, I'll have my opinions on the other aspects of the DVD when I buy the retail copy.
DVD Review: Snakes On A Plane (David R. Ellis, 2006, USA).
"Eddie Kim let a load of vemonous snakes onto the plane".
How's that for a synopsis?
I have quite a long reltionship with this film. Not as long as with Donna but... actually nearly as long. Thats kind of creepy... Anyway, last year I heard of this film on various internet sites. A film starring Samuel L Jackson, the coolest actor alive, starring in a film called Snakes On A Plane. That was before the whole internet got buzz of it (And I mean that, as lame as it sounds). But when it came to the cinema, I didn't see it. I wanted to ee it with a bunch of people, I even offered to pay for Donna's bus fare, ticket, popcorn and drink just so I could have someone there with me, but eventually I admitted defeat. I waited for the DVD. WHY DID I WAIT? I grabbed a few tinnies and stuck it on....
Sean (Nathan Phillips, who two minutes ago I recgonised as being the guy from Wolf Creek), an extreme sports addict, shown by um.. his riding a bike during the titles, witnesses a mob hit by gangster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson, main villian in two scenes!) and has agent Flynn (Samuel L Jackson) to protect him on a flight to the trial for the murder Kim commited. Obivuously Kim doesn't want this to happen, and so after "exhausting all other option", decides to unleash a load of posioinous snakes on the plane to either a. kill Sean, or b. (and this is the kicker) make sure the plane crashes and no one survives. The plane, its crews, and passengers must band together to try and get out of the situation alive.
Where do I even begin? I can't be objective, I was prepared to be disapointed but god it blew me away, it is absolute pure cheese of the highest order. Very much as well as Crank but in a different way. The dialogue is terrible such as...
"Sir, Are you telling me that your only flight time is on a video game?"
"This plane will go down faster than a Thai hooker"
Two particular favourites. The effects are fucking terrible, I mean really very bad, it looks unfinished, much of the acting is shocking and the titliation in the film is absurd. But it seems to know this. Everyone plays it straight but there are signs. The shitty effects seem to be done so purposefully to illicit laughs, one thing which springs to mind is when a guy gets hit by a nsake smacks his head on a wall and seems to start bleeding through the sheer mild force of the hit to the head. Of the film was being played straight, it could not have got past spec stage without lines such as those above being cut. The actors seem to have been given the instruction to play the thing straight but with a sense of knowing behind the perfomances. Samuel L Jackson is clearly having the time of his life and that comes across in every frame he is in. My favourite part of the film? Sounds odd out of context but some lights come on and you hear a random passenger shout "Snakes!" Love it. That's all I can say. I think many people may very much hate this film, it is rubbish really but rubbish which hits my buttons dead on.
This was a rental copy, I'll have my opinions on the other aspects of the DVD when I buy the retail copy.
Friday, December 22, 2006
What up, yo
Sorry about the lack of posts this weeks folks, been a hectic one, got a promotion at work and christmas there is hectic so I haven't had a lot of time to watch new stuff that i really want to review. I will say this thought, Poseidon... just a nothing movie really, was going to review it but I didn't what to say. Bought Predator today, looking forward to listening to the DTS soundtrack, droolworthy I bet. Anyway, I'll be back after christmas with a review of what I'm hoping I get for christmas, and the best action film of 2006, Crank. Happy Christmas everyone, don't party too hard, next weekend is gonna be large to!
Friday, December 15, 2006
DVD Review: Monster House
DVD Review: Monster House (Gil Keenan, 2006, USA).
Interesting one this, I've got to say. Saw a trailer for it an age ago maybe Summer 2005, then forgot about it. Then it came out and the reviews were pretty fucking great. Thought I would wait for the DVD to come out before seeing it, and I really wish I saw it in the cinema. Being raised on 80's kids films, The Goonies, ET, Tron all that stuff. As soon as the Amblin logo (Spielberg's other production company, pretty much attached to ever good kid's film of the 80's), I knew this would be something special. It's both special, 80's but sitting on the cutting edge.
A motion-capture film following on from the frankly disturbing The Polar Express, this film deals with TJ (Mitch Musso) a kid who after a particularly tense encounter with the child-hating owner of the house Mr Nebercrakker (Steve Buscemi), which results in Nebbercrakker being collapsing, finds himself being haunted by the Monster House of the title. He along with his best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) and new girl in the neighbourhood Jenny (Spencer Locke) must try nto uncover the House's secret before it eats all the children in the neighbourhood on Halloween.
This film pratically drips of the 1980's. Not only is it set in the 80's, it has the nature of kids banding together to try and deal with something extraordinary, and quite possibly life-threatening, like many of the kid's films of the 1980's had. This sense of real adventure seems to have been lost in many of the kid's films of the recent past, instead opting for either endless direct-to-video sequels to Disney classics or well High School cocking Musical. God bless Gil Keenan and the writers, whose names escape me at this point, for bringing back this 1980's feel for todays kids, and big kids like myself.
The motion capture aspect of the film is interesting. Gil Keenan explains that if this film was shot as live action, he would not have been able to attain the sylisitic tone that he wanted to set and indeed the finsihed result is interesting, best described as hyper-real I suppose. The characters look real but something is just a little off with them, certain features are exxagerated. I would also argue that by making this an animated film, the more intense scenes have been lessesened in impact and this could surely have had an effect on its success. It is scary in places, for kids anyway, but it never gets truly to intense for most children, I would think. The film looks superb though. Taking a less photo realistic route than The Polar Express was a great idea as I do not think the computer images can quite pull it off yet (Although Rober Zemickis' upcoming adaption of Beowulf should prove very interesting for this effect). It is certainly very impressive animation.
The voice acting and script is also nigh-on perfect. The film has got some pretty big names in it, Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder, Maggie Gyllenhall (who incidentally is fucking incredible in real life), Jason Lee and Steve Buscemi to name just a few, but the film is not overhwlemed by them and this is the kids story, every one of whom does a stand up job of pulling off the fine line walked by all kids between childish playing and the prospect of growing up and getting into the opposite sex (as such).
Overall, if this film doesn;t get some recognition at the Oscar's for the best animated feature category, it really would be a crime. Much better than the frankly mediocre Cars, which will no doubt be nominated also, and also just a great film for all ages, this one is a definite purchase for myself. Anyone not into 1980's nostalgia may just want to rent but you should certainly enter this house!
Video: Digital-to-digital transfer, so no real issues. The film looks great but god I can't help but think of what the Blu-Ray version looks like. I imagine I would drool.
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Pretty involving, you get some rear speaker action when you would expect it, and the bass is ever present also, soemthing I find lacking in many modern titles. A truly involving track but maybe a little to involving along with the images for smaller children. An audio descriptive track is also avaliable and that is a great thing to see and a very commendable extra.
Extras: Commentary by Gil Keenan which I have not listened to but will update when I have. Some really great featurettes which can be viewed a whole documentary. Facinating seeing all the actors doing the motion capture themselves and you can see that Gil Keenan's ideas really were very definite at the start. Worth the price of the DVD alone to see Kathleen Turner doing motion capture as the house, one of the most bizarre things you will see in a long time.
Great film, best animated one of the year which I've seen and one I can't wait to show my kids (Well obviously I can wait but... you get the picture).
Back hopefully tomorrow, have a good Friday all!
Interesting one this, I've got to say. Saw a trailer for it an age ago maybe Summer 2005, then forgot about it. Then it came out and the reviews were pretty fucking great. Thought I would wait for the DVD to come out before seeing it, and I really wish I saw it in the cinema. Being raised on 80's kids films, The Goonies, ET, Tron all that stuff. As soon as the Amblin logo (Spielberg's other production company, pretty much attached to ever good kid's film of the 80's), I knew this would be something special. It's both special, 80's but sitting on the cutting edge.
A motion-capture film following on from the frankly disturbing The Polar Express, this film deals with TJ (Mitch Musso) a kid who after a particularly tense encounter with the child-hating owner of the house Mr Nebercrakker (Steve Buscemi), which results in Nebbercrakker being collapsing, finds himself being haunted by the Monster House of the title. He along with his best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) and new girl in the neighbourhood Jenny (Spencer Locke) must try nto uncover the House's secret before it eats all the children in the neighbourhood on Halloween.
This film pratically drips of the 1980's. Not only is it set in the 80's, it has the nature of kids banding together to try and deal with something extraordinary, and quite possibly life-threatening, like many of the kid's films of the 1980's had. This sense of real adventure seems to have been lost in many of the kid's films of the recent past, instead opting for either endless direct-to-video sequels to Disney classics or well High School cocking Musical. God bless Gil Keenan and the writers, whose names escape me at this point, for bringing back this 1980's feel for todays kids, and big kids like myself.
The motion capture aspect of the film is interesting. Gil Keenan explains that if this film was shot as live action, he would not have been able to attain the sylisitic tone that he wanted to set and indeed the finsihed result is interesting, best described as hyper-real I suppose. The characters look real but something is just a little off with them, certain features are exxagerated. I would also argue that by making this an animated film, the more intense scenes have been lessesened in impact and this could surely have had an effect on its success. It is scary in places, for kids anyway, but it never gets truly to intense for most children, I would think. The film looks superb though. Taking a less photo realistic route than The Polar Express was a great idea as I do not think the computer images can quite pull it off yet (Although Rober Zemickis' upcoming adaption of Beowulf should prove very interesting for this effect). It is certainly very impressive animation.
The voice acting and script is also nigh-on perfect. The film has got some pretty big names in it, Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder, Maggie Gyllenhall (who incidentally is fucking incredible in real life), Jason Lee and Steve Buscemi to name just a few, but the film is not overhwlemed by them and this is the kids story, every one of whom does a stand up job of pulling off the fine line walked by all kids between childish playing and the prospect of growing up and getting into the opposite sex (as such).
Overall, if this film doesn;t get some recognition at the Oscar's for the best animated feature category, it really would be a crime. Much better than the frankly mediocre Cars, which will no doubt be nominated also, and also just a great film for all ages, this one is a definite purchase for myself. Anyone not into 1980's nostalgia may just want to rent but you should certainly enter this house!
Video: Digital-to-digital transfer, so no real issues. The film looks great but god I can't help but think of what the Blu-Ray version looks like. I imagine I would drool.
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Pretty involving, you get some rear speaker action when you would expect it, and the bass is ever present also, soemthing I find lacking in many modern titles. A truly involving track but maybe a little to involving along with the images for smaller children. An audio descriptive track is also avaliable and that is a great thing to see and a very commendable extra.
Extras: Commentary by Gil Keenan which I have not listened to but will update when I have. Some really great featurettes which can be viewed a whole documentary. Facinating seeing all the actors doing the motion capture themselves and you can see that Gil Keenan's ideas really were very definite at the start. Worth the price of the DVD alone to see Kathleen Turner doing motion capture as the house, one of the most bizarre things you will see in a long time.
Great film, best animated one of the year which I've seen and one I can't wait to show my kids (Well obviously I can wait but... you get the picture).
Back hopefully tomorrow, have a good Friday all!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Review: Magic (Richard Attenborough, 1978, USA)
This is a film I had been meaning to see for a while now. Mentioned in passing in magazines, never really seen on any show talking about horro and yet the combination of factirs intrigued me. Anthony Hopkins... An evil puppet... Directed by an Attenborough... How could I not want to see this. Only after hearing the trailer discussed on the rather great podcast Filmspotting (look for it on itunes or www.filmspotting.net), did I get the motivation to rent it. And how is it? As weird as it sounds.
Corky (Anthony Hopkins) is a failed magician who suddenly hits it big with a ventriloquist act featuring a dummy called Fats (Voiced by Anthony Hopkins). After getting scared of the level of his success, he goes to his home town where he tries to start a relationship with an old unrequited love, Peggy-Ann (Ann-Margaret), who happens to be married. While doing so, Fats (Or is it Corky's other side), grows increasingly impatient with events. After a tense encounter with Corky's agent Ben (Burgess Meredith), things start to spiral out of control and Fats shows his true self.
This film is hard to find, barely ever on TV and released on a label knon for releasing obscure horror, Anchor Bay. And yet, this is a cracking little thriller which is also really chilling to boot. The whole question of how much of Corky is in Fat's and vice versa is handled brillaintly by Hopkins, Attenborough and the writer William Goldman, adapting his own novel. We are never able to get a true handle on Corky, he is likeable and yet he seems to be psyhotic. You really care about him and it does hurt by the end of the film when you have seen what he has gone through to try and have a happy life. His perfomance during the "five minutes" scene is amazingly subtle; this could have been easily hammed up but in Hopkins hands, he pulls it off with real panache.
The other actors are really orking in Hopkins shadow. Ann-Maraget has a thankless role and acts more like a plot device than anything else, she truly sets off the events of the story but she doesn't really bing anything else to the film. Burgess Meredith brings a touch of showbiz to the film and yet again, where he could have been portrayed as a greedy slimeball but instead seems to really care about Corky. And then there is the puppet... Hopkins makes a chilling alter-ego for Corky in Fats and he really does stay with you after the film ends. As does what could be seen as a "twist" in the end which to be honest, freaked the living shit out of me. The films is wholly ambiguous and whereas sometimes you can see that Corky is obviously one thing, the next scene can contradict that. Thing is, I really don't want to watch it again, as it really did shit me up. And for a film to do that to me these days, is quite a thing. Fucking puppets man.
Corky (Anthony Hopkins) is a failed magician who suddenly hits it big with a ventriloquist act featuring a dummy called Fats (Voiced by Anthony Hopkins). After getting scared of the level of his success, he goes to his home town where he tries to start a relationship with an old unrequited love, Peggy-Ann (Ann-Margaret), who happens to be married. While doing so, Fats (Or is it Corky's other side), grows increasingly impatient with events. After a tense encounter with Corky's agent Ben (Burgess Meredith), things start to spiral out of control and Fats shows his true self.
This film is hard to find, barely ever on TV and released on a label knon for releasing obscure horror, Anchor Bay. And yet, this is a cracking little thriller which is also really chilling to boot. The whole question of how much of Corky is in Fat's and vice versa is handled brillaintly by Hopkins, Attenborough and the writer William Goldman, adapting his own novel. We are never able to get a true handle on Corky, he is likeable and yet he seems to be psyhotic. You really care about him and it does hurt by the end of the film when you have seen what he has gone through to try and have a happy life. His perfomance during the "five minutes" scene is amazingly subtle; this could have been easily hammed up but in Hopkins hands, he pulls it off with real panache.
The other actors are really orking in Hopkins shadow. Ann-Maraget has a thankless role and acts more like a plot device than anything else, she truly sets off the events of the story but she doesn't really bing anything else to the film. Burgess Meredith brings a touch of showbiz to the film and yet again, where he could have been portrayed as a greedy slimeball but instead seems to really care about Corky. And then there is the puppet... Hopkins makes a chilling alter-ego for Corky in Fats and he really does stay with you after the film ends. As does what could be seen as a "twist" in the end which to be honest, freaked the living shit out of me. The films is wholly ambiguous and whereas sometimes you can see that Corky is obviously one thing, the next scene can contradict that. Thing is, I really don't want to watch it again, as it really did shit me up. And for a film to do that to me these days, is quite a thing. Fucking puppets man.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
DVD Review: Brick
This is an updated version of a review I posted on my previous blog, I'm watching it again at the moment so I thought why not.
DVD Review: Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005, USA).
The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, um Body Heat? Films featuring grizzled heros with fast mouths and even.... um faster women? All, well almost all, classics and in particular classics of the Film Noir genre.
The Breakfast Club, American Pie, She's All That; Films featuring high school kids getting lucky, getting embarrased and getting life experience.
Brick: A grizzled high school kid hero with a fast mouth, getting lucky with a fast woman and getting more experience in high school than I think I'll get in most of my life. When the money men got a hold of the script, their heads must have spun with all the mixing of genre and styles. Not to mention the dialogue... and yet it works staggeringly well.
The story of one high school kid, Brendon Fry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) trying to get to the heart of a mystery involving a whole load of words he doesn't initially understand and the death of his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie De Ravin), Brick is an invloving watch from start to finish. But where to start? Play.com is currently selling Brick with a free glossary of the terms used in the film and indeed at early screenings, glossarys are also handed out. Yet how much of this is required? Noir films such as those mentioned earlier (maybe not so much Body Heat) have prided themselves on their involved, inclusive and maybe somewhat restricted world for years. While Brick may take this principle and run with it completely, I would not feel that a glossary is needed. Simply, you get what they are saying. If you don't get what they are saying, the visuals tell you all you need. Saying that, when I initially watched Brick in the cinema (at the simply awesome Watershed in Bristol), my housemate Jess' head was spinning. This may be becasue she wasn't expecting the dialogue style while I was, but if you are, I think my point remains valid.
Hard to believe Rian Johnson is a first time writer-director judging by this. I would imagine it would be hard to have the courage to pull off anything truly audacious with your first film and yet with the specific example of the chase with the man with the knife? He pulls it off. This specific scene is probably my favourite of the film, just for the fact that the only sound we hear are the sounds of footsteps. The purpose of this is revealed when (SPOILER) Brendon takes his shoes off to mask his footseps and make the crucial move. Suprising style mixed with a narrative purpose? I would say thats audacious and dare I say it original!
Just have to say the Score? I had the theme running in my head for weeks after the film and have it in my head right now.
Perfomances. Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes the character come alive. While he is a bit two-dimesional, a rare case of style over narrative (His history is frustratingly teased but never really explored), the style he has makes up for it in spades. Funny, touching and showing a surreal amount of strength (see any of the fights), Gordon-Levitt shows that with Mysterious Skin and now Brick, he is turning out to be a far more promising proposition than the boy who played Tommy in Third Rock From The Sun should have any right to be.
Nora Zethner as the Femme Fatale, Laura imbides her character with wit, charm, a bit of sluttiness and a sense of something wrong under the surface and does so with ease. Lukas Haas as the enigmatic Pin is just... pleasent really. You know he is dangerous, you get that feeling throughout but... he's just nice really. Emilie De Ravin playing the doomed Emily does her best with a nothing role, but by Christ, she don't look like a High School kid!
Right time to sum up, this has taken far to long and I apologise! Damn damn stylish with a plot which will have you guessing, well I was anyway, with a killer script and some pretty decent perfomances, if I were you I would believe the hype, because Brick deserves it.
Video: Shot on Digital tape, looks pretty great, no real block, bit of artificing every now and then but as it is such a new release it looks as good as it could get on DVD.
Audio: Interesting 5.1 track, only comes alive at specific bits, rears only come into play for music and some set pieces, the car ride with Tug and the foot chase spring to mind/
Extras:
Commentary with Rian Johnson: Good commentary, you can tell he really pired his heart into this, nice anecdotes to, reccomended.
Look at the soundtrack: Very funny look at how a soundtrack can be created.
Video diary by Rian Johnson: Dissapointing four minute video journal, those his observations on the monotony of the press tour makes for some funny viewing.
Trailer: Love, love, love this trailer. Sums up the film perfectly and a little piece of art in itself.
While the film didn't have an effect on me as such efforts as Pi or Donnie Darko, it's still a very impressive debut and the extra features give real added value to the set. A great rental or a solid purchase.
DVD Review: Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005, USA).
The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, um Body Heat? Films featuring grizzled heros with fast mouths and even.... um faster women? All, well almost all, classics and in particular classics of the Film Noir genre.
The Breakfast Club, American Pie, She's All That; Films featuring high school kids getting lucky, getting embarrased and getting life experience.
Brick: A grizzled high school kid hero with a fast mouth, getting lucky with a fast woman and getting more experience in high school than I think I'll get in most of my life. When the money men got a hold of the script, their heads must have spun with all the mixing of genre and styles. Not to mention the dialogue... and yet it works staggeringly well.
The story of one high school kid, Brendon Fry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) trying to get to the heart of a mystery involving a whole load of words he doesn't initially understand and the death of his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie De Ravin), Brick is an invloving watch from start to finish. But where to start? Play.com is currently selling Brick with a free glossary of the terms used in the film and indeed at early screenings, glossarys are also handed out. Yet how much of this is required? Noir films such as those mentioned earlier (maybe not so much Body Heat) have prided themselves on their involved, inclusive and maybe somewhat restricted world for years. While Brick may take this principle and run with it completely, I would not feel that a glossary is needed. Simply, you get what they are saying. If you don't get what they are saying, the visuals tell you all you need. Saying that, when I initially watched Brick in the cinema (at the simply awesome Watershed in Bristol), my housemate Jess' head was spinning. This may be becasue she wasn't expecting the dialogue style while I was, but if you are, I think my point remains valid.
Hard to believe Rian Johnson is a first time writer-director judging by this. I would imagine it would be hard to have the courage to pull off anything truly audacious with your first film and yet with the specific example of the chase with the man with the knife? He pulls it off. This specific scene is probably my favourite of the film, just for the fact that the only sound we hear are the sounds of footsteps. The purpose of this is revealed when (SPOILER) Brendon takes his shoes off to mask his footseps and make the crucial move. Suprising style mixed with a narrative purpose? I would say thats audacious and dare I say it original!
Just have to say the Score? I had the theme running in my head for weeks after the film and have it in my head right now.
Perfomances. Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes the character come alive. While he is a bit two-dimesional, a rare case of style over narrative (His history is frustratingly teased but never really explored), the style he has makes up for it in spades. Funny, touching and showing a surreal amount of strength (see any of the fights), Gordon-Levitt shows that with Mysterious Skin and now Brick, he is turning out to be a far more promising proposition than the boy who played Tommy in Third Rock From The Sun should have any right to be.
Nora Zethner as the Femme Fatale, Laura imbides her character with wit, charm, a bit of sluttiness and a sense of something wrong under the surface and does so with ease. Lukas Haas as the enigmatic Pin is just... pleasent really. You know he is dangerous, you get that feeling throughout but... he's just nice really. Emilie De Ravin playing the doomed Emily does her best with a nothing role, but by Christ, she don't look like a High School kid!
Right time to sum up, this has taken far to long and I apologise! Damn damn stylish with a plot which will have you guessing, well I was anyway, with a killer script and some pretty decent perfomances, if I were you I would believe the hype, because Brick deserves it.
Video: Shot on Digital tape, looks pretty great, no real block, bit of artificing every now and then but as it is such a new release it looks as good as it could get on DVD.
Audio: Interesting 5.1 track, only comes alive at specific bits, rears only come into play for music and some set pieces, the car ride with Tug and the foot chase spring to mind/
Extras:
Commentary with Rian Johnson: Good commentary, you can tell he really pired his heart into this, nice anecdotes to, reccomended.
Look at the soundtrack: Very funny look at how a soundtrack can be created.
Video diary by Rian Johnson: Dissapointing four minute video journal, those his observations on the monotony of the press tour makes for some funny viewing.
Trailer: Love, love, love this trailer. Sums up the film perfectly and a little piece of art in itself.
While the film didn't have an effect on me as such efforts as Pi or Donnie Darko, it's still a very impressive debut and the extra features give real added value to the set. A great rental or a solid purchase.
DVD Review: Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier (Region 1)
DVD Review: Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979, 2006, USA).
If anyone has been reading, sorry about the delay. I had a real hectic week at work last week and my PC's fucked so I am using my lovely girlfriend Donna's laptop. So... First film to watch totally with my new home cinema system (Samsung HT-Q20 if anyone is curious). hat better film to go with than the first film to use a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and arguably the best film of the 1970's, and in my opinion one of the best films ever made, Apocalypse Now.
Many have argued the 1970's was the most productive decade in American Cinema yet. Certainly the emphasise placed on the decade in my Film Studies course made me feel that this was the case to. The films of this decade are compelling evidence for this theory. George Lucas' debut THX-1138 was a haunting if not rather derivative science-fiction piece, Robert Altman's Mash was a biting satire dressed in the clothes of a fish out of water comedy which dared to take humour from places you could never expect before, Tobe Hooper took all of America's anxieites regarding Vietnam and the direction the country was taking and turned it into one of the most famous, and certainly most influential, horror films ever made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Don't get me started on this film, I'll be talking for decades). However, none of these films can hope to even come close to the viscreal, shocking, moving and to be honest just plain fucking incredible visual and aural experience which is Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
Based very loosely on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now sounds simple on paper. A hardedned soldier, Captain Willard is given a confidential assignment; to go up river through Vietnam and into Cambodia to "terminate... with extreme prejudice" Col. Kurtz, a once-brilliant soldier who has now go mad and made a society for himself. To make this film as it sounds, and how one of the original writers John Milius would have made it if he had his way, you could have old Arnie go up river, blow up some Vietnamese soldiers, rescue a hot American girl on the way, have an overblown final showdown with Kurtz and walk off into the sunset (or perhaps SURVIVE A FUCKING NUCLEAR EXPLOSION like he does in Predator). What does happen is quite different. Martin Sheen plays Willard a man who though burnt out, just wants to fight. When he gets his mission he believes he is getting his chance. However, as he becomes sucked in to the world of Kurtz through the evidence given to him by his superiors, the more he seems to be drawn in. hile this is happening, he and the crew of the PBR Streetgang the boat he is being escorted on encounter a series of bizarre situations happening all the way up the river. Perhaps the most iconic of these is the sequence early in the film featuring Kilgore, a surf loving General who only agrees to take Willard where he is going ecause one of Willard's crew members Lance, is a famous surfer and the place they need to get to has good surf. Kilgore is quite a character. To paraphrase Willard in the film, he seems to have a light around him which you know will let him survive the war. And yet, he sends his men surfing in the middle of warzones and commits multiple atrocities during the famous Ride of the Valkyries sequence. And oh my that sequence! Exciting and yet rather disturbing I would argue it is the perfect distillation of the excitement you get from seeing violence on screen, the purging of the build up to it, and the horrific nature which you only really realise after you have clapped all the way through the sequence. Robert Duvall is incredible in this sequence, he displays the authoritative aspect you ould expect a man in his position ould have and yet in his recklessness and love of surfing, you can see a little boy who is itching to break out and at some moments does. This is best shown in the Redux cut in a sequence in which he goes looking for a surfboard which Lance stole. As he is looking for it, he shouts through his megaphone, "It was a good board Lance!", this bit cracks me up beyond belief but I can't really say why!
Marlon Brando. Fat, tempermental, demanding. One of the best actors who ever lived. These conflicting aspects are best seen in Apocalypse Now. Sticking largely to improvisitional dialogue, doing what he wants, he truly makes Kurtz his own, and you can see hy illard and Colby before him would want to stay with him. While it is fairly easy to tell that his scenes are really a "best-of" of what Coppola managed to film of Brando. Can't say much more than that.
The whole film, the music, the acting (Martin Sheen has an intensity which will forever be hard to rival), the iconic images, the editing everything about this film is grade-A stuff which considering the nature of the whole production is quite a feat indeed.
A word on the Redux cut. I'll echo what most say, not as good, doesn't flow (the plantation sequence stops the film dead in its tracks) and is far to overblown. It's great as a curio but you will only want to watch it once. Stick to what you know in this case.
Video: Best you will ever see it especially as a Region 2 edition will be hard to come by as the two versions are distributed by different companies (Pathe for the original cut, Miramax for Redux). This print has been remastered, barely any scratches, colours are great, thats about it.
Audio: Fucking spectacular. Watching this film with the whole 5.1 experience is a whole new ball game. Directional effects go all over the place yet the dialogue remains clear. The opening sequence alone is reference material for any AV enthusiast.
Extras: Yet to watch the commentaries, I will post my thoughts when I get round to it. The featurettes are all interesting enough, the birth of 5.1 sound one particularly so but the whole glaring omission of the documentary Hearts of Darkness, renders this Complete Dossier, incomplete and inadequate. They may be rights issues involved, I do not know, but I have been lucky enough to see this and it is a comprehensive and yet funny and insightful look into this modern classic. If this had come ith the package, you would never need another copy of Apocalypse Now ever again, this would be it.
One of the best DVD's of the year, doubt it will ever be released over here but go to www.playusa.com and get it for around a tenner. Worth every penny. Thanks as always for your time.
If anyone has been reading, sorry about the delay. I had a real hectic week at work last week and my PC's fucked so I am using my lovely girlfriend Donna's laptop. So... First film to watch totally with my new home cinema system (Samsung HT-Q20 if anyone is curious). hat better film to go with than the first film to use a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and arguably the best film of the 1970's, and in my opinion one of the best films ever made, Apocalypse Now.
Many have argued the 1970's was the most productive decade in American Cinema yet. Certainly the emphasise placed on the decade in my Film Studies course made me feel that this was the case to. The films of this decade are compelling evidence for this theory. George Lucas' debut THX-1138 was a haunting if not rather derivative science-fiction piece, Robert Altman's Mash was a biting satire dressed in the clothes of a fish out of water comedy which dared to take humour from places you could never expect before, Tobe Hooper took all of America's anxieites regarding Vietnam and the direction the country was taking and turned it into one of the most famous, and certainly most influential, horror films ever made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Don't get me started on this film, I'll be talking for decades). However, none of these films can hope to even come close to the viscreal, shocking, moving and to be honest just plain fucking incredible visual and aural experience which is Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
Based very loosely on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now sounds simple on paper. A hardedned soldier, Captain Willard is given a confidential assignment; to go up river through Vietnam and into Cambodia to "terminate... with extreme prejudice" Col. Kurtz, a once-brilliant soldier who has now go mad and made a society for himself. To make this film as it sounds, and how one of the original writers John Milius would have made it if he had his way, you could have old Arnie go up river, blow up some Vietnamese soldiers, rescue a hot American girl on the way, have an overblown final showdown with Kurtz and walk off into the sunset (or perhaps SURVIVE A FUCKING NUCLEAR EXPLOSION like he does in Predator). What does happen is quite different. Martin Sheen plays Willard a man who though burnt out, just wants to fight. When he gets his mission he believes he is getting his chance. However, as he becomes sucked in to the world of Kurtz through the evidence given to him by his superiors, the more he seems to be drawn in. hile this is happening, he and the crew of the PBR Streetgang the boat he is being escorted on encounter a series of bizarre situations happening all the way up the river. Perhaps the most iconic of these is the sequence early in the film featuring Kilgore, a surf loving General who only agrees to take Willard where he is going ecause one of Willard's crew members Lance, is a famous surfer and the place they need to get to has good surf. Kilgore is quite a character. To paraphrase Willard in the film, he seems to have a light around him which you know will let him survive the war. And yet, he sends his men surfing in the middle of warzones and commits multiple atrocities during the famous Ride of the Valkyries sequence. And oh my that sequence! Exciting and yet rather disturbing I would argue it is the perfect distillation of the excitement you get from seeing violence on screen, the purging of the build up to it, and the horrific nature which you only really realise after you have clapped all the way through the sequence. Robert Duvall is incredible in this sequence, he displays the authoritative aspect you ould expect a man in his position ould have and yet in his recklessness and love of surfing, you can see a little boy who is itching to break out and at some moments does. This is best shown in the Redux cut in a sequence in which he goes looking for a surfboard which Lance stole. As he is looking for it, he shouts through his megaphone, "It was a good board Lance!", this bit cracks me up beyond belief but I can't really say why!
Marlon Brando. Fat, tempermental, demanding. One of the best actors who ever lived. These conflicting aspects are best seen in Apocalypse Now. Sticking largely to improvisitional dialogue, doing what he wants, he truly makes Kurtz his own, and you can see hy illard and Colby before him would want to stay with him. While it is fairly easy to tell that his scenes are really a "best-of" of what Coppola managed to film of Brando. Can't say much more than that.
The whole film, the music, the acting (Martin Sheen has an intensity which will forever be hard to rival), the iconic images, the editing everything about this film is grade-A stuff which considering the nature of the whole production is quite a feat indeed.
A word on the Redux cut. I'll echo what most say, not as good, doesn't flow (the plantation sequence stops the film dead in its tracks) and is far to overblown. It's great as a curio but you will only want to watch it once. Stick to what you know in this case.
Video: Best you will ever see it especially as a Region 2 edition will be hard to come by as the two versions are distributed by different companies (Pathe for the original cut, Miramax for Redux). This print has been remastered, barely any scratches, colours are great, thats about it.
Audio: Fucking spectacular. Watching this film with the whole 5.1 experience is a whole new ball game. Directional effects go all over the place yet the dialogue remains clear. The opening sequence alone is reference material for any AV enthusiast.
Extras: Yet to watch the commentaries, I will post my thoughts when I get round to it. The featurettes are all interesting enough, the birth of 5.1 sound one particularly so but the whole glaring omission of the documentary Hearts of Darkness, renders this Complete Dossier, incomplete and inadequate. They may be rights issues involved, I do not know, but I have been lucky enough to see this and it is a comprehensive and yet funny and insightful look into this modern classic. If this had come ith the package, you would never need another copy of Apocalypse Now ever again, this would be it.
One of the best DVD's of the year, doubt it will ever be released over here but go to www.playusa.com and get it for around a tenner. Worth every penny. Thanks as always for your time.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Review: El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)
Review: El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) (Guillermo del Toro, 2006, USA).
Looks like I'm going to be towing the critical line on this one.
I'm not even sure I can really write a review after one viewing, this is a film you could watch 20 times and not fully absorbed all there is to it.But, I'll try! Ofelia (Ivanna Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Adriana Gil) are being driven to stay with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergei Lopez) when they stop because Carmen is feeling sick while carrying Vidal's child. While stopped Ofelia finds a rock and places back in a statue where it looks like the rock should be. Doing this, she unleashes a force which could take her to her rightful place, a Princess of the underworld, or damn her to a mortal's life on Earth.
To even tell anymore of this film would ruin it. You need to go in as fresh as possible to fully get everything out of the film. I knew certain things and I feel like it made it less fresh for me and for that I am a lot sadder. All there is to say is that there are twists and turns. Aspects of the Spanish Civil War come into the picture in surprising, disturbing, and moving ways. The film is technically perfect. The art direction, writing, effects, practical make up (Doug Jones does an astounding job as the mysterious faun Pan and as the Pale Man, of who I will say no more), and performances are nothing short of incredible especially based on the small budget del Toro had to work with. Speaking of del Toro, it feels like all the films he has made before have led up to this being his seminal work and he knocks it out of the park. This film, like Cars, is the director's most personal work, and yet it doesn't feel self- indulgent at all. del Toro has things to say to all of us and does them in amazing ways. To say this is the best film of the year feels almost like an insult to the cast and crew, it is certainly the best film of the century so far and I say that with a straight face. That's all I can say.
Looks like I'm going to be towing the critical line on this one.
I'm not even sure I can really write a review after one viewing, this is a film you could watch 20 times and not fully absorbed all there is to it.But, I'll try! Ofelia (Ivanna Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Adriana Gil) are being driven to stay with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergei Lopez) when they stop because Carmen is feeling sick while carrying Vidal's child. While stopped Ofelia finds a rock and places back in a statue where it looks like the rock should be. Doing this, she unleashes a force which could take her to her rightful place, a Princess of the underworld, or damn her to a mortal's life on Earth.
To even tell anymore of this film would ruin it. You need to go in as fresh as possible to fully get everything out of the film. I knew certain things and I feel like it made it less fresh for me and for that I am a lot sadder. All there is to say is that there are twists and turns. Aspects of the Spanish Civil War come into the picture in surprising, disturbing, and moving ways. The film is technically perfect. The art direction, writing, effects, practical make up (Doug Jones does an astounding job as the mysterious faun Pan and as the Pale Man, of who I will say no more), and performances are nothing short of incredible especially based on the small budget del Toro had to work with. Speaking of del Toro, it feels like all the films he has made before have led up to this being his seminal work and he knocks it out of the park. This film, like Cars, is the director's most personal work, and yet it doesn't feel self- indulgent at all. del Toro has things to say to all of us and does them in amazing ways. To say this is the best film of the year feels almost like an insult to the cast and crew, it is certainly the best film of the century so far and I say that with a straight face. That's all I can say.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
DVD Review: Cars
DVD Review: Cars (John Lasseter, 2006, USA).
Pixar, the animation house which could do no wrong. After the massive successes of their previous films, the man who started it all with the Toy Story films came back to make what he regarded as his most personal project yet. Ironically, my biggest problem with the film is the impersonal feel which runs throughout.
Lighting McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is an arrogant young racer who wants to win the biggest prize in racing, the Piston Cup. in doing this he can live his dreams and sign for the biggest sponsor there is and become the most famous car in the world. While on his way to a decisive race he finds himself in the sleepy of town of radiator Springs where he leanrsa that life doesn't need to be raced through, sometimes you have to slow down..... If that sounds trite, thats because it is. That's all there is to this film, a cocky arrogant youngster finds out that life isn't about pursuing success in your field, its about friends and appreciating whats around you. Like hicks and desert plains.
This film feels manufactured, like something which has come of a conveyor belt, and if this was just a Disney film, I wouldn't be surprised, but this is Pixar! Makers of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and The Incredibles, some of the most original, satisfying, funny and downright great animated films there have ever been. And so for a a film like Cars to come from them, is such a crying shame. McQueen goes through many standard narrative tropes. Cocky kid learns lessons slowly, is faced with a stumbling block, gets though it and becomes a changed person. Success isn't everything, friends are important, these are pure cliche. While it could be argued that other Pixar films have extolled these values, I would argue that they have never done so while pushing them down our necks through montages and songs, they have done so through very clever writing and inspired plots. While the writing through this film si sharp at times, and Tow-Mater voiced by American comic Larry the Cable Guy, gets some very good stuff to work with, the whole thing felt flat with me. When the most exciting thing in a film happens in the first 15 minutes (the brilliant race which opens the movie) you know you are in trouble. All the technical aspects are brilliant, the cars themselves look incredible, the landscapes terrific, but with Pixar, the storytelling always shone through. It's just to bad they seem to have forgotten their own rules while making Cars.
Extras: Pretty light for a Pixar film, could be a sign that Disney accept that this didn't do so well in comparison to the other films. We get the obligatory shorts, one created for the DVD, Mater and the Ghostlight which is funny without being memorable, and the short which preceded Cars in the cinema, One Man Band, a funny little thing which while entertaining, you would never feel the urge to watch again. A few standard featurettes fill the disc out and they just go to further emphasise the flatness of the whole package. Bitterly disappointed.
Back tomorrow with my review of Pan's Labyrinth.
Pixar, the animation house which could do no wrong. After the massive successes of their previous films, the man who started it all with the Toy Story films came back to make what he regarded as his most personal project yet. Ironically, my biggest problem with the film is the impersonal feel which runs throughout.
Lighting McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is an arrogant young racer who wants to win the biggest prize in racing, the Piston Cup. in doing this he can live his dreams and sign for the biggest sponsor there is and become the most famous car in the world. While on his way to a decisive race he finds himself in the sleepy of town of radiator Springs where he leanrsa that life doesn't need to be raced through, sometimes you have to slow down..... If that sounds trite, thats because it is. That's all there is to this film, a cocky arrogant youngster finds out that life isn't about pursuing success in your field, its about friends and appreciating whats around you. Like hicks and desert plains.
This film feels manufactured, like something which has come of a conveyor belt, and if this was just a Disney film, I wouldn't be surprised, but this is Pixar! Makers of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and The Incredibles, some of the most original, satisfying, funny and downright great animated films there have ever been. And so for a a film like Cars to come from them, is such a crying shame. McQueen goes through many standard narrative tropes. Cocky kid learns lessons slowly, is faced with a stumbling block, gets though it and becomes a changed person. Success isn't everything, friends are important, these are pure cliche. While it could be argued that other Pixar films have extolled these values, I would argue that they have never done so while pushing them down our necks through montages and songs, they have done so through very clever writing and inspired plots. While the writing through this film si sharp at times, and Tow-Mater voiced by American comic Larry the Cable Guy, gets some very good stuff to work with, the whole thing felt flat with me. When the most exciting thing in a film happens in the first 15 minutes (the brilliant race which opens the movie) you know you are in trouble. All the technical aspects are brilliant, the cars themselves look incredible, the landscapes terrific, but with Pixar, the storytelling always shone through. It's just to bad they seem to have forgotten their own rules while making Cars.
Extras: Pretty light for a Pixar film, could be a sign that Disney accept that this didn't do so well in comparison to the other films. We get the obligatory shorts, one created for the DVD, Mater and the Ghostlight which is funny without being memorable, and the short which preceded Cars in the cinema, One Man Band, a funny little thing which while entertaining, you would never feel the urge to watch again. A few standard featurettes fill the disc out and they just go to further emphasise the flatness of the whole package. Bitterly disappointed.
Back tomorrow with my review of Pan's Labyrinth.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
DVD Review: Superman 2 - The Richard Donner Cut
Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut (Richard Donner, 1980, 2006, USA).
So my review of Godzilla will be up some other time but for now...
Superman 2 had a troubled production as Richard Donner, the man responsible for Superman 1, was kicked off the production by the producers and it was taken over by Richard Lester. Fans have known for years that the material Donner shot was still intact and so, after much petitioning, and coinciding with the forthcoming DVD release of Bryan Singer's affectionate remake Superman Returns, this cut has been assembled by editor Michael Thau under Donner's supervision.
This cut has some of the footage found in Lester's finished film but also contains some amazingly revealing stuff. One of the things about the original release was that while fun in a comic-book way, it felt like the seriousness Donner, along with the man who created the story Mario Puzo, was lost in exchange for a slightly more campy tone (Although who cannot love Terrance Stamp's incredibly hammy performance as General Zod, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!). While the campiness remains in this version, we also see what could have been. The reintroduction of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, highlights the struggle which forms the backbone to the movie: Can Superman have what he wants while still upholding his duty to man? The debates he and Superman have reinforce this issue. The presence of Lois Lane dressed only in Superman's shirt during this scene also heightens the mature tone. It is not just this which has changed. The opening in Paris has been cut completely and to me this is a good thing as it always seemed like a throwaway sequence in the context of the movie.Lois Lane trying to prove that Clark is Superman is a far better opening as
it adds to as I mentioned before is the main theme of the movie. Also thank god that the frankly bizarre fight at the end with the attacking S's had been cut and replaced with something far more down to earth. However, the reuse of footage from the end of Superman 1 is jarring, although it makes sense in the context of the individual film (Although in terms of continuity, the last scene really does not make sense!) The same goes with the reuse of part of the score but as it really is one of the best film scores ever, I ain't complaining! There is far more which I won't go into here, but it really is amazing how much was found and restored. The footage has been very well restored and the gaps in the film do not ever really jar.
In all, a fascinating look into a film which could, and should, have been but it is very very nice to see it avaliable for anyone interested.
So my review of Godzilla will be up some other time but for now...
Superman 2 had a troubled production as Richard Donner, the man responsible for Superman 1, was kicked off the production by the producers and it was taken over by Richard Lester. Fans have known for years that the material Donner shot was still intact and so, after much petitioning, and coinciding with the forthcoming DVD release of Bryan Singer's affectionate remake Superman Returns, this cut has been assembled by editor Michael Thau under Donner's supervision.
This cut has some of the footage found in Lester's finished film but also contains some amazingly revealing stuff. One of the things about the original release was that while fun in a comic-book way, it felt like the seriousness Donner, along with the man who created the story Mario Puzo, was lost in exchange for a slightly more campy tone (Although who cannot love Terrance Stamp's incredibly hammy performance as General Zod, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!). While the campiness remains in this version, we also see what could have been. The reintroduction of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, highlights the struggle which forms the backbone to the movie: Can Superman have what he wants while still upholding his duty to man? The debates he and Superman have reinforce this issue. The presence of Lois Lane dressed only in Superman's shirt during this scene also heightens the mature tone. It is not just this which has changed. The opening in Paris has been cut completely and to me this is a good thing as it always seemed like a throwaway sequence in the context of the movie.Lois Lane trying to prove that Clark is Superman is a far better opening as
it adds to as I mentioned before is the main theme of the movie. Also thank god that the frankly bizarre fight at the end with the attacking S's had been cut and replaced with something far more down to earth. However, the reuse of footage from the end of Superman 1 is jarring, although it makes sense in the context of the individual film (Although in terms of continuity, the last scene really does not make sense!) The same goes with the reuse of part of the score but as it really is one of the best film scores ever, I ain't complaining! There is far more which I won't go into here, but it really is amazing how much was found and restored. The footage has been very well restored and the gaps in the film do not ever really jar.
In all, a fascinating look into a film which could, and should, have been but it is very very nice to see it avaliable for anyone interested.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Review: Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny
Review: Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny (Liam Lynch, 2006, USA).
This is up early as I wanted to get it off my chest so I can concentrate on Godzilla tomorrow.
Jack Black and Kyle Gass' first theatrical piece recalls the often genius HBO specials which they made in the early noughties but to me is an overall disappointment When a film's soundtrack album is funnier than the film itself, you know you are in trouble.
The formation of Tenacious D leads to an ageing rocker (Ben Stiller in a not-funny-enough cameo) pointing the wannabe rock gods giving the guys instructions to gain the Pick of Destiny. They get it, fight Satan and thats it, film over. Along the way, there is much randomness including a cheeringly bizarre early Clockwork Orange homage, and a magical mushroom induced trip with Sasquatch. I'll be honest, those are the only 2 parts I can really remember (and I was sober throughout). The two leads put their all into the film, but it lacks focus and, perhaps, key, a big enough budget for them t0o truly achieve what they want. A car chase aside, the film feels far to much like their HBO specials when you would think they would break everything out with a theatrical stage. The climatic battle with Satan is barely glimpsed in the trailers for a reason; it feels to small to fill the screen. I am sure that in the original script, it was not set in a deserted car park! This is a shame to because the musical num,bers are mainly terrific but outside of them, there are few laughs to be had unless you a re a 15-year old who has just been introduced to the world of weed. The direction is competent enough and Liam Lynch seems to have done as much as he can with the budget. And yet, again, it just feels too small! A crying shame, as this really was one of my most anticipated films of the year. Honestly! I must say also, the opening sequence was wicked, Meat Loaf should have been in the film far more and the kid who plays young JB looks so much like Jack Black, its scary. Too bad the film couldn't match my expectations.
next theatrical review should be Pan's Labyrinth, my most anticipated film of the Winter after Casino Royale. That won't leave me as cold as Tenacious D: POD but if it does, I may cry!
This is up early as I wanted to get it off my chest so I can concentrate on Godzilla tomorrow.
Jack Black and Kyle Gass' first theatrical piece recalls the often genius HBO specials which they made in the early noughties but to me is an overall disappointment When a film's soundtrack album is funnier than the film itself, you know you are in trouble.
The formation of Tenacious D leads to an ageing rocker (Ben Stiller in a not-funny-enough cameo) pointing the wannabe rock gods giving the guys instructions to gain the Pick of Destiny. They get it, fight Satan and thats it, film over. Along the way, there is much randomness including a cheeringly bizarre early Clockwork Orange homage, and a magical mushroom induced trip with Sasquatch. I'll be honest, those are the only 2 parts I can really remember (and I was sober throughout). The two leads put their all into the film, but it lacks focus and, perhaps, key, a big enough budget for them t0o truly achieve what they want. A car chase aside, the film feels far to much like their HBO specials when you would think they would break everything out with a theatrical stage. The climatic battle with Satan is barely glimpsed in the trailers for a reason; it feels to small to fill the screen. I am sure that in the original script, it was not set in a deserted car park! This is a shame to because the musical num,bers are mainly terrific but outside of them, there are few laughs to be had unless you a re a 15-year old who has just been introduced to the world of weed. The direction is competent enough and Liam Lynch seems to have done as much as he can with the budget. And yet, again, it just feels too small! A crying shame, as this really was one of my most anticipated films of the year. Honestly! I must say also, the opening sequence was wicked, Meat Loaf should have been in the film far more and the kid who plays young JB looks so much like Jack Black, its scary. Too bad the film couldn't match my expectations.
next theatrical review should be Pan's Labyrinth, my most anticipated film of the Winter after Casino Royale. That won't leave me as cold as Tenacious D: POD but if it does, I may cry!
New stuff later....
Reviews of Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny and the original Godzilla movie newly out on DVD , will be up sometime tomorrow....
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Review: Casino Royale
So I couldn't bloody wait for this. I had holiday from work so instead of waiting till I could see it with friends, I went by myself. A Thursday, 2.15 showing and it was two thirds full, something I doubt would have happened with Die Another Day, or any Brosnan era film such is the anticipation for this film.
Starts with the much-talked of black and white sequence (nice touch with the B/W studio logos to). This sets up the tone of the entire film; downplayed, more based in reality and a new era for Bond. His first kill is harsh, pushing the 12a rating and is pretty great. This is also where we see where this Bond is going to be different, Craig can actually ACT. He is a proper actor. I am sorry and flame me if you will but no Bond since Connery has acted, they have played "Bond". In this scene you can see how unsure Craig is when he finally kills his first man. His second is done with Bond-like panache and yet this sequence sets him up niely; he knows how to do his job, but he is defenitly not the "Bond" we have come to know him as.
This feeling continues on. the first major action sequenc e featuring the frankly scary talents of free-runner Sebastian Foucan has Bond eventually catching his target but having a very tough time doing it. He has to rely on shortcuts to catch the free-runner, he falls down and obviously hurts himself often,, whereas Foucan is able to leap through a window above a door, Craig has to crash through it (one of the many natural, brilliant laughs found in this film). After this sequence, Bond needs treatment, something not often seen (though admittedly a more gimmicky way of showing this was seen in "Die Another Day".
As well as shoowing this new Bond's physical limitations, his mental limitations become key to the plot. The script for this film by regualr Bond scripters, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, with polishing done by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis, is able tyo show how the job and the encounters he has within it have made Bond the man we see him as in the other Bond films. By the end of this film we understand how he has come to regard women as coldly as he does thorughoiut the Bond cannon (with a very honoruable exception made to On Her Majesty's Secert Service, itself a reboot of the franchise). Bond is hurt in this film, as said earlier, in both mental and physical ways and as I do not wish to include spoilers that is as much as I will say.
So Daniel Craig? Who gives a shit if he is Bond, he is magnificent. Oozing charm, wit and yet obviously showing that he is not the Bond we know yet, he excels in this role and long may it continue. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is great, her role is far larger and much more developed than any other Bond girl and considering that she does not appear until nearly an hour into the film, this is no mean feat. You believe every move she makes and yet in hindsight, this should not be the case. She had me as much as she had Bond when it came to her motivations (Looked gourgeous to). Mads Mikklesen as Le Chffre does a commendable job as an enemy who is not as much of a threat as other villians of the best. He is in it to save himself as much as further any other cause and this kind of motivation sucked me in much more than diamonds being put together to control the suns rays, or whatever it was the villain in Die Another Day was doing. The lead in his character makes to future Bond films is very interesting to, could we be seeing another SPECTRE? A mention must also go to Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter who I sorely hope becomes a recurring character as it is great to see an actor of his class trun up in this supporting role.
Martin Campbell does a great job of directing. This guy has been directing action movies for years but with some of these set-pieces, and the car crash, he has obviously pulled all the stops out and congrats to him. I have also got to say something bout the score. While i cannot remember any of the title song, the score was amazing (In fact I am downloading it now). the way it develops the Bond themes over time before unleashing at the end is simply awesome. And the title sequence also? Maginifcant, love the diamonds motif!
Any downsides? As many reviews have started the pacing, in between the torture scene (also pushing 12a, but with some brilliant lines, and Venice specifically is a little slow, considering its run time is around 140 minutes, 10-20 minutes being cut specifically from this section would not have been missed.
Overall though? A great film, not just a great Bond film. thanks largely to Daniel Craig and his actual ACTING but also the great supporting cast, stunts, music, direction and considering the pedigree of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the writing, this is one of the best of the year for me. Pure fun and a great way to kickstart the Bond franchise. I, for one, cannot wait for Bond to return.
Starts with the much-talked of black and white sequence (nice touch with the B/W studio logos to). This sets up the tone of the entire film; downplayed, more based in reality and a new era for Bond. His first kill is harsh, pushing the 12a rating and is pretty great. This is also where we see where this Bond is going to be different, Craig can actually ACT. He is a proper actor. I am sorry and flame me if you will but no Bond since Connery has acted, they have played "Bond". In this scene you can see how unsure Craig is when he finally kills his first man. His second is done with Bond-like panache and yet this sequence sets him up niely; he knows how to do his job, but he is defenitly not the "Bond" we have come to know him as.
This feeling continues on. the first major action sequenc e featuring the frankly scary talents of free-runner Sebastian Foucan has Bond eventually catching his target but having a very tough time doing it. He has to rely on shortcuts to catch the free-runner, he falls down and obviously hurts himself often,, whereas Foucan is able to leap through a window above a door, Craig has to crash through it (one of the many natural, brilliant laughs found in this film). After this sequence, Bond needs treatment, something not often seen (though admittedly a more gimmicky way of showing this was seen in "Die Another Day".
As well as shoowing this new Bond's physical limitations, his mental limitations become key to the plot. The script for this film by regualr Bond scripters, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, with polishing done by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis, is able tyo show how the job and the encounters he has within it have made Bond the man we see him as in the other Bond films. By the end of this film we understand how he has come to regard women as coldly as he does thorughoiut the Bond cannon (with a very honoruable exception made to On Her Majesty's Secert Service, itself a reboot of the franchise). Bond is hurt in this film, as said earlier, in both mental and physical ways and as I do not wish to include spoilers that is as much as I will say.
So Daniel Craig? Who gives a shit if he is Bond, he is magnificent. Oozing charm, wit and yet obviously showing that he is not the Bond we know yet, he excels in this role and long may it continue. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is great, her role is far larger and much more developed than any other Bond girl and considering that she does not appear until nearly an hour into the film, this is no mean feat. You believe every move she makes and yet in hindsight, this should not be the case. She had me as much as she had Bond when it came to her motivations (Looked gourgeous to). Mads Mikklesen as Le Chffre does a commendable job as an enemy who is not as much of a threat as other villians of the best. He is in it to save himself as much as further any other cause and this kind of motivation sucked me in much more than diamonds being put together to control the suns rays, or whatever it was the villain in Die Another Day was doing. The lead in his character makes to future Bond films is very interesting to, could we be seeing another SPECTRE? A mention must also go to Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter who I sorely hope becomes a recurring character as it is great to see an actor of his class trun up in this supporting role.
Martin Campbell does a great job of directing. This guy has been directing action movies for years but with some of these set-pieces, and the car crash, he has obviously pulled all the stops out and congrats to him. I have also got to say something bout the score. While i cannot remember any of the title song, the score was amazing (In fact I am downloading it now). the way it develops the Bond themes over time before unleashing at the end is simply awesome. And the title sequence also? Maginifcant, love the diamonds motif!
Any downsides? As many reviews have started the pacing, in between the torture scene (also pushing 12a, but with some brilliant lines, and Venice specifically is a little slow, considering its run time is around 140 minutes, 10-20 minutes being cut specifically from this section would not have been missed.
Overall though? A great film, not just a great Bond film. thanks largely to Daniel Craig and his actual ACTING but also the great supporting cast, stunts, music, direction and considering the pedigree of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the writing, this is one of the best of the year for me. Pure fun and a great way to kickstart the Bond franchise. I, for one, cannot wait for Bond to return.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Spelling
Just re-read that post, many apologies about the spelling, I was in a rush, will be better in the future, thanks....
First Post!!! - Mission Impossible 3 DVD Review....
I don't know who will read this but I may as well introduce myself. My name's Ian Loring, I've just graduated form University of the West of England with a Film Studies degree. I'm writing this blog, which will be reviews and maybe some other stuff, to kinda keep up writing about Films. I hope to do an MA at some point but not just yet and this is something to practice my writing. Anyone is more than likely to give constructive criticism and I would really appreciate it. With that out of the way, lets begin!
DVD Review: Mission Impossible 3 (J.J Abrams, 2006, USA)
After the monster smash which was M-I: 2, M-I:3 was seen as a sure-fire hit. Its amazing what can happen in the development of blockbusters though eh? First David Fincher filled then vacated the director's chair (imagine that....) then celebrated director Joe Carnahan, of Narc fame, filled the chair before leaving due to "creative differences" (Carnahan has now moved on to make Smokin' Aces whose trailer on the Apple site looks suitably gun-tastic). The man who Tom Cruise, as producer, finally selected for the job is the TV demi-God J J Abrams, whose work on Felicity, Alias, and crucially Lost convinced Cruise that he could give the reins of his franchise to a man who had never directed for film before. Abrams wrote a new script (with co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci) and filming went from there. How did the new guy do?
Well in my mind it seems like the big budget pilot for a reborn M:I TV series, albeit one witht he best TV visual effects ever seen. Let me explain my stance. The film does a complete about turn on M:I 2. This film has some sense of characterisation, it tries to bring in new characters with new relationships and new dilemmas. ALl the characters apart from Cruise and Ving Rhames are all new to us, and yet it feels like we are going to learn a lot more about them, or it feels like we should know a lot more about them before the film starts. For example, Johnathan Rhys Meyers' character; he complains in the film about his status as "the driver", he seems to want to do more. If this had been a TV series, you get the feeling this would have been more developed, that we would actually learn about this. Instead, it made me flat out convinced that he would be a traitor. Instead Billy Crudup's character fills that genre trope, though he does so well.
Michelle Monaghan also does well with a thankless role that again you feel Abrams wants to explore much further though he would not get the chance. Phillip Seymour Hoffman positively drips menace as Owen Davian and yet you feel he would make a terrific "big bad", an enemy who could be developed over a lot of TV time. This whole sense of newness in the film puts me off it. I admire what they tried to do, indeed it is certainly one of the best blockbusters in many years in terms of character development and the action sequences are breathlessly done (the bridge sequence, certainly my pick for action scene of the year) but I just wanted more on the relationships. Something I thought I would never say about this film. Oh and by the way I know I haven't mentioned Simon Pegg. But hey everyone knows the guys a fucking god so I need say no more. One more thing... Cruise? He's Tom Cruise he can try and act all he wants but the man fills the "celebrity" stereotype so much, I can't see him as any character. Still though as misguided in many things as I thing he is, the guy is more than capable of putting everything into his action and you can't naysay him for that at least.
DVD:
Video: Pretty damn great, though it is so recent a release it would be hard not to be. DVD mastering has been perfected for so long that i think this is as good as you will get with DVD level quality
Audio: Fine, I don't have a surrond sequence but the mix levels were fine.
Extras (One disc edition): Standard EPK stuff, Generation Cruise seems to be there entirely to make those annoyed by Cruise to be even more so. Commentary? Fuck me Tom Cruise is a happy little monkey isn't he? One thing I did notice is that several times in this, Abrams says somthing then Cruise interprets it as how he sees it and runs with it while Abrams shuts up and agrees. Makes you wonder who had the trousers in their relationship on set.
Verdict: Disapointing but in a suprising way, though a heartily recommended rental
Ok thanks for reading, hopefully back with another tomorrow...
Oh and head to the Apple site and download the Simpsons Movie trailer. That and Spider-Man 3. Next summer man..... oh yesh!
DVD Review: Mission Impossible 3 (J.J Abrams, 2006, USA)
After the monster smash which was M-I: 2, M-I:3 was seen as a sure-fire hit. Its amazing what can happen in the development of blockbusters though eh? First David Fincher filled then vacated the director's chair (imagine that....) then celebrated director Joe Carnahan, of Narc fame, filled the chair before leaving due to "creative differences" (Carnahan has now moved on to make Smokin' Aces whose trailer on the Apple site looks suitably gun-tastic). The man who Tom Cruise, as producer, finally selected for the job is the TV demi-God J J Abrams, whose work on Felicity, Alias, and crucially Lost convinced Cruise that he could give the reins of his franchise to a man who had never directed for film before. Abrams wrote a new script (with co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci) and filming went from there. How did the new guy do?
Well in my mind it seems like the big budget pilot for a reborn M:I TV series, albeit one witht he best TV visual effects ever seen. Let me explain my stance. The film does a complete about turn on M:I 2. This film has some sense of characterisation, it tries to bring in new characters with new relationships and new dilemmas. ALl the characters apart from Cruise and Ving Rhames are all new to us, and yet it feels like we are going to learn a lot more about them, or it feels like we should know a lot more about them before the film starts. For example, Johnathan Rhys Meyers' character; he complains in the film about his status as "the driver", he seems to want to do more. If this had been a TV series, you get the feeling this would have been more developed, that we would actually learn about this. Instead, it made me flat out convinced that he would be a traitor. Instead Billy Crudup's character fills that genre trope, though he does so well.
Michelle Monaghan also does well with a thankless role that again you feel Abrams wants to explore much further though he would not get the chance. Phillip Seymour Hoffman positively drips menace as Owen Davian and yet you feel he would make a terrific "big bad", an enemy who could be developed over a lot of TV time. This whole sense of newness in the film puts me off it. I admire what they tried to do, indeed it is certainly one of the best blockbusters in many years in terms of character development and the action sequences are breathlessly done (the bridge sequence, certainly my pick for action scene of the year) but I just wanted more on the relationships. Something I thought I would never say about this film. Oh and by the way I know I haven't mentioned Simon Pegg. But hey everyone knows the guys a fucking god so I need say no more. One more thing... Cruise? He's Tom Cruise he can try and act all he wants but the man fills the "celebrity" stereotype so much, I can't see him as any character. Still though as misguided in many things as I thing he is, the guy is more than capable of putting everything into his action and you can't naysay him for that at least.
DVD:
Video: Pretty damn great, though it is so recent a release it would be hard not to be. DVD mastering has been perfected for so long that i think this is as good as you will get with DVD level quality
Audio: Fine, I don't have a surrond sequence but the mix levels were fine.
Extras (One disc edition): Standard EPK stuff, Generation Cruise seems to be there entirely to make those annoyed by Cruise to be even more so. Commentary? Fuck me Tom Cruise is a happy little monkey isn't he? One thing I did notice is that several times in this, Abrams says somthing then Cruise interprets it as how he sees it and runs with it while Abrams shuts up and agrees. Makes you wonder who had the trousers in their relationship on set.
Verdict: Disapointing but in a suprising way, though a heartily recommended rental
Ok thanks for reading, hopefully back with another tomorrow...
Oh and head to the Apple site and download the Simpsons Movie trailer. That and Spider-Man 3. Next summer man..... oh yesh!
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