http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=285;5;-1;-1&sku=713485
Shit yes.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
It may be Saturday night, I may be drunk. But...
http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=interviews&id=11883
Characters with the surname LORING!!! Finally my family's legacy gets movie recognition!! Ha, brilliant. Sorry but Loring is such a weird surname and its being used in a film, he he.
My bad.
Characters with the surname LORING!!! Finally my family's legacy gets movie recognition!! Ha, brilliant. Sorry but Loring is such a weird surname and its being used in a film, he he.
My bad.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Back to blog...
Sorry for the massive interruption in blogging, work has been hectic hectic hectic, as I am currently the only manager in my store, and so I am spending too much time at work. This has also been affecting the output of my podcasts also but this area is getting fixed. The fact that I am not a professional who gets screeners also doesn't help as I can only see films when I have the time/money. I love doing the bloody thing though and I thank everyone for keeping with me.
So then, the impending strike in Hollywood. For those who don't know, writers and actors are going on strike next summer and this has resulted in mucho rush-to-production for some dodgy sounding properties. Particular stand-outs include:
A remake of Friday the 13th written by the guys who wrote Freddy vs Jason
Will Ferrell in a big-screen adap of old TV series Land Of The Lost
A fucking Sex + The City movie.
I understand the studio's postion. They need to have enough product to stagger releases during the strike. Indeed the third Narnia film has just been shoved back a year for this very purpose, but 2008 is already looking a bit shaky for big films. I can't help but be nervous about Indy 4 and the Incredible Hulk, with its teaming of action director Louis Letterier and control freak Edward Norton, could be a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Iron Man, which anyone who listens to my podcast will know, is my only sure thing for summer 2008. Rushing films is completely not what we need and I can't help but fear for the level of quality Hollywood product we will be getting.
Speaking of quality product, after the death of Ingmar Bergman I have been going through some of his films. The only one I saw before was The Seventh Seal, a truly great meditation on the nature of death and what its inescapable grasp means to us, but I have now also seen Wild Strawberries and Persona. Wild Strawberries is a nice little film but I found it quite forgettable. Persona on the other hand is a completely different beast, Bergman fucking with the audience's notions of what is on the screen and what the images actually mean. The opening sequence with a projector actually being unable to fathom the film it is showing, is truly something amazing and indeed the cock moment at the end of Fight Club is obviously a tribute to this. The story is also a mjaor influence on Fight Club and is a chilling little film. Its only 78 minutes but it leaves you more affected than any 3 hour epic..
OK that's enough rambling. Podcast will be up over the weeknd. Coming up I got reviews of Death Proof and A Mighty Heart, a look at the DVD of Blades Of Glory and more.
Ian out.
So then, the impending strike in Hollywood. For those who don't know, writers and actors are going on strike next summer and this has resulted in mucho rush-to-production for some dodgy sounding properties. Particular stand-outs include:
A remake of Friday the 13th written by the guys who wrote Freddy vs Jason
Will Ferrell in a big-screen adap of old TV series Land Of The Lost
A fucking Sex + The City movie.
I understand the studio's postion. They need to have enough product to stagger releases during the strike. Indeed the third Narnia film has just been shoved back a year for this very purpose, but 2008 is already looking a bit shaky for big films. I can't help but be nervous about Indy 4 and the Incredible Hulk, with its teaming of action director Louis Letterier and control freak Edward Norton, could be a clusterfuck of epic proportions. Iron Man, which anyone who listens to my podcast will know, is my only sure thing for summer 2008. Rushing films is completely not what we need and I can't help but fear for the level of quality Hollywood product we will be getting.
Speaking of quality product, after the death of Ingmar Bergman I have been going through some of his films. The only one I saw before was The Seventh Seal, a truly great meditation on the nature of death and what its inescapable grasp means to us, but I have now also seen Wild Strawberries and Persona. Wild Strawberries is a nice little film but I found it quite forgettable. Persona on the other hand is a completely different beast, Bergman fucking with the audience's notions of what is on the screen and what the images actually mean. The opening sequence with a projector actually being unable to fathom the film it is showing, is truly something amazing and indeed the cock moment at the end of Fight Club is obviously a tribute to this. The story is also a mjaor influence on Fight Club and is a chilling little film. Its only 78 minutes but it leaves you more affected than any 3 hour epic..
OK that's enough rambling. Podcast will be up over the weeknd. Coming up I got reviews of Death Proof and A Mighty Heart, a look at the DVD of Blades Of Glory and more.
Ian out.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Format War gets really interesting...
OK so HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray has had another major development. After mucho speculation that Universal would soon start to support Blu-Ray effectively ending the format war, it has been announced that Paramount/Dreamworks will be going HD-DVD exclusive aside from major Spielberg films. For the first time in a while, HD-DVD nabs some points in this particular race.
How many people do we think wil be getting HD-DVD just for Transformers? Even though it is a Spielberg production, thi shas been announced as an exclusive title. With HD-DVD player prices continuing to fall, could this mean that they will be making some ground up? I shall say this much.
2 hundred pound HD-DVD player with titles which have better features and no form of region coding. Or a 400 pound Blu-Ray system with more titles from more studios?
Fuck me this is tough.
How many people do we think wil be getting HD-DVD just for Transformers? Even though it is a Spielberg production, thi shas been announced as an exclusive title. With HD-DVD player prices continuing to fall, could this mean that they will be making some ground up? I shall say this much.
2 hundred pound HD-DVD player with titles which have better features and no form of region coding. Or a 400 pound Blu-Ray system with more titles from more studios?
Fuck me this is tough.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The summer lull...
Fucking summer. Weather of the eh variety, no decent sport and to cap it all off, blockbusters aside, nothing of note at the cinema, and nothing worth looking at on DVD!! Seriously, I wish releases would gte spread out more. The last one I remember getting which was a big release was Hot Fuzz and that was what maybe April?
Thankfully though my friends, we are coming out the other side! The new Premiership season starts on Saturday, and Donna is actually going to let me watch some of it in the flat! Also, its my birthday next week, The Bourne Ultimatum comes out the day after and its Donna and myself's 2-year anniversary next Friday. Now all this is great, but not of much interest to you guys (Bourne aside). Oh no but...
THE GREAT DVD RELEASES ARE BACK!!!!
Next Monday (13th August), a 2-disc special edition of Taxi Driver is being released over here. At last, Taxi Driver is seemingly getting a set worth the film. Commentaries, documentaries, trailers, and some really nice artwork combine to make the first essential purchase in months.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taxi-Driver-2-Disc-Special/dp/B000SNUQXA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186579795&sr=8-2
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3350003/Taxi-Driver-Special-Edition/Product.html
Following this, on Monday 20th August, us Brits get a 2 disc special edition of INLAND EMPIRE. One of my favs of the year so far, the great David Lynch brings us his most challenging film yet. A running time of 3 hours, an incomprehensible plot, but images you will never forget and a film which seems to capture exactly what a dream feels like, I really rate this film and I hope you guys give it a chance. The Region 2 set comes with interviews including one with Lynch at BFI Southbank. I could listen to the guy talk for hours and the price for which the disc is being offered on Amazon and Play really is a bit of a steal IMO.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inland-Empire-David-Lynch-Laura/dp/B000OM8WWM/ref=sr_1_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580078&sr=1-1
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3229343/Inland-Empire/Product.html
On Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August, my favourite film of the year so far comes out. Danny Boyle's Sunshine is something truly special and deserves to be seen by any Sci-Fi fan. The fact that this was made in a warehouse in England staggers me. This film is a perfect combination of visuals and audio and the story and perfomances are bnoth top notch. This film has a vibe the likes of which I have not felt since 2001: A Space Odyssey. Honestly. I love this film. The DVD looks pretty good, I would like a 4 disc mega set but hey. Commentaries by Danny Boyle and Dr Brian Cox should be interesting and intelligent meditations on the film, but the other features look a bit eh. get a great sound system and the largest TV you can find and wallow in this film. If it comes out on Blu-Ray, I may let it be a sole excuse for getting a PS3 and a HDTV.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunshine-Rose-Byrne/dp/B000S6UZEM/ref=sr_1_2/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580345&sr=1-2
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3308998/Sunshine/Product.html
On the 10th Septmeber, 28 Weeks Later comes out. A more intense, viscreal and disturbing film than the first, maybe lacking the social commentary but in my mind making up for it with pure entertainment and chills, 28 Weeks Later was one of the more satisfying franchise films of the summer and is one I very much look forward to seeing again. Disc has a commentary which should be interesting as its a Brazillian working on a very Brit-film, deleted scenes and a making of. like Sunshine, starndard issue but stuff I will still be exploring and no doubt reviewing on the podcast.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/28-Weeks-Later/dp/B000RZFQ5W/ref=sr_1_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580552&sr=1-1
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3335473/28-Weeks-Later/Product.html
Oh yes my friends. The good shit is back. Thank fuck.
Podcast up Friday, no cinema reviews this week but I got some good DVD stuff for you, and the next part in our Rebellion Marathon.
Ian out.
Thankfully though my friends, we are coming out the other side! The new Premiership season starts on Saturday, and Donna is actually going to let me watch some of it in the flat! Also, its my birthday next week, The Bourne Ultimatum comes out the day after and its Donna and myself's 2-year anniversary next Friday. Now all this is great, but not of much interest to you guys (Bourne aside). Oh no but...
THE GREAT DVD RELEASES ARE BACK!!!!
Next Monday (13th August), a 2-disc special edition of Taxi Driver is being released over here. At last, Taxi Driver is seemingly getting a set worth the film. Commentaries, documentaries, trailers, and some really nice artwork combine to make the first essential purchase in months.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taxi-Driver-2-Disc-Special/dp/B000SNUQXA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186579795&sr=8-2
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3350003/Taxi-Driver-Special-Edition/Product.html
Following this, on Monday 20th August, us Brits get a 2 disc special edition of INLAND EMPIRE. One of my favs of the year so far, the great David Lynch brings us his most challenging film yet. A running time of 3 hours, an incomprehensible plot, but images you will never forget and a film which seems to capture exactly what a dream feels like, I really rate this film and I hope you guys give it a chance. The Region 2 set comes with interviews including one with Lynch at BFI Southbank. I could listen to the guy talk for hours and the price for which the disc is being offered on Amazon and Play really is a bit of a steal IMO.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inland-Empire-David-Lynch-Laura/dp/B000OM8WWM/ref=sr_1_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580078&sr=1-1
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3229343/Inland-Empire/Product.html
On Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August, my favourite film of the year so far comes out. Danny Boyle's Sunshine is something truly special and deserves to be seen by any Sci-Fi fan. The fact that this was made in a warehouse in England staggers me. This film is a perfect combination of visuals and audio and the story and perfomances are bnoth top notch. This film has a vibe the likes of which I have not felt since 2001: A Space Odyssey. Honestly. I love this film. The DVD looks pretty good, I would like a 4 disc mega set but hey. Commentaries by Danny Boyle and Dr Brian Cox should be interesting and intelligent meditations on the film, but the other features look a bit eh. get a great sound system and the largest TV you can find and wallow in this film. If it comes out on Blu-Ray, I may let it be a sole excuse for getting a PS3 and a HDTV.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunshine-Rose-Byrne/dp/B000S6UZEM/ref=sr_1_2/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580345&sr=1-2
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3308998/Sunshine/Product.html
On the 10th Septmeber, 28 Weeks Later comes out. A more intense, viscreal and disturbing film than the first, maybe lacking the social commentary but in my mind making up for it with pure entertainment and chills, 28 Weeks Later was one of the more satisfying franchise films of the summer and is one I very much look forward to seeing again. Disc has a commentary which should be interesting as its a Brazillian working on a very Brit-film, deleted scenes and a making of. like Sunshine, starndard issue but stuff I will still be exploring and no doubt reviewing on the podcast.
Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/28-Weeks-Later/dp/B000RZFQ5W/ref=sr_1_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186580552&sr=1-1
Play link http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3335473/28-Weeks-Later/Product.html
Oh yes my friends. The good shit is back. Thank fuck.
Podcast up Friday, no cinema reviews this week but I got some good DVD stuff for you, and the next part in our Rebellion Marathon.
Ian out.
Podcast 11 - Show Notes
Sorry for the delay...
If (with exclusive screenplay) http://www.amazon.co.uk/If-including-screenplay-exclusive-Amazon-co-uk/dp/B000NJLYV2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186579216&sr=8-1
Heroes: Season One Part One (RIP-OFF BRITAIN!!!) http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/heroes-season-one-part-one.html
Spider-Man 3 http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/spider-man-3.html
Grindhouse: Death Proof & Planet Terror http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/grindhouse.html
If (with exclusive screenplay) http://www.amazon.co.uk/If-including-screenplay-exclusive-Amazon-co-uk/dp/B000NJLYV2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-4041995-1508726?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1186579216&sr=8-1
Heroes: Season One Part One (RIP-OFF BRITAIN!!!) http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/heroes-season-one-part-one.html
Spider-Man 3 http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/spider-man-3.html
Grindhouse: Death Proof & Planet Terror http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/grindhouse.html
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Show Notes - Podcast 10
First off, Iron Man footage from Comic Con is on youtube. It is fucking sick. Seriously, it looks like the best blockbuster of next summer already. Also Dark Knight teaser is out www.davestrailerpage.co.uk Eh is all I can say. Big thanks to Chris for giving me the Iron Man link.
OK...
Beowulf trailer - http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/beowulf/
Simpsons Movie, still go by my opinion, would love to know what you guys think.
Upcoming DVD releases...
Departed on Blu-Ray - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/eiv-goes-blu-ray.html
Oldboy on Blu-Ray - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/tartan-goes-blu-ray.html
Knocked Up on R1 DVD - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/knocked-up.html
Chinatown on R1 DVD - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/chinatown-and-the-two-jakes.html
That's about it guys. Back with a new show on Friday and I'll be back on here if anything of interest occurs. Oh one more thing... Ed Norton has said at Comic Con that he rerote the new Hulk movie script. That is so odd...
OK...
Beowulf trailer - http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/beowulf/
Simpsons Movie, still go by my opinion, would love to know what you guys think.
Upcoming DVD releases...
Departed on Blu-Ray - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/eiv-goes-blu-ray.html
Oldboy on Blu-Ray - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/tartan-goes-blu-ray.html
Knocked Up on R1 DVD - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/knocked-up.html
Chinatown on R1 DVD - http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/chinatown-and-the-two-jakes.html
That's about it guys. Back with a new show on Friday and I'll be back on here if anything of interest occurs. Oh one more thing... Ed Norton has said at Comic Con that he rerote the new Hulk movie script. That is so odd...
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
SO SORRY...
Many apologies for the no-show of the podcast this week. In moving, we have lost our microphone and today we are going to my mums to stay over before heading to Glastonbury tomorrow. I WILL be back next Tuesday (26th June) with a fat fucker of a podcast, at least 90 minutes worth, to catch right up. Thanks for waiting, very much appreciated!
IAN OUT
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Sorry....
Ok, there won't be an Ocean's 13 podcast, as I ain't seeing the fucking thing this week. Work and moving house are a time consuming combination. What there will be are DVD reviews of Hot Fuzz and Rocky Balboa and the last of our David Fincher marathon, a look at Panic Room. On Monday, there will defo defo defo be a review of Fantastic 4 2. Can't see it Friday as I have to wait in for a cable guy and I am going to my mums for the weekend as it is her birthday. I fucking hate moving. Oh and there won't be a main podcast next week as I am going to Glastonbury. That I don't hate. To make up for that, there is going to be a double length episode on the Wednesday after. Hope that all makes sense guys. Oh and get the Hot Fuzz DVD, its only a tenner at Tescos, Sainsburys and Morrisons so you have no excuse.
Bring the noise.
Ian out.
Bring the noise.
Ian out.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Tonight's Doctor Who...
Anyone see this? Fucking great stuff, if I was a kid I would have shit myself, honestly, genuinely creepy stuff.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Coming Up On The Next Podcast....
Coming up on the next podcast, reviews of Hostel: Part 2 and Ocean's 13, a look at the next film in the David Fincher marathon, Fight Club, and the first installment of listener feedback!!
Up Saturday morning
Up Saturday morning
Friday, June 1, 2007
The new podcast....
The new podcast is up. Reviews include the DVDs of Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer, London To Brighton and The Fountain. I also look at the next part of the David Fincher marathon, The Game...
Up on iTunes or cinemarama.podbean.com
Up on iTunes or cinemarama.podbean.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Coming up on the next podcast...
The latest movie news, reviews of the DVDs (Region 2) of Perfume: Story Of A Murderer, The Fountain and London & Brighton, and the next film in the David Fincher marathon, The Game. Up Friday afternoon...
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Coming up on the next podcast....
Hey folks, apologies for the lack of updates of late, work has been oh so very hectic and my movie watching has been lessened very much as a result. BUT in 3 weeks I got 2 weeks holiday (again) so that is certainly getting me through it. So yes, on the next episode of the Cinema-Rama podcast, I'll be looking at the latest news to hit the movie world (Rodriquez's new annoucement has me very interested), a review of the new Pirate's film, At World's End, a review of the first "midnight movie", Alejandro Jodoworsky's El Topo and the second part of the David Fincher marathon, Seven. Let's get the feedback in please! cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk
Ian out.
Ian out.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
aintitcool.com has the first footage of John Rambo, it is brilliant quite simply. Harry is taking the footage down sometime tomorrow, go over there and watch it, soooooo good.
Ian out.
Ian out.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Podcast is up...
Those of you who subscribe via iTunes should be able to download around now. Everyone else, please go to cinemarama.podbean.com The file size is less as I downed the quality a bit, its still perfectly listenable though! Its also 15 minutes shorter which I hope you guys find a more manageable listen. cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk for any feedback at all. Hope you enjoy it.
Ian out.
Ian out.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Coming Up On The Next Cinema-Rama Podcast...
Coming up on Friday, the new Podcast featuring the hot movie news of the week, a look at the Cannes Film Festival, a review of David Fincher's Zodiac (in competition at Cannes) and the first film in our first marathon, Alien 3 part of the David Fincher marathon. Look for it tomorrow evening.
Oh yeah.
Ian out.
Oh yeah.
Ian out.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction
OK, podcast is going very well, I have had a fair few downloads and it is now officially up on iTunes so you can get it from there. I really wish I had the time to review this on the next podcast but its going to be pretty long anyway.
DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Foster, 2006, USA).
Will Ferrell has always had a rather interesting career. Starting off as one of the best things to ever hit Saturday Night Live, he then hit movies first in supporting roles, notably in the first two Austin Powers movies. He soon broke out into leading man status in both comedy gold like Anchorman or Wedding Crashers and real crap like Kicking & Screaming. Lately he has tried balancing his more wacky roles with serious work. He got good reviews for his role as a Woody Allen substitute in Melinda & Melinda and now follows his biggest hit to date Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with Stranger Than Fiction.
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a man who lives his life doing the exact same things at the exact same time every day. His life changes when he starts hearing a British woman's voice in his head, a voice who turns out to belong to an author, Karen Ifill (Emma Thompson). With the help of a literature professor, Harold starts living his life unpredictably to try and stop what the voice calls in his head his "imminent death".
Right from the start, you know that this film is going to be special. The visual effects in the opening sequence do not feel annoying as they could well be, but they feed the plot. This follows through throughout the whole film. Everything in it is to add to the plot, it is rare that you see a film where you feel that nothing is extraneous, that nothing could be cut out. This film is full of wonderful little moments, right from the start. While at the start it feels like Will Ferrell's sense of comedy could overwhelm the film, this is soon reined in. Ferrell delivers a wonderfully understated performance, rather like that of Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine.., and this is likely the best role of his career so far in terms of pure acting. His quest to discover what is happening also works on many levels. Not only are we intrigued by whether Crick will die or not, we also see him start to live life, be it learning to play the guitar, or fall in love (with Maggie Gylenhall, which has got to be easy!). Not only this but the question of the life of art beyond those who are involved in its creation and whether it means more than the value of the individuals lives is also raised in a suprising and intensly pleasing way.
The supporting roles are also incredibly well cast and performed. Dustin Hoffman strikes a perfect balance between intelligence and kookiness and is able to move this somewhat unbelievable plot forward in an entirely real way. Emma Thompson as the writer brings the right amount of pathos to a character who has to deal with struggle after struggle. Maggie Gylenhall is also sassy, sexy and believably rebellious in a stronge role in what is a good film for strong female roles. Marc Foster must also be congratulated for creating an intelligent and yet really pleasing piece of cinema.
This film is a pure joy from start to finish. It may sound hyperbolic but I feel it is the kind of film which reaffirms that cinema can show us truly great things which can inspire emotions in us that many other artforms can only dream of. A real treat of a film and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
Video: Fine, slightly sharp, looking forward to seeing the Blu-Ray version.
Audio: Nice DD 5.1 soundtrack, never gets too involving but this isn't the type of film that calls for it.
Extras: Haven't seen them yet, look a bit disapointing.
Great, great film, enough said.
DVD Review: Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Foster, 2006, USA).
Will Ferrell has always had a rather interesting career. Starting off as one of the best things to ever hit Saturday Night Live, he then hit movies first in supporting roles, notably in the first two Austin Powers movies. He soon broke out into leading man status in both comedy gold like Anchorman or Wedding Crashers and real crap like Kicking & Screaming. Lately he has tried balancing his more wacky roles with serious work. He got good reviews for his role as a Woody Allen substitute in Melinda & Melinda and now follows his biggest hit to date Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with Stranger Than Fiction.
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a man who lives his life doing the exact same things at the exact same time every day. His life changes when he starts hearing a British woman's voice in his head, a voice who turns out to belong to an author, Karen Ifill (Emma Thompson). With the help of a literature professor, Harold starts living his life unpredictably to try and stop what the voice calls in his head his "imminent death".
Right from the start, you know that this film is going to be special. The visual effects in the opening sequence do not feel annoying as they could well be, but they feed the plot. This follows through throughout the whole film. Everything in it is to add to the plot, it is rare that you see a film where you feel that nothing is extraneous, that nothing could be cut out. This film is full of wonderful little moments, right from the start. While at the start it feels like Will Ferrell's sense of comedy could overwhelm the film, this is soon reined in. Ferrell delivers a wonderfully understated performance, rather like that of Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine.., and this is likely the best role of his career so far in terms of pure acting. His quest to discover what is happening also works on many levels. Not only are we intrigued by whether Crick will die or not, we also see him start to live life, be it learning to play the guitar, or fall in love (with Maggie Gylenhall, which has got to be easy!). Not only this but the question of the life of art beyond those who are involved in its creation and whether it means more than the value of the individuals lives is also raised in a suprising and intensly pleasing way.
The supporting roles are also incredibly well cast and performed. Dustin Hoffman strikes a perfect balance between intelligence and kookiness and is able to move this somewhat unbelievable plot forward in an entirely real way. Emma Thompson as the writer brings the right amount of pathos to a character who has to deal with struggle after struggle. Maggie Gylenhall is also sassy, sexy and believably rebellious in a stronge role in what is a good film for strong female roles. Marc Foster must also be congratulated for creating an intelligent and yet really pleasing piece of cinema.
This film is a pure joy from start to finish. It may sound hyperbolic but I feel it is the kind of film which reaffirms that cinema can show us truly great things which can inspire emotions in us that many other artforms can only dream of. A real treat of a film and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
Video: Fine, slightly sharp, looking forward to seeing the Blu-Ray version.
Audio: Nice DD 5.1 soundtrack, never gets too involving but this isn't the type of film that calls for it.
Extras: Haven't seen them yet, look a bit disapointing.
Great, great film, enough said.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Getting the podcast on iTunes
I have had a bit of feedback saying that people cannot get to the podcast within iTunes. I have dealt with this issue, it may take up to 24 hours apparently but from tomorrow, you can get to it via iTunes. For now, and all the time if you want, go to cinemarama.podbean.com
Tintin???
So Variety has reported this morning that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming up to make a computer generated trilogy of Tintin movies with each helming one of them. Reports are that Weta Digital have made a 20 minute test reel showing what it will look like.
Eh??
This is such a random pitch! I know Spielberg has been thinking of a Tintin movie for years but roping Peter Jackson in for what will be for both of them their first fully CG projects, and Tintin is such a niche characfter that I really can't imagine it appealing to an audience outside of little kids. Sorry just had to get that out, such bizarre news. Kudos to chud.com for their headline for the story, nearly spat some coffee out at reading it.
The podcast is up as I am sure you will know, I have had four downloads of it in less than 24 hours which I must say I am really pleased with. As of the next one, I am going to put a running order with times for each section so you can skip if you want, I will also be posting shownotes here too. Please give it a listen if you can. I will be posting my review of Stranger Than Ficiton up here tomorrow as the next podcast will be about an hour long as it is and that it is the top end of what I am aiming for with time.
Ian out.
Eh??
This is such a random pitch! I know Spielberg has been thinking of a Tintin movie for years but roping Peter Jackson in for what will be for both of them their first fully CG projects, and Tintin is such a niche characfter that I really can't imagine it appealing to an audience outside of little kids. Sorry just had to get that out, such bizarre news. Kudos to chud.com for their headline for the story, nearly spat some coffee out at reading it.
The podcast is up as I am sure you will know, I have had four downloads of it in less than 24 hours which I must say I am really pleased with. As of the next one, I am going to put a running order with times for each section so you can skip if you want, I will also be posting shownotes here too. Please give it a listen if you can. I will be posting my review of Stranger Than Ficiton up here tomorrow as the next podcast will be about an hour long as it is and that it is the top end of what I am aiming for with time.
Ian out.
Monday, May 14, 2007
THE PODCAST IS UP!!!!
head over to cinemarama.podbean.com to listen to it on the page or (do this!!!!) click the subcribe via itunes link to get every episode as soon as they are posted. It will usually be up on Friday otherwise Saturday's. This week includes a review of 28 Weeks Later, a Top 10 Summer Preview, and a look at the impact made by 28 Days Later.. Enjoy and any feedback to cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk
Sunday, May 13, 2007
PODCAST!!!!!!!!!!
Not just yet lol. I am officially working on it. On the first show I will be doing a look forwrd at my 10 most anticipated films of the summer to come (UK release date wise), a review of 28 Weeks Later and to accompany this a look at 28 Days Later and the effect it has had. I will also be reviewing the DVD of Stranger Than Ficiton. I will be using the blog for my thoughts on movie news and also show notes until I can get a mailing list up together. Look for the podcast on Tuesday...
The winner of my first competition has been drawn. Well done to Mark Tworsk from Arizona in the good ole US of A who correctly guessed my second and third most anticipated films of the summer. They will be revealed on the podcast.... Really hope you enjoy the show, see you Tuesday.
The winner of my first competition has been drawn. Well done to Mark Tworsk from Arizona in the good ole US of A who correctly guessed my second and third most anticipated films of the summer. They will be revealed on the podcast.... Really hope you enjoy the show, see you Tuesday.
Friday, May 11, 2007
DVD Review: Black Christmas
DVD Review: Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1973, CAN).
I'm on a real horror kick at the moment for some reason. I had gone off it for a long while after finishing my dissertation for which I watched some classics but also some real shit. This one completely passed me by though, I just forgot it and I do not know why. Although many cite John Carpenter's Halloween as the first slasher movie, this is incorrect, and this title goes to Bob Clark's low-budget Canadian made Black Christmas.
Just before christmas, a sorority house full of female college students starts receieving prank calls from a rather twisted individual. After one of the girls is killed and hidden by a mysterious figure (Don't flame me, it happens in the first 10 minutes), the girls start to become concerned for the safety of each other and themselves.
A pithy little summary like that is all that is needed. All slasher films rely on one major setting, a series of characters, most female, getting picked off one by one and indeed Black Christmas started all this. It also began the killer POV shot which Halloween made truly famous in its opening scene. Many of the scares are also fairly predictable but before you criticse you have to realise that this was the film that started it so of course we are used to it, but audiences at the time would not. The girls can all be lifted from stereotypes which we take for granted in these films, the strong willed "final girl", the girl who likes to party, the girl who is constantly scared et al. All of these roles are performed admirably by the actresses involved. They all also seem to be of the age they play which considering films like Scream, is a refreshing change.
So then, for all the cliches which audiences today know very well, what does this film bring to the party by itself? What makes it worth watching now? The prank calls made are really some of the most unsettling things I have heard in quite some time. I watched this at 1pm on a Friday afternoon with it being light outside, but I was by myself in what is essentially a student house where I actually left the back door open all night a couple of nights ago, and I really started skecthing out. The noises made, at first weird but soon more and more intense are a crazy mishmash of different voices, animal noises and straight up screaming. This is something I have not seen or heard in a film made since. Sure we have had prank calls in many horrors, but certainly not this freaky. The other major refreshing thing this film brings is the killer himself. We areq neqveqr giveqn any solid facts about him and what his motivation is but theq diffeqrenceq beqtweqeqn this and theq killer from say Wolf Creek is that we are given someq information but nothing fully formed. All we have to go on is theq ramblings of the killer, his talking of Billy, Agnes and their parents. The body in the sttic and his fetting of her seems to suggest that he is renacting himself and Agnes but he seems to have some sort of incestual obsession with her. This lack of information feeds into the misunderstanding that drives the end of the plot in that these girls never try to find the prankster and indeed they wouldn't. In later films, the protagonists have become more pro-active (see the difference in the "final girls" in the original Texas Chainsaw and the remake), but these girls quite rightly rely on the police, who themselves are only human and prone to mistakes. This makes for an incredibly dark ending and one even I was shocked by. The lack of real resolution lingers with you after the film is over and there is no respite from this darkness. Many horrors made nowadays either settle for the happy ending or go looking for a sequel. While this ending, if done today could be seen as the latter, this can not be said for this film. This just adds to the unsettling atmosphere the film carries throughout.
A true masterclass in tension and plain darkness, this film rightly inspired many to come and it would be nice to think that people will lookf for this rather than the remake, which while I haven't seen and will review when I do, seems like it could piss over the memory of this (the director of the remake, James Morgan himself has said he doesn't like the final result). This film I know will influence the screenplay I am working on and I urge all those interested in the slasher genre to seek this out. A true classic of the horror genre.
Video: As good as I suppose the source material is going to be made. A soft transfer with no notcieable problems but a real made low-budget look which kind of takes away from the experience.
Audio: Original 2.0 audio or 5.1 soundtrack. I chose the 5.1 and while obviously artificially created for the DVD, it does some interesting stuff with the sound, but not as creepy as it could have been made.
Extras: Haven't watched them, I think I am going to be buying this at some point so I'll post an update when I do.
Really do recommend this film and the extras look good, the director's commentary particularly.
Right, think I'll have something up tomorrow or I may take the weekend out to work on the podcast.
Have a great Friday folks, going to see The Sunshine Underground tonight which I am very excited about. Good album, but made so much fucking better live.
Ian out.
I'm on a real horror kick at the moment for some reason. I had gone off it for a long while after finishing my dissertation for which I watched some classics but also some real shit. This one completely passed me by though, I just forgot it and I do not know why. Although many cite John Carpenter's Halloween as the first slasher movie, this is incorrect, and this title goes to Bob Clark's low-budget Canadian made Black Christmas.
Just before christmas, a sorority house full of female college students starts receieving prank calls from a rather twisted individual. After one of the girls is killed and hidden by a mysterious figure (Don't flame me, it happens in the first 10 minutes), the girls start to become concerned for the safety of each other and themselves.
A pithy little summary like that is all that is needed. All slasher films rely on one major setting, a series of characters, most female, getting picked off one by one and indeed Black Christmas started all this. It also began the killer POV shot which Halloween made truly famous in its opening scene. Many of the scares are also fairly predictable but before you criticse you have to realise that this was the film that started it so of course we are used to it, but audiences at the time would not. The girls can all be lifted from stereotypes which we take for granted in these films, the strong willed "final girl", the girl who likes to party, the girl who is constantly scared et al. All of these roles are performed admirably by the actresses involved. They all also seem to be of the age they play which considering films like Scream, is a refreshing change.
So then, for all the cliches which audiences today know very well, what does this film bring to the party by itself? What makes it worth watching now? The prank calls made are really some of the most unsettling things I have heard in quite some time. I watched this at 1pm on a Friday afternoon with it being light outside, but I was by myself in what is essentially a student house where I actually left the back door open all night a couple of nights ago, and I really started skecthing out. The noises made, at first weird but soon more and more intense are a crazy mishmash of different voices, animal noises and straight up screaming. This is something I have not seen or heard in a film made since. Sure we have had prank calls in many horrors, but certainly not this freaky. The other major refreshing thing this film brings is the killer himself. We areq neqveqr giveqn any solid facts about him and what his motivation is but theq diffeqrenceq beqtweqeqn this and theq killer from say Wolf Creek is that we are given someq information but nothing fully formed. All we have to go on is theq ramblings of the killer, his talking of Billy, Agnes and their parents. The body in the sttic and his fetting of her seems to suggest that he is renacting himself and Agnes but he seems to have some sort of incestual obsession with her. This lack of information feeds into the misunderstanding that drives the end of the plot in that these girls never try to find the prankster and indeed they wouldn't. In later films, the protagonists have become more pro-active (see the difference in the "final girls" in the original Texas Chainsaw and the remake), but these girls quite rightly rely on the police, who themselves are only human and prone to mistakes. This makes for an incredibly dark ending and one even I was shocked by. The lack of real resolution lingers with you after the film is over and there is no respite from this darkness. Many horrors made nowadays either settle for the happy ending or go looking for a sequel. While this ending, if done today could be seen as the latter, this can not be said for this film. This just adds to the unsettling atmosphere the film carries throughout.
A true masterclass in tension and plain darkness, this film rightly inspired many to come and it would be nice to think that people will lookf for this rather than the remake, which while I haven't seen and will review when I do, seems like it could piss over the memory of this (the director of the remake, James Morgan himself has said he doesn't like the final result). This film I know will influence the screenplay I am working on and I urge all those interested in the slasher genre to seek this out. A true classic of the horror genre.
Video: As good as I suppose the source material is going to be made. A soft transfer with no notcieable problems but a real made low-budget look which kind of takes away from the experience.
Audio: Original 2.0 audio or 5.1 soundtrack. I chose the 5.1 and while obviously artificially created for the DVD, it does some interesting stuff with the sound, but not as creepy as it could have been made.
Extras: Haven't watched them, I think I am going to be buying this at some point so I'll post an update when I do.
Really do recommend this film and the extras look good, the director's commentary particularly.
Right, think I'll have something up tomorrow or I may take the weekend out to work on the podcast.
Have a great Friday folks, going to see The Sunshine Underground tonight which I am very excited about. Good album, but made so much fucking better live.
Ian out.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
DVD Review: Re-Animator: Special Edition
At 2pm I finished my shift at work and now won't be back in till Monday 21st May. I am a happy bunny. 10 days of holiday, fucking yes. Expect far more content up here and the podcast should be up early next week too. So to start my holiday, Herbert West had a very good head on his shoulders, and one on a dish on his desk too!
DVD Review: Re-Animator: Special Edition (Stuart Gordon, 1985, USA).
The 1980's horror films often seemed like a backlash against the serious pieces of the 70's. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Black Christmas (reviewed tomorrow probably) et al were all examples in sustained tension and horrific imagery (real or imagined). The 1980's gave us such treats as Street Trash, the first two Evil Dead films and possibly the most ridiculous of them all, Stuart Gordon's frankly fucked Re-Animator.
Herbert West (Jeffrey Coombs) is a promising yong medical student who is completely dedicated to his profession and has just discovered something incredible, he can bring back the dead. Well kind of bring back. After getting kicked out of his previous residency upon discovery of what he was doing, he finds a new place of study where he boards with fellow student Dan (Bruce Abbot). Dan is dating the Dean's daughter Megan (Barbara Crampton), who conflicts with Herbert straight away. Herebert enlists Dan on his quest to perfect reanimation, but comes across trouble when Dr Hill (David Gale) decides he wants to steal Herbert's discovery. The things get screwed big time.
Re-Animator is pure cheese through and thorugh. Made on a shoestring budget, actors, sets and effects cobbled together for as little as possible, Re-Animator has a low budget feel that reminds of all these kinds of films from the 1980's. However, where this stands out is simply the craziness which begins right at the start and doesn't let up. From an old man with melting eyes at the start, joined with the pure Psycho rip-off score, you know this film is going to be ridiculous. Indeed the overacting which follows in the plot exposition scenes which follow certainly keep up with this. All of these actors were apparently theatre trained. Indeed the director also was. This lends a heigtened theatricality which means that while all the actors overact terribly, it just adds to the mood of the piece. When you have a film in whcih a cat is reanimated and immeadiately leaps on the nearest person to attack needs people to act ridiculously. This cat by the way is possibly the worst effect I have ever seen, it looks like random black fur shaking violently. And god bless the effects crew for thinking it could work.
While the plot is fairly unoriginal, there is one aspect I do love. When the Dean becomes reanimated he is mistaken for a mad man and is committed. This was an original idea and I do not believe I have seen it since. The switch in villains is also an admirable plot choice also. West is a disgusting excuse for a human being, filled with egotistical, arrogant rage which makes him use all those around him for his own gain. But then we are introduced to a character who is even worse, and then he becomes the villain of the film while also being a bodyless head! What he does in the film is truly shocking and indeed made it be cut until very recently. My girlfriend flat out hates this film because of this scene, and I have to say, my taste barrier is fucked but even this is just too far gone for me.
I knwo this has been a short review but I believe most reading here have seen this. My thoughts are merely a guide stating if you like the sound of this, give it at least a rent. Its an inventive little thing it has to be said. And hey it won at Cannes so it could be arthouse!!
Video: Anchor Bay specailise in restoring old prints and this is no different. A cracking little transfer, not amazing as the source material does originate in the 1980's. A great job though.
Audio: DD and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Funny directional effects, nice bass, clear dialogue. Nice stuff, like the video not ground breaking but it helps the proceedings.
Extras:
Only saw a couple, I don't have all the time in the world unfortunately.
Documentary: Back slapping, self-congratulatory stuff which is only periodically interesting. Disappointing in the extreme.
Trailer: Funny, pun-tastic trailer which matches the tone of the film completely.
Commentaries, interviews etc are also included but not watched.
If you love the film, a fine disc to have. If you have never seen this, give it a shot! Thanks to Al for lending it to me, really appreciated.
Back tomorrow with 28 Days Later/Black Christmas/Something else entirely!!
Ian out.
DVD Review: Re-Animator: Special Edition (Stuart Gordon, 1985, USA).
The 1980's horror films often seemed like a backlash against the serious pieces of the 70's. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Black Christmas (reviewed tomorrow probably) et al were all examples in sustained tension and horrific imagery (real or imagined). The 1980's gave us such treats as Street Trash, the first two Evil Dead films and possibly the most ridiculous of them all, Stuart Gordon's frankly fucked Re-Animator.
Herbert West (Jeffrey Coombs) is a promising yong medical student who is completely dedicated to his profession and has just discovered something incredible, he can bring back the dead. Well kind of bring back. After getting kicked out of his previous residency upon discovery of what he was doing, he finds a new place of study where he boards with fellow student Dan (Bruce Abbot). Dan is dating the Dean's daughter Megan (Barbara Crampton), who conflicts with Herbert straight away. Herebert enlists Dan on his quest to perfect reanimation, but comes across trouble when Dr Hill (David Gale) decides he wants to steal Herbert's discovery. The things get screwed big time.
Re-Animator is pure cheese through and thorugh. Made on a shoestring budget, actors, sets and effects cobbled together for as little as possible, Re-Animator has a low budget feel that reminds of all these kinds of films from the 1980's. However, where this stands out is simply the craziness which begins right at the start and doesn't let up. From an old man with melting eyes at the start, joined with the pure Psycho rip-off score, you know this film is going to be ridiculous. Indeed the overacting which follows in the plot exposition scenes which follow certainly keep up with this. All of these actors were apparently theatre trained. Indeed the director also was. This lends a heigtened theatricality which means that while all the actors overact terribly, it just adds to the mood of the piece. When you have a film in whcih a cat is reanimated and immeadiately leaps on the nearest person to attack needs people to act ridiculously. This cat by the way is possibly the worst effect I have ever seen, it looks like random black fur shaking violently. And god bless the effects crew for thinking it could work.
While the plot is fairly unoriginal, there is one aspect I do love. When the Dean becomes reanimated he is mistaken for a mad man and is committed. This was an original idea and I do not believe I have seen it since. The switch in villains is also an admirable plot choice also. West is a disgusting excuse for a human being, filled with egotistical, arrogant rage which makes him use all those around him for his own gain. But then we are introduced to a character who is even worse, and then he becomes the villain of the film while also being a bodyless head! What he does in the film is truly shocking and indeed made it be cut until very recently. My girlfriend flat out hates this film because of this scene, and I have to say, my taste barrier is fucked but even this is just too far gone for me.
I knwo this has been a short review but I believe most reading here have seen this. My thoughts are merely a guide stating if you like the sound of this, give it at least a rent. Its an inventive little thing it has to be said. And hey it won at Cannes so it could be arthouse!!
Video: Anchor Bay specailise in restoring old prints and this is no different. A cracking little transfer, not amazing as the source material does originate in the 1980's. A great job though.
Audio: DD and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. Funny directional effects, nice bass, clear dialogue. Nice stuff, like the video not ground breaking but it helps the proceedings.
Extras:
Only saw a couple, I don't have all the time in the world unfortunately.
Documentary: Back slapping, self-congratulatory stuff which is only periodically interesting. Disappointing in the extreme.
Trailer: Funny, pun-tastic trailer which matches the tone of the film completely.
Commentaries, interviews etc are also included but not watched.
If you love the film, a fine disc to have. If you have never seen this, give it a shot! Thanks to Al for lending it to me, really appreciated.
Back tomorrow with 28 Days Later/Black Christmas/Something else entirely!!
Ian out.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Competition Update
Had over 60 entries so far, to say I am stunned is an understatement. The comp is open to US residents also by the way. cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk by friday please!
Been watching some older stuff recently, saw Marathon Man for the first time yesterday, what a film! Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker is currently making my head hurt and I am very much looking forward to exploring the Re-Animator 2-Disc Special Edition which I have been loaned by my good friend, Al. I'll have a review of that up in the next couple of days and 28 Weeks Later will be reviewed later in the week. Look for the podcast, first one up, hopefully through iTunes early next week.
Been watching some older stuff recently, saw Marathon Man for the first time yesterday, what a film! Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker is currently making my head hurt and I am very much looking forward to exploring the Re-Animator 2-Disc Special Edition which I have been loaned by my good friend, Al. I'll have a review of that up in the next couple of days and 28 Weeks Later will be reviewed later in the week. Look for the podcast, first one up, hopefully through iTunes early next week.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Addendum...
Bruce Campbell steals auite an important scene. Lazy scripting? See the scene of chat between Venom and Sandman and the pivotal Butler scene. Fucking atrocious.
Review: Spider-Man 3
Most anticipated movie of the summer for me is the first one. Here comes summer...
Review: Spider-Man 3 (Sam Raimi, 2007, USA).
The Spider-Man films have a very special place in my heart. I absolutely adore them. Spider-Man was at the time the best superhero film ever (Yes I include the original Superman in that). It has only been bettered by Spider-Man 2, a film with actually perfect pacing, fantastic action and sympathetic heroes and villians. Sam Raimi's love for the universe shines through every single frame of these movies. And anything with Bruce Campbell in interests me immeadiately. So Spider-Man 3 comes with BIGGER villains, BIGGER special effects, BIGGER plot, BIGGER portions of Bruce Campbell goodness. After the middling pre-release reviews, the public can make their own decisions. Mine? Read on.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is having the best time of his life. New York now loves him, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) loves him, and he is about to propose to her. Trouble is afoot though. Harry Osborn (James Franco) has revenge on his mind, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict with a connection to Peter becomes the Sandman and a strange alien presence becomes drawn to Peter and changes his life forever.
Spider-Man 3 comes with maybe the same amount of fanboy anticipation as Star Wars: Episode 1 and so for many, disapointment is inevitable. The problem with Spider-Man 3 is that with some slight changes, it could have been a great, rather than very good film. Many of my problems with it have been sited by previous reviews so while I may sound like a skipping record, I do believe these opinions are my own. For those who know, the addition of Venom is an odd one as Sam Raimi has publicly stated that he does not like the character. The use of Venom in the film seems to validate this view. While the presence of the black goo from space is an excellent way of propelling the character of Peter Parker into unchartered territory, but the prsence of Venom towards the end of the film feels like an afterthought when if this was a Spider-Man made by a different director, he could easily be the main/only villain in the entire film. Instead he becomes the least focused, least thought about, and most weakly dealt with character in the fim. A real shame which could also be explained by the fact that this film has to achieve a 12a/PG-13 rating.
The 12a/PG-13 rating brings me onto my next point. While the first two had these ratings, actually 2 was a PG in the UK, the subject matter didn't feel tamed at all. However, in a plot where all is supposed to be dark, you need the darkness to truly appreciate the light when it comes. Instead of turning Peter Parker into a truly dangerous dark figure, he becomes Pete Wentz (Bassist/Narccissist of Fall Out Boy). This material is funny and also ever-so-slightly depressing, do not get me wrong. Seeing Peter Parker go all emo on us (which incidentally is going to date this film more than anything in the first 2 films), with his comb over and eyeliner is a sight to be hold. Flirting outragerously and becoming a bit of a cock, Maguire and Raimi pull this off well. Also well executed is the jazz club sequence which does make us believe that Parker has reached a point where he knows he has to stop. However, much of this being played for laughs feels strangely out of place. We have been promised darkness, a more adult take on Spider-Man and instead we get the potrayal of a boy who has listened to to much emo.
The script is also an interesting piece. Co-written by Raimi himself, this film becomes both a throughly interesting look at how boyish pride needs to be overcome to become a man, and also a bloated mess. The central relationships in the film are dealt with with the same amount of care given to them in the first 2 films. Parker and Mary-Jane's relationship feels strangely real, Mary-Jane facing a world of disapointment and Peter believeing too much of his own press and the friction this creates feels quite real. Harry Osborn becomes the most crucial character in the film, his personal struggle of his feelings is well executed and thought the first half of the film deals with him with one of the oldest tricks in the book, his character becomes the most interesting towards the end of the film and his arc is the most satisfying of the entire film. This streches to Sandman too. While purists will argue his caharcter is a betrayal of the one in the comics, his connection to Parker works as a plot devide and as a satisfying way for Peter to defeat his inner demons. Saying all this, there are massive problems. I have already talked about the treatment of Venom but Gwen Stacey is absolutly pointless. Such an intergral person in the comics, she becomes little more than a plot device used to create tension. Eddie Brock is also ridiculously underwrtitten and this ties in with Venom nicely. Captain Stacey also feels like a waste of time. If these charcetrs were ina different film, they could propel the whole thing by themselves, not just as additions to a bloated film.
The actions and the special effects are incredible, far better than the first two films. The Sandman's transformation reaches a point of visual poetry. Venom is also a work of scary beauty. Goblin Junior's fight sequences also look incredible. All the cast pull off their roles well, Kirsten Dunst in particular seeming far more comfortable than before. What I will say though is that this generation of filmmakers should end it here. There will be more films, but the ending while oddly subdued, feels like a natural conclusion for the characters but I hope Maguire/Dunst/Raimi end it here, lest they truly soil what they have achieved.
A truly good film, this really is. There are many highs to the piece. And then there is Emo-Man. A mixed bag if ever there was one and a slightly disapointing start to the summer season. I will watch it again and again however!
Back in the week with DVD reviews and my cinema review of the week will be the kind-of strangely anticipated, 28 Weeks Later.
Ian out
Review: Spider-Man 3 (Sam Raimi, 2007, USA).
The Spider-Man films have a very special place in my heart. I absolutely adore them. Spider-Man was at the time the best superhero film ever (Yes I include the original Superman in that). It has only been bettered by Spider-Man 2, a film with actually perfect pacing, fantastic action and sympathetic heroes and villians. Sam Raimi's love for the universe shines through every single frame of these movies. And anything with Bruce Campbell in interests me immeadiately. So Spider-Man 3 comes with BIGGER villains, BIGGER special effects, BIGGER plot, BIGGER portions of Bruce Campbell goodness. After the middling pre-release reviews, the public can make their own decisions. Mine? Read on.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is having the best time of his life. New York now loves him, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) loves him, and he is about to propose to her. Trouble is afoot though. Harry Osborn (James Franco) has revenge on his mind, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict with a connection to Peter becomes the Sandman and a strange alien presence becomes drawn to Peter and changes his life forever.
Spider-Man 3 comes with maybe the same amount of fanboy anticipation as Star Wars: Episode 1 and so for many, disapointment is inevitable. The problem with Spider-Man 3 is that with some slight changes, it could have been a great, rather than very good film. Many of my problems with it have been sited by previous reviews so while I may sound like a skipping record, I do believe these opinions are my own. For those who know, the addition of Venom is an odd one as Sam Raimi has publicly stated that he does not like the character. The use of Venom in the film seems to validate this view. While the presence of the black goo from space is an excellent way of propelling the character of Peter Parker into unchartered territory, but the prsence of Venom towards the end of the film feels like an afterthought when if this was a Spider-Man made by a different director, he could easily be the main/only villain in the entire film. Instead he becomes the least focused, least thought about, and most weakly dealt with character in the fim. A real shame which could also be explained by the fact that this film has to achieve a 12a/PG-13 rating.
The 12a/PG-13 rating brings me onto my next point. While the first two had these ratings, actually 2 was a PG in the UK, the subject matter didn't feel tamed at all. However, in a plot where all is supposed to be dark, you need the darkness to truly appreciate the light when it comes. Instead of turning Peter Parker into a truly dangerous dark figure, he becomes Pete Wentz (Bassist/Narccissist of Fall Out Boy). This material is funny and also ever-so-slightly depressing, do not get me wrong. Seeing Peter Parker go all emo on us (which incidentally is going to date this film more than anything in the first 2 films), with his comb over and eyeliner is a sight to be hold. Flirting outragerously and becoming a bit of a cock, Maguire and Raimi pull this off well. Also well executed is the jazz club sequence which does make us believe that Parker has reached a point where he knows he has to stop. However, much of this being played for laughs feels strangely out of place. We have been promised darkness, a more adult take on Spider-Man and instead we get the potrayal of a boy who has listened to to much emo.
The script is also an interesting piece. Co-written by Raimi himself, this film becomes both a throughly interesting look at how boyish pride needs to be overcome to become a man, and also a bloated mess. The central relationships in the film are dealt with with the same amount of care given to them in the first 2 films. Parker and Mary-Jane's relationship feels strangely real, Mary-Jane facing a world of disapointment and Peter believeing too much of his own press and the friction this creates feels quite real. Harry Osborn becomes the most crucial character in the film, his personal struggle of his feelings is well executed and thought the first half of the film deals with him with one of the oldest tricks in the book, his character becomes the most interesting towards the end of the film and his arc is the most satisfying of the entire film. This streches to Sandman too. While purists will argue his caharcter is a betrayal of the one in the comics, his connection to Parker works as a plot devide and as a satisfying way for Peter to defeat his inner demons. Saying all this, there are massive problems. I have already talked about the treatment of Venom but Gwen Stacey is absolutly pointless. Such an intergral person in the comics, she becomes little more than a plot device used to create tension. Eddie Brock is also ridiculously underwrtitten and this ties in with Venom nicely. Captain Stacey also feels like a waste of time. If these charcetrs were ina different film, they could propel the whole thing by themselves, not just as additions to a bloated film.
The actions and the special effects are incredible, far better than the first two films. The Sandman's transformation reaches a point of visual poetry. Venom is also a work of scary beauty. Goblin Junior's fight sequences also look incredible. All the cast pull off their roles well, Kirsten Dunst in particular seeming far more comfortable than before. What I will say though is that this generation of filmmakers should end it here. There will be more films, but the ending while oddly subdued, feels like a natural conclusion for the characters but I hope Maguire/Dunst/Raimi end it here, lest they truly soil what they have achieved.
A truly good film, this really is. There are many highs to the piece. And then there is Emo-Man. A mixed bag if ever there was one and a slightly disapointing start to the summer season. I will watch it again and again however!
Back in the week with DVD reviews and my cinema review of the week will be the kind-of strangely anticipated, 28 Weeks Later.
Ian out
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
DVD Review: Kingdom of Heaven: Definitive Edition
First off, after all the bluster back at the end of last year, I am finally getting around to getting a podcast up and running. I would like to ask your good self a favour though. I want feedback about anything you have thought about my ramblings and I will attempt to read out as many as I can on the podcast. You can either email me or, if you want I would love it, record your own feedback as an audio fail and email it to cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk Oh yes, I have set-up an email account for the blog/podcast! I am really serious about this and your feedback would be so appreciated. Also, my competition I mentioned in my Spider-Man 2.1 review is very much up-and-running but with no entrys yet! Email the above address with your guesses of my 2nd and 3rd most anticipated films of the summer and of those who get it right I will pick a winner who will recieve a DVD! Not a shit one either, it will be your choice of a few! I am setting a closing date of next Friday the 11th May. Have a go, it won't cost anything. And please remember, I want your feedback! Right on to the review...
DVD Review: Kingdom of Heaven: Definitive Edition (Ridley Scott, 2005, USA).
Ridley Scott is most likely the director who has used DVD to his advantage the most. The original Gladiator DVD was one of the first to really deliver on the promises DVD could offer with a commentary, an amazing DTS soundtrack and featurettes a plenty. The "Extended Special Edition" (Note, not director's cut) adds some nice moments and features a documentary almost as long as the film itself and a very entertaining commentary with Sir Scott and Russell Crowe. He has been tinkering with a Blade Runner DVD for years now and apparently when it comes, it will have 4 versions including a brand new one. The orignal Alien DVD is also the first DVD I ever bought and includes some fantastic features also, most with direct input from Sir Scott. He knows that DVD can be used to provide material as detailed as the fan wants and can also give the viewer something we would not experience if DVD were not around. This director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven must surely be one of them.
For those who don't know there is a bit of background to this cut, if you know the story you may want to skip a couple of paragraphs for my specific thoughts. This film was originally designed to be an epic, taking what Gladiator had done and pushing it even further. Gladiator had shown that epics could work for modern audiences and so Ridley Scott was given the chance by Fox to make this film. With a script by William Monahan, one of the most respected screenwriters in Hollywood, they started filming what would be both an epic and a hit. When filming was finished and a 3 hour 5 minute cut was shown to Fox, they got cold feet and insisted on the film being cut down. Troy and King Arthur had both been critical and commercial failures (at least based on what was expected of them) and Fox was worrtied that people wre getting bored of these films. Instead of trusting the filmmakers, they turned out a botched 2 hour 15 minute edit to cinemas, aiming at the summer movie crowd and failing, making only 40 million dollars at the US box office. This edit was a mess and was quickly forgotten. However, rumblings from Scott were that he was not happy with this edit from the start and that he had a more coherent piece with plenty of room to breathe. Here it is.
Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a blacksmith whose wife recently committed suicide. At his lowest ebb, his long-lost father Godfrey (Liam Neeson) invites him to become part of the Crusades. Upon arriving in Jeruselam, he soon finds himself the protector of the "kingdom of heaven" from the outside and the inside.
The first cut of this film was a patectic rush job which screamed of studio interference and wsas an utter mess. Not only that, it was incredibly boring. This cut however, is something resembling a truly great film. While it may seem somewhat unfeasible that a film can be made that much different by a different edit, this really is the case. The fact is this film is 45 minutes longer than the theatrical version. While this was also the case with The Return Of Tke King extended edition, what is taken out here is not extra little bits which add to an overall feel when put back in, here we have vital scenes which make what were previously murky plot points into something which creates a truly epic feel. An entire plot is added which makes Sylbia (Eva Green) a character who is not just a perfunctory love interest but a fully realised character who makes the entire film a rather bittersweet affair. A simple addition such as the discovery of a caharcter actually being Bloom's brother also allows us to more fully realise the depths to which he goes before he can be redeemed.
The film also retains fully the only real redeeming point of the original cut, the quite incredible action. Scott's pefect way with handling huge battles was demonstrated in Gladiator, here it is realised to its full potential. The battle which is set over the course of days truly allows us to see how devatstaing a war of this type could be to both the individuals and the buldings they are fighting in and around. The room for this aspect of the film to breathe also improves another element, Orlando Bloom's perfomance. In the original cut, he seems little more than a moody bloke who decides to fight and inexplicably people follow. In this cut, we are shown many more character beats as he converses with those around him and really do make you believe that this "perfect knight" could inspire so few to battle so many. Bloom's peformance fares far better in this cut and it is to Scott's credit that my perception of his character is changed so much. All the perfomances are great work and unlike the previous cut where many characters felt empty and useless, all are given purpose here.
This may all sound hyperbolc but this cut really is a great work. The feel is timeless, and it says a lot for this film that it can have an overture and get away with it. Scott has done everyone involved with this production proud and I truly hope that this is the version that lives on in people's minds. Even if you did not like the original cut, I have no hesitation in recommending this.
Video: Extraordinary stuff. Scott's use of colour timing and lighting gives the film a look all of its own. I would love to see the Blu-Ray in action but this really will do for now.
Audio: You may get a DD 5.1 soundtrack but the DTS 5.1 is thunderous. From the start the bass booms out and sound blasts from all the speakers, and this pretty much does not stop. Always clear sound, with great directional effects and is truly a refernce disc for an audiophile. Again, the Blu-Ray is a tempting beast what with a lossless track retaining the quality from the original mixing desk. Drooling now.
Extras: Have only watched the Director's Cut featurette which is diminshed by the lack of Sir Scott axction. Saying that he seems to be all over this edition and I really do look forward to learning more about this film.
Truly great film, incredible video and audio with features I know will be well worth a watch. This edition is avaliable for around a tenner online and I say go buy it!!
Thoughts on this or any of my posts to cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk please!
DVD Review: Kingdom of Heaven: Definitive Edition (Ridley Scott, 2005, USA).
Ridley Scott is most likely the director who has used DVD to his advantage the most. The original Gladiator DVD was one of the first to really deliver on the promises DVD could offer with a commentary, an amazing DTS soundtrack and featurettes a plenty. The "Extended Special Edition" (Note, not director's cut) adds some nice moments and features a documentary almost as long as the film itself and a very entertaining commentary with Sir Scott and Russell Crowe. He has been tinkering with a Blade Runner DVD for years now and apparently when it comes, it will have 4 versions including a brand new one. The orignal Alien DVD is also the first DVD I ever bought and includes some fantastic features also, most with direct input from Sir Scott. He knows that DVD can be used to provide material as detailed as the fan wants and can also give the viewer something we would not experience if DVD were not around. This director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven must surely be one of them.
For those who don't know there is a bit of background to this cut, if you know the story you may want to skip a couple of paragraphs for my specific thoughts. This film was originally designed to be an epic, taking what Gladiator had done and pushing it even further. Gladiator had shown that epics could work for modern audiences and so Ridley Scott was given the chance by Fox to make this film. With a script by William Monahan, one of the most respected screenwriters in Hollywood, they started filming what would be both an epic and a hit. When filming was finished and a 3 hour 5 minute cut was shown to Fox, they got cold feet and insisted on the film being cut down. Troy and King Arthur had both been critical and commercial failures (at least based on what was expected of them) and Fox was worrtied that people wre getting bored of these films. Instead of trusting the filmmakers, they turned out a botched 2 hour 15 minute edit to cinemas, aiming at the summer movie crowd and failing, making only 40 million dollars at the US box office. This edit was a mess and was quickly forgotten. However, rumblings from Scott were that he was not happy with this edit from the start and that he had a more coherent piece with plenty of room to breathe. Here it is.
Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a blacksmith whose wife recently committed suicide. At his lowest ebb, his long-lost father Godfrey (Liam Neeson) invites him to become part of the Crusades. Upon arriving in Jeruselam, he soon finds himself the protector of the "kingdom of heaven" from the outside and the inside.
The first cut of this film was a patectic rush job which screamed of studio interference and wsas an utter mess. Not only that, it was incredibly boring. This cut however, is something resembling a truly great film. While it may seem somewhat unfeasible that a film can be made that much different by a different edit, this really is the case. The fact is this film is 45 minutes longer than the theatrical version. While this was also the case with The Return Of Tke King extended edition, what is taken out here is not extra little bits which add to an overall feel when put back in, here we have vital scenes which make what were previously murky plot points into something which creates a truly epic feel. An entire plot is added which makes Sylbia (Eva Green) a character who is not just a perfunctory love interest but a fully realised character who makes the entire film a rather bittersweet affair. A simple addition such as the discovery of a caharcter actually being Bloom's brother also allows us to more fully realise the depths to which he goes before he can be redeemed.
The film also retains fully the only real redeeming point of the original cut, the quite incredible action. Scott's pefect way with handling huge battles was demonstrated in Gladiator, here it is realised to its full potential. The battle which is set over the course of days truly allows us to see how devatstaing a war of this type could be to both the individuals and the buldings they are fighting in and around. The room for this aspect of the film to breathe also improves another element, Orlando Bloom's perfomance. In the original cut, he seems little more than a moody bloke who decides to fight and inexplicably people follow. In this cut, we are shown many more character beats as he converses with those around him and really do make you believe that this "perfect knight" could inspire so few to battle so many. Bloom's peformance fares far better in this cut and it is to Scott's credit that my perception of his character is changed so much. All the perfomances are great work and unlike the previous cut where many characters felt empty and useless, all are given purpose here.
This may all sound hyperbolc but this cut really is a great work. The feel is timeless, and it says a lot for this film that it can have an overture and get away with it. Scott has done everyone involved with this production proud and I truly hope that this is the version that lives on in people's minds. Even if you did not like the original cut, I have no hesitation in recommending this.
Video: Extraordinary stuff. Scott's use of colour timing and lighting gives the film a look all of its own. I would love to see the Blu-Ray in action but this really will do for now.
Audio: You may get a DD 5.1 soundtrack but the DTS 5.1 is thunderous. From the start the bass booms out and sound blasts from all the speakers, and this pretty much does not stop. Always clear sound, with great directional effects and is truly a refernce disc for an audiophile. Again, the Blu-Ray is a tempting beast what with a lossless track retaining the quality from the original mixing desk. Drooling now.
Extras: Have only watched the Director's Cut featurette which is diminshed by the lack of Sir Scott axction. Saying that he seems to be all over this edition and I really do look forward to learning more about this film.
Truly great film, incredible video and audio with features I know will be well worth a watch. This edition is avaliable for around a tenner online and I say go buy it!!
Thoughts on this or any of my posts to cinema-rama@hotmail.co.uk please!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Heavenly kingdoms and angular rocking...
Ok, it has taken me a while but I have finally started watching the Kingdom of Heaven: Definitive Edition. It is split in two parts and as now is around the time the housemates want to watch TV and I finished Part One, I will finish for now and watch the rest tomorrow. Its going to be a positive review I will say that much for now.
Was going to watch t all in one go yesterday but I got out of work late (again) and I had a gig to get to, the mighty Maximo Park at Bristol Academy. Fucking awesome stuff, really on top form and it has made me really appreciate their new album, the at first hard to get into, Our Earthly Pleasures. They played for a good hour and a half and were jumping about throughout, although I will say the lead singer, Paul Smith, was out of breath a bit too much for a guy of his size. Quality stuff through and through.
Back tomorrow with my review of KoH and I may well do a little Spider-Man v Spider-Man 2 action in preparation for what I hope will really be the best superhero film ever, Spider-Man 3. 3 days to go...
Was going to watch t all in one go yesterday but I got out of work late (again) and I had a gig to get to, the mighty Maximo Park at Bristol Academy. Fucking awesome stuff, really on top form and it has made me really appreciate their new album, the at first hard to get into, Our Earthly Pleasures. They played for a good hour and a half and were jumping about throughout, although I will say the lead singer, Paul Smith, was out of breath a bit too much for a guy of his size. Quality stuff through and through.
Back tomorrow with my review of KoH and I may well do a little Spider-Man v Spider-Man 2 action in preparation for what I hope will really be the best superhero film ever, Spider-Man 3. 3 days to go...
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Review: This Is England
Review: This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2006, UK).
One of the most critically acclaimed films from the UK in quite some time, This Is England has arrived on a wave of hype. A successful premiere at the London Film Festival (I have to go this year), an official selection at the Rome Film Festival, and a multitude of enthusiastic reviews has made this a truly must-see movie, epsecially so as this will be the last less crowd-pleasing film I see before the blockbuster season kicks in, a season I become rather wrapped up in. Will it make me long for it after the Bourne - Spider-Man - Pirates - Simpsons - Transformers hits I will be mainlining over the next few months?
Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is on his last day of term when everything changes for him. After getting in a fight with an older boy, he encouters a gang of lads lead by Woody (Joseph Gilgun) and Milky (Andrew Shim). He soon starts hanging around with them and their friends and they start a summer where Shaun will experience real friendship and some things older boys experience. Things take a turn when Woody's friend Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and starts to exert his influence over not only Woody's gang but also Shaun.
This Is England wears its heart on its sleave right from the start, shots of Roland Rat and Knight Rider show that we are in the 1980's and judging from this, a nostalgia trip. This changes quickly when we are shown shots of the Falkland's, an interesting war in English history to say the least. Its relevance proves to be one of the key points in determining the character's motivations and the events which will follow. We are then introduced to Shaun as a sweary but good boy who is sick of being picked on. His interactions with Woody and his gang are at first fun-filled. They parade through deserted homes and trahs them in a way which would be commonplace to many children and teenagers, the want for destruction being an element in boys throughout time. They have a great time and even when there is tension, it is sorted quickly. This juvenile behaviour is not just for the boys but for the girls also. They shave Shaun's hair as an initiation of sorts, let him smoke weed and... let him do stuff (well one of them does). All this childishness is entirely diminished in one scene, the introduction of Combo. He brings with him the resentful feeling sburning inside many people at that time and indeed now. The blaming of those who are different for all the problems in their lives, even if the reasons why are rather absurd. His reasons indeed maybe childish but his hate and his conviction are all adult. Combo's speech and the use of a weak spot in Shaun's life is enough to convince members of Woody's gang to follow him into this path into hate. The rite of passage is brought into full ber by Combo, he takes Shaun to a National Front meeting which Shaun doesn't seem to understand, he cojoles Shaun into intimidating some lads playing football and to traumatise a shop owner. All this makes Shaun feel powerful but the climatic act brings into focus just how young Shaun really is and just how wrong he was to trust in this particular father figure.
All of this is done in an entirely believeable way and this is a sill that Shane Meadows excels in. When he does it, he produces films like A Room For Romeo Brass and Dead Man's Shoes. When he doesn't, we get Once Upon A Time In The Midlands. Here, he is truly on the top of his game. Everything about this film feels entirely natural. Woody and Milky feel like the type of guys who would take a lad under their wing. Shaun feels like he would be able to handle himself in these situations and truly seems older than he is. Combo feels like a full-on portrayal of a man who has been influenced by the wrong people and really is an example of where Shaun could be going. The scene where Shaun wants to get a particular type of shoe feels like any child you see in a shoe shop all the time. The ending, while predictable feels like the kind of thing that will happen when a pressure cooker like Combo explodes. The only thing that does feel false is the relationship between Shaun and Smell feels very false. The sight of this kid and a obviously older girl to me was very very funny (Donna couldn't look though), but their rleationship strikes an off-chord boy's fantasy version of what is quite a realist take on England at that time, and maybe now.
The cast are uniformly amazing. Thomas Turgoose is a little revelation as Shaun. His attitude, his way with words, and his vunerability are soemthing that will take something for him to beat in later life. Stephen Graham as born to play his role, his wide-eyed psychopathic portrayal feels like soemthing he has been builiding up to for a long time and what could have been a one-dimesional perfomance becomes a fully realised character through his force alone. The others all do great jobs and I want to mention the guy with the galsses who joins Combo's gang. I don't know who he is but his intimidating of the lads playing football is a depressing image which I will take with me for a long time.
It feels awful of me to say that in my opinion this is not the best Brit film of the year. Meadows has done a great job in capturing both a realist portrayal of what the 1980's was like and a chilling look at where England could be going, and he should be applauded for doing as much. However, in terms of pure enjoyment, Sunshine and Hot Fuzz eclipse it completely. I will say this however, I respect This Is England far more for what it has to say. It is a film I ill revisit time and time again. I suppose I am just too shallow! Please do go see it though, it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, and with its reclassification by the Bristol City Council to 15 (bravo by the way), any schoolchild should see it as both a fun trip, and a good lesson.
Back during the week with some more DVD reviews and then on Saturday my review will be up for my most anticipated movie of the summer, Spider-Man 3!! Anyone who gets my second and third wins a prize. Seriously, emails to ian-loring@hotmail.co.uk, decent prize too!! They have to be the right order by the way.
Ian out.
One of the most critically acclaimed films from the UK in quite some time, This Is England has arrived on a wave of hype. A successful premiere at the London Film Festival (I have to go this year), an official selection at the Rome Film Festival, and a multitude of enthusiastic reviews has made this a truly must-see movie, epsecially so as this will be the last less crowd-pleasing film I see before the blockbuster season kicks in, a season I become rather wrapped up in. Will it make me long for it after the Bourne - Spider-Man - Pirates - Simpsons - Transformers hits I will be mainlining over the next few months?
Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is on his last day of term when everything changes for him. After getting in a fight with an older boy, he encouters a gang of lads lead by Woody (Joseph Gilgun) and Milky (Andrew Shim). He soon starts hanging around with them and their friends and they start a summer where Shaun will experience real friendship and some things older boys experience. Things take a turn when Woody's friend Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and starts to exert his influence over not only Woody's gang but also Shaun.
This Is England wears its heart on its sleave right from the start, shots of Roland Rat and Knight Rider show that we are in the 1980's and judging from this, a nostalgia trip. This changes quickly when we are shown shots of the Falkland's, an interesting war in English history to say the least. Its relevance proves to be one of the key points in determining the character's motivations and the events which will follow. We are then introduced to Shaun as a sweary but good boy who is sick of being picked on. His interactions with Woody and his gang are at first fun-filled. They parade through deserted homes and trahs them in a way which would be commonplace to many children and teenagers, the want for destruction being an element in boys throughout time. They have a great time and even when there is tension, it is sorted quickly. This juvenile behaviour is not just for the boys but for the girls also. They shave Shaun's hair as an initiation of sorts, let him smoke weed and... let him do stuff (well one of them does). All this childishness is entirely diminished in one scene, the introduction of Combo. He brings with him the resentful feeling sburning inside many people at that time and indeed now. The blaming of those who are different for all the problems in their lives, even if the reasons why are rather absurd. His reasons indeed maybe childish but his hate and his conviction are all adult. Combo's speech and the use of a weak spot in Shaun's life is enough to convince members of Woody's gang to follow him into this path into hate. The rite of passage is brought into full ber by Combo, he takes Shaun to a National Front meeting which Shaun doesn't seem to understand, he cojoles Shaun into intimidating some lads playing football and to traumatise a shop owner. All this makes Shaun feel powerful but the climatic act brings into focus just how young Shaun really is and just how wrong he was to trust in this particular father figure.
All of this is done in an entirely believeable way and this is a sill that Shane Meadows excels in. When he does it, he produces films like A Room For Romeo Brass and Dead Man's Shoes. When he doesn't, we get Once Upon A Time In The Midlands. Here, he is truly on the top of his game. Everything about this film feels entirely natural. Woody and Milky feel like the type of guys who would take a lad under their wing. Shaun feels like he would be able to handle himself in these situations and truly seems older than he is. Combo feels like a full-on portrayal of a man who has been influenced by the wrong people and really is an example of where Shaun could be going. The scene where Shaun wants to get a particular type of shoe feels like any child you see in a shoe shop all the time. The ending, while predictable feels like the kind of thing that will happen when a pressure cooker like Combo explodes. The only thing that does feel false is the relationship between Shaun and Smell feels very false. The sight of this kid and a obviously older girl to me was very very funny (Donna couldn't look though), but their rleationship strikes an off-chord boy's fantasy version of what is quite a realist take on England at that time, and maybe now.
The cast are uniformly amazing. Thomas Turgoose is a little revelation as Shaun. His attitude, his way with words, and his vunerability are soemthing that will take something for him to beat in later life. Stephen Graham as born to play his role, his wide-eyed psychopathic portrayal feels like soemthing he has been builiding up to for a long time and what could have been a one-dimesional perfomance becomes a fully realised character through his force alone. The others all do great jobs and I want to mention the guy with the galsses who joins Combo's gang. I don't know who he is but his intimidating of the lads playing football is a depressing image which I will take with me for a long time.
It feels awful of me to say that in my opinion this is not the best Brit film of the year. Meadows has done a great job in capturing both a realist portrayal of what the 1980's was like and a chilling look at where England could be going, and he should be applauded for doing as much. However, in terms of pure enjoyment, Sunshine and Hot Fuzz eclipse it completely. I will say this however, I respect This Is England far more for what it has to say. It is a film I ill revisit time and time again. I suppose I am just too shallow! Please do go see it though, it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, and with its reclassification by the Bristol City Council to 15 (bravo by the way), any schoolchild should see it as both a fun trip, and a good lesson.
Back during the week with some more DVD reviews and then on Saturday my review will be up for my most anticipated movie of the summer, Spider-Man 3!! Anyone who gets my second and third wins a prize. Seriously, emails to ian-loring@hotmail.co.uk, decent prize too!! They have to be the right order by the way.
Ian out.
Friday, April 27, 2007
DVD Review: Spider-Man 2.1
After a very scary mornig where I thought I would see none of my pay this month, I saw my pay today. At least some of it. At this point I just want to say thank you to my incredible girlfriend Donna, without whom I would be a complete mess/idiot. On with the show...
DVD Review: Spider-Man 2.1 (Sam Raimi, 2004, 2007, USA).
This release is one of what is commonly referred to as a "double dip", essentially a new edition of a DVD, brought out to even poromote a closely linked film or, more likely, a sequel. And so this is the latter case. Now I don't usually deal with double dips, I think they are a waste of money as a rule and the features only seek to promote the latest film. Spider-Man 2.1 offers something that many others don't. Extra scenes put back in to create an extended cut. Not only this but they are editied into the film under the supervision of the director, the man, the legend, Sam Raimi. This is often not the case, if you look at X-Men 1.5, the scenes are put in through really distracting branching where the video and audio are not made to the qaulity of the finished product. With this, it is. And so the question is, is this "extended cut", note not director's cut, better than the theatrical version?
I won't be running through the story as I think anybody who reads this has seen Spider-Man 2 or at least knows what it is about. This also won't be a long review as this 8 minutes does not add a lot. What we do get is some fine stuff. Individual scenes sometimes feel longer, an extra couple of lines have been put in here and there, I feel most notably so in the backyard scene between Peter and MJ. I say most notably, because it is also the most distracting. The scene's sound design seems to have not been mixed properly and the feel kind of takes you out of it. The whole thing is seamlessly edited aside from this but the rhythm feels odd where nothing really needed to be added. The scene between Spider-Man and the guy in the elevator (whom the features tells us is an American comedian) also feels jarring. Whereas in the theatrical cut the banter bewteen them about the difficulty of wearing the Spider suit was a really funny moment, this different version just feels flabby and self-indulgent.
The good stuff now and yes oh yes, it is good. J Jonah Jameson in the Spider suit is a sight to behold. I love the way he still has the cigar in his mouth while he is goofing around and the whole scene is a delight. While I can understand that the tone is too light in the darkest part of the film, but I think it is a fine addition to this "extended" cut. The extended train fight sequence is also all good stuff. It feels more violent, I think this coupled with the terrific Evil Dead riffing is the satnd out moment of the film and this adds much more to it. I don't want to ruin the extra bits because hey it is only 8 minutes in total.
Is it a better film then? No, no it is not. It adds unecessary character bits that make the film a bit too bloated, although the run time is still a quarter hour shorter than Spider-Man 3 (thoughts to which I will get to after the review, no I haven't seen it). The extra action is terrific and adds to the epicness of the obviosuly biggest action sequence of the film. What this is however is a worthy "extended cut" in that it is for fans of the original film who want a bit more, another example of this being the Gladiator extended cut. These films are authorised by the directors involved but they are not neccesarily the cut the directors want to be seen defenitively. What this offers are moemnts the fan will enjoy but which may make the film more of a slog for the casual viewer. Me? I may stick with this one for the longer train sequence and more of the Dunst. Love the Dunst.
One ore thing which i raised on the Empire Online forums ealrier today. This is the fiurst time I have ever notcied the acknowledgement that this is a different cut in the titles of the film. Instead of Spider-Man 2, the film itself actually says Spider-Man 2.1. Never seen this before, and it was a nice touch.
Video: Same standard as the previous DVD, really very good but I have a feeling when I get Blu-Ray I ill be re-buying for the extra detail. Added stuff looks just as good as the original DVD.
Audio: Really involving soundtrack from the start, great use of bass but not distracting, great surround effects, terrific overall. Again, the audio of the additional bits fits in entirely.
Features:
I have not seen all of them. I really can't be bothered to listen to the Screenwriter/Producer commentary.
Inside Spider-Man 2.1: Shows us how they intergrated the extra stuff and why. Conspicuous by Raimi's absence but I suppose understandable given Spider-Man 3's apparently troubled production.
Spider-Man 3 sneak peek: 3 minute pointless exercise in advertising what anybody who buys this wil already be seeing opening weekend. Also get a admittedly terrific trailer, as all the Spider-Man 3 trailers have been
Other features, all self-congratlulatory.
I bought this for 6.84 and was intrigued. I would not recommend anybody buying this for more than a tenner but as a warm up for the new one, its all good.
The first reviews of Spider-Man 3 are out and... a bit meh really. When you knock the ball out of the park given number 2, this was to be expected. But I am still pretty much drooling for it. I will love it, I know I will. All I am worried about is the length of time we get some Venom, considering what I heard not a lot considering Raimi was kind of forced into including him...
Back tomorrow with This Is England, which I am hoping I love. Still though best brit-flick of the year? One word: Sunshine Two words: Hot Fuzz Three words (please!): 28 Weeks Later. We will see. Again I am working at 6am tomorrow morning so to those who read, have a great Friday night for me!
DVD Review: Spider-Man 2.1 (Sam Raimi, 2004, 2007, USA).
This release is one of what is commonly referred to as a "double dip", essentially a new edition of a DVD, brought out to even poromote a closely linked film or, more likely, a sequel. And so this is the latter case. Now I don't usually deal with double dips, I think they are a waste of money as a rule and the features only seek to promote the latest film. Spider-Man 2.1 offers something that many others don't. Extra scenes put back in to create an extended cut. Not only this but they are editied into the film under the supervision of the director, the man, the legend, Sam Raimi. This is often not the case, if you look at X-Men 1.5, the scenes are put in through really distracting branching where the video and audio are not made to the qaulity of the finished product. With this, it is. And so the question is, is this "extended cut", note not director's cut, better than the theatrical version?
I won't be running through the story as I think anybody who reads this has seen Spider-Man 2 or at least knows what it is about. This also won't be a long review as this 8 minutes does not add a lot. What we do get is some fine stuff. Individual scenes sometimes feel longer, an extra couple of lines have been put in here and there, I feel most notably so in the backyard scene between Peter and MJ. I say most notably, because it is also the most distracting. The scene's sound design seems to have not been mixed properly and the feel kind of takes you out of it. The whole thing is seamlessly edited aside from this but the rhythm feels odd where nothing really needed to be added. The scene between Spider-Man and the guy in the elevator (whom the features tells us is an American comedian) also feels jarring. Whereas in the theatrical cut the banter bewteen them about the difficulty of wearing the Spider suit was a really funny moment, this different version just feels flabby and self-indulgent.
The good stuff now and yes oh yes, it is good. J Jonah Jameson in the Spider suit is a sight to behold. I love the way he still has the cigar in his mouth while he is goofing around and the whole scene is a delight. While I can understand that the tone is too light in the darkest part of the film, but I think it is a fine addition to this "extended" cut. The extended train fight sequence is also all good stuff. It feels more violent, I think this coupled with the terrific Evil Dead riffing is the satnd out moment of the film and this adds much more to it. I don't want to ruin the extra bits because hey it is only 8 minutes in total.
Is it a better film then? No, no it is not. It adds unecessary character bits that make the film a bit too bloated, although the run time is still a quarter hour shorter than Spider-Man 3 (thoughts to which I will get to after the review, no I haven't seen it). The extra action is terrific and adds to the epicness of the obviosuly biggest action sequence of the film. What this is however is a worthy "extended cut" in that it is for fans of the original film who want a bit more, another example of this being the Gladiator extended cut. These films are authorised by the directors involved but they are not neccesarily the cut the directors want to be seen defenitively. What this offers are moemnts the fan will enjoy but which may make the film more of a slog for the casual viewer. Me? I may stick with this one for the longer train sequence and more of the Dunst. Love the Dunst.
One ore thing which i raised on the Empire Online forums ealrier today. This is the fiurst time I have ever notcied the acknowledgement that this is a different cut in the titles of the film. Instead of Spider-Man 2, the film itself actually says Spider-Man 2.1. Never seen this before, and it was a nice touch.
Video: Same standard as the previous DVD, really very good but I have a feeling when I get Blu-Ray I ill be re-buying for the extra detail. Added stuff looks just as good as the original DVD.
Audio: Really involving soundtrack from the start, great use of bass but not distracting, great surround effects, terrific overall. Again, the audio of the additional bits fits in entirely.
Features:
I have not seen all of them. I really can't be bothered to listen to the Screenwriter/Producer commentary.
Inside Spider-Man 2.1: Shows us how they intergrated the extra stuff and why. Conspicuous by Raimi's absence but I suppose understandable given Spider-Man 3's apparently troubled production.
Spider-Man 3 sneak peek: 3 minute pointless exercise in advertising what anybody who buys this wil already be seeing opening weekend. Also get a admittedly terrific trailer, as all the Spider-Man 3 trailers have been
Other features, all self-congratlulatory.
I bought this for 6.84 and was intrigued. I would not recommend anybody buying this for more than a tenner but as a warm up for the new one, its all good.
The first reviews of Spider-Man 3 are out and... a bit meh really. When you knock the ball out of the park given number 2, this was to be expected. But I am still pretty much drooling for it. I will love it, I know I will. All I am worried about is the length of time we get some Venom, considering what I heard not a lot considering Raimi was kind of forced into including him...
Back tomorrow with This Is England, which I am hoping I love. Still though best brit-flick of the year? One word: Sunshine Two words: Hot Fuzz Three words (please!): 28 Weeks Later. We will see. Again I am working at 6am tomorrow morning so to those who read, have a great Friday night for me!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Whoever wins, the viewer loses...
Really quick post. If you ever get the urge to rewatch Alien vs Predator, just don't. Fair enough if you have never seen it, the premise alone was enough to make me drool. But by christ what a clusterfuck. I know they have to gear it for big audiences but it is some tame and so ruled by a busted internal logic that it fails on just about every level. Even the end "twist" can be guessed at just if you think about it. God, why on earth did I think about watching this again lol. Anyway rant over. Hopefully back tomorrow as it be payday so I WILL be getting the Kingdom of Heaven Definitive Edition and Spider-Man 2.1, especially as that is apparently £6.84 at Asda and KoH is also under a tenner. Will have reviews of both, and This Is England up before the end of the weekend. Laters...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
DVD Review: Sheitan (Satan)
DVD Review: Sheitan (Satan) (Kim Chapiron, 2006, FRA).
Vincent Cassell is arguably one of the best younger actors in the world and yet he will never truly break through into American mainstream cinema. I say this because while he may act in some American films, these are mainly in supporting roles. However, I would say that the main reason is that he is happy in what he is doing for European cinema. Films like Doberman, Le Appartment, La Haine and one of the most contrversial European films ever made, Irreversiable have cemented his place as an important actor. With this kind of reputation, an actor can get films made. He can pick a pet project and get studios interested through their involvement alone. This must have been one of the reasons that Sheitan managed to get made.
After a night at the Styxx Club a day before Christmas Eve ends in Bart (Olivier Bartelemey) getting kicked out for starting a fight, he and his friends, Thai (Nicolas Le Phat Tan), Ladj (Ladj Ly) and Yasmine (Leila Bekhti) are offered the chance to stay at a country place by a girl who Thai is interested in, Eve (Roxanne Mesquida). When they get there, they are introduced to Joseph (Vincent Cassell), a housekeeper who lives with Eve and is looking after the place while her parents are away. What follows involves goats, dolls, a threesome, dolls, and possibly, the birth of the antichrist.
Now usually, I give a more detailed runthrough of the plot to a film I am reviewing but in this case, I am leaving it at this point. I think this film has to be seen to be believed. Whoever read the scropt to this and thought that it could be a viable commercial property is mad. I mean I loved every single bat-shit crazy minute of it but this film is for such a small audience, I don't know how it got made. Some of the things in it are of the blackest kind of comedy you can imagine. Some of it is just plain disturbing. But then some of it is just well... comparable to La Haine. Contreversial maybe, but its look at young French life feels authentic. The dialogue between them feels real, the nightclub feels real and the stunt they oull in the petrol station feels real. Another odd thing about this film, the first half or so seems targeted for a young French audience looking to identify with the protagonists and laugh at the strange village people. Then it takes a more blatantly surreal and creepy film and really kicks into another kind of audience, the cult horror audience. The end result the film is leading to is so odd, so gothic that to think the start ended in it is just bizarre. Bravo to the filmmakers for being able to make this transition and yet not break the diegesis of the film; it feels real in its own self-contained insanity throughout.
The younger people all do a good job of being convincing in their bratty and self-absorbed way, and the girl who plays Eve displays a real seductive quality which makes Thai and Bart's actions all the more plausible. But this film is not about them. This is a film of tour-de-force method insanityby Vincent Cassell. He is virtually unrecognisible for a start, playing what seems like at least 10 years older than he actually is. His character feels like a bunch of improvisations stiched together. His interest in Bart is at first gut-bustingly funny, the look on his face when he gets Bart some milk is prcieless. He deisplays an uneasy friendliness where you could believe tat he is just a tad eccentric. This continues on throughout much of the film. And then we start egtting the scenes with his pregnant "wife" where we realise that he is a lot less innocent than he seems and he is indeed a strange, satanic, psychotic, loon. He just so happens to be very very funny. One more thing - his "wife" although on IMDB seems to be played by someone else, she really looks like Cassell! That just makes the last grinning shot all the more freaky.
This film is an experience, it really is. Demented and yet quasi-mainstream, funny yet creepy, with what will go down as one of my favourite perfomances of the year. So very much an aquired taste, but if you have the taste for it, I think you will love it. I'll be buying it that's for sure.
Video: Looks like it was shot on digital video, so it is free from scartches and genereally looks good. Everything is clear though the contrast is a little disconcerting in the daytime shots. Adds to the atmosphere mind. Good stuff from an occasionally ropey company (when it comes to video transfers), Tartan.
Audio: Your choice of a 2.0 stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 surround soundtracks. I played the DTS and it was very impressive. Great, clear directional effects, and some wickedly strong bass. At one point, I honestly thought that was it for my sub-woofer. I have never had that before so take that as an impressive thing.
Extras: Making Of - 25 minute making of piece hosted by Cassell in a video diary sort of way in which he talks abiut the genesis of the film and his role of producer and how he had a hand in the film. He comes off as a genuinely nice bloke (not only in this but other things I have read/listened to) and this is an interesting watch.
Trailer - Perfectly sums up the cross-genre barminess of the film.
Short: Vampires - This is seen on a small TV screen during the film and starts Cassell's wife, Monica Belucci. Odd, funny thing which fits into the mood well.
Not the greatest selection of extras ever but the soundtrack is something to behold. In my opinion, well worth a buy overall but you may want to rent first off.
Back possibly tomorrow, otherwise Friday. Might well be the Simpon Pegg-David Schwimmer starring Big Nothing, might be something completely different. Have a good night/day.
Ian out.
Vincent Cassell is arguably one of the best younger actors in the world and yet he will never truly break through into American mainstream cinema. I say this because while he may act in some American films, these are mainly in supporting roles. However, I would say that the main reason is that he is happy in what he is doing for European cinema. Films like Doberman, Le Appartment, La Haine and one of the most contrversial European films ever made, Irreversiable have cemented his place as an important actor. With this kind of reputation, an actor can get films made. He can pick a pet project and get studios interested through their involvement alone. This must have been one of the reasons that Sheitan managed to get made.
After a night at the Styxx Club a day before Christmas Eve ends in Bart (Olivier Bartelemey) getting kicked out for starting a fight, he and his friends, Thai (Nicolas Le Phat Tan), Ladj (Ladj Ly) and Yasmine (Leila Bekhti) are offered the chance to stay at a country place by a girl who Thai is interested in, Eve (Roxanne Mesquida). When they get there, they are introduced to Joseph (Vincent Cassell), a housekeeper who lives with Eve and is looking after the place while her parents are away. What follows involves goats, dolls, a threesome, dolls, and possibly, the birth of the antichrist.
Now usually, I give a more detailed runthrough of the plot to a film I am reviewing but in this case, I am leaving it at this point. I think this film has to be seen to be believed. Whoever read the scropt to this and thought that it could be a viable commercial property is mad. I mean I loved every single bat-shit crazy minute of it but this film is for such a small audience, I don't know how it got made. Some of the things in it are of the blackest kind of comedy you can imagine. Some of it is just plain disturbing. But then some of it is just well... comparable to La Haine. Contreversial maybe, but its look at young French life feels authentic. The dialogue between them feels real, the nightclub feels real and the stunt they oull in the petrol station feels real. Another odd thing about this film, the first half or so seems targeted for a young French audience looking to identify with the protagonists and laugh at the strange village people. Then it takes a more blatantly surreal and creepy film and really kicks into another kind of audience, the cult horror audience. The end result the film is leading to is so odd, so gothic that to think the start ended in it is just bizarre. Bravo to the filmmakers for being able to make this transition and yet not break the diegesis of the film; it feels real in its own self-contained insanity throughout.
The younger people all do a good job of being convincing in their bratty and self-absorbed way, and the girl who plays Eve displays a real seductive quality which makes Thai and Bart's actions all the more plausible. But this film is not about them. This is a film of tour-de-force method insanityby Vincent Cassell. He is virtually unrecognisible for a start, playing what seems like at least 10 years older than he actually is. His character feels like a bunch of improvisations stiched together. His interest in Bart is at first gut-bustingly funny, the look on his face when he gets Bart some milk is prcieless. He deisplays an uneasy friendliness where you could believe tat he is just a tad eccentric. This continues on throughout much of the film. And then we start egtting the scenes with his pregnant "wife" where we realise that he is a lot less innocent than he seems and he is indeed a strange, satanic, psychotic, loon. He just so happens to be very very funny. One more thing - his "wife" although on IMDB seems to be played by someone else, she really looks like Cassell! That just makes the last grinning shot all the more freaky.
This film is an experience, it really is. Demented and yet quasi-mainstream, funny yet creepy, with what will go down as one of my favourite perfomances of the year. So very much an aquired taste, but if you have the taste for it, I think you will love it. I'll be buying it that's for sure.
Video: Looks like it was shot on digital video, so it is free from scartches and genereally looks good. Everything is clear though the contrast is a little disconcerting in the daytime shots. Adds to the atmosphere mind. Good stuff from an occasionally ropey company (when it comes to video transfers), Tartan.
Audio: Your choice of a 2.0 stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 surround soundtracks. I played the DTS and it was very impressive. Great, clear directional effects, and some wickedly strong bass. At one point, I honestly thought that was it for my sub-woofer. I have never had that before so take that as an impressive thing.
Extras: Making Of - 25 minute making of piece hosted by Cassell in a video diary sort of way in which he talks abiut the genesis of the film and his role of producer and how he had a hand in the film. He comes off as a genuinely nice bloke (not only in this but other things I have read/listened to) and this is an interesting watch.
Trailer - Perfectly sums up the cross-genre barminess of the film.
Short: Vampires - This is seen on a small TV screen during the film and starts Cassell's wife, Monica Belucci. Odd, funny thing which fits into the mood well.
Not the greatest selection of extras ever but the soundtrack is something to behold. In my opinion, well worth a buy overall but you may want to rent first off.
Back possibly tomorrow, otherwise Friday. Might well be the Simpon Pegg-David Schwimmer starring Big Nothing, might be something completely different. Have a good night/day.
Ian out.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
DVD Review: Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream
This came a day earlier than I was expecting so here we go...
DVD Review: Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream (Stuart Samuels, 2005, USA).
I was going to see this at the Watershed last week as a precursor to El Topo. Then I found out that it was pretty much day-and-date with the DVD release. Which one to go for A tenner for the bus fare and cinema ticket or 15 quid to own it? Think I'll buy it thanks!
The midnight movies movement was something born out of a cultural shift in American life in the late 1960's. The hippy movement was dying out and the death's of JFK and Martin Luther King combined with the start of the Vietnam conflict was leading to a large series of riots between the authorities and the liberal sections of society. Midnight movies represented this counter-culture, the films that became synomonous with the feeling of the time amongst the marginalised sections of society. The most famous of these films are the one's featured on this film, El Topo, Night Of The Living Dead, Pink Flamingoes, Reefer Madness, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead.
The Midnight Movies phenomena is an odd one to be sure. No matter how much they try within the documentary, the films examined have very little links between them. Many have common threads, that the films seem to be best enjoyed when under the influence of some sort of substance. I can confess that The Rocky Horror Picture Show is much better when enjoyed under the haziness of weed. However, this thread and the one they try to establish most when it comes to the prople who viewed these films cannot be used for, at the very least, Night Of The Living Dead or Eraserhead. Eraserhead in particular is something that I feel you have to have a clear mind just to tolerate, I cannot imagine how terrifying it could be if you were not fully mentally awake. Eraserhead is the one that signals the end of the movement and is the most strikingly different; the audiences were smaller and it was not a particpatory event and through this, its addition is somewhat puzzling. I would go so far to say that its inclusion is simply to give the documentary more credibility and with the prescence of David Lynch in the piece, I am sure it gained more viewers for this alone.
It may sound like I did not enjoy this documentary based on what I have said. That is not the case. The odd inclusion of Eraserhead aside, the content is both interesting and illuminating and strikes a very comfortable balance between information on the films themselves and their effects on the people showing them. These films provided what many felt was a refuge, a place where they could come together and experience something that cannot be possible in life. The interviewees they got for this is also impressive. The directors of all the films featured, Reefer Madness aside, are all present and correct as are the operators of the two foremost Midnight Movie cinemas, the Elgin and the Orson Welles. I say foremost, but I don't really know. And here we come to my second problem with the documentary. I cannot truly say I know that the films featured and the people interviewed are those that were truly the forerunners and the filmmakers who made this whole thing happen. Could it not be that they were just the people they could get? The film does not provide a lot of basis on which to belive that the films were such crossover hits as we are led to believe at the start of the piece. The sub-title "From The Margin To The Mainstream" is painfully misleading. El Topo, The Harder They Come (which I had not even heard of before watching this) and Eraserhead cannot ever be considered something the mainstream will recieve. That is the true flaw with the piece, it never gets to the heart of what the film is obstensibly about.
It's a short review, but I think I can't review too much when as a documentary, its job is to tell you things. I shouldn't tell them. What I will say is that it is well worth a watch but its not as illuminating as you may expect.
Video & Audio: It's a documentary so standard stuff. Good quality video with the interviews, varying quality with the clips.
Extras: You get 2 Midnight Movies in the package, Night Of The Living Dead and Reefer Madness. Both are here purely because they have no copyright, are public domain and if I wanted, I could show both on this website with no comeback. NOTLD is a classic movie and is as chilling and creepy tody as then, Reefer Madness I have not seen, but apparently its very funny.
Have not watched the other features, may do in the future.
Well worth watching if on TV, I will watch it again but I am a full blown geek.
Was my first day off in a while today, and quite crappy outside so I have been catching up on some movies. As well as this, I managed to watch John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13 for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. The child killing was shocking in its coldness and seemed to be an oddly explotative moment but that aside, a lean, mean, little number. I also watched Robert Wise's The Haunting, which really was as creepy as its reputation made out. Old-school frights and some crazy overacting and well worth a watch. Also watched the last third of The Pervert's Guide To Cinema, a very academic but visually arresting look at how our desires and fears are manifested on screen, something which I found engaging and a look at how Film Studies can be represented visually.
I'll be back probably tomorrow with a look at the apparently insane French black comedy Satan starring Vincent Cassell, star of such great works as La Haine, Le Appartment, and Doberman... and stinkers such as The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions and Ocean's 12. Notice the difference between the great ones and the stinkers?
DVD Review: Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream (Stuart Samuels, 2005, USA).
I was going to see this at the Watershed last week as a precursor to El Topo. Then I found out that it was pretty much day-and-date with the DVD release. Which one to go for A tenner for the bus fare and cinema ticket or 15 quid to own it? Think I'll buy it thanks!
The midnight movies movement was something born out of a cultural shift in American life in the late 1960's. The hippy movement was dying out and the death's of JFK and Martin Luther King combined with the start of the Vietnam conflict was leading to a large series of riots between the authorities and the liberal sections of society. Midnight movies represented this counter-culture, the films that became synomonous with the feeling of the time amongst the marginalised sections of society. The most famous of these films are the one's featured on this film, El Topo, Night Of The Living Dead, Pink Flamingoes, Reefer Madness, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead.
The Midnight Movies phenomena is an odd one to be sure. No matter how much they try within the documentary, the films examined have very little links between them. Many have common threads, that the films seem to be best enjoyed when under the influence of some sort of substance. I can confess that The Rocky Horror Picture Show is much better when enjoyed under the haziness of weed. However, this thread and the one they try to establish most when it comes to the prople who viewed these films cannot be used for, at the very least, Night Of The Living Dead or Eraserhead. Eraserhead in particular is something that I feel you have to have a clear mind just to tolerate, I cannot imagine how terrifying it could be if you were not fully mentally awake. Eraserhead is the one that signals the end of the movement and is the most strikingly different; the audiences were smaller and it was not a particpatory event and through this, its addition is somewhat puzzling. I would go so far to say that its inclusion is simply to give the documentary more credibility and with the prescence of David Lynch in the piece, I am sure it gained more viewers for this alone.
It may sound like I did not enjoy this documentary based on what I have said. That is not the case. The odd inclusion of Eraserhead aside, the content is both interesting and illuminating and strikes a very comfortable balance between information on the films themselves and their effects on the people showing them. These films provided what many felt was a refuge, a place where they could come together and experience something that cannot be possible in life. The interviewees they got for this is also impressive. The directors of all the films featured, Reefer Madness aside, are all present and correct as are the operators of the two foremost Midnight Movie cinemas, the Elgin and the Orson Welles. I say foremost, but I don't really know. And here we come to my second problem with the documentary. I cannot truly say I know that the films featured and the people interviewed are those that were truly the forerunners and the filmmakers who made this whole thing happen. Could it not be that they were just the people they could get? The film does not provide a lot of basis on which to belive that the films were such crossover hits as we are led to believe at the start of the piece. The sub-title "From The Margin To The Mainstream" is painfully misleading. El Topo, The Harder They Come (which I had not even heard of before watching this) and Eraserhead cannot ever be considered something the mainstream will recieve. That is the true flaw with the piece, it never gets to the heart of what the film is obstensibly about.
It's a short review, but I think I can't review too much when as a documentary, its job is to tell you things. I shouldn't tell them. What I will say is that it is well worth a watch but its not as illuminating as you may expect.
Video & Audio: It's a documentary so standard stuff. Good quality video with the interviews, varying quality with the clips.
Extras: You get 2 Midnight Movies in the package, Night Of The Living Dead and Reefer Madness. Both are here purely because they have no copyright, are public domain and if I wanted, I could show both on this website with no comeback. NOTLD is a classic movie and is as chilling and creepy tody as then, Reefer Madness I have not seen, but apparently its very funny.
Have not watched the other features, may do in the future.
Well worth watching if on TV, I will watch it again but I am a full blown geek.
Was my first day off in a while today, and quite crappy outside so I have been catching up on some movies. As well as this, I managed to watch John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13 for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. The child killing was shocking in its coldness and seemed to be an oddly explotative moment but that aside, a lean, mean, little number. I also watched Robert Wise's The Haunting, which really was as creepy as its reputation made out. Old-school frights and some crazy overacting and well worth a watch. Also watched the last third of The Pervert's Guide To Cinema, a very academic but visually arresting look at how our desires and fears are manifested on screen, something which I found engaging and a look at how Film Studies can be represented visually.
I'll be back probably tomorrow with a look at the apparently insane French black comedy Satan starring Vincent Cassell, star of such great works as La Haine, Le Appartment, and Doberman... and stinkers such as The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions and Ocean's 12. Notice the difference between the great ones and the stinkers?
Monday, April 23, 2007
Just a quick one...
Feeling rough as fuck and bloody tired so I'll make this short lol. I'll be having some new stuff up hopefully tomorrow but defo Wednesday. First day in 5 that I don't have to be up at 6am tomorrow so I'll have a load of sleep and I'll be right back on it tomorrow. Have a good night...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
El Topo? Oh no, no...
Fuck. Couldn't see El Topo because I missed the screen due to work stuff, basically I have been running the shop all weekend, by myself. To say it has stressed me out is an understatement. So... it's out on DVD next month, I am going to blind buy it and will review it then. I am getting Spider-Man 2.1 on DVD tomorrow and will have a review up in preparation for the third installment, hopefully I will be getting Kingdom of Heaven: Definitive Edition and will also review that. At the cinema this week, I will have a review of Shane Meadow's apparently brilliant This Is England up on Saturday. After Dead Man's Shoes, I am very much looking forward to it. So for now, I will say get the new Artic Monkey's album when it comes out properly tomorrow, I have aquired it and it is fucking fantastic, great stuff which takes the first album and *shock* progresses on from it. "Flourescent Adoloscent" is an anthem in the making and "Teddy Picker" is a great little biting tune. Buy it. See you, probably Tuesday unless anything gets my knickers in a twist.
Oh and estimates for US Box Office this weekend were just released. Hot Fuzz, sixth place, 5 million dollars on a third of the screens usually allowed for a big release. Great fucking work.
Laters...
Oh and estimates for US Box Office this weekend were just released. Hot Fuzz, sixth place, 5 million dollars on a third of the screens usually allowed for a big release. Great fucking work.
Laters...
Friday, April 20, 2007
On a lighter note...
Having a very vigerous debate on the Empire Magazine forums regarding the issue I talked about earlier. Anyway....
Hot Fuzz opens in the US today. It is truly an outstanding film. If anyone, I wish anyway, reads this and lives in the US, go see this. I have a review in my February section but seriously just go see. It is only opening on about 750 screens, which non-US folks is about a third of what is considered at least a wide release over there, but SEEK IT OUT!!
Back tomorrow with a review of El Topo. Strangely can't wait for that. Tomorrow, 2.50 at the Watershed in Bristol, I'll experience what John Lennon called "The greatest movie ever made". Should be interesting at the very least.
Have a great Friday, I got work at 6am so make it up for me!
Hot Fuzz opens in the US today. It is truly an outstanding film. If anyone, I wish anyway, reads this and lives in the US, go see this. I have a review in my February section but seriously just go see. It is only opening on about 750 screens, which non-US folks is about a third of what is considered at least a wide release over there, but SEEK IT OUT!!
Back tomorrow with a review of El Topo. Strangely can't wait for that. Tomorrow, 2.50 at the Watershed in Bristol, I'll experience what John Lennon called "The greatest movie ever made". Should be interesting at the very least.
Have a great Friday, I got work at 6am so make it up for me!
A rather depressed rant
So Oldboy, Park Chan-Wook's viscreal, haunting, mesmerising beast of a film is now being linked in the mainstream media s infulencing the fucker who perpertrated the Virginia Tech massacre. I feel for all the victims, their families and their friends and anyone hurt by this tragedy. I was apalled to hear of the events that happened last Monday. But now the British mainstream media has done something which while I can't say I am suprised by, I am depressed by. A likening of pictures of the guy to shots from Oldboy has been taken and ran with by not only the usual target the Daily Mail, but the BBC no less (on the 10pm news last night). OK, this guy may have seen the film, he may have thought the shots were cool and whatnot. But how out-of-touch can the media be? This film is about something quite different to what happened. I do not want to go through spoilers because this is a film, that if you are old enough and can stomach, should be seen. A likening of films to these tragedies is both lazy journalism and dangerously irresponsible. The fact that Oldboy does not feature any major elements involving guns has been suprisingly left off of reports of the "links". Indeed the Daily Mail was wildly off the mark when trying to find similarities between the events. Things like -
- The guy was Korean, so he could have seen a Korean film.
- Oh Dae-Su is locked up for 15 years. This guy was in America for 15 years.
- Oh Dae-Su cuts out his tounge. The guy was mute in his early years.
Ridiculous. Just ridiuclous. I am listening to a devate about this on Radio 5 at the moment where Mark Kermode is defending the shit out of the film industry against this nonsense. Thank fuck for that. He makes the point that in all these cases, whenever this happens, a link is found between the incident and a specific film. This time Oldboy. Next time, what?
- The guy was Korean, so he could have seen a Korean film.
- Oh Dae-Su is locked up for 15 years. This guy was in America for 15 years.
- Oh Dae-Su cuts out his tounge. The guy was mute in his early years.
Ridiculous. Just ridiuclous. I am listening to a devate about this on Radio 5 at the moment where Mark Kermode is defending the shit out of the film industry against this nonsense. Thank fuck for that. He makes the point that in all these cases, whenever this happens, a link is found between the incident and a specific film. This time Oldboy. Next time, what?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
50th post!! Review: The Lives Of Others
Review: The Lives Of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006, USA).
The Lives of Others is a film which has two contreversial apsects attached to it, one not nearly as serious as the other, I will add. The first, lighter one, is that it took the Foreign Language Oscar this year, beating out the hotly tipped, Pan's Labyrinth, a film which won other Oscars also. Many people have asked whether this film can be better than Pan's, considering that that film is steeped in almost unanimous critical acclaim. The second is far more serious, as critics have condemned the film for portraying a member of the Statsi, the German Secret Police, as a sympathetic character, when it was known that it could never have happened in real life. These are noth issues I will address in this review. A warning: considering the subject matter, this review is going to be more academic than most of mine, and I will be quoting from varying sources (all of which will be credited honestly, and not presented as my own ideas).
Wiesler (Ulrich Muhle) is a member of the Statsi who specialises in interrogation and surveillance. He is assigned by his superior, and long-time friend Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) to spy on a playwright and his actress girlfriend (Sebastian Koch & Martina Gedeck, respectivley), an outwordly respected couple who tow the line of the GDR in oublic, but is suspected of more by both Wiesler and Grubitz's boss, Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme). Wiesler becomes attached to his subjects and finds himself being influenced by them, and soon, influences the course of events to come.
From the start of this film, we immeadiately know exactly where our main characters are at in their lives. We are first presented to Wiesler as the emotionally dead husk of a man he is supposed to be. Donnersmarck presents this in two ways, by what is said and what is shown. He is teaching a class of future Statsi agents and he tells them of how exactly to break a liar. When a student says that the treatment given is "inhuman", Wiesler is quick to say that these people are traitors and need to be treated harshly. We then see him look at a plan of the room and put a cross by this student's name. Wiesler knows exactly what is needed and that is people who do not question the methods. It is people who feel deeply that what the Statsi do is right and that is all they have to think. It is known that Statsi agents were all like this in real-life, they were fully indoctrined into this way of thinking and this is something shown clearly from the start. Even Wiesler's clothing and style of life shows that his life is uniform. He is literally shown "buttoned-up" his shirt completly done up and his jacket also. His hair is cut to within an inch of his life and the colours he wears are dull. The flat we later see him living in is drab, grey again, and the only sign of any culture are a few books which seem to be more for show than for anything else. By contrast, Dreymer and his girlfriend are presented as flamboyant, we see them early on dancing, enjoying themselves fully. A later scene shows that Dreymer is so unlike Wiesler and the Statsi that he does not even know how to do up a tie. His shirt is unbuttoned for most of the film. In his flat, there is almost a sense of bohomie, of recklessness and a style whch was very much unwelcome to East Germany at the time. It is to Donnersmarck's credit that he is able to bring both visual elements and storytelling together to make the contrasts so simple to grasp.
So the plot of the film has had many people up in arms. What Wiesler does through the course of the film, as said earlier, would never have happened in real-life. These men believed vehemently and as Anna Funder says in her article "Eyes Without A Face" in the May 2007 issue of "Sight & Sound", many of them still believe the principles and denounce those who speak against them. It is not like the example of Stalinist Russia or even Nazi Germany in that in those cases, many claimed they were just following orders; in East Germany under the GDR, those who acted truly believed it was the best whether it be for their own ends or for their country. That is where the problem of Wiesler's character really comes into play. He seems to believe what he is doing to a point of almost too much intensity even for his friend Grubitz. The course of the film, and the ways in bwhcih he intervene, can certainly come off as too simplistic, in film-making terms, or offensive if you take it as something based on reality, which given the realism of the rest of the film, is a valid way to come at the film. I would argue that Donnersmarck's juxtaposition of Wiesler, Dreyman, Grubitz, and Hempf validates the course of Wiesler's character. Grubitz, Wiesler's friend is presenetd as a man who will do what he can to get ahead. He acknowledges early that he steals Wiesler's ideas and indeed the starting of spying on Dreyman is suggested by Wiesler but stolen by Grubitz. He is getting ahead while Wiesler is stuck doing the donkey work. Hempf is the man Grubitz is looking like becoming. Bloated, powerful and capable of dispicable acts (including a borderline rape sequence which is the most disconcerting thing I have seen since Gaper Noe's Irreversible. Hempf is a disgusting man who through the GDR has become powerful, something Wiesler is very much not. So then Wiesler? If he had been in a postion of power, I think his transformation would have been far less realisitc. Hempf and Grubitz have filled their worlds with temporary happiness, and just want more power. Wiesler has othing, he has monotonous sex with a prostitute to try and jave the emptional fulfillment Hempf gets in his blackmailing, and Dreyman gets in his love for his girlfriend. His eyes become open to the world though Dreyman and indeed the more he becomes involved the more he starts to feel about the impact he is making in other people's lives, and in a strange way the happier he seems to become. His reading of Brecht makes him happy and indeed, his clothing becomes looser even, his sirt becoming unbuttoned, visually starting to replicate Dreyman. This transformation is done in an even-handed and, in the context of the film, a satisfactory way. The key for me is that Wiesler never seems to acknowledge that what the Party is doing is wrong. Indeed, his transformation is emotional not moral. His actions of interfering with the invetigation is more of an act of friendship, one of protecting those he has become attached to, rather than protecting the messgae Dreyman is trying to get to the West. Wiesler changes very little and indeed his victory is a personal one, he is able to break out of the life he was living and in the very last sequence of the film, finds that his actions did not go unnoticed. Wiesler does not become successful, he doesn't gain from his actions but he seems to achieve a kind of inner peace.
So... the rest of the cast. Uniformly excellent, all great, I'm a bit drained in truth so I will say just that. The script is superb, not an inch of fat on it, and it works as both a character piece and an involving thriller, and that is very much to Donnersmarck's credit. The direction is also superb, he achieves a sense of geography that a lesser director would screw up and the fact that he is a debut director is suprising.
Onto the second question. Better than Pan's? These are two very different films in some ways but the themes of opression and the human spirit rising above it is shared through both. The ways both show this could not be more different however. I would have to call it a tie, I could not decide between the two and it will take another watch of both before I could decide. However, what I will say is that this is an engaging, thought-provoking, sad, haunting, but strangely uplifting number of a film and I very much recommend it to anyone interested in serious, adult cinema.
I'll have thoughts up on various topics as and when, the next review will be for El Topo which will be up late on Saturday or Sunday morning. Thanks as always for reading.
The Lives of Others is a film which has two contreversial apsects attached to it, one not nearly as serious as the other, I will add. The first, lighter one, is that it took the Foreign Language Oscar this year, beating out the hotly tipped, Pan's Labyrinth, a film which won other Oscars also. Many people have asked whether this film can be better than Pan's, considering that that film is steeped in almost unanimous critical acclaim. The second is far more serious, as critics have condemned the film for portraying a member of the Statsi, the German Secret Police, as a sympathetic character, when it was known that it could never have happened in real life. These are noth issues I will address in this review. A warning: considering the subject matter, this review is going to be more academic than most of mine, and I will be quoting from varying sources (all of which will be credited honestly, and not presented as my own ideas).
Wiesler (Ulrich Muhle) is a member of the Statsi who specialises in interrogation and surveillance. He is assigned by his superior, and long-time friend Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) to spy on a playwright and his actress girlfriend (Sebastian Koch & Martina Gedeck, respectivley), an outwordly respected couple who tow the line of the GDR in oublic, but is suspected of more by both Wiesler and Grubitz's boss, Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme). Wiesler becomes attached to his subjects and finds himself being influenced by them, and soon, influences the course of events to come.
From the start of this film, we immeadiately know exactly where our main characters are at in their lives. We are first presented to Wiesler as the emotionally dead husk of a man he is supposed to be. Donnersmarck presents this in two ways, by what is said and what is shown. He is teaching a class of future Statsi agents and he tells them of how exactly to break a liar. When a student says that the treatment given is "inhuman", Wiesler is quick to say that these people are traitors and need to be treated harshly. We then see him look at a plan of the room and put a cross by this student's name. Wiesler knows exactly what is needed and that is people who do not question the methods. It is people who feel deeply that what the Statsi do is right and that is all they have to think. It is known that Statsi agents were all like this in real-life, they were fully indoctrined into this way of thinking and this is something shown clearly from the start. Even Wiesler's clothing and style of life shows that his life is uniform. He is literally shown "buttoned-up" his shirt completly done up and his jacket also. His hair is cut to within an inch of his life and the colours he wears are dull. The flat we later see him living in is drab, grey again, and the only sign of any culture are a few books which seem to be more for show than for anything else. By contrast, Dreymer and his girlfriend are presented as flamboyant, we see them early on dancing, enjoying themselves fully. A later scene shows that Dreymer is so unlike Wiesler and the Statsi that he does not even know how to do up a tie. His shirt is unbuttoned for most of the film. In his flat, there is almost a sense of bohomie, of recklessness and a style whch was very much unwelcome to East Germany at the time. It is to Donnersmarck's credit that he is able to bring both visual elements and storytelling together to make the contrasts so simple to grasp.
So the plot of the film has had many people up in arms. What Wiesler does through the course of the film, as said earlier, would never have happened in real-life. These men believed vehemently and as Anna Funder says in her article "Eyes Without A Face" in the May 2007 issue of "Sight & Sound", many of them still believe the principles and denounce those who speak against them. It is not like the example of Stalinist Russia or even Nazi Germany in that in those cases, many claimed they were just following orders; in East Germany under the GDR, those who acted truly believed it was the best whether it be for their own ends or for their country. That is where the problem of Wiesler's character really comes into play. He seems to believe what he is doing to a point of almost too much intensity even for his friend Grubitz. The course of the film, and the ways in bwhcih he intervene, can certainly come off as too simplistic, in film-making terms, or offensive if you take it as something based on reality, which given the realism of the rest of the film, is a valid way to come at the film. I would argue that Donnersmarck's juxtaposition of Wiesler, Dreyman, Grubitz, and Hempf validates the course of Wiesler's character. Grubitz, Wiesler's friend is presenetd as a man who will do what he can to get ahead. He acknowledges early that he steals Wiesler's ideas and indeed the starting of spying on Dreyman is suggested by Wiesler but stolen by Grubitz. He is getting ahead while Wiesler is stuck doing the donkey work. Hempf is the man Grubitz is looking like becoming. Bloated, powerful and capable of dispicable acts (including a borderline rape sequence which is the most disconcerting thing I have seen since Gaper Noe's Irreversible. Hempf is a disgusting man who through the GDR has become powerful, something Wiesler is very much not. So then Wiesler? If he had been in a postion of power, I think his transformation would have been far less realisitc. Hempf and Grubitz have filled their worlds with temporary happiness, and just want more power. Wiesler has othing, he has monotonous sex with a prostitute to try and jave the emptional fulfillment Hempf gets in his blackmailing, and Dreyman gets in his love for his girlfriend. His eyes become open to the world though Dreyman and indeed the more he becomes involved the more he starts to feel about the impact he is making in other people's lives, and in a strange way the happier he seems to become. His reading of Brecht makes him happy and indeed, his clothing becomes looser even, his sirt becoming unbuttoned, visually starting to replicate Dreyman. This transformation is done in an even-handed and, in the context of the film, a satisfactory way. The key for me is that Wiesler never seems to acknowledge that what the Party is doing is wrong. Indeed, his transformation is emotional not moral. His actions of interfering with the invetigation is more of an act of friendship, one of protecting those he has become attached to, rather than protecting the messgae Dreyman is trying to get to the West. Wiesler changes very little and indeed his victory is a personal one, he is able to break out of the life he was living and in the very last sequence of the film, finds that his actions did not go unnoticed. Wiesler does not become successful, he doesn't gain from his actions but he seems to achieve a kind of inner peace.
So... the rest of the cast. Uniformly excellent, all great, I'm a bit drained in truth so I will say just that. The script is superb, not an inch of fat on it, and it works as both a character piece and an involving thriller, and that is very much to Donnersmarck's credit. The direction is also superb, he achieves a sense of geography that a lesser director would screw up and the fact that he is a debut director is suprising.
Onto the second question. Better than Pan's? These are two very different films in some ways but the themes of opression and the human spirit rising above it is shared through both. The ways both show this could not be more different however. I would have to call it a tie, I could not decide between the two and it will take another watch of both before I could decide. However, what I will say is that this is an engaging, thought-provoking, sad, haunting, but strangely uplifting number of a film and I very much recommend it to anyone interested in serious, adult cinema.
I'll have thoughts up on various topics as and when, the next review will be for El Topo which will be up late on Saturday or Sunday morning. Thanks as always for reading.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Spider-Man, Pirates and Surfers
So I just read some early reviews of Spider-Man 3 and apparently all is well. To say I am relieved is an understatement. For those who don't know, the shoot was actually kinda troubled. Considering they had a release date for the film locked before a script was written, and that there had been re-shoots, this is not a shock. Its got to say something that Sam Raimi is able to pull through the problems and deliver something that while long, around the 2 and a half mark, is apparently a streamlined fat-free epic of a movie. One with all the good stuff from the first 2, with added Defoe goodness, and also a more grandiose sense of storytelling, with multiple threads twisting and turning their way through and apparently all making perfect sense. Friday 4th May, it comes out, god willing I will be seeing it that day, I know Donna wants to see it so I'll have to get her in the right mind set for a long trip to the cinema, maybe with Spider-Man 2.1 which is out on DVD next Monday, so then I can have a review up on the Friday night or Saturday morning.
Contrasting with this, chud.com just reported that Pirates 3 is weighing in at 170 minutes. Even taking out credits, its gonna be over 2 and a half hours. Will it be needed? Fuck no. Pure speculation I know, but with Spider-Man 3 one gets the sense it is long because the story told requires the length. Pirates however, feels like it is alowing itself to over-indulge. The first two were long and didn't hurt their box office, but there is a lot you could take out of both of them, and this feels like it is self-conciously epic, it feels like it has to be because its Pirates Of The Carribean 3. I honetly think you could trim a lot of fat from the second film in particular and ram the 2nd and 3rd together. Of course they would never do that. Look at Grindhouse, piss poor second weekend has shown that two films in one may not work, for some bloody reason I can't get my head around (Seriously, I have it bad for Grindhouse at the moment), and two films = twice the profit, maybe more. Nature of the world I guess, tis a Capitalist society so to make money is an acceptable thing but what price a coherent movie and not a bloated beast which, judging by the second film which I don't think I will ever watch again, the third will turn out to be.
Still though, it won't be as bad as the cluster-fuck that will be Fantastic Four 2, a film which is being sold entirely on the prescence of a CGI creation and not the original cast. Early reports of this is that no matter how good the admittedly great teaser for the film was, its only 2, 3 minutes of film, and that this film is as much of a waste of time as the first. The question for this film is, why? They are taking a major risk with this one, the first did OK but nowhere near Spider-Man numbers and I believe the budget has been increased for this one. I will see it for the Silver Surfer but I may wait for DVD like the first one. I think I may not be alone but the Surfer is such an inherently cool concept that people will go see this for him. We all seem to focus on him as the main bad guy/ambivalent figure in this picture, but the fact is, he is CGI, CGI is expensive and they have a human bad guy, Dr. Doom, also in the film, although publicity material for this have not feature him extensivly. Rather than him not being in it too much, I think Fox are being clever on selling us on the idea that the Surfer is front and center, it is called Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer after all, but I get the feeling he won't be there too much. To be honest, I want this to work, Fantastic Four are a very good little property and it is nice that there is a PG superhero franchise that smaller kids can get into and the fact that co-creator of Twin Peaks, Mark Frost, was one of the credited writers of the first, and I believe second, had me intrigued and has me intrigued for the new one. Plus what I am hoping the film ends with. Again, for those who don't know, the Surfer is not really a villain, but a messenger essentially blackmailed into doing his job. By a big mother-funker by the name of Galactus...
What was meant to start as a little piece about Spider-Man, turned into a beast. Look at it as a metaphor for the increasing length of blockbusters. Or not. So, seeing The Lives Of Others today, will have a review up tomorrow, doing stuff tonight which inloved not sitting in with a laptop so I'll catch up tomorrow!
Contrasting with this, chud.com just reported that Pirates 3 is weighing in at 170 minutes. Even taking out credits, its gonna be over 2 and a half hours. Will it be needed? Fuck no. Pure speculation I know, but with Spider-Man 3 one gets the sense it is long because the story told requires the length. Pirates however, feels like it is alowing itself to over-indulge. The first two were long and didn't hurt their box office, but there is a lot you could take out of both of them, and this feels like it is self-conciously epic, it feels like it has to be because its Pirates Of The Carribean 3. I honetly think you could trim a lot of fat from the second film in particular and ram the 2nd and 3rd together. Of course they would never do that. Look at Grindhouse, piss poor second weekend has shown that two films in one may not work, for some bloody reason I can't get my head around (Seriously, I have it bad for Grindhouse at the moment), and two films = twice the profit, maybe more. Nature of the world I guess, tis a Capitalist society so to make money is an acceptable thing but what price a coherent movie and not a bloated beast which, judging by the second film which I don't think I will ever watch again, the third will turn out to be.
Still though, it won't be as bad as the cluster-fuck that will be Fantastic Four 2, a film which is being sold entirely on the prescence of a CGI creation and not the original cast. Early reports of this is that no matter how good the admittedly great teaser for the film was, its only 2, 3 minutes of film, and that this film is as much of a waste of time as the first. The question for this film is, why? They are taking a major risk with this one, the first did OK but nowhere near Spider-Man numbers and I believe the budget has been increased for this one. I will see it for the Silver Surfer but I may wait for DVD like the first one. I think I may not be alone but the Surfer is such an inherently cool concept that people will go see this for him. We all seem to focus on him as the main bad guy/ambivalent figure in this picture, but the fact is, he is CGI, CGI is expensive and they have a human bad guy, Dr. Doom, also in the film, although publicity material for this have not feature him extensivly. Rather than him not being in it too much, I think Fox are being clever on selling us on the idea that the Surfer is front and center, it is called Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer after all, but I get the feeling he won't be there too much. To be honest, I want this to work, Fantastic Four are a very good little property and it is nice that there is a PG superhero franchise that smaller kids can get into and the fact that co-creator of Twin Peaks, Mark Frost, was one of the credited writers of the first, and I believe second, had me intrigued and has me intrigued for the new one. Plus what I am hoping the film ends with. Again, for those who don't know, the Surfer is not really a villain, but a messenger essentially blackmailed into doing his job. By a big mother-funker by the name of Galactus...
What was meant to start as a little piece about Spider-Man, turned into a beast. Look at it as a metaphor for the increasing length of blockbusters. Or not. So, seeing The Lives Of Others today, will have a review up tomorrow, doing stuff tonight which inloved not sitting in with a laptop so I'll catch up tomorrow!
Monday, April 16, 2007
I am Jack's raging inner emotion...
Well it's all over the net and I thought it was April 1st, Ed Norton has signed on to star as Bruce Banner as the Hulk in the sequel/reboot THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Suprised? Hell yes. Marvel seem to be taking the bull by the horns when it comes to their casting decisions lately, and god next summer will be exciting, Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man and Ed Norton as the Hulk? Oh yeah! What I wonder though is what interested Norton? This guy doesn't whore himself out for just anything and he seems to pick projects he wants to do. But a comic book film eh? Script written by Zak Penn writer of X-Men's 2 and 3 and directed by Unleashed and Transporter 2 director Louis Letterier, this film was supposed to be more of a balls out action film than the first but with Norton involved, one wonders about this. Could they just be trying a more credible actor than Eric Bana to give it some cred then give us some crazy action to go with it? Bana must be pissed though, his film seems to be getting completely shoved aside to make way for this. All very interesting stuff. Going to be a real battle of the comic-book movies next Summer. The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and hopefully Hellboy 2. Still though we still have Spider-Man 3 to come, early reviews of which are saying.... better than the first 2 and a downright epic. May 4th cannot come soon enough.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Update...
Back next week with reviews of this years Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, The Lives Of Others. Also a forerunner of the "Midnite Movies" movement El Topo which has been restored and is touring the country. Also any new DVDs I get sent. Bye.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Advance Review: Grindhouse (Part 2)
The revenge....
Advance Review: Grindhouse (Part 2) (Robert Rodriquez/Quentin Tarantino & Others, 2007, USA).
So..........
Eli Roth's Thanksgiving eh? Brutal 1970's horror mixed with the smoke pot/have sex = death slashers of the 1980's distilled in a 2 minute trailer "White meat, dark meat, its all carved" and the results of a trampoline, a girl and a knife... all those delights await you in this strange, kind of funny mixtape of a trailer from the bloke who brought us Hostel.
And now Our Feature Presentation.
What do you want to see more, even outside of Grindhouse? I believe the majority would go for Tarantino over Rodriquez, as would I. The right one?
Three ladies reunite after spending time away after college, in Austin, Texas. They spend the night at a bar which is also attended by Stuntman Mike. That's all I'm saying.
Tarantino characters, dialogue and style mixed with balls-to-the-wall car stunt craziness. An odd combination to be sure. But then Tarantino is one who has a fondness for the oddness when it comes to mixing it up. A talky heist film, a throwback explotation film brought to the ninetees and a throwback explotation film brought to the noughties, Tarantino is not one who is shy of taking risks. And not only is Grindhouse a great risk in itself but after the theatrics of PLANET TERROR!!!!, showing Death Proof after is quite something. The thing about the Grindhouse movies is that they have the lesser film before the "A" feature, the less explosive before the balls-out crazy second flick. This is the opposite with Grindhouse. PLANET TERROR!!!! is flashy, explosive, gory and sexy, Death Proof is.... a Tarantino film. Best way I can explain it really. You have your "mixtape" of a soundtrack, you have your obsession with women's feet, you have your long conversations which don't service the plot but are still achingly cool. QT pops up for a cameo again, Eli Roth makes an appearance it in itself is like a mixtape. The second half, the women getting revenge is a theme which runs through many of the man's work. Indeed this is one of its weaker points, the motivation for the girls to do what they do in the second half of Death Prood doesn't feel real except for the idea of them doing it for kicks (Throwback to Russ Myer there for you) and while they are pissed off, it doesn't quite seem right. Indeed, Joe on the rather wonderful podcast Cinemaslave makes a good point around this. Joe, I am stealing your thoughts! Sorry! I agree though,maybe not quite as vehemently as yourself but the film jutst ends. It's a funny ending, and feels oddly fitting but you do expect at least another 15 minutes, a final final showdown. Not what happens. Like I say though, what happens is very very funny and feels much like we have been exploited (as does the missing reel section, which dare I say it, is better than PLANET TERROR!!!!!). OK, so feels like a Tarantino film. The strong women, most notably the incredible Zoe Bell who you believe every second is capable of pulling off the stuff she does, are all excellent in playing stock Tarantino girls. BUT, the thing that makes this arguably better than PLANET TERROR!!! (though I reserve the right to strongly underline, ARGUABLY) is the man who drifted in from another movie entirely...
Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. Dear god, do I want a movie of just him hunting people down, men, women, children, animals, buildings, whatever. He can exude charm, confidence, old-man sexiness even but turn on a psycho personna in a second. He does it remarkably well and all I can see is, we have one scene of it. One. And it is arguably the best part of the entire experience. He eats the role off, cracking off the dialogue like he has been working with Tarantino since he started writing Reservoir Dogs. He knows the scene entirely and the end to it is shocking and very exciting. Not compared to the following scene where we witness what happens when a car and its passenegers after the Death Proof juggernaut hits them head on. Quite simply breathtaking. And I haven't, and won't even talk about the car chase which ends the film. Cracking stuff, up there with the best and I won't spoil a bit.
So I have been in the Grindhouse completely. I would go through it again now if I could, and I will again in the next few days. People have generally loved one, hated the other. The overblown theatrics of Rodriquez or the mash-up of Tarantino? I would edge for Tarantino only if it is because I eat up everything he puts out. However, I'll say this much It is the best film Rodriquez has made yet, but certainly not the best Tarantino has. The trailers add to the experience with no complaint from me and I cannot wait to see this on the big screen. So fucking recommended, I can't believe it was as good, no better, than I hoped.
This, Sunshine, Hot Fuzz, Perfume, Last King Of Scotland, Inland Empire. What a year so far. It's only April!!!
Advance Review: Grindhouse (Part 2) (Robert Rodriquez/Quentin Tarantino & Others, 2007, USA).
So..........
Eli Roth's Thanksgiving eh? Brutal 1970's horror mixed with the smoke pot/have sex = death slashers of the 1980's distilled in a 2 minute trailer "White meat, dark meat, its all carved" and the results of a trampoline, a girl and a knife... all those delights await you in this strange, kind of funny mixtape of a trailer from the bloke who brought us Hostel.
And now Our Feature Presentation.
What do you want to see more, even outside of Grindhouse? I believe the majority would go for Tarantino over Rodriquez, as would I. The right one?
Three ladies reunite after spending time away after college, in Austin, Texas. They spend the night at a bar which is also attended by Stuntman Mike. That's all I'm saying.
Tarantino characters, dialogue and style mixed with balls-to-the-wall car stunt craziness. An odd combination to be sure. But then Tarantino is one who has a fondness for the oddness when it comes to mixing it up. A talky heist film, a throwback explotation film brought to the ninetees and a throwback explotation film brought to the noughties, Tarantino is not one who is shy of taking risks. And not only is Grindhouse a great risk in itself but after the theatrics of PLANET TERROR!!!!, showing Death Proof after is quite something. The thing about the Grindhouse movies is that they have the lesser film before the "A" feature, the less explosive before the balls-out crazy second flick. This is the opposite with Grindhouse. PLANET TERROR!!!! is flashy, explosive, gory and sexy, Death Proof is.... a Tarantino film. Best way I can explain it really. You have your "mixtape" of a soundtrack, you have your obsession with women's feet, you have your long conversations which don't service the plot but are still achingly cool. QT pops up for a cameo again, Eli Roth makes an appearance it in itself is like a mixtape. The second half, the women getting revenge is a theme which runs through many of the man's work. Indeed this is one of its weaker points, the motivation for the girls to do what they do in the second half of Death Prood doesn't feel real except for the idea of them doing it for kicks (Throwback to Russ Myer there for you) and while they are pissed off, it doesn't quite seem right. Indeed, Joe on the rather wonderful podcast Cinemaslave makes a good point around this. Joe, I am stealing your thoughts! Sorry! I agree though,maybe not quite as vehemently as yourself but the film jutst ends. It's a funny ending, and feels oddly fitting but you do expect at least another 15 minutes, a final final showdown. Not what happens. Like I say though, what happens is very very funny and feels much like we have been exploited (as does the missing reel section, which dare I say it, is better than PLANET TERROR!!!!!). OK, so feels like a Tarantino film. The strong women, most notably the incredible Zoe Bell who you believe every second is capable of pulling off the stuff she does, are all excellent in playing stock Tarantino girls. BUT, the thing that makes this arguably better than PLANET TERROR!!! (though I reserve the right to strongly underline, ARGUABLY) is the man who drifted in from another movie entirely...
Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. Dear god, do I want a movie of just him hunting people down, men, women, children, animals, buildings, whatever. He can exude charm, confidence, old-man sexiness even but turn on a psycho personna in a second. He does it remarkably well and all I can see is, we have one scene of it. One. And it is arguably the best part of the entire experience. He eats the role off, cracking off the dialogue like he has been working with Tarantino since he started writing Reservoir Dogs. He knows the scene entirely and the end to it is shocking and very exciting. Not compared to the following scene where we witness what happens when a car and its passenegers after the Death Proof juggernaut hits them head on. Quite simply breathtaking. And I haven't, and won't even talk about the car chase which ends the film. Cracking stuff, up there with the best and I won't spoil a bit.
So I have been in the Grindhouse completely. I would go through it again now if I could, and I will again in the next few days. People have generally loved one, hated the other. The overblown theatrics of Rodriquez or the mash-up of Tarantino? I would edge for Tarantino only if it is because I eat up everything he puts out. However, I'll say this much It is the best film Rodriquez has made yet, but certainly not the best Tarantino has. The trailers add to the experience with no complaint from me and I cannot wait to see this on the big screen. So fucking recommended, I can't believe it was as good, no better, than I hoped.
This, Sunshine, Hot Fuzz, Perfume, Last King Of Scotland, Inland Empire. What a year so far. It's only April!!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Way Advance Review (For outside US): Grindhouse (Part 1)
OK, OK, I may have obtained this through less than legal means but hey, waiting till June? Fuck that. Spoilers at times but not too detailed, don't worry. I am currently "obtaining" the second half but for now...
Advance Review: Grindhouse - Part 1 (Robert Rodriquez, Quentin Tarantino & Others, 2007, USA).
Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino have made an awful lot of money for the Weinstein's. The Mariarchi Trilogy, the Spy Kids Trilogy, Pulp Fiction, The Kill Bill's and Sin City have all made a huge profit and so they have been given free rein for probably the most risky investment yet. A 3 hour throwback to a genre of film not seen for decades. Two films, and trailers to create the "true" Grindhouse experience released in the US on Easter weekend. The result? It flopped pretty hard over there and now there is talk of seperating the 2 in the US and everywhere else, even though I have already seen ads in UK publications advertising it as a double feature. However, for those looking forward to it, nothing will stop them from experiencing the Grindhouse. Indeed, the belated UK release could not stop me either, but trust me, I know I'll be seeing it in the cinema.
I'll do the review in the order of contents within the film. The first thing we see is a trailer for a fake movie, as all the trailers are. The movie in question? MACHETE. Rodriquez stalwart Danny Trejo starts as a Mexican Machine of a man double-crossed and swearing to get revenge with the help of his brother, another stalwart Cheech Marin. The trailer has it all, the cool lines, the boobs and the guns that make up a great Grindhouse trailer (yes I've seen some, just go on YouTube). Rodriquez perfectly sets up this film in the trailer, and you truly get the sense that all the best bits are ion the trailer, as a great Grindhose tradition insists it must be. This settles you in perfectly for the tounge-in-cheek but kick ass action to come. Then the first movie starts, Robert Rodriquez's PLANET TERROR.
A go-go dancer called Cherry (Rose McGowan). A wandering trucker with a secret past called El Wray (Freddy Rodriquez). A husband and wife team of doctors with marital problems and a needle fetish (Josh Brolin & Marley Shelton). A scientist and an Army general who let off out green gases with horrific consequences (Naveen Andrews & Bruce Willis) A bar owner with the best BBQ recipe in Texas (Jeff Fahey). All their lives will collide as they all try to survive the night and get away from PLANET TERROR!!!
First things first, this title cracks me up. It's Earth! I went into this honestly thinking it was set on Mars or something, no its Earth. Points alone for that. The tone is set perfectly from the start with Cherry showing one of her "useless talents", dancing. A very hot scene setting the tone that explotation is the name of the game. This is further backed up by the next scene showcasing the KNB effects perfectly. These zombies? When they go down, they don't just go down, they fucking explode! Shit flys everywhere. Not just the zombies either (I'm looking at you, Lost man!). These old school throwback effects do very well in taking ny kind of realism out of the film and remind more of the horror of the 1980's, notably Society or Re-Animator. Of course, realsim is not the name of the game. Any film featuring Quentin Tarantino trying to rape a girl with his penis falling off can not be called anything like realistic! Everything in this film is hyper-real, the characters a suprising amount of room to breathe considering their number, they all get their moments for development and to shine and for Rodriquez to do this should be applauded. The film is tight with not an ounce of fat on it and it may be his strongest script to date. It is also a very funny film. One character's obsession with collecting balls is one of the most deranged character beat I think I may have ever seen. The film revels in its ridiculousness and feels more like parody than tribute. The Missing Reel gag is noteworthly brilliant. It cuts off at a point you really want it to continue and the film never explains what happens after the reel, brilliance.
To the cast. Rose McGowan is hot and kick-ass in her role and sums up a perfect explotation heroine. Brutal, sexy and not afraid to have a gun/rocket launcher attached to her leg. Freddy Rodriquez is quite the revelation as El Wray and fully aquits himself as an action hero. His wall-roll-kill is just awesome. Josh Brolin is a sick bastard as the Doctor and meets a pleasing fate, Marley Shelton is quite bizarre in her potrayal, her obsession with needles feels a little off but fits in perfectly given the film. Naveen Andrews is also suprisingly good. He is charming and also a bastard and that is something I never thought he could pull off. Good stuff from all really.
I did not expect to enjoy this section as much as I did. i have tried to remain fairly vague as to not spoil the film too much but the combination of outright coll factors Rodriquez has made has created something I will happily watch again and again.
We next have an intermission of sorts starting with a trailer for WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS. Bizarre stuff fitting in with the general work-ethic of Rob Zombie's. Dark but ridiuclous, smutty and outlandish, this is a fun little trailer with a terrific cameo I did not know was coming. I'll see this much, I want to see that person in that role in a full film RIGHT NOW. Following this trailer, we get what may be the most out-of-keeping aspect so far but one which is one of the highlights of the entire package so far. A mash up of Hammer Horror cliches, Edgar Wright's DON'T warns us of many perils which swirl faster and faster at us and then just... stop. You will know what I mean when you see it, but it is actually quite the gut-busting little moment.
And that be all for now. Back, god willing, tonight, otherwise tomorrow with the rest of GRINDHOUSE...
Advance Review: Grindhouse - Part 1 (Robert Rodriquez, Quentin Tarantino & Others, 2007, USA).
Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino have made an awful lot of money for the Weinstein's. The Mariarchi Trilogy, the Spy Kids Trilogy, Pulp Fiction, The Kill Bill's and Sin City have all made a huge profit and so they have been given free rein for probably the most risky investment yet. A 3 hour throwback to a genre of film not seen for decades. Two films, and trailers to create the "true" Grindhouse experience released in the US on Easter weekend. The result? It flopped pretty hard over there and now there is talk of seperating the 2 in the US and everywhere else, even though I have already seen ads in UK publications advertising it as a double feature. However, for those looking forward to it, nothing will stop them from experiencing the Grindhouse. Indeed, the belated UK release could not stop me either, but trust me, I know I'll be seeing it in the cinema.
I'll do the review in the order of contents within the film. The first thing we see is a trailer for a fake movie, as all the trailers are. The movie in question? MACHETE. Rodriquez stalwart Danny Trejo starts as a Mexican Machine of a man double-crossed and swearing to get revenge with the help of his brother, another stalwart Cheech Marin. The trailer has it all, the cool lines, the boobs and the guns that make up a great Grindhouse trailer (yes I've seen some, just go on YouTube). Rodriquez perfectly sets up this film in the trailer, and you truly get the sense that all the best bits are ion the trailer, as a great Grindhose tradition insists it must be. This settles you in perfectly for the tounge-in-cheek but kick ass action to come. Then the first movie starts, Robert Rodriquez's PLANET TERROR.
A go-go dancer called Cherry (Rose McGowan). A wandering trucker with a secret past called El Wray (Freddy Rodriquez). A husband and wife team of doctors with marital problems and a needle fetish (Josh Brolin & Marley Shelton). A scientist and an Army general who let off out green gases with horrific consequences (Naveen Andrews & Bruce Willis) A bar owner with the best BBQ recipe in Texas (Jeff Fahey). All their lives will collide as they all try to survive the night and get away from PLANET TERROR!!!
First things first, this title cracks me up. It's Earth! I went into this honestly thinking it was set on Mars or something, no its Earth. Points alone for that. The tone is set perfectly from the start with Cherry showing one of her "useless talents", dancing. A very hot scene setting the tone that explotation is the name of the game. This is further backed up by the next scene showcasing the KNB effects perfectly. These zombies? When they go down, they don't just go down, they fucking explode! Shit flys everywhere. Not just the zombies either (I'm looking at you, Lost man!). These old school throwback effects do very well in taking ny kind of realism out of the film and remind more of the horror of the 1980's, notably Society or Re-Animator. Of course, realsim is not the name of the game. Any film featuring Quentin Tarantino trying to rape a girl with his penis falling off can not be called anything like realistic! Everything in this film is hyper-real, the characters a suprising amount of room to breathe considering their number, they all get their moments for development and to shine and for Rodriquez to do this should be applauded. The film is tight with not an ounce of fat on it and it may be his strongest script to date. It is also a very funny film. One character's obsession with collecting balls is one of the most deranged character beat I think I may have ever seen. The film revels in its ridiculousness and feels more like parody than tribute. The Missing Reel gag is noteworthly brilliant. It cuts off at a point you really want it to continue and the film never explains what happens after the reel, brilliance.
To the cast. Rose McGowan is hot and kick-ass in her role and sums up a perfect explotation heroine. Brutal, sexy and not afraid to have a gun/rocket launcher attached to her leg. Freddy Rodriquez is quite the revelation as El Wray and fully aquits himself as an action hero. His wall-roll-kill is just awesome. Josh Brolin is a sick bastard as the Doctor and meets a pleasing fate, Marley Shelton is quite bizarre in her potrayal, her obsession with needles feels a little off but fits in perfectly given the film. Naveen Andrews is also suprisingly good. He is charming and also a bastard and that is something I never thought he could pull off. Good stuff from all really.
I did not expect to enjoy this section as much as I did. i have tried to remain fairly vague as to not spoil the film too much but the combination of outright coll factors Rodriquez has made has created something I will happily watch again and again.
We next have an intermission of sorts starting with a trailer for WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS. Bizarre stuff fitting in with the general work-ethic of Rob Zombie's. Dark but ridiuclous, smutty and outlandish, this is a fun little trailer with a terrific cameo I did not know was coming. I'll see this much, I want to see that person in that role in a full film RIGHT NOW. Following this trailer, we get what may be the most out-of-keeping aspect so far but one which is one of the highlights of the entire package so far. A mash up of Hammer Horror cliches, Edgar Wright's DON'T warns us of many perils which swirl faster and faster at us and then just... stop. You will know what I mean when you see it, but it is actually quite the gut-busting little moment.
And that be all for now. Back, god willing, tonight, otherwise tomorrow with the rest of GRINDHOUSE...
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