Bananas in the Fridge

Friends with Benefits straddles (carefully considered choice of words) the line between generic rom-com and self-aware parody in a manner opposed to the attempted bedtime arrangement agreed between the two participants at the centre of the films story. Trying to avoid romantic cliches is difficult business in a relationship. Trying to avoid taking your clothes off is difficult business when the person opposite you is Mila Kunis, or big JT if yer female I suppose.

The story follows  Jamie, a girl with a good job, who manages to convince Dylan to  join the staff of GQ as some kind of visual editor. The decision to abandon his work as a blog designer (I think that's what he was doing. It looked like he was working for one of those horrible 90's style companies that had fake grass on the walls, no management structure and employees who were paid in tofu and soya milk. What kind of way is that to run a company anyway? No wonder you don't see that nowadays. In fact, I don't even know if they were real or if the movies invented them) is for some reason a particularly difficult one. Sold on the city of New York, without that Jay Z/Alicia Keys song which I am assuming would have been trotted out for city-montage number two had he initially decided to head back to California, Dylan agrees to take the high-paid job with the high-end perks and Jamie's enthusiasm for him lasts longer than you would expect. I mean, she could dump him and take off the minute he signs the contract. Job done. But they agree to stay friends and Jamie shows Dylan around town as he couldn't find a restaurant in New York without her. Whether her 'assistance' is based on the fact that her employee-bonus is paid on the condition he stays in the job or whether it is purely chemistry between the two characters is a decision you make for yourself. It is clear though that the two characters have a certain attraction which lends itself well to no-strings sex. This is what they decide to indulge in following a heart-to-heart about their previous relationships. Surprisingly, this agreement has some drawbacks but gives us the familiar rollercoaster of will-they/won't-they which guides us through the tribulations of family troubles etc. to the conclusion that you probably expect.

I'm not a big fan of fads. I never really have been. When I was young children had micro-machines; my kid brain always wondered why you would want a micro car when you could have a bigger one?  I had about three that I found between the playground, my brothers room and my first foray into petty theft. Anyway,  you can imagine my irritation at the flash-mob scenes. I honestly think that ending up in one of these would be the realisation of my worst nightmare. They have made me even more scared of public places, particularly train stations which seem to be a haven for these organised weirdo's. I can't imagine anything worse than unwittingly ending up in the middle of a group of middle-aged i-Pad owners ironically singing and dancing out of sync to a recording of whatever rubbish they sang on Glee the week previous. Proper hell.

The films standout performance comes from Woody Harrelson as gay sports reporter Tommy . He steals every scene in which he appears. Questioner of sexualities, provider of wisdom and excitable boat owner are but a few of his multi-faceted character traits. He is worth the price of admission alone.

Friends with Benefits isn't groundbreaking stuff but it is entertaining, funny, visually engrossing (for male and female alike) and lyrically smart in parts. Good date movie - although I would maybe avoid it if you are just trying to set up some no-strings action as the film makes it look like it doesn't really work and if we know anything it is that girls believe films. Plus Doback is in it.

http://www.fwb-movie.com/

Shotgun Blues

Styling Rutger Hauer as a homeless vigilante with a vendetta and a shotgun seemed foolproof to me. Hauer has developed quite the CV over the years appearing in Blade Runner, The Hitcher and Sin City to name a few. I remember seeing the poster for Hobo with a Shotgun some time ago and also remember my disappointment when the Glasgow screening sold-out FAST. The hype grew from the initial trailer which became aligned with the Grindhouse package that led to Machete becoming a feature also.

Hobo with a Shotgun sees the arrival in town of a homeless man who is immediately witness to a public execution before registering his disgust with a shotgun blast in the face of criminality. Get that on yer poster Eisener.
 
One thing captured well in the film is the aimless wandering of the homeless. You know that vacant stagger you see when passing a homeless person in the street? They never quite look like they know where they are going but I guess destinations are few and far between for the vagrant. We find out that Hobo has dreams of setting up a legit business as a lawnmower man (not to be confused with the film of the same name... he's probably never seen it. He is homeless after all). This proves difficult as money is hard to come-by except from through that new-age tradition of homeless men competing in bum-fights. A lucrative business when opposed to collecting plastic bottles. After completing various acts of degradation for an over-eager media-mogul, Hobo heads to purchase the lawnmower that will be the foundation of his legitimate venture. As is often the case with cinema all does not go according to plan. When things don't go according to plan for me I tend to end up late for work or with the wrong filling in my sandwich but when things don't go to plan for a hobo he usually ends up wielding a shotgun at various criminals, robbers and other undesirables as he clears the streets on behalf of the good people of Scum Town. If we learn anything from the film it is this.

The Hobo becomes somewhat of a cult hero to the public as his face covers the front page of the local newspaper for his daily crime-fighting exploits. This aggrieves local mega-villain The Drake who sets about forcibly removing the affable Hobo from his noble township.

Instead of having the feel of a Grindhouse homage in the vein of Machete, Death Proof et al, Hobo unfortunately feels more like the recent spate of cheap exploitation horror that has flooded our screens of late (see Zombie Women of Satan etc.). The main problem is the script. The opportunities offered by such a strong title and premise are never fulfilled. The Hobo character has an endless possibility when it comes to quotable lines but is instead limited to a few. Hauer's performance is excellent but is limited by the production. A few rants aside, Hauer is reserved by the nature of the films narrative which does not allow him the gleeful destruction that his eyes indicate he desires throughout.

The film seems a bit confused as to what year/era it is based in. It is clear that the primary influence comes from films of the late seventies and eighties; I see Escape from L.A and The Warriors but also see the slimy villain James Spader made famous throughout that decade in The Drakes horrible sons. This is no bad thing, it's just the way the influence is utilised that is frustrating. $3 million is a decent budget for a production of this type and it feels that more could have been achieved with this.

The film didn't actually turn out as bad as i expected. I have to be honest, i wouldn't have argued if had been turned off after the first 10 minutes; they were not just disappointing but cliched and hard to watch. From there forward the film is almost apologising to us and I began to forgive it until the ending annoyed me further. What happens between the start and end is somewhat uninspired if mildly enjoyable. I couldn't buy into the villains who were over-stylised to the point of the ridiculous. The equivalent of the eighties bully with spiked hair and a leather jacket. Did nobody think to check that out? I went to school then and it was people of that description who were the victims of the bullies. I wish that school bullies dressed like Marlon Brando in The Wild One; I would have happily taken a beating knowing that I had at least come into close proximity of something that cool. Instead we suffered at the hand of plooky shell-suit wearing gang leaders with a penchant for pulling skinny kids trousers down.

To summarise Hobo with a Shotgun is an excellent idea for a trailer which struggled to reach a relatively short running time of just over 80 minutes. Some laughs, some cringes and some shotgun holes in peoples bodies.

You and me are goin' on a car-ride to hell... and you're riding shotgun! 

http://ca.hobowithashotgun.com/

Spiders from Mars

This review contains spoilers.

To be honest it is difficult to spoil a film as bad as Apollo 18. I don't know if you would even consider it a spoiler; probably more accurate to term it a warning. I wish someone had warned me. I mean I asked Twitter-folks what they thought of the film a couple of days ago and not one person thought to contact me and say 'Hey, dude, probably not the best use of your time to be honest'. For that, I can't forgive you.

Apollo 18 uses the premise of the found-footage genre to depart its misery upon us. It is not so much sold to us as found as it is released/leaked footage. As a kid I remember being drawn to anything resembling a conspiracy theory and although the weariness of age has somewhat dimmed that passion I do enjoy the stories of how the moon landings were faked. I remember a particularly good Sci-Fi Channel documentary presented by that guy from the X-Files which was quite convincing and picked holes in the government version. My favourite contributions came from the NASA employees and former astronauts who replied with variations of 'it's no faked, right. Now shut it'. Hope this isn't booking me a visit from the ol' men in black. If Will Smith is intending a visit then I would much prefer he come with Jazzy Jeff so we can get our party on. Alright Will? So back to the film.

The astronauts take us with them on their secret voyage to the moon. Why this mission is so secret is kept from the astronauts in the main and is billed as further reconnaissance/rock collecting. It quickly goes wrong with interference on the communication equipment and rapidly descends further from there. I found that the film offered little in terms of suspense as it was clear the route we were taking almost as soon as the astronauts landed. It did however offer a few jumpy moments but it was the kind where you are angry at yourself for getting a fright because you absolutely knew it was coming. The space setting is perfect for this type of film, the failure is probably more in the execution as opposed to the premise as far as I'm concerned. The shadows and dark of the craters, the silence - none of this is utilised to its potential. The sheer volume of cameras that the astronauts seem to have available is excessive but the reason for this becomes clear as the film progresses. There is little in the way of character development and the nature of the mise en scene leaves the film with a disjointed feel which does not lend itself to viewer enjoyment. There are a couple of moments of short suspense but these are not given time to develop enough to become as effective as one would hope.

What is more unsettling about Apollo 18 is that fact that someone saw fit to throw 5 million bucks at the production. Did they know they could read the script prior to agreeing to fund this atrocity? My favourite quote about the film comes from head of Dimension films Bob Weinstein who said that "We didn’t shoot anything, we found it. Found, baby!”. Even he didn't want admit to playing a part in this being made. Distancing yourself by trying to convince us you found the film is low Bob... real low.

A distinct lack of advance screenings and a review embargo, alongside multiple release date changes, are some of the most explicit examples of a lack of confidence in the film. I was genuinely looking forward to this but was disappointed by the derivative nature of almost every aspects. The 'aliens' were straight out of Aliens (funnily enough), the night time camera angles like Paranormal Activity in space, the nostril shots straight from Blair Witch etc. etc. and etc. For this reason there is not much merit in the film. It adds little to the genre which is becoming slightly tired by the sheer volume of films of this type being released. I remember how fresh the genre was around the time of The Last Broadcast/Blair Witch Project and i think it could be time for the genre to take a wee rest, a nap of sorts, so it can return refreshed. Do we need Paranormal Activity 3 this year? And even more importantly, is the next Friday the 13th installment really going to be a found-footage film? Surely not but that's what the sources are saying.

One bit of humour I found in the film was picturing the pitch to producers... 'It's like Blair Witch... in space. Wait, that's not all. There are rocks that turn in to spiders'. Sold.

http://lunartruth.org

Carnage Candy

Growing up I loved slasher films. For a while it was pretty much the only genre I was interested in. The first Scream film was released right at the height of my fascination. It had it all... gore, scares, mystery and most refreshingly a post-modern understanding of the context in which it was produced. I loved everything about the film, from the biggest star being killed within the first half hour to the knowledge of horror displayed reflecting this love of my own. I could recite the script from start to finish, backwards and forwards, and I'm surely not the only one. Not only did Scream draw a line under what came before it, it also gave the slasher film a fresh start; a new product for copy and how the copies did flow. You could rhyme off hundreds of them but that only proves the quality of the film and it's influence on modern horror.

Welcome home, Sidney. You're a survivor, aren't you, Sidney? What good is it to be a survivor when everyone close to you is dead? You can't save them. All you can do... is watch.

Scream 4 comes eleven years after the third and almost a full 15 years after the first in the series. It doesn't take long, in fact no time at all, for the killings to begin and with Sidney Prescott's return to Woodsboro we are quickly back into the flow of the series. The introduction, and I'm trying not to give too much away, is predictable but fulfilling and amusing. Scream has always revelled in its portrayal of the expected and gleefully enjoys the frights it manages to derive from it. In terms of writing and direction, as a fan of the first, I couldn't have asked for more with Craven and Williamson returning to the series for the first time since Scream 2.  I won't go into the plot in too much detail but it is very much in the vain of it's predecessors. Again the reliance upon sex and nudity, so required by it's peers, is an acknowledged no-show which, although frustrating to the teenage male viewer, is important to the Scream series. The performances from the cast are strong and the film is separated from its the initial trilogy by ensuring that almost no character comes out of the film unscathed. In fact, I can't think of any. That shouldn't ruin anything for you but should be enough to get the heart beating a little faster if you haven't seen the film already.

I enjoyed  Scream 4 from start to finish apart from a five minute section in the 'third-act'. It relates specifically to the killers motive and I found it to be slightly disconnected from the youth of today (not that I can claim to be plugged-in). I understand the comment that was being made but it was a bit over-the-top for me. Get on with the killing. The only other thing missing for me was the iconic theme songs - Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds particularly.

Reportedly the first of a new trilogy, Scream 4 is strangely refreshing. With the recent influx of horror, and specifically slasher films, the genre has become somewhat saturated; exactly as it was prior to the release of the first film. I understand that people will disagree with me but I don't accept the reviews that have commented on the films reliance upon obvious cliches. For me this misses the point. The film is exploitative of the genre cliches and the beauty is that Scream 4 is so good dangling the obvious in front of the audience, removing it long enough for you to believe it isn't coming, before delivering right at the point when you have settled back into your chair for maximum impact. It is the same formula that has been so successful in the past and if it isn't broke I don't expect Craven to go about trying to fix it. As a huge fan of the original it would have been easy for this latest edition to be disappointing for me but I really enjoyed it. It is everything a good slasher film should be providing fun, frights, suspicions and enjoyment but, and this may sound obvious, if you didn't enjoy the first Scream movie the chances of you enjoying Scream 4 are slim. If however you, like me, still have the teenage horror fan bursting from your skin I can't recommend it enough.

Official Site - http://www.scream-4.com/

Enjoy the Silence

The Silent House, or La Casa Muda to quote the actual title, is reportedly based on a real-life occurrence in a small Uruguayan village during the 1940's. The real-life occurrence, as far as I can gather, is that bodies were found near photographs. It's a bit like saying The Wizard of Oz is based on true events because an eccentric old couple painted their cobbled path yellow in 19th century London.

The Silent House tells the not so coherent story of a father-daughter combo who arrive at a creepy old house in the woods apparently to carry out some routine maintenance. Inexplicably they enter and immediately set about going to sleep before the noises upstairs begin. Now a problem I often find with films is that it is important to me that I can trace at least a strand of logic through the proceedings. Even if it is just implied. The problem with The Silent House is that there is no logic to the story. I am not going to get into the specifics of the plot too much because it makes no difference to your level (or lack) of enjoyment. There are many more questions than answers come the closing credits. In fact, I may be being too kind, it is more of a bewilderment and a wish for director Gustavo Hernández to greet me in the lobby to hand back the hour and twenty minutes I have spent. This ranks up there with the clocks going forward in terms of blatant theft. In the last few weeks I have lost two hours and twenty minutes to British Summer Time and The Silent House. I can't say I am too impressed. 

I don't know how much we can say that The Silent House has drawn from its influences and how much it has actually stolen, or derived to be polite. The book of cliches wasn't so much thrown at the audience as it was launched directly at our noses.

• Creepy little girls - Check. 
• Children's toys (musical of course) - Check. 
• Doll - Check.
• Polaroids - Check.
• Escaping only to find a saviour who takes you back to the place of misery - Check. 
• Plot twist (was it a twist..? Who knows) - Check.

There are others but you get the point.

I appreciate the craftsmanship in undertaking a feature length in one shot. In these terms the film is successful... no motion sickness at all. The few camera tricks that were employed were repeated continually and quickly became tiresome. I'm not sure how convinced I am that this was in fact one shot but it doesn't make a huge difference either way. Lets not miss the point here, the one-shot gimmick is there to direct our attention away from the poor narrative and generic scares. What was gained by this 'innovation' was quickly lost as it became clear why this technique is not frequented by the masters of the genre. The problem is that horror is effective when tension is built before the valve is released and the pressure allowed to build again. This can't happen to the required extent here as we are constantly in the face of the main character throughout. Instead of putting us in the shoes of the protagonist which could have been interesting (a first-person perspective for example) we get the feeling instead that we are in the same room; a voyeur more than a participant.

Two blogs, two films about strange houses. Quite apt considering I am in the process of moving home. The Silent House appeals to me as a name for my new house but I intend to enforce the silence much more strictly that the cast of the film. When the people who have snuck into the screen without paying start complaining about the quality on offer you know there is a problem. Just in case I haven't made it clear... don't visit The Silent House.

Official Site - http://www.lacasamuda.com/

Resident Evil

In my mid-teens, when moving into a new house with my parents, I decided to spend the first few nights in the house by myself. Seems a foolish move now with all the knowledge I have gained since but at the time it seemed like a great idea. I was about 30 minutes into my longed for freedom when it became clear that I wasn't alone in the house. I could hear footsteps upstairs and I don't just mean 'oh, was that a noise', I mean FOOTSTEPS. With the knowledge that there was nobody upstairs (who would be attempting to rob this empty house anyway?) I phoned my friend (Chris Tarrant wasn't involved) and he came round to help me investigate. The 5 minutes between putting the phone down and his chap at the door was probably the most scared I have ever been. Anyway, we ventured upstairs and found that there was nobody there. Now remember there is nowhere for anyone to hide, it is an empty house. I sought refuge in my friends house a few streets away for the next two nights. Just to be safe. The footsteps continued until I moved out but that is a story for another blog.

The Resident deals with the issue of struggling for the alone time required to wind down after a long day in the emergency room. Hilary Swank is  a doctor who happens upon an under-priced New York apartment with a great view and an extremely accommodating landlord. Being a horror film and all there has to be something wrong with the picture. Swank's character Juliet unfortunately does not find her Romeo but has in fact just separated from her cheating boyfriend. Sounds like a good time to meet a new man and the handsome landlord in most circumstances would be perfect if it was not for the fact he is slight disturbed. From this circumstance ensues scenes of stalking, voyeurism and date(implied)rape. The occurrences begin to impact upon Juliet's working/romantic adventures and her suspicions are awakened by comparison of her current state with that of her usually well organised, pre-relocated self.

I am torn when it comes to considering the fact that I just came home from watching a Hammer film starring Christopher Lee. A few years ago it didn't even cross my mind as a possibility (unless as part of a horror/classic film fest) but as pleasing as that may be it does certainly raise the stakes and leads to a little disappointment at just how formulaic The Resident is.

It's tough for me to be objective when it comes to Christopher Lee. From Dracula to The Wicker Man and beyond Lee is so dignified in his appearance and performance that it is difficult to criticise. There isn't anything to criticise about his performance in The Resident. Lee is in a total of about 5 minutes film in the movie but in that time delivered a few memorable quips and continued to tread that line between gentleman and danger. I am able to ignore how frail Lee looks as I am all too aware that he is a member of the undead and it will take more than mere age to remove him from our screens.

The Resident does well to build a feeling of unease and the claustrophobic nature of the voyeurism adds to the feeling of being watched throughout the film. The film is well shot and the performance for the most part are strong; particularly Hilary Swank's. One of the main problems I found was in the performance of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Max (the pervert... imagine his billing was Max The Pervert; we could have had a proper exploitation flick on our hands). Morgan is excellent in his role as nice guy but struggles to create the intensity required for his role as voyeur. I felt sorry for Max more than I felt scared by Max. If his grandfather had been in a position to give him a good talking to then I feel this could all have been resolved over a (non-spiked) bottle of red wine.

That aside, The Resident is worth seeing, probably as a Friday Night date movie because you know your girl isn't going to want to be sleeping alone with the thought of someone under the bed licking her finger. We will just try and overlook the fact that it turns into A Nightmare on Elm Street for the last 15 minutes.

Official Site - http://www.facebook.com/theresidentmovie

Teenage Wasteland

Richard Ayoade's character Moss is one of my favourites from any British sitcom in recent years. Appearances in The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace further cement his position at the forefront of what is good about British comedy. This was enough to get me interested in his first feature, Submarine, for which Ayoade acts as writer and director.

Executive produced by Ben Stiller, Submarine is the tale of Oliver Tate, a more than slightly awkward 15 year old facing the usual teenage problems of girls, parents and sullen self importance . Played by Craig Roberts, Oliver is out to impress classmate Jordana; by any means necessary. In the circumstances, Oliver makes it clear that he will stop at nothing, adjustments to character included. Oliver's relationships with his peers are strained; ranging from bullying to friendship and back as the story unfolds. The film is split into prologue, parts and epilogue, all of which deal with Oliver's struggles to gain/maintain young love and to solve the mystery of his parents relationship. Originally agreeing with his parents that the dissolution of his first love would be forgotten in later life, Oliver realises through his observations that this is not the case and sets about correcting the wrongs with varying degrees of success. Encounters with mystic ninjas, teachers and girlfriends parents all pepper the path of the young man who couples a strange life experience with the delusions of the teenage mind. Foray's into French crooner's, Nietzsche and JD Salinger will be all too real for many of us.

I am going to overlook the Rushmore comparisons as they have almost become a shortcut to actual debate over the merits of Ayoade's debut film. We all have influences, whether we choose to acknowledge them or not makes little difference to our output. Derivative or not... it doesn't really matter for the purpose of 97 minutes enjoyment. If you feel differently then most of the other reviews I have read of Submarine cater just for you. Instead I am going to compare the film to the more recent Youth in Revolt. Although Submarine is altogether more British, the comparisons fall within the first person delivery of an often third person narrative and also in the protagonists struggles to balance love and family. Oliver's quirks are slightly more manic than those of Michael Cera's character. The parental investigations and letters are a particular source of humour throughout.

One of the main successes of the film is in the characterisation which is comedic enough in its delivery to keep you laughing (sometimes uncomfortably) but also human enough to allow projection of yourself into Oliver's shoes, burnt leg hairs and all. Submarine probably gives the closest on-screen representation of my childhood that I have seen committed to film since The Omen. The daydreams and fantasies of the actions of your country in the event of ones death are particularly nostalgic.

I have to admit to not being a huge fan of British comedy in general and although I would not label Submarine as an out and out comedy film I can't recommend it enough. While the film clearly won't suit the tastes of everyone it is, in my opinion, the best British film since Made in England. The film is refreshingly funny, and dry enough in its humour to elevate it above any kind of awkward rom-com status.

One slightly disturbing addendum came on exiting the screening when an older lady declared that, although she felt the film was great, and that Ayoade would struggle to make better, she felt that the film was very much like The Hangover. Yup, the Bradley Cooper Vegas caper. This has got me a bit worried. I am no longer sure I saw the right film. I did have a wee nap before it started and may have dreamt the whole thing. If that is the case then my apologies for wasting your time. If, as I expect, the comparison was slightly stretching we must remember it is easy to confuse the industrial wastelands of Wales for the casino's of Las Vegas.

Official Site - http://warp.net/films/submarine

Drugs on Wall Street

Directed by Neil Burger, whose previous output includes The Illusionist, Limitless is based on a book by Alan Glynn. The film sees Bradley Cooper as vagabond writer Eddie Morra; struggling with writers block and  an ending relationship. Morra crosses paths with an old acquaintance who offers the opportunity to overcome these problems through the power of an experimental drug called NZT. The drug increases brain capacity to 100% and allows the user full access to memories, capability and hidden knowledge. Morra uses this new -found competence to impress his on/off girlfriend, landlords wife and employers among others but things take a turn for the expected when Morra notices he is being followed by a cast of undesirables. As his encounters with this bunch become more and more worrying Morra's supplies run low and the reason for their connection moves towards revelation in intriguing fashion.

Robert De Niro also stars as ruthless businessman Carl Van Loon. Another below par performance which is almost what we have come to expect in recent years. A character who should have been menacing was instead mildly assuming; like an unreasonable father in law or strict headmaster. Van Loon is a Gordon Gekko-lite who is focusing on furthering his commercial interests. The problem is that De Niro is not able to recreate the impact of Michael Douglas' character. Shia Labeouf was originally cast in the lead role which would have lead further to the feelings that Limitless is only slightly more than Wall Street on drugs. Wall Street 2 suffered from its poor timing meaning that it missed the recession boat and Limitless struggles with the fact that we don't hate Eddie Morra as much as we do the bankers.This is due to Morra's human side coming through throughout the early stages of the film. Although he is sucked into the 'high-life' we retain some glad tiding towards the protagonist as it is easy to follow his decision making process and relate it to our own.

Cooper's portrayal of the protagonist, although convincing, does lack the manic paranoia of the drug addict, particularly during the stages of withdrawal. Since his breakthrough performance in The Hangover, Cooper has become a box office draw, following up his initial success with The A Team amongst others. Cooper is capable of portraying both the down and out writer and high flying financial adviser with equal success.

Limitless lacks that smartness and sleekness the NZT has given Eddie Morra and, although the fish eye lenses and clever shots of the city are impressive to the eye, there is not much to stimulate the brain. Feeling at times like a diluted Inception, Limitless would have benefited from a more intricate plot with further twists and suspense but thats just my opinion and others may enjoy the easily followed narrative.

The film moves along almost exactly as you would expect. The only surprising factor is the lack of a moral conclusion. Instead of leaving the cinema with an understanding that if something seems too good to be true it probably is, I left wondering how long it would be before NZT would be available to you and me. Just think how many film reviews I could get through in a day.

Limitless? I would say limited but enjoyable.

Official Site - http://www.iamrogue.com/limitless/fullsite/

Driving Mildly Frustrated

Drive Angry is the story of John Milton, played by the unpredictable Nicolas Cage, an escapee of hell on the trail of a satanic cult who have kidnapped his granddaughter. With a young female sidekick in tow, Milton sets out on a trail of ultra-destruction which includes sex, gun-fights and muscle cars. Hot on the heels of the odd couple is The Accountant, an excellent outing for William Fichtner, a bounty hunter tasked with returning Milton to his hellish surroundings. Milton's granddaughter is to be sacrificed at the sight of a full moon by the satan worshipping cult responsible for the death of his daughter. The story plays out in a surprising linear sequence of chase and fight with an unfortunate lack of deviation into the absurd.

I never disrobe before gunplay. 

The recent mini-renaissance of exploitation cinema results in satisfaction levels being raised and raised high. A film that would have interested fans of the genre in years gone by now appears diluted alongside recent contemporaries. The problem is that Drive Angry sits closer to Piranha 3d than it does Black Dynamite or Death Proof in the pantheon of this nu-exploitation.  This is to be his expected when considering director Patrick Lussier's earlier outing as director of the My Bloody Valentine reboot. Drive Angry rarely gets out of second gear (oh dear) due to its unwillingness to fully commit to its exploitative nature. Cage seems somewhat imprisoned in the role although it is this character type that usually sees Cage's best work (see Bad Lieutenant or Wild at Heart). Usually we can assume that the crazier the film or character the better the performance but the difference in this instance is in the quality of script. Cage's deadpan delivery is not exploited to its fullest due to the lukewarm nature of the humour which rarely stretches far beyond the odd questionably timed 'mother-f**cker'. Lynch and Herzog have displayed an enhaned capability for working to Cage's limited strengths which are not utilised with the same vigour here. 

Drive Angry does make good use of  3d, a cinematic craft not yet mastered in my opinion, and the action sequences are enhanced by this presentation. The days of a films release in 3d being enough to guarantee an audience are past due to the sheer volume of these being issued every month.  Drive Angry has received a 'mixed' reception, to put it respectfully, and looks like it may to struggle to recoup the $50million budget put into its production.

Unfortunately it seems that I have been writing about my disappointment at films not living up to my expectations a lot lately. I really expected Drive Angry to be an all-out exploitation film which would see Cage at his manic best. Instead Drive Angry decided not to enter the overtaking lane, happy enough at it's own pace under the speed limit.

Official Site - http://www.driveangry3d.com 

Ride a White Swan

I feel a bit like a man who has woken from a coma to find that the world has ended. I'm walking the streets to find only abandoned cars and the remnants of a once prosperous human race before looking up at a scarred billboard advertising Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. I must be the last person on earth to see this film... it certainly feels that way. 

The new production needs a new swan queen. A fresh face to present to the world. But which of you can embody both swans? The white and the black? 

Black Swan is the story of young ballerina Nina and the realisation of her aspiration to undertake the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. I do not possess any sort of knowledge of ballet but can acknowledge how far from my crude stereotype Natalie Portman's characterisation, of the relatively psychotic Nina, progresses. Nina has struggled her whole life for perfection and is now struggling to resist her will for perfection as the role of the Black Swan requires a looser, more seductive approach. Alongside this Nina is also battling her over-bearing mother, a failed ballerina with a penchant for rough nail-clipping. This relationship makes for some uncomfortable viewing but is successful in establishing viewer sympathy for the main character. The nail-clipping, symbolic of the clipping of the wings of a bird (or swan), ensures that it does not flee its nest. The wishes of her mother manifest. Black Swan's scenes of horror are the ones that are most affecting and the atmospheric, claustrophobic nature of filming, with primarily hand-held camera, takes the viewer into the cramped apartment Nina shares with artistic mother.

Black Swan, at its best, has a fairytale-like aura which encompasses and allures the viewer. The backstage competition between dancers is really no different to that seen in films like Showgirls but where the films falls in my opinion is in it's refusal to commit to either fairytale, thriller or black comedy. With a budget of $13million Black Swan has some truly affecting scenes. Portman and Kunis' performance of the actual ballet was extremely convincing and the time spent in training certainly successful. I have to confess to hugely enjoying Aronofsky's The Wrestler and I understand that Black Swan has been likened in the shared depiction of individual suffering for their 'art'. Both Portman and Kunis perform well and Winona Ryder, although only in a few scenes is also strong. The casting of Vincent Cassel is slightly questionable and his attempts at seduction not wholly satisfying. I don't know if you ever watch a film and imagine what changes you would have made in terms of casting or production. I do. Imagine Willem Defoe, in Wild at Heart style, whispering in the ear of young Nina. Imagine.

The overriding feeling I take from the film is one of slight disappointment. It is only slight disappointment but I would have liked the film to have been a more visceral depiction of the protagonists struggles. I fully appreciate the premise of the ballerina's absolute embodiment of the role she so longed to play and her actual transformation into the Black Swan is one of the films most memorable scenes. Of these though, there were not enough. Each time the narrative tension was allowed to build, primarily by the genuinely affecting scenes of Nina confronting and handling her supposed psychosis, it was broken by lines such as "Did you have some sort of lezzie wet dream about me? Was I good?" which seem to belong to the pages of another script. Considering the points of detraction, and there are a few, you will not see anything else like Black Swan this year. Of that I can almost guarantee. Did I enjoy the film? Definitely. Was it as good as I hoped. Nope.

Perfect? I'm not perfect. I'm nothing. 

Official Site - http://www.foxsearchlight.com/blackswan

Eye of the Tiger

I'm a big boxing fan. I don't know if that was an advantage or a disadvantage when approaching The Fighter. The Fighter is the story of 'Irish' Micky Ward; a man who is about as close to a real life Rocky Balboa as you are likely to encounter. A boxer of minimal talent but an over-abundance of heart and spirit.

I'm the one who's fighting. Not you, not you, and not you.

Ward's never say die, working class spirit made him the most televised fighter in boxing history. Ward was also involved in Ring magazine's fight of the year consecutively from 2001 to 2003. Memorable fights against Arturo Gatti are the highlights of Micky Ward's career and are widely acknowledged as proof that the sport of boxing still has a life to live. Ward opened a tanning salon in his home town after retiring from the sport and reportedly turned down a seven figure offer to return to the ring. Boxing lesson over.

Portrayed for film by Mark Wahlberg, Ward remains an engaging character throughout the piece and his struggles between family, partner and business are presented well enough for the viewer to experience genuine empathy for the character. Wahlberg and Bale have clearly gone to some extent to visually prepare for the film with Wahlberg bulking up for the part and Bale going to the other extreme.

If you follow my Twitter account you will probably be aware that I am not a big Christian Bale fan; by any sense of the imagination. However, I would struggle to fault his performance in this film. Playing the drug addicted older (half) brother of Ward, Dicky Eklund is the local town hero who fought, and lost to, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. Dicky is a constant drain on Micky and his career but his redemption comes in his tactical awareness and advice which is priceless to Micky in the ring. Outwith this, Micky tolerates his brother only in the name of family. It is clear from the movie that family is important to Micky. He is loyal to the core, even at the expense of his career. This is apparent in the prolonged employment of his Mother as manager. Critical of all outwith the family, she arranges fights for Micky in the name of fast cash, and accuses others of disregarding her son's interests. The rest of Micky's family consists primarily of an immeasurable number of sisters who resemble the female cast of Jersey Shore gone eighties.

Going back to my enjoyment of the sport, and of course the Rocky series, I did feel slightly let down by the fight sequences in The Fighter. The manner in which the scenes were presented was faultless and extremely successful in recalling the look of the era (think early Mike Tyson on ESPN etc.) but the actual boxing was slightly unconvincing. I remember my Dad telling me that Carl Weathers could have been a boxer; you could tell by the way he moves his feet and threw a jab. The same could not be said of Wahlberg. The punching looked unnatural to a boxing purist but to the untrained eye posed no apparent issues. Maybe just a gripe of my own but I never pretended to be anything but a perfectionist.  

The film has received generally positive reviews and you can count this as another. It has received nomination for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. In my opinion the film is available for the enjoyment of both boxing and non-boxing fans alike. You can call it predictable but you have to remember it's a true story.

Official Site - http://www.thefightermovie.com

True Romance..?

Originally due to shoot in 2008, the filming of Blue Valentine was delayed due to the death of Heath Ledger. Filming took place in Brooklyn, New York and stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The main attention grabber for the film was hype generated by the NC-17 rating given for release in American cinemas. Changed through appeal the old no such thing as bad press adage has been well applied.

The story follows the tribulations of a young couple falling in, and subsequently out of, love. Removal man Dean pursues the unrealistically sought after student Cindy and cannot be deterred by pregnancy or beating. The story you expect to shift from bliss to misery never really reaches the heights of bliss as the undertones of the film are relatively desperate. From meeting to marriage the couples encounters, although realistic, are not particularly heart-warming save for the stand out scene that sees Dean serenade the dancing Cindy on his old ukulele.

There are two musical elements that are intrinsic to Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. The first is the title shared with the 1978 Tom Waits album containing classics Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis and Kentucky Avenue.The second was less obvious but lies within the narrative of the film. If protagonist Dean had debts that no honest man could pay we would have the on-screen projection of the pertinent storyline apparent throughout the work of Bruce Springsteen. The problem is that the film does not live up to the promise offered by connections with these two artists.

Dean is an honest man trying to make an honest living but that's not enough to maintain an ultimately antique relationship. It seems that we follow our parents and as such replicate their (un)successful attempts at love and marriage. Are those who come from a broken home ultimately destined to create the same for their children and is this lesson learned of our parents suffering? Shall we abandon ship before it is too late? In Blue Valentine we do.

The narrative problems are caused in part by the manner in which the story is told as we jump from meeting to greetin' (crying if you are not Scottish) and back again. This serves to break the story and contributes to the problem that I never believed that Cindy loved Dean.. she settled for the best offer available.

I feel like men are more romantic than women. When we get married we marry, like, one girl, 'cause we're resistant the whole way until we meet one girl and we think I'd be an idiot if I didn't marry this girl she's so great. But it seems like girls get to a place where they just kinda pick the best option... 'Oh he's got a good job.' I mean they spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then they marry the guy who's got a good job and is gonna stick around.

Throughout the film I never doubted that Dean was honest in his intentions however the relationship built between the two main characters of 500 Days of Summer (2009) for example, is never replicated in Blue Valentine. This results in the dissolution of the relationship having less of an impact on the viewer. Honestly, Cindy's happiness is of no concern to me come the end of the film and the painter's efforts to reconcile with the newly redundant nurse are obviously vain form the outset.  The film is not without redemption and Gosling's performance is particularly good. The overall sense is one of unreached potential rather than overall disappointment.

Official Site - www.bluevalentinemovie.com