Some body count (Out this week - 21/09/12)

At first I was going to write about the sudden dramatic change in tone between the generally upbeat lite-comedy of last weekend and the thumping visceral action heavy output of this weekend.  But then I stopped to think whether that was really true and of course it's not.  It's just the films that appeal to me have changed.  It's a quirk of the scheduling that meant last weekend we have Meryl Streep and Woody Allen and now it's Brad Pitt and Oliver Stone.  So with a zero body count from 7 days ago I'm about to head to cinemas with the sure knowledge that will be crushed.  I'm thinking over 30 corpses between the two top films.  With the Runs like a Gay film of the week Killing Them Softly

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.  So said Mark Twain in his autobiography.  So bearing that in mind I'm calling last weekend's box office prediction a success.  What?  But RLAG said it would be ParaNorman yet any idiot with a Guardian can see it's The Sweeney claiming the crown.  Yes, true, but Nick Love's gritty crime flick (you see there were some last week) only squeezes into pole if you take into account two days of previews, an advantage the zombie tackling stop-motion didn't have, take that out and Laika studios are the clear winners.  Take that Regan and Carter, hooray for the misunderstood kid.  There are two action flicks competing this weekend, both with similar screen counts, but I think the shorter running time and generally better reviews will enable Killing Them Softly to edge ahead, making it the first time in ages the film of the week is also predicted as box office champ.

Killing Them Softly

It is generally agreed that Andrew Dominik's last movie, the intense balletic Jesse James film, is a modern masterpiece.  So all eyes were on his follow up at Cannes earlier in the year.  It comes as no surprise that the adaptation of George V. Higgins' pulp 70's novel hasn't quite reached the standards of his previous film, but it seems punchy and didactic and should still be an exciting and unmissable film event.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○

Read on for drug cartels out of control, a special tool for ladies, more buildings you shouldn't go into and every trailer for films released this weekend.



There's a hint of Dominik's assured work behind the camera and this could be another knock out performance from Brad Pitt.  Honestly how could you resist?

Savages

Never a film maker renowned for his subtlety it looks like Oliver Stone has temporarily dropped the champagne socialism for a balls to the wall drug cartel action flick, featuring every Hispanic actor you know and a few up and coming white stars as the heroes this does seem to promise suitable amounts of mayhem and violence.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○

Hysteria

Prepare for everything you though you knew about the sex life of Victorians to be wrong as you enter into the strange beginnings of the vibrators.  First produced and marketed as a medical aid to calm hysterical woman this fun period drama (more like Carry on Merchant Ivory) sees the patriarchal doctors, led by Jonathan Pryce telling the women what's best for their ailments whilst Maggie Gyllenhaal's proto-feminist is keen to tell him it's only about pleasure.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Heroine


It's a Bollywood movie about Bollywood, centering around a star trying to stay at the top of her game.  I'm not sure whether casting massive star Kareena Kapoor in the leading role will help, but it's warts and all look inside the Inidan movie business is bound to gets bums on seats so we can expect this to slip into the fringes of the top ten this weekend.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○ 

House at the end of the Street

I can't claim to have learnt that much advice for living from trips to the multiplex.  Sure I've picked up some stuff about history, but for every moral there's another film that subverts it.  Except in the case of horror where it is the perceived wisdom that if a serial killing once took place in a house then it's best to just get the fuck out of there.  I don't think Elisabeth Shue and Jennifer Lawrence are quite as cine-literate as I am.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Inbred

Yorkshire based horror which sees a bunch of delinquents from London off on a field trip with their right-on carers only to find it'a particularly grim up north when the locals fancy a bit of torture the newbies.  A friend of mine from Yorkshire pointed the trailer out to me months ago and got all flustered about the regional stereotyping.  It gets an extra blob just for that.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Now is Good

It's Love Story meets The Bucket List as Dakota Fanning goes all Cancer won't defeat me in this young adult weepie.  I hear it hits all the marks for the teenage target audience and the solid presence of Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams will have the adults in tears too.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Tower Block

The vagaries of production times and release dates means we get the second James Moran script in a few weeks and whilst this doesn't have the enjoyable tone of Cockneys vs Zombies there's still a notable tension in this mysterious sniper in the council estate thriller.  Nice cast of TV names too.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Untouchable

It's broken box office records in it's native France and proved to be an enormous crowd pleasing success across Europe and America, so it'll be interesting to see how this dramedy about a quadriplegic millionaire Francois Cluzet and the former thug he hires to care for him Omar Sy does in the UK.  If you ask me the tone is a little difficult to pin down, with it's nauseating "we all have disabilities" theme.  Maybe I'm just too cynical.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

You are God

Polish flick with a a tiny release window.  Telling the true story of Eastern European rap outfit Paktofonika and their tragic fron man Magik.  I imagine this is a movie playing very much to it's core audience, but if you're interested in the history of rap and how it's been taken up across the globe this should be worth catching.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

How to Make Love to a Woman

If you do want to see this instructional comedy, in the vein of a marginally less bawdy American Pie, then you've already missed your chance as it hung around in a limited number of cinemas during week nights only.  Still it won't be long before it appears in a bargain bin near you.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

The Prophet

I wanted to give this odd documentary more blobs but I honestly couldn't justify it, however the almost performance reading aspects - Thandie Newton voice overs extracts from Kahil Gibran's cult guide to living - whilst Gary Tarn finds some notable and exquisitely related things to film.  This is more art than art-house and almost certainly deserves checking out if you're able to do so.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Read More...

Summary only...

Hope Springs

2012. Dir: David Frankel. Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart and Elisabeth Shue. ●●●○○



Hope Springs is a film about middle aged couples sleeping. Admittedly there's a lot of chat about sex, a few love-making scenes played largely for laughs, and ostensibly the plot hangs on an intensive couples counselling course for frustrated housewife Meryl Streep and her stand-offish hubby Tommy Lee Jones. Yet the most significant change appears to relate to their night-time arrangements with Jones starting the film in the spare bedroom and moving back to the master suite by the closing credits (it's not a spoiler, were you honestly expecting divorce papers?) and the action is punctuated by Jones dropping off either in front of the TV or on the sofa-bed. This is a helpful hint to the viewer. It's OK to fall asleep during this movie. Go on, close your eyes, you won't miss anything...



Note, I am not saying David Frankel's film is boring (even if at 100 minutes it slightly outstays it's welcome) just that the movie is so relaxed, so gentle it doesn't seem to care if you nod off. Indeed it's almost designed that way.

Something is clearly wrong in Kay and Arnold's 31 year marriage.  Meryl, as Kay, is ruffling her hair and adjusting her nightgown to entice Jones to an evening of sexual indulgence.  Alas he's not in the mood - he even has a headache if you can believe it - so Meryl must return frustrated and flustered to her boudoir.  The morning after, with it's lack of eye-contact and air of officious routine highlights the steady decline in their relationship, and seems to be the norm, unrelated to the previous night's snub.  Spontaneity, romance, even those tiny signals of affection have all deserted Tommy Lee Jones in his twilight years.

Realising it's up to her to break the monotony, Meryl books the couple couple into an intensive course of relationship counselling (focusing on sex) under the watchful gaze of subdued Steve Carell.  Over the course of therapy our wedded pair must remind each other of why they originally fell in love, away from the hustle and bustle of their schedules in the Maine town of Great Hope Springs.  In order to reignite that spark Jones will have to face up to his bullying attitude and inability to address his own insecurities and fear of intimacy, whilst Streep will allow her confidence to blossom, opening up avenues in her sexuality.

Except that's not quite what happens.  Like most therapy related movies the denouement is rushed to make the point - the problems in this marriage couldn't be fixed in five days, surely?  So when they do have sex again it's not the fumble on the cinema back row, the champagne and strawberries or even the introspection and analysis that appear to be the catalyst.  Instead it's Jones' fear of loneliness and the overbearing Annie Lennox singing "Why" on the soundtrack which is then dressed up as the answer to all their problems.  Of course Jones still can't admit to his hangups and Streep has developed a shrewish streak, but in the world of Hope Springs they're finally shagging giving us the happy ending we want.

Streep and Jones make an interesting coupling.  They're at their best when the two of them are alone, relying on their physicality more than the dialogue, able to reveal intense and significant shared histories through a glance, the smallest of gestures or the briefest of touches.  Unfortunately when they have to connect with other cast members, especially during the counselling, Jones plays the "I don't want to be there" card so convincingly I thought he meant the film and Streep is working the facial tic for two - there's one scene where I swear she was about to launch into her Shakespeare monologue she was emoting so much.  Thankfully Carell has the balance right, projecting genuine concern with just the right touch of forcefulness when required.

Frankel doesn't make his presence behind the camera known but there are some nice touches vis a vis the staging, with a story being told purely in the positions the lead couple take up at the counselling sessions.  It's a shames the mood is occasionally jarred by the over-insistent soundtrack, painfully on-the-nose it appears to have been selected with i-pod shuffle on a fifty something's easy listening playlist.

Overall, in spite of all my misgivings, I did enjoy this movie.  There are times in every relationship where you aren't getting the sex (either frequency or variation) you want so the central conceit resonates.  However the film is neither a knock out sex farce nor the tragedy of a disillusioned marriage that it could be and going either way on that may have improved the overall experience. I would wait until it's showing on TV, and sit in front of it digesting a hearty meal.  You might take 40 winks in the middle but the film doesn't seem to mind and the effect of being woken up by Streep talking about oral sex can't be underestimated.

Read More...

Summary only...

Elisabeth Shue

Happy Birthday to

Elisabeth Shue

48 today

Curiously prior to her career defining turn in Leaving Las Vegas Shue was mainly known for playing inconsequential girlfriends to Ralph Maccio, Michael J. Fox and Tom Cruise. Now of course I can't think of her without wondering why she's sitting so gingerly. It's just inferior genre fare on the horizon these days though.

Read More...

Summary only...

Elisabeth Shue

Happy Birthday to

Elisabeth Shue

47 today

It was always going to b a hard act to follow, so I imagine part of the reason for lowering the age of the protagonists in the Karate Kid remake was to avoid comparisons for the girl against Shue perfect performance as the object of many teenage desires.

Read More...

Summary only...

Who is Salt, What? Is she? (Out this week - 20/08/10)

It's an action packed week of high octane entertainment whichever way you look. In fact there's little chance of making it to a cinema without geting involved in a gun fight or a massive chase sequence whether you're running from big muscles, big fish or big lips. I'm torn beween Jolie and Stallone for the box office campionship but I imagine the former has more cross appeal and will therefore get more couples could be a close one. In terms of my choice for film of the week be aware that I'm writing this one week in advance so the score for a certain fish film is yet to be finalised and I've heard rumours that the latest Danny Dyer pic (Basement) is to be rushed into screens but I've yet to get any official confirmation. That said it's highly unlikely that any of the films will look better than Salt.



The Expendables

Sylvester Stallone has assembled "the most awesome action cast ever" for this predicatable CIA backed drug lord revenge action flick and much has been made of the Planet Hollywood reunion - personally I'd be more interested in seeing Greenwich Village alumni Eric Roberts and Mickey Rourke as snarling villian and wisecraking mechanic respectively.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○



The Illusionist

Based on an unfilmed script by genius French comedian Jacques Tati, Sylvain Chomet follow-up to the madcap Triplets of Belleville uses the same animation style and is bound to pick upsome serious fans worldwide for it's sly visual humour.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Marmaduke

The kind of talking animal pictue that makes Kitty Galorelook like a masterpiece in cinematic art. Run away and pray Owen Wilson can't sniff you out. Also starring William H. Macy.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Mother

Joon-ho Bong's latest movie takes a long hard look at the relationship between Mother and Son following accusations of murder. Hye-ja Kim's performance as the titular matriach is rumoured to be excellent.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Piranha 3D

It promises much in the way of bitey fish and many semi-naked women. I doubt there's much space for a coherent plot or "fleshed out" characters, but then why would any of the intended audience be looking for that. Richard Dreyfuss and Elisabeth Shue prove they can't get any other work.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Salt

Anjelina Jolie is accused of being Russian agent and then goes on the run - now that just looks horribly guilty. I don't believe any amount of disguise would hide Jolie's beauty but I think I'll be going to the nearest multiplex to see.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○

I know it's not confirmed - but I wouldn't want to miss the chance of taking a good look at Danny Dyer.

Read More...

Summary only...

Leaving Las Vegas

1995. Dir: Mike Figgis. Starring: Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands, Richard Lewis and Steven Weber. ●●●●○

Leaving Las Vegas is not a film for the light hearted. It contains very frank and explicit scenes of alcoholism and prostition, without the Hollywood sugar coating. For those who are able to make it through the tough exterior they will find a glorious film inside.


The plot can be summarised in one matchbox sized sentence: Drunk moves to Las Vegas to die and meets tart with a heart. Indeed when you boil it down there isn't much more to the story than that.

Nicolas Cage, as Ben Sanderson, is an alcoholic in Hollywood who, on losing his job, decides to end his life by drinking himself to death in Las Vegas, the city where the bars never close. Elisabeth Shue is Sera the prostitute who's pimp, Julian Sands, is just letting her go (partly due to his paranoia and partly to protect her from the Russian mafia out to get him). Ben and Sera meet up and an unusual and close bond is formed between them. A bond that exists on one proviso, that Sear allows Ben to drink and Ben does not attack Sera's way of life.

Thinsg do not go completely to play. Suffice to say the ending is pretty tragic, however the acceptance and forgiveness that the odd couple display towards each up to that point is very touching.

In my last random review (Long days Journey into Night) nearly all of the cast had to display various levels of drunkeness and drug taking. Here Cage does not merely portray the effects of having a drink, but also the long term physiological changes. He sweats, vomits and shakes in almost every scene - his behaviour is erratic and uncontrolled and he shows huge swings in confidence and understanding of his situation. It's a masterful performance which rightly earned Cage the Best Actor Oscar.

Shue does not has the tics and traits of alcoholism to hide behind, yet in my mind she gives a superior performance. Deep in her eyes you can see her shifting perceptions of Ben, Yuri and her clients, and you can really understand when and why she asks Ben to see a doctor and the hurt she feels when he betrays her.

Figgis and cinematographer Declan Quinn do a fine job of the look and feel of the film, shooting in 16mm, generally with long takes and a moving camera. As a result the film has a spontaneous and documentary feel to it.

The main issue I would say that the film has is the misogynism apparent in the script, and it's something that reoccurs in most of Figgis's work. It is not enough that Sera is gang-raped, but it has to be an anal rape scene, and all of the supporting female roles are either sexual objects or shrews.

Read More...

Summary only...