I'm making it official. This is the worst weekend of the year so far, filled with dull unimaginative studio fodder and below average foreign language imports. If it wasn't for British independent cinema I'd probably write a stern letter of complaint. Perhaps even more bizarrely I'm plumping for an inverse horror movie as the top pick, anyone taking up my recommendation will have the opportunity to watch Toby Jones watch a grisly Giallo movie whilst cutting up vegetables, sounds odd but the trailer is deliciously suspenseful. The runs like a gay film of the week is Berberian Sound Studio.
Last week I massively overestimated the popularity of TV celebrity character Keith Lemmon and failed to take into account the largely absent reviews and bus-side advertising. It didn't flop like a fat man on a diving board achieving the highest gross for a newly released movie, but it did struggle to make much of an impact on the top ten, with Pixar's Brave still at the top of the charts. This weekend I suspect Total Recall will just about manage to scrape it's way to the top, but I won't be surprised if The Watch pips it to the post.
Berberian Sound Studio
Toby Jones, whose probably the most underutilised Great British actor working today, gets a moment in the sunshine (or is that moonlight) in this spooky British thriller about a stuffy foley artist creating the sound effects and ADR work on an Italian splatter fest. You don't see the film, but you do see the affect it has on poor Toby's sanity and the odd watermelon.
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Read on for forgotten moments, a classic genre mash-up and two Alien comedies as well as all the trailers for this weeks releases.
It's certainly cut like a horror movie, well worth the journey to see it.
Cockneys vs Zombies
Clearly the most bonkers film of the week is this Brit horror comedy about a group of East End caricatures and the residents of a Nursing home taking on the undead. I laughed at Richard Briers outrunning a zombie on a zimmerframe so there's certainly potential here.
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Joker
So if you watch just one inter-galactic comedy this weekend it should probably be this Hindi movie starring superstar Akshay Kumar. Set in the fictional republic of Paglapur, a village on the border of India and Pakistan that no-one wanted during the partition, facing tough economic times they invent the story of a full-scale Alien invasion to boost tourism. Only maybe it's not as fictional as they originally thought.
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Myth of the American Sleepover
David Robert Mitchell's slowburn youth picture has a good pedigree from the festival circuit, and indeed the wistful remembrance of the summers of our youth looks interesting and will no doubt stir up all of our repressed or half-imagined tales of our late teens, however will need to be more than that to really find an audience.
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[Rec]3 Genesis
I thought this parallel story to the first 2 Rec movies had already come out, but it turns out it was just previewing back in May. Anyway the zombies (?) have invaded a wedding reception and the found footage meme gets lost halfway through. Probably not as groundbreaking as the first of these Spanish creature features it'll still have a few fans.
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Total Recall
It's interesting how Philip K. Dick's "We can Remember it for your Wholesale" has, on both adapatations, perfectly encapsulated the action cinema world around it, so the 1990 Shwarzenegger version was bright, bloody and subversive, but now with Colin Farell is visually stunning, violent without consequences and scripted by committee. Still it gets a point for not casting Ethan Hawke.
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The Watch
It's earned a reputation as being one of the unluckiest movies of the year, with unfortunate connections to global news events, however that doesn't make the movie good and judging by the trailer and the appalling US take this just isn't good enough. I have a message for Richard Ayolade and Jonah Hill - you're better than this rubbish find a decent project to work with. Thank you.
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Yuma
Polish true life crime thriller where the titular youth rises from a petty criminal, shoplifting trainees, to the most feared and powerful bank robbers in the Eastern bloc. Expect early 90's bling aplenty, and the occasional throwback song choice.
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Few Best Men
If you thought The Hangover was a little too reserved then this UK/Aussie collaboration starring a few British TV stars and Olivia Newton-John, and featuring a plethora of jokes about sex, drugs and stag do shenanigans might be for you. Probably not for the rest of us.
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Mr. Marumakan
Two of this weeks releases, both minor output from the subcontinent, are so low key they don't even have IMDb pages. This Malayalam entry is the first, a seriocomic fantasy about business corruption and nepotism. Not playing in many cinemas.
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Mugamoodi
The Tamil option is surprisingly under-advertised given that it appears to be a straight up superhero movie, with Batman inspired costuming (admittedly I'm talking Schumacher's version). I'll certainly keep an eye out on how this performs over the weekend.
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The Possession
It's the Jewish exorcist! The trailer is surprisingly effective in putting the chills and thrills of this demon (or dibbuk) horror front and centre, but it's still derivative and devoid of depth according to the reviews. Best not bothered with.
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Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery
It's only out today in a selection of cinemas, and at barely 70 minutes long this Thomas adventure is really just an extended TV show. It might keep the kids entertained, but the sun is out so there's probably better things to do with the last weekend before school's go back.
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And finally last weekend I missed the tiny release of
Tim and Eric Billion Dollar Movie
Well it was only on at the Prince Charles for 2 nights so you can't really blame me. It's clearly aimed at the fans of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's Awesome show, with it's surreal sketch comedy and celebrity cameos (hello Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Zach Gallifiankis) and the plot of a meglamaniac Robert Loggia funding the billion dollar enterprise seems to be just an excuse to let the duo do their shtick.
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Saturday, 1 September 2012
You won't believe your ears (Out this week - 31/08/12)
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Kicking Ass Jakarta Style (Out this week - 18/05/12)
With 11 new releases this is a slightly quieter week than we've been having recently but still more than enough films to peruse and make a valid choice of what to watch, saying that nothing is really a must see (for me anyway) so the week as a whole is easily in the second tier of opening weekends. Whilst Julie Delphy has been doing a really good job of getting me interested in her film that last couple of weeks it should come a little surprise to anyone that one of the best reviewed action flicks of the last 10 years has found it's way to my recommendation. 2 hours of non-stop martial arts glory the Runs Like a Gay film of the week has to be The Raid.
Last week I was wrong to shocking levels, foolishly supposing Tim and Johnny could displace Avengers Assemble from the top of the UK box office charts. Needless to say not only did the poorly received TV adaptation (I'm even struggling to write my review) fail to do that it only managed third place behind American Reunion. This week only Sacha Baron Cohen has any chance of beating the superhero squad, and I'm inclined to ehink his British fans - this is his stomping ground after all - and the fact that Iron Man et al are on the fourth week of release will lead to The Dictator sneaking to the top. I won't be at all surprised if it fails to do so though.
The Raid
The critics have gone crazy over Gareth Evans (yes, he's Welsh) breakout feature starring martial arts star Iko Uwais leading a squad of highly trained elite swat team sent to take down a notorious drug lord in his commandeered tower block. Only hundreds of goons are awaiting them. Cue 2 hours of non-stop balletic action.
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Read on for two very different tourists in New York, feminist Arabic cinema and the answer to what's on the dark side of the moon.
I don't think the entire movie has much more dialogue than we see here in the trailer, but rest assured the fight choreography will blow your mind.
2 Days in New York
Yes, that is an exceptionally short trailer, but what I've really liked about teh advertising campaign for Julie Delphy's follow-up to her 2 Days in Paris is the mini-trailers which accentuate a single joke that play between other trailers here in the UK. Her and Chris Rock have been everywhere promoting the film, and they are both hilarious and vibrant interviewees, so this could do quite well in limited release.
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The Dictator
Sacha Baron Cohen, known for his absurd comic creations Borat and Bruno is now attempting to fit one directly into a narrative with General Aladeen a satirical reflection of recently toppled despots Gaddafi and Sadam Hussein, going to New York and then getting lost in the big streets. Ben Kingsley and John C. Reilly shamelessly mug for the additional cash.
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She Monkeys
Part sports drama (about dressage so far as I can ascertain) part coming of age story and part Lesbian thriller this tale of two teenage girls initiating a relationship whilst one gets drunk on the intoxicating feeling of control is bound to turn a few heads.
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The Source
For every sci-fi dud Luc Besson produces there's also a odd comedy/drama that deserves attention, such as this one, set in an un-named Arabic community where the Women go on a strike, withholding sexual favours, until their husbands pipe water into the village. From this distance it looks both touching and amusing so could well be worth seeking out.
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Department
Amitabn Bachchan, who we forget in the West is the most famous film star in the World, is back as a shady underworld boss in this violent looking Bollywood actioner. The Department of the title is a additional, secretive wing of the police dedicated to crushing organised crime using any method.
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Even the Rain
Gael Garcia Bernal is in Bolivia making a film about Christopher Columbus and how he exploited the natives, whilst barely paying the extras at all. A documentary crew are following the film and get caught up in investigating how the Government are in turn exploiting the locals by privatising water supplies. Parallels can be drawn all over the place in this heavy handed but well-meaning piece.
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If I want to Whistle, I Whistle
Romanian co-production that should probably be getting more coverage than it is about a teenager in a youth offending unit who's fours years of good behaviour unravel in the last 10 days of his sentence. New inmates, family pressures and a sexy new intern all contribute to the escalating sense of a lack of control.
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Iron Sky
Nazi's have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since the close of the second World War in this Finish exploitation flick that started life as a bonkers teaser trailer premièred in Cannes five years ago. It probably isn't as good as the premise sounds, in spite of Udo Kier's presence, oddly it gets only a single day release (next Wednesday) here in the UK.
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Mayamohini
I'm not sure, but I think this is a cross-dressing Malayalam comedy. Either that or it's an ugly female lead. Please don't hate me for that comment.
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DeadTime
Gory Birmingham based horror with a cast of unknowns and the odd celebrity cameo - hello Terry Christian - with a rock band out to make a ground-breaking pop video in an abandoned warehouse being terrorised by a dead star and Satan himself.
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Thursday, 9 February 2012
Carnage
2011. Dir: Roman Polanski. Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly and Elvis Polanski. ●●●○○
I think I may have nailed my colours a little too ostensibly on the mast. I generally try to list five performances at the start of the post, in this case choosing the first four was a piece of cake - they're the only speaking parts - but the next is a decision between the two boys, the sons of the warring couples, the spark that ignites the breakdown of the veneer of civilisation. Of course the real decision was based on the credits alone but it does give the impression I sided with the Cowans. Ridiculous I know, how could you side with any of the warped frightful animals at play in Roman Polanski's Carnage.
The film opens in Brooklyn Bridge Park, presumably filmed by a second unit director rather begging the question why Polanski didn't just film it in Paris in the French Yasmina Reza original used, where two adolescents play innocently until all of a sudden one is alone, victimised and in a sudden burst of anger he swings the tree branch he carries and...
Cut to:
Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly as Mr. & Mrs. Longstreet, parents of the injured party preparing a statement concerning the incident for Momma and Poppa Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz). They're in an apartment we won't leave until the end credits. They haggle, reasonably, over the wording. Armed with vs. carrying. Exchange pleasantries then the Cowan's make to leave, yet somehow they don't, somehow the two couples are trapped in a cycle of progressive discussion, liberal one-upmanship and intense bickering as the façade of bourgeois respectability is ripped away as the animal instincts and repressed tensions burst forth in a stunning display of aggressive inhumanity.
It goes without saying that Reza wasn't writing a plot based drama, the aim is to hold up a mirror to the hypocritical chianti-quaffing theatregoing literati, to remind us (and I include myself in the intellectual class that like to imagine we're above the type of behaviour exhibited on Jeremy Kyle) that we are just naked apes, a few generations on from our cave dwelling ancestors, able to slip back into that constant battle for survival and alpha status within the group.
In itself this is interesting and the shifting perspectives and loyalties between the couples as their individual moral standards are attacked and the deeper fundamental beliefs exposed and challenged. Each of the quartet is ultimately struggling with middle-class guilt and an inability to connect with their kids, the Generation X knowing both the disciplinarian parental style and the little adult hippie approach has failed but unable to find a third way. At the same time little nuggets of information, be it Reilly's dislike of hamsters, Waltz's corporate client, Foster's concept of justice or Winslet's relativism are carried through the piece, dropped quietly then lifted back into the conversation in bitter and unexpected ways.
The performances are a mixed bag, surprising for such a small prestige cast list. The stand out is Christoph Waltz's sly, self-aware and urbane lawyer, the first to highlight the hypocrisies around the room and to admit his own failings. At the other end of the scale is Jodie Foster, shrill and excitable she's playing to the back of the stalls. I also thought only John C. Reilly handled the later scenes effectively - whilst his co-stars were slurring and staggering for twenty minutes embarrassingly over-egging the drunkeness he was the only one with the common sense to remember that we try to not look drunk when drunk and hold it back.
Some reviews have picked on the staginess of the film, something almost inevitable when adapting a one-act single location play, and whilst it did reek of it's origins I don't count that as a failing. Polanski's own Death and the Maiden (1994) and Mike Nichol's 1966 masterpiece Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe were both stage plays with small casts that felt restricted, but the power of the theme or performances breaks that boundary. Here it's essential that the characters are trapped in the surroundings and luckily the setting makes us feel trapped too.
I would also like to praise the look of the film, from Milena Canonero's character specific costuming to Franckie Diago's set decoration, actually this felt perfect, everything from the art tablebooks to the ethic decor oozing a sense of intellectual entitlement. I've been to houses like these, neither the crumbling monasteries of academia or the child friendly homes of suburbia (I only remember one photo of the family and nothing in the house looked like the kids would be involved), they exist in order to be shown off at dinner parties and gatherings of like minded individuals. Equally Pawel Edelman's cinematography both accentuated the space whilst slowly disintegrating in form and function with the breakdown of the characters.
I also like the end shot, I won't spoil it but there's a satisfying return to playground politics that renders the whole breakdown of society mute.
Ultimately though this is all just an intellectual exercise, it's a piece of performance art, as such it works but dramatically it goes nowhere. Yes vomit is expelled, tears are spilt, whisky is downed and Kate Winslet vandalises a perfectly good arrangement of tulips screeching "Why are we still in this house?" but nothing really happens and the message is so obvious that there's little to stick around for. Earlier I invoked the parallels with Virginia Woolfe, where that stagey talky violence is a horrendous tragedy hiding behind a sexual farce whereas here we have a black comedy pretending to be serious. Waltz professes a belief in the God of Carnage, I have a belief in Melpomeme the Muse of tragedy and she wasn't worshipped anywhere near enough in this utterly missable hour and a half of vitriol.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Sniffle sniffle (Out this week - 21/10/11)
Last week the huge selection of high profile big ticket releases none of them managed to take the box office lead over the Rowan Atkinson's spy spoof so this week where the most significant release is about germs then I suspect Johnny English is going to hang on for another week. There's some pretty decent arthouse fare this week to, so whatever you're into you know your local cinema's going to provide for your niche. Film of the week is, drum role please, Contagion.
Contagion
I had Steven Soderbergh's flu thriller at the top of my most anticipated movies for 2011, and whilst my enthusiasm has dipped a little it's a natural choice for the top film this week, with it's souped up cast list and chilly directorial style I expect the only fun to be had is trying to figure which famous face will be the next to go.
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We need to Talk about Kevin
Tilda Swinton has another career defining performance, in a CV dominated by them, as the helpless and hapless mother to a monster in the film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's devastating novel. John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller co-star.
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Hwanghae
Or The Yellow Sea. South Korean hitman movie that comes as a timely reminded that some of the most exciting action work takes place in the far East. Our anti-hero is a gabling addicted cabbie who signs up for murder in order to repay his debst and get his wife back, but will he only have to kill the once?
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Restless
It's fair to say that Gus van Sant's latest film, which clearly apes the feel of Harold and Maude or Love Story (doomed protagonists you see) as well as a touch of magical realism in the form of a kamikaze ghost, is unique and original, but when renowned critic Armond White says it's the worst film he's seen this year you have to wonder if there's something in his comments.
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Bendeyar
The Turkish film industry is a bit of a mystery to me, whilst reasonably prolific only a few films make it over here and the releases are sporadic without a feel for the community. This part-thriller, part plea for religious tolerance, features an action heavy plot interrupted by CIA backed telepaths. Yes, you heard that right.
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Four
More concept than movie the single set (an abandoned warehouse, please) London thriller with character types (cuckold, private eye, lover and wife) trying to get the upper hand following a kidnapping.
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Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
The first of two movie aimed at the pre-teen girl market (it's half-term didn't you know) concerns the titular third grader making the most of her vacation. Presumably she doesn't waste time with movies like this.
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Monte Carlo
Or if you're slightly older you may want to try this mistaken identity whirldwind romance, with three cash strapped American's suddenly the centre of a media storm in Monaco when one looks like a ringer for a British heiress. Isn't it usually the other way round?
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Paranormal Activity 3
I had completed forgotten that Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were directing this second sequel, straight from the success of their was it or wasn't it a documentary Catfish. No way of hiding the reality of this unanticipated trip back in time to watch a ghost do nothing.
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Reuniting the Rubins
If Honor Blackman were my Grandmother I suspect I'd want to make up wit my estranged siblings on her death bed, if only to get her to say how much she loves us in that husky Pussy Galore voice. So there's the premise of this Brit comedy almost ruined because you couldn't stay angry for long, pity.
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Friday, 29 April 2011
By Odin's Beard (Out this week - 29/04/11)
Summer's Here!!! We know this not because certain birds are singing, or flowers budding, or even the increasing temperature, but becuase the cinema schedules tell us so. The first of the tentpole movies has been unleased onto the unsuspecting movie public today (although actually it's been on at UK cinemas since Monday) and what with the positive reviews, and the fact that it's the one comic book adaptation this year that interests me, I'm going to say the movie of the week is Thor.
Thor
Marvel have cornered this end of the blockbuster season, with the Norse God taking over the spot from Iron Man last year, even the marketing here in the UK has emphasised this is from the same studio. Chris Hemsworth is the headline but quality supporting turns from Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins should be expected.
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Cedar Rapids
Indie comedy starring Ed Helms ("The Office", Hangover) as a naive insurance salesman sent to the annual insurance convention. Unfortunately he meets up with other, less strait-laced colleagues - including John C. Reilly - who slowly begin to push him towards an inevitable breakdown. Sigourney Weaver also stars.
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Farewell
True life spy story about the eponymously codenamed Russian who slipped secrets to his CIA counterparts in 1981. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica plays our anti-hero with Guillame Canet, Willem Dafoe and Fred Ward among those using his info to good use. Solid looking movie that highlights a lesser-known element of the closing of the cold war.
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I Saw the Devil
Kim Jee-woon flips genre's agian with this Korean revenge movie to end all Korean revenge movies. The plot essentially involves a cop who repeated captures and tortures a killer before letting him go and starting the process again. Expect lots of gore.
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Insidious
Original Saw director James Wan has teamed up with Paranormal Activity producer for a derivative horror that's still managed to make back something like 30 times it's budget in US cinemas alone. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne have a haunted son, Barbara Hershey comes along for the ride.
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Chalo Dilli
A Bollywood version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles with a cool headed female protagonist finding herself travelling with the ladies man from hell. Akshay Kumar has a supporting role which should guarantee a crowd.
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Shadow
Italian horror movie, that's taken a couple of years to secure a UK release. Concerns a young soldier on a biking expedition running into some unsavoury locals who like nothing more than chopping up strangers. You have to wonder if there really are weidos like that in every rural space?
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Tracker
Ray Winston is a Boer (who does this casting?) paid to find Maori murder suspect Temeura Morrison in this UK/New Zealand co-production. That's a great combo of actors and the film hints at British war atrocities during the empire's heyday however there's a definite sense of familiarity over the whole project.
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The Veteran
Messy looking british movie about an Afganistan vet (Toby Kebbell) finding it difficult to adjust to life in the council estates following his repatriation. It all ends in mass gunfights with marauding hoodies and Brian Cox. Unlikely to be a subtle investigation into the struggles our troops face.
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Naturally I missed a couple out from last week:
Island
Janet McTeer, Colin Morgan and Natalie Press are the torn apart family rediscovering each other and working through their differences in this drama set on a lonely Scottish island.
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Ko
Tamil movie that opens with a bank heist and from then on proverbial really hits the fan. Frankly Tamil releases are even harder to find a synopsis for than other Bollywood entries and the trailers bonkers crazy so that's all I can give you.
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Saturday, 11 September 2010
Frolicking in the Countryside (Out this week - 10/09/10)
Closely fought campaign for film of the week with two big comedies slugging it out for the top spot. I'm not sure which of them will take the box office crown, or if Milla Jovovich Will steal it away from them. In the end I've plumped for the British option (got to support the local produce) and will be going to see Tamara Drewe
Alamar
Low key Mexican family drama about a five year old getting aquainted with his father whilst learning how to fish. Either mesmerising or twee depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing.
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Boss Engira Bhaskaran
Standard Bollywood romantic comedy with the titular hero turning his life around on discovering love. Ahhh.
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Cyrus
Just failing to make the grade this week is the latest film from the Duplass Brothers, and their first departure from their mumblecore background. John C. Reilly plays lonely divorcee falling for Marisa Tomei only to have to compete with her obsessive son Jonah Hill. Catherine Keener also stars.
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Going the Distance
It seems to have been previewing for months but the latest Drew Barrymore rom-com finally opens properly this weekend. Still looks saccharine and twee mind.
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My Son, My Son, What have ye Done
Warner Herzog has amassed a knock out cast (including Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, Chloe Sevigny and Michael Shannon) for this why dunnit murder mystery set in the quiet suburban driveways of middle America, but there seems to be little thought as to why we should watch.
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Resident Evil: Afterlife
Easily the most annoying trailer of the week, with director Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich re-teaming for the fourth installment of zombie battles based on the superior computer games.
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The Runaways
The all-girl rock band on which this biopic is based had significantly more impact in the States than over hear, and I doubt even the presence of Twilight star Kristen Stewart can generate excitement. Michael Shannon has his second film this week and Tatum O'Neal (remember her?) gets a minor role.
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Tamara Drewe
Based on Posy Simmonds comic strip, as reproduced in the Guardian, which was in turn based on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Maddening Crowd, the Stephen Frears comedy should tick all the right boxes for a pleasant night out.
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Monday, 24 May 2010
John C. Reilly
Happy Birthday to
John C. Reilly
45 today
I preferred Reilly when he used to be a top end charactor actor, when he used to be slightly comical in his delivery but it wasn't overpowering. Unfortunately some point in the last five years he's become a star, headlining Walk Hard and co-lead of Step Brothers. I rather hope that he an bring himself back to earth in the future. Maybe the Duplass Brothers' Cyrus might be a more serous brand of comedy or there's We need to Talk about Kevin, so maybe there's some hope out there.
