2012. Dir: Ridley Scott. Starring: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and Logan Marshall-Green. ●●●○○
The levels of anticipation for Ridley Scott's Prometheus have been extraordinary, which does make it very difficult to review. I suppose I should start by saying that if want to see Ridley returning the "Alien" universe, albeit with a film that isn't a sequel or a direct prequel, then you should do so without reading any reviews and without - if at all possible - watching the trailers. That is not to say you should be wary of spoilers (I'm always wary of people who over concern themselves with spoilers, it's an Alien movie people will go to space and most of them will die is the basic plot). I say it because I feel you as an audience member need to have the opportunity to make your own mind up about the film and about the points it's trying to make.
Prometheus itself, named after the mythological anti-hero who stole fire from the Gods, is the exploratory space ship looking for life forms on planet LV-223. Headed by archaeology professors Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green their aim is to identify whether a collection of cave drawings and hieroglyphs that indicate ancient civilisations worshipping at the feet of intergalactic beings point to the creators, the engineers who created mankind. Meanwhile corporate bigwig Charlize Theron is there to keep the expedition under control on behalf of the Weyland Corporation with the able yet sinister support of android Michael Fassbender and oddly laid back ships captain Idris Alba. There's even an extended cameo from Weyland himself, a holographic Guy Pearce with shit on his face (apparently the 80+ actors like Kirk Douglas or Max von Sydow we'd have love to see in this weren't available) pulling strings from the other side of the universe.
There are other crew members - the on-screen exposition tells us of a crew of 17 - but only 6 others have names and not all of those have any sort of character depth. It's like over half of the crew have been plucked from the Star Trek list of doomed minor characters. Not that cannon fodder is a bad thing but it's indicative of the change of tone between Scott initial explorations into space and the much larger canvas he utilises here. In 1979 the major topic of conversation - even after the star beast started to chew on the crew - was the rate of pay and the improvised devices used to stop it. In spite of the occasional nods to it's origins here we have more concern over the bigger picture, and the number of philosophical questions thrown at us is astounding:
If we were created by aliens can there be a God?
Who, then, created them?
What is it to be human?
Do genetics or shared ideas matter more to creating family?
Why do we die?
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
I like a good philosophical point to a film as much as anyone, long term readers will know how I like to think deeply about certain mattters, but here the reeling off of questions dulled the senses, preventing me from choosing one to fix on and actually engage with. (For the record if anyone wants to discuss those points in the comments I would be delighted to do so)
The intrepid scientists head off to a possible settlement to search for further clues and stumble upon the chamber with the giant head and collection of egg like cylinders as seen in the poster above. In exposing the chamber to the atmosphere a chain reaction is set off and one by one our crew begin to meet their makers either singularly or in larger numbers where expedient for the plot. We get a glimpse of Alien like creatures, parasitic worms and sapphic organisms as well as discovering the identity of the macguffin space jockey from the initial movie.
Noomi Rapace does an excellent job in the lead role, proving there's more to her than a dragon tattoo, with her character's faith and emotional well-being tested through ecstatic pleasure, grief, betrayal and panic. There is one scene in particular where where has to deal with the death of another character then perform an medical procedure on herself to prevent her own death which is both grotesque and a surprisingly well performed set-piece.
Elsewhere the performances are fine, if a little one note, Theron is a bitch with daddy issues, Elba is salty and pragmatic. Many reviewers have praised Fassbender's performance as the android David and whilst technically virtuoso with it's influences of Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence, elements of fey valets and a keen physicality, but personally I was shocked by his emotion which felt inappropriate. There are moments where other characters discuss whether David is more than machine and you can tell he is taking on board what they think and responding to it - taking it on board to use it later. Unlike Ian Holm's malevolent programming Fassbender appears to be choosing his own destiny - he is capable of decision making in a way none of his android counterparts in the franchise were able to do.
Ridley is in his element here, planet building on a massive scale. It was filmed predominantly in Iceland and sound-stages but you buy LV-226's geographical set-up and the organic superstructures that house the chambers. He does a fine job of wringing the tension out of the screenplay, deftly allowing the grand themes to carry us along, although it's worth noting this has none of the sense of impending doom we felt in the original Alien movie. Although I would point out my theory that Scott is only as good a director as the script he's given is not challenged here.
Damon Lindehof is probably responsible for the weakest element with much of the dialogue feeling false and unnecessarily expositionary, far from the naturalism of Dan O'Bannon.
The design of Premtheus is fascinating, more sleek and apparently hi-tech than the Nostromo it shows the importance Weyland industries places on the mission's success.
I really don't trust the biology of the film. I struggle with understanding how certain creatures can grow at such incredible rates without taking in any food (this always struck me as the weak link in the Alien life cycle) and if we are created from the DNA of alien lifeforms how come our DNA strands is so similar to other creatures on Earth, evolution is given a brief mention but batted aside by the faithful. There are also many more questions than answers in this episode, what is the effect of the infection on the brain, how does the space jockey breath, what is David motivation and whilst I agree a good film leaves you with questions there seem to be too many here. I am also reminded of the old joke about a man ran over by a train who was asked why he didn't run up the embankment to escape and replied "If I couldn't outrun it on the flat how could I outrun it going uphill?" You will have to watch until the end to get that.
Overall I can recommend the spectacle of Prometheus and would even go as far as saying it should be seen in cinemas, but I won't pretend it's a great film and I expect they're be much better sci-fi's and blockbusters in the coming months.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Prometheus
Thursday, 23 February 2012
A Dangerous Method
2011. Dir: David Cronenberg. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel and Sarah Gadon. ●●●○○
Right now I'm resisting a terrible urge, you could almost say I'm repressing a desire to sneak out a dreadful pun. I want to avoid bringing up the title of Christopher Hampton's play on which this psychoanalysis themed movie is based. Oh, but that urge is so strong. Why should I stifle my emotional needs, why should I risk damaging my id by holding back it's darkest aims, back in 2002 Hampton wrote a play about the shifting relationships between Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein and he called it after the method they developed on their patients "The Talking Cure". So with a flourish I have to dub David Cronenberg's A Dengerous Method the "talky cure".
We open with Keira Knightley's Spielrein, a Russian Jew with pronounced hysteria, transported to the sparse mental health hospital in part run by the emphatically repressed Jung (Fassbender continuing his impressive run of star-making performances). In a series of short scenes we investigate the background to Spielrein's neurosis, with Jung coaxing out her emotional turmoil through a programme of one to one sessions. Knightley's performance has been the subject of huge debate both for and against her severe, jaw-clenching work in these early scenes. Personally I can't speak for the veracity of her work, but when contrasted and taken with the delicate almost blank work from Fassbender, the two of them make a compelling duo. As we see the methodology and results of Jung's technique the film both draws the audience in and shocks with the disturbing sexual fantasies plaguing Spielrein's past.
It isn't long though before the films derails, highlighting it's stage origins we then follow multiple duologues between the two main characters, Viggo Mortensen as the paranoid, pompous Sigmund Freud, anarchist and anti-psychiatrist Otto Gross (Cassel) and Jung's unfortunate slightly dull wife played by a winsome Sarah Gadon (who you might, but probably won't, remember from Dream House last year).
The most important relationships that develop are the father(figure)-son pairing between Freud and Jung, focussing on the similarities in their approach until their mutually exclusive theories concerning the future of psychoanalysis irrevocably splitting the two minds. We also see the coupling between Jung and Spielrein escalate into sado-masochistic physical and emotional relationship with Jung taking up the crop from Sabina's foreboding father.
That said whilst all of these individual scenes see some excellent performances and insightful dialogue regarding the competing ideas of the main players that is very much all they are. Each scene trips along giving another opportunity for two thesps to face off but without any of it really adding up to anything. They slow down too, each scene coming more ponderously than the last. At one point the film virtually stopped whilst characters wrote to each other then read these letters on their own, utterly tedious film-making.
What's worse is the subject could be really interesting, psychoanalysis is by it's very nature imperative to our understanding of our very souls, the discussions between Jung and Freud that confront the fundamental differences in their approaches should be extreme clashes of personality, philosophically engaging, dissecting theories that tore up societal norms up to that point. Instead we have broad pronouncements of medical scepticism, cheap shots at the fringe or over-simplified elements of their divergent theories, interminable discussions about dreams and - finally - an apparently true but still totally incomprehensible discussion about Ancient Egyptian civilizations and how that reflected their own situation.
The craft work on the film is, as I'm sure you can imagine in early 20th century design, impeccable and I'd especially like to call out the functional and character driven set decoration by Gernot Thöndel (although I understand Viggo Mortensen provided all his own props and the books in Freud's study).
Ultimately this film fails, Cronenberg is unable to lift the script from it's stage origins or add any spice to the proceedings once we leave the confines of Sabina's cure. I can recommend it only for the performances or - if you're a fan of Keira - the first 30 minutes.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Haywire
2011. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan MacGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum and Michael Douglas. ●●●○○
Imagine you're an international famous movie director, let's take Steven Soderbergh for example, and you're bored one afternoon, channel hoping distractedly waiting for Matt Damon to come over with some beer and you come across a female Mixed Martial Arts contest live on channel 179 and there on the screen is Gina Carano, a fighter perhaps best known for her stint on American Gladiators (she was crush). What would you then think? Well Steve thought that girl punching the hell out of the other girls has real skills, why not put her in a film and so Haywire was conceived.
To be fair this is not the first case of verite casting Soderbergh has indulged in, previously he launched the mainstream career of porn star Sasha Grey in the naturalistic and fascinating Girlfriend Experience, although I can't remember the casting story being quite as random. An Awareness of Carano's skills meant that Soderbergh could commission a script from The Limey scribe Lem Dobbs that simply propelled the character from fight to chase to fight showing off her considerable talents.
And be advised that is exactly what Haywire does.
Carano beats up Channing Tatum in a diner, courtesy of a little help from Michael Angarano (who has barely changed since "Will & Grace"), whom she then tells - thankfully using flashbacks - of the plot so far. You see it started in Barcelona where shady Government guy Michael Douglas and even shadier Spaniard Antonio Banderas hired Ewan McGregor and his freelance military taskforce (including Carano and Tatum) to rescue a kidnapped Chinese journalist which led to a massive chase through the streets for Carano just to knock out an unnamed goon. Then she's sent to Dublin to pretend to be the wife of MI6 agent Michael Fassbender who introduces her to more bearded Euro baddies then promptly tries to kill her then she runs and climbs through Dublin, outfoxing the Garda before ending up at the diner and getting into a snowbound car chase with Angarano and some local cops. Then there's the best bit of deer acting you'll see in 2011.
And breathe.
More people then get shot, there's a fight at Bill Paxton's house, a meeting in an abandoned aerodrome, another fight and Antonio Banderas gets a shave. Then the final credits roll.
Feel free to breathe again.
There is some connective plot involving everyone double crossing each other, and not everything in Barcelona or Dublin was quite what it seemed, but ultimately that doesn't matter ("It's always about money." as McGregor states in the trailer). Nor does it matter that Carano gives a performance that's dead behind the eyes, after all acting isn't really why she was hired and most of the heavy work is given to her co-stars, including a very impressive supporting turn by Paxton as her father, his thoughts projected plainly as he watches his daughter at work with a mix of fatherly pride and understandable shock.
How then does it work as a vehicle to showcase Carano fighting skills? The answer is surprisingly well. The melee in the diner, most of which is in the trailer, is perhaps forgettable but the chase in Barcelona, with Carano gaining on her quarry over 3-4 minutes shows her determination, commitment and fitness. You actually believe in these scenes that she could do this and take the guy out - I expect that's because she could. There's no wire work no stunts, the fights seem exceptionally real and Carano can clearly take care of herself, putting the usual action heroines (Anjelina, Milla) to shame.
The action scenes are also surprisingly interesting, the hotel set face off with Michael Fassbender (no spoiler it's in the trailer) is frantic and brutal, with the usual cliche's of broken glass shelves and smashing through doors incorporated well into the choreography. The final fight at a beach (I won't divulge who it's with) is also exceptionally well shot and edited together with each punch or kick bringing in a new shot at a more fascinating angle, providing the viewer with a 360 degree idea of the surroundings of the tense battle. We even get a chance to see her vulnerability, whilst climbing buildings through Dublin, Carano falls about 5 foot and it clearly hurts, winding her character and forcing her to rethink her strategy, being small rather than fast.
It's a great section of action scenes that really remind us of how punch-ups should work in cinema, there's always a understanding of the effort and geography of the battle, something which many of the more seasoned action director need to sit back and remind themselves of.
That said the utter lack of sensible plot or characterisation makes it very difficult to fully recommend this movie. Probably not worth the trip to the cinema, but if you ever tune in on a Friday night you will be drawn into the action and have to watch it until the end.
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Who Watches the Watchman (Out this week - 20/01/12)
Things are hotting up in British cinemas this weekend, as we try to push through all the awards bait pictures before the BAFTA deadline, so this weekend there's FBI agents vs. Roman Generals vs. headline grabbing Royals. In terms of my most anticipated of these I will confess the poor reviews for Clint Eastwood's biopic have not significantly dampened my enthusiasm so film of the week is J. Edgar.
In terms of box office Haywire has the most screens this side of the pond, but I suspect that franchise familiarity may just help Kate Beckinsale and her lycanthropic frenemies will take the top spot.
J. Edgar
A couple of weeks ago the Margaret Thatcher biopic managed to squeak it's way to the top of my highly anticipated pile, even though it appeared to whitewash history, and suddenly here we are again with exactly the same thing only centred around the FBI's most notorious and mendacious head of. Still the performances by Leo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer (as his almost lover Clyde Tolson) sound like they could elevate the movie.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Coriolanus
Big screen Shakespeare is often a hit and miss affair, especially when bringing his work into modern dress (in spite of the tremendous success of modern design on stage), so there has been a noticeable trepidation from purists about Ralph Fiennes' update of the lesser known piece. That said the Chechnya like setting appears to work exceptionally well with Vanessa Redgrave and Jessica Chastain both receiving high praise in supporting roles.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Haywire
Steven Soderbergh exercises his action itch allowing MMA fighter Gina Carano her moment in the sun as nearly super-heroic Mallory Kane figuring out who double crossed her whilst fighting Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Michael Douglas.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Nine Muses
I wasn't sure about including this as it's more documentary than narrative, indeed it started as a exhibit at the BFI. John Akomfrah's experimental film juxtaposes a retelling of Homer's Odyssey - using the UK immigrant experience in the 1960's - with images of an Alaskan winter. Beguiling trailer.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Red Light Revolution
Billed as China's first and only sex shop comedy (unsurprising given the limited scope of the sub-genre) the trailer links together the kind of jokes you'd expect from any sexual aid romp regardless of it's national origin, including some stunts I'm sure we'd all do if we were locked into Anne Summers overnight!
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
W.E.
Did you think, whilst watching last years terrific King's Speech that what the world really needed was a sympathetic look at Wallace and Edward in the months leading towards the UK's only abdication. (I actually thought last year's movie was fairly even-handed about Wallace, highlighting the snobbery from certain corners of the Family). Apparently Madonna wanted more so we get more in the shape of this hagiography of the central relationship and endless shots of gaudy jewels.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Sitter
If Jonah Hill picks up and Oscar nod next week for his supporting turn in Moneyball it'll be dreck like this unoriginal comedy from David Gordon Green that prevents him from winning the prize. Certainly avoidable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Underworld: Awakening
It's not a critically lauded franchise, however the series has always produced decent returns and with Kate Beckinsale returning from her third movie hiatus this should clean up in the multiplexes. Stephen Rea sits on the didelines of the eternal battle between werewolves and vampires.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
X: Night of Vengeance
Oz-sploitation thriller about two hookers caught up in a very unlikely mystery. Just listened to a review online that plainly stated most plot moving conversations co-incidently take place in bra and panties or even less. I'm sure it's fine if you like that sort of thing.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Horror of the trenches (Out this week - 13/01/12)
Last week the Cruisemeister held on to the number one spot and Meryl Thatcher was the highest new entry at number 3 on the box office chart, so I'm feeling a little smug - what with my first box office predictions from last weekend being right. This weekend I'm seeing the film that I've chosen as top film and I suspect Steven Spielberg's World War One epic will deservedly take it's place at the top of the charts. If you're looking for something less mainstream there's Michael Fassbender shagging everything in sight and the collapse of the financial services system, both of which look excellent. Please note that we are also starting the year with our first complete dud, earning just one blob, but you'll have to find out what it is. First though, the film of the week is War Horse.
War Horse
Steven Spielberg proves he's a master tear jerker once again, and I mean that as a good thing, with his deliberately Fordian adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's classic children's story. I cry watching the trailer (thanks to John Williams and Benedict Cumberbatch) so goodness knows if I'll make it through the screening later today. Emily Watson also stars.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Margin Call
Writer-director J. C. Chandor has won plenty of plaudits for his cinematic debut, with the first significant narrative based on the economic collapse in 2008. Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell and a dozen other recognisable stars form part of the chain of command trying to identify and ultimately offload toxic debt in this David Mamet like view of investment banking.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Shame
The final of the three big hitters from this week. Turner prize-winner Steve McQueen's long hard look at sex addiction with Michael Fassbender as a seemingly high-flying executive who's life unravels as his addiction slips completely out of control. Carey Mulligan is his needy sister.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Tatsumi
Animated biopic, which seems unlikely, until you discovers it's about Manga pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi, whose short stories, also included in the narrative in part created the medium of Japanese graphic artistry.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Useful Life
Interesting addition to the current theme of movies about/informed by movies (The Artist, Drive etc.) this Uruguayan picture follows a recently unemployed art-house projectionist filling his days unable to go to the cinema. I expect it's a narrative we could all relate to.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Kartalus Son Darak
Turkish comedy, with a sextet of women trying to cheer up the psychologist who's just moved into their apartment block. It's a limited audience, but should do well in it's small market.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Nanban
Tamil comedy of which, as is traditional in these things, I know nothing about the plot or characters, other than the poster's very bright and the trailer's quite fast. Nanban is literally translated as friend.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Vettai
Police soap opera from India with two brothers, one of whom is a detective the other fighting crime outside of the establishment. Could be an interesting look at vigilantilism, but probably just descends into familial homilies.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Darkest Hour
Yes, it's Chris Gorak's Moscow set alien invasion movie which garners the first all-important one blob excitometer rating. Saving the budget by having invisible aliens isn't so much the issue as saving the budget by having a weak script and uninvolving characters. Almost so bad it's unmissable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●○○○○○○○○○
