You'd be forgiven for thinking there's nothing new coming out this weekend, even though that is patently ludicrous as there are 8 new films hitting some cinemas. However on Friday 454 cinemas are showing Prometheus - the most prolific at cinemas - Men In Black III is at 431 cinemas, Snow White and the Huntsman at 416, followed by Top Cat and Avengers Assemble. Only then, the sixth biggest release in just 270 cinemas do we reach this weekends biggest opening. And whilst I'm not slavishly devoted to the big ticket movies it's hard to get excited about anything when no-one's trying hard to sell you anything. It's the first (only) week this year where the film of the week needed 4 blobs to get the accolade, and it's a rare foray into pure horror, so if you see anything go see The Innkeepers.
Prometheus did indeed own the box office charts last weekends, but it was generally a fantastic few days - thank you Your Majesty - which meant none of the bigger releases disappointed. It goes without saying that nothing out this week is going to threaten the Space Jockey's grip on audiences. That said it's a big scrap for the films that are coming out. I'm going to predict Plan B's eviscerating dissection of modern life on the working class estates iLL Manors, not least because it has the advantage of a parallel album release.
Innkeepers
Ti West's House of the Devil shocked both seasoned horror fans and sniffy critics when it shocked the bejesus out of everyone in 2009 so its' great to see him back in this creepy lo-fi horror set in the closing weekend of a haunted hotel, with two ambivalent employees more concerned with ghost-hunting (probably a mistake).
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Read on for hero flyboys, autobiographical flights of fantasy and a rapper shouting "Oi", as well as all of this weeks trailers.
I had forgotten Kelly McGillis was in this until I rewatched the trailer - I don't believe she communes with the dead, though.
Arirang
In 2008, after a near fatal accident on one of his movies, South Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk suffered from a nervous breakdown. This return is either a re-enactment of his emotional state at the time or a documentary on his therapy helping him come to terms with it depending on your point of view, either way it seems utterly compelling.
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Red Tails
George Lucas has promised his take on the pioneer African-American squadron of World War II pilots - The Tuskagee Airmen - for over 20 years and it's a shame that he eventually farmed it out to renowned TV director Anthony Hemingway to take the helm. Guaranteed to have superb, relalistic dogfights, the worry has always been that the subtlety of the racial discrimination they faced would be watered down or overdone, and the early buzz pretty much substantiates that possibility. The cast includes Cuba Gooding Jnr and Terrence Howard.
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Casa de mi Padre
I know that all the good jokes are probably in the trailer but there is something oddly endearing about Will Ferrell's willingness to try new things, and to make a spoof of Mexican soap operas with two of the worlds most famous latino actors completely in Spanish. Is hope it's a success here, but even if not props to Will for trying.
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Fantastic Fear of Everything
Inspired by a short story from Withnail & I creator Bruce Robinson it's inevitable that Chrispian "Kula Shaker" Mills' directorial debut would be heavy on the weird and grotesque. Grubby underpants and terrifying hedgehogs abound in this tale of one paranoiac's attempt to visit to laundrette. Features a tour de force performance from Simon Pegg.
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Harsh Light of Day
It's difficult to know, but I think the trailer for this British horror gives more away than it probably should. We know that our wheelchair bound hero's wife is brutally murdered and we know he contracts someone to dispose of the killers. Or is that some thing?
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Ill Manors
I could just have easily posted the latest music video from Plan B (otherwise known as Ben Drew) as the entire movie is the closest Hip hop has come to a concept album in years with each track, performed by Plan B as narration, provides a succinct personal history of each of the story strands. This makes the film come across as a angry mix of Loachian miserablism and musical fantasy. It's worried the right wing press with it's bleak picture of society deserving the underclass established in the UK and sets out Drew as a talent to watch in cinema too.
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The Pact
The last of this weeks releases is the one that's showing in most cinemas, but short of a few TV spots and a half-hearted bus campaign there's not been too much fuss about this so-so looking cut and paste horror. Lots of pasty looking people getting dragged about the house by unseen forces. Well if that's your sort of thing, it's probably your sort of thing.
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Saturday, 9 June 2012
Spooky Hotel, again (Out this week - 08/06/12)
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Prometheus
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.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Daytrip to LV-223 (Out this week - 01/06/12)
I have probably said this before (many many times before) but I have a complex relationship with blockbuster movies. On the one hand I do like to see the odd crowd-pleaser - last year I saw Thor, Pirates and Twilight at cinemas - I'm always more of a sucker for dramas. So the background of those blockbuster, female friendly franchises and one directed by a known Shakespearean is telling. More often I don't watch them and when I do it's only half heartedly, you have to go back to The Hunger Games in mid March before I last choose a top grossing movie as my pick of the week (and note I stayed at home that weekend). This weekend though I'm going to change my usual tack and sail into the wind of box office champions. There are two hugely anticipated cinematic treats over the Jubilee both looking for very different audiences, but my clear favourite (the sci-fi geek within me is jumping for joy), the RLAG film of the week, is Ridley Scott's Prometheus.
MIB3 did indeed squeeze it's way to the top of the UK box office last weekend, but it's performance was notably bad, falling well short of expectations partly due to the scathing reviews but also because of the lovely weather. Naturally it won't stay at the top as the Alien prequel of sorts battles it out with Snow White version 2 so which of the newbies will take the crown. On the one hand Prometheus has more screens, however we're at the beginning of half term, Jubilee weekend and Snow White skews younger with a much more marketable cast. I'm biased though so I'm plumping for Prometheus as the box office champion next weekend.
Prometheus
Well, here we are. Nearly 35 years after Ridley Scott kicked off the Alien franchise he is finally returning to the sci-fi cash cow that both made his name and changed the way we look at outer space. It's been high on the list if anticipated titles for 2012 so audiences will be flocking to see whether Scott can once again produce the intensity and naturalism in extraordinary circumstances that he was able to achieve before.
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Read on for whisky tasting, manga inspired fantasies and a wicked, wicked queen as well as all of this weeks trailers.
No doubt you've seen nearly all of the trailers released so far, but if you haven't I wouldn't recommend starting now as the sense of incoming spoilerish is overpowering.
Angels' Share
Ken Loach has just received the Jury prize from Cannes from his eleventh appearance competing for the Palme D'Or, known for his realist portrayal of working class Britain this time he reunites with Sweet Sixteen writer Paul Laverty for another look at young Glaswegians teetering on the edge of society. Although the rare whisky plot brings some much needed humanity to the proceedings.
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Himizu
Shion Sono's latest feature made a big splash at Venice last year partly because of the films backstory. When the making of this Manga adaptation was interrupted by the tsunami instead of putting production on hold Sono decided to use the devastated landscapes to underscore the protagonists drift towards psychosis. Worth making the journey to catch it.
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Snow White and the Huntsman
Charlize Theron is simply having a ball at Rowena the wicked queen at the poisonous core of this latest fairy tale adaptation. With nods to 21st century concerns of body image and chaste love triangles I expect audiences will flock to see Kristen Stewart trying out a new franchise started and with the dwarves including Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost and Ray Winstone there's pretty much something for everyone.
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Turin Horse
Billed as Bela Tarr's final movie (I'm not completely sure why given the Hungarian auteur is only 57) this deeply philosophical apocalyptic piece inspired by Nietsche's mental breakdown astounded and confounded audiences at last years Berlin film festival. I did want to give it a better blob rating but it's best surprisingly under-reviewed and will only be shown at one cinema.
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Mallu Singh
Bollywood fans have three options this weekend, although two of them (including this effort) have extremely limited releases so won't build up huge returns. The plot involves two friends from the same village the first of whom needs to persuade the other to return.
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On the Sly
For a long time I thought this French movie starred everyone's favourite shoplifting tomboyish actress. But it turns out it's Wynona Ringer, the daughter of the films director, who plays a young girl who runs away and builds her own life in the woods. Visually interesting I wonder if there's enough plot to keep the adults entertained?
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Rowdy Rathore
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar headlines this action comedy - complete with ridiculous moustache - about a small town con-man, the girl he falls for, a mafia boss who's out to kill him and a strange child convinced Akshay's her father. Akshay has his fans so it could pick up an audience.
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22 Female Kottayam
Strange looking Mayamalan feature which starts off looking like a low key romance, but then's then a fight in a urinal and the visuals veer into something close to Funny Games lite. What do you think?
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LOL
Why do I feel Miley Cyrus is older than she actually is? At 20 she certainly isn't too old to play a high-schooler churning through boyfriends in this family friendly pic. Whether she can command an audience here in the UK remains to be seen.
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Top Cat - The Movie
I used to love Top Cat as a kid and no doubt I wasn't alone, especially in Mexico where it was such a huge hit Warners lent the property rights to Anima Estudios to make a big screen version. It's taken an amazing $8m there but remains to be seen if it will travel, especially with a slightly convoluted plot and over stretched jokes we see in this trailer.
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Saturday, 26 May 2012
Following your own formula (Out this week - 25/05/12)
Very quiet this week, after five weeks of double figure releases we're down to just seven picks hitting the multiplexes (although if I'm perfectly honest only 3 of them are actually coming on strong with the other four all limited release foreign language choices). We're deep within the blockbuster season now, with all the necessary large scale counterprogramming that is such a part of the season. Mind you choosing the top film this week is hardly a stretch. There aren't many US auteurs as recognisable as Wes Anderson, every frame, every shot can instantly be categorised as part of his canon, and it's fair to say the style has it's fans and acolytes - note how last years Submarine was instantly compared to Anderson's work. Unsurprisingly then the runs like a gay film of the week is Moonrise Kingdom.
Last week The Dictator did indeed climb it's way to the top of the box office charts, taking nearly double Avenger Assemble in it's fourth weekend. Although both of these will drift downwards now, especially Sacha Baron Cohen's showcase which will, I expect, slip significantly leaving an easy win for Will Smith's return to the big screen with Men in Black 3.
Moonrise Kingdom
Anderson is an acquired taste, a director who splits audiences between those who can stomach his artificial and ordered universe and those who cannot. Personally I tend to err of the anti-side but I cannot deny the superb reviews and craftmanship involved so it's an easy pick for the top film. As ever the cast for this teenage love story is amazing with Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and a cameoing Harvey Keitel among the stars on board.
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Read on for a unique take on fairy tales, time travelling aliens and the ultimate in self help book adaptations.
There's an element of enforced quirk to the proceedings, but couldn't you just take any frame from this trailer and put it on your wall?
Tales of the Night
This French animation is both exceptionally simply and deliciously complex in it's central conceit of using traditional silhouette puppetry styles to illustrate original fairy stories. If I had kids this would what I would take to the cinema to see.
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Hommes Libres
The classic French resistance sub-genre gets a welcome twist highlighting Algerian immigrants in their fight to help defeat the Nazi's from within. Cultural and religiously clashes abound in the thriller trailer and any film that includes the combined talents of Tahar Rahim and Michael Lonsdale must be worth taking a punt on.
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Men in Black 3
Coming 10 years after a disappointing sequel amid horrendous production difficulties it comes as no surprise that early reviews of the third entry in the popular comedic alien franchise have been scathing. Based on Will Smith's very own time travel idea it's a chance to see whether his charisma and box office pulling power has been retained after nearly four years off. I certainly won't be heading out to see the finished product no matter how well it performs with the masses or how good Josh Brolin's impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones. Emma Thompson also stars.
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Gabbar Singh
Appearing on just two screens is this Teluga movie from India boasting a simple plot revolving around a cop, and thug with political ambitions and a pretty girl. Expect lots of action, the odd song and a predictable ending.
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What to Expect when You're Expecting
Hollywood has officially run out of ideas as evidenced by the bizarre choice to turn a how to guide about pregnancy into a hyperlink comedy (I expect all the stories end happily). The all-star cast is led by Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Lopez and Anna Kendrick, each of whom will take the money and run whilst the film flops at the box office.
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Rahe Chardi Kala Punjab Di
Punjabi melodrama about an adopted Muslim girl trying to reunite with her Sikh birth parents and all the emotional and religious baggage you'd expect from such a tumultuous set-up.
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Thursday, 24 May 2012
Dark Shadows
2012. Dir: Tim Burton. Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green and Bella Heathcote. ●●○○○
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the film-making process and I don't begrudge others for enjoying it, but just because there's lots of fun being had on screen doesn't mean the audience will have fun, in fact it's often the case that the more fun the cast and crew appear to be having the less fun the audience have. And there's a lot of fun being had on screen in Dark Shadows.
The film opens with a pointless scene setting flashback narrated by Johnny Depp's Barnabas Collins detailing the history of his relationship with witchcraft practising Angelique Bouchard, played by Eva Green. There's opulent architecture, triple murder and Collins transformed into a multi-knuckled blood-sucking vampire. Tedious and irrelevant the passage only seems to exist to attempt to cover over the gaping plot holes yet to come.
Fast forward 200 years to the mid 1970's and a mysterious stranger is heading to Collinsport, Maine, a young girl answering an newspaper notice for a Governess in the
dilapidated manor, a young girl with a surprising similarity to the ghostly ex-fiancee drifting around the cobwebbed corridors. Not least because both are played by Bella Heathcote. She meets the stern matriarch, Michelle Pfeiffer who remains far more dignified than this trash deserves, and is soon assisting alcoholic psychologist Helen Bonham Carter in the education of the youngest heir to the Collins dynasty.
But wait, where is the unsubtle presence of arch over-actor Depp? Never fear, he is soon to be released from his subterranean prison by an unwitting assortment of building engineers - although quite why they're digging the foundations for a MacDonalds so late at night isn't really answered - and before long he has returned to the family home and vows to restore the fortunes and dignity of the Collins estate.
What follows is approximately 90 minutes of repetitive fish out of water jokes - many of which were in the trailer - oodles of sexual chemistry between Depp and Green (although oddly none between Depp and Heathcote) and a final showdown between witches, vampires, ghosts and most preposterously werewolves. Note I am not saying werewolves are more preposterous than the other assorted monstrous characters however when a character comes on just to admit their Lycanthropic tendencies minutes before the end of the film when there's been no hint of it before smacks of writerly indulgence.
Depp adds another oddball character to his repertoire, neither good nor bad in the scheme of his past work, it is most definitely not in any way original. Whilst the supporting cast relish the opportunity to go for one-dimensional turns reflective of the soapy source material, wasting such diverse talents as Chloe Grace Moretz and Jackie Earle Haley. Only Green, displaying the sultry, slutty, animalism of the slighted femme fatale gives anything close to a performance worth remembering.
Regular Burton collaborators Rick Heinrichs (returning as Production designer after a 11 year absence) and Colleen Atwood (costuming for Tim for the 9th time) have done excellent work hear, mercilessly revealing the 1970's as the most garish an unappealing design decade of the 20th century, whilst staying true to the gothic roots you would expect for this haunted house melee. The design motifs are the stars here with the intricate Collinsport Mansion with it's nooks, crannies and secret passages as much a character as most of the performers. Unfortunately I can't help but wonder whether they've missed a trick here - if the aim of the movie was to replicate the cheap shonkiness of the original series which would explain the drab characterisations and left-field plotting - then why not play around with deliberately crass production design, the sort of wobbly walls and rubber effects that made Ed Wood so memorable.
It's hard to see what Burton is really trying to achieve with this homage to TV mediocrity. Is he celebrating it's joyous unprofessionalism or slyly satirising horror tropes? Either way this film fails to achieve those aims and I really can't recommend it for anyone.
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.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Foot fetishists heaven (Out this week - 11/05/12)
It's another close week with two movies vying for my attention for the top choice at British cinemas this weekend. In the blue corner is Tim Burton's sixth collaboration with Johnny Depp, the big screen tongue in cheek adaptation of a TV (not-quite-so) classic versus a European musical starring a bona fide legend. Not to mention the exploitation, mumblecore and arthouse fare snapping at the heels of my two top choices. In fact I'd go as far to say whilst this isn't a classic week of releases by any standard it's probably the most interesting and consistent line-up in over a month so definitely worth exploring the options available. For myself I am once again going to champion the film I won't see, showing in just 4 cinemas nationwide - the closest of which is 40 miles away - it's the Runs like a Gay film of the Week: The Beloved.
Last week Avengers Assemble held onto the top spot, slipping an impressive 49%, but surprisingly American Pie: Reunion took only 20% less which seems to indicate the superhero collective is eminently beatable this weekend, and Burton and Depp are in prime position to do this, given the general love out there for their work on both sides of the Atlantic. I expect Dark Shadows to be the number 1 film this weekend - should go and see it to help it on it's way.
The Beloved
Set partly in the late 60's and partly in the modern day - a curious trend for todays releases - this French musical stars Ludivine Sagnier and Catherine Deneuve as a shoe seller who dapples with prostitution and the romantic entanglements she gets into throughout her life.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Read on for vampires, modern families and boobs as well as all of this weeks trailers. Go on - you know you want to take a peek.
These boots were made for walking, indeed.
Dark Shadows
Depp and Burton are clearly having a ball in part homage part fish out of water comedy that appears to revel in the poor production values of the original TV series, whilst somehow proving Burton is the most style concious director working today. Unsure of tone in the trailer I don't know how many will flock out but I do foresee a cult following of it's own in the future.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Cafe de Flore
Jean-Marc Vallee's follow-up to the forgettable Young Victoria dissects the romantic construct of soul-mates around a modern day couple struggling in their marriage and a kids with Down's Syndrome in the 60's. Expect the two stories to intersect by the end.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Jeff, Who lives at Home
The Duplass brothers are almost certainly the most well known graduates from the Mumblecore movement and with Jeff their virtually hitting the mainstream. Jason Segal is the titular Jeff, still living in his Mum (Susan Sarandon)'s basement and waiting for fate to lead him where to go with his life.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Piranha 3DD
What 4 blobs for this piece of exploitation rubbish that I personally wouldn't go within 100 m of seeing? Well, yes, I realise I'm not the target audience but there are plenty of 15 year old boys who will love it, Kim Newman says it ain't bad, and the cameos include David Hasselhoff, Christopher Lloyd and Gary Busey!
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
All in good Time
British comedy (based on Bill Naughton's The Family Way but with a change in the ethnicities) that exploits the obvious comedy of a pair of newlyweds living with the in-laws and how that affects the consummation (or lack thereof) of their marriage. Should please all audiences.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Faust
Supposedly the fourth of Aleksandr Sukurov's films about powerful men turned to evil - although following Hitler, Stalin and HIrohito it's a departure because of both the fictional character and the setting of Geothe's classic. Bound to get the art-house crowd in a frenzy.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
How I Spent my Summer Vacation
Quick recap on Mel Gibson: still persona non-grata across most of the Western world, so much so that his latest has gone straight to video in the States under the title Get the Gringo. He can still open a film over here and this will probably crack the top ten thanks to a wisecracking trailer showing Gibbo still has the action chops in this film set almost exclusively in a massive Mexican prison.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Mitsuko Delivers
Japanese movie about the power of positivity and how generally people are too nice, all seem through the prism of a eight and a half month pregnant girl. Which sounds sweet but hardly compelling.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Charlie Casanova
Long-time Hollyoaks actor Emmett Scanlan finally sees the release of the film he made just before signing with the early evening soap. From the Irish upper classes his character starts to lie his life purely through chance (by picking cards) after the accidental death of girl in a hit and run accident.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe
Indeterminably long and uninvolving trailer for this latest Tamil language release of which I know nothing about except the trailer music sounds like it's been ripped from a mid 90's Nintendo game.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Taur Mittran Di
Bollywood thriller about two friends who fall out, presumably over a girl, and then seem to want to kill each other. Seems quite dramatic but I don't know why this fairly high profile option doesn't have an IMDb page yet?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Thursday, 10 May 2012
The Lucky One
2012. Dir: Scott Hicks. Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Riley Thomas Stewart and Jay R. Ferguson. ●●●○○
I imagine that most people who chose to see The Lucky One know exactly what they're getting into. The sun setting behind the lovers, the ripped rugged guy with airbrushed muscles, the delicate woman and most importantly the previous adaptations of the authors work in the top of the poster. Nicolas Sparks doesn't get a mention on the poster, but his stamp is all over it, in fact the phenomenal success of his previous movies that do get a plug (both Dear John and The Notebook took $80m in the States) guarantees the audience instantly recognise the genre and story beats set ahead of us.
For those of you who can't guess the plot Zac Efron is Iraq war veteran Logan who picked up a photo whilst on his first tour that saved his life. Without knowing the girl on it he carries it around like a good luck charm, and somehow it works, whilst many of his brothers-in-arms make the ultimate sacrifice. Following his return to civvy street he resolves to find her and before you know he's working part-time in Taylor Schilling's doggie hotel. Too shy to tell her the truth but far too hunky to rule out the inevitable romantic entanglements he soon becomes part of her extended family, losing at chess with her son Riley Thomas Stewart and learning sage advice from her earthy Grandmother Blythe Danner.
There is danger lurking though, Schilling's dangerously obsessive ex-husband Jay R. Ferguson, the town sheriff no less, is constantly threatening a custody case to prevent Schilling from getting on with her life. Also we're in a Nicolas Sparks film so you just know that some cast members won't make it to the final credits - and no I'm not spoiling it.
Now I absolutely hated Dear John so I did go into this Sparks follow-up with a sense of deep trepidation, but I was pleasantly surprised with the script this time round. Will Fetters, who's only other screenwriting credit is for Remember Me, keeps the cloying romanticism at bay. At the start Schilling is flinty and patronising whilst Efron is emotionally closed off and slightly creepy, the relationship that develops is built on shared experiences and sexual desire and not just some wishy washy concept of true love.
That's not to say it isn't still relentlessly bleak, the stench of death pervades every frame from the charged early battle scenes to the final reel shock loss (still no spoilers) even the multiple bereavements Schilling has suffered - both her parents and US Marine brother (now there's a clue) have passed away before we even meet her. There are moments when this works, the film hints at Efron's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in his relationship with his nephews and his long walk across America, and Schilling's breakdown in the garden (whilst appallingly filmed) is effective in showing her inability to deal with the grief. Potentially this could be hinting at the State's inability to deal with the emotional trauma of war, almost a teen friendly The Messenger, but the momentum is lost around half way through when the plot takes over from the characterisations.
Efron proves himself once again as a competent and rising actor, always magnetic yet never showy and whilst he doesn't have enough to do here my appetite has certainly been whetted for The Paperboy. I was also impressed by Stewart who stays just the right side of precocity and Danner's sardonic asides make her the MVP.
Less successful is Ferguson's Sheriff who's rollercoaster attachment to his ex is inconsistent serves only to create false tension - there's an utterly laughable scene with a gun. I think the film, the third act histrionics, the macguffin of the unmentioned photo would have had a much bigger impact if he was just a normal guy, suspicious of this stranger rather than an obvious villain.
Scott Hicks is the last director anyone would claim is an auteur yet the signatures of backlit by the sun heroes and lush vegetation that appear in The Boys are Back and Hearts in Atlantis have returned. And at least this is a much better film than those previous efforts.
In conclusion I wouldn't bother going to a cinema to see The Lucky One but I wouldn't turn the telly over either. Nice enough and the target audience, the Sparks fans, should go in droves.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Albert Nobbs
2011. Dir: Rodrigo Garcia. Starring: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer and Pauline Collins. ●●●●○
It's fairly common for me to disagree with the majority of critical and commercial response to movies, in fact on a regular basis I watch films hailed as the second coming only to walk away with a "huh?" and a shrug. Sometimes I just don't understand the fuss being made. Oddly though this usually only happens in one direction, I may detest a film everyone else loves but when a film is getting a mauling the best I can usually say is "it's not a complete disaster." However on watching Albert Nobbs I was shocked by the critical derision it have received on both sides of the Atlantic, what's more I don't really understand why, although I suspect it is in part due to the high expectations surrounding Glenn Close's very own passion project. Glenn first played the central role of a male impersonator off Broadway in 1982 and has been working on adapting George Moore's short story for over 20 years, and the sad truth is no matter how good you think the performance and the film is it wasn't worth a 20 year delay.
It's essentially the story of the emotional awakening of a repressed button upped butler who happens to be a woman. In 19th century Dublin with poor social mobility for men, let alone women, Nobbs has spent 20 years masquerading as a man in order to manage a dignified existence and save up to purchase a tobacconist. Her painful but safe life is disturbed when house painter Hubert Page (Janet McTeer) has to share Albert's room for the night and discovers Albert's secret. After a few hours of panic Hubert admits that she too is a woman, opening up a whole new world of emotional connection to Nobbs. Indeed the plan for the shop changes from being a one man show to a partnership as Alberts woo the impressionable young maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska).
Most of the characters are largely unlikeable, Nobbs is penny-pinching and emotionally insensitive, Helen is greedy and cheeky even Brendan Gleeson's Doctor is obsequious and a drunkard. Yet it is to the credit of everyone's performances that in spite of all that we care about the future of the characters.
Glenn in particular completely gets under the skin of Albert Nobbs, although frankly you'd expect that given the amount of time she's worked on the character, it's a totally committed performance as furtive and damaged as she is hopeful for the future, every moment of her history etched on her face, every decision the character makes reflected in her eyes. Janet McTeer is also masterful, less so for the emotionality her relative freeness and frankness leaves less to project from behind a mask, but physically she's perfect. There's a great scene where Close and McTeer put on dresses and take a walk along the beach, and they look like men in dresses, layers of performance which are incredible.
Wasikowska is less successful, her modern mannerisms difficult to get past, but she's the only cast member who seems out of place.
The script does a good job of highlighting the hypocrisies in Victorian society both in terms of class and gender, albeit mainly through the gossipy monologues from Pauline Collins' Hotelier. Where Jonathan Rhys Meyers aristocratic cameo is given free range to sleep with whomever he wants and Brendan Gleeson is conducting an illicit affair with one of the waitresses the merest suggestion of a scandal with Nobbs or Helen causes the eventual doom of their characters.
There are plenty of areas where the film gets things terribly wrong too. The pace is deadly slow - believe me I understand why many viewers consider the film to be dull and it is purely an actors love in - which has the doubled effect of confusing the timeline, about 18 months passes through the film, based on the seasons and certain plot points developing , but there's no depth to the time passing. The moments where Nobbs imagines the future of the shop cheapen both the idea and the film with the sub-standard graphics and finally the relentless gloom works against the viewer. Whilst I have no doubt that things were tough in the 1800's a glimmer of hope would have been nice (hopefully that's not too much of a spoiler).
I also loved Brian Byrne and Glenn Close's main theme Lay Your Head Down, both as performed by Sinead O'Connor in the end credits and as used in the narrative, it's a beautiful piece of music that deserved more attention at the end of last year.
This ranks low on the four blob films but I do believe it fully deserves that fourth blob and I would definitely recommend the movie to anyone.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Ah, I remember it well (Out this week - 04/05/12)
We're still in double figures of new releases with 13 distinct features slipping into your local multiplex, although saying that I expect there are many of these films that won't be seen in any multiplexes as many of them will fit closer to the arthouse circuit fans. On the other hand there are no essential viewing experiences this weekend with a unlikely - for me anyway - competition for my recommendation between a Jason Statham crime thriller and an European adolescent romance. Of course you know me well enough to guess that I'll usually choose the more obscure film if it's a close run thing, so no prizes for guessing the runs like a gay film of the week is Goodbye First Love.
Last weekend Avengers Assemble was the unsurprising box office champion taking an impressive £15.8m, easily outperforming last weeks competition, every other comic book opening in UK history and the entire cinematic run of any of the "sort of" prequels that introduce it's major characters. Incidently out of every three people going to UK cinemas last weekend two of them went to see Avengers Assemble which is an extraordinary statistic any way you look at it. This weekend Iron Man et al will almost certainly retain the lead, not least because there's no "must see" release, but there could be a bit of a bun fight for second place. I'm tempted to predict Statham as an apology for not picking him for film of the week, but in all honesty I think American Pie: Reunion will just about sneak ahead of the other new releases.
Goodbye First Love
Exquisite study of teenage romances over ten years, with the feel of classic Truffant, from sophomore director Mia Hansen-Løve. The picture above shows our heroines very first love, and it's no spoiler to say it probably won't last until the end credits.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Read on for a kidnapped mathematical prodigy, an oscar nominee and incest as a plot device as well as the low-down and trailers for all of this weeks releases.
I should warn you this trailer involves quite a bit of nudity fairly early on. I'm not a prude, I don't mind, but I think you should be aware of it.
Safe
Sometimes you're just in the mood for all out action extravaganza's and honestly Statham seems to to be the most consistent beat 'em up star working today. This looks like it might be a good call with it's mathematical prodigy and all out gang war, even if it's US performance was slightly under par. Chris Sarandon pops up as the maybe dodgy mayor of New York.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Angel and Tony
It's good times for fans of French romances this week, with the film of the week and this slightly more mature offering about an ordinary looking fisherman finding an an enigmatic, sexually voracious woman through a personal ad. Probably Not as raunchy as that sounds.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Clone
Barely getting any notices in spite of it's tricksy content and starry cast - Eva Green and current Doctor Who Matt Smith - this sci-fi tinted drama about a widow who gives birth to and raises a clone of her dead husband and the mixed romantic/maternal relationship that develops had some buzz critical buzz during it's production but that seems to have fizzled away with this fumbled release strategy. Shame.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Hara-Kir Death of a Samurai
We don't get every Takashi Miike movie released in the UK, given his vast and diverse output that's probably not a huge surprise. So when we are lucky enough to see one in this country we should probably make the best of it. Here we have a revenge against corrupt feudal lords plot that allows Miike to indulge in all his fight choreography pursuits.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Juan of the Dead
Curious looking Cuban zombie movie that clearly shares a love of slapstick as it's major influence Shaun of the Dead but with added socio-political jibes at the communist propanga machine in Cuba. And the joke about killing your loved ones is priceless.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Monsieur Lazhar
Of course Philippe Falardeau's stage adaptation was never going to win the best foreign language movie oscar this year against the superb A Separation it still had plenty of fans in the Academy and among critics being considered as the biggest competition. It's essentially a look into the French Canadian education system and how an Algerian ex-pat changes the kids lives.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Dhammu
Very violent looking Teluga movie with plenty of claret and over the top musical cues, although I suspect in it's entirity it's a lt tamer than it looks here. I know nothing of the plot - any Bollywood fans want to fill me in?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Jannat 2
I'm guessing the two at the end of the title signifies this Bollywood arms dealer thriller is a sequel, although I can't for the life of me remember the first Jannat getting released. Looks like it might be OK, with some nice shots and realism in the fighting, so could be an entry to the sub-continents releases.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Lucky One
There are many reasons to want to avoid Zac Efron latest attempt to shift into proper grown up movies, it's directed by cheesemeister Scott Hicks (Boys are Back, Hearts in Atlantis) and is written by the ever predictable Nicolas Sparks. But that said I do like Efron, he comes across well in interviews and I really want him to succeed, so even though this looks utterly missable it will be the film that I see this weekend.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Silent House
Another US horror remake of a mildly successful foreign language horror movie - in this case the identically named Uruguayan release from last year where the central conceit revolves around the whole film being shot in a single take - as as with others that try this I expect it to bomb no matter how good Elizabeth Olsen is in the central role.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
American Pie: Reunion
I actually saw the original American Pie in cinemas, and vaguely remember thinking it was OK but being a comedy not really my thing, so I certainly wouldn't be tempted by a sequel 13 years later no matter how good it looked. Unfortunately this sorry excuse for a trailer doesn't make it look good on any level. Probably best avoided.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Piggy
And finally if you're in the mood for some ultraviolence, London Council Estate style then this is the movie for you. Following the murder of his brother Martin Compston meets Piggy, a mysterious stranger who encourages him to meet out revenge on the killers, but at what cost to his soul and sanity you wonder?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
