tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74926938334987142692024-03-14T06:46:44.298+00:00dark eye socketCraig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-46632606117722198922014-03-01T07:04:00.000+00:002014-03-01T07:04:28.991+00:00Films Seen 2014: FebruaryFilms I saw in <strong>February</strong> 2014. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <strong>bold </strong>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2014 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed from bottom to top.
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Manhunt (Patrik Syversen/2008) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Why do these slashers always start with an injured woman (blonde, doomed) running in a forest (dark, scary), filmed in ShakyCam™?</span>
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The Fan (Tony Scott/1996) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Blighted with baffling character decisions and plot implausibilities. The use of Nine Inch Nails equating DeNiro's mental instability is lazy and <em>Seven</em>-lite. Shoddy.</span><br />
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Ghost Ship (Steve Beck/2002) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was kind of amusing, but rarely scary, and never actually thrilling. Not too many actual ghosts either, sadly.
What was it with films around that time obsessed with diced and bisected people? (This, <em>Cube</em> series, <em>Equilibrium</em>, <em>Resident Evil</em>.)</span>
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Lake Placid 3 (G.E. Furst/2010) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It actually benefits from the fact that no one in it can act, or even attempts to. Especially as that's really the only benefit.
My favourite bit was when a woman tries to get rid of a crocodile by throwing packs of mince at it.</span>
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Piercing Brightness (Shezad Dawood/2013) <strong>1</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yikes. What the hell? (Not good 'what the hell?' either.) I was surprised — nay, stunned — that I made it to the end. True drivel.
It forces ideas onto its imagery, when really it should've had solid ideas to start with, then conjured imagery from them.
It does it all wrong. I think the term 'art wank' was coined solely for <em>Piercing Brightness</em>. It's inept, dull, pointless in its abstraction.</span>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Wrong Man</span></strong></div>
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The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock/1956) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Possibly the most methodical Hitchcock. Eerie in its own unsettling way. Looks closely at one man to broadly stare at society.</span>
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Before Midnight (Richard Linklater/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sensitive direction, perceptive moments, gentle pace. I liked it as much as the previous two, which is, um, enough. It's a good-not-great film.
It spent a big chunk of its 109 minutes on a couple arguing, which is only really interesting up to a point. It got frustrating. Loved the lunch scene. It's immediate, full of insight, effortless and the the best directed sequence in the film. Also (and I'll say it quietly) *shh* I don't really like Julie Delpy's character in these films *shh*</span>
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Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa/1950)<strong> 8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kurosawa positions his camera exactly right to a) extract the best out of the story, and b) to conjure up crisp, powerful imagery.
Also: Toshirô Mifune, always.</span>
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<strong>Her</strong> (Spike Jonze/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Who knew that in the not-too-distant future all men would sport awkward shirts, unsightly high-waisted trousers and creepy-pervy moustaches? It's good if you like watching a lot of sad/cute chats between people who always seem on the verge of tears. I guess.
Ace music and photography.</span>
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Static (Tod levin/2012) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nice novel idea that plays on 'home invasion' conventions, but some sloppy decisions and overall execution stunt it somewhat.</span>
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The Station / Blood Glacier (Marvin Kren/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's basically <em>The Thing</em>/<em>Alien</em> on the cheap, but it's plenty of fun mainly due to the hysterical, wired cast.</span>
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Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Terence Fisher/1973) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Great fun and aptly icky. Has a truly perverse streak that makes it stand out. Cushing, Briant are very good.</span>
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Twixt (Francis Ford Coppola/2011) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yikes, what happened there, especially at the end?
There are some greatly inspired moments and some moments of real ineptitude. But it's very rarely dull. Though it's rarely coherent, either. Someone calls Val Kilmer's character a "bargain basement Stephen King," and the film's just that itself. Though, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
But it's not a thing to be cheered too loudly either. I think Coppola has given up caring <em>how</em> he makes films. Is he now happy with a mess? Someone should give Kilmer a big ol' comedy lead soon; when he's daft in <em>Twixt</em> he's at his very best.</span>
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<strong>Dallas Buyers Club</strong> (Jean-Marc Vallée/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Functional plot and uninspired direction make it average fare. McConaughey's fine, Leto's good, but I'm unnconvinced its high reputation is deserved.
There's little about it that suggests it's no more than an average, award-baiting tale. It's well-intended, but made to measure.</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>The Invisible Woman</strong></span></div>
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<strong>The Invisible Woman</strong> (Ralph Fiennes/2013) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Exquisitely framed and photographed, but not overly prettified. Its emotional heft is grounded with care. Performances are all on top form. DoP Rob Hardy's work is some of the best I've seen this year. Light and shadow are wonderfully captured with painterly compositions.
Felicity Jones is A-grade, spectacular. She nails each scene with raw, moving tenderness. It's the best performance of the year so far.
With so far just two films, Coriolanus and now this, Fiennes is proving to be a skilled and versatile director.</span>
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Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes/2011) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fiennes has a knack with "shaky" camera work, but he shoots for clarity too. The language and setting works. The photography creates mystery. Smartly made stuff.</span>
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<strong>RoboCop</strong> (José Padilha/2013)
<strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RoboCopOut. Beige, vacant, personality-free. It has slickness, a retooled suit and aims for "street", but is just a lot of empty posing.
Original had subversion, satire, smarts. Redo forfeits all that for, well, banal (and badly-edited) action and a dull pace. It has no bite. As ever, Michael Keaton was a joy to watch. He lorded it up, had real manic flair and strode through the film with a grin and wry wink.</span> <br />
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No Man's Land: Rise of the Reeker (Dave Payne/2008) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A lot of random crap happens in this and very little of it allows for any kind of logic, order or, um, quality.</span>
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The Limey (Steven Soderbergh/1999) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lovely photography and score, but I just wish it would've got on with being a decent, no-fuss crime flick. The editing stunted it. Can see that Soderbergh went for throwback vibe (<em>Bullitt</em>, <em>Point Blank</em>, <em>Get Carter</em> etc) but it felt like a slick, tick-list of tropes.
Not sure that Stamp's cockney routine worked. It felt forced, unconvincing. The performance doesn't really go anywhere. It's just a pose.</span>
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<strong>August: Osage County</strong> (John Wells/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It certainly has a <em>lot</em> of acting. A real lot. It's literally wall-to-wall.
This really surprised me. Films with obvious histrionics often leave me cold, but this worked for me. The acting all-round was grounded.
Streep's a pro. Of course she's good. She nails the tiny moments beautifully. But she's also the only one who <em>goes large </em>(and it felt like no one else would even <em>dare</em> go as large as Streep; maybe she dominated too forcefully; the quiet performances deserved more space, perhaps?). But this was the first time in years I've liked a Julia Roberts performance. She's a limited actress, in my view, and needed something open and refreshing like this.
Margo Martindale, Julianne Nicholson and Chris Cooper all do superb work too. But the whole cast are fascinating and entertaining to watch. Also, the music (by Gustavo Santaolalla) complemented the script's emotion and never let it become indulgent. A lovely score.</span>
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<strong>Lone Survivor</strong> (Peter Berg/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Good: Ben Foster, sound design, unrelenting nerve in trying to approximate battle experience, makeup, some semblance of balance, phot. Bad: portentous music/voiceover, it lays on its 'US War Dudes Rock' agenda a bit too thickly, strained Wahlberg close-ups, pace. It goes for the military fist-bumps a bit hard and with zero restraint (especially in the end credits — sheesh!). But there's some room for fine moments. The combat scenes compel.</span>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">World on a Wire</span></strong></div>
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World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder/1973) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An experience like being slipped a brain-expanding pill in a flotation tank. It has an odd one-level sonorous vibe, but is visually smart.
Klaus Löwitsch shifts and darts through it like a noir hero. His performance — body language, expressions, delivery — is magnetic.</span>
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Scars of Dracula (Roy Ward Baker/1970) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As ever, Christopher Lee's stare and body language are delectably fearsome. Great characterful support. Castle scenes often the best ones.</span>
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The American Friend (Wim Wenders/1977) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Leisurely thrills, lovely sense of place — Wenders is great at putting characters in a specific context and casually observing them. Muller's photography is stunning.
Dennis Hopper's schtick starts to grate after a spell; his purpose loses focus. But it's Bruno Ganz's story. He's totally mesmerising.</span>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-69871373819618733102014-02-20T17:44:00.000+00:002014-02-20T17:44:39.058+00:00Films of 2013: Male Performances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong><em>Zero Dark Thirty</em></strong> was a bold film with many memorable aspects, but the one that stood out most for me at the end of the year was <strong>Jason Clarke</strong> (10) in a support role. He’s been building up quite a CV of great parts over the last few years and here he made an indelible impact as someone with perhaps a unique perspective on war torture. His part was brief, but he’s simply riveting. <strong>Paul Eenhoorn</strong> (9) gave an affable performance in low-key drama <em><strong>This Is Martin Bonner</strong></em>, and was quietly compelling as a man open to the needs of others before his own. He underplayed the role brilliantly and portrayed an example of a sheer unabashed decent guy on screen — something that's always worth investing in. <strong>Aaron Poole</strong> (8) did some fine solo work in the effectively creepy haunted house movie <em><strong>The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh</strong></em>. As the, by and large, sole cast member he carried the film. He had to intricately show every instance of fearful terror that the script dictated and he conveyed the isolation with casual skill. <strong>Leonardo DiCaprio</strong> (7) seems to have entered a more fun, entertaining phase of his career with a film like <strong><em>Django Unchained</em></strong> (something he's brilliantly expanding upon with <em>The Wolf of Wall Street</em>). After a raft of weighty roles, his turn as a despicable ranch owner was a thing to relish. His barely contained maniacal glee and clammy giddiness in the film added some newfound freshness to his acting. <br />
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A veteran of entertaining roles, <strong>Simon Pegg</strong> (6) brought the same energy and pin-sharp comic timing to <strong><em>The World’s End</em></strong> that he brought to <em>Shaun of the Dead</em> and <em>Hot Fuzz</em>. But he also allowed the film a sincere and wrenching pathos too. I think it's the best he's been in this loose comic trilogy. <strong>John Gallagher Jr.</strong> (5) was as good in <em><strong>Short Term 12</strong></em> as his more (rightfully) lauded co-star Brie Larson. His role as a care worker for troubled teens is beautifully defined and played with just the right level of pluck and grounded thoughtfulness. His character doesn’t significantly alter his path or transform in the way Larson’s does, but that’s part of the beauty of his performance — the character needed to be the hard-wearing yet amenable sidekick to balance what Larson and the other actors were doing. It’s an unassuming role to be cherished. <em><strong>Drug War</strong></em> was a trememndous film for a multitude of reasons, and <strong>Louis Koo</strong> (4) was chief among them. He played a tricky role, one buoyed with a range of complex decisions and actions that were required to be carried out in just the right manner, with immense ease. As is always the way with Koo. His work with Johnnie To is always essential. Like DiCaprio, <strong>Christoph Waltz</strong> (3) brought the fun to <strong><em>Django Unchained</em></strong>. His second Oscar under Tarantino’s direction was well earned, maybe even more so than his first. After ten minutes on screen his place on this list was guaranteed; his deft, joyful and endearingly eccentric performance made the film for me. <br />
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Perhaps due to the fact that <strong>Steve Coogan</strong> (2) has played Alan Partridge for many years, and obviously knows the role inside out, meant that it could be seen as an easy, unchallenging performance for him to give. Maybe so, but it doesn’t change the fact he’s nigh-on perfect in <strong><em>Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa</em></strong>. It’s a good thing it’s effortless as it makes the acting here richer, entirely confident and comically honed, spot on. He’s terrific with both the bigger, broader laughs and the smaller, more intricate moments. Partridge may not be clever, but Coogan certainly is. <strong>Jack Reynor</strong> (1) was exemplary in <em><strong>What Richard Did</strong></em>. He’s a relative newcomer, but on the evidence here he's fast developing the professional ability of a seasoned pro. His role — at least initially — is very straightforward. But as soon as we discover what Richard indeed did, and how, as the titular character, Reynor navigates his way through, around and deep down into the particularly desperate circumstances, his performance reaches great heights. Reynor conveys a great deal about Richard best through moments of contemplation and silence; we can see what he’s thinking, how his situation is eating him up and how the toll is affecting him without much need for dialogue. But he’s equally deft at the, at times confrontational, verbal expressiveness required too. It’s a fierce, layered and fantastic performance from an exciting new talent.
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11-20: <strong>Moises Arias</strong> <em>The Kings of Summer</em>
/ <strong>Sun Honglei</strong> <em>Drug War</em>
/ <strong>John Hawkes</strong> <em>The Sessions</em>
/ <strong>Will Forte</strong> <em>Nebraska</em>
/ <strong>Aniello Arena</strong> <em>Reality</em>
/ <strong>Armie Hammer</strong> <em>The Lone Ranger</em>
/ <strong>Luis Tosar</strong> <em>Sleep Tight</em>
/ <strong>Bruce Dern</strong> <em>Nebraska</em>
/ <strong>Matthias Schoenaerts</strong> <em>Bullhead</em>
/ <strong>Richmond Arquette</strong> <em>This Is Martin Bonner</em>
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-2003064051161028472014-02-05T19:15:00.001+00:002014-02-05T19:15:39.095+00:00Films of 2013: 10 WorstWithout fret or fuss, here are the 10 worst films I saw last year. <br />
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01. <strong>The Big Wedding</strong>: the best horror movie I saw last year. It's fucking terrifying. Seriously, I felt sick, clammy, nauseous. I shook. I perspired — was a quaking mess. I had to beg strangers to drag me out of the cinema. But really: it's awful. In the film one character is bathing their feet in a lake, and another character jokingly says, <em>"Careful, we have a shark problem here."</em> Well, if only. De Niro, Sarandon, Keaton, Williams, Heigl, Seyfried, Grace and Barnes — they all play beige assholes. Nobody is any good. Nobody.
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02. <strong>This Is 40</strong>: This Is 40... Minutes Too Long. I was as close as I’ve ever been to walking out of the cinema. And I <em>never walk out of films</em>. I didn’t, but I came close. It was Paul Rudd's fault, he kept me rooted. That’s how much I like him. This smug, insular, overlong, turgid exercise in vanity was near unbearable.
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Wrong</span></div>
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03. <strong>Wrong</strong>: a desperate insta-cult item. It looks and sounds slick — in purely visual-aural terms it works — but it's too in love with its own blank weirdness to pass muster in any other department. It gets tedious and exasperating fast. It has hints of Monty Python, Jonze/Kaufman, <em>After Hours</em>, Tim & Eric, David Lynch. But nothing here is as good or as original as any of them. It's all loaned-out oddness.
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04. <strong>About Time</strong>:
Richard Curtis has made his film again. It’s pure fantasy that's chiefly recognisable to a specific aspirational social set, so much so that it reminded me of a Waitrose ad. The script is fudged by a lack of wit; in its place are flustered asides. A late scene struck a sweet chord, but it wasn't nearly enough by then. Bill Nighy, Rachel MacAdams, Tom Hollander and Lindsay Duncan do what they do. We’ve seen it all before. I was more intrigued by Lydia Wilson's supporting character/plot strand, sadly sidelined. It’s innocuous, well-meaning candy, and its appeal will grab some folk, but the wall-to-wall Curtis-isms did absolute zip for me. It’s one for the middle-class ‘wank-bank'.
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05. <strong>Movie 43</strong>: Why are all these actors doing this? Why did the script even <em>reach</em> these actors? In fact, why did I even watch this? Being a Julianne Moore completist meant sitting through it. But her segment wasn't even in it. It was a deleted extra. She lucked out; I didn't. Kate Winslet emerged unscathed. Griffin Dunne's segment was the most watchable. Everything else? It'd be nice to just forget about it and say no more about the horrid business.
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06. <strong>The ABCs of Death</strong>:
Did I watch <em>The ABCs of Death</em>, or The ABCs of Painfully Unfunny, Boring and Non-Scary Scatology? Where's the fear, the fright, the dread? Of the 26: 9 are ok-ish (A, C, N, O, R, S, T, U, X); eleven are bad (B, D, E, G, H, J, P, V, W, Y, Z); 5 are awful (F, I, K, L, M); and 1 isn't too bad (Q). Either it was directors saving the best stuff for their features or a general dearth of decent ideas, but this is dispiriting, tiresome horror.
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">28 Hotel Rooms</span></div>
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07. <strong>28 Hotel Rooms</strong>:<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/28-hotel-rooms-matt-ross2012.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #3d85c6;">full review</span></strong></a>
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08. <strong>Bachelorette</strong>: A bunch of awful, charmless people doing a lot of awful, charmless things. Excruciatingly unrewarding. A comedy charisma vacuum. It strained, crawled and dragged itself onward — like my will to stay and continue watching. Jokes were deflating everywhere. Performances were mugging the thin script of any remnant of appeal. It was matrimonial carnage. It gets wrong what <em>Bridesmaids</em> and <em>Girls</em> got right. It's just as inept and mean-spirited as its male-centric template, <em>The Hangover</em>.
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09. <strong>Trance</strong>: <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/7-notes-on-trance.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>full review</strong></span></a>
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10. <strong>Pain & Gain</strong>: <em>The Three Stooges</em> pimped up by David LaChapelle… but without much fun. It’s clunky, ugly, shiny, vacant. Bay's empty vanity case. Although it was utter tosh, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie put valid effort into it, whilst Mark Wahlberg does the same old routine (Tony Shalhoub did most of the hard graft.) It comes on like it has Things To Say (failed, wild American dream!), but there's nowt to it. It's just Bay doing a sweaty Coen bros act.Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-59462133675446534462014-02-03T16:10:00.000+00:002014-02-03T16:10:44.173+00:00Films Seen 2014: JanuaryFilms I saw in <strong>January</strong> 2014. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <strong>bold </strong>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2014 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed from bottom to top.<br />
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<strong>I, Frankenstein</strong> (Stuart Beattie/2013) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's hilarious. Not that it was meant to be. It should've been an intentional comedy, as the gag potential was overflowing.
It just took itself far too seriously. It could've been a witty treat as in, say, Buffy or Angel, but it went for strained importance.
No idea why a miscast Aaron Eckhart affected Bale's Batman voice. Bill Nighy gave one of his three performances.</span>
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Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer/1945) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The polite Britishness of it, the (then) novel concept, the intense creepiness at the edges... until the creepy fully emerges.
It's great that a film from 1945 still has the power to be truly scary — i.e. when, near the end, Hugo Fitch stands up and walks. Brrr. Some films' ability to scare can diminish over time, and with imitation, but some fully retain a lasting power. <em>Dead of Night</em> works wonders.</span>
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Kill Your Darlings (John Krokidas/2012) <strong>7 </strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aptly wired, skittish. Story grips, though loosely. But emotive music and performances stand out: Radcliffe and DeHaan are both very good.</span>
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<strong>Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit</strong> (Kenneth Branagh/2013) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Junior Bond. It's tidy, serviceable, formless. I was whelmed with averageness. I've forgotten most of it already.</span>
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Big Ass Spider! (Mike Mendez/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Exactly what you think it is... then a bit more fun. More <em>Infestation</em> than <em>Eight-Legged Freaks</em>. Thankfully. What's with the limited Lin Shaye, though?</span>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Breaking News</span></strong></div>
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Breaking News (Johnnie To/2004) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">One-Take Shoot-Out On Hong Kong Street Orchestrated By Johnnie To Stuns Film Viewer. Rest Of Day's Action Equally Stunning.</span>
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I'll Always Know What You Did last Summer (Sylvain White/2006) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cheap and belated. "He" <em>knows</em> what they did last summer, but I very much doubt he gives a shit.</span>
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<strong>Inside Llewyn Davis</strong> (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen/2013) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's a great film to have around, to be in the immediate vicinity of, to call on for a slice of quality sound and vision.
Perhaps one of their best?</span>
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Center Jenny (Ryan Trecartin/2013) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Creates a horror show from trash elements and invented moments. Imagine the imagery of the nine imaginary hookers from <em>Inland Empire</em> + the Jersey Shore gang + every John Waters heroine all hastily edited in a blender and oured into a film frame. Trecartin makes Gregg Araki look like a nun. It's all elegant degeneration, weaponised ear-muffs and nano-magic.</span><br />
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Blind Chance (Krzysztof Kieślowski/1981) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">KK questions fate in elusive yet assured fashion, but maybe it was done better via the <em>Three Colours</em> trilogy. A Mesmerising performance from Bogusław Linda.</span>
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<strong>The Wolf of Wall Street</strong> (Martin Scorsese/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Drool. Ludes. Ass candle. OTT speeches. Leo up to 11. Reiner phone accent. Benihana. Sick world satire. Badfellas.
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(It's the second film I've seen this year so far, after <em>12 Years a Slave</em>, in which all the performances are remarkable.
It's great filmmaking. 100% solid. But I didn't feel much, despite an overall appreciation. It left me numb. But maybe that's enough, a good, good thing.)</span>
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<strong>The Missing Picture</strong> (Rithy Panh/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A creative reply to past horror. The model/stock approach gives it an emotive, powerful heft. Film used as sly combat.</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>How to Make a Monster</strong></span></div>
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How to Make a Monster (Herbert L. Strock/1958) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Plenty of fun for its slim duration, but a bit rushed, a quickie. It has a <em>great</em> premise, though. Worth seeing.
It's decent, not great, but ideal for a redo as there's so much potential. If I had the money and the rights, I would <em>love</em> to remake it.</span>
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I'm So Excited! (Pedro Almodóvar/2013) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm surprised I made it to the end. Visually drab, tonally awry. Barely a laugh in it. Pedro's flat-farced self-imitation.</span>
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Fast Five (Justin Lin/2011) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Even the occasional subtitle zips fast across the screen.
Vin Diesel's voice is so deep and low through my speakers that when he spoke it measured 9.5 on the Richter scale. Although I haven't seen Fasts 1-4 or 6 (with or without the Furious and/or other words), this worked as a stand-alone film. Just about. There's almost as much carnage as <em>Man of Steel</em>.
Basically, Vin D and The Rock compared penises for 2 hours. Then they sped up their penises. Then they swapped their penises. Then discarded their penises as scrap.</span>
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The Apparition (Todd Lincoln/2012)<strong> 6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Follows the laws of cheap horror fare to a T. But some inspired ideas/images dotted throughout add a dash more to it. Enjoyable.</span>
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<strong>Last Vegas</strong> (Jon Turteltaub/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Had a fun watching it; some hearty chuckles to be found. Freeman and Steenburgen were both good. There's something charming,and inclusive here — take that, <em>The Hangover</em>s!</span>
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Child's Pose (Calin peter Netzer/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Very much felt Arthouse by Numbers. Familiar approach, beats, feel. Been here before. Good enough, with ace work from Luminita Gheorghiu.</span>
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Nobody's Daughter Haewon (Hong Sang-soo/2013) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Seeing the characters veer from charming to interminably dreary was a huge shame. Same goes for the film itself. Sadly, a big old Meh.</span>
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The Kings of Summer (Jordan Vogt-Roberts/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An absolute delight. Charming and funny in almost every way.</span>
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Drug War (Johnnie To/2012)<strong> 8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beautifully streamlined, expertly cut, directed with expert flair. Every scene was essential, fun, a visual treat. To on top form.</span>
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<strong>The Railway Man</strong> (Jonathan Teplitzsky/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dull, painfully worthy. Firth and Kidman give go-through-the-motions bland performances. Often prettily framed, but overall very inert.
The opposite of <em>Saving Mr. Banks</em> is true here: the flashbacks are better then the present-day scenes. Irvine and co. were very good. Something about the way the plot inveigles viewers into a certain reaction, then to oddly change its stance, was a bit off. It's hard to say more without spoiling narrative developments, but a lot of its plot turns seemed shaky, awkward and baffling. Also: exactly how much was true?</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Lust for a Vampire</strong></span></div>
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Lust for a Vampire (Jimmy Sangster/1971) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Not the best Hammer. A bit too on the Mills & Boon side. Could've done with being Jean Rollin-ised. Nifty castle though.</span>
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Reality (Matteo Garrone/2012) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Celebrity critique is balanced well with its involving chars. Arena is great in the lead. Choice camera moves sharply catch key moments.</span>
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The Sessions (Ben lewin/2012) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thoughtfully focused on good folks doing good things. Director Lewin has a fuss-free visual approach. Hawkes and Hunt are both riveting and restrained.
Anne Hathaway won an Oscar for her close-up sing-crying in <em>Les Miserables</em> last year... it <em>really</em> should've gone to Hunt for this.
She wasn't just leagues better than Hathaway though, she topped Jackie Weaver, Amy Adams and Sally Field too.</span>
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<strong>12 Years a Slave</strong> (Steve McQueen/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A study in suffering. Framed like a boss with impeccable acting from all (though Ejiofor rightly shines high). A fine work.</span>
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Man on Fire (Tony Scott/2004) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yikes, it's awful. Crass, portentous, full of overwrought and unearned sentiment. Everything is FUCK YEAH! WREAK ALL REVENGE!!
It has the same showy, jittered aesthetic that made<em> Domino</em> a cack experience. Denzel's dull performance keeps it flat and the script's plain naff.
An all-round tedious, dispiriting film. Though, the photography (by Paul Cameron, who knows how to make action scenes work) was first rate.</span>
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Alfred L. Werker/1939) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Some high grade Nigel Bruce here. Rathbone's stellar too. Nice early Lupino role. Music adds an eerie quality.
The shadowy, fog-shrouded London streets/sets are key in how evocative it is; so much atmosphere aroused simply.</span>
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Open Five (Kentucker Audley/2010) <strong>2</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The precious/tenuous/casual just-idly-hanging-out Mumblecore relationship drama is tired. This has very close to nothing to say.</span>
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<strong>Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones</strong> (Christopher Landon/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was more of (exactly) the same, but, er, had 100% more 'Marked Ones' involved. Whoever the hell they were.
That's not to say there weren't some fun bits. Though it wasn't especially scary like <em>Paranormal Activity 3</em>, which is still the best of the bunch by a long shot.</span>
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Hannah Arendt (Margarethe von Trotta/2012) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">How refreshing to see a film about thinking, and that isn't dry or pretentious or laboured. It's fronted by a cracking, committed performance from Barbara Sukowa.</span>
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The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski/2013) <strong>8</strong> <em>rewatch</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Like it every bit as much as I did at the cinema. Ballsy fun. Action staged and directed with marvelous control and flair.</span>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">I-Be Area</span></strong></div>
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I-Be Area (Ryan Trecartin/2007) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Trecartin explores shifting identity like it's a pop culture nightmare. Its limitless absurdity is cracked, compulsive, wry.</span>
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Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasethakul/2012) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A place of guests and ghosts. A film of loose ideas. An experimental sketch. A small thing of beauty. Above all: amazing images.</span>
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American Hustle (David O. Russell/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Plot's a tricksy trifle, but the performances drive it in entertaining fashion. Direction isn't perhaps not David O. Russell's best, but it's all sprightly fun.
The gals were best in show. Adams: great, one of her best performances. J-Law: all wrecked mania and cheek; a brilliant risky treat.
Nice to see Bale in a (kinda) comedic role. He was good, as ever, but all I could hear was I Am Acting when he was onscreen.</span><br />
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Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer/1949) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Splendid stuff. Darkly witty, stunningly photographed, directed and acted with flair and precision.
Dennis Price was horribly, perfectly demented; a great performance. Alec Guinness' eight-role act was a marvelous triumph.</span>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-63749982692089803222014-01-22T07:56:00.001+00:002014-01-22T07:56:10.274+00:00Films of 2013: Female Performances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I saw <em><strong>The Sessions</strong></em> relatively late in the year, but I’m glad I squeezed it in as <strong>Helen Hunt</strong> (<strong>10</strong>) gave a great, subtle performance in it as a sex surrogate. Out of all last year’s Best Supporting Actress nominees she was easily the standout and deserved to win. She evinced the sensitivity within a deceptively complex yet affable and just plain decent character. <strong>Cosmina Stratan</strong> (<strong>9</strong>) was quietly devastating in <strong><em>Beyond the Hills</em></strong>. Watching her observe the troubling events in the film, take part in them, and be at the centre of them, was a huge part of the fascination of the film. The exact same goes for <strong>Amy Seimetz</strong> (<strong>8</strong>) in <strong><em>Upstream Color</em></strong>. She showed her grip on a lead role is just as secure as it is on support roles. She played Kris with delicacy, focus and fire. <strong>Greta Gerwig</strong> (<strong>7</strong>) was on this list last year for <em>Damsels in Distress</em> and she’s made it again for <strong><em>Frances Ha</em></strong>. Well, she does keep on being naturally captivating, full of goofy charm and wonderfully precise with her comic timing. <strong>Sandra Bullock</strong> (<strong>6</strong>) gets a place for giving her all to <strong><em>Gravity</em></strong>. She’s in almost every scene and carries the film effortlessly and near totally weightlessly. She shows every terrifying or euphoric experience as a complex range of emotions. It’s further proof that she can do drama just as well as she does comedy.
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<strong><em>War Witch</em></strong> was a compelling film and, in the lead, <strong>Rachel Mwanza</strong> (<strong>5</strong>) gave a bold, heartbreaking performance. It’s truly her film and this young actress rises to the role with immense skill. She is leagues better here than many of the more seasoned actresses were in their films last year. More people deserved to see <strong><em>Price Check</em></strong>, chiefly for <strong>Parker Posey</strong> (<strong>4</strong>). Her near-perfect performance, in which she nails the division between quirky and awkward that many a MPDG type misses, is a sheer delight. She’s unlikeable yet endearing and shows a great amount of cheeriness and vulnerability at opportune moments. It was one of my favourite comedy perfromances of the year. I'd like to see a spin-off TV series fronted by Posey. <strong>Barbara Sukowa</strong> (<strong>3</strong>) as <strong><em>Hannah Arendt</em></strong> was, at various times throughout the film, intense, impassioned and as staunch as can be. Her lecture toward the end of the film is a masterclass in performance control (for the character and for Sukowa). Every piece of drama leads up to this point and Sukowa commands the screen without undue fuss. Amazing work.<br />
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<strong>Brie Larson</strong> (<strong>2</strong>) in <em><strong>Short Term 12</strong></em> was a sheer revelation. I’d only seen her in small parts in a handful of films before, but this lead role should confirm her status as a seriously vital new talent. The subtlety and vigour with which she performs is enthralling. She hits each beat, each moment with a rare kind of emotion. I believed, and believed <em>in,</em> her character. A great acting achievement. Ultimately, though, no one was quite as good as <strong>Cate Blanchett</strong> (<strong>1</strong>) this year. In <strong><em>Blue Jasmine</em></strong> she stood out as giving the very best female performance of 2013. The cracks in Jasmine's glacial composure, the thread of despair that unwinds more and more as the film goes on (as her life gradually spirals into a personal oblivion), and the balance between spikiness and fragility that she manages with utter ease — Blanchett was commanding, assured, perfect. For proof, just watch her closely when she delivers the line: <em>“Anxiety, nightmares and a nervous breakdown — there's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.”</em>
It's acting that thrills.<br />
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11-20: <strong>Kristin Scott Thomas</strong> <em>Only God Forgives</em>
/ <strong>Jennifer Lawrence</strong> <em>American Hustle</em>
/ <strong>Nicole Kidman</strong> <em>The Paperboy</em>
/ <strong>Ann Dowd</strong> <em>Compliance</em>
/ <strong>Emma Thompson</strong> <em>Saving Mr. Banks</em>
/ <strong>Melissa McCarthy</strong> <em>The Heat</em>
/ <strong>Tashiana Washington</strong> <em>Gimme the Loot</em>
/ <strong>Sharni Vinson</strong> <em>You’re Next</em>
/ <strong>June Squibb</strong> <em>Nebraska</em>
/ <strong>Maeve Jinkings</strong> <em>Neighbouring Sounds</em>
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-45368839221872974972014-01-16T20:45:00.001+00:002014-01-16T21:00:33.824+00:00Films of 2013: 10 DisappointmentsHere are 10 disappointments of 2013 — the same deal as with the 10 surprises posted the other day. These are films that I perhaps had some element of expectation for prior to watching them, or films that I'd heard about and was, to some degree, excited about, but which turned out to be not quite the films I'd hoped. However, as with the nature of this category every year, I could easily revisit any one of these films in future and see untapped pleasures within them that elevates it in my mind. This often happens. But as it stands, all 10 films below were worth watching despite the disappointing outcomes. The titles below are in no specific order and all — as per my yearly lists — released in the UK between January 1st and December 31st 2013. There may be what some may call discrepencies, as I include UK premiere releases on formats other than theatrical releases (DVD/Blu-ray, Netflix, TV movies etc), mainly because I feel any and all films should get a shot at being represented in year-end lists, not just the main, wider releases. But the dates above are the general rule around here.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Side Effects</span></div>
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<strong>Side Effects</strong> (dir: Steven Soderbergh)
<em>Because</em>: of the films that I thought of as disappointments this past year, perhaps this was the most disappointing. It started well, brilliantly even. Soderbergh set up some well-judged suspense. The cast was a coup. There was some kind of deviously fascinating game plan to all the pharmaceutical shenanigans. But then, at the last stretch, it suddenly became a mid-nineties erotic thriller. A bad one at that, one with a particularly regressive tone that left a nasty aftertaste. Two questions regarding the main issue that turned it sour for me. Could Catherine Zeta-Jones’ character have feasibly been written as male? And, if so, would it have altered the outcome at all? For me it’s yes and no. Psycho Lesbians Who Get Their Comeuppance For Betraying Poor Men as a thematic thriller filler should have been left in the nineties. The Soderbergh antipathy doesn’t end there unfortunately because…<br />
<br />
... <strong>Behind the Candelabra</strong> lies age-old showbiz ugliness? This was a lot of gilded faff that said very little. It was as all a bit basic, thin, limited. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon were very good, but I never felt I understood or discovered what made Liberace and Scott do the things they did, beyond what was obvious. There was scant evocative connotation or intelligent stimulation and little vivid context beyond the glitz and the made-up faces frozen in a terrifying sheen of distrust. Some of the meaty content was there, but a lot was merely cloaked by the glimmer. The ‘drug haze' scenes in <em>Killing Them Softly</em> in 2012 received many moans of "cliché", but I wonder if folks will apply the same to those in <em>Candelabra</em>? Here, they bordered on embarrassing. I’m guessing many folks will take it on trust that the scenes here are sound and just because Soderbergh is a highly favoured, and now retired, filmmaker.
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<strong>Black Rock </strong>(dir: Katie Aselton) <em>Because</em>: it was a bad day at <em>Black Rock</em>... (<a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2012/10/13/lff-black-rock.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>full review</strong></span></a>)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This Is the End</span></div>
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<strong>This Is the End</strong>
(dir: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen) <em>Because</em>: although it's brim-full of confidence and is certainly sure of itself — and a handful of good jokes work — I’m not sure it's as funny as it thinks it is. And, Phew, *wafts the air* there’s a whole lotta gay panic up in here (though I guess the makers are all too aware, but it does tip into some baffling, in-jokey, areas). I did wish that the gags varied just a dash more though. Craig Robinson (dry), Jay Baruchel (daft), Michael Cera (drunk) and (one specific vocal gag from) James Franco were best in show. A shame it was less than the sum of its parts.
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<strong>You’re Next</strong>
(dir: Adam Wingard)
<em>Because</em>: it was maybe a tad overpraised? It wasn’t a bad film by any means, but the hyperbole for it was in overdrive upon its release. I can’t see that it’s actually half as fresh or daring as reports said. It was an average home invasion horror and little more, although Sharni Vinson was great in a decent part — the real standout element of the film, she was operating on a slightly elevated level from the rest of it. Also: scary ‘animal –face masks’ are clearly the new scary 'old potato sack' masks.
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<strong>Simon Killer</strong> (dir: Antonio Campos) <em>Because</em>: though I was underwhelmed by Campos’ <em>Afterschool</em>, the story here piqued my interest. I was intrigued enough to give it a go. However, it was all just too much hand relief for Haneke. Just like <em>Afterschool</em>. Its main issue was a consistently directionless tone and general structure that seemed to imply some kind of foreboding significance yet resulted in little thrill or satisfaction. It was paced and structured with a chilly kind of verve, but it only starts to get compelling halfway in. Then it, er… runs dry of ideas. Brady Corbet can be very good, but his character's a flaky, dull blank and his neurosis was often funny when it should've been powerfully consuming. Much more interesting is Mati Diop, who is superb. I would've preferred more of her (better-defined) character's story over Corbet's, to be honest. There was a lot of artful posing going on, though at least it was photographed and scored with inspiration.<br />
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<strong>Welcome to Pine Hill</strong> (dir: Keith Miller) <em>Because</em>: it failed on similar points as <em>Simon Killer</em>, above: keen promise was there, then it was hastily dashed. Its feel of sad dislocation, of life melancholically off balance, was aroused nicely. But Miller didn’t take it anywhere interesting. Its intentions were commendable, but the journey of the main character was ultimately a feeble stumble where it needed to attain moving heights. Proof that evasive, mysterious endings don’t always work.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Post Tenebras Lux</span></div>
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<strong>Post Tenebras Lux </strong>(dir: Carlos Reygadas) <em>Because</em>: can a bluffer create poetic imagery? Is wilfully showy abstraction enough? Does it have to mean that much? Why the rugby? <br />
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<strong>A Field in England </strong>(dir: Ben Wheatley) <em>Because</em>: there's genuinely, curiously strange and then there's wilful, for-the-sake-of-it strange. This marches right down the centre. Some films achieve an organic cultish edge, even early on in their lifespan, and some appear to 'build it in'. I got the feeling <em>A Field in England</em> fits the latter. It’s knowingly pre-constructed <em>weird</em> cinema. There’s some striking imagery to relish and Reece Shearsmith and Richard Glover are great, as are the sound design and editing. But I didn’t actually feel much throughout though. I wasn’t seduced, flummoxed or alert by the arcane devilry onscreen. I was mainly indifferent. Regardless, it was entirely cheering that there was real excitement for an experimental, B&W film set in 17th century Civil War England. That doesn’t happen every year — kudos to that.<br />
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<strong>The Purge</strong>
(dir: James DeMonaco) <em>Because</em>: potential: yea big *spans arms out*. Execution: yea big *holds thumb and forefinger apart* A shaky polemic, all told. At times an erratic mess, but not easy to write off, <em>The Purge</em> has apt points to make but it’s dismaying that it feels the need to underline them in muddy fashion. File under: eh? Or: better luck with the sequel.
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<strong>Next</strong>: Worst, Female and Male Performances, Best of 2013.Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-55702137646865927762014-01-15T07:23:00.000+00:002014-01-15T12:25:35.397+00:00Films of 2013: 10 SurprisesHere are 10 surprises of 2013, films that I had little or no knowledge of prior to watching them, or films that I'd heard about and held no particular expectations for, but actually turned out to be decent, worthwhile fare. Although I couldn't say that all of the films below are truly great films exactly (though <em>Home Sweet Home</em> is certainly the very best of the bunch and deserves to be more widely seen), they are all worthy of some consideration and attention; they were all better than their largely indifferent, negative or meagre reviews suggested. The titles below are in no specific order and all — as per my yearly lists — released in the UK between January 1st and December 31st 2013. There may be what some may call discrepencies, as I include UK premiere releases on formats other than theatrical releases (DVD/Blu-ray, Netflix, TV movies etc), mainly because I feel any and all films should get a shot at being represented in year-end lists, not just the main, wider releases. But the dates above are the general rule around here.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Home Sweet Home</span></div>
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<strong>Home Sweet Home</strong> (dir: David Morley) <em>Because</em>: it was probably one of the most fascinating, slick and crisply directed horrors I saw last year. Home invasion films are ten-a-penny these days, and whilst last year's most notable entry, <em>The Purge,</em> tried yet failed to fully invigorate the sub-genre with a novel conceptual-social angle, <em>Home Sweet Home</em> went for a no-frills, intense and pared down approach and bettered it by a mile. It’s elegantly made, full of dread and uses slow-build tension to near unbearable levels. Sometimes pause and patience can create the best cinematic fear.<br />
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<strong>Bait</strong>
(dir: Kimble Rendall) <em>Because</em>: as a retro mid-level b-movie it tapped into the precise stuff that makes retro mid-level b-movies insanely enjoyable. It was ridiculous, joyfully cheap and took itself just serious enough to achieve the desired result yet it was clearly stupid and it knew it — as much fun as its premise (sharks in a supermarket) promised. I'd gladly watch parts 2, 3 and 4. Probably drunk. Likely with a roomful of friends. And the fact that it wasn't an utterly tedious waste of time, a title without a film to back it up, meant it was instantly leagues better than <em>Sharknado</em>. Clean up, aisle 3!
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<strong>Apartment 4E</strong>
(dir: Russell leigh Sharman) <em>Because</em>: a small and seemingly innocuous two-hander, this had a touch more vigour and acidity than I first assumed. The film's two performances were pitched well for intimate drama, especially Nicole Beharie, who is a captivating presence and took hold of her role with gutsy abandon. (It shows that Behaire, so good in <em>Shame</em> in 2011, should be getting first dibs on many of the decent roles for women around at the moment.)
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Being Flynn</span></div>
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<strong>Being Flynn </strong>(dir: paul Weitz) <em>Because</em>: it’s well paced with a deftly-judged use of voiceover and structure. The characters feel, overall, vital. Reviews were mostly negative, which meant it passed by largely unnoticed. Some plot elements are reminiscent of the recent <em>A Bag of Hammers</em> and it has a fair kinship to the 1993 film <em>The Saint of Fort Washington</em> — both great underrated gems. Paul Dano is excellent; Robert De Niro is better here than in his Oscar-nominated role in <em>Silver Linings Playbook</em>. It has a top cast all round: Julianne Moore, Lili Taylor, William Sadler, Dale Dickey, Olivia Thirlby, Wes Studi all support. The photography by Declan Quinn is one of its strengths: clear, vivid lighting and a great use of muted palette. He's one of the best DPs currently working.<br />
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<strong>I Give It a Year</strong>
(dir: Dan Mazer) <em>Because</em>: although mostly panned I thought it worked effectively enough. I can’t entirely fathom why it received a thrashing, however, as it’s <em>just other contemporary British rom com</em>, and is better and funnier than its dreary reviews said… and was an infinitely better attempt than the mostly better-received, though awful, <em>About Time</em>. Rafe Spall was appealing and deserved more credit for his shrewd comedy and the supporting cast performed well. When the comedy works (which is often), it's very funny. Its loaded gags give it oomph. The main reason to see it though is the small, perfect cameo from Olivia Colman as a marriage counsellor. She never disappoints.
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<strong>Sleepwalk with Me</strong>
(dirs: Mike Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) <em>Because</em>: it was a breezy little comedy by and about an amiable loser-type, thinly masked as a character, who knew how to impart the best and most amusing aspects of his personality to glean laughs. Mike Birbiglia shows he can be as gleefully watchable as Paul Rudd and has the sad-sack elements of Ben Stiller’s more dramatic turns. I had a good time watching this. More of this, cheers, Mr Birbiglia.
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<strong>The Giant Mechanical Man</strong>
(dir: Lee Kirk) <em>Because</em>: although it had all the signs of being another in the long line of quirky-for-the-sake-of-it romantic comedy-dramas (a shy, silver-face-painted mime artist on stilts has a furtive/awkward love affair with a meek zookeeper— see what I mean? I'm surpprised I didn't hit walk away during the opening titles), it rather heroically managed to avoid most of the usual genre pitfalls. Chris Messina and Jenna Fischer were good romantic leads. What a nice change from either the Zack Braffs, the Zooey Deschanels and/or the Gerard Butlers and the Katherine Heigls of rom-com-dom.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We're the Millers</span></div>
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<strong>We’re the Millers </strong>(dir: Rawson Marshall Thurber) <em>Because</em>: instead of being just another laborious entry on the corny comedy concept carousel that come around all too often, it used its concept capably (whereas something like, say, <em>Identity Thief</em> didn’t) and avoided any undue fussiness. It had some genuine belly laughs and a sprinkling of sweet moments. OK, there were some iffy aspects too (the Aniston pole dance, the roadside cop), but they were mostly kept to a minimum. The cast work well and there were some actually great end-credit outtakes — which alone raises it above other similar comedies. <br />
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<strong>Any Day Now</strong>
(dir: Travis Fine) <em>Because</em>: a sincere social angle gives it pleasant, admirable heft. It could’ve been a worthy TV-movie-like study of obviously contentious social-issue chestnuts (gay parenting, disability), but it plays well as solid, unabashed rather old-school drama. Fine performances from Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt give it commitment and zeal. Both are given a lot more to do here than in many of either actor's other recent work. This is a fine film with some thoughtful things to say.
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<strong>White House Down</strong>
(dir: Roland Emmerich) <em>Because</em>: really, it’s the height of action-movie daftness. All OTT patriotic panic and anguished aides. C-Tat sweats. J-Foxx smirks. This thing here and that thing over there explode. There’s plenty of brain-dodging fun to be had with it. I liked Jason Clarke most. He's often the best thing in his films and he's clearly having a ball here, snarling, shouting and shooting the place up, enjoying all the hokiness just like I did. There's a raft of risible lines and preposterous plot swerves, <em>of course</em>. And it’s hard to take any given scene remotely seriously, thankfully.
I wouldn't have it any other way. Olympus has What?<br />
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<strong>Next</strong>: Disappointments, Worst, Female and Male Performances and Best of 2013.Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-20918820545201961352014-01-01T20:25:00.000+00:002014-01-01T20:25:04.464+00:00Films Seen 2013: October, November, DecemberFilms I saw in <strong>October, November </strong>and<strong> December</strong> 2013. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed from bottom to top.<br />
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<strong>Blancanieves</strong> (Pablo Berger/2012) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Quite something! All the filmmaking aspects — visual, aural, thematic etc — converge with spellbinding effect. Lovely and moving.</span>
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Machete (Ethan Maniquis/2010) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was watchable yet entirely forgettable. Don't know why it stopped the faux scratched-up film effect after 10 minutes, but glad it did.
(Fake exploitation nostalgia got tired quick; give me the real deal any day.)
It mainly proved that 90% of what De Niro's done since 1995 has been utter dross and that Lindsay Lohan really isn't any kind of actress.</span>
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<strong>Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues</strong> (Adam McKay/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Scores well with many of its dafter gags, but misses with several others. It stretches itself thin at 2 hours. Cameos were fun enough.</span>
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<strong>The Bling Ring</strong> (Sofia Coppola/2013) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Slim on ideas, short on interest. Coppola coasting. Unsure it delivers its argument well. The most vacuous film of the year.</span>
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<strong>47 Ronin</strong> (Carl Rinsch/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Plot nowt to shout about, but I enjoyed the demons, beasts and witches. Good swordplay too. Enjoyable romp, but with perhaps a few iffy edges.
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My Name Is Julia Ross (Joseph H. Lewis/1945)<strong> 7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A breezy smalltime noir, compact and swiftly paced. Nina Foch suffers well. Each plot turn is effective and gripping.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whistle and I'll Come to You</span></strong></div>
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Whistle and I'll Come to You (Jonathan Miller/1968) <strong>7 </strong><em>short/tv</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Michael Hordern does the stuffy prof role with ease. Director Miller nicely ekes out the ominous mundanity. Frightful.</span>
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The Signalman (Lawrence Gordon Clark/1976) <strong>7 </strong><em>short/tv</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There's something in the way Denholm Elliott merely speaks that unnerves, but The Figure, his face and the tunnel ratchet it up.</span>
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<strong>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</strong> (Ben Stiller2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's like a two-hour 'inspirational' camera advert, but has lovely moments of affecting pause and playful ad lib.</span>
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<strong>The Tractate Middoth</strong> (Mark Gatiss/2013) <strong>7</strong> <em>short/tv</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stuff Downton Abbey, Lark Rise to Midwifemarch or whatever, I'd like to see more period TV (short/mini films) like BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas. They should be seasonal — weekly even. This was beautifully, tautly directed and expertly acted. It looked great. Simple shots of swirling dust particles and slow-creeping shadows were turned into terrifying images. And at 38 minutes it swiftly got the job done.</span>
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<strong>Man of Steel</strong> (Zack Snyder/2012) <strong>6</strong> <em>rewatch</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Noticed just how handsome Henry Cavill is. I noticed it the first time around, but it's a fact worth repeating.</span>
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Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske/1951) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Great inventive animation. The colour was vivid, wonderful. Didn't fully win me over though.</span>
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<br />
Cremaster 2 (Matthew Barney/1999) <strong>8</strong>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sound, image, theme, pace are at their strongest (so far). Its near insoluble nature is fascinating. Could watch it on a loop.</span>
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<strong>Leviathan</strong> (Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor/2012)<strong> 8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The dark grit of an industry artfully conveyed (yet not overtly so) via a unique viewpoint. There's a grand, hard beauty here.</span>
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Alice in Wonderland (Jonathan Miller/1966) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Well doused in strange sixties British cultishness. Part inspired, part flat. Great atypical score by Ravi Shankar.</span>
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Cremaster 5 (Matthew Barney/1997) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Must admit the testicular focus is lost on me, but I'm not sure it dents the enjoyment of these deranged films. Ursula Andress!</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cremaster 1</span></strong></div>
<br />
Cremaster 1 (Matthew Barney/1996) <strong>6 </strong><em>short</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Visually strong, use of colour exceptional. A vast, monumental ode to crazed invention. Not quite as thoroughly engaging as 4.</span>
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<br />
The Spider Woman (Roy William Neill/1944) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Amusing, but slight and a dash boring Sherlock Holmes quickie flick. More of a filler between other, better SH adventures?</span>
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Cremaster 4 (Matthew Barney/1995) <strong>7 </strong><em>short</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Immediately curious, captivating. Something indefinably and genuinely weird to it. Barney's mind is a tricky and beguiling place.</span>
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The Lavender Hill Mob (Charles Crichton/1951) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Slocombe's gorgeous B&W photography and Guinness' expert characterisation stand tall. Fitfully funny, plenty of daffy charm.</span>
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Timur Bekmambetov/2012) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Looked gloomy/ropey as all hell. Iffy plastic FX. Cast looked bored. Bekmambetov's best so far — which is worrying.</span>
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Drawing Restraint 9 (Matthew Barney/2005) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Björk, a whaling ship and petroleum jelly. Barney's curious strange actions. Avoids longueurs w/ mesmerising diversions.</span>
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Piranhaconda (Jim Wynorski/2012) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I really don't think Michael Madsen cares any more. Someone needs to tell him he doesn't have to do every script he receives.</span>
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<strong>Saving Mr. Banks</strong> (John Lee Hancock/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An exercise in self love, Disney style. The plot's a wispy biscuit; flashbacks are saccharine intrusions. Though there are some moving scenes.
Thompson's such a pro, she could do roles like this asleep. She's <em>precisely</em> good, hits every beat with ease, very controlled. Hanks is every bit as assured as Thompson. He's obviously having fun, but he nails an underlying solemnity in the part very well too. The best scenes are the small moments between Thompson and Paul Giamatti; I partly wished that it was the story of Poppins and Her Driver (but with the overt sentimentality on show elsewhere,<em> that</em> film could've become very <em>Driving Miss Daisy</em>-like.) The score was erratic and a real mess. It coated most scenes in forced jollity or a dreary weepy tone. And I usually like Thomas Newman.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Foreign Affair</span></strong></div>
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A Foreign Affair (Billy Wilder/1948) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">One of Wilder's sly comic delights. Dietrich sings and smirks like a surefire star. Splendid B&W photography gives it shine.</span>
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Virus (John Bruno/1999) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Despite bad reports, I enjoyed it. It's flawed with ropey aspects and dodgy decisions, but it has a great premise and some exciting moments.
Donald Sutherland's Oirish-accented sea Cap'n is awful. Rare he gives a duff performance, but he's on the lowest rung here. Jamie Lee Curtis was good. The central sci-fi idea has oodles of potential. There's lots of fun to be had despite the iffy bits. I liked the 'alien presence' and how the (mostly practical) special effects were used. It's also a rare film that would absolutely benefit from a good overhaul. I'd love to see it remade and reckon the best person to remake it would be Chris Cunningham. I'd like to see him take it on, rewire and retool it and make it his own.</span>
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Stuck on You (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly/2003) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Amiable and has its heart in the right place. Some giggles, but few big laughs. Cher and Streep are game. Perhaps one of the better Farrelly flicks?</span><br />
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Kiss the Girls (Gary Fleder/1997) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's obvious who the killer is from go, but it's fun enough snooping along with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd (both very good). Generic but decent.</span>
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<strong>The Butler</strong> (Lee Daniels/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Schmaltz sheen alert!... But it doesn't fog its inherent views. A rotary name cast add their tuppence-worth with starry pep. 'Twas ok.
A lot of it was ripe and ready for awards from the first frame, but there was an agreeable sincerity to it. Sly editing made the strongest points.
I'm not sure which Oprah Winfrey I liked best: drunk Oprah, 'old lady makeup' Oprah or Oprah in a shell suit.</span>
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<strong>Short Term 12</strong> (Destin Cretton/2013) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bold, warm, moving, full of wonderful human interactions. Deftly directed. The whole cast are outstanding, Brie Larson especially. An exemplary film.</span>
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Scrooge (Brian Desmond Hurst/1951) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Economic and well-paced; a great version and a great ghost story. Alastair Sim's performance is an absolute joy. Framing is great.</span>
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<strong>Nebraska</strong> (Alexander payne/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lonely, folksy America painted in becoming, poignant strokes. Bruce Dern, Will Forte and June Squibb are all stellar. The elegant photography stood out. Some kind of wonderful.</span>
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<strong>Carrie</strong> (Kimberley Pierce/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It has moments that work, but it's a pretty pedestrian affair. Anonymous bullies, Carrie miscast, limited fresh angles. It's... ok, unremarkable.
Julianne Moore's creepy religi-nut mum worked well, as did Judy Greer's sincere teacher. The score felt off and the editing a dash hasty. Why no risks taken? I reckon the filmmakers could've changed more, pushed it into new territory: B&W? Dogme95-style camerawork? OTT 3D may have even worked.</span>
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<strong>Only God Forgives</strong> (Nicholas Winding Refn/2012) <strong>8</strong> <em>rewatch</em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tough, harsh, it burns cold and is often barmy to the nth degree. It's all wall-to-wall blank despair. I'm a fan.
As a slice of murky hell, a glimpse at reprehensible figures, it succeeds wonderfully/horribly. Some films are ok being just that. On second watch, the slick-dank visuals, aural assault and all its vulgar merits intensify. Still one of 2013's strongest films.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">The American</span></strong></div>
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The American (Anton Corbjin/2011) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicely paced with a tone that seeps through and sneaks up on you. The cinematography is top-drawer; direction and score equal it. A great Clooney performance. It felt like an 'off-hours' Bond film with a distinct Euro sensibility. Fascinating to see Clooney intricately think and reflect on screen.
Had I seen it in 2010 it may well have been on that year's Best Films list.</span>
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X-Men: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner/2006) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It never truly lifts off — it needed more oomph — but some of the action entertains. More could've been done with the characters.
All three of these first <em>X-Men</em> films had same effect on me: ok, diverting, didn't wow me, but perfectly watchable, nicely average.
Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut very nearly sank the film. Awful. Painful. Luckily, he just sank his own (gladly brief) scenes. Considering it was subtitled <em>The Last Stand</em>, it was odd that no one really had any fight in them. They lacked conviction.</span>
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<strong>Robocroc</strong> (Arthur Sinclair/2013) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A metallic crocodile named Stella, a member of Boyzone straining to act and a £2.50 budget — it was glorious* (*soul-destroying).</span>
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<strong>The Hunger Games: Catching Fire</strong> (Francis Lawrence/2013) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fun, snappy sequel. Steps up what was good in the first one. Impressive cast. Liked the various game hazards.</span>
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Suspect Zero (E. Elias Merhige/2004) <strong>4</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Messy, try-hard direction makes a dithering time of it. The shadow of <em>Seven</em> is long and overpowering. Kingsley good; Eckhart wired.</span>
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D.O.A. (Rudolph Maté/1950) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Decent enough noir, but the novel concept overcomes the plot; it's all just a stagger to an endgame. Good performances, solid direction.</span>
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<strong>Don Jon</strong> (Joseph Gordon-Levitt/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Far better as it goes along; drama aspect had more conviction than the comic. Nicely edited, full of confidence, but no real spark.
I wasn't sure if the mostly broad characters were deliberately heightened for effect or just sketchily drawn (not enough time with some of them?). I may well be biased but Julianne Moore was excellent and had the best scenes/character. Scarlett Johansson was very good too. Gordon-Levitt's surety worked well enough.</span>
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<strong>Gravity</strong> (Alfonso Cuarón/2013) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lots of gasping, plenty of tears (ain't denying) and all the wow. Bullock exceptional. A feat and a feast of great, detailed filmmaking.</span>
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<strong>Thor: The Dark World</strong> (Alan taylor/2013) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thor upped his game. Honed quips, a vitality to the action, design details solid. Some plot fluffs but, pah! I had a ball. You know, I'm not so fussed about tube station inaccuracies when elsewhere there are inter-dimensional gods and monsters.</span>
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<strong>Philomena</strong> (Stephen Frears/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Froth coats the painful themes, but all is well intended and nicely performed. Plot turns are too easy. Dench good, Coogan better. Script's twee and some of it felt slightly fudged, but moments of unforced emotion work. Direction is largely free of flair or surprise.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Passenger</span></strong></div>
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The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni/1975) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Curious study of escape, identity. Slyly obscure, tricky to pin down. Occasionally infuriating, often great. Those landscapes!</span>
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<strong>War Witch</strong> (Kim Nguyen/2012) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Perceptive and harsh. Beautifully directed with a clear sensitivity. A cracking performance from Rachel Mwanza. Such vivid imagery. Brilliant.</span>
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Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman/1930) <strong>8</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Groucho's face, bodily contortions and rapid one-liners. Harpo's harp playing. Chico's cheek. Dumont's foil. 97mins of happy.</span>
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Under Still Waters (Carolyn Miller/2008) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Paranoid love triangle done cheaply, but accrues intrigue. Lake Bell and Jason Clarke give fine performances. It's no <em>Dead Calm</em>.</span>
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Visiting Hours (Jean-Claude Lord/1982) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rough, slightly loopy and overwrought slasher with a chilling edge. But that's what made it stand out, what I liked about it.
The feminist angle, evident in a string of ways, gives it a fresh slant. Great performance from Michael Ironside. Choice direction, score.</span>
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<strong>Wrong</strong> (<span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">Quentin Dupieux/2012) <strong>2</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Looks and sounds slick, but it's so in love with its own blank weirdness. It gets tedious and exasperating fast. A desperate insta-cult item.
It has hints of Monty Python, Jonze/Kaufman, <em>After Hours</em>, Tim & Eric, David Lynch, but nowt here is as good or as original as any of 'em. It's all loaned oddness.</span>
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<strong>Self Storage</strong> (Tom DeNucci/2013) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Torture yawn. A bit of a sloppily-edited mess. Dull characters yacking for an age makes for a low-thrill watch. It's diet horror.</span>
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Kill Theory (Chris Moore/2009) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Generic Slasher Alert! No one asked for <em>Saw</em> based on the premise of <em>Touching the Void</em>, but here it is. Ropey fun. Lacks theory.</span>
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<strong>Bait</strong> (Kimble Rendall/2012) <strong>6</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Clean up, aisle 3! Stupid and knows it. As much fun as its premise promises, but not much more. I'd gladly watch parts 2, 3, 4...
The fact that this wasn't an utterly boring waste of time meant it was leagues better than <em>Sharknado</em>.</span>
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A Haunting in Salem (Shane Van Dyke/2011) <strong>3</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Re horror scares, the 'less is more' rule doesn't apply when there really isn't <em>anything</em> there to induce fear. Awful.
This is so laughably bad (acting, script esp.) that it's actually oddly entertaining. That's when it's not just incredibly boring. All the main characters are so disparate and thrown-together that none of them appear credible or convincing as family members. It felt like the actors were assembled 5 minutes prior to filming. Ditto the script. Ditto the concept. Rushed and fudged filmmaking.</span>
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Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh/2012) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Occasionally funny, often strains for cleverness, sometimes questionable. Has a severe case of Tarantino/Coen bros envy.
Rockwell (dynamic, brash), Walken (dry, coy) are best in show. Women get the short straw, but OH-SO-META-COMMENT. *eye roll*
It has a cake-and-eat-it approach: go for offence, then reference it. Not too convincing. The lively/moving moments were better.</span>
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<strong>Upside Down</strong> (Juan Solanas/2012) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The only film ever to feature both antimatter and anti-wrinkle cream? Nicely designed, if too ornate and CGI-heavy. Never really lifts off.
Also: wot no Diana Ross theme tune? Looks and feels like a blend of Richard Curtis, Tim Burton and the Wachowskis. Love story's a bit drab, which is an issue in a love story.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Five best new films</strong>:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">War Witch</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Blancanieves</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Gravity</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Short Term 12</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Leviathan</span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Five best older films</strong>:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Visiting Hours</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Animal Crackers</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">Cremaster 4, 1, 5, 2</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">The American</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-size: small;">A Foreign Affair</span></em></span>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-65186938427731806562013-10-25T20:21:00.000+01:002013-10-25T20:21:45.281+01:00TFE: Top Ten Horror Movies Before and After THE EXORCISTI was asked to contribute to two polls at The Film Experience recently: top ten horror films both <b><a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/10/15/team-top-10-horror-films-before-the-exorcist.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">before</span></a></b> and <b><a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/10/22/team-top-10-horror-films-after-the-exorcist.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">after</span></a></b> <i>The Exorcist</i>. Below are my submitted top tens for each poll and my allocated write-ups for <i>Eyes without a Face</i> and <i>Halloween</i>.<br />
<br />
My ten picks before <i>The Exorcist</i>:<br />
<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
01. <b>Psycho</b> (1960)</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>02. <b>Night of the Living Dead</b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>(1968)<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
03. <b>Eyes Without a Face</b> <i>Les yeux sans visage</i> (1960) *</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>04. <b>Daughters of Darkness</b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>(1973)<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
05. <b>The Haunting</b> (1963)</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>06. <b>Carnival of Souls</b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>(1962)<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
07. <b>The Mask of Satan</b> <i>Black Sunday</i> (1960)</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>08. <b>Night of the Demon</b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>(1957)<br />
<div class="ecxMsoNormal">
09. <b>Les Diaboliques</b> <i>Diabolique</i> (1955)</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>10. <b>Hour of the Wolf</b> <i>Vargtimmen</i> (1968)<br />
<br />
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<br />
Georges Franju<i>'s Eyes without a Face</i>
is grand, eloquent, horrible and dark. Real dark. Dark dark. It looks
at the base experience of human depravity and the deeply pained and
sacrificial provision of life that a father is willing to bestow upon
his daughter. Oddly, it’s the pursuit of life, not death, that drives
the film. The inherent terror and harsh beauty of<i> Eyes</i> is
contained in its desperation. The film is filled with memorable,
desperate acts. It’s brimful of tense and horrifying moments that prod
us to feel both disgust and compliance. It’s sly, clever, engrossing;
the trajectory of the plot never feels stable. That’s Georges Franju’s
genius. He serves up both victims and perpetrators as fascinating,
pitiable characters (and in horror these are the kinds of characters
that thrill us the most). <i>Eyes</i> compels and disquiets in an
austerely grandiose fashion. It has Alida Valli adding dark night work
in a headscarf and pearls like a demented femme fatale who’s long
traversed the wrong path. It also has an ethereal Edith Scob, lost and
curious about the world, commanding both dogs and doves in a tragic
symphony of release. And that music, cinematography and direction!
Fifty-three years on, everything about <i>Eyes without a Face</i> is perfectly tuned to unsettle and undermine complacency with horror cinema. <br />
<br />
My ten picks after <i>The Exorcist</i>: <br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">01. <b>Dawn of the Dead</b> (1978)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[1]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[2]">02. <b>Halloween</b> (1978) *</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[3]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[4]">03. <b>Alien</b> (1979)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[5]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[6]">04. <b>The Thing</b> (1982)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[7]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[8]">05. <b>Session 9</b> (2001)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[9]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[10]">06. <b>The Brood</b> (1979)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[11]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[12]">07. <b>Audition</b> <i>Ôdishon</i> (1999)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[13]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[14]">08. <b>Pulse</b><i> Kairo</i> (2001)</span><br data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[15]" /><span data-reactid=".r[5lw25].[1][4][1]{comment10152295477308626_34638895}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[16]">09. <b>The Vanishing</b> <i>Spoorloos</i> (1988)<br />10. <b>Inferno</b> (1980)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
Along with <em>Psycho</em>, John Carpenter's <em>Halloween</em> is the horror film I’ve
probably seen the most. For this reason, it is one of my favourites
and, what I consider, one of the most effective made. As with the
Hitchcock film, I’ve watched it roughly once a year since I first saw
it in 1987. (Not always on October 31st, though it does help, and not
always all the way through.) Sometimes, especially if I’m alone, it
freaks me out too much to carry on watching. Even now. It’s a film with
real staying power. The first time I watched it I was alone, it was
late, <em>on Halloween</em>, and in a dark house not entirely
dissimilar to Annie Brackett’s (Nancy Loomis). Oh, how I had trouble
sleeping that night. Its power truly resides in what it leaves in your
mind. It’s that music. The sense of dreadful expectation. The
half-glimpsed “shape” of a man in a bad William Shatner mask and a
boiler suit just standing there in the garden, in the street. It, <em>He</em>,
Michael Myers, even has the balls to appear in broad daylight,
allowing for no avenue of next-day escape; watching it in the daytime
doesn’t ease the situation — it often makes it worse. The way Carpenter
plays horrible, clever games with screen space and ominous pause —
suggesting in the emptiness of Haddonfield just what lurks in the
darkest corners of our imaginations — is tinged with just a dash of
sly, knowing genius. But it’s those shots near the end that make the
fear resoundingly concrete. The camera returning to the locations of
Myers’ kills after he’s... vanished. The once familiar but now-empty
areas visited by death. It’s the potent horror of these snapshots of
sheer terror that I remember most. Thanks for eternally terrifying me,
Mr. Carpenter. Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-13953732075810003282013-10-01T13:45:00.000+01:002013-10-01T13:45:05.995+01:00Films Seen 2013: SeptemberFilms I saw in <b>September</b> 2013. The format is: film title (English
lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's
alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch;
numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate
that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible
for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed
from bottom to top.<br />
<br />
The Terror Within (Thierry Notz/1989) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">So much "lifted" from <i>Alien(s)</i> that the TDA should have a gander. Monster is clumsy, hilarious. Actors fret in jumpsuits. </span><br />
<br />
The Initiation (Larry Stewart/1984) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Vera Miles. 1980s sorority hair. Iffy acting. A sanatorium. It was 50% pure camp, when it should've been full Joan Crawford.</span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blue Jasmine</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>Blue Jasmine</b> (Woody Allen/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<u>Short:</u> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dis)illusion(ment), blitzed etiquette, dimmed sheens. A scrutinous, mostly coherent look at failure and appearance. A+ acting.
Blanchett, with each sad drift into the past and sharply-pitched line delivery, was ace. A manic jag of uneasy pain. Career best?</span><br />
<br />
<u>Long:</u>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Woody Allen likes illusion (<i>Scoop</i>, <i>The Purple Rose of Cairo</i>, <i>Alice</i>), and I think this is possibly his best examination of it — or, more precisely, disillusionment — so far. It's all about blitzed etiquette and dimmed sheens (and, alongside it, the slippery structure of class). Cate Blanchett, with every perfectly fussy and sad drift into Jasmine's past, and each sharply-pitched line delivery, was exemplary. Her manic jag was painful and awkward — and at times oddly cathartic — to watch, but she played it with sheer ease. It's probably the best work she's done yet. Also, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay and Bobby Cannavale were excellent too. It doesn't perhaps achieve the full-on heights of many of Allen's older films, but it is a successful and coherent look at failure and appearances. He wasn't afraid to just get on with scrutinising his leading character's life, without the support of many gags, and offered his ideas on the subject of illusion, or lack of it, without excessive deliberation. It feels like him moving toward something quite new, in a small way, and is especially cheering after some recent solid clunkers. He's of course prolific, with wildly varying results, but I hope he moves further down this path.</span><br />
<br />
The Silence / Das letzte Schweigen (Baran Bo Odar/2010) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fitfully gripping, but the mystery thread is a dash too obvious. Characters are mostly sketchy. Felt like it was on autopilot.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Welcome to Pine Hill </b>(Keith Miller/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Spare moments are affecting, but it doesn't say a great deal overall. An Integral spark was missing. Average, sadly.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Parker</b> (Taylor Hackford/2013) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Confused, scatty and full of fudged set-pieces. Sloppy direction's not helped by rash editing. Impressive cast, but no one's any good. At all.
Best Bad Wig: Jason Statham. Best Unintelligible Growl: Nick Nolte. Worst Overuse Of A Female Character Fumbling With A Gun: J-Lo. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Simon Killer</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>Simon Killer</b> (Antonio Campos/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Paced and structured with a chilly kind of verve, but it only starts to get compelling halfway in. Then it, er, runs dry of ideas.
Brady Corbet can be very good, but his character's a flaky, dull blank and his neurosis was often funny when it should've been consuming.
Much more interesting is Mati Diop, who is superb. I would've preferred more of her (better-defined) character's story over Corbet's, to be honest. It was a more satisfying film than Campos' <i>Afterschool</i>, though — less in strict awe of Haneke. Plus, the music and photography are generally splendid.</span><br />
<br />
<b>White House Down</b> (Roland Emmerich/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The height of daftness. All patriotic panic and anguished aides. C-Tat sweats. J-Foxx smirks. This and that explode. Some fun. I liked Jason Clarke most. He's clearly having a ball, snarling, shouting and shooting the place up, enjoying all the hokiness. There's a raft of risible lines and preposterous plot swerves, <i>of course</i>. Hard to take any given scene remotely seriously.Thankfully.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Movie 43</b> (various directors/2012) <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Why are all these actors doing this? In fact, why did I watch this? Being a Julianne Moore completist meant sitting through it. But her segment wasn't even in it. It was a deleted extra. She lucked out. I didn't. Kate Winslet emerged unscathed. Griffin Dunne's segment was the most watchable. Everything else? It'd be nice to just forget about it.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Insidious: Chapter 2</b> (James Wan/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A few nifty plot turns, but the lack of fresh ideas makes it often dull work. An unfortunate step down from the original.
Byrne, Hershey and Shaye are sadly frittered for the most part. Wilson has some sly moments. Makers obviously (too) fond of Kubrick, Lynch, Craven.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Olympus Has Fallen</b> (Antoine Fuqua/2013) <b>6</b> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was absurd, showy, ridiculous and often crass. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the shit out of it.
Leo was the one actor in it who added some emotion and weight to her character, giving a fiercely moving performance with limited screen time, and showing just how good she can be in anything.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">You're Next</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>You're Next </b>(Adam Wingard/2011) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pretty good, but a tad overpraised? Not half as fresh or daring as reports said. Some iffy performances and dialogue. Vinson was great in a decent part; the real standout element of the film. She was operating on a slightly elevated level from the rest of it. But, for home-invasion horrors so far this year: <i>Home Sweet Home</i> > <i>You're Next</i>. By a mile. Also: scary animal masks = the new scary 'old potato sack' masks. </span><br />
<br />
<b>Any Day Now</b> (Travis Fine/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sincere social angle gives it pleasant, admirable heft. Fine performances from Cumming and Dillahunt give it zeal. Decent, worthy work. </span><br />
<br />
<b>About Time</b> (Richard Curtis/2013) <b>3</b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Curtis does his 'thing'. Again. Pure fantasy; chiefly recognisible to a specific aspirational set. It reminded me of a Waitrose ad.
Script's fudged by a lack of wit; in its place are flustered asides. A late scene struck a very sweet chord, but it wasn't enough by then. Nighy, MacAdams, Hollander and Duncan do what they do. Seen it all before. I was more intrigued by Lydia Wilson's (limited) supporting character/plot strand. It's innocuous, well-meaning candy, and its appeal will grab some folk, but the wall-to-wall Curtis-isms did absolute zip for me. If I can be crass, I'd say: one for the middle-class 'wank bank'. </span><br />
<br />
<b>Pain & Gain</b> (Michael Bay/2013) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Three Stooges</i> pimped up by David LaChapelle. But without much fun. Clunky, ugly, shiny, vacant. Bay's empty vanity case.
Although it was utter tosh, Johnson and Mackie put effort in, whilst Wahlberg does the same old routine (and Shalhoub did most of the hard graft.)
It comes on like it has <i>things to say</i> (failed, wild American dream!), but there's zip to it. It's just Bay doing a sweaty Coen bros act.</span><br />
<br />
Blood Runs Cold (Sonny Laguna/2011) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Overfamiliar frosty horror. Awkwardly direction and shoddy in terms of acting and dialogue. But some atmospheric moments stand out.</span>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-85326583491310303272013-09-04T20:45:00.001+01:002013-09-04T20:45:20.857+01:00Short Cuts (1993)July's poll question at <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>The Film Experience</strong></span></a> was: <strong><a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/9/3/team-top-ten-biggest-awards-season-flops.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">What Are the Biggest Awards Season Flops?</span></a></strong> I was given Robert Altman's <em>Short Cuts</em> (1993). My full ballot is below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN62y-XPknm8br-F4w9XUJuq1r5bIDYopDScJSKPoZttud8yjWEPnXga_kj6Yn6VeHDUGnRWTIl6JoFr3wPeUs09UpoKtAo29IVPL3cO2lcKykndv8vHoz-2XuEeGWJsRhHQP4_s11h9c/s1600/shortcuts-criterion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN62y-XPknm8br-F4w9XUJuq1r5bIDYopDScJSKPoZttud8yjWEPnXga_kj6Yn6VeHDUGnRWTIl6JoFr3wPeUs09UpoKtAo29IVPL3cO2lcKykndv8vHoz-2XuEeGWJsRhHQP4_s11h9c/s320/shortcuts-criterion.jpg" width="227" /></a>What was the reason <em>Short Cuts</em> only gathered one Oscar nomination? (A well-deserved Best Director nod for Altman was all it snagged.) This is a film with 22 great roles played by one of the best groups of actors (and a few singers) Hollywood had ever seen. Just have a gaze at these names: Anne Archer, Matthew Modine, Jack Lemmon, Tim Robbins, Madeleine Stowe, Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, Peter Gallagher, Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Davison, Chris Penn, Andie MacDowell, Tom Waits, Huey Lewis, Annie Ross and Lili Taylor and Lily Tomlin. That’s a roll call which should’ve reeked of gold. At least at the time.
Why no nods for anyone in this line-up? Maybe the Academy was split as to exactly who to nominate. Perhaps the performances were too subtle, too real and too intuitively conveyed. There were no big, gesture-based scenes of showboat-style speechifying. Everything in the film was too relatable. It wasn’t movie-movie enough, perhaps. But, really, no one here could be easily defined as either lead or supporting. The performances bridge that gap. They all feature intermittently throughout the three-hour running time, each giving us their own slice of LA life. They are a true ensemble, given equal weight and time to show us the length and breadth of a collection of ecstatic, troubled, funny, confused and vibrant Los Angelenos. Maybe they all went under the radar by being collectively exemplary? They won a special ensemble acting award at the Golden Globes two months prior to the 1994 Oscars and won the Special Volpi Cup at Venice, along with three other awards, the previous year. Maybe The Academy should’ve taken note and created an ensemble award just for experiences like Short Cuts. Altman was, as we know, the king of improvisational, ensemble-based organic filmmaking and all his actors and crew here pooled their immense talents in service of telling the stories of Raymond Carver’s people. A sole nod simply wasn’t enough; it required at least 22 more.
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<br />
<strong>1</strong>. Short Cuts
<br />
<strong>2</strong>. Zodiac
<br />
<strong>3</strong>. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
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<strong>4</strong>. Bright Star
<br />
<strong>5</strong>. Blindness
<br />
<strong>6</strong>. Do the Right Thing
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<strong>7</strong>. The Duchess
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<strong>8</strong>. Hoop Dreams
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<strong>9</strong>. The Ice Storm
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<strong>10</strong>. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious CircleCraig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-88246048604558389452013-09-01T22:43:00.001+01:002013-09-01T22:54:41.865+01:00Films Seen 2013: AugustFilms I saw in <b>August</b> 2013. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed from bottom to top.<br />
<br />
Vampires (Vincent Lannoo/2010) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Belgian vamp mock-doc. Lovely idea with some choice grim laughs, but it runs dry of inspiration after a spell. Good for TV?</span>
<br />
<br />
The Haunting of Whaley House (Jose Prendes/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It fudges each potential decent scare with atrocious acting at every turn; this often makes it very hilarious.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>Battledogs</b> (Alexander Yellen/2013) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">CGI Werewolves in New York. Cheaper than a car-boot sale. Hilarious, inept, taxing. Cast looks bored. But better than <i>Sharknado</i>. </span><br />
<br />
Our Idiot Brother (Jesse Peretz/2011) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nice to see a film daftly pride sincere warmth and pit itself so charmingly averse to cynicism and faux social nicety. Sweet.
Sometimes it just takes the beaming, unabashed face of Paul Rudd as he greets a dog called Willie Nelson to raise spirits. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">I Give It a Year</span></b></div>
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<b>I Give It a Year</b> (Dan Mazer/2013) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Better and funnier than its dreary reviews said. When the comedy works (which is often), it's hilarious. Loaded gags give it oomph.
Saw it for Olivia Colman (who never disappoints); also got a funny, endearing Rafe Spall perf thrown in. Comic timing spot on. </span><br />
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Jurassic Park 3D (rewatch — Steven Spielberg/1993) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Everything you always wanted from Jurassic Park. Now in 3D! Dinosaurs! Dinosaur attacks! Dinosaur close-ups! Dinosaurs! </span><br />
<br />
<b>What Maisie Knew</b> (Scott McGehee, David Siegel/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sweet-sad tale of a yo-yo childhood. Maintains a distinct tone, but is never truly riveting. Great performances, especially lead Aprile. </span><br />
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<b>Elysium</b> (Neill Blomkamp/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Expert design/FX. Some sequences induce wonder. It's oversimple, but overriding message is to be cheered. Bizarre Foster, slipshod Copley, bland Damon.
Liked a fair bit about it, but it could've done with some expansion; it probably could've worked better as a six-part 'event' TV series.
There's a lot of compelling content, but it all felt too compacted, hasty. Wanted to explore its ideas, characters and world more.
Foster's and Copley's are harebrained characters, not entirely successful, but was glad they did what they did. I quite liked their ballsy, pitch-it-all-in approach, even if they were variable in terms of accent and overall tone.It's a stunning film visually, however, and worth seeing for the impressive design.</span><br />
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<b>We're the Millers</b> (Rawson Marshall Thurber/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A few belly laughs, several sweet moments, but some iffy aspects. Cast does well. Great end credit outtakes. Enough fun. </span><br />
<br />
Lost in New York (Jean Rollin/1989) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stock Rollin blank-face vamp-women wandering about without aim. But his ragged, empty '80s NY imagery is rather haunting. </span><br />
<br />
The Double (Michael Brandt/2011) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Spy-thriller business as usual. OK intro. Some nonsense. Surprise reveal! Oh. Iffy edit. *Bored face* Twist! Ooh. Dull end. Oh. It's lit in such steely-blue fashion that both Richard Gere's and Martin Sheen's grey hair is made to look like a blue rinse throughout.</span><br />
<br />
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (Michael Haneke/1994) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Haneke's pieces accrue power; they hit hard when they fit. Prudent, sharp direction is its driving factor.</span><br />
<br />
Mr. Bean's Holiday (Steve Bendelack/2007) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are only so many faces Atkinson can pull. But situations are often amusing. Some laughs; last stretch works best.</span><br />
<br />
<b>This Is Martin Bonner</b> (Chad Hartigan/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beautifully played dual character study. Tender, unassuming, full of regard for people. Warm and restrained. A real gem.
Paul Eenhoorn and Richmond Arquette are both wonderful. Characters like theirs are rare. Worth relishing how good they are. </span><br />
<br />
What's Up, Doc? (Peter Bogdanovich/1972) <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Why have I lived my life until now without <i>What's Up, Doc?</i> in it? It's an utter joy. Rapid wit, nimble direction, game cast. Wall-to-wall delight.
Streisand's a sly cat, O' Neal's an adorable plonker. Script fills every possible moment with something cleverly funny. Scores points visually, too. It's also one of two films (that I can immediately recall) where I wanted the courtroom scenes to be longer; Liam Dunn's judge is hilarious. (The other? <i>The Verdict</i>). </span><br />
<br />
On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan/1954) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A beautiful film about desperate folks. Fogged cityscapes, grey dawns and quiet roofs evoke a concrete sadness. Compelling.
The scenes with Brando (an open wound) and Saint (all delicate rage) were some of <i>On the Waterfront</i>'s best. Malden's grit and ire were captivating.</span>
<br />
<br />
The Details (Jacob Aaron Estes/2011) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Involving, well-made examination of privilege, mistakes and acts of kindness. The good life as fucked-up karma. Fine cast and photography.
Dennis Haysbert, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta and Elizabeth Banks all put in fine work. Tobey Maguire, in the lead, has to work hard to match 'em. A shame <i>The Details</i> didn't get a full release. Guess introspective dramas aren't 'in' (odd as it has shades of <i>American Beauty</i>, though is better).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <b>The Lone Ranger</b></span>
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<b>The Lone Ranger</b> (Gore Verbinski/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A solid romp. Has a wry, joyful sense of adventure. Superbly directed and paced with expertly measured thrills. Hammer trumps Depp. Big fun.
It's (soon to be) Hammer's time. Reckon he needs an <i>Out of Sight</i>-style caper and a Coen brothers comic lead and he'll surely cement his star status.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>G.I. Joe: Retaliation</b> (Jon M. Chu/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Flimsy military-fondling twaddle. Dialogue's a dull ear-thud, but a few action scenes (Ninja Mountain!) perk it up.</span><br />
<br />
Donner Pass (Elise Robertson/2012) <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Inconsequential horror; rote as a wheel. A decent premise, but it gets wasted on wonky execution. Plus some truly blank performances.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Sharknado</b> (Anthony C. Ferrante/2013) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It was exciting*, emotional**, executed with flair***. (*naff **emotional ***balls.) Bring on the second one! Or don't!
If it contained thrice the amount of 'experimental' edits it already did, you might be able to legitimately call it an art film.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Frances Ha</b> (Noah Baumbach/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Works like a charm. Funny, warm, awkward enough. Script a joy, editing's perfect. Gerwig nails the grey area between goofy and needy with ease.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa</b> (Declan Lowney/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Loved it. Perfectly and consistently funny in both broad and subtle ways. Coogan's comic timing is spot-on, exemplary.</span><br />
<br />
Sightseers (Ben Wheatley/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tone is neatly balanced as a cringe-comic high-wire act. Laughs induced by sharp script, great performances. Tragic dimension near unbearable.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Erased</b> (Philipp Stölzl/2012)
<b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's a "my life's been taken from me" thriller exactly like all the other "my life's been taken from me" thrillers. Just with Aaron Eckhart.
There's really scant discernible difference between this and <i>Taken</i>, <i>Unknown</i> etc. Some conspiracy flap, some kidnap, some gunplay. Some groans.
<i>Erased</i> isn't a particularly good film, but I kept watching it. The trail of human carnage Eckhart leaves seemed to hark back to an '80s sensibility.
Not sure why <i>Taken</i> etc received proper releases and this got a STV slot. Found it <i>slightly</i> more coherent than those Neeson action flicks.</span><br />
<br />
Munger Road (Nicholas Smith/2011) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Was watching this — a generic yet fun and spooky horror — and just as it was coming to an end the words 'To Be Continued' pop up...
What gives? No closure, no resolution. No mention of a sequel. It just... ended. Like that. All a bit cheap and disappointing. But pretty decent fare before that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh</b></span></div>
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<b>The Last Will and Testament Of Rosalind Leigh</b> (Rodrigo Gudiño/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">One actor. An old house. A prowling camera. Clever voiceover. Eyes in the dark. Subtle. Scary. Brr!</span><br />
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<b>Post Tenebras Lux</b> (Carlos Reygadas/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Can a bluffer create poetic imagery? Is wilfully showy abstraction enough? Does it have to mean that much? Why the rugby?</span><br />
<br />
<b>The Conjuring</b> (James Wan/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Enjoyable. Effective spooky parts, sharp use of sound, nice period detail. But it didn't fully swerve the same-old scare tricks.
Taylor and Farmiga stand out; both give it oomph. Wan instills a decent eerie vibe. Atmosphere is solid, even if the script veers at times.</span><br />
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<b>The Heat</b> (Paul Feig/2013) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">McCarthy-Bullock team-up works wonders; both add spark and show their adept comic skills. Gag rate's solid. Decent direction. A real joy.
Script slyly builds in gender points with charm, though is just a hook. But it could've all been random skits and I'd still be happy.</span><br />
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<b>Only God Forgives</b> (Nicholas Winding Refn/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A high-styled vacuum steeped in moral grime, but Winding Refn's control makes stupefying work of it. A bold, grisly puzzle box.
It's a world of posing; everything is gesture. Svelte plot's a mere thread for sound, score and photography to queasily snap senses.
Gosling is all doleful expressions and gripped fists. Scott Thomas glides like a waxy serpent; a horrible, compelling monster.
A dash of humour — surreal or otherwise — would have been welcome, but its world is so deliberately empty of placeable humanity, it would've perhaps felt entirely incongruous. (It, er, missed a trick by not including One Night in Bangkok on the soundtrack though.)</span><br />
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<b>Five best new (2013-release) films</b>:<br />
<br />
<i>Only God Forgives</i><br />
<i>Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa</i><br />
<i>This Is Martin Bonner</i><br />
<i>The Lone Ranger</i><br />
<i>Frances Ha</i><br />
<br />
<b>Five best older films seen</b>:<br />
<br />
<i>What's Up, Doc?</i><br />
<i>On the Waterfront</i><br />
<i>71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance </i><br />
<i>Jurassic Park</i><br />
<i>Lost in New York </i>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-4868367923259656262013-08-07T20:44:00.000+01:002013-08-07T20:44:35.880+01:00Films Seen 2013: JulyFilms I saw in <b>July</b> 2013. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required — occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed as seen chronologically, viewed from bottom to top.<br />
<br />
<b>In the House</b> (François Ozon/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">If Sirk made a sitcom of <i>Theorem</i>. Sharp, playful study of the value of fiction, desire, art. Everything's composed with style.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>Apartment 4E</b> (Russell Leigh Sharman/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An initially involving but gradually draining two-hander. Obviously stagy, but the central plot isn't well sustained over 90 minutes.
Best thing about it is Nicole Behaire. She covers the A-Z of actorly tics, but does so with style, and is captivating presence.
It shows that Behaire should be getting first dibs on all the decent roles around at the moment.</span>
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<br />
State of Emergency (Turner Clay/2011) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zombie apocalypse films are currently in overkill, but this one is a nifty enough number. Well shot, tense, low-key, good fun.</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Margaret</b></span></div>
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Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan/2011) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Parts of it are riveting and aim with precision for an urgent response; other parts overcook it and needlessly draw out its main thesis.
Writing is generally exceptional. Interaction between characters feels painful, penetrating, right. Words carry weight. Performances are wholly excellent.
Some of the narrative padding made me waver on it and I'm unsure it warrants the 'near genius' tag. But it raises some very pointed ideas. Anna Paquin is career best so far. J. Smith-Cameron and Jeannie Berlin are highly memorable. Janney's role was a gut strike; simply unforgettable.</span>
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<br />
<b>The Wolverine</b> (James Mangold/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I give this five Topless Jackmans out of ten. Action bits were fun, but the all-too frequent pauses for boring talking notsamuch.
(At the start Hugh Jackman is grizzled, bearded, cast out and desperate. I did wonder if he'd stolen a loaf of bread.)</span> <br />
<br />
I Didn't Come Here to Die (Bradley Scott Sullivan/2010) <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I didn't watch it to be bored. I <i>did</i> watch it to <i>see</i> something; alas, grubby photography made that a lost pursuit.
It's like an Outdoor Safety Training video. But wth lower quality acting. And a low entertainment threshold. And little actual point.
Essentially the "horror" here comes from characters having UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENTS. It's like a really crap, clumsy <i>Final Destination</i>.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Collection</b> (Marcus Dunstun/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*eye-roll-a-rama* Yet more sub-<i>Saw</i> silliness. Too daft to bemoan; too derivative to hit home. Not a total washout, though.</span>
<br />
<br />
Lay the Favorite (Stephen Frears/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's an odd one. Flits between comedy and drama in unsure fashion. Potential there, but script is wayward — stuff to like, however.
Rebecca Hall works hard to lift it. Catherine Zeta-Jones had some nice moments. Vince Vaughn surprised. But Bruce Willis was the weak, lazy link.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>Monsters University</b> (Dan Scanlon/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This was fun. It chugged along with enough charm, humour and fine voice work. Maybe not Pixar's very best, but I had a good time.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>Straight A's</b> (James Cox/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bafflingly, there's more lens flare in his quirky Ryan Phillippe and Anna Paquin comedy-drama </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">than in both of JJ Abrams' <i>Star Trek</i>s.
It's also so awkwardly edited (and titled) that it's often frustrating. A shame, as there are a few affecting moments dotted throughout.</span>
<br />
<br />
<b>The World's End</b> (Edgar Wright/2013) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's both a logical and an obvious step on from <i>Shaun of the Dead</i> and <i>Hot Fuzz</i>. But that's fine, as I liked both of those. I laughed.
My favourite thing about it was the wittily choreographed fights. Pure joy. Wright knows how to instill charm into action scenes.
The build up and use of repeated and extended verbal/visual gags works really well. As does the subtle, creative sound design.</span>
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<br />
The War Game (Peter Watkins/1965) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A mock report like a long blank stare. Think the worst case scenario... then triple it. Inordinately scary, even now. *shudder*</span>
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Army of Shadows / <i>L'armée des ombres</i> (Jean-Pierre Melville/1969) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Between J-PM's perfect framing, Pierre Lhomme's twilit photography, Simone Signoret's scams and a wondrous score, there's so much to savour.</span>
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Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (Norman Foster/1948) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lancaster. Fontaine. Foggy Lundun. Fists of fury. Lovers in a bind. Best stuff: empty streets, desperate faces.</span>
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<b>Phil Spector</b> (David Mamet/2013) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mamet's writing perhaps not up to previous standards. Not sure the angle it came from was <i>that</i> compelling.
It's lit with both noir-inspired and neon-hued photography; it looked sharp and striking, but there wasn't an entirely concrete reason for it.
Helen Mirren was mostly Jane Tennyson with a cold. Al Pacino appeared to be playing Spector wearing an Anne Robinson wig at one point.</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Home Sweet Home</b></span></div>
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<b>Home Sweet Home</b> (David Morley/2013) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tired of home invasion films? This sneaky little horror number perks 'em up. Simple. Elegantly made. Full of dread.
It uses slow-build tension to near unbearable levels. Sharply photographed, directed with precision — a real gem.
Read some "this is booooring" type comments. It's perhaps not perfect, but it's <i>never</i> dull. I was too wracked to the hilt to be bored.
Probably 2013's best horror so far.</span>
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Wolf of New York (William C. McGann/1940) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A jolly kind of '40s crime film. A bit drily directed, but moves with verve. Edmund Lowe gives a smooth performance — its chief joy.</span>
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<b>Pacific Rim</b> (Guillermo del Toro/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Behemoths fighting fist and claw. del Toro's sheer affection for monster movies is present, cheering. The words clunk, but hey: FUN!
Its emotional core is embedded with corniness, but characters serve a broad purpose. The well-designed smash of spectacle works effectively. It ploughs a path between a throwback to '80s style adventure blockbuster (and <i>Godzilla</i> etc refs, obviously) and current tech-blitzed tentpole.
I liked the Jaeger names: Gipsy Danger...er, Bootsy Collins, Topsy Kretts, Crystal Waters, Mitzi Gaynor and Strident Fingerlonger. Or something.</span>
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Nothing Sacred (William A. Wellman/1937) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Quality '30s daftness. Frederic March cocks an eyebrow with style; Carole Lombard's elegantly scatty. Surely a Coen bros favourite?</span>
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<b>The Bay</b> (Barry Levinson/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It gave me <i>Shivers</i>! I now have a case of <i>Cabin Fever</i>! Creepily gripping but the 'found footage' trickery is variable. It veered between flat and vomitous.</span>
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<b>Now You See Me</b> (Louis Leterrier/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Everything everyone does is so elaborate and over complicated it became exhausting. But it was also fun, for the most part. However, I have to admit I didn't see its big reveal coming at all. Leterrier certainly directs like he's on a mission. It rarely pauses for a moment, not even to establish proper characters.
I think Eisenberg's big trick here is to try to convince the world he's not just playing a smugger version of <i>The Social Network</i>'s Mark Zuckerberg.</span>
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The Men (Fred Zinnemann/1950) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Debuting Brando smoulders and gives it brawn. Full of great characters given due scenes (especially Sloane's Doc). It perhaps required a dash more depth, grit.</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>A Field in England</b></span></div>
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<b>A Field in England</b> (Ben Wheatley/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There's genuinely, curiously strange and then there's wilful, for-the-sake-of-it strange. This marches right down the centre.
Some films achieve an organic cultishness, even early on, and some seem to 'build it in'. Got the feeling <i>A Field in England</i> fits the latter.
Some striking imagery to relish. Shearsmith and Glover are great. Sound, photography and editing are all good. Not sure I felt much throughout though.
Either way, it's cheering that a lot of folks were excited for an experimental, B&W film set in 17th c. Civil War England.</span>
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Crime of Passion (Gerd Oswald/1947) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bad Babs! Stanwyck suffers with gritty abandon. Sterling Hayden sweats manfully. Meaty script delivers complexity. Bold direction.</span>
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The Day (Douglas Aarniokoski/2011) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A bit aimless and limited by an average script, that it tries to compensate for with a mean heart. Looks like it's filmed through a wet ashtray.
Best thing about it is Ashley Bell (the demon girl from <i>The Last Exorcism</i>), who gives it character and brass. She'd make a great action star.
Actually, <i>The Day</i> does with Bell's character what <i>Stake Land</i> should've done with the Kelly McGillis character.</span><br />
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'R Xmas (Abel Ferrara/2001) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ferrara's unruly whims — OD on dissolves, wayward direction — instill a push-pull value on the senses. Drea de Matteo is solid. Ferrara is rarely dull, even when it seems he's bored with his plot. He always allows actors to go 'off-piste' and adds scuzz to his surfaces.</span>
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Witness to Murder (Roy Rowland/1954) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A fine noir. Stanwyck sleuthing Sanders. Stark photography (by John Alton) and swift direction from Rowland work wondrously in tandem.
Stanwyck's asylum stay was a highlight. Claire Carleton and Juanita Moore have five minutes to establish characters; they manage to evoke whole <i>lives</i>.
Rowland doesn't hang about: fuss-free segues, judicious with visual information, actors and sets are framed for maximum elegant effect.</span>
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<b>Five best new (2013-release) films</b>:
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<br />
<i>The World's End</i><br />
<i>Home Sweet Home</i><br />
<i>In the House</i><br />
<i>Pacific Rim</i><br />
<i>Monsters University</i><br />
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<b>Five best older films seen</b>:<br />
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<i>Army of Shadows</i><br />
<i>Margaret</i><br />
<i>Witness to Murder</i><br />
<i>The War Game</i><br />
<i>Crime of Passion</i>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-30644382382509257832013-07-03T19:06:00.000+01:002013-10-22T10:34:41.112+01:00Catherine DeneuveJuly's poll question at <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The Film Experience</span></a> was <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/7/2/team-top-ten-women-who-deserve-an-honorary-oscar.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Which female figure in filmmaking most deserves an Honorary Oscar?</span></a> My full ballot is below; I was given Catherine Deneuve to write a paragraph on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeNKrP3jg3HGweunfxW0MONJJAnXB1Bzhgws4PpHI3aMCvqkm5o8HjNKzkP9hJRQljkOrvLpzvSMqjhKp6lPhjQzgIjHWCzWKrp6x1v9E51KiHg8FEeLcNt09tOkLqY0pFLOs5SK95dM/s339/deneuve-portraitnew.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeNKrP3jg3HGweunfxW0MONJJAnXB1Bzhgws4PpHI3aMCvqkm5o8HjNKzkP9hJRQljkOrvLpzvSMqjhKp6lPhjQzgIjHWCzWKrp6x1v9E51KiHg8FEeLcNt09tOkLqY0pFLOs5SK95dM/s200/deneuve-portraitnew.png" width="156" /></a>Catherine Deneuve is called the Doyenne of French Cinema for a reason. There is of course Leslie Caron, Jeanne Moreau, Fanny Ardent and Isabelles Huppert and Adjani. All exemplary. But Deneuve is Deneuve. Her work is her life is her work. She’s a solid gold bona fide star; an actress, a singer, an icon with a magnetic presence. She adds 100% more robust glamour and sultry skill to all her films — whether with Buñuel, Vadim, Demy or Truffaut or countless other notable filmmakers. Hey, not too many internationally-renowned actresses can say they sang with Joe Cocker, dated Clint Eastwood, speak four languages and design greetings cards. Pretty busy and eclectic, eh, particularly for someone with 100+ film appearances over 50+ years and her face on every key fashion magazine since, like, year dot. At 69 she looks as remarkable as ever. At 69 she performs as magnificently as ever. Look at <i>Belle de Jour</i>, <i>Repulsion</i>, <i>Les Demoiselles de Rochefort</i>, <i>The Umbrellas of Cherbourg</i>, <i>Place Vendôme</i>, <i>Tristana</i> and— after feeling the Denevue delirium — furrow your brow at her lack of an Oscar among her achievements. Then look at <i>Un Flic</i>, <i>Hustle</i>, <i>The Hunger</i>, <i>The Last Metro</i>, <i>Ma saison préférée</i>, <i>Dancer in the Dark</i>, <i>8 Women</i>, <i>Kings and Queen</i>, <i>Time Regained</i>, <i>Indochine</i> and furrow your brow into infinity. Admittedly, she got a nomination for that last one. She won an Honorary Golden Palm from Cannes. At the very least she deserves an Honorary Oscar. Really, she deserves a couple.
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<br />
<b>1</b>. Diane Ladd
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<b>2</b>. Gena Rowlands
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<b>3</b>. Jeanne Moreau
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<b>4</b>. Chantal Akerman
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<b>5</b>. Catherine Deneuve
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<b>6</b>. Lily Tomlin
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<b>7</b>. Edith Scob
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<b>8</b>. Ruby Dee
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<b>9</b>. Kim Novak
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<b>10</b>. Julie HarrisCraig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-89603984719870830722013-06-30T21:36:00.001+01:002013-06-30T21:36:49.669+01:00Films Seen 2013: JuneFilms I saw in <b>June</b> 2013. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required -- occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed seen chronologically (as viewed) from bottom to top.<br />
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<strong>Midnight Son</strong> (Scott Leberecht/2001) <strong>7</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nice to still see a fresh, fascinating take on the (kind of) vampire movie. Cramped, cold, stifling and with some queasy blood work.
It fits with <em>Nadja</em>, <em>Martin</em>, <em>The Addiction</em> and <em>Trouble Every Day</em> in terms of tone and grue. Maybe not as great as those, but it is very good.</span>
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<strong>This Is the End</strong> (Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen/2013) <strong>5</strong><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's brimful of confidence and is certainly sure of itself. A handful of good gags work. Not sure it's as funny as it thinks it is. *<em>Wafts the air</em>* Phew, a lotta gay panic up in here (though I guess the makers are all too aware). Kinda wish gags varied more.
Craig Robinson (dry), Jay Baruchel (daft), Michael Cera (drunk) and (one specific vocal gag from) James Franco were best in show. Pretty sure it was after a <em>Ghostbusters</em> vibe. However, it managed more of a cross between a <em>Ghostbusters II</em> and an <em>Evolution</em> vibe.</span>
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<b>World War Z</b> (Marc Forster/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It aims big, but achieves a middling result. Auto-Pitt. Erratic dir. Set-pieces mostly thrill, but country leapfrogging <i>is</i> the (lazy) script — which makes for a generally deflating time between the intense moments (though it perhaps relies heavily on these instead of on characterisation). For a film with huge potential, it's disappointing that it's only decent enough, but what it gets right works pretty well cinematically. Pitt isn't really dynamic enough for sole lead duty. Other characters deserved elevation (Enos, Badge Dale, Mokoena) for more variety. If I'm honest I got a bit bored with the book after a spell. It had erratic highs/lows, was diverting and had occasional 'ooh' moments. Both work ok; neither reach spectacular heights. </span><br />
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Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sharp surface style, but that's it. Plot empty, dull. It's all mysterious posing with very little to say. Disappointing (on first watch, anyway).
For a film about sound, its use/design was typically good. Nice photography added mood. Yet all was in service of a dreary dread. Many films influenced by Lynch over last 25+ yrs, but some elements of <i>Berberian</i> were a bit too familiar (<i>Inland Empire</i> especially).
Shame I didn't take to it as I loved <i>Katalin Varga</i>, to the tune of a <b><a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/top-ten-films-of-2009-2-katalin-varga.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">#2 spot on my 2009 year-end list</span></a></b>.</span><br />
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Supporting Characters (Daniel Schechter/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Shows that too much Alex Karpovsky can be tiring; more Tarik Lowe would be a treat. Self-involved but has some charm.
<b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>What Richard Did</b></span></div>
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<b>What Richard Did</b> (Lenny Abrahamson/2012) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cold and despairing, but with a keen regard for its characters. It's astute, demanding filmmaking. Great lead performance from Jack Reynor.</span><br />
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Agatha Christie Marple: Nemesis (Nicholas Winding Refn/2007) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Where a Danish cinematic bad boy meets cosy Sunday night telly. More tea than blood. Diverting, but low on mystery.
It seems as if this Marple: Nemesis TV film prompted the title for Winding Refn's latest: at one point Marps says, "It's God who forgives."</span><br />
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<b>Branded</b> (Jamie Bradshaw, Aleksandr Dulerayn/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Russia. Burgers. Marketing. Cosmetic surgery. Cows. Max Von Sydow. I had no idea what's going on here, but I couldn't stop watching.
It is an ungainly mess, and then some, but oddly watchable. There's occasionally technical skill, but no conceptual coherence. A real spilt pot of ideas.
<i>Branded</i> scores high on the Unique + Different + WTF! scale. But even higher on the Clumsy + Bafflement + Pick an Thought, Will Ya! scale.
With films like, say, <i>Cloud Atlas</i> and <i>Holy Motors</i> the oddness was enticing, urgent; with <i>Branded</i> (cf. <i>Mr. Nobody</i>) feels like an untidy MINDBINGE.</span>
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<b>Being Flynn</b> (Paul Weitz/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicely paced with well-judged use of voiceover and structure. Characters feel, by and large, vital. It's far better than reviews say; shame it passed by unnoticed.
Plot elements are reminiscent of the recent <i>A Bag of Hammers</i> and has a fair kinship to very good 1993 film <i>The Saint of Fort Washington</i>. Paul Dano is excellent; De Niro is good (better here than in his recent Oscar-nominated role in Silver Linings Playbook, too). Top cast all round: Julianne Moore, Lili Taylor, William Sadler, Dale Dickey, Olivia Thirlby, Wes Studi.
The photography (by Declan Quinn) is one of its strengths. Clear, vivid lighting and a great use of muted palette. He's one of the best DPs working.</span>
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Flypaper (Rob Minkoff/2011) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tonal wobbles and a script dotted with gay panic gags (yawn) aside, it's a breezy enough Agatha Christie-riffing bank heist yarn. Good cast. The script was written by the writers behind <i>The Hangover</i> films, so that explains the lame gags then.
Best thing about <i>Flypaper</i>: nice to see Ashley Judd and Patrick Dempsey as leads. Both often very good with comedy; both deserve better material.</span>
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<b>The ABCs of Death</b> (various directors/2012) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Did I just watch <i>The ABCs of Death</i>, or The ABCs of Painfully Unfunny, Boring and Non-Scary Scatology? Where's the fear, the fright, the dread?
Of the 26: 9 are ok-ish (A, C, N, O, R, S, T, U, X); 11 are bad (B, D, E, G, H, J, P, V, W, Y, Z); 5 are awful (F, I, K, L, M); and 1 isn't too bad (Q).
Either it was directors saving best stuff for their features or a general dearth of decent ideas, but <i>The ABCs of Death</i> is dispiriting, tiresome horror overall.</span>
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Silent Hill: Revelation (Michael J. Bassett/2012) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Manky wallpaper. Michelle Williams look-a-like. Fog. Sean Bean-and-gone. Old crone. Toblerone-head in a huff. Ash.
A thing called The Seal of Metatron? Some more fog and ash. Malc-ham McDowell. Tears. Mange-faced vagrant. Confusion. Spider made of doll heads. Flimsy guy. Foggy ash. Bendy bubblegum-head nurses. Where's the crone? More mank. End.</span>
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To Live and Die in L.A. (<i>rewatch</i> — William Friedkin/1985) <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Red spells danger. Unsparing with a sulphorous weight. Point-blank editing, expert action. One of my favourite Friedkins.
<i>To Live and Die in L.A.</i> was the second ever VHS I saw. It's still a great, hard, awkward, thrilling film. Late shock scene remains harsh.
William L. Petersen is fantastic; he's all swagger masking a sad demeanor — but pushy, ragged, visibly toughened by life. Read a comment on <i>To Live and Die in L.A.</i>: "It tried to be <i>Manhunter</i>, but it's essentially Michael Mann-lite." However, <i>Manhunter</i> was made a year after <i>L.A.</i>
<i>Manhunter</i> filmed September 1985; <i>L.A. filmed</i> December 1984.</span>
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<b>Man of Steel</b> (Zack Snyder/2013) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fluid, entertaining, does what a big loud blockbuster should. Required some humour, lightness here and there maybe, and clarity at times, but I admired the approach.
I liked the Zod Squad, especially Urs... Faora-Ul. Shannon gave good shout and snarl (and crap hair). Krypton insect-ships a design treat.
Didn't see most of the bad stuff that others had moans about. What do folks expect from a gargantuan studio film? Face value: it was fine. It hit its big notes with some flair. It's not perfect, but I didn't go into it expecting sheer perfection, but it knew how to work momentum into a sense of event.
"Big" sci-fi often gets heavily scrutinised these days. The reasons why are surely vast and various. I mostly enjoyed <i>Cloud Atlas</i>, <i>Oblivion</i>, <i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i>, <i>Iron Man Three</i> and now <i>Man of Steel</i> this year — all of which recieved a high level of scrutinous commentary. Whatever: "Release the World Engine!"</span>
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<br />
Oliver Sherman (Ryan Redford/2010) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Good lead role showcase for Garret Dillahunt, who's very good. Donal Logue is even better in a fine support role. Molly Parker's solid too.
It required a bit of leeway with its rigid solemnity to allow the characters to flourish, but it's a decent enough post-war stress drama.</span>
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Soldier (Paul W. S. Anderson/1998) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kurt alert! The plot is balls, but does make way for a ripe helping of ridiculous space action. Direction is clunky but rigged to thrill.
<i>Soldier</i>'s good for fans of: snake wrangling; Kurt Russell being low on words, high on biceps; scores that sound like <i>Aliens</i>; space soldiers.</span>
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Revolt (J. Sheybani/1986) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">So tinny and ropey it should be sold at B&Q. It's hilarious. No one knows what's going on and there's a shoddy fistfight every two minutes.
There's a synthesiser theme and a moustache in nearly every scene; when there's not, there's a tetchy villain and really shite dialogue.
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Mundane History</b></span></div>
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Mundane History / <i>Jao nok krajok</i> (Anocha Suwichakornpong/2009)
<b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Has a quiet charm to start with, and is nicely directed, but its veer into vague, showy territory clouded its amiable tone.</span>
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Adventure in Manhattan (Edward Ludwig/1936) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Some good playing from Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea, but for a '30s screwball it's low on pep and snap. More one-liners!
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<b>After Earth</b> (M. Night Shyamalan/2013) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It isn't a particularly great movie (some harebrained direction and plot decisions abound), but it's already down, why kick it some more?
Reading the many (vicious) reviews has been akin to seeing one lot of people hold Shyamalan down whilst another lot deliver the kicks.
What I liked: the part-old/part-new set design that tried something different; creature and gadget SFX; Peter Suschitzky's photography.
However, Will Smith was tasked with playing the dullest movie character since Anna Kendrick in <i>Pitch Perfect</i> and Michael Fassbender<i> </i>in <i>Shame</i>. Everyone talked about an "Ursa" — "Ursa" this, "Ursa" that — so much that I kept expecting a scowling Sarah Douglas in a jumpsuit to pop up.
Of MNS's films, I appreciated more than his previous five, so that says where I am overall with it. (Although some moments/images in all of them have been on the whole commendable.)
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<strong>Behind the Candelabra</strong> (Steven Soderbergh/2013) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">... lies age-old showbiz ugliness? A lot of gilded faff to say so little. All a bit basic, thin. Douglas and Damon are very good, however. Something I thought about: the 'drug haze' scenes in Killing Them Softly received moans of "cliché!", but I wonder if folks will apply this derision to the very same thing in Behind the Candelabra?
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<b>Upstream Color</b> (Shane Carruth/2012) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">If I'm honest, I wasn't as in love with <i>Primer</i> as many were. But...
<i>Upstream Color</i> is splendidly, inexplicably mesmerising. Full of strange rhythms and linked existences, technically astute and seductive filmmaking. It synthesises many genres and forms something quite marvelous.
Edited to the beat of perfection and, aptly, what colour! A film beautifully crafted with sensitive mystery; an intoxicating brain worm.
Along with Shane Carruth's deft multi-tasking, the sound dept. deserve unbridled praise. Plus: <i>Upstream Color</i> worked the audio To. The. Hilt.</span>
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Natural Selection (Robbie Pickering/2011) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tonal slippage and an overeager soundtrack mar the whole, but a handful of affecting scenes lift it. Nice lead perf and photography.</span>
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<b>Chained</b> (Jennifer Lynch/2012) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It took an already well-explored horror theme... and then explored it all over again. In depth. In tedious fashion. For 90 long minutes.</span><br />
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Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Lasse Hallström/2011) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It proves you can make a film about anything. From a baffling premise a flimsy, innocuous piece of fluff emerges.
Hallström's insipid direction doesn't dampen a lively perf from Kristen Scott Thomas; she's its chief joy. Generally nicely shot.</span>
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Image of Relief / <i>Befrielsesbilleder</i> (Lars von Trier/1982) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Early LvT. War, love, woe. Vague and impressionistic — certainly indebted to Tarkovsky. Rich in aural detail, atmosphere.</span>
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<b>The Big Wedding</b> (Justin Zackham/2013) <b>1</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The best horror movie I've seen this year. It's fucking terrifying.
Seriously, I felt sick, nauseous. I shook. Perspired. Was a quaking mess. I had to beg strangers to drag me out of the cinema. In the film
someone's bathing their feet in a lake, and someone else jokingly says, "Careful, we have a shark problem here." Well, if only. De Niro, Sarandon, Keaton, Williams, Heigl, Seyfried, Grace and Barnes — they all play beige assholes. No one is any good. No one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <b>The Hidden Face</b></span>
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<b>The Hidden Face</b> / <i>La cara oculta</i> (Andrés Baiz/2011) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Definition of a moreish mystery. There's a key, a question and a ripple in the water... Best not to know any more than that.
Original language title for <i>The Hidden Face</i> is 'La cara oculta' (the dark side); it also has another title which may as well be called Spoily-Oily-Oi, and is best left unknown. Just avoid all trailers and watch it; it's immense fun.</span>
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<b>The Purge</b> (James DeMonaco/2013) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey, that's a novel idea. Potential: yea big *spans arms out*. Execution: yea big *holds thumb and forefinger apart* Shaky polemic.
At times an erratic mess, but not easy to write off, <i>The Purge</i> has apt points to make but underlines them in muddy fashion. File under: eh?</span>
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I'm the Angel of Death: Pusher III (Nicolas Winding Refn/2005) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, a film hasn't made me feel sick in a while. So there's that. Nausea + intrigue + bafflement. Plus. Pusher III best as character study: Milo is part unsavoury, part pitiable; compelling, yet only to a degree. Fits of GRINDNOISE! rends the mood.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><b> </b><br />
<b>Five best new (2013) films</b>:
<i> </i><br />
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<i>Upstream Color</i><br />
<i>The Hidden Face</i><br />
<i>What Richard Did</i><br />
<i>Man of Steel</i><br />
<i>Being Flynn</i><br />
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<b>Five best older (non-2013) films</b>:<br />
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<i>To Live and Die in L.A.</i><br />
<i>Image of Relief</i><br />
<i>Soldier</i><br />
<i>Oliver Sherman </i><br />
<i>Mundane History </i>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-25061374179072829762013-06-30T21:14:00.001+01:002013-06-30T21:14:23.633+01:00My Own Private Idaho's Campfire StopoverI wrote about the campfire scene in Gus Van Sant's <strong>My Own Private Idaho</strong> (1991) for The Film Experience's 'Great Moments in Gayness' Pride celebrations.<br />
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The open road and the “messed-up” faces along the way are what haunt lost hustler Mike (River Phoenix) most in <em>My Own Private Idaho</em>. In Gus Van Sant’s seminal 1991 gay road movie Mike trips through narcoleptic encounters with both male and female clients, <em>Wizard of Oz</em>-style barns crashing to the ground, talking porno mag covers, <em>tableaux vivants</em> sex scenes and Shakespeare’s Henry IV. His is an eventful, hardscrabble life filled with grit and longing. Each scene arouses memorable moments that every <em>Idaho</em> fan — gay, bi, straight or whatever it takes to have a nice day — surely still carries with them...
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<a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/6/30/great-moments-in-gayness-their-own-private-campfire.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>Read the rest here</strong></span></a>
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-20228537941362910422013-06-04T22:09:00.000+01:002013-06-05T07:15:01.067+01:00A Few Thoughts on OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook/2003)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The first rule of <i>Oldboy</i> is: don’t watch it on an full stomach. The second rule of <i>Oldboy</i> is: there isn’t a rulebook. Park Chan-wook’s brilliant film is perhaps the most atypical adaptation of a comic book yet filmed. It’s a curiosity and a novelty within what normally typifies comic book-derived filmmaking. It’s brutal, hard toned and unsavoury on a variety of levels — fierce, compulsive viewing brim full of striking vibrancy. It stands up and stands firm: takes the lead from its lead, Choi Min-sik. It harnesses the excess and imagination on the page and throws it in searing, pounding images across the screen. (<i>Oldboy</i> is best seen in the biggest, darkest, loudest auditorium you can find.) It exhibits wholly pugilistic power. But it hammers on the heart too. The soul-crushing and so-unfortunate-it-hurts sadness is every bit as impacting as the full count of body blows. That revelatory sting in the final stretch delivers thrice the amount of poison deemed healthy for any viewer. Everything hurts by the end. <i>Oldboy</i> is ink-raw cinema.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(From The Film Experience's <a href="http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2013/6/4/team-top-ten-the-greatest-comic-book-adaptations-of-all-time.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Top Ten Greatest Comic Book Adaptations of All Time</span></a>.)</span>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-83065070718495126922013-05-31T21:39:00.001+01:002013-06-01T18:35:37.448+01:00Films Seen in 2013: MayFilms I saw in <b>May</b> 2013. The format is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required -- occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year; whether it's a rewatch; numerical grade out of 10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is, by and large, a 2013 UK first release or is eligible for year-end inclusion. Films are listed seen chronologically (as viewed) from bottom to top.<br />
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East of Eden (Elia Kazan/1955) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A beautiful film about mournful, cruel, wonderful, desperate people. Faultless cast. Dean's alive, searching eyes are the key.
(And the sheer exquisite craftsmanship of Elia Kazan's compositions.)
Elia Kazan + Jo Van Fleet = sublime, fierce, soulful, harmonious (see also: Wild River).
Wondrous first meeting between Dean and Van Fleet is at <i>Eden</i>'s core: a mother-son relationship is defined, refined and glibly cemented in 10-or-so minutes. Dean as Cal: <i>"You're a businesswoman, ain't ya?"</i> Van Fleet as Kate: <i>"One of the best, son."</i> Innate connection via sass talk says far more than any 'sorry' or 'I love you'.
Dean's best performance: all full-strength magnetism and playful looseness. More definitive than <i>Rebel without a Cause</i>. More open then <i>Giant</i>.
<b> </b></span><br />
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<b>Teddy Bear</b> (Mads Matthiesen/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's all mum, muscles and emotional tussles. Subtly moving and unassuming. Doesn't reach great heights, but good performances and sensitive direction.</span>
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Frankenweenie (Tim Burton/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A sweet film with some endearing horror nods (Shelley the turtle, <i>Bride of Frankenstein</i> poodle). Wonderful use of B&W photography. Burton to Nth degree.</span>
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<b>The Hangover Part III</b> (Todd Phillips/2013) <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gags shouldn't end in silent, flat, awkward ellipses... But the ones in this do. Practically all of 'em. It's actually quite baffling.
There's no boom mic gaffes, but you can see a producer's hand in each shot waving a document with 'Contractual Obligation' on it. It isn't <i>quite</i> as bad as Part II, but then that's like saying a puke sandwich isn't <i>quite</i> as bad as a shit sandwich.
OK, there are 7 funny words over 100 minutes of script. Also: 15 yawns, 6 eye-rolls and 27 time-checks. (But that was just me.)</span>
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<b>Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters</b> (Ben Shapiro/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A few nice insights into GC's methods, if a dash perfunctory in its execution. Great to see his process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Neighbouring Sounds</span></div>
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<b>Neighbouring Sounds</b> / O som ao redor (Kleber Mendonça Filho/2012)
<b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sounds of social spaces. Crisply composed, allusive as all hell and suffused with an eerie calm. Bold, riveting filmmaking.
Reckon it's one of the best films of the year so far. Still early days, but it might even currently snag the top spot.
Also, the sparsely used music was fantastic. Particularly this: </span><a href="https://soundcloud.com/dj-dolores/setubal" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">Setúbal by DJ Dolores</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span>
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<b>Gimme the Loot</b> (Adam Leon/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A charming, warm-hearted mini marvel. Coasts along in fine, refreshing style. One of the year's most pleasurable films so far.
Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson are endearing, unaffected and smart as the leads.</span>
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<b>The Moth Diaries</b> (Mary Harron/2012) <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It gets by on the barest minimum of scenes. Has Olympic level leaps and jumps in narrative. No one seems to care. Oh, Harron.
Lily Cole sports caterpillar-like eyebrows (which, incidentally, give the best performance). Unfortunately they don't turn into moths.
There's such a dearth of learning and so many "mysterious accidents" at the school in The Moth Diaries that it'd be fucked in an Ofsted visit.
DISCLAIMER: no actual moths wrote no actual diaries in the making of this film.</span>
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<b>Dragon</b> / Wu Axia (Peter Chan/2011) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lively plot, slick direction. It gets <i>to it</i> in style. Crafted with a sense of mirth. Handful of solid fight scenes are swift, kinetic delights.
Takeshi Kaneshiro works it like a sad and sexy Poirot and Donnie Yen creates a world of wonders with a sly smirk and a lack of gravity.</span> <br />
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<b>McCullin</b> (David Morris, Jacqui Morris/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Expertly crafted war photography documentary. The man himself is an amiable oasis of insight. Nicely shot; sharp use of imagery and sources. Riveting.</span><br />
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Premium Rush (David Koepp/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Totally vapid yet just enough fun. Plot's a no-show, but no matter: zippy bike hijinks make the time pass in amusing fashion.
Like <i>BMX Bandits</i> for the cool city courier set.
Michael Shannon was all levels of ridiculous as Bad Wired Cop; Joseph Gordon-Levitt was atypically personality-free as the lead. Enjoyed roaming NY streets.</span><br />
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<b>The Great Gatsby</b> (Baz Luhrmann/2013) <b>5</b> <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-great-gatsby-baz-luhrmann2013.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Full review</b></span></a><br />
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To Rome with Love (Woody Allen/2012) <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A dull, overlong mess. Awful. Woody, it's time to give up these tourist board romance doodles and have a break of your own.
It has maybe three gags? The rest is leftovers. Botched editing, a slipshod tone and directionless actors make it hard, tiring work.
Parts were smug, others egregious. But mostly it was baffling, strained and repetitive. One of Woody's absolute worst, sadly.</span><br />
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<b>Mud</b> (Jeff Nichols/2012) <b>6 </b><a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mud-jeff-nichols2013.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Full review</b></span></a> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Conjures a wistful tone with a near tangible sense of place. Grime and regret are evoked well, but the plot peters out. Solidly shot and acted.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Top of the Lake</span></div>
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<b>Top of the Lake</b> (Jane Campion, Garth Davis/2013) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Top of the Lake</i> properly put through the wringer. Brilliant, compulsive storytelling. Grim, gripping, smart.
Jane Campion's (along with co-director Garth Davis and co-writer Gerard Lee) deft handling of the plot maximised character, tension, mystery. Over its 5¾ hours there's an abundance of solidly written female characters; all of them are fascinating in a multitude of ways.
Elisabeth Moss is spectacular in the lead. One of the best performances I've seen this year. Great to see Geneviève Lemon (<i>Sweetie</i>) back working with Campion again too. I'd probably rank <i>Top of the Lake</i> up there with <i>Bright Star</i>, <i>Sweetie</i> and <i>An Angel At My Table</i> as one of Campion's best.</span><br />
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Shadow Dancer (James Marsh/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Full of simmering tension and restraint, but oddly slight. Admirable, but rarely fierce or gripping. Riseborough is very good.
The very best thing about it, though, is DP Rob Hardy. Amazing work; no surprise, he did <i>Boy A</i>, <i>Whistle and I'll Come to You</i> and <i>Red Riding 1974</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Star Trek Into Darkness</b> (J.J. Abrams/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A fun barrage of charm, shiny surfaces and ballistic action. Rapidly put together and well played. I think, at this early stage, I may have enjoyed it more than the 2009 film.
Orally, Cumberbatch was amazing. He has one of the most captivating, watchable mouths in film; his diction and delivery were splendid. He was the all-round standout in the cast; I was mesmerised watching his scenes. Rest of cast were good, all working to their strengths. Lens flare overload in 3D does play havoc with your eyebags, however. Restraint, Jeffrey Jacob Abrams! Less is more!</span><br />
<br />
<b>Price Check</b> (Michael Walker/2012) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Decent drama; even better comedy. Parker Posey does career best work. She fully nails every manic aspect. It's her <i>Young Adult</i>.
(Seeing Parker Posey rule here points to just <i>how</i> wrong the makers of <i>Superman Returns</i> were for not casting her as Lois Lane.
And she was <i>right there</i> in the cast already.)</span><br />
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House at the End of the Street (Mark Tonderai/2012) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Starts well enough, but collapses into iffy plotting, baffling character motivation and tried and tested ideas. Yawn.
It really required a plot revamp. Too much familiarity; same-old set-up and scares. Tonderai did more with less on debut <i>Hush</i>.</span><br />
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The Statue of Liberty (Ken Burns/1985) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Statue of Liberty as art, symbol, icon, joke, gift, idea. A concise, yet thorough, and fascinating documentary. Ken Burns has the goods.</span><br />
<br />
A Bag of Hammers (Brian Crano/2011) <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Amiable, very funny and with some incredibly moving moments. Made with a great perception of life. It's a real heartfelt gem.
The assured subtlety of the filmmaking is a joy. Great performances from all the cast.</span><br />
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Shark Week (Christopher Ray/2012) <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm glad I watched it, mainly so I can use it as a Quality Movie Barometer from this day hence (in that <i>anything</i> else is of a higher quality).
The actors in were amazing at... looking a little bit sad and fed up at ill-defined CGI fish shapes just out of shot.</span><br />
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<b>Iron Man Three</b> (Shane Black/2013) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I quite enjoyed TONY STARK'S WORLD OF EXPLODY-THINGS 3. Certainly the most entertaining <i>Iron Man</i> film: briskly paced, fun set-pieces, lack of fuss.
Smug tone was in effect and some stuff was annoying (I wasn't quite as enamoured with Kingsley as many were, though I liked the novelty aspect inherent in his performance), but the good outweighed the iffy. It's a blockbuster that works well. I kind of wished Whedon were involved in the script, as he can write good female characters (Black can't — well, with the exception of 50% of Geena Davis' character, the Charly Baltimore half, in <i>The Long Kiss Goodnight</i>) and it missed what made <i>Avengers Assemble</i> <i>so</i> great. On the whole, and by a process of elimination, it's probably the most ridiculously enjoyable thing Shane Black's produced so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Note (with <b>SPOILERS</b>!): the film wasted Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen. She was a surprise second-/third-tier villain, of sorts, as it turned out. But when things started to get a bit more interesting for her character, she was killed off — by the eventual top-tier villain, Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian. Why not switch it up further — further than with the false villainy of Kingsley's Mandarin — by having Hall suddenly kill Pearce instead? Wouldn't that have made for a bigger and better surprise and more intriguing last act? Especially as there was scope — particularly in regard to Paltrow's resulting superpowers (that the film squandered, then dismissed too readily; she deserved more than her meagre allowance of action scenes) — for extending the film's overarching concern of what constituted a villain and why and how Tony Stark figured into it? What Pearce did in the last act wasn't anything that Hall couldn't have done. The character traits given to Killian could easily have been attributed to Hansen, with a tweak here and there, thus rendering Killian a superfluous character. (Hansen had potential to be a n all-round stronger, more fascinating character; Killian was the same-old vengeful wannabe.) But I guess it's strictly Iron-<i>man</i>-on-Iron-<i>man</i> fisticuffs that reap rewards in Shane Black's eyes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Wild River</span></div>
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Wild River (Elia Kazan/1960) <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">People and place wonderfully captured by Kazan. Photography, score, whole tone infused with melancholic undertow. A beautifully made gem.
Montgomery Clift (charming, humble), Lee Remick (poignant, bright) and Jo Van Fleet (staunch, heartbreaking) give amazing performances.</span><br />
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Salvage (Laurence Gough/2009) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>She Beast</i> in Brookside close, basically. Cheap but resourceful. A few iffy turns, but jumps, gore and sense of isolation work well.</span><br />
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Photographic Memory (Ross McElwee/2011) <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It examines memory, family and history in a heartfelt and humble way. A sheer joy to see where McElwee takes his camera.</span><br />
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<b>John Dies at the End</b> (Don Coscarelli/2012) <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In-built cultishness was slightly lost on me, but its unpredictability was a treat. It became more fun as it went on.</span><br />
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Gayby (Jonathan Lisecki/2012) <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An easy watch. Good comic timing, breezy editing and a likeable cast make it a treat. Plot's a cinch; it's the actors that make it work.
<i>Gayby</i> shares a general tone — and a few cast members — with <i>Girls</i>. Also: talented, atypical female lead who does the rom and the com with ease.</span>
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<b>Five best new (2013) films</b>:
<br />
<br />
<i>Top of the Lake</i><br />
<i>Neighbouring Sounds</i><br />
<i>Gimme the Loot</i><br />
<i>McCullin</i><br />
<i>Dragon</i><br />
<br />
<b>Four best older (non-2013) films</b>:<br />
<br />
<i>Wild River</i><br />
<i>Photographic Memory</i><br />
<i>A Bag of Hammers</i><br />
<i>The Statue of Liberty</i><br />
<i>East of Eden </i>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-49802299176489002402013-05-28T17:32:00.001+01:002013-05-28T22:57:01.468+01:00The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann/2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Per his familiar dazzle-fuelled plot template Baz Luhrmann starts <i>The Great Gatsby</i> with an anachronistic whiz-bang — all rejigged Jay-Z jazz steps and twenties décor in an MTV Cribs style — but then lets it agreeably coast with only intermittent party-popper bursts of liveliness, before it eventually fizzles out, halting to its crestfallen finish. It’s 143 variable minutes that contain some pep and pockets of emotion, but is weighed down by a handful of taxing plot turns that only amount to part-time fun part of the time. It’s Luhrmann’s way. He again offers his signature plot trajectory, as with <i>William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet</i>, <i>Moulin Rouge!</i> and <i>Australia</i> — though he missed out all the fun bits in that last one.<br />
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<i>Gatsby</i>’s front-loaded with a trio of stars: Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (as Old Sport) and Tobey Maguire (as Old Sport).
DiCaprio is suitable casting as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s young pretender. He brings a dash of his Howard Hughes twitchiness from <i>The Aviator</i>, a few love-blind blinks from <i>Revolutionary Road</i> and, at several points, the soaked-through shiver of his <i>Shutter Island</i> dupe. Mulligan occasionally puts the flap in flapper, but only when she’s not out-demuring herself in the demurest-of-them-all stakes. Maguire employs the smugly bemused expression he wore during his awkward <i>Spider-Man 3</i> dance sequence for the duration — only slightly dulled by the fact that he appears unsure whether he’s playing Carraway as the gooseberry or not. I could have done with a hike in screen time for Isla Fisher’s Old Sport (think Betty Boop-meets-Lil-from-<i>Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me</i>), but a 30% reduction of the clammy, cardboard characteristics of Joel Edgerton’s Old Sport.<br />
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The film works best when it focuses on what’s strictly happening in its more self-contained scenes than when it’s hastily careering through sequences in an attempt to cram in every snazzy edit and camera somersault this side of <i>Man with a Movie Camera</i>. The chaste date between Daisy and Jay in Carraway’s house, full-to-overflowing with pastel-perfect flowers and tinged with light farce, succeeded in being a singular moment of lively delight. And the juicy social awkwardness of the Plaza hotel scene adds some shimmery gristle to the latter part of the film. (This is where all the characters present — everyone, that is, apart from one female hanger-on who spends the entirety of the film either <i>chaise longue</i>-slouching in the background or teeing off in flashbacks — get hot under the collar and go ‘full Jeremy Kyle’ by revealing their petty flings and lifelong jealousies to one another in a hysterical display of verbal tennis.)<br />
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For all the new 3D visual eccentricity Luhrmann thrusts upon Fitz’s classic, it perhaps clings a bit too close to literary fidelity and succumbs to narrative fatigue after the early, headier highs. I did wonder if it could have been made in another, more daring or daft mode: a full-blown comedy (National Lampoon’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby!), a low-key silent/not-silent movie à la <i>Tabu</i> (2012) or even in a Todd Haynes’ <i>Superstar</i> style with everyone played by dolls toing and froing on intricately-fashioned mini sets — and still in 3D! Or, why not let’s have a different Fitzgerald story: the man wrote a stack of short gems (perhaps his best 43 stories were gathered in the 1989 collection The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald); each one has just as much glorious cinematic potential as <em>Gatsby</em>. David Fincher tried something different with <i>The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</i>, based on Fitzgerald's novella, and showed an audacity more venturesome than Baz does here. But <i>Gatsby</i> 2013 is certainly slick and stylish, with editing akin to a speedy flick through a bumper edition of Vogue, and is immaculately designed to within an inch of its beautiful existence. But, like Gatsby himself, it’s all a bit soggy in the end.
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-1464142593428533712013-05-20T14:28:00.004+01:002013-05-21T23:40:27.611+01:00Mud (Jeff Nichols/2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s clear from the first images of <i>Mud</i> that we’re in for a heady swill of hardened Southern not-quite-gothic drama and coming of age tale. Arkansas tides ebb, trees sway, youths venture out on rickety row boats; everything is lightly unsettled, a gritty life lesson is imminent. There’s an apparent literary influence in <i>Mud</i> — more pronounced than in either of director Jeff Nichols’ prior features <i>Shotgun Stories</i> or <i>Take Shelter</i> — and a helping of emotive substance that goes into well-grounded melodrama, albeit one with the potential for ill deeds, nicely alluded to in both Adam Stone’s sombre photography and David Wingo’s spare score.<br />
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It feels very much like a Flannery O’Connor short story set a few states over and peopled with the descendants of Mark Twain characters. It’s a Boys' Own adventure story loosely invaded by the spirit of Robert Mitchum’s Harry Powell. <i>Mud</i>’s aura may not chime in strict geographic accordance with either Twain or O’Connor — there are minor hints toward Carson McCullers and William Faulkner too — but thematically it contemporarily evokes a humid and almost solitary tone familiar to those writers’ worlds. It acknowledges the grand, grimy sweep of renowned Southern writing, doffs its hat, nods and goes about its business with a knowing charm.<br />
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What it’s about is: two teenage boys Ellis and Neckbone (Tye Sheridan, from <i>The Tree of Life</i>, and newcomer Jacob Lofland, both very good), who spend their days lolling around a down-at-heel backwater town, chance upon a friendly yet mysterious stranger, actually a fugitive criminal called Mud (Matthew McConaughey, building well on a recent gold streak), on a nearby depopulated island whilst scoping out a recently stranded boat – which now functions as both tree-house home and possible getaway vehicle for Mud. McConaughey’s earthy interloper enlists the boys into helping him repair the boat and to assist in his rekindling of past love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon, nailing broken dejection with ease). There’s a gangster element on the horizon, parental problems and the usual pains of growing up. The autumn days don’t exactly get easier.<br />
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<i>Mud</i> is an engaging yet drawn-out film. It ekes out its slim plot nearly to the point of labour but allows for some poignantly choice moments of introspection. A slow sense of impending dread, of sure incoming calamity, infuses everything with an ominous pull of the most laid back variety: bad things <i>will</i> happen, but there's a long wait before you get there. (At 130 minutes <i>Mud</i> wades along with a casual swagger.) As hardscrabble and heavy-hearted as it is, instances of light humour play well: Michael Shannon’s (as Neckbone’s slobbish lothario uncle) retooling of his diver’s helmet with better search lights that makes him look like a discount store Iron Man; the running gag of McConaughey seemingly only scoffing on one particular brand of stolen tinned beans.<br />
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<i>Mud</i> is mostly men, most of the time. The three key female characters aren’t as expansively drawn as the menfolk. Witherspoon’s Juniper is the trailer trash Eve to McConaughey’s anti-heroic Adam (snake imagery is rife, too), but her scenes are essentially limited to being saved from a beating, some motel room moping and a light shop for ‘bits’ at the local Piggly Wiggly. Sarah Paulson makes a soft impression as Ellis’s mother, though isn’t afforded quite the screen time or characterisation allotted to Ellis’ father, played by Ray McKinnon, and she’s given short shrift in the final stretch where McKinnon isn’t. And Bonnie Sturdivant as local girl May Pearl courts Ellis’ attention and then quickly besotted by another lad, in an unfortunate bit of prescriptive scripting that suggests women shouldn’t perhaps always be trusted (Mud seems to counteract this, but only late on in the film and all too briefly.)<br />
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It’s a shame that Nichols’ female characters don’t receive the same attention as the male characters, as some balance would’ve certainly expanded the central theme of how boys become men and how men become fathers into something with both socially and emotionally complex layers. Women are primarily the cause of sadness and disruption here. In Elia Kazan’s <i>Wild River</i> (1960) Montgomery Clift didn’t satisfactorily solve his moral quandary without the complicated affection and existence of Lee Remick. And the time Stacy Keach spent meaningfully cosying up to Susan Tyrell in John Huston’s <i>Fat City</i> (1972), only to be separated later on, could be detected sadly slouched across his face in the final shot. Nichols sidelines the crucial impact of women even when they’re essentially the film's motoring force.<br />
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Nichols conjures a wistful tone with a near tangible sense of place. Being an Arkansas native he surely knows the habits and rhythms of the people and their ways of life. He supplies an authenticity, free of typical establishing shots and over-familiar music cues, to the way the story eases forward. A dirt-choked melancholy air permeates <i>Mud</i>; grime and regret are evoked easily and stand as signifying anchors. But the plot peters out roughly around two-thirds in: where events should build with fascination and then converge with accumulative resonance, they actually chug through a series of hasty scenarios, including one or two odd late resolutions that feel slightly shoehorned in as if Nichols is making deliberate moves into full mainstream territory. There’s a sliver of the supernatural to <i>Mud</i> that begged for expansion: when we first see McConaughey he literally emerges from out of nowhere; is he something “other” than a mere man? This tantalising aspect could’ve been further expanded in an enigmatic way.<br />
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Without revealing late key plot points, a stronger and more, well, untidy final stretch may have more fully complemented the power of its earlier convictions to show its teenaged protagonist that the path to adulthood is as strange as it is full of hope, yet still strewn with tough complications. But it is a strongly shot, acted and photographed film. Nichols is an extremely talented and estimable filmmaker who so far confidently mines his own highly atmospheric groove yet isn’t afraid to acknowledge influence as he does so. His camera tracks his characters with fond scrutiny and justified care. His everyday folk bleakly, quietly toiling through their often mundane, sometimes grand experiences have a broad, congenial appeal. They often come with an unwritten but observable backstory of the kind that good short Southern fiction dictates. Before you know it, you’re wrapped up in the lives of his lost people living their agreeably solemn lives.
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-2975365888395702092013-04-30T19:36:00.001+01:002013-04-30T19:36:33.455+01:00Films Seen in 2013: AprilFilms I've seen in 2013 for <b>April</b>. The format
is: film title (English lang. and/or original language where required --
occasionally a film's alternative title, too); director(s) and year;
whether it's a rewatch; starred grade out of 5; numerical grade out of
10 <i>(all grading is subject to change, of course, and intended as merely a personal indicator/reminder)</i>. Titles in <b>bold </b>indicate that the film is a 2013 UK first release. Films are listed seen chronologically (as viewed) from bottom to top.<br />
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The Verdict (Sidney Lumet/1982) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rich, somber filmmaking. Lumet's poised exploration of injustice is entirely enthralling. Newman slowly, quietly sets it alight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Lady Eve</b></span></div>
<br />
The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges/1941) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fonda adds the kindling; Stanwyck adds the spark. Cracking dialogue. Supporting cast supplement greatly. Very funny, but it meanders. </span><br />
<br />
Contact (Alan Clarke/1985) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Military manoeuvres at a remove. Clarke's skilful
direction explores the intensity between exterior action and interior
pause.</span><br />
<br />
Life Without Principle (Johnnie To/2011) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Money matters. Trio of plot strands mostly gel. Makes acute points on financial crisis. A more understated To movie. Sound and edit of a pen furiously crossing out a name (of a failed sale) to flicking notes on a money counter is genius.</span><br />
<br />
Excision (Richard Bates Jr./2012) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Very spiky, and has some provoking things to say about conformity. Nicely filmed, too, with some great performances (Lords esp good). After <i>Dark Horse</i> yesterday, it appears that Bates Jr. has made a better Todd Solondz film than Todd Solondz.</span><br />
<br />
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz/2011) *½ / <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hate to do the old 'did they see the same film as me?', but having read
near unanimous praise for Solondz's film, I'm guessing so. It doesn't seem to have a clear point. Solondz listlessly
attacks his same-old concerns (*again*). It descends into weary
disarray. Casting Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow in your film and frittering their talents on bland scenes and bare-shell characters is a waste. I didn't grasp any real critique or satire. What's the point of 85 minutes of
dour characters going through the motions just, ya know, coz. Donna Murphy was very good, however.</span><br />
<br />
<b>The Paperboy</b> (Lee Daniels/2011) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A hotbed of mania. Scene after scene infused with cracked
abandon. Enjoyably disjointed; cultishness beckons. Ripe as old fruit. It veers all over the place: score opts for melodrama; its shape, tone suggest noir; rest is up for debate. There's fun to be had. Great to see this cast unabashedly take hold of such material. All interact solidly; perfs. are confident. It's never boring. Love that genuinely odd/untidy commercial fare can still get through in a
time of <i>Tran$former$</i> and <i>King's Speech</i>-y awards bait.</span> <br />
<br />
World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries (Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates/2011) *½ / <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Not so much 'world', more 'a few
fields and an outhouse'. Cheap, wobbly-cam, awful chars, same old...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Heroic Trio</b></span></div>
<br />
The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To/1992) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yeoh, Cheung, Mui. Air combat. Magic sewer worlds.
Invisible cloaks. Swords. Motor stunts. Flying. Fighting. It's <i>all</i> good.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Evil Dead</b> (Fede Alvarez/2013) **½ / <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It grossly ambled by. A few icky high points, but it
lacked any character (or good characters). Not great, but not hashed. Unsure why new it's gained more esteem? scrutiny? than other horror remakes. It's the same old thing, all told. Passable but prosaic.</span><br />
<br />
<b>The Place Beyond the Pines</b> (Derek Cianfrance/2012) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Crime and corruption circle the years. A
broody melodrama with many peaks, a few flaws. Great direction, solid
cast. Also, wonderful photography (all dour, inky), score (used well in choice scenes) and use of dissolves to urge the story forward. </span><br />
<br />
Men in Black 3 (Barry Sonnenfeld/2012) **½ / <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Diverting fun, mostly due to the general Jemaine
Clement verbal daftness. Enjoyed the FX work on the aliens too.</span><br />
<br />
Road (Alan Clarke/1987) ****½ / <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beer, bitterness, Be-Bop-A-Lula. '80s Britain conveyed as wry, angry street theatre. The characters are like end-of-the-world strays. Clarke's deft genius with his camera draws out the requisite spite and
substance of Jim Cartwright's words. Performances are captivating. Scene
in a derelict pub (with fire-breather, dancing, jugglers and sad
glances) set to the entirety of Mel & Kim's Respectable is amazing. No
one's doing now what Clarke did then, whether due to drive,
funding, opportunity... His work deserves a comprehensive DVD release.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Extraterrestrial</b> (Nacho Vigalondo/2011) **½ / <b>5</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Very nicely directed and with fun perfs. It meanders here and
there, but has a charming low-key vibe. Might've been better as a short.</span><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b><br />
<br />
<b>Rise of the Zombies</b> (Nick Lyon/2012) ** / <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cheap as chips and with a script that scrapes rock bottom. But if I said I was bored I'd be lying. Tinny, groan-worthy fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>One Way Boogie Woogie / 27 Years Later</b></span></div>
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One Way Boogie Woogie / 27 Years Later (James Benning/1977/2005) ****½ / <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Windows on Milwaukee. Benning's 2 hours of 60<span style="font-size: x-small;">-second</span> "still" shots is some of his most fun, surreal and best work.</span><br />
<br />
Downhill Racer (Michael Ritchie/1969) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Does fame warp absolutely? Detached as hell and persuasive for it. Redford's stillness works wonders. Editing scores highly.</span><br />
<br />
ParaNorman (Chris Butler, Sam Fell/2012) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicely made and a joy to watch. It gleefully shows its
love of horror history and rallies a big cheer for the put upon and
different.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Dark Skies</b> (Scott Stewart/2013) ** / <b>4</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Another 'someone's in my house' effort. Efficiently made but
as rote as day. Has <i>the</i> most depressive aura. Snores over scares.</span><br />
<br />
Exiled (Johnnie To/2006) ****½ / <b>9</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bullets, regrets, beautifully-directed action. To turns Macau
into the most strange, kinetic and moving Spaghetti Western yet made.</span><br />
<br />
Storage 24 (Johannes Roberts/2012) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Follows a well-worn path, but enjoyable all the same. Larfs were stingy, but well delivered when they came. Nice alien FX work.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Spring Breakers</b> (Harmony Korine/2012) *½ / <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Skirts satire, nudges toward parody, embraces... boredom. About as subversive as a pair of slippers. Not sure if it works. "A neon riot!" "A nightmare masterpiece!" "A kinetic thrill-ride!" -- I've had pins and needles that were more electrifying. Intentional parody or not, the voiceovers were dull and draining on the ear. In fact, the tannoy announcements at my local branch of Tesco were more interesting than the voiceovers
in <i>Spring Breakers</i>. </span><br />
<br />
District 13: Ultimatum (Patrick Alessandrin/2009) *** / <b>6</b> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The plot's bobbins, but the copious jumping up/across buildings and witty stunts work wonders on the thrill temples.</span><br />
<br />
Vengeance (Johnnie To/2009) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An exploration of the complicated patterns of revenge. Epic absurdity amid the grand gunplay. To on wonderful, wayward form. He uses glorious pause to create finesse in his shootouts. One, played
to the rhythm of clouds passing across the moon, is grand; another, set in a windswept junkyard, with characters heaving cubed stacks of recycled paper along as barriers, is sheer astounding. </span><br />
<br />
<b>Oblivion</b> (Joseph Kosinski/2012) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
Review <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/oblivion-joseph-kosinski2013.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>here</b></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>To the Wonder</b></span></div>
<br />
<b>To the Wonder</b> (Terence Malick/2012) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Malick scribbling the brightest, most heart-rending love
doodles. All staccato stitching & piecemeal impressions. Fine work. (I say this as someone who wasn't esp. taken with <i>The Tree of Life</i>: that looked back, away; <i>To the Wonder</i> looks to now and more closely at people.) Lack of "performance" wasn't an issue. I took a lot from who these people were from what was given in Tezzer's slight slices. Scenes with Bardem were perhaps most affecting. Visual rhyming in the editing was splendid. Lubezki's photography was terrific as per usual.</span><br />
<br />
<b>In Another Country</b> (Hong Sang-soo/2012) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Film as a playful reverie. Hong Sang-soo and
Huppert go all out on the awkward/funny. Delightful, but gets a bit
wisplike.</span><br />
<br />
Who's Minding the Store? (Frank Tashlin/1963) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Poodles, vacuum cleaners, golf balls. Hapless
Lewis goodness. Pratfalls, gags and snappy asides all projected with
joy.</span><br />
<br />
The Players (Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Emmanuelle Bercot, Fred Cavayé, Alexandre Courtès, Michel Hazanavicius, Eric Lartigau/2012) * / <b>2</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A tonal mess. It's a haystack; any comedy whatsoever = a needle. Indulgent, charmless, dull as teeth. Last segment was pitiful.</span><br />
<br />
Prometheus (Ridley Scott/2012/rewatch) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<br />
Sister (Ursula Meier/2012) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fine, polished work all round. Stark but emotive and visually very
fresh. Slightly baggy at times, but Meier has a solid directorial voice. Standout photography - no surprise as it was shot by Claire Denis regular Agnès
Godard. Shades of <i>The Kid with a Bike</i> and <i>Breathing</i> to the plot.</span><br />
<br />
Mad Detective (Johnnie To/2007) ***½ / <b>7</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As wilfully playful as it is absurd. The control To and
Ka-Fai exert is guided by the joy of a genre they've ably twisted here.</span><br />
<br />
<b>28 Hotel Rooms</b> (Matt Ross/2012) * / <b>2</b><br />
Review <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/28-hotel-rooms-matt-ross2012.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<b>Trance</b> (Danny Boyle/2013) *½ / <b>3</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A coiled mess that drifts in and out of dullness. Cranky angles, uninspired performances and 'porn' lighting help no one. A bumbling misfire.
</span>Review/notes <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/7-notes-on-trance.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></b></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Laurence Anyways</b></span></div>
<br />
Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan/2012) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is why I give a director a third (or fourth, fifth...) shot. <i>I Killed My Mother</i> and <i>Heartbeats</i> did zero for me, but this is sublime drama.
The weaving of moving character study and romance is often remarkable. Put me in mind of the likes of <i>Head-On</i>, <i>Rust and Bone</i>. The overflow of style worked wonders and was backed up with rounded, fascinating characters. Poupaud and Clément were marvelous. Wondered initially if at 161m it was a touch overlong, but it couldn't have done with any scenes featuring either lead trimmed.</span><br />
<br />
The Mission (Johnnie To/1999) **** / <b>8</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fluent crime games. Streamlined plot maxed to the hilt with wonderfully showy shootouts. To's compositions made me beam.
<b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<b>The Road: A Story of Life & Death</b> (Marc Isaacs/2012) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Very moving, socially pertinent and made with fuss-free care. </span><br />
<br />
Bad 25 (Spike Lee/2012) *** / <b>6</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thorough, diverting look at album's process. Snappy talking head stories add enthusiasm, flavour. As with many Lee films, a bit overlong.
Re NY filmmakers: both Lee's & Scorsese's recent docs are often more fascinating than their recent features. Maybe Woody Allen should do one.
<b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Five best new (2013) films:</b><br />
<br />
<i>Oblivion</i><br />
<i>To the Wonder </i><br />
<i>The Place beyond the Pines</i><br />
<i>In Another Country </i><br />
<i>The Paperboy</i><br />
<br />
<b>Five best older (non-2013) films:</b><br />
<br />
<i>One Way Boogie Woogie / 27 Years Later</i><br />
<i>Exiled</i><br />
<i>Vengeance</i><br />
<i>Road </i><br />
<i>Laurence Anyways</i>Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-20039156172458203422013-04-12T20:29:00.000+01:002013-04-13T10:34:50.813+01:00Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski/2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tom Cruise is one of our premium movie stars. He lends his premiere star status this week to <i>Oblivion</i>, Joseph Kosinski’s follow-up to <i>TRON: Legacy</i>. Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise through and through here. Movie star Tom Cruise who headlines big action blockbusters like <i>War of the Worlds</i> and the <i>Mission: Impossible</i> quartet, not the once-in-a-while movie actor of <i>Magnolia</i>, <i>Collateral</i>, <i>Rain Man</i>. <i>Oblivion</i> doesn’t require a Cruise performance, as such; it needs a strutting, panicked Cruise action <i>presence</i>. He gives good combat and freak-out, that’s plenty enough. He plays his reliable go-to guy: the blue-collar worker type – called Jack of course – facing insurmountable odds. Jack likes unfussy, simple things: books, baseball, rustic cabins, Conway Twitty records. But he has to kick it into top gear to overcome feats of futuristic peril.<br />
<br />
Jack and his co-worker/bed-sharer Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) operate a maintenance outpost on a destroyed and depopulated post-invasion earth. It’s a stunning home-owner’s wet dream of an outpost, however: austere on stilts in the sky, full of billowy curtains, glass surfaces, topped with a top-end technical finish. (It’s a dwelling so impossibly, stylishly open-plan with the potential for threat that I was expecting <i>Diamonds Are Forever</i>'s Bambi and Thumper to jump out on Cruise at any given moment.)<br />
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The pair answer to Mission Control Sally’s (Melissa Leo) orders; linked via a screen, she tasks them from Titan, a planet off Saturn, with clearing earth, saving its resources and repairing flying robot maintenance drones in between avoiding the hostile ‘Scavengers’ – all whilst readying themselves for a return ‘home’. Because the pair are nearing the end of their shift (<i>“only two weeks left, Jack!”</i>), of course something goes awry: a droid mysteriously goes missing and Jack discovers a strange woman (Olga Kurylenko) jettisoned to earth from a space shuttle. Who is she? Why does Jack feel he’s seen her before? Who’s got the droid? Has Cruise cracked a smile yet?<br />
<br />
The plot from here on out becomes rather convoluted. Although it’s fun to play catch up with and, ultimately, it coheres better than first assumed. But it’s the creatively imagined world that astonishes most vividly. Vast, seemingly endless lush and/or ruined vistas – many of which are the very same Icelandic wasteland locations seen in <i>Prometheus</i> – full of expanse, substance and digital elegance are an visual treat. The effects are exemplary and integrated with seamless skill; eyeballs are dipped in unusual reconfigurations of slickly photographed known landmarks and inhospitable crevices. Credit to production designer Darren Gilford, cinematographer Claudio Miranda and, well, the whole technical crew for evoking sublime alienating earth landscapes. The score, by Anthony Gonzalez of M83 and Joseph Trapanese, a Daft Punk collaborator, thuds and fizzes with an electronic orchestration that aptly suits the visual splendour and compatibly meshes with the impressive sound design.<br />
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Cruise is on and off spaceships, bikes, buildings, peaks; he’s in and out of cavernous ruins, pools and hot zones. He applies the same level of manful adventurousness on screen as he most likely does in his leisurely pursuits on his days off. <i>Oblivion</i> being a top-tier Cruise vehicle – like, say, <i>Jack Reacher</i>, <i>The Last Samurai</i>, <i>Knight & Day </i>– it’s inevitably all about him and what feats of kinetic endurance he can master. And he’s still up to the task. He may not display a knack for characterisation in films such as this often, but he does bring star power and the guarantee of a hefty budget – via which burgeoning talents like Kosinski can project their long-gestated dream ideas with luxurious ease. (<i>Oblivion</i> was based on a graphic novel concept he first drew up in 2005.)<br />
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A fine supporting cast has been assembled too, however inconsistently deployed: Kurylenko is given a lot of elusive emotion to carry yet not the character to hold its weight; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau looks sturdy on the sidelines with a muck-smeared face; Morgan Freeman teeters on the comical side even though his role suggests otherwise; Melissa Leo is a ghost in the machine. It’s the ever-excellent Riseborough who stands out, however. She gives Victoria much measured poise and poignancy – and the most memorable performance of the film. The big shame, though, is that Zoe Bell is in the cast and isn’t given any big action scenes or stunts.<br />
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As with various recent grand-scale sci-fi cinema – <i>Star Trek</i>, <i>Prometheus</i>, <i>Total Recall</i>, <i>Avengers Assemble</i>, <i>Cloud Atlas</i> – <i>Oblivion</i> ponders big ideas alongside its sleek action scenes. To add some intricate flavour, Kosinski follows sci-fi law by peppering his futuristic environments with inventively realised state-of-the-art gizmos and gadgetry (the dragonfly-like pod ships, the spherical droids, the large polyhedron space ‘Tet’, Victoria’s iPad-style operational desk). Many of its ample thrills derive from the pleasure these tokens of design offer to viewers who like to embrace the sci-fi genre regardless of what hiccups or highs the story attains.<br />
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<i>Oblivion</i> is interstellar entertainment made with due craft and attention to detail, even if some elements feel over familiar. It’s the thrill of seeing spectacle writ large – particularly if seen on an IMAX screen – that provides the most enjoyment. Luxuriating in giddy genre joys is not always something that gets taken into consideration when, for some, the fun seems to revolve around the discovery of faults and numerous references instead of simply allowing the good times to play out in front of them. Sometimes giving the deeper fouls of plotting some respite and focusing on the wow yields more enjoyment. <i>Oblivion</i> isn’t Great Art, and it surely doesn’t ask for that label, but its apparent artistry meant I was willing to let it get away with a few ills so I could take in its glorious sites of extinction.
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-45384820266936524532013-04-09T11:03:00.000+01:002013-04-09T11:03:37.899+01:007+ Notes on Trance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>*Very mild spoilers below*</b><br />
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<b>Familiarity begets familiarity.</b> <i>Trance</i> is, in variable ways, most reminiscent of the likes of <i>Shallow Grave</i> and <i>Trainspotting</i> within Boyle’s filmography. Mainly in that it features his favourite protagonist plot position: the man in over his head in a situation beyond his control (also see: <i>Slumdog Millionaire</i>, <i>The Beach</i>, <i>28 Days Later...</i> , <i>Sunshine</i>, <i>A Life Less Ordinary</i>, <i>127 Hours</i>). The plot (an outline of which you can read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_%282013_film%29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></a> or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924429/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></a>) has an immediate hook, an upfront showiness prescribed by a cool poster/promotion campaign (left) and, most likely, the word-of-mouth factor; the kind of things via which <i>Trainspotting</i> and <i>Shallow Grave</i> gained momentum in the nineties. We’re in typically characteristic Boyle territory. But really, what’s moved on? Haven’t we had this (kind of) film from him before? Familiar tropes and tricks and approach to narrative. The endpoint differs, but the journey remains the same.<br />
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<b>Many directors reconfigure ideas previously ploughed in one way or another.</b> Hitchcock, Lynch, Tarantino, Tarkovsky, pick one – pretty much every director repeats motifs, ideas, approaches. An auteur is an auteur is an auteur. But there’s a large gap between concrete auteurism and cyclical self-reference (and, perhaps, lazy repetition). <i>Trance</i> doesn’t feel like either an artistic or thematic progression in the way that some of Boyle’s other films have. It feels like a digression, or a time-filler, or at least a moment of treading water – a reminder that he’s a film director as well as the guy who ‘directed the Olympics’. For all its edgy showmanship it’s just a set of safe, self-same themes and reinstated narrative turns given a jolly polish. There was little here that was surprising, vital, entrancing. Boyle, along with his most notable peer Michael Winterbottom, is one of the UK’s most intrepid directors (look at where his films <i>go</i> in the world), but <i>Trance</i> is stuck in perpetual turnaround on home turf already ploughed. Boyle and Winterbottom are both venturesome filmmakers, but of the two Winterbottom is perhaps slightly more adept at self-reinvention.<br />
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<b>28 hours later... and I can’t recall anything noteworthy about the three main performances.</b> A day or so after seeing it I had trouble recalling anything any of the main trio said or did. I don’t blame the actors. James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson are capable performers who have given good performances elsewhere – Cassel in particular can be an electric presence. I blame the tricksy, blitz-you-into-bafflement structure. <i>Trance</i>’s plot is generally easy enough to follow, in a fashion, and the editor does a commendable job of ordering everything to get the best narrative sense out of the thing (whilst retaining its important ‘upending expectations’ vibe). But it was what I sensed to be Boyle’s need to make an essentially straightforward story inordinately kinetic that stunted any coherence in the performances for me.<br />
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<b>There’s not that much to it, all told.</b> The way in which Boyle and his writers Joe Ahearne and John Hodge set up and have shaped their plot creates an awkward discord and fogs how the cast perform, and largely curdling any filmmaking clarity. The cast get a handful of scenes to outline and explore their characters – their inner selves, their shady dealings, their emotional withdrawals, their manipulative switches – but the results are diced and dotted about, each one less creatively dovetailing into the next, smothered by another tricky piece of the narrative puzzle. <i>Trance</i> feels like an attempt by Boyle to take back the Bestest Coolest British Director crown passed over to Christopher Nolan circa <i>Memento</i>. The <i>Inception</i>ising process of Trance zapped any fluency from the script.<br />
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<b><i>The Usual Suspects</i> didn’t have a problem juggling a multi-faceted plot with seven main characters.</b> Its Chinese-finger-trap narrative pushed and pulled right up to the last scene before it signed off with cohesive realisation. I always knew what kind of woman Laura Dern was, out of the trio she played, as I watched all of them cascade down <i>Inland Empire</i>’s knotty rabbit holes. Terence Malick’s sense of geographical and temporal place was shunted six ways to Sunday for 99% of <i>The Tree of Life</i>, but I still felt grounded by the people drifting through the film however much he made them appear as elusive signifiers. But the threesome’s actions here battered me into boredom. What’s a decent idea (HEIST WITH A DIFFERENCE!*) if the characters who interpret it appear to be thoroughly subsumed by it?<br />
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<b>There’s an abundance of cranky, canted angles to infer mental displacement.</b> Boyle’s neverplace London is a muted kaleidoscope of anonymous and/or expensive interiors viewed askew as if to strengthen illogic and reinforce dislocation. The directorial approach chimes with its thematic content, but is it just a lot of illusory cup-shuffling, all visual swagger masking an echoing core? Tom Hooper recently cranked and canted his <i>Les Misérables</i> cityscapes into submission and was roundly mocked by critics for it. But the much more respected Boyle’s skew-whiff camera trickery will likely pass unmentioned. Why is one risible and one passable? And exactly how many ‘cool points’ does one lose for marginally preferring the former’s use (it necessitates its characters’ desperation, however heavy-handed) over the latter‘s (it idly makes the action appear much more intense, urgent than it actually is)?<br />
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<b><i>Trance</i> trail.</b> Boyle himself has mentioned Nicolas Roeg as an influence (perhaps due to the wired perspectives and the oddball sexual pull), and this makes sense. I also saw a smidgen of Guy Ritchie, most notably <i>Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels</i> and <i>RockNRolla</i>. Also, to a greater or lesser degree, <i>Eastern Promises</i> (not only for the presence of Cassel), <i>The Crying Game</i> (no, not in the way you’re thinking), <i>Shopping</i> (largely forgotten 1994 Jude Law ram-raiding movie), <i>Stormy Monday</i> (Mike Figgis’ Brit-noir, his debut) and <i>Layer Cake</i> (which had better supporting parts and some humour). There’s a weird kinship with Steven Soderbergh’s latest, <i>Side Effects</i>, too (I think, whatever the intentions, both directors’ female characters are more convenient ciphers than actual fully-realised people).<br />
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<b>A few further thoughts/questions:</b><br />
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If Rosario Dawson were to nonchalantly tear a page out of one of my favourite art books/plot MacGuffins, for little-to-no reason, I’d be livid. And I wouldn’t then do an ill-conceived impression of the caped figure in Goya's <i>Witches in the Air</i> (left) to appease her like McAvoy does.<br />
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If Boyle had, say, taken his name off the credits – for some kind of Dogme95 style larf – or if, for some ridiculous reason, people went to see <i>Trance</i> not knowing that it was a Danny Boyle film, do you think they might wonder why it hadn’t gone straight to DVD?<br />
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Boyle recently <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/danny-boyle-talks-need-for-better-female-characters?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">mentioned the need for better female characters</span></a>, so why is the sole significant female character in <i>Trance</i> twice introduced in a given scene via a pan across/tilt up her naked body displaying her shaven vagina (for nefariously explained plot reasons)?**<br />
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Whether via Anthony Dod Mantle’s vividly retro cinematography, giving everything a slick yet businesslike sheen, the score by Rick Smith (from the band Underworld), with its reversive techno lilt, or the general throwback feel of <i>Trance</i>, there appeared to be definable zeitgeist-like hankering for late-eighties/early-nineties nostalgia. I’d rather see Boyle and co. move forward.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">*</span>Maybe Boyle wanted to “heist” some art himself. Maybe it’s a comment: “steal” a film (<i>Trance</i>
was based on a 2001 TV movie of the same name written and directed by
Ahearne), make a replica, and then display it in a different light. If
this was the case, then surely he could’ve taken his own lead and – in
reference to the stolen Rembrandt painting <i>The Storm on the Sea of Galilee</i> shown and discussed in the film – flashed us a subliminal cameo shot where he’s breaking the fourth wall with a glance – <i>a Trance glance...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">**</span>A different nod to Winterbottom here: he did a very similar thing in both <i>9 Songs</i> (with Margot Stilley) and <i>Code 46</i> (with Samantha Morton). </span><br />
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Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-44769921686015643872013-04-07T09:55:00.000+01:002013-04-07T10:00:42.054+01:00Broken Mirrors x2<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Broken psyche: <b>Mad Detective/San Taam</b> (Johnnie To, Ka-Fai Wai/2007)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Broken face: <b>Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning</b> (John Hyams/2012)</span></div>
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<br />Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492693833498714269.post-69519516610618588832013-04-04T16:03:00.001+01:002013-04-05T08:39:04.624+01:0028 Hotel Rooms (Matt Ross/2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Never has nearly a month’s worth of illicit fucks been as dull as door mats. The riskiest thing here is a naughty rooftop drink binge, the most spontaneous thing the painting of toenails. Two strangers act up and make out in a random selection of hotels. He’s (Chris Messina, doing what Chris Messina usually does) a successful writer experiencing an unsuccessful second book; she’s (Marin Ireland, channelling Marion Cotillard by way of Sarah Polley) a married corporate accountant who “just pushes numbers around”. They’re both a bit unhappy; both seem to want to put the puzzle pieces of life together, mainly by repeatedly talking at length about how they don't know who the other person truly is. They continually meet up and occasionally have sex. But their post-coital conversations dry out the bed sheets and cool any adulterous ardour. Nothing much is ever truly <i>said</i>. Mostly they just mope deeply into each other’s faces. Director-writer Matt Ross should, but doesn’t, interpret his characters’ woes and desires. Glimpses of who they really are – through choice, telling snippets of dialogue or, say, some exploratory direction – are thin on the ground. (When there are just two people and four walls on offer the direction needs to wring the most pertinent interactions out of the situation.) Their personalities and past experiences, things that would make the drama flourish, are hemmed in as much as the outside world is shut out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRlaJjMynUct9VyVv9aqoKwyFcl8YPdEZ5ezchNLmPg6NuE2tEFwTEw2zXOoKFZcUJ0t8XntwzrsRw7ZCSJZwjCmrbJcMyjEDfL_Xa9s68kj3lX81wubDK72GzMtCxBPnJmeOzlpKCMU/s1600/28hr1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRlaJjMynUct9VyVv9aqoKwyFcl8YPdEZ5ezchNLmPg6NuE2tEFwTEw2zXOoKFZcUJ0t8XntwzrsRw7ZCSJZwjCmrbJcMyjEDfL_Xa9s68kj3lX81wubDK72GzMtCxBPnJmeOzlpKCMU/s200/28hr1.jpg" width="137" /></a> Over the course of these trysts she gets married, he divorced; she has a child, he has a breakdown, of sorts. They both have another bath or ten. But no emotional progress outside disagreeable mumbling and looking forlornly at beautifully blurry shots of cities through high-rise windows is made. Each chapter is divided up into the randomly-selected rooms they frequent. Room 609. Room 1205. Room 527. 308. 615. 1009. And so on – totalling the titular 28. By the twelfth inter-title I was hoping that the next room they booked would be 237 at The Overlook – let them feel the scary shag pile there and see what dramatic events emerge. (The whole thing needed something, <i>anything</i>, to give it some vital pep.)<br />
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Ireland better convinces as a more believable character than Messina. She often lets a suggestive glance or smirk tell us more than a verbal outpouring could. He likes to shout at people from hotel balconies. She messily gets out of the bath like she needs to find the nearest towel, as you do. He coyly gets out of the bath like he’s being filmed by a camera crew. Intimate hotel-room-set drama <i>The Center of the World </i>(2001) managed a similar feat of tedium, though with a few supporting characters to stem the dullness; so too did the similarly-themed <i>9 Songs</i> (2004, review <a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/9%20Songs" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></b></a>), just with an, um, abundance of cum shots and music cues. Many people bemoaned <i>Last Night</i> (2010, review <b><a href="http://darkeyesocket.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/at-cinema-last-night.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></a></b>) – in which a married couple experienced an eroticised evening apart, with other people – for being flat and lifeless, but it had more fervour and vibrancy in five minutes than this does over its entirety. <i>28 Hotel Rooms</i> is innumerable sighs and twice as many eye-rolls over 82 arduous minutes. Hotel hook-ups shouldn't be as dreary as this.
Craig Bloomfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675432352369719901noreply@blogger.com0