Funny Games

 I watched this immediately after the abysmal Friday the Thirteenth, and what a contrast! I have taken my time to write this up as I have been looking at other reviews on this film and have found it to have garnered generally negative ratings. It is certainly a film that has devided people's and critic's opinions alike from , 'a remarkably thrilling and unique cinematic experience', to, 'anti-imaginative'. I personally liked it, alot, and have been thinking all day how to write about it.

 The yummy Naomi Watts stars and gives an impressive performance. This is an actress that so far in my eyes has done no wrong. Boy can she act. And if you never like this film you have to walk away from it impressed again with Ms Watts' talents.
 It was interesting to read after I saw this film that it is made by the same guy who made The White Ribbon, which I reviewed several weeks ago, Michael Haneke. White Ribbon was an unpleasant film and so is this. He seems to be forging himself a career out of the seedy and unpleasant side of human nature. Funny Games sees him in top form.
 I won't get bogged down in a synopsis as I am writing a review and always believe that a film is in the eye of the beholder. One person's opinion is not going to be anothers. And this film is, as I have already stated, dividing opinions.
 This film left me reeling after having watched it. Only several films over the years have done this too me. Pulp Fiction is one, and the brillilant Dead Man Walking the other. It is just so different, even though it is a scene for scene, word for word remake from the original Austrian film. I have not seen or even heard of the film before so I approached it as an original, and for me it is totally original in style and projection.
 It is of the psyhcological/horror genre. If you have seen Hostel you'll know the type. I didn't like Hostel, it left me feeling sick. I felt it pushed the boundaries between what was entertainment and our collective de-sensitising of screen violence and empathy with other people. How can we as humans go and watch this stuff for so called entertainment when we wouldn't actually dream of doing the things portrayed?? Funny Games really isn't much different. Here though we have a young family on the recieving end of  two sickos in their own home. And they are sick. This is a nasty film and not for the faint hearted.
 For all its nastiness and brutalising of fellow human beings it is a well made film. I didn't read the synopsis of the film when I rented it so as events transpired I was somewhat spellbound. It was shocking stuff but very clever in its delivery. I found it a remarkable, clever and original film, even with the content. I really liked the surprise I got when the main protagonist turned to the camera and spoke to the viewer. It was so totally unexpected and played on the viewers emotions and empathy for the brutalised victims. It is not original to talk to the camera but in this film you wouldn't think it would fit, but it does and engages you more in the unfolding events.
 Naomi Watts really steals the show. At one stage she is forced to undress in front of her assailants and family. She does it superbly as she portrays a woman who is being totally degraded. Not pleasant viewing, but for all the nastiness it is a film that doesn't condone the content. It really makes the viewer uncomfortable and at no stage do you'll feel enjoyment. It is a work of fiction, but like White Ribbon, it is unpardoanble to think that events like these don't happen in our society. This is what disturbed me about this film, it could and does happen.
 Tim Roth was surprisingly good as the husband of Watts. He gets his leg broken with a golf club and quite literally sits by and watches his son and wife brutalised mentally and physically. In fact the whole cast is quite good, but the two sickos are really something. They don't yell or scream, they just go about their sick game with quiet and chilling precision. They are just so natural it is hard to believe they are serial killers as they initially seem so polite and normal. But as the film progresses you find out just how deranged they are. Totally callous towards their fellow man and the emotional and physical pain they are inflicting.
 This is a different type of horror to the traditional genre. It is somewhat blood free with no real graphic violence, and a minimum of swearing. It is the calmness of the two murderers and the mental torment they put their victims throught that is the real horror. It is so well done, and genuinely scary. It is a well crafted film in that you can't believe what is happening. All the time you want the victims to live but somehow you know they won't. When the murderer starts talking directly to you the viewer you know they are doomed.
 The other thing that really impressed me about this film is the way it starts as Watts and Roth pull up to their neighbours house. The neighbour is there with two young men who aren't introduced. It isn't until they come over to borrow some eggs and events transpire that we belatedly learn their neighbours fate. It ends after they bump off Watts and family and they move onto another house and ask for some eggs, hence starting their murderous cycle again. Very cleverly done, and then film closes with one murderer looking straight at you the viewer.
 I can see why this film may not be popular, but I think it is outstanding. It isn't a nice film and will leave you somewhat shaken. It is nasty and highly unpleasant, and yet it is superbly made. It is very clever in its delivery, the acting is good, especially Naomi Watts, and an overall unsettling watch that is very good besides its dark subject matter. I think any true film watcher will 'get' this film, especially its brilliant crafting. It certainly isn't for all, but if you are looking for something really different then this is the film for you.

Click here for a synopsis and more:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808279/

here for more:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1175174-funny_games/

Friday The Thirteenth

  I have a new follower!! Thanks for stopping by Emily C, I quite like your blog so added it to my list of recommened blogs to visit. It is somewhat of a coincidence that the next film I'm reviewing is a horror!

 I actually caught the end of The Sixth Sense before watching this film.I had forgotten how good it was, and also how bad M. Night Shyamalan is now as a film maker. The Last Airbender last year was a shockingly poor film.

 Well, as alot of people who were once teenagers of my generation, they headed in droves to the flicks to visit Camp Crystal Lake. Jason Voorhees pre-dated Freddy Kruger by about seven years but for me Jason is the quintessential horror film character. Can any one deny that the scene where he jumps out of the lake into the girls boat in the first film , and Reagan's head turning through 360 degrees in The Excorsist are not the most iconic scenes in horror history?

 I saw all the films up to about part six or seven before moving on and I have never revisited Crystal Lake since. Until last night. I thought  I'd relive my teen years of horror films and in particular the Friday the Thirteenth franchise. What I saw was a bitter disapointment, and quite honestly, as poor a homage to the ealier films that genuinely scared cinema goers.

 This isn't horror, why?? Because it is not scary. Not at all. Not one scare, fright moment, jump out of seat, hair raising, cliqued horror film moment. I couldn't believe this film has got the title it does. Friday the Thirteenth films were synonymous with genuine scares and were among the leaders in the genre of slasher films. This, to put it mildly, is garbage.

 No scares in a horror franchise is like an actioner with no action, what is the point? I honestly sit here in utter disbelief that this film was ever made. Sure there is the Jason and his machete moments but, like the awful and equally unscary Nightmare on Elm Street of last year, what is about to happen is so obvious the makers might well of put bells on Jason to advertise his presence.

 There is of course the obligatory boobs and sex scenes but they are standard horror movie cliques. Big boobs aren't going to make this clanger any better. I was expecting better from this film and it shows one thing. The Friday the Thirteenth franchise should finally be put to rest. I'm afarid to say that Jason Voorhees has had his day and he is now well and truely eclipsed by newer and far scarier horror figures. He once set the standard but let it rest people! 

 A crying shame that such a horror film legend has been stooped to this level. A horror is about frights and this has none. A film from a legendary horror figure that scared millions of film goers and set the benchmark deserved better than this. Awful, garbage, rubbish, unscary, and finally a sad demise to a once great horror character. AVOID!!

Click here if you wish to waste your time!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758746/

YAWN!!...here for more if you wish!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/friday_the_13th_prequel/

And here for the official site:

http://www.fridaythe13thmovie.com/

The Road

  After reviewing Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises I have decided to delve into my back catologue of film stubs and look at The Road, which I saw at the Century about this time last year. It of course stars Mortensen hence my decision to look at this film.

 It is based on a Pulitzer prize winning novel which I have never heard of and not read. It is on the forever growing to read list. Like so many films that I want to see there are just as many books I wish to read. Apparantly it is a very bleak book and believe me the film is extremely bleak. But is a beautiful bleak. It is somewhat fitting that I follow my review of Hellboy with this film because both are stunning visually to watch. The Road will take your breath away in its bleak, colourless rendering of an unspecified apocalypse.

 The story revolves around a man taking his young son south in an attempt to find a warmer climate as the earth quickly coldens around them. They must avoid bands of armed men that capture people to eat. As the earth is so cold nothing grows and they fed on other human beings. There is a harrowing scene where Mortensen finds a house with a basement full of humans that are slowly being eaten.
 It is a unique film in that right throughout the characters are never called by name. It stems from the book, and adds a surreal air of it all being the end as nothing will be the same again, and individuals become insignifcant compared to the events around them. It is a small thing but adds impact to the film.
 This is a film that you will walk out of going 'thank god I'm alive'. Bleak is the key word here, but never do you feel like leaving the theatre. I have never seen a film that has so portrayed a post-apocalyptic earth as this one has. The uniqeness is that almost all films with this subjet are zombie films. This hasn't any zombies and in our world of global warming it is closer to reality and the more chilling for it. Basically it is about the end of the world whilst portraying the human desire to keep on living.

The Road is one of those film that will stay with you for well after you have seen it. For me it is because of the starkness of a world at its end. Buildings are collapsed and rotted, there is no colour, nothing is growing, quite simply civilisation is at an end. And this film depicts it better than anything like it before. The recent I Am Legend, and The Book of Eli ( whose post nuclear war wastelands were excellent) just don't quite pull it off.
 In The Road you can physically feel it, and it scares, and then bewilders you because at the back of your mind you know it could happen. But what makes it work is the feeling of total delsolation. A good scene towards the end sees Mortensen swimming out to a beached ship in the hope of finding food. The ship is so real and yet so final that the viewer can't help but feel that ulimately their quest to survive is futile.
 I can not possibly stress the visual impact of this film. To see it on the small screen is to take away its impact. It has plot but its real story in the visualness of a dying planet. It is an incredible film to behold. Scary in a way no horror can possibly be, because it is within the realms of possibility.
  Mortensen is at his best and probably better here than in Eastern promises. Playing a man attempting to keep his son alive against all hope has shown his range as an actor. Charlize Theron has a small part as the boys mother who gives up hope and kills herself. Robert Duvall plays a dying man. The under rated Guy Pearce also has a small role, and the young boy is well played. But for me this Mortensen's film.
 See it, and marvel in some of the most harrowing and yet most beautiful apocalyptic images ever put onto celluloid. An absolute masterpice of visual film making.
Click here for a synopsis and more information:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
Here for more:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009460-the_road/
and here for the official site:
http://www.theroad-movie.com/upgrade_flash.html

Hell Boy 2: The Golden Army

 Last night one of my many, many favorite films was played on television. I saw it three times on the big screen when it played in 2008. It is one of the most visually stunning films ever made in my opinion. The times I have seen it since on the small screen have robbed it of it visual impact.

 Guillermo del Toro is one of my all time favorite film makers. His Pan's Labyrinth is certainly in my top five all time favorite films. It is, like Hellboy,  visually stunning . Beautifully filmed, an original plot, and one of the best performances from a child actress you could ever hope to see, Pan's Labyrinth is as close to perfect as a film can get.

 Hellboy is not in that sort of league. It is based on a comic book character, which was made into a cartoon series. del Toro made hellboy into a film several years ago and while not bad it is inferior to the second film. This is because del Toro's abilities and imagination have come further, and it shows in the second film.

 It is a fantasy/action genre film and del Toro does fantasy extremely well. It is a pity that The Hobbit, which was to be filmed here in NZ, ran into troubles, as it is the type of subject matter that is perfect for his imagination and style. Hellboy 2 is certanily not remarkable for any originality in its plot. Sort of end of the world if a baddie isn't stopped type stuff. Its originality is in the visuals. And they are just stunning.

 Peter Jackson gets alot of cudos for his use of CGI but for me del Toro is better. Del Toro uses colour in his film beautifully, you have to see his films to appreciate them. But it is imagination that has captured film goers attentions. His sets and the creatures he has devised are totally original and with his use of colour and film techniques leave the viewer in total awe. The fawn from Pan's Labyrinth is simply breath taking.

 There are several fight scenes which have nothing new in them as far as moves go, but under del Toro's eye they become quite spectacular. It is a film that even a younger audience will enjoy and watch as it isn't riddled with swearing or graphic violence. My two nephews absolutely loved this film and even commented on how good it looked. It is one of those films that even if are not into the genre you should see for a master film maker at work.

 Certainly Hellboy will never go down as one of the best films ever made. But it isn't meant to be. It is fantasy and solely for entertaiment. I highly recommend this film, for even if you are not into the genre, it is a film that must be seen to be believed. Del Toro for me is the cutting edge of CGI in the world today. I hear he is keen on making a third Hellboy. This is one viewer who awaits with abated breath, not just for a third Hellboy instalment, but for any film this genius produces from his fertile mind.

 Not a great film but watch and be amazed, it is worth it!! Just pure, stylish entertaiment for the eyes! And if you haven't seen it yet, for goodness sake, do youself the favour and watch the brilliant Pan's Labyrinth.

Click here for a synopsis and more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_II:_The_Golden_Army

here for for:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411477/

And more:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hellboy_2_the_golden_army/

and here for the official site:

http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/hellboy-ii-the-golden-army/

Christchurch Earthquake

 Thought I take a bit of time and post some pics on the Christchruch Earthquake. My beloved city of Napier held the dubious distinction of having suffered NZ's worse earthquake in 1931. Napier wasn't as big then and was virutally destroyed. Most of the land the city is now built on was lifted out of the sea and surrounding marshes.
 But Christchurch now owns the 'honour' if you can call it that in having had NZ's worse natural disaster. The city's cathedral has had it's spire demolished and 22 people were initialy thought to be a under the rubble. A crying shame as it is the city's symbol and one of NZ's iconic buildings.  Just an unbelievable event to see.
But hey New Zealand isn't known as 'the shaky isles' for nothing!

Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil

 Went down to the local video store yesterday and hired three DVDs. All are Clint Eastwood films and believe it or not it wasn't planned that way. It is just what I happened to pick up. But I'm a big fan of Eastwood, both as an actor and director, so I'm sure I won't die of Eastwood overload!

 I do remember this film playing here in Napier when it was released and no matter how hard I try I can't remember why I didn't see it. I do remember that I'd never heard of the book back then though. I have since read it three years ago and I suppose, like most, absolutely loved it. Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood as a non-fiction novel and recieved a huge amount of praise for it. I think Midnight is far superior though.
 I loved the eccentricities of the characters of the book. It is well written and paced, and totally original. Like any good book or film it just stays with you. So I was really looking forward to sitting down and watching its film adaptation, which I did last night with the company of three large scotchs!
 It took me a while to get into this film as I tried to remember what was happening from the book. Unfortunately Eastwood has fiddled with it somewhat and this is what threw me. Many characters have much smaller roles in the film than from the book. He also uses his daughter as the love interest to Cusack's character, which again isn't in the book. Besides these changes he has kept to the book relatively well and the viewer will recognise it.

 But it isn't all bad! This is an incredibly ambitious book to make a movie from. It is a film about people's characters and eccentric ways, and not so much a story type film. It certainly revolves around a murder but it is about people's minds and their behaviour. This is somewhat easier to write than to put onto celluloid. Eastwood gives it a good shot but somehow there is a flatness to his interpretation.

 I like Eastwood as a director and Midnight is technically excellent. I loved the cinematography and the editing is first class. Eastwood has even got the pace of life in Savannah right with the pacing of the film. The film runs to over two hours, but unlike many long films this one didn't feel too long. In fact I was surprised at the end to look at the clock and see how long it had been. It may have a slow pace but it is never dull or ponderous. It moves along subtely and deceptively.  Overall it is a very finely crafted film and I can't fault it.

 But it is flat. The performances are excellent. Spacey is superb and plays the murderer who knows he got way with it. Savannah is spectacular in its Southerness, and overall the visuals are truley engaging. So what is missing? It is hard to define. I really liked this film. The craftmanship of Eastwood is top notch as usual but, but, but. What is it? 

 For me Chablis wasn't extroverted enough. The character was good in the film, but her 'yah yeah yah's from the book weren't there.  I wanted them to be as it is what I remember most about his/her (?!!) character. And I suppose that is the crux of my problem with this films flatness. It is their characters.

 As I have already alluded to this should be a film about people and a warts and all examination of them as individuals. Remember it is said in the book and the movie that nothing happens in Savannah without anyone else knowing. Everboby knows everbody and that includes everything about them. And for  everything that I like about this film the essence of it is missing. Eastwood has watered it down far too much and everything that is great about the book has been watered down to.

 By surpressing some characters and toning down others, most notably Chablis, and introducing a non-book character Eastwood has taken the heart and sole out of the film. It is a crying shame as it is a great book and should have been translated to the big screen in a much better way. It is still worth watching because it is not a bad film. There is much to like, but if you are expecting the book you will be disappointed because what you will get is a watered down sanitised version.

 A superbly crafted film but with a palpable flatness about it. A film you finish watching and go 'that could have better'.

Click here for a synopsis and more:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119668/

And here for more:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/midnight_in_the_garden_of_good_and_evil/

 

The Towering Inferno

 After the awfulness of Sanctum it is a pleasure to review a movie that is quite decent. Ah but what a classic it is to! It played about a month ago on Television at about 1.00 p.m on a Sunday morning. I have decided to throw it in here as a contrast to Sanctum which has a drama theme to it. Of course The Towering Inferno is a straight disaster movie but the themes between the two films are similar enough.

 I can remember seeing this film on television several times in my much younger days. The days when television played good movies from bygone eras. I have always loved them and am starved of them nowadays. So it was with huge surprise to see this aired. I was in anticipation all day as I have always enjoyed this film, and it must be at least twenty five years since I last saw it.
 Inferno may have been, or is, the very first of the 1970's disaster films. A then new genre with which, in many respects, Inferno being the embodiment of them all. A then big budget, stella cast, and plenty of promotion, has seen this film forty years later become a true classic of its type.
 I really liked this film when I was young and after seeing it again I still like it, and like it alot. The special effects have dated and the interiors are so 1970's and really awful to more modern tastes, but it is still a great film to watch. It may have aged but this is what makes it so interesting. In its day the special effects were the height of their time. No CGi here. The tower is a very obvious model and the flames unrealistic but if you sit back and enjoy it for the film of the era it is then it doesn't matter.
 I always view films like this through the eyes and techniques of the times. It is the history lover in me. The past fascinates me and a film of a bygone era is a snapshot of it. The James Bond films were always renowned for being at the cutting edge of stunt work etc in their day but look almost lame by todays standards. To show that this film wasn't just a bit of 1970's kitsch it was nominated for several Oscars. So it is a movie that can't be dismissed lighty.
 There is nothing more that I can add to this film that hasn't been said already. But what a trip down memory lane! It is a film that unfortunately, because it is a disaster film, is not take too seriously. It is a shame because disaster films are a valid genre and there is good and bad. Inferno is certainly one of the best and in my opinion a better film that it is given credit for. It is also dedicated to firemen in general so behind the razz and dazzle there is a serious air to it.
 A true classic and what a joy it was too see it again. Loved every minute of it, and even though it has dated is still a very good film.
Click here for a synopsis and more;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072308/
Here for an interesting site dedicated soley to the film:
http://www.thetoweringinferno.info/