A little less "Sixteen Candles", a little more "Friday 13th"

Well, my aim to blog more regularly hasn't been going fantastically well, but better late than never! Yesterday I was pretty bored and looking for something to easily pass the time. And what better choice that a low budget horror film! The more obscure the better. So I went for a little know Australian film called The Loved Ones. Basic plot is, crazy girl abducts high school hunk, and inexplicably tortures him at a home made prom night in the company of her father and invalid mother. I know what you are thinking, standard Saturday night in, yeh? Pretty much within the genre of gorenography, you can appreciate the efforts gone into to try and make this a more original film, but it does seem somewhat lacking.

The main give away for this feeling is the inclusion of seemingly pointless subplots. We repeatedly flit out to the main character's hapless best friend on a date with someone way out of his league, but a little off the rails. It provides the occasional bit of comic relief to ease the tension of the main scenes, but holds absolutely no bearing to the development of the main plot. Only a tenuous link is made between the girl and a previous victim of the psycho prom queen. This comes across to me as lazy writing, or at the very least just a bit desperate to make the film feature length. I get the feeling that they came up with the concept for the film initially, but had trouble in the screenwriting process to pad out the whole scenario to something over an hour. The answer; meaningless filler plot! The staple of any failing horror film.

So flagging sub-plots aside, when we are viewing the main action, it is quite good viewing. They manage to aptly build tension as the tortures of our lead get progressively worse. The thing I like about the approach here, is that they don't stop at the stage you think they will. Where as our normal expectation of a horror film would normal take us up to the point of maximum tension, and then hit us with some relief, a narrow escape, or a cut away, The Loved Ones delivers on the promise of what the tension has been building towards. For example, the psycho girl at one point is looking to drill a hole in the forehead of our protagonist. This is slowly built, with a few mishaps in her handling of the drill along the way, but right as the tension has been built up to breaking point, instead of the jump and calm, she just keeps going. We get to see her drilling into this young gentleman's head, and through his skull. Even a bit of smoke coming off it, just to you know how rough this is. They are nothing if not helpful in getting you into the moment in horror films. This happens in a few other instances in the process, from nailing his feet to the floor to injecting his throat with bleach so that he can't scream, apparently. (I'm not too sure on the scientific accuracy of this last one, but I am never one to question the logistics of a horror film too deeply)

Now the lead male in this piece (Brent) isn't the most empathetic character in the world. Sure, he is set up as being partly responsible for his dad's death when he crashes a car they are both in, so you start think he can't be all bad, and has had some trouble in his life, undoubtedly making him quite surly. But he does come across as quite melodramatic at times. Wearing a razor blade round his neck on a chain, so that he can self harm at any given moment to awesome rock music to showcase his teenage angst. While we are on the topic, his girlfriend notices his self abuse mark in the opening five minutes of the film, but just ignores them and carries on. No wonder he's got issues. Nobody seems to give a shit about this guy. Least of all me. I'm never really fussed enough about the outcome of this picture to really be rooting for anyone. I'm not cheering the villain and I am not cheering the 'hero'. In fact I am not cheering at all. Just sitting watching a film. Do please note, I don't actually spend most of my time literally cheering in room by myself watching films, complete with foam hand and vuvuzela. I'm more of an air horn guy anyway.

But in all the film is watchable. Not something I would watch again any time soon, but definitely worth a look if you really like the new wave of gore-horror films. The cast varies massively in the quality of performance, but the really memorable ones are the two crazies. They have an odd chemistry on screen which shows a lot of different sides to their, admittedly weird, relationship. There is the obvious protective father and daughter combo, the nurturing trainer and trainee ensemble, and the frankly weird man and woman Oedipus thing. This is by far the most uncomfortable thing to watch in the film, but at least they are trying to make things different. As the characters are the resident psychos in this flick, they are always going to be the ones with the most character, and most leash for the actors to go all out with the eccentricities. The psycho queen does well to flip between all out crazy lady and sweet yet malevolent girl, to make her an unpredictable force to be reckoned with. She evens gets her own Jason Vorhess/Michael Myers moment, when she is diligently crawling after her pray with a knife, after being hit by a speeding police car. Classic horror!


Happy viewing...

Steal my Sunshine

Sorry it has been a while since I have last posted. I have been relocating from the city to my home town, so has taken me longer than expected to pack all of my unnecessary belongings and DVDs. So now that I am settled I have been perusing the world of films I have not seen, and came up with a Danny Boyle film called Sunshine from a few years back. Initial impressions of getting myself ready to watch this film were high due to liking a lot of Boyle's work in the past, but a little bit hesitant due to the 'Sci-Fi' setting and concept of the film. Especially considering I have seen Duncan Jones' Moon before this, and was sceptical that a powerful drama set in space could be so aptly achieved twice in as many years. I will come to whether Sunshine achieved this as I go through my thoughts on the film.

Looking at the cast, there is a variety of actors here, and a fair few recognisable faces on the bill. But as this film was reeled in 2007, a lot of the faces would have not been as recognisable upon release. I think this is why I have not been as eager to watch the film until now. As the years have gone by some fine actors have come out f the wood work, and I like seeing how Boyle had his attention caught by them earlier, and to the reasons why they have made it into higher and higher profile films. Cillian Murphy has obviously worked with Boyle before on 28 days later, so you are aware of the performance that Boyle is able to get out of him. Chris Evans is a face that we are more used to seeing in a comedic tough guy role, who has especially shot into stardom in the last year or two due to his high profile role in Captain America as the titular hero. The other two big names we see are Mark Strong, the go to bad guy in cinema at the moment, and Rose Byrne who has been in three or four big films in the past year or two. The most established is probably Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger... fame, but other than that the cast is relatively unknowns for bigger roles.

The point I am trying to make above, is that although many of the stand out actors in this film have mainly come into prosperity since the release of this film, it is reassuring to see that they have a good reason to be. The standard of acting from many of the cast is commendable, considering the fantastical nature of the concept. Essentially the characters in this piece are sent on an 18 month mission to release a bomb into the middle of the sun, to kick start it and prevent the end of mankind. Like I said, hardly a situation or state of mind you can really "method" your way into. None the less, the characters manage to portray a seemingly realistic depiction of the variety of reactions to such a weighty task, and to such extended isolation.

Chris Evans has a surprisingly strong turn as the pilot/mechanic 'Mace'. He is one of the first to show, on screen, examples of frustration with being cooped up on a ship with only seven other people for months and month on end. After this brief blaze of emotion, Mace soon withdraws the character to a far more detached position, and as someone who puts importance behind the mission over all else. He is the one who after all suggests that they don't go looking for a lost space ship when they hear a distress beacon, as the fate of humankind is in their hands, and any risk is too high to deviate from the job at hand. This point of view is followed through by Mace in the rest of the film, and reflects a quiet stoicism to him. A character that could have come across as a generic muscle head of the film, has been given depth by Evans, as he resists human nature to look out for his fellow man, and prizes logic and the big picture over sentimentality.

Conversely to Evans' performance, I found that Cillian Murphy to be relatively flat in his role. By all means I appreciate carrying a film of this scale in concept is difficult, as I discussed above, it is hard to deliver an accurate performance for a situation that is not conceivable in our current time. None the less, I found that Murphy was lacking in creating a character with which to empathise as our leading man. He was seemingly absent of personality, and was purely a blank canvas with brains to help progress the plot and explain some of the more complicated premises. Almost every other member of the crew had a passion, or a focus, that made them feel they had more depth that their role on the ship. Murphy's character 'Capa' was amazed by the fusion of the bomb they were carrying, but this was only really shown at the beginning and end of the film, and wasn't carried through in the rest of his performance.

Actors aside, the film is handled with a massive deal of care by Boyle, and visually, it is absolutely stunning. The slow moving shots of the ship as it floats through space is an obvious homage to the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but still manages to show it in a new and innovative way. It really shows the quality of the production design and the artistic direction that they have created such beautiful wide shots of the external scenes. the challenge here would seem to be that the backdrop of space if infinitely blank, and so without having and scenery to augment the image the ability to create these images is impressive, and quite frankly beautiful.

So although this is a high concept drama, with focus on the human condition under beyond human conditions, Sunshine is a very watchable film. There are enough enigma, fast paced action sequences and tense dialogue to keep the pace going. All the while asking posing big questions regarding the place of humanity on a small individual scale, when looking on saving humanity on global scale. The parallels with current events where people look to ignore smaller morale issues in light of working towards "the greater good" are evident, and begs the question, where do we draw the line. A film made by the supporting cast and cinematography, a definite watch for fans of Boyle and modern takes on the Sci-Fi genre.

Happy viewing...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Disappointment

Ok, now I am a pretty big Harry Potter fan. Mainly of the books rather than the films, but I still invest a lot in the films whenever they get released. They tend to be lacking for the main, but I always like seeing what I read and imagine from the books blown up on a massive scale on the big screen. Now from watching the eighth and final instalment of the saga in the IMAX, I have to say I felt very underwhelmed by the whole experience. I have tried to put a bit of distance between the viewing and writing this blog, in a hope that my observations would be less reactionary. However I feel that time has done little to subdue my discouragement with this film. There may be some spoilers further down, but as usual, I will just rant at you as things pop into my head about the film.

So overall the film felt half baked. I have spent the last 6 months defending the slow pace of the first part of Harry Potter 7, advising my friends and colleagues that the reason it wasn't the broom flying, spell casting extravaganza of previous Potter films, was that it was all building up to the second part, which would be a cacophony of magical mayhem to satisfy even the most discerning Potter-phile. I was wrong. The pacing of the film felt extremely stunted. It didn't build to a natural climax. Instead had a maelstrom of offbeats and haphazardly placed dueling sequences. although there was far more wizardry tan the first part, it seemed that it was squeezed in between the rest of the film, so that you didn't get to revel in the more exciting parts of the film.

For example the battle sequence of the attack on Hogwarts. Now in my mind this was going to be an epic clash of good versus evil on a Helm's Deep scale, from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Instead there were a few firework looking spells, some disorientating camera moves distracting from what was going on, and Harry and Co. running by exploding masonry, alluding to a much more interesting event happening just out of shot. Which it appears there was. After the first phase of the attack, Harry walks through the Great Hall, and spies all manner of characters dead on the floor. And we didn't see any of it. Tonks and Lupin, lying holding eachothers' hands, but not a glimpse of their grand final hurrah before death. After spending ten years building up these characters so that they worked on screen as well as they did on paper, just to have them lying on the cold floor with no attempt to let them leave on a high was really disappointing for me.

The one person we did get to see die was Bellatrix Lestrange. Now her final battle against Molly Weasley is notorious throughout the world of Potter fans, as Molly drops the 'B-bomb' all over Bella. But even this was robbed of importance, as the entire duel took up no more than 10 seconds. I saw the fight happening centre stage, a ring of people around them as the fight got more and more heated and extravagant, until the eventual demise of Bellatrix. now I know I am starting to allude to the various ways that I would have shown this film, and I know that the main reason I have an issue with this film is down to my affinity with the source material. Ah well, its my Blog, so I am probably going to continue in this manner anyway.

Fumbling of cherished parts of the story aside, there were a handful of redeeming factors in this film. anything where Alan Rickman was involved was amazing. From the get go he has been the epitome of what Severus Snape should be to me. His ability to honestly portray a character who we really cannot tell his moral leaning until the final denouement, still had me believing he could go either way, even though I knew before the film his true allegiances. The revelation of Snape's past and involvement with Harry's mother throughout, was touching and intriguing at the same time. It still required a slight more detail to show how Lily Potter turned from Snape to James Potter, but was by far the most developed piece of the film.

Another redeeming factor was some of the cinematography. as I have mentioned before, a lot of the battle sequences felt a little over complicated and confused the detail to which you could see the events on screen, but the wider establishing shots  of the castle, Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest were beautifully handled, and manged to regain some of the grandeur that a film looking to tackle a franchise of this size should be looking for. Harry, Ron and Hermione gliding across a London skyline on a dragon's back was particular stunning by subtly blending the familiar with the magical.

But in all the film couldn't be saved by these points. there were many things that were left unexplained, or relied on knowledge of the books to fill in the gaps. this is something in film adaptations that I don't like. It is one things to have little homages to the source material, that fans can pick up on. But to rely on this for larger facets of the plot seems to me to be putting too much onus on the viewer. The biggest thing that went unexplained, was also the point in the film which I knew I wasn't going to be able to look back on it favourably. When Harry is entering the Forbidden Forest to face off against Voldemort for the final time, he slowly walks into a clearing, with him on one side, and a platoon of Death Eaters and Voldemort on the other. Oh, and one addition, Hagrid. Hagrid goes to bellow at Harry "What are you doing here?!". No Hagrid, what the hell are you doing there! For someone who hasn't even been mentioned for the past two hours, only to turn up for no other reason than to look sad and carry a tiny Harry back to the castle afterwards, I feel he has no right to casting any aspersions upon anyone else for their reasoning for being there. As anyone who has discussed the film with me in person will know, this line is my least favourite thing about the whole film.

So I know that my disillusionment with this film is most likely my own doing for having such high expectations after loving the books so much, but it can't be helped that I feel let down by the finale to the Potter saga. Nonetheless, I still feel that considering how much of the final book they got out of the way in the first part, they did not make the most of the stellar material they left themselves with. Handled differently, and with the flow of the film managed better, this could of at least satisfied as the final instalment, but instead left you wishing they hadn't bothered with the film, so at least in your head the film could still have been as limitless and emotive as the book. And I won't even go into the '19 Years Later' scene...


Happy viewing...

I Am Legend...wait for it...dary!

I have recently taken to going though my back catalogue of films looking for something to blog about. It is through this random trawling that I came across a film I haven't watched in ages, the post apocalyptic film that is I am Legend. now, although this is strictly speaking a zombie film, it is one of a far more dramatic vein than most that I watch. Part of this is due to the time setting, being in a far more established future, 3 years after the infection has broken out. Also it focuses on a solitary character, Robert Neville, and the day-today of his life surviving a zombie-esque virus outbreak.

By focusing on the human element of the story, and narrowing the perspective to just one character, we are able to fully explore the psyche of our protagonist. The level to which we can empathise to Robert, is a testament to Will Smith's acting chops, as he has very little dialogue. This is because he has no one left to talk to, save for his trusty dog Sam. The interaction between Robert and Sam is heart-wrenching to say the least. As the film develops, we see more and more how much isolation has affected Robert's ability to cope with his daily routines. Frequently he has whole conversations with Sam, leaving pauses for response that only he can hear.

The desperation of Robert's scenario is shown at its peak with the death of Sam. After three years of no company but one man and his dog, the loss of this ever faithful companion, leaves him desolate, and seeking conversation with mannequins to fill the void. We see Robert talking to mannequins at earlier points in the film, but it always has a sense of levity to it. Like he is happy to throw idle chit chat at inanimate objects just to keep himself occupied. But when he confronts one mannequin, after Sam has died, and he weepingly begs them to say "hello" back to him, we get to see the cracks in sanity burst open through his awareness that he is alone.

Smith's performance throughout the entire first half of the film is enough to carry the whole piece on merit. But I feel that the second half does a lot to reduce that effort in the beginning. My main concern is with the portrayal of the 'infected'. While the majority of zombie based films will settle for slapping a bit of blood and make up on a person to give the effects of death, I often find myself wishing they had added a little more to it. In this case I wish they had taken some more away. The infected are almost entirely computer generated, and so have that crisp smooth look of being digital, in a film where the major strength so far has been the realism of Smith's acting. It leaves the monsters of the piece looking a little cartoony, and depleting their impact on screen when they are present and getting up to all sorts of mischief.

But as I said, this detail is more of a by-line in the film, when compared to the soulful and melancholic presentation of Robert by Smith. He has adopted an odd squint and grimace that belies his thoughts, and adds depth to the character, as if showing his constant state of anxiety and paranoia that the day he is currently living out could be his last. So we see him roaming around the empty city streets of New york, hunting game, farming crops and scouting for supplies, to show how by creating his own normality within an abnormal circumstance, he is able to keep those anxieties at bay as best he can.

Speaking of the deserted streets of New York, this is something that is truly a spectacle to see. I cannot even begin to comprehend the logistical nightmare of blocking off areas of Manhattan for some of these shots. Although you know it must have been done most with CG back-drops for the wider establishing shots, it does nothing to remove from the grandeur of the images. A sky line and city we are so used to seeing in popular culture as being the city that never sleeps, being transformed almost literally into an urban jungle is so profound, that it has to be viewed to be appreciated.

So the film as a whole is watchable, but not unmissable. If you are a fan of Will Smith, and I can't imagine many who aren't, then it is definitely worth watching for his performance alone. Keep an eye out for a cameo from his daughter Willow "Whip My Hair" Smith too. As a zombie film, far from the standard, an an interesting new perspective on the genre. But if it is something a little more gratifying in the zombie department that you are after, I would recommend sticking to the classics.

Happy viewing...

Feminism, with sexy results...

Please refrain from too much shock at the timely publishing of this post. As I said before, my aim to update more regularly is wholly serious, and in light of this, I have chosen to blog about a gritty and emotional drama named Sorority Row. It tells the tale of five sorority seniors and their triumphant tale of discovery as they cope with covering up the murder of a sixth student after dumping her in a mine shaft. Well, I may have given it too much credit to describe it as a gritty emotional drama. I imagine that boob-filled teen slasher would be more appropriate. Either way, I watched it, and here are some words that relate to it.

As I said, the premise is that in the light of trying to cover up the murder of one of their friends after a prank goes awry, in order to save their college careers, we fast forward to their graduation 8 months later, when people who know about the secret start getting picked off by a mysterious killer dressed in a graduation hooded cloak, with pimped out tyre iron.I know what you are thinking, this has to be the greatest film of all time. But not so much. the five main characters are painfully two dimensional, even by slasher flick standards, and the plot doesn't even try to give them any depth. There is the shy, retiring nerdy girl who wear glasses and has red hair, so is obviously an out cast the other girls keep as a pet more than anything. The slutty blond who will perform any kind of sexual act if it offers her the chance at some pills, booze or free magazine. The blond bitch who is the powerhouse behind all nasty comments and dubious cover stories. The less bitchy brunette, who has a change of heart halfway through in an attempt to make her appealing. And the strong willed bad-ass lead, who opposes the whole notion of covering everything up, but goes along with it after a weak attempt at blackmailing her to keep schtum. So there are the players, lets hit the plot!

Well, not much to hit there. It follows the standard slashed formulae of them getting picked off one by one, including a few incidental characters along the way, whilst trying to figure out who is in the hood (dead friend?!?) until the big reveal, defeat and escape. Apart from a few choice nods to other slasher greats - the opening shot of the sorority house patio is a dead cert for the one outside Drew Barrymore's house in Scream - there isn't much new here, other than attempting to up the anti with the reveal by making it the least plausible character we have met, and creating a massively convoluted reason for their killings. But more on that later.

Now I am not really having a go at the actors in this film. To be honest with the level of scripting here, they really have done the best they can with the source material. Briana Evigan, of Step Up 2: The Streets fame, holds up well as our indignant hero, but the plot requires her to flip back and forth from righteous to conceding and hating the girls to loving them, that it is hard to give credibility to her moral character. But in the beginnings of her career we all know the obligatory slasher film is almost a certainty by this point. And at least she got to do a bit of dancing in the opening sequence. By far the best role is had by Carrie Fisher, who plays house mother 'Mrs Crenshaw'. Although as equally as shallow a character as the rest of them, she plays her with a certain swagger, that make her funny to watch, but fully aware this woman is a total bad ass. A shotgun toting bad ass at that. With a permanent pout on her face, and a 12-gauge in her hands, she is every serial killer's worst nightmare.

Which brings us to the killer. not the most unlikely character to chose, the boyfriend of the female lead. Though it may suggest a few too many viewings of Scream during the "research" period. But give him a valid motive, and we'll let it go, and enjoy the climax. When they couldn't think of a valid reason for him to be killing all these people, they kind of went for a bullshit one. Apparently, he is so in love with Briana's character, that when he found out about the cover up, rather than talk about it with her directly, or go to the police, he thought it would be a good idea to kill everyone who knew about it, bar her, so they could run away and live together without anyone ever being able to tell the big secret. Makes perfect sense. Just because two wrongs don't make a right, doesn't mean twelve won't do the job!

All that aside though, we do have to remember that this is a teen slasher film. And in light of that, and all the other swarms of similar films out there, it does have it's redeeming features. The deaths are very good and imagination for the most part. Bottle down the neck and flare to the face are especially graphic. And the cinematography is generally good, with smooth transitions and decent pace kept up with some quite kinetic shots to stop the predictable plot from slowing the whole thing down. As far as these films go, it is certainly watchable. Probably best in a room with a bunch of you mates, laughing at the over the top deaths, and enjoying it as entertainment more than goosebumps inducing thrills and spills...and boobs, don't forget the boobs...

Happy viewing...

Paris: I like you as a friend...

So, it has been a while since my last post, but with the summer weather has been far more difficult to find time for write! But I am going to be dedicated to trying to post more regularly in the future. So for my first foray in the world of film blogging in this painfully close summer of ours, I am going to be looking at an ensemble piece called Paris, Je'taime.

Now I must admit, that when I picked up this film from the shelves of the my local HMV, I didn't really know about it. I saw Natalie Portman on the back cover, and thought I would give it a go. I'm a Port Fan, don't judge. But when I began watching I found the content to be a lot more diverse that I anticipated. Expecting some kind of Love, Actually type of affair, based in France's capital with all the cliches that come along with it, I was happily surprised to find that the film was actually a collaborative piece of work, comprising of 20 segments to be set in the varying districts of Paris. All of which hold the central theme of love, in all it wondrously complicated dimensions.

Rather than run through all the segments piece by piece, I thought it best to highlight some of my favourite pieces, and show a bit of the diversity of the shorts that are on display. One of the opening shorts called "Quais de Seine", was the first to show me the levels to which this film as a whole was pandering. It was not going to be about superficial or stereotyped movie romance, but about the barriers, complexities and surprising nature of it. This particular short focuses on three young Parisian boys, ogling women by the Siene and shouting out come ons that would make a builder blush. After some time watching their adolescent antics, we follow a young Muslim girl who has been overhearing their musings, who falls to the ground as she walks away. while two of the boys laugh it up a her expense, one (the most emotionally developed of the trio I imagine) rushes to her aide to help her up. Palms all scuffed with stones, the young girl cannot reassemble her head scarf, an so he clumsily yet tenderly helps her. He later then goes to the local mosque where he knows she will be to see her again, only to be interrupted by her grandfather. After a moment of uncertainty, they walk away together discussing the history of Paris. Although this may seem like a standard setting for boy-meets-girl romance, the conflict of race between the two star struck lovers, shows how these boundaries are not insurmountable in the face of love. And being directed by British director Gurinder Chadha, you can see that she wanted to represent the more modern people of France, as a place where national identity has overcome things such as skin colour or belief, but surpassed this to being about people who love where they are, and who they are.

For the segment "Tuileries", we are welcomed into a piece directed by the Cohen brothers. As enjoyable in a 5 minute short as they are in feature length films, the brothers manage to portray a lonely and confused tourist waiting for a train come to life with this energetic and melodramatic tale. The man, played to mute comic perfection by Steve Buscemi, is waiting for the Metro, while flicking through his travel guide to Paris. Mistakenly catching the eye of a woman across the tracks in the middle of an embrace with her beau, leave him the pawn in their ever increasing battle of the sexes to enrage the other. Buscemi's silent confusion whilst frantically flipping through his guide book for answer in order to avoid this catastrophe, uniquely highlights the confusion that an outsider has to this strange world of romance and lovers. And only by having himself involved with this young couples argument, can he begin to feel the passion of the city, more than he could through a guide book. but he is ultimately left on the floor covered in Mona Lisa postcard, with little or no more understanding of what has happened. Only that knowing smile of the portrait to make him aware that he just felt some of it.

Rather than ramble on about the many other fantastic shorts that this film comprises with, I will close with just one more. The segment entitled "FaubourgPortman, but I feel that her role is more of a catalyst for the director to show this perception of love through the experiences of this young Parisian man.

As I said above, there are far more shorts that are noteworthy, but I do not have space for here. But other highlights include a film noir take on a vampire story, climaxing with two vampires feeding off each other, showing the symbiotic nurturing and devastating effects of intense passion. And some far lighter shorts that show how two miserable mime artists find each other and fall in love. The film as a whole manages to comprise a broad and varied representation of what it is to love, whether it is through discovery, loss, lust or an accumulation of experience. For someone looking to watch a romantic film with a bit more depth, that focuses more on the different faces of romance rather that swooning women and chivalrous men, I would recommend this as one to watch.

Happy viewing...

Ugly Duckling

So, as you may have noticed from my last post, I am a massive Natalie Portman fan. But I will try my best not to blather on about how amazing she is in this film just because of that, and make sure I take a look at the full picture. Portman aside,  Black Swan is just a brilliant film. it dares to be different by blurring the lines of genre, not letting you know until the final scenes of the film, what type of beast it is trying to be. Is it a drama? A thriller? Coming of age romance? Horror? Well it ticks all of these boxes at different points in the film, but I feel the best way to catch it would be to describe it as a psychological drama.

The focus of this is entirely on Portman's character Nina, a ballet dancer and perfectionist, who is trying to make her name known in her dance company. We see her striving to portray ballet in its purest most defined form, but encountering resistance from the company head, who is looking for passion, not perfection. the battle between these two facilities are embodied with the roles of the white and black swan's from the company's production of Swan Lake. By giving both roles to one dancer, they are encouraging the ability to be able to embody both side of the psyche, the light and the dark, the chaste and the sensual. when Nina is presented the opportunity to play this part, the film documents her struggle to find the balance between them.
As mentioned above, Nina is a perfectionist, but also a very naive and innocent character. Her relationship with her mother is downright weird, and she seems to have been kept in a bubble to prevent her from growing up. A sort of emotional arrested development. It is this side of Nina's character which makes her standout to the company's head as the perfect candidate for the white swan. Now all is left is for events to transpire to allow her to embody the titular black swan. These events are induced by four main players in Nina's life, who appear to be all too familiar with the black swan mantra.

Firstly their is Vincent Cassel, playing the dance company's head, Thomas. He is a character that you love to hate. He is smooth, charismatic, but a bit of a sex fiend. He uses the excuse of lust to try and evoke the manner of the black swan from Nina, and maneges to get up close and personal with her in order to help develop that side of her. He also jumps between his alternative nurturing methods with Nina, and a few other dancers he is trying to inspire. So although you are fully aware that he is an absolute shit, you can't help but want to be a bit like him. And Cassel plays him perfectly. Almost every word of dialogue smolders as if it is a double entendre. And the performance comes across as completely effortless.

Then there is Mila Kunis' Lily. Much the female version of Thomas, she seeks the lustful and joyful side of life as a point of everyday living, rather than just in the dance studio. She holds herself with a sultriness and likability, which would have proved difficult for another actress, but again effortlessly take it in her stride. And her ability to turn her intensity on and off becomes more apparent and impressive upon repeat viewings, when you are more aware that a lot of Lily's scenes are imaginations from Nina's perspective.

Nina's mother Erica is played by Barbara Heshey, set out as an overbearing yet doting mother, who is looking to live her failed ballet career through her daughter. We are introduced to her in early scenes preparing Nina for dance school like a little girl would preen a doll. This shows that emotional stunting of Nina seems almost genetic in line with her family. But it is the overbearing nature of Erica, which catalyses many of Nina's more notable outbursts, and her later outbursts and impulses mirror her mother's that are shown in the earlier stages of the film. Nina's complicated relationship with her mother is best shown when she, under instruction from Thomas, starts to masturbate in her own room. Only to open her eyes and find her mother sleeping next to her bed. This proves a clear metaphor for how her mother's presence has stunted her sexual and personal growth.

The final player who is not as prominent in the narrative, is Winona Ryder's Beth. She does however play an important part in how Nina develops as a character. Beth is the star of the company, but when we are introduced to the world, is on the brink of retirement. She acts as Nina's idealistic version of herself, of the dancer and performer she wants to be. It is when Nina sees her unravel as the film develops, that she begins to realise that perfection on the stage, does not reflect a perfect life behind it. That all the work and the effort that goes into being a perfect dancer, is not necessarily conclusive to a perfect life outside of performance. this culminates in the disturbing scene where Nina visits Beth in hospital, only for Beth to start stabbing herself in the face with a nail file. This image of the fallen idol haunt Nina in other vision, and results in the rapid declination of her own sanity.

Which only leaves us with Portman. Now I will try my best not to gush about her performance, but it truly is amazing. not only the physical challenge of being able to convincingly portrayed a conditioned and motivated ballet dancer, but bringing depth to a little girl lost in a seedy world of lust. Her outburst of anger against her mother are all the more shocking and emotive in contrast to her quiet and innocent other self. Her emotional transformation into the black swan, bluntly stated with a shocking physical transformation at two points of emotional peaks near the end of the film. And Portman handles some more uncomfortable scenes with sincerity and professionalism, those being the above mentioned masturbation, a surprisingly graphic lesbian scene, and a groping by Thomas. Nina's ability to react and adapt to these events show how she grows to rely on instinct and develop the darker side of herself, which is persistently looming throughout the film in a variety of clever mirror shots showing an alternate Nina glowering at her at varying points int he film.

Now after The Wrestler, I thought it would be difficult for Darren Aronofsky to follow with something else with such power. But i am happy to concede, that he has superceded himself with this film. It is a fast paced and highly emotional film about a young girl's development  and struggle in a world where she faces conflict between her want for perfection and morals. The denouement leaves with a sour taste of happiness for the accolade that Nina receives for her performance, but disappointment at the price she had to pay to earn it. If you haven't yet seen this film, I would put it to the top of your must watch list straight away, this is not to be missed.

Happy viewing...

By the Hammer of Thor!

I'm not going to lie to you. I was very sceptical when I went to watch Thor the other week. As much as I love comic book films, I do feel let down occasionally by the results (please read X-Men Origins: Wolverine). And the set up for Thor lead me to thinking this would be another in that classification of comic-book adaptations. Whether this had something to do with my lack of knowledge of the lightening god from the comic-book world, other than he spoke funny and like to swing about a hammer with an unpronounceable name, I am not sure. Or it may have to do with signing up Kenneth Branagh to direct, a man widely known for his Shakespearean adaptations rather than a source material from Marvel Studios. So suffice it to say, my expectations weren't exactly high on entering the cinema. But boy, did the feature itself change my mind!

The plot is classic Shakespeare, which explains how Branagh handles it so well. The power struggle, feuding heirs, and Machiavellian siblings, its all there, and it is all portrayed convincingly in a digitised world of deities that is Asgard. The plot plays the perfect backdrop to some astounding action sequences which really keep the pace of the film up. Think Macbeth, but with ice-giants and fire shooting suits of armour. Sounds good yeah? Well it is. It is very good.

And the key to keeping this film watchable, is the comparison of this fantasy world, with Thor's interactions with our world after being banished by his father. It is mainly these sections which provide the comic relief in the movie, and Chris Hemsworth manages to pull off the 'fish-out-of-water' routine very well. Watching this mountain of a man with a mane of golden hair march into a pet store and demand a horse, or a cat or dog big enough to ride, really hits the spot. while the supporting cast of mortal characters mainly serve to look on in astonishment at his behaviour, they play the perfect straight acts against this gos amongst men. Natalie Portman isn't exactly stretched by her role in this film, but is distractingly beautiful throughout, and tries to bring what depth she can to the character. As a side note, it should be know I am a massive fan of Portman, so I am likely to be unashamedly praising of almost anything she does. You have been warned.

To back up Thor and take up some of the more comic moments from him as the plot progresses, therefore allowing him to take on a more serious role as the film approaches it's denouement, are his quartet of fellow god warriors. They comprise of a variety of archetypal characters from history to show the diversity of this culture of heavenly soldiers. There is the rapier wielding cavalier (twirly moustache included), the axe bearing viking (complete with russet beard), the Xena huntress (breastplates as standard), and the stoic samurai (ethnic diversity, tick). These characters tend to steal the scenes they are involved in, as they are assigned some of the best tongue in cheek Shakespearean dialogue. Mt personal favourite being when the viking character is chastised for eating so much, offer the rebuke of "Do not mistake my appetite for apathy!". By holstering the lighter parts of the plot from Thor, they allow him to continue his journey to the climax of the film, and his face off with his brother, Loki.

Loki, in this film played by Tom Hiddleston, is a truly great villain, and Hiddleston does an absolutely stellar job of playing him. Treading the full character arc from seeming ally, to arch nemesis, Loki is a character you can easily hate, but still leaves you with a sense of sympathy for his predicament. The intensity in which he confronts his father about the legitimacy of his birth draws real tension from a character who has up until then held him self with a disarmingly calm demeanour. As the plot progresses, and we see that Loki is intent of the destruction of the race of ice-giants, we start to see his descent into madness at the discovery of his inception, massively parallelling some of the great characters of Shakespeare. This leaves him aptly treading the line between hard done by son of a god, and evil genius. Almost an anti-villain.

Whatever you thoughts on comic-book films, I would highly recommend trying to catch this while it is still in the cinemas. If it has gone already, I would urge you to eagerly await its DVD release. It is a welcome addition to the Marvel Studios collection, and paves the way well for the upcoming Avengers film. Especially if you knowingly wait until after the credits for the compulsory post film extra, which leaves with a massive teaser of what is come in Marvel Studios future.

Happy viewing...

Infinity On High

So I was a bit bored the other night, and I decided to watch a film. Being tired I wasn't in the mood for focusing too much, so I decided to throw on a film I know and love, namely Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Although I have seen this film many times, it very quickly changed from an attempt just to have a bit of background noise, to having my rapt attention for the entire of the running time. I really enjoy this film, and that is why it is one of my arsenal of films to watch whatever mood I am in. It seems like the simple of story of a young couple trying to get it together whilst ensuing on some odd escapades in the city is prime viewing for me any time of the year.

The most notable thing about the film, is it's absolutely stellar sound track. By using mainly music tracks rather than scoring, the entire film feels as if it set to a musical scrapbook of songs that describe the best night of their lives. From the upbeat tones of The Dead 60s, to the almost fairytale indie sounds of Vampire Weekend, the soundtrack aptly helps us navigate our way around the characters and plot, whilst giving a real feeling that this is the music they listen too. The diversity of the soundtrack give the entire film a feel of being genuine, and set against the back-drop of New York, really give the feeling of a bustling metropolitan world. If you are into films with an awesome soundtrack, I would definitely recommend watching this.

But a film cannot be held up by its music alone. With a series of fantastic casting, the film really has a chance to utilise some amazing characters, and although our titular heroes are the focus of the piece, the supporting cast are all truly memorable. Two of the most influential supporting members are Nick's best friends and band mates Thom and Dev. These two characters are out and proud gay men, who carefully tread the line between indie masculinity and flamboyancy. The subtle approach they both use in their portrayals of these characters saves them from becoming over the top cliches and avoids stereotyping, which could have easily been done were they not written so well. Instead they quietly keep pushing and prodding Nick and Norah in the right directions that they end up together, whilst arguing amongst themselves about an appropriate name for their band. Starting off as The Jerk-offs, they bandy about with a variety of names throughout the film, coming close to be called Shit Sandwich, only to settle on Fistful of Assholes. Their lighthearted banter and outlook on life keeps spirits high in the film, and help to provide insight into the relationship between the main characters, before the relationship has even begun.

Then there is also Norah's best friend Caroline. Acting as the catalyst which drives most of the adventuring about New York, Caroline embodies that friend that we all have, who loves getting into a drunken stupor on a night out, and generally becoming a liability for everyone else along the way. And if you feel that you don't have a friend who is like this, it most likely means that it is you. I am sorry to be the barer of bad news, but that is just that way it goes. Despite the fact that Caroline gets herself into all these outrageous and ridiculous situations, she is played with such naivety and lack of malice, that you cannot help but feel bad for her, and are vying for her to be rescued by her friends.This shows that even a character whose main role is to progress the narrative, they are played with enough depth that you still end up empathising with her.

So for anyone who is in the mood for a feel good indie rom-com, with and absolutely smashing soundtrack, this is definitely one to watch. With smooth camera shots, and beautiful cuts to New York skylines, you feel like you are there with the gang the whole way along. Very much an easy viewing film, but with enough of an edge and quirkiness about it to stand out from the norm, this while be one of my staple go to films which I am happy to watch at almost any point. Michael Cera shows he is strong once again in the role of geek/everyman whilst holding down a leading man position, and Kat Dennings heartwarming portrays an alt-girl with a chip on her shoulder, turning into the perfect object of Nick's affections. A truly modern love-story.

Happy viewing...

Starting at the bottom

So for my first proper post, I thought I would start with one of my least proud ownerships in my DVD collection; an interesting little film called Apocalypse of the Dead. Now I know what you are thinking. Surely any film that includes "...of the Dead" in it surely has to be an instant masterpiece. And in a lot of cases I would agree, mainly due to my fascination with zombie films, regardless as to whether they are good or not. I just cant resist them. It is like poking all the fresh bread at a bakery section in a supermarket. You know you shouldn't, that you are probably too old for such shenanigans, but you do it anyway hoping nobody can see you. But in this case, I feel that the "...of the Dead" canon has been let down by a very average and clichéd zombie movie.

Firstly, there is the dubbing. Now dubbed films are not necessarily a bad thing, but you expect to see such work to be imparted when the original dialogue is being spoken in a language different to the dub. Not so in this case. For some inexplicable reason, they decided to dub over several characters' voices, even though they were obviously delivering the dialogue in the same language. This lead to some appalling lip syncing, and some very dodgey action movie voices. Now this on its own wouldn't bother me too much, but in this film, there was no consitancy to the dubbing, and appeared to only apply to some characters. This can leave only the conclusion that the actors who were dubbed have terrible zombie movie voices. Maybe like David Mitchell or Woody Allen. Although to be completely honest, if that was how they originally sounded, I may have enjoyed the film considerably more if they left it that way.

The next issue I had with this film was the effects. Now when approaching a zombie movie, you have to be prepared for some fantastically hammy effects, and I feel with the lower budget films, kudos must be paid for creativity in light of this. So the standard of the effects was not an issue for me. In fact they were acually suprisingly good in comparison to what I was expecting. What annoyed me was the lack of confidence in the film makers had in their own capabilities, so that when there was an effects heavy scene, they resorted to extremely dynamic camera movements, as if trying to detract away from possible flaws, rather than showcasing one of the film's stronger areas. One particular shot of a samurai sword cleaving a head in two was a personal highlight in the effects for me. Especially in a sea of zombie movie effects where they would have settled to a quick cut to a shot of a manaquin filled with paint being hacked.

Alas, that last moment also brings me to one of my main issues with the film, and with many of the zombie film genre. The samurai sword. Agian this is nothing to do with the fact that a, quite frankly, awesome weapon is being used in a zombie film. But more to do with the fact that films of this ilk are inclined to take themselves a little too seriously, and then introduce ridiculous weapons with which to fight the hordes of undead. Now were the film to be massively tongue-in -cheek, there would be alot more room for manoeuvre to make this weapon be used ironically, and therefore alot more enjoyable to watch. But when it is used in a film of this standing, where the anti-hero of the piece just happnes to be an amazing Mexican-Samurai, it seems a little too much like indulging the film makers fantasy of how to make a zombie apocalypse as cool as possible. Now granted, were I to be caught up in such a maelstrom of a posthumus flesheating nightmare - and don't even pretend you have't had long and deep discussion with your friends about such an event - I would love to think I would be able to run about wielding a katana like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. But we all know in the harsh light of day, we would al be running around with something rubbish like a mug tree or an funky Ikea leopard print mop to protect our delicious brains from the hungry masses. So the use of such fantastical weapons in a film where the tone should not abide its legitimate use, just annoys me. Were he to accidently lop off his ear in the process of all the swinging about of said sword, I would have accepted its inclusion far more easily.

So in all I was dissapointed with Apocalypse of the Dead. But I will not let it act as a detriment to the many other fantastic low budget zombie flicks I have the pleasure of owning. Part of the thrill of buying a low budget zombie film lies in the 50/50 of if it will be hilariously bad, but loving crafted, or just another zombie enthusiasts realisation of his own fantasies, almost definitely utilising the gratuitous naked young woman zombie shot. Unfortunately this film was the latter, but here are plenty more brains in the sea.

Happy viewing...

Episode IV: A New Blog

Welcome to the world of Rory's First Kiss, as place to hear my random ramblings on whatever film I happened to have watched recently. To anyone looking for a classy review of avant-garde and 'proper' films, may wish to look away now. Although these will be looked at I will not be limited to 'Academy' films, as my viewing can range from A Single Man to Zombie Women of Satan, depending on what I'm in the mood for watching at the time. So sit back, relax, and prepare for my musings on the world film, though the medium of the ever respected Blog.

Happy viewing...