‘Twas the Night Before Christmas…

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Sam S-P

tokyogodfathersoorlandoo

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when in the failing light

I thought to myself: “What festive feature shall I partake in tonight?”

Yes, it’s a Christmas list, and yes, mine, like any sane person’s favourite Christmas film is IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Nothing else can really compete with Frank Capra’s iconic dark moral fantasy. Let’s get that out of the way from the off. Even so, here are a few other favourite viewing habits to mark Yuletide.

LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)

I know, it’s soppy, it’s sickly-sweet, it’s way too long and not all of the individual elements work. That said, for some reason at this time of year I can’t resist watching Richard Curtis’ ensemble rom-com again. The character arcs that work do so really well, and the performances are good across the board. The Alan Rickman/Emma Thompson marriage-on-the-rocks story is my favourite, striking me as very heartfelt and real, and Laura Linney’s character sacrificing any real romantic relationship for the sake of caring for her mentally ill brother always gets me. I even like the melodramatic, emotionally blackmailing soundtrack from Craig Armstrong. I get why it’s a little hard for some people to stomach, but if you can’t get overly sentimental at Christmas, then when can you?

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (2005)

The first, and so far, only good instalment of the NARNIA film series manages to be different enough from its main fantasy film rivals, namely LORD OF THE RINGS and HARRY POTTER, in addition to being technically impressive and emotionally investing in its own right. Like C.S. Lewis’ books, it carries a fitting festive message about the importance of family, friendship and forgiveness, and thankfully doesn’t overdo the religious symbolism. Yes, it’s got Father Christmas giving out swords, and Aslan is a four-legged Jesus, but a colossal battle scene, beautiful production design and scene-stealing performances from the young Georgie Henley as the bright-eyed innocent Lucy and Tilda Swinton as a chilling White Witch make you not care.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)

The Tim Burton goth-favourite doesn’t all take place over the festive period, but the key emotional punches of the story do. His story of a typically Burton-y outcast – pale, thin, with scissors for hands – remains an affecting and imaginative hybrid of FRANKENSTEIN and PINOCCHIO, and the story builds from metaphor for teenage awkwardness to a really beautiful festive romance. Ice sculpture, an unconventional family, Vincent Price – what could be more festive?

THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992)

The most gleefully enjoyable film on this list, and bound to put you in festive cheer, Kermit and the gang, and a certain Mr Caine deliver a joyous romp that’s endearing and hilarious in addition to being a cracking musical and a pretty fine Dickens adaptation. All the key story elements are there, lovingly recreated in Muppet-vision, and with their usual brand of gentle, knowing humour. The highlight is Gonzo’s narration (as Charles Dickens) but Michael Caine also turns in a far stronger and more nuanced performance than you might expect in a family Christmas movie as Scrooge.

TOKYO GODFATHERS (2003)

TOKYO GODFATHERS is a bit of a hidden gem that more people really need to get into their lives. It’s a touching fable covering family, responsibility and the triumph of the human spirit, and one of the very few examples of a Japanese Christmas film. Satoshi Kon was a genius of animation, and this is a great entry point for the uninitiated, as it’s certainly his most accessible and outright enjoyable film. Give this story of hobos trying to return a baby to her mother a go, and I challenge you not to feel lifted, warm and tingly inside.

Note: I didn’t actually end up watching any of these films on Christmas Eve. I may have watched STARSHIP TROOPERS. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Feature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Sam S-P

bilbo

I haven’t had more delirious fun with a film this year than I did with THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. The first film, for all its merits, was a bit of a slog at times, but the same can’t be said for part 2. It’s a pacey, engrossing and often thrilling fantasy blockbuster, and much more fitting as a prequel to THE LORD OF THE RINGS in the shared themes and neat plot links.

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and the company of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) are pressing forward with their quest to reclaim their homeland and treasure from the clutches of the fearsome dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). The middle chapter of Bilbo’s adventure sees him tangle with horrible giant spiders, insular and corrupt men and elves, and of course the scheming fire drake of the title. Besides “Riddles in the Dark” in part 1, and the Battle of Five Armies that has been set up for film 3, everything interesting about Tolkien’s tale happens here.

Peter Jackson is free to let his imagination run wild with a horror-tinged hallucinogenic trip through Mirkwood, a really nasty brawl with a nest of giant spiders, magic battles with Gandalf and the demonstration of every way imaginable for our heroes to deprive snarling orcs of their extremities. The sheer inventiveness and variety of the action set-pieces really does show how weak and repetitive the equivalent scenes in the first film were.

The motivations of every character are made abundantly clear – we know exactly what is driving these pleasingly multi-faceted heroes, villains and in-betweens. Freeman and Armitage rise to the challenge of selling to the audience that their characters both being corrupted in some manner, and Lee Pace is mesmerising as the serpentine elf king Thranduil, the first elf we’ve seen with an agenda. Luke Evans makes for a proud and conflicted Bard and Cumberbatch, with that voice and presence was born to play the dragon, which is stunningly realised with his performance-captured physicality. But the real scene-stealer of the film is Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel. The “she-elf” is far more than just the token girl in a film of hairy men, and gives the boys a run for their money on the action front in addition to being a really interesting character (refreshingly, held back by her class rather than her sex) in her own right.

It’s nice to see elves as flawed, human characters for once – not the perfect, goody-two-shoes that they usually appear to be. The wood elves of this film are just as prone to corruption as men, and have become paranoid, isolationist and cruel in their solitude from the world within their cursed forest. The inter-species romance set up between Tauriel and a certain member of Thorin’s company is a sweet idea, and also far more compelling than Arwen and Aragorn in Rings (which lost traction pretty quickly) and refreshingly, the implications of a love triangle offers intriguing possibilities rather than instantly summoning bile.

The action is on another level to AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY – endlessly creative and energetic, and the multi-layered and hilarious “barrel escape” sequence is a serious contender for being the action scene of the year. The hefty Bombur may not yet have had a audible line of dialogue, but he gets the biggest laugh of the film all to himself. The extended chase scene involving Smaug at the end perhaps lasts a little too long, but it does give Jackson an opportunity to see some more of the abandoned dwarf kingdom of Erebor as a very angry dragon smashes through it.

Yes, Laketown looks a bit too much like Ankh-Morpork from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books rather than something that looks right in Middle-Earth, and occasionally you can’t help but see a CGI sheen (usually when we transition from practical to elaborate digital effect, or when we have to watch Orlando Bloom and his CG-facelift for an extended time). Minor niggles aside though, The Desolation of Smaug is a triumph that comes very close to the quality of Peter Jackson’s revered original Tolkien trilogy from a decade ago.

Any doubts about the over-embellishment of a short children’s book raised in the first film have been well-and-truly quashed by the sheer delight of what is on show here. It’s certainly the most fun film Jackson has made since he hit the big-time, and at 2 hours 40, quite breezy by his standards. I’m really hopeful for the grand finale THERE AND BACK AGAIN in a year’s time. It has potential to be something great if Jackson gets the balance just right again. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The trick is not minding that it hurts” (RIP Peter O’Toole)

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Sam S-P

As you’ll no doubt have heard, Peter O’Toole died on Saturday aged 81. As so many quite rightly mourn the passing of this great actor, we also can’t deny that it’s truly quite incredible that he lived to the ripe old age he did, considering his ill health caused by his heavy drinking lifestyle early in his career.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is the O’Toole performance to see. To my shame, I saw the David Lean epic for the first time this year, but it really is one of those life-changing viewing experiences. Not only is it technically magnificent, and nigh-on flawless in terms of performance, but it’s also pretty groundbreaking as a biopic of a polarising individual in that it portrays the title character without the rose-tinted view so often applied to telling a life story. T.E. Lawrence was a remarkable, but controversial figure, and as such O’Toole smartly chose to portray him in shades of grey – brave and brilliant, but reckless and a little bit mad. Without Lawrence of Arabia, you would never have had Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar-winning turn as a certain president in LINCOLN, where another historical icon was portrayed as not quite the white knight you might expect.

Michael Fassbender memorably paid tribute to O’Toole as Lawrence in PROMETHEUS – his android David is seen to consciously style himself after his idol, and every now and then in the film, when he adopts a particular expression or mannerism, you almost believe it’s a young O’Toole exploring the halls of a Gigeresque spaceship. O’Toole’s influence can be felt across acting generations, and as an icon, he is held in high regard by each new generation of performers on film.

Following a heyday of Shakespeare and iconic roles on celluloid, O’Toole’s career arguably tailed off in his later years. Where he was once a giant, he was reduced to bringing class to big-budget misfires (TROY) and strange cameos (STARDUST). He did occasionally still make his mark, notably with his moving animated turn in RATATOUILLE, before he respectably retired in 2012.

The film world has suffered some really tragic losses this year, but Peter O’Toole isn’t one of them. Obviously, his passing is sad, but it was his time at a grand old age, and he leaves a great body of work behind, and several generations – both inside and out of the film industry – inspired. He may have never won an Oscar despite being nominated 8 times, but did he really need one? We all know how talented, and how important he was. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Comment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Sam S-P

kickass2

KICK-ASS 2 is a pretty solid black comic superhero movie, but the title is wrong. Kick-Ass 2 should really be called Hit-Girl. If the first film was the titular not-quite-hero’s journey, then the sequel is definitely more geared towards telling the tale of his more than a little terrifying teen killing machine teammate.

A few years on from his origin story and Dave Lizewski’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) vigilantism is inspiring a succession of disturbed individuals to don homemade costumes and fight crime. Meanwhile, Mindy Macready (Chlöe Grace Moretz) is having an identity crisis and a vengeful Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) casts aside his hero ties to become the world’s first supervillain.

The film, as a direct follow-on to the first KICK-ASS delivers exactly what you’d expect – more swearing, brutality and amateur heroics – but it has lost its satirical edge. The bigger the story gets, with teams of amateur heroes and villains in conflict, the more the film becomes the very thing being made fun of a few years ago. There’s a couple of pretty big set pieces that wouldn’t look out of place in a Marvel film if not for the lack of polish that comes from being an independent British/American collaboration.

Where seeing Kick-Ass becoming a fully-fledged superhero isn’t as compelling as it might be, the same cannot be said for the continuation of Hit-Girl’s story. As already mentioned, this is her film really. She’s trapped between identities, trying to fit in and be a normal teenager, but knowing she’ll never escape her late father’s shadow as the first real superhero. The film has more fun with parodying high school teen flicks than anything comic book-related, and watching Mindy exact seriously disgusting but hilarious revenge on the cool girls is a sight to behold.

The film is very funny. Even without Jane Goldman’s return as screenwriter, there’s plenty of big laughs and a wry, knowing smile about the whole affair. There’s a gag about Mindy’s foul mouth that tributes a certain big shark movie, a great joke that questions the logic of keeping a shark in a tank in a supervillain lair (what is it with sharks in this film?) and extreme gross out stuff with genitals and bodily fluids (and solids). The humour marries the low-key and witty with the extreme and low-brow, and does it incredibly well.

As Mindy is the main focus of the story, Chloë Grace Moretz is allowed to show her range as a young actor, snapping from vulnerable to vicious, from mourning to murderous, from sweetness and light to sweary sinner in the blink of an eye. It’s good to see the complexities and layers of her troubled character, and she is consistently more compelling than Taylor-Johnson’s Dave/Kick-Ass. He’s still good in the role, but doesn’t really get much to do in his second outing than he did in the first (except bulk up a little bit).

Christopher Mintz-Plasse makes for a foul but amusingly inept villain, and though Chris D’Amico is undoubtedly his father’s son, he’ll never be as terrifying as his late mobster dad (Mark Strong in the first film) or his banged-up uncle (a brief, chilling turn from Iain Glen). Luckily, he doesn’t need to be imposing when he has the towering terminator woman Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) on his side. Opposing the bad guys is a motley crew of amateur heroes with a varying quality of tragic backstory led by Born-Again thug Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). Despite receiving third-billing in all the marketing, Carrey is only in the film for a couple of scenes, and you do wonder whether his role was cut down following his refusal to promote the film after a crisis of conscience. It’s also a shame that Dave’s slow friend Todd and Mindy’s godfather Marcus had to be recast for the sequel, especially since both have a bit more to do this time round.

If you liked the first Kick-Ass, then you should get something out of the sequel. It might be missing the verve that Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman brought the first film, as well as lacking the Nicolas Cage’s scene-stealing turn (Carrey is no replacement) and at times it veers a little close to the same films that it’s supposed to be aping. But it’s still extremely entertaining, wickedly funny, and with an emotionally engaging character arc in the exploration of who Hit-Girl is. Maybe Kick-Ass should be the focus again next time, as this is his franchise. You do have to ask, though – where can it go from here? After the second chapter, there’s another pretty happy ending, but surely this story can only end in tears? SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Man of Steel (2013)

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Sam S-P
MAN OF STEEL

Man of Steel (2013): Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures/Syncopy

MAN OF STEEL is a much better sci-fi movie than it is a Superman movie. If Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer had been as interested in what Superman represents as a character on Earth as they evidently were with his alien origins, then we might have ended up with a very different, and much more balanced film.

In another downbeat rebooted superhero origin tale, we follow alien refugee Kal-El (Henry Cavill) who has been reduced to drifting from backwater to backwater in an effort to disguise his extraordinary powers from the world. He discovers his destiny as a savour of the city of Metropolis when the discovery of a strange object buried in the ice of the Arctic is investigated by inquisitive journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and the vengeful renegade General Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives on Earth with his tyrannical alien cohort.

I’ve got no real objection to the first act of the film, in fact it’s pretty impressive. We start on Kal-El’s dying home planet of Krypton, where we get tantalising glimpses of the workings of a dystopian alien society, the mistakes they’ve made and the disastrous consequences of these errors coming back to haunt them. We’re then transported to Earth, and see the young Clark growing and coming to terms with his remarkable powers in a series of affecting flashbacks.

After the first 45 minutes or so things start going a little downhill. It never gets bad, but I have more than a few issues with it.

Henry Cavill makes a good Superman – he’s charismatic, charming and looks the part, though some of the decisions made by the writers about his character and his actions on-screen don’t quite fit. Fine, he’s a young, rough around the edges and inexperienced Big Blue Boy Scout, but his actions on the whole are too reckless, and he somehow manages to save less people once he’s suited up than when he was working from the shadows.

Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane all bring something different to the table as Clark/Kal’s parents (extra-terrestrial and earthbound), and between them they act the rest of the cast off the screen. Costner’s scenes with a younger Clark (Dylan Sprayberry) pack real emotional wallop, and they generally avoid being overly sentimental. A standout scene early on involves Lane as Martha Kent rescuing Clark from school, after he discovers his super-hearing and x-ray vision and hides, utterly terrified in a closet. I’m amazed really that no-one has thought to explore that on film before – if you were a child and suddenly discovered these abilities in the middle of a class at school, you’d be horrified. Crowe’s performance is a solid foundation that the film’s prologue on Krypton is built around, and an inventive writing decision allows for Jor-El to still be involved in the story later on, resulting in the film’s most creative and entertaining action scene.

Elsewhere the casting is a little disappointing. Though she gets plenty of screentime, I still don’t have a handle on Amy Adams’ interpretation of Lois Lane. She just doesn’t get to do much “Loisy” stuff, seems more stroppy than she is bold and independent, and mostly ends up passively observing events or stumbling across something to move the story on. Michael Shannon also disappoints as General Zod. He’s doing something completely different with the character than Terence Stamp did in the Richard Donner films (being a born soldier and a brute), but doesn’t manage to strike the perfect balance his predecessor did, either under or over-acting from scene to scene. Another problem with this version of Zod is that he’s completely outshone by Antje Traue’s secondary antagonist, the cruel and zealous warrior woman Faora.

The production design throughout is striking, particularly in the Krypton-set opening, and Hans Zimmer has produced an evocative and memorable score that doesn’t top the iconic John Williams theme (how could it?), but still leaves a lasting impression, and sits comfortably among Zimmer’s finest work.

Though ably directed by Zack Snyder, the action is generally repetitive and dull. The best action scene in the film doesn’t involve superheroes and villains in apocalyptic conflict (though there’s plenty of that) but has Lois Lane running around a Kryptonian spaceship and Jor-El’s hologram opening and closing doors…and that’s not a good sign for a massively-budgeted comic book blockbuster.

Perhaps the biggest problem Man of Steel has is one of tone. It’s been commented on by many that Warner Brothers are trying to turn Superman into Batman to make him “cool”, and with Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer on board, there is certainly an element of that. You can of course make a moodier, more contemplative version of Superman work with the big biblical themes and moral/ideological questions (somewhat clumsily explored here), but a film built around this character still must, must leave the viewer with a sense of hope. Man of Steel is not hopeful, it’s not inspiring, it’s depressing. Maybe the hugely controversial and infamous character decision at the film’s climax will pay off well further down the line in sequels, but at the moment it just undermines what Superman as a character is about. What the film is missing is glimmer of light, a bit of humour. There’s two good jokes in the entire film – even Nolan’s super-serious THE DARK KNIGHT had more laughs than that!

Man of Steel is a good sci-fi film that explores some challenging concepts in its first 20 minutes. It’s well crafted overall, and the scenes exploring Clark’s formative years have a lot of heart, but beyond that it’s severely lacking as a memorable superhero origin story. Maybe once this new series is well-and-truly up and running, and the familiar story elements (The Daily Planet, Lois & Clark, Superman’s unshakable ideology) are established, then everything will fall into place. But I’m not holding out too much hope as the more Warner Brothers announces about the follow-up (still tentatively titled BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN), the more it looks like the Last Son of Krypton, and everything he symbolises, is being pushed into the background of his own series. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Spider-Mangled

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Sam S-P

A big film trailer popped up online today. As if it hadn’t been teased and built-up enough. Please stop advertising your advertisements, film studios, it smacks of desperation.

I’ll freely admit that I liked THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN when I first saw it. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had great chemistry, the film world felt different enough to Sam Raimi’s vision that preceded it, and the whole thing was pretty fun.

Sadly, every time I’ve re-watched it, I’ve picked it apart more, and have noticed some really big problems. The Lizard was a massive let-down as a villain, looking visually unfinished and with clumsily developed motivations. What was he trying to do and why did he veer so erratically from resentful genius to reptile Hitler? The biggest problem I had, though, was all the dangling plot threads. I get that director Mark Webb, the writers and especially the Studio want to build to something big, and they want enough intrigue to tempt audiences back to watch sequel after sequel. But by laying so much groundwork for a new franchise, they nearly killed its first instalment. It didn’t make me want to come back for more, it irritated me that the story was unfinished!

Anyway, on to THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. The first proper trailer has lots of action, and gives us a general flavour of what is to come. Terrifyingly, the first thing that springs to mind watching the trailer is SPIDER-MAN 3. Basically, there’s too many villains, way too much going on, and perhaps too much caving in to studio wants. If you had Electro (Jamie Foxx) on his own, then fine. If you had Electro and started to hint at Harry Osbourne’s (Dane DeHaan) darker side, then fine. But Electro, Harry Osbourne on a glider (presumably acting as an extension of his father) and The Rhino? It’s too much. You won’t be able to do any character justice without making the film 3 hours long, and if you do that it’ll be longer and more muddled than the first one. Why does the new Green Goblin look exactly the same as James Franco’s in Spidey 3? Why hire Paul Giamatti to play a villain if you’re just going to shove him in a tin can? Why does Electro look like a man-shaped jellyfish in a wetsuit? Why are you dragging out this really dull story about what Peter’s dad was up to so much. Just…why?

I sure hope those special effects aren’t finished, either, because at the moment it looks worse than SPIDER-MAN 2. If Team Spidey really are building towards The Sinister Six, they’re going to have to develop an aesthetic style, and fast. Maybe they’ll have to hire a director who doesn’t blend into the background as much as Webb?

I’m not looking forward to this one. It’s going to be visually and narratively overblown, that’s a certainty. Let’s hope it’s coherent, at the very least. And if we could have some answers this time as well, that would be nice. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Comment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Gravity (2013)

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Sam S-P
gravity-sandra-bullock

Ground control to Major Tom… : Warner Bros/Esperanto Filmoj

 

GRAVITY is equal parts wonderment, sheer terror and life affirmation. The ever-reliable Alfonso Cuarón has crafted a aesthetically flawless, hypnotic space horror that manages to be intimate and epic at the same time.

Scientist Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is floating above the earth with a team of astronauts helping to conduct routine repairs to a satellite. Stray debris turns their mission into a catastrophe, ripping their shuttle apart and hurling Stone and space cowboy Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) into the black abyss. Will they survive the void and make it home? It’s that simple. Or is it?

The visuals are awe-inspiring. From the very first shot of the film, an extended look at our one and only Blue Planet looking all placid and inviting, through to the nail-bitingly tense disaster sequence to the contemplative, eerie scenes taking in the imposing darkness of space. The sheer quality of everything your eyeballs can digest is worth the ticket price alone, especially in 3D. The visuals will get you in the seat, but the insightful character moments will keep you there, and ensure the film stays with you.

Bullock’s Ryan Stone is a brilliant creation, and ultimately it’s her that makes the film so remarkable. It might sound a bit glib, but she’s such a human protagonist. Flawed and sympathetic, capable of both remarkable endurance and mind-blowing ineptitude. You’re reminded from the start when we see Ryan in a fearful trance, clinging for her life to the satellite she’s repairing, that this is no astronaut. She’s an Earth woman, and is completely out of her comfort zone in zero-gravity. She’s gone to space because she has the right set of skills for the task at hand, and to escape the regret-filled, unfulfilled routine of her existence. We witness a cycle of Ryan dropping essential tools, losing her grip on things, crash painfully into space debris – these scenarios are repeated, only each time the situation is a whole lot more dire. Every time you think it couldn’t possibly be any worse, it gets worse.

Bullock re-affirms her versatility as both a skilled dramatic and comic actor. She completely sells Ryan’s panic, her emotional and physical turmoil, but she also makes her warm and self-deprecating and funny. As horrifying and hopeless as her situation becomes, you can see Ryan kicking herself for being a bit of a clutz, for botching her training and, short of rolling her eyes and asking “why me”, she seems to accept by the end that she’s just having a really bad day. It’s a difficult balancing act to pull off, but Bullock aces it.

Clooney’s Matt, makes for a nice contrast to Ryan when he’s on-screen. He’s a cool, methodical, wise-cracking veteran, the complete antithesis of Ryan. If he wasn’t in a vacuum, he’d be strutting, and Clooney seems to almost be poking a bit of gentle fun at his go-to character persona. The first half hour or so of the film hinges on this relationship working, and it does so very well. We, like Ryan, feel safer when Matt is around, but the film becomes a far more interesting affair when he isn’t, when it’s just Ryan and the audience figuring out a way home.

This combination of technical innovation, outstanding performances encouraged by masterful direction, in addition to the care and thought that has gone into making every frame beautiful, makes Gravity something you seldom see – art and entertainment in perfect balance.

Gravity is the best film I’ve seen this year by quite a margin. It’s also one of the best films I’ve seen in the last decade, and I’ll be frothing at the mouth if it doesn’t get recognition for anything outside the technical categories come Oscar season. I’m not asking for a clean sweep, just some nominations acknowledging that something other than a grounded drama about “issues” is artistically significant. Science-Fiction and Horror films famously don’t do well at prestige awards events, and Gravity is both in addition to being a high-concept disaster thriller, so though I hope it won’t be snubbed, I’m not optimistic. Maybe the Academy will be swayed by the “troubled woman overcoming adversity” thing they seem to love so much. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

In All Good Taste (RIP Paul Walker)

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Sam S-P

Paul Walker died yesterday in a car crash at the age of 40. When any young man’s life is cut short it’s a tragic event, and that goes double (rightly or wrongly) for someone so recognisable around the world, someone loved and admired by millions of film-goers.

I honestly can’t see how Universal can complete FAST & FURIOUS 7 (currently filming), let alone continue the series, without appearing completely tasteless. Oh sure, you have all the affectionate and well-written tributes pouring in now, from cast, crew and executives alike, and I’m sure there will be a period of mourning. But there will come a time, as it always does, where the question of money will raise its ugly head. Film is big business after all, and the FAST & FURIOUS franchise is Universal’s most profitable film franchise ever. They’re not going to give that up for the sake of appearances.

Actors have died before films have been completed before, of course. Most prominently in recent years was Heath Ledger dying months before the release of THE DARK KNIGHT. Luckily for Christopher Nolan and the money-men, Ledger had finished his filming, and his sudden death only resulted in a shift of focus in the advertising campaign (away from the Joker) and a posthumous Oscar for the actor (which I really hope he would have received even if he had lived).

Going further back, Oliver Reed died before filming on GLADIATOR had wrapped, and this caused quite a headache for Ridley Scott and his editing team. The gladiator trader Proximo is a key supporting character in the film, and they ended up finishing the film with doubles, outtakes and a little CGI trickery, and you can hardly tell in the end product unless you’re really looking for it.

Then there’s Brandon Lee’s infamous accidental fatal shooting on the set of THE CROW. It was one of the great controversies of the time, and a particularly black day for filmmaking, not just because a promising young actor (and son of another who passed prematurely) but because he died as a direct result of the film he was involved in, because of a special effects blunder. The film was completed with special effects and stunt doubles, but it will always be a slightly uncomfortable viewing experience because of the real-life events surrounding it.

Actors have died before, and their films have been completed and released. Fast 7 will also, in all likelihood be completed and released too, but it might leave a bad taste in your mouth. Sadly, money is more important than respect for the dead. There will be re-writes, editing trickery and a “in memory of” message slapped onto the end credits. Where can the franchise can go after that, with one of the major actors suddenly passing away? Could anyone be so tactless as to simply write Brian O’ Conner out of the series to allow for a real-life death? Whatever happens, the series won’t stop – franchises don’t, not while they’re producing mountains of cash. Walker’s final film will probably even get a bit of a box-office boost from morbid curiosity. It’s all a question of good taste, which will always, sooner or later, give way to thoughts of profit. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Comment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Top Mo-vies

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Sam S-P

Yup, it’s a themed Movember list. The month-long bristly slog so many men are enduring to raise money for prostate cancer awareness has come to an end, so I’m celebrating some of the most impressive facial hair in cinema, both the real and the artificial. If you’d care to join me on a whiskery journey…

dodgeball__0020_stiller_03

10. White Goodman (Ben Stiller) – DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY (2004)

Stiller’s handlebar/soul-patch combo matches his lecherous moron fitness freak White Goodman perfectly, and makes him all the more despicable as an antagonist.

ron

9. Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) – ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY (2004)

Ahhh the 70s. When men were men, and everyone had great upper-lip adornments. The moustache worn by sympathetic misogynist Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is appropriately full and manly, and contributes a lot to him being “kind of a big deal”.

imagesCAU184D1

8. Pedro Sánchez (Efren Ramirez) – NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004)

Pedro’s non-committal droopy face fuzz suits the laid-back personality of Napoleon Dynamite’s best friend, and inspires envy in the titular character, after all, Pedro impressively claims it only took him “a couple of days”.

borat

7. Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) – BORAT (2006)

Full, dark and vaguely dictatorial, Borats ‘tache often veils the mischievous grin of the Kazakh journalist as he causes distress across the “U, S and A” through cultural misunderstanding and full-frontal man-wrestling.

hook

6. Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) – HOOK (1991)

Hoffman is the best thing about this Spielberg misfire by a long way, and Hook’s meticulously waxed moustache is the best thing about the diabolical amputee (maybe next to the way he says “Peeeteeerrrr Paaaaaaaan”.

bronson

5. Charles Bronson (Tom Hardy) – BRONSON (2008)

Playing the real-life prisoner who adapted the name of an actor he admired, Tom Hardy completely throws himself into the role, both in terms of intensive physical training and bulking up, and in terms of styling a fabulous circus strongman moustache.

imagesCAPDKKNR

4. William N. Bilbo (James Spader) – LINCOLN (2012)

A seedy comic relief part made memorable by Spader’s caddish performance, a couple of brilliantly placed f-bombs and a really imposing piece of facial hair.

bill

3. Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) – GANGS OF NEW YORK (2002)

Playing a foul but charming thug, Day-Lewis show stopping turn is nearly eclipsed by the sinister growth on his upper lip. So evil, you expect him to start twirling it, “The Butcher” thankfully has far more going on with his character than pure malice.

imagesCA9EWGLY

2. A Factory Worker (Charlie Chaplin) – MODERN TIMES (1936)

You could put any Chaplin character on this list, but he had to be on here. He’s empathetic, and hilarious and pitiable, and that moustache was popular worn by Chapin long before Hitler adopted it.

colonel blimp

1. Clive Candy (Roger Livesey) – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943)

Arguably the only film on the list where facial hair is a major plot point, even a driving force behind the lead character. Clive Candy is injured in a pride-driven duel, and hides the scar on his top lip with a moustache which we see grow more impressive over decades of personal and international conflict. The mo grows as Clive does, almost becoming a character in its own right.

And that’s it for another year – dust off the razors, and keep fighting the good fight for men’s health! And of course, donate to someone if you’re able.

SSP

Posted in Film, Film Feature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition (2013)

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Sam S-P

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

Who didn’t see this coming? This month Peter Jackson released a special extended cut of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY just in time to promote the second chapter, THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, which is set to be released in cinemas in just under a month.

Jackson is a canny marketer, and a lover of showing the audience everything filmed at some point, even if it was initially left on the cutting room floor. Cynics might declare Jackson greedy for sticking to this release strategy (used in all three LORD OF THE RINGS films and KING KONG) and there may be a bit of a profit-driven incentive, but when you see what these new scenes can add to the film overall, in addition to the hours of detailed special features, you can’t begrudge Jackson much.

The first part of The Hobbit (if you somehow don’t know the story) sees the comfort-loving Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) recruited by the wandering wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to join a party of displaced Dwarves seeking to reclaim their treasure and their homeland. Their quest features encounters with trolls, stone giants, goblins and vengeful orcs, and builds on Tolkien’s well-trod themes of greed, loss and bravery. Not bad for an adaptation of a throwaway children’s book.

That’s one thing we have to remember, that J.R.R. Tolkien saw The Hobbit as something to keep youngsters amused, and it was only later he narratively tied it to the epic and layered Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The Hobbit is appropriately completely different in tone. There’s more humour, lightness and singing, and that goes double for the Extended Edition. Sadly, many of the more comical scenes, the ones that don’t move the plot along but still add something to our perception of the characters. Restored, they do add something (not a lot, but something), and it’s pleasing to have all the musical interludes and dwarf skinny-dipping back in the film.

In both cuts of the film, Martin Freeman steals the show. No-one else could fit so effortlessly into the furry feet of Bilbo Baggins. He’s always had great comic timing, but he also brings real warmth and some entertaining early-onset curmudgeoniness to his portrayal of Mr Baggins. Ian McKellen is again reliable as Gandalf, Sylvester McCoy has a lot of fun as the weird and wonderful Radagast and Ken Stott’s Balin and James Nesbitt’s Bofur stand out among the company of dwarves (the rest of them are still a bit of a blur at the moment). Andy Serkis makes a welcome return with his (presumably) final performance as Gollum, and the tricksy little blighter has never looked or sounded better than he does here, in the perfect adaptation of “Riddles in the Dark”.

A lot of criticism has been levelled at Jackson expanding a relatively short book into three films, but as Gandalf says, “all good stories deserve embellishment”. Maybe Jackson has embellished too much, as there are entire sequences that feel either unnecessarily drawn-out, or unnecessary full-stop. To an extent I understand the purpose of the Dwarf-focussed prologue – it’s there to set up plot points and character motivations that will doubtless pay off later, and it seems to intentionally echo the first scenes of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, but why did it have to be so long? Thorin’s drive, and the threat of Smaug could have been established in a couple of brief flashbacks, and then the main story could have been underway a little quicker. I don’t see any need for Azog (Manu Bennett) a big, CGI-assisted orc and nemesis to Thorin – no-one needs a reason to hate orcs, to have one commit a personal grievance to you, they’re the embodiment of evil! His addition is just an excuse for the addition of a couple of unmemorable action sequences with way too much heroic slow-motion.

Of course, you buy Peter Jackson’s special editions for the special features, and you’ll be pleased to hear there’s a truckload. Hour after hour of in-depth documentaries cover everything from casting to costume and makeup design to Christopher Lee’s long anecdotes the crew were too polite to ignore. This is what makes the purchase worth while, and incredible value for money, rather than the extra 15 minutes or so of new footage.

Ultimately, the extended cut of The Hobbit part 1 doesn’t improve a lot on the theatrical cut. It has the same strengths (humour, warmth and riddles) but suffers from the same drawbacks (pacing, repetition, excessive action). The new scenes are nice, but not essential viewing (unlike some of the key scenes exorcised from LOTR). Do buy it for the dragon’s hoard of extras though, you won’t be disappointed…or be likely to see daylight for a while. SSP

 

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments