Sunday, May 16, 2010
Apocalypse When exactly??
Whoops. I still haven't gotten round to watching Apocalypse Now. I never have a 3 hour block of free time, it seems. Some movies need so much commitment...*sigh*
Friday, May 14, 2010
Claustrophiliac movies
NOTE: Let it be known that I am not completely sure that Claustrophilia is a word, although it certainly should be, but it is intended as the opposite of Claustrophobia- fear of enclosed spaces.
Sometimes, just to be clever, a filmmaker will create a film with a neat little visual gimmick to draw in the curious. Sometimes it's a "one-take" movie, sometimes its black and white for no apparent reason, sometimes its dodgy handheld camerawork a la Cloverfield, sometimes its 3D (see my thoughts on 3D here). One old trick is making a movie set entirely in one room, one house, or one boat, as the case may be. Yeah, it does scream, "Hey look at me I can make a film out of ANYTHING", but it can make for very interesting viewing, as tension and interest has to be maintained through careful cinematography.
Here's a few flicks for all you claustrophiliacs out there.
Lifeboat (1944)
The brilliant Alfred Hitchcock, in one of his lesser known works, places survivors of a torpedoed ship on a lifeboat- which they must share with a man who helped sink their ship. Awkward.
Rear Window (1954)
Hitchcock's at it again, this time in an apartment with James Stewart and the lovely Grace Kelly. Wheelchair-bound Stewart reckons there's been a murder across the courtyard, but no one believes him. Paranoid, thrilling, voyeuristic fun.
12 Angry Men (1957)
A courtroom drama set almost exclusively in the jury room. 11 of the 12 jurors are convinced the defendant is guilty, but Juror No. 8 is determined to change their minds in the next hour and a half.
Sleuth (1972)
Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine engage in a deadly duel of wits as the former invites the latter (his wife's lover) to his abode. A film driven by its two lead performers.
Cube (1997)
6 strangers find themselves trapped in a giant cube and must use each of their strengths to find their way out. With the tagline: The Walls Are Closing In, this is surely one claustrophiliacs should relish and all others will be thoroughly disturbed by.
Panic Room (2002)
Jodie Foster and daughter Kristen Stewart find themselves confined to the panic room of their new house as a couple of crims are attempting to raid its contents. It's Twilight meets Freaky Friday! OK, not really.
8 Women (8 Femmes)(2002)
A French murder mystery/musical(?!) about 8 women trapped in a house during a snow storm. The sole man of the house is murdered and weirdness ensues. As the characters' relationships get more and more twisted up, you'll feel trapped, too.
Paranormal Activity (2009)
Katie's convinced she's being followed by a demon, so her man Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom that documents the paranormal occurrences that follow. A Blair Witch-esque horror/thriller made on the cheap in the director's own home.
For more claustrophiliac fun, check out the trailer for Buried in the post below, and tell me about your favourite claustro-fest film with a comment!
Sometimes, just to be clever, a filmmaker will create a film with a neat little visual gimmick to draw in the curious. Sometimes it's a "one-take" movie, sometimes its black and white for no apparent reason, sometimes its dodgy handheld camerawork a la Cloverfield, sometimes its 3D (see my thoughts on 3D here). One old trick is making a movie set entirely in one room, one house, or one boat, as the case may be. Yeah, it does scream, "Hey look at me I can make a film out of ANYTHING", but it can make for very interesting viewing, as tension and interest has to be maintained through careful cinematography.
Here's a few flicks for all you claustrophiliacs out there.
Lifeboat (1944)The brilliant Alfred Hitchcock, in one of his lesser known works, places survivors of a torpedoed ship on a lifeboat- which they must share with a man who helped sink their ship. Awkward.
Rear Window (1954)Hitchcock's at it again, this time in an apartment with James Stewart and the lovely Grace Kelly. Wheelchair-bound Stewart reckons there's been a murder across the courtyard, but no one believes him. Paranoid, thrilling, voyeuristic fun.
12 Angry Men (1957)A courtroom drama set almost exclusively in the jury room. 11 of the 12 jurors are convinced the defendant is guilty, but Juror No. 8 is determined to change their minds in the next hour and a half.
Sleuth (1972)Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine engage in a deadly duel of wits as the former invites the latter (his wife's lover) to his abode. A film driven by its two lead performers.
Cube (1997)6 strangers find themselves trapped in a giant cube and must use each of their strengths to find their way out. With the tagline: The Walls Are Closing In, this is surely one claustrophiliacs should relish and all others will be thoroughly disturbed by.
Panic Room (2002)Jodie Foster and daughter Kristen Stewart find themselves confined to the panic room of their new house as a couple of crims are attempting to raid its contents. It's Twilight meets Freaky Friday! OK, not really.
8 Women (8 Femmes)(2002)A French murder mystery/musical(?!) about 8 women trapped in a house during a snow storm. The sole man of the house is murdered and weirdness ensues. As the characters' relationships get more and more twisted up, you'll feel trapped, too.
Paranormal Activity (2009)Katie's convinced she's being followed by a demon, so her man Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom that documents the paranormal occurrences that follow. A Blair Witch-esque horror/thriller made on the cheap in the director's own home.
For more claustrophiliac fun, check out the trailer for Buried in the post below, and tell me about your favourite claustro-fest film with a comment!
Buried trailer
Just saw the trailer for Buried.
I have high hopes. Heard about it a few months ago in a list of top upcoming movies to be shown at Sundance (or at least i think it was Sundance. Maybe it was Cannes. I dunno). The promo tempted questions into my mind. What's the context? How have the screenwriters managed (or attempted to manage) a film that I presume is set entirely in such a small space? How exactly is this guy going to, erm, relieve himself? And can Ryan Reynolds act himself out of a box? We shall see.
I have high hopes. Heard about it a few months ago in a list of top upcoming movies to be shown at Sundance (or at least i think it was Sundance. Maybe it was Cannes. I dunno). The promo tempted questions into my mind. What's the context? How have the screenwriters managed (or attempted to manage) a film that I presume is set entirely in such a small space? How exactly is this guy going to, erm, relieve himself? And can Ryan Reynolds act himself out of a box? We shall see.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow
Viewed: At the cinema
Iron Man was one of 2007's biggest hits, both with critics and cinemagoers. Why? Because it gave us a refreshing and decidedly unorthodox hero in billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). Here, Tony Stark is much the same- briliant, arrogant, impulsive, narcissistic and freakin awesome.
The coda of Iron Man showed Stark revealing to the world that he is, indeed, the infamous Iron Man. Lately, Stark's been having a good time being loved by all, while a big scary tatt-heavy Russian guy, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is plotting against him on the other side of the world. Stark's long-suffering girlfriend/secretary, Pepper, is getting pretty fed up with him, the US government wants his suit, his new assistant (Scarlett Johanssen) is being mysterious in a sexy sorta way, and to top it all off, his Iron Man power source, that happens to be lodged in his chest, is slowly giving him blood poisoning.
The whole star-studded cast seem to be having fun. Downey Jr gets to fool around being the arrogant prick we all love. Scarlett Johanssen gets to be sexy, strong AND smart (ooh, groundbreaking). Don Cheadle (as the new Rhodey) gets to be dignified, exasperated and ultimately kinda badass. Sam Rockwell as Stark's clueless but power-hungry rival, Justin Hammer, was a little too caricature-ish for my liking, but he was clearly getting into it; he looked like he was relishing every minute in his bad guy role. Rockwell plays Hammer like he's straight out of a comic, but Rourke, however, takes his role with the utmost seriousness. Rourke is just...intense. Vanko looks like he's about to explode every time he's onscreen. Which is most appropriate for some of his action scenes.
Ah, yes, the action scenes. Can't have a superhero movie without a coupla dudes in metal exoskeletons punching and exploding each other to bits. While most of these are quite well-done and reasonably exciting there was one particular sequence that seemed like a wholly unnecessary and ridiculous excuse to destroy some expensive sets. I am afraid I cannot divulge details without spoilers, but I can say that it was thankfully not the finale, which I found satisfying enough.
NOTE to those with sensitive ear drums: Be prepared for some ear-splittingly loud sequences. Squealing tyres, screeching metal, weapons-grade explosives, AC/DC at full blast and some very enthusiastic crowds add up to a helluva lot of LOUD.
For a $200+ million movie, Iron Man 2 gives you what you'd expect in the SFX department. However, it also keeps up with the sense of humour that made its predecessor a hit. It's a pleasant antidote to the Dark Knight breed of comic book adaptation. Robert Downey Jr and the very lovely Gwyneth Paltrow have some wit-laden spats that are good fun to watch, as their timing is impeccable and their performances are so charming. Stark hogs most of the good one-liners, but there's a few to sprinkle around for the rest of the cast.
At just over 2 hours, Iron Man Deux is rather long. Not Dark Knight long, but lengthy enough to warrant a spot of subplot-trimming. There's a big chunk in the middle of it all that drags due to the vast weight of Tony Stark's numerous and rather complicated issues. Lopping a few of the inter-character conflicts and the whole daddy-issues thing out of it, saving them and recycling them for a sequel may have been a good idea to save us the extended wait for the obligatory climactic showdown.
Of course, there's an open ending for sequels, though I must say I don't really mind. In fact, if Favreau, Downey and co. can keep this up, I'm actually pretty damn excited.
Rating: 7
Verdict: Much more action heavy than the last instalment, although there's some substance behind it. Iron Man 2 is an "action film" but its greatest strengths are its performances and irreverent tone.
PS Apologies for the constant The Dark Knight comparisons. It just seems like TDK is the benchmark for superhero flicks these days (although I personally found it to be vastly overrated).
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow
Viewed: At the cinema
Iron Man was one of 2007's biggest hits, both with critics and cinemagoers. Why? Because it gave us a refreshing and decidedly unorthodox hero in billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). Here, Tony Stark is much the same- briliant, arrogant, impulsive, narcissistic and freakin awesome.
The coda of Iron Man showed Stark revealing to the world that he is, indeed, the infamous Iron Man. Lately, Stark's been having a good time being loved by all, while a big scary tatt-heavy Russian guy, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) is plotting against him on the other side of the world. Stark's long-suffering girlfriend/secretary, Pepper, is getting pretty fed up with him, the US government wants his suit, his new assistant (Scarlett Johanssen) is being mysterious in a sexy sorta way, and to top it all off, his Iron Man power source, that happens to be lodged in his chest, is slowly giving him blood poisoning.
The whole star-studded cast seem to be having fun. Downey Jr gets to fool around being the arrogant prick we all love. Scarlett Johanssen gets to be sexy, strong AND smart (ooh, groundbreaking). Don Cheadle (as the new Rhodey) gets to be dignified, exasperated and ultimately kinda badass. Sam Rockwell as Stark's clueless but power-hungry rival, Justin Hammer, was a little too caricature-ish for my liking, but he was clearly getting into it; he looked like he was relishing every minute in his bad guy role. Rockwell plays Hammer like he's straight out of a comic, but Rourke, however, takes his role with the utmost seriousness. Rourke is just...intense. Vanko looks like he's about to explode every time he's onscreen. Which is most appropriate for some of his action scenes.
Ah, yes, the action scenes. Can't have a superhero movie without a coupla dudes in metal exoskeletons punching and exploding each other to bits. While most of these are quite well-done and reasonably exciting there was one particular sequence that seemed like a wholly unnecessary and ridiculous excuse to destroy some expensive sets. I am afraid I cannot divulge details without spoilers, but I can say that it was thankfully not the finale, which I found satisfying enough.
NOTE to those with sensitive ear drums: Be prepared for some ear-splittingly loud sequences. Squealing tyres, screeching metal, weapons-grade explosives, AC/DC at full blast and some very enthusiastic crowds add up to a helluva lot of LOUD.
For a $200+ million movie, Iron Man 2 gives you what you'd expect in the SFX department. However, it also keeps up with the sense of humour that made its predecessor a hit. It's a pleasant antidote to the Dark Knight breed of comic book adaptation. Robert Downey Jr and the very lovely Gwyneth Paltrow have some wit-laden spats that are good fun to watch, as their timing is impeccable and their performances are so charming. Stark hogs most of the good one-liners, but there's a few to sprinkle around for the rest of the cast.
At just over 2 hours, Iron Man Deux is rather long. Not Dark Knight long, but lengthy enough to warrant a spot of subplot-trimming. There's a big chunk in the middle of it all that drags due to the vast weight of Tony Stark's numerous and rather complicated issues. Lopping a few of the inter-character conflicts and the whole daddy-issues thing out of it, saving them and recycling them for a sequel may have been a good idea to save us the extended wait for the obligatory climactic showdown.
Of course, there's an open ending for sequels, though I must say I don't really mind. In fact, if Favreau, Downey and co. can keep this up, I'm actually pretty damn excited.
Rating: 7
Verdict: Much more action heavy than the last instalment, although there's some substance behind it. Iron Man 2 is an "action film" but its greatest strengths are its performances and irreverent tone.
PS Apologies for the constant The Dark Knight comparisons. It just seems like TDK is the benchmark for superhero flicks these days (although I personally found it to be vastly overrated).
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
An Education (2009)
Director: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina
Viewed: On laptop
An Education is set in 1960s Britain. Francophile schoolgirl Jenny can't understand her parents' fixation on Oxford University, she enjoys smoking and general pretentious ('60s) indie-ness and she is thoroughly bored of essays and Latin. When she meets and is charmed by 30-something David, she is swept up into a grown-up world of glamour, indulgence and a little danger- she begins to question the ideas she had about what "an education" really is.
I couldn't help feeling a little squirmy while watching this. It was not so much the age difference between David and Jenny that bothered me, but the obvious seediness of David's character that went just about unnoticed by Jenny, despite her supposed intelligence. Girl, his every pore is positively seeping with untrustworthiness! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? These are the things I wish I could say. One can see Jenny's attraction to his lifestyle, but her attraction to him? Not so easy to understand. I put it down to Sarsgaard's performance- a believable character, just not quite right for this film.
But oh my god, this film is beautiful. The clothes, jewellery, furniture, paintings, lighting fixtures, EVERY DETAIL- it's easy to see how 16 year old Jenny was seduced. However, the salivation-inducing clothes and locations temporarily blinded me from the fact that this was a fairly run-of-the-mill coming of age story with some rather sizable holes in characterisation and plot. At first I, like the heroine, was quite caught up in the glamour of it all, but the films faults really start to show through in the 2nd half.
Naturally, the main question of this film is "What really is an education?" There were times when the script started to enter interesting territory but failed to delve quite as deep as I felt it could have. There were occasional clever insights, but these were disregarded in an ending that failed to be provocative. The result is that the film is definitely not bad, but also it's not quite as important or complex as it thinks it is, although there's plenty of eye candy to distract us from that fact.
Script aside, Carey Mulligan most certainly deserved all that praise and Oscar buzz she got for her performance. In fact, I think she deserved to take home the little golden man, although I must admit that I have not seen The Blind Side. Mulligan plays the role of Jenny with such conviction, charm and ease, even when she is being an absolute snobby bitch we can still love her. I personally find it hard to believe that Sandra Bullock could possibly have played a role (let alone a dramatic one) more comfortably than Mulligan does here.
She is backed up with an entire cast of great performances (Sarsgaard excepted) including Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour as her parents, Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike as David's sophisticated friends, Olivia Williams as an English teacher and Emma Thompson in a surprisingly small role.
An Education would not be a waste of your time, but don't expect it to turn your life around. Mulligan is lovely, some interesting comments are made and it looks fantastic, but you probably won't learn anything new from it.
Rating: 7
Verdict: An Education's main strengths are its stunning production design, great cast and an exceptional lead performance, but script and plot-wise its quite ordinary.
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina
Viewed: On laptop
An Education is set in 1960s Britain. Francophile schoolgirl Jenny can't understand her parents' fixation on Oxford University, she enjoys smoking and general pretentious ('60s) indie-ness and she is thoroughly bored of essays and Latin. When she meets and is charmed by 30-something David, she is swept up into a grown-up world of glamour, indulgence and a little danger- she begins to question the ideas she had about what "an education" really is.
I couldn't help feeling a little squirmy while watching this. It was not so much the age difference between David and Jenny that bothered me, but the obvious seediness of David's character that went just about unnoticed by Jenny, despite her supposed intelligence. Girl, his every pore is positively seeping with untrustworthiness! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? These are the things I wish I could say. One can see Jenny's attraction to his lifestyle, but her attraction to him? Not so easy to understand. I put it down to Sarsgaard's performance- a believable character, just not quite right for this film.
But oh my god, this film is beautiful. The clothes, jewellery, furniture, paintings, lighting fixtures, EVERY DETAIL- it's easy to see how 16 year old Jenny was seduced. However, the salivation-inducing clothes and locations temporarily blinded me from the fact that this was a fairly run-of-the-mill coming of age story with some rather sizable holes in characterisation and plot. At first I, like the heroine, was quite caught up in the glamour of it all, but the films faults really start to show through in the 2nd half.
Naturally, the main question of this film is "What really is an education?" There were times when the script started to enter interesting territory but failed to delve quite as deep as I felt it could have. There were occasional clever insights, but these were disregarded in an ending that failed to be provocative. The result is that the film is definitely not bad, but also it's not quite as important or complex as it thinks it is, although there's plenty of eye candy to distract us from that fact.
Script aside, Carey Mulligan most certainly deserved all that praise and Oscar buzz she got for her performance. In fact, I think she deserved to take home the little golden man, although I must admit that I have not seen The Blind Side. Mulligan plays the role of Jenny with such conviction, charm and ease, even when she is being an absolute snobby bitch we can still love her. I personally find it hard to believe that Sandra Bullock could possibly have played a role (let alone a dramatic one) more comfortably than Mulligan does here.
She is backed up with an entire cast of great performances (Sarsgaard excepted) including Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour as her parents, Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike as David's sophisticated friends, Olivia Williams as an English teacher and Emma Thompson in a surprisingly small role.
An Education would not be a waste of your time, but don't expect it to turn your life around. Mulligan is lovely, some interesting comments are made and it looks fantastic, but you probably won't learn anything new from it.
Rating: 7
Verdict: An Education's main strengths are its stunning production design, great cast and an exceptional lead performance, but script and plot-wise its quite ordinary.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Apocalypse Now thoughts
Started watching Apocalypse Now today. Pretty confronting. And very theatrical. I kept thinking about how much Charlie Sheen looks like Martin Sheen. Felt like I was watching a very very serious version of Two and a Half Men. Actually, it was about as funny as an episode of Two and a Half Men. Ha. Burrrrn.
Also, not quite so gory as I thought it would be so far and not really deserving of the R18+ Australian rating. Then again, it was rated back in 1979, I guess people were somewhat more conservative.
Will blog more tomorrow when I'm finished watching.
Also, not quite so gory as I thought it would be so far and not really deserving of the R18+ Australian rating. Then again, it was rated back in 1979, I guess people were somewhat more conservative.
Will blog more tomorrow when I'm finished watching.
Enchanted (2007)
Director: Kevin Lima
Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon
Viewed: On TV
Do you loathe and despise Disney films? Do the airheaded princesses, cutesy animals and chirpy tunes get on your nerves? Well, prepare to be surprised, Enchanted may just be the Disney film for you. Be warned that it does do a fairly convincing job of masquerading as the very thing it sets out to satirise. Enchanted is actually an (almost) daring blend of homage and satire.
The beautifully animated opening scenes reference Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid as it introduces us to Giselle (Amy Adams), a beautiful young woman who happens to reside in a cottage with a bunch of forest critters. She sings of her longing to meet the man with whom she can share "True Love's Kiss", whom she does actually find in the form of Prince Edward (James Marsden) shortly after. Once Edward has declared "We shall be married in the morning!", Giselle is whisked away to the castle to be wed. But Edward's evil stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) wants to protect her throne and dispatches the unsuspecting Giselle to a place where "there are no happily ever afters"- New York City, of course. There the naive Giselle meets love-sceptic and lawyer, Robert (McDreamy), and his daughter, Morgan. Giselle must adapt to this unfamiliar live-action environment and change her ideas about love.
Amy Adams is a sweet Giselle and she plays the role absolutely straight-faced. She also did her own singing and her voice is perfectly suited to Stephen Schwartz' and Alan Menken's Oscar-nominated songs. Dempsey and Timothy Spall are great in their respective roles as the dream man and villain. Unfortunately, Susan Sarandon's character was much better off animated. In live action she looks more drag queen than evil queen and she's about as scary as a moldy toothbrush.
But James Marsden is the real scene stealer, here. He plunges into the role of empty-headed, narcissistic suitor with glee and his hilarious facial expressions really made this movie for me. It must be said that it takes a smart person to play a dumb person well, which the very attractive Marsden most certainly does. Plus he can sing. Swoon.
Now let me sing the praises of the script and songs. I don't think I can even count the number of Disney references, here. Most of them aren't very in your face, either, they are subtle, and so multiple viewings of this can be most rewarding (I, myself, have seen it about 4 or 5 times, now). The songs have a strong resemblance to other Disney tunes, but are infused with the same slightly satirical humour as the rest of the film. The only exception is "So Close", a moving ballad that fits in just right with its scene. The script is witty and the attempts at satire are gentle, and would probably be missed by a lot of kids. At times the humour was almost full-blown attack. But not quite. Disney couldn't possibly be *gasp* self-deprecating!
Although the film starts a little sluggishly, it hits its stride once Giselle starts making her mark on the "real world". I was left smiling throughout the middle section of Enchanted.
Oh, and now we come to the ending. Er. Well. To be honest the climactic ballroom-rooftop scene has to be the weakest in the film. Without giving away too much, the villain fails to even look scary (as all good villains should) and is given far too many sarcastic one-liners, and the ending feels kind of rushed. The resolution forgoes the sharp observations made on "true love" made previously and drowns itself in Disney syrup. If the cast wasn't just so damn charming and if the preceding 80 minutes wasn't so entertaining I could have hated Enchanted.
As it is, Enchanted is one of my guilty pleasures. Yes, it occasionally lapses into Disney-ish sentimentality, yes, its views on love are a bit muddled, and yes the final showdown is kind of crap. But the sentiment is tempered with tongue-in-cheek humour, a near-perfect cast, shamelessly joyous and memorable songs and a multitude of Disney in-jokes for fans to enjoy.
Rating: 7
Verdict: Occasionally loses its edge, but Enchanted is still an insanely enjoyable and fairly clever homage to/satire of Disney classics.
Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon
Viewed: On TV
Do you loathe and despise Disney films? Do the airheaded princesses, cutesy animals and chirpy tunes get on your nerves? Well, prepare to be surprised, Enchanted may just be the Disney film for you. Be warned that it does do a fairly convincing job of masquerading as the very thing it sets out to satirise. Enchanted is actually an (almost) daring blend of homage and satire.
The beautifully animated opening scenes reference Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid as it introduces us to Giselle (Amy Adams), a beautiful young woman who happens to reside in a cottage with a bunch of forest critters. She sings of her longing to meet the man with whom she can share "True Love's Kiss", whom she does actually find in the form of Prince Edward (James Marsden) shortly after. Once Edward has declared "We shall be married in the morning!", Giselle is whisked away to the castle to be wed. But Edward's evil stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) wants to protect her throne and dispatches the unsuspecting Giselle to a place where "there are no happily ever afters"- New York City, of course. There the naive Giselle meets love-sceptic and lawyer, Robert (McDreamy), and his daughter, Morgan. Giselle must adapt to this unfamiliar live-action environment and change her ideas about love.
Amy Adams is a sweet Giselle and she plays the role absolutely straight-faced. She also did her own singing and her voice is perfectly suited to Stephen Schwartz' and Alan Menken's Oscar-nominated songs. Dempsey and Timothy Spall are great in their respective roles as the dream man and villain. Unfortunately, Susan Sarandon's character was much better off animated. In live action she looks more drag queen than evil queen and she's about as scary as a moldy toothbrush.
But James Marsden is the real scene stealer, here. He plunges into the role of empty-headed, narcissistic suitor with glee and his hilarious facial expressions really made this movie for me. It must be said that it takes a smart person to play a dumb person well, which the very attractive Marsden most certainly does. Plus he can sing. Swoon.
Now let me sing the praises of the script and songs. I don't think I can even count the number of Disney references, here. Most of them aren't very in your face, either, they are subtle, and so multiple viewings of this can be most rewarding (I, myself, have seen it about 4 or 5 times, now). The songs have a strong resemblance to other Disney tunes, but are infused with the same slightly satirical humour as the rest of the film. The only exception is "So Close", a moving ballad that fits in just right with its scene. The script is witty and the attempts at satire are gentle, and would probably be missed by a lot of kids. At times the humour was almost full-blown attack. But not quite. Disney couldn't possibly be *gasp* self-deprecating!
Although the film starts a little sluggishly, it hits its stride once Giselle starts making her mark on the "real world". I was left smiling throughout the middle section of Enchanted.
Oh, and now we come to the ending. Er. Well. To be honest the climactic ballroom-rooftop scene has to be the weakest in the film. Without giving away too much, the villain fails to even look scary (as all good villains should) and is given far too many sarcastic one-liners, and the ending feels kind of rushed. The resolution forgoes the sharp observations made on "true love" made previously and drowns itself in Disney syrup. If the cast wasn't just so damn charming and if the preceding 80 minutes wasn't so entertaining I could have hated Enchanted.
As it is, Enchanted is one of my guilty pleasures. Yes, it occasionally lapses into Disney-ish sentimentality, yes, its views on love are a bit muddled, and yes the final showdown is kind of crap. But the sentiment is tempered with tongue-in-cheek humour, a near-perfect cast, shamelessly joyous and memorable songs and a multitude of Disney in-jokes for fans to enjoy.
Rating: 7
Verdict: Occasionally loses its edge, but Enchanted is still an insanely enjoyable and fairly clever homage to/satire of Disney classics.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
From Russia With Love
Director: Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw
Viewed: On TV
007 has had quite a long run on the silver screen. His last appearance was just 2 years ago in the action-heavy and confusingly-plotted Quantum of Solace, and in 2006, Daniel Craig wowed us in Casino Royale. Old Jimmy B started out way back in '62 with Dr No, and he followed that one with this, From Russia With Love.
It's clear from the outset that Connery's Bond (the original, I suppose) is a real suave dude, as he has to be. He's got lines like, "Your lips are the perfect size-- for ME that is". Oh, Mr Bond, please, I'm swooning. Blergh.
Despite some lame wisecracks and a pervading sense of narcissism, you can see how Bond could be seen as so desirable in this movie. He's sexy, successful and savvy, plus he's got a really awesome job- getting rid of baddies. Connery's 007 is cleary different from Daniel Craig's Bond in that he makes no attempt to give the character an intriguing or mysterious charm, he's more of an all-out ladies' guy with SEX written all over his smirking, swarthy face. The campiness has strong nostalgic value.
The plot here isn't exactly memorable, it's straightforward Russian spy business, so I won't really go into that. It's briskly paced as Bond hops from one European location to the next, deaths are quickly dealt, and characters rapidly drawn out. The villains are suitably villainous and the good guys appropriately jokey and genial. They are caricatures, but they serve their place in the drama of it all.
There's some humour to be derived from the more dated aspects of the film that have now become Bond stereotypes. The unbelievably chesty Bond girl, the cat-stroking anonymous villain and the ridiculously complicated gadgetry gave me a few giggles, as did the absolute seriousness with which the film regards itself.
From Russia With Love has all the Bond staples- sex, violence, exotic locations, beautiful women, evil foreigners and handy gadgets. If you want to see the essence of a Bond film, it's all here.
Rating: 8
Verdict: Fast, interesting and exciting- Classic Bond.
Starring: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw
Viewed: On TV
007 has had quite a long run on the silver screen. His last appearance was just 2 years ago in the action-heavy and confusingly-plotted Quantum of Solace, and in 2006, Daniel Craig wowed us in Casino Royale. Old Jimmy B started out way back in '62 with Dr No, and he followed that one with this, From Russia With Love.
It's clear from the outset that Connery's Bond (the original, I suppose) is a real suave dude, as he has to be. He's got lines like, "Your lips are the perfect size-- for ME that is". Oh, Mr Bond, please, I'm swooning. Blergh.
Despite some lame wisecracks and a pervading sense of narcissism, you can see how Bond could be seen as so desirable in this movie. He's sexy, successful and savvy, plus he's got a really awesome job- getting rid of baddies. Connery's 007 is cleary different from Daniel Craig's Bond in that he makes no attempt to give the character an intriguing or mysterious charm, he's more of an all-out ladies' guy with SEX written all over his smirking, swarthy face. The campiness has strong nostalgic value.
The plot here isn't exactly memorable, it's straightforward Russian spy business, so I won't really go into that. It's briskly paced as Bond hops from one European location to the next, deaths are quickly dealt, and characters rapidly drawn out. The villains are suitably villainous and the good guys appropriately jokey and genial. They are caricatures, but they serve their place in the drama of it all.
There's some humour to be derived from the more dated aspects of the film that have now become Bond stereotypes. The unbelievably chesty Bond girl, the cat-stroking anonymous villain and the ridiculously complicated gadgetry gave me a few giggles, as did the absolute seriousness with which the film regards itself.
From Russia With Love has all the Bond staples- sex, violence, exotic locations, beautiful women, evil foreigners and handy gadgets. If you want to see the essence of a Bond film, it's all here.
Rating: 8
Verdict: Fast, interesting and exciting- Classic Bond.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
M*A*S*H (1970)
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skerritt
Viewed: On TV
Most would be familiar with the long-running and very successful TV series, MASH, and its famous theme, "Suicide is Painless". Well, that MASH was a spin-off of Robert Altman's MASH, and the show borrowed its characters, setting and musical theme from the film. The movie MASH was gorier, more sexually explicit and the themes were heavier, but its zany spirit was much the same.
MASH, like the TV show, covers the various escapades of the men and women working in a MASH unit during the Korean War. Largely the focus is on Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce (Donald Sutherland) although, as in all Altman films, there is a strong ensemble cast to go with him. A war hospital is obviously an odd choice of backdrop for a comedy and but the gory surgical procedures shown just seem to make the silliness funnier. Most of the humour comes from the general unprofessionalism with which the unit is run and the don't-give-a-damn attitude of Hawkeye and his friend McIntyre (Elliott Gould). There are occasional moments of seriousness (they are surrounded by the dead and dying, after all) but MASH is largely determined to defy our expectations of wartime movies.
MASH does play like a sitcom thanks to its episodic format, semi-seriousness and wacky characters, hence the easy transition of the premise to television. Robert Altman's trademark overlapping dialogue is well-suited to comedy and his trademark tracking shots help convey the chaos of the unit. However, the casual misogyny of some of the characters makes the attempts at humour uncomfortable at times, or just plain unfunny. The occasional attacks on self-righteous religious fanatics seems justified enough, but the attacks on feminism (and hints of homophobia) made Hawkeye and co a little harder to admire.
MASH does seem to go on for a little too long, but it doesn't let up its black sense of humour. It's got some things to say about war and authority, too, lending the slight plot greater weight. Definitely would have had a bigger punch back in the 70s, but still well made, and mostly funny.
Rating: 7
Verdict: MASH is somewhat dated, but its still pretty funny and maybe a little bit shocking.
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skerritt
Viewed: On TV
Most would be familiar with the long-running and very successful TV series, MASH, and its famous theme, "Suicide is Painless". Well, that MASH was a spin-off of Robert Altman's MASH, and the show borrowed its characters, setting and musical theme from the film. The movie MASH was gorier, more sexually explicit and the themes were heavier, but its zany spirit was much the same.
MASH, like the TV show, covers the various escapades of the men and women working in a MASH unit during the Korean War. Largely the focus is on Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce (Donald Sutherland) although, as in all Altman films, there is a strong ensemble cast to go with him. A war hospital is obviously an odd choice of backdrop for a comedy and but the gory surgical procedures shown just seem to make the silliness funnier. Most of the humour comes from the general unprofessionalism with which the unit is run and the don't-give-a-damn attitude of Hawkeye and his friend McIntyre (Elliott Gould). There are occasional moments of seriousness (they are surrounded by the dead and dying, after all) but MASH is largely determined to defy our expectations of wartime movies.
MASH does play like a sitcom thanks to its episodic format, semi-seriousness and wacky characters, hence the easy transition of the premise to television. Robert Altman's trademark overlapping dialogue is well-suited to comedy and his trademark tracking shots help convey the chaos of the unit. However, the casual misogyny of some of the characters makes the attempts at humour uncomfortable at times, or just plain unfunny. The occasional attacks on self-righteous religious fanatics seems justified enough, but the attacks on feminism (and hints of homophobia) made Hawkeye and co a little harder to admire.
MASH does seem to go on for a little too long, but it doesn't let up its black sense of humour. It's got some things to say about war and authority, too, lending the slight plot greater weight. Definitely would have had a bigger punch back in the 70s, but still well made, and mostly funny.
Rating: 7
Verdict: MASH is somewhat dated, but its still pretty funny and maybe a little bit shocking.
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