Friday 27 June 2008
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Early teenage film that shocks with its frank discussion of adolescent sexuality, with a striking performance from Natalie Wood as a girl driven mad by her urges, whilst Warren Beatty struggles with his own desires.
The Happening (2008)
Oh dear dear dear! Do not see this film. Just when I thought M. Night Shyamalan couldn't get worse than 'The Village' he turned out this poorly written, amateurishly directed, and frankly unpleasant piece of drivel. I for one can't understand the recent trend in deliberately making bad B-movies (such as the Grindhouse films) but maybe it provides a nice excuse for derivative filmmakers like Tarantino and Shyamalan to be lazy about their work.
'The Happening' provides us with the ludiocrous story of trees and plants releasing a deadly toxin into the air of North-East America, causing people to kill themselves immediately. Cue lots of references to gruesome deaths and silly close-ups of trees looking menacing - all accompanied by terrible dialogue and flinch-worthy performances from Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.
The general impression is of a cheap, lazy film that insults its audience by offering so little in narrative, drama and depth. Clearly the film is trying to hint at the Earth's revenge for human-induced global warming but it's a very superficial message and not written well enough to really have any effect on its audience.
'Sixth Sense' was more than a fluke, I'm sure, but Shyamalan's run out of ideas since and has become more concerned with spectacle and a clever twist. Please stop letting this man make films.
Thursday 26 June 2008
Dead of Night (1945)
Very dated and not particularly scary horror film, which is nonetheless a British classic. Still guaranteed to disturb you a little, especially at the disorienting climax.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Very old-fashioned domestic crime story that unsettles the American family but drags and becomes a little distracted.
Wednesday 25 June 2008
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Hip and untypical detective story with a very Seventies feel, the Altman vibe of relaxed and laconic characters firmly dealing with the pressures around them - with a cool and funny Elliot Gould besting Humphrey Bogart at playing Philip Marlowe.
Odd Man Out (1947)
Brilliant and thrilling drama in Northern Ireland following the slow death of an IRA terrorist and the increasingly mad excitement that builds around him.
In Bruges (2008)
Witty and silly, but also quite touching, this film may have some awkward and contrived moments but is a strong cinematic debut for a playwright.
The Piano (1993)
One of my absolute favourites, Jane Campion has created a stunning romance set against historical New Zealand with great performances, direction, music and writing, providing some great cinematic images and finding itself as one of my favourite films by a female director.
Pola X (1999)
Disturbing, confusing and controversial, this is a very confident art film from a complex director - not always good but certainly memorable and challenging.
Thursday 19 June 2008
Michael Clayton (2007)
Not quite deserving of its many award nominations (which should have gone to The Assassination of Jesse James...), this is still an intriguing portrait of a man corrupted by corporate power - albeit with not enough focus on the corporation and too-obvious illustrations of his character flaws. Could have been as good as 'Traffic'.
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Fight Club (1999)
It will probably be remembered as defining a generation, as well as being a highly original and influential film, but 'Fight Club' loses some of its potency each time I watch it, seeming more and more indulgent, only fulfilling male fantasies of physical power and rebellion, rather than inspiring a counter-culture that could penetrate and destabilise the mainstream.
Mauvais Sang (The Night Is Young, 1986)
Very French and very confused; this film goes up and down and all around without a strong central narrative and featuring many scenes that indulge Carax's whims rather than serving the story.
Kes (1969)
Excellent early flm of Ken Loach that encapsulates all that was good about British cinema in the 1950s and 60s. A brilliant combination between realism, documentary and escapism - every British child should be made to watch this at school, and may be encouraged to leave the video games behind and head outdoors.
Boy Meets Girl (1984)
A success, in that it captures the spirit of Nouvelle Vague invention whilst still remaining original and contemporary to when the film was made rather than pining fo the past. Stil, some people will find it a little pretentious and not all of the tricks work.
iThree Amigos! (1986)
When I was but a lad, this was stupid and funny - now its just stupid. It may provide laughs on several occasions but really you'd expect better from three comic heavy weights of the 1980s, rather than anything so whimsical and unnecessary.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
With all the credentials of a masterpiece: Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche are two of the finest actors of their generation; cinematographer Sven Nykvist was one of the best cameramen working in Europe; Walter Murch probably the greatest living editor; Jean-Claude Carriere one of the most important writers in European cinema, based on a book by Milan Kundera; cameos from superb actors like Erland Josephson and Daniel Olbrychski: this really should have been one, but instead the story misses a great opportunity, with the focus on sex stealing attention from the social repercussions of the political situation in Soviet Prague. When Binoche's camera and passport are taking away, it happens just like that, but we get fifteen minutes of her running round naked with Lena Olin. Disappointing.
Traffic (2000)
A great Hollywood film with a strong political message, bringing together several stories featuring A-list celebrities and uncompromised realism. A key film in bringing back the current crop of politicised films spearheaded by George Clooney, it's also an accomplished work of cinema and an emotional drama.
Bigger Than Life (1956)
Dated by its over-dramatic treatment to addiction to perscription drugs, this nonetheless succeeds in creating a shocking and unsettling story of a respectable man (a teacher) who attacks every institute the Americans hold dear: the education system, church, the family, etc.
Liebe ist kalter als der Tod (Love Is Colder Than Death, 1969)
Fassbinder’s debut film, this has many qualities reminiscent of French New Wave cinema, as well as displaying a creative use of limited resources to create an individual and distinctive film. Set in the world of gangsters and prostitutes, the narrative revolves around Franz Walsch (Fassbinder himself), a pimp and petty criminal who refuses to join the Syndicate. He befriends another criminal, extremely evocative of Alain Delon with his handsome features and trenchcoat, and the two of them, along with Franz’s girlfriend Joanna (Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla in her debut) start taking care of business by killing a rival and planning a bank robbery.
The high contrast black-and-white photography creates a stylised and surprisingly bright criminal underworld and often the action is played against the same spot of empty wall space. The static camera and long takes also builds the bridge between the Nouvelle Vague and independent American cinema, such as Jarmusch’s ‘Stranger Than Paradise’.
There is also a contrast between the coolness of the criminal underworld and the unpleasant, misogynistic brutality of Walsch towards Joanna. The killings also occur in a chillingly detached way and the overriding impression is of no emotional attachments between the characters and a feeling of disillusionment with society at large – something Fassbinder would explore much further in his later work.
‘Love Is Colder Than Death’, an excellent title, is also a pretty enjoyable film for any cineaste. It shows the point where the Germans were beginning their own New Wave and assimilating the gangster genre from Hollywood, via France, into a distinctive story of post-war Germany.
Thursday 5 June 2008
Short Cuts (1993)
Right, let’s see if I can remember: Andie MacDowell and TV personality Bruce Davison are married with a son. One day he gets knocked over by Lily Tomlin, a waitress married to limo driver Tom Waits. Her daughter, Lili Taylor, is married to make-up artist Robert Downey Jr and they are friends with sex-caller Janet Jason Leigh and her pool-cleaning husband, Chris Penn, who cleans MacDowell and Davison’s pool and lusts after their young neighbour, cello player Lori Singer, who is the daughter of Annie Ross, a jazz singer who Waits often goes to watch. Meanwhile, MacDowell and Davison are visited by Davison’s father, Jack Lemmon, in the hospital where the doctor who treats their son is Matthew Modine, married to artist Julianne Moore, whose sister Madeleine Stowe is married to biker cop, Tim Robbins, who is having an affair with Frances McDormand (whose ex-husband is pilot Peter Gallagher) but also hits on Anne Archer, a clown married to Fred West who has discovered a dead body on a fishing trip with friends. Archer and West go for dinner with Modine and Moore, whilst MacDowell and Davison are bombarded with sinister calls from the baker, Lyle Lovett.
I may easily have missed something out, and these intertwined narratives don’t begin to tell you how complex the various lives included can be. The interactions between different stories isn’t as important as the intimate dramas played between each pairing (it’s usually a couple), with each story revealing a different insecurity or frustration that exists within suburban American life.
Robert Altman made all kinds of films but showed a definite skill with ensemble casts, with the big names involved here suggesting the quality of his work and the high regard he is held in even in Hollywood, where he existed on the peripheries for many years. It is a mixed cast but the performances are equally brilliant, even from those musicians who have no real acting experience (apart from perhaps Lyle Lovett, who looks quite shocked to find himself in front of a camera). Perhaps most remarkable are the performances from the various children, who support the drama by adding to the familial atmosphere of each minor tragedy.
It’s certainly not a cheerful film but it is a powerful work with a collection of fine performances, great, subtle writing and excellent direction. It takes us into an unsettling world where nothing is too wrong, but nothing is too right either. Infidelity, murder, selfishness and an unwillingness to communicate and understand one another – it might be high drama but at times it’s rather familiar too.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Tuesday 3 June 2008
Ordinary People (1980)
This extremely emotional film isn’t for the faint of heart but it is very rewarding. It follows a slightly obvious path, with the story of a family grieving the favourite son’s death, and the various ways in which different family members handle their feelings, but the astonishing performances overshadow everything else and really blew me away. Robert Redford, this time behind the camera, once again shows how promising he was back in the 1970s.
Cocoon (1985)
A silly comedy about old people finding a new lease of life thanks to aliens soon becomes a sensitive and emotional story about growing old but refusing to die. With Steve Guttenberg on the side.
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