Film Review with Robert Mann - Extraordinary Measures

Extraordinary Measures **½

Despite all the great stories that can be created in the imagination, there is rarely anything more inspiring than a story that is completely true. For this reason, films based on or inspired by true stories almost always prove popular with moviegoers and occasionally even prove to be successful far beyond anything anyone could possibly have imagined - a la The Blind Side on its release in the states last year. So why then did Extraordinary Measures - based on the novel The Cure by Geeta Anand - flop so disastrously on its release across the pond? It seemingly has all the right ingredients - an inspirational story inspired by true life events, big name stars and by all accounts it was apparently marketed well - yet somehow it was completely overlooked by almost everyone in America. Well, perhaps it is because, unlike that aforementioned film, Extraordinary Measures anything but extraordinary.

Father of three John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is on the way to success in corporate America. But as his career takes off, John’s two youngest children, Megan (Meredith Droeger) and Patrick (Diego Valezquez) are diagnosed with fatal illness Pompe Disease. Supported by his wife Aileen (Keri Russell), John quits his career and harnesses all his skill and determination to fight the disease. He teams up with Dr Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), a brilliant but unappreciated and unconventional scientist. Together they form a bio-tech company to develop a life-saving drug. In this unlikely alliance Stonehill is driven to prove his theories, while John is determined to save his children. But eventually a mutual respect develops as they take on the medical and business establishments in a fight against the system and a race against time.

Extraordinary Measures is not a bad film exactly but it is prevented from being particularly good due to the fact that is just doesn’t feel cinematic enough. When you see a film at the cinema you tend to have certain expectations and this film fails to satisfy several of these. In fact, almost everything about this film screams made for TV, with it often seeming more like a Hallmark Movie of the Week than a movie you should be paying to see at the cinema. The television look and feel is present is virtually every aspect from the camera work and the editing to the script and the music. Some camera techniques seem like they could be right out of a television medical or procedural drama, the way the film has been edited almost makes it seem like points have been allocated for advert breaks, the soundtrack has no real depth and the story is structured as though it is intended for a TV movie or a mini series, often being quite melodramatic and not really engaging enough. Additionally, it seems like a situation arises every twenty minutes or so and is quickly resolved - something that seems right out of a television drama and that has no place in a movie you see at the cinema. All this is perhaps understandable given the production company CBS Films is a division of a US television network but it doesn’t change the fact that all these things are completely out of place in a theatrical release film. It isn’t all bad, however. In spite of the flaws of the script, the story still manages to be both moving and inspirational, despite the overly melodramatic style there are still a few decent dramatic scenes and there are even a few instances of well placed humour. On top of this, the acting is excellent across the board, with perfectly intense performances from both Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford, who are truly convincing individually and whose on-screen interactions are truly electric. The rest of the cast, which also includes Jared Harris and Alan Ruck, also lives up to the high standard. Particularly worth mentioning is Meredith Droeger who delivers a very mature and sincere performance as Megan. Overall, the fantastic acting and the few other strong points does make Extraordinary Measures a film that is worth seeing but the made for television style means that the whole package feels more ordinary than extraordinary.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Film Review with Robert Mann - Leap Year

Leap Year ***

The Hollywood romantic comedy is quite an amazing thing really. Despite there having been so many romantic comedies churned out over the years, so many that it seems more and more difficult to make a truly original romcom, there never seems to be a lack of high concepts around which to base romantic comedies, even if filmmakers often fail to make anything original out of potentially fresh and promising ideas as has happened quite a few times in the past year. Now, we have yet another high concept romcom in the form of Leap Year, albeit one with considerably more promise than mediocre 2009 efforts such as The Proposal and The Ugly Truth, even boasting a better trailer than either of them. It’s pretty much a given that Leap Year isn’t a film that takes the leap at something particularly different - despite the high concept it is still romcom business as usual - but does the film at least manage to be both funny and more importantly romantic - things that have been sorely lacking in some of the other romcoms of the past year?

Uptight Anna (Amy Adams) is desperate for boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) to propose at a romantic dinner on their fourth anniversary. When he doesn't, she decides to take matters into her own hands and take advantage of Leap Day, an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on February 29th. Following Jeremy to Dublin, Anna intends to get down on one knee herself. But bad weather forces her flight to land elsewhere, leaving Anna stranded a long way from her destination. Alone in a strange land, she enlists the help of handsome but rude innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her to Dublin. As Anna and Declan trundle and bicker their way through the rural backwaters of the Emerald Isle, they discover that the rocky road of true love can lead to some very unexpected places.

As is the case with most Hollywood made romantic comedies, Leap Year is a film that you know what to expect from just by seeing the trailer - or perhaps even without seeing the trailer, come to think of it. For starters, the film’s representations of another country, in this case Ireland, are pure Hollywood, conforming to classic stereotypes of what Ireland and its people are like, ignorant of the reality. Virtually all the Irish characters are portrayed stereotypical, although it could also be argued that a few of the American ones are too. So, it is fair to assume that there will likely be moviegoers in Ireland who won’t be particularly impressed by this film. At the very least though the country does provide some very beautiful locations for the events to take place in, so the film certainly looks good. Additionally, the story is wholly predictable, offering no surprises whatsoever, it being glaringly obvious from the start who Anna will actually end up with. This doesn’t prove too much of a failing, however, as the film proves to be very sweet, charming and entertaining. Unlike several romcoms from the past year, it also delivers as much in the romance department as it does as a comedy, the film being very romantic with romance never being sidelined for lame gags and the humour actually being pretty funny, if not particularly memorable and compltely unsophisticated. What really makes the film work is its stars Amy Adams and Matthew Goode who completely carry the film. Adams is as delightful and lovely as ever while Goode makes for a very charming and charismatic male lead and the two share a very sweet and actually quite believable chemistry on-screen, something that seems to be lacking (perhaps deliberately) between Adams and Adam Scott. The rest of the actors are rather less impressive, with John Lithgow completely wasted in a cameo role as Anna’s father who tells her about the Leap Day tradition. Overall, Leap Year is nothing special but if you want to see an undemanding romantic comedy that will leave you with a smile on your face then it may just be worth taking the leap on this one.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Writ Large: Novel To Screen

Since the first film camera rolled for the first time the world of literature has been relentlessly mined as potential celluloid plunder. In 1896 Gerald Du Maurier's book Trilby and Little Billee was adapted into a short, and that same year Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle was made into The Awakening of Rip. With more substantial adaptations of the likes of Ben Hur and Oliver Twist coming at the dawn of the 20th century. It seems like most films these days are derived from some other source material, be it video games, graphic novels or the best-seller chart.

Fourteen of the (current) top 20 highest grossing movies of all-time are based upon children's books, comic books, fantasy fiction, and theme park rides, with the remaining six being three sequels, two James Cameron films (one based on a true story) and a Pixar movie. It makes good business sense to be unoriginal, or, at least, have a solid foundation on which to build your motion picture. Of course, with adaptations you can't always please everyone, and for all the love thrown at Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy there will always be its vehement detractors bemoaning the lack of Tom Bombadill (even in the extended editions). Likewise, Harry Potter fanatics never really seem to be happy, complaining that the film's either cram in too much from the door-stop it's trying to adapt or not enough.

Potentially one of my favourite page-to-screen conversions is a destruction of the artform, in Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's delightfully skewed Adaptation, in which screen-writer Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) struggles to adapt the book The Orchid Thief into a movie. Such is the twisted brilliance of this movie that Charlie's brother in the film, Donald (also Nicolas Cage), was co-credited with the actual screenplay and Oscar nominated despite being entirely fictional himself; further blurring the line between reality and imagination.

Sometimes as a new film based on a novel approaches I am faced with the quandry; should I read the book first or wait for the film? In instances where I've plumped for the latter and then read the novel, I often hear the actor's voices in my head, their nuances effecting my own rhythm of reading, or my mind's eye tries to direct the visuals with whichever director's tics and trademarks. Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (and any other of his writings) will be forever narrated by Johnny Depp in my brain thanks to Terry Gilliam's masterful vision.

It's peculiar how, despite promotional tie-in novelizations, the reverse doesn't seem to occur, that films are adapted into novels with as much respect as a film-maker might take. But then again, often you finish reading a book and think 'This would make a great film!' it's very rare to come out of the cinema, shaking your head and saying 'Well, that would make a better book.' Bizarrely though, during my GCSEs, we studied the tie-in book of Dead Poet's Society, which was, in fairness, written by the film's screenwriter Tom Schulman and featured the immortal line 'Carpe Breastum, seize the breast.' (Not included in Peter Weir's vastly superior film)

2009 ended with one of the most prolificly adapted characters of all-time making his, arguably, most faithful appearance on screen with Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, and over the first months of 2010 we've had the likes of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (a film that surprised me by being worse than a book I found to be terribly written). Next up Tim Burton's take on Lewis Carroll's Alice books is another in a long-line of pseudo-sequels, from American McGee's video game to Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars trilogy. Elsewhere there's been Percy Jackson, Precious, Up In The Air, the Twilight saga; all based on novels with much more doubtlessly round the corner.

In a lot of cases the book shelf seems to be a good springboard into a, potentially more lucrative, career in Courier 12 point. It's a strange thought to start considering how many of your own favourite films are based on something that existed previously in another medium and comparitively how few of the films that reach our screens are wholly original ideas. In a strange way, for me, it's almost a bonus point if a film isn't 'adapted from', 'based on' or 'suggested by'... Though that's not to say a shocking ammount of my DVD collection comes complete with those tags.

Psychotropica OST For Sale

I know a lot of people have enjoyed the Soundtrack for Psychotropica, this being the case Aeryn and RIP/TORN have finally released the original score for the film.

It's available to buy (along with a lot of his other music) here.

Popbitch Goss

Mother's Pride

Angie Bowie sends message to son Duncan Jones, formerly Zowie Bowie, won a BAFTA at the weekend, for outstanding debut by a British director. Alone among the luvvies, his acceptance speech was sweet and truly affecting. So imagine what it must have been like for Angie Bowie to be sent the video clip. Estranged from her 38 year-old son since he was 14, this heart-wrenching note is what she posted on her Facebook page: "Dear Duncan, On your BAFTA win! Well done. I won't have the opportunity of saying this to you so i will write it. Bravo! Congratulations. I am so very proud of you. You are as talented as you are cute! love Mummy".

Introductions

Hello everybody!

I'm Lorna and I'm a brand spanking new contributor on BRWC. I spent a good few hours thinking about what I should do as my first post and it occurred to me that if I dove straight into writing movie reviews and news articles without introducing myself, no one would know anything about me!

I'm 21 and love, love LOVE movies. I have a big respect for directors and am more inclined to make a trip to the cinema if the film in question is made by a director I know I like. There are two or three in particular that I admire the most, including Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrmann and Tim Burton. The thing I find great about these guys is that when you watch a movie directed by them, you can instantly tell. Their styles and ideas are unique and evident in most of their movies and for me, this makes watching them all the more enjoyable.
Anyone who knows me will tell you not to talk to me about movies if you don't want a long conversation - I WILL go on for hours. I'm very excited to finally have somewhere to store my thoughts and views on the movies I see!

As this is my first time doing anything like this I'd really appreciate feedback from you guys on the stuff I write so I can get better and put together a great portfolio of pieces.

Anyway, I look forward to start writing properly (I'm working on a couple of things already - can't wait for you all to read them!) and I'm very happy and excited to be part of the BRWC family!

The Top 5 Things Films Have Inspired Me To Do (Other Than Making Them Myself)

The Top 5 Things Films Have Inspired Me To Do
(Other Than Making Them Myself)
By Damien Sage

In a break from my usual routine of reviewing semi-obscure, bad or mostly un-heralded films I am going to relate to you several odd, idiotic or unusual things films have inspired me to do (mostly as a child or teenager.)

As a bit of a preface however, I am going to say that, as a 24 year old filmmaker I am still to this day doing marginally un-intelligent things in order to reference my favorite films and or TV shows. (Such as in my recent homage to the wondrous talent known as William Shatner, found here: Part 1 and here: Part 2)

Anyways! On to the spoils of my youth!

WARNING: I cannot personally condone the recreation or attempting of these soon to be mentioned activities, actions or games in anyway what-so-ever despite how amazingly fun they were to be a part of.

DO NOT TRY THESE THINGS AT HOME (or anywhere else)!

#5: My Piranha 2: The Spawning Themed 12th Birthday Party-
The title pretty much says it all, but I shall explain further. At age 12 I was quite odd (still am), some of my favorite films at the time were "Tommy" (1975), "Child's Play 2" (1990), "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" (1987) and James Cameron's Directorial Debut (and greatest water bound film) Piranha 2: The Spawning. The party consisted of making the house look like the "Fishing Festival" from the film, Me dressing up as Lance Henriksen's character Police Chief Steve Kimbrough, dressing one unfortunate friend up as Tricia O'Neill's character Anne Kimbrough, having the remaining guests don fake moustaches so as to appear like "swarthy Italian men", playing Pinata with a makeshift paper mache "Grundel Fish" and watching the film itself on loop in my bedroom. The party was a big success, mainly because the movie has boobs (and flying killer fish) in it. And, as we all know there is nothing 12 year old boys find more thrilling than boobs (even queer ones such as I was.)

#4: Dressing as John Saxon for Halloween 3 Years in a Row-
That's right, John Saxon, the man, the myth, the actor, NOT one of his characters. For Halloween ages 9, 10 and 11 I gave myself a thick, make-up tan, spray painted 5 O'Clock shadow, a tight greasy comb over, speckled fake chest hair and slipped into my grandfather's clothing left over from the 1970's going house to house with a leather briefcase saying "Trick or treat" in a gruff, constantly annoyed, yet still warm voice, confusing everyone I encountered highly.

#3: Phantasm- The Game-
As very young boys my cousin and I were exposed to the wonderfully inventive, low budget horror classic Phantasm (1979.) At the time the film became our end all of end all favorite thing in the whole wide world, thusly, we created a game to commemorate it. To play this game we used a silver sphere (made of INCREDIBLY hard plastic), broken off from a "fortune teller" toy and modified to have 3 "killer prongs" (also made of INCREDIBLY hard, JAGGED plastic.) One would then surprise the other player of the game by yelling "BBBBBOOOOOYYYYY!" at the top of his lungs, a la the Tall Man from the film and hurling the ball at the other's forehead as hard as you could, "killer prong" end first. You won the game by successfully ducking the ball, or grabbing it in mid air. You rarely won the game.

#2: Redneck Neighborhood Recreation of the "Cuban Pete" scene from "The Mask"-
From age 9-13 I lived in the mountains of North Carolina. More specifically I lived in a trailer park... in the mountains of North Carolina. Needless to say this time period of my life (being a gay, somewhat intelligent, older movie loving, vocabulary having person) was not particularly nice, but it did have it's moments and this was one of them. I was a big fan of Jim Carrey as most people were, during his golden age (from Ace Ventura through Liar, Liar) and one of my favorites from his canon was "The Mask" (1994.) In particular I loved the scene from the film where Carrey, in The Mask persona, leads a group of street urchins and police officers in a lavish musical number, set to the song "Cuban Pete." As a sign of affection for this sequence (and because we were all incredibly bored) I trained all of the redneck children in my Trailer Park (for two weeks) to do an exact recreation. It was a glorious experience and unfortunately before the days when I owned a camera (if only I hadn't bought all those Star Trek toys!)

#1: Cliffhanger- The Game-
Another story, and my favorite one at that, from my time in the Mountains is the tale of Cliffhanger- The Game, inspired by the 1993 Sylvester Stallone/Renny Harlin film. This game of ours was for 3 players and revolved around the infamous opening sequence of the film (where Sylvester Stallone's character Gabe Walker fails to save Michael Rooker's character Hal Tucker's girlfriend Sarah from a thin line running between a huge, mountainous gorge.) To play this game, first you need a gorge (ours was about 200 feet across and thirty feet deep, if you fell in you would land on ancient, rusted garbage and bramble bushes), then you need some rope (able to hold a couple people) and three people stupid enough to play this game. Player one ("Hal" the neutral player) stands on the side of the gorge opposite Player two ("Gabe" the cliffhanger) with Player three ("Sarah" the victim.) Player one sends Player three out onto the middle of the rope, where Player three then feigns that he or she is going to plummet to their death. Player one then begs Player two to climb out and get Player three. Player two must then scoot out to Player three, grab them in one arm and get back to their starting position without dropping Player three. To add challenge to said activity Player one shakes the rope from his side yelling "Don't you drop her GABE!" at the top of his lungs. In my 4 years in the mountains I probably played this game 50 times or more and I only won twice... sadly, I was the best player...

Films I Enjoy (But Most Do Not Or Have Never Heard Of)

Films I Enjoy
(But Most Do Not or Have Never Heard Of)
Chapter I
By Damien Sage

This is the first appearance of what I hope will be a series of articles about movies, or films as they are sometimes called, that pleasure me highly upon viewing, but don't necessarily tickle other people's fancies (if they have even heard of these celluloid expressions at all.)

Heat (1986)
From 1975-1982 Burt Reynolds was the undisputed king of the box office. This fact is hard to fathom now, but at one point in time Burt's films were the epicenter of cool... then he did Stroker Ace... and Cannonball Run II. Those two movies, in addition to the long forgotten buddy cop/period piece/gangster flick co-starring Clint Eastwood(!) brought Burt's meteoric film career crashing down to Earth. (That and a staggering debt to his toupee maker and an injury during a stunt sequence in the above mentioned City Heat that caused everyone to think he had AIDS.)

By 1986 Burt had resolved SOME of his financial woes and had healed himself up enough to begin working again. Needless to say however the plum roles weren't being offered, so he had to take what he could get. Between 1984 and his big comeback in 1997 with Boogie Nights Burt starred in over a dozen films and a TV show. Out of everything Burt made during that time period about the only films anyone remembers are The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1985) and Striptease (1995.) I will concede that a lot of Burt's films from his "Non-Golden Age" are less than memorable, but some of them are quite good and Heat (1986) is one of the best.

In Heat, Burt lives in Vegas, and plays Nick Escalante a boozed up, washed out, gambling addicted, street saavy, hard boiled hired "heavy." His dream is to save up a big wad of "fuck-you money" and live out the rest of his years in Venice. Burt seemingly gets a shot at his dream when he is hired by a shy millionaire (played by Peter MacNichol) to be his bodyguard during his stay in Vegas. However a great big cog gets thrown into the works when one of Burt's closest friends (a cocktail waitress played by Karen Young) is sadistically raped by a local thug (Neill Barry.) Burt reluctantly agrees to help his friend get some revenge, but he knows deep down that it will most likely end poorly for everyone involved, but especially him...

Heat suffers a bit in the style department due to an obviously low budget, but is still a very solid dramatic action flick. The direction by R.M Richards is slick and gritty. The cast is chock full of character actors (including Diana Scarwid, Howard Hesseman and Deborah Rush in supporting roles) very much putting forth their best efforts, especially Peter MacNichol. The score is also surprisingly well done for a mid-80's affair, lots of sultry saxophone and resonant strings, giving everything a bit of a film noir vibe. But, most importantly Burt is at the top of his post "golden-age" game. Burt gives a tough, world weary, yet witty performance that has a very "Elmore Leonard" quality to it.

If you like Burt, if you like manly-man movies, if you like solid action flicks with a decent sense of dark humor check out Heat.

Blind Fury (1989)
Essentially this is an american take off of Zatoichi (various films from 1962-2003) starring the always wonderful (and woefully underrated/underused) Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind swordsman. Blind Fury also has an impressive cast of character actors that includes Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster, Noble Willingham, Randall 'Tex' Cobb, Sho Kosugi and a young Nick Cassavettes turning in great performances all around.

Hauer and O'Quinn play former friends who served in Vietnam together. One day during a particularly nasty assault Hauer was blinded and left abandoned by O'Quinn. Hauer was captured as a POW and over time he learned to overcome his handicap... and handle a sword with deadly precision. Years later O'Quinn is being forced to make designer drugs for a rich thug (Noble Willingham) who holds his ex wife and kid (Meg Foster and Brandon Call) over his head as incentive. Eventually though O'Quinn gets fed up with his arrangement and decides not to cooperate any longer. Thusly, Willingham sends a team of goons to kill O'Quinn's wife and child. Fortunately Hauer has shown up in town to bury the hatchet with his former friend and is able to at least save the kid from a horrible fate. Hauer then fights his way through man after man trying with all his might to reunite father and son...

Despite how semi-serious the plot summary may sound Blind Fury is very much a comedic action film. The movie has a wickedly funny sense of silly humor, particularly when it comes to dealing with Hauer's blindness. Never the less, the body count is high, the action scenes are furious and the dramatic scenes are often poignant and touching. Blind Fury moves along at a brisk pace and is slickly shot by the always reliable Philip Noyce. Hauer is great as usual, seemingly having a hoot in his role and the rest of the cast, including child actor Brandon Call, work well together and deliver fine performances.

So if a blind, wise cracking Rutger Hauer driving through rush hour traffic, slicing through hoards of goons and doing battle with Sho Kosugi near an electrified hot tub sound appealing to you, please do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy of Blind Fury.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
One of the very few terrifying, true horror films in the semi-classical sense to come out of the 90's. (Referring of course not to thrillers like Silence of the Lambs or Seven, or hip neo-horror flicks like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.) In the Mouth of Madness is an epically underrated film and certainly the last all around great movie John Carpenter has made.

The film tells the story of an insurance investigator (Sam Neill) looking into the disappearance of famed horror novelist Sutter Kane (Jurgen Prochnow.) Kane's novels have been driving his fans crazy (literally, murderously, violently crazy) and the publishing company NEEDS to get Kane's latest manuscript out to the increasingly disturbed masses. Neill begins putting the pieces of Kane's whereabouts together and heads off to find him, winding up in the most hellish trouble anyone could possibly imagine...

I don't want to detail too much of the plot here as it really is something that just should be experienced while watching the film. So I will just say that In the Mouth of Madness is an unrelenting assault to the senses. The film plays with reality, surreality and unreality in a mesmerizing and horrific way. There is psychological terror, there is gore, there are nightmarish Lovecraftian monsters and just genuinely bone chillingly haunting moments that will stick in your mind long after the film has ended. And, as is always the case with Carpenter's films the movie looks immaculate and is put together as only a master can. The acting in the film is also brilliant all around, especially from Neill who turns in a high caliber performance usually not associated with horror films, especially more modern ones.

Student Bodies (1981)
I love Student Bodies because it is a mostly hilarious parody of slasher films made during the peak of the slasher film's popularity. Like most slashers not set on Halloween or Friday the 13th (although according to the opening sequence Student Bodies takes place on both Halloween and Friday the 13th, which happens to be Jamie Lee Curtis's birthday) Student Bodies is starred in and directed by "nobodies." The only well known person associated with the film is Richard Belzer and he isn't even in the movie (he provides the voice of the lecherous, wheezing, constantly narrating killer, known as The Breather.) And as with most non-major-series slasher films of the time period the budget of the film is non-existent. None of these factors detract from the film however, they merely enhance it's satirical similarities to the films it's skewering.

In a sentence, Student Bodies is about a homicidal maniac running about the grounds of Lamab High, killing off the members of the student body one by one.

The film however takes this tried and true genre narrative and turns everything intentionally silly. From the opening sequence that effectively parodies both Halloween and When A Stranger Calls, to the hallucinatory "Final Girl" showdown in the halls of the school where the virginal heroine is chased not only by the killer but the zombies of all the victims, Student Bodies is a warped, hilarious little lost film. Throughout the course of the film you'll get drooling phones, a meowing dog, death by paper clip, odd obsession with "horse head bookends", a creepy janitor seemingly made out of rubber, death by eggplant and a multitude of hilarious blink or you'll miss them non-sequitors; such as a line about how "taking a shower wont get rid of herpes." Student Bodies also helpfully provides the audience with an on screen "body count" meter!

If you like "classic" styled slasher films and didn't think Scream did them too much justice check out Student Bodies and let the laugh count begin!

The Black Hole (1979)
A team of scientists is sent out into the far reaches of space on a pseudo-rescue mission to find out what happened to a long missing giant spacecraft, all of it's crew and the genius who created it. What they find shocks and repulses them and sends everyone involved into a hellish descent into madness and the unknown, the likes of which they could never imagine...

NO I'm not reviewing Paul W.S. Anderson's underrated "The Shining in Space" Event Horizon (1997), I'm talking about Disney's darkest hour 1979's The Black Hole.

Aside from a couple of kid friendly talking robots (voice by Roddy McDowell and Slim Pickens) The Black Hole is a surprisingly bleak and adult affair. The cast is made up of Robert Forster, Maximillian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimeux, Joseph Bottoms and Ernest Borgnine, and each of them turn in great performances; particularly Forster, Perkins and Schell. The Black Hole is directed with great visual flare by Disney veteran Gary Nelson.

The true stars of The Black Hole however are the special effects (which although old fashioned even for the time, hold up exceedingly well today), the intricate and awe inspiring design of the massive spaceship "Cygnus" and the heartless killer robot Maximillian (who, in a much shocking move at the time of the film's release, brutally murders Anthony Perkins on camera in full Technicolor glory.)

The exterior shots of the gigantic Cygnus, all angular metal beams, crosshairs and backlit menace are impressive and remind one of the cold, impending doom of The Nostromo from Alien (also 1979.) The titular Black Hole itself is a swirling paint void of psychadelic color constantly spinning away in the background of the film, shadowing over everything like a dark sun. The interior of the ship too is grandiose and imposing, filled with endless metal corridors, dark cloaked wordless cyborg crew members and askew, sharp angles. When the Cygnus begins to make it's move into the Black Hole we get an extended and striking (if implausible) sequence of glowing meteors cutting through the hull of the ship, destroying everything in sight. And of course, the finale, which I wont spoil, but lets just say, whether you end up loving or hating the film, the ending will stick with you the rest of your life.

While a bit long winded at times I consider The Black Hole my favorite Disney film, mainly because it is so nightmarish and dark (and it was for the longest time the ultimate black sheep in Disney's stable, even going so far as to briefly selling the rights off to Anchor Bay.) I understand however that The Black Hole is getting the "revamp" treatment from the director of "Tron Legacy." I can almost guarantee The Black Hole Version 2 will have about 1/100th the darkness and originality of the original film. And those who derided the semi-cute robots of the original will end up with nothing but that this go around... And probably The Rock in place of Robert Forster... and score by Ashley Tisdale instead of John Barry... *shudder*

Classic Scene : 25th Hour (2002)

"So, why dont you tell us about your friend Nikolai ?"

David Benioff masterfully adapts his own novel for a Spike Lee Joint. The last day of freedom for a man before serving a 7 year jail term for drug dealing. Wonderfully told with a serious of flashbacks, this is one of Director Lee's finest hours as a film maker.

SETTING THE SCENE : Federal Agents Flood (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and Cunningham (Michael Genet) are laying down the law whilst interrogating Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) after a kilo of herion is found in his apartment. However, they may not get the usual response their use to...

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. DAY

Agent Flood : You don't read the papers much, do you smart guy ? In New York, we've a wonderful thing called the Rockefeller laws. Let me educate you. You had a kilo in your sofa. That kind of weight makes it an A1 felony. 15 years to life minimum for a first offence. Now with that much spread in the sentencing guidelines, the judges take their cues from the prosecutors. So if the prosecutors wife busted his chops that morning, you're fucked. You're gone for good. If you get lucky, really lucky and let's say he got some good trim the night before. Maybe he'll plea you off to an A2. But that's still 3 to 8 for first time, minimum. How much of that stretch you pull is all up to the mood of the prosecutor. And he's gonna ask us, "Did he play ball ?" So, why don't you tell us about your friend, Nikolai ? Let us make it easy on you.

Monty Brogan : (to Agent Cunningham) Can I ask you one question ?

Agent Cunningham : Sure.

Monty Brogan : When you have your dick in his mouth, does he just keep talking like that ? Cause it seems to me he just never shuts up. I'm just curious does that get annoying ? You know, you're fucking a guy in the mouth and he just won't shut up ?

Agent Cunningham : Look here, you vanilla motherfucker. When you're upstate, takin' it in the "culo" by a buncha guys callin' you Shirley, you'll only have yourself and Governor Rockefeller to thank for the privilege.

Mic Macs Quick Review

This is the new film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and stars French comedian Dany Boon as Bazil. Bazil sees dad die via landmine as a young boy. Decades later, Bazil is working in a video shop when a stray bullet lodges itself in his brain; the doctors decide not to operate, but when he leaves hospital he finds himself both homeless and jobless.

He then tracks down the company the bullet was made by, and creates a team of misfits to take revenge on the arms dealers that shot him.

This film has lots of silent movie type gags and a bizarre sense of humour.

The look of the film stunning and has the familiar yellow hue we have seen with Amelie. There’s a frenetic caper-esque pace and a high lever of energy.

Mic Macs is weird, inventive and has that French feel and look. It's not as wonderful as Amelie but it has enough going for it. The crazy, pacy plotlines and the visual gags and wordplay keeps it going.

132 Exclusive Red Carpet Photos from the 2010 Orange BAFTA Awards

Awesome UK film blog HeyUGuys have over 100 exclusive pics from last night's red carpet at The BAFTAs.
Click here to see the likes of Prince William, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Vera Farmiga, Noel Clarke, Quentin Tarantino, Carey Mulligan and more!

Shutter Island - A Review by Trevor Smith

Director : Martin Scorsese

Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Michelle Williams, John Carroll Lynch, Patricia Clarkson and Elias Koteas.

Four words within the film industry probably give the majority of movie lovers a bigger buzz than anything else – ‘A Martin Scorsese Picture.’ Just seeing the words on a gigantic screen at your local cinema can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Add to that an adapted screenplay from a Dennis Lehane novel – after the brilliant book to screen conversion Mystic River (2003) and equally as good Gone Baby Gone (2007), and you unequivocally have a mouth watering combination.

Few Directors no matter what film they make will give you urgency and excitement more than any other prior to a release. In addition to Scorsese, Spike Lee, Terence Malick, Quentin Tarantino and Clint Eastwood may bring you similar enthusiasm as they do for me. I am literally counting down the days to see one of these masters unveil their work on the big screen, after all there will be no more new releases from Kubrick, Leone and Hitchcock.

Shutter Island is a mental institution for the criminally insane – of the most heinous kind. It is split into three sections – A, B and C. With the latter housing some of the most dangerous people on earth. Federal Marshals Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) arrive on the island investigating the disappearance of an inmate but find it increasingly difficult to access files and speak to the necessary people – made possible from Doctors Cawley (Kingsley) and Naehring (Sydow). Teddy begins to experience vivid hallucinations and truly horrifying dreams... But what is going on here ? And is all what it really seems...

There is no build up – Scorsese grabs you from the opening shot and you are locked in for over 2 hours and 15 minutes... there is no escape for the audience and perhaps no escape for the Federal Marshals either. Scorsese opts to chill you psychologically with a gripping, thought provoking, well lit post war stylish approach to film noir. The screenplay from Laeta Kalogridis enhances this, with some considerable amount of bizarre dialogue for dramatic effect along with some seriously intense acting by DiCaprio – on his fourth instalment with Scorsese. He is yet to top his finest work to date though, as American icon Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004).

Even someone who is considered by some the best Director alive will not get it right all the time. Mark Ruffalo is a fine actor – What Doesn’t Kill you (2008) and Reservation Road (2007) is full proof of that. However his character here doesn’t allow him to act as there is not enough depth to him – perhaps for good reason – but still, this is a little disappointing. CGI (I’m almost certain) is used for the ocean in the opening sequence while Teddy and Chuck are on the boat, which considering this is a Scorsese film is most peculiar and it may leave you feeling a little ‘ripped off’. In terms of the story, you do get the feeling your being ‘led up the garden path’, so the outcome is definitely not the surprise it is attempting to be – however this is rescued with a nice touch just before the credits begin to roll.

Sergio Leone was the master of extreme close-ups but Scorsese must use more in this movie than the entirety of Leone’s filmography ! Certainly used to ramp up the tension and create paranoia in the mind of the viewer. Michael Mann is perhaps the only other director who can elevate anxiety and fear out from the mind of one of his characters into the mind of the audience – but Scorsese is the master of it. Think Cape Fear (1991) was his great thriller ? Wait till you see Shutter Island.

Warning : There are countless shots and scenes of dead children, which some viewers – particularly parents, will ultimately find disturbing.... But this is precisely what Scorsese is aiming for.

Rating 4 / 5 stars.

The BAFTAS 2010

I did pretty good with my predictions.
The winners are in bold, the blue ones are my picks.

Best Film
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Precious
Up in the Air

Outstanding British Film
An Education
Fish Tank
In the Loop
Moon
Nowhere Boy

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Neill Blomkamp, District 9
James Cameron, Avatar
Lone Scherfig, An Education
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Andy Serkis, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Supporting Actor
Alec Baldwin, It's Complicated
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Alfred Molina, An Education
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress
Anne-Marie Duff, Nowhere Boy
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious
Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy

Original Screenplay
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Film not in the English Language
Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Let the Right One In
A Prophet
The White Ribbon

Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
Up

Cinematography
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Road

Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
An Education
A Single Man
The Young Victoria

Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Up in the Air

Make-Up & Hair
Coco Before Chanel
An Education
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Music
Avatar
Crazy Heart
Fantastic Mr Fox
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Up

Production Design
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inglourious Basterds

Sound
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek

Short Animation
The Gruffalo
The Happy Duckling
Mother of Many

Short Film
14
I Do Air
Jade
Mixtape
Off Season

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson (directors/producers, Mugabe and the White African)
Eran Creevy (writer-director, Shifty)
Stuart Hazeldine (writer-director, Exam)
Duncan Jones (director, Moon)
Sam Taylor-Wood (director, Nowhere Boy)

Orange Rising Star Award
Jesse Eisenberg
Nicholas Hoult
Carey Mulligan
Tahar Rahim
Kristen Stewart

Outstanding contribution to British cinema
Joe Dunton

#BAFTAS

YES!

The Baftas are a bit later today. Here are my predictions and these guys are blogging and taking pics from the red carpet, as we speak.

dsatthemovies

heyuguysblog

Filmstalker

thelincmagazine

Film4

Film Review with Robert Mann - The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones ***

Probably one of the big losers among the hopefuls for this year’s Academy Awards, not receiving a single nomination, The Lovely Bones is also perhaps the most surprising film to be overlooked. After all, it’s directed by Peter Jackson, whose The Lord of the Rings received massive critical and public acclaim and whose final instalment The Return of the King was a massive Oscar winner; it’s based on the also critically acclaimed bestselling novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; and it boasts a fairly impressive cast line up. So, why has it been snubbed by the Oscars? Well, apparently because it isn’t actually that good. Released back in the states on limited release way back last year and nationwide earlier this year, the film has not only received lacklustre at best reviews from critics but generated poor word of mouth among moviegoers (and consequently flopped at the US box office), suggesting that The Lovely Bones might not actually be all that lovely. And the assessment of movie critics isn’t entirely wrong on this one.

Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) has loving parents, Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and Abigail (Rachel Weisz), as well as her wise and kindly Grandma Lynn (Susan Sarandon). There's also a budding romance between Susie and Ray (Reece Ritchie). But tragedy strikes, and Susie is just 14 years old when she is horrifically murdered on December 6th, 1973. Finding herself in the ‘in-between’, a world that is neither Heaven nor earth, Susie, guided by one of her killer’s past victims, Holly (Nikki SooHoo), is able to watch over those she has left behind - among them acquaintance Ruth (Carolyn Dando), who seems to be able to see through to the next world - and try to help them catch her killer and rebuild their lives, unable to move on to the next world until her killer has been caught and justice achieved and her family and friends have found peace. Her father has all the pieces of the puzzle but can't put them together, while detective Len Fenerman (Michael Imperioli) questions neighbour Mr Harvey (Stanley Tucci), and Susie's sister Lindsey (Rose McIver) embarks on her own dangerous hunt for the truth.

There is definitely validity in criticisms that have been made of The Lovely Bones. Is the film a masterpiece? Absolutely not. But on its own terms, is it a good film? Mostly yes. The Lovely Bones doesn’t actually seem like one complete film but rather two very different films glued together - one a CG heavy fantasy and the other a murder thriller - and one of the big things that lets the whole down is that the two don’t entirely gel together. On their own, either could have been great (though that would be besides the point) but together they don’t entirely work in unison, often getting in the way of each other. This isn’t to say that neither aspect delivers, though, simply that neither delivers at 100% efficiency. Both aspects undoubtedly have their strengths. The CG realized fantasy world of the ‘in-between’ is breathtakingly, enchantingly and stunningly beautiful, providing a feast for the eyes and a truly delightful glimpse at what may lay in the world beyond this one, as well as providing the perfect visual representation of everything positive about Susie. Meanwhile, events in the world of the living effectively create suspense and tension as Susie’s family attempt to expose her killer. The real world also gains from terrific attention to detail with the look, feel and sound of 1970s America being perfectly captured in locations, costumes, cars, props, the soundtrack and little details that only the most observant of viewers will notice. In fact, the film gets off to a very strong start, with voiceover narrations by Susie telling who the killer is before her murder occurs and allowing a sense of impending dread to build up, effectively creating tension leading up to the event. Sadly, however, the event itself fails to capitalise on this. Director Peter Jackson’s decision to not show the murder itself detracts tremendously from the emotional impact the event should have and consequently much of what follows also lacks the emotional punch that it should effortlessly create. The film as a whole is quite strangely lacking in emotion, with scenes that should bring you to tears failing to do so and thus one of the greatest assets of Alice Sebold’s novel is lost in the translation from page to screen. Certainly, anyone who has read the book is likely to feel somewhat cheated. The film is also hit and miss in other aspects. Even on its own terms, the storytelling is far from perfect and due to inconsistent performances from the film’s cast the characters don’t all come across the way they should. For instance, Mark Wahlberg is rather miscast as Susie’s father and despite a very good performance from Rachel Weisz as her mother, there really isn’t enough of a chemistry between the two. Meanwhile, Susan Sarandon is quite excellent but is extremely underused, while Stanley Tucci is suitably sinister as Susie’s killer but perhaps a bit too obvious in his portrayal of the evil neighbour lurking in the shadows. On the upside, Saoirse Ronan is simply outstanding as Susie, acting well beyond her years, delivering a mature and completely convincing yet also extremely adorable performance that truly captivates us and almost makes us cry at times in spite of the shortcomings resulting from Peter Jackson’s direction. So, overall, The Lovely Bones is indeed a film that has many flaws, but it nonetheless has more than enough strong elements to make it worth seeing, proving to be a quite uplifting viewing experience, even if it won’t change your life. So, good but not quite lovely.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

A Quartet Of Posters

I have a few posters for you. You lucky pup.

Here is the UK quad for Chloe, the poster for the documentary Phyllis And Harold, the latest one sheet for The Secret Of Kells, and a film I cannot wait for - SuicideGirls Must Die!

Enjoy.

Film Review with Robert Mann - Solomon Kane

Solomon Kane ***

The creation of pulp fiction writer Robert E. Howard, known for characters such as Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror and Red Sonja, Solomon Kane is a character that can be distinctly classified as an anti-hero. Extremely dark, even by the standards of Howard, who has written some pretty dark stuff, he is a character that makes even the likes of Batman seem quite tame by comparison and, given the big screen potential for such a character, it is actually rather surprising that he hasn’t been brought to the big screen before. Now, that he finally has been brought to the big screen, though, has it been worth the wait?

Much-travelled 16th Century mercenary Solomon Kane (James Purefoy) realises that his evil deeds have ensured that his souls is damned and that if he strays from the path of peace Satan's creatures will come to claim him. Having renounced violence, Solomon travels to England, where he meets William Crowthorn (Pete Postlethwaite), who is travelling with his wife Katherine (Alice Krige) and children Samuel (Patrick Hurd-Wood) and Meredith (Rachel Hurd-Wood). It seems that new beginnings may be possible, but when they encounter a devastated settlement it becomes clear that Malachi (Jason Flemyng), a sorcerer in the service of the Devil is enslaving the weak and recruiting the strong as soldiers for the Devil’s ungodly armies. When the demons attack the Crowthorns, Solomon knows that if he fights back he is bound for hell. But it's a price he will gladly pay. With his dying breath, William tells Solomon that if he saves his daughter Meredith, his soul will be redeemed...

Going into Solomon Kane you will probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect and for the most part this is exactly what you get. There are, however, a few things that set this film apart from other films in the sword and sorcery genre, things you may not expect. For starters, the acting is much better than it really needs to be. James Purefoy is excellent as the titular character, delivering a thorughly convincing performance of a character that is actually more complex than you might expect. He is ably backed up by a a strong supporting cast, including brief roles from Max Von Sydow and Mackenzie Crook, although no one even comes close to matching the screen presence that Purefoy has. It certainly helps that the script, written by director Michael J. Bassett, actually takes a decent stab at things like plot and character development, providing some background, in the form of flashbacks to Kane’s childhood, into who Kane is and why his life has turned out as it has, and while the writing isn’t wholly successful - a late plot twist comes as no surprise, for instance - with substance falling by the wayside, the film still has far more going for it than some other similar films. Another area in which the film delivers more than you might expect is in the action. Whereas many movies opt to do everything with visual effects, Bassett has instead taken the route of doing as much as possible for real. So, we have fight sequences that are 100% real, both shot and choreographed excellently. Not only are the fights shot for real but Purefoy himself is the man doing the fighting, not a stuntman and the approach makes for something that is far more realistic and gritty, and thus more thrilling, than in films that opt for CGI where the results often seems somewhat akin to a videogame. Here is one example - in a scene where Kane is fighting a man who is on fire, when the scene was being shot, Purefoy really was fighting a man who was on fire. Just knowing that makes the scene all the more thrilling. The practical approach to the fights doesn’t mean that there is no CGI at all, though, as there is some, even if it is very little. Understandably, it is not the best CGI you will ever see but considering the low budget, the effects are still quite decent and certainly get the job done. Visually, the film isn’t entirely impressive. While the 17th century is captured quite authentically in things such as locations and costume design, the low budget means that the film is lacking the sense of scale it could really do with. This is one of the key things that prevents the film from really standing out. Nonetheless, though, it is hard to deny that Solomon Kane is a film with many strengths that certainly set it apart from other forays into the sword and sorcery genre and even though I highly doubt anyone will actually love this film, it is still a pretty entertaining way to spend an hour and a half and one that may enjoy more than you would expect.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Open Your Heart

Michel Gondry has directed a new music video. It is Mia Doi Todd's Open Your Heart.



After several years conceptualizing a video involving dozens of dancers wearing bright multi-colored outfits, Michel found a perfect fit with Mia's tune. The music was produced and arranged by long-time friend and collaborator, Jon Brion and the video features the Riverside Community College Marching Band.

Enjoy.

I'm Here... And A Couple Other Places

I'm Here: ABSOLUT Vodka partnered with cult film-maker Spike Jonze to make a 30 minute movie to show that 'ordinary is no place to be'. The result was a love story between 2 robots. Tickets to premiere screenings in out of the ordinary locations here.

Alice MySpace

Tonight at 1am is a special fan event live from Los Angeles. Expect members of the Alice In Wonderland
cast and four big music acts performing. Check out the official MySpace page for more info.
Also, to celebrate the release of Alice In Wonderland, Walt Disney Pictures and MySpace are offering one lucky person a pair of tickets to the Royal World Premiere of Alice In Wonderland on February 25^th.

Click on the pic.

Green Screen Bedlam!

"As one how has been around the tv and film industry for a long time, this is just cheaper and easier to do green screen. Location shooting is time consuming costly. The amount of variables that you can lose control of while on location make it better with GS. One way to tell if it is GS or not is to watch the edges of the actors. certain backgrounds or clothing types do not always come off as cleanly as others do. Also watch for subtle lighting mismatch, or just slightly odd perspective cues. Occasionally you can still catch a gaff and a green matching color will show up a piece of video where it is not supposed to be."

Read more of the comments here.

Quick News Blast 3

Mr Lucas reshoots Red Tails.

What Chris Morris said about controversial suicide bomber comedy Four Lions at Sundance.

Spielberg goes back to the dinosaurs.

The new Wall Street trailer gives us more Gekko.

Quick News Blast 2

Avatar Pandorum poster mashup.

Tom Hanks grabs Summer Hours.

Criterion have posted Chris Darke's essay on Steve McQueen's Hunger.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan digs into The Fields.

Made In Pakistan/Frost

The recent UK release of Made In Pakistan was covered by the Al Jazeera television show Frost Over The World on February 12th, 2010.

Sir David Frost introduced the documentary as “A remarkable film showing a different side to Pakistan” and interviewed the documentary's producers, Adil Sher and Hiba Sher.

Inspired by the Newsweek article proclaiming Pakistan as “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth”, the documentary examines the lives of four Pakistani individuals from diverse backgrounds and attempts to show aspects of Pakistan seldom revealed. "We felt that the Taliban and the fundamentalists do not represent all of Pakistan, it's just a very slight minority, yet they're the ones who are the face of Pakistan to the outside world," says director Nasir Ali Khan. "Pakistani youth have realized that their future lies in making this nation work."

Crimes of Passion (1984) A Review Of Passion By Damien Sage

Crimes of Passion (1984)
A Review of Passion by Damien Sage

In 1984 the perpetually whacked out and perennially brilliant Ken Russell released what I like to think of as his magnum opus (at least outside of his more "serious" films), the depraved, candy colored, pitch black-comedy-melodrama Crimes of Passion. In a sentence (and a very accurate sentence at that) the film can be summed up as "Kathleen Turner plays hooker with a heart of gold China Blue and Anthony Perkins plays the crazed, popper snorting, bible thumping street "preacher" that wants to kill her... with a razor dildo."

Needless to say, just based on that brief summary, every man woman and child on Earth should watch this film immediately, but I will go on and try to convince you further.

In less than the nutshell above Crimes of Passion, at its core, is an intelligent and visceral celebration of sexual freedom and a condemnation of plane Jane vanilla sex. The film's narrative follows two "couples" as they interact or intersect and go about their lives. One, a normal (yet deeply unhappy) long married pair Bobby and Amy Grady (played by John Laughlin and Annie Potts respectively.) And, one not so normal (or really together at all) Fashion Desginer/Greatest Hooker on the Planet, Joanna Crane/China Blue and the Reverend Peter Shayne (played by Kathleen Turner and Anthony Perkins.)

As Joanna Crane, Turner is a cold, icy bitch, who spurns men and sex, seemingly afraid of it. (She dresses like a man at work and displays a short-ish aesexual haircut.) As China Blue, Turner is a sassy, quick witted, "object of ultimate desire" for every man she runs across. (She sports a shoulder length platinum blonde "Cleopatra" do' and a short, skin tight, blue satin dress when she makes her nightly rounds.) China Blue is the schoolgirl, the dominatrix, the sexy stewardess, etc. Whatever you need her to be, she is, she's like some magical sex fairy. The downside to China Blue, however, is that she isn't really fulfilling her desires at all, just those of everyone around her.

Adding to her troubles is that China Blue has an "admirer" (stalker) in the form of the Reverend Peter Shayne. As Shayne Anthony Perkins delivers his MOST deliriously over the top performance in a career piqued with many classic deliriously over the top performances. Perkins is both hilarious and horrific to watch on screen. One minute he's outside a seedy Porno shop blasting bible verses at the passerby's, caked in sweat and seething with fervor. The next minute he's inside a peep show leering at blazé strippers, snorting poppers and imagining viciously stabbing blow up sex dolls to death.

It is during one of Shayne's impromptu sermons that he spies China Blue walking the streets, immediately becoming obsessed with "saving her." Unfortunately for China Blue however, "saving her" means fucking her to death with a gleaming razor dildo that Shayne keeps in his always on hand bag of deviant sex toys. Whatever is a girl to do?

This is where our normal and deviant worlds begin to collide. After years of trying to please his prudish, conservative wife, Bobby Grady has come to his wits end. Laughlin and Potts provide the anchor of normalcy to the film. Laughlin is a funny, handsome, "perfect husband" working hard to keep his family in a decent way of life. His performance is warm and likable, but still with realistic moments of edge. As his wife, Annie Potts is a bit shrill, but still believable as a woman who is totally uncomfortable with all subjects sex.

One night, while out on his job, Grady runs across China Blue and becomes infatuated with her as well. Eventually he ends up becoming one of her "clients." And in their lengthy, lustful encounter they both experience perfect sexual exhilaration for the first time in either of their lives. As the film continues onward China Blue struggles to figure out how to balance the men in her life (her crazed stalker and her romantic stalker) and merge the uptight worlds of Joanna Crane with the loose freedom of her street walking persona.

As usual Russell delivers his film in a gorgeous yet abstract visual way, with garish colors (lots of thick blues, purples and reds drench the screen) and surrealistic interludes. The film is exceptionally well paced, shot and cut. The dialog, particularly between Turner and Perkins (who both seem to be having the time of their lives onscreen) is equal parts catty, witty, memorable and infectious. The only downside I've ever had with the film is the soundtrack by Rick Wakeman. His odd, offbeat, synthesizer/rock score both adds and subtracts from the film. It fits the tone of the movie, but is just so odd unto itself that it becomes mildly off putting.

Also, to be of note, the film does not shy away from any of it's subject matter. There are copious amounts of female and male nudity, particularly from Turner. The sex scenes in the film are explicit and kinky (in one instance China Blue viciously rides a cop, whilest screwing him with his own night stick.) And the violence depicted onscreen is just as in your face and vivid as the erotic aspects. Crimes of Passion is not a culty-dark comedy/drama for those who embarrass easily.

In the end Crimes of Passion is a film that could never be made today (this is one of the main reasons I love the film and most of Ken Russell's canon.) Yes, more than ever people take part in kinky sexual activities and pornographic delights. But, they do it behind closed doors for the most part, or, at the very least with tightly closed, hypocritical lips. Add to that no filmmaker today could tackle divorce, sexual repression, sexual deviancy, morality and amorality in such a frank and realistic, but still skewed and humorous way. And of course A-List actors balk at whipping out one breast or half an ass cheek on screen today unless they are sure to get an Oscar Nomination for the role. Crimes of Passion is a film with big hairy balls (among other things) and the era of cinema we live in now is at best a "tweenager" that's just gotten his first "big boy" hair.

This is why I give Crimes of Passion 10 gleaming razor dildos out of 10!

Brendon Connelly Is Awesome

Brendon Connelly is an awesome man, and an awesome film blogger.

He has left a message on his film ick blog recently.

"I'm somewhat bemused that it's a group of people who think taste in films comes down to just that - taste and nothing more - that seem to be the angriest when I express an opinion on cinema that they don't like. If you think my dislike of Scorsese's movies is just taste, then why should you care? Different strokes and so on, eh?

But I don't personally believe it's just a matter of taste. Indeed, I think there are a good number of objective criteria for the discussion of a piece of film craft. I'm looking forward to a future where evidence based objectivity is applied to film discussion at least as much as it is to music by musicologists. In fact, I think a scientific discussion of film craft is long over due...."

Please, read the rest of this post and comment.

Quick News Blast 1

A new film school will hopefully produce the next generation of renowned Irish filmmakers.

Quentin Tarantino talks to BAFTA.

Scream Of The Bikini trailer.

A new film starring Naama Kates from Cookies & Cream!

Mic Macs

This coming Sunday, I'm hoping to see Mic Macs.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Mic Macs (Mic Macs a Tire-Larigot, original language fans) stars French comedian Dany Boon as Bazil, whose father is killed by a landmine as a young boy. Decades later, Bazil is working in a video shop when a stray bullet lodges itself in his brain; the doctors decide not to operate, but when he leaves hospital he finds himself both homeless and jobless.

While wandering the streets, Bazil falls in with old-timer Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle), who introduces him to a makeshift family of scrap-collecting misfits, including human cannonball Buster (Dominique Pinon), maths whizz Calculator (Marie-Julie Baup), homily-spouting Remington (Omar Sy), matronly Mama Chow (Yolande Moreau) and a contortionist with a resistance to cold (Julie Ferrier). One day, Bazil discovers the offices of two rival weapons manufacturers (Andre Dussollier and Nicolas Marie) and, realising that one made the bullet in his brain and the other made the landmine that killed his father, decides to take them both down, with a little help from his new friends.

See the trailer here.

Mic Macs was in the London Film Festival and this how they introduced it -

Cinematic fantasy, topical subject matter, edge-of-the-seat pacing and witty wordplay combine in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest outing.

Is it better to live with a bullet lodged in your brain, even if it means you might drop dead at any time? Or would you rather have the bullet taken out and live the rest of your life as a vegetable? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Is scrap metal worth more than landmines? Can you get drunk by eating waffles? Can a woman fit inside a refrigerator? What's the human cannonball record? All these questions and more are answered in Mic Macs, the latest dazzlingly cinematic outing from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a satire on the arms trade which grounds this director's cinema of fantasy firmly in reality. Dany Boon leads a terrific cast including André Dussolier, Dominique Pinon and the matchless Yolande Moreau in a thrilling comedy about one man's plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers, with a little help from his friends. Few directors are more imaginative and inventive at creating their own distinctive on-screen worlds (Delicatessen, Amélie), and the aesthetic sensibility at play in Mic Macs is breathtaking. Better yet, it works in tandem with pacy, edge-of-the-seat storytelling and no end of visual gags and witty wordplay.

Review will be up on Sunday, hopefully....