Thursday, September 30, 2010

Thoughts on... Zodiac (2007)

Zodiac, 2007.

Directed by David Fincher.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Chloë Sevigny, Elias Koteas and Dermot Mulroney.


SYNOPSIS:

A San Francisco cartoonist becomes obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer, a murderer with seemingly random targets who sends cryptic codes and threats to the city's police and media.


Today I rejoiced in the death of summer. Like a smug old miser I strutted contentedly amongst the pug faced, mourning proles, at once detached from and amused by their sodden gripes and moans. The streets were pelted a gloomy grey and everyone lamented the arrival of the dreary and the damp. I on the other hand basked in the murk and inhaled the invigorating moisture of decay. I smiled at the amber dying leaves on the trees through wet windows clustered with restless droplets. I watched the drones as they collided with other droids in the street and promised to meet up, both equally delighted at any sort of forthcoming event to disrupt the bleak routine, and felt satisfied with my own ongoing, indefinite ok-ness, which was somehow above the desperate need for meaning so evident here in their drizzle beaten faces. I would enjoy the death throes of autumn as they confined the summer to the past and await the renewal.

I suspect that this sort of contented and acceptable lonely misery is but a few misplaced steps from disaster. It’s not natural or healthy to find comfort in a puddle, joy in soaked litter or amusement in swaying, torturous supermarket queues. But such are the pitfalls of isolation and having too much time on your hands. Before you know it you’ll be getting such weird fulfilling highs and exciting kicks out of misery that you’ll be actively seeking out other people's or worse dabbling in a little sadness creation.

So perhaps serial killers simply have too much time on their hands and so do the hacks that get fascinated by their exploits, like Jake Gyllenhaal’s character Robert Graysmith in David Fincher’s 2007 “lightly fictionalised” film Zodiac, of the Californian murders. Fincher’s latest project The Social Network stars rising Brit Andrew Garfield and is a largely factual account about the creation of social networking site Facebook and the odd personalities behind it. Similarly Zodiac treads the ground of a true story and follows a number of insular, eccentric and withdrawn individuals who become consumed by the case and the need to break the code left repeatedly by the killer as the key to his identity. Indeed at times the film feels like a fly on the wall documentary following the investigation, flipping between various angles such as the police department and the journalists captivated by letters sent to their papers. The period detail is vividly executed and both Fincher’s direction and James Vanderbilt’s script must be praised for a striking realism. However the sizeable chunk of the movie that deals with the years in which the murders themselves takes place flashes by without focus, jumping rapidly through weeks, months and then years at a time, never quite deciding whether or not to follow the progress of the detective, the reporters or Gyllenhaal’s awkward, gifted cartoonist.

The disjointed nature of the first half of the film may not be Fincher or the script’s fault, as it may simply reflect events. The fact remains though that once Graysmith the cartoonist becomes properly fixated on the case the story is anchored and becomes far more engaging. During the first half of the movie Gyllenhaal’s character is introduced but then quickly becomes a periphery figure, only for him to become the much needed focus later on, with better opportunities for character development. Graysmith’s obsession drives a wedge between himself and his family, as he dredges up the past during a time when the Zodiac killer is not even active. He begins to piece together bits of the puzzle, bits the audience has already seen in the frenetic fast moving first segment of the movie. The film’s actors such as Mark Ruffalo, who plays his detective in a brilliant Columbo style, finally get the chance to act rather than simply move through events as Graysmith confronts them and tries to get them to confront their failures in the past investigation and to convince them of the importance of resolving the case. Robert Downey Jr also shines in this section after regressing to a failed drunkard from high flying crime reporter. If Fincher’s new Facebook biopic is as good as early reviews say then it is likely it follows the more focused approach of the latter part of Zodiac, as opposed to its wide ranging opening.

That is not to say there are not a number of good points about the first half of Zodiac, simply that it could have been better with clearer structure and better pacing. As I’ve said the film is always lovingly shot and the period sensually evoked, right down to the ear splitting rings of the telephones during high points of the crisis. There is also a piece of dialogue between police offers from different States over the phone that is at once humorous and sickeningly frustrating, as bureaucratic barriers and petty rivalry block an easy coordinated approach to handling the evidence. Mark Ruffalo’s Columbo lookalike Detective also forms a partnership with fellow investigator Anthony Edwards that is genuine and funny at times and makes the audience care, but sadly the film neither dwells on this relationship long enough for it become truly significant, whilst also lingering too long to damage the rest of the narrative.

The murder scenes themselves are perhaps not surprisingly some of the most gripping in the film and you sense Fincher had more creative freedom whilst shooting them, obviously due to the fact that these sequences had to be more “fictionalised” than others. The first murder is tense and creepy, with sexual undertones hinting at the killer’s motivation. The scene in which the killer kidnaps a mother and baby is distressing and chilling, with suspense hanging thick in the air. Not because you don’t know it’s the killer, the discrete camera angles and suspicious behaviour make this obvious, but because his reaction to the presence of the baby is surprising and what he does will prove just what a monster he is or not. Perhaps the most brazen murder and the one that truly kick-starts the investigation, the shooting of the cab driver in San Francisco, is filmed with a visual flourish reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto the computer game. Fincher has the camera follow the cab from a bird’s eye view as it passes through the bustle of the city, as the player views their vehicle in the early GTA games, with radio music blaring out and then interrupted abruptly by gunshots, and the slow motion splash of blood, followed by children’s screams and a 911 call.

All in all there is no doubt that Zodiac is a well made film full of decent performances and given the sensitive subject matter it was perhaps more important that it presents an accurate factual record than an entertaining story. However those looking forward to Fincher’s new fact-based film will hope it pulls of the feat of both documenting history and making it exciting throughout.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

Killer Talent: A David Fincher Profile

For the Love of Trailers - The Character Piece Edition

What to look forward to (or not) as Louise-Afzal Faerkel casts her eye over the trailers for upcoming releases Flipped, The American and Mary and Max...

FLIPPED

Rob Reiner. Director of films like Stand By Me, Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally. Undeniable classics of the 80’s. Most of us have seen his biggest films. But is this another great classic? I doubt it. Here comes a story about some kid who meets some chick when he moves to a new town. She turns out to be a bit of a bully. Years later, he realises he’s in love with her. Whoop-dee-doo. Talk about a flat catalyst.

There is supposed to be a set of main characters we can all identify with, but we fail to in this case. It might be a gender barrier issue (in my case), it could be the period it’s set in (way before my time). Whatever it is, here is the problem that the trailer makes apparent: the target audience is too narrow. Mr Reiner’s speciality is romantic, lovey-dovey films that are meant to teach us something about ourselves. I have no problem with this, I appreciate the dude’s films, but I have a hard time relating to anything that is going on here.

It’s a celebratory and nostalgic piece, but if the majority of movie-goers (I count myself in this category) are not addressed, the picture will fail. Winning the Heartland’s Truly Moving Award does not help either. It made me cringe a bit, to be frank. It confirms what the trailer exposes the film as: this is a sentimental charade. The film looks like it could be mildly entertaining but purposeless. Period pieces need something new about them. I see none here. It is (probably) sweet but boring.

The structure trailer itself emphasises my point. It is chronological and linear, but the voice over is too broken up and with gaps too wide in between to compensate for the lack of character depth. Paradoxically, this creates an unstructured trailer, meaning you need to watch it a few times before you can assemble the pieces. The snazzy soundtrack does not make up for it either. The bland performances are meaningless, unexciting. I don’t know how many more words I need to describe this film?

Rob Reiner’s nostalgia piece suits no one but himself and his age group.

UK release date: 12/11/10


THE AMERICAN

George Clooney. I am not what you would call a fan. I don’t swoon over him like so many other women; I am not fascinated by his acting. But I can definitely appreciate it when he does good work. This is one of those times.

The American is a thriller about a spy’s last job and happens to get involved with the enemy (put very simply). It is directed by Anton Corbijn, whose debut feature was the critically acclaimed Control about Joy Division’s singer Ian Curtis. A step far away from the narrative of Control, this film looks like it could be a great piece for Clooney. It suits his age, his acting style and is generally a role that comes at a very good time for him as an actor. It is Michael Clayton and Syriana, without the politics. It is a film about making the right choices at a particular time in one’s life.

The trailer is stylish and presents the picture as a big production. The sound design is pitch-perfect and the camera work very suave. The soundtrack is eerie and enjoyable; it avoids the usual sturm and drang effect most thriller soundtracks have, which most certainly sets it apart from the average Hollywood spy movie.

Despite the plot not being incredibly original, it is quite engaging. It has come in many other formats (as have almost all plots). It is straightforward and unorthodox for spy thrillers. The American looks like a film that can pull its own weight and move from screen to viewer with ease. Even to someone like me, i.e. not a middle-aged, silver-haired American fellow, I can still relate to it to a certain extent. I find myself dying to find out how he will cope with his dilemmas, what journey his persona will go through and what the outcome will be. It is a film about loneliness and self-understanding, a character piece that could potentially go deep into this Western man’s psyche. It could be tense, pressurised or sensitive. I hope for a mixture of all three.

Oscar material? I think so.

UK release date: 26/11/10


MARY AND MAX

Once or twice a year, a little, touching and heart-warming film comes along that not only brightens up your day but teaches you or reminds you of important lessons you once learned but forgot in your adult years. I like to think most of these come in the form of animation. Last year’s prime example was Pixar's Up. This year, it’s Mary and Max.

I don’t know a lot about animation. In fact, at film festivals, I opt out of seeing them as live motion is something I hold dearer than (forgive me for the use of the word) cartoons. The fact that this story is based on a true tale and is an animation is an important – if not the major - quality of this movie. Had it been shot in live action, you can only imagine the mushy drama and overwhelming string-based orchestra music triumphantly blazing through the soundtrack. Yuk.

The TV generation (people who were children in the 1960s and onwards) has grown up with animation. Very rarely is it that someone under 30 has not grown up watching cartoons. So it’s comforting to know that plots like MM are still efficient and made (!) in animation form. It avoids a lot of the trouble with acting that can oftentimes ruin a movie like this and destroy its tenderness, reducing to random elements we, the spectators, are supposed to piece together. Animation touches us to the core, as it allows space for emotion. We don’t need to think as much about actors’ performances (not in the same way at least) and it gives us ample opportunity to watch the plot unfold. A simple tale deserves a simple layout.

There isn’t much else to say about this trailer. It presents the characters well and although you might already have an idea where the story is going to end, it is acceptable. The point is the exploration of character and of their relationship, in order to bring back into our lives elements we may have lost. To think that the catalyst derives from a child’s mind (Mary) is fantastic and is something everyone can connect with. It is not naïve, but tender, sweet and hopeful.

It’s a film that is clever and comforting. Get the Kleenexes out everyone.

UK release date: 22/10/10


Louise-Afzal Faerkel

R.I.P. Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

Hollywood legend Tony Curtis has passed away aged 85 after suffering cardiac arrest at his Nevada home late last night, as confirmed this morning by representatives of his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis. Born in New York in 1925, Curtis served in the United States Navy during WWII before studying acting at New York's Dramatic Workshop alongside the likes of Walter Matthau and Rod Steiger. He made his screen debut with an uncredited appearance in the 1949 film noir Criss Cross before going on to enjoy a long and illustrious career with over a hundred film and television credits to his name.

Curtis made a name for himself in the 1950s as one of Hollywood's most versatile and sought-after stars with roles in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and The Defiant Ones (1958), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He then went on to star alongside Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in Billy Wilder's classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), while later roles included a supporting turn in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) and a critically acclaimed performance as notorious murderer Albert DeSalvo in The Boston Strangler (1968).

Thoughts on... Charlie St. Cloud (2010)

Charlie St. Cloud, 2010.

Directed by Burr Steers.
Starring Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Charlie Tahan and Augustus Prew.


SYNOPSIS:

Hours after graduating from High School, Charlie St Cloud (Zac Efron) loses his younger brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan), in a car accident. Five years later Charlie, still grief stricken, visits the ghost of his brother every day, unable to move on with his life. Then he meets Tess (Amanda Crew).

Charlie St Cloud Zac Efron
“Hi, my name is Charlie St Cloud, and I see dead people.” Ok, so that’s not exactly what he says, but he might as well.

The film begins by establishing how close brothers Charlie and Sam are; their mutual love of sailing, baseball, and due to their absent father, a very strong relationship. With Charlie set to leave for college on a sailing scholarship, Sam feels as though Charlie will forget about him, so Charlie promises him that every day at sunset they will practice baseball for an hour until he leaves for college.

Before this promise can be fulfilled, Charlie and Sam are involved in a car accident. Although being technically dead for a few moments, Charlie survives, but Sam doesn’t. Unable to move on with his life, Charlie spends the next few years spending every evening practicing baseball with the ghost of his brother. Then he meets a girl called Tess, and he must choose between a loyalty to his brother, or the girl he loves.

Having not read the book by Ben Sherwood that the film is based on, I can’t compare it to the film. I am going to presume though that at least half of the target audience, Zac Efron fans, won’t have read the book either so you won’t fault me for it. While the film apparently follows some of the book faithfully, they differ in the main characters age. For most of the book, Charlie is an older man (about 30 years old), which makes the impact of him still meeting with his brother every day even greater. However in order to keep Efron cast, in the film only five years pass. While five years is a long time to be talking to a ghost, it doesn’t have quite the same effect.

The film has potential, but one that it never reaches. You cannot fault the casting, Efron plays his grief stricken character better than I ever expected and Amanda Crew shone out in her role of sailing enthusiast Tess Carroll and the chemistry between them definitely showed. Charlie Tahan, who played Sam, was funny and enjoyable to watch while able to tug at your heart strings when the moments came.

That being said, something about the film just did not fit, and one major problem with this film for me was the music. I normally really enjoy the original score music that accompanies films, and often it can act like the final wrapping that completes a film, a great scene can be enhanced so much by a perfect piece of music, and films such as Lord of the Rings, Requiem for a Dream, Atonement or Slumdog Millionaire wouldn’t be the same without the amazing music behind them. I have never found a film which had music that felt more out of tone than Charlie St Cloud. Rolfe Kent, the composer, has created music that I absolutely love including the Dexter theme tune, the soundtrack for Up in the Air, The Men Who Stare at Goats and many more. Yet the music for this film felt, for lack of a better word, interfering. At emotional and tense moments in the film the music was loud and obtrusive but in other parts it barely supported the film at all, and I felt as though for the first time in my life, music was ruining a film for me.

Charlie St Cloud does have the potential; the casting, the beautiful scenery and a powerful and emotional story suggests this could be a great film. However the music, the choice in the amount of time passed since the death, and sometimes the editing bring this film down. If you’re a Zac Efron fan you’ll enjoy this, it’s his best film so far, but if you’re not there are a lot of better films worth watching.

Vicki Isitt

Movie Review Archive

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Killer Talent: A David Fincher Profile (Part 1)

With his latest film The Social Network hitting cinemas this October, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of director David Fincher in the first of a three part feature...

David FincherWatching a behind the scenes documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was a life altering experience for the six year old son of a Life magazine bureau chief and a mental health nurse. “Prior to seeing that, I just assumed that movies took place in real time,” recalled Denver, Colorado born filmmaker David Fincher. “But they were filming train robberies and shoot-outs, and blowing up balsa-wood trains at locations across the West. It never occurred to me that you could infer this whole world, putting together the pieces. It was just revelatory. And that's pretty much when I made up my mind. If you want to be happy, you've got to direct movies.”

Transplanted to California and armed with an 8mm camera given to him as a birthday present, Fincher pursued his cinematic ambition not far from the front doorsteps of movie celebrities such as George Lucas. “In my neighborhood, none of my friends ever looked at the film industry as this thing you couldn't do,” explained the director who along with his friends watched Lucas shoot American Graffiti (1973). Graduating from high school, Fincher landed a job loading cameras and performing animation duties for director John Korty (Who Are the DeBolts?); one of his assignments involved providing the visual effects for Twice Upon a Time (1983) where he met frequent collaborator Ren Klyce. “He'd use his hands and tell a story,” stated Klyce who remembers Fincher’s uncanny ability to find a way to pitch ideas to producers while having lunch with them, “and everyone at the table would be completely silent, listening to him describe this movie idea he had floating around in his head. He had this knack at eighteen to hold court in a very creative manner and suck people in.” The determination of the aspiring filmmaker paid off, for the eighteen year old was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the special effects company owned by George Lucas. For the next four years, David Fincher did matte photography for pictures such as Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).

Presented with an opportunity to director his first commercial, Fincher left ILM to produce a public service ad for the American Cancer Society, featuring a fetus smoking inside a womb; the huge buzz created by the shock value led to TV spots for Revlon, Converse, Nike, Pepsi and Levi’s. “I would never do commercials where people hold the product by their head and tell you how great it is,” remarked the moviemaker. “I just wouldn't do that stuff. It's all inference...The Levis commercials I did weren't really about jeans, the Nike commercials weren't about shoes. The Instant Karma spot was some of the better stuff I got offered, and it was never about people going, ‘Buy this shoe, this shoe will change everything,’ because I think that's nonsense.” Joining Propaganda Films, David Fincher produced a series of high profile music videos for Don Henley (The End of the Innocence), Paula Abdul (Straight Up and Cold Hearted), Billy Idol (L.A. Woman), Aerosmith (Janie’s Got a Gun) and Madonna (Express Yourself and Vogue). “All of a sudden there's this thing called MTV,” stated Fincher, “and I'm going, ‘I know how to do that.’”

Alien3 posterBuoyed by his success as a music video director, the twenty-seven year old approached 20th Century-Fox about helming the third installment of the Alien movie franchise starring Sigourney Weaver (The Year of Living Dangerously). “The idea was not to make a whiz bang, shoot 'em up, but to deal with this character,” remarked David Fincher. “Let's put a forty year-old woman in outer space, not an underwear clad victim like in the first Alien [1979].” The transition from commercials and music videos to feature films was not an easy one. “They probably hired me because they wanted someone to push around,” confessed the moviemaker as he looked back upon his directorial debut Alien 3 (1992). “That was a bad situation. I didn’t respond well to that.”

An escape pod carrying Ellen Ripley crashes on a planet inhabited by a penal colony; unknown to her and the inhabitants is that she has been accompanied by a stowaway – a hostile and vicious predator. “I always thought Ridley [Scott] was brilliant and I never appreciated how brilliant he was until I tried to make this movie,” admitted Fincher whose visual sensibilities have often been compared to those of the British filmmaker responsible for the original Alien. “Actually he came down to the set once when we were setting fire to something. In he walked with his silk suit and one of his big Cuban cigars, looking fabulous. Ridley asked how it was going and I said, 'Really bad.' And he said, 'It never goes well… this is not the way to make movies, make sure you make a little film where you have some control whilst they're beating you up.’” Fincher considered quitting the $50 million production but was warned by his agent if he did that Hollywood would never call upon him again. “The lesson to be learned is that you can't take on an enterprise of this size and scope if you don't have a movie like The Terminator [1984] or Jaws [1975] behind you,” reflected the director. “Because when everybody's wringing their handkerchiefs and sweating and puking blood over the money, it's very nice to be able to say, 'This is the guy who directed the biggest grossing movie of all-time, sit down, shut up and feel lucky that you've got him.' It's another thing when you are there and you're going, 'Trust me, this is really what I believe in,' and they turn round and say, 'Well, who the hell is this guy?'”

Modern Review declared Alien 3 to be the “first $50 million art movie.” Criticism of the picture which earned $160 million worldwide was not confined strictly to the members of the media. “My dentist,” said Fincher, “as he was drilling my teeth, was giving me his thesis on the things wrong with this film and he said, 'When you go out of this movie you haven't gotten away from AIDS, you haven't gotten away from race riots, you haven't gotten away from fear of other cultures.’” The film which stars Charles S. Dutton (Secret Window), Charles Dance (Hilary and Jackie), Paul McGann (Downtime), Brian Glover (Kafka), Vincenzo Nicoli (Sixty Six), Pete Postlethwaite (Dark Water), and Danny Webb (The Upside of Anger) did not go unrecognized as it contended for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Special Effects.

A chance for David Fincher to redeem himself emerged three years later when he was handed a script written by a record store clerk.

Continue to part two.

Watch 10 commercials directed by David Fincher at Unreality Magazine and for more on the director visit The Works and Genius of David Fincher.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

The Star Wars saga heading back to a galaxy near you... in 3D!

After USA Today broke the news late last night about movement on the long-rumoured 3D re-release of George Lucas' epic Star Wars saga, the official site has today confirmed the news that Industrial Light & Magic have been hard at work converting the movies in preparation for their return to the big screen, starting with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 2012. Hollywood Reporter had suggested that the remaining movies would follow annually, although Lucasfilm have since announced that a full release schedule is yet to be determined.

"It takes a critical and artistic eye along with an incredible attention to detail to be successful. It is not something that you can rush if you want to expect good results," said ILM Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll on the process of converting the movies into 3D. "For Star Wars we will take our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience."

So, with a Star Wars Blu-ray box-set release set for 2011 along with this newly announced 3D theatrical return, it looks like fans of Lucas' baby will be handing over their hard earned cash for a few years yet.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Why Has Scott Pilgrim Not Been a Box Office Hit?

Jon Dudley examines the box office performance of Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and asks, why has it not been a box office hit?

Scott Pilgrim vs The WorldEdgar Wright’s latest film, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, was made on a budget of around £38.5m [$60m], but as of today (28th Sept. 2010) has only accumulated a worldwide box office total of just over £27m [$43m]. Granted it has not been released in every territory as yet, but considering it had a marketing budget of between $20-40m why has it not drawn in the masses?

One of the most exciting things for me about living in London is meeting a wide variety of people. I am proud of the different groups of friends I have and how well I get along with them all. However, whilst watching Scott Pilgrim I couldn’t help but think to myself that the group of friends I went to see it with (a self-confessed collection of geeks) were the only people I knew that would find the story, the jokes, the references and the general look of the film genuinely appealing. My other friends - football friends, drinking friends, old work colleagues and school mates, would not have any interest in seeing the film in the first place let alone sitting through the entire movie, which I personally thought was slightly long. When I told an old work colleague of mine that I had seen Scott Pilgrim recently he simply remarked “well I hope that wasn’t your choice.” If I’m completely honest it wasn’t, but my former colleague is a huge film fan so why his shock at seeing a film such as Scott Pilgrim?

Scott Pilgrim vs The WorldThe key to any good film is its story. Audiences want to be able to emotionally engage with the people they spend their money to watch for two hours at a time. An interesting quote in a review of Scott Pilgrim on IMDB says “those who look for purpose in all the pop-up graphics and visual shenanigans will have trouble seeing the point in all this.” This suggests that the movie itself is a homage to video games and pop culture rather than a film likely to attract the mainstream. If you are unfamiliar with the story, Scott Pilgrim gets himself a new girlfriend and has to defeat her seven evil exes in order to have a relationship with her. When he successfully defeats one of her exes they burst into coins ala Mario games of the past. Millions of people grew up playing Mario games, myself included, and they are still as popular as ever having recently celebrated 25 years on our console screens. But people watching it that don’t have a particularly enthusiastic passion for classic games may find themselves thinking “hey, that’s like Mario games. OK, so what happens next in this ‘story’?” - well, that’s what I was thinking anyway!

I have to say that Scott Pilgrim’s gay room mate Wallace, played brilliantly by Kieran Culkin, was very funny and in my opinion stole every scene he was in. And yes I will also admit Michael Cera’s performance was very humourous and showed he has in fact got more than one dimension to him. Since Superbad he has essentially played the same character who’s novelty has gradually worn off (akin to his Superbad buddy Jonah Hill). Both actors have bounced back this month however with performances that show they still have strong comedic screen presences - Cera as Scott Pilgrim and Jonah Hill as the titular character in Cyrus.

In an interview on Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s film podcast Michael Cera is asked to explain the comics on which the film is based. Comic book adaptations are among the highest grossing and visually stunning films in recent times - Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men to name just three - but a film based on a comic that is no where close to the internationally recognised superhero films whose stories and reputations exceed the movie releases is never really likely to appeal to the majority of cinema goers.

Scott Pilgrim vs The WorldIn the same interview Edgar Wright says of the video game references that they are “musical motifs and sound effects designed to provoke a Pavlovian response.” If these were his techniques to engage the viewers then they most certainly worked... but only with it’s niche audience. In his personal movie blog Mark Kermode makes a couple of very interesting points, none more so than when he compares Scott Pilgrim to Howard the Duck. “They both aim for a wide audience,” he says, “but demonstrously they both fail to achieve.” Kermode also goes on to say that although not commercially successful this film will probably go on to gain long term cult success - I whole heartedly agree.

In a film that appears to be all about references rather than relying on a strong and engaging story I couldn’t help but compare it to Edgar Wright’s sitcom Spaced. Spaced was a cult phenomenon and it is still one of my favourite British sitcoms of all time, but where Spaced subtly references all manner of things from zombie films, Star Wars and other classic movies I felt that Scott Pilgrim was an overload of homages just thrown in to get the geeks drooling. It did very successfully, but unfortunately for the film makers and financiers of Scott Pilgrim, geeks are in the minority. In the review of the film by Helen O’Hara for Empire she says that “this is not a film of style over substance but a film about taking responsibility, learning to see the effects your own actions have on others, and ultimately growing up. It’s that coming-of-age story that ultimately makes Scott Pilgrim work, and it’s that that will make it resonate long after the dazzle of its innovative filmmaking has faded.” Unfortunately I disagree with her.

Jon Dudley is a freelance film and television journalist and his 17 minute short film Justification was shown at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

R.I.P. Sally Menke (1953-2010)

Sad news today as the Los Angeles Times reports that film editor and longtime Quentin Tarantino collaborator Sally Menke was found dead in the early hours of this morning, aged 56. Menke had failed to return home from a hiking session in Los Angeles on Monday during an extreme heatwave, with early rumours pointing to this as the cause.

The two-time Academy Award and BAFTA nominee began her career in 1990 on the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie before going on to cut Tarantino's cult debut Reservoir Dogs in 1992. She went on to work alongside the director on each of his following features - Pulp Fiction (1992), Four Rooms (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004), Death Proof (2007) and Inglourious Basterds (2009) - and received Oscar nominations for her efforts on both Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds.

In addition to her partnership with Tarantino, Menke also collaborated with the likes of Oliver Stone (Heaven & Earth, 1993), Lee Tamahori (Mulholland Falls, 1996) and Billy Bob Thornton (All the Pretty Horses and Daddy and Them, both 2000), while her most recent credit came earlier this year with the direct-to-video thriller Peacock.

The Others Guys retain their crown at the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 24th - Sunday 26th September 2010.

Despite stiff competition from three big new releases the Will Ferrell / Mark Wahlberg buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys manages to hold onto top spot in its second week of release, banking £1.29m to give it almost £4.5m here in the UK so far.

Turning to the new faces, Julia Roberts' latest drama Eat Pray Love enjoyed the healthiest opening of the newcomers to take second place with £1.1m. Ben Affleck's highly-rated crime thriller The Town also broke seven figures in third, closely followed by supernatural thriller The Hole with £906k. Meanwhile horror flick Devil rounds out the top five, down three from its second-placed debut last weekend.

After ten long weeks in UK cinemas Pixar's Toy Story 3 finally exits the top five but continues to do decent business with £472k to claim sixth. Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups slips two spots to seventh (a fate also shared by Marmaduke, which props up the chart in tenth), with Tamara Drewe dropping three places to ninth and Resident Evil: Afterlife suffering the steepest fall as it plunges from third to eighth.

Number one this time last year: Fame































































































































































Pos.FilmWeekend GrossWeekTotal UK Gross
1The Other Guys
£1,292,144 2£4,407,746
2Eat Pray Love
£1,165,2341





















































£1,165,234
3The Town
£1,005,0391































































£1,005,039
4The Hole
£906,7221































































£906,722
5Devil£528,9082











































































£1,850,009
6Toy Story 3£472,44910£72,411,225
7Grown Ups£384,1195

























































£6,905,161
8Resident Evil: Afterlife£367,6753















































































£4,124,777
9Tamara Drewe£245,6433









































































£2,103,959
10Marmaduke£244,2856













































































£4,812,133


Incoming...

If you suffer from claustrophobia then you may want to look at alternatives to Ryan Reynolds' latest film Buried (cert. 15), a confined thriller about a man trapped in a coffin somewhere in the Iraq desert [read our rather glowing review here]. Other possibilities hitting cinemas this Friday include the British comedy-drama Made in Dagenham (cert. 15) and bank-heist thriller Takers (12A), along with a special 25th anniversary re-release of Robert Zemeckis' classic 80s time travel comedy Back to the Future (cert. PG).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Monday, September 27, 2010

Your favourite Steven Spielberg movie is...

Results of our latest poll here at Flickering Myth...

Firstly, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote in our latest poll (557 of you in all, giving us a new site record!), which we've been running to coincide with Trevor Hogg's fantastic five-part profile on legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, "Encountering Spielberg".

With such an exhaustive back-catalogue there was certainly plenty to choose from, so without further ado here are the results of our poll to find your favourite Steven Spielberg movie...

Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 108 (19%)
Jurassic Park (1993) - 76 (13%)
Schindler’s List (1993) - 53 (9%)
Jaws (1975) - 52 (9%)
Saving Private Ryan (1998) - 45 (8%)
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 34 (6%)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - 33 (5%)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - 19 (3%)
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 17 (3%)
Duel (1971) - 17 (3%)
Hook (1991) - 15 (2%)
Minority Report (2002) - 14 (2%)
Empire of the Sun (1987) - 12 (2%)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - 11 (1%)
Munich (2005) - 9 (1%)
The Color Purple (1985) - 8 (1%)
War of the Worlds (2005) - 7 (1%)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) - 6 (1%)
The Terminal (2004) - 6 (1%)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - 5 (0%)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - 4 (0%)
1941 (1979) - 3 (0%)
The Sugarland Express (1974) - 2 (0%)
Always (1989) - 1 (0%)
Amistad (1997) - 0 (0%)
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) - 0 (0%)

Biggest surprise for me was the amount of love for Jurassic Park, which was front-runner for the first half of the poll before Raiders of the Lost Ark stormed out to take the crown. Hard to argue with that and a worthy winner in my opinion (check out Five Essential Spielberg Movies for more of my own thoughts). It's also interesting to see that only Amistad failed to register a vote (well, discounting Twilight Zone: The Movie, that is), and that out of the top ten only Catch Me If You Can was made in the last decade.

Anyway, moving on and with The Social Network opening soon what better time than to examine the career of David Fincher, with Trevor's new three-part profile "Killer Talent" starting this coming Wednesday. So then, what's your favourite David Fincher movie? Please take the time to vote in our poll.

Gary Collinson

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Thoughts on... Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Brokeback Mountain, 2005.

Directed by Ang Lee.
Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Linda Cardellini and Randy Quaid.

Brokeback Mountain
SYNOPSIS:

An epic American love story about a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection.

Brokeback Mountain Heath Ledger Jake Gyllenhaal
Dubbed at the time of release ‘The Gay Cowboy Movie’, you wonder why there was such controversy around Brokeback Mountain, a beautifully heart wrenching and poignant film from acclaimed director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)– there is nothing ‘controversial’ about it. It’s a love story – plain and simple.

‘60’s Texas and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) pulls his truck up outside Joe Aguirre’s (Randy Quaid) cabin, looking for work on Brokeback Mountain. He exchanges a few glances with ranch-hand Ennis Del Mar (the late Heath Ledger), who’s also looking for work, and then a handshake, after the two men are given their duties for herding sheep for the summer, both completely oblivious to the life bond they will share for the next twenty years.

Little to no dialogue in the half hour where the camera sweeps through the backdrop of Brokeback and captures the romanticized colours of the greenery while Ennis and Jack go about their assigned jobs is the perfect fitting for the bubbling tension in the men’s relationship where we are invited into their private world.

Brokeback Mountain serves as a key character in the story – When Ennis and Jack are on Brokeback; they can be themselves, without worrying about the outside world because they are together – something they do for the many years to come.

“This is nobody’s business but ours.” Jake says as he gazes out at Brokeback, referring to the night before where he and Ennis shared an intimate moment together. This is all that needs to be said between the two of them, before the summer of ’63 eventually ends and they go their separate ways and back to their ‘normal’ lives.

In the four years that pass, Ennis gets married to childhood sweetheart Alma (Michelle Williams) and has two kids, while Jack meets rodeo princess Lureen (Anne Hathaway) marries, and the two, like Ennis, start a family.

After replying to an unexpected postcard from Jack, Ennis waits anxiously for him to arrive, and when he hears Jack’s truck pull up outside, he darts down the steps and embraces him in an unbreakable hug, checking that no one is around before pinning him to the wall where the two passionately kiss. You feel the pain of their longing; the time that has gone by that the two haven’t been able to see each other aches as much in you as it does for Jack and Ennis.

The two make a pact - every four years, they will meet for fishing trips up on Brokeback - and as the years drift by, Ennis’s family life crumbles. He and Alma get a divorce, leaving Ennis alone with the company of his brief fling with Cassie (Linda Cardellini), while Jack and Lureen’s marriage is neither here nor there; they live together as roommates, barely conversing. Where Ennis and Jack have aged in their socially acceptable lives, their love hasn’t.

Brokeback Mountain’s screenplay (based on Annie Proulx’s tender short story) had been bunging around Hollywood for years, only to get the attention of Ang Lee and rightfully so – in the hands of another director, Brokeback wouldn’t have been the same film.

Ang Lee’s subtle but assured direction and breakout performances from Ledger and Gyllenhaal mark Ennis and Jack as the modern day Romeo and Juliet - a love that you root for every step of the way but you know as much as them that it can never be because of what society deems acceptable.

Cherokee Summer

Movie Review Archive

Indie-Credible: Eyes on the Indie Movie Scene

Emma Farley introduces her new column Indie-Credible...

Before the launch of my new column here at Flickering Myth, I thought I’d better introduce myself. When I’m not Emma Farley, contributor to Movie Magic, Talking Pictures, The Digital Fix and Suite101, I blog under the name ‘filmgeek’ over at Final Cut. If you’ve ever read my reviews and features you’ll know that rom-coms and high school flicks are my guilty pleasure but over the last year I’ve developed more than a passing interest in independent cinema. I charted the rise and fall of Miramax for an independent study module in my final semester at university and I’m concerned about what the future holds for independent filmmakers (you can read more about thoughts on indie cinema on Suite101).

The GraduateIn an era where cinemagoers are obsessed with blockbusters, CGI and 3-D, what does this mean for those who want to make personal, thought-provoking films? With this column I hope to remind you of the under-the-radar films you might otherwise miss. Each week I’m going to talk about a new indie in production, a new release (cinema or DVD), an actor, a director and discuss a film you might have missed. Of course, part of the beauty of independent cinema is that it covers a range of genres and time periods and a lot of big name actors and directors have dabbled with low-budget productions. You’ll also probably find out soon enough that I tend to ramble on a bit about my favourite films, actors and directors and so I’ll probably write a few ‘special’ posts about such topics.

So that you’ve got an idea about what to expect, I thought I’d dedicate my first post to a few top tens (in no particular order – I would agonise over that for hours!). If you think I’m missing out on anything, please post some recommendations. I’m always looking to discover a new indie gem. In the mean time, I am determined to catch up on more films by Jim Jarmusch and Spike Lee, see sex, lies and videotape and Reservoir Dogs and delve into the careers of the likes of PT Anderson, Todd Haynes, Alexander Payne and Todd Solondz.

ClerksFavourite indies
1. The Descent
2. Lars and the Real Girl
3. You Can Count On Me
4. My Life Without Me
5. Donnie Darko
6. The Station Agent
7. Clerks
8. Garden State
9. Before Sunrise/Sunset
10. The Blair Witch Project

Favourite indie directors
Wes Anderson1. Wes Anderson
2. Coen Bros
3. Richard Linklater
4. Kevin Smith
5. Quentin Tarantino
6. Martin Scorsese
7. Michel Gondry
8. Noah Baumbach
9. Woody Allen
10. Sofia Coppola

Philip Seymour HoffmanFavourite indie actors
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Paul Schneider
4. Catherine Keener
5. Laura Linney
6. Maggie Gyllenhaal
7. Zooey Deschanel
8. Peter Sarsgaard
9. Paul Dano
10. Patricia Clarkson

As I don’t live near a particularly good cinema and I’m quite cut off from film festivals, most of my indie film viewing is done on DVD so I rely on blogs and other websites to inform me of unmissable indies. Hopefully his column will do the same for some of you.

Be sure to check back next Sunday for the launch of Indie-Credible.

Emma Farley a.k.a. filmgeek

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Movies... For Free! Jail Bait (1954)

Showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain...

Jail Bait
Jail Bait, 1954.

Directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Starring Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves, Herbert Rawlinson, Clancy Malone, Conrad Brooks, Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell and Theodora Thurman.

After his proposed Bela Lugosi supernatural TV series Dr. Acula failed to get off the ground, schlock filmmaker Ed Wood turned his hand to film noir for his second feature Jail Bait, which was produced under the title The Hidden Face. Inspired by the 1935 crime drama False Faces (a.k.a. Let 'em Have It), the film revolves around a gangster who plans to undergo drastic facial plastic surgery in order to evade the police. To do so he kidnaps the son of Dr. Gregor, played by English actor and silent era star Herbert Rawlinson, who died the day after filming was completed (the part was originally written for Lugosi, who dropped out after falling ill himself).

Jail Bait reunites Wood with Glen or Glenda cast members and regular collaborators Lyle Talbot, Timothy Farrell and Conrad Brookes (all of whom would go on to appear in the cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space), along with then girlfriend Dolores Fuller. It also marks an early screen appearance for former bodybuilder Steve Reeves, who would later enjoy success in Europe in a string of low budget Italian sword-and-sandals efforts (as Europe's highest paid star of the time, Reeves reportedly turned down the roles of The Man With No Name in A Fistful of Dollars and James Bond in Dr. No).


Embed courtesy of Internet Archive.

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Movies... For Free! Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

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Thoughts on... Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island, 2010.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley.

Shutter Island
SYNOPSIS:

A US Marshal investigates the disappearance of a patient who has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island.

Shutter Island
I offer a warning prior to you reading this review - if you didn’t rush out to the cinema to see the visual and sensory spectacle that is Shutter Island then you have slid down the scale on which I estimate a person’s worth. I do not intend to offer a general plot summary and a few teasers to entice you to leap up and buy or rent Shutter Island on blu-ray. This review is for those who have seen Shutter Island and were enthralled in every single twist and turn. Shutter Island was phenomenal the first time I watched it, and it got even better second time around as I could see and appreciate the fine details that went into telling a seat gripping story. Plot spoiler alerts are integral to my review of the Shutter Island blu-ray...

Shutter Island is a twisting, turning, gripping, thrilling, sensationally chilling film from its opening shots to its final scene. As an audience member in the cinema I was there with Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) every step of the way. Willing him on, watching his back and trying to piece together the clues. I was also just as clueless to the truth as Teddy himself. On my second viewing at home via my blu-ray player I was of a different position. The second time you watch Shutter Island it’s even more beautiful than the first. You can see the clues, the red herrings, the tricks, the hints, lies, and truth. On second viewing I found a whole new level of appreciation for the film. Teddy Daniels was the 67th patient of Ashecliff Mental Hospital. And I could see it.

On first viewing I was confused at times, second guessing the clues and trying to figure what was real. I thought that the opening scene on the ferry in which Teddy meets his new partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), for the first time didn’t cut together well and it unnerved me slightly. It continued through the film to the point where Delores (Michelle Williams) is holding a bottle of whiskey and then appears to be holding nothing. A little later the patient Mrs. Kearns (Robin Bartlett) is handed a glass of water and then seemingly drinks from an imaginary glass, before placing a half full glass back on the table. Something wasn’t right and I knew it. These things were clear to me the first time around. Second time around I saw a whole lot more.

When Teddy and Chuck arrive on the island to be greeted by Deputy Warden Macpherson (John Carroll Lynch) he comments that everyone is on edge that day. This is because their most dangerous patient, Andrew Laeddis, is roaming free. Teddy then tells Chuck that he has seen this type of electrical fence before – because he has been a prisoner there for the past two years. Dr Cawley (Sir Ben Kingsley) is very playful with Teddy and is clearly hiding information from him – because this is all a big charade. The orderlies seem to know more than they let on. The patient’s repeat the same story told to Teddy by Dr Cawley. The telephone conveniently doesn’t work. Teddy cannot see the patient’s records. One patient smiles at Teddy. Another puts her finger to her lips to shush Teddy. All of which are because this is a game. When the guards are searching the rocks for Rachel Solando they look as though they aren’t really putting any effort into the search - because no one is really missing. The scene in the cell when Teddy meets Rachel (Emily Mortimer) doesn’t feel natural. Lots of the encounters Teddy has do not feel natural. Or real. And they aren’t. The whole charade created by Dr Cawley is so brilliant the second time around. Rather than being with Teddy on his search you can sit back and look at the film objectively, which allows you to click onto all these other hints and tricks.

Martin Scorsese has masterfully created this film to get the audience bought into Teddy’s journey only to shatter it with the revelation that it is all in his imagination. He offers up so many suggestions as to what is real, but at first glance we disregard. All the above clues are so clearly visible on your second watch.

Similarly with Chuck’s character. First time around I knew he wasn’t being genuine. His little speech in the graveyard about all this being a trick to get Teddy to the island seemed to be offered up too easily. He was always there offering information, nudging Teddy in the right direction and making me suspicious. However, second time around it is so brilliant. Chuck tells Teddy that the world doesn’t work this way! He’s telling him that all this isn’t real! He spells it out for him! But, Teddy doesn’t see it. And neither did I. The scene in which Teddy and Chuck interview Mrs. Kearns she is asked what she thinks of Dr. Sheehan. Her eyes dart to Chuck for a second, and then back to Teddy. She tells him Dr Sheehan is easy on the eyes and looks again back to Chuck. Chuck smiles a little and looks at Teddy. First time around it seemed innocent enough. Second time around with the knowledge that Chuck is indeed Dr Sheehan it seems so clever. When Teddy then asks her if she knows of Andrew Laeddis she becomes distressed for seemingly no apart reason. Second time we know she is looking straight at Andrew Laeddis. If only I had realised this the first time around I may have solved this case before Teddy and proven myself smarter than the film. But, I didn’t. And I am not.

The first time I saw Shutter Island I was convinced that this was all to trick the US Marshall Teddy Daniels and keep him on the island – quiet. When the film finished I was still unsure as to what was real and what wasn’t. I questioned and second-guessed my theories and what I had seen. Was Teddy/Andrew crazy? Did he get better? I am now confident that I have amassed enough of the pieces of the jigsaw to see the picture clearly. When Dr Sheehan sits with Andrew and they share a smoke he refers to him as Chuck and has seemingly relapsed. Then Andrew/Teddy remarks to Dr Sheehan/Chuck that he ‘wonder’s what’s worse – to live as a monster, or die as a good man’. For me that was his decision that if he couldn’t live in his oblivious fantasy world as the war hero and US Marshall Teddy Daniels then he would rather not live as anyone. Andrew Laeddis created his fantasy world because he couldn’t live with the reality of what he had done. Andrew Laeddis then chose a lobotomy. No memories. No thoughts. No problems.

On blu-ray the film is spectacular and every tiny detail is clear as daylight. In the World War Two flashbacks every flake of snow that falls is so clear. As Teddy twitches and sweats on his journey to uncover the truth we can see all the finest details of DiCaprio’s face. When Chuck and Teddy share a smoke the smallest whips of smoke shimmer in the lighting as they glide upwards and disperse. The blu-ray’s extras – Behind The Shutters and Into The Lighthouse are both interesting and educational extras that give you a glimpse into the vision of Scorsese, DiCaprio and the rest of the cast.

Shutter Island is easily the best film of 2010 and Oscar worthy with a master class on creating suspense. Martin Scorsese is on top form, as are DiCaprio and Sir Ben Kingsley. The film's soundtrack is eerie and unnerving as it should be in a thriller with Scorsese collaborating with Robbie Robertson to collect together the music from already recorded sources rather than an original score. Scorsese steals a few tried and tested tricks on suspense from the master – Hitchcock, as he continually unnerves the audience and offers up truth and lies at a break neck pace. The story is brilliant and unfolds so as to not allow your brain to disengage for even a second. Every piece of this film fits together perfectly to create an outstanding puzzle that is complex, multi-layered and keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. If you were idiotic enough to miss it in the cinema – get the blu-ray! Watch it twice and pay attention. You sanity will be questioned.

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D.J. Haza

Movie Review Archive

Friday, September 24, 2010

Movies That Might Have Been - Superman Lives

Gary Collinson ponders the fate of The Man of Steel had the stars aligned differently in Movies That Might Have Been...

What We Got…

Absent from the screen for almost two decades, The Man of Steel finally returned to banish the ghost of 1987's The Quest For Peace (and part III, for that matter) in 2006 with Superman Returns. Or rather, sort of banish the ghost. Sure Brandon Routh was okay (at least as far as Christopher Reeve impersonations go), there wasn’t a Nuclear Man in sight and as a continuation of Superman: The Movie and Superman II the film isn’t all that bad, but it really could have been a whole lot better. In fact, after prising Bryan Singer from the X-Men franchise, reuniting him with Kevin Spacey and throwing over $200m in his direction, it should have been a whole lot better.

So, what did we get then? Well, after buggering off from Earth for five years to search for the remains of Krypton (or possibly to avoid a paternity claim), Superman returns (obviously) to Metropolis just in time to save the world from another diabolical scheme courtesy of that dastardly Lex Luthor. Now just hold on a minute here, haven’t we seen this all before? There’s me thinking this was stale back in 1987. And what’s all that about Superman having a kid? I mean come on - that just brings up the whole Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex thing and you really have to feel sorry for Lois having the son of the Last Son of Krypton kicking seven bells out of her for nine months before flying out of her faster than a speeding ping-pong ball from a Thai hooker. James Marsden also deserves some sympathy because I know I’d not like to be the guy to have to follow Superman in.

What Might Have Been...

What do you do when you’re having trouble kick-starting your DC Comics superhero franchise? You turn to the guy that’s just banked you over $675m with your other DC Comics superhero franchise of course! And so it was with Warner Bros., who handed the keys to Metropolis over to Tim Burton back in 1996 for Superman Lives. Based off a screenplay by comic book guru Kevin Smith, the film would have seen The Man of Steel duke it out with Luthor, Brainiac and Doomsday, along with a giant spider courtesy of producer Jon Peters, who also didn’t want to see Superman in flight and preferred a black suit over the traditional - or in Peters’ words, “faggy” – red and blue.

Having ripped the guts from Smith's screenplay and inserted a new antagonist in the form of an amalgamated Lex Luthor and Brainiac called Lexiac (I shit you not), Burton turned his attention to casting. So who do you get to bring one of the most iconic characters in history to the screen? Well, if you're Tim Burton there's only one man for the job... Nicolas Cage. Yes, that Nicolas Cage. Now forgive me, the guy can do action but Superman? Please! Fair play to the fella though - he managed to bag himself a $20m pay-or-play contract and must have been laughing all the way to the bank when the project was thankfully binned in April 1998.

But what if it had survived? How would Superman Lives have turned out? Well, you'd have to be a fool to bet against anything other than a complete and utter disaster. Sure, it would have raked in the cash - it is Superman, after all - but a quick search on Google and you'll shudder at the prospect of what could have been. Courtney Cox as Lois Lane? Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen? Tim Allen as Brainiac? Yep, it certainly would have been a stinker. And with Michael Keaton popping up in a cameo ("not exactly" as Batman), one could imagine it would only be a matter of time before the inevitable Batman vs. Superman shat all over the DC Universe.

Have we missed out then?

In one word - no. Superman Returns was far from great but Superman Lives would have been awful. Who knows what damage it could have done to the superhero genre. Could Warner Bros. have outdone the travesty of Batman & Robin? Would Fox have taken a chance on the X-Men? Might Spider-Man have had the chance to swing his way to success at Sony? You get the picture, I'm sure. Besides, if Bryan Singer never got the opportunity to cock it up with Superman Returns the studio wouldn't be able to turn it over to the saviour of the Batman franchise once again. Let's just pray that Christopher Nolan does a better job than Tim Burton.

Any thoughts on how you think this would have worked out? Feel free to leave your comments...

Gary Collinson

New UK poster and trailer for Skyline

After being officially unveiled at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con by sibling directors Colin and Greg Strause (a.k.a. The Brothers Strause - the visual FX masterminds behind eye-candy blockbusters such as 300, 2012 and Avatar), sci-fi thriller Skyline will be hoping to steal a march on rival alien invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles when it hits cinemas this coming November.

Following a similar set-up to Cloverfield, Skyline sees a group of friends hitting a late-night party only to be awoken by an eerie light source that seems to be luring people outside only for them to vanish into thin air. The dirty stop-outs soon discover that an alien force is swallowing the entire population and must fight for their lives as the world unravels all around them.

Our friends across the pond got a look at the trailer back in August when it was attached to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and now UK distributors Metrodome have followed suit, along with a new UK poster that looks very similar to its North American counterpart. If you're yet to see the trailer, check it out now...


Skyline's cast includes Eric Balfour (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Scottie Thompson (Star Trek), David Zayas (The Expendables) and Donald Faison (Scrubs), and the film is set for release on November 12th.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

British Cinema: The Be All and End All (2010)

The Be All and End All, 2010.

Directed by Bruce Webb.
Starring Josh Bolt, Eugene Byrne and Liza Tarbuck.


SYNOPSIS:

A teenager suffering from a fatal heart condition has one last wish - to lose his virginity.


The Be All and End All is the first feature film by director Bruce Webb. Webb has said himself that he was “immediately attracted to the script’s exploration of sex and death, while its focus on absent fathers has a particular personal interest.” That may sound a bit grim but believe me when I say that the elements Webb talks of combine together to create a real gem of a film.

The narrative focuses on two teenage best friends, Robbie and Ziggy. When Robbie collapses on the way back from a family holiday, which Ziggy also attends, he later finds out that he has a fatal heart condition and may not have long left of his short life. His final wish? To get laid of course - come on, he is a fifteen year old lad after all!

This is an integral part of the story. Like a true friend Ziggy tries his hardest to help Robbie lose his virginity before the inevitable happens. Crude it may sound, but crude is it not. There are elements of humour in various scenes that are reminiscent of American Pie movies - for example Ziggy nearly gets caught deleting porn off Robbie’s computer and they almost get arrested by the police at a brothel. But this does not set the tone for the whole movie, far from it. The attempts of the two boys to get Robbie some sex merely provide the foundations on which a strong bond is portrayed.

For me personally the relationship between Robbie and Ziggy took me back to when I was a teenager and went on family holidays with my best friend too. But Ziggy has to deal with more issues than I did at that age. You get hit by a left hook of emotion when you realise the trauma facing Robbie, which is followed soon after with a right hook when Ziggy’s home problems rise to the surface.

In the director’s statement in the production notes Bruce Webb says the script originally focused a lot more on the comedy rather than drama but he wanted to take the story on it’s “natural pathos and tone down the comedy.” There is no doubt about it that it is no light hearted journey for the characters involved but the nuggets of comedic moments, and there are plenty of them, bring light relief to the emotional roller coaster this film takes the audience on.

Liza Tarbuck makes an an appearance as the sympathetic nurse, Tina, on Robbie’s ward and she is constantly annoyed by Ziggy’s attempts to get his friend laid whilst she is on duty. There is a morally questionable sequence of events after nurse Tina learns of how Ziggy plans to get Robbie laid before he passes, something which made me feel quite uncomfortable. I had invested my feelings in these characters and did not want to see them depleted because they were actively being encouraged to break the law. Thankfully my faith was restored when the film did not go down that route and judging from the sigh from fellow audience members I was not alone in my relief.

The Be All and End All is a British film which addresses themes with common universal appeal: love, friendship and loss. “Sex isn’t the be all and end all” says Robbie in one scene. He’s right - but it’s just one ingredient of this films cocktail that makes it a worthwhile watch.

Jon Dudley is a freelance film and television journalist and his 17-minute short film Justification was shown at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Movie Review Archive