Michael Mann Retrospective - Collateral (2004)

Collateral, 2004.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith, Javier Bardem, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Peter Berg and Jason Statham.


SYNOPSIS:

A Los Angeles cab driver unwittingly becomes the chauffer for a hired assassin.


To improve upon the depth and detail of the nighttime images for his 2004 thriller Collateral, director Michael Mann shot the exterior footage with high definition digital cameras giving the movie a gritty documentary feel. Initially it was jarring to see the usually glamorous Tom Cruise playing the grey-haired assassin Vincent; however, the shock quickly disappears as he effortlessly dissolves into his psychotically-charming character. The pivotal role is given to Jamie Foxx who plays the unfortunate cabbie, Max. The transformation from being the victim to the victor is so believable that the performance provided Foxx with one of his two Oscar nominations that year.

The Chicago filmmaker impressed Tom Cruise with his vision for the motion picture. “When Michael sent the script he sent different stills,” explained the box office megastar, “almost an art motif of things he was thinking about, and what he wanted to explore. It was just something else because his vision of L.A. and what he sees has real emotion, has real poetry. I knew it was going to be a lot of fun and it was.”

In regards to the nondescript attire Cruise wears doing the course of the film, Mann stated: “It's not really a disguise, but it's anonymous. If somebody actually witnesses him and police ask for a description, what are people going to say? A middle-aged, middle-height guy wearing a middle grey suit and white shirt. It describes anybody and nobody.”

When it came to portraying Vincent convincingly, Cruise stated, “It was kind of an anti-social character. It was months of talking with Michael and finding that point of fracture. Where does it all go wrong for Vincent and where does it start? You know. We just kept creating layers. Normally, I always do a lot of research for a character, particularly something like this. That back story has to inform every scene. With Michael, he had pictures of where I came from. We discussed a lot of different aspects of where I live and how I became the way I became as Vincent. So it will emotionally inform the movie and start to look at where does this fracture happen. Vincent is impinging on Max. I'm driving that car from the back seat and then bring my attention to the things I have to do to get my job done. When you're making a movie, it's not like oh, it's going to happen here. It evolves out of this creative process, which Michael is excellent at.”

Michael Mann was drawn to the script written by Stuart Beattie because the story unfolds during such a short time frame. As for the original New York City setting being replaced by the City of Angels, the director remarked, “The idea of shooting an intense film like this in L.A. at night precedes the Collateral screenplay. It's something I wanted to do after the last two films that I made that were both historically accurate - extraordinarily real subjects and characters. So I had an appetite for doing a film like this before I got the Collateral script.”

The majority of the film takes place in a taxi cab with occasional flashes of gunfire. “We don't see it as an action film,” said Mann. “We see it as a drama. It's as extreme as it can be. In this one night, where these guys have been, whatever their expectations and dreams are for the future, everything is going to change. They are not going to be the same people after tonight. That's an idea, that's a dramatic idea. Then we worked very hard to build the characters and make them as real and three-dimensional as possible, just the way you are in your own lives, with as much specificity as we could build in. Then we do the dramatic scenario and that's really it.”

With the taxi having such a key role in the movie, Mann revealed, “We built 17 cabs. Some had no fronts, some had no sides. Some we didn't use at all. What actually worked out was that sequence where they're supposed to be in a real cab with someone, either myself or Gary Jay, with the camera on his shoulder, was in one of the seats. But the interesting thing about a cab is that you have to view it as an opportunity because if you have two people, they're both facing the camera, but whenever we elect to, the man in the backseat can have his own thoughts coming across his face because the other guy is not necessarily seeing him.”

The H.D. technology has found a convert in the veteran moviemaker. “For this movie, it was great shooting in digital.” However, there were complications that needed to be worked out. Mann stated, “It required a lot. It was like having a camera that's attached on an umbilical to your refrigerator at home. So it wasn't portable. But it enabled me to be very painterly with building the scene. It's counterintuitive to photograph in every conceivable way. Throw a light meter away, you don't need it. It's right there on a high def monitor. But it requires knowing exactly what you want because what's available is a much broader spectrum than a motion picture film.”

Tom Cruise had nothing but praise for his director: “It was exciting. And I could feel it. And as an actor, I love movies. I have seen all of Mann's movies. It's something you want to look at and study because he designs his pictures from the ground up and he really has a tremendous command of the medium and the storytelling.”

Collateral trailer:


Mann Handled: A Michael Mann Profile

A Michael Mann Retrospective

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

DVD Review - Seconds Apart (2011)

Seconds Apart, 2011.

Directed by Antonio Negret.
Starring Orlando Jones, Edmund Entin and Gary Entin.


SYNOPSIS:

Damned from the moments of their births, two brothers possess a gruesome talent for telekinesis - a power they use in the most horrific ways imaginable.


If cinema history has taught us anything, it’s that twins are scary as hell and not to be trusted. Case in point is Seconds Apart, a chiller/thriller from Colombian director Antonio Negret and first-time feature writer George Richards.

The twins in question are played by real life twins Gary and Edmund Entin who are quite simply excellent in their roles. They are genuinely creepy and feel like a cross between Ricky Fitts from American Beauty and the Grady Daughters from The Shining. While their dialogue feels fairly forced and clichéd, the Entin twins do a very good job of making the content fit the bill.

The Entins are supported by a relatively unknown cast including Samantha Droke in the “love interest” role and Morgana Shaw and Louis Herthum as the equally creepy parents of the films main characters. The only real “star” of the film per say is comedian Orlando Jones who plays Detective Lampkin. It feels particularly odd to watch Jones in such a serious role but he actually holds the screen quite well.

However, Lampkin is a major part of the biggest deterrent for the film. There is a horribly contrived sub plot about the detective’s dead wife that has been shoehorned in for no real reason. It’s terribly written, woefully put together and is a huge distraction from the main plot. Not only is it incredibly boring, but it almost ruins the flow of the movie.

When you’re watching a chiller/thriller, you will undoubtedly be waiting for the twist that will either make or break the movie. Luckily for Seconds Apart, the film’s twist falls into the former category. It’s very well written and incredibly creative. However, I would argue that the final moments of the film are not enough to satisfy an audience.

While Seconds Apart does have its moments, it is by no means a great film. The set pieces of the film are very well executed and Negret does create a great feeling of unease, but Richards’ script doesn’t hold enough water to carry it through the 86 minutes. Perhaps diehard fans of the genre will enjoy it for what it is, everyday movie viewers may find the piece to be hokey and ineffectual.

Luke Owen

Movie Review Archive

365 Days, 100 Films #23 - Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Grave of the Fireflies, 1988.

Directed by Isao Takahata.
Featuring the voice talents of J. Robert Spencer, Rhoda Chrosite, Amy Jones and Veronica Taylor.


SYNOPSIS:

A boy and his younger sister struggle to survive in war-torn Japan during World War II.


"Yes, it's a cartoon, and the kids have eyes like saucers, but it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made." -Roger Ebert

Seita is a pre-teenager in Japan who has just lived through World War Two. The film opens on him as he slowly passes away, homeless and starving in a train station. His war is over as he utters “Setsuko” with his last breath. He whispers it in the same way Kane spoke ‘Rosebud’. The camera tracks back as two janitors start to tidy him away. The shot’s increased scope reveals many more like him, supported by the station’s numerous pillars. Commuters consider them a nuisance.

Seita takes a ghostly red form and begins to wonder through his life during the war. Grave of the Fireflies is animated, so these moments aren’t ruined by warped special effects. Those at Studio Ghibli imbue more humanity in their subjects than most live action films can muster with their claims to truth. Seita boards a train that will proceed to call at events in his past. It’s so he can understand what has happened and how he ended the way he did. Only then can he finally be free of his guilt.

These flashbacks start at Seita’s home with his mother and young sister. The latter is his ‘rosebud’ – five-year-old Setsuko. The comforts of home and family are in stark contrast to the previous opening scene of Seita’s death. American planes are dropping napalm canisters over their city. Most of the homes are built from wood. They never stood a chance.

Seita and Setsuko become separated from their mother during the air raid. They take cover away from the city and are unharmed, but their mother sat like a duck in the local shelter. They reunite at a makeshift hospital in a levelled city that doesn’t have enough medicine or staff. Seita’s mother is so badly injured, it wouldn’t make a difference if they did. She looks as though her eyes have been seared clean off. Her lips are two swollen sausages and her skin is replaced with blood-soaked bandages. Seita doesn’t let Setsuko see. He tells her that mother’s quite ill so they’re off to stay with their aunt. Seita has decided to shoulder the pain exclusively, and he continues this way until his death. His protectiveness appears noble now, but will become selfish and harmful soon. As they leave we see mother’s body being lifted upon a bonfire. Maggots and flies already feast away.

Their aunt holds a grudge against the orphans. Seita and Setsuko come from a military family, living with more generous rations than their relatives. That Seita and Setsuko do nothing but play like children all day also frustrates the aunt. Her husband and daughter work constantly to support the war effort. But what can the brother and sister do? Their mother has just died and are without a home. Their father is a Navy man from who they haven’t heard in so long. Go to school, their aunt insensitively suggests. It burnt down, replies Setsuko.

By default, Seita is now the head of the family. A very small family, but at least he still has that. Exhausted by the pestering aunt, he pawns his mother’s clothes and withdraws the family savings so he can support Setsuko alone. They find an abandoned air raid shelter near a lake and, like children playing ‘house’, plan the rooms of their new home.

Money, however, quickly becomes worthless as the Japanese currency falters. It’s all about trading needed item for needed item now. As they live outside the system, in their cave by a river, Seita and Setsuko aren’t entitled to food rations. Setsuko begins to show signs of illness. She scratches a lot and has sores on her back. Sometimes she faints. Dependent child characters often become tiresome or annoying. Not Setsuko. It’s the way she’s drawn clutching her doll and wearing her hat. She’s so endearing and helpless you want to rescue her yourself. It’s why Seita’s relationship with her is so heartbreaking.

She becomes delirious from hunger, chewing marbles and making rice cakes out of mud. Seita does all he can to save her. He takes food from people’s empty houses during air raids and steals fruit from farmer’s fields. But he never considers going back to his aunt, even when their situation becomes increasingly desperate. She’s a horrible woman, but she could have saved them.

It’s almost as though it’s because of a hidden selfishness. Seita has invested all his loss, of his home, mother and father, into caring for Setsuko. If he lets someone else take over, or even merely share, he would have failed her and his deceased family. His love is smothering, but he does everything for that girl. He’s only a kid – how’s he supposed to know any better?

The film itself is based on a semi-autobiographical novel. The author lost his sister to malnutrition at the end of the war too, but unlike Seita, he survived. He blamed himself for his sister’s death and wrote the book to make amends.

This is the one Studio Ghibli film for which Disney does not hold the distribution rights. The book’s publishers do. It’s fitting, in a way. Grave of the Fireflies should to be separate from the rest of Ghibli’s canon.

There’s no overt anti-war agenda because the story is such a human one. These aren’t soldiers or politicians, they’re civilians. But in focusing on and attempting to deal with such a personal tragedy, Grave of the Fireflies becomes as powerful a statement against war as Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth or Roberto Rossellini’s Germany, Year Zero.

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Movie Review Archive

Hayao Miyazaki: Drawn to Anime

Movie Review - Donor Unknown: Adventures in the Sperm Trade (2010)

Donor Unknown: Adventures in the Sperm Trade, 2010.

Directed by Jerry Rothwell.


SYNOPSIS:

A young woman goes in search of the sperm donor father she only knows as donor 150.


Sperm donation is an ethical and emotional minefield. It’s one of those sensitive issues with equally passionate and valid views on both sides of the debate. Even bystanders not directly involved or affected will have a strong opinion on its morality. The consequences and motivations of such anonymous, industrial giving of life can be dissected and analysed again and again, for positives and negatives. Endless reams could be written on the subject without resolving the issue one way or another.

It’s also one of those topics that often only interests people when looked at from monstrous and extreme angles. For example a few years ago a documentary called The Sperminator about a man running a clinic who provided all the samples himself, when he told prospective parents that there was an extensive bank to meet their specific requests and requirements, caused a lot of controversy and generated a lot of interest. People enjoy being shocked by grotesque scandals such as this, simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by the potential for ignorant incest. The human side of this relatively new phenomenon is usually overlooked.

Donor Unknown is almost exclusively about the very human effects of sperm donation. It’s an extremely admirable and accomplished piece of filmmaking. Over the course of its engaging and economical 78 minute runtime, this film gradually and thoroughly explores the sperm trade by maintaining a tight human focus. Hollywood blockbusters lack both the heart and surprising plot twists of Donor Unknown and it deserves a grander home than TV screens. With its editing and pacing and diverse locations across America, this is a film that shows off the art of documentary storytelling at its best.

Much of the film is seen through the lens of JoEllen, a girl on the cusp of pretty womanhood, who has come to terms with her lack of a father throughout childhood. Her mother has always been honest about the way in which she was conceived, with a little help from “donor 150”. But although she’s grown up with the affection of a loving family and lived a privileged, seemingly happy existence, there is always something missing. A great big “what if” is constantly nagging at JoEllen’s wellbeing and sense of identity.

Meanwhile on Venice Beach in LA, Jeffrey lives with his four dogs and the occasional pigeon. He’s quite clearly a hippy, living a simple life in a RV, loving his dogs and being kind to those he meets. With his long hair and tanned, excess wearied face, it’s difficult to imagine he was once a muscular model in Playgirl who once made a living from stripping. He explains that he was asked by a woman he met at the hairdresser’s during those years of his prime, whether or not he’d like to donate sperm so she could have a baby. Obviously he was taken aback but after speaking to a close friend who was a loving mother, he decided to give this relative stranger the opportunity of motherhood and hope that fate rewarded him for his good deed.

Donor Unknown also talks to the staff at the Californian Cryogenic Centre, that aims to have the largest collection of sperm donors in the world. We see the specimens stored in huge vats and we have numbers like 200 billion fired at us. We’re assured that this centre alone could repopulate the world in the event of some disaster making such measures necessary. We’re shown the “masturbatory emporiums” with walls colourfully adorned to aid the donation process, with the more sample provided the better. The chambers increase in eroticism along the corridor, we’re told.

And so we are eased gently into sperm donation, with a balance of real human effects and the technology involved. JoEllen’s hole in her existence is contrasted with the motivation of mothers to turn to donors like Jeffrey, along with his reasons for helping out.

Then we’re hit with the bombshell of JoEllen finding a sibling. Her half sister lives in New York and they meet after discovering each other via an online register, where you simply register your donor number. Her identity issues are even deeper than JoEllen’s because she has been lied to until the age of about 14. She resents her parents for the deception and feels immensely confused and hurt. As a teenager it’s a lot to take onboard and extremely destabilising. Desperate for a link to a missing 50% of her, she finds JoEllen and then gets a story onto the front of the New York Times, without her parents’ knowledge.

At this point Donor Unknown becomes extremely uplifting, as more and more siblings come forward who were fathered by “donor 150”. Via the internet an unconventional patchwork family forms across America’s very different states, bringing absent intimacy, connection and love into the lives of more than a dozen children. JoEllen methodically keeps track of all her lost brothers and sisters, meeting most of them and forming attachments, filling in the missing side of her family tree slightly. The genetic quirks and likenesses are touching and fascinating to behold, as the screen flits rapidly through the faces and mannerisms of all the “150” siblings.

But then Donor Unknown changes gear to look at yet another aspect of the trade. After gently gaining your attention and emotional investment, we finally come to the really dark side of sperm donation. One of the siblings, Rachelle, expresses her constant doubts and worries about dating. She has specifically stuck to foreign guys or people that for other reasons definitely could not be related. An interview with the founder of the online register, a mother of a donor child herself, reveals that there are no limits on the number of children a donor can father, despite the claims of clinics.

The Californian Cryogenic Centre is also at pains to point out their range of choice and the extensive information they offer. But the answers of donor questions can be as misleading as they are informative. Jeffrey for example, said he was a dancer when he was a stripper and said he studied philosophy when he spent little time in college. His spiritual waffle won over scores of prospective parents but he is in reality something of a waster, an idealistic hippy and eccentric weirdo. He believes in worrying conspiracy theories and has an unnatural attachment to animals after a troubled childhood.

Beneath it all though he is a kind man and the ending to Donor Unknown is unquestionably back in the uplifting zone. Whatever the dangers and wrongs of the sperm industry, it has the power to create the amazing gift of life. Without the fakery of actors to bring it down, Donor Unknown soars to interesting and touching heights, telling the modern, interconnecting tales of real people.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

365 Days, 100 Films #22 - Young Bruce Lee (2010)

Young Bruce Lee (a.k.a. Bruce Lee, My Brother), 2010.

Directed by Manfred Wong and Wai Man Yip.
Starring Aarif Rahman, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Christy Chung and Jin Auyeung.


SYNOPSIS:

A biopic exploring the early years of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.


There’s a great story about how Davey Boy Smith (aka The British Bulldog) got his name. Smith’s mother, still weary from giving birth, accidentally wrote her newborn son’s gender, “Boy”, as the middle name on his birth certificate. Young Bruce Lee opens with a similar mix-up. Bruce Lee has just been born, and his mother, tired and slightly delirious, murmurs the word “push” over and over, echoing her long gone doctor’s words of encouragement. When asked for the child’s name, the American nurse mishears “Push” as “Bruce”. His family and friends knew him as “Phoenix”, but he kept “Bruce” as a stage name. There’s a lot in a name. The Americanised “Bruce” sits snugly alongside the Eastern “Lee”. That juxtaposition was arguably what made him such an international star.

Young Bruce Lee is the story of Bruce Lee before this happened, opening with his birth and ending as he leaves for his first trip to America. Two of his surviving siblings introduce the film in a brief prologue, claiming theirs as the untold Bruce Lee story. One of them is Robert Lee, and it is his book, ‘Bruce Lee, My Brother’, on which the film is based.

There are three stages: baby Bruce (1941), youngster Bruce (1947) and teenager Bruce (1957). You need gaps about that size in biographical films. It lets you change the actors without too much fuss. Throughout he lives with his huge family in Hong Kong and maintains a group of close friends. It’s their exploits that the film follows, including a love triangle between Lee, his friend Kong and Kong’s girlfriend. He can get away with a lot, because he’s been a local film star since an early age, but he values his friendships more than anything else.

It’s remarkable how Americanised their lives were. They listen to Elvis, dance the ‘Cha-Cha’, watch Rebel Without a Cause and dress accordingly. It’s American Graffiti with a Chinese cast. Hong Kong was a portal to the West in these times, but their domestic film product had not yet broken through to the international market. This is what Lee wishes to achieve.

You wouldn’t really know it, though. People wonder through the narrative with no definitive goals, and thus few obstacles that could create dramatic tension. There are flashes in the love triangle, and in Lee’s feud with an American boxing champion, but they phase in and out with little or no build. Apart from the ending scenes, there isn’t anything particularly special about the film’s story. If Lee weren’t its subject, Young Bruce Lee could be accused of being about very ordinary affairs.

Thankfully, there’s a lot of joy to be had with Lee. It shows what an enduring pop culture figure he is. The yelps! I could listen to them all day. The film occasionally treats you to one with a zoom-in close-up. Shit’s old school. It has a lot of heart, too. There’s a big emphasis on Lee’s family, and their warmth to each other comes across very well.

It does have an odd, recurring stylistic device though, where there will be slow motion close-ups of quite mundane actions (a foot stepping forward, a hand being placed on a chair). It’s not like they’re contextually meaningless actions, just that slow motion should be used sparingly. It makes it all a bit melodramatic. The film could have probably shaved off about 10 minutes if they played them at normal speed.

For a film that introduces itself as the “untold Bruce Lee story”, by his brother and sister, you wouldn’t expect it to be so stylised. There’s the aforementioned flogging of the slow-mo close-up, a barely believable ‘Cha-Cha’ competition and quite a few stagey fight scenes. It makes you want to take the film like a Tequila slammer (with a pinch of salt and lots of alcohol). But then, just before the end credits, a series of actual photographs are shown alongside stills from the film. There’s Bruce Lee dressed in a dapper black suit and tie, triumphant with his younger brother after winning a ‘Cha-Cha’ competition. It’s a bit of a slap in the face, but it isn’t your fault for harbouring such cynicism – it’s the film’s. Why should it feel the need for melodrama and exaggeration when its source text is so rich? All it needs is a bit of toning down.

Rating: **

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Movie Review Archive

Movies... For Free! Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947)

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


Dick Tracy's Dilemma a.k.a Mark of the Claw, 1947.

Directed by John Rawlins.
Starring Ralph Byrd, Kay Christopher, Lyle Latell, Jack Lambert, Ian Keith, Bernadene Hayes, Jimmy Conlin, William B. Davidson, Tony Barrett and Tom Keene.

After releasing two features with Morgan Conway as Chester Gould's celebrated police detective Dick Tracy, RKO bowed to exhibitor pressure and recast Conway with Ralph Byrd, the actor who had made his name as Tracy in four Republic serials between 1937 and 1941.

Dick Tracy's Dilemma sees the detective investigating a number of crimes - the theft of a fortune in furs, an insurance swindle and the obligatory murders - all of which he links to a hook-handed criminal known as The Claw. Returning to the cast for this third outing are Lyle Latell as Pat Patton and Ian Keith as Vitamin Flintheart, while Kay Christopher takes over from Anne Jeffreys as Tracy's girlfriend Tess Trueheart.


Embed courtesy of Internet Archive.

Click here to view all entries in our Movies... For Free! collection.

Movie Review - The Hangover Part II (2011)

The Hangover Part II, 2011.



Directed by Todd Phillips.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor, Jamie Chung, Mason Lee, Paul Giamatti, Mike Tyson and Nick Cassavetes.





SYNOPSIS:



Phil, Alan and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding where his plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch goes seriously awry.





A new location. A few new characters. Same old jokes.



I wasn’t one of the millions that rushed to cinemas to watch The Hangover as it looked a little too cheap and cheerful for me. I expected the same old same old in terms of story and thought the gags would be poor. However, on eventually watching it I was pleasantly surprised, enjoyed and admired it and have watched it several times since. This time around I decided to get to the cinema and see the follow up – The Hangover Part II.



The jist of the story isn’t too different from the original – someone is getting married, Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zack Galifianakis), Doug (Justin Bartha) and; new to the Wolf pack, Teddy (Mason Lee) decide on a beer to celebrate this special occasion. Next they all wake up with no recollection of the night before and someone is missing! This time Stu is getting married, it’s set in Thailand and Teddy, Stu’s fiancés little brother, is the one missing. Having gone to bed early, Doug is the only one not to wake up in Bangkok with no memory of the night before. Cue a mad dash around Bangkok looking for the 16 year old prodigal genius and colliding with Russian gangsters, a smoking monkey and a lady boy with a nice cock. There’s also the hilarious emergence of super camp international gangster Chow (Ken Jeong).



As their search leads them down the dirty back streets of Bangkok and the previous nights antics are relived as well as the consequences of their actions coming back to bite them on the arse the race against time hots up. One liners, gags, random madness and anarchy follow them on their travels and they all learn a little more than they really wanted to. Especially Stu. Alan once again is a comedy gem with every line of dialogue, every little shuffle of his porky body and even his t-shirt having me in stitches.



Bangkok oozes its dirty and enigmatic energy into the film also and is such a great city to shoot a film in. Rich with cinematic backdrops, interesting places and people the film lends a certain seedy element from its gracious host. Elephants walking down the middle of a main road, streets lined with neon girly bars and the most beautiful view from the rooftop restaurant of Lebau at State Tower. With so much colour and life filling the streets of Bangkok it makes for great viewing alone.



The setting is totally different and more exotic, some new characters are introduced and the twists and turns are a little different. But… on the whole it followed the same formula as the first. Almost identically. Stu is disfigured. Tick. A stolen animal. Tick. A standoff and exchange with a mobster type. Tick. They think all is lost and call the girls, but then someone has an idea. Tick. And then they find Teddy in the last place they would think to look. Where they started. Tick. Someone finds a camera full of photos at the end and they vow to look at them once and then delete them forever. Tick. And as with the first the majority of the comedy comes from Alan’s idiotic comments, childlike mentality and generally stumbling around. Although this time out it was the main and sometimes only source of comedy. It all felt a little too familiar. And this time it isn’t new, different and bucking the trend.



It all did feel the same, but different. The Hangover Part II is The Hangover’s identical, but Asian, twin. And that was a shame. It had the potential to be very funny and at times was, but the sheer amount of similarities or plot points stolen from the first film cheapened Part II. If not for Alan the film would have been poor.



The Hangover Part II is average with a few good gags. And that is a pity.

D.J. Haza



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Movie Review Archive

Vision Quest: The Making of The Tree of Life

Trevor Hogg chats with visual effects supervisors Dan Glass and Bryan Hirota about the creation of Terrence Malick's latest, The Tree of Life...

Considered by many to be an enigma because of his reclusive nature and the long gaps between his films, American director Terrence Malick returns to the big screen with The Tree of Life (2011). Partly autobiographical, the story revolves around a boy growing up in the 1950s American Midwest whose relationship with his strict father and nurturing mother haunts him into adulthood. Featuring a cast of Brad Pitt (Se7en), Sean Penn (Mystic River), Jessica Chastain (Jolene), Joanna Going (Inventing the Abbotts), Jackson Hurst (The Mist), Fiona Shaw (Fracture), Crystal Mantecon (The Waiter), and Tamara Jolaine (Tough Love), the drama ignited worldwide curiosity when word came out that it included footage involving the formation of the universe. Could this be the resurrection of the mysterious project Q which was to explore the origins of life on earth? Given the responsibility of creating the nonexistent imagery was Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Glass, who has worked with the likes of Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) and The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Speed Racer). “My first discussions with Terry began about four and a half years ago and they were very vague and rather roundabout,” states Glass. “I remember one of the things that we talked about was trying to find a common language and approach. I asked, ‘Can you list the music that you imagine behind these sequences? Can we approach it from that angle?’ And he sent me a CD with a ton of music that was the type of stuff that he could imagine emotionally playing across these works.”

Even though Dan Glass points out that each movie production has its own unique set of creative challenges, he readily admits that Terrence Malick “was like no one else I’ve ever worked with or imagine I will work with again.” The native of London explains, “If I sat down to write out what I thought would be ideal for a director of a visual effects film, especially a lot of complex visual effects, he would probably not tick any of the boxes. Whilst you can say that was the challenge it was also very much the best and the most exciting thing about the project.” One of the big differences was the source material. “The script, if you can call it that, was really more like a set of notes that he has written and built up over some 35 years. He has been working on this project since the 70s. And we actually have negatives that he shot in the 1970s that we incorporated into the movie. So it really becomes a lifting of notes and ideas.”

“The first person we brought on was a very versatile Digital FX Supervisor by the name of Brad Friedman,” states Glass. “Brad helped build a small team in Austin to work closely with the director, editorial and myself to interpret, previz and ultimately complete many shots for the production. This team was critical as an experiment lab right next to Terry at all times to evaluate, to try things out. Production also set up a Research department gathering tons of imagery and scientific data for reference, and included a garage workshop where they would shoot chemical experiments and various things from Petri dishes to fluids in tanks; that was in conjunction with the stuff we did on a bigger scale with Doug Trumbull.”

Of major importance for the VFX Supervisor was the selection of the visual effects companies. “The way we had to approach the film was really very piecemeal,” says Dan Glass. “Aside from bringing in many people I have worked with over the years, that I trusted greatly to be able to interpret what was needed, we also brought in some very fine artistic sensibilities from several companies from around the world that approach things in a particular non digital fashion.” A plan was implemented to distribute the visual effects workload. “The material was divided into four broad categories we termed Realms: Double Negative in London handled the majority of the Astrophysical Realm led by supervisor Paul Riddle, journalist Michael Benson consulted and provided extraordinary source imagery from actual probes and telescopes. He and a colleague initially selected and stitched the images together, cleaned them up, and created huge resolution images of 30,000 pixels which we then broke into layers and dimensionalized over very slow exploratory camera moves. For the Microbial Realm we hired a small London boutique company called One of Us headed by Tom Debenham and Dominic Parker that do beautiful work; they have their own little studio where they shoot practical pieces and elements and combine them with very photographic looking CG. We also commissioned work from Peter and Chris Parks [Image Quest 3-D] who are a father and son duo in England…They do these richly detailed visual flows of colour which are very hard to describe and can imply things at any scale. We then had a couple of things that arose later in the schedule that really needed a very fresh approach.” Glass brought on Method Studios to help. “I knew some of the people there who had worked at BUF many years ago, and I loved that company and the way they worked which is very creative and collaborative. Also, because of their commercial background, Method were a hive of ideas rather than anything that just came with a particular process or specification for how to work.” Evil Eye Pictures based in San Francisco handled material principally in the Contemporary Realm including the live action segments of the film.

Regarding the topic which has garnered a lot of Internet attention, Dan Glass answers, “I can confirm that there are dinosaurs.” Given the responsibility of bringing the prehistoric animals back to life in the Natural (History) Realm was Frantic Films under the guidance of Mike Fink, which took on a new name after commencing work on the project. “I came onto it after it was already underway at Prime Focus,” states Bryan Hirota who served as a visual effects supervisor at the VFX facility. “The company worked on it for maybe eight months.” Hirota goes on to say, “Terrence Malick is notoriously secretive…I don’t know much about this movie. I don’t really know how the work fits in.” This is not surprising to Glass. “I would sometimes deliberately misguide the intention,” he admits. “An animator would want to know, ‘What’s the purpose here? What’s my motivation?’ So I would deliberately misguide a little and push in one direction and say, ‘Now adjust it and do this,’ just to try to get that zone where you have a little bit more of an ambiguity and something that’s more animal than human in its characteristics.”

“We used a tremendous amount of practical and scientific work,” reveals Dan Glass. “Terrence Malick would insist that every frame be attached to some amount of live action or practical content. It’s fantastic. I love that as an approach. Doug Trumbull, who is a good friend of Terry’s, came on board to help and consult in setting up a series of practical shoots that we did. We did three in all that we called the skunkworks and which were done over long weekends in Austin, some of the techniques dating back to 2001 [1968]. Techniques that Doug had used but then incorporating many of the things he has developed or worked with over his career, we would capture this terrific library of abstract, strange forms, and shapes. Those contributed to elements or in some cases the majority of an image within the movie; we would augment it with additional detail…mixing it up so it was never really clear what scale, or what was the origin of the material. Where it wasn’t possible we would include aspects of the ‘real.’”

An important part of the production for The Tree of Life was the effort devoted to portraying science realistically. “We were always very respectful,” emphasizes Dan Glass. “For example, to do some of the cosmological simulations of very early space there’s obviously little that we could have shot practically for that. But we paired up with some of the leading scientists in their respective fields, like Volker Bromm who specializes in Population III stars, the first to theoretically form in the Universe. So there’s this very deep, rich science behind the imagery…we also had the help of Donna Cox and Robert Patterson of the NCSA [National Center for Supercomputing Applications], who would take a base simulation, and start to create visualizations which were then fed to Double Negative, guided visually by contributions from a concept artist called George Hull. We would craft the thing into…picturesque imagery based on literal science.”

Questioned on how a unified look was achieved, Glass remarks that was not something Terrence Malick desired. “He preferred the idea of a patchwork quilt. If he shot something on a Super 8 camera, then an IMAX camera, then on a digital camera or…in space you might have something based on magnetic resonance imaging or infrared photography from the Hubble, each would have its own character, and that in his mind would lend to authenticity because you weren’t trying to smooth it, shape it and make it conform.”

Known for his stunning cinematography, Terrance Malick wanted to make the most of the imagery featured on the screen. “We had one shot we were working on for the longest time that was nearly two minutes long,” says Dan Glass. “It is there to give you time to take in what you’re looking at. Part of his focus is always rich, detailed images, generally keeping as much depth of field as possible so it gives your eyes plenty to wander around and take in.” After spending many months finessing a shot, Terrence Malick, Dan Glass and his visual effects team would view the end result in one of the theatres in Austin. “We’d reach a stage where we were happy with it,” says Glass. “Then sometimes weeks later he’d ask, ‘Can we put that back up again? Let’s think about this again.’ And he’d consider trying to experiment on another track. There was always this element of the piece continually evolving and developing, which was very different to what you normally have a chance to do in a lot of the bigger visual effects pictures where it can all too often be a case of ‘That’ll do. That’ll do. Move on. Move on.’”

Bryan Hirota observes, “Malick, it seems to me, needs to see stuff, and then brings his film to life in the editorial process; it’s not necessarily clear to him exactly where his film is going to take him. It’s like a process of discovery for him.” Informed of Hirota’s comment, Dan Glass responds, “With Terry… his vision is strong. He knows where he’s going but because his goal is much more esoteric, it’s less tied down to any literal representation. That’s why the editorial process is critical to him, even with his live action; he shoots a lot of footage that can play in many different contexts, and some of his favourite moments are things where they’ve yelled, ‘Cut!’ and the actors almost break character. Those are the pieces he’ll love. Similarly, in the visual effects…you’re working for days, weeks, sometimes months trying to make something so precise. And yet for Terry that could work against the very organic nature of the material so we had to spend more time to free it from itself.”

“Each shot is unique and crafted as such; they’re really approached from every angle as an individual piece,” says Dan Glass. “At one point we were approaching 60 minutes of footage that we were completing, of which somewhere between 12 to 15 minutes was ultimately used.” The IMAX format was chosen because they wanted to retain an incredible level of detail. “All of the work in Tree of Life is done to 5 1/2 K resolution…There’s a genuineness to that; it’s really trying to more closely represent the photography of the real thing. And the music and sound I would say are tremendous. The sound design I was really bowled over by, in terms of how it helps emotionally taking you through the piece.” Summarizing the final cinematic experience, Glass states, “It’s a very powerful movie about memories, emotions, and our place in the world.” As to what he thought The Tree of Life was going to look like, he confesses, “I don’t know in some ways what I was expecting it to be...I think the thing that was constant throughout the experience of working with Terry was that you know not to expect anything. There’s always something mysterious to be found.”

The Tree of Life universe footage...


Vision Quest: The Tree of Life & The Big Lie
Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Bryan Hirota
Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Dan Glass

Visit the official website for The Tree of Life.

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

The Week in Spandex - X-Men: First Class, The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man and more

Our weekly round-up of all the big talking points from the world of movie superheroes...

As you’d expect with just days to go until the UK release of X-Men: First Class, the mutant marketing machine has gone into overdrive this past week and, judging by the critical reception so far, it seems as if Matthew Vaughn has overseen a return to form for the X-Men series, if not a franchise best. Vaughn took part in an in depth roundtable earlier this week (the transcript of which can be seen over at HeyUGuys) and he’s also been talking potential sequels with HitFlix and MovieWeb (along with the on / off status of Kick-Ass 2), while ScreenRant posted highlights of a press conference with the First Class cast.

There is of course a special guest cameo in X-Men: First Class, which we won’t ruin here (despite the fact it’s really not all that surprising anyway) but if you’re desperate to get your hands on anything X-Men then over twenty minutes of b-roll footage has made its way online that you can check out at ComicBookMovie. There’s also been a million or so more TV spots, posters, banners and what have you, but frankly it’s just too damn exhausting to keep track of them all. One thing that did prove pretty interesting though was Patrick Stewart’s comments about himself and Ian McKellen being up for another X-Men film, and with Bryan Singer linked to X4 and X5 it looks as if Fox is really going to get its money worth out of the franchise over the coming years.

And, on that very subject, the studio are also keen to push on with their latest Wolverine spin-off, with Variety reporting that eight directors are under consideration to replace Darren Aronofsky on the Hugh Jackman mutant actioner. Those said to be in the frame to helm The Wolverine are Jose Padilha (Bus 174, Elite Squad), Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Brooklyn's Finest), Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo, Never Let Me Go), Justin Lin (Fast & Furious, Fast Five), Gavin O'Connor (Pride and Glory, Warrior), James Mangold (Walk the Line, Knight and Day) and notable commercials director Gary Shore. What, no Gavin Hood?

Along with the first reveal of Tom Hardy as Bane, last week brought word of three new arrivals to the cast of The Dark Knight Rises and now you can add another two to the ever-growing list. The latest additions to Christopher Nolan’s Batman swansong are Brett Cullen (Ghost Rider, Lost) and Chris Ellis (Catch Me If You Can, Transformers), with Cullen portraying a judge and Ellis featuring as a priest in what you’d imagine to be minor roles.

Meanwhile it’s also been revealed that Matthew Modine’s character is called Nixon and is described by Showbiz411 as “a politician and a key villain”. Batman’s certainly going to have his hands full in The Dark Knight Rises and it really seems like Nolan’s throwing everything he has into this final outing, which is rumoured to be getting a teaser trailer in time for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Rounding up the best of the rest...

…Another film that could be increasing its roster of villains is Marvel’s The Avengers, with LatinoReview reporting that the cosmic tyrant Thanos could be in line for an appearance in Joss Whedon’s superhero ensemble, while Industrial Light & Magic have updated their site to announce that they’ll be handling VFX duties…

...Having finished up principal photography on The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony have released a rather bland teaser poster and logo for the upcoming reboot, while Marvel legend Stan Lee has spilled the beans on his cameo appearance and revealed a little info about a showdown between Andrew Garfield's webslinger and Rhys Ifans' Lizard...

...According to Hero Complex, DC executives Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are planning a major announcement for the Hero Complex Film Festival on June 11th, which is said to concern "the future of Superman and the entire DC Universe". ComicBookMovie are speculating that this could be official confirmation of a Justice League movie, but I'd be surprised if that didn't come direct from WB. Could it have something to do with the messy dispute over the Superman rights? We’ll find out soon enough…

...Green Lantern is set to arrive in cinemas next month and this past week a new clip emerged featuring Michael Clarke Duncan’s Kilowog and Ryan Reynolds’ Hal Jordon, while io9 posted an article about the make-up used to turn Mark Strong into Sinestro. And there’s me thinking they’d just used cheap-looking CGI for all the aliens…

...And finally, for those of you out there distraught over missing out on the opportunity for a glimpse of Wonder Woman's Adrianne Palicki in a pair of skimpy, star-spangled knickers, you may be able to satisfy some of those cravings here.

X-Men: First Class Press Conference Report...

Gary Collinson

Kerzel-Town: Director Justin Kerzel talks Snowtown

Director of the outstanding Snowtown - Justin Kerzel - took some time out of his well deserved Cannes-paign to talk with Blake Howard about the experience of his masterpiece...

BH: Snowtown feels like a scientific experiment, it creates/portrays the conditions that a serial killing troupe can exist. How much did the setting and local cast affect what your decisions during the shoot?
JK: This was a film, which needed to be told from the inside out so we were incredibly informed by what the environment and people were telling us it wanted to be. Many ideas came from being there and really observing the pretty unique psychology of the place. Definitely some of those round table conversations about paedophilia in the area came from very real workshops about the subject matter. Sexual abuse is a very passionate and prominent problem in the area and some of those arguments and ideas were really sculpted from people’s real thoughts and ideas.

BH: For me, this film gives Lars von Trier's stunning Dogville (the fictional nightmare commentary of smalltown incestuous human impulse and ignorance). Did you have any directorial or filmic influences in mind when you were filming?
JK: Not really. I didn’t watch many films at all as I really wanted to be not influenced by anything else other than the real community and landscape we were filming in. I guess the way Michael Haneke rarely shows what is causing the violence in his films, where the film is more about how the characters respond and relate to the violence around them is a real inspiration to the structure and psychology in Snowtown. In terms of Australian films I think there is a really strong heritage of muscular dark crime films which goes all the way back to Wake in Fright, Romper Stomper, The Boys and Chopper. I do think there is something very particular about how we portray violence and masculinity on screen. I’m sure these films in some unconscious way affected our approach to Snowtown.

BH: When I think about Henshall's performance - the contrast between his sweetness (in true socio 'psycho'pathic form) towards those he cares and the clinical artistry of his brutality is memorable to say the least. How much did you fashion Daniel's performance and how much did he bring to the character?
JK: To Daniel and I it was really important that the audience understood how this man came to be trusted and let in to this community. Through our research we discovered that John was a bit of an everyman, someone who was very sociable and present within the community. So at the beginning it was important for Dan to find an ease in the community and develop very genuine relationships with the other cast. He spent 10 weeks in the area and started to find the skin of the John character. He put on 10 kg and spent as much time possible with the family especially Lucas and the boys. I didn’t want Dan to read too much about serial killers, it was important that he just be very present and intimate with the other characters and approach the role on a very real and human level.

BH: Where you ever conscious of distancing yourself from the Australian True Crime T.V interpretations that seemingly glamorize serial killers?
JK: Well there had been a couple pretty sensationalist documentaries about the murders, which I thought, were very one-dimensional and more like a body count film. I also didn't want to glamorize the violence like in some true crime TV but instead make it very real and confronting. When I read all the transcripts I was shocked by the brutality and I wanted its horror to be extremely truthful, not distorted but visceral and affecting.

BH: How long do we have to wait for your next film?
JK: Hopefully next year I will be making a film with my brother Jed who did the music with Snowtown. It’s a black comedy and obviously very different from Snowtown.

After Snowtown - my ticket's already bought.

Read Blake's review of Snowtown here.

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com.

Movie Review - Snowtown (2011)

Snowtown, 2011.

Directed by Justin Kurzel.
Starring Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway and Craig Coyne.


SYNOPSIS:

A drama about the Australian serial killer John Bunting.


For those of you out there sick of the raft of Australian true crime T.V interpretations with poor production value, generic formal style and that perhaps 'glamorize' society's 'underbelly'; Snowtown feels like the necessary headlong plunge into an ice bath that you need to jolt you back to reality.

Snowtown recounts the story of the young, disenfranchised Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) whose introduced to a defensive, protective, charismatic, father figure John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) after a serious trauma. As their relationship grows Jamie suspects that there is something more sinister beneath John's 'good' nature. Jamie's worst fears are confirmed when his impressionable vulnerability and loyalty to John sees him seamlessly become accomplice to one of Australia's most notorious serial killers.

The film is purposefully titled - the context gives this scenario its uniquity. And like a scientific experiment, it creates/portrays the conditions that a serial killing troupe can exist. This adequately contextualises the group without justifying their actions. The filmmakers have skilfully tread the fine line of empathy, sympathy, and total revulsion and disgust. This is helped by exceptionally tangible and subtle performances that make this film a participatory exercise. You at times feel yourself boiling over ready to be a vigilante, then seamlessly flowing into denouncing those feelings because of how they mutate in the film. This film makes the fictional nightmare commentary of smalltown incestuous human impulse and ignorance that Lars von Trier's stunning Dogville illustrates and gives it a real world context.

Snowtown is simultaneously exquisitely shot and exceptionally gritty. Director Justin Kurzel benefits greatly from the decision to shoot on location and using actors predominantly from the region. The opening stanza of the film draws you into the depressing, painfully pale portrait of life in Snowtown suburbia. The devil is in the details; and the real locations, oppressive overcast grey weather, hopeless shop fronts and look of the predominantly local cast allows you to totally immerse yourself into the events that are to unfold. Kurzel, working from Shaun Grant's overwhelmingly necessary script, sculpts utterly virtuosic performances that indelibly tattoo your memory.

Onto the normally totally under-rated sound design of Frank Lipson. Oscar winning director Danny Boyle (whose Shallow Grave gave us some of the most spine tingling sound design in a film)once said "cinema is 70% sound," and the affect of a aural trigger like the sound of a poker machine, or the sounds of a cricket commentary to transport the audience into the moment are amazing and unquantifiable. The minimalist soundtrack is ominous and understated but the opening spartan drumbeat is instantly iconic - even thinking about it as I write this review transports you into the almost trance like receptive mode.

Snowtown is exquisitely performed by everyone involved especially the blank-faced protagonist Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) who was cast after being spotted in the local shopping centre. The director had Pittaway rehearse pretty intensely prior to the shoot - because of the emotional weight the role carries - and it pays off; he delivers a great performance. But for better or worse the performance that will be remembered in this film is Daniel Henshall's virtuosic portrayal of John Bunting. Quite simply he is one of the most fully formed characters (especially under the broad 'antagonist' banner) that I've seen in any film. In a recent and great interview that Kevin Smith had with Red State star, Michael Parks on the Red State of the Union Podcast: Parks speaks of the best bit of direction Smith gave him in the production. Parks says that Smith advised him to "be even sweeter." When I think about Henshall's performance - his sweetness (in true socio 'psycho'pathic form) towards those he cares about contrasted with the clinical artistry of his brutality is memorable to say the least. This film is a fairly harrowing viewing experience (to the credit of all involved) but I would watch it again and again to appreciate Henshall's advertisement for what should be a prolific and fruitful career on the horizon.

This was a great film. Go and put some 'deniro' or 'sheckles' down for this one people - you may be shocked, confronted, and disgusted: but you will NOT be disappointed.

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com.

Movie Review Archive

Special Features - Mystery marketing is no substitute for good filmmaking

Liam Trim on the viral marketing campaigns of The Dark Knight Rises and Super 8...

Last week the hype for Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, moved into top gear with the launch of a clever and mysterious publicity campaign. On Thursday the 19th of May the official website became active, only to reveal nothing but a black screen and the sound of chanting. By the following morning, the most dedicated and geeky intelligent of fans, had filtered the noises through various ingenious programmes that visualise sound waves, revealing the Twitter hashtag #TheFireRises. To cut a long story short, the more people that Tweeted the hashtag, the more of an image from the film was revealed. Eventually a genius with time on their hands managed to expose the whole picture, giving the world its first glimpse of Tom Hardy’s beastly Bane.

As exciting as all this was for fans eager to learn about the sequel to The Dark Knight’s phenomenal success, such high concept viral marketing is not a new idea. Christopher Nolan in particular should know this, after previous films of his have utilised the growing trend for such campaigns. Most notably, last year’s Inception generated enormous hype with lots of vague waffle about the “architecture of the mind” doing the rounds on forums before any plot details had emerged. The official Facebook page for the film released clues to the whereabouts of Inception merchandise and tickets, sparking races across British cities for the treasure. There was also a special app for the film.

Even The Dark Knight had seemingly legitimate websites, both pro and anti Harvey Dent, calling for support in the Gotham city elections for District Attorney. But the undisputed king of mystery, minimalist marketing is Lost creator JJ Abrams. He produced 2008’s Cloverfield, which was perhaps the first project to truly embrace the public lust for speculation and a hunt for clues. It was promoted with the merest slither of information and talked up as a story that blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction, claiming to be comprised of "found" footage from real home videos. Lost too, made the most of secrets to stir debate amongst fans.

Abrams is the director of this summer’s much anticipated Super 8, which is co-produced by the tantalising team of him and Steven Spielberg, and the trailers have adopted the same old tricks which we’ve come to expect. During the flurry of Super Bowl trailers earlier this year, Super 8 remained the only real enigma amongst a pack of blockbusters, which undoubtedly made it stand out. But there are also drawbacks and limitations to such cryptic and vague promotion.

A few weeks ago a select group of journalists and critics got to see the opening 20 minutes of Super 8. And whilst many of them had positive things to say, those that have already written about their snippet of Abrams’ creation pack their articles with questions and a tone of scepticism as they look to extract the substance from the chorus of theories. Several commentators have said that the uneven blend of a heart warming buddy movie, a scary alien attack and effects heavy blockbuster, doesn’t satisfy the hype.

Without all the frustrating teasing, perhaps the writers would have been more inclined to focus on the film’s positives. How can the product ever live up to unrealistically heightened expectations? The trailers have already been ripped apart, frame by frame, for the slightest of clues. Cinemagoers with regular internet access may have heard of Super 8, but by the time of its release its barebones promotion may have left them either uninterested or so frustrated that they seek out an idiot who has leaked detailed spoilers.

Such saturation of the web certainly gets people talking and immersed by the ideas of a film. But it’s not a standalone guarantee of a box office hit. For one thing, despite its all conquering swell, the internet still does not reach everyone. Even some of those that use it may not wander into areas dedicated to film or have the time and desire to unravel marketing mysteries. Other media such as television and newspapers remain a vital tool for more instant advertising reach, rather than a slow burn.

There have also been failures that are too reliant on viral campaigns, even when those campaigns are successful. Disaster epic 2012 caused such a stir about the end of the world that NASA had to set up a special page to reassure people. But after it bombed with critics and the public, the big budget project was still a flop. Countless low budget releases think that cheap online methods will assure sufficient publicity but without a breakthrough in more traditional media, most of these languish and pass unnoticed in the cyber shadows, even when they have their merits.

The fact remains that viral marketing often only helps increase the hype for an already much anticipated film. The Dark Knight Rises will be a box office success regardless but the occasional prod from the filmmakers will cause sizzling talk to increase the takings still further. JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg are names that will attract attention because they are accomplished storytellers, not marketing magicians.

In the case of Abrams I would hope that the motivations behind his teasing details and whiffs of mystery are noble; he wants his audience as absorbed as possible by his fictional world and genuinely surprised by its twists and turns. Abrams, Spielberg, Nolan and others know that what matters in the end, after the hype, is the film itself. Get this wrong and the publicity will be a curse rather than a blessing.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

DVD Review - Zombie Undead (2010)

Zombie Undead, 2010.

Directed by Rhys Davies.
Starring Ruth King, Kris Tearse, Barry Thomas and Christopher J. Herbert.


SYNOPSIS:

A small group of survivors attempt to escape the confines of a medical evacuation building after a zombie outbreak.


This is one of those films with a Ronseal title. There are lots of zombies and zombies are dead, but also sort of lively in a sleepwalking sort of way, hence the “un”. The marketing material continues the no nonsense approach, showcasing a tag line of “RUN.HIDE.DIE!”. Tellingly a footnote informs me that “this disc contains no extra features”. I say tellingly because you really don’t get anything more than a bunch of shirts smothered in red paint and lips sticky with jam.

Sarah has survived a “massive explosion”. She is rather distraught though that the blast has peppered her Dad with all manner of fatal wounds, from bites to paper cuts. Desperately she tries to stop him from bleeding to death in the back of paramedic Steve’s small car, ideal for students or the elderly. Steve tries to calm Sarah as they drive away from the city to an “evacuation centre”. When they get there, Sarah passes out after the doctor plunges a needle full of adrenalin into poor old Dad from a great height.

Sarah comes round to find no one about, apart from a wheelchair parked shoddily and at a skewed angle in the middle of a typical hospital corridor. Perfectly logically she starts to warily shout “hello” at no one in particular. Finally some bloke turns up, tottering towards her, but Sarah can’t quite make him out because of some lingering concussion and a random cut that’s appeared on her forehead halfway through the scene. Her vision clears up just as he’s right in front of her. Unfortunately for Sarah this fella is in a right state; he hasn’t moisturized for weeks and he’s horny as hell.

Thankfully the first of a few fat men in Zombie Undead picks precisely this moment to turn up with a randomly acquired blade (other conveniently placed objects will star later such as torches and a bottle of pills). He swiftly slices the sex pest’s skull like a melon. Then Sarah’s female failings kick in. Instead of showering her rescuer with gratitude she wails and whines, inching herself away from our chubby chopper. It takes him ages to explain that there are a load of “things” like the sex pest, with awful skin and serious body odour issues, staggering about the corridors leaking goo and munching flesh. Sarah slowly accepts the situation, a bit, and vows to help Jay (for that is our hero’s name) find his little brother if he helps her find her Dad.

Sadly for Jay, Sarah never quite embraces the survival instinct, always trying to save the zombies and people they encounter when they are beyond redemption. What are women like hey? Jay also isn’t helped by fellow porker Steve, who was the paramedic with the little car from earlier. Weirdly he is the slowest to come to terms with the blood billowing monsters. They find him cowering in a toilet cubicle, in an awfully amateurish immensely suspenseful scene with Jay crashing open the doors one by one, and despite his medical training he’s prone to chucking his guts up at the sight of other’s guts.

There are an awful lot of innards on show. If our fat protagonists could man up a little and acquire a taste for it there are feasts to be had, indeed zombies are regularly shown gobbling up intestines with grunting delight. One scene in yet another toilet (either funds were tight or the director loved the aesthetics of Condom machines and urinals) has what looks like a shrine to Lidl’s chipolatas, drizzled in organically sourced tomato ketchup and served on a bed of recently devoured homo sapien.

Even the gore lacks any variation or quality, despite unhealthy splutterings of it. The direction and editing is clunky, predictable and poor, but its imitation of handheld horror is competent compared to the script. The dialogue essentially has two levels, sounding either like cliché regurgitations of previous films or as if the shockingly bad and evidently inexperienced actors are improvising in a beginner’s drama class. As for the plotting a half hearted attempt is made to make things modern, with vague and contradictory allusions to a biological terrorist attack. It was obviously decided that to leave everything unexplained would be classier, thus depriving the audience of any satisfaction whatsoever from Zombie Undead’s 86 minutes.

Some answers surface from the pools of irritating disappointment as soon as the credits roll however. Why the unusual and implausible fat hero, with the weird undertaker/security guard costume? The film’s writer, Kris Tearse, was also its male star. The primary location was Leicester’s De Montfort University, which explains the extremely low budget feel. So a bunch of students are living the dream with this film it seems, no matter what its failings, some will be ecstatically excited when the DVD is released on the 30th of May. It has nothing new or engaging at all to recommend it. But to help justify the dream I will admit I flinched like a child at one point, and was genuinely surprised, although after the zombies had gone.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

Four images from indie slasher Down the Road

You may remember back at the start of February that we posted a teaser trailer for Down the Road, an independent horror from writer-director Jason Christopher and producer Deven Lobascio, and now we've got our hands on four images from the upcoming film that you can check out right here.

Down the Road is a throwback slasher that sees a group of college students fighting for their lives against a revenge-seeking mad man. The film stars David J. Bonner (The Next Three Days), Shaun Paul Costello (You'll Know My Name), Chelsey Garner (Killer Shorts 2), Nikki Bell (Ugly Betty), Brian Gallagher (Calendar Girl), Matthew Nadu (The Last Airbender) and newcomer Jen Dance, along with veteran charactor actor Clint Howard (the Austin Powers trilogy, House of the Dead, Halloween).





The film, which features script mentoring from Friday the 13th scribe Victor Miller, is set for release later this year, and a full length trailer is expected soon.

Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode III trailer and UK release info

The trilogy will be complete this July with the DVD release of Robot Chicken Star Wars - Episode III, the latest spoof from Adult Swim's stop-motion animated comedy series from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.

Voice talent returning for this third Star Wars-themed special include Billy Dee Williams, Ahmed Best, Breckin Meyer, Seth MacFarlane, Dan Milano, Abe Benrubi, Donald Faison, Rachael Leigh Cook, Adrianne Palicki, Eden Espinosa, Hugh Davidson, Bob Bergen, Keith Ferguson, Tom Kane and Zeb Wells, along with newcomers Zac Efron, Anthony Daniels, Mike Henry and Donald Glover.

Along with the 45-minute special, Robot Chicken Star Wars - Episode III also comes with over 3 hours of extra features including trailers, featurettes, commentaries and more.

Take a look at the trailer...


Star Wars Robot Chicken - Episode III is released on DVD on July 4th. Pre-order it here.

Doug Liman joins list of directors linked to The Wolverine

Following the departure of Darren Aronofsky from the director’s chair due to personal reasons, the scramble continues to find someone to helm work-in-progress The Wolverine. Rumours swirl online about a possible shortlist of people the producers would be happy to work with. Names such as James Mangold, Mark Romanek and Justin Lin, who is also attached to the likes of Terminator 5 and Fast and Furious 6, are all in the mix. The latest candidate to emerge is Jumper’s Doug Liman.

Whilst Jumper, starring the consistently awful Hayden Christensen, was pretty much universally panned by critics, Liman has proved himself capable of good action in the past with The Bourne Identity, the hard hitting opener to the Bourne franchise. Recently Liman’s suspenseful political thriller Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, divided some critics but scored a healthy 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Whoever takes charge of the project will be aiming to surpass the disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine in terms of quality. Opportunities were wasted to properly explore Wolverine’s background in this film, despite an abundance of source material to work with, leaving fans and critics alike feeling letdown. Nevertheless it was a reasonable box office hit, laying the foundations for a sequel and potentially lucrative spin-off franchise.

The plot for The Wolverine is known to be based on a substantial story from the comics set in Japan, during which our wild hero falls in love. The script is believed to have the potential to better the first film but it’s generally accepted that the new directors in the frame are inferior to Aronofsky, and what he would have brought to a mainstream picture. Liman’s mention in particular has sparked a far from positive reaction from fans.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)