Chimpomatic

Rocky Balboa

(dir. Sylvester Stallone)

We revisit Rocky who is now running a modest restaurant but in need of one more challenge.

Not the worst big-name follow-up that we will see this year.

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17th Jan 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

(dir. Douglas Gordon and Philippe Pareno)

Video artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Pareno's cinematic portrait of Zidane proves even more poignant post-World Cup final and his dismissal for head butting Materazzi. Numerous cameras are fixed on the great man for the full 90 minutes of a Spanish league match in 2005. This results in a hypnotic portrayal as a brooding, demigod like figure, whilst lesser mortals scurry about around him - Beckham, Raul, Ronaldo et al.

This melancholic and existential atmosphere is enhanced with the stunning sound design (muffled television commentary, quotes from Zidane himself concerning childhood and memory, kids playing in the street in Marseilles) and the understated yet excellent soundtrack from Mogwai. At half time we are shown news and events that have occurred around the World on that day, adding to the poignancy.

Zidane's dour, almost bank expression proves to be a fascinating canvas - a sense of foreboding inner emotion builds throughout.

I won't give away the ending but the game builds to dramatic effect. Fascinating.

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16th Jan 2007 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Proposition

(dir. John Hillcoat)

19th century lawman Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) captures Charlie (Guy Pearce) and Mikey Burns. In order to save Mikey from hanging, Charlie is released and given nine days to find and kill their older brother Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), a grusume criminal.

This brutal narrative, penned by Nick Cave, gives a vivid impression of an early, lawless Australia. The oppresive heat, vast landscapes and ruthless characters add to the sense of drama here. The early signs of destruction of the Aboriginal peoples are here. Some have been tempted into the world of the settlers and others fighting to proetect their community and native culture.

Whilst all these components set the film up nicely the action doesn't quite live up to the potential. Certain relationships such as Winstone's with his wife (Emily Watson), and why he suffers from chronic head pain are only alluded to. Likewise, the dynamic between the outlaw brothers is never really uncovered. At only 1 hour 40 there was some room to expand on these themes further, but still an enjoyable and interesting experience.

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15th Jan 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

Smokin' Aces

(dir. Joe Carnahan)

Big cast for this trashy mob hit throwaway thriller that manages to take that ultraviolent guns, girls and gangs Tarantino mould and have fun with it, rather than boring you with another pointless beer-ad rip-off: Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Jason Bateman, Common, Ryan Reynolds, Peter Berg.

It's a simple Game Of Death style plot: flashy Vegas magician Buddy "Aces" Israel (the awesome Jeremy "Ari from Entourage" Piven) has got mixed up with the mob, and is holed up in a Reno hotel penthouse after he's decided to turn state's evidence. The mob put out a contract on him, and the film's basically a race between various teams of assassins, some bondsmen and the Feds to get to him first.

Piven's on fire here (sometimes literally) - a paranoid coked-out sleazeball manically shuffling cards in his dressing gown, trying to hold it together long enough for FBI men Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds to take him into custody. Alicia Keys and Common have both been to that school of totally convincing hip hop actors. Jason Bateman's shady lawyer is a great cameo. Even Baffleck is decent - there's hope for his post Bennifer career yet.

It veers in tone at times (which kind of works), and there's a flaw in the ending which lets it down a bit, but overall Joe "Narc" Carnahan delivers one of those pumped-up live action cartoons that remembers how to have fun with the blow-the-fuck-out-of-everything genre. Also, it's only a touch over 100 minutes, which feels pretty compact these days.

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29th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Babel

(dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

Another heavy-hitting multi-stranded drama from Inarritu, very much in the style of Amores Perros and 21 Grams.

Here we've got several stories dotted around the globe to tie up:

*Two young Moroccan brothers involved in an accidental shooting
*Tourists Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in Morocco (ok, you can see where those first two might join up)
*Mexican nanny Adriana Barraza taking care of the Pitt/Blanchett brood while they're on holiday, and getting a lift with her nephew Gael Garcia Bernal across the Mexican border to her son's wedding
*Deaf teen Rinko Kikuchi looking for trouble in Tokyo and her father Koji Yakusho (Memoirs of a Geisha) trying to communicate with her

All the stories are beautifully shot, with a consistent level of intense performances all round, but it's hard to escape the feeling that this is a film so caught up by the weight of its message (if only we could all just… talk… to… each other) that it somehow falls short of the greatness of AP and 21G. Would these stories have any less impact if they were told in chronological order?

Started to remind me a little of Wim Wenders' underrated Until The End Of The World, zipping around the globe, building up a sense of the world being connected, from a Tokyo disco to a Mexican wedding. For a while this is all powerful enough to pull you through (Kikuchi's a stand-out performance) - but somewhere it seems to lose focus, and the reliance on what really boil down to some fairly shallow (if undeniably well acted) stereotypes (kooky Japanese teen, volatile hard-drinking Mexicans, rude American tourists etc) makes it a somewhat shallower experience than it seems to *cough OSCAR* think it's delivering.

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29th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Zoolander

(dir.Ben Stiller)

Paramount

I watched Zoolander last night after being constantly told how much I'd love it. It was shit. No redeeming features. If there was an option for zero stars it would get it. What's the dealio yo?

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6th Dec 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos - The Concert

(dir. Sam Erickson)

Sony BMG

As an accompaniment to their recent live album Okonokos, My Morning Jacket filmed their two night stint at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore as a DVD release, which also ran in limited cinemas.

Harking back to the classic days of the concert film, Okonokos is basically a straight live performance form the band, bookended with a mild narrative - the product of Jim James' wild imagination. While this doesn't really add much in terms of an actual narrative, it creates an atmosphere for the concert - which is clearly mirrored with the concept created for the show itself - a kind of victorian gentlemen's congregation in some bear infested wood. The crowd have generally entered into the swing of things, and they are rewarded with a stella performance from the band as usual.

The DVD's pitfall is the almost unavoidable trap set for all concert movies (yes, the Song Remains The Same included) where they rarely create the same atmosphere as actually being there. As far as these things go it is a good one - the bands' boundless enthusiasm is clear, and on mind blowing tracks like One Big Holiday and Lay Low, you do actually feel like you're there, on stage with the band in a guitar huddle. Plus you can watch animal-esqe drummer Patrick Hallahan doing his Steam Engine robotics in close-up.

The DVD is pretty much note for note the same as the CD (minus At Dawn, I Think I'm Going To Hell and Dancefloors), so really it's a case of one or another - and concert DVDs do work well as an audio-disc-with-visuals. There's no complaints on either format, and this live album and film serve their purpose well - as a (hopefully not too long) bridge between studio albums. Another well timed step from My Morning Jacket, as the band move on from there classic album Z hopefully onto bigger and better things.

Roll on 2007.

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14th Nov 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

(dir. Larry Charles)

20th Century Fox

Anyone familiar with Borat would no doubt agree that he is the funniest and most outregeous of Sacha Baron Cohen's 3 characters, and during his sections in the Ali G In Da USA show we were appalled and dazzled by his shameless interviews - and much like Ali G his ability to extract the truth from narrow minded middle America. This film is all that, plus a whole lot more. You get the normal encounters with people of such jaw dropping ignorance, culminating in a stadium full of Rodeo fans who cheer passionately when Borat greets them on the mic with words to the effect of "May your president drain the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq." You get livid feminists, furious commuters, angry aristocrats, man-eating Jews and Pamela Anderson.

Although his TV show was so successful, things like that often fail to translate well onto the big screen - and when stretched to 90 minutes they can become tiresome. But this got it right. The plot was good enough to sustain your attention and formed a believable platform for his comedy. It was a non-stop romp across the U.S and A and the comedy was pushed to it's absolute limit. There were moments of such shock and awe that provided images that will be burned on to my memory for ever. He got himself into situations from which most people would be hard pushed to walk away with their lives, but his masterfully acted naive charm got him through every time. The comedy was relentless and there were countless moments where the audience laughed until they had nothing left. Not all the jokes were necessary though and his constant attack on the Jewish community became too uncomfortable to snigger at towards the end - but it was the visual gags that worked so well, like the shocked faces of New Yorkers as Borat calmly masturbated on the street to a window full of lingerie-clad mannequins, or washed his underpants in Central Park, or opened a suitcase full of chickens on the subway.

It's all pretty stupid stuff and I did feel slightly embarrassed asking for two tickets to Borat when there were such heavyweights to be seen like The Departed or Romanzo Criminale, but who cares - I haven't laughed that much in years and continue to smirk to myself when images of naked male wrestling enter my mind. Pure genius. High Five.

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7th Nov 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Casino Royale

(dir. Martin Campbell)

Had real misgivings about this James Blonde reboot when i saw the first trailer, started to think it might be alright when the second one came out, and actually really enjoyed most of it when i actually got to see the whole thing.

Won't go into too much detail here, as (unless you've read the book) the plot hasn't come out too much, and it's fun watching it unfold. suffice to say, for once, it's not about foiling some daft plan to TAKE OVER THE WORLD, more a small-scale operation (well, relatively - it's still Bond) involving terrorist funding, hitmen, slick boats, glammed-up women, men in tuxedos, guns, bombs, and lots of Texas hold 'em (007's caught on to the poker boom).

It's all pretty crunchy action, with a brutal couple of kills to get things rolling. Much less emphasis on the arched-eyebrows "hey, i'm delivering a line in a BOND FILM NOW" wink-wink lines that made the Brosnan era so uneven.

Daniel Craig steps into the tux with a thuggish style that seems to fit; he's not the suavest dude in town, but there's a weight to the way he flips between cold killer, and icy charmer working his "emotions? me?" lines on Eva Green.

Judi Dench is back as M, but moneypenny's only referenced in a throwaway line, and there's no Q, which works - there are some gadgets, but they're not really there to save the day as much as before - no "if only i had my magnetic belt on right now i could totally save this hot chick" moments.

Cameos to watch include Richard Branson and some VIRGIN planes, producer Michael G Wilson as a corrupt police official, and Jeffrey Wright in what could be a recurring role if he plays his cards right (ho ho). He's also recently found himself on the "him again?!" list at Chimp Towers, after popping up in The Manchurian Candidate (pretty lame really), Syriana, and Broken Flowers.

There's also a lot of product placement going on - not quite as much as the last few maybe, but still lots of totally unnecessary screen time looking at brand names. I'd like to thank VIRGIN, ROLEX, FORD, VERSACE, ASTON MARTIN, SONY ERICSSON etc for annoying me in this film.

BIt of an odd moment where some misc African guys manage to smuggle machetes into Montenegro; yup, that's what they all do…

The only other major downer is a truly awful nu-rock theme tune from Chris "Soundgarden" Cornell and David Arnold, which totally ruins a great animated opening sequence full of playing cards melting into each other with Daniel Craig looking generally louche. What a waste. Think the themes have been the worst things about the recent films; this one makes you think Madonna's effort was ok. It would be so easy to find something classy that would fit, rather than trying to get all modern and do that terrible processed rock sound.

film: ***.5 - solid effort, James Blond = Royale without the cheese, like to see more
soundtrack: * silence would be goldeneye next time
product placement: * we know you can afford some expensive toys James, stop showing us them all the time

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3rd Nov 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

(dir. Adam McKay)

Dreamworks

Legendary 70's News Anchor and leading chauvinist, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) has his world thrown into chaos, with the arrival of rival Victoria Corningstone (Christina Applegate) and her fabulous 'heiny'.

It's The Frat Pack, so you know what you are getting. Ferrell just stays the right side of completely maniacal. The 40 Year Old Virgin, Steve Carell, is excellent as mentally retarded weatherman Brick Tamland (who will go on to be a key advisor to the Bush administration) and old friends Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson and Tim Robbins drop by for a nice set-piece on feuding News Teams. However, it's Burgundy's Spanish-talking dog, Baxter, that steals the film - with the frankly brilliant ending.

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1st Nov 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Devil And Daniel Johnston

(dir. Jeff Feuerzeig)

A truly incredible film. Daniel Johnston is possibly most widely known for having a piece of artwork adorn a t shirt, extensively worn by Kurt Cobain at the height of Nirvana's success ('Hi. How Are You?'). This prolific artist and musician from West Virginia, achieved notoriety and a certain degree of fame in the 80's and early 90s, through his home-recorded cassettes and subsequent descent into madness. As Daniel was also an avid film-maker, as well as frequently recording his thoughts onto tape - this is as thorough a documentary as you could hope for. From troubled/gifted teen - to the overweight and fragile Daniel of today, you are taken every step of the way. Whilst the journey is exhilarating and exhausting, you can take your pick from the hundreds of sub-stories that make up its whole.

- A worried Thurston and Lee from Sonic Youth, driving around trying to find Daniel, clearly losing his mind on his first visit to New York.

- A typically twisted Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) conducts his interview from the dentist's chair, recollecting the time Daniel first took LSD

- Or when Daniel tried to force the demons from an old lady (an ongoing obsession, hence the film's title) she was so frightened, she jumped from a 2nd floor window.

One of his friends hits the nail on the head when describing his guilt at having Daniel committed to a mental hospital. Explaining that he had always been on the side of history's tortured artists, such as Van Gogh, here he had shot had helping such an artist, but he simply couldn't handle it. And that is what this film is above everything else: A document of the battle between Genius and Insanity. The last line from Daniel's remarkable parents, looking after a recovering, but still clearly unwell son, is an absolute killer. Awesome.

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20th Oct 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Pan's Labyrinth

(dir. Guillermo Del Toro)

Excellent, involving, intense fantasy from the Hellboy director, who's moved back into making Spanish language films here. Set during Franco's fascist post-second world war regime, we follow Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl whose mother has remarried the local commander of a military outpost in a tiny village. While her mother's pregnancy keeps her bedridden, Ofelia finds herself drawn into a Gilliamesque world of tricksy fauns, cricket-like fairies and a complex mythology.

Paralled to this is the stark brutality of the fascists, making snap life-or-death decisions, point blank executions, torturing the communist rebels etc. The violence escalates as Ofelia's journey into a magic world deepens.

The fantasy elements feel organic here, superbly balanced against the real world, drawing you into both without trivialising either the history or the weighty sense of doom inside the labyrinth.

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11th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

A History Of Violence

(dir. David Cronenberg)

Smalltown family man and all-round good guy Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) has a hidden past. It is so well hidden that not even his wife and teenage son know about it. So well hidden in fact, that not even Tom himself is sure whether it really happened. However, gangster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) is absolutely sure of the facts, one being that he now only has one eye, which is a pretty constant reminder. So when Carl and a couple of goons come to town, it's time for Tom to get out of the comfort zone and face up to what he did or possibly didn't do.

At around 90 minutes, it's a good length for it's short story feel, striking a balance between tension and action. With it's name in the title, the violence, when it appears, is short, sharp and particularly brutal and the gradual unravelling of the family unit as the truth comes to the surface is nicely weighted.

Performances are good, although I haven't seen enough yet of Mortensen to know if he was asked to look a bit demented in this film or whether that's his stock face. William Hurt can lose several points for being a bit camp and just a bit too crap for the end-of-film bad guy.

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2nd Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Black Dahlia

(dir. Brian De Palma)

Brian De Palma's adaptation of James Elroy's 1987 novel was a hotly anticipated affair. The story of the infamous and brutal murder of 22 year old aspiring actress, Elizabeth Short, was dubbed 'unfilmable' in 1947 - and remains so after this appalling waste of time.

The film follows two tough cops on the hunt for the killer responsible for a crime that rocked Hollywood at the time, mainly due to the gruesome state the victim was found in. Cut in half, disembowelled and sliced from the mouth to both ears, Short's murder attracted a media frenzy. In response, the police department put their most celebrated cops on the case. Nicknamed Mr. Fire and Mr. Ice after their successful careers as boxers, these two soon find the public spotlight brings with it unbearable pressure from every angle to see this case through to a conviction. Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), the gung-ho half of the duo, becomes strangely consumed by the case - much to the worry of his troubled wife … played here by Scarlett Johansson, His partner, Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Harnett), assumes the role of the younger, naive cop who isn't fazed by the celebrity status, but just wants to see his idealistic view of justice done.

I would be here all day if I tried to divulge how the plot progresses from here and to be honest I'm not too sure myself. The story is packed full of subplot upon subplot to the point of utter confusion. Elroy's previous screen adaptation L.A. Confidential is just as complicated, but it is written and acted with such skill that you really engage with the characters and try hard to follow them through the complex web of double-crosses and deceit. The opposite is the case here - as the acting is amateur, with each performance rarely rising above a stereotype depiction of 40's film noir cop movies. To be honest I never expected much from Hartnett but I had imagined that the presence of Oscar Winner Hilary Swank would inject a touch of quality to the proceedings, but unfortunately not. To describe Johansson's performance as wooden would be an insult to Pinocchio. The only exception here is Mia Krishner's mesmerising scenes as Betty Short, seen in flash backs and found screen tests. She is dazzlingly beautiful and her deeply innocent and desperately sad eyes give you a clue as to why so many real life detectives became obsessed with this case.

The film as a whole is visually stunning, but style is never a wise substitute for content and despite the dazzling aesthetics De Palma fails to convince his audience of the depth and seriousness of his characters or the period in which they exist. In 1982 Steve Martin did a far better job in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and that was a spoof, not to mention Bugsy Malone.

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21st Sep 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Little Miss Sunshine

(dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)

This is the feature film debut for directorial partnership Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and sees them produce a delightful piece of cinema on a par with 2005's Sideways. Like Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine is a road movie that depicts deeply flawed characters in unusual and often forced situations struggling to cope with the pressures of life.

Here we have the Hoover family who are dysfunctional to say the least. Father Richard (Greg Kinnear), a hopelessly optimistic motivational speaker is trying to sell his nine-step programme to being a winner, supported and pitied by his wife (Toni Collette) whose brother (Steve Carell), a troubled Proust scholar, has just failed in his attempt to commit suicide. Meanwhile their Nietzsche obsessed son Dwayne has taken a vow of silence until he fulfils his goal of becoming a pilot while seven year old Olive, a slightly plump, four- eyed little girl dreams of becoming a beauty queen. As if all this wasn't eccentric enough they have a coke-snorting grandfather (Alan Arkin) living with them as well.

The film sees the Hoovers embarking on a long and tiresome journey to California in an old camper van after Olive gains a place in the Little Miss Sunshine finals. What we are treated to along the way is a touching portrait of family dynamics, the difficulties of being young and old and developing the ability to see what is truly important in life. The thing that makes this story so delightful is that the characters never slip into a stereotype, this is largely down to the writing but the subtle and heartfelt acting by everyone makes it compelling viewing. Abigail Breslin, who plays Olive is utterly charming and truly electrifying to watch but the foul mouthed grandfather is the one that really steals the show, one of his finest moments being his life lessons to the 15 year old son to "fuck a lot of women, not just one, a lot." He then goes on to say what a great position he's in being fifteen as he can have any fifteen year old he wants, if he waits till he's sixteen he could be looking at eight to ten.

The film doesn't try to make any judgements or provide any answers to the problems confronting these characters but that's where it shines. It is quite outrageous at times but always retains reality and with a proper belly laugh ending leaves you on a high. We have been swamped with Hollywood big budget movies this summer but with films like this it's important to remember that the American independent scene is, on the whole, a place of real quality and rare beauty.

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11th Sep 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Miami Vice

(dir. Michael Mann)

Following the ratting-out of some FBI agents, Miami Detectives Crockett and Tubbs head deep (deep) undercover to trap the drug traffickers who are responsible. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx assume the mantle handed down from the classic 80's TV show but, as you've no doubt read elsewhere, this movie bears very little resemblence to that. The focus here was supposed to be realism and action - both of which are delivered in fits and spurts.

The setting and photography of the movie is often superb, such as a night-time shot across the bows of two speedboats heading up a river, or the afterburners lighting up on Crockett's Ferrari as it speeds down a night lit highway. However, the contrast between the intensely grainy night scenes (often shot with mostly 'available' light) and the crystal clear daylight scenes is often jarring.

All of these things could go unnoticed in the movie if at least the script or the acting held things together - but here they are the two weakest areas. There is not a single great performance in the movie to match even Tom Cruise's over-the-top outing in Collateral. Foxx and Farrell (surely they should start an ice cream company?) are both just playing their own movie-star persona - and add little depth or emotion to what could easily have been classic roles.

The script is so thin that I found myself looking for twists, turns and red herrings where there simply were none. There's no subtext here - just straight-up 'text'. The multiple 'love' scenes, (generally with Audioslave accompaniment) were enough to make anyone puke and, while the action scenes are handled well, there's not much that we haven't seen before - most notably in Michael Mann's own films (the shootout in Heat, the nightclub killing in Collateral).

This movie had all (or most) of the necessary ingredients, but just couldn't get the mix right to bake up something special. So disappointing.

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29th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

High School Musical

Kenny Ortega

Demented combination of every guilty pleasure ever: Grease, Saved By The Bell, Bring It On, Karate Kid etc etc, HSM is a worldwide phenomenon. Not standard chimp fare, but strangely enjoyable

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29th Aug 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Big Lebowski (Oudoors at Somerset House)

(dir. Joel Coen)

As usual "Some new shit came to light". This time with about 2000 other dudes and dudettes at Somerset House. Great movie, great setting, hampered only by a little drizzle mid-way.

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22nd Aug 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Assault On Precinct 13

(dir. Jean-Francois Richet)

On New Year’s Eve, a heavy snow storm forces a prison bus transporting arch-criminal Larry Fishburne to take shelter at an old Police precinct - which is a day away from closing. As the storm sets in, so do the baddies, forcing the motley crew to band together.

OK, it’s one of those re-imagining things, and maybe it’s not as good as the original - but even that’s a re-make of Rio Bravo, so who’s counting? Just forget about that and watch it on it’s own merits and it's not too shabby. Ethan Hawke puts in a reasonable show as the flawed hero character, and there’s a couple of twists and turns here and there that keep things moving along. An old-school Saturday-video-rental-type-movie that keeps everyone entertained until the pizzas arrive.1

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17th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Notorious Betty Page

(dir. Mary Harron)

The bog-standard approach of this film barely lifts it above the standard of a Biography Channel profile - giving us no real insight into the history of this iconic model. Nice posters though.

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15th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

(dir. Adam McKay)

Highlander may have been the "Oscar winner for most awesomest movie ever," but Will Ferrell's latest movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is here to put up a fight.

NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby was brought up a winner ("If you ain't first, you're last!"), so his life is town apart when Frenchman Jean Girard (Staines' own Sacha Baron Cohen) arrives and knocks him off the top spot. His life implodes, to the point that even lifelong "Shake 'n Bake" sidekick John C. Reilly turns his back on him, morphing instead in to "The Magician". Luckily Ricky's long lost drunk of a dad comes back into his life and leads him to salvation - through some ingenious use of a cougar.

There is some vague political subtext, with the rivalry between the backwards Americans and prententious French sophisticates - but let's not kid anyone. If you seen any movie with Ferrell, or the Wilson brother's, or Vince Vaughn for that matter then you probably have a pretty clear idea of what to expect here. It's dumb and drawn out, like a series of disconnected sketches from an unfinished TV pilot. There's never any doubt how it's going to end, but there are plenty of laughs along the way.

It doesn't have the clever sub-text and emotional depth of cinematic classic Old School, but there are some genius More Cowbell moments from Ferrell. Those, plus a great red-neck soundtrack (and the fact that John C. Reilly's favourite Jesus has white wings and is backed on stage by Lynyrd Skynyrd, while he is drunk in the front row) are almost worth the future DVD rental price alone.

THAT JUST HAPPENED!

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11th Aug 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Idlewild

(dir. Bryan Barber)

Under The Cherry Moon, The Bodyguard, Swept Away, Glitter… the popstar-to-actor route isn't exactly littered with a long list of great movies. So, even though I've enjoyed Outkast's output over the last few years, I wasn't exactly looking forward to their movie debut.

But they've pulled it off. Idlewild's not without its faults, but in making an old-fashioned musical they've created an enjoyable vehicle that plays to their strengths.

Set in the Prohibition-era South, Big Boi (aka Antwan A. Patton now he's an actor) is a roguish bootleg booze-running club owner/rapper (yup, lots of anachronistic flourishes here) who's a ladeez man/nice guy really. Andre 3000 (aka Andre Benjamin now he's an actor) is a mortician by day/piano player in Big Boi's club at night. A foxy singer shows up, there's a nasty gangster moving in on the action, Big Boi gets trouble from his wife, Dre's getting it from his uptight dad etc…nothing too original in the plot but it works.

Shot by Bryan Barber, who did the videos for The Whole World, Hey Ya! and The Way You Move, it's packed with little animated touches, bursts into choreographed musical numbers every now and then (which is fine, as they are both playing musicians who are singing songs - it's not one of those musicals where they burst into song when they want someone to pass the toast), and lets the Outkast charisma come through.

The music's up to scratch too - basically the Outkast template reworked in an early jazz style - but still using drum machines, rapping, hip hop breaks etc.

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3rd Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Squid And The Whale

(dir. Noah Baumbach)

From the writer of Wes Anderson's modern classic The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou comes a much straighter take on 1980s tennis-playing New Yorkers than Anderson's own Royal Tennenbaums. Anderson also produces here, and the feel's pretty close - same great soundtrack (lots of Bert Jansch in this case); alienated families working out their dysfunction in memorised therapy speak; nicely judged take on the 1980s... all feels a bit like an update of the Salinger Glass family novels.

Jeff Daniels is a novelist turned college teacher whose career is on the wane. Laura Linney's his wife whose writing is just starting to take off. The film plays out the tension of their divorce, filtered through their two sons, who take sides under the strain of the day-on day-off joint custody arrangement. William Baldwin's a pretty smooth washed-up tennis pro-turned kids' coach; Anna Paquin a young writing student who moves into Daniels' new house.

The kids, Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline, are great, freaking out over ping pong matches or the pressure of trying to live up to a self-proclaimed genius dad. Peppered with great one-liners and some heart-breaking divorce moments, it's a classy, tightly structured take on a marriage that's beyond repair; funny, great acting, interesting shots.

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23rd Jul 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Awesome! I Fucking Shot That

(dir. Nathanial Hornblower)

The masters of re-invention, re-invent the concert movie. For anyone who's avoided pre-release hype and marketing, here's the deal: October 2004, the Beastie Boys are up to play Madison Sq Garden for the first time, so to mark this event they arm 50 fans with Hi-8 cameras and one proviso: just keep rolling. The result? True to Beastie Boy form down the years, what starts off as a crazy idea ends up (with the occasional patchy moment) a triumph and leaves you thinking 'Why did no-one do that earlier?' The filming takes some getting used to. It is a load of shaky hand-held cameras after all, so the first five or ten minutes are spent getting your Sea-legs so to speak. But it soon settles down and hits its stride, editor MCA weaving in more and more visual effects as the show progresses (witness an edited Mike D slow-dancing with a fan on a tropical beach) and after a while you know you're witnessing the next best thing to getting a ticket to the Beasties show. Not just the performance, but all the sights and sounds associated with any gig; the demented fans who know every line, the guy queuing to get a beer, the blaggers trying to get backstage, Ben Stiller with a cap on backwards.

The show itself absolutely rocks. You definitely get the feeling they put in the extra few miles for both the film recording and finally playing 'The Garden'. The set-list comprises a pretty definitive 'best-of...' from a career into its third decade. Highlights? Time To Get Ill with with human beatboxing from Doug E. Fresh and entire the audience participating got the goose bumps pumping. I forgot how good Gratitude was and it's great to see Keyboard Money Mark back doing handstands on his organ for finale Sabotage. Overall, Mixmaster Mike's beats are immense and varied enough to give old favourites a remix feel, it's worth getting to the cinema and its more capable sound system for the tunes alone.

Basically, the 10,000 strong crowd (and Ben Stiller) can't be wrong. Highly recommended for fans of both live shows and innovation. Essential viewing for Beasties fans.

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7th Jul 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Superman Returns

(dir. Bryan Singer)

Been wondering what Bryan Singer's version of the man in tights was going to be like - especially after being thoroughly baffled by the mess that is X-Men 3 (which he was supposed to be doing before this came up).

First up, Superman Returns is a pretty family-friendly summer romp. The music is there from the 1978 version, as is the Marlon Brando "hello, my son" voiceover, which all makes it seem like a remake more than a new version. Even though it's always difficult to hold both the Superman and Star Wars themes in your mind at the same time (ie they're basically the same song, thanks John Williams), it's still pretty rousing stuff that gets you in the mood for watching some dude fly around.

The plot, such as it is, is that Superman's been off somewhere for five years. And now he's back. Just in time to save Lois Lane from dying in a space shuttle-related plane crash. Pretty 80s scenario.

Even though he looks like he's just got out of college, Clark Kent is such an ace reporter that he's able to get his job back after also being away for five years "finding himself". Which is handy. Lois Lane's now got a kid, and she's living with Cyclops, who isn't too thrilled when her big blue ex shows up to whisk her off her feet, fly her to the moon etc. Kate Bosworth isn't as feisty as Margot Kidder, which is a shame, as you'd expect Lois to be more go-getting in 2006 than 1978.

Brandon Routh looks like they've cloned Christopher Reeve, with some weird dna that makes him come out really smooth, like a waxwork human. He's quite good at the Clark goofiness, and does all the flying stuff pretty well, but he doesn't really seem that bothered by having been on an existential quest for the last five years that didn't really work out.

Kevin Spacey camps it up as Luthor, with Parker Posey lounging in the background with his henchmen, including one whose job seems to involve videotaping everything they're getting up to.

Overall, it's pretty enjoyable, and really works in the imax version I saw - you also get 20 minutes reworked in 3D which is fun - although the flashing 3D glasses that come onto the screen do break things up a bit, and make it seem much more like a ride. Which it is. Could have done a lot more with the "man of feel" stuff that they seemed to be going for, but it's not a flop; more a competent action comic that follows all the blockbuster conventions. Doesn't hit the satisfying intensity of Batman Begins, but it's way better than X3 or the not-very-Fantastic Four.

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5th Jul 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men's Chest

(dir. Gore Verbinski)

another enjoyable high seas romp for cap'n jack sparrow, keira knightley and orlando bloom. pirates of the caribbean: dead men's chest is basically one long action scene. it's relentlessly noisy, clocks in at what feels like a good 2 and a half hours, but still manages to be fun, in a proper all-round entertainment kind of way. it's not dark, or clever or twisty, just pretty unpretentious summer blockbuster fare.

the first one was a v pleasant surprise for me: as much as i love the whole aaaaaarrrr vibe of pirates, there haven't been too many great pirate films recently, so i wasn't holding out much hope for it being any good. even though it's probably my favourite disney ride. so here, i had quite high expectations, and they were mostly met. doesn't have that law of diminishing returns you get w most sequels as such, but it is more of the same, without adding too much new stuff to the mix.

in a way they're setting it up as a star wars style trilogy, yes, it's staaaaaaaarrrr wars:

first film that reinvents a genre and is surprisingly good? check

anti hero who loves his ship? han solo + millenium falcon = jack sparrow and the black pearl

second part that does more of the same, shows more cantina-style monsters and extends the mythology? check

unresolved father issues? check

love triangle featuring feisty princess, rogue don't give a shit buccanneer and a slightly wooden pretty boy who's quite handy w a sword? check

etc.

bill nighy's lots of fun as the squid-faced davy jones, there's some big monster action, sneaky pirating and general double-crossing, some fun triple-sword showdowns and more comedy sidekick moments from mackenzie "gareth in the office" crook. plus there's a bit right at the end. apparently. i left too soon… aaaarrrrrrggghhh

not a classic, but really good fun if you liked the first one. just a bit too long and noisy. part 2 is definitely happening, hope it's not too return of the jedi-like. and be great if they get keith richards to show up…

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28th Jun 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Brown Bunny

(dir. Vincent Gallo)

Motorbike racing loner Bud Clay (Vincent Gallo) travels across America for a race in Los Angeles, meeting several girls along the way - all the while looking a replacement for the love that he has lost, haunted by the memory of the last time he saw her.

Prior to seeing this film there were two forces governing my expectations:
1. The awesome trailer, laying Jackson C. Frank's song Milk And Honey over a split screen montage of an empty highway and an accident at a party.

2. The literal barrage of negative press following the screening at Cannes, and mostly regarding the edit of the film and the X-Rated sex scene with Gallo and Chloe Sevigny.

As Buffalo 66 had been so enjoyable I was at the very least intrigued to see what could have gone wrong with this alleged train crash of a movie. Things start of OK, with a slow sequence following Bud Clay as he competes in a race in New Hampshire. The shooting style seems like a mid 70's documentary, using grainy handheld footage. Clay then packs up his bike into his van, but before heading out on the open road he meets a young girl and convinces her to come to California with him. As she runs into her house to pick up a few things, Bud Clay changes his mind and drives away. Cue 20 minutes of Gallo driving. No dialogue. Repeat.

While Gallo is quite effective and watch-able, a lot of the interest is based upon some knowledge of his off screen personality - plus you are always waiting to see if nothing really does happen. The shooting shooting style is nice (and occasionally great), but you can't help but feel it's not quite how it should be. A long shot will focus on Gallo driving, while an out of focus landscape rolls past in the background. Except the foreground will be slightly out of focus too. The DVD was presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (leaving black bars on the left and right), but then some shots of the film seemed like they had been spliced back into the film after some some time literally on the cutting room floor... to no apparent effect.

The hype around the movie is mainly due to it's explicit nature, but if Gallo really wanted to improve the film he could have started by chopping that entire scene out, as it really does provide no further exposition or depth to the characters. The scenes following the x-rated scene do make the film somewhat more worthwhile, making the viewer think back over what they have been watching and draw some kind of sense - but the trailer was just as effective as the movie, setting up the tragedy and creating the same emotional impact in a mere two minutes. The poster is great too.

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8th Jun 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Once In A Lifetime

(dir. Paul Crowder, John Dower)

…the extraordinary story of the New York Cosmos

Once In A Lifetime is a tightly shot documentary tracing the story of how the Warner Bros execs tried to sell "soccer" to the States by packing a team full of 80s galacticos - Pele got on board first (after intervention from Henry Kissinger), then Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto etc etc.

Great soundtrack, Matt Dillon narrating, Mick Jagger, Warhol and Robert Redford hanging out in the changing rooms, a Cosmos table waiting for them at Studio 54, and the resistance of US TV to this "upstart" non-baseball sport make for an entertaining pre-World Cup experience. Good goals too…

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28th May 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

(dir. Brett Ratner)

When a scientist disovers a "cure" for mutancy, the government thinks it's a good thing. Understandably, the X-Men aren't too thrilled. Neither are Magneto and his gang. Everyone fights.

Very disappointing way to round up this trilogy. Loved the first two, thought they were one of the best comics-to-films translations - smart, well-shot, focused films with something to say. This one takes most of the same characters, adds in a few new ones (Beast, Angel, Callisto), then reimagines the whole thing as an 80s TV movie. Cheesy storyline, lame dialogue, pointless stunts and lots of messy explosions - nothing comes close to the fluidity of the X2 opening action with Nightcrawler for example (and he's wisely chosen not to show up).

Jean Grey returns to stand around a lot as Phoenix while everyone wonders, ooh, is she bad or good? The army don't seem to be that bothered about the mutants anymore so they're not in it much. Halle Berry's Storm seems to have developed a Wonder Woman-like ability to spin around quite fast. The big action scene, in which Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge over to Alcatraz could have been one of those "wow" moments, until you think: hang on, what's the point of doing when you've got lots of dudes in your evil gang who could just fly you over?

Frasier as Beast is quite fun, but it's an underwritten role; Hugh Jackman's Wolverine gets less to do here as well. A flashback scene with Magneto and Xavier meeting a young Jean Grey is quite good, and features the obligatory Stan Lee cameo. There's also a cameo from Shohreh "Beyrooooz!" Aghdashloo (aka Dina Araz from 24 day four).

There's a really dumb extra scene after some dull credits if you feel like dragging it out for even longer - yes, they're leaving it "open-ended" so it might not really be the Last Stand after all.

Overall verdict? suX

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26th May 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

(dir. Andrew Adamson)

Phone call from Hollywood Powersuit to prospective director of The Chronicles of Narnia…

‘.....we’re all going nuts here over the massive success of Jackson’s Rings Trilogy. Adapting much-loved children’s books and turning them into fantastical action movies is the shit du jour. So, how do you feel about the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?’

‘What? The CS Lewis classic about 4 children evacuated from WW2 London; sent to live in a big stately home they stumble through a Wardrobe and into the magical world of Narnia, where animals talk. Unwittingly, they become drawn into a war between good and evil. That could be a really good film.’

‘Exactly. So we want something similar to LOTR, but working with a far smaller budget.’

‘Oh. So who’ve we got to play the children? Some gifted child stars? An Elijah Wood type figure?’

‘Afraid not. Just a bunch of kids straight out of drama school, all of whom are extremely posh and extremely punch able.’

‘Really. But you must have some stars involved’

‘Well Tilda Swinton is down to play the Ice-Queen. Only, if you ask nothing of her, allowing her to coast through the film with the odd look of embarrassment. You can also have a really good cameo from Jim Broadbent.’

‘Great’

‘But only if you use him for less than 5minutes.’

‘Oh. And for voice-overs?’

‘Well the highly skilled Liam Neeson is on-board, so skilled in fact that he can make Aslan, the Mighty Lion King, seem more irritating than heroic.’

‘We must have some money for CGI.’

‘There’s a bit of cash for a couple of scenes. You’ll have to make do with fairly cheap looking sets and costumes for the rest. Can you bring it all in close to the two hour mark as well’

‘But won’t trying to squeeze all that into 2 hours, mean we leap from one ‘action’ scene to the next, without developing character or building tension.’

‘Maybe, but little children will love it.’

‘Shouldn’t we just not bother, save the money and not fuck up Pullman’s Dark materials Trilogy?’

‘Are you still there?’

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25th May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Time Of The Wolf (Le Temps Du Loup)

(dir. Michael Haneke)

This is a powerful film which not only lingered in my thoughts for days, but which gave me, and those who saw it with me, vivid nightmares. Although the story of people trying to survive in the aftermath of a disaster is nothing new, Haneke's bleak vision of an imploding society packs not only a punch but also a long, increasingly unbearable squeeze. The cinematography lends a stunning realism: night shots really look like night, the fog shots are eerily beautiful - these all conspire brilliantly to drag you further into the nightmare. Rhythmically, Haneke is masterful, and the acting - especially by Isabelle Huppert - is excellent. From start to its hair-raising, Tarkovsky-esque finish, Temps du Loup is something of a miracle, capturing our disparate natures down to the core.

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22nd May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Da Vinci Code Movie

(dir. Ron Howard)

Vite! Ou est la Mona Lisa? Ah oui, it's over 'ere! Zere must be another clue 'ere, non?

Tom Hanks runs around Paris with Audrey Tatou looking for medieval clues, with Jean "Leon" Reno and kerrrazy albino monk Paul Bettany on his tail. Gandalf helps them out a bit with some Biblical history and a quick Photoshop guide to the Last Supper. He's also got a private jet which totally comes in handy at the last minute. Phew. Doctor Octopus is one of the secret society head honchos.

Other escapes involve some doves showing up to scare off some gun-wielding baddies with their powerful symoblism; using the old "chuck the tracking device out the window" trick; and er, shutting a van door. (if anyone can explain what actually happens in this scene, i'd really like to know...)

At one point Tom Hanks utters the immortal line "Get me to a library!" But Audrey manages to find a kid on a bus who's actually figured out how to make his 3G phone work. This is possibly the most unbelievable scene.

It's competent, trashy, stupid fun, packed with some hilarious lines, corny plot "twists" and the odd noisy shock. And it saves you the trouble of reading the book. Be great if it flopped, but it won't.

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17th May 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Election

(dir. Johnny To)

Slow-boiling Hong Kong thriller about two candidates competing to be the new head of a triad society. Simon Yam's the more businesslike of the two; Tony Leung Ka Fai's the flashy gangster prepared to split the crime family up if the "uncles" won't put him in charge.

Unusually for a Hong Kong triad thriller, Johnny To concentrates on the political behind-the-scenes arguments rather than the bloodthirsty shootouts - they're still there, but this is a much more talky affair than you might expect.

With the two splitting the family, the old boys decide to retrieve the triad's symbolic dragon head totem from its hiding place over the border in China - whoever's got it is in charge.

Some great scenes where the cops have chucked everyone in jail together, and told them to sort out the dispute, a cold twist towards the end (setting up the sequel) and a nice sense of style make up for some of the scenes where you're not quite sure who's trying to run over who on who's behalf. It's also apparently the first time actual triad rituals have been shown on film. Bit like the masons, with more joss stick and less stupid trouser action. Great theme music too.

Johnny To's likely to be the next HK director to break through in the west - films like Running On Karma and PTU have been big hits in Asia - Election won Best Film at the HK Film Awards this year, and the sequel's already out and doing well in HK.

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16th May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Brick

(dir. Rian Johnson)

Following the mysterious disappearance and murder of ex-girlfriend Em (Emily De Ravin), high school detective Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) delves deep into the dirty underworld of a San Clemente high school to solve the crime. With help from a snitchy sidekick, a femme fatale and a mysterious drug lord (Lukas Haas) the case turns up many twists and turns in the style of a 40's film noir.

While taking the easy option would have made this a winking, nodding smart-ass movie (or even worse Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid), the technique of taking most of the plot-style from an imaginary Bogart movie is what really gives this movie legs. There's very little irony, meaning when you are reminded of the unusual situation "You're finished in this school!" it usually brings a laugh.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is good in the main role, making a surprisingly non-weakling high school loner, who can hold his own. Lukas Haas on the other hand shows a vulnerable side to the apparently ruthless drug-lord 'Kingpin'.

I'm not quite sure what a viewer who wasn't trained in the art of film noir would make of this, as it might not stand up without that little titbit of PR. The script is a little hard to follow in places, and the movie does possibly rely a little to much on the dialogue for exposition. The film has excellent photography, bringing a surprising film noir film to colourful, day time, high-school Southern California. Winning the Special Jury Prize at Sundance, this is a very promising first feature from director Rian Johnson - who graduated from USC in 1996. There's hope for us old folks yet.

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15th May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Science Of Sleep

(dir. Michel Gondry)

Probably the only film where you could say Gael Garcia Bernal sleepwalks through his role without dissing the performance.

Gondry's on similar turf to Eternal Sunshine here, going for an all-out assault on dream logic, framing a romance (of sorts) between arty neighbours Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg around Bernal's lifelong inability to distinguish dreams from reality. A subtle playfulness lets the film get away with an elevated level of whimsy here, with stop motion animation used to great effect to play out the REM moments.

A Mexican who's moved to Paris to be with his mother after his father's death, Bernal gets stuck in an office where they make calendars. There the rituals of dealing with boredom soon match the dreams he stages from the cardboard-filled TV studio in his mind. The dialogue skips freely between English, French and a little Spanish to great effect, really giving a sense of lives lived on an international level.

Great music throughout (including a cute rewriting of the Velvets' After Hours), fluid direction and a story that justifies the extended dream logic - this is a confident, charming, modern fromage-free romance that manages to be both cute and occasionally moving. Funny too - Bernal's inventions like the One Second Time Machine or the 3D Glasses For Real Life really come in handy.

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11th May 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Mission Impossible III

(dir. JJ Abrams)

Ethan Hunt's back in action, and yes, this time it's personal…

Put aside all the Tom Cruise celebratology crapola and this is a pretty proficient sequel. Lots of noisy action, a fairly decent plot (though nothing especially new), some ok lines and more rounded roles for the non-Tom members of the cast - it's a pretty fun summer action blowout.

For once they've remembered that he's supposed to be part of a team, so you get Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhy Myers and Maggie Q out in the field with him; Laurence Fishburne doing the "what's he up to now?" bits back at HQ; and an entertaining cameo from Simon Pegg as the tech boffin (very similar to the Marshall role in JJ Abrams' first TV hit Alias). This time IMF are all trying to take down convincing bad dude Philip Seymour Hoffman (could have done with more from him - he chows down on every scene he's in with relish).

Abrams has put a lot in that works here - a good macguffin in the "rabbit's foot" that PSH's after, the odd witty line, some "how are they going to get out of that?" moments and lots of costume changes - but having loved the first few series of Alias, and still enjoying Lost, I could have done with a little more out-there stuff from him than having Hunt make the classic spy mistake of getting serious with his girlfriend and then having to deal with "trust issues" when his work keeps sending him away. Kind of feels like JJ's reigned it in a bit for the studios. That said, it's not boring or confusing (which M:i II was for me), so hopefully he'll get to make something a bit less generic after this one rakes in all the bucks it's sure to rake.

Giving it 3 as it delivers more than you'd expect if you thought it was going to suck, but less if you thought it was going to be great.

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3rd May 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

King Kong

(dir. Peter Jackson)

The biggest chimp of the all, revamped by the LOTR crew.

For some reason it's taken a while to get round to this super-ape outing here at chimp HQ, so it's nice to finally open up the DVD (although there's 2 bullshit ads included as part of the "extras" on my R3 copy).

Like what Peter Jackson's done over his career, and there's some nice touches to his monster/gore past which I wasn't expecting in the Skull Island bits (been so long since I saw the original that the plot was basically new to me).

Jack Black's money-making movie director works well in the first half, although you do get the impression that Jackson sympathises with his blagging skills and general enthusiasm for getting a film made, which does seem to jar a bit with the second half in New York, with Black then the evil maestro putting on Kong's Broadway debut.

Naomi Watts does the most with her scream and faint routine, and gets the compassion for Kong over without saying too much. It's much more of a human getting on with a wild animal relationship than some inter-species romance. She's like a friendly zoologist with juggling skills that he's stumbled across. You feel like Kong's pretty lonely on the island without any other giant apes around, and that Naomi's better company than the local savages who seem more interested in keeping in chucking him the occasional sacrifice from behind a wall. Adrien Brody's ok, but a bit sidelined towards the end.

The Kong animation/acting from Andy "Gollum" Serkis (who's also the ship's cook) is pretty cool, wasn't expecting so much dinosaur bashing which seemed like Jackson having fun with some Godzilla-style showdowns, and the crew of the Venture are at least pretty wowed when they first come across all these huge mythical beasts running around. All the whooping natives stuff is a bit odd, not quite sure where they're going with that.

Enjoyed it overall, but it did feel a touch overlong for what's essentially a pretty simple B movie plot - although holding off on Kong's entrance works, and all the on-board scenes build up to Skull Island's sighting.

Could have been a much more intense, wham-bam experience at 20 minutes shorter: just because it's a really big monkey doesn't mean it has to be a really big epic… but hey, it's a big monkey smashing up New York and punching out dinosaurs - that's always going to go down well here.

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30th Apr 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Where The Buffalo Roam

(dir. Art Linson)

"I hate to advocate weird chemicals, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone... but they've always worked for me."

Rambling attempt to convert the "legend" of Hunter S Thomson into a lightweight Bill Murray comedy. Nothing approaching the hallucinogenic quality of Terry Gilliam's later Fear And Loathing ...but Murray fans should find something to enjoy here. It's loose in a way that mid 1970s and early 1980s films were, and modern films aren't - floating from one episodic wacky incident to another: watching his attorney try to start a banana republic, interviewing Nixon on the 1972 campaign trail (in the loos), shooting his telex machine etc.

Murray handles the mumbling dialogue well - lots of laconic one-liners for him to reel off - but even though he's chomping down on booze and drugs for the entire film you never really see him go either up or down, which makes the tone a little flat. Bruno Kirby plays his stressed out editor waiting for copy to mysteriously appear when Hunter's decided he's done (and not before), and Neil Young did the soundtrack - nice version of Home On The Range in the opening credits ("where the deer and the antelope play" etc), and he gets a little cameo too.

Overall, not essential, but a pretty affectionate attempt - worth catching if you're a fan of the late Gonzo genius, or Murray, and you're in the mood for an imperfect culty outing that moseys along, taking its time.

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30th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

I Heart Huckabees

(dir. David O. Russell)

How am I not myself?

Billed as an existential detective comedy, Russell's film errs on the side of wackiness, but works on the whole. V enjoyable performances from Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin as the detectives investigating eco-activist Jason Schwartzman's psyche and a string of coincidences that may or may not be meaningful. They make a great couple - you kind of wonder why no-one's paired them up before. Some nice fantasy moments where corporate man Jude Law gets hacked by a machete.

Floats along without hitting that Wes Anderson groove where an offbeat world really kicks into its own gear so that you don't worry about the self-conscious goofiness. The sort of film you can be fond of without really loving, which is a shame as I had higher hopes. Good character performances from Naomi Watts, Isabelle Huppert and Mark "don't call me Marky" Wahlberg.

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29th Apr 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Green Street

(dir. Lexi Alexander)

Or what Frodo did next. Tired of mixing it with Orcs and the like, it turns out he decided to test his skills against an altogether different fighting challenge; the football hooligans of England.

Promising journalist Matt (Elijah Wood) gets set-up and thrown out of Harvard, so he heads to London to catch up with his sister. Thanks to her brother-in-law, he wastes no time getting in with a West Ham ‘firm’ and into a series of pitched battles with rival supporters. When I say he wastes no time, literally on the same day he sets foot in Heathrow he later has his teeth knocked out by a Birmingham City thug.

It’s an interesting idea, what attracts young men to the world of football violence, but I’m sure it has been done better elsewhere. The shoe-horning of an American tourist into the story doesn’t sit comfortably, it feels that the desire to get a Hollywood name on-board comes at the expense of deeper analysis into the minds of the gang members.

The supporting chavs are believable with special mentions to Mark E. Smith lookalike ‘Bovver’ and Geoff Bell, who gives another fine display of London menace (as previously seen in The Business). However, the film is let down by the casting of the leads. Considering he has a psychotic aversion to ‘Yanks and Foreigners’ the leader of the gang talks like a South African Tim Westwood and Elijah Wood looks as lost as, well, as an American trying to understand the offside rule.

Certainly not a date movie and probably more suited to a well-scripted TV drama, it’s better than a kick in the teeth and there are certainly plenty of those in the 90 odd minutes.

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28th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Business

(dir. Nick Love)

If Goodfellas was a painting it would be a Masterpiece. Now, imagine you reduced that painting to a line drawing and invited a load of 6 year old Peckham school kids to colour it in with their crayons. Chances are you’ll end up with The Business. With it’s rise and fall of a gangster story, voiceover and freeze frames, it throws much more than a cheeky wink in the direction of Scorsese’s classic.

Back in the Thatcher years, scoundrel Frankie gets in a bit of trouble with the law and heads to Spain’s Costa del Crime to lay low for a while. On arrival he quickly aquaints himself with the neighbourhood villains and embarks on a sun-filled life of birds, drugs and crime. As he makes his way up the ladder, our man Frankie wears a permanently confused expression; whether taking his 6th line of coke of the morning, having a shotgun pointed at him or being explicitly propositioned by the pretty femme fatale he constantly looks as if he is trying to make sense of Hebrew. It’s somewhat suprising therefore that Frankie eventually becomes Mr. Big, with a direct link to Colombia. The 80’s were indeed ker-ayzee! He’s surrounded by equally wooden pastiches of Sarf Landan gangsters, so much so that I was expecting Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse to turn up and launch into a routine “You Slag!” “You Muppet!” “You Slag!”etc, etc.

The attention to detail with the costumes and music is a nice touch, and to be fair ginger-haired gangster Sammy does come across as properly hard. But this is a bad film. So bad, that it is completely watchable, if you know what I mean. Luvverly!

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26th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Ocean's 12

(dir. Steven Soderbergh)

After bad guy Andy Garcia tracks down the crew who robbed his casino in Ocean's 11, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and pals (plus one extra person - get it?) stage a series of robberies to raise the money to pay off Garcia. Problems come in the shape of a French master cat burglar (Vincent Cassell), who revels in beating Clooney's gang to the punch, and an Interpol agent how had a fling with the cheeky Brad Pitt (surprisingly likeable here).

The film is very stylishly done, shrugging off the glossy style that you would expect for so many huge names and instead using a low-key European-looking documentary style (a bit like the excellent Bourne Identity), with editing and simple trickery to keep the pace moving. Straight off the bat however, the script is so engrossed in its own cleverness that it is instantly hard to follow. Little attention is given to setting up the characters - which is fine for Clooney, Brad Pitt, maybe Matt Damon - but the rest of the supporting gang were not that memorable in episode 1 (or 11). A potential clever twist with Bruce Willis where Julia Roberts' character is mistaken for actress Julia Roberts is so smugly done that the actors practically wink at the camera...

It's watchable, but unless you're flying long haul don't bother.

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24th Apr 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

(dir. Wes Anderson)

With his career fast heading for the rocks, washed up oceanographer/documentalist Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) embarks on one final mission to find, and kill, the rare Jaguar Shark that ate his best friend. And off they set onto the high seas, under the captaincy of the pot-smoking Zissou, the watchful eye of a heavily pregnant reporter (Cate Blanchett), Zissou's soon to be ex-wife (Anjelica Huston) the on board guitarist and his Brazilian Bowie covers, a stiff from the insurance company and a few interns. Joining this crew of bobble-hatted misfits is Ned (Owen Wilson) who may or may not be his son.

Murray invests enough feeling into Zissou to lift him above simply being 'Bill Murray' in amusing costumes, whilst Wilson happily goes toe-to-toe with Murray in their Saharan battle of dry humour. The rest of the cast roll up their sleeves and get stuck into their roles, with Willem Dafoe being particularly excellent (Not something i've said for a while).

Director Wes Anderson now has 4 films under his belt and is yet to put a foot wrong. With his offbeat stories, always imaginatively and colourfully shot, excellent soundtracks and performances, he has achieved that desired goal of creative filmmakers and created a new genre 'A Wes Anderson Film'. Until further reviews are posted, his previous films - Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums are all highly recommended. According to IMDB he's down to make Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox next - most intriguing.

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#chimpovich

11th Apr 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Elizabethtown

(dir. Cameron Crowe)

After losing $1 Billion on behalf of the Oregon-based sneaker company (?!) he works for, hotshot designer Orlando Bloom thinks about killing himself - before the death of his father leads him on a journey of self-discovery to check out his roots in old Kentucky. On the way he meets a hottie airline steward (Kirsten Dunst), who makes him realise just how swell life can be.

It could have been a lot quicker if he'd succeeded with the early suicide, as this was pretty painful for all involved. The basic premise is a bit cheesy, but could have been really well done in an indie movie. Cameron Crowe's heavy handed recent form just pummels any glimmer of hope into distant oblivion, aided and abetted by the truly awful Orlando Bloom and a pretty average Kirsten Dunst. I only realised quite how bad the acting had been when an OK scene from Susan Sarandon seemed like the best acting I had seen in years.

Musical references are squeezed into the film at every unsuitable moment but the highlight was, of course, My Morning Jacket's appearance as the cousin's reformed band 'Ruckus', who play a blinding cover of Freebird as a tribute to the old man at his funeral.

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#CSF

20th Mar 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Walk The Line

(dir. James Mangold)

Biopic of the young Johnny Cash, following his upbringing by his tough father following the death of his brother, his start in the music business, his being offered drugs by Elvis' cronies, addiction and constant pursuit of hottie singer June Carter.

Joachim Phoenix was nothing special and I can see why he missed out on the Oscar nod. Unfortunately the same goes for Reese Witherspoon, both were OK and you could even assume they put in reasonable impressions of their characters, it was just that the story itself itself just wasn't that interesting. There was no real drama, goal or end point and in fact it pretty much just finished after the famous Folsom prison show.

The execution was very dull, and cliched... so much so that I thought the first half was simply setting up things for some kind of dark twist which never came. When things were hard it was raining, when they were good everything was sunny. I expected more from James Mangold after Copland... but then he did also bring us Identity. He meanders us through the story, broadcasting the drama to us in cliched and obvious ways (on the phone: "Stop cryin', I can hardly hear what your saying!") and then it just comes to a fairly abrupt but not unwelcome end.

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#CSF

14th Mar 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

V For Vendetta

(dir. James McTeigue)

Another film mining the genius of Alan Moore. And yet again, it misses the mark and makes you want to read the comic again (or should - if you haven't read it already, it's still worth a look).

This isn't as bad as the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Hellblazer (haven't got round to From Hell yet). Despite a wandering Brit accent, Natalie Portman is basically ok throughout, and Hugo Weaving does a pretty interesting job behind V's mask - thankfully they resist the urge to take it off, Judge Dredd style. As it's copied from a drawing, this is actually one of the better things about the adaptation - it really looks like him.

The main problem is the muddled updating of what was basically a very time-specific attack on Thatcher's Britain. Ian Hurt works as a ranting British fascist, but it somehow seems too easy in a pantomime villain way - the evil dictators we've ended up with in real life smile a lot more.

Having a terrorist as the hero of a mainstream film is obviously going to be "shocking" for the Fox-watching demographic in the states, but the morality is still fairly clear-cut here - he's fighting an evil totalitarian Britain that's anti-gay, anti-Muslim, even anti-film, so it's not too much of a stretch to get us on his side.

The trailer makes it look like it's going to ramp up the Wachiowski-style action, but there's actually not that much - it's a much more static outing than the Matrix (although the philosphy floats closely to that level of debate at times).

Having had a quick scan of the comic again, I'm not sure it's one of my favourite Moore works any more - loved it at the time, but was never that into the art for some reason, and he's done so much that's better since - and admits as much in the accompanying essay. Watchmen's still the obvious work of unparalleled class, but his recent stuff for ABC has been great too - Top Ten, Promethea and Tom Strong especially.

It's also worth noting that Moore's been hardcore about his insistence that his name isn't anywhere on the film. Check his wiki entry for a lowdown on the on-going feud. He doesn't even get paid for having his work bastardised.

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#chimp71

8th Mar 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Grizzly Man

(dir. Werner Herzog)

Could failing to get the part of Woody on Cheers really drive a man to turn his back on being human? This is one of the more bizarre questions that Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man poses in its troubled margins. The documentary tells the tale of a failed actor, Timothy Treadwell, who spent many summers living among grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness. Holed up in a worryingly basic tent, Treadwell filmed many hours of himself in his self-appointed role of guardian of the bears, and Herzog has used that footage as the foundation of his own take on events. To describe Treadwell as the guardian of the bears is, in fact, not strictly accurate, for it soon emerges that he actually saw himself as one of the bears, no longer human. There are, accordingly, some truly astonishing scenes in which he is face to face with the creatures, and some even more bewildering moments at which he even loses his temper with them and tells them to back off, which they do. From a very early point in the film, though, we know that Treadwell eventually dies in his tent, along with his girlfriend, at the hands of a bear. Even though there is an audio recording of the fatal attack (it would appear that Treadwell didn't have time to remove the lens cap), Herzog decides, in a moving scene, not to include it in his film. And this is very much a documentary that is more interested in opening than closing a case. Herzog is absolutely clear in his narration about where he disagrees with Treadwell - he says, for instance, in an unintentionally hilarious moment that, unlike Timothy, he believes that the universe is nothing but chaos and bleakness - and he poses some uncomfortable questions about Treadwell's disavowal of the human and, above all, his staged self-mythologizing. (It would seem, for instance, that some of the footage was shot deliberately to give the impression that Timothy was always alone in the wilderness, even though he was regularly accompanied.) There are also many moments at which the interviews conducted by Herzog feel curiously contrived. The coroner who reports on the aftermath of the attack, for example, delivers a dramatic monologue to camera that feels (but might not be) meticulously scripted and over-rehearsed. That's not a criticism of Herzog's film, though; it's merely one of the elements that gives Grizzly Man its claws.

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#Dr.Chimp

28th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Twin Peaks Season One

(dir.David Lynch and others)

What's up, doc? I have just raced through all of season 1 of Twin Peaks in a couple of days. This is the first time that I've revisited it since it aired on TV in 1990. It's still great, and Cooper is still one of the greatest characters ever to appear upon our screens, but it was *very* odd to watch it in such a condensed time period. What I remember about watching it first time around is weekly mass viewings in halls of residence that took up almost all of a term. (Chimp71 might even remember the occasion on which we had to bribe people to join the Twin Peaks gang, just so that we outnumbered the people who wanted to watch something on the other channel in the TV room. And then there was the night on which we really couldn't make up the numbers, which led to far too many people piling into my room to watch the show on my ancient, unreliable B&W portable TV). Stretching the viewing experience out over a couple of months clearly made season 1 feel more epic than it actually is - I really felt this time around that it was a small, perfectly-formed, tightly-plotted gem. And my memory clearly can't be trusted: I remember lots of visits to 'the red room', but there's just *one* in the whole series. I'm assuming that the scenes I've remembered are from season 2, so we'll just have to wait for that to appear on DVD.

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#Dr.Chimp

27th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Constant Gardener

(dir. Fernando Meirelles)

Quality spy offering from the John le Carré novel, swapping his cold war agents for just-as-cold corporate bureaucrats and civil servants working abroad in Kenya.

Think I was expecting more of an English Patient level romance here, pitching a relationship against the sweep of history etc. It does a bit of that, with slightly wet minister Ralph (rafe) Fiennes somehow swinging fiesty activist Rachel Weisz and getting her to head out to Africa with him and his plants.

What's handled really well is the way that Fiennes is slowly forced into action, trying to work out if Weisz has been doing the dirty on him, and also finding out who his friends in the Foreign Office really are. Bill Nighy's got a solid cameo doing his thing well, and Danny Huston (who i loved in the underrated Ivan's XTC) is also shaping up to be a decent character actor.

The anger against corporate indifference/callousness towards the price of African life is succinct, without spilling into preachiness - feels like a real, rather than movie evil. Good use of the landscapes - both Kenya and London, looking totally grey compared to the African colours. Interesting to have a non-uk director like Meirelles who did City Of God etc shooting London.

Overall, it's slow, but not dull if you're in the mood. The only duff note is a teenage hacker who does one of those movie tech bits: "yeah, just like crack into the mirror server and wah wah wah" which should get him a job at CTU any day now…

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#chimp71

24th Feb 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet