Category: Film Review

The Big Empty: A Review by Nate Hill

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

  

The Big Empty is a quirky, off kilter little flick that packs a backpack full of borrowed elements from the Coen brothers and David Lynch, before embarking on a perplexing outing into the Twilight Zone. That’s not to say it rips any of these artists off, and indeed it’s got a style and cadence all its own. It just loves other oddballs before it and wants to wear it’s influences proudly. Everyone’s favourite lovable schlub Jon Favreau plays John Person, a flailing, out of work actor. He’s presented with a dodgy proposition by his whacko neighbour Neely (eternally bug eyed Bud Cort). Transport a mysterious blue briefcase to a remote town in the Mojave Desert called Baker. There he will meet a much talked about, little seen individual called The Cowboy (Sean Bean), who will take the case off his hands. He agrees, as he must in order for us to have a film to watch, and heads out to the back end of nowhere. In any respectable piece like this, the town our hero visits must be populated by weirdos, eccentrics, dead ends, missed encounters and an abiding, ever present atmosphere of anomalous peculiarity. Right on time, he meets a host of charming characters, including Grace (Joey Lauren Adams), her sensual daughter Ruthie (Rachel Leigh Cook), Indian Bob (Gary Farmer), grouchy FBI Agent Banks (Kelsey Grammar), and a bunch of others including Daryl Hannah, Melora Walters, Jon Gries, Brent Briscoe, Adam Beach and Danny Trejo. He’s led from one head scratching interaction to the other, each step of the way proving to be a step behind the elusive Cowboy, with no form of coherence appearing to ease poor John’s bafflement. I was reminded of Jim Jarmusch, particularly his masterpiece Dead Man, perhaps because Gary Farmer appears in both, but most likely mainly due to the fact that both films follow a hapless Joe on a journey that doesn’t seem to be going much of anyplace, but holds interest simply by being bizarre enough. Favreau is the only one that doesn’t fit, the outsider whose laid back suburban affability creates friction with almost every individual he meets, all who seem to have wandered in from the outer limits of some other dimension. Sean Bean is relaxed, mercurial with just a dash of danger as The Cowboy, quite possibly the strangest person John meets. The film has unexpected jabs of humour too, which occasionally breach the surface of its tongue in cheek veneer of inaccessibility. Upon meeting Indian Bob, John inquires: “Are you Bob The Indian?”. Bob jovially retorts “No, I’m Lawrence the fuckin Arabian.” Gary Farmer brings the same cloudy, sardonic cheek he brought to the role of Nobody the Indian in Jarmusch’s Dead Man, which had much the same type humour as this one: little moments of hilarity buried like treasures amongst the abnormal. Sometimes I muse that films like these which seem to really go nowhere in high style are there simply to give your brain a workout in odd areas that it wouldn’t normally play in. Set up a voyage like this, lead the audience down a yellow brick road and arrive at.. well basically nowhere in particular, just to chuckle at your efforts to figure it all out, jab you in the ribs and say “Don’t take this shit too seriously, man!”. Or maybe not. Maybe there’s deeper meaning behind the meandering, that will reveal some holy significance. This one, though, I doubt it. It’s pure playtime.

KEVIN REYNOLDS’ THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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Truly exciting modern swashbucklers are hard to come by. The first Antonio Banderas Zorro was great fun, and I’m a big, big fan of the Gore Verbinski Pirates of the Caribbean movies, as he’s a premiere visual talent who makes some of the most unorthodox and unique blockbusters. But one film that snuck in under the radar was 2002’s The Count of Monte Cristo, from Waterworld and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves helmer Kevin Reynolds. Featuring two rock-solid performances from then up-and-coming stars Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce, the film was bolstered considerably by fabulous production values; Andrew Dunn’s exceptional cinematography and the sumptuous set decoration and overall design by Mark Geraghty really evoked time and place with a great sense of style that was never over the top. Crisply adapted from the classic Alexandre Dumas novel by Jay Wolpert, who also worked on the first Pirates film, the plot was streamlined with the action elements beefed up, but the film never felt cheapened or dumbed-down for contemporary audiences, with both Caviezel and Pearce offering up impassioned performances that fit their respective molds just right. On a $25 million budget, the film became a theatrical success with a box office gross of $75 million worldwide, but this is certainly one of those films that has had a long shelf life on cable and disc. You can’t go wrong with a supporting cast that includes Richard Harris, Luis Guzman, Michael Wincott, James Frain, and Henry Cavill, and the sweeping musical score from Edward Shearmur immediately set an appropriately high-stakes tone with rousing emotional beats. This film didn’t try and pretend to be anything other than what it was — a spirited romp through classic material told with directorial panache and an unpretentious sense of classical Hollywood hat-tipping.

THE ABYSS – A REVIEW BY J.D. LAFRANCE

by J.D., posted in Film Review

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The more times I see The Abyss (1989), the more I am convinced that it is James Cameron’s best film to date. Wedged between megahits, Aliens (1988), and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), The Abyss was unfortunately lost in the shuffle. This may also have been due to the flood of leaky underwater films like Leviathan (1989) and Deep Star Six (1989) that were released around the same time. Even though The Abyss came out after these financial and critical failures, it was dismissed by most critics as yet another underwater disaster. Most reviewers were clearly tired of this string of underwater themed films and assumed that Cameron’s motion picture was no better than the rest. However, this is simply not the case with The Abyss, which, like many of Cameron’s films, is filled with stunning visuals, a strong ensemble cast, and a solid story that is never sacrificed at the expense of the movie’s special effects.

As the film opens, a United States nuclear submarine is accidentally sunk by a mysterious, unidentified source under 2,000 feet of water off the coast of Cuba. Nearby, a corporate owned underwater oil-drilling rig commandeered by Virgil “Bud” Brigman (Ed Harris) is subsequently ordered to aid a group of Navy SEALs, led by the no-nonsense Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn), to salvage the downed sub and search for survivors, if any. To make the situation even more interesting is the surprise arrival of Bud’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Liz (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who designed the rig and rejoins the crew to ensure that everything goes smoothly. As the mission progresses, a storm rages topside causing many problems for the rig and its crew. Add to this the growing tensions of nearby U.S. and Russian naval fleets and you have a potentially volatile situation. But this is only the beginning of a string of dilemmas that beset Bud and his cohorts who gradually realize that there is something else down there with them, and it may not be human.

The Abyss was a project that James Cameron had dreamed of making ever since he was 17 years old. He wrote a “very, very crude and simple story dealing with the idea of being in the very deep ocean and doing fluid breathing and making a descent to the bottom from a staging submersible laboratory that was on the edge.” His original short story concerned the adventures of a group of scientists in a laboratory at the bottom of the ocean, “which is the sort of sci-fi idea that appeals to all kids, I suppose,” he said. Over the years, Cameron became involved in numerous other projects but he never forgot about this underwater adventure and wrote several drafts that changed radically over time but the original idea that started it all remained intact. When Terminator (1984) and Aliens became bonafide box office hits, Cameron was in a position to make his dream project a reality. He had no idea the problems that he would face trying to realize this dream.

The bulk of The Abyss was shot in and around Gaffney, South Carolina. At first, this seems like a rather unlikely place to shoot an underwater epic, but it turned out to be the best place after their decision to shoot on-location became unrealistic. Cameron had originally planned to try filming in the Bahamas where the story is set, but soon realized that he had to have a totally controlled environment because of the stunts and special FX involved. To this end, Cameron found the Cherokee Nuclear Power Station, an abandoned site that proved to be ideal for what they needed. The film crew ended up shooting all of the underwater sequences (this comprised 40% of all live action principal photography) in two specially constructed concrete containment tanks: one holding 7.5 million gallons of water, and the other holding 2.5 million gallons.

As if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, the actual shoot consisted of a grueling six month, six-day, 70-hour a week schedule that took its toll on cast and crew alike. “I knew this was going to be a hard shoot, but even I had no idea just how hard. I don’t ever want to go through this again,” Cameron remarked at the time. And yet, the sense that what they were making was groundbreaking and worth doing was the glue that kept everything together. The film’s producer, Gale Anne Hurd clearly viewed The Abyss in this fashion. “No one has attempted this before, and we had to solve everything from how to keep the water clear enough to shoot, to how to keep it dark enough to look realistic at 2,000 feet where it’s pitch black.” By all accounts, the cast and crew thrived on this challenge, and as the final results demonstrate, succeeded in producing a truly stunning work.

Cameron’s production company had to design and build experimental equipment and develop a state-of-the-art communications system that allowed the director to talk underwater to the actors and dialogue to be recorded directly onto tape for the first time. For all of the underwater scenes they used three cameras in watertight housings specially designed by underwater cinematographer expert Al Giddings, known for his incredible work on The Deep (1977). Another special housing was designed for scenes that went from above-water dialogue to below-water dialogue. Underwater visibility was a major concern for Cameron as he wanted to see the actors’ faces and hear their dialogue. Western Space and Marine built ten experimental diving units for the film. They engineered helmets which would remain optically clear underwater and installed innovative aircraft quality microphones in each helmet.

In addition, Cameron was also breaking new ground in the area of special visual effects, which were divided up among seven FX divisions with motion control work by Dream Quest Images and computer graphics and opticals by Industrial Light & Magic. ILM was brought on board to create the amazing water pseudopod and spent six months to create 75 seconds of computer graphics needed for the creature. However, this work caused the film’s release to be delayed from July 4, 1989 to August of the same year.

The production difficulties that plagued The Abyss have become the stuff of Hollywood legend. There were reports from South Carolina that Ed Harris was so upset by the physical demands of the film and Cameron’s dictatorial style that he said he would refuse to help promote the picture. The actor later denied it and did press for the film. He did admit that the daily mental and physical strain was very intense. He recalled, “One day we were all in our dressing rooms and people began throwing couches out the windows and smashing the walls. We just had to get our frustrations out.” The actors were not happy about the slow pace of filming. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio remembered, “We never started and finished any one scene in any one day.” Michael Biehn was frustrated by the waiting. He claims that he was in South Carolina for five months and only acted for the three to four weeks. Cameron responded to these complaints by saying, “For every hour they spent trying to figure out what magazine to read, we spent an hour at the bottom of the tank breathing compressed air.”

Like all of Cameron’s other films the action plays a secondary role to the central love story — whether it was between Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor in Terminator or Ripley and Newt in Aliens. In The Abyss we are presented with a disintegrating relationship between Bud and Liz. And yet, as the film progresses and we spend more time with these two people, we begin to realize that they still love each other and that this is what adds a real element of humanity to the special effects-laden film. But The Abyss is much more than that. It mixes elements of an exciting thriller, action film, and science fiction story together in one great package. The way the film is structured, we are presented with several small movies that, when linked together, comprise a larger whole. It is this wonderful structure that makes one realize that there is more going on than a search for a missing submarine.

As Cameron demonstrated with Terminator, he has a real eye for action sequences and The Abyss is no different. One scene, in particular, demonstrates Cameron’s ability to create moments of white knuckle intensity. Several compartments of the underwater rig begin flooding, while crew members try frantically to escape to a safer area. Cameron’s hand-held camera follows these men through the claustrophobic hold at such a breakneck pace, via a compelling first person point-of-view angle, that one can’t help but get caught up in the feeling of urgency brought on by this dangerous situation. At times, it feels like you are actually bouncing through the tight corridors of the rig alongside the characters and this enhances the thrill and excitement of such adrenaline-fueled sequences.

The Abyss is also similar to Cameron’s previous film, Aliens in the sense that both have a top rate ensemble cast. The crew of the rig all have their own distinctive personalities, which are each given their own moment to shine and never detract from the larger story. The interaction between these people has a ring of honesty and authenticity, which suggests that every character is important and crucial to the film’s outcome. But these colorful characters never obscure the three main principles that are also fully-fleshed characters each with his or her own agenda. Ed Harris portrays Bud as a man dedicated to his rig and his people, but he cannot balance his work life with his personal life. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s Liz is, as she later admits, “a cast-iron bitch,” but underneath the hard, tough exterior there are occasional glimpses of a sensitive dreamer fighting to get out. Cameron regular, Michael Biehn (an underused actor also seen in Terminator and Aliens, respectively) personifies intensity as the leader of the Navy SEALs who slowly loses his grip on reality and his priorities, posing a threat to the safety of everyone on the rig. Each of these characters has their own inner conflicts as well as the larger conflict that threatens everyone. One of the pleasures of watching The Abyss is seeing how these personal conflicts play out and resolve themselves by the end of the film.

The Abyss deviates from Cameron’s other features in the sense that it stresses the idea of settling disputes through non-violent means. Violence in the film is not the solution to the problem, but the source. This idea is illustrated through Lt. Coffey, the main instigator of violence in the film. His violent acts create the many problems that the protagonists face and this ultimately results in his demise. On the other hand, Liz personifies the peaceful alternative. Where the selfish Coffey sees anger and hatred, Liz is willing to sacrifice herself for others. She is the calming effect on everyone and her presence on the rig is pivotal in resolving many of the story’s conflicts. It’s a refreshing view that you don’t often see in films nowadays where everything is solved at the end of a gun. Unfortunately, this viewpoint seemed to have disappeared from Cameron’s subsequent work, which regressed to the usual violent antics. Whether it was because of the film’s failure to connect and succeed on a mass level or the departure of long time partner, Gale Anne Hurd, is unknown, but with a film like True Lies (1994), Cameron abandoned a strong, independently minded female character for one that is objectified by the camera and on the receiving end of a lot of misogynistic behavior. It’s too bad because The Abyss contains none of this and instead points the way for a new kind of action-oriented film that stresses problem solving over violence, while still providing the requisite amount of thrills. This is a much-needed antidote to the mindless violence and anger that is problematic in so many films today.

The Abyss is a truly special film that never lags in pace or interest thanks to the many stunning visuals courtesy of breathtaking computer animation from Industrial Lights and Magic (effects that were the precursor to ones used in Terminator 2). There are also fascinating characters and exciting, often intense situations that keeps the viewer involved in the story. The Abyss is one of those rare films that you wish wouldn’t end because the world and the characters that inhabit it are so compelling and exciting. This film demonstrates, yet again, that James Cameron is one the few directors who can make good science fiction films, with a strong story, a solid cast, and exceptional images that help elevate it above the usual Hollywood dreck and straight-to-video sci-fi clunkers. And that is truly something special at a time of militaristic, flag-waving propaganda like Independence Day (1996), which purports to be entertainment, but is just another mindless special effects workout.

MAN OF STEEL: A Retrospective by Joel Copling

by Joel Copling, posted in Film Review

Rating in Stars: ***½ (out of ****)
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe
Director: Zack Snyder
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language)
Running Time: 2:23
Release Date: 06/14/13

Immediately, Man of Steel vaults over the necessity to make this the usual superhero origin story, and in the process, it stands out immediately. The character of Superman is only as interesting as he is when his alter ego Clark Kent exists to introduce the dynamic of one becoming the other and vice versa. With this film, though, screenwriter David S. Goyer dismisses this until the final scene positions that dichotomy to be featured in a sequel and instead centers his focus upon, not Superman, but Kal-El, the Kryptonian citizen whose birth was closely followed by the murder of both parents by a man who was bred with a militant mind.

We know the beats of that story, of course, but Goyer approaches it with as much theatricality as it deserves. Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) have given birth (the first natural one in centuries, apparently) to a son they hope will inspire good. The move is one that follows a distinct feeling on Jor-El’s part that Krypton is going to Hell in a handbasket, a feeling exacerbated when Zod (Michael Shannon in a performance that is over-the-top because the sensation is necessitated), a general, attempts to overtake the council that might save the planet. Jor-El and Lara respond by sending their son to Earth, whose younger, brighter star will help to hone his powers among a more youthful generation.

We do get a glimpse of the younger Kal-El’s (Dylan Sprayberry and Cooper Timberline play him at the ages of nine and 13) life on Earth among the Kents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), the family who takes him in and christens him Clark while grasping only guesses as to where he came from. He saves a school bus full of children using his super-human strength, and Dad warns him about revealing his other-worldliness, even at the sake of so many young and innocent lives. He, Dad says, is the answer to the questions of man’s solitude in the universe, and such questions are bigger than, really, any other, even that of complicity in allowing the bus to submerge.

It’s an act of planting stakes in Kal-El’s identity, so as an older figure, now played by Henry Cavill in a performance of great earnestness and as little outward personality as possible (and, subsequently, as much as is necessary), he takes up a job that will highlight his desire for anonymity: a worker on a fisherman’s wharf. He also saves a burning oil rig from killing most of those onboard before fleeing. Suddenly, a bigger threat awaits him: Zod and his lieutenants have escaped prison and arrived at the place they knew Kal-El to be, demanding that the inhabitants deliver him or suffer the consequence of annihilation.

The finale pits Kal-El, who has now been labeled “Superman” by the general public with the help of fearless reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams), against Zod, who wants to preserve Krypton’s population through twisted and destructive methods (which afford the villain a motivation that is as cruel as it is easy to sympathize with) that include a massive engine that will align Earth’s atmosphere with that of Krypton, along the streets and into the buildings of Metropolis. The ensuing action goes on a bit, but it’s is as blustery and epic as director Zack Snyder (no stranger to either adjective when it comes to his movies) and cinematographer Amir Mokri can possibly make it. It’s also something of a secondary concern for Man of Steel, which is focused on uprooting our understanding of the title hero and laying down a different, more mythic foundation than we have known.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: A Retrospective by Joel Copling

by Joel Copling, posted in Film Review

Rating in Stars: ***½ (out of ****)
Cast: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman
Director: Christopher Nolan
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language)
Running Time: 2:44
Release Date: 07/20/12

Settling somewhere in between the modesty of 2005’s Batman Begins and the grandiosity of 2008’s The Dark Knight in terms of quality (and only, it must said, quality, as the film is bigger and longer than both of its predecessors), The Dark Knight Rises is a beast of a movie–blustering and flawed but thrilling in its best moments. It is also a terrific act of returning the series to its roots conceptually, pitting the titular hero against a reincarnation of his foe from the first film and examining, like the first sequel, the consequences of Bruce Wayne’s shift from millionaire playboy to brooding (literally, in this film’s case) wearer of a cape and cowl that project his worst fear upon his enemies. The comfort of a formula that must bring him both to the only end that makes sense and, in a way, back to his own start means that this film is more ambitious but, perhaps, less impactful than its predecessor.

It’s been eight years since Gotham’s most prominent politician was, according to official reports, murdered by the Batman after a madman forever altered public perception of both men. Bruce (Christian Bale, conveying a sense of great sadness in what probably stands as the actor’s best work in the series), still stinging from the loss of the woman he loved to that madman’s evil machinations, is now once again a recluse–this time in the lavish Wayne Manor, from which rumors spread about why the man has locked himself away and outside of which, every year, the city’s finest (and its politicians) meet to celebrate the old district attorney’s life. Retirement from heroism does not suit Bruce, whose limp from an old knee injury has gotten worse and whose standing with Gotham’s elite has fallen since disappearing from public life.

Bruce has been avoiding a partnership with Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a member of the city’s elite, on an energy project because of the potential for the fusion reactor to be turned into a weapon. His influence has caused petty criminals such Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who wears cat ears as just one of her disguises while taking from the rich to give to the poor, to invoke a kind of anti-capitalist bent that makes it easier when our new villain raises his hand to place a foothold both in thinking the rich elite are corrupt and in arming the citizens of Gotham against the whole system. It’s the least subtle element of a screenplay (written by director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan) that also relegates the above characters to being red herrings until one of them must be good and the other bad.

The Batman’s legacy has turned from one of reverence to one of hatred. Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) knows the truth about what happened to give the Batman such a reputation, but the guilt attached to it has fractured his own family in half. Even Bruce’s faithful servant Alfred (Michael Caine, who is excellent here) says enough is enough, knowing where the conversation will head, when the Batman is forced back into action, collaborating with Gordon behind the backs of a police force who want to see him incarcerated (with the exception of a beat cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who figures out the truth through inference and implication) and being supplied with gadgets and a flying, bat-shaped vehicle by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

This is a Gotham still rebuilding itself from a madman’s influence, and then another one appears. He is Bane (Tom Hardy), a cross between a pro wrestler in brutish features (His and the Batman’s throwdown fights are staged by Nolan in a way that lessens Hans Zimmer’s throbbing score and times Lee Smith’s editing to the punches and headbutts) and English royalty in lilting cadence (Hardy is commanding as he spouts of dialogue that might have come from Shakespeare), who shares an employment history with Bruce and a desire to rise from the shadows and continue his forebear’s work. He swiftly and brutally sweeps in, takes over Gotham with about as clear-cut and effective an order as probable to outside forces not to intervene, and sets up a dictatorial regime under the guise of a freeloading society with no rules. If the previous film’s villain was engaged in a battle for Gotham’s soul, this is a battle for the morsels that were left.

In addition to the bold, blunt lines used to draw the characters, the film suffers from pacing problems (The film rushes through a three-month period by way of montage, followed by a jump nearly an entire month more at the expense of the internal tension of a countdown clock) and contrivances (Bruce and Miranda enjoy a one-night stand just so a late-film revelation can have a flimsy, extra layer of stakes applied to it). But in the bigger picture of a movie that has the gall to approach perhaps a permanent end to the Batman legend, these are small quibbles. The Dark Knight Rises, which also features a denouement that could not have been played more perfectly, is also stirring, potent stuff.

BRIAN HELGELAND’S LEGEND — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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Legend is robust, underappreciated genre entertainment, boasting two explosive performances from Tom Hardy as the infamous Kray brothers, twin gangsters who ran the show in swinging-60’s East London. Hardy is simply an actor on fire, repeatedly making it clear in film after film that he is an absolute force to be reckoned with. Written with sass and directed with punchy style by Brian Helgeland, the film was all but buried by Universal in the United States. The studio must’ve realized at the last minute that, sadly, Hardy’s name means nothing above the title on a poster or in trailers as regular Joe moviegoers haven’t a clue as to who he is. The decidedly British tone and setting might have represented a further challenge to audiences looking for a more formal gangster film. But my question will always be, in the case of this film and many others – why BOTHER making the film in the first place if you have no intention of properly releasing it? Studio execs presumably read the script and approved the casting decisions, so why is it some sort of big shocker that the end results are exactly what should have been expected?

The film doesn’t break any new ground for the milieu, but at the same time, it’s mighty entertaining at almost every turn, with the dual performances from Hardy as Ronnie and Reggie Kray absolutely blazing up the screen with full-force intensity. Tapping into his innermost Bronson at times and letting it rip with extreme visceral force, he was able to convey two very different characters, sometimes within the same scene thanks to seamless visual effects work, while showcasing an overall level of cinematic ferocity that is getting increasingly harder for any other actor to match. Emily Browning is sexy as hell as the object of desire, looking smashing in glitzy period-authentic clothing, with some of the best make-up work I’ve seen in recent films.

The film is vulgar, violent, and cheerfully bloody, with all sorts of stabbings and throat-slicing and shootings to satiate the gore hounds, with Helgeland comfortably playing in the tough-guy cinematic arena that clearly comes natural to him (other potent screenplay credits include Mystic River, LA Confidential, and Man on Fire, while he’s probably best known for directing the neo-noir Payback with Mel Gibson). A snappy soundtrack and vibrant cinematography by Dick Pope also spruce up the proceedings, while familiar faces such as Chazz Palminteri, Paul Bettany, Sam Spruell, David Thewlis, Taron Egerton, and Christopher Eccleston provide solid supporting turns. The film grossed $42 million worldwide, with just $2 million of that total coming from U.S. box office receipts. Insane to ponder.

B Movie Glory with Nate: Guns, Girls And Gambling

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

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Guns, Girls And Gambling is an absolute doozy of a film. The term ‘so bad it’s good’ was invented for slapdash mockeries such as this, and with every stylistic cliche and ridiculous tactic, it owns the moniker vigorously. The filmmakers are obvious disciples of the neo noir crime thriller, as we see countless hard boiled walking stereotypes prance across the screen. Whenever a character shows up, a garish font announces them in writing below, which is crime genre 101. This happens so many goddamn times though, that eventually I felt like I was watching Mel Brooks’s attempt at a heist flick. It’s silly beyond words, derivitive enough to give you the onset of dementia and admirably dumb. But… I still had fun, at least in parts of it. It concerns the theft of a priceless Native American artifact from a tribal casino. The perpetrators? A gang of Elvis impersonators with, let’s say, interesting characteristics. There’s gay Elvis (Chris Kattan), midget Elvis (Tony Cox), Asian Elvis (Anthony Wong) and Gary Oldman Elvis, played by Gary Oldman who looks like he was dared into taking the role at a frat party. The bumbling Elvises break ranks post heist and the plot thickens, or should I say befuddles, with the arrival of every kooky, sassy assassin and archetype under the sun. Now from what I could make out: Christian Slater plays a dude called John Smith, a ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ type of guy who is swept up into the intrigue and is in way over head. He’s pursued by all kinds of unsavory people, and joined by the girl next door (Heather Roop). There’s The Cowboy (a salty Jeff Fahey), a gunslinging hitman who claims to never miss but literally misses upon firing the first bullet. The Indian (Matthew Willig) is a hulking tomahawk sporting badass. The Chief (Gordon Tootoosis) is the casino owner, muscling in on everyone to get back his artifact. The Sheriff (Dane Cook) is a corrupt lawman out for anything worth a buck. Best of the bunch is a snarling Powers Boothe as The Rancher, a good ol’ southern gangster who languishes in a white limo longer than the cast list of this movie, chewing scenery as vigorously as his cigar. There’s also a sexy blonde assassin called The Blonde (Helena Mattson) who wanders around quoting Poe right before she blasts people’s heads off. Its inane, mind numbing eye candy, with a cast that seems to have been blackmailed into participation. There’s even a last minute twist ending that seems to have wandered in from a much more serious film. It’s quite literally one of the most stupefyingly odd flicks I’ve ever seen. It’s earnestness in aping countless Pulp Fiction style films before it is beyond amusing, and the only thing that will make you laugh harder is how spectacularly and epically it flounders. It’s truly B movie gold, and one that demands a watch simply because it’s a sideshow unto itself.

THE UNTOUCHABLES – A REVIEW BY J.D. LAFRANCE

by J.D., posted in Film Review

UntouchablesConnery

Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987) is a film that asks the burning question: is police brutality ever justified? It is when you’re dealing with the likes of Al Capone and Frank Nitti – gangsters that had no problem blowing up children and killing nebbish accountants to get what they wanted. The film doesn’t exactly adhere to historical fact opting instead to go with John Ford’s famous credo of printing the legend and in doing so raising the characters and their exploits to mythic status. De Palma’s adaptation of Eliot Ness’ 1957 memoir of the same name had all the makings of a powerhouse production destined for greatness. It featured a screenplay written by legendary playwright David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross), expert cinematographer Stephen H. Burum (Rumble Fish) was behind the camera, master composer Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad & the Ugly) was scoring the film, and Robert De Niro and Sean Connery were signed on to play larger-than-life characters. The result was an exciting, action-packed epic that helped revitalize De Palma’s struggling career (after the critical and commercial failure of Wise Guys) and earned Connery his first Academy Award.

It is 1930 and gangster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) controls most of the illegal business in Chicago with a ruthless, iron fist. After a ten-year old girl is killed in a gang-related incident, Federal Treasury Agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is brought in to clean up the city. His first attempt is an embarrassing failure so he tries a different approach. He decides to form his own task force of three men to help him take down Capone and his empire. He picks a veteran beat cop named Malone (Sean Connery), who knows the city and becomes Ness’ mentor. He also selects Stone (Andy Garcia), a cop fresh out of the academy and ace shot with a pistol. Rounding out the group is Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), a bookish FBI accountant who figures out a way to nail Capone. Together, they form an incorruptible group determined to bring Capone to justice.

De Palma and Mamet make it clear right from the get-go that The Untouchables isn’t going to be some half-assed, sanitized gangster film as they proceed to have Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) blow up a bar with a little girl in it. This shocking sequence, juxtaposed with Capone lying about not using violence to enforce his will, sets an all-bets-are-off tone as we get an idea of just how brutal life is in Chicago and how far Capone is willing to go to make a point. This is then contrasted with Eliot Ness’ blandy-McPlainWrap home life with a loving and dutiful wife (Patricia Clarkson) and cute-as-a-button child. We see just how far removed from Chicago Ness’ home life is and what a rude wake-up call he will get when he starts working in the city.

Kevin Costner is wisely cast as the stiff, idealistic Ness. He’s the least interesting character and plays the role straight, trying not to go the obvious heroic route. His all-American looks and Gary Cooper-esque style are ideally suited for the role of the last honest man in the corrupt town (which Oliver Stone would also utilize in JFK). His Ness is as straight an arrow as they come, which makes the character’s arc over the course of the film an interesting one. He goes from staunch upholder of the law to someone who has adopted Malone’s by-any-means-necessary philosophy.

This allows Connery to rightfully shine as the aging cop torn between riding out his remaining time and retire alive or making a difference with Ness and his crew. Unlike Ness, Malone has grown up on and worked the mean streets of Chicago. He understands that they are at war with Capone and must do whatever it takes to bust him and break up his empire because he will be just as ruthless. Upon the first meeting, Malone imparts a valuable lesson to Ness: “Make sure when you shift is over you go home alive.” It seems obvious but is an important one to know. It is also the reason why Malone initially turns down Ness’ offer to form the Untouchables. Connery shows what a once great actor can do with the right material and this results in a truly inspired performance — arguably the veteran actor’s last great one.

Rounding out his trilogy of memorable cameos in the 1980s (including Brazil and Angel Heart), Robert De Niro put on the pounds again (which he first and most famously did for Raging Bull) and transformed himself into Al Capone. Like Tony Montana in De Palma’s Scarface (1983), Capone is surrounded by luxury and opulence but is still just a cruel thug at heart. In the few scenes that he has, De Niro makes them count and it is a thrill to hear a great actor say Mamet’s tough-guy dialogue (listen to how he says the word, “enthusiasms,” in a scene). The actor clearly relishes the role and treats the dialogue like he’s enjoying a rich meal and each word is a juicy morsel that he savors.

The supporting roles feature some fantastic actors, chief among them Billy Drago who exudes just the right amount of oily menace as Nitti. For example, there is a scene where he cordially threatens Ness and his family. On the surface there is the appearance of civility but we know what his true intentions are and it doesn’t take Ness much time to figure it out but by then Nitti is speeding off in his car. He’s made his point. Drago doesn’t get many lines or a lot of screen time but makes the most of what he’s given, making a fine addition to De Palma’s roster of cinematic sociopaths.

Speaking of Mamet’s dialogue, it crackles and pops with intensity and provides many of the film’s classic scenes, perhaps none more memorable than Malone’s famous speech to Ness where he tells him how to get Capone. “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way.” Sean Connery delivers this speech with the passion and conviction that rightfully earned him an Oscar. The other scene of classic Mamet dialogue is Capone’s infamous dinner table monologue where he talks about teamwork before braining a hapless flunky with a baseball bat for not being a part of the “team.”

Brian De Palma’s stylish direction is perfect for this epic story: long, uninterrupted takes, slow motion and excellent compositions within the widescreen format. He may well be one of the greatest practioners of this aspect ratio. Just look at a simple set-up in the scene where Malone takes Ness to a church and lays it all out for how they’re going to get Capone. Both men take up most of the foreground occupying either side of the screen. The camera is low looking up at them so that we also see part of the beautifully ornate church ceiling. It is this kind of shot that would be totally destroyed when shown pan and scanned on television. Then there is the much-celebrated train station shoot-out, which was a shameless homage to a famous sequence in the legendary film, Battleship Potemkin (1925). It’s a bravura sequence that is beautifully orchestrated by De Palma as he builds the tension leading up to the shoot-up for what seems like an unbearable eternity. The entire sequence is a brilliant lesson in editing and camerawork.

Although, De Palma does go a little over-the-top (even for him) with the Ness-Nitti show down at the end, which features the director’s obligatory homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There is also a silly bit of business where we see two old cops duking it in a rainy alleyway as Connery and veteran character actor Richard Bradford laughably beat each other up in a scene that I could’ve done without. Also, Malone’s prolonged death scene drags on for what feels like an eternity but these are really minor flaws in an otherwise unimpeachable stone cold classic as De Palma does his best to distract us from these histrionics with giallo lighting in the Connery fight scene and suspenseful point-of-view steadicam work in the death scene.

In 1984, producer Art Linson met with Paramount Studio’s president Ned Tanen about adapting The Untouchables television series into a film. Tanen liked the idea but Linson did not want to do a sequel, a remake or a parody. He wanted “to create a big-scale movie about mythical American heroes.” Linson needed a screenwriter and thought of David Mamet, fresh from just having won a Pulitzer Prize for his Broadway play Glengarry Glen Ross. He met with Mamet and the writer agreed to do the film. The screenwriter was a native of Chicago and something of a gangster history buff. He envisioned a story about “the old gunfighter and the young gunfighter … It occurred to me, what happens if this young innocent, who’s charged with defending the law but only understands that in an abstract way, meets an old disenchanted veteran, the caretaker of the law, soured at the end of his career because of the corruption in the city?”

Mamet asked Paramount to show him two episodes of the original series and he liked them but felt that “there was nothing I could use in the movie.” Mamet wrote an original story after realizing that the real events – Capone being caught for tax evasion – were not that dramatic. Mamet created the character of Malone and gave Ness a family (he did not have one in real life). After eight months, Brian De Palma was approached to direct by Linson after Mamet wrote the third draft of the script. The director liked that the script was more about the characters and did not see it as a gangster film but more like The Magnificent Seven (1960). He felt that the project was “different from anything I’ve done in the past, because it’s a traditional Americana picture, like a John Ford picture.” He, Linson and Mamet worked together on it with De Palma emphasizing the Capone character more. According to De Palma, the film “reflects upon the incredible pressure we place on our police by not equipping them to adequately fight criminals. Why are we surprised that some of them go overboard?”

For the role of Eliot Ness, Linson and De Palma initially considered William Hurt and Harrison Ford, but, according to Linson, they wanted “someone with the right combination of naiveté, earnestness and strength.” They ended up casting Kevin Costner who wanted to do the film because it was so different from the television series and Ness “has to ask for help. It’s the more modern notion that a smart man takes a step back sometimes – that to be a hero you don’t have to be Rambo.” For Jimmy Malone, the filmmakers wanted Sean Connery but assumed that he would not want to play a supporting role and take a pay cut. However, Connery was drawn to the project because of Mamet’s script and the chance to work with Robert De Niro. He ended up signing on for a percentage of the profits. For the role of Al Capone, De Palma wanted De Niro. Paramount initially balked at the actor’s asking price of $1.5 million but relented.

The principal actors rehearsed together for a full week and Connery tried to remain in character even when the cast was relaxing. By the time principal photography began, whole scenes had been blocked and unworkable ideas rejected. A rapport between the actors playing the Untouchables had also been established, which definitely shows in the film. In preparation for the film, De Niro put on 30 pounds between the end of his Broadway run in Cuba and His Teddy Bear and his days of filming scheduled at the end of the 70-day production schedule. He analyzed old Movietone newsreels in order to get Capone’s voice, movements and mannerisms. On an interesting note, the famous scene in the church between Ness and Malone as originally written, took place on a street, but Connery suggested it take place in a church – the only place left in the city where they could speak freely.

Principal photography started in mid-August 1986 and utilized over 25 separate locations in Chicago with the border raid sequence shot on the Old Hardy Bridge spanning the Missouri River because of its period look. The train station shoot-out cost $200,000 to light because extra light was needed to shoot the sequence in slow motion. It took six days to shoot the scene, which cost an additional $100,000. Not surprisingly, staging this sequence like the one in Battleship Potemkin was De Palma’s idea. The budget escalated from $17 million to $24 million thanks to the cost of production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein transforming an entire block of LaSalle Street in Chicago into the 1930s complete with 125 costumed extras and 60 period cars.

The production design for The Untouchables is fantastic, especially the opulence of Capone’s headquarters, with Morricone’s score resembling a 1930s riff on the music from De Palma’s Scarface. This film is one of those rare big-budget, star-studded blockbusters that actually works. All of the right elements came together at just the right time and place and resulted in an incredibly entertaining motion picture. The Untouchables shows what a master filmmaker like De Palma can do with a director-for-hire paycheck movie. He may not be making a personal statement with this film but he still gives it his all in terms of style and virtuoso camerawork. This film certainly set a high standard for period gangster films, casting a long shadow over future endeavors like Michael Mann’s Public Enemies (2009) and the HBO T.V. series Boardwalk Empire.

PETER LANDESMAN’S CONCUSSION — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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Wow. I am shocked and confused by how little respect was paid to Peter Landesman’s confident, important, and all together sad true life story Concussion, which documents the mostly futile attempts by the brilliant Dr. Bennet Omalu to wake the NFL up to a massive health issue, played in a nearly career topping performance by Will Smith (nice to have you back!), replete with flawless accent, who was completely and utterly robbed of an Oscar nomination last year. But, this movie was always, unfortunately, going to face an uphill battle with audiences; like Michael Mann’s The Insider, people don’t want to hear that one of their favorite things in life is a potential killer. But the facts cannot be disputed. If you play professional football, you have a 28% chance of coming down with the disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This is not a figure made up out of thin air – this is a figure backed up by real life incidents and statistics and deaths that might otherwise have been prevented had the reasons behind them not been swept under the rug. William Goldenberg’s fluid editing keeps the film very focused for a tight two hours, with Smith displaying huge amounts of sympathy and courage, in what has to be one of his most compelling screen performances.

Shot with silky smooth elegance by the continually underrated and extremely versatile cinematographer Salvatore Totino (Any Given Sunday, Everest, Changing Lanes), who captured the rusty Pittsburgh locales with gritty realism, Concussion remains engrossing from the very first shot to the depressing-truth closing image. Like last year’s Spotlight, this is a movie that sticks with the facts, and because of that, contains a sense of virtue and relevance that’s lacking in most studio productions. The NFL was wise to be nervous about this film. But at the end of the day, as Landesman’s well-observed screenplay points out, the NFL, like many massive corporations, doesn’t care about anything else other than making money, even at the expense of people’s health and quality of life. They hired the same group of lawyers who represented “The Big Seven” tobacco companies back when their destructive product was put under the legal microscope. David Morse is exceptional (when’s he not?) in a small but crucial supporting performance, and the stunner Gugu Mbatha-Raw is de-glammed after her striking and poignant turn in the exceedingly undervalued Beyond the Lights, providing a sensitive portrayal of a woman drawn to the magnetism of Omalu, even when knowing he was facing an uphill battle. Albert Brooks and Alec Baldwin are both terrific in sharply-etched supporting roles. James Newton Howard’s score is potentially too insistent upon itself, but is nonetheless powerfully composed. Produced by Ridley Scott.

 

Ca$h: A Review by Nate Hill

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

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Ca$h has an obnoxiously tongue in cheek title, and a premise that could have easily run off the rails into the silly zone. But rejoice: It knows how to create a tense, unpredictable environment accented by the slightest bits of naturally occurring humour here and there, a winning combination indeed. Sean Bean doesn’t often get a movie to himself, or at least get to play the lead. Here’s he’s the top dog, and while most would argue that he’s the antagonist as well, I’m in the opposite corner on that one. Yes he’s a criminal, yes he goes to extreme lengths to get his money back, but he’s a rigidly disciplined and staunchly fair bloke, driven by a set of principles and operational tics that reek of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and trust me, it takes one to know one. Oh, and he gets to play identical twins as well, pulling a Parent Trap and acting opposite himself which is a delight to see. When reckless career criminal Reese Kubrick (Bean) dicks up a robbery, loses a bunch of money and gets apprehended, a young couple think they have hit the jackpot. Played by Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta, they find the money and make that fateful cinematic mistake of trying to keep it for themselves. Before they know it, Reese’s brother Pyke (also Bean) comes looking for them, and believe me when I say that this guy is a dude who finds what he’s looking for. Fast. The young couple has already begun to indulge, and as Pyke barges into their lives he finds a great deal of the amount spent. He then buckles down and calmly,  coolly forces them to come up with every remaining cent of the ‘deficit’, as he calls it, even if it means doing a bit of illegal stuff themselves. Bean has a ball as the icy cool, ruthlessly efficiant prick who plays hardball with a glint in his eye. He’s karma manifest, a very real and very dangerous metaphor for the perilous risk of excessive currency and ill gotten gains. It’s a terrific role for him, both in the moments of dangerous serenity and the few rare instances where he loses his cool streak, which sting like daggers. Hemsworth and Profeta play their standard roles very nicely. An arbitrary bit of fun: the actor Glenn Plummer shows up for a hysterical cameo as a dude named, I shit you not, Glenn The Plumber, who receives a whollop of a verbal beatdown from Bean that serves as the film’s most lighthearted moment, and is a riot for anyone who gets the reference. Snuck into limited DVD release back in  2010, this one deserves more than the small shelf space it’s gotten. Fun stuff.