1917 (2019)

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 I remember my days at school, when we were forced to watch ‘The World at War’, a 1970s drama-documentary series that our teacher believed would help seven-year olds not to forget about the Nazis and the second world war. School also taught us about the first world war, about the trenches, the mustard gas, the gas masks, the mines, the tanks, and the German ‘Hun’. It also made sure we knew that millions of soldiers died a horrible death to save us. 

Writer/Director Sam Mendez (of Skyfall/Spectre fame amongst many) has managed an astonishing feat with his latest cinematic offering. By adding to the annuals of war movie history, his film ‘1917’ brings those 70s child-hood classroom horror stories agonisingly to life for the 21^st century. 

We know that war is hell, there’s no argument, and our fascination with it, endless. Mendez knows this too, as he drags us like a warped holiday-ride attraction, through the battle lines of no-man’s land during the early days of the First World War.

On the surface the story is a simple one, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) have been set a goal by their commanding officer (Colin Firth as General Erinmore in low-lit perfection). It could be medals or death. They have no idea what they are about to face, no one does, but they are not the architects of their fate, war will dictate that for them. Mirroring a sort of odyssey quest, they seemingly overcome hurdles through sheer naivety.

It’s a war ravaged 1917 springtime landscape, where the cherry blossoms shed their petals onto the decomposing corpses of men littering the French countryside, as rats scamper about and peril lurks in the shadows. This film wasn’t conceptualized on a Dorset rifle range where CEOs spend weekends shooting paintballs for teambuilding. It’s edge-of-your-seat action-drama stuff, and then some.

 

What appears outstandingly like a continuous tracking shot, the action seems to have been filmed in one take adding to the immersive experience. Often, you’ll feel as if you’re sitting on the shoulders of the protagonists as they splash their way through the muddied alleyways of the trenches, attempting to reach the front line, and not knowing what they will encounter around the next corner. 

Outside of its ‘war’ genre, 1917 is an exceptional film, particularly for its technical production.  With sound, music, and editing, fuelling an experience of ‘being there’, you know you're watching something special. It’s the Cinematographer Roger Deakins who should bag one of the ten Oscars 1917 has been nominated for. Rightly, the film hasn’t been forgotten this awards season and is full-throttle to the finish line by grabbing the main gong; ‘Best Film’. It might just get it. 

1917 is a stunning visual masterpiece of film making that is more than a war film. Keep an eye out for some of your favourite actors too, (Bodyguard anyone?) putting in their cameos, because that's what they are. The main feature IS the visual spectacle of this film - the entity itself! Highly recommended, especially for those who love drama and war movies but still understand the futility of it. Remember to pack plenty of water, and maybe a tissue! 

Writer / Director: Sam Mendez

Co. Writer: Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

Music: Thomas Newman

Editing: Lee Smith

Joker (2019)

Spoilers Abound

Forget dark knights and flying mammals, this is one sad/sick tale that ’al have you nervously looking over your shoulder in the day-time. It’s a reimagined Gotham City circa 1980. This is not from the annuls of the DC Comic Batman universe you know and love(sic). A stand-alone movie, Joker is a parallel universe much like the timeline disturbance of Back to the Future II, where that dark dirty violent world is actually your reality.

Writer/Director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver’s homage to movies Taxi Driver (1976) and The King of Comedy (1983) is obvious here. What’s not so obvious is the storyline and what it’s actually trying to tell us. Joker is subversive, perhaps one of the reasons it won the Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Film Festival.  

Clown Wars - everything must go

Another reason could be Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker, the ultimate anti-hero. He puts up a mirror to the world and shows us that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, there are always forces with greater power out there. You beat them by destroying them and replacing them with something more powerful. Our protagonist Arthur knows the difference between right and wrong, Joker doesn’t, as he asks us to examine our heroes. Do we know who they are? The people we worship and love, are they worthy of our affection?

Arthur’s motives throughout are in fact honourable and good. He’s disillusioned he says because he doesn’t know he exists, but he also clearly advertises that he has a brain injury, while teasing the cops that he might not. His mother loves him though. (Frances Conroy as Penny, Arthur’s elderly mother, doing a sort of Room 237 prequal scene is so good here.) 

What happens to a mad man when he has nothing left to lose? Actions have consequences, however strange that may seem in this Joker’s universe, and those consequences lead to metamorphosis of a very menacing kind. Are we seeing reality from his point of view, is it all in the mind, just an illusion, a magic trick?

The way Phoenix handles Arthur’s depths of despair and the journey is awe inspiring too – from the nuanced looks to the way he smokes that cigarette, you gotta hand it to him, he’s as good as he was in ‘The Master’ (2012) and ‘You Were Never Really Here’ (2017). I had to look away at one ultra-close-up violent scene, as I’ve become squeamish to fake blood in my old age, not so desensitized yet.

Critics are divided on the influential nature of the violence portrayed in this movie. What can’t be denied is the orchestration and musical score, the soundtrack, complimenting a familiar skyline, that is not your usual superhero/supervillain landscape. Touching a little too close to home, where people wear their clown masks on the tube to demonstrations, like the 99% and Anonymous fans wore theirs once, while on their way to Manhattan or DC. The violence is straight from the streets of Paris at the weekend and Hong Kong last night.

When a dubious friend gives clown-for-hire Arthur a gun to protect himself, you know where that’s heading. The girl next door makes a joke about blowing brains out, you know where that's going, his idol takes him down on live tv… you know how that’s going to end up too. (Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin, who I’ve lost respect for, does a fine job).

Arthur writes in his daily diary that, “the worst thing about having mental illness is that people want you to act like you don’t”! This is the problem, no one is listening, but by the end of the movie they won’t be able to ignore him anymore. 

With titillating billboards lighting up the city streets, adding a comic touch to a tragic scene of murder and mayhem, the Joker is reborn. Culminating this surreal vision, Arthur Fleck is no more. 

The film reveals to us that we’re living in a sick world, and it’s no joke. Watch at your peril.

Ad Astra (2019)

Once upon a time... in a Galaxy...

-Spoilers Abound-

My love of sci-fi had me chomping-at-the-bit to see this movie. As soon as it opened at my local cinema I was there, I left work early especially to be one of the first people to see it.

Now this love of sci-fi stems from many things in my past. Mostly a childhood built around outer space adventures, dreams of world-saving heroes, and seeking out the mysterious, searching for answers to life’s unknowns. The trailer for Ad Astra, or ‘To the Stars’*, seemed to tell of just such a space adventure.

My love for Brad Pitt films on the other hand, well that’s quite a different story. I lost my interest after Ocean’s 11 and it’s taken a while to rekindle. Angelina had a lot to do with it, but I digress…

Ad Astra gives us a glimpse into a ‘near future’ where entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk’s vision of space exploration has come true. So, we have a Subway sandwich to look forward to on the Moon among other things. 

All is not what it seems in this latest tale of man’s thirst to discover new planets, and new life. With an opening scene to die for, and a premise to intrigue, Ad Astra’s hero Roy McBride (Pitt) is on a top-secret mission, a quite personal mission, with a remit to save the universe.

Some fine acting on show here from the likes of Tommy Lee Jones as H. Clifford McBride, and a personal favourite of mine Donald Sutherland, as a rather worn-out companion/handler Thomas Pruitt. 

What I found exceptional about the film is the fact that it is full of homage to many other films on the subject, from the reflective visors and orchestrated space-station moves of Kubrick’s 2001:A Space Odyssey (1968), to mirroring Planet of the Apes, to styling ideas taken in copy from Chris Marker’s, La Jetee, (1962), of which Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995) is based – coincidentally another movie featuring Brad Pitt.

This film is expertly executed by writer/director James Gray, with spectacular cinematography (a name and a half 'Mr Hoyte van Hoytema'). The action, when it comes, and goes, is thrilling, and you certainly want more of it, but as our hero approaches his goals, things turn dark.  Pitt is superb in the role for once, as he broods and mopes, stares into space, barely cracking a smile. 

Nothing beats that feeling of travelling through the solar system alongside our protagonist. The further away from earth he gets, the deeper into space he reaches, the more isolating and depressing it becomes. Earthlings are bad tourists, bringing their usual crap with them, when not at war, they’re disrespecting the environment.

With deep space comes deep sadness, ‘We’re all we’ve got’, Roy tells Clifford. There you have it, the denouement delivered deadpan by our hero, sealing the deal on this being one of the most interesting yet depressing sci-fi experiences. 

As a final note, I’ll leave a warning to any future space captains out there. When a national hero says, “You don’t need to answer that call”, listen to him, k?

*=Seneca: “Per aspera ad Astra.” Through Hardships to the Stars

Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)

Wise guys and Convertibles

As I've now lost access to my own movie review blog of old 'Celluloid Seduction', I've posted my spoiler-light film review here. Comments welcome!

There’s a clue in the title, Once Upon a Time... is a fairy tale, a modern Grimm, where truth and fiction mingle. The trouble with Tarantino’s latest fable is that there isn’t much of a moral to the story and his monsters, witches, and princes, are actors with ‘use by’ dates. 

It’s April 1969 in sunny California. In the background of the opening scene, a car radio blurts out a news report with familiar names from the era. Sirhan Sirhan has been sentenced to death for the murder of Robert Kennedy. 

Our protagonist (Leonardo Di Caprio as fading actor Rick Dalton) and sidekick in sideburns (Brad Pitt as his stuntman double Cliff Booth) are has-been players in the fickle world of cinematic entertainment, about to get their just rewards as they calculate their headcount of fictitious ‘kills’. 

If you are a Tarantino fan there is no doubt you will enjoy this latest offering, and it’s clear to see QTs love of Hollywood shining bright. From the billboards and lights of a dozen old cinemas and theatres strewn through a 1960s Hollywood. He delights in taking the viewer on a wild ride courtesy of a fast convertible screeching around corners, passing famous mansions, through the Hollywood Hills, well before the seatbelt was compulsory.

Familiar faces pop up here and there, familiar themes of buddies on a mission, baddies with a plan, and some indulgence in revenge for the ‘what might have been’. There’s even a bit of lazy storytelling, where a few minutes of narration fills in for a missing half-hour of plot, segmented between some genius scenes of Hollywood irony.

Regarding that plot and characterization, well as the story goes, this is old Hollywood meets new age and the so-called swinging-60s. If you remember them, you were never there. It’s clear Tarantino remembers his childhood and love of teatime TV Westerns, and hippie music, and movies about Nazis, and Asians, and very, very high-cut denim shorts and… feet. I’ll leave you to ponder that one.

Without giving too much away, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is billed a ‘comedy’, which on the most part it is. Simmering along the edges of the film, reflected in mirrors and windows, not quite taking us there, the news headlines we all know (Manson Cult/Sharon Tate murder). The sinister creeps in, together with the absurd, as the mind of the viewer is toyed with, made fun of, and generally left traumatised by the experience...

Pure Tarantino.

The Maze Runner

Year: 2014

Director: Wes Ball

Screenplay: Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, T.S. Nowlin

Novel: James Dashner

The best way to see The Maze Runner is to go into this movie knowing nothing about it. This is what I did, and it made a hell of a lot of difference to my enjoyment of the film.  With a (12a) certificate stamped on the billboard outside, it won’t be long before you realise why they couldn’t make their minds up, as a distinct (15) flashed on the screen when it began.

Director Wes Ball has turned, what could have been a laborious run-of-the-mill teen sci-fi flick into short-sharp, edge-of-your seat excitement, where you care what happens and who gets hurt. Not bad for a pretty green (by Hollywood standards) director.

What’s good about The Maze Runner is, just like its predecessors, you don’t have to be a (Y)oung (A)dult to enjoy it. There’s a little bit of The Hunger Games vibe, and a dash of Divergent’s sci-fi, and a hint of TVs ‘Lost’ mystery, with a splash of ‘Lord of the Flies’, all rolled into one.

Running at 113 minutes, The Maze Runner doesn’t have much time for boring chit-chat. When the CGI action gets going, it gets going, and you’re guaranteed a heart-rate to match. Dan Zimmerman (Predators 2010) is responsible for the editing. Photography is courtesy of Enrique Chediak, known for 28 Weeks Later (2007). Add to that Production design by Marc Fisichella, his credits include X-Men: First Class (2011) and The X Files (1998).

Visuals aside, there is some very strong acting here from the leads, namely Dylan O’Brien, as Thomas our main protagonist, Will Poulter as Gally his competition, Blake Cooper as Chuck the youngest, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt the level-headed one. In fact, there is a whole host of soon-to-be-stars all trapped in the 'Glade' trying to find their way out of the dangerous Maze.

This really is more of an ensemble cast, as the performances, especially from Ki Hong Lee as Minho the Runner, and Aml Ameen as Alby the leader of the group, can’t be faulted either.

With a story that keeps you guessing (unless you’ve already read the 2009 source material via James Dashner’s book of the same name, and soon to be a trilogy with prequels) plus some really nasty looking monsters, it’s worth a trip to the cinema. I recommend The Maze Runner. After the sobering depression left over from ‘Gone Girl’; this comes as a welcome relief.

Gone Girl

Year: 2014

Director: David Fincher

Screenplay: Gillian Flynn

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris…

In the UK we have a fairly new TV Channel called CBS Reality. Now for American audiences this is old news, but for Brits, we’re getting a taste of what living in America really means.

CBS Reality is a channel that is devoted entirely to showing you the ‘reality’ of America’s dark side, its depths and ultimately its depravity, through a series of shows about cops, the legal plea-bargaining culture, serial killers and murder in suburbia!

Gone Girl could easily be taken from an episode of a myriad of shows on the channel, perhaps the forensic ‘48 Hours’, or that other one, ‘Sins and Secrets’. Like these programmes, it comes with an 18 certificate, and a warning that you might be disturbed by its contents. This is a sure fire way to increase your audience figures.

Gone Girl is directed by David Fincher, a veteran of the sadistic mystery. You’ll know him from such movies gems as Seven, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, and more recently, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Critics are saying great things about his latest offering. I want to tell you more about it, but even a few words on plot will ultimately give too much away. I happened upon a couple of reader comments over at Rotten Tomatoes and instantly figured out the so-called ‘twist’. There’s more than one.

For me, ‘Gone Girl the movie’ is disjointed, irritating in various ways, it’s also sick and depraved in subtle ways. This doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. Other critics have said that it’s an indictment of marriage, violence against women, and the roles we ‘play’. I would say these are just red-herrings.

What Gone Girl is all about is the horror that we are prepared to accept, to live with, to deny, in order to literally save ourselves. The story is about self-preservation at all costs. Translate that to politics or religion if you like. In a nut-shell, it's a contemporary fairy-tale for adults. A warning. Instead of golden or poison apples, you get gratuitous sex and menacing stares. 

Let’s talk specifics. Ben Affleck as chief protagonist Nick Dunne, is the husband who has a missing wife. He plays his role too laid-back in the early scenes, but as the story proceeds you begin to understand just why he’s so cool, on and off the screen. The sister Margo, (Carrie Coon), is believable, the parents, Rand and Marybeth Elliott (David Clennon and Lisa Banes) they are perhaps a little too cold to accept.

If you are a fan of CBS Reality, then you’ll believe that the chief investigators, Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens), Officer Jim Gilpin (Patrick Fugit), and the celebrity lawyer Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry) are real people!

The true revelation is Rosamund Pike. I’ve never much liked her in anything, until now. Her performance as Amazing Amy Dunne , not your ordinary house-wife, is extraordinary. She really is outstanding here. I’m sure awards season will see her light-up a dozen red carpets and she deserves a statue or two.

If anything, Gone Girl is a brilliant satire on the media and the public’s fickle tastes. Sensationalist TV host and pseudo-investigator Ellen Abbott (a great turn by Missi Pyle) shows us just what the world really cares about. As the plot thickens, the media circus that surrounds Affleck’s character is familiar, albeit overblown, with constant paparazzi camera flashes at the windows proving more ridiculous than realistic. Nobody cares about UN mandates against Russia when some hot guy just offed his hot wife, and all their dirty laundry is on prime-time. 

If you can sit for two-and-a-half hours in a theatre seat, then this is worth a shot. You may be shocked, but not disappointed. You have writer Gillian Flynn to thank for it. She adapted her own best-selling novel into the screenplay of Gone Girl. I’m not sure if Gillian’s ever seen a show on CBS Reality, but she most definitely knows who Nancy Grace is, and by the end of this, so will you.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen 1920 - 2013

Oscars 2013 - Best Short Film - Animation

Here's part of the OSCAR NOMINATED 'Head Over Heels', directed by Tim Reckart. Winner of the Annie Award for Best Student Film. Won't be predicting anything this year!

The Master (2012)