RoryView

FILM: Horrible Bosses

2011-07-19T04:39:00.000-07:00

When King of Kong director Seth Gordon discovered hot-sauce salesman/arcade cabinet megastar Billy Mitchell, he revealed to the world one of the greatest comedy villains of all time. Certainly, a bit of editing and squaring him against all-round super nice guy Steve Wiebe (who incidentally cameos here) embellished his Grinchiness, but in true 'stranger than fiction' fashion, you really couldn't invent a better antagonist. And Horrible Bosses proves it.

Our three leads are your typical average joes and best buds for life who meet in a bar every night to drink brewskis and shoot the shit about how work sucks and just y'know hang out and stuff. Jason Bateman plays 'the Jason Bateman role' i.e. boring everyman with a bit of a nasty streak, Jason Sudiekis plays the (only in the movies) 'ladies man', and Charlie Day plays the 'Zach Galifianakis was busy role'. It's perhaps just as well for Day, as he's the only one of the principals to leave much of an impact.

Each of them have problems with their superiors, be they mean, sex-obsessed, or incompetent, and so they decide, with disturbingly little encouragement, to bump them off. Yes, they're all arseholes to an extent, making the lives of their employees miserable in different ways, but it's hard to know who to root for when our three 'heroes' are themselves pretty horrible people. Kevin Spacey plays Buddy Ackerman from Swimming with Sharks (again), Jennifer Aniston plays the 'horny dentist/teacher/best friend's mom/etc role', and Colin Farrell plays, as the posters call him, a "total sleazy tool".

Thing is, Colin Farrell is peculiarly the most sympathetic of the six goodies/baddies. His actions can largely be attributed to his coke addiction, fuelled by his boss/father's disappointment in him, who has instead effectively adopted the Sudiekis character as his heir to be. So when his father dies (what is it with Donald Sutherland recent run of popping up at the start of films only to be killed off shortly after?) and he becomes the boss, he embarks on a self-destructive course of revenge and greed to run his father's company into the ground. It's a Shakespearean tragedy, albeit focused on someone with a penchant for gaudy Oriental paraphernalia. And at least he isn't trying to kill anyone. Strange too that he's branded the sleazy one when it's Sudiekis who spends the entire film acting like a creepy sex-pest, hitting on every skirt that comes his way and, unbelievably, scoring as much as James Bond manages in a typical 007 outing.

As with most modern American comedies, what follows eschews a tightly plotted narrative, witty zingy dialogue, or expertly played pratfalls in favour of CRAZY characters stumbling into CRAZY situations, followed by SHOUTING and SILLY VOICES. Plot holes and bizarre character motivations are par for the course (e.g. why all the recon missions and breaking into their bosses homes when they can get all their intel watching them at work?), so long as it gets you to an extended fit of everyone flapping their hands in panic, with much of it covered in the trailer anyway. In fact, the majority of the genuine laughs are courtesy of Jamie Foxx, with some perfect comic timing as their potential hitman for hire, and a few throwaway exchanges that hint at a smarter script lost amid the supposed big pay-offs and awkward race gags.

Beyond that, it's fine forgettable fluff, buoyed along by the supporting cast and guest appearances, but for a film about plotting murder against your superiors, it's strangely lightweight and inconsequential. For a darkly comic take on events spiralling out of control, there's always Very Bad Things. For a work sucks/evil boss masterclass, there's always Office Space. But if you are strangely desperate for a collection of disjointed mildly amusing set-pieces to pass the time, I guess there's Horrible Bosses.

5/10

FILM: Confessions

2011-02-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. In which case, Confessions (告白) operates its vengeance at optimum temperature, as this is as chilly as revenge gets. The premise is certainly a juicy one: a high school teacher resigns when her young daughter is found dead - and two of her students are to blame. But this is not some whodunnit murder mystery. The opening scene, a lengthy and dense lecture from the teacher (played with calm and quiet intensity by Takako Matsu) to her class, sets up the story and identifies the culprits pretty early on. No, writer/director Tetsuya Nakashima (Kamizake Girls, Memories of Matsuko) is far more concerned with the repercussions and ramifications of the reveal.

And these ripples become ever bigger, spreading out in very unexpected directions. The film hops back and forth prior to, during, and after the incident in question as each of the principal characters 'confess' their side of the story, and explain the reasons for their dubious actions. Even so, the characters behave and situations manifest in completely unbelievable ways. What begins as a dark tale of difficult subject matter quickly chucks logic and realism out of the window and settles for the kind of suspension of disbelief you would normally expect from a Michael Bay film. In fairness though, it's based on a book, so I can only assume it's all there in the source material anyway. Or maybe I'm just naive in thinking humankind doesn't operate the way it does here.

In any case, I probably shouldn't be surprised, given the incredibly arresting visual style, that it has little grounding in reality. And by golly is this directed to within an inch of its life. The lighting, the cinematography, the editing - all remarkable. The frequent slow-motion reaches near Darkplace levels of over-reliance, but Nakashima's film is often beautiful to behold, existing in a hyper-reality which perhaps excuse the often preposterous motivations of its characters. And anyway, Park Chan-Wook has been getting away with revenge-happy flights of fancy with no less ludicrous machinations, so I don't know why I'm getting so hung up about it. But while it's tempting to label this 'Sympathy for Vengeance-Sensei', it has a mood and an outlook all of its own, bleak and unsettling, but not gritty or gorenographic. Likewise, there are hints of Battle Royale, Suicide Club, and All About Lily Chou-Chou in its less than sunny depiction of disaffected youth, but the adults in Confessions are hardly bastions of moral standing either (I mean, trying to outwit a couple of thirteen year olds is hardly the typical 'against all odds' challenge to seek retribution, is it?).

Yet for all my misgivings, there is just something about Confessions that hooks you in and refuses to let go. The unpredictable plot, the excellent performances, the big-screen visuals, the cracking soundtrack (featuring Boris, Radiohead, and The xx). It's a film that's hard to shake off, one that I can't get out of my head, and now that I have a sense of where the film's going, its tone and intention, perhaps only a second viewing will determine if I truly loved it. Right now though, it's a very strong 'like' but I'm looking forward to seeing it again, and make up my mind, as soon as possible.

8/10

FILM: Black Swan

2011-01-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

Subtlety is not Black Swan's strong suit. The themes, the metaphors, the characters - they all pretty much identify themselves in the film's first five minutes, like some abstract role-call. At first watch, it seems ludicrously clunky, but on reflection, it seems like a statement of intent - "Let's announce what the film's about now, get it over with, and just enjoy ourselves, okay?". It's like a stand-up firing off all the punch-lines at the start of their routine, with the rest of the show built purely on call-backs. But the key theme running through the tale, the lightness and darkness of one soul, duality and dichotomy, can be extrapolated as a commentary on the film itself. Much like the confused Nina (Natalie Portman) who's drive to change from 'White Swan' to 'Black Swan' leaves her a little worse for wear, so too does Black Swan come unstuck by being neither classy or trashy enough.

To marry a grainy, realistic aesthetic with the high melodrama and fantastical flourishes is certainly an interesting idea, but it is perhaps better in theory than it is in execution. The fault does not lie with the direction - Aronosky's knows how to fill a frame, with tight, claustrophobic shots following the back of the protagonist's head working to as great effect here as they did in The Wrestler. Nor does it necessarily lie with the thrills and spills, with tastes of wince-inducing Cronenbergian body horror among the "did you just see that?" visual trickery.

But it's the incongruity of the two combined that just does not sit right. Had Black Swan been a more subdued character study of obsession and paranoia, it would have been a more satisfying experience. So too if it had gone the other extreme, and fully revelled in the giallo excesses it merely hints at. With all the tension and creepy imagery running through Black Swan, I had hoped that a truly bizarre gothic finale, or some Grand Guignol moment of bloody terror which may have excused the overwrought emotion, heavy-handed visual pointers (LOOK AT ALL THE MIRRORS! THE MONOCHROME! THE TATTOOS!) and tongue-in-cheek dialogue, but alas, one is not forthcoming. To reference Cronenberg again, The Fly struck the balance of emotional depth and pure grue perfectly (and it's high art credentials were enshrined with composer Howard Shore's opera adaptation).

Yet, there is still so much to like about Black Swan that one can forgive what it does or doesn't do, as clearly this is how it is meant to be. Much like last year's Shutter Island, it's ripe old hokum but enjoyable and exhilirating both because of and despite of this. It's a thrill-ride disguised as something deeper to appease the arthouse pallet. It's about ballet, you see, yet still probably has as many yuks and gags as Drag Me To Hell, with a dark, and oddly cheeky, sense of humour on occasion.

Yet at its core has a potentially Oscar-winning performance from Natalie Portman. And if she goes home with the gold, it would be throroughly deserved, as she completely gives it her all. Of course, the hours of training each day over a year's worth of preparation would have been for nought had she stumbled when it came to playing the transformation of Nina from naive sheltered waif to unhinged cauldron of anxiety. And although Nina is a hard character with whom to empaphise or fully understand, it is difficult to see how much more committed she could have been to the part, proving that the Star Wars prequels hadn't sucked the life out her. Kudos also to Barbara Hershey as her overbearing mother, Mila Kunis as her would-be rival, Winona Ryder's washed-up has-been, and Vincent Cassel's posturing sex-squid of a director - rather cookie-cutter characters all, barely sharing more than one dimension between them, but equally played at full tilt.

If you go with the flow, and don't expect anything deep and meaningful, you'll find a rollicking yarn, filled with frills and spills. It will leave you with some pretty vivid and memorable images, but where it should get under your skin or twist your brain, it simply skims the surface, albeit with grace and poise. In the end, exciting and entertaining though it is, Black Swan at the same time delivers too much and not enough, ending up neither black or white, just a little grey.

7/10

2010: Music of the Year

2011-01-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

I spent every one of the preceding three hundred and sixty five days, now lost to the annals of history and all things intangible, filling my earholes with someone else’s made-up words and noises, and now I present to you ten such collections over that course of time that particularly tweaked the part of my brain that responds favourably to music.

10. The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards

Little Jack White has so many thumbs in musical pies at any one time, it seems like everyone forgets to bat an eyelid his way when he unleashes yet another rock glob on the populous even if it is still royally deserved. So, with a quick turnaround second album from the other band that isn’t The Raconteurs, it was like Consolers of the Lonely all over again. Which is a shame, as it is rollicking good fun from start to finish, with piss and vinegar seeping from its wet black jeans. Not a pretty image, but an image nonetheless.

> > > Hustle and Cuss

9. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening

I’m pretty late to the LCD Soundsystem party (a great oversight on my part), but thankfully rectified with Mr James Murphy’s third (and final?) outing of liquid crystal disco. It sounds effortlessly cool, but there’s so much going on, it’s just plain fun to listen to, dance to and do just about anything to – be it the washing up, filling out an application form or being attacked by PANDUHS!

> > > Drunk Girls

8. Fukurouzu – Loop Suru

A pure punt of a purchase based on hours spent in HMV and Tower Records in Shinjuku and Shibuya at their countless listening posts sampling as much as was currently riding the Japan-o-charts, and it’s only really a mini-album, comprising seven tracks from this new indie group. But every track is superb, each different but just as good as the last. I look forward to whatever they do next.

> > > Dekinai

7. PVT – Church With No Magic

An interesting departure from 2008’s brilliant O Soundtrack My Heart (under their then-name of Pivot), with a darker moodier synth-led atmosphere and added lyrics, though ultimately the singing is just another layer of sound than making their output any more conventional. In fact, it’s probably a harder sell than their instrumental-only work. Still, despite the decidedly iffy title track, Church With No Magic (the album) is an overall success from a band that won’t let expectations get in the way of invention.

> > > Window

6. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

Sure, she’s not the greatest singer, but, aware that her personality and heritage are integral to her success, she clearly knows who will best utilise these to create terrific tracks. 5:55 saw her collaborate with Air, Neil Hannon and Jarvis Cocker. But this time around it was Beck on songsmith duties (a role repeated as principal penner for Sex Bob-omb in the year’s third best movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World), and such a creative union brought about this rather fine selection of ditties.

> > > Heaven Can Wait

5. MGMT – Congratulations

With many a semi-psychedelic catchy-riff festival anthem under their belts (despite still being a disappointing live act) from Oracular Spectacular, follow-up Congratulations could have easily been more of the same. Instead, they went and did something even better, creating a spiralling dizzy mix of magic and wonder that harked back to decades gone by with both joy and sadness. A surprising and mature album that defies the flash-in-the-pan success I expected from them. Congratulations.

> > > Congratulations

4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Blah-blah-blah, not as good as Funeral. Blah-blah-blah, no-one liked Neon Bible anyway. Well, The Suburbs, on its own terms, is a plenty good album. Sure, it could probably lose a few tracks around the middle, but it manages to capture a different feel to their previous offerings, yet still remains distinctively Arcade Firey. There are obvious highlights (Ready to Start, Rococo, Empty Room, Sprawl II) from the get-go, but as a whole, it’s a definite grower and one I’m looking forward to returning to in the months and years to come.

> > > The Suburbs

3. World’s End Girlfriend – Seven Idiots

Is there no end to this man’s mind-boggling talent? A release on his new Virgin Babylon Records label and a late entry into my top ten, it’s also my favourite Japanese release I’ve heard this year. A throwback to the electro-scrambling of his earlier work but still retaining the classical beauty and dark atmosphere of Hurtbreak Wonderland, Seven Idiots is hard to pin down, but an irresistible treat for WEG acolytes, and probably as good as any place to begin for the freshman.

> > > Les Enfants du Paradis

2. Yeasayer – ODD BLOOD

If I still had albums on cassettes, Yesayer’s latest would be one worn-out tape this year, which would have required a lot of unspooling and respooling when not jammed into my chunky old walkman. Luckily, the digital age avoids such wear and tear, so I was free to enjoy every one of the wonderful songs in ODD BLOOD on heavy rotation. Refreshingly upbeat and positive, it’s stirring stargazing stuff.

> > > Ambling Alp

1. Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid

My new favourite lady of song and dance, and while I would usually do that terrible thing one does about things they love by secretly hoping it’s never popular so it can be your own special thing, I wish Ms Monae every success that comes her way. In this day and age of Lady Gaga left right and centre, here’s an artist with style AND substance. And some killer moves to boot.

The ArchAndroid represents Suites II and III of her Metropolis saga (begun with the equally wonderful The Chase EP), featuring a time-travelling plot of forbidden love, the suppression of robotkind, and t-t-tipping on a tightrope. But what really marks The ArchAndroid out from the pack is the diverse range of musical showmanship and craft throughout the album, hopping from genre to genre with every track, yet all tied together by the narrative through-line and Monae’s incredible range. Rock, jazz, classical, folk, funk, soul, electronica…all bases covered, all boxes ticked, all with relish and fun, but with surprising depth and meaning.

It’s wonderful to have an artist so resolute in breaking down boundaries, avoiding categorisation and celebrating differences rather than conforming to mainstream expectations or whatever is ‘hip’ or ‘cool’ in any given week. What the world needs now is a little bit of Janelle Monae.

> > > Tightrope

If the list and YouTube links were not enough to satisfy, I’ve also knocked up a playlist featuring tracks from some of the albums above, as well as a bunch of my other tip-top tracks of the year, in a handy one-size-fits-all Spotify playlist.

LISTEN NOW: 20x2010

2010: Films of the Year

2010-12-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

I must admit, the year of some lord two-thousand and ten was not a year of super-frequent cinema attendance as usual from yours truly, with a decent portion of my new release watches viewed at home, in-flight and, in the case of two Top 10 entries, last year at the London Film Festival. Nevertheless, here is a countdown of the ten films that really got me during the past twelve months – plus a rundown of some of the other titles that piqued my interest. Woweee!

10. ENTER THE VOID

Gaspar Noe’s follow-up to the incredible/incredibly upsetting Irreversible is a true cinematic experience. The packed opening night screening I went to at the Curzon Soho was the special extra-long version (160 mins) with Noe introducing, And yes there were a fair few walk-outs, which led me to wonder why anyone there paying to see it on opening night at a sold-out screening of an extended version with the director failed to understand what they were getting themselves in for. I couldn't tell if they were bored or disgusted. Probably both.

Much like Antichrist was a mix of the stunning and the silly, so to does Enter the Void create an atmosphere unlike anything else - it's languid, hypnotic, and dreamy, yet also uncomfortable, seedy, and garish.

If the story itself is peculiarly simplistic, albeit mixing the past, present, and afterlife, one could argue that it's a case of style over substance, but in many ways, the style is the narrative - without the camerawork and special effects creating the sense of the POV of afterlife, there'd really be no sense in telling the story.

It is an exhausting watch, following mostly unlikeable self-destructive characters for over 2 and a half hours of despair and pretentiousness, and no amount of visual trickery and incredible shots over neon cityscapes will make the content within anymore palatable. With all the swooping and soaring, there's a very real threat the camera's going to disappear up the director's arse at any time - and it certainly comes close (though there is a neat meta gag too). Therefore, not everyone's cup of tea. But in summation...

Profound? Hardly. Ludicrous? Absolutely. But one hell of a trip? Definitely.

9. THE ROAD

This year’s Children of Men in that it’s been all but forgotten, ignored by all the awards and industry back-slappers, which is a shame, as it’s a very well-made adaptation. Perhaps it lacks tension and surprise if you are familiar with the source material, but its curious blend of bleakness and hope translates perfectly to the screen thanks to a fine cast and crew. Full review nyah.

8. BLACK DYNAMITE

While mainstream Hollywood sags and flags in its poorly-received attempts at the comedy spoof, it was superior sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio and this sterling independent effort from Scott Sanders and lead Michael Jai White that proved the subgenre can still produce the goods when treated with care and attention. Wonderful music, cracking dialogue and lots of smack getting laid down. There are lulls in the jokes, when it just lets the flavour its trying to recreate speak for itself but when Black Dynamite hits, I laughed louder and harder than in any recent film. Destined to become a cult classic.

7. THE SOCIAL NETWORK

David Fincher regains his mojo after the over-egged, over-long, over-sentimental, over-everything Benjamin Button with an engaging, sparky snapshot of modern history in the making. A movie about Facebook starring Justin Timberlake sounded like an awful prospect, but by letting the story (or at least the differing accounts of the same story) speak for itself, it becomes a gripping account of how events not only changed the lives of the protagonists but, by extension, my life and the lives of the majority of those who went to see The Social Network. Maybe the Battleship film with Rihanna won’t be bad after all, right? Right?

In any case, it’s probably the one of the big award front-runners and if it snatches top prize, it deserves it – excessive CG ice-breath and misjudged trip to merry old England notwithstanding.

6. FOUR LIONS

Chris Morris is a genius. That has been established before. But Four Lions is still a great achievement even based on his past pedigree. Both achingly funny and achingly sad, it rises above any controversies that could have easily been levelled against it with its well-judged tone and three-dimensional characters.

5. AIR DOLL

Not actually released yet in the UK (and a 2009 release to boot, so I don’t even know what rules I’m following any more), but what sounds like the set-up for a goofy Hollywood sex comedy (inflatable doll comes to life) is in fact in the hands of director Hirokazu Koreeda (director of Nobody Knows and Still Walking) one of the most moving and strangely beautiful films I have seen in a long time, and certainly one of the best to come out of Japan in a while. "Sex Toy Story" may be a glib throwaway summation at first, but it certainly mirrors some of that franchise's melancholy, and themes of abandonment and neglect, with elements of Pinocchio and Amelie as well. At times funny, at times unsettling, at times poignant, Air Doll is buoyed by an exquisite central performance from Korean actress Bae Doona (The Host, Linda Linda Linda, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance), with wonderful music from one of my favourite Japanese musicians, World's End Girlfriend. Ultimately, it's a 21st century fairytale about the loneliness of modern society, the objectification of women, and the nature of humanity.

4. MOTHER

While some film-makers are happy to play around with heroes and villains, goodies and baddies, black and white, Bong Joon-ho once again proves that you can still create a satisfying piece of work where nothing is clear-cut or necessarily what it seems. And the director of Memories of Murder and The Host delivers his best work to date with a constantly surprising tale of a mother (the wonderful Kim Hye-ja) seeking justice when her son is arrested. From its arrestingly odd opening onwards, it’s a low-key but stunning film that is hard to shake, months and months after my first viewing.

3. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

2010 was the year of Scott Pilgrim. Well, the box office would clearly think differently, but for geeks, it was a chance to see the film, play the game, buy the soundtrack and, most importantly, read that flaming final chapter in the comic book saga. And of course, the only reason I picked up the comics in the first place is because it was announced Edgar Wright was to direct it - without the film, I wouldn't have read the books, as I'm not a big comics reader. Same with Watchmen. So ultimately in my eyes, the film is just a happy bonus at the end of what was a very good (but by no means perfect) series of graphic novels. Still, as a fan of the comics, my final thoughts?

In adapting the film, it's clear a decision was made that in the running time you wouldn't be able to have all the character development, emotional weight and narrative arcs of the books, as well as all the fights, video-game references, and music, so they sidelined a fair amount of former in favour of the latter, which was the better decision, as it's the more visceral exciting stuff which is more cinematic and is more of 'the hook' of the comic.

There is perhaps too much sidelining of character (largely with the other members of Sex Bob-omb at the expense of the less interesting Stacey - though strangely, Young Neil emerges as one of the most rounded of the additional cast), and it would've been nicer for a few more scenes to allow the story to breathe a little. But really, if I was going to the cinema to see a Scott Pilgrim movie, I'd want to see fights and video-game references and music, and if it also managed to capture just some of the emotional noodling, episodes of self-doubt, and getting it together of the original material (which I think it did), then all the better for it.

I was concerned about Cera, but while I don't think his portrayal is exactly comic-book Scott, I think he is a fine actor, and didn't rely so much on his weedy insecure persona (except when the jokes demanded it). It probably means in the long run, I can re-read the comics and not think of Cera, and ultimately, appreciate both as separate entities, even if the development of both mediums were concurrent and shared material with one another.

In fact, I was more originally concerned about Edgar's direction, after the rather shoddy and poorly edited action sequences in (the admittedly lower budgeted) Hot Fuzz, but I think he really came on leaps and bounds as a director of both action and comedy, and I loved all the little visual clues (the repeated numbers, love-hearts and X's) that always mark his work as distinctive from the rest of today's workmanlike comedy directors.

Ultimately, it's a rich, vibrant approximation of the world of Scott Pilgrim - because of the material, you'd only be able to make a very good film, rather than a truly great one, and I feel that's what has been achieved. Hence, it’s the Todd Ingram of my Top 10.

2. INCEPTION

Like five great films wrapped into one awesome one, there’s not a great lot else to say about Inception that hasn’t already been said elsewhere at great length by everyone. What I will say though to all the haters and backlashers…fuck you. Yes, you. Fuck you very much. Quit your whining, your complaining, your bitching. No-one deserves a film quite this good. Not you, not I, not anyone. Christopher Nolan adapted The Prestige, rebooted Batman and remade Insomnia – feel free to bring those to task for not living up to their original material if you so wish. But Inception is an original piece of work and your hang-ups are not justified. Stop moaning about how it’s not like what dreams are like, or it’s not weird enough, or the ending undermines the rest of the film, or the characters aren’t interesting or whatever little thought occurs to you today. Rest assured, the film is EXACTLY how it is meant to be, a work of a director with a singular and uncompromised vision. If you didn’t like it, just say you didn’t like it. But don’t take all the enjoyment out of those who did like it by waffling on about how it’s not as big and clever as it thinks it is. Go watch fucking Transformers 2 and Sex and the City 2 instead then, you pissing cockpockets.

1. THE BAD LIEUTENANT – PORT OF CALL: NEW ORLEANS

Full review nyah, but suffice to say, Nicolas Cage is astonishing, wild and unhinged, a moral black hole, snorting and smoking his way through a murder investigation without a care in the world. It's surprisingly light and breezy, with little sermonising or counterpoint to his wicked ways, just copious amounts of substance abuse and filthy language. Hysterically funny, it's like Bad Santa with a badge and a gun.

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That’s the pick of the bunch, but honourable mentions must also go to a triple Adrian Brody fix of the long overdue The Brothers Bloom, worthy follow-up Predators and the commendably weird Splice. Plus, there was the fun Whip It, the ripe and juicy Shutter Island, the spiky yet sweet I Love You Phillip Morris, the nice and neat Cemetary Junction, the atmospheric Winter's Bone, the surprising Exit Through the Gift Shop, the dark and disturbing Dogtooth, the darker and disturbinger The Killer Inside Me, and the exhilirating Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. And let's not forget scary sequel [REC] 2, silly sequel and reason why 3D can be good #1 Jackass 3D, and sorta sequel and reason why 3D can be good #2 Piranha 3D. And the reconstructed and remastered Metropolis was a highlight.

Mild disappointments included Monsters, Toy Story 3, Up in the Air and Kick-Ass, which were not really as super-awesome as the press enjoyed saying they were. More disappointing but somewhat expected I guess were video-game vapidnesses Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D ( a step-up from the other sequels maybe, but, honestly...) and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which given the budget, cast and crew should have been at least fun, but was just plain boring.

FILM: I Saw The Devil

2010-11-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Screened as part of the London Korean Film Festival, with an introduction and Q+A with director Kim Jee-Woon, I Saw The Devil sees one of the key crop of Korean film-makers (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good The Bad The Weird) put his A Bittersweet Life lead Lee Byung-Hun up against Oldboy's Choi Min-Sik, in his first film for four years, in a bloody and violent revenge tale that pushed the boundaries for even the Korean censors. With all these elements in place, a surefire success then? Well, almost.

The set-up is pretty standard fare: a special agent's fiance is brutally murdered by a serial killer, and he takes it upon himself to find the culprit. It's not long before he's identified and caught up with his target, and after a savage brawl, he leaves him for dead. Or so it appears. And it is here where I Saw The Devil takes a different approach to the serial killer thriller, as our 'hero' starts to play a dangerous game of oneupmanship with the killer, in an effort to draw out his suffering for as long as possible, and our 'villain' becomes the victim. This flipping of convention is most interestingly utilised in the familiar stalk-and-slash scenes, but in this instance, it's the serial killer who is under attack, tip-toeing in the shadows to find out what 'that noise' was. One running gag has them continually refer to each other as 'crazy bastard'.

Still, for all it's role-reversal, its central themes are hardly original, focusing on becoming a monster to fight a monster, and how the further down the path of revenge one travels, the more hollow one becomes and how it affects the people around them. Therefore, don't expect a particularly contemplative study on the nature of vengeance (particularly when Park Chan-Wook cornered that market years ago). And no surprises it's not going to end in sunshine and rainbows, then.

What it does have going for it though is in all the trimmings (and I'm not talking about the cuts in its home country). It's as stylish and assured a piece of work as you'd expect from Kim, with some exceptionally well-shot sequences (including the best vehicle interior tussle you're ever likely to see), packed with energy and enhanced with a rich pallete of colour (and yes, a lot of red). Choi Min-Sik typically gives it his all as the killer - no motive, no reason, no cute affectation or signature, just an utterly abhorrent individual with an unquenchable desire to cause young women as much distress and pain as possible. And the film is certainly unflinching in its detail; as the game between the two antagonists escalates, so to does the torture inflicted, resulting in some real 'look-away-now' moments.

But in its escalation, the situations become ever more absurd, and I Saw The Devil reveals a darkly comic vein. Of course, the balance of horror and comedy is a fine one, and amongst the yelps and screams from the audience were hearty guffaws as well as nervous titters. It is a handy trick to alleviate the tension from becoming too unbearable and Kim employs it throughout. However, sometimes the humour is incongruous with the genuinely upsetting scenes of abuse and abductions carried out by the killer, much as its venture into out-and-out horror territory towards the end feels at odds with the more grounded earlier scenes.

So, I Saw The Devil is a peculiar beast, a Jekyll and Hyde piece of work - grim but funny, predictable but unexpected, unoriginal but unconventional. Its not as deep as it thinks it is, but its still rich, thrilling, vivid and entertaining. At close to two-and-a-half hours, it may be more than the less hardy cinemagoer can take in one sitting, but if you have the nerve and can switch off the brain, it's a gripping ride.

7/10

FILM: Gainsbourg

2010-07-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

As far as musical biopic subjects go, Serge Gainsbourg seemingly had it all, but considering director Joann Sfar (adapted from his own graphic novel) has stated that the film is based solely on what Gainsbourg himself had discussed in interviews, this being the 'untold story of a musical icon' as the UK posters proudly suggest is not strictly true. Yet, Gainsbourg (Vie Héroïque) is no traditional warts-and-all rise-and-fall story, nor is it a misty-eyed suck-up love-in. Instead, it's a rather scattershot and surreal look at the life and loves of one of the most influential and brilliant musicians and poets in modern times, from his days as a tiddly kiddly in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his bedraggled twilight years.

Rather than offering anything particularly revelatory or meaningful, it settles on offering us a series of snapshots and tales from the whole span of his life, leaving more of a greatest hits package than a typical narrative thread. There's the bit when he writes this famous song, and here's the bit he walks headfirst into this scandal, and then there's when he performed this classic number. It pretty much lets the man himself do the talking, through his words, his music and his actions, rather than viewing his life with any objectivity or context.

If it all sounds rather oversimplistic, it isn't strictly so, because of the various fantastical elements and flights of fancy peppered throughout. Most notably, Gainsbarre, an imaginary caricature that haunts Gainsbourg, is a latex 'inner demon' of sorts that's perhaps more prominent than it ought to have been, played by the go-to guy for becostumed prancers Doug Jones. Visualising doubts and feelings in biopics is nothing new, and while there are some nice moments where it all comes together quite beautifully, for the most part, it all feels like unnecessary.

But despite all efforts to distract, it's still a colourful and enjoyable couple of hours, even if it's a surprisingly lightweight and unsubstantial film, and a little too often preoccupied with ideas that don't quite work. Hard to know who'd be ultimately satisfied - newcomers will get a flavour of the man and his music but not much substance, while fans will appreciate the nods and references but twiddle their thumbs plodding through the well-documented episodes in his career and life. Still, it's worth a watch if only for what is a superb central performance from the uncanny Eric Elmosino. And the soundtrack, of course.

6/10

FILM: Toy Story 3

2010-07-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

Toy Story is the film that made Pixar, the film that brought computer animation to the forefront of family entertainment and, eventually, temporarily, killed Disney's hand-drawn craft (until John Lasseter revived it himself). So to make a sequel to such a milestone in cinema history conjures an ambivalent mix of inevitability, expectation and foolhardiness. But they did anyway. And that it superceded the original was seen by many as not just lightning striking twice in the same place but that Pixar had harnessed, captured and bottled it and could now wield it to produce critical and commerical hit after hit. At least, that's the popular view. From a more personal standpoint, while Pixar have certainly produced some of the finest films of the past decade, animated or not, with Ratatouille and Wall-E particular favourites, other efforts, such as The Incredibles, Up, and Finding Nemo, have not quite matched the sum of their parts.

To then return to the holy well of Toy Story, 15 years after the original, is a startlingly bold but perhaps obvious decision, much as the decision to make the second installment was. But attitudes to these films have changed. The animation has reached a point where we no longer focus on its quality, be it hair complexity, lighting and shading or pixel counts, which is testament to just how far we have come since Woody and Buzz's debut. Now, 3D has become the issue with these films, though here it's second nature - immersive rather than intrusive, but without the show and spectacle, it all seems somewhat redundant.

Yet Pixar has always been about story, but whereas Toy Story 2 was an expansion and improvement in every possible sense, Toy Story 3 is more content to act as a retread than assert its own identity beyond signalling the sense that this is the closing chapter. The themes of growing up, moving on, abandonment and friendship all return, but with little more than a sly twist in each case to differentiate between the same themes and questions the characters long debated and seemingly resolved in Part Deux. Instead, we have to play the whole "the toys don't believe Woody", "this utopia ain't so great after all" ring-around narrative hoop-jumping we've seen all before, with some segments seemingly lifted entirely from other non-Toy Story Pixar works.

More successfully fleshed out here is Pixar's other focus of storytelling and that's character. The relationships between Woody and Buzz, between all the toys, between the toys and Andy, are all key to what make the Toy Story films a success. In Toy Story 3, it's undoubtedly impressive bringing back the characters after so long and for it to feel like a genuine continuation , as if it was always the makers' intention for the story to evolve so naturally. Not only that, but there's genuine emotion and heart throughout, with poignant asides, and subtle looks and actions, speaking volumes. If there's a more gut-wrenching climax, coupled with one of several truly exciting action sequences, in a film this year, I will be mightily impressed. Shame that the laugh rate isn't quite so high - there's a particularly hilarious call-back to part 2, but some of the running gags (Ken's "Ascot", Buzz in Spanish mode) fall at the first hurdle.

Ultimately, it's a very good, entertaining episode that's absolutely worth watching and does justice to the previous two movies, reaching a satisfying conclusion. But to replicate the great step-up from 1 to 2 here was perhaps too tall an order.

7/10

PS The short beforehand, Night & Day, is naff.

FILM: The Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans

2010-03-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Last time Nicolas Cage played a 'man of the law', it was in The Wicker Man. What marks that misguided remake apart from this one (or at least that's what Abel Ferrera would suggest) is that The Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans (to give its full title) is actually intentionally hilarious and genuinely brilliant. Like director Werner Herzog, I too have not seen the Harvey Keitel-starring original, but any similarities are presumably through use of the title (to which Herzog himself was opposed) and loose thematic associations. Besides, it's not something to get too hung up when what we have here is the most gleefully entertaining depiction of moral bankruptcy since Bad Santa.

Post-Katrina New Orleans, and recently decorated Lieutenant Terence McDonagh is assigned to investigate the execution-style massacre of a family of Senegalese illegal immigrants. Suffering from chronic back pain and with prescription medicine not providing quite the relief he needs, he becomes increasingly dependent on seized narcotics, which he frequently shares with prostitute girlfriend Frankie (Eva Mendes). As his mental and physical state becomes more fractured, so too does he start to lose grip on both his personal and professional lives that are becoming ever more intertwined. Will he crack before the case does? Mmmm, crack...

Yes, The Bad Lieutenant is a very bad man indeed. An anti-hero who learns from his mistakes not in a way that he won't make them again, but when he does inevitably re-offend, he'll enjoy himself more. With his hunched walk, never-changing suit and dirty mouth, McDonagh starts off unhinged and gets progressively worse, going to some jaw-dropping and hysterical lengths to solve the crime, get out of the multiple holes he digs himself into, or just to get his next fix.

Here, for the first time in a long while, it's not a case of Cage being only ever as good as the film he is in. Unlike, say, Christopher Walken, it'll never be the case that he's the best thing in a bad movie; indeed, in many instances he'll try his very best to be just as awful as the surrounding mess and embellish terrible dialogue to Razzie-baiting depths. But here, the tables are somewhat turned. Cage IS The Bad Lieutenant, and The Bad Lieutenant excels because of him. That's not to suggest that the film itself is lacklustre. Far from it, the supporting cast are uniformly excellent, and the New Orleans setting, loaded with plenty of recent social significance, presents the perfect backdrop for McDonagh's disintegration, his moments of madness shot with style, humour, and a peculiar affinity for reptiles (the natural world clearly factoring highly in Werzog's recent work). But ultimately it is Cage's barn-storming lead performance that makes the greatest impact and proves that few other actors can quite match him when he's in wild-and-crazy mode.

By skewing grittiness in favour of the absurd, The Bad Lieutentant is as footloose and fancy free anything this sodden with substance abuse and filthy language could possibly be, and is all the better for it. Freed from the burden of self-regulatory sermonising that a lesser talent than Herzog would be obliged to include, The Bad Lieutenant is a raucuous and refreshing work that is destined to become a cult classic. Just don't try it at home, kids.

9/10

The Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans is released in UK cinemas May 21st.

FILM: Heartless

2010-02-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

Jamie Morgan (Jim Sturgess) is a lonely soul. Though close to his family, particularly his mother and always thinking about his deceased father, he longs for a family of his own. Blighted by extensive birthmarks, he has always found it hard to build relationships, particularly in the oppressive atmosphere of London's East End. One night it becomes clear that true evil lies beneath the surface of this 'world gone mad' and when tragic events take place, Jamie ventures deeper into London's hellish underbelly, encountering sinister overlord Papa B (Joseph Mawle).

The idea of the big city, especially during these 'uncertain times', as masking something far more disturbing is certainly an interesting premise (Hellraiser meets The Matrix, if you will) and combined with the 'hoodie horror' motif that worked to grim and upsetting effect in Eden Lake (less so in the rather silly and obvious portrayal of 'yoofs' in Harry Brown), Philip Ridley's film certainly has a rich backdrop to set the action. Moreover, while Heartless explores familiar genre ideas as madness, guilt, and society's ills incarnate, there is certainly enough going on to keep it interesting so as not to leave it feeling stale (no more creepy kids, wise beyond their years, though - almost as bad and as pointless as bleeding psychics).

Where Heartless becomes unstuck though is in its wildly shifting tone and direction. Choppy, rushed editing is partly to blame for the scattershot story-telling, but Ridley's claim that the film's bitty nature is to relfect Jamie's increasingly fractured psychological state seems more of an excuse for him to use disparate ideas he'd accumulated over the years rather than some grand film-making intention. Indeed, Ridley describes film-making as an 'explosion in reverse', where pieces of shiny shrapnel come together to form a, hopefully, cohesive whole. In this case, it didn't work.

The performances are fine, with Sturgess a believable lead, plus sound support from Noel Clarke, Clémence Poésy, and Timothy Spall on cameo duties, and it often looks the business, with some equally horrific and beautiful moments. But it too readily mixes serious drama and emotional upset with naive sentimentality and laboured sermonising, all to a frequently invasive made-for-film soundtrack. It's strange then that the film's two very best scenes are when it cuts loose and has some fun, with a couple of darkly comic sequences around the midway point, particularly the excellent Eddie Marsan's brilliant turn as 'Weapons Man'. But soon the giggles become unintentional and it all gets twisty, murky and silly again.

For a British genre film on a limited budget, Heartless certainly makes the most of its resources, with some very neat special effects and make-up, an undeniably arresting look, and a fair amount of talent on-screen. Unfortunately, it brings to mind the ambitious but abysmal Franklyn, as it too often becomes bogged down in its own po-faced ideas and convolusions - yet, it is certainly the far better film. For those willing to put up with occasional naffness and a peculiar sense of narrative flow and mood, there is still much to like within Heartless, but a whole-hearted recommendation is a hard one to make.

6/10

Heartless is released in UK cinemas May 21st, followed by a DVD/Blu-Ray/Download release on May 24th.

FILM SPECIAL: Top 20 Films of 2009

2010-01-10T13:09:00.001-08:00

Onto the movies, but why twenty? Well, simply because there were more than ten films which were pretty much equally as good as each other. So while this list is in a sort of an order of greatness, a degree of shuffling up and down could easily take place. But let's lock it down as this for now, shall we? I' ve included mini-musings on each of the 20 - they're not overviews or summations, just thoughts that cropped up when compiling the list together.

For the point of comparison, this should cover every film released in 2009 in the UK that I saw. That way you can see those that didn't make the cut and a vague opinion on them, and why I might have omitted someone else's favourite film of the year (because I didn't actually see it). So, the pick of what was actually a very fine year for cinema.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Makes a good underdog documentary double bill with King of Kong. Hysterically funny and incredibly touching.

In The Loop
Ultimately rather depressing when you think about it. Loads of LOLs and swears though! Malcolm Tucker on a big screen = terrifying.

Drag Me To Hell
Thank you Mr. Raimi! Like the most fun Spook House ride you can think of, and as close to a new Evil Dead as you could hope for.

Moon
Sam Rockwell gives the best performances of his career. A simple story elegantly and economically told. Lovely models and miniatures too.

Thirst
The best vampire film of the year. Also, it's rare to see a film about blood-suckers that actually makes you feel quite so giddy from all the red stuff as this manages. Park Chan-Wook's best since Oldboy.

Let The Right One In
The other best vampire film of the year, it's chilling, it's creepy, it's a little bit weepy. Uncomfortable viewing in the best possible way.

The Wrestler
More than just The Meaty Mickey Show, the film itself is remarkably well directed. More nods deserved for all concerned.

District 9
The most amount of body-popping to be found on the silver screen since Electric Boogaloo 2, I was pleasantly surprised just how much of the film was focused on the aliens as much as the humans. Especially the intergalactic tag-team buddy break-in of MNU. Best film based on a video game that doesn't actually exist.

The Hurt Locker
Like the gripping finale to an action film over and over again and increasingly tense each time. Effectively a two-hour game of Russian Roulette. Sub-plots were a bit ill-fitting though.

Inglourious Basterds
Ludicrous but easily one of the most entertaining and rich pictures of the year that revels in its rollicking rambunctiousness. The best of QT's post-Jackie Brown trilogy of self-indulgence.

Star Trek
The only big summer block-buster of the year that was any good whatsoever, but it more than made up for everyone else's shortcomings by being so much fun. Like a big silly sugar-rush fireworks display, it should have been awful but was anything but (a couple of weak cast members and dafty plot notwithstanding).

Where The Wild Things Are
Best kids film of the year not really made for kids and amazing it ever got made, let alone finished. But it's great that it exists and will grow and grow as time goes on. If Max crying in the ruins of his crushed igloo doesn't get to you, you have an impenetrable soul.

Mesrine
Bit of a cheat counting them as one film, as each part definitely has a different feel and focus. If I had to pick, I do prefer the first part, if only because a rise is more fun, if not necessarily quite as deep and interesting, as a fall. Vincent Cassel makes it super-watchable (even during the nasty bits).

Fantastic Mr. Fox
The other best kids film of the year not really made for kids. And the stuff I liked the most wasn't even in the original material (the relationship between Ash and Kristofferson). I hope kids who see it now will revisit it again and again and each time find something new.

Crank: High Voltage
It's Crank TIMES 2. Or Crank SQUARED. The ante is upped in every aspect, so while it's not better than the original, it's the only possible way forward for Chev Chelios. Also, I think the guys get it just as bad as the girls when it comes to excessive nudity and violence to their person.

Slumdog Millionaire
The Little Movie That Could to most people. Another Danny Boyle film to the rest. But Danny Boyle films are always cause for some celebration. So what better way to celebrate than watch Slumdog Millionaire?

Red Cliff
Need to see the full 2 movies rather than the conjoined mish-mash cut-down released at the kinoplex. But hey! It's a good John Woo movie for a change. Actually, a great one. Big historical war epics can often leave me cold, but this is tonnes of fun, and I'll watch Tony Leung and/or Takeshi Kaneshiro in pretty much anything.

A Serious Man
Possibly their weirdest work since Barton Fink, and maybe even as upsetting as No Country For Old Men in a strange way. True moments of brilliance throughout though, and excellent performances from relatively unknown actors. Hard to find a more peculiar 'comedy'.

Up
Not Pixar's finest. Not by a long shot. And despite the set-up, ultimately disappointingly conventional and obvious. But disappointing from Pixar is usually still pretty great, and when it's at full tilt, it's stirring and magical like few others of its ilk.

Gran Torino
Like Up with less balloons. I'd like a Walt Kowalski action figure. Squeeze him and out comes a racist grumble! Comes with shotgun and can of beer, with titular vehicle sold separately.

As for future films I saw last year, if they were to be included The Road and Mother would absolutely rock into the top 10; Capitalism: A Love Story would certainly not. The Room would trump all three as well (it had it's first cinema screening in the UK this year, so I guess it counts?). Also, The Brothers Bloom would be somewhere towards the top too (if only it'd come out over here - what is the hold up?).

Other films I liked (in rough order of decreasing likeness):
Adventureland, Watchmen, The Box, Antichrist, The Good The Bad The Weird, Synecdoche, New York, Zombieland, Frost/Nixon, (500) Days of Summer, Public Enemies, Punisher: War Zone, The Hangover

These were all a bit "okay, I guess". Still, they had their moments (with most meh at the bottom):
Bruno, Coraline, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Triangle, Harry Brown, Departures, Gamer, Tokyo!, Three Miles North of Molkom..., JCVD, Religulous, G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra

The rest were all pretty bad, some very much more so than others (especially at the end), but all hard to recommend:
My Name Is Bruce, Franklyn, Resident Evil: Degeneration, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

And that's the lot. I know there's still quite a few to catch up on, but that's how it looks for MMIX for now. What did I miss?

MUSIC SPECIAL: Top 10 Albums of 2009

2010-01-10T11:10:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's listy-time! It's all redundant now, as I'm sure everyone's already picked their favourite albums of 2010 already, or would rather do a little bit of noughties-navel-gazing, but so what? Here's a selection of my favourites that you were no doubt all listening to way back in 2010-1AD, and if that weren't the case, here's your chance to rectify that pronto. So, without further ado...

01: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Sounding both very much of its time yet beautifully antiquated at the same time, Veckatimest is an album worth getting wrapped up in over and over again, and remains rewarding on each listen.

02: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Okay, so technically not a 2009 release on account of it not being actually released (sort of), but if you know where to look, it is great collaboration with many a formidable special guest, particularly from David Lynch who provides vocals on two of the very best tracks.

03: The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Like an alien distress signal captured by government scientists in the 60s and only just released into the public, it's a distorted rambling affair but as utterly captivating as ever.

04: Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
Third time out for the Franz boys, and it's another batch of fun, cool, catchy body-jittering toe-tappers. You groovy cats, you! Easy to take for granted, but really, I don't think they've yet to put a (dancing) foot wrong.

05: Handsomeboy Technique - Terrestrial Tone Cluster
The only new Japanese album I think I listened to this year! Eek! But it's a formidable follow-up to his excellent debut. Drifts off a little towards the end, but for the most part, exceptionally lovely.

06: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Ticks a lot of boxes with an emphatic YES in ways that are not immediately obvious, but instantly gripping. Kick-ass tuneage.

07: Hank Pine and Lily Fawn - North America
The long-awaited continuation of the titular characters' quest through the American gothic fairytale (via Canada), it eschews much of the story-telling in favour of consistenly high quality ditties.

08: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
The critical masterpiece of the year, there is much to savour on this album, and with every listen, it's easy to sink even deeper into the marvellous sounds contained within.

09: Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Two distinctive voices + a bunch of great tunes = stirring stuff.

10: Discovery - LP
Blippy and electronic, yet warm and sunny, it's a joyous affair that sounds like pop from the not too distant future. And the future is now, kids!

Special mention as well for Compilation of the Year which was Dark Was The Night, a magnificent snapshot of contemporary North American folky-indie with a mix of new tracks, covers and traditional standards, and all for a good cause. And because I'm great, I've created a Spotify playlist sample of the above (substituting tracks from a few of my also-rans for those unavailable), something I'm thinking of doing more regularly (yay, playlists for all). Hear it yonder.

Any more recommendations or suggestions for ones I've missed more than welcome!

FILM: Capitalism: A Love Story

2009-11-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

The surprise film at the London Film Festival, and it was a surprise indeed. I was hoping for Where The Wild Things Are, what we got instead was Capitalism: A Love Story, the latest from Michael Moore. A film I had no plan in seeing (I liked TV Nation and Bowling for Columbine though), so that was a disappointment, but the film itself was exactly what I expected.

So, Mr. Moore sets his sights on the recent banking crisis, drawing a lot of it back to Roger & Me, Flint, Michigan and his personal life. It does indeed highlight some pretty shocking examples of dirty greedy policies in play and the central message of "big over-the-top spending = boo, power to the people = yay" is hard to quibble with. And after an exciting rip-roaring opening (the warning message from the trailer for Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast, interspersed with CCTV of bank heists to the tune of Iggy Pop's cover of "Louie Louie"), you'd expect a big boistrous barnstorm rallying against the powers that be. However, it's mainly a grab-bag selection of sob stories (difficult situations for ordinary people, sure, but enough zooming into crying eyes) and show-boating stunts and skits that are as obvious as they are unfunny. A damp smug squib then, rather than the fireworks one would expect from Moore firing on all cylinders against the government leaders and the big banks who line their pockets.

In fact, Moore really doesn't do enough to demonstrate how wrong the previous banking practices were, so we're only really left with scattershot human interest tales rather than a proper attack with cold hard facts and figures. There are answers and ideas within, and it's more mature and balanced than Farenheit 9/11, but Moore's schtick is getting old - toothless and prone to foggy thinking.

5/10

FILM: Gamer

2009-10-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Neveldine/Taylor strike back with their post-Crank offering of virtual-reality/evil media conglomerate/wronged death row inmate/future deathsport/mega-bucks TV show pick'n'mix plot strands that in many ways feels like Neil Marshall's Doomsday in its attempt to hark back to a certain breed of action film, but tries to do far too much all at once.

As you'd expect from the Crank boys, it looks quite spectacular (deliberately dodgy green-screening notwithstanding) and it's edited to within an inch of it's life and feels like the screen is going to overload at certain points (sometimes it does). But as you might also expect, there are plenty of absurdist tangents, surreal gags and major boobage. In a sense, it's too bizarre and peculiar to satisfy the Michael Bay crowd, but too mean-spirited and base to be fully enjoyed as a dumb but fun 'splosions flick. However, there is still much to be thankful for and its constant efforts to attach such a weird shooting style and sense of humour to what is a pretty pedestrian plot is commendable.

And if there's anything that keeps it afloat, it's the cast, though not so much in terms of their acting ability (Gerard Butler seems to just channel Russell Crowe in Gladiator and add nothing else), though Michael C. Hall is a highly entertaining and quirky super-villain, as you might expect from playing Dexter. Rather that the entire supporting cast is populated by a multitude of known faces, some in blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameos, many of them Pathology and Crank alumni (see if you can spot Efren Ramirez and Troma's Lloyd Kaufman). The highlight of these is undoubtedly Milo Ventimiglia, who in about a minute of screen time as the charmingly-monikered Rick Rape, demonstrates a gleefully sick side that you would never see in an episode of Heroes.

While it's hard to champion Gamer in quite the same unabashed fashion as Cranks One and Two, if you weren't put off by exploding breast implants in Neveldine/Taylor's last cinematic endeavour, you might be able to stomach Gamer, and, dare I say it, enjoy it.

6/10

FILM: Carnival of Souls

2009-10-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

Organist Mary survives a car accident in which her friends are killed and moves to Utah soon after to take up a residency at a church. However, she is stalked by a ghoulish figure who vanishes just as quickly as he appears. An abandoned carnival just outside of town seems to hold the answers.

Reportedly an influence on both George A Romero (the ghouls themselves are clear precursors to Romero's zombies) and David Lynch (from its dreamy sequences to its supporting cast of oddballs, including the dotty Mrs Thomas and sleazebag Mr Linden), Carnival of Souls may seem a little pedestrian compared to what followed and its themes have been explored again and again, but for the time, its an undeniably absorbing work. It's creepy when it needs to be, with some eye-catching make-up and inventive sound design, but also has a dark comic streak and some quirky, often snappy, dialogue. Overall, it's always entertaining and Candace Hilligoss is superb in the leading role.

8/10

FILM: The Keep

2009-10-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

Michael Mann's "lost" film, based on a novel by F. Paul Wilson, is famous for it's Tangerine Dream score and generally little seen thanks to a lack of a DVD release, rare print screenings (of which I attended at the BFI upon which this review is based) and it being a critical and commercial flop on release in 1983. Yet, I have always harboured a fascination in seeing it thanks to the look from stills I'd seen, the cast and the intruiging plot.

A bunch of Nazis take up base in the titular keep embedded in the mountainside of a Romanian village, only to find something possibly more evil than them lurking inside. It's kind of like the Ark-opening scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark stretched out for 90 minutes, but not at all actually when you come to think of it.

Many of the film's problems can be attributed to its current state. While the print was unavoidably scratchy and the sound often dire, it's the hackjob at the edit stage that makes much of the film incomprehensible. That's not to say there aren't poor choices elsewhere (the bizarre yankee accents of the Romanians, Alberta Watson's mega-80's hair, some very forced and clunky dialogue), but with the original cut apparently 3 hours long, it does feel like you're skimming through a book rather than absorbing it. The film frequently turns two pages at once, leading to muddy character motivations, sketchy background information and bizarre jumps and developments. I don't need all the answers from a film, but the way The Keep flowed, it seemed like they skipped the questions too. In fact, supposed hero Scott Glenn is largely superfluous to the whole film seemingly only present for a little impromptu soft-focus fornication, with the kind of double quick courting that'd make James Bond nervous, and ultimately to defeat the big bad at the end.

There is still an interesting film buried beneath. Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne and Ian McKellen (unconventional accent aside) are as solid as you'd expect, the Keep itself is awe-inspiring (care of production designer John Box, a talk on whom was given prior to the screening) and the visual effects and prosphetics are great too. And the film as a whole does have a weird atmosphere that leaves an unshakeable impression. But ultimately, it's too muddled to be more than a cult curio. A remastered re-edited DVD release would be most welcome though.

6/10

FILM: The Road

2009-10-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

A London Film Festival Gala screening (i.e. free water and choccy bar - which I felt so guilty about eating while the characters on screen starve, I didn't consume until the following day) followed by a Q+A with the film-makers and Viggo Mortensen.

John Hillcoat's (The Proposition) adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's (No Country For Old Men) novel is a faithful one indeed, honouring the book's bluntness and frankness to create a very honest (one would imagine) depiction of a non-descript apocalyptic American wasteland and a father and son's journey across it. It's certainly more flashback-reliant than the original source material, but never to the extent that questions are unnecessarily answered or the overall mood is diluted.

If you've read the book, you'll know what to expect - perhaps to the film's detriment in that the impact is somewhat lessened. Either I've been too desensitised or just knew the tone of the book so well that I was not as shocked or upset as I might have been going in cold. But it's still hard not to be impressed with just how matter-of-fact yet beautifully told the story is. I had imagined a bleaker, more ash-ridden world, but this imagining of the world of the novel still manages to be both grounded in reality and often awe-inspiring, using real post-Katrina landscapes to create a sense of a land bereft of humanity, both in its physical and metaphysical forms.

Mortensen is every bit as believable, intense and watchable as in his work with Cronenberg and Kodi Smit-McPhee (soon to appear in the American version of Let The Right One In) is pretty much perfect, exactly how you'd expect a child to behave in such an impossible situation while never falling into the trap of acting 'beyond their years' - so much so that a day after the screening, I saw families with little kids in big coats and woolly hats and I got a little emotional, feeling a sudden paternal urge to protect them from the apocalypse! Add to that an impeccable supporting cast populated by well-known faces in bit-part roles (a near un-recognisable Robert Duvall may have less screen time than Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got a supporting nom come Oscar time).

If you can imagine a cross somewhere between the end of The Mist and the start of Wall-E, then The Road is close to that. Though its setting and content is ostensibly bleak, there is a beauty and a purpose to it that transcends the darkness to make for a strangely uplifting and poignant piece of work.

The Road is released in the UK on January 8th 2010.

9/10

FILM: Antichrist

2009-10-04T04:08:00.001-07:00

Sooooo, Antichrist then.

First things first, I liked it. Incredible cinematography, startling imagery and powerful performances.

However, get past the art-house trappings and watch it as a particularly gruesome but high-end video nasty, and you'll find it a more rewarding experience than if you were trying to look for the profound despite its pretentions. The dialogue and themes explored (of man versus woman, mankind versus nature) are hardly original and the Biblical references clunky, but wouldn't feel as such in a more conventional 'terror picture'. There are elements of The Evil Dead, The Shining and a whole bunch of weirdy horror classics - though some of the more extreme moments are more reminscient of assorted works by Eli Roth and Takashi Miike - but there are still plenty of things in Antichrist I never thought I'd see in a film (and a few I wouldn't really choose to see again) though it clearly announces its intentions with a slo-mo penetration shot about half a minute in.

Is it mysoginistic? Peeeeerrrobably...when the whole film rests on one man and one woman and that one woman makes grand sweeping claims blaming all evil on womankind, it's not easy arguing otherwise. But I'd say that Antichrist, being that it is steeped in horror lore, is simply honouring the grand tradition of the female being the vessel for the supernatural (and furthermore, tying in with the Mother Nature concept) and just taking it to its natural extreme. But by being so extreme, it does veer dangerously close to (and occassionally tips over into) downright silliness; some of it is so unbelievably shocking, nervous giggles ensued. I did spend the credits laughing out loud with the two friends I saw it with because when faced with a pretty unpleasant situation, you can't take it seriously lest you become a gargantuan sourpuss.

Chances are you won't know if you wanted to watch it or not until after seeing it, but likewise, if you're contemplating seeing it, I think you already know what you're letting yourself in for. I would say the 'graphic violence' is by no means as bad as I thought it would be, but I'm a sick puppy, so don't take that as me giving you the all clear. And it's moral standpoint is dubious at best. But there's definitely something unshakeably fascinating about Antichrist, be it the film itself, that Lars von Trier actually decided to make it in the first place, or just its very existence. The world is not a better place because of Antichrist, but nor has it brought about armageddon.

7/10

FILM: Moon

2009-10-04T04:01:00.001-07:00

While it contains themes, ideas, design, even dialogue, reminiscient of past sci-fi classics, Moon never feels rehashed or unimaginative, creating a mood and atmosphere all of its own and deserves a place alongside the masterpieces it harks back to. This is in large part to both Duncan Jones economical direction, wringing everything out of its meagre budget (with some gorgeous modelwork and miniatures), and Sam Rockwell.

For what is essentially a one-man show, you'd need a pretty decent lead to keep the audience engaged and sympathetic, and few actors are quite as adept at being affable, pitiful, serious, goofy, charming, intense, and pretty much any other facet of a character as Rockwell. Would an Oscar nomination be too much to ask? British comedy nerds will also get a kick out of small appearances from Sunshine alumnus Benedict Wong and Dr Sanchez himself Matt Berry, and Kevin Spacey's smilie-tastic robot assistant Gerty is pitch-perfect.

Story-wise, not all ideas are fully fleshed out or followed through, though in most cases this is not necessarily a problem, leaving us to fill in the gaps. Indeed, my only major quibble came with a last-minute piece of exposition that actually did more to confuse, diminish and befuddle than satisfy. But for the most part this is efficient and believable story-telling. Mysterious, gripping, hilarious, achingly sad, yet strangely uplifting, Moon is a lovely piece of work.

9/10

FILM: Up

2009-10-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

After the double-whammy of Ratatouille and Wall-E, I had high hopes for Up, particularly as I'd read very little about the plot beyond the initial set-up (sort of like Gran Torino meets Indiana Jones in a surreal road-trip), but while it has some good gags and thrilling action set-pieces (maybe not best for those with vertigo), I feel it didn't quite gel together so well.

The plot itself stems from an absurd flight of fancy and so seemingly does the rest of the film. For what is essentially a 'road movie' (an often enjoyable but lazy sub-genre used as an excuse to string together disparate side characters and vignettes), despite the odd dips into the surreal, it was too conventional and predictable, sacrificing believable character development for sentimentality, and relying a little too much on whimsy and cuteness. Without the admittedly funny but obvious supporting animal companions, there'd be even less to it. It didn't manage to balance the fun and enjoyment with the emotional heart-string tugging of previous Pixar efforts and, as such, didn't hold my attention quite like, dare I say it, Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda, even though I understand they're trying to achieve entirely different things. Maybe a bad example.

I liked Up for the most part, and it's still an impressive piece of work (plus the 3D is not used in a gimmicky fashion, relying on creating depth rather than jumping out of the screen, though it's still non-essential). And with Pixar comes a certain quality guarantee that it won't rely on celebrity voiceovers, pop culture references and toilet humour. But it's overall a bit of a disappointment.

Oh, and the short beforehand was not one of the better ones either. Not quite Boundin' awful (though it has some horrible character designs too), but desperately twee.

7/10

FILM SPECIAL: 10 Most Upsetting Films of the Past 10 Years

2009-08-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

With the recent release of controversial lady-baiter Antichrist and refusal of release for Japanese torture flick Grotesque (ah, the BBFC doth giveth and doth taketh away), cinematic misery is on the agenda once again. Sometimes we watch films to laugh, sometimes to scream and sometimes to cry. And other times, we like to be put through the ringer. And it is these films to which I pay tribute today - the ones that are genuinely upsetting but also genuinely earn the grief they land in your lap (so no Norbit then). So here are, in my opinion and in order of miserability, the 10 most upsetting films of the past 10 years (plus one that absolutely isn't)...

10. Out of the Blue (2006)
More often than not, when Hollywood gets hold of a true story, it soon becomes 'based upon a true story', then eventually 'inspired by true events' and then loses all impact (though Clint Eastwood's Changeling, which just missed the list, is a fine exception). What makes Out of the Blue's telling of the Aramoana massacre in New Zealand in 1990 is it's upfront, matter-of-fact presentation and it's all the more powerful for that. Though the story that unfolds is tragic, it's ultimately uplifting in its depiction of the townsfolk trying to survive through a terrifying situation. An understated look at humanity at both it's darkest and brightest, it's a fine film indeed.

9. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Plot-wise, Shane Meadows' film is ostensibly a revenge slasher flick, but few of those pictures are so down-to-earth, impeccably performed and mature. It's gritty and grim, but there is a disturbing levity to be found amongst the frankly likeable and daft small-town drug dealers gasmask-clad Richard (Paddy Considine) is out to dispatch. It's not perfect (the grainy black-and-white flashbacks are a tad student film) and arguably Meadows' follow-up This Is England is a stronger piece of work, but it still delivers a powerful blow.

8. The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
I was in Manchester with a couple of friends and we had a choice of films at the cinema: this or Downfall. Figuring Nixon would be the less depressing option, we opted for him over Hitler. Now, I've still yet to see Downfall, but suffice to say, I'm not sure our criterion was strictly accurate. Still, we were rewarded with a superb film, with exceptional performances from Sean Penn and Naomi Watts (also both to be found in 21 Grams, another narrow miss on the upset stakes). Furthermore, the 70s setting gives it that 'Golden Age of US Cinema' feel. A must-see film for anyone who's ever felt there life is insignificant and secretly knows it'll never get better. God, that's depressing.

7. All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Shunji Iwai's study of the fall-out between two schoolfriends told largely in flashback and through internet chatspeak is two-and-a-half hours of depression, suicide, angst, bullying, prostitution, humiliation and generally very bad things. Not exactly the most tantalising way to spend a night at the cinema, but what is one of the most emotionally draining films I've ever seen is also one of the most unshakeable films I've ever seen. A lo-fi digital shooting style keeps everything believable, every scene's charged with a sense of impending dread, and the music of the eponymous (and fictitious) singer lead role Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) obsesses over is so wonderful, you can see why it's of such importance to the character. It's as perfect of portrayal of teen loneliness you're ever likely to see and 100% emo wank free.

6. Funny Games U.S. (2007)
A strange choice for this list perhaps, being as it is virtually a shot-for-shot remake by Michael Haneke of his own 1997 original work (which I haven't actually seen), but then again it was also a strange choice for my birthday trip to the cinema two years ago. It has been much criticised for it's pointlessness, senselessness and condescendingness (actual word!), but it's still an important film and one that I was quite taken by. A family (Tim Roth, Naomi Watts - seemingly a glutton for punishment - and Devon Gearhart) are taken hostage in their holiday home by a disarmingly charming but sadistic duo (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) who break the fourth wall as much as they do toy with their victim's lives. Unpleasant and uncomfortable but unconventional too.

5. Audition (1999)
The ever-prolific but endlessly interesting Takashi Miike commanded international attention with this slow-burning shocker. Ryo Ishibashi plays a widower who is encouraged by his son to find a new companion. His producer friend sets up a mock casting call as a way to meet potential girlfriends, and he becomes enamoured by a young former ballerina (Eihi Shiina). What starts as a sweet romantic drama takes a turn for the worst as her true nature and deadly past are revealed, building to a horrific climax. A precursor to the 'torture porn' trend of recent years through the Saw and Hostel films (as evidenced by Eli Roth giving the Japanese director a cameo in the first Hostel).

4. Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002)
The past decade has seen the Koreans become the go-to guys for exhilirating grown-up cinema, and Park Chan-Wook is one of it's key luminaries. This, the first in his 'Vengeance' trilogy, may not be as energetic as Oldboy or artful as Lady Vengeance, but it packs a mean punch in which no-one, be they innocent or criminal, gets off lightly and happy endings are a rare luxury. Its brutality still sends ripples through the Korean film industry (most recently with The Chaser) and marked lead Song Kang-ho (later to feature in the equally excellent Memories of Murder, The Host, and The Good, The Bad, The Weird) as one of the most watchable actors in the world today.

3. Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Not a film for everyone and one I do have a few my misgivings about - it certainly piles on the misery in such an unremitting fashion it veers dangerously close to my choice of absolutely not-upsetting film below. However, if you don't want to crack a smile all day, watch it over breakfast. It's probably the best-directed anti-drugs PSA you're ever likely to see. But mainly it's a bit like Jam without the laughs. And if you didn't laugh watching Jam, then steer well away of Requiem For A Dream.

2. Eden Lake (2008)
Okay, so it's not that easy to justify the middle class heroes vs working class bad'uns angle of what was billed as the first 'hoodie horror' (despite there being no hoodies in it - and Ils got their first), but whichever way you cut it, Eden Lake is gruelling stuff. Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender are a couple out for a weekend away by the titular body of water when they encounter a group of teenage delinquents (featuring This Is England's Thomas Turgoose). Tensions rise, arguments flare, pranks go too far and soon the kids take increasingly grim measures to make sure they don't leave alive. It's a raw, uncompromising example of the best of modern British horror with a simple but chilling final shot that gives you the goosebumps.

1. Irréversible (2002)
The only film I've been to see at the cinema which advised no refunds after the film started because of the graphic content contained within, but also one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. A film so brilliantly filmed, acted and constructed it wholly justifies the terrible terrible things that take place within (despite the understandable tales of walk-outs and pass-outs). An unflinching tale told in reverse chunks a la Memento (but taking that idea to its inevitable conclusion by running the credits at the start), real-life couple Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci are joined by friend Albert Dupontel (see Bernie, see Bernie, see Bernie) on a night out that turns impossibly sour. But being that it's revealed backwards, we are greeted with the film's climax: a nightmarish descent into gay S&M club The Rectum, filled with stomach-churning spinning camerawork and low-frequency soundtrack. If that doesn't unsettle the mind as much as the body, brace yourself for the violent outburst that follows. And then there's the question of why the lead characters are there in the first place - the film's deeply disturbing and painfully real centrepiece. At least it's one of the few films on the list with a happy ending, but when that's only because we are seeing events prior to the ones we've already witnessed, it just makes it all the more upsetting.

And one film that genuinely isn't upsetting as much as it tries to be...

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

A-ha-ha-ha! Idiot's masterpiece The Butterfly Effect has become one of those cult films that I found hilarious but a surprising majority find truly deep and profound as if the concept of cause-and-effect had never ocurred to them before Ashton Kutcher went weepy and discovered the ability to change his childhood. Unfortunately, such is the list of horrors his character endures, that it piles on despair after despair, becoming ever more ludicrous. Isolated, they'd be depressing but together, it's hysterical, and include:

...visiting his dad for the first time in the mental hospital only for pater to attempt to strangle him and then die in front of him; being filmed by the local paedo for a kiddie porn home movie; accidentally blowing up a baby with a hidden firecracker; watching his dog get burnt alive...

and then when he returns home to see his school sweetheart, she flips and kills herself that evening. That's a bit of a downer, right? So for reasons barely explained (or perhaps I could barely care about), he reads his journals, he travels to the past and tries to undo the mess of his life. But in true 'be careful what you wish for fashion', nothing's perfect, his "what if?" alternate lives get worse and worse, and he ends up with no limbs! Actually, that's not the 'ending' ending but nor is it the alternate ending in which he decides to rid the world of his existence by, no kidding, warping back to when he was a foetus, then strangle himself with his umbilical cord in his mother's womb!

"Oh my gawd! Like, y'know, when a butterfly flaps its wings, it can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world!". Yes, but when that concept is better demonstrated in The Simpsons with Homer's time-travelling toaster, you know your film's going to be as deep as a puddle and just as interesting. Not even Ian Malcolm would care about this tosh.

FILM: Drag Me To Hell

2009-05-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

I was fortunate to attend a special preview screening of Drag Me To Hell, presented by FrightFest at the ICA, with director Sam Raimi and stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long in attendence for a Q+A session afterwards.

While Drag Me To Hell is a homecoming of sorts for Sam Raimi to the horror genre, that is not to say he had given up on 'terror pictures' altogether. Through his production company Ghost House Pictures, he's released a bunch of fright flicks, from the remake of The Grudge to 30 Days of Night, with varying degrees of success. As director though, there were clearly hints of his earlier work in the Doc Ock operating theatre scene in Spider-Man 2, but a full-blown Raimi horrorfest was not forthcoming while the webslinger was top priority. Having finally broken free of the money-spinning web-spinner, if only for a brief moment, it was time to get back to the genre that made his name, calling the shots on a self-penned script (with brother Ivan) originated circa Darkman. And not only does Drag Me To Hell mark the return of one of horror's favourite sons, but the return of horror as just purely enjoyable entertainment.

When bank clerk Christine Brown (Lohman) turns down an extension on a home loan for Mrs. Ganush (an incredible Lorna Raver) in hope it will get her a promotion, she is confonted by the elderly lady and a curse is placed upon her: in three days time, she is going to hell. Tormented by demonic forces, she enlists the help of spiritualists and her cynical boyfriend (Long) to try and break the spell before its too late. Not an exactly original premise, and one that seems archaic in contemporary horror cinema, but with Raimi in charge it makes for exceptional entertainment.

First things first, this isn't scary. There are plenty of jolts and jumps, and the central conceit of being literally dragged to hell isn't exactly a pleasant one, but this is horror as thrill-ride. The screams are as much those of laughter as they are of fear. In fact, Drag Me To Hell may be one of the funniest films of the year. There are moments of pure hysteria on screen the likes of which haven't been seen since Braindead (not that this is anywhere near as gory, but two scenes in particular, one involving a dead body and another a Meet the Parents-esque dinner date, owe something to Peter Jackson's masterpiece), with lots of gross-out gags and splat-stick. Although some yuks don't work as well as others (thanks to a couple of CG mis-fires, though this is largely, and thankfully, a practical effects showcase), Raimi's gift of the funny remains in the film's dark sense of humour, with the lengths Christine will go to save her soul, and some zingy dialogue.

But what really makes the film such a joy is just how much of a spiritual successor to the Evil Dead films it feels while remaining totally accessible to those introduced to Raimi through Spider-Man. References abound, but not in such a rib-diggingly obvious way that generate groans nor do they confuse or befuddle non-seasoned viewers. Certainly, the seance sequence is practically Evil Dead II taken out of the cabin and into a grand hall, Mrs. Ganush herself is every bit a malevolent she-bitch, and the classic Oldsmobile makes its customary return, but the little touches, be they intentional or just wired into Raimi's film-making blood, speak volumes to fans. While Raimi's trademark twirly camera tricks are not as wild or as prevalent as in the past, the content remains undeniably his work. Even the poster is reminiscient of the original poster for The Evil Dead.

Some may decry Drag Me To Hell as a little goofy and it's not exactly going to give you any nightmares, but it was simply one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences I've had. Just as Star Trek reminded everyone that sci-fi blockbusters didn't need to be plodding operas drained of all character (ahem, Star Wars prequels), so too does Drag Me To Hell remind you that horror needn't always be gritty, torture-filled and excessively gory. Instead, they can simply be a hell of a lot of fun.

9/10

FILM: Wall-E

2008-07-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

Who woulda thunk that the big Disney film of the summer would offer a genuinely touching love story, rampant satire on such subjects as big business, commercialism and obesity, and offer one of the most awe-inspiring and depressing visions of the future? But then again, this is Pixar, and after Ratatouille dispelled my personal concerns they'd lost their touch (the likes of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles left me cold), Wall-E far exceeded my expectations.

Andrew Stanton's film follows the titular robot, the last of his kind, who has spent the last several centuries clearing up the waste mankind left behind on planet Earth before hot-footing it into space until the cleaning operation is complete (as indicated by some hilarious live-action commercials dotted around the skyscrapers of garbage). Wall-E spends his time compacting and stacking rubbish but, having developed a personality over time, also collects various intriguing nick-nacks and trinkets. Alone on the whole planet, save for an indestructible cockroach, his life is changed when a new high-tech robot, EVE, arrives, and he is instantly smitten. And from that initial encounter begins a bizarre but touching love story before EVE returns to outer space with Wall-E in tow...

It seems the big animation studios have reached a level of technical expertise that means they are no longer playing a game of visual effects oneupmanship, but whereas the likes of Dreamworks relies on big name stars, goofy gags and pop culture references, Pixar stands out from the competition thanks to the wonderful mature story-telling and surprising emotional involvement for a tale ostensibly of a couple of robots. Its not the case where the makers feel like they have to crowbar jokes in for the grown-ups while the kids are enveloped in the garish lunacy and fart noises - Wall-E is universal entertainment of the highest order.

Everything about this film works - the characters, the settings, the narrative drive, the visuals. Perhaps there is a little too much to-ing and fro-ing, it sometimes veers into convention and predictability, and the shift in the story and location may not appeal to those expecting a more abstract experience (as perhaps the trailers may have indicated), but whichever way you cut it - sci-fi epic, romance, action-adventure, slapstick comedy, dark satire - it manages to trump other films, live-action or animated, that purport to even cover one, even two, of those genres. Plus the traditional short animation before the main feature is perhaps the best one yet, brimming with a madcap energy and ingenuity of the very best Looney Tunes shorts. Truly, Pixar spoil us so very much.

9/10

FILM: [●REC]

2008-06-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Nearly a decade on, the impact of The Blair Witch Project continues apace with the P.O.V./mockumentary format for horror films especially popular as a cinematic device at the moment, with the likes of Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead, and now this Spanish flick. But, just as was proved with Blair Witch, a smaller tighter film can make an even bigger splash than its blockbuster brothers, and it is testament to [●REC]'s brilliance that it manages to trump similarly gimmicked pictures of a higher profile and/or from respected masters of their craft. And mark my words, it is one of the best horror films of the decade.

The set-up is simple: local TV presenter Angela (Manuela Valesco) and cameraman Pablo follow a crew of firemen on their night shift. But when they are called to an apartment building, it rapidly becomes clear that this is not an ordinary call-out. Soon, the whole building is sealed off and quarantined, the residents start to panic, the terror builds and builds, and the camera keeps rolling. And therein lies the key aspect to the film's success, in that directors Juame Balagueró and Paco Plaza utilise every trick at their disposal that the fourth-wall breaking camera perspective offers: characters react differently to the intrusion of being filmed, the sound and lighting are crucial mechanics in building atmosphere and tension, and with the one lens the only view available to the audience, we are forced to see what our cameraman sees and venture where he goes, whether we want to or not.

Being as self-contained as it is, the film accomplishes everything it sets out to achieve in its lean running time, with an entertaining opening establishing the nature of the original TV programme and a midway pause for interviews with the residents providing welcome humour and lightness to the otherwise dark and intense horror. And while it takes a little while to get going, once it kicks off, it really kicks off, with the last half-hour in particular offering a barrage of unrelenting thrills and supsense few films achieve in their entire running time. It is kudos to the cast (in particular, the wonderful Valesco) that the fear remains palpable and the terror believable. And as the true nature of the chaos is gradually revealed, [●REC] is elevated to exceptional status.

No horror film since Ringu has left as indelible impression on my mind as [●REC]. And as the experience will no doubt be diluted by the upcoming sequel (from the original makers) and American remake (with the more generic title of Quarantine, complete with spoilerific trailer, though with the likeable Jennifer Carpenter from Dexter in the lead role), anyone with even the slightest interest in horror is strongly advised to catch [●REC] as soon as possible, in all its raw, disturbing and thrilling glory.

9/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

FILM: Son of Rambow

2008-03-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

2008 may very well be the year in which the main cinematic trend was in putting the camera in the hands of the characters, for them to document (Cloverfield), to make movies of their own (Be Kind Rewind), or do a bit of both (Diary of the Dead). So, from creative duo Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (aka Hammer & Tongs - music video directors and the team behind the big screen The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) comes Son of Rambow - arriving off the back of Sylvester Stallone's own fourth outing as the (almost) titular character. You couldn't really have picked better timing.

It's the early 80's, and a chance encounter between young Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), from a deeply religious family of Plymouth Brethren members, and school tearaway Lee Carter (Will Poulter) leads them into an unlikely friendship of sorts. When Lee enlists Will to become the stuntman in the film he's making for BBC's children show Screen Test, a chance viewing of a bootlegged copy of First Blood sets Will's fervent imagination alight and so begins the filming of 'Son of Rambow'. But religious commitments, bullying brothers and the arrival of the French exchange students, notably the super-cool Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), threaten the shoot - will the Son of Rambow get the bad guys and ever rescue his father?

As with the aforementioned Be Kind Rewind, Son of Rambow is not a straightforward film parody; while the big laughs are similarly found in the moviemaking process, Jennings understands just like Michel Gondry that a 90 minute YouTube pisstake does not a good film make, and what Son of Rambow pulls off is building up the touching relationship between the two main protagonists. Both Milner and Poulter live their roles, delivering fine complimentary performances that allow them to behave just like, well, kids (rather than the wooden cue-carding or creepy adult-like delivery of other child actors). And while there are the inevitable dips into the formulaic (the customary falling-out, the confrontations between religious values and just being a kid, dealing with family problems), they mostly manage to steer away from the saccharine sickliness of many a Hollywood effort.

But where it best succeeds is in recreating the combined thrill and tedium of your childhood years: watching films you were far too young to see, sitting through seemingly endless Geography lessons, the countless near-death/serious injury dares and stunts you pulled. The film's best scenes are saved for Didier and his amassed posse of younger wannabes (think Rufio and The Lost Boys from Hook), leading to a chance visit to the sixth-form common room, a fantasy nightclub of Depeche Mode dance routines, popping candy and Coca-Cola combinations and temporary tattoos. When Didier volunteers himself to become the star of our heroes' film, it's both strangely beautiful and downright hilarious.

With so much going on with periphery characters hither and thither and the backstories for both Will and Lee to be thoroughly explored, there are times when the narrative leaps about just a little too much during its rather short running time (at least in this day and age), but it doesn't collapse under its own ambitions thanks to spirited performances, ceaselessly creative sequences and its genial feel-good nature. Jennings' eye for cinema has been well-honed throughout his career, but for only his second feature film, he displays a heart and joyful playfulness that shows real confidence in the material (loosely based as it is on his own personal experiences growing up).

It's perhaps the most accurate portrayal of kids as they really are (cussing, obnoxious, violent; but still just kids) since The Goonies, and deserves to be a big family film hit - only the most uptight and ignorant of parents would prevent their tykes from seeing children their same age swearing and getting into scrapes like they no doubt do every day. Perhaps it would make a good double bill with This is England? Or Rambo? Either way, it comes highly recommended. Skills.

8/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

FILM: I'm A Cyborg But That's OK

2007-11-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Director Park Chan-Wook is perhaps seen as the leading figure in the new wave of Korean cinema which has struck a chord with audiences across the world, usurping both Hong Kong and Japan as the "go-to" nation for groundbreaking cinema in East Asia. With his "Vengeance" trilogy complete, Park's venture into romantic comedy may seem a peculiar choice, but this film still carries over themes from his previous work and the style is still undeniably all his. I'm A Cyborg But That's OK focuses on two patients in a mental hospital and the relationship that develops between them. Young-Goon (Im Soo-Jeong) believes she is of cybernetic origin and spends her time talking to vending machines and licking batteries for sustinence, while Il-Soon (Rain) spends his time wearing a variety of masks and has the ability to steal other people's "powers" (or, in this case, mental handicaps).

Park is no stranger to flights of fancy and visual jiggery-pokery and such a premise as this lends itself perfectly to his aesthetic. With science-fiction elements mixing with a variety of eccentric supporting players, few scenes pass without a quirky characteristic played out to its full, often with the aid of CGI. The visualisations of the patients' delusions give the film a sense that perhaps they aren't crazy after all, even if they are exaggerated to the point of unbelievability. But in doing so, the potential darkness of such a situation is mostly avoided.

I say mostly, because it's still a rather uncomfortable watch. Much of the humour is simply derived from the fact that the people on screen are basically mental, and while there are some very funny moments, I found it hard to give myself fully to the film's lightness dealing with what's in every other essence a somewhat bleak existence. Humour always played a factor in Park's previous films in even darker areas of human nature (also when concerning the themes of entrapment and injustice that also appear here), but deriving jet black comedy from the more macabre or disturbing somehow rests easier on my mind. Perhaps that says more about me than the film.

And in much the same way as Takeshi Miike's Zebraman was his idea of a family film, Park's view of what might be suitable viewing for his young daughter (for whom he made the film) is unconventional to say the least. Before the screening at the Barbican as part of the London Korean Film Festival, he asked us to view the film from the perspective of the a 12-year-old, and while I would've probably got a kick out of this when I was 10 years younger (good God), this isn't the kind of picture you'd get from the House of Mouse. One repeated manic hallucination of Young-goon's is just about as violent as anything in Lady Vengeance.

However, there is much to like about the film. The leads are endearing and engaging, and the oddball assortment of fellow patients provide a colourful backdrop. And there is no denying the talent of Park, who appears to be just as comfortable shooting fantasy as much as reality, blurring the boundaries wherever he sees fit but not in such a way as to disorientate the audience. It's plain silly in parts, but you buy into it. What on paper sounds like a cross between Amelie and The Terminator at first is ultimately far more inspired than its intial plot summary suggests it would be. In fact, its tone is more akin to Joon-Hwan Jang's Save The Green Planet, another recent Korean film that flits between sci-fi thriller, gruesome horror and lowbrow comedy with gleeful abandon.

From a lesser director, this would be considered nothing short of their finest hour, but coming from the director of Oldboy, it's perhaps not as assured as it should be, even if it's not the kind of film he's used to making. While its failure at the domestic box-office appears to have forced Park to return to the blood-soaked tales that made his name, it would be a shame if he didn't hop genres again in his career. It's not a masterpiece, but that's OK.

7/10

> > > IMDb

GIG: Live Earth Japan - Kyoto Toji (07.07.07)

2007-07-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

While major cities played host to day-long mega-concerts in vast venues to alert the world's attention to Al Gore's SOS campaign to curtail global warming, the city that gave it's name to the best known climate change treaty yet devised (the Kyoto Protocol) was hosting it's own side concert. And what better setting for a smaller, more low-key affair, than the serene surrounds of the Toji, home to Japan's tallest wooden tower and a symbol of Kyoto itself. As a gig venue, it reminded me of the annual summer concerts held at Glastonbury Abbey, which dates from around the same era; the only exception being that the Toji is not in ruins and is still a functioning place of worship, some 1,200 years later.

So to get myself in the mood, I watched some of the live feed online from the Tokyo concert already underway, as Japanese rockers Rize thrashed about and screamed with crazy hair, outfits and tattoos. That afternoon, I took the train to Toji station (about half an hour away) and joined the queue lining up beside the temple grounds. Once inside, we gathered in groups according to our ticket number, and were sent into the inner area via the pagoda in batches (picking up a Live Earth pamphlet and tote bag along the way). While much of the seating had already been taken, I found a seat near the back but with a fine view of the stage. What was wonderful about the setting was how it wasn't just a concert within the temple grounds, but the temple building was the stage itself (well, everyone was performing in front of it, but it made for a gorgeous backdrop once the lighting was in full swing). It was just after 7pm, the sky was darkening, the humid air was thinning and a cool breeze was...erm...breezing. Then suddenly the tinkly Zen music was broken with a thump. Then another. Then another. Was Godzilla approaching? Were storm clouds looming?

No...DJ Fumiya marches across to his decks, scratches the SOS morse code (used in the interval music throughout), and is joined by the rest of his Rip Slyme cohorts decked in white jackets, different coloured hats, and shorts. The closest thing you'll get to the Beastie Boys in Japan, Rip Slyme's goofy upbeat rap is a great way to start, and the audience claps and nods to their bouncy antics. I was pretty amazed how small some of them were, but they can sure rhyme the rhyme well, and as a rap combo, Rip Slyme's dash of humour and self-deprecation (no band can take themselves seriously dancing the way they do) is fun and refreshing. Even if I didn't recognise any of their tracks.

Next up was song siren UA. Having not heard any of her material beforehand, I didn't really have high expectations, but I was blown away by her performance. With only a single guitar accompaniement, she belted out a stunning epic flowing number of incredible range and a unique singing style - while it was clearly Japanese she was singing, she managed to make it sound as un-Japanese as possible, and more like Icelandic (though that might just be the easy to lump together Sigur Rós / múm effect when it comes to strange or ethereal non-English singing). She also made little monkey noises during and after the songs. This is a good thing. And she was also the most conscious of the evening's goal in terms of saving the world, and seemed the most earnest in her appreciation of Kyoto ("日本の心", "the heart and soul of Japan" as she called), even going so far as saying thanks in local dialect.

She was followed by Kyoto-born Bonnie Pink, another well-known Japanese songstress, but also one I'd yet to hear in any shape or form. As expected, the stage turned pink, and she began her first track, entitled 'Heaven's Kitchen', which followed your typical pop-song formula, but the funkier vibe and the gutsy performance were enough to win me over. I wouldn't usually go to see this kind of music live, but I think it's safe to say that once can appreciate the talent and the quality of singing far better than just hearing it pop on the radio. However, her following songs weren't anywhere near as interesting, and the rather shameless plugging of her singles and albums offset some of my newfound appreciation.

With a sole piano now occupying the stage, it was time for Michael Nyman, and it was probably the first time I've seen a solo pianist perform live since my school recital era (actually, there were a few kids taking turns at keyboards at the Sapporo Snow Festival). As the only foreigner performing that night (I'd only seen four other gaijin at the concert, all middle-aged, 3 with Japanese wives, 1 with a camera), I wondered whether he was especially popular in Japan, or had some connection with the country. It seemed an odd choice - I'm only vaguely familiar with his work, with only his collaboration with Damon Albarn on the score to overlooked frontier cannibal thriller Ravenous I could really vouch for. As a result, I was never too sure if the odd mis-plinks and mis-plonks were intended or nerves getting the better of him (his only audience interaction, understandably, being a series of bows before and after hi set). But having checked his Wikipedia entry, it seems like his music was also frequently used in Japanese cooking competition show, Iron Chef, which would explain the connection. Perhaps it was the slow and minamilist nature of his tunes, but his segment did seem to go on longer than the others (each getting only a piffling 20 minutes), and the close proximity to the road behind meant one tune was interrupted by the motorcycle revs of some jackass bosozoku. However, everyone seemed to recognise his final tune, 'The Heart Asks Pleasure First' from his score to The Piano. And there was much applause when he took his final bow. But was this genuinely appreciative of his perfomance or were people just happy to see him go? Well, it soon became clear that everyone was here to see one act and one act alone.

Having recently reformed for a beer commercial (what do you expect in Japan), the legendary trio of Haruomi Hasono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto, aka Yellow Magic Orchestra, were taking to the stage for the first time together in 14 years (at least under the YMO name). It only took the stage crew to move on their individual mini-stages to get the crowd to stand, applauding and whooping. But when they appeared, the crowd were esctatic, as was I. Undeniably greyer, but also, undeniably cooler in their older age, they began with a stirring rendition of 'Ishin Denshin (You've Got to Help Yourself)', which fitted in well with the nature of proceedings. This was followed by two tracks I hadn't heard before, and I have a feeling at least one may have come from Hasano and Takahashi's Sketch Show project (which also sometimes featured Sakamoto, all three appearing under the guise of Human Audio Sponge). Whatever the case may be, they were both typical of their distinctive sound. Their final tune was their new remix of the classic 'Rydeen', which sounded so very good live, and had the audience humming the melody as they departed. While there was a wait for an encore (such a tease - waiting over a decade to play four tracks - what about all the guys who came in their YMO shirts?), when the equipment was being removed and the stage dismantled, it became clear that was that. Too short it may have been, but it was worth it, and for what will most likely be my last gig in Japan, I couldn't think of any domestic act I'd have rather seen.

But did all this really get its message across? Who knows...unlike most of the other concerts, the attendees here were mostly plus 30 years old, who may not be as clued up in green issues as their younger counterparts. But Japan already has a pretty good record when it comes to recycling and the like, though it could probably improve on it's 'burn everything' mentality, as well as the amount of unnecessary packaging used for most everyday shopping purchases. I guess the problem with the Live Earth concerts as a whole is that there isn't really a clear goal or sense of unity or ultimate progress or achievement or influence being created. Especially as there has been little publicity made about them at all. Only two or three people I told about the event had a vague idea of what it was, and I haven't read or seen anything about the concerts in Kyoto or Tokyo in the run-up to the day (okay, so I don't read the newspapers or have a TV, but these things are meant to seep through somehow). At least I can be thankful for not having it's omnipresence rammed into my brain - I can imagine in London there's probably a bit of big important concert apathy, considering there's one held in Hyde Park or Wembley Stadium seemingly every weekend. While I indeed have concerns about global warming, at least I got to see YMO. Regardless of whether the day's objectives are achieved or not in the long run, for now, that's good enough for me.

8/10

You can view videos of Rip Slyme and YMO perfoming, plus photos of all the acts, taken by yours truly, at my special Live Earth Kyoto YouTube Playlist and my Live Earth Kyoto Flickr Set.

> > > Live Earth Japan

FILM: Kantoku · Banzai!

2007-06-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Takeshi Kitano's latest offering continues the self-reflexive dissection of his persona and his career that was kick-started by Takeshis'. Kantoku · Banzai! (basically put, 'Glory to the Filmmaker!') is also his first all-out comedy feature in over a decade, but it is perhaps the most unconventional comedy I've ever seen. There are sights contained within I never imagined I would ever see in my most fevered dreams, let alone in a motion picture. And I'm pretty certain that even if I had had the pleasure of subtitles, it still wouldn't have made a lot of sense. But still, does the man behind Violent Cop and Takeshi's Castle pull it off, or crumble under his own introspective analysis? And what's more, is it even funny?

Prefixed by an amusing short film (as part of Cannes 60th anniversary "To Each His Cinema" celebration), the feature film itself is very much a picture of two halves. We are first introduced to 'Beat' Takeshi's papier mâché doll replica, which both accompanies and replaces him throughout the movie, undergoing a medical check-up to determine the state of it's health, and, by that token, Kitano's career. With the help of a narrator, Takeshi ponders what his next film should be, and what follows is a series of 'false starts' covering various genres, both ones he's accustomed to and ones he's never tried, complete with fake titles. So there's the gangster segment, the romance, the coming-of-age story, the 50's drama...My personal favourites would have to be the horror section (which manages to be surprisingly scary before it descends into farce), and the samurai section, which even tops Zatoichi for blade-swishing thrills.

Finally, we arrive at what's to be the main narrative thread, but even then, it's a nonsensical mish-mash of crazy characters, loopy sketches, and referential wackiness. As far as I gathered, against a backdrop of a meteorite heading towards Earth, a skint mother and daughter duo's attempts at getting rich quick our failing miserably, until they run into Kichijogi ('Beat' Takeshi). Mistaking him for the son of a rich and powerful political leader (when he is merely his secretary), they embark on a mission of marriage to swipe his wealth. But the plot is of little relevance, as we are treated to scene after scene of the kind of humour that manages to be both broad and surreal at the same time. To reveal any of the jokes would spoil the surprise, not because they are especially clever, but because much of the film's humour comes from the unexpected.

The tone is wildly inconsistent, thanks to the constant genre-hopping, and not all the humour works - there's far too much anime-style 'pratfall in disbelief' for my tastes. And sometimes it's just plain embarassing - does the world really need another Matrix spoof sequence? Actually, when it's 'Beat' Takeshi doing it, a lot can be forgiven, and that's why I probably enjoyed this film a lot more than if I hadn't grown to respect and appreciate his ouevre. Cameos and nods abound for the initiated, but even then, there's still things non-fans can enjoy in a Kentucky Fried Movie sort of way. It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but it made me rather gigglesome. If there's one thing that is undeniably a success, it would be the Takeshi doll - used as co-star, stunt double, and stand-in, there's something both thought-provokingly existential and wonderfully quaint about the idea, and it works beautifully on screen.

Overall, it's perhaps not going to sit comfortably next to your copies of Sonatine or Hana-bi, and while play-time is fun, nothing beats Kitano in his serious reflective mode as opposed to his silly one, especially when this is more filler material than genuine progression. As you'd expect, certain segments work a lot better than others, and the second half does drag from time to time. Even then, there's no guarantee it will please all the Kitano fanbase, to whom it is mostly directed. Nevertheless, Kitano has earned the right to indulge himself in some crazy experimentation, and if there are people willing to enjoy the ride, such as myself, then so be it. Only question is, what kind of film does he make from here?

7/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

CD: Zongamin - Zongamin

2007-05-19T22:25:00.001-07:00

UK-based Japanese artist and musician Susumu Mukai released his debut album under the moniker Zongamin back in 2003, but, bar a couple of exhibitions and the odd remix, has done little else since. Which is a shame, as his first effort is a fiendishly unique adventure spanning numerous musical genres, yet rendered in his own inimitable style that can only be described as Zongamin-esque.

From the short sparky choral-driven opener (Make Love Not War) onwards, Zongamin crafts a strange concoction of mysterious music that feels like a trip into the unknown. Much of it sounds like backing music to a 70's documentary on jungle exploration or unearthing mystical tombs of Ancient Egypt, especially Street Surgery, Tresspasser and Mummies (of course, judging by the track names and album artwork, this is no happy accident). It's all a rather strange, sometimes even sinister, atmosphere for what would otherwise be pigeonholed as a dance or electronic or even rock album, but even then, it's the kind of dance music that refuses to make a song and dance about it; and muterock, if you will. With the clipped beats, tiny blips and mumbling bass, it's both raw and restrained, with a lo-fi charm that can be attributed to Susumu playing his own instruments and then editing and mixing his own created samples. Only the two-minute rock-burst of Whiplash, also the only track with vocals (guess what the lyric is?), pushes Zongamin to a state of mild mania.

But that's not to say the rest of the album is too understated - indeed, it's exactly that which makes the upbeat funkier tracks that bit more interesting. Both Spiral and Painless are exciting expeditions into minimalistic disco, and J. Shivers Theme is a whistle-led bongo bop of the highest caliber (and was used in a recent Orange mobile ad campaign with narration from Stephen Fry), but it's the grimy grooves of Serious Trouble and Tunnel Music that are the album's real treats. Unconventional certainly, but undeniably compelling in a way that makes you want to pop limbs and twist appendages. And the Japanese bonus tracks aren't half bad either.

However, it's all a bit too much to take in on one sitting. All the tracks have their merits, but after two minutes or so, many of them suffer from repetition and lack of direction, and it's not long before impatience turns to skipping tracks altogether. There's a lot of talent on show, but it seems that many ideas run out of steam before the crucial point at which they can be stepped up that extra gear to turn what is simply a good tune into a great one. Much of this review has been spent building up the wonders of the Zongamin-iverse, and it's still an album to recommend, but it all just lacks a certain something to keep the ears from wandering elsewhere. Regardless, I hope we see another offering from Susumu soon - there's still a lot of potential on the music-front to be realised.

7/10

> > > Official Site

FILM: Spider-Man 3

2007-05-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

Sam Raimi's love affair with the iconic web-slinger continues as the third installment in the mega-franchise arrives, with Peter Parker yet again beset with all his usual problems - love pentangles, super-villains and conflicting feelings. In fact, the film is so jam-packed that, despite it being one of the most expensive ever made, it looks like it was all put to good use. Spider-Man 3 delivers such a ludicrous amount of action, drama and goofy comedy, your brain rarely has time to stop spinning. There are so many plot threads that a synopsis would involve an unhealthy use of the word 'meanwhile', but Raimi does a fine job of holding it all together, joining the dots where applicable, a bit like a spider's web if you think about it. Fnar.

With three separate baddies to contend with, there's no denying that this is the most action-packed of the trilogy, and all the set-pieces are rather wonderful, each using their setting and the relationship between those involved to their fullest. Of course, there's a certain amount of CG whizz-bang overload, and there are a few 'seen-it-before' moments, but there's still a great energy to the fighting/rescuing that a superhero like Spider-Man allows. And, just as in the previous two, the core of the film is the emotional roller-coaster our protagonists ride, with love, loss, revenge, fear, happiness, sadness, and anger experienced by one or more characters at some point. Only the film tries to do too much, and while it all remains coherent, there are certainly a few casualties pushed to the side-lines.

Of course, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco do their usual thing. But James Cromwell is distracting being a well-known actor in a minor role, Dylan Baker is literally ignored, and Rosemary Harris only seems to pop up to offer self-help nuggets and worry a bit like some strange spiritual guide (to be honest though, a little Aunt May goes a long way). Where the film perhaps doesn't go far enough is in exploring some of the more interesting ideas the themes hint at but little else. The supposed darkness that envelop's Peter seems to manifest itself in little more than making him a bit cocky and giving him an emo fringe. And by the time Venom arrives on the scene, there's little of the movie left to examine the parallels between him and Spidey. However, the plot does take a few different directions that kind of compensate, with Peter and MJ's relationship troubles hitting some quite unexpected snags.

Indeed, even with all the action already on offer, just as Doc Ock was shafted before them, more Venom and more Sandman would have been welcome. Even if they are both a little too fantastical for my tastes (sure, space symbiotic ooze is too far out, when genetical spider transformation isn't?), both Topher Grace and Thomas Haden Church really sold their roles, so it would have been good to see them do a little more than just be superbad. The shifting friend/mortal enemy relationship between Peter and Harry did offer some good fisticuffs in their place, but, after so many big battles, the grand finale doesn't deliver quite the knock-out punch it should have, leaving the ending feel more lacklustre than it would have done had there been a greater climax.

Nevertheless, kudos must also go to Raimi for continuing to keep the tone and style consistent throughout the three films. As seen previously with the Batman and X-Men series, when the original director jumps ship, so seemingly does all sense of logic and good taste. The most enjoyable sequences are those which play to his strengths, notably his kinetic camera-work and also his love of daft broad humour, in particular Bruce Campbell's hilarious cameo (as well as yet another Stan Lee appearance, seemingly on some kind of mission to break Hitchcock's record), the return of J. Jonah Jameson, and an alternative reprise of Peter Parker's 'changed man montage' from the previous film, courtesy of his new black suit. Many of the goofy gags can probably be attributed to the fact that this is the first time Sam actually co-wrote the screenplay, with brother Ivan Raimi, who co-wrote Army of Darkness, and, returning from #2, Alvin Sargent.

All in all, Spider-Man 3 is a reasonably satisfying package; a little less of this and a little more of that would have made it ideal, but it's hard to make a threequel for a much-loved comic book character that pleases everyone. Perhaps it's problem is that it tried too hard to do so, resulting in something that felt like a dark chocolate cake, with plenty of tasty layers, but just a tad too rich. Or maybe like a Chinese takeaway, in that there's so much stuff, you try and have some of everything, and in the end feel a bit bloated and it all looks a bit messy, but you're quite happy anyway. You could easily remove one dish, and it wouldn't have ruined the rest of the meal. Or something.

But as more of a Raimi fan, I was just happy to see a new film that he directed. Is there much left to be said about Spider-Man? Probably not. Should they do another sequel with or without Raimi? Don't know. My personal view is perhaps to give the character a rest for a decade or so, and see if anyone is then willing to give the franchise a reboot a la Batman Begins or Casino Royale. But for now, we're left with three pretty entertaining, occasionally cheesy, rather well-made crash bang wallop superhero movies. Mr. Raimi, you may now take a break. And then go shoot some low-budget funny bloody nonsense with Mr. Campbell. Come on - you know you want to!

8/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

FILM: Sunshine

2007-04-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

Having turned down Alien: Ressurection a decade earlier, Danny Boyle finally takes command of his own space adventure thriller, collaborating once again with The Beach and 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland. But instead of dealing with acid-blooded star beasts, our intrepid crew have a greater mission on their hands - the Sun is dying, so they have been sent to deliver a stellar bomb in the hope it gives it the kickstart required to save life on Earth. And, of course, this being the movies, not everything goes according to plan.

A great deal of this expectation comes from just how incredibly derivative it all is, with very clear references to Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dark Star. As a result, it feels very much in the same vein as the recent Doctor Who two-parter "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", which also drew heavily from similar source material. But it is perhaps Event Horizon that has the most distinct similarities (interesting that both Boyle and Paul Anderson's careers seem to interesect in such a way). Regardless, when you name your space-ship Icarus II - with the original mission having gone mysteriously missing - you're kind of asking for trouble.

However, despite all this space malarkey cliche box-ticking (Ominous mythological ship-name? Check. Inter-crew tensions and rivalries? Check. Calm lady computer voice? Check), Sunshine has an undeniably unique atmosphere. There's a constant sense of impending doom and some truly nerve-shredding set-pieces as the success of their mission becomes compromised. For a start, space has rarely felt quite as terrifying or isolating on screen; you know full well that if anything goes tits-up, you're well and truly stranded and, in this case, the whole human race will also be up a certain creek without a certain item of rowing equipment. As you'd expect from a film all about the Sun, it's omnipresence and absolute power, as both giver of life and enormous dangerous fiery flame-ball, is captured magnificently by the stunning special effects work for a film of such a budget. While the precise scientifics of the film may be disputed, both the near-fautless CG and set-design go a long way to creating a sense of utter believability in the situation. And the score ain't bad either.

The international ensemble cast is a collection of varyingly well-known faces, but no bona fide mega-stars, leaving the fates of the crew members very much hanging in the balance. This generates some genuinely emotionally powerful scenes between the characters, with Chris Evans (not that one) and Hiroyuki Sanada particularly impressive. With little time for back-story or set-up, many of the characters on board initially fit into rather obvious cookie-cutter stereotypes we've seen before, but as the story moves on in interesting directions, so does the character development. But come the third act, it all goes rather obtuse. It's not that it loses the plot so much as kind of changes it, which doesn't ruin the film per se, but it felt a little unneccessary and leaves you so busy pondering what exactly happened that you forget all the good that went before. It was a bit like The Descent in that the central concept was chilling and tense enough (lady pot-holers get trapped) that it would have made a better film if they had had the balls not to go down the silly cave creature route.

So Sunshine is not exactly perfect, but it is rare to see a solid and inventive space adventure of its ilk, and a British one at that. See it at the cinema to fully appreciate just how visually arresting it is, and even if you care not for the plot, it's a treat for the eyes worth burning into the back of your retinas.

8/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

CD: Supercar - Highvision

2007-04-08T02:31:00.000-07:00

When I first listened to Supercar's 2002 follow-up to Futurama, because it retained so many of the elements one would expect from an album of theirs, my immediate reactions were rather dismissive, as I'd go through each track thinking "God, this is such a Supercar song". But the more I listened, the more I realised "Wait, I LOVE Supercar - that's surely a good thing". And it is a good thing indeed, as the charging guitar-rock Supercar of old is virtually non-existent here, with the experimentation of Futurama expanded upon, refined and, ultimately, bettered.

Beginning with the stirring strings-led Starline, the sound crafted on their sixth (and penultimate) album is a wonderfully dreamy mix of ambient rock and electronica, ten tracks in all that sit together beautifully. While there are characteristics of their earlier sound (most noticeable in the pop-rock stylings of Otogi Nation), this feels like Supercar at their most free, which translates into the airy quality of much of the album. Futhermore, the zippy electronic triumvirate of Strobolights (which contains no guitar whatsoever, unusual for a typically guitar-based band), I (with high-pitched vocals a-plenty) and Yumegiwa Last Boy (featured prominently in quirky Japanese comedy-drama Ping Pong) sees the band almost enter dance music territory.

Even with these upbeat tracks, there is still room for their more moody side to be released, particularly the soaring Aoharu Youth, and Nijiro Darkness, which manages to be both haunting and hopeful, poignant and pretty. At just ten tracks, the quality remains near consistently high, though there are minor dips in the shape of Silent Yaritori, a perfectly decent track that feels like a lacklustre coda after the brilliance of Nijiro Darkness, and, Warning Bell, which, when taken out of the context of the rest of the album, sounds a little ordinary.

But as a whole, Highvision represents Supercar at their peak of creativity and genius (well, I've yet to listen to their final album, Answer, due to stupid Sony copyright protection), making their break-up even more upsetting. Two years later, and interest is still high, with the recent release of a 10th anniversary music video DVD and a re-release of their first album Three Out Change. None of this will convert naysayers, but if you've yet to sample their unique sound, Highvision is a wonderful place to begin. And then return to again and again.

9/10

> > > Supercar (Official Site)

SPECIAL: Bowie at 60

2007-01-08T07:11:00.000-08:00

It was David Bowie's 60th birthday today, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate my idol in some shape or form. It's a shame I wasn't in Tokyo to attend David Bowie Night, but I've been listening to tracks of his all day, and I've picked out my 15 favourites - why 15? Well, I couldn't whittle it down to 10 and 20 is too long (though it could have been easily filled). Or something. Several of the words in the following appraisal may be made-up.

Life on Mars? - the immortal question of stirring epictudicity. "It's on America's tortured brow/That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow"
Slow Burn - in my mind, Heathen's just as good as Low, but this is the stand-out track, and the best of his work this decade
Space Oddity - Major Tom gets lost in space, but still the BBC used it for coverage of the moon landings, and the legend was born
Oh! You Pretty Things - great piano opening and wake-up call before catchy jaunty Hunky Dory rock-pop. "Make way for the Homo Superior!", declares the Sovereign in The Venture Bros.
Queen Bitch - Bowie's tribute to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground is glamrocktacular
"Heroes" - forget the crappy cover versions (I'm looking at you, Kasabian), and hark at the triumphant, if ironic, wonderment of it all
Under Pressure - a fantabulous collaboration with Queen, and lovingly ripped off by Vanilla Ice - who is no Mr. Cool Ice, I assure you
Breaking Glass - it's less than two minutes long, but what a strutting, pumping burst of head-bobbing energy. "Don't look...at the carpet/I drew something awful on it!"
Ashes to Ashes - incoming message from Major Tom! And of course, that video...
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide - the fall of Ziggy Stardust encapsulated and the end of an icon (sort of)
1984 - Orwellian funkathon and the best exclamation of any year in the history of...years
Moonage Daydream - that guitar, "I'm an alligator!" - yes! Freak out space trip or what!
Jump They Say - a great video and a great track that sounds remarkably fresh, pushing Bowie to the brink of who knows what
Magic Dance - of course, being from Labyrinth, it features muppets on backing vocals. Make of that what you will by its inclusion here...
Seven Years in Tibet - I wanted to include something from Outside, but this track from Earthling just pipped it, thanks to its NIN's 'Closer'-esque opening beat, and the super-rock explosions contained within. And hey, why not try the version in Mandarin?

> > > BowieNet

PLAY: Godzilla

2007-01-04T04:08:00.000-08:00

Performed at Doshisha University's 小劇場 (Little Theatre) by the Taiyaki Theatre Group (as far as I can make out) from December 1st-3rd 2006, I could not turn down the opportunity to see a stage production of Godzilla. I had no idea what it would entail - would it be a version of the original film or an accumulation of all the films in the franchise? Would it be straight theatre, comedy, maybe a musical? When they posted the above image on a giant board outside the university's entrance, I was even more perplexed. So, on a cold, quiet Sunday afternoon, I made my way to the tiny theatre round the back of the Shinmachi campus, took off my shoes, took my seat and prepared myself for my first Japanese play. And while I didn't understand everything that went on, I got enough of the gist to make an informed opinion of it. And what a suprise it was.

It's a simple tale of finding love in the most unsuspecting places and a family's reaction to said romantic entanglement. Essentially it's Romeo and Juliet and Meet the Parents - except this time with everyone's favourite kaiju. So, closer to Beauty and the Beast or King Kong then. That's right - a young girl falls in love with Godzilla and brings him back home to meet her relatives where they both explain how they came to meet and seek permission to wed. Of course, the family are not best pleased. Running on hard times as it is, they are understandably hesitant to give their blessing when Godzilla destroys their neighbour's house. And Godzilla's short temper isn't really boosting their confidence.

Godzilla is dealing with his own criticism from friends Mothra and Pigmon (from Ultraman), and when the issue of Godzilla's own son, Minilla, is brought up, even more complications arise. Can Godzilla ever be with his one true love in a nation of people determined to destroy him once and for all? Well, chances are you're never going to see it, so the answer is...no.

I don't know who wrote this or came up with the idea, so I assume this is an original (non-sanctioned by Toho) work. In which case, kudos must go to all involved for putting together such a spirited and clever production. Obviously, creating a giant monster would be a struggle for even the biggest budgeted West End musical, so the team made some simple but effective decisions. Godzilla himself is simply a man in a suit (not MAN IN SUIT!!!! monster costume, but a business suit) on a slightly raised podium, only getting off for the odd rampage (complete with trademark roar). When in conversation with the humans at ground level, their eyes never meet but are in roughly the same direction, which works pretty well in that it allows for immediate interaction between the two parties. Also included is a reporter, complete with hard hat and microphone, who takes the place as narrator, whilst also broadcasting the destruction as much as the developing love story.

As you'd expect in a comedy drama about Godzilla, there are stacks of references, and because of the nature of the tale, the unenlightened would probably find the whole show equally baffling and boring. The appearance of Mothra (complete with cast singing his theme song alonside the tiny twins) is a highlight. Portrayed as a disshevelled and washed-up movie star prone to spraying his goo over anyone he dislikes, he's convinced Godzilla's romance is a bad idea from the get-go, reminding him that he will become even more unpopular than after his last film. And then there's the climatic battle with Ultraman. All delivered with the utmost enthusiasm from the cast and some very pretty lighting.

Of course, there are flaws as with any amateur stage production. Certain scenes are overlong and drawn out, particularly concering the family members' multiple concerns and complaints, even before Godzilla has shown up (the whole play lasted about 90 minutes if I recall correctly). And two thirds they way through, it becomes rather emotionally overwrought, turning into the soppy melodrama that it initially parodied, relying merely on the absurdity of the situation for comedic effect.

Nevertheless, it was a fascinating experience. And as you leave, the entire cast line up to bow and say their thanks, which was nice. With fine tuning and translating, maybe Godzilla will one day light up Broadway! But not in a smouldering radioactive breath way.

7/10

> > > Taiyaki Online

FILM: Best of 2006

2006-12-30T22:25:00.000-08:00

While I could write something about my favourite TV, games, music, etc. of 2006, it wouldn't really be worth my time or yours as there's not much to say. However, even if I didn't see as many new films as I usually do (and there are still a lot of films I want to see yet to be released in Japan), here's my overview of my cinematic consumption.

Best of 2006

Children of Men
Breath-taking, gut-wrenching, genre-spanning brilliance; a technical achievement par excellence with both grittiness and soul to match.
Casino Royale
The best Bond film of the year! But also, one of the very best films of the year. It captures everything that makes Bond great whilst adding a style and sophistication of its own.
Thank You For Smoking
Sharp and frequently funny satire on the tobacco industry with an excellent central performance from Aaron Eckhart.
Lady Vengeance
Chan-Wook Park's final entry in his Vengeance trilogy is just as assured, emotional and visually arresting as Oldboy, but with a tone all of its own.
Crank
Jason Statham finally gets the kickass film he deserves in this ridiculously entertaining action flick - violence, laughs and camera tricks galore.
A Scanner Darkly
Paranoia-heavy Philip K. Dick adaptation, with engaging rotoscoping techniques and superb support from Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane.
Slither
Aliens, mutants, slugs and zombies combine in a real mess of the film, but in the best possible way. A great mix of grue and gags.
A Cock And Bull Story
Not perfect, but not bad at all either - Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon bend reality and fiction in a comedy that is unconventional, but all the better for it.
Snakes On A Plane
It may have been subject to a million fan-made videos and t-shirts, but thankfully it didn't buy into it's own hype, and ended up exactly how a film from the director of Final Destination 2 starring Samuel L. Jackson on a plane with a bunch of snakes should end up - stupid fun.
Good Night, and Good Luck
It's now hard to imagine a time when George Clooney was just 'that guy from E.R. who was in that rubbish Batman film'. A succinct, straightforward and classy tale of journalism versus McCarthyism.

Best Not Released This Year, But Saw For The First Time

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Finally capped off the Dollars trilogy with yet another superb Spaghetti Western; not usually a fan of the genre, but it's completely involving from start to finish.
The Crazies
George A. Romero's dry run for Dawn of the Dead, this is a bleak, ominous tale of a viral outbreak and the chaos that ensues when military, civilians and scientists clash.
Theater of Blood
Gleefully camp horror - Vincent Price hams it up like nothing else as a demented actor who takes revenge on the critics who killed his career through elaborate murders inspired by the Bard.
Stop Making Sense
Got round to finishing the Talking Heads live concert filmed by Jonathan Demme. Excellent music and brilliantly staged with compelling onstage theatrics from David Byrne et al.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Hayao Miyazaki's most recent animated opus might actually be just as good as Spirited Away. Still downright bizarre and nonsensical in places (and the ending is laughably wrapped up), but it's beautifully drawn and has genuine warmth.

And a round-up of some of the rest:

Despite several warnings, I decided to witness the full horror of House of the Dead, and genuinely regret doing so. Absolutely woeful cack-handed film-making that truly defies logic and taste. In several respects, Wild Zero is something of the Japanese equivalent, but pulls it off thanks to Guitar Wolf and the 'ROCK AND ROLL!" vibe that permeates throughout. Supposed modern classics like Serenity and Superman Returns did little for me, and Anchorman and Dodgeball confirmed my suspicions that fans of the 'Frat Pack' are mostly mindless simpletons akin to Steve Carrell's character in the former (who turned out to be the best thing in either film). Animation was a mixed bunch with the good (Porco Rosso), the baffling (Transformers: The Movie) and the boring (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence). Out of the 'classics' I finally watched, Badlands, The Wicker Man, The Wild Bunch and The Conversation impressed, but Deliverance wasn't quite the harrowing nightmare I'd been led to believe. In Hell was not half-bad for a Van Damme flick, while Silent Hill's vision of hell was impressive but replaced genuine suspense with silly dialogue and plotting. The Infernal Affairs sequels continued the high standard set by the original with more twisty back-and-forthing before, during and after the first film's events. And finally, the big blockbuster threequels (X-Men: The Last Stand and Mission: Impossible III) turned out as expected, i.e. not very good, and while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was convoluted and lacking in fun, it still provided enough rollicking adventure to make At World's End an exciting prospect indeed.

CD: Halfby - Green Hours

2006-12-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

I first became aware of Kyoto DJ/artist Halfby aka Takahiro Takahashi when I saw the Groovisions video for his track Rodeo Machine at onedotzero's 2006 digital film festival in London. The Airside-esque visuals and funky upbeat tune won me over, and I'm pleased to report that the rest of the album the track was taken from is similarly bright and buoyant.

Green Hours is cut-and-paste sample beats and pieces designed for the simple purpose of making you dance, smile and just plain enjoy yourself. Much of Halfby's work seems inspired by 70s happy-go-lucky records favoured by The Go! Team, with an element of Fatboy Slim mixy tricks - and amongst the dozen tracks on Green Hours, there are some that can certainly sit alongside the best such company have to offer. The rap mash-mixathon of Bring it Back is an early highlight, Man&Air and Coro Coro Sound System are grin-inducing heel-kicking celebratory anthems, and the soothing super-cool Bathrobe and album closer Soulful Lover Puppy ensure that Green Hours kicks rump throughout.

Best track though would have to be Flicker Song, a blissful carefree masterpiece that would suit an early evening trip to the seaside or an Amazonian boat-trip as much as it would a montage of a 70s all-female crime-fighting trio taking time out from busting perps for a shopping trip.

There's a childish playfulness to Halfby's music (as also shown in the wildlife-centric videos and album art) that make it so endearing, but at the same time it also results in the album's only two clangers. Admittedly, West Jungle March is quite cute and brief, but it breaks up the flow and feels a little unnecessary. However, Girls at Bass School's embarassing reworking of This Old Man is so 'down wid da kidz', it's inexcusable. But even if these two pour a little pee in the party punch, they are bunched together and easily skippable.

Overall, Halfby is a DJ that requests your utmost attention and Green Hours is provides a near-perfect soundtrack to any party. And now that I have seen him live in action, my appreciation of the album has increased and I will be sure to check out his other work when I have the chance.

8/10

> > > Second Royal Records

FILM: Casino Royale

2006-12-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

While Casino Royale has been labelled as being as necessary a rebooting of a franchise as Batman Begins was to Batman and Robin, I always thought that was somewhat unfair on the previous entry. Despite Die Another Day's excesses and cartoonish absurdities, I saw it as a celebration of Bond to mark the 20th film and the 40th anniversary, and it was therefore allowed to go a bit loopy. Clearly the producers thought a change of tact was in order, and it has certainly been a controversial process. From Pierce Brosnan's pay disputes, dropping him altogether, the search for a new Bond, the eventual selection of Daniel Craig, taking the character back to his roots by using the original novel (an idea Quentin Tarantino had also proposed when he offered to make an R-rated Bond film with Brosnan)...the path to Bond 21 has been littered with bumps and knocks. So it's pretty amazing that something so good came out at the end.

I never understood the whole brouhaha surrounding the choice of Craig as Bond, in that he's been excellent in pretty much everything I've seen him in. That he has already achieved such an impressive bank of work demonstrated that he was to approach the character of James Bond with all the attention a role such as this requires. And he does absolute wonders, flitting from brutal coldness to lady charmer to razor wit with genuine ease. In terms of the Bonds that have gone before, you could perhaps say he's most like Connery but it would be unfair to suggest that there's an element of mimicry going on, as Craig's Bond is his own and totally believable. He even displays character development - though that's as much to do with the writing and this being the 'genesis' of the Bond character as much as anything.

Indeed, where the film genuinely succeeds is in how the Bond traditions are present and correct but they all have a logic and a purpose behind them that feels genuinely embedded in reality. Of course, there are the occasional flights of fancy but they still feel wholly grounded. Similarly, the dialogue rarely strays into Carry On... innuendo clangers, remaining snappy and sharp throughout.

In terms of the supporting cast, Judi Dench appears to relish the chance to put Bond in his place now he's reverted back to a fresh-faced whipper-snapper of a 00 agent. She clearly doesn't like Bond but there's a mutual respect that their brief exchanges absolutely convey. Mads Mikkelsen is superb as Le Chiffre, who is more human than any of the pantomime villains that usually parade around their massive lairs. He's certainly unpleasant but there's a sense of tragedy behind his bleeding eye that make his scenes with Bond electrifyingly tense. But it's Eva Green as Vesper Lynd who's the biggest revelation. The dialogue between her and Craig sparks with wonderful zings and one-upmanship, and the sensitive relationship that develops between them provides the emotional core to the kind of film that rarely has one.

I've spent most of this review blabbing on about acting, dialogue and character development, yet I haven't even touched on the action sequences that Bond films are best remembered for. It's not to say they aren't spectacular (the bathroom beating, the parkour chase, the airport bomb plot), but they seem somewhat muted compared to what are actually the film's finest scenes - the actual poker game central to the plot (and its interruptions) and the perfectly-pitched torture scene, which balances the pain/humour element thanks to some great Bond quippery.

If there are flaws, they do little to upset the overall impression of the film. There's a little bit of unnecessary jet-setting (Bond's spur of the moment trip to Miami moves the plot along a fraction and has some good stunts, but seems more like an excuse to stick in a Richard Branson cameo and take a trip to Gunther von Hagens' Bodyworks exhibition) and there's the odd dodgy CG backdrop. And despite having successfully rebooted the Bond franchise twice, I still don't think Martin Campbell's all that great a director. That this film looks and feels so radically different to GoldenEye either suggests he's upped his game or just does what the writers, editors and producers tell him - maybe it's just because he looks like Karl Pilkington.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the tone can be maintained to successive Bond films. But for now, Casino Royale has proved that Bond is as exciting now as ever. This isn't just a great Bond film, but it's a great film in it's own right. The film's good. Very good.

9/10

> > > Official Site, IMDb

FILM: Children of Men

2006-12-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Based on the novel by P.D. James, Children of Men takes place in London in the not-too-distant future, in which the world is infertile, the youngest human on the planet has just died, all immigrants are locked-up without question and terrorist attacks are all too frequent. As society breaks down, government pen-pusher Theo Faron's (Clive Owen) only refuge is the countryside home of old friend Jasper (Michael Caine). But when his ex-wife, and activist group leader, Julian (Julianne Moore) turns up seeking his assistance to ensure safe passage for refugee Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), the importance of the mission is matched only by the danger they risk in achieving it.

While dystopian visions of the future appear on the silver screen with seemingly the same frequency as computer-generated family films with wise-cracking animals, director Alfonso Cuarón's take on anarchy in the UK is perhaps the most realistically realised for many a moon. Perhaps it's different for someone who has never lived in London, but it doesn't take too great a stretch of the imagination to believe in what Cuarón and his skilled production team have created. London may very well look as it does here in 20 years time - assuming the problems affecting mankind are the same, of course.

Indeed, as compelling and involving as the story is (and it most certainly is), the technical achievements are what truly stand out. In particular, two sequences conducted in one long extended take each are breath-taking in their execution - and I'm not talking simple dialogue scenes, but full-blown action set-pieces. And the wonderful cinematography creates a picture of Britain that hasn't looked so beautifully bleak since Witchfinder General. When Children of Men essentially steps-up into chase film mode, the gritty handheld camerawork matches the frenetic panic of the pursuit, generating moments of visceral intensity akin to that of a war documentary.

Children of Men has been unfairly criticised in some quarters for its lack of exposition and explanation, but that's what made it so refreshing. Do we really need everyone's backstory? Do we really need a full historical explanation of how Britain came to be this way or the exact step-by-step motives of all the characters? Do we need people saying "Do you realise how important this is?" every five minutes? No - the audience is clever enough to fill in the gaps for themselves. A trickle of details gives the impression of a richer world in which the story is set (the do-it-yourself suicide kit Quietus and Theo's natty old London 2012 jumper are particularly vivid examples) and the significance of what's at stake is clear to all concerned.

The acting is of a uniformly high standard, Owen's ex-radical turned world-weary bureaucrat turned defender of the future is truly believable and newcomer Ashitey is simply wonderful (and just so happens to be coming to study at SOAS next year). Plus, there is fine support from Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Peter Mullan. All contribute to a film that packs a powerful emotional punch, by turns thrilling but also humourous (indeed, one of my favourite scenes jokes about the potentially Messianic overtones of the situation that this film does well to avoid dwelling on - although being released in the US on Christmas Day probably doesn't help). By the time Jarvis Cocker's Running the World plays over the credits, Children of Men had earned its place as my favourite film of the year thus far...and as I'll probably only get a chance to see one more new release before 2007 begins, it'll probably stay that way (bring on Casino Royale)!

9/10

> > > IMDb, Official Site

CD: YMCK - Family Music

2006-11-27T05:44:00.000-08:00

While the likes of DJ Scotch Egg and Germlin use cut and paste 8 bit noises to create their sounds, Japanese chiptune outfit YMCK go one step further, using the old game console sound chips as simple replacement for genuine instruments to create bouncy jazzy pop melodies. It's not a scrambled remix of video game music, but more akin to traditional music that just so happens to use video game-esque equipment to produce the sound. It's what Mario would listen to on his walkman.

What stands out is that they rarely sample the games they reference. The title of their 2004 debut album Family Music of course puts you in the frame of mind of the Famicom (Family Computer - the original Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System). But apart from the odd blip and sound effect (and a quick riff of the Super Mario Bros. theme on SOCOPOGOGO (YMCK Version)), they are pretty much all original compositions. Even Tetrominon ~From Russia with Blocks~ resists the temptation to crack out the classic Game Boy Tetris tune, but at least there's some great lyrics:

From Russia are falling down
to make your brain messed up with mysteries
It's hard to perceive, easy to destroy
like your life itself

The blocks from Russia are falling down
You got to put into a box
gathering and eliminating a piece of Tetrominon

And while that's all well and good, YMCK seemed to forget to make the music in anyway interesting or stimulating.

The tracks are easy to enjoy individually and in small doses as a quirky novelty, but listening to the whole album is a tiresome feat. As you can imagine, there's little variety with the sound and content, and with some tracks stretching beyond the four and a half minute mark, it's hard to be patient enough to keep yourself from skipping onwards. But all that's waiting is another sugary dose of unexciting blip music. The high-pitched hushed vocals from lady band member Midori render every track more or less identical and the tunes would have perhaps benefitted without her listless half-whisper.

It all reinforces the view that video game music is primarily designed to be listened to while playing video games (no, really?) and the only reason certain tracks can be enjoyed at any other time is for nostalgia value. There are a couple of instances where it does gel together (the tiny opening Fanfare and Interlude tracks, plus the closing Your Quest Is Over is pretty), but overall it's somewhat lacking.

Family Music is an album in dire need of some spark and excitement. There is no doubting the technical accomplishment on display, but it all feels like a demonstration of their skills rather than a CD you want to listen to again and again. And while you may level some of these arguments against the likes of Plus-Tech Squeeze Box and the Adaadat noise merchants, I'd rather have a mashed-up joywreck assualt on the ears than this. Not bad every now and again, but it's just too much and not enough at the same time.

4/10

> > > YMCK (Official Site - English), Usagi-Chang Records

CD: Cornelius - Sensuous

2006-11-19T03:38:00.000-08:00

Cornelius aka Keigo Oyamada has widely been regarded as one of the most important figures in contemporary Japanese music, whose innovative albums have gained something on an international, as well as a domestic, following. So, it is only natural that his first album of new material in five years should require one's avid attention. However, it seems that little progress has been made since 2001's Point.

As I have always preferred Fantasma, his third solo album, it's something of a disappointment that the absurdity and upbeat nonsense that made Fantasma so unique is largely absent. Instead, it is largely another batch of experimental pop incorporating electronic tones, everyday noises and Oyamada's restrained vocals. And while it is true that no-one else makes music in quite the same style, the end result lacks the uniqueness that made Fantasma so damn enjoyable. Nevertheless, it is perhaps unfair to dwell to much on past efforts for comparison, as while this album may not be Cornelius' best, there is still much to gleam from the dozen tunes on offer here.

It seems that Cornelius must love wind and love the sound of tinkling, as windchimes bookend Sensuous. You could probably split the album in two between the more ambient soundscapes (such as Omstart and Like a Rolling Stone) and the guitar-licked beats of Breezin' and Fit Song, yet both kinds have an airy, drifting quality. While it is nice to have something of a running theme, it also makes the tracks all seem to run together, with few that properly stand out and others that can only really be considered filler material. However, the ones that do stand out are certainly worth the effort.

The only track that sees Cornelius properly rocking out is the fast-paced Gum, filled with charging guitars and cymbal crashes as voice samples echo back and forth from all angles. It's as close to Free Fall as one gets this time round, but it's satisfying enough. Upcoming single Beep It is not especially clever but has a neat beat and manages to be pretty funky. The aforementioned Like a Rolling Stone is soothing and dreamy, as is his cover of Ratpack standard Sleep Warm. It's just a shame that his brilliant cover of YMO's exquisite Cue that appeared on the Breezin' single release doesn't appear here.

But perhaps the best track on Sensuous is barely a song at all. At just over a minute and a half long, Toner seems to be Cornelius at his most pure, using piano and electronic blips and sound effects to turn the menial task of printing out a sheet of paper into something more playful . It's like listening to someone remix Microsoft Windows start-up noises, but much better than that sounds.

As a result, Sensuous is something of a frustrating experience, feeling a little soulless and hollow at times, but with just enough flashes of brilliance to leave me sure that Cornelius has plenty more imagination and creativity to offer. I just hope that next time, his talent takes a more refreshing direction. And that we don't have to wait another five years.

7/10

> > > Cornelius (Official Site)

CD: Polysics - You-You-You

2006-11-17T04:56:00.000-08:00

I am not one for buying singles, particularly considering how expensive they are in Japan, but this latest release from Polysics was an essential purchase, as it came with a DVD featuring four of their tracks from their last live show in the UK at London's 93 Feet East on Monday 1st May 2006. And I was there! Ergo, you can see me and my buddies jumping up and down like big sweaty sillies screaming "KAJA KAJA GOO!". The actual tunes on the single aren't half bad either.

In fact, the title track is perhaps their best air-punching pop-punk techno-laced anthem since Black Out Fall Out, which is high praise indeed. With its infectious synth hook, punchy drumfills and Hiroyuki Hayashi's rooftop calls, it's upbeat stuff. As the chorus breaks, a robot voice sings "You You You" - perhaps in response to Now Is The Time!'s I My Me Mine - and the synth soars, before launching into a winning guitar solo. Hopefully it will become a crowd favourite and a cornerstone of future setlists (I'll be smiling if it pops up when I see them play in Nagoya on December 9th).

The quality doesn't dip too far with the following track, むすんでひらいて (Musunde Hiraite - something about tying up and opening), but this is an all-together different beast. Here, Hayashi's high-pitched squeaks and screeches are matched by a deeper moodier voice, as blips and pops play over grimy guitar. It feels like a trip to the funfair, as it flits between ghost trains, wurlitzers and carousels while stuffing its face with candy floss and marshmallows. It is perhaps a little too bizarre to fit on a future album (even for Polysics), but works perfectly as an individual wacky track.

Finally, there's a remix of Walky Talky by Holger Czukay, former bassist with German 'krautrock' band Can (Wikipedia knows all). It seems like pretty standard stuff at first (a different beat here, a new sample there), but it launches into an uncharacteristic ambient interval. When it comes out the other side, it drags remnants of ethereality with it that smother the rest of the track (pretentious? Moi?). It's an unusual effort and more interesting than your typical end-of-a-single mix, for sure.

Dare I say it, but You-You-You may be better than any of the tracks from Now Is The Time!, and if it is indicative of what is to come from Polysics' next album, then I will buy it the day it is released. Promise!

8/10

> > > Polysics (Official Site), Sony Music