Year: 1992
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay: James V. Hart, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker
Starring: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Richard E. Grant, Sadie Frost, Tom Waits
Running Time: 128 minutes
Genre: Horror
In 1462, the Transylvanian knight, Vlad Dracula (Oldman) returns from a victory against the invading Turks, only to find that his wife has killed herself after receiving a false report of his death. Enraged at the idea that her soul is now damned because she committed suicide, Dracula renounces God and the church and swears that he will return from his own death to avenge hers.
In 1897, English solicitor Jonathan Harker (Reeves) travels to Transylvania to negotiate the sale of some property in London to the mysterious Count Dracula (Oldman). As Harker becomes increasingly disturbed by his strange, Dracula becomes convinced that Harker's fiance, Mina Murray (Ryder) is the reincarnation of his dead wife.
Escaping to Britain, Dracula sets about preying on Mina's best friend, Lucy Westenra (Frost). It becomes apparent that only the eccentric Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Hopkins) has the knowledge to fight Dracula's reign of terror.
This, the umpteenth screen adaptation of the evergreen horror classic, feels closer to Anne Rice than Bram Stoker in it's sensuous, romantic portrayal of the vampire. Everything about the film is extremely stylised, showcasing a range of cinematic tricks, the problem with this approach is that it constantly reminds you that your watching a movie, it's too pretty to ever be involving or, crucially, really scary.
Keanu Reeves is certainly miscast as an English solicitor (his attempt at an English accent is notoriously dreadful), Winona Ryder also struggles with the English accent, but does do well with a fairly thankless role . Gary Oldman makes a striking, if never really scary Dracula (who appears variously as a grotesque old man, a wolf man monster, a man bat monster and a romantic knight), while a scenery-chewing Anthony Hopkins ladles on steaming, thick slices of ham as Van Helsing.
The designs, costumes and sets in the film are really impressive, and the film is too lavist andinventive to ever really be scary. It adapts the novel relatively faithfully, aside from the unnecessary prologue explaining Dracula's origins, and the subplot of Dracula believing Mina to be his reincarnated wife.
The problem is that the lavish, epic treatment doesn't really work for horror, because it just seems to dilute the scary elements.
Friday, 28 February 2014
Saturday, 22 February 2014
To Kill a Mockingbird
Year: 1962
Director: Robert Mulligan
Screenplay: Horton Foote, based on the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Brock Peters, Robert Duvall
Running Time: 128 minutes
Genre: Drama
This is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest films ever made. Set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the film tells the story of upright lawyer Atticus Finch (Peck), a widowed father to two young children, Scout (Badham) and Jem (Alford). Atticus agrees to defend a young black man, Tom Robinson (Peters), accused of the rape of a white woman. The events are seen through the eyes of Scout whose childhood view of the world is changed forever by the racism and other prejudices she encounters around her.
It is a powerful and deeply moving film, which features some stunning performances particularly from Peck who gives an iconic portrayal of dignity and decency. The child actors are superb, especially Mary Badham. It also features the screen debut of Robert Duvall as the reclusive Boo Radley. It's one of the best movies about children and the child's eye view of the world: Bright, sunny summer days, and also looming threatening shadows. The trial and it's aftermath, while key, are just part of the tapestry that makes up Scout and Jem's childhood.
I have to confess that I have never read the Harper Lee novel and came to the film expecting it to be a courtroom drama, and was surprised to find it to be much more than that, although it does feature a gripping trial sequence.
It deals with the evils of prejudice and bigotry without being too preachy, and is all the better for it. The film's compassion even extends to the more unsympathetic characters who are depicted as victims in a different way, due to poverty, their upbringing and their own prejudices.
Heartbreaking, powerful and at times even humorous, this is a must see.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Screenplay: Horton Foote, based on the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Brock Peters, Robert Duvall
Running Time: 128 minutes
Genre: Drama
This is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest films ever made. Set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the film tells the story of upright lawyer Atticus Finch (Peck), a widowed father to two young children, Scout (Badham) and Jem (Alford). Atticus agrees to defend a young black man, Tom Robinson (Peters), accused of the rape of a white woman. The events are seen through the eyes of Scout whose childhood view of the world is changed forever by the racism and other prejudices she encounters around her.
It is a powerful and deeply moving film, which features some stunning performances particularly from Peck who gives an iconic portrayal of dignity and decency. The child actors are superb, especially Mary Badham. It also features the screen debut of Robert Duvall as the reclusive Boo Radley. It's one of the best movies about children and the child's eye view of the world: Bright, sunny summer days, and also looming threatening shadows. The trial and it's aftermath, while key, are just part of the tapestry that makes up Scout and Jem's childhood.
I have to confess that I have never read the Harper Lee novel and came to the film expecting it to be a courtroom drama, and was surprised to find it to be much more than that, although it does feature a gripping trial sequence.
It deals with the evils of prejudice and bigotry without being too preachy, and is all the better for it. The film's compassion even extends to the more unsympathetic characters who are depicted as victims in a different way, due to poverty, their upbringing and their own prejudices.
Heartbreaking, powerful and at times even humorous, this is a must see.
Hostel
Year: 2006
Director: Eli Roth
Screenplay: Eli Roth
Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova, Jan Vlasak, Rick Hoffman, Jennifer Lim
Running Time: 93 minutes
Genre: Horror
American college students Paxton (Hernandez) and Josh (Richardson) are travelling across Europe with their Icelandic friend Oli (Gudjonsson) on the hunt for drugs, sex and wild times. Arriving in Amsterdam they hear a story about a hostel in Slovakia which is full of beautiful, willing women who love Americans. Needless to say, the none too bright trio are soon on their way. At first glance the hostel is everything they could have wished for, particularly when they are greeted by the beautiful Natalya (Nedeljakova) and Svetlana (Jana Kaderabkova). However, when Oli disappears, Paxton and Josh soon discovers that the hostel has a dark secret. It's run by an organisation which lures tourists and then kidnaps them, whereupon a wealthy international clientele pay for the opportunity to torture the victims to death.
The film opens with the credits playing over a scene which hints at the horrors to come, where an unseen, janitor cheerfully whistles while hosing down the blood and gore from one of the torture chambers. From there the first part of the film almost plays like a bawdy teen comedy, as our three fairly unlikable "heroes" get stoned, drink, and visit prostitutes. It comes into it's own later on, after Oli disappears and the net tightens around Josh and Paxton. The relatable fear comes from being a stranger in a strange land and very far from home. When Josh worries about Oli, Paxton reminds him that they really know nothing at all about him. Of course this is the central fear of what could be called "tourist terror" where people venture out of their safe environments and come to harm. The film does have a point to make about the ignorance of some tourists, when Paxton, Josh and Oli first hear about the hostel they are told that their are no men "because of the war", when in fact there hasn't been a war in Slovakia since 1945. It also has a point about the horrors of rampant capitalism where life itself is just a commodity to be bought and sold, and where anything is available to whoever has the money. A kind of connection is made between Paxton, Josh and Oli's treatment of prostitutes early in the film and what will later happen to them (when Paxton and Oli try to persuade Josh to hire a prostitute he replies "going into a room with someone and paying to do whatever you want to her is not my idea of a turn on".)
The film was hugely controversial on it's release for it's graphic violence and explicit gore, leading it to be referred to as "torture porn". Certainly it is not for those of a nervous disposition, but it is quite a good horror movie and at times genuinely chilling.
Director: Eli Roth
Screenplay: Eli Roth
Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova, Jan Vlasak, Rick Hoffman, Jennifer Lim
Running Time: 93 minutes
Genre: Horror
American college students Paxton (Hernandez) and Josh (Richardson) are travelling across Europe with their Icelandic friend Oli (Gudjonsson) on the hunt for drugs, sex and wild times. Arriving in Amsterdam they hear a story about a hostel in Slovakia which is full of beautiful, willing women who love Americans. Needless to say, the none too bright trio are soon on their way. At first glance the hostel is everything they could have wished for, particularly when they are greeted by the beautiful Natalya (Nedeljakova) and Svetlana (Jana Kaderabkova). However, when Oli disappears, Paxton and Josh soon discovers that the hostel has a dark secret. It's run by an organisation which lures tourists and then kidnaps them, whereupon a wealthy international clientele pay for the opportunity to torture the victims to death.
The film opens with the credits playing over a scene which hints at the horrors to come, where an unseen, janitor cheerfully whistles while hosing down the blood and gore from one of the torture chambers. From there the first part of the film almost plays like a bawdy teen comedy, as our three fairly unlikable "heroes" get stoned, drink, and visit prostitutes. It comes into it's own later on, after Oli disappears and the net tightens around Josh and Paxton. The relatable fear comes from being a stranger in a strange land and very far from home. When Josh worries about Oli, Paxton reminds him that they really know nothing at all about him. Of course this is the central fear of what could be called "tourist terror" where people venture out of their safe environments and come to harm. The film does have a point to make about the ignorance of some tourists, when Paxton, Josh and Oli first hear about the hostel they are told that their are no men "because of the war", when in fact there hasn't been a war in Slovakia since 1945. It also has a point about the horrors of rampant capitalism where life itself is just a commodity to be bought and sold, and where anything is available to whoever has the money. A kind of connection is made between Paxton, Josh and Oli's treatment of prostitutes early in the film and what will later happen to them (when Paxton and Oli try to persuade Josh to hire a prostitute he replies "going into a room with someone and paying to do whatever you want to her is not my idea of a turn on".)
The film was hugely controversial on it's release for it's graphic violence and explicit gore, leading it to be referred to as "torture porn". Certainly it is not for those of a nervous disposition, but it is quite a good horror movie and at times genuinely chilling.
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Adam McKay
Screenplay: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner
San Diego, the 1970s. In the cut-throat world of local television news, the winners are definitely the top-rated Channel 4 News Team: Sports reporter Champ Kind (Koechner), roving reporter Brian Fantana (Rudd), weatherman Brick Tamland (Carrell) and their leader anchorman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell). They are trusted, respected and beloved by the entire city. However their cozy male-dominated world is threatened by the arrival of ambitious reporter Veronica Corningstone (Applegate). After the whole gang make several inept attempts to seduce her, Veronica soon strikes up a relationship with Ron. however he is shocked when she reveals her plans to become a network anchor, not least by the fact that she is probably better at it than he is.
The film is constantly entertaining and most of the time it is extremely funny with many laugh out loud moments. Ferrell turns in a fantastic comic performance as the deluded, chauvinistic Ron Burgundy, who always manages to make a potentially horrible character sympathetic and kind of likable. The rest of the cast deliver pitch-perfect performances and there is brilliant rapport among them all. The script is well-written and funny and packed with memorable, quotable dialogue. Also it all looks very stylish, providing a fun take on the world of local TV news in the 70s. It may not be a masterpiece but there is plenty to enjoy and it holds up well to repeat viewings.
Deleted scenes and alternate takes from the movie were re-edited into a separate direct-to-DVD film called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004). A sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, was released in 2013.
Director: Adam McKay
Screenplay: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koechner
San Diego, the 1970s. In the cut-throat world of local television news, the winners are definitely the top-rated Channel 4 News Team: Sports reporter Champ Kind (Koechner), roving reporter Brian Fantana (Rudd), weatherman Brick Tamland (Carrell) and their leader anchorman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell). They are trusted, respected and beloved by the entire city. However their cozy male-dominated world is threatened by the arrival of ambitious reporter Veronica Corningstone (Applegate). After the whole gang make several inept attempts to seduce her, Veronica soon strikes up a relationship with Ron. however he is shocked when she reveals her plans to become a network anchor, not least by the fact that she is probably better at it than he is.
The film is constantly entertaining and most of the time it is extremely funny with many laugh out loud moments. Ferrell turns in a fantastic comic performance as the deluded, chauvinistic Ron Burgundy, who always manages to make a potentially horrible character sympathetic and kind of likable. The rest of the cast deliver pitch-perfect performances and there is brilliant rapport among them all. The script is well-written and funny and packed with memorable, quotable dialogue. Also it all looks very stylish, providing a fun take on the world of local TV news in the 70s. It may not be a masterpiece but there is plenty to enjoy and it holds up well to repeat viewings.
Deleted scenes and alternate takes from the movie were re-edited into a separate direct-to-DVD film called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004). A sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, was released in 2013.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Gravity
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Screenplay: Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
This film is kind of a disaster movie in space. Doctor Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission, accompanied by veteran astronaut Matthew Kowalski (Clooney). Their mission is to perform maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope. They run into trouble when they are struck by high speed debris from a destroyed satellite. Ryan becomes detached and is sent spinning off into space. With oxygen rapidly diminishing and the shuttle destroyed they have to stay alive and fund a way to return home.
This film is almost entirely a two-hander between Bullock and Clooney. They are the only characters on screen, even though there are radio transmissions from other astronauts and Mission Control. The film is a staggeringly beautiful experience as the astronauts and spacecraft tumble and fall against backdrops of starfields and the earth so near and so far.
It is also anchored by two powerful performances, particularly from Bullock who really provides the film's heart and soul as the terrified and vulnerable and yet strong and resourceful Ryan.
It is definitely advisable to see it on the biggest screen you can and also in 3-D. Yes, it is one of those very rare films where 3-D is actually a huge benefit to the experience.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Screenplay: Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
This film is kind of a disaster movie in space. Doctor Ryan Stone (Bullock) is a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission, accompanied by veteran astronaut Matthew Kowalski (Clooney). Their mission is to perform maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope. They run into trouble when they are struck by high speed debris from a destroyed satellite. Ryan becomes detached and is sent spinning off into space. With oxygen rapidly diminishing and the shuttle destroyed they have to stay alive and fund a way to return home.
This film is almost entirely a two-hander between Bullock and Clooney. They are the only characters on screen, even though there are radio transmissions from other astronauts and Mission Control. The film is a staggeringly beautiful experience as the astronauts and spacecraft tumble and fall against backdrops of starfields and the earth so near and so far.
It is also anchored by two powerful performances, particularly from Bullock who really provides the film's heart and soul as the terrified and vulnerable and yet strong and resourceful Ryan.
It is definitely advisable to see it on the biggest screen you can and also in 3-D. Yes, it is one of those very rare films where 3-D is actually a huge benefit to the experience.
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Pigsty
Year of Release: 1969
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Screenplay: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marco Ferreri, Ugo Tognazzi, Pierre Clementi, Alberto Lionello, Franco Citti, Anne Wiazemsky
This Italian film interweaves two separate storylines. In the first one, set in an unnamed desolate, volcanic landscape, at an unspecified historical period, a young cannibal thug (Clementi) roams around attacking soldiers and with a small band of similar outsiders ravages the country. In the second story, set in 1967 Germany, Julian (Leaud), the son of a hugely wealthy industrialist, is unable to connect with politically-engaged girlfriend Ida (Wizemsky). When Julian inexplicably falls into a coma, he is used as a pawn in a power game between his father (Lionello) and a business rival (Tognazzi).
This film is a bleakly savage satire on human nature and cruelty. Although there is at first glance little to connect the first, almost completely dialogue free historical story to the contemporary one, there are similar themes recurring throughout both. The first deals with the human capacity for cruelty and anarchy, the second connects capitalist business to Nazism (Pasolini was a committed Marxist).
The film is very well-made and full of memorable images, it is also indubitably a work of art, and a powerful and fearsome one at that. However it is so unremittingly bleak, it's hard to imagine many viewers actually enjoying it.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Screenplay: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marco Ferreri, Ugo Tognazzi, Pierre Clementi, Alberto Lionello, Franco Citti, Anne Wiazemsky
This Italian film interweaves two separate storylines. In the first one, set in an unnamed desolate, volcanic landscape, at an unspecified historical period, a young cannibal thug (Clementi) roams around attacking soldiers and with a small band of similar outsiders ravages the country. In the second story, set in 1967 Germany, Julian (Leaud), the son of a hugely wealthy industrialist, is unable to connect with politically-engaged girlfriend Ida (Wizemsky). When Julian inexplicably falls into a coma, he is used as a pawn in a power game between his father (Lionello) and a business rival (Tognazzi).
This film is a bleakly savage satire on human nature and cruelty. Although there is at first glance little to connect the first, almost completely dialogue free historical story to the contemporary one, there are similar themes recurring throughout both. The first deals with the human capacity for cruelty and anarchy, the second connects capitalist business to Nazism (Pasolini was a committed Marxist).
The film is very well-made and full of memorable images, it is also indubitably a work of art, and a powerful and fearsome one at that. However it is so unremittingly bleak, it's hard to imagine many viewers actually enjoying it.
Radio Days
Year of Release: 1987
Director: Woody Allen
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Starring: Seth Green, Mia Farrow, Julie Kavner, Danny Aiello, Michael Tucker, Dianne Wiest, Tony Roberts, Jeff Daniels, Woody Allen
This is a funny, heart-warming, nostalgic take on the Golden Age of radio. There is not really a plot as such, more a series of anecdotes and episodes revolving around life in a large Jewish-American family living in the Rockaway Beach area of New York City during the 1940s, as seen through the eyes of ten year old Joe (Green, with Allen narrating as the adult Joe), and all linked by the always present radio. Intermixed with these episodes are tales of the radio stars themselves.
This is one of Woody Allen's finest films. It is very funny and sometimes genuinely moving. The film features a large cast of characters and a very ambitious structure. Allen manages to interweave the many storylines perfectly so that it does feel like a cohesive whole, and none of the cast strike a wrong note. The period atmosphere is evocatively depicted.
Allen has stated that the film is in many places autobiographical and there is a real bittersweet quality, and nostalgic yearning for a long-gone age. The soundtrack of period songs is fantastic.
Director: Woody Allen
Screenplay: Woody Allen
Starring: Seth Green, Mia Farrow, Julie Kavner, Danny Aiello, Michael Tucker, Dianne Wiest, Tony Roberts, Jeff Daniels, Woody Allen
This is a funny, heart-warming, nostalgic take on the Golden Age of radio. There is not really a plot as such, more a series of anecdotes and episodes revolving around life in a large Jewish-American family living in the Rockaway Beach area of New York City during the 1940s, as seen through the eyes of ten year old Joe (Green, with Allen narrating as the adult Joe), and all linked by the always present radio. Intermixed with these episodes are tales of the radio stars themselves.
This is one of Woody Allen's finest films. It is very funny and sometimes genuinely moving. The film features a large cast of characters and a very ambitious structure. Allen manages to interweave the many storylines perfectly so that it does feel like a cohesive whole, and none of the cast strike a wrong note. The period atmosphere is evocatively depicted.
Allen has stated that the film is in many places autobiographical and there is a real bittersweet quality, and nostalgic yearning for a long-gone age. The soundtrack of period songs is fantastic.
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