Stoker

Stoker

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Written by: Wentworth Miller

Photography: Chung-hoon Chung

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman

Country: USA, UK. 

Year: 2013

Emotions rest in the balance for fans of new wave Korean cinema this year, first we have Park Chan-Wook's debut into English language film with Stoker and then later in the year director Spike Lee's remake of Park Chan Wook's cult masterpiece, Oldboy.  

When I first saw the trailer for Stoker I was initially disappointed that it didn't appear to be a biopic of Draclua author, Bram Stoker. But with multiple re-watches I became more and more intrigued by what appeared to be a dark, twisted psychological thriller combined with stunning visuals.  And that's what I got. 

After India Stoker's father dies in a car crash on her birthday, she learns how disconnected she is from everybody else around her including her mother. She soon has to learn to live with a new person in her life as her father's brother, an Uncle she never knew she had, comes to live with her and her mother. 

The plot is hugely inspired by the classic Hitchcock thriller, Shadow of a Doubt.  In fact the mysterious Uncle in both films are called Charlie. There's also continuous references to various Hitchcock films throughout especially to Psycho. 

Stoker is set in the present day yet the art direction suggests something set in the '40s or '50s, again I think this is drawn from the Hitchcock influence but it gives the film a timeless look. 

There are three fantastic central performances from Goode, Kidman and Wasikowska. And as all too often in film, Jacki Weaver is given far too little screen time, but everything she does in that short time is sublime. 

Stoker isn't so much driven by it's narrative, heavy in symbolism it's more a study of the innocence lost in the transition into adulthood.

I was kind of grateful for it at the time because I had an engagement directly after, but Stoker after being slow and atmospheric throughout suddenly nosedives into an ending and it leaves you feeling a little cheated. 

Stoker is thought provoking, beautifully shot and lingers in the mind long after viewing.Highly recommended.  

Blind Spot Series 2013: #1: Whisky Galore!

Whisky Galore! 

Director: Alexander Mackendrick 

Written by: Compton MacKenzie, Angus MacPhail 

Photography: Gerald Gibbs

Starring: Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Gordon Jackson. 

Country: UK 

Year: 1949

Based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie, which itself was inspired by true events. Whisky Galore is set on the small and fictional Calvinist island of Todday in the Outer Hebrides.  Depression hits the island hard when they're temporally deprived of Whisky. To their luck, a cargo ship carrying 50,000 crates of Whisky runs dry just off the coast of the island. Though unfortunately this being an strong Calvinist community and consequently Sunday observers, the male islanders have to wait patiently till the clock strikes midnight before they can go and fetch their precious whisky. 

The film is a child of the legendary British film studio, Ealing and director Alexander Mackendrick. Unusual for an Ealing film, Whisky Galore! is shot primarily on location, specifically on the Isle of Barra. This was Mackendrick's first film as a director who went on to make other such classics as The Ladykillers and Sweet Smell of Success. It's interesting to note that Mackendrick is indifferent about Whiskey Galore! and he doesn't understand is lasting popularity. But then what do directors know about their own films, Woody Allen hates Manhattan. 

The film was released in 1949, WW2 had been over for five years but rationing was still in place, meaning for it's original audience would have found in the islanders a sense of relatability and aspiration. What would have also applied to it's audience at the time was the Islanders cunning deception and victory against the English commander of the local home guard, Captin Waggett who represents the petty bureaucracy of the time.        

That's not to say that Whisky Galore has lost it's value, it hasn't, it's still wonderfully funny and there are some fantastic performances especially from Basil Radford (perhaps most famous for his role in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes) and Gordon Jackson. 

It's interesting how Whiskey Galore deals with it's own clouded morality. This is after all a film about a group of islanders who successfully steal thousands of bottles of whisky. Which might explain why an appendix is hastily added saying how the price of whisky inflated so much that nobody could afford it and they all became depressed.                

The last quarter of the film doesn't hold up to the previous three, it feels rushed and just a little bit silly. It's a shame because everything before it was so strong. 

So in conclusion Whisky Galore is a great fun film and I did enjoy it, but to me it doesn't hold up to great Ealing films the likes of The Ladykillers.     

To view all films of the Blind Spot Series 2013 list click here 

By The Light of the Sun

By The Light of the Sun 

Director: Andy Harrison

Written By: Andy Harrison and Lewis Simpson 

Starring: Nigel Moran, Lewis Simpson, Ryan Murphy 

Country: UK

Year: 2012

 By The Light of the Sun is the début feature from young film-maker Andy Harrison, aged just seventeen. Harrison co-wrote the screenplay with friend and actor, Lewis Simpson.     

A band of idiosyncratic characters lead this surprisingly funny film that seems to span every genre. 

The film begins with Mark Lester (Nigel Moran), an adviser at Alcoholics Anonymous, being fired by his boss, played brilliantly and energetically in a small role from Peter Ravenscroft. He struggles to put his frustration behind him as he makes his way to a stag party with his possibly psychopathic best friend, Jakey-O (Lewis Simpson). Along the way they meet an animalistic cult, a backpacker whose really good at making tea and the well groomed detective, Sean Connery. 

There also a very memorable performance from Ryan Murphy as a drug addicted investigator (who doesn't seem to do much investigating). A performance that channels both Christopher Walken and Al Pacino. 

The direction in By The Light of the Sun is outstanding, including a masterful use of stedicam. Surprise and jealously are two of the emotions one might feel when you see that someone of such a young age has such blatant talent.           

In some technical aspects the film stands above it's station, bordering on professional.  But at the same time it's still just an amateur movie about people being chased by a knife wielding chicken in the woods, something that's abundant on the YouTube. This makes for an interesting combination.  There's something refreshing and joyful about seeing a film that is both well made and made just for fun. 

I do have my reservations, I'm not sure some of the song choices worked in the scenes they were placed over. The film also requires complete audience attention, if you're not taking note of all the characters' names you might find yourself confused by the ending. And I'm also still not sure how all the stories place together.  

If you're lucky enough to get the opportunity to see By The Light of the Sun, I highly recommend you take it, for the sake of ninety minutes of pure entertainment if nothing else. 

To all involved, Bravo.   

Skyfall

 Skyfall

Director: Sam Mendes  
Written By: Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan
Photography: Roger Deakins 
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem 
Year: 2012
Country: UK, USA 


Let me start by saying that this is a spoiler free review, however, if you want to go into Bond Number 23 completely fresh, stop reading now. But come back later, ok?

 The James Bond movie franchise reaches it's 50th anniversary this years, going from when Dr. No was realised back in 1962. Although, Skyfall wasn't intended to be an anniversary special, the original release date was 2010, but due to financial troubles at MGM, production was held back for a couple of years. 

 Since '62 we've had a Scottish Bond, an Australian Bond, a How the Hell Does He Do That Thing With His Eyebrow Bond, a Time Lord Bond and a Former Thief Turned Private Detective Bond. Now we have Daniel Craig playing the agent with the licence to kill. Skyfall is Craig's third outing as Bond, after Casino Royale  (which was really good) and Quantum of Solace (which sucked). Craig is the Bond who everyone wants to say is the best Bond, but feel it's too early to say. The emotional, sentimental Bond which was started by Lazenby and expanded by Dalton is perfected by Daniel Craig.

 It's hard to talk about the plot of Skyfall without divulging a plethora of spoilers, big and small. But what Skyfall is about, on a non-superficial level, is the co-existence of new and old. Bond and M are dinosaurs in an MI6 and a world that's changing at a speed they can't keep up with.             

 Skyfall is a Bond first, never before has bond had an Oscar winning director at the helm. Sam Mendes, who's directed American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road among others gave Skyfall his  love, care and attention. Mendes creates something that is both pensive and stylish, but for all intents and purposes, a Bond film.    

 Not to worry if you're more a fan of corny jokes, sex and expensive set pieces, Skyfall has more than enough of all of those.   

 The real star of Skyfall is cinematographer, Roger Deakins, who has been the DP on nearly all the Coen Brothers' movies post Barton Fink. I long thought Deakins to one of the greatest living cinematographers, now Skyfall has confirmed it. Through stunning lighting and composition Deakins creates something where every frame is a money-shot. Deakins has been nominated for an Oscar nine times but never won, hopefully this time.

 Skyfall's other Oscar possibility lies in Judi Dench reprising her role as Head of MI6, M. Skyfall takes a longer look at the character of M than any Bond film has in the past, in a way the film is more about M than it is about Bond. The legendary thespian isn't someone you expect to surprise you, you go in with high expectations in the first place, but Dench goes above and beyond with this one. And hey, if she can win an Oscar for 5 minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love, I don't see why she can't win one for this.    

 The Villain, Silva is played by Spanish actor, Javier Bardem. Although it's not a bad performance, quite good in fact, I would rank it as his worst. Bardem is post famous for his murderous role in the Coens' No Country For Old Men. I find his best performances lie in films in his native language, Spanish and Mexican films like Biutiful and The Sea Inside. 

 It's also nice to see Q get a bigger role than usual, because we all know he's the best character. Ben Whishaw is the new Q, I'm not sure about the whole geek-chic thing, but he's a very good actor. 

 The film is not without fault, I could have done with learning about Bond's childhood, the third act feels more Home Alone than James Bond and the film is overflowing with overt product placement. There's also the confusing bearing of whether it's a sequel, prequel or reboot. At the beginning of Casino Royale it implies that we're seeing Bond from the very beginning of his double-o career, yet Skyfall keeps making light of Bond being old and referencing past films. 

 As an intelligent, well made blockbuster Skyfall gives The Dark Knight Rises an run for it's money. Go watch it, it'll probably be the best film to play in ever theatre this year. 

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Night Rises

Director: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
Photography: Wally Pfister 
Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway.
Year: 2012
Country: USA, UK



 My expectations going in to The Dark Knight Rises were so high, it was almost destined to disappoint me. But like an unexplained phenomenon, it somehow managed to exceed my hopes.

I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible, so I won't go into too much detail of the story. All I'll say is that The Dark Knight Rises is set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight. Gotham doesn't need The Batman any more and Bruce Wayne has gone into exile.

 This is the final chapter is the Batman trilogy. Director Christopher Nolan claims to have no interest in making any more and I believe him. Cinematographer Wally Pfister is retiring from his role as cinematographer for life as a director.  The film is also a clear conclusion to Bruce Wayne's story, albeit an ambiguous and subjective one.  

 It's a shame Wally Pfister is retiring from photography because he's one of the best  cinematographers of his generation. It was no exception in The Dark Knight Rises, it's mostly shot underexposed and it has a similar blackness to films like David Fincher's Se7en or The Godfather.   

 Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister are both preservers of celluloid, so The Dark Knight Rises was shot on 35mm film and is not in 3D. Which leads me to one of the only grievousness,  not with the film, but how it was exhibited. In my local Vue cinema a digital projector was used which made what should have been pitch dark blacks come out as really deep greys. If you can see it projected in 35mm or in an IMAX cinema, do so.       

 Chris Nolan, who is yet to make a bad film, delivers again. His direction is spot on throughout and delivers a well written and intelligent screenplay in coalition his brother, Jonathan.  

 Christian Bale's Batman is still somewhat laughable with his 'Get off my lawn' voice, but is otherwise great and think he makes a brilliant Bruce Wayne. 

 Anne Hathaway as Catwoman I had a lot of trepidation about, she can be a hit or miss. She actually does pretty well In this... and she's sexy, too. She also has a sidekick, played by Juno Temple. Who I think must have had most of her scenes cut out because she's a pointless and rarely seen.

 I've been a big Tom Hardy fan for a while and he makes a badass Bane, he begets genuine fear every time he's a screen. A lot of people complain that they couldn't understand him most of the time. I didn't have this problem myself. Some of it could be to do with the sound systems varying cinema but I think most of it is to do with not being able to see his mouth, we don't realise how much we rely on lip movement. 

 I wont go into every actor because there are so many, but everyone in this film gives their best. New actors include Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard. All returning actors are given their due course, no characters are crammed in out of obligation. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon could finally get the academy he's been due for a long time. 

 The action scenes are some of the best I've seen in a long time. The first confrontation between Batman and Bane is intensely visceral, I could personally feel every hit Batman took. 

 It refreshing to see an action film from a filmmaker that understands that great action scenes aren't made with shaky cam (that is the technical term) and fast editing, but from carefully crafted choreography. 

 The art direction was stunning, I especially liked the design of Bane. In the comics bane wears a full face mask but the decision to show his eyes adds to the horror. The colour scheme is mostly black and other cold colours. This looks great and fits the tone of the film but less so as I said before if you're watching it in digital. 


 Hans Zimmer's score is faultless, I would say better than his score for Inception in terms of how it fits the movie. But the film also knows when not to use music at all. In Batman's fight with Bane and in an emotional speech by Alfred from Michael Caine, no music is used which adds to the emotion. Although it does makes the crunching of crisps and popcorn clearer.


 The film is full of the wildly imaginative set pieces, which use a mixture of CGI and practical effects the two of which blend together nicely.   

 The film is on the long side at almost three hours. I honestly didn't feel this and I could have carried on watching for at least another half an hour.


 My only complaints are that some things aren't explained that I would have liked to have been. I can't go any further without spoiling the film, but they're not major plot holes, so nothing that will take you out of the experience.   

 I think it's important to state that I don't think this film is suitable for children. It might be a 12A here in the UK and a PG-13 in the US, but the long dialogue scene, bleak persona, dark cinematography and colossal run-time will bore your under twelves. And although the violence may not be bloody it's definitely brutal. Don't risk it, take them to see The Amazing Spider-Man instead. That has the bright coloured, wise cracking, pantomime villain fitting stuff they like. There were several children in the screening I was in and they all talked, cried, climbed and eventually left before the end. 

 I still need to watch Moonrise Kingdom and there are many movies ahead of us including The Master, but The Dark Knight Rises has the potential to be my movie of the year. It's everything you want in a Blockbuster and more. It's a must watch, go see it (unless you have kids) 

Score 5/5          

The Man Who Fell To Earth

The Man Who Fell To Earth 

Director: Nicolas Roeg.
Written By: Paul Myersberg.
Photography: Anthony B. Richmond.
Starring: David Bowie, Rip Torn and Candy Clark.
Year: 1976.
Country: UK.


 It's often said of rock-stars that they can't act to save their lives. This isn't too unfair, we've all seen and winced  at Madonna and Henry Rollins attempting to act in movies before. But let's not forget how how phenomenal Björk was in Dancer in the Dark and that Will Smith was once The Fresh Prince.

 David Bowie stars in this 1976 cult sci-fi classic. Bowie is held in the minds of most as a poor actor. Mostly for his performances in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and his small role in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The only Bowie movie I've seen actually (other than The Man Who Fell To Earth) is Labyrinth, and that was a long time ago. All I know about David Bowie's acting in The Man Who Fell To Earth is, frankly, amazing.

 Nicolas Roeg's first film was Performance, which stars Mick Jagger. Then four years after making The Man Who Fell To Earth, Roeg made Bad Timing starring Art Garfunkel. Roeg got a reputation of liking to cast musicians as his leads. But Roeg originally wanted to cast Peter O'Toole as the lead in The Man Who Fell To Earth, but was watching the BBC one night and saw the TV Documentary David Bowie: Cracked Actor. He thought that Bowie had an ethereal quality, perfect to play a space alien.

 The Man Who Fell To Earth is about an alien from a planet that's suffering from eternal draught. He's sent to earth to try and find a way to transport water from earth to theirs. But when on earth he becomes corrupted by capitalism, emotion and becomes a drunk.

 That's all moot, because nobody involved in the production of The Man Who Fell To Earth cared about telling the story. The Man Who Fell to Earth is more about, and I'm quoting Nic Roeg here,  pushing the structure of film grammar in to a different area by taking away the crutch of time that the audience holds onto.  In layman's terms: It doesn't make sense. If you thought Prometheus was bad, wait till you see this!

 Despite it being completely incoherent, it's actually a really impressive film in an avant-garde sense. As is often the case with science fiction movies, the art direction is stunning. And Nic Roeg does some really impressive and progressive stuff with his direction, especially with inter-cutting.

 The Man Who Fell To Earth has a diverse soundtrack, from Roy Orbison  to Grace Kelly. The real surprise is that there's no Bowie in the soundtrack. Actually, Bowie was working on the soundtrack. There's a lot of stories about why we never it never appeared on the finished film, non official. But Bowie has said that some of the music he was working on for The Man Who Fell To Earth ended up on the b-side to Low. (The cover to low is also a shot from the movie, as are the covers to Station to Station and John I'm Only Dancing)

 If you can handle the incoherence, The Man Who Fell To Earth is worth checking out as it's aesthetically stunning and Bowie's acting alone is worth your time.

 Score: 3.5/5