tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25957985396664422732024-03-13T04:30:04.750+00:00obscurendureWe aim to give you the best and the worst in films of all genres, focussing on the more obscure examples of the art-form.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.comBlogger474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-92111818910502793022015-03-21T08:36:00.000+00:002015-03-21T08:36:41.417+00:00Feature - The Death of Horror? - Part 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Part 5</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just a quick one this time as we look at the curse of:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the past, it was so much easier. If your victim was in a house, cut the phone line. If they were outside, in a wood perhaps, then no worries (unless there was a phone box knocking about, which can be dealt with easily).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both solutions to old world phone problems are pleasantly visual: the villain, wearing murdering gloves obviously, snips at a wire to cut off his victim from the rest of humanity (both literally and symbolically), or the smashed, vandalised phone box that was all too common in the seventies and eighties. Dead easy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, with the advent of these new fangled mobile phones, things are a bit trickier for the screenwriter. Maybe the battery has run out, or there isn't a signal, or maybe the foolish victim drops their phone down a toilet. Sadly, most of the solutions consist of technobabble that wouldn't be out of place in <i>Star Trek</i>, with a severe lack of visual stimulation. (Granted, the toilet solution is visual but how many times can it be used in films? Plus, it's stupid.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's something else that makes me groan in modern horrors. The moment of mobile phone exposition always brings me straight out of a film and I'm glad when it's gone. <i>The House of the Devil</i> had a good solution, set the film in the past. Although it is good for a few films, I don't want every horror I watch to be set in a time that is pre-mobile.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What we should do is have a horror film convention that mobile phones don't exist. All horror films are set in an alternative reality where the pesky devices were never invented. Problem solved. Okay, sometimes the writer might want to include a mobile as a plot point. Well, as soon as a mobile is shown that would mean that the film is set in our reality. Fine.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the coming months, as I watch a few more horror films than usual, I will document the reasons given for why the machete fodder's phones don't work. Hopefully, there will be some crackers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Reading:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Intermission - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/intermission-retro-phones.html">Retro Phones</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-49701173119164524812015-03-13T15:41:00.000+00:002015-03-13T15:41:01.914+00:00Feature - The Death of Horror? - Part 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4TC_sE5XCnVZGFtkjGicekIqJMAf8Zmg8_bNsTLvJFC9YVFSWKTiAFLpqyRWHHwSPkzGAPf6B1RYskwpEYtFnCMBtGfo7XD110t3NwtBNhDo0_op4S8GNkviVkroReXWLuF-Bnwmodrb/s1600/The+Death+of+Horror%3F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4TC_sE5XCnVZGFtkjGicekIqJMAf8Zmg8_bNsTLvJFC9YVFSWKTiAFLpqyRWHHwSPkzGAPf6B1RYskwpEYtFnCMBtGfo7XD110t3NwtBNhDo0_op4S8GNkviVkroReXWLuF-Bnwmodrb/s1600/The+Death+of+Horror%3F.jpg" height="326" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Part 4</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This time we'll look at something that is not a problem in itself, but it has certainly caused some major problems in recent times:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Budget</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Film-making technology is now affordable to pretty much anyone. A DSLR and relatively cheap (£200) editing software like Final Cut Pro are all you need to get started. This is great stuff as it mean that anyone can put their vision up on the big screen. On the flip side, it's bad because </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">anyone can put their vision up on the big screen.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There have been some great low-budget horror films over the years. In fact, many of the very best have had small budgets. <i>The Evil Dead</i> and <i>Bad Taste </i>were full of creativity, <i>Halloween</i> had great music and a relentless villain and <i>Zombie Flesh Eaters </i>had a filmic look that is way beyond many of today's horrors. I often think that these films had to be creative because of their smaller budgets, they couldn't just throw money at a problem.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In recent times we've had <i>The Blair Witch Project</i> and <i>Paranormal Activity</i>, both effective, which have led to a plethora of found footage films. With mixed success. <i>Rec</i> is a pretty good zombie chiller, and... erm... can't really think of many more. As for bad examples, I could go on and on. In general, I don't read the back covers of DVDs because I want to be surprised by the contents of the film. This has its downfalls. Every time it turns out to be a found footage film, I audibly groan. Please, no more.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Examples of other low budget films that fall into the shocking category are <i>Dead Genesis</i>, <i>Laid to Rest </i>and <i>Scarce. </i>These are three films that I thought that I'd give a try and yet I didn't even make it past the ten minute mark when I tried to watch them. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have been made, just that they shouldn't have been released. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The film distributors should exercise some quality control.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the days of VHS I was always disappointed by the size of the horror sections in shops. But it didn't stop me from poring through their offerings and maybe even purchasing one or two. Now I walk into HMV and they've got a stupendously massive horror selection, something that I would have coveted like my neighbour's ox in ye olde days. But I quickly walk past without a glance and head into the anime, sci-fi and world sections. All of the films look so rubbish. They give them a glossy photoshopped cover and expect that to be enough. There may be some gems in there but I can't be bothered to sift through them. I've been disappointed too many times. We're back to the quality control issue again.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Modern low-budget zombie films? Serious quality control issue, yet again.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn't to say that films should have a more sizeable budget either. Look at <i>The Conjuring</i>, <i>Sinister </i>and <i>World War Z</i>: all completely terrible. You would think that film-makers with a larger budget would spend more time and money at the script stage getting it right before they even start filming anything. The evidence doesn't support this.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But when a larger budget is used well it can produce some rather special work. I watched <i>The Colony </i>recently which was set in a frozen landscape. That looked really cheap. Compare that with how great <i>The Thing</i> (1982) looks. It feels like a serious, quality film. <i>The Colony </i>feels more like a cut-scene from a PS3 game.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So really the budget doesn't matter. It's the talent of the film-makers that's important and how they use the budget available to them. If they made good films regardless of the budget - and from the examples above it is possible - then I would be very happy and watch more horror films. As it is, if they keep flooding the market with substandard products, only because someone has bothered to make them, I'll continue to lose interest and for me horror will indeed be dead.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Reading:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/review-evil-dead-1981-dir-sam-raimi.html">The Evil Dead</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/review-halloween-1978-dir-john.html">Halloween</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/review-zombie-flesh-eaters-1979-dir.html">Zombie Flesh Eaters</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/review-rec-2007-dir-jaume-balaguero.html">Rec</a></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-18391629570956445042015-03-07T10:32:00.002+00:002015-03-07T14:42:40.156+00:00Feature - The Death of Horror? - Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1QutpD99bq2Tb8jbnRJz3KKewJt0YhwbGlnkhWjwEyDUwjBezUymLDyto1V6aYl2jcy2MnJneRGoubmIGDLBdkr_XUEeivXWlMqwQjTMKVqtCXHnIgNcTlYujoFNWcqusHHSZm7t_h5c/s1600/The+Death+of+Horror%3F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1QutpD99bq2Tb8jbnRJz3KKewJt0YhwbGlnkhWjwEyDUwjBezUymLDyto1V6aYl2jcy2MnJneRGoubmIGDLBdkr_XUEeivXWlMqwQjTMKVqtCXHnIgNcTlYujoFNWcqusHHSZm7t_h5c/s1600/The+Death+of+Horror%3F.jpg" height="326" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Part 3</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here we go then with the third instalment of our horror feature and this time we'll have a look at:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Nastiness Factor</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This isn't about whether a film was on the most prestigious Nasties list which elevated films to a must-see status (some rightly so, others, well... maybe not, <i>Zombie Creeping Flesh</i> anyone?). No, this third part of our Death of Horror feature is all about films that, when the credits roll, leave a nasty taste in the mouth.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was rewatching <i>Big Bad Wolves</i> last night and it struck me how light-hearted a film about torturing a potential paedophile can be. The tone is spot on throughout and despite numerous scenes of rough torture it is always balanced by very dark touches of humour. Because it is not clear until the end whether the poor fellow is a paedophile or not, the viewer is never put in a position where there are being asked to enjoy the torture. For the majority of the film I was asking the question, but what if he's not guilty? It's a great example of a possibly nasty film ending up as an enjoyable slice of horror.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other films that walk the fine line between nastiness and entertaining are <i>Martyrs</i> (some may say it falls on the nasty side but I think that it manages not to... just), <i>I Spit on your Grave </i>(2010) and <i>The Woman </i>(although the guy in the clip below may disagree). So there are fine examples of modern films that get the fact that horror films should be entertaining and leave the viewer satisfied, even if it's in a bleak, devastated way (<i>The Mist</i>, we're looking at you).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I seem to have watched quite a few horrors over recent years that fall foul of the nastiness factor. <i>The Hills Have Eyes </i>(2006) was gruesome and upsetting but was entirely watchable. The sequel meanwhile was generally unpleasant and completely got the tone wrong, especially towards the end. It's a grubby little film that I'd like to forget. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As with the above example it's the bad treatment of women (or animals) that can lead to this nastiness. (I know, the three films mentioned earlier as shining examples all contain the mistreatment of women, but they all are constructed to get the viewer firmly on the side of the women, hence the reason why they're shining examples.) <i>Big Tits Zombie</i> (do I need to say any more?) is a cynical and dirty grubby little film that revels in its portrayal of women as sex objects. Surprisingly it has made it into the top ten posts on this very blog. I don't know why I bother writing all this stuff, maybe I should just post pictures of semi-clad ladies being worried by badly made-up zombies and have done with it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are other examples such as <i>Snowtown</i>, the dire <i>Saw</i>, <i>Donkey Punch </i>(possibly more of a thriller than a horror but nasty nonetheless) and <i>Bare Behind Bars</i>, but the worst surely has to be <i>Zombie 108</i>. The role of the female actors is to walk around in hot pants and be abused. Their lack of character means that the viewer isn't being asked </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by the film-makers </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">to be empathetic. In fact, it feels more as if the director wants you to enjoy it. Filthy sweaty dirty grubby unsanitary little film.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So why do they make films like this. I think that it's a combination of lack of budget, imagination and talent. It's hard to make a well crafted horror film that covers all of the bases I'm writing about in these features, so I think that some film-makers substitute quality horror for being as nasty as they can with a cynical eye on the money making potential of these products. Also, you have to wonder about what sort of person would make a film like <i>Zombie 108</i>. A filthy </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">sweaty dirty grubby unsanitary little person, possibly?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Film-makers, I want to enjoy your films, I really do. I want to see film after film that entertain me, make me laugh, or maybe even horrify me. Just don't send me away wanting to scrub my mind with some industrial strength vintage Jif.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Reading:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/review-zombie-creeping-flesh-1980-dir.html">Zombie Creeping Flesh</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/review-big-bad-wolves-2013-dir-aharon.html">Big Bad Wolves</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-martyrs-2008-dir-pascal-laugier.html">Martyrs</a> </i>(Doccortex review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/review-martyrs-part-2-2008-dir-pascal.html">Martyrs</a> </i>(My review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/review-i-spit-on-your-grave-2010-dir.html">I Spit on your Grave</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/review-woman-2011-dir-lucky-mckee.html">The Woman</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/mist-2007-dir-frank-darabont.html">The Mist</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/review-big-tits-zombie-2010-dir-takao.html">Big Tits Zombie</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/review-snowtown-2011-dir-justin-curzel.html">Snowtown</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/review-donkey-punch-2008-dir-oliver.html">Donkey Punch</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/bare-behind-bars-1980-dir-oswaldo-de.html">Bare Behind Bars</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/review-zombie-108-2012-dir-joe-chien.html">Zombie 108</a></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-22782373665502511712015-02-26T17:32:00.001+00:002015-02-26T17:32:49.275+00:00Feature - The Death of Horror? - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Part 2</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the last feature we looked at why atmosphere is so important in horror films, yet is sadly lacking in many modern horrors. This time I'm going to focus on another area that I feel is essential in any great genre film:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Robert McKee's screenwriting book, 'Story', he argues that characters don't need to be likeable but as an audience we have to be able to empathise with them. I'd go with that in many genres but with horror films, I think the characters have to be likeable. It makes it so much more distressing when they are put in horrific situations. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's for a moment consider <i>The Beyond</i>. The plot is fairly non-existent and the script doesn't give any of the actors a lot to work with. But in the casting of Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck, Fulci manages to bring that much needed likeability factor into the film. Both of them bring such warmth to their characters that the ending is pretty hard to bear. (It has been known to bring a tear to my eye. Or maybe that's just my over-tight Jockey y-fronts.) Without them the film wouldn't be anywhere near as good. It's a similar story with Fulci's other classic zombie films too.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another film that benefits from great characters is <i>The Mist</i>. The final act is really harsh and bleak (just what I like) because the characters have been developed throughout to be realistic and likeable. The script and the casting gel to create a situation where the viewer really feels for the characters. Drayton's pain is palpable. The final twist puts the top hat on it. (It always makes me chuckle.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Martyrs</i> is a film where the main character didn't strike me as particularly likeable. Not that she's unlikeable but she hasn't got the warm quality of the two actors above, a little nondescript to might say. Nevertheless I could empathise with her and so what she has to go through is hard to watch indeed. Imagine the impact the film would have had if she had been really likeable. Painful in the extreme. And a better experience for it. (In horror terms anyway.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now let's have a look at a recent horror film that was supposedly a game changer: <i>You're Next</i>. All of the characters were irritating in their own way and as a consequence I couldn't care less what happened to them. The lead was a strong female character (commendable), who was strong at the start and strong at the end. Mmm, not much character development there. The film has a very beige look and my feelings about the lead are the same: she's beige. Ripley is a way more interesting heroine and hence <i>Alien</i> is in a completely different class in terms of its characters, and this is from a film where the characters are not exactly fleshed out. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many modern horror films seem to be going down the route of having really irritating characters and for me, this makes me lose interest instantly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Tucker & Dale vs. Evil</i> plays with this common horror failing and has a group of really irritating teens driving into mountain man territory moaning about their lack of alcohol. But in this case, the hillbillies are the characters that we grow to love. I won't say any more but the script has a lot of fun with the familiar horror cliches. This ploy can only work once though before it also becomes dull. Great characters are still needed in new horror films.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There has to be an exception and here it is: <i>The Wicker Man</i>. Let's face facts, if you wanted someone to have a pint and a laugh with, then Lord Summerisle's your man. Sgt. Howie is more of a 'tea and cake at a local church fair' kind of guy. The apple eating scene where they discuss the islanders' way of life is brilliant because I always have a good laugh at Howie with Lord Summerisle. He's so pompous and uptight that his reaction to the sight of the naked girls is priceless. The whole film for me is spent like this, taking the proverbial out of Howie. And then the ending comes... It's so horrific that it doesn't matter what kind of bloke Howie is. The viewer is right there with him feeling his pain and feeling slightly guilty at laughing at him throughout the film. It is a rare film that manages this feat and <i>The Wicker Man </i>is certainly one of a kind.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's all well and good watching a slasher film solely to see the death scenes, the characters are of virtually no importance (apart from their ability to bleed copiously). But these experiences are the popcorn of the horror world: switch off brain, watch murders, laugh a bit, forget it. Great horror films, that stay with us, need great characters that we care about. If not we veer into the slasher film mentality at best. At worst we turn off, knowing that there's no point spending our precious time with lots of gormless irritants. A bit like <i>Big Brother </i>really.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So come on filmmakers, give us some horror films with characters that we truly care about, who we want to do well in life, and maybe retire to a little caravan on a beach in Malibu like Rockford. That way, when your baddie is threatening their middles with a chainsaw we might actually care.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Reading:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review -<a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/review-beyond-1981-dir-lucio-fulci.html"> The Beyond</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/mist-2007-dir-frank-darabont.html">The Mist</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-martyrs-2008-dir-pascal-laugier.html">Martyrs</a> (Doccortex review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/review-martyrs-part-2-2008-dir-pascal.html">Martyrs</a> ( My review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Feature - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/feature-youre-next-2011-dir-adam.html">You're Next vs. The Innkeepers</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/review-tucker-dale-vs-evil-2010-dir-eli.html">Tucker & Dale vs. Evil</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-24959776799867485702015-02-20T16:51:00.001+00:002015-02-20T17:17:36.927+00:00Feature - The Death of Horror?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have had a love of horror films since being very young. I was given a book about horror films (mainly Hammer films as I remember) containing lots of lurid images for one of my early birthdays. (One of my favourites images was the sewn up autopsy bloke from <i>The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue</i>.) The photos of headless corpses were the most worrying for a young little fellow like me. Yet I kept going back to the book and taking another sneaky peek. It was like an addiction. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what is it about horror that makes me love it so much? Why do I want to watch things that occasionally make me feel uncomfortable and slightly disturbed? And why has my interest in horror plummeted recently? Is horror dead? I sincerely hope not.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If <i>Asmodexia</i> is anything to go by, then yes, horror is dead.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In this feature (split into multiple posts), I'm going to pull together some ideas that I've written about in these very pages before, along with some new stuff to explain this phenomenon. Let's start with what I think is the most important component of a good horror film:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Atmosphere</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where would horror films be without a great atmosphere? Probably in the bargain bin at Poundland. Here's the definition for 'atmosphere': "the dominant mood or emotional tone of a work of art". Sounds easy enough, but a great atmosphere is something that only a select few horror films have.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So many aspects of filmmaking work together to create the atmosphere, from pre-production all the way through to post, that it must be tricky to deliver a coherent and consistent atmosphere. The script, direction, acting, setting, effects, sound design and possibly most importantly, the music all go towards making that oh-so-elusive atmosphere. There is one more aspect that contributes but I'll come back to it later.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some films have managed this tricky balancing act brilliantly: <i>The Beyond</i>, <i>Deep Red</i>, <i>The Thing</i>, <i>The Mist</i>, <i>Quatermass and the Pit</i> and the King of Atmosphere, <i>The Wicker Man</i>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's take <i>The Wicker Man</i> as an example. If the atmosphere was magically stripped out would this film still be revered now? Probably not. Even changing one element, the music, would have a massive effect on the impact of the film. Imagine <i>The Wicker Man </i>set to the music from <i>Beverley Hills Cop</i> and you get the idea. The tone of sheer dread pulls the viewer through the film to the inevitable climax; it really couldn't end any other way. (Some people involved in the production, mentioning no names, wanted to change the ending to a more positive one. Completely clueless.) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Atmosphere is so important, that it can turn an otherwise average film into a great one. And vice versa. Occasionally I will watch a film that I think is okay, no great shakes, but not bad. Then weeks later it will creep back into my head and I have to watch it one more time. This happens again and again. I tell myself that it's not that great yet I can't help myself. <i>The Pack</i> is a great example of a film that has stuck with me. The atmosphere makes it an experience that I just want to spend time with. Compare this with<i> </i>a film like <i>Peacock</i> that has many good qualities, and I was pleased to have watched it, but it doesn't have what it takes to bring me back time after time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So what is the mystery ingredient? Well it's something that is distinctly lacking in modern horrors: the film stock used. There's something about the look of older films - from the seventies especially - that is stunningly gorgeous and incredibly cinematic. This is probably why no-one wants a remake of <i>Suspiria</i>. It would look way too shiny and antiseptic, whereas the original is rich, lush, saturated and very atmospheric. The Fulci zombie films are other fine examples. I would possibly argue that the recent blu-ray of <i>The Beyond</i>, while still a delight to behold, still misses a bit of grain. They should transfer a copy from VHS, or a dodgy old print as an extra just to bring back that forbidden feeling of the video nasty. I'd watch it. Modern film stocks are just too good. They are perfect for glossy science fiction epics and the Marvel superhero films, but completely lack any atmosphere for horrors. At the other end of the scale, low budget horrors shot in a digital format feel completely soulless. So modern horrors have got that hurdle to overcome before they even start.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Music, as a major contributor to the overall atmosphere, is another area where modern horrors are found wanting. Can you think of a great soundtrack to a new horror film? I can't. Going back to <i>The Beyond</i>, I would argue that without the haunting score it would get a lot lower rating than with the usual death metal type score that have been desperately overused in low budget </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">zombie films now. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(And indeed some big budget zombie films - the remake of <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> perhaps?) It would go from 10/10 to probably 5/10. The music is that important to me. In the same way that modern production techniques and film stocks spoil horror films, modern music production techniques also work against them. Great for techno type stuff, that should be cutting edge shiny, but useless for creating any kind of disturbing feelings in the audience. Horror benefits greatly from analogue media.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the coming year I'm going to watch a fair few horror films, both old and new, and try to find one that I love. Just one and I'd be happy. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If anyone out there knows of a horror film (recent or otherwise) with a great atmosphere, let me know and I'll give it a try. I'm desperate to find one but I seem to be struggling. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next time we'll have a look at another aspect of horror films that used to be great but is now a bit duff. See you then.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Reading:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/review-living-dead-at-manchester-morgue.html">The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/review-beyond-1981-dir-lucio-fulci.html">The Beyond</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/review-deep-red-1975-dir-dario-argento.html">Deep Red</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/mist-2007-dir-frank-darabont.html">The Mist</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/review-quatermass-and-pit-1967-dir-roy.html">Quatermass and the Pit</a></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/review-pack-2010-franck-richard.html">The Pack</a> </i>(Doccortex review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/pack-2010-dir-franck-richard.html">The Pack</a></i> (evlkeith review)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review - <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/review-dawn-of-dead-2004-dir-zack-snyder.html">Dawn of the Dead</a> </i>(2004)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Feature - <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Celluloid%20Screams%202014">Celluloid Screams 2014</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-46196360593785736002015-02-08T16:28:00.000+00:002015-02-08T16:28:34.931+00:00Mini-Review - Stalker (1979 - Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you appreciate and get this film (as many people seem to) then that's all well and good. For me it was two and a half hours of people wandering around in fields, stopping for a long chat about existential type stuff that for me was virtually indecipherable, and then having another little wander around. And then another little chat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some beautiful visuals made it watchable, but despite the massive presence of fog it was strangely lacking in atmosphere. This is my first Tarkovsky film and I'm not that keen. When I'm after my slow ponderous film fix I think I'll stick with a bit of Werner Herzog.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4/10</span></div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-57516116549285282722015-02-05T16:36:00.000+00:002015-02-05T16:36:28.568+00:00Mini-Review - Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack (2012 - Dir. Takayuki Hirao)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Due to the time pressures of not having been too well recently and trying to get more painting done to start a new art career, I've been struggling to get many reviews written. So what I've decided is that I'll write longer reviews for really good (or bad) films and for the more average of offerings, I will do a little mini-review. Here we go then with my first. <i>Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack</i>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-size: large;">It all starts off as pretty bonkers, yet entertaining, with scenes of fish walking on metallic legs attacking people left, right and centre and even a cheeky threesome (fish not included).</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-size: large;">Then, at about the halfway point, the fish creatures are replaced by human creatures and the whole thing - whilst continuing the bonkers theme - falls apart into a turgid mess. A disappointment after the promising first half.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-size: large;">2/10</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">evlkeith</span></div>
</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-2230578373617190432015-02-05T16:18:00.002+00:002015-02-05T16:18:57.661+00:00Feature - The Battle of the Seasons Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The FA Cup of Actors has been a long season but let's find out how it fares against our other lovely seasons:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">13. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Luc%20Besson%20Season">The Luc Besson Season</a> = 2 (Average rating for the entire season)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">12. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Musical%20Season">The Musical Season</a> = 3.2</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">11. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Sword%20and%20Sorcery%20Season">The Sword and Sorcery Season</a> = 4.4</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">10. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%2080s%20Prison%20Season">The 80s Prison Season</a> = 4.6</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">9. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">The FA Cup of Actors</a> = 4.8</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">8. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Year%20of%20the%20Dead">Year of the Dead</a> = 5.3</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">7. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ladies%27%20Night%20Season">Ladies' Night Season</a> = 5.4</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">6. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Gritty%20Season">The Gritty Season</a> = 6.4</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Dario%20Argento%20Season">The Dario Argento Season</a> = 6.6</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Buddy%20Movie%20Season">The Buddy Movie Season</a> = 7</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Mark%20Dacascos%20Season">The Mark Dacascos Season</a> = 7 </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Christmas%20Season">The Christmas Season</a> = 7.3</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Fog%20Season">The Fog Season</a> = 8</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The Mark Dacascos Season is placed above The Buddy Movie Season due to it having five films in it, compared to The Buddy's three.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />So it slots in just below our other year long season, The Year of the Dead with an average rating of 4.8. That's an accurate assessment of what felt like a generally average experience. I was hoping for better, but never mind.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-18611601435824498262015-01-29T17:55:00.001+00:002015-01-29T17:55:01.541+00:00Feature - New Year Honours List 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many apologies for the lateness of this but I thought that I'd better wait to see who'd won the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. Although in a truly perverse <b>obscurendure</b> fashion the winner isn't included in this list. In fact, neither of the finalists are. Some people get on the Queen's honours list because they've done really well at the olympics, won loads of awards or they're dead posh. But here, we like to champion the underdog.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Click <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/p/new-year.html">here</a> to find out who's included.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-1053580779547875262015-01-24T10:36:00.001+00:002015-01-24T10:36:52.698+00:00Feature - The FA Cup of Actors Grand Crowning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56VgcxYPS680zprB6Vck3OfbCoNyZh7qbPiAonKRiaV5WuRx7JUTsaUiFL3Z51v5_wWr100ZUFH4i6iO0g1za-JZ0BWvR6NedWKsD3-zDyxH85Hw2eeLTTTGK8h-dG3d1FxIVBTKU2y16/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56VgcxYPS680zprB6Vck3OfbCoNyZh7qbPiAonKRiaV5WuRx7JUTsaUiFL3Z51v5_wWr100ZUFH4i6iO0g1za-JZ0BWvR6NedWKsD3-zDyxH85Hw2eeLTTTGK8h-dG3d1FxIVBTKU2y16/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" height="161" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's been a long competition (longer than I thought, anyway) but it's finally over. It was a tough final battle but a victor has emerged, (cue jaunty fanfare on a piccolo) - the winner of <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">The FA Cup of Actors</a> is... </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ellen Page</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can tell she's won because she's wearing the Queen hat.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite winning the competition, I've actually gone off Ellen Page quite a bit. Her performances are generally the same, and when she does deviate she can become a tad irritating, like in <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/review-smart-people-2008-dir-noam-murro.html">Smart People</a></i>. It will be interesting to see what she does as she gets older. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If only I'd been able to review <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/review-pack-2010-franck-richard.html">The Pack</a>,</i> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne would have won easily. (It's ironic because Doccortex would have preferred it if Page had lost.) Dequenne's performances throughout have been pure quality. But it's all down to the films that the actors have chosen to work on that decides their fate. And Ellen Page has chosen well: <i>Super</i>, <i>Juno</i>, <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/review-east-2013-dir-zal-batmanglij.html">The East</a></i>, <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/review-whip-it-2009-dir-drew-barrymore.html">Whip It</a></i>, <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-peacock-2010-dir-michael-lander.html">Peacock</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/review-hard-candy-2005-dir-david-slade.html">Hard Candy</a></i> are all solid films (and no, despite Page being the best thing about it <i>Inception</i> was useless). I haven't seen the more recent X-Men films yet although they may improve her ranking further.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Although I have my misgivings, she's still won, beating off a slew of quality actors. So well done Ellen Page, you are the Queen.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-74462942237668873492015-01-22T19:53:00.002+00:002015-01-22T19:53:23.288+00:00Review - The Pack (2010 - Franck Richard)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>(Due to the fact that I've already reviewed The Pack, the competition rules state that Doccortex has to review it instead. So here's the final review of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a> as </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Émilie Dequenne</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> faces Ellen Page, who scored a respectable 6.5 with The East - evlkeith)</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s the
final of the FA cup of actors and I’m faced with reviewing this offering from
the tournament favourite <span class="itemprop"><span style="color: white; text-decoration: none;">Émilie Dequenne</span></span> with equal amounts of anticipation and
trepidation. After her steadfast campaign through to the final of the World’s
premier acting knockout competition, her ultimate success relies on what I think
of this grubby looking little horror film. My hopes are not high, but maybe her
impressive pedigree in the game will pull her through this final challenge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s
strangely likeable for a French horror film but no less predictable, with
grotesque characters performing unspeakable horrors to passersby in the rural
heartland of the country. Dequenne, however somehow manages to hold our
interest with a smouldering, tobacco stained performance as the hapless road
tripper Charlotte. She single-handedly turns the film from something I would
have mercilessly fast forwarded into a positive experience holding your
hand as you charge headlong through a nightmare world of fat women in chain
mail, hell’s angels and miners. (Yes, that’s coal miners.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The rest of
the cast, action and plot seem to swirl around her classy performance in a
somewhat shambolic fashion. After picking up a mysterious hitch hiker Charlotte
ends up a captive in a dubious bar/café establishment which not only serves up
croissants, coffee and onions to French rural folk, but also acts as a feeding
station for a gang of mutant zombie coal miners who rise from the earth now and
again for a bite to eat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although the miners are heavily stylised and
moderately ferocious they’re no way near a frightening as their South Yorkshire
cousins who chased me around a local golf course as a teenager due to the ‘Did
you shout fore?!’ incident. Needless to say it all ends in tears as bikers, fat
woman, zombie miners and an attractive French actress all meet up for the shack
based resolution rumble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s a cut
above the other French horror films I’ve viewed due the dark humour, the atmosphere
and Dequenne’s excellent performance. Ultimately it’s fun, a little gory and
engaging stuff but lacks anything particularly memorable or especially scary,
(and to be honest evlkeith’s <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/pack-2010-dir-franck-richard.html">original review</a> was way more entertaining than the
actual film!) And for that reason…I’m sorry Emily because you were great…I’m
rating the film just a little better than average at 6/10. I just hope that’s
enough but I know how highly evl rates Page so I'm not hopeful…</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doccortex</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>How close was that? It all came down to half a point. But Ellen Page is the winner of the FA Cup of Actors. We will have the crowning ceremony soon... - evlkeith</i></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-36245880825090691782015-01-11T10:30:00.000+00:002015-01-15T21:22:27.999+00:00Review - The East (2013 - Dir. Zal Batmanglij)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And so we get to the final of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actorshttp://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. Ellen Pages pits her wily scissor kick skills against the solidity of Émilie Dequenne's back four. Ellen Page kicks off with her effort - which I'd fancied watching for a while - <i>The East</i>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sarah (Brit Marling, who also co-wrote this along with starring in <b>obscurendure </b>favourite <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/review-another-earth-2011-dir-mike.html">Another Earth</a></i>) works for an elite intelligence firm looking after the interests of their big business clients. She is tasked with infiltrating a group of anarchists, The East, who have been naughtily upsetting these big business types, for example, pouring a load of oil into the house of the CEO of a company that has allowed a huge oil spillage in the ocean; an eye for an eye, no more, no less. As often happens in these situations, Sarah becomes attached to the group and everything gets a bit morally grey.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This for me was the greatest aspect of this film; I was constantly thinking about whether what The East were doing was justified or not. There is no doubt about the companies being entirely dodgy - as they generally are - but do they deserve some of the group's punishments? And just as Sarah becomes emotionally involved with the members, so does the viewer. It's all rather cleverly done. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Initially I was thinking that both Brit Marling and Ellen Page had been miscast. I just couldn't see them being part of this group. As the plot develops it turns out that the members all came from middle class families, but they were sick of the consumer crazy madness we now live in and the companies that drive it. They go dumpster diving to get their food, and they don't do too bad. I'm not convinced I could do it though. Added to this the characters in the group all have a grudge to bear against one of the corporations they are up against, so by the end the casting was spot on.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But given that this is Ellen Page's entry she isn't actually in it that much, and it isn't one of her better performances. If she goes on to win the competition, she has done so on the back of far greater performances than her own: Brit Marling's here and Cillian Murphy's in <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-peacock-2010-dir-michael-lander.html">Peacock</a></i>. Even so, the FA Cup has been about how wisely the actors choose their projects so it's maybe fair enough.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But Brit Marling owns this film. She goes from company drone to portraying a full on anarchist in a very convincing manner. She flits between the different states as she goes back to her real life. Through her acting it is easy to see her attachments growing to the group, but is she able to keep enough of a distance to continue doing her job professionally?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Easily the worst thing about <i>The East</i> is the most useless, tame version of spin the bottle I've ever seen. It's rubbish. There's plenty of hugging and a bit of lady kissing lady action. But the kinkiest it gets is when one character kisses a lady's belly button. Once. Big deal. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The East</i> gives the viewer plenty to think about after the film has finished, which is pleasant. (It makes you wonder whether the actors involved lead a less consumer driven lifestyle now.) But this film is more likely to change someone's viewpoint (as <i>Fight Club</i> changed mine) than <i>Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy</i>. It's the moral quandaries that raise this above the average and give it a healthy rating of...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6.5/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dawn of the Dead, Fight Club.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-65643856550710563432015-01-05T19:05:00.002+00:002015-01-05T19:05:31.985+00:00Feature - evlkeith's Top Ten Films of 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoGNn1xVtIk8BYsG0UWXvdy7sK4vjd0NUa8Sg3NQntocaEUFWOg1LEOkSwj7PAwaPZNr6K4ad919CXTmarppzLHAliZpNtUtVC8BJGcPC3qV-UQw14dheMdVcCvybtiU9QlFQj4J9egVf/s1600/2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoGNn1xVtIk8BYsG0UWXvdy7sK4vjd0NUa8Sg3NQntocaEUFWOg1LEOkSwj7PAwaPZNr6K4ad919CXTmarppzLHAliZpNtUtVC8BJGcPC3qV-UQw14dheMdVcCvybtiU9QlFQj4J9egVf/s1600/2014.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's been a funny year for film watching antics. I've seen absolutely loads but I haven't got around to reviewing some of the more choice offerings. Once the FA Cup of Actors is over I'll finally get round to writing about some of the films shown below in last year's top ten.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">10. Space Battleship Yamato</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This live action adaptation of an anime series has some quality space battles but is let down by some slow talky bits near the end. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">9. Drive</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Surprisingly violent driving film that owes more to westerns than <i>The French Connection</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">8. Stories We Tell</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sarah Polley tells the story of her family using photos, video footage and reconstructions. A touching film.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">7. Red Cliff</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An epic historical sword-a-thon that has some quality action sequences and humour.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">6. I Was Monty's Double</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can remember watching this with my granddad when I was about six. I enjoyed it then, but I love it even more now.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5. Our Children</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Emotionally gut wrenching drama starring one of our finalists in the FA Cup of Actors.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4. Oblivion</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Far more intelligent (and slow paced) than the average Hollywood blockbuster, this is a film that I've seen a few times already.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3. Wolf Children</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Halfway through this touching anime by this excellent Mamoru Hosoda, I thought I'd got the rest of the plot sussed. I was wrong.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. Grave of the Fireflies</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If anyone is in any doubt that anime can be for adults, give this a watch. Haunting and heartbreaking.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wasn't keen on the first film but this is much, much better. It's more like a seventies spy thriller than the usual superhero stuff. Plus Black Widow and Nick Fury get a lot more to do.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-15768188155770532612015-01-02T19:27:00.001+00:002015-02-05T16:23:08.445+00:00Feature - The FA Cup of Actors - The Final<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlemHesmc4NFq1voY6z8bZYCCK91jtV9n5PjjBvxy0Yn9hTHwlmwcDmukYJv_IMO_GRHLh1u9qManWy1rLt4yDJ5-nITZGClsGCTf8M2UCf7yMOUqo2Xa3hQLewv9g7gnX0JGJUnaXclOa/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlemHesmc4NFq1voY6z8bZYCCK91jtV9n5PjjBvxy0Yn9hTHwlmwcDmukYJv_IMO_GRHLh1u9qManWy1rLt4yDJ5-nITZGClsGCTf8M2UCf7yMOUqo2Xa3hQLewv9g7gnX0JGJUnaXclOa/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" height="161" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's been a long year but here we are at the final of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. Let's have a look at how our two finalists have arrived at this illustrious venue (for the respective reviews, just click on the titles):</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Ellen Page</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Round 1 - Natalie Portman vs. <b style="background-color: yellow;">Ellen Page</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/review-hesher-2010-dir-spencer-susser.html">Hesher</a> - 6/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/review-whip-it-2009-dir-drew-barrymore.html">Whip It</a> - 7/10 </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Round 2 - Radha Mitchell vs. <b style="background-color: yellow;">Ellen Page</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> </b><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/review-melinda-and-melinda-2004-dir.html">Melinda and Melinda</a> - 3/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/review-smart-people-2008-dir-noam-murro.html">Smart People</a> - 6/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Semi - <b style="background-color: yellow;">Ellen Page</b> vs. Jennifer Connelly </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-peacock-2010-dir-michael-lander.html">Peacock</a> - 6/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-dark-water-2005-dir-walter-salles.html">Dark Water</a> - 5/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><b><u>Émilie Dequenne</u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Round 1 - Nathan Fillion vs. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: lime; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><b>Émilie Dequenne</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><b> </b><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/review-slither-2006-dir-james-gunn.html">Slither</a> - 6/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/review-our-children-2012-dir-joachim.html">Our Children</a> - 8/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Round 2 - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: lime; font-weight: bold;">Émilie Dequenne</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;"><b> </b> vs. Barbara Crampton</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;"> <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/review-girl-on-train-2009-dir-andre.html">The Girl on the Train</a> - 6/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/review-robot-wars-1993-dir-albert-band.html">Robot Wars</a> - 2/10</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;">Semi - </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: lime; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Émilie Dequenne</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">vs. James Stewart</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-ecoute-le-temps-2006-dir-alante.html">Écoute le Temps</a> - 6/10 <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-mr-hobbs-takes-vacation-1962-dir.html">Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #134f5c;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">- 5/10</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are some lovely statistics:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Ellen Page</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Average rating = 6.3</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Highest rated film = Whip It - 7/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Goal difference = 5</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b><u>Émilie Dequenne</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Average rating = 6.7</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Highest rated film = Our Children - 8/10</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Goal difference = 7</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dequenne is still the favourite, although it could be closer than once expected. Ellen Page didn't actually contribute that much to the quality of <i>Smart People </i>or <i>Peacock </i>and a case could be put forward that she shouldn't even be in the final. But she is in <i>Hard Candy</i>, <i>X-Men: Days of Future Past</i>, <i>Juno </i>and <i>Super</i>, so she's got some half decent films still in her arsenal. Dequenne meanwhile has been solid in each of her films, although the rarity (and cost - one is over a hundred quid on Amazon) of some of her films may limit her final selection. Only time will tell as we enter the final stage of the competition.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-2360722315756760772014-12-31T11:20:00.001+00:002014-12-31T11:20:52.961+00:00Review - Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962 - Dir. Henry Koster)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So James Stewart didn't get one of his powerhouse films in his random selection then (<i>Vertigo</i>, <i>Anatomy of a Murder</i>). I wouldn't be too happy going into the semi-final of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actorshttp://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a> with <i>Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation</i>, especially being up against </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne. But that's what he's been given so we better get on with it (even though it sounds like some kind of Chevy Chase film).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Banker Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) plans on taking his wife on a lovely holiday, just the two of them (kinky devil). She has other plans and he ends up on a month long holiday with his whole family. Roger is not too pleased. He turns things around by seeing it as a chance to get his family back together and get them to see the true importance of family. Good luck with that mate.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Everything about this film screams the sixties: the supporting cast, the oh-so-polite teenage dance, and the music by Henry Mancini. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this has the feel of an American sitcom from that period where everyone claps when someone enters the room. The comedy for the most part is smile worthy at best. Apart from one moment which had me rolling about laughing (it's a shame that no-one else will).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The scene in question is when Roger goes out on a bird watching trip with his son-in-law's prospective boss, Mr Turner (in a strange interview process, the boss man spends three days with the family on holiday to get a feel for their moral fibre). When Roger begins to tire, Turner picks him up (not literally) on his walking style. He demonstrates how to walk with the knees bent, keeping the head parallel to the ground in a walking version of the economy run. Roger does this walk for a fair while, which had me chuckling away no end. (I did say that no-one else will probably find this funny due to the vastly obscure nature of the 'economy run' reference.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">One worrying aspect of the film is the casting of Lauri Peters as Roger's daughter who is in her early teens. For starters, she was in her late teens when she made this, but far worse is the plasticky quality of her skin and the fact that she has to do this strange gurning smile (all as part of the script admittedly). She ends up looking like a deranged toothless auton.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">One of my favourite sequences involves Roger taking his son on a boat trip and getting lost in the fog (you know I can't resist a good mist.) It adds a much needed slice of variety in the middle of the film and although everyone in the whole universe knows that they're going to be fine, it's still enough to be engaging.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">But it's got James Stewart in it so it can't be all bad. He's got the amazing super power of being able to raise any film that he's in up to at least average. He does so here, yet sadly it's not enough to knock out the lovely </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne, who only managed 6/10 herself with <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-ecoute-le-temps-2006-dir-alante.html">her entry</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">5/10</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, Magic Town.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-33746955274781025012014-12-29T11:04:00.000+00:002014-12-29T11:04:06.500+00:00Review - Écoute le Temps (2006 - Dir. Alanté Kavaïté)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the second semi-final of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a> the young challenger </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne faces off against screen legend James Stewart. Who will come out on top?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Being a native French speaker I can easily translate the title without even the sneekiest of peeks at a English/French dictionary. <i>Cut the Temperature </i>is a biopic focussing on the early disastrous cake baking attempts of Mary Berry. Burning sweet food products is her speciality until an evil hunchbacked Cornish Pisky makes a deal with her: Mary's cakes will be perfectly cooked and to be generous, he will even throw in the ability to knock up gorgeous salad dressings. The downside is that Mary has to suffer with a permanently itchy bumhole. (Watch her on 'The Great British Bake Off', she's forever having a crafty scratch. Possibly.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">I think that the DVD distributor must have put the wrong disc into my box because the film I watched was very different to the above, more to do with listening to time. (Don't know where they got that from?) But despite the lack of Mary Berry this is actually a pretty ingenious film.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Charlotte's (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne) mum - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">rumour has it in the local village community that she was a witch - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">has been murdered and Charlotte moves back into her old house to investigate. Everyone in the village is a suspect. Being a sound recordist, Charlottes starts to record the creaking in the dilapidated house. Imagine her surprise when the recordings turn out to be conversations that happened in the past - hence the listening to time thingy. Examining these conversations, Charlotte starts to piece together what has happened to her mum.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The cover had me interested from the start, looking like something from a bank heist or spy thriller. The criss-crossing threads have an altogether more interesting use linked to the time travelling sounds. As with <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/review-peacock-2010-dir-michael-lander.html">Peacock</a></i> it has made a pleasant change to watch a film that tries something different.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Despite the engaging premise this film never hits the viewer with a startling twist or a stunning revelation. Charlotte just plods along finding clue after clue until she works out who the cheeky murderer is. No thrilling finale to be had here.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">This isn't one of Dequenne's finest performances but it's by no means bad. It's very solid within the parameters of the script. But the lack of anything of real quality happening within the final third could have left an opening for James Stewart. If <i>Vertigo </i>or <i>Anatomy of a Murder</i> comes up for him, it's goodbye to the competition favourite </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">6/10</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">evlkeith</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">White Noise, <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/pack-2010-dir-franck-richard.html">The Pack</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-61539849082206252272014-12-18T19:35:00.001+00:002014-12-18T19:35:12.338+00:00Review - Dark Water (2005 - Dir. Walter Salles)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's Jennifer Connelly's shot at gaining a place in the illustrious final of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. I'm quite glad that this came up as it's something that I'd fancied seeing for a while. I saw the original version some time ago and thought that it was suitably creepy and generally okay. Let's see what I make of this American remake of <i>Dark Water </i>(or to give it its title in Yorkshire: <i>Dark Watter</i>).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) is splitting up from her husband (Dougray Scott) and taking her little girl Ceci (Ariel Gade of <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/review-some-guy-who-kills-people-2011.html">Some Guy Who Kills People</a> </i>fame) with her to a new apartment. It's a shame that a dodgy estate agent (John C. Reilly) convinces her to rent an apartment in an entirely dubious location and it is run down in the extreme. It would be an understatement to say that damp is a problem. As things get worse for Dahlia, both in the flat and in her personal relationships, lawyer Jeff Platzer (Tim Roth) is on hand to advise.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is one long slow burn of a film; think <i>House of the Devil</i> long burn. I quite like it for that alone. Not having any kind of attention disorder, I can cope with things gradually unfolding. Eventually slow burners need to reach a point where something great or shocking happens but like the aforementioned film, <i>Dark Water</i> doesn't get to that point.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The most potentially interesting relationship in the film is between Dahlia and her lawyer. Platzer's office is his car and he goes to the cinema on his own to see films like a real saddo. (You wouldn't catch me doing things like that. Not this week anyway. There's nothing on.) Yet he is a real professional and does a great job of sorting Dahlia's problems out. This was the most engaging thing for me but their relationship never gets resolved; Platzer just seems to drop out of the film in the final stages.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jennifer Connelly does a good job of being a paranoid migraine sufferer. She doesn't quite go as deep as her role in <i>Requiem for a Dream</i> but you feel for her as her world falls apart. Her relationship with her daughter Ceci is also convincing. It doesn't harm things that she looks as though she could be Ariel Gade's real-life mother. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The less said about Pete Postlethwaite's accent the better.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The question for a large portion of the film is whether the spooky goings on are supernatural or psychological. At one point in my life I'd have been desperate for the ghosts to charge out and slime everyone, but now I quite like the idea of it being more ambiguous, with clues littered throughout the film. I won't tell you which route <i>Dark Water</i> goes down.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I half enjoyed this film but be warned, it is very grim. To get a feel for <i>Dark Water</i> go and live in Hull for a month and experience the never-ending rain, the smell of drains and the overwhelming greyness. (I lived in Hull for a few years and loved it despite it's grimness. It's got a shopping centre that is vaguely reminiscent of the Millennium Falcon. What more could you want?) If the ending had been better, it probably would have bumped this up to a six or even seven. But as it stands Connelly just doesn't quite have the attacking power that Page possesses. So Ellen Page is through to the final.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">5/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dark Water (2002), The Ring.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-5968670836928815772014-12-15T12:16:00.000+00:002014-12-15T12:16:09.265+00:00Review - Peacock (2010 - Dir. Michael Lander)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here we are at the semi-finals of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a> then and our first match is between Ellen Page and Jennifer Connelly. Now, when <i>Peacock </i>came up for Ellen Page I thought that she'd blown it. I didn't fancy this in the slightest. I'm not that keen on Susan Sarandon and I haven't liked anything that Cillian Murphy has done, (either of the first two Batman films or "it's not a zombie film" <i>28 Days Later</i>) he's way too slinky for my liking. Things aren't looking good for Pagey (a bit like when half of your players have the flu and the opposition forces you to change ends after the toss).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But crikey, (and maybe even blimy) it's actually not too bad. In fact, it's pretty good. And shock of shocks, Cillian Murphy's performance is great. Let's find out more...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For once I'm going to quote directly from IMDb to give you a little portion of background info: "A train accident in rural Nebraska gradually unveils a mystery involving the town's bank clerk." The reason why I've thieved this is because it gives away nothing, which is dandy. It's good to see that the person writing this knew that to say any more would be to spoil everything about the film.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The director describes this as psychological horror, which I would agree with. It's part drama, part mystery, part thriller and part horror. Fitting it into an existing genre is very difficult, which is generally a good thing; it shows the film-makers have tried something different. Another positive is that the ending is ambiguous leading to plenty of post-film chat.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cillian Murphy is the major revelation of <i>Peacock</i>. This is a mightily impressive performance, without which the film wouldn't work, and at worst would become laughable. One scene in particular, where there is a certain amount of deception going on, borders on stunning. Changing my mind about someone is pretty hard going so well done Mr Murphy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ellen Page, meanwhile, is badly miscast. Her acting is up to her usual standard but I just can't see her as living in a trailer park, and selling her body for cans of Special Brew. Added to that, she doesn't look like a natural born smoker. I can see why they jumped at the chance of having Pagey in their film but for me it was a mistake. If she gets through this semi-final, she's pulled it off by bringing in the ringer Cillian Murphy who should have been in the running for an Oscar.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've found it really hard to give this a rating. It's worth seeing for Murphy's performance alone (which I would give a 9/10). Overall though, I'm glad that I've seen <i>Peacock</i> but it's not a film that I would watch again, basically down to personal taste. If you like <i>Psycho</i> and <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/review-lars-and-real-girl-2007-dir.html">Lars and the Real Girl</a> </i>then you will probably enjoy this. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Psycho, <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/review-lars-and-real-girl-2007-dir.html">Lars and the Real Girl</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-65672072574700890612014-12-07T11:30:00.002+00:002014-12-09T14:08:44.320+00:00Review - Tsotsi (2005 - Dir. Gavin Hood)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When South
African street hoodlum Tsotsi pinches a car from a well-to-do suburban couple
the last thing he expects to find on the back seat is a baby. From this point
on our hero’s life changes on a variety of levels as caring for the infant
conjures up feelings of empathy, memories of his past and his hopes and
aspirations. Yes it’s a little like a gritty version of 'A Christmas Carol', but
how could that ever be a bad thing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film has
its wince inducing moments, firstly as Tsotsi and his gang rampage around Johannesburg
and latterly as he clumsily attempts to care for the baby. Any new parents
could do a lot better than ignoring Tsotsi’s guide to looking after infants,
especially nappy changing, feeding, transporting in a carrier bag and insect infestation.
Ultimately, however the film leaves you with a lovely warm feeling as if you
are soaking in a lovely warm bath of hopefulness for humanity, but without the
candles and Lush bath bomb filth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lead,
Presley Chweneyagae, deserves credit for producing this feel good factor as he
struts around the township eliciting feelings of both fear and sympathy. Like
the rest of his gang, he’s believable, detailed and likeable. Also worthy of
special mention is the lovely Terry Pheto, who portrays a single mum who
befriends Tsotsi. She oozes positivity, love and wholesomeness as if she’s some
kind of supernatural South African earth mother on a mission to save the lost
boys of the township. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a great
film without ever reaching the heights and complexities of <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/city-of-god-2002-dir-fernando-meirelles.html">City of God</a></i>. South
Africa has so much potential for gritty offerings and I’ll definitely be
looking up other options from the country over the next year. Some lovely imagery,
a great soundtrack and a meaningful story means that this is certainly worth a
couple of hours of your time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">7/10</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doccortex</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/city-of-god-2002-dir-fernando-meirelles.html">City of God</a>, <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/review-gomorrah-2008-dir-matteo-garrone.html">Gomorrah</a>. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-20203280174064522582014-11-20T18:08:00.002+00:002014-11-20T18:08:37.280+00:00Review - Broken Arrow (1950 - Dir. Delmer Daves)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRZtxBPBQMIls_Wj8ByiJDGdtV3oWj-SR6JBKyPsR2nJttEtvAIIAe85sCma8RvWVWMaL9xmZrQ002Qy4Ccni_cxhhETqhbMU7cxT9pWQIbS2LOcwXLFN9Vp6ogKfidH3HqD2BGUnTgjK/s1600/movie_posters_20101215_1625399117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRZtxBPBQMIls_Wj8ByiJDGdtV3oWj-SR6JBKyPsR2nJttEtvAIIAe85sCma8RvWVWMaL9xmZrQ002Qy4Ccni_cxhhETqhbMU7cxT9pWQIbS2LOcwXLFN9Vp6ogKfidH3HqD2BGUnTgjK/s1600/movie_posters_20101215_1625399117.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm not that keen on Westerns. Spaghetti Westerns, yes, but not your usual run of the mill Western. (Perhaps that's why this is my first review of one.) So when <i>Broken Arrow </i>came up as James Stewart's randomly selected entry for the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>, I was skeptical and thought that maybe Jamel Debbouze was in with a chance of nicking this match.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">James Stewart plays Tom Jeffords in his standard <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/review-mr-smith-goes-to-washington-1939.html">Mr Smith Goes to Washington</a></i> style (and there's nothing wrong with that). In a twist on the average Cowboys and Indians film where the Indians are subjected to genocide by our heroes, Jeffords befriends his Native American chums on the basis that he's sick of all the scrapping, so he wants everyone to kiss and make up and generally get along with each other. Funnily enough, Cochise (Jeff Chandler), the leader of the Apaches, is suspicious of this outsider and his American buddies want to give him a good kicking for knocking about with untrustworthy savages. It doesn't help that he falls in love with Sonseeahray (Debra Paget).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's start off by getting rid of the obvious problem of the filmmakers using white actors made up to look like Native Americans. It was made in the unenlightened 1950s so we can </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">forgive them this error. But let's face facts, we're better than that now: it would be completely offensive to peddle that kind of thing in current times, especially if you were a massive family film studio, like Disney perhaps.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The plot made for a welcome change and I found myself enjoying it despite my misgivings. The scenery is stunning on occasions and for once The Native Americans aren't portrayed as scalp pilfering psychos but as a mostly noble, honourable group of people. There are a few wrong 'uns but that's fair enough. The settlers meanwhile are generally big racists. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">James Stewart is a consistently bankable fellow and his performance here is no exception. Obviously I haven't seen all of his films but I'm betting that they're all eminently watchable. Here though, he is matched by Chandler, perfectly cast (apart from the skin colour issue) as a strong leader who is willing to negotiate a peace treaty. Paget meanwhile looks a tad young to be Stewart's love interest. In fact, she was born in 1933, so she's only seventeen at most. All a bit dodgy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the final analysis this just pips Jamel's entry sending our plucky underdog out of the competition and despite <i>Broken Arrow </i>never setting the world on fire it is still an above average film deserving an above average...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">6/10</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vertigo, Rear Window.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-45769189150857718722014-11-13T17:49:00.003+00:002014-11-13T19:27:29.716+00:00Review - The Violent Kind (2010 - Dir. The Butcher Brothers)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first
half hour of the film you’re never quite sure what genre the film is heading
for. It’s an unusual and pleasant feeling as we criss-cross from biker gang
violence into spooky supernatural happenings and back again. In fact the first
half of the film is a thoroughly enjoyable romp at the junction of gritty
motorcycle gang street and spirit possession avenue. In fact I had little idea
that this was anything less than a big budget production with some quality
acting, with Cory Knauf and the tasty Taylor Cole the most noticeable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Possibly the
most notable feature of the film is the amount of punching in the face that
takes place. It’s a veritable festival of bare knuckle fist fighting throughout
in a semi-slapstick fashion that reminded me of a combination of <i>Rocky</i>, <i>Bottom</i>
and <i>The Sweeney</i>. A heady cocktail if ever there was one. If you like seeing
people, and sometimes demons, get punched in the face, then you’re in for a
treat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphZbEpoQzXVEGThBRYyr4u9v_WkV60UD-UmYbyID_uIv7a-ztf_Dn8EKhaNJQMKWiAUs7fDvueymphEid-77100OoY45JrFrt0Rl8ztmFKUmeuBGj4YANq5Su4op5qWwuftQTrEdQR4s/s1600/The+Violent+Kind+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphZbEpoQzXVEGThBRYyr4u9v_WkV60UD-UmYbyID_uIv7a-ztf_Dn8EKhaNJQMKWiAUs7fDvueymphEid-77100OoY45JrFrt0Rl8ztmFKUmeuBGj4YANq5Su4op5qWwuftQTrEdQR4s/s400/The+Violent+Kind+2.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly
however, this is a game of two halves and just as the film reaches fever pitch
everything goes pear shaped. After the half time jaffa-cakes it all looks cheap
and amateurish, and not in a good way either. The actors drafted in are not a patch on
the originals and you really want to put your head in your hands, with
Pussywagon and Trixie straight out of pantoland. The plot changes from a decent
horror story into a jazz hands infused, <i>Clockwork Orange</i> meets <i>Grease</i> parody of
<i>Rebel Without a Cause</i> on steroids. In a capitulation not seen since Halifax
Town visited Belle Vue in the early 90’s, the film snatches defeat from the
jaws of victory in a big way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>(That was a bad, bad day - evlkeith)</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmXdoVhvMO29ThaNR1lTLDZA5nQvS4gi9ns4wZuzsWcLleRWF51EFz32OrBC_ZZmY213fNo48zKms7HoWkw9WgOroQuBNSXTcwGNc4mH-KbdcSj9nMfq53jbssVlr1ivXKXtCVHizn_w/s1600/The_Violent_Kind+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmXdoVhvMO29ThaNR1lTLDZA5nQvS4gi9ns4wZuzsWcLleRWF51EFz32OrBC_ZZmY213fNo48zKms7HoWkw9WgOroQuBNSXTcwGNc4mH-KbdcSj9nMfq53jbssVlr1ivXKXtCVHizn_w/s400/The_Violent_Kind+3.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The spooky
and atmospheric ending is too little too late as I was left with a bitter taste
in my mouth, and a feeling that I’d been cheated out of watching the actual
second half of <i>The Violent Kind</i>. If you want to make a rubbish film then make
a rubbish film, but don’t make half a good film then dash our hopes by drafting
in the acting equivalent of Chico and the Cheeky Girls from the X-Factor
halfway through. We were robbed!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">7/10 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">f</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">or the
first half,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> 0/10 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">for the second half. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">0/10 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">overall for cheating us.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Doccortex</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqtLdenNvaaGnllW9Le1TfZqrc-nv_dJuTEoE6v5jF9osiHfCjmxKp1mzhtseCOmn64PLyPB2g39paLx97DZoivaLvLyP18dUjlJXMwOKKheV-917rUVsJqyYp6Cd9W6dPh9uy3Cc-V3x/s1600/0.10doccortex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqtLdenNvaaGnllW9Le1TfZqrc-nv_dJuTEoE6v5jF9osiHfCjmxKp1mzhtseCOmn64PLyPB2g39paLx97DZoivaLvLyP18dUjlJXMwOKKheV-917rUVsJqyYp6Cd9W6dPh9uy3Cc-V3x/s400/0.10doccortex.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Doing something really great - like eating toast spread thickly with gorgeous Marmite - and then do something fairly horrible, drinking liquidized cat vomit, for instance.</span></span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-47734676208744981812014-11-06T19:50:00.001+00:002014-11-06T19:50:24.803+00:00Review - Let's Talk About The Rain (2008 - Dir. Agnès Jaoui)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I4kwjCV5VSWsw3t_uiq4pa2ke-j0lxo4NaLJq4qMXQcX4ZVSQYR0S9opAppoS67qd9jrDlvpDmOxBcWIf0V84pk0bTRZfpQadJnqIkQZgpY4ONlbZjb10H5hLeg7FnvNOkodowVtk1ig/s1600/91QorrCTMuL._SY679_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I4kwjCV5VSWsw3t_uiq4pa2ke-j0lxo4NaLJq4qMXQcX4ZVSQYR0S9opAppoS67qd9jrDlvpDmOxBcWIf0V84pk0bTRZfpQadJnqIkQZgpY4ONlbZjb10H5hLeg7FnvNOkodowVtk1ig/s1600/91QorrCTMuL._SY679_.jpg" height="400" width="281" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMphz9PKs80tFH0b1Fl1i6ZmU8fp2Hn9busxaHuLrZWSZ7hiCgA7AaKq7pmvXS7u1XJMNH1ZgxmmIfHEiNNsVZAF6ibAotQu6S-BzChnVOf3UHLSxDUMHBPYyuS_N4wxjI1-_EfVzamobD/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMphz9PKs80tFH0b1Fl1i6ZmU8fp2Hn9busxaHuLrZWSZ7hiCgA7AaKq7pmvXS7u1XJMNH1ZgxmmIfHEiNNsVZAF6ibAotQu6S-BzChnVOf3UHLSxDUMHBPYyuS_N4wxjI1-_EfVzamobD/s1600/The+FA+Cup+of+Actors.jpg" height="129" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We return to rank outsider Jamel Debbouze who managed to impress with his first round effort, <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/review-outside-law-2010-dir-rachid.html">Outside the Law</a></i>, in this year's <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. He is up against some stiff opposition in this match though (James Stewart) so he better be on top form if he wants to be a giant killer. Here he is then in <i>Let's Talk About The Rain</i>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHNcc1zJeezRG8Djoa3F4md-GIQIrNfgO6fTvza_sQF_YUNx60JyBbYeU6hkzQTVDQ4wwFXl6Z0m0PVMwntn0HixXQhgcRvwD99Vho8p-SSSLvxCsYbz4NmXi1tYr4qh68jyFW-WZi32X/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHNcc1zJeezRG8Djoa3F4md-GIQIrNfgO6fTvza_sQF_YUNx60JyBbYeU6hkzQTVDQ4wwFXl6Z0m0PVMwntn0HixXQhgcRvwD99Vho8p-SSSLvxCsYbz4NmXi1tYr4qh68jyFW-WZi32X/s1600/image.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Agathe Villanova (played by the director) is a politician being interviewed for a documentary by Michel (co-writer Jean-Pierre Bacri) and Karim (Debbouze). Agathe's sister and her husband, plus Karim's mum, get thrown into the mix and the relationships get increasingly complicated due to numerous affairs. None of the characters are particularly happy throughout the majority of the film but will they attain a greater level of contentedness by the finale?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGIbTPl99Ernk05UYmrNWVHjt6l5yI1hi5KDddsRsJrBXOnCM9KPUMWlVw70350H6g0OeMJYBQ1e0gCFGPUFtGPwUIOMqpLC90Wy-pDJwzivkib0VYDuNddqNmruucxcr4Y5kttcDaauI/s1600/Let's%2BTalk%2Babout%2Bthe%2BRain%2B(Parlez-moi%2Bde%2Bla%2Bpluie).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGIbTPl99Ernk05UYmrNWVHjt6l5yI1hi5KDddsRsJrBXOnCM9KPUMWlVw70350H6g0OeMJYBQ1e0gCFGPUFtGPwUIOMqpLC90Wy-pDJwzivkib0VYDuNddqNmruucxcr4Y5kttcDaauI/s1600/Let's%2BTalk%2Babout%2Bthe%2BRain%2B(Parlez-moi%2Bde%2Bla%2Bpluie).jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first half an hour or so is not that engaging and, a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">s you've probably guessed, it takes a while to work out who's who and what their initial relationships are to each other. But once everyone has been identified things start to improve and it develops into a pleasant little tragicomedy that manages to raise a few smiles.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNHVVWNHnlpDfqS2jH_CM8HaR4qkQfan6s8dYJaQFPWb7a7VVDNbGx9RtVGXYAdnphyH7FJlcmoEyd6LeLjWgFNRD1T1xDDV8zJAxmEvrgZEKJdaGwqpThCBQXLTohBJ30ZSKOdaJBPwB/s1600/lets-talk-about-the-rain-2008-01_LRG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNHVVWNHnlpDfqS2jH_CM8HaR4qkQfan6s8dYJaQFPWb7a7VVDNbGx9RtVGXYAdnphyH7FJlcmoEyd6LeLjWgFNRD1T1xDDV8zJAxmEvrgZEKJdaGwqpThCBQXLTohBJ30ZSKOdaJBPwB/s1600/lets-talk-about-the-rain-2008-01_LRG.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the most amusing characters is the sister's husband. His son is choking so Michel deals with it with a good hearty slap to the back. Problem solved. But no. Laddo complains that he did it wrong. He should have used the Heimlich manoeuvre. Brilliant idea mate. Give him serious internal injuries rather than try a less harsh method first. Top parenting. He also moans at his wife for that most heinous of crimes: reading in bed. They really should bring back the birch. Okay, so maybe he's more irritating than amusing, but I laughed at him regardless.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8Hth7cXWmQTDPemsoLkQMT7EVTyzDT0I-J7V7aT_7mueiFmQ6iZWKgQcayI4lqDiA6VPtXmdiVOmNfide6mmpiv7MmKayZKfeG8wdH7EO2Q8F-ZzPae_3qYtMhnA9MN2ZG1L7pYNQY4r/s1600/lets-talk-about-the-rain-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8Hth7cXWmQTDPemsoLkQMT7EVTyzDT0I-J7V7aT_7mueiFmQ6iZWKgQcayI4lqDiA6VPtXmdiVOmNfide6mmpiv7MmKayZKfeG8wdH7EO2Q8F-ZzPae_3qYtMhnA9MN2ZG1L7pYNQY4r/s1600/lets-talk-about-the-rain-3.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A slightly more traditional comic figure is Michel, who makes documentaries for a living. He is truly a premium quality professional; he doesn't press record before the interview starts and misses getting some cracking footage and has a tendency to be generally incompetent. But at least he's got the cheeky fellow Debbouze to help him out.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UTz-36rZrWtW-pY-EklYklySprP447ZKtO8yu8_qU0X2LM6q4Jjq5f6EbWe8mNhPDzwRz02B0PO5NaFqD-GjJACdPsDN5o_zXWPnJRFqbZFuNKfmB5cGwn5Xpwp9ZMmKNg04LeCSshp6/s1600/05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UTz-36rZrWtW-pY-EklYklySprP447ZKtO8yu8_qU0X2LM6q4Jjq5f6EbWe8mNhPDzwRz02B0PO5NaFqD-GjJACdPsDN5o_zXWPnJRFqbZFuNKfmB5cGwn5Xpwp9ZMmKNg04LeCSshp6/s1600/05.jpg" height="245" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He's his usual likeable self and shows that he has a wider range than just war films. Subtlety is the key here as he contemplates having an affair with his co-worker. He is completely believable and is in good company with an equally impressive cast. I wasn't looking forward to his films at the start of this competition but he's managed to get past my gruff miserable shield and be adopted as one of <b>obscurendure</b>'s favourite actors.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The film deals with the lofty themes of depression and the role of women but it still manages to throw in a sheep gag. And no, not a dirty one. Dear me. The comedy here comes from the noise they make and their ability to follow people down country lanes. I did say that it was a pleasant little film.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It all adds up to a well-made subtle film that is quietly entertaining. But for me, the spark that takes it into the above average category just wasn't there. For you, it may well be. I enjoyed it but it's not a film that I'd watch again. James Stewart will be raring to go and donning his shin guards when he sees the rating this one's been given (if he was still alive, admittedly) and I'm doubtful that Jamel can pull off anything better than a draw in this match. It's a shame. But you never know...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">5/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look At Me, Two Days, One Night.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-62631961045927408012014-11-01T10:22:00.000+00:002014-11-01T10:22:08.026+00:00Feature - Celluloid Screams 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbF6rnbUyU8e7KF-b95Lhdvo3fGMNRoHqs0cddUgxyq76n8Wkg14FSwGlDCzOHQrEktPw2sHsaWmr4kbNEukmrr0CehgPJH3hmW8RmgjXrEL4GI7X7_TMy5ei48iOm9dz2gRtL1STYIgz/s1600/Celluloid-Screams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbF6rnbUyU8e7KF-b95Lhdvo3fGMNRoHqs0cddUgxyq76n8Wkg14FSwGlDCzOHQrEktPw2sHsaWmr4kbNEukmrr0CehgPJH3hmW8RmgjXrEL4GI7X7_TMy5ei48iOm9dz2gRtL1STYIgz/s1600/Celluloid-Screams.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite not feeling great, I managed to drag myself along to Celluloid Screams this year, although I did have to miss a fair few films including the allnighter (<i>Bride of Re-animator</i>, <i>Maximum Overdrive</i>, <i>Night of the Creeps</i> and <i>Killer Klowns from Outer Space</i>). The only film that I missed that I wouldn't have minded seeing was <i>Night of the Creeps</i> but I'll get that on DVD soon. I missed two of the new films <i>ABCs of Death 2 </i>(I haven't bothered to see the first, it really doesn't interest me) and <i>What We Do In The Shadows </i>which went on to be voted as the best film of the festival. I'd watched the trailer which was supposed to be funny and didn't raise the merest glimmer of a smile. I didn't look like my sense of humour so I didn't bother.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's a quick run down of what I did watch:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Editor</i> - Tribute/parody of giallo films that despite my love of the genre didn't raise a smile and bored me silly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 2/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Housebound</i> - Horror comedy from New Zealand that had an unlikeable first half but picked up in the latter stages to attain the lofty heights of averageness.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 5/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Creep </i>- Disturbing and, well... creepy, this had some effective scenes and a quality wolf mask named Peachfuzz but was a tad reliant on cheap scares.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 5/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla</i> - Repetitive and dull for the most part, this could have been a lot better if there had been more killings in the second half once the main character of the ice-cream man was established.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 2/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Starry Eyes</i> - Rather than watching this low contrast dirge fest watch <i>Black Swan</i> or <i>Mulholland Drive</i> instead.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 1/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Spring - </i>Initially engaging love story that plummets down the ratings due to the second half dragging on for what seemed like years.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 3/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Society</i> - It's a fair while since I've seen this but it holds up pretty well; the shunting is still fairly disgusting.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 6/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Suburban Gothic</i> - From the director of <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/review-excision-2012-dir-richard-bates.html">Excision</a></i>, this horror-lite film is more of a quirky comedy love story type thing but it does manage to have one really funny line from Ray Wise.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 5/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dagon</i> - Despite some early ropey CGI work this manages to be atmospheric and brutal especially in the face removal scene.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 7/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Asmodexia </i>- Really low quality exorcism film that was a real disappointment as the secret film.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 1/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dead Snow 2 - </i>I wasn't that enamoured with the first and this hasn't done much to change my opinion but maybe with a bigger budget (for more zombies) it could have tipped into above average.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rating - 5/10</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The highlights were</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> easily </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Society</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dagon</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and it was great to listen to Brian Yuzna talking about his career. But a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">s you can see from my ratings I wasn't that keen on the new films shown this year. I thought that last year was weak with only a couple of good films but this has easily been the worst. I can't blame the organisers because they can't magic up great new films. I've been thinking for a while that the horror genre is dying a death and this has cemented that opinion. Will I go next year? The jury's out...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-70896630201093937192014-10-12T11:31:00.001+01:002014-10-12T11:31:20.684+01:00Review - Robot Wars (1993 - Dir. Albert Band)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(Many apologies for the lack of posts recently but I haven't been that well. It's even a bit of a struggle writing this. With luck I'll be able to get round to writing a review of the excellent <i>Wolf Children </i>soon too.) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I thought that Barbara Crampton could provide us with the first major shock of the <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20FA%20Cup%20of%20Actors">FA Cup of Actors</a>. After </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Émilie Dequenne failed to make the most of her goalmouth chances in <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/review-girl-on-train-2009-dir-andre.html">The Girl on the Train</a></i> (only receiving a rating of 6/10), I thought that Crampy could sneak in a cheeky little last minute winner with <i>Robot Wars</i>. Robots fighting. Great stuff. And as long as it didn't turn out like the underwhelming BBC series of the same name, where the flamethrower and chainsaw attachments never really amounted to much, how could it go wrong?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/feature-evlkeiths-first-3d-film.html">Pacific Rim</a></i> went for a similar formula of robots fighting monsters and the fights were pretty great. It was the completely useless story that the fights hung off that let the whole film down. Well in <i>Robot Wars</i>, there's a similarly useless story, but sadly, the fights are virtually non-existent.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The Earth has had a bit of a bad time due to the toxic gas scare of 1993 (must have been that jar of curried pickled eggs I had from the Abbey Friar). The survivors are at war with a rebel faction called the Centros who want to resurrect a hidden mega robot. Luckily they've got their own mega robot in the form of a mechanised scorpion complete with nippy little pincer things. Drake, (Don Michael Paul - sounds like his parents couldn't make up their minds on his first name so they gave him three) a mega robot pilot, teams up with archaeologist Leda (Barbara Crampton) to thwart those pesky Centros. And no, there's not a hint of Lara Croft style costumery.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Yep, the plot's rubbish but it's the fights that are unforgivable. The first battle consists of close ups of the scorpion mega robot loping along, occasionally shooting, and a tank that, again, occasionally shoots. This goes on for ages. There is never a sniff of a wide shot to show any kind of manoeuvring. The whole thing feels like the scorpion and the tank are in two completely separate locations (which they are) and as a viewer I felt completely removed from the supposed action. (To simulate this battle just stare at the first photo below for five seconds then look at the next. Then repeat. For added fun, make a few shooty noises.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The second (and final) battle isn't much better. At least this time the two protagonists share the screen for a bit of what can best be described as wriggling. It's pathetic. Without great fights there's nothing else going on that's worth your time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">I know that Barbara Crampton isn't known for her stunning performances in art films, yet her films are generally enjoyable (apart from the dire <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/feature-youre-next-2011-dir-adam.html">You're Next</a></i>). The best you can say about her performance here is that it at least paid for a few jars of industrial size Marmite. (It's ironic that Crampy knocked out Joan Fontaine in the last round who suffered from the same phoned in performance in <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/review-voyage-to-bottom-of-sea-1961-dir.html">Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea</a></i>.) Given that, she's easily the best aspect of this sorry mess. (Apart from the fact that it only lasts 71 minutes.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">I wasn't expecting much from a Charles Band production but when one of the highlights is a <i>Puppet Master </i>joke you know things are getting desperate. So sorry, Barbara you haven't managed to knock out the odds-on favourite in a startling giant-killing fashion. Dequenne, you're through to the semi-finals.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">2/10</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">evlkeith</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/feature-evlkeiths-first-3d-film.html">Pacific Rim</a>, Robot Jox.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595798539666442273.post-86469116327842124672014-09-14T20:20:00.000+01:002014-09-14T20:20:00.046+01:00Review - Fear in the Night (1947 - Dir. Maxwell Shane)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was expecting all of the films listed in <a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/review-night-of-bloody-horror-1969-dir.html">'Nightworld'</a> to contain some kind of monster or other, for example the umbrella creature in <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/review-not-of-this-earth-1957-dir-roger.html">Not of This Earth</a></i>. But no, this one only relates to the book by its title. No stupid low-budget monsters. Shame.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelly in his first film role) is a banker who has a rather nasty nightmare in which he kills a fellow in an octagonal mirrored room. Soon after he begins to suspect that it wasn't really a dream and maybe he actually killed the man. (He even says, "I'm a banker, not a murderer," at one point. Well, okay, that's a lie. He doesn't.) His brother-in-law Cliff (Paul Kelly) is a cop and decides to look into his case.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Based on a story by Cornell Woolrich called "Nightmare", <i>Fear in the Night</i> is a film noir thriller with the obligatory narration and moody shadowy atmosphere. The plot was probably quite original at the time but now it all seems pretty obvious what's happening from early on in the proceedings. Even so, I couldn't help but be gripped when the two blokes and their lady friends took shelter from a storm in a house, only for it to turn out to be the one from Vince's dream. There was a certain sense of inevitability about it all and I hoped that the rest of the film would be set in the nightmare house. It isn't though and a fair bit of atmosphere is lost from that point on. Especially when we learn the secret of the nightmare.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Again in 1947 the secret was only too plausible and scary. Yet now, it's common knowledge that the reason for his sleep walking murder spree just doesn't happen. It's a bit like a film's finale requiring the audience to believe that the world is flat. It wouldn't work in these enlightened times. So to enjoy the latter stages, a certain amount of "going with it" needs to be done.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dr McCoy is great. One of the classic TV characters ever. Yet here DeForest Kelly looks a little wet behind the ear. His acting isn't entirely convincing and his narration seems forced rather than being a natural flow of thoughts emanating from his head. Fortunately the narration stops fairly early on and the more experienced Paul Kelly takes a more prominent role as the gruff no-nonsense cop.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a positive note there are some quality screen cracking animations, similar in style to the one at the finale of <i><a href="http://obscurendure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/review-city-of-living-dead-1980-dir.html">City of the Living Dead</a></i>. If that's not a selling point, I don't know what is.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not the greatest of films then, seen in today's light but it is entirely suitable for a late Friday night. Switch off your brain for a while and it's not too bad.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4/10</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">evlkeith </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you like this you could also try:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hollow Triumph, Somewhere in the Night.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07693477187726525715noreply@blogger.com0