In the second semi-final of the FA Cup of Actors the young challenger Émilie Dequenne faces off against screen legend James Stewart. Who will come out on top?
Being a native French speaker I can easily translate the title without even the sneekiest of peeks at a English/French dictionary. Cut the Temperature 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.)
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.
Charlotte's (Émilie Dequenne) mum - rumour has it in the local village community that she was a witch - 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.
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 Peacock it has made a pleasant change to watch a film that tries something different.
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.
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 Vertigo or Anatomy of a Murder comes up for him, it's goodbye to the competition favourite Émilie Dequenne. 6/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: White Noise, The Pack.
Ever since Fermat's Last Theorem got solved I've been waiting for another tricky equation to have a crack at. And now I've got one: Loups=Garous. Mmm, I'm not sure that the majority of mathematicians are quite prepared for that one yet. But I'm going to spend the next eight years of my life proving it and star in my own documentary on BBC2.
I'm going to zoom off on a tangent now before I actually get on with the review. It's possibly not a secret that I'm not a big mobile phone user (for some evidence check out one of our vintage intermissions - Retro Phones, and yes, I still own and use that phone). Because I rarely use my phone, I am in the privileged position of being able to observe others using their mobile devices. I'm not going to give any judgements, I'll just detail some things I've noticed:
Walking along with one other person chatting away when suddenly they start to use their phone. (I believe that this is called phubbing.)
Two people in the same room communicating on Facebook.
A man and a woman - possibly partners - sat in a cafe for twenty minutes having a nice cup of tea. They didn't talk to each other the whole time due to phone usage.
A family of four sat in a service station having a nice cup of tea. Again no interaction between any of them.
A mother walking along with a baby in a pushchair and/or a toddler, not engaging in any attempt at communication, yet again due to phone bothering. (I've seen this numerous times.)
Going to a popular music concert only to be severely disappointed because virtually no-one danced. They were too busy holding up their phones to record it.
A young woman with a new iPhone out in town gets it nicked and her mum gets saddled with a rather long contract.
The same young woman with another new iPhone on the toilet, drops it down it. Her mum gets saddled with a rather long contract at the same time as the previous one. Cheers.
A young woman (a different one this time) with a new iPhone out in town gets some dubious substance put in her beverage and wakes up to find her phone missing (and saddled with a rather long contract - but at least she paid for it herself).
I was on a course recently and everyone was engaged in the thrilling subject of lone working. It got to dinner time and the bloke said that we could get some snap (translation - dinner, or alternative translation for people who are wrong - lunch). As soon as he'd said this, I sat back and had a little stretch. Everyone else, and that's nine people, immediately got out their phones and started fiddling, their eyes glued to their screens. It was silent. I looked around amazed and slightly concerned that I'd slipped back in time to a fifties black and white science-fiction fable in the style of Children of the Damned.
"Wait a minute. Just on Facebook. Want to see our Rachel's having for her dinner."
In all of the above cases no-one actually used their phone to ring someone up and talk to them. I went to Italy relatively recently and the culture was very different there. People still used mobiles, but they used them as literal mobile phones, to chat to others using their vocal cords.
Right, I'm supposed to be reviewing Loups=Garous, something possibly about a werewolf, and yet I'm wittering on about mobiles. (It's not really a werewolf film in the traditional sense, but we'll come to that later.) The point is that Loups=Garous is the first film that I've seen that has picked up on these behaviours. It's not subtle about it either. The basic message is: stop living your life through a tiny screen, throw it away and experience life for yourself. It also delves into the use of the word monitor. It used to be something that we looked at and now it is something that can look at us. Pretty relevant stuff.
Set in the future, Makino is a young lady with a communication disorder. She never has real conversations with anyone, only through her monitor (for 'monitor' read 'mobile'). You can possibly see where the communication disorder has come from. She gets put in a group of children to develop her language skills. But murder is afoot, as always. The plucky chums try to discover the secret behind all of this bloodshed.
Makino has to be the wettest lead character I've ever seen. Other characters in the film have some top battling skills, like knife wielding or the fancy use of kenpo. Makino's top talent is to shut her eyes. (Hey, don't knock it. It worked in City of the Living Dead.) Towards the end of the film she has to rescue her friends. And she does so in fine style. By falling down the stairs and whimpering a bit. Despite all that I couldn't help but like her, especially in her final scenes.
My favourite character has to be Tsuzuki. She's one of Makino's gang and is a tad giddy. She has a love of life that is infectious plus an ability to render monitors useless (I did say that it wasn't that subtle). The other main character is Kono who is a tad confusing in the trouser department. At one point Kono is referred to as 'he', but he seems to have lady lumps and a preference for wearing one stocking. But that's all part of the puzzle.
And a puzzle it is. Well, for me anyway. It took me two watches - and a few rewinds - to work out what was going on. I was expecting a full on werewolf film, and it's not in the slightest. It takes a while to work out what it is. It's not that I didn't enjoy it. My comment on numerous occasions was, I'm not sure what's going on, but I like it. Everything is there for working out the story, it just took me some time. The only thing that still bothers me is in one scene where the moon is waning and I'm not sure why (you'd have to watch it to understand).
One of the best things about Loups=Garous is the use of music by Scandal, who contribute a few of their ditties along with appearing in the film in Klonoa: Lunatea's Veil style. I've since downloaded the tracks for my listening pleasure. Because they're good.
So if you hate mobile phones, love wet lead characters, Japanese pop rock girl bands and plenty of shots of gibbous moons (let's face facts - who doesn't love a gibbous moon?) then this could well be for you.
I spoil you.
7/10
evlkeith
If you like this you could also try: Purchasing a phone like mine that even struggles with texting.
I was chatting to someone today about a film that I'd watched last night. When the subject of it being a black and white film came up, the person in question said, "I don't watch black and white films." I knew he liked horror stuff so I enquired as to whether he'd seen Psycho. Nope.
Black and white photography is fine and often seen in wedding albums. It is even referred to as contemporary.
But black and white films are rarely made, probably due to the fact that they won't make any money. I've seen eyes glaze over and brains switch off as soon as a black and white film appears on the telly.
There is a huge barrier that could all be down to the perception of black and white films as being dull. Granted, the pace is slower, but the stories are arguably better than anything that's being knocked out today. How many films have you seen that have a great start, then peter out towards the end as the writer discovers they haven't got a clue what the film is about. They just had a great initial idea.
Crikey, I better get round to the film: Portrait of Jennie. This could be a perfect entry point for black-and-white-o-phobes because the end scenes have been colour tinted. In green. And some are even in red. There's even one shot that's in full technicolour. Ooooh. (An even easier entry point could be Pleasantville. It was made relatively recently and it's got some colour scenes too. I spoil you.)
Eben Adams (Joseph Cotten) is a struggling artist trying to bring home the Pek. One day he meets a girl, Jennie (Jennifer Jones) in a park and is inspired by her. Now, I'm not entirely sure how old she's supposed to be, but let's be generous: she's 16. He looks about 45. If not 50. Eben becomes obsessed with Jennie.You can see where this is going. Let's not forget the time that this was made in. Couples were supposed to wait until marriage before they started doing rudes. So the occurrence of an older man falling in love with a younger girl and then waiting for her was fine at the time. A similar relationship appears in Random Harvest. So everything's fine... Oh, okay. He's a paedo.
But there's a fantasy element to this seedy tale. What starts out as a dubious love story evolves into a mystery and then an adventure as Eben tries to discover just what the hell is going on with Jennie. By the end we are treated to some miniature work which results in the emotional climax of the film. Pretty affecting stuff. The impact of the final colour shot is fairly huge too. If it had all been in colour, it would hardly be noticed. The contrast is attention grabbing. (The Hindenburg pulls a similar trick with even greater aplomb.)
Watched with eyes in 1940s mode, ignoring the slightly dodgy perversions of the main character, Portrait of Jennie would make an interesting double bill with Vertigo. All of the actors perform admirably too (Ethel Barrymore is a treat as always as the owner of an art studio). It turned into something that I wasn't expecting, which pumps up the rating, especially when the something else is better than what came before. So if you're like the fellow at the start of this review, dive into the world of black and white and see what you think. It's like olives. The more you eat, the nicer they get. 7/10 evlkeith
If you like this you could also try: The Mist (black and white version), Psycho, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, The Whisperer in Darkness
Continuing our birthday celebrations we come to the final entry in our Mark Dacascos Season, and it is one of my favourite films of all time.
The idea of mixing the genres of kung fu, horror, mystery and period french drama, whilst adding a savage stonking great wolf as a garnish may seem a tad foolish. But it works stunningly well, making for one of the most refreshingly original films I've ever seen.
Naturalist (not naturist - that would have been one genre too many. I don't think wolves play volleyball anyway) Gregoire de Fronsac, played by Samuel Le Bihan is sent by the King to the small french province of Gevaudan, along with his native American sidekick Mani (Mark Dacascos). Numerous deaths have been occurring and they have been attributed to a rather large wolf. Fronsac and Mani investigate this general unpleasantness. And hit people a lot. So what we basically have is a berzerk version of Hound of the Baskervilles (not a bad thing).
Gans certainly loves his slow motion and Dacascos has never looked cooler. Forget his Straight-to-DVD actioners. This is what he is truly capable of. There are so many well choreographed fights. His assailants, in true kung fu fashion, take their turn, coming at Mani with fists and various weapons, but he just sorts them. No messing. The sound effects are excessively loud and crunchy, further adding to the stylised nature of the fights. Bihan also gets to do a fair bit of scrapping and is not too shabby in the 'hitting people hard' departpartment.
There is love interest in the form of the gorgeous Émilie Dequenne (The Pack) and Monica Bellucci (Irreversible), just enough to add yet another dimension to the film. Both female leads are great but Dequenne is so great she should get her own season. Now, there's a thought...
You also get Vincent Cassel as a really creepy villain. He's always good value for money and doesn't let the side down here. Supposedly, he put in a lot of training for his fight sequence and it shows.
Let's get the one negative out of the way. Surprise, surprise, it's the CGI. The wolf looks ropey and a bit too light and lacking in contrast compared to the backgrounds for my liking. Saying that, the close-ups (by Henson) using a practical wolf are premium quality (again, surprise, surprise).
For a film to be so full of disparate elements and still be coherent and top fun is a testament to Gans' skill as a director. (It's a shame Onimusha fell through. That would have been a treat.) He brings out the best in Mark Dacascos (see Crying Freeman) and it would be great to see them work together again. So do the dodgy effects knock the rating down at all? For sheer audacity, I'll let it off. 10/10 evlkeith
(Please note: It's well worth getting the Blu-ray because with the DVD you are limited to a plain stereo soundtrack if you opt for the french language version, the 5.1 sound is only available on the useless dubbed version. The Blu-ray has got the proper full surround experience. Way better. And not smelly.)
If you like this you could also try: Crying Freeman, Drive, The Pack, the 2002 BBC version of Hound of the Baskervilles.
πis a joyless psychological thriller and the directorial debut of Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream/Black Swan). It's difficult to say who would like this kind of film. It's bleak, black and white and serious, with choppy, arty camera work and a complete lack of any sense of humour.
The action centres around Sean Gullette's character Max Cohen, who is an introverted, maths geek with psychological problems. Max becomes obsessed with his mathematical hobby when he discovers a new 216 digit constant that apparently unlocks all aspects of the universe. Obviously he doesn't use it to unlock any of these aspects, but instead gets all intense and depressed by the unwanted attention of some mysterious baddies and some mysterious Jewish guys with big beards. It sounds pretty fun-packed entertainment, however it isn't at all.
It's basically slow moving, self indulgent dirge with a plot that goes nowhere of any interest. Admittedly the beardy Jewish guys provide some hope of a modicum of something interesting, but it's too little too late. Having previously never zero rated a film on obscurendure, I'm trying to look for some positives, but there really aren't any. It's rubbish.
0/10
Doccortex
(I can remember seeing this when it was first released. I can't say that I was that impressed either. It started off okay - number theory can be really interesting - but then the camera work got in the way and I can't really remember much happening. Never a good sign. I've just realised that my sadness quotient has risen dramatically with the phrase 'number theory can be really interesting'. Don't get me started on countable and uncountable sets. They're great. As for the Foundations of Mathematics... - evlkeith)
If you like this you could also try: Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Fermat's Last Theorem - Simon Singh (Book), The Code Book - Simon Singh (Book)
The DVD cover looks really cheap, creepy and disturbing with a red image of a bandaged man holding a pair of scissors in menacing fashion. Timecrimes however, is a perfect example of why not to judge a book by its cover, as it is cleverer and more subtle than most low budget, Spanish sci-fi extravaganzas.
All the fun starts when our hero Hector (Karra Elejalde) spots a naked lady on a hill behind his new country house and salivates up the hill to investigate. From that point onwards Hector is thrown into a world of time travel fuelled mayhem involving bandages, scissors, time travel baths, golf buggies and nondescript Spanish actors. Bizarrely, it all works brilliantly in a Groundhog Day meetsThe Sleeper meets Eldorado (the soap opera) kind of way.
Hector is the star of the show with a loveable, middle-aged mix of paunch, bald head and sweatiness. Questions need to be asked however, about his treatment of the hairdresser on the hill, where for some reason he descends into Lupin the Third territory. Surely he could just make her wave and shout help? Maybe he would have stayed in his deckchair if that was the case.
The film does make you think, but not too hard. It's definitely clever, well scripted and a fun experience. If you like down to earth, achievable time travelshenanigans on a budget then this will prove an ideal experience.
8/10
Doccortex
If you like this you could also try: Cube, Triangle, Open Your Eyes.
A colleague once used to repeat his theory, that in terms of film; "You can't beat a bit of Spacey," and in the case of K-PAX, he just might have a point. Kevin Spacey plays the lead role of Prot, in Softley's slow burning, science fiction tale, based on the K-PAX novels by Gene Brewer. The crux of proceedings is whether we believe that psychiatric patient Prot is an alien from the planet K-PAX or just a delusional psychiatric patient of human origin, with one or two twists and turns along the way.
It all sounds a little on the dull side, but it's the slow progression of events and the gradual way we get to know the characters that actually makes the film so enjoyable. Spacey is excellent in playing the role on a knife edge between believable alien and hopeless delusional and Jeff Bridges provides his usual gruff performance but actually appears to develop as the story evolves. Barring a slightly suspect bluebird, there are no special effects, space ships or CGI aliens, but the film maintains an otherworldly atmosphere through the script alone, which can only be a good thing.
Whether you're into sc-fi, mystery or human drama there should be something in K-PAX for you to enjoy and appreciate. It's got to be one of the most underrated science fiction films of this century and the 'Spacey factor' takes it to a whole new level. It's not quite a 10/10 but it's close, so it is possible to 'beat a bit of Spacey' but only just. 9.5/10
Doccortex
If you like this you could also try: The Life of David Gale, Starman, Contact.
