Review - Peacock (2010 - Dir. Michael Lander)

Here we are at the semi-finals of the FA Cup of Actors then and our first match is between Ellen Page and Jennifer Connelly. Now, when Peacock 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" 28 Days Later) 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).

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...

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.

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.

Cillian Murphy is the major revelation of Peacock. 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.

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.

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 Peacock but it's not a film that I would watch again, basically down to personal taste. If you like Psycho and Lars and the Real Girl then you will probably enjoy this. 
6/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Psycho, Lars and the Real Girl.

Review - Uninhabited (2010 - Dir. Bill Bennett)

An uninhabited Pacific island surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef. A couple of naïve love birds making camp for a holiday of relaxation and scuba diving. A mysterious shack in the centre of the island. What could possibly go wrong?

The minimal ingredients and cheap production will draw comparisons to other ‘abandoned in the wilderness’ films such as Open Water and Frozen, but this is a far more coherent and sophisticated piece of film-making than the standard. It’s based on actual events and until around an hour into proceedings I still wasn’t sure what genre I was experiencing. It’s slow burning, beautifully shot and it’s probably best described as mysterious. It all unravels at a leisurely pace which lets the atmosphere percolate and develop to the point where the menace is dark and treacle thick, and essentially that’s what elevates it above and beyond every-day tales of uninhabited islands. Perhaps the fact that the director filmed it on location at a deserted Pacific island helped generate this sense of isolation and dread.

The two leads are adequate enough without setting the world on fire. They’re not especially irritating, but neither are they well fleshed out enough engender any sense of empathy in the viewer. Geraldine Hakewill (Beth) is the best of the pair with an understated and believable performance as the off duty marine biologist. Henry James (Harry) is less convincing in an Australian surf dude kind of way, with just the hint of Neighbours about his performance. If anything they’re worse together, when they’re either over the top lovey-dovey or gormlessly making stupid decisions.

It’s enjoyable enough, and pound for pound it’s way better than your average Hollywood blockbuster. There’s a definite story, a semi-believable situation and a certain sense of creepiness. With limited expectations it’s more fun than mowing the lawn, but less exciting than lower league football.

6/10
Doccortex

(I've watched this too... and completely hated it. The characters severely irritated me right from the beginning and Doccortex's statement that they gormlessly make stupid decisions is possibly the biggest understatement ever. You're on a completely uninhabited island with an emergency phone and phone number of a bloke with a boat. But ooh aye, there's some footprints that don't belong to you. And there's a creepy shack. What would you do? Exactly. But no. They don't even use the phone when someone starts sniffing round the washing on their line (that just so happens to consist of her undergarments). Complete idiots that deserved to die in frame one. I could have coped with watching the sea lap against the shore for an hour and a half, but these two feckless cretins... beyond belief. The biggest irony is that I saw this just after I'd seen this nifty short:

The only upside is that it's technically well made. But you can't polish a steaming pile of mustard coloured dog poop that looks suspiciously like it contains dead maggots. So I'll give it:
1/10
evlkeith)

If you like this you could try:
Open Water, Frozen, Wolf Creek.

Review - Nightwatch (1994 - Dir. Ole Bornedal)

Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is busy studying for his law degree. To make ends meet he gets himself a nice little job as a night watchman in a morgue. Bar work may be a bit more lively, but each to their own. His brief training consists of the old night watchman showing him the ropes. He has to visit each room and take a key, that is chained to the wall, and insert it into his little machine to prove that he has done the rounds. To get to the key in the morgue, he has to walk past rows of cadavers. Bar work still seems like the better option to me, but let's give it a chance. Finally he is shown a large red light in his office. This is the emergency alarm. Above each bed in the morgue is a pull cord. If one of the bodies just so happens to wake up, the startled person can pull the cord, and the red light starts to pulse, accompanied by a loud siren. Er, no... don't think this job suits, it's the Lamb and Flag for me.

I don't normally give much of a plot synopsis because I think films are better when you go into them cold. But here, the set-up is so mind-numbingly scary I had to share it. And the film lives up to its premise. It is really terrifying. On the first viewing. Repeated viewings lessen the impact dramatically so savour the first time if you do decide to give it a whirl.

Initially it seems as though it's going to fall foul of having very irritating main characters. Martin and his mate Jens dare each other to do stupid challenges (one particular challenge involving a prostitute). These stunts generally involve harming their relationships with their girlfriends. Not very endearing. But it's a testament to how the director has handled the actors' natural abilities that they come across as real people, who despite their faults are actually quite likeable. When they are in danger, you care about them, rather than wanting them to die. This makes Nightwatch pretty tense stuff.

Nightwatch was remade in 1997 by the same director, but starring Ewan McGregor and Patricia Arquette. I've never seen it but I haven't heard good things about it. A large part of the atmosphere is due to it being set in a different country and also, some of the references would be very out of place. For example, a story is told about Hans Christian Andersen as the characters look at a statue of him that I can't see happening in the American version. (The story confirms what I thought of Hans Christian Andersen based on that most important historical document, the 1952 musical.) 

Nightwatch is well acted, well made and well scary. It would probably get a nine out of ten for the first viewing, but taking repeat viewings into account...
7/10
evlkeith


If you like this you could also try:
The Chaser, Switchblade Romance, Shuttle.

Review - Tenebrae (1982 - Dir. Dario Argento)

Film three in our season of all things Argento is Tenebrae, a return to the giallo genre after his dalliance with the supernatural in Suspiria (review coming soon). When I had my first Dario obsession in the early nineties, I was more enamoured by his fantasy supernatural offerings. But now I tend to lean more toward his gialli.

Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) is a popular crime writer whose most recent novel Tenebrae inspires a killer to go and do killings. Neal gets together a Scooby gang consisting of his assistant Anne (Daria Nicolodi) and plucky golf jumper wearing freak Gianni (Christian Borromeo) to help him solve the case. The police become involved when Neal begins to gets threatening letters from the killer. Black leather murdering gloves, a knife, a razor and an axe all feature prominently from there on in. Excellent.

At some point in the not too distant past, I had a minor rant about nobody being interested in finding out who the killer is in a giallo, and that the mystery is only there to provide some lovely murders. Which is fine by me. But here, the identity of the killer is pretty intriguing. There are some blatant red-herrings, but the possible list of candidates is high. Until they all get slaughtered. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but there is a moment in the final third when something a little on the unbelievable side happens, and the old spidey-sense is definitely tingling. Although on watching the film a second time, the identity of the killer is fairly obvious due to some recurring themes and images, one of which is directly linked to the killer. It's cleverly done though and rewards repeat viewings.

Along with a nifty mystery there are some (obviously stylish) gruesome murders that build in intensity. The first half seems pretty tame by today's standards but things soon get going and the red stuff flows. Or sprays. Everywhere. There are a fair few iconic images in Tenebrae but surely the most well known is of a lady being slashed as the camera looks through a large hole in her shirt. Logic goes out of the window to enable this legendary shot. The lady in question is rather nervous - there is a killer on the loose after all - and she senses that someone is lurking about in her house. So she changes her top. If ever someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night and starts stalking me with a slashing razor, I'm going to try that tactic. It works on the basis that the murderer won't want to get blood on your freshly washed and ironed shirt. This may work if the killer was my mum, but apart from that...

Tenebrae has a look that you don't get now. The film stock used produces a rich feel to the colour, even when the colours are pale and muted. You may expect that the cinematography would involve lots of shadow and dark recesses, it is a giallo after all. But no. The electricity meter must have run out numerous times during the making of this. Even exterior night scenes are brightly lit. There is nowhere to hide. It all adds up to a gorgeous looking film.

North by Northwest may have sprung to mind, a thriller where the hero is chased in broad daylight. And this isn't the only link between that film and Tenebrae. Neal's agent, Bulmer (John Saxon) is waiting for a meeting out in a public square. The scene plays out, without dialogue, as Bulmer watches the people's lives around him. It is shot in a Hitchcock style: the character looks at something, we see that something, then we see the character's reaction to it. But in a twist on the cornfield scene from North by Northwest, people surround Bulmer. Eventually, he turns out to be just as alone as Roger Thornhill. A great scene.

Dario wrote this film to goad his critics who thought that if he can make these horrific films then he must be a sadistic misogynist murdering paedo. The character of Peter Neal could easily be substituted for Dario himself. Although initially Argento's great plan doesn't seem to have worked - the killer goes for attractive ladies after all - but as the plot develops, his dastardly plan is revealed. As a viewer, I'm not sure why I enjoy horror films, (something discussed in Karl Kaefer's Danse Macabre post) but it's something that I should ponder on. I just know that I'm not a murderer. And I doubt Dario is either. 

Is Tenebrae as good as Deep Red then? Not quite. But that is down to personal taste. In Deep Red, I love the dark sequences in the old house, where David Hemmings chips away at the plaster. The cinematography in Tenebrae actually works against it and comes across as cold. Which fits the tone but not my need for atmosphere. Still, it's a great film that improves like a fine wine. Or, if beer is your preferred beverage, a fine bottle of Timothy Taylor's. Now I've finished writing this lovely review, let me just go and shut the dungeon door before a passerby hears that scream.
8/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Deep Red, Don't Torture a Duckling, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. 

Review - Footsteps in the Fog (1955 - Dir. Arthur Lubin)

I was always going to like this film. It's got the the word fog in the title and stars Stewart Granger. Who could resist giving those little grey bits of hair at the side of his head a stroke? I know I couldn't. Well, maybe not now, seeing as though he's dead, but at the time this film was made...

Strangely I can't give much of a plot synopsis apart from it's about a recently widowed fellow called Stephen Lowry (Granger) and his maid Lily Watkins (Jean Simmons). And that's about it. Any more would give away far too many spoilers. 

Footsteps in the Fog has more story content in the first five minutes than the whole of Pacific Rim. There are so many aspects to it: thriller, drama, romance, violence and a little bit of twisted sexuality (sadly no pirates). I was never quite sure where it was all going and what would happen next. It became the film I was expecting at one point, but it happens midway through rather than at the end and it only lasts about five minutes. 

So it's got a twisty-turny story. What else has it got? Stewart Granger not playing a swashbuckling hero or charging about shooting elephants in a Charlton Heston/Prince Phil type fashion. He hasn't got the range of James Stewart but it's good to see him playing something different. It's also in colour so black-and-white-ists can enjoy something that has the atmosphere and pace of a black and white film, but without all of that pesky greyscaliness.

Yet again in a film from this era our aged hero ends up romantically entangled with a lady half his age. It's those grey bits that does it. So I've got a scheme. When this miracle hair growth cream comes out in a year or so, I'm going to grow some really thick luxuriant hair. Stage two - dye it black. Next, wrap masking tape around the top portion of my hair. And finally, recreate that Granger greyness using some grey car spray paint. It can't fail.

Anyway, back to business. Footsteps in the Fog is a minor gem. It lacks an emotional punch but for sheer story content it's a winner.
7/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Gaslight, The Spiral Staircase, Rebecca.

Review - Dark City (1998 - Dir. Alex Proyas)

I was trying to decide on a suitably great film to celebrate our second birthday and I remembered a reference to Dark City on Karl Kaefer's blog Xsmarkthespot. I also thought back to the first time I saw the film, at the Showcase Cinema in Peterborough, and how I was really impressed by it and in particular one moment of subwoofer pleasantness (I'll come back to that later). There were some imperfections, such as an introductory narration that told you that "the butler did it", but that's all been sorted out in the Director's Cut, which I'll review here.

Now the film plays as it was intended, as a mystery. A mister (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bath, and due to being in the water for a good long while, he suffers from severe prune feet. In top quality noir thriller style he has no memory. As he starts to piece together the clues he begins to suspect that me may have previously partaken in a spot of murdering. But who are these shady figures that seem to be lurking around... The clues all fall into place over the course of the film and everything is revealed (well almost).

Dark City is visually stunning, even now. The lighting used would have suited a black and white film with deep dark shadows and harsh highlights. In fact, I dodged about with the colour setting on my telly and watched it in monochromatic-o-vision. For the most part, it still looked great, and better than the colour version at points. So good that I found it a little disconcerting when I switched back to colour. (Similarly The Mist is brilliant in black and white but that was purposely shot that way.)

The gorgeous Jennifer Connelly - soon to be seen in an upcoming season - plays the man's wife and she participates in my favourite moment of the film. Yep, it's the subwoofer moment. She sings a version of 'Sway' accompanied by some  gravel voiced blues guys. The double bass sounds so deep and powerful. I've never quite got it to sound the same as the first time I heard it in that Peterborough cinema but it's still pretty impressive. Play it loud.

Music plays a large part in the proceedings with a large proportion of the film scored. It propels the viewer through the film towards the final climax, paralleling the main character's plight as he tries to unravel the mystery despite being constantly pursued.

Patrick Tatopoulos is one of my favourite designers having worked on Silent Hill, I, Robot and The Cave (okay, maybe The Cave is not the best example). But I think that he was at the top of his game for Dark City. The titular city is indeed dark, and gloomy, and murky, and possibly a bit stinky. The buildings are taken from a number of different time periods and places making it hard to pin down exactly where the city originates from. The city's underworld - in a nifty reversal of Metropolis - is possibly his best work. See for yourself in this explanatory screen shot.

One of the themes the film deals with is where the human soul resides. Is it in memories? If I were to be given the memories of a dancer would my viewpoint on dancers change instantly. Or would I still hate them. The thought of me suddenly appearing as a professional over-acter on 'Stricly Come Dancing' almost gives me an aneurysm so hopefully if someone does changes my memories I'll still be me.

I've tried hard to not give away any of the plot because if you haven't seen this it is well worth your while. The Director's Cut takes away the film-beginner stabilisers and lets you discover the film for yourself without being treated like an idiot. It has a  satisfying ending and the only downside for me is the inclusion of William Hurt who despite being okay in this, never totally convinces me. A worthy film for a birthday celebration.
9/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Blade Runner, Metropolis, Somewhere in the Night.

Review - Hard Candy (2005 - Dir. David Slade)

I watched this due to it making an appearance on a list of the ten most gruelling films (sorry, I can't remember the exact page to link to it) and despite not being particularly gruelling, it's a good film.

Hayley Stark (a pre-Juno Ellen Page who interestingly enough was born in Halifax) is a fourteen year old girl who meets a trustworthy fellow in a chat room. She agrees to meet him. And meet him she does. He turns out to be the thirty-two year old Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson). At this point alarm bells should be ringing at a rather loud volume. Ah, no, it's alright. He's clean shaven, well dressed, handsome and doesn't smell of rancid lard. Phew. Not a paedo, then. She agrees to go back to his house...

The film pretty much revolves around just these two characters - with a smattering of bit parts as variety - so they had better be good actors. No worries. It's Ellen Page. She's great. She's in the same category as Natalie Portman and Émilie Dequenne. She can make any film watchable and entertaining. Except maybe Inception. But in that, her powers were negated by a general level of boredom. And okay, maybe she didn't swing it for X-Men: The Last Stand, where she was cancelled out by Vinnie Jones. But even if a film was crammed with the aforementioned actresses plus Nathan Fillion, Jackie Chan and Mark Dacascos, Vinnie Jones would still bring the film down to the direst of levels. Suffice to say, Ellen Page is brilliant in this. And Patrick Wilson is not too shabby either. 

Acting: tick. Directing: tick. Ish. Most of the film is thoroughly engrossing. By the end of it, I had two major needs: a cup of tea - I like a nice cup of tea - and also, I was desperate for a Peters and Lee. This is just one of those films that demands being watched in one sitting. My only problem with the direction were a couple of action shots where the irritating style brought me crashing out of the experience. They jarred badly with the rest of the film.

The writing definitely gets a tick. Brian Nelson has done a cracking job of not telling us what to think (helped by the general absence of music). For the majority of the time, it's unclear who you're supposed to be rooting for. There are quite a few line from early scenes that resonate later. Some are remarked upon and just push against that border of insulting intelligence but others are left well alone, allowing the viewer to have that moment of realisation without it being pointed out. Good ending, too.

So, why is it supposedly so gruelling? It's virtually gore free. But it does become really tense at times and veers into extreme squirmy territory. Gentlemen: prepare to cross those legs. After watching Martyrs and Antichrist this feels like gruel-lite with 50% less gruel. I wasn't expecting much from Hard Candy but I was pleasantly surprised. This gains my Seal of Approval. Tick.
7/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Juno, The Tracey Fragments, Antichrist.

Review - In My Father's Den (2004 - Dir. Brad McGann)

It takes something special for me to watch a film after I've had my tea in one sitting. The usual scenario is I watch the first ten minutes, nod off, and wake at half past two in the morning on the settee not knowing where I am. Even the Champions League final couldn't keep me awake and the only bits I saw were the kick off and Didier Drogba's final penalty. I had a lovely kip in between though. All this goes to show the quality and entertainment value of In My Father's Den to be able to keep a warm, full bellied Doccortex awake for two of the hours of darkness.

This is a subtle and moody tale set in smalltown New Zealand and you're never quite sure where it's going. Is it human drama? Is it a psychological thriller? You're never quite sure until the end, and even then the boundaries are blurred. The whole experience is a veritable jigsaw of clues, snippets of information and flashbacks, and it's a joy to attempt to piece them together to arrive at some kind of understanding of what's going on. And I hate jigsaws.

The excellent Matthew Macfadyen (Poliakoff's Perfect Strangers) plays a world renowned war reporter returning to his home town for the first time in many years. He's obviously disturbed and clearly has issues with his family, but it's intriguing as to why he finds his father's funeral so difficult. The true picture unfolds almost in slow motion as we get to know the characters in a depth and detail rarely seen outside of the aforementioned Poliakoff's work. Macfadyen is excellent as the dour journalist on a quest of self discovery in his rural homeland and is generally smouldering, aggressive and always smoking. The supporting cast are equally impressive with Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings) suitably distant, and previously unknown Emily Barclay, as natural as pure New Zealand wool.

The film is a visual feast with a variety of shots of the awe inspiring landscapes, but is in no way an epic production with a limited colour palette that places the film somewhere on the colour spectrum between sepia and water colour and lends the events the look of an ancient, washed out Australian sitcom from the seventies. This makes the film a much more intimate affair with the rich browns of the den itself providing a dark and mysterious feel to proceedings in the secret room.

All in all, it's an intelligent and enjoyable film that would sit comfortably in the cinema or as a TV mini-series. If you enjoy detailed characterisation and a slow burning plot development this is one to watch. Definitely recommended.

8/10

Doccortex

If you like this you could also try:
Perfect Strangers, Shooting the Past.