Review - Sin Nombre (2009 - Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga)

Sin Nombre is a down to earth American/Mexican hybrid based on life in South American gang culture. It's an unusual film in that the gritty conventions are conformed to in the plot and subject matter, but the cinematography is anything but jerky handheld action. Fukunaga goes for the full Hollywood wide-screen production with some beautiful images of urban and rural Latin America as the backdrop for this tale of lost love and the search for sanctuary.

For Mexican grit fans the film provides few surprises, but equally little in terms of disappointment. There's a whole host of punishment beatings, gang based shootings, execution style killings and general organised crime based mayhem. There's even an accidental murder just for fun, and you almost hear the perp say 'Whoops!'. It's the two convergent story-lines that turn this into a film that is head and shoulders above the gritty waterline (Gomorrah). The plight of El Casper (Edgar Flores) and innocent border crossing hopeful Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) unite their contrasting lives while fleeing for the perceived safety of the USA in a epic journey through inhospitable urban dangers. The acting is universally brilliant with Tenoch Huerta Mejia a particularly charismatic and hauntingly frightening gang leader.

The background and setting of the film tells a second story; of the hardship and desperation of people attempting to escape to a better life. The director used real migrants in the film and this added to the realism of the danger, abuse and daily battle for survival that is fought on the tops of speeding trains. Some of the shots of the train, particularly at night, are stunning and worth the price of the DVD alone.

If there's any criticism, it is that the film could have benefited from being half and hour longer for that true epic feeling. At the end of the day though, if you want a gritty story in a gritty setting, but without the gritty camera work, this is quality piece of work and fits the bill to a tee. Watch on a big television for full effect.

8/10

Doccortex

If you like this you could also try:
Carandiru, Amores Perros, Elite Squad.

Review - P2 (2007 - Dir. Franck Khalfoun)

When I saw that Alexandre Aja (Switchblade Romance) had written and produced this, I had certain expectations even though his recent films haven't lived up to his initial promise. After half an hour I had forgotten all about his involvement because I seemed to be watching a fairly standard issue thriller.

Angela (Rachel Nichols - Alias) is a go-getting ladder-climbing no-nonsense business lady working hard and late on Christmas Eve. Everyone else sensibly goes home for some eggnog and mince pie action leaving her to her own brown-nosing antics. Seeing as though this is a thriller, it needs a slightly unhinged security guard to pep it up. In comes, Thomas (Wes Bentley), a slightly unhinged security guard. Brilliant.

What follows for the next forty minutes is... well... dull. It is completely average thriller fare. No tension. No major threat. I was beginning to feel a tad disappointed.

Then it all kicks off with some cream of the crop excessive violence, similar in style and level to the 'head between the stair railings' incident in Switchblade Romance. I cheered up no end. At that point I remembered who had written it. 


Everything from then onwards still takes the standard thriller route but there is always the thought that some more gory violence could be just around the corner. And at times that is exactly what you get: Fulci fans get a small portion of ocular trauma to keep them stocked up for a little while.

As with most thrillers, Angela doesn't always do what is expected. She has a chance to kill Thomas' nutter dog. She doesn't. (My idea was to push the filing cabinet over so that it landed precisely on the dog's head. Quick and painless. Plus it's better than it chasing you at ninety miles an hour through a parking garage later in the film trying to bite your butt cheeks off.) If you were trapped in an office, what would you do? Yep, set off the fire alarm. She doesn't do that either. Also, the ending leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, a bit like hummus. I can understand that Angela will do anything it takes to move up in her job, and that maybe she leans towards the cold side of things, but her final act is parkier than the plums from a squirrel that has been trapped in a freezer compartment for the best part of a month.

So the ending spoils things somewhat, but is it still worth watching? If you like a portion of extreme violence and a cleavage garnish served with your thrillers then, yes, you will get something out of P2. If you like a bit of cress pleasantly sprinkled over your thrillers then give it a miss.
4/10
evlkeith




If you like this you could also try:
Neighbor, Wolf Creek, Switchblade Romance.

Review - R-Point (2004 - Dir. Su-chang Kong)

A mysterious radio message is received by a South Korean base in Vietnam 1972. Problem is, the message is from a unit long assumed to be dead. Lieutenant Choi Tae-in (Woo-seong Kam) is sent to investigate accompanied by a group of eight other soldiers...

Early on, a gravestone acts as the film's 'Crazy Ralph', warning quite cheerily, that everyone is going to die. Good news for Co-op Funeralcare then. But is the threat psychological or supernatural? Have the horrors of war affected the soldiers so entirely that their paranoia and mental trauma cause them to start offing each other (sounds dodgy) or is it a ghostly presence hell-bent on vengeance?

My main concern about R-Point is the virtual complete lack of characterisation. Apart from the Lieutenant and Sergeant Jin (Byung-ho Son), who are barely sketched, the other characters are so ill-defined that you lose track of who is who and why you should care about them. From watching the Special Features it is clear that the actors knew their characters but it doesn't come across in the final edit of the film. The script seems to revolve around the soldiers calling each other 'assholes'. I counted at least 15,000 uses of the word. In one minute. 

Given that, there are some genuinely creepy moments: the first shot of an abandoned mansion wreathed in mist is absolutely gorgeous and the sight of a silent unit moving steathily (and ghostily) through long grass before disappearing into the ground hints at some spookiness to come. It never really delivers on this promise though, with the final third descending into a blood-bath, with not too much blood: it is only rated 15 after all (I know, the cover at the top states 18, but my version is definitely 15 and it doesn't warrant being an 18). The ending doesn't answer all the questions I had and actually seems to confuse the issue. The Director wished that he had included an epilogue to answer some of these questions. Me too.

R-Point has potential but ultimately fails due to its lack of characterisation and scares. It's not all doom and gloom though: there is a scene of some quality crazy dancing which goes some way towards justifying the cost of the DVD. The Special Features are fairly extensive detailing the film-making process and showing the heat that the crew and actors had to work in. As a whole package it's quite enjoyable, but the film on its own...
3/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Deathwatch, Outpost, The Bunker.

Feature - Competition Time! Part 3.

The winner of the brand spanking new copy of Brotherhood of the Wolf was Joe Hill. Well done fella! Commiserations to everyone else who entered.


evlkeith

Review - Batman: Gotham Knight (2008 - Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam, Shoujirou Nishimi)

This post should have some type of award for the longest post title ever. There are loads of directors because Gotham Knight consists of tiny bite-size little stories in the style of Animatrix, each segment a perfect length for watching with your tea. The producers would tell you that all of the tales interlink and are better watched as a whole. There are some links between the stories but they don't really add much. There are also links to Batman Begins but the same goes for them. Saying that, I'd have paid full price for the first section on its own.

Have I Got a Story for You is the best segment by miles. It's directed by the animation direction of Tekkonkinkreet, Shoujirou Nishimi, and it shows. It has a very similar style that is equally as fresh, especially when it portrays four different versions of Batman that lets the animators play with his design and movement. The shadow Batman is visually stunning. The animators were given a chance to stretch their creative muscles in this way because the story deals with three children recounting their encounters with Batman. the children are all unreliable narrators. Hence the different portrayals of Batman. Not content with multiple Batmans (should that be Batmen?) the story is fragmented and told in reverse order. In addition, the backgrounds are gorgeous, reminiscent of Dave Gibbons' work on Beneath a Steel Sky. Sheer viewing pleasure. If this was a short film it would get 10/10. 

But it's not. There are five other segments of varying quality, as always happens with this type of production. In Darkness Dwells feels a smidgen like my least favourite part of Arkham Asylum: the Killer Croc section. There's even a bit of detective mode vision in there. Walking Through Pain is like the really dull mystical episodes of TV Sci-fi. It ends on a high note with Deadshot with some preposterously entertaining sniping action.

The flour and water paste that sticks all of the disparate anime styles together is Kevin Conroy. Previous mentioned in these hallowed pages, (Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman) the man is Batman. Well, his voice anyway. If I was Christopher Nolan I'd get him to dub over Christian Bale. In post-production obviously, so Bale can't get all giddy.

If you think of Gotham Knight as a brilliant short film, with five extra shorts you won't be disappointed. Plus you get four episodes of the animated series too. And it's really cheap, especially on Blu-ray. 
6/10
evlkeith




If you like this you could also try:
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Tekkonkinkreet, Animatrix.

Review - Wasteland (2010 - Dir. Lucy Walker, Karen Harley,João Jardim)

This is a bizarre film. It's interesting and thought provoking, however not necessarily that awe inspiring. The premise of the documentary is to follow artist Vik Muniz as he creates art from the lives of the workers and recycled materials of the largest landfill site in all of Brazil. The film is enjoyable on some levels and less so on others, and can basically be split into three distinct areas.

1. As an investigation into the lives of the Jardin Gramacho 'pickers' the film provided an excellent portrayal of the tough and exhausting lives of the team of workers who root through tons of rubbish to scavenge for all manner of recycled material. The stories of all the participants were handled beautifully and it was a heart-warming experience to see the camaraderie and sense of family in the pickers association. If nothing else the project lifted their self esteem and bank balances, at least in the short term.

2. The exploration of Muniz's artistic process was also fascinating. From the initial concept and photography, through to the final gallery displays the attention to detail and love of the subject matter was evident. Ultimately the art was at times breathtaking in its scale and relevance. Muniz takes the idea of a 'large Art Attack' to a whole new level and just shows what Neil Buchanan could have achieved if he'd been given the budget to take Art Attack to global locations.

3. The most disappointing part of the film is the project itself, which left me feeling the participants had been used in some way. Vik's plan had certain aspects in common with the plot of  'My Fair Lady', but attempting to make the pickers into world famous artists which left me feeling slightly uncomfortable. The film doesn't shirk the issue as Vic's wife brilliantly voices her concerns and wariness, but Vic disappointingly refuses to listen and basically tells her to 'shut it.'  I'm sure he would argue the creation of this sense of 'unease' in the viewer is all part of the art. It did really make me think, but I'm still not sure of the morality of the whole project.

At first glance the juxtaposition of grittiness and art looks like an odd combination, but Walker produces an excellent and at times moving documentary that is engaging for both grit fans and art aficionados. If only they'd gone with Andy Goldsworthy instead of Muniz - the mind boggles at what he could have achieved.

6/10

Doccortex

If you like this you could also try:
Rivers and Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time, Love Is The Devil, Art Attack - Top 20 (VHS).