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Saturday, 20 October 2018

'The Streaming Pile' - October 2018

thriller 10/20/2018 10:31:00 am 0

Welcome to this first edition of The Streaming Pile; my excuse to use a good pun thinly disguised as a monthly column discussing the latest crop of Netflix', er, 'cinematic' content. This month saw the release of three fairly high-profile films (as opposed to the usual strain of Friday night horror dreck): Operation Finale, 22 July, and Apostle.

Chris Weitz (directing for the first time since 2011's A Better Life) oversees Operation Finale, a historical thriller detailing the hunt for Nazi war criminal and architect of the "Final Solution", Adolph Eichmann (Ben Kingsley). On his trail is Oscar Isaac as Mossad agent Peter Malkin. Malkin tracks Eichmann to Buenos Aires, but complications arise when he and his team must secure their prisoner's signature, to officiate his appearance before a court in Israel.

The scenes between Isaac and Kingsley are - as one would expect from two of Hollywood's finest presences - riveting, and there's certainly thrills (however scattershot) to be had in the Argo-like mission to capture Eichmann. The supporting cast are - perhaps as a result of having to square up to the two leads - somewhat less engaging, and the casting of American comedy staple Nick Kroll as one of Malkin's subordinates is more distraction than revelation.

Also, the moral conflicts presented by Eichmann as an attempt to throw Malkin off his game feel thin and half-baked, and are almost immediately disregarded by the viewer because (thanks to seven decades of hindsight) we know him to be a cruel, deceitful manipulator. Nevertheless, it's a largely gripping race to the finish with a sublimely righteous coda.

Far less successful (and efficiently constructed in all the wrong ways) is Paul Greengrass' 22 July, which details the events and aftermath of far-right Anders Breivik's attack on a government building and a Workers' Youth League summer camp in 2011.

Greengrass begins with a well-detailed re-enactment of the atrocities, then following both Breivik's internment and one of his victims, Viljar Hanssen (Jonas Strand Gravli). And it's that latter half (largely centred on the all-too engaging Anders Danielsen Lie as Breivik) that presents a problem: this is one instance where the United 93 director's even-handed, tell-both-sides cadence is unsuccessful at best, and abject moral cowardice at worst.

Its frame is cold, its focus is askew, and fails to make any real statement beyond 'this is what happened'. When it comes to showcasing such appalling acts of violence, taking a detached standpoint is precisely why monsters continue to rise in Breivik's stead, because cinema (and the media as whole) continue to give his ideologies as much air - if not more - than the voices of his victims. Simply presenting a competent, functional thriller-drama - as Greengrass does here - is not enough anymore.

Gareth Evans' Apostle, too, contains no deeper message, meaning, or political persuasion...and is all the better for it. In stark contrast to the timid Welshman's previous efforts - high-octane martial arts duo The Raid and The Raid 2 - this slow-burn chiller takes its cue from classical British horrors like The Wicker Man and Witchfinder General. Dan Stevens (who, for this writer's money, doesn't appear in enough movies) stars as a tortured traveller, bound for a remote island in search of his kidnapped sister.

The tiny isle is the home of a religious cult under the sway of Michael Sheen's rabid preacher, Malcolm. Stevens' character, by virtue of existing in the early 1900s, has never seen a film before and hence doesn't run a mile when confronted with the aforementioned premise and it's connotations. Thus, he's caught off-guard when the eerie power of the island and Malcolm's religious fervour take a darker turn.

What happens next is best left unspoiled, but rest assured that fans of The Raid films (who might find themselves on uncertain turf here) will be more than sated by the final act. Their salvation is signalled by the moment when someone has their leg broken from under them while another takes a spear through the face: "There he is! There's our Gareth!"

Operation Finale, 22 July and Apostle are now available to stream on Netflix in the UK.

Saturday, 27 May 2017

'Colossal' - Review

tim blake nelson 5/27/2017 08:01:00 pm

★ ★ ★ ½ ☆

Far from neglecting the trappings of either monumental blockbuster or dry satirical comedy, Colossal wears its bizarre premise proudly on its sleeve. Largely, it’s all the better for it. Anne Hathaway plays Gloria, an alcoholic who is kicked out by her boyfriend, Tim (a fantastically clipped Dan Stevens), and heads back to her old hometown. Waking from a particularly rough night, Gloria turns on the TV to find a giant monster has trampled over the city of Seoul. But that’s not the weirdest discovery: after watching the creature for several days, Gloria realises it’s imitating her drunken movements as she wanders through the small town’s playground, even performing her unique nervous tic.

There are many things I really like about this bizarre curiosity of a film, even the bits that don’t quite gel. I love that it almost evades marketing in any way. Oh, the poster’s rather great (and will probably adorn a rather snazzy steelbook someday), but watching the trailers try to effectively echo its offbeat combination of crowd-pleaser and arthouse oddity is almost as fun as watching the film itself. I also love that director Nacho Vigalondo gets Jason Sudeikis to play against type so deceptively. He’s playing a childhood friend of Gloria’s, Oscar, who offers her a job at his bar and tries to help her get back on her feet. On a surface level that might not seem much of a stretch, but the role grows into something far different by the third act. I’m not sure I totally bought what that role becomes, but it certainly adds spice and allows for some great glaring between he and Hathaway.

The whole film has a blindfolded taste test feeling that brought me back to watching student previews during my early uni years, such as The Double, Frank, or Life After Beth. These were films that offered not only a break from packed multiplexes and sweaty club nights, but an anticipation that comes only from something deliberately different. ‘Anne Hathaway is a kaiju’ now rests alongside ‘Jesse Eisenberg has a clone’ and ‘Michael Fassbender has a papier mâché head’ in my personal canon of ‘Strange Premise, Stranger Film’.

And Colossal is strange. At times delivered as mumblecore drama, at others improv comedy, the film demonstrates remarkable reservation with its monster stomping. The rules of Gloria’s connection with the creature are established without contrived exposition, it’s something that we discover with the characters, and there’s no better guide than Hathaway. I’ve sorely missed her on-screen since Interstellar (I never caught The Intern, nor Alice Through the Looking Glass), and the wait has been more than worthwhile. I’m honestly not sure who else could carry the film through its few misjudged moments, or make me believe in a character who can show remorse for people thousands of miles away but seems incapable of calling her boyfriend back to say sorry.

It would be relatively easy for Colossal to thrive purely on Hathaway and Sudeikis’ grimacing or its water cooler premise alone, but it’s got far more to offer than that. The monster’s appearances, perpendicular to Gloria’s struggles with alcoholism, can be read in any number of ways. Whether it’s the not-so-subtle comment on self-destruction, what our idiocy does to people we’ll never even meet, or the somewhat deeper allusions to power as a corruptive force. One could even read the film as a comment on (stick with me here) what America does and doesn’t contribute cinematically to the rest of the world. Indie films (like the drama inhabited by Hathaway, Sudeikis and Stevens) rarely make it across the border, with US cinema represented abroad only by Hollywood behemoths (like the rampaging monster swatting helicopters from the air).

These themes do get a little lost amongst the clatter of the climax, but previous exploration of them was so restrained that I forgave it. I’m unsure whether these final moments exist purely keep mainstream audiences in their seats, but as a gentle nudge into summer tentpole season, it worked. Colossal should be appraised for refusing to skimp on shiny spectacle, but never letting it blind a genuine harmony of digital bombast and dramatic buoyancy.

Friday, 24 March 2017

'Beauty and the Beast' - Review

romance 3/24/2017 12:04:00 am

★ ★ ★ ½ ☆

Emma Watson and Dan Stevens lead an all-star cast in this live-action remake of Disney’s 1991 animated classic. A smart and impetuous young woman named Belle (Watson) takes her father’s place in the abandoned castle of a hideous beast (Stevens), once a handsome prince punished for his selfishness. Trapped within the confines of the crumbling ruin, Belle befriends the transfigured house staff, slowly coming to discover there’s more to her monstrous captor than meets the eye. Meanwhile the caddish, swashbuckling Gaston (Luke Evans, firing magnificently on all cylinders), along with his infatuated sidekick, LeFou (Josh Gad), schemes to kill the beast and make Belle his wife.

Watson is a stunning Belle. That’s about all I can muster, really. I'd like to think my critical faculties extend beyond inserting several heart-eye emojis, but when Watson first appears it’s as if everything else (crisp faux-period detail, glittering landscapes, even Kevin Kline as Belle’s tender father) leap away at warp factor 9. Watson’s well-read inventor is a tad more outspoken and empowered than previous iterations of the story, and no less in control of the frame, the music, or the romance (and, to the huge relief of Potter fans, her eyebrows).

The photorealistic renderings of our favourite characters are intricately designed, but come off more than a little creepy (Madame Garderobe and her void-like maw, especially…yikes!), even when given such joyous sparkle by Hollywood’s finest: Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the talking candlestick, Ian McKellen as the finest incarnation of Cogsworth, the grumpy clock, and Emma Thompson, who gives reassuring life to Mrs. Potts, the cockney teapot.

It seems odd that such an otherwise tangible and lavishly designed yarn should have frayed digital edges: the Beast in particular feels very much an artificial insertion. Dan Stevens has an astonishing set of pipes on him, but the grumbling voice distortion and lack of physical heft somewhat squash his natural broiling charm. Still, he delivers the same heavy-pawed comedy-catharsis combo we expect; certainly enough to forgive any less-than special effects.

CGI is also used so extensively during the many musical numbers (‘Be Our Guest’ is the biggest offence) to compensate for the colour and flair of the original you wonder why they didn’t remake it into a 3D animation, rather than live action. Likewise, the grand ballroom sequence is a little flat-footed. Lacking the fluid, ground-breaking elements of its animated counterpart and opting instead for a whirling digital lightshow, director Bill Condon’s desire to enthral youngsters of a new generation could mean anti-climax for long-time fans.

Maybe this is a sign that the ‘tale as old as time’ has finally been drained of all invention? Perhaps, but those simply after a good time at the movies won’t be deterred by such a sweet, funny and soulful retelling. The songs, story and characters are pretty much invincible at this point, and to see them all brought to life again by some of cinema’s brightest stars is undeniable fun. Like the recent revivals of Cinderella and The Jungle Book, it shines with the high-tech glimmer of modern filmmaking and attempts to develop some new material: nothing much is lost, but there’s really nothing there that wasn’t there before.

Friday, 26 September 2014

'A Walk Among the Tombstones' - Review

thriller 9/26/2014 04:34:00 pm 0

Adapted for the screen from the best-selling novel from Lawrence Block, A Walk Among the Tombstones features Liam Neeson as private detective Matthew Scudder, who is hired by a drugs kingpin Kenny (Dan Stevens) to track down the men who kidnapped and brutally murdered his wife. Aided by street-wise kid T.J. (Astro) and Kenny’s own brother, Scudder is committed to wander the streets of late 90’s New York to find his prey and come to terms with his own dark past.

Perhaps the most crucial weapon that Tombstones brings to bear (other than the guns, knives, cleavers and other tools of the trade that the characters bludgeon each other with) is Liam Neeson returned to a situation that suits him. Whilst past films have utilised his grim, embittered demeanour, the problem with action fare such as Taken and Non-Stop is that the backdrop against which Neeson was placed were too ridiculous to take him in any way seriously. Thankfully the drab, unwelcoming streets of pre Y2K New York filling the frame here are a perfect match for our leading man.

There is a surprising amount to enjoy in the supporting cast too. Dan Stevens lends the initial charisma that made him so chilling in The Guest but alters it slightly to bring an edge of slime and is by far the most magnetic screen presence. Astro is very believable and watchable as T.J., with a backstory that is well-developed without the need for flashbacks or drawn-out exposition. The villains are quite clearly horror-thriller caricatures but as they aren’t the main focus this doesn’t become too much of an issue.

The criminally over-played ‘alcoholic cop’ trope is dropped this time in favour of a remorseful man searching for redemption for a crime he believes was his fault, and the focus on Scudder as a repentant individual who attends AA meetings, remaining vigilant of endangering what friends he has left makes for a refreshing and enjoyable character arc. Sadly the sheer running time devoted to Scudder means that the crime thriller element is given very little time to develop and the whole film starts to drag its feet during the middle act.

Visually, the film dispenses with stylised elements favoured in too many contemporary thrillers and aims more for the grimy, voyeuristic look of genre pieces from the appropriate 90’s time frame. The period setting also prevents an over-abundance of techno-gadgetry from becoming an overbearing presence, with the Y2K aspect injecting a distrust of technology into the mix. Even without modern technology, a selection of modern thriller tropes find their way into the final act and the ridiculousness of them do shatter the atmosphere. There is also a sense of impatience in waiting for a shocking plot twist that never shows up, which in the end makes the film feel very disposable.

With Liam Neeson back among surroundings in which one can take him seriously, and sporting a well-constructed supporting cast, A Walk Among the Tombstones is a perfectly functional thriller. While the thrills are unmemorable and largely predictable, they’ll be sure to provide satisfying entertainment for a couple of hours.

3 stars

Thursday, 4 September 2014

'The Guest' - Review

thriller 9/04/2014 11:19:00 am

Adam Wingard, director of last year’s absolutely terrific slasher You’re Next, returns to the screen with The Guest. A family is grieving when mysterious David (Dan Stevens) appears on their doorstep claiming to be a friend of their son who died fighting in the Middle East. Sporting charisma, impeccable manners and an unquenchable desire to help the small family, David appears from the outset to be a miraculous Samaritan, but as questions about his past are raised, things begin to take a darker turn.

The key to enjoying The Guest – and indeed You’re Next – is understanding the dark and ridiculous sense of humour with which it handles itself, and boy does it return with a bite in the final act. The script is sharp and funny, and any film which can make an audience of horror-phobic students burst out laughing as someone is brutally murdered has to be doing something right. Deny it as they might, I’m willing to bet that 100% of the audience I saw the film with laughed like hyenas consistently throughout the bloodshed.

Dan Stevens is absolutely brilliant in the central role, and despite the charisma and the charm exhibited at first, you know from the start that something very wrong is going on beneath the surface and it’s the tension and excitement of waiting for things to go wrong that makes his performance so enjoyable. Leland Orser as the alcoholic father with the dead-end job is one of the funniest things in the film, Maika Monroe and Brendan Meyer as the brother and sister duo put in fine performances, and in fact the majority of the supporting cast bounce off Stevens incredibly well.

The movie is shot in a gorgeously stylish manner, the palette seeping with neon glows and pitch black shadows working in fantastic tandem. Visually, this prevents the film from looking too much like a thriller that takes itself too seriously, enhancing the comedic tone despite the suspenseful set-pieces that pop up every now and then. A massively enjoyable synth-heavy score does nothing to lessen the 1980’s B-movie sensibility but that is exactly what Wingard is aiming for, down to the font used for the opening titles which brings to mind titles like The Hitcher and The Evil Dead.

Though deliberately slow and some might argue self-indulgent towards the beginning, the story holds out on the twists and turns for the final twenty minutes, with an ending that works incredibly well: Wingard has the audience exactly where he wants them and knows exactly how to play them, the divided audience reaction of outraged ‘No way!’ on the one side and hysterical laughter on the other proving that to a tee. Upon leaving the screening, it was really refreshing to hear so much animated discussion, to see so many gobsmacked faces which made me feel completely justified in my enjoyment of the film.

The Guest is a shed-load of fun; a stripped-down, smart, punchy psychological thriller that wears it’s ridiculously stylish B-movie colours proudly. There’ll be a part of you that feels immensely guilty for laughing with it, but that’s why it works so well. I cannot remember emerging from the cinema with such a large yet slightly ashamed grin on my face for quite some time and unless something truly startling emerges between now and December, I’d feel quite comfortable calling it my film of the year.

5 stars

Chris At The Pictures