War of the Worlds (2005) August 13, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , 2 commentsDirected by: Steven Spielberg
Remakes are generally considered a bit of a cheap shot – simply taking an existing story and updating it with new special effects or a modern day setting. Around the time of release critics will usually dredge up and then marvel over the source material, while that well-uttered phrase can be heard coming out of theatres around the country: “it wasn’t as good as the original”. Of course, if Steven Spielberg wants to do it then that’s another thing entirely…
When Ray Ferrier’s kids come to visit him in New Jersey for the weekend, they expect the usual treatment from their slightly disorganized dad. But during a bout of focussed lightning, the whole trip is turned upside down. Giant tripods rise up out of the ground and begin vaporising any living thing they come across. Ray (Tom Cruise) decides that the best course of action is to take his young daughter and teenage son back to their mother in Boston. Of course, to get there means venturing out on a perilous journey where they face being captured, trampled, or zapped to dust at every turn.
It’s a plotline that doesn’t allow for much exposition, since it’s mostly made up of our main characters lost in confused crowds or hiding in completely remote locations. Plus, the linear simplicity of the run-then-hide scene structure means that something else is required to keep our attention. But that’s where Mr Spielberg comes in. Directing with an assured flair, he uses swooping crane shots, long tracks, CG-manipulated single shots, as well as handheld in-the-moment camera work to create an exciting visual atmosphere generating tension, frenzy, or confusion, as required. It’s really that awesome.
Also strong is the pacing. From the moment the infamous tripods appear the movie really takes off, rarely letting up for the entire running time with every action set piece being followed quickly by the next; even quiet scenes are swiftly interrupted by the appearance of some form of threat. The pace of the movie is very impressive and stands out as one of its greatest assets, alongside an on-form performance from Cruise and the almost frighteningly good Dekota Fanning.
Unfortunately, at the conclusion the movie really hits a brick wall, jumping from danger and menace to accomplishment and then to credits in an unnaturally quick time. Jarringly so in fact, with what feels like a horribly tacked-on narrative exposition voice-over right at the end – hardly a fitting climax for the previous 100-minutes of expertly handled peril.
While the ending is probably the most glaring problem with the movie, there are other slightly nagging questions which arise, such as why everyone is heading to Boston as if it is some kind of assured safe-haven from robot beings. Or the almost entirely unexplained aspect of what happens to Robbie during the third act. These problems are significantly less major though, and can be overlooked if you’re enjoying the film enough.
All in all it’s a mixed bag – fantastic cinematography and an energetic pace is let down slightly by an overly simplistic story and a noticeably rushed finale which leaves you feeling a lack of proper closure. The effects work is, of course, fantastic and you never really doubt the existence of the tripods or the catastrophic destruction they cause for a minute. But if you’re going to update the visual aspect of the story, then why not doing something about the inherent narrative problem too; because there’s no compensation for not giving your movie, remake or otherwise, a proper ending. Even if you are a household name.
Beerfest (2006) August 9, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: Jay Chandrasekhar
Broken Lizard - the comedy troupe who were the creative force behind recent comedies Super Troopers and Club Dredd - return to the big screen, bringing with them fresh insight into their strange minds. While many of those in the college-age demographic this movie is aimed at may consider themselves fervent beer drinkers, this film takes it to the extreme, pitting countries against each other in the most outrageous drinking competitions ever devised – welcome to Beerfest!
The story, if it can be deemed as such, circulates around brothers Todd and Jan Wolfhouse, the descendants of a once great Belgian beer brewer, now living in Colorado. When their grandfather dies, an unplanned trip to relocate the ashes ends in the duo stumbling into an international drinking competition, where they are quickly ridiculed by their distant family and humiliated by the German team. Vowing to get even, the Wolfhouse brothers return to America and recruit a team. Together, they begin training for the following year’s Beerfest.
I have to say up front that Broken Lizard haven’t really done it for me in the past and after hating their previous movie Club Dredd, I’m surprised I even gave this one a chance. But I did, and it really wasn’t much better.
In my view, there’s only so much mileage in watching someone drink a beer and then belch loudly, or so you’d think, but these guys get a return journey out of that gag. Then, besides the obvious drunken material and a slew of sexual innuendos, there’s very little in terms of actual comedy to be found. Admittedly, every once in a while, somebody gives a good reading or drops in a nice line, yet it’s never more than a smile and certainly not enough to provide constant laughs.
This team knows what they’re good at – it’s stupid, adolescent comedies all the way, and from that point of view I guess they do it well. But I can’t help thinking that there’s better material waiting to come out of these guys. They’re all fine comic actors and prove so throughout the picture, often playing multiple characters and clearly enjoying the experience. Troupe member Jay Chandrasekhar has directed all the Lizard movies so far, as well as the decidedly weak Dukes of Hazzard movie from a couple of years ago. But look further at his resume and you’ll see that he also directed four episodes of the sublime TV comedy Arrested Development – a complete departure from the childish stupidity of these movies.
While this film is well directed and features good comic performances, the material itself sinks under the weight of having to sit next to relentless drunken-laughs and international-stereotype gags. It might work better if you get some friends round and tried to drink along with the film – of course, as the opening titles warn you, doing this may cause you to die. But at least then you wouldn’t have to suffer any more.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) August 6, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , 3 commentsDirected by: David Yates
The fifth book in the worldwide phenomenon that is Harry Potter makes its now inevitable transition to screen, bringing with it a whole truckload of hype, especially given the timely release of the final book. Following in the footsteps of Goblet of Fire, this movie shuns the PG certificate in favour of the slightly wider-berth, but still family-friendly, 12A – it is clear by now that the Potter universe has gone dark, but is there light at the end of the tunnel?
This year, Harry is faced with an almost ministry-wide denial that Lord Voldemort has returned, with only a few dedicated followers, going under the title The Order of the Phoenix, willing to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Hogwarts school gets a new, Ministry of Magic appointed, defence against the dark arts teacher: Professor Dolores Umbridge. She slowly starts to take over the school while opting not to teach the children any actual fighting techniques. Perturbed by this lack of action, and with Harry’s prophetic nightmares becoming more frequent, the students form their own defensive magic class, creating a new resistance: Dumbledore’s Army.
As an almost obligatory point, I’d better make it known that I have never read the books and so am not clouded by the knowledge of what the story could (but not necessarily should – read on) have been. Every time one of Harry’s adventures hits the screen there are fans pouring over its every detail and many reviews feature the phrase “it’s not like the book”. Well no, it’s not like the book, it’s a film, and the sooner we all get over the fact that it’s going to be different, the better. Would there be fewer complaints at a seven-hour, rambling narrative movie, full of all sorts of irrelevant sub-stories and character points? I think not. Books are a different medium to film; the skill comes in adapting one for the other in a way that makes sense.
Thankfully, Order of the Phoenix does exactly that, producing a fairly comprehensible movie with just a few plot elements that aren’t fully explained. As a non-Potter reader, I had no problem understanding the story, so accessibility is not a problem here. Also, as mentioned, it’s a 12A certificate, although the content is not too heavy with only mild aspects of violence and the occasional nightmare or threatening image providing anything to worry young children.
The performances are the best of the series so far with all three central characters, but especially Radcliffe, proving that they were good choices for their roles. All the supporting parts, of which there are plenty by this point in the series, get significantly less screen time. In fact, nobody gets much of a chance to shine except for Imelda Staunton who plays the meddling Dolores Umbridge.
David Yates, on the other hand, gets plenty of chances to shine, directing with style and holding the film together in an interesting way. Even the dream sequences and moments of introspection by Harry are handled well, while the action scenes are suitably spectacular. It’s worth noting that it’s not just the tone of this movie that’s dark; the visual aesthetic follows suit, so whether inside or outside the lighting conditions rarely get above ‘dim’. Couple this with some handheld camera work and frantic editing during the magic-battle scenes and things do get a touch hard to follow, but there’s always enough there to at least give you the idea of what is going on.
My main criticism of the film is nothing to do with the visuals however; instead, it’s the lack of real narrative arc. This particular story takes 138 minutes to tell us not very much – if you look at where the film starts and where it ends, there’s not a great deal of difference. This may well be a failing from the book of course, but with all the little nuances and character sub-plots taken out, it highlights a lack of drive in the main story all the more.
It’s clear that this series is already beginning the lead-up to its big, final-book finale. This film itself is clearly all about setting things in place, which probably contributes to its distinct lack of defined story progression. The biggest worry is that there’s still another film, The Half Blood Prince, between here and the final movie, and I’m unsure as to whether audiences will tolerate another 2+ hours of stalling for the conclusion. For now though, Order of the Phoenix is an enjoyable summer flick, if one that contains less than its fair share of actual headway.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006) August 3, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: Kirby Dick
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As a dedicated film fan, I was excited by the very prospect of this documentary pulling back the curtain on the MPAA rating system in the US and talking to some of the directors affected by its more controversial decisions. Billed as a kind of exposé on what is a very secretive organisation, there’s argument that this ‘advisory board’ is actually nothing more than another form of censorship – something which the founding of the board was supposed to prevent.
The film incorporates a nice animated sequence explaining the current ratings, while director and interviewer Kirby Dick talks to industry workers and insiders who explain the difficulties trying to market a film that receives the dreaded NC-17 classification. The greatest insight comes from the tales related by various directors such as Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry), Wayne Kramer (The Cooler), Matt Stone (South Park) and John Waters (A Dirty Shame), who have all been given ratings they disagreed with. Due to the commercial struggle that surrounds it, most of the conversation revolves around the NC-17 and the sometimes hypocritical circumstances under which the rating is given.
In order to give the documentary some kind of narrative thread, and so as to break up the talking heads segments, the film frequently cuts back to scenes involving a hired private investigator and her ongoing search to find out who the ‘raters’ employed by the MPAA are. Unfortunately, this material actually does the opposite of its purpose, taking you away from the most interesting aspect of the movie to pursue a fun but ultimately pointless piece of sleuthing.
Knowing or revealing the names of the raters and appeal board members serves as a less satisfying conclusion than you would expect. I was left feeling that there were so many stories to be told and that more time talking about the nature of the decisions and director’s personal experiences would’ve aided this documentary greatly. For example, director Kevin Smith appears to talk about the R-rating given to Jersey Girl, but doesn’t mention the original NC17 handed to his debut feature Clerks, an interesting and controversial decision given that the movie has no sex or violence at all. While this story has been documented elsewhere, it only makes me wonder what other anecdotes have been left out.
For a movie fan, at its strongest moments this documentary is quite fascinating. Unfortunately, this enjoyment is punctuated by moments of mediocrity, and while it’s never boring by any means, the wish to learn more about how the MPAA do what they do and less about who they are is never adequately fulfilled. We get bits of insight and the actual stories told are excellent, plus there’s some interesting information regarding how the appeals procedure works – especially the rules regarding what you can and can’t say during an appeal. Still, the split focus approach means that this documentary is neither a complete dissection of MPAA operations, nor a completely successful unmasking of the members behind its doors.