Nymph()maniac Parts I & II

(Lars von Trier/2013/Denmark, Sweden, France & Germany)

Danish avant garde prankster Lars von Trier finishes off his Depression Trilogy with a four hour comedy about a sex addict. This hilarious plot includes scenes so ludicrous that at times I couldn’t actually laugh out loud because my brain did a double take thinking maybe the joke was on the audience. If you have a free afternoon and like having someone trying to shock you with subpar Freudian shtick then fill your boots. If however, like me, you’ve run out of patience with a Danish nincompoop who openly positions himself next to geniuses such as Bergman and Kurosawa and considers himself “provocative” then give it a miss. Each part gets a point for the respective performances of Stacy Martin and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

(2/5)

Ted

(Seth MacFarlane/2012/USA)

Do you like weed and sexual innuendo? Yeah? Ted should blow some smoke up your alley then. The humour’s adolescent, the idea of friendship getting in the way of romance is nothing new and an anthropomorphic toy is hardly original but there is something strangely endearing about Ted. The sum is more than the parts here. The direct conflict between Lori, who embodies marriage, responsibility and being grown up or “manly” and Ted, a stuffed toy who conflates the life of a single man with childish things like a fear of thunder and living without purpose or direction, getting stoned, talking shite etc, is on the face of it insulting and puerile but it’s subverted by the end of the movie. But hey, no one is taking anything too seriously here and for the most part it avoids being cringe worthy, sometimes makes you laugh out loud and it has Sam fucking Jones in it. If you grew up with Flash Gordon with a Queen theme tune it’s hitting a button right there. 

 Ted shouldn’t work when you put any thought to it but it’s a bit of fun with a nice happy ending. It’s full of clichés, old jokes, silly jokes and plain stupid stuff but it’s totally aware of all that and doesn’t care and nor should you. There’s recognition by the end that a man can have time in his life just for goofing as well as be mature and responsible; that one doesn’t go without the other and that men who allow time for kicking back with the lads are all the better for it. It’s not a particularly revelatory point but it’s the most mature part of a film about a dumbfuck from Brooklyn who nearly screws up the ride of his life because of a fucking teddy bear.

(2.5/5)

Yakuza Apocalypse

(Takashi Miike/2015/Japan)

You don’t press play on a Takashi Miike film and expect a run of the mill cinematic experience. The man is known for his derangement of genres and narrative and in Yakuza Apocalypse he seems to pack almost every style and conceit he’s ever previously employed into the one sitting. Without trying to elaborate on every twist and turn, because we’d be here all day, the basic premise is this: Kageyama works for local gangster Kamiura, who happens to be a vampire. A rival cartel, consisting of a coffin carrying witchfinder general, an geeky assassin and a kappa water demon, rolls into town challenging Kamiura’s reign. They kick his ass but before he dies he bites Kageyama, turning him into a vampire, who then vows to destroy the cartel with the remnants of the yakuza gang. The cartel summon "the modern monster" who is a man in an oversized mouldy frog suit, he needs help up and down stairs but has unbelievable martial arts skills. The rest of the movie is taken up with the battle between Kageyama’s crew and the cartel and the frog. Have you processed all that? Because that is the bare bones of what goes on. At the start of the movie Kageyama says “My life was like tepid water. Then I met the boss.” Well Takashi Miike boils the bejaysus out of that water over the course of two hours and there is absolutely no point in trying to make sense of it. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride because it is at times frustrating, at times hilarious and all the time fun. It ends in mid skirmish, suggesting there could be a sequel but for me the scenes towards the end take on the feel of a video game. The monster levels up and the final cut is as if someone pressed pause to make a cup of tea during an epic battle on a games console. This is a marmite flick, even Miike fans will rankle at it I suspect but if you can let the attention deficit style wash over you there’s lots to enjoy.

(3.5/5)

The Darkest Universe

(Will Sharpe & Tom Kingsley/2016/UK)

A slightly weird, and at times unsettling, film that follows a man called Zach as he attempts to make sense of his mentally unwell sister and her boyfriend’s disappearance on a canal boat. His frustration and impatience with the police investigation leads him to direct his energies into an online campaign. It becomes all consuming to the detriment of his personal and work life. At the same time, through flashbacks, the characters of his sister, Alice and her boyfriend, Toby and the build up to their going missing is shown. As Zach begins to experience a breakdown and falls further into a black hole of video blogs and clue hunting the metaphor of a black hole reflects a lot of what is going on. Their boat was last seen going into a canal tunnel, Alice’s disappearance leaves an emotional void in his life and one of Toby’s hand drawn comics depicts aliens consumed by a black vortex. It becomes apparent that rather than being seriously mentally ill, his sister might just be a socially awkward, introverted girl who finds a perfect match in the equally awkward and nerdy Toby. The idea that they have run away to escape the pressure, mainly exerted by Zach, to engage in society “normally” becomes viable. This realization pushes Zach’s breakdown to its limit and a swell of memories brings a catharsis. The Darkest Universe’s slowly evolving black humour shows how traumatic events in the past can have such long reaching effects, quietly buried, not far from the surface and waiting to be uncovered. It also to a lesser extent queries the, oft times false, hope of social media campaigns and depicts the compulsion to help as a mental condition in itself. Although the humour in the film pokes fun at Zach his breakdown is not mocked and provides the pathos which lifts this movie from quirky comedy to affecting drama. It’s very well put together. The mystery of Alice and Toby is the focal point about which Zach loses and discovers himself and although there are no concrete answers given for their disappearance my hunch is that the very first suggestion, given by the police, is the right one. They simply don’t want to be found in this darkest of universes.

(3.5/5)

Arrival

(Dennis Villeneuve/2016/USA) 

Big squids from space come and teach us about time being a dimension not a continuum so we can take an evolutionary baby step. All tied into the personal story of the translator played by Amy Adams. It’s really well done with a feisty performance from Adams. Villeneuve is great at setting up big mood twanging scenes. The whole first contact scenario plays out pretty much as you’d expect if you’ve seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind but with some lovely updates such as the gravity kink in the entrance tunnel. I really enjoyed this and as schmaltzy as the ending is it works and you stand up to leave with your heart a bit fuller than when you sat down to start watching.

(3.5/5)

Grand Central

(Rebecca Zlowtoski/2013/France & Austria) 

Telling a story of infidelity in the midst of dangerous work in a nuclear power plant Grand Central wins out on style but falls short in terms of substance. The opening sequence shows Tahar Rahim as Gary arrive at the plant seeking short term contract work. The detail and unhurried observance of the process of induction and safety training brings some of Ken Loach’s films to mind and it is as much an exercise in social realism as a set up for what’s to come. The dangerousness of the work is reinforced in the mind of the viewer and for the rest of the movie much of the tension will be scored in the scenes of Gary and his work mates on the job. Outside of the plant the lives of the migrant workers, living in caravans on a site across the river from the plant, are in focus as they socialise on their time off. A liaison develops, quite suddenly and without any preamble, between Gary and Karole the fiancé of Toni, one of the other workers. As the tension of the work in the plant begins to parallel the tension between the characters due to the affair it seems as if things will come to a head and a twist or revelation or some physical aggression will occur. There are some excellent uses of a jagged avant garde score to reflect this build and bubble of tension throughout. Gary’s past is hinted at as being unsavoury. “You don’t know who I am” he says to his pal Tcherno as he holds a knife to his throat after a minor falling out. However the eventual snap of tautness in the plot is a letdown as the film reveals itself as a simple tale of illicit love. It doesn’t have enough impact for the levels of tension built up throughout. Also the characters of Karole and Gary, in terms of the affair, are paper thin. It’s hinted that Karole and Toni, who is sterile, could be using Gary to have a child but it’s such a brief and wispish plot suggestion that it passes by without effect. The brooding mood and tone throughout Grand Central is effecting and really well done but unfortunately the characters and story get lost in the shadow of that aesthetic as it dominates the film much as the imposing structure of the nuclear plant both visually and sonically dominates many of the scenes.

(2.5/5)

Out of the Rubble

(Penny Woolcock/2015/UK)

Using footage from the BFI archives, spanning from 1950’s Glasgow to London in 2015, Penny Woolcock looks at urban planning and social housing in Britain since World War II. By cutting across years and juxtaposing footage from different areas and eras she manages to build a very forceful and coherent message using a form of cinematic impressionism. It’s quite an extraordinary 18 minutes that shows how little has changed in attitudes to the poor, immigrants and social housing in over half a century. Through the montage style of editing Woolcock disparages the move away from traditional community structures to suburban, distanced and isolated living. Early on the Isle of Dogs in London is described as a village where everyone looks out for each other immediately followed by someone expressing the wish to tear down all the old towns and build them anew. T.S. Eliot, in Birmingham, pinpoints segregation of class and race as the failings of these new housing drives. Shock expressed at levels of deprivation in 1967 follows footage of deprivation in 2015, the initial hope and optimism in high rise urban renewal projects of the 1950’s contrasts with residents commenting on luxury, private accommodation and retail developments encroaching on their community as property becomes a premium and gentrification spreads. Out of the Rubble is a visually lyrical lament for an older way of life but more so a barbed critique of the one that has replaced it. It is a film I have watched numerous times since first seeing it and its impact hasn’t diminished any. Penny Woolcock, by carefully selecting old, anachronistic clippings from across the ages and stitching them together to create something new, presents a searing and saddening vista on a very relevant current issue.

(5/5)

Kill Your Friends

(Owen Harris/2015/UK) 

I don’t know what the book of the same name by John Niven is like; it was a best seller apparently, but this film is a mess. It just doesn’t know what it wants to be. It starts as an acidic take on the music business but a lot of the humour is neither as incisive nor witty as the rapid fire voiceover would have you believe. Nick Hoult’s character Steven is a deliberately repugnant and smarmy twat so when he kills his first pal it looks like it’s going to be a comedy of black humour following this A&R mans murderous ambition. It’s a good metaphor for the cut throat music industry and maybe this should have been the path followed but it starts taking itself too seriously. Things begin to come apart for Steven and he falls flat on his arse in a cocaine and alcohol binged descent into hell. The entire middle section goes off on this personal crisis, which is neither here nor there as he’s an unsympathetic character to begin with and Harris forgets to play it for laughs. Steven pulls himself together and starts back stabbing work mates and climbing to the top again. There is another murder but for a film called Kill Your Friends you can’t help feeling a bit short changed at two killings. By the time our hero has established himself as the king of A&R it’s hard to care about anything or anyone you’ve just seen onscreen. Everyone in the film is purposefully reprehensible with few redeeming qualities, I get it, the music business is scummy and we’re poking fun at it but the humour is second rate and the tonal shift from comedy to dark personal hell doesn’t work before trying to claw back the satirical punch line at the end. It’s really just a waste of time.

(1/5)

Wild

(Jean Marc Vallée/2014/USA)

An adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoirs about her mother, her mother’s death, the ensuing grief which leads to a fall from grace and Strayed’s redemption, embodied in an 1100 mile hike on the Pacific Coast Trail. Wild works well enough with fleeting, suggestive flashbacks leading to a gradual, impressionistic building of the back story being the best of it. Where it lags is in the present tense of the hiking scenes. A lot of the emotional pull is too obvious and contrived and there’s far too much mid to close up shots of Reece Whetherspoon and not enough of that spirit lifting landscape. Good performances from Laura Dern and Wetherspoon carry it and even though the final scenes are ruined by an awful CGI fox there’s enough of a heartfelt lift to have you come away smiling. It could have been much more than it is but it’s a decent watch nonetheless.

(2.5/5)

Boy

(Taika Waititi/2011/New Zealand) 

"We could not afford books, so we made our own"

The above line, from Patricia Grace’s novel Potiki, captures something of the essence of Maori culture; the importance of storytelling in defining themselves is crucial. And Taika Waititi brings this inclination to every aspect of Boy, a story set in 1984 about a family of Maori kids living with their grandmother after the death of their mum and desertion of their father. The boy of the title creates stories around his father’s absence to make sense of the hurtful situation. He invents his own mythology that defines his inherent sense of optimism and his belief in his father, a shield from the truth. His brother Rocky has superpowers, conferred on him at birth when their mother died in labour, again positively mythologizing a tragic event. When the father arrives back these stories also become a convenient way for him to sidestep the truth and he embellishes and expands the boy’s tales to great delight. 

But reality has a way of crashing into fantasies and the underlying sadness of this family’s situation eventually bubbles up and breaks through. The tone is perfect throughout, light hearted with the happy go lucky wonder of the kids humming off the screen in every scene. This is due to the performances of James Rolleston and Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu as the brothers and also the incidental animations bringing to life their drawings of their various stories. These animations brought to mind the TV show Moone Boy, also dealing with a young boy’s internal fantasy world, which appeared a year or so later and may, to a small degree, be indebted to this film. Waititi not only offers up a slice of authentic Maori experience but tells a coming of age tale that anyone can relate to. The Michael Jackson Haka at the end credits is a stroke of genius too.

 

(4/5)

Lone Survivor

(Peter Berg/2013/USA) 

Based on real events but widely accepted as exaggerating some details Lone Survivor focuses on action over character and as a result loses out on any real emotional punch. The photos of real marines which pepper the opening and closing credits make for an awkward grab at our heartstrings; that sense of pride in men going to fight a good war instead of coming across as genuine becomes ham fisted as the main characters are paper thin. Without any depth to the men involved in the mission, which is a failure almost from the start, the intensity of the fire fight becomes the crux of the film and reduces the movie to a mere action flick dressed up in stars and stripes chest beating. It’s a pity because it’s an extraordinary and sad story of a mission gone awry and could have been a far greater reflection on the US interests and actions in Afghanistan. But it does capture the ferociousness and panic of a close quarters gun battle in a quite visceral way, it does that one thing really well.

(2/5)

American Ultra

(Nima Nourizadeh/2015/USA) 

A by the book action comedy about a stoner who, unbeknownst to himself, is a dormant CIA agent and has to come to terms with his past when rival CIA factions clash over a decision to terminate him. Much hilarity ensues when he is triggered by a CIA operative looking out for him and he springs into action against his assailants. It’s The Bourne Identity meets Cheech and Chong and whilst there’s nothing new here it is a decent fish out of water hi jinx spy caper. There are solid performances from Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg and a few laugh out loud moments but it’s really just a rehash of various other flicks (see Kick Ass, Nikita, Bourne etc). Overall it doesn’t gel together in places but tips along at a fast enough pace to keep you watching til the end.

(2.5/5)

Phase IV

(Saul Bass/1974/UK & USA) 

Ants, imbued with a psychic hive mind from an interstellar phenomenon, begin to take over the world. Ok they take over a patch of desert in Arizona but you have to start somewhere right? A scientific team comprising James Lesko and Ernest Hubbs deploy themselves in the centre of the ant activity to observe and analyse what’s happening. The ants have attacked nearby residents and shown an evolved form of aggression. The scientists and ants go to war, as much psychological as physical and as small and seemingly innocuous as they are the ants seem to be the superior strategists. It’s one of those barmy sci-fi plots that presents a threat in something that from the get go you can’t fathom but then generates a genuine sense of unease and building panic as the humans run out of ideas and time in their battle against the teeny weeny army. The camera work on the ants is great and also the setting and exterior shots all add to the atmosphere of increasing paranoia. As silly as the story sounds it does keep you engaged and the ending is very nicely done. A solid low budget sci-fi.

(3/5)

Animal Kingdom

(David Michôd/2010/Australia)

After his mum overdoses and dies Jay finds refuge with his grandmother and extended family who happen to be one of Melbourne’s most notorious crime gangs. His passive engagement with the daily running’s of this new family sees him find a sense of place and acceptance and also exposes him to exploitation in particular by his uncle - the older, just out of jail and slightly psychotic brother “Pope”. Based around real events Animal Kingdom matter-of-factly portrays these folk as they casually and pointedly operate and live outside of the law. Jay slips further and further into the mire as pressure from cops to go states witness builds and Pope slowly loses his grip and slips further and further into paranoid aggression. Ben Mendelsohn is intense and scary as Pope and James Frecheville plays the confused, perennially unsure but cool Jay to a tee. Animal Kingdom is quietly gripping to the very last second.

(3.5/5)

Sightseers

(Ben Wheatley/2012/UK)

Like Mike Leigh’s Nuts in May Wheatley’s Sightseers focuses on a pair of mild mannered, outdoorsy types with a compulsive desire for due process and properness. But Wheatley’s Chris and Tina are infused with much more latent psychosis leading to murderous violence than the suppressed, mildly aggressive frustrations of Leigh’s Keith and Candice Marie. As Chris and Tina make their way across the British countryside and bodies pile up we see a complicity and unspoken relish in their actions develop. Situations are created whereby the only feasible solution is, obviously, murder. However there is one brilliant and hilarious twist to it all in the end. Sightseers is immensely entertaining with a downplayed, dead pan style of comedy that suits the story perfectly. The leading couple, Steve Oram and Alice Lowe are cracking and bounce off each other brilliantly. One of those quintessentially British comedies just with a dark, black heart of humour.

(3.5/5)

The White Ribbon

(Michael Haneke/2009/Germany) 

In a German village, just before the First World War, untoward things are beginning to occur. The narrator posits the events of the film as a possible explanation for future events in the country so we are to take it that this is an exposition by Haneke on the roots of fascism or evil perhaps. It’s a vague enough supposition to be questioned and just kept in mind for any deeper thinking on the film afterwards I guess. Beautifully shot in black and white and paced exquisitely so as to slowly unfurl before the viewer with a creeping intensification of horrible events The White Ribbon looks at the power structures within the village and can be seen as a representation of “old” Germany. The doctor, the pastor and the baron are the triumvirate that lead the community, each exhibiting varying degrees of zealousness in their control of those around them. The doctor in particular is a nasty bastard. 

It becomes apparent that the children of the village are operating as a covert gang of sorts and are perpetrating much of the incidents which are occurring although not all of them. Again Haneke is deploying a certain ambiguity to provoke thought and debate. But if we accept that the children are at the heart of the subterfuge and revolt against the established power structure within the village we can see how it relates to that first statement about future events in Germany. These kids are the exact generation that will vote for Hitler. Is Haneke suggesting that the urge to rebel against older generations and usurp long standing systems of control is the reason for fascism and right wing nationalist ideas? I don’t think so, it’s subtler than that, the youthful capacity and will for change allows space for certain, extreme ideas to take hold more like. It appears the root and nature of evil is inherent in mankind, even to the point that innocent children can perpetrate crimes in blind faith to a higher cause. Or are the children a metaphor whereby Haneke is proposing innocence for that generation, their desire for something better blinding them to the rottenness of the new regime? Also as one system of control is replaced by another is there really any change as we see the white ribbon of the title, employed as a shaming device by the pastor, correlates to the yellow stars of David used to segregate Jews under the Third Reich? 

 

It’s that kind of movie that doesn’t easily answer any of your questions and demands some consideration from the audience. It’s also a masterpiece from Haneke who employs all his skills of suggestion, observation and ideation to compel the viewer to respond.

(4/5)

What We Do In The Shadows

(Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi/2014/New Zealand)

Vampires are gas craic altogether, especially when they hang out together and house share. Witness the evidence in this documentary following four vamps of various ages living in a dingy house in Wellington, New Zealand. There’s three young bucks Deacon, Viago and Vlad who are really cool, dude, and then there’s 8000 year old Petyr in the basement, a proper old school vampire who is really the coolest. Like any house share there are disputes about cleaning up, vampire protocol and who should be vampirised. New recruit Nick upsets the apple cart a bit but his mate Stu is fecking rad man so the gang gets a new sense of camaraderie. When Stu gets attacked by werewolves and turns into one of them the vamp gang is traumatised but ultimately it leads to a new peace between the usually antagonistic vampires and werewolves. There are some laugh out loud moments and the overall cadence of the film is bang on, happy go lucky new kids on the block vibes but the conceit of the documentary stretches a smidgeon thin towards the end and some of the gags go by a little flatly. Minor gripes though as it is a well spent, funny 90 minutes.

(3/5)

Magnolia

(Paul Thomas Anderson/1999/USA) 

Three hours of your life you’ll never get back. Hollywood gave free reign to Anderson who discovers the beauty of coincidence in life and realises he can throw any old shite together and call it an arty ensemble flick. Bullshit. Just watch Short Cuts.

(0/5)

The King of Comedy

(Martin Scorsese/1982/USA) 

I personally think this is Robert De Niro’s finest performance and Martin Scorsese is on fire with another NYC based tale of madcap characters. This time the madness is in the attraction of celebrities and fans that live up to the unabbreviated version of the word – fanatic. The film examines what today would be called stalking and centres on De Niro’s character Rupert Pupkin who is fixated on TV show host Jerry Langford. Pupkin sees Langford as a conduit for his aspirations as a comedian if he can get a slot on his show. The fact that his idea of himself as a comedian is a complete fantasy and exists only in his head doesn’t deter him. De Niro plays the part brilliantly with a gradual shift from mannerly enthusiasm to actual mania but at all times good natured, jovial and relentlessly optimistic. It’s a phenomenal performance and the film itself cleverly flips a mirror at the media in general when Pupkin gains the notoriety and success he craves through exposure from an outlandish and warped criminal act. It stands out in Scorsese’s filmography due to the style also which is more traditional than his usual auteur trademarks. There’s very little point of view shots or camera tracking after actors to introduce scenes and other characters. As a result it’s the dramatic action and actors themselves which provide the dynamic of the film and both De Niro and Bernhardt knock it out of the park. It’s colourful and gaudy too, almost a visual snark at the cult of celebrity and influence of media on people’s lives.

(4/5)

Earthquake

(Mark Robson/1974/USA) 

Made at the height of disaster movie mania and initially scripted by Mario Puzo of Godfather fame this one is far too much character orientated for my liking. The special effects of the earthquake and the individual catastrophes are grand but the action is secondary to the soap opera of the main players’ lives. I understand the need for empathy in the audience and motivation on screen but honestly I’m more interested in seeing LA fall apart than Charlton Heston’s marriage. That’s the point of disaster movies isn’t it? There’s a brilliant cameo by Walter Matthau as the drunk in the bar though.

(2/5)