Jose Mojica Marins
1977
Definitely the weakest of Jose Mojica Marins's films I've seen to date, and I've certainly noticed a trend towards lower quality in his later pictures. Marins doesn't even portray his mad scientist as his well known trademark character "Coffin Joe" in this outing, which is a basic revenge tale straight out of the most mediocre EC comics. Facial disfigurement and infidelity make for the height of a phoned-in effort.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Killer of Sheep
Charles Burnett
1977
This long unavailable and much lauded student film from director Charles Burnett made critical waves on it's release last year - a release made possible by someone flipping the bill for the pricey music clearances to release it legally. Burnett's picture is an unhurried, or exaggerated, examination of black life in Watts with a few trained actors rubbing shoulders with non-actors, and punctuated by divine photography of local children at play. For all the frank and messy life on hand Burnett also imbues a documentary element of mechanized death with the titular patriarch going through his daily routine at a slaughterhouse. By turns humorous, grave, and socially conscious, "Killer of Sheep" deserves it's rep, but I'll admit to never having seen a professional feature of Burnett's or of having been independently interesting by any of his pictures (besides "To Sleep With Anger" (1990)).
1977
This long unavailable and much lauded student film from director Charles Burnett made critical waves on it's release last year - a release made possible by someone flipping the bill for the pricey music clearances to release it legally. Burnett's picture is an unhurried, or exaggerated, examination of black life in Watts with a few trained actors rubbing shoulders with non-actors, and punctuated by divine photography of local children at play. For all the frank and messy life on hand Burnett also imbues a documentary element of mechanized death with the titular patriarch going through his daily routine at a slaughterhouse. By turns humorous, grave, and socially conscious, "Killer of Sheep" deserves it's rep, but I'll admit to never having seen a professional feature of Burnett's or of having been independently interesting by any of his pictures (besides "To Sleep With Anger" (1990)).
The Headless Woman
Lucrecia Martel
2008
It's always a treat when there's a film in theaters from Argentine arthouse star Lucrecia Martel. Her sophomore outing "The Holy Girl" (2004) was enigmatic in extreme with gorgeous camera work and a stylistic sensibility somewhat akin to the Dardennes, and I have yet to see her first feature "La Cienaga" (2001), but am certainly looking forward to it. Her latest is a another distant meditation on character and experience, but this time Martel uses her narrative to make a political statement. Bottle blonde Vero is the dizzying epitome of Argentine upper class complacency, floating through life in a luxury four-wheeler, casually carrying on an affair, and comforting a senile relative fill her days. A hit and run incident with what may be a dog, or child, furthers Vero's opaque and disassociated state. Martel and actress Maria Onetto play a crafty game of cat and mouse with Vero's mental state with an underlying waxing and waning of anxiety. The indictment of the wealth is a strong subtext here with a leisurely bunch of well to do's. Their decadence is expressed in financial interactions with poorer dark skinned shopkeepers and in Vero's presumably incestuous affair. For all it's allegorical oomph though, I still prefer the visual beauty and simplicity of "The Holy Girl" (2004). Looking forward to more Martel.
2008
It's always a treat when there's a film in theaters from Argentine arthouse star Lucrecia Martel. Her sophomore outing "The Holy Girl" (2004) was enigmatic in extreme with gorgeous camera work and a stylistic sensibility somewhat akin to the Dardennes, and I have yet to see her first feature "La Cienaga" (2001), but am certainly looking forward to it. Her latest is a another distant meditation on character and experience, but this time Martel uses her narrative to make a political statement. Bottle blonde Vero is the dizzying epitome of Argentine upper class complacency, floating through life in a luxury four-wheeler, casually carrying on an affair, and comforting a senile relative fill her days. A hit and run incident with what may be a dog, or child, furthers Vero's opaque and disassociated state. Martel and actress Maria Onetto play a crafty game of cat and mouse with Vero's mental state with an underlying waxing and waning of anxiety. The indictment of the wealth is a strong subtext here with a leisurely bunch of well to do's. Their decadence is expressed in financial interactions with poorer dark skinned shopkeepers and in Vero's presumably incestuous affair. For all it's allegorical oomph though, I still prefer the visual beauty and simplicity of "The Holy Girl" (2004). Looking forward to more Martel.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Bad Taste
Peter Jackson
1987
This is one I've been meaning to see for ages, and while not disappointed upon finally viewing, I think "Dead Alive" (1992) remains far superior. Aliens have arrived on Earth with the unwholesome intention of butchering mankind and selling our manbeef to an interplanetary market. The only thing that stands between total galactic annihilation and salvation is a handful of Kiwi commandos. Of course this being an ultra low budget feature the aliens take the form of humans (until their seriously awesome true form is revealed) and there's only really one spaceship to speak of. The big draw here has always been the high gore quotient (gunshot wounds, disembowlings, and splattered brains) and infectious sense of silly fun. I cannot believe that this picture was anything but a blast to work on, or at the very least any hardships suffered by cast and crew must have been totally worth it. Let's hope Jackson makes his return to horror (or at least goofy) cinema post haste.
1987
This is one I've been meaning to see for ages, and while not disappointed upon finally viewing, I think "Dead Alive" (1992) remains far superior. Aliens have arrived on Earth with the unwholesome intention of butchering mankind and selling our manbeef to an interplanetary market. The only thing that stands between total galactic annihilation and salvation is a handful of Kiwi commandos. Of course this being an ultra low budget feature the aliens take the form of humans (until their seriously awesome true form is revealed) and there's only really one spaceship to speak of. The big draw here has always been the high gore quotient (gunshot wounds, disembowlings, and splattered brains) and infectious sense of silly fun. I cannot believe that this picture was anything but a blast to work on, or at the very least any hardships suffered by cast and crew must have been totally worth it. Let's hope Jackson makes his return to horror (or at least goofy) cinema post haste.
Planet of the Apes
Tim Burton
2001
Second Viewing
This is a good place to start in pinpointing Tim Burton's nearly decade long decline from one of cinema's most creative fantasists to one of it's most adequate. With the notable exception of "Big Fish" (2003), everything he's done since (the passable but disappointing "Corpse Bride" (2005), his shrill reimagining of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005)) has come far short of the caliber of earlier efforts like "Beetle Juice" (1988), or "Mars Attacks!" (1996). This classic sci-fi remake is definitely tedious when viewed alone, but downright lame when compared to the original. Burton's take on the tale of an ape-run world has stock hero Mark Walberg passing through a cosmic wormhole and crashing on a planet where anthropomorphic apes rule over human slaves. Burton ups the action quota significantly and adds more visual detail to the ape's world, but these inclusions come at the cost of a worthwhile and engaging storyline - Burton's film is one of visuals, but the original is a film of ideas. The characters are generally one dimensional, particularly the permanently snarling General Thade, a performance by Tim Roth that grows unintentionally comical midway through the picture. There's a nice conceit that reconciles the conflict and the inevitable "twist ending" is a hoot, but overall the "Planet of the Apes" redux is a great advertisement against remakes.
2001
Second Viewing
This is a good place to start in pinpointing Tim Burton's nearly decade long decline from one of cinema's most creative fantasists to one of it's most adequate. With the notable exception of "Big Fish" (2003), everything he's done since (the passable but disappointing "Corpse Bride" (2005), his shrill reimagining of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005)) has come far short of the caliber of earlier efforts like "Beetle Juice" (1988), or "Mars Attacks!" (1996). This classic sci-fi remake is definitely tedious when viewed alone, but downright lame when compared to the original. Burton's take on the tale of an ape-run world has stock hero Mark Walberg passing through a cosmic wormhole and crashing on a planet where anthropomorphic apes rule over human slaves. Burton ups the action quota significantly and adds more visual detail to the ape's world, but these inclusions come at the cost of a worthwhile and engaging storyline - Burton's film is one of visuals, but the original is a film of ideas. The characters are generally one dimensional, particularly the permanently snarling General Thade, a performance by Tim Roth that grows unintentionally comical midway through the picture. There's a nice conceit that reconciles the conflict and the inevitable "twist ending" is a hoot, but overall the "Planet of the Apes" redux is a great advertisement against remakes.
[REC]
Jaume Balaguero / Paco Plaza
2007
I couldn't have been more done with the first person mock-documentary "Blair Witch" style of horror filmmaking until this came along. The Spanish directing duo of Jaume Blaguero and Paco Plaza hit it out of the park with such finesse and perfection that the film's United States release was suppressed in order for American filmmakers to churn out the English language remake "Quarantine" (2008). A local news program rides along with some firefighters for the graveyard shift and is soon locked into an apartment complex beset by a series of strange crimes thanks to a strict police blockade of the building. As the tenants are picked off one by one they rise up as angry flesh eaters (think the "fast" zombies from "28 Days Later" (2002)), and our hapless reporters are thrust into a dire and unescapable situation. This is definitely the best use I've seen of the format, with the first person Kino eye creating the unsettling effect of constant danger just out of frame. There's also some nice nods to George Romero with a disparate group of people undone by selfish personalities and racial prejudices. The video aesthetic certainly gives the special effects people some leeway but with a combination of prosthetics and lighting the violent ghouls are strikingly effective. This is definitely an outstanding addition to the horror canon.
2007
I couldn't have been more done with the first person mock-documentary "Blair Witch" style of horror filmmaking until this came along. The Spanish directing duo of Jaume Blaguero and Paco Plaza hit it out of the park with such finesse and perfection that the film's United States release was suppressed in order for American filmmakers to churn out the English language remake "Quarantine" (2008). A local news program rides along with some firefighters for the graveyard shift and is soon locked into an apartment complex beset by a series of strange crimes thanks to a strict police blockade of the building. As the tenants are picked off one by one they rise up as angry flesh eaters (think the "fast" zombies from "28 Days Later" (2002)), and our hapless reporters are thrust into a dire and unescapable situation. This is definitely the best use I've seen of the format, with the first person Kino eye creating the unsettling effect of constant danger just out of frame. There's also some nice nods to George Romero with a disparate group of people undone by selfish personalities and racial prejudices. The video aesthetic certainly gives the special effects people some leeway but with a combination of prosthetics and lighting the violent ghouls are strikingly effective. This is definitely an outstanding addition to the horror canon.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
The Jerk
Carl Reiner
1979
This is one of those movies that people have always given me a hard time for not seeing. "What do you mean you've never seen The Jerk, what kind of movie fan are you." I never really had much interest, but after catching a few moments of it on television it became obvious that I really was missing out on something. This is that rare kind of picture tailor made to capture an individual comedian's sensibility, and thus achieving an almost Marx Brothers sense of the absurd and goofy, Steve Martin's masterpiece deserves to be the stuff of Midnight screening legend. The plot hardly matters: a coming of age journey, a rise complete with circus excursion and riches amassed, the requisite love story, hubristic fall, and a happy ending - it's all background noise and props for Martin's schtick. If only the vast output of Saturday Night Live movies (with the exception of "Wayne's World" (1992), which is divine) could be half this good...
1979
This is one of those movies that people have always given me a hard time for not seeing. "What do you mean you've never seen The Jerk, what kind of movie fan are you." I never really had much interest, but after catching a few moments of it on television it became obvious that I really was missing out on something. This is that rare kind of picture tailor made to capture an individual comedian's sensibility, and thus achieving an almost Marx Brothers sense of the absurd and goofy, Steve Martin's masterpiece deserves to be the stuff of Midnight screening legend. The plot hardly matters: a coming of age journey, a rise complete with circus excursion and riches amassed, the requisite love story, hubristic fall, and a happy ending - it's all background noise and props for Martin's schtick. If only the vast output of Saturday Night Live movies (with the exception of "Wayne's World" (1992), which is divine) could be half this good...
Curse of the Demon
Jacques Tourneur
1957
Maybe I'm not watching the right B-movies, but it seems that horror flicks inspired by Satanism are something of a rarity in classic Hollywood cinema. The only other example that comes to mind is Mark Robson's brilliant Val Lewton picture "The Seventh Victim" (1943). This exploration of the malevolent, directed by Jacques Tourneur, who had previously directed for Lewton as well, boasts a massive monster nipping at the heels of a skeptic American psychologist during a stay in soggy old England. Dana Andrews works well as the sober doc, and Peggy Cummins is nice as the hard-to-get love interest, but Niall MacGinnis's mephistophelian Karswell steals the show in being the epitome of a Lovecraftian character in search of dark knowledge. Karswell's got all the occult affectations one could wish for and subtly predicts the style and aesthetic of Satanic icon Anton Lavey. What's more, when he's not siccing hellish demons on his enemies he moonlights as a birthday clown! Tourneur was apparently against any visual depiction of the demon, and the director does a solid job of building atmosphere and mood, most successfully with the grim secret-hiding villagers, but I for one enjoy the giant fire-breathing puppet, and am grateful for it's inclusion.
1957
Maybe I'm not watching the right B-movies, but it seems that horror flicks inspired by Satanism are something of a rarity in classic Hollywood cinema. The only other example that comes to mind is Mark Robson's brilliant Val Lewton picture "The Seventh Victim" (1943). This exploration of the malevolent, directed by Jacques Tourneur, who had previously directed for Lewton as well, boasts a massive monster nipping at the heels of a skeptic American psychologist during a stay in soggy old England. Dana Andrews works well as the sober doc, and Peggy Cummins is nice as the hard-to-get love interest, but Niall MacGinnis's mephistophelian Karswell steals the show in being the epitome of a Lovecraftian character in search of dark knowledge. Karswell's got all the occult affectations one could wish for and subtly predicts the style and aesthetic of Satanic icon Anton Lavey. What's more, when he's not siccing hellish demons on his enemies he moonlights as a birthday clown! Tourneur was apparently against any visual depiction of the demon, and the director does a solid job of building atmosphere and mood, most successfully with the grim secret-hiding villagers, but I for one enjoy the giant fire-breathing puppet, and am grateful for it's inclusion.
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