300

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name, "300" tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small force of Spartans battled against a Persian army that vastly out-numbered it. Although the Spartans were ultimately defeated, their sacrifice bought time for the Greeks to mass an army that would be able to stand up against the Persians.

Like "Apocalypto" earlier in the year, "300" is an action movie with a historical setting. And like "Apocalypto", it makes no pretense about being 100% historically accurate (although some of the film's more 'memorable' lines - "Tonight we dine in Hell!" for example - do come from classical sources). The film is stronger on action than it is on characterisation - the original comic is not Frank Miller's strongest piece of work when it comes to depth of character; it's partially inspired by the 1962 'sword & sandals' film "The 300 Spartans" which he saw as a child.

Director Zack Snyder (who previously brought us the remake of 'Dawn Of The Dead' - Romero's original concept of 'survivors in a mall' collides with the zombies from '28 Days Later') brings a visceral visual feast to the screen; heads and limbs are removed in glorious slo-mo, the Persian King Xerxes has a tent full of exotic sirens (rarely do you see credits for 'Transsexual Asian 1' or 'Long Neck Woman' at the end of a film), the Spartans are armoured in little more than leather thongs and cloaks. '300' has a 15 certificate, I'd be interested to know how violent a film has to be for an 18 certificate these days...

"300" is filmed using a technique that proved effective for an earlier adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel "Sin City". Actors were shot in front of a bluescreen and other visual elements were generated digitally and added in post-production, thus enabling the filmmakers to capture the distinctive feel of Miller's imagery. This give the film an appropriately 'other worldly' feel to it.

Although no flawless masterpiece, I enjoyed '300' for what it was; a big-screen blockbuster.

One thing I should add was that every time I saw (and heard) Gerard Butler as the Spartan King Leonidas I was reminded of Sean Connery's King Agamemnon in "Time Bandits", which has prompted me to give it a long-overdue repeat viewing.

Le Doulos

Took the opportunity to watch a 'rarity' on the big screen. Made in 1962 and described as an existential gangster film (or 'angster'* film), "Le Doulos" is a story of betrayal and revenge from Jean-Pierre Melville (who also made "Le Samouraï"); mixing together French new wave cinema and film noir.

Without going into too much detail of the plot (and thus spoiling it), Melville has concocted, from a novel by Pierre Lesou, a tale of two criminals trying to outwit each other with tragic consequences. "Le Doulos" (or "The Finger Man") has all the familiar trappings of film noir - men in hats and trenchcoats, dark shadows, double-crosses, femmes fatales - but has a certain French style to it, for example, every trenchcoat is immaculate and worn tightly fastened.

"Le Doulos" was an enjoyable evening's viewing and it was good to see a film of this age presented in the medium it was made for rather than on TV.


*Thanks Sam

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End Trailer

Roll on 25th May!



(Assuming the film is as good as the trailer...)

Grain & The Dirty Backbeats

A night of local talent at The Maze.

Grain: I first saw Grain at last year's Drop In The Ocean - they played at Dogma wearing nothing but aprons! - this (if my addled memory serves me correctly) was the third time I've seen them live. Their musical style is described as "Kung fu hillbilly funk". As ever a fun and enjoyable set from them.

The Dirty Backbeats: First seen supporting Grain at The Maze last year, this time they were headlining. Watching The Dirty Backbeats play is "like going to the circus on acid!" Their lead singer needs to be seen to be believed - his performing style means that you are ever fearful that he'll topple off The Maze's minute stage! It's probably close to six months since I first saw them, but they left such an impression that their songs were instantly recognisable.

If you get a chance to see either of these acts, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.

Quote of the night: "They ain't mainstream, but they're f**king brilliant!"

Sleeping Dogs

"Sleeping Dogs" is a black comedy about relationships and families. Amy (Melinda Page Hamilton) gets engaged to John (Bryce Johnson) and in the spirit of honesty - spurred on by her mother and a co-worker, neither of whom know the details of her secret - tells him of a teenage sexual indiscretion. The film then deals with the fallout of John's inability to deal with Amy's past.

What starts out as a comedy gets progressively darker; the laughs are slowly replaced with smiles and soon even they are a thing of the past. The film was overly long - it could have been covered in half the time just as effectively - and as it progressed I started being distracted by Goldthwaite's direction which, once the laughs had dried up, had a day-time soap 'quality' to it. Hamilton is engaging and sympathetic as Amy; had her performance been weak, the film would have been unbearable as she is in nearly every scene. However, the performance that lingers in the memory is Brian Posehn as the stoner Randy, who has some really nice lines including a bit about monkeys and midgets.

Moral of the film: Don't tell anybody about your teenage sexual experiments if they involved pets!

Inland Empire

David Lynch told Variety magazine that "Inland Empire" was a film "about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's all I want to say about it."

Having sat through its 180 minutes running time, that's about all I can tell you about the film...

The film is typically 'Lynchian' in its feel; disturbing images, disjointed story-telling, actors playing multiple roles, reality and dream-sequences segueing into each other. It's shot in DV which makes the film feel all the more unsettling. "Inland Empire" makes Lynch's last feature film "Mulholland Dr." seem easy to understand; I was utterly baffled by this one. In fact, during one moment of on-screen weirdness, I suddenly realised I was having a nosebleed! (My most extreme reaction to a film in some time!)

If you want to get an idea of whether "Inland Empire" is likely to appeal, you can watch two of David Lynch's short films - both made in 2002 - on YouTube: "Darkened Room" and "Rabbits". The first short is one of Lynch's first experiments with DV and has a very similar look and feel, while the latter is directly referenced in "Inland Empire".

I'll finish up this 'non-review' with a quote/clue that Lynch introduced the film with at preview screenings: "We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe." (Aitareya Upanishad)

The Illusionist

Films about magicians are a bit like buses, you wait for ages for one and then three come along at a same time… (A British film 'Magicians' starring the comedians Mitchell & Webb is due to be released on 11th May)

Although at a first glance the premise of the 'The Illusionist' seems very similar to 'The Prestige' - they're both period dramas about magicians - 'The Illusionist' is very much a different beast. Rather than being a film about rival magicians trying to up-stage and thwart each other at every turn, the film concentrates on the rivalry between Eisenheim the Illusionist (Edward Norton) and Austria's Crown Prince (Rufus Sewell doing his trademark baddie) for the love of a woman (Jessica Biel).

The film is by no means fast-paced, but I felt it had an engaging enough story. The first half of the film I was wrapped up in the feel of the movie; the acting, the cinematography, Philip Glass' score. I spent the second half trying to guess what the film's inevitable twist would be…

Another thing that held my attention was the number of 'Jesus allusions' littered throughout the film; he's the son of a carpenter, he performs miracles (tricks), he 'raises' people from the dead, the establishment view him as a dangerous rabble-rouser, and [SPOILER] he seemingly returns from the dead [END SPOILER]. However, I don't know if this was a deliberate ploy on the part of the filmmakers or if I was reading too much into the film.

Not sure if I would recommend this film to everyone; its slow pacing will bore rather than entertain some people. However, I enjoyed the cat and mouse game played out by Norton and Paul Giamatti as the police inspector out to discover the illusionist's secrets. The film is more of a 'howdunit' rather than a 'whodunit'.

Ghost Rider

The first Marvel Comics adaptation of the year - 'Spiderman 3' is out in May, not sure if there are any more to come...

Before starting my review of this film, I'll state up front that my knowledge of the Ghost Rider character is limited to two very basic facts:
1) He rides a motorcycle.
2) He has a flaming skull as a head.

As a result I had fewer expectations/prejudices than usual for a comic book adaptation and my only requirement from the film was that I wanted an enjoyable popcorn movie.

The film starts with a voice-over telling the story of "the Devil's bounty hunter" in the Old West; a ghostly rider who travels the plains collecting on contracts for Mephistopheles. The voice in question is that of Sam Elliott, and if you want someone to provide a gruff Western prologue in a film you'd be hard pressed to find anyone better than Sam (after all the Coen Brothers used him to similar effect at the start and end of "The Big Lebowski"). So that's two boxes ticked for me: "Western" - Check. "Biblical References" - Check. (Three if you include "Sam Elliott voice-over")

The film then jumps forward in time and introduces the audience to a young Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer who works with his father. Without going into too much plot detail, Johnny ends up selling his soul to the Devil (Peter Fonda, clearly enjoying the chance to camp it up as the ultimate bad guy) - an act that isn't without consequences; as folklore tells us, Old Nick rarely delivers on his end of the bargain without some dark twist. There were two things I particularly liked in this opening sequence. Firstly, Johnny makes his contract with the Devil while stood on a crossroads - Robert Johnson would be pleased. Secondly, in a nice little touch, the actress playing the young Roxanne (the character played later in the film by Eva Mendes) is made up with a mole that matches Eva's.

We then jump forward in time again to the 'present' and meet a seemingly invincible Johnny Blaze (played by Nicholas Cage), a man who performs all manner of motorcycle stunts without any regard to his own safety. Johnny is 'lucky' enough to be watched over by an angel (of the fallen kind); Mephistopheles won't let him die until his debt is paid off in full. Such an opportunity comes about when Blackheart (Mephistopheles' son) tries to wrest dominion of Hell from his old man's hands. Johnny now learns that it is his destiny to become the 'Ghost Rider' - at night, and when in the presence of evil, he metamorphs into the flame-headed hero of the comic books. The film now follows Johnny as he gets used to his new powers (demonic bike, flaming chain and 'Penance Stare'™) and leads to his eventual show-down with Bleakheart in the ghost town (literally) of San Venganzas.

As you can probably tell from the length of this post, I enjoyed "Ghost Rider". It won't win any awards for story or acting (I'm sure Eva Mendes is in the film just to provide a transportation device for her cleavage, which makes an appearance in all but one scene that she's in), but it is still highly enjoyable nonsense - a heady mix of supernatural vigilantes and Biblical elements with a sprinkle of Westerns.


Note: For those of you wondering (like I did) where the usual Stan Lee cameo is, there isn't one...
(Stan had no part in the creation of the Ghost Rider character)

Film Of The Month - January & February

Have decided to start awarding a 'Film Of The Month', which should help when drawing up my eventual 'Film 2007' list.

Film Of The Month - February: Hot Fuzz

Not an easy choice this month, it was a close run thing between "Hot Fuzz", "Notes On A Scandal" and the late entry "Letters From Iwo Jima".

The charms of seeing Pegg & Wright doing what they're good at, the supporting cast of British talent they've managed to muster (a combination of heavy-weight thesps and comedians) and a great performance by Nick Frost swung the balance in favour of "Hot Fuzz".







Film Of The Month - January: The Last King Of Scotland

Bit of a 'no-brainer', "The Last King Of Scotland" was the only real contender for January (picking "Casino Royale" again would have been cheating, seeing as it made my 2006 Top Ten). A well-deserved Best Actor Oscar for Forest Whitaker. Have picked up the book to see how the two compare.