Flavours of the Month: May 2011...

LOOKS:

Treevenge - after their contest-winning Hobo With A Shotgun grindhouse trailer, Jason Eisner & Co sought to make a short film to prove they could handle a narrative, and they did just so quite nicely with a witty little short that could have sat nicely amongst all those themed horror movies you used to see as a kid scaled high up against the wall in the video shop entitled "Horror". Knowingly over-the-top, this takes the notion of getting a genuine Christmas tree for Christmas in a whole new gore-ific direction. If you're easily offended though, you might want to skip the last five minutes, otherwise get yourself onto YouTube and have a look for yourself.

Scream 1-3 - the original movie was a decided breath of fresh air for the genre which, in the mid 1990s, had descended into the torturously dull. It's a shame therefore that Wes Craven & Kevin Williamson's meta-thriller with a horror outlook was picked upon like a vulture's roadkill lunch in the proceeding years with a series of self-aware 'slasher thrillers' which dispensed with scares and, ironically, originality and smarts, in favour of sub-Scream copycatting.

The first sequel had something to say, commenting on both itself and the first movie simultaneously. There was still life and ideas in the franchise, particularly in Williamson's scripting (although the line in Aliens is most definitely "Get away from her, you bitch!"), and while it lost momentum in the final act, it was a solid entry.

Sadly, the second sequel - a Hollywood-set trilogy-closer - royally jumped the shark. Williamson was fed up, and it shows painfully in the quality of the final script, which contains none of the crafted 'who dunnit' intrigue, nor the sexy and playful self awareness. Dull, boring, lame, witless, with little in the way of redeeming features - at least they gave Neve Campbell something of substance to bite into, mind.

This all coming on the heels of seeing Scream 4 at the cinema last month, my thoughts on which you can find HERE.

The Losers - not as enjoyable the second time around, but still softcore action fun nonetheless. Chris Evans remains the highlight of the movie for me. His tech guy Jensen was easily the best character out of the lot.

Get Him To The Greek - I had a mixed response to it in the cinema (I much preferred Forgetting Sarah Marshall, from which this was a spin-off), and I must say that the second time around wasn't much cop. A few funny bits here and there, but for me it was a damp squib this time.

Jean Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors - I don't really 'do' reality TV, but I ended up watching this show about The Muscles From Brussels, and it was curiously intriguing. On the one hand it's a bit strange in a good way, and on the other the makers turn every minor incident into an epic drama when they say apprehensively "coming up next" as dramatic music and editing works it's magic (kinda).

Campus - I never got into Green Wing. I tried to initially, but I was at uni at the time and had a hard enough time remembering what day it was (because they all blended together, not because of booze or whatever, you cheeky monkeys), let alone when the show was airing. Now though, thanks to the wonder of the Hard-Disk-Recorder, I made sure I cued up the entire series of this follow-up from the makers of Green Wing. It's essentially the same show, but at a university, with the same brand of askew humour and general sense of oddity.

Doctor Who - the latest series is underway, and it's a mixed bag for me. They continue to 'do' the Doctor well, but some of the episode plots are a bit underwhelming - not least this Island-esque two parter about some sort of white gloop that can generate clones. Plus, for goodness sake, if you're going to keep referring back to a developing series-long plotline (the Postive/Negative thing, the appearing/disappearing slide window thing), actually develop it each time we see it. At least they finally gave us something more at the arse-end of that rubbish two-parter.

The Sopranos - I'm now into the second season, having totally missed this show the first time around, and I continue to thoroughly enjoy my weekly dose of New Jersey mafia business.

Machete - a second viewing of Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse spin-off has elevated my opinion of it. Not that I didn't have a blast with it at the cinema, it's just that I was so insanely looking forward to it that I could only end up feeling a twinge of disappointment. However, a few months down the line and I could enjoy it on its own terms, and it was damn enjoyable - even if it remains about 10 minutes flabby around the edges.

Scary Movie - I gave this spoof another spin as it was on one night and it's okay. It's no Airplane by any means (but the scattergun pattern of gags and parodies is decidedly similar), but then it's no Scary Movie 3/4/Meet The Spartans/Disaster Movie/whatever load of old utter-and-total crap either.

Wild At Heart - I haven't seen David Lynch's incendiary road trip flick since I was a teenager, but I think now that I'm much more familiar with his work (and cinema in general) that I 'got it' much more than I did way back when. The tale of two young runaways (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) seeking a better life is a typically dark and twisted offering from Lynch - most notably in its clash of 1950s Americana and the era in which it was made (1990).

U-Turn - it's been years since I've watched Oliver Stone's telling of Sean Penn's indebted loser having the worst day of his entire life, but it's still good. It's what I'd call "an everything just keeps getting worse" movie. It just goes to show what Stone can do with the right script, but it also makes me wonder what on earth has happened to him of late with the likes of World Trade Center, and W.

The Black Dahlia - working the homicide desk in Team Bondi/Rockstar's L.A. Noire got me in the mood to re-watch Brian De Palma's novelistic film adaptation. It's impressively stylish and the stuff closest to the titular case is the most interesting, but it's when it strays from that central path and attempts to explore various interconnected sideplots and back stories within its two hour running time that it runs into trouble.

Short Circuit 1 & 2 - I had a bit of a nostalgia trip with these two flicks. I used to watch these constantly as a little kid, and they've not lost their charm. I dearly hope they don't do a remake, and quite frankly, with WALL.E essentially being a re-incarnation of Johnny 5, what would be the point?

SOUNDS:

The Black Angels "Directions To See A Ghost"

Daft Punk "Tron Legacy"

Moby "First Cool Hive", Dillon Dixon "I Don't Care", Birdbrain "Youth America", SoHo "Whisper To A Scream" (from the soundtrack to Scream)

HIM "Venus Doom"

White Zombie "Super Sexy Swingin' Sounds"

Rob Zombie "American Made Music To Strip By"

45 Grace "Partytime" (as heard in Return of the Living Dead)

Airborne "Runnin' Wild" and "No Guts, No Glory"

VIBES & FLAVOURS:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - I finished Philip K. Dick's book, which later became Blade Runner, which was a decidedly different telling of basically the same story in mostly the same sort of world (bar the distinct difference in population numbers from one to the other). I really enjoyed it.

New educational DVD - the editing cap is back on for a new DVD project, this time on the issue of Abortion. Considering the topic we've had to think a bit harder about how to approach it visually, and so far some of it is moving in a more metaphorical, even mystical, direction which has proven successful so far. Finding footage and photographs has even extended to me digging through all my old sketch pads from my days of GCSE and A-Level art for any drawings, paintings or photographs that could possibly be of use somewhere. Plus, when talking about things like when does "life" truly begin, I've been able to get a little bit 'out there' with some of the visuals too - so this should prove to be a good creative opportunity.

L.A. Noire - Team Bondi's sandbox detective thriller, published by Rockstar, has really grown on me. I've been intrigued by it ever since I saw the very first teaser trailer years ago when the project was first announced, and the last few months have really cranked up the anticipation. While it's imperfect in some respects, the fresh approach is a welcome change of direction - and who wouldn't want to play as a 1947 L.A. detective? Cruising the detailed period streets of Los Angeles, scouring crime scenes for clues, and interrogating suspects to discover the truth has led to some genuinely exciting chase sequences, and genuinely tense interrogations (that piercing note that hovers in the background as you decide whether you do or don't have evidence to prove someone's lying has inspired the odd sweaty palm gripped around the controller, I have to say). It's a bold step in a different direction, and an extremely stylish and involving one to boot. At the time of writing I'm onto the second case of the Vice Desk, situated in the Hollywood Division, and I can't wait to get even deeper into the twisting tales and devious crimes that need deciphering and solving. It's like a videogame version of L.A. Confidential, and what's not to like about that?

The Game...

It's a rare thing to be able to watch a movie without knowing practically anything about it - but The Game is pretty much one of those movies for me - and for some reason, until just recently, it was the only David Fincher film I'd not seen ... ... well, out of those available on DVD anyway (providing I can find a good price for the special edition R1 release, I'll be hopping on the Benjamin Button wagon sometime soon - if only this useless gubment would hurry up and increase the import limit, because quite frankly, 18 quid - including shipping cost - is fucking stingy).

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes - I'd not seen it for some reason, and had been able to avoid any spoilers (and considering the plot, it's a film that could be easily ruined by spoilers), and knew barely anything about it.

I knew it was David Fincher's work (reason enough alone to see it), I knew it had Michael Douglas in the lead, and I knew it was about his rich guy protagonist getting involved in some kind of "game" that went tits up ... it's about the least you can know about a film before seeing it in this day-and-age really isn't it?

What did I make of it? Fucking great is what it is, a superb thriller with a spiffy final act full of twists, turns and everything inbetween. It's also interesting to see as it really does feel like "the film between Se7en and Fight Club" (the two 'if you liked' titles on the cover in fact). It's yet another film that marks out Fincher as an ex-music-video-director who really is of vast merit.

Alien3 isn't as bad as you remember it, although as a sequel to Aliens, it sucks - but Fincher's original vision, which is mostly provided on the double disc DVD's "assembly cut" is far superior in all respects to the theatrical version (well, it's not as polished of course, but other than that - simply better).

Se7en is an astonishingly good thriller - heck, it's practically a horror movie - intense visual style, a horrifying and gripping story, two enthralling lead performances, and a film which STILL freaks me out to this day ... and it's just so unrelentingly DARK - brilliant.

The Game - now that I've finally seen it, I can definitely say it rocks. I've not been this gripped by a movie in a long while alright ... in fact, one of the more recent times being gripped to such a degree by a film was with Fincher's Zodiac ... a fantastic slice of thriller action.

Fight Club - one of my absolute all-time favourites, and a film (and book ... and author) which has had a deep impact with me (and indeed many males in the 16-35 bracket). Again, the visuals are astonishing, the black so deep and harsh, the adapatation masterful, the pacing spot-on, the performances gripping ... etc etc etc. Much love indeed.

Panic Room - plot wise, it's probably Fincher's weakest film in his catalogue - but as far as home invasion/heist thrillers go - it's expertly and efficiently handled, but it's the technical aspects that (for me at least) really steal the show. The exhaustive 3-disc special edition DVD in itself is a masterwork of information - the technical wizardry involved in the making of the film is amazing, put simply.

Zodiac - back on top form - Fincher's intense attention to detail is abundantly clear throughout, the performances are awe-inspiring, the look and feel is stunning ... basically, it's another one of my top fifty of all time.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - the only Fincher film I've NOT seen ... ... YET ... it's not the sort of film I'd generally go to see in the cinema, as it's not exactly "lads night out" material, but it's a definite DVD purchase without a doubt. As soon as I heard about the plot, I was intrigued - and the more I heard about it, the more intrigued I got, and I certainly look forward to the DVD release (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room and Zodiac have all boasted fantastic DVD packages).

Anyway - The Game - thoroughly great. I can't surmise it any better, so why ramble any further - it's testament to the fact that David Fincher is a consistently superb filmmaker.

Choke...

It was never going to be Fight Club - if anyone thought otherwise, they're morons.

It would be like expecting 2010 to be as good as or better than 2001 - it's impossible.

Regardless, Choke - the second film to see fruition from the work of Chuck Palahniuk (whose other works are seemingly almost all lined up for movie development at varying stages) - is rather enjoyable, especially due to Sam Rockwell in the lead role.

Choke could have done with a longer running time, a mere 90 minutes or so simply isn't enough to squeeze all the plot threads into an understandable state - side plots are therefore relegated to lip service and not a lot more, while the main drive of the plot (all to do with, of course, Rockwell's Mancini - who may or may not be the son of Jesus). Still though, despite losing a variety of extraneous elements that work better in the book (or perhaps if it was done by the likes of David Fincher), it's fantastic to finally see a new based-on-Palahniuk movie out there, after all it's been almost a decade since Fincher's Fight Club thrust onto the silver screen, with such balls and determination of vision that you do think - no wonder it's taken so long for Choke to get made.

Or indeed any Palahniuk book for that matter - apparently Survivor was in the running after Fight Club did well, but 9/11 firmly stuffed the script into a drawer ... what with it being about a guy delivering his final tell-all autobiography into the flight recorder of an passenger aircraft he's hijacked. Still though - it was a bloody good book.

Hopefully we'll see more Palahniuk adaptations with as much dedication to the source material as we've so far been blessed with ... even if Choke doesn't live up to the lofty standards set by Fight Club, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable film - it isn't a remake, it's not some limp-arsed PG-13 adaptation, Sam Rockwell is awesome in the lead role, and it's an actually interesting story. It's just a shame they didn't flesh it out to a full two hours, which it sorely needed in my view - just to flesh out everything going on in the background, and indeed make a slightly bigger deal of the titular scam.