Quadruple Bill Mini Musings: Parties, Submarines, Dreams, and Venice...

Project X:
What's it about?
Three increasingly vulgar and cliched American teens look to become high school legends by throwing an epic house party in this documentary style comedy.
Who would I recognise in it?
Nobody, but you'll be familiar enough with the endless cliches, and it's produced by Todd "The Hangover" Phillips as well as co-written by Michael "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" Bacall.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Being a first person movie (think Cloverfield), it naturally suffers from all the problems and impossibilities that are ever-present in this annoyingly over-used presentation style. Please stop making 'found footage' movies! Beyond that, the central trio (with a fourth behind the camera) are all grating suburban white boys who fancy themselves as 'players', when in reality they're total losers, and their way of upping their school yard cache crosses all kinds of lines of moral comfort. We have the 'average' lead who is overly influenced by his exceptionally vulgar (and in this instance quite nasty) right-hand-man, while being accompanied by the token fat kid, and a creepy goth on camera duties. The set-up of the main trio strains to imitate the vulgar-but-harmless (not-to mention fairly realistic) teens of Superbad, but Project X fails miserably in establishing characters to root for - not least because their hijinks ultimately destroys the home of the protagonist's parents - their entire lives ruined, all for one stupid night to increase their cred in the dying days of school. Indeed, the resulting lack of real consequence proves quite disturbing - the lead has destroyed the home that his innocent parents have worked hard for, and in-the-process, lost his college tuition money (so there goes his prospects for a better future). Meanwhile, the real instigator gets off on all charges thanks to an expensive lawyer - and never mind that their trail of destruction nearly burned down a neighbourhood populated by innocent people.

Click "READ MORE" for more Project X, Das Boot, Paprika, and Don't Look Now...
Then, for the lead's father to give a glimmer of being impressed by his son's sudden popularity, and for the token blonde 'love interest' to be won over so easily in a half-arsed tie-up, further dilutes any real sense of punishment - let alone understanding on the part of those responsible. Put simply, it's morally questionable in the people, situations and aspirations that it glamorises and excuses. Now, sure, this ultimately forgettable movie directly references real-life situations where 'Facebook parties' have gone disastrously wrong (a scene near the end is a direct copy of an actual news interview in the wake of an actual party-gone-wrong), so I'm not going to stray into the objectionable argument of "movies will make kids do dumb things" - but in the simple terms of moral maturity and consequence, this movie is distasteful at best. Drink, and more worryingly, drugs, are shown to have no negative consequences as a result of the rampant abuse throughout the long-winded party that forms the bulk of the flick, and the depiction of women strays way beyond the affable libidos of Superbad (a movie I very much enjoy) into - again - questionable territory. The movie itself is forgettable and rather off-putting tosh that seeks to champion the selfish and harmful actions of unlikeable tossers, and is at best 'alright', but the general outlook of Project X is downright shite.


Das Boot:
What's it about?
Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 German-language claustrophobic epic (this is the 3.5 hour director's cut) about the crew of a U-Boat during World War II touring the pacific ocean.
Who would I recognise in it?
Jurgen Prochnow.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Despite the daunting length (there's an even longer cut in existence), Petersen's relatively contained war epic moves with real purpose, yet never feels in too much of a hurry. We are afforded valuable time to get to know the key crew members (including Prochnow's memorable and strong turn as The Captain) amidst the cramped interior of this U-Boat. Interestingly, despite telling the tale of German sailors (who even attack Allied shipping convoys during the film), they are never cast as villains - merely men with lives beyond this submarine who simply wish to survive (of the 40,000 German men who went to sea, 30,000 were killed, according to the film's opening text). We almost become one of the crew, and yet the balance is subtly corrected throughout with distrust in high command (some of whom live it up on Spanish yachts gorging themselves on the very best food available), and a mournful turn-of-attitude as they watch Allied soldiers burn and drown to death as a result of their actions.

If you're troubled by claustrophobia, this is probably not the ideal movie for you, however the close quarters do provide numerous (and brilliantly staged) scenes that vary from the tension of trying to evade Allied destroyers, to the thunderous threat of depth charges battering their vessel without mercy. Grand in every sense, Das Boot is without a doubt, utterly great.


Paprika:
What's it about?
Japanese animation about the chaos unleashed by a stolen device which allows its users to enter the dreams of other people.
Who would I recognise in it?
Erm...
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Christopher Nolan was already chipping away at his idea for Inception a few years before this film's release (he's said in interviews that he was working on the idea in fits and starts over a decade), but that he did take some inspiration from this film. There are similar themes (dream machines) and a couple of familiar images (a lift, a corridor), but that's about where the similarities end. While Nolan's film applied a heist scenario onto a big star-studded Hollywood blockbuster that paid endless attention to the intricacies of dreams (the falling sensation becoming a "kick", mind security, dream levels, time difference, etc etc etc), Paprika opts for beautifully realised sequences that ultimately blend the dream world and the real world together. A detective hunting a killer, an obese genius, a sceptical boss, and a team of scientists who are seeking to use the technology to take psychotherapy to a new level make up the key protagonists in this lovingly animated film. I had this flick sat on my Sky+ recorder for six months before I got around to it - I even considered deleting it amidst the onslaught of catching up with multiple Bond movies during October - but I'm very glad I didn't. Great.


Don't Look Now:
What's it about?
Famous thriller from Nicolas Roeg about two grieving parents encountering strange goings-on in the ever-more-mysterious setting of Venice.
Who would I recognise in it?
Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Roeg's film is another one of those flicks that I've taken entirely too long to catch-up with. I knew of a certain twist towards the end already, so that reveal was spoiled long, long, long ago - however, despite this knowledge, the remaining mystery that is laced throughout the narrow fog-wreathed streets of the breathtakingly beautiful Venice carries the film with ease. John and Laura's relationship (and shared grief after one of their children drowns) naturally forms the narrative foundation, with Sutherland and Christie bringing a sense of realism and closeness that is rarely seen on film. The famous love scene between the pair has rightly been hailed as one of the greatest of all time (intercutting between their passionate reconnection and the humdrum task of getting dressed for dinner). Indeed, Roeg's film is filled with fantastic stylistic flourishes - many of which pertain to the superb editing - as well as the natural beauty of Venice itself. The mysteries of the film - including a blind psychic and her suspiciously friendly sister - hold up to this day, drawing you effortlessly into Roeg's web. There is an element to the twist ending that doesn't quite make sense, but after such an enjoyably involving journey, the strangeness is forgiven. Great.

Fun fact: A year before Don't Look Now's release, "Who Saw Her Die?", starring George Lazenby, tread similar territory. Two parents mourn the loss of their daughter (as a killer is on the loose) in the hauntingly gorgeous architecture of Venice. Aldo Lado's film was a 'giallo' picture (a violent murder mystery), but the parallels are intriguing, and the two films make for an ideal paired-viewing.