FilmRoar

Writer Barrie Keeffe in his only produced film script delivers an intelligent and engaging gangster film in The Long Good Friday (1980). The movie, best known for bringing film notoriety to then TV actor Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Nixon (1995), Felicia’s Journey (1999)) spans a period of two days during which London crime boss Harold (Hoskins) is trying to secure a business deal with backing from the American Mafia. His efforts to woo his New York counterpart, Charlie (Eddie Constantine (Europa (1991))) are put into jeopardy by the unexplained assassination of Harold’s right hand man Colin (Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981))) and bombing of one of his restaurants. Eager to not loose the business opportunity and to find and punish those responsible for the attacks on his organization. To make matters worse one of the bombs has exploded in the car that took Harold’s mother to Good Friday mass leaving her traumatized and in the hospital. As Harold states later in the film “You don’t crucify people! Not on Good Friday!”

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First a warning: Watching Finding Neverland will make you cry. No, I don’t really care if you are a navy seal and find hunting catching rattlesnakes in the dessert with your teeth an appropriate and amusing weekend activity, you too will cry. Ok, maybe you wont let your ophidiliac buddies see an actual tear drop but you will mist up and have to walk away to get another beer near the movies end. That warning having been given if a touching and beautiful movie is your cup of tea, you should not give Finding Neverland a miss.

The movie stars the impressive Johny Depp in his most sedate role in years as author J.M. Barrie. Unhappily married to a beautiful socialite (Radha Mitchell), Barrie spends his evenings writing in the park where he meets Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet) a sickly widow left to care for four unbelievably well behaved young boys. The plot from this point out is quite predictable: Depp becomes ‘uncle Jim’ to the children and the suggestion of amorous or sexual impropriety between him and Winslet tears his marriage apart and hurts both of their social standings. Winslet becomes sicker and the director Marc Forster slowly starts wrenching out the tears. There is a scene near the end where Peter, the youngest of the kids sits on a bench as the camera slowly pulls in to show his big blue eyes. It is around this point I began to swear at the movie with ‘Oh, don’t make the big eyed kid cry!’ but of course they did and of course so did my movie watching companion… and yes, I will admit it, so did I.

Aside from the predictable and lacrimonious plot Finding Neverland is notable for the regular and smooth transitions between the reality of the characters and their communal world of fantasy. The transitions are smooth and very reminiscent of Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures (1994) though in this case the effects are a bit more subtle and seamlessly interweave with the main action. What sells the effects though is the conviction with which the actors, both adult and child, interact in each world with little concern to which reality is ‘real’.

A good example of a movie very well represented by it’s trailer is the new graphic novel adaptation A History of Violence (2005). If you see the trailer and find it interesting enough that you think it could hold your attention for two hours go see the movie, but be warned the violence is intense and bloody.

The story of the movie is pretty simple: Tom (Viggo Mortensen) foils the armed robbery of his small town diner and is made a local hero. Gangsters from Philadelphia see his picture on the news and come to the small town claiming he is an organized crime assassin living under an assumed name. When he refuses their claims the gangsters threaten his family in an effort to coerce him to… well it is not exactly clear what they want but in any case they are clearly ‘bad guys’ and are not shy to make demands. The rest of the movie deals with the uncertainty of Tom’s identity and the tension of brought about by the uncertainty of his identity and of his (and the gangster’s) intentions.

The story, however, is not the reason to watch A History of Violence. The movie should be watched and enjoyed for the subtlety and finesse of the acting and the direction. At one point in the movie where Tom is forced to defend himself and ably disarms a dangerous killer. In the moments immediately following the confrontation Mortensen’s face morphs into a disturbing mask of… is that satisfaction? worry? worry over the act of violence or the implications on his identity? The moment is superbly executed and disturbing and made me feel the price of admission had been more than returned.

The meaning of the title is never fully clear. Does it refer to the uncertain history of Tom? Is it the passive / violent tendencies that are reflected in his struggling teenaged son (Ashton Holmes)? Or maybe it is a reference to the disturbing history of screen horror perpetrated by director David Cronenberg (Videodrome (1983), Dead Ringers (1988), Naked Lunch (1991), Crash (1996)). Whatever the ‘real meaning’ might be, it is intriguing and beguiling enough to make A History of Violence well worth watching.

I had the privilege of attending the U.S. premiere of the new animated movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) in New York and had a tremendous time at it. The premiere was attended primarily by young children (some perhaps a bit too young for the movie), their parents and the filmmakers; a fortunate mix as I got to hear the theater erupt in high-pitched young laughter at moments and the laughter of adults at others, perhaps one of the best compliments that can be given to the child and adult friendly film. Even better was the appreciation expressed at the in-jokes by fans of the animated duo as well as the new material for those who are not yet acquainted with Wallace & Gromit.

Curse of the Were-Rabbit opens with an introduction to the titular characters and their gadget-laden den. From the beginning the film takes a tone that balances orientation of the W&G world for those not familiar with their short movies (A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions (2002), this last collection released directly on video compiles the short movies made by Aardman Animation to prepare for production of the feature) and gives new material to long time fans. For the first time the audience is treated to a significant view of the town W&G inhabit as well as it’s various inhabitants including some details that are likely to be overlooked by British audiences as unimportant and be missed by U.S. audiences unfamiliar with U.K. towns. For example the town Abby which doubles as a town meeting hall has an offering of harvest vegetables laid out at the altar, details that may be common to a Brit but unfamiliar to Americans.

A saving grace of the movie comes in the addition of new primary characters: Lord Victor Quartermaine voiced by Ralph Fiennes, Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) as well as the (mostly) mute sidekicks Phillip (Victor’s mutt) and Hutch (a cheese loving rabbit). I don’t say ’saving grace’ as if the movie were set to fail without them however I admit I went into the theater uncertain that W&G could hold my attention beyond the accustomed 20 minutes and found I was well entertained for the duration of the film, in good part because of the shared screen time. My favorite characters in the movie were however the were-rabbit itself and the relentless multitude of animated bunnies that infest the town. I howled with appreciation when the bunny horde first answered the call of the wild with a simultaneous beating of their chests and thumping of the ground. Even better were the free-floating jar-o-bunnies ingenuously animated in a seamless digital environment by The Moving Picture Company to have the look and feel of Aardman clay characters (complete with occasional finger prints in the clay and kong-style fur movement).

As with the other W&G titles the film is replete with little jokes and visual puns that keep you intently watching the screen so as to not miss a detail. The cheese references are plentiful (the Aardman publicists told us of a cheese war that erupted as a new type of cheese was introduced though we are assured that Wensleydale is still Wallace’s favorite) as are the small set details that make the movies so enchanting. Once it is released on DVD I am sure to rent a copy and give it a repeat viewing with pause button at the ready.

Details aside I can offer Curse of the Were-Rabbit great praise in saying that I laughed well and loud from the opening credits to the little joke at the last credit in the movie. I would recommend the movie as good fare for both children and adults in need of a good story and a good laugh.

It is a real pleasure to see a fresh and creative production just as the new adaptation of the Roald Dahl book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). For those who have read the book and were disappointed in the liberties taken by the 1971 adaptation (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)) I am happy to say that readers of the book report the new movie is very true to the original source. For those of us who have not read the book but were annoyed by the cheesy 70s songs and stylings of the Gene Wilder version this new adaptation provides a refreshing update. For the rest the movie can simply be a rich fun summer movie that both kids and adults can enjoy.

The Trailer for the film is very honest. Yes the whole world of the movie is that well designed and coherent. Yes, Wonka really is that odd, creepy and childlike and yes the Oompa Loompas really are all played by a single digitally reduced person. If the movie seems a bit like it was written under the influence of hallucinogenic that is because it almost certainly was but the trip is one worth taking. I was a bit weirded out by the closely choreographed Oompa Loompa dance numbers but then again I think that was the point and I still greatly enjoyed it.

One of the best aspects of the movie is how well cast it is. Any doubts about Johnny Depp’s ability to bring the hard to figure out the bewildering Wonka to life should be allayed, he gives the character both the child-like demeanor of the man who would not grow up and the eerie air of the paranoid recluse. The kids all also nail their respective roles, particularly Freddie Highmore as Charlie, Annasophia Robb as Violet and Julia Winter who makes a perfect Veruca Salt. Even better is David Kelly who is not only a pleasure to see on screen but (I am told) IS the Grandpa Joe from the book. I am beginning to feel sorry for Helena Bonham Carter who does a fine job but cannot get a break in my book anymore since she seems to be a shoo-in for any of her boyfriend’s projects. And speaking of Burton, you Burton fans should keep an eye out for references to previous films including Depp’s Scissorhands (1990) in his first full appearance as Wonka (you can see it in the trailer) as well as references to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Batman (1989) and others.

Beautiful and violent Oldboy (2003) is the story of Dae-su Oh, a man kidnapped from a phone booth and imprisoned for fifteen years. Dae-su begs his captors for some clue of what he has done but with no answers and no knowledge of how long he will be kept he resorts to documenting this sins and practicing fight moves he watches in TV provided in his one room cell. After fifteen years of captivity he is released and given fifteen days to determine who imprisoned him and why.

The rest of the movie plays as an intricate suspense intertwined with deep emotion and brutal fights. The secret of what has been going has some clues in the opening scenes but is mostly left as a surprise to be revealed in the last few scenes. I do however suggest that anyone watching pay close attention to all the characters and to odd statements made by characters that give clues to their relationships. I had clued into an important detail then convinced myself I was wrong before realizing it was a key clue in the movie. I also had to avert my eyes a couple of times in the movie during some particularly violent scenes.

One of the most impressive moments in the movie is a fight in a corridor where our hero fends off attacks from dozens of bad-guy thugs. The scene is very much like any you might find in a kung-fu movie except that in this case it is utterly believable. That scene alone makes Oldboy worth watching.

I was contacted earlier this year by independent filmmakers Alex Ferrari and Jorge F. Rodriguez who wanted a review of their fifteen minute short Broken (2005/I). A view of the trailer (available at the film web site: http://www.whatisbroken.com) showed a lot of promise but made me wonder if the quality could be maintained through the whole short given the movie’s very small budget (it was made for under $8,000). I am glad to say that it does… and more.

The story for Broken is intentionally vague. The center character Bonnie (Samantha Jane Polay) finds herself captive and scared in a disturbingly nightmarish world. She is threatened by Duncan (Paul Gordon) and his band of killers. Duncan, like a good movie bad guy, monologues to Bonnie… things happen and by the end neither Bonnie nor the audience is quite sure exactly what is really going on, which is really quite fine because Broken is not a showcase of a great story but rather of great story telling.

What makes Broken work is the superb visual style. The mood of the movie is established in the opening scenes by strong camera work, art design and lighting/cinematography. The look is consistent, enchanting and so appropriately disturbing that it allows the viewer easy sympathy with the protagonist. There are small details that are included with enough subtlety to not be evident on a first viewing and add to the feeling of the mood of the piece such as the well crafted soundtrack and the great look of the props… In short Broken is beautiful and effective; a craftwork of loving artistry.

People who know me from the annual guerilla filmmaking workshops or from the low budget movies I have worked on know I have a passion for effective low-budget movie making. I recommend viewing Broken to anyone interested in high production values / low budget film work. The short is inspiring and proof that you can make a great looking movie on a limited budget. I would not be at all surprised if the The Enigma Factory were offered a larger budget for a feature film. I hope they do get the funding and look forward to seeing the result.