THE EVIL DEAD

The Evil Dead (1981) dir. Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell

****

Guest review by Pasukaru

The story is legend: a group of college buddies raise money from local dentists, get a camera and some pot, find an abandoned cabin in the woods, and go on to make one of the most influential and revered independent films of all time. Hail to “The Evil Dead”.

Plot: College friends go for a holiday in an isolated cabin where, through a cursed book aptly named ‘The Book of the Dead’, they let loose vengeful demonic spirits that possess the students one by one until Ash, our hero, must battle the evil forces solo to the gory end lest they “swallow his soul”.

Ticket please.

Beginning in the fall of 1979, filmmaker Sam Raimi (now known for his mega successful Spiderman franchise) and his actor-friend Bruce Campbell set off to make a feature length version of their short film “Within the Woods” (worth a look to see how the concept evolved, if you can find it). After screening at Cannes, it found a distributor. The VHS era had begun, and this is where “The Evil Dead” would gain its reputation as a college dorm favorite and cult film phenomenon. The Ash character has since become one of horrordom’s most beloved and quotable heroes. Either given 85 thousand or 200 million dollars, Mr. Raimi sure knows how to put on a show. Call it shlock if you will, but this is shlock done the right way.

Unleashing a relentless audio-visual blast of invention, creativity, and shocks, Sam Raimi (then barely 21) has strung together a tour-de-force on a shoestring budget through the sheer vigor of his unfettered imagination. Sam and co. use bold lighting and dynamic camera stunts, having used improvised gear such a plank of wood in place of a Steadicam. When these boys needed to get something done, they did whatever it took. That’s inspiring. Endlessly mimicked thereafter (how many cabin-in-the-woods horror movies have you seen?), “The Evil Dead” sets an example for what you can accomplish when your love for the medium and craft bursts out like a first orgasm; it is a pure, exhilarating, unapologetic, and life-altering experience we want to revisit again and again. Despite what the big kids at the coffee shop might tell you, this is what they should be showing in film schools.

A tad risqué for its time, the movie showcases a woman being raped by a tree (?), which was the reason it was banned in many countries. The sequence is more surreal than pure horror, but at the same time joyfully naughty. This is where “The Evil Dead” is endearing and misunderstood: horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin. Scream or laugh as you may, the film veers so far off into the surreal that anything can happen, really. The mix of humor and gore blend for some unexpected yet unsettling results, and this is where it rests its laurels. Logic has no place here, and that rebellious spirit endears it to audiences worldwide. I had the opportunity to see a screening of “The Evil Dead” in Tokyo to a packed theatre, some twenty-five years after its creation, and it had the audience enthralled (and I’m sure, like me, they had all seen it many times before).

The film spawned two sequels; “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn”, being the best of the three, is funnier, gorier, and more polished (they did have 10 times the budget). Some call it a remake, but the tone and story are different enough so that it set itself apart. Nonetheless, “The Evil Dead” is where it all started. If you love movies and appreciate the love of making them, then I suggest you watch it… again, before the remake. Check it out.

THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP

The Sophomore Slump is more associated with a sports cliché but in the history of cinema there have been a few. More often than not a director’s first film, however successful, is compromised by budget, often scraped together from personal savings, rich uncles, minor arts grants, or maxed out credit cards. These films are born from years of sweat and toil and sacrifice and cashed in favours. George Lucas’ first film “THX 1138,” was famously under-imagined due to a slim budget and short shooting schedule. But arguably its greatness came out of its sparseness. With “American Graffiti,” Lucas’ next film, he achieved mega success, many Oscar nominations and a chance to do a certain trilogy we need not speak of. Paul Thomas Anderson’s first film “Hard Eight,” while respected for its small scale story of an older man seeking redemption for past sins, in Anderson’s eyes was a compromised film and butcher-job by the studio. Of course, his next film “Boogie Nights” secured Anderson near god-like status as an indie auteur. In most cases “second films” allowed give the filmmakers freedom to expand their creativity and truly express themselves, but there have been a few filmmakers whose sophomore films just couldn’t live up to the hype. Below are 10 of the most notable of sophomore slumps:

NOTE: You’ll see this list is heavily skewed to the 80’s and 90’s and to American films. Before this time the studio system allowed directors to slowly develop their craft either through television, or low-budget Roger Cormon-type films. It wasn’t until the 80’s and 90’s when self-financed independently produced films were feasible for young filmmakers. And so, the phenomenon of the sophomore slump is generally a new-era occurrence.

Andrew Niccol (Gattaca – Simone)

In 1997 Niccol directed “Gattaca” and though not a commercial success was highly acclaimed and as the writer of “The Truman Show” the next year Niccol established himself as a sensitive and thought-provoking filmmaker. His next film, “Simone”, about a producer who creates a virtual celebrity in his computer to say it plainly, was one a frustrating experience and one of the worst films I’d ever seen. To give him the benefit of the doubt, the film received as many positive reactions as negative ones, but I believe those same critics would categorize it as a step down from his previous work. Since Simone, he’s directed the underrated “Lord of War” which redeems him slightly, and according to the IMDB he’s developing a biopic on Salvador Dali. Only time will tell.

Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves – The Postman)

Oh Kevin, what a downfall. Ok, so you beat out “Goodfellas” for the Oscars in 1990, we may not have held that against you if you didn’t follow it up with the grand debacle of “The Postman”. Essentially a remake of “Dances With Wolves” set in the future, the grandness of its critical failure was only matched by the grandness of its commercial failure. An estimated budget of $80m, brought back only $17m in the box office. Kevin’s third film, “Open Range” brought Costner back down to earth, and proved that he could make a good film. We’re still waiting for film # 4.


Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez (Blair Witch Project – The Strand/Altered)

After directing the most profitable film of all time ($140m domestic box office compared to a $35,000 budget) Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez appeared to fall off the cinematic map. I suspect they were respectfully stuck in development hell, or were receiving lame horror/Blair Witch ripoff scripts. Ironically, according to the IMDB, each of them directed straight to video films in 2006 - Myrick's "The Strand" and Sanchez's "Altered". I don't know anyone who has seen them. What a shame. Don’t give up guys.

Karyn Kusama (Girlfight – Aeon Flux)

One of the biggest disappointments has to be Karyn Kusama’s lengthy hiatus after the 2000 hit “Girlfight”. The film won the highly coveted Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and a dozen more prestigious international awards. But it took 5 years to produce her second film, and unfortunately happened to be the cartwheeling Charlize Theron vehicle and unnecessary adaptation of Peter Chung’s hyper-cool animated series, “Aeon Flux”. Needless to say, it bombed and didn’t come close to recouping its budget ($25m domestic box office gross vs. a $65m budget). But more disappointing is her choice in subject matter after her promising start with “Girlfight” – a girlpower Matrix ripoff. Come on Karyn, enough games, show us your teeth again.

Vincent Gallo (Buffalo 66 – The Brown Bunny)

1998’s “Buffalo 66” was like the birth of a fresh new voice in American indie filmmaking. It was raw and personal and reminded us of Scorsese’s early films. And so, when “The Brown Bunny” was listed in competition at Cannes in 2003, at least in my house, there was some excitement as to what his follow up would be. Of course, the film’s reception at Cannes that year is now the stuff of legend. The walkouts, the boos, the jeers from the French audience, and the tête-à-tête fallout with Roger Ebert. I’ve only seen the ‘improved’ shorter version of Gallo’s sparse road movie, but even then, his sophomore film is a disappointment and a step down from the promise of "Buffalo ’66". Despite this I hope he can find more money for his movies, and I hope he doesn’t need fellatio to get it.

Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade – All the Pretty Horses)

Billy Bob entered the Hollywood scene with a triple threat film, writing, acting and directing “Sling Blade” for which he won the Oscar for screenwriting. But his second film “All the Pretty Horses” crashed and burned in an all-round Miramax fiasco. Despite being an adaptation of an acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel, the production was one trouble after the next - a lengthy and overbudget shoot, a reported four-hour director’s cut severely chopped down to under two hours, and a full Daniel Lanois score discarded in favour of Marty Stuart, Larry Paxton and Kristin Wilkinson (who?). When asked if there would ever be a director’s cut of the film, Billy Bob says “doubtful”. He’s been quoted as saying, even if he had a chance to release a director's cut, he'd only do it if he could restore Lanois’ original music, which he cites as the most beautiful score he’s ever heard. A shame.

Lars Von Trier (The Element of Crime – Epidemic)

After wowing Cannes and the international film scene with his brooding cyber-punk future-noir “The Element of Crime” (1984), Lars Von Trier followed it up with a hastily put together post modern mess of a horror film “Epidemic”. Lars casts himself as well as his screenwriter in a film within a film within a film. Over time the film has gained a cult following, but of his entire body of work, arguably it’s his lesser film.

Kevin Smith (Clerks – Mallrats)

In 1994 Kevin Smith’s “Clerks” became the slacker generation’s most quotable film. A $27,000 credit card-funded film about two guys talkin’ dirty in a convenience store grossed over 10 times its budget. Perhaps the Tarantino comparisons were too much, because his next film “Mallrats” received scathing reviews and a dumped marketing campaign which equaled bad box office (it returned only a quarter of its budget back in the domestic theatres). Despite the experience of “Mallrats” Kevin Smith would bounce back two years later with his best film so far, “Chasing Amy”. Good on him.

Ed Burns (Brothers McMullan – She’s the One)

The success of “Brothers McMullan” was out of this world for Ed Burns, and the lottery ticket film all directors are looking for. Shot for $24,000 over weekends, the director acting, writing, directing and producing with a cast of unknowns, the film made it to Sundance, won, and got picked up by Fox Searchlight for distribution. A dream come true. What would Burns do next? “She’s the One” certainly wasn’t his “Magnificent Ambersons” or ‘Boogie Nights” or his “Pulp Fiction”. “She’s the One” played it too safe, another Irish-American story with more expensive, but not necessarily better actors. And even after 7 more films the only one we’ve even remembered the title for is “Brothers McMullan” – it still resonates.

Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape – Kafka)

For 2 years, Steven Soderbergh was the wunderkind. Under 30, and already a Palme D’Or winner, and the leader of the 90’s indie movement. His debut was highly accomplished and demonstrated superior command of the artform. It was clear “Sex, Lies” was highly personal - perhaps James Spader’s character mirrored Soderbergh’s own idiosyncrasies. But with his next film “Kafka” Soderbergh delivered an overindulgent experimental mess nowhere near as complex or intriguing as “Sex, Lies”. Needless to say, it bombed with both critics and the box office. Soderbergh’s next 2 films performed just as badly, but as we know, it took Soderbergh another 7 years before climbing back on top with a string of hits culminating in his 2000 Oscar year.

Please send in your comments other additions, specifically international filmmakers I may have looked over. Thanks.

FARGO

Fargo (1996) dir. Joel Coen
Starring: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy

****

One of the all-time great black comedies, “Fargo” remains the Coen Bros' best film. Although with the number of rabid fans out there will be debaters, and certainly “Miller’s Crossing”, and “The Big Lebowski” have large followings, but since their Oscar says “Fargo” on it, this is the film they will be remembered for.

The snowcapped Midwest never looked so depressing. The film opens on a majestic long shot of a wintry road in the middle of nowhere, a lone car driving in the distance. It’s Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a hapless used car salesman on his way to make a deal with 2 equally hapless criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap and ransom off Lundegaard’s wife. The scheme is ridiculous and an act of desperation for a man seemingly on his last legs. We’re never told why he feels he must ransom off his wife for a measly $80,000. Perhaps it’s gambling debts, or perhaps it’s to re-maculate himself after years of ridicule by his in laws.

Regardless of his reasons, Jerry’s plan soon falls apart. The plot to collect the ransom is interrupted by Jerry’s bigheaded father in law, who gets shot and killed during the exchange. Soon after, Jerry’s wife, falls victim as well.

Meanwhile, on Jerry’s trail is the unassuming pregnant policewoman, Marge, played by Frances McDormand (who also won an Oscar). Marge has small town politeness, but the instinct and intuition of a hard boiled cop. She soon connects the dots which leads her to Jerry’s workplace. Marge innocently questions Jerry about a stolen car from his lot, and a few minutes later Jerry crumbles from the tension implicating himself as a suspect. The film ends with a legendary climax, involving the now-famous wood-chipper scene.

The Coens will likely not make a better film than “Fargo” because it uses all the tools, techniques and stylizations that make them “the Coen Bros” but in its most audience-accessible form. To compare it to, say, “O Brother Where Art Thou”, “Big Lebowski” or “Miller’s Crossing” they all have an anachronistic self-reverential feel (namely the Preston Sturges influence), but “Fargo” is their most honest and personal film. And Marge is also their most honest hero/heroine. Violence and crime is sloppy and criminals, for the most part, aren’t smart. So the characters feel like real people and that they could actually exist, however ridiculous their actions might be.

Technically, the Coens left their flashiness at the door and concentrated on story over style. The signature Carter Burwell sound is present though. A master of mood and atmosphere, Burwell’s melancholy score evokes sorrow, depression and bitter sadness. Sadness is key because for such a peaceful place, the events that transpired couldn’t have happened to nicer people. Marge’s final speech gives us the lesson with such simple and honest words:

“There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well, I just don't understand it.”

Enjoy.

Buy it here: Fargo (Special Edition)

THE CONFORMIST

The Conformist (1970) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Enzo Tarascio

****

In 1970 Bernardo Bertolucci was still an Italian phenom, he was 30 and had already directed 3 accomplished films. Teaming for the first time with the great Vittorio Storaro, who would go on to shoot “Apocalypse Now” and “Reds” Bertolucci created a sumptuous and sexy political thriller about fascism, sex, betrayal and murder. In 36 years, it’s aged better than any film of its year and today should be considered one of the greatest films of all time, or at the very least the most beautifully shot.

Set in pre-war Italy 1938, Marcello Clerici, a wannabe bourgeoisie with some painful repressed psychological baggage, including a homosexual incident from his youth, has chosen to compensate by trying to find normalcy in his life. He’s chosen marriage because that’s what's expected of him and now he’s joined the Fascist party in order to confirm his status as a conforming citizen of the state.

During his honeymoon in Paris, Marcello receives his first orders to track down and murder his former University professor and suspected subverter Enzo Quadri. This immoral act of treachery is the perfect assignment to test his loyalty. As Marcello and his wife reacquaint themselves with Quadri, Marcello develops an attraction to Quardi’s wife Anna. The relationship of the ‘foursome’ develops, further intensifying Marcello's Hamlet-like indecision. Marcello eventually completes his transformation to fascist robot when he betrays his friends and watches them die a gruesome death. The climax is powerful, but it’s the denouement that provides the cathartic release and personal redemption for Marcello as he confronts face-to-face the demons of his past.

“The Conformist” is a Freudian character study about a man overcompensating for his own personal fears and self-doubts. It's the repressed homosexual incident from Marcello’s childhood (obviously a big no-no under Fascist rule) that created the cold, lifeless and emotional detached Marcello of today. Is he homosexual or not? We don’t know, and neither does Marcello. To Marcello, Fascism represents the ideal avenue to subjugate his desires, deprogram himself and destroy his individuality.

The complexity of Marcello’s character is matched by Bertolucci’s visualization. Every frame is a piece of art and no other film has used light, shadow, colour and movement to greater dramatic effect. Each shot after the next brims with astonishing visual beauty. At a time when Hollywood was going natural and handheld “The Conformist” presents a classic, elegant and stylized look. In colour film, only “Days of Heaven” and “The Godfather” come close to challenging its masterful elegance.

But “The Godfather” and “The Conformist” have more in common. Essentially they are both about a once innocent man transformed, brainwashed and lured in by an acceptable form of societal sin (fascism vs. the mob). Though not as sprawling and epic as "The Godfather," “The Conformist” more than compensates with pure gorgeousness. Enjoy.

PS. It's also one of the sexiest and most alluring films ever made. Watch Anna and Giulia's teasing dance:

THE LOST ROOM

The Lost Room (TV) dir. Craig R. Baxley, Michael Watkins
Starring: Peter Krause, Juliana Marguiles, Kevin Pollack

***

“The Lost Room” is a Sci-Fi Channel Mini-Series which aired last year and is now available on DVD. It’s a 6-part Stephen King-type high concept show about a police detective’s discovery of a series of mysterious objects with supernatural powers taken from a “lost hotel room”.

It’s a little tough to encapsulate into a one-liner, but the series is fascinating and highly addictive viewing. Peter Krause is a police detective (Joe Miller) who stumbles upon a highly coveted motel key from one of his perps. He soon discovers the key has the ability to open any door and enter another dimension in the form of a lost motel room. The backstory of the room and the key dates back to an unsolved cosmic mystery in 1961. Joe, a single father to his daughter Anna, has fun learning the properties of the room. The key can open any door, and once inside the room, you can exit back out into any room as long as you can visualize it. Unfortunately danger accompanies the key and with it a group of people called the Legion seeking to obtain the key. After a violent confrontation with the Legion Anna flees into the room and becomes trapped in the other dimension.

Joe’s journey to find his daughter uncovers a larger network of objects from the room, each with a different power - like “Heroes,” except the objects are everyday items and not people. There’s the “pen” which burns anything it touches, or the “bus ticket” which when touched to one’s head transports them curiously to a desolate crossroads in Kansas, MI, or “the comb” which freezes time. There are supposedly over a hundred spread around the world.

Joe joins forces with Jennifer Bloom (Juliana Marguiles), a member of a benevolent group of object-hunters seeking to obtain them so they may not be used for harmful purposes. Using his detective skills and the objects they obtain along their way Joe and Jennifer uncover the mystery of the Lost Room and the event that caused such a disruption in the physics of the natural world.

The series, part “Heroes”, part “Da Vinci Code,” part pulp noir, is immensely entertaining and satisfying for several reasons. Firstly, it’s a mini-series, and therefore it has an “end”. Unlike the “X-Files”, “Lost” or “Heroes” which are forced to torture impatient fans by dragging out plotlines for unnecessarily long periods of time over the course of several seasons, “The Lost Room” has guaranteed satisfaction. Also, the supernatural elements have easy to follow “rules” to them. In science fiction one of the most difficult tasks of a writer is to establish believable ‘rules’ within the context of the fictional and sensationalized story. Often times the filmmakers or series creators can back themselves into a corner, unable to explain or maintain the logic of the mysteries they have created (“The Matrix” being the prime example). But “The Lost Room” keeps it simple, doesn’t give us too many characters, and is not afraid of a little exposition to make sure everyone knows what’s exactly going on. This occasional “idiot check” may break a Syd Field rule or two but it’s necessary and greatly appreciated in this type of high concept story.

Peter Krause is perfectly cast as our everyman hero. Like his character in “Six Feet Under,” he’s someone we just instantly like, someone we identify with, someone who has our curious ‘what the f-k was that?’ point of view. “Heroes,” as good as it is, is missing a character like this. Often it feels like the characters and scope of “Heroes” is perhaps a bit too large for itself. It’s always walking a fine line of having a canvas too large and complex to comprehend. We’re never lost in the “Lost Room”.

And it wouldn’t be good television if it wrapped things up into a completely tight knot. Doors are left open for a second series, but even if it doesn’t we’re still left 100% satisfied, intrigued and entertained. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Lost Room (Mini-series)

GRINDHOUSE

The Grindhouse (2007) dir. Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez

****

Two exploitation films back-to-back with fake trailers before and in between each film. The film was created to be part of ‘an experience’ of watching bad horror/action films of the 70’s in crappy theatres with bad sound systems, smelly seats and scratchy prints. For the most part the film lives up to its hype, minus one flaw – but more on that later.

The first film is Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror”. The plot of course is secondary but here goes, a group of scientists headed by “Lost” star Naveen Andrews has produced a lethal gas which turns people into man-eating zombies. Bruce Willis has formed a rebel faction of the military and kills the scientists and steals the gas for himself. Meanwhile we meet members of the townsfolk from outside the base: A former stripper, Cherry Darling played by Rose McGowan, the comely doctor Dakota Block (Marley Shelton) and her lesbian lover, Stacey Ferguson, Josh Bolin as Dakota’s husband, a local diner owner played by Jeff Fahey, an ornery sheriff played by Michael Biehn and a drifter, El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez). The film is well cast with semi-popular character actors from various action movies of the 1980’s. Though I have to ask, where was Michael Paré? The set up leads into a blood splatter extravaganza that brings all the characters together to fight off the evil zombies. Rodriguez throws in everything but the kitchen sink to keep our attention locked to the screen and every bit of it works.

“Planet Terror” is so f-ing good. Rodriguez amazingly juggles half a dozen characters and actually makes us care for each of them. The forced emotional moments add to the cheesy hilarity including Freddy Rodriguez’s attempts to win back his former flame, Dr. Dakota’s rescue from certain death by her resurrected father, and the Aliens-inspired suicidal death scene of Michael Biehn and Jeff Fahey. Freddy Rodriguez, though the shortest actor in front the camera, has the chutzpah of a young Kurt Russell and actually holds the film together as an action hero/leading man.

Speaking of Kurt Russell, Tarantino’s segment changes gears (pun not intended) and slows the pace down to add some dialogue into the mix. Quentin’s film is “Death Proof”, a send up of redneck road movies like “Vanishing Point” and “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry”. A highway vigilante, Stuntman Mike, played by Kurt Russell combs the roads of Texas looking for groups of attractive girls to murder. His weapon is his ‘death proof’ car which allows him to inflict as much damage as humanly possible with his car yet miraculous protecting him from harm.

The major flaw of Grindhouse is in fact Tarantino’s film, which unfortunately doesn’t come anywhere near the humour or excitement of “Planet Terror”. Tarantino’s masturbatory dialogue runs on and on to the point of tedium. Ironically, despite his posturing about his love for Grindhouse cinema and throwing back to his days of watching B-action, kung fu and road movies, Tarantino didn’t make one of those films. He has made a Tarantino film – and a lesser one at that. I can’t imagine Tarantino ever heard such long stretches of banal unfunny dialogue in “Vanishing Point”. The actresses reading his branded dialogue unfortunately can’t sing it, and there’s definitely some poor casting here. And as far as hotness factor goes, he’s lost out as well. The girls in the first half of his film who are unfortunately killed off are far more attractive than the heroes that live at the end (sorry, Rosario Dawson, you’ve looked better). But enough quibbles. Tarantino’s film isn’t all that bad. Vanessa Ferlito sears every frame she’s in, Kurt Russell’s car kicks major ass and the death scenes are bloody lovely.

The trailers which come before and during the film are absolutely gutbusting, especially Eli Roth’s “Thanksgiving” and Edgar Wright’s “Don’t”. You will cry with laughter. Canadians will get an extra treat. Sandwiched between the ‘real’ trailers “Fracture” and “Live Free or Die Hard” is the contest winner for the best fan-produced Grindhouse trailer, the hilariously idiotic “Hobo with a Shotgun” (the title alone makes me grin). You can catch all these on youtube, but you’ll laugh harder in the theatre.

The added imperfections of the film - the intentional scratches, missing reels, faded colour and awesome porn music introductions work like magic and put you in the smelly Grindhouse environment just as the filmmakers wanted. It ALL works. Grindhouse will likely satisfy more of the ironic film loser type (like me) who can appreciate the joy of bad films. As for the others, I guarantee you will at least enjoy the trailers. Enjoy.

PS. I also suggest getting Combo #1 at the concession stand – large popcorn, large coke and the bonus pack of nibs – so fucking good!

Here’s the trailer:



And here’s some real Grindhouse trailers from the 70’s (watch for the cougar attack at the 3 min mark!).

THE HOST

The Host (2007) dir. Joon-ho Bong
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Hae-il Park, Du-na Bae

***

“The Host” is the biggest film ever to come out of Korea, a fun monster movie and a mixture of “Alien”, “Godzilla”, and all the Roland Emmerich-disaster films rolled up into one, with an unquestionably peculiar Korean spin to it.

The opening is clever: years before today, an American scientist at the U.S. Army base in Seoul instructs his Korean subordinate to drain a bottle of dusty, expired formaldehyde into the drain. The Korean man objects saying it will end up in the Han River harming the tepid waters. The scientist wonderfully typifies the environmentally unfriendly “Ugly American.” The Korean follows orders and proceeds to drain the bottle into the sink, but when the camera pans right we see there are hundreds of bottles to dispose of. This slap-in-your-face expository set up is a great send up of the B-monster-film genre.

Cut to present day, on the banks of the beautiful Han River, we meet the Park family operating a kiosk selling food and snacks to tourists. In the middle of the serene day, everyone’s attention is curiously drawn to an odd shape hanging underneath a bridge in the distance. When the shape falls into the water the quick glimpse reveals it’s a large creature of some sort. Several moments later it swims to shore and appears with great shock charging towards a group of tourists on the bank of the river. One of the rules of the monster genre is to hide the creature from full view of the audience until at least the second act, and in the case of Jaws, Alien and some others, the third act. But in "The Host" we dramatically see the alien in its full glory in this first scene. This is the first of many great shocks and surprises in this genre-send up film.

Hyeon-Siu Park, the daughter of the kiosk operator is sucked into the jowls of the beast and taken away. The remainder of the film portrays the family’s search to find the beast and rescue the girl. In addition to the scares Joon-ho crafts some great comic scenes, including a hilarious grieving scene for the victims of this first attack. Joon-ho sets up the family’s dysfunctionality when they start fighting with each other, while mourning at the foot of their child’s memorial.

The family provides the majority of the laughs, Gang-du is the father of Hyeon-Siu, but a real dimwit who takes the blame for letting his daughter go, his brother, Nam-il, is an unemployed university graduate and is self-conscious for his underachievements, and the sister, Nam-ju, is a famous archer, who feels shame for winning a ‘bronze’ in the latest world championships. The dynamic of these three fuels the film in between the monster moments.

But it’s the monster moments that make the film. The beast is truly scary and unique as well. It’s like a giant mutated piranha/lizard with dash of Alien and Predator thrown in. The special effects by New Zealand’s famed Weta Workshop (“Lord of the Rings” and “King Kong”) is top-notch and completely believable.

The send up of the SARS scare provides added poignancy and humour not to mention the not-so-subtle jabs at the anti-Kyoto, military-heavy American influence in the Korean culture. The result is a funny, scary and highly entertaining piece of pulp cinema. Enjoy.

CROUPIER

Croupier (1998) dir. Mike Hodges
Starring Clive Owen

***1/2

Guest Review by Blair Stewart

“Hang on tightly, let go lightly”

This motto applies to love and life for Jack Manfred, Clive Owen’s breakout performance as the feckless sociopath at the centre of Mike Hodges little-seen gem. A struggling writer, Jack fights his ingrained gambling gene inherited by his degenerate father and keeps his wet-blanket girlfriend at arm’s length from his true nature. Offered a job as a croupier in a tacky West London casino, Jack takes to it as potential material for his great debut novel, and ends up becoming ensnared with shifty characters and dodgy schemes.

A sneaky, deeply cynical take on the gambling sub-genre that has established itself over the past decade with the likes of “Rounders”, ”Hard Eight” and "Owning Mahoney", “Croupier” isn’t really concerned with turns of the card as much as the shifts its plot has on its characters, namely its star. Jack is dispassionate and objective enough throughout to make Ayn Rand proud, which is a nice way of saying he’s an opportunistic bastard playing all the angles. This is the Rosetta Stone for Owen’s future roles, a self-sufficient, intelligent man with a hidden smirk directed outwards against the world from his sympathetic performance amongst the chaos of “Children of Men” to his Oscar nominated turn as a predatory doctor with all the best lines in “Closer”. As the wild-card, the unspeakably sexy Alex Kingston (I have a thing for Alex Kingston) as the exotic mystery woman whose very presence should set off alarm bells and smoke detectors as she puts the story in motion.

Mike Hodges, a fixture in U.K. cinema dating back to the 60’s, re-introduces us to a character he’s dealt with previously in his original “Get Carter” with Michael Caine in the title role - a heartless professional who has a task to perform and does so wantonly and methodically and well.

“Croupier” is not a particularly striking film to look at, it does suffer from budget constraints in the same regard that I felt “American Psycho” did. What makes it a good film though is its commitment to the viewpoint of a true anti-hero, one who is memorable and highly quotable.

Is this a feel-good movie? Not really. But after a long hard day of traffic and bad coffee why don’t you blow off some steam spending the night with the company of a real mean son of a bitch. Who knows, Jack might even take that as a compliment. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Croupier

SYRIANA

Syriana (2005) dir. Stephan Gaghan
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright

***

I’ve seen “Syriana” twice now and still I can’t say I understand the plot completely. It’s Byzantine, with politicians, agents, kings, princes, terrorists, lobbyists, and big businessmen all trying to find a way to milk money out of the Middle East. It’s a global free-market economy without global governance. All the players are fueled by their own self interests, they all have their own agenda, and unfortunately no one is in sync.

“Syriana” follows the interconnected stories of several characters to paint a picture of the complexities around Middle Eastern oil. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is a lobbyist investigating a merger of two American oil companies who’ve just signed a deal to drill and extract oil from Kazakhstan. Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) plays an energy-trader consulting for an unnamed Middle Eastern country (yep, it’s so fragile over there they couldn’t name a specific country). George Clooney plays an aged CIA Agent/hitman (Bob Barnes) hired to knock out the Prince of that unnamed Middle Eastern country. Of course, these are just the big Hollywood stars. Equally significant players include Alexander Siddig playing Prince Nasir an idealistic man who believes their oil can actually do some good in his country, Christopher Plummer, Jeffrey Wright’s superior who’s pulling more strings than he appears, and Chris Cooper as the head of one of the merging oil companies.

George Clooney’s character, Bob, is the soul and moral conscience of the film. We first see him brokering a deal with Pakistani rebels to buy a U.S. missile. When Bob discovers that the missile may be going into the wrong hands, he sticks with his conscience and attempts to track it down, but his superiors could care less for his opinion and dismiss his instincts. The world has changed for Bob, in the new technology-driven global landscape, Bob is just a soldier and a pawn. We feel sorry for him. He’s a cold war agent, rendered obsolete in the modern world. He can’t function properly at home, he’s got fresh ink on his divorce papers and his son wants nothing to do with him. When he’s given the job of whacking Nasir, it reinvigorates him; he’s back on the playing field and supporting his country. But when the job goes sour and he’s exposed, the CIA cuts him loose and makes Bob the scapegoat. “Leave no man behind” is supposed to be a motto of the military, but Bob is left behind, abandoned and discarded like old trash.

Disillusionment is widespread in “Syriana”. In a geopolitical world governments blur, borders blur and patriotism is a false word. It’s all very complicated and I don’t try to understand the details, nor do you need to. The politics of oil are too strong for one or a few people to manipulate or control – despite the best efforts of our three main characters to make a difference they will always be working for the man. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Syriana

DEAD RINGERS

Dead Ringers (1988) dir. David Cronenberg
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold

***1/2

“Dead Ringers” is a disturbing horror film that masquerades as mainstream. Cronenberg keeps the gore to a minimum, as compared to say, "Scanners", or "The Fly" and much of it happens off screen. But the film is the most disturbing of the Cronenberg’s oeuvre. It’s disgusting and horrific yet fascinating - like a tapeworm.

It’s the story of twin gynecologists, Beverly (a man) and Elliot Mantle (creepy names too). They are brilliant, but utterly maniacal and disturbed. They are both played by Jeremy Irons in, arguably, his finest role(s). Beverly is the shy, introverted and more responsible of the two, Elliot is the showman, the speechmaker and the Don Juan. Despite the closeness in genes, Elliot dominates Beverly, and coyly refers to him as his “baby brother. But together they make a perfect team both professionally and socially. They cruelly date the same women by posing as the same person. Elliot, with his charm and charisma, breaks the ice, and Beverly takes the seconds, which allows him to get laid without much effort. Professionally they are known as twins, but Beverly does the hard work and Elliot receives the accolades. They seem to have a functional system that has gotten them ahead in the world.

The armour starts to crack when Elliot beds one of their clients, an actress, Claire (a riveting performance from Genevieve Bujold). As before, they both date and sleep with her, but Claire catches on and confronts them about their misogynistic behaviour. They admit to defeat and Elliot has no problem letting her go, but Beverly has developed a deep love for her. Beverly decides to keep Claire for himself and not share her with Elliot. As their relationship develops so does a nasty mutual drug habit. Beverly is clever enough to think that he’s being exploiting for drugs (amphetamines and morphine), but he doesn’t mind.

Beverly slowly falls to pieces. Elliot soon succumbs to the trappings as well, and they both become addicts. Somehow they manage to maintain their careers during these tumultuous times. At Beverly’s most warped stage of his mind, he constructs a series of grotesque surgical instruments designed to operate on the bodies of mutated women (did I mention, this is not a date movie?). The design of the instruments is classic Cronenberg, a mixture of metal and organic body forms, part alien, part insect, part human. What they do with the instruments is truly horrifying and more disturbing than anything Cronenberg has done then or since. As I mentioned before, it all happens off camera, but the mere glimpse of the instruments conjures up every detail without showing it.

The film is about the insular world the twins live in and how their psychotic disorders combine to make them greater than the sum of their parts. Individually they could be regular people but together they are a nightmare. The final image is brilliant, two brothers lying together, the light and positioning of their bodies appear to have them intertwined or fused together like Siamese Twins - which is exactly what they wanted to be all along.

Like the tapeworm analogy, the film slowly and hypnotically seeps into your system before you realize you’re completely disgusted by it and when the film is over, even though you want it out of your system, it will linger and remain with you for a long time.

Buy it here: Dead Ringers - Criterion Collection

Unfortunately only one youtube clip exists. It’s in French:

THE LIMEY

The Limey (1999) dir. Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Terrence Stamp, Luis Guzman, Peter Fonda

***

The subtitle for “The Limey” should be “An Ode to Terrence Stamp”. The film is so simple in story that its purpose is to showcase the underused talents of Mr. Stamp. In the business it’s called a vehicle and there have been many star vehicles created by director devotees ie. “Jackie Brown” (Pam Greer) and “Hard Eight” (Philip Baker Hall). All the films have in common an aged character actor in a film that serves to bring them back into the limelight.

“The Limey” is the story of the singularly named, Wilson, an ex-con recently released from prison. He’s on a mission to find the murderer of his daughter, Jenny. That’s about as much plot as the film gives as it’s largely a moody, reflective film from the viewpoint of Wilson. The film’s narrative structure is unique. It moves straight ahead like a traditional narrative with flashbacks to Jenny’s backstory. But within each scene the film frequently cuts forward and back to the previous and forthcoming scenes. It creates a fractured view and gives the impression of someone telling a story and frequently going back and forward to flesh out the details. There’s no narrative purpose to it, as it rarely changes the perspective of the viewer, instead it’s really just an indulgence of the director to create a disjointed feel to the film.

The film is all about Terrence Stamp, a leading man in the swinging 60’s age of British cinema and a contemporary of the likes of Alan Bates, Tom Courtney, and Albert Finney. In his later years, he became a character actor and appeared in largely forgettable films. And for most people under the age of 40 he was General Zod from “Superman II.” But Stamp has an unforgettable face and voice. Wilson is light on chatter and instead shows his teeth with a steely eyed stare and expressionless face. Each wrinkle, line, pot mark and crevice tells a thousand words. At any given moment Soderbergh will cut to a close-up of Stamp at the most random times to remind the audience of Wilson’s unwavering mission.

The film leads up to a confrontation between Wilson and the big shot record producer and part-time gangster played by Peter Fonda. Along the way, with the help of his old flame (Lelsey Ann Warren) he comes to grips with his failures as a father to Jenny. This only fuels his despair and need for revenge. Fonda and Stamp make good adversaries. Both play former tough guys long on experience and big talk but short on the physical attributes and the irony of their real-life cinematic backstories are incorporated in to the film as well.

Unfortunately Terrence hasn’t exactly received the career renaissance as, say, Philip Baker Hall has. Perhaps he’s too good to play those character-roles. He’s a leading man through and through. Have look at his first screen appearance, 1963’s “Billy Budd”, his piercing eyes stand out of the crowd even then. Enjoy.

Buy it here: The Limey

Here’s a great scene, with the equally formidable, Bill Duke:

TOPKAPI

Topkapi (1963) dir. Jules Dassin
Starring: Melina Mercouri, Maximillian Schell, Peter Ustinov

***1/2

Jules Dassin is the unquestioned master of the heist film. In 1955 his classic French crime film “Rififi,” featuring a 28 min jewelry store robbery, became the benchmark for the procedural heist flick. Other great films have come after it but it was “Rififi” that set the bar for everything else. At the time Dassin was on the Hollywood blacklist and had to go to Europe to make his films. After many spoofs of Rififi, Dassin responded with his own spoof, “Topkapi” – an equally great film.

The target is a emerald-studded dagger on display at the famous Topkapi Museum in Turkey (yes, it’s a real place). The mastermind is the swinging 60’s-sexy figure of Europeon elegance, Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri – aka Mrs. Dassin). She forms her team of thieves starting with her former flame Walter (Maximillian Schell) who then recruits their other ‘usual suspects’ – a strongman, an acrobat, someone to smuggle the goods out of the country, a forger, a gadget-maker, and a driver. Peter Ustinov plays a foppish Greek tour guide who gets roped into driving the getaway car across the border into Turkey. Because of border restrictions, only he can drive the car in Turkey and as a result he becomes part of the mod squad.

This all sets up the mixture of the detail heist procedural stuff, Blake Edwards-type slapstick and comic misadventures of the grand plan. On their tail are the cops, who, with the help of Ustinov, keep a watchful eye on the prospective burglars. The trap is elaborate, but before it’s swung the team eludes the cops just before the heist begins.

The heist, of course, is the showcase piece of the film. Every detail of the setup, entry, removal, exit and getaway is shown in immaculate detail. Like “Rififi” most of the sequence in played in complete silence – no music, no sound effects. With Topkapi Dassin joins the esteemed list of Hitchcock, Eisenstein, Kubrick, and Antonioni as great directors stolen from by Brian De Palma. When you see Guilio hang and descend from the ceiling toward the glass enclosure you’ll recognize it as the same scene as Tom Cruise’s CIA heist in “Mission Impossible I.”

All the actors are at their best especially Maximillian Schell, the suave Danny Ocean-type and Peter Ustinov who bumbled his way to his second Oscar. It’s a classic role for him.

Made in 1964, it's a classic swinging 60’s romp – Exotic Euro locales, discussions of nymphomania, bright psychedelic hues, and a not-so-subtle homosexual subplot with the cops (the Turkish wrestling scene will raise eye-brows). It’s all in good fun, which allows Dassin to amp up the style to make the heist as glamourous and exciting as any of the "Ocean’s" films. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Topkapi

Unfortunately no youtube clips exist. But here a really bad trailer that doesn’t do the film justice: http://www.mgm.com/video_window.php?formatid=1040&videoid=460

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) dir. Davis Guggenheim
Starring: Al Gore

****

“An Inconvenient Truth” is a mesmerizing film – not just because of the incendiary information about the impending climate crisis but precisely because of the magnetism of Al Gore. The opening shot of Al Gore is from behind his back, a bright light off in the distance, he’s majestically silhouetted. If you didn’t know the film, it could be Bono running on stage before a concert. But it is Al Gore, the forgotten man and being in a culture that vilifies ‘losers’, Gore’s comeback is remarkable.

After losing the 2000 election partly because of criticisms over his cardboard/robot-like personality, Al Gore has turned himself into a political rockstar even more popular than Bill Clinton. Being up on stage on the Oscars for winning best documentary certainly beats out any State of the Union address any day. In hindsight, if Gore had a choice between being President of the United States during 9/11 and its subsequent aftermath (whether or not that included Iraq), or globetrotting doing PowerPoint presentations, hanging with Leonardo Di Caprio and winning Oscars, Gore likely wouldn’t change a thing.

Narrated by Gore himself, the film gives us the hard information of the impending environment crisis we, as citizen’s of Earth, face. But the key to the film isn’t the fact that we’re ruining in the environment. We’ve known that for a long time. It’s that the crisis is immediate and collapsible within our generation. Gore’s charts and graphs show the stats in the clearest, easy to understand and dramatic way. 15 years ago when the depleting of the ozone layer was the symbol of our bad environmental behaviour, the evidence was hard to see, we had to trust that the atmospheric projections were correct. But a picture tells a thousand words and it’s the before and after shots of the glaciers of the Himalayas and the diminished icecap of the Mt. Kilimanjaro that make the crisis real.

Intercut with the environmental story is a brief history of Gore’s background and his life from a young child through the origins of his environmental lobbying. Growing up on a tobacco farm, his family indirectly contributed to the death of thousands of cigarette smokers, including his sister. It’s tragic listening to Gore tell the story, but it’s also the perfect irony that connects his own life to the message he’s preaching. And it applies to more than just the environment. Gore applies the words of Winston Churchill, originally spoken about the impending World War, effectively to his own message: “The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place, we are entering a period of consequences."

I have to admit, before the film came out, I was skeptical of listening to more environmental talk, especially in the theatres for $12. After all, we all grew up with David Suzuki and it was old news to me. But believe me David Suzuki is no Al Gore. It needs a charismatic orator to bring the hard truth to the people – someone they can trust, that won’t talk down to them, an everyman, a working class man and someone we feel sorry for. In fact, the timing couldn’t be more convenient – George W. Bush’s worst hour is Al Gore’s finest. Oh sweet revenge. Enjoy.

Buy it here (in an environmentally friendly package no less): An Inconvenient Truth

THE LOOKOUT

The Lookout (2007) dir. Scott Frank
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Matthew Goode

**

What a letdown. After reading critical ravings like or “an immensely satisfying suspense drama.”, or “it strikes me as an instant masterpiece” I’m in shock. Did I miss something? And the last quote came from a certain respected television reviewer from Chicago. I just have to ask, ‘what were you thinking?” “The Lookout” is made-for-dvd material at best.

Overpraised screenwriter Scott Frank gets his first crack at directing with “The Lookout,” a small noir thriller along the lines of “Blood Simple.” The film opens with a tragic car accident involving high school hot shot Chris Pratt. Four years later we see his life has done a complete 180, he bears scars from brain surgery which has rendered him with a skills and memory ailment. It’s not quite Memento-type memory loss, but kind of like a minor case of Alzheimer’s. Pratt has to write down his daily regiment such as showering with soap, locking the door, eating etc. It’s a gimmick/setup that never pays off. It frustrates Pratt because, despite his ailment, his high school heyday/prom king/local sports hero memories are still vivid.

Pratt works in a bank overnight as a janitor (huh?), and so he becomes an obvious target of a group of hoodlums looking to do a score. And for good measure he’s seduced femme-fatale-style beauty Luvlee, played by Mrs. Sacha Baron Cohen, Isla Fisher. After he’s rejected for a loan by his upper-class snobby parents, he decides to do the job. On the job Pratt is ‘the lookout’ – hence the title. They rob the bank, some people are shot and killed and then everything wraps itself way too nicely at the end.

The film is straight as an arrow and without a single twist, turn or bump in the road. Perhaps it’s a character film then - a showcase for the talents of former “Third Rock from the Sun” alum and “Brick” star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Unfortunately his character is as dull and uninteresting as a piece of dried tofu. He’s portrayed as a pathetic has-been who’s struggling to live his life on his own and make something of himself. I know he’s a little slow, that’s his character, but he decides to rob the bank that employs him after a couple minor defeats in his life. Come on! The holes in the film are as big as gunshot wounds. For example, Levitt rips off the bank and takes the money for himself. So his accomplices decide to take his roommate hostage and spend the night at Pratt’s house. I guess the policemen took Sunday off. The characters are laughably 2-dimensional and clichéd. First there’s Pratt’s best friend (Jeff Daniels), a wise-cracking blind man/comic relief, Pratt’s wealthy parents who pity him and treat him like an infant, the typical bumbling small town cop and the most laughable is the muscle of the heist crew – Bone – who looks like a reject from the Matrix auditions (he never takes off his glasses – even in the basement of his house!)

I can’t understand how some critics are calling the film a masterpiece or even enjoyable – perhaps they’ve been numbed by “Norbit” and “Wild Hogs.” I guess compared to them “The Lookout” is “Citizen Kane.” In reality its average pulp material and nowhere near the benchmark set by half a dozen other superior films, “A Simple Plan”, “Blood Simple”, The Last Seduction”, “Red Rock West” and “Bound”. It may be straight-to-video material, but even when it does show up on the shelf rent any one of those films first.