The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

First of all, I know, I know. What was I thinking? To be honest I've always assumed the Narnia franchise was a British production. And, because it's important to keep abreast of all our film industry's efforts, I'd therefore give this one a looksee. This is made all the more important (unfortunately) with the onslaught of 3D. After all, behemoths like Harry Potter can't have all the fun, can they?

Alas, it's not a British movie, it's an American production (I'm still not convinced though). Why am I confused? Well, quite simply, because it's got lower production values than The Bill. I'm not joking! It looks really really cheap. However, even if it had been a British production, I still should've known better, this film isn't for me. It's not even marketed towards me. And more importantly nobody who reads this blog would see it anyway. A thoroughly depressing evening has been had.

This, the third in the series is once again produced by Walden Media (how many in the heptology will they make?). Twentieth Century Fox has since picked up the batten of distributor after being dumped by Disney. The first in the series made a killing. It's in the top 40 grossing movies of all time exceeding $700m worldwide. Not to sniffed at, despite a budget of $180m. The second cost $225m and took nearly $420m. Still not bad but not good enough apparently for Disney. I don't know how this one is going to perform, but I fear the end is nigh. What's going on Apted? Remember P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982)? It's never been the same since. His attempt at Bond (The World is Not Enough 1999) wasn't great but he made the best of what he had. This, this is just woeful.

The Beaver (2011)

Erm, wtf?

Fair play to Foster though, choosing this film for her return to directing in 15 years is pretty bold. Let's hope it's better than her last.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Quite honestly the most awesome and vacuous film you'll see this year (or next).

Muchas thanks go to ShowFilmFirst for a wonderful, professional delivery at Saturday's advance preview "Opinion Former's Showcase", despite the weather, the show must go on, and boy did it!

Monsters (2010)

The "credit card" movie is dead. The term was first used to describe micro-budget filmmaking in connection with Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1992). Apparently he used all available credit and then resorted to experimental clinical drug testing. Nowadays, despite ongoing loan opportunities, it's simply not possible to use credit cards to fund independent filmmaking. Last year the UK's budget breakout film was Duncan Jones' Moon (2009), reportedly costing $5 million. This year the crown belongs to British born Gareth Edwards, he's made a film that has cost a tenth of that amount. 

Edwards' background is in visual effects, after 10 years in the industry his career peaked with must-see documentary In the Shadow of the Moon (2007). A Discovery Films tribute featuring talking heads from all surviving members (except Neil Armstrong) of the Apollo space programme. Monsters is Edwards' first film as director (and screenwriter, cinematographer, production designer), however, unlike Shadow, Nasa don't garner anywhere near the same amount of prestige.

The American space agency has sent a probe to a newly discovered planet to collect samples of alien life forms. On it's return to Earth it crash lands in Central America. The films begins six years after this event with New World Tribune photographer Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) in South America promising his employer he'll safely return his stranded daughter Samantha Wynden's (Whitney Able) through the infected and quarantined zone back into homeland USA.

British company Vertigo Films are on fire right now. As distributors they've been behind some outstanding films since establishing in 2002, highlights to name but a few include London to Brighton (2006), The Escapist (2008) and my favourite, Shotgun Stories (2007). Following this success they're now branching out to production, Monsters being one of the few so far. An obvious yet key inspiration throughout the film, apparently suggested to Edwards by producers at Vertigo, was In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007), a truly magical romantic comedy (discussed in more depth here) also staring Scoot McNairy. It's set in downtown LA (a different kind of jungle) with slightly less monsters. This leads us to the first criticism of the film...

In the ongoing pursuit of maximising box office potential a trend of late has arisen. This regards the misrepresentation of art-house films as more generic and mainstream, primarily through marketing campaigns (posters, radio spots or the trailers). After viewing the Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are) (2010) trailer you would be forgiven for expecting a fast-paced zombie-like cannibalistic gore fest. In fact, only one character is nibbled (rather than bitten) and even that occurs off screen. The trailer for Cyrus (2010) plays off Jonah Hill's previous box office smashes Superbad (2007) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) rather than what it really is, a brilliant effort to bring the Duplass brother's canonical  Mumblecore sub-genre to the mainstream.

Ultimately this type of marketing leads to unfavourable critical press and a general public who quite rightly feel cheated. It's akin to false advertising, and William 'D-Fens' Foster would not be happy. While watching The American (2010) on Friday, a large majority of the audience appeared bored, either talking, texting or in general fidgeting. They were probably expecting lighthearted charming Gorgeous George - Up In The Air (2009) - Clooney re-enacting his assassin role in Out of Sight (1998). What they got was stoic paranoia, and his best performance since Michael Clayton (2007). 

In Monsters' case, whilst the quad is not inaccurate, it is misleading. "Jaw-dropping", "Packs a powerful punch", "A new world of terror". Alongside the trailer and quad backgrounds one would assume this is another post-apocalyptic/dystopian-world genre movie along the lines of 28 days later (2002), The Road (2009, Book of Eli (2010), District 9 (2009), Doomsday (2008), or perhaps even Southland Tales (2006). In reality the action is minimal. As is often the case when budget constraints are in place the filmmaker has to infer rather than show. It can prove much more effective. Monsters is more concerned in developing the relationship between its two central protagonists rather than CGI.

The title alone is misleading, was that Vertigo's marketing departments idea also? As Steve Rose states in his article Monsters: The bedroom blockbuster that's the anti-Avatar:

"it servers up hipster indie vibes and, despite the title, offers a 

genuine alternative to your standard monster-movie fare"

The film made a huge impact when it was first unveiled at this years SXSW festival and the viral campaign has continued to grow since. It's a wonderful twist on a tired genre and well worth a viewing if you can.


Monsters is released this Friday and is certified 12A.

The Legend of the Fist – The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)

Do you remember the scene in True Romance (1993)? Clarence is trying to explain to Lucy the gravitas surrounding his self-chosen birthday treat, an all-night screening at the local picturehouse of the Donny Chiba trilogy, “The Streetfighter”, “Return of the Streetfight” and “Sister Streetfighter”. Upon hearing the proposition she leaves promptly, “not my cup of tea” she exhales after taking a drag. As a predominantly male audience we sympathise, her loss it appears, we know she's missed out. Clarence goes to the screening anyway and, well, you know how it goes from there. If not, shame on you, see it ASAP. But see Badlands (1973) first so you know the heritage.

The invitation to watch The Legend of the Fist – The Return of Chen Zhen (TLF) at the Soho Screening Rooms last week triggered this memory. Was this a sequel or the ending of a trilogy? After all, that title is pretty long. It could've been a Harry Potter movie. It didn't matter, I've been wanting to go to the Soho Screening Rooms for a long time so I was in, even if it meant missing out on the Prince Charles Cinema screening of A Serbian Film (2010).

As it turns out, it's not a sequel or a finale, more of a reboot (previous incarnations feature Bruce Lee in 1972 and Jet Li in 1994). The Wiki page on reboots is fascinating BTW, check it out if you have time. Alas, TLF is not in the same calibre of Star Trek (2009) or Batman Begins (2005).

Despite a truly original, mind-blowing and wonderfully over-the-top opening sequence on the lesser known Chinese war efforts during World War One, TLF swiftly re-focuses its narrative attention towards the conflict between China and Japan. In doing so it disengages the audience it flawlessly captured in the opening ten minutes. For this reason alone we must ask why UK based distributors Metrodome have picked this up? As a national market the UK is predominantly interested in North-American exports at worst and European art-house at best? Asian cinema is notoriously difficult to profit from outside of DVD sales and perhaps explains why so many Studio Gibhli films are re-dubbed using English-speaking actors.

If that sounds archaic there are larger concerns at hand. Racial slurs such as "Japs" and "Chinks" are subtitled throughout. What are the rules? Presumably these words or their equivalent are present in the original audio track (Cantonese), should such ethnophaulisms be muted for western audiences? Does the context explain or justify their existence? When Carlos (Édgar Ramírez), the protagonist in self-titled film Carlos (2010), says "coño" repeatedly should the subtitles differ in the States ("Bitch") to those in the UK ("Cunt") or should it remain true to its national context? Whilst not usually an advocate of censorship there is something jarring about the repeated on-screen presence of such derogatory terms.

Considering Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-2003) director Andrew Lau/Wai-keung Lau is at the helm and Metrodome are spreading the magic TLF came with higher expectations. Give this one a skip, peruse the back catalogue when you get a chance, if nothing takes your fancy give either/or Days of Glory (2008) and The Counterfeiters (2008) a shot.

The Legend of the Fist – The Return of Chen Zhen is released on 3rd December, 2010.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Whilst it provides a satisfactory sense of closure to the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is once again hindered by an outrageous frame count and a woeful dialogue-centric opening act. After that though the final two acts flow quite smoothly.

Charged with the murder of her father, defendant and protagonist Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) must appear before a judge to explain her axe-wielding actions at the end of the second film. Should she be incarcerated once again (possibly for the rest of her life) and left to the whims and desires of men with too much power or was she in fact acting in self-defence?

The gratuitous violence and brutality captured on DVD in the first film is once again on display, this time, however, as evidence for the defendant. It always appeared out of place in the first movie, an almost banal and immature attempt to shock the audience. Finally though, it's existence is justified in it's attempt to shock a new audience member, the judge.

Despite changing directors after the first film (Niels Arden Oplev) the pace and delivery has remained stagnant throughout the entire trilogy. There has never been a cinematic feel; even watching tonight I kept thinking this could quite easily have been made for television, albeit after the watershed. Unlike Sweden's recent masterpiece Let the Right One In (2008), director Daniel Alfredson's second attempt at bring the Stieg Larsson's trilogy to screen highlights the much required and refreshingly desired remake currently in production in the States. Not down for release until Boxing Day 2011 I'm hoping Fincher's remake will drastically overhaul Larsson's source material, unlike Matt Reeves' attempts with Let Me In (2010). In this sense it would be nice if the opening credits read "Inspired by..." rather than "Based on..."

Source Code (2011)

Duncan Jones is back, and this time it seems, he's got a budget. But wasn't that the best thing about Moon (2009)? It's eerily small, compact and claustrophobic surroundings offset by it's massive ambitions. Moon continues to look great, even on Blu-Ray where so many other films founder. We'll see what Source Code delivers, we could be in for another treat. As far as when it's delivered, well, if true, that's even more of a treat!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Counter to all complaints, Deathly Hallows greatly benefits from its two part structure. Of course it's going to make a shit load more cash, but there's a reason why this is the best Potter film in the franchise. Unlike all previous titles where our trio must complete some uncompromising task in the final tiresome thirty minutes, Part One has a far more succinct, mature and timely pace.

Of course it's (still) too long but for the first time this doesn't feel like a paint-by-numbers effort from third time director David Yates. There are moments here that we simply haven't experienced before, breaks in the narrative that alleviate the monotony of Harry's quest.

The story of the three brothers for example, is told using three of four minutes of animation. This, for Philip French, invokes Indonesian shadow theatre, for me I simply couldn't stop thinking of Kung-Fu Panda (2008) meets Don Quixote's Gustave_Doré. Irregardless, it's a beautiful sequence worth the price of admission alone.


The other stand out moment includes the unlikely and somewhat out-of-place dance sequence between Harry and Hermione. In the packed screening last night initial guffaws were soon replaced by silence as Yates cranks up the diegetic music to reach a masterful outcome akin to Baillie Walsh's dance sequence in Flashbacks of a Fool (2008) featuring Roxy Music's "If there is Something".

I haven't read any of the books, I've hated every film. I realise I'm not the target audience. But I'm pleased to have persisted, there is still hope for the finale. See this if you can beat the human traffic at the box office, if not, stick Brazil (1985) and the LOTR (2001-2003) trilogy on, they're pretty much on screen throughout anyway.

Dirty Harry Potter

T-Shirt Laundry's new addition via /film

We Are What We Are...final showing!

As a World of Cine whore I pretty much manage to keep abreast of all new mainstream movies. Sometimes, with the help of locations like Fulham or Chelsea, I'll also see those films that stray slightly from the well-trodden popcorn famished track. I wouldn't call them Curzon competing Art-House releases but certainly films that offer something more than flying tanks.

Examples include Hunger (2008), Winter's Bone (2010), El Secreto de sus Ojos (2009), Partir (1999) etc. So we should be grateful, to be honest, that if wanted we can see films of this caliber in a mainstream cinema chain. However! You've sometimes got to be very quick. We Are What We Are (2010) (WAWWA) has been out for one week and the drop off is incredible:

Of course this doesn't always happen, Heartbreaker (2010) came out on 2nd July and ran for weeks, but then again, it didn't have to compete with any major releases until the August/summer campaign began several weeks later with The A-Team (2010) on the 30 July.

WAWWA though, does have to compete, and unfortunately it has to compete with a behemoth:

According to my calculations, at it's peak today, Harry Potter will be showing on 10 screens at the same time! No wonder it's been split into two parts. It's a 150 minutes and screen time is precious.

So, if you will, please join me for the very last showing of WAWWA, 23:10 at Wandsworth World of Cine. I'll be the one NOT wearing a robe.

The King of Comedy (1982)

Shutter Island (2010) is definitely in the top ten for this year but it's a safe bet to say he'll never reach his peak again.

It's not often I agree with Mark Kermode...

...but he's not wrong here.

Skyline (2010)

Hmm, where to start without giving too much away. It's just really bland. Like MTV's The Hills (2006) but everyone's on Ritalin. It's character based in the sense that Cloverfield (2008) was except that these guys' acting is even worse (don't get me started on the script). You don't care about any of them and there's an annoying flash-forward at the beginning to fill in time. It's 92 minutes and even that's a stretch.

The appeal for the film is obviously the effects but they are too few and far between. Nothing happens really in the first 30 minutes where the characters are looking at the exterior of the apartment and going whoa! but as an audience you're not privy to this. In that sense, it's incredibly frustrating.

You can count the references throughout to The Matrix (1999), Alien (1979), The X-Files (1993), Close Encounters (1977), The Outer Limits (1963) and of course Cloverfield et al. but with nothing original to boot.

The Strause Bro's need to stick to Special Effects rather than directing and all actors involved (most notably Eric Balfour) need to stick to TV rather than film.

It's just dull dull dull.

Rotten Tomatoes were generous.

Ignore the audience, they're dumb.

Devil (2010)

I entered the screening room last night with zero trepidation. This, a new Supernatural Horror produced and written by M. Night Shyamalan (don’t worry, he didn’t direct or star) was never going to be as scary as the possibility of another Lady in the Water (2006), or The Last Airbender (2010).

As it turns out, this small scale, above par B-movie could have been a legitimate opportunity to roll back his outrageous, high concept, super-ambitious monstrosities of late. Alas, he’s handed the responsibility over to the guy that brought us Quarantine (2008), a sub-standard [Rec] (2007) rip-off. Here though director Dowdle benefits, as to be expected from Shyamalan’s stable of fables, from a super tight narrative, an old wives tale exploring what happens when El Diablo traps five not-so-good-doers in an elevator in Manhattan. As the opening credits suggest (an uncomfortable barrage of continuous establishing shots of the city upside-down) this film is going to flip the modern-day heroes of New York 180-degrees to show their (until now) hidden anxieties within.

Devil touches briefly on class and race but is restrained from going beyond its scope by it’s beautifully paced 80 minutes. Catch this one if you can, it’s a great ride.

Knight and Day (2010)

This just in...

"Box office receipts in 2009 were highest ever, thanks to continuing growth of 3D and success of Avatar"

Hmm, interesting. Further more...

"In terms of this year all the evidence shows that 2010 could be just as good as 2009, despite a miserable June when the World Cup meant there was nothing on so nobody went to the cinema; or nothing good was put on because it was thought nobody would go".

Like Freeman or Hemingway before him, I agree with the second part.

Low attendance records? 45% down on this time last year. Sure we can blame the World Cup, but that's not at the heart of the problem. The sheer mediocracy of this year's film crop is the problem. So with this (securely) in mind, Knight and Day does a fine job of providing fabulous Friday night escapism. It's a cop-out I know, but Jesus it could be a lot worse. Like a tin of Ronseal, Mangold, very much himself on cruise control, (he hasn't been challenged since '97's Copland) has achieved optimum Tin status here.

So is it really a question of managing expectations? Absolutely. Ultra Culture is a perfect example, slamming the movie (justifiably tbh) some five months before it's even premiered in Sevilla. But Jeremy Kay's recent article in The Guardian has covered the topic of advanced film criticism sufficiently. So why the hostility? Because of hype or promos? Despite couch bouncing abilities or religious/commercial beliefs Cruise, at 48, continues to carry the flag for the new A-List action wannabes that are still not quite there yet (Gyllenhaal, Brody et al). Sure Priya Elen's got a point, his last two films did bomb (as has K&D) but one was a drama directed by Redford and in the other he was wearing an eye patch. This is Cruise back in familiar territory, saving the day, getting the girl and grinning uncontrollably whilst doing it. Hey, at least he doesn't sing (see 2:11).

Diaz however, well, she's awful in this, but to be fair she has little to work with? Even Dame Mirren would struggle with these external monologues, but then again her agent would have filtered out this option long ago.

Running time is always a factor, this came in at 109 minutes which is well below standard for fluff these days. This year so far, Eclipse (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Kick-Ass (2010) and Iron Man 2 (2010) especially, all reasonable films but films that would have benefitted greatly from further cutting room floor usage. Having a bad friday? Need to switch off? This year, you could do a lot worse.

Knight and Day opens 6th August.

3D is killing British Independent filmmaking

The title says it all, the link says even more, 3D is more evil than Freddy.

Can't we just move on before any more of this decade is dedicated to an inferior form of filmmaking by an industry sadly placing their hopes in its success. Even Kermode (surprisingly) relaxed a little on his staunch POV when he said Toy Story 3 was the best 3D film he's seen. He's only being honest of course. He had valid points but was then bowled over by crying his eyes out.

Who cares? The bidder picture, it's damaging the industry, not helping. The consumer is being shafted economically and physically. No more extra fees please, no more huge glasses. All said there and above, nothing to add except that if Mike Leigh ever releases a 3D film I'll eat his shoe.

That is all.