Die Hard (1988) Analysis

Die Hard (1988), John McTiernan
4.5/5

***SPOILERS***

This is one of the best, if not the best Action film ever made. Based on the novel "Nothing lasts forever" by Roderick Thorp, this film is iconic and set the stage for not only the Die Hard franchise, but also setting the tone for the action genre in the 90s and beyond. What makes this action film so great, that it still stands up after more than 20 years is the well constructed plot, great cinematography and snappy dialogue. It's the little details that make this film great and the smart construction of visuals to develop plot, something that is sadly lacking in most Action and B films of recent years. It is also one of the best Christmas movies, as it is set on Christmas Eve.

It is beautiful to watch the opening sequences unfold, as the visuals set up all that is to come later in the film. A single shot of John McClane (Bruce Willis) sharing a look with the Stewardess on the plane, gives the audience a clue about his character and as we learn later perhaps issues with his marriage. All the little Checkov's guns are great. The opening scene in the plane serves not only to set up John McClane as the major character, but also we learn that he is a cop and hear the advice about "make fists with your toes" to 'cure' jetlag. This seemingly throw away line than John seems to brush off comes into play later when he tries is and this serves as the reason he has to go barefoot throughout the rest of the film.

Another interesting way of introducing the Hero of the Action is that we learn his name through a shot of a sign held up at the airport by Argyle, his limo driver that is more like a cab driver. The witty reparte or interrogation by Argyle in the limo serves to not only divulge important information about John and his separation from his wife, establishing it before we even see John and his wife Holly Genero (Bonnie Bedelia) interacting, but also is just a really funny scene. A number of shots throughout the film establish John as perhaps a womaniser and a misogynist including the glance with the Stewardess at the beginning, the POV shot at the airport of the woman in tights where he exclaims "Fucking California". These humourous wise cracks establish John as both an everyman, quite conservative and traditional (as in the traditional male archetype hero character) and that he finds the sort of liberal culture of California to be quite strange. When John enters the Christmas party there is a POV of John, showing a woman in the window, which is interrupted by a homophobic moment as a man kisses John on the cheek and he sort of brushes the kiss of with a surprised grin and repeats the line from earlier "Fucking California". Then John meets Mr Takagi and the quality of the writing is great as Mr Takagi gives John a bit of a tour while detailing important information for later including the fact that "several floors are still under construction".

The next scene shows the tense meeting between Holly and John as well as introducing the coke snorting Ellis with his sleazy attitude he makes a comment about the Rolex watch that the company gave to Holly. John and Holly exchange a chaste kiss on the cheek in front of Takagi and Ellis before reverting to bickering once alone divulging in more detail the issues of their marriage. Which is then interrupted firstly by a couple acting flirtatiously, which highlights the issues between Holly and John also with the composition with Holly and John at far ends of the room from each other. The arguing couple are interrupted for a second time, this time by Ginny the pregnant woman in the office, thus amping up the tension, yet also serving to introduce Ginny and John. Which may seem a small moment, but serves to explain that she is the last person to know his true identity in the later parts of the film. Once Holly leaves to make her speech, there is one of the best moments of the oft used hero talking to himself, where Bruce Willis gives the most convincing talking to himself, which seems really authentic as he berates himself saying "That was great John, good job, very mature".

During these sequences it is intercut with shots of trucks and cars arriving and finally we get introduced to the 'terrorists' including the head honcho Hans Gruber brilliantly played by Alan Rickman (Harry Potter series). These scenes with the terrorists arriving at the building are edited and shot brilliantly conying all the important information through visuals rather than ridiculous and obvious dialogue. The film then returns to John making "fists with your toes" with a clear establishing shot of his bare feet. Cut across with shots of one of the terrorists cutting at wires, John calls Argyle who is down in the parking garage and thus makes clear the purpose of the terrorist's wire cutting as the phones go dead, as well as to serve as a clue to John that things are going wrong, which is then confirmed when he hears machine gun fire.

Another funny moment is after John escapes barefoot upstairs, gun drawn (which the film established he had on him in the opening scene on the plane) and tries the phone saying "think...think" which then cuts to a POV shot of another building with a woman standing in the lit window, which recalls images from Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984) that sort of voyeuristic aspect. John serves as a sort of hapless everyday hero, no doubt proving his great worth as an action hero and cop, but this only serves to contrast his own failings and normal problems in his personal life. The argument between John and Holly in the bathroom/ office spawns from John making a comment about Holly reverting to her maiden name of Genero, and the pay off is at the end of the film, where John becomes more mature by introducing Holly to Argyle using Genero, but instead Holly, corrects him by saying "Holly McClane".  Thus reverting to the married man and wife paradigm with all gender roles are in their place with the traditional archetypes.

Another great funny moment is John's 'schizophrenic' conversation with himself by saying "Why the fuck didn't you stop 'em John?" replying to himself "'cause you'd be dead then too, asshole". John's character is great evoking the everyday hero and also particularly the hero of the Western, with explicit references to him as "Cowboy" by Hans and referring to him as "John Wayne" and "Mr. Cowboy", also John stating "I was always actual kind of partial to Roy Rodgers" which then connects to his code name to the police outside the building saying "call me Roy" and also connects to his classic line "Yippie ki-yay mother fucker". John is also somewhat of a 'bad' hero with his ass hole, wise cracking demeanour, and his character plays beautifully to the American love of the rebel, as John replies to a terrorist that "that's what my Captain keeps telling me" implying that he is a cop that doesn't follow orders or rules. John is not your average police man and it plays nicely to his sense of humour that he places a terrorists dead body in a Santa hat and writes "Now I have a machine gun, Ho, Ho, Ho" on his jumper.

There are a number of elevator sequences in this film which are iconic and destined to be remade and paid homage in latter films. Another 'nice' sexist shot is John making his way through the stair well, and his head turning to stare at the poster of a naked woman on the wall, but unlike most films where this would merely be a misogynistic and gratuitous shot, it instead serves both the character John and the audience to establish where in the building he is in later scenes, to help distinguish between the similar grey walls and staircases.

John's personal character arc works beautifully throughout the action. The scene in particular where John talks to Al (the policeman first on the scene) on the radio about telling Holly a message that he is sorry and Bruce Willis gives a great performance, as he is still the hero type, trying to fight off tears as he leaves a message for his wife regretting his behaviour in belief that he will probably not make it out of the building alive.

Also playing against the frustration and derision of the police force, and the FBI in particular as the fail time and time again, citing bureaucratic policies and rules that set them well behind the terrorists actions.

There are definitely some crazy and ridiculous moments in this film, all the more awesome because of it. Favourites would be sliding down the elevator shaft and managing to grab hold and get into a duct, jumping from the exploding roof tied to a fire hydrant hose and shooting his way back into the building through a window. What makes these unbelievable elements enjoyable is the film's recognition through nods to the audience that they are ridiculous, with dialogue where John says "What are you doing John?" and "This is a very bad idea".

The pay offs for the little details in this movie are great, for instance the symbol of Holly's separation from John and tie to the Company away from her, the Rolex watch is paid off in the climax where Hans as he falls out the window grabs Holly by the watch and is dragging her with him. John manages to undo the watch clasp, both freeing Holly and sending Hans off the building in one of most awesome slow motion falling shots. Thus John gets rid of the watch symbolising their separation and they embrace in a kiss. This acts circularly to resolve the awkward kiss on their meeting at the start of the film.

Not only are the police and FBI represented negatively with bureaucratic pitfalls, but also the media is cast in a negative light. These moments are all resolved with Al the "Stevie Wonder" and "Desk jockey" of a cop becomes a hero and also Holly punches out the media ass hole Thornburg (William Atherton). Thus the film ends returning all awry at the beginning, with the romantic reunion of the husband and wife, Al and John both representing the success of the police force and the punishment of the vulturistic media by Holly punching Thornburg in the face. While Holly has aspects that make her a strong female character throughout much of the film, she still acts with a dual role as the "maiden in distress" which John must come and rescue.

There are also a number of racial elements in the film. For instance the 'terrorists' are all of stereotyped European depiction. And while there are a number of key African American characters for instance Argyle (De'voreaux White) and Al Powell (Reginald Weljohnson) Al is reverted to the hapless side-kick character and Argyle serves as the comic relief.

Another great payoff is early in the film when Holly speaks to her child who asks "Is Daddy coming come?" and then she slams a family portrait down on the desk. This serves as a key point along with Holly's use of her maiden name Genero to hide the relationship between Holly and John once his identity is revealed to Hans as 'John McClane'.

This film has so many great moments, references and subtext to analyse that I can't possibly analyse it all, but overall this film is one of the best constructed, well performed and hilariously fun action films ever made.

The Bourne Legacy (2012) Review

The Bourne Legacy (2012), Tony Gilroy
3/5

The fourth film in the Bourne saga, I was dubious to say the least about this latest instalment  Which is why I held off until now to see it, and watched it on Blu-ray rather than at the cinema. Perhaps it was that my expectations were so low or perhaps it was the talented cast, but this was actually quite a solid action film. I feel it was a return to the quality of The Bourne Identity (2002). While this film could have been a commercial remake of The Bourne Identity (and it somewhat is) it actually achieved something a bit more than just a rehashing of the first film. Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as Aaron Cross, although seemingly type cast, gives a convincing performance although his character isn't fleshed out all that much. Rachel Weisz (The Fountain, The Brother's Bloom) is great as biochemist secret spy researcher Dr. Marta Shearing. Also, Edward Norton is great as Eric Byer and his acting definitely brings what may have been a bureaucratic cardboard cut-out up a notch. But what is most surprising about this action flick, is the tightness of the writing, with nary an expositional scene, instead using more cut scenes and visuals to explain plot elements rather than the usual action movie style arduous expositional dumbed down dialogue. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Tony Gilroy both wrote and directed this film, yet he only wrote the previous films. Credit for the tightness of story must also go to co-writer and brother Dan Gilroy and also to editor John Gilroy, making this production quite the family affair. The editing is excellent, cutting between scenes for the most dramatic effect, tying elements together to explain plot elements and also to plant convincing red herrings. The action is fast paced, although the camera movements can at times be disorienting  Also to pleasant surprise the cinematography for action sequences and chase scenes is handled well with no obvious stunt-man shots (unlike Salt). The plot is rather simplistic of course and some of the 'science' elements are particularly unrealistic. I'm no biochemist, but the stuff about using viruses to genetically enhance humans was either poorly explained or just fantastical (I'd argue the latter). That aside, the great performances,  editing and sharp writing make this an enjoyable action film.

***Contains some SPOILERS***

Also, the character of Dr. Marta Shearing was quite good, somewhat mimicking the journey of Marie (Franka Potente) in The Bourne Identity (2002). Marta represents two aspects of the feminine triptych, particularly early on in the second act as the "hysterical woman" which is quickly stifled and to the writers credit, her character is intelligent and resourceful, and not merely a female object to be saved by the hero. The second aspect she portrays is the "mother" or "caregiver" as she treats Aaron later in the film which also fits in with her role as a Doctor. Thus transforming her from the highly clinical researcher from the beginning, transitioning through the "hysterical woman" and then becoming the maternal figure. Strangely the film ends with the two together, merely smiling and there is not that much sexual tension between them throughout the film, although they play off each other well. So perhaps this film has managed to challenge the action genre just a tiny bit, and instead of fulfilling the full female role triptych by also conveying Marta as sex object, their "relationship" is never consummated and instead could be read somewhat as a kind of buddy cop/ hero and side-kick narrative. However, Marta's character is somewhat under-utilized  reverting instead to the traditional two female roles (as noted above) and the film itself even addresses her lack of usefulness where Aaron yells at Marta in the car stating basically she is useless to him and confronting her as a bureaucratic clinical cog in the government machine. The film was also surprisingly not comedic and resisted most temptations for the cheesy action one-liners, although there were a couple nice one-liner moments during the action. Some parts are flat out ridiculous of course, but the slightly enhanced "agents" worked pretty well, sitting somewhere between The Matrix or superhero style and real life, it comes off mostly convincing. Overall this film was a surprisingly good action film and if you can set aside some minor aspects and suspend your disbelief it is probably the best mainstream action film I've seen in a while and was much better than Skyfall (2012) or Salt (2010).

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Review

Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Wes Anderson
4/5

This odd ball comedy is quirky and fun, citing director and writer Wes Anderson's return to his style of The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) with this heartfelt and funny film. The story is set in 1965 and is beautifully stylised focusing on the romance between two outsider children on a small island. The film features big name stars, including Bruce Willis as the island police officer "Captain Sharp", Edward Norton (Fight Club) playing the hilarious and cute Scout Master Ward as a sort of ironic parody of the character of Sgt Hartman from Full Metal Jacket (1968). The film also features Bill Murray who has appeared in other Wes Anderson films including The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic (2004), Rushmore (1998) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). Frances McDormand (Fargo & Burn After Reading) plays the quirky Laura Bishop and Tilda Swinton plays the strange and funny "Social Services". Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore & Bored to Death) also features. But among these great actors the heart of this film is truly the two unknown child actors playing Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward).  This film is incredibly enjoyable and Anderson brings a dry wit to this childhood adventure story with both the wisdom and melodrama of adulthood used to comedic effect. Moonrise Kingdom really reminds me a lot of The Royal Tenenbaums where each frame is an illustration or artwork, and the tracking long shots are great. There are many intertextual references giving nods to Full Metal Jacket (1987), The Great Escape (1963) and more. After the disappointment I felt The Life Aquatic (2004) was, this film is unique, quirky, funny and at times poignant. To accompany the excellent cinematography, acting and score the writing is sharp and witty with a screenplay by Wes Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited). Overall a great odd ball romance and comedy, and it is a kind of nostalgic kids movie for adults.

Hideaway/ The Refuge (Le Refuge) (2009) Review

Le Refuge (English title "Hideaway") (2009) France, Francois Ozon
3.5/5

It is hard to believe this intimate character drama is from the same director of Ricky (2009) which is a fantasy drama where a baby develops wings and can fly. This beautifully photographed piece is small and quiet. The concept may have been melodramatic, but the strength of acting and direction make the plot more than the sum of it's parts, instead giving the characters depth, full of flaws that make them believable and empathetic if not necessarily likeable, but that's French film for you. It could be easy to make this film political, as it surrounds a pregnant woman who overdosed on heroin and her continued ambivalence towards the pregnancy making her behaviour questionable. The story focuses on Mousse (Isabelle Carre) the pregnant woman and Paul (Louis-Ronan Choisy) the gay brother of her deceased lover. On paper this film could have been soap opera fodder, a pregnant heroin addict living with her lover's brother who is gay, her lover dead after overdosing on heroin. Instead of making contentious issues of the behaviours, actions, sexuality etc of the characters, Francois Ozon carefully lays out all the elements without judgement. Somehow he captures the character of an ambivalent woman, ambivalent in her grief, her addiction, towards motherhood and more. This unlikely pairing make for a quiet and interesting couple, making is a sort of off-beat drama. In some respects it evokes memories of Candy (2006) and Australian film depicting the relationship of a couple addicted to heroin and addicted to love, but Le Refuge (2009) is no where near as harsh and edgy as Candy and in some ways Le Refuge is closer to the Hollywood style, merging French/ European film making style with Hollywood narrative elements. This film is overall a soft piece and by that I don't mean it is 'soft' as in 'weak', rather it is a slow, sweet and melancholic piece where the characters are thoughtful, brash, real, flawed and a bit uneasy. Le Refuge has some intriguing and evocative elements, the small cast brilliantly portraying the undertow of emotions, but this film is not over-the-top or melodramatic, although I wish it was a little more challenging. While, it does fit under the category of "French New Wave" cinema, as it clearly does not fit the mainstream of French nor Hollywood cinema, it is really only a dramatic narrative piece surrounding some unusual themes. While the visuals are beautiful and performances are great the narrative is quite simplistic, but it is the emotional journey and conflict between the desires and roles of the characters that make this film interesting. Focusing on the internal conflict within themselves. Both Mousse and Paul are searching for themselves in some way and also both stumbling to grieve for a man they both loved. Overall, it is a melancholic yet beautiful film. However, it did leave me wanting more, despite the challenging aspects, it seemed too predictable in parts and favoured a more closed ending than is common to the French new wave film.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Review

Big Trouble in Little China (1986), John Carpenter
5/5

This cult classic is a beautiful mish-mash of parody, homage and cheesiness. While too cheesy for some, those that love a good 80s flick will revel in the parody and genre mashing that goes on in this film. It is a classic Carpenter and Kurt Russell pairing, with a witty knowing edge to the cheesy dialogue and the humorous combination and perhaps, bastardization of genres including martial arts, action, scifi and more while being none at all. This film is so much fun and Carpenter pokes fun at the film itself, and the cast are great giving sincerely melodramatic performances that are a lot of fun to watch. Russell gives probably his most memorable performance of his career and he states in the commentary that he is approached most for his role in Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Despite the fact that it was a commercial failure at the box office, it reached a cult following upon it's release to VHS and then later on DVD, appealing to the nostalgia of generation Y who grew up during the 80s and 90s. The film is full of just priceless moments, combining intelligent wit and gratuity, and the performances are so good that the cheesiness comes off humorously rather than cringe-worthy. This film is probably one that divides people between obsessive love and hatred. The film has it all, full of 80s bad effects, crazy costumes, the cowardly bravado of the most unlikely hero that parodies the action genre and reverses the roles of hero and side-kick. Kurt Russell as Jack Burton makes a hilarious unlikely hero whose personality is more like a side-kick and is full of Cowboy arrogance and bravado, while the 'sidekick' Wang is the 'kung-fu fighting' hero-type playing the side-kick. This is all set to the backdrop of a stellar musical score composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. Overall this film is just epic, so much fun and full of hilarious gags. It appeals to a pretty niche audience and is quite an obscure cult film, but those that know and love it, know it obsessively and the quotes and referencing potential are just absolutely amazing. I just had to give this film 5 stars because although it might not be critically 'good' it is absolutely amazing entertainment and has a great cast (including Kim Catrall of Sex and the City (HBO)) and the production value was executed with a sense of commitment to gratuity and cheesy genre blending that preceded Tarantino. Truly the 80s were the golden age of cheesiness, parody and gratuity, and is beautifully and laughably sincere!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) Review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Stephen Chbosky
3.5/5

I have to say, going in to see this film I didn't have high expectations. Advertised as "The Breakfast Club of this generation" I was dubious to say the least about this teen romance/ coming of age film. Based on the book of the same name, it is interesting that the author Stephen Chbosky also adapted the screenplay and directed the film, presumedly lending itself to a close adaptation. The film is unexpectedly witty, but there are definitely some very cheesy melodramatic moments. Overall the acting is great, although Emma Watson does occasionally slip out of her American accent into her British accent. Logan Lerman who plays the lead character Charlie is especially authentic. Another favourite is Patrick played by Ezra Miller who was Kevin in the film We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011) and I'm so glad that I didn't remember that he was from We Need to Talk about Kevin as his character is so different, charming, witty and unique. Ezra Miller's performance is great and like Logan Lerman evokes empathy in the audience. This could have been another cheesy teen romcom flick, but instead it delved a little deeper, was a little more quirky and had some powerful moments. The cinematography was great, playing subtly to different images for the most part. However some elements of plot and imagery were too 'neat' and circular, in summing up the 'journey' of Charlie. Overall  it was an enjoyable film and of the new generation of high school and quirky films to go with Juno (2007), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), The Wackness (2008) and Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010). This film middles somewhere between cheesy high school drama and dark and strange issues, and not quite excelling at either. It is no Thumsucker (2005) which is strange and bizarre coming of age film. Overall more interesting than the average teen-flick and well acted and produced set to a great music soundtrack. This film will ring true of those who grew up in the 80s and 90s with lots of pop culture references from music to books. But don't be fooled this film is no Breakfast Club (1985).

Grindhouse presents "Planet Terror" (2007) Review

Grindhouse "Planet Terror" (2007), Robert Rodriguez
4/5

From the director that brought us the epic film Sin City (2005), this Grindhouse exploitation feature is a feast of gratuity and pays excellent homage to the grindhouse genre popular in the 70s. Set as a double feature with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007), Planet Terror is less about the plot than it is about an excess of gore, violence, sexual innuendo and melodrama. The cast is epic featuring Bruce Willis (Die Hard, The Fifth Element etc), Rose McGowan (Charmed, Deathproof), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, True Grit, The Goonies), Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) and more. This film is all you could want from a gratuity stand point. The gore is oozy and fake looking, splattering everywhere to comedic effect. The performances are great, conveying a sense of irony to their cheesy and melodramatic overtones. The sexual innuendo is hilarious, over the top, and misogynistic. The plot is loose and nonsensical, remaking zombie films. In particular it is reminiscent of Land of the Dead (2005) directed by George A. Romero which itself, is a remake of his own previous zombie horror films. Grindhouse is about the experience of cinema, revelling in the history of film by including the 'previews' before the feature begins which are hilarious, the overall grainy quality of the visuals, and the crackles and pops that simulate the style of the old grindhouse cinema reel. Planet Terror (2007) even goes so far as to cut to a burning of film and a "missing reel" title page in the middle of a sex scene, which is hilarious and a take on the genre's controversy and inception as a type of filmic pornography in terms of the over-the-top violence, sex and nudity that was aberrant at the time and in the culture. The zombie elements are incredibly silly, as they are meant to be. The film is meant to be experienced and everyone should revel in this neo-grindhouse. It is ironic as it is a high quality production of a low quality genre. The classic moments in this film are too many to note, but this film is highly enjoyable and should be watched with lots of other people and as a back-to-back double feature alongside Deathproof.  The films even have some cross-over elements and characters. Also look out for Tarantino playing a misogynistic soldier and some actual shots of 'real' exploitation films on tv screens in the background.

Christine (1983) Review & Analysis

Christine (1983), John Carpenter
3.5/5

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name this 80s horror flick is a lot of fun. If someone had told me that the "monster" of this horror film was a car, I would have thought it was ridiculous. And as a premise it is ridiculous. That is why it's a testament to John Carpenter as a film maker that it is more than just a cheesy horror flick. As always his cinematic pacing is great, developing characters and story for much of the film. Keith Gordon as "Arnie" gives such a strong performance along with the other actors that the characters are very convincing. This is coupled effectively with a much longer build up than the post-modern horror, that starts the scares within the first 5-10 minutes. Instead this film also works as a teen drama with many elements especially early in the film. When things start to get silly and strange it is John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's eery droning score that keeps up the tension, along with the convincing performances although at times there are some definite cheesy lines, but I mean come on it's the 80s. People who will love this film will be those who grew up in the 80s and early 90s,  fans of 80s films, and cheesy horror movies. Christine comes mid-peak in John Carpenter's successful career in the 80s between the brilliant sci-fi horror The Thing (1982) and before the absurdist brilliance of Big Trouble in Little China (1986). While, Christine is a solid horror film it is no where near as amazing a horror as The Thing or as outrageously cheesy and fun as Big Trouble in Little China, instead middling between these too extremes.

****Contains SPOILERS****

Superficially this film is a silly horror about a "possessed" car that kills people and eventually it's 'owner', but throughout are themes of teenage bullying, obsessive love, paranoid delusion and the parental fears of their children growing up. One of the most creepy lines in the film is where Arnie says "Has it ever occurred to you that part of being a parent is trying to kill your kids?" and Gordon delivers it so seriously and convincingly it is genuinely disturbing. Also the gradual transformation or "take-over" of Arnie from high school geek into this Fonzie style macho jerk is both disturbing and funny. Truly I feel like this film represents the shift during the late 70s and early 80s where the kids of parents who grew up in the 50s with their "rock and roll" music were rejecting their own parents rules, with a new kind of adolescent rebellion. In particular the style and model of the car 'Christine', the clothes Arnie begins to wear, coupled with the rock and roll soundtrack mingled with 80s hits reflects these ideas. The soundtrack includes "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. Furthermore at the end of the film Leigh says "God, I hate rock and roll".

The film could be read as being misogynistic especially reflecting the car as feminine-moster referred to as a "she" and named "Christine" as well as a number of misogynistic remarks made by characters throughout the film. Some of these are so cheesy and hilarious, they can be forgiven. Particular gems are "She smiled at me. I want to have deep meaningful sex with her" as well as "She looks smart, but she's got the body of a slut". Also the use of swearing and in particular the number of times they say "fuck" and also use "cunt" at least once would have made this a quite out-there film at the time of release. The car "fight" scenes are amazing and the night shots which Carpenter excels at are great, in particular the nice shots of the flaming "Christine" chasing down Buddy. There are some notable stars included in the cast and fans of Alien will recognise Harry Dean Stanton playing Detective Rudolph Junkins.

Like a lot of good horror films, Christine's horror and supernatural elements act as metaphors for real world issues. In particular the car sequence where Leigh is trapped and choking could be interpreted as a rape scene. This parallels Arnie's impotence with girls as a geek at the start of the film where Leigh breaks off their kiss in the car and escapes from the car. After Arnie's pursuit of Leigh into the rain, it is upon their return to the car in which Leigh is attacked by Christine. This attack on Leigh can be read as both an attack by "Christine" as a feminine-as-monstrous rival, which is explicitly alluded to in dialogue expressed by Leigh. Including a tongue-in-cheek and sexual innuendo saying "What? You don't you like me slapping your girl" as Leigh slaps the front car seats of Christine. Thus, Leigh's character is punished dually by Arnie's other "lover" Christine as well as symbolically acting an attack by Arnie himself. The film works as a sort of lovers quarrel between the car Christine and Leigh, as well as creating tension with Arnie's best friend Dennis.

Arnie even says:

"Let me tell you a little something about love, Dennis. It has a voracious appetite. It eats everything. Friendship  Family. It kills me how much it eats. But I'll tell you something else. You feed it right, and it can be a beautiful thing, and that's what we have."

Dennis believes Arnie is talking about Leigh, but it is revealed that Arnie is talking about Christine instead. This quote basically sums up the plot and themes of the entire film. It is a credit to the writing and performance that these lines don't come off as cheesy and instead as disturbing while Arnie and Christine are driving wildly at night, with Dennis sitting fearfully in the car. That's what makes this film so interesting, it mimics elements from other cheesy 80s teen-movies like The Breakfast Club (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986) and Sixteen Candles (1984) which focus on teenage dramas and instead Christine uses them and instead turns them into something much darker and sinister. Christine is definitely worth a watch for horror and Carpenter fans alike.

Christine

Arnie, Christine

 

Arnie, Christine (Left) Fonzie, Happy Days (Right)

El Orfanto (The Orphanage) (2007) Review

El Orfanto (The Orphanage) (2007), Spain, J. A. Bayona
3.5/5

This spanish horror is presented and produced by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is a good horror film. An excellent genre piece with beautiful cinematography, acting and most importantly in a horror, the musical score. The writing is good, and unlike Hollywood films it lacks the annoying expositional dialogue and instead sets ups the Checkov's guns and red herrings subtly within the composition of the film frames. The pacing is also excellent, building tension and a number of red herring moments in the first act. For those that know the horror genre mechanics well the plot isn't that hard to predict. Although it isn't that scary, the mood created by the acting, musical score and excellent camera moves and editing is definitely unsettling. The low sweeping shots of corridors that re-occur throughout the film are great and a nod to The Shining (1980).

 

The Orphanage (El Orfanto) (2007)

The Shining (1980)

What I enjoyed most about The Orphanage was the mechanics of the film built into the visual style. These little clues throughout the film mimic the games played by Simon (Roger Princep) and his mother Laura (Belen Rueda). It is also interesting and complex thematically, in particular the elements referencing Peter Pan. Overall it is a solid horror genre piece. 

Beautiful cinematography 

***The rest of this review contains SPOILERS***

There are a number of recurring images and symbols throughout the film. Most obviously is the scarecrow image which is the focal point in the opening sequence of the children playing at the orphanage. This relates to the scarecrow sack mask worn by Tomas, the deformed orphan child that was hidden in the orphanage. The game at the very opening of the film played by the children is beautifully reflected when Laura re-creates the game towards the end of the film.

Tomas wearing his scarecrow sack mask

Laura re-enacting the children's game

The Peter Pan elements are worked in well, with Simon asking Laura to read the story to him early on in the film, and it is tied to the final scenes where Laura commits suicide and joins the ghosts of the orphans and Simon, mimicking Wendy as she grows older while Peter Pan remains young, this is explicitly referenced in the dialogue of the film by the children. That scene is strangely sentimental coupled with the discovery of Simon's deceased body and the suicide of Laura and I think it would have been much better,  if the film to have ended with her suicide. Instead the sequence is semi-delusion, and semi-fantasy and without the reference to Peter Pan it would have been totally unnecessary. Even the imagery and composition resemble Peter Pan with the open window. Another image that re-occurs in the film, where the ghosts of the children shatter the pane of glass in the window in the children's room. 

The images used throughout the 'games' played with Simon, Laura and the children were interesting, particularly the use of children's dolls. Children and children's dolls are staple symbols in the horror film genre. The continuance of the mother/ child theme particular to horror films, is explored well and interesting with multiple parallels. Such added elements, that Laura herself was an orphan and thus adopted Simon, another orphan further connects the two characters, more interestingly than merely re-creating the mother/ child dynamic which has been done to death. Those who have seen the American film Orphan (2009) will notice many similar elements, but The Orphanage is far superior to the tacky and poorly written Orphan. The elaborate games of the children with Simon and Laura are intriguing, leading to many places throughout the large manor house that is the orphanage. Another interesting element included is that Simon has HIV creating a parallel with Tomas's physical impairments and making the survival of him after his disappearance highly unlikely. Overall, the film is more complex than the average horror film and the clues placed throughout the film are a delight to match up. So while, the film has all the cheesy horror ingredients i.e the country manor house, the strange child, a cave by the beach, ghosts, a medium etc etc, the high production value and the commitment of the performances coupled with eery and heart jolting musical score make this film a treat to watch. It may perhaps scare those of weaker stomaches as it is more eery and creepy than the average slasher horror, but overall not that scary.

The Man With the Iron Fists (2012) Review

The Man With the Iron Fists (2012), RZA
4/5

This martial arts film is the feature length directorial debut of RZA, actor, musician and former member of the hiphop legends the Wu Tang Clan. The influence of Tarantino style is stamped throughout the film. The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) is a beautiful homage, drawing elements from martial arts, Kung Fu, Westerns, superhero comics and films, fantastical elements and definitely the "Tarantino" style. It is gorgeously gratuitous, brutally and funnily violent. The fight scenes are deliciously choreographed by Corey Yuen who has a substantial credit-list of martial arts and action film choreography as well as a successful directorial and acting career.

The cinematography is generally great, although some shots are too much of a throw back to Tarantino with the poor usage of the "circling" tracking shot effect, that is a signature of Tarantino's, it was used in one scene much too fast that it felt disorienting, rather than adding to impact. Otherwise the cinematography was great, the fight scenes were shot very tight and fast paced, working excellently with the music which was created by RZA as well as featuring The Black Keys, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, and My Chemical Romance, etc. There were some poor slow motion shots and some bad CGI moments, but other than that it was beautifully shot and edited complementing a stellar art design, costuming and weaponry designs which were amazing to say the least.

Also the choices to implement comic book style split screen shots worked well for the most part and connected well to elements in the film akin to Superhero comics and films. The acting was also great, RZA of course was good, although the choice to use voice over narrator was somewhat a clumsy technique, but worked well as a conscious filmic choice and used to comedic effect at times as well as a homage to many other films. In particular it felt reminiscent of Ghost Dog (1999) which was a Italian-American Gangster Samurai hybrid film which RZA created the soundtrack for and had a cameo in. Other notable performances were Russell Crowe, he was surprisingly good, perhaps due to the character he played. Also, Lucy Liu who played the character of Madam Blossom with great intelligence and sensuality and Byron Man as the Silver Lion gave a great comedic performance among many others.

The film is gratuitous on violence, sexual innuendo, excessive comic book style gore, that it is hilarious and laughable, but all the more enjoyable. This film reminds me a lot of Big Trouble in Little China (1986) in that it is a mixture of genre elements blatantly gratuitous, part comedy and part parody, and a lot of fun. The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) received mixed reviews, with only a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I definitely think this film has a niche audience, appealing to those who revel in martial arts films and Tarantino films, I feel it will definitely have a cult following, despite lack of success at the box office. This happened similarly to Big Trouble in Little China (1986) which was a commercial failure on release, but garnered a cult status and following when released on VHS (remember those old things?!) and continued to fuel a devoted group of fans. Iron Fists has been called "may just be one of the best bad movies ever" by Betsy Sharkey of the LA Times and the box office has seen a predominantly young male audience.

 

Big Trouble in Little China (1986), John Carpenter

 

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Jim Jarmusch

This film is a brilliant piece, visually stunning, characters are both amazing and outrageous, the music is stellar of course, and the fight scenes are unique and interesting. While the story is somewhat over-complicated and clumsy in the telling, this film is a beautiful hodge-podge of elements that form a brilliantly produced piece of entertainment. The opening credit sequence is just an amazing entry into the film and fans of the Wu-Tang Clan with definitely enjoy seeing a great fight sequence set to "Shame on a Nigga" from their classic album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)".

One criticism I have is the use of "blood splatter" on the "camera"/ screen, as the blood looked fake and also this is a poor film technique, (which I argue breaks the 4th wall and takes you out of the experience), although perhaps this effect was a reference to comic book/ graphic novel style (as it occurred in the later parts of the film in tandem with split screen effect shots), however it was used a number of times and was ineffectual. The film is overall, just an inter-textual filmic feast and thoroughly enjoyable.

***The Rest of this review contains some SPOILERS***

Favourite elements were the fight sequences near the end, especially the use of booby traps and mirrors was great. The weapons and costume design were amazing, and cannot be overstated. The distinctive designs created for the different clans was just beautiful. Each had distinctive costume and weapon styles as well as fighting styles. Favourable mentions go to the Geminis with their amazing "Gemini" fighting move and especially the amazing hidden gun weaponry in the female Gemini's costume as well as their amazing intertwining yin and yang curved blades. Also,  the cool looking wolf/ hyena clan and Jack Knife's awesome looking knife and gun weapon. 

Jack Knife (Russell Crowe)

All the fight scenes were amazing and paired with great music. There were some great female warrior characters including the great Lucy Liu as Madam Blossom who does some great fighting, with a feminine but deadly touch using a bladed fan. 

Madam Blossum (Lucy Liu)

Zen-Yi's character was also amazing with his specialty in use of bladed armour which had some deadly and hilarious effects. 

Zen-Yi (Rick Yune)

The Brass Body (played by Dave Bautista) was well created, a sort of bronze 'Hulk' if you will, and the special effects used to created his brass body were great. 

Brass Body (Dave Bautista) and The Blacksmith/ Thadeus (RZA)

Brass Body (Dave Bautista)

Particularly enjoyable also, was the hilarious whore sequences with Russell Crowe as Jack Knife, with some lovely gratuitous sexual innuendo and jokes. Other notable elements included the Black Widows which are a homage to the mythological style concept of women as Black Widows in literature and film, and they had great costume design and weaponry, although the silks style weapons occasionally had sloppy visual effects. Another great comedic moment was where Madam Blossom places the large golden key in the crotch of a female statue of a whore in order to open the secret passage way, just so awesomely ridiculous! And the best line of the whole film "now these mother fuckers had gatling guns".

Madam Blossum and the Black Widows

Male Gemini 

Gemini

Gemini blades

The Walking Dead - Season 1 (2010) Review

The Walking Dead - Season 1 (2010) Tv Show Review

****Contains SPOILERS****

This zombie apocalypse tv show has grown increasingly popular since it's inception in 2010. Based off the popular comic books, and adapted for television by show runner/ creator by Frank Darabont best known as writer and director of the successful films The Green Mile (1999) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). This show seemed to have all the right ingredients. An excellent premise, although not much different from every other zombie horror flick.

What I guess sets The Walking Dead apart is the tv show format itself and I was really interested to see how the zombie apocalypse narrative would be adapted into an episodic format. The show has all the right ingredients with a great cast, excellent production value, great special effects and good writing without much of the cheese that usually comes along in the zombie film genre. What also sets this particular zombie story apart is the setting, placing it in near Atlanta, Georgia sets it away from other major cities that have been the setting for other highly successful tv shows. The setting isn't that surprising however, as the American mid-west is a common setting for zombie films and also plays well with the elements in the show taken from the Western genre. Perhaps even taking this too far with the shot of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) striding on horseback towards an abandoned city, although it is a spectacular piece of imagery.

This show had real promise and I gave it a chance although I was wondering whether it could live up to the hype. Unfortunately after what was a pretty solid pilot episode and a great opening in the second episode it lost me by episode 3. Of course the problem with the zombie genre itself is that there are only a number of ways for it to go: you shoot your friends/ companions in the head before they turn and/or shoot yourself in the head before you turn and the rest of the story is running around with shotguns or other weapons shooting the heads off zombies with lots of gore before that does happen.

What is so disappointing about this show is that the pilot episode promised a real drama alongside the gorey zombie apocalypse with real emotional drama and rounded characters. Disappointingly the choice of hero Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) as the 'cop' or rather the 'cowboy' of this story is so overladen with moralistic compassion as to be irrational and irritating in the situation. His compassion for the 'walkers' as they are called seems bizarre although the scene where the father in the first episode attempts to shoot his undead wife is heartbreaking. There are moments of strong emotion that are really powerful, however overall the stories suffer under the writing.

While the tag line for the series is "Fight the Dead. Fear the Living" it fails to live up to that promise. The concept of fighting off zombies while exploring the conflict and ugly side of humanity is extremely appealing, but unfortunately instead of coming to fruition this theme devolved into a more superficial pseudo-moralistic drama where each episode the characters face some heavy handed "moral" conflict. Whether it's the white-trash rough neck who beats his wife or racism these really important issues become trivialised by the situation the characters are surrounded by and are almost always resolved by obvious means, thus dissipating the conflicts in unsatisfying ways.

Taking a look at the social issues of the show it definitely fails to live up to the powerful social commentaries of it's filmic predecessors such as Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero etc. While the middle-aged white-male father and husband is the genre trope, it is increasingly unsatisfying especially in current times. As the main character and hero of the show Rick Grimes started off as an interesting and complex character depicted as a compassionate man who was struggling in his marriage and working as a cop. The scene where he sobs after finding his wife and son have left and are likely dead in the pilot episode was another powerful moment. Also his "quest" to find his wife and son are another staple of the horror and Western genres and this is fine. Even the somewhat comic cowboyesque riding the horse into the "town" aka city of Atlanta was fine.

 However once Rick became the default leader of the group he becomes far too concerned with his role as "savior" and "policeman" of the apocalypse. His obvious role as the moral compass of the survivors is patronising as decision after decision he makes is both irrational and far too "compassionate" and fails under the circumstances. Playing alongside this "white knight" is his best friend come-rival Shane Walsh (Jon Berthal) is actually the voice of reason among the chaos and increasingly it becomes annoying as to why the other characters follow Rick to folly after folly.

Another irritating feature of the series is it's obvious abuse of serious social and relationship issues into trivialised melodrama. Thus the affair between Shane and Lori Grimes loses impact both because it seems trivial while there are zombies eating people everywhere and also seems to be used instead to create more melodramatic tension between Shane and Rick, thus attemtping to set Shane up as a potential antihero of the show. This seems interesting as a concept, yet is actually highly frustrating as the audience seems to be fed that we should like Rick over Shane despite Shane being the one who rescued Rick's wife and son and kept the entire group safe and nearly always makes rational decisions that best serve the group. Instead the writers chose in the favor of superical melodrama and tension by demonising Shane and his attempt to rape or force Lori after their affair ended.

Shane (Left) and Rick (Right)

Rick (Left) and Shane (Right)

Cowboy cop, Rick Grimes

Another criticism of the show is the lack of strong female characters. Like most things in the show that came in strong and quickly petered out, we are introduced to Andrea first as she shoves a gun in Rick's face, but she quickly devolves into a hysterical woman saying basically that "we're all going to die". It doesn't help that she also fits the genre stereotype as a beautiful, blonde, white woman. Even the first impression of her character as a strong agressive woman must be rejected as later during that episode Rick points out to her that the safety was still on when she was pointing the gun at him, thus ensuring a sort of retroactive impotence of her character and then conforming to the more traditional dynamic of strong male warrior as female protector and teacher. What is even more frustrating on this issue is the jokes made by the woman in later episodes about the "division of labour" between the men and women in the camp. Unfortunately this legitimate complaint is sidelined in favour of the issue of wife-beating which is unfortunately resolved by the "rescue" by Shane who beats the hell out him and the issue of women reverting to "traditional" roles is forgotten.

The Walking Dead, Rick (Left) and Andrea (Right)

Another promising strong female character was Lori Grimes (played by Sarah Wayne Callies) who was first introduced in the second episode taking a stance against Shane and defying his rule about going out alone and her strong desire to warn other survivors to stay away from the city. However it is quickly revealed that her deference to him is more to do with their illicit romantic affair, and his objections more to do with his macho possessive desire of her, than to do with reason, although it still makes sense. Even worse is that she becomes the "scarlet woman" who is not only having an "affair" after she thinks her husband is dead, it also happens to be her husband's best friend.

At first I thought this story line had promise and that it would perhaps be revealed that the affair between Lori and Shane pre-dated the apocalypse creating a more complex emotional dynamic between Lori/ Shane/ Rick and would also nicely tie in with the early scene in the pilot between Shane and Rick in the police car as they discussed their relationships. Also if the affair with Shane and Lori pre-dated the zombie apocalypse this would support what Rick was saying about the problems in their marriage. However at least in the first season there is no evidence for this, perhaps it will be further explored later or dropped entirely. It seems at least to be dropped in favor of the drama between Shane and Lori and his aggressive persuit of her and her fearful rejection of him. Lori's constant and at times idiotic support of Rick seems more to do with guilt than making rational decisions for survival, which make her seem weak and unlikable. The show also, seems to want to spin out the tension about when Rick will find out about the relationship between Lori and Shane. This dynamic isn't that interesting and is relatively predicatable, where I'm sure Lori will end up crying and begging Rick for forgivenness and Shane will plead that he thought that he was dead and that he looked after his family etc. And of course Rick's reaction will be of the modern-masculine man as his eyes soften with tears i'm sure he will still punch Shane in the face, but as the moral knight of the show, I'm sure he will show an exemplar capacity for forgiveness.

The Walking Dead, Lori

The Walking Dead, Shane & Lori

Overall I found the show to be incredibly disappointing and frustrating as the characters made idiotic and "compassionate" decision after decision while the melodramatic sad toned music played along, yet instead of feeling sorry for the characters I became increasingly more annoyed and disinterested. The characters lack development and as a zombie story, the characters are inevitably dying left right and centre so character development is either squandered or fails to materialise.

All this would have been fine if I could have embraced The Walking Dead as a pure gore-fest and just settled down to enjoy some great zombie flesh-eating and shot-gun action. While the effects are great and the first couple of episodes had some really good gore and violence, the zombies sort of got sidelined in favor of these annoying human melodramas. Failing as a social commentary and good drama series, i'd have preferred it be an honest gratuitous gore fest, more akin to True Blood which is over the top with sex and violence and gore. I say if you're going to go superficial, don't pretend to be a gritty moralistic drama like The Shield (which creator of Walking Dead Frank Daramont actually directed an episode of) just embrace the gore and don't pretend to be something that you're not. Oh and did I mention that the show was incredibly predicable so it also failed to be thrilling at all.

It is disappointing that instead of actually following the zombie horror tradition of exploring abstractly the social and cultural prejudices of the time, The Walking Dead instead pretends to be a social drama albeit alongside a zombie apocalypse, it in actuality still reflects the cultural prejudices and sterotypes still prevalent in American and Western culture. And yes, I haven't even mentioned racial issues and yes there are two African American major characters and yes there is one asian character in the group,  but this hardly makes the show a diverse representation of anything at all. The same goes for gender as well. The show still is focused around a white male character and dominated by the husband/ wife/ child narrative.

Of course this is a TV SHOW I acknowledege that, and yes it's "just for entertainment", but what is most frustrating is that this show had such potential with great acting and special effects and it really could have been a great show, but instead it is a mediocre show and isn't even that entertaining. Frankly I fail to see what all the hype about this show has been about. I'm still undecided about whether I will watch any of the later seasons, which I'm sure will becomes more melodramatic and ridiculous as time goes on.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt 2 (2012)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 (2012)
1/5
Terrible! This awful conclusion to the series, shows only marginal improvement in the bad acting (with the exception of Billy Burke) god awful cheesy dialogue, soppiness & cliche. Effects are mediocre, & the music melodramatic. The 'romance' is stomach churning at worst & laughable at best, the film works as a comedy. The continuation of the voice over is irritating & ineffectual. Overall it is a clunky, clumsy poorly written & performed adaptation of a pulpy romance/ fantasy novel. Even the many heads getting ripped off aren't satisfying without any gore! Also the whole creepy Imprinting/pedophilic aspect was really weird on screen! Oh & 'The Bunk' played by Wendell Pierce (from The Wire) shows up hilariously!

Notorious (2009)

Notorious (2009), George Tillman Jr.
2/5
An average biopic, with interesting subjectmatter about the life and music of Biggie Smal/ Notorious B.I.Gl and Tupac and yet it fails to be made interesting.

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men (2006), Alfonso Cuaron
3.5/5
This fast paced complex dystopian scifi-thriller is brilliantly performed, with great cinematography. The camera style feels like you're in the middle of the action, as if filmed by a war correspondent, giving the film a gritty and raw feel. Except on one occasion the camera work breaks the 4th wall, which detracts from the story. The complexity of themes are harsh and evocative, managing to evoke issues of race, class, concentration camps, terrorism, and wars in the Middle east etc. However the heavy handed references to Christian mythology are grating and obvious, glorifying the notion of birth and creation as well as cementing the archetype of "man, woman and child" and while it does adapt and change elements it reverts much to the traditional stereotypes in a disappointing way. Overall a powerful and evocative film, with great performances, but is overlaid with mythical and spiritual themes.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009), Daniel Alfredson (Sweden)
3./5
Good adaption of the novel and conclusion to the series. Choices in changes from the novel make good sense, good performances and captures the main essence of both characters and themes.