#5 - Remember Me (2010) Review

Remember Me (2010), Allen Coulter
3/5

Remarkably intense and more than just another romantic comedy. However the true stars of this film are Robert Pattinson playing aside Ruby Jerins as brother and sister. The film is melancholic and intense, although there are some cheesy romantic moments. Overall the film is overloaded with too much drama. The performances are good, and Pattinson does the brooding handsome thing well. The final twist however is just one large leap too far and tarnishes an otherwise surprisingly good drama.

#4 - Not Quite Hollywood (2008) Review

Not Quite Hollywood (2008), Mark Hartley

4/5

This is a brilliant documentary about the renaissance of Australian Exploitation cinema during the 70s and 80s. The film features countless clips from obscure and cult films and is particularly hilarious. Interviews mainly featured are of Australian directors, actors and producers of Ozploitation films, but Quentin Tarantino also features as he is a fan (or fanatic) of exploitation cinema and his passion speaks to his love of Australian exploitation cinema in particular. This documentary captures a sense of the joy, absurdity and gratuity that is the genre flick. Although the film tends to drag a little at the end, becoming more a focus on clip after clip from more films, and less about a cinematic subculture. However there are really interesting clips and interviews about the aspects of not only the film genres themselves, but the affect and counter affect of Ozploitation and Australian culture or the "Australian Identity" during the 70s and 80s. Above all this film is hilarious and a treat for fans of exploitation cinema. 

The Shining (1980) Analysis

The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick

4/5

***SPOILERS***

Kubrick's brilliant adaptation of the Stephen King novel is disturbing, haunting and creepy. It is everything that is good about horror films. The film has a lot of early slow set up and character development, setting the stage beautifully with slow tracking shots down many corridors in the large hotel. The mechanics of this film are brilliant, with all the information conveyed through smart and restrained dialogue and the visual imagery. Everything is laid out in the early scenes, the psychic powers of Danny, the tv in the background saying that a woman was missing hiking, the haunting shots of corridors, and the tension between Jack and Wendy. All throughout, the musical score (featuring the theremin), just tightens the tension through relatively mundane scenes early on in the film. The set design of the film is also great. The cinematography just amazing, the signature long tracking shots down corridors are iconic. The performances are superb and Jack Nicholson gives one of his best performances, although he has been doomed to be type cast for the rest of his career. It is one of the best horror films of all time. This film is all about tension, claustrophobia and speaks to domestic horror rather than mythical monsters, which makes it all the more horrifying. It is the repetition of imagery that make it so effective as well as the eerie performances. For instance it is disturbing when the innocent and strange Danny asks his father Jack "you'd never hurt Mommy would you?" and when Jack describes to Wendy his dream "I dreamed that I killed you and Danny. But I didn't just kill ya. I chopped you in little pieces." All of the pieces are there laid out beautifully, the joy of watching horror and especially well choreographed horror films is all in the anticipation. It's a matter of when and how the horror unfolds. Playing on the unseen and the unexpected, which unfortunately the majority of contemporary horror seems to have forgotten, or bungles. The Shining is an exploration into the twisted corridors of madness, a psychological horror, it plays off the audience's expectations of what is real and what is hallucination. Images such as the hotel filling with blood are intercut with the conversation with Wendy and Jack are particularly disturbing set to the high pitched soundtrack overlaid with the resounding of a heart beat.

Another interesting aspect of this film is the lack of guns, instead the violence is close and intimate. And thus all the more frightening and full of impact. The writing is so great and intricate that the early dialogue scenes lay out all the old rumours and stories about the history of the hotel, although at the time it seems somewhat trivial and that Jack isn't taking these things in that much. However, I argue that these little aspects are assimilated into his insanity and unfold in his hallucinations and Danny rather than being psychic is merely fantasising as a means of comprehending the fear and abuse of his father. For me at least, the less supernatural and thus more psychological aspects are more interesting, although the film is laden with deliberate and clever ambiguity. The use of child like stories and phrases are also particularly unsettling such as the iconic "All work and no play, make Jack a dull boy" and Jack reciting "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in..." and "come out, come out, where-ever you are...". The bathroom scene where Jack breaks through the door with an axe is somewhat reminiscent of Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).

Psycho (1960), Hitchcock

Psycho (1960)

Overall this film is not only a great horror film, it is a great piece of visual cinema. Especially how the interior scenes cinematography mimics, the structure of the maze outside the hotel. The colours are used effectively, with many rooms painted bright blood red creating this strange landscape of colour in the film. Also, what is great about this film, is that the violence and gore is sparse and occurs very late in the film, so that the anticipation and fear has really developed and peaked, rather than being squandered earlier on. Thus, the impact and realism of the violence is all the more effective. This film is brilliant and should be on everyone's best horror film list. Re-watching The Shining you just notice more detail every time, it is a joy and horror to watch. 

#3 - The Lost Boys (1987) Review

The Lost Boys (1987), Joel Schumacher
3/5

This 80s take on Vampires is full of cheese and grunge. The film spends a lot of time on development early on, for a rather simplistic story. The effects are dated and hilarious. Performances are good, and the cinematography is quite good. Great soundtrack, a lot of fun and interesting development on the vampire mythology. The has big name stars including Dianne Wiest, Edward Hurrmann, Kiefer Sutherland and 80s child star Corey Feldman (The Goonies, Gremlins). This film is everything that is bad and also good about the 80s, the cheesiness, the over the top jokes and gratuity.

#2 - Bad Boy Bubby (1993) Review

Bad Boy Bubby (1993), Rolf de Heer
2/5

Disturbing, insane, fucked up. Great cinematography & sound design enthrall you in this bizarre "story". Seeing the outside world through Bubby's eyes. Very strange.

#1 - Weird Science (1985) Review

Weird Science (1985), John Hughes
2.5/5

Utterly 80s, ridiculous & hilarious. Great eye popping performances, big hair, big clothes & big cheesiness. A strange Mary Poppins-esque take on the Frankenstein myth. Before Internet porn, two nerdy boys created the "perfect woman" on their computer, with full hilarious 80s graphics. This perfect woman is part mother, part girlfriend, part friend, part monster, part sex object. And we mustn't forget some racist, homophobic & sexist lines thrown in of course. Some classic moments & of course the crazy 80s Bill Paxton & Robert Downey Jr. Strangely despite all this, this film is somewhat like a fairy tale, full of the sentimental naivete of 80s teen movies.

Best films of 2012

Author's note: I have included in this list, films that were released in cinemas in Australia in 2012 (which may differ from the US release dates) and have chosen my top films that I saw during 2012. This is not a critic's top pick of films for 2012, nor is it a list of the most popular films of 2012, this is purely my personal favourite films of the year. 

Shame (Australian Release date - February 9th, 2012), Steve McQueen

4.5/5

This is my top pick of films released in 2012. It is just beautifully crafted, and visually stunning. The performances are excellent particularly Michael Fassbender (Brandon) and Carey Mulligan (Sissy). The opening sequence is one of the best openings of a film I have ever seen. The musical score by Harry Escott (composer of Hard Candy) is just stunning, and coupled with the hauntingly stylised imagery, composed of mostly blue tones, the film is intense and evocative. Fassbender gives an amazing performance and the writing by Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan is understated and the emotions conveyed through subtext and are elegantly portrayed by the intense chemistry between Fassbender and Mulligan. On the surface this film deals with one man's journey of sexual addiction, but it is the details and depth that are alluded to, that make this film outstanding. Some may argue the sex scenes are gratuitous, but each scene is constructed in such a way that it depicts the emotions and experience of Brandon and the explicit sexual imagery is contrasted by the stark landscape of the visuals and the intensity of the relationships. The ending is also great, as the the music and great editing of the quick intercutting of shots increases as the tension builds. This is in contrast with the languid slow moving long shots that dominate the film,  and this contrast helps to amp the tension to breaking point at the climax of the film while pulls back at the end leaving the audience full of beautiful ambiguity, that is sadly lacking in most American and Hollywood films. This definitely makes my favourite films list of all time and overall it is haunting, intense and a visual feast. 

Martha Marcy May Marlene (Australian Release date - February 2nd, 2012), Sean Durkin
4.5/5

This film is just mind blowing. Intense, uncomfortable, with gorgeous cinematography and performances that are disturbingly authentic. The musical score beautifully underpins and subtly weaves throughout, lifting the tension. The cinematography is subtle and beautiful, quiet with no obvious camera moves or shots, rather you feel like you're focalised through Martha's (Elizabeth Olsen) experience. The lack of dialgogue in sections is filled with emotion and meaning with the subtle imagery. The stark and sparse dialgoue is amplified by the harsh intense scenes. The film leaves much of the behaviours and actions in the film to be interpretted by the audience, and you forget about the camera and instead focus on Martha. Elizabeth Olsen's portrayal of Martha is just amazing, intense, fragile and innocent all at once. Martha's vulnerability, the sense of hope, fear, and allusions to abuse are complimented by the choice of back and forth inter-cutting which assimilates the audience's experience with Martha's making the story fragmented mimicking Martha's fragmented memory as she pieces together not only her memories, but herself. This film is intensely powerful and speaks more than just about one girl and her experiences, but subtly through her eyes, takes a look at the attitudes of modern American society and Western culture. The film is not judgemental and much is left unsaid and many scenes are shot so the audience is unsure whether they are dreams, false memories or reality. This film may make viewers uncomfortable. The viewing is intensely powerful and will leave you changed. Like Shame (2012) Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene is ambiguious to the end, a feast for the intelligent audience. Performances are great, in particular Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, but also John Hawkes as the Manson-like Patrick, depicicting so beautifully the charm, and insanity that is disturbingly convincing.

The Cabin in the Woods (Australian Release date - June 14th, 2012), Drew Goddard 
(Writers: Joss Whedon & Drew Goddard)
4.5/5

This film is a brilliant piece of entertainment, a feast of homage and parody for fans of the Horror genre. It is a hilarious take on the genre, full of gratuity and gore. The acting is great, with great over-the-top melodramatic dialogue excellently written by Joss Whedon (of Buffy, Firefly, & Alien Resurrection) and Drew Goddard. The film is expertly crafted with heavy sound design and ironic musical score, it also fits extremely well within all the Horror genre stereotypes. This film was not even scheduled to be released in cinemas in Australia, and was finally released only in limited theatres due to popular demand. This film is a great one to watch in theatres, and with friends. It is especially enjoyable for fans of Horror with far too many references and homages to Horror films to name. This film is a feast of gratuity, gore and cheesiness. And just so much fun, it is a consciously stupid and wonderful piece of post-modern Horror that is above all excellent entertainment.

The Man with the Iron Fists (Australian Release date - December 6th, 2012), RZA

4/5

This gorgeously gratuitous film, is elegantly constructed by RZA in his debut feature length film. The influence of Tarantino is clear. The fight scenes, amazing, the high brow actors and excellent performances are beautifully contrasted by the silliness and cheesiness. The story is somewhat nonsensical  but the narrative is by no means the feature of this film. Instead this film is homage, visual feast, stunning music and great fight sequences. All complimented by a lot of gratuitous violence and sexual innuendo. Read my full review and analysis of The Man with the Iron Fists (2012).