Oh. Hey there. Hi. Sooooo... things have been pretty quiet around here lately, huh?
I just wanted to say (to those of you still reading) thanks for doing so. I have had a blast writing this blog. And, for those interested in doing so, you can now find me over at http://andyjames-ink.com/ - my official site as an official writer type fellow. It's in the early stages at the moment but I hope to build on it and add some really cool things soon. I have some ideas, I'm playing around with some things but the site is really more of a home for me as a writer and the blogs will be random - in both subject and timing.
This blog will be sticking around on the web (for now) as I am actually rather proud of some of the things here. And it's like some sort of digital historical document. For me, anyway.
So, hey. Thanks again. It's been emotional, there's no place like home, etc. etc.
- Andy
September 13, 2013
March 8, 2013
2013: Curious and Curiouser
This list of upcoming 2013 films is mainly remakes or sequels - and they're ones that I'm genuinely curious about. They could, like most remakes and a lot of sequels, be irredeemably terrible. But there's something, an undefinable air of What the hell is this-ness, that has me intrigued about these upcoming films.
And with that, we'll kick it off with one of the films I'm most curious to see:
GI Joe: Retaliation
You could be forgiven for believing this had already come out. In fact, this sequel to GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra was slated to kick off the blockbuster season last year but at the very last minute, Paramount pulled it. The official reason given was to fix the post-converted 3D; some online sites speculated it was to shoot more footage with Channing Tatum - the star of the first film who reportedly bought it in the opening minutes but who had a bumper 2012.
Whatever the reason, I'm intrigued to see what this film turns out to be. The Rise of Cobra was enjoyable in a terrible kind of way; enough fun, pulpy ridiculousness made it through the noise to give it a pass. Also, the trailer was stonking and crazy and silly in a very good way. Plus The Rock. He's already saved one dumb action franchise with his presence. Who's to say he can't do it again?
NZ Release Date: 28 March 2013
Kick-Ass 2
I enjoyed the curse-word damn hell out of the first Kick-Ass (it made my Favourites of 2010), but the sequel has lost original director Matthew Vaughn (a man who has gained a reputation for having the propensity to leap from project to project). Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman were the reasons the film worked as well as it did - they were both fans, they both fought to have it made their way and they both knew the best way to adapt Miller's original comic (which, it must be said, isn't as great as the film).
Having said that, Vaughn is staying on as producer, and the concept - that the eponymous hero inspires a raft of new heroes and that they must team up Justice League/Avengers style to take down the Red Mist and his team of baddies - is an intriguing one. Add Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes and you have me cautiously interested.
NZ Release Date: unknown. 16 August for the States.
Oblivion
A Tom Cruise Sci-Fi Action film is usually a pretty fair bet and to be fair I'm looking forward to this more than Will Smith and Son's M. Night Shymalan directed post-apocalyptic film. But director Joseph Kosinski's Tron: Legacy was a triumph of design over... anything else really.
Once again, however, the trailers thus far released look intriguing enough, even if the plot feels a little played out and obvious. I'm always up for a lark in a dystopian future but I'm hoping there's a little more to Kosinski this time out.
NZ Release Date: 11 April 2013
Oldboy
You should've seen Old Boy by now - the original Korean film, directed by Chan-wook Park that is. It's one of those films that is so singular, so perfect in the execution of its vision you cannot imagine it as a film in any other way.
Yet Spike Lee is going to give it a shot. And he's not the first to have attempted the American remake of this stone-cold classic - Spielberg was attached at one point. Lee has got it across the line though, and with a fairly incredible cast: Josh Brolin in the Dae-su role and Elizabeth Olson as his daughter. Samuel L. Jackson and Sarlto Copley also make appearances. The big question, aside from whether it's any good, is how far they took it this time? The South Korean original went to some incredibly dark and disturbing places in its exploration of revenge. Will the Yanks - even a film-maker as singular as Spike Lee - have the stomach for it? I'm intrigued to see.
NZ Release Date: 17 October 2013
Warm Bodies
Just when you think the whole zombie thing is played out, along comes something else shambling and groaning towards your visual cortex.
I was initially put off by the original concept - a sort of Twilight, with a zombie in the Edward role - but the trailer quickly set me right. The film - from director Jonathan Levine, who's great 50/50 criminally never made it to NZ screens - is lighter in tone to the hormone and angst-ridden lip-biting and staring into the distance of Twilight. Where Edward was a sparkly, controlling freak, Nicholas Hoult's R worries if he's being creepy and keeps a charming and witty narration up.
The film has already been released in the States and received some favourable reviews. It looks to be more in line with Shaun of the Dead - with the light comedic touch but complete understanding of the genre - than the abominable sparkle-vamps.
NZ Release Date: 11 April 2013
Elysium
I'm one of the very few people who was not utterly swept up and taken away with Neill Blomkamp's District 9. Yeah, sure, it was a pretty cracking wee original sci-fi film (of which there should be more), but whatever it was that everyone else seemed to find in it, I didn't.
Which is not to say that I doubt Blomkamp's intelligence or talent at all. District 9 just didn't do it enough for me. But so I am intrigued to see if what he offers in Elysium - with Matt Damon going up against Jodie Foster in a future dystopia - clicks for me this time.
NZ Release Date: 15 August 2013
The Wolverine
The first stand-alone Wolverine film was an unmitigated disaster - they got absolutely nothing right. Not one thing, which is an achievement in of itself really.
Have Hugh Jackman (and new director James Mangold) learnt from the mistakes made? There is hope that they have. The Wolverine is said to be a stand-alone adventure, set in Japan sometime after X-Men 3. It's based on one of the most celebrated runs on the comics, where Frank Miller took Logan to Japan and made something of a ronin out of him. There's the opportunity for something fun, exciting and new to the superhero-movie genre here. But, as the first Wolverine proved, it can also all go horribly, hilariously wrong.
NZ Release Date: 25 July 2013
Evil Dead
A remake of Sam Raimi's oft-copied but never beaten spook-a-blast? Sacrilege, surely? Surely?!
And that was my initial thought. But then I read the script was written by Diablo Cody. I heard the film is an outright horror. Then I saw the trailer.
Yikes. I mean, holy crap, this film looks nasty. In a very, very good way. Don't expect to find Bruce Campbell mugging at the camera throughout this little cabin-set horror.
But the question remains: will it be any good? Rarely for a remake, I think it has the genuine possibility to be great, and I look forward to seeing for myself. Just not, y'know, by myself.
NZ Release Date: 9 May 2013
Pain & Gain
Michael Bay and explosions. Explosions and Michael Bay. They go hand-in-hand like Michael Bay and inappropriate racial humour. But Bay has taken a brief reprieve from directing Transformers movies for this remarkable based-on-a-true story.
Mark Wahlberg and The Rock (that guy again) star as two muscley muscle-men who (along with Anthony Mackie) get themselves caught up in extortion, kidnapping and identity theft in the mid-90's. The trailer was a cracker, with Bay seeming to hit the right tone for the first time in awhile. This could be one of those enjoyable larger-than-life films that you watch with a shaking head and incredulous grin. But then, Transformers 2 & 3. Don't let us down this time Bay.
NZ Release Date: 8 August 2013
Ender's Game
What a year for Orson Scott Card, eh? There's been a lot of hullabalooh and a stink kicked up about him writing a Superman comic for DC, given his well-known views on gay marriage (he is very, very, very much opposed).
Vile stone-age political views aside, Card's Ender's Game is one of the great sci-fi novels (interestingly without a trace of homophobia. If anything, it edges towards the homoerotic in parts). It follows Andrew "Ender" Wiggin as he goes through the torturous and unrelenting Battle Schoool - all in order to prepare him to command the united Earth fleet against a coming alien invasion.
There's a lot going on, thematically speaking, in the original story in addition to it taking place over a number of years with some pretty brutal treatment doled out to its young characters. Will Gavin Hood (director of the original disastrous Wolverine, but also Tsotsi) be able to pull it off?
NZ Release Date: 31 October 2013
Carrie
Again, why the hell are they remaking a classic Hollywood horror film? De Palma's original Carrie is a perfect iteration of the work: stylish, gory, thematically packed and horrific as all get out. How could you possibly beat the casting of Sissy Spacek as the violently picked-upon psychic school-girl?
Chloe Grace Moretz, Hit-Girl herself, is going to take a shot at it. She's a very different presence to Spacek and director Kimberly Peirce (Boy's Don't Cry) is very different to De Palma. And that's why I'm curious to see what this version is going to be like. The trailer released thus far is pure tease, revealing that this time the end destruction is bigger - but will the rest of the film stand up to that sweeping single shot?
NZ Release Date: 14 November 2013
The Last Stand
The return of Arnie to leading man is, reportedly, a fun enough old fashioned action film. And I'm a big Arnie fan (especially of his earlier, not-funnier work). Not only is it the return of the Austrian Oak to his bread-and-butter, it's the English language debut of versatile South Korean director Jee-woon Kim (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and I Saw the Devil).
Reviews have been favourable, praising the use of practical effects and old-school feel to proceedings without being outstanding. I'm curious to see myself how well Arnie does, after his year's running California. It should, I hope, be a bunch of good-time explodey fun. The trailer promises as much.
NZ Release Date: 9 May 2013
Maniac
A remake of a little-known horror film from the 80's (ok, yes, there's some sort of horror-remake trend going on here) starring the Ring Bearer himself, Elijah Wood. Normally that wouldn't be enough to pique my curiosity, but the intriguing gimmick of the entire film being shot from disturbed killer Wood's point-of-view has me wondering if it'll work.
Past the gimmick, the film itself looks positively creepy as the trailer demonstrates. This is an interesting step for Wood - he of the big dreamy eyes and diminutive stature. He's the last person you'd pick for a demented killer. Which is exactly why it might work, in a really fucking terrifying kind of way.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
I love the first Cloudy. I foolishly missed it at the movies, but I must have watched it a dozen times on DVD since - it's hilarious and weird and heartfelt. An almost perfect combination for me.
The original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have moved on to 21 Jump Street and the Lego movie and incoming helmers Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn don't have much of a track record. But then, the first Cloudy was Lord and Miller's first feature film so here's hoping they've imparted some wisdom to the new kids.
The freshly-released trailer is packed with delicious puns (and if you know me, you know how much of a sucker I am for puns) and I'm currently cautiously optimistic that they've managed to maintain the same strange tone of the first film, while not losing sight of the emotion underneath it all.
And if it's terrible, I'll just pop Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs back in the DVD player and laugh myself silly again.
NZ Release Date: 28 November 2013
And with that, we'll kick it off with one of the films I'm most curious to see:
GI Joe: Retaliation
You could be forgiven for believing this had already come out. In fact, this sequel to GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra was slated to kick off the blockbuster season last year but at the very last minute, Paramount pulled it. The official reason given was to fix the post-converted 3D; some online sites speculated it was to shoot more footage with Channing Tatum - the star of the first film who reportedly bought it in the opening minutes but who had a bumper 2012.
Whatever the reason, I'm intrigued to see what this film turns out to be. The Rise of Cobra was enjoyable in a terrible kind of way; enough fun, pulpy ridiculousness made it through the noise to give it a pass. Also, the trailer was stonking and crazy and silly in a very good way. Plus The Rock. He's already saved one dumb action franchise with his presence. Who's to say he can't do it again?
NZ Release Date: 28 March 2013
Kick-Ass 2
I enjoyed the curse-word damn hell out of the first Kick-Ass (it made my Favourites of 2010), but the sequel has lost original director Matthew Vaughn (a man who has gained a reputation for having the propensity to leap from project to project). Vaughn and his writing partner Jane Goldman were the reasons the film worked as well as it did - they were both fans, they both fought to have it made their way and they both knew the best way to adapt Miller's original comic (which, it must be said, isn't as great as the film).
Having said that, Vaughn is staying on as producer, and the concept - that the eponymous hero inspires a raft of new heroes and that they must team up Justice League/Avengers style to take down the Red Mist and his team of baddies - is an intriguing one. Add Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes and you have me cautiously interested.
NZ Release Date: unknown. 16 August for the States.
Oblivion
A Tom Cruise Sci-Fi Action film is usually a pretty fair bet and to be fair I'm looking forward to this more than Will Smith and Son's M. Night Shymalan directed post-apocalyptic film. But director Joseph Kosinski's Tron: Legacy was a triumph of design over... anything else really.
Once again, however, the trailers thus far released look intriguing enough, even if the plot feels a little played out and obvious. I'm always up for a lark in a dystopian future but I'm hoping there's a little more to Kosinski this time out.
NZ Release Date: 11 April 2013
Oldboy
You should've seen Old Boy by now - the original Korean film, directed by Chan-wook Park that is. It's one of those films that is so singular, so perfect in the execution of its vision you cannot imagine it as a film in any other way.
Yet Spike Lee is going to give it a shot. And he's not the first to have attempted the American remake of this stone-cold classic - Spielberg was attached at one point. Lee has got it across the line though, and with a fairly incredible cast: Josh Brolin in the Dae-su role and Elizabeth Olson as his daughter. Samuel L. Jackson and Sarlto Copley also make appearances. The big question, aside from whether it's any good, is how far they took it this time? The South Korean original went to some incredibly dark and disturbing places in its exploration of revenge. Will the Yanks - even a film-maker as singular as Spike Lee - have the stomach for it? I'm intrigued to see.
NZ Release Date: 17 October 2013
Warm Bodies
Just when you think the whole zombie thing is played out, along comes something else shambling and groaning towards your visual cortex.
I was initially put off by the original concept - a sort of Twilight, with a zombie in the Edward role - but the trailer quickly set me right. The film - from director Jonathan Levine, who's great 50/50 criminally never made it to NZ screens - is lighter in tone to the hormone and angst-ridden lip-biting and staring into the distance of Twilight. Where Edward was a sparkly, controlling freak, Nicholas Hoult's R worries if he's being creepy and keeps a charming and witty narration up.
The film has already been released in the States and received some favourable reviews. It looks to be more in line with Shaun of the Dead - with the light comedic touch but complete understanding of the genre - than the abominable sparkle-vamps.
NZ Release Date: 11 April 2013
Elysium
I'm one of the very few people who was not utterly swept up and taken away with Neill Blomkamp's District 9. Yeah, sure, it was a pretty cracking wee original sci-fi film (of which there should be more), but whatever it was that everyone else seemed to find in it, I didn't.
Which is not to say that I doubt Blomkamp's intelligence or talent at all. District 9 just didn't do it enough for me. But so I am intrigued to see if what he offers in Elysium - with Matt Damon going up against Jodie Foster in a future dystopia - clicks for me this time.
NZ Release Date: 15 August 2013
The Wolverine
The first stand-alone Wolverine film was an unmitigated disaster - they got absolutely nothing right. Not one thing, which is an achievement in of itself really.
Have Hugh Jackman (and new director James Mangold) learnt from the mistakes made? There is hope that they have. The Wolverine is said to be a stand-alone adventure, set in Japan sometime after X-Men 3. It's based on one of the most celebrated runs on the comics, where Frank Miller took Logan to Japan and made something of a ronin out of him. There's the opportunity for something fun, exciting and new to the superhero-movie genre here. But, as the first Wolverine proved, it can also all go horribly, hilariously wrong.
NZ Release Date: 25 July 2013
Evil Dead
A remake of Sam Raimi's oft-copied but never beaten spook-a-blast? Sacrilege, surely? Surely?!
And that was my initial thought. But then I read the script was written by Diablo Cody. I heard the film is an outright horror. Then I saw the trailer.
Yikes. I mean, holy crap, this film looks nasty. In a very, very good way. Don't expect to find Bruce Campbell mugging at the camera throughout this little cabin-set horror.
But the question remains: will it be any good? Rarely for a remake, I think it has the genuine possibility to be great, and I look forward to seeing for myself. Just not, y'know, by myself.
NZ Release Date: 9 May 2013
Pain & Gain
Michael Bay and explosions. Explosions and Michael Bay. They go hand-in-hand like Michael Bay and inappropriate racial humour. But Bay has taken a brief reprieve from directing Transformers movies for this remarkable based-on-a-true story.
Mark Wahlberg and The Rock (that guy again) star as two muscley muscle-men who (along with Anthony Mackie) get themselves caught up in extortion, kidnapping and identity theft in the mid-90's. The trailer was a cracker, with Bay seeming to hit the right tone for the first time in awhile. This could be one of those enjoyable larger-than-life films that you watch with a shaking head and incredulous grin. But then, Transformers 2 & 3. Don't let us down this time Bay.
NZ Release Date: 8 August 2013
Ender's Game
What a year for Orson Scott Card, eh? There's been a lot of hullabalooh and a stink kicked up about him writing a Superman comic for DC, given his well-known views on gay marriage (he is very, very, very much opposed).
Vile stone-age political views aside, Card's Ender's Game is one of the great sci-fi novels (interestingly without a trace of homophobia. If anything, it edges towards the homoerotic in parts). It follows Andrew "Ender" Wiggin as he goes through the torturous and unrelenting Battle Schoool - all in order to prepare him to command the united Earth fleet against a coming alien invasion.
There's a lot going on, thematically speaking, in the original story in addition to it taking place over a number of years with some pretty brutal treatment doled out to its young characters. Will Gavin Hood (director of the original disastrous Wolverine, but also Tsotsi) be able to pull it off?
NZ Release Date: 31 October 2013
Carrie
Again, why the hell are they remaking a classic Hollywood horror film? De Palma's original Carrie is a perfect iteration of the work: stylish, gory, thematically packed and horrific as all get out. How could you possibly beat the casting of Sissy Spacek as the violently picked-upon psychic school-girl?
Chloe Grace Moretz, Hit-Girl herself, is going to take a shot at it. She's a very different presence to Spacek and director Kimberly Peirce (Boy's Don't Cry) is very different to De Palma. And that's why I'm curious to see what this version is going to be like. The trailer released thus far is pure tease, revealing that this time the end destruction is bigger - but will the rest of the film stand up to that sweeping single shot?
NZ Release Date: 14 November 2013
The Last Stand
The return of Arnie to leading man is, reportedly, a fun enough old fashioned action film. And I'm a big Arnie fan (especially of his earlier, not-funnier work). Not only is it the return of the Austrian Oak to his bread-and-butter, it's the English language debut of versatile South Korean director Jee-woon Kim (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and I Saw the Devil).
Reviews have been favourable, praising the use of practical effects and old-school feel to proceedings without being outstanding. I'm curious to see myself how well Arnie does, after his year's running California. It should, I hope, be a bunch of good-time explodey fun. The trailer promises as much.
NZ Release Date: 9 May 2013
Maniac
A remake of a little-known horror film from the 80's (ok, yes, there's some sort of horror-remake trend going on here) starring the Ring Bearer himself, Elijah Wood. Normally that wouldn't be enough to pique my curiosity, but the intriguing gimmick of the entire film being shot from disturbed killer Wood's point-of-view has me wondering if it'll work.
Past the gimmick, the film itself looks positively creepy as the trailer demonstrates. This is an interesting step for Wood - he of the big dreamy eyes and diminutive stature. He's the last person you'd pick for a demented killer. Which is exactly why it might work, in a really fucking terrifying kind of way.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
I love the first Cloudy. I foolishly missed it at the movies, but I must have watched it a dozen times on DVD since - it's hilarious and weird and heartfelt. An almost perfect combination for me.
The original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have moved on to 21 Jump Street and the Lego movie and incoming helmers Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn don't have much of a track record. But then, the first Cloudy was Lord and Miller's first feature film so here's hoping they've imparted some wisdom to the new kids.
The freshly-released trailer is packed with delicious puns (and if you know me, you know how much of a sucker I am for puns) and I'm currently cautiously optimistic that they've managed to maintain the same strange tone of the first film, while not losing sight of the emotion underneath it all.
And if it's terrible, I'll just pop Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs back in the DVD player and laugh myself silly again.
NZ Release Date: 28 November 2013
March 4, 2013
2013: Keenly Anticipated Singular Visions
These aren't necessarily the big money-spinners, or the super-explodey popcorn flicks. But these are the films that, due to the creative talent involved, I'm actually most looking forward to seeing this year. These are the films that aren't set in stone though, films that don't have release dates set in stone and will likely do a festival or two before they make it to NZ.
The World's End
Edgar Wright. Simon Pegg. Nick Frost. They've gifted us with Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is the conclusion of their (very) loose "blood & ice-cream" trilogy. It is guaranteed to be hilarious, intelligent and a veritable all-round cinema-extravaganza. I am busting at the seams with anticipation.
NZ Release Date: 3 October 2013
The Raid: Retaliation
Hey, so did you see The Raid last year? Or, more aptly, did you experience the full-force physical assault that was last year's most explosive action film? If you did, then I need explain no further.
If, however, you sadly didn't I'll break it down for you. The Raid was the action film to beat last year, focussing on a team of cops caught completely out of their depth in an apartment building ruled by criminals. It was a smorgasbord of violence, an extravaganza of knees and fists and feet and elbows to face and body and joints. It was an all-around blast and if the sequel is anything like the original, whooo. We're in for a treat.
NZ Release Date: unknown (Indonesia: 8 September 2013)
Stoker
Chan-wook Park has built up a truly impressive body of work in his native South Korea: JSA, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengenace and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Stoker, his English-language American debut, stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode and Mia Wasikowska. The trailer is a suitably tense and atmospheric slice of what's in store for audiences.
NZ Release Date: 29 August 2013
Gravity
The new film from Alfonso Cuaron - who directed what may still possibly be the best Harry Potter film - Gravity though long delayed will surely be worth the wait. This is Cuaron's first feature film since the fantastic Children of Men in 2006 and continues in the science-fiction vein with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts having to get their way back to earth after a mid-orbit collision.
NZ Release Date: 3 October 2013
Cloud Atlas
The Wachowkis and Tom Tykwer have tackled something extraordinary. Whether they were successful or not depends on who you ask. TIME magazine had it on their Worst of 2012 list, whereas any number of other reviewers online had it amongst their best.
The extended trailer that was released for the film goes some way towards capturing the scope of what the trio were reaching for and dang I'm keen to see for myself what this ended up like. With a phenomenal cast playing multiple characters across different eras and stories, I can see why Cloud Atlas could trip and fail but could also be something new. Despite being released in the States already, I have no idea when or if this will get any sort of release here in NZ.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Before Midnight
The capper to one of the most intriguing trilogies in film history with Richard Linklater once again following Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke as they walk and talk around a European locale. Early word has been good (very good). Linklater is one of those intriguing directors, one you're never quite sure of what he's going to do next or how it's going to play out, and that's exactly why I'm looking forward to it.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Her
Spike Jonze is, so far, three for three with feature films. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation with Charlie Kaufman and Where the Wild Things Are with Dave Eggers all managed to be very much their own things, while also being distinctly Spike Jonze films.
There's not a lot out there about this at the moment - not even a US release date - but for the simple fact that it is a voice as distinct as Jonze's I can't wait to see what it's all about.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen Brothers are, once again, on a hot streak. From No Country for Old Men to True Grit, their recent filmography has contained some of their best work. Inside Llewyn Davis, following a struggling folk singer in Greenwich Village in 1960, promises to be one of their smaller films. The trailer intrigues without revealing much.
As with all of the other films on this list, my interest is primarily down to the talent involved in the writing and directing chairs and when that talent is the brothers Coen, well of course I'm looking forward to what's on offer.
NZ Release Date: unknown
The World's End
Edgar Wright. Simon Pegg. Nick Frost. They've gifted us with Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is the conclusion of their (very) loose "blood & ice-cream" trilogy. It is guaranteed to be hilarious, intelligent and a veritable all-round cinema-extravaganza. I am busting at the seams with anticipation.
NZ Release Date: 3 October 2013
The Raid: Retaliation
Hey, so did you see The Raid last year? Or, more aptly, did you experience the full-force physical assault that was last year's most explosive action film? If you did, then I need explain no further.
If, however, you sadly didn't I'll break it down for you. The Raid was the action film to beat last year, focussing on a team of cops caught completely out of their depth in an apartment building ruled by criminals. It was a smorgasbord of violence, an extravaganza of knees and fists and feet and elbows to face and body and joints. It was an all-around blast and if the sequel is anything like the original, whooo. We're in for a treat.
NZ Release Date: unknown (Indonesia: 8 September 2013)
Stoker
Chan-wook Park has built up a truly impressive body of work in his native South Korea: JSA, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengenace and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Stoker, his English-language American debut, stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode and Mia Wasikowska. The trailer is a suitably tense and atmospheric slice of what's in store for audiences.
NZ Release Date: 29 August 2013
Gravity
The new film from Alfonso Cuaron - who directed what may still possibly be the best Harry Potter film - Gravity though long delayed will surely be worth the wait. This is Cuaron's first feature film since the fantastic Children of Men in 2006 and continues in the science-fiction vein with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts having to get their way back to earth after a mid-orbit collision.
NZ Release Date: 3 October 2013
Cloud Atlas
The Wachowkis and Tom Tykwer have tackled something extraordinary. Whether they were successful or not depends on who you ask. TIME magazine had it on their Worst of 2012 list, whereas any number of other reviewers online had it amongst their best.
The extended trailer that was released for the film goes some way towards capturing the scope of what the trio were reaching for and dang I'm keen to see for myself what this ended up like. With a phenomenal cast playing multiple characters across different eras and stories, I can see why Cloud Atlas could trip and fail but could also be something new. Despite being released in the States already, I have no idea when or if this will get any sort of release here in NZ.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Before Midnight
The capper to one of the most intriguing trilogies in film history with Richard Linklater once again following Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke as they walk and talk around a European locale. Early word has been good (very good). Linklater is one of those intriguing directors, one you're never quite sure of what he's going to do next or how it's going to play out, and that's exactly why I'm looking forward to it.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Her
Spike Jonze is, so far, three for three with feature films. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation with Charlie Kaufman and Where the Wild Things Are with Dave Eggers all managed to be very much their own things, while also being distinctly Spike Jonze films.
There's not a lot out there about this at the moment - not even a US release date - but for the simple fact that it is a voice as distinct as Jonze's I can't wait to see what it's all about.
NZ Release Date: unknown
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen Brothers are, once again, on a hot streak. From No Country for Old Men to True Grit, their recent filmography has contained some of their best work. Inside Llewyn Davis, following a struggling folk singer in Greenwich Village in 1960, promises to be one of their smaller films. The trailer intrigues without revealing much.
As with all of the other films on this list, my interest is primarily down to the talent involved in the writing and directing chairs and when that talent is the brothers Coen, well of course I'm looking forward to what's on offer.
NZ Release Date: unknown
February 18, 2013
2013: The Tentpoles and Blockbusters
First up, as you can see, are the Big Movies of the year. The popcorn flicks. The films the action and the explodey and the (hopefully) fun and crazy times. These are the BIG films; the films the studios earn (or expect to earn) most of their moolah of the year from.
This is my favourite time of year; looking forward to all of the (possibly) great films that are to come. Hopes have not yet been dashed. We can still dream of something amazing somehow making its way through the studio system.
So here, in no particular order, are those films I'm most looking forward to having my eyeballs dazzled by:
Pacific Rim
While the first trailer didn't absolutely blow me away, this is still Guillermo del Toro directing a film about giant robots (Jaegers) punching giant monsters (kaiju). Enough said, really. I'm there.
NZ Release Date: 11 July 2013
Man of Steel
Zach Snyder doesn't have the best track-record in the director's chair. We all know that. I'm not entirely sure where I stand in regards to him - Dawn of the Dead was better than it had any right to be but Watchmen was rather lifeless while Sucker Punch was an exercise in style over substance. And Warner Bros. continue to flail about, unsure what to do with their vast stable of DC characters.
But damn if the trailers haven't been getting me jazzed for this new Superman. Let's hope the film is as big, emotional and exciting as they suggest. One thing's for certain: it'll be more action packed than Superman Returns.
NZ Release Date: 27 June 2013
Iron Man 3
The first of the Marvel films to follow last year's box-office storming Avengers and the beginning of Marvel's Phase 2 (leading to the Avengers 2 in 2015). This time Robert Downey Jr. is joined by his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director Shane Black and (Sir) Ben Kingsley. There have been all sorts of exciting hints and rumours (that I have attempted to studiously avoid with marginal success) and I can't wait to see what these guys put Tony Stark through.
And, again, what a trailer.
NZ Release Date: 18 April 2013
Thor: The Dark World
I enjoyed the first Thor more than I had any right to. It is, objectively speaking, not a particularly great film. But Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston were such fun (such fun) in the roles of Thor and his scheming brother Loki that it proved to be a lot of fun. I'm also a sucker for insane sci-fi production design (Flash Gordon anyone?).
The sequel has jettisoned K-Bran as director, but picked up Alan Taylor (a veteran TV director of, among other things, Game of Thrones and Mad Men). The Dark World aims to (of course) go bigger with Thor and a merry band travelling to some of the other Nine Realms to battle dark elves and such forth. Should, at the very least, be more crazy sci-fi/fantasy fun.
NZ Release Date: 31 October 2013
Star Trek Into Darkness
This nearly didn't make the cut, despite how much I enjoyed the first Star Trek from JJ Abrams. And why did it almost not make the cut? Because of Abrams' obsession with mystery and obfuscation. Despite a couple of trailers, clips and press there is still no clue as to who Benedict Cumberbatch's villain is. Which is beginning to get more than a little annoying.
But, so long as the script improves on 2009's effort, this could be a welcome return to the bridge of the Enterprise. But then again, the script is from Orci & Kurtzman... so who knows.
NZ Release Date: 16 May 2013
Fast and the Furious 6
I know, right? What the hell is this doing on here? But, if like me, you caught Fast 5 (despite not seeing any of the previous films) then you're hoping this film is just as much vehicular fun as that entry. And that it's once again written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin (as well as the recent super crazy fun-tastic trailer) seems to back that up.
Look, it's not going to be particularly deep or meaningful and I never thought I'd see the day where I was more keenly anticipating the latest entry in a dumb car franchise over the latest Die Hard film, but here we are. Vroom vroom kaboom.
NZ Release Date: 30 May 2013
January 9, 2013
2012: My favourites
It feels like years have passed in the 12 months just been.
2012 was a big year for me, on a personal level. I started the year with no job and about to embark on my Masters in Scriptwriting. Would I survive the year? Could I actually write worth a damn? Would I still be able to see movies; would I have the time and the money?
Thankfully, the answer to all of those questions was "yes".
So, after a lengthy absence from the blog writing here I am, back with my Favourite Films of 2012. Looking back at the films I saw at the start of the year, I can scarcely believe that it was barely 11 months ago when I saw these. It's been that kind of year.
2012 was, in some respects, the year of the big hype followed by the big disappointment: John Carter, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises all, in my estimation, failed to deliver on their promise. The Amazing Spider-Man was also something of a disaster, but I was expecting that. Thank the gods we've had a number of really great films to temper that disappointment with.
Before we get into that list of my favourite great films, I just wanted to run through the films I'm still looking forward to seeing; those films you'll be seeing on other 2012 "best of" lists but that haven't been released here in NZ yet: Lincoln, Perks of Being a Wallflower, ParaNorman, Django Unchained, Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark Thirty, Anna Karenina and The Master. All here soon (I hope) and likely to make it into the 2013 list.
As always, what follows is in no particular order and is purely my favourite films from the last calendar year - and I have attempted to be particularly brutal this year in winnowing this list down to only this films that have truly, really impacted on me.
The Avengers
Perhaps not a surprise to find this on my list. Of all of the films I saw this year, I probably enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) The Avengers the most.
As a comic-book geek from way back, The Avengers seemed like an impossible dream; a fantastical promise offered up at the end of Iron Man. Could Marvel, and their filmmakers, actually pull this off? Joss Whedon, as much as we all love him, was far from a safe bet for wrangling a big-budget "gang's all here" super-hero film. I'll admit to still having my own doubts heading in to that first midnight screening; I've been burned before.
But I guess all those years wrangling an ever-increasing ensemble cast on Buffy et al paid off in spades for the Whedon. The Avengers was everything you could want from a Hollywood blockbuster: a smart script that managed to allow just about every character a chance to shine, a stack of memorable moments, humour, a fairly incredible cast and spectacular action that never drowned out the character beats.
Seeing how Marvel pulled off this "Phase One" part of their world-wide movie domination plans, I cannot wait to see what they bring us with "Phase Two".
Looper
Rian Johnson's third film is a deceptively small and intimate sci-fi action time-travel... thing. Dense with information and intricate at the same time, Johnson eschewed the expected pyrotechnics of studio science-fiction (though certainly didn't waste the casting of Bruce "Die Hard" Willis) to give us a film that ruminated on destiny, nature vs. nurture, mothers and sons, the choices that define you and more.
Johnson, while creating a richly textured and detailed world, never falls into the trap of explaining too much. It is a pitfall many science-fiction films, particularly time-travel ones, collapse into. Looper is not concerned with the mechanics and causal loopholes of time-travel; time-travel is merely the conceit by which Johnson explores his ideas.
I've seen Looper twice in the cinema and cannot wait to revisit it again. The film is still swimming around in my mind some months later. Killer soundtrack too.
Compliance
I mentioned Craig Zobel's deeply unsettling debut feature film back in my wrap-up of the 2012 NZIFF, where I chose it as my "pick of the Fest"; the stand-out film for me of the fortnight. And I'm quite happy to still stand by that. While it was in no way my favourite film of the festival, it was a film that I couldn't easily shake.
No film in 2012, and very few in years previous, had such an immediate and profound impact on me. Though there were no scenes that could be easily labelled stomach-churningly violent or horrendous, the film had a number of walk-outs in my screening purely down to the horrifying atmosphere and gradually building degradation that Zobel and his lead actress, Dreama Walker, built.
Compliance was a dark little gem of a film that pulled me in, fucked around with the darkest most voyeuristic and horrifying things inside us all and then spat me back out into the night. I found myself spiralling down into a very dark place, almost unable to pull myself back up.
Young Adult
Diablo Cody's third film (and make no mistake, this is very much a Diablo Cody film, despite the Jason Reitman director credit) has, I feel, been overlooked by just about everyone. Which is maddening, as it is a flat-out incredible film. It walks a delicate tightrope, with a central character so deeply unlikeable and unredeemable as to almost alienate the audience - but Cody's script is too smart for that, and Charlize Theron too adept an actress.
There is very little sympathy to be felt for Theron's Mavis - she's an emotionally stunted woman-child who returns to her po-dunk hometown to lure away her high-school sweetheart from his happily married life - but there is a certain empathy to be felt. Perhaps it's because of my increased focus on the art and craft of script-writing this year, but I found Young Adult to be something of a remarkable achievement.
And to have got this far in my write-up without mentioning the work of Patton Oswalt as the crippled and sardonic Matt Freehauf seems criminal. Oswalt gives the character a softness, without overdoing it, that helps to take some of the tartness out of Theron's Mavis. To me, if there were any justice in the movie world, Cody and her cast would have swept the awards boards last year. It's also really freakin' hilarious.
The Raid
If you missed seeing this in a cinema packed with an excited and pumped audience, I really feel for you. The Raid is a tight, no holds barred, economical martial-arts actioner, best enjoyed with a rowdy and appreciative audience.
The second teaming of director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uweis, this was the action film from the past year. Paring everything to do with plot and character right down to the bone (but still giving us the essentials), The Raid was an almost physical experience and was an abject lesson in how to really do an action film right. Hell, I'm calling it. This is the best action film since Die Hard.
There's good guys and a whole building full of bad guys. And everyone knows martial arts. Or has a weapon. Or an exploding fridge. There's a goal. There are clear stakes. And then there's a shit-ton of amazing, brutal and very physical fight-scenes.
If you've not seen The Raid, get a bunch of friends together, the biggest, loudest TV you can, a few beers and get ready to enjoy the hell out of your night.
Margaret
Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret is... I don't want to say a difficult film, but it's something of a confounding film. It almost defies any sort of simplistic description or summation; being the opposite of The Raid in those respects (also, markedly less kung-fu).
It has been a long a time in arriving at cinemas in any sort of form, with Lonergan working on cut after cut after cut. There is reportedly a 5 hour version of the film out there, which is easy to believe; there are characters and story-lines in the released version that feel more like ellipses than completed arcs.
Like with Young Adult our central female protagonist is unsympathetic - a precocious, manipulative, self-absorbed, not-as-smart-as-she-thinks teenage girl - while still being empathetic. And Anna Paquin simply inhabits the skin of this character; it is a performance seemingly shorn of artifice and she simply is Lisa Cohen.
Margaret was a heady experience in the cinema; an almost free-forming, pinwheeling emotional journey that is nevertheless always moving forward. For all of its wandering and contemplative tones, nothing feels unnecessary.
Cabin in the Woods
The primary feeling I had before heading in to watch Cabin of the Woods for the first time (I ended up seeing it the three times it played at the NZIFF), was that I was very, very lucky.
If you haven't yet heard the tale of Cabin in the Woods, a quick summation: I first heard of it more than two years ago when, I think, it played the 2010 SXSW film festival. It went over like gangbusters; the film geek crowd went, understandably, apeshit over it. Then... nothing. MGM (the studio behind the film) shat the bed, financially speaking. There was talk of Cabin being post-converted to 3D in order for MGM to turn a couple more (much-needed) bucks. No dice. Then, again... nothing. Until mid-way through 2012 when it was quietly announced that Cabin would finally be released Down Under - direct to DVD. The internet went a bit batshit. Not even just here - there were a couple of big-time American entertainment writers who got involved. With all of the furore, Ant Timpson and the New Zealand International Film Festival stepped in and brought Cabin to NZ for the NZIFF. Thank the dark lords.
Cabin in the Woods is script-writer Drew Goddard's directorial debut and it is a joyous celebration and deconstruction of horror movie tropes, all done with intelligence, humour and a fair amount of actual horror. All three screenings at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington (a 700-odd seat cinema) were packed out and the audience lapped it up - laughing, whooping and hollering. As with The Raid, this is a film best enjoyed with an audience.
Sightseers
Up-and-coming English filmmaker Ben Wheatley's latest film was an utter, joyful surprise for me. Before perusing the NZIFF line-up for 2012, I had no idea Wheatley had a new film out. Hell, I hadn't even seen his previous, much-lauded Kill List (I have since, and it was not anything I was expecting at all). So I was going into Sightseers just about as blind as possible.
I was cheerfully surprised at the obsidian-black humour that ran through this tale of two English weirdos who take off on a campervan trip across the verdant landscape. These two are your typical small-minded sort of English folk; quietly annoyed at others, always up for a cuppa and going about things in a pragmatic sort of way. Even, yes, becoming accidental serial-killers.
I certainly wouldn't recommend it to everyone; there is a very particular flavour to the film and Wheatley and his cast enjoy twisting things beyond your expectations. Is there some sweetness to it? More of a black bittersweetness I think. And it was that gentle defiance of convention that really tickled my fancy. Sightseers has just come out on general release here in NZ and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again.
And just to wrap it all up, a quick list of those other films that didn't quite make it but that were damn fine films in their own right. I heartily recommed you give them a look-in if you haven't already: The Adventures of Tintin; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Hugo; The Descendants; The Ides of March; Shame; The Hunger Games; 21 Jump Street; We Need to Talk About Kevin; Our Idiot Brother; Damsels in Distress; The Front Line; Good for Nothing; Searching for Sugar Man; The Angel's Share; Beasts of the Southern Wild; How to Meet Girls From a Distance; Your Sister's Sister; The Hunt; Killer Joe; Magic Mike, Sound of my Voice; Holy Motors; The Sessions; Moonrise Kingdom; The Expendables 2; Pitch Perfect; Dredd; Argo
As always I'd be dead keen to hear your picks from the last year. And what films from 2012 are you still looking forward to seeing?
2012 was a big year for me, on a personal level. I started the year with no job and about to embark on my Masters in Scriptwriting. Would I survive the year? Could I actually write worth a damn? Would I still be able to see movies; would I have the time and the money?
Thankfully, the answer to all of those questions was "yes".
So, after a lengthy absence from the blog writing here I am, back with my Favourite Films of 2012. Looking back at the films I saw at the start of the year, I can scarcely believe that it was barely 11 months ago when I saw these. It's been that kind of year.
2012 was, in some respects, the year of the big hype followed by the big disappointment: John Carter, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises all, in my estimation, failed to deliver on their promise. The Amazing Spider-Man was also something of a disaster, but I was expecting that. Thank the gods we've had a number of really great films to temper that disappointment with.
Before we get into that list of my favourite great films, I just wanted to run through the films I'm still looking forward to seeing; those films you'll be seeing on other 2012 "best of" lists but that haven't been released here in NZ yet: Lincoln, Perks of Being a Wallflower, ParaNorman, Django Unchained, Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark Thirty, Anna Karenina and The Master. All here soon (I hope) and likely to make it into the 2013 list.
As always, what follows is in no particular order and is purely my favourite films from the last calendar year - and I have attempted to be particularly brutal this year in winnowing this list down to only this films that have truly, really impacted on me.
The Avengers
Perhaps not a surprise to find this on my list. Of all of the films I saw this year, I probably enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) The Avengers the most.
As a comic-book geek from way back, The Avengers seemed like an impossible dream; a fantastical promise offered up at the end of Iron Man. Could Marvel, and their filmmakers, actually pull this off? Joss Whedon, as much as we all love him, was far from a safe bet for wrangling a big-budget "gang's all here" super-hero film. I'll admit to still having my own doubts heading in to that first midnight screening; I've been burned before.
But I guess all those years wrangling an ever-increasing ensemble cast on Buffy et al paid off in spades for the Whedon. The Avengers was everything you could want from a Hollywood blockbuster: a smart script that managed to allow just about every character a chance to shine, a stack of memorable moments, humour, a fairly incredible cast and spectacular action that never drowned out the character beats.
Seeing how Marvel pulled off this "Phase One" part of their world-wide movie domination plans, I cannot wait to see what they bring us with "Phase Two".
Looper
Rian Johnson's third film is a deceptively small and intimate sci-fi action time-travel... thing. Dense with information and intricate at the same time, Johnson eschewed the expected pyrotechnics of studio science-fiction (though certainly didn't waste the casting of Bruce "Die Hard" Willis) to give us a film that ruminated on destiny, nature vs. nurture, mothers and sons, the choices that define you and more.
Johnson, while creating a richly textured and detailed world, never falls into the trap of explaining too much. It is a pitfall many science-fiction films, particularly time-travel ones, collapse into. Looper is not concerned with the mechanics and causal loopholes of time-travel; time-travel is merely the conceit by which Johnson explores his ideas.
I've seen Looper twice in the cinema and cannot wait to revisit it again. The film is still swimming around in my mind some months later. Killer soundtrack too.
Compliance
I mentioned Craig Zobel's deeply unsettling debut feature film back in my wrap-up of the 2012 NZIFF, where I chose it as my "pick of the Fest"; the stand-out film for me of the fortnight. And I'm quite happy to still stand by that. While it was in no way my favourite film of the festival, it was a film that I couldn't easily shake.
No film in 2012, and very few in years previous, had such an immediate and profound impact on me. Though there were no scenes that could be easily labelled stomach-churningly violent or horrendous, the film had a number of walk-outs in my screening purely down to the horrifying atmosphere and gradually building degradation that Zobel and his lead actress, Dreama Walker, built.
Compliance was a dark little gem of a film that pulled me in, fucked around with the darkest most voyeuristic and horrifying things inside us all and then spat me back out into the night. I found myself spiralling down into a very dark place, almost unable to pull myself back up.
Diablo Cody's third film (and make no mistake, this is very much a Diablo Cody film, despite the Jason Reitman director credit) has, I feel, been overlooked by just about everyone. Which is maddening, as it is a flat-out incredible film. It walks a delicate tightrope, with a central character so deeply unlikeable and unredeemable as to almost alienate the audience - but Cody's script is too smart for that, and Charlize Theron too adept an actress.
There is very little sympathy to be felt for Theron's Mavis - she's an emotionally stunted woman-child who returns to her po-dunk hometown to lure away her high-school sweetheart from his happily married life - but there is a certain empathy to be felt. Perhaps it's because of my increased focus on the art and craft of script-writing this year, but I found Young Adult to be something of a remarkable achievement.
And to have got this far in my write-up without mentioning the work of Patton Oswalt as the crippled and sardonic Matt Freehauf seems criminal. Oswalt gives the character a softness, without overdoing it, that helps to take some of the tartness out of Theron's Mavis. To me, if there were any justice in the movie world, Cody and her cast would have swept the awards boards last year. It's also really freakin' hilarious.
The Raid
If you missed seeing this in a cinema packed with an excited and pumped audience, I really feel for you. The Raid is a tight, no holds barred, economical martial-arts actioner, best enjoyed with a rowdy and appreciative audience.
The second teaming of director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uweis, this was the action film from the past year. Paring everything to do with plot and character right down to the bone (but still giving us the essentials), The Raid was an almost physical experience and was an abject lesson in how to really do an action film right. Hell, I'm calling it. This is the best action film since Die Hard.
There's good guys and a whole building full of bad guys. And everyone knows martial arts. Or has a weapon. Or an exploding fridge. There's a goal. There are clear stakes. And then there's a shit-ton of amazing, brutal and very physical fight-scenes.
If you've not seen The Raid, get a bunch of friends together, the biggest, loudest TV you can, a few beers and get ready to enjoy the hell out of your night.
Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret is... I don't want to say a difficult film, but it's something of a confounding film. It almost defies any sort of simplistic description or summation; being the opposite of The Raid in those respects (also, markedly less kung-fu).
It has been a long a time in arriving at cinemas in any sort of form, with Lonergan working on cut after cut after cut. There is reportedly a 5 hour version of the film out there, which is easy to believe; there are characters and story-lines in the released version that feel more like ellipses than completed arcs.
Like with Young Adult our central female protagonist is unsympathetic - a precocious, manipulative, self-absorbed, not-as-smart-as-she-thinks teenage girl - while still being empathetic. And Anna Paquin simply inhabits the skin of this character; it is a performance seemingly shorn of artifice and she simply is Lisa Cohen.
Margaret was a heady experience in the cinema; an almost free-forming, pinwheeling emotional journey that is nevertheless always moving forward. For all of its wandering and contemplative tones, nothing feels unnecessary.
Cabin in the Woods
The primary feeling I had before heading in to watch Cabin of the Woods for the first time (I ended up seeing it the three times it played at the NZIFF), was that I was very, very lucky.
If you haven't yet heard the tale of Cabin in the Woods, a quick summation: I first heard of it more than two years ago when, I think, it played the 2010 SXSW film festival. It went over like gangbusters; the film geek crowd went, understandably, apeshit over it. Then... nothing. MGM (the studio behind the film) shat the bed, financially speaking. There was talk of Cabin being post-converted to 3D in order for MGM to turn a couple more (much-needed) bucks. No dice. Then, again... nothing. Until mid-way through 2012 when it was quietly announced that Cabin would finally be released Down Under - direct to DVD. The internet went a bit batshit. Not even just here - there were a couple of big-time American entertainment writers who got involved. With all of the furore, Ant Timpson and the New Zealand International Film Festival stepped in and brought Cabin to NZ for the NZIFF. Thank the dark lords.
Cabin in the Woods is script-writer Drew Goddard's directorial debut and it is a joyous celebration and deconstruction of horror movie tropes, all done with intelligence, humour and a fair amount of actual horror. All three screenings at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington (a 700-odd seat cinema) were packed out and the audience lapped it up - laughing, whooping and hollering. As with The Raid, this is a film best enjoyed with an audience.
Up-and-coming English filmmaker Ben Wheatley's latest film was an utter, joyful surprise for me. Before perusing the NZIFF line-up for 2012, I had no idea Wheatley had a new film out. Hell, I hadn't even seen his previous, much-lauded Kill List (I have since, and it was not anything I was expecting at all). So I was going into Sightseers just about as blind as possible.
I was cheerfully surprised at the obsidian-black humour that ran through this tale of two English weirdos who take off on a campervan trip across the verdant landscape. These two are your typical small-minded sort of English folk; quietly annoyed at others, always up for a cuppa and going about things in a pragmatic sort of way. Even, yes, becoming accidental serial-killers.
I certainly wouldn't recommend it to everyone; there is a very particular flavour to the film and Wheatley and his cast enjoy twisting things beyond your expectations. Is there some sweetness to it? More of a black bittersweetness I think. And it was that gentle defiance of convention that really tickled my fancy. Sightseers has just come out on general release here in NZ and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again.
And just to wrap it all up, a quick list of those other films that didn't quite make it but that were damn fine films in their own right. I heartily recommed you give them a look-in if you haven't already: The Adventures of Tintin; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Hugo; The Descendants; The Ides of March; Shame; The Hunger Games; 21 Jump Street; We Need to Talk About Kevin; Our Idiot Brother; Damsels in Distress; The Front Line; Good for Nothing; Searching for Sugar Man; The Angel's Share; Beasts of the Southern Wild; How to Meet Girls From a Distance; Your Sister's Sister; The Hunt; Killer Joe; Magic Mike, Sound of my Voice; Holy Motors; The Sessions; Moonrise Kingdom; The Expendables 2; Pitch Perfect; Dredd; Argo
As always I'd be dead keen to hear your picks from the last year. And what films from 2012 are you still looking forward to seeing?
August 15, 2012
NZIFF 2012: Wrap up (Wellington edition)
The total number of films I saw is about half of what I got to last year (27 in total) and largely due to my low key presence during the first week (working on that all important second draft) the whole fest felt like it just whipped right on past me. I missed far more than I saw.
I had a lot of fun with films like The Angels' Share, How to Meet Girls From a Distance and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
How to Meet Girls From a Distance was particularly impressive given the limitations placed on the filmmakers. These guys were the winners of the inaugural Make My Movie competition, with a prize of a $100,000.00 production budget. Which, as anyone involved with making a film can tell you, is not a lot of money really. And then they only had a limited time to actually make the film and even less time to cut it, ready for the Festival. Chuck in the fact that they decided to make a romantic-comedy about a stalker and you can see that they weren't short of challenges.
I am so pleased I went to the Far Out Far East double feature of Henge and Young Gun in the Time that played at the same time as Moonrise Kingdom. Henge was a low-key body horror that morphed through oddity to domestic drama to mild conspiracy to murderous relationship to kaiju. Every time I thought I knew where it was heading, BAM! It went somewhere completely unexpected. And Young Gun in the Time is the follow-up film from the director and star from Invasion of Alien Bikini. It's a (very) low budget Korean time-travel film about a broke private detective. It wasn't incredible but it had a strange charm to it, and I had to respect them for making what they did with the budget they had.
As always, there were a couple of bum notes in the festival. While Beasts of the Southern Wild was in no way a bad film, and I absolutely enjoyed it... I was expecting more from it. I was expecting, nay hoping, to be grabbed by it; for the film to reach out to me and move me in some profound fashion. And while there was a lot to like about the film (seriously. See it if you get the chance), for me it just didn't have that indefinable "oomph".
V/H/S though was an entirely frustrating, boring and slightly painful experience. An anthology of found footage horror films, too many of them became about the gimmick than anything truly frightening. There were a couple of neat ideas in one or two of the segments but it was, overall, the low point of festival. Also: just about every single character/victim in these films were complete douchebags. I didn't really feel bad that any of them died in the end. Contrasted completely with Cabin in the Woods.
I am so damn thankful that I got to see Cabin in the Woods on the big screen. After all of the hoo-hah with MGM's finances going down the gurgler, a delayed release in the States and a threatened direct-to-DVD status in Australia and New Zealand I thought I would never get to see this wild ride of a film with a packed audience. But I did. THREE times. Every time was amazing. Every time was with a packed, fun-loving, appreciative audience. And one of those sessions was a weekday day-time screening and the other was a late addition that packed out in less than three days. That's at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington - a cinema with a 700-odd capacity. And boy-howdy the film delivered. Fun and crazy and inventive and intelligent and bursting with ideas and great performances. I want to see it again. Right now. I had a lot of fun in the Cabin.
I also had a helluva time with Ben Wheatley's Sightseers. I went in utterly blank on what to expect. I have heard good things about Wheatley's Kill List (which I'm still hoping to see soon) and just went in blind. And I loved it. A strange, darkly comic British camping trip with two (somewhat) lovable and messed up people, I had a ball with it and encourage everyone to see it. It's an off-kilter film in the absolute best way possible.
Your Sister's Sister and Liberal Arts carried a gentler sense of humour to them and I enjoyed them enough, and they were finely made with some charmingly watchable performances, but they're not on the list of stand outs.
In addition to Marilyn and her diamonds and Gentlemen, the classics at the 2012 NZIFF were: The Shining, Bonjour Tristesse and Mantrap. All of these films were my first ever viewings. I enjoyed the hell out of Gentlemen and Mantrap - I find Marilyn a fascinating actress to watch (in addition to, yes, being drop-dead gorgeous) and Mantrap was the live cinema event for Wellington. A Clara Bow starring silent from the 20's it was a lot of fun, even if it took a few odd turns. But boy, that Clara Bow was full of some popping zest!
In her second low-budget scifi, Brit Marling told us to listen to the Sound of My Voice, Mads Mikkelson's falsely accused paedophile tried to evade The Hunt and Woody Harrelson stormed the Rampart in a racist haze of alcohol and cigarettes. All were fine films but, as with Beasts, they didn't quite grab me at the visceral, emotional level.
That task was left to the utterly devastating documentary Bully and the profoundly disturbing Compliance. I saw Bully the morning after Compliance which, as you will soon read, may have fed into my emotional response. Because that emotional response was... well, it was quite emotional. I'm not, generally speaking, a big crier at the movies. I'll get choked up from time to time, but I tend to hold the tears back or just not quite get to that emotional point. Bully had me weeping openly, profusely and often. The crew just spend time with these kids who are being bullied, with the families of the kids and with the families of kids who have taken their own lives due to bullying. The school system and the authorities are shown to be, at best, ignorant and, at worst, lazy and just not giving a damn. It should be noted, that Bully focuses on the extreme examples of bullying; these go beyond school-yard taunts and become physically and mentally aggressive. There is criticism to be levelled at the film and the possibility of different approaches untaken (really, it should be called "Bullied"), but this documentary hit me on an emotional level like nothing else.
But the film that really had an effect on me, the film that I am choosing as my pick of the fest, was Craig Zobel's Compliance. There are few films that have got under my skin as much as this one did. Based on true events, the film details the horrible and horrifying systematic degradation of a young fast-food restaurant employee. A man phones the manager, claiming to be a police-officer and accusing the pretty young blonde girl of stealing from a customer. Over the course of the day she is humiliated and violated by the manager and other people. I'm not the only one that was affected by the clinical degradation of the film: there were a number of walk-outs; people who could no longer stand to see what was happening to this innocent girl. And part of that comes from the (to us) patently outrageous commands and requests coming from this bodiless voice on the phone but that, over the course of the day, these people are berated and placated into following.Compliance sent me out of the cinema angry, dizzy and spiraling into a weird, dark mental place.
I may not have seen as many films at NZIFF 2012 as last year, but I can say that there will be a number of ones I did see that will stay with me for a long, long time to come. And that's why I go the festival every year.
July 24, 2012
Why I write this blog
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| What my head would've done if I hadn't written this |
That pisses me off to no end.
To be clear:
I do not write about movies to needlessly pick them apart.
I certainly don't do it to be cool.
I don't do it because I'm some pretentious over educated film student.
I do it because I love movies.
And because I'm a human fucking being.
Movies are the most popular form of art/entertainment in the world*. Films, like most forms of storytelling, have a power to them. Films are watched by young & old, rich & poor, the world over. They are accessible to just about everyone. Every. Single. Person. On the planet. They combine so many disparate elements: storytelling, visual language, sound, music... They are, to me, something fantastic.
You know what the best thing about going to see a movie with a group of friends is? Talking about it afterwards. Getting excited about what you loved in the film, trying to work out what went wrong, hearing and trying to understand different viewpoints. That's what I'm doing here. I'm trying to get my thoughts on a film out and on the interwebs, and hopefully provoke some discussion with fellow film-lovers.
You absolutely should not, ever ever EVER, being going to a film and "switching your brain off". Why would you do that?! Film-making can be one of the most involving forms of story-telling possible! Sure, you might mentally opt out of a film if you get bored because it's not working for you, but that's entirely different to checking your brain out before you even get past the trailers. And if you're bored and the film isn't working? Why not try and switch your brain back on and think out why it's not working. I promise the experience will be much richer, and far more rewarding.
There has to be some level of engagement with the action onscreen, there has to be something, anything, to hook me in. It doesn't take much! Honestly. I'm more than happy watching a big-time action blockbuster - but there has to be an interesting character, or relationship, or it just has to be made really, really well. Fast Five is a great example. There's not a lot going on under the hood in that film, but it works. It really, completely works as a fun time at the movies. And I can think about that and understand why that's a fun film and why Transformers 2 & 3 aren't fun films. There doesn't necessarily have to be a deeper meaning to it all, or some hidden subtext. But it does have to engage me. If you're not engaged with a film, if you have no desire to engage and not think about it past the surface presentation? If you just want spectacle with pretty lights and big noises go and watch a fireworks display (which is not to say there cannot be a certain amount of artistry in fireworks).
So. That, in a big ranty nutshell, is why I write this blog. This is why I write about movies. I enjoy writing about them. I enjoy talking about. I enjoy engaging with them. I enjoy learning something new about them, or a viewpoint I hadn't previously considered. I know this post carries quite a large aggro vibe, and I do apologise for that. It's just something I had to get out of my head and onto a computer screen before my head exploded.
To everyone that reads this blog and talks about movies and whatnot with me here, on Twitter, on facebook and in real-life: thank-you.
*You could make the argument that video-games are more popular forms of entertainment, but in worldwide terms I would dispute that. And video-games are not "art", not yet.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: What I liked
Following on from my previous post on The Dark Knight Rises (and a lengthy facebook discussion), I realised I left out a few things I liked or enjoyed about Nolan's trilogy capping film. I have a tendency to do this I think; to become too critical and focus on what doesn't work with something. So, I wanted to offer, not a counterpoint, but a balancing post.
Needless to say, this will be getting spoilery too.
So, here's some things I enjoyed in the film:
Needless to say, this will be getting spoilery too.
So, here's some things I enjoyed in the film:
- Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle. While never directly named Catwoman in the film, we all know who she is. And Hathaway was a marvel in the role. She alternated between fierce and a fake vulnerability with ease. She was sexy while never being just a sexual object.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt's good, honest Officer Blake. He projects so much, with so little movement. While he nor Hathaway reach the incendiary highs of Ledger's Joker they are the shining, stand-outs this go around.
- Michael Caine's Alfred is still the heart and cockney soul of the films.
- Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane popping back up. I really love that he's made it through all three films. Surely the only villain to do so in consecutive comic-book films?
- That, despite the themes not entirely gelling together or engaging, the fact that Nolan & Co. once again reached for something more than a man running around punching things in a rubber suit.
- That, intentional or not, the final bit in the final action scene with Batman towing the bomb around Gotham reminded me of this:
July 23, 2012
Film review: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
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| Designed by Ben Whitesell |
Two warnings before you read any further: I'm gonna get all SPOILERY up in here and this is less a "review" and more a grab-bag of thoughts on the film and trilogy as a whole.
And one final thought before I get further into the "review" or whatever I'm going to call it of the film itself. As we are all aware, someone made the horrific decision to fire upon and kill 14 people at a midnight showing of Rises in Aurora, Colorado. I'm going to try and keep my own thoughts and opinions about this frightening incident out of this post, as I frankly don't think this is the proper forum for me to be talking about it and I don't know that I'm even qualified to offer an opinion past the obvious horror and sadness. Honestly, what can I even offer that a multitude of other, better, writers haven't already? Instead this post will be solely focussed on the film itself and my thoughts on same.
With that said, on with the grab-bag.
The reason for it being more a grab-bag, more a series of impressions and thoughts than a well-rounded review? Well, to be honest, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I thought of the film. I came out of the two-and-a-half plus hours with a shrug of the shoulders and a vague feeling of "that's it?"
Let's get all the plot guff out of the way first shall we? 8 years on from The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne is a hobbling recluse and the Batman has disappeared. However, ol' Brucie ventures out of the mansion when a slinky, seductive cat-burglar by the name of Selina Kyle swipes his mother's pearls. And just as Bruce is coming out of his self-imposed exile, a new villain arrives on the Gotham scene: Tom Hardy's massive and masked Bane. He's in town to follow through on Liam Neeson's plot to destroy Gotham from Batman Begins, with an overly complicated plot designed to net him a fusion-powered nuclear reactor or something. Which, after breaking Batman and tossing him down a hole, he sets on the looooongest countdown in history. Seriously, the bomb has a 5 month countdown. Why? Who the hell knows?
That 5 month countdown is really just a convenient plot device to allow Batman time to heal. Bane makes some mention of the wait being to allow the citizens of Gotham to hope for a saviour but... you never see a regular Gothamite or their reaction and the intangible idea of hope never coalesces in any meaningful fashion.
With Nolan's previous Bat-films, he has used them to explore or, at the very least, raise interesting themes and ideas and explored them through the Bat-villains. With Begins it was Fear tying into the Scarecrow and, on a larger scale, the League of Shadows and Batman himself. With Dark Knight it was Anarchy and Chaos, embodied in Heath Ledger's ghoulish Joker, as a directly opposing force to Batman's Order. With Rises... I hesitate to call it thematically inconsistent, as Nolan doesn't seem to really be truly engaging with any themes here. There are a number of possible avenues opened up (Hope? Evil?) but none that are fully explored. There are dalliances with popular uprisings and a tip-toe into the waters of the financial crises but the scatter-gun approach leads to the film feeling muddled on a fundamental level. What is it, exactly, that Bane represents? Whatever it may or may not be, it's completely undercut by the completely unnecessary and obvious twist reveal before the end. And once his usefulness to the plot is done with, he is summarily dispatched. Almost offhandedly.
Something I'm still processing, as a comic-book reader more than anything, is that this may not be Batman as we know him but it is unequivocally Nolan's Batman. The Batman I, and many other comic-book fans, know would not have quit after the events of The Dark Knight. In fact, the end of that film seemed to give Batman more impetus to continue his mission.
Which brings me to another point. Every other death in the trilogy has meant something; has resonated somehow. Whether it be Ra's al Ghul/Ducard in Begins or Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. In Dark Knight Rises, they just... happen. They don't tie in to the life of Bruce Wayne/Batman or the larger thematic concerns that Nolan may (or may not) be exploring.
Is Batman a conservative hero? What, if anything, is Nolan saying about the Occupy movement? Should Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Officer Blake have taken up the mantle of the Bat earlier in the film? Can anyone but Bruce Wayne be Batman? Where did Bruce Wayne's secret stash of inheritance money come from? Why did he have a bum leg if he quit crime-fighting? There's more to consider with The Dark Knight Rises but, for now, these are my thoughts.
Also, Liam Neeson's ghost dissolve?! Really?! And "Robin"? C'mon. It's just so... off.
July 13, 2012
Better late than never: PODCAST part 2
Following on from the first podcast post yesterday, here's parts three and four of "Shut the Hell Up, We're Talking Movies".
A big thanks also to Kevin MacLeod for the nifty title music.
Again, difficulty in actually getting the videos embedded from YouTube unfortunately means I must point you here for Part 3 and here for Part 4.
A big thanks also to Kevin MacLeod for the nifty title music.
Again, difficulty in actually getting the videos embedded from YouTube unfortunately means I must point you here for Part 3 and here for Part 4.
July 12, 2012
Better late than never: PODCAST
So, as you may or may not recall, I mentioned a few months back that I was looking at getting a podcast up and going. Well, way back at the start of the year my friends Rajeev, Chris and I sat down and recorded the first (and, so far, only) episode of the Rockets and Robots "Shut the Hell Up We're Talking Movies" podcast. Unbeknownst to me, finding a suitable (and free) place to host the podcast seemed all but impossible and the enterprise got dropped by the wayside.
But thanks to the tenacity of Rajeev, the podcast (or vodcast? It's video, so... I dunno) has the first two parts up on YouTube and you can watch them here! The other two parts should be up sometime tomorrow, and I'll be posting them here too.
Let me know what you think - this is obviously a little out of date (being a wrap-up of 2011) - but any feedback would be helpful. I'll look around at other hosting options before recording anymore podcasts but hopefully they'll be a little more regular.
On with the show!
(and, apologies, but this is only the first part. Blogger/YouTube is being a shit and not allowing me to find/link/upload Part 2. Direct link to it on YouTube here though)
But thanks to the tenacity of Rajeev, the podcast (or vodcast? It's video, so... I dunno) has the first two parts up on YouTube and you can watch them here! The other two parts should be up sometime tomorrow, and I'll be posting them here too.
Let me know what you think - this is obviously a little out of date (being a wrap-up of 2011) - but any feedback would be helpful. I'll look around at other hosting options before recording anymore podcasts but hopefully they'll be a little more regular.
On with the show!
(and, apologies, but this is only the first part. Blogger/YouTube is being a shit and not allowing me to find/link/upload Part 2. Direct link to it on YouTube here though)
Seriously, big ups to Rajeev for getting this up and in a watchable form. I'm just here nattering away and taking all the credit here.
July 8, 2012
2012: The Best... so far
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| The Best of 2012: not this. |
As you're aware, my writing on here has taken a backseat recently due to the workload associated with my MA in Scriptwriting. It's unfortunate, as one of my stated goals for this blog was for me to write about every film I see in a cinema during the year.
When putting together this "Best so far" though, it was interesting to me that there have been no real stand-out films since my writing about them dropped off. Take that as you will.
For reference, here's my "2012: Looking forward" post. Interestingly enough the first four films on that post are mirrored here.
Hugo
Martin Scorsese's 3D kids film was a wonderful love letter to the early pioneers of cinema, and to cinema in general. Something about it absolutely clicked with me and just fired me up. With a rare kind of joy just seemed to radiate from every frame Hugo was a fun, adventure filled call-to-arms that captured me utterly.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
You know how, sometimes, when you've been anticipating a film for a long-time, the kind of film that builds up a fair amount of overseas critical buzz, and when you finally see it the film doesn't hold up for you? This was not one of those films. Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of the John le Carre novel held me entranced as Gary Oldman's tired old spy set about.
Young Adult
Diablo Cody knocked it out of the fucking park for the script on this one. Mavis is a horrible, self-absorbed, impervious to change character but the way Cody writes her and the way Charlize Theron owns the role are, simply, inspirational to me. Not only is it a great, female-centric answer to the rash of "man-child" films that have seen release over the last few years, it effectively thumbs its nose at them and flips 'em the bird.
The Raid
Director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uweis took a gigantic leap up from their previous film together, Merantau and delivered the most intense, frenetic, kinetic, utterly enjoyable action film in years. This is a film you need to see with an audience; you all need to be wrapped up in the face-punching, flying-kick, elbow-smashing fighting, laughing, whooping and wincing together. But the boys don't just rely on the intense physical-interplay between cops and henchmen, they also layer in some simple but honest emotional beats and amp up the tension with consummate skill.
Margaret
Simply put, this is the best performance of Anna Paquin's career. Off cavorting with vampires and fairies now but way, way back when Margaret was filmed she dug deep into something honest and confronting and, yes, profound. Her character Lisa is hardly ever likeable, but she is empathetic. She's a young woman, struggling to make sense of and process the world around her - and that's key, really. The world around her; everything and everyone revolves around her, in her privileged teenage worldview. Margaret is shaggy, shambolic, frustrating, emotional, honest and more besides.
The Avengers
The pinnacle of comic-book filmmaking. I mean, how much do I really need to write about this film? Everyone saw it didn't they? It was absolutely everything I wanted and expected and even more besides. Even now, some months after last seeing it, I want to see it again. I love it, top-to-bottom, no questions, hands-down, flat-out love it. While not every comic-book movie needs to be (or even should be) like The Avengers, Joss Whedon and his tights'n'capes crew proved that smart, escapist fun done well still works.
So, that's a quick rundown of my favourite films so far. Feel free to share yours in the comments below; it's always interesting to see what clicked and didn't click with others. And even if you think the last 6 months have been absolute balls at the cinema, the rest of the year is shaping up to be a cracker. The films I'm still looking forward to: Cabin in the Woods, Looper, Django Unchained, The Master, Argo, Lawless (formerly The Wettest County) and Moonrise Kingdom. I feel the best is yet to come.
June 29, 2012
New Zealand International Film Festival: My Picks (Wellington edition)
Which of course means there are previews upon previews for upcoming films. And with the launch of the Wellington programme last night, I would be remiss if I didn't also offer my picks for 2012. Where possible, I've included links to trailers.
Hold onto your butts, and here. We. Go.
The opening night film is Beasts of the Southern Wild. I first heard of this coming out of Sundance and, aside from watching the magical trailer, I have avoided reading too much about it. It's one of those films I want to be a surprise.
Other films I've heard about but not read about to preserve as much of the discovery as possible, include the weird Cannes hit Holy Motors, the new film from Ben Wheatley Sightseers, the horror anthology V/H/S and Brit Marling (whose Another Earth I really, really didn't like) and her other low budget sci-fi Sound of my Voice. And, of course, the film rescued by Ant Timpson and the Festival from a direct to DVD release, Cabin in the Woods. One film I have seen but think everyone should see (everyone. I mean it), and with as little knowledge beforehand, is Klown. There's only the one showing in Wellington so make sure you get your tickets in early.
The Festival is also chock full of great documentaries, with ten feature-length New Zealand docos this year! There's mad maestro Werner Herzog with a basket-full of films interviewing death-row prisoners (Into the Abyss and various Portrait of... films), the Keanu Reeves produced investigation of film vs. digital Side by Side and Bully which will no doubt be an emotionally traumatic (but rewarding) experience.
The classic films lined up for this year are a truly delicious bunch. I'll be seeing, for the first time ever and on the big screen, Stanley Kubrick's horror classic The Shining. I'm going to be falling in love with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell all over again in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and I'm sure to fall for Jean Seberg in Bonjour Tristesse. And the Live Cinema event this year is the Clara Bow starring Mantrap.
This year the Festival has done something slightly different, when it comes to their selection of New Zealand shorts. In previous years there have been collections under the banner Homegrown. This year, in association with Madman Entertainment (who's logo I'll be seeing a lot of at the Festival) they're holding their first ever competition: New Zealand's Best. Other Kiwi films I'm looking forward to checking out are the two Wellington features Existence and How to Meet Girls from a Distance; a post-apocalyptic dystopia sci-fi and a twisted romantic-comedy respectively. Costa Botes makes his return with The Last Dogs of Winter, his documentary exploring the endangered native Eskimo dog the Qimmiq. There's also a number of other great looking documentaries and a selection of Maori and Pasifika short films.
And then there's all those other films that I've been hearing about for the best part of a year, coming out of other film festivals or having small, limited runs overseas. Films starring big-time Hollywoood actors in dark roles, like Rampart with Woody Harrelson as a violent, intolerant LA cop or Killer Joe with Matthew McConaughey as a killer for hire or Bernie with Jack Black as a suspected murderer with the creepy moustache to prove it. I was honestly not expecting Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom to be in the Festival as I'm sure it already has a general release secured. But hell, I'm certainly not complaining about getting to see it early!
Looking over my scribbled notes, lists and spreadsheet I could quite easily keep writing about the great films on offer. The new Studio Ghibli film Up on Poppy Hill, the delightfully charming looking I Wish, the bizarre and amazing looking double feature Far Out Far East (featuring body horror and time travelling), the Joel Edgerton and Antony Starr, um, starring Wish You Were Here. I've been a fan of Mads Mikkelsen since Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself and his performance in The Hunt earned him Best Actor at Cannes. Mathieu Kassovitz's Rebellion about the French response to an uprising in New Caledonia should be intriguing and visceral. How I Met Your Mother's Josh Radnor directs Martha Marcy May Marlene's Elizabeth Olson in Liberal Arts, which should at least be funny and sweet. Sean Penn goes super intriguingly weird in This Must be the Place and Gael Garcia Bernal features in No as an ad man attempting to defeat Pinochet in Chile's referendum and The Loneliest Planet as an adventure tourist travelling with his girlfriend through the Caucasus mountains. Ken Loach has the sweary Scottish comedy The Angel's Share, Micahel Haneke ponders love and death with the Palme d'Or winning Amour and... see? I've just gone on and on and on. I was supposed to be wrapping it up in this paragraph.
Ok. So, I've given some of my picks but one of the true joys of the Festival is discovering cinematic gems yourself. Do yourself a favour: pick up a programme, flick through a few times and just pick some films. Pick something that you might otherwise never get the chance to see; don't just go to the big nights. Get along to the documentaries, the small indie charmers and shockers. Surprise yourself.
So, what are your picks so far?
June 17, 2012
Why I love movies
So here, in incomplete form, is why I love movies:
Because of Eli Wallach's run through the graveyard in The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Because of Eli Wallach's introduction in The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Because of Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Because of Grace Kelly
Because of Lauren Bacall
Because of Bogie
Because of Cary Grant
Because of Ed Wood
Because of Ed Wood
Because I have been lucky enough to see the following classic films, for the first time, on the big screen: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Once Upon a Time in America, An American Werewolf in London, Manhattan, Badlands, Lawrence of Arabia, Steamboat Bill Jr, The Lost World, Bambi, Metropolis, Touch of Evil, The Adventures of Robin Hood, It Happened One Night, The Asphalt Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause, In a Lonely Place, The Big Sleep, The African Queen, North by Northwest, The Freshman, Safety Last, M, Singin' in the Rain, Blue Velvet, A Streetcar Named Desire, Gone With the Wind and The Apartment
Because I've also been lucky enough to see these classics on the big screen: Alien, Die Hard, The General, Gojira, Taxi Driver, Blade Runner, The Sound of Music, Rocky, 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Jurassic Park, Enter the Dragon and Some Like it Hot
Because of the little kid who got freaked out in a screening of the silent horror classic The Cat & the Canary and the rest of the audience knowing exactly what that felt like
Because of live cinema events
Because of the Back to the Future triple feature at the Embassy Theatre earlier this year
Because of the New Zealand International Film Festival, every year
Because seeing a movie in the cinema is still the best way to experience it
Because of the FilmCrit Hulk and how he has made me a better film watcher and writer
Because of those great soundtracks and themes that call to mind entire films with a few chords
Because of the work of Drew Struzan, Richard Amsel, Renato Casaro, Vic Fair and other amazing poster artists (check out the astounding Film on Paper)
Because of Mondo
Because of The American Astronaut, Rejected, Boy A, Donnie Darko, Winter's Bone, Cell 211, A Town Called Panic, Milocrorze: A Love Story and many more great, surprising and astounding films I've seen at film festivals
Because of Fantastic Fest
Because they combine visual, aural and chronal components in a way no other art-form can
Because of Terrence Malick
Because of Edgar Wright
Because of P.T. Anderson
Because of Paul Verhoeven
Because of David Lynch
Because of Martin Scorsese
Because of Steven Soderbergh
Because the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Diablo Cody all continue to make dialogue better
Because Sigourney Weaver rising four feet above the covers in Ghostbusters made me hide behind the couch as a kid
Because I had a VHS with RoboCop and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when I was a kid and it blew my mind
Because of the enthusiastic first night crowds I saw Spider-Man, X-Men 2 and The Avengers with
Because Rocky and First Blood are actually really, really good (also Conan The Barbarian)
Because of film noir
Because of Danger: Diabolik
Because of Buster Keaton
Because of Jackie Chan
Because of Arnie
Because of Marilyn Monroe
Because "Nobody's perfect!"
Because of Matthew McConaughy talking entirely in grunts in Reign of Fire
Because the first reveal of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park is still awe-inspiring
Because of stop-motion
Because of musicals
Because of the musical numbers, car chases and massive pile up in The Blues Brothers
Because, back in 1999, The Matrix blew my freaking mind
Because I've subsequently had my mind blown by There Will be Blood, The Fountain, Badlands, Animal Kingdom
Because, even now, when I see a truly drop-dead phenomenal film I feel it as a very physical thing
Because High Fidelity has helped me through some rough times
Because movies can still utterly destroy me and leave me a quivering, emotional wreck
Because movies can still utterly destroy me and leave me a laughing, gasping mess
Because there's trash and masterpieces... and sometimes they're the same film
Because of movie days/nights with my friends
Because of movie marathons
Because they're my autobiography
Because every single year sees the release of more amazing and surprising films that get added to my absolute favourites list
Because I still have so many great films to see
UPDATES:
Because Back to the Future is a perfect film in every aspect
Because of Christopher Reeve in Superman
Because The Princess Bride is still gloriously romantic and adventurous and hilarious and a little bizarre
Because of Bruno Lawrence in Utu
Because Gordon's alive!
Because of the school holidays I spent watching Hot Shots Part Deux! At least 15 times in 2 weeks
Because of Jimmy Stewart
Because of the cult of Bruce Campbell
Because I've seen Dirty Dancing a few times and I still don't get it. But I see why others do
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