Monday 28th April 2008
The Oxford Murders (UK/Spain)
Director - Alex De La Iglesia
Cast - Elijah Wood, John Hurt, Leonor Watling...


* * * * *




The Oxford Murders is reportedly billing itself as a 'thinking mans' The Da Vinci Code'. If this is true, then never has there been such a damning critique of Darren Brown's novel. For The Oxford Murders is quite ridiculous, and only those who have undergone a lobotomy will find it the least bit entertaining.

A harsh assessment? Yes. But still, some of the glaring mistakes that Alex De La Iglesia makes are simply unforgivable. The Da Vinci Code was utter rubbish, yet at least it was endearing and mildly entertaining because Brown had took the time to create believable characters and fragments of fact. De La Iglesis however, throws any sort of believability right out of the window in the opening minutes. Elijah Wood (In a similar way to Michael J Fox used to be) is a very difficult actor to cast. He is woefully mis-cast in this picture. Not one, but two female protagonists fall head over heels for Wood's character in the space of literally hours. One is even brazen enough to brand around the 'L' word. People have chewed gum for a longer time than it has taken these women to surrender to Wood's charm. As likable and handsome as he may be, Wood is certainly no Brando or Bogart. The sight of this maths geek licking spaghetti off of Leonor Watlings chest is preposterous.

As is the pseudo-intellectual jargon that litters the dialogue. It doesn't take a mathematician to work out that what they are saying makes no sense at all. The plot has so many holes in it, you could drive a double decker bus through them. The saving grace of the whole movie is John Hurt, who just about manges to escape with his dignity in tact. What is most frustrating, is that you can see what De La Iglesia is trying to do, and he has managed to assemble a great cast. Yet his execution way off mark. The way Almodovar actress Watling is restricted to nothing other than having her cleavage photographed is quite laughable, even borderline offensive at times.

This film has very few redeeming features over than the shock and awe factor of watching just how badly everyone involved managed to get it wrong.

Monday 21st April 2008
Happy-Go-Lucky - (UK)
Director - Mike Leigh
Cast - Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman...

* * * * *

Sally Hawkins' performance in Happy-Go-Lucky has been getting all the plaudits and you can certainly see why. It is an endearing, sympathetic, and fully rounded creation of a character that, on paper at least, could have come across very irritating. Yet it is Eddie Marsan who deserves the greatest praise. Marsan delivers a virtuoso performance, full of self loathing and inherent anger. It is the conflict between these two juxtapositions that provide the movie with its strongest moments.

There has been plenty of talk about how this is a very 'Un-Leigh' type of film. Such comments are slightly misjudged and plenty of Mike Leigh's themes and stylings are evident here. However, the way Happy-Go-Lucky differs to many of Leigh's previous pictures is in its focus. This is not to suggest that the film is not constructed with any clarity of thought. Rather, Leigh's passionate and interesting Social-Political points are not as in your face so to speak, preferring to lie within the subtext of a character driven piece. There are a few moments when such concerns do surface and this is ultimately where Leigh and the movie are most effective.

As a whole, this is a well constructed and beautifully acted film. Yet is infuriatingly average at times, and lacks the real power of a Naked or a Secrets and Lies. Consequently Happy-Go-Lucky is not a classic of the Mike Leigh oeuvre.

Monday 14th April 2008
Rec - (Spain)
Director - Juame Balaguero and Luis Bardejo
Cast - Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchurd...





* * * * *





Spanish horror and fantasy is really flavour of the month at present. While Rec doesn't evolve or add anything new to this statement, it is an example of a solidly made genre piece.



Rec uses the same 'real footage' aesthetic that first rose to prominence in The Blair Witch Project and has been more recently reinvented in J.J Abrams Cloverfield and George A. Romero's The Diary of the Dead. The immediacy and plausibility of the footage works well in Rec (as apposed to Cloverfield), however it can at times become nauseating and more than a little frustrating. This is a major flaw that this type of shooting style needs to address and overcome.



Rec plays to its strengths though. All the action takes place in one setting, which creates great immediacy and dread, as well as enabling the narrative to progress quickly and anarchically.



Important for a horror film, Rec does have a number of scares. Although these are a little cliched, they are still executed to great effect. The movie is ultimately a faithful recreation of the feeling people may get from computer games such as House of the Dead or Resident Evil. Such a statement pre-empts the conclusion that Rec will not be everyone's cup of tea and is certainly not a must see. This should be filed under a 'Horror Fans Guilty Pleasure'.

Monday 7th April

Son of Rambow - (UK)

Director - Garth Jennings

Cast - Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jessica Stephenson...

* * * * *

Son of Rambow is a charming family film. One that is refreshing to see in this age of political correctness and over the top special effects. It is very much in the ilk of Stand by Me and The Goonies and attempts to show a childhood that is full of excitement, danger and companionship.

The two young outcasts, Bill Milner and Will Poulter respectively, who decide to make their own follow up to Stallone’s Rambo: First Blood are terrific. As is the style of the film, shot with inventiveness and a keen eye for detail by ‘Hammer and Tongs’ duo Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith. The film really takes off when the two youngsters are actually in the process of making the film. This is where Jennings can really focus on the idealism of childhood, the naivety and affirming way in which they can escape into their own magical world, leaving the troubles of the real world.

The real world, however, is where Son of Rambow struggles. The family dynamics are painted with very broad strokes and at times, the movie falls in to sentimentality. The ending in particular, feels a little trite.

That being said, this is fairly enjoyable stuff and it is great to see a family film that has its heart firmly in the right place.

Monday 31st March

Funny Games US - (USA)

Director - Michael Haneke

Cast - Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt...

* * * * *

Michael Haneke’s shot for shot remake of his German language original is an expertly constructed and gruelling cinematic experience.

Its comments on the presentation of violence in film are still as important today as they were back in 1997. Haneke, as with all of his work, handles the material in a clinical and methodical manner and creates images and moments that have more meaning than the entire film catalogue of some directors. His films are not always easy to watch and Funny Games is certainly no exception. It touches on fundamental fears and forces the audience to become self-reflexive in their viewing.

Despite such high brow concerns; at its base level, Funny Games is a gripping thriller. With economy and intensity, it will quite literally churn up your insides and scare you relentlessly.
Fundamentally however, you have to give yourself over to this film. It has a distinctive style and tone that your typical Hollywood audience would not be accustomed to. This in turn makes the re-make problematic. Funny Games’ 'intended' audience will be reluctant at best to sit through what is categorically an art house picture. As pointed out harshly by plenty of critics, Haneke is unfortunately preaching to the converted. Yet his ambitions and aims should not be lazily dismissed.

If Funny Games opens the eyes of just a small number of people who have endorsed the adolescence and banality of ‘torture porn’ films for instance, it would be a worthwhile exercise.

Even on its own merits. Funny Games is a technically brilliant movie and worth seeing for that reason alone.

Monday 24th March

Lars and the Real Girl - (USA)

Director - Craig Gillespie

Cast - Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Shneider...

* * * * *

Lars and the Real Girl is unbearably saccharine to even the sweetest of teeth. It gets so caught up in its own quirkiness that it actually forgets to say anything of any purpose.

This is a shame. Because at its essence, Craig Gillespie has a wonderful concept and potentially a great story to tell. He also has at his disposal a really good young actor in Ryan Gosling, who performs with great charm and depth. Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider also give great performances as his brother and sister in law respectively. The rest of the supporting cast however, simply blend in to one happy, smiling whole; devoid of any real believability.

This is an American indie of the worst kind. One devoid of substance and merit. Lars and the Real Girl has very little to say on mental illness, relationships, masculinity or the role of woman. This is a film that looks good, but has very little going on between the ears.

Asides from this, there is very little else to say about this lightweight picture. What could have been this years Secretary or Happiness, will merely float away into the periphery.

Monday 14th March 2008
The Orphanage (Spain)
Director - Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast - Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep...

* * * * *

A month ago this blog suggested that the horror genre might be dead. George A Romero’s The Diary of the Dead recently questioned this. The Orphanage however, has now blown this theory right out of the water.

The Orphanage is the scariest movie in over ten years. Directed skilfully by first timer Juan Antonio Bayona with great restraint, and with a knowledge of what truly gets underneath an audiences skin as apposed to the usual cheap and inconsequential shocks present in contemporary horror movies. The Orphanage taps in to feelings of loneliness, isolation and guilt and refuses to offer any easy answers, instead preferring to stalk us around every locked door and dark cave.

On the surface, The Orphanage is simply a genre piece, full of many of the tropes we have come to expect with a good horror yarn. Yet, the film manages to retain a freshness. This has a lot to do with the script by Sergio G. Sanchez. It has real depth. It picks at the scars of the Spanish Civil War and reveals that the wound is still bloody, and runs very deep. On a more individual level, it explores our own conscience and how we treat those needier than us. All in all, it is a very uncomfortable watch.

The Orphanage, like many of the great horrors from the past such as The Shinning and The Exorcist will stay with you for years to come; its images of terror will be burned on to your retina.