Ararat (2002)
Starring: David Alpay, Eric Bogosian and Charles Aznavour
Directed by Atom Egoyan
Momentum Pictures
October 2003
Switching between the past and modern day, we see part of the events surrounding the Turkish/Armenian massacre at Mount Ararat, and the present day making of a film of the events. Adding poetic licence, the scriptwriter makes Gorky, an Armenian painter, a character and this brings in an art expert with knowledge and speculation on the man himself. She has a son and daughter by two different husbands. The son's father died trying to assassinate the Turkish ambassador, but the daughter resents the story she is told about her father dying by his own hand...
The same dark story is told from so many different angles here that you quickly feel depressed enough to consider watching a party political broadcast instead, or even eating a pot noodle (yes, that bad!). Charles Aznavour (yes, the guy who used to dance with himself) plays the film director, and Christopher Plummer plays a stone-faced customs man who stops the art consultant's son when entering the country, just so that he can blankly listen to his heartrending story.
The majority of films in this day and age will contain an element of humour, even if it's a wry comment or situational happenstance. It's all about light and shade. Without initial joy, how can you be taken by the sadness? People need to feel happy once in a while; it's what gets them through the trials and tribulations of everyday life. No such humour is to be found here. These are very serious themes; events which continue to shape the lives of the characters years after the event. Imagine Schindler's List and you won't be too far from the mark. At least Spielberg's film contained an underlying theme of hope, whereas this film prefers to stupefy itself in deep depression.
Many critics would find it simplicity itself to describe Ararat as pretentious or maudlin claptrap, but it doesn't quite fall that low. It is better than I expected. The characters appear to feel passionately about the past and how the new film might portray the apparent annihilation of the Armenian race. But would they really feel this strongly years later? In other words, do the Jews really still hate Germans, or just the idea of Nazism? Throughout history many nations have conquered and latterly been accused of mass slaughter: Turks, Greeks, British, Chinese, Romans, Americans... I can understand any race wanting to maintain its identity, but as one character in the film says, "Let's move on."
Not a bad film, by any means, but lacking that essential seed of hope for a bright future.
Bless This House (1972)
Starring: Sid James, Diana Coupland, Terry Scott, June Whitfield, Peter Butterworth, Robin Askwith
Directed by Gerald Thomas
Carlton Visual Entertainment
July 2003
When new neighbours move in next door, Sid fails to hit it off with the pompous civil servant, while Jean gets on with the wife like a house on fire (or in this case, like a shed on fire). Matters are further complicated when their son, Mike secretly starts dating the neighbour's daughter...
Shenanigans aplenty and lots of running around ensue in this slapstick film version of the seventies sitcom series of the same name. Whilst hardly enthralled, I do have somewhat fond memories of the series. This film doesn't quite live up to its standards. For anyone who doesn't remember Bless This House, imagine a cocktail mix of Carry On capers, Terry and June (Terry Scott and June Whitfield are the neighbours), and Confessions of a Window Cleaner (Robin Askwith). What do you mean, you don't remember any of those either? Where have you been? Doing something useful with your life?
There's a veritable who's who rogues gallery of comedy names from the sixties and seventies. Aside from the aforementioned, we have Sid James (not at his best here), Diana Coupland, Peter Butterworth, Janet Brown, Bill Maynard, Wendy Richard (for anybody who's interested, she was in Are You Being Served before EastEnders), and countless others.
The slapstick elements, accompanied by guffaws and "oops" type sound effects make you wish for a hole to open up and swallow you. In other words, you feel embarrassed for the cast. However, this was often the style of comedy from the era. The throw away one-liners work best; for instance, Jean waking up Sid to tell him the job she wants him to do isn't urgent. This is timeless comedy, and the expression on Sid's face speaks volumes. In fact, Sid James plays the long-suffering father subsequently adopted by Geoffrey Palmer in Butterflies and As Time Goes By, and more recently, Robert Lindsey in My Family.
I doubt that this film will find much of an audience alone, and with only an extra trailer to its credit, will not tempt the causal buyer. I would package this with other films as an example of comedy from the period, or even better, with the Bless This House series.
Breakdown (1997)
Starring: Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan
Directed & Co-Written by Jonathan Mostow
20th Century Fox
March 2003
Jeff and Amy Taylor are driving across state towards their new home when, after a near-miss with another vehicle, they break down on a desert road. A truck arrives and it's decided that Amy will catch a lift to a diner phone a few miles down the road. Jeff soon realises that his new 4-wheel drive has been sabotaged, but when he arrives at the diner nobody has seen his wife. Amy has been abducted as part of an ongoing kidnapping and extortion ring, and it seems that everybody is in on it. Jeff himself is ordered to have $90,000 that he doesn't possess wired from his bank to procure his wife's release. So begins a deadly game of cat and mouse, as he attempts to seek out and free his wife...
Kurt Russell has been one of the best modern action heroes, particularly in the excellent John Carpenter flicks Escape From New York and The Thing, but that approach wouldn't work here and, thankfully, Breakdown doesn't attempt it. Russell plays an average desperate man literally driven to the edge by a series of hazardous events. We witness the tumult of emotions (particularly convincing at the point when he believes his wife to be dead) and occasional ineptitude when forced to take matters into his own hands. Okay, so hanging on underneath a moving lorry and manoeuvring along its side is far-fetched, but you do get the impression that fear and desperation oblige the character to take ever-increasing risks.
Don't get me wrong; in the great scheme of things Breakdown is nothing very special. It isn't a blockbuster or a low-budget cult film, but something in-between. It borrows from Duel, The Hitcher and displays many influences; however, you don't fully realise this until you've enjoyed watching it.
As a dvd package it's poor. You would think an effort would be made to enhance this release with as many extras as possible: isolated music track, star filmographies... anything. With only a theatrical trailer to its name, there is no value for money except as a budget release.
Brian Pern - The Complete Series 1-3
Starring: Simon Day, Michael Kitchen, Rhys Thomas, Paul Whitehouse, Lucy Montgomery and Nigel Havers
BBC/Dazzler Media
April 2016
For the first time on DVD and Blu-ray, we have all three series of the Rock spoof, Brian Pern, starring Simon Day. Each series consists of three half-hour episodes (that’s nine in all) which chronicle the many trials and tribulations of a has-been Progressive Rock singer. It features a veritable host of famous guest actors, musicians and presenters, against a backdrop of home, studio and live venues. This long-overdue complete set is released by Dazzler Media. Let the fun begin…
Some people might say that this series owes its style origins to The Office. The only thing is, those people would be wrong. Without a shadow of a doubt, Brian Pern would not exist if not for the timeless success of the brilliant This is Spinal Tap (and maybe, The Ruttles). Rather than Tap’s premise of an ageing English Metal band touring America, we get the Rockumentary/mockumentary following the daily life of a Prog Rock star from the seventies, with potted histories and flashbacks to his earlier crazy days. Although it’s never said outright, you can’t avoid the fact that the character is modelled on Peter Gabriel of Genesis and a subsequent and quite different solo career. Brian Pern is often promoted here as being the first musician to use plasticine in a video, and the originator of World Music. As this is in effect a comedy played straight, there are plenty of situations which go disastrously wrong.
Series 1 – The Life of Rock With Brian Pern starts at the very beginning, poking fun at Rock’s origins. The period dominated by LSD comes complete with weird images which includes one of the worst sequences from Doctor Who in the 1980s, featuring a character karate-kicking an alien monster. There is a recurrent piece in all three series which is stolen directly from Doctor Who’s original 'Master Theme'. The point here is that, being a BBC show, the sky is the limit as regards to which old panel programmes, music presentations and news items can be dug out, dusted-off and manipulated for spoof purposes. There are appearances over the serial by such luminaries as Roger Taylor, Rick Wakeman, Rick Parfitt, Jools Holland, Noddy Holder, Chrissie Hynde, Paul Young, Roger Moore, Paul Whitehouse, Nigel Havers, Christopher Eccleston, Matt Lucas, Michael Kitchen, Simon Callow, Martin Freeman, Peter Bowles, Tony Blackburn, Cathy Burke, and many, many more.
Series 2 – Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is primarily about charity records and concerts, a musical play a la War of the Worlds, the Christmas album and tax evasion. I particularly like Pern’s radio interview by newscaster John Humphrys, in which he is asked some very pointed questions. Pern describes his charity record to save the rain forests, which has an ape singing backing vocals. When asked what he is going to use the money for, he explains it’s for bullet-proof vests to protect the gorillas from poachers. There is also Phil Collins playing the crashing drum piece from 'In the Air Tonight' over the top of the quiet intro to Led Zeppelin’s 'Stairway to Heaven'. The musical play is about Pern’s career, except without the music! The play becomes something quite different, and he can do nothing about it, as he is arrested. I particularly like the moment when Rick Parfitt is brought in to help him with his World Music album, but contributes only Status Quo-like 12-bar riffs.
Series 3 – 45 Years of Prog And Roll covers a potted history of the band Thotch, it’s albums and solo projects. A reunion concert is organised, and this spawns one of the best lines from Pern’s manager when he is originally against the idea: ‘Did you see the Rolling Stones at Glastonbury? It was like Last of the Summer Wine directed by George A. Romero!’ We also get to learn what the original members of Thotch really think of each other, and how they justify what they have become. The culmination of the whole thing is the reunion concert itself, which has some funny and bizarre moments, including the unwelcome appearance of an original member of Thotch, played at his mad thespian best by Simon Callow.
At some points the serial does suffer from diminishing returns, because you begin to guess what will happen in certain situations. However, overall, this is a highly enjoyable piece of comedic TV which will appeal to anyone who loves This is Spinal Tap, or simply wants an insight into the ridiculousness of the music industry.
The Deep End (2001)
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Johnathan Tucker, Raymond Barry & Peter Donat
Written & Directed by: David Siegel and Scott McGehee
20th Century Fox
September 2002
A woman witnesses an argument between her son and a man with criminal connections. When she comes across the body of the man, she assumes her son murdered him and sets about covering it up. When an associate arrives at the house with evidence of a sexual connection (so to speak!) between the dead man and her son, the woman becomes the subject of blackmail. However, when she fails to raise the money quickly enough the blackmailer shows up again, only to end up saving the life of the woman's father who has suffered a heart attack...
The Deep End is one of those thrillers where something small escalates out of control. One indecision or mistake accumulates and conspires to confound all attempts to lay the problem to rest. It's been done before and we'll see it again.
My first thought after viewing The Deep End was, if the mother had conducted a proper heart to heart with her son in the first place then none of the subsequent events would have occurred. The idea of someone going to any lengths to protect their family has so much scope for exploitation with the love-conquers-all theme and the hunted becoming the hunter, etc.
Despite good reviews plastered all over the dvd cover this movie fails to deliver on any of this. Just when you think the plot is starting to take off the whole package comes to a juddering halt like a tired old jalopy. This film isn't exactly a nonentity, it's simply mediocre, a damp squib. It certainly would have benefited from a tighter script and less lacklustre performances. Imagine any one of a hundred weekday afternoon telemovies screened by Channel 5 and you won't be too far from the mark.
Dr Mabuse the Gambler (1922)
Starring: Rudolph Klein-Rogge
Directed by Fritz Lang
May 2004
Dr Mabuse The Gambler is the precursor to the recently reviewed sequel, The Testament of Dr Mabuse. Based on a novel by Norbert Jacques, this one follows the exploits of a criminal genius who stamps his authority on 1920s German society. Through strict rules and force of will, he terrorises the public and those thieves, murderers and counterfeiters forced to work under his control, because no one crosses Dr Mabuse and lives...
First shown in 1922, Fritz Lang originally made this as a two-part film (4.5 hours in its entirety). Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays the title character as he did in the sequel (incidentally, he also played Rotwang the scientist in Lang's Metropolis). Proof that timing is an important factor in all things comes in the fact that The Gambler depicts more violence in a decadent society than Testament, and yet it was the latter which was banned by the Nazis, Hitler having just been appointed chancellor.
With the sequel already out on DVD, it's giving nothing away to reveal that The Gambler ends at the point of Mabuse's fall into madness and incarceration into a mental asylum.
Once again full marks go to the incredible reconstruction job carried out in 2000 using the German and foreign distribution negatives. The digitally remastered picture and sound is as clear as you could ever want it. Who would have believed a few years ago that we would be listening to a 1922 film score in digital 5.1 surround sound!
Having said that, because this is a silent movie (with both German and English subtitles) there is an unnecessary need for constant orchestral blasting or piano maiming. Imagine over four hours of manic Keystone Cops-type music and you'll probably understand why I was driven to distraction. But as soon as you mute the sound your mind wanders, so it is necessary in hindsight as a focus. The documentary Mabuse's Music has Aljoscha Zimmermann demonstrate and rationalise Gottfried Huppertz's composition, but a central theme even with variations soon wears thin.
Other extra features include: Norbert Jacques, the Literary Inventor of Dr Mabuse; the Motives and Themes of Mabuse; a photo gallery; Facts and Dates; Biographies; and Imprint (restoration credits).
As often proves the case, I preferred learning about the background to the film much more than the feature itself, but this two-disc package will be a worthy addition to any collector's library of any old and rare films.
The Guilty (2000)
Starring: Bill Pullman, Devon Sawa, Gabrielle Anwar & Joanne Whalley
Directed by Anthony Waller
Written by Simon Burke & William Davies
Mosaic Entertainment
February 2003
Crane, a top criminal lawyer (with the emphasis on criminal), rapes his new secretary and then arranges to have her killed when she threatens to destroy his new posting as a judge. Nathan, a young man just released from jail for car theft, gets the job. He is looking for his real father who happens to be the lawyer, and befriends two women, one of whom happens to be the rape victim. Before even learning the identity of his target, Nathan decides not to go through with it, but an associate who desperately needs the money takes the down-payment and carries out the hit. When Nathan arrives too late to save her, he is blamed for the murder...
Were you paying attention there, because I'll be asking questions later. The fact is the above describes just part of this intricate plot. There are more twists and turns in this movie than... well, a twisty-turny thing. None of the action really succeeds in pulling off a surprise, and you can't help feeling that it's too predictable. However, the performances are strong and the pace rockets along, pulling you with it. Even the commercial rock songs mix well with the incidental music, all of which suit the mood of the piece well.
Behind the majority of the scheming is Crane, who manipulates most of the other characters into acting out his own private puppet show. He steers the hitman into the lap of gangsters, sends his illegitimate son into a police trap, and even manages a convenient divorce with his wife. But the reason why there is no such thing as the perfect murder is nobody can possibly foresee all events; there's always a random factor which materialises to confound the best planning, and that's what we get here.
In short then, a movie with far too many convenient coincidences, which nevertheless succeeds in putting its story across well.
Verdict: 6 out of 10
(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2003)
The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Starring: Robert Evans
Directed by Brett Morgen & Nanette Burstein
Momentum Pictures
September 2003
A young man is discovered at a poolside and offered a part in a film. He goes on to star in another picture, but dreams of entering into production work. Finally achieving this, he works for Paramount, lifting it from number nine to number one company, and in doing so saving it from the brink of collapse. Now an independent producer, the future looks rosy. However, the police set him up in buying pharmaceutical drugs, and suddenly no one will do business with the man. When attempting to secure independent financing at the Cannes festival for his next film, he is named as a suspect in the killing of another producer with whom he had done business. Although never tried, and later proved innocent, he finds himself at rock bottom. He is ejected from the Paramount office, and sells his beloved home retreat. Contemplating suicide now, the man books himself into a sanitarium, but soon realises he is the only one who can get his life back on track. After a desperate breakout from the secure unit, the man strives to get back his house and recover his life...
With a rollercoaster plot like this, it could only be contrived fiction, right? Wrong. The Kid Stays in the Picture is the true life story of Robert Evans, at 35 years plus the longest running producer at Paramount Pictures. You couldn't invent such a turbulent history as this, or one with as much lucky happenstance and sheer excitement. At first I thought I was watching the making-of, rather than the main feature. The entire biopic is narrated by the man himself; there is next to no acted dialogue, and only a handful of old film scenes, the majority of the project being constructed of stills only. This may sound extremely tedious, but you soon find yourself sucked into a life-story of glitz, glamour, wheeling, dealing, scheming, bullying, back-stabbing, and of course sex.
Most people will not have heard of Robert Evans, so here's a few high- and low-points of his career, some of which you might be able to connect with. He produced Rosemary's Baby, employing Roman Polanski as director. Frank Sinatra demanded that his wife, Mia Farrow, be released for his film, The Detective. She agonised over the decision, but when Evans showed her the dailies she decided to stay. Sinatra arrived on the set to serve her his divorce papers; Farrow had the last laugh when Rosemary's Baby was the smash hit of the summer, easily outgrossing The Detective. Love Story practically saved Paramount from self-destruction. Evans married the female lead, Ali McGraw, but later lost her to an illicit love affair with Steve McQueen. When Evans was at his lowest ebb, the new head of Paramount - a man to whom Evans had given his first break back in the sixties - offered the producer back his old job. And, stranger still, Jack Nicholson persuaded the owner of Evans' old house to sell it back to him. You couldn't make it up! At a book-signing he was attracted to a woman and asked her out for dinner. She laughed in his face and said, "You're 72, my last two boyfriends didn't add up to that!" Six months later they were married.
This will appeal to fans of Robert Evans' work and general followers of the film industry. There's some great extras for anyone interested in this sort of thing: a couple of award ceremonies, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; film of a personal pitch for Love Story; interviews with various film business people on their experiences of Evans; A gag reel featuring mainly Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man (another of his productions); and a theatrical trailer. If you're only looking for whizzes and bangs, look elsewhere. This won't appeal to a mass mainstream audience, but it is refreshingly different and worth seeing at least once.
King of Ants (2003)
Starring: Kari Wuhrer, George Wendt, Daniel Baldwin
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Mosaic Entertainment
April 2004
Sean Crawley is a young man with no attachments who earns money doing odd jobs. When Duke Wayne offers him a cash-in-hand job following a man day and night he jumps at the chance. Then Duke takes Sean to meet Ray Matthews, a local businessman who offers him $13,000 to kill the man. Although he is expected to fail, thereby seriously frightening the man, he messily and somewhat clumsily succeeds...
Whilst the realisation of what he has done haunts him, he discovers that the dead man had been investigating corruption surrounding Matthews and his shady building enterprises. When demanding his money, Sean is physically threatened and ordered to leave town. He tells them he has the dead man's evidence file hidden and refuses to tell them where it is, so they drive him to a remote ranch where they periodically strike his head with a golf club, hoping to turn him into a vegetable. Eventually escaping, Sean makes his way back to town where he gets treatment and a bed at a mission. Susan, the beautiful widow of Sean's victim works there, and they strike up a close relationship. But everything goes sour when she finds his file, and Sean is obliged to take his revenge against Matthews, Duke, and their cohorts.
On the surface King of the Ants is an average tale of corruption and murder, but I have to confess it grows on you, slowly hooking you so that, even though you guess roughly how it's going to end, you want to see it through anyway. I suppose it's the age-old David and Goliath story of the little man (the "Ant" of the title) rising up in the face of adversity. It's also about survival, endurance and revenge, base human instincts.
This could so easily have looked silly; so many films about local villains tend to drown in cringeworthy dialogue, but King of the Ants, by luck or good judgement avoids the normal pitfalls. In fact, at the start of the story the filming appears amateurish, as if handled by a technophobe with a camcorder, but this is soon forgotten when the rest is completed competently and on an increasing scale, considering the cast is very small. It almost makes you think it was done on purpose... but not quite.
One drawback is Daniel Baldwin, so smooth as the corrupt businessman that he almost slips over several times on his ice-coolness. However, it is good to see George Wendt (Norm in Cheers) playing the hard man Duke, in contrast to his more well known half-drunken slob character.
King of the Ants is not so good that you'll want to watch it on a weekly basis, but it's well worth going out of your way to view once... Best described as an unmistakably low-key but enjoyable romp.
M (1931) - A Film by Fritz Lang
Starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke
Written & Directed by Fritz Lang
October 2003
A series of child murders takes place and the citizens are in a state of panic, publicly condemning the police for their lack of progress. While an inspector follows his first solid lead in the investigation, the city's underworld decides to take matters into its own hands, the heightened police presence being detrimental to its nefarious business practices and street crime. The murderer is finally cornered within an office building, but the villains of the underworld are obliged to wait until after dark to break in and systematically search for their prey. Succeeding just before the police arrive, they drag him off to an abandoned warehouse where they conduct a kangaroo court, with the intention of issuing out their own brand of vigilante justice...
Although a decent enough film for its time, M, unlike Metropolis, certainly doesn't deserve the 'classic' label attached to it by many film historians. This is a fictional piece said to be based on Peter Kurten, the real life 'Monster of Dusseldorf'. Made in 1931, it was subsequently banned under the Nazis and didn't resurface until 1960. The running time had been reduced from 117 minutes to only 99, and the movie was released under the titles M - Your Murderer Looks At You, and M - A City Hunts a Murderer.
Viewing the film now, it comes across as strangely unbalanced; at one moment frantic with movement, and the next fixing for an eternity on one frame. There is so much rushed dialogue that it is virtually impossible to keep up with the subtitles, requiring you to scan-read the text. As you would think, this somewhat mars the comfortable enjoyment of watching a movie. And when white words occasionally appear on a light background, you might as well give up hope.
The visuals make their point well, and the themes explored are brave and inventive for the period. Condemnation of the police and mob rule tactics were probably what led to its ban. Peter Lorre is... well, Peter Lorre: creepy and strange. Having said that, the film is still average in my eyes. What really deserves special mention is the extensive restoration work. The massive cleanup of both picture and sound from the original 35mm print is nothing short of miraculous. Judging by the documentary, The Restoration of M - Peter Campbell, it was a painstaking process using the latest technology. This was undoubtedly a labour of love. The comparisons show that the recovered film prints were practically unwatchable, plagued by multiple scratches, creases and all manner of white blotches, as well as sound marks. Seeing evidence of the damaged goods you would never have thought the finished product was possible. I can't praise this marvellous work enough.
Other extras in this two-disc set, aside from the aforementioned, include an interview with writer and director Fritz Lang; a documentary on the man himself; a visual essay from film historian R. Dixon Smith; animated biographies, photo gallery, set designs, and an interesting feature commentary (for example, the nasty rhyme sang by the children at the start of the picture, was made famous by M, but actually evolved a decade earlier when a killer terrorised Munich).
Obviously, this release will not appeal to many casual film-buyers; however, if you're a collector of old movies (and there are plenty around) this will be an indispensable purchase. The remastering, plethora of extras, and packaging alone deserve more points than the film itself.
The Man Who Sued God (2001)
Starring: Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, Colin Friels, Wendy Hughes
Directed by Mark Joffe
December 2003
Steve Myers is a lawyer turned fisherman whose boat is struck by lightening and sunk during a storm. Seriously out of pocket and with no livelihood, he turns to the insurance company. Although he insists his cover is comprehensive the company refuses to settle, citing the incident an Act of God. Knowing he can't win against the corporations, Myers decides to sue God instead. The church is forced to defend the case in court, whilst Myers represents himself and the countless others conned out of their rightful entitlement by a convenient interpretation of the law. The subject becomes a media circus, but when Anna Redmond, a reporter who helps him and with whom he falls in love, is revealed to be a long-time nuisance campaigner against insurance companies, he nearly loses the case. Nevertheless, Myers decides to go for a moral rather than true victory...
The quotes from various periodicals which adorn the cover of this video call this film "Hilarious", "A comic gem", and "Simply divine". The truth is it's none of these, but it is mildly amusing. The idea is sound, if a little far-fetched, and the cast is generally good.
The main part is played by that well-known stand-up comedian monster of mirth... Astro as Arthur the dog. Oh, and Billy Connelly's in it too. All joking aside, the dog is a superbly well-trained animal whose friendly and adventurous nature proves an ideal tool for warming the audience to the main players as quickly as possible.
Let's face it, nobody likes money-pinching bureaucrats, so the subject matter partly endears us to the film even though we realise it's both nonsense and morally valid.
The most apt phrase which springs to mind is quirky. There is no attempt to upset any ardent religious people; in fact, it's made plain by Connelly's character that he is not suing God in the literal sense, but a company whose representatives are the clergy. It is a device with which to point out that the church is being used by the insurance companies as a get-out clause; that they should be insulted by this defamation of character, because God is in effect being blamed for every personal disaster.
One Eyed King (2001)
Starring: Armand Assante, William Baldwin and Chazz Palminteri
Written & Directed by Bobby Moresco
Mosaic Entertainment
February 2005
In the gangland streets known as Hell's Kitchen a group of boys vow to support and protect each other. Years later two of them become involved in a money laundering scheme that goes seriously wrong, incurring the wrath of the local crime boss. When one of the group is discovered dead, supposedly of a drugs overdose, Frank learns the truth that he was killed. The most obvious suspect is the crime boss, but is it that simple?...
Crime lords, street gangs, drug dealers, Mafia mobsters or gangsters; they all meld into one messy blob as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps I'm not the best person to pass judgement on this film, because this is just about the worst genre there is. I think it's probably due to the fact the subject is all so clichéd, and One Eyed King is no exception. You can pretty much guess the events which will take place: stabbings, shootings, beatings, double-dealing and constant threats against the backdrop of strict Catholicism and strong family ties (yeah, right!) where they love their own like brothers until they turn their backs.
Characterisation is an even more convincing example of stereotyping. Italian (or Irish) Americans with slick-back hair (usually called Gino, Toni or Louis) put cotton wool in their cheeks and talk with dodgy Mafia-like accents.
All this might seem like rambling, but it gets my point across. This film achieves nothing in dispelling the myth. Predictable and monotonously conventional.
One Hour Photo (2002)
Starring: Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan
Directed by Mark Romanek
Si is a lonely man with no relatives or friends, who becomes obsessed with a family through camera prints he processes regularly whilst working at a one hour photo booth in a department store. When he learns via somebody else's prints that the man is having an affair, Si takes matters into his own hands...
Firstly, let me say that I'm not a fan of Robin Williams. In my opinion, he's one of those actors who is stuck in a single enactment of weakness and compassion, in the same manner that Jim Carrey can only do manic comedy. Having said all that, Williams pulls off a faultless performance and certainly the most natural since his fun-filled early start in Mork and Mindy. In fact, he carries the film, convincing me it would be nothing without him. I actually felt genuinely sympathetic towards the character who, with the best of intentions, goes about things the wrong way.
At the conclusion of the film we discover just why Si considers happy families to be so important. The revelation comes as a throw-away line, but it puts all the movie's motives into perspective. It's not the tightest script in the world. There's no outright resolution. The tale simply comes to an end without the audience discovering how the characters are affected, but it is compelling in its own way.
One Hour Photo is among those many films which lose much of their power after one viewing. However, as a family film which becomes a psychological thriller it serves its purpose well.
Plain Dirty (2003)
Starring: Dominique Swain, Henry Thomas and Karen Allen
Directed by Zev Berman
Written by Deborah Pryor
Mosaic Entertainment
November 2004
A pretty young woman is mistreated and often kept prisoner by her brute of a husband, watched over and aided by his backwater friend. A local clairvoyant/witch tells her on a rare outing that her true lover is close and, although the road will be hard, everything will turn out for the better in the end. It transpires she is seeing a young and rich businessman who only feels connected to life when he is with her. Her husband's friend hangs around her like a puppy-dog and she eventually manipulates him into killing her husband and dumping his body in the swamp. She is now free, but she hasn't accounted for the friend's infatuation, and the difference in class between her and her lover could be a bridge too far...
Although this is a fairly average film, you do find yourself being drawn into events. It's probably due to Inez (Dominique Swain) who manages sexy, vulnerable and scheming in degrees with little difficulty. Even dirty and beaten-up she is alluring; and this is necessary because otherwise you wouldn't believe the possessiveness of Edgar (Henry Thomas; remember Elliot in E.T.?) or the crush of the husband's friend.
Karen Allen, the supporting star of many 1980s movies (including John Carpenter's Starman and Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark), plays the chain-smoking mystic with no time for her kids.
Check this one out if you have 97 minutes to spare, but don't go out of your way.
Sleepless Town (1998)
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiiro, Mirai Yamamoto, Long Sihung
Directed by Chi-Ngai Lee
Based on the Novel by Seishu Hase
Ventura International
August 2005
Kenichi is a half-Chinese half-Japanese ex-member of the Taiwanese Mafia. He is both ostracised and held responsible for the killing of the Shanghai Don's right-hand-man, who was actually assassinated by Kenichi's old partner, Wu Fu-chun. Threatened on all sides by organised gangs from Taiwan, Shanghai and Beijing, Kenichi agrees to trace Fu-chun and hand him over. However, the situation is further complicated by the arrival of a young woman who says she can get him Fu-chun at a price. She appears to fall for Kenichi, but should she be trusted? The word is out that she's Fu-chun's woman and he wants her back...
Actually there's a lot more to this film than that, and that's undoubtedly its major downfall. I've got to admit I'm not a great lover of gangster movies. Sleepless Town is probably considerably more involved than most. There are some nice revelations and twists, but there's far too many players, making the plot confusing at times. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the look and feel of the movie, for which the director and cinematographer should feel proud.
Takeshi Kaneshiro (who was in House of Flying Daggers) plays the anti-hero part of Kenichi as a calm, somewhat cold fish that nevertheless you can't help liking. It's nice to see that occasional slip of the emotions which make him much more believable as a character.
The strangest thing about this film is the music. There's a repetitive theme reminiscent of what you might hear at a cheap French carnival. It is so far removed from the style of the movie that it simply doesn't fit at all. Likewise, the old song Unforgettable is played three times to montages of images which could easily have been cut entirely with no serious loss of plot progression. A rock-style Japanese song, used on the DVD's menus and the film's closing credits, would have suited as incidental music much better.
A lot of great films have emerged from East Asia during the last few years. I'm a big fan of Japanese horror (nobody does it better these days), and it's made me more open to sampling other genres from that part of the world. However, as I've already intimated, Mafia and gangs leave me somewhat cold. So, Sleepless Town gets a lower rating, but that's almost certainly down to the genre.
Taking Lives (2004)
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland and Olivier Martinez
Directed by D.J. Caruso
Written by Michael Pye & Jon Bokenkamp
Warner Home Video
September 2004
A young man travelling with a stranger pushes him in front of a vehicle and takes his identity. A few years later a murdered body turns up in Montreal, Canada. It is seriously mutilated, but a forensic reconstruction is conducted under the orders of Special Agent Illeana Scott of the FBI. Meanwhile, a woman reports seeing her dead son, and when his body is exhumed her story is substanciated. A witness to the murder has sketched the recently seen son of the woman, who it turns out had a favoured twin brother. The killer is temporarily living his victims' lives because he wants to remove himself from his earlier life - in other words, any life is better than his own. Scott gets drawn to the witness, but is he the innocent in fear of his life that he portrays?...
It's easy to dismiss this film as another in hundreds of American-style cops and robbers. Granted, it's set in Montreal, Canada, where there's a large French quarter, but you still have your mean, gun-toting detectives and a hard-nosed FBI agent, played by Angelina Tomb Raider Jolie. However, it is different in that the killer's sole motive is to live another person's life for a while, choosing somebody with as little ties as possible, discovering a bit about them before murdering them and mutilating the body so it can't be recognised.
Ethan Hawkes is solid as the villain of the piece and Jolie, who I've never really thought has had much going for her in the acting fraternity, aside from her admittedly good looks, herself puts in a good performance here - managing at relevant stages of the film to appear both tough and vulnerable.
The epilogue scene serves as the main conclusion to the film and incorporates a clever twist. However, having said everything above, Taking Lives still comes across as a low-key TV movie, far removed from blockbuster status and having a budget look representing the change from the director's supermarket food bill.
The Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933)
Starring: Rudolph Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Gustav Diessl
Directed by Fritz Lang
March 2004
Dr Mabuse, the Gambler was a two-part silent movie made by Fritz Lang in 1922. Mabuse was a crime lord who caused a wave of terror, death and destruction through his hypnotic prowess and evil genius, before eventually falling into madness after seeing the ghosts of his murder victims and being incarcerated in an insane asylum. In this talkie sequel made ten years later Dr Mabuse has made no outward progress in the asylum, simply staring into space. Now his hand begins to jerk violently in writing motions, and given a pen and paper he proceeds to scribble nonsense. However his penmanship becomes gradually more coherent until it's realised that Mabuse's 30 pages a day are intelligent instructions on how to run a successful reign of crime through fear and confusion. When the described crimes begin to be carried out for real, Inspector Lohmann (last seen on the trail of Peter Lorre's child murderer in Lang's M) takes up the case...
Originally premiered in 1933 in Budapest, The Testament of Dr Mabuse had been banned in Germany and wasn't shown again until 1951 in a shortened version. It was around this time that Adolf Hitler became Chancellor and Goebbels Minister for Enlightenment and Propaganda (!). It was said that Hitler was a great fan of Fritz Lang's work. Ironically, not only was Lang Austrian, but he was also Jewish. Goebbels apparently approached Lang, telling him he was aware of the man's "shortcomings" but thought him such an accomplished film maker that he wanted Lang to head the new Film Institute. Lang foresaw the inevitable and fled the country. Afterward, the film was banned by the Nazis because it "posed a threat to law and order and public safety", and the original film was seized.
This film is considerably more enjoyable than you might think. The ghosts which appear to Mabuse are very well done considering the year, and there is good use of lighting, particularly in the finale car chase where the approaching trees and the roadway ahead appear somewhat sinister. For a 105 minute film there is constant movement and progression, with a lot going on. There is the police mystery of who is running Mabuse's crime organisation, although the viewer already knows; sympathy for the character Kent who has unwittingly become embroiled in the events of the spree, dragging in his innocent girlfriend; there are arson attacks, robberies, shootings, and the clever idea of flooding a locked room to subdue the force of a bomb about to explode.
Like M, The Testament of Dr Mabuse has been lovingly restored, the picture and sound digitally remastered. The documentary included as an extra is interesting, but the subtitles are often difficult to keep up with, especially when there is a crowd scene or characters are arguing, their speech accelerated.
This film will appeal to collectors of old masters, but I wonder how much casual interest it will garner..
Wilt (1989)
Starring: Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith & Alison Steadman
Directed by Michael Tuchner
Carlton Visual Entertainment
July 2003
Henry Wilt is a a quiet, unassuming schoolteacher, constantly turned down for promotion, with a nagging wife who never listens to him. When a workman glimpses a woman's body just before cement is poured into a large hole in the ground on school property, and Wilt's crashed car is found near the scene, he is immediately suspected of the crime. Flint, the police inspector trying to make a name for himself, knows that Wilt's wife has been missing for three weeks and he's determined to break the man down and solve the case before his replacement returns from holiday. However, Wilt makes it hard work, telling a story so ridiculous that it simply must be the truth. But Flint can't see beyond his own aspirations of glory and promotion...
This film from the late eighties is an adaptation of the international bestselling book by Tom Sharpe. I remember reading it years ago on a recommendation and was suitably unimpressed. Humour, like all things, is objective; in this case you object to not being entertained! While that sounds harsh for what proved to be a popular novel, the comment doesn't so much apply to this movie.
You have to say that it's undoubtedly a masterstroke of inspired casting to have a successful comic double-act play the two pivotal roles. I've enjoyed the talents of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones since the heady days of Not The Nine O'Clock News. Here, their dry wit, sarcasm and timed interplay beefs-up what amounts to a very average script. The humour seems somehow dated, raising no more than a smile here and there nearly 15 years down the line. The ones that work are practically throwaway lines. As Wilt is driven away by the police, one of his unruly students shouts out, "Don't tell the bastards nothing!" Wilt absently corrects the youngster with, "Don't tell the bastards anything."
The idea that Flint suspects Wilt of being the serial strangler does not become conducive to the plot until the contrived conclusion. Wilt's wife, having paddled ashore from a sandbank-marooned boat, makes a phone call from a church. Wilt, now released by the police, arrives to collect her. The owner, a vicar, tries to strangle her, but Wilt has his own problems when Flint turns up to exact his revenge.
This is a competently structured film which is sadly dated as a comedy. Extras are thin on the ground, with only a short featurette and a trailer. Expect to find this one in the bargain bin.