Nocturnal Activities

Mind your asthma. Be careful not to breathe in too heavily if you have allergies. The dust in here is quite thick. Film Fry Up may have taken a long hiatus but hey it could have been longer.  But fear not, your favourite, mediocre, rambling, badly written film review blog is back in a sporadic fashion. So I’ll get the Mr Sheen out. Pass me that duster. And let’s forget about the neglect.

Served up on Film Fry Up’s plate this week is Nightcrawler. A Halloween release that is more unnerving than any film containing Ouija Boards, possessed dolls and busty blondes. 

Louis Bloom is a petty thief that stumbles upon a car crash late one night. A brief encounter with a news crew at the scene, (“If it bleeds, it leads”) he soon discovers that there is good money to be made in filming crime scenes and traffic collisions. Soon the pressures of success and demand begin to pile up, like a motorway accident, and Louis begins to take drastic measures to ensure he has subjects to film.

The commentary on the media, news networks and immorality is about a subtle as a sledgehammer to the head but Nightcrawler is masterfully held together with a truly mesmerising performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. His portrayal of Louis Bloom, a motivational jargon spouting, lonely, sociopath could have gone wrong in so many ways but Gyllenhaal injects just the right amount of humour to the role. You love to hate him. Dropping a reported 20lbs for the film, his face sunken, his eyes bugging, his hair slicked back, he resembles a coyote feeding off the night and a Brett Eason Ellis character all rolled into one.

Without giving the game away Louis never crosses that line from sociopath to psychopath. This makes Nightcrawler all the harder to shake off after viewing. We all know people that are determined, fast learners, driven like Louis. We all know that corporate, motivational, self-help language that streams out of his crooked mouth. Hearing Louis speak is a conversation everyone has heard a dozen times over. What makes Nightcrawler deeply unsettling is that the horror is not the monster in your closet, it’s not the wronged caretaker. It’s the person you talk to everyday, the person you share the lift with. How blurry is that line between right and wrong? Sane and insane?

Nightcrawler is one of those rare beasts. It’s an original screenplay, an original story, beautifully shot and superbly acted. In this current climate of prequels, sequels, remakes and comic book catastrophes it’s a refreshing palate cleanser.

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Ghoulish Guilty Pleasures

Ignore the little shits posting fireworks through your letter box. Turn a blind eye to that woman’s arse hanging out of her “sexy” ladybird costume. Air the house out from your pumpkin carving stink. Turn on the telly, put your feet up and enjoy Film Fry Up’s top three guilty pleasure Halloween movies.

 Let’s face it, with the clocks going back and a new storm forecast every week, staying inside has never seemed like a better option. Finding the perfect popcorn movie can be a hard thing though. You don’t want to it melt your brain like Inception, you don’t want it to run too long like Django Unchained and you certainly don’t want to watch anything too graphic like The Last House on the Left.  So let Film Fry Up make the call. Seen as it’s the Halloween season, let’s keep in the spirit of all things ghastly, ghoulish and altogether guilty pleasure-y!

3: Idle Hands (1999)

Back when The Offspring were cool (well, if they ever got close to being cool) Devon Sawa and Jessica Alba starred in a film about a stoner whose hand gets possessed by the devil. Get it? Idle hands make the devils work and all that jazz. Its camp, gory and a little bit crap but can be genuinely funny in places and will make you wish for the times when MTV only played music videos.

2: Halloween: H2O (1998)

I said these were guilty pleasures, right? Because when it comes to bad, very bad (and when I mean bad, I mean in a good/bad way) teen slasher movies you really can’t beat Halloween H2O.Josh Hartnett with  dire hair cut, the slutty one from Dawson's Creek, The kid from Jumanji all grown up (Well a little grown up), LL Cool J. Never has a movie call sheet read like H2O's. This is genuinely where it’s going. And it’s an enjoyable ride all the way. Tacky, fun and bringing Jamie Lee Curtis back to proper scream queen status, wrapped up in 85 perfect minutes, there’s not much else you could really ask for from the Halloween franchise (it was the reigning champ in Halloween sequels, that was until Rob Zombie released his) Oh and did I mention Josh Hartnett is in it?!

1: Hocus Pocus (1993)

Film Fry up couldn’t really write a blog about Halloween Movies and NOT mention Hocus Pocus. Getting its annual dust down off the shelves of our D.V.D collection is the children’s movies starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and 90’s teen heartthrob (ahhhhhhh!!!) Omri Katz. It really has all the elements for the perfect Halloween movie. Made in 1993 it’s aged quite well and remains a firm favourite in Film Fry Up HQ. Touching, light-hearted and a little creepy in parts you can never go wrong with a little Hocus Pocus. 

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Relocation, relocation, relocation

Well it has been awhile, hasn’t it? Film Fry up has had a change of location, to an old renovated convent. And yes like all good horror films that’s normally the start of something bad. As long as our kitchen isn’t sitting atop an ancient Indian burial ground I think we might just be fine for the time being. But enough about all that Amityville Horror shtick, let’s get down to brass tacks and fill all you lovely readers (yes the two of you) in on what’s been occupying Film Fry-Ups brain cells and ocular  devices for our brief hiatus.

Starting things off is the Way Way Back (2013), a run of the mill coming of age story with all the charms and quirks that is normally involved in a Fox Searchlight picture. Steve Carrell and Sam Rockwell, a firm Film Fry Up favourite (try saying that five times fast), switch their usual typecasting roles of Mr Nice and Asshole and it works a treat. This film won’t change your life but it’s full of witty, heartfelt moments that help push it over the standard indie movie fare.

Probably the biggest shock over the past few months came from The Good Doctor (2011). No the film isn’t good but gawd Orlando Bloom is. Who knew? Almost always wooden, I’ve become used to seeing better acting performances from my cat, but he knocks it out of the park in The Good Doctor.  Telling the story of a doctor who makes malpractice an art form, the film never really escalates to where it should be heading but Bloom’s performance is enough to keep the viewer entertained for its trim 93 minutes running time.

Trim running time is something that Denis Villeneuve should have taken on board when editing Prisoners (2013). Every once in a while a movie like this hits the talky picture shows. The one that gets praise and amazing reviews and with a stellar cast including Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, Film Fry Up went into their screening with high hopes. Fast forward a very long, drawn out three hours and one numb backside and an empty pick a mix later, wondering what movie these other reviewers had been to see? Because it certainly wasn’t this bloated, unintelligent, uninspired, B-grade Criminal Minds, snooze fest, Film Fry Up went to see. Biggest disappointment in a while.

And rounding up this little catch up is a recommendation for all you docu buffs out there, if you haven’t seen it already that is. West of Memphis (2012) is probably the most complete and comprehensive documentary made on the West Memphis Three case to date. Shocking, uplifting, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining, it’s a must whether you know everything or nothing about the lives of the WM3 men.

Well that’s about it my dear friend. Let’s not leave it this long in the future, eh? Don’t be a stranger.

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Calm before the storm

It’s been eighteen years since Jesse and Celine first met on that train heading to Vienna and it’s been nine years since Jesse missed that flight.  Richard Linklater’s trilogy of Before films capture that magical moment of meeting, connecting and falling in love with someone on an honest, real and relatable level that is always hard to find in romantic movies. Normally set over a short few hours they have become a real case study into the workings of relationships, communication and ideals. On paper and in theory they shouldn’t work, the films comprise of one hundred or so minutes of conversation. Long shots of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delphy) spouting dialogue that feels more like a stream of consciousness than a script, but this is where the films soar. The chemistry between the two leads is something that doesn’t come around all too often and the performances suck the viewer in rather than exclude them. And thankfully for all fans of the franchise, Before Midnight stays true to its predecessors and is a brilliant third act to the play about these two lovebirds.
 

 Without giving too much away the story picks up nine years after that faithful day in Paris, where we see Jesse and Celine enjoying, or maybe not, a holiday in Greece.  The banter is as strong as ever and the chemistry still sizzles between Delphy and Hawke. There are a few more age lines, on the leads faces and on the relationship but the dialogue is just as smart, intelligent, witty and truthful as it was all those years ago. Most franchises would sink into oblivion now in days if nine years were spaced between their follow ups but with this trilogy it just helps cement the realistic tone, while standing as a testament to the impact these two characters have had on people’s consciousness.

More brutal in its approach than Before Sunrise and Sunset, Before Midnight is almost uncomfortable to watch in certain parts which is definitely proof of its triumph. Conversations seem familiar and all too well performed by the leads. As realistic yet magical as it’s predecessors Before Midnight isn’t the ill-fated third chapter cinemagoers are so used to now in days. Jesse and Celine still have some bark left in them, and maybe even some bite.

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All that glitters...

Steven Soderbergh in recent years has definitely kept the audience guessing. Going from big budget crime capers to heartfelt tales of male exotic dancers, there isn’t a pin big enough to stick a label into his directorial preference. His next piece of work, up on the plate of Film Fry Up, is Behind the Candelabra, a Liberace biopic.  Now correct me if I’m wrong but for most people Liberace may not be a person they would be all too familiar with, let’s say anyone under the age of 25. This Fryer Upper having only been familiar with his name as an adjective. I grew up in a house where anything outrageous or covered in glitter was often called “very Liberace”. Within saying that I shared a house with an 80 year old woman, that same demographic that vastly populated the screening of Behind The Candelabra that Film Fry Up attended.

 

 

Telling the story of Liberace, a man famous for his ostentatious clothes and taste as much as for playing the piano, and his relationship and secret love affair with Scott Thorson. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon play expertly against their type casting and are a joy to watch. Deemed too “gay” for American theatrical release only speaks volumes as to the men’s ability to act the pants off every scene (and the ridiculousness of America).  There’s great whimsy in Behind the Candelabra but lurking underneath the piles of fur and pounds of gold jewellery there’s an ominous dark side of drug abuse and neglect, which contrasts beautifully to the glitter and glitz. Everything in this movie is played out expertly and precisely but somewhere along the way the piece starts to feel empty, lacking a substance of great importance. This is always an issue with biopics and maybe that’s why Walk The Line was so successful as it had great meat on its bones that kept the audience entertained. But apart from the amazing and thoroughly engrossing relationship between Liberace and Scott, there isn’t much else on offer here.

Behind The Candelabra may not be fully worthy of its overtly positive reviews and ratings. It does seem that once an actor steps outside their proverbial box, may it be either to lose weight, get ugly, play against type cast or to go “Forrest Gump”, they get inundated with praise and accolades. Now Michael Douglas and Matt Damon may be worthy of such but Behind The Candelabra as a whole? Not really. Maybe America was right in the decision to stick it on HBO, at times it’s a great and even brilliant  T.V. movie but that’s just about where the buck, and all the sequins, stop.

 

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The Good Gatsby

Baz Lurhmann has given the cinema going public some great films in the last decade or so. Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and even Moulin Rouge have all married his trademark style and memorable soundtracks with stories of great loves and losses. Now correct me if I’m wrong but Baz Lurhmann adapting The Great Gatsby, one of the greatest stories of love, loss and hope around, seemed like a match made in heaven. But sadly this film’s treacherous climb to those pearly gates stumbled and fell somewhere along the way.

 

 

I think it would be redundant in any critique of this movie to slate it for not rigidly sticking to the book’s plot, as amazing as the book may be, watching something adapted for the big screen means that a director has taken a great story and put their own stamp on it. A mundane blow by blow retelling of the Great Gatsby would have been uninspired and altogether disappointing. I’m not a purist, if the film maintains its main theme and message, which made the Gatsby so great; then by all means change away. Within saying that amid all the amazing sets, brilliant costumes and perfect performances, Lurhmann’s take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal classic seems to have lost its heart on the dance floor among the glittering confetti and spilled bathtub gin.

Telling the tale of rich people and rich people’s woes, it all becomes a bit “first world problems”. The films saving grace in this respective is in the form of Leonardo DiCaprio. One of many men to fill in the shoes of Jay Gatsby, his performance is understated, complex, vulnerable and just the perfect dash of crazy.  Gatsby is not an easy character to portray but DiCaprio makes it look effortless, even in a pink suit.  Tobey Maguire lets the side down with a very banal and bland turn as the story narrator Nick Carraway but that could be more to do with the script and less to do with the man himself.

Another hit and miss aspect of The Great Gatsby is the soundtrack. Lurhmann in the past has had a great knack of mixing the old with the new. Anyone just has to give a listen to the Romeo + Juliet or even the Moulin Rouge soundtrack to know that but here it just doesn’t work. I admire him for the attempt but it fails due to the obscurity of some of the songs. Crazy in Love is re worked brilliantly and there is a nice touch of Jay-Z along the way but when it came to the blow out party scenes, the music sat jarringly with the film as opposed to complementing it.

Feeling like it’s fallen off the back of the Baz Lurhmann automated production line, The Great Gatsby has too many similarites with his previous works.  Its bookend scenes nearly lifted directly from Moulin Rouge. While visually stunning, it resonates a hollow centre, much like many of its characters. But if you’re a fan of the book, or even a fan of DiCaprio then it might be worth your time. The Great Gatsby, no, but the Good Gatsby, maybe.

 

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Maniac on the dancefloor

Horror remakes normally lack in the fresh meat stakes. They seem to either be blow by blow retellings with better FX or uninspired gore fests with under developed characters and unoriginal ideas.  Maniac is an interesting case as although it may be laden with fake blood and horror clichés it also has inspired performances and interesting directorial decisions.

 

 

In the 1980’s Maniac became a cult classic, telling the story of a man who falls in love, only he also happens to be obsessed with murdering women and using them to complete his mannequin collection through the delightful process of scalping.  Although 2013’s Maniac has slight changes to the script, the foundations of the film remain the same, there are still lots of mannequins and yes you guessed it, lots of scalping. Elijah Wood cast in the role of Frank, the films maniac, is an inspired choice. Yeah we have seen him play against character before, see Sin City, but he had no easy feat getting this complex psycho across. His demeanour and look add depth to the idea of this on-going internal struggle, flashing from angel to devil in two seconds flat. The film is shot in the POV of Frank, so considering that Mr. Wood’s face is on screen for all of about ten minutes, he still manages through brilliant off camera dialogue to convey a truly horrifying young man. Although the camera shots may annoy along the way, it helps to cement this feeling of claustrophobia and uncomfortable closeness in the viewer to a majorly deranged person. A breath of fresh air and a great directorial choice from Franck Khalfoun, whose previous outings are all trashy straight to DVD slashers. If you have seen P2 or Switchblade Romance please get in touch, you may need professional help.

The story itself is a little under developed and a tad on the deja vu side of things. There’s Bates inspired mother issues and of course the obligatory migraines. It would have been helped by a little less of the gore and a little more of a story. Saying that, the gore is great. It might not have meant to be on the funny side of things but a little chuckle did escape this film fryer-upper during some of the more ludicrous moments of the bloodbath.

You could do worse than watch Maniac; it’s a neat little package that doesn’t over stay its welcome, wrapped up in 89 minutes. If you like actors playing against typecasting and a soundtrack drenched in perfectly subtle 80’s synths then this just might be a surprise success for you. If you don’t, then just don’t bother. That other film about mannequins with Andrew McCarthy is pretty good too. Give that one a watch. Just don’t mix them up.

 

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