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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Ironed out

Robert Downey Jr. What a man. Going from a strong upward career in the 80’s to a complete downward spiral into drugs and substance abuse that aired on the tragically funny side, see the incident involving a mistaken bed in 1996, to becoming an A list staple, it’s safe to say the man has been around the block a good few times.  Look “comeback” up in the dictionary and you will probably see a picture of his face. Never has someone returned to the celebrity stratosphere more perfectly than Downey and it must be more than coincidence that Iron Man 3 is a return to the charming, cheeky form of Tony Stark that audiences fell in love with in 2008.

 

 

 

Iron Man 3 picks up where The Avengers left off, leaving Tony to deal with a whole wealth of anxiety issues due to “what happened in New York”. A new super terrorist in the form of the always great Ben Kingsley is the new baddie up to bat, blowing places up and doing general bad guy things left right and centre. What follows could be summed up as the generic superhero story arch but Shane Black has done a terrific job in slotting in a few dips in the road of the action film highway. Fair enough there is no “I see dead people” twist during the end credits but there is enough intelligence to keep the movie feeling fresh and somewhat smart. Special credit also to Guy Pearce who fills in the smarmy suit void that the delightful Sam Rockwell left open in Iron Man 2.  Not to mention a good healthy dose of Downey Jr witticisms thrown in for good measure. That is after all what the movie goers paid the cost of the cinema ticket to see, right?

Some may argue that Robert Downey Jr. isn’t a good actor, that he just plays himself in all his roles. But I think it would be without question that the Iron Man franchise is what it is today thanks to the man himself. He adds a certain realism and tongue in cheek attitude to the films that speak the viewer’s thoughts, echoing a certain Dr.Jones along the way. He gets things wrong, fumbles with baddies, trips up during the big fight, but that’s what makes Tony Stark so gosh darn enjoyable to watch.

This might be the last viewers could see of the Iron Man but something tells me his story isn’t going to be over just yet. Normally with franchises they decline as the numbers after the titles rise but Iron Man 3 has taken a big leap up from its predecessor. The Fat Lady, or should I say Angus Young hasn’t sung just yet.

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Entrancing

Danny Boyle must live his life by the belief that variety is the spice of it. From big scale sci-fi to true life stories, from zombie attacks to quirky tales of love, ranging in locations from Scotland all the way to Mumbai no two Danny Boyle films share the same ideas. But where Mr.Boyle really comes into strength is with his inherent splash of “Boyle-ness” that seeps from the screen, making you instantly recognise his work from a mile away. Be it found in the original and trademark cinematography ( no over use of lens flares here ) or even just a few bars of some randomly placed 90’s House, or a plot with twists and turns that entertain the viewer not annoy ( M.Night take note ) a Danny Boyle film is hard to ignore.

 

With that being said his latest offering of Trance appears to have slipped under the radar for much of the general public. This film fryer-upper having gotten a lot of “What?” or “Never heard of it” when bringing Boyle’s most recent work in conversation. Which surprised me, fair enough, he was always a little bit more of an independent man, more Fox Searchlight than 20^TH Century, but this is the man who cleaned up at the Oscars a few years back, making him a household name overnight.

All that aside Trance maintains the essence of Boyle with some nice little twisty plot points along the way. Telling the story of a man who must undergo a series of hypnotherapy sessions to unlock the forgotten location of a very expensive painting he has robbed. It may not be as fresh a concept as Boyle’s earlier works and that may take away some of its charms, but it’s strong pace and great performances from the leads help this movie move a fraction above the normal fare running at your local picture house.  It sometimes feels like a mixed bag of ideas that have all been done before, see Inception and another film that if I told you its name would ruin a big plot point, and in the hands of another director it might have seemed contrived and a bit “head up its own ass-y” but with some great and jarring soundtrack choices and inspired casting ( see McAvoy playing against his usual character, one quite similar to Ewan McGregor’s in Shallow Grave ) , Trance is pulled off with a fine level of success. Fans of Boyle’s work will be harder on the director as they know what he is capable of but on its own, without comparison to other movies, Trance is an entertaining if flawed piece.

It’s great in places where it needs to be great and has flashes of Boyle’s earlier work but sometimes, like McAvoy’s accent, it slips up along the way. Entrancing, you bet, but it’s no Derren Brown.

 

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Pretty Stoked

One might be forgiven in believing that Park-Chan Wook’s first English language film has something to do with vampires. After all the name Stoker is so synonymous with the blood suckers, like Daniel Day Lewis and Oscar trophies, one is never far away from the other.  Written by Wentworth Miller, that’s right, the baldy one from Prison Break, Stoker might not have any real vampires in the mix but there is a lot of metaphorical blood sucking to sedate anyone’s appetite.

 

 

A slow, woozy thriller, Stoker tells the story of a newly widowed woman and her eighteen year old daughter, India, who unexpectedly have a new house guest in the form of a mysterious uncle. As the man’s mystery unravels and India begins to put the sordid pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together, instead of being repulsed or terrified she finds herself with a newly found incestuous infatuation for her long lost relative.

Park-Chan Wook shows the audience a master class in not wasting one iota of running time. Given that Stoker comes in at a below average 98 minutes, it’s a tight, taunt film where each and every single frame adds to the whole completeness of the plot and story. Unlike a lot of recent movies, where anything under two hours is nearly unheard of, Stoker never outstays its welcome. The imagery is more than beautiful, shots and symbolic spiders that will have you dissecting and discussing them for hours afterwards.

The script although good, could have been stronger. The three leads, Mia Wasikowska , Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode give award worthy performances in underacting and help hold the tension and atmosphere throughout but maybe they could have been helped with a stronger hand with the dialogue. They still do amazingly though and this is the film’s true triumph. Stoker could have come over all campy and crass but with the capable skills of the protagonists, it stays grounded. Hard hitting, with stoic iciness.

Stoker won’t suit the average cinema goer though. Although one look at the trailer would have you believe that its twist, after twist and action after action, there is only one real reveal that most people could see coming from a mile off.  There’s not much talking either but a lot of cold stares exchanged over dinner tables, open curtains and windows. Stoker is all about reading between the lines and listening out for what’s not being said. To quote its central character “sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse”, that is you could go see that new Jason Statham film but really, wouldn’t you rather do something bad?

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Getting Warmer

 

Girl meets pale, dead boy; A Love Story. Sound familiar? Well that’s because the bones (and rotting flesh) of Warm Bodies is all too similar to that of the Twilight franchise but thankfully all other likenesses , apart from the female lead bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain Ms. Stewart, end there. Warm Bodies is a surprisingly witty, quirky, original take on the zombie AND rom-com franchises. Of course there will be die hard zombie fans clutching their copies of Day of the Dead, breaking out into a disgust driven rant over this film but Warm Bodies knows what it is and doesn’t take itself as seriously as some movie buffs might.

Set in a world where an apocalyptic illness has spread, causing people to turn into the walking dead, Warm Bodies tells through the clever and well executed tool of voiceover, a young zombie’s perspective on the whole matter. When he meets the (living) girl of his dreams, he soon realises that maybe he might have a chance at being human again through the process of learning to love. It all sounds quite sappy and cliché, not to mention our leads are called R and Julie, but the film’s charm and self-awareness means that it can just about get away with it. This is also in part to great casting, intelligent dialogue and a well-paced plot line. With a great parallel and commentary on how teenage love is about mumblings and awkwardness, Warm Bodies is a great piece of light entertainment. Maybe even in a few years a cult favourite.

This movie won’t be for everyone though. The sheer ridiculousness of Warm Bodies makes it humorous to this Film Fryer Upper, watching a zombie comfort a girl in hysterics with a Bob Dylan record was an original and oddly funny idea to me. But many people will hate everything this film is about, the clash of genres, the muddled up ideas. If you are going to watch it, I’ll give you one piece of advice, don’t take it too seriously. I don’t think anyone else is.

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My Bloody Valentine

Valentines Day eh? A celebration that began when some dude got imprisoned for marrying soldiers who were forbidden to marry, many many moons ago.  Saint Valentine would probably be rolling in his grave if he saw all the cheap stuffed toys, romantic dine in for two’s, not to mention the over priced chocolate boxes.

As you can probably guess I’m not a fan of “commercial love day”. To me any grand gesture of undying, unfaltering love proclaimed on Feburary 14^th just means that much less. Give me a rainy Wednesday somewhere in November, or maybe even a crisp January morning. Being romantic then means that you thought about it, not that society told you to do it.  But anyways rant aside, one of my favourite pasttimes on “Love Day” is to watch some anti love films. You know the kind, ones that make you weep, ones that make you glad you didn’t follow the traditional root, ones that make you happy you sleep with only your cat every night, ones that make you thank your stars that you didn’t go on THAT second date. You know the way they say it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, well in these movies that is just a plain old lie.

Valentine’s Day, it’s not me, it’s you.

Blue Valentine:

Oh look its Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in a movie about relationships. Oh and look he is being all cutesy and playing the ukulele. Major sigh. Oh but wait, they both have a drinking problem, and they also appear to be dying slowly from the inside out. Oh and they seem to hate each other more and more by the second.

Perfect film to make you glad you don’t have someone to argue with

Edward Scissorhands:

An outsider falls in love with the small town, all American, Norman Rockwell, beauty queen. On the surface Edward Scissorhands seems like a great romantic fantasy movie but really if you scratch beneath the surface with its sharp blades, it’s just the tale of a girl who took too long to realise her emotions, which leads to the death of a teenage boy, the isolation of the lead and the unrequited love of everyone involved. As an old woman, she tells her story of this man, who changed her life but ultimately ruined his.

Real romantic, eh?

Eden Lake:

A loved up couple go on a romantic camping trip with the intention, unbeknown to the woman, of getting engaged. Just lovely. But wait what are those youths doing? Why are they hanging around this isolated part of the country? Cut to an hour and a half of the super happy couple getting tortured by some angry thugs and it makes you thankful that you turned down that opportunity for a romantic getaway.

Brokeback Mountain:

Ah Love. It can be found in the most unlikely places. Maybe even on a mountainside with your fellow worker in a tent. But really the people and lives ruined by Ennis and Jacks love for one another was sheer devastation. They had an undying love alright but it tore them apart each and every day of their adult lives because they couldn’t be together. Makes you wonder, maybe sitting at home on a Friday night and watching Tallafornia ain’t all that bad.


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You've been Django-ed

I don’t like Quentin Tarantino. There I said it. Over the years although I may have begun to slowly come around. And when I say come around I mean stop hating him with a passion and maybe actually tolerate and enjoy certain aspects of his films. Take Inglorious Basterds for instance, anyone who has seen it will remember the scene where Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger are meeting in the bar covertly only to be hassled by the Nazi Officer. Pure and gripping cinema, but a shame that the film descends into utter and unadulterated madness, ruining what was in turn an amazing first act. Bearing that in mind, as a consummate professional, I went into the viewing of Django Unchained with an open mind. After all, it does have Leonardo Di Caprio and Christoph Waltz on the billing.

 

 

Set in a pre-Civil War America in the South it tells the story of a bounty hunter who hires an ex-slave to help with his business of making money off the dead. The first act of the film is gripping, well-paced and beautifully directed. Genuine laughs a plenty while hitting hard with the graphic scenes of slavery and abuse.  But soon enough like all Tarantino films the plot descends into the ridiculous nearing the end of the second act. Normally it would have irked this reviewer to no end but at last this was a film that called for a guns blazing, bloody, no holes bared shoot out. After all it’s a western, a western paying homage to its b-grade counterparts. Finally Tarantino had found a genre where this kind of carry on was acceptable.

 

Don’t get me wrong though, there are still faults with this movie (See Jamie Foxx in general and a terribly jarring Tarantino cameo) but the positives tend to majorly outweigh the negatives.  Christoph Waltz and Leonardo Di Caprio seem to be having some brilliant competition as to who can be the most politely menacing person around them there parts and it’s a joy to watch. Some gripping scenes that will linger long after viewing, Django could have been disastrous but it wasn’t, it was pretty delightful.

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