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From the Archives: Container (2006)

14 Feb

Swedish auteur Lukas Moodysson has never been afraid to take risks. His 2004 feature A Hole in My Heart was a visceral insight into the lives of a dysfunctional family unit involved in amateur pornography. It challenged audiences and critics alike with its graphic representations of genital mutilation, vomit and urination. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Moodysson’s latest film Container once again represents a radical departure from convention. Devoid of any standard narrative structure or substance, Moodysson’s bleak black-and-white visuals come accompanied by American actress Jena Malone’s monotone, yet strangely hypnotic voiceover. Her words only occasionally bear any relation to what is happening on the screen.

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The Woman in Black (2012)

9 Feb

Those familiar with Susan Hill’s 1983 novel The Woman in Black and the ensuing stage adaptation will be au fait with this terrifying tale of death and revenge. Perhaps surprisingly, this haunting story has only been adapted for the screen once before, in the form of a 1989 BBC TV movie and this long overdue big screen adaptation promises much given the involvement of horror veterans Hammer Film Productions.

Hammer and director James Watkins pulled off what some might have perceived as something of a coup by signing up none other than Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, to play the lead Arthur Kipps. This is what is sure to be the first of many forays into uncertain territory for Radcliffe as he looks to distance himself from the looming spectre of Harry, Dumbledore, Hogwarts et al, an unenviable task if there ever was one.

Don't call me HARRY!

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Dreams of a Life (2011)

8 Feb

The story of Joyce Vincent (played by Zawe Ashton in re-enactments) — a woman who died alone in her North London bedsit just before Christmas 2003 and lay undiscovered until January 2006 — forms the devastatingly moving basis of Carol Morley’s superb documentary.

Fascinated by the story, Ms. Morley’s investigative determination to unravel the mystery and get to the bottom of how Joyce could seemingly slip so readily through the cracks of society actually ends up being so much more than a quest for answers.

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THE LOWDOWN WEEK 4

6 Feb

Superhero geeks of the world unite, because 2012 looks set to be the year of the nerdgasm. Just about every superhero name under the shadow of Vulcan is set to receive a big screen outing this year with the likes of The Avengers, Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) and Spiderman all setting box office tasers to Ka-ching. Or something? Anyway, to get your collective juices flowing, this week we’re treated to Chronicle, a sort of Heroes/Cloverfield (but with brains attached) type hybrid.

If superkids smashing things up with spooky powers doesn’t sound like your thing, then there’s a plethora of quality fare on offer elsewhere. Polanski treats us to delectable comedy Carnage, there’s an alliteration phobics worst nightmare in the form of hippy cult thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene and Charlize Theron plays a character called Mavis (come on!) in Young Adult.

chronicle ver3

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

3 Feb

The BBC’S 1979 seven part adaptation of John le Carré’s novel Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, starring Alec Guinness, raised the bar and set the subsequent benchmark for the spy thriller genre. The BBC did such a swirling, masterful, magnificently epic job, that it’s little wonder that it’s taken 32 years to take the story to the big screen. Thankfully, the delectable team of Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and scribes le Carré and Peter Straughan deliver in spades, because this is an absorbing, treat of a film.

It’s 1973, the midst of the Cold War and the British secret service is in a state of flux, riven by division, upheaval and change. To make matters worse, a botched snatch job in Budapest exposes the Circus (the intelligence service’s top table) to criticism resulting in Control (John Hurt) and right hand man George Smiley (an introspective Gary Oldman) being forced into retirement. Smiley whiles away his time in forced exile, lacking any meaningful purpose or direction, until a tip off from an apparent rogue agent, Ricki Tarr (the brilliant Tom Hardy), suggests that a Russian mole has infiltrated the Circus. Smiley, tasked with identifying the mole, recruits Tarr’s senior agent Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help him untangle the web of deceit and deception that has enveloped the agency.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Bombay Beach (2011)

2 Feb

The tiny settlement of Bombay Beach nestles on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea in South Eastern California.  It’s a fractured piece of Americana, a relic of an abortive 1950’s tourism development that now lies neglected, forgotten and rapidly decaying.  It’s also home to a small but eclectic posse of folk who exist very literally on the fringes of society.   Confronted by death and decay at every turn, one could be forgiven for thinking this was a place shorn of hope, a haven for those who had given up on ‘normal’ life. However, Alma Ha’rel’s stunning documentary paints a very different and utterly beautiful picture of life lived on the edge.

Ha’rel’s picture opens with a prologue of a ‘50’s advert selling the Salton Sea as a booming region of prosperity and growth, the very definition of the American Dream.  Fast forward to the present day and the reality couldn’t be more markedly different.  Bombay Beach lies rusting and almost deserted, a derelict and unforgiving place.

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THE LOWDOWN WEEK 3

30 Jan

It seems that nary has a week gone by when we haven’t been treated to a combination of potential classics and absolute stinkers at the box office. This week (and very much on the plus side) Oscar hottie The Descendants washes up on our very un-Hawaiian shores, the suitably snowy Liam Neeson extravaganza The Grey crash lands and an ocean separates young lovers in Like Crazy. Shonky alternatives arrive in the form of Brit flick Mercenaries and Clive Owen horror vehicle Intruders.

With The Artist having scooped just about every award going so far this season, one could be forgiven for assuming that the Oscars are a foregone conclusion. 2011 was hardly a vintage year and with the likes of War Horse, The Help and the nonsensical Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on the Best Picture shortlist, competition seems sparse.

TheDescendantsPoster

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Like Crazy (2011)

30 Jan

Like Crazy

Late last year Like Crazy whipped up a whirlwind of hype after bagging the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film and Special Jury Prize: Dramatic Acting for young Brit star Felicity Jones at Sundance. Well, the hype is certainly warranted, because Like Crazy is one of the cinematic highlights of the past year.

Director and scribe Drake Doremus’ tale of young lovers divided by an ocean is one of those surprising, warming films that lives and dies by its ability to utterly convince its audience that what they’re seeing is authentic. Perhaps Doremus succeeds where he might easily have failed because, if rumours are to be believed, it’s fiercely autobiographical.

The Descendants (2011)

24 Jan

The comedic drama is the fiddliest of genres. Often pathos overwhelms the lighter moments and the comedy invariably gets lost amidst a sea of worthy sentimentality. Not so with Alexander Payne’s latest pic The Descendants, an often hilarious, sometimes tear jerking emotional rollercoaster of a movie that cements Payne’s position as the master of the flawed anti-hero.

Matt King (a quite brilliant George Clooney), a frugal lawyer but soon to be mega-loaded land baron, is thrown into turmoil following his wife Elizabeth’s boating accident. Caring for his comatose spouse in intensive care it soon becomes clear that he has far from the perfect life.

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THE LOWDOWN WEEK 2

23 Jan

In the midst of awards season, there invariably emerge a few gong hungry stinkers that spoil the party. This week perhaps sees the most flagrant of this year’s bunch with the release of Clint Eastwood’s J.Edgar, a biopic of the FBI’s “is he gay or isn’t he” founding father J.Edgar Hoover. We’re also treated, in the loosest sense of the word, to Madonna’s second directorial feature, W.E., Steven Soderbergh’s kick ass pic Haywire which can only be an improvement on the woeful Contagion which he inflicted upon us with last year and Ralph Fiennes’ take on Shakespeare’s epic tragedy Coriolanus.

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