Time to get this feature back on the road so I scoured the DVD shelf and my eyes fell on this, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis? Early 90's? Plus I bought it years ago and the cellophane was still on it so i felt it was time, the planets were aligning I guess. Dont Think I had actually seen this since the 90's so that was a nice wee extra. Incidentally, how good is the poster to the right, I initially thought about finding a better quality one then thought fuck it, why not have what looks like 8 A4 section poster? Free from Look'in or Smash Hits or some other magazine of that time. Ha!
40 WORDS OR SO
Angry ego centric weatherman has to relive the same day over and over again in small Pensylvanian town to hilarious effect till he is happy or maybe just less of a angry ego centric weatherman. Stars a Groundhog.
REVIEW
Terrific film with a brilliant central performance by Bill Murray (does he do anything else?) Watching Groundhog Day your mind wanders to what you would do if you have to live one day over and over again, mostly though you find yourself reliving a good day or aday where you are in familiar surroundings. This film puts our central arsehole in a weird little twon he doesnt know with limited choices of things to do. High Concept comedy? oh yes. it really is superbly scripted, the way the story builds and makes sense while not ramming the concept down your throat is a credit to Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis. However, you have to take into account Murrays adlibbing skills, as many of the scenes are peppered for the better with cynical Philisms that surely come from Murray as the scenes are retaken. Ramis says as much on the commentary at the films finale which was written that Phil says "lets live here" to which Murray adds "we'll rent, to start!"
The myraid of characters who populate Punxsutawney are a joy to watch and repeat viewings makes you see how they all turn up at different parts, and also the continuity for me is first rate as many scenes are repeated at he lives out the same day none of it seems forced.
Excellent 90's comedy. though here is a snazzy trailer which is cut to make it a tense thriller, works well.
The whole film is available in parts on youtube too if you search for it, though you never heard that here. :)
THE TOP 100, WHERE AND WHY
1. Braindead 2. Hudsucker Proxy 3. Grosse Pointe Blank 4. Tremors 5. Cube 6. Galaxy Quest 7. White Men Can't Jump 8. Groundhog Day
Put it in at number 8, its good and it stands up, plus at this early stage I guess it doesnt really matter. its in and thats it.
Its reported today that the script for this upcoming flick which started filming yesterday was left in a greasy spoon type of cafe by mistake and found by a fan.
some interesting points about this story:
The guy that found it never read it cos he is a fan and wanted to enjoy it at the cinema (or on dodgy pirate (no pun intended) DVD depending on his chosen form of movie watching)
and
its going to be titled On Stranger Tides which is something i never knew and is about Jack Sparrows search for the fountain of youth, which considering i am reading about this and passing judgement in the form of this blog on my 29th birthday today seems quite apt.
However the mindblowing element of the story is the fact the script was 194 pages long!
194 pages, now at the rule of thumb is that script pages usually are a page a minute making this one over 3 hours of script and that isnt taking into consideration the probable one page synopsis of 5 minute action set pieces or the fact that the last two in the franchise have been frankly shabbily edited.
Could this be shaping up as a 4 hour family film? Probably not but the film is scheduled to be released next May so plenty of time for fans to get their arse in training to be sat down for most likely 3 and a bit hours. Oh and no doubt it will be 3D, but that really has no relevance.
Chris Morris isn't one of those comedians that plays it safe. Anyone familiar with his TV work will know of Brass Eye Paedophile Specials and getting the made up drug Cake discussed in parliament. Delve deeper into the nightmare-scape that is Jam and you find a woman calling a plumber because her baby has died so he makes it a part of the house's pipe system so when they use the water it moves. So it's not really a shock that the subject of his first film is a group of Jihadist suicide bombers looking to bring carnage to the streets of Britain. But this is far more subtle than his previous work, almost to the level where it could even be called gentle.
Like last year's In The Loop (by Morris cohort from The Day Today Armando Iannucci) this is a film that deals primarily with characters and dialogue. There are some absurd set pieces in Four Lions but for the most part it prefers looking towards the smaller things. For a start the suicide bombers are presented as humans. You may even find yourself caring for them, even rooting for them. This is at once the gentle aspect I spoke about and also the most radical thing about the film. Instead of showing them as monsters Morris looks at them as people, very stupid and misguided people, but people. Ringleader Omar is shown to have a nice home, a smart and attractive wife and a small child. Somewhere along the line though he's become alienated from the Islamic faith and Britain's consumerist attitude and decided that blowing himself up is the only way to go. His brother Waj is about as clever as a four year old who's head is missing. He's in purely because he does everything his brother asks of him. Like others he's probably not really into the whole death bit, not because he has doubts like them,but because he doesn't quite get what is being asked of him. Best of all is white convert Barry, a man who looks like a football hooligan, albeit it one dressed like a devout Muslim. He's a bit like a born again Christian, trying desperately to prove himself worthy after years of living a different life. As such he's by far the most into the Jihad, in fact he's a little too far into it. Brilliantly though he appears to also be a racist who hates his brown skinned cohorts and who's grand plan is to bomb a Mosque, supposedly so moderates rise up in anger, but he keeps forgetting he needs to blame someone else for it.
Four Lions is at once a biting social satire and a hilariously silly film. While it raises some interesting, and little asked, questions about suicide bombers it also features scenes about bomb crows, confusion over whether a Wookie is a bear, and the grand Jewish conspiracy to control the world through spark plugs. I sincerely doubt that there will be a funnier film released this year, or one that actually challenges the viewer to question things as much. Sadly it's very doubtful it'll get a wider worldwide release, I could lie and say it's mainly because of the very British sense of humour but let's be honest it's the subject matter. That is a great shame as it's a brilliant, brave piece of filmmaking and deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
Yup, not long to wait for the next instalment of Cinematic Titanic, Danger On Tiki Island. It's another live DVD, which I personally welcome as the previous two, East Meets Watts and Alien Factor, are the best things they've done so far. Here's the trailer:
Also included is the Titans first DVD extra, a documentary about their live shows. You can get it on 15th June either on DVD or to download here. Expect a review soon after I've gotten my copy in the post, which has been surprisingly quickly in the past.
A quick roundup of the films I got sent to me from Lovefilm this past month, my first as a member, plus anything else I happened to see for the first time:
Funny Christopher Guest directed improvised comedy. Made before the glorious Best In Show this features the same subtle observational humour, and a lot of the cast, with that film. It's not as good but it's still worth a watch.
The Red Balloon is a short French film that plays a bit like an artier Bicycle Thieves in the sense that nothing much happens and it's really just the document of two companions walking through a European city. The balloon is a wonderful character and the work to make it move the way it does is wonderful. Plus the transfer is stunning. Maybe a tad dull for some, others will find it beautiful and mesmerising. The White Mane is an extra short film on the DVD and is worth a watch too.
Another French short getting a DVD release and again it's bundled with an extra film. This time you get a full length one Sans Soleil which is interesting and at three times the length of the main feature is a great bonus but the gem here is the La Jetee. It's a brave, intelligent piece of film making that asks the viewer to interpret what exactly is going on. It's shot almost entirely as black and white still photographs, there is some movement that comes as quite a thrill, and went on to be remade by Terry Gilliam as Twelve Monkeys. Highly recommended.
Oh deary me. This is considered a masterpiece by Ingmar Bergman but it's actually an over long (five hours twelve minutes), bloated mess. The story goes nowhere and takes forever to do anything, the acting is overwrought and annoying and magic becomes a major plot point, simply it seems because Bergman got a bit stuck. I'm not entirely sure what the point of this is. If you can tolerate it see for yourself the epitome of everything that's wrong about European art cinema. Shame after The Red Balloon and La Jetee showing how wonderful it can be. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Aye(ish)
I watched this for the Rifftrax treatment. So far I've seen the first four films in the series purely for this reason. The first two were dreadful but I have to admit to enjoying the latter two films and now want the Rifftrax crew to do the rest of the series purely so I'll end up watching them. I know I won't bother otherwise but I've kind of gotten into these. I say aye(ish) because it's not really that good and if you're not a Potter fan you'll probably not really like it that much without the Rifftrax.
I've joined Lovefilm so I can catch up with some stuff. Getting newer films is difficult but I'll review them as I get them. What you tend to get sent instead are the foreign or short films on your list.
Instead of writing big reviews of these I thought I'd start the Aye-Or-Naw-O-Meter. Put simply should you see the movie, aye or naw. I'll do it as a monthly roundup and include any other films or that I've watched on telly or elsewhere.
I'd quote an advertising meerkat right now but I bloody well hate him so I won't.
So rest in peace goes to both Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper, two maverick types:
These things tend to come in threes and we've just lost two mental bastards so the likes of Nic Cage, Joaquim Phoenix and Werner Herzog should probably avoid taking a shower or getting shot at until the weekend is out.
Ruud went and sent me this link and I thought I'd post it. Film critic Mark Kermode decides to not rant in his review of Sex In The City 2 on BBC radio. He fails.
Expectations can be troublesome. If you get too hyped up for something then it can only let you down. An example of this; I went to see Springsteen last year (I'm never going to get tired of telling people that) and it was an amazing gig, maybe the best I've seen. But looking at videos of the night on Youtube I found a comment from someone bemoaning the fact that the gig was a let down for them because they'd waited to see him their whole life and it just didn't have the energy of the 70s gigs they've got on CD in the house. You almost pity that poor sod. Best to not get built up about anything, in fact, adapt a negative outlook and everything will end up either meeting or exceeding your expectations. This was the situation I was in with the first Iron Man. I expected nothing of it and ended up only actually seeing it because some mates were going and I couldn't be bothered just sitting about the house. I ended up really enjoying it, and I'd imagine this was how it went for quite a lot of people. There probably weren't many looking forward to it because let's be honest Iron Man just isn't that many people's favourite superhero. Hell, he's not even the most popular powerless billionaire that uses equipment to get the job done. Now we have the sequel and it's no longer a case of being a pleasant surprise. The weight of expectation is upon it, like a big man made of metal standing on your wind pipe.
This may be why Iron Man 2 has had mixed reviews so far, one IMDB poster even compared it to Revenge of the Fallen's level of shiteyness. Well it's a far way off that but there are problems. For one it's went and done the multiple enemy thing, which has so often been the downfall of superhero films. It means the plot's a bit too muddled, although the coming together of the enemies is handled pretty well, as opposed to Sandman and Venom happening to bump into one another in an alley somewhere. There's a lack of any real threat though. Iron Man's pretty invincible and even introducing illness to Tony Stark, easily sorted in the end, or enemies that seem like they could actually do him some damage, just add an equally as powerful sidekick, doesn't change this. See everything gets solved really quickly thanks to really short action scenes. Favreau's just not much of an action director and so he seems to just make with the fight and get it over with as quickly as possible. It was a problem in the first one as well but it was a little more forgiveable then than now. The problem is that he hasn't evolved as a director since the first outing so the same niggles plague this effort. The worst of these is the camera work during the action which has the effect of total confusion as to what's actually being depicted. Plus the designs of the robots and other besuited individuals veer way too close to that of the hero himself adding further to the messiness. Basically that underwhelming muddle of a final fight in the first one is how every fight feels here. You can accept Iron Man taking out some poorly armed middle Eastern terrorists pretty quickly. It's a bit annoying when he manges to batter a guy with laser whips and a whole army of robots with as little effort. The closest thing to doing him in is the customary second act crisis of confidence seen in every post-Spiderman 2 superhero flick, they more than likely pre-date that but it's the best damn example of it. Here at least we get to see Tony drunkenly use the suit to entertain/recklessly endanger party guests.
This is where the film is at its best, the humour and the acting. Robert Downey Jr.'s as much a likeable prick as he was before as Tony and the addition of the ever wonderful Sam Rockwell as the David Cameron to Stark's Tony Blair Justin Hammer is Favreau's best move. He is great as the man who just wants to be Tony but will always be the wannabe. Sadly Don Cheadle and Mickey Rourke are wasted in roles that don't ask much of them and Scarlett Johansson looks great in tight leather so that'll do with regards to her character. Thankfully Gwyneth Paltrow is more fun than she clearly is in real life as Pepper Potts and there's a welcome return for Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. Of course if you've never bothered to watch to the end of the credits you'll be puzzled by the use of "return". Well get ready to do so again to see a scene that sets up another superhero movie that's coming and acts as one of many pointers to the Avengers film that's currently peaking over the horizon.
Iron Man 2 is an entertaining romp but nothing more. It's got style but eff all substance. It's worth seeing for Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell firing on all cylinders, shamefully the script and director aren't. It's not entirely Favreau's fault, he was a bit of an odd choice for this franchise and try as he might it's never really going to be his genre of film. Plus the expectations that the first film has created means that ultimately the sequel was always going to be a tad disappointing. Iron Man 2's biggest crime really is that it doesn't really take the series on a level from first time around. One final note, I went to see it with someone who hadn't seen the first one and they loved it. Read into that what you will.
#8: Groundhog Day (1993, Harold Ramis)
