Friday is MACHETE !!!!!! day

The only way to hear Machete in your inner voice when reading the word is in a loud booming Grindhouse accent like this: MACHETE !!!!!!

By now you no doubt seen the trailer for MACHETE !!!!!! or at least heard of it. MACHETE !!!!!! is a Robert Rodriguez film that started out as one of the fake trailers inserted into the Grindhouse double bill of Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino) and Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. As you know the double bill was a homage to the Grindhouse cinema of the 70s & early 80s.

As a side note my small home town Cape Town had an authentic Grindhouse cinema - the one and only The Roxy. It’s long gone these days but way back then I would occasionally sneak off for a Saturday matinee double bill at The Roxy. I say sneak off because The Roxy was strictly out of bounds. But for the same fee as the regular Saturday kiddy club I could see two films (three if I got there early enough), load up on refreshments and still have enough pocket money left over for a couple of comics. Sure the films showing were fairly old and in bad condition but I loved it.

So I can totally understand the desire to recapture that edgy nostalgia. Pretty much the whole Tarantino/Rodriguez double bill experience and visuals could have been lifted from the projection room of The Roxy.

In all honesty I wasn’t really swept away by Grindhouse Double bill - Don’t get me wrong there were moments of pure fun and maybe it was the heightened promise of delivery from the two or maybe it was because I saw films on small screens but I thought Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror only sucked slightly less than Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. I just couldn’t help but think that budget and talent have been used to float better films. Having said that - both films are on my playlist for a re-evaluation.

Apart from MACHETE !!!!!! the other fake trailers that were inserted into the Grindhouse double bill included; Hobo with a Shotgun (winner of Robert Rodriguez's South by Southwest Grindhouse trailers competition and currently being made into a feature film starring Rutger Hauer - See the bottom of the page for a Grindhouse poster competition), Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (Roth has said that Thanksgiving may be turned into a feature) Edgar Wright's Don't (not in anyway shape or form confirmed as going to be made into a feature, yet) and Rob Zombie's Werewolf Women of the SS (with Nicholas Cage as one of cinema’s greatest villains Fu Manchu).

The idea of MACHETE !!!!!! came to Rodriguez while he was making Desperado. He got to know Danny Trejo who had a part as a hit-man who specializes in knives. Trejo and Rodriguez are distant relations but didn’t know each other till they met on the set of Desperado. Trejo a genuine bad ass having spent most of his youth in and out of juvie for crime and drug abuse. Eventually ending up in prison. While in prison he kicked his drug habit and become California State Prison Champion in both the light and welterweight divisions. The guy is a bad ass and has a lot of screen presence, too be honest when ever I saw him I thought he’s end up as the Mexican badass/henchman in lots of films. A bit like Al Leong is the Asian bad ass/henchman. You probably don’t recognize his name but when you see his face you’ll know him. Anyway when Rodriguez met Trejo he thought he was the scariest looking guy he had ever met and should be the Mexican “Jean-Claude Van Damme or Charles Bronson”.

Trejo even had a documentary Champion made about him back in 2005.

So Rodriguez decided to build a character around Trejo and thus MACHETE !!!!!! was born. His first incarnation was as Isador MACHETE !!!!!! Cortez in Spy Kids. He’s the brother in-law of Antonio Banderas’s character and reprised the role for all 3 of the Spy kids films.

In 2007 MACHETE !!!!!! was back again in the previously mentioned fake trailer for MACHETE !!!!!! inserted into the Grindhouse double bill feature.

I should mention I was surprised how incredibly close the original 2007 trailer for MACHETE !!!!!! is to the 2010 MACHETE !!!!!! film. Bar a couple of actor changes a lot of the set ups are exactly the same.

MACHETE !!!!!!
MACHETE !!!!!! picks up somewhere in Mexico and we are immediately dropped into the action as MACHETE !!!!!! and his partner are racing their Federale (Mexican bad ass cops “like the FBI, CIA and DEA, all rolled into one mean burrito!”) car to save a kidnapped girl from a vicious gang. But things aren’t that simple as the higher ups have told them not to go in and that they’ll be killed and kicked off the force. MACHETE !!!!!! makes it clear that he’s going in to save the girl, his partner lets him know what ever happens he’s on his side. MACHETE !!!!!! is a maverick badass. Thank god he’s on our side.

They crash threw the wall of the gangs hideout and MACHETE !!!!!! sets about dispensing with the criminals, each being dispatched in an increasingly more violent and ingenious way. Until a twist means that MACHETE !!!!!! has the table turned on him and he is at the mercy of the drug lord, non other than Steven Seagal (Torrez) it’s also revealed that MACHETE !!!!!!'s commanding officer is in on the whole thing and as corrupt as the night is dark. Rather than give MACHETE !!!!!! an honorable death, the gang remove MACHETE !!!!!! ’s wife’s head and Segal makes threatening comments about his daughter.


MACHETE !!!!!! is a broken man. But anyone who has ever seen a film knows this is a big mistake bad asses always come back, so I’m still unsure why Segal didn’t kill MACHETE !!!!!! Fade out.

3 years later we are introduced to Senator John McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) and Von Jackson (Don Johnson) when they are patrolling the US-Mex border with their crew, they are on a sport illegal immigrant hunt and brutally slaughter a group attempting a border crossing. Turns out Von Jackson has his own private army that are contracted to patrol the border and he is backed by the Senator John McLaughlin, who is looking to step up politically as well as increase immigration laws. Fade out.

We then find MACHETE !!!!!! he’s on the US side of the border, without a work permit and trying to scrape a life together as a non descript day labourer. Things aren’t going so well for him. As shown in the trailer Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) picks him up, presents him with evidence of Senator John McLaughlin’s wrong doings, makes him an offer that involves MACHETE !!!!!! assassinating McLaughlin and ridding the world of a bad man and finally threatens him. Suprisingly rather than kicking the crap out of him MACHETE !!!!!! takes him up on the offer, but surprise, surprise is double crossed framed for shooting McLaughlin and left for dead.

But they just f#cked with the wrong Mexican. What follows is 105 minutes of badassery as MACHETE !!!!!! lays waste to everything and brings the whole corrupt system down. Or as the official synopsis says;” Double crossed and on the run MACHETE !!!!!! braves the odds with the help of Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), a saucy taco slinger, Padre (Cheech Marin) his "holy" brother, and April (Lindsay Lohan) a socialite with a penchant for guns. All while being tracked by Sartana (Jessica Alba), a sexy ICE agent with a special interest in the blade slinger.

The Skinny
I have to say that despite the cartoonish violence and ham acting (In some cases unintentional ham acting) MACHETE !!!!!! starts out quite well and well above my expectations. It's not for everyone - even though it draws attention to very relevant social issues particularly with David Cameron’s recent announcement of tightening UK immigration laws. It’s not meant to be taken seriously - it’s a very violent fun cartoon from start to finish. Performances are delivered in the spirit it is meant with tongue firmly in cheek. Around the ¾ mark I did start flagging as I the film was becoming a little repetitive. It’s a fun homage to B-Grade films of the 80s and closer to the mark than The Expendables. In fact I’m nominating Danny Trejo for the lead villain role in the sequel to The Expendables - The Expendables 2: Even more expendable now because Danny Trejo is the villain.

Outstanding
There is a scene set in a hospital where MACHETE !!!!!! has a stand off against a crew, the build up isn’t great and the slo-mo bit lifted from The Terminator 2 but MACHETE !!!!!! has hastily put together a bunch of deadly edged weapons from kit on a surgeons table. He then proceeds to rip the crew apart (literally) removing the intestine from one of them and using it to escape by swinging through the window to the floor below. They don’t teach that shizz in the academy, that’s for sure.

Fear not citizens At the end of MACHETE !!!!!! a message promises that MACHETE !!!!!! will be back in Machete Kills & Machete kills again

The MACHETE !!!!!! are also running a competition on the official UK & Ireland Facebook page for the MACHETE !!!!!! - http://www.facebook.com/macheteUKIRE - ‘Go Grindhouse’ asks fans of the page to create a ‘Grindhouse’ style movie poster for a film of their choice. They can then upload it to the page for a chance to win a Playstation 3.

Friday is MACHETE !!!!!! day

MACHETE !!!!!! is slashing big screens from today Friday 26 November

Director: Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan

More info:
Over at the MACHETE !!!!!! website.

The American

I’ve seen The American twice now and feel comfortable that what you are about to read will still be valid in 28 years.

When posters for The American started popping up I was intrigued. I loved the two tone minimalistic poster design. It was reminiscent of those cool 70s posters for adult spy thrillers that introduced the world to me, full of high intrigue dramas and twists and someone my I age would not fully comprehend at the time.


However the bits of the trailer that I saw made The American look like a by the numbers CIA (or other Agency) hitman on the run/having a jolly in Europe that we have all seen before. I should at this point mention that the early trailer I saw (Trailer 1 over here is incredibly misleading - I can understand why the expositionary American voice over was inserted but I felt it did a disservice to The American and left me confused when watching the film. Trailer 2 below (which I found while writing this) gives a much better feel for what the film is actually like.

So trailer 1 combined with:

1. I haven’t really enjoyed the bulk of George Clooney’s work lately and passed on most of them. Look to be fair George Clooney is not without a considerable amount of charm and talent, but lately he seems more comfortable in the lighter roles, the roles that parody himself and the belief system has built up over the last 20 years.
   
   Now I’m not saying that he isn’t a good actor or made serious films - I loved Michael Clayton and everything about it is good, especially George Clooney. And of course anyone in a job wants to stretch themselves and be known for more than 1 trick so I understand his need to extend his range.


2. I didn’t really enjoy Anton Corbijn’s earlier feature Control. Despite the great performances. The subject matter went over my head. I have absolutely no emotional attachment to Joy Division and didn’t think the visuals alone weren’t strong enough to carry the film for the entire bleak 122 mins.
   

However The American was adapted by Rowan Joffe, and I was completely blown away by early footage of his big screen debut feature Brighton Rock as well as suitably impressed with his take on film creativity - as well as curiosity to see what Clooney and Corbijn cooked up with one of my favourite genres was enough of a draw for me.

The American
We open on a serene snow-laden Nordic winter wonderland; in a rustic cabin we find a naked lady draped across a bed playfully messing with George Clooney’s hair as he sits comfortably but slightly aloof on the floor in front of a wood fire. A little later, dressed and smiling they make their way out the cabin into the snow.

They come across some human foot prints “Hunters? No they would travel in pairs” she offers. Thereafter their tranquility is brutally shattered and in what follows we learn that George Clooney has finally taken a role that isn’t a humorous stab at self parody and a rehash of the formulaic "hero" archetype we usually see. It's Clooney but as we have never seen him before. We also learn that The American is capably trained in the art of death and inhabits a world of intrigue that justifies his constant state of paranoia, isolation and edginess. And so with a bang rather than a whimper begins Anton Corbijn’s The American.


By the time the titles were rolling I’m ecstatic. The American has a really strong start; I’m going with it and loving it.

We then follow The American as he goes to ground in a small Italian village where we meet the bulk of the cast including the wonderfully captured Italian countryside. This is not the Italy that you see in most films or the travel ads; this is small town, rural Italy.

The gist of it and you’ll understand why I feel Trailer 1 is misleading. The American is an anonymous craftsman; he’s not an assassin - but he does live in that world and has all the same highly dangerous enemies as assassins.



The gist of it and you’ll understand why I feel Trailer 1 is misleading. The American is an anonymous craftsman; he’s not an assassin - but he does live in that world and has all the same highly dangerous enemies as assassins.


He is someone who has lived in that world for so long he is isolated, trusts no one and on constant edge - ready to react to a click of a gun or a footfall behind him. Clooney is marvellous in the role. Monosyllabic and convincingly unable to connect with anyone unless it’s on his terms. He is charmless, efficient and brutal at the drop of a pin. He is James Bond without the glamour.

Pretty soon The American has taken on a new assignment in the village. But as recent events continue to haunt him he feels the net closing in on him. At the same time he has attracted the attention of some of the town locals; including a priest intent on making The American repent his sins (Paolo Bonacelli) and a gorgeous young prostitute falling for The American (Violante Placido), old enemies reappear and a possible new threat rears its head - as The American wants to leave this world behind him - kicking his paranoia and instincts into overdrive.


Performances are top notch and Corbijn’s minimalistic cinematography plays well to The American’s Spartan philosophy. I also enjoyed the measured pacing of the story allowing one to absorb detail as The American’s world develops. I particularly liked the shots of The American plying his craft; it's a very interesting but often ignored aspect of the world of assassins.

However in the interest of fairness I should mention 2 niggling points that I thought let the film down slightly (apart from Trailer 1). And I’m only mentioning this as I was surprised at the dichotomy of an otherwise faultless visually detailed orientated production letting these slip through – The American’s tattoos looked too new, particularly his fake military“Ex Gladio Equitas” tattoo - which establishes his military background. He would have got this when he was young(er) and it would look dated, especially when compared the newer tattoo on his back..

A related but slightly larger issue for me was the heavy handed symbolism. Don’t get me wrong I think there is a distinct lack of visual analogy in contemporary film-making but one of the consistent themes was laid on a little too heavy and not since Blade Runner's Rick Deckard’s unicorn 28 years ago has there been a more blatant use of a metaphor. My understanding is that in Martin Booth’s book A Very Private Gentleman the symbol in question plays a larger role in The American’s façade, which the film dropped for a more updated and believable past time - photography. The American is a wonderful film and I can't figure out why the symbolism was given such prominence, subtly done would have been more in line with the film's zeitgeist, Clooney's performance and possibly would have had greater effect.

Anton Corbijn talks a little bit about the tattoos on his blog over here you can also see some very cool behind the scenes photography there as well.

The Skinny
The American is a class production, with more in common with the super cool international spy thrillers of the 70s than a poster - it's shot with both style and existential substance and really I hope it signals a return to film making for adults that don’t need every little detail spelt out for them or the Hollywood playbook to enjoy a decent story.

The American will be on a big screen near you this Friday 26 November. It's our pick of this week's releases as well as in our top 10 for 2010.

Director: Anton Corbijn
Starring: George Clooney, Violante Placido, Paolo Bonacelli , Thekla Reuten

More info:
Over at The American website.

We love Dream Home

Network Releasing are on a roll! Earlier this year they released the wonderfully subtle and nostalgic Martin Scorsese & Alec Baldwin produced Lymelife. This month they are set to release the rather awesome and wacky Dream Home (19 November).

A little while ago I was lucky enough to see Dream Home. I had heard some good things about it so I wasn’t going in totally blind. My understanding was that it centered on someone’s attempts to acquire a Dream Home under some tough conditions in the Far East.

Dream Home - Cheng Li-sheung (Josie Ho) is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is determined to keep her dream alive - even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead. Cut-throat real-estate prices call for bloody countermeasures....


After reading the synopsis and watching the trailer visions of; Three Extremes (Sam gang y), Audition (Ôdishon), The Ring (Ringu), Dark Water (Honogurai mizu no soko kara), The Grudge (Ju-on), One Missed Call (Chakushin ari), Pulse (Kairo) and other great Eastern shockers seeped into my consciousness. So the screening was certainly going to be interesting if nothing else.

Soho Screening room. Lights dim. Projector flares up. For the next 96 minutes the audience veers from white knuckle terror, cringing disgust, to giggles & back again and by the time the credits roll it had completely charmed me. I absolutely loved Dream Home.

The gist of it is that Cheng Li-sheung (Josie Ho) is a hard working young lady; she works in a thankless job in a bank call centre dealing with dismissive clients all day. Unlike her colleagues when the day ends she does not head out to blow off some steam, she heads to her second job as a sales assistant in a clothing store. She has a callow boyfriend, who’s married, not to her - who fits her in around his work, wife and golf schedule. She supports her sickly ungrateful father and at every turn her attempts to buy a home are dashed.


You soon get the picture that young Cheng’s life seems empty and oppressed, something of a modern day Hong Kong Cinderella, desperately needing the help of a fairy godmother.

Dream Home has a similar narrative structure to a Quentin Tarantino film, so the story rolls out in flashback as well as real time - building up to the climax. So we really get to understand more about Cheng’s motivations, her back story and her dream of owning a home - with a harbour view. All the way from her humble childhood through to her butterfly like metamorphosis to the screen's latest slasher queen. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say watching Cheng’s convincing transformation was like witnessing the birth of a new screen character similar to the likes of; Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), Michael Myers (Halloween) and Ghostface (Scream).

Dream Home is not any of those great Easternt horrors I listed above, it’s something different and not going to be easy to pigeon hole. Which is why I’m not surprised that it’s being pitched as a slasher film and the dark satire has been played down. Make no mistake it will horrify and there is a fair amount blood and gore. But it's beautifully shot and you’ll be chuckling - sometimes at the gore.

I saw Dream Home a couple of days after seeing Piranha 3D and couldn’t help but draw
similarities between the two. Both films are filled with gore, both filled with blood,
both have humorous elements except Dream Home is more satire than slapstick, is
relevant, was presumably made for a fraction of the cost, is innovative and actually
entertaining. Even it's poster is a wry take on the American Dream via American
Beauty.

Key to Dream Home is that it has an emotional focus and charm, which comes down largely to Josie Ho’s portrayal of Cheng. I could not help feel sympathetic to her going through the troubles and tribulations as she tries to fulfill her childhood dream and I’m pretty sure she’ll win you over and even though she has a dark side you’ll be silently rooting for her.

It’s easy to see why Hollywood have snapped Josie Ho up and she’ll soon be seen in, not one, but two major productions; Steven Soderbrgh's Contagion starring; Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard as well as in acclaimed director Hany Abu-Assad’s The Courier starring along side Mickey Rourke and Dean Morgan.

Dream Home is deftly handled by Pang Ho-cheung and although it’s efficient, it’s beautifully shot especially the scenes of Hong Kong architecture.

The visuals and editing are slick and innovative (including some class gore FX) throughout but maintain the emotion. I guess the highest compliment regarding the production that I can throw out is that; it’s an Eastern film, with an Eastern cast, shot in Cantonese, gives a really good feel for Hong Kong but translates very easily to a western audience. This may have been helped by the relevant and topical subject matter but Dream Home is one very well made film.

For fairness I should mention that there were a couple of minor errors in the subtitles on the print I saw - although, if anything I felt it added to the charm of Dream Home.

Dream Home will be on a big screen near you this Friday 19 November. And is our pick for this week's releases.

Director: Ho-Cheung Pang
Starring: Josie Ho, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Michelle Ye, Eason Chan, Norman Chu

More info:
Over at the Dream Home microsite.

Buried Review Screenrush Film Club

So last night, I went off to see Rodrigo Cortés' Buried. It was the inaugural screening of the Screenrush Film Club launched to celebrate their redesign of Screenrush.co.uk.

The cinema was packed and there was and there was a buzz in there in anticipation of Buried. To kick of the screening the Screenrush team welcomed us and gave out some Swag to celebrate the event.

Screenrush Film Club: Screenrush team introducing Buried by Craig Grobler , on Flickr

If you are unsure - Yes! I am a sucker for good film Swag and I have to say that the Screenrush Swag bag was pretty damn good.

Screenrush Film Club: Buried - Swag Bag (Ogden Marsh T-Shirt - The Crazies, Fakin Cnut T-Shirt - 44 inche Chest, Where the Wild thingare Fan & Pencil, The Rebound Water Bottle, Sex & The City 2 goodies, I Love you Phillip Morris Gown & Walkman speakers and The Accidental Husband, Vera Drake & The Crazies on DVD) by Craig Grobler , on Flickr

But the highlight of the Swag was this:

Inception Spinner by Craig Grobler , on Flickr

That’s right I know own an Inception Spinner. Sweet!

Anyway onto Buried. Previously I had heard that Buried was a great conceptual piece that basically consisted of Ryan Reynolds being stuck in a box. Interesting! Visions of the Larry Cohen written “phone” films: Joel Schumacher’s minor 2003 classic Phone Booth and Cellular starring & Kim Basinger and a little known Chris Evans were being conjured.

Then this August at Empire Magazine’s Moviecon I got to see the first 8 minutes of Buried and listen to Director Rodrigo Cortés talk about making Buried. My already growing interest was piqued when Cortés introduced the clip by saying something like “It’s about a man buried in a box, here are the first 8 minutes. There is nothing else to say” and shrugged.

Paul Conroy is not ready to die.

But when he wakes up six feet underground with no idea of who put him there or why, life for the truck driver and family man instantly becomes a hellish struggle for survival. Buried with only a cell phone and a lighter, his contact with the outside world and ability to piece together clues that could help him discover his location are maddeningly limited. Poor reception, a rapidly draining battery, and a dwindling oxygen supply become his worst enemies in a tightly confined race against time, fighting panic, despair and delirium, Paul has only ninety minutes to be rescued before his worst nightmare comes true.

I have to say even though Cortés’ first language is not English (he’s Spanish) he was one of the most engaging and entertaining speakers I have had the pleasure to listen to. His energy and passion at a high the entire time. Too be honest I would have paid more than the equivalent of a cinema ticket just to hear him talk. By the way the Curzon Soho is previewing Buried on Wed 29 Sep and Rodrigo Cortés will be answering questions after the screening. I highly recommend that if you can you pop along.

Cortés went on to acknowledge the craziness in making a film about a man in a box and then hoping it’s a success. And acutely aware that initially the cards were stacked against him. For full effect imagine all of this in a thick Spanish accent.

Although he has an interest in the subject matter he wasn’t particularly inspired to create a story about someone being buried (it was written by up and comer Chris Sparling) but he feels that being buried alive does tap into out primal fear.

He was quick to point out that although people thought Buried was going to be “experimental and obscure” he was aiming for more Hitchcock or in the best case “Indiana Jones in a box”.

Cortés went on to talk about the difficulties in making a film where the star is stuck in a confined space for the entire 17 day entire shoot. As you can imagine it wasn’t a whole lot of fun.

The best parts of the talk were when he went on to explain how Ryan Reynolds involved. Initially Reynolds thought it made no sense at all but read the script and thought that there is no way a film like this could be made. He went on to watch Cortés’ earlier The Contestant and wanted to know more. They met in LA and shook on making the film. ”I think it was because of my poor English, I think he misunderstood and he was too embarrassed to back out. When you have this accent people think you are sophisticated.”

Another highlight was when asked how you get a piece like Buried distributed?

I was expecting an underdog vs. the system tale but Cortés surprises again by explaining how ridiculously easy it was. They shot the film it premiered at Sundance and immediately studios were trying to outbid each other for the distribution rights- “within two months we sold it to 65% of the world.” Pure magic.

I guess a large part of whether you’ll enjoy Buried or not is whether you buy into Ryan Reynolds. I’m a fan although some of his recent efforts haven’t been great, during the late 90s (a bad time for stand out talent) Reynolds was one of the few glittering new acts on TV in "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" to shine. The cracking dialogue played to his wise ass strengths. And pretty soon it was apparent that if Reynolds star did not ascend something was very wrong.

I say a guess a large part of whether you’ll enjoy Buried or not is whether you buy into Ryan Reynolds – because and I’m managing expectations here when I say most of the film is Ryan Reynolds in a box. There are no flashbacks, outside shots, traveling through telephone lines or sideways cuts.

Buried starts with a great Saul Bass like title sequence which sets the tense Hitchcock like tone for the film.

We wake up in the box/coffin with Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) a Truck Driver contracting in Iraq and for the remaining 95 minutes live with him real time as his predicament unfolds. He has been buried 6 feet under the ground somewhere in Iraq by professional abductors. Don’t let the word professional fool you - they do this for the money but their victim’s well being is not a priority and they are brutally merciless.

He has his wits (which turn out to be his most useful tool), a lighter, a hip flask and a little later a mobile phone (with a diminishing battery life & poor reception) that becomes his link with the outside world, however this is not some cooked up film world where the cavalry comes charging when asked, this is the “sorry, you have reached the wrong department let me put you on hold while we put you through” world. Try to imagine trying to get some coherent sense from your bank or an automated voice system over the phone and you are close to the hell that is unleashed upon Paul and from here it only gets worse for him.

A standout scene for me was when Paul Conroy has to reach something at his feet I think it was the mobile phone and we watch as he goes through a herculean effort to reach the item. This typifies the film for me; Paul’s will pushed to the limit by a seemingly simple task.

I guess this all comes down to two questions:

1. Can Ryan Reynolds single handedly hold a film together for 95 minutes?
Yes. The increasing frustration of his character permeates through his limited movements and voice - at every step of the way as he slowly descends to desperation. Reynolds is good enough to ensure that empathy is maintained for Paul. It’s also worth noting that as well as both the helpful and antagonist voices on the telephone, the psychical space has an oppressive character of its own to play off.

2. Is Buried well enough made to make sense?
Yes. Tense and gripping Buried had me engaged throughout. Cortes has alluded to it being similar to a technical challenge that the Hitchcock would have set up for himself. With Cortés fulfilling both directorial and editing duties the film comes and stays together cohesively, although I did feel myself meandering in thought around the ¾s mark but there is more than enough richness in atmosphere to make the film worthwhile.

In hindsight there are some bits that seem to be added to extend or heighten the tension and looking back there were bits that were supposed to build to a punch that may have been lost in the overall stuck in a box situation.

If you are the type person who would pay to see a film about a man stuck in box, you won’t be disappointed. With a few props and lots of creativity the Buried teams have made a pretty good film.

Buried will be in UK cinemas from the 1 October, 2010

Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García Pérez, Robert Paterson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Samantha Mathis

The Last Seven review and premiere

Let me start by saying I loved The Last Seven. I thought it was great little concept driven film. A fresh diamond in the rough amongst all the copy cat, gangster wannabe British independent films that “have a go” every year.

After reading some of the reviews for The Last Seven I would compare it to 2009s “Hush” another great little film you have probably never heard of. It’s not similar to Hush in terms of story or subject matter. Hush is a taut thriller that Hitchcock would have been proud of about:

“A young couple on a motorway journey are drawn into a game of cat and mouse with a truck driver following a near accident.” - IMDB

The Last Seven is about something entirely different. The similarities are; that it is a lot easier to overlook these small films because they’re local, don’t have big name stars attached to them or a Hollywood marketing engine behind them. Nevertheless they are both really really enjoyable films.

The Last Seven Premiere - Producer Actor Simon Phillips, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

The Last Seven Premiere - Aisleyne Horgan, Sebastian Street & Martin J. Thomas, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

The Last Seven Premiere - Actor Producer Billy Murray, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.
The Last Seven Premiere - Heading into the cinema, that's John Mawson, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

My other half serendipitously got us tickets to the Premiere so I was fortunate enough to see The Last Seven on the big screen and even though the transfer had some minor problems it was pretty spectacular on the big screen - particularly the eerie ghost town shots of an empty London. However I suspect when viewing The Last Seven on a smaller screen some of the effect may be lost.

The Last Seven Premiere - Producer Toby Meredith introduces The Last Seven, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

The Last Seven Premiere - Heading into the cinema Rita Ramnani on the left, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

I’ve read a couple of negative reviews trickling in for it and too be honest I just don’t get it. The Last Seven is not Inception but it’s a damn good try by first time Director Imran Naqvi at making a decent, clever and engaging film. It’s not entirely original but the sweeping shots of London and top class editing, decent referential script and the story of seven people trying to put together a mystery will keep you both engaged and on your toes.

London is dead silent. Into this silence walks seven disparate souls, thrown together purely by circumstance. They are desperately hoping to find the reason behind the situation and how they can escape it. But lurking in the darkness of this dead, silent metropolis something way beyond reason is on the move. And it knows that the prey, the last seven, are powerless to stop it.

In a not-too-distant future, the face of London has changed dramatically.

Stung by ineffectual politics, a rapidly expanding population and the ravages of climate change it can no longer take the strain and collapses in on itself. Down from 7 million, now only 7 individuals remain and together they must form a new society in the face of a desperate, unforgiving future.

I can be the harshest critic but could easily overlook any faults to be sucked into the referential, engaging and mysterious world of The Last Seven. I guess a big part of what I liked about The Last Seven was that I spent most of the film trying to figure out what was going on and I only pieced it together about 20 seconds before the end. That is good going for a film as I can’t recall the last time this has happened in a cinema (and I see a lot of films). See it before someone gives away crucial bits of the plot.

Stand out performances from Tamer Hassan (who owns most of the screen - in both size and presence), the gorgeous Daisy Head and increasingly more reliable Simon Phillips.

It may be that The Last Seven is actually for a fairly niche audience the Sci-Fi/Horror crowd even though it doesn’t fit wholly into either genre. I have to say I’m surprised that The Last Seven is being launched so close to FrightFest 2010 without being part of it. I can’t help think that this is exactly the audience that would appreciate it and premièring at a festival like FrightFest would have given it a leg up and reached its audience a lot sooner.

Director: Imran Naqvi
Starring: Tamer Hassan, Danny Dyer, Rita Ramnani, John Mawson, Daisy Head, Simon Phillips, Ronan Vibert, Sebastian Street

UK, 2010 2009, 84 mins

The Last Seven review and premiere
The Last Seven is being released by Metrodome in select cinemas Fri 27 August and will be available on DVD from 30th August

More info:
Over at the The Last Seven website

The brilliant Lymelife is coming to DVD!

Infidelity, family feuds and first love combine in the Network Releasing DVD debut of LYMELIFE, available to rent and own on 23rd August 2010.


I was fortunate enough to catch a preview screening of Lymelife. I say fortunate as this bitter sweet film is wonderful. A warm slice of 70s American life. Told from the point of view of Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) a "shy Star Wars loving teenager obsessed with feisty girl next-door Adrianna (Emma Roberts)". It really captures the nostalgia of the 70s, coming of age, family life, the consequences of adult decisions and their impact.

All round the acting is superb and impressively under stated but the real star of Lymelife is the world that Writer/Director Derick Martini creates it will sweep you away and keep you engaged. There are some hear warming moments that will make you smile while easing you into the tension building to it's conclusion. A great little film with powerhouse performances.

Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Derick Martini, this semi-autobiographical tale about the American Dream gone wrong is set in the late 1970s in Long Island, New York. Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) is a shy Star Wars loving teenager obsessed with feisty girl next-door Adrianna (Emma Roberts). Adrianna’s deer-hunting father loses his job after contracting Lyme’s disease from a tic, a brain wasting illness. He hides losing his job from wife Melissa (Cynthia Nixon) by getting stoned in the basement while she embarks on an affair with her real estate boss played by Alec Baldwin, who happens to be Scott’s father and her daughter’s friend. Tension mounts when things become all too obvious to Scott’s mother, played by Jill Hennessy, which coincides with Scott’s journey to manhood…

An excellent ensemble cast make this a powerful drama with many darkly comic moments. It will appeal to fans of quirky independent films such as American Beauty and The Ice Storm.

Director: Derick Martini
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Kieran Culkin and Timothy Hutton & Emma Roberts

USA, 2008, 95 mins, English

The brilliant Lymelife is coming to DVD!

When:
Lymelife will be available to rent and own on 23rd August 2010, RRP £14.99.

More info: Over at the Network Releasing microsite

Inception Premiere & spoiler free review

Another over hyped turn from a super talent watered down to please the bigger market demographic. I love Nolan’s visual style but his plots always under deliver, on their promise. With the addition of a fluffy leading man/child actor I’m dreading going into the cinema to see how an incredible concept is slowly deflated.

That was my 54 word response to Timeout when he asked what my least anticipated film of summer 2010 for inclusion in their bumper Summer Film Edition.

Since then I have learnt:

1. I was wrong about Inception
2. I was wrong about Leonardo DiCaprio
3. Both the Caipirihnias and Mojitos at the Hampshire Bar are bloody delicious.
4. Tom Hardy is going to absolutely rock the Mad Max reboot

I love the concepts behind Christopher Nolan’s films; they are fresh, challenging and always suggest depth. I also love his visuals styling - the guy is a master of making a cinematic image. His visuals speak in the language of Cinemascope & Technicolour. Clearly his technical film knowledge is par excellence. So why is it that none of his films have completely blown me away and I have felt that they are lacking something? The above skills should surely be enough for a skilled director to make a great film. Yet all his films tease me with a “this could have been an outstanding film” caress.

I enjoyed Batman Begins - but I suspect mainly because it was the first half decent interpretation of Batman on screen, it was also a great super hero film (Iron Man was still 3 years from release) and it also drew on Frank Miller’s Year One and Sam Hamm's expanded interpretation of Batman's origins. Which credibly filled in the missing years of Batman’s training.

For me the long winded and unfocused Dark Knight confirmed that Batman Begins was a bit of a fluke. Again the visuals were stunning and that scene where Heath Ledger is howling out the window of the police car that The Joker had just commandeered will always be one of my favourite scenes of all time

but as with his other films it was all style over hinted substance.

That combined with Leonardo DiCaprio, who I think excels at style over substance was surely a double threat and no doubt Inception would be a huge success, but still a steaming pile of what could have been.

Don’t get me wrong, growing up with a younger sister I have watched Leo DiCaprio since he was on Growing Pains

and seen almost every one of his films since. I like the characters he plays but I don’t expect much from them. I expect his performance to be very much in the soft and fluffy category. However there are exceptions to this. He was brilliant in What’s eating Gilbert Grape? And the bit of depth he showed in Scorsese’s The Departed lifted the film from the big budget, big cast but average film category. I also quite liked him in Catch Me If You Can which played to my expectations of him and loved The Quick and The Dead, which again cast him in the right role as a cocky young gunslinger.

The issues I have with DiCaprio are 2 fold; he seems so much younger than he actually is, he just doesn’t come across as an adult for me. Granted this is my issue more than his. Secondly he just doesn’t seem to have the intensity that would lift his characters. For the whole of Shutter Island it felt like he was a student wearing his dad’s suit that had just checked into a mystery weekend holiday. Hence my expectations of Inception were understandably low. Even so I carefully avoided all Inception marketing, especially the trailers over the last months to minimise my awareness of the film’s plot and to ensure maximum enjoyment of the film. Reviews had started sprouting all over the place heaping praise on Inception. This doesn’t mean much I’ve seen countless crap films where reviewers misguidedly eager to be the first, or kowtow to their favourite Director/Star or marketing entity that would be needed to provide them with further preview screenings heralded the film (e.g. The Dark Knight) as this year’s masterpiece.

Inception World Premiere: On the Red Carpet, Guy Ritchie greeting fans, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

Last Thursday I absconded to my favourite Leicester Square pre Premiere haunt and partook in an extended Hemingway like refreshment session. By the time I realized the film was about to start, I had missed most of the Red Carpet hullabaloo and crowd frenzy - security were already at the “get the punters in as quickly as possible stage of proceedings” - never pretty. I blurrily made my way into the cinema. Again those Mojitos are damn fine on a balmy summer day.

Then Inception starts.

Inception World Premiere: Josh Berger introduces the cast of Inception Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Sir Michael Caine & Leonardo DiCaprio, originally uploaded by Craig Grobler.

I enjoyed, I enjoyed it a lot. I was wrong about Inception, I was wrong about DiCaprio or maybe I wasn’t wrong about him and this is the role that he becomes an adult for me.

I’m unsure of what I enjoyed most about Inception or if like a puzzle the different pieces support the other bits to make a good whole – in no particular order I loved the Locations, all the locations are “exotic” and conjure up images of excitement and made the scope of the film so much bigger. The characters I don’t think there was one character I wasn’t interested or intrigued by, each character has individuality and intelligence that draws you to them. We learn very little about the back-story of most of the characters and usually this is seen as a weakness or poor character growth/development. But Inception is rich and textured that it is never an issue. One of the characters is used to drive some of the exposition but the dynamics of it are integral to the rest of the story so I wasn’t overtly aware of it as it was happening.

I have to mention that the acting throughout Inception is great. Nolan striking that balance between screen time and character interest. It’s hard to finger out great acting as the standard is so high, but Joseph Gordon Levitt is a revelation, I now see why Leonardo DiCaprio is the huge star he is and Tom Hardy has undoubtedly locked down his forthcoming stardom with Inception and I can't wait for the Mad Max reboot now. I’m only not mentioning Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe and Cilian Murphy acting skills here because they deliver on expectation.

The cinematography is genius. I did hear some comparisons been made between Kubrick and Nolan. I’m not agreeing (yet) but I can see why people would say that, the rich detailing of each scene is wonder to behold. Some might say they didn’t notice the amount of detail and that’s exactly the point it’s so well fabricated that if you did notice it, it wouldn’t be doing what it supposed to be doing. Inception has many great FX and used sparingly. In fact the only issue I did have with a certain effect - was actually my perception of the visuals. A picture in the latest Empire Magazine shows how the effect was created the actual dynamics of it are real.

Regarding the story and plot. It’s not entirely original but the story presented in Inception is fresh. It’s like finding an undiscovered book by your favourite Sci-Fi author written years ago, before Hollywood ran out of ideas. The story is clever, it’s fast paced and never allows you a moment to get bored. Just as you settle in another onion skin sheath is pulled off as we delve deeper into the mystery that is at the heart of Inception.

In a couple of the films schools/courses I have been on the tutors have tried to imbue the importance of how a character interacts with objects around him or touches things. Such a small device yet, nowhere on screen has this been as more important than in Inception. It’s cleverly an integral part of the plot and grounds the high concept giving it gravitas and credibility. Genius!

Watching Inception and particularly Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance I realised the crucial bit missing from Nolan's previous works was some sort of emotional center. Which may seem odd given the emotional subject matter of his films (Following, Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige). It dawned on me that although his films are technically perfect, they are a little colour by number when it comes to the emotional bit. I really didn’t care about the characters in Nolan's films after awhile, or the rather clever/bizarre circumstances they have found themselves in. But it was all really pretty to watch.

Nolan has it right this time round - I’m unsure if it’s the way the plot slowly reveals itself or DiCaprio’s performance or the combination of the two factors, either way I cared what was happening on screen.

I think Nolan's best work is still ahead of him and I can't wait.

Inception Premiere & spoiler free review

More info:
Over at the Inception website