The week in brief (6 - 12 May 2013)

This week's list of movies I've seen over the last seven days:

Ill Manors (2012): 6/10
Troll 2 (1990): 2/10
Mud (2012): 7/10

As I only caught a few films this week, I should have time to do a little write up of each of them. First of all, we have UK rapper Ben Drew (aka Plan B)'s first foray into the world of filmmaking, with his London crime drama Ill Manors. Set in a deprived part of East London, the movie looks at the lives of various residents of the area in a non linear fashion, with the storylines of various characters intersecting with each other at certain points. It's difficult to convey just how bleak and depressing this movie, but the free form word association exercise in the following sentence should give you a flavour of it ... High rise, grim, grey, drugs, violence, degradation, pimps, prostitutes,  squalor, guns, knives, thugs, concrete, desolation, hatred.... Despite all of the misery, I never really found myself drawn in by this picture. I'm not normally a person who needs to emphasise with the lead characters to enjoy a movie, but on this occasion, the sheer unpleasantness of actions of nearly everyone involved means that it's hard to care too much if those same characters meet a grisly end. Drew certainly has talent as a director, adding some interesting visual flourishes, but he's let down to a certain extent by a number of mediocre performances and a rather contrived, overly melodramatic ending.
 

Moving on, I finally got the chance to catch the infamously terrible Italian/ American horror movie Troll 2, and it was pretty much as bad as the hype suggested. The nonsensical plot involves an all-American family unit spending a little quality time on holiday in a strange village called 'Nilbog', a place with a dark, terrifying secret which is a mystery to everyone unable to read place names backwards. Yes, as you may have guessed, its residents are a group of vicious goblins, hell bent on tucking into some sweet, gamey human flesh. For some reason (possibly because the people behind the movie really hated vegetarians), the goblins need to convert their prey into vegetable form to consume them. To do this, they must first tempt the humans into eating goblin food, which apparently has the power to turn people into a mushy green pulp. Only a plucky young boy and the spirit of his beloved (but sadly deceased) Grandpa Seth can save the family... It's not all that often that I go in to watch a film knowing (and in fact hoping) that it will be truly terrible, but this was one such occasion. The movie didn't disappoint -  the acting is laughably bad, the special effects are atrocious and there are some scenes which are just indescribably bizarre and have to be seen to be believed... . Having now seen two of the three movies which constitute the holy trinity of 'so bad it's good' cinema, I will finally get to complete the set when I get to see 'The Room' next month. I can hardly wait...

Last, but definitely not least, we come to my pick of the week, Mud. It's an old fashioned kind of adventure/ thriller, with Matthew McConnaughey contuing his recent career renaissance by offering a very creditable performance as the charismatic title character. He's a fugitive who's hiding out from the law (and a gang of vicious local gangsters) in a boat which has been abandoned halfway up a tree in the wilds of Arkansas. When a couple of teenage boys come across him, the three of them strike up a friendship - but with the authorities closing in, it's going to be difficult for him to stay free... Although I wouldn't say I was dazzled by this movie, it's definitely enjoyable, with some interesting characters and some strikingly beautiful shots of the Southern American wilderness. It's just good to see an American picture during the summer which isn't a big budget remake or sequel - so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Mud does well enough at the box office to give the director (Jeff Nicols) another crack at the big time.

Kirk's Quote of the Week

 Taxi Driver (1976)

"Personnel Officer: How's your driving record? Clean?
Travis Bickle: It's clean, real clean. Like my conscience."
 

Listorama! My Top Ten Scorsese Films

Having covered one great American director in my last list, this time I thought I'd move on to another of my favourite filmmakers, Martin Scorsese. This list was a little trickier to put together than my Stanley Kubrick top ten - while Kubrick only made a total of 13 feature films throughout his career, Marty has been much more prolific. Since 1967, he's made a total of 23 full length movies - and that's not including the shorts, documentaries and TV work he's done in that time.

In putting together my list, I had to exclude a fair few films on the basis that I haven't seen them (Who's That Knocking At My Door, Boxcar Bertha, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, New York New York, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence and Kundun). Of the others, I can't say that there's ever been a Scorsese film I haven't enjoyed to some extent, but there are a few I've seen which didn't quite make the grade (this category includes After Hours, The Color of Money, Gangs of New York, The Aviator and Hugo).

Here's my Scorsese top ten - a collection of fantastic movies from one of the greatest directors of all time.

10. Cape Fear (1991)

The first of many movies on this list featuring the dream team combination of Scorsese's direction and Robert De Niro's acting, this remake of the '60s classic is a gripping thriller with a scarily committed De Niro on fine form as the psychotic Max Cady. In my opinion, it never quite reaches the intensity of the original film, but it's still highly entertaining; I suppose its one major flaw is the lack of a scene in which Cady repeatedly steps on a rake...

9. Bringing out the Dead (1999)

Martin Scorsese working with Nicolas Cage? It happened - though this was back in 1999, when Cage was still a credible actor instead of the gurning lunatic - putting out five films a year in order to pay off his massive debts - that we know and tolerate today. This film is another collaboration between Scorsese and Paul Schrader, the genius screenwriter behind two films which will feature later on in my list, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. While it doesn't quite measure up to those two masterpieces, BOTD is an excellent picture in its own right, a nightmarish vision of New York as Hell with Nic Cage's paramedic as your tour guide.

8. Shutter Island (2010)

The most recent film on this list, Shutter Island is proof that Martin Scorsese is still more than capable of putting together something brilliant at this late stage in his career. Leonardo Di Caprio, who has taken on the mantle of Scorsese's leading man from Robert De Niro, is the star of this one, and plays an exhausted FBI agent investigating the mysterious disappearance of an inmate from an isolated mental institution. Though I'm not entirely convinced that the big twist at the end of the movie stands up to close scrutiny, Shutter Island is a successful attempt by Scorsese to try his hand at the horror genre. It's tense, atmospheric and creepy, with a number of terrifying moments.

7. Mean Streets (1972)

As I mentioned when I reviewed this one a few days ago, this early Scorsese picture serves up a statement of intent about a number of the key themes that he would examine time and time again in his movies: Catholic guilt, violence and criminality. It also contains two other elements which can often be found in the best of Martin Scorsese's work: a thrilling lead performance from Robert De Niro and a brilliant soundtrack. Fans of Goodfellas and Casino will definitely get a kick out of this movie too.

6. The King of Comedy (1983)

Possibly Scorsese's strangest film, The King of Comedy takes a look at the darker side of fame. De Niro stars as Rupert Pupkin, a deluded wannabe comedian who kidnaps his idol, a talk show host played by Jerry Lee Lewis. Watching this one is often an uncomfortable experience, but it's one of Scorsese's most interesting films and is remarkably far sighted about the celebrity obsessed culture in which we live today.

5. The Departed (2006)


The film which finally won Scorsese the Best Director Oscar he'd deserved for a long time (probably since Taxi Driver was beaten to the punch, so to speak, by Rocky in 1976). It's a brilliant tale of greed, ambition and revenge in the Boston underworld, and has a whole series of unexpected plot twists that keep you guessing right up to the end. It's also one of the few Scorsese films to have inspired an episode of The Simpsons; though The Debarted is no Bart the Murderer or Cape Feare, it's definitely one of the better recent instalments that I've seen.

4. Casino (1995)


A sort-of sequel to the massively successful Goodfellas, the action is moved from the tough streets of Brooklyn to the glitzy boulevards of Las Vegas, but again looks into the lives of mid level mafia operatives. This was De Niro's final film with Scorsese (to date), and he goes out with a bang, putting in stellar work as Casino boss Sam Rothstein. However, he is arguably outshone by Joe Pesci's portrayal of Nicky Santoro, a gangster with an insatiable appetite for gambling and a volcanic temper. The picture is perhaps a little flabby in places, and suffers a little in comparison with Goodfellas, but it's still a terrific mafia movie.

3. Raging Bull (1980)


We now move into the realm of absolute, stone cold classics - possibly the greatest film ever made about boxing (and about man's capacity for self destruction), Raging Bull follows the career of legendary middleweight Jake La Motta. We are taken from the fighter's roots in the Bronx, through to his time as a world champion and then on to his post boxing days, working as a shabby nightclub comic and trading off his former glories.  Once again, Scorsese draws a wonderful performance out of De Niro. He plays Jake De La Motta at various stages in his life and is equally is convincing as an angry, violent young man and as the flabby, washed up failure he became in later life. If nothing else, this film has some of the most astonishing fight scenes ever committed to film - watching La Motta fight, you can almost feel every punch he takes to the chin.

2. Goodfellas (1990)


Based on the true story of New York mafioso Henry Hill, Goodfellas is up there with the Godfather Parts One and Two as the greatest films ever made about organised crime. While Coppola's movies look at the pressures faced by those at the top of the mafia food chain, Scorsese takes us into the lives of three workaday gangsters in Brooklyn. Spanning thirty years (from Hill's induction into the mob in the '50s up to his eventual arrest in the early '80s), we see the highs and lows of the criminal life. It's an absolutely fantastic film, with dozens of memorable scenes, a brilliantly quotable script and a sensational soundtrack.

1. Taxi Driver (1976)

(Previously reviewed here). To be honest, any of the top three films on this list could have grabbed the top spot, but I had to make my choice, and probably because it's the one I've seen most recently, Taxi Driver comes out as numero uno. Robert De Niro is, once again, superb in this film, playing an alienated loner who takes a job driving taxis on the streets of New York as a way of working through his crippling insomnia. While on his nightly rounds of the city, he dreams about taking violent action against the pimps and drug dealers he sees on his travels. It's a powerful examination of isolation, loneliness and violence, with a tremendous script from Paul Schrader, an outstanding score from Bernard Herrmann, but possibly the most important element is the cinematography; New York has rarely looked so beautiful and yet so menacing at the same time. The best film Scorsese has ever made? I think so.

That was the week that was (16 - 22 May) - Part Two

So, onto Part Two of last week's movie round up...

Four Lions (2010)

Chris Morris' feature film debut is a controversial comedy centring on the (mis)adventures of five would be suicide bombers (spoiler alert - one of them doesn't even make it to the main event). Morris shows the human side of the jihadists - they're shown to be more as bumbling fools rather than fearless agents of death (though the police investigating their activities ultimately prove to be just as incompetent). Of the terrrorist cell in question, only the leader, Omar, seems to have any idea what's going on - his brothers in terror consist of two simple minded souls, an Ali G like rapper and a white Muslim convert who believes the best course of action is to bomb a mosque 'to radicalise the moderates'. Despite the serious subject matter, this film is often hilariously funny and is definitely worth a watch. It's certainly the only suicide bomb-com out there at the moment.

Rating: 8/10

Changeling (2008)

I'm not really a big Angelina fan, and find Clint Eastwood to be a bit hit and miss as a director (loved Unforgiven and Mystic River, liked Gran Torino, hated Million Dollar Baby). I was therefore a little surprised to be so impressed with this film. I suppose it's the period trappings that really sold it for me - the late 1920s - early 1930s era has been lovingly recreated with some sumptuous set and costume design, but that is matched by a thrilling plot and very strong performances from Jolie, John Malkovich and Jason Butler Harner. The story sounded almost far fetched to be plausible - a woman whose son goes missing is presented with another child by the LAPD who refuse to accept that they have made a mistake, at the same time as a deranged child killer keeps kids locked up in a chicken coop on his ranch on the outskirts of town - until I realised that it was all based on a true story. A powerful story and a very entertaining movie.

Rating: 9/10

The Shining (1980)

My favourite horror film of all time - I've seen it about 4 or 5 times before, but the images are still shocking. I suppose the measure of its success is the way in which certain scenes from the movie are indelibly etched in my mind - in particular, the twin girls appearing in the hallway, the old lady in room 237 and the elevators filled with blood. Masterfully directed by Stanley Kubrick, who apparently drove his cast (in particular Shelley Duvall) to the point of madness with his demands, it's a film that can be watched time and time again, without ever revealing all of it secrets. Why does Jack appear in the picture at the end of the movie? Has he been sucked into the evil of the Overlook Hotel, or has he simply 'always' been there? A true classic. I've just discovered that the American cut of the movie contains an additional half an hour's worth of footage - I shall have to try and track down a DVD with that cut of the film.

Rating: 10/10

Taxi Driver (1976)

Probably Martin Scorsese's masterpiece, this is another stone cold classic - everything about this movie is great. Scorsese and De Niro are at the absolute peak of their powers. De Niro worked as a taxi driver in New York for a month before shooting to enable him to get inside the head of the protagonist, Travis Bickle, a lonely man whose sense of alienation and misanthropy gradually leads him to madness. The cinematography and sound track are top notch too, with the steam rising through vents of the streets of New York pierced by the neon lights of the then seedy Times Square are of the city to create a hellish atmosphere. One plot point I'd almost forgotten since the last time I saw Taxi Driver is that Travis ends the film a hero in the eyes of the media, lauded for gunning down the pimps who had 'enslaved' 12 year old Iris (played by Jodie Foster). A brilliant film which always holds up on repeat viewings.

Rating: 10/10

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2008)

From the sublime to the ridiculous... this film has recently been touted as the 'worst of all time', and while I can't claim to have seen many of the other contenders which are frequently cited as the absolute nadir of cinema (Plan 9 From Outer Space, Manos: The Hands of Fate etc), Birdemic is definitely the worst made movie I've ever watched.  The most glaring errors come in the form of the sound mix, which drops in and out wildly during scenes, but the storyline makes no sense, the acting is atrocious and the special effects appear to just be animated GIFs of birds superimposed on the screen. Actually calling the acting atrocious may do it too much credit - the line readings are excrutiatingly stilted and unnatural, with the worst offender being Alan 'Block O' Wood' Bagh, who plays the lead role in the movie. I'm torn between giving it the high mark which it might merit as an unintentional comedy, or the low mark which it deserves as a piece of filmmaking. As I'm generally a little soft on movies and rarely give a mark below 5, I might never get another chance to dish out a 1, so I'll take the opportunity here.

Rating: 1/10

13 Assassins (2010)

 A bloodthirsty romp in feudal Japan, Takashi Miike's movie tells the story of twelve Samurai warriors (and one wild man from the forest) who team up to take down the unspeakably cruel ruler of a prefecture. It reminded me quite a bit of the Seven Samurai - as in that movie, the first two thirds of the film involves putting together a crack team of warriors, while the final third consists of a violent showdown in a village. Solidly entertaining, and well worth seeing for the climatic battle scenes.

Rating: 7/10