Man, do I like watching films. To 'enhance' the experience I'm going to spout on about films I see on this here blog. The goal is to get turned on to some good new (and old) stuff in the process. I encourage recommendations, opinions and good old what not.
A disturbing look at the British government's deportation of children to Australia from the early 1900's to the 1970's. Deemed to be better off without their families, they were shipped across the world where many were put into slave labour environments. The most unfortunate were placed under the care of the Christian Brothers, and copped physical, mental and sexual abuse. The fuckers. Emily Watson stars as real life social worker Margaret Humphreys who exposed the appalling scheme. David Wenham and Hugo Weaving both do great jobs as men who's lives have been sadly misshaped by their childhoods. Wenham's character is a familiar type of painful person I've crossed paths with. Have all the pricks I've met in my life been the result of similar shit treatment? Only some I reckon. This is a very respectfully directed story, by Ken Loach's son Jim, that certainly should not be forgotten.
Like the great unclean, gorging on a maiden's throat, I have been busy feasting on these bloodless delights. Based on Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, but not holding the rights, the original 1922 film became Nosferatu and makes several mutations from the source material. Directed by German director F.W.Murnau, it is a gem from the silent era. Max Shrek is an outstanding beast of the night; his pallid skin and maw-like eyes are engrossingly detestable. The vintage of the film has rendered it an eerie/comical spectacle, which to be fair, results in good entertainment. Despite these ageist jabs, the film is technically quite excellent for its' time. I was a little confused with the bright lighting for night scenes though, it appeared often to be high noon, not so good for a vampire eh? The score that accompanied the version I saw was a pretty trashy one, so I'd like to see it again partnered with a grander rendition. But what I'd really like to see now, is one of these live full orchestra shindigs playing to the film. Ah, it'd be a thing I'm sure. This really has to be the oldest film I have sat through in entirety. I'm always hearing about the wealth of great films from the old silent days, but shiiiiit, I'm just accustomed to my talkies. Still, I doff my cap to a treasure from another era.
3.5/5
Herzog and Kinski; the mad bastards ride again. I've covered a few of their intrepid forays now, and this homage to the original was a welcome addition. Kinski is perfect as Nosferatu, a sad and sinister creature well past his majestic days of devouring any woman he pleased. One of the highlights of Nosferatu the Vampyre was becoming acquainted with a little French fellow by the name of Roland Topor. His role as the cackling, delirious, underling Renfield, is worth seeing this film for alone. He sprayed his artistic endeavours across many disciplines, hisillustrations in particular caught my jaundiced eye. Topor also authored The Tenant (1966) which Roman Polanski adapted for the screen in 1976, a psychological terror trip into urban living. I shall see it, read it even. Topor also chanced his arm at screen writing; Marquis (1989) features a bizarre combination of puppetry and live action to tell the tale of Marquis De Sade and his chatty penis. This has bolted to the top of my 'must see' list of films.
Herzog has a done a good job, the European landscapes and townships evoke a fairytale feel and the acting is great. A young Bruno Ganz as Harker, is bold in the face of such a menacing curiosity. There are less typical Herzog moments but they're still evident at times. The story blends scenes of the original Nosferatu film with the Dracula tale which works well indeed.
Well done boys, another good collaboration. Only Woyzeck (1976) to see now.
4/5
Shadow of the Vampire is an affectionate tale about the making of the original Nosferatu and the concept that Max Shrek was in fact a vampire. A lot of fun is had with the premise and the cast is brilliant. The mighty Willem Dafoe delivers an excellent turn as an uncooperative lead bloodsucker and John Malkovich as Murnau, the director who's cast is an expendable meal ticket (literally), is intense as expected. Other notable appearances include Eddie Izzard, Cary Elwes, and your favourite actor Udo Kier. The tone wanders at times from playful to dark, and events are a little choppy but it's just such a great homage that little of that matters. I first watched this years ago and loved it, seeing it again pushed me to see Herzog's film and then the original. I think this is a good sequence to see them in if struggling with such an old film as the original is a worry. There were so many references to check in each subsequent film that I was champing at the bit, I tell you. A personal favourite this one. 4/5
I watched this on television last night without any prior knowledge and was pleasingly surprised. I like, perhaps even love, when that happens. It's always refreshing to see a film set in an environment that is not traditionally depicted. In this case, it is the corporate world of Japanese Anime torture porn. I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't considered the possibilities of this setting before. The central characters are generally cold, ambitious and lacking scruples, which seems to be a bonus in their industry. All sorts of backstabbing, conspiring and sordid shenanigans take place. The first half of the movie had me hooked, unusual elements and intriguing developments were promising. Connie Nielsen and Chloë Sevigny fluently change between French and English throughout the film and are gratifying femme fatales.
Unfortunately the wheels become unsteady and fly off in the second half of the film. I couldn't fathom what the hell Nielsen's character was meant to be thinking. Some sort of crazy I guess.
So, beware! The brightly coloured, cartoon world of alien porn can escalate into something darker and more sinister. You have been warned.
I've read quite a bit of the good doctor Hunter S. Thompson's work, so this has been on the list to see for a while. It is a patchy collection of adventures taken from his writings and hewn together as a borderline watchable, series of drug-drenched debacles. Either way, it's still a cultural curiosity; the stories of Thompson starring a young Bill Murray and Peter Boyle, featuring a soundtrackcontaining Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Hendrix. Of course I wanted to see it.
The acting of the two leads is great. Murray's portrayal plays more human than Johnny Depp's in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) while retaining Thompson's fiendish character. Boyle stands out as Lazlo, the wild eyed attorney and civil libertarian who's antics even strike terror into his accomplice. Unless you're familiar with Thompson's batty gonzo tales though, you'll struggle to make much sense of it all. The script and directing are a disjointed mess, so it's the occasional moment of inspired mayhem that maintains curiosity. Thompson was involved in the project but was apparently pretty pissed with the end result. He and Murray got on like crazy old knuckleheads though. Can you imagine that? Now that would have been entertaining.
The horrific murders of eleven people between 1992 and 1999 in South Australia was a morbidly fascinating story for myself and many others. Now we have the film, directed by Justin Kurzel, of Australia's worst serial killer, John Bunting. He callously and methodically tortured and slaughtered those he found repugnant; pedophiles, addicts, gays, the disabled. A charismatic monster, he charmed and bullied the vulnerable around him to accompany his carnage.
Daniel Henshall is astonishing as Bunting, I'm certain we'll be seeing more of this guy. His recreation of Bunting's ability to seduce and control explains much. The family Bunting attaches himself to is ripe for exploitation, the kids already victims to a seemingly unending assortment of assaults. Lucas Pittaway plays Jamie, who Bunting takes under his wing and drags into his maniacal world. He is portrayed as a susceptible, shell of a human; unable to stand his ground when things have gone beyond any semblance of sanity.
The desaturated grade of the film successfully draws the color and hope out of these people's lives and the soundtrack, somewhat appropriately, brought Deliverance (1972) to mind at times. The sights of the struggling Adelaide suburb the film's events are located in are depressing alone. There are many appalling, graphic scenes to experience; explosive acts of violence carried out on man and animal. I could take those on the chin but it was the acts of sexual abuse that rattled me and the habitual violation of care that has uncomfortably lingered. I guess many people will not be interested in sitting through this sort of confronting ride but it's certainly worthwhile. Great to see some exciting Aussie cinema again.
After a near fatal accident, Patrick lies in a hospital bed and is believed to be a vegetable by the medical staff. He sure looks like one...
There are only a few minutes at the opening of the film to gauge Patrick's level of sanity prior to when he wound up in hospital. Clearly he wasn't well, and now, in the mysterious world of the coma, he is able to perform telekinesis...and spit. Pat would have been a stalker for sure back in his lucid days but now he can only creep on his nurse by attempting to drown her boyfriends or have the typewriter sexually harass her. Susan Penhaligon is very nice as Nurse Kathy, you can't blame Patrick for having a crack. The other acting highlight isRobert Helpmann as Doctor Roget; the camp, egotistical old twat who rules the depressing quack house with vigour when not eating frogs.
Aussie schlock films like this have a unique quality that, despite their shitness, keep you hooked. All involved seem to have enjoyed themselves and there is even some all too rare, quality erection humor. As far as providing any chills, it hardly registers. The budget they had to work with did not appear to cater for special effects other than chairs being hurled about. "Patrick! Stop throwing chairs with your brain!". Really, you wouldn't want to have it any other way, truth be told. The mix of intentional black humour, 1970's Australian naivety and frequently stretched acting results in an amusing blend.
Richard Franklin also directed Psycho II (1983) which I recall seeing when I was but a mere fledgling. Obviously he suitably impressed within the genre stakes with Patrick and 1981's Road Games to be given the keys to sully Hitchcock's masterpiece. Actually, all I remember is that lanky character Anthony Perkins making me nervous. Director Mark Hartley covered Patrick in his documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) which also reveals Tarantino's fetish for it. Plenty of weird and wonderful flicks are discussed, including the freaking excellent Razorback (1984). More feral pig films please! The doco is very entertaining and worth seeing for an overview of the period.
Fans of this fare will no doubt revel in the many ridiculous scenarios the film dishes up. It's a generic piece of work but has at least a few points of interest making it worthy of your abundance of spare time. Seriously, he eats frogs.
A Jack Nicholson double post! Excited? Brilliant! I hadn't seen either of these films for many years so seeing them both with relatively fresh eyes was sweet.
Cuckoo's Nest raked in all the big Oscars in 1975; best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay. It's not hard to see why. A super performance from Nicholson as the charismatic instigator McMurty is only one of many. Of course Louise Fletcher is perfect as the reviled Nurse Ratched, the bane of McMurty's incarceration. Brad Douriff, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd are just a few of the fascinating inmates who reside under Ratched's iron fist. I also really enjoyed seeing Scatman Crothers (by god what a fantastic name) as the poor night watchmen who gets caught up in McMurty's shenanigans. Really, he should have known better but who could resist eh?
Party time! Think about it Scatman!
Czech director Milos Forman went on to direct a couple of other films about souls who rub against the grain of society. The People vs Larry Flint (1996) and Man on the Moon (1999) are the interesting biopics of Larry Flint and Andy Kaufman respectively. Two guys who knew how to rattle cages, just like McMurty. Forman's earlier work in the Czech Republic is held in pretty high esteem and features more overt comedy. The Firemens Ball (1967) sounds like a ribald lark as a party for the retiring chief becomes an alcohol fueled disaster. Apparently life in the old communist east was a ripe target for Forman, as shots are taken throughout the film. Sounds pretty good huh? I'm onto it.
Needless to say One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a gem. Forman has adapted Ken Kesey's novel into a funny, thought provoking and heart-breaking film. A true classic.
4.5/5
Shit yeah. The Shining. Jack Nicholson. Stanley Kubrick. Scatman Crothers. Shit yeah.
Geeze, Nicholson sure did some good work back in the day, and there's still so many top shelf performances I haven't covered in this bloggy. Of course he slays it again here with a typical charismatic and frenetic descent into madness. Scatman's interaction with the kid is fun yet creepy and Shelley Duvall is just right as the warm yet quite useless ma and wife. Kubrick's vision of Stephen King's novel is technically stunning and is steeped with the sinister intelligence that you watch Kubrick films for. King wrote the original screenplay for Kubrick who rejected it, the final script Kubrick used takes quite a departure from the book. King went on to write his own made-for-television mini-seriesversion which obviously met its critics but King fans seem to be happy. Despite there being some fabulous adaptions of his work, most people have their own horror stories of seeing a Stephen King story on the screen, so please excuse me if I don't rush out to see this.
Come play with us Danny...forever!
The Shining has an abundance of truly unforgettable scenes that sear themselves onto your crusty brain. The beautiful aerial shots of the mountains of Montana and Colorado to the waves of blood pouring from the elevator were masterfully captured by John Alcott B.S.C.. He was also cinematographer on Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975) for which he rightly won an Oscar. The man knew his stuff. Apart from the awesome performances there is an emptiness to the characters and the story, though that does little to detract from the overall impression of the film, it perhaps stops it from being an utter masterpiece. I suppose when you combine the talents involved in this film with months of isolation in a hotel that echoes the lives of slaughtered children that results in a bloody rampage you just can't go wrong. 4/5
This is a pretty amusing re-imagining of the film. I can only pray to an imaginary deity that someone saw the film on the basis of it.
