The Black Dahlia (2006)

Jesus, why have I seen this film 3 times now? Dipshit. First time I struggled with the muddled story lines. Then I read the book by James Ellroy a couple of years later and it was fucking great so I watched it again so I could do the book/film comparison thing. It does a reasonable job of capturing the era and translating the characters to the screen but takes some deviations from the book to it's detriment and the stilted acting doesn't help the cause. I watched it again because my lady just read Ellroy's fictional account of the 1947 true crime and she wanted to do the comparison, much to her disappointment. Sob. I can't imagine she'll put herself through it another two times. Read the book instead.
2/5

Scarletts not in the book but it's still much better

Brian De Palma directed this underwhelming neo-noir trip and apart from a few other notable misses has some great films under his belt. Scar Face, The Untouchables and Carlito's Way all being flicks I've gurgled joyously through. While reading about his earlier directorial efforts, two in particular wrenched at my curious little balls, 'Greetings' (1968) and 'Hi Mom!' (1970). They star a young and relevant Robert De Niro in America's first X rated films (re-cut for an R rating). 'Hi Mom!' is described as a counter-culture satire which caused controversy back then and after reading some comments on a few movie sites it still disturbs many people today...sounds just like the sort of garbage I need to see. De Niro is a novice adult film maker who is recording his neighbours from his window and gets entangled with a radical group of black actors. Scenes of urban terrorism and rape are rightly distressing to many people but stay tuned as I endeavour to track this black comedy filth down and deliver my verdict on it modern day potency.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)

I'm a Chappelle fan so I saw this at the cinema when it was released (with a buffer seat in between old mate and myself. Why do some people have a problem with this practise?) and again on telly the other night while rehabbing from a large wedding the night before. I find a couple of glasses of red smoothes out this process.
It documents Dave throwing a concert/party in Brooklyn and the days leading up to the event. It's cut out of sequence but flows nicely so you get to watch performances from the day all the way through.
'The Chappelle Show' was one of the best skit shows to come out of the US that I've seen. Unfortunately Chappelle quit during production of season 3 and pissed off to South Africa unannounced for a spell, turning his back on a $55 million contract. Man, that is no easy decision. Guy was sick of the industry b.s. and jack arses screaming 'I'm Rick James bitch!' everywhere he went. Refreshing to see a celebrity turn their back on a payday out of disgust and try to keep their feet on the ground. Real shame however that he's not on the tv regularly anymore. It would appear he's doing plenty of stand up though and appearing in the odd movie. Apparently he set a stand up record a while ago yammering on for 6 hours 15 minutes but it has since been beaten by this guy...urgh.



Anyways, not being a major hip hop fan it was surprising to me to see such great musicianship from the rappers and their accompanying musos throughout this doco. I can't even imagine contemplating shelling out $$ to go to a rap concert/festival but I would have loved to have been at this thing. Erykah Badu was my standout but there is some strong showings from Mos Def, Kanye West, Dead Prez and the Fugees. Chappelle breaks it all up with his whip fast craziness and the inclusion of some of the local residents and workers is pretty cool too. The block of streets they work and live in becomes a character itself.
Interestingly this is directed by Michel Gondry who did 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and a couple of other enjoyable films. Not so easy to spot his style here but a good job none the less, nicely played Michel.
Worth seeing even if the hipppity hop is not your thing.
4/5

Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)

I've been planning on watching this John Carpenter directed film for a while. A few years ago I saw his film 'They Live' (1988) in which scumbag aliens have taken over on the sly and are subliminally controlling humans through advertising. Man, I loved that film. Recently I saw it again and then watched 'The Thing' (1982) which, although having some hilariously dated special effects, is still a bit of fun. I wasn't really into horror as a kid, sure I watched the Elm Street films and the odd zombie flick but I was just a little queasy with the hacking and splintering of body parts. I could happily watch people get riddled with bullets in shitty action flicks or pounded into a bloody pulp in martial art films but no chainsaws being driven up between legs, thanks. Anyway I have since gained an appreciation for horror and after watching a few Carpenter films I am keen to investigate more of his films including the Halloweens. For the moment however I'll  continue my quest with this little firecracker.

A small group of cops, secretaries and cons are spending the final night in the Anderson district cop shop before it is relocated. Suddenly a spazzed out mute busts through the front doors sobbing. The lads in the cop shop are surprised to learn that he is being pursued by a blood thirsty gang who want to chop up everything in their path. Thus begins the big siege and the start of many shotgun blasts, aimed to remove the middle sections of countless silent foes.
One of the things that I dig about Carpenter's films is the subtle comedy throughout. Often the characters deliver quirky little lines that you may not have been expecting and you think, 'Heh, you're not such a prick after all mate!". Not the sort of thing you laugh out loud at, not on first viewing anyway, but like I found rewatching 'They Live' and some of this film's scenes, is that the humour grows on you.  Then you get a scene like this little beauty...




Wow, you don't see that too often these days. A great little wake up call if you are getting too comfortable. It reminds me of when I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time and Marsellus Wallace shoots bystanders accidentally while firing at Bruce Willis. Bit of a shock but also a bit of a laugh too!
Of course the acting can be a little wooden at times and the dialogue often sounds like it was written the night before shooting but the lead actors all bring something to the table especially Austin Stoker who plays the lead cop. Dodgy editing appears at times too. One scene shows a cop standing by idly on the edge of the screen, obviously assuming he was out of shot, as one of the cons goes berserk with his prison chains on the warden's hide.
One of the stand out aspects of this film is the soundtrack. It's totally bad arse. I've listened to it before and couldn't wait to see it attached to the action. Whenever it kicked in I found myself rubbing my hands with glee in expectation to what sort of crazy shit was around the corner. Fortunately it's used to great effect and quite often too. Carpenter composed and recorded it as he does in many of his films. He's pretty renowned for them, having their own cult following. Please, check this out and get your dark brood on...




Being set in a major US city, featuring a rampaging gang and made in the 70's it reminded me of other films I'm a fan of such as 'The Warriors' (1979). Modern day action films should look more to this combination of suspense with shorts bursts of ultra violence instead of just 90 minutes of gun fire and bland car chases. It's not without it's flaws but it is a blast (in your oxygen thieving face)!
4/5

Oswald's Ghost (2007)

I watched this on SBS 2 last night, they have a lot of interesting films on there. That's a fact. This feature length documentary directed by Robert Stone focuses on the assassination of JFK in 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald and the surrounding conspiracy theories. Unfortunately Oswald was blown to pieces by small dog loving Jack Ruby a few days later, so he went to his grave without being trialled and denying the charges. 
The film delves into Oswald's character and history and offers a reasonably compelling argument that he was capable of acting alone. Dude had been in the Marine Corp and then did some crazy shit like shoot his elbow to get out. He defected to the Soviet Union and returned to the States again with a little commie wife. He also allegedly shot a cop who was trying to arrest him after the assassination. Basically the guy was trained up and had some wild ideas and visions of grandeur. The Warren Commission, responsible for the 'single bullet theory', was set up after the assassination and concluded he acted alone but it was widely criticised as to being, well, wrong. 
The middle of the film focuses on the conspiracy theories, ranging from a CIA hatched plot, the Cubans, the Vietnamese, the mafia, and president to be, Lyndon Johnston to name a few. There's quite a bit of food for thought dished out here, some of it sounds like wild crackpot talk and some of it can be seriously considered.

Lee Harvey Oswald: bewildered communist.

                                      
Giving opinions and offering insights throughout is a revolving set of heads. Some of these I found interesting like Norman Mailer, guy just sounds like an authority on anything. Mark Lane, the attorney who authored 'Rush To Judgement' which criticises the Warren Commission and questions Oswald's guilt. Also popping up were a few aged heads with the title 'Student Activist'. What their authority is remains a mystery to me. I can only guess they were hovering about at uni in the 60's ingesting chemicals, rooting about and talking shit. Good times no doubt but I don't think we needed to see them in this.
The film ends by covering the traumatic years following the assassination, other political leaders that got capped (Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy) and the effect it had on the American public's psyche. A lot of facts are covered by news broadcasts from the time and other contemporary footage which does a great job of depicting the fervour created by the event. The people interviewed often have a unique involvement and perspective (apart from those curious old students) and a lot of light is shed on Oswald who remains a strange figure in US history. 
Seeing as I didn't have a lot of knowledge about the JFK assassination or an opinion of who was responsible, I found this to be an illuminating documentary.  It offers the possibility that Oswald was the gunmen and it also gives credibility to some of the conspiracies. If you are already clued up on all this and hold your own theory then I don't know how much it would offer. Me however, I got quite a bit out of it and would like to hear some more points of view on how poor Johnny lost the back of his skull.
3.5/5 

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