Some more film blogging about the silver screen, again for indie music website The 405. I went to a press screening of 30 Minutes or Less, an action comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, most famous for movie The Social Network, and Danny McBride, most famous for his HBO TV series Eastbound and Down.
“30 Minutes or Less is a little too much like ordering a Pizza. It seems like a good idea at the time, with a great cast bouncing from TV fame and Oscar nominations. The first bite dissolves in your mouth with cheesy familiarity, as the characters stick to what they know and do best. You know it’s bad for you; crude jokes, bland at points, but the slices come thick and fast…”
I wrote this review a little while ago. Three weeks ago in fact. I was waiting for The405 to put it live before I posted it on here, but those boys have been busy. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this film for a while, and was even more excited to write about it.
Rubber
Sometimes the unexplainable can make perfect sense. Such as a film about a tyre. Who just happens to be a serial killer. With telepathic powers. It’s a story that seems completely plausible when you consider it’s from the mind of a French electro producer who turned an orange puppet into household name 10 years ago.
Rubber was written, directed, shot and edited by Quentin Dupieux, otherwise known as Mr Oizo. This is his second feature film after 2007’s Steak, also the title of his second album, but he collaborated with the French duo Justice for this genre-blurring soundtrack. While Rubber states its intention as the ‘homage to no reason’, Dupieux is quick to celebrate and perhaps unwittingly mock the horror thriller genre, from the gory prosthetics to the tension filled shower scenes. It is well researched and as beautifully put together as a real homage should be, giving the impression that it could have been made 20 years ago.
The ‘film’ is introduced by a cop (Steven Spinella) to an audience in the middle of the Californian desert. From their less-than-leafy confines they watch Robert – a tyre – arise from the sand like a rubberised Frankenstein. The audience continue to watch in amazement as he first tramples and then explodes anything that crosses his way. When Robert’s attentions turn towards beautiful young woman (Roxanne Mesquida), the audience discovers the tyre isn’t the only one with murderous tendencies.
While it is a short feature running at 1.25, it does start to tire (ahem) towards the end, as the dialogue is predictably minimal and there isn’t enough road kill in the desert. There is enough movie trivia and a spectator/spectacle subtext to keep cult film fanatics jabbering in the pub for an evening, but it may leave the average joe a bit Lynch-faced. But keep with it, as the ending has a head-spinning twist.
Here is my latest review for The405, of the new Rowan Joffe film, adapted from the Graham Greene Novel.
Brighton Rock
When I think of any characters called Rose on the silver screen, they always strike me as exceptionally drippy. Brighton Rock is no different, except this female lead gushes more than a Victorian sewer. It’s impossible to watch a beautifully innocent and deeply religious young girl fall hard for a wannabe gangster who’s as charming as his flick-knife, without questioning the almost absurd plot line. It’s enough to make a bad namesake.
Brighton Rock is based on the 1938 Graham Greene novel of the same name, but this version is set in 1964 against the backdrop of the Brighton youth riots. It tells the unlikely love story of Pinkie (Sam Riley), a self-appointed gang leader, and a waitress and awkward wallflower Rose (Andrea Riseborough). When Pinkie murders a rival gang member in cold blood, Rose is a potential witness to the crime. The pair grow close as Pinkie tries to extract the information he needs from her, but spins her further into a web of trouble. Rose’s boss Ida (Helen Mirren), seeking justice for her departed friend, becomes aware of Rose’s involvement with Pinkie and her apparent alibi for him. The more Ida tries to warn Rose about the danger she is in, the more Rose wants to protect her love. But would Pinkie do the same for Rose, or is he just using her?
From the perspective of a recent Brighton resident, the film is a delight visually. Brighton – although most of the filming was completed in Eastbourne – is stuck in a timewarp with retro costumes and furnishings in familiar locations. The cinematography has a hipstamatic feel, with smart editing between some scenes in the first half of the film.
For all the film’s beauty, I did find it quite difficult to connect with the leads. A wooden Riley plays Pinkie as impulsive and untrusting. In contrast, the fantastic Gainsborough is fiercely loyal, but stupidly naive. As the film progresses you are encouraged to despise the anti-hero Pinkie because of his treachery, but love Rose as she blossoms from a dowdy awkward girl into a beautiful woman with an independent mind. Both characters desperately need the depth given through back stories much earlier in the film for the audience to empathise with them. For a directorial debut it is a good effort, but even the supporting cast have hammed up their performances to make up for the apparent lack of direction.
Like a stick of seaside rock, I was hoping the more the film exposed, the softer it would be at its core. But the more I digested the more I found myself not caring, except for the final gratifying mouthful.
As I have mentioned before on Twitter/Facebook/to anyone that will listen, I’m going to start writing film reviews for the online Music/Art/Film magazine The 405. My first review was published on the site yesterday, a review of the Oscar contender The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo.
While I’ll mostly be writing about film, The 405‘s specialism is mainly indie and electronic music, with plenty of reviews, interviews and interesting debates about independent music. It’s run by an uber enthusiastic bunch of individuals and it’s content is written by an even savvier bunch of volunteers. I’m joining the team to review new film releases for the site as a personal exercise for me to keep writing on a regular basis, improve my writing technique and commentary on popular culture, and hopefully as a spring board for other work in the future.
It’s easy to walk into the cinema thinking The Fighter is just another wannabe Rocky. Don’t. While The Fighter is based on the true, rags-to-riches story of Micky ‘Irish’ Ward, the story is as captivating and entertaining as any other, but thankfully misses out the steroid injections.
It’s mid 80’s Massachusetts. Micky Ward (Mark Walberg) is a thirty-year-old welterweight boxer, known in the sport as a ‘stepping stone’, used in fights to allow other boxers to reach the big time. Micky is managed by his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) but she instead dotes on his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christan Bale), a former boxer, local legend, and crack-cocaine addict. Dicky, a boyhood inspiration to Micky, is predictably unreliable and spends more time in the local crack house than in the boxing ring training Micky.The film is less about Micky’s professional struggles in the ring and more about his personal struggles with his dysfunctional family.
The film is well paced throughout and contains fewer boxing scenes than expected, but they’re nevertheless realistically grisly. There are some nice cinematic touches that remind you of the realism of the story, such as the grainy television screenings of Micky’s matches and the documentary that Dicky was taking part in. The comic scenes are also a surprise given the subject matter, particularly the ones involving Dicky and Alice avoiding the inevitable intervention for Dicky’s habit, and Charlene spectacularly locking hair with Micky’s seven sisters.
Mark Wahlberg, also from a Massachusetts family of 9 children, looks very comfortable in the lead role, physically training for this film for the last 4 years, as well as producing it. However, for all of Wahlberg’s passion, Micky appears to have very little of it, which is the film’s weakness. Both the film and Micky’s career are driven in two different directions by the strong supporting cast. Christian Bale and Melissa Leo provide outstanding Oscar worthy performances, while Amy Adams portrays Micky’s girlfriend Charlene Fleming as understated, but just as fierce.
It’s also worth noting that the Dropkick Murphys song to Micky Ward ‘The Warriors Code’ surprisingly did not appear in the soundtrack. I think this is because the overall tone of the film isn’t just a celebration of Micky’s achievements, but also Dicky’s personal come-back. The Fighter won’t start a boxing revolution, or batter your emotions on the ropes, but it’s in great shape and defiantly worth a punt.
East London residents might recognise this cuddly multi-coloured cross-stitch bear, it’s a character created by Graffiti artist Malarky, as seen in Brick Lane.
