Review: In Bruges

Year: 2008
Director: Martin McDonagh
Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Jordan Prentice, Thekla Reuten

Three great central performances, captured in a beautiful city (trust me I've been) combined with a deviously dark wit and a well paced story (until some messy plot issues at the end) make up Martin McDonagh's In Bruges. The film took me by surprise owing more to No Country for old men than say Lock Stock or Snatch. McDonagh's film demonstrates that the bad guys become even more interesting when they have a crisis of fate.

After an a botched assassination hit, Ray (Farrell) has headed to Bruges with a fellow hitman named Ken, to hide out. The grumpy Ray ponders his fate while the gentler Ken spends his time sightseeing and tiring to reassure his younger assassin that everything will be fine. Unfortunately Harry (Fiennes), the boss that ordered the hit has other ideas.

While No Country for Old Men took an old school Mcguffin and turn that aspect of plot into a grand epic revisionist western. In Burges is more introspective keeping the focus purely on it's leads. When the film wasn't hitting me with punchy dialogue and one liners, there are brief moments of poignancy that stayed with me longer than the comedy. McDonagh develops his characters well, allowing them to stew in their situation bring forth characteristics slowly and allowing the chance for the characters to evolve into well rounded individuals. Ray and Ken feel like an Irish odd couple during the first half of the film, the banter comes in thick and fast, and you get to know them as they evolve and shift roles. At one point the two feel like an old married couple, two scenes later a spoilt brat and mother. The interaction is feels almost like a buddy cop movie, In Bruges comes across as Lethal Weapon for the other side.

The two leads give off two very different but effective performances. Farrell, in his most mature performance in ages, is brilliant. His comic timing and visual tics are hilairious and his acting range throughout the film is broad and engaging throughout. Glesson on the other hand uses his screen prescene to mass effect. His performance is gentle and fatherly, two things he's done before with ease but not with this much resonance. It's great to watch, as the two role complement each other so well it's constantly engrossing. You can't wait to see what the next guy is going to say next.

To round it off we are given brute energy of Ralph Fiennes as a fiendishly loutish cherry on top of the main duo. Fiennes role is like a tornado, with chaos happening everywhere he goes. Be it at home with the family (delightfully awkward Xmas moment) or when he finally appears in Bruges. Not only has he some of the best lines in the movie, his delivery gives them more punch and humor. A character that can easily be forgotten is given a wonderfully animated touch. The support range from the thankless (Clemence Poesy) to the memorable (Jordan Prentice)

The screenplay written by McDonagh (who is also theatre playwright) is one full of cracking one liners and amusing, un-p.c moments. These moments are forced to meld with moments of poignancy. However McDonagh clearly understands context, these are despicable characters and their moments of offensiveness only illustrate and highlight their phobias and isolation (expect for Fiennes who is clearly just an 'orrible cunt). The story overdoes it's ending, in particular a death which goes on for too long and ends with a very unconvincing plot moment. But up until that point the story moves at a steady pace and redeems itself after a few missteps.

In Burges doesn't have massive set pieces or the now familiar traits of the new wave Brit gangland movies. Howevcr its story is ten times stronger then most of the Guy Richie imitators/nick love films and for the most part the film is laugh out loud funny. I was almost embarrassed with how loud I laughed at some of the jokes. To add to this In Burge reminded me of how much I love small films when I get the chance to see them. The general jaded feel that can happen with some of Hollywood's bigger movies is lost when going into something like this. The laughs come naturally, the drama works well and the story is fulfilling. While it may not be remembered in those big books of blockbusting box office stats, In Burge is more likely to remain in the memory of those who were lucky to see it.

Review: Drillbit Taylor

Year: 2008
Director: Steven Brill
Screenwriters: Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann, Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, David Dorfman, Alex Frost

Frat Pack everywhere! It appears that U.S Mainstream Comedy Cinema won't allow anyone else into their movies. No Seth Rogan? Then no way. No Vince Vaughan? Try again sucker. No Judd Apatow? Denied! It seems that if you do not have least one of these people in your movies then it's not allowed to make money. Ok so that's not true. However as long as these Frat Pack films break even at least, you ain't seen the last of these guys.

Drillbit Taylor is yet another film produced by Apatow productions. Taking liberally from the film My Bodyguard (1980) and with certain elements being thought up by the master of a thousand childhoods (John Hughes under his Edmond Dantes pseudonym); DT is a sweet (but not too slushy) film about a group of nerds who have just entered high school. They decide to hire a hobo as a personal bodyguard to defend them from a couple of bullies, with amusing results. There's not much else to the films plot, but that's not the point. It seems like a touching (and amusing) way to aim the Apatow humor at a younger audience.

For the most part, it works I guess. As a fan of Owen Wilson I found most of the movie enjoyable. Wilson's lazy Texan drawl and offbeat charm keep the film moving, elevating a below mediocre family film to a watchable one. Don't be expecting to laugh as loud as in Superbad or The Wedding Crashers (if you enjoyed those movies) as the dialogue is not nearly as quotable and the set pieces aren't as nearly as outrageous. In fact the more OTT a frat pack production is the stronger the film is as a whole. Drillbit misses the manic performances from some of the other frat members. It is in Drillbit you discover how strong the comic talents of the frat pack as it is sorely missing here. Many of the jokes, one could say are a little off. Mostly because of the performances (and dodgy editing). In the hands of others I would have laughed a lot louder than I did. Not to say that I didn't laugh, however I doubt this will have the same effect as when I watched Superbad again the other day.

Wilson is of course the strongest performance, his timing is still extremely strong and he can still make me laugh at dialogue that other actors couldn't. Leslie Mann (an underrated comic actress) also shines in the small amount of screen time she's in. The chemistry between herself and Wilson is likable, easy going and most important amusing. A stronger story could have been made with the two adult characters than the "yoof" of the film. Not to say that the younger guys in the film are terrible...just awkward and not in a Micheal Cera way. The lead trio just stand out unnaturally at times, looking more geeky and standing out more than they should.

This doesn't help the slim plot which drags a hell of a lot considering that these kids are supposed to carry the film until the end. Wilson may be the star of the film but the kids are the protagonists and while every so often they come off with gems in various moments of the film, they fade into the background far more than they should. If this is considered a spiritual predecessor to Superbad it needed kids who could compared to the talents and timing of Cera and Hill.

Director Steven Brill may have agreed on the casting due to the physical attributes of the kids but he could have at least spent more time working on the timing of the three. I have labelled them quite harshly, however I have only gone by how well the film has labelled them; Troy Gentile is the fat one, Nate Hartley is the skinny one and David Dorfman is the weedy one. They act towards their one characteristic and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and while Superbad take three archetypes and gives them a fresh feel and makes them lovable (and quotable). Drillbit has three similar stereotypes and does nothing with them.

Brill, director of the awful Without a paddle creates a film which is a damn sight better than that piece of junk in that it is actually funny in places. It has set pieces that not only crack smiles but with bring out the odd guffaw. The film is a watchable one but one without freshness. It's light but forgettable . With this said however, it's worth a renting for not only Wilson and Mann but a slightly twisted performance from head bully played by Alex Frost who some may remember at Alex from Gus Van Sant's marvellous/boring (either/or) Elephant.

R.I.P Charlton Heston

Sympathies go out to the family of Charlton Heston. The star of movies such as Ed Cid and Ben Hur. Not the biggest fan of many of his movies (Can't stand soylent green or The omega man for sure), nor of his political views but he was a man that truly shaped the landscape of cinema as we know it.

His face, presence and talent have lead to many iconic moments in film and he will be greatly remembered.

R.I.P. Anthony Minghella, Arthur C. Clarke

I was going to write a ill-written ranting article about horror films or something to that effect, however I find myself writing a small note of remembance for two people who made very different waves in the media world.

I wasn't a fan of the Anthony Minghella films I saw, however one must show respect for someone who created artistic visions that were enjoyed by many others and will continue to be for many years to come.




Authur C. Clarke's "The Sentinal" influenced one of the most hypnotic and beautful films in the first hundard years of cinema. Cliche I know but it was Clarke's words that allowed us to enjoy one of Kubrick's best known films and one of the best films I feel I've ever seen.




R.I.P. Both will be sorely missed by those close to them.

Rosemary's Baby is reborn...

..and already I wish for an abortion. Micheal Bays Platinum Dunes seems to be hellbent on re-making horror film that don't really need to be touched.

Rosemary's Baby
I usually don't mind about most remakes. As long as the makers can take the original idea and rearrange it into an interesting way I'm game. The new Hills have eyes had an intensity that I found missing in the original, while The U.S. Grudge had it's moments (definitely better than the remake of Ringu).

However Hollywood is constantly churning out remakes that many are considering sub-par. Hell, I'm sure the two remakes I used as examples are disliked by many.
What many people hate about these remakes is simply the lack of understand on what made the original movies so creepy to them. Those tiny little nuances that have kept films into peoples minds and/or nightmares will be lost.

Which leads me to the article about Rosemary's Baby. Considered a classic to many and well revered in horror circles. While melodramatic and dated by today's standards, Rosemary's Baby is still a great 70's tale of paranoia and fear. It's not like most horror films and its main theme is something that will scare soon to be parents until we are long gone; "Is there something wrong with my child?".

A film like Rosemary's Baby deals with it's characters and their story more than anything else. It's back story whispering cultural dealings of the day (Is god dead?) while telling a disturbing story about a young mother whose moved to a place where she knows hardly anybody and fears not only for her child but her own well being.

It's a grown up horror movie. Something we do see less of in these days of so called "torture porn" and self referential "satire". It is also something I don't think Micheal "maker of that toy movie" Bay's production company is up for. After watching how The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was slickly "re-imagined" I can't see Rosemary's Remake being a subtle re-working of anything at all.

Remakes, Re-imaging, Rip offs, Whatever. Like I said before I don't think there's anything wrong with a good re-vamp of something. Without Hidden Fortress there's be no Star Wars etc. But I don't feel that Platinum Dunes current style of glossy, MTV edited re-makes, filled with dirtied up beautiful people are the right to go for a film made by a director whose well know for his intelligent psychological movies.