Review: This is the End

Year: 2013

Director: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Screenplay: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Synopsis is here

With This is the End I’m really at a loss. I’m not sure if it’s the cast's slow crawl to irrelevance, a weak grip on the material or my successful humour transplant. But it’s safe to say that I found this directorial début from Superbad’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to be something of wasted opportunity, in more ways than one.

While not completely without charm and with a better, kinder head on its shoulders than one or two of its American comedy counterparts (See The Hangover Sequels). This apocalyptic comedy suffers from weakly scripted gags and the now typical pop culture references which date the movie quicker than one would want. The film reeks of the semi-improv chicanery that is affecting so much mainstream American comedy.  I know it sounds wrong but sometimes structure, even in comedy, is nice.

It's mildly fun to see these guys poke fun at themselves (Franco as an ignorant celebrity ass is a decent idea), and one or two cameos are chucklesome. Yet so much of the film, too much, dies on its backside. Mostly because the main conflict (that Jay Baruchel dislikes how L.A has changed his best friend Seth Rogen) is poorly utilised, despite being an interesting concept. I found myself waiting for any moment Danny McBride takes the film by the scuff of the neck. He affects the film the same way Stevie Gerrard (Google it non football fans) would take hold of a Cup Final in his prime.

Weed smoking plays a large part of the humour, but it’s often like watching someone else play a video game. Unless you're involved, it doesn't feel as fun. Too often I felt like the designated driver having to maintain while the popular kids have a kick ass time at the back of my borrowed car. They're having a blast and sometimes I'm involved. In the end however they leave the vehicle in a mess. For male bonding laughs during the end of the world, you may want to seek out The World’s End.

Article: Why Don't You Just Stay at Home?

This second screen “experience” is one to say you were at the experience, but you didn’t actually experience it. Tweeting your pal about where you are rather than indulging in the film. It’s the “FIRST!” forum post of cinema going.

I wrote a guest post at Alasdair Stuart's Blog about the idea of the "second screen experience". Click on the link above and enjoy!

Review: Only God Forgives

Year: 2013

Director: Nicolas Windin Refn

Screenplay: Nicolas Windin Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm

Synopsis is here

A quick glimpse of the trailer for Only God Forgives, Cannes’ most recent infant terrible, reminded me of something that veteran web film reviewer and general twitterholic Scott Weinberg mentioned briefly on one of his many rants on the current state of cinema. As I didn't save the tweet, I’ll do my best to paraphrase: “If there are no reviews, you’ll only have the marketing telling you what to watch.” I'm sure there was more to it than that. Possibly more swear words, but I digress. His point is important for the simple fact that as much as critics/reviewers/bloggers get a bad rap (particularly as we often appear to be out of touch with the general audience), their job is to merely inform a viewer.

This does not just mean tell someone if the film is good or not. While that is of course a large majority of what they do, they should also try and provide a certain amount of context around the film at hand. Internet commentators and keyboard warriors may feel differently, but a world without them would have even more people happily parting their well earned cash with whatever flick Hollywood would like them to consume.  Yes, I'm trying to prove my own existence here, but seriously, now that trailers and posters have stopped trying to tell you that the films released actually differentiate from each other, it’s nice to maybe have a heads up, even if you don’t agree with the writer.

Getting back to the reason why you’re on this page, Only God Forgives is the latest movie from Nicolas Windin Refn, whose 2011 feature; Drive, gained a fair amount of praise and profit from all quarters, including. If you take anything away from my review it’s this, if you see a trailer/poster for this film and see the words “from the director of Drive” anywhere on it...I'm warning you now. That’s the marketing and not the film talking. While there’s some slight thematic connections between the films (although this seems to lean more towards Refn’s Valhalla Rising), Refn leaves the muscle cars and typical convention behind. This isn’t in the same ballpark as Drive. It’s not really even on the same planet.

Sparse, violent and deliberately paced; Only God Forgives, like A Field in England and Spring Breakers, is more interested in exercising mood than narrative. If walls could talk; the cheerless and shadowy corridors that inhabit Refn’s film, would say little about the decidedly typical revenge plot situated within the films Bangkok setting. They would however, be screaming hellishly of the bleak and corrosive souls that walk amongst the blood red walls. I feel they'd have more to say than the two aforementioned films.

American ex-pat Julian (Gosling) finds himself forced to confront the killer of his morally devoid brother by his incestuous mother (Kristin Scott Thomas channelling the sorority sister of Norma Bates and Janine 'Smurf'Cody). The murderer; Chang, is a self proclaimed angel of vengeance, who takes it upon himself to deliver swift and brutal justice to those he believes deserves it.

The film is less bothered with telling the story; instead it tries to entrap the viewer inside nightmarish, neon drenched purgatory. These characters are soaked in the guilt that they've created. Visceral imagery of bound or amputated hands becomes metaphors for pleasure or protection being denied or taken.  Vithaya Pansringarm plays Chang with an all knowing mysticism that’s hard to shake off. After delivering his violent sentences, he performs sickly sweet karaoke to his fellow officers who watch in straight faced silence. In doing this; is he trying and claim repentance? The film leaves such questions for the viewer.

Will the viewer respond to Only God Forgives? Hard to say. For me, it starts off a little forced before becoming a little too full of itself once or twice. A neon-lit Thailand? A film set in Asia that deals with honour and vengeance?  Even the gloomy, never flinching face of Ryan Gosling makes a few of its elements feel a tad too commonplace.  

Yet throughout I found myself enthralled by its imagery and absorbed by the sheer absurdity. I found myself caught up within the rhythms of its dark, blistered heart. I caught glimpses of pity, drip through the lavish production design, perfectly framed shots and stained souls that wander these damp, darkened Bangkok halls. For those who are willing to let it in, they maybe something in the films dankness that they may be willing to embrace.  If the walls could talk, they’d tell you that their screams get muffled by marketing posters.  

Podcast: Cinematic Dramatic 5x04 - The World's Pacific Wolverine

The Dramatics are back with a triple bill of blockbusters! Giant robots punch giant aliens with Pacific Rim, beer drinking goes sci-fi with The World's End and The Wolverine attempts to make up for X-Men Origins.

Review: Compliance

Year: 2013
Director: Craig Zobel
Screenplay: Craig Zobel
Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy

Synopsis is here

I’m not surprised that there was a certain amount of anger was aimed at Craig Zobel’s feature; Compliance. Although inspired by true events, the film almost asks you to take a massive leap of faith. I’m sure when many watch the events that took place, many couldn't, nay wouldn't, believe that something similar had taken place in real life. And yet a quick Google of the name Lynndie England would take you to sites talking about the Abu Ghraib torture pictures.

The pictures show England, posing and mocking naked Iraqi prisoners. Her response as to why she posed in those pictures was that she was taking orders from people in higher ranks (she was also in a relationship with one of the officers). Stating that she felt odd posing like she did, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Compliance plays on the idea that under authority, with the right pressure and stress applied, responsibility diminishes. It’s at that point when bad things happen.

But the film is still incredible hard to take in, but constantly thought provoking. I’m sure there are tons of message boards full of comments from smarter folk who would never do anything like what transpires within the films plot. But then again despite intelligence, one can still be recruited into a cult.

Zobel’s film gets the environment just right. From the very start restaurant manager; Sandra (Ann Dowd), is already under a certain strain. A confrontation with a supplier sets up the day awkwardly and Sandra, a well meaning but unpolished woman is already at odds with the playground politics that take place in retail places such as this ChichWich restaurant. A conversation between relationships neatly shows the differences and conflict between Sandra and Becky (Dreama Walker), the teenage girl who becomes the main victim in the situation.

But everyone becomes victim in a prank which quickly takes advantage of authoritative powers. Zobel’s film may anger people, because it shows how easily and engrained some of our human behaviours are. A female manager hears over the phone; a firm yet relatively friendly male voice proclaiming to be a police officer and quickly she lends responsibility over to the voice. While the conversation continues out back, the restaurant gets busier.  It’s a Friday and places such as this are always busy

The caller at first is vague about the details of his call. Allegedly there’s a theft and someone out front is culpable. But as the conversations wear on, the caller (a despicable Pat Healy) is able to influence the situation further due to fudged facts and background knowledge. The conversations at times feel much like recent bank card scams that have come into play recently.

Zobel’s script cleverly picks up on those small details that we so easily forget, but help the caller gain such an advantage. Healy’s caller character effectively uses cold reading to make it appear that he knows more than he actually does.  The film also uses its surroundings to its advantage. Much like the occurrences the film is based on, the cinematography gives us an on point description of small town U.S.A., a place with less “excitement” and ultimately, less reason to be suspicious of authoritative orders. As the film continues, we see less of anything else. Just faces in concerned close up, with little to console them except that voice on the other line.

Compliance is well performed and neatly observed and a great film to watch to perhaps provide a few moments of water cooler/after dinner chat. I do doubt however that many will feel the need to watch more than once. Most will argue they wouldn't be taken as such a fool and many may not. But Zobel’s film understands the smaller details that make events like this happen.  Nobody believes that they can be made the victim. If that was truly the case films like Compliance would not exist.