This was surprisingly enjoyable. There is no reason to expect that the afternoon-TV staple (having been through twenty four series and two movies) was going to produce anything except disposable junk. Years of remarkably similar storylines where a bunch of teens team up to fight monsters, only they have to change into colour-coded outfits to do it because all the monster-fighting footage is taken from a Japanese series, has made the formula ingrained.
But it seems nobody actually thought about making the characters feel lived-in a bit until now. Because that's where this version shines. The five largely unknown performers playing the teens are given a lot more depth - admittedly, this is moving from the depth of an afternoon TV show to, say, a reasonable mid-level CW series like "The 100", but still, the effort is appreciated. The big-names include Bryan Cranston as Zordon-the-face-on-the-wall-that-does-the-exposition, which he takes reasonably seriously, and Elizabeth Banks as Rita-the-villian, which she takes fairly OTT in a weird kinda way.
The eventual giant-monster-versus-robot-things ending is only middling, in all honesty, but enough groundwork has been laid out by then that you're happy to go with it. A remarkably pleasurable experience.
Friday 31 March 2017
A Cure for Wellness
Gore Verbinski went through a phase of being a particularly successful big-budget director - with the first three "Pirates of the Carribean" films grossing incredible amounts. That came to a screeching halt a couple of years ago with his attempt at "The Lone Ranger". His current effort is unlikely to reboot his career - a gothic thriller that looks impressive but has big script and cast issues, it's overly long and, despite moments of interest, resolutely fails to compel.
Part of the problem may be the choice of leading man. Dane DeHaan. He's resolutely not a mainstream leading man, with an odd skinny face and an over-prominent jowl. The writing for this one doesn't do him many favours - his character is painted in the initial setup scenes as a rather shitty human being, and once he's in the Swiss health spa that forms the location for most of the film, it's difficult to care much about him and whether he'll uncover all the dastardly secrets that lie beneath.
The secrets that are revealed are big bold and gothic, and as the central conspirator, Jason Isaacs does have a certain charm that works well as he remains sinesterly detached. And there are a few nice threatening images as the wildly unhealthy nature of the health spa becomes more and more apparent.
But this really doesn't hold together as anything other than a mess with occasional interesting bits.
Part of the problem may be the choice of leading man. Dane DeHaan. He's resolutely not a mainstream leading man, with an odd skinny face and an over-prominent jowl. The writing for this one doesn't do him many favours - his character is painted in the initial setup scenes as a rather shitty human being, and once he's in the Swiss health spa that forms the location for most of the film, it's difficult to care much about him and whether he'll uncover all the dastardly secrets that lie beneath.
The secrets that are revealed are big bold and gothic, and as the central conspirator, Jason Isaacs does have a certain charm that works well as he remains sinesterly detached. And there are a few nice threatening images as the wildly unhealthy nature of the health spa becomes more and more apparent.
But this really doesn't hold together as anything other than a mess with occasional interesting bits.
Friday 24 March 2017
The Eagle Huntress
This is a fairly standard nature documentary, although it tries a few twists. The oddest thing about it may be its rating - it's rated G, but it does feature, as the title suggests, extended hunting sequences where an eagle hunts and kills a fox. No, it's not massively gory, but still - is this really general audiences stuff?
This is the story of a 13 year old girl in Mongolia who trains an eagle as a hunting tool. This is a longstanding tradition in her society, although the film tries to make a big point that there are no other women who do this - a point that a bit of online research reveals is rather bogus (and, indeed, for all that there is footage of old Mongolian men saying that she isn't a true hunter until she's accomplished certain things, there's bugger all resistance really shown to her doing it).
The footage is certainly very nice looking and Aisophan herself is a charmingly friendly girl, but this really doesn't have the depth to be a 102 minute movie. I appreciate the female empowerment message, but really, winning over in the face of no substantial resistance isn't much of a movie.
Sunday 19 March 2017
David Stratton: A Cinematic Life
David Stratton is, of course, an Australian cinematic institution, although one who's rarely appeared in films himself. He's that strange contradiction, a widely known and beloved critic (most critics are either obscure or despised ... and I'm fine with the first one, not so much on the second but ... feh). This documentary does double duty - both telling a quick history of Stratton's life and providing a potted history of Australian cinema for the last seven decades. As someone who's read Stratton's autobiography and knows a fair bit of this history, there's not a lot spectacularly new, though it is good to get some of these stories from the horses mouth (and there are a supporting cast of a number of significant Australian filmmakers and performers who put their own two cents in about David, their own films and others).
And of course, it's inevitably going to be at its most golden whenever Margaret Pomeranz is on screen as well - only appearing as a double act with David (over what looks like a rather nice plate of oysters at a restaurant overlooking the harbour bridge). The two slip back into the natural banter that they had on TV for almost thirty years, and it's wonderful to have them together again for this go around.
This is probably not important cinema, but it's a comfortable documentary that I enjoyed a fair bit.
And of course, it's inevitably going to be at its most golden whenever Margaret Pomeranz is on screen as well - only appearing as a double act with David (over what looks like a rather nice plate of oysters at a restaurant overlooking the harbour bridge). The two slip back into the natural banter that they had on TV for almost thirty years, and it's wonderful to have them together again for this go around.
This is probably not important cinema, but it's a comfortable documentary that I enjoyed a fair bit.
Saturday 18 March 2017
The Salesman
A married couple need to relocate out of their apartment in a hurry - as he's teaching by day and they're both rehearsing a production of "Death of a Salesman" by night, there's little time for them to find anywhere until an alternate apartment is offered by a cast member. But everything's thrown into chaos when the wife is suddenly assaulted at home and the aftermath provides further fractures between them.
Director Asghar Farhadi's film won best film at the oscars and it's an intriguing work - at the broad plot outline, this could be another Death Wish, with the wife nothing more than a plot prop for the man to prove his worth through extreme violence. But this isn't that kind of movie - instead, the ruptures within are more serious - they're both tied to Iranian cultural mores, and entirely intrinsic to the characters and their own personal perspectives.
I do think this drags a little in some spots - in particular, the parallels with the "Death of a Salesman" plot are mild enough to be almost unnecessary - but the climax flips our perspective further, widening the circle of sympathy beyond anything we might have expected. Intriguing.
Director Asghar Farhadi's film won best film at the oscars and it's an intriguing work - at the broad plot outline, this could be another Death Wish, with the wife nothing more than a plot prop for the man to prove his worth through extreme violence. But this isn't that kind of movie - instead, the ruptures within are more serious - they're both tied to Iranian cultural mores, and entirely intrinsic to the characters and their own personal perspectives.
I do think this drags a little in some spots - in particular, the parallels with the "Death of a Salesman" plot are mild enough to be almost unnecessary - but the climax flips our perspective further, widening the circle of sympathy beyond anything we might have expected. Intriguing.
Kong: Skull Island
The two previous King Kong redos have largely satisfied themselves with telling variations of the same story - a party of white explorers go to a mysterious island, they find a giant ape, they bring it back and try to exploit it in New York, the ape goes wild and climbs a giant building, ape gets shot down.
Skull Island plays a little with the formula. Resetting the story into the early 70s, as the US retreats from Vietnam, and confining the action entirely to the island, this instead becomes a story of people invading a world that neither requires nor wants them, and fleeing from the assorted terrors there. Kong here is both threat and protector, a pure force of nature who more than anything wants to keep the status quo.
Our troupe of intrepid adventurers are split between two reasonably bland leads (neither Tom Hiddleston nor Brie Larson are given particularly compelling characters as the tracker and the photographer- the virtues of Larson's character are largely in the absence of the otherwise standard girl-ape romance) and three more compelling character actors - John Goodman, getting most of the exposition as the professorial type behind the expedition; Samuel L. Jackson doing some quality brooding and intensity as the military sargeant who treats the experience as a chance to re-run Vietnam more successfully; and John C. Reilly as a pilot who's been on the island for decades and who has most of the charm in the cast. There are a LOT of bonus characters who are basically death-fodder for the various island creatures, few of whom have much to add other than body count.
This is reasonably enjoyable despite not being spectacularly deep and also quite obviously being a setup for further monster movies to come, largely tying in with the American Godzilla from two or three years ago. If you're looking for particular depth and strength, this is not your movie, but the monster mayhem is reasonably strong otherwise.
Skull Island plays a little with the formula. Resetting the story into the early 70s, as the US retreats from Vietnam, and confining the action entirely to the island, this instead becomes a story of people invading a world that neither requires nor wants them, and fleeing from the assorted terrors there. Kong here is both threat and protector, a pure force of nature who more than anything wants to keep the status quo.
Our troupe of intrepid adventurers are split between two reasonably bland leads (neither Tom Hiddleston nor Brie Larson are given particularly compelling characters as the tracker and the photographer- the virtues of Larson's character are largely in the absence of the otherwise standard girl-ape romance) and three more compelling character actors - John Goodman, getting most of the exposition as the professorial type behind the expedition; Samuel L. Jackson doing some quality brooding and intensity as the military sargeant who treats the experience as a chance to re-run Vietnam more successfully; and John C. Reilly as a pilot who's been on the island for decades and who has most of the charm in the cast. There are a LOT of bonus characters who are basically death-fodder for the various island creatures, few of whom have much to add other than body count.
This is reasonably enjoyable despite not being spectacularly deep and also quite obviously being a setup for further monster movies to come, largely tying in with the American Godzilla from two or three years ago. If you're looking for particular depth and strength, this is not your movie, but the monster mayhem is reasonably strong otherwise.
Saturday 11 March 2017
Miss Sloane
A how-the-sausage-is-made film about the US lobbying industry, looking behind how political pressure is created and applied on hot-button issues, this is reasonably fascinating. If it ultimately ends up playing a bit more for drama than it does for reality (the final senate-hearing speech sounds like the kinda thing that would have been shut down in the first ten seconds), this is still pretty darn gripping stuff with thrills, secrets and surprises aplenty.
Jessica Chastain holds the centre of this film stuningly as the emotionally-controlled Sloane. There's a good bunch of supporting women (in particular Gugu Mbantha-Raw, Alison Pill and in one effective scene, Christine Baranski) and, as is inevitable in a film about US politics, some creepy old white men (Sam Waterston and John Lithgow) but the beating heart of the film is Sloane as she maneuvers, for once fighting for a cause that's important (Gun Control). For whatever reason, this didn't catch alight either at awards season or as a pulpy thriller, but to my mind this has pulpy pleasures galore and thoroughly intrigued me til the end.
Logan
I do love my superhero movies, but I am occasionally able to admit that some of them have a certain ... saminess. Clunky origin stories, cardboard villains, the same old world-threatening climaxes with maximum CGI and minimal thought and engagement.
"Logan" is not one of those superhero movies...well, at least, mostly not. In particular, it's a superhero movie that knows the importance of themes and subtext beyond the usual. Making it about aging and failure and disillusionment gives this a distinctly adult tone (even beyond the R rating trappings of bad language, visceral violence and occasional appearances by naked breasts). It's a pleasure to have both gutteral pulp action AND character depth. Hugh Jackman has been one of the stalwarts of the X-men series, holding things together often when the rest of the film was drowning in incomprehensibility (or even just throwing in a highlight-of-the-film two word cameo in "X Men First Class") and this is a film that finally rewards him with a role with substantial meat. This may also be the best film role that Patrick Stewart's ever had - this is oscar-worthy stuff as a damaged, traumatised Xavier, and he's heartbreakingly good.
There is a little unsteadiness in the wider plot (in particular the baddies are a little generic) but the focus is so strongly on the central performances and their plight that it doesn't detract too much. This is comic-book-as-revisionist-western, and all the better for that.
"Logan" is not one of those superhero movies...well, at least, mostly not. In particular, it's a superhero movie that knows the importance of themes and subtext beyond the usual. Making it about aging and failure and disillusionment gives this a distinctly adult tone (even beyond the R rating trappings of bad language, visceral violence and occasional appearances by naked breasts). It's a pleasure to have both gutteral pulp action AND character depth. Hugh Jackman has been one of the stalwarts of the X-men series, holding things together often when the rest of the film was drowning in incomprehensibility (or even just throwing in a highlight-of-the-film two word cameo in "X Men First Class") and this is a film that finally rewards him with a role with substantial meat. This may also be the best film role that Patrick Stewart's ever had - this is oscar-worthy stuff as a damaged, traumatised Xavier, and he's heartbreakingly good.
There is a little unsteadiness in the wider plot (in particular the baddies are a little generic) but the focus is so strongly on the central performances and their plight that it doesn't detract too much. This is comic-book-as-revisionist-western, and all the better for that.
Trainspotting 2
"Trainspotting" is one of those films that hit me at just the right time (early 20s) in just the right place. No, I've never been scottish or a heroin user, but being young, somewhat irresponsible and looking for a meaning in life, it intrigued and dragged me into this similar bunch of young men who were funnier than me, experienced more wild behaviour than me and paid a bit of a price for some of it.
Twenty years later, with both me and the cast in their 40s, the sequel comes along. And while this is in many ways a "men's mid life crisis film", it's an unusually honest and unglamourous one. Yes, there's an attractive younger woman to be involved in, there's minimal roles for the two highly talented women who've come back to do not-very-much in this one (Shirley Henderson and Kelly McDonald) - but that's because, as the film makes clear, no sane woman would hang around with these men for longer than she had to.
This trades very much on nostalgia for the first film, (there are frequent flashbacks both to the first film and to events further back in the character's childhoods) and I can't imagine someone who hasn't seen it would get much from this one - it's essential pre-reading. But as an aging man who grew up in the 90s, this hit me right between the eyes as an examination of our burned out potential and failure to live up to any of the hopes we had for ourselves.
Twenty years later, with both me and the cast in their 40s, the sequel comes along. And while this is in many ways a "men's mid life crisis film", it's an unusually honest and unglamourous one. Yes, there's an attractive younger woman to be involved in, there's minimal roles for the two highly talented women who've come back to do not-very-much in this one (Shirley Henderson and Kelly McDonald) - but that's because, as the film makes clear, no sane woman would hang around with these men for longer than she had to.
This trades very much on nostalgia for the first film, (there are frequent flashbacks both to the first film and to events further back in the character's childhoods) and I can't imagine someone who hasn't seen it would get much from this one - it's essential pre-reading. But as an aging man who grew up in the 90s, this hit me right between the eyes as an examination of our burned out potential and failure to live up to any of the hopes we had for ourselves.
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