Trailer for your Weekend: It’s A Disaster
Apocalypse comedies are all of a sudden a dime a dozen. This one has flown under the radar a little, not being pushed by names such as Carrell, Rogen and Penn/Frost. The trailer is promising though, nicely captruing the awkwardness of being the new boyriend at a dinner party. It may not be as over the top as some of the other entries in this subgenre, but I think this has a fair bit of promise. Always good to see Julia Stiles onscreen as well. What do you guys think of this?
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Dead Europe
Christos Tsiolkas has in recent years become one of the most lauded ‘literary’ Australian authors. His novel The Slap published in 2008 was a runaway success and a book I studied at uni. Also a book I hated. But that is neither here nor there. This review is of Dead Europe (2012), an adaptation of an earlier Tsiolkas novel I have not read.
The film follows Isaac, a Greek-Australian, who returns to Greece to scatter his father’s ashes. This literal journey becomes a metaphorical one as Isaac finds out plenty of secrets about his family, most ones he would prefer not to have discovered. Isaac is also a photographer, and this is an interesting lens that the film is seen through. The incorporation of photography is one of the real strengths of the film as ideas of representation and presentation are explored and played with through this device. I think the film is strongest early on, when it chooses to deliver things relatively straight. The death of Isaac’s father and the resulting discussions concerning his burial and the familial squabbles that follow are the most effective parts of the film. When Isaac reaches Europe, there is no doubt that the intrigue picks up, but for me, it was not in an entirely successful manner. There are hints of ghost story, of road movie and a blurring of the lines between dream and reality. But ultimately there is a central journey that is far too oblique and distant from the audience. I think that when you take this approach, suggesting different genre and taking a really bold thematic approach, the film needs to be taut. However this film is just a bit too slipshod to make it work.
Dead Europe is a pretty unrelenting film. It has an intense start and does not really let up. Abuse, incest, sexuality, violence, paedophilia are all dealt with at one time or another. Narratively, this is definitely not a straight point A to point B excursion, rather revelling in etherealness. Unfortunately the script, which starts so strongly, really fades over the second half of the film. Alongside the extremely troubling issues listed above, the film also deals with faith, identity (both Australian & European), the notion of curses and legacy. And whilst this is all interesting enough, the film does not manage to draw them all together into an interesting or satisfying whole. The performances are excellent, in really quite challenging roles. As the protagonist Isaac, Ewen Leslie delivers, balancing a realistic performance with definite charisma. As his deplorable brother Nico, Martin Csokas delivers a troubling firecracker of a supporting turn which almost single-handedly makes the film worth checking out.
Overall, whilst the film has some intriguing ideas that are presented in some intriguing ways, it is an altogether too distant experience. Which is disappointing, because as a revealing of family secrets tale, this had a ton of potential.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
The Black Cat
The Black Cat (1934) saw the first team up of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff onscreen. Unfortunately it is a pretty tired affair, for me never managing to scale the heights of some of the two’s more iconic efforts. For much of its running time, the film seems pretty content to coast by, hoping the audience will be wowed by the fact that the world’s two greatest horror stars of the time were finally onscreen together.
Lugosi stars as the creepy, suspicious engineer Dr Vitus Werdegast, whilst Karloff is a Satanist or something. There are plenty of references to the war littered through what is a pretty poor script, however if it was aiming to be some sort of comment on post-war life or the effects that such a transformative historical event could have on two people, it did not work for me. Into the sphere of these two comes newlyweds Peter and Joan Alison. Before too long Karloff has his sights set on incorporating Joan into one of his freaky Satanist ceremonies. This naturally leads to a chess game to see who has rights to the couple… That is the kind of plot that is at play here. Unfortunately there is no real strong narrative core to the film whatsoever or even proper attempts at character creation. The placing of iconic stars into the roles is what passes for character development here. Aspects of the film are decidedly unnerving, though not as in the way a horror film can successfully unnerve the audience. Necrophilia overtones are just plain unsettling in any context. The quality of the film does swing up in the last half hour. However because what has preceded it is so dire, the audience is totally uninvested in caring about what happens to the characters onscreen. It is a shame then that the atmospheric satanic ritual scene toward the end, nicely shot with a bunch of close-ups, is essentially wasted because you won’t care what happens. Ditto an extremely dark scene involving a character being skinned.
As for the all star cast (if two people can constitute ‘all star’), Karloff fares a fair bit better than Lugosi. The former is introduced in a clever but perhaps too self-referential manner. He awakens from sleep and the audience sees his very Frankenstein’s Monster esque profile sit up in a very Frankenstein’s Monster esque way. The makeup that Karloff is forced to wear is totally distracting too, which is saying a lot given this is a man whose makeup in The Mummy (1932) and Frankenstein (1931) did not detract from his performance (if anything it boosted his work in both films). Despite the material and his performance, Karloff does show his acting talent in this film. Lugosi it must be said, does not fair so well. In comparison to his rightfully iconic performance in Dracula (1931), he is pretty weak here. Coming from the Universal stable, The Black Cat unsurprisingly showcases some pretty incredible set design. The mansion at the centre of a majority of the plot must be one of the studio’s greatest achievements in that regard. Massive, labyrinthine and simultaneously gothic and ultra modern, the house manages to bring an atmosphere to proceedings that is decidedly lacking elsewhere in the film.
Unfortunately The Black Cat lacks the snap and panache that make the best Universal horror films classics that remain essential viewing today. It just totally failed to hold my interest whatsoever. Outside of a pretty incredible set and a decent last half hour, the first superstar team up from Lugosi and Karloff is a pretty inconspicuous one.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
Progress: 76/1001
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Worth Watching February 2013
Here is the round up of all the films that I did not feature in depth elsewhere on the site for the month of February. Cracking month actually, including a couple of really fun short films that are included. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Worth Watching:
- Flight (2012), Robert Zemeckis – Despite his reputation, I actually think Zemeckis is one of the most underrated directors. Here, Denzel shows he is pretty much peerless in his generation of actors. This is a powerful film, an examination of the wretched toll that addiction in all its forms wreaks. Similar to Shame in that way. An incredibly script (had me tearing up on multiple occasions) and a cracking supporting cast ensure this is one of the best of 2013 so far.
- Kaboom! (2004), PES – This short is pretty incredible in its execution. Wonderfully creative use of kids’ toys. The use of these toys in a war film setting can be read as some sort of anti-war statement. Or just a really fucking cool looking idea. Take a look below.
- Fresh Guacamole (2012), PES – I know I am prone to hyperbole (I’m a film critic, what do you expect?) but this is one of the best looking films I’ve ever seen. Great animation and I am just massively blown away by how clever it looks. An exceptionally clever film. Check it out below.
- Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), Colin Trevorrow – This indie has a really dry script, but never feels like it is labouring its ‘indieness’ like so many post-Juno efforts do. A charming film filled with charming performances, especially from Aubrey Plaza. It does threaten to get a little too cute at times, but manages to rein it in. Surprisingly, the second half packs a real emotion punch. If I haven’t sold you on it yet, how bout the best zitar performance in a film since The Third Man and an incredible ending.
- Community Season 3 (2012), Dan Harmon – This season really ramps up the absurdist tendencies, being utterly random much of the time. And this is the source of a lot of the hilarity, as opposed to some of the more tightly scripted brilliance of earlier seasons. Continues the show’s tradition of brilliant riffing on pop-culture and genre.
- The Sweeney (2012), Nick Love – As far as contemporary cops & robbers flicks go, this is a bloody good one. Winstone is excellent as expected as the grizzled ‘don’t fuck with me’ cop, but it is the searing Ben Drew as his protégé who is the most impressive. Rare is the crime film these days which is content to focus on a single crime. But this one is and the narrative is good enough to hold interest.
- Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Kathryn Bigelow – There is just far too much going on here to even remotely process in a single viewing. It is possibly a great film. But also possibly not. It functions on all levels. From an individual quest to the fate of the world. Much of the film is troubling. Some questionable. But it is a film that needs to be seen a couple of times before opinions are formed.
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012), Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon & Tom McGrath – This film, with these characters, is pretty difficult not to like. The animation is sharp, the script is exceptionally witty and it comes at you are a really fast pace. No need to pay attention to plot, there is not much of one here. This is just eccentric fun, to the point of slipshod surrealism. Borderline nonsensical in parts, with surely no joke rejected for being too silly or peripheral to the peripheral plot.
Not Worth Watching:
- Lincoln (2012), Steven Spielberg – Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance is phenomenal and will rightly become iconic. It rises above mimicry and he inhabits the role. Aside from that though I find very little to recommend in this staid film. A poor script, full of overlong anecdotes from the President and too many obvious moments. Blandly shot by Spielberg too. Overall, a film with no sharpness or edge.
If you only have time to watch one Flight
Avoid at all costs Lincoln
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Trailer for your Weekend: The Frankenstein Theory
Pretty tasty poster if you are asking me.
I stumbled across this the other day without having heard anything about the film. Tis a fantastic premise – that Frankenstein was actually based on true events. The trailer depicts a somewhat bizarre mix of B movie and homage to the imagery of Shelley’s book. Doesn’t quite convince, but I think I will be keen to check this one out when hit hits cinemas (or more likely DVD). Thoughts people?
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Beermovie.net 