Trailer for your Weekend: The ABCs of Death 2
In just a few days, The ABCs of Death 2 (2014) will be available online, followed by a limited cinema release in some markets. I didn’t love the first film. A few inspired segments were overwhelmed by a barrage of average ones and a couple that were pretty offensive. But apparently this sequel got a really good reception when it premiered at Fantastic Fest recently and the concept is so rad I will probably check this one out. Trailers for anthology films are often a waste of time. I like this one though. The delightfully absurd start which left me wondering if I had opened the right video gives way to a smattering of different grabs from the film that left me wanting to know and see a bunch more. What do you guys think of this one?
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: A Fortnight of Terror: The ABCs of Death and A Fortnight of Terror Trailer for your Weekend: Patrick.
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SUFF 2014: The Immoral
Film festivals often lead you to try films you would otherwise never have given a shot, and I think The Immoral (2013) fits that bill for me. For some reason I thought this was going be a horror film. It’s definitely not that, though it’s a little hard to tell exactly what it is.
One of the hardest tonal choices to pull off in a film is to make light of exceptionally serious or sad events. Actually there is perhaps nothing harder to script than truly bleak comedy that leaves you laughing at something you really shouldn’t be. When The Immoral tries to strike this balance, it is an example of how not to do it. The strange comedic tone jars and the dealings with sexual assault and child neglect don’t have the insight to prevent them from veering into the problematic or even offensive. Part of the issue is one of both narrative flow and character development. After the film has been meandering along for some time, vaguely but not really, introducing the two main characters, there is a quite confronting rape scene. Later the main male character tries to force (and later in the film succeeds) his partner into sex work to make them money. These plot points could work if there was a narrative build or depth to the characters to explain them. But there is neither and as such these instances sort of just sit there awkwardly, maybe slightly shocking, but not at all engaging.
Now of course plenty of films succeed with shallow characters and thin plots. But those films generally have to deliver either sheer fun and enjoyment, or exceptional craft. Neither of those are present to save The Immoral. The film is not fun at all, being actually actively not enjoyable to sit through. There is also very little craft to note, as the film is competently done at times, but often poorly done such as where there are flashbacks it is impossible to differentiate from the actual story. Which is all a bit of a shame, because on paper the film deals with issues (poverty, bad relationships, government intervention in the family) that could be insightfully and starkly examined. But the film just sort of flubs all of that and leaves a strange sort of erotic dramedy which namechecks these issues, but does not engage with them in any meaningful way. Add in a couple of distasteful rape scenes and a willingness to mock sex workers and this is a film I could have definitely done without seeing.
Verdict: At one point, my notes for The Immoral exclaim simply, “what exactly is this film!?!?” And I think that is a pretty accurate summation of my overall thoughts. It is totally unclear to me what the point of the film was. Even taking that into account, I am pretty sure the film failed at whatever it was it was going for. Schooner of Tooheys New
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: SUFF 2014: American Arab and SUFF 2014: Freeload.
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Trailer for your Weekend: Monster Brawl
I was all set to search around for a big name, classy trailer for this week’s post. But then I came across the trailer for Monster Brawl (2014) and I knew nothing else could compare. Starring people like Kevin Nash, Herb Dean and Jimmy Hart, this looks like it could be exceptional B grade fun. Especially if like me, you were a fan of pro wrestling as a child. Sure it could be terrible, but I have my fingers crossed for exceptional, so bad it’s good, monster and wrestling crossover action. Check out the really fun trailer below.
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: Trailer for your Weekend: Tusk and King Kong.
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SUFF 2014: American Arab
Life changed for everyone on 9/11. The world changed for the worse in one horrific morning. American Arab (2013) takes a look at the way life is for a group of people who were effected more than most that day.
There is a deep questioning of identity at the heart of this film that is not something I am really familiar with. I am for all intents and purposes, ‘Australian’. My father’s father was a migrant, but strangely it was something that we never really spoke about or acknowledged. I’m not entirely sure why that was. And now I am questioning my identity like I said was totally foreign to me. But the rest of my family have been here forever, some of them were convicts booted from the motherland for some pitiful crime or another. Director Usama Alshaibi’s family immigrated to America from Iraq and as such were well and truly subjected to the tide of anti-Islamic sentiment that swept across America (and most other ‘Western’ countries) in the wake of 9/11. A tide that has really continued unchecked to this day and seems to be gaining steam in my country over recent weeks. Being a migrant must bring about a deep interrogation of identity even without this additional aspect, but it is surely heightened in the face of it.
A lot of the craft on display in the film is a little crude. There are interview setups for example where you can plainly see the interviewer in the reflection of the hotel room glass. Little touches like that are a bit distracting. The other main criticism that could be levelled at American Arab is its lack of overarching thrust, or thesis if you want to use that term. There are plenty of really interesting and enlightening individual stories in the film. But they do not coalesce into a greater whole. There are hints of how this could have been done better. The (brief) examination of the effect that racist stereotypes in film has on people belonging to those races, hinted at the broader overarching American Arab experience that I would have loved to have seen explained more. Similarly there are some other good points raised, but too briefly. The fact that people of all races should be allowed to be complicated, not just put into narrow pigeon holes based on a single aspect of their person is another such example. Would have loved more of these kind of examinations of shared experience. That shouldn’t take away from some of the strong positives of the film though. Some of the personal stories, especially that of Alshaibi after he is beaten up in a racially motivated attack, are really enlightening. Especially for me as someone who has never been subjected to anything similar. It starkly illustrated the personal impact of racism and hate crimes that I can imagine, but not experience
Verdict: In the end, American Arab succeeds well as a collection of interesting insight and anecdotes of the life of an Arab American. It is perhaps a little less successful though at presenting a fully formed vision that we have come to expect from cinematic documentary. But at 63 mins, it is worth taking the short amount of time it takes to learn a little from some of these personal stories. Stubby of Reschs
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: SUFF 2014: Nova Express and SUFF 2014: Freeload.
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SUFF 2014: Freeload
As a fan of the works of people like Jack Kerouac and Woody Guthrie, especially his 1943 autobiography “Bound for Glory”, I was really keen to see Daniel Skaggs’ documentary Freeload (2014). With all of the popular accounts of riding the rails being at least 50 years old now, it is easy to imagine that the practice does not really exist anymore, but Skaggs brings us a window into this throwback lifestyle.
Even the best accounts of riding the rails are embellished with romanticism to a degree. Working with the immediacy of a pretty mobile camera and within the confines of the documentary structure, Freeload totally strips away any sense of this romanticism. That is not to say that the film is bleak, it just presents the good and the bad of the lifestyle without the need or desire for sentiment. Don’t expect to see a portrait of a bunch of down on their luck dudes, lamenting what life has brought them here. Most of those profiled by Skaggs have made this choice willingly, either for philosophical reasons or simply because they want no part of what the world has become. Who can blame them on that latter point? In fact the psychological insight that the film brings to the decision to ride the rails makes it feel like a pretty logical choice for the most part. The bad of their choice is not shirked from either and we see squalor, alcoholism and a griminess to the lifestyle in the film as well. They are also aware of the history of their lifestyle, of those who have made these choices in the past, whilst also being aware of the differences that separate them such as the fact that most of them are not looking for work, like many of those who were forced onto the rails used to.
I would be amazed to see the practicalities of how Freeload was shot. Skaggs takes his camera into some really tight spots, spending long amounts of time in cramped and dangerous feeling places. So to do the rail riders’ dogs. They all seem to have one, and these generally (though unfortunately not always) well loved dogs are clearly used to sitting still for their own safety. Just like the shooting, the editing of the film is impressive as well. No doubt there were huge swathes of material shot and it is all condensed down into something coherent and broad ranging, without feeling slight. The way that the stories of the various people who are featured in the film are woven together to give a sense of an entire subculture does not feel forced at all and you still get a really good sense of who these people are as individuals.
Verdict: Freeload brings to life a way of living that is probably totally foreign to a vast majority of us. In borderline verite style, Skaggs has done this with an impressive lack of intervention or judgement, allowing these really interesting people and their choice to live this lifestyle speak for itself, good or bad. It’s great to see a film not obsessed with painting a lifestyle as either the depth of despair or a grand philosophical journey either. The film simply shows their way of being. Pint of Kilkenny
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: SUFF 2014: Nova Express andSUFF 2014: Beckoning the Butcher.
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SUFF 2014: Nova Express
I generally hate it when a book is referred to as “unfilmable”, because cinema history has shown that no book is unfilmable. Perhaps it might not be possible to film some books well, but they can all be adapted.
Nova Express (2014) is an adaptation of a book that I would have put near the top of any list of impossible to film well books. But I would have been wrong, because this film does an exceptional job at moulding the scattershot “cut up” style of the book into something that both has a semblance of coherence whilst staying true to the book. As my tweet above mentions, the film through some intangibles as well as the comparison of images and sources, conveys and suggests the sci-fi vibe of the book. This is the type of film that your mind probably conjures up when you hear the words underground film festival. This is a genuine underground, avant-garde piece of cinema that feels like it is as much a collage as it is a film. In terms of structure, especially for the benefit of coherence, one of the best choices is to have a voiceover. Much of this is readings from the book, some by Burroughs himself. These readings help to not only amplify the narrative through line of the film as well as give it an almost hardboiled/noir vibe.
The film has gone through a number of iterations, and apparently even though he began the film in 1999, director Andre Perkowski is constantly refining and updating it. There exists a 3 hour version, though at SUFF we were shown a 75 minute one, for which i am pretty thankful. Whilst the 3 hour version is quite possibly amazing, I am not sure how I would have gone if it was crammed into a hectic festival schedule such as this one. The film at times feels like it is assaulting you, makes your head hurt a little. So 75 minutes was about spot on for me. The snappy run time also helps to keep you engaged in the thematic level of the film, something which for me felt steeped in a beat interpretation of Buddhism. Specifically the film addresses and confronts the deceptive nature of a surface level reality. It brings to life complex ideas of an image machine, a controlling machine that is both deceiving and oppressing us. I am not sure how easy it will be for you to get your hands on this film (I believe there are some extensive excerpts on Youtube). But if you have any interest in the beats or hell even in obscure sci-fi, it is probably worth making the effort.
Verdict: Against all odds, the truly underground and avant-garde Nova Express is actually a pretty fun watch. By wrangling the material into something with a level of coherence, though without ‘selling out’ the source material, director Andre Perkowski has done something that is worth both celebrating and watching. Pint of Kilkenny
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: SUFF 2014: Kidnapped for Christ and SUFF 2014: Beckoning the Butcher.
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SUFF 2014: Beckoning the Butcher
Just a heads up before I jump headlong into my review of Beckoning the Butcher (2013), I noticed the film is playing in the Viewster Film Fest that is currently going on. So if anything I write here piques your interest or you just can’t get enough of found footage horror flicks, check it out here.
Beckoning the Butcher is an Australian found footage film, impressively made on what looks to be a miniscule budget by director Dale Trott. Even after my not too enjoyable last found footage experience which was Creep (2014) at MIFF a little while back, I was pretty keen for this. The 10:30pm on a Friday night scheduling seemed perfect for a little low budget high concept horror action and I conveniently had a beer in hand.
In terms of setup, you will have seen a vast majority of what Beckoning the Butcher does a few times before. There is the obligatory thank you to the families of those who had gone missing and some after the fact ‘interviews’ delivered direct to the camera which were very reminiscent of another Aussie found footage film The Tunnel (2011). Actually that was a film brought to mind quite regularly whilst watching this one. There were however some nice original touches in the film’s construction. The fact that the main character Chris is a Youtube star, thanks to his videos of undertaking various supernatural rituals, is an interesting way to explain away the presence of the cameras. And an ominous reference to the Deep Web sparked interest early on, but unfortunately is not really taken anywhere. The setting was also something a little different. Sure it was isolated and rural, but that is actually a relatively unique setting I think. Aussie farmland is not as done to death as house in the American woods. Also generally impressive were the performances from the younger cast members. All unknowns to me, they grounded the film well in its sillier moments and managed to set up believable interactions between one another. Some of the cast members in the interview segments were a little more stilted unfortunately. It was hard to pick if that was an issue with the performance, or the way in which those sequences were directed. But the result was that the suspernatural found footage horror elements actually felt more realistic than the ‘interviews’.
All very found footagey
At times the low budget was a bit of a distraction, though for the most part on that front, the filmmakers have done impressively. It is just frustrating then that every so often something would take you out of the world of the film. One example is the logos on various objects (a package of salt for example) being fuzzed out. It sounds silly sure, but every time that happened, I started thinking about why the filmmakers had needed to do that, was there some disagreement with the folk at Saxa. And if I’m thinking about corporate interactions with large salt companies, I am not thinking about where the film is taking me. The major flaw and the one that means the film really fails in its aims, is the total lack of frights that it delivers. I was expecting to be scared out of my brain, because for all its flaws, found-footage as a filming style does allow for jump scares a plenty. Here though, the tension was never built up enough for the big terrifying moments to actually hit home for either me, or the audience that I watched the film with.
Verdict: Overall, despite definitely respecting the effort made and the achievement on a really low budget, not much about Beckoning the Butcher really works. The lack of real scares is pretty terminal for a film so reliant on frightening its audience to succeed. If you are on the lookout for some Aussie found footage goodness, you are probably better off turning your sights back a couple of years and picking up a copy of The Tunnel. Schooner of Carlton Draught
Don’t forget to get commenting away to go in the draw for a couple of sweet Madman DVDs. Details here.
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: SUFF 2014: Kidnapped for Christ and The Tunnel.
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Trailer for your Weekend: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Most creative poster for a spy film I’ve seen in quite some time.
I read about Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) the other day, having not really been aware it was coming. The terrible title aside, I am pretty excited for the potential. I am a big fan of some of Matthew Vaughn’s films and it has Colin Firth as an asskicking spy, which I think we all need to see. As for the trailer, I just dunno. It looks like it could go either way, especially with the teen ‘delinquent’ character being a trope that is often bland. That said though, I still believe that a combination of Vaughn and Firth gives this a fair chance to be a heap of fun. And the elevated spy film stuff looks great. I loved that secret room of weapons and plenty of the stuff that followed it. If there is plenty of that over the top, James Bondish stuff, I am so on board with this. What do you guys think?
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: House of Caine: The Ipcress File and Bondfest: Goldfinger.
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What Richard Kiel meant to me
We lost another good one today. Richard Kiel, most famous for playing Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979), passed away today aged 74.
This is quite a different loss to those of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams. Hoffman was already one of the greatest actors of all time and we were looking forward to a couple of decades more worth of mind numbingly good acting performances. Williams was a once in a generation comedic force who brought incredible joy to so many lives and literally helped to shape childhoods like mine. But the death of Kiel affected me in a different way, as I tweeted about when I heard the news.
Just cause he was no Phillip Seymour Hoffman, does not mean Kiel was not a wonderful performer. He definitely was. And those talents of his, combined with some huge metal chompers, were a gateway for me into a life filled with appreciation for film. I might have come to this point in the end anyways. But for me, it was Richard Kiel as Jaws that brought me here, writing this little piece for you guys.
RIP Jaws
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: Bondfest: The Spy Who Loved Me and Bondfest: Moonraker.
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SUFF 2014: Kidnapped for Christ
I kicked off my Sydney Underground Film Festival experience by checking out the Ozploit program of shorts. I won’t review them in detail, but there were some really fun films on the program and it was very cool to not only see such a good crowd, but plenty of the filmmakers in attendance too. The Festival went to the effort of allowing each filmmaker to introduce themselves and their film too, which I thought was a great touch.
The first full length film for me at the festival was Kidnapped for Christ (2014) directed by Kate Logan. This doco examines ‘Christian’ schools designed to essentially ‘reprogram’ ‘troubled teens’. Apologies for all the quotation marks, but they are all necessary. The behaviour exhibited by those behind these schools is clearly not anything remotely what one (no matter your faith) would consider Christian. The reprogramming is nothing short of abuse, whilst the notion that these teens are troubled and in some way deserving of the attempted treatment in the film is ludicrous. Some of the kids have behavioural issues. Some you suspect just got on their parents nerves a little. Others have suffered horrific abuse, including sexual abuse, at the hands of adults and somehow this punishment is designed to help them. Others such as David, a teen the film focuses heavily on, are ‘guilty’ of being openly homosexual. These schools, such as the one in the Dominican Republic the film was shot at, practice what they call Culture Shock Therapy. This involves intentionally taking the kids out of their natural environment, as the unease of the new surrounds makes them more malleable and easier to assert control over. There is also a strictly enforced conformity that comes out of the bullshit militaristic routine that is forced upon the students. Astoundingly, parents pay around $72,000 to have their children treated in this way.
One of the most interesting of all the characters we see in the film is actually the director Kate Logan, who made Kidnapped for Christ as a student film at a Christian college in the USA. Initially, the evangelical Logan attends the school in the Dominican Republic hoping to shed light on the great work that the facility run by fellow Christians is doing. Watching her journey play out on film, as she progresses from attempting to deliver a hopeful fluff piece, to questioning deeply what she is seeing take place, all the way through to deeply questioning her faith is probably the greatest personal evolution seen in the film. I actually would have loved to have seen more of her personal story throughout and especially toward the end. To see the effect that her experiences had overall on her faith, a couple of years after the fact.
As shocking as anything else in this film is the fact that the school administrators were happy for Logan to shoot all of this footage. They clearly thought that what they were doing was so defensible that they had no issue with it being documented in this way. Later in the film, the workers there do begin to get a little nervous, restricting free access for Logan to the kids and taking a much more active role in keeping her from some of the more obnoxious goings on. It is a testament to just how horrible the practices of the school are, that these restrictions really do not lessen the impact of the film at all or how you will feel about the school and others like it. Kidnapped for Christ is not particularly noteworthy cinematic art. It is a student film and you can sort of tell. Parts of it feel almost like a tacky shocking expose TV show, at least early on. But the footage shot on location feels a lot more grounded and therefore effective. None of this is meant as a slight against Logan. She is clearly a talented filmmaker and more importantly, like many of this generations best documentarians she has a distinctive eye and sensibility that means when she inserts herself into proceedings, the film is elevated rather than becoming an ego piece.
Verdict: Kidnapped for Christ could have easily rested on its shocking material and been a watchable, shocking and informative film. But by overlaying her personal experience and confrontation with what she is seeing, Kate Logan makes the film much more rewarding than just that. Hopefully she continues to make more docos, because I will certainly be hunting them down. Pint of Kilkenny
Don’t forget to get commenting away to go in the draw for a couple of sweet Madman DVDs. Details here.
Related beermovie.net articles for you to check out: Sydney Underground Film Festival coverage and SUFF 2014 Trailers for your Weekend.
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