Archive for June, 2006
Layer Cake (2004)
Layer CakeUK 2004
Director: Matthew Vaughn
I liked this film quite a bit when I first saw it in the cinema and I like it even more after seeing it on DVD. There’s just something right about it; everything seems to click, from the performances to the style to the editing. Layer Cake is slick, smooth, and very clever.
Daniel Craig is clearly the engine behind this film. His is a smart, nuanced performance, simultaneously vulnerable and infallible. No surprise, then, that Craig landed the role of Bond in the upcoming Casino Royale; if Craig brings half the complexity of performance to Bond he’s shown in this film, the franchise is in good hands.
The supporting performances are all strong, as well. A few standouts are Colm Meaney and George Harris as hard-bitten gangsters, tough and ruthless but good men at heart. Michael Gambon, as well, offers another great character role (though ‘role’ is stretching it a bit: his part is little more than a cameo).
First-time director Vaughn (producer of Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Snatch films) holds his own, a punchy editing style combined with a strong sense of composition. Too bad Vaughn backed out of directing X-Men 3; I would’ve liked to have seen his style in that context.
All that said, the film isn’t perfect. The plot’s a bit too complex for its own good and some of the secondary characters seem too colourful, too ‘movie.’ The rest of the film makes up for these weaknesses, however.
What ran the risk of being a second-rate Snatch take-off turned into an interesting, engrossing crime drama under the direction of Matthew Vaughn and thanks to the strengths of Daniel Craig.
Colin Le SueurBraindead (1992)
Braindead (aka Dead Alive)New Zealand 1992
Director: Peter Jackson
If seeing a film widely known as ‘the goriest ever made’ interests you, keep reading. Part Psycho, part Evil Dead, part farce, Peter Jackson’s Braindead (1992), is an amazingly imaginative and supremely disgusting gorehound’s dream.
Shot in New Zealand on a low budget almost a decade before Lord of the Rings, this horror comedy opens with a dismemberment and decapitation scene and only gets bloodier from there.
Lionel’s a good lad, burdened with an overbearing mother Norman Bates would run screaming from. But it seems that his mum’s been exposed to the bite of a Sumatran rat monkey, which we all know carries the dreaded zombie virus. Soon Lionel’s got quite a handful to take care of, hiding a group of flesh-eating zombies in his basement, a menagerie that includes a rotting priest, his undead lover and their rambunctious zombie baby. And that’s when things get weird.
It seems hard to believe Peter Jackson could go from directing this amazing piece of cult filmmaking to the sweeping and epic Lord of the Rings Trilogy. If there’s one thing that translates from this film to the massively successful trilogy, it’s a love of filmmaking and attention to detail. Even on such a low budget and dealing with a ridiculous plot, Jackson manages to craft an excellent and thought-provoking film.
This film also boasts some of the most memorable sequences in ‘90s horror films. From the amazing Father McGruder (‘I kick arse for the Lord!’) to the infamous five minute ‘lawnmower sequence,’ Braindead is not a film easily forgotten.
Strangely enough, the ‘unrated’ North American release of Braindead, called Dead Alive, is less gruesome than the UK and New Zealand releases. I had never seen the full, uncut version of Braindead until coming to England, instead suffering through the ‘edited’ Canadian release. Unfortunately, the Region 2 DVD print I’ve found is of a much poorer quality than even my NTSC VHS version; here’s hoping there’ll be a complete DVD re-release of Braindead, with restored audio and video and a nice extras package.
So, upon reading this, should you still find yourself debating whether or not to see Braindead, let me offer some advice:
Go see it. Not only can you tell your friends you’ve seen the bloodiest movie ever made, you’ll have a helluva good time watching Braindead.
That is, assuming you can stomach it.
(Originally written in 2004.)
Colin Le SueurThe Grudge (2003)
The GrudgeJapan/USA/Germany 2003
Director: Takashi Shimizu
With the success of The Ring in 2002, Hollywood went looking for the next creepy Japanese horror film to remake, settling on Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-on: The Grudge (2003). The original was frightening, atmospheric, and disturbing but suffered from an almost incomprehensible ending. For the remake, producer Sam Raimi did something almost unheard of: he hired the original director, Takashi Shimizu. The American version of the film is literally a re-shoot of the original, with certain tweaks and alterations. Imagine the original as a trial run, a chance to work out the bugs. Shimizu’s Grudge (2004) is a creepier, more intense film than the original, which in itself was incredibly frightening.
Rather than relying on excessive CGI and gore, Shimizu builds the tension and atmosphere through camera movement and composition. The soundtrack helps greatly in building suspense, as well. There are several sequences taken directly from the original film, with similar setups and framing. However, even if you’ve seen the original and know where all the scares come from, you will be scared by The Grudge. This is easily the most frightening film of the last five years.
The film isn’t perfect, however. In translating it for a non-Japanese audience, the American lead characters seem forced and out of place. Granted, without changing the characters and storyline, the remake does seem rather pointless. Unfortunately the film does degrade into standard Hollywood formula at some points, but these are few and forgivable.
See The Grudge, but don’t hold it against me when you can’t sleep for a week.
Colin Le SueurVanilla Sky (2001)
Vanilla SkyUSA 2001
Director: Cameron Crowe
Few films from the past several years have been as misunderstood as Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky. Marketed mainly as a mainstream Tom Cruise romantic drama, the film is in fact an existential treatise on the nature of reality. Remade (or ‘covered,’ as director Crowe would say) from the Spanish film Open Your Eyes, the film is a remarkable journey into pop culture, futurism, and sexual relationships.
The film represents another step in Tom Cruise’s late-90s renaissance, following Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut. No longer satisfied being simply a matinee idol, Cruise chose a series of films that challenged his star persona and established him as a bona fide actor. Vanilla Sky is aware of Tom Cruise as a megastar and the film plays with that concept, merging the themes of pop culture and identity. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise’s skills as an actor have recently been overshadowed by his eccentric personal life.
Viewed through a philosophical lens, Vanilla Sky also represents a deep and varied examination of the nature of reality. What exactly is real and what exactly is a dream? There are at least four wholly separate interpretations of the film’s narrative, each complex and fascinating. In the future, there is no doubt Vanilla Sky will become an important subject of philosophical discussion.
More than simply a complex ‘ideas’ film, Vanilla Sky also represents an interesting visual and aural creation. Crowe is at his best, crafting innovative compositional sequences and weaving an excellent selection of music, new and old, seamlessly into the narrative. The film works so well because of the music choices (supervised by former Heart vocalist Nancy Wilson, Crowe’s wife). There are many memorable sequences set to music, some disturbing, others uplifting.
In time, Vanilla Sky will be regarded as one of the most important films of 2001, a film both misunderstood and overlooked in its era.
Colin Le Sueur