Rev Stan's film blog

Review: Scarlett Johansson freezes in Scotland - Under The Skin

Synopsis: An alien (Scarlett Johansson) preys on lone men.

Stan's thoughts: This film has been getting critics all in a lather. The poster is awash with stars and references to director Jonathan Glazer being 'the new Kubrick'. I don't know about the latter but it is certainly a work of exceptional and unique vision and tone.

This isn't a sci-fi like you'll have seen before. What is alien is the melding of more abstract scenes with Johansson's improvised encounters with real men. Johansson drives around in a van trying to entice men in, usually under the guise of needing directions. She has a quietly erotic charm but there is a distance that is also disarming. There is a sense of danger about her but it is so, so subtle than you wonder if the men she encounters feel it as much as the informed audience does.

There is also a growing sense of danger for her, that she could easily be eliminated by some greater force, particularly as she starts to develop a hint of human emotion. It is all underpinned by a searing score that gives me the willies just watching the trailer

It's mainly shot in Glasgow and Scotland and certainly not an advert for tourism but still succeeds in showing the delicate balance between happiness and loneliness in humanity. The Glasgow on film is a no make-up, warts and all version, as are the people you see in the streets. Just ordinary people. But amid the loners there are plenty out enjoying themselves, a sense of companionship, however crude, amid the ugliness.

When the action moves to the countryside it is always raining or about to and looks freezing. The sweeping landscape is desolate, damp and cold, the tiny hint of warmth comes from the alien's subtle epiphany.

Kudos to Glazer for getting Scarlett Johansson on board and kudos to her for agreeing and giving such a strikingly different performance (and enduring the cold because she must have been freezing the entire time). If this is what she can do in between comic book action movies then she is certainly an actress to watch.

This is far from a mainstream film. It is challenging to watch but I haven't walked out of cinema shaking for a long, long time and it's stayed with me.

Ratings

• Stan's: 89%
• IMDB: 72%
• Metascore: 78%
• Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
• RT audience rating: 65%

Recently seen

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Review: Was Ben Whishaw's hair the best thing in The Zero Theorum?

Synopsis: Qohen Leth is an unsociable number cruncher working for The Management, he feels nothing other than the wait for 'the call'.

Stan's thoughts: It's funny I just read the IMDB synopsis for Zero Theorum and it's like reading about a different film but then this is an absurdis, existential drama from which you can draw any number of conclusions.

First and foremost I probably wouldn't have seen it had Ben Whishaw not been making a cameo but I am sort of glad I did because it wasn't quite the pretentious, arty-farty nonsense I thought it looked from the trailers.

Ben Whishaw does have remarkable hair - David Thewlis who plays Joby said that during filming they would throw stuff at it, sort of like a hoopla - but his appearance is fleeting.

This is a film that is high on ideas and theories snuggled around a sort plot about Leth trying to work out why he exists. He feels insignificant in the grand scheme of things, a microscopic cog in a great machine but can't accept that his life has no greater meaning.

The irony is that in waiting for 'the call', which he believes will reveal the reason for his existence, he has in fact rendered his life meaningless. He closets himself away, doesn't like other people or enjoy anything or allow himself to enjoy anything. There are religious undertones, naturally, and depending on where you stand on the faith spectrum you will draw different conclusions.

He is given an impossible project to work on, of course, that has sent others mad and  is distracted from his work by Bainsley (Michelle Thierry) who creates a fantasy world for him to retreat into, Bob (Lucas Hedges) The Management's whizz kid son and his therapist Dr Shrink-rom (Tilda Swinton).

The conclusion of the story is typically open for interpretation but I found it satisfying and surprisingly straight forward.

The visualisation of the futuristic world of Qohen is stunning - like a cross between Bladerunner and the Capital in The Hunger Games - and it is certainly a film that made me think a lot both while I was watching and subsequently. The actors all look like they are having fun too - I particularly loved Tilda Swinton as the toothy Scottish therapist.

Ben Whishaw's hair wasn't the best thing in Zero Theorum, it is quirky and different film that won't have wide appeal but I found it a fulfilling if a sometimes frustrating cinema experience.

Ratings

• Stan's: 64%
• IMDB: 68%
• Metascore: 51%
• Rotten Tomatoes: 53% 
• RT audience rating: 54%

Recently seen

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Review: Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn)

Synopsis: Julian (Ryan Gosling) runs a drugs business in the seedy underworld of Bangkok and when his psycho brother is killed for brutally murdering a prostitute his psycho-bitch mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) flies in demanding revenge.

Stan's thoughts: This is a painfully beautiful and atmospheric film, every frame is like a carefully composed photo and for that it has to be admired. But with a weak narrative and character development it skates dangerously close to arty farty - all style and little substance. 

I just feel a bit over the whole pairing of director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling and the brooding, long pauses and not saying much direction/character they seem to favour. Scott Thomas, however, lights up the screen adding much needed personality and was a joy to watch. Also fabulous to see Tom Burke playing against type as the nutter brother.

The extreme violence was a bit much to take at times, feeling a little gratuitous (my nails were well examined by the end).

If Refn put as much effort into character development as he did the look of the film then this would be cracking and while I don't think the narrative is as fragmented as some people have commented it felt like like it was only scratching the surface of the interesting relationships and back story.

Glad I've seen it and on the big screen but not a film I'll want to watch again unless someone does a compilation of KST clips.

Something different from this duo now please or rather they should head off in different directions. 

Ratings

• Stan's: 51%
• IMDB: 61%
• Metascore: 37%
• Rotten Tomatoes: 40% 
• RT audience rating: 47%

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Finally Robert Pattinson puts in a performance: Cosmopolis

 

I'm not going to pretend that I fully understood David Cronenberg's latest, Cosmopolis, because I don't think I came close but I walked out of the cinema feeling exhilarated by the experience.

On paper the story is about the day young billionaire asset manager Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) decides he wants his hair cut and the place he wants it cut is across town. So while his business seems to be going down the pan, anti-capatalism riots are in full flow and someone is threatening to kill him, he insists on making the journey in his limo.

During the course of the journey he has sex, has meetings, has a rectal exam and pursues his young wife, a billionaire poet, who doesn't want to sleep with him. Oh and he gets a pie thrown in his face.

But this isn't an action packed thrill ride as the eventful journey (or trailer) suggests, this is an atmosphere laden study on, among other things, capitalism, the value of money, freedom, fate, man's place in the world etc. You get the idea. It does sound dull but it isn't. Well I didn't find it all dull.

I found Pattinson a charismatic screen presence for the first time in his acting career, certainly not just a pretty face here. Its almost ironic because the character he plays is an emotional husk of a man. Packer's knowledge and possessions surpass most peoples wildest dreams and yet he is bent on a sometimes painful search for something new. Pattinson manages to give Packer an intelligent depth, hints of who he once was before the emotional malaise set in, a malaise he tries on a number of occasions to physically jump start himself out of.

And there are some great supporting cameos from the likes of Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche and Mathieu Almaric.

Cosmopolis feels apocalyptic on an emotional level begging the question of how we got to this point, where people can lose millions and place so little value on it, and where anything can be bought for a price, where ultimately there is a loss of care.

It's difficult to explain fully why I loved Cosmopolis but I did. It certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea but it was mine. I'm giving it 82%. On IMDb it has 63% and no Metacritic score yet while on Rotten Tomatoes it has 58% with 47% of site visitors giving it three and a half stars or more.

The Artist - genius or gimmick?

I enjoyed The Artist. It oozes charming, is entertaining and it has a cute dog. I'm certainly not one of the few imbeciles who've walked out in disgust because of the lack of dialogue but I did wonder, if you strip out the fact that it is a silent movie would everyone be gushing quite so much? And the conclusion I came to is 'no'. 

The story is interesting enough if not wholly predictable and the stuff of several movies before it. But, the lack of dialogue pushes the actors into a different direction, a different style of acting not seen since the, well since the last silent movies and it is really refreshing to watch.

I think what pushes The Artist beyond the gimmick tag is the choices that director Hazanavicius made. In interviews he says he didn't set out to make a silent film but decided that a silent movie was the best way to tell the story. The Artist was an artistic decision, is full of artistic decisions and wonderful vision.

It was also a genius choice not to stick doggedly to the silence but to add sound to one sequence, when our silent hero has a nightmare. It's a really nice touch and works perfectly in the context of the story.

However, what pleases me most about The Artist is that a film like this is getting so much attention at the big awards. It's refreshing to see something different win, something that doesn't tick the usual boxes that gets a film on a short-list.

My only fear or rather prediction is that there will be a string of copycats hitting cinema screens in the next couple of years. These won't be genius, these will lack imagination beyond trying to cash in. These will be gimmicky.

The Artist is definitely worth a look, it will put a smile on your face - Uggie the dog will put a smile on your face. The two lead actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo ooze old fashion beauty and charm, they are almost luminous on the screen, it quite takes your breath away.

I look forward to seeing it again with a live orchestra sometime in the future. It is inevitable.

It's getting 80% from me. On IMDb it's got 85% with a Metacritic score of 89%. While on Rotten Tomatoes it's got 97% from critics and 91% of site visitors have given it 3.5 stars or more.

 

The disappointing Sleeping Beauty

It held so much promise. An intriguing sounding indie flick about a young woman Lucy (Emily Browning) who in order to fund her way through college starts working for a mysterious organisation that can best be described as offering alternative titillation services.

This isn't prostitution in the traditional sense, this is an art flick after all. At first Lucy has to serve at a dinner party where all the female waiting staff are bare-bosomed or in stockings and basques. Then she graduates to a service where she is drugged into an unconscious state and men - all at the older age range - can do whatever they want with her naked body except penetration and with the proviso they don't leave any marks.

The film's blurb concentrates on the fact that she becomes curious about what the men do while she is in her drug-induced sleep and so sets up a secret camera. However, the film takes an awful long time to get that point and it is something that is concluded very quickly.

Ultimately it is unnecessarily arty, self-consciously so, with lots of lingering shots and people not saying very much either with or without words. You don't get to know very much about Lucy and how she really feels about what she is doing and what impact it is having on her.

She visits a man with whom she seems close who spends most of his time in bed but who he is or what the relationship is, isn't explained. Towards the end of the film she gets into a relationship with a fellow student but again the impact of her job on this isn't explored.  

There is much that could be delved into in this film but just isn't. It just feels risque for risque sake rather than having any real depth.  I left the cinema feeling only disappointment and a little bit cross that that it failed to deliver on any its promises. 

I'm going to give it 25% and if you are thinking of seeing it, save your money. On IMDb it has got 56% from users and 54% from Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes there isn't a consensus from critics but only 26% of visitors gave it three stars or more. 

 

Back from Babel: Inarritu's Biutiful

Biutiful is the antithesis of Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's last film Babel. In the BFI's production notes the director says:

"At the end of Babel, I was so exhausted I made it a point that my next film would be about just one character, with one point of view, one single city, with a straight narrative line and in my own native language."

If you add into that having film's protagonist played by native actor Javier Bardem then you have something which is far, far superior to the starry-casted and confusing Babel.

Biutiful is Uxbal's (Bardem) story. He's a single father of two, his ex-wife is bio-polar and for money he hustles on the grimy back streets of Barcelona, acting as a broker between illegal immigrants and those looking for cheap labour or an outlet for selling their counterfeit goods.

*Some spoilers* The film starts with a tension-filled scene in a snowy wood between a young man and Uxbal, the two walking into an unknown fate or so it seems. The significance of the opening scene only gradually becomes evident as the narrative switches back to the preceding weeks, following Uxbal going about his life.

He is a good man. He is raising his children as best as he can and kind and considerate to those around him. The cliche would be that he was manipulative and exploitative in earning his money but he isn't. He treats those for whom he finds work as his equals, finding them places to stay and even getting arrested when he steps in to stop the police beating one.

It is his kindness that ultimately leads to tragedy but that isn't the heart of the story or the true tragedy. The tragedy is that Uxbal is dying of cancer. He has ignored the signs and the pain and now it is too late and he has just a couple of months to put his life in order for all those dependent on his help and his young family.

The Tempest trailer (with some bits of Ariel)

Finally not just a picture or a tantalising clip but a proper trailer. Ben Whishaw's Ariel looks as intrigueing as ever. And I love the fact that he gets an 'And Ben Whishaw' in the trailer. Very excited (again).

The Tempest Trailer
Uploaded by teasertrailer. - Full seasons and entire episodes online. 

Sunday film dilemma

Time for one film but there are three I want to see:

Gasper Noe's Enter the Void

Loved the trailer but the synopsis sounds like it could turn into something, well, for want of a better word, a bit wanky. A friend has just sent me Irreversible to watch on DVD which he described as 'the most disturbing film' he'd seen. Which kind of makes me want to watch Enter the Void as I like to be shocked. Does that make me weird?

Buried

Despite trying not to be influenced by reviews I saw that this is rating very highly on Rotten Tomatoes. Problem is being buried alive is one of my ultimate fears. My hands are starting to sweat just thinking about it. Will it be just too uncomfortable viewing?

Made in Dagenham

Saw a rough cut of this in a test screening about a year ago so I'm curious to see the final product. At the time I think I was quite harsh in my comments on the post screening questionnaire but I was tired and had got drenched on the way to the cinema so that may have influenced things.

Clips of The Tempest emerge - and yes they include a glimpse of Ben

Thanks to yetanotherbenwhishaw blog for alerting me to this. It's a BBC piece on Helen Mirren at the Venice Film festival and includes some tantalising clips of Julie Taymor's The Tempest including one or two glimpses of Ben Whishaw's Ariel.

You can view it here on bleedingcool.com

I'm intrigued by the two sides of Ariel they show. From what I remember of the play - it's been a few years since I saw it on stage - Ariel can be all sweetness and subservience towards Prospero but has a bitter, angry side having been bound to him for so long. The clip shows hints of this duality, of course in Taymor's interpretation, Prospero becomes Helen Mirren's Prospera. I also like the way she's played up the sorcerer/ess side of Propero/a.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be showing at the London Film Festival, unless it turn out to be the mystery film, so I'm left waiting for a UK release date and I'm not hopeful of anything this side of Christmas.