Last part of the Millenium Trilogy, and thus, in a way, immune to review; the decision whether or not to watch it is basically based on how you felt about The Girl Who Played With Fire.
Anyhow, FWIW, Hornet's Nest takes over where Played With Fire left off; Lisbeth is grievously wounded after confronting her father and half-brother. She, and her father, are taken off to hospital and patched back together, while her Frankenstein's-monster-like half brother lumbers off into the woods scaring the villagers.
We then get to the crux of the matter; her father, as we now know, is an Ex-KGB guy who a faction of the Swedish Secret Service (I guess they must have one, as unlikely as it sounds) has been keeping and pumping for info for years, in exchange for doing stuff for him which includes incarcerating his murderous daughter in a mental hospital.
Now Lisbeth's back in the clutches of the authorities again, there is to be a hearing once and for all to determine whether or not she is competent to be allowed out in public, or whether she is to be remanded to an institution. Since the SSS guys will probably kill her off if that happens, the matter is of even more paramount importance. Thus, there are two threads going on here; Lisbeth and Blomkvist's sister (who's a lawyer) fighting for Lisbeth's freedom in court, and Blomkvist himself resolving to publish an expose of the SSS guys, and blow their involvement in Lisbeth's previous treatment wide open. And of course, that means a lot of people are going to be threatened, shot at, and killed.
It's a fitting conclusion, in that it *is* a conclusion, which the last film left us gagging for. The whole thing feels more like a tv mini-series than ever before, albeit one which would have left you saying "Wow, did you see The Girl Who... last night?" the following day at work.
Ultimately, I enjoyed it very much. I understand, though, that there's an extended DVD boxed set in Sweden at least, which extends each film, and presents it as a six-part miniseries; I am left wondering if this isn't the series's natural, best format.
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Thursday 30 December 2010
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
So, Narnia. The basic principle appears to be that there's these kids who are terribly special for some reason, and whenever they need an important life lesson, they get dragged into a magical land where they will have an awfully big adventure which saves Narnia and teaches them something. This time, only Edmund and Lucy of the original four are conscripted, the other two now being too old, and presumably more interested in sex and alcopops. Joining them is their younger cousin Eustace. Edmund's problem is that he's too young to join the army and prove how brave he is. Lucy's problem is that she's noticed that her sister is the pretty one, whereas her Narnian title, "Lucy the Brave" is tantamount to "she's got a good personality". Eustace's problem is that he's a collosal arsehole. Edmund constantly rags him on this, apparently having conveniently forgotten that just two films ago he was selling out his own family to the bad guy in exchange for Turkish Delight. Hypocritical much, Edmund?
Anyway, they're pulled through a seascape painting and are rescued by the Dawn Treader (which is a ship), on which is Caspian (who is a king), who was apparently introduced in the last movie, which I didn't see. Caspian is mystified as to why our heroes have been summoned, as he believes everything in Narnia is peaceful and safe. It transpires, though, that he believes this because he sent seven lords with powerful magic swords to check everything was fine, and assumed that since none of them came back alive, that meant everything was fine. I can't quite decide whether this makes him a complete idiot, or excellent politician material. Or both. Cue a perilous quest to reclaim these seven swords, and use them to defeat the terrible evil that's been growing just off the edge of the map.
It's actually jolly good fun. The structure is that Jason and the Argonauts "go to island, defeat trial, find next destination, repeat until victory" plot, and that worked in Jason and the Argonauts, and works here too. It is specifically notable that you remember who all the ensemble cast are a lot better than in Clash of the Titans, so they're doing something right.
There's derring do, magical spells, deadly traps and fierce monsters. If that's not good enough for you, well, that's a failing in you, not the film. The three leads do a great job, particularly Will Poulter as Eustace, last seen as the amusingly scabby little kid in Son of Rambow, and has great fun here playing Eustace as such an amusingly stuck-up little tit that it's a great shame when his inevitable reform occurs.
It all wraps up with an overlong coda in which Aslan gets all mystical at them, heavily implies that he is in fact god, or at least Christ, and hey, who's going to argue with the fucking huge lion? That bit is one of the longest and most forced bits of cinema since the last twenty minutes of Return Of The King, where everybody laughs and gives each other big shiny hats, but everything up to that point is a blast. The children then emerge blinking into the real world, having grown as people, and we emerge blinking from the cinema reflecting that, having promised to take our nephews to the cinema as a Christmas treat, things could have gone a hell of a lot worse.
Anyway, they're pulled through a seascape painting and are rescued by the Dawn Treader (which is a ship), on which is Caspian (who is a king), who was apparently introduced in the last movie, which I didn't see. Caspian is mystified as to why our heroes have been summoned, as he believes everything in Narnia is peaceful and safe. It transpires, though, that he believes this because he sent seven lords with powerful magic swords to check everything was fine, and assumed that since none of them came back alive, that meant everything was fine. I can't quite decide whether this makes him a complete idiot, or excellent politician material. Or both. Cue a perilous quest to reclaim these seven swords, and use them to defeat the terrible evil that's been growing just off the edge of the map.
It's actually jolly good fun. The structure is that Jason and the Argonauts "go to island, defeat trial, find next destination, repeat until victory" plot, and that worked in Jason and the Argonauts, and works here too. It is specifically notable that you remember who all the ensemble cast are a lot better than in Clash of the Titans, so they're doing something right.
There's derring do, magical spells, deadly traps and fierce monsters. If that's not good enough for you, well, that's a failing in you, not the film. The three leads do a great job, particularly Will Poulter as Eustace, last seen as the amusingly scabby little kid in Son of Rambow, and has great fun here playing Eustace as such an amusingly stuck-up little tit that it's a great shame when his inevitable reform occurs.
It all wraps up with an overlong coda in which Aslan gets all mystical at them, heavily implies that he is in fact god, or at least Christ, and hey, who's going to argue with the fucking huge lion? That bit is one of the longest and most forced bits of cinema since the last twenty minutes of Return Of The King, where everybody laughs and gives each other big shiny hats, but everything up to that point is a blast. The children then emerge blinking into the real world, having grown as people, and we emerge blinking from the cinema reflecting that, having promised to take our nephews to the cinema as a Christmas treat, things could have gone a hell of a lot worse.
Sunday 5 December 2010
Another Year
Or, I'm afraid "Another Mike Leigh Film."
Mike Leigh makes films in a very odd way. He recruits a bunch of actors he trusts, and brings them in with a basic idea of the characters, and where he wants the plot to go, more or less, and the lot of them improv and workshop it out, until the actors live their characters, and the plot grows naturalistically and organically out of the actions the actors feel their characters should take.
This has two effects, it seems. First, you'll see some of the best acting and characterisation in cinema. Second, you've got a plot that doesn't necessarily go in an interesting direction, or indeed any direction at all.
Here's your setup. You have an old married couple called Tom and Gerri, played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. They have a moderately successful, cosy, and very happy life. They also have family and friends who are, by comparison, a collection of emotional basket cases. Most notably, a work friend of Gerri's called Mary, played by Lesley Mannville, who is an incredibly needy, twitchy, twittery woman, and Tom's friend Ken, who is an overeating, alcoholic ball of utter misery, bitterly disappointed with how his life basically failed to happen.
Now, in a scripted, plotted film, you might expect this to turn into a story of these two unhappy people finding each other and supporting each other. This film will have none of that. Mary's too shallow to see past Ken's rough exterior, rejects him, and then for some reason we don't hear from him again for the rest of the film. Mary then steals much of the focus making a fool of herself on a regular basis, to no great outcome other than to make herself more miserable.
I can see what's happened here in one sense. I feel like some strongwilled actors have fought to make their characters behave as realistically as possible, with the overall effect that the events of the film are all too believable; that is, people who are stuck in a rut fuck up a lot, and thus remain stuck in a rut. Hence, perhaps the title "Another Year" - the film is twelve months of people basically ending up precisely where they started, only a little older and sadder.
Now, I am old fashioned enough to think that if the events of a year are unremarkable, you don't point a camera at them. You film the moments of change, moments of crisis. I am reminded of that runaway train movie "Unstoppable" last month. In many ways, Tony Scott is no Mike Leigh. But one thing Tony Scott does know is that if Denzel Washington's character had a twenty-five year career shunting goods trains, and then one day had to chase down a runaway train, that's the day you film. And you don't film his mate who was off sick that day.
Obviously, this film is far from without value. There's not a performance in the piece that isn't brilliant. Lesley Manville steals the show by playing an utterly believable, incredibly irritating, clingy and neurotic woman. And if you can bear watching it, watching her fall apart at the seams, it's an incredible performance. But overall, I found myself wishing for a much more solid core of plot, to give us a reason to be watching this woman, without which it felt more like voyeurism.
Mike Leigh makes films in a very odd way. He recruits a bunch of actors he trusts, and brings them in with a basic idea of the characters, and where he wants the plot to go, more or less, and the lot of them improv and workshop it out, until the actors live their characters, and the plot grows naturalistically and organically out of the actions the actors feel their characters should take.
This has two effects, it seems. First, you'll see some of the best acting and characterisation in cinema. Second, you've got a plot that doesn't necessarily go in an interesting direction, or indeed any direction at all.
Here's your setup. You have an old married couple called Tom and Gerri, played by Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen. They have a moderately successful, cosy, and very happy life. They also have family and friends who are, by comparison, a collection of emotional basket cases. Most notably, a work friend of Gerri's called Mary, played by Lesley Mannville, who is an incredibly needy, twitchy, twittery woman, and Tom's friend Ken, who is an overeating, alcoholic ball of utter misery, bitterly disappointed with how his life basically failed to happen.
Now, in a scripted, plotted film, you might expect this to turn into a story of these two unhappy people finding each other and supporting each other. This film will have none of that. Mary's too shallow to see past Ken's rough exterior, rejects him, and then for some reason we don't hear from him again for the rest of the film. Mary then steals much of the focus making a fool of herself on a regular basis, to no great outcome other than to make herself more miserable.
I can see what's happened here in one sense. I feel like some strongwilled actors have fought to make their characters behave as realistically as possible, with the overall effect that the events of the film are all too believable; that is, people who are stuck in a rut fuck up a lot, and thus remain stuck in a rut. Hence, perhaps the title "Another Year" - the film is twelve months of people basically ending up precisely where they started, only a little older and sadder.
Now, I am old fashioned enough to think that if the events of a year are unremarkable, you don't point a camera at them. You film the moments of change, moments of crisis. I am reminded of that runaway train movie "Unstoppable" last month. In many ways, Tony Scott is no Mike Leigh. But one thing Tony Scott does know is that if Denzel Washington's character had a twenty-five year career shunting goods trains, and then one day had to chase down a runaway train, that's the day you film. And you don't film his mate who was off sick that day.
Obviously, this film is far from without value. There's not a performance in the piece that isn't brilliant. Lesley Manville steals the show by playing an utterly believable, incredibly irritating, clingy and neurotic woman. And if you can bear watching it, watching her fall apart at the seams, it's an incredible performance. But overall, I found myself wishing for a much more solid core of plot, to give us a reason to be watching this woman, without which it felt more like voyeurism.
The Warrior's Way
Funny how films travel in groups. It sometimes seems like no matter how odd a film is, another one just like it will be right along. For example, just the other week we had Machete. Surely it must be years before we can expect another balls out insane movie involving ten decapitatations a minute with a Western theme? Turns out, no.
We start in Japan, with The Greatest Swordsman In The World, Ever. He's an assassin for the Sad Flutes Ninja Clan, and is tasked with hunting down and killing the clan's enemies. The last of this clan turns out to be a baby girl, and when it comes down to it, the assassin can't do it, and so takes the girl, and flees, becoming his clan's new public enemy number one. He flees overseas to America, where he has a friend, and ends up in a Western desert ghost town populated by circus folks. The town itself, of course, has its own problems with marauding raiders, and before long, the ninja clan tracks down the assassin. So by the end, we are genuinely, literally, looking at Cowboys vs Ninjas vs Clowns.
Obviously, we're going to need some good guys too. We've got our assassin played by Dong-gun Jan. Apparently, he's very big in South Korea, and to be honest, I can see why. He doesn't talk much, mind, but he's got a lot of style and charm. You've also got Kate Bosworth as, basically, a live action version of Jesse from Toy Story 2 and 3. Which is fine by me, plenty of room in my life for a rootin' tootin' cowgirl with a thirst for vengeance. Also helping out we have Geoffrey Rush, overacting as a ex-outlaw town drunk who's sworn to never touch a gun again, until things get really serious, and it's patently necessary. Danny Huston turns in a magnificently sleazy bit of overacting as the villainous Colonel commanding the marauders, playing it so unhinged, I found myself wondering if he was related to Michael Ironside for quite a bit.
The cinematography is fantastic, in the "fantasy" sense of the word. The whole thing has a fairytale, legendary feel which made me think of something like Stardust, or maybe a Terry Gilliam movie.
Anyway, the whole thing is utter, utter nonsense, but so long as you're prepared for that, and happy to watch something that's basically completely outrageous, the visuals are amazing, and the performances are as entertaining as they are over the top.
We start in Japan, with The Greatest Swordsman In The World, Ever. He's an assassin for the Sad Flutes Ninja Clan, and is tasked with hunting down and killing the clan's enemies. The last of this clan turns out to be a baby girl, and when it comes down to it, the assassin can't do it, and so takes the girl, and flees, becoming his clan's new public enemy number one. He flees overseas to America, where he has a friend, and ends up in a Western desert ghost town populated by circus folks. The town itself, of course, has its own problems with marauding raiders, and before long, the ninja clan tracks down the assassin. So by the end, we are genuinely, literally, looking at Cowboys vs Ninjas vs Clowns.
Obviously, we're going to need some good guys too. We've got our assassin played by Dong-gun Jan. Apparently, he's very big in South Korea, and to be honest, I can see why. He doesn't talk much, mind, but he's got a lot of style and charm. You've also got Kate Bosworth as, basically, a live action version of Jesse from Toy Story 2 and 3. Which is fine by me, plenty of room in my life for a rootin' tootin' cowgirl with a thirst for vengeance. Also helping out we have Geoffrey Rush, overacting as a ex-outlaw town drunk who's sworn to never touch a gun again, until things get really serious, and it's patently necessary. Danny Huston turns in a magnificently sleazy bit of overacting as the villainous Colonel commanding the marauders, playing it so unhinged, I found myself wondering if he was related to Michael Ironside for quite a bit.
The cinematography is fantastic, in the "fantasy" sense of the word. The whole thing has a fairytale, legendary feel which made me think of something like Stardust, or maybe a Terry Gilliam movie.
Anyway, the whole thing is utter, utter nonsense, but so long as you're prepared for that, and happy to watch something that's basically completely outrageous, the visuals are amazing, and the performances are as entertaining as they are over the top.
Monsters
Imagine a completely boring, bog standard monster movie. Space probe crash lands in Mexico, bringing with it a new life form, which quickly grows to incredible size and starts trashing the place. US Military steps in, shoots it a lot until the problem is contained. Blah blah. Cloverfield wrung the last out of that, and there haven't been any real advances in the genre since the 50s.
So it's a good job really, that's not the movie they made. All that standard BS I mentioned happened a few years ago. The monsters got contained in a region of Central America, and thrived. This is now an area called the Contaminated Zone, and the Mexican and US authorities vigorously defend the borders with military and airstrikes.
Cut to our protagonists, a photojournalist and the daughter of his boss. Things are getting scary down in Mexico where they are. The creatures (massive bioluminescent octopus/spider hybrids) are migrating and pushing at the borders and the father wants the journalist to get his daughter out of there. And so begins a journey through Infected Central America.
There's three things this film brings to mind for me. First, there's the obvious parallel to be drawn with the Iraq war. In that the situation is no longer remarkable for anyone involved, really. CNN are still showing wall to wall coverage of Monsters Vs Airstrikes, but nobody's paying attention, much as we'll get news reports about so many soldiers or civilians killed by IEDs in Iraq, and while we know it's not irrelevant, it doesn't grab our attention. The abnormal has become the norm, the remarkable is unremarkable.
The second thing is the existence of a well defended border between the USA and Mexico, and shady organisations of men dedicated to smuggling people across that border. Another pretty close allegory for the real world.
The final, and most interesting thing for me was that it was a little like a nature documentary, as in Last Chance To See, of late with Stephen Fry. Because as we get to see these alien creatures more, we begin to understand them more, and the nature of the problem being more similar to the introduction of European species into Australia, and the ensuing environmental impact, rather than that of some sinister alien invasion. The sense of these creatures being in some way like elephants, huge, and occasionally ornery and violent if you upset them, is very striking.
So overall, this is a film packed with the best kind of SF - a new idea which encourages you to think about things in the real world. And of course, this is just the scene in which the story is told, a road movie about two people thrown together in adversity, and making a connection, which would have been absolutely good enough to hold the movie together without the introduction of these intriguing creatures.
A warning though. When you see this film - and really, see this film - do your damnedest to see it at a time when it's unlikely that there will be any kids there. Because when I went to see it, there were a lot of young lads in there, lured in by the promise of a monster movie, and who got very fidgety with the growing realisation that all the action and explosions they thought they were going to get was all happening off camera, and what they were watching was a cross between a love story and a documentary about gorillas or rhinos.
So it's a good job really, that's not the movie they made. All that standard BS I mentioned happened a few years ago. The monsters got contained in a region of Central America, and thrived. This is now an area called the Contaminated Zone, and the Mexican and US authorities vigorously defend the borders with military and airstrikes.
Cut to our protagonists, a photojournalist and the daughter of his boss. Things are getting scary down in Mexico where they are. The creatures (massive bioluminescent octopus/spider hybrids) are migrating and pushing at the borders and the father wants the journalist to get his daughter out of there. And so begins a journey through Infected Central America.
There's three things this film brings to mind for me. First, there's the obvious parallel to be drawn with the Iraq war. In that the situation is no longer remarkable for anyone involved, really. CNN are still showing wall to wall coverage of Monsters Vs Airstrikes, but nobody's paying attention, much as we'll get news reports about so many soldiers or civilians killed by IEDs in Iraq, and while we know it's not irrelevant, it doesn't grab our attention. The abnormal has become the norm, the remarkable is unremarkable.
The second thing is the existence of a well defended border between the USA and Mexico, and shady organisations of men dedicated to smuggling people across that border. Another pretty close allegory for the real world.
The final, and most interesting thing for me was that it was a little like a nature documentary, as in Last Chance To See, of late with Stephen Fry. Because as we get to see these alien creatures more, we begin to understand them more, and the nature of the problem being more similar to the introduction of European species into Australia, and the ensuing environmental impact, rather than that of some sinister alien invasion. The sense of these creatures being in some way like elephants, huge, and occasionally ornery and violent if you upset them, is very striking.
So overall, this is a film packed with the best kind of SF - a new idea which encourages you to think about things in the real world. And of course, this is just the scene in which the story is told, a road movie about two people thrown together in adversity, and making a connection, which would have been absolutely good enough to hold the movie together without the introduction of these intriguing creatures.
A warning though. When you see this film - and really, see this film - do your damnedest to see it at a time when it's unlikely that there will be any kids there. Because when I went to see it, there were a lot of young lads in there, lured in by the promise of a monster movie, and who got very fidgety with the growing realisation that all the action and explosions they thought they were going to get was all happening off camera, and what they were watching was a cross between a love story and a documentary about gorillas or rhinos.
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