What I've Been Watching 14-4-2011
Just some bullet point style thoughts on the movies I've watched this last week.
Sucker Punch
There is a huge amount of fun to be had with this film as long as you keep in mind that Zack Snyder is a visualist, not a storyteller. I feel his style works better within the framework of another's script, but as the logical apogee of the current generation Project A-Ko/Call Of Duty inspired film-makers I think the movie works.
An interesting thesis could probably be written about filmmakers being inspired by the pop culture of their youth. I'm thinking Speilberg/Lucas being inspired by early film serials and creating Indiana Jones, Tarantino and Rodriguez being inspired by 70s exploitation and creating the likes of Desperado and Death Proof and now we have the new crop of up-and-comers like Snyder and Wright who are inspired by anime and videogames of the 80s and 90s and come up with things like Sucker Punch and Scott Pilgrim. In ten years time are we going to see movies inspired by Angry Birds and Plants Vs Zombies?
Also, lolling at all the feminists balking at the 'sexist' imagery in Sucker Punch, when they were perfectly OK with it in Moulin Rouge. Why? Because that film had a bullshit romance at the centre of it(a typical female fantasy) as opposed to a story about kicking the asses of those that have wronged you (a typical male fantasy).
Hobo With a Shotgun
Jason Eisener's ode to grindhouse cinemaunfortunately falls a little flat for me. With these kind of films their main appeal is that they are crazy and creative to the point of being shocking or thrilling, unfortunately this film just isn't that original. For instance there's a tooling up scene that's not quite as good as the one form Evil Dead 2 and a lawnmower scene that's not quite as good as the one from Braindead, so why watch this movie and not them? I will admit that I smirked at a few of the one liners (though I even recognised a couple of them too) and some of the kills were quite creative. Also Rutger Hauer's quietly psychotic performance as the eponymous hobo is true brilliance.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Finally got around to watching this cult classic after falling asleep in front of it many years ago. What more can be said about it really? Obviously the soundtrack is great, and the performances completely bonkers but delightfully so.
I found my interest in the film waivering once again in the second half, I don't know if it's due to the musical numbers being less fun than the first half, or if the whole concept starts to break down due to the film being essentially structureless. All I know is that the film starts to drag.
Is a bad film ok if it is intentionally bad? In this case I think it outstays it's welcome.
Insidious
From the guys that brought you Saw and Dead Silence we have this supernatural horror that starts out as a haunted house movie, halfway through becomes a possesion movie then in the last act turns into it's own thing that I won't spoil but is insane and really good fun. Recommended.
Also this was one of the jumpiest films I've seen in a long time. Very tense, and the score was great.
Your Highness
Not as bad as the critics would have you believe. For me the film started weakly but gained steam as it went (or perhaps I was just worn down by the crude humour, who knows). It's clear however that the film thinks it's a lot funnier than it actually is; jokes that are meant to land with a solid thud (such as the last line of the movie) hardly raised a titter in my screening. Thoroughly average overall.
Suicide Club
Crime thriller from 'Love Exposure' director Shion Sono. There are sparks of mad genius here that hint at the director's future success but overall I feel like this film was too slow and ponderous. Without giving too much away I also felt that the reason for the 'suicide club' was not well explained (if at all) and this left me feeling a little puzzled as to why I had sat through the whole film.
Sucker Punch
There is a huge amount of fun to be had with this film as long as you keep in mind that Zack Snyder is a visualist, not a storyteller. I feel his style works better within the framework of another's script, but as the logical apogee of the current generation Project A-Ko/Call Of Duty inspired film-makers I think the movie works.
An interesting thesis could probably be written about filmmakers being inspired by the pop culture of their youth. I'm thinking Speilberg/Lucas being inspired by early film serials and creating Indiana Jones, Tarantino and Rodriguez being inspired by 70s exploitation and creating the likes of Desperado and Death Proof and now we have the new crop of up-and-comers like Snyder and Wright who are inspired by anime and videogames of the 80s and 90s and come up with things like Sucker Punch and Scott Pilgrim. In ten years time are we going to see movies inspired by Angry Birds and Plants Vs Zombies?
Also, lolling at all the feminists balking at the 'sexist' imagery in Sucker Punch, when they were perfectly OK with it in Moulin Rouge. Why? Because that film had a bullshit romance at the centre of it(a typical female fantasy) as opposed to a story about kicking the asses of those that have wronged you (a typical male fantasy).
Hobo With a Shotgun
Jason Eisener's ode to grindhouse cinemaunfortunately falls a little flat for me. With these kind of films their main appeal is that they are crazy and creative to the point of being shocking or thrilling, unfortunately this film just isn't that original. For instance there's a tooling up scene that's not quite as good as the one form Evil Dead 2 and a lawnmower scene that's not quite as good as the one from Braindead, so why watch this movie and not them? I will admit that I smirked at a few of the one liners (though I even recognised a couple of them too) and some of the kills were quite creative. Also Rutger Hauer's quietly psychotic performance as the eponymous hobo is true brilliance.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Finally got around to watching this cult classic after falling asleep in front of it many years ago. What more can be said about it really? Obviously the soundtrack is great, and the performances completely bonkers but delightfully so.
I found my interest in the film waivering once again in the second half, I don't know if it's due to the musical numbers being less fun than the first half, or if the whole concept starts to break down due to the film being essentially structureless. All I know is that the film starts to drag.
Is a bad film ok if it is intentionally bad? In this case I think it outstays it's welcome.
Insidious
From the guys that brought you Saw and Dead Silence we have this supernatural horror that starts out as a haunted house movie, halfway through becomes a possesion movie then in the last act turns into it's own thing that I won't spoil but is insane and really good fun. Recommended.
Also this was one of the jumpiest films I've seen in a long time. Very tense, and the score was great.
Your Highness
Not as bad as the critics would have you believe. For me the film started weakly but gained steam as it went (or perhaps I was just worn down by the crude humour, who knows). It's clear however that the film thinks it's a lot funnier than it actually is; jokes that are meant to land with a solid thud (such as the last line of the movie) hardly raised a titter in my screening. Thoroughly average overall.
Suicide Club
Crime thriller from 'Love Exposure' director Shion Sono. There are sparks of mad genius here that hint at the director's future success but overall I feel like this film was too slow and ponderous. Without giving too much away I also felt that the reason for the 'suicide club' was not well explained (if at all) and this left me feeling a little puzzled as to why I had sat through the whole film.
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