Pale Rider, Wyatt Earp, Apache

Western special! Great showing on TCM recently.

#1 - PALE RIDER

Stars - Clint Eastwood, Sydney Penny

Director - Clint Eastwood

Memorable Quote - 'And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.'

Review - So here we have a Western following a classic Eastwood formula - stranger arrives, finds wrongs in the town, sets those wrongs right, and disappears into the sunset. Much like High Plains Drifter, the identity of this stranger is called into question, as at least one person recognises him as someone they believe to be dead. He also seems to disappear and reappear with the ability of a ninja - but on the other hand, a viewer could just as easily accept that the stranger in this case is real, corporeal, and that the rest is just superstition. Presenting a dual view like this is a very good trick, opening the movie up to more audiences. As a Western this is also fantastic, right up there with the best - even if Eastwood does seem overly fond of rape scenes and questionable relationships. Still, great work - perhaps not as dramatic as Unforgiven, but with a shootout as good as the OK Corral. 4.5/5

#2 - WYATT EARP

Stars - Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Joanna Going, Catherine O'Hara

Director - Lawrence Kasdan

Memorable Quote - 'You'd be doing me a favour if you called me either Wyatt, or Earp. Not both.'

Review - This really is not as good as the movie above. Costner is... ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Apart from the fact that he is the same age throughout the movie in a way that is very clear, when he should in fact be quite young by the start. This is quite simply an ego-play, like Braveheart but less successful, an older Hollywood actor thinking he can still take on the role of a classic character. Historically the film is surprisingly accurate for a Hollywood production, but in terms of being a good movie it can't come within fifteen miles of Gunfight at the OK Corral. It actually took me three days to watch this, in sections, since I ended up getting too bored after around half an hour. The only plus point for the movie was Quaid's deadpan performance as Doc Holliday, which fitted very well with my own mental idea of how Holliday would have been. Really not worth watching again. 1/5

#3 - APACHE

Stars - Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters, Charles Bronson

Director - Robert Aldrich

Memorable Quote - 'Even a hawk is an eagle among crows.'

Review - First of all, who thought it was a good idea to spray-tan Burt Lancaster and pretend he was an Apache? Because, seriously, their judgement was off! By the end of the movie you kind of get used to it a bit and you accept the character, but for a long time it is completely distracting, not to mention the fact that the female lead has the same issue. There is something almost comical in the way they talk and their suprise at Western things, although of course it is done in an attempt to be realistic. I'm not entirely sure how far they succeeded in that. It was alright as far as an easy watch goes, but I think it has lost a lot through the process of time - most of it just looks ridiculous now, and Lancaster's acting style is also a relic of a bygone era. 3/5

The Crazies, Zombieland, Nine

Kind of a theme going on with the first two movies in this post. Then a completely unrelated third one, hurray!

#1 - THE CRAZIES

Stars - Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker

Director - Breck Eisner

Memorable Quote - 'Fuck you for what you did.'

Review - You know what really annoys me about the horror genre? Look at this. This is a well-filmed piece, using brilliant techniques and beautiful framing. It has great actors and a premise that stands out from the crowd. It takes a well-known and popular formula and makes it better. But the characters in the movie are still so damn stupid that you end up not feeling sorry for them at all! For example, what kind of pregnant lady who keeps being threatened by people with guns would leave a bulletproof vest lying by the side of the road? Why, knowing that the government want you dead, would you decide to head for the nearest town where you often work and where people know who you are? Why, if you are on the run, would you walk straight down the centre of every road instead of trying to find a little cover? Add the fact that everyone seems to forget she's pregnant after a while, and she goes through several crashes, attacks, terrifying situations etc which would be enough to bring on a miscarriage, while experiencing no discomfort or indeed concern for the baby's welfare. However. Everything I said at first still stands, and this is a good movie. Olyphant never fails to do well, though he is becoming slightly typecast, and the government twist was very nice. I just wish people would put a bit more effort in. 4/5

#2 - ZOMBIELAND

Stars - Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

Director - Ruben Fleischer

Memorable Quote - Tallahassee: 'I'm not great at farewells, so uh... that'll do, pig.'
Columbus: 'That's the worst goodbye I've ever heard. And you stole it from a movie.'

Review - First point to note - this film was very clearly written for Michael Cera, and Eisenberg is a very clear imitation. It is actually quite spooky how similar their voices and acting styles are. Aside from that, Woody Harrelson is fantastic as ever and it's nice to see Breslin sticking to the 'alternative' roles. Stone is alright as well, though not as memorable. The celebrity cameo of Bill Murray is actually amazing, particularly in the fact that he agreed to do it, and the script and the direction are both stand-out fantastic. The choreography of some of the fight scenes was also brilliant, particularly in the supermarket scene. I really enjoy this new style of film-making that involves placing text and graphics over the scene in a very clever way, and this is a very good example of that technique in action. There was a little something missing that I can't quite put my finger on, but in general this was a very good little movie with all the right notes - highs, lows, uplifting human drama and lots of good, old-fashioned gore. 4/5

#3 - NINE

Stars - Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, etc etc, I could go on for hours

Director - Rob Marshall

Memorable Quote - 'What would you like to see that I haven't already shown you?'

Review - One thing you can always say about Daniel Day-Lewis is that he is a brilliant character actor. Who can forget the powerful, callous Daniel Plainview, or the gang leader Bill Cutting, once seen? He is also very selective in the roles he takes... which is why this movie is so odd. It's terrible. Day-Lewis is brilliant, yes, of course, but the rest of the film? Dench is far too English to play a French woman, Fergie does not even look like Fergie, all of the songs go on for far too long, all of the dance sequences are boring, and the storyline is barely present throughout the film at all! Day-Lewis being great is literally the only plus point! I saw a lot of good press for 'Nine' when it first came out, and I was expecting this year's 'Chicago'... but what I got with this film was just another 'Dreamgirls'. 1/5

Unforgiven

Another as-I-watch review this time.

UNFORGIVEN

Stars - Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris

Director - Clint Eastwood

Memorable Quote - 'Maybe we ain't nothing but whores, but by God, we ain't horses.' and, 'You ain't ugly like me. It's just that we both got scars.' and, 'It's a hell of a thing, killing a man.'

Review - Even from the very first scene, there is something quite pretty about this movie, along with something a little sinister. The long shots, a Western tradition, are here combined with beautiful skylines. The first action sequence is worthy of any horror flick worth its salts, and is summed up quite neatly by Will's one-word reaction: 'Jesus!'. The two kids are the cutest little things, and a real humour comes in while Will tries to catch the pigs and get on his horse. However, there is still a sense of wrong in the way that he rides out, leaving his kids alone while moralising to them even as he leaves. Kind of like one rule for him, one rule for them, and plus he's leaving them defenceless... but anyway. Eastwood movies aren't particularly known for their moral uprightness, I suppose.

Morgan Freeman is always a welcome sight in any movie, and he's also known for his subtle humour, which he again displays well alongside Eastwood's small touches. We then get some lovely travel montage scenes, all in the orange of sunset (how long did this sunset last for, exactly?). The fireside scene gives us the biggest character development we've had so far, giving both characters a little depth.

The next sequence is suitably comic, as English Bob carries out his continued routine of Queen versus President. However, this is again juxtaposed with the very serious Western business of Little Bill's attack, leading the film through a string of highs and lows in a way that actually comes across as quite sophisticated in this genre.

One thing that strikes me very much about this movie is the realism. When Will falls off his horse, instead of leaping back up he bloodies his nose. The Schofield Kid is short-sighted, and the hardened killers complain about sleeping on the ground in bad weather. Then of course there's the repeated theme of Will not being able to get on his horse. The feud between Bill and Bob is done well, with the tension as Bill offers him the gun in his jail cell again juxtaposed by the sudden downpour back with the three bounty hunters. I also adore the way that Bob suddenly becomes a Londoner after he has been beaten up, losing his posh English accent.

Round about this point we get into real Western territory. Bill is not all for show, like Bob - he's a real Western gunslinging killer, and we begin to worry a little - all the more so when we learn that Will has a fever. The next scene is tense, but the humour returns as Freeman falls through the window half-dressed - hardly the arrival of the cavalry! There's that realism again.

After Will's fever breaks, the scene out in the snow with the cut-up woman is about as touching as any you'll get in a Western, and almost heart-rendingly painful at points, as she misinterprets his chastity for disgust at her appearance, then uplifting. The next scene again goes back to the humour, as The Kid has to ask what's happening thanks to his eyesight (I know how he feels). I guess the place where this movie really shines out against its genre is the moral undertone - represented most strongly as Freeman's character walks away from the operation. And of course, there's the fact that they are on a mission of justice rather than of retribution for a slight to their pride.

The way the camera follows the gunfight out at the cabin is exceptional, followed by that dramatic wide shot. The dialogue throughout is pretty special. I love The Kid's admittance that he took his first kill at the cabin, the mix of pride and shame and sorrow. The ending, too, is perfect.

Also, the final bar shoot-out scene is absolutely EPIC.

'We all have it coming, Kid.' 5/5

King of the Hill, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Kiki's Delivery Service

#1 - KING OF THE HILL (El rey de la montaña)

Stars - Leonardo Sbaraglia, María Valverde, Thomas Riordan, Andrés Juste

Director - Gonzalo López-Gallego

Memorable Quote - n/a, all in Spanish

Review - Hm, this is an interesting one. Of course it's a generic format - man gets lost in unfamiliar territory, teams up with girl, tries not to get killed - but this gives the whole thing a fresh look. Instead of forming a bond, the two main characters exchange sex for silence and consistently lie to each other, with Bea also stealing from Quim every time his back is turned. The antagonists are not mutants or rednecks or mental patients, but simply children who clearly do not understand how far their game is going. And when the crucial moment comes, Quim abandons Bea to the mercy of her captors, and - though he changes his mind - does not save her life. The tension is palpable, the sex is tasteful and brief, the gore is perfectly balanced between interesting and unrealistic - this is quite stylishly done. The ending is a little haunting, of course, and it's not entirely a masterpiece, but very enjoyable all the same. 4/5

#2 - SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD

Stars - Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Keiran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman, Brandon Routh

Director - Edgar Wright

Memorable Quote - 'Talk to the cleaning lady on Monday. Because you'll be dust by Monday. Because you'll be pulverized in two seconds. The cleaning lady? She cleans up... dust. She dusts.'

Review - Now, book adaptations have always been a problem for me, as have movie versions of comics or cartoons. Particularly live-action versions. So, simply, I should hate this. But you know what? I can't! It's actually very good. Cera always puts in a decent performance and this one is no exception, pulling off his usual dorky humour with a little extra dork at times. Winstead and Wong were both perfect female stereotypes, and both very likeable - you have to feel sorry for Knives. Culkin was the hidden star (by which I mean that although he was not a main character, he was very good), and the supporting cast were all-round very good. Top-notch and very modern effects almost made you feel you were watching a video game instead of a movie, and it was all very cleverly done. Best moment has to be Scott jumping out of a window ninja-style, and best subtle humour was the 'song about Ramona'. Excellent lyrics. Anyway, most definitely worth a watch and probably worth another watch as well. 5/5

#3 - KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE

Stars - Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman

Director - Hayao Miyazaki

Memorable Quote - 'If I lose my magic, that means I've lost absolutely everything.'

Review - Where's Wally? That's right, he's in this film, playing Kiki's rather juvenile love interest! And why do 13-year-olds get love interests anyway? Those silly Japanese. Well, I didn't enjoy this one as much as Spirited Away, though it was slightly less morally questionable. Except for the fact that Kiki goes around flashing her underwear all the time, which is a little odd. Anyway, this is good for kids I suppose, but I didn't feel that it transferred well to a mature audience. Being an older Gibli as well, the animation was very simple and not very eye-catching. The cat was funny-ish, but that was really all. Try again, Miyazaki. 2/5

In Bruges, Shutter Island, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Some hitmen and two crazies, today. with a clean sweep of 5s.

#1 - IN BRUGES

Stars - Colin Farrel, Ralph Fiennes, Brendon Gleeson, Clémence Poésy

Director - Martin McDonagh

Memorable Quote - 'Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.'

Review - This film is fantastic both as a comedy and as an action/tension movie. Some moments are pure writing genius - the fat Americans, the dwarf who thinks Farrel doesn't know karate, the blinding with blanks, the fairytale comments - and, best of all, the repeated use of the 'little boy' sequence. All of the characters and their relationships are believable and executed with perfection. Kind of reminds me of RocknRolla, although of course this came first. There's really not a lot I can criticize about the entire thing, to be perfectly honest - it is enjoyable in every part, and you really get attached to the characters so that the final sequence is tense and emotional. A barrel of laughs, also. A very clear 5/5

#2 - SHUTTER ISLAND

Stars - Leonardo diCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams

Director - Martin Scorsese

Memorable Quote - 'Which would be worse, to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?'

Review - Goodness me - isn't it nice when hype surrounds something that is actually worthy of it? This is a nice little work from Scorsese. The storyline is well executed by the way in which it pulls you in and explains and re-explains itself. DiCaprio is, of course, excellent, a true representative of his form, and the supporting cast are also perfect, including the eerily calm Kingsley. The flashbacks sustain the suspense and keep the attention of the viewer with their mystery, particularly as they build up more details and add in other characters. This makes you the lead character instead of the audience, because you have to try and work out whose version of events is the truth. And the ending? Well, interestingly, the line listed above as the memorable quote was not taken from the book, and it is arguably the most important moment of the whole thing. From it, one could infer - and, though it is not my favourite ending, reluctantly, I must infer - that he has come to terms with his crime and rejected his delusion, but cannot bear to live with the memory any longer, and so he pretends to still be under the spell of his own delusion in order to secure the lobotomy. Definitely worth a rewatch in order to catch all the details. 5/5

#3 - ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Stars - Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Louise Fletcher, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif

Director - Milos Forman

Memorable Quote - 'What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.'

Review - Aha, what a classic! Jack Nicholson didn't earn his reputation by taking rubbish roles and performing them badly. No, he got it with films like this one - a perfectly intriguing character play, with an underdog story, a social commentary, and a psychological exploration to boot. What more could you ask for? The plot is both heart warming and heart breaking, as we watch McMurphy come up stronger and stronger each time, cheering on his friends, climaxing in his almost-escape and the mental liberation of Billy Bibbit. Of course, then comes along Nurse Ratched to put the bars back across the window and across Billy, and his death combined with McMurphy's reduction to vegetable status is a double whammy that brings the movie away from the previous excellent humour to a cold, hard dose of reality. If anyone ever thought that treatment of mental patients in the past has been entirely fair and justified, there's this movie and the one above to prove them wrong. The highlight is probably the moment that they go out for a fishing trip, pretending to be professors, and also the moment that Chief first speaks. What a legend, Chief! Well, well. Something not easily forgotten once watched, that's for sure. 5/5

Sunset Boulevard, Lawman, Oklahoma

Three older movies at once, first.

#1 - SUNSET BOULEVARD

Stars - William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, with cameos by other stars playing themselves

Director - Billy Wilder

Memorable Quote - Joe Gillis: 'You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.'
Norma Desmond: 'I am big. It's the pictures that got small.'

Review - A film actually starring Cecil B. DeMille? What a treat! This was a very brave film at the time, I think, although today we would be more accustomed to its message. A woman who was once a huge star of the silent movies now finds herself pushed aside as talkies take over, but is determined to write the script that will be her comeback. The catch? She's absolutely stark raving bonkers. The script is awful, as Joe Gillis finds out when he is hired to help her, and she is as possessive of him as she is of her butler - her former husband. When he sees another girl, she calls up that girl and warns her off. She gives her pet monkey a solemn burial ceremony. The climax comes when Joe finally snaps and decides to leave - and she shoots him three times, causing him to plunge into the swimming pool and meet a watery end. During the final scene, as she comes down the staircase to be arrested, the film reaches its artistic climax: everyone stands stock still watching her carry out her facade, until she passes by them, and then each of them turns and comes back to life. Actually worth a watch, even though it perhaps doesn't communicate to a modern audience as well as it once did. 3/5

#2 - LAWMAN

Stars - Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Robert Duvall

Director - Michael Winner

Memorable Quote - 'I don't call the numbers, Ryan. I never drew first on a man in my life. That's the only way to stay clean - you play it by the rules. Without the rules, you're nothing!'

Review - Here's a Japanese movie poster! Know why? Because apparently not many people could be bothered to put stills from this movie online. I have to say it was a little bit forgettable - I only watched it last week and I had to look it up to remember what happened. That said, I think this has a very clear message. Jared Maddox, the central character, believes he plays by the rules, as he explains in the quote above. But the reply he receives when making the same statement to Laura Shelby gives the central point of the movie: 'Oh, the rules! I forgot the rules. You think they change the killing? Because you never draw on a man first, you think that really matters? Do you know what they call you, Jared? The widowmaker!' Rather than just focusing on the Wild West idea of gunfighters, this movie tries to bring our attention to the fact that if you live by the gun (or by violence in general), you will 'bury the cost'. An admirable attempt, but not one that made much of an impact. 3/5

#3 - OKLAHOMA

Stars - Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger

Director - Fred Zinneman

Memorable Quote - 'I wanted to marry her when I saw the moonlight shining on the barrel of her father's shotgun.'

Review - Oh, God. I never want to see this movie, ever again. Seriously. As if the incredibly irritating Annie wasn't bad enough (I actually screamed in frustration during her first awful song), then there's the weird dream sequence with the laughable backdrops and the hideously awkward dancing, the terrible fake accents they all use, the actually horrible story about a girl who almost gets kidnapped and then burned to death by a jealous suitor, and the ludicrously badly-matched couples (who believes that Will and Annie will actually manage to get married?). Curly, despite being the only remotely good character, has a ridiculous name and therefore I cannot bring myself to like him. Plus the idea that he would sell everything he owns to buy Laury's hamper, when all he had to do was say 'Hey Laury, I quite like you, why don't we get married and I'll keep my worldly possesions?' I am beginning to run out of synonyms for 'bad'. Let us never speak of this movie again. 1/5

Vinyan

Another as-I-watch review, part of the Frightfest season - here we go!

VINYAN

Stars - Emanuelle Beart, Rufus Sewell, Julie Dreyfuss

Director - Fabrice du Welz

Memorable Quote - 'It's not him.'

Review: The opening scene is unbelievably tense, but beautiful, and then it all breaks into that calmness: genius. However, I found it quite hard to understand from the outset - without subtitles, all those accents are quite challenging. Then in the taxi and the clubs, there's so much extra noise it's also hard to understand what they are saying. We are soon faced with a terrifying ladyboy who may very well be leading this couple to their death, but they follow him anyway... hmm. I think the stupidity factor is going to appear very quickly here. And good God, it soons becomes especially irritating that you just can't hear. Thankfully that issue clears up after a while, but when it does you soon begin to realise that everything has a very creepy undertone. The woman on the boat watches them suspiciously, then looks away and starts to cry out - what about? Their guide is brutally murdered by the ever so slightly amazing Mr Afro, aka Thaksin Gao. Children throwing stones are throwing them at a corpse. Beautiful floating lanterns symbolize angry, restless souls. The men are involved in the sex trade. It all builds up a picture that makes you wonder if this couple really know what they're letting themselves in for.

The journey on the boat, passing the forest, was well-filmed, and very pretty. The only thing is that everything seems to be build up with no release. I would say the only two real points where the build up is justified are the docks scene, and the burning building scene. The rest - the creepy noises, the low-pitched humming, etc etc, builds up to nothing, leaving you not very scared at all.

The dream sequences are just plain crazy, basically. They're all very weird and yet often quite pretty, like Jeanne's little paintings etc in her sketchbook. However, as things slowly turn from bad to worse you can't help but feel they've brought it all upon themselves. If you let these conmen know you have more money, they will want the rest of your money. If you turn completely crazy and set things on fire etc etc, they will simply ditch you. That's just common sense. As emotionally charged as the dock scene is, it is overshadowed with a feeling that this woman is destroying her life purposefully, rather than the other men destroying it for her. I also get the feeling that the nudity and sex are there for the director, not the storyline.

When it really starts to get freaky is when Paul's visions begin to come true. I don't know about you, but nothing says 'run very far away' to me like the sight of a wild gang of children stringing a man up and pelting you with his teeth, catching another man in a trap and burying him alive, and generally following you like a little horde of cannibals. Seriously, what where they thinking? Run the hell away!

Still, even with the build-up, the ending was a little far-fetched, I think. It was a fantasy, not a real story. Yes, it's true that you could explain all this away with psychological readings, but for many reasons I don't buy it. Why kill him and not her? Why allow the children to kill him? Why become one of them instead of actually looking for your son? While it seems that she was deranged, she always realised before that the children were not Joshua, so why should it be possible for her to imagine that several hundred children are all the same boy? Mm, not really all that scary a film thanks to this sort of thing. You find yourself wondering where the hell this is going instead of actually feeling scared.

So-so, in the end, but with wonderful filming and beautiful scenes. Which is sad, because it means it could have been so much better. Anyway, I guess it was nice to see Beart doing something else, since Manon des Sources and the Three Musketeers movie. 2.5/5