Viy

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Ichina

Russian film festival is on and this film looked kooky. And was playing in 3D. It certainly is kooky. Some lavish production design too. But it's not entirely successful. The editing and the structuring is really odd and jolting. It can be hard to keep track of things. Theres some great creature design stuff and some really cool action and horror suspense sequences. There's also some humour that perhaps doesn't translate well. 

Charles Dance is totally in this. 

Viy, the creature itself, looks really awesome, but I don't think this film is going to let you know much about the original folklore, its telling its own story. Its a mess, with some really cool bits.

Interstellar

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Tom, Cassie, Tara, Cicely, Sebastian

It's gonna be hard to discuss this one without spoiling too much but I'm going to try. Suffice to say, this is a real tricky one and for me personally, it doesn't work despite being one of the most immaculately constructed pieces of space travel I've seen on the big screen. It's truly a spectacle. One that I thought was going to be like Gravity, grounded by science. Christopher Nolan grounds everything in reality as much as possible. But the last third of this lengthy movie throws it all away and goes full sci-fi fantasy, hoping that the sentimental and emotional connections between characters they've clumsily force fed down our throats will overwhelm our sense of logic.

And honestly, that's not going to be a problem for everyone. I did have certain expectations and while they didn't really pull the rug out from under me it was a bit of a disappointment to see the stock standard sci-fi tropes they decided to use, and their somewhat sudden reveal is hard to adjust to, given what has happened in the two hours proceeding.

I have always loved films dealing with time travel. And while this is dealing more with general relativity, those concepts do come into play. But there were some big pieces set up at the beginning that did give me pause. I hoped my hunch was wrong but the film eventually got around to the reveal and it was less than stellar. Time travel allows for many cheats in story telling if you're lazy. This film is hardly lazy (well, sometimes, we'll get to that) but it does rely heavily on the self fulfilling paradox and it's a real peeve of mine. So like I said, not going to be a problem for everyone but really annoyed me.

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write. Surprise Topher Grace outweighed surprise Matt Damon. Did you know Matt Damon was in the film? I didn't either. And his part is carelessly wedged in the second act to do nothing more but add in conflict the film doesn't need. It's the perfect example of all the unnecessary excess that Gravity did away with and resulted in a film that's pretty much half the running time. But that's hardly the worst crime of the film. At least those sequences have genuine thrills and suspense and are entertaining and engaging.

No the parts that are harder to forgive are the characters sprouting actual statement of theme rather than talking like a person. There was one point where Anne Hathaway, bless her, garnered snickers from many in the audience for talking about how love will save the universe. She really tries hard to sell it but even Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine fail in this regard. No one can make that stuff sound natural.

Half the movie is corny (literally and figuratively) and the rest is space travel stuff. And about a third of the space travel stuff is crazy sci-fi nonsense. And I'll probably see it again on the big screen, the visuals are really something. And in IMAX, you have the added bonus of much of the spectacle being full frame. And my god the sound in that cinema. Seat shaking earth shattering sound. Amazing. But is does mean sitting through 2 hours of a film I really feel dubious about. And listening to Hans Zimmer do some interesting drone-isn music but ruin it but throwing in a organ which will inevitably lead to 2001: A Space Odyssey comparisons.  

Remember that movie Contact, which coincidentally starred Matthew McConaughey? That film is almost like the inverse of this. It's all earth bound, primarily a drama with some space travel ideas tacked on. Whilst thematically very different, the drama in that film works. And they have very similar structures for their climax, in both cases problematic. I remember the South Park criticism "I waited through that whole movie to see that Alien and it was her god damn father." Mmmm... Even so, Contact pulls of its finale with grace a subtly compared to the behemoth that is Interstellar, a film that thinks it's being smart but really just feels patronising. Maybe one day I'll grow to like it like I do Contact. But more likely it's just going to keep pissing me off.

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

This french animation has really beautiful visuals, a strange dreamlike style to the story telling. I watched the english dub and you can see they had a hard time making the copious amounts of songs (and rapping?) work with english phrasing but on the whole it's an admirable effort. It's a whimsical little tale and the Burton-like gothic style works well. On the whole, a really curious piece.

Open Windows

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Nacho Vigalondo's latest is a cat and mouse thriller that takes place entirely on a computer desktop, with various windows to webcams popping up and edits made by panning between them. Elijah Wood once again finds himself in the centre of a low budget thriller with a very restrictive setting however unlike Grand Piano, the cinematic potential here is far less and they make some pretty big technological jumps to make things work. 

Surprisingly the visual style was not a problem for me. I guess it's how we're used to seeing the world now anyway. The story becomes very convoluted and the big twists at the end were real head scratchers. The film manages some genuine tension and the way action plays out in this environment is really interesting. 

The suspension of disbelief the film is asking for may just be too large. But it's a fascinating concept and there's definitely parts that work well. 

Ginger Snaps

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: No

Ok I finally got around to watching this. I love how it has that late 90's film look. We've all seen the werewolf teenager parallel before but I guess it's nice to see it with girls this time. Ginger really does snap. 

Swamp Thing

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes

I knew that Swamp Thing was a comic, and that at some stage there was a movie, and Alan Moore had something to do with the guy, but nothing more than that. Its arrival on Bluray prompted a viewing.

I just gotta say off the bat,  Adrienne Barbeau is a badass, always has been and always will be.

So this is another Wes Craven film that I had no idea existed. And by the looks of that trailer it's a satire but it doesn't really play out like one, or at least it doesn't commit enough. It's basic, superhero origin story stuff. In a swamp. Ray Wise is in it at the start. And there's some funky prosthetics. Some good stuff, some bad.

Zombeavers

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Kate

Oh Zombeavers. Yes, it's really terrible. It's also really funny. And some parts a genuinely funny to boot. Wonderfully fake and low budget and full of stupidity. As you'd expect from the title. Throw in a classy end credit song and an unexpected coda and you got yourself a sure fire cult shlock horror hit.

It's Such a Beautiful Day

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I am big fan of Don Hertzfeldt's hilarious and ponderous stick figure animations and this film is actually three new short films that together form a whole story about a poor guy named Bill. Just like his previous animations, Hertzfeldt created the entire thing by himself. It features his usual dry, dark humour and whimsy. There's also some different animation techniques used in this one, using footage and photos in different ways.

As this story progresses it becomes increasingly clear that there is real sadness behind everything that's happening. His production company is Bittersweet films after all. And the end of this film truly is beautiful and absolutely gutting. Everyone should give this one a try. Amazing work from one of my favourite independent animators.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Part of the Ghibli festival, This is a documentary about Hayao Miyazaki making his latest and apparently last film, The Wind Rises. It's an interesting portrait of the man and of the studio he helped create, at what appears to be the end of an era. It's pretty long, but fans will appreciate the look behind the curtain and the strange and tough balance between economics and artistry.

Short Peace

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Thought I'd jump from the Ghibli festival to an anime at the Japanese film festival. Unfortunately I've missed the majority of it this year but managed to squeeze this anthology in on the last day.

After a brief and trippy introduction we're presented 4 short animated works, using combinations of CG and 2D in a variety of different styles. First of the bat was Possessions, which I thought had some of the more beautiful imagery of the bunch. I've also always been fascinated by the very Japanese idea that objects have spirits as well. It's an idea I've seen a few times before and it's done well here too.

Next up was Combustion presented as a traditional scroll with movement slowly being incorporated and eventually ending up as a more traditional edits but keeping the painterly style. Old school firefighting and a forbidden love with a tragic ending. It's simple and quite beautiful.

Gambo was next, playing out like an old school monster movie. A giant white bear with a good natured spirit who helps fight off a demon terrorising a local village. Some gory stuff here, but I do love the ancient setting.

A Farewell to Arms was last and probably the longest and most developed of the shorts. We see a team cleaning up after some massive war, taking out weapons and robotic fighting machines that have been left behind. The modern style of warfare on display here is really impressive and there's some awesome moments.

Interesting stuff and great visuals.

Grave of the Fireflies

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Cicely

Write Up.

The Ghibli festival is on and I was eager to check this one out on the big screen. It looks beautiful, hopefully I'll get to see the rest as well.