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Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer: What do you achieve at the end of time?
Chris Evans is finished. The young, handsome, highly prolific Captain America has announced that he will not pursue acting beyond his Marvel Contract and the Avengers sequels. So what does an actor with every door open to him do with no time left? This one made Snowpiercer.
Set in 2031, 17 years after global warming heralded a frozen apocalypse and the destruction of the world's population, the only survivors ride a bullet train whose tracks circumnavigate the globe every year, keeping its passengers safe from the cold. As in H.G.Wells' 'The Time Machine' a devastating future has divided the survivors into two camps, the 3rd-class unfortunates relegated to the back of the train (Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell and John Hurt, amongst others) and the privileged, represented by an almost unrecognisable Tilda Swinton as Mason.
Curtis (Evans) and his compatriots struggle daily with their lot, cognisant, resentful and largely unexposed to the lifestyles of those in the front carriages as Mason holds up a shoe to remind the squalid that they are the foot whilst she is the head, their order having been pre-ordained. Curtis begins a struggle to liberate his peers and along with the others advance through the carriages against their oppressors. Think the 'Train' stage on Goldeneye with terminal winter.
The large-scale battles between Curtis, his crew and their oppressors are numerous while the one-on-one fight scenes are fewer and far in between. The film is not unlike 300 in that a small crew have to combat a larger and seemingly insurmountable foe; most notably during an axe fight Curtis storms down the carriage up-ending enemies in slow motion as the Spartan leader had done before him, having foregone in this case Leonidas' hardened battle gear.
The collective action endears the group as a whole rather than any one individual which unfortunately means that we don't get to spend nearly enough time with any character except Curtis before they are wantonly killed as if they were beloved Starks. Spencer is neglectfully underutilized with Swinton getting most of the good lines and action, Alison Pill from 'The Newsroom' makes a noteworthy cameo. The constant death nevertheless reminds us of Curtis' world in which all that we know has gone and where like in Casablanca, life is cheap.
The oppressed marvel at lost wonders like sushi and eggs to really bring home the post-global warming hellscape, but it is belief that actually drives this movie. Wilfred, the engineer responsible for the sacred engine, is upheld as the divine keeper who saved everyone's lives with his iconographic 'W' appearing everywhere you look. In this brave new world there is no place for another religion and like the 'Model T' is the basis for a new order which the disgruntled are forced to challenge.
Imagine Wall-E in live-action where the protagonist survives a climate-ridden wasteland to encounter a privileged class oblivious to the reality around them even when our heroes rear their heads; just with more violence. Curtis makes his way through the carriages past many who confront him and others who don't seem to care, finally reaching a confrontational and not unsatisfying finale.
Snowpiercer does beleaguer the point about global warming with constant reminders of the devastation the phenomenon has brought on the planet, most evident through the opening credits-overlay. In spite of this the film is not preachy and is ultimately a good thriller.
Curtis was desperate. Evans is not. They're both running up to the end of time with the latter possessing more choices than the character he portrayed. Turned out he made a good call.
Stage Fright (2014)
Stage Fright: A,B,C or all of the above
I told some friends that there was a comedy-horror-musical mash-up at the Sydney Film Festival and was politely relegated to seeing this one on my own. 'Stage Fright' is an acquired taste, a film one could relish for one or more of three reasons and otherwise better avoided at the peril of a confusing, disjointed genre mash-up which can best be described as a combination of Phantom of the Opera, Scary Movie and Glee.
Camilla Swanson (Allie MacDonald) and her brother are young kitchen-hands at a musical theatre camp where every year hordes of pretentious children come together to stage a musical. Their boss/guardian Roger McCall (Meatloaf) took them in ten years earlier after their mother (Minnie Driver) was stabbed to death by a mysterious masked phantom on the opening night of 'Haunting of the Opera.' The kids decide to stage a revival of the musical when a mysterious rock 'n roll specter begins to haunt the camp and pick off nasty students while the survivors, including star Camilla, prep for opening night.
It's what it sounds, and there's three reasons to go see it, or not.
A. Genre Mash-up
For those who like original experimental productions this may be just the thing for you with a relatively unique combination of genres prevalent throughout the film. In something reminiscent of Dr Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog (or for any who had the good fortune to see the staged version of Re-animator: The Musical) 'Stage Fright' blends gory themes and action with hoppy music to alleviate the tension of macabre acts of butchery like seeing someone repeatedly stabbed in the face. It makes strong violence, something that would otherwise seem excessive and gratuitous, an act of comic terror and delight. It helps when the guy committing these heinous acts does so to progressive 80′s rock on a six-string topped with a steak knife between the frets ready to go.
It is graphic and there are genuinely frightening moments but 'Stage Fright' is more akin to the second half of Cabin in the Woods where everyone has kind of cottoned on to the joke and you can sit back and enjoy yourself.
B. Pretentious wannabe Idina Menzels
If you've ever worked on a staged production, or a musical, or even a short film, you have likely encountered them. You know who I'm talking about, whether its actors, creative, crew, whomever, there are many who believe that they are not so much better and more eclectically talented than their peers but that the very production is graced to have them and their radiant genius shine on the tattered mess that was this play before they arrived.
'Stage Fright' really plays this up; the Director of the show envisions in no uncertain terms that a postmodern version of 'Haunting of the Opera' set in feudal Japan will really bring out the truth of the characters. Camp ringleader (who while having a character name is perhaps best referred to as Veruca Salt) undermines Camilla at every turn including attempting a fateful Carrie-esque red paint incident to ensure she gets the lead role in the production.
The Stage Manager takes his job way to seriously and if like me you've been involved in production crews or revues or theatre of any kind you're going to appreciate the none too subtle competition between the characters and all-enveloping personalities of the most obnoxious children. There is a scene where they debate whether it is right to cancel the play following the death of a key crew member; for those who have experienced the drama before an opening night this barely registers as parody.
C. Meatloaf is in a film. Seriously.
I am a Meatloaf fan, and I am not alone. I saw him when he came to Sydney in 2011, my friends wanted to cancel their tickets along with many others after they heard him sing at the AFL Grand Final, but I convinced them to come along with me. And we had fun, there's nothing like 10,000 people screaming out Bat out of Hell being lead on by the man himself.
For those of you who are Meatloaf fans and stuck it out with the aging artist you will thoroughly enjoy seeing him in a feature role. Even if his voice has diminished and his singing scenes are few, it is a pleasure to watch the man perform.
I would recommend you see 'Stage Fright' if you can tick at least two of the three boxes, otherwise you will be very frustrated and in a perpetual state of confusion, much like the characters in this film. This movie doesn't go by the traditional ABCs of film-making, it makes its own, and if you're like me and tick all three boxes then go and have some toe-tapping fun.
24: Live Another Day (2014)
Jack Bauer v Wiki-Leaks - The Return of '24'
Jack's back, and he's taking on Julian Assange.
After 8 seasons and a four year hiatus the first few episodes of '24: Live Another Day' have caught up with current affairs nicely. Jack traces former co-worker/tech-guru Chloe O'Brien to a hacker haven operating out of London which in the words of her new friends 'just acquires information and disseminates it.' Jack retorts 'you make it sound like what you do is benign, but we both know it isn't.' Sound like someone we know?
The debate over Wiki-leaks plays out on our screens, events occur in real time:
Chloe – At least I'm doing something to fight against it
Jack – How, by leaking classified information, military secrets, people are out there dying in the field Chloe
Chloe – Intelligence agencies keep secrets because what they're doing is criminal
Jack – You're smarter than that
Jack has always operated in a clandestine world where secrets are kept, and acts are done, by a man at least the audience entrusts with doing the right thing, and anyone who gets in his way, like people who leak secrets, are fair game. When 24 was at it's height the NY Times published an unauthorized series of essays detailing the political theology and cultural magnetism of '24.' Author Jerome Copulsky wrote:
"When Bauer operates against his orders and beyond the law and conventional morals in order to interrogate a suspect – employing torture to obtain crucial information – we understand that he is merely doing what is necessary to fulfill his patriotic duty."
The latest episodes maintained the traditional 24 motifs of 'enhanced interrogation' and encompassing surveillance and like Season 8 had a strong focus on drone warfare. Jack is no stranger to controversy and with the vast majority of entertainment media treating the actions of the US government with barely concealed contempt, if that, Jack takes a very different tack.
Though Jack is not alone. 'Skyfall' villain Raoul Silva leaked military secrets and the identities of undercover MI6 agents because of a vendetta against Judi Dench's M. The film saw Bond heroically defeating Silva, alleviating chaos and restoring order. For England, James.
'The Dark Knight,'widely lauded as the greatest comic book film of all time, was simply '24′ on steroids. Batman mercilessly pounded the Joker to find out what happened to Rachel while Gordon and Gotham PD stand on the other side of very thick glass, not to mention dropping Maroni from a three-story building as an incentive to spill his guts. Wayne goes solo to kidnap Lau from Chinese soil because the US can't extradite him, not unlike Jack raiding the Chinese consulate in Season 4 to extract a national without the Chinese knowing.
And then there's Batman's 'let's turn every cell phone into a sonar emulator and map out Gotham to find the Joker' which would have broken more laws than there were Presidents on 24. Jack is catching on, but its not just the appeal of watching someone do what it takes to get the job done, it's watching him do it alone.
Jack, Bond, Batman, they're all loners who sacrificed so much to do whats right, and they have all lost their nearest and dearest, Teri, Vespa/Tracey, Rachel, in the name of duty. 'Secrets of 24′ goes on to say:
"We trust his intuitions,intentions and judgments knowing that he is simply doing what is necessary to keep his nation safe the lone man who stands outside of the system, battling evil and bureaucracy in order to protect society. Everybody wants a hero."
Sound familiar? Jack is a hero to many, but by the same tack so is Julian Assange. While so many praise Jack for his vigilante approach and willingness to operate outside the law and government to protect it's secrets, others laud Assange for his efforts to expose government secrets at great personal risk. Assange is no stranger to sacrifice, having been stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy for years; at the cost of his personal life taking a vigilante approach to his stated goal of exposing government actions and ensuring accountability.
In a sort of Karla-like 'We're not so different, you and I' way Jack and Julian, while very much on opposite sides of the coin, attract very similar followings by people who genuinely believe, like the protagonists themselves, that they and their counterparts are doing what is necessary to advance society and keep us safe.
I'll be watching out for Jack Bauer and the new 24. Maybe Julian Assange is too.
Originally published on TodaytoKnights on Wordpress and Tumblr.
Serbuan maut 2: Berandal (2014)
The Raid 2: I Capture the Castle
The Raid is a superbly constructed action film. An Indonesian cop/martial arts master/family man is tasked with raiding a castle-like fortress occupied by criminals waiting to be rewarded for gruesomely killing our hero. On the top floor is the big boss and the cop's brother, but before he gets there like any good console game he has to use his wits and skills to outsmart groups of progressively deadlier assassins as he scales the building to protect his family.
There was a supreme mix of action and plot, just the right amount of character and background but not so much it drowned the story. It was enough that the protagonist had a brother and a wife he cared about and he was fighting for them. It's most comparable to Die Hard, no one really gave a damn about Molly McLane past the fact that John wanted her alive. McTiernan spent a bit of time setting this up and then had Bruce Willis scale FOX HQ for two hours to get her back.
Many movies get it wrong. The recent 'Conan the Barbarian' film spent no real time on establishing the characters in a high fantasy cult world, there was endless action which no one understood or cared about. I saw Conan at the Empire film festival in London surrounded by a thousand other film nuts and Khal Drogo himself. No one applauded or said anything, we were scared if anyone piped up we'd get an Arakh to the face, or maybe a molten crown. The flip side are the appalling action films like 'Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit' which only have a few minor action sequences and spend an hour establishing a relationship between Kenneth Branagh and Keira Knightly which we don't care about.
Watching the Raid series is akin to watching Police Story or some of the old Jet Li films; the martial arts sequences are novel, the plots are brief and solely serve the purpose of furthering the action. The language is very blunt and the limited dialogue conveys emotion and motivation better than any character diatribes.
The Raid 2 takes a leaf from A Song of Ice and Fire and kills off the protagonist's brother, the macguffin of the first movie, in the first three minutes to set up the story. Evans recognised that characters are secondary to the interests of progressing the plot and many are expendable to develop complex and visually fulfilling action sequences. The sequel takes the slaughter outside the confines of one building and spreads through nightclubs, prison yards and busy streets.
Most notable are the contained fights which take place in small confined spaces like a bathroom stall at the beginning of the film or in the backseat of an SUV with four henchmen. In 1971 Sean Connery made history in 'Diamonds are Forever' by having a fight in a tiny elevator. Most fight scenes are spread out and involve widespread destruction of property, but when Bond drew his elbow back to punch the other guy in the lift he broke the glass behind him, alerting the henchman to his plan. Connery later joked that his next fight would be in a telephone box. Our hero manages to fight two outlandish assassins wielding baseball bats and hammers in a small hallway and defeat both guards and inmates in a mud-drenched prison yard.
Please make more films like this, I don't go to a movie called 'The Raid' to find out about the human condition or the meaning of it all. What I want is a knight to scale the castle, slay the bad guys and rescue his honour and that of his family.
Originally published on TodaytoKnights on Wordpress and Tumblr.
Abduction (2011)
There was no abduction in Abduction; Oversight, or cinematic tour de force?
Abduction pays homage to the Hitchcock classic North By Northwest through the central character of Nathan Price, portrayed by the often lauded yet intrinsically grounded Taylor Lautner - who brings to the table the youthful enthusiasm present in his seminal portrayal of the Werewolf Jacob. Like Cary Grant, he is thrust into a world of mystery, intrigue and government conspiracy when he is forced to flee from home with no one to trust, accompanied only by a contemporary Eva Marie Saint, in this case rising teen sensation Lily Collins.
The film also draws inspiration from Tarantino's modern classic Kill Bill, through the inclusion of a David Carradine-like character in the guise of the Nathan's absent father.
The dialogue alludes to modern conventions present in teen drama and escapist fantasy, for instance the Molly Ringwald 80's coming-of-age classics, the Chronicles of Narnia series and of course Stephanie Myers opus, the Twilight saga. Yet 'Abduction' goes beyond the limited scope of Twilight by engaging the audience in the machinations of a conspiracy reminiscent of cold war thrillers much like Spy Game and the more recent Bourne trilogy.
The intrigue of the central antagonist, Koslow, plays off the fears and concerns of today's youth, forcing Nathan to confront the tragedy within his family and the realities of his absent father. Perhaps most damning of all was Koslow's threat to 'delete' all of Nathan's Facebook friends - a true villain for the 21st century.
'Abduction' is a huge move for Swedish sensation Michael Nyqvist (Koslow) to the Hollywood mainstream following his turn in the Swedish adaptation of Steig Larson's Millennium trilogy. Abduction also serves as a wake-up call for less contemporary stars like Sigourney Weaver of Aliens fame, and Alfred Molina who rose to prominence following the release of adventure classic 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.
The most risqué element of the story itself is the lack of any abduction within the film. We wonder what hidden meaning cinephiles will draw from what on surface would appear an error yet perhaps alludes to deeper elements within the plot.
Abduction is not just for Twi-hards, but lovers and believers in contemporary cinema, underdogs who love a film which punches above its weight and action junkies who relish the antics of a main character with Statham-like reflexes and prowess.
We eagerly await Lautner's next outing and hope that the promise of a sequel will be fulfilled.