Monsters University
Posted by thefilmdon in Monsters University on July 8, 2013
Pixar is this generation’s Disney. It has beautiful artwork, lovable characters and moving stories (which unlike Disney it makes up all by itself rather than plundering fairy tales out of copyright). And just like Disney Pixar seems to struggle with its sequels. Most of the Disney sequels lacked the magic of the first ones and looked more like cash-cows. Pixar has not done quite as badly, but it has not fully broken the second film curse. Although Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 were hugely successful Car 2 became their first movie to get a rotten rating on Rotten Tomato. The heads at Pixar are likely hoping that Monsters University will turn their luck around. Unfortunately it is not fully successful.
Monsters University explores the relationship between Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) by going back in time to the point where the two first meet in college. Mike has used his intelligence get himself on the scare course despite lacking in physical intimidation. Sulley has got onto the course exclusively through his naturally scary physique and famous father. After they are thrown off the course due to upsetting Dean Hardscrabble (played by Dame Helen Mirren whose British accent brings needed gravitas) the two must work together to get back on it.
Monsters Inc was one of Pixar’s most successful movies partly due to the great chemistry between Mike and Sulley, which that is here again in this movie. Their humorous banter remains strong even as the dynamic changes and the two grow closer. It will come as no surprise to know that the humour is a combination of both physical comedy and clever wordplay. On top of re-meeting Mike and Sulley there are also a number of other characters who fans of the first one will recognise. We see how Randall turned from an awkward geek to the bully he is in Monsters Inc. There is also raspy voiced Roz and member 001 of the Child Detection Agency (CDA).
Sensibly director Dan Scanlon included a variety of new monsters that make sit feel as if Monster’s University was expanding on the Monsters universe. As it is a college film many of the monsters fill typical college roles such as jocks, losers, cheerleaders, Goths etc. However the variation in colour, size and number of heads makes it an enjoyable exercise to search through the background crowds to find the scariest one. There are even some female monsters this time, which was something that was mostly left out of the last one.
Although it showed us a different part of the Monsters universe the fact this was a college based film was the largest problem with this prequel. It didn’t do anything new with the college/frat house genre so was very predictable due to characters being put in the stereotypical roles of jocks, outcasts etc. This is incredibly disappointing since Pixar usually turn genres on their heads and make them unpredictable. Also Scanlon missed a trick not taking the action more off campus. It means audiences don’t see as much of the Monsters world as they might have liked.
Overall the movie feels a lot smaller and the story less consequential than Monsters Inc. It is a coming of age story with a message about paths lost. This is very important now at a time when many viewers may find they can’t do what job they really want. However, when you compare it to the kidnapping that went on in the first one it doesn’t seem as a big a deal. It may worked as a short film or special anniversary straight to DVD release, but as a feature length cinema release it can’t capture the previous magic.
Degree- 2:2
It isn’t the car crash of Cars 2, but isn’t as fun to watch as Toy Story 2.
Let’s hope the future sequels like Finding Dorey can figure out how to make sequel work.
Dame Helen Mirren, Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
Posted by thefilmdon in Dame Helen Mirren and Dan Scanlon on July 3, 2013
King’s College has undergone a makeover. Pixar and Disney have taken over this institution of higher education to promote their latest release Monsters University. In the court yard kids are playing table-football and ping pong. Along the walls stalls have been set up advertising debating, astronomy and who can guess the total number of sweets in a jar. And of course big names on campus Mike and Sulley are walking around having their pictures taken.
The Film Don is at the university to speak to a few members of the team who worked on the movie. In front of a blackboard with monstrous illustration on it in one of King’s lecture theatre sit producer Kori Rae, director Dan Scanlon and actress Dame Helen Mirren. You couldn’t really ask for better guest lecturers.
Dan Scanlon, why did you decide to go backwards instead of forwards with this movie?
Dan Scanlan: We knew we wanted to do something that explored the relationships between Mike and Sulley further and we really just thought the best thing to do would be to go back.
This one is for Kori Rae. How many iterations of the story were there?
Kori Rae: Probably hundreds. We focused on the story, put it up on storyboard form, edited, cut it together and then looked at it with other directors at the studio and then tore it down. Then we put it back up and took all the notes and a few months later showed it again and got everybody’s notes and tore it back down. We worked on it constantly for the whole four years.
Helen, Dean Hardscrabble is quite an intimidating teacher did you base her on anyone in your past?
Helen Mirren: No I didn’t. Although funnily enough today I remembered my grammar school headmistress. I was so frightened of her, but she gave me the best advice I’d ever had. She said “The worst thing about fear is fear itself”. She was scary, but she was actually quite wise and I like to think Dean Hardscrabble is like that.
Well I loved Dean Hardscrabble, was it difficult to get into character?
HM:It’s wonderful to have a director who allows you to experiment and do different things. Eventually the character appears as a combination of you, and the director. Once I had found the right voice then the character sort of follows quite naturally.
So what scares each of you?
KR: Public speaking.
DS: Clowns are horrifying.
HM: Very scary clowns aren’t they? I was terrified of clowns.
In a sense the film is about paths lost, can you identify with that? Has there been a dream you had that just didn’t work out?
HM: I think that it is very annoying, and we all experience this, watching people who seem to get everything they want without having to work for it. The rest of us do have to struggle and fight and get knocked back and have to come forward again. There are a privileged few who seem to waft through life without ever hitting any adversity. I think 99.9% of professional people have had to struggle to get where they are.
What scenes and characters did you have to let go Dan?
DS: What’s nice about Pixar and even the animation process is it takes a long time so you have a lot of opportunity to fix things you don’t like. Around every corner Kori gave me an opportunity to make sure we dotted all the “i”s and crossed ever “t”. There really isn’t a lot that I wish I could have done.
DM: There isn’t much on the cutting room floor?
DS: Oh no we threw a ton out, don’t get me wrong. But I am glad it is gone. All of it was a terrible mistake.
KR: At the time it might not have felt like that.
DS: We had a billion different versions of the movie. They were all horrible. Every Pixar movie is horrible in the early stages. It goes through an awkward teenage stage and then hopefully it makes it out.
Who is your favourite monster of all time?
KR: Well I am partial to this film and my favourite monster is actually Dean Harbscrabble.
HM: Oh yeah you are just saying that. I think the all-time scary terrifying monster that Dean Hardscrabble would be appreciative of was the Alien that comes out of your stomach.
DS: Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion King Kong was really creepy.
The movie is all about fear, how do you control that?
DS: In regards to working on the movie we just focus on the story. There are a lot of distractions, but we don’t focus on any of that. Our job is to raise the baby that is the story and make sure that it is taken care of.
HM: I think that’s exactly what you do- you get on with it. You go “OK I am frightened, but that’s not the end of the world”. The other good thing is to pretend that you’re not frightened. Someone gave me the advice just to act as if you’re not frightened.
Dan and Kori how did you tread the fine line in this movie when you are creating all these monsters. You want them to be cute, you want them to be appealing, but also it’s about unleashing your inner scary.
KR: The production designer, and Dan, and the artist work on each character individually trying to find what it needs to be for the story and how that character fits in with the whole film. It’s a cool thing to watch because they will start out with something and then a week or two later it will morph into something else. They are trying to get the right balance of what is needed for the story, how they look, and then if they need to be scary or not.
DS: Hopefully the characters doing the scaring are the ones we are with. They are Sully and Mike so the kids get that they are with these guys, they are fine.
I am sure there is nothing that I can teach you Dame Helen, but do you ever stop learning as an actor?
HM: I am always overwhelmed by other people’s abilities and want to learn from them. I would have loved to have been in a room with Billy [Crystal] and John [Goodman] and learnt how they did what they do so brilliantly.
This is the End
Posted by thefilmdon in This is the End on June 27, 2013
The world is going to end any minute now. By the time you’re done with this review it could already be over. At least that’s what Hollywood believes. Over the past few years it has churned out countless predictions for how humanity will meet its demise. Whether it’s a Mayan prophecy, alien invasion, zombie attack or a deathly virus Hollywood has been very creative in showing audiences worse case scenarios. But after all this tragedy some comedy relief is not far behind and this year some studios want us to go out on a high note. There is Edgar Wright’s latest Cornetto release (the series of films with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that all have a different flavour of Cornetto in them) The World’s End as well as This Is a Disaster and Rapture-Palooza. But before them comes celebrity crammed This is the End a film so over the top it will either be an instant hit or a total flop.
In This is the End all the actors play caricatures of themselves. Jay Baruchel, from Knocked Up and How to Train your Dragon, comes to LA to visit his old friend Seth Rogen. After getting high together and playing computer games Rogen persuades Baruchel to go to a party at James Franco’s new house. There Baruchel must socialise with Rogen’s new friends who he’s made since he became a huge star. Then judgement day happens. The righteous are taken up in a blue light and the wicked, including most of the celebrities at the house party, are left on Earth to fend for themselves.
Although this doesn’t sound like this should work it does. It’s a stoner comedy that could have only come from the minds of Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg, the team that brought us Pineapple Express and Superbad. There is a smorgasbord of talent here that all play up to the public’s perceptions of themselves. Rogen is a weed smoking nice guy; Baruchel is indie kid who hates LA; Franco is a liberal intellectual snob; Danny McBride is a gross partier; Jonah Hill is the new kid who wants to be nice. This leads to a number of extreme and comedic situations-whether it’s Franco painting a picture for Rogen to show his admiration or McBride turning up uninvited to the party. There are also characters that go against perception such as Michael Cera who plays a cocaine snorting sex-pest who receives a duel blowjob his Franco’s bathroom. The audience will laugh right the way through the film at just how ridiculous the characters are. The greatest scene has to be the one which involves Emma Watson using an axe to steal the group’s supplies. The movie should be a hit just for that.
It is possible that This is the End has unseen depths that analyse the concepts of celebrities and how they are not who we perceive them to be and in fact not good people (since most of them were left behind after the rapture). But on the surface it’s a simple buddy movie about sticking with people as they change and remembering to bring your friends with you as life goes on. That is if you were having a friendship crisis during the apocalypse. As all these actors have worked together in the past and enjoy each other’s company the chemistry is all there making the relationships believable. Baruchel is great as the geeky outsider who doesn’t like his best friend’s cooler friends.
About two thirds of the way through the film does drag a little. It probably could have had slightly less Lord of the Flies style examples of animosity growing within the house. It was not necessary to see every way in which the characters possibly fall out. But saying that the end makes up for this issue. With demon attacks, cannibalism and confrontations with the anti-Christ, the final thirty minutes is full of suspense.
This movie may be outrageous and extreme, but that is why it works so well. The cast fully get into their, sometimes self-critical, roles and play them with gusto. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but for those who have enjoy gross-out, dicks-out type comedies this is some of Rogen and Goldberg’s best work.
Degree-2:1
A hilarious film that doesn’t take itself seriously
and is better for it.
Like Someone in Love
Posted by thefilmdon in Like Someone in Love on June 19, 2013
Critics love Abbas Kiarostami. The Iranian director doesn’t have a Rotten Tomato rating below 71%, a feat few Hollywood legends are able to boast. His newest film, Like Someone in Love, has all the hallmarks of a Kiarostami classic with its use of confined spaces, enigmatic endings and scenes in cars. But this time his film is likely to split opinion rather than receive universal praise.
Kiarostami continues his recent trend of filming outside of Iran. While 2010’s Certified Copy was filmed in passionate Italy, Like Someone in Love is set in measured Japan. Akiko (Rin Takanashi), a student who moonlights as a call girl, becomes caught up in a Shakespearean love triangle between her jealous boyfriend Noriaki (Ryo Kase) and retired sociology professor Takashi (Tadashi Okuno) who she visited the night before.
The opening scene channels the Martin Scorsese quote that “Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what is out of it.” In a Tokyo restaurant full of customers and background chatter, the audience listen to one side of an unseen phone conversation, thrown into the middle with no context to wonder who is talking, what are they talking about and why is this woman is lying? Only after engaging with the situation are answers awarded. Kiarostami shows how the life of a character doesn’t start after the title sequence or end with the credits but goes beyond them. This may explain why he wrote such a sudden ending that will leave some unsatisfied.
The director uses well-placed camera angles throughout to add new perspectives on simple scenes. When Akiko goes over to Takashi’s and gets into his bed, the camera focuses on the professor sitting by the door not the schoolgirl. Akiko is only seen in the mirror in the corner. The success of these tricks shows Kiarostami’s incredible gift for interesting filmmaking and elevates what is quite a straightforward plot into something worth watching.
He also shows incredible skill in his portrayal of Japan as a normal country. There are no Harajuku or Kawaii-styled girls walking across the screen or wide shots of the Shibuya street crossing. Tokyo is portrayed in a un-touristy, everyday manner that makes it appear universal and more about humanity than specifically Japanese culture. It is a people story that just happens to be set in Japan.
In fact the entire film has a very un-Japanese feel to it – probably because Kiarostami is an outsider. Like Someone in Love includes many scenes of strong emotional impact that are far from Japan’s restrained image. When Akiko is in a taxi on her way to Takashi’s, she listens to a number of answer phone messages from her grandmother who has come to visit. The old woman waits at the station for Akiko’s call all day and each message that asks Akiko to call breaks her heart and yours.
There is also an undercurrent of violence due to Akiko’s boyfriend Noriaki. He is possessive, aggressive and suspicious. When they argue over the phone in the first scene, he asks her to count the tiles in the bathroom which he says he will check next time he is in the restaurant. Despite this behaviour being well-founded, it’s a level of extremity that you don’t associate with Japanese culture.
Despite the technical brilliance of Kiarostami, the film lacks a worthy plot. The tricks used to engage you work to an extent but it can’t excuse characters fulfilling tired roles of a call girl with a golden heart, a fatherly john and a jealous boyfriend, the most original moments being a case of mistaken identities when Noriaki mistakes Takashi for Akikio’s grandfather and asks for relationship advice. Later, when the drama starts to break new ground, the film abruptly stops leaving audiences unsatisfied.
This latest Kiarostami product should definitely be studied on film courses for it’s innovative use of camera work and breaking of audience expectation. But for the average moviegoer there is no engagement with the plot so the exquisite skill gets lost in looking at your watch and wondering how long is left.
Degree- 2:2
An interesting film with great characters
that would have done better with a stronger narrative.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Posted by thefilmdon in The Odd Life of Timothy Green on April 25, 2013
There are some people only a mother would love, and there are some films only Disney would make. The Odd Life of Timothy Green is one of those films. It has all their trademark kitch- a small industrial town going through a rough time; a childless and twee married couple; a cheeky, but wise young boy; and of course magic. It follows the Disney formula so precisely that the story is predictable and characters are as one-dimensional as they can be. This should be excusable in a kids film, but Timothy Green insults children’s intelligence and will bore the poor adults who have to sit through it with them.
The hard-up town is called Stanleyville and it has suffers both a drought and the potential closure of the pencil factory, the town’s main economic source. It is quite clear where this town will be going over the course of the story. Living in the town are Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joe Edgerton) who desperately want a child, but can’t conceive. After a night of drinking (probably the only realistic reaction these characters show to their situation) the couple make a list if all the qualities they wish their child would have. They then bury the list in the back garden and after a bit of magic (now that’s real Disney) the list turns into Timothy Green (C J Adams) who changes the lives of everyone in the town.
Every plot development is traditionally Disney, and can be seen coming as soon as it is hinted at and this makes the film dull. If it had been at the hands of another studio some darkness and depth may have added a bit of interest to the concept by making it a harder hitting film The closure of a major economic source to the town could have been used to show the difficulties many who work in America’s manufacturing towns are facing. However, this dark side is not present with Disney, who still has their characters live in a large house despite two poorly paid jobs.
The characters also lack any true human darkness or depth and are instead traditional Disney creations. Jennifer Garner’s Cindy is petty, over bearing, and meddlesome both at the start of the film (which is forgivable) and at the end when she should have learnt her lesson. While Joe Edgerton’s Jim is equally meddlesome, but also highly competitive and pushy in a way that will make many parents rip their hair out in despair. As a couple they are the last ones who should become parents. The only likable Green is Timothy who C J Adams manages to play as sweet and kind without overdoing it. Considering this is his second ever Hollywood role C J Adams holds his own and is the best thing about the film.
With The Odd Life of Timothy Green Disney have gone back to their usual formula, but audiences have matured beyond the simple story of magic and wishes. The film may go down well in Middle America, but over here audiences want a little more substance both at the ages of 5 and 35.
Degree-Fail
Dull, cliche and patronising. No one will enjoy this film.
Iron Man 3
Posted by thefilmdon in Iron Man 3 on April 24, 2013
Iron Man 3 Poster
Have a think how far superhero films have come since the first Iron Man. Not even Nick Fury saw the transformation coming. At Iron Man’s release in 2008 Marvel hadn’t had a credible movie for years, while DC was darkening the genre with Christopher Nolan’s Batman. Then came the first step in Marvel’s grand-and now clearly successful-plan to make an unrivaled blockbuster. Iron Man was humorous without being camp, serious without being morbid. This perfect balance has become the tone of all Marvel films since then and continues in this potential finale.
After battling aliens and traveling through wormholes during Avenger’s Assemble Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is a wreck. Suffering from anxiety and PTSD he can’t sleep and busies himself improving his suits before the next attack. On top of that a terrorist known as the Mandarin is attacking America.
On the surface the plot is predictable for both die-hard fans and regular moviegoers. It refers to enough source material for fans to keep ahead. But, there are a few twists that few will see coming that make up for some predictability.
Considering the film took two years to make the plot feels oddly ‘now’. It tackles PTSD in soldiers and how it strains relationships. Downey Jr gives Stark a vulnerability not normally associated with the arrogant billionaire. The sleepless nights, panic attacks and the constant frustration vividly capture what many American soldiers go through on a daily basis.
Then there are the bombings. Early on there is a bomb attack at Hollywood’s Chinese Theater that is uncomfortably similar to the Boston Marathon attack last week. Although only a coincidence it demonstrates that Iron Man 3 has captured the spirit of this age and is serious for a comic book.
But don’t worry it’s not too serious. Like Avengers Assemble Shane Black’s and Drew Pearce’s script has laughs alongside the action. This is after all what Marvel does best. Downey Jr is given one-liners in the action scenes, in the emotional scenes, and in every scene in-between. As an added bonus the jokes don’t fall flat, but have audiences laughing.
Sometimes the film does sway a bit too far towards a punch line. There are moments, especially during the fights, where they have chosen to be goofy over cool. It may have been a sleeker movie if a few gags hadn’t been included. But then it wouldn’t have been as enjoyable. There are still plenty of geek-gasm moments and great actions scenes to avoid being branded lame. For example the final fight includes an army of Iron Man suits. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
While the last time the suit went out for a flight it was part of a team Iron Man 3 all about Stark putting a deserving Downey Jr in center stage. His jokes get laughs, his action drops mouths and his panic attacks warms hearts. This is the deepest Marvel has gone with any of its characters so far. Downey Jr sensitively plays a broken man by not making light of the situation, but also not becoming too enveloped in it.
The problem with it being the Robert Downey Jr Show is that other characters aren’t used as much. Ben Kinsley, Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce all do well, but the female characters aren’t as lucky. Both Gwyneth Paltrow as girlfriend Pepper Potts and Rebecca Hall as ex-fling Dr Maya Hansen have a few ace moments, but they are few and far between. Marvel has shown it can do fun non-heroic female parts, such as Agent Maria Hill or Black Widow, so it is a shame they didn’t succeed her. Instead both often stick with the damsel role.
The original Iron Man lead the way for a new style of comic genre movie and this film carries on that legacy. Overall Iron Man 3 is a marvelous addition to the franchise and explores new depths with the central hero. The tone is well balanced with humour and seriousness blended well together between fun and exhilarating action scenes. Let’s hope the rumours that Downey Jr will step out of the suit are untrue as no other actor right now could replace him.
Degree- 2:1
A well balanced and fun comic book film that would be
perfect if there were some minor tweaks.
Paul and Ben China
Posted by thefilmdon in Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Interviews, Paul and Ben China, Roman Polanski, The Black List on February 25, 2013
After only one film there are worse people to be compared to than the Coen brothers. But Paul and Ben China aren’t going to let these comments go to their heads. Instead they prefer to be a little more grounded. “It’s flattering to be compared to the Coen brothers,” says Paul China. “But, on the other side you think because Ben and I are brothers and our last name begins with C they just jumped to that immediate conclusion.”
The twins are certainly more attractive than the Coen brothers. The tanned 31 year-old look like they belong in front of the camera rather than behind it. They are talking to FilmJuice about their feature film Crawl, which has crept up on mainstream audience after rave reviews from horror festival screenings.
Despite being the last interview of the day, both Brits are warm, chatty, and relaxed; a trait they have picked up from being in Australia for 9 years. “I got a job as a film critic, which took me to Australia,” says Paul. “Ben followed about a year later and we decided to tackle that long and difficult task of trying to make our first independent feature.”
It turned out to be a difficult task with dead ends and constant petitioning for funding. Ben said: “When we first started we tried to get backing by the Australian government film bodies. Obviously there are loads of independent filmmakers trying to get projects off the ground so we got our hands slapped away.” They soon realised that they had to raise the funds themselves. It took a while, but once they got all they needed they attacked the task “guns blazing”.
The result of all the hard work is Crawl, a suspenseful thriller that harks back to a more respectable type of horror flick. Taking inspiration from Roman Polanski, Alfred Hitchcock, and David Lynch the China brothers wanted to write and direct a film that wasn’t a cliché. “Horror does get a bad reputation to a certain extent,” says Paul. “But some of the greatest films ever created, in our opinion, are horror films whether you are looking at Rosemary’s Baby, or Jaws, or Alien, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” The brothers love The Texas Chain Saw Massacre so much they named their protagonist after the film’s lead actress Marilyn Burns.
Instead of being a “bloodfest” Crawl is minimal. Rather than showing violence it draws out the tension so audiences are constantly on the edge of their seats. Unlike the trend of handheld shoots with fast edits and shock horrors Crawl takes it time.
What truly speaks to the brothers’ creative skill is the caliber of cast and crew that they brought in on a rumored budget of only 500,000 AUD. On board was cinematographer Brian Breheny who did The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Moulin Rouge! and Master And Commander’s composer Christopher Gordon; and even Australian TV actress Lynda Stoner came out of a 20 year retirement for a one scene cameo.
But the one of the actors Paul and Ben was most pleased about getting was George Shevtsov. The role of the Croatian hit man was written with Shevtov in mind and he went on to make the part his own. “George has a wealth of experience,” says Paul. “There is one part in the film where he unties the gag from Marilyn and he lays it on her lap and puts his finger up her skirt to pull the skirt down and I did not write that. He just did it in a rehearsal and thought that would be great”
Although the brothers did allow some improvisation they came onto the set with a clear idea of where they wanted the film to go. “We had a very detailed shot list and we knew exactly how we wanted the film to present on screen,” says Paul. Having a focused idea meant that the two had some confidence stepping onto their first ever film set. But they admit it was still a daunting experience. They have no idea if they did the right thing, but as Paul points out no director has any idea what the proper way to run a film set is.
“An actor is always going to see different sides of a film set. They are going to go to many different films and see directors work in many different ways, but each director never knows how another directors works. They don’t even know whether they are right or wrong they are just going by instinct or what they think is correct. So we just did what we thought was right regardless of whether the cast thought it was ludicrous or not.”
What the cast and crew of Crawl thought of Paul and Ben probably doesn’t matter now that Hollywood is beckoning. One of their screenplays, Sweet Virginia, was 11th on 2012’s Blacklist. This is a list of the top screenplays in Hollywood that haven’t been picked up by a studio. Film executive Franklin Leonard compiles the list and hundreds of film executives offer their suggestions. It has had on it Juno, Django Unchained, and Argo before they went on to become successful. The China brother’s Sweet Virginia received 26 votes and the two have confirmed that filming should start in the second half of this year.
At this point they are still reluctant to give away any details, but they do tease that the cast is a combination of Hollywood A-listers and some up and coming talent. Set in 1980 south-west Virginia during a three day heat wave the dramatic thriller is “a lot more dialogue driven than Crawl”.
Both Paul and Ben will work on bringing the script to the screen and don’t see that changing on any of their future projects. As twins have a “strong bond and a good working relationship” formed from spending all their time together. “Our parents kept us together when we were younger,” says Ben. “Because there was two of us they didn’t have to deal with us they just put us together and left us alone.”
They have two more screenplays that they are excited to start once Sweet Virginia is completed. With similar themes of “masculine” and “different time periods and places in American history” the brothers already have forming their own styles. Soon they will be a C brother team in their own right.
Crawl
Posted by thefilmdon in Crawl on February 23, 2013
Australiais known best for Neighbours, shrimps on the Barbe, “G’day mate”, and Hugh Jackman. It’s the land of sun and surf, not the setting for a stand out thriller. Well that’ll be your opinion until you see Crawl by twin brothers Paul and Ben China.
Set in a nameless location in the middle of nowhere Crawl has a simple, but effective plot. A hitman called “the Croatian” is heading home after doing a job for a local bar-owner. He runs his car off the road, goes to the nearest house and ties up a local barmaid in her own home while he plans how to get away.
Some audiences will find the lack of a complex, fully thought out plot as a major flaw of the movie. However the film does what Thrillers are meant to do and thrills audiences, without adding any extra waffle or padding.
At only 80 minutes the simpleness of the plot is refreshing compared to recent releases that are all pushing the three hour mark. However, Crawl would have benefitted with increasing the running time a little in order to spend some more time on plot and motivation development. As it is currently cut it is not clear why the Croatian acts the way he does except simply because he can. It is possible that no rational was given to make audiences feel that the situation could happen to them, but this isn’t much of an excuse.
Although it sells itself as a film that makes audiences care more about the central characters it offers little more than the bare minimum of development. Half the film is dedicated to character development and there is little to show for it. Audiences are told that the waitress, Marilyin (Georgina Haig), is about to be engaged before she is taken hostage. This news is a thinly veiled technique to make us care more for her but has the opposite effect. Other characters are similar and feel more like plot devices than well thought out figures of fiction.
The only character who has something positive to say is the Croatian. Specifically made for actor George Shevtsov the Croatian is efficient, cold, and ruthless. Shevtsov’s performance feels like Javier Bardem Oscar winning performance as the lone hitman in No Country for Old Men.
Despite these criticisms what Crawl does it does very well. It will have audiences constantly on edge for what will happen next, which is what you want from a thriller. Paul China (who wrote and directed, while his brother produced) uses music and camera angles in a way that is reminiscent of Hitchcock. To build up the tension China only uses music at tense points and it is always the same butt clenching melody. This skill at creating consistent tension once the film gets going makes up for the thin plot and lazy character development since the film thrills.
The film is very much style over substance, but the style is so effective that it can be forgiven for this. China perfectly balances the use of gore, music, and suspense to keep audiences enthralled once the action gets going. A stronger plot and more filled out characters would have added more to the film, but they are certainly not necessary for this genre. If you want something that will get your heart racing see Crawl, if you want something full of character best look somewhere else.
Degree-2:2
The suspense and tension are all there
and at 80 minutes your attention won’t drift. But more could have
been done to flesh out the characters.
Flight
Posted by thefilmdon in Flight on January 29, 2013
The chances of being in an airplane with at least one fatality is 1 in 29.4 million. That’s a lower chance than being struck by lightning (1 in 5 million) and how many of us can say that has happened to us? Despite the incredibly low chance of being in a plane crash Hollywood still loves to show terrifying aerial experiences. There has been Cast Away, Lost, Final Destination, and Horror at 20,000 feet to name a few. While Flight may have a crash that trumps the lot of them it also has more to offer audiences than just that thrill.
The film concentrates on the fictional crash of a domestic flight from Florida to Georgia. The pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) does a spectacular display of flying to save as many people as he can and becomes a national hero. Don’t worry this isn’t a spoiler as the film mainly focuses on the investigation into the crash. While this is going on Whip fears that they may discover his alcohol and drug abuse issues. The story is not at all about the crash, but is character piece on one man’s attempt to overcome his demons.
The film concentrates almost entirely on Whitaker’s struggle to not get caught for his drinking and drug use. Washington has received a well deserved Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the maverick pilot. The 58 year-old actor manages to make audiences sympathise with Whitaker even though he is unfit for the responsibility he takes on every time he enters the cockpit. Whitaker starts out as the ultimate president for the Mile High Club with sex, drugs, and alcohol all on the morning of a flight. However Washington’s subdued performance as the pilot’s life starts to unravel around him works because it doesn’t go for the easily sympathetic actions. Instead Whitaker refuses to acknowledge his problems and just continues to keep drinking and despite all this audiences want him to get away with it because he is so charming.
Although the film is not entirely, or even mostly, based around seeing the plane crash, it still deserves a mention. Director Robert Zemeckis’ last live action film was Castaway with Tom Hanks back in 2000 so the bar was set very high for his return. The director’s years with motion capture (Polar Express, A Christmas Carol) have not reduced his ability to have audiences holding their breath and gripping their seats. If you think you can handle a crash think again.
Not only does Zemeckis not pull any punches with the crash, but he also shows the drug taking in the film in graphic detail. Whenever Whitaker snorts a line of cocaine, which happens a lot, the shot doesn’t cut away. Instead we see Washington snorts a line (of powdered milk) on screen. The same level of focus was used when Nicole (Kelly Reilly) injects heroin before meeting Whitaker in hospital after she overdoses.
Nicole is the love interest and although Reilly plays a convincing and sympathetic drug addict the character feels shoehorned to add some sex scenes to the plot. Flight is Washington’s one man show who is only briefly eclipsed by drug pushing best friend John Goodman.
Although the film started out with a exciting and turbulent pace, straight after the crash it settles down into more of a coast. The film focuses on development and unraveling of Whitaker’s character, but it may have been more interesting to have fleshed out some of the other characters a little more. Zemeckis also made the same mistake he did with Castaway and ended the film too late. Instead of leaving the audiences guessing Zemeckis decides to include a schmaltzy tie up of the loose ends, which ultimately makes less of an impact.
Degree-2:2
Overall this is an effective take on a genre that audiences may now be desensitised to.
Just don’t expect it to have a fast and furious pace for the entire 138 minutes.
The Film Don 