Blu Ray Review: Heavenly Creatures [18]

DIR: Peter Jackson

The Film
Today, Peter Jackson is one of the major names in world cinema, and one of the most commercially and critically successful directors in the world, but it was not always so. In 1994, when Heavenly Creatures came out, Jackson was the mad maverick behind splattery black comedies like Bad Taste, Braindead and his 'Muppets from Hell' movie Meet the Feebles. It was, then, something of a surprise that he should be the filmmaker to tackle one of his native New Zealand's most infamous and shocking murder cases.

Heavenly Creatures tells the story of the intense friendship between fifteen year old Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) and Pauline Parker (Melanie Lynskey), which ended up, when the girls were to be separated, in the brutal murder of Pauline's Mother (Sarah Pierse). The girls, from opposite ends of the economic scale, bond over their shared history of medical problems ("All the best people have bad chests and bone diseases") and their creativity. This creativity bleeds into a fantasy world and the girls become increasingly obsessed with and dependent on it and on each other.

In many ways Heavenly Creatures is very different to Peter Jackson's previous films; it's set - largely - in the real world, deals with real people and events and is notably less extreme than the likes of Braindead, but it also shares DNA with those films, and is clearly the product of the same directorial mind. Jackson starts the film, after a shocking opening flash forward, by grounding us in the real world, we get footage from a promotional film for Christchurch, New Zealand, where the film is set, and a rather conventional looking (if beautifully shot) first couple of reels, however, as Juliet and Pauline become closer, and as their shared fantasy world develops further, Jackson allows his camerawork to become more and more extreme. As the film goes on it slips more and more frequently and freely into fantasy, and Jackson, even in the real world, plays up the oddness of his characters visually with offbeat, off centre angle choices. This, however, ceases for the climactic murder, which is rendered in brutal and disturbing detail.

What Jackson achieves by this is not just a film with a very individual feel, but one that draws us into the world and the psyche of its leading characters. The people that Juliet and Pauline dislike are seen almost as caricatures, and are shot in a larger than life way, often looming into frame (see the doctor who diagnoses Pauline as a lesbian, or the priest who comes to see a convalescing Juliet when she's hospitalised with TB), and their fantasies are rendered in stark contrast to the world around them, which is often drab. In the fantasy sequences even dowdy Pauline is transformed into a beautiful princess, colours are sharper and more saturated and everything is heightened.

The film is packed with memorable sequences and images in both the real and the fantasy worlds; an idyllic sequence early in the film in which the girls run through the woods, stripped to their underwear, singing and dancing makes for a sharp contrast with the almost nightmarish (and brilliantly cine literate) scene after they have seen a screening of The Third Man, and find themselves chased by "the most hideous man in the world", Orson Welles.

This contrast between the way the girls see the world as opposed to those around them is also drawn with a set of very strong performances. Sarah Pierse is particularly notable as Honora Parker; a mother who gets angry with her daughter through love and worry. Pauline sees her as the villain, but the film is very matter of fact about her, painting her neither as saint nor sinner and Pierse gives a very grounded performance which makes the march to the end (which, even if you don't know everything from the opening, is explicitly revealed as Pauline and Juliet plan the killing) absolutely bone chilling and deeply sad. The cafe scene at the end of the film (shot in the real location) is a great showcase for both Pierse and Melanie Lynskey, whose exhortation to her Mother to "treat yourself" to the last cream cake takes on a cold menace in context. There are also fine performances from the other actors playing the Hulme and Parker parents; Clive Merrison and Diana Kent as Juliet's upper class Mother and Father and Simon O'Connor as Pauline's fishmonger Father.

In the end though, the film rests on the shoulder of its two young stars, then sixteen (Lynskey) and seventeen (Winslet) and both making their film debut. Both are outstanding. Winslet is, at first glance, perhaps a bit over dramatic, but this is Juliet; she's a person of extremes, everything is either wonderful or ghastly, people are saints (James Mason, Mario Lanza and more) or 'the most hideous man alive' (the aforementioned Orson Welles), and her stories are packed with beautiful kings and queens, psychotic children and gorgeous gypsy girls. She's a drama queen, and Winslet plays that side of her perfectly. This - along with her distant relationship with her parents - also gives us an insight into why Juliet, clearly much more intelligent than Pauline, forms such an obsessive attachment to her young friend. Melanie Lynskey is also brilliant here. Her performance got less notice than Winslet's and, seventeen years later, she remains an undervalued talent. This is probably because Pauline, outside of her diary entries (all of which are real, and brilliantly read by Lynskey), she is a much more held in character. It's tough to understand a relationship like this, and a character like Pauline, but Lynskey plays her, seemingly without judgement, as just one more troubled, taciturn, teenager. By taking that starting point and moving the character credibly on through this growing obsession we get to understand how things end up as they do, because we see how Pauline, in contrast to the very open and expressive Juliet, holds her resentment in a tight ball until it explodes. These are two very contrasting and equally excellent performances.

I first saw Heavenly Creatures about fifteen years ago, and it has a special place in my heart. It was one of the first films that really interested me in cinema that was more offbeat and made beyond the US, and it was one of the first films that me and my best friend bonded over (yes, I realise that sounds odd, but honestly we're perfectly normal). For my money it remains as brilliant now as it ever was, it stands out in the distinguished filmographies of both Jackson and Winslet, and is a fascinating film about obsession and about murder. This, amazingly, is its first DVD release in the UK, and I'm really happy that a new generation of cinephiles, who may not have seen any of Jackson's pre Lord of the Rings work will now, at last, get a chance to discover this masterpiece.


The Disc

I received a screener copy of Heavenly Creatures, which did not include the extras. The release copy will boast a 'Looking Back' featurette with Kim Newman, Alan Jones and Rosie Fletcher and four postcards. I can't help but wish there was more; a Jackson commentary, a proper retrospective with the cast and the alternate cut, which is ten minutes or so longer, would all have been welcome.

That said, what we do have is a beautiful looking Blu Ray transfer. The film has been remastered, and looks like it was shot yesterday; the print has some grain structure, but is free of speckles and damage. The edges are sharp without seeming over enhanced, the colours pop brilliantly and there is a good deal of depth in the image (which is also, for the first time in the UK, in the film's original 2.35:1 ratio). This transfer perhaps doesn't have the jaw dropping appearance of a Terminator 2 or the 'wow, look how nicely that cleaned up' impact of some of Arrow's video nasty releases, but it's still a great job, and as good as this film is ever likely to look.


Thanks to Peccadillo Pictures and Rabbit Publicity for the screener. Heavenly Creatures comes to UK DVD and Blu Ray on September 12th.

If you'd like to buy Heavenly Creatures (and trust me, you would) and help 24FPS out at the same time then please use the links below. Thanks.

Announcement: NEW PROJECTS

You might have noticed that 24FPS has slowed down a little recently, and I wanted to explain why that is. I have a couple of new projects, the first I'm going to keep under wraps for now, except to say that I've started work on a book. Specifics will be forthcoming, but probably not for some time yet.

My other new project is one I've been wanting to let you all (again, Hi, all three of you) in on for some time. A few weeks ago I began working at HorrorMovies.ca as a critic and feature writer. Most of my genre reviews will run there in the future, hence 24FPS' recent recruitment of horrorspondent Steve Chandler (cheers Steve).

At HorrorMovies I am writing a weekly series that will see me watch and review all 74 of the films that were on the so called 'Video Nasties' list, as well as writing reviews and more besides (watch this space for an exciting upcoming feature). My author page at HorrorMovies is in the process of being built, but until then here is the work I've done over there so far.

VIDEO NASTIES
I Spit on Your Grave ('78)
Gestapo's Last Orgy
Fight For Your Life
Tenebrae

REVIEWS
City of the Living Dead [DVD]
Hobo With a Shotgun
The Devils: Director's Cut
Tony
Red State
Fright Night [3D]

So, check me and the many other excellent writers out at HorrorMovies, and hold your breath (and your wallets, if you don't mind) for more on that book.

Thanks always for reading.

World War Z: Eyewitness Report

Our new horror correspondent (horrorspondent?) Steve Chandler has had an interesting week. Just outside his workplace in Glasgow the new zombie movie World War Z has been shooting key scenes. Here are some of Steve's impressions of what he's seen, and some EXCLUSIVE behind the scenes images (which you'll find at the end of this article).



Hollywood came to Glasgow this week with the arrival of Brad Pitt, Marc Forster and the entire World War Z crew to shoot the $80m adaptation of Max Brooks’ acclaimed zombie novel. Matters kicked off on Monday as Glasgow’s George Square and some of the surrounding streets were transformed into the streets of Philadelphia. It seems that Philadelphia proved to be a prohibitively expensive city to shoot in. So when money talks with the powers that be in the US fell apart a decision was made to approach Glasgow City Council to seek permission to shoot the movie around the streets that some area of Philadelphia was apparently modelled on. George Square became a hive of activity as up went US style traffic lights and the streets were populated by dozens of US vehicles (cars, ambulances, military vehicles, huge garbage trucks etc.) With filming due to start the next day I started to get very excited indeed, but I could not have envisaged how close I was going to get to the action.

Hilarity ensued on the Tuesday when, late in the day, a Brad Pitt lookalike was spotted just outside my office window and mistaken for the real thing, cue much wetting of knickers amongst my female colleagues. I was briefly convinced that I was in fact looking at the a-list Hollywood star but after heading outside for a closer look I soon realised that, hair aside, fakeBrad looked nothing like the real deal.

A similar scene ensued on Wednesday morning with my colleagues debating whether or not fakeBrad was really realBrad. This debate was suddenly abandoned when we realised that the real deal had been standing less than ten feet away with his back to us. He turned around and prompted much screaming and squeaking from the females in the room and more knicker wetting, the latter in earnest this time. The effect that realBrad has on women is markedly more intense than that of fakeBrad (who shall henceforth not be mentioned allowing me to drop the “real” from realBrad before it gets annoying).

Soon the filming began and it suddenly became practically impossible to concentrate on work. They spent much of Wednesday shooting scenes involving a lot of extras running along the street in a state of panic in the face of what is presumably some kind of zombie related threat. Brad spent most of the day in the car with his wife and kids (not Angelina and their semi-adopted brood but his movie family). Inhabiting the role of Brad’s character’s wife is Mireille Enos who has had a significant role in US series Big Love and more recently the lead female role in AMC’s adaptation of the hit Danish crime drama The Killing.

Things got a lot more exciting on the Thursday with them repeatedly shooting a scene where Brad gets out of his car after a motorcycle cop knocks off his side mirror. He strolls in a very Brad Pittlike manner a little way down the street, picks up the broken side mirror, has a brief conversation with another driver then gets back in his vehicle before being yelled at to “Remain in your vehicle!!!” by the very same cop who damaged his car. They must have shot this scene about dozen or more times in stops and starts but being that I live in Glasgow and have never been anywhere near a big Hollywood set as they shoot a movie the entire event was very absorbing. They also kept firing a double barrel shotgun loaded with blanks about two maybe three feet away from my office window and every time I came damn close to either making a mess in my pants or dropping dead of a heart attack.

Next day there was no sign of Brad or Marc Forster as the second unit film crew set about preparing a major shot involving an enormous garbage vehicle, which had a massive metal plough attached to the front, tearing down the middle of the street knocking vehicles out of the way and causing extras and stunt people to scatter. After a short while filming the cop yelling at Brad Pitt’s character (who had been replaced by a dummy) and a few dry runs where they drove the garbage truck fairly slowly down the street until it stopped about five yards behind the motorcycle they replaced the real cop with a dummy and got down to shooting the money shot. My colleagues and I were asked to step well back from the windows, possibly for health and safety reasons, but more likely because we were in shot. I had set a camera up just inside the window to record the scene but someone in the production crew spotted it and I was asked to remove it because the flash would be visible in the shot. I didn’t honestly think it was worth trying to argue that I wasn’t intending to take a photograph but was actually planning to record the scene in hi-definition. I really didn’t think that would fly. So I smiled, kept my mouth shut, and removed the camera.

Even though I kind of knew what to expect from the crash scene they were about to shoot NOTHING could possibly have prepared me for how cool it actually was. Travelling at speed the garbage truck came racing down the street, hit the motorcycle sending the dummy flying through the air to come to rest on the roof of a car then proceeded down the street knocking cars out of the way as it went. When I say it knocked cars out of the way that doesn’t really paint a vivid enough picture of what in actuality happened. Cars went flying into the air. Stunt people were diving for cover. The sound of metal being ripped and crushed was enormous. One of the cars ended up lying on it’s roof. It was amazing. I didn’t have as good a view as I would have liked owing to us having been asked to stand back from the windows, nonetheless I was left with my mouth hanging open in complete awe of what I had just witnessed.

It seems that come Monday the filming will have moved to another street so it’s unlikely I’ll see much more of the production. But this has been a very exciting week. When I read that they would be shooting the movie in Glasgow around George Square I never anticipated having a window seat. Being that I’m such a huge fan of horror cinema and the zombie genre in particular I can only hope that I am afforded an opportunity to see some undead related mayhem. That would be very cool indeed.

24FPS Top 100: No. 52

52: THE GOONIES [1985]
DIR: Richard Donner

Why is it on the list?
Just to get the obvious question out of the way. Yes. Really. I know that The Goonies is a silly kids movie, I know some of the dialogue clunks, but like a great many of my generation, though I only saw it on video, it became one of the defining films and fond memories of my childhood. But that's not why it makes the list...

The Goonies is here because it's still just as exhilarating, still just as much fun as it ever was, 26 years after it was made and a good two decades since I first saw it. For me it's both a part of my childhood and a film I still love to watch; an adventure I still enjoy going on with these kids. That's probably what caught my imagination the first time I saw it; these kids weren't much older than I was at the time, and here they were, going on the kind of adventures that we all ran around our back gardens pretending we were going on.

It also doesn't hurt that the cast, while not all the greatest actors in the world, are all clearly having fun, and have great chemistry as a group. The characters all have their own niche in the group, and with most of them you'll be able to look at your own group of friends and say 'Yeah, I was Mikey', or Mouth, or Chunk. Everyone acquits themselves well, but it's the younger members of the group (Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, Ke Huy Quan and Jeff Cohen) who get to have the most fun and nab all of the best lines as older brother Brand (a debuting Josh Brolin) and token girls Andie (Kerri Green) and Stef (Martha Plimpton, who once had 'Goonies never say die' shouted in her direction as she was playing the lead role in Hedda Gabler) mostly look on and follow behind.

The performances may not be Oscar worthy, but all of them are entertaining, with Feldman's quick-witted Mouth and Jeff Cohen as roly poly Chunk making the biggest impressions and nabbing many of the best lines. Cohen, in particular, is a delight and hilariously funny. While the others go off in search of buried treasure, Chunk is trapped in the house of villainous family The Fratelli's (Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi and Joe Pantoliano), who interrogate him in one of the film's funniest scenes. In a sweet and funny twist, Chunk also befriends the last Fratelli; deformed brother Sloth (John Matusak), who is locked in the basement, and takes him along when he goes to find and save his friends. This, of course, also leads to the film's most famous moment; Sloth's battle cry (for a fight between the Goonies and the Fratelli's aboard a pirate ship) of 'Hey You Guys!'.

The Goonies is a ride; a rollercoaster that straps you in and takes you from set piece (the wishing well) to set piece (the bone organ) to set piece (the pirate ship). It slows down occasionally, just to let you catch your breath (and to develop the romantic interest between Brolin and Green, and the animosity between Feldman and Plimpton, both of which the film mines for comedy) but for the most part this is a wild, and wildly fun, ride.

I don't envy director Richard Donner the task of marshalling this young cast, but he does it brilliantly, while also making sure the thrills and the laughs don't stop - no surprise there from the man who would make Lethal Weapon two years later. The action scenes are well staged, and the film is often stunning to look at, with Donner making the most of the outstanding production design, which becomes more and more a character in its own right as the film goes on.

When I watch The Goonies (and I watch it often), I get a warm glow. Seeing this film is like visiting old friends, going on an adventure, and revisiting an old crush (oh Kerri Green, why didn't you make more movies?), and to some degree that's what the cinema is all about, or what it should be about.

Standout Scenes
Chunk Confesses


Truffle Shuffle


And, as a bonus: a Goonies reunion (just as an aside, how stunning is Kerri Green 25 years on?)


Memorable Lines
Mama Fratelli: There it is. Okay Jake you first.
Jake Fratelli: I ain't going down there mama. Are you kidding me?
Mama Fratelli: [Cocking the handle back on the gun and pointing it at Jake] Go!
Jake Fratelli: I can't argue with that mama.

Francis Fratelli: Tell us everything! Everything!
Chunk: Everything. OK! I'll talk! In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max's toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog... When my mom sent me to the summer camp for fat kids and then they served lunch I got nuts and I pigged out and they kicked me out... But the worst thing I ever done - I mixed a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, t-t-then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa - and then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life.
Jake Fratelli: I'm beginning to like this kid, Ma!
Mama Fratelli: [tired of Chunk's stalling] Hit puree!

Mikey: Goonies never say die!

[Mouth is "translating" Mrs. Walsh's instructions for Rosalita]
Irene Walsh: Pants and shirts go in the... oh, forget about it. Just throw everything into cardboard boxes. Clark, can you really translate all that?
Mouth: For sure, Mrs. Walsh.
Mouth: [in Spanish] The marijuana goes in the top drawer. The cocaine and speed go in the second drawer. And the heroin goes in the bottom drawer. Always separate the drugs.

Mikey: [sees that a dropped statue's penis has broken off] Oh my GOD! That's my mom's most favourite piece!

Rammbock: Berlin Undead

Here's a new review from Horror correspondent Steve Chandler. Enjoy.

DIR: Marvin Kren.

Clocking in at a little more than an hour including end credits I hesitate to call Rammbock: Berlin Undead a movie. It is to the feature length horror flick what the novella is to the full length novel. What we have here is a lean, mean calling card that has been stripped clean of anything that could be described as extraneous. In fact it has more substance in it’s short running time than most of what passes for horror cinema these days. As a piece of entertainment it provides substantial reason to mark director Marvin Kren as one to watch. I truly believe this could be his Mulberry Street. Back in 2006 at the Dead By Dawn film festival in Edinburgh I saw Mulberry Street and left the screening thinking “this director is going someplace”. The director in question was Jim Mickle who I recently found guilty of helming one of the best horror movies of 2011; the Zombieland meets The Road genre gem that is Stake Land. Rammbock has me feeling the same flavour of anticipation. I believe that given the opportunity Mr. Kren has a future classic up his sleeve and Rammbock will hopefully catch the eye of someone in the position to give him the opportunity to prove me right.

Rammbock shares a lot of it’s DNA with Mickle’s Mulberry Street. The focus is on a small cast of characters who live in an apartment complex somewhere in Berlin. They find themselves at the mercy of ever growing mob of ravening, bloodthirsty walking dead; victims of a virus that can be transmitted via contact with the bodily fluids of one of the infected. The movie opens with main character Michael (Michael Fuith) arriving unannounced in Berlin to return a set of house keys to the girlfriend from whom he has recently split. It’s obvious from the off that he still has feelings for his ex, Gabi (Anna Graczyk), as he rehearses a halting, ill prepared speech to the taxi driver who has just dropped him off. Michael is pretty far removed from your typical hero. I would place him in his mid to late thirties, with thinning hair and the physique of someone who is less inclined to hit the gym for a workout than he is the couch for a pizza and a few beers. The rest of the characters that inhabit this movie are, likewise, normal everyday people who, when faced with the virus outbreak and the resultant disintegration of society, react in a mostly believable fashion. Some rise to the occasion. Some go to pieces and make stupid mistakes that cost them and sometimes those around them their lives. Some are selfless and given to sudden moments of heroism. Some are revealed as base cowards who look out for no-one but themselves. But most importantly...they feel real.

I should also mention that Rammbock isn’t an zombie movie in the classic Romero sense. The undead here don’t shamble and moan. Instead they attack with the ferocity of a pack of bloodcrazed, wild beasts; emitting terrifying shrieks as they overwhelm any unfortunate soul that crosses their path. They have far more in common with the rage virus casualties of 28 Days Later or the victims of the demonic plague that breaks loose in the REC movies. The writer has also gone to some effort to put his own stamp on the nature of the virus. Once infected the virus lies dormant until activated by the first surge of post infection adrenalin. Once infected, if the virus continues to lie dormant for an undisclosed period the body’s immune system will fight back resulting in a complete recovery. In the event of the world going to hell in a handcart how easy would it be, when faced by such a terrifying situation, to maintain the necessary composure to combat the onset of the full blown virus? It’s this element of the movie more than any other that generates no small amount of suspense.

I mentioned that I don’t consider Rammbock to be a movie because of it’s length. That’s not to say that I think it should be longer. Many other directors would have shoehorned an extra thirty minutes worth of scenes into a story that simply doesn’t require it, in an effort to bring it up to feature length, resulting in an excess of flab. At no point does Rammbock outstay it’s welcome. It moves at just the right pace. Slowing down where necessary for moments of character development then hurtling at breakneck speed during the various set pieces where the survivors come under attack.

Alongside Michael there’s one other main character, a young maintenance worker by the name of Harper (Theo Trebs). They get trapped together in Gabi’s apartment minutes into the movie when all hell breaks loose. Both characters are fleshed out enough that I cared about them when the story placed them in jeopardy. Other characters are set up in a more economical fashion but skilfully enough that I understood who they were and gave a shit whether they lived or died. These are two tricks that many modern horror movies fail to accomplish. I’ve seen far too many horror movies that sacrifice character development on the altar of gore. None of the actors here are especially experienced but each and every one of them acquit themselves well.

Likewise, the direction is solid throughout. There was none of the shakycam nonsense that crops up so often these days to put a dent in my enjoyment. There was nothing showy about the camerawork but I welcomed the fact that I at no point lost track of what was going on.
So what we have here is an fantastic example of low budget horror movie making done right. Rammbock was produced by a group of talented individuals who have clearly seen a lot of similar movies and have succeeded in making something that doesn’t look like an uninspired hack job in comparison. A trap countless straight to DVD abominations all too easily fall into. I will admit that I’m predisposed to enjoy horror movies that stray into apocalyptic territory. I even got through the excremental Nightmare City, a movie that would insult the intelligence of a cabbage, without putting my size ten boot through the TV screen. Regardless of my infatuation with this genre this is an impressive début and I look forward to seeing what Marvin Kren has in store next. There’s nothing here to suggest that given a larger budget he won’t give us horror junkies something to really sink our teeth into. Something similar but on a grander scale would be very sweet indeed.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes [12A]

DIR: Rupert Wyatt
CAST: Andy Serkis, James Franco, John Lithgow
Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, Tom Felton


I hate trailers, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the perfect example of why. The trailer is abysmal, first because it appears to be a three minute summary of the film (not an inaccurate impression) and second because it paints this as a dumb, shallow and frankly boring film, which it is not.

Rise (if you think I'm typing that ridiculously overlong title again you're nuts) draws much of its inspiration from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes; the fourth, and for me perhaps the best, in the original Apes series. However, this isn't a remake, and even that fashionable term reboot doesn't quite fit. It's just a new take on some of the ideas of the franchise, reinterpreting and updating them for a 21st century audience. Rise charts the development of Caesar (Serkis, picking up where Roddy MacDowall's iconic performance left off); a Chimp born to a test subject who passed on the accelerated brain development that scientist Will (Franco) had managed to give her in his search for a cure for alzheimer's. After being raised as a surrogate child by his creator, Caesar becomes dangerous as he protects Will's Father (Lithgow), and is locked away by animal control. Soon, an angry Caesar begins using his advanced intellect to plot insurrection.

In an age where plot and character are becoming less and less important compared to noise and effects when it comes to Hollywood blockbuster making, Rise feels refreshing. It's a patient film, one that takes care in the development of its main character (and I don't mean Will, who is, like all the other humans, a dull cipher) and spends time developing a logically progressing plot whose stakes increase throughout. Sounds simple, doesn't it? But apparently these concepts are alien to many of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers (Yes, Zach Snyder, that's you I'm glaring at). It's also, like all the other Apes films - bar Tim Burton's botched early 2000's 'reimagining' - a film of ideas; a political piece as well as a sci-fi action movie. The ideas aren't quite as developed here as in Conquest (which is perhaps as relevant now, in the wake of the UK riots, as it was some 35 years ago), but at least there is thought and comment here, not just sound and fury.

Performance wise, Rise is something of a mixed bag. James Franco, seemingly aware that he's not what people have come to see, phones it in, which is a shame, because he's a fine actor. That said, aside from John Lithgow, who does what he can with a thankless role as Franco's alzheimer's stricken Dad, none of the humans come off well. Freida Pinto, despite her almost indecent beauty, is horribly dull; Brian Cox picks up a cheque, and Tom Felton contributes an inept American accent and a wooden performance as an eeevil animal control officer. Thank goodness, then, for the actors playing the apes. Karin Konoval and the digital team behind the Orangutan Maurice (one of several nice tributes to the original series) definitely stand out, giving the large, old, ape an imperious and melancholy presence, however, there is only one person to whom Rise belongs, and that is Andy Serkis.

Serkis has long been at the forefront of what is known as performance capture, but this is a giant step up for both actor and technology. In fact it may be the first truly seamless marriage of the two (Gollum always felt digital to me). As Caesar, Serkis has a wide range of acting challenges; he must play a wide eyed infant, an exuberant child, a rebellious teenager, an inmate and a revolutionary. Not only must he be all these things, they must all be the same thing, the same character. It's an astonishingly demanding role, but Serkis pulls it off. I say Serkis rather than Weta because, for the first time, there is a genuinely soulful feel about this performance capture character. There is physical weight and presence too; I never felt that I was watching animation laid over a performance, nor a trained animal. I was watching Caesar. He lives and breathes on screen, his eyes are alive and his facial expressions and body language speak louder than any amount of dialogue could. That is what is great, and what is remarkable, about what Serkis does here; it doesn't feel acted.

The film grows ever more intense and more interesting as it continues. It really takes off in the prison movie section (an effective analogue to that passage of the original where Charlton Heston is imprisoned by the apes). Much of this section of the film is silent, powered by Serkis and the other ape players. As Caesar's plans begin to take shape, the film becomes both moving and chilling (once in the same moment, as Caesar turns his back on his old life). The action ramps up only in the last half hour, and director Rupert Wyatt stages it effectively from both a technical and an artistic standpoint. The thick of the action is exciting, but Wyatt also knows when to pull back for a moment of quiet; a chilling shot of massed apes attacking the lab where Caesar was born, and the human army just waiting, staring at the fog, are both effective moments. The conceit of Caesar as an ape Che Guevara works pretty well, and it will be intriguing to see where the sequel takes the character, and where its sympathies will lie.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is both ultra modern, showing off the absolute bleeding edge of special effects technology (and doing so to stunning effect), but it's also curiously old fashioned. With its 2D visuals, patient pacing, character development and political content it feels more of the Hollywood of the 70's, and that's perhaps why it's such a treat, despite the rough edges of the first, human driven, half of the film. Bring on the rumoured sequel.

Conan the Barbarian [3D] [15]

DIR: Marcus Nispel
CAST: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang,
Rachel Nichols, Rose McGowan

Do I really need to tell you that Conan the Barbarian is dumb as a brick? Do I really need to tell you that it has extremely limited character development, a story that is both incredibly simplistic and confusingly told, that the use of the word 'acting' would be to slightly over flatter the cast? Probably not. What I do need to tell you that despite (or, perhaps, because of) this it's actually pretty good fun.

In the interests of full disclosure I should say that I haven't actually seen the 1982 film with Arnie as Robert E. Howard's famous creation, and perhaps that let me have an easier time seeing this Conan as a stand alone piece. The screenplay weaves a simple tale of vengeance; Conan's father (Ron Perlman, genius casting) is murdered by a warlord (Avatar's Stephen Lang), but young Conan escapes. Twenty years later, Conan finally discovers the identity of his Father's killer and seeks his revenge. The details are a little more confusing; there's a mask that apparently makes the wearer invincible, but for some reason it needs the blood of a special girl (Nichols), the magic is never really that well established, but what more do you need than 'evil bastard wants to kill hot girl so he can resurrect his wife'?

The thing is, Conan is stupid, but it is seldom less than entertaining. Jason Momoa isn't someone I suspect we'll be seeing as he lead in an intensely demanding dramatic film anytime soon, but as a mobile wall of muscle with a voice that sounds like a constant low rumble, he's fine casting for Conan. Momoa hadles the copious action scenes well, as does director Marcus Nispel (who I had little faith in, having previously seen only his awful Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake). Several of the set pieces are genuinely exciting to watch. There's a dynamic chase sequence as Rachel Nichols finds herself pursued by Lang's men, and, refreshingly, while Conan does help rescue her, the film also shows her as a capable and instinctive fighter. Another standout sequence starts out as a glaringly obvious tribute to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but the fight between Momoa and Lang as they and Nichols dangle on a spinning platform above a pit is hugely exciting. The choreography also works well, with the cutting fast, but without obscuring the action.

Sadly, all this good stuff is filtered through a middling 3D conversion. It's not as catastrophic as the conversion of Clash of the Titans, but it does suffer similar problems like a very over dark look, which renders many of the film's later scenes a challenge to follow, and a smeary quality to fast motion which takes away from the film's greatest asset; its action. This is a film that will be much, much better in its original 2D version and that's how I'd advise you to see it.

To my great surprise I would advise you to see Conan. It's got some fun (hammy) performances, especially from Rose McGowan, enjoying herself as Lang's witchy daughter, some entertainingly bloody action sequences, a damsel who, if not exactly developed, is at least not in constant distress and a solid leading turn from Momoa. It's not going to end up in anyone's top 10, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, and didn't think that you'd have fun seeing it with a few mates on a Friday night, in 2D.

24FPS at Empire Big Screen 2011: Day 1

24FPS At Empire Big Screen 2011: Day 1

The movies have taken over the O2. There are movie cars [the DeLorean, various Bond cars], movie costumes [the Batman Begins batsuit, though I'd have preferred to see the Batman and Robin one, if only to giggle like an immature 12 year old at the fact it has nipples], movie props [original Ray Harryhausen models], and even Darth Vader, who apparently wandered, apropos of nothing, past the press room around 9am. Yep, this job can be weird.

I started my day proper (after an abortive Pint of Milk live, which was supposed to feature Mark Gattis, who got hung up at a Sherlock panel, and so didn't appear) with a 3D 'debate' panel. Debate was limited as WETA artist Dan Lemmon, Empire's Dan Jolin (who was supposed to be the 3D sceptic of the panel, but kept somewhat quiet) and two representatives of a post conversion house talked 3D. I didn't really get an entirely satisfactory answer to my question of whether, given that this 3D process is just about five years old, they thought the new technology (or artform, as they all seemed to regard it) had yet had its Birth of a Nation or Citizen Kane moment.

The tone of the session may have been very pro 3D, and I remain, if not explicitly anti 3D, a significant sceptic, that said, the way that the panel talked about their work - particularly conversion - did make me think about it as art rather than commerce for perhaps the first time. There was (too) much love for the unremittingly terrible Avatar, but there were some interesting things said, particularly about the upcoming Dredd, in which DP Anthony Dod Mantle is apparently using 3D for facial close ups, in order to use faces as landscapes of a sort. 3D, on that evidence, might yet become interesting.

The next two panels were both hosted by Kim Newman, whose reviews in Empire were the thing that got me into horror movies and who remains something of a journalistic hero. The first panel was supposed to be a discussion of the enduring appeal of Dracula, but none of the other participants made it, so Newman simply threw the floor open to questions on any (horror related) subject. He spoke with the passion and humour that makes his criticism so much fun to engage with, and, when I asked about the video nasties, reminisced at length about the DPP list ('a shopping list'), his warm fuzzy feeling for Last House on the Left (the first review he sold) and the fact that that era, while terrible for the country, was the making of many of his generation of critics. We also got tips on some up and coming horror directors to watch for, a sceptical response (from the author of Empire's Video Dungeon series remember) about the idea that bad movies can be good and droll observations about the annoyances of being a 'vampire completist'. Okay, so it wasn't the panel planned, but I doubt I'll enjoy many more this weekend.

Immediately following that panel, Newman returned with Tom Six, director of the Human Centipede films for a discussion of the recent BBFC ban of Human Centipede Part 2: Full Sequence. Six; young, with a friendly face and manner and clad in a straw stetson and khaki suit was about the last thing you'd expect of the man who just made a film in which a man wanks with sandpaper. He engaged with Newman and with the audience, giving full and frank answers to questions, in perfect English with a pronounced Dutch accent, usually with his tongue somewhat in his cheek.

We were told that the recent appeal against the banning of Part 2 has been rejected, and the filmmakers and distributors are now talking with a barrister, taking advice about whether the film is legally obscene, and planning a fresh run at an appeal. Six seemed both frustrated and amused by the BBFC; frustrated because they have somewhat spoiled his film by publishing a detailed (but, he says, selective) synopsis and are, inadvertently, encouraging UK fans to illegally download his film rather than pay for it, and amused because the film has already passed uncut in the much more censorious Australia. Six also noted that he understood how the film could cause offence, but that he didn't understand the ban, because 'How likely some idiot will make a human centipede?'.

There was an amusing picture painted of the audition process for a Human Centipede film, as Six related auditioning his Part 2 lead. He was asked to rape the Centipede as part of the audition, and raped a chair in the room 'like a maniac', at which point 'I knew he was the man for the part'. Asked about the possibility of Hollywood remake, Six said he'd sign off on it if there were big stars involved 'if they get Tom Cruise on his hands and knees, I'd like to direct that film'. Finally we got some teasing hints on Human Centipede Part 3, which will be shot in the US, 'will upset a lot of people' and will shoot this coming January. I haven't yet seen the Human Centipede films, but after spending some time with their director I'm looking forward to them.

24FPS Top 100: No.53

53: FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH [1982]
DIR: Amy Heckerling

Why is it on the list?
In 1982, three raunchy American teen comedies came out. Porkys was ribald, and held the promise of loads of nudity, The Last American Virgin - while interesting - never quite reconciled its comedic first and dramatic second halves, but Fast Times at Ridgemont High got it just right. The backstory is quite famous now. Aged 22, Caameron Crowe, then a journalist for Rolling Stone, returned to high school for a year to research a novel. That novel (notes for which were often taken, apparently, during frequent bathroom breaks at parties) became Crowe's first screenplay, and fortunately for Crowe and debuting director Amy Heckerling it came to Hollywood just when a glut of young talent was also arriving.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High IS the 80's, aside from the brat packers, everyone is in it. Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, Forrest Whitaker, Amanda Wyss and Anthony Edwards are all familiar names, and then the cast is filled out by 'oh, it's THAT guy' actors like Scott Thomson, Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, Ray Walston and Vincent Schiavelli. It's a great cast, and it's easy to see why such talent gravitated towards the film (well, leaving aside the ever present need of young actors to no longer be living on their best friend's floor), because the screenplay gives them all sharply defined (even archetypal in some cases) characters, and fantastic dialogue, as well as an effective mix of comedy and drama to play. That's perhaps why it's such a joy to watch, because you can see how much fun everyone is having, how much they are enjoying these characters and these words.

This is especially true of the two leads. Sean Penn is now known as an incredibly intense and serious dramatic actor, but here, in his first really significant role, he's playing Jeff Spicoli; the stoned surfer dude that every stoned surfer dude since, in movies or otherwise, has to live up to. He brought his customary intensity to the set; insisting that everyone call him Spicoli, even when they called him at home, but his on screen performance is totally relaxed, and hilariously funny (perhaps more so now, viewed through the prism of 30 years of absolute seriousness). His rivalry with Ray Walston's authoritarian history teacher Mr Hand is the comedic gift that just keeps on giving from the beginning of the film ("You DICK") to the end ("What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?"). And then there is Jennifer Jason Leigh, also in her first really significant role. Ever the method actress, Leigh got a job at the exact pizza place where her character works, and worked there for a month between getting the part and filming. She doesn't so much act Stacy - the most challenging role in the film, as she has the most happen to her, and does the most growing up in the course of the story - as become her. She does this so completely that, when reviewing the film, Roger Ebert asked; 'How could they do this to Jennifer Jason Leigh? How could they put such a fresh and cheerful person into such a scuz-pit of a movie?' Now, I'm sure he's right that Leigh is 'fresh and cheerful', but one thing the last 30 years made clear she's not is delicate, or afraid of immersing herself in a scuzzy world for the good of a movie. What Ebert's done here, essentially, is mistake the actress for the character. That is how good she is here.

But I don't want to get too serious here, because Fast Times doesn't get too serious, oh sure, it deals with the trials of being a teenager, from disappointing sex, to shitty McJobs, from awkward dates, to break ups and even to abortion, but for the most part it deals with everything with a smile on its face and a really good joke not more than a minute away. Crowe crafts the dialogue beautifully, but Heckerling's direction often proves equally droll, be it the graffiti she focuses on as Stacy loses her virginity or the comically huge chairs she uses to make Stacy and her nervous date Mark Ratner (Backer) look tiny as they eat together, Heckerling packs the film with fun little visuals. Visually though, there's one thing most people remember from this film. Well, no, two things; Phoebe Cates' twins. Cates (who I wish had kept working after she had a family with Kevin Kline) plays Linda; Stacy's outwardly worldly wise friend, but plays her with the implication that, actually, she's far less experienced and worldly than she portrays herself. Her nude scene, a dream sequence in Brad's (Reinhold) masturbatory fantasy, is the scene that launched a generation on the way to puberty, and in the age of VHS you could hardly rent a copy on which the track stayed sound in that moment.

Fast Times does have an overarching story (two really; Stacy's and Spicoli's) but it is more a film of moments, and that's fine, because actually that's being a teenager; you aren't thinking about the grand overarching scheme of things at 15, you're living from one moment, one experience, to the next. In this respect Fast Times, written as it clearly is, is a good reflection of that time in your life, and while the fashions and the soundtrack (especially the soundtrack, and especially Somebody's Baby) have dated massively, the film itself still feels fresh and relevant as it approaches its 30th birthday. The laughs haven't dated either (I don't want to live in a time when the fact that someone has written Big Hairy Pussy on a bathroom mirror isn't funny) and the performances are strong all round. Among the cameos Vincent Schiavelli's science teacher may be my favourite (his opening line "I just switched to sanca, so, have a heart" is one of the film's biggger laughs), but just about everyone gets their moment to shine here.

I wish there were more American high school movies this good (the last one to get close was perhaps the still underrated 10 Things I Hate About You), but this one remains a real joy and even though my heart sinks every time we hear Somebody's Baby it still makes me laugh, and, actually gets me on an emotional level too, because it's easy to feel, so well written and acted are these characters that you know, and largely like, these people. That's why it's endured, and that's why it's on the list.


Standout Scenes




Oh, and this...

You're welcome.

Memorable Lines
Mike Damone: First of all Rat, you never let on how much you like a girl. "Oh, Debbie. Hi." Two, you always call the shots. "Kiss me. You won't regret it." Now three, act like wherever you are, that's the place to be. "Isn't this great?" Four, when ordering food, you find out what she wants, then order for the both of you. It's a classy move. "Now, the lady will have the linguini and white clam sauce, and a Coke with no ice." And five, now this is the most important, Rat. When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.

Businessman: It says one hundred percent guaranteed, you moron!
Brad Hamilton: Mister, if you don't shut up I'm gonna kick one hundred percent of your ass!

Jeff Spicoli: People on 'ludes should not drive!

Jeff Spicoli: Hey, you're ripping my card.
Mr. Hand: Yes.
Jeff Spicoli: Hey bud, what's your problem?
Mr. Hand: No problem at all. I think you know where the front office is.
Jeff Spicoli: [stunned] You dick!

Mike Damone: I can see it all now, this is gonna be just like last summer. You fell in love with that girl at the Fotomat, you bought forty dollars worth of fuckin' film, and you never even talked to her. You don't even own a camera.

COMPETITION: Win Scala Forever Tickets

In August and September several independent cinemas around London (led by the Roxy Bar and Screen) are showing a programme of films celebrating the wide ranging programming that used to play at the late, lamented Scala cinema (I never got to go there). In celebration of this 24FPS and MultiMediaMouth.com a pair of tickets to give away to each of two screenings.

First; The Eastern Action All Dayer

Starting at 3pm (and finishing around 11pm) this all day festival of Hong Kong badassery features John Woo's Heroic Bloodshed trendsetter A BETTER TOMORROW, Sammo Hung's martial arts Dirty Dozen EASTERN CONDORS, Yuen Woo-Ping's cult classic TIGER CAGE II and Lam Ngai-Kai's apparently utterly mental THE CAT

To win a pair of tickets to this screening simply email the answer to the following easy question to sam@24fps.org.uk or sam@multimediamouth.com

WHAT WAS THE NICKNAME OF THE CHINESE OPERA TROUPE TO WHICH SAMMO HUNG, JACKIE CHAN AND YUEN BIAO ALL BELONGED AS CHILDREN?

Second; The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: Introduced by Tilda Swinton

Chosen for the season and due to be introduced by one of Britain's finest and most iconoclastic actresses, this is a great chance to see Powell and Pressburger's much loved classic up on the big screen.

To win a pair of tickets to this screening simply email the answer to the following easy question to sam@24fps.org.uk or sam@multimediamouth.com

WHAT COLOUR ARE THE SHOES REFERRED TO IN THE TITLE OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S FAVOURITE POWELL AND PRESSBURGER FILM?

For each screening the prize is a pair of tickets. Transport is not included, and seating will be first come, first served on the night; specific seats cannot be reserved. Good luck.

London Riots Strike at Indie Distributors

I don't usually talk politics here... because it's a movie blog, but I was really saddened to read the following on Twitter this morning from independent LGBT film distributors and friends of the site Peccadillo Pictures.

Our warehouse in Enfield was burnt down last night. All our stock/catalogue/films have been destroyed. We're devastated. Bracing ourselves.

There has been much horrible news from the ongoing London riots, and obviously in the grand scheme this isn't on the same scale as the attempted murder that several people have been arrested for. That said, it's a low and a deep blow for independent cinema. What will this cost Peccadillo? What will it mean for their upcoming releases (which include one of the best new films of the year; Tomboy, and one of my favourite films of all time; Heavenly Creatures on DVD and BR for the first time)? What will it mean for the people who work at Pecca? What will it mean for their presence at London and other film festivals? What will it mean, ultimately, for filmgoers? Peccadillo don't release huge moneymakers, their titles don't make them major players who can easily absorb something like this.

And it gets worse... I now understand that this warehouse wasn't just housing Peccadillo's stock, but that for Terracotta (one of the UK's leading distributors of Asian films, about to launch a new range, and also friends of the site), Masters of Cinema, Arrow Video (whose special editions of some really nasty horror titles have been a godsend) and Guerilla Films, to say nothing of many record companies. It's a horrible and depressing result of a pointlessly destructive group of vandals (don't give them the figleaf of political respectability), and it worries me what it will mean for these companies and for their staff.

I want to extend 24FPS' sympathy and best wishes to all at Peccadillo, Terracotta, MOC, Arrow Video and Guerilla, and to anyone else affected.

I may well have more on this as it develops.

24FPS Top 100: No. 54

54: GREMLINS [1984]
DIR: Joe Dante

Why is it on the list?
Honestly? Why is Gremlins on my top 100 films? I think any self respecting movie fan is likely to tell you that's like asking what's so great about pizza. It's Gremlins, it's awesome.

The thing that rather stuns me about this film is how well it mixes tones; it's a sweet, genuinely christmassy, movie with endearing characters and a lot of big laughs, but it's also dark, sharp edged and satirical, and occasionally properly scary. The thing that is really shocking about that is that Chris Columbus, you know, the bean counting rentahack who brought us such vomit inducing whimsy as Bicentennial Man (oh God, even 8 years on it haunts my nightmares) wrote Gremlins.

The fact that it works so beautifully is, then, perhaps more down to director Joe Dante, and to be fair this is very identifiably a Joe Dante film; a film shot through with its director's obsessions, particularly his pet cast members and his abiding love of cinema, and especially of schlock. Tonally it's also very much Dante's film, he mixed comedy and horror in Piranha and The Howling, but Gremlins is really where he perfected the recipe, having great fun dropping his vindictive little monsters into the middle off an idyllic It's a Wonderful Life kind of town (albeit one with a similarly dark underbelly).

Before letting the monsters loose though, Columbus and Dante draw us in to the Peltzer family as mad inventor dad Rand (Hoyt Axton, for whom the word avuncular was surely coined) brings home an exotic pet for his son Billy (Zach Galligan), Gizmo the mogwai (given impossibly cute presence by Chris Walas' stunning animatronics and equally adorable voice by Howie Mandel) is a great pet, but when Billy accidentally spills water on him he multiples, and ultimately the new mogwai become monsters, multiply further and terrorise the town in a series of riotously entertaining set pieces. Yes, that old story.

Dante mounts some great horror scenes (the Gremlin attacking Billy's old High School science teacher, with the monster shown largely in shadow, is genuinely creepy), but always laces them with a rich layer of humour. A knife wielding Gremlin attacks Billy's mother from inside their Christmas tree, and it's a scary scene because it is pretty violent, but it's also absurdly funny because the overriding image is one of a woman being attacked by a Christmas tree. Other set pieces tend more towards comedy, notably a scene where the bar Phoebe Cates (as Galligan's love interest) is working at is overtaken by Gremlins, all of whom have begun to take one their own persona, allowing Dante to riff on both terrible customers and cliché movie character types in a single manic scene. The effects are outstanding, with Walas' puppets having real physical weight and presence, and an incredible level of mobility and personality, heightening both the scares and the laughs.

However, Dante also knows how to slow down and build the characters, and he's aided by strong performances from Galligan, Cates, and Judge Reinhold; slimy as Billy's immediate boss. Despite an overriding impression that guy so dorky wouldn't have a ghost of a chance with her, Galligan and Cates actually have decent chemistry and establish a sweet relationship, and it's also worth noting that Galligan works brilliantly with the Gizmo puppet, really helping bring it life and make it feel like there is a personality and a connection there.

All in all, Gremlins is just a flat out good time. It's witty, it's scary, it's sometimes even a little moving (Cates' Santa speech - admit it, you get misty there too). It's a Christmas classic shot through with quality (I didn't even get to mention Dante's mascot Dick Miller as Mr Futterman), and it's good enough that you can enjoy it all year round. If you don't love Gremlins you probably also hate Christmas, and puppies, and babies, and all the other nice things in the world.


Standout Scenes





Memorable Lines
Chinese Boy: Look Mister, there are some rules that you've got to follow.
Rand Peltzer: Yeah, what kind of rules?
Chinese Boy: First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it'll kill him. Second, don't give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never feed him after midnight.

Ruby Deagle: Mrs Harris, what are you trying to tell me?
Mrs. Joe Harris: I'm afraid none of us can pay for two weeks. Couldn't you just get Mr.Corben to just give us a little more time?
Ruby Deagle: Mrs Harris, the bank and I have the same purpose in life - to make money. Not to support a lot of... deadbeats!
Mrs. Joe Harris: Mrs Deagle! It's Christmas!
Ruby Deagle: Well, now you know what to ask Santa for, don't you?

Kate: Now I have another reason to hate Christmas.
Billy Peltzer: What are you talking about?
Kate: The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas. Oh, God. It was so horrible. It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for Dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn't home. So Mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing. So the police began a search. Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so I went to try to light up the fire. That's when I noticed the smell. The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.

Super 8 [12A]

DIR: JJ Abrams
CAST: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths,
Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard

Despite its frequently abundant charm and fine, largely very young and inexperienced, cast, Super 8 doesn't quite work the way it should, and there's one blindingly obvious reason for that; writer/director JJ Abrams hasn't decided which of his two movie ideas he wants to make, the comic drama about a group of 12 and 13 year old kids making a super 8 movie to enter in a film festival, or a monster movie involving the air force taking possession of a small town. Unable to choose, Abrams jams the two together, and the result is never cohesive.

The film divides roughly in half. The first concentrates on setting up the kids and their relationships, and is definitely the part in which Abrams most nakedly - and most effectively - pays tribute to his hero (and producer) Steven Spielberg. The boys playing the group of friends are mostly first timers, and Abrams has found a remarkably natural set of young actors, all of whom do nice work even though some of their characters are a little one note (notably Ryan Lee's Cary, an explosives obsessive who would be tiresome but for Lee's funny and energetic performance). The standouts are the kids with the most developed parts; Riley Griffiths as auteur in training Charles, whose husky build ("the doctor says I'm going to lean out, it just hasn't happened yet") makes him nervous of talking to his leading actress Alice (Elle Fanning) and Joel Courtney as make up artist and on set odd job guy Joe, who has a very Spielbergian backstory (dead Mother, inattentive Father, love of movies, crush on the school beauty). Both young actors do some great work, with Courtney really standing out in his scenes with Fanning, and Griffiths coming into his own later, when Charles and Joe argue over Alice (one of many scenes from this side of the film that felt, at least to this viewer, very familiar indeed).

Like I said, all the kids do well, but one of them exists in a league all their own, and that's Elle Fanning. I've been tipping the younger of the Fanning sisters as a major talent since I saw The Nines, and every time I see something new from her I feel freshly vindicated. What's really amazing about her is her subtlety, and as Alice she fills her performance with little moments that communicate a great deal. In two standout moments we see her, as Alice, slip effortlessly into character. It's an amazing feat of acting for a 12 year old, because Alice never goes away during these moments, we're watching Alice act, not Elle Fanning. Though the film lurches further and further off the rails as its second hour runs on, one thing always works; the boys desire to save Alice, because quite apart from being beautiful Fanning creates a warm character who you feel would have been fun to have as a friend when you were these kids age.

All of the character stuff works; the awkward silences that pass for a relationship between Joe and his heartbroken dad (Chandler); the tense situation created by Joe's friendship and growing infatuation with Alice (and the backstory behind it, related by Fanning in one of her best moments); the dynamic between the kids and the way they pull together for Charles' movie. This all adds up to a great first 45 minutes, and it's why Super 8 is a monster movie that doesn't need its monster.

The monster first appears (I say appears, Abrams contrives - in ways that become increasingly strained - to hide it until the film's final scene) about an hour in to Super 8, and from there on the film begins a sad slide into formula, away from the engaging story of these kids, their families and their movie towards an increasingly dumb and derivative monster movie. The problems are many, one pressing one being that, while it is scary to keep your monster hidden in the first set piece it is involved in (and that set piece, scored to Heart of Glass on a teenage gas station clerk's new fangled walkman, is the best in the movie), those scares do tend to be undermined when, five set pieces later, we still don't know what this thing is. The last half hour is especially problematic, as Abrams throws out much of the character detail to focus on the hunt for the monster and for Alice, and while Joe certainly seems to be a smart kid I just don't buy how quickly he makes connections as to where he will find them, as there is not really a logical chain of information for him to follow. The creature, when we finally see it, is well designed, but Abrams' late in the day attempt to give it some personality results in an absolutely toe curling climax in which the film - perhaps appropriately for an homage to 80's Spielberg, now that I think about it, very nearly drowns in sentimentality.

JJ Abrams is clearly a capable director, after all he's drawn fine performances from a large cast here, and he stages action quite well, with all the set pieces feeling at least intelligible (though some are a bit darker than I'd like). However, Super 8 does have some directorial issues. First, and I really can't stress this enough, Abrams really, REALLY, needs to lay off the fucking lens flare. Secondly, and perhaps more pressing, some of the CGI here (notably the train crash, doesn't quite come off. I know this is 2011, but given the film's retro feel, love of the homemade, and 1979 setting, wouldn't practical effects have been a nice idea? The fakeness of some of the effects also slightly undermines your engagement in the film's action, which is never a good thing. On the plus side though, the film does largely look good, the period detail is strong, and it's not in 3D, retrofitted or otherwise.

I would on balance recommend Super 8. It's not consistent, it's not cohesive and it's not as good as it could (and should) be... but that first hour or so is tremendous, the kids are wonderful and you absolutely owe it to yourself to see Elle Fanning's latest tour de force performance, trust me, we'll be talking about her for a long time to come.

Nightmare City [18]

DIR: Umberto Lenzi

Please join me in welcoming to 24FPS, Steve Chandler. Some of you might know Steve as Psychocandy from the Joblo forums. As well as being a massive music geek Steve's a discerning fan of cinema, and particularly of horror, so he'll be chiming in from time to time with some genre reviews. Enjoy.

I’ve seen my unfair share of Italian zombie flicks. Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue and Zombie Creeping Flesh to name a few. But Nightmare City has something none of these movies have. These zombies aren’t the slow, shambling undead that were the norm back in the heyday of Italian gut munchers. Oh no. Director Umberto Lenzi obviously felt that would be far too boring. Instead we have a gun toting, knife wielding, axe swinging breed of undead who have been brought back to life after being subjected to a serious dose of radiation and move like Linford Christie being chased by a doctor requesting a drug test. They are also somewhat obsessed with female breasts. Yup...second only to shooting, stabbing and chopping their victims to death they love the boobies. And if they can combine the shooting, stabbing and chopping to death of their victims with some boob related action... so much the better.
Something Nightmare City certainly does share with most Italian zombie “epics” is an almost complete disregard for anything vaguely resembling logic. Most of the characters make choices that seem to be custom built by some insane higher power (i’m looking at you Lenzi) in an effort to place them in a situation that will most likely end with their demise. Certainly there’s plenty of death and destruction on display (including one thrown TV that inexplicably explodes in mid air taking out a couple of our undead friends as effectively as a molotov cocktail). However, the effects are so ineffectual that the movie doesn’t even work as an exercise in gore.

The zombie makeup is perhaps the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s not even consistent. Some of the zombies bear a close resemblance to the lead character from Troma’s Toxic Avenger series whilst some look almost human. Others look like they’ve had their heads dipped once in glue then twice in a barrel of oatmeal. The movie also has an odd tendency to shy away from some gory scenes just when they are about to pay off. This could perhaps indicate the actions of a censor but I think it’s more likely that some of the gore effects looked so bad Lenzi decided to excise them from the movie of his own accord. If the latter is the case I can’t help but think it would have been for the best if he’d exercised the same caution with every other aspect of the movie. This is one inept piece of film making. There’s a scene near the end of the movie in which one of the main characters has to put a bullet in the head of his wife. His first bullet hits her right in the middle of the forehead. A nice clean shot leaving a dime sized hole oozing fake looking blood. Then the second shot takes her head clean off her shoulders. Her body slumps to the ground and what follows is a shot of her corpse that reveals that her head has mysteriously reattached itself to her body and she once again sports a neat little hole in the middle of her forehead. I actually stopped the movie and rewound it three times because I was convinced I couldn’t possibly have seen what I saw.

So what works? Well nothing really. The acting ranges from appalling to barely adequate with all the actors, even the English speaking ones, having been subjected to an inept dubbing after the fact so that the words don’t quite match their lip movements throughout. Our hero looks like a geography teacher (he’s actually a reporter) and is almost as charismatic as your average geography teacher. Most of the female characters exist for no reason other than to provide the quite remarkable number of tit shots that frequently liven the movie up. Yes...it’s so boring that the numerous sightings of breasts really were the closest the movie came to making this reviewer sit up and take notice.

What about the script? Let me tell you about the script. You could restock the shelves of a hundred cheese shops with the dialogue of this movie. Most of the words that spill like a torrent of nonsense flavoured toilet water from the lips of these characters would shame a slack jawed fool if he’d written them. Now i’ve watched a lot of entertaining horror movies with risible dialogue. But when you couple the risible dialogue with the aforementioned lack of logic, an aesthetic sensibility that scream “I am inept” at the top of it’s lungs and makeup/gore scenes that look like they were cobbled together on a budget of monopoly money. Well... it’s not looking good is it?

Then comes the final kick in the nuts. The ending. I would normally stay well away from providing spoilers but the ending here is so cack handed that it beggars belief and if by revealing it I can somehow persuade even one person not to inflict this movie upon their person...well my job will have been done.

It’s all a dream.
Or a nightmare if you like.

In a movie almost totally devoid of anything resembling inspiration (machine gun toting, titty loving, olympic athelete zombies notwithstanding) this is the final insult. Mr. Geography Teacher wakes up in bed next to his wife (who in the closing moments of the nightmare fell to her doom from a rope hanging from a rescue helicopter only to suddenly transform into a woefully unconvincing dummy that proceeded to flop and flip in a most unhumanbeinglike manner as it bounced off the support frame of the rollercoaster below). We are then treated to the opening three minutes of the movie again as events in real life identically follow the opening events of the nightmare. Just before the end credits begin to role the following words scroll up the screen. “THE NIGHTMARE BECOMES REALITY...” My worst bad dream would be having to sit through another movie as bad as Nightmare City in the near future. Shame on you Mr. Lenzi. Shame on you.

Captain America: The First Avenger [3D] [12A]

DIR: Joe Johnston
CAST: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell,
Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci

I have previously described Joe Johnston as a journeyman filmmaker, but frankly that was unfair, and undersells the man who made, among others, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, October Sky, and now this; one of the best blockbusters of the year. Obviously the film of Johnston's that this one most closely relates too is The Rocketeer, and actually they share quite a lot of DNA. From the square jawed hero to the World War Two setting to the ruby lipped love interest, this often feels like a large scale version of what Johnston couldn't quite afford to do twenty years ago, but it's the tone that is both most closely reminiscent of that film, and most refreshing.

After a lot of darker superhero movies, and the overblown and frankly tedious Thor, it's great to see a superhero movie that is as much boys own fun as Captain America, and that's what Johnston brings; a sense of fun, and a daring, a willingness to push the boat out just a little and do things that might seem a bit crazy (like the mid-movie musical sequence which introduces Captain America to the world at large). It all adds up to a pretty exhilarating watch, and a film that pulls you along on a wave of good will, even when it doesn't entirely work.

Captain America's origin story (which is retold here) is relatively well known, but for the record... 90 pound weakling Steve Rogers (Evans) wants to go to World War Two and fight, but he's repeatedly turned down until he's offered a chance by Dr Erskine (Tucci). Eventually Rogers is chosen as the test subject for a programme designed to create an army of super soldiers to fight the nazis, but Erskine is killed by a double agent and so Captain America must fight Nazi agent / megalomaniac 'Red Skull' (Weaving) as the army's only super soldier, leading a team of commandos.

Having been an irritating Human Torch in the awful Fantastic Four movie, Chris Evans wouldn't have been my first, second, or probably even sixth choice for the role of Captain America. Well, colour me surprised, because Evans proves to be just about perfect casting. Even if there are some problems (which we'll get to) with the opening forty minutes of the film, before Rogers' transformation, Evans' performance isn't one of them. He makes you believe in Rogers as a fundamentally decent and devoted man who deserves to be given this huge chance, so even before he gets to don the uniform, you're on his side (not that you wouldn't be, the other side being a Nazi with severe sunburn). Once we finally see him as Captain America it becomes clear just how much work Evans put into this character. First of all he's built like the brick shithouse that all the other brick shithouses are scared of, but he convinces as a character as well as simply as a force; there is an authority about him that works when he's leading the (howling?) commandos and a sensitivity that remains very much more Steve Rogers than Captain America.

As the evil Red Skull Hugo Weaving doesn't do anything especially groundbreaking, but his slightly cartoony German accent works well, he's quite menacing in both look and character and his big evil plan (though a little ill defined) is very big and very evil. Red Skull has always been, from a visual standpoint, one of the most striking characters in Marvel Comics long history, and he's certainly done justice here, with what looks to be a largely practical make up job achieving something in a suitable grey area between comic book extravagance and genuinely freaky. Weaving is also able to work well with the make up; a malleable actor, he loses none of his characterisation after the Red Skull is unveiled.

In the rest of the supporting cast there are drily funny turns from Tommy Lee Jones (whose "I'm not kissing you" to Rogers as he goes on his climactic mission may be the best of the film's surprisingly abundant good lines) and Stanley Tucci, each of whom function as something of a Father figure for Rogers. Sebastian Stan makes for a solid Bucky Barnes and recurring cast members like Dominic Cooper (as Howard Stark) and Samuel L Jackson (as Nick Fury) keep the Avengers tease ticking over relatively unobtrusively.

The script isn't exactly the most original you'll have seen, in fact there are times at which you'd swear that an uncredited magpie had written most of it, as it plunders other superhero and adventure movies for events, images and moments. It's hard to mind though, first because all the elements coalesce well, into a movie that feels very much of a piece, and also because this is something of a trademark of Joe Johnston's. In Honey I Shrunk the Kids he riffed on 50's sci-fi B-Movies like Them, The Fly and The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Wofman was one extended homage to James Whale (an unsuccessful one, but still) and in The Rocketeer he paid tribute to such diverse things as Errol Flynn, German expressionism and Rondo Hatton. Captain America is unashamedly - and entertainingly - a movie for movie fans, nods subtle and blatant are shot in the direction of Busby Berkley (in a hugely enjoyable musical sequence), Indiana Jones and even A Matter of Life and Death. It's just a slight shame that Albert Pyun's 1990 Captain America doesn't get a nod here (surely a movie like this can make room for the psych Hitler).

Obviously being a superhero movie, action is a key component of Captain America and, again, while it won't win awards for originality, the actions well mounted, easy to follow thanks to solid geography and calm cutting within scenes, pretty exciting and sometimes provides some unexpected moments (as Rogers chases a Nazi agent a kid gets thrown in the water, but before Cap can dive in and save him says "I can swim, go get him").

Not everything works though. There are three issues that conspire to stop Captain America from being quite as great as it should (and could) be. First, as is often the case, is the retrofitted 3D. It's not terrible (though I did notice, for the first time in a long time, some ghosting problems), but to describe it as necessary, or to suggest that it adds anything to the film would be untrue. This is not an especially deep film, and nor does it need to be, in any sense. The second issue is with some of the CGI. Most of the effects are seamlessly realised, but the Tron: Legacy like effects that turn Chris Evans into the thin, weedy, Rogers for the film's first act, though much better than they were in the trailer, often don't work. As was the case in Legacy the problems usually seem most pronounced when the character wears a shirt with a high collar - perhaps because it creates a hard seam - again it's not a disaster, but combined with the fact that Evans' deep voice struggles to fit in that character's frame it does give the film's first act a bit of an uphill struggle.

The third problem is the most serious, and it's with a major character. I'm sure British actress Hayley Atwell is capable and charming, but as Cap's love interest Peggy Carter she has little to do besides be very British and wear almost impossibly red lipstick. There are a couple of hints that she might be capable in action, but this is never explored, and aside from a brief glimpse of her wielding a machine gun she sits largely on the sidelines. This is a real problem, because Peggy is so unmemorable that she's even overshadowed by a brief but forceful turn from feline British actress Natalie Dormer, whose cameo made me wonder why either this actress or this character hadn't won the love interest role. As it is the love interest is a rare dull spot in an otherwise commendable film.

I won't pretend that Captain America: The First Avenger is a great film, it hasn't the depth of X-Men: First Class, the jaw dropping design of Batman Returns or the cheerful disregard for conventional limits of Kick Ass, but it is fun. Hang on, scratch that, it's Fun! It demonstrates that Joe Johnston knows how to help you have a rollicking good time, and that though that may not be the loftiest aim, it's no bad thing.