Each Indiana Jones movie brought something to the franchise. Raiders, a fantastic sense of adventure; Temple of Doom, horror; The Last Crusade a brilliant sense of humour and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull... um... CGI gophers? Indestructible fridges? Shia Labeouf swinging through trees with monkeys?... I shouldn't be negative, for here I am reviewing Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of, if not the, best adventure films of all time.
Everything works in Raiders. The script is smashing, the performances perfect, and the direction dazzling; Spielberg at his best. After making two of the greatest blockbusters of the seventies with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he started the eighties by harnessing the novelty of the adventure serials of the 1930s, much as Star Wars had with science-fiction serials of the same period. The formula of falling from one bad situation into another works wonderfully here. The perfect example being the infamous opening with Jones going after a golden idol in South America, the moment he grabs it everything starts to go wrong.
The action throughout is quite amazing and is greatly helped by Harrison Ford's marvellous lead performance. He sells all the action through the genuine fear on his face. Never has a man looked more worried... well maybe Hans Gruber as he fell from Nakatomi Plaza. This ability of Ford's to look scared and vulnerable made all his classic action films far more relatable. But its not just Ford that makes this film, there is not a single weak performance. Karen Allen is great as the feisty love interest. Paul Freeman provides the best villain of the series and possibly the only one who doesn't play it like a character from Adams West's Batman (I'm looking at you Cate Blanchett). And both Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies provide fantastic allies for Jones.
But everyone is a star here; in front of and behind the camera. John Williams composed one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis (John Landis' wife) created some iconic costumes and Douglas Slocombe's cinematography is gorgeous. This is to name just a few amazing contributions.
For this current release on IMAX Spielberg has enhanced the sound but made no other alterations. A testament to just how perfect the film is. Or maybe he and Lucas have just learnt to LEAVE THEIR FILMS ALONE!!! We love them already.
Watching an Alejandro Jodorowsky film is an exciting experience - you can expect provocative images, violent surrealism and a dreamlike narrative - all of which are on offer in his recently rereleased 1989 epic, Santa Sangre.
Jodorowsky's feature structured in three parts: present, past and future, tells us of the life of Fenix - a Mexican circus performer. After witnessing a brutal exchange between his performer parents, Fenix is left mentally disturbed and spends much of his youth in an asylum. The future sees his escape where he rejoins his disfigured mother, where the pair soon go on a chilling campaign of murder.
Santa Sangre has been labelled as a horror film, most likely due to bucket loads of disturbing content. However, it would be uncouth to confine Jodorowsky's film to one genre - Santa Sangre is a movie like no other, a truly surreal and unnerving experience. From the onset this is clear, and those new to Jodorowsky may be initially taken aback - it opens with a disturbed, naked feral man (the older Fenix) perched on a tree, growling at asylum staff. The weirdness continues throughout, escalating becoming more and more surreal and hallucinatory.
Jodorowsky's style is completely unmatched, although the religious undertones and surrealism of Santa Sangre could be compared to the work of the late great Ken Russell, most notably The Devils. It is a complete visual feast with set pieces, design, and performances all tying into Jodorowsky's greater psychedelic vision.
The nightmarish imagery proves truly haunting - mainly the twisted relationship of Fenix's parents - most notably his father Orgo's affair with the circus' tattooed lady. There's also some nasty scenes involving genitals and sulphuric acid and the chopping off of arms. However, Jodorowsky does also capture a human side to his characters from the oddball community developed by the circus performers - encapsulated in a sequence where the acts are brought together following the death of the show's elephant. However, disturbing imagery is never far off as the elephant's funeral soon ends in locals ripping up the creature and feasting on its flesh. Tasty.
Some may find Jodorowsky's surrealism and style verging on crude and pretentious (which it does), but underneath this all the director presents distinct moral messages on good and evil, power relationships and revenge. When the film's latter half finds itself falling into more straightforward horror territory, Jodorowsky's vibrant style and craftsmanship makes sure Santa Sangre continues to grip the audience.
Santa Sangre is truly a movie like no other - Jodorowsky's haunting and surreal visual style combined with his tackling of religion, community and revenge makes for an unforgettable experience.
Andrew McArthur
Stars: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Adan Jodorowsky & Guy Stockwell Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky Release: 21st September 2012 (Cinemas) Rating: 18 (UK)
We love our Horror films at Cinehouse but unfortunately past few years it's suffered from 'seen it all before' films with too many similar films been dished out. The serial killer sub genre is probably one of those genres that suffers greatly however we do tend to come across the odd film like 2009 The Collector that even satisfies even the hardened critics and tonight the twisted trailer for the follow up film The Collection.
The film comes from the directors of the latter Saw films Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton whose experience from those films do seem to inspire the maze torture our leatherface Kendo Nagasaki wannabe killer has for his victims. The Collection follows the story of Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick) a young woman who is abducted by a psychopathic killer taken to a Hotel come torture maze. Her wealthy father (Christopher McDonald) hires a team of mercenaries lead by the only person to escape the killer Arkin (Josh Stewart) to guide them through the maze and rescue Elena.
When Elena’s (Emma Fitzpatrick) friends take her to a secret party at
an undisclosed location, she never imagined she would become the latest
victim of The Collector, a psychopathic killer. The Collector kidnaps
and transports her to an abandoned hotel he’s transformed into his own
private maze of torture and death. Upon learning of his daughter’s
disappearance, Elena’s wealthy father (Christopher McDonald) hires a
group of mercenaries to retrieve her from the vicious grips of The
Collector. These mercenaries coerce Arkin (Josh Stewart), the only
man to have escaped the wrath of this heinous monster, to lead them
through the gruesome labyrinth. Now, Arkin finds himself fighting for
his own life in order to save Elena. “The Collection,” directed by
Marcus Dunstan and written by Dunstan and Patrick Melton, is a suspense
horror film with nonstop thrills at every turn, starring Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises), Emma Fitzpatrick (The Social Network), and Christopher McDonald (Requiem for a Dream).
When it comes to film’s with such an amazing buzz I like to tread on safe ground and call it potentially great film but Scott Derrickson’s Sinister since it’s SXSW premier the buzz has been steadily been growing and tonight we have a new Red Band Trailer! Pardon my French but holy shit this is genuinely looking a scary film!!! This been a red band trailer so you’ll be expecting a few f-bombs,nudity your disappointment will become fear as what we get is some truly disturbing imagery and as no words are uttered it gives this trailer a truly atmospheric level of dread. Sinister is one Horror film even hardcore horrorphiles will have to admit we have a potentially scary film on the cards.
We are catching the film in just over a week’s time, but you can read the Frightfest review our friends at Blogomatic3000 gave us, You can catch Sinister on October 5th (UK, Ireland and USA) starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Clare Foley, Juliet Rylance and James Ransone
Desperately in need of a best seller to revive his struggling career, true crime writer Ellison (Ethan Hawke), moves his family to the scene of his most recent story; the unsolved, gruesome murder of a loving, happy suburban family.Shunned by the local community and strained by his obligations to his family, the discovery of a batch of home movies in the attic offers Ellison shocking proof to the crime he is investigating. Ellison notices the same unidentified figure appearing in each of the 8mm films, leaving him convinced that all the incidents are linked by a truly bizarre connection. As his investigations uncover the terrifying truth he starts to lose his grip on reality and it soon becomes clear that he is placing his own family in harm’s way.
Renowned for its ingenious special visual effects and breathtaking set design,DIE NIBELUNGEN [THE NIBELUNGEN]is to be released in the UK on Blu-ray & DVD as part of Eureka Entertainment’s MASTERS OF CINEMA Series on 29 October 2012
Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is
a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces,
archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration
for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since – from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.
In Part One, Siegfried,
the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after
slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance
through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen
turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge],
Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the
monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance
that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of
Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all
of cinema.
Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power – a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HDrestoration, released as a 2 x DVD set & a 2 x Blu-ray set in the UK on 29 October 2012.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Long-awaited expert HD restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Germany • Immaculately presented in the film's original frame rates and aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray • Newly translated optional English subtitles for the original German intertitles • An hour-long documentary: The Heritage of Die Nibelungen • Illustrated booklet featuring the words of Lang, rare archival imagery, and more • Further details to be announced nearer the release date!Pre-Order/Buy: DIE NIBELUNGEN (Masters of Cinema) BLU-RAY [1924]
Finnish Director Laura Hyppönen’s gritty East London debut film Live East Die Young has received a nomination for best UK feature film at this year’s Raindance Film Festival in London.
The film will hold its world premiere at the festival on the 4th October, shortly followed by French premiere at the Dinard British Film Festival where the film has been nominated for the festival’s Grand Jury prize, the Golden Hitchcock.
Shot on a shoestring budget and featuring a distinctive soundtrack from the indie underground wave (featuring cult bands Bo Ningen, Feral AKA MC Kinky and many others), Live East Die Young is a raw look at the lives of model Emma and her best friend, hairdresser Max, as they descend ever-deeper into a destructive world of parties, lies, sex and drugs. Shot entirely at authentic East London locations, from artist warehouses to club basements, the film offers a voyeuristic, dogma-esque look into their substance-fuelled lifestyle. The film also stars newcomers Zoë Grisedale and James ‘Jeanette’ Main, best known for his involvement with notorious real-life East London party collective, Boombox.
Hyppönen, who has been living in the UK for 11 years, produced, wrote and directed the film. She says: “It’s great that an edgy independent no-budget film like Live East Die Young has been recognised among recent UK successes like ‘Ill Manors’ and ‘Shadow Dancer’. The project has been a labour of love, made without any support from film funds. We are really excited to see how the audience will respond!”
The film is sold internationally by Paris-based Reel Suspects. Matteo Lovadina, CEO, who handpicked the project from Cannes during the Marche du Film, says: “I am pleased to work as the international sales agent for Live East Die Young. The film’s roughness and documentary look made me feel immediately inside the story. It’s a crossover film that can fit equally well into niches and attract the general public. The Raindance world premiere and Dinard competition selection are a confirmation of the film’s potential.”
Cleopatra was a film made by legendary maverick film director Cecil B. DeMille in 1934. It also was later done again in 1963 infamously with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the roles of Cleopatra and Mark Antony respectively. In the 1934 version it stars Claudette Colbert (who was one of the biggest stars of the 1930s) and Henry Wilcoxon.
The film tells the story of the man hungry Cleopatra and her affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony partly out of love and partly for their power. She firsts meet Caesar because her brother Pothinos throws her in the desert to die because he gonna sign off Egypt over to Caesar. She sneaks back in a carpet and wins Caesar over with her body and they fall in love. She later kills Pothinos after she spots him trying to assassinate her.
Caesar and Cleo go back to Rome. The other Romans officials start distrust both of them and eventually assassinate Caesar. Marc Antony and Octavian are later named the co-rulers of Rome. Antony is “disdainful of women” but Cleopatra eventually wins him over much to disgust of Rome.
The film is considerably shorter than the more famous Liz/Burton version, over half the length shorter of that’s 4 HOURS!!! running time at a relatively brisk 101 minutes. It’s not a super fast paced film but very few from the 1930s were. It does however play along nicely.
The film has lavish sets and design, which is expected from DeMille production. The sets are beautifully detailed with wonderful backdrops, dozens upon dozens of extras and beautifully choreographed. Some of the battle scenes however suffer from bad super imposed images but hell it’s the 1930s, technology has come a long way. The costume design by is also stunning and amazingly revealing for a film from 1934.
The performance from Claudette Colbert oozes sensuality, dominance, heroism and power. The male roles are all very mundane and weak compared to Cleopatra’s strength and dominance over them. Colbert did a best actress Academy award that but not for Cleopatra but for the proto-screwball comedy It Happened Here. It did however win a much-deserved award for cinematography and was nominated for Film, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR!!! (a category they no longer have), sound and editing.
Overall the film is a gloriously over the top film from one true pioneers of cinema Mr. DeMille who would later go on to make such films as The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show On Earth.
Our friends at Monster Pictures have announced today that they will be releasing EXCISION, in select cinemas nationwide from 2 November 2012. Excisionis the story of Pauline (Anna Lynne McCord),
a delusional teenage outcast. Pauline picks scabs. Pauline dissects
road kill. Pauline fantasizes about performing surgery on strangers. Her
fascinations disturb her schoolmates and her parents, Phyllis (Traci Lords) and Bob (Roger Bart). No one understands Pauline except for Grace (Ariel Winter),
her younger sister who suffers from cystic fibrosis. An outcast at
school and at home, Pauline is convinced that the best way to repair her
estranged relationship with her family is to perform a risky operation
to save her sister’s life...
Starring AnnaLynne McCord (90210) as Pauline, Excision continues a long tradition of horror films with compelling female leads, such as Scream, the original Halloween, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Birds, and Psycho. The film also stars Traci Lords (Cry Baby, Blade), Ariel Winter (Modern Family), Roger Bart (Desperate Housewives), Jeremy Sumpter (Friday Night Lights, Soul Surfer), Malcolm McDowell and John Waters.
EXCISION isRichard Bates Jr.’s directorial debut adapted from his highly praised short film, Excision,
which played in over 50 film festivals internationally and garnered 24
awards from festivals such as Austin Fantastic Fest, Sundance Film
Festival and Fantasia International Film Festival.
Excision will also make an number of appearances at Horror film festivals around the UK&Ireland, here's the dates:
CELLULOID SCREAMS Closing Gala, Sheffield Showroom – 28 October 2012
HORRORTHON, IFI, Dublin – 28 October 2012
DUNDEAD, at the DCA, Dundee - 28 October 2012
TWISTED CELLULOID, IFI, Triskel Christchurch – 30 October 2012
Ken Loach’s affable crime movie brings together a group of low-rent, ex-offenders through a community service course in Glasgow. Chief among them is Robbie (Paul Brannigan), a young father who, after barely avoiding a long custodial sentence, finds himself presented with a final chance to turn his faltering life around. Under the guidance of supervisor, Harry (John Henshaw), and with the help of new friends Mo (Jasmin Riggins), Albert (Gary Maitland) and Rhino (William Ruane), Robbie develops a passion for whisky, and with it a chance to escape his troubled past.
Loach has, for the most part, done a decent job of melding the contrasting elements of the down-at-heel kitchen sink drama, with the daft whimsy of a Highlands whisky heist. Brannigan, in particular, is successful in his ability to instil genuine empathy for a character who’s no angel himself. He’s also more than adequately aided by an amusing and largely comprehensible supporting cast, with Maitland standing out as the profoundly dim-witted Albert.
Loach’s ability to temper the comedy with the uglier elements of Robbie’s life, or vice versa, is evident for only two thirds of the story though. As the drink begins settle in the hearts and minds of the audience, Robbie’s past misconducts are conveniently washed-away in a tide of priceless Scotch. It reflects well on Loach and his cast then, that this shift from reality to fancy doesn’t entirely ruin the experience.
There’s more than enough spirit to be found at the bottom of the bottle, to redress the balance of a slightly lopsided story.
Extras on the DVD include a short making-of documentary, featuring interviews with Loach and the cast, who remark on his collaborative approach to filmmaking, as well as Brannigan’s real-life troubles, and his connection to his character.
Hysteria is a Carry On film with ambitions of feminism. As you might imagine, this is problematic, and it’s a problem the film never really solves. This lack of resolution, plus a few other niggles here and there, keeps me from declaring the film a success. But it’s not bad either. Clumsy and didactic the film may be, but its heart is definitely in the right place. What’s more, the spectacle of Victorian high society men confronting the female orgasm, is about as funny as you might expect.
Honestly, I wish I liked it more. The whole issue of hysteria (in essence ‘female emotional behaviour that men don’t understand’ repackaged as a medical condition, that could be cured by orgasm) is one of those pieces of historical silliness that I adore. It seems to me that narrative fiction always has this sombre, respectful, serious approach to history, as if it’s some grand old man whose every pronouncement must be treated with reverence. Whereas, if you actually study history at all, what you quickly find is that the old man is senile. History is composed of the actions of humans, and there is no constant like the silliness of humans. It’s nice to see this aspect of history getting some attention.
But there’s no escaping the fact that the story has problems.
On a basic level, matters work fairly well. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is a young doctor of a forward-thinking persuasion, which makes him a pariah in the eyes of the medical establishment. Luckily for him, one Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce) requires an assistant. His clinic for the treatment of hysteria is very busy, and he (not to mention his patients) is in need of a helping hand. There Granville meets the Dalrymple daughters: Emily (Felicity Jones) who is the perfect example of Victorian womanhood, and Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is outspoken, passionate and, worst of all, associates with the poor. Granville, being a proper Victorian man, immediately falls for the former and disdains the latter.
So, Hysteria has the standard romance plot. But for all its lack of inspiration, it’s executed rather well. Dancy and Gyllenhaal have some nice adversarial chemistry, the plot is well paced and the characters mostly solidly constructed. A couple of comic reliefs, the (somewhat)ex-prostitute Molly (Sheridan Smith) and the noble sexual deviant Edmund St.John-Smythe (Rupert Everett) aren’t so much characters as walking jokes, as indeed are most of the hysteria patients. But that’s only to be expected. This is after all a funny film. The occasional thin character is a usual symptom of comedy.
But where this becomes problematic is with the film’s message. See, this is very much a historical film told through modern eyes, and as such, the heroes of the story are also those with a more ‘modern’ sensibility. This would be fine, if they didn’t keep aggressively flaunting it. Granville and Charlotte all but run around screaming ‘I support woman’s rights, free education, socialism, germ theory, the telephone, electricity- OH GOD I’M SO PROGRESSIVE”, like holding these beliefs is a big thing. But to modern ears, it sounds like a bunch of people crowing about how amazing it is that they think the sky is blue.
Of course, during the 1880s, believing such things was a Big Deal. But that’s because these beliefs were reactions against deeply entrenched social norms. Take woman’s rights for example. The concept that women were inferior to men was, in the 1880s, not some quaint, mockable custom. It was a societal norm that had existed for thousands of years. Challenging it is one of the most remarkable shifts human society has ever undergone. Considering the strength of the opposition, even the vague success of that challenge is incredible.
That is what any treatment of the growth of woman’s rights, or any of the other progressive movements of the 19th century, has to bring across: the image of a slingless David facing down a Goliath with a submachine gun. But Hysteria doesn’t. The film does give some sense of the opposition, don’t get me wrong. It has its fair share of establishment-minded characters. But in playing so many of these establishment viewpoints for laughs, mocking the Victorian men for getting so flustered about sex, laughing at their ‘scientific’ approach to the female orgasm, Hysteria undermines the seriousness of the establishment view. This would be fine, were the film a full comedy, but it also wants to make a serious point. It wants to state the importance of being progressive. Unfortunately it never manages to capture why being progressive so brave and necessary.
That’s not the only difficulty the film has. There’s a few hamfisted moments, where the characters make the classic ‘wild yet accurate’ speculations about what the future will be like, a joke that was already ancient in the 1880s. What’s more, Hysteria contains the worst jump cut I have ever seen. But on the whole, the film’s problem lies in its politics. The humour is grand: filthy, childish, charming stuff. The romance is engaging. But the film’s attempts to be serious are unsuccessful. All of which adds up to: entertaining, but not exactly good.
