Looking for Eric

Tonight I went and watched the very good comedy drama, Looking for Eric at the Lighthouse. It's about a middle aged guy named Eric from Manchester who has hit rock bottom in his life. He is bringing up two little shit teenage boys who both hate him and a daughter (and grand daughter) by another woman whom he still longs after. Basically, Man U legend Eric Cantona appears to him as a hallucination, acting as a desperately needed life coach and personal trainer.

It's essentially like mixing the Premier League with the Full Monty - along the same lines as numerous other gritty British flicks, but still very funny and definitely worth checking out. The strong cast is made up of several well known faces from shows like the excellent, Shameless, but Steve Evets is particularly strong as Eric.

Oooh ahh Cantona! Check out the trailer.

So anyway, while we're on Cantona - here are a few highlights (all of which are of course referenced in the film). The amazing goal from the 1996 FA Cup final against Liverpool that he powered into the net off a Beckham corner that rebounded off the keeper. The kung fu kick against a Crystal Palace fan (which was later used by Ash as the cover of their single 'Kung Fu'), and lastly the subsequent press conference where he blew everyone away with his genius philosophical insights.

The goal


The kick


The press conference

Fkin Nazis, nothin changes

I watched the over hyped Boy in Striped Pyjamas the other night and I'll be blunt, I thought it was nonsense.

It's from the director of feel-good classics like Little Voice and Brassed Off. Turns out that brass bands and show tunes are more his thing.

I'm no fan of flippant treatment of the holocaust which meant this tosh tried my patience. It annoys the hell out of me when people try to find 'beauty' in war - actually war is ugly and it's no source of hope.

This film is the story of the nine year old son of a Nazi Commandant who runs a concentration camp. The son makes friends with 'the boy in striped pyjamas' who is on the other side of a rather flimsy and unguarded wire fence that would look more at home keeping bobby calves penned in.

Cut to the chase, we are all supposed to feel warm and fuzzy as the boys play together and eventually the Nazi boy simply burrows under the fence so they can kick about like normal kids and have a gay old time. SPOILER ALERT. Then tragedy ensues as, sure enough, they both end up in the gas chamber and are killed before the Commandant realises his son is in there. You know, forget the other 100 people in there - it's really shocking the Nazi kid got dragged into all this...

Why should killing the Nazi kid accidentally be any more shocking than butchering everyone else deliberately?

Why do we need to humanise the Nazis? Why do we need to look for humanity or some sort of beauty in the fucking holocaust? Six million people of different races and creeds suffered horrific deaths - end of story - and frankly I don't need some sentimental schmaltz to help me reflect on how there are no real winners from conflict or that we could all learn from the supposedly innocent children.

Labia you dumb mole

I know I've blogged about this film before, but I watched again last night and shit it's funny.

In case you havent seen it, Hercules Returns is pretty much the best Australian film ever. It's about these people who try to reopen an old Melbourne cinema - The Picture Palace. But on opening night they are sabotaged by the local multiplex owners who swap the English version of Hercules for the Italian one. So they set about re-dubbing the film - and it's hilarious.

What it sounds like when doves cry

Yesterday I made reference to Kevin Smith's Prince story. He told the story as part of his campus Q and A tour he did a couple of years ago. So anyway, its one of the funniest anecdotes that I've ever heard and leaves you in no doubt as to Prince's sanity. Luckily someone has posted in four parts - so here it is - a great watch if you're bored at work!

You have no power over me

I got home from the pub tonight and chucked on Jim Henson's classic Labyrinth... as you do... and in doing so, I finally realised who Rodney Hide reminds me of - he looks like Hoggle!

Separated at birth? Seriously - the cheekbones, nose, forehead, eyes, lips look identical!

The Terminator Paradox

Time travel in films always messes with my mind. I think I over analyse it a bit - but it really never makes sense to me. Take The Terminator for example - Kyle Reese is sent back to the past by the resistance movement to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who will later give birth to the leader of the resistance, John Connor, from the T800 aka Arnie. But while Reese is back in the past he fathers John Connor when he gets it on with Sarah Connor... which means that if the machines hadn't sent the T800 to kill Sarah Connor (and stop John Connor being born) in the first place, then Reese wouldn't have been sent back and John Connor would not have been conceived... The Terminator Paradox.

On that note, tonight I watched the new Star Trek flick - its a pretty good watch, there are a few too many cheap gags in the form of comic relief (not quite Jarjar but still) and actors like Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu) and Karl Urban (Bones) are all way underutilised to the point that Pegg basically is just comic relief late in the film. But anyway again it was the time travel that pissed me off here - I won't ruin what happens, but basically when you think about it the story doesnt make sense and Uhura's line that it's a new alternative reality - which supposedly explains everything is as bad as god botherers saying the lord works in mysterious ways. Like Spock, I just need a little more logic.

Oh and PS for Home and Away fans (don't lie you know you love the omnibus) Kim (or Keeeeeem as it was pronounced on the show) plays Kirk's old man. Oh and the dude that plays Chekov in Star Trek, also plays Kyle Reese in the new Terminator film.

Live long and prosper.

Rock n Roll, Orphans and a bit of war

So during my temporary blogging hibernation it wasn't all work and beer, although there were unhealthy amounts of both, there were also several films.

First off we had The Boat that Rocked - now most of the reviews I read didn't rate it, but frankly I think they were looking for a bit much, it was like they were after something like 24 Hour Party People. It follows the goings on of a fictional pirate radio station off the coast of England and the government's attempts to shut it down. Anyway I thought the boat did indeed rock and while the ending is a little hammy there are some hilarious bits along the way and it features a stunning ensemble cast including Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Ken Branagh, Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), Rhys Darby (Murray) and the man himself - PSH, Philip Seymour Hoffman. I was looking for a few laughs and a decent distraction when I saw it, and it didnt disappoint - Nick Frost's character's description of the time he got diarrhea during sex almost had me in tears!

Next up we had Defiance, the true story of the Belorussian jewish family, the Bielski's during the war and how they fought back against the invading Nazis and saved 1200 fellow jews by setting up several camps in the forest. It's a harrowing story and the cast again is the real strength here with Daniel Craig playing the eldest brother and leader, Tuvia, the under-rated but excellent Liev Schreiber as Zus and Jamie "Billy Elliot" Bell as the youngest brother Asael.

Unfortunately the film is let down by some of the writing and directing - with too many blunt rushed scenes that feel like they've been dropped in to tell you things that they'd forgotten to mention, along with crude passages of dialogue with some lines that are on the verge of being laughable. But on the whole its a worthy film and as I said the performances carry it through, but I can't help but think that with a little more polish it could have been so much better.

Finally the last film I wanted to mention was Spanish ghostly horror tale The Orphanage. Its the story of a woman, Laura, who grew up in an orphanage and who later moves back there as an adult with her family to set up a special school. Along the way her son inadvertently welcomes a few dormant spirits back and then himself goes missing. Ultimately its more sad than scary as it follows Laura attempting to unravel what has happened firstly by dealing with the Police and psychologists and then by trying to communicate directly with the spirits. I won't spoil it but the ending is pretty shocking and given Guillermo Del Toro's involvement as producer, also quite graphic.

Get flicked

I took the opportunity this long weekend to watch an odd mix of old and new filims

First up was the Arctic Monkey's live DVD which I thought on some level might make up for me being too lazy/tight to go to their recent gig at the Town Hall. It didnt, and don't bother watching it - it's filmed in such a way that it comes across more as a recording of a studio gig like you would find on Letterman, rather than a concert in front of thousands of people. The tracks were good, but the lack of personality meant you may as well chuck on the album.

I then watched Salute, a doco on Peter Norman, who was the white Australian in the Silver Medal position on the dais when Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their protest at the 1968 Mexico Olympics (pictured) and what became one of the iconic images of the last 50 years. Norman supported what they did, gave them the idea for sharing the gloves and wore a human rights badge up there. "He didn't raise his fist, but he lent a hand". The movie backgrounds the protest and reaction afterwards, including how Norman was the only Australian medal winner not to be invited to the Sydney Games, but it also tells the story of the race which naturally got lost in the aftermath. The 200m was supposed to be an American 1,2,3 but Peter Norman upset everything and actually his time for the Silver would have won Gold in the 200m at the Sydney Olympics. Fascinating story and I guess the worrying question is, would the public reaction be any different today? I think what they did was really courageous, but really doubt it would be greeted any differently.

I then watched a couple of higher profile films, the festival favourite, Son of Rambow and Oscar favourite Slumdog Millionaire. Rambow is the story of a young Plymouth Bretheren boy and his mate who remake First Blood - its all very heart warming and well... nice and is worth checking out. Most of you will see Slumdog regardless of what I say, but I really enjoyed it and it definitely is Danny Boyle's best work since Trainspotting. Like Trainspotting, Boyle pulls no punches and fully explores the grimy underworld and its actually quite an uncomfortable watch at times with its confronting nature. The only down side is the constant bewilderment of Jamal, who is played by Dev Patel from Skins, which gets a bit annoying after a while, but other than that its great and like all Boyle films - it has a great soundtrack.

To follow all this up I watched Morgan (Super Size Me) Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden, it was kind of a US foreign relations 101 which is clearly aimed at a US audience, and while that made it a little basic in its analysis, it was still quite a good watch. As with Super Size Me, I do wonder if he is just preaching to the converted at times - his films act as more of a reinforcement of your existing beliefs rather than win people over.

I finished everything off with a couple of solid b-graders - Romero's Land of the Dead and the early 1980s Kurt Russell flick, Escape from New York. Land of the Dead was Romero's 2005 follow up to Day of the Dead and is kind of typical of his Zombie flicks after Dawn with his over the top efforts at commentary on society and class structures. That aside there are some awesome blood and guts scenes and if you look closely at the cover you can find Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead fame) who both have cameos. Escape from New York? Well its rubbish isnt it? lol

B-Grade

After watching the very uh... interesting and nuanced Death Race recently I was over the proverbial moon to see the original - Death Race 2000 and its prequel Death Sport at Aro Video yesterday. Unlike the new prison based film, 2000 stars Caine himself, David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone as they race across the US pickng up points for killing pedestrians along the way - the elderly are worth 100 points, toddlers 75 points, women 10 points etc. Trailer below



Death Sport also starred Carradine but was based in the year 3000 - a time where prisoners are forced into a fight to death with gladiator types who ride 'death machines'... otherwise known as motorbikes with cardboard bits spray painted silver tacked on the front and sides. It is the sequel to Death Race 2000, but bears no real similarities other than on the quality front - its average rating on IMDB is 2.7 out of 10. Adding to b-grade flavour it features an awesome/irritating synthesizer soundtrack and also starred then Playboy Bunny, Claudia Jennings who naturally treats the audience to a full frontal... or two... as you do. Classic stuff.

One of my colleagues also lent me the first two episodes of iconic 1980s Knightrider wannabe, Street Hawk. Its basically about a cop who goes around fighting crime on his wicked bike - which if you look it up on Wikipedia, you find out was just a Honda dirtbike with a few bits tacked on... I wonder if that makes it a death machine?? Hmmm on second thought I think you need some Carradine for that. Trailer below



So if you feel like a cheesy b grade movie weekend - accept no substitute!

Criminal Justice system

After watching a right wing government get elected over the weekend, I ended up watching a new doco-drama examining future justice system penalties and the sort of private prison management that may occur here. The film had a storyline that was very similar in many ways to the Shawshank Redemption. It featured a very nuanced commentary on the criminal justice system and alternative ways of dealing with prisoners and some of the possible outomes of the private ownership and management of prisons.

LOL the movie was of course called Death Race - trailer below. Yeah not exactly the most intellectual film I've seen - but great for an election hangover!



PS What the fuck was Joan Allen doing in this rubbish?

Yes you can can

I checked out Young at Heart tonight, the inspiring story of a choir made up of 80-somethings who sing rock songs. Not only was it absolutely hilarious to see oldies singing tracks by Bowie, The Clash, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, the Bee Gees, James Brown etc, but it was actually at time incredibly moving.

The doco followed the groups preparations for their new show - Alive and Well. Naturally given their age there are losses along the way and Fred's Johnny Cash-esque performance of Coldplay's Fix You that he dedicated to Bob and Joe, stole the show for me. Mind you Forever Young at the Prison was fantastic as was their video of the Ramones, I Want to Be Sedated and Bowie's Golden Years.

Young at Heart is the sort of film that is impossible to watch without smiling and I definitely recommend checking it out. It came out last year and was part of the film festival earlier this year - so it should be easy enough to find. Trailer below.

Burn After Reading

I checked out the Coen Brothers new film, Burn After Reading, the other night. Its a return to their more unorthodox black comedy fare of the Fargo or Barton Fink kind and a welcome one at that.

It follows John Malkovich's character Osbourne Cox who ends up the victim of a weird blackmail attempt after quiting his job as a CIA agent after being demoted and losing his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) to a wooden-floor-obsessed Treasury Department official played by George Clooney.

Throughout you are unsure where the hell the story is going as two inept gym bunnies - the depressed middle aged woman, Linda Litzke, played by Frances McDormand and the ultra camp himbo, Chad, played by Brad Pitt - try to extort money for Linda's cosmetic surgery from Cox after they find a disc containing classified material at the gym.

At the same time you have Clooney's character being followed throughout by sinister looking characters while he is also constructing something using menacing looking tubes in his basement - leaving you wondering when it is going to inadvertently turn dark.

Ultimately though this is a great satirical take on the CIA, espionage and how the US sees itself in the world. Its almost a wink to the rest of the world that the whole US intelligence thing is just as shambolic as everywhere else!

I won't say exactly what ends up happening or what Clooney is building, but this is a classic Coen work with a fucked up climax of Fargo proportions. Definitely check it out, trailer below

Another Empire List

Empire Magazine have done a vote for the 500 greatest films of all time... again. The Godfather has taken the top spot off Star Wars - but Empire Strikes Back still rated highly. Can only assume that the Godfather's renaissance is linked to its recent re-re-release on DVD, but all the same it remains in my all time top 5 and is great today as it ever was.

The top 10 is as follows:

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
5. Jaws (1975)
6. Goodfellas (1990)
7. Apocalypse Now (1979)
8. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
9. Pulp Fiction (1994)
10. Fight Club (1999)

So Spielberg (Raiders/Jaws) and Ford-Coppola (Godfather/Apocalypse) take two a piece - its a pity FFC has made a load of bollocks in recent years huh? I'm not sure what the hell Fight Club is doing in that company - its lightweight and shouldn't be there - all it is, is American Beauty for kids. Singin' in the Rain is the only one I haven't seen too so thats not bad.

The description of the Godfather is classic too: A wedding. A horse’s head. A gun in a restaurant toilet. Sicily. Another wedding. A car bomb. A toll-booth. Orange peel. A baptism. A closed door.

But anyway - other notables

100. Network (1976)
91. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
85. Blue Velvet (1986)
68. Annie Hall (1977)
61. The Usual Suspects (1995)
46. On the Waterfront (1954)
45. Psycho (1960)
43. The Big Lebowski (1998)
34. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
31. Gone with the Wind (1939)
28. Citizen Kane (1941)
26. Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
22. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
20. Blade Runner (1982)
19. The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
18. Casablanca (1942)
11. Raging Bull (1980)

Fanta Pants to perform in the Bay

Well New Plymouth might be many things but it has exposed its ginga-phobic attitude with Simply Red set to perform into the safe haven of Napier.

Mind you as God said to Tony Wilson - "You were right about Mick Hucknall, his music is rubbish and he's a ginge."

But anyway below is a video which shows the sort of refuge Simply Red may well be staying at in Napier.

Kubrick revisited

I ended up catching the end of 2001 the other day which brought on all sorts of nostalgic feelings for my two favourite Kubrick films - Full Metal Jacket and Dr Strangelove and so today I watched both!

It's easy to forget what a master Kubrick was and if you havent watched these for a while, you should definitely check them out. Either that or get your hands on some mind altering substances and freak yourself out by watching 2001 again. To whet your appetite I have the closing scenes of both - which of course are some of the most memorable sequences in cinema history.

Discovering the cutting edge

I had always bought into the idea that the 1970s was the golden age of cinema, followed by strong efforts in the 1980s and 90s that built on it. You had the greats - Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist, The Godfather I & II, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, All the President's Men, The Graduate, Apocalypse Now, Network, Annie Hall followed by the 80s greats Platoon, ET, Full Metal Jacket and so on.

But I've recently discovered a whole other time when cinema wasn't constrained by censorship and when the viewer was treated like an adult - a time that was probably the most liberal period. I'm of course talking about the 'pre-code' era of the 1920s and early 1930s.

So far I've only watched a couple but I'm loving them and if you can get hold of one in particular, Employees' Entrance, you should definitely check it out. Its the story of an amoral New York department store owner who takes delight in sacking his staff, driving some to suicide and shagging all the sales assistant, including one who uses his lust to work her way up the ladder.

The films of this era made bold references to everything and anything that was considered taboo - sexuality, prostitution, drugs, mixed race relationships, abortion, suicide, and so on and so forth. Naturally this raised the ire of the religious and morally conservative elements and the Hays Code or Motion Picture Production Code was introduced to rein productions in and indeed destroy copies of some works.

There is some mind-blowing stuff out there that would still shock today - if you're a movie buff I think its definitely worth taking look.

Possibly the scariest film ever

I'd heard about the cinema goer at the film festival who shat themselves when watching Spanish horror flick - [REC] - so I was quite excited about the prospect.

It's along the lines of the Blair Witch Project with a film crew following a fire crew on their call outs. Their first call out is to an apartment building where an old lady is locked in her house screaming and the Police need help breaking in. From there things go badly awry and it becomes a cross between Blair Witch and 28 Days Later.

Unlike the Blair Witch you see the source here and frankly it had most of the audience jumping out of their seats - and the friend I was with, screaming like a bitch. And what better promo for a film than the audience reaction - which was used in this trailer.

I won't say much more - but I definitely recommend [REC]. Trailer below.

Sweded vision

There is a new film coming out called Son of Rambow - based on the re-make Garth Jennings did of First Blood as a 10 year old. It's a similar story to that of the famous cult classic eight-year Raiders of the Lost Ark Adaptation project done by a couple of brothers and looks something like a sweeter version of Be Kind Rewind.

Empire pulled together a list of some of the best 'sweded' versions of films on the choob.

The Shining


The Empire Strikes Back: In 60 Seconds


Star Wars: A Cardboard Hope (the X-Wing v Tie Fighter scene is awesome - look out for R2 made from a keg too and the hub cap Millennium Falcon)


Jurassic Park


And finally Michel Gondry sweding his own trailer for Be Kind Rewind

Hell of a good film

Oh its pun overload!

Went to see Hellboy II tonight and as expected it kicked ass. Guillermo Del Toro just plain rules and looks to be an inspired choice for the helm of the two Hobbit/LOTR prequels.

The only question is where will the eye balls pop up in the Hobbit? LOL - In Pans Labyrinth that dude had eye balls in his hand and in this the witch doctor type dude at the end had them in his wings.

If you enjoyed the first Hellboy - you will like this. Its funnier and way bigger with huge fight scenes, great new characters and stunning effects.

PS Del Toro's take on tooth fairies (little bug things in the vid below) must have his kids shitting it every time they get a loose tooth!

Trailer below

Like the Phantom Menace... only worse

I went to the new Star Wars film over the weekend. Stupidly I thought - it can't possibly be any worse than Attack of the Clones or the Phantom Menace... Oh how wrong I was.

While the animation kicked ass and a lot of the action sequences were great - the script was absolutely diabolical. It was sooo painfully lame - almost every line you rolled your eyes. I can't explain just how rubbish it was - it was like some sort of cruel and unusual torture, akin to having your finger nails removed.

From the very beginning it was doomed to failure - they replaced the scrolling yellow text with a daft voice-over - WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?

Unbelievable new Jarjar-like comic elements such as Anakin's Padawan learner, Asoka, and the lame slapstick bits with the battle droids just made it even more horrific, but the nicknames they had for each other really took the cake ('Sky Guy' and 'Snips') causing widespread involuntary groans at regular intervals.

I would normally talk about the story - but forget it - we walked out after roughly 45-50 minutes.

George Lucas can not write and he should not be allowed to do anything but act as producer in future.

This was probably the worst film I have ever seen - right up there with Battlefield Earth.