Sometimes you come across a film of which you have no idea what to think, until a plot changes your perspective completely. A perfect example is Thomas Clay’s The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael. Initially this film seems to be about a sleepy and bored coastal town somewhere in Britain. There is no way you could see the outburst of violence, that closes the film, coming on a first view. It may in fact be interesting to watch it again, because the film maker might have left small clues for attentive viewers.
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In 1982, Japanese film maker Nagasaki Shunichi made a pretty intense film about an even more intense relationship, called Heart, Beating in the Dark. Some years ago the director decided to do a remake, with a more contemporary setting. Whilst making the film he was reunited with one of the lead actors of the 1982 version. Basically the story is about a couple on the run, because they have killed their new-born child. What this remake adds to the original, is that it is not just the same story retold, but we see the original actors/characters of the 1982 film in present time. They still regret their crime and have drifted apart. Fate brings reunites the,. Their storyline is intersected with the ‘remake story’ of a young couple who basically went through the same.
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The Bloodsuckers Binge: a series of reviews on vampire movies in all incarnations as I look for, and find, any vampire movie I can get my grubby little hands on. The classics, the culty, the really good, the really old and inevitably: movies that suck!

Roman Polanski, the director and co-writer of Fearless Vampire Killers (FVK), is currently best known for his brilliant movies Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby and The Pianist, rather than the accusations of statutory rape (making it impossible for him to visit the USA, because he risks being arrested) and his ill fated marriage to Sharon Tate, who was pregnant when she was brutally murdered by members of the Manson-family. At the time of FVK Polanski (who also stars) was a Hollywood socialite on his way up, before tragedy struck and before his reputation became questionable. So what we have here is “old” hip Polanski, not “middle-bit” disgraced or “new” redeemed (“Pianist”) Polanski.
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Kevin Reynolds is one of those few directors whose work is always good, but falls on one of two sides: either it’s good work that goes unnoticed or it is good work that gets noticed because it gets slashed up by studio politics and actor’s egos. When Reynolds isn’t working with Kevin Costner, the director’s visual storytelling soars. Reynolds can direct fairly decent action, and action with conflict, so long as people are not locked out of the editing room. You would think brothers Tony and Ridley Scott also know this, as they put thier names as producers on Reynolds’ latest film, Tristan & Isolde which is based on folklore and legend regarding star-crossed lovers.
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I was a bit reluctant to rent this DVD which is based on a series of animated short flms, and later, a short lived animated series that appeared on MTV. But, in any case, I caved in. Sometimes when I hear a film is outright horrid by nearly every film critic on the planet, and the film itself is ignored by the public, I’ll take the hint. I was curious: Charlize Theron is a talented actress. She’s been in genre films before – so what was the problem?
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With an ensemble cast as strong as this, writer/director Nicole Holofcener would have had a hard time going too far wrong with her latest movie. The story examines the relationship of four longtime friends, three of whom have achieved the stereotypical trappings of what is considered success in Los Angeles society. They have money, husbands, lavish houses and each has a well-behaved young son that quietly fits into their charmed lives like another piece of fancy furniture. The catalyst is the fourth friend, Olivia, played by Jennifer Anniston.
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When among my film loving friends I always have to defend myself for not really liking the work of the Coens. It is quite easy for me to sum up those films directed and produced by Joel and Ethan that did please me. I never saw the true genius of The Big Lebowsky and I thought O, Brother Where Art Thou to be quite annoying. I can see what I should feel is good about their films, they just don’t do that magical thing for me. A lot of people mentioned Fargo to be the best of the work of the Coens. And it was that very same disliking of their other work that kept me from watching Fargo. (Don’t label this as a review.)
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Eli Roth’s Hostel is a hackwork job composed of the body parts of other horror movies such as Don’t Look Now, American Werewolf in London, Audition and of course, Saw. Actually, for a clearer picture, imagine Saw, then minus the innovative death scenes and fable aspect and you get something that resembles this movie.
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Helena Campbell is a girl in the thralls of puberty. Her parents own a circus and when her mother falls ill, Helena blames herself because of the huge fight they had just before her mother collapsed; its subject being Helena’s desire to live a normal life. On the night that her mother is undergoing surgery, Helena is submerged into a metaphorical dream world made up of her own drawings; featuring magical creatures, disappointed books and a comatose queen who requires a charm to be revived, or else this world will be devoured by shadow.
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If it is one Hollywood crossover that is getting rather tiresome, it has to be the video game adaptation to film. I’m still waiting for the day some Hollywood executive stands up and says “I want to make a movie based on Gain Ground” which was my favorite coin-op game of all time. It was sort of a high-tech ‘Gauntlet’, the latter of which is a sleeping giant, when it comes to the threat of video games to theatrical films. It’s just a matter of time. As far as PC games go, I’ve yet to actually play one that has been, or will be, turned into a film. I have not played ‘Silent Hill’ the PC videogame. What attracted me to the film was the talent behind it- director Christophe Gans, co-writer Roger Avery, and some of the actors. I think that the fans of the game will also come, but the measuring stick of a film like this is that if a non-gaming audience can get hooked into the film. ‘Silent Hill’ succeeds on this level…sort of.
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