MIXED BAG THIS WEEK!

Well hello!

I posted my blog in such a darned hurry last week I couldn't even write my custommery editorial! Well, as you can see it's just an old school mixed batch of classics. But it also includes Fargo by the Coen brothers - by far in the top three of my favorite directors - and Saun of the dead by Edgar Wright who follows closely on their heels!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

have a good week,
Essie

MIXED BAG WEEK! : FARGO

This is actually the second time I watched this film. I thought it only fair seeing as I barely remembered anything at all about the first time. I was NOT drunk at the time, I was, however, very young. Far too young to understand the Coen Brothers’ very dark style. Having grown a little (and being over 25 yet under five feet tall I can safely add “not a lot though!”), I decided it was time to re-evaluate this one. It was, after all, the Coen brothers. So now, the film is officially one of my favorite films ever as opposed to some obscure little number in my past. No kidding and no exaggerating, this film makes my top 10, heck it makes the top 5. Not because I’m a violent person by nature you understand (my top five of films aren’t exactly David Attenborough documentaries if you get my drift) but… I dunno it’s a sort of dark humor to be found in directors like Tarantino and the Coen brothers that really REALLY get me… But more on that later, now Fargo; the story of the best made plans of mice and men and how they can go truly and terribly wrong… Oh and by the way… True story…
Jerry Lundegard (William H. Macy – don’t you just LOVE the guy?) is a man with problems. You wouldn’t think it to look at him, I mean sure, he IS a little too soft spoken and indecisive for a car salesman but he’s doing alright. He works in his father in law’s car showroom (which is already an embarrassment) but at least he has a loving wife and son. His wife’s family is very well off so they have nothing much to worry about but Jerry himself has money problems. His father in law neither respects nor likes him, so asking him for help is basically out / useless. So, in his “wisdom”, Jerry comes up with a plan. He’s going to have his wife kidnapped, just like in the movies. His father in law, fearing for his daughter’s life, will cough up the one million dollar ransom money (only Jerry’ll con the kidnappers it’s much less of course and take most of it himself), then Jerry will pay off the kidnappers, he’ll get his wife back – a little traumatized but otherwise OK –life will go on as usual and his problems will disappear, right? No. True, Shep Proudfoot a friendly mechanic has put him in touch with the right guy for the job (Steve Buscemi, another one of my favorites) but the thing is, he’s brought a friend along (Peter Stormare). You might class this as a minor detail, however no one, no not even his friend is able to fathom what a MASSIVE difference this one extra man is going to make…
First of all, I have to say on a serious note that I am flabbergasted that such an event actually took place. As you can imagine, it ends in loss of life and more than one life at that… It is a perfect, TEXTBOOK example of what happens when normal people like you and I try and apply tactics from films to real life. On the one hand you watch Jerry struggle. You watch the frustrations mount. You can imagine yourself thinking this would be the ideal way out if you were in his shoes, the thing is you may or may not be able to imagine yourself actually doing it…
I will not say the film mocks the events in any way. The “two headed director” (nick name for the brothers who are notorious for working very closely apparently) spares nothing in the portrayal of the shock and horror that unfurls as one man tries to find a quick fix for his money problems. And the other characters are brilliantly put forth too, there is Marge the sheriff for instance (Francis McDormand who won an Oscar® for her troubles) ; seven months pregnant, a sweet person with a loving marriage trying to figure out what in the world happened, as the bodies just keep piling up… And although what you are watching is horrific and you are gripping the arms of the chair with baited breath, there are moments where you just can’t help breaking out into partially nerve-induced laughter…

MIXED BAG WEEK! : SHAUN OF THE DEAD

Now, as some of you may actually know, your humble author has been on a bit of a sabbatical for a while now. And said author (me) is (am) using this opportunity to peg the massive holes in her (my) cinematographic general culture. I take the operation very seriously and try and watch a film a day at least. But sometimes, it all gets too much. When I settled down this morning, second cup of tea in hand, to figure out what to do with the rest of the day I A) wanted to get on and watch a film. B) wanted to do something not too taxing. After a barrel load of classics (including three days of “And Quiet Flowed The Don”) I somehow didn’t quite feel up to something heavy. Something light yet sustaining. Like chicken soup only not necessarily “good for you”. Fruit salad with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I was looking for that kind of film – something you could seriously enjoy eating yet not get indigestion afterwards. I dug around in my “to watch” pile for about half an hour (no kidding – and yeah, what can I tell you, it’s a big pile!) when I stumbled across this yet again. I say “yet again” because it’s not the first time I’ve stumbled on this, only every other time I turned and chose something else at the last minute – until today…
Dear readers, I adore this film. But your reaction to it will vary depending largely on your reaction to British humor. If you love it (as I do) you’ll love it. If not, it may seem like a pointless waste of time. Bear in mind and read on…
Shaun (the BRILLIANT Simon Pegg) is your common or garden loser, living in the south of England. He shares a house with his straight-laced flat mate and his childhood friend Ed who is a prize slob. He works in retail and gets on with things. His girlfriend Liz however, would like slightly more. A change, an adventure, anything just as long as Shaun is shaken out of his torpor. Their relationship has almost reached crisis point when they notice something strange going on around them. A mysterious disease is turning the entire country into zombies. The disease is spreading, the panic is spreading and soon Shaun, Liz and a bunch of acquaintances are the only ones left “alive” in the neighborhood… But for how long?
The director of this timeless classic is Edgar Wright (who I wrote of in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World). And I swear I like the man’s work better every single time I watch it. The storyline of the film is, you may have noticed, the same as just about every other zombie film (funny or otherwise) out there. The story isn’t the point though. It’s a showcase of comic talent, that’s what it is. I mean, maybe at the outset it was meant to be a horror – comedy; for me it was just a comedy with zombies in it. I couldn’t begin to describe all the hilarious little details about the story and the characters (and wouldn’t dream of it either seeing as that would RUIN the film for you) or the MAGNIFICENT finale but I assure you, you will enjoy it. Even if you don’t like zombies. And so long as you like British humor. I can’t say that often enough actually; if you don’t like British humor do yourself a favor and steer clear of this one. Personally, though it just affirmed something I thought all along. The British are one of the funniest peoples on earth…

MIXED BAG WEEK! : THE USUAL SUSPECTS

As I watched this one I got to thinking, Good Heavens the 90’s sure was a decade for “hard ass” action gangster films. The action of the 50’s, only revved up a bit. Now, The Usual Suspects is just such a film. It is in many ways very much a “boy’s film”, however taken in context it would appeal to anyone who actually likes crime movies. You know, putting the clues together, reaching a surprising and bigger picture that sort of jazz. I was “sort of ok” with it until the end. I was even mentally debating whether or not I should put it in the blog or not – you know I only write about the films I actually enjoyed. There are plenty more “unwatched classics” in the pile… But then I hit the punch line – or rather the punch line hit me. Punched me, in fact. At the risk of sounding like an antique dealer, it has a beautiful finish, a true classic. Imitations of it were made for a reason…
Thrown together in a seemingly random line – up, five crooks are thrown into big business together. Mac Manus and Finster (Stephen Baldwin and Benicio Del Toro) two notorious partners in crime, Dean Kent, a dirty cop trying to “retire” onto the straight and narrow, Verbal Kent (Kevin Spacey) a crippled con artist and an explosives expert make a bizarre but effective gang. They are then offered what appears to be the opportunity of a lifetime. One job, highly dangerous. The odds of surviving are iffy. The money waiting at the end if you do, is enormous… Their “patron” is what can be called a legend of the underworld, and backing out is not an option… Make no mistake, our little gang is in “it” over their heads… The question is, in what exactly?
This is an intelligent movie. I loved its logic. The thing is, it’s basically an action movie, don’t expect it to change your life… Plus it’s an action movie from the 90’s so don’t expect it to contain flashy special effects either. It has nostalgia value though, on many levels. Then there’s Kevin Spacey the true master and star of the show. I loved Benicio Del Toro as well, but unfortunately we don’t see enough of him for my taste… It’s a classic for a reason as I like to say and the precursor of many “hard ass” bad guy movies to come… The thing is this one has a lot more intelligence and finesse than the said “hard ass” movies that were to come. I mean that punch line I mentioned. I have actually seen it “employed” before. Never so well though. A good one for a Saturday evening in…

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED WEEK

Hello there!

In case you hadn't noticed I am back with this weeks reccomendations! Now, I've kept up the whole theme thing for another week and it's cartoons again. But ah... Not the kinda cartoons you were expecting. Now, what do you think of when I say the word "animation" or "cartoon"? I can't actually hear your answers but my educated guess would be something "Pixar-esque". Colorful, happy. Not so this lot. This lot is anything but that. Some are dark in content, some are dark - well... literally - as in black and white, and sometimes just plain different! Just wanted to show you the other face of animations this week fellas! I have three prime specimins below, scroll right down...

see you next week!
Essie

MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "A SCANNER DARKLY"

Now, in telling its story, this film employs a rather original technique… Now, the whole thing is an animation, no doubt about that but the animated characters are real actors. Drawing of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrellson and Winona Rider (she’s the epitome of the 90’s as far as I’m concerned, it was a bit of a surprise to see her acting in a 2006 film if you see what I mean… ) parade around the screen making one feel decidedly odd. But odd is good in this particular case and experimental. Almost a nice mid-way solution for those who don’t particularly like animations, a wonder we didn’t think of it before… Apart from a few sci-fi details the whole film is set within “real” boundaries too, no weird space creatures (well there is a creature from another dimension but in context it’s actually quite acceptable), no one flying through the air… Serious and sci-fi never the less. And very thought provoking…
In the future – but not the too distant future – the world has become a much more totalitarian place… Security cameras are everywhere recording our every move, undercover cops everywhere trying to uncover God knows what… The biggest problem is D, also known as Death. That by the way is not a bad joke but the name of a highly addictive drug; little red pills that first give you a massive high and then of course, by degrees, destroy you. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is one of the good detectives working on the gangs selling “D”. He is undercover, completely so because at his office he wears a “scrambler suit” preventing him from being recognized and is known as Agent Fred. He spends time as Bob Arctor with a bunch of small-time dealers and addicts, trying to get to the “bigger picture”. However as the operation deepens, Arctor has to take more and more D to keep “in” with the suspects. Plus when he (Agent Fred) is given the bizarre directive of keeping an especially close eye on Bob Arctor things start getting tricky… And schizophrenic… In more senses than one…
It doesn’t take long to realize this is a very “anti system” film. Not anarchist in any way but anti-totalitarianism, anti-big companies having their own agendas and controlling everything. It’s sci-fi of course, none of it is based on real events but the dedication at the end seems to imply it is in the memory of security service agents who were irretrievably harmed in the line of duty. It isn’t a “down with everything” type of message though. This is very clearly a dystopia, “look, this is what we could become. Let us do our best not to be so”. And this should be done by being anti-totalitarianism of all kinds. Not letting anyone get too strong for the common good. It’s a good film and a good moment to stop and reflect on what could happen without freedom. Something we should possibly do more often…

MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "RENAISSANCE"

Ok, the next film on this week’s list is also a dystopia I’m afraid. Don’t worry, the next one is a touch more cheerful and you don’t have to watch them all at once if you are not that way inclined… Ok, this is a dystopia but it’s not actually as “farfetched” as “A Scanner Darkly”, not as “sci-fi”, but it’s futuristic and dark… It’s got a similar “m.o.” as A Scanner Darkly but not quite the same (Yeah, I know, no two works of art are the same, don’t get lippy on me!). The lines and the choice of style in that film are more realistic… I don’t quite know how to put it, it must have some computer “juice” in it as well, and it seems half real and half drawing in places… Renaissance is a “bona fide” cartoon, and I gather the characters are all based on actual actors; the style is by NO stretch of the imagination the same. Another thing is that it is a “black and white cartoon”. Yep, no colors AT all… (Doesn’t get further from Pixar studios does it really?)A little tough to watch in bits but one gets used to it, honest…
Our hero is Captain Karas. He lives in Paris of the future, but not the too distant future. Many things are different – glass pedestrian sidewalks above the ways for cars, computers are very high tech and so are weapons… But some things are the same… The underworld is still the underworld big corporations still rule… Well, pretty much everything. In this case we are talking about Avalon, experts and monopoly of beauty products everywhere… When one of their brilliant young researchers mysteriously vanishes, Karas is called into action. He realizes very quickly that the situation is a lot more complicated than it seems, and as Avalon is involved it’s bound to be dangerous too… But when Karas starts having a relationship with the lost girl’s sister, then the case gets personal… Not a good idea if one’s life is at stake…
Well, they class this one as a dystopia but actually I have seen worse. We all know how evil big corporations can actually be, we’ve all seen adventure stories with handsome cops, beautiful girls and high-speed chases… There is a little sci-fi thrown in but this will not throw you off the story, a story that is nail-bitingly exciting at that… Yes, people of an older generation might be slightly “jolted” by the fact that it’s a cartoon but don’t let it put you off. The style really adds to the dark and dangerous atmosphere and the film is really brilliant as perfect little whole. Who said French cinema sucked? They come up with some pretty good stuff as well – if they put their minds to it. It doesn’t even have Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu in it! :D