ARE YOU READY TO BECOME SOMETHING NEW... "THE LOBSTER"

I saw the trailer for The Lobster some time ago. I thought it was categorically the funniest thing I have seen in years. I then, like a muppet, missed in the cinema. I was overjoyed when it came out in VOD and I actually watched it absolutely ages ago, practically on the day it came out. Its director Yorgos Lanthimos is not a household name yet – but he is getting there. And those who HAVE heard of him tend to give a knee jerk YES! Or NO! response. If you haven’t tried him out yet, you really should give his work a whirl – see which camp you end up in!

The Lobster takes place in a dystopian near future. There (as in quite a few places here, as a matter of fact), being a couple is categorically the most important thing you have to achieve in your life. However fewer invitations to dinners and awkward conversations are the least the singletons of this universe have to worry about. If you find you are single, you have 45 days to find a partner. If you fail, you are transformed into an animal of your choice and released into the wild. Now, of course the process in monitored, the moment you report you have become single to the authorities you are transported to a special facility with other singletons where you have to endeavour to find a partner. Our tale follows David (Colin Farrel) who is recently divorced. He has just started his stay in the facility and has a whole world of new characters to meet, make friends with and hopefully date. Oh the whole place looks like a slightly eccentric holiday village, but David is under no illusions. The real question is whether he will survive – and if he does, in what form…

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of those –black and white – kind of directors. You either adore him and, like me, think he is the best thing since moving images on a screen, or think he is crass, extreme and all together hard to watch. His films are definitely not for the faint of heart. In my particular case I found watching Dogtooth (the first film I ever watched by Lanthimos) a weirdly sado-masochistic experience. Yes, definitely hard to watch. Harder than a lot of things I have ever seen in fact. But also weirdly pleasurable… And why? I guess because he has the rather dubious talent of being able to give you the kind of shock the goriest slashers do, only without the gore and blood and in a very innocuous looking setting. And let’s be honest here – it is rare to find the kind of film that gets that kind of visceral response out of you in the day to day cinematic market. I don’t necessarily think it’s a matter of shocking to get publicity and bums on seats. It actually is the job of all art to make you feel things. To make you react. To make you think. There is a little too much playing it safe, a little too much staying within your comfort zone when it comes to films these days I feel. That is sort of why Hollywood films are less of my day to day consumption and more of an occasional treat. I need the films that I watch actually do something to me – and if you are of the same tribe as me I can promise you that The Lobster will smack you around the head  several times and leave you spinning like a top…

Like all of his other films, this universe of Yorgos Lanthimos is unforgiving. The rules are as harsh as they are eccentric and disobedience is really not an option. Well. I say that, but in this universe – as in, I strongly suspect, most others – as long as you give the illusion of going by the rules, you can get away with, well, a certain amount… This, in the film has hilarious results that I will not be discussing here today as a lot of the film counts on the element of surprise to make it work. The film does, however, become a Kafaesque dance where our characters have to apply an endless set of rules to the most intimate areas of their lives. And what makes the film even funnier is the fact that most of us – without being aware of it – do this anyway. You know those little things called social norms we are all so attached to. Yeah… I am willing to bet you any money that you will be giving them a hefty amount of thought after you have watched this little number.

Of course the brilliance of the actors only adds to the success of the dance – Colin Farrel is the perfect slightly bumbling everyman helping us understand this universe as we try to figure it out ourselves. Ably assisted by the likes of John C. Reily, Ben Whishaw and Rachel Weisz who all participate in this straight faced – in fact deadly serious – dance with conviction and gusto that will have you cringing and crying out for them as the story takes its twists and turns…

In short, the first thing Lanthimos does when he takes you into a universe is tear up the rule book, the second is to throw you into the ring at a no-holds-barred cage fight. It is something you definitely need to decide on for yourself – but if you survive the fight, well, the benefits are absolutely glorious…

"MONSTERS UNIVERSITY" BECAUSE SOMETIMES,YOU JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL...

I was REALLY looking forward to this one. You all have probably figured out by now that I’m a bit of as sucker for Pixar. I… Ok, yes, it’s unprofessional but what can I say. I’m a fan. I’m positively biased. That is not to say I wasn’t a tad bit worried about Monsters University. I mean, come on, a prequel? It feels a little bit like scratching the bottom of the barrel to me. There are absolutely quillions of talented screenwriters out there, surely, if we wanted to revisit Mike and Sullivan, our friendly duo from way back when, an imaginative “new development” could be found. That being said, I simply had to check it out. I mean, it was a rainy afternoon, I had nothing in particular to do, Pixar monsters seemed to me the perfect thing to cheer me up. At the very least I could b.tch about them on the blog later, which would definitely cheer me up.

Hence, here we hurtle back through time and universes to see how the “dream team” of Mike and Sullivan all began. I couldn’t help but giggle to realise they were taking the whole prequel thing very seriously. Because we start tracking Mike at around, if I’m not much mistaken, primary school. But no worries – it’s completely relevant. It is at this early age that Mike decides he wants to be a “scarer”. You know, the most prestigious and brave monsters around, who ventured into the human world and collected “scream energy” to power the whole world. Thing is, Mike looks a little too much like a tennis ball on legs to be considered scary(at this particular point, he is a very small tennis ball on legs with braces). So um, how can I put this… He is not considered to have the most realistic aspirations in the world. That said, he works his socks off, does not give in and lo and behold, he makes it into the prestigious “scare programme” in Monsters University. Now, a lot of us know how going on to university, moving away from the small town to follow your dreams may seem like the end of all the problems we ever had – Mike definitely thinks so. And if the worse comes to the worse, he has always been a swat, he has his trusty textbooks to get him though… Right?

Ok, first of all, all Pixar fans out there can heave a sigh of relief. It is everything a Pixar movie always promises to be. Perfect accompaniment to a rainy, grey afternoon, your favourite blankie and a touch too much chocolate. It’s a bright burst of imagination full of good-natured adventure and humour, and tons of laughs, delicately placed throughout the story. You’ll love it. You can take your little one or younger sibling to see it with a clear conscience. Unless you are categorically exhausted, you are very probably not going to fall asleep watching this one (that being said, Mom actually fell asleep watching Star Wars… Need I say more?).

Like I said, this is classic Pixar. That being said, is it a Pixar classic? Hmm. I’m not that sure. I mean yeah, sure, every film has a “underlying message”. In  this particular case there are several. I especially applaud the open call to not necessarily rely on “book learning” to achieve your dreams. There is also the very Hollywood trope of “disparate characters coming together as a team” (and with Monsters as a template they REALLY went wild on the disparate characters) and, just to counterbalance the first point I mentioned, not relying on natural talent and working with it to truly achieve your dreams.  Now, I am not saying films shouldn’t have such social messages. Especially since the target audience is the younger generation. But, you know, quite apart from adults watching it too, kids today are pretty damn smart. I think Monsters University borders on the “public information film” fine line with this one. I don’t know, maybe it’s me getting jaded, but it was all way too close to the surface for my liking. Think, for example, of Up!. Now that was one heck of a film. Priceless too. Yet with that famous opening sequence that has made grown men cry. With that, the adults are just hooked. Lost love is such a common theme in a lot of lives – if not necessarily by death – we end up rooting for him all the way through the film. But when you strip away the finery it’s actually the story of a hardened, jaded character “rediscovering life”. I mean, step back and squint a little it could actually be A Christmas Tale. I mean theme-wise. Clearly there were no ghosts in Up!,  Yet, like I said, you don’t notice it at all unless if you think about it. And you can make monsters as colourful as you please, it is THIS kind of imagination in the storyline that gets my pulse racing these days. I mean, it’s not like kids didn’t love Up!. Come on, talking dogs! The cone of shame! What more do you want? Like I said, I reckon we should give the younger generation a tad bit more credit. I mean, admit it, they’re way better with gadgets. I reckon they can easily handle a film.  

"CARNAGE" IN ALL BUT THE PHYSICAL WAY

As you know, if I’m doing a mixed bag, I try and vary the contents as much as possible. You know, make it pretty much something for everyone. That’s why I was glad when this one crossed my path. I’ve always admired Polanski as an artist, even though I have to admit there is a very questionable side to him as a person. But like I’ve always said, leave that to one side and concentrate on the art, because no matter what you think of him as a person, he is one HECK of a director. A fact that he has proved once again with this film. It all starts out as a tiny incident really. Zachary and Ethan are two little boys who have a fight in the playground. It ends a bit rougher than expected, Zachary hitting Ethan in the face with a stick, resulting in Ethan losing a tooth and sustaining damage to a second tooth. The parents get together to sort this situation out; they want to be “adult” about the whole affair. But what starts off as a very civilized conversation between two – admittedly different – couples; soon takes a very strange turn. As time goes on though, it becomes obvious that it is not really so much about the differences in the couple’s lifestyles. True, Ethan’s parents - Nancy and Alan Cpwan (the legendary Kate Winslet and Christopher Waltz) are a power couple, both firmly ensconced in the business world and Zachary’s parents, Penelope and Michael Longstreet (the equally legendary Jodie Foster and John C. Reily) are the more liberal writer /artist types but this in itself is not the problem. The problem is much deeper – not between the couples but in the couples. As the tense situation continues fault lines begin to appear in the first perfectly smooth veneers and dirty laundry within both couples, along with the real faces under the masks begin to get aired. Which is when the real carnage begins… Ok, first up a technical note or two about this film. If you settle down to watch it you will very quickly pick up on the fact that it is actually adapted from a play (God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza to be precise). Thus it uses a minimal number of settings; in fact 90% of the film takes place in the Longstreet’s living room and the whole story is driven mainly by dialogue, not action. Now you may find that daunting as a film initially. But luckily the dialogue is very witty and both easy and enjoyable to follow. And plus of course there is the difference made by the actors actually delivering the lines – I mean take a look at that cast! The concentration on dialogue is, in my opinion, a good thing here because it brings so much great talent to light in the shape of the four actors. Plus, another good thing if the idea of a dialogue driven play /film daunts you is that it is not actually that long – so you don’t have that much to be scared of if you’re not used to the whole thing. But honestly, I reckon anyone with any kinda taste for cinema will enjoy this one. It is very witty, very clever, ok, admittedly it’s as dark as pitch as far as comedy goes but hey… It’s also a very good consideration on adult relationships and life. You really do not want to miss it.