WATCH YOUR BACK, IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE... "MARGIN CALL"

You guys know by now how dedicated I am to my films and my film watching. But even I need my sleep. Especially since, working in events, my hours are slightly “off kilter” at the best of times. It is generally not a good idea to put on a film in the middle of the night (and by that  I literally do mean around midnight) saying “oh I’ll just watch half an hour to wind down”.  This, generally never “actually” happens, even I know that. But I did not expect to throw caution to the wind and sit up until well after 3.00 a.m. (on a day that actually had an early start too), thereby knocking all my energy levels like dominos for days. So worth it. In short, first lesson, watch Margin Call at a reasonable hour. You will be compelled to finish it and trust me, the “knock-on effect” is best avoided, even though it is worth it for such a great film…

The storyline does not seem nearly as nail-biting as you might think at first glance. We open at an investment bank. It is the early stages of the economic crisis, hence cutbacks are the order of the day. The “axe-men” are brought in and an inordinately large number of people lose their jobs. In this crowd is the incredibly able risk management division head. Almost as an afterthought, as he is almost physically thrown out of the building, he passes a report he was working on to his protégé Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto of Heroes fame). While Peter is not quite sure what to make of it at first, he gets stuck in and soon comes to a rather terrifying conclusion. The company is literally moments away from financial disaster. With so much at stake frantic phone calls are made throughout the night as the big guns of the company (Kevin Spacey, Simon Baker, Jeremy Irons) gather in the dead of night to try and figure out how they can save themselves from this mess. And what the cost will be…

First of all, of course there are rumours going round that this is a “real” story of a big company but we shall pass on those as we cannot seem to find any legitimate and official evidence to that effect. I mean, I wouldn’t know, economics has never been my strong suite. Thankfully the film does an excellent job at “dumbing it down” so that I’m pretty sure you will get the exact nature of the problem if you have some sort of a grasp on economics. If, on the other hand, like me you have a mental block on the topic, it doesn’t matter. Even I got the general gist of it. And trust me, a general gist was more than enough to make the story wildly exciting.

Of course here the story is not so much about economy but morals. About disconnecting from your feelings to survive. And I mean, check out the cast, how can the film NOT be chock full of emotion with a cast like that? As a person rather used to casting Kevin Spacey as a “bad guy” (though I think having recently watched him in House of Cards does have something to do with that) I was slightly taken aback to see him cast as the one with the conscience this time. I mean of course he is brilliant in both roles but you know what I mean. He does make a particularly good villain.  

At the end of the day though, the story is as old as the hills and really about a choice we all face every day. Good or bad? Looking out only for yourself or looking out for your fellow man as well? What if looking out for your fellow man also ends up meaning looking out for yourself? Oh darling, I hear you cry, it’s a film about bankers and traders do stop philosophising. Ah but you see, that’s the beauty of it. If you take the point of view that life is a cut-throat, every man for himself type struggle (and I don’t necessarily myself, but I can see why it would be considered a valid argument), what better metaphor for it than the trading floor? Or to put it another way, what better way to discuss the value of ethics but in front of a backdrop of the epitome of ruthless capitalism? I think that’s the real reason I couldn’t quite take my eyes off it. Well you’ll just have to see it for yourself. We can discuss the whys and wherefores later on…  

A VILAIN YOU WILL LOVE TO HATE: "HOUSE OF CARDS"

You know the new trend these days. If a good British show is created, you know, if it’s really, “properly” popular, chances are it will cross the pond and get an American version made. I’m thinking of things like The Office and Coupling (although it is universally agreed that the U.S. version of coupling wasn’t even one eighth as funny as the U.K. version. Just saying). One of the more recent remakes is of the iconic British political drama, House of Cards. Now, imitating things is OK up to a point, but if you try to replicate it completely, chances are you will end up with egg on your face ( as in the case of Coupling for example). The intelligent thing to do, in my way of thinking, is to take the basic format that worked, and add something from yourself. I don’t know, develop it a bit. Make it something new; don’t just make it a photocopy. In this sense taking the basic plot and moving into 21^st century American politics works. Put a star of world renowned talent like Kevin Spacey in the leading role and it works even better.

Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is Majority Whip. He has served his party loyally for years, and he fully expects to reap the benefits – especially when the time comes to nominate a new secretary of state. However, politics doesn’t always quite turn out as you may have planned, and in this particular case, against all the odds he had calculated, the job goes to someone else. Now, here’s the problem. You do not upset someone who holds so many political secrets, especially if they have both burning ambition and great political talent. They tend to have a rather nasty tendency to, I don’t know, make plans to avenge themselves. I mean think about it, it would be more than awkward if they turned out to be the next President of the United States. And this, as you already may have guessed, is exactly what Francis intends to do…

As you can guess this is a particular “genre” of film/ series. The cat-and mouse. The power struggle. You watch it as much for the beauty of the strategy as the storyline if you know what I mean. And, you know, I was always a fan of Kevin Spacey but even more so after this. I mean, my God. He is the perfect anti-hero. You cannot exactly like Francis – or his wife Claire (played rather brilliantly by the talented Robin Wright) for that matter. They are cold, calculating and driven by nothing but success, at any cost. But at the same time, Francis plays the system so well, and even though he is cold, calculating and just a teensy bit scary, gets the better of so many “typical” political bad guys so smoothly that well… You can’t help not like him. Ok, he’s doing it mainly for his own advancement but well, it’s one in the eye to “the system” if you get my drift. So in the end, you watch with baited breath and really hope he does well. Even though you kinda feel you shouldn’t be rooting for him, if you get my drift. I mean there are tons of other characters like that. There’s the power hungry new to the game journalist, Zoe Barnes for example. You sympathize with her trying to get ahead in her business but once she (guess thanks to who) suddenly hits a meteoric rise, her attitude really starts getting on your nerves. Or I mean, that’s how I felt. Tell you what, watch the series and we’ll discuss it. It’s one of those series, there is one HECK of a lot of things to talk about. 

TIME TO REVISE YOUR OPINIONS ON ALIENS : "K-PAX"

Ok, as you can see I have finally got a semi-decent theme going this week. And it’s aliens! Not just the Sigourney Weaver variety but some that are a little more, well… Shall we say understated? I saw the trailer for K-Pax a good many years ago and it really, really seemed interesting but it’s only almost literally ten years later that I got the chance to see it. Oh I do so love using our school library. A word from the wise, if you have some establishment providing you with free books and dvds (a university library for example) make the best of it. It’s definitely what I am doing. Now, K-Pax is not a person / alien but a planet. It is the planet Prot (Kevin Spacey) comes from. He appears one day in Grand Central Station in New York, and his calm explanations that he is, in fact, an alien lands him quite quickly in the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute. Here, the head doctor is Dr. Mark Fuller (Jeff Bridges) and he along with a lot of his eminent colleagues is finding it difficult to understand why this mysterious man’s delusions seem to be so persistent. But there is something else strange about Prot. He has a unexplainable sensitivity to light, seems to know a lot about astro-physics that not only makes perfect sense but baffles leading experts in the field and seems to be having a very bizarre effect on his fellow patients. Dr. Fuller is an eminently sensible man, a man of science but even he begins to seriously wonder… Could Prot possibly, actually come from another planet? Rarely, if ever, have I seen such a film for twists and turns. There were a good few times throughout the film when I was pretty sure I had “got” which way the story was going. Then there was a twist. “Oh” says I and I adapt my approach. Nope. There’s another twist. And not one of those “forced” twists either. The film really, really flows, everything develops really organically. The one thing you probably expect and will ultimately find is the “extraordinary character bursts into the everyday reality and changes the lives of everyone he comes into contact with” line. Yes, there is that. But even that is done with sensitivity and come on, it is a Hollywood film. Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges more than make up for that with their acting alone. The story is, basically, a detective story. We are trying to piece together Prot’s past. Along with Dr. Fuller we are try to find out who Prot really is – and what he is – and like every good detective story nothing is quite what it seems right to the very end. Believe me. Whatever you think this film is at the moment, it probably isn’t. You’re just going to have to give it a whirl and see what I mean for your selves.

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…

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

Ok, so this is a film a friend and colleague has been bugging me to watch for absolutely AGES. He even went as far as procuring a personal copy for me (bless him). This was about a year ago and much to my mates’ horror, I have only just got round to watching it. I now understand that horror – this little known (I think?) classic ranks among the immortals. Plus, it features a rather nostalgic cast like a VERY young Jude Law (still just as gorgeous!) and John Kusack. Another surprise was the fact that the director of the film is actually Clint Eastwood – I am going to have to seriously review my opinion of the guy. I always viewed him as… Well you know. Clint Eastwood. He is actually a director capable of conveying deep emotion. Even in a film about homosexuality – and that I would NOT have expected from Mr. Eastwood. My mistake, evidently…

So, with John Kelso (John Kusack) we go to Savanah. A pleasant little town comprised of “good folk” and a few eccentrics – one of which is eccentric millionaire and bon viveur Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey). Williams is generally admired and envied by the community and his standing “makes up” for the fact he is actually gay so everybody kinda “overlooks” the fact. Mr. Williams is famous for his extravagant Christmas Parties and Kelso, a freelance journalist, is sent to cover this year’s party. However, when Williams’s young, rebellious and slightly violent protégé/ lover Billy (Jude Law) is found shot dead in Williams’ library on the night after the party, Kelsos’ whole stay takes a very different turn. Now not only is a man he has befriended and has come to like being tried for murder, the whole town that now “officially knows” he is gay, slowly starts to turn against him. Kelso is aided on his way by Voodoo priestess Minerva and the inimitable Lady Chablis as he finds out that sometimes in the hearts of men, good and evil, love and hate, prejudice and acceptance are all only a heartbeat apart…

The film is based on John Berendt’s book of the same name. And although certain characters and dialogue were created for dramatic purposes – and neither the film nor the book makes a secret of this – some of the characters are quite real. To the point that the Lady Chablis is actually played by herself! She is by far my favorite character in the film by the way… Now, at a whopping 155 minutes long, you may be “intimidated” by the film. Don’t be. The name may also seem to convey a sense of something “deep and philosophical” that will bore you. No way. It is a brilliant film that conveys a very poignant analysis of society and the human spirit. Not necessarily a happy message but a true message. Don’t be like me. Don’t wait a year to watch the bloody thing – just get on to it. In my heart, the film has shot up to the Top 10 of my favorite movies of all times…