there will be blood

there are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking...



daniel plainview (daniel day-lewis)is an oil man. a competitive, driven and ambitious oil man. after being tipped off, about a location with great potential, plainview and his son, h.w. (dillon freasier), head to little boston. little boston is a vast, yet sparsely populated, backwater which, plainview soon discovers, sits atop an ocean of oil. he begins buying up land, starting off with the sunday ranch, including a large fee to eli sunday (paul dano), a charismatic young preacher, who wishes to build up his church of the third revelation. as the empires of both men grow, their mutual resentment also flourishes but, when plainview needs to put the final piece of his master plan into action, it looks as if an uneasy compromise is on the horizon...

well, first things first; i do love paul thomas anderson and have loved his previous work, even if i only love 'hard eight' when watched with his commentary. as a technical achievement, 'there will be blood' is another notch on his film-making bedpost; the cinematography, production design and score (from jonny greenwood) are exceptional. anderson also manages to cast very well; here, for me, paul dano and kevin j o'connor shone. although, this is pretty much where my praise ends.

i suppose, with the film being weighted so heavily towards a central character, that the performance and casting of plainview was an issue. now, as much as people sing his praises and tell me that he's the greatest thing since ground pork and chilli sauce, i just don't like daniel day-lewis. and, when i say 'i don't like him', i really mean that i think he's an absolute ham, who i find almost unwatchable and, as i result, i usually steer clear of films in which he features. needless to say, this probably effected my engagement and enjoyment of 'there will be blood'. yep, despite his oscar winning validation and unanimous praise of his performance, i just don't get anything from him, barring a sense of intense dislike. however, i will say that i liked his 'i hate most people' speech and the delivery of 'i am finished'; which, in a non-facetious way, was the pinnacle of the film and an amazing close to what could've been something great.

so, there you have it; if you can cope with daniel day-lewis, as 99.9% of the world seems more than happy to do, then you'll probably love this. if like me, you'd rather never see him again, then you should probably not rush out to watch this, although i still think that you should watch it. personally, i'll be giving it another go, when it hits dvd; i'll either see past mr day-lewis or, at the very least, it'll contribute to some kind of aversion therapy, which is probably required on my part...

yeah, whatever...

the film is currently on general release

flash point

both flashy and pointy...



inspector ma (donnie yen) is a no nonsense, if slightly over-zealous, hong kong cop, whose record of arrests, is matched only by the number of injuries that he inflicts on suspects. wilson (louis koo), his partner, has been working undercover with three vietnamese brothers, who are extremely vicious. however, when it looks like ma and wilson are about to get their men, they turn things up and start to wipe out all witnesses...

yeah, so it's not exactly a ground breaking narrative, but it is very well executed. the first half of the film is a nice mixture of bad boys, being bad, with a nice tense atmosphere being created, as you wonder if louis koo is going to be exposed as an undercover cop. the second half of the film is filled with anger, revenge and some quality action.

yen and koo fit in with the slick production values but, as usual, louis is more than just a pretty boy going through the motions, donnie seems to add an edge to his posing and performance, whilst impressing with his physical performance. now, i liked 's.p.l.', but 'flash point' is just better and feels more like an old school slice of hong kong. the narrative and action gel together nicely, support from the likes of kent cheng and fan bing bing add a touch of class, and the fight sequences mesh brutality and flair with great success.

good stuff...

the dvd is hk$99 from buyoyo.com

from beijing with love

license to kill...



when a dinosaur skull, a new national treasure of china, is stolen by "the man with the golden gun", an out of service spy, ling ling chai (stephen chow), is brought back into the fold to investigate. sent to hong kong, chai meets up with a beautiful double agent, lee heung kam (anita yuen). will chai be able to crack the case and kam's heart, before he gets himself killed?

this is a strange one; stephen chow's directorial debut, which mixes parody, comedy and brutal violence. the spoofing of bond probably brings the most comedic moments, despite some extreme silliness, however, the combination of slapstick and, rather nasty, violence is a bit jarring. even for hong kong!

still, as a taste of things to come, it's a reasonable introduction to chow's directorial work, even if it's not exactly an indicator of the quality that would follow.

a strange mix, indeed...

the dvd is hk$38 from dddhouse.com

be kind rewind

i'm annoyed that i have forgotten my favourite line...



mike (mos def) works for his surrogate father, mr fletcher (danny glover), in the 'be kind rewind' video store. the store still rents vhs tapes and isn't really a viable business, but it keeps ticking over, whilst mr fletcher boasts how it inhabits the building where fats waller was born.

when mr fletcher heads out of town, he leaves mike in charge; unfortunately, disaster strikes when his friend jerry (jack black) becomes magnetised, after an incident with the local power grid, and erases the contents of all the shop's tapes. afraid of letting mr fletcher down, mike and jerry begin to film their own 'sweded' versions of films; twenty minute, no budget, distillations, which become surprise hits in their neighbourhood. still, with a new building project threatening to engulf and destroy the shop, could their movie-making be the key to their survival?

well, michel gondry has created something which is a little special here; this was a film which had me smiling from start, it made me giggle and was, quite simply, charming. combining humour, emotion and an almost fairytale quality to great effect, the story weaves it's way around the edge of a heightened, romanticised, reality.

i've always enjoyed mos def's musical output, but i'd never seen him on screen before this and, despite having heard reports about ropey performances in other roles, i really couldn't find fault here. likewise, jack black, of whom i'm never quite sure, was just great in his role and inspired some prolonged chuckles. also chipping in, was melonie diaz (whom i thought i'd recognised: yep, she was in 'raising victor vargas'), as alma; who became a great foil for both mike and jerry, as she was drawn into their film making schemes. as for glover; well, he's a pro...

i seem to be finding it tricky to write anything today, so i'll just say that this film is a joyous affair and be done with it.

a joyous affair...

the film is currently on general release.

lost in translation

why do you have to point out how stupid everyone is all the time?



bob (bill murray), a middle-aged actor, has been paid a couple of million dollars to come to tokyo and film a whiskey commercial. charlotte (scarlett johansson), is in tokyo whilst her husband (giovanni ribisi), a photographer, and is pretty much at a loose end, whilst he works. the two meet in the hotel bar and begin to develop a friendship, which is more that just an escape from boredom and loneliness...

i can't say much about this film, at the moment, but it is a piece of cinema which i have always liked and continue to do so. even though i had some trepidation, i'm glad that i know what bob says to charlotte before he leaves...

good stuff...

the dvd is £3.99 from hmv.com

rocky balboa

let's start building some hurting bombs...



rocky (sylvester stallone) has left the world of boxing and, on the anniversary of adrian's death, makes a pilgrimage around his old haunts, taking stock of his life. he now runs a restaurant, telling anecdotes, whilst struggling to maintain his relationship with his son, robert / rocky jnr (milo ventimiglia), who feels the burden of being his father's son.

meanwhile, mason 'the line' dixon (antonio tarver), the current heavyweight champion of the world, is undergoing a bit of a crisis; despite defeating all challengers, he is unpopular and seen as symbolising the lack of passion and drive in the world of boxing. when rocky decides to come out of retirement, wanting to get back in the ring to participate in some low key bouts, a computer generated fight between rocky (in his prime) and mason dixon is aired: rocky wins.

now, in an attempt to bring his career back on track, dixon's representatives arrange a charity exhibition match between 'the italian stallion' and 'the line'; but, in the real world, will 'the has been' or 'the never will be' come out on top?

so, after going off the rails with the last couple of entries in the 'rocky' series, sylvester stallone (who writes and directs) decides to finish of the series with one last hurrah. the result is mostly successful and generally satisfying. the focus on rocky's current life, and his evaluation of his past, works well and is pretty entertaining stuff as a result of it's low key approach. the build up to the fight with mason dixon is also pretty good and rings true in this world of over-analysing sport to a massive degree. still, the fight itself does begin to feel as if it is a little tagged on, in the end.

despite this, stallone shows that he has a pretty good understanding of what was needed to make this a fitting end to the series and a nice postscript for fans who may have lost interest in another rocky film, after the last few entries in the series. if, somehow, the four films which followed the first could have been condensed into one, then this would've wrapped up and extremely good trilogy of films.

stallone puts in a worthy performance, flanked well by a fantastically embittered burt young, whilst milo ventimiglia does a good job as jnr, even if there are shades of peter petrelli to his performance. as usual, it's always great to hear 'gonna fly now'; in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of film music ever, especially when combined with a training montage...

pretty good...

the dvd is £5.99 from play.com

2 days in paris

it's a cliché but it's true...



wife and husband, marion (julie delphy), a french photographer, and jack (adam goldberg), an american interior designer, live in new york. however, the pair have just been to venice, where they suffered from gastroenteritis, and they're now staying in marion's parisienne flat for a couple of days. they hope to enjoy the romance of paris but, living above marion's parents, running into a lot of marion's ex-lovers and generally having a slightly awkward time of thing isn't doing their relationship much good...

julie delphy stars in the film which she wrote, directed, edited and composed some music for. she does a reasonable job, although having watched the majority of the film and then discovering that the french dialogue should've had subtitles. now, i pretty much got the gist of most of hat was being said, in most of these sections; thinking that it was just a device to emphasise how adam goldberg's, non-french-speaking, character felt but, when he was no longer present and french dialogue prevailed, i realised something was amiss. so, i can't really pass full judgement on the film, without experiencing the bits which my linguistic limitations denied me.

still, i do like adam goldberg and the film did manage to craft some rather amusing situations and was generally satisfying, if not great or hilarious. if i do watch it again, with subtitles at the appropriate times, i imagine that i'll probably just feel the same as i do now.

reasonable...

the dvd is £11.99 from play.com

v for vendetta

there is something terribly wrong with this country...



hmm, where to start?

london, the future: a fascist, totalitarian government rules with an oppressive hand smothering the country and controlling the press and as much of society as it possibly can. then, one november fifth, v (hugo weaving), a mysterious, guy fawkes mask wearing, man, takes control of the national television network and broadcasts a message to the nation, reminding them of what they have become and attempting to instigate action: the destruction of parliament, in one year's time. evey (natalie portman) helps v, after having been saved from the clutches of some rather nasty government goons, and finds herself embroiled in his plot and wanted by the police.

inspector finch (stephen rea) is leading the police investigation, despite having the vile creedy (tim pigott-smith), a gestapo-esque character, breathing down his neck. as november fifth approaches, a strange relationship between evey and v begins to grow and finch discovers more than he'd bargained for...

well, this is one of my brother's favourites and he finally got me to watch it, late on night, after drunkenly telling me that "it's the only film that tells things like they really are in america". a touch of hyperbole there, but there are definitely a lot of interesting comparisons which could be made to a lot of, not particularly noble, regimes around the world...

the film itself is rather enjoyable; it manages to blend a rather well constructed backdrop, politics, action and a good old fashioned slice of revenge, with pretty amazing production design, interesting characters and fantastic use of the word "bollocks".

good stuff...

the dvd is $19.19 from dvdpacific.com

the warlords

blood brothers...



china, in the mid-nineteenth century, is suffering from the oppression of the corrupt qing dynasty. er-hu (andy lau), a charismatic and honourable leader of men, and wu-zhang (takeshi kaneshiro), a romantic idealist who craves peace, are bandits; fighting to save their village which is caught up in the struggles of the taiping rebellion. when these two men encounter pang (jet li), a former officer of qing's army, his prowess on the battlefield, tactical nous and desire to end the suffering of china, they bond strongly.

after successfully combining in battle, the three become blood brothers and pool their collective skills, in the form of a new regiment that joins the forces of qing, in an attempt to bring the civil war to an end. pang is fiercely ambitious and committed, er-hu's honourable nature and inspirational nature make him a perfect foil, whilst wu-zhang finds himself swept up by the rhetoric and aspirations of pang, even to the degree that he begins to value his vision over his ties to er-hu. the stage is set for these three men to lead a small force into a series of battles which can decide the future of china but, ultimately, will test their bond of brotherhood...

well, this is the third version of this story which has been brought to the big screen; 'blood brothers' and 'blade of fury', being the other incarnations. it is, however, the first of these films which i've watched, so the story was completely new to me, which probably enhanced the viewing experience.

after a glut of chinese epics being produced in recent years, some being much more successful than others, it's good to see another production which is, quite simply, solid. it is a film which relies on the performances of its leads and strength of narrative, as much as it does on its scale and spectacle; that's not to say that it's completely successful on all fronts, but it makes a bloody good effort.

andy lau does a good job, even if he is playing a role that is very much within his range but, in this instance, it's quite good to have someone who fits nicely into a role and brings a degree of gravitas as a result. takeshi kaneshiro, who's cinematic output seems to have dried up a little in the past few years, also does well; injecting a touch of something different, as he sits, quite youthfully, between lau and li. and, it is jet li, who steals the show: having shown a wider range than one would have imagined, when he pulled off a more introspective role in 'fearless', he really shines here. after so many roles which just haven't given him the opportunity to show that he can act, it seems as if he is finally being allowed to act and not just perform for the camera. here, as a darker, driven and flawed character, he really gets to show that he is more than a martial arts talent.

as for the spectacle, well, there are some highly impressive battle sequences: sequences which seemed to be on a loop outside every single dvd shop across hong kong (whilst jay chou and eason chen concerts were being played inside). the action mixes c.g.i., hundreds of extras, grand settings and scale, alongside intimate, bloody and furious hand to hand combat, more successfully than i have seen in any recent movie, with the first major battle being particularly impressive.

as for the narrative, although a little more character development would've been welcome, the way that smaller and bigger pictures; the relationship between the three, other members of the village, other armies and the manipulative nature of the powers who sit above them, is handled well. and, ultimately, manages to portray both the angles well. having watched the film in a couple of sittings, it is definitely something i will be watching again, in the near future...

good stuff...

the dvd is hk$139 from buyoyo.com

cj7

the extra-terrestrial...



ti (stephen chow) is a lowly construction worker and single parent to dicky (xu jiao), who he struggles earnestly to put through an expensive school. ti doesn't have much spare cash, skimping, saving and salvaging from the local dump to kit dicky out for school. dicky seems pretty happy with this, until the release of cj1; a robotic dog toy, which he wants. ti cannot afford it, but finds a strange ball at the dump, which he gives to dicky instead. it's hardly a substitute, but when it transforms into a friendly little space dog-type creature, dicky thinks that his new best friend might just sort out his problems and help him overcome the school bully and his nasty teacher (steven fung)...

this film marks a bit of a change for stephen chow; after scoring many successes in asia and reaching an international audience with 'shaolin soccer' and 'kung-fu hustle', he's tried to create a family film. this is something that he does, but with limited success; i'd say that it would appeal to children, much more, than it would appeal to adults, unlike 'shaolin soccer', which i would say appealed to all ages in equal measures.

in essence, 'cj7' is a bit of an 'e.t.' clone, with a little bit of stephen chow thrown in. unfortunately, there's not quite enough of the comedy and touches which make stephen chow films special, but there is enough to make it perfectly watchable. still, i'm not sure there's quite enough to extend its appeal beyond an audience that are already fans of his previous work and, i'm pretty sure that, some of those just won't really be that pleased by this.

on the plus side, chow is just as good on-screen as usual, xu jiao does a pretty good job for a newcomer and delivers a performance which reminded me of the impact that macaulay culkin had, as a child actor, in 'home alone'. it's pretty clear to see why chow really warmed to her. there's also some pretty good c.g.i. and enough comedic moments to keep you smiling.

on the negative side, the film is short and seems to lack depth; i'm not sure if it was constrained by the money they spent on the c.g.i. or the fact that kitty zhang had some much publicised eyelid surgery during filming, but it does feel as if something is missing and some narrative strands / characters are quite undeveloped. and, as i already mentioned, there's just not enough chow-ness and it does seem to be more child, than adult, friendly.

now, if i was a child, who wasn't familiar with stephen chow's style or back catalogue, then i would probably love this. however, as an adult (even a adult who likes a lot of children's films) who is familiar with chow's output, this feels like a very watered down effort, which just does the bear minimum to keep ticking over.

overall, it is a quite successful children's film, which has some good performances, humorous moments and quality c.g.i. but, from someone with the talent of chow, it can only be seen as a step backwards. bring on 'kung-fu hustle 2'...

reasonable...

the film will be on general release in mid-march.

live free or die

shit hot sale!



john 'rugged' rudgate (aaron stanford) is an aspiring, yet lacklustre, wannabe criminal, who lives in a small town in the granite state. when he meets up with an old school acquaintance, lagrand (paul schneider), he tries to muscle in on the storage business which he and his sister, cheryl (zooey deschanel), have inherited. still, things don't exactly go to plan and their involvement with a couple of dodgy characters, some petty crimes and an unhinged cop (michael rapaport), cause them a little more trouble than expected, but could just give rugged the infamy he's been looking for...

now, i'd never heard of this, but my brother decided to watch the cheap disc he'd picked up on a trip to shenzhen. i'm glad he did as it was a pretty funny flick. it's a good natured, nicely done, indie comedy, with some pretty funny moments scattered throughout. sure, it's not amazing, but it is definitely worth a watch. the script, that is packed with an array of interesting characters, is definitely enhanced by the performances of stanford and, in particular, schneider, who is excellent. zooey deschanel is just as lovely as always, rapaport is nicely off-kilter and an extra mention for judah friedlander is deserved, as he's quite special in the small role that he occupies with aplomb...

good stuff...

the dvd is $19.90 from dvdpacific.com

rush hour 3

my wife says i can't be a spy any more; i have to be home for dinner...



whilst chief inspector lee's (jackie chan) career continues to flourish, whilst he continues to provide protection for ambassador han (tzi ma) and his, now grown up, daughter soo yung (zhang jing-chu), detective carter (chris tucker) has been demoted to traffic duty. however, when han reveals that he is close to uncovering a secret list of triad leaders, an assassination attempt prompts lee and carter to team up and head to france in order to get to the bottom of things...

well, having quite enjoyed the first film in the series, but not really liking the second, i didn't really have high hopes for this one. however, despite it being pretty much what you'd expect, i found myself chuckling away and really quite enjoying myself during this; sure, there's a couple of moments where you may cringe slightly, but chan and tucker do make a pretty good team and there's a few very funny moments.

as for the action, it's okay and, despite a bit more cgi than past outings, there's still plenty of fun moments and some nice scenes. it was nice to see zhang jing-chu in the cast, as i've been predicting big things from her for the past couple of years and i'm sure that she'll continue to appear in more american, chinese and hong kong films of note in the next few years. noemie lenoir, max von sydow and hiroyuki sanadait were good additions to the ensemble and it was also fun see roman polanski, philip baker hall and sun ming ming turn up...

good fun...

the dvd is £12.99 from play.com

bee movie

more like an 'f'...



barry (jerry seifeld) is a bee. a bee who isn't quite sure what to do with his life and isn't too keep on taking a job for life, before he's experienced ab it more of the world. after heading out with the pollen jocks, he becomes separated and ends up in trouble. he's about to be squashed by ken (patrick warburton), when he is saved by a florist named vanessa (renee zellweger). aftersome consideration, he decides to break the rules and talks to vanessa, thanking her for saving his life. funnily enough, the two strike up a relationship, but soon barry discovers that humans are stealing precious honey from the bees and he stets out to put things right...

yep, it's rubbish. this isn't a very good film; the animation isn't rubbish, but neither does it have any kind of 'wow!' factor, whilst the script is both daft, relatively uninspired and only managed to raise the slightest chuckle on one occasion. a shame really, as there's some quite good people contributing; rip torn, john goodman, matthew broderick, chris rock, kathy bates and ray liotta, to name just a few...

best avoided...

the film is on general release.

secret sunshine

the return of lee chang-dong...



after losing her husband in a traffic accident, shin-ae (jeon do-yeon) moves to his home town, milyang, with her young son, jun (jo yeong-jin). she breaks down, just out side the town, and is picked up by mr kim (song kang-ho). shin-ae is determined to settle down in milyang, escape seoul and start a new life, kim instantly takes a shine to her and starts trying to woo her and help her acclimatise to her new home.

things are going pretty well; jun is enjoying school, shin-ae's piano school is taking off, she's making friends and life seems good. however, when jun goes missing, shin-ae finds her life turned upside down and doesn't know where to turn; she decides to take a step in a new direction, but it may not be the right step for her...

well, the 'lee chang-dong collection', featuring 'green fish', 'peppermint candy' and 'oasis', was one of my best buys of 2004; a collection of three films, written and directed by lee, a former novelist who turned to cinema. now, i thought these three films were great, but was a little taken aback when i discovered that lee had left film behind him and become the minister for culture in the south korean government. still, if i'd left these three films as a legacy, i'd have been pretty bloody happy about it. then, about two and a half years ago, i heard that he'd served his term and was returning to write and direct a new film. i finally picked up the dvd a couple of weeks ago.

if you're familiar with the work of lee chang-dong, you're not going to expect much of the film's titular sunshine to be falling on the characters of his films. and, as with his past films, you'd be right to make this assumption with 'secret sunshine'. the film is a pretty harrowing portrayal of a woman who is going through the mill and is suffering; she experiences great loss and, as she struggles to cope, begins to explore the adoption of faith, in the form of christianity. all the while, kim hovers in the background, undeterred by his lack of progress...

jeon do-yeon is great in this role and thoroughly deserves the 'best actress' award that she picked up at cannes last year; every aspect of her personality, her growth and the development of her character is portrayed in a naturalistic and convincing manner. song kang-ho, as you'd expect, adapts to a supporting role as well as you'd imagine, managing to convey depth with a character who is quite one dimensional, in his thinking.

so, lee chang-dong returns, adding another fine piece to his body of work, which seems to mature with each film that he makes.

great stuff...

the dvd is $28.49 from dvdfromkorea.com