ferris bueller's day off

the sausage king of chicago?



ferris (matthew broderick) decides to skip school; making his best friend, cameron (alan ruck), come and collect him, before taking his dad's 1961 ferrari gt250 and picking up his girlfriend, sloane (mia sara), evading the dean of students, ed rooney (jeffrey jones), as they go. the question isn't "what are they going to do," the question is "what aren't they going to do?"...

yep, a classic of the high school movie genre, brought to you by the past-master of such fare; john hughes. because of the strength of hughes' writing, direction and attention to detail, complimented by a cast who are all on top form, this still holds up well, manages to be funny film and even gets away with being serious here and there. hughes' commentary is also well worth a listen...

great stuff...

the dvd is £4.99 from hmv.com

black cat

la femme le chat noir...



after getting on the wrong side of her boss and a chauvinistic trucker, catherine (jade leung) starts a fight which finishes with her killing the trucker and a cop who arrives. after a brief incarceration, catherine flees the courthouse before she goes to trial, only to be gunned down by a mysterious assassin. she wakes up, having had a microchip implanted in her brain and finds that she has been recruited to work for the c.i.a. as an assassin: codenamed 'black cat'. after being trained up, under the guidance of brian (simon yam), she heads to hong kong, where she waits for assignments to come her way. however, could the relationship she develops with allen (thomas lam), the manager of a nature park, get in the way of her work and put both her and allen in danger?

if the plot sounds familiar, that's because it's a remake of 'nikita'. unfortunately, it's not nearly as good. simon yam is pretty much wasted, whilst jade leung is pretty much beaten, abused, thrown to the floor and has her sanity tested for the duration of the film.

the story clunks along, with only a few interesting moments and a couple of reasonably entertaining action sequences, but is dominated by the slightly unsavoury tormenting of leung, in its various forms. you'd be better off watching the original, i have the sequel on my 'to watch' pile and i hope it is better than this.

meh...

the dvd is hk$39 from buyoyo.com

kung fu dunk

rhyming 'tofu' and 'kung fu'...



abandoned by a basketball court as a baby and subsequently being raised by monks, who school him in martial arts, fang shijie (jay chou), finds himself out on his ear after getting into a fight in a nightclub, owned by a local gangster, bi tianbao (lee li-chun). shijie is taken under the wing of zhen li (eric tsang), a down on his luck chancer who sees this talented young man as a potential cash cow. after a bit of thought and the pulling of strings, li decides that shinjie has the potential to be an unprecedented success in the world of basketball and manages to get him into the team at first university.

with a raw, natural, talent and incredible kung fu skills, shinjie is slowly accepted by the team by its hard drinking captain, ding-wei (wilson chen), and his sister, lily (charlene choi), who shinjie has a crush on. built up in the press as 'the basketball orphan', will shinjie be able to focus his talents for the benefit of the team, will li remain incorruptible, will lily fall for him and will the team be able to overcome the team that is owned by bi tianbao in the university basketball championship?

let's get this out of the way: i really like jay chou. i can't say i'm a huge fan of his music, but he seems like a decent enough young man, is most certainly talented, and somehow manages to maintain an air of cool, despite some of the ridiculous costumes he seems to wear during his live shows. he didn't really look out of his depth, when placed between chow yun-fat and gong li in 'the curse of the golden flower' and i've heard plenty of positive things about 'secret' (which he also directed) as well. here, he manages to transfer his likeability to shinjie, making him believably naive, yet confident; he also seems to have reasonable comic timing, when required, and looks good when fighting or flying through the air in the ching sui-tung choreographed fight and basketball sequences.

it is these sequences, along with chou and, of course, eric tsang, that make this film so much fun to watch. the initial fight in the nightclub is very watchable, but the wire (and cgi) assisted basketball games are great. if only basketball was really this exciting to watch, i'd be at games every week. backing up chou and tsang are a variety of others who put in some good work, although i'll single out charlene choi, who is super-cute, especially when sporting a hoodie and glasses...

the story itself, based on the manga / anime 'slam dunk', is a little bit of a 'shaolin soccer' clone and is slightly uneven at times, but has all the hallmarks of a classic sporting underdog film; a genre which i always kind of enjoy and, with the fun and spectacle involved, i'm willing to forgive it any short-comings.

good stuff...

the dvd is hk$107 from buyoyo.com

indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull

several scenes with knife and gun play, including a man's toe getting blown off (we don't see it, but there's a bloody hole in his boot)...



indiana jones (harrison ford), still a part-time university professor / part-time treasure hunter, becomes embroiled with some russians, led by irina spalko (cate blanchett), who are searching for archaeological treasures which are rumoured to have paranormal powers. and so indy sets off on a quest to find a crystal skull and a mysterious city of gold...

well, i pretty much agree with every criticisms that has been thrown at the film, so far, and very little of the praise, which seems to be flowing towards it...

it really was shit.

now, don't get me wrong, i expected it to be dreadful but, unbelievably, it surpassed even my wildest expectations of how bad it could be. the narrative is a 'by the numbers', entirely predictable affair, which manages to include almost every genre cliche and trite narrative device. plus, whilst the other films required a leap of faith, this one requires an inter dimensional transfer of it. clumsy doesn't even come close to describing the narrative, although it'll do nicely for the script, which is both clumsy and dull; there's far too much exposition, far too much needless crap and almost none of the charm or humour that made 'raiders...' (and, to a lesser extent, its sequels) so enjoyable. at its very best, it evokes only a slight, sympathetic, chuckle from time to time. aah bless, it's trying...

one of the main things which made the original great were the characters, especially indy, but also the support from the likes of marcus, sallah, bellog, toht etc providing memorable moments regardless of their limited screentime, the same is not true here. there are traces of the old indy in the older indy but, probably thanks to the dreadful dialogue, he's far less likeable. spalko (complete with dodgy accent) is a pretty poor villain, mac (ray winstone) is entirely forgettable, oxley (william hurt) is just a bit of a joke, mutt (shia lebeouf) is reasonable, as is marion (yep, karen allen is back). after his star turn; being the best thing in 'the last crusade', denholm elliott is sorely missed...

as for the action, it becomes more and more unbelievable as the film progresses; it is either lacklustre and uninspiring or fails miserably when it tries to rely on spectacle. at one point, i began to consider that the film just really wasn't being made for me; but wondered if children would enjoy it? sure, there are moments where i'm sure they'd love it, but others which might be a little too scary or gruesome, in between sections which i think they may be bored by. still, i'm by no means a child these days and i'm just not sure what their reaction would be...

as for me and my viewing companion, we were practically speechless by the time it was finished. both of us were, quite simply, amazed at how it just kept getting worse as it progressed: quite a marvellous achievement. and, in reality, the only reason to keep watching it was out of some kind of morbid curiosity...

still, despite this, i'd have happily left the cinema after around fifteen minutes...

rampo noir

i'll steal my collection from you...



a collection of four short stories, from japanese writer edogawa rampo (a pseudonym based on the japanese pronunciation of edgar allan poe), brought to the screen by a quartet of directors...

mars canal - a sexual encounter which turns into a violence. featuring a naked tadanobu asano...

mirror hell - when a woman dies after a tea ceremony (her face melts), private detective kogoro akechi (tadanobu asano) investigates. featuring mikako ichikawa and yuuko daike sporting some beautiful haircuts...

caterpillar - a woman (hanae kan) takes care of he husband, first lieutenant sunaga (nao oomori), a quadriplegic war hero. featuring an animated butterfly and yukiko okamoto...

crawling bugs - a driver (tadanobu asano) falls in love with the actress (tamaki ogawa) and suffers from a nasty skin condition. featuring some beautiful wigs, hair and costumes and a strange animated bug...

as well as all being based on stories penned by rampo, the appearance of asano links these four films together. they are also linked by being a little silly, at times, but kind of interesting and very pretty to look at.

'mars canal' lasts, literally, a couple of minutes. still, with nice editing a great look and great sound / noise, it is a fine introduction. 'mirror hell' is watchable enough, mainly for the production and costume design, but still relatively interesting if, ultimately, a little daft. 'caterpillar', again, looks beautiful, is enjoyable despite it's short-comings (no pun intended) and has great hair. 'crawling bugs' is probably the film with the most depth and the largest range of hair and wigs. all good...

yep, not quite sure why, but i don't think i've seen a film with such a noticeable collection of fine hair and hair pieces sported by the female cast. if i had a psychiatrist, i'd definitely be having a chat about hair on my next visit.

i'm unfamiliar with rampo's work, so i'm not really sure how good a job these films do, in terms of bringing his style to the screen. i'm also unsure as to whether these are his most famous short stories or just ones that the selected directors liked. i also don't know if his stories feature lavish descriptions of hair...

any how, in terms of content, these films are by no means great but, in terms of atmosphere and presentation, they are rather good.

the dvd is hk$39 from buyoyo.com

son of rambow

there is a considerable amount of swearing, mainly from children, including words such as 'shit', 'bastard', and one use of 'cock' as an insult...



will proudfoot (bill milner) is young boy, growing up within a fatherless, plymouth brethren, family. as such, he is forbidden to watch television, listen to music or mix with non-brethren. will is not a happy child, but finds solace and escape in his imagination and his drawing. that is until he has a run in with lee carter (will poulter); the naughtiest boy in school, which results in will watching a pirate copy of 'first blood'. this mind opening experience results in will joining lee, as the stuntman, in his home movie he's making...

as someone who grew up watching the likes of 'first blood', playing in woods and dreaming of being a stuntman, i was obviously drawn to this film. the film paints a sweet portrait of the friendship between two boys with similar yet starkly contrasting backgrounds; one feels trapped by his family life, whilst the other has almost no family trappings, barring the occasional bit of bullying from his older brother. whilst one chooses to escape into his imagination and draw, the other uses a video camera and, when their two worlds collide, a friendship develops. it is this friendship, along with the challenges to it (be it family or french exchange students) which dominates the film and, on the whole, it is presented very well.

and, it is the sequences of film making and the interaction between will and lee, when they are in their own world where the film is strongest, both emotionally and comically.

good stuff...

the film is currently on limited release.

jesus camp

did you get to the part yet where they say that science hasn't proven anything?



becky fischer works at a summer camp for evangelical christian children and their families. her aim is to instil the kind of religious fervour into the children, which would have them willing to die in the name of christ. the documentary focuses on a summer at the camp, the children who attend and the right-wing, christian fundamentalist message which they are being indoctrinated with.

this is a film which is fascinating, terribly sad and terrifying in equal measure. religious fundamentalism, especially when it is combined with political agendas, is never a good thing. in fact, i'd go as far as to say that it is abhorrent. heidi ewing and rachel grady have crafted a very powerful documentary, simply by allowing the likes of fischer and tom haggard to talk candidly, about their aims and their desire to promote their extremist brand of christianity to children and the american administration, bookended by footage of radio commentator mike papantonio.

a great watch, but by no means an easy film to digest.

the dvd is $13.19 from dvdpacific.com

[rec]

while you're asleep...



angela (manuela velasco) and pablo (who we never see) are at a fire station to film a night-in-the-life piece for a local tv network. pablo films, whilst angela does the talking. after becoming incredibly bored with the tedium and waiting, pretty much the every day lives of the firemen, angela and pablo set out with the two firemen they are focussing on; manu (ferran terraza) and alex (david vert), in response to the a call. they arrive at some apartments, where an old woman is said to have been trapped in her apartment; after entering the apartment, with the two cops who were already on the scene, everyone soon realises that this is not a standard call-out...

from here on in, the film degenerates into a 'resident evil'-esque rampage of the infected attacking and all hell breaking loose. thankfully, paulo is ever diligent and manages to capture the night on film. on the whole, the p.o.v. stylisation works very well but, a few times before the film's climax, its credibility is stretched. still, the frenetic pacing, after a decidedly (and very deliberately) lacklustre opening, keeps things ticking over just nicely enough to let you forgive it.

as for the zombie / infectee (not a real word) / people-who-run-fast-bite-and-infect-you element; it works well, even if some people may want more blood and gore, as opposed to the rather restrained (un)naturalistic approach which is adopted. i think i'd allowed myself to be sucked in to the hyperbole which has surrounded the film and, quite frankly, i expected to be scared witless by it. this was not the case. sure, there was tension, but there wasn't really an atmosphere that had my stomach curling in anticipation of the horror that was to come. to be honest, at times i found it a little to silly to be scared. this, from someone who considers themselves to be someone who scares pretty easily...

saying that, there was one moment, which made me physically leap and had the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. i may also have made some kind of audible noise. this, though, was a classic horror movie device which, even though it can be seen coming from a mile away, is extremely effective.

overall, it is a pretty enjoyable watch, but by no means a classic. the set up is interesting enough, if not entirely original, even if the film begins to adopt various cliched staples of the horror genre as it draws to a close. at times, i did find my mind wandering to the documentary '9/11': an actual documentary by two film-makers who were living with and filming the lives of probationary fire officers in new york when, without warning, the attack on he world trade centre took place. a film i remember being quite taken aback by...

worth a watch...

the film is currently on limited release.