The Scorsese Machine (1988)

Here’s a fascinating documentary I unearthed during a recent expedition through the digital steppes of youtube, shot for German TV in 1988 this is an hour-long look at Scorsese’s offices and working methods as he was crafting his segment of 1990’s New York Stories,  just as he was coming off the shoot of The Last Temptation of Christ and presumably as he was prepping Goodfellas. It takes a while to get going, the old motor mouth himself doesn’t really achieve top gear until part 3 but nevertheless this is a mesmerizing peak into the auteur’s working habits and urban environment some twenty-five years ago;

For the truly cinema obsessed below is the most amusing section, where we see how a pre-digital versatile disk and pre computerised cinephile satisfies his celluloid cravings, by employing an assistant to catalogue and update his bestiary of 8,000 films with weekly instructions on what to tape off the TV in the possible chance of capturing a higher quality print or transfer of any number of pictures – what a job and one assumes that such a volume of material puts your Blu-Ray / DVD collection to shame. I’m guessing you could add a zero to the current dimensions of that tally given a further quarter century of acquisitions;

An earlier section where Scorsese is mulling over the announcement of the (then) new plans for the TCM movie network reminds of an impatient child awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, as the news that the organisation have struck some new and vivid prints of some overlooked classics for transmission is a eye-watering prospect. For the Scorsese aficionados at the end there is also some terrific footage of Marty having dinner with his folks, with all the expected hilarity and story-telling that ensues – classic stuff;

I also liked the impromptu feel of the likes of Screenwriter Jay Cocks, voyeuristic pervert Brian De Palma and English renegade Michael Powell just popping round for a coffee, you don’t get this ‘behind the scenes’ sort of access these days. In other news, here is an insiders take on one of Stanley K’s less obvious and perhaps less salubrious legacies….

Theo Angelopoulos RIP

Well, how’s that for bad-timing. I’ve been aware of the name of Theo Angelopoulos for years now and a new interview with possibly the worlds most famous Greek film-maker in this months Sight & Sound simultaneously celebrated the delayed DVD release of his most recent project along with the UK release of a second volume of retrospective films. I’m quietly ashamed to admit I’ve not seen a single one of his movies and anxious as I am to expand my cinematic horizons I swiftly added these into my lovefilm queue, then todays bad news. I’m clutching at straws here but here’s an intriguing clip from his work;

When in the mood I can hugely admire and enjoy most of the so-called ‘slow cinema‘ movements meanderings and as this guy was one of the earliest practitioners of the style this could be a veritable treasure trove of material. Unfortunately it looks as if this tragic accident leaves a final film uncompleted, always a blow to the art-form, especially when it was the concluding piece to a trilogy. Some slightly more detailed coverage here.

Oscar Nominations 2012

So here we go again, I didn’t even realise that today was the big day so I’m playing catch up here. Firstly, a shocking announcement – I’m not staying up for the show this year. Look, it’s just too much hassle and it quite simply isn’t fun anymore, when it was announced that Eddie Murphy (whom I dislike) was hosting and Brett goddamn Ratner was producing it immediately soured my unusual tradition, and quite frankly when it gets to four, half-four in the morning I’m just so god-damn tired that I want the whole ridiculous extravaganza to finish so I can crawl to my bed. Ratner and Murphy have since got embroiled in a bit of controversy of course and Billy Crystal has been thawed out of retirement for another turn, whilst I’m not his biggest fan he can offer the odd one-liner but he’s not enough of a draw to continue my long-standing tradition. Ever since they abandoned crucial cinephile items like the lifetime achievement – I really wanted to see Roger Corman’s speech last year for example – in favour of dumb songs and the mere fact of blogging of the event so quickly you’re not actually enjoying the ridiculous show and cringeworthy speeches, so this year I’m just not bothering. The final nail in the coffin is the nominations themselves as there is virtually nothing in the way of excitement here, there are no real battles to observe and the total oversight of genuinely challenging fare such as Drive or Shame - not that I expected them to get much of a look- in anyway - mark this as a particularly dull year. Nevertheless like any slightly bored cinephile I do like my lists and pitting my wits against my esteemed colleagues, so as always here are my picks – as per tradition I’ve bolded those that I’ve seen, italicsed those that I think will win and underlined those which I would like to win.

Best Picture

Well let’s get started with the big ones. Only nine out of a possible ten trims the field, with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close the only surprise entry. I started listening to some commentary on that movie jst a couple of weeks ago and boy does it sound terrible, a mawkish piece of Tinsel Town cotton candy with some charming post 9/11 sentimentality thrown in to really turn the stomach. In the same category is The Help with the charming idea that it only took a plucky young white debutante to ignite the southern civil rights movement, another one of those distortions of reality that LA producers and scribes like to foist upon the gullible. Finally, just to remain negative I’m utterly mystified at the appreciation that Midnight In Paris has garnered, it’s the same ill-conceived Woody Allen upper middle class mediocrity that he’s now been foisting on us for years, and I like Woody Allen. For the most part. So, whilst I think The Artist and The Descendants are both in with a shot I’m going to pluck for (insert the inevitable underdog reference here) Moneyball, another slightly above average film which was hugely, hugely admired in the States. It should be Tree Of Life  but I really can’t see the academy going for something so unusual.

“The Artist,”

“The Descendants,”

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,”

“The Help,”

“Hugo,”

“Midnight in Paris,”

“Moneyball,”

“The Tree of Life,”

“War Horse”

Best Actor

Oh I’m sorry, I think there has been some something of an absurd mistake here – where the fuck is Fassbender? Heh, as other have noted everyone seems to be scrambling to get a copy of A Better Life following this announcement (myself included), I can’t say that it fills me with much inspiration. This is an open field with Clooney, Dujardin and Pitt all in with a shot, I’m gonna go all patriotic and fly the flag for Oldman but I reckon that it’s Brad’s year - and I bet all the Andy Serkis fans are all going ape…and no Michael Shannon for Take Shelter  has got some muttered curses as well.

Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”

George Clooney, “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Actress

Oh I’m sorry, I think there has been some something of an absurd mistake here – where the fuck is Tilda? What a joke, and I have to say that this list is looking particularly average although, granted, I haven’t seen the majority of the films yet and I’m just going on rumour and innuendo. This may change as I acquire the other three pictures over the next fortnight, although neither of the remaining trio fill me with any great thoughts of a world-changing experience. In the interim I’m going with Mara, she managed to equal a well-loved, attention gathering performance that must have really put the pressure on her, and her take on the character was different enough to be uniquely distinctive. I’m really, really  not looking forward enduring The Iron Lady but one has to make sacrifices, just like that witch did every fucking full moon….

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis, “The Help”

Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Supporting Actor

Well, looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me again, so very difficult to make an early choice. I’m going to have to go with the favourite of Chris Plummer which does sound like quite an unusal role, I think I’m accurate in claiming that there haven’t been many gay pensioner movies out there recently….

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”;

Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”;

Nick Nolte, “Warrior”;

Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”;

Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Supporting Actress

Two nods for The Help eh? Hmm. Well, Melissa McCarthy is in with a chance as many people noted her unglamorous turn in a genuinely amusing picture, but those Hollywood types like to be all liberal and that so I reckon Octavia Spencer will get this one. Who would I prefer? I honestly don’t care. They were all perfectly serviceable performances but none of them jump out as anything remarkable but I’ll go with Melissa as at least something funny which is quite a rare type of nomination – a female comedic turn.

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”

Jessica Chastain, “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”

Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”

Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

Directing

Another tricky one. Allen and Malick are out as they ain’t exactly the Hollywood schmoozers, which leaves a Frenchman, a previous winner and a Payne. The most remarkable achievement is of course Malick’s as he’s the only one here you genuinely broke the mould, whilst one can admire Hazanavicius’s temerity and chutzpah in getting a ‘silent’ movie made – and it’s not a ‘silent’ movie but that’s a debate for another post – the film itself wasn’t that amazingly directed as reeling off some scenes culled from the art forms history is really not that difficult. Then again I’ll probably come back and change this prior to the ceremony in a last minute panic, but for now lets go with Alexander as The Descendants is the pedigree of light, pathos riven comedies that the Academy admires;

Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”

Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

Foreign Language Film

Jesus, this category never gets any easier – where do these films come from? I’ve not even heard of Bullhead or In Darkness, apart from A Separation  the other two haven’t got European releases to the best of my (admittedly slim) knowledge. I clearly need to do some research here, but A Separation  should definitely be the winner as it has soaked up all the other awards and is highly placed on every critics of note ‘Best Of’ lists, thus I’m guessing its the certain winner as most of the voters won’t even have heard of the others. Then again, that Japanese film Departures (which is excellent by the way) did cause that upset back in 2009….

“Bullhead,” Belgium

“Footnote,” Israel

“In Darkness,” Poland

“Monsieur Lazhar,” Canada

“A Separation,” Iran

Adapted Screenplay

Another tough call. Again I’d like to root for Tinker Tailor for diluting down a massive book to a comprehensible couple of hours, but Moneyball was particularly praised for its wordsmith’s so it could be Sorkin’s year again…

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”

John Logan, “Hugo”

George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon “The Ides of March”

Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”

Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Original Screenplay

Surprised to see Margin Call in there, and A Separation for that matter. I think Woody might get this as some sort of consolation prize, it The Artist gets in then it’s bound to be in the running for the other major nominations, I’d like to see Bridesmaids get this as a bit of an upset;

Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”

J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”

Animated Feature Film

I think Rango might be just a little, well, odd for the Academy’s taste, although Panda was just a re-tread of the first one I think it made a fuckload of money so could take this one.

“A Cat in Paris”

“Chico & Rita”

“Kung Fu Panda 2″

“Puss in Boots”

“Rango”

Art Direction

Hugo or The Artist are the front-runners here.

“The Artist”

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″

“Hugo”

“Midnight in Paris”

“War Horse”

Cinematography

This is toss-up between Robert Richardson for Hugo and the stunning work of Emmanuelle Lubezki for The Tree Of Life, both of whom achieved career best work. I’d like to see the latter take this but I’d be happy with a win for Richardson, so this is a win-win.

“The Artist”

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

“Hugo”

“The Tree of Life”

“War Horse”

Sound Mixing

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

“Hugo”

“Moneyball”

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

“War Horse”

Sound Editing

Lets hope Drive at least gets something, if not then Dragon Tattoo should spirit this one away.

“Drive”

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

“Hugo”

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

“War Horse”

Original Score

If Williams wins then there is no god, War Horse had to be one of the most tepid and by the numbers scores he’s ever produced and Tintin was little more than average. No Dragon Tattoo is another crime, as the nomination of The Artist which pulled most of its score from other god-damn movies!! Weird. I liked Tinker Tailor so I’m opting for that, but I think Hugo will get the prize.

“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams

“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource

“Hugo,” Howard Shore

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias

“War Horse,” John Williams.

Original Song

50/50, it’s gotta be the beloved Muppets, right?

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie

“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

Costume

Oh jesus, this means I have to watch W.E. as well. Why do I do this to myself?

“Anonymous,”

“The Artist,”

“Hugo,”

“Jane Eyre,”

“W.E.”

Documentary Feature

Again, the Academy seem to have really fallen asleep on the job here with both Senna and The Interrupters, both regarded as amongst the best documentaries of recent years, completely overlooked. Complete guess here until I do some research, Pina was very good though which could pirouette away with a gong…

“Hell and Back Again”

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,”

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”

“Pina”

“Undefeated”

Documentary (short subject)

No idea until I track some of these down, so let’s go with the Tsumani one; 

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”

“God Is the Bigger Elvis”

“Incident in New Baghdad”

“Saving Face”

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

Film Editing

Hugo and Dragon Tattoo were probably the most accomplished if memory serves, particularly the former with the added difficulty of cutting 3D which is that much more difficult. Nevertheless I think that The Artist will get this;

“The Artist”

“The Descendants”

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

“Hugo”

“Moneyball”

Makeup

I’m going with Harry Potter due to the scale and complexity of the work;

“Albert Nobbs”

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″

“The Iron Lady”

Animated Short Film

No idea. I’ll check back but lets guess with Flying Books; EDIT – Just watched the Flying Books short and it was excellent – link below. It’s the kind of anti-kindle metaphor I can get behind.

“Dimanche/Sunday“

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore“

“La Luna”

“A Morning Stroll”

“Wild Life“

Live Action Short Film

As above;

“Pentecost”

“Raju”

“The Shore”

“Time Freak”

“Tuba Atlantic”

Visual Effects

It’s gotta be the Apes movie. As impressive as Hugo was ROTPOTA was an envelope pusher, and Potter was text-book stuff that was nothing new.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″

“Hugo”

“Real Steel”

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Haywire (2012)

If Matt Damon had been Bourne with a vagina then he’d be the star of Haywire, Steven Soderbergh’s frantic new recruit to the Hollywood action movie genre. Always the great experimentalist who has assaulted any number of generic arenas with his rejuvenating approach to the form, it looks to me as if Steven had become exasperated with the conventions of the modern action movie and decided to throw his beret into the disoriented ring with this enormously entertaining and exciting movie, what it may lack in depth or substance is camouflaged with an unadorned visual purity and epinephrine pulsing gait that left me breathless and exhausted as the credits began to roll. The film arrives at a felicitous time following the recent adoration of this optical article (here’s the second dossier) which charts the genre’s alleged recent descent, whatever your thoughts on the authors assertions that’s an impeccably executed thesis which argues for cohesion over chaos, for definition over destruction, the audible concerns with Nolan’s soon to be completed trilogy may just inspire a symmetrical trifecta. In a similar stroke (if you’ll excuse the expression) of casting real life porn star Sasha Gray* as the high-class call-girl of the unfairly maligned The Girlfriend Experience, in Haywire Soderbergh  pulls an identical trick (if you’ll excuse the expression) by casting real life mixed martial art champion Gina Carano in the central role, a casting Coup d’état which exposes a central heroine without any baggage or preconceived notions, unless I guess you’re au fait with the testosterone aligned world of Ultimate Fighting  and all that homo-erotic sweaty grappling. As much as I throughly enjoyed Mission Impossible IV  a few weeks back this defeats that mega-production with an insurgents deadly improvisation, so let’s get into this hazy world of espionage and combat….

With an opening sortie at a chilly Colorado diner (see below) and then rarely depressing the brakes, Haywire charts the adrenaline fuelled antics of Mallory (Carano), a dusky eyed, privatised, covert operations specialist who finds herself betrayed and on the run following a possible double cross by her buzz-cut, supercilious corporate handler Kenneth (that’s Ewan McGregor with yet another unmoored accent) in a deadly game of cat and mouse that spans the Atlantic. Unspooling within the confines of Soderbergh’s trademark tampering with continuity and continuum, after the extraction of a Chinese dissident from the clutches of his Barcelona situated kidnappers Mallory receives a new assignment which sees her transitioning to Dublin, playing wingwoman to a slightly murky MI6 plot to, well, I’m not entirely sure what  she was doing in Ireland, other than impersonating the recently wedded wife of British intelligence agent Paul (Michael Fassbender, superb as always) she soon discovers that both commissions are linked and her status as an independent asset have been lethally compromised. A starry crop of supporting players are exposed as the film charges on, from Michael Douglas as a senior Intelligence комисса́ , from Bill Paxton as Mallory’s encrypted father, and Antonio Banderas as a suspiciously bearded foreign mediator, they battle with Mallory at their peril as I believe she has recently been included in the Oxford Encyclopedia Dictionary definition of ‘broads with whom one does not fuck with’;

Sometimes a movie experience urges me to abandon the film critic conventions of a measured and studious tone, so let me make this perfectly clear – this film was Fucking Awesome. It’s not often I find myself compelled to see a film at the movies twice, that’s an achievement that’s been inspired by only a few films over the past couple of years (Tree Of Life  for example was the only film that achieved entry to that lofty plateau in 2011) but this was such direct and unexpurgated fun that I’m already planning a repeat performance. It’s light, its breezy, devoid of any domineering political or social subtexts, like The Artist  it’s more an exercise in chiffon technique and style, but sometimes that exterior ambition is enough to secure a permanent smirk over a compact and enthralling 90 minute run-time. The action sequences – and there are just about the right amount without signalling themselves as ‘set-piece’ time as they are organically embroidered into the films relentless forward momentum – are not shattered into incomprehensible shards, they are all photographed with enough temperance, distance and a crucial pace to make the spacial and timing definitions crystal clear, and consequently the stakes for survival and your contract with Mallory’s quest are impeccably elevated. I’ve heard rumours of disgruntled film fans bemoaning Carano’s acting prowess and this discontent should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves, she’s no thespian for sure but she does muster a genuine and dexterous on-screen presence that stainlessly clots with the movies surface ambitions, just as a few touches of make-up unrealistically counterfeit the bruises of Mallroy’s energetic engagements. 

Under the veiled and concealed cinematographer pseudonym of Peter George, a union enforced proviso that always plays well in movie trivia quizzes, Soderbergh exfoliates the piece with a cautiously beautiful, simultaneously warm and icy glow through his usual deployment of aureate and cobalt filters with just enough suppression to accentuate the drama without descending into a Tony Scott or Paul W.S. Anderson visual morass, and frequent collaborator David Holmes is on sonic duties with a jaunty, perky and casually whimsical score which reminds us that this should all be considered as a bit of stimulating frivolity, if you appreciated the Ocean’s Eleven  harmonics  then you’re on the right side. Even the exposition scenes, the textbook ‘lets explain the plot’ fractions are approached from an oblique shooting angle, without attracting unwelcome attention to themselves Soderbergh keeps things fresh and engaging through an oscilliating rhythm that bounces from Europe to North America as the back story and current threat is coetaneously revealed. I love the films aura of unrelenting anxiety with its sense of explosive violence striking at any moment, yet unlike the other mercenaries in the action movie garrison the film never feels out of control or inflicting deleterious destruction without rhyme or reason, heck it even slightly slows down in its final operations with a flash of Soderbergh’s cheeky humor, I’ll certainly enlist for another assignment as this could easily be the first in a high-voltage, invigorating franchise. Slightly more enjoyable than your senses being pummeled with a sock full of celluloid snooker balls, (an experience which seems to encompass most action film these days), in the midst of the award season with Oscar seeking fare littering the multiplexes Haywire is better than babysitting a juvenile guerrila, more a female Spartan than a suckish, err, Punch,  this is a terrific movie and here’s the first five minutes;

*Find your own links you fucking pervert.

Swede Wars (2012?)

I’m not sure what this is, but I think I like it;

I must admit it’s hilariously watchable, purely by virtue of the frequent changes which make it exceptionally amusing and interesting – the cantina scene was terrific. In other news, SOPA was neutralised….and if this piece gets clipped then this might last longer. A&J may be mystified….

War Horse (2012)

You must have heard the joke by now – A War Horse walks into a pub and the barman says ‘Hey, what’s with the long film?’ and lengthy it is, as over the course of two and a half hours Steven Spielberg programmes his viewfinder to ‘epic’ mode with an adjacent instruction of ‘majestic sweep’ in this grandiose adaptation of the 1982 Michael Morpurgo novel and subsequent smash hit theatre production which has enjoyed sold out-runs on both the London and New York circuit. It’s not difficult to see what attracted the king of gloopy sentimentality to this project, what with the mud drenched butchery of the First World War being stoically witnessed by a faintly anthropomorphized protagonist whom immediately seizes the audiences heartstrings, whether its doe-eyed youngsters, a stressful family dynamic or an inadvertently abandoned extraterrestrial you don’t need to absorb the credits to assess who’s behind the camera. Spielberg’s touchstones for this project are also fairly obvious, he’s clearly spent the last year reviewing the work of his heroes John Ford, David Lean and Victor Fleming as the film has an almost anachronistic feel of Hollywood that thrives on awe-inspiring spectacle and widescreen landscapes, heck there may even be a touch of Stanley J. Kubrick in one sequence but naturally I’ll come back to that. If you enjoy the strand of Spielberg’s career that privileges the historical epic, whether that be the pollen hued wheat fields of South Georgia in The Colour Purple, the corpse strewn beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan or the desperate refugee camp of The Empire Of The Sun then War Horse will gladly to report for duty, it’s rather unsubtle juxtaposition of bombastic spectacle and saccharine emotion won’t be to everyone’s taste, but this just about managed to sabotage my low blubber diet.

Devon, South West England, the early 20th century. The proud but struggling Narracott family of farmers have a new acquisition to the family courtesy of hard-drinking Ted (Peter Mullan), the cavalier patriarch of the family whose unmentionable experiences in the Boer War have left him with a limp and a bitter taste for the demon drink. When he brings home a noble young stallion his teenage son Albert (Jeremy Irvine) is soon besotted with the latest addition to the family, and sets about breaking him in to the gruelling tasks of rural life. His fierce yet loving mother Rose (Emily Watson) fears that her husbands booze soused pride has got the better of him and the outrageous 30 guineas he has paid for the mare means they won’t be able to settle their rent to scheming landlord (David Thewlis) who is hungrily eyeing the Narracott farm as a small addition to his development portfolio. But soon events of a wider nature overtake these local concerns, the First World War is declared and Ted is forced to sell Joey to the Army in order to alleviate his financial pressures and assist in the war effort, and Albert makes a tearful promise to one day be reconciled and reunited with his equine brother. The film then moves into vignette, episodic mode as Joey’s sojourn in France sees him passing from master to slaver, from British to French then German, both military and civilian, a pious observer of a land racked by terrible slaughter and carnage.  

Your reaction to War Horse will probably be dictated by your resistance to Spielberg’s iconoclastic cloying sentimentality, this is probably his most directly manipulative picture since he embarked on those literary translations back in the mid 1980′s but if you’re amendable to such fare then there is much to enjoy. The epic scenes are a veritable smorgasbord of grandiosity with a capital ‘wow’, with call-backs to epoch defining scenes such as this and heightened, treacly lighting affectations such as this, which are particularly resonant in the films closing moments. The already famous charge through no-mans-land by Joey is simply breath-taking from a compositional and editing stand-point, and an extended trench battle sequence is equal to the horrific D-Day landings that opened Saving Private Ryan, Steveo has evidently been reviewing other presentations of celluloid battle for inspiration and influence. On the other trajectory the cloying score and occasional wince inducing exchanges between Joey and Albert might have you fumbling for the vomit bag, but the film is outrageously open about its facade and mannerisms so from its opening scenes so you’ll be able to assess if you need a refund. I’m obviously getting soft in my old age as for the most part I was swept along in the scope of Spielberg’s expansive canvass, although I grimaced at a few moments that ladle on the syrupy melodrama  if you let yourself go then even a potentially ham-fisted collaboration between a British Tommy and German infantryman (which made me cringe when I heard about it on a podcast review) actually works on-screen as the noble stallion ushers forth a shred of humanity in the midst of the horror. Harkening back to a simpler time with some impressively fustian arrangements, War Horse may just trot away with your heart;

*Whilst we’re on the subject of bearded tyrants, this article is shocking, at least once every paragraph I had to check the date and make sure it wasn’t April 1st – words fail me, particularly utterances such as ‘these people?’

John Dies At The End (2012) Trailer

Another day, another slice of revolting horror – professional help is being sought;

For reasons apparent to friends who know me beyond my Internet handle the title of this film jumped out at me from this years Sundance programme, the prospect of genre director Don Coscarelli - he of Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep fame – returning to the big screen after a ten-year hiatus also marks this as an enviable catch. It looks faintly interesting with the potential for some amusement, good to see award nominated Paul Giamatti ‘slumming it’ as well….

The Horror Portfolio

I should probably keep this for the next Halloween post but sod it, it;s another slow news day and I need some filler whilst I wrap up my War Horse review;

Superbly edited as usual – 64 movies in just under 5 minutes, so how many can you name?

Margin Call (2012)

It’s taken a while – almost four years by my calendar – but eventually the dire progenitors of the age of austerity seem to have finally percolated into the emissions of the dream factory. Whilst the likes of The Company Men, Up In The Air and even Horrible Bosses offer obtuse takes on the slow disintegration of the current financial ideology, zeroing in the individual symptoms rather than the brooding cancer at the core, after the Oscar success of Inside Job the path seems clear for a fictional tale on the 2008 commercial devastation foisted on the world by the 1% and their ambitious acolytes. I’ve always found this cabalistic world  immensely fascinating, having worked at one of these firms for a few years back in the noughties any audit of the seductive world of elite commerce is destined to broker my interest, but even before that experiment I was always beguiled by the cinematic examinations of these ludicrous buttresses to our alleged civilisation  in the likes of Wall Street, Boiler Room, American Psycho, The Insider  and personal favourites Primer and Rollover, at the risk of punting out into tinfoil hat territory I’m more than a little surprised at the paucity of movies that illuminate this enormously powerful, intrinsically embedded pushers of zeroes and ones that would seem to offer so many qualities that are attuned to the silver screen - glamour, power, wealth and hubris. As the Eurozone vacillates, as the BRIC’s swagger, here’s an autopsy of a source, is Margin Call  junk bond worthless or Triple AAA+ investment grade product? Let’s find out….

Charting a turbulent 24 hours in the life of a Wall Street investment firm Margin Call  begins with a chilling cull of junior traders and some venerable senior analysts, delivered in the Orwellian doublespeak of 21st century capitalism the assassins come with smiles and rationalised portfolios, conducting the cordial bloodshed with the ruthless efficiency of an Einsatzgruppen liquidation squad. Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) and his colleague Seth (Penn Badgley) keep their heads down and survive the carnage whilst their mentor Eric (the always interesting Stanley Tucci) finds his twenty-five years of service worth nothing in the face of the imperious, truculent and unrelenting march of commerce. Escorting his former boss to the elevators Eric hands a datastick to Peter and urges him to finish off the project he was working on and warns him to ‘be careful’, an unusual breach of etiquette where a single shard of human concern triggers alarm bells in his protegé’s curious mind. After reviewing and accentuating the material Peter makes a chilling discovery – the firm is stretched to breaking point due to its embrace of the hugely profitable but poisonous subprime derivatives, if they cannot reconcile their disastrous positions before the Street detects their Achilles heel the 107 year old corporation will fall. Turning to their trading floor idol Will (Paul Bettany) Peter disseminates the gloom, and he in turn summons Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey, exemplary) back to the office to formulate a disaster recovery plan. Soon the highest echelons of the firm are en route to assess the crisis, including senior risk department head Sarah Robinson (Demi Moore) and the regally supercilious CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) who formulates a plan – and the world will never be the same again…

The New Yorker claims that Margin Call  is the greatest Wall Street film ever made, whilst such a claim is as inflated as a CEO’s exorbitant compensation package this is a taut, arresting and accomplished drama, with an aggregation of fine performances across its portfolio of thespians old and new. It’s shareholder strength is in portraying the current bete noir - the investment banker and its ancillaries – as flawed human beings, both empathic and distasteful, trapped in a commercial prism dictated by the vacant yet powerful trappings of consonant capitalism. Debut director J.C. Chandor suffers a little from a condition I’m calling firstfilmitius with some unnecessary visual flourishes and tinkering with focal planes, but for the most part this is a handsomely mounted, mostly consuming drama which gives his prestigious cast the chance to trade dialogue and character, as they nervously prowl their aseptic paddocks as the potential crisis intensifies. The film builds an impressive, time-bound, remorseless  momentum that mirrors the capricious nature of these traders activities, it’s quite the deal to make palatable the arcane and mysterious drifts of these incomprehensible financial instruments which are quite rightly regulated to MacGuffin territory. We rarely leave the firms vacant offices, observing the outside world as a petulant toddler would examine the alien struggles of his extempore ant farm, it’s a cool, precocious and temperate realm where firings and sacrifices are accepted with a resigned and accepted neutrality. There are shades of Glengarry Glen Ross in the esoteric language and clipped dialogue repetitions that are worthy of Mamet at his pre 9/11 best, albeit diluted to a less arch and mannered profligacy, and Kevin Spacey hasn’t been this good in a decade with his resigned and ethically conflicted Sararīman a curious ancillary to his bourgeois rejection in American Beauty, but it’s Jeremy Irons predatory strutting as a thinly veiled xerox of Lehman Brothers CEO (John Tuld = Richard Fuld) who superbly closes the deal, he gets the best speech at the close of the film that gilds the entire investment. Although the film fizzles out rather than ending with a boom, perhaps minuting that although some things may change they always remain the same, Margin Call is equity expenditure that is worthy of your time;

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Trailer

Well this has got the film loving corners of the internet in a flutter;

Hmm. I’m not sure where I stand on Wes Anderson, I liked Rushmore, Tenenbaums and Bottle Rocket, but his last few films have been pretty insipid, horribly twee chores and this looks no different. I can see why people like him and others loathe him, but Bill Murray’s passing appearance at the end made me laugh so I’ll give it a chance, if only for the strong ensemble cast. In other news this amuses me no end….