Be Kind, Rewind

I know my video shops. My first ever proper job – not counting paper rounds – was at a charming video shop in my home town of  Peterborough at the tender age of fifteen. That particular career lasted well into my eighteenth year and I returned to the retail trade whilst at college, taking a job at the glorious ‘Star Video’ to supplement my meagre student grant and loans. I’ve advised Grandmothers to rent ’Driller Killer‘ for their grandchild’s birthday parties, sniggered at businessmen discreetly returning their porn rentals, furtively produced from their briefcases whilst on the commuter run home and offended punters by devastatingly mocking their choice of Pauly Shore or Rob Schneider rentals. Some of my mates at college once likened me to the great Randall of ‘Clerks’ fame,  an accolade that still brings tears of joy to my eyes. Any film revolving around the video trade inevitably holds a personal appeal to me, so it was with eager anticipation I settled down to watch Gondry’s new film ‘Be Kind, Rewind’ at the flicks last night.

 

Part time conspiracy theorist Jerry (Frank Black) becomes magnetised after he breaks in to the local power station, convinced that the operation is emitting dangerous radiation waves. After visiting his friend Mike (Mos Def) he unintentionally wipes all the tapes at the video store that Mike works in which is owned by local figure Mr. Fletcher, played with craggy charm by Danny Glover. The store is already facing bankruptcy and is being threatened with demolition to make way for a development of luxury condominiums. In a desperate effort to keep the store afloat, Jerry and Mike start to remake the movies on the cheap, using homemade props and costumes, shooting on their cheap video camera and using local characters and friends as actors and extras.

Despite having some fertile ground to mine – the entire history of film – I’m sorry to report that this does not work. The jokes and script are weak and even the remakes barely raised a titter amongst the audience, myself included. There are a couple of moments that portray Gondry’s unique inventiveness but overall it just doesn’t gel, it doesn’t charm like the ‘Science of Sleep’ or ‘Eternal Sunshine…’ It’s the old Progress versus Tradition theme, dressed up in a different manner but still yawn inducingly dull, mirroring the VHS to DVD evolution with the flattening of the local community video shop to usher in the garish new apartments. The trailer has all the funny moments, and that speaks volumes. It’s real a shame as I was looking forward to this, a good comedy in the midst of a series of great but very dark films that have graced the start of 2008 would have been welcome. Still, it has reminded me to track this down, a film I saw the trailer for a couple of years ago and thought could be funny, I shall report back.

Kubrick Restrospective, London Barbican

 

Yes, yes I know – another bloody Kubrick post. I’ll try not to bore you too much but this is a simple matter of timing - from last Thursday to this week the London Barbican was hosting a full retrospective of Kubrick’s work, accompanied by an exhibition of props, press clippings and other miscellanea on loan from the Kubrick estate. It strikes me as a precursor of the full Kubrick Estate Exhibition which has ran in Frankfurt and Rome over the past few years and is due to come to London later this year before heading off to the states. I think I might pop along, if I’ve got nothing better to do of course. The full retrospective was great as it has finally given me the opportunity to see the two films of Kubrick’s that I’ve not seen on the big screen, and a chance to catch the underrated ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ again with a Q&A with producer and Kubrick brother in law Jan Harlan.

 

The exhibition really wasn’t an exhibition, more of a small collection of materials used to bump up the foyer entrance to the cinema. Nevertheless for yours truly it was of course fascinating, with some real artefacts from Stan’s career, photos of which I’ve attached above. The gem was the typewritten pages of ‘All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy‘ which was fantastic to see, and I quite liked the periodicals from ‘Orange’.

  

I don’t have the time or inclination to draft full reviews so I’ll just throw a couple of paragraphs up on each film, with some initial thoughts on seeing it on the big screen.

 

‘Eyes Wide Shut‘ - was of course Kubrick’s last film, released shortly after his death in 1999 and was widely regarded as a failure and a ‘minor’ Kubrick. Par for the course, I’ve seen a slow reversal of this opinion over the past few years as once again Kubrick shows himself to be light years ahead of his peers and a number of positive reconsiderations of the film have been published.

A psychosexual drama on love and marriage, trust and deception and the necessary ‘masks’ we wear in our public and private lives? A prophecy on the increasing sexualisation of our society, stemming from the then (current) internet porn explosion? A voyeuristic examination of sexual jealousy? All or none of the above? This is a film that I watch about once a year and always get something new out of it – and no, that’s not due to the notorious ‘orgy’ scene. Why is it set at Christmas, a time of expectation and imagination which leads to there being a Christmas tree in almost every shot? How much of it is actually real and not a dream, Bill’s revenge fantasy steming from Alice’s confession in the bedroom? What is exactly going on in that scene toward the end with Bill and Ziegler in the Pool Room? Heck, I don’t know. I do think the film is a little too long (Shock, Gasp, hold the front page – Minty critical of Kubrick Shock!! Film at 11.00) but still find it fascinating and this is from someone who really didn’t like it, didn’t get it when he first saw it on its initial release.

Harlan was a gracious speaker and got the biggest laugh when he explained that ‘Stanley always wanted Tom Cruise for the part of the frustrated Bill Harford as he…he is the biggest loser <big laugh>……meaning that it would be interesting to invert Cruise’s image as a handsome alpha male and thwart him from every reaching his sexual goal and avenge his wife’s confession’. He took us through the films 25 years gestation – Kubrick became interested in the ’Traumnovelle‘ back in the early 1970’s and struggled with the film for decades. He made the excellent point that something like ‘The Shining’ is easy in comparison – it has a linear plot and the events are pretty evident. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ on the other hand is more difficult, and how you invest the themes in the story, plot and characters is so much more difficult.

 

‘Spartacus‘ – The final sentimental moment of Spartacus has never rung true as a real ‘Kubrick’ and some of the dialogue is clunky, but this is still the best of the cycle of Hollywood ‘epics’ which ran throughout the mid-50’s to the late 60’s. I don’t really have much to say about it – it was never my favourite film and there is not a great deal in it that particulalrly grabs me.  I guess the epic battles are pretty good for the time, and it’s amusing to see the Roman forces being moved around the canvas of the screen like a chessboard as we all know that Kubrick was a superb chess player don’t we? 

The best story I’ve heard in relation to ‘Spartacus’ is more than likely a great urban myth – well, it sounds like an urban myth but even if its true, it’s funny. One of Kirk Douglas sons – not Michael – was performing some stand-up comedy at a club in LA. He was not going down well and being constantly heckled by the audience. In desperation, finally losing the plot he suddenly yelled ‘Look, do you know who I am, I’m Kirk Douglas Son!!’ to which one of the hecklers stood up and said ‘No, I’m Kirk Douglas son‘, then another got up and said, ‘No, I’m Kirk Douglas som’, then another, and another….

 

‘Full Metal Jacket‘ - People tend to criticise Full Metal Jacket due to its aloof central character and that perennial bane of Kubrick - that it is cold and unengaging. Well, I’m not sure what war movie needs to be warm and funny but maybe that’s just me. It’s a film with a structure that is very carefully constructed showing the dehumanisation of the recruits in the first section and a series of vignettes of the war in the second, both of which punctuated with a cathartic shooting (Um, spoliers, obviously). This was excellent on the big screen, the horrendous Sgt. Hartman’s treatment of the recruits is by turns shocking and funny, and the final sequences in the bombed out city looked terrific on the big screen.

I could go into one about the Lacan references on the duality of man and again how that informs the structure of the film – two halves, man killed in the first half, woman in the second, the duality of soldier versus civilian being blurred in ‘nam, it being one of the first films I can recall to illuminate the militaries corruption of language – ‘Search & Destroy’ changed to ‘Sweep and Clear’ but I’ll just leave you with this outstanding sequence.

Oscar 2008 Results

 

Well, the results are in and a can happily say that after a 50% prediction hit rate last year, this year I managed…….50%. Twelve out of 24. That’s actually not bad if you consider the total guess work that is involved with the short films and documentary subjects – well, that’s my excuse anyway. With the exception of Best Actress, I got every major category winner correct so I’m happy with that. Trust the French to screw things up eh?

Best Picture

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? Of course. I think ‘Blood’ was a little too esoteric for most of the academy, thus the default vote for ‘Country’. I can accept that happily for me, at least they weren’t robbed by some terrible film.

Best Director

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman, Juno
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? Again, quite happy to be right on this and was amused by Ethan’s acceptance speech – ‘I don’t have much to add to what I already said, so thanks’. Succinct!!

Best Actor

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Did I get it right? Obviously.

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

Did I get it right? No.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Did I get it right? Oh yes.

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James…
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Did I get it right? Easy one, and yes.

Best Foreign Language Film

Beaufort, Israel
The Counterfeiters, Austria
Katyn, Poland
Mongol, Kazakhstan
12, Russia

Did I get it right? Yes, I guessed as the Academy always likes a holocaust film – seemed as good a reason as any.

Best Animated Feature Film

Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf’s Up

Did I get it right? Yes, given the outstanding reviews it had to be the rat movie.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? Yup.

Best Original Screenplay

Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

Did I get it right? No.

Best music (Score)

Atonement
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma

Did I get it right? No, I honestly can’t remember a single thing about the score for Atonement which may or may not be a good sign. Not an especially strong bunch of candidates anyway, since ‘Blood’ was excluded this is all largely redundant anyway.

Best Music (Song)

Falling Slowly – Once (performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
Happy Working Song – Enchanted (performed by Amy Adams)
Raise It Up – August Rush (performed by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact Repertory Theatre)
So Close – Enchanted (performed by Jon McLaughlin)
That’s How You Know – Enchanted (performed by Amy Adams)

Did I get it right? No.

Best Documentary Feature

No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance

Did I get it right? Nah.

Best Documentary Short Subject

Freeheld
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari’s Mother

Did I get it right? Yes, not bad for a guess !!

Best Visual Effects

The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Transformers

Did I get it right? No, this must be a  joke, the CGI was terrible in ‘Compass’ but as I said before, not much competition.

Best Cinematography

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? No, nice to see Elswert win for ‘Blood’ as it also looked terrific.

Best Art Direction

American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? No. I honestly can’t think what was going through my mind when I opted for ‘Blood’ over ‘Sweeny Todd’ which now seems the obvious choice.

Best Animated Short Film

I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf

Did I get it right? Yes. Another lucky guess.

Best Short Film

At Night
Il Supplente
Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

Did I get it right? Nope.

Best Costume Design

Across the Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Vie en Rose
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Did I get it right? Yes, always have to opt for the big, flashy costume period films for this category I think.

Best Make-Up

La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Did I get it right? Yes.

Best Sound Mixing

The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers

Did I get it right? No, ‘Bourne’ robbed ‘Men’ on this I think, the sound design was so atmospheric and tension building as opposed to deafening everyone. Pah….

Sound Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

Did I get it right? No, as above.

Best Film Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Did I get it right? Another crime. ‘Bourne’ won, and while it’s quite effective at giving you the story in several thousand cuts quantity does not mean quality, it does not trump being able to tell a story with dexterity and style as is the case with just about all the other nominees. That whole frenetic style is actually something of a cliche now I think….

There Will Be Blood

There have been Baftas, there have been Golden Globes and There Will Be Oscars. I’ve seen it twice and may be going to see it again this week – if that doesn’t convey just how utterly spellbinding this film is then nothing will. It’s a masterpiece, and I use that word being fully aware of its grandiosity and serious connotations. Now let me try and explain why.

In a bravura, not quite dialogue free opening twenty minute sequence we are introduced to Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a harsh, resilient prospector who is scrabbling in the dust and unearthly desert heat of late nineteenth century California to retrieve the precious scarce silver entombed in the mountains. By chance he stumbles across oil, wordlessly instructing his ill-equipped yet resourceful crew to drive further into the earth to plunder its concealed wealth. After an accident orphans one of his men’s children, Plainview adopts the child as his son, in one revealing scene anointing the child with oil as a fevered prayer for success.

13 years later and now a powerful figure, Plainview is informed of possible massive reserves of oil beneath the settlement of Little Boston, California. He visits the area and charms the residents into allowing him to drill and consequently financially bless their fragile community. There is however one obstacle to Plainview’s relentless and obsessive desire for wealth and power, his nemesis Ely, (superbly played by Paul Dano) Little Boston’s idealistic young preacher. The film is the story of their titanic clash of egos, their spiritual combat seemingly at times in struggle for the very soul of Daniels son.

The references and influences are clear. Director Paul Thomas Anderson ran Huston’s ‘The Treasure of Sierra Madre‘ throughout the writing process and he has clearly also been inspired by the likes of ‘Giant‘, ‘Citizen Kane’ and most critically ‘Days of Heaven’ – heck he even brought in the same production designer. Anderson used the book ‘Oil’ as his starting point and as he researched the history he slowly moulded and developed the film into nothing less than an almost biblical parable on greed, suffering and power, refracted through the prism of the American dream.

OK, let’s start with the central strut of the film – the performance by Daniel Day Lewis. I must confess that he is not one of my favourite actors. He is a terrific presence but I thought his performance in projects such as ‘Gangs of New York’ transformed an already flawed and diluted film into a total mess with his scene chewing antics being incredibly tiresome. He is so obviously ‘acting’ that you are distanced from the film and fail to connect to the characters or events on any emotional level. In ‘There Will Be Blood’ he has crafted one of the best performances I have ever seen on the big screen. From the start you’re not looking at Day-Lewis, you’re not looking at an actor – he is Daniel Plainview. In scene after scene he pummels you into submission, strategically revealing small clues to reveal that beneath this monster, beneath this misanthropic devil there is a human being with the same fears and needs as the rest of us. I immediately saw the grizzled John Huston in this performance, which in turn gives the film a tangible and very interesting connection to that other American classic ‘Chinatown’ where it was water, not oil that was the metaphor for commerce and capital, corruption and avarice.

 

Next, the score composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. Controversially this was rendered illegal over some dispute of its similarity to some of the classical pieces used over the end credits – no, I’m not sure what they’re talking about either. I read in the paper over the weekend that this was due to the machinations of fellow composer James Newton Howard who was obviously feeling threatened by such an assault on traditional film composing -  Screw ‘em, this element of the film is beyond outstanding, it is utterly transformative and is unlike any other score with the exception of the atonal pieces in ‘The Shining’ or ‘2001′ – I’ll come back to that. This piece for example is one of the most beautiful and haunting pieces of music I’ve ever heard, when laid over the breathtaking montage of Plainview’s prospectors arriving at Little Boston, well, you have a sequence of such beauty that it literally brought tears to my eyes at both viewings. 

Some critics have speaking about this being PT Anderson’s ‘mature’ film which I think is patronising to say the least. Someone please tell me the immaturity in the build-up of tension in this sequence, or the sweeping multi-character montages in ‘Magnolia’? If ’Boogie Nights’ is his Scorsese, and ‘Magnolia’ his Altman – is this his Malick? Not quite, this for me is his Kubrick – to employ that aforementioned phrase this is a film that is pushing at the boundaries, straining at the limits of traditional, narrative cinema. Quite apart from the atonal score that brings to mind ‘The Shining’ or the wordless first half hour which of course recalls ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, he closes the film on a scene that is so incongruous, so out of tone and place to the preceding two hours and twenty minutes on your first viewing that you wonder what the hell happened – that’s Kubrick at work. It is quite telling that I, along with the most of the audience, was in hysterics at some of the events, developments and dialogue in the scene the first time I saw the film. The second time round however there was the odd nervous chuckle emanating from the audience but certainly no full on belly laughs – this I think illustrates just how it has polarised audiences. The second time round it fits perfectly and is tune with Andersons penchant for injecting magical realism in his films, think of the rain of frogs and sudden switch to the characters singing the soundtrack in ‘Magnolia‘, or the kaleidoscopic interludes in ‘Punch Drunk Love‘.  

The visual motifs include recurring images of fire, from flames sparked by matches to illuminate the shattered faces and spirits of the prospectors to geysers of oil, sheathed in flame, ignited in fury. We are treated to some exemplary examples of the tracking shot as Anderson focuses in with a laser like intensity on one man – Plainview and his exhausting thirst for wealth.

I honestly, genuinely believe we’ve got our first bona-fide American masterpiece of the 21st century and this is a film that will be discussed, imitated, dissected, loved and admired for as long as people talk about movies. You may think I’m being hysteric and maybe you’re right, but just take a look at some of the reviews this film has been garnering. There’s some reviews comparing this film to ‘Citizen Kane’ and not just in terms of subject matter – isolated American tycoon – but also in terms of its stylistic breakthroughs, its use of sound and image, its sense that the medium itself has been pushed forward. I find it fascinating that at the tail end of the most disastrous and corrupt presidencies in living memory, we are given three incredible films that examine that world, that mirror that ideology, that give us the American Dream manifest – corrupt, cruel, and ultimately hollow.

Juno

 

Well, another step forward with my absurd goal of seeing as many Oscar nominated films as possible. I’m going to try my best to see ‘The Diving Bell & The Butterfly‘ this week – it’s a film that didn’t really appeal to me but the reviews have been so ecstatic that I really should pull my finger out. With this visit I’ve covered all the best picture nominees which is good, just in time not to see the ceremony anyway as it hasn’t been shown on terrestrial TV in the UK for years. To be honest I’m not bothered, like I’ve said before the Oscars are hardly the harbingers of divine providence of quality, as a film nerd I just enjoy the biggest celebration of film in the awards calendar.

So then, indie upstart Juno. Ellen Page shines as the titular character, a sixteen yet seemingly wise beyond her years high school misfit who discovers she is pregnant. After a uncomfortable visit to the ‘Family Friends’ centre she eschews the obvious termination route, deciding to bring the child to term and then give ‘it’ over for adoption to pseudo-yuppy couple Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner who are desperate for a child. As you’d except, not everything goes strictly to plan in this unusual yet unexpectedly flat comedy.

Well it had to happen – my unbroken run of good films has finally derailed. That’s not to say this is a bad film, it’s a perfectly fine and competently crafted little picture but I am thoroughly mystified at the outrageous praise that is has received. It feels a little like the terrific ‘Ghost World’ but lacks that films effortless credibility and humour. This is like a studio version of an ‘indie’ movie which considering it was distributed by Fox Searchlight and was directed by the son of one of the biggest mainstream comedy directors is hardly surprising. Emo-lite hipster soundtrack? Check. Unusual title design? Check. Quirky and eccentric background characters? Triple check – heck, it even throws in a couple of Sonic Youth references for good measure. OK, it passed the time well enough, it raised a couple of chuckles and doesn’t outstay its brief 96 minutes but it is not the must see indie gem that a lot of people seem to think it is.

Still, for a first time scriptwriter – written by former stripper and sex line worker Diablo Cody (which incidentally is one of the best names I’ve heard since Tokyo Sexwhale) – it’s a capable debut even if it never quite convinces you that teenagers would be speaking with such effortless wit and maturity. Jason Bateman continues his resurgence after the cult ‘Arrested Development’ (which was terrific once you got into it) and Michael Cera proves again to be a naturally gifted comic actor. I wish he and his friends would get there skates on and grow up to usurp the tiresome antics of Will Ferrel, Vince Vaughn etc etc……

I’ve updated my Oscars post accordingly and I’m trying my best to soldier on with my entry on’ There Will Be Blood’ but like my Kubrick post, it’s turning into something of an epic of size and pretension. For the moment I’ll just say that you have to see this film at the cinema, as intended. Ripping it from Bitorrent and watching it on your TV, no matter the size and definition of your home entertainment system is not acceptable. Support the god-damn filmmakers who have poured their heart and soul into making films to be seen as intended, with an audience, without interruption, in the dark.

Roy Scheider RIP

BEWARE SPOILERS !!! 

I’m busy, so I’ll make this brief – whilst he will no doubt be remembered for this, I will be remembering him for this, a film I recall seeing at the cinema with my mum at the tender age of eleven. You’d think what with my Kubrick (speaking of which, check this out) obsession that any sort of sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey would be on my #1 hate list but for sentimental reasons I still really like 2010. I cried and cried way back in 1984 when HAL and Dave Bowman were re-united in the sequel, in fact the thought of it….no…..that’s just something in my eye………

I saw ‘There Will Be Blood’ over the weekend. I’m going to see it again before I post about it. Make of that what you will.

Cloverfield

 

So after ‘I Am Legend’ we are back to see New York in a spot of bother. Rather a lot of bother. In fact I don’t think I’m being hysteric by stating that the Big Apple is in a serious fuckload of bother. First things first – I’ve kept my comments mostly spoiler free but inevitably some of the links I’ve collated give away the whole deal.

In Lower Manhattan a group of twenty-something’s are throwing a surprise farewell party for their friend Rob who has landed a cushy new job in Japan, a sly nod to one of the film’s most obvious influences. The whole event is being taped on a camcorder as a present to Rob and reminder of his friends as they each separately record their good wishes and goodbyes. For fifteen or so minutes this stumbles on until something happens. Something big happens. New York is under attack from….heh, well now, that would be telling wouldn’t it? Great Cthulhu? Martians? Suffice to say, the remaining taut 60 or so minutes (it is a triumph of brevity) feature our young protagonists filming and fleeing the immense chaos and destruction that unfolds around them…

 

A few things first. Yes, the 9/11 allusions are massive and like the recent ‘War of the Worlds’ wholly intentional. I don’t think you can produce shots of ash shrouded victims running for cover from collapsing buildings in any city without the obvious connections being made. It’s also very much a film of it’s time with on-lookers capturing images and events on their phones and palm pilots for future downloads to youtube or myspace – all very intentionally contemporary and in gel with the films viral teaser marketing campaign.

It has the whole ‘Blair Witch‘ style verite which I personally find to be very effective. Critics have noted the films ‘found footage’ technique which marks the similarity of the films but always omit tracing back both films debt to the charm less video nasty ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ which also presents the film itself as a found artefact, recovered from the ruins of Central Park or the Amazon jungle to project a veneer of authenticity – no mean feat when the bulk of your movie presents a 200 foot tall leviathan fucking up Manhattan.

I liked the film but left the cinema slightly disappointed, perhaps inevitably given the hype. When you finally got to see the beast – two ‘money’ shots toward the end – it can’t quite match the expectation that your imagination has been building up through the deafening sound mix and careful use of shadows and smog to obscure the monster. On the other hand it’s a nice fun B movie with a quite ruthless edge- all bets are off on whom will live or die given the lack of noticeable stars. It also has some nice tributes and references to a number of other movies, amongst them ‘The War Game’, the first and best ‘Alien’, ‘The Host’ and surprisingly ‘Starship Troopers’. There is a moment of quiet solemnity during a lull in the action when the survivors are bivouacked in the subway tunnels that I found quite effective then it was back on with the carnage. In the dark.

I think it’s interesting that the genre has shifted away from a global to the personnel. Again like ‘War of the Worlds’ the film, dictated by it’s design, focuses in on the exploits and trials of ‘normal’ people rather than cutting over to the antics of the President or the Air Force generals in crisis meetings anxiously consulting with their lab coated scientists and boffins in order to eliminate the threat. It’s a sign of our times that the distrust of authority and aura of powerlessness prevails – you’re on your own, fighting for survival and the hero is not going to put in a last minute return from the dead and despatch the creature with a new super weapon and cunningly worded quip. In this great 1965 paper on disaster and SF the academic Susan Sontag collates some of the then genres icons and motifs – how things change eh?