Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I’m so glad we’re getting more reports in from Brussels. LoneWolf’s doing a good job for us, but it’s always nice to get more points of view on these films. Meet Arvo, our new on-the-spot reporter this morning...
28 Days Later
First and foremost this is NOT a zombie-flick. Its a bit of a mess with a poor script (from Alex Garland of all people!), some giant holes in the plot (a virus that is spread only by contact with blood somehow manages to sweep Great Britain in just 28 days; it'd have made more sense if the virus was airborne), pretty poor acting, some bizarre shifts in characterisation (the main guy who we are told was a courier in his former life suddenly turns into an efficient killing machine wasting several trained soldiers in no time), and worst of all very little suspense. The last can be attributed to the self-consciously jerky, 'gritty' direction that takes away the flow to the action. The infected themselves are pretty unimpressive despite being able to run and there is no big final human vs infected showdown (one infected vs a few humans does not count in my books). The only interesting idea in the film (that Great Britain has been quarantined from the rest of the world) isn't followed through except to provide a illogical happy ending. Traces of Dawn and Day of the Dead can be seen here and there but just serve to remind you how great those films were. I've admired some of Danny Boyle's past work but this is easily the worst of his output. I can't see this doing much business in the US whenever it gets a release date. Danny Boyle was there for an earlier screening but left a video-recording for this late show. He mentioned he was not able to stay s ince he had to start work on a new film whose name I didn't hear him mention (maybe its 'Porno' - the 'sequel' of sorts to Trainspotting which I've heard in connection with DB).
Cube 2: Hypercube
This sequel follows the format of the (wonderful) original with 8 strangers (including a wonderfully batty old lady who gives the film its best moments) awakening in the cube, but the twist here are the 4 dimensional properties of this new cube - gravity and time shifts, objects from the 4th dimension, parallel realities, etc. Its not a bad sequel and fairly well-made but it cannot fully overcome the air of deja-vu and the obvious signposting of who will become psychotic/who will make it out of the cube. The new gimmicks are just not as satisfying as wire-cutters, etc of the original and the promising-sounding flesh-shredder is a disappointment. The cube's 4-dimensional properties lends the proceedings an air of anything goes and this does not help build suspense. There's more explanantion/speculation of who is behind the cube since all the 8 find out they are linked with the same company but I'd have preferred they fim-makers to have kept the wonder and ambiguity of the original. Acting is OK, but I didn't root for anyone. In short Cube 2 suffers in comparison with the original but it's good to see a sequel which obviously has had some thought and care put into it even if doesn't all come off.
A Snake of June
This Japanese erotic-thriller from Shinya Tsukamoto who directed 'Tokyo Fist' is a dour oddity about the unorthodox (to say the least) methods of a man with a terminal illness who tries to reawaken the sexuality of the counsellor (who convinced him not to commit suicide) and her husband. The early scenes where the counsellor receives pictures of her masturbating and instructions 'to do what you want to do' in the post do have a certain frisson. But once then the pov switches to that of the husband who is also receiving his photos of his wife and instructions, the script falls apart and becomes incoherent. There's a nice little idea in here about the need for people to communicate with each other but it gets lost in the perverse going-ons. The film is shot in b&w and it rains constantly which adds to the gloomy depressing feel of the film (I didn't find it erotic at all). Although only 75min long it seems much longer. I very much doubt this will make it overseas in a big way or achieve cult-dom.
I'm looking forward to real fright/splatter-fest in the coming days with The Eye, Beyond Re-animator, House of a 1000 Corpses, Suicide Club, Cabin Fever and Phone all coming up!
Until then adieu.
Arvo
Can’t wait to see what you think of the rest of the fest, man. Keep it comin’.
"Moriarty" out.
