Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
One of these days, I’ll see the Croisette for myself, and I’ll visit this festival, and I hope I go on a year where it all comes together just right. The one thing I’ve learned as an avid Cannes watcher over the years is that you never know exactly what sort of tone will be set for the fest as a whole, and some years it sounds great while other years it sounds like a total drag.
Which is it this year? Why don’t we ask General Zodd, who is there?
I'm on a wirlwind trip to Cannes, and having a great time - met up with 'Treb', whoose a great guy and having lots of fun and cold beer! I'll eventually write up all the films that I have seen, but it's getting difficult to find internet points and time to write - it's my 1st time here and there's soooo much to do! You have people covering the big films I guess, so I'm going to give you the low-down on some of the small gems fighting for attention.
here goes...
Party Monster (USA, drama, directed by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey)
My first film at Cannes and I choose a corker! Party Monster is based on the book ‘Disco Bloodbath’ by James St James and deals with the true story of his and protégé Michael Alig’s lifestyle as party kids and club promoters in 80’s New York, which was punctuated by the brutal murder by Alig of his drug dealer, who he had made a superstar in a Warholian fashion. The film moves along at a reasonable pace and looks fabulous, in fact everybody in this film is striving towards being fabulous, the kind of people whose outward display of character hides very real needs and pain and the illusion of fame outstrips any pretension of talent. It’s fagulous in a ‘Hedwig’ kind of way – tragic/ comedy but where the press will probably make a fuss over the drug taking and bisexuality portrayed in the film, characters state where they stand and the film rarely shows it. I don’t think that there is even a single sexual act shown in the film, so it’s to the credit that the directors managed to create a highly charged, debauched sexual world through implication and it’s never judgemental, offensive or sensationalized. I am pretty sure that they manage to matter-of-factly push into their bodies every drug in North America - Favourite line: (delivered in rehab) “I’m not addicted to drugs – I’m addicted to glamour!’
The real soul of this film lies in the performances of the two leads, Michael Alig (played by Macauley Culkin) and James St James (played by Seth Green). I will make a bold statement and say that so far, this year, I have not seen a performance by an American actor that attacks a role with such bravery and gusto – to have two in this movie that spark off each other is a delicious treat, and they obviously push and support each other to get the performances seen here.
Both actors are personalities which we are used to seeing play certain types of people.; Green usually plays very introverted characters but here is so extraverted that he is just exhausting to watch, a role so out there that it could have easily gone over the top or he could have chosen to play it safe, but he does neither, and whilst being essentially another comedic role, firmly establishing Green to be an actor to watch. Most people will be curious about this movie as Culkin’s return to the screen, and most of the press will continue to concentrate on his outrageous and revealing costumes, but what they should be focusing in on is the fact that this could be the 1st time we have actually seen Culkin really act! In other films here merely seems to be ‘doing things' and riding on cute kid appeal, here he uses his cuteness to get what he wants, charm to transform himself and gather worshippers and supreme confidence to try and get away from murder. It’s the kind of performance that makes me want almost go back and watch his previous films to see if there is a spark of this craft and talent in a glace, action or line delivery. Almost. Both Culkin and Green’s performances fight to be the one that lodge in the mind as standout, which is amusingly reflected in their fight to narrate the film. Alig and St James interrupting each other and putting each other down as they realize that this story is only going to be one movie and they damn well are going to be the lead, the other a supporting player.
It’s that kind of ‘knowing’ movie, where just as Alig is saying something profound over the telephone to St James, and it’s a truly touching moment, James hisses ‘I know what you are doing! The music swells, you bear your soul, you get a tear in your eye, you want people to leave the theatre remembering you – well it’s not happening, it’s my film and I’m hanging up on you now – Goodbye” Or something like it. Supporting cast includes Chloe Sivigny, Wilson Cruz and Dylan McDermott Dermot. The bottom line, a film remarkable for it’s lead performances, which will get attention for Culkin and it’s salacious elements, although those aren’t the things to look out for and could narrow the audience who think that this is a ‘gay druggie movie’. This film really is for anyone who appreciates good acting and an interesting story, and if the film is vastly different from your own experiences, escapism.
Recommended.
Dead End (USA, Horror/ Comedy, Directed by Jean–Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa)
My second film at Cannes had me worried that I had Cannes fever, my judgement gone out of the window and loving everything too much, because this was another good film!
Dead End stars Ray Wise,(and Lin Shaye along with a fantastic support cast) as a father making the yearly trip to his wife’s family through a forest over the Christmas holiday. Only he takes a shortcut and things go wrong. The film continually confounds expectations: Whenever you settle down with the belief ‘oh it’s going to be Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ it takes a turn towards ‘Jeepers Creepers’ but without ripping any other film off to much, rather that as a view you are trying to catagorize it, almost to dismiss it, but in fact this film certainly rises above ALL the recent inclusions in the road trip/horror film genre. That’s right – better than Jeepers, more intense than Road Kill! With a deeply sick sense of humour that is wrong on so many levels, this film has the possibility of being a sleeper hit come Holloween. Note to Twin Peaks Freaks: Yes - Leland sings and reverts to familiar modes of parenting procedure – you’ve gotta see it – gives you a nice warm glow!
Vlad (Romania, ‘Thriller’, Directed by Michael Sellers)
This is the film that burst my Cannes bubble. Now, I hate to say anything about a film, simply because of the amount of effort that it takes to make any film, because somewhere along the line this was somebody’s dream before it went horribly wrong, because a negative review seems to paint a negative picture of everybody’s work on the film instead of investigating who is responsible and making then own up. But if I’m taking to reviewing from Cannes I’m going to have to give you the good and the bad – I hated this movie. I was expecting good things – even cheesy badness – what I got instead was Billy Zane coasting by on just looking exotic, this time Romanian – but he might as well have been Russian or Indian, or any of the other nationalities under the sun – this man is fast becoming the Omar Sherif of his day, only without being allowed to display the talent. Want an exotic? Call Zane! The character development doesn’t seem to go any further tan writing ‘Foreign’. Zane’s best work has been with characters where nationality is never brought up – and he can be a good actor ‘Dead Calm’ ‘Twin Peaks’ ‘Titanic’ – good in every one of them – here just coasting. The plot? Student are hired to investigate the Carpathian mountain range, and the legend of Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure behind Dracula. These are your typical bunch ‘Annoying bookish Oxford English Guy’ ‘ Californian Dude’ ‘Dude’s sister’ ‘Romanian Girl at Uni with background based on peasant fears and superstition which she tries to put behind her but never can’ and probably some others which escape my memory. To be fair – I did fall asleep about 30mins into this film and wake up periodically to see what was going on (I don’t recall being tired when I went in though…) but the story that I can get is this: The students are hired by a middle man (Zane) who works for a shady academic (Brad Dourif) as they are all writing Thesis on some aspect of Vlad the Impaler. Vlad turns up and with bad face morphing tries to kill them. The Romanian girl has a necklace which belonged to Vlad and is having dreams about him in a Mina Harker manner, and somehow a comely wench travels though time from Vlad’s reign to present day and can only be spoken to in Chaucerian English (even though she’s from another part of Europe altogether?!). They meet up with a guy from BBC’s ‘Allo, ‘Allo’ and I think that there is a bit of a ‘surprise’ backstabbing here.
At this point I’m actually falling in and out of consciousness and don’t want to spend any more time with this rubbish – and leave. So in summing up: I went in with high expectations, and consider myself to totally be the target audience for this type of film (into Horror, interest in history and in passing knowedge of Vlad the Impaler and his part n the Dracula mythology) and was sorely disappointed. The positive... only think that I can say this move is that it gives Brad Dourif more screen time than he is usually given and for that we should be greatful, although next time he is lowered into such drivel we should consider mounting a rescue mission.
Take care, many more to come including a real gory treat!
General Zoddd
Thanks, man. We appreciate you taking the time in the midst of the madness to drop us a line.
"Moriarty" out.
