Father Geek here with ol' Latauro and his latest regular report from the land downunder and outback, soooooo...
I have introduced myself and you have introduced yourself... this is a good conversation!
AICN-DOWNUNDER
AICN-DOWNUNDER
Come on! The holidays are over, get back to it! There is so little news coming through lately, it's just not funny. I'm digging around for KING KONG stuff (not ROTK:EE stuff, as we've already given you the total low-down on which scenes are going back in... forgot about it already? Just Click Here for All the Skinny. But in the meantime, here's what came my way these past days...
NEWS
If things that people print are to be believed, Heath Ledger may sign up alongside Jake Gyllenhaal for Ang Lee's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. Based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx (whose most recent adaptation was Oscar-baited THE SHIPPING NEWS), the story follows a pair of ranchers in the 1960s who embark on a secret love affair. The script is being scribbled by Proulx and Larry McMurtry.
A new Australian film, YOU AND YOUR STUPID MATE, has begun filming (or is about to begin filming, depending on when you're reading this) in Melbourne. Written by Dave O'Neil and Mark O'Toole (TAKE AWAY) and directed by Marc Gracie (also, TAKE AWAY), the film stars New Zealand-born model Rachel Hunter, and local actors Nathan Phillips (AUSTRALIAN RULES and, believe it or not, TAKE AWAY), Angus Sampson ("Greeks on the Roof"), Madeleine West ("Neighbours") and William McInnes ("SeaChange").
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
FLICKERFEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
The winners of what's being called the most successful Flickerfest to date were: SPOONMAN, for Best Short Film; HELLO for Best Direction; THE PROJECTIONIST for Best Cinematography; and HARVIE KRUMPET for Best Animation. Congrats to all.
BOX OFFICE
LOTR continues to beat the snot out of anything that comes near it. No big surprises in this week's list.
Here's this week's Breadwinners...
- 1. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
- 2. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
- 3. SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER
- 4. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
- 5. LOVE ACTUALLY
RELEASED THIS WEEK
Tom Cruise plays Tom Cruise in a movie about how great it is to be Tom Cruise, a surf movie finally admits to having no pretenses about plot, and Joel Schumacher continues his plea for credibility.
Soooo here's the new ones...
- THE LAST SAMURAI
- STEP INTO LIQUID
- VERONICA GUERIN
REVIEWS
JOINT SECURITY AREA
JOINT SECURITY AREA
The love for Chan-Wook Park on this site is obvious. When Harry listed SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE above TWO TOWERS in his end-of-year list, I was determined to see it. I had to see the film that had pushed my favourite film down to his second spot. And it was incredible. It was gut-wrenching. It turned me inside out, but it wasn't my favourite film of last year. It didn't actually make my top ten: though I recognised its brilliance, I came out of the cinema drained.
Still, I was looking forward to JSA (I know, I think the same thing every time I abbreviate it), which was playing at the Astor in Melbourne in a double with AVALON. (For the record: AVALON was pretty good, but ultimately overrated and filled with ideas that we've seen dozens upon dozens of times before.) So, with no expectations, with only a basic understanding of the plot, how did Park's directorial debut affect me?
Well, the first third of the film is some of the worst cinema I've ever seen. Imagine THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER if it were ten times worse. The acting is so bad I couldn't believe it. The writing is just atrocious. How was this possible? How could the man who directed the scene with the deaf dude and the little girl watching television (in VENGEANCE), some of the most beautiful character work I'd ever seen, how could that man have directed these performances? I've never seen anything so obvious designed for mass consumption, and yet failing so miserably. It was a massive car wreck.
The second act is some of the best cinema I've ever seen. In flashback, we're introduced to the situation that we'd just observed the consequences of. The remarkable friendship that develops between two North Korean soldiers and two South Korean soldiers, and where it goes. I don't think I've ever seen better characterisation, more fleshed-out relationships. Every moment, every beat of the second act is bordering on perfection.
The third act? A strange mixture of both. We're given the blandness of the first act, but also the brilliance of the second. The two come together to resolve the story, and I'd say it was unsatisfying if not for the last shot. The final shot is one of the best I've seen in any film. It says so much, and yet nothing happens. It gives us an idea of what these four men had, and seems to be a beautiful example of hope for the future of Korea.
Go ahead and see this film, because it's one worthy of debate. So far, it's simultaneously the best and worst film I've seen this year, and for that reason I'd recommend it above anything else.
THE LAST SAMURAI
The current trend in films I've been seeing recently seems to be awful first acts, and it's good to see THE LAST SAMURAI hasn't let the team down. Its opening is a checklist of stereotypes and cliches, politically correct to the last. Tom plays a man called Captain Tom (although not really), a broken man. How do we know he's a broken man? He has long hair, designed stubble, and we first see him drinking alone. Why am I criticising something this insignificant? Because it's indicative of the entire film. It's the obvious Hollywood equation of: we need to show a man who has lost all hope = have him drink from a hip flask.
And the characterisations are worse. Everyone who's not American is given surface level depth. Poor Timothy Spall, a very capable actor given the perfunctory English characterisation of "Tally Ho" and "I say!". It's a stereotype I'd honestly thought we'd left behind in the 1940s. And yes, the Japanese are portrayed as either scheming villains or noble savages. But again, this is only the first third.
As the film progresses, a few of the Japanese characters are fleshed out (wish I could say the same for Spall). But there's a nagging feeling that never goes away: that what we're watching is a Samurai story As Told By Americans. It's not that I feel anyone of American breeding is incapable of writing about another culture; this film just seems to be Written For Mass Consumption. A film that can make Joe Schmoe feel like he's just sat through an arthouse film, when really he's just seeing the same old same old.
There's a really good example of this in Billy Connolly. Billy plays an Irishman, and he gives it his all, but it just doesn't work. Billy has one of the thickest Scottish accents in history, and cannot pull off the Irish. But the theory is that most people won't be able to tell the difference. Most Americans, that is. And that's true. But to give up at such an early stage, for the filmmakers to discard authenticity in the belief that most people won't know one way or the other... it's lazy and insulting. And worst of all, it pulls you out of the film.
But let's be clear: it's not a bad film. It's watchable for its two hours, and there are some good scenes. I think the Ninjas Vs Samurai scene would have looked brilliant on paper, but for all its hype it could have been more. Captain Tom's fight scenes are relatively engaging, and despite Ed Zwick's unimaginative camera positioning the film holds together pretty well.
So what's this film about? What's the grand theme? I'm not really sure. Maybe that a man can change his destiny? Or that you never really know who you're fighting until you see it through their eyes? If the opening moments are to be believed, the film is about Honour. Fine. Great. It's like hearing another song about Love. Sure, some films are great at exploring what honour is, and some songs delve into new territory when it comes to love, but most of the time... not. It's the default position for these mediums, it's the vanilla of themes. The theme of honour is explored to an extent, but really it's just what everyone expects it to be about. It's what John Logan, the original writer, thinks people will be expecting. Logan has redefined what is to write middle-of-the-road, and I almost laughed out loud when I saw his name in the credits. (Halfway through I postulated to myself that it may as well have been written by John Logan.)
So what is the film's *real* message? What did I come away with at the end? That war is hell, but battles are fuckin' awesome.
NEXT WEEK
- Quentin Tarantino abandons plans to make THE VEGA BROTHERS so he can make THE JACKSON THREE (starring Peter Jackson) about Middle-Earth triplets who go off to Bree, Rohan and pirate ships, respectively
- Ashton Kutcher fired because of his 'tabloid image' from Bernardo Bertolucci's PUNK'D: THE MOVIE
- Dick Wolf sued under monopoly laws, due to his sheer number of 'Law and Order'; spinoffs giving him 98% control of the world's media
