Tetsuo (dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)
– Filmed in skittish black and white, this deliriously dark oddity feels at
times like Kafka’s Metamorphosis
attached to electrodes and convulsed into a cyberpunk nightmare. A man turns
into a machine as pipes and tubes replace veins and arteries and a vicious
drill replaces his penis…yup; I mean, there is a slight tangle of plot behind
this, but the whole cockdrill kinda gets to the heart of the matter in turns of
encapsulation. As a cult, black and white film envisaging states of disturbed
transformation, Eraserhead would be
the obvious comparison. Yet this film shares none of Lynch’s uneasy menace and
instead drives with manic glee into a more A.D.D spiral of quick fire imagery –
at times close to a deranged exercise in sustaining a music video aesthetic of
blink cuts, strobe and speeded energy. However, to return to Eraserhead – remember the leering, wheezing engineer type fella
who is occasionally seen pulling levers and laughing manically? well, if said
character were to have a feverish dream, Tetsuo
would be its filmic adaptation. A film that is perhaps best expressed
through the delicate, analytical phrase: BATSHIT CRAZY. 8.5/10
The Lego Movie (dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) –
With the same absurdist charm and energy that made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs such a success, The Lego Movie is memorable,
exhilarating and hilarious, high-octane entertainment. 8/10
Once Upon A Time in the West (dir. Sergio Leone) – An iconic
soundtrack, moments of pure dramatic ingenuity and an opening of perfectly
orchestrated suspense – the film that redefined how a Western could look when
ravished by cinematic style. However, that said, Im just not a big fan of
westerns…however good they are I find it impossible to see desert-scapes, gun
duels and taciturn heroes without being lulled into a sleepy repose…something
to do with Westerns always being played on dull Sundays in my childhood. 7/10
Almost Famous (dir. Cameron Crowe)– Gloriously goofy,
quotable hilarity that brilliantly captures teenage thrills and the burgeoning
discovery of that enduring behemoth that is ROCK (and/or) ROLL!!! Great fun:
recommended viewing should include friends, beer and easy access to lots of
nostalgic albums. 8/10
Lenny (dir. Bob Fosse) – Following
the life of controversial comedian Lenny Bruce and with a startling performance
by Dustin Hoffman at its centre, this stark and accumulatively frightening
depiction of a spiralling mind is a powerful and upsetting achievement. Full of
incipient unease, at times electric with coiled tension and ultimately hard to
forget. 8/10
Under the Skin (dir. Jonathan Glazer) – Filmaking has
not looked this bold or adventurous, certainly not in cinemas, for quite a
while (Granted, this observation is based on my limited 25 year meandering on
this here planet…but, either way, you get the point). Moving with striking
turns of style from epic abstraction that, in the opening, recalls Kubrick,
into passages of documentary realism
(drawing from Glazer’s extraordinary, hidden camera, filming methods).
In this adaptation of Michel Faber’s sci-fi thriller, in which an alien
(disguised as a sentien woman) picks up hitchhikers to (eventually) harvest
their organs, Glazer’s film pares back detail to an enigmatic minimum. The
original satirical slant on animal cruelty is eschewed for a troubling and
poetic meditation on language, how the external betrays or portrays the
internal, and how we can come to wrestle through these differences. Scarlett
Johansson deserves huge credit, not only for appearing in what must have seemed
a risky and less obvious project but also for managing her demanding role with
such arresting conviction. To be blank and not boring is always a precarious
terrain…one which Keano Reeves frequently fall foul of, yet here Johansson’s
eerie detachment is never entirely emptied and so remains uncomfortably and
irresolvable suggestive. If the innovative visual flare and unsettlingly
terrific performance were not enough – there is also a spellbinding soundtrack
supplied by Mica Levi. Lots could be said about this film and, inevitably, lots
will be said: exciting and original,
Jonathan Glazer’s film career is a fascinating and unpredictable beast! 8.9/10
Some Like It Hot (dir. Billy Wilder) – Marilyn Monroe and cross dressing capers in an unrelentingly
paced comedy that had me wishing for Wilder’s darker satirical edge. 6.5/10
Orphee ( dir. Jean Cocteau) – A beautiful film that attaches
Parisian bohemia to the the mythic tradition Orpheus; poetic inspiration and
the communication, through mirrors, of life and death are all gracefully
imagined. A transference of ideas, consciousness and romance focused
in the enigmatic crackle of radio static… 7.5/10
Upstream Colour (dir. Shane Carruth) – Far more enjoyable
than Primer, so if you liked that (as
plenty demonstrably did) see this out! Have to say, Im not a mssive fan…in fact
feel slightly disappointed by both this and Primer
given their more than intriguing write-ups. Shane Carruth is undoubtedly a very
intelligent and talented man (writing, directing and starring in both films
with an apparent naturalness of enviably ‘polymath’esque assurance), however I
am yet to be won over by either film. Developing what was in Primer a fairly predictable and familiar
visual palette, Upstream Color injects
a greater range and flare into the cinematography that results in part from its
more originally bizarre premise: entwining stories and time frames in another
elliptical narrative – but this time, more adventurously skipping from a pig
farmer, a sound engineer/artist/ practitioner of field recordings, and the
changing hosts of a mysterious parasite. The film opens out into a more
essay-like structure that floats from side to side, as opposed to any linear or
forward logic. This approaches a musical rhythm that corresponds interestingly
with the sound artist’s narrative (narrative, in this instance, too
prescriptive a word), encouraging the film’s detailed and accomplished use of
sound to merge with the visual and move towards a compelling and oneiric, at
times almost ‘ambient’, filmmaking. All of this chimes with a pulsating sense
of reincarnation, movement, and sequential dialogue that bridges and undoes the
bridging between all of Carruth’s floating forms of storyline. There is a lot
to be said and admired for the achievement of this imaginative and innovative
craft…most of which eludes me, as I watched the film (like so many in this
post) a looong time ago. Apologies.
However, my main
problem, that occurs less palpably in this film than in Primer, is a latent sense of self-congratulation. While the
elliptical narratives and their ambitiously strange subjects do command a level
of interest, they also feel so smugly entwined with their own contrivance that
any emotive or intellectual engagement is hard to come by. Whilst certain
elements genuinely prickle with adventurous flare, the majority of the film
seems too over-calculated to ever lift its laurels from the Hipster Rubix cube
and realise that whilst originality is inspiring – the unoriginal desire for
originality is not. Which is an appropriately pretentious way of saying, it is
not as interesting as it seems to think it is. The film provides imaginative
muscle in the same breath that it props itself up on clichéd piano minimalism
or ambient sounds – and while these are sometimes used with meticulous control
they are (alas more frequently) part of a saturated shorthand for profundity.
Then there is also an over-insistence on camera flare to sagely intone the
presence of something so heart achingly transcendent that it must only be seen
through a haloed squint. This definitely does feel like a progression from (the
ball-achingly dull) forum bait of Primer,
and he is clearly an interesting and clever director…but as of yet, is still
struggling to shed a wardrobe of insincere and recycled gestures; a T-shirt
over confidently emblazoned with a quote its wearer hopes nobody recognizes.
6/10
Amer (dir.Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani) – A deliriously frenzied and
eroticised homage to the Giallo legacy, this films cartwheels through a buffet
of stylised visuals and soundtrack perfection to deliver something wonderfully
indulgent. It coils with artful decadence through dazzling and wilfully absurd
styles: a hyper camp that flirts with fashion advertising; a lurid but largely
unrealised sense of horror; touting of Freudian and psychoanalytical drama;
Escher staircase chasing; black comedy and a dabbling in magic realism; a
peacock’s tail of bizarre and charged eroticism; bundles of – sliced tongue in
cheek – humour; and a brilliantly cumulative thriller paced climax. Good God it
was mad, silly, genius, daring, body horror teasing, lustfully baring,
intoxicating and evil…in a kinda
charismatic and opulent way…a needlessly theatrical villain that understands
his own ludicrousy and flaunts it: magnetic, breathless, breath-taking and
given to lustful heavy breathing…warped and wonderful. 9/10
American Mary (dir. Jen and Sylva Soska) – A medical
student ends up in a world of underground plastic surgery, becoming an
inventive butcher for obscure bodily fetishes to, y’know, pay the bills. A
fairly trashy but fun horror that suggests more brain than it ultimately
delivers. 6/10
