The Movie Club

Biutiful; and

Barney’s Version

Liam Jennings has a look at the cult classic Starship Troopers.

Join Luke McWilliams, Steven Robert and Liam Jennings as they review new to cinema releases;

•  Griff the Invisible,
• Battle: Los Angeles; and
• Australian Cult Classic, Hercules Returns

Join Luke McWilliams, Steven Robert and Liam Jennings as they review New to Cinema releases:

·      Rango,

·      Inside Job; and

·      New to DVD I’m Still Here

Special Guest: Flickerfest festival director Bronwyn Kidd.

Join Luke McWilliams, Steven Robert and Liam Jennings as they review New to Cinema releases:

·      The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,

·      The Adjustment Bureau; and

·      Cult Classic Swingers

Plot

We meet a relatively young Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges.....in a manner of speaking ) who is a software engineer and now CEO of ENCOM International as he recounts stories of a virtual reality computer program universe called “The Grid” to his young son Sam. Flynn explains how he is developing The Grid with the help of two computer programs, a security program called Tron and a program designed to perfect the system called Clu 2. and that one day he will show this universe to Sam. Unfortunately, one evening Kevin goes to his office in his arcade, never to return.................................

Some twenty years later, ENCOM has become a capitalistic corporation a world away from Flynn’s liberal manner, and its exiled controller Sam (now played by Garrett Hedlund) is nothing more than a serial pest, much like his father in the original TRON. That is until one day Sam receives word from ENCOM executive and good family friend (creator of the original Tron program played once again by Bruce Boxleitner), that he received a page from his father’s office. Breaking into the 80’s style Flynn’s arcade, Sam starts to tap away at his father’s secret computer while a mysterious, yet familiar, particle digitizer laser position behind him snaps into life, where digital wackiness quickly ensues.........................................

Review

Tron Legacy  looks and sounds brilliant. The computer graphics and the ‘Grid’ landscape are amazing. After reading a lot in 3d magazines and the like, apparently the world of computer graphics were pushed to the limit with this movie. Simple scenes such as the Clu 2 character walking through the arena were completely CG, as is Sam’s suit whilst riding his light-cycle. The 3d conversion is fantastic. I tend to think that animated movies look the best in 3d (Avatar, Megamind), as the image can undergo more evasive manipulation than that of its film counter-part.

The action sequences are a joy to watch. Light cycle-chases, disk battles and planes ablaze, leaving streaks of flowing, ebbing colours running along the screen like a groovy lava-lamp equalizer, moving and changing with the throb of the electro base. Such action scenes however, are done away with in the movie’s introduction, quickly running Sam through them as a recap of the original TRON, getting viewers up-to speed about what this world is, and then putting them smack into expositional plot. In this sense, Tron Legacy  is less a sequel and more a deliberate marketing strategy to place the product to contemporary audiences.

The world of TRON,  inside the ‘lost hard-drive,’ has evolved naturally like a Galápagos Islands, away from any other computer system and, as pointed out in the script, the internet. This explains the organic and updated look of the new Tron Universe as compared with the original TRON: gone are the limiting straight lines of the light-cycles, and we even see naturally evolving mountain ranges and water!

Unlike The Matrix which is designed to receive constant updates and changes like any other Windows software, The Grid was left to its own devices, welcoming the arrival of a new form of life in the Iso’s: naturally evolved organisms birthed within The Grid, free from User’s pre-programmed functions they have complete free will.

The soundtrack by Daft Punk is truly awesome: digital beats are accompanied with symphony strings; a blend of traditional, textural sound with the almost sterilised perfection of computer emulation.

In regards to the script, computer programming serves as a metaphor for eastern philosophy like the original TRON. There are references to gods and their creations, destiny, legacy, evolution of life and spirits within the machine. Frankenstein is played as The Dude, and he suffers the mistake of lack of a thought-out-plan – creating for the sake of creating, like the creator of Jurassic Park, not because he should but because he could.

Olivia Wilde is a great new find. Comic and computer geeks have found a new object of their affection. Olivia plays her Quorra character as young, optimistic, naive and beautiful warrior: efficient in battle, but emotionally raw. Quorra is a riff on Frank Miller’s female Robin to an aging Batman in The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again. As Batman is to Robin, Flynn is to Quorra– one who has grown bitter and weary with the world around him, but employs the assistance of a young, optimistic, energetic girl to be the eyes, ears and heart that he needs to get the job done.

Unfortunately, there are numerous plot-holes, character inconsistencies, exposition and areas where the plot takes major missteps. For example, why, if this Tron universe has been evolving on its own Hard-Drive for the last 20 years, has the arena games been used as a system of control such as that seen in the MCP from the original TRON? Clu 2 was developed from within the confines of this specific environment, and hasn’t set foot outside of it at all. It could be argued that, as Clu 2 is a mirror of Flynn; that he is using Flynn’s memories and techniques to deal with control of this world. Another plot inconsistency has Flyn making the point that Clu 2 cannot physically set foot on the naturally evolved landscape of The Grid, hence his hideout set in the mountains looking over The Grid. Yet, we see Clu freely walking all over Flynn’s pad in a scene! Why didn’t he just do this a thousand computer years earlier?

There is a scene where Sam gets ‘suited-up’ by computer-program ‘sirens’, basic programs designed for one thing, which is to be stored in a facilitie's walls, to come out and dress new arrivals to the gladiatorial games, at which point they return to their holding pens in the walls. However, when Flynn is out amongst the town-folk, he bumps into one of these programs as she goes about her life, complete with umbrella! If such a program has this type of free will, why not quit that horrible job! There are also numerous scenes that do not advance the story at all, instead leading to forced obstacles that the hero must overcome, (of note is the completely redundant club scene with Michael Sheen) which is frustrating as there are bigger things afoot that we would rather see him dealing with!

As mentioned before, the most frustrating thing with Tron Legacy is simply the plot. It seems that star Jeff Bridges is shoe-horned into this movie, where, unfortunately, his absence may have helped progress the film’s story to a more relevant and exciting storyline, focussing on Flynn’s son Sam and the movie’s namesake; Tron. As it is, with a graphic novel direct sequel to TRON, Tron: Betrayal , which sets up the video-game Tron: Evolution that immediately precedes Tron Legacy, it is as if we are watching the third part of a trilogy, with all the fantastic plot details delivered in stilted exposition. It is like having watched Return of the Jedi, and have a character briefly recount the events of the previous 2 films to us (not withstanding the prequels). This takes away from the relationship Flyn has with Clu.2 and any sibling rivalry that may have developed between Sam and Clu.2. This approach did not do any favours to The Matrix Trilogy where the narrative bled through three films, a video game and an Anime collection, so it is odd that the makers of Tron Legacy would choose this route.

There were rumblings that Tron Legacy was in fact a bridging movie, a movie that looked to establish Tron in a contemporary setting, and then to proceed with the story; Cillian Murphy’s character as Edward Dillinger Jr, head of the software design team for Encom, was to seek revenge on behalf of his father, original TRON movie villain, Ed Dillinger portrayed by David Warner. Such hopes may have been dashed from Tron Legacy’s performance at the box-office, but that has not stopped Disney from releasing an animated television series.

Rating

Tron Legacy is a sumptuous aural and visual feast. The plot is however less of a sequel and more of a bridge to something more contemporary – a passing of the torch. It is fitting that it is called legacy, however, it is a pity that such a grand story has been quickly glossed over, cinematically speaking, in anticipation of further instalments rather than delivering a hard Tron story first and foremost, the ones fans deserved.

3.5 light cycles out of 5

Check out what Rotten Tomatoes have to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams, January 2011

Join Luke McWilliams, Steven Robert and Liam Jennings as they review;

    New to cinema release Conviction,

    New to DVD release, The Experiment; and

    Cult Movie, Short-Cuts.

Special Guest: Marissa Martin from EoR Media

New to Cinema Rabbit Hole,

New to Cinema Unknown; and

Cult movie Audition (R18+)

We also have a chat about the 2011 Tropfest experience.

The Fighter is a biographical sports movie directed by David O. Russell.

Plot

We are introduced to professional welterweight boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (played by Marky-Mark Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (played by The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale). Under the coaching of his never-do-well brother Dicky, who is “the pride of  Lowell, Massachusetts” for having knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard back in his glory days, and his overbearing mother (played by a fantastic Melissa Leo), we see Micky get pushed into a fight that he should never have been in in the first place. After receiving a vicious and humiliating beating, Micky is quick to rethink his career and his professional relationships with his family and also his love-life. Picking up the phone to call the young and attractive bargirl (played by Amy Adams) wackiness soon ensues...... 

Review

Marky-Mark really is the quiet centre of a family drama. Without his restrained and very subtle performance, the movie would probably descend into a screaming mess. As it is, he is the bedrock where very colourful characters inhabit. Christian Bale loses himself in his interpretation of real-life character Dicky Eklund, absolutely deserving of his best supporting actor Golden Globe award. The pair’s mother played by Melissa Leo is reminiscent of Jacki Weaver’s Oscar nominated performance in last year’s brilliant Animal Kingdom: a mother who forgives/ignores her families’ dysfunction, choosing to have them to stay together no matter what. Amy Adams is also very convincing as a wrong-side of the track “MTV girl”, her looks being made to look an attainable and familiar beauty. One could easily say that Marky-Mark is the weak link as his star doesn’t shine as nearly as bright as others on-screen. Like his onscreen character, Marky-Mark is a stepping-stone, allowing his co-stars a leg-up, confident that he is centre-stage. Mark was integral in getting the film made, keeping his physique in top condition over a 5 year period on the off-chance that he would enter production at a moment’s notice. Like Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Mark went through a gruelling boxing-training regime to convincingly convey welterweight, giving a lot of thought into the psychology and technique of boxing (as seen in the movie).

The texture and atmosphere of the movie is extremely rich and authentic. It is as if we are transported to Masechusis America, complete with not-very-good-looking average locals (special mention goes to Micky’s many sisters). This is more-so than Black Swan which, admittedly, probably wasn’t trying to be at all realistic, given its horror film aspects. The film makers had real-life source material and references at their disposal that they have used extremely well.

The camera-work and cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema is great. Switching from film to digital-broadcast quality during fight-scenes, we bounce from docu-drama to becoming a sporting spectator getting the best of both worlds: a great front seat to amazing action sequences, and bearing witness to the intimate relationship between boxer and trainer.

Critics have suggested that there is not enough actual boxing in The Fighter, but obviously this is more of a family drama then straight out boxing movie (hell, even Rocky was a drama first!). The obstacles Micky has to overcome are influences on his life such as his family, his management, his girlfriend and ultimately himself, that seem to only want the best for him. In reality however, either consciously or subconsciously, such influences are hiding ulterior motives of their own redemption and financial gain.

First linked to Darren Aronofsky after directing The Wrestler, this movie could have been quite a different beast, tuning the subject matter with more dark and serious overtones. As it stands however, Russell does a good job referencing the negatives of Micky’s life, (Micky’s internal doubts,  his savage beatings and his drug-addled brother) while maintaining the focus on Micky’s rise above his various obstacles.

Rating

One could argue that amongst all of the drama and negative/poisonous environment that surrounds Micky, the movie seems to come together too neatly at its conclusion. This may be in tradition of such sporting films but it also occurred in real life. Marky-Mark has commented that the story was chosen as it makes a great cinematic story, thus art imitating life. After watching the lead up, I was satisfied with the final blow.

Great performances, great atmosphere and action sequences. A real sucker-punch to the tear-duct – 4 jabs out of 5

See what Rotten Tomatoes has to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams February 2011

Black Swan is a 2010 psyhological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Plot

We are introduced to the introspective Nina Sayers ( played by Natalie Portman) who is competing for the lead part of a reimagining of the classic ballet, Swan Lake. Nina must face fierce competition from other members of the New York dance academy, most notably newcomer Lily ( played by That 70’s Show and Family Guy Mila Kunis) and the relatively aging predecessor to the part Beth MacIntyre (played by Winona Ryder ). Amongst Nina’s stresses is her resentful and overbearing mother (played by Barbara Hershey) and the uninvited attention of her ballet director (played by Vincent Cassel ). As Nina begins training within this extremely stressful environment, attempting to channel and inhabit the Black Swan character, psychological wackiness ensues....

Review

Black Swan is very similar in style to Aronofsky’s 2008 The Wrestler :  the camera moves very closely to its actor’s shoulder, almost in a documentary style of filming. We are invited into their world through their eyes. Both characters make a living through expression through their bodies as opposed to everyday relationships. Whereas one lives for his low art, Natalie’s introverted ballerina chooses to be manipulated in her pursuit of high art.

The claustrophobic and insular world of the ballerina is expressed well, inspired by Polanski’s apartment trilogy (most notably Rosemary's Baby): we see Nina as she lives in her tiny apartment with her over-bearing mother, her crowded room filled with naive, virginal objects, shuffling into a tube train and then into the narrow halls (that look like a sewer dwelling) of the ballet school. Only in practice under the oppressive director and (finally) on stage can this bird spread her wings and be free!

The symbolism is extremely obvious and blunt: characters are dressed in black and white, with Nina wearing a white feathered boa and there are many references to mirrors and reflections, obviously symbolising Nina’s burgeoning dual personality disorder. Nina’s environment is also literally dolled up – teddy bears and other such toys crowd her room, shoving the infantilised, virginal princess idea down our throats. The metamorphous that Nina experiences is also so literally handled that it verges on the comical. The movie is also unfortunately extremely clichéd, with scenes such as the resentful mother actually telling her daughter “I gave up my career for you!” and the sleazy ballet director imposing on our young heroine.

In regards to Natalie Portman’s performance, either she gives a timid, shallow performance, or she gave a magnificent performance of Nina’s timid, shallow White Swan persona. The only scene where Natalie comes alive, or seems at least interesting, is her turn as a rebellious brat that is reminiscent of the lively Lily that only lasts a minute at best. Compared to Nina, Mila Kunis’ Lily is a fun and welcome site. Perhaps that was the point, but a great character arc may have served the character better. Natalie and co. apparently went through months of training to achieve dancer’s bodies and also to give a convincing performance as a ballerina on stage. Due to the very tight action shots however, the experience is a bit too crowded, with an audience missing out on seeing the full extent of the ballerina’s performance, like the ‘finishing move’ in The Karate Kid 2 we are left to fill in the blanks: oh, I see. Her expression is pained, her ankle is twisting, she must be giving it her all. One can of course argue that this is a film solely about the psychological stresses involved in the performance of high art expressed as a horror film as opposed to the dancing itself. It is interesting what real ballerinas thought of the film regardless.

In regards to the film’s script, Perfect Blue is a 1997 anime that dealt with issues similar to Black Swan, such as fame, perception of self and subjective reality. Darren Aronofsky owns the rights to Perfect Blue as he recreated a scene from the film in the fantastic, challenging and disturbing Requiem for a Dream. Perfect Blue is an amazing Hitchokian psychological thriller in its own right. It seems that Aronofsky is milking this one great reference instead of just dedicating himself to a fantastic live-action remake. Heck! Even the main character in Perfect Blue is called ‘Mina’. It should also be noted that Black Swan is also an off-cut to The Wrestler. Originally, the film was to mirror the lives of a wrestler and a ballerina in their various art forms, however Arronofsky obviously chose to split the two, now calling Black Swan a companion-piece to The Wrestler.

Rating:

Not as challenging as Arronofsky’s previous efforts, the movie follows this year’s Oscar hopefuls as a flat, straight forward story (True Grit). Black Swan may be a fine movie by itself but in no way is it in the same league as previous Arronofsky films or Perfect Blue. Too blunt, too obvious and too clichéd when compared to its references, Black Swan is an underwhelming experience: 2.5 fingernails out of 5.

See what David and Margaret have to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams February 2011

The Green Hornet is a 3D movie based on the 1930s radio show and 60’s television show, directed by Michel Gondry.

Plot

We are introduced to Kevin Smith-like playboy slacker Britt Reid (played by Gen Y’s comedy slacker Seth Rogen ) who is the son of James Reid millionaire publisher of the Los Angeles newspaper The Daily Sentinel (played by the always awesome Tom Wilkinson). Once his father is found slain by an allergic reaction to a bee's sting, Britt finds himself at the head of a publishing company that he has no-idea how to run. After a burgeoning friendship with his father’s genius mechanic Kato (played by Asia super-pop-star Jay Chou), and an impromptu rescue mission of a damsel in distress, the duo decide to dedicate their lives to rid their city of gang-related crime, where wackiness ensues.......................

Review

The movie is surprisingly very funny. I could not help but laugh at the improvised comedic delivery of Seth Rogen as he plays his child-like exasperation reacting off of the radiating, effortless coolness of Kato. Seth’s energy and enthusiasm is enough for us to empathise with Kato: it is easy to see why such a straight-laced genius would fall for Seth’s enthusiasm and be allowed to be swept along for the ride as his side-kick / partner. The child-like wonder is akin to Adam Sandberg’s The Lonely Island’s frenetic amazement that they have winded up on a boat! This is a gag that is used throughout the movie, let alone the Green Hornet mythology itself – if Kato is the one literally doing all of the footwork, what does he need the Green Hornet for? The relationship is well established in the movie as it is shown that, however idiotic Britt Reid is presented, he is the ‘ideas’ man, whereas Kato is the practical genius. Britt comes up with the ludicrous ideas, unleashed via his stupidity, whereas Kato’s logical genius is his Achilles heel – he can only see the logical side of things, taking Captain Kirk’s ideas and putting them, Spock-like into reality. The yin and yang, the logical and artistic, the right and left hemispheres working perfectly well. It is also great to see what happens to the duo when they are separated, and how they cannot function without the other, falling back into their apathetic ruts from whence they came.

The action scenes are great. The first scene where the duo fights the would-be muggers is excellent, establishing the pairings working/crime-fighting relationship – The Green Hornet is the mouth, and Kato is the fists....and feet and demonstrated in the TV series. Gondry’s bag of visual tricks are well delivered here, delivering a fight reminiscent of The One and The Matrix while putting his own unique, fun spin on it.

There are plenty of nods to the Hornet’s previous incarnations, for instance The Green Hornet’s face mask from the 1940’s Green Hornet serial, Kato’s driving goggles and a sketch of Bruce Lee.

The movie falters however as soon as Seth puts on the The Green Hornet uniform. Instead of a heroic reveal a la Batman, Superman etc....Seth Rogen does not become the character, instead he is simply Seth Rogen wearing a mask. The 60’s television series was akin to the Batman television series although it was played straight and was actually very James Bond cool, especially with the incredibly cool Bruce Lee as Kato. Instead of looking into the character of the Green Hornet, Seth as star and co-writer simply bends the character to suit his on-screen slacker persona.

This movie’s script makes a conscious point to play AGAINST the ‘normal’ interpretation of the classic comic-book hero genre, even making references to the ‘problem’ with other comic-book heroes. The Green Hornet however is a 30’s invention spawned by The Shadow, The Lone Ranger and the same influences that gave birth to Batman. The Green Hornet has many similar facets as Batman: a death in the family leading to a ‘road to Damascus’ moment, a secret hangout, a contact within the police force, a mask, car and side-kick. The Green Hornet and Kato were even paired with the 60’s Batman TV show at one point. To have so many similarities in the first place and then try to play away from type within the same genre is an arrogant mistake.

From the second act, the movie derails. As soon as the duo are in their car, Kato asks The Green Hornet “where are we going?” to which the Green Hornet answers “I don’t know. I thought you knew.” This is a similar problem with the script: the duo become heroes for no real reason other than to have fun, and they get their act together before finding a goal or simply a reason for being. There simply isn't a plot to hang onto.

An action sequence during the day at a building site is also uninspired. The pair’s avatar’s, like Batman’s, do not ‘work’ during the day. To top it off, the unnecessarily convoluted plot and an illogical and muddled ending set-piece is disappointing when compared to the movie’s first fantastic action sequence. When Gondry is not directing a fight scene, the energy is left up to his improvisational comedy star to hit-and-miss the scene pretty much on his own.

The violence is also striking. The film is a cool comedy that young teens can really enjoy, complete with Iron-Man and Batman Begins gadgetry establishing the origins of a hero and his interrelationships with his team-members. Its fun stuff. However, scenes of explicit and cruel violence are quite jolting. The tone therefore is uneven. Digital stunt men are introduced under falling cars, objects and buildings. The camera then, unnecessarily, focuses-in on the dying men’s twitching limbs.

The ‘heroic’ finale is let down by vicious and cruel straight-up murders. I am uncomfortable with hero’s murdering their foe: Batman swore not to use guns or kill people due to his parents being gunned downed, but in the 1989 Batman, he has no problems blowing up a gang along with the Axis Chemical plant with a hand-grenade, dropping the Joker off of a cathedral after telling him “I’m going to kill you” or in Batman Returns shoving a stick of dynamite down a gang member's pants and then giving said gang member a sick smile before hurling him into an open sewer, leading to an explosion. Hell, even Christian Bale’s Batman tells the film’s uber villian in 2003’s Batman Begins “I’m not going to kill you, but I don’t have to save you” and lets the villian to his fate in a crashing train. However, in The Dark Knight, he saves Heath Ledger’s Joker from falling to his death...hmmmmmm............. Iron-Man even shot a group of men in a single shot, and then blew up a tank, presumably with a driver in it. He then reveals himself to be Tony Stark at film’s conclusion. I’m amazed that Iron-Man 2 was not subtitled “Dead Man Walking”. The heroic Optimus Prime in Transformers 2 goes out of his way to hunt and exterminate ‘evil’ Decepticons, and tells his opponent at films end to “give me your face” and then proceeds to rip his face....off. Bumblebee also rips the spine out of a Decepticon puma’s back, but that’s okay see...cause they’re ‘evil.’  It seems perhaps instead of all of these expensive gadgets, such ‘heroes’ should just take a leaf out of Death Wish, save a few bucks and just buy a gun.

Rating

I could go on further with what was lacking in the movie, suffice to say all in all, a very mixed effort. A sprawling, unguided comedy, with jolting Gondry camera tricks disturbing the balance. An unfortunately expected result from its troubled production history, something along the straight lines of the original television show or French short film would have been welcome.

2.5 Hornets out of 5

See what Rotten Tomatoes has to say, and check out the trailer!

Luke McWilliams February 2011