The Night Of The Hunter

One thing that has concerned for some time is that a lot of modern films but by no means all of them, put no effort into the plot or story and are overly reliant on star power or special effects. It seems to me that some of that old style Hollywood magic has waned over the years and the art of storytelling has been dealt a blow. I will admit to a certain amount of bias here as I am more than a little bit enchanted by some of the old movie stars and directors and the sheer artistry they put onto the silver screen. In fact, were I to list my top films then a good 80% at least of the list would be films made more than 25 years ago with most of them being made before I was even born.

Tying in with that is the sheer screen presence of some actors/actresses with names like Bogart, Lemmon, Bacall and suchlike tripping off the lips like screen versions of the old masters of the art world. One of these luminaries of cinema is the fantastic Robert Mitchum, a man who almost oozes menace and character. I could almost call him the original anti-hero, the template for later actors to follow when they wanted to go down the roguish route, the slightly scary one.

In this movie, he plays a preacher who bumps off widows. Whilst in prison for carrying a flick knife he hears his cellmate, a condemned man, mumble in his sleep about some cash he has hidden, the proceeds from the raid that got him sent to the hangmans noose. Mitchum then takes it upon himself to go the mans widow and try to finagle his way to the loot. However, the widows children are the only ones privy as to where to money is hidden and the boy in particular takes against the preacher and refuses to give in and confess to the location of the stash. We then see Mitchum dripping menace from every pore as he gets more and more desperate in his hunt. The mother of the children is seemingly oblivious at first as to the true nature of Mitchum but she later leanrs of his true nature and is murdered. The children go on the run and are rescued by a matronly woman after floating down the river on a raft.

I don't think such a description can really do this movie justice. There is a great sense of dread running through this movie and some scenes are truly frightening with Mitchum chasing the kids through fields and marshes as they make their break truly terrifying, the stuff of nightmares. The use of shade and shadow, allied with weird camera angles for some shots, creates a palpable sense of dread and panic and also makes for a real sense of beauty running throughout the film. This is, if nothing else, a visually amazing film. The use of nursery rhymes at moments in the film also lends it a sense of creepiness.

Mitchum is amazing in this film and the other actors also follow in the path of greatness with the children in particular pulling off the rare feat of being both believable and likable. Lillian Gish is fantastic as the matronly heroine. This is a movie that has leapt right onto my favorite films list. I cannot urge you enough to go see it if you can and I promise you won't leave disappointed.

Final Destination

There is something that is probably quite cruel and nasty of me and maybe I shouldn't share this but discretion has never been one of my better virtues. Here goes then, I find some of the deaths in horror movies funny. Sometimes the deaths are intentionally funny and sometimes they are not.

In this movie however, when the impossibly good looking teens do get bumped off then the emphasis, whilst still on jumps and scares with a liberal dose of gore splashed around for good measure, is very much on the tongue in cheek dispatch. To summarise the plot, which is quite clever in comparison to some horrors, a group of teens are headed to Paris on a school trip. One of said teens has a vision that the plane will explode just after take off and everyone dies. His reaction forces both him and his friends off said aeroplane and they survive the crash.

However, it turns out that Death has plan and is not happy that the list of dead teens is incomplete. The survivors are then subsequently bumped in increasingly grisly ways with the dwindling band desperately trying to figure what what is going on.

This movie is full of clever plot devices like the music giving clues to what fate is about to befall our hapless victims. We are also left guessing as to which is to die next and in which way. There are a large amount of double bluffs and some of the deaths are ridiculously over the top and gory they actually quite funny. I am surprised that this movie is a 15, given the gore and the tension but thats a minor quibble.

You could doa lot worse than this and to be honest, I really enjoyed it.

UP

I am essentially a big kid at heart and I have particular penchant for the animated movie. Pixar, a subsidiary studio of Disney is a favorite of mine and I avidly watch each and every one of their releases.

This movie follows Carl Fredricksen, an old man who sets off to South America to complete his wife's dying wish. His transport? His house, suspended from hundreds of balloons. His company? An eager 8 year old boy called Russell who stows away on the porch. Once they arrive in South America (it's like America but South!) they meet up with Kevin a colourful ostrich and Dug, a dim but friendly dog. Kevin is being hunted by Dugs pack-mates but Dug wants Carl to be his new master and the gang of unlikely friends have to come together to beat the slightly mad Charles Muntz who wants to capture Kevin to prove a point.

The opening scenes, which set out why it is so important for Carl to fulfill his wife's wishes and how they fell in love? There's a lot I can say about them but they really nothing short of perfection. The way the love twixt the 2 is expressed, without words in one sequence is superb and jerks more than the odd tear. There are moments of of comedy amid the pathos and also action scenes that, upon first viewing, raise the goosebumps. There is a scene, a few minutes in where Carl's house lifts off on it's journey, one necessitated by his wife's death and the encroaching development of the land surrounding the house. I very nearly got up and cheered as Carl stuck a metaphorical two fingers up authority. As the balloons fil the screen with colour? I read that as life being breathed into Carl's dream of adventure, of hope filling him.

This movie works as entertainment, but there are also themes of love, loss and redemption running through it. You see, there's Carl, an old man who defies age to become one of the all time great cinematic heroes. His marriage to Ellie proved childless and there's a wonderful theme of Carl finding a substitute children in Carl, the 8 year old and Dug, the dog. In fact the relationship twixt the heroic but daft Dug and the heroic but crabby Carl is another one brought a lump to my throat, being that I am a dog owner.

This is not just one of my favorite animated movies, it's one of my favorite movies full stop. If you don't get moved by this film then quite frankly you have no soul.

The Road

As I have often mentioned before, I have a big liking for post apocalyptic movies. I'm not entirely sure why that is, perhaps it's the whole end of the world vibe and being one of the last people alive, battling for survival.

So it was with eagerness that I popped this into the DVD machine. Some sort of unexplained cataclysm has occurred and all the crops have failed, the sun has gone and slowly, everything that once grew has stopped. Amongst the devastation we find The Man and The Boy, a father and son trying to make their way to the coast. Along the way The Man, played by Viggo Mortenson tries to ensure his son learns enough skills to be able to survive in this new and dangerous environment. They brush with some dangerous characters and The Man desperately tries to maintain his dignity and compassion whilst also being hard enough to ensure his son survives. The young actor who plays The Boy is one of the few high points in this movie, in fact he is the only high point. Mortenson just does his usual shtick and the other, supporting characters aren't really fleshed out enough t make you give a toss. There are some excellent shots of a ruined America, with panoramic vistas a specialty.

This movie had been hyped up and I had made the fatal mistake of buying into the hype. I'll state right now that I was disappointed by The Road. Perhaps if I had read the book first then maybe I would have appreciated it a bit more but as it is I found it to be full of relentless symbolism, of sodding great periods where nothing happens and then a few sudden jumps of action sprinkled in here and there.

It's not like this is an awful film but it's just one that leaves you wishing there was more to it. It's the film equivalent of a diet fizzy drink.

2012

Roland Emmerich has given us a fair few big budget, special effects heavy blockbusters, often with a heavy ecological bent. This is just one such movie and to be honest I had held off on seeing it as I felt a little bit snowed under by movies like this.

I gave in recently and rented it from the library at the exorbitant price of a £1 for a week. To my surprise I actually enjoyed it. The effects, whilst bombastic, fit in and the acting and writing can be a little wince inducing at times but is perfectly passable.

The plot, whilst implausible, doesn't come across as miles too outlandish. Basically there are massive does of radiation coming from the sun that bake the earths core and cause massive tidal waves and earthquakes. In amidst all this chaos, some scientists and politicians try to find a way to save humanity and a father tries to find a way to save his estranged family.

There are the jaw dropping set pieces you would expect but you don't really get the feeling of being shuttled along between scenes. The plot is set such that the scenes themselves don't seem too extraneous. In another rare move, the kid actors in this film are actually quite likeable and the adults? Well they're quite good too and John Cusack has the tinge of Nicolas Cage is genre hopping mode here.

The ending does come across as a little bit trite and condescending but then again this is Hollywood we are talking about and a patronising pat on the head is to expected at times. That's just a little quibble though as this is a fun movie, with great special effects that for once do not detract from the film itself. If you have 2 and a half hours to spare then there are worse ways to spend them.

The Simspons Movie

I used to be near as dammit obsessed with The Simpsons, having initially first become a fan of Americas First Family way back when they first hit our screens back in the late 80's. The show is oftentimes laugh out loud funny and can have moments of genuine emotion. There are also parts that kids can laugh at and follow and jokes that will fly over their heads and land at their parents. There are popular culture references ahoy and some of the characters, both form the family itself and the wider Springfield community have entered our collective consciousness so much that they are a part of our life.

So a couple of years back, when the makers announced they would be doing a film to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show, I was jubilant. I pre-ordered my ticket to be sure of getting in and settled down with baited breath. Actually it was a large bucket of popcorn but I think I'm allowed a little poetic licence eh?

I re-watched this on DVD the other night to get a fresh perspective on it. I have to say that I am more than a little disappointed. The plot revolves around Springfield being declared a disaster zone and being secluded. The Simpsons break out of the quarantine and go on the run. Essentially that's it and if that reads like a normal Simpsons episode being stretched over the length of a feature film then that's exactly what it is and that's exactly why it's a failure.

There are jokes, and there brilliant moments but, and this is crucial, they could have all been fitted into a normal Simpsons episode. The rest of the movie is filler and subplots that go nowhere. There are hordes of Simpsons characters and as such, not everyone will get screentime but they could have found expanded roles for Grandpa Simpson, Mr Burns and my own personal favorite, Snake Jailbird.

This movie can now be found for as little as £3 brand new. Save your money and watch one of the earlier episodes for free on Channel 4.

The Infidel

When a movie attempts a culture clash, the results can oftentimes be horrible to watch. However sometimes the filmmakers can get it spot on and in The Infidel they've achieved the latter.

Omid Djalili plays a lapsed Muslim, a guy who likes a beer and his football, much to the exasperation of his son who is due to marry a woman who is the niece of a radical Islamic preacher. Under pressure from his son he starts to be more Muslim and researches his background to learn a little more about his faith. However, to his horror he discovers that he had been born to Jewish parents and had been given up for adoption whereupon he was taken in by Muslim parents. HE is stunned by this and even more surprised to discover his birth father is still alive. He searches him out but his fathers Rabbi tells him he must learn more about Judaism before he can see his dad.

As you might expect, there are moments of self doubt but our lead finds himself and discovers that he is really comfortable with life. It's a kind of schmaltzy message but thankfully there are some real belly laughs along the way. Omid Djalili is excellent but he has always been a favorite of mine and here he is complimented excellently by the rest of the cast, including another excellent actor, the great Richard Schiff who plays a Jewish version of Djalili's character in that he is a Jewish man in conflict with life and his faith. There are moments of spot on observation of Jewish and Muslim life and the overriding message is one of tolerance, that the two faiths are far more alike than they are different.

My only criticism of this movie is that the way the subject of Israel is dealt with is a little trite and Matt Lucas features in this movie and I can't really abide him but those are are only minor trifles when compared to the rest of this movie which strikes an excellent balance between genuine conflict and pathos and laugh out comedy.