My favourite horror film is The Descent. There are many reasons why its my favourite, ignoring the atrocious sequel! It’s British, and the cast is entirely women. It’s an interesting and very risky approach to a horror film, having an all female cast but it has such a great effect. We aren’t faced with a bunch of one dimensional stereotypes like we are in so many horror films; we have a group of women, all different yet all relatable and realistic. There’s subtle humour at the beginning before it descends into claustrophobic terror. For me it’s a horror film that never gets old, I could watch it over and over and still enjoy it. It’s totally not a generic, cliche horror film at all, its surprisingly different and fresh.

A whistle-blowing story, which lends itself to the animated documentary genre, mostly because of the ethical considerations in protecting peoples identity. The following synopsis is taken from the films entry on YouTube.

In August 2006, caregivers at the Sonoma Developmental Center found dark blue bruises shaped like handprints covering the breasts of a patient named Jennifer. She accused a staff member of molestation, court records show. Jennifer’s injuries appeared to be evidence of sexual abuse, indicating that someone had violently grabbed her.

The Office of Protective Services opened an investigation. But detectives took no action because the case relied heavily on the word of a woman with severe intellectual disabilities. A few months later, court records show, officials at the center had indisputable evidence that a crime had occurred.

“In Jennifer’s Room” is part of a reporting package that recently won a George Polk and an IRE award, and was named a finalist in the Pulitzer Prize’s Public Service category.

This album features music by Lana Del Rey, Jay-Z & Beyonce, Florence + The Machine, Jack White & Emelie Sande among many other great musicians. ‘A Little Party Never Killed Nobody’ mixes a jazz band with dubstep-like bass & drums. Emelie Sandé does jazz-styled version of Beyonce’s ‘Crazy In Love’ and lets not forget about the soulful ‘Young and Beautiful’ by Lana Del Rey. The songs fit into the film in a unique way that bridges the gap between the roaring ’20s and now. This album is definitely worth a listen, old sport!

It’s no secret, given that for the past week and a half I’ve been reviewing Star Trek films, for this whole month I’ll be reviewing science fiction films in general, and I said as much at the end of last year, that Star Trek Into Darkness has been my most anticipated movie of the year (at least for this half of it anyway). I love the 2009 Abrams film and I’ve been waiting for this sequel for a long time. I remember coming out of the theater in ’09 and being like “where’s my sequel?” and I’m happy to report that I basically did the same thing a couple of nights ago.

Star Trek Into Darkness begins on a planet covered in red plants (looks pretty darn awesome). Kirk (Chris Pine) and McCoy (Karl Urban) are being chased by weird aliens while Spock (Zachary Quinto) tries to neutralize the volcano that’s about to erupt and wipe all of them out. It’s a great action scene to start the movie off with; it throws you right in and you don’t know exactly what’s going on for a little bit. Basically it boils down to classic problem with Spock and Kirk; Spock wants to carry out the mission as planned and by the book while Kirk takes crazy risks but still ends up saving everybody. It looks for a second that Spock is going to die there, but don’t worry!

The problem really returns when the crew heads back to Starfleet headquarters. Kirk gets demoted because he let the aliens see the Enterprise, something that is not supposed to happen (I’ve read that’s a thing from the original series but I still don’t really understand why they’re not allowed to be seen). Spock, who cannot tell a lie, completely sold him out. This continues the problem of Spock not having human emotions, and Kirk gets pretty frustrated with him. I always get a bit sad when there’s discord between them, and there is a lot of discord here.

Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) also takes the trouble to put Kirk in his place a little bit. That’s always nice to see because he can be so darn cocky some, okay a lot, of the time. I liked how they put this idea in here. What makes him so special anyway? He always pulls off these very narrow escapes but as Pike points out, it would be better not to get into them in the first place. Kirk aims too high sometimes and takes risks where he probably shouldn’t. His ability to command is put under the microscope in this film and it’s interesting to see what turns up.

Now enter the villain of the film, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). I’ll admit I was pretty excited to see Cumberbatch here because he’s getting so famous and everything. That fame is completely deserved in my opinion. He’s got a lot of stuff coming out this year and I’m excited to see it, because he was fantastic as Harrison here. I was legitimately frightened at some points. I’ll say more on that later for fear of spoilers, but for now I’ll just get back to the story. Harrison’s first move is to blow up a Starfleet archive in London by bribing an officer with his daughter’s life. Kirk notices that it’s nonsensical to blow up the archive for its own sake; Harrison must be trying to target Starfleet in another way.

Which he promptly does, killing Pike in the process. Luckily or unluckily, this puts Kirk back in command of the Enterprise. This is where things get really interesting. First off you have Kirk out for some personal revenge, given that this guy just flew into Starfleet and killed a lot of their people and also Pike who just vouched for him and convinced him to join Starfleet in the first place. Then you have some cause for concern with how Starfleet responds to this. Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) gets behind Kirk’s plan to target Harrison, which is strange considering it could lead to a war with the Klingons and Starfleet is supposed to be a peacekeeping organization.

It’s this last bit that has me thinking Abrams tried to get in some more philosophical issues into Trek than he previously did in the first movie. In this case it’s more political like in The Undiscovered Country rather than scientific, but it still works for me.  Obviously you have moral concerns over revenge, but that’s the more personal side. It’s really concerning to see a organization devoted to peacekeeping and scientific exploration willing to start a war under any circumstances. That’s not the Starfleet we know, and Kirk’s not normally the type to go for it either. This is actually an idea that was expressed in Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock as well, with genesis. In this case it’s Starfleet itself that’s being used as a weapon, instead of fears that a project they developed could become one. Marcus ends up using Kirk’s desire for revenge as a weapon that could possibly start a war, and the question is will Kirk’s desire for revenge let him get away with it?

SPOILERS AHEAD. SORRY, I JUST COULDN’T RESIST. READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

So, there was a bunch of speculation before the film actually came out as to whether Cumberbatch would actually be playing Khan or not. I personally discredited this after they said his character’s name was John Harrison and didn’t give it another thought. Clearly, that was a mistake. I feel like I should have realized this because John Harrison is such a generic phony sounding name, but ah well. I cannot emphasize enough how impressed I was with Cumberbatch’s performance how much he really did scare me. I was not “laughing at the superior intellect” anywhere here; I was cowering in fear of the “superior intellect.” (Yeah, I basically put up a spoiler alert just for that reference.) I love Montalban in Wrath of Khan, but I’ll be real here I was laughing at him pretty hard. He’s got a cheesiness that fits that movie wonderfully, but would feel out of place now. In fact, one of the best things about this film is how much it did scare me, more so than any Trek film thus far (though if I had seen Wrath of Khan when it was actually released it might have been a different story).

This brings me to the biggest point in the film, where JJ reverts back to the relationship between Kirk and Spock, and that’s always a safe thing to do in Star Trek. I was actually really worried here about Kirk, because I was thinking Wrath of Khan too much instead of you know, the film I was actually watching. I was like “Kirk can’t give anybody his katra, what’s going to happen to him?” but I eventually got it when they showed Bones again and I was like “yes, there is a God!” I knew they had to bring him back somehow, but I really wasn’t sure how they were going to do it until that moment. Sorry I’m going on about this, but I didn’t actually see this with any Trekkies and I have to get it out of my system. That’s probably really the only serious complaint I have with this, is that he traded on the other films a lot. But I love the films he traded on and he did it well in my opinion, so it’s not really a complaint.

END SPOILERS.

I loved this movie, probably even more than Star Trek if that were even possible. I already know I’ll be seeing it again soon, so I’ll be able to judge that more fully after a couple of viewings. I didn’t even come close to talking about all the things I wanted to in this post, but I think y’all get the general idea that I love this film. I will commit enough to say that Cumberbatch was five bazillion times the villain Bana was in the first one though. I think this film did a better job of incorporating broader themes into a very personal story than the first film, though I’m still not quite sure if it’s up to the level of the original movies in that respect. Well, I think it’s safe to say it’s done more on that front than The Voyage Home did, so that’s something. I really, really hope they make another one of these. I realize Abrams won’t be able to direct because of Star Wars, but hopefully he’ll care enough to find somebody and keep the franchise in safe hands. I think he’s done a great job with these movies and I really don’t want to see them end.

“My crew is my family, Kirk. Is there anything you would not do for your family?”

“Excuse me, but you aren’t planning on killing a djinn by chance, are you?  I only ask because in order to destroy that particular supernatural creature, the lamb’s blood needs to already be on the dagger or it won’t work.  Also, it’s a good idea to have backup on hand as the touch of a djinn can render you incapacitated via psychic attack as it feeds off of your life-force.”

Concrete Underground

Director:

Jennifer Elster

concrete-underground

http://thebeingexperience.com/projects/concrete-underground

The film Big Eden (2000) by Thomas Bezucha is a wonderful film, which address the themes of love and homosexuality through tolerance, acceptance, kindness, friendship, humor and tenderness. Big Eden was a breakthrough film that finally depicted gay men of all shapes, sizes, and ages navigating the treacherous waters of love just like regular folks, with no over-the-top drama or any other stereotypically “gay” details thrown in just for laughs. It won awards in several gay and lesbian film festivals, and was nominated for best limited release film at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2002.

The film stars Arye Gross as Henry Hart, a successful, but lonely gay artist from New York City, who returns to his rural hometown in Montana, to care for his ailing grandfather, Sam Hart (George Coe). Henry is welcomed back by the townsfolk, all of whom are aware of his sexuality and are highly accepting and even supportive towards him (the film’s plot and dialogue is notably devoid of homophobic content). While at home, Henry is forced to confront his unresolved feelings for high school friend Dean Stewart (Tim DeKay), while simultaneously beginning to fall in love with Pike Dexter (Eric Schweig), the shy Native American owner of the Big Eden’s general store.

Eric Schweig won the Grand Jury Award Outfest as Outstanding Actor for his role as Pike Dexter in Big Eden. He appears on the screen fifteen minutes after the beginning of the film, when Henry, accompanied by his aunt, the angelic Grace Cornwell (Louise Fletcher) goes to the general store. Grace wishes to consult Pike for finding a solution regarding Sam’s meals, who returns from the hospital following a heart attack, and Henry’s meals, who do not cook at all. Pike proposes to ask the old widow Thayer (Nan Martin) to cook for them, but Grace insists that Pike should deliver the meals every day. Pike is a gentle being, a quiet and lonely man, which feels much better at home with his dog instead of being in the midst of the mob. He is also obviously very troubled by the presence of Henry, but he accepts to help Grace.

O’Neil Compton and Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

As the meals prepared by the widow Thayer are hardly appetizing, Pike decides to secretly cook better meals for Henry and his grandfather, and began to study some cookbooks with great application. At each delivery, Pike surreptitiously replaces the meals cooked by the widow Thayer for his own meals, much to the delight of Henry and Sam. Through his visits, Pike becomes more and more in love with Henry, but he seems so tormented by his feelings that the villagers give him support: the widow Thayer, who discovered his shenanigans and was touched by his dedication to Henry, as well as the old bunch of cowboys who used to hang out at the general store, come to help Pike to cook his sophisticated and elaborate recipes for Henry.

Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Nan Martin and Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Because of his shyness and feelings, Pike always refuses Henry’s invitations to stay for dinner when delivering the meals at their home. But one day, while Sam is in bed, Henry really begs Pike to stay with him and keep him company. During dessert, Pike discovers one of the paintings of Henry in the next room. The work represents the stars of the Pleiades and Pike suddenly unravels; he starts telling an Onondaga myth associated with this constellation. This myth is about children exiled in heaven and transformed into stars, children which still remember their hometown and the unconditional love of their parents. So, they sometimes return to earth to see them again, as shooting stars. Henry is deeply touched by this story, which resembles his own exile in New York as well as the unconditional acceptance of his homosexuality expressed by his grandfather and all the other folks of Big Eden. Henry seems then to discover his emerging feelings for Pike, and the two heroes will open themselves gradually to love, but not without struggling first with their own fears.

Eric Schweig and Arye Gross – Big Eden (2000)

Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

The love and support that every inhabitant of Big Eden are sharing with other community members remind us that family ties, friendship, love, and especially the acceptance of others, transcend the barriers of generations, cultures and sexual inclinations. These unilateral tolerance and benevolence unfortunately do not exist in reality, but making them as credible and beautiful on the screen, Thomas Bezucha really makes us wish to become better human beings.

Arye Gross and Eric Schweig – Big Eden (2000)

Dialogues, photography, screenplay, editing, casting and actor’s performances in this film are really great, but Eric Schweig steals the movie. His shyness and yearning for Henry is so heartfelt that we sincerely hoped to see him capture Henry’s affection.

Big Eden

2000

Director:  Thomas Bezucha

Writer: Thomas Bezucha

Stars:  Arye Gross, Eric Schweig, Tim DeKay, Louise Fletcher, George Coe

Awards

-2001 Cleveland International Film Festival Best Film and Best American Independent Feature Film (Bezucha)

-2001 Florida Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature (Bezucha)

-2000 L.A. Outfest Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature (Bezucha) and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film (Schweig)

-2001 Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Jury Award for Best Fiction Feature (Bezucha)

-2000 San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature (Bezucha)

-2000 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Feature (Bezucha)

-2001 Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival for Best Feature Film or Video (Bezucha)

Big Eden Official web site

Cooking with the Movies

On IMDb it was given a grand total of 4.5 out of 10, I would have given it a four at best. Here is what the film is about:

“The legend of Yamashita’s Gold lures a treasure hunter and his group deep into the Indonesian jungle. Once they are trapped in an abandoned World War II Japanese bunker, they face the terrifying reality that the only way out is to go further in.”

Okay let’s try to review this, I’m so tired, I wanted to squeeze in another movie before bed but I don’t think it’s possible so this review will probably not make any sense since I’m half a sleep, yay! Anyhoo, everything about this film screamed z-list, from the makeup effects to the wobbly scenery to the watery storyline BUT saying that I did think it was well acted. This was like a poor mans Decent with Japanese warriors and Imperial Guard zombies with strange Gollum like creatures dotting about being a nuisance. I ended up playing a game on my iPad whilst partially paying attention to what was going on (Yeah! Multitasking like a boss girl). The atmosphere wasn’t scary enough and it didn’t hold enough suspense to carry the film along.

So let’s get on with the cast which I do think was a positive because I really did like a lot of the actors and actresses in this, it was just a shame that their talent was wasted in such a sloppy film. Ario Bayu was adorable and lovely and I was so rooting for him to make it to the end, alas he went and got himself killed saving the idiots that led them there in the first place. Sam Hazeldine was good to, an English actor trying to crawl his way into Hollywood, he’s not going to make it far which is a shame, he has a lovely face. Les Loveday’s character was a dick but I guess that means it was well acted if you didn’t like the character so much. I also liked the guy with the mohawk kind of hair and was Bayu’s sergeant but I can not find his name because on IMDb they are all listed in alphabetical order and have no profile pictures, the ones I mention do have pictures and that’s the only reason I could identify them!

Anyway I obviously don’t recommend this film, save yourself, I’m doing all the leg work for you guys so you don’t have to, see I’m nice like that BUT if for some reason my review appealed to you then the full film is on YouTube. I think tomorrow I’m just going to watch movies all day and hopefully they’ll be better ones.

xxx

I would imagine films targeted at a Western audience give an entirely different representation of the meaning of life to those targeted at non-Westernised cultures. This will more than likely be based on the differences in the ideals of life – who’s to say which holds more meaning? As far as I can tell, the meaning of life in a Western society is based on fulfilling materialistic wants rather than needs, and living a life of excess. In non-Westernised Third World the meaning of life is often simply survival.

I suppose that the joy of films is that they are completely open to interpretation. You can read as far into them as you wish, and they can in effect mean whatever you want them to. Therefore, whatever the meaning of life is to you (if you’ve been fortunate enough to figure it out) can easily be applied to aspects of a film, thus creating the impression in your mind that the film portrays the meaning of life.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I find myself to be inspired so incredibly much by these things, that I would like to share them with anyone else in search of inspiration!

If anyone would like me to review a film, album or book then comments are more than welcome!

Thank you!

IllBeYourFrankenstein XØ

Where do I start? Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar winning performance, Paul Thomas Anderson’s complex symbolism, the memorable lines, the depth of the characters…I could go on. This film ticks all the boxes for a classic. Daniel Day-Lewis’ ruthless businessman who will throw anyone onto the tracks as long as it makes money. The man who, as he so perfectly put himself, “I (Daniel) have a competition in me”. We saw in ‘Lincoln’ (2012) that Daniel Day-Lewis can imitate a real person and, although Daniel Plainview isn’t real, it feels as though he is. The deep voice, the calm, educated speech, the steely eyes and the lack of morals. It’s a character with a lot of depth and it takes a while to solve the puzzle. If you manage to look past the facial expressions in search of Daniel Day-Lewis, behind that bushy moustache and the Stetson hat you will find layers and layers of more Daniel Plainview. He’s a man with a plan. Always. His confidence and relaxed attitude makes it feel as if nothing is a problem that can’t be dealt with, which makes it all the more worrying when the problems build up yet he remains so adamant that they can be solved. As someone so perfectly put, “he should have won the Oscar two years in a row for that performance.” No one could present a man gone mad with power in the same way…ever.

As for the part Paul Thomas Anderson played, the symbolism. People interpret it in different ways and pick out things you may not have noticed before. For example take his son. His deafness is not HW’s weakness as much as it is Daniel’s, causing him to reject his son completely. He’s his kryptonite. You must keep your eyes peeled if you intend to analyse it. I have my own views but one in particular that I’ve stood by every time is the use of a preacher as his one enemy. There is a mutual respect between the two which is surprising because it seems Daniel holds the power most of the time, despite Eli forcing Daniel onto his knees to admit that he “abandoned his son” and is a “sinner”. It’s not easy to force this powerful, cocky man to admit to his flaws. The ending though does beg the question, was that whole scene an act? The significance of his enemy being a preacher, a man close to God is that he conquers the business world, he has all the money he wants, now he will conquer God himself…or as close as he can get. Once he has achieved that then his job is done. I suppose you could say he’s “finished.”

I completely understand and agree with people who call it Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece. It truly is. Not just that, it’s a masterpiece in cinema. Not often do you see a film that would translate perfectly to the stage with the same actors and director. With an ending that once the curtains close leaves you too speechless and too mesmerized to even clap and a last line that you won’t forget for a very, very long time. ‘There Will Be Blood’ is a real treasure.

Lastly, in relation to this post’s title: Neil deGrasse Tyson explains, “when viewed from all latitudes north of the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude), the Sun always rises at an angle up and to the right, and sets and an angle down and to the right” (lost me) BUT!!! He continues, “That’s how you can spot a faked sunrise in a movie: it moves up and to the left. Filmmakers are not typically awake in the morning hours to film an actual sunrise, so they film a sunset instead, and then time-reverse it, thinking nobody will notice.” Touché Filmmakers…Manhattanhenge BUST your film’s faked sunrises. Consider yourselves served by Neil deGrasse Tyson…and me too.
Link to Article Referenced Here

Manhattanhenge 2012 1st shot

Manhattanhenge 2012 2nd shot

Manhattanhenge 2012 3rd shot

Manhattanhenge 2012 4th shot

Manhattanhenge 2012 5th shot

Manhattanhenge 2012 last shot

The Sea Inside – Javier Bardem

As a big fan of Javier Bardem, I have recently bought this film. Looks like a gloomy subject but it is actually really funny in places – how he unwittingly becomes a reluctant listening ear to women who come and tell him all their problems . Has that wonderful magic/fairy tale edge that Spanish films often have. Flying over stunning countryside in his dreams is the thing that has stayed with me. 

On IMDb it was given 7.8 out of 10, I would have given it roughly an eight. Here is a short but sweet summary of what the film is about:

“A famous novelist is “rescued” from a car crash by an obsessed fan.”

I think the best way to tackle this film is to put yourself in Paul Sheldon’s (I wonder if that was based on Sidney Sheldon, my favourite author!) shoes and imagine being stuck in a house with an obsessed, freaky fan. It would be terrifying, especially if they managed to get you bed bound then there’s really not much you can do about it. Okay yes the makeup and visual are a bit iffy but I believe if it was modernised it would be able to carry through more of the terror than it does in the film. I think this is a typically done Stephen King book to film conversion and it was done pretty well (I was so going to buy the book at some bric-a-brac store and it was only 20p and I friggin’ had NO money on me!). What makes this film so good is the cast.

So you got Kathy Bates, an amazing actress whom I was first introduced to by Titanic. She has such a presence on-screen, every character she does is so believable and Annie Wilkes is no exception, she’s just frightening. Wilkes’ has this almost split personality; one side of her is sweet and nice (in her own head) and the other side is aggressive. I like the back story that she killed all those babies when she was a nurse, it just adds to her already scary profile. James Caan plays the doomed author, I don’t think much of his performance but it most certainly isn’t terrible, it’s just not as good as Bates I’m afraid. I think the two characters that almost stole show was the Sheriff and the Deputy, absolutely adored them and I so want a relationship like that, Richard Farnsworth and Frances Sternhagen did a brilliant job adding a dark comedy to it. And of course, let’s not forget the pig in this film, damn good performance but seriously, wasn’t it adorable? I so want a pet pig!

As for recommendations, I totes would say go watch it if you’ve not already, it’s a damn good thriller/horror (horror? I mean it’s horrific, does that make it a horror?). I have the film on DVD but I believe there’s an HD version on YouTube so there’s no excuse not to see it!

And of course French And Saunders did a spot on spoof of the film:

xxx