Bon... jour...

Le Dernier Combat (1983)

Another one of Andrew's dvds that has sat on my shelf for over 3 years. Sorry Andrew.

There is unfortunately something rotten at the core of this film.

It has some striking imagery, an interesting post apocalyptic vision of lost society. 

One group are dressed in mockery of businessmen going to work, the titular last battle is a redux of medieval Knights (earlier the main character has a weapon looking like a lance). 

The lack of dialogue keeps one of Besson's big weaknesses away and though the Eric Serra score sometimes jars that disconnect between what's happening on screen and 80s synth pop produces great results.

However the whole thing hinges on horrid misogyny in a way that isn't really questioned. 

At first the lack of women (we literally see more of a blow up doll than we do of any actual female) seems an interesting element - either a symptom of, or reason for, the apocalyptic mess these men find themselves in.

But then, both the ostensibly kindly doctor and the more brutal 'businessmen' are revealed to be keeping women prisoner. And both times they are offered up to the main character as a prize. The dvd chapter heading literally labels itself at one of these points as 'The victor's spoils'.

Are we meant to think the main character and the doctor are as bad as the brute? If so, this point seems lost by the visual storytelling.

Ugh.

he didn't think that the first thing most people do when they realise someone doesn't love them anymore is cry.

The Lobster (2015)

Chosen by Faye. Well, technically I had it on my netflix queue for ages but she gave me the kick up the arse to finally get around to it.

What makes a couple? What makes being in a couple better? What would you do for your partner? Should you have something in common? Why?

The Lobster examines these issues in a brutally miserable way but is never less than incredibly funny. It seems to be set in a world where the fantastical element is not just that people are forced into couple-hood and turned into animals if they cannot do so but that no-one has a sense of humour. It constantly derives laughs by playing an absurd, goofy scene straight and the characters never react quite the way you think people should.

It's brilliantly performed by an array of terrific actors (John C. Reilly, Olivia Coleman, Lea Seydoux, Ashely Jensen and so many more) which helps level the more illogical, allegorical aspects into something more dramatic and emotional.

A deadpan knife to the heart.

We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.

Ghostbusters 2 (1989)

Chosen by me from Netflix. I review the original here.

Pretty much terrible. My review of the previous film mentioned that no-one had any arcs, there was no real plot but it was funny and zipped along. This has all the problems of the first without the good stuff.

It spends close to forty minutes just to get back to the point that the last one ended on. 

Because movies don't believe we can be interested in people being good at their jobs or in healthy relationships. 

Bill Murray doesnt work as an underdog because he never acts like one - he is all smugness and unwarrented confidence. Yet we spend an interminable time with him in this function.

It tries to over-compensate by having too much of a plot, but none of it really makes sense (is there some deleted scene explaining why it has to be Weaver's baby used for the big bad's scheme?) and any hurdle is too easily gotten over.

I don't think I covered the remake for these pages but that is far superior to this and more consistent than the original.

Being a loner is better

Tokyo Drifter (1966)

Chosen by Andrew some years ago and the dvd has sat on my shelf since then. Sorry Andrew.

One of the things that is not brought up a lot in regards to film crit. is that outside factors can affect you.

Perhaps that subway sandwich was sitting heavy and your squirmed uncomfortable through the whole thing. Maybe you just had some terrible news. Or you were sat next to someone you really liked.

No person is a vacuum. And some of things can sway you sub-consciously. 

Obviously you try to be dispassionate about those things, distancing them from the film, but who knows how you might have felt a different day.

All of this is to say - I was kind of in a foul mood when I watched Tokyo Drifter. So I'm not sure I really followed all it's plot. I lost track of some of the names and faces, though I had the broad strokes by the end and a quick wiki suggests I hadnt missed much detail.

Even so, Tokyo Drifter is a rather fabulous film.

Puncturing the ideals of loyalty and tradition it stands as a stylish rebuke to some yakuza stories.

And oh that style.

A weird mix of pop art, gangster and western influences. Every other frame feels like it could be used to run on the One Perfect Shot twitter account for weeks.

Blue and red suits contrast the 'hero' and villain. Sunglasses are reached for in gunfights. This is more avant-garde than thriller and clearly owes a debt to Goddard though it's less interested in the characters lives than he would be.

An extended riff on the western bar room brawl prefigures the spoof Casino Royale and becomes more and more ridiculous as it goes on.

An idiosyncratic delight.

What good thing has ever happened in a cornfield, Al?

Little Evil (2017)

Chosen by me from Netflix. 

International treasure Adam Scott (who despite his lovable turn in Parks and Rec seems to mostly play douche-bags) is brilliant in this clever and well observed pastiche of demon child movies (most notably of course The Omen).

It's not quite as funny and interesting as Eli Craig's previous movie Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (reviewed here) the jokes not quite as fast and fun. It gets a lot of it's mileage by acknowledging we as viewers know these tropes and know that the characters understand them too. Scott references having watched The Omen directly in a funny bit that comes just before the film flips expectations and strives for something heartfelt. It may lose some of the more horror bent audience at this point but the film becomes funnier and about something more than just getting points for having seen a lot of scary films.

Evangeline Lilly gets a bit lost in all the father stuff though she has some nice bits of business as a doting mother who thinks every horrible thing her son does is adorable.

Also great is Bridget Everett whose part in the very funny group of step-fathers (who each have their own evil children to deal with) in counselling brings a welcome level of different energy to the film.

why

Inhumans (2017)

Chosen by me as I go to the cinema a lot. Also I quite like the idea of supporting teevee events on the big screen. Of course that has it's downsides.

There's no real reason for this to be an IMAX event. It just highlights the flat television look and deficiencies in plot and character than if watching at home, where you might be making a cup of tea or browsing the internet at the same time this would be on.

Though perhaps not quite as bad as early reports had it, Inhumans is certainly not especially good.

It does a terrible job of answering why we should bother being interested in these characters with a very strange beginning that makes our leads arseholes (they rule over a caste system that subjugates and enforces labour on people based on genetics and show no remorse or desire to change the status quo). This seems to be Scott Bucks typical style as he came off Iron Fist which had a similar awful lead character issue to create this. 

It seems at times as if it wants to be a sort of Marvel take on Game of Thrones but forgets to cast iconic actors in engaging roles. 

It's so confused about the story it's telling that ostensible big bad Maximus is going to be the one in the right but then he turns out to be a creepy prick (obvious - as he's played by Iwan Rheon) with Medusa rejection issues.

Ken Leung's Karnak and Eme Ikwuakor's Gorgon are the general bright spots but each of them is given bits of business that mark them as arseholes the same as everybody else. 

Crystal is just the fucking worst.

I wanted to make something that people would see

Dave Made a Maze (2017)

Chosen by me. Available on amazon video. And James Urbaniak should be in everything.

This is the third or fourth time I've done filmaday. It normally doesn't last long. I have little follow through. My business has only lasted 8 years because I was too lazy too to accept it's failure and find a real job. My parents still give me money to buy things. And I don't know why they like me. I'm massively boring and these projects (I have started one for comics too) are ill-thought out attempts to make people find me interesting. Even opening my own store was done to effectively force people to be my friends.

Dave made a Maze is not subtle (it even hangs a lampshade on how on the nose it is) but it resonated with me quite a bit.

And if it doesn't for you it should still offer some pleasures. Like a minor Charlie Kaufmann riff, it is odd and endearing. Playful and a little deadly. The fact that the blood and guts is done with streamers and ribbons make the booby trap scenes no less brutal.

Meera Rohit Kumbhani (great in the little seen short lived sit-com Weird Loners) as the girlfriend of the titular Dave is terrific - making you care about this dull straight white guy's problems more than you probably should with just a glance or the way she is delighted by some of what he has created.

It may be one note but the gag of the documentary crew following them around never stops being funny (it helps the film is only about 80 mins).