Film Review by Sedai

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A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by Aniko
Have you seen The Picture of Dorian Gray? That's another old black and white/film noir you might like.

Keep the reviews coming.
I haven't seen that, but I'll put it on my list. Touch of Evil is up next for me for noir viewing I am interested in the Dorian Gray story, but the only exposure I have had to it was in the awful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (The movie was awful, not the graphic novel...)

Thanks for reading Annie
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A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by Mark
No one is able to explain to me how Holden is able to narrate the film if he is already dead. Did you have a problem with this, Sedai? Is this an experimental device Wilder attempted to use to get the audience to forget his fate by the end of the film?
Hmmmmm, interesting question. According to the materials I have read on the genre, this is a fairly common mechanic in film noir. If I remember correctly, films like Out of the Past and Laura also use this mechanic. I'll have to dig around a bit, but I remember an author specifically mentioning this device. My father also seems to think it's a common film noir device, and I bet he can dig up ten films for every one I can mention in the genre.

My father and I obsess over common mechanics in noir, such as the multi-tiered labyrinths in these films, character archetypes, locales etc... This stuff fascinates me, which is probably why I like Sunset so much. It has been called a parody of itself, and I tend to agree. It pokes fun at all the concepts of noir, while delivering some of the most memorable scenes/characters I can remember.

I think I have mentioned the book before, but I must do so again. Nicholas Christophers Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City is just such a great resource/analysis on the genre. I CONSTANTLY find myself going back to it to re-read sections, especially after viewing a noir I haven't seen before. He will frequently draw parallels beyween films and show common threads that run through three or four (or ten) films.

Just yesterday I was reading the section on nightclubs, office buildings, and casinos as story devices. Using films like Gilda, The Big Clock, and Dead Reckoning, Christopher disects these devices down to their core elements and gives examples of the metaphor these constructs represent. Just wonderful stuff.

Alas, I think I need to view some more film before I am sure

After that I might need to view some more film, just to make sure I have it

Thanks for reading folks

[EDIT] Just found a great interview with Spenser Selby, author of Dark City, He is quite the expert on the genre and it's a great interview which also includes a couple lists of great film noir to watch.

Spencer Selby Interview



Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood!
Originally Posted by Sedai
Hmmmmm, interesting question. According to the materials I have read on the genre, this is a fairly common mechanic in film noir. If I remember correctly, films like Out of the Past and Laura also use this mechanic.
I understand the narration by a character is a common mechanic in film noir, but the narration of a dead character? Out of the Past and Laura are on my "to see" list, but do they use narration by a dead character?
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A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by Mark
I understand the narration by a character is a common mechanic in film noir, but the narration of a dead character? Out of the Past and Laura are on my "to see" list, but do they use narration by a dead character?
Yes, the device I am talking about is posthumous narration. Sorry I wasn't clear about that in my post.

_S



Any chance of you reviewing Strange Days Sedai?
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Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
Any chance of you reviewing Strange Days Sedai?

This could be arranged. I haven't had much time to watch films this week, and I have Touch of Evil ready to watch next, but I have been wanting to watch Strange Days again.... I am also heading to the bookstore to pick up some Dickens and I was thinking about grabbing Wuthering Heights as recommended. I researched a bit into the book and it looks fabulous! I will let you know what I think if Heathcliff shortly

_S



Originally Posted by Sedai
...I was thinking about grabbing Wuthering Heights as recommended. I researched a bit into the book and it looks fabulous! I will let you know what I think if Heathcliff shortly

_S
Ooohhh....that's still probably what I would say as the best book I have ever read. I've recently been reading John Wyndham's library of fiction. The Day of the Triffids is a spectacular book written in the 50s. It's an 'end of the world' type book. Right now I'm reading The Midwich Cukoos, also written in the 50s. It was later made into a film entitled The Children of the Damned, it's another spectacular read. I heartily recommend his works.

Touch of Evil is my favorite Welles performance, I look forward to seeing your comments on the film.



A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
Ooohhh....that's still probably what I would say as the best book I have ever read. I've recently been reading John Wyndham's library of fiction. The Day of the Triffids is a spectacular book written in the 50s. It's an 'end of the world' type book. Right now I'm reading The Midwich Cukoos, also written in the 50s. It was later made into a film entitled The Children of the Damned, it's another spectacular read. I heartily recommend his works.

Touch of Evil is my favorite Welles performance, I look forward to seeing your comments on the film.

Well it's your recommendation I am following with WH after all For great 50s stuff, I recommend Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. Short and sweet, and mind-blowing for the time it was written.



Originally Posted by Sedai
Well it's your recommendation I am following with WH after all For great 50s stuff, I recommend Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. Short and sweet, and mind-blowing for the time it was written.
I'll check it out, thanks.



Sounds like another movie I have rent, it sounds like a great movie just by the way your describing it..
gotta see this one.
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A system of cells interlinked
Hellboy

Gulliermo Del Toro






I must say I wasn’t expecting much when I went into the theatre to see Hellboy, the latest slick offering about a demon hero trying to avert the apocalypse, from director Guillermo Del Toro. The directors previous works include such projects as Mimic, Cronos, and Blade II. I wasn’t expecting much because, frankly, I hadn’t been all that impressed with Guillermo’s work up until this point, having seen everything he had done save Cronos (which I will view soon, now that I see this man’s talents). I had enjoyed Blade II, but felt it a bit overwrought, and I had issues with the trashing of one of the characters. That said, Del Toro has matured his style quite a bit and has produced a stylish, unique, and downright fun movie.

This being a Del Toro film, there was plenty of dark, gloomy sets and an endless supply of slime. A film like this can quickly degenerate into a macabre gore-fest, but Del Toro cleverly injects threads of humor, love, religion, mythology, and existentialism to keep this from occurring. It occurred to me quite a few times while watching, that Del Toro has a superb eye for composition and color, as well as a knack for pacing. In one scene in particular:

WARNING: "Hellboy" spoilers below
Selma Blair’s character, Liz Sherman, is bathed in incandescent flames as she sleeps, and the flames sort of flow off of her over the bed and onto the floor. She does this again later in the film while standing with arms extended in a Christ-like pose. Magnificent!


I found this effect breathtaking, and not just because of the special effects (which were quite well done) but because it was shot in such a creative way, evoking emotion through pure beauty. Del Toro also strikes feelings of awe, wonder, and disgust with equal fervor. The effect of this clever blend of genre and material, is that you are almost immediately drawn into the world of Hellboy. I went in with absolutely zero knowledge of the material, and had no trouble immersing myself in the story and visuals. There were plenty of places for this film to go wrong, but Del Toro balances all his elements like a skilled juggler and keeps the entertainment flowing.

What I realized during this film, is that I hadn’t given Del Toro the chance he deserved through his crucial filmmaking adolescence. I had noticed appealing stylistic elements in his earlier works, but had discounted the films as lackluster in other departments. I think I now have a slightly better understanding of Del Toro’s overarching vision in film as well. This man truly loves the horror/action genre, and from what I can tell, wants to raise the bar for what is acceptable fare.

I am also starting to see signature visual/ideological concepts in his films. Kroenen, an ancient cyborg clockwork Nazi assassin(!), who was underdeveloped, but still very cool, bore striking resemblance to the two stealth infiltrators in Blade II, with the same meticulous attention to detail in character design. The idea of intricacy also seems a common one throughout Del Toro’s work as well. Be it intricate weaponry, artifacts, locales (at one point in Hellboy, two characters attempt to chase and capture the shadey clockwork in a maze-like underground passage system), or in the case of Kroenen, people, one doesn’t have to wait long for an example to appear. Watching a director develop and perfect their unique style is art in motion. If creative, original films like Hellboy are what we can expect from Mr. Del Toro from now on, I look forward to watching.

A couple of small issues with the film did crop up. While a few of the characters are well developed and just as well played, some of the characters are underused, or just irrelevant. Rasputin’s right hand girl, Ilsa, barely makes an appearance, yet starts waxing on about various concepts at films end. I had to remind myself who she was before disregarding her completely to pay attention to the story. Another character that just seemed like he was supposed to be on the set of an entirely different film, was Jeffrey Tambor’s character, Dr. Tom Manning. As if this stuffy, corporate knob could actually have any effect on these character’s lives. He prattles on about revoked funding and other nonsense that would have nothing to do with an apocalypse, was one actually occurring, as the film would have us believe.

Ron Perlman, on the other hand, is spectacular in his role as Hellboy. Perlman is one of the few actors that can pull off a rough exterior, while still coming across as vulnerable. An actor I had once passed up as a second rate bit player, has become one of my favorite actors working today. His features are so unique and expressive, I warmed up to his character almost from the start.

The only other caveat I would mention regards the slime effects. This director seems to have a penchant for goo, and if movies with lots of dark, oozing bio-sludge aren’t up your alley, you may want to pass on this one. I happen to like sludge, so it wasn’t an issue for me. The music also seemed a bit understated, and didn't leave much of an impression.



Great review, I haven't seen the film yet, so that's only your writing.
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I went into this movie with high expectations based on the previous works of del Toro (Blade 2 was very entertaining) and came out somewhat disappointed. I agree with your overall review of the movie, but would recommend to any who have yet to view this film to plan on seeing it during a matinee. You'll get your moneys worth from the superb special effects (big round of applause to Rick Baker and crew) and the great action sequences through out the film, but as Sedai points out, there are some glaring problems with certain characters being over developed (Ilsa and Dr. Manning are useless) and I would have liked to have seen more done with the "Abe Sapien" character, maybe more on his background.
As usual, Sedai posts another great review and I look forward to his next, whenever he gets the chance to write one between the countless hours of CIV 3 and Knights of the Old Republic.
P.S. Does anyone else think Ron Perlman's portrayal of Hellboy is a dead ringer for Ben Grimm?



A system of cells interlinked
Thanks folks. I appreciate you taking the time to read.

Originally Posted by Piledriver
P.S. Does anyone else think Ron Perlman's portrayal of Hellboy is a dead ringer for Ben Grimm?
I did get that impression a couple of times during the movie, usually when his stone hand became the center of attention. His mannerisms and attitude were a bit Grimm-like (The Thing of Fantastic Four fame, for those not steeped in the lore.)

I would venture a guess that the Hellboy character in the comic is modeled after Grimm to some extent as well, although I haven't seen an issue myself.

Thanks for the comments peeps.

Cheers



A system of cells interlinked
Not sure as of yet. I have been soaking myself in some classics this week, but I want to review something a bit newer. Did I mention Chinatown in the s**t? Anyway, Thanks for the comments peeps and I hope to have another piece up this week.

_S



Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood!
Originally Posted by Sedai
Not sure as of yet. I have been soaking myself in some classics this week, but I want to review something a bit newer. Did I mention Chinatown in the s**t? Anyway, Thanks for the comments peeps and I hope to have another piece up this week.

_S
What classics have you been "soaking" in? I thought I read recently that you were going to watch Diabolique and Touch of Evil. Did you get around to those yet?



A system of cells interlinked
Originally Posted by Mark
What classics have you been "soaking" in? I thought I read recently that you were going to watch Diabolique and Touch of Evil. Did you get around to those yet?

Touch of Evil twice so far, and I really liked it, but I think I need to watch it again. I also watched Chinatown twice this week, as well as some exerpts from Kiss Me Deadly, as I have become fascinated with some of the sequences in that film, such as the opening minutes and also the conversation between Hammer and his secretary(where she is on the checkered tile floor). This conversation is great, as it lays out what will become of the characters. The comment she makes "Your type are all the same, you find a bit of string and you follow it. The string leads to a rope, the rope leads to a noose, which ends up around your neck." Lines like this make this one of the best film noirs in my opinion.

Some notes on Kiss me Deadly:

Taking a page from Nicholas Christopher, a noir analyst I like, We find Hammer entangled with not one, but two destructive ladies (Femme Fatales) in this film. Mirroring Dante, Hammer finds his Circe(two of them!) and Beatrice in this hellish labyrinth of a film. Two sirens whose songs lament of but one thing, Hammer's bitter end. The Hammer of this film is ultra confident, possesed of almost precognitive detective ability. From intuitively finding a bomb in his car to knowing exactly which buttons to push when he is shaking somebody down, this man has his mission in site and he is dead set on solving the case. This being film noir, we the viewer know, he hasn't got a chance. For it isn't the faceless, syringe toting psychiatrist (another noir regular), or the slew of jacked up muscle he wades throgh that end up undoing our hero. In the end, it's Circe, opening Pandora's box, who not only does our hero in, but everyone else as well. The line mentioned above, about the string, is spoken as a grim warning to Hammer, spoken by the only beacon of hope or escape in the film. Unfortunately, the tether his secretary throws down to Hammer, only serves to entangle her in the twisted, ever growing web of deceit and death in which Hammer has become inextricably ensconsed.

So, to answer your question, these are the concepts and films the "soaking' referred to. I could go off on another tangent (fitting the Dante paradigm perfectly again, btw) about Chinatown, but maybe that is for another day. I will say thet one could watch Chinatown without sound, and still be blown away by the photography alone.

Cheers

_S

I have yet to find a copy of Diabolique to watch.



A system of cells interlinked
Kill Bill Vol. 2

Quentin Tarantino






The second installment of the Kill Bill series, writen and directed by Quentin Tarantino, is quite a departure from the first chapter. While we were treated to a slick, fast paced action/adventure film in Volume 1, Tarantino slows it down this time, expanding on character and adding many more levels of depth to the concepts put forth in the series. Some fans of the first film may be put off if they arrive at the theatre expecting more of what the first film had to offer, and will find the second film quite a different, if not just as enjoyable, animal altogether.

The first immediately noticeable difference is the pacing. Kill Bill Volume 2 insidiously creeps along, immersing the viewer in a quagmire of deliberate dialogue, for most of the first hour, really digging into the under soil of the characters that managed to survive the initial onslaught of The Bride. Bill, who had been just but a faceless voice off-screen in the first film, reveals his countenance at the beginning of Volume 2. Played wonderfully by David Carradine of Kung Fu fame, Bill is a clam mannered south-westerner, with cracked lips, rawhide skin, and a chilly, piercing stare that speaks volumes. After watching his performance for a few minutes (the initial conversation between Bill and The Bride seemes interminable, and sets the pace for the first hour of the film), I found myself thinking that Carradine and Tarantino are a perfect match, just the actor for such a visceral director. I could practically smell tequila on Bill’s breath, just as I could almost feel the blowing dust around the chapel sting my eyes.

I use the word interminable, but not in a negative way mind you, but because the slow pace of the film is such a departure from kinetic energy and rapid fire editing of the first piece. Tarantino shifts gears and directs his homage to the smokey, dry westerns of old. While the first volume had the look and feel of today’s explosive martial arts pieces, Volume 2 is comparable to the spaghetti westerns Clint Eastwood lived in for years. Many scenes had an extremely deliberate feel, as characters would slowly step closer to each other, their dusty boots filling the screen as they walked. This is not to say this film is devoid of action, as it has plenty, it just isn’t the centerpiece of the film.

That said, there are a number of impressive, bloody action scenes, and quite a few showdowns. Before confronting Bill, The Bride hunts down another member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, who is played by the always good Michael Madsen, most widely recognized as Mr. Blonde, from Tarantino’s cult classic, Reservoir Dogs. Madsen’s character gets a surprising amount of development, and is absolutely convincing as Madsen never breaks character. This reviewer is from southern Arizona originally, and Madsen’s characters is right out of my hometown, almost to the point where I had to ask myself if I had met this creep. Daryl Hannah has more of a role in this film and she is quite imposing. At 6’2”, Hannah has no problem portraying a towering, juggernaut of a bad ass. The showdown between The Bride and Elle is one of the most intense fight scenes I have ever seen. I was cringing every few seconds as these two inflicted wave after wave of brutal punishment on each other. Spectacular cinema folks.

In sticking with his homage style, Tarantino has an entire section of the film devoted to a massively overused martial arts film mechanic, the training of a student by an old master with long white eyebrows and beard. Everything from character design, to locale, to dialogue is templated directly off of black belt theatre, and Tarantino injects humor in all the right places, telling the audience exactly what he thinks about this very cool, but clearly campy methodology. I loved this section of the film; it was absolutely hilarious, and one can tell Tarantino has a true love for this goofy genre. Just another example of this directors exceptional vision.

Like the first film, the second volume is peppered with interesting and creative mode shifts in cinematography and style. Black and white, filters, grainy shots, and some experimentation with aspect ratio all add to the experience. In one rather intense scene in particular, dealing with a coffin, Tarantino had me gripping my seat with white knuckles, as the photography and sound techniques draw you into this dark scene utterly.

Hitchcock would have been proud. There is also a vast amount of homage in this film, as with any Tarantino film. I saw references to many films and shows, including Kung Fu (Bill plays a wooden flute), Blade Runner, (Hannah flopping around on the ground while hurt), Shoalin Invincibles, and many others.

In closing, I must comment on Uma Thurman, who was perfect for this role, and is in perfect form throughout both films. This is an actress who understands high acting. She may not be the most skilled actor, but she understands how to use her face and body to get ideas across to the audience, a concept many actors fail to grasp. Who says women can't be action stars, I can't think of anyone else in this role?

I liked Kill Bill Volume 2. At this point I think I may like Volume 1 a bit more, but I have a feeling after additional viewings of both, that may change, as Volume 2 is a more character driven, personal film. So if you don’t mind some drawn out conversation and additional character development, I recommend Kill Bill Volume 2. If you’re looking for another high energy action film, You may want to stick with Volume 1.