This is a wonderful time of year to catch up on the latest movies. Studios prepare copies of their best offerings, watermark them every twenty minutes or so with the slogan “For your consideration”, and then send them out to those whose job it is to vote for the Oscars and any other awards that are in the offing. Somewhere along the distribution process, copies disappear and end up on the internet as torrents for evil stealing bastards to download. People like me.
I may be an evil stealing bastard, but I am also a caring soul, so I will be sharing some recommendations based on my recent viewing experiences. Today we examine the ever-popular bloody humour category, starting with the latest from the master of the genre:
Django Unchained - It’s a Quentin Tarantino movie, which pretty much ensures there will be a witty script and enough blood to repaint a substantial house. Dr. Schultz (a quite brilliant Christoph Waltz - Oscar please) is a bounty hunter who frees a slave called Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him track down some fugitives. The two embark upon a winter of bounty hunting before ending up at the house of slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) who has Django’s wife as one of his slaves.
There has been much whining in certain quarters that Tarantino has been disrespectful to the serious history of slavery by using it as the basis for a comedic vengeance story. I beg to differ. Sometimes shown and often alluded to, Django makes very clear the atrocities committed against slaves and puts it out there in the mainstream like nothing else I have ever seen. As a result, there are a couple of scenes that make for uncomfortable watching; but then this is Tarantino offering so what do you expect?
Overall, Django Unchained is an absolute blast. It’s funny, violent and beautifully made; the best Tarantino since Pulp Fiction.
Seven Psychopaths - Martin McDonagh returns from a four year break after the excellent In Bruges (see my tiny “review” here) with an everyday story of an alcoholic scriptwriter (Colin Farrell) and a pair of dog kidnappers (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) who fall foul of thug (Woody Harrelson) when they kidnap his Shih Tzu.
It’s a smaller film than Django, with less blood but with more humour; and with the added bonus of Christopher Walken who just gets weirder and even more cool as he grows older. The story jumps around between what we assume is reality and imagined scenes as the group comes up with ideas for Farrell’s character to include in his screenplay for “Seven Psychopaths”, but it all fits together to produce an inventive and entertaining story. Oh, and if you do watch it; don’t assume that start of the credits is the end…
The Cabin in the woods - Sounds like a horror film title, and it starts off predictably enough with a bunch of American college kids who look like they have been perfectly cast to be dismembered within the next ninety minutes. The men are handsome, the women are attractive (and barely dressed); and off they go in a van to some remote cabin where they certainly would not have gone had they known the movie title. But then we cut to a laboratory where something strange is going on related to this group and we realise that this is not going to be a typical gore-fest.
What follows is a frequently funny and increasingly strange satire on the horror genre; ending up as something else entirely. To tell you more would spoil the fun. It’s not mainstream awards material; but it’s something a little different from the usual horror fare.
Right, go and watch those, tell me what you think; and then I will review some more.
Comments 🔗
2013-01-11| david saysAre the torrents dvd quality?
2013-01-11| Clive saysDjango does look good… and “Cabin In The Woods” comes from Joss Whedon, of “Avengers Assemble” and “Firefly” fame (who thus can do no wrong)… Hadn’t heard of Seven Psychopaths, so will take a look…
Also for your consideration:-
Skyfall: Another impeccable turn from Daniel Craig, with a few promising franchise updates from the new “Q” onwards. Cast were mostly superb - DC as Bond, Dame Judi as M, and excellent turns from Naomie Harris as “Eve” and Berenice Marloe as Severine. Unfortunately, the talent was undermined by a plot, which seemed to fall short of the mark, and the lines written for Javier Bardem as Silva. Repeatedly calling M “Mommy!” was I suspect intended to have him sound like a psychopath, but just came across as a bit pathetic. Great DVD Action Fodder, not likely one you’ll watch too many times.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Well, it’s Jackson, it was shot in 3D at 48 frames per second… Visuals were sumptuous, the soundstage flawless… but it was filmed in that same oppressive, somewhat sinister tone as the LoTR (which is wrong, because the Hobbit is much more light-hearted). Let down by 3 things: huge chunks of the cinematography look like it was lifted right out of LoTR - the camera tricks work against Jackson this time around; the film is at least an hour too long; to pad it out, he’s dipped into other works (notably Tolkein’s Silmarillion) for material, and thus the story doesn’t have the sharp edge of simplicity of the book… Shame really. I wonder if Jackson is making a mistake here - after this he is going to be stereotyped as “The Middle Earth Director” and struggle to break out…
Jack Reacher Went to this with the idea that it would be cheesy b0llocks, and… it’s cheesy b0ll0cks, but a darned good, fun little movie all the same. Tight, clever script. Excellent performances from Cruise, Rosamund Pike, and a nice little cameo from Robert Duvall really serve to elevate this up above the usual dross. If you’ve read the books, then obviously Cruise seems a little odd in the role of a 6'4" 240lb ex-US Military Policeman… but he takes the role with gusto and makes it is own.
Nice little line of black humour and coincidence running through the movie. If it has one [some what serious] flaw, it’s the penultimate scene, where Reacher goes 1-1 with the lead goon. It gave the impression of being pushed in by Hollywood, but is almost forgivable by the more true-to-form way that Reacher deals with the last of the bad guys… IMHO, the best of the 3 that I cover here.
Oh, and just watched “Drive” starring Ryan Gosling, on DVD, which is well-acted, well scripted, beautifully filmed and scored. Performances are well judged, especially by Carey Mulligan, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable movie. As with Reacher, there’s only one tiny plot flaw, right at the end. But it’s worth your time…
2013-01-11| Wolfgang Lonien saysThanks Spike. I’ll forward this to my brother, who’s the movie connoisseur in the family.
2013-01-12| Spike saysYes
2013-01-12| Spike saysI enjoyed Skyfall, especially Bardem. I found Drive hard going. To be reviewed later, but I think Moonrise Kingdom is one of the best I have seen this year. Just sitting down to watch Holy Motors.