Review #669: 'Man of Steel' (2013)

Dumping the light tone of the original Richard Donner Superman films (1978/1980) and their ridiculous sequels, as well as Bryan Singer's failed reboot, Zack Snyder's Man of Steel adopts the Christopher Nolan approach. With Nolan as producer and co-writer, this is Clark Kent seen through the eyes of a steely, saturated lens, with Henry Cavill's somewhat stoic and monotone Superman battling inner demons as well as General Zod (Michael Shannon). It's a typically long, convoluted modern blockbuster, but Man of Steel prevails thanks to some surprisingly dedicated focus by Snyder, who abandons the slo-then-fast-mo stylings of 300 (2006) and Sucker Punch (2011) for something much more grown-up.

The movie begins on Krypton, where Jar-El (Russell Crowe), delighted with the planet's first natural birth in centuries in his son Kal-El, pleads with the leaders to help save the planet from inevitable destruction. Enter the usurping Zod, who is leading a coup to overthrow the leaders and re-establish Krypton as a real power. Zod is furious at the birth of Kal-El aka Clark Kent, but Jar-El manages to blast his son off into space towards Earth before Zod overpowers him. Cut forward some years and Kent is working on a fishing vessel, at ease with his powers. When the military discover an alien craft in the Arctic, Kent infiltrates the mission and discovers his origins from the preserved conscience of his father. Meanwhile, Zod is approaching Earth with plans to use the planet to re-create Krypton.

It's clear from the off that this is no regular superhero origin film. Snyder manages to somehow bring a grounded realism to Krypton - giant human-carrying dragonflies and all. We then skip Kent's entire upbringing to witness his natural inclinations for good as he saves some oil rig workers from certain death, displaying the powers he is now at ease with. Through some beautifully realised and melancholy flashback scenes that evoke the style of Terence Malick, Kent's parents (played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), gradually teach him that he is different and has a much greater purpose than he could imagine. Costner is superb in these moments, bringing an old-hand, gravel-voiced weight that I have never seen from him before. Similar to Snyder's Watchmen (2009), these flashbacks are peppered throughout the film, yet don't damage the flow of the central story.

Where the film fails is in the action-heavy climax that lasts for pretty much the entire final hour. Zod and his cronies battle Superman and smash each other to a pulp. It's very similar to the climax of Thor (2011), that also had impossibly strong super-beings battle ten tons of shit out of each other because, well, what else can they do? Buildings collapse, explosions litter the screen, but there's very little tension. It switches the action between Superman and the Daily Planet, where Laurence Fishburne's Perry White serves no purpose other than to save some people from falling rubble. Perhaps it's setting the scene for future instalments, but they seem rather intrusive here.

The same could also be said about Amy Adams' Lois Lane, who is a spunky, determined character diminished to a simple love interest for Kent without any real chemistry. Of course she's important to the Superman universe, but there is no real dimension to her persona. Michael Shannon, however, is reliably excellent in his role, and his Zod incarnation is by far the most interesting thing about the film. He's a sympathetic bad guy akin to Tom Hiddleston's Loki, to the point where you can fully understand his reasoning. The man plans on genocide, but this was the role he was raised to play, and his determination to re-establish his race is certainly understandable. You can even see that Superman knows this, but he always knows that he must destroy him, whatever the odds.

Overall I was extremely impressed by Man of Steel, and its flaws can certainly be forgiven. This is a mature movie with underlying themes. Superman is God, an indestructible force (to us mere humans) that possesses too much power to be at ease with, even when he assures them that they are on the same side. The religious metaphors are embarrassingly obvious at times, but it's a thought-provoking sub-theme and a nice alternative to the crash-bang-wallop of the action scenes. Although it's not up to the ridiculously high standards set by Christopher Nolan, this can sit nicely alongside his Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012) in the re-imagining of DC's universe.


Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Antje Traue, Laurence Fishburne
Country: USA/Canada/UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #668: 'Attack of the Crab Monsters' (1957)

It's hard to believe that just three years before Roger Corman would begin his Edgar Allen Poe cycle of films that would bring him international acclaim, he made this - a dirt-cheap black-and-white radiation movie about giant crabs who can communicate telepathically with humans (yes, you read that right). Charles B. Griffin (who also worked with Corman on B-movie classics It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957) and A Bucket of Blood (1959)) is on writing duties, and he delivers a humour-laden script that is well aware of just how ridiculous it is.

After the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, a group of scientists are sent to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a former party and further there research into the effects of nuclear testing on plants and wildlife. It soon becomes apparent that giant mutated crabs are responsible and have eaten the scientists that were there previously and have absorbed their minds. With the island collapsing before their eyes and with one of their group missing, they must destroy the crabs and escape.

Corman manages to make the film just about as entertaining as it can be, given the budget limitations and the bunch of cornball actors (apart from Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island fame). It runs at just 62 minutes, and every scene is filled with 'suspense' or 'action', two aspects that Corman usually demanded ran constantly throughout his movies. The crabs themselves look ridiculous and actually move forward - oh the horror! - rather than sideways, but watching crap actors getting hit over the head with a giant paper mache claw never gets old. Certainly an amusing way to pass an hour.


Directed by: Roger Corman
Starring: Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson, Leslie Bradley
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #667: 'Animal Crackers' (1930)

The greatest thing about the Marx Brothers was the diversity of their comedy. Groucho was ultimately a master of the one-liners, Chico alluded to ethnic stereotypes that were popular during his days doing vaudeville, and Harpo was the clown, pulling sight gags from every pocket he had in that huge overcoat he wore. Animal Crackers, their second film as The Marx Brothers, allows them free reign to indulge in their manic brand of comedy due to an absence of plot. What is immediately apparent upon viewing the film is just how postmodern it is. Groucho laments his inner thoughts to camera and a statue shoots back at a startled Harpo, all combining to make one truly insane 95 minutes, made all the more risqué with this being before the introduction of the Hays Code.

Famour explorer Captain James T. Spaulding (Groucho) arrives at a house party hosted by the upper-class Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont). Whilst there, he manages to swindle, insult and charm the various guests who are in attendance, namely Roscoe Chandler (Louis Sorin), an art collector who has brought one his most prized paintings to display to the guests. Also there is musician Signor Ravelli (Chico) and his mad sidekick The Professor (Harpo), who are harbouring a plan to steal the painting and replace it with a forgery. Unfortunately for them, there are others who wish to pull off the same trick for different reasons.

While the songs are nice and catchy (Groucho's intro song "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" was used in TV quiz show You Bet Your Life, which Groucho hosted), the technical aspects suffer the same way as many films did with the sudden introduction of sound. The screen is crammed with characters, much like a play would be, and this sense of disorganisation takes a little away from the film.

But it is all about the comedy after all, and here all three of the brothers are on top form, with Groucho providing the killer lines "one day I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know" and "we took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. But we're going back again in a couple of weeks!" (Zeppo also appears, but only briefly). When the plot becomes too ridiculous or the action moves away from the Marx Brothers, stick around for another 30 seconds and they'll be something else to laugh at - it's just that funny.


Directed by: Victor Heerman
Starring: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Lillian Roth, Margaret Dumont
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #666: 'Monsters University' (2013)

It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since the original Monsters, Inc. graced the screens and introduced the world to a green, one-eyed motormouth named Mike Wazowski and a loveable furry giant called James P. 'Sully' Sullivan. Although it was far from Pixar's best effort, Inc was charming and a surprisingly moving little film that made a killing at the box office. So why the wait for a sequel? Cars 2 (2011) aside, Pixar have always prided themselves on putting story above all else, so perhaps the writers simply could not come up with something solid enough to warrant another outing for Mike and Sully. But now Disney are in charge, I guess that if there's money to be made, they'll make sure it's made.

Before the events of Monsters, Inc., Mike (Billy Crystal) is a young monster with only one goal in his life - to become a top scarer at Monsters, Inc. The only problem is that he's not scary. Inspired by an encounter on a school trip, Mike studies and studies until he is enlisted in Monsters University, the best place for any budding scarer to learn their craft. Sully (John Goodman) enlists too, with a legendary family name and a clearly formidable appearance. Sully's lethargic approach to study annoys Mike, and a fallout between the two leads them to be kicked out of the class by the terrifying Dean Harscrabble (Helen Mirren). With seemingly no hope, Mike sees the upcoming Scare Games as the chance to prove himself to Harscrabble, who agrees to let him back in if he triumphs, only he has to team up with Sully to make up the numbers.

The main problem with Pixar's output in the last few years is that they seem to be slowly moving away from making movies that please adults in equal amounts to children. Toy Story 3 was their last great movie and that was three years ago. Cars 2 and last year's Brave were mediocre efforts, certainly beautiful to behold but relatively hollow inside. Much of the same can be said for Monsters University, as although it's nice to see these characters again, it lacks that Pixar touch that led to so many of their films to now be considered classics of the genre. We are left with not much more than a collection of wonderfully constructed set-pieces based around a thin plot that we all know the result of anyway.

Of the new additions, Charlie Day's Art and Helen Mirren's Dean Harscrabble steal the film, the former a truly bonkers creation and the latter given some quality thespian backing. We also get the welcome return of Steve Buscemi's Randy, who's downturn we get to witness thanks to a very clever moment. But ultimately, Monsters University's biggest problem is that it's just not that funny. The best moments are seen in the trailer (such as the snail monster trying not to be late for class on his first day), and the best aspects of college life can't be played with as they involve alcohol, drugs or boobs, a no-no even for Pixar. So we are left with a very pretty film (possibly the finest animation-wise to date) full of breathtaking set-pieces, but one that lacks that special touch I came to love from Pixar and one I am becoming reluctantly resigned to never seeing again.


Directed by: Dan Scanlon
Voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Peter Sohn, Joel Murray, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Charlie Day, Alfred Molina
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #665: 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin' (2005)

After decades of being dragged to the cinema by our better halves to watch the latest Meg Ryan or Hugh Grant pap, it was only a matter of time until men fought back in the rom-com genre. Director Judd Apatow, along with co-writer and lead star Steve Carell, went the extra mile and actually created a rom-com that is both genuinely romantic and laugh-out-loud hilarious, but one that members of both sex can actually enjoy. But amongst all the sweetness there are four guys talking like genuine guys. So, this includes lines like "you need to put the pussy on a pedestal!" and "you know how I know you're gay? You listen to Coldplay." The language is filthy, but the script is heartfelt.

Andy Stitzer (Carell) lives a simple life alone with his collection of valuable (and still boxed) action figures and his gaming chair, working in the stockroom of an electronic store. He also rides a bike to work and never socialises, leading his co-workers to naturally assume he's a serial killer. When they find themselves a man down for a poker game, David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco) and Cal (Seth Rogen) invite Andy. After swapping freaky sex stories, it becomes clear that Andy is in fact a 40 year-old virgin, and so they make a vow to get him laid. Amongst his options are the girl from the bookshop Beth (Elizabeth Banks), who takes a liking to Andy after he takes Cal's advice, his horny boss Paula (Jane Lynch), and the spunky Trish (Catherine Keener), a woman who's just opened a store across the street.

The thing that The 40 Year-Old Virgin achieves most is how accurately it portrays its men. Sure, these are extreme versions of people we have come across before in our lives, but men generally talk crap and half-truths to each other about women, movies and computer games. The advice that David, Jay and Cal give is hardly helpful, and is based on their own half-remembered experiences that lead to the assumption that they are the ones that truly understands women. But they are all screwed up in their own way that their advice just leads to some amusing scenes, including the most famous scene of Andy having his chest waxed (which Carell really did, and he's the hairiest comedian since Robin Williams).

The film also succeeds in its honesty and its attention to detail. Andy isn't the badly-dressed, bespectacled nerd that has been seen in the likes of She's All That (1999), that once he's given a makeover, he's a hunk. He signals when he's turning his bike on an empty street and his Monday-morning what-I-did-at-the-weekend stories involve making an egg salad sandwich. He's relatable because he's real, so his quest to get his leg over becomes something ultimately more important. The supporting cast are all excellent, especially Malco, who I'm surprised hasn't gone on to bigger things, and Keener, who is surprisingly adorable after years of playing the bitch. Like many movies churned out by the Apatow machine, it's goes on for far too long, but that's easy to forgive when the film is this funny.


Directed by: Judd Apatow
Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #664: 'World War Z' (2013)

They use to stumble around aimlessly, flailing rotting limbs at you pathetically as you casually jogged by, or swung a baseball bat at their heads. But no more. Yes, it seems that in the 45 years of existence that zombies have had on the big screen, they've evolved from shuffling corpses to monsters who pose a real threat. Danny Boyle taught them how to run, and made them more of a virus that we can recognise than cadavers craving brains. So now, zombies have gone global. Not just in popularity, although in that regard they certainly have with the help of AMC's The Walking Dead (amongst others), but they have swept across the globe. And only Brad Pitt can save us.

After about three years in development hell, where there were more script re-writes and cast and crew shuffling about than you could keep up with, World War Z is finally here. Based on Max Brooks' multi-layered and heavily satirical novel that is told from the points of view of many different characters that reside throughout the globe, World War Z was always going to be a hard sell. Zombies are all the rage so naturally Hollywood wants to get their fat fingers on their piece of the pie, meaning World War Z was going to be a blockbuster. So, is it the giant pile of rotting brains that most fans were expecting, proving incoherent due to the many changes made throughout production? Surprisingly, no, and in fact it proves to be almost relentlessly entertaining.

After an array of obligatory news-reel footage foreshadowing the upcoming apocalypse, Gerry Lane (Pitt), a former UN employee, with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and two daughters are stuck in Philadelphia traffic when the zombie attacks explode on the streets. They are saved when a helicopter ordered by an old friend of Gerry's, Deputy Secretary-General Umutoni (Fana Mokoena), flies them to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Atlantic. Gerry is then persuaded to search for the source of the cure when it is made clear that he and his family will be booted off the vessel if he refuses. His journey will span the globe from South Korea to Jerusalem to, most oddly, Wales.

It's a flimsy plot to say the least. Most zombie computer games have more depth in the story, so we simply follow Gerry as he trots the globe. But where the film fails in story and character development, it makes up for in some outstanding action scenes. We are no longer in one man versus a horde of zombies mode, this is on a global scale, and when they attack, they attack in a ferocious swarm, piling on top of each other to reach massive heights and when they engage, they fling everything they can at their victim. Director Marc Forster, who proved himself inept at action in the Bond dud Quantum of Solace (2008), redeems himself somewhat with some fine set-pieces. The attack in Israel shows off some stunning CGI, but makes sure Gerry doesn't get lost in the mayhem.

Another overwhelming positive is the performance of Brad Pitt, who proves that he can carry a franchise-seeking blockbuster with ease. Even at 50, well past the age you would expect of an action star, he injects his criminally unrecognised acting talents into what is ultimately a thinly-written role, and again shows that there is more to him that simply being really really ridiculously good-looking (to quote Derek Zoolander). The supporting cast either don't get a look in or don't last long enough to make an impact, so Enos, James Badge Dale, Elyes Gabel and Matthew Fox barely register. Fox especially, after having his entire sub-plot cut down to the point that I didn't realise he was in it until the credits rolled.

The ending, which was re-wrote by Drew Goddard, reeks of indecision. The original ending, that saw a huge zombie battle in Moscow's Red Square, was canned, probably due to the political undertones of the setting, and the new, more low-key ending, was introduced to give the movie a more satisfying and coherent climax. While by no means a bad ending, for the film to start out global only to shrink to a sneaky one-on-one final note, it's somewhat of an anti-climax. It adds actors Peter Capaldi and Moritz Bleibtreu and offers some hope with a potential cure, but it just feels like everyone on board had no hope for the film. Given World War Z's commercial success, a sequel has now been greenlit (Pitt saw this as a first of a trilogy), so ultimately, the film did what it came to do. The many relatively minor quibbles aside, this is a success. But a film can surely only survive one troubled production shoot, so the people involved with the sequel will need to clear their heads and step up their game.


Directed by: Marc Forster
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Fana Mokoena, David Morse
Country: USA/Malta

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #663: 'Blackfish' (2013)

Anyone who has seen 2009's heartbreaking Oscar-winner The Cove will know just how ugly the reality is behind being able to enjoy marine mammals at zoo's or sealife parks. Blackfish could work almost as a sequel, as where The Cove left us with a sea of blood amidst the entrapment and capture of a group of dolphins, Blackfish shows us the life of a group of killer whales in captivity at Sea World, more than likely where most of The Cove's dolphins would have ended up. What the film has in abundance is an archive of disturbing video footage showing unprovoked attacks by orca's on experienced trainers, which is something that Sea World executives have brushed off as trainer errors.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite went into the film intending of making a documentary on Dawn Brancheau, the former Sea World trainer who was killed in 2010 by Sea World's most notorious orca, Tilikum. Yet what she uncovered with the help of interviews from former Sea World trainers was obviously too difficult to simply ignore. Brancheau's unfortunate death wasn't a one-off, nor was it the first time Tilikum had been responsible for the death of a trainer (it was the third), but it was the latest in a long line of deaths, mutilations and lucky escapes by orca's on both the trainers and on each other. The most unnerving of them all is the attack on Kenneth Peters, where the killer whale Kasatka drags him under water for long periods of time as if issuing a threat.

But it's not in the video footage that Blackfish retains it's power, but in the testimonies given by those who experienced it first hand. Each interviewee seems riddled with guilt that they didn't do more for the orca's, and they give tearful recollections of the signs they failed to see. Sea World declined to be interviewed for the film, and it's of no surprise. The images are so damning that there is simply nothing they can say. Trainers would naively sign up being told tales of trainer misconduct being responsible for the near-fatalities or simply hushed up to avoid bad press. It's not an easy watch, especially those with a weak-stomach for real-life moments of horror, but this is a powerful film, exposing cruelty and corporate cover-ups on an appalling scale. It seems money is worth more than basic compassion for a fellow intelligent creature.


Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #662: 'The Departed' (2006)

I saw Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) a couple of years before Martin Scorsese's Hollywood remake The Departed. I remember little of it now, but I do remember finding it to be an ingenious idea and a gripping little movie, albeit a little overrated. Scorsese obviously saw potential in the idea, as The Departed is admittedly bloated, but packed-to-the-gills with eccentric criminals, sweary 'cwops', and CGI blood, expanding the story and characters and executed in that uber-stylish way that the director is so well known for. I'll avoid comparisons to Infernal Affairs as the two share very little in common apart from basic story, and Scorsese makes this film very much his own.

Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is enlisted into mob boss Frank Costello's (Jack Nicholson) crime-ring at a young age, and is raised to be an informant in the Massachusetts State Police. New police academy graduate William Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a rough-and-ready type from a colourful family, is forced into going undercover in Costello's gang by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg). When a rat is exposed on both sides, the two must search desperately for the other before they are unwillingly revealed. Unbeknownst to the both of them, they also share a girl in psychiatrist Madolyn (Vera Farmiga). 

If you go into this film expecting a gritty and realistic urban crime thriller, you will be disappointed. Although the subject matter is grim and it certainly doesn't pull its punches when it comes to violence, this is a shiny movie with explosions of bloodshed akin to the comic-book aesthetic of manga, and asks you to suspend your beliefs for the duration. I mean, Costello is a known maniac with no fear of dispatching his own, yet Costigan becomes his right-hand man within months even though he is known to be ex-police? There are plenty of plot-holes that I could mention but won't bother, as they are there for the purpose of telling an entertaining story.

This is Scorsese as unhinged as he's been in years, letting the story just unravel regardless of just how mental it becomes. Nicholson, an actor I cannot believe had never worked with Scorsese before, gets frequently mentioned as stealing the show. He certainly steals his scenes, and grabs the opportunity to improvise with both hands, waving a severed hand in a bag around in one scene, and inexplicably covered with blood in another. Costello wouldn't last a minute in real-life, he's just too obvious and psychopathic, but in this world he thrives, and is a memorable Nicholson creation. But it's actually Wahlberg that steals the show, getting lines such as "if you had an idea of what we do, we would not be good at what we do now would we? We would be cunts. Are you calling us cunts?". It's a testament to his performance that he has probably 10 minutes of screen time and received an Oscar nomination.

DiCaprio and Damon fill their roles admirably, the former being the incarnation of anxiety and the latter proving surprisingly slimy given his history of generally wholesome characters. But its the ensemble that really shines in this array of ridiculous and cartoon characters. By the end, questions of identity and who is really important to the story get blurred with a climax of endless bloodshed. The prize of Best Picture and Best Director now seem somewhat silly, and surely a sympathy vote for Martin Scorsese who has made at least ten other movies more deserving of rewarding his talent. But this is a crazy ride, and one that remains gripping and surprising throughout, bolstered by a smart script and a hell of a cast.

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin

Country: USA/Hong Kong

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #661: 'Mud' (2012)

Similar to his excellent 2011 feature Take Shelter, writer/director Jeff Nichols delivers another exceptional slice of small-town Americana. Mud's story is small, and its characters hail from some backwood town in rural Arkansas, living on makeshift boathouses on the Mississippi River. Yet although the focus is on these small people and their ordinary existence, there seems to be something larger and grander in its execution. Take Shelter showed a man's (possible) mental deterioration as he envisioned the apocalypse. In Mud, a very grown-up tale is seen through the eyes of two 14 year old boys, and theme that runs throughout is love. Yet there's always the feeling that the fate of the eponymous Mud (Matthew McConaughey) and Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) could somehow have global consequences, and that if they are doomed then so are we all.

After hearing about a boat that lies at the top of a tree as the result of a flood, two teenage boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), travel to an island on the Mississippi River in a speed boat. They find the boat, but they also find Mud, a rugged drifter with a gun, who asks the boys to get him food in exchange for the boat. It becomes evident that Mud is an outlaw, but the boys stay true to their word and deliver the food. Mud tells them the story of Juniper, the woman he loves, and hands them a note to deliver to her. As the boys seek her out in her motel room, they find her being abused by a man who is the brother of a man that Mud murdered. Despite the dangers, Ellis stays loyal to Mud and carries out the tasks he is asked to do.

There is more than just a hint of Mark Twain to the story, but Mud is successful in combining a number of genres - Southern gothic, coming-of-age drama, and sometimes even your standard man-on-the-run thriller. Cinematographer Adam Stone, who worked with Nichols on Take Shelter and his debut Shotgun Stories (2007), captures the Mississippi River immaculately, portraying its mythic qualities so lyrically that you may think it was capable of washing Mud up on the shore of its empty island. The world seems both peaceful and violent, two themes so contrasting that we can only be seeing this world from the viewpoint of Ellis' naive and innocent mind.

The cast is stellar. McConaughey seems well on his way to redeeming himself for his years of service to terrible rom-coms with an impressive performance, harking back to his early appearance in the magnificent Lone Star (1996). Small roles for Sam Shepard and Michael Shannon round off an impressive cast, and Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson (both former Deadwood actors) inject raw emotion into their roles as Ellis' separating parents. But it was Tye Sheridan that stole the show for me, giving a performance way beyond his years as the honest and headstrong Ellis. The scene in which he is humiliated by the girl he thought was his girlfriend, the expression etched across Sheridan's face becomes something more profound than simple confusion. Although it dips into a slightly disappointing and generic shoot-out climax, Mud is a fine film, and one that reminds us what it is like to love, as ugly and unpredictable as it can be.


Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Reese Witherspoon, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #660: 'Bloody Mama' (1970)

"Blood's thicker than water," explains Shelley Winters' pious and psychotic Ma Barker. Based extremely loosely on the exploits of Ma Barker and her sons, who went on a crime spree during the 1920's and was chased by J. Edgar Hoover's newly formed F.B.I., director Roger Corman reverses the familiar pre-credits text by stating 'any similarity to Kate Barker and her sons is intentional." The truth is that the real Ma Barker had very little to do with the organisation of her family's criminal activities, but Corman gives her to Shelley Winters who grabs the role and runs away with it. This is a loud, crude, violent film, about a bunch of despicable characters. But Corman does something that is rarely done and delves into the psychology of these gangsters, and, although it's hardly Freud, comes up with some interesting and uncomfortable answers.

Leaving her home and husband in Arkansas, Ma Barker and her four sons - the towering brute Herman (Don Stroud), the practical Arthur (Clint Kimbrough), the submissive, bisexual Fred (Robert Walden), and the quiet, drug-addled Lloyd (Robert De Niro) - embark on a petty crime spree on the command of Ma. Herman and Fred find themselves locked away for petty theft, and inside, Fred is dominated by the violent Kevin (Bruce Dern), who joins Ma and her boys when they are released from prison. As their notoriety grows, the family kidnap wealthy businessman Sam (Pat Hingle) and hold him for ransom. When the boys start bonding with the father figure, cracks begin to appear in the gang.

On the surface this is just a cheap exploitation film made the master of the quickie, but it has recently received some acclaim for its unorthodox portrayal of its ugly characters. There's more than a hint of incest that runs throughout the film, conveyed in Ma's hyper-sexual activity and Herman's hesitation to leave his mother's breast. It is also often quite disturbing, as the lengths that Ma will go to in order to protect her sons becomes evident as she drowns an innocent young woman who Lloyd rapes. The performances are noticeably excellent too, especially Winters, who gives Ma a vulnerability in her need to have strong men around her, and Dern, who is creepy as the alpha-male whose sexual preferences is somewhat questionable. This is one of the finest examples of Corman's skill as a director, using limited resources to create a genre film that still stands out in a crowded marketplace, never ashamed to embrace it's exploitation roots, but bold enough to dig that little bit deeper.


Directed by: Roger Corman
Starring: Shelley Winters, Don Stroud, Bruce Dern, Clint Kimbrough, Robert De Niro, Robert Walden, Pat Hingle
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #659: 'This Is the End' (2013)

We all know the comedy formula by now - obnoxious man-child goes about his business until a life-changing event (i.e. a girl) teaches him the way of the world so that we gradually learn that he's really quite sweet after all. It's a cliché fully embraced by silver screen comedy megastars like Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and Jack Black. Audiences, clearly comfortable with predictability, flock to see their hugely profitable films, because, as bad as their movies tend to be, they are still loveable actors. Judd Apatow and his entourage of actors - although they have made their fair share of bad movies too - seem unsatisfied with simply offering the same thing over and over again. First-time directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen here give us a strange and dangerously self-indulgent end-of-the-world comedy with some of Hollywood's most famous offering themselves up for lampooning, resulting in a Marmite movie that I believe is the funniest of the year so far.

L.A.-loathing Jay Baruchel arrives at the airport to be greeted by his lifelong buddy Seth Rogen. The two go home and smoke some weed, and eventually head over to James Franco's new Hollywood mansion for an A-list party. Baruchel doesn't want to go because Jonah Hill will be there, and Jonah is apparently an arsehole. While Rogen mixes with his new Hollywood buddies, Baruchel mopes on his own and watches Craig Robinson sing 'take yo' panties off!' with Rihanna. But as Baruchel and Rogen go to the store for some munchies, beams of light suddenly start sucking people up into heaven, and the ground below them starts to open. It seems the Rapture has passed them by and the apocalypse is upon them. Holed up in Franco's mansion as demonic monsters prowl outside, they must survive starvation, Emma Watson wielding an axe, an exorcism, and most of all, an uninvited Danny McBride.

With disaster movies opening every other week these days, the vision of the apocalypse brought by Goldberg and Rogen is actually rather well done. A coked-up Michael Cera, who is previously seen receiving some oral assistance in a bathroom, is given a particularly gruesome death, while the likes of Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd are sucked into wormholes in the ground. It would seem obvious to most normal people as to what these idiots need to do to escape their predicament, but they are far too self-absorbed to realise. It's funny how aware these actors are of their public perception, and they fully embrace it. So Rogen is ribbed for playing the same guy in every movie and is practically always seen with a joint in his mouth; Franco is the robe-wearing, art-collecting 'pretentious nerd' (as McBride labels him); Hill is subtly creepy; Robinson is just an extremely nice guy; and McBride is psychotic and selfish. Baruchel, it seems, is the only 'normal' one, completely untainted by Hollywood.

But the point here is not that Hollywood is evil or that Hollywood corrupts the soul. I don't really know what it's about, but at it's centre there is the relatable story of lifelong friends that have grown apart, but are still desperately clinging onto that special bond they share. And it is this that makes the film so engrossing. The humour is as bad taste as you would expect (at one point, Franco and McBride threaten each other with ejaculation), but it's the emotional core that dilutes all the cock jokes and gives the movie such much-needed humanity. It won't be for everybody, and some of the general strangeness will go over a lot of audience's heads. Goldberg and Rogen have clearly seen far too many movies and therefore throw everything but the kitchen sink at the film, but I found this a completely unexpected joy, and an original one at that. Although it gets a bit too ridiculous at the climax, the end note will have a big part of the audience screaming with pleasure with a cameo or five by some unexpected guests.


Directed by: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Michael Cera
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie