Weekly GG

Movie highlights of the week,
one old : Tora! Tora! Tora! (Sun 7 220P), one of the best American (and Japanese) war movies about the bombing of Pearl Harbour; and,
one new : Road to Perdition (Sun 7 830P) with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, directed by Sam “American Beauty” Mendes (RT 83%).

GG Editorial - Year in Review

On the eve of the second annual GG Awards, a few words from your Chairman, Mr GGBlog himself.
This year’s big GG news story was the move from e-newsletters to this online blog.
Once online, the rants continued for a time but eventually ran out of steam and you just can’t make a hot, piping cup of invective without steam ! Weekly GG highlights have continued as have the topical and localised football posts for Rabelwatch.
Your host has added a number of more detailed movie reviews throughout the year. While not true “reviews” as you might find elsewhere, they have quite deliberately been expressions of personal reactions to the film experience. There was also a comprehensive report back from MIFF in August and September.
Guest spots have been most welcome and they assisted in filling out the “TV” aspect, an area that I fall well short since I focus more on the movies. It is with a great deal of thanks to TV Tasty Knows and Metal Theater for their contributions over the year. Thanks also to the usually reticent Rabelwatch for his personal contribution earlier in the year. In this era of inclusiveness however it was a personal disappointment that long time subscribers Formal Neil and Uncle J could not be enticed to contribute a post too.
Nonetheless, all of your ongoing support and regular readership of this modern form of thought sharing is most appreciated. Feedback too, as always, is welcome.
And so, with the “real” AFI Awards next week, we at GG land can look forward to upstaging their regional shin-dig by hosting our 2ND ANNUAL GG AWARDS first. Who will win the coveted ‘GG TV AWARD 2006’ and ‘GG MOVIE AWARD 2006’ ? That, my dear friends, is entirely up to you. Come prepared to nominate a winner for both awards and we will draw this year’s winners quite literally out of a hat ! Nominations and winners will be posted online next week. Note to self : bring a hat.
Humbly yours, Editor in Chief, GGBlog

Talk To Her - GG

Sorry, no real GG post this week either. Time is a little too tight. Spain's Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her (Sat SBS 950P) is pick of the week.

Void - GG

Touching the Void (Sun 7 830P) is more than just the state of TV's summer programming schedule. In a week when there are a collection of fine movies, all of them have been screened (at least) once before. They are worth a look if you haven't seen them before : The Dish, Being John Malkovich, Harry Potter 1, Chicken Run, Ruthless People, Billy Elliot, Phone Booth.
Touching the Void (a first run on TV) is a real life dramatisation of two mountain climbers and best mates climbing the Siula Grande in Peru, being the first to make the summit and then, on descent, run into tragedy. One of them breaks his leg in a fall, ultimately is left on the cliff face to die while the other descends alone. The one left there manages to descend by himself also, amazingly, and this is the story of how he gets down. What should not be a surprise is how their friendship was affected.

Troy - GG

Troy (Fri 9 830P) much maligned by critics, historians and Greek literature experts alike, is an adaptation of Homer’s siege and battle of the said city by the Greeks, led by Agamemnon (Brian Cox). The political outrage was ignited by the love affair between Paris and Helen (Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger) and Helen’s subsequent defection / kidnapping by Paris. Despite what the girls say about his eye-candy value, Orlando Bloom can’t act.
The Greeks are confident because they have Achilles (Brad Pitt), the Michael Voss of the Greek army (if you will), part God, part man and the best fighter in the known universe. Ensuring that it is not all one sided, Troy is the home to Hector, Paris’ older brother, played by Eric Bana. Bana is as serious and gruff as he ever was as the gun toting, desert rat in Black Hawk Down.
So, why should you watch ? Brad Pitt of course : with his tanned muscles, blonde hair and “love me because I’m this good” swagger. The rest is fun, period-epic, action-set type stuff.
From a story telling point of view, I wonder if it would have added a layer of richness by including the gods in this version ? Homer’s tale of the battles between humans is only half the story. Each parry and thrust is mirrored and often as not a result of, the gods squabbling with one other and favouring their humans as pawns in a chess game. Troy manages to erase any reference to a god and the story becomes a little ‘same old’ as a result.

Kandahar and Nine Queens - GG

While Nicolas Cage gets a thorough working over on Friday night (why ?, why ?, why ?) as do inane comedies and action movies on all others, Tuesday on SBS offers a rare double that set them apart for the week.
Kandahar (1P) is directed by Iranian Mohsen Makhmalbaf and was made pre-9/11. Set in Afghanistan under Taliban rule (although mostly filmed in neighbouring Iran for obvious reasons) it documents the travel of an Afghani-born Canadian, Nafas, returning to her country of birth as she tries to reach her sister who has written and said that she will kill herself at the next solar eclipse.
Naturally the film does not reflect well on the Taliban and would not perhaps have been so interesting or relevant to Western audiences save for what occurred post 9/11. Told in the first person by Nafas who discreetly tape records her thoughts and conversations in English, she desperately travels across the arid landscape with anyone who will show her the way to the city of Kandahar. Firstly, wearing the full burqua covering, with a trader and his wives, later by a boy who claims he can step around the trouble spots.
The film conjures some beautiful yet surreal images, the most commented on being the artificial limbs parachuted down to an aid agency (nothing more than a tent in the desert) and one legged men hopping madly in a wild foot race to catch one of the prizes.
Beautiful but haunting.
The other, quite different in almost every way, Nine Queens (11P) is one of the best ‘con’ movies I have seen. This original is Argentinian and it was remade in America recently as Criminal, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and John C Reilly but naturally isn’t quite as good. If you enjoyed the Hustle TV shows on ABC then you will enjoy this even more. The story is about two con men getting hold of a sheet of rare stamps (the Nine Queens) and then extorting a collector for their exchange. Cleverly written, you do not realise who is playing whom until the very last scene. Good fun.

Cold Mountain - GG

One of the main reasons to watch Cold Mountain (Fri 7 830P) is the cinematography of Aussie John Seale who has teamed up with writer/director Anthony Minghella before on The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley. Set during the Civil War in south east America, Cold Mountain has some confronting battle scenes that are populated by rural men and boys who weren’t professional fighters but ordinary farmers, husbands and sons. Both Seale and Minghella wanted to portray the men of the period as being of the earth and a number of scenes show an almost seamless blending of bodies to ground. Take for example an early scene where men lie dying and the blood seeps from their bodies, turning slowly from red to brown as it mixes in the mud. And later, a pile of corpses, apparently heaped at random, but if you take a second look, actually stacked in a complex criss-cross pattern.
Filmed in Romania, as a proxy for the wilds of Virginia or North Carolina, the scenery in and of itself is quite beautiful and then we have the film’s centre piece, Nicole Kidman, who, if truth be told, looks out of place. Set in the middle of the war, without the men to run the farms let alone produce sufficient food, there is our Nic., all rosy cheeks and glorious radiance, wearing the latest in Country Road fashion. About two-thirds of the way through, Nicole, flanked by the girls, walks up a hill like a Vision Splendid with light snow falling like tiny angels. She looks too good is the problem.
The story is a fairly straightforward one. Inman, played by Jude Law, goes off to war, is injured and then flees on foot, back to Cold Mountain and Ada, played by Nicole.
What motivates a man to cross the Appalachians on foot during winter, desert the army, be tracked by bounty hunters, face indignities, all the while nearly starving to death, to find one woman, whom he only spoke to once, over three years before ? I read one review that suggested that Ada must have been this ethereal figure, this Vision Splendid, in Inman’s imagination for him to do the things that he did.
Its unlikely. But that’s the set-up of the story. Things become so dour and depressive during the first hour (too many blues and greys) as both Inman and Ada mope around missing the other desperately, that it is a welcome breath of fresh air when Renee Zellweger steps onto the stage and dominates every scene she is in. She injects the story with energy and warmth and was no surprise to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Throw in a local baddie played by Ray Winstone who does ‘evil’ as well as anyone, a girls own brigade at home led by Renee and Kathy Baker, and a superb supporting cast, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Aileen Atkins, and you have enough to enjoy in this two and a half hour epic.

Around the World in a Week - GG

The Bourne Supremacy (Sun 10 830P) is a follow-up to last week’s Bourne Identity and unlike most sequels, does not disappoint. While at risk of dragging out the Cold-war paranoia, “who am I and why do they want to kill me ?” this film mostly sides on one action set-up after another as the one man fighting machine goes about his business better than everyone else. Matt Damon is successful in this role I think because he looks like Joe Everyman and does not draw attention to himself in the way that a James Bond or a Samuel L Jackson might. A show-off would kill the role. This film takes you from India to Europe, Washington to New York. Don’t try and scrutinize the plot line too closesly and you will enjoy this above average adventure.

Otherwise if you want an alternate “around the world in a week” cinema experience from your TV then check these out :

Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold (Mon SBS 1A) (Iran). Panahi was profiled at this year’s MIFF and all his films address issues that are pertinent to his homeland : intolerance toward women, freedom of movement and thought etc. Ironically and somewhat sadly, his films for the most part are forbidden to be shown in his homeland. Crimson Gold was made in 2003.

Michael Haneke’s Time of the Wolf (Wed SBS 10P) (France) starring Isabelle Huppert, may not work quite as well as The Piano Teacher or last year’s Hidden, it does however continue the director’s theme for fractured lives in a world that the protagonists don’t quite fit. This film is set in post-apocalyptic, rural France with the sole purpose of surviving the ensuing mayhem. Depressing ? Almost certainly. Compelling ? Most likely.

Sung-su Kim’s Musa (Thu SBS 1030P) (S Korea), the Korean action blockbuster of 2001 : a swords and horses historic epic set in 14th Century China. Of the names you do know, Zhang Ziyi is the Ming princess captured by the exiled Korean envoys who are seeking the return of their honour and good relations between the two countries. It has some of the brutality that marks a lot of modern Korean films with very realistic and impressive battle scenes. Beautifully shot with a matching score from a Japanese composer, Shiro Sagisu, this will be well worth watching.

The Monsoon Identity - GG

Monsoon Wedding (Sat SBS 950P) has been on before but it is of such quality that you really must give it a go. Directed by talented Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!, Vanity Fair) it follows one family preparing for the arranged marriage of their daughter. Unlike a typical Bollywood feature where the focus is on soapy-style plot lines, lots of jazzy music and impossibly good looking 20 somethings, Monsoon Wedding has a drama at the heart of it that threatens to derail the whole family. The film also gently pokes fun at itself regarding large families, unreliable tradesmen and an Indian culture that is obsessed by weddings.
Also, Mildred Pierce (Sat 9 1P) starring Joan Crawford and The Bourne Identity (Sun 10 9P) starring Matt Damon and Franka Potente. Incidentally I read the Robert Ludlum novel upon which this is based a month or two back and apart from the set up (a former assassin rescued from the Mediterranean with two bullets in his back and his memory gone), has nothing else in common. Oh sure there is the girl, the bad guys and the chase, but in my opinion the film just did it better. This film is unusual when compared to others of its ilk in that instead of our intrepid hero out to save the world (a la James Bond) he is just trying to save himself and work out who he is and where he has come from. The film then almost paradoxically becomes an action film with the focus of a character drama.

The Last Samurai, McDonalds & Starsky & Hutch - GG

How does an American, during Civil War times, become the hero in a Japanese samurai movie ? My question wasn’t really answered either after I watched The Last Samurai (Fri 9 830P) a year ago. Suffice to say that it is a competently choreographed action pic. that more or less succeeds at what it sets out to do; there is a sense of honour, the apologetic retrospection on colonialism is set up as the baddy and Tom Cruise survives.
Two years ago Morgan Spurlock made headlines with the latest doco. on the evils of McDonalds in Super Size Me (Sun 10 9P). By eating nothing but McDonalds food three times a day for one month he seriously compromised his health and captured all the effects in this film. McDonalds, never ones to miss capitalising on any publicity good or bad, have since introduced their “healthy options” menu items and McDonalds Australia were very quickly out, at the time, campaigning how they were different to their American parents by not offering super sizes to each of their product lines – I guess what plans they had to introduce that concept to Australian consumers has been shelved for a little while.
And if you were ever a fan of Starsky and Hutch in the 70s, then you will enjoy the modern remake with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the titular roles (Sun 7 830P). For mine, Snoop Dogg as their ‘too cool for school’ underground informant, Huggy Bear, steals every scene he is in and the cameos of the original S&H at the end a good laugh for the fans. This 2004 movie is followed by the 1975 Starsky & Hutch – The Original Movie (Sun 7 1030P) which is no doubt an extension of their 1 hour TV show.

Kill Bill - GG

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Wed 7 930P) is the most recent Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) which was (controversially) shot as one movie and then spliced in two and released six months apart. I say controversially because some believed that it was a cynical money making ploy to generate twice the revenues for a single film. Tarantino claimed that he could not chop the movie any shorter (than the two parts currently are) and was forced to make an artistic choice (by making two films). The criticisms continued once the two films were released with some critics claiming that the stories did not naturally fall into two parts etc etc. Overwhelmingly too, most, it seemed, preferred Vol. 2 which is a lot more conventional in how it unfolds than part 1, which I will get too shortly. I for one however simply revelled in Vol. 1 and endorse it again here.
Kill Bill tells the story of The Bride (Uma Thurman), a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, headed by the eponymous Bill (David Carradine) is “killed” on her wedding day by her now estranged Squad, along with all members of her bridal party, guests and clergy. Despite being bruised and bloodied, she is in a deep coma from which she does not wake for four years. When she does finally, she vows a bloody and ruthless revenge. She makes a list, with Bill last on the list, and Vol. 1 proceeds to tell the revenge of numbers 1 and 2 on the list : Lucy Liu, now leader of the Japanese underworld, and Vivica A Fox, a regular suburban mum.
Tarantino has made no secret of his love of old style Hong Kong gangster films and this homage moves from the cheesy music and off-centre title card at the films opening to the high powered kung-fu throughout. The violence in this film is bloody but deliberately over the top and must be viewed as comedy when copious amounts of blood spurt wildly from shoulder joints as any number of faceless baddies have their limbs severed by a samurai sword.
What sets this movie apart though is how it looks and how it sounds. The music is energetic and wild when it is called for and quiet and reflective to contrast. There is no doubt that music adds to the style of the film and its story telling. Listen to it loud is my suggestion. [I recall being alone in the house one night and at 3am watching Vol. 1 at full volume. It was awesome].
The look of the film too is beautiful with its bright and vibrant colours – think The Bride’s yellow track suit and the Pussy Wagon’s garish colours. My favourite scene however is virtually the last with the showdown between The Bride and Liu. The solitude of the Japanese garden, the snow gently falling, the trickle of the stream and the dropping of the bamboo water feature. This also assists in telling the story as The Bride and Liu meet each other as enemies and in their fight, learn respect for each other that neither had.
The other visual tricks that Tarantino dishes up for us is a sequence in anime, possibly to “tone down” the subject matter to get past the censors – I’ll let you decide if you think it is appropriate material for a mainstream film; the extended fight sequence with the Crazy 88 is broken up with viewing the fight in colour, black and white, in blue shadow; inter-titles to announce the new chapter; and so it goes on, all the while giving the film a sense of direction and manic energy.
Sonny Chiba gives a delightful cameo as a tea house proprietor.
Downsides include the fact that the fight scene with the Crazy 88 (don’t ask, just accept) goes on a little too long (I mean how many hewed limbs and athletic twists can you take, really?) and it is a pity in some ways that splitting the film in two meant a “cliffhanger” ending which compelled you to wait for Vol. 2 : a revelation that takes some of the suspense out of the sequel.
Overwhelmingly though I think it works and in my mind, a worthy successor to the very great potential that Tarantino showed in Reservoir Dogs.

City of God - GG

There is only one real choice for movie watchers on this week’s TV :
City of God (Wed SBS 10P), Fernando Meirelles’ look into the heart of the Rio de Janeiro-ean slums. Children are as adults : “I smoke and snort, shoot and rob – I’m a man,” says one 10 year old, shortly before he his shot dead. It is a tough and ruthless place where drugs and crime are the only options. Divided into gangs, the stronger survive and move into each other’s territory. While it starts as a “what hope is there?” type of film set in the 60’s, it evolves into an even more fascinating battle between wills and weapons in the 80’s. Highly recommended.
You may also care for The Adventures of Robin Hood (Sat 9 1P – assuming it is actually shown that is), shot in bright and glorious Technicolour starring the cheeky, suave Errol Flynn and the dastardly Basil Rathbone.
Sadly, due notice is given that it is probable that no entry will be posted next week as your humble correspondent uses up the balance of his annual leave and escapes town with the fam. for a few days. Naturally all efforts will be made to post some items of interest if possible.
Now, LA Law – the Movie (Mon 7 midday) anyone ?

Ronin, far from heaven - GG

Far From Heaven (Fri 7 845P) is set in 1957 with Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid as the definitive modern Connecticut-American couple. The backdrops, the costumes, the manners, the expectations are true to the 1950s down to the minutest detail. At no time does the film or the film makers belie the fact that this film was made some 45 years later, in 2002. This allows us to fall into step with a 1950s mindset to address the issues of homosexuality and racism from new eyes. This attention to detail to recreate the mood as well as the look of a 1950s film is one of the film’s highlights.
To quote from Roger Ebert’s review : “Director Todd Haynes says he had three specific inspirations: Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows" (1955), which starred Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in the story of a middle-aged widow and her handsome young gardener; Sirk's "Imitation of Life" (1959), with Lana Turner as a rich woman whose maid's daughter (Susan Kohner) passed for white, and Max Ophuls' "The Reckless Moment" (1949), about blackmail. In Sirk's films you often have the feeling that part of the plot is in code; that one kind of forbidden love stands for another.”
The forbidden love in this film is the gay love of the “perfect” business man and father, Dennis Quaid and the interracial attraction between Julianne Moore and their black gardener, Dennis Haysbert. For a film that has so much going for it, it is not surprising that an enormous number of reviewers liked this film a lot. GG’s Scott Murray has this to say though : “the film will be stunning for many and overly precious for others.” I’m sad to say that I fall into the latter category and found the film’s pacing to be to slow.
Ronin (Fri 7 noon) is an action film that has more going for it than just one set piece after another. Directed superbly by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), the car chases through the winding streets of Paris are fantastic. The heart of the film however belongs to the mateship and mutual respect between Jean Reno (the master of the heart of gold with a gruff exterior) and Robert De Niro. Both hold to the honour code of the ronin, a Japanese expression referring to the code of behaviour of samurai warriors who have no master to serve.
Above average comedies, My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Fri 9 830P) and Analyze This (Fri 9 1030P).
Some Like It Hot (Sat 9 130P) is back in the program so good luck !
I have not been engaged to watch any of the 9/11 tributes / films / documentaries up until now. I’m not sure if its the prospect of documented misery that’s too close to home or whether I’m wary of “celebrating” an event that has no answers and will only end up as a flag waving exercise for America and its government. Having said that, the French documentary that was released 1 year after the event, 11’9”01 – September 11 (Mon SBS 1040P) is a compilation of 11 reflections from 11 acclaimed filmmakers (including Alejandro Inarritu, Ken Loach, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair) and I feel compelled to visit it this time around. Perhaps enough time has passed for me that I can view it a little more dispassionately ?
Being a fan of Korean drama, I will be tuning into If You Were Me (Tue SBS 1040P) which is a collection of short films from different Korean directors, including my favourite, Park Chan-wook.

GG blah

Do not, do not, do not tune into either Beaches, Pay It Forward or Under the Tuscan Sun. Awful, awful, awful. I cannot believe that summer (and its wretched programming) is here so soon. For all of that, Intolerable Cruelty (Sun 10 845P, or later, will Australian Idol go on forever ? … yes, I expect so) is a Coen Brothers’ comedy that has their quirky and zany signature with fun turns from Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Clooney – a GG fave. For agreeable, light-hearted knock-about comedies then you could also tune into Big Trouble (or more accurately video tape it) (Thu 7 midday) which stars Tim Allen and Rene Russo. As with most comedies of this type the set up is wholly unbelievable but its funny enough. Stranger Than Paradise (Thu SBS 1030P) is this week’s Jarmusch project.
Are we there yet ? So uninspiring its hardly worth building up the energy to rant about it.

For the very keen, Rabelwatch this week is in the wee hours of Thursday morning (330A kick-off no less) with the return match of the Socceroos v Kuwait. With Lebanon, formerly in Australia’s group, withdrawing from the competition, Australia has only two more qualifying games in the build up to the Asian Cup Final. With 2 wins from 2 already recorded, the Aussies have secured their spot.

Punch-drunk GG

Adam Sandler has made a lot of money out of playing in puerile comedies where his body-of-a-man, mind-of-a-boy personas have the gross-out slapstick on high and his socially inept but basically nice guy underneath. In Punch-Drunk Love (Sat 9 930P), Sandler plays Barry Egan, essentially the same character as in other movies but with the comedy on ‘mute.’ What we are left is a slightly uneasy portrait of a man who has is socially awkward, has uncontrollable outbursts of anger and has a harmonium (accordion piano) dumped outside his down-town warehouse. I have seen this film a few times now and I’m still not exactly sure what the harmonium means. The tentative, discordant tones early on gradually swell to provide the main theme, a reprisal of Olive Oyl’s ‘He Needs Me.’ The audible shocks are meant to give us a fright too. They put us slightly on edge, just like our main character.
PDL is brought to us by Paul Thomas Anderson whose previous works, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, focus on disparate characters who come to each other’s aid in expected and unexpected ways. Emily Watson plays Lena, a friend of one of Barry’s sisters (of whom he has 7, no wonder he experiences outbursts of anger). She is attracted to Barry and they begin a relationship which evolves over the course of the film. Through Lena, Barry finds love and a means though which he can begin to ‘understand’ life. “I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.”
As with Wes Anderson pictures, a lot of PT Anderson’s jokes (no relation by the way, although I do note that I share the same birthday as him, same year too, maybe we’re related ?) are in the background. By casting the incomparable Luis Guzman as his warehouse foreman, there are no shortage of mini-calamities that occur all around the edges but no-one draws attention to them. It is said that the collection of puddings acquired and stored in the warehouse talk to each other too but I haven’t picked that up yet.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, an Anderson regular, has a great cameo as a mattress salesman and his showdown with Barry toward the end provides some of the memorable highlights of the film’s dialogue.
To say that it is an unconventional love story would be to cite the obvious. While its not for everybody I can’t help but recommend it. 4 stars from me.
Moulin Rouge (Fri 7 12midday) is a Baz Luhrmann/Catherine Martin Spectacular, Spectacular : one providing the direction and music, the other the costumes and dance. A love story quite different from PDL : MR is over the top, beautiful, tragic, funny and serious. Nicole and Ewan McGregor lead a fine cast and add to their accomplishment by doing all their own singing. Casting credits include Richard Roxburgh, Jim Broadbent and John Leguizamo and support from well known Australians, Garry McDonald, David Wenham, Christine Anu and Kylie Minogue.
Next Thursday, the Jarmusch debut film from 1980 screens, Permanent Vacation (SBS 1030P). I am one-quarter through the Jarmusch films screened (there have been four, this is one is five) and I will provide some sort of report at the end of it. Expect words like “independent film-maker” to be used a lot.

GG - Marilyn is Hot

Some Like it Hot (Sat 9 130P), ranked number 1 by the American Film Institute as the funniest movie of all time is directed by Billy Wilder at his best and stars Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and of course Marilyn herself. While the cross-dressing-man-for-laughs is a little tired these days, to see it portrayed freshly with the talent of Monroe et al plus some of Wilder's best gags make it a must see. With Wilder punchlines and gags thrown out one after the other, it was Wilder himself who asked why he would pause to admire a great riff when the real fun was in topping it.
Internal Affairs (Sat SBS 10P) is a Hong Kong police thriller with a copper undercover as a triad gang member and a gangster passing as a cop who, of course, realise the place of the other and hunt each other down (RT 95%). Described by Rolling Stone critic, Peter Travers thus :

It's a tribute to co-directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak that almost nothing about Infernal Affairs follows the rules. Asian superstars Leung and Lau give bruising, brilliant performances that transcend genre. The film prowls the night with a lit-by-neon intensity that recalls Michael Mann's Collateral but illuminates a very special circle of hell reserved for those guilty of betrayal. The filmmakers rub our noses in violence yet cut deepest in moments of agonizing quiet, including a climactic rooftop scene between Yan and Ming. This is a movie that gets its hooks into you early, and no chance is it letting go.

2004 documentary Acadamy Award winner, Born into Brothels (Sun SBS 930P) is worth a look if you’re after something a little different. Children born in the red-light district of Kolkata, India have their lives transformed when they are introduced to photography and with it a hint of a better life away from the poverty that threatens to overwhelm them.
Continue to enjoy Thursday nights on SBS with Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong movies. Next Thursday, City Hunter (1030P) although none actually on tonight because of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Championships. Get this, on the SBS television guide, the opening match of this championship, Russia v Brazil is being broadcast live at 1A. The Australia v New Zealand match, broadcast two hours prior at 11P, is listed as being shown in delay. Now how does that work ?

I See Dead People - scared yet ?

In the Sixth Sense, we were told by young Cole that he “sees dead people.” And my question to you is, do you get scared ? Because depending on your answer will depend ultimately as to whether you should watch The Others (Fri 7 noon). My Good Lady Wife does not get scared watching ghost movies. Her pulse does not even quicken by a moment. I on the other hand am scared stupid by such things and own a copy of both Sixth Sense and The Others so that I can be scared witless any time I like. The Others is directed by Chilean Alejandro Amenabar (Open Your Eyes, which was remade and destroyed as Vanilla Sky (Sun 7 11P)) who creates a claustrophobic atmosphere by the Jersey mists and the darkened rooms of this large, mostly empty, manor house. It stars my Nic in one of her A-grade roles and no, you may not leave comments giving me your opinion of her talent. I’m not interested. I love her. End of story. The Good Lady Wife by the way is horrified by those type of scary movies where limbs are severed and fangs are bared. I happen to think they’re a huge laugh !
Speaking as we were about Sixth Sense, direct M Night Shyamalan backed up SS with Unbreakable (Sat 7 930P), a superhero movie of sorts. While less of a ghost story than SS (even though this is ground that Shyamalan is most fond) and still involving a twist at the end that explains some of the build up (a conceit which Shyamalan is also fond) this was under-rated upon its release and continues Bruce Willis’ stellar run as the unassuming every-man, capable of great things and the dynamic Samuel L Jackson.
Humphrey Bogart plays his definitive Sam Spade role in John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (Sat 9 130P), based on a Dashiell Hammett novel. One of the great film noir’s which is made up of a seedy underworld, dizzy dames, convoluted plots and a hard drinking, hard smoking private dick.
Dead Man (Wed SBS 10P) stars Johhny Depp and because of this is sure to attract a larger than usual crowd for a Jarmusch film. It tells the story of a young man’s spiritual and physical journey from accountant in 19th Century America to the wild west where he transforms into a hunted outlaw.

Jackie Chan in Project A Part II

Japanese Story (Fri 7 845P) is an Australian landscape movie starring Toni Collette. The film builds good momentum but doesn’t quite finish with quite the impact that I’m sure the filmmakers were hoping for.
“Play it again Sam” and so they have : Casablanca (Sat 9 130P). “Last night we said a great many things. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. Little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”
Proof of Life (Sat 9 930P) is okay as far as action plots go where hostage-release expert (Russell Crowe) comes to the aid of damsel in distress (Meg Ryan) after her husband (David Morse) is kidnapped by South American guerillas. Not one of Rusty’s better roles frankly and the spark between him and Ryan hardly lights the heart of your cockles.
I saw the first half of Jarmusch’s Night On Earth (Wed SBS 10P) at La Trobe Uni. many years ago and didn’t see the second half because it bored me stupid. Hardly a ringing endorsement is it ? Conversations between five taxi drivers and their rides across five cities in one night. Following through on my commitment to this Jarmusch experiment I will saddle up and report back in due course.
Movie of the week is without doubt Jackie Chan’s Project A Part II (Thu SBS 1030P). Part I was on two weeks ago and this was full of Chan’s cheek, physical humour and acrobatics. From one review source : “Part II follows the dictum [with respect to Part I] of being ‘the same, only bigger,’ and it is here that one finds Chan at the peak of his powers as a filmmaker, a choreographer, and a martial artist, when he was still young, fast and agile.”

28 days later, the return of the king

28 Days Later (Fri 7 1115P) is a post-apocalyptic zombie horror where a mutant virus (from rogue laboratory monkeys, where else ?) is released and the whole of England is wiped out. Oh well. As in all zombie flicks, a very few are not infected and they either do or do not hold out against the flesh starved, mindless hordes. Cillian Murphy stars (currently in Cannes Palme D’Or winner The Wind that Shakes the Barley screening at MIFF). Shot in digital it gives the film a tactile and gritty effect that helps to set the tone. As much action as horror, there are some genuinely adrenaline pumping moments, for example when our survivors are changing a tire in a tunnel in record time as the mutants close in on them. But most of the horror is in way the “heroes” are forced to survive : take for example the way the two women are treated in the army camp. And to demonstrate the cynicism (and humor) that Green Guide reviewer Doug Anderson uses to introduce this movie : “Viewers concerned that this might be a sequel to the woeful Sandra Bullock film 28 Days can relax. She’s not in it – unless she plays the mystery virus at the centre of the story.”
Spy Kids (Sat 9 730P), Yes, I know it’s a kids movie but an enjoyable film is an enjoyable film, regardless of its intended audience (take Shrek for example). Directed with good humour, great gadgets and a cohesive story, adults Anotonio Banderas, Carla Gugino and Cheech Marin enjoy their roles immensely. The (eponymous) kids Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara are appropriately cute without being cloying and capable without stretching to incredulity, take on arch villains Alan Cumming and Teri Hatcher. The alternative to this is The Santa Clause 2 (Sat 7 630P) or The Sound of Music (Sat 7 840P). Catch Me If You Can (Sat 9 930P) follows Spy Kids and is a fun romp with Leo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
Clearly for mine, Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King (Sun 7 830P) is movie of the week however how such a modern day epic would hold up with advertisement breaks and no surround sound makes me glad I have the DVD alternative. Epic in scope, dramatic in action (the siege at the city of Gondor surpasses the siege at Helm’s Deep in LOTR 2 which was itself a new benchmark in drama and action) and emotional in its telling I can’t speak highly enough of Peter Jackson’s amazing work. I am a huge fan of this man (and his amazing team of script writers, artists, modelers etc) who last year brought us King Kong. Elijah Wood really is an astonishingly good actor, here as Frodo, the number 1 hobbit of the story and is ably supported by a fine array of international talent : John Rhys-Davies, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Miranda Otto, Ian MacKellin and even this doesn’t do the cast list justice. If you haven’t seen it then you should and if you have then you should watch it again. Yes it helps if you are a fan of the books but that is not a prerequisite to enjoying the movie. To get the full effect, both of the story and of Jackson’s accomplishment, you should start at the start and hire out the three movies : Fellowship of the Ring (still my favourite of the three, closely followed by ROTK), The Two Towers and finally Return of the King. The conclusion does take about half an hour to wrap up and this is absolutely key to elevating this film from “very good” to “excellent”.
Jarmusch’s film on SBS this week is Mystery Train (Wed 10P) starring a whole lot of people I don’t know and over on Aunty, Picnic At Hanging Rock (Wed 2 1230A) is Peter Weir’s ethereal tale of innocence lost, beautifully shot by Russell Boyd as are Gheorghe Zamfir’s Pan flutes played.
A Hong Kong Jackie Chan original on Thursday night, The Protector (Thu SBS 1030P) rounds out the week.

The Interview with Jim Jarmusch

My highlight for this week is one of Formal’s favourites, The Interview (Sun 10 midnight) where most of the action takes place in a police interview room. Eddie Fleming (Hugo Weaving) has been hauled in for questioning by coppers (Tony Martin and Aaron Jeffrey) who are as corrupt and as fierce as the man opposite them. Tony Martin (starring currently in Candy) memorably emphasises the worst traits of his character with a nasally, sneering accent he employs throughout. High on dialogue, claustrophobic in its exchange and compelling in its tension where you’re never sure who is playing whom. Directed by Craig Monahan who’s only other film credit is 2004’s Peaches which also starred Weaving alongside Jacqui McKenzie.
High Society (9 Sat 130P) 1956 musical classic starring Grace Kelly in her last film role (before becoming real life Princess of Monaco), Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Cole Porter’s music is a standout as is Louis Armstrong’s playing. “Kelly looks flawless in every scene.”
Wednesday night is the start of the Jim Jarmusch retrospective widely advertised by SBS during the World Cup. Down By Law (Wed SBS 10P) stars Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni. RT likes it, and famous US critic Roger Ebert describes it thus : “[It] is a movie about cheap whiskey and black coffee, all-night drunks and lost jobs, and the bad times you can have with good-time girls. It tells the story of a pimp, an unemployed disc jockey and a bewildered Italian tourist and how they escape from jail and wind up slogging through the Louisiana bayous looking for a decent place to have breakfast.”
I have only seen two Jarmusch films (last year’s Broken Flowers and his penultimate Coffee and Cigarettes) and so do not claim to know much about him or his films. They are hard work though. I expect that there will be jokes, but it won’t be a comedy; you might despair, but the characters haven’t quite given up hope; the storylines will be serious, but don’t expect a straightforward narrative. It is easy to summarise them as “original.” Even an eminently watchable film (like Broken Flowers) with a great cast (Bill Murray, Sharon Stone, Julie Delpy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton) did not make the film any easier to understand. There can be no mistake that a Jarmusch film is a Jarmusch film. Whatever that means.
So with an air of tolerance, an open and inquisitive mind I will watch the Jarmusch collective on SBS over the next month and try to form some meaning and cohesiveness. Join me in the journey and post your comments.
Other Jarmusch films to come on SBS : Mystery Train, Night on Earth and Dead Man.