Archive for September, 2008
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Released 3rd October 2008
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Ulrich Seidl can now officially be crowned the master of grim reality, and equally admired for making no apologies for this title. Not only is his latest film, done in a pseudo-documentary style that takes no faint-hearted prisoners, utterly bleak and snow laden, it’s downright depressing, to say the least. Even if the film’s length goes to prolong the despair, Import/Export is strangely, ghoulishly fascinating to watch, if only for a glimmer of hope to flicker out of the cold, grey hopelessness. And however distressing the subject matter, it serves as an intriguing visual insight into the lives of those who miraculously manage to survive in the harsh realities of the East on a daily basis. The two attractive lead characters, played commendably by non-professional actors (as with Seidl’s previous work, Dog Days), a bottle-blonde Ukrainian woman and a frustrated young Austrian man from working class backgrounds, cross from East to West, and vice versa, in their relentless search for something better in life, a chance to improve their lot, but stumble at different kinds of hurdles. In fact, the script originally planned for the two to meet at the border, but Seidl, wisely, wanted the only borders in the film to be societal ones, not physical. And it’s these and the raw feelings of ostracism that this film masterfully plays out.
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Released 26th September 2008
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You know the saying: “does exactly what it says on the tin”? Well, here’s that illustrious tin, and it’s doing exactly what you’d expect: delivering a shamelessly testosterone-fuelled, biceps-rippling, babelicious action flick from the mean, lean, all-man-trashing machine that is Jason Statham. There are no surprises to Paul W.S. Anderson’s futuristic action thriller, so please don’t be naive enough to expect any. The ending is bleedin’ obvious from the start because our moody anti-hero, Jensen Ames (Statham), is on a moral crusade to clear his name and bring down the truly corrupt: those in authority (no surprises there). So angst-filled is Ames that to see him break out into a chuckle in the film would have been more frightening than not. In short, Death Race is a satisfying watch. It’s like soft porn for adrenaline junkies and isn’t trying to recreate the dark humour of the 1975 original, Death Race 2000. This is Death Race for the video-gaming, pop-culture-consuming, celebrity-obsessed generation of the Noughties. It’s all about appearance not substance. A no-holds-barred flesh fest for petrol heads with some pretty tasty motors harking back to the Mad Max days.
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Released 26th September 2008
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Taking a leaf out of Harrison Ford’s (Indiana Jones), Dennis Quaid’s (Vantage Point) and Sylvester Stallone’s (Rambo (2008)) book, Liam Neeson proves he can give the ‘younger’ action stars a run for their money, and knock out a few baddies in this rather enjoyable (if not a little far-fetched in parts) action thriller about a former government operative who comes out of retirement to save his gullible teenage daughter from the clutches of a nasty people-smuggling gang in Paris, after a dream European holiday goes horribly wrong. Neeson, normally known for his meatier, more cerebral roles, opts for all-out, blood-curdling action in this film as a soft-at-heart character not far removed from Kevin Costner’s Frank Framer portrayal in the 1992 film, The Bodyguard. Neeson plays a convincing Bryan Mills, and he means business. And you don’t mess with a neurotic, desperate daddy with some secret-service training!
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Released 19th September 2008
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Writer/director Bill Guttentag’s new pseudo-documentary feature film is like nothing you’ve experienced so far this year, but is probably the most macabre and disturbing experience yet for what it addresses, even though it’s shot in that familiar, hand-held style, usually associated with comedy series, The Office. Guttentag uses all his award-winning documentary skills to reproduce an alarming drama, with undertones of The Running Man to it, that explores where reality and entertainment collide. The result is like witnessing a car crash: You know you shouldn’t look, but you just can’t help it, and you feel disgusted for doing so.
