Batman 2

This is a scattered review of the second most popular film of all time. The Dark Knight is that, a four out of five star exposition of the line society holds between order and everything else. Dark he is and becomes during the film, while still ending up as self-sacrificing as any good Knight should be. Over-archingly, it is about life today, at least in big cities in the USA. What does a society do in the face of reckless hate? Become as bad as Bin Laden? Torture etc? The conclusion sums this up perfectly as the Joker sets up an experiment like the one from the 70's where people were asked to shock eachother on command, and did.

How quickly will a white knight give in when senseless violence is metered out? How do you hold the line ... How do you combat forces that hold to no order or rules when you do?

There's alot of deaths, but then there are alot of characters, something which the film does struggle with (this is the curse of Batman films - notice the higher the sequel number, the more characters have always been included - and the suckier they have become yeah). Batman in TDK is really just a co-star with the Joker (as expected) - and Harvey Dent (unexpected) - and this feels a little strange, tho it is a bold choice. Several other supporting characters are important, but still there is the feeling that the central story gets a little overpowered.

The last third while brilliant, is spoilt by the mummy-like makeup on Two-Face. It certainly is out of a comic, and tends to downgrade all the final scenes where we watch Harvey's demise. And what happens to the Joker? Caught of course, but no proper resolution is provided. The reason I'm mentioning more negatives at this point than positives is that after waiting 6 weeks now to see it, and reading all the wonderful reviews, I was expecting a five star flick. But don't get me wrong, I'm eagerly awaiting my second viewing, and it is a worthy combination of Heat, the Untouchables, and Batman Begins.

nz culture down ya

it's time to get some new zealand culture down ya. here's a round-up of some recent kiwi dvds and cds i've noticed...

cd - liam finn: i'll be lightning. this has been out for a while now, but i hear it's being released soon in the usa. to the mention the usual patter first: liam finn is the son of crowded house's neil finn. even though this fact has been said a million times before, i think it is quite important. there is a musical heritage at work here - liam's uncle tim is also a key nz musical figure, having started the seminal nz band split enz. i have a photo book that came out in 2000 called 'once removed', essentially a behind the scenes look at neil finn's touring life. the young liam lurks in the background of lots of the photos in the book. he's been immersed in music all his life and this matures in 'i'll be lightning'. it's a brilliant, eclectic album, and i have a hunch that it will get pretty big in the states.

also, i need to mention the cover art for this cd which features liam's own very cool photography. given that he plays all the instruments on the album and also provides the artwork for the cover, we have one seriously talented kid here. check out the liam finn cnet in-studio appearance here.

cd - little bushman: pendulum. this is little bushman's second album. i'm not sure how to describe it. the band is the baby of former fat freddy's drop member warren maxwell, who is rapidly cementing a fine reputation in the nz music scene. while fat freddy's drop is a roots-dub experience where maxwell played the saxophone (i think), little bushman is a different kettle of fish. maxwell explores all kinds of musical styles but somehow manages to make it all gel into a unique style. the underlying rhythm tracks are incredible. a socially-conscious album with forward momentum and musical skill.

oh, and one dollar from the sale of every cd goes to unicef to help support gareth morgan's water management project in tanzania. gareth morgan is principally using the proceeds that he received from the sale of a little company his son started called 'trademe'.

dvd - out of the blue. in november 1990, the year of nz's 150th celebrations, the country was rocked when a gunman went on a murderous rampage in the quiet otago town of aramoana. that's only 17 years ago, and it's still pretty fresh in people's memories so it was always going to be a gutsy call to make a movie about it. if the subject had been treated with even a little bit of the sensationalism of hollywood movie-making it would have been a total failure - a completely tasteless and inappropriate project. i have rarely seen any subject handled with the tenderness that director duncan sarkies achieved in making 'out of the blue'. the film doesn't pull any punches but is completely free of sensationalism. even the soundtrack, a minimalist piano piece, doesn't attempt to stimulate the emotions of the viewer. karl urban in the role of the first police officer on the scene is brilliant - urban, in my opinion, is the finest actor produced by nz in the last 10 - 15 years. 'out of the blue' is one of the best films i've ever seen from anywhere in the world. as dominion post reviewer graeme tuckett said, "impassioned, dignified and damned near flawless."

dvd - flight of the conchords. and now for something completely different - from the other end of the nz cultural spectrum. i've talked about flight of the conchords before in my post about eagle vs shark. anyway, to recap, jemaine clement and bret mackenzie are two incredibly talented nz musican-comedians who, incidentally, just won the grammy for best comedy album of 2007. they were given a contract by hbo in the states to create a comedy sitcom based on their live act. the result is very good - not perfect - but very good. always entertaining and sometimes outrageously funny, the dvd of series one (yes, they've been given a second season) has just been released in nz. not a bad valentine's day present, thanks anna.

that's your nz culture round up for feb 08. get it down ya!

eagle vs shark

in the last few years, a comic force has quietly been brewing in new zealand.

in one corner we have 'flight of the conchords' - a couple of new zealand blokes - bret mckenzie and jemaine clement - who decided to sing comedy songs. they called themselves "new zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo". bret mckenzie is actually a pretty accomplished musician in nz circles - playing in the black seeds and having his own music under the name 'video kid'. apparently he was also in lord of the rings. so you see he's served his time in nz creative circles. jemaine clement did all kinds of stuff - including the voice-over for the l&p ads about life in nz (unless you live in nz, you have no idea what i'm talking about). anyway, flight of the conchords suddenly became very popular - world-wide. first in the uk, where the bbc did a radio documentary thing in 2005 and then they also got a slot on hbo in the states. they played all kinds of festivals around the place, and then i saw them live in nz last year when they supported bic runga. very funny. from there they ended up getting a sitcom series on HBO. this series has just finished in the states and they have been given a second season. the first season screens in nz soon. if you've never seen flight of the conchords in action - watch this.

in the other corner we have taika waititi. taika is a general creative jack-of-all-trades. he got quite a few awards (including an academy award nomination) for a short film called 'two cars, one night'. i saw him speaking at last year's semi-permanent design conference. very funny. he met jemaine clement (the guy from flight of the conchords who wasn't in lord of the rings - as far as i know) at uni in wellington and they formed a comedy act called the 'humourbeasts'. they did a show where they reinterpreted the legends of māui (unless you live in nz you have no idea what i'm talking about). taika got together with an actor called loren horsley (she was sieglinda in 'xena: warrior princess').

out of this fertile comic milieu sprang the film 'eagle vs shark'. it was written by taika waititi and loren horsley and stars jemaine clement, loren horsley and taika waititi.

last night, emma and anna and i went to see it. anna said, "i don't normally like nz films, but this one looks quite funny." it is in the vein of napoleon dynamite - "small town nerd humour"? and a number of critics have compared it to that film, although i have no idea if taika waititi was influenced by napoleon when he wrote and filmed eagle vs shark in 2005. there is something distinctly new zealand about the characters which overseas viewers might not differentiate from napoleon.

anyway, eagle vs shark was tremendously funny and very very good, and i loved it. it didn't do very well in the states but it has debuted at 4 at the nz box office behind 'live free or die hard', 'the simpsons' and 'i now pronounce you chuck and larry'. it grossed NZ$113,999 in the first week on 27 screens, not bad when you consider that all the other films in the top 10 were on at least 40 screens. now why the heck are nz cinemas not getting behind this film? it makes me mad. honestly people, it is right up there and well worth watching. the actors were great (no weak performances), the storyline was amusing - heaps of great nz culture. it even has a little miss sunshine-esque little girl. it has poignant moments wrapped in the humour, and a great soundtrack by the phoenix foundation. new zealanders! australians! brits! peoples of the world! get to it!

watch the trailer.

on the headphones: 'to the sky' by maps, from the album 'we can create'.

max

max (directed by menno meyjes)

this is one of those movies with an appealing-sounding blurb that gets negative reviews. admittedly, the only reviews of the movie i'd read were from fellow users of mail-order dvd rental outfit fatso.co.nz. but the blurb won me over and so did the fact that it stars john cusack; i added it to my wait list and it turned up a couple of days ago in the post - no one else wanted it.

let me recap the synopsis that made me want to watch the film: a jewish german named max rothman (cusack) returns from the front having served for germany in WWI. he was an artist before the war but having lost an arm, he sets up an art dealership selling the latest avant-garde modernist art in munich.

against the backdrop of germany's defeat and the severe reparations imposed by the treaty of versailles, rothman comes across a young artist who has also just returned from the front: a corporal by the name of hitler - adolf hitler. rothman tries to encourage hitler to express his angst more fully in his paintings. hitler, however, is also dabbling in oratory and politics, and is caught between struggling to be an artist (an occupation that he genuinely believes he has a calling for) and his obvious abilities for convincing oratory... well, history tells us which direction he headed in.

but this film is fascinating. cusack reminded me why it is that i like his acting so much - he is brilliant in this role - he had me hooked on his character within the first few minutes. the guy playing hitler (noah taylor) was also very good.

i suppose that it helped that i have an interest in art and history, but i found the character studies of this film riveting - both rothman and hitler are tremendously complex characters. and the film ends with a heart-wrenching and ominous conclusion. it is understated, but knowing what happened in actual history makes the film reverberate with meaning.

so, my fellow fatso members, i defy you. this is a great movie.

watch it my friends (especially if you are into modernist art or history).

on the headphones: 'reprise' by hollie smith, from the album 'long player'.

transformers

this is honestly one of the best action/special fx movies i've seen. lance and i headed out to see it a week ago. lance was making a last-minute pre-natal social foray - translated: he's expecting the birth of his second child any day now.

'transformers' is full of action, with very convincing special fx. as you'd expect it has a few cheesy lines, but what surprised me was how amusing parts of it were as well.

lance totally loved this movie, being an original transformers fan and something of a petrol head (car chases and robots!). here's what he had to say about the film:

i thoroughly enjoyed the movie.very good casting, with the two young leads holding their own for the length of the film, with other more experienced actors seemingly playing support roles.

i thought this was a good "re-make" even though it was nothing like the original animated Transformers film, and few key characters did not resemble their original vehicles.

The effects and fight scenes were very entertaining, and the dialogue retained the essence of the 80s Transformers, Good prevails over Evil, and the Transformers are (for some reason) eager to preserve humanity.

I personally LOVED the cars, the old Camaro seemed a great casting for 'BumbleBee' and Optimus Prime's Big Rig featured a stylie modern paint job. Chevy USA obviously threw a bit of weight into the film which gave a bit of 'bling' (for lack of a better word) with a number of Black & Chrome SUV's, trucks, and I even spied a yellow Holden Monaro (badged a Pontiac GTO in USA).

So in summary I loved it, great cars, great cast, fun action film that you actually can take your kids to.

on the headphones: 'never' by terranova, from the album 'b-sides and remixes'.

amazing grace

a couple of weeks ago, aaron arranged a preview screening of the film 'amazing grace' for our church. this is a film about william wilberforce, who helped abolish slavery in england. it is a high-quality production with brilliant english actors. it stays true to the historical culture of the film by remaining british when the temptation could have been to make it more american for a wider audience.

i was particularly affected by the relationship between former slave-ship captain john newton (played by albert finney), who wrote the hymn 'amazing grace', and wilberforce (played by ioan gruffudd - 'hornblower' and 'the fantastic four').

here are aaron's comments on the film:

I turned up at the Amazing Grace movie and was so busy ensuring that our group of 80 knew where they were going and the process of tickets that I had given little thought to the fact that I was actually there to see the movie. Once everyone was seated I shuffled in and found my seat and was surprised to find myself stirred by emotion. The movie was just starting but I could already sense it was going to be a very inspiring story and so it proved to be.

The story of William Wilberforce’s battle to abolish the slave trade was very well told and it managed to capture the type of emotion and passion that drove Wilberforce. As the movie was telling such an intense story it needed a completely believable cast and in this case they exceeded expectation. Each actor seemed perfect for the role they were playing and you would be hard pressed to find a better example of character casting.

The only thing the movie did not really show was just how horrific the slave trade was. While it did make allusions to the type of treatment slave were subjected to I think it could have been even more impacting had there been just one scene that showed what the slaves had to go through.*

Overall was a most enjoyable movie, it is inspiring what change one person can make if totally committed to a cause.

* watch the film 'amistad' for this

we were mel gibson

a mel gibson-themed movie review slot for you today...

old 'blood n guts' gibson eh? i'm not a gibson-basher by any stretch of the imagination - he's been involved in some great movies over the years. and you could probably even argue that these are two of them (pictured) but a huge amount of the budget of his films must surely go to the make-up department - in particular for the purchase of 'blood supplies'.

in the great tradition of mel gibson films, blood gushes everywhere in 'we were soldiers' and 'apocalypto'.

the first is the story of a united states cavalry regiment (riding in on newly introduced iroquois helicopters) that goes straight into the middle of firefight with the north vietnamese army. needless to say, the americans are out-numbered about 1000:1 (an exaggeration, but you take my point) and fight for honour, holding out against incredible odds. this is apparently based on a true event. it is quite a good movie, but there are just so many 'firefight' movies about americans against the odds these days (i guess movies about the united states overwhelming lightly armed enemies wouldn't be as exciting. actually it is interesting to note that even though the main strategy of the u.s. military since hiroshima has been been to engulf the enemy in superior firepower, all the movies are about american individuals caught in tricky situations that usually seem to be the result of poor planning in the upper echelons and under-estimating the enemy). the battlefield action in 'we were soldiers' was nicely offset against a subplot about the wives of the soldiers in the regiment.

the second film, 'apocalypto', is set in the mayan world just prior to the arrival of the europeans. city-dwelling mayan folk are suffering from drought and pestilence, so they decide to go and round up a few jungle-dwelling mayan folk to offer up as sacrifices to their god. and so the carnage commences. the story is focussed on a particular jungle-dweller named jaguar paw who is taken prisoner and tries to escape so that he can return to his ruined village and save his wife and child. meanwhile, we are treated to an upclose portrayal of the mayan lifestyle that includes all manner of blood n guts. it is a rather harrowing film to watch, but i think it was worth it and i think i recommend watching it. as was fashionable at the time of the film's release, i recall that mel gibson was accused of racism against the mayans for his portrayal, and i have to say the film doesn't leave them looking terribly attractive - but if it actually is based on historical evidence then so be it.

a strong stomach or desensitised sensibilities probably required to casually watch these films. alternatively you could be prepared to be affected by them.

oceans 13

oceans 13

i went to see this on the second day of its release here in new zealand.

by way of full-disclosure, i should say that i am an 'oceans' fan so am probably horrendously biased. i loved it. i went with a group from church and when the lights came on, aaron said, "it was better than 12". he might have been right, but i can honestly say i love all of them. i don't have a favourite - well, i suppose i'd have to say that 11 is my favourite because that's when the magic started.

[amusing aside: aaron is a youth pastor and when he told the youth group that he was going to oceans 13, one of the girls said, "i've seen oceans 11 & 12, but i haven't seen 1 to 10."]

13 displayed the usual goodness of quirky characters, clever plot devices (but without the major twists of the other ones), beautiful camera work and graphics, painfully cool music etc etc. julia roberts was missing - which jonathan said would be a good thing and i have to agree - as was catherine zeta-jones (which is a pity). they were traded in for al pacino. al pacino is a great actor but he plays a low-key, intimidating character best and i felt that he was overshadowed by the exaggerated characters of the rest of the cast. what i mean is, the al pacino character (bank) didn't stand out as much as the other characters.

a great movie. and while aaron said he thought it would be a good idea if this one was the last oceans movie, i found myself walking along the street afterwards wanting one more.

on the headphones: 'ma fleur' by the cinematic orchestra, from the album 'ma fleur'.

Children of women

Seems funny, but the film I'm reviewing here, 'Children of Men' is not in fact about men having children! That's right, but it is a smart contemporary sci-fi film about Women not having children, and then one who does. You might normally think that the terms 'contemporary' and 'sci-fi' don't match, but director Alfonso Cuaron (responsible for the absolute highlight of the Harry Potter series, 'Prisoner of Azkaban', as well as some darker Mexican films) has really mastered this strange juxtaposition.

Its England, around 2027. The place is now a police state overun by immigrants, and the youngest person in the world has just died. That's right, no one's had kids for 18 or so years. I will say no more on the storyline, except to say it really pulls out thru allegory some of the themes facing Britian and western countries right now, like illegal immigrants and the rise of a 'big brother' state.

Top acting from Micheal Caine and Clive Owen keep things very believable, as does the blistering camera work this film is known for - several continuous, multi-minute shots that stick like glue to the characters thru warzones and harrowing gang attacks. 8/10 my friends.

3 + 1 movies

three excellent movies plus one that wasn't that great:











deja vu. an excellent movie. a time-shifting drama all about an investigator (denzel) who tries to stop a passenger ferry being blown up in new orleans. remarkably good acting and film work distracts from the usual questions and problems that time-travel films bring up. there are lots of nice touches - one of them was the fact that the film was set in new orleans and includes incidental footage of still-flood-devastated neighbourhoods. highly recommended.

capote. another excellent movie. very good. philip seymour hoffman does an incredible job of acting the lead role. all about how author truman capote came to write his classic 'in cold blood'. beautifully filmed. here's a screenshot:













although this film arrived randomly in the mail off my fatso list, the timing was fascinating because i'm currently reading capote's complete short stories. so there was a brilliant interchange between the two media. highly recommended.

little miss sunshine. less intense than the other two but still very good. the really strange thing about this film is that it would have been disney if it hadn't been for all the bad language, themes involving suicide and other random weirdness. an excellent comedy that parodies (i think) other feel-good family roadtrip comedies. highly recommended.

which brings us to the final film. i love sci-fi flicks - and there simply aren't enough of them coming out to satisfy my interest. so because i have already seen all the good ones (matrix 1, bladerunner, fifth element, minority report, brazil, space odyssey 2001, the island etc etc) i watched recent release, ultra violet. disappointing. storyline was ok. acting wasn't great. cgi was goodish (mostly) - but not enough to carry the movie. equilibrium, by the same director, was much better. and in the kickarse female futuristic comic-turned-movie stakes, aeon flux beats ultra violet absolutely hands down. both films were not well received by critics, but aeon flux was much cooler at every level. not very recommended at all (but do watch aeon flux).

on the heaphones: 'wake up' by arcade fire, from the album 'funeral'.

joyeux noël

joyeux noël, directed by christian carion

this is one of the best films i've seen this year - a bit of a tear-jerker but with edge and substance.

the story is based on the fraternisations that took place during WW1 between enemy troops on the front line. this is a fictionalised account of german, french and scottish troops coming together to celebrate christmas eve, thanks largely to a german tenor who sings 'silent night'. that may sound a little cheesy - but the juxtapositions between the hostility and violence of the front with the human kindness that eventuates is stunning. the film is beautifully shot and acted. one of the great things is that germans speak german, french speak french and scots speak english, which makes it more believeable and helps to immerse you in the realism of the film.

highly recommended.

6 films, 30 hours

my body packed a sad at the end of this week and so i decided to embark on a movie marathon. armed with a 5 dvds for $5 voucher i crawled down to the local video store.

i didn't have any films in mind, so after 20 minutes of browsing and visiting the bakery for an apple turnover, i returned home to start consuming my movie smorgasborg.

straight into darkness. with a title like that, i have no idea why i started with this one... anyway, it turned out to be a good use of a low budget, but what an odd film it is. i can't decide if i like it or not. it's about two american ww2 deserters who end up walking through an almost post-apocalyptic landscape before joining a group of french partisans who are fighting the nazis. what makes this really odd is that this group is mostly composed of special needs children, led by an old couple. the entire film is set either in bleak winter conditions or at night and sometimes almost feels like a horror movie. however, the movie climaxes in a showdown between this odd group of children (aided by the old couple and the two deserters) and an entire german regiment assisted by a tank... what the?!

everything is illuminated. brilliant film! i wasn't too sure about watching a film starring the doe-eyed elijah wood, but the synopsis sounded good. an american jewish kid goes to the ukraine to find out where his grandfather came from when he fled from the nazis during the war. wood plays a very quirky character - jonathan safran foer - who obsessively collects mementos of the life of his family. the film is narrated by an america-loving ukrainian break dancer named alex whose family runs a rather shoddy tour operation that helps american jews find out about their ancestry. alex and his family (especially his cranky grandfather) are the highlight of this film. jonathan (or "jonfan" as alex calls him) engages the help of alex and his family, and an amusing roadtrip with emotion commences. this film was a true gem and i have no idea why it hasn't won awards.

EDtv. a bit of a movie classic that i'd never watched, all about an ordinary guy who signs on for reality tv show that broadcasts his entire life live 24 hours a day. it is all fairly predictable, with the main character (played by matthew mcconaughey - who i don't like because his acting always seems a bit soulless) who falls in love etc and nearly lets fame go to his head before realising what is really important in life and fighting the tv channel to get out of his contract and return to normal life, so that he can get on and be with the girl he loves. when this came out in 1999, the reality tv thing was the latest craze, but i think the movie has dated pretty badly - which of course is the problem with films that deal with current crazes and issues. quite entertaining though, so no harm done in watching it. the most touching thing about this movie is that director ron howard gave his old 'happy days' mate ralph malph a bit part.

the ringer. in the middle of my marathon, this dvd arrived in the mailbox from fatso.co.nz, and suddenly my 5 movie marathon had grown into 6. this is a mildly amusing comedy starring johnnie knoxville, about a guy who pretends to be mentally challenged so that he can win the special olympics, rig a bet, and thereby get enough money so that he can pay for an operation to have his lawnmower man's fingers sewn back on. of course, he falls in love with one of his carers - but will she forgive him when he confesses his ruse??? this is real film tension, people. anyway, it is what it is - light comedy entertainment. so, after two fairly entertaining and unchallenging films, i was ready for something a bit more interesting.

criminal. i can't really describe this movie too much without giving the whole thing away. it is another film about con artists, but it is really rather good. the cast is excellent. the main character is a hardened con man (not a very nice fellow at all) who takes a young grifter under his wing and suddenly finds himself confronted with a prime opportunity to make some extra money by selling a forged rare banknote. the film is nicely done and is a character study as much as anything, but it still moves along at a nice pace with good changes in the direction of the plot along the way. well worth watching. produced, i see, by george clooney - so it has a little of the oceans 12 about it but without the glamour - a lot more grit.

atanarjuat: the fast runner. and the most unusual film last. not that i'm unaccustomed to festival and indie films, but i've never seen a film quite like this before. the story is based on an old inuit legend and is set in the canadian artic 1000 or so years ago. it is the story of two brothers: atanarjuat, the fast runner, and amaqjuaq, the strong one. a shaman casts a spell on their group and evil intentions enter their clan. oki, the son of the camp leader, and atanarjuat come into conflict over a girl named atuat, and then later when atanarjuat offends oki's sister. however, oki tries to kill atanarjuat and his brother but atanarjuat gets away - by running butt-naked across the ice flow. well, this is a long and involved story, so i'll leave the synopsis there. the movie is filmed at a steady pace that seems to match the arctic landscape and the film runs (no pun intended) to 2hrs 40min. it is shot in almost a documentary style and it is the first movie ever made in the inuit language. i'm not sure if i like it or not - but i was certainly impacted by it. so i'd have to say that it is a good movie.

and so, with this marathon film, my marathon came to an end. not bad going when you consider i had a full night's sleep in that 30 hours as well - although my apple turnover only lasted for the first 5 minutes of the first film.