FOUR FILMS - LISTEN TO ME MARLON, DEEP DARK, EVEREST, CONDEMNED

LISTEN TO ME MARLON

Documentary on Marlon Brando whose narrative tool is mostly audio tapes Brando made where he discusses his life and feelings in full. This is intercut with iconic scenes from his films and interviews he did. I loved it but I am a Brandophile and that is who this film is largely aimed at. It is loosely chronological as Brando discusses his early years, his troubled relationships with his parents (especially his dad), his introduction to acting and first bushes with fame, his most famous roles, his political activism, Tahiti, his son killing his daughter's boyfriend etc. Brando is at his most eloquent when he philosophizes. At the point where he made these tapes he understood what an illusion his life is and it is amazing to hear him talk so negatively about acting which he revolutionized. The filmmaker does a very good job of keeping the flow interesting through good use of stock footage and Brando highlights. A must for Brandophiles and I would say also entertaining for anyone else.  

                                             

DEEP DARK

Some interesting visuals and general weirdness keep this film slightly interesting. The human blood donating mobile for example. However, the main story of a failed artist who gets guidance from a creepy female voice in a hole in the wall of his apartment moves is too slow and uneventful to hold the attention for long. Not really much happens until the very end and then the gory violence feels forced.
      

EVEREST

For what I'm assuming is a big budget film with lots of name stars based on well known true story and a successful book about this incident, this is a surprisingly uninvolving, sloppily made film. For one thing, many of the action scenes which occur during heavy snowfall make it impossible to tell the identities of the characters. This ruins the set-up of each character's backstory earlier in the film and all the effort in getting the audience to care about them. Dull and confusing, a total waste of a large budget. 

 

CONDEMNED

One of the sub-genres that has proliferated in the last decade or so with REC, THE HORDE and others is that of people trapped in a building or other enclosed space with people infected with some kind of zombie or otherwise homicidal virus. This film is about squatters in a rundown building and adds nothing except truly grotesque scenes of BDSM, pee drinking, etc in the interests of establishing "character". A movie that should be avoided at all costs.

SIX FILMS - THE END OF THE TOUR, BONE TOMAHAWK, THE MARTIAN, HOWL, THE HALLOW, SUSPENSION

THE END OF THE TOUR

The irony is while I am not a fan AT ALL of David Foster Wallace's writing (Self involved babble, Thomas Pynchon without a good editor), this is a very good movie. What I like most about it is it primarily consists of conversation and it's good conversation (Of course it's based on a real interview that was documented on cassette). Feels like genuine discourse not some Hollywood screenwriter's version of how intelligent people talk. I watched the real Wallace on You Tube after seeing this film and Jason Segal has really got him down - it's uncanny. If anything, the film Wallace is more likable less affected and pretentious than real life Wallace. Jesse Eisenberg is annoying and weaselly as usual but it totally fits the role here. 

 

BONE TOMAHAWK

What makes this quirky horror western different is its strange freeform dialogue and diffident pacing technique. The movie takes itS time to reach the violent conclusion. Cannibal inbred troglodytes kidnap Patrick Wilson's wife and others. Wilson (nursing a broken leg), Kurt Russell (as the local sheriff), Richard Jenkins (as an elderly deputy), and Matthew Fox (as a cool gunfighter) go after them. Jenkins in particular is memorable - His conversations about reading in the bathtub and a flea circus are inspired scenes. Good performances, excellent script, unexpectedly eccentric characters. Worth seeing.

 
THE MARTIAN

Keeping intact the credible science and detail of the book, this movie is a thinking man's action thriller, as much science fact as science fiction. At times, it reminds me of a Discovery channel space show. My only complaint is that there are moments that feel padded out - Cutting out 20 minutes or so would have made it a leaner, tenser thriller. Large number of good actors and actresses featured in supporting roles.

HOWL

There is not that much you can do with werewolves other than differ the location of where one encounters them. Here a commuter train outside London that has broken down is beset by not one werewolf SPOILER but a whole pack. The director takes some time to establish all the stereotypes - Schlubby hero who saves the day, female co-worker the hero has a crush on, self-centered rich ahole, old couple, brainy Asian. The werewolves themselves have an imaginative look and the scares and action scenes are solid. Decent and it sets up the horror conflict scenes well. 

 

THE HALLOW

Average creature horror film with two things going for it - 1.) Moving quickly into the horror without much build-up (Most of the action takes place in one night) 2.) Good makeup effects....The creatures do indeed look icky. These two plus points however are not enough to save this film from mediocrity.

SUSPENSION

Truly mundane slasher thriller that bets the whole narrative on a surprise ending that is visible from a 100 miles away. The heroine turns in a decent performance and there's plenty of bright red blood which are the only good things I can say about this film.