Movie Reviews: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) and The BFG (2016)

by Tony Dayoub

Recent events in the (not so) United Kingdom have altered my perception of a couple of movies in which Britain serves as a faint backdrop. Each misses the mark in some surprising ways. Certainly, the American take on a fantasy England and its genial queen found in Steven Spielberg's The BFG makes the most obvious missteps. But The Legend of Tarzan, directed by the very British David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) isn't too far behind despite, save for its start and conclusion, largely avoiding Great Britain.

Movie Review: Transcendence (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

Remember that Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk has to free some aliens on a planet controlled by an all-powerful, omniscient computer? And those aliens have these tiny antenna on their necks that allow them to be networked with that computer, Vaal, essentially making them physical instruments for it to conduct whatever activities necessary for a planetary makeover suited to his specifications. That's Transcendence in a nutshell, only with even more hokey, far-fetched ideas thrown in to complicate the simplistic story a bit.

Movie Review: Closed Circuit (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

True to its title, Closed Circuit begins with a view of a London marketplace through a closed circuit camera. Gradually, the view changes from that of just one camera to two, then four, then eight, multiplying exponentially with each new conversation the cameras pick up from shoppers strolling through the street market. In this age of global terrorism, this is what life is like in one of the most wired-for-surveillance cities in the world. And director John Crowley's split-screen effect underscores how difficult it is to keep track of multiple information flows simultaneously. Just when you think you've gotten your bearings a truck pulls into the market, stopping illegally in front of one complaining vendor and occupying an increasing amount of visual space in each camera angle and therefore the entire screen. You don't have long to surmise something's wrong before the truck explodes, killing all of the innocent bystanders discussing their mundane life events minutes earlier.

Movie Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

"You know who I am." It's a statement made several different times in Iron Man 3 by both Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his nemesis the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) that turns out to be more of a question than a declaration: "Do you know who I am?" We find out who the Mandarin is fairly early. Whether you'll be satisfied with the answer largely depends on if you're a comic book fan who holds filmmakers accountable for screwing around with your precious text. The answer to who Stark is takes a good deal longer to arrive at a resolution, relentlessly driving Iron Man 3 to its conclusion rather skillfully thanks to director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) who consistently subverts the expectations one brings to the otherwise increasingly predictable and generic superhero movie.

Movie Review: Red Riding: 1974 (2009)

by Tony Dayoub

Red Riding: 1974 only seems like a bracing return to the dark British crime thrillers of the seventies like Mike Hodges' Get Carter (1971), or the serial killer genre explored in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). A more accurate touchstone would probably be such disparate films as Straw Dogs (1971) or The Conversation (1974). From the former, it derives the outsider's perspective when obstructed by small-town provincial attitudes. From the latter, it borrows the sinking feeling of a protagonist so forcefully assailed by corrupt forces he may end up stained—or worse—from the experience.

Director Julian Jarrold (Brideshead Revisited) sets the trilogy in impressive motion with a murkily-lit look at a series of murders involving young girls in Northern England. The perspective on the case belongs to Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), a cocky reporter who strides onto the relatively close-minded Yorkshire scene with little regard for the locals. A southerner, Eddie never quite meshes with his fellow reporters, the local constabulary, or even the families of the victims or witnesses involved in the case. The one person Eddie does seem to have most in common with is the slimy sophisticate, John Dawson (Sean Bean), a millionaire who pays off the local police force to keep his empty lot free of gypsy settlers as he prepares to start construction on a mall.

Eddie and John's tenuous link is their remove from the backwater environs with its unrefined denizens. That and Paula Garland (Rebecca Hall), a mother of one of the victims who is sleeping with each of them. Like Dustin Hoffman's David Sumner in Straw Dogs, Eddie is overconfident, believing he's got the Yorkshire folks all figured out, or even that he's one step ahead of them. But like Sumner, he is out of his element when facing the local bullies, in this case crooked cops like Bob Craven (Sean Harris), a bully who always proves most threatening when attacking Eddie's masculinity. The primary difference between him and John is the builder's willingness to play by the rules of this berg, a place where he doesn't belong any more than Eddie does.

On this level, the film is evocative of the seventies conspiracy thrillers like The Conversation. Eddie Dunford navigates through the filthy intricacies of the serial murder case, slowly finding connections to the cops, their benefactor John Dawson, and even his own newspaper. Like Gene Hackman's Harry Caul, Eddie believes his integrity gives him a slight edge over all of those he encounters, a professional distance if you will, one which he thinks will protect him against the depravity all around him. He blows off John's attempts to buy him off because he is self-assured in his notion that he is uncorruptible. It is only when John callously sics the dirty cops on Paula that Eddie realizes how mired he is in the wrong side of Yorkshire's demoralizing microcosm.

In look and feel, Red Riding: 1974 resembles another recent period film which examines a serial killer through the eyes of a reporter. That would be Fincher's Zodiac (2007). And though it quite doesn't achieve that film's multi-leveled complexity, it does make for an interesting first chapter in what could be classified as a time-lapse look at a small city oppressed by its own sinfulness. Those expecting a typical serial killer exercise may be pleasantly surprised. Red Riding: 1974's lurid serial killings are only a hook to draw viewers into its penetrating exploration of into the nature of venality.

Red Riding: 1974 is playing as part of the Red Riding: Special Roadshow Edition, today through February 11th exclusively at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street, New York, NY 10014, (212) 924-7771

It will also play February 12 - 14th and February 18th, at Landmark's Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Los Angeles, CA 90025,
(310) 281-8223.

It opens in select theaters nationwide on February 19th.

Click here for more posts on Red Riding.

Introduction to Red Riding: A Roadshow Recollection

by Lissette Decos

NEW YORK - I can officially say that Terence Stamp and I once went to the movies together. Well, I went to the movies, and he sat seven rows behind me. And it was actually a series of three movies that played back to back when The Red Riding Trilogy premiered at the 47th New York Film Festival in October. Yes, The Limey and I stuck it out through all three feature-length films (a 7-hour experience) for the love of independent cinema. Personally, I also hoped there'd be an “I survived The Red Riding Trilogy Marathon” t-shirt on the way out.

These films, which could also be called “Too Many Cigarettes in the 70’s and 80’s,” are adaptations of the Red Riding Quartet novels (with a cult following in England) written by David Peace. The stories are set against real-life serial murders that took place in Yorkshire, England. The movie trilogy is a great reflection of the times delivered in a beautiful film noir package, creating it’s own subgenre—Yorkshire Noir—with its own class of crooked cops, dirty businessmen, redemption-requiring heroes and the best femme fatales Northern England has to offer. The characters are superbly acted by some of England’s top talent including Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, Rebecca Hall, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan, and Paddy Considine... well, you'd recognize them if you saw them. Each film was given a different director and each one interweaves seamlessly between a 3 year time period, within the crimes, and even the lives of the crime-stoppers themselves.

In one scene, two detectives who've had an affair (a man and a woman) sit in a car as they check out a crime scene where a woman has been brutally murdered. As they discuss the crime they switch to their affair. He observes the roped-off area as he tells her how he regrets their affair and feels it was immoral. You clearly get the sense that they are framing their affair as its own metaphorical crime, a crime of passion, the slick, cool stuff of noir.

I really enjoyed the first two films, 1974 and 1980. Unfortunately, as the mystery begins to get solved the last film loses some steam for me. The good news is each film stands on its own. But even with its weaknesses you may want to see the final film, 1983, just to get some closure.

After the screening, the directors of the first two films, Julian Jarrold and James Marsh, answered questions along with producers Andrew Eaton and Wendy Brazington. One woman whined that the subtitles weren’t necessary. I actually agree. There were a few words that weren’t in my British vernacular, but I could have gone without the subtitles throughout. One film-student-looking guy wanted to know if the directors watched any films in particular for inspiration. After trying to dodge the question, Jarrold finally admitted to watching films like The Conversation (1974) and other conspiracy theory films of the 70s for ideas.

My arm in the air was completely ignored so I didn’t get to ask about the decision to use a different format for each film. The first was shot on 16mm, the second on 35mm, and the last one with a Red One digital camera. The last film looks the most unusual, with a less polished feel. But on my way out, I did get to meet the distributor and ask him how they plan to release the films in theatres, covertly asking him if he expects people to sit for seven hours... and if they would get t-shirts. He said they are still figuring it out, but perhaps a few places will show them all in one day while others will space them out.

I actually do hope that they play them all in one day. This unique movie-going experience allows for audience camaraderie and discussions during the intermission. Hopefully, your seats are as comfy as the ones at the Walter Reade Theater in New York.

Red Riding: Special Roadshow Edition plays today through February 11th exclusively at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street, New York, NY 10014, (212) 924-7771

Click here for more posts on Red Riding.

DVD Roundup: Two New Releases

One of the Oscar nominated performances now available to watch at home is the one from Best Supporting Actress nominee, Penelope Cruz, in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Cruz (Volver) has never really demonstrated the full range of her talent in English-speaking roles like she has when acting in her native tongue. But Woody Allen's latest comedy finally allows her to steal the show. Here, Cruz plays Maria Elena, the volatile ex-wife to Javier Bardem's Juan Antonio. Juan Antonio has approached two young Americans, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), to join him in a threesome while the women summer in Barcelona. Strait-laced Vicky is taken aback while the flighty Cristina jumps at the chance for a summer romance. While things get dicey when Maria Elena returns into her ex's life, eventually a threesome is formed between Cristina and the two Spaniards, leaving Vicky full of regret at the lost opportunity for adventurous romance. Maybe because much of the film allows Cruz to speak in her native tongue often, she is at her least self-conscious. Though her character's manic depression enlivens the film's story, Allen (Match Point) wisely restrains her from overpowering the film. Her presence is always felt, though, as Juan Antonio constantly compares the titular American women to his ex-wife, or more precisely, the spectre of her that still haunts him. In a handful of scenes, we realize the destructive cycle that she and Juan Antonio are locked in, and sympathize with her for putting up with the irresponsible Lothario. Cristina, who's been living with Juan Antonio, is now forced to be gracious to their new houseguest, Maria Elena, who is recovering from a suicide attempt. In an exchange that best sums up Maria Elena, the three of them discuss Cristina's hobby, photography, while on a picnic:

Maria Elena: You take beautiful photographs. Juan Antonio: That's true. She always takes pictures that she hides from me. Cristina: That's... no... that's... that's because they're nothing. How do you know I take pictures? Maria Elena: I found them in your luggage. Cristina: You went through my luggage? Maria Elena: Of course I went through your luggage. The first night I was in the house I didn't trust you. I didn't believe you were who you said you were. I wanted to know who was really sharing the bed of my ex-husband. Cristina: What? Maria Elena: Who knew what I would find there? How could I be sure you were not going to hurt me? After all, I have thoughts of killing you.

Allen guides the rest of his cast to some charming and realistic performances, especially Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as the masochistic artist at the center of all the jealous fireworks, and Hall (Frost/Nixon) playing the typical Woody Allen stand-in (usually reserved for male actors), making Vicky one of the most enjoyable works from the director in years. If Woody Allen is a little too high-brow for your taste, then consider this next one for the geek in you. Hulk vs. is a direct-to-video trifle from Marvel Studios. The surprise is how fun and entertaining it actually is. While DC Comics has had more success capturing the feel of their comic books in their home video offerings [Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) and Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)], Marvel's attempts at the same have been hampered by their obvious goal of cashing in on upcoming live-action tie-ins. Hulk vs. is actually two movies in one. One is Hulk vs. Wolverine, and the other is Hulk vs. Thor. And while both may still be trying to lay the foundation for upcoming movies, they are both true to the Marvel books each is based on. Both movies capture the pure child-like excitement young and old fanboys look forward to when their favorite superheros are pitted in hand-to-hand combat against each other. And with little character development to slow things down, this pair of films has room to be creative in the visual arena. While neither will ever be mistaken for theatrical quality animation, the short movies are a cut above the typical Saturday morning fare. Hulk vs. and Vicky Cristina Barcelona are available today on standard DVD and Blu-ray.