This is not a test
December 12th 2011 13:41
| 9 |
| Vote |
Movie Mall
Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Joined September 1st 2008
Number of Posts:
163
Number of Comments:
179
Karma:
9
- About Me
- Ah. Well ... I attended Juilliard ... I'm a graduate of the Harvard business school. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that. I've seen the EXORCIST ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT
Recent Posts Jesse James passes the testAugust 8th 2011 09:44
Thank god for the test audience. If not for them we may never have seen just how brilliant a piece of cinema The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford really is - well, not for another 15 years anyway when Andrew Dominik would have released his 'Director's Cut'. The New Zealander knows what he is doing when it comes to making movies. Sure, he's only made two, but how good are they? Chopper (2000), with a performance by Eric Bana to die for, and then The Assassination (2007). And Dominik knew what he was doing when he decided on going the non-Hollywood approach to making a modern-day Western. There's nothing gung ho about The Assassination. The action is subtle. Words, even looks from the main characters do most of the damage here. And it is some of the most gripping cinema seen in recent times. Dominik is quoted as saying he wanted "a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy". He got it in the end, but not after high-profile producers, one Ridley Scott, and one Brad Pitt, were up to their armpits in film reels in the editing room. The studio apparently didn't like where Dominik was going with this epic, so ordered several recuts. Test audiences fortunately stuck to their guns and backed Dominik's vision - which turned out to be haunting in every sense. 
Filming for the picture took place late December 2005, but it would be at least another two years before the general public would see it, or had the chance to see it. Though it had a budget of $30 million, it made just under $4 million at the box office. I didn't sit through its almost three-hour until early 2009, but I can tell you it was well worth the wait. It doesn't take a historian to figure out what happens to the famous outlaw of Missouri - he is assassinated by a coward named Robert Ford. But Dominck ensures the film has a constant sense of impending doom that leaves you glued to the screen, building towards the inevitable well-documented climax involving James noticing how dusty the painting of a horse above his mantelpiece is, going over to clean it, and then being shot in the back of the head by the 20-year-old who had idolized his larger-than-life adventures as a robber. Adapted from the book of the same name from 1983 by author Robert Hansen, the film depicts James' last few months alive, focusing on his strange relationship with sycophant Ford, played amazingly well by Casey Affleck. Both are tormented souls, James succumbing to the paranoia of finally being caught by the relentless authorities after a decade of theft with his older brother Frank and their gang, and Ford who turns his unhealthy obsession of James into an unhealthy obsession to become just as famous, make his own name, by any means necessary, in the end. After being subjected to endless taunts and ridicule by his hero and gang leader, 'Bob', the runt of the Ford family, eventually retaliates, dealing with Kansas City police commissioner Henry Craig (Michael Parks) and Sheriff James Timberlake (Ted Levine), and finally taking out James. Epitomizing the beautiful simplicity of the film, there are no final battle scenes, with James almost resigned to his time being over, setting down his gun holster after breakfast and deciding to undertake a bit of housecleaning that proves fatal. The performances here are top notch with the aforementioned Affleck showing someone in his family can actually act, and act well as the shy, awkward, but mostly cringe-worthy Ford. Word has it Shia Labouf was originally up for the part, but was considered too young. Another thank-you Lord. Affleck went on to be nominated for a 2008 Best Supporting Actor nomination and rightfully so. He plays it so well. Pitt puts in one of the best efforts of his career, adding a dash of serial killer Early from Kalifornia for his role as James, while Sam Rockwell never lets the side down no matter what film he is in, this time as Ford's older brother and fellow James gangmember Charley. Jeremy Renner as James' cousin Wood Hite, who meets with a rather unfortunate and ass-freezing ending, and Paul Schneider as rute-rat Dick Liddil, are also worthy of mention. Expect bigger things from these two actors in the future. Roger Deakins and Nick Cave can lay claim to being the real stars of the movie however. Deakins would have to be one of the best in the business when it comes to cinematography. A regular collaborator with the Coen Brothers (No Country for Old Men, Fargo), Deakins was also behind the camera for The Shawshank Redemption and A Beautiful Mind. In 'The Assassination' he makes a blade of grass seem interesting. 
The master received the film's second Academy Award nomination for Achievement in Cinematography. Last but by no means least is Aussie alternative rock legend Cave, whose at times haunting score with Warren Ellis tops things off superbly, especially when working hand-in-hand with Deakins' images. I don't buy many movie soundtracks, but Jesse James' is on my shopping list. It's simply amazing. And again subtle. So, while the film's tagline goes 'Beyond the myth lies America's greatest betrayal', beyond the myth that Jesse James is a long, drawn-out bore lies one of America's great historical films of modern times. Footnote: Dominik is currently working on his third feature film, Cities of the Plain, but, true to form don't expect it to hit theatres for some time, until about 2012. Expect it to be good though. Damn good. For Dominik it's not the quantity, its definitely the quality.
Cinema's Greatest & Ugliest Visiting Alien CreaturesDecember 3rd 2010 14:18
ANOTHER LIST Forget those aliens that drop in on planet Earth - or come to invade it - looking like us. That gets boring. We want a bit of creativity in our extra-terrestrial visitors. And I'm not talking taking the human form and simply making the ears and eyebrows a bit pointier. I'm looking at you Spock.
I can understand the idea of a highly intelligent alien being appearing as a light force, such as the one featured in John Carpenter's Star Man (1984) and then taking the form of a human, or even a so-called 'Star Child' like what Dave Bowman becomes in Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). There may be civilizations out in space that have evolved to a point in which they no longer need a 'vehicle' or a 'vessel' such as the one we use to get around in ie. the human body. Well ... in their own environment anyway. But, are then forced to borrow one of ours when visiting Earth. For our alien creatures on the big screen, whether highly-advanced or not, we usually want something imaginative. Little green men? Probably still doesn't cut it. But, Hollywood and co has certainly given us some interesting takes over the years, the best coming in a monstrous - or just plain ugly - kind of way. The aliens appearing in this list are those that have made it to this planet - or gotten pretty damn close - for whatever reason, from a desire to hunt us down and kill us to just wanting to check out some flowers and eat chocolate. And they must be creatures in a sense they are very animalistic in appearance, but very much uniquely extra-terrestrial, meaning they are very different to us and our fellow inhabitants of Earth. They have two legs, two arms and a head (so no Blobs or Things, no matter how great they are), but that is where the comparisons stop ... CLICK HERE TO START THE COUNTDOWN
Play it again, Sam, and again, and againAugust 3rd 2010 08:32
How many Sam Rockwells does it take to make a good science-fiction film? Well, one would certainly be enough. In the case of Moon we get at least two which probably puts it into the 'great' category.
7 Unlikely Roles For Geeky Michael CeraApril 3rd 2010 00:43
25 Years On ... What Happened to The Breakfast Club?February 1st 2010 03:09
You remember how that Simple Minds song went, 'don't you ... forget about me ... don't, don't, don't, don't ... don't you ... forget about me'. Well, we sure as hell haven't forgotten, nor have we forgotten about the movie it featured so prominently in - The Breakfast Club - especially if you're a child of the 1980s, like myself.
Holmes sweet Holmes, despite dodgy accentFebruary 1st 2010 02:38
He's definitely performed better than the last A-list American actor to portray a genuine British literary or mythological legend, but there is still a question mark over Robert Downey Jnr's Sherlock Holmes.
District 9 out of this worldFebruary 1st 2010 01:14
Borrowing from cult sci-fi favorites such as Alien Nation and Enemy Mine new sensation District 9 (2009) is another fine example of taking a less than unique idea for a movie and presenting it on the big screen in an entirely unique way.
Rare horror treat finally surfacesJanuary 12th 2010 10:43
For all the crap that is churned out by the Hollywood processing plant, it makes you wonder why a clever little horror film like Trick 'r Treat is left on the studio shelf for almost two years after production completed to gather dust - and a bad reputation.
The Worst Vampire Movies Of All-TimeSeptember 16th 2009 10:09
Vampire movies have been around almost since the dawn of movies. The entire genre has proven to be harder to kill than the bloodsuckers themselves - no matter how hard some have tried over the years.
|
Recent CommentsComment by Movie Mall
|
Add Comments
Comments (1)
Read More
Comment by Movie Mall
on Coming Out of the Closet
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky