Rampart Reviewed... 29th January 2012

WARNING the following review contains Police Brutality, Sexism,Racism, a Shit Load of Malevolence, and a Big Fat Juicy Oscar Winning Performance...


Directed by Oren Moverman
Staring, Woody Harelson, Sigourney Weaver
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Lets go back in time to Los Angeles 1999, the Rampart Scandal. Widespread corruption in the anti-gang units of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Rampart Division. More than 70 police officers in the unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most widespread cases of documented police misconduct in United States history. The convicted offences included unprovoked shootings, unprovoked beatings, planting of evidence, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and covering up evidence of these activities. A true story that our director Moverman decides to get his teeth, but not just into...he practically chews it up and swallows it down, deciding to take us on the journey from the perspective of one of the corrupt. Travis Bickle, Patrick Bateman, Hannibal Lecter, Shylock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Rambo. Although this sounds like the dream dinner party guest list it is also a take on a type of character that has potential to form such intense shape that most of the time their names tend to become as famous as the stars that portrayed them. I'd like to introduce you to Officer Dave Brown...


If you took the best bits from Ryan Goslings Driver, Nick Cages Bad Lieutenant and you smashed them together you get this man. Harrelson's character is on it. His dialogue is sleek, intelligent and rough. Arguably one of the best rounded anti-heros I've seen on a screen in the last few years. He is demonic, insane, but somehow measured; and the art from Moverman frames him impeccably. 


Is there a connection between Dave Brown the character in Rampart and Dave Brown the Police Chief of Dallas? Names don't just drop right out of the sky do they? -- FYI: His son David Brown Jr. murdered 23-year-old Jeremy McMillian and 37-year-old Lancaster, Texas police officer Craig Shaw on June 20, 2010. David Brown Jr. died in an ensuing shoot out with officers responding to the scene. Dallas County medical examiner found PCP in David Brown Jr's blood. 

The devil inside... Courtesy of expert lighting.

The film language is top dollar. Hot colour grade, blush lighting which illuminates a (many times gorgeous) array of fly on the wall voyeur camera angles, which make the many sex scenes- raw, the dialogue swings - engaging and the violence - hyper dangerous. 


There are so many great scenes in this film. I am temped to list them right now just so I can relive them through the typing, but I should watch it again, it was, after all, a total pleasure. 


Into the final 3rd of the picture I find myself becoming slightly uncomfortable with the constant expectation of a mass kick off, suggesting that where this character roams an air of eminent ultra violence is an understatement. Que. Solo prescription medicine binge. Que. Trent Reznor in-his-hay-day esq Industrial soundtrack. Que. Scarlet-lit sucky-fucky sex club!! This film just got a whole lot more awesome.


IMDB currently has a 3 star rating for it, and I am totally gobsmacked by this. Is there an element of america not able to look itself and say "actually yes we are capable of shit", are they embarrassed, or do they actually think Rampart is a bad/mediocre movie? I heard that Team America World Police did well everywhere apart from between its mother~shores... After reading some more stuff online, and watching ten minutes of Fox News, I got the idea.

Hated by the ones you love: The ultimate fuel on the fire!

I will admit that at times I was unsure about where we were in the narrative. I couldn't quite workout the line, as we skip between his three different living situations. Is he the king of his own incest castle, packed with his two daughters and his two ex-lovers? Are we living with his defence attorney who loves to give head and throw glasses at him? Or are we in a hotel room waiting to go on trial while contemplating painting the walls scarlet red? It's the type of narrative that challenges the film lover, and although it was confusing on the first watch through, it made me pay attention, and that for me is very welcomed.


Create a character whose loved ones are actually the people that hate him the most, stick that character into non-stop situation, give it power, a broken heart and unthinkable flaws and you've not only created an exceptionally challenging job for all concerned; you've also created a person who, if nailed by the actor, is fascinating to watch.


Woody Harelson please stand up. 


What Moverman does with this film is create not only one of the most amazing takes on corrupted institution, he manages to forge a series of exceptional performances, held within a narrative that is pleasantly confusing but mind crackingly exciting. He teleports us to a world within a world. The inner workings of a corrupted soul. Harrelson in a career 'Oscar calling' performance delivers us a flawed man. Who is outspoken and every bad word under the sun, but yet in some mental way, likeable... 


A vietnam veteran, who is clearly the backfire creation of a country that was bred in blood and violence, yet who shunned their spawns that returned endowed with the philosophies of aggression, racism, sexism and what can only be described as a sort of 'bullet comfort'. Something a post 9/11 USA PR/propaganda machine has tried its hardest to discourage with campaigns like Help for heros, and the "thank you for serving" tag line... They don't want a bunch of John Rambo's running around, and they certainly don't want another Rampart scandal. Rampart is a modern day warning, if we continue to vote in those that have no issues sending boys and girls to war, then we shouldn't be surprised when Officer Dave Brown comes knocking at our door. 

Written by James Alexander.
London Film Festival.
Liverpool Film Festival.

The Descendants Reviewed... 22nd January 2012.

 

Paradise can go fuck itself...!

Directed by Alexander Payne
Staring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley

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Nothing seems more un-appealing than George Clooney in a Hawaiian Shirt. The shot in the trailer didn't fascinate, I'm talking about the Cohen brother esq 'Clooney running towards something with sheer panic in his face' - its a shot of him I've seen countless of times, so my interest levels were low at best. It wasn't until I got wind that it was from the same guy that brought us About Schmidt: a film that I have only watched the once, but it made me sob like a baby. If you haven't seen About Schmidt then you should because it's bloody brilliant. Perhaps Clooney insists the running shot be included into the shot-list during pre-production, apparently he only took a $5 fee for the Searchlight Production, so that would certainly give him some sway in deciding how he has the camera on him... Here's hoping anyway.

Venerability give away? Naaa! 

The story about a man failing in life, or struggling through hardship interests me. Call it a level of personal paranoia that floods my conscious mind as I try my hardest to drift into slumber on a Tuesday night, but it really is gripping stuff when done well. The characters in American Beauty, Lost in Translation, Vanilla Sky, About Schmidt and the Matrix (...ha) all show the leading men dealing with this battle of expectation, and the dizziness that comes from the never ending quest of fulfilling an ideal that you, or Morpheus, sets you in your twenties - teetering on the absolute edge of it to begin with, but then falling into the void of loosing patience, settling down, starting a family, and forgetting that perhaps you were or could have been the one. Fucking blue pill, why did I choose the blue pill!!?

Payne's story is established immediately. George's character is an estranged husband at the bedside of his estranged wife after she had suffered a near fatal head injury while jet skiing. Our protagonist narrates to set everything up and I am interested in his take on Hawaii: "paradise can go fuck itself". It's a nice start.

The islands make for a really interesting backdrop where the on location stuff looks, and feels, like we are all in the real Hawaii. A suburbia of wood clad houses with cool fences and gates. Early into it he visits a parent of his youngest daughters peer group. Dog the bounty hunter is on the box. Great detail. Now, don't ask me how I know, but The Dog actually lives in Hawaii.

Although some of the directors detail in setting up the world is good, it quickly becomes apparent that instead of surrounding the main protagonist with a bunch of bizarre well crafted characters like the boyfriend with the mullet in About Schmidt, he has decided to cast local actors. It also appears that they employed the village idiot to play the love interest of his eldest daughter, although as the film warms up so does his performance, I constantly battled with whether it was bad acting, excellent characterisation, or if the kid in real life was a few Hibiscuses short of a Aloha Girls front garden.

Shailene Woodley,  acting her socks off, perhaps, but she's only a size 3 at best.

 Unfortunately the acting from the supporting cast was poor. Lots of screwed up faces, playing the state and huffs and puffs - classic signs of actors not engaged in the narratives action. There is a really funny bit where we have a silent cousin sat during a contract signing, toward the end who looked like he was trying to deal with some insane bowl movements. Then we had the disgruntled parent at the beginning, the wife's best friend, the dude who was riding the boat, who has the world’s biggest neck, and every scene involving the wife's father. In fact, at one point literally straight after a weak, a really weak scene involving the granddad, our village idiot actually says, "that was unreal!"-- Oh the irony.

Clooney's work is good, as much as I didn't want to like him he's very believable in this; and not all of the supporting actors let him down. The cross over in dialogue is exemplary, where a doctor switches from giving out some very tragic news about his wife's health to then switching his wants to the task of organ acquisition through downer. We also have some really touching scenes played in tandem to the story which do as best as they can to balance out the poor acting from the locals.

A good performance from Matthew "it's a scream baby" Lillard, who plays the man who had the affair with Clooney's wife.

Creepy...

The make up is excellent, especially on his comatose wife; it is freakishly good in-fact and deserves a mention. She has colour in her face even though she didn't. It made for some uncomfortable pickups, which I am sure was the desired effect.

A moving scene in the boat at the end, where we see the conclusion to the journey of Clooney and his eldest daughter touched a few emotional buttons, and the ark of the story was very fluid. Combining a rich family history, high stake situations, interesting plot twists and pleasing characterisation.

It's one for the Netflix or DVD release, do not spend money going to the cinema when you can better spend it watching Rampart or the new Muppets film for instance, but it is certainly worth a gander.

Written by James Alexander.

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That looks beyond the gloss

Shame Reviewed -- 13th January 2012

Shamefully shameful?


Director: Steve McQueen
Staring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
Released: 13th January


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I saw the trailer and thought, 'this looks good', Magneto with a sex addiction? - awesome! The colours reminded me of a certain film I saw last year that took my breath, and blood away! It had been on that premise that I went with friends to the Soho Curzon via the TEXAS Embassy. I was expecting darkness, danger, pumping music and tons of flesh - Instead I got cold, clammy, tough and over worn. It had been a stomach turning night indeed.  Just ask the poor clean-up guy at Warwick Avenue tube station who had to pick up the bits, after my brother had pebble-dashed the escalators - He went for the battered steak. Yes I said battered! We are never going to the TEXAS Embassy again!

You'll want to poke his bosses eyes out!

Much like the old boot my brother had for supper the film started with the same best intensions. Full frontal nudity, meaty. An apartment downtown on floor 20+, ambitious. A brush with a married redhead on the subway, raw!! -- But what became more and more apparent was that these set-up scenes had way too much time spent on them, the edit could have been quicker, instead they dragged. 


There is a great moment during the beginning with his boss in a club where they play the game ofguess the eye colour of the girls at the bar; Fassbender nails it and then picks up the girl.. 'Oh boy', I think, 'this film is going to be nuts'.. I was wrong.


It's a pity because it picked you up to begin with, carrying some sort of strong expectation, you wanted to stay with this guy, he was strong, cool and clever; but unfortunately, due to a lacking script, it started to bore, and he weakened fast.


Despite the long scenes and many unreal situations the positives are aplenty, you get to see New York in a very loving light. Not seen in many modern films to date. I was privileged to spend a few moments there pretending to be a citizen myself and it felt like I was back. The view out of his apartment is of a vast Hudson, and an empty Brooklyn, it looked like the real New York! unlike the plastic one you see in toss like Sexy In The City. The photography makes you feel as if you are in this guys world. I had read that the director and the writer had walked the streets of Manhattan basically tracing the lead characters life, that sort of work always pays off. You might not believe his affliction, but you'll believe him.


The relationship with his sister Sissy (Cary Mulligan), is complex and deep. It appears that either the writer or the director has first-hand experience of this sort of sensitive relationship because it is given a lot of detail, and it seems the only real element of the script that actually works. The scene where a naked Fassbender attacks his sister on the sofa has the potential for either incest, or ultra violence. A great scene, which is apart from the rest of the film.

A sibling relationship packed with detail.

Another real moment is the sex scene with Fassbender's work colleague. It is sexy and very raw. The two actors really go for it, and you feel almost rude to be implying on their person; but then it starts to suck you in and at a particular point I actually felt like it was my fingers being sucked, not Fassbender's. A feeling in the film only found once and never again explored.

The sex addiction was a bit 'hmmmmm': It all seemed very unreal. Every girl he played about with was, sexy!!? -- Fair enough he might be picky, but surely that misses the point? He's not bi-sexual and yet at his darkest moment toward the end, he finds a black guy willing to suck him off in a sordid gay club. The jump from sexy girl to oh fuck it I'll have a man didn't seem real. One of my friends that I was with mentioned that he should have gone for the little chinese lady on the train, a kind of you'll do moment. it leaves the awkward question of 'if you had to get off no matter what, how far would you go?'. This was shown to be the case only once, and it was such a big jump that it made everything seem loose and unrealistic. I am sure that when you are having ten wanks a day in your 40's then you'll do anything - with anyone! - No matter how big your forehead is! 


Fassenbender's forehead is huge... And thankfully it is mentioned in the film. 'Laughter from the back-row..' on Friday night in Soho... Sorry, that was us.


If you want to feel weird and uneasy for an hour and a half then go and watch this movie. If you want to know what its like to be lonely in downtown Manhattan then go and watch this movie. If you want to research sex addiction then go and watch all of Micheal Douglas' flicks circa 1987...

Written by James Alexander
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