MONDOmagazine

127 Hours
Directed by Danny Boyle
Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2010

By Sean Kelly

One of the problems with seeing a film based on true events is that you already know the entire story prior to seeing film. In the case of Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, the story is that of mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco), who, after getting trapped by a boulder is eventually forced to amputate his own arm to free himself. As such, the film is less about what happened and more about how it’s portrayed. Read the rest of this entry »

Before Edward Scissorhands and Scott Pilgrim, there was…

Dororo
Osamu Tezuka (w+a).Vertical, 2008. Three meaty volumes.

By Denise Liu

Read if you like: adventure epics, supernatural baddies, feudal Japan, gore, comparing the book to the movie, teen fiction, Eisner Award winners.

If you’ve ever been told to “respect your elders,” chances are that it came from the wrinkly mouth of someone older than thou. Such a statement should actually be followed by a really good reason, maybe “—because I built the emm-effing subway car you’re riding in” or “—because I invented time traveling and you won’t even believe how OLD I am. Would you like to see my Tardis?” In short, respect is given to those who deserve it and not just because you’re too damn stubborn to die.

Enter: Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), dubbed the godfather of manga. It’s probably safe to say that his most recognizable work amongst North America audiences is Astro Boy but in recent years, quite a few English translations have appeared from Vertical including the highly acclaimed Buddha series and Apollo’s Song. These titles are not quite the clean robot fun of Saturday morning cartoons; for Dororo expect a healthy dose of gore, nudity, sexual themes, gender politics and political references. For a manga written in the 1960’s, that’s nothing to sneeze at. Read the rest of this entry »

Ninja Assassin
Directed by James McTeigue
Warner Bros Pictures, 2009

By Caesar Martini

I was excited to see Ninja Assassin because the title promised me two things: ninjas, and/or assassins. And I’m pro-both of those things, even if the term “ninja assassin” is a bit of a redundancy. I mean, assassinating is pretty much all ninjas do. There are no ninja chefs or ninja pet groomers. Wait, are there ninja chefs? Trained in the mysterious art of culinary murder, the secret ingredient to all his dishes would be… death! And probably shurikens.

Anyway, Ninja Assassin does indeed have a healthy amount of ninjas assassinating people, yet I can’t really recommend this movie. Unless you’re a huge fan of Korean pop music and want to see pop phenomenon Rain cover himself in a thick layer of fake blood and run around shirtless for half an hour; in that case, this is definitely the film for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Zombieland
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Columbia Pictures, 2009

By Sean Kelly

According to Zombieland, there are over 30 rules you have to follow in order to survive a zombie apocalypse. The film then goes on to spare no effort in comically reminding you of these rules with giant blocky text every time one of them is followed (or not).

This is probably the first straight-out zombie comedy since 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, which was apparently the film that inspired the filmmakers to do Zombieland. But unlike Edgar Wright’s film, which aimed to be a serious zombie horror film with comedic situations, this film is pure comedy all the way.

The film centres around Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who is travelling across the US searching for a safe haven from the zombies, who have all but taken over the country. He has survived so far by strictly following the aforementioned rules. These include pieces of advice such as being wary while in washrooms (apparently zombies like eating you when you’re doing #2), making sure you stay in good shape (with all the running you have to do), and not to hesitate in making sure a zombie’s dead by doing a headshot. Read the rest of this entry »

Loh-man on fire.

Drag Me to Hell
Directed by Sam Raimi
Universal Pictures/Ghost House Pictures, 2009

By Sean Kelly

Back in the late 1970s, a man named Sam Raimi got together with his high school buddy Bruce Campbell and made a low-budget horror film called The Evil Dead. After the film was released in 1981, it became a huge cult hit, spawning two sequels, and even adapted into a campy musical. Evil Dead launched Sam Raimi’s film career, where he went on to make more genre films culminating with taking the helms on the Spider-Man franchise. Throughout his success, Raimi hasn’t forgotten his horror roots as five years ago he started his own horror production company Ghost House Pictures, which resulted in films such as The Grudge and 30 Days of Night. Now, before he begins production on the fourth Spider-Man film, Raimi returns to his horror roots directing Drag Me to Hell.

Before I talk about the film itself, I believe I should talk briefly about the film’s rating. The official MPAA rating of the film is PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images, and language (for us in Ontario, the rating is 14A for Frightening Scenes, Gory Scenes, and Disturbing Content). The PG-13 rating is almost considered sacrilegious in horror circles and, given Raimi’s history of having mass blood and guts in the Evil Dead films, it might appear that he has given in to the Hollywood corporate machine to make a horror film that would appeal to as mainstream an audience as possible. However, since there have been PG-13 horror films that were truly scary (including the Raimi-produced The Grudge), I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see if the film was truly the “return of true horror” advertised in the trailer.

After seeing the film, I have to say that this line comes more from the studio marketing team’s desire to make a buck than to capture Raimi’s intentions. It quickly became apparent to me during the film’s first major horror sequence that Raimi was seeking to return to the not too serious, campy horror that made the Evil Dead series so beloved (that’s probably not that surprising, since Raimi wrote the script for this film shortly after Army of Darkness and sat on it until now). This type of horror, which in some cases involves Looney Tunes-like goofiness, might alienate those unfamiliar with the campiness of the Evil Dead series who were expecting a more earnest horror film (that trailer message didn’t help). As a big Evil Dead fan, though, I was reeled into the campiness of the film and I had quite a good time. I even thought that the 80s era Universal logo at the start was a nice touch.

I reference Evil Dead continuously because this film would probably be the closest Raimi has gotten to creating a fourth film in that series. In fact, there is a séance scene in the film that feels like a deleted scene from Evil Dead. All that’s missing is the blood and guts, though Raimi does manage to sneak one massive blood spray under the PG-13 rating.

In the lead role, I thought that Alison Lohman did a good job (and though I don’t want to diss Canadians, she was probably the better pick than the original choice, Ellen Page). My only real criticism of casting her is that she looks ten years younger than she really is (something that worked to her favour in Matchstick Men) and, as such, she didn’t appear to be the kind of person that is working as a loan officer in a bank. That aside, she held her own in the horror scenes — including a creepy scene that would make pet-lovers cringe — and even got a few good one-liners in. In addition, even though he will probably be forever known as the “Mac Guy,” Justin Long (whose first major leading role was in the horror film Jeepers Creepers) did a competent job as the sceptical, yet supportive boyfriend.

In the end, Drag Me to Hell was certainly not the return of true horror that it was billed to be. However, it was still a fun campy horror film that will probably make fans wish even more that Sam Raimi grabs Bruce Campbell and makes that fourth Evil Dead film.

Rambo

Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Lionsgate, 2008

By David Hollands

Sylvester Stallone’s pushing at least a hundred by now. Yet for a senior citizen, he hasn’t lost any of his strength, courage, or machismo. Rocky Balboa demonstrated a fine end to the Rocky series, and surprisingly great writing and directing from Stallone. Rocky went out in style. You know what? John Rambo does too.

I should get the biggest flaws out of the way before I begin my waterfall of praise. The writing is pretty bad. Dialogue is forced, though to tell you the truth, it’s mostly the other characters’. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t come off well because of some truly awful acting from the supporting players. Rambo remains safe from this though, mostly because he says very little (and the fact that he mumbles, so I hardly understood anything he said anyway).

Also, the running time’s pretty brief. Other Rambo adventures clocked in at about two hours, while this one delivers everything in ninety-five minutes. There’s lots of action, but character is shortchanged. For example, while it’s clear why Rambo chooses to once again don the bow and arrow and do some serious killing, the amount of screen time it takes him to come to that decision is hardly enough. I just didn’t believe it. Why is that important in this kind of action flick? Because it’s a message film, a movie that takes itself very seriously.

Now that that’s out of the way…

Rambo kicked so much ass! The story? Rambo leads a group of Christian missionaries into a Burmese village. On a mission of peace and thus without weapons, the missionaries are easily captured by Burmese soldiers. Long story short, Rambo proceeds to blow things up but good!

Violence has always been a staple of the Rambo series, though it has never been taken to this extreme. Bodies are eviscerated, shredded, blown up, crushed, disemboweled, and decapitated in the grisly, gory detail of a Monty Python sketch. Surprisingly, Stallone never makes this violence seem too sensationalistic. The violence conveys an admittedly simplistic message concerning the horrors of war and genocide, though one that is still pretty hard-hitting. The gore seems absolutely necessary – well, except in one instance. Stallone succumbs to having a head bad guy killed, when before there really was no main antagonist, simply soldiers. I really liked that small shift from convention, so I was a bit disappointed when an inevitable confrontation occurred with the usual swell of patriotic music.

Rambo’s a really dark film, not quite “fun” in the way you’d expect. It’s entertaining as Hell, though it somehow never feels exploitative. I really can’t describe it, especially since I typically dislike films that present themselves as mindless action fun but then go about their business in grim, unpleasant, and horrendously bloody fashion. Rambo walks a really thin tightrope in this regard, and yet Stallone somehow keeps the film perfectly balanced on it. You’ll have fun, I promise – just be prepared to be kicked hard in the gut.

Sly directs with a sure hand. The action is, as per the norm these days, presented in all out shaky-cam madness. Yet Stallone never allows things to become confusing. It’s intense and incredibly visceral action storytelling, yet it remains comprehensible at the same time. Not a small feat to pull off in Shaky-Cam World.

Brian Tyler’s musical score is amazing, intense, and even melodically beautiful. Adapting Jerry Goldsmith’s wonderful theme from First Blood, Tyler creates music that transports the audience completely into Rambo’s world. In the action scenes, the music never allows us to breath for even a second. We never grow bored with the constant onslaught of sound, since it’s so well composed and conducted.

In the end, Rambo marks a great return to form for an 80s icon. Stallone proves he still has it playing one of the ultimate American icons. If this is indeed the last Rambo film, I’ll be very happy; Rambo’s gone out guns blazing, still raging (and mumbling) against the “dying of the light.”

See it. I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Cloverfield
Directed by Matt Reeves
Paramount Pictures 2007

By Allana Mayer

Cloverfield. Dear, dear Cloverfield. City, monster, hip young things in party clothes, the army, destruction, cell phones as major plot aids. Oh, and the Statue of Liberty’s head landing in the middle of the street. There’s not much else to know, is there?

Being TV-free and mostly uninterested in current affairs, I wasn’t aware of the hype around the movie. A coworker told me it was good but the steady-cam work made her leave the theatre in search of some Gravol. If you can unfocus your eyes during half the scenes, you’ll do nicely. If you can close them entirely and think about things that aren’t quite so mind-numbing, you’ll do better.

The majority of the idiocy is narrated via Hud, a sex-starved douchebag with little equilibrium and no tact. What isn’t his handiwork is flashbacks, er, gaps in the recording he’s making that show earlier tape content (the least important bits of the movie, by the way). Hud, mercifully, is killed in probably the most personalized manner – also providing the only clear look at the totally unexplained monster, thus probably the “climax” in a movie of unremarkable action scenes. The overgrown spider-dolphin is at least daunting enough to excuse the characters of some of their vapidity: I’d be struck pretty dumb, too, trying to escape that shit. Still, he wasn’t killed nearly early enough.

Then we’re forced to endure the last ten minutes of the surviving couple’s straight whingeing. “I love you, we’re not gonna make it, let’s talk to the camera.” Sweet justice takes too long. Someone told me that he thought the movie did a good job of showing a horrific situation from a different perspective than usual, but really, when are we not following around helpless victims with little to live for, who undertake stupid missions because they’ve got hero complexes thinly disguised as nobility?

If most of Cloverfield hadn’t been unlikeable-character development, they could’ve gotten down and focused on some good gory killing. If the “survivor” party had been bigger, more could’ve been picked off one by one. At least no brain power was wasted on strategy talk. See, I can be grateful.

I will also admit the following things:

1. The little spider-ish beings “dropped” by the main monster are excellent, relentless demonoid forms that demand full respect, as are the bites they take out of their victims.
2. Any girl who can walk more than two subway stations in stilettos deserves to live. Besides, she was the token black chick.
3. At least they didn’t spend more than a few seconds in each scene having stupid panic-stricken arguments about which useless tactic they should try next. Rob, the mainest of the main characters, knocks over a newspaper stand in frustration, and that’s about it. Mostly they just agree to try whatever ill-formed idea occurs first. This makes for good viewing.

Surprisingly, I left feeling like it wasn’t very long. Maybe the makers just admitted they were wasting everyone’s money and decided to give us an early reprieve. As the characters’ handheld camera stopped moving for the final time, I lifted my hands to applaud the inevitable. Of course, there was one more crummy flashback, but whatever. The theatre was otherwise silent as the first credit flashed. We left quickly.