As much as I enjoyed Behind The Candelabra (and I did enjoy it), I felt a sort of disconnect throughout; as if we were being shown a series of snapshots down a timeline, with little to connect them as a flowing story other than the characters. Whether this is the result of Richard LaGravenese's screenplay or Steven Soderbergh's directing is up for debate, but I think there's a much more involving film to be made from the footage they shot. At times the pace seems to drag (the opening 15 minutes), while other sections don't seem to get the screen-time they deserve (Douglas and Damon's last scene together), and the episodic structure prevents any real momentum from building up.
But… it's a thoroughly fascinating couple of hours. The film looks as gorgeous as you'd expect it to, both on and off the stage, and it's rich with period-detail that never seems overdone. Given the nature of the story, 'Candelabra' is surprisingly light on the overblown camp that you'd expect, although it's frequently funny and frequently sad, frequently at the same time.
This film really belongs to Michael Douglas, and he looks like he's having the time of his life playing Liberace. He's pretty much the only character I warmed to, but I get the impression that's intentional. Matt Damon puts in a fairly solid turn as Scott Thorson, Liberace's lover and companion. While I had no problem buying into the characters individually, I wasn't convinced of the emotional connection between the two, and that is what the film's supposed to be about, isn't it? But as I said above, I think this is more down to how the film has been written and edited rather than the performances themselves.
Dan Aykroyd and Scott Bakula provide an understated backup presence, and Douglas's only real competitor for audience attention comes in the form of Rob Lowe as a pill-dealing plastic surgeon who can't close his eyes properly.
All in all, it's a film that I do recommend, but as a snapshot of the private life of an amazing entertainer, not as a love story.
I wanted to love Behind The Candelabra, but ended up only being able to like it. It never becomes more than the sum of its parts, and the potential is there for a much greater film.
Mostly, although the trailer's a lot more dynamic than the film.
Not as much as I wanted to.
I think it achieves what Soderbergh set out to do.
DVD.
No.
Yes.
No.
In the hands of a different director, I think 'Candelabra' could have been more emotionally engaging. But who would be right for the gig?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
The Purge Cert: 15 / 85 mins / Dir. James DeMonaco
There are two films, here. One of them is a fairly taught thriller set in a borderline dystopian near-future, in which a family is forced to defend their home against an escalating series of threats and there are no guarantees as to who (if anyone) is going to make it out alive. The other is a mawkish, contrary morality tale which delights in baiting the viewer down several ethical dead-ends before pulling its spectacles down the bridge of its nose and saying 'Aaah, but do you not SEE?'
I enjoyed the first one.
The Purge is hamstrung, of course, by the fact that the hypothetical 'Purge Day' wouldn't work in reducing crime for the other 364.5 days a year. If anything it'd just increase grudge-bearing which would inevitably spill over outside of the allotted 12-hour murder window. Add to this the clean-up costs for the following days, and it's ridiculous to even think about. Although as I am thinking about it, the main thrust of the film is the legalisation of murder; but the exposition tells us that "all crime is legal". So even fraud, hacking and general financial corruption, then? The kind of thing that would royally fuck over any society irrespective of an on/off date? Good luck with that.
So leaving aside the mechanics of the plot, and the moralising that goes hand-in-hand, it's quite good. Just don't think about it too much.
Oh, and it's always nice to see a remote-controlled spy robot operated by a tech-wiz kid from a secret compartment in the house featured in the first twenty minutes of a film and think 'Oh, I wonder if this will be mentioned again later on..?'
Hmm, largely-ish.
Not exactly, but it did hold my attention throughout.
IMHO, no.
The home-setting of the film makes it ideal for DVD.
No.
At some point.
No.
Ooh, wouldn't it be great, though? But wouldn't it be terrifying? And wouldn't it be wrong? But it'd be great though, wouldn't it? It's SO complicated!
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
This one was a very low-key release, so it's no surprise that I didn't get to see it at the cinema. As you can probably tell from that there trailer, Sightseers is a very darkly comic tale of a disfunctional couple who go out on a camping holiday and end up on a killing-spree.
This is another of those films that 'won't be for everybody', but I really enjoyed it. For a film about spontaneous murder and bleak British tourist spots, I found the claustrophobia strangely comforting. It's a credit to Alice Lowe, Steve Oram and director Ben Wheatley that some of the most horrifying film characters in recent times never seem to come across as wholly unlikeable. The movie is neatly soundtracked, beautifully shot, and the effects work on the murder victims is rather spiffing, too. There's also a great recurring gag/red-herring with trigger-events which make the audience think "Oh- they're next…". At a lean hour-and-a-half it doesn't outstay its welcome, although personally I'd have liked things to have escalated even more before the denouement.
I was initially hesitant with it, as the dialogue sounds partly improvised*1, and comes over like a cross between Alan Bennett and The League of Gentlemen. Luckily, as the two leads also wrote the film, they've got a strong enough handle on the characters to make it work. Apart from anything else, with the story unfolding the way it does, 'realism' sort of takes a back seat.
Sightseers would make the good second half of a double-bill with The Liability. It's almost a disservice to call this Natural Born Killers vs Psychoville, but that's the best way I can describe it, and I mean it with all respect.
Best line: "There might be blood on the paws of that dog, but it's smug complacency that killed Ian, I'll tell you that."
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
If you think you'll probably like it, you will, so pay-to-rent.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No. Which, under the circumstances, is a missed opportunity surely?
Dark-humour can be very difficult to get right, largely because it's a more precise target than mainstream comedy. What's your favourite movie that had you chuckling while your friends watched on, stony-faced?
*1 I may be wrong, of course, but it seems to loose to be scripted at times. It's a pet-hate of mine, I'm afraid. Improvised film dialogue rarely works. That's why screenwriting is a thing.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a 'catch-up' review. I watched this film at home, not at the cinema. I saw the trailer for this at the cinema, and I would have seen the film there too, but they didn't/couldn't show it. So now iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Blockbuster get to reap the rewards of my local's advance-advertising, and I'm sure they're delighted. Now you may say "oh come on, they can't show everything down there", and that would be a valid point if they didn't do things like running Taken 2 for six weeks. Was it that successful? No, I don't think so. Twilight? Batman? Les Mes? Sure, go for it; if they're pulling the punters in then keep making that money. But Taken 2? I ask you. Anyway, this is essentially a DVD review, but still of a new(ish) film. There. I'm glad that's sorted.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Well, hi. It's been a bit quiet round here for the last week or so. That's largely because I've been busting my crimefighting moves down in Devon. Here are a few photos of that...
^^ Click for big ^^
You can see this sort of hipster rubbish on a regular(ish) basis by following my Instagram feed.
Now, with any luck, my local cinema will pull their finger out and show some new movies so that reviews can recommence.
*waits*
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
