Review: "Cloud Atlas"

Sorry, no Ghost Movies tonight. That's because I've seen an extraordinary film and need to talk about it. As I update this review, I'm still digesting Cloud Atlas, the new film from Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run & Perfume) and the Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy). Based on the novel by David Mitchell and adapted by the directors, Cloud Atlas is unlike any other film you've ever seen, mixing genres and periods to tell six interconnected stories over several centuries. 

The plot(s) are so complex, I can only describe it/them  in the most basic of ways. In 1849, a young man journeys from the Pacific Islands to San Francisco to close a slave trading deal, while slowly being poisoned for the gold he carries; a young composer in the 1930's writes letters to his lover about his services as an amanuensis to another aging composer; a reporter finds herself caught up in a dangerous game in 1970's San Francisco; in 2012, an elderly ne'er-do-well publisher falls into a comedic trap after his ship finally comes in; a cloned waitress in 2155 'Neo-Seoul' finds herself the unlikely center of a revolution and a frightened tribesman in post-apocalyptic Hawaii aids a stranger in her attempts to save humanity from a radiation poisoned Earth, while trying to survive against cannibalistic raiders.

The truly International cast includes Tom Hanks; Halle Berry; Hugh Grant; Jim Broadbent; Hugo Weaving; Doona Bae; Jim Sturgess; Ben Wishaw; James D'Arcy; Keith David and Susan Sarandon, all of whom play at least three (and up to six) different characters; switching races, ages and genders throughout. In fact, part of the fun in watching Cloud Atlas is trying to figure who is who under some often remarkable (and occasionally terrible) makeups. Grant's old-age makeup in the contemporary story is particularly bad, though Berry's transformation into a white woman is quite startling. Personally, I was (unlike some) never offended by the racial transformations (even the less successful ones) because they made complete sense in the context of the stories and how they they related to one another. That's probably because the concepts presented actually transcend race, gender and sexuality.

Most of the performances are truly terrific here, though Hanks has some problems with a convincing Cockney accent in the contemporary story. Sturgess and Bae are quite effective in the 2155 story, while Broadbent is absolutely hilarious in the 2012 tale, though Weaving and Grant seem to be having the most fun. Weaving is best as 'Old Georgie,' the embodiment of Hanks' fears in the post-apocalyptic story, though his voice as sadistic Nurse Noakes in the 2012 story borders on Pythonesque. Grant is a very effective villain as both the operator of a nuclear power plant in the 70's and a cannibal tribal chief in the very distant future. And I dare you to figure out which male character Sarandon plays, at least until the end credits roll.

Visually, Cloud Atlas is nothing less than astounding. The directing jobs were split evenly between Twyker and the Wachowskis, with the siblings taking on the more fantastical stories (and rightly so) and Twyker dealing with the more historical ones. The scenes in 'Neo-Seoul' are staggering and the location shots in Hawaii just gorgeous. While it does take a good 20 minutes or so to get used to the way the film jumps between stories, the apparent randomness of the editing soon starts to make complete sense and the connections between the six stories becomes clearer and clearer as the film unfolds, not unlike an onion revealing its layers as it is peeled. The brilliant score by Twyker, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek serves perfectly to tie the six stories of the movie together and you can be sure that I'll be adding it to my collection. While I may not personally agree with the philosophies of Mitchell's novel, I could still appreciate what he and the filmmakers had to say, here even though I found it philosophical twaddle. As much as I would like to think we're connected in the ways the novel and movie espouse, I'm much more of an "It's all pretty random" kind of guy, so I took its central message with a grain of salt, as it were. That doesn't mean I didn't have a fine time at the movies.

My companions and I all agreed that we loved this movie and need to see it again, though I understand how some critics just hated it (personally, I think those who hated it, just didn't get it). Never boring, often hilarious and always fascinating, Cloud Atlas is the kind of movie that stays with you long after you've seen it. I know I'll be thinking about it for quite some time. Truth be told, it's the best movie I've seen so far this year. Of course, there are plenty of other films yet to come this Fall. **** (Four Out of Four Stars).

More, anon.
Prospero

Review: "The Wolfman"

I almost titled this post "The Hair of the Dog that Bit You," but thought it might be a little too on the money, especially given the plot-twist that's been added to Curt Siodmak's 1941 screenplay by modern screenwriters Andrew Walker and David Self. But since I refuse to be a spoiler, that's almost all I'm going to say about it.

Anyway, Dear D and I met this afternoon at our favorite local multiplex to see a movie both of us have wanted to see for a long time. Since today was a holiday, the place was unusually crowded for a late Monday afternoon, especially with the threat of more snow looming in the very near future. After sitting through a series of rather uninspired trailers for movies neither of us is likely to see, we settled back and watched The Wolfman with lowered expectations, hoping we wouldn't be disappointed by this remake of a childhood favorite. And I'm happy to say that were not disappointed. Well, not exactly.

Benicio Del Toro (who also serves as a producer) plays Lawrence Talbot, a classical actor raised in America, now touring London in a production of Hamlet. When his brother's fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt) writes to him, asking him to return to the family manse to help find his missing brother, he does so, only to find out he is too late and his brother's mangled body was found in a ditch two days before he arrives at said manse, a typical Gothic mansion in need of a good dusting and a power wash. There he confronts his father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins), a former big-game hunter with a penchant for wearing tiger's fur robes and spouting cliches. The locals seem to blame brother Ben's death on a dancing bear in the employ of some gypsies encamped nearby, so Lawrence naturally heads out to gypsy camp for some answers. There he encounters Maleva (Geraldine Chaplin), an old gypsy who warns him against digging too deep. But she barely gets the words out when the camp is attacked by a monster, and Lawrence soon finds himself the victim of the beast's bite. Lo and behold, on the next full moon he transforms into the titular Wolfman, tearing apart victims and reveling in the eviscerations and limb-tearings. Meanwhile, Inspector Abberline (Hugo Weaving) of Scotland Yard has arrived in town to investigate a series of murders which he attributes to a madman on the loose.

Director Joe Johnstone clubs us over the head with his images of the moon, while reveling in beautiful (if pointless) long shots of distant figures among the woods, in a field or atop Victorian London buildings. Blunt is fine as the damsel in distress, who inexplicably falls in love with her fiance's brother, and Hopkins is having a grand time playing a crazy old guy (something he has specialized in since The Silence of the Lambs). Weaving does a Victorian twist on his Agent Smith character from The Matrix and Chaplin tries to channel the late Maria Ouspenskaya with limited success. Sadly, the least successful performance here is Del Toro's, mumbling his way through the film in what I can only assume was an attempt to apply 'method' acting to what is obviously a 'technical' acting role. For an actor playing an actor in an era long before 'method' acting was invented, he seems far too distant and self-involved, even during what are supposed to romantic moments with Ms. Blunt. Antony Sher is hilarious and creepy as a torture-minded psychiatrist who gets his comeuppance, while Roger Frost is a hoot as the local vicar.

Makeup artist Rick Baker (who has a fun cameo as an early victim) does a bang-up job of modernizing the look created by Jack Pearce in the 1941 original, and the CGI transformations are well-done (though I did have issues with the obviously CGI dancing bear). Composer Danny Elfman turns in his most 'un-Elfman-like' score, to date, setting the tone most effectively. There is plenty of gore, intestines, flying body parts and rotting corpses, though Johnston has a habit of lingering on them for a few seconds too many. And as for that plot-twist I mentioned earlier, it might have worked if it hadn't been so obviously telegraphed so early on in the picture. Let's just say it was very much a case of "less is more' and leave it at that. I'm glad I saw it, but also glad we only paid the matinee price to do so.

All in all, The Wolfman is a fun (if flawed) B-movie, perfect for gorehounds and Horror lovers, especially those who have never seen the original.

**1/2 (Two and a Half Stars out of Four).

More, anon.
Prospero

Drinkin' a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's

"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night/Becomes a wolf when the Wolf's-bane blooms and the moon is full and bright."

Nearly as iconic as the vampire, the werewolf legend is part of most cultures. A cursed human (usually because of the bite of another cursed human), becomes a bloodthirsty beast by the light of the full moon, transforming into a hairy monster intent on murdering everyone with whom it comes into contact.

One of the earliest film incarnations of this classic monster is the 1935 Werewolf of London, starring Henry Hull as a doctor who can only be cured of lycanthropy with the help of a rare Tibetan flower:

Six years later, Universal Studios would produce their own werewolf movie, The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, the son of a wealthy Englishman (Claude Rains) who returns home for his brother's funeral, only to be attacked by a gypsy (Bela Lugosi) in wolf's clothing. Character actress Maria Ouspenskaya is the old gypsy who first spouts that little bit of doggerel at the top of this post. Chaney went on to make a career out of playing The Wolf Man in dozens of sequels, spin-offs and rip-offs, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. But it's this film that most folks remember him for:

Using "Replacement Photography" effects to show Talbot's transformation, Universal's makeup artist Jack Pierce set the standard for many years to come.

There were plenty of cheesy werewolf movies in the 50's and 60's, including Michael Landon's infamous debut in I Was a Teenage Werewolf in which a young teen was hypnotized by a mad scientist into becoming a wolf at the sound of bell (calling Dr. Pavlov). 50's homo-eroticism at its best:

It wasn't until 1981 that Director Joe Dante (Gremlins) upped the ante on werewolf movies with The Howling, in which he and makeup FX wizards Rick Baker and Rob Bottin used modern physical makeup effects to depict a painful lycanthropic transformation on screen, that werewolf movies got interesting (and scary) again:

Later that same year, director John Landis would make the definitive 80's werewolf movie, An American Werewolf in London. Former Dr. Pepper spokesman David Naughten stars as David Kessler, an American student backpacking across Great Britain with his best friend (Griffin Dunne) who is attacked on the moors by a monster. Despite the ministrations of a cute British nurse (Logan's Run star Jenny Agutter), David soon finds himself killing random folks by the light of the full moon, transforming painfully in one of cinema's most memorable werewolf transformation scenes:

Sadly, the "official" 1997 sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris uses a bad script and lame CGI for its werewolves:

Even the presence of the beautiful Julie Delpy couldn't save that mess.

There were several terrible werewolf movies since, including the godawful Werewolf Vs. Vampire piece of crap Underworld and it's two (so far) sequels:

And I can barely bring myself to mention the atrocious werewolf comedy starring Michael J. Fox, Teen Wolf:

In 2000, Canadian director John Fawcett gave us the hilarious and chilling adolescent werewolf flick, Ginger Snaps:

Then, in 2002, director Neil Marshall gave us Dog Soldiers, about a group of British soldiers on a training mission who find themselves in the midst of a werewolf family conflict:

...and His Hair Was Perfect!

"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night/Becomes a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the moon grows full and bright."

That infamous bit of doggeral from the original 1941 film, The Wolfman is first uttered by the late Maria Ouspenskaya, a Russian actress who would rise to marginal fame in Universal Studio's horror flicks from the 30's and 40's. When prodigal son Larry Talbot returns to the homeland, he is attacked by a peculiar beast and soon finds himself (via then state-of-the-art replacement photography) turning into a monster. Lon Chaney, Jr. - the less-talented son of "The Man of 1000 Faces" - had the titular role and no less than Claude Rains played his father and Bela Lugosi played the poor afflicted son of Ouspenskaya's ancient gyspy.

Now, the inevitable remake is soon upon us. Delayed for a very long time, The Wolf Man is finally scheduled for release in 2010. Sadly, it's in February of 2010. And you all know what that means. Or not. There have been those occasional February gems... I think... um, let me get back to you on that. Anyway. the good news is that is not being directed by The Mummy and Van Helsing (what a waste of everyone's time) schlockmeister, Stephen Sommers. The bad news, it's directed by Jurrasic Park III's Joe Johnston. Now Johnston is an okay director. I like The Rocketeer (I first feel in lust for Billy Campbell then) and Jumanji is just fun. Hell, I even enjoyed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I haven't seen 2004's Hidalgo, but this is Johnston's first film since then. Six years is sometimes very long to be away in the business. JP3 was a complete piece of crap and I have to wonder whose fault that is. And Hidalgo didn't exactly break any box-office records, despite the presence of Viggo.

Alright, then. Here's the trailer for The Wolf Man, starring Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving and the amazing Geraldine Chaplin (!!!) as Maleva, the role that made Ms Ouspenskaya famous. Enjoy:

Mmmm... steak tartare...

Well, at least I know they'll never remake this 'classic:'

Oh wait! They did:

God bless Larry Cohen. Of course, watching that made me think of this:

I wonder if there's a Rifftrax version of Reign of Fire? There must be, don't you think? Oh, well. I suppose I should round the whole thing out with this trailer:

And maybe just one more:

"It's Scare-ewey!" Get it? Scary and screwy? Get it? And 10 bonus points to whoever can tell me what future icon of Horror has a voice cameo at the end of that last movie.

More, anon.

Prospero