As Batman hunts for the escaped Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime attacks the Gordon family to prove a diabolical point mirroring his own fall into madness.
DCU’s mainstay animation director, Sam Liu (Batman Year One, All Star Superman, JL v Teen Titans) brings Alan Moore’s and Brian Bolland’s (who was inspired by the classic silent film “The Man Who Laughs” with Conrad Veidt) “The Killing Joke” to life along with comic book scribe Brian (Wonder Woman) Azzarello. The films marks the return of Mark Hamill (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Village of the Damned) voicing The Joker and Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) returning as Batman. The Eisner winning graphic novel, which was released way back in 1988, was a seminal one shot book that set the bar really high and is considered to be one of the best Batman / Joker stories ever published. It includes a uniquely dynamic and visceral backstory in which Moore explores, in parallels, how The Joker came to be and how he still remains in the present, trying criminally to show Batman how they are actually so much alike as a result of “one bad day.”
The book also is very important for having a singular incident befall a beloved character in the DC universe, resulting in said character to absorb a completely new identity as hero in Gotham. Having re-read TKJ a year or so ago and trying to retain all the material, I must say that the book remains very relevant and completely absorbing psychologically and artistically. In other words, it still hold up.
Unfortunately, over 25 years later, as a adaptation to the little screen (Or big screen depending where you may have seen it), by Liu, DC and company, the film falls way off the mark and is surprisingly flat, boring, outdated and uninspired. A disappointing effort that, given the source material, is rendered practically inert by a distracting and protracted prologue at the film’s beginning that feels like fluff in order to whet our appetite for the actual meat and potatoes, which ironically, in turn seems rushed and expedited. The start of the “The Killing Joke,” AKA “Batgirl Gets Horny,” begins innocuous enough with a VO of Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong) as Batgirl.
She take us into her world of Gotham while expounding on the trials and expectations of looming dangers living in Batman’s world. Strangely, Batgirl comes across reckless, perpetually cocky, emotional and just plain amateur-ish at times as she tries to bring down an impetuous young mafioso in Gotham who has an Uncle in the way of his obtaining his empire in Gotham’s underworld. Within this story, Liu displays enough truck chases, fisticuffs, shots to the head and explosions to whet our palette, but I couldn’t help but feel like this whole affair was tacked on and just padding to fill out the running time. If it was the intent to add more depth to Barbara and Batgirl then it didn’t work and it just came off hokey and transparent. We already know and like Batgirl and have an emotional investment so why this prologue at all? Was it to set something up? If that was the case, then we’ve been played Batgirl fans.
What I think really annoyed me was the sexually driven narrative. I know better than anyone else that sex sells, but come on! Please, don’t insult my intelligence, DC. I won’t go any further than that, gang. Just be warmed. And in my opinion, it was all just unnecessary and comes across pretty trite. If Liu and Azzarello wanted to make a Batgirl flick then they should have made a Batgirl flick. Batgirl here, just comes across as a whiny, sexually frustrated and really immature hero that plays into the opposite of her also being a bad ass girl dark knight that can still kick your ass. Batman, here, only serves to swoop in occasionally and be broody and disapproving of Batgirl’s antics.
What is quite frustrating is that this intro leaves nothing to the imagination or provokes thought regarding the dangers and psychology of living as a dark hero in Gotham (Batman is kind of a moody version of a big brother scolding his carefree little sister trying to school her in being a better hero) and only serves as a disconnect to what come after.
And getting to that…when the film becomes the “Killing Joke” in true form, the first thing we notice is that the animation style stands out quite nicely but then eventually becomes a bit inconsistent. In some scenes, (Batman’s attempt to talk to The Joker in AA for example) it looks pretty well rendered in shadow and color while others look underdeveloped and thick, like Joker’s facial expressions (his eyes looking tiny and weird) and some backgrounds like those at the abandoned carnival grounds.
Liu and company try valiantly to replicate some fine moments from the Bolland’s art style in the book and succeed for the most part only in the animation but in the narrative and style in is sorely lacking in any real tension and build up. Do look for the great “pulled from the pages” shot of the Joker going mad after the botched robbery at the chemical plant, though! My only gripe with Bats here was his suit, bat emblem, ears and cowl. It all seemed a bit off to me but I am nitpicking and in the end is not such a distracting point. Perhaps it all was an attempt to emulate Bolland’s vision of Batman as a whole.
The film competently tries to follow Moore and Bolland’s book narrative regarding The Joker’s escape from Arkham, Joker’s flashbacks to his family and career woes, Batman trailing the Joker to the carnival including Gordon’s abduction and the almost demise of Barbara Gordon. I just wish they could have delved more into these story points with more depth and exposure perhaps using more dialog or even more visual explorations. Which brings me back to the forced rom com intro that needn’t have been thrust upon us in this particular DC animated outing (It also serves to sully and debase the character of Barbara Gordon imo). All it succeeded in doing was sucking the time that could have directed to more of the true Moore / Bolland story.
Hamill and Conroy slip right back into their character’s warm slippers and do a commendable job as the voices of the Joker and Batman. I knew, for obvious reasons, that this was the only real saving grace to be had from this convoluted mess. Hamill and Conroy are just barely enough of an excuse to watch “The Killing Joke” in my opinion. They elevated it to perhaps an “episode of the week” entry with strong interaction and dynamic voice ranges as their prospectative characters. It is just pretty cool listening to these two again but I would have wished it could have been as another story or adaptation or an original story for the screen. Any other circumstance but this film. Shit, I could listen to those two do radio car insurance commercials.
None of the real impact of the the book is on display here and any of the psychological manipulations the characters go through are made minimal here by an uneven pace and vapid deflections. None of the explored themes jump out at you and because of the lack of exploration there does not seem to be any real danger or connection felt between Batman and The Joker.
The fact that they do not fit in the real outside world but are so much alike is never really explored except through a lame musical number by The Joker which is just embarrassing to watch. Everything just reeks of average-ness in The Killing Joke which is a shame since this was a highly anticipated feature. Perhaps the book was kept shelved too long before being made into a movie, who knows? It could have been served better as a late 80’s or early 90’s live action adaptation made by Tim Burton or someone of his ilk at the time.
Liu and Azzarello just do not keep the focus on any one thing that made the book a stand out and as a DC animated film, it is only just a curiosity piece and nothing more. The high standards, with the exception of some of the animation and of course Hamill and Conroy, are not displayed here and I cannot fully recommend “The Killing Joke” to anyone who is a true fan of the Moore and Bolland collab. But it you must indulge, and are a completist and enormous Batman fan, since the film does have some neat action and mayhem in parts, then consider “The Killing Joke” only as a rental.
Suspecting that people around him are turning into evil creatures, a troubled man questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself.
Wyatt, in They Look Like People, hears voices. He hears them through his cell phone. Ominous, deep and disembodied voices tell, Wyatt, a singularly troubled and isolated individual, that he is one of the “blessed.” To Wyatt, this means that he is a warrior, and one of a chosen few that can really see demonic and other-worldly entities that can assimilate humans around us, to eventually bring on the apocalypse. For all intent and purposes, Wyatt has been recruited to follow instructions and figure out who is who among those around him, even if it means taking matters into his own hands. Wyatt, played by MacLeod Andrews, enters New York City and it is apparent right away, that he is lost and seems to be running or avoiding something in his past. He looks very displaced and absolutely needy.
One day, he randomly runs into an old friend, named Christian (Evan Dumouchel), on the streets of NYC, not too far from Christian’s home. Christian, very surprised and at a loss, to see his friend, eventually has mercy on Wyatt and with astute sensibility, asks Wyatt to stay with him.
Writer and Director Perry Blackshear directs this indie thriller, with help from a grant, made through New York University and Tisch School of the Arts, with these two characters very much at the center of everything. Through their re-introduction to each other, begins an intriguing journey. Christian himself, thanks to Perry’s astute script, also hears voices and the film explores parallels between the two good friends. Christian’s past saw him as a submissive, weak person lacking confidence and drive. Blackshear’s small film takes us on a trip through a world of machismo and manly conventions in the dog eat dog world of young, yuppie corporate New York City.
All this is through Christian’s eyes, as he tries to man up and do himself some good by working up the nerve to ask his boss out on a date. The voices that Christian hears are those of positive affirmations through his headphones whenever he works out, takes the train and rests at home. TLLP explores this duality in painting him as the classic alpha male and gym rat, while still having to reconcile his past which included his friend Wyatt prominently. Christian simply is trying to re-invent himself while listening to voices telling him that he “is a mountain.”
TLLP showcases the 2 actors that play Wyatt and Christian very well. As actors they connect, feel sincere, act natural and seem very much at ease with each other. I can almost hear Blackshear’s direction: Just be yourselves, fellas! And they are. They drink, act out Lord of the Rings, play sock games and take trips down memory lane. But as they grow comfortable together and Christian’s life seems to take a cool upswing with his boss Mara (Played brilliantly by the sweet Margaret Ying Drake), Wyatt takes a turn for the worse as he continues to hear the unnerving demonic voice which now sounds like Mara herself. Blackshear, in his wisdom here, shows very little, creating a tight atmosphere which he builds suspense with. Before all of this, though, we are treated to nice moments of calm before the storm as Mara and Christian bond in nice little segments of the two interacting before a bombshell goes off for Christian at his workplace.
Blackshear brilliantly uses sound (incredibly creepy sounds at that), tight shots and quick cuts of character interaction to incrementally build dread and despair. He also gives us a ringside seat to Wyatt’s slow decline into paranoia and despondency. Wyatt tries to seek out help but shoots it down as he suspects the worse. He also takes matters into his own hand as he begins to take more orders from those voices and prepares for war with dangerous supplies bought in a hardware (sulfuric acid included) store. Christian, otherwise, suspects nothing as Wyatt hides axes and nail guns in his basement.
One night, though, Christian begins to notice a change in Wyatt and Blackshear ramps up the whole affair in the last half hour of this incredbly succinct indie. Christian is awoken by Wyatt having a severe episode and his paranoia begins to scare Christian into a standstill. But being a quick thinker, Christian offers to help. Things get worse as Wyatt suspects Mara of being an “other.”
There is enough subtext in Blackshear’s film for two other movies. What Blackshear does really well here, is give us likeable and real characters, and what lies beneath the skin and in their hearts first, as he also challenges us to look into ourselves and what we would do for friends in need struggling with mental illness. The film is indeed a thriller and some may package it as a horror indie but it is much more than that. TLLP is an exploration. A drama about reconnected friends with emotional baggage that need each other in a dire stretch of their friendship.
What the actors convincingly portray are 2 men that are much stronger together than individually and when real monsters appear (or are they?) the strength of trust and love endures all of that. Films about mental illness, especially in the horror genre, don’t really take the time to show us this side of things and by the very end, the movie lets us know that there is much more to this side of the issue.
TTLP is not an overt horror film and does not use any of the more conventional tropes associated with more big budgeted films of it’s type. It is a film of impressions and implications and hits home more in a psychological aspect. It is a film to be very patient with and it is not for everyone. But Blackshear, who also served as editor and cinematographer, serves up a very unique film about people and by the end, you will look back and see what his intent was from the way he wraps the film up.
Blackshear is to be very commended for making a film that is wholly and truly his. It is beautifully shot, edited and not at any time do you see the film’s budgetary limitations bleed through. Every dollar is put up on the screen and it is a good looking production that makes NYC a character all it’s own and gives our protagonists and characters a stunning backdrop to share the story in. But be warned, if slow burn films are not your flavor of the month, then look elsewhere. If you can tolerate an 80 minute excursion into a character’s slow madness and compelling psychological neuro-drama, then They Look Like People is well worth it. The ending, while open to interpretation, is a knock out, in my opinion, solidifying both Blackshear as a storyteller and the film as a intriguing piece of original work.
“They Look Like People” is currently available to stream in high definition on Netflix.
“Feast,” directed by John Gulager, is one batshit crazy movie, in the most tried and true grindhouse tradition. Let me get this out of the way now, and just admit that it attempts to provide lo fi, low brow, hokey b movie schlock, and it does it well, if at times it borders on eye rolling parody instead of admiration, respect and reverance. To do this right, the film, at the expense of any real story, decides to just administer the right combination of gory monster action, explicit situations, bar humor, vulgarities, banal dialog and plenty of “I didn’t see THAT coming” moments. Gulager’s film revels in psyching the viewer out with how the main characters (All hilariously introduced by freeze frames that include off the cuff bios with life expectancies) are randomly dispatched, leaving us to wonder if any of them are safe, who’s next, and who is going to make it out alive.
It seems that some nasty alien creatures have it in for us humans and where better to come after us (they do have a reason, I suppose) than a red neck dive bar in the middle of nowhere, or rather the Californian desert…well yeah, nowhere. After the intros and obligatory set up’s are over, we get the “hero,” (Eric Dane) barging into said dive bar, all bloody and screaming to everyone that there are murderous and ravenous creatures right behind him and that they better get ready to confront them. It’s a brief respite, then all gory hell breaks loose. The scene where a macho hero tries to save the day is something we’ve all seen countless times before (especially in horror and sci fi films) and Feast is happy to break with convention and press the reset button on how the rules hold up in these situations, and with that being said, Feast becomes an otherwise cracking fun time.
It’s all an unpredictable, and honestly, a sometimes cliched affair, but, fortunately, between the monstrous excitement we are treated to some pretty funny bits of character interaction in the bar and some laugh out loud dialog. During a quiet moment, one character approaches an old bar hag asking about aliens and insults her by saying that: “Old people know shit!” It’s little bits of juvenile humor and tasteless-ness like this that makes this film hard to hate on some levels much like “Slither” from James Gunn.
The bar inhabitants in Feast are indeed a motley crew and I won’t go into who is who (though Balthazar Getty is pretty comical as an abhorrent pool hustler named “Bozo”) or what, since in the end, it doesn’t really matter, but we are reminded of many other films where people are all stuck together in one place fighting for their lives when an evil external force is trying to get in (Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13, anyone?). Don’t even begin to think allegorically or metaphorically here, though, Feast IS NOT that type of flick. What it is, is a corny amalgam of sleazy alien attack flicks that permeated the late 70’s and 80’s in grindhouse theaters and of course, the already afore-mentioned films of Romero and Carpenter.
The movie does in fact feel like a sort of twisted black sheep sibling of Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’s ode to grind from a several years back. Gulager’s Feast seems to humorously take pride in the fact that almost none of it’s main characters have any redeeming values whatsoever and the story holds them in no esteem at all. They are very overtly un-likeable with most being crass, ugly, immature, boorish, blundering and cowardly. All the better, though, since we can’t wait to see who is eaten next, right?
By the 3rd act, when the numbers of the questionable bar patrons dwindle even more, the film gains even more gusto and gets even more gross and enters really wacky territory with an unexpected turn of events. Feast writers, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, excel in keeping us guessing and they are indeed students of all that has come before in this particular genre. No one is safe in Feast, and even if this is very familiar territory, Dunstan and Patrick know that they are out to entertain us with schlocky aplomb. They also whip up some very facetious dialog between the characters as they try to outsmart the aliens and even themselves. Director Gulager outdoes himself with the casual gore and gross proceedings showing us everything in harsh reds without batting an eye. Feast is a fun and rollicking flick but you have to be looking to have some fun indulging in this kind of affair. In the end it’s all empty calories and the cinematic equivalent of a Snickers bar.
The cast here are all enjoyable, the gore front and center, the action cliched, the monster mayhem all shaky and what not, and did I mention the gore? Oh yeah, I did. Anyway, Feast is indeed a Feast of crude, odious and off color alien monster goodness that knows what it’s meant to consent to even if that wink and nod is really a self aware dose of parody (but there is yet another funny as hell freeze frame late in the game that I didn’t see coming). Technically, Feast is a solid grindhouse fit and it’s shot and composed capably.
The make up FX are unexpectedly well done and well rendered and it appears that it’s all done practically with no CGI to be had anywhere. Feast isn’t a smart film in any way, but it is astute in playing the conventions that have made countless grindhouse movies so much fun back in the day. Like I said, it’s frenzied analog film-making in the breakneck style of Raimi’s “Evil Dead” and it serves up basic and elemental horror film tropes that are quite comical and dreadfully low brow, distasteful and offensively gross. Yep, batshit crazy. What gets better than that?
The Late Wes Craven, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck served as Executive Producers on “Feast.” Also, look for vet actor Clu Gulager as “Bartender.” He is the father of the Director.
Kiefer and Donald Sutherland share the screen in this brooding western about an embittered gunslinger who attempts to make amends with his estranged father whilst their community is besieged by ruthless land-grabbers.
I’m a sucker for a good western. Always have been. It’s not my go to genre but when good word of mouth along with a good director, writer and cast is attached, I get even more excited about them. And with studios still a bit antsy and ambivalent about the western, it hasn’t been exactly a dry well, of late, with them. From The Revenant, Hateful Eight, Slow West (With Michael Fassbender) to Bone Tomahawk and even TV shows dressed as modern westerns, take Justified as an example, the western still appears to be alive and well. The odds of seeing one become a box office titan like any given superhero Hollywood blockbuster is practically nil, but, many movie lovers will indulge in a western periodically and not be overtly disappointed in doing so. That is the case with “Forsaken” from director Jon Cassar of “24” fame.
Cassar’s western is so unpretentious, straightforward and completely uncomplicated that it is a bit outwardly striking at first. There is an adjustment period where one may feel that Cassar is following the playbook of “how to build a western” (the fine line between homage and just plain rip off could be debatable) but when you start to see the film is a story about an exploration and voyage then it becomes illicitly real and surprisingly charming. There is a narrow and uncompromising vision that immerses the viewer in a time capsule and transports them to the 40’s, 50’s and even the 60’s where shades of grey were sometimes less examined and scrutinized in major westerns of those eras.
In Forsaken, much of the story provided by scribe Brad Mirman (The Good Shepard), is pretty much black and white. You know who the bad guys are and you like and root for the underdogs, downtrodden and of course the protagonist, here, played by Kiefer Sutherland (24, Mirrors, The Lost Boys).
Sutherland portrays John Henry Clayton, a hardened gunslinger veteran who wanders from town to town trying to put his violent and grisly past behind him. His wanderlust brings him back home to the town he was born and raised in to find his father and town preacher, William, played by the regal Donald Sutherland (Ordinary People, Salem’s Lot, Invasion), a widower. William, who has demons of his own, is a true stoic western figure in this tale. He has never lost his faith, tends to his land and property and never lets his emotions get the better of him. Until John Henry returns home.
The two, who have great differences to work out involving JH’s recently deceased mother and longtime dead brother, have a long road to reconciliation, which Cassar explores with JH’s disbelief in the lord and William’s unfaltering acceptance in what God has bestowed to the Clayton clan, no matter how terrible the cost. It is made very clear, during a tense dinner scene, that William is most displeased with JH but he eventually sees, in his actions, that young John in hardened by his past and seeks only to redeem himself.
The two Sutherlands, in their first on screen collaboration together, are amazing to watch. Whether it is the familial bond, or the mastery of two great actors working off of each other, the dynamic is a wonder to observe as they gradually come full circle with William accepting who JH really has become and JH reconciling what he once was with who he needs to be. But the film isn’t just about them. Brian Cox (Manhunter) brilliantly plays the foul mouthed land grabber James McCurdy who enlists a “fixer” gunslinger, named Dave, to help with his “persuasion” issues with local land owners from the town who have declined to sell their land.
The fixer is played with a serious and classy gravity that lends itself to a razor precision performance by esteemed character player Michael Wincott (The Crow, Alien: Resurrection). The restless and highly volatile “heavy,” (who also works for McCurdy and is always at odds with Dave) though, is played with smarmy, dirty aplomb by Aaron Poole (The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh).
Rounding the character off in a surprising and refreshing bit of casting here, is the quietly powerful Demi Moore (Ghost), who plays Mary Ellen, and old flame of JH’s who could not wait for him any longer and ends up with a family of her own. John Henry’s return becomes more entangled and demanding when he discovers this, and has to remain a true gentleman, even though his heart is obviously stricken. Moore’s turn is a revelation (she disappears into the role) and proves that with solid material and a simple piece of drama that Moore can shine through drab make up and costumes to emote with the best of what the mostly male cast can muster up.
When Forsaken explores dark themes of redemption, lost love and disregarded faith, it works on a sublime level and to the credit of the filmmakers, takes place mostly during the day. The scenery and landscapes are beautifully rendered and composed allowing for exquisite cinematography to take precedent. In the first few minutes, Cassar gives us proper “prodigal son-returns-home” montages of a rider on a horse travelling across grassy plains with mountainous backdrops looming. And the film remains looking beautifully done until the final shot.
Let’s not forget that this journey leads somewhere and even though Forsaken doesn’t up the ante until the last 15 minutes, it’s still a great payoff with everyone (with the exception of one like-able bad guy) getting their just desserts. A bloody and well choreographed shoot-out ensues and we are treated to a simple throwback experience dropped in from right out of Gunsmoke.
Forsaken does not, in any means, try to be anything other than a brief and immensely satisfying quickie. No cliché and trope goes un-turned here. You can almost count those off with both hands, but because of it’s simplicity and the impressive look, feel and work of the stellar cast, I didn’t care one bit that I’ve seen this all before. The movie, in such a short running time, delves into such emotion, raw drama, angst of the times, family and faith issues and even the price of leading a violent life in such brave fashion. It left me very impressed. It is a assured piece of western movie-making. Everything in it rings confidently and it is not overtly slick or stylized or even “updated” in any way. It gives props to those classic western tropes that disappeared and became unwanted in mainstream Hollywood, with other genres disguising as such.
Definitely watch “Forsaken” for the strength of the Sutherlands working together and off of each other, to near perfection, and for the admirable work all around with the cast and crew. It is, in most recent memory, a prominent stand out piece of western nostalgia that relies heavily on it’s influences, as they remain where they should be…worn on it’s sleeve. Highly recommended!
Robin is sent to work with the Teen Titans after his volatile behavior botches up a Justice League mission. The Titans must then step up to face Trigon after he possesses the League and threatens to conquer the world.
Acclaimed animation director Sam Liu helms the latest DCU effort in “JL vs TT” (Yep, it has a “vs” in the title. Wink. Wink.). This is the 24 or 25th DCU animated feature, I believe. I’ve actually lost count. As is the routine with the DCU films, the big guns, The Justice League, are brought out to start off things with a big, loud and grandiose battle in the middle of the City, with the Legion of Doom, no less. Each of our fave heroes (Cyborg, Bats, Flash, Supes and Wonder Woman), fighting their villainous counterparts, get chances to shine in the early fisticuffs with the baddies.
While all of this big, bam, boom is going on we get to witness the lastest Robin, the impatient Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan), sitting on the sidelines grudgingly taking orders from Batman. The ensuing battle manages to lead up to Damian taking things into his own hands with the Bat-Wing and some Missiles, in order to stop Weather Wizard, who is taken over by a yet unknown entity.
After the bratty, querulous and grousing Damian is tore a new one by Batman (with humorous defending by The Flash and Superman taking place), Robin is driven by the first Robin, Dick Grayson (now Nightwing voiced by Sean Maher) to the HQ of The Teen Titans, in a sort of “exile” boarding school move by Batman. There, he is to try and and fit in, in a team environment. And Robin is none too pleased. As Nightwing tells Starfire (Kari Wahlgren), Damian has had no childhood and has spent his formative years learning to kill. And it shows. Liu shows us Damian’s baby steps into getting used to being part of the team but not without it’s roadblocks. He’s still prying, suspicious, defensive, moody and combative (he even picks a fight with Blue Beetle and gets pretty messed up) to just about every one in the group but I did like the brief “X Men” – like dynamics woven into the story and the characters.
From the film’s onset we are introduced to what will be the antagonist and main plot filament that binds the film: Trigon (Jon Bernthal). Trigon being an infernal inter-dimensional bad ass that can possess the heroes (he tries his hand at Superman as well), and after a Carnival showdown with demonoids, we eventually discover a familial connection to Raven (Taissa Farmiga), who Robin has taken to in his own inimitable way. Raven gives us some backstory and then things become quite clear, then we are off to the races. The JL are taken over by Trigon and the TT, headed by Damian as determined to help Raven at any cost.
“JL vs TT” has much to offer in terms of hero interaction, inevitable humor and clashes (watching Superman get the JL back to “normal” was rad), which are well rendered and dynamic and one could expect no less from a DCU animated quickie like this one. It’s short running time, clocking in at 80 mins or so, works in it’s favor, too. There is no real time left for too much exposition (except on Raven’s part) and even though there are some missteps in coherence and logic, the movie plays out pretty fast and furious but it all stills feels rushed and under-cooked in places where maybe catching a breath would have added more cohesive-ness. But in the end it may all just be nit-picking when you go in with tempered expectations.
Liu’s film can feel entry level at times and can come across routine in it’s execution story-wise and the secondary like trappings can distract, but not terribly. It’s a decent time waster to get your JL superhero and animation fix all rolled into one, but don’t expect another “War,” “DKR,” or even “Flashpoint Paradox.” Damian’s arc is resolved nicely but with a bit of melodramatic flourish and yeah, he’s still kind of a jerk. Plus, Batman has been given next to nothing to really do here, but lay around knocked out, which is a shame. (Oh and stick around for an enigmatic little scene during the credits)
This DCU flick one has an ok Saturday morning vibe that is none too shabby if that’s what you need. Definitely consider as a rental first before a purchase unless you are a completist and need it in your DCU Animated Collection.
There is an immense ocean of trees at the Northwest base of Mount Fuji, in Japan, that has been eeriely named “The Suicide Forest.” It is a place where an epidemic of sorts is taking place. According to FUSION writer, David Matthews, suicide is the leading cause of death for Japanese men between the ages of 20 to 44. Even more so problematic is that teen suicides are on the rise. In 2003 alone, 105 bodies were recovered (Source: Wikipedia) breaking the record of 78 in 2002. In 2010, 200 or so people attempted suicide there, with at least 54 succeeding, with hanging or drug overdose being the common method of self-disposal.
Jason Zada’s supernatural thriller “The Forest,” is not the first film to have the Aokigahara Forest as a location, to have a movie take place in. There has been Gus van Sant’s “Sea of Trees” (with Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe ), “Grave Halloween,” from 2013 and “Forest of the Living Dead,” from 2010. Zada’s film stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) as Sara, a young woman who travels to Japan to seek her missing school-teacher twin sister, who was reported to have been last seen entering the aforementioned “suicide forest.”
Sara, once in Japan, visits her sister’s school, and speaks to the dean of the establishment as well as a student who freaks out thinking that Sara is actually Jess, her instructor. When numerous questions, inquiries and going through her sister’s apartment (where she finds a picture of them as young girls) bear no fruit, Sara decides to try Aokigahara forest next, where she checks into a small, quaint yet creepy hotel, in order to try and look for Jess on her own. She comes across and meets an online journalist, at a nearby bar, named Aiden, played by Taylor Kinney (Chicago Fire, Vampire Diaries), Aiden, interested and captivated by Sara’s search for her sister, asks if he could chronicle her search and do a story about her, Jess and the suicide forest.
Sara agrees and as a backstory to her relationship with Jess, she tells Aiden about a horrible night in the past where her and Jess suffered the loss of their parents to a terrible car accident right in front of their home (although, that is not what we see on screen, so Sara lies to Aiden about the calamity. Or is that what we are lead to believe?). The Forest does really well with the Sara / Jess dynamic and it is a strong core that lifts the film above it’s eventual and oft banal conventions, despite having such natural beauty surrounding a ghostly and psychological central character arc.
Apparently, Sara does not see first hand what Jess saw and Jess has had to bear the burden of seeing what really happened to their mom and dad, making Jess the more stronger and darker twin. With this material Dormer manages to rise above and make a compelling case to keep watching the events unfold.
Things move forward with a good set up, decent premise, and some moody atmosphere accentuated by wonderful photography and composition from everything to Tokyo’s bright cityscapes to the lush and scenic mountain forest at Aokigahara. Zada, with dialog and exposure, keen-fully delves in cultural territory peering into differences and disparities with a quick and serious tone. But, it is all fleeting and somewhat moot once the movie changes focus to the forest. When Aiden and Sara recruit a hesitant guide to take them into the forest, the movie clearly seems to try too hard to maintain that momentum, previously set up in the first 40 minutes.
Whatever mood and elegant insight (both with characterization and visually) the film had, is lost once Zada takes his material, written by no less than 3 people, into the forest itself. Dormer, alongside Kinney, does get a chance to emote beneficially but when J-horror tropes start to rear it’s ugly head, the plot becomes pretty rote and near damn confusing and un-intelligible. Zada and the writers open some interesting doors as the Forest becomes it’s own entity in the last act, but just about at every turn, the film is sabotaged by the pseudo-psychological, by the numbers play by play. Loud jumps scares, shrieking demon-like phantasms, fake outs, weird forest noises and “Blair Witch” like machinations abound and Dormer’s pretty solid performance turns into a sleepwalking bag of empty tricks.
I’m still not sure what Zada and crew were going for in the last act and the so called “twist” is rather anemic, forcing the viewer to actually ponder, with no resolution in sight, the various outcomes that are supposedly open to “interpretation.” Whether Sara and Jess are actually 2 separate people or if (and this is stretch since there is very little to really solidify it) Jess is a splinter of Sara, and they are indeed just one person. And when Jess is released from The Forest (and we get NO explanation as to the rhyme or reason to her actions other than she may be suicidal, but still manages to be alive and well by the finale) and Sara becomes a ghost forest- demon or whatever, we are just too damn uninterested by everything at that point and we feel duped. But thankfully, as poorly executed and full of insinuations as it is, the running time is quite brief. Perhaps that being the problem as well. It’s as if they had half a story and it was only good enough for about an hour of our time.
“The Forest” starts off solid enough, with a good performance from Dormer, some mood and atmosphere, within not only the Forest, but with the beautifully captured Tokyo and surrounding landscape. Eventually, the ball is dropped by that last act and The Forest morphs into an un-scary and un-shocking J Horror wannabe. With no bite or substance, other than Dormer and the interesting springboard of a backstory, Zada’s film unfortunately becomes a short, muddled and mediocre affair, that I really wanted to like much more.
With the forest and psychological metaphors showing so overtly on it’s sleeve, the movie just doesn’t immerse us enough into that other-worldly realm with enough gusto. There are cool ideas here, but it’s a better movie to just look at than experience. Consider only as a rental for a one and done. The only real strength is the casting of Dormer, but even she collapses from too many cliches overtaking the story and her focus. Another lesser strength, is the engaging cinematography that captures, with alarming mood and definity, the actual forest. But it is definitely a missed opportunity, in my humble opinion.
“Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Think about them and the rest of your family. You don’t have to suffer alone.”
Good old Roger Corman. You could always count on him, on occasion, to cash in on a cinematic trend here, and there. Hell, he has made almost a life long career of it. When “Piranha,” an obvious and pretty blatant spoof of Jaws, (along with other notables: Orca and Grizzly) was released in 1978, the B grade campiness of this “man vs nature” film did not deter it from finding a large (and before hand, dubious) audience. Movie-goers eventually reveled in this cheesy, tongue-in-cheek schlocky fare, creating until this day, a beloved cult film from a notable director of some weighty talent and an impressive filmography.
Suprisingly, this low budget film, directed strongly by Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins and Innerspace), the king of monster movie parodies, and written confidently by auteur scribe John Sayles (Alligator) actually works with that neat drive-in movie, double bill charm. It’s fun, scary and not terribly gore-filled, given the genre and minimal budget trappings. Of course, the film has a very biting satirical spin on the genre that may convert fans, who admire and prefer rip off – b flicks, quickly in this particular manner.
Dante’s film also re-creates some very realistic nastiness despite the home-spun hokum that the script demands. The attacks, especially when children are involved, are quite brutal but resplendent to watch. The gore, while not over the top, provokes dread and repulsion.
The somewhat stiff but appropriately heroic Bradford Dillman plays Paul, a man of the woods type, who hesitantly pairs up with Maggie, played by Heather Menzies to investigate the disappearance of some unwary hikers at a nearby Government installation. The film, with it’s simple movie of the week plot, unfolds evenly into more of a comedy, at times, than a horror film, as our duo uncover a secret military operation involving mutated killer fish with nasty results. Joe Dante regular, Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Innerspace) stars as a left-behind scientist, who has been the crazed monitor and protector of the deadly piranha. His fevered performance is definitely one of the highlights of Dante’s small film.
Many things work in it’s favor and mostly because of Dante’s straight but incredibly humorous direction and guidance.The movie sports decent photography (the rivers and forests are drably sharp and lit) and the little monster fish look pretty rad, especially when zipping around underwater. Thankfully, the shots do not linger long and the bits and pieces we get do look ok.
The flesh-eating piranha are let loose upon on unsuspecting swimmers with a dire, even more scarier proposition than Spielberg’s great white shark. Mainly because there are MANY of these tiny, swimming killers with uber-razor sharp teeth and damn, they are crazy hungry! Now, I have seen enough National Geographic specials on Amazonian killer fish to know that this is a very un-probable premise, but Joe Dante pulls off the plausibility with such geeky and fun assurance, that one cannot help but really enjoy it all.
The mid section (that raft scene goes on a bit long) does drag a bit, mostly when trying to display exposition, and the film does have a late 70’s dated air about it, but I am definitely recommending it for the parodical sensibilities that Sayles and Dante imbue with humor and horror.
At one point Universal had considered chucking out an injuction to the film for it’s “Jaws” satirization (and close proximity to the release of “Jaws 2”) but they held back when Steven Spielberg (who actually was quoted as saying: “its the best of the “Jaws” rip off’s”) had stepped in and persuaded Universal Pictures from taking further action.
Also, a remake was once considered by Chuck Russell, who had one good remake under his belt in “the Blob.” It did not pan out so Alexandre Aja scooped up the project. As well, and this may come as a surprise to many, “Piranha” was re-made in 1995 and starred William Katt, Alexandra Paul and Mila Kunis (her first debut role). This version was also produced by Mr. Corman, but it remains overlooked and has been little seen, over the years, justifibly so.
In closing, I wished I owned a drive-in theater these days, because I’d definitely include this cult, b movie classic to the schedule! Maybe paired up with other famous parodies by Dante, like The Howling, Gremilns or Innerpsace? Enjoy, gang!
During my many years of watching, and sometimes dissecting horror films, I’ve noticed that it’s pretty easy to say a film is an “Atmospheric Thriller” and quite another for it to really be one. Many deeply rooted horror film fans do, every so often, enjoy a moody and realistic thriller that is convincing, refreshingly honest and which unfolds with surprises, shocks and precision. In Hollywood, it is very hard to find a film with those qualities much less those aspirations. So, occasionally, fans need to sometimes think (and look beyond borders) outside the box and check out films by Directors from other countries to try and participate in unique and sublime horror fare.
In the case of renowned Spanish Horror Filmmaker Jaume Balaguero (Darkness, REC, REC 2, The Nameless), his 2005 psychological thriller,“Fragile,”it is easy to say that it truly and easily has atmosphere, disposition and eagerness, which elevates it above very routine entries in this genre. First and foremost it is an eerie “ghost story” which takes place in the United Kingdom, on the Isle of Wight.
Calista Flockhart (Supergirl, Ally Mcbeal) impeccably and admirably portrays a newly transferred night nurse, that has come to supervise and care for children at a weathered Institution, which is about to close down permanently. Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing, Hound of the Baskervilles) proficiently plays head Doctor Robert Marcus, of the vast and dark facility, who takes her on, not without some reservations and unwelcome aloofness.
Balaguero directed earlier efforts like “Rec 2,” which is considered another genre gem, a film that is fast moving and relentless. Preceding Rec 2, was Rec, which was just as intense. And these two films, if watched back to back, would make you feel as if you have run a 5K marathon. On the other hand, Fragile actually unfolds slowly, and languidly sets up characters in the form of directionless orderlies, nurses and the numerous ill children, with whom we all learn to care for from all of the nurturing interaction of Flockhart’s character, named Amy. One scene in particular, a young girl, staying in the Hospital, named Maggie (Yasmin Murphy), sees and hears an intimidating phantom named “Charlotte” endlessly roaming and haunting the chilling hospital.
Balaguero supplies loud noises, letter blocks moving by themselves, electrical blackouts, failing elevators and we witness just about everyone staying clear of the abandoned second floor. Apparently, It has a terrible history and secret, that only Flockhart can (or is determined to) get to the bottom of. She is resolute to help Maggie and find out who this apparition “Charlotte” really is. Even if it may cost her her job, her sanity and friendship with Roxburgh’s attentive Dr. Marcus.
The films boosts fluid and immersive photography, from Xavi Gimenez (Penny Dreadful, Red Lights) and he incorporates a true and effective amount of moody lighting, which intensifies the danger and inclination of the Hospital. Shadowy hallways abound in succeed in un-nerving the viewer as well as catching them off guard as the cinematography deepens the dread expediency of the film. The music score by Roque Banos (Sexy Beast, The Machinist) comes across strong but uncharacteristically bombastic at times. It is, though, appropriate in setting up Balaguero’s steadyfast and dependable tension.
There are some scares that we do see coming, but it doesn’t take away from the dread and evolvement of the story, co -written by Jordi Galceran (Dictado, The Method). It is quite reminiscent of Peter Medak’s seminal haunted house opus, “The Changeling,” in some ways but with a more wicked and dangerous antagonist. Apparently, the locale and setting being in a hospital instead. To note, Balaguero manages to incite some admiration in the beautiful setting, in the UK, with cloudy and rainy palettes as well as inserting some nice natural landscapes to show some disparities in the theme and story, which is a nice touch.
Another like minded Spanish film “The Orphanage,” from director J.A Bayona (The impossible) also comes to mind, with similar thematic structure and story. The movie, ultimately is in good company here. In closing, “Fragile” is a neat little supernatural flick which has an intriguing twist, has chocks loads of suspense and a commendable lead performance from Calista Flockhart, who in this film, shows some unique and welcome range, depsite the genre she picked to star in this go round. Check it out, gang. Recommended!
At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those trouble-makers have other plans for him.
Directed By John Landis
“I’m a Zit! Get it?”
I still believe to this day, that I was taken way too young to see Animal House. But I actually didn’t mind. My mind wasn’t that fragile (but my eyes were wide open). I found it strangely refreshing, vulgar, and gross. Plus, it had SNL alum John Belushi, soul singer Sam Cooke and copeous nudity. National Lampoon’s crude and wild Animal House was so completely original at the time and on so many levels that it has endured as one of the best comedies about University misfits usurping the uptight academic establishment ever filmed. If there was ever a frat house with the most disreputable band of lazy, brutish hooligans it’s Delta house. A motley crew of losers with a heart of gold, just trying to fit in at Faber College, in 1962 in this John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) helmed comedy brainchild. I would even go as far as to say that Animal House may be the funniest (if a bit dated, occasionally) film about horny college life ever made.
The brilliant and late John Belushi acts in his first starring role as the perpetually slovenly “Bluto” Blutarsky, the always drunken but affable ( dare I say love-able) un-official leader of the Delta House group at Faber College, who have been in college for about seven years, and should probably all be Doctors by now. He delightfully steals every scene he is in and when he isn’t even reciting any lines, he makes you crack up with just his buffonish facial expressions. The cafeteria, toga and guitar smashing scenes are utterly uproarious and pure Belushi at his comedic best. Director John Landis working off a great, natural script from Doug Kenny, Chris Millier and Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Analyze This, Ghostbusters) shows us another side to these misfits that most audiences never knew or remotely cared about. It’s the admiration we and sympathy to these underdogs in academia that makes their exploits (from peeking on undressing females to stuffing a pound of Jello into one’s mouth) memorable and retains that jocular charm until this day.
We get to care about them and learn what it is they really want from everyone else at Faber, and that is respect, acknowledgement and fun, and they will do anything to get. Even if it means buying 10,000 marbles or even if it means crashing the Annual Homecoming Day Parade. Miller’s script is partly based on actual stories that were eventually published in National Lampoon and they were in part completely auto-biographical. He was even called “Pinto” like one of the Delta house frat brothers. To note, every character from Pinto, D-Day and even Bluto get their on screen moment to shine and take participation in the troubles they all get into. The cast which not only sports Belushi, consists of Thomas Hulce, Stephen Furst, Karen Allen, Donald Sutherland and Tim Matheson. They are all respectively shine here, in early roles and it’s refreshing to see them cutting their collective comedic teeth in this farcical comedy.
They all play effectively well to the material and most importantly, do create humor in the situations naturally and never come across forced. One standout being Donald Sutherland’s little pot party discussing heady themes while partaking with his very students. The looseness, hippiness and flower power mentally is ripe through-out the film resulting in not only raised eyebrows but belly laughs.
Lets’ not forget Otis Day and the Knights performing “Shout” at the now infamous toga party, which is a gut busting and rollicking highlight, and of course the side splitting food fight in the Faber cafeteria is not to be missed. Animal House is indeed one timeless comedy classic. Even if your exposure has been only on cable TV, you owe yourself a favor to catch it unrated and uncut on dvd or blu ray. It may seem a bit dated today in some areas but it’s a micro-cosm of the freeness that National Lampoon, Landis, Ramis and Hollywood had back then. A college comedy that embraces the crassness with coarse and rudimentary slices of academic life and those disparities, shown under a microscope by John Landis, are what really works about Animal House.
The film is a enduring gut blaster film with a laugh in just about every scene and frame. The antics of Delta House will forever be etched in your psyche (sneaking into a Dean’s office will never be as funny, especially with a horse) and you will end up asking why your college days weren’t so insane, obscene, sketchy, loud mouthed and clumsy. Or was it?
High school teacher Jake Epping travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy – but his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love, and the past itself, which doesn’t want to be changed and shouldn’t be changed.
Directed by Kevin MacDonald
Based on the Novel by Stephen King
“11.22.63” is a new original series available on the immensely popular streaming platform HULU Plus. This 8 episode limited series is executive produced by J.J. Abrams (LOST, Alias, Person of Interest) and bestselling horror and mystery author Stephen King (IT, Under the Dome, Christine, Doctor Sleep). With one new episode airing on HULU every Monday, the Pilot, “The Rabbit Hole” is now up for viewing.
King’s adapted tome was a while in the making and HULU has hit a gold mine with the highly anticipated “11.22.63.” The series in indeed on the verge of making a lasting impression much like “House of Cards” did with Netflix and “Transparent” for Amazon, even though for a limited time. Some HULU shows have trickled through-out but many feel that the slightest offerings may lead to something much more on the horizon. “11.22.63” just may be that show.
High School and Adult Education teacher, Jake Epping, Played by James Franco (Spider-man 2, OZ) is in the final stages of a divorce with his wife, and also encouraging an older and impending writer / graduate to pursue his dreams of success. Epping is a down to earth guy. Passionate but logical. Restrained, yet curious. He frequents a Diner in his hometown in Maine (duh, it’s a King story, remember?), owned by his crusty and amiable friend, named Al, played by the ever cool Chris Cooper. Al, it appears, has a secret passage in a closet in the back of the Diner that leads, well…elsewhere. After noticing that Al returns from the back of the Diner looking completely ill, unshaven and pale, Jake attempts to find out how, in just a couple of minutes, Al manages to wind up with a bad cough, claiming he has cancer, and looking like shit.
Al sees an opportunity in all of this and shows Jake his “portal” into what is the past. As one goes through, the traveller ends up appearing at the same time and same day in 1960. Yep, 1960. Jake, at first, reluctantly steps through and after he takes in a normal 1960 street scene, returns pretty freaked out. Al convinces Jake to return to his house in order to tell him everything he knows about the portal and everything he has done in the past to avoid the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And also, to pass on his many papers, photographs and documents that he has been acquiring over time during his investigation into Lee Harvey Oswald. Al tells him he can no longer continue because he became ill while in the past. Apparently, no matter how long one stays, and Al stayed 3 years the last time, only 2 minutes pass in the Diner, in the present.
Bridget Carpenter’s understated and dynamic story places Jake in the position of a time travelling everyman in a fish out of water narrative as he decides to fullfill Al’s last dying wish. Once jake goes back through to 1960, we experience everything first hand as Jake does and much of Al’s warnings, leads, advice and omens of danger come dangerously close to fruition. Director Kevin MacDonald flashes back to Cooper on several occassions whenever we find Jake experiencing what Al called, “the past pushing back.” Carpenter’s take finds Jake as a willing participant in the past despite Al’s warning. He loves the era, (grinning at a campaign sign that states “they can’t lick our dick,” is particularly funny to him) even though he has to be quite careful of any verbal and social slip ups (his ability to win bets on the horses , say, and mentioning books and films that hadn’t been created yet in 1960), He tries valiantly to look inconspicuous in the past and finds room and board and begins his journey to use Al’s numerous techniques and information to track down shadowy figures attached, or going to be attached, to Oswald and Kennedy.
Franco is a blast to watch, no doubt having fun and projecting wonder, excitement along with doubt, hesitation and fear as he tries to make his way around this maze of parallels and conundrums. The El Conejo sequence is a very cool example of Jake stepping around the past pushing back and Jake’s foray into the Dallas Democratic Convention is another highlight. MacDonald keeps the first entry brisk and tight and leaves no stone unturned for Jake while deftly adding layer upon layer of intrigue, collusion and maipulation. Carpenter also leaves us wanting more as Jake heads further into the rabbit hole as he desperately manages despair and seeks out someone from the future, in the past. Of note, also, is King’s little peeks into some total creepiness. There is the always present figure of The Yellow Card Man, played by Kevin J. O’Conner (The Mummy, Van Helsing) who, along with some others, are consistently repeating: “You don’t belong here” and then there are roaches, near misses and the occassional weird electrical anomalies whenever Jake is near phone booths and light switches. Hopefully, all to be addressed somewhere down the line.
I really enjoyed “The Rabbit Hole” and will most definitely keep watching on HULU Plus. There is good work here done by all involved. King’s source novel being the first thing to applaud. Franco, Carpenter and director MacDonald excel as the creative forces, that inject the show with plenty of unique twists and turns and it repeatedly keeps the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats without having to resort to tricky sci fi manipulations that can lose the viewer or increase the doubt that something this important to King fans can actually work. I think it can and with the show’s Rod Serling and Richard Matheson vibe (along with the showy, confusing and heady themes that time travelling can whip up) it kicks up the tension and nostaligia practically through the roof.
Plus, I have to get the bad taste of the last season of “Under the Dome” out of my mouth and I can do it with “11.22.63” – Recommended!
THE FOLLOWING REVISED AND UPDATED REVIEW OF “LIFEBOAT” WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK BLOGATHON FOR ROB OF THE MOVIE PAGE “MOVIEROB.” ONCE AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND MY THANKS TO ROB FOR THE WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE DONE SO.
What’s it About?
Several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men who sunk it.
Iconic Director and Film Maestro, Alfred Hitchcock’s decision to call upon writer John Steinbeck (Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath), with help from Jo Swerling and Ben Hecht, to pen the script for “Lifeboat” from 1944, paid off, immeasurably. If ever a film in Hitchcock’s oeuvre deserves the singular credit for being bold, inventive and sublimely profound in it’s cinematic efficiency, it’s “Lifeboat.” But unfortunately, another distinction about “Lifeboat” is that many don’t know it very well and don’t even consider itthe definitive Hitchcock film, the honor which was left for later films in his career.
It is one of the few films that Hitchcock directed which utilizes only one locale, or set, for most of the film’s duration. Much like “Rope,” (which many think is a real-time film with no cuts, but is actually deceptively edited by using the back of actors covering the frame, because film cartridges only lasted about 20 minutes back then) and even “Psycho,” to an extent, Hitchcock builds suspense using a singular setting and focusing on a small band of dynamic characters, all readily used and ripe for his manipulations.
So, obviously, all of the fantastic elements that Director Alfred Hitchcock used and honed so well during his reign in films are on full display here in this overlooked and oft-underappreciated 1944 war drama. “Lifeboat,” written by John Steinbeck, who had a somewhat tumultuous dealing with his prior film effort, the doc named “The Forgotten Village” and even Colliers Magazine, the drama tells of a wartime maritime disaster that thrusts a diverse band of strangers together. From a Radio Operator to a U-Boat Captain, among a tapestry of others, all brought in tandem to, of all places …a small, rickety and claustrophobic lifeboat.
“Lifeboat” features a diverse and incredible cast that consists of the prodigious Tallulah Bankhead (Devil and the Deep, A Royal Scandal), Hume Cronyn (Hamlet, Cleopatra, Cocoon), William Bendix (Detective Story, The Deep Six), Mary Anderson and the wonderfully unique Austrian actor Walter Slezak from “Treasure Island” and “Black Beauty” fame. These actors all have an amazing plexus on-screen and the impressive cob-web intrigue that happens all between them in incredible and thought provoking.
Within the confines of the Lifeboat, with the difficult framing of all of them (DP Arthur Miller, who shot “The Gunfighter,” in 1951, fell ill and was replaced by Glen MacWilliams) in so many tight spots is where this film really shines. Say what you will about the propaganda, message and tone, the movie excels when Hitchcock and Steinbeck explore the actual living microcosm in the lifeboat that James Cameron also attempted to scrutinize, with debatable success with the bigger budgeted “Titanic” from 1997.
The film takes place on one lonely set (An actual large water tank, set up by the studio). The lifeboat itself. The ocean, a set onto itself, as well, is expansive and extremely menacing. It is shown using some really well done rear projection. The characters while enduring the harshness of the open ocean in their limited setting, distrust the U-Boat Captain who does not seem to understand or comprehend them, but has a keen way with navigating the lifeboat on the treacherous open sea. As they get hungry, thirsty and desperate the paranoia and conflicts surely increase.
Here, Hitchcock really flexes those filmic muscles and ratches up the suspense as we get to know each of the character’s flaws, motivations and fears. One survivor even claims to be holding a small bundle which she thinks is her dead baby in a very morbid but real approach to the theme and horror of maritime death which was bold for 1944.
In a very telling and awe-inducing moment, when the tricky Walter Slezak eventually reveals that he is indeed a Nazi is when things really go sour. It is a very manipulative machination that Hitchcock always takes advantage of in many of his films: The reveal of a dark secret. It is a thematic play that he can only do in that accurate and profound fashion. The film then becomes, shocking, thrilling and even thoroughly cerebral as it teaches and explores astute lessons about fear, paranoia and survival. What is also very important, here, is the tangible but delicate trust that is also formed by these survivors in this harsh environment.
Despite it’s being overlooked by faster and more pumped up films like “North by Northwest” and “Vertigo,” it is “Lifeboat” that provides the high drama (dare I say melodrama in some places?) and heart felt emotion that films about maritime disasters evoke. The Mother asking for the whereabouts of her son is a stunning piece of histrionic art that still resonates on a hermetic and erudite level.
Hitchcock wonderfully controls the environment with wonderful medium close ups and perfect composition. The film was to be shot in color (Technicolor), of course, but then Hitchcock was urged to save some money and cut some corners to accommodate the salaries of the actors. It works in it’s favor, because the movie, with it’s atmospheric photography, garners a favorable palette with it’s solitary and exclusive lack of color, giving it an oceanic type of dullness and morositivity. What brings it all to life is the performances, especially Bankhead, who carries the film with a surprising amount of restraint and precision that most actresses have shied away from since Hollywood’s golden era. I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall during rehearsals.
You may have noticed that I have intentionally left out details and spoilers, obviously, but I want to completely recommend the film on the very reputation of Alfred Hitchcock and hi astute cinematic charisma. Especially to those who have not seen the film. It will be a revelatory experience for you all who have yet to reach out and watch this movie. “Lifeboat” is under-rated in many circles but ironically, it is also a very highly regarded “lost gem” in Hitch’s filmography. The film is full of natural and believable performances that outshine many even by today’s ultra-realistic standards. It’s a film of a very different and controversial era, not only in world and social history, but in old school cinema and it’s timeless and charming conventions.
Alfred Hitchcock and John Steinbeck both were nominated for the coveted Academy Award. Hitchcock his second for directing and Steinbeck his first. This is an important and classic film that cannot come more highly recommended!
