Movie Review #3

Retreat Review

Martin (Cillian Murphy) and Kate (Thandie Newton) are a couple who in the aftermath of the loss of their unborn child are struggling to deal with the cruel hand that fate has dealt them. At Martin’s insistence they return to Fairweather Cottage, the sole habitation on the remote and unpopulated Blackholme Island off the West Coast of Scotland in a misguided effort to heal the growing divide between them. Into their lives comes Jack (Jamie Bell) an injured soldier who claims to have washed up on the beach after his boat ran aground on some rocks. Further to that Jack claims that a lethal virus that attacks the respiratory system of it’s victims has reached pandemic proportions and soon they find themselves, at his urging, turning the cottage into a makeshift safe zone in an effort to protect themselves from the fatal airborne disease. But there’s something not right about Jack. He has secrets and he’s not the only one.

Jamie Bell is an interesting young actor. After Billy Elliot he could have fallen with ease into the usual traps that await successful child actors. Instead he was soon to be seen turning in a fantastic performance in the under appreciated Dear Wendy by the Danish director of the quite brilliant Festen (The Celebration). Soon after in Scottish auteur David MacKenzie’s fourth feature Hallam Foe he delivered one hundred and ten percent on the promise he displayed in Dear Wendy as the deeply disturbed eponymous “hero” caught in that movie’s dark psycho-sexual whirlpool. Likewise Cillian Murphy is another impressive young actor. I’ve enjoyed him in pretty much everything I've seen him in but he was especially impressive in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later; a movie with which Retreat shares some superficial similarities. Thandie Newton I'm less familiar with but she’s an impressive and, when the stakes get high, feisty presence in Retreat.

The performances are of particular importance because a movie like this, essentially a chamber piece that would work just as well on stage, could be fatally mediocre without talented actors to anchor the movie and stop it from drifting off into tedium, or worse, melodrama. Before watching this movie, knowing what the premise was and noting the talent of the actors it employed I was curious as to exactly why it didn’t hit the cinemas in the UK. After watching it I sort of understand.

Which isn’t to suggest that Retreat is a bad movie. It’s actually an above average thriller and I've seen far worse genre offerings get the big screen hard sell. But in it’s lack of scale and the way it focuses on the performances to the exclusion of much in the way of action I can understand why a studio would be reluctant to invest money on something that would likely fail to find a wide audience regardless of the quality of the talent on display.

So what does that leave us with? Why is Retreat worth seeking out on DVD? It’s simple really. It’s a cracking little mystery/thriller that successfully harnesses the mounting paranoia and growing mistrust of the central characters and from those two elements plus a trio of sterling performances forges something that exemplifies a type of movie that I really enjoy . What we have here is a straight to DVD gem that is truly worth discovering. Especially to witness another magnificent, complex performance courtesy of Jamie Bell. He really throws himself into this role. Moreso than the movie, entertaining though it is, deserves. Here he gives a performance that, while being very different in nature, is nonetheless just as startling as the one he gave in Hallam Foe.

The movie starts off as a dysfunctional relationship drama but once Jack appears on the scene with his possibly disingenuous revelations it instantly becomes a more interesting affair. If I'm entirely honest the movie isn’t without it’s longeurs but at just shy of ninety minutes it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome and compared to most straight to DVD thrillers the suspense and tension is well handled by director Carl Tibbetts. This is his debut and although it isn’t a masterpiece there’s enough here that works to suggest he has some real potential.

He skillfully uses the claustrophobic confines of the cottage where the majority of the movie is set to great effect. These people are stuck there with each other in much the same way that the the characters were on a boat in Dead Calm. Like that movie we have a couple who go somewhere remote in an effort to forget about a traumatic event. Throw into the mix a stranger who may or may not be more than a little bit unhinged and we have the perfect ingredients for a tasty little thriller.

And that’s exactly what Retreat is. A tasty little thriller. Not a masterpiece. Not in any way original. Certainly not the equal of it’s influences (Straw Dogs, 28 Days Later, Knife in the Water to name a few). But next time you’re down the local DVD Rental store I would urge you to skip the latest big screen failure and instead check out this little straight to DVD gem. You’ll thank me for it.

7 out of 10

Movie Review #2

Lake Mungo (2008)

Sixteen year old Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker) drowns at a local dam and a week later her body is retrieved and identified by her father, Russell (David Pledger). This tragic event sets in motion a chain reaction of alarming incidents that will have a profound effect on her family as they find themselves embroiled in a series off ghostly disturbances. Harrowing secrets are uncovered along the way as they deal with their bereavement and discover some disturbing truths about their daughter.

Lake Mungo presents the viewer with plenty of supernatural shenanigans and, as a result, rates pretty high on the chill-o-meter. However, it is as much a movie about a family finding their individual ways to deal with grief and learning how to move on. That is what elevates this above what is fast becoming an oversaturated subgenre of horror. Admittedly there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before. But the devil, as they say, is in the detail and the upshot of this is a damn fine addition to this overcrowded sub-genre. As a result this is required viewing for anyone who enjoyed The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity etc. In fact, in a lot of ways this is a superior example of the form.

What we have here is a moderately successful attempt to create a hybrid of the fake documentary genre and the found footage movie. The performances from all involved are believable throughout and if the viewer is willing to give himself over to the possibility of this being an actual documentary, detailing a real ordeal, it wouldn’t take too much effort to do so. There are several disparate elements that are expertly knitted together to make this as convincing as possible. News reports and clippings; talking head interviews; amateur footage taken from a number of different sources. The film makers corral all of these elements and more and the end result is never less than utterly believable. This looks every bit the TV documentary it sets out to convince the viewer it is.

The most important factor in any fake documentary is that the performances during the talking head sequences must be convincing. Without that, and regardless of how effective the rest of the movie might be, the entire project is doomed to failure. More than anything else Lake Mungo gets this element right with a selection of subtle performances that crucially don’t feel like those involved are acting. These people feel real and it is this, not the moments of video footage showing “evidence” of a supernatural presence scattered throughout the runtime, which makes this movie work. Special credit must be given to Rosie Traynor and Martin Sharpe as the mother and son of the family. They both have to do most of the heavy lifting here and both are outstanding throughout.

The movie isn’t perfect. There are quite a few moments that stretch credibility somewhat. Mostly these revolve around things that are discovered in some of the amateur video footage that simply are not clear enough for those viewing the materials to be as certain of what they saw as they actually are. That said, most of the time the video footage is extremely effective and the images of “ghosts” succeeded in sending a chill up my spine. The make-up effects used to depict Alice’s corpse were particularly impressive.

Lake Mungo must have created at least a minor stir and as a result it has somewhat predictably caught the attention of the makers of The Ring remake. I can’t think of much they could do to improve on what already exists but I can, through experience, think of a lot they could do to royally screw it up. It is further evidence of the lack of imagination in Hollywood today. Why come up with ideas yourself when you can buy them and feed them into the remake machine?

Overall I was really impressed by Lake Mungo. It has a subtle way with its chills that hearkens back to the works of literary greats such as M. R. James and Ambrose Bierce. Although I did find things to enjoy in the first two Paranormal Activity movies (the second movie less so than the first) the subtle approach employed here is far more enjoyable and in truth it’s also more difficult to pull off. Lake Mungo could have chosen a more clamorous approach to scare its audience. The film makers should be congratulated for their restraint. It mostly pays off and as a result I highly recommend that fans of a good ghost story check this out.

7 out of 10

Movie Review #1

Star Trek (2009)

I grew up watching the first series of Star Trek on TV. I had Star Trek toys. Star Trek comics. Star Trek books. Then when I was ten I persuaded my parents to take me to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture at the cinema. It killed the magic. In an ill-advised attempt to transform Star Trek into the sort of cerebral sci-fi epic that Stanley Kubrick had produced with 2001 A Space Odyssey it succeeded only in being so turgid and longwinded it sent my ten year old self to sleep. In the years since i've been sporadically impressed by subsequent entries in the series (mainly, it has to be said, the even number episodes) with the high points being Wrath Of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. This new Star Trek trumps both of them on almost every level (admittedly Wrath Of Khan's villain as portrayed by Ricardo Montalban is a far more effective presence than Eric Bana's Nero). In addition to being the best Star Trek movie in the history of the franchise it also stands a fair chance of being the best of the plethora of big fantasy/sci-fi blockbusters heading our way this summer with, in my reckoning, T4 being it's only true adversary.

So why does it work so well? First there's the cast. These characters are iconic so it must have been terribly daunting for the actors who were chosen to fill what are inarguably some pretty big boots. How does one go about reinventing one of the holy trinity of James Tiberius Kirk, Spock and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy? The answer is that there's no single answer. Each actor chooses a different path from Chris Pine choosing (wisely) not to ape William Shatner's arch acting style while Karl Urban takes the very opposite route by doing a dead on impersonation of DeForest Kelley. The stand out though is Zachary Quinto whose resemblence to Spock was uncanny even before he put on the ears and visited the stylist. Most of the rest of the cast have their moments with Simon Pegg's Scotty handicapping himself with a quite awful comedy Scottish accent that he somehow manages to overcome with sheer exuberance. I would have welcomed more screen time being granted to John Cho's Sulu but he does get to take part in one of the movie's standout action sequences when he joins Kirk (and an anonymous red shirt clad victim) to foil Nero's plans to destroy Vulcan. Only Zoe Saldana as Uhura is given little to do but she's an agreeable enough presence nonetheless.

The second reason why the movie works so well is that it's very cleverly plotted and succeeds at being both prequel and sequel to all the movies and series' that have gone before. I'm certain that everyone is aware of Leonard Nimoy's presence in the movie as the older Spock. I wasn't sure going in how he would be integrated into the plot but felt certain that time travel would be involved (the other possibility being that the movie could have had the older Spock relating the story of his early adventures). Nimoy is a stately and endearing presence in the movie and having recently read that Abrams at one point contemplated trying to shoehorn an appearance by William Shatner into the movie's concluding moments I can only say that i'm glad he abandoned the idea as it would have been a little too much icing on an already sweet cake.

Another reason why this stands a good chance of being the best of this year's summer blockbusters is that it finds the perfect balance between drama, comedy and action. There are dramatic moments in this movie that had this movie geek trying desperately to swallow the growing lump in his throat and stop his eyes from getting all leaky. In particular the first fifteen minutes form an emotional rollercoaster that culminates in a moment of self sacrifice that almost made me embarass myself in public by sobbing my thirty-eight year old heart out. My fiance, who accompanied me to the movie, would have slapped me smart. There are also many moments that are laugh out loud funny scattered throughout the movie. From Kirk's swollen hands to Simon Pegg's aforementioned failure to come within a thousand light years of a creditable Scottish accent the movie could not be further removed from the agonisingly po-faced Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Then there are the numerous action set pieces. These are expertly staged, exciting and aren't let down by the sort of dodgy CGI that often blights special effects heavy Summer blockbusters.

So what doesn't work? In truth, very little. I mentioned earlier in the review that Eric Bana's Nero doesn't carry anything like the weight of Ricardo Montalban's Khan. While that's true it's hardly Bana's fault. The script lets him down a little not providing him with enough screen time to allow him to forge a significantly menacing presence. He doesn't, however, embarass himself and is adequate (his spaceship, though, is supremely menacing). That's pretty much the only weakness I can identify. Otherwise it's about as perfectly formed as this sort of thing gets. The only sci-fi flick I can think of in recent years that impressed me this much was Joss Whedon's stunning Serenity. Here's hoping that J. J. Abrams sticks around to helm the inevitable sequel.

9.5 out of 10

Gig Review #1

Friendly Fires @ ABC, Glasgow, 7th May 2009

It's not often a band blows me away live when i've tried and largely failed to be touched by their recorded output. Friendly Fires are such a band. A couple of months back I saw them as part of an NME sponsored tour alongside Florence & The Machine, White Lies and Glasvegas. They surprised me by being the standout of the evening. Finishing with Jump In The Pool, they were joined onstage by a troupe of Brazilian drummers and climaxed with lead singer Ed Macfarlane risking life and limb by climbing a speaker stack and dancing deranged like a man with an elastic waist and a death wish while security tried to talk him down. Suffice to say they left an impression.

Three nights ago at the ABC in Glasgow, they somehow, against the odds, minus Brazilian drummers, succeeded in eclipsing the brilliance of the NME Tour performance. I should mention that i'm generally more keenly predisposed to dark depressing music. Friendly Fires are the antithesis of this. With lead singer Ed Macfarlane doing his rubber man dance and the music doing it's damndest to coerce the audience into doing the same this is the kind of live experience that had me grinning like a loon from start to finish. Highlights of the show were an astounding Jump In The Pool, a hair-raisingly wonderful performance of Paris and show closer Ex-Lover which managed to marry massive dance beats to swathes of feedback as it built towards a frenzied climax. It was this last song that sold me on the band 100%. I guessed that the Brazilian drummers wouldn't be making an appearance and wondered whether they would be sorely missed. They weren't. At all. This is a band who can stand on their own, free of such adornments and pull of a show that I would rank amongst the top three i've seen so far this year (the other two being Tricky and Scottish band Frightened Rabbit). I guess i'm going to have to give Friendly Fires debut album another go. It's only fair

9 out of 10

Morrissey @ Barrowlands, Glasgow, 8th May 2009

It's not often i'm driven to tears (in a good way) by a live performance but tonight, twice, Morrissey succeeded in doing just that. It happened three songs (or four) songs in during How Soon Is Now. As the spiralling vibrato guitars built towards a climax that featured the drummer pounding a giant drum that flashed like an arc-light every time he struck it before bringing the song a close by striking a massive gong at the back centre of the stage...well...I got a bit emotional. It was such a breathtaking high point that Morrissey and his band couldn't hope to match it over the course of the rest of the performance. But they tried.

I never had the good fortune to see The Smiths live. I arrived late to that party only getting into their music a couple of years after their demise. But my fiance saw them around 1986 and accompanied me to the gig the other night. Neither of us had any idea what version of Morrissey we would be greeted by. Would it be the churlish version i'd seen on various chat shows over the years or would it be the angry man who at a recent festival stormed off the stage as the smell of cooking meat wafted stagewards from the snack vans beyond the crowd. It was neither. Instead he was thoroughly charming (and very sweaty it has to be said).

The setlist was predominantly drawn from his solo material with a smattering of Smiths classics. Of course any artist with as extensive a back catalogue as Morrissey has at his disposal couldn't hope to please everyone in the audience. I was disappointed not to hear Still Ill or There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (which would, in my opinion, have made a better set closer than First Of The Gang To Die great as that song is). From his solo years Everyday Is Like Sunday and November Spawned A Monster would have been welcome (not to mention a personal favorite, Speedway from Vauxhall & I). But overall it was a wonderful performance from a master showman who might not again find the lofty heights of sublime brilliance he attained in the eighties but nonetheless remains a true original and one of the most interesting artists working today. If he does, as he as threatened to do, retire a couple more albums down the line, it will be a sad, sad day.

8 out of 10

Comic Book Review #1

Hellblazer #254

Written by Peter Milligan

Art by Goran Sudzuka & Rodney Ramos

I've stuck with Hellblazer from issue #1. Through the highs (which have been many) and the lows (mostly Brian Azzarello's patchy tenure). I love this comic.

When I read that Peter Milligan was taking over from Andy Diggle I was tentatively hopeful having enjoyed much of his past work. This is the first issue of his second storyline and frankly i'm not impressed with where he's going with the title. I prefer Hellblazer when it digs deep into the psyche of John Constantine and puts him through hell (both literally and figuratively) with an epic scope.

In the right hands Constantine is arguably one of the most compelling fictional characters ever to grace the medium. Actually, make that any medium. But everything about this comic screams mediocrity. The artwork is terribly bland and lacking in style. Compared to the superlative work of the last truly talented artist to work on the title, Leonardo Manco, it's just...well...shite. And that's the problem. If you take a blandly scripted comic and dress it up with stunning artwork it still won't work. But sometimes if the writing is engaging enough it can make up for underwhelming artwork. What we have here though is bland writing married to equally bland art and the end result is a comic that, if Milligan doesn't get his shit together, threatens to lose me altogether.

But perhaps this is just me. Perhaps i'm being too hard on Milligan. He is after all only four issues into his run. So i'll hang around for another few months to see if he can reverse his fortunes. But right now...this title is floundering.

3 out of 10

Music Review #1

The Horrors - Primary Colours

A couple of years back The Horrors released an NME championed debut album called Strange House that came on like the bastard offspring of an ungodly union between The Birthday Party and The Cramps. Unfortunately it was also an ungodly mess of an album and after listening to it for around a week I decided that it had little to offer. A few weeks later I saw The Horrors live. By mistake. A friend called me up and said he had a spare ticket for the NME tour. I didn't have anything better to do so I decided to go. There were four bands playing that night but The Horrors made the biggest impact on me. Shambling onto a darkened stage they proceeded to unleash a tinitus inducing squall of feedback drenched noise against a backdrop of four massive arc lights that, had there been any epileptics present in the crowd, would have had them on their backs in ten seconds flat. It was an impressively visceral performance that, although lacking in subtlety, left me more than a little bit stunned. When I got home I stuck on their debut album to see if my initial opinion had been flawed. Unfortunately it was still shit. I shrugged and put it back on the shelf where it continued to gather dust.

Which brings me to Primary Colours and the remarkable transformation of The Horrors from dodgy garage rock atrocity into one of the most interesting bands in the UK at this moment in time. This album might be a contender for best UK rock album of 2009. It's that good. The band have jetisoned the Cramps and The Birthday Party inspirations and replaced them with My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Cure (gloomy version) and Joy Division. The influence of all these bands and more can be heard here. But this isn't a band drowning in debt to their record collection. This is smarter than that. The production job by Geoff Barrow of Portishead is surely one of the reasons why this album works as well as it does. But hats off to the band. They have recorded an album that is more than a lazy regurgitation of the darker side of eighties indie. This is a collection of songs that at it's best can stand proudly alongside it's progenitors and at it's worst is still better and more interesting than most of the shite that passes for music these days.

Opening track Mirror's Image begins the album with a pulsing beat and swathes of ambience before slowly transforming into a slab of Cure-like guitar melancholy. It's with the second track that the My Bloody Valentine influence creeps in. Then with the third track it all crystalises as the band unleash an instant classic. Who Can Say sounds like Joy Division crossed with The Jesus & Mary Chain and it's got pop hooks bleeding out of every pore. The album continues to impress right up to the epic closer Sea Within A Sea, a song that definitely bears the stamp of Geoff Barrow. It's one of those songs that starts off quiet and unassuming and builds to a euphoric end that's both beautifully realised and stirring. This is a truly great album that deserves to find an audience. Ignore any misgiving you might harbour based on their lousy first album. This is a band reborn.

9 out of 10

Introduction

Welcome to Candy Coated Bullets, my all purpose review blog wherein I will dissect movies, comics, books and music. I've been posting on various forums (mainly at the fantastic Joblo's Movie Emporium) under the name Psychocandy for many years and for the last couple of years have been trying (and failing quite spectacularly) to find the time to start a proper blog. Although primarily a review blog i'll also be using this space for various features on the four different areas of entertainment i've decided to concentrate on.

First i'd like to explain the ratings system i've settled on for the site. Everything...movies, comics, books and music...will be rated out of ten. Half marks will be allowed. It's my intention to publish a new review post at least every second night with weekly features appearing every weekend.

I have no idea whether anyone anywhere will ever be so bored that they might think reading this blog is a worthwhile alternative to doing nothing at all. Time will tell.