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  • 06 Feb

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    My Love for Film in a Snapshot #11

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    I could have selected one of hundreds of different frames from hundreds of different sci-fi and horror films of the last hundred years, but it was during a recent viewing of the original The Fly (from 1958) that this particular bright neon image reminded me of how much I love a great movie laboratory. From Dr. Caligari to Dr. Frankenstein (isn’t that rig that lifts the monster up during the storm the greatest movie prop ever?) to Dr. Jekyll to Doc Brown and onwards, there’s an abundance of incredible machines, gizmos and flashing doohickies in the labs of mad scientists. I particularly like the bright green and blue blinking tubes in The Fly that have no obvious use and look like someone re-purposed the gleaming beer signs from your local pub. I can only imagine the fun that set designers for those old Universal horror films or any of the Hammer horrors must have had in creating the many different labs – a bubbling liquid here, an electrical arc there and tubes everywhere. Another favourite is the duplicating machine in Terence Fisher’s The Four-Sided Triangle (1953) which is not overly removed from The Fly‘s contraption, but this time with its dual chambers lying flat like beds with semi-cylinders encasing the objects undergoing the experimentation and enough switches and knobs to put any room-sized 1950s computer to shame.

    That kind of stuff puts a smile on my face every time.

  • 02 Feb

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    Finite Focus: Blowing Up The Photographs (Blow-Up)

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    The first time I saw Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blow-Up, I made the mistake of watching it as a simple narrative story and so by the end of it I was not only slightly confused but also a bit frustrated. It had a sudden, abrupt ending and some very odd scenes of shifting perspectives. For example:

    1) Photographer Thomas (played by David Hemmings) is rolling around the floor with two young nubile models. As the expressions on the faces of the young women seem to alternate between happy and frightened, you become unsure whether they are participating in this willingly.

    2) While at a club, Thomas witnesses the crowd fighting for the broken neck of a guitar which was thrown into the crowd by an angry Jeff Beck (while the rest of The Yardbirds – including Jimmy Page – keep playing). Thomas jumps into the fray, desperately grabs the guitar neck and dashes toward the door. The crowd follows him as if getting that broken piece of wood was the most important thing they’ve ever had to do. Thomas escapes to the street, looks over his prize, then tosses it to the ground and walks away.

    I left the film with a frown on my face. But it stayed with me and it kept rolling around in my mind. What I came to realize was that those scenes only make sense if you look at them (and the entire movie) as showing different perceptions of reality depending on given contexts and points of view. So within that concert hall, the guitar neck is important – outside, not so much. Thomas thinks the young women are having a great time rolling around on the floor with him – the women, not so much.

    This changing of one’s perception also goes for one of the best sections of the film. Thomas re-examines some photos he took in the park as he suspects they might help him unravel a mystery. He blows up a number of the pictures and scatters them on the wall. He looks from one to another, blows up some further portions and then, as he thinks he has put it together, we see a set of images from his photos in order:

     

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  • 16 Jan

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    Finite Focus: Dealing With The Break-Up (Tuesday, After Christmas)

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    Radu Muntean’s 2011 film Tuesday, After Christmas shares many similar stylistic attributes with its recent Romanian brethren – it proceeds at a leisurely pace (depending on your point of view, this could be termed “unhurried” or “glacial” – I prefer the former), contains very naturalistic performances, uses very little extraneous music and incorporates very long takes. Other then the tension-filled dinner scene in 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, rarely have I seen all these qualities used as exquisitely as in this film’s central scene: the 12-minute long sequence of a wife gaining her strength and resolve to assert control over her husband – after having just learned from him of his infidelity and his love for a younger woman – and to decide how things will be from now on.

    The film’s plot is razor thin: Cristi’s wife Adriana accidentally meets his mistress Raluca (but doesn’t learn about the affair) and it makes him realize that he needs to come clean and make his choice. He still loves his wife, but for him it’s a familiar, comfortable relationship and not quite the passionate affair he’s having with Raluca. We get an intimate glimpse in the film’s long opening scene (single shot of course) of them lounging in a naked, post-coital bliss as she playfully nips at his chin and they engage in the chit-chat of lovers. Later, as contrast, we see Adriana shaving Cristi’s sideburns while he stands naked at the bathroom mirror. It’s not that he doesn’t love his wife – there’s a tenderness with which he rubs her feet on the couch while they have a routine conversation – but he feels the pull towards his younger, less self-sufficient and more vulnerable mistress. So when Adriana decides to meet Cristi at the dentist, she also meets Raluca who is the hygienist that has been working on her daughter’s teeth for the last few visits. After the extremely tense meeting (for two of them at least – Adriana is unaware of anything), Cristi realizes what he has to do.

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  • 18 Nov

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    Review: Cafe De Flore

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    With Jean-Marc Vallee’s latest film Cafe De Flore starting a wider release today (in Toronto followed by Ottawa and Vancouver in the coming weeks), we’re re-publishing our review from this year’s TIFF.

     

    I was somewhat shaken walking out of Jean-Marc Vallee’s latest film and needed to actually catch my breath off to the side of the cell-phone checking hordes. It was partially due to several very personal reactions to a few moments and characters, but mostly because the film was absolutely magnificent in just about every respect. I’ve found my “I can’t imagine seeing a better film this year” film.

    Vallee’s Young Victoria didn’t exactly win any converts in major production house circles, but anyone who saw C.R.A.Z.Y. has probably already given him a lifetime pass. As great as that film was (and if you haven’t seen it, please track it down via any legal means possible and also give a listen to the Movie Club Podcast episode specifically on that film), Cafe de Flore has just surpassed any reasonable expectation of what this filmmaker could do. Possibly even all the unreasonable expectations too. It shows a command of thematic content across multiple stories, an inate feeling of putting music to images and an almost perfect sense of flow. He knows when to ask his actors to be subtle, to bring forward some emotion and when to go BIG. He knows when to keep a scene going, when to stay with a take and when to cut across stories and time periods. That’s what I’m left with as I consider my reaction to the film – everything seemed dead on perfect.

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  • 15 Nov

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    The Title Design of Saul Bass

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    We’re all big fans of Art Of The Title round these here parts and to celebrate the release of the book “Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design” (by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham) they recently put together this “brief visual history” showcasing some of his wonderful movie title designs…

     


    The Title Design of Saul Bass from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.

     

    This ties in nicely with the recent announcement that Otto Preminger’s Anatomy Of A Murder will be released by Criterion in February. The disc even includes a feature with one of the author’s of the above book (Kirkham) on Bass’ relationship with Preminger.

  • 15 Nov

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    TIFF & AFI Fest 2011 Review: Oslo, August 31st

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    Though I don’t completely subscribe to the “Auteur” theory in all its finer points, I do tend to look at films as having directorial stamps on them – not just from common stylistic points of view or as vehicles that cover similar themes, but as works that have a certain quality about them. For example, when I see a movie like Joachim Trier’s debut film Reprise, I take note of the name of the helmer because there’s a certain something about the film that appeals to me and an attention to detail that shows the person “in charge” cares about the entirety of the work. So when I noticed that Trier’s second film Oslo, August 31st was to screen at this year’s TIFF, it immediately made my short list. It’s a very different film than its predecessor as it was shot quickly, for little money and eschews the many flourishes and stylistic touches of his first film. However, it still fits nicely next to Reprise because there is not only a deft touch with its characters and a strong sense of place, but also an overall confidence about its story.

    Based loosely on the French novel “Le Feu Follet” (which Louis Malle turned into the 1963 film of the same name – better known to English speakers as The Fire Within), the film shows a day in the life of one particular troubled person, but it also illuminates an entire city at the same time. The very beginning of the film shows home movies of a still smallish Oslo, but in the present day the city seems to be growing quite nicely as many cranes litter the streets signifying new construction. As Anders wanders from friend to job interview to his family’s old house, we get to see a large chunk of a lovely, restful city – a stark contrast to Anders himself. You know that friend you have that just can’t seem to get it together? While everyone has their ups and downs, this one particular person always seems to be in the worst shape (or at least that’s what they tell you)? That’s Anders. He can’t pull himself together and has already tried to kill himself once while in rehab. “I’ve always thought happy people must be morons” is one of Anders philosophies and gives a good indication where most conversations with him will likely lead.

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  • 05 Nov

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    A Short Video Summation of an October of Horror

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    As a final wrap-up of my October horror viewing spree, here’s a short compilation of scenes from each movie I watched (2 clips from each film not including the bonus snippets at the end):

     

  • 02 Nov

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    A Month Of Horror – Chapter 8

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    Yeah, I’m surprised October’s over too…32 horror films in the month is my final count – a 33% drop from last year’s total. I blame Toronto After Dark for keeping me busy…

    The last four for the month:

     

    The Shiver Of The Vampires (1971 – Jean Rollin)
    It’s quite surprising that it’s taken me so long to get around to seeing one of Jean Rollin’s art-horror films – you’d think this stuff would’ve been right up my alley. And indeed, it most certainly is. For whatever reason, I just never thought to dive into his output until one of his titles pretty much randomly came up in my lengthy list of items to investigate. In this case, the horror derives almost strictly from images – not sound, not story, not character and not slow builds of tension. It’s all about the visuals. The bright colours mixed with neutral tones, the bits of bright blood red dotting the frame, the creepy statues and artifacts littering the castle, the faces of the undead vampires and the surprising places they can be found. The camera plays its own part occasionally as when it spins around inside a circle of all the characters or becomes the POV of the doomed central character. The nominal story has a newlywed couple visiting the bride’s favorite cousins in their castle. Unbeknownst to her, these vampire hunters became the hunted and now must put up with eternity. The main female vampire (who converted the cousins) slowly pulls the bride over to “her side” as the hapless husband can do nothing. Throw in a large portion of nudity, gothic outfits and a psychy soundtrack (a slightly twangy low rent version of Goblin – the great band who did the soundtrack to “Suspiria”, “Deep Red” and other Argento films) and you’ve got yourself a memorable picture.

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    Two Thousand Maniacs (1964 – Herchell Gordon Lewis)
    As a director, Lewis wasn’t exactly known for his specific style, storytelling ability or his way with actors. I think even he would say that he wasn’t so much a filmmaker as he was a businessman. By pretty much any account, “Two Thousand Maniacs” is a terrible, terrible movie – the acting is atrocious, useless dialogue scenes go on and on and the whole thing looks completely drab. Except for the blood (primarily what Lewis is known for via both this film and “Blood Feast”) which was bright and vivid. The idea was to shock with scenes of dismemberments and other such gore-filled activities and in this movie’s case, they certainly had a structure that leant itself to such requirements. One hundred years after an entire Southern town has been wiped out by the North during the Civil War, it suddenly reappears and their “centennial” celebration is focused on finding some sacrificial Northerners to kill at their festival. It’s a different spin on Brigadoon and as an idea certainly isn’t the worst one for a gorefest. The odd thing is that it isn’t filled with as much chopped up flesh as you would expect (of course, in 1964 it was rather infamous for a few scenes of severed limbs). It’s not that I necessarily wanted or needed to see more gushing blood, but when that’s all your movie has going for it, that’s all you can hope for.

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  • 31 Oct

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    Toronto After Dark 2011: Father’s Day Review

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    Father’s Day is pretty much the perfect exploitation film. It will offend many with its graphic images and content (both bloody and sexual) while it embraces the anything-goes aesthetics of many of the films from the 1970s that range from impressively realistic gore to ridiculous use of stock footage. Its plot begins with a search for a serial killer and from there mutates with a speed and force rarely seen outside the viruses found in bad sci-fi movies. Strippers, priests, male prostitutes, bears, chainsaws, hallucinogens, demons, a visit to Hell and probably even a kitchen sink or two are smashed together, blended until each has been reduced to gooey chunks and then splattered back up on screen with a joyful exuberance. It’s sick, gory, disgustingly gross and very, very funny.

    However, let me be very clear up front: The opening 10 minutes of the film is extremely nasty stuff and enough to thoroughly repulse just about anyone but the purest of gorehounds. A rapist of fathers (it’s explained that he doesn’t like woman, but never stated why he only goes after the Dads) is on the loose and we join him in the middle of a particularly, um, gruesome violation of another human. Having seen the faux-trailer for the film last year (which led the Canadian filmmaking team Astron-6 to make a full version of the film for the folks at Troma), it wasn’t really a surprise – that trailer is full-on Grindhouse at its ickiest – but that first section began to validate my fears that the movie was going to be completely in that same vein. A strange thing happens after a few minutes of this type of gore though – it’s pitched so way over the top that you can’t actually take any of it seriously and it becomes more of a parody than anything else (though a disgustingly Lurid one).

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  • 30 Oct

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    A Month Of Horror – Chapter 7

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    Here’s a sneak peek at the most recent batch of horror films from my month long bender (which will fall far short of last year’s number due to Toronto After Dark switching back to October):

     

    The Deaths Of Ian Stone (2007 – Dario Piana)
    Though I haven’t seen many of the “8 Films To Die For” series (otherwise known as the “After Dark Horrorfest” which shows its independent films over an eight day span in nationwide theatres), I haven’t heard a whole lot of positive response to any of the films even though last year’s fest was the fifth one. However, the concept for The Deaths Of Ian Stone sounded too good to pass up: the titular character dies every night only to wake up in a completely different life. Promising stuff that could go one of any number of directions. Unfortunately it chose one that abandons its premise early on for life sucking ghostly monsters that can take human form. Worse than that though, its main character is just simply unlikeable. Even worse, he’s just boring. As is the set of CGI-heavy effects of people turning into these black death spirit thingies. When he suddenly wakes up in a new life, Ian Stone has no recollection of his previous one so it just changes the situations within which this bland unsympathetic character exists. How exciting is that? Whatever rules the story had are shuffled to the side and it becomes generic in its rush to redeem Stone. If this is representative of the “8 Films to Die For” series, I can see why I haven’t seen overwhelming response to it (though you’ll see shortly, it isn’t completely representative).

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    The Mask Of Fu Manchu (1932 – Charles Brabin)
    Now here’s an interesting artifact of the early 30s…Filled with great set design, interesting shot selections and a whole lot more torture than you might expect, the film also engages in some of the worst casual racism that side of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. It’s not just the indiscriminate references to “the yellow man” (after all, Fu Manchu throws it right back at them with his hopes to eradicate “the white man”), but the thought that Asians think of nothing else but to rule the world. While the British wish only to find Genghis Khan’s old artifacts to preserve them in a museum (even though they break into his old chambers with nary a thought to its preservation), Fu Manchu and his “hordes” want them so that they can convince the rest of Asia to follow them into world domination. When the Brits discover that this is the plan, they double their efforts to get there first. They do, but Fu Manchu has several devious plans up his sleeve to get them back. Possibly the worst moment of all was the patronizing comment from the wealthy English archaeologist to a Chinese waiter congratulating him for not aspiring to anything more than what he was and avoiding the fields of medicine, science and exploration. Perhaps I was reading the film wrong, but aside from some of the great visuals the story didn’t have much else to hold it together, so I had to focus on something…

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  • 26 Oct

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    Toronto After Dark 2011: Absentia Review

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    If there was one piece of hype that was circulating during this year’s Toronto After Dark festival, it was that the relatively low-budget horror film Absentia would shake us all, was easily the scariest thing we would see all week, possibly all year and that we should prepare ourselves…And if there was one thing that the crowd (at least those that I talked to afterwards) mostly agreed on after seeing the film was that the hype had improperly set everyone’s expectations. The film didn’t actually scare the pants off anyone or make them jump out of their seats to the rafters as advertised (except for one early scare that was executed brilliantly and made several people actually cry out). However, it did end up being the kind of real horror movie that lets its concepts sit and stew with you and provide fodder for the deep dark corners of your mind to pick up and play with when you aren’t paying attention. This applies not only to the specific horror on screen but to a larger thematic look at the idea of being abandoned. So though there was a great deal of consensus that the film wasn’t as outright scary as expected, there also seemed to be almost as much agreement that it was an excellent dramatic depiction of deeply felt horror.

    The title comes from the decision to call someone dead after they have been “in absentia” for a period of time. Essentially, if after 7 years (in this case) a missing person hasn’t shown up anywhere and it’s just like they dropped off the face of the Earth, then they can be declared legally dead. The film opens as Tricia struggles with just such a decision so she can close the final chapter of her husband’s own disappearance 7 years ago. Her younger sister Callie has come to visit in order to help her with the final “death in absentia” paperwork and some packing before she moves out of the house to start a new life. Considering Tricia is pregnant, she should really be ready to move on, but the final submission of the papers and acceptance of her husband’s death (even if their marriage wasn’t completely successful) is a big step. So big, in fact, that she begins to see a ghostly version of him at almost every turn – his hollowed out eye sockets still fixing on her in an accusatory manner. Are these simple manifestations of her attempts at closure or is his spirit really trying to break through back to her? The answer might lie in a nearby walkway tunnel that seems to be a focal point for several disappearances.

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  • 25 Oct

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    A Month Of Horror – Chapter 6

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    I‘ve had my eye on Toronto After Dark the last few days (and the next few as well), so the output has been a bit slower. Some good solid movies in this batch though…

     

    Pin (1988 – Sandor Stern)
    Pin is not your ordinary doll/horror movie. Partially because “he” is a medical mannequin (used as a teaching device) instead of a child’s toy, but also because the film relies much more heavily on the psychological horror aspects of a young boy’s development into an adult than any Chucky style attack. As young kids, Leon and his little sister Ursula are transfixed by Pin when their father uses it as a ventriloquist’s dummy and teaches them certain lessons. Ursula realizes Pin is only a dummy at a young age, but Leon continues to think that Pin is an actual living being and part of their family. As he matures and can’t count on his parent’s support or help in typical growing up matters, he goes to Pin without his father being present (disobeying a strict order) and communicates with him. His father (another dose of Terry O’Quinn – that’s two for the month!) decides to remove Pin from the house, but after a car accident leaves Leon and Ursula as orphaned teens, Pin becomes more and more of an influence to Leon’s life. It’s not filled with jump scares nor will it make you shiver in your seat, but it’s something that aims at the horror of a broken individual. It’s hampered occasionally by some inadequate acting in several roles (though David Hewlett as the older Leon is quite good), but it worked far better than I expected it would.

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    Amer (2009 – Helene Cattet, Bruno Forzani)
    Gobs of style. Style piled on style over style – with style on the side. Cattet and Forzani’s tribute to the cinematography and atmosphere of Italian giallos mostly dispenses with dialogue and even, to a certain extent story. It’s premise focuses mainly on the sexual awakening of the same woman in three different stages – confusion (child), curiosity (teenager) & desire (adult) – with witches, murder and a variety of other real and surreal occurrences thrown in for good measure. It’s quick cutting, very arty and may drive some people for the Tylenol (or the remote), but I loved it. It creates very specific moods for each of the three stages and though there appears to be very little resolution in what occurs, the trip through it all kept me completely engaged because of the tension of truly not knowing where any of the stories were going and how they would present the next images. The colour (particularly in the opening section) is glorious and pretty much every shot is unconventional. Certainly self-conscious, but still quite the beautiful thing to see – in particular if you like rampant usage of close-ups of people’s eyes. Unnerving at times and a wonderful example of someone who wants to play and experiment in a given style.

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