MERMAID

US, 2000, 94 minutes, Colour.
Ellen Burstyn, Samantha Mathis, Jodell Furland, Peter Flemming, Tom Heaton.
Directed by Peter Masterson.

Mermaid is based on a true story. One of the attractive aspects of the film is that during the final credits, the real-life characters meet the actors on the set of making the film. (They look far less glamorous in real life than the stars who portray them.)

The film focuses on a little girl, aged four, played by Jodell Furland at the same age (who has had a strong subsequent career in film and television). She is quite credible in the role – although she has the rather irritating (or perhaps endearing) habit of referring to herself always in the third person. Samantha Mathis is her mother. Ellen Burstyn is her strong grandmother. In coming to terms with the death of her father and his being in Heaven, mother and grandmother try their hardest to get her used to the idea of her father being away. With the encouragement of a genial and friendly postman, she writes a letter and attaches it to a balloon. It travels four thousand miles from Yuba City in California to the town of Mermaid in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The balloon had a mermaid on the front of it – and it landed at Mermaid Lake. Much is made then of the imagery of the mermaid including a reading from Hans Andersen’s fairy tale.

This is a wholesome film. It is also a film where the audiences will need plenty of handkerchiefs and tissues because of the presentation of the little girl, of death, of family relationships, of the experience of the Prince Edward Island family and their kind response to the letter and the balloon.

Peter Masterson is a producer, actor and writer who directed a number of films including The Trip to Bountiful.

1.The impact of the film? Family audiences? Wholesome? Moving? Issues of death?

2.The setting in Yuba City, California, the ordinary town, homes, shops, the county fair? The comparison with the woods in Prince Edward Island? The musical score?

3.The title, the balloon with the mermaid, Hans Andersen’s story, the mermaid going towards the light? An image of death and going to the light? The balloon, the town of Mermaid, the lake?

4.The introduction to the family: the death of Ken, Rhonda’s grief, Desi missing her father? Rhonda’s way of handling the situation, the explanations, the images of Heaven, taking Desi to the cemetery, her father’s grave and the photo? Attempts to explain Heaven? Her father not coming back? Trish as support, Rhonda feeling the pressure of having to live with her mother? Needing a job? Quaid and his presence in the house? The family settling in? Trish’s kindness and concern for her granddaughter?

5.The situation, Quaid and his work, Steve and the crop-dusting, his friendship, his marital break-up, his two children? His kindness towards Desi, taking her to the fair, Rhonda’s reaction to him? Trish urging things along? His relationship with Rhonda, her hesitation? His being supportive and a potential father for Desi?

6.Desi herself, her age, the performance of Jodell Furland? Her language, referring to herself in the third person? Her grief, talking about her father? Having to go to school? Going to the fair? Her friendship with Steve, saying she didn’t need another father? The balloons, the postman, his kindness? Writing the letter? Visiting the cemetery? Her emotional reactions, locking herself in her room? Her response to the Mc Kinnon family, their letter? The article in the paper, the people writing letters, sending the money for the fare? Rhonda and Desi going to meet the Mc Kinnons? A happy meeting, the father reading the Hans Christian Andersen story?

7.Trish, a strong woman, concerned? Love for her daughter, her own experience of marriage, Quaid?

8.Rhonda, the effect of grief, her love for her husband, Steve finding the letter in the toolbox? Dealing with her daughter, trying to be honest, trying not to hurt her daughter? The experience of the balloon, the McKinnons?, her help for her own grief?

9.The Mc Kinnons, Wade finding the balloon, taking it home, reading the letter, the children’s response, Donna’s response? Thinking it over, the discretion and kindness in her letter? The effect on Desi and the family? Their welcoming Rhonda and Desi to Canada?

10.The background of the town, Rhonda growing up there, the twins and their talk about her husband, the teachers, the school, the postman and his kindness, the fare?

11.The impact of the final credits, the cast and the actual characters?

12.A moving experience? The reaction of death and grief and coping? The goodness of human nature?

STAR TREK

(US, 2009, d.J.J.Abrams)

It should be said that any cinema buff or those interested in the development of the movies, even if they are not Trekkies/Trekkers or have never even seen an episode of the several television series which spun off from the original (1966-1969), should see this film – whether they like it or not! It is, of course, state of the art technical craft and effects. It also brings to new life pop culture characters and space exploration and peacekeeping, especially the image icons, Captain James Kirk of the Enterprise and the Vulcan Spock, as well as the crew of the Enterprise.

In a year of sequels (Transformers 2 -written by the same team who wrote this one, Terminator 4, Harry Potter 6) and prequels (Wolverine), producer director J.J. Abrams, a man with a solid television reputation for Alias, Lost and Fringe, as well as the sequel Mission Impossible 3, has opted for the Star Trek prequel instead of the sequel.

In a spectacular and fast-paced prologue, Star Trek takes us back to Kirk's father, his confrontation with the embittered space villain, Nero, his sacrificing his life for his crew to escape spacecraft destruction ,as well as save his wife who gives birth to James. There follows an incident from a reckless childhood (a stolen car and speeding to the edge of a cliff) and then teenage (a brawling and flirting rebel in need of a cause) and a challenge from Captain Christopher Pike for Kirk to emulate his father. Which, of course, he does.

We are also introduced to the young Spock, a Vulcan who opts for logic and reason instead of feelings which he inherited from his human mother.

By this stage we have a strong cast with Chris Pine persuasive as the young Kirk, Zachary Quinto as the young Spock, Ben Cross and Winona Ryder as his parents, Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike (all of these from the television series) but also a new character, an impressively evil Nero, Eric Bana.

The crew of the Enterprise are also introduced and are cast for their physical resemblance to the original performers or their ability to remind audiences of the originals while making their characters their own. Zoe Saldana is Uhura, John Cho is Sulu, Karl Urban is 'Bones', Anton Yeltchin is Checkov and Simon Pegg is a comic Scotty.

Were synopses writers trying to explain plot developments, they would have considerable difficulties attempting to elaborate on the time shifts (the swift place shifts with 'beaming up' are easier even if the physics is still suspect). Characters come from the future, including Nero. At the end we find the older Spock confronting his younger self. Scotty hasn't found the formula yet for 'Beam me up' which he is credited with inventing but we see him find it from the future!

The film does not lose its pace, with fights on the surface of a space ship, with Kirk stranded on an icy planet pursued by two rapacious monsters, the black hole destruction of the Vulcan's planet, the final battle with Nero.

So, in its own right, Star Trek stands as an intelligent (though difficult to explain logically) space and futuristic entertainment with skill and craft to admire. It also is a helpful tale of the personalities and psychologies of characters who have been and grown in the popular consciousness for over forty years.

While William Shatner, the original Kirk, does not appear, a great bonus for the film is a substantial presence of Leonard Nimoy as the older Spock, contributing well to the plot as well as to the continuity of television and film.

And he has the final word from long ago, the goal of the Enterprise and, probably, the best known split infinitive in the English language, 'to boldly go...'.

CORALINE

US, 2009, 100 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr, Ian Mc Shane.
Directed by Henry Selik.

Audiences may remember an idiosyncratic animated film from the early 1990s, The Nightmare Before Chistmas, which was re-released in 3D in 2006. Henry Selik was the film-maker responsible for this strange mixture of the serious and the comic, the gentle and the frightening. Selik also directed an animated version of Roald Dahl's James and the Gian Peach in 1996.

Selik has spent some years writing, directing and supervising the animation for Coraline. It is an adaptation of a children's book by British Neil Gaiman (the author of the book and director of the film fantasy, Mirrormask).

The animation here resembles that of The Nightmare before Christmas, many stick characters, but also some large and buxom characters, two singers voiced by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

The setting is a remote building in the country side, apartments where Coraline's mother and father have moved. Coraline has not settled and wanders around, befriended by a cat and the grandson of the former owner. When she opens a door, she finds and enters an alternate world with a kindly Other Mother and Father as well as different versions of the neighbours.

Coraline is in the tradition of Alice exploring Wonderland or Dorothy on the road to Oz. She has to find her path, be deceived by the Other Mother, in the vein of Alice's malicious queens or Dorothy's witches. When she finds that the Other Mother and Father want her to stay but she must sew buttons over her eyes, Coraline draws the line and begins a struggle to free herself, rescue her parents who are trapped in this other world. The young boy is her ally and helps. The cat (who is able to talk in the alternate world) helps as well.

The youngest girls in the audience might find it all a bit frightening but older girls should enjoy it (probably not most of the boys). Parents and adults will find much to admire in the skill of the animation as well as the use of 3D.

Dakota Fanning is the voice of Coraline and makes her a rather demanding, strong-minded and strong-willed child (along the lines of the precocious little girls Dakota Fanning used to play some years ago). Desperate housewives Teri Hatcher voices both mothers. An entertaining oddity.

1.The impact of this film? For children, for girls, for adults? The credits and the focus on the doll, its being undone, the buttons?

2.The tradition of Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Coraline and her journey?

3.The quality of the animation, the stop-motion style, the fluid action, characters? The design, the house, the terrain, the dingy atmosphere? The colour of the Other World? The effectiveness of the 3D techniques? What did it add? The musical score, the songs?

4.The voices, the blend of the American and the British?

5.Coraline’s story, her age, a determined young girl, severe in her approach to life yet impulsive, welcoming dangers? The encounter with Wybie? Learning, loving, experiencing tolerance?

6.Coraline’s parents, going to the Palace Apartments, their remoteness, the odd neighbours, the ladies, the Russian? The background of the grandmother and her owning the apartments? Their dinginess? The parents’ preoccupations, work? The cat, Coraline’s fears, wandering? The importance of Wybie?

7.The entry into the Other World, the visits, the attraction, the look, home, the theatre?

8.The Other Mother and Other Father? Nice, welcoming her, changing, urging her to stay, the information about the buttons sewn into the eyes? The Other Mother and her transformations? The mantis? Their taking the actual parents? Wanting to possess Coraline, the pursuit?

9.The Other Wybie, his friendship, saving Coraline, the explanations? The cat, its initial appearance, scary, in the Other World and its being able to talk? Coraline dependent on Wybie and the cat? (Rather than being more independent?)

10.Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, French and Saunders and their voices and characterisations, their appearance, talk, buxom, performance, splitting and their thin inner characters coming out? The contrast with what they were like in the real world?

11.Ian McShane?, Mr Bobinsky, his eccentricities, background, gymnast?

12.The dangers in the Other World, the cat, the key, the amulet, the tunnel and the door, the lock? Coraline’s escape?

13.Coraline’s real parents, lost, her quest to get them out, her strong determination? The issue of the souls of the children, the back-story about them, the grandmother, the eggs, their visual appearance, talking with Coraline at the end? Their liberation?

14.Coraline’s decision, to go to sleep, the eggs under the pillow, the children appearing? Her parents returning – but without memories?

15.The end, a group of happy people?

16.The sinister world, the world of nightmares, imagination? Adults and children? Animals? Safety? And a learning experience?

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

US, 2009, 107 minutes, Colour.
Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Houston, Will i Am, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch, Daniel Henney, Ryan Reynolds, Julia Blake, Max Cullen.
Directed by Gavin Hood.

Whether it was the character of Wolverine or the personality of Hugh Jackman portraying him in the three X Men films, but the Marvel Comics powers-that-be decided that the time was right for another X Men instalment, this time venturing into a prequel: Who is Wolverine? Where did he come from? Whence his powers and his claws?

South African director, Gavin Hood, won an Oscar for the 2005 Best Foreign Language Film for Tsotsi, a dark story of post-apartheid South Africa but a story of redemption. He then directed Rendition. Like many another director from outside the US, he must have dreamed of making a big Hollywood action movie. He has now done it and achieved it successfully.

So, where did Woverine come from? He is Canadian. His name is Jimmy Logan. He was born in the early 19th century. He has a brother named Victor. Both were mutants who could never die. They both felt deep-seated rage but Jimmy turned it to the good and fought in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam. So did Victor but he was vicious.

Naturally enough, this is the kind of person that governments need for special missions. We know that from the other X Men films. However, Jimmy and Victor are recruited by Stryker who uses them for power purposes and is up to no good. When Jimmy rebels and works as a lumberjack in Canada, Stryker is still plotting and wants to turn Jimmy into an unbeatable, immortal agent. It doesn't quite work out that way. Stryker doesn't always count on Victor and underestimates his unpredictability. Ultimately, there is a psychological contest with Stryker and a physical one with Victor and a mutant creation that is supposed to be invincible, formerly one of Stryker's team, Wade.

And there are plenty more complications.

Hugh Jackman exhibits his usual ruggedness and some charm and makes Wolverine (a poetic name given to him by his wife) quite credible (at least while he is there on the screen). And Liev Schreiber is a frighteningly convincing Victor (who has different kinds of claws). Danny Huston is more quietly sinister as Stryker. Ryan Reynolds is Wade. Lynne Collins is Wolverine's wife.

Of course, special effects and stunts are important and always very impressive: fights, chases, mysterious mutant behaviour, helicopters exploding, nuclear power funnels crashing...

And, at the end, who should be there but Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier arrives to welcome the imprisoned child mutants and take them to his school and set the series going (along with an add for a box set of the three movies in High Definition and Blue Ray – for the first time!)?

1.The interest in an X-Men? prequel? The origins of Wolverine? Of the school?

2.The film as spectacle: the Canadian landscapes, the history, Canada in the 1840s, fighting in the civil war, World War One and the trenches, World War Two and the Normandy landing, Vietnam combat? The forests of Canada? The contrast with Nigeria and the action, seeking for the metal? The island, the laboratories, the nuclear station? The special effects, the stunts? Atmospheric score?

3.Mutants and the possibilities, their powers, the families, their effects, immortality?

4.Canada as a frontier, Jimmy and his illness, his father’s concern, neglect of Victor, Victor’s father, the confrontation between the two fathers? Jimmy’s rage, killing Victor’s father, discovering that it was his own father, fleeing the house, Victor pursuing, the mutual protection, their subsequent lives?

5.Their fighting together in war, Jimmy as a helper, Victor being more savage? The behaviour in Vietnam?

6.Nigeria, the mission, the discussions, the search for the metal, the political deals? The fights? The team: Wade and his talking, swordplay? Agent Zero and his violence and vengefulness? Chris Bradley/Bolt, his power with energy? Dukes, his fighting ability? His fists? John Wraith and his powers? Victor and Jimmy? The action, the deaths? Victor and his extreme brutality? Jimmy leaving?

7.Jimmy as a lumberjack, the work in the forests, the trees, his life, home, his wife, teacher, the bond between them? The story of Wolverine and the loneliness of the wife, the moon, the wolf baying at the moon? A native Canadian story? Stryker’s arrival, warning? Victor and his attack, Logan sensing it, running, arriving too late, his wife’s death? The irony of Kayla and the faking of the death, her being blackmailed by Stryker, his hold on her sister? Her reappearance, supportive of Jimmy, not giving in, urging him on, her death?

8.Stryker in himself, sinister but calm, intelligent, government agency, assembling the team, the secrecy, the search for the metal? His experiments, wanting to create a mutant with superpowers? The experiment with Logan, the insertion of the metal? Logan’s escape? His other prisoners? Victor helping him? Going to warn Logan – but wanting to get him involved? His responsibility for the pretence of Kayla’s death? The irony of Kayla and her confrontation with Stryker at the end, mind-bending, persuading him to go into exile?

9.The death of Bolt, his work at the sideshow, the lights, the customers, Victor killing him? Fearlessness?

10.Logan and his escape, the visit to Las Vegas, seeing John Wraith, seeing Dukes, his getting so fat? The bouts with him in the ring, punching, insulting him, trying to get the information about where the island was?

11.The car chase sequence: in Canada, the open highway, the helicopter pursuit? Zero and his shooting, the crash?

12.Remy, the gambler, New Orleans, the clash with Logan, persuading him to guide him to the island?

13.The island, the nuclear facility, Kayla’s presence, the other prisoners, the experiments? Logan and his invading? The fights, the confrontation with Wade, his mouth disappearing?

14.The fights, Logan and Victor, their banding together against Wade, Wade and his powers, speed, the sword? The slicing of the funnel? Destroying it?

15.Stryker, the money for the experiments, the general and his killing him? The experiments, the metal, into Logan’s brain, the process of the operation, Logan having to die, suffer, reviving? Stryker wanting to erase his memories? Logan rebelling?

16.Stryker as a megalomaniac, his ability to erase Logan’s memories? Kayla persuading him to go into exile?

17.The children and their freedom, Remy returning, helping them escape, Xavier and the picture of the school, the future – and audience familiarity with the mutants as they grew up? Wolverine as being part of these mutants – the symbol of his name? His loss of memory?

18.The final glimpse, and his saying he was drinking to remember?

19.His meeting the elderly couple, escaping from the experiment naked, going down the waterfall? Their sheltering him, giving him clothes, feeding him? Their kindness, Victor catching up with them, their deaths?

GROSSE POINT BLANK

US, 1997, 107 minutes, Colour.
John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, Jeremy Piven, Mitch Ryan.
Directed by George Armitage.

Grosse Point Blank has achieved something of a cult status. It is an ironic black comedy – with echoes in the title of John Borman’s thriller, Point Blank.

John Cusack portrays an unlikely assassin, a young man who ran away to the army, became an effective government killer, went out on his own. However, after ten years it is beginning to bother him. There are many very funny sequences where he has discussions with his psychiatrist, Alan Arkin. He is also being pursued by another assassin, played by Dan Aykroyd who wants him to get into a union. His secretary and assistant is played by his sister, Joan Cusack. Minnie Driver is the local deejay who was ditched by him and is still in love with him. Mitch Ryan is her father, the target of his assignment to Grosse Point. Other friends at the high school reunion include Hank Azaria and Jeremy Pevin.

The film is unpredictable in its action, the hit-man going to Grosse Point, his home town, to do a hit, discovering it is his girlfriend’s father. He also decides to go with her to the high school reunion. There are some very farcical situations, some glib and funny dialogue, some brooding existentialism on the part of the hit-man. There is also a big fight climax.

Director George Armitage wrote a number of films but is best remembered for writing and directing the thriller, Miami Blues (1991).

1.An interesting and effective black comedy? Its acclaim? Murder, assassins, the government? The tongue-in-cheek approach?

2.John Cusack in the central role, his screen presence, performance, voice-over? Making this contradictory character credible?

3.The settings, Martin’s office? His going to Michigan, to Grosse Point? The town, the radio station, the reunion hall? The familiar settings for the assassin? The musical score and the range of songs?

4.The credibility of the plot, the characters playing the roles straight, the ironic comedy, the serious undertones, the witty dialogue?

5.The title, Detroit, the town? Martin and killing at point blank? The memories of the film, Point Blank?

6.Martin as a character, his work, the range of assassinations, being hired, running his work as a business, with Marcella helping him? The Grocer and his contacts? The Grocer wanting him to join the union? Issues of payment and discussions about fees? Poisonings and the dangling of the poison in the room, the shootings? The variety of assassinations – tongue-in-cheek? The government, their interest in Martin, pursuing him? Martin’s story, leaving school, leaving Debi, going into the army, becoming a trained killer? His personal dilemmas? Going to his psychiatrist? The chats with the Grocer? The union issues? Dealings with the government agents? The irony of his freelancing?

7.Marcella, her work as a secretary, assistant, calling her boss Sir, the phone calls, her persuasiveness, the contacts for weapons? The issue of the reunion?

8.Los Angeles, going to Detroit, the atmosphere of Grosse Point? The reunion?

9.The job in Grosse Point, going to see the site of his old home, the supermarket? His visit to his mother in the institution?

10.The portrait of the psychiatrist, Martin talking with him, the psychiatrist’s nervousness? Martin’s phone calls, waking up the psychiatrist? His anxiety in persuading him not to kill anyone?

11.Martin, with Debi, the radio program, talking with her, the past, going to the reunion, talking with the various friends? The truth and everybody laughing when he told them what he was? The changes in everybody? Drinking? The drug-taking? The change with the fellow students, their professional lives, families? The situation with the corpse?

12.The target, Debi’s father, Martin’s attitude, the change, the discussions?

LIVE!

US, 2007, 95 minutes, Colour.
Eva Mendes, Jay Hernandez, Andre Braugher, David Krumholz, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Paul Michael Glaser
Directed by.Bill Guttentag.

If you loathe 'reality TV' shows, then this is the film for you. On the other hand, if you love 'reality TV' shows, then you need to see this.

We are immediately introduced to the vigorously ambitious Katy (a strong Eva Mendes) who works for a television channel whose ratings are slipping. By chance, somebody jokingly remarks that the reality shows are getting so way out that the next thing could be Russian roulette on the small screen. It clicks as no other way out idea (and the film offers some jaw-dropping examples) for Katy and off she goes. She knows how to manipulate people, confronting the boss (Paul Michael Glaser), persuading the upright company lawyer (Andre Braugher) that he will find his place in legal history if he defends the freedom and rights to air this show. His specious speech to the TV controlling board is a stunning example of false logic delivered with sincerity and gravitas. She cajoles the sponsors into coughing up their millions for commercials, after making them weep at a sob story.

Then we realise that she is being filmed by a young director (David Krumholz) who is making a documentary on her (often leaving his camera running when he is told to turn it off).

What clinches the show is a series of auditions of talent who are willing to risk their lives for a shot (literal) at $5,000,000 to each survivor. The director makes some puff pieces to introduce each candidate. Each of these is well worth seeing as a parody of particular types of American pizzazz and/or sentimentality. The actors in these roles are very good indeed, as they are when the show finally goes into production. Jeffrey Dean Morgan wrings the heartstrings, with his wife and ill son, as the middle American desperately impoverished farmer. Jay Hernandez is the Latino, injured so that he cannot become a dancer but who loves his mother – and is gay. There is a surfer dude, a model who has had an epiphany about exploitation of the body and who has become a performance artist. There is the young girl who came to Hollywood to be a star but who had to go the hard way via strip clubs. And there is the intelligent black New Jersey man who wants to become a writer (and whose parents are horrified at his decision). This is a nice and amusing cross-section of ordinary Americans.

As an expose (exaggerated, we hope!) of life in a TV channel where morality becomes obsolete, where ratings and getting easy money (well, after the risk that the one bullet in the revolver is for you) are a 21st century of the media-hyped American dream, the film hits its targets effectively.

Needless to say, the show is finally presented with all the studio glitz and glamour it can muster, is suspenseful as we watch each candidate being presented and cheered by the equally amoral audience: then the firing of the gun.

How can the film end? Surprisingly, and in a very American way.

Documentary director Bill Guttentag has followed 15 Minutes and Series 7: the Contenders, two films on the morality of this kind of live television exploitation, with a film that is always interesting, often amusing and, ultimately, horrifying.

1.Audience reactions to reality shows? In favour, not?

2.The United States, the 21st century and reality shows? The world and their popularity? The film’s comment on the world interest, curiosity, prurience, live and the extremes?

3.Celebrities, television, telling their story, fifteen minutes of fame? Audience creating and believing these celebrities?

4.Television and ratings, competition? New ideas? Executives and concerns, sponsors and advertising? Programmers and creativity? Always wanting more?

5.Katie and her background, her ambitions? Her job, the boss and his dislike of her? Her working with her staff, the creative discussions? The collage of outlandish suggestions for programs? The exasperation of the staff, the passing comment on Russian Roulette, Katie’s reaction? Taking it on, running with it? The staff reaction – and then agreeing?

6.The boss, the discussions with Katie, his mixed motivations in agreeing with her, wanting her sacked? His being surprised later at the success?

7.Don, his character, ethical issues, good taste? The law? The discussions with Katie, her research, her persuading him about his place in history, prestige? His speech to the federation? The specious content, his absolute conviction? Issues of freedom, the Constitution? His later watching the program? Disbelief?

8.The sponsors, the discussions in the boardroom, Katie’s persuasiveness? Watching the profiles? The sobs? Their agreeing to sponsor the program?

9.Rex, his filming, off-screen comments, his cameraman? Leaving the camera on? The candid shots of Katie? Katie as a person? His relationship with her? The discussions with the photographer? His persuading her to take him on the plane to New York?

10.The auditions and the motivation? The selection? The American clichés and sentiment?
Jewel, her ambitions, arriving in Los Angeles, the Marilyn Monroe objectives, the failure to get jobs, the strip joints, her downwards career?
Brad, his studies, sport, surfing, extreme sports, hedonism, his friends?
Pablo, gay, Latino, wanting to be a dancer, his injury, his hard work, his mother, his friends?
Abalone, as a model, the exploitation, her changing to performance art, her various causes, the details of her performances?
Rick, the family man, the illness of his child, his wife, the crops, the farm and the expenses?
Byron, ambitious, his studies, at school, African American, his accomplished parents, wanting to write his novel? His parents and their being interviewed and objecting?

11.The trip to New York, Rex filming Katie on the plane, her expectations, the discussions with the executives, her thinking that she had failed, return home, the news of success, everybody excited? Katie and her interviews on the TV program, the equivalent of Entertainment Tonight?

12.The show itself, the cameras, the sets, the glitz, the guns on cushions, the stands for the individual candidates, the tunnel for the shooting? The host and his patter? The music? The commercial breaks? The audience, live, Pablo’s mother, Rick’s wife? Katie and her control of the cameras? Her assistant, the phone calls, the news of the increasing ratings?

13.The host, the candidates, the presentation of the profiles, the guns, going into the barrel, living? Receiving their cheques?

14.Abalone, her taking the gun, her performance art, turning the gun on the host, his fear? Her bow to applause?

15.Brad, his death? Rick, his wife and the relief?

16.The aftermath, Katie and her exuberance, her questions to herself, about the deaths? Her suddenly being shot? A particularly American culmination?

17.The consequences, no connection between the shooter and the program? A year later, Rex and his voice-over and confessing that he had become part of the program? Jewel as the host? Live as an annual event? The story as farfetched, but …?

MYRIN (JAR CITY)

Iceland, 2006, 95 minutes, Colour.
Ingvar E. Sigurdsson.
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur.

Given its very small population (just over 300,000), Iceland has a reputable film industry and many of its productions receive international release. Baltasar Kormakur is one of the most prominent directors with 101 Reykjavik, The Sea and A Little Taste of Heaven.

Those who enjoy police thrillers will like Jar City, especially those who liked the Scandinavian versions of Insomnia or Nightwatch or read the novels of Henning Menkel of Sweden. This film is based on an award-winning novel by Arnaldur Indrioasen.

The setting is Reykjavik, especially its suburbs. An institution that is compiling computer records of the lives (and illnesses) of the inhabitants is the subject of ethical questions in terms of invasion of privacy. One man is illegally undertaking his own investigation, especially concerning the brain disease that is killing his young daughter.

In the meantime, the body of an elderly man is found, murdered.

The two strands will eventually come together quite effectively, especially through the police work of the inspector and his team. The inspector also has serious problems with his addict daughter.

Since this is not Los Angeles and the world of private eyes, the atmosphere is quite dark, the story is bleak and questions are raised about this isolated population and some consequences of sexual assault and inbreeding.

Jar City unravels its mystery in an intelligent and interesting way.

1.An Icelandic story, police and murder mystery, glimpse of life in Iceland?

2.The bleak settings, the city, the suburbs? The countryside? The Jar City archive? The institute? The bleak weather? The ordinary life of Icelanders, homes, clubs, police precincts? Atmospheric score?

3.The title, the archive, Reykjavik, its atmosphere?

4.The institution, the information, the research, the legal discussions about privacy? Orn and his work in the archive, his research, project, the later revelation about what he was seeking?

5.Orn, middle-aged man, love for his daughter, his wife? The hospital sequences, his daughter dying, the grief at the funeral? His relationship with his mother?

6.The dead body, the children finding it? Inspecter Erlendur? His character, work, hard-pressed, his team and associates? Seeing them at work, the attention to detail? The investigations, the questioning, the leads?

7.The inspector and his relationship with his daughter, her drug addiction, asking for money, his refusal? Rescuing her? Bringing her home? The parallels of parents and children throughout the film? The finale and his being with his daughter? His nightmares and explaining them to her?

8.The identification of the dead man, his being a thug, the other thugs, the one in prison, the one who disappeared? The cover-up by the police inspector? Their behaviour in the past, sexual behaviour, photos, their use for blackmail? The revelation about the illness, the exhumation of the young girl in the photo?

9.The further investigations about rapes, the interview with the dead girl’s aunt? The interview with Orn’s mother? The revelation of her affair with the thug? The confrontation, Orn killing him?

10.The truth about the past, the reality of inbreeding? Orn and his upset, discovering the truth about his father, passing on the illness to his daughter?

11.The issue of genetics, Icelandic society? The Jar City Institute? The appropriateness of information being given out?

12.The film as a mystery, as an exercise in police detection? The careful study of the inspector himself, his character, difficulties, his skills and the work of his associates?

13.The film as a comment on Iceland, its society? Orn and his death? A pessimistic perspective?

APPALOOSA

US, 2008, 115 minutes, Colour.
Ed Harris, Vigo Mortensen, Renee Zelwegger, Jeremy Irons, Lance Henrickson, Timothy Spall, James Gamon, Tom Bower.
Directed by Ed Harris.

There have not been many big westerns in recent years. Kevin Costner made Open Range and there was the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. Ed Harris has decided to put a great deal of effort into co-writing, producing, performing and directing this new western. (He sings the song during the final credits which he also co-wrote!)

This is a classic western, a return to immersing the audience in a particular place and a particular time with its own ethos and its own morality. It is not looking at the frontiers and the 19th century west from a 21st century point of view. We are in Appaloosa, New Mexico, 1882, a period of transition. A small town has prospered through mining but the wealthy landowner is a self-made man with a dubious past, a man who takes the law into his own hands, as we see from the beginning, when he shoots a marshal and his assistants to avoid them arresting his ranch hands. The man is arrogant and confronts the law, even hires men to help him escape from custody and execution. He is played by Jeremy Irons, an actor one normally does not see in the west. He carries of his villainous role with conviction.

The film has a voiceover commentary from a former West Point officer turned independent lawman, Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). Hitch admires a stronger lawman, Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and they hire themselves out to impose law and order on towns. The apprehensive town leaders (including Timothy Spall) welcome them.

This is not an action-packed western. It takes its time, drawing its characters, setting up the confrontations, making sure that the audience is well entrenched in this world. Cole is a steely-eyed, quick shooter who also ruminates, reads and, with the help of Hitch, wants to improve his very limited vocabulary. Hitch is the upright, very loyal deputy.

There is some disturbance in the town when a widow, Rene Zellwegger, arrives in town and Cole takes a shine to her. Hitch is less convinced.

With all of this established, the film can move into some action, including a court case presided over by the judge who is played by Ed Harris's father. There is a train hold-up, a desert pursuit, an encounter with Indians, some shootouts.

It is a compliment to Ed Harris to say that one can imagine Clint Eastwood making this kind of autumnal western, autumnal insofar as the 19th century west is coming to an end, and autumnal in the age of the protagonists. They are not young guns. And the superb photography is by Australian Dean Semler who won an Oscar for Dances with Wolves.

1.A 21st century western in the western film tradition? The few westerns in the recent decades? Using the classic form, characters, style?

2.The visuals of the west, the wide screen, the landscapes, mountains, the town and buildings? New Mexico 1882?

3.The score and its variety, strings, orchestration, the final song, sung by Ed Harris, the lyrics and the comment on the plot?

4.The voice-over by Hitch? His perspective? His friendship with Virgil Cole, explaining his background, keeping law and order, their activities? His comments on Ally? On the final events? His behaviour at the end, his final comments, into the sunset?

5.Virgil Cole as the focus, his upholding of the law, strong character, his age and experience, his years with Hitch, their arrival in the town, the meeting with the elders, writing the law, their taking over the town, the men signing the documents? The trouble in the bar, the confrontation and the shooting? Restoring order? The people of the town, the people in the bar, Tilda and her friendship? The three leaders? The bond between Cole and Hitch? Ability to shoot, administer justice? Observing? Cole and his reading, his increasing his vocabulary?

6.The character of Hitch: his West Point background, work in the army, confronting the Indians (and his later skills in meeting with the Indians, giving them the horse and their leaving)? The years with Cole, a quick shooter but, as Cole said, not so quick because of his feelings? In the bar, always on guard, with his eight-gauge? Bragg and his confrontation? The arrest of Bragg, in prison? Katie, her place in the town, his relationship with her, love? Their talking? Ally’s arrival, allowing Cole this friendship, talking things over with Cole? Ally’s advance on Hitch and his backing away, later explanation, Cole believing Hitch rather than Ally? The court sequences, on the train, the pursuit of Bragg and the Shelton brothers, seeing Ally naked, the confrontation with the brothers? His work with the Indians? Bragg’s pardon, the disappointment? The change in the town, the new hotel, his drinking at the bar, his contempt for Bragg? His final decision, giving in his badge, calling out Bragg, the confrontation and Bragg’s death? His asking Cole for the favour to let him be? Leaving? A man of integrity for the period?

7.Bragg, owning the ranch, his men, the confrontation with the marshal, not allowing the three men to be arrested, their background of murder and rape, his accusing the marshal of trespassing, shooting him and his men? The young man who served as witness? The speculation about Bragg’s background, the mines, robberies? His confronting people, his arrogance, his arrest? In prison, discussing Emerson with Cole? Paying the Sheltons and the sheriff? In court, his anger, testimony, the judge not believing him? His threats, the young witness being advised by the judge to ride away and not stop? On the train, the escape? The journey with the Sheltons, the Indians? The shootout and the wounding of Cole? His escape? His pardon from the president? Building the hotel, Ally and her playing the piano, going to his room, his arrogance with Hitch? His death?

8.Bragg’s men, lawless, the rape and murder, the confrontations of Cole, their backing down? The Sheltons, knowing Cole, in the pay of Bragg, the hold-up of the train, escaping with Ally, Ring(??) Shelton and the liaison with Ally, the final shootout and their deaths?

9.The sheriffs from neighbouring towns, having Bragg in custody, on the train? The judge, his managing of the case, condemning Bragg?

10.Ally, her arrival, only one dollar, Cole getting the biscuit for her? The hotel, playing the piano, Cole’s infatuation? Her background story, the lonely widow? Her attaching herself to Cole, wanting to be with leaders? The building of the house? The advance to Hitch? Her participation in the hold-up, the noose around her neck, with Ring, her being chastened? Her wanting to change, her inability? The plain talk from Cole, the friendship, her worry about Cole being wounded? Bragg’s hotel, Cole not going in, her playing the piano, going to his room? The end and its ambiguity? Cole wanting her but knowing she could leave him?

11.Katie, her place in the town, attachment to Hitch, her shrewd assessment of matters, especially of Ally?

12.The three men in the town, the law, justice, shopkeeping? Their fears, relying on Cole, the change when Bragg was pardoned? Going to his hotel?

13.Cole and Ally, love, the house, the train incident, his backing down, the pursuit, the Indians, the group, delivering Bragg, the shootout, his being wounded? Upset at the pardon? His not going to the hotel? His allowing Hitch to go? Staying with Ally?

14.The background of New Mexico, the frontier, building a new society, prosperity, law, violence and the gun? The transition from the old west to the modern west?

THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

UK, 1954, 91 minutes, Black and white.
Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, Joan Collins, John Ireland, Renee Rae, Stanley Baker, Margaret Leighton, Robert Morley, Freda Jackson, Susan Shaw, Lee Patterson, Leslie Dwyer.
Directed by Lewis Gilbert.

The Good Die Young was co-written by its director Lewis Gilbert who had been making small-budget films but was to move into a higher bracket with this film and some war films including Carve Her Name With Pride. During the 1960s he made Alfie and also You Only Live Twice. He was also to make two of the James Bond films with Roger Moore, Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me. In the 80s he made Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine.

Laurence Harvey was emerging as a British star at this time before making his name internationally during the 1960s. The film has several Hollywood stars including Gloria Grahame (who had just won an Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful), Richard Basehart and John Ireland. Joan Collins appears as Richard Basehart’s wife. She was twenty at the time. Stanley Baker has a good role as has Margaret Leighton with a guest performance by Robert Morley. Freda Jackson is quite sinister as the self-centred mother of Joan Collins.

The film is about a heist. However, the film spends most of the time filling in the background of the four men who are in the car to do the robbery: Laurence Harvey as a spiv type, married to a wealthy woman (Margaret Leighton, to whom he was married at the time), Richard Basehart as a man who had fought in Korea, had married an Englishwoman, tended to be paranoid about her and had come to England and was delayed by his pregnant wife’s wanting to stay with her mother. John Ireland is in the service, married to actress Gloria Grahame. Stanley Baker is a prizefighter who has injured his hand in his last fight and is unable to find employment.

While the film shows these stories quite well, the climax is the actual robbery with betrayal by Laurence Harvey’s character.

Quite a good crime thriller of the 50s – British style.

1.A psychological drama? Portrait of unemployed men? A robbery movie? The British style?

2.Black and white photography, the London settings? Homes, pubs, post offices? A dark view of London? The musical score?

3.The title, the ironies? Three of the four men dying? Joe surviving?

4.The voice-over, the commentary on the four men in the car? Their stories, the intercutting of the stories? Their meeting at the pub? Rave taking control, the organisation of the robbery, the execution, the killings? The climax at the airport?

5.The focus on Joe, service in Korea, his being fired from his job, his marriage to an English girl, his paranoia, going to England, meeting Mary, the domination of her mother? His losing his savings? Having to stay in England? Going to the pub, meeting the friends? A good man, drawn into the robbery? Seeing the others killed? His going to the airport, taking Mary away (and the good advice of the doctor)? The confrontation with his mother-in-law? At the airport, his making the phone call, wanting to indicate where the money was, Rave attacking him in the phone box, the shooting? His survival?

6.Mary, young, her love for her husband? Her dominating mother? The mother and her self-centredness, ironic comments, antagonism towards Joe? Mary’s pregnancy? Her making the decision to leave her mother?

7.Eddie, his being on service in Germany? His marriage to Denise, her infidelities, his growing anxiety? Catching her with Todd? At the pub? AWOL? Joining in the robbery, his being with Rave, pushed onto the railway line? Denise, the starlet, her callous attitude, with Todd? Todd and his knowing his way around the apartment? The future for Denise and Todd?

8.Mike, his fights, the trainers, the up-and-coming boxers? Injuring his hand? The decision of the doctor, telling his wife? Angela, her support? Her brother wanting money, giving the savings as bail and her brother skipping the country? Her remorse? Her feeling she had to give the money? Mike, applying for jobs, not getting one? At the pub, with the group? In the robbery, his being shot by Rave?

9.Rave, the rich playboy, relying on his wife? Her being long-suffering, going to Kenya, loving him but not giving him money? His visit to his father, his father disowning him? His meeting the men in the pub, the idea of the robbery, smooth talk? The robbery itself, his violence against the police, shooting Mike, pushing Eddie onto the railway line? The final confrontation with Joe, the airport, his death?

10.A film about good and evil? Social conditions, unemployment? The conman and psychopath?

RIGHTEOUS KILL

US, 2008, 101 minutes, Colour.
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donny Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, Trilby Glover, Melissa Leo.
Directed by Jon Avnet.

With a title like this, you can rightly if not righteously guess that we are in the realm of vigilante killings, the administration of justice for crimes which the processes of law cannot touch.

The film bills itself as historic. It pairs Robert de Niro with Al Pacino (though they were in Michael Mann's Hear, they had only one major scene together). We now have the opportunity to compare the performances of the two – and this reviewer would give the award to Al Pacino. De Niro has been relying on a number of blustery gestures and face-pulling in recent years and this is what he does here. Pacino tends to rant and rave but he shows more energy than de Niro.

For those who are fans of police thrillers, novels, television programs and films, this is a murder mystery. And, to put it mildly, there is a whole lot of misdirection of audience attention going on. But, the screenplay cheats. There are some pieces of information and misinformation that it would be impossible for the audience to pick up clues to until late in the film – and that is a maybe. This means that suspicion hovers over characters until the twist at the end.

Someone is killing off New York scum and leaving some doggerel verses to make comment on the executions. The victims include a pimp, a gun dealer, a rapist, a Russian thug and (topically, with some elaboration) an elderly pedophile priest. The target throughout the film is, of course, a drug dealer who owns a fashionable night club. He is played by 50 Cents (Curtis Jackson).

In the mix are the forensic officer who is in a relationship with de Niro, Carla Gugino, the superior officer, Brian Dennehy, and two other detectives, John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg.

The film is dark, often literally. The subject is contemporary but also squalid and violent. The solution might irritate some audiences who like to follow leads and clues. But, this is our chance to see de Niro and Pacino together.

1.A police drama? Murder mystery? Serial killer? Vigilante/justice film?

2.The casting of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, their working together, strengths?

3.The title, vigilante talk? As used by Rooster?

4.The screenplay and the clues? The initial misdirection? Audience attention to detail? Presumptions? The tape, the names, the confession? The devices to misdirect the audience?

5.New York City, Manhattan and Brooklyn? The precincts, the nightclubs, apartments? The courts? The atmospheric score?

6.The initial impact, De Niro and the confession on tape, the names, the recurring images from the confession? The end and the truth? The visual concealing of the killer? Suspects? Hingis and his suspicions? Attention directed towards Turk? The suspicions of Karen? Of Lopez?

7.The initial case, the rapist, going free, the visit to him by Rooster and Turk in jail, the witness coming forward and talking to Perez and Riley? The end, Dave and his saying that this was the case that lost him his faith in justice? And the fact that Tom actually concealed the weapon and got the rapist charge on a false case?

8.The initial parallels between the two: Turk and his baseball, becoming angry with referees? Rooster and the background of playing chess, the number of games going at once?

9.Their work as partners, the bond between them, sharing, Turk and his encounter with Jessica in the toilet, leading to the set-up on Spider? Her being wired? Spider suspecting, the police coming in, Turk and his kicking and bashing Spider? The shooting of his assistant? The investigations, Internal Affairs, the questions? Hingis and his attitude?

10.The relationship between Turk and Karen? The violence? Karen and her work, examining the bodies, forensic evidence? The friendship with Perez? The misleading indications of the relationship? Rooster and his talking to her about sexuality? The end, his assault? The photo and the Russian in hospital? Her presence at the end with Turk at the baseball?

11.Audience sympathies and suspicions: Turk, Rooster? Turk’s behaviour, stances, attitudes?

12.The rapist, in court, his defying the police, his death? The pimp and the girls? The gun dealer? The priest, the background of sexual abuse, giving first communion to Turk, the abuse of Rooster? Shooting the Russian? The confrontation with Spider and his death? Righteous kills? Rooster as a serial killer? His addiction, this being the only satisfaction? A religious man who had lost his faith? His confrontation with Turk, calling him Tom? The confession, the video? His taunting him to kill him? Using the police signals? The final shots and his death?

13.Perez and Riley, in themselves, at the baseball match, the testosterone and the fight with Turk’s team? Their continued investigations, teaming up with Turk and Rooster? Their suspicions? Social life? Perez and Karen? The focus on Turk? The discussions with Hingis, with Rooster and his reassuring them? The final set-up with Spider out of prison, at his club, Turk turning up? Their making the mistake – and losing the bet with Rooster? Their following Martin Baum, suspicions? His alibi?

14.Hingis, supervisor, suspicions, talking to Turk, suspending him?

15.The psychiatrist, the intercutting of the interviews with Rooster and with Turk, asking about sanity, feelings, work, killings? Urging to journal? The irony of Rooster, his poems, Turk finally reading the journal? Turk not doing it?

16.Internal Affairs, the questions, the end and the review of the tape?

17.The victims, the guns from the dealer, the verses with each body, indication of clues, justice?

18.Karen, Rooster’s assault, taking the photo to the Russian?

19.Jessica, the lawyer, the drugs in the toilet, her agreeing to be wired, her record expunged, the failure of the set-up, her being shot, hospital, gratitude to Turk?

20.The priest, the current issues of sexual abuse, priests being moved? Giving communion to Turk? Rooster and speaking to him in the confessional, the revenge, the shooting, the poem and issues of lust, ashes and dust, the church and responsibilities?

21.The background of Catholicism, Rooster as being a person who went to church, of faith, his mother, church activities? Praying? Going to the church, holy water, genuflecting?

22.The finale, the audience looking at Turk differently, Rooster and the pursuit, his explanations, using the codes for his death?