Miranda (2002)

This British-made film is one of several that Christina Ricci has made in the last few years which have barely seen the light of day (where are "Prozac Nation" and "Pumpkin"?).  I quite like Ms. Ricci but she does seem to commit to some dubious prospects and while she does well enough in this movie as attractive bait for John Hurt's property scams, that part of the film is the least interesting.  Rather more to the point is the love she inspires in her co-star John Simm, a young man I've not noticed before (primarily a TV actor) who made a reasonable fist of the role.

On the downside, John Hurt who is normally a superb actor brought very little to his part and Kyle McLachlan as a businessman leching for Ms Ricci was just uninteresting (except in extreme close-up, I swear that man has a Dorian Gray-like portrait in his attic).

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

I've only seen Stephen Chow's previous UK release "Shaolin Soccer" in its shortened, dubbed version and look forward to seeing the complete version with subtitles (I do have an in-built aversion to dubbing full stop).  I have also seen several of his earlier Hong Kong films on tape; his comedy is very broad, but he is as popular in Hong Kong as Jackie Chan, possibly even more so nowadays.

This film (which benefits from subtitles) is very silly in places and exhilarating in others.  Chow seems to think that if he revs up the action, he will have more hits than misses -- and this is generally true. After a relatively slow start where Chow is a would-be gangster, he reveals the hidden kung-fu talents of a slum tenement's inhabitants and eventually becomes a kung fu master himself.  Much of the action is heavily dependent on CGI effects, but the funniest moments are the small ones which spring from the innate silliness of his character.  There is also a sentimental sub-plot with a mute girl which could hark back to silent film.  All in all a satisfying cinema visit although there were one of two images that I could have done without, particularly the last one.

Joe Kidd (1971)

I suppose I had seen this Clint Eastwood oater before, but I didn't remember it -- and not surprising, since it was directed with a pedestrian touch by John Sturges and certainly it was not as accomplished as the series of westerns that Eastwood would direct himself in the following years.  Nice photography 'though.  The story is that land-baron Robert Duvall hires Eastwood to hunt down a renegade Mexican played by John Saxon with a silly accent; they fall out and that's about it until most of Duvall's men are dead.  There is however an extremely jolly bit of Eastwood hijacking a train and driving it through the local saloon -- you don't see that every day. 

Big Fish (2003)

Good gracious -- another set of Siamese twins or were they just another of the tall tales told by the hero of this tale, especially since they were seen separately at the end of the movie (perhaps they were surgically separated like the ones in "Stuck on You" which I saw shortly before starting this blog).  Anyhow it seems to be a worrying theme in my current viewing.

Going back to this Tim Burton extravaganza, I wonder why he chose two British actors to play the protagonist as a southern old man and as his younger self, although Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor do well in the roles (and at least the latter kept his trousers on!)  The basis of the story is that a son, played by Billy Crudup, has been estranged by years of hearing his father's "lies" over and over and only returns home as the former lies dying.  This occasions a replay of some of the father's incredible experiences told with the visual panache that one expects from Burton.  At times it does seem that he is trying a little too hard , but on balance the occasional striking images and emotional punch at the film's end save the day.  The big fish of the title is both a feature of one of his favourite stories and I suppose what the Finney character has become in the little pond of his world (actually not that little).   

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

Back  in 2000 there was a nifty little Canadian horror film which somehow equated the beginning of menstruation in teenaged girls with the blood curse of the werewolf.  Hmm. It was indeed quite a watchable low-cost production.  As with most successful movies, someone felt that a sequel was necessary and Ginger Snaps Unleashed followed in 2004 which in turn was followed by this prequel.

The heroine of the first film was destroyed so her sister was the heroine of the second.  Both sisters are back in this movie and they are played by the same actresses; however since it is set in the early 19th Century, no way can they be the same characters.  The theme however remains unchanged and the girls bring a rash of gory killings with them when they arrive at a remote fort.  Not exactly anything special and with some convoluted logic; but it will pass the time for gorehounds.

Marci X (2003)

I knew that this film sat on a shelf for two years before its 2003 release and that it attracted some terrible reviews, so I wasn't exactly expecting high art.  In fact it is in excruciating taste but conversely it is in part extremely funny.  I can just about see it attracting some sort of perverse cult following in due course.

The lead is Lisa Kudrow playing a Jewish-American princess who gets involved with a dirty rapper played by Damon Wayans (one of the talented but interchangeable Wayans brothers).  Their nemesis is Christine Baranski playing an uptight senator.  All of them do a reasonable job in a movie that could actually have been a whole lot funnier and possibly marginally less offensive.

While I'm at it, let me comment on the ex-cast of friends.  I do not really believe that any of them can look forward to a lasting career in films.  They are beginning to show their age (certainly Miss K. did in this movie) and I personally do not feel that any one of them can carry a movie.  Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm not. Yes, I know that Jennifer A. has had some indie success, but that's about it.

The Incredibles (2004)

This is the first time I have sat through this film, having seen parts of it in passing (as in in-and-out-of-the-room) previously.  The film comes with a pedigree of praise which is well-warranted and Pixar certainly confirm their animation skills.

I am actually quite an animation fan and accept that old-fashioned 2-D hand-drawn films have had their day (although no one will ever convince me that Hayao Miyazaki has had his).  There is much to admire in the technical virtuosity of "The Incredibles" and the voice talent is largely first-rate, but there was something about the film as a whole that left me a little uneasy.  Perhaps it was the over-emphasis on families sticking together which is very politically-correct nowadays or perhaps it was the realisation that indeed too many people today think mediocrity should be the norm and unusual skills surpressed.

However those niggles apart I do have to agree that this film is a stupendous achievement and one which deserves all the kudos it has received. 

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

I have never understood the appeal of Steve Martin, who while pleasant enough never seems a special talent, and I have definitely never understood the point of remaking films that were not particularly good in the first place.  In fact it's not even a remake since the Clifton Webb starrer from the 50's was about an efficiency expert and this movie only shares the title.  The picture is OK in a nothing special sort of way, but my main reaction is "why bother".

I know that Martin has a following for his "crazy guy" persona, but that was a long time ago and the recent family-friendly fare can not possibly appeal to the same fans.

The Killing (1956)

A classic noir heist film by Stanley Kubrick in the days when he could make a crisp 80-minute thriller, just the right length for having everything go wrong.  Nowadays an audience just won't accept having a carefully-planned caper collapse like a house of cards.  Sterling Hayden is the brains behind the racetrack robbery but he could not predict the chance factors that would undermine him; the fatalism with which he accepts this at the end is stunning.

Filmed in high contrast black and white (you will discover that I am a big fan of the days when cinematography mattered), the film also boasts a lovely cast including everyone's favourite loser, Elisha Cook Jr., and the untrustworthy Marie Windsor in her best femme fatale mode as his treacherous wife.

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

I wasn't expecting much from this film starring David Spade and produced by Adam Sandler among others, and it certainly started off as something of an embarrassment.  Spade may see himself as lovable but he can be well and truly annoying with it.  However the tone mellowed as the film went on.  The gist of the story is that he pays to live with a family for two weeks to experience normal family life and to make up for the childhood he never had -- and guess what, everyone's lot is improved by the end (except the absent father whose place he ends up taking and his horrid ex-squeeze).  It had its moments, if not many, but it's a little damning to say that the dog and the two children were the best things in it.

There was a nice sequence during the end credits with former TV and young film stars joining in a song, although many of the faces would only ring a bell with an American audience.

Santa Sangre (1989)

This is one of my favourite "weird" films and this was my third viewing.  It is quite unlike any other film you have seen.  The basic story is of a young boy who sees his father cut off his mother's arms after she has thrown acid on his nether regions (!).  He is so traumatised by this that he is institutionalised until he is an adult; he then escapes at his mother's beckoning and forms a stage act with her where he stands behind her and pretends to be her arms.  She also encourages him to murder any amorous female using "her" arms.  The background is the circus and the assorted characters include a voluptuous tattooed lady, clowns and one of the smallest dwarfs ever. There is also the burial of a dead elephant.  If all this makes it sound as if it might not be to everyone's taste, that is probably the case.

The director is chilean-born Alejandro Jodorowsky who made the film in Mexico with a local cast speaking English (I did find that having the English subtitles on helped).  Jodorowsky is now in his seventies and has only made six films, three of which hardly anyone has seen.  The other three: "El Topo", "The Holy Mountain" and this one are genuine cult items and well worth a look if ever you have the opportunity.

The Unsaid (2001)

In preparing these capsules, the choice of moods on the drop-down screen does not always cover my reaction to a film.  They should also include "bored", "puzzled" and "why did they bother making this film" all three of which would cover my response to this one.  It features Andy Garcia as a psychologist who has given up treating patients after his son has committed suicide but who is cajoled into treating another young man by Teri Polo (presumably before she met the Fokkers).  It all hinges on sexual abuse and the bleeding heart liberals would have us believe that analysis will cure all, even after the youth has displayed some extremely violent behaviour.  Yawn, yawn.