Ten Short Film Reviews 8

Felon – 2008, Ric Roman Waugh
What was the last prison drama that didn’t go straight to DVD? Probably the one staring Robert Redford and James Gandolfini. Oh, and A Prophet. And that Brazilian one...
OK, so a lot of prison dramas do get a cinema release, but for each one of those there must be at least ten prison dramas starring JCVD or Steven Seagal or Ving Rhames that are destined straight for Blockbuster Video. ‘Felon’ is better than the typical straight to DVD prison romp. Very well made considering the tight budget and featuring good performances from Val Kilmer and, surprisingly, Mr Bad Boyfriend himself Stephen Dorff.

Over The Top – 1987, Menahem Golan
Mr Golan directed a whole load of films, including everyone’s favourite Chuck Norris film The Delta Force (which is well worth checking out, B-Movie fans). Over The Top is basically Rocky with Arm wrestling. There’s less focus on training, more on trucking and the relationship Sylvester Stallone’s character has with his son. Sly’s character is very understated in this one, kind of like the big softy John Rambo might have been if only General Troutman hadn’t chipped away at that special stone in order to reveal the ultimate killing machine within.

Run Lola Run – 1998, Tom Tykwer
I should like it but I don’t. It’s a good idea, and it’s always good when a film is bold and mixes it up like this film does, but...I just can’t put my finger on what I don’t like about this film. It’s got a dated German-nes about it that is best summed up by Moritz Bleibtreu’s face:



Knowing – 2009, Alex Proyas
This film is packed full of clichés (spooky little girl, protagonist’s wife has died, man loses faith in life etc) and the plot is as lazy as the performances, but it managed to hold my attention because it’s not at all predictable. Stuff happens, tension builds, the world is going to end...and it’s there are no hints as to why it’s happening until the end when it is revealed... the paedophiles from space did it!
OK, so they aren’t really paedophiles, just aliens who know the Earth is doomed, and it’s an annoying ending. Something else that annoys me is that ‘the world coming to an end and the survivors are flying off into space’ plot was used twice in films made in 2009 (this and ‘2012’). This means that the big screen adaptation of Greg Bear’s novel Forge of God is probably out of the question for another ten years.

Unbreakable – 2000, M. Night Shyamalam
My favourite M. Night Shalamawhatever film. It’s very predictable, in fact if finishes so abruptly after the twist at the end it seems like he knew it was so predictable and it would be better not to dawdle. But I still like everything about it. The whole ‘tell a story about comic book heroes but in a realistic way’ has gotton old over the last ten years which is a shame. Maybe when everyone grows bored of the Iron Man/Avengers movies that are surely going to peak over the next couple of years, there will be another film like Unbreakable.

Capricorn One – 1978, Peter Hymas
Josh Brolin’s dad James plays the lead in this thriller about a faked mission to land men on Mars and the effort to cover it up. The story is good, but the film could have been so much better. The plot seems very underwritten and it gets a bit confusing towards the end due to bad editing; it’s hard to tell if some events that tale place are supposed to be occurring concurrently. The pacing of the final act is a bit off as well, Hymas’ later film Outland suffers in the same way. Nice little turn by Telly Savalas though. O J Simpson was a strange casting choice.

Idiocracy – 2006, Mike Judge
As you may already know, Mike Judge is the guy behind ‘Beavis and Butthead’ and ‘King of The Hill’. He also made the very popular (but in my opinion overrated) ‘Office Space’, and more recently a film called ‘Extract’ starring the almost-ubiquitous Jason Bateman. The films and TV shows that Judge makes tend to divide people. I’ve never been a massive fan of anything he’s been involved in, but I am very keen on Idiocracy. This film was criminally under promoted by a studio that got cold feet. This film isn’t really very profound or controversial, but its’ intelligent critique of the dumbing down of society was enough worry the wrong people, and it was all but shelved. It’s original and funny and thoughtful at the same time, I highly recommend it.



Days of Heaven – 1976 Terrence Malick
OK, I get it now. Terrence is an excellent director. His films are massively self indulgent, and yet they turn out well. I’ve watched my share of worthy-ass-films and I’d say that Days Of Heaven just about beats them all insofar as it has a loose plot that appears to have come together during the edit (a-la Wong Kar Wai) is beautifully shot in an amazing location (Wim Wenders) and has a dream like quality without being a fantasy (Peter Weir). I suppose being American meant Malick got a lot more recognition that the others...shame he doesn’t make more films.

Conan The Destroyer – 1984, Richard Fliescher
Not a patch on the first one, although this one does have a tongue in cheek tone that is far more suited to the whole crazy violent fantasy that takes place. It makes Conan The Barbarian appear to take itself too seriously, but I still think ‘Barbarian’ hits the nail on the head. This one is far more Swords and Sorcery with a bigger ensemble cast of misfit fantasy types; Virginal Princess, Amazonian Warrior Woman, Comic Relief Sidekick and Really Tall Dude (NBE legend Wilt Chamberlain) who’s a good guy, but obviously going to have a fight with Arnie at some point. I think Schwarzenegger spends more time with his shirt off in this film that any other. The Conan tradition of abusing animals continues.



Basic Instinct – 1992, Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven is an excellent director and worthy of a lot more credit than he gets. Paul is all about excess, mainly excess violence; Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers. But in Basic Instinct he’s all about excess drama. This film basically screams ‘I AM AN EROTIC THRILLER Y’ALL’ at the top of it’s lungs for 127 minutes. I watched it for the first time and I was surprised at how much I liked it. If ever a film was dragged down by brief flash of minge, this is it. It may never have been as successful without it, but it has detracted from the films legacy, even though it doesn’t detract from the film itself. It’s testament to Verheoven’s skill as a director that he can make a film where a bird showing her clunge doesn’t seem out of place. I wonder if there’s a special edition somewhere that has a freeze frame so you don’t have to bother pausing it?