rupertbreheny Reviews

Junebug (2005)

Art with a Heart

[8/10 · 20 April 2006]

I have to admit my heart sank a little at the knowingly self-indulgent opening montages of this would-be genre staple. That old familiar comedy of manners where the outsider goes home to meet the in-laws for the first time, and oh the misunderstandings that ensue.

Pleasing then that this really rose above its peers in how deft a touch it brings to such familiar proceedings. Sure the family are quirkily dysfunctional folk of simple tastes - but never does the movie take the aloof tone that the fish out of water daughter in-law adopts in her attempts to fit in.

Sure she has some of her superiority stripped away but her humanity is graciously left in tact. It's not all just heart-warming salt of the earth stuff, these are pretty forlorn characters but you certainly feel more compassion for them than a mere guilty acknowledgement of their small-town outlook.

Interesting to note the fate of the little wooden bird that the father carves throughout the film. I was expecting an unspoken connection between father and daughter in-law which is sealed in the final farewells with the presentation of the gift - but I love the fact that he knows she would see it for it's art and not it's heart and winds up off-handedly offering it to his wife who might not see his craftsman's soul, but understands the intent of the man she loved and married.

Proof (2005)

Where's the maths...?

[5/10 · 11 February 2006]

Hal: You read a lot of maths. Catherine: I read Cosmo. It is just a window dressing.

Sadly this quote seems to apply to the whole film. Maybe it was unfortunate that I had chosen to watch the DVD of Pi the same day, as this film paled by comparison. It struck me that the director must have shied away from including any kind of mathematical content whatsoever. We see all the great passions, jealousies and hidden motives, but never do we see what everyone is getting so excited about. It would be like making a film about art and never showing a painting.

It strikes me that this is the work of a literary type who just took the academic world he knew and transferred the setting from the English to Maths departments without taking the time to read up on the subject. The film seems content to work on only one level, and is incalculably diminished by the decisions.

The concept of prime numbers have fascinated mathematicians for thousands of years and still we are no closer to proving whether there are an infinite number of them. Unfortunately this film has nothing informative to say on the matter.

Running Scared (2006)

Soulless, morally bankrupt, faux gritty piece of trash

[3/10 · 7 January 2006]

A would be down and dirty crime thriller attempts to lift the style but none of the substance from Training Day / Man on Fire / Collatoral. The resulting car crash of a movie, presided over by the ever charmless Walker, is a long cavalcade of nasty, brutish and utterly irredeemable violence and squalor. The gutless finale revealing our anti-hero to in fact be a law-upholding undercover cop goes even further raise the bile in my gut. So much for the courage of the film-makers convictions. Of particular offence were the racist string of Russians, pimps and child-abusers on screen long enough to manipulate a braying audience to cheer their demise at the end of a succession of phallic firearms. Insipid, manipulative, contrived rubbish from start to finish.

9 Songs (2004)

Style over substance in the most sexually explicit general release UK film so far. A precedent duly squandered.

[3/10 · 14 March 2005]

A pretty uncompelling effort from a director I admired greatly for Code 46. Famous for its explicit sex scenes which are in fact hampered by the lack of any believable chemistry between the leads and the actresses' limited verbal repertoire of "fuck me" and "faster, faster".

All well and good, but with no character development and scant plot, the sex is merely a freak show. Not the greatest acting, but I guess inevitable given the premise's impact on casting. This may of course account for why they try to pass off a believable motorcycle courier as an unlikely looking and ill-spoken, antarctic climatologist. Maybe I'm just intimidated by his enormous, veiny penis! Disappointing from Winterbottom. An exercise in directorial masturbation perhaps?

Garden State (2004)

Quirky comedy about a quirkily comedic everyman returning to his home town.

[7/10 · 5 January 2005]

I had high hopes for this, what with Scrubs being consistently hilarious, well-observed and occasionally moving. Sad to say this isn't even half way there.

Although in the guise of an offbeat indie film, this never feels authentic, and can be grouped alongside those other contrived pass-offs - The Secretary or Chocolat. This isn't in the same league as Donnie Darko or Happiness.

It all seems a little too by the numbers, lacking any real insight, as it desperately tries to wear its kooky credentials on its sleeve. Natalie Portman's excruciatingly overwrought turn JUST HAD to be pushed way beyond the realm of credibility with the liar's tick or the hamster run in the house. Zack JUST HAD to get around via an old army bike and sidecar combo. His friends JUST HAD to include a wacked out grave-digger, a feckless millionaire and a charmless pyramid scammer.

Now I have nothing against gentle whimsy, but it upsets me when there were glimpses of a much better film here. A nice opening half hour with good visual riffs on lack of communication and stifling conformity. But when the lead actor / writer / director falls for the perky, Portman pixie the whole things descends into idle wish fulfilment.

Rather give me the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to see two properly fleshed out characters written and performed with acres more indie credibility.

Trauma (I) (2004)

Not as clever as it thinks.

[2 October 2004]

The trouble with this kind of fractured narrative type of 'thriller' is that as an audience member, you find yourself so wrong-footed at every turn that you just stop investing yourself in the characters. In the jumbled emotional arc that ensues you wind up just letting the pictures wash over you in style at the expense of substance mode. At least then some pretty decent cinematography, but no images startling enough to really justify their own existence.

I'm not really having much of a scary time at the cinema of late, this time from having kept tame ants and eaten live spiders for fun and reputation. I'm left thinking big deal!

Interesting to note that this is the second Kenneth Cranham film in which I can recall Delusional Parasitosis. Guess he's getting type cast!

Open Water (2003)

Well I suppose it didn't really have a chance to live up to it's hype.

[6/10 · 13 September 2004]

What would have been a delightful discovery late night on Channel 4 seemed a little lost at sea on the oceanic expanse of the UGCs flagship THX certified screen 10.

Perhaps because I have spent so much time bobbing about in shark infested waters that I didn't find this terribly involving. I'd like to think I would know what to do in that situation, so the gimmick didn't really have that much impact on me. Then again, I suppose it is easier to be stoic when you yourself are warm and dry and safe

I was buoyed at the prospect of trickles of back story being revealed as our forlorn pair go through the denial / anger / pleading / depression / resignation stages, but the dramatic opportunities of some decent ad lib setup seemed derailed by the lack of character background. I take the point that stripped of their day to day identities they are mere animal specks on the face of existence, but I just needed more to keep me engaged.

Diverting but ultimately waterlogged.

The Terminal (2004)

Nice set, shame about the pathos...

[7/10 · 6 September 2004]

Tom Hanks is on his usual affeable form, but Spielberg turns up the schmaltz just a little too much, as is his want.

A glut of contrived side stories adds more fat than the lean frame can handle. Some unconvincing romantic asides just distract from the core of Hanks' resourcefulness, in an odd mirror image of Castaway's self sufficiency theme. At over two hours in length, this sweet and charming tale outstays its welcome.

However the endeavour is saved by an impeccably mannered performance from Stanley Tucci who adds depth and intrigue by way of his confounded terminal manager.

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Cheesy, but oh so glorious...

[8/10 · 31 August 2004]

To be honest the first is the superior film, but after just the first 20 minutes I was happy to prostrate myself in supplication and respect for the unbelievable production design. Geiger meets Dune meets Cat in the Hat. They obviously really care about what they are doing too as there is lots of back story alluded to with loads of clever design in the background that you never see more than once. Check out the planet projecting device and see if you can figure out how it is supposed to work. I figure it is all done with sound waves, hence the peaks of constructive interference beneath the planets. Clever stuff. The soothsayers are pretty funky too. The black smog intake on the space craft was interesting too.

Interesting to consider that here we are at a time when Disney reveals that it has made its last cel-animated film. There was a time a few years ago that animation was considered dead, and now with big budget epics like this you have to wonder if 50% of screen space is actually made of animated backdrop. What new wonders we live to see!

Can you guess which character I hate though? You will too, don't worry. Kyra - Man, that girl was weak. I get so fed up with the feisty, untamed love interest schtick. It's only there for the 16 year old boys and ranks right up there on the Jar Jar Binks scale of annoying sidekicks. Why oh why oh why!

Did it strike anyone else that the opening sequence looks like Shock and Awe in Baghdad. That and the Imperium setting out to dispense their one truth.

My Architect (2003)

At times as heavy and unremitting as the buildings of his father, Nathaniel Kahn's documentary is at once weighty, compelling and profound.

[7/10 · 26 August 2004]

I can't say I warmed to Louis Kahn or his architecture. Each edifice seems peculiarly ponderous, brutally imposing themselves on the landscape. Buildings so wrapped up in their own sparse, Cartesian ideal that they offer no comfort or concession to the humanity expected to inhabit them. Could they in fact be a microcosm of the man himself?

So bound up was he in his accomplishments that he avoided confronting the disaster of his own personal life. With three estranged families of fatherless children, he left a swathe of heartache in those that fell into his gravitational pull.

Is this the cost exacted for great works, the tragedy being that the price was paid by those that loved the man?

Solid Geometry (2002 TV Movie)

Solidly enjoyable if you're prepared to doff your thinking cap

[27 May 2004]

An intriguing plot with a real twist. Does Masie wind up in the desert of babies I wonder? I really though he was going to have the guts to go visit for himself, evil sod.

I loved the motif of the origami flower which had the precision of Western mathematics and the beauty of Easter mysticism. Very like the kind of thing you see Buddha sitting in before he rises to a new dimension.

Anyone interested in reading some freaky stuff on higher-dimensional mathematics could do no better than picking up a copy of Rudy Rucker's The Fourth Dimension. When you get your head round the fact that left and right handedness is purely subjective and visualising hypercubes you'll enjoy this film on a whole new level.

Happy exploring.

Catterick (2004– )

Not sure I get this.

[7 May 2004]

I have to say that I was a little disappointed. I feel that League of Gentlemen moved the goalposts for this kind of thing, and just felt that this didn't measure up. It just seemed to be trying a bit too hard and lacked the intensity of acting of something like League or Spaced.

Love Little Britain though. Big fan of Matt Lucas.

I remember seeing a one off the Vic and Bob did for Channel 4 years ago. I think it was really funny as I recall. It must have been a good number of years ago though.

That one where they played a detective and his ghostly sidekick. Randall and Hopkirk deceased. That was good stuff.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

SYMBOLISM AND MEANING

[10/10 · 28 April 2004]

At the risk of boring you all senseless here are some observations off the top of my head.

THE HUT Representing the self. All the possessions and shelter needed is on the floating hut. When the young man can no longer live at peace and comfort in the hut then bad things transpire. He never commits lustful acts in the hut. When we seek happiness outside ourselves, we are never truly content.

THE DOORS The doors by the lakeside and in the hut are symbolic rather than prescriptive. The fact there are no walls means their use is not forced but elected. They represent morality and discipline. Morality is not defined by a higher power but by society and the self. By adopting the constraints the doors engender, self-discipline is attained. As soon as the young man transgresses these self-imposed boundaries, to sneak across to the young woman, then disaster follows.

THE DEAD ANIMALS The Master allows the young boy to let the animals die. He does not become an all powerful father figure, cleaning up after him, but allows him to make mistakes and suffer the consequences. Buddhism does not have a higher power but rather promotes self-awareness.

THE MILLSTONE AND BUDDHA Represent the twin stones of regret for killing the fish and the snake. What you do unto others, you do unto yourself. He has carried that karma around with him all his life until he transcends them both, carrying them to the top of the hill, near heaven. Here he cuts himself free and attains redemption through struggle.

THE MASTER Is a great teacher, but does not lecture. Hardly a word is spoken, but lessons are learned. A good teacher points the way for a student to discover self-evident knowledge for themselves.

THE MOTHER The veil, representing guilt and shame are ultimately the cause of her downfall. Hiding from the outside world can bring about ruin.

THE YOUNG BOY Both at the beginning and the end, represents us. A good life is attained not by the absence of bad thoughts, but rather by their mastery, so they have no hold over us. We choose our behaviour rather than it choose us. The new boy is not born without sin, but rather must walk his own path to divinity. The same actor playing the young boy show the eternal cycle of the human soul.

THE SEASONS The endless cycle of birth, growth and death.

Rentaghost (1976–1984)

surely not?

[24 January 2004]

At 33 years of age I remember the early series as well as the later, and the opening bars of that bloody programme filled me with dread as my best friend always had to rush in from playing outdoors to see the damn thing with me in toe. Not the most fun 30 minutes of my young life waiting to get back outside. Now - Ulysses, that was something much better. "Flying through all the galaxies..."

Moonlight Mile (2002)

Insipid, sacchirin schmaltz

[5/10 · 27 February 2003]

Last year's In The Bedroom effectively upped the stakes on films pondering grief and redemption and ultimately renders this cloying attempt redundant. With a cast to die for, Ellen Pompeo is the only bum note, merely fulfilling a requirement of the plot rather than inhabiting a beleivable character. Cooky charm isn't enough to sell this grief-lite film that sacrifices emotional honesty on the altar of bland Hollywood palatability. Not one for the discerning viewer - save your popcorn money and rent In the Bedroom instead.

Dinotopia (I) (2002–2003)

Beautiful production, striking set pieces hammy acting.

[2 January 2003]

Beautiful production and striking set pieces do little to raise this clumsy drama to any level of worthiness. With a laughable script and cheesy acting, so much visual inventiveness has been squandered. How unfortunate that the hackneyed and stilted story centres on the two bratty brothers rather than the rich and well conceived culture in which they find themselves.

All a bit of a wasted opportunity I'm afraid. Effects do not validate an otherwise tedious experience.

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (1992 Video Game)

The original and best

[9/10 · 11 July 2001]

The first game I ever bought. Back in the days when a soundcard was a rare luxury, this game blew me away with units responding with speech, if you had enough EMS memory!

Pretty much every RTS convention was established here - over 8 years ago. 3 opposing forces, each worth playing through for their unique strengths and weaknesses. And after hours of addictive play, a static low-res graphic with a captions underneath.

Worth picking up for any one with an interest in 'history'. The original Dune by Cryo was perhaps more emotive, but this one has the gameplay.