Dog Pound was a decent indie movie about three young criminals incarcerated in a juvenile correctional facility. It reminded me a lot of some of the Alan Clarke movies like Scum and Made in Britain. It was pretty visceral and may have overplayed the violence a little but I thought most of the performances were really exceptional. This was a particularly bleak movie. It didn't offer even a glimmer of hope for any of the protagonists and ended on a really dark note. The thing that made Dog Pound work for me was it's lack of commentary on its subject matter. It would have been real easy for the director, Kim Chapiron to add some preachy parts about the evils and ills of America's prison system but he withheld. He's a very young French director, with one other movie under his belt, Sheitan, and I think he has some real potential.
Fans of Degrassi: The Next Generation (Guilty!) will recognize Shane Kippel (Spinner) in the role of Davis, a small time drug dealer. And if you're seriously a fan of this guy, get on youtube and watch the dozens of weird montages set to shitty Canadian rock music about is character from the show.
I drove up to Foothills to see this on the 3D IMAX screen pretty much just to check out the theater. It was nice. The sound was pretty amazing. Probably the best sound in any theater in town and the screen was pretty nice too. I still think the huge downstairs screen at the Loft is better but it can't match the sound. This was also the first of the new 3D movies that I've seen. It didn't really do anything for me. Some of the 3D effects were kind of cool, I guess. I mean, it was a Resident Evil movie so I don't know what I was expecting. Oh, wait, yes I do, nothing. What did look pretty good was Tron Legacy in 3D.
The movie picked up pretty much where the last one left off and quickly proved that it didn't matter. It was evident from the beginning that I was just going to be waiting for fucked up zombies to die in outlandish ways and maybe for some shit to blow up. I didn't have to wait long to be underwhelmed by either.
One thing I noticed about these movies, I've seen them all and think for the most part they're a little underrated for what they are, is that the more lines Milla Jovovich has, the more inane and ridiculous the movie becomes. In this movie she has a lot of lines.
Another thing I found out about the Foothills theater is that all movies during the week are five bucks.
Initially, I thought Dogtooth was going to be some sort of shocking, excruciating exercise. The real shocker of the movie, however, was how funny I thought it was. I laughed more during Dogtooth than I have for any so called comedy during the last couple of years. Going in I was expecting something Lars Von Trier-y or Michael Haneke-ish but what I got was a comedy sort of akin to oddball seventies stuff like Eating Raoul or Little Murders. It was such a pleasant surprise. Don't get me wrong, it was weird and probably off putting to most viewers but I was really into it. The performances of the kids in the movie, especially the older daughter were phenomenal. This dance scene cracked me up to no end.
It also made me realize that I don't think I have ever seen a Greek movie before. I've seen a lot of the Costa-Gravas stuff but I'm pretty sure most people consider those French. The language hit my ear a little wobbly but it sounded pretty great with most of the deadpan delivery in this movie.
Machete, Machete, Machete. I knew what I was getting into with this one. I put myself in the frame of mind to enjoy the gore, the violence, the hot ladies, all of it. I was ready. Then I saw it. I was underwhelmed. The camp was there, but so was the border commentary. Though I support amnesty for all illegals and think most of our legislation on the subject is blatantly racist, I didn't need it delivered to me in this fashion. I would have enjoyed a little more subtlety. Of course, why would I expect subtlety from Robert Rodriguez? Overkill is his specialty. So I won't dock him points for that. Plus, there were parts of the movie that I really enjoyed. The performances were almost universally bad and the story was hackneyed and predictable but there was a spirit to the movie that I enjoyed which is where the real success of the movie lies. It's hard to see thinly veiled big screen versions of John McCain (Robert De Niro) and Joe Arpaio (Don Johnson) get their just desserts, Mexican blood bath style and not feel at least a little giddy on the inside.
After a series of silly and dull performances I'm starting to wonder if we've seen the last of Robert De Niro in relevant roles. He hasn't been worth watching since Jackie Brown, or I'll give you Ronin which had a sweet car chase, and that was ten years and 22 movies ago. He isn't alone though, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson have been drowning in poor performance and worse movies for the same duration (Nicholson has fared a little better at least, since he was in the Departed but he was also in Anger Management). It was weird to see him get out acted by Jeff Fahey in this one. And while I love Danny Trejo as a character actor, I actually think he could handle weightier work, he wasn't able to carry the film. So while I liked certain aspects of the movie, in the end I feel like a joke movie trailer should probably just stay a joke movie trailer.
I really just did not like this movie. It wasn't just Michael Cera either who I just can't seem to buy in any romantic lead. While he has grown on the rest of the movie going populace like a mold (albeit a rather harmless one) I just can't seem to enjoy his work. What's his appeal? His ineptness? His avian quality? I do think he would be great for a remake of Harold and Maude. Except instead of Harold, he would play Maude. Seriously, for most of any movie he's in I half expect him to pull out a shawl and put it on. He looks like he can constantly feel a draft.
My real issue with the movie was its self awareness. I don't want movies to know they are movies. In comedies, I don't want the characters in on the joke. With the endless comic and video game references, Scott Pilgrim really narrowed its target audience. I suppose I just fall outside of that target. For instance, some might delight over a climax in which bony bird boy Michael Cera uses fake karate moves to fight the short swarthy charm of Jason Schwartzman (whom I actually do like, just not here) but to me it just seems ridiculous and unwatchable. Probably because I get the feeling that in reality I could fight both of them at the same time and come out the victor. Everyone else that I saw it with, really enjoyed it. I, however, laughed exactly once. I'm sure it will be a movie that people watch for a long time to pine for the times we're currently in but I couldn't find anything to enjoy at all.
I watched this last night, pretty good flick, great costumes and scenery (Germany I think?? Great forests and ruins).. For being a movie about the black plague it was really not that gruesome and quite entertaining, great characters ... but poor Sean Bean, guy just cant get a break in any movie nor does the future look to bright - from this role to Ned Stark on HBO's Game of Thrones (Oh man, I can't wait!), poor guy, but even so Ulric (Sean Bean's character) is pretty bad ass in his devotion to 1300's era Christianity (aka blind faith) to the very... err (spoiler!) end... Could Borimer handle this daunting position that was cast over him in this film? Not even! If that crappy ring was a package deal that included being drawn and quartered would its brainwashing zeal actually work? The band of questing outcasts in this film are pretty bitchin as well, see for yourself :
That guy way to the left, "Mold", is seriously bad-ass, right up to the very (shit.. spoiler) end.. The dude 2nd to the right, "Ivo" is also a tough bastard (right to the very..!.. err , nevermind), I duno who would win a kill off with Mold, but Ivo would definitely be close ... that dude to the far right would not even be close and is hands down the puss of the bunch, cant you tell?
There are a couple movies that seem sort of in the same vein as this that I want to see : Valhalla Rising and centurion and another I saw called Sauna that was good ... All seem like darker mid-budget "period" films and so far two out of four are worthy of praise, 'tis nice to see some variety out there.
If you peruse in the realm of underground film and video nasties you may have already caught wind of Serbian Film. Catch phrases such as "THE most sicking movie EVER made" have been associated to it and just recently at SXSW (first screening in the USA as I understand) word of mouth says one moviegoer passed out and broke their nose trying to escape the horror being presented to them onscreen. This would all seem trivial to me given that extreme cinema seems to be at its peak; I feel like I read about the next big gross out movie every other week.
A little background first... I grew up on horror movies and seeked out many of the extreme horror movies of the world passionately for years. I gave up this search a few years back (there is only so much one can watch) but decided to give Serbian film a whirl after reading a few reactions it was receiving.
Why is any of this important?? Because I feel I have plenty of backing to proclaim that Serbian film IS one of the most (if not THE most) vile and disturbing films ever made.
Serbians film premise can be seen in the preview (first being the censored cut, second being the original Red Line trailer, warning, its graphic):
It would be worthless to go into any details on why Serbian film is so sick and twisted that it puts others in the same genre to shame (it would not be fit in this context, has to be seen in the original form) but it is worthwhile to note that seldom has there been (if ever) a movie in the "shock N Gore" genre that is so polished; great camerawork, surprisingly good acting, above average FX and a score of various electronica tracks by a single composer that is very fitting and true to the grittiness of the film. Whew! That being out of the way (its somewhat difficult to give praise to Serbian film) I would have a hard time recommending this movie to anyone. As lame as it feals to say Serbian film is the creame of the crop for "torture porn" movies , well, it really is.
It personally satisfies me to see a film come along out side of movies that made the "torture porn" genre mainstream (Saw, Hostel and plenty of other American "horror" garbage) and proceed to piss all over them WHILE putting the nail in the coffin for any others who might think they are the next big shock. Not only did Serbian film make all before it seem as childsplay it really leaves no room for anything to come after, end of story. While many proclaim to be shocking and unbearable they prematurely fail at this due to favoring a certain type of audience while keeping a safe "R" rating. Serbian film on the other hand does not give a flying fuck about ratings and satisfying any audience which is somewhat respectable. If this genre of film is noteworthy at all them Serbian film is the most worthwhile and easily number one.
Well folks, if it was not clear before, here it is : You want the most fucked up , shocking, in-your-face and no holding back anything for the imagination movie ever made??? Serbian film it is. If your in Tucson and would want to glory of seeing this on the big screen (you sick person you) it will be playing at the Underground Arizona Film fest later this month. Way to go Tucson! A graphic of Serbian Film on the awesome "keep Tucson shitty" t-shirt with the screening date (2nd time in America) would be a good idea.. Hell, this movie just got pulled from one of the most premiere fantasy and horror film festivals (Frightfest UK) due to content; the UK Board of Film Classification wanted to apply 49 individual cuts to the film – around four minutes worth of material....
You have been warned, these images will linger in the sub concise for a while, not easily shaken and if I was in the gun to head scenario forced to make a decision on Serbian film I would give it a hesitantly positive mark.
