Hey everybody. How've you been? I've been really busy. As I mentioned last time, I have been sifting through the work of the man you see below. My coverage took a little longer than expected (as it always seems to), but as you can see there's plenty to read about (3000+ words worth). Don't forget to click the more button to read on and find out about both of Mark's DVDs (Just Kill Me and No Commercial Value) and web only content. I'll be back again sooner than you might think with more reviews. Along with what's listed in the last post, I also will at some point bring you my thoughts on 24 Hours on Craigslist, Doom, and Saw II. I'll be busy. Keep checking back.


Mark O’Connell Career Retrospective (through 2005)
Review by Jon Waterman

Just Kill Me

Work created between 1992 and 1999

Top Story Tonight (1999)
An extremely hypnotic piece where found footage of news anchors are distorted beyond recognition. The faces blend and melt together to create something of a kaleidoscope of colorful talking heads. The short does well to not only put you into a trance priming the audience for a good brainwashing, but also gives off a strange looming underlying Big Brother feel. If the music were different, it would make for a pretty good horror sequence.

Walk (1993)
The short not only shows a younger time, but also a younger technique. Obviously one of his first works, “Walk” plays around with every bad video effect that comes with his new package. O’Connell tries to be funny by including what I can only assume is a drug induced narration track that stuck. “I saw a skeleton couple. They waved hello.” It makes for a couple interesting clips, but mostly it’s just wackiness for wackiness’ sake.

Peep (1994)
Old found footage of strippers and dancers are the main “focus” of this video dealing with the objectification of women and the destructive nature of the male gaze. O’Connell drives the simplistic point home by superimposing a close-up of an eyeball over the girls in their gaze-worthy areas. He also includes a strange industrial music soundtrack behind the overly repeated visuals to avoid any potential for misinterpretation.

Beach (1996)
A beach never really comes into play in this increasingly random offering. The viewer is treated to a series of scatterbrained images that are essentially coming from what is either a picture frame or a television placed in the middle of our screen. The creepy, atmospheric music goes against a lot of what we are seeing, but ensures that the end result is much stranger than any dream of ours would actually be while still placing us in one.
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I'm ready for the hate mail. I seem to be in the minority when it comes to hating the recent remake of King Kong. While most others are placing it in their end of the year top ten lists, Kong is almost surely going to make an appearance in my bottom ten list (look for those lists soon). It truly is that bad. I don't know what those other critics are seeing. Well, see for yourself as you read my criticism of all three Kong movies. I'll be back with more later. After all, I still need to bring you Capote, both versions of The Producers (so you can see how that remake got screwed up, too), Match Point, Hostel, Saw, and I'm currently watching the work of experimental filmmaker Mark O'Connell, and I'll have a full report of that as well. There's a lot to see so that you'll have a lot to read. Keep on coming back. You don't want to miss it.



King Kong (2005)
Review by Jon Waterman

*1/2

Movie director Carl Denham needs a hit. His claim to fame is exotic documentaries, but these days everybody wants romance in their pictures. So that’s what he’s going to give them, only he’s going to do it his way. Desperate for an actress, he plucks Ann Darrow from the streets and takes her on his boat/makeshift movie set. Along with the movie star Bruce Baxter and the writer Jack Driscoll and a large crew, they drift along the ocean looking for a secret filming location. It is there that Denham hopes to find his movie. He has heard legend that a giant monster lives on this uncharted island. If he can get footage of the beast and incorporate it into his romantic adventure picture, he would be set for life. The only problem is getting everything to go according to plan.

Peter Jackson (director/co-writer along with Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) revisits the movie that made him want to become a filmmaker. He really should have let well enough alone. Why would anyone want to remake a classic film, especially one that they hold in such high regard? Do they honestly believe they can improve upon the original? Why not just take some of your mega millions and hype up a massive mainstream re-release of your favorite movie of all time? Or if you really feel the need to remake something, remake something bad into something good. That’s how we got the 1939 version of “The Wizard of Oz.” No matter what you do, don’t create a brand new, flashier update that’s nearly twice the length of, and completely ruins what was so good about, the movie you fell in love with. I just it’s too late. The damage has been done, and not by a 25-foot tall ape.
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++++++++


King Kong (1976)
Review by Jon Waterman

1/2 star

Fred Wilson, a smarmy oil mogul, packs up a crew to what could be the largest untapped resource of crude oil left on the planet. The place is an uncharted island that may not exist at all. They sail away from Indonesia to this unknown destination, but not before they pick up an environmentalist stowaway named Jack Prescott. Jack is under the impression that there could be a legendary creature on that island and he wants to make sure it’s preserved. Well, before they can even find out, the boat acquires a new passenger in the form of a young starlet named Dwan (not a typo) who looks to be the lone survivor of a yacht accident. The unlikely bunch find the island and the creature and in the process, an adventure bigger than any of them could have imagined.

They may not be able to imagine anything bigger, but anyone who has seen the original King Kong certainly can. I don’t know if this was part of the strategy to differentiate itself from its predecessor, but Kong only gets into one real fight. Sure there’s the climactic bit with the planes (or should I say helicopters – where I think they reuse some footage), but the only creature to creature combat is with a giant snake. And that only lasts for at most two minutes. You won’t find dinosaurs or giant lizards or birds or any of that cool stuff that made the landscape of the original so interesting and magical yet dangerous. Without the action it’s really not much of an adventure.
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++++++++


King Kong (1933)
Review by Jon Waterman

****

Well-known filmmaker Carl Denham set sail towards his biggest motion picture undertaking yet. After packing a ship with a massive crew, they drift away to an uncharted location. Denham hopes to bring pictures of the exotic landscape and its people back on film as part of his newest fictional masterpiece. But that’s not all he’s after. He has heard stories of the legendary Kong, a giant ape that haunts the primitive natives of Skull Island. This will be the real star of the picture. The only problem is getting the king of the land to play along.

This is the epitome of a great action movie. There’s an air of mystery surrounding us from the time we open on Denham at the boat, and as secrets are revealed throughout the picture, other questions arise in their stead. Especially when Kong enters the fray, you’re not sure if he’s fighting everything in order to save his sacrificial wife or if he’s looking to protect his dinner from other predators. You’re always on edge as the film continually picks up the pace and doesn’t let up until it reaches the climactic, tragic, yet extremely satisfying ending.
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if it has "Broke" in the title, review it. That's the theme today. I promise to get you reviews for King Kong (1933, 1976 & 2005) and both versions of The Producers as well as other reviews -- including Hostel. But in the mean time, enjoy a small dose of a post. Keep on coming back.




Brokeback Mountain
Review by Jon Waterman

***

Two young cowboys are desperately looking for work to sustain them through the summer. Jack and Ennis both get roped into watching a herd of sheep up in Wyoming’s Brokeback Mountain. Their duties will technically be illegal, but it’ll put food on their plates and all they have to do is sleep in a tent and shoot at any predatory creatures that might wander by. The new duo head off and end up learning a lot about each other. They become quick, close friends. Then one rainy night, instead of heading back up to his camp site at the top of the mountain, Jack stays at base with Ennis. It’s then they discover just how deep their bond has become. How can life ever truly be the same after that fateful summer? Or do they even want it to be?

I knew director Ang Lee still had the ability to make good movies left in him, and this one is a diamond in the rough. Of course that means the film still needs a bit of polishing. For instance, the main narrative thread of the love story between Ennis and Jack had me scratching my head. It seemed to move too quickly in the beginning because every shot of them made it seem like they were either longing for a distant lover (if they were on different parts of the mountain looking towards where the other would be) or undressing the other with their eyes (if they were in the same physical space). But despite those glances, the physical relationship seemed too unnatural and forced.
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++++++++++


Broken
Review by Jon Waterman

**1/2

“A gun blast, a flash of light, [sic] and a young woman awakens to the comfort of her own bed. Bonnie Clayton has it all, a great relationship, a challenging career, and the burden of a dream that grows more vivid and disturbing with each passing night. But when Bonnie is abducted by a sadistic stranger and his colorful entourage, she discovers that the key to her survival lies within the familiar realms of her recurring dream.”

This hardly describes the film I saw. Sure there was a captured girl named Bonnie, and the sadistic stranger did have an eclectic crew, but I honestly don’t remember anything about this supposed back story, nor do I recall a point in the film where she uses any aspect of her dream to overcome any obstacles. Perhaps that all flashed by too quickly. The movie contains a few sequences with rapid-fire montages of what we can only safely assume is a flashback. The work is somewhat David Fincher influenced in that respect (and the end credits are straight-up stolen from “Se7en”). The Fincher feel also permeates the atmospheric set which contains a good blend of colors and tones within the dank space.
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Hey everybody. After a long absence, I'm back (seems like I say that every time). What with the holidays and all that goes along with that as well as spending over a week trying to get my computer up and running, I couldn't really do any posting. But now the new year has started (Happy 2006 -- let's hope) and my system is fully functional, the reviews can begin again. And so, I bring you five new reviews today. This is all the stuff I had promised you previously. Coming soon to filmbrats.com: reviews for King Kong (2005) and hopefully (1933), Broken, Brokeback Mountain, The Producers (2005), Capote, Match Point and the work of experimental filmmaker Mark O'Connell. So you can see this site will be plenty busy. I still want to see a few more of the bigger name award contenders before I compile my list for best of 2005, but you can expect that relatively soon as well. You don't want to miss it.



The Kid (1921)
Review by Jon Waterman

**1/2

A sad single mother who believes she has no other options, places her baby into an empty car. It turns out that two thugs are driving the vehicle. Since they do not want the crying newborn to foil any of their plans, they dump it off into the alley. Shortly thereafter, our hero, the tramp comes along and discovers the child. He tries his best to place it with someone who can help, but a lurking police officer who is under the impression the baby belongs to the tramp won’t let that happen. And so a man who can hardly take care of himself must now find a way to provide for two.

Writer/director Charles Chaplin once again brings us his lovable tramp character; this time in a longer scale. At 61 minutes, this film runs almost twice the length of most of the previous entries in the series. Luckily, there is enough here to keep your interest for virtually the entire picture. Unluckily, it’s not side-splittingly funny. Some of the attempts at throwback humor instead come across as trying to sell the same joke again as new, especially the run-ins with the cop. Perhaps if the situations offered some variance, then it would be funnier. Mostly the gags are clever, and they’ll induce a good smile, but they aren’t strong enough to illicit a huge response.
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+++++++++


The Ice Harvest
Review by Jon Waterman

1/2 star

Charlie and Vic have just pulled off a monumental robbery. They are currently in possession of two million dollars, and the plan went off without a hitch. Or at least they believed so. Somehow the boss they stole from got wind of the scheme, and he is sending his goons after the crooks. Charlie and Vic find themselves trying to figure out a way to remain out of sight and away from each other. But with un-trustworthy Vic is the guy handling the cash and the gun-wielding baddies chasing them, Charlie just may get a little too anxious. It’s a slippery slope of a Christmas caper.

And they fall flat on their face on the black comedic ice. Writers Richard Russo and Robert Benton completely fail to produce a believable, exciting, interesting, intriguing, funny, thrilling, mind-warping heist picture. The biggest problem is that the film is set up to be a comedy. If it doesn’t attempt to make you laugh, there is absolutely no way it could ever work. There are too many zany mishap situations that occur to allow for a straight crime flick. Unfortunately, the comedy isn’t efficient, rapid firing or on target.
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+++++++++


The NeverEnding Story
Review by Jon Waterman

***

Bastian Bux gets teased a lot at school. Bullies tend to chase him down and throw him into dumpsters. In order to escape the pressures of daily life, he runs and hides up in the school’s attic. One day before doing so, he wanders inside an old bookstore. There he encounters an old man that tells young Bastian about a book unlike any other. This book will immerse you in ways previously thought impossible. Intrigued, Bastian borrows the book and runs up into the school attic and begins to read away. What he finds is fantasy world on the verge of being destroyed by the abominable creature known as The Nothing. The only hope the land has to survive is for Bastian to read on and root for the story’s boy warrior, Atreyu.

I gotta tell ya, maybe if/when I was younger, I’d have a little more sympathy for Bastian. But watching it as a twenty-something makes me see that kid was a huge geek and he really didn’t do himself any favors with the way he acted. I’m not saying he was asking for it, necessarily, but come on – the kid plays hooky by going to a bookstore and hiding IN SCHOOL. Try to have a little common sense by not going down that alley or wearing that backpack, or at least change your name, Bastian Bux (no one will think to rhyme that).
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+++++++++


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Review by Jon Waterman

**

It’s his fourth year at Hogwarts and young Harry Potter is starting to grow up. Some aspects of his budding adulthood are voluntary, such as his romantic feelings towards a particular classmate and what can safely be assumed as being his first date. Other aspects are forced. His name gets entered and then selected to participate in the Tri-Wizard tournament; an extremely dangerous competition designed to act as the be all and end all (sometimes literally) to determine the best student wizards. Since Potter is the first underage sorcerer to participate in the contest reserved for elite near graduates, one can only assume that outside forces are interfering…but what…or whom?

“I love magic,” says a wide-eyed Harry Potter as he stands in sheer amazement that a tent that looks so tiny on the outside can actually be as palatial and spacious on the inside. This simple statement essentially sums up the status of this series of movies. We’ve seen it all before, but they try to play it off as new. It should be obvious to everyone that the tent will be able to easily accommodate the ten or so people as they enter clown car style, yet for some reason the person who should be least surprised is the most.
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++++++++


Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic
Review by Jon Waterman

***

Sarah is sitting around the house with a couple of friends as they talk about all the projects they have going on. When it comes time for her turn, Sarah is forced to make up something in order to sound popular and busy. What she comes up with is a live stage show that night in which she will sing, dance and tell jokes about everything and anything, including AIDS, the holocaust, dead relatives and strippers. So, now it’s time to make it happen, because her friends are going to be watching backstage. Can she pull it off?

The answer is yes. That’s just the opening sketch. The rest of the film is devoted to showing us her stage show interspersed with a few songs shot separately as music videos. If they’re going to break it up with anything, I wish they had included more sketches a la “Pulp Comics” (except funny). Although the songs are filmed nicely and have a couple good lines, mostly they fail miserably. Her standard surprising, out of left field approach is missing most of the time, especially when the chorus has to be repeated or the premise of the song is picked up.
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