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Archives For November 30, 1999

The Volcano

July 10, 2014 — Leave a comment

The Volcano, also known as Eyjafjallajökull, is the rather silly and fluffy tale of a divorced couple, played by Dany Boon and Valerie Bonnerton, travelling together to Greece for their daughter’s wedding. Unfortunately for them, the year is 2010 and a soon-to-be-famous Icelandic icecap has just blown its top. Hence the original tongue crippling title mentioned earlier. With their flight grounded, the feuding couple must work together to reach their destination.

Whilst The Volcano synopsis suggests its about divorcees duking it out (which to, to be fair, they literally do at one point), the scales are clearly tipped in Boon’s favour as the buttoned-down Alain. Bonnerton as Valerie is our catalyst of trouble. An affluent vet, she’s so overbearing and insulting, it’s no wonder Alain tries to ditch her at every turn. She’s Melissa McCarthy and Zach Galifianakis rolled up together and shaved. Is it a success when you can’t stand to be with a character straight from the get-go? Probably, but did they have to be so annoyingly successful. A gear change in the second act, thankfully, manages to temper things.

In terms of plot: Anyone familiar with the likes of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Due Date and honestly any comedy where two people who have an aversion to each other go on a timed journey, will know exactly what to expect. Plans go awry, deadlines aren’t met and everyone gets into a sticky situation involving a serial killer who thinks he’s Jesus. To be fair, that last one is probably new. Whilst The Volcano certainly isn’t surprising, it’s a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours in the cinema. Brace yourselves for the inevitable remake hitting a Cineplex near you.

About The Author
My name is John Noonan. I’m a freelance writer that specialises in arts and entertainment. From genre flicks to chick flicks, I love the stuff. So much so, I started a film review blog at earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com. I also contribute to online and hard copy press, including FilmInk magazine.

If you like what you see, I am available for hire. You can contact me via the social media channels above or the form on my home page.

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Frank (2014)

July 1, 2014 — Leave a comment

Frank Sidebottom was the alter ego of Chris Sievey. Or more correctly, Chris Sievey was the alter ego of Frank Sidebottom. Frank, with his cheap suits, nasally voice and, oh yes, his oversized Papier Mâché head, will be unfamiliar to audiences outside of the UK. Something which is likely to change with the release of Frank, Michael Fassbender’s latest; directed by Lenny Abrahamson.

Co-written by Jon Ronson, a member of Frank’s original entourage, Frank takes its inspiration from the man from Timperley (that’s a town in Cheshire for those of you not in the know), but pins it down with a large fictional nail. Domhnall Gleeson plays Jon; an office worker with desires to be the next big singer songwriter. His ‘big break’ arrives when he is asked to play keyboards for Soronpfbs; a band consisting of extroverts, mutes and mad people. All of whom idealise Frank (Michael Fassbender); their softly spoken perma-masked lead singer.

Fassbender is superb as the titular Frank, seemingly more emotive whilst wearing the mask and having to say his facial expressions out loud. Maggie Gyllenhaall plays his aggressively violent and emotional sidekick. Immediately mistrusting of Jon, this is one of Gyllenhaal’s best performances since Secretary.

‘You’re just gonna have to go with it,’ says Don (Scoot McNairy), the band’s manager, when Jon questions him about the logistics of wearing a mask 24 hours a day. A statement that becomes the film’s mantra. You’re either going to accept the next 90 minutes or your not. If you do, you’re letting yourself in for a heart-burstingly warm film that touches on the deconstruction of fame, the idea of identity and chasing after your band mates with a shovel.

About The Author
My name is John Noonan. I’m a freelance writer that specialises in arts and entertainment. From genre flicks to chick flicks, I love the stuff. So much so, I started a film review blog at earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com. I also contribute to online and hard copy press, including FilmInk magazine.

If you like what you see, I am available for hire. You can contact me via the social media channels above or the form on my home page.

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Before Dawn

June 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

A weekend in the country to heal the wounds of a crumbling marriage is the start of something much bigger in this British horror from first time director Dominic Brunt. With no phone reception, the couple, played by Brunt and his real life wife Joanne Mitchell, are unaware of the looming apocalypse affecting the larger cities. But then neither is the film to a certain extent.

Sticking to the formula of less is more, Before Dawn places characterisation before bloodshed to provide a more emotional kind of zombie film. Brunt’s direction isn’t particularly strong, but he certainly works well with what he’s got. A claustrophobic toe-to-toe with one of the undead in a garage is unbearably tense. Speaking of the zombies, they are uniformly used as metaphors in horror and here they are shorthand for the couple’s failings: infidelity, alcoholism and employment. As scales fall from the couple’s eyes, the assault on their cottage grows.

A tight and unsettling piece of work, with violence shocking because it is so sparse, Before Dawn isn’t an exemplar horror. But with a finale that proves the end justifies the means, it’s certainly worth pursuing.

Original review at http://filmink.com.au/reviews/before-dawn-dvd/

About The Author
My name is John Noonan. I’m a freelance writer that specialises in arts and entertainment. From genre flicks to chick flicks, I love the stuff. So much so, I started a film review blog at earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com. I also contribute to online and hard copy press, including FilmInk magazine.

If you like what you see, I am available for hire. You can contact me via the social media channels above or the form on my home page.

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The Frankenstein Theory

June 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

The found-footage genre has pretty much saturated the horror genre. Thought quick and affordable to make, you need that little something extra to stand out from the crowd of Paranormal Activity pretenders to the crown. In The Frankenstein Theory, a disgraced professor, believing himself to be related to the infamous Victor Frankenstein, leads an expedition to track down the iconic monster which he believes to be still alive.

Had anybody on board given the concept some thought, then it could have easily presented an interesting update of the gothic classic. A goal it fails to come even close to achieving. It’s not clear if the writers are trying to provide a revisionist attitude to Frankenstein’s monster, or whether they just skipped reading the novel to save themselves some time. Mary Shelly’s sentient creature is reduced to a howling git.

The premise of The Frankenstein Theory is relatively interesting, but it’s all just smoke and mirrors to conceal a Blair Witch Project rip-off. Instead, everyone seems happy to peddle out the usual clichés of night vision, action happening off camera and off the shelf characters shouting ‘what was that?’ and crying for their mums.

The original review can be found at: http://filmink.com.au/reviews/the-frankenstein-theory-dvd/

About The Author
My name is John Noonan. I’m a freelance writer that specialises in arts and entertainment. From genre flicks to chick flicks, I love the stuff. So much so, I started a film review blog at earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com. I also contribute to online and hard copy press, including FilmInk magazine.

If you like what you see, I am available for hire. You can contact me via the social media channels above or the form on my home page.

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20,000 Days on Earth

June 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

Human pipe cleaner, Nick Cave has a career that spans 40 years and encapsulates being a singer, writer, shit kicker, actor and connoisseur of narcotics. His output with The Birthday Party, to the Bad Seeds, to Grinderman, and numerous compositions with beardy Warren Ellis in between, has bounced from clenched fisted punk to soul gnawing eulogies to the dead. It will come as no surprise then that, like his back catalogue, 20,000 Days on Earth is hard to pin down and summarise.

Directed by video artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard (who have collaborated with Cave on numerous occasions) the artist lives out a fictional 24 hours in Brighton. Except it’s not all fictional, because here comes a candid interview that delves into Cave’s drug abuse and early days. And there’s Ellis breaking bread and discussing Nina Simone. But then the waters are muddied as Cave dips into an archive of photos and diaries set up for the film and disguised as something urgent Cave needs to deal with that day (He even cuts his meal with Ellis short to get there on time).

Yes, it’s all a construct. But not in the fashion we’ve become desensitized to thanks to the likes of the Kardashians and the rest of the E! news stable. We actually learn something about our subject, even if we’re not getting a full view behind the black velvet curtain. Cave’s family are rarely glimpsed, apart from a cheeky film night with his youngest children to watch Scarface.

It’s also a fitting portrait on the subject of aging gracefully and being forgotten. Not that Cave has any intention of doing either. As he drives around his hometown of Brighton, he also ferries around Kylie Minogue, Ray Winstone and Blixa Bargeld whose appearances are dressed up as Cave reminiscing, merely ghosts of an afterthought. They talk about the humility that comes with growing old and the added responsibilities that crop up.

On paper, it probably all seems jarring, but there’s something intrinsically organic about 20,000 Days on Earth that suggests that this was the only way you could build this cinematic monument to an artist.

Original review can be found at: http://earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/20000-days-on-earth-2014/

About The Author
My name is John Noonan. I’m a freelance writer that specialises in arts and entertainment. From genre flicks to chick flicks, I love the stuff. So much so, I started a film review blog at earlybirdfilm.wordpress.com. I also contribute to online and hard copy press, including FilmInk magazine.

If you like what you see, I am available for hire. You can contact me via the social media channels above or the form on my home page.

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