Quentin Tarantino's been on such a powerful run the last few years that it's easy to forget that the beginning of his career as a filmmaker was predominantly spent making incredibly well-written, well-crafted homages to other genre films. While he's never lost this unique style for his latter films (Inglorious Basterds is a Nazisploitation flick i.e. Illsa and the She-Wolves, Django is blacksploitation meets spaghetti westerns), he's put it to good use discussing topics like race, propaganda and the misappropriation of culture.
In contrast The Hateful Eight feels like Tarantino cutting loose. Taking a step back from controversial topics and returning to a masterful dissection of linear storytelling. Admittedly one flavored with the slick dialogue, big characters and sadistic violence that one expects from the man. The result is easily one of the most violent, twisted and nihilistic films to come out in a long time but no less fascinating and most importantly entertaining for it.
The deceptively simple set-up finds Kurt Russell as John 'The Hangman' Ruth escorting his bounty Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to hang sometime in post-civil war Wyoming. Along the road he picks up two disreputable characters; fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and renegade-turned-sherriff (he claims) Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). With a blizzard threatening to freeze them the group take shelter in Minnie's Haberdashery only to find the proprietor has left for the week, a group of likewise disreputables are taking refuge and everyone finds something amiss about the whole situation.
In fact everyone at Minnie's Haberdashery is hiding something or other and it's there that the film has more in common with Agatha Christie than Charles Portis. With the titular eight (plus Ruth's driver O.B.) trapped together watching Tarantino's dialogue slowly nurse out details of characters, almost all of whom are working to mislead both each other and the audience.
This is the closest the film comes to an underlying theme. Like the mythologised heroes and villains of the old west the character know each other mostly by reputation. Ruth and Warren are notorious as bounty hunters and Mannix is a known vigilante and we only have his word that he's now Sheriff of the nearby town. Meanwhile the other members of the octet include General Smithers (Bruce Dern), a confederate soldier with a reputation of his own, Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) a soft-spoken Englishman with his own business cards, Joe Gage a withdrawn cowboy content to write his memoirs and Bob a suspicious Mexican who claims to be running the place in Minnie's absence.
Inevitably tensions flare between the group and allow the cracks in each facade to emerge. Most notably Warren's who makes it clear that he is no parallel to Tarantino's Django. Stripped of any romanticism Jackson's Warren freely admits both his heroics during the civil war and his work as a bounty hunter is purely an excuse to revenge himself on white people. Revealing the depth of his sociopathy in an epic monologue that serves at the catalyst for everything to go to hell in the final chapters.
While Jackson is the showstopping performance everyone else takes the opportunity to quietly impress upon us. As the sole cast member with nothing to hide Leigh's Domergue occupies the role of a mischevious imp, providing some of the film's dark humour as she gestures and cracks unsavory remarks (to say the least). Unfortunately she's also the character that suffers the worst despite committing the least of the hateful eights atrocities. Tarantino's treatment of her feels constantly like a tonal bait and switch, inviting us to laugh at the slapstick nature with which she's assaulted only to make us feel guilty as the camera lingers on her agonized face and dripping blood.
The real surprise here though is Walton Goggins as Mannix. Goggins has been around for years as the kind of actor you've always seen but could never name, usually playing foolhardy, disreputable characters like Mannix. Here he's playing delightfully to type but positioned as a character who always seems just on the verge of doing the right thing. He never approaches anything resembling redemption, remaining a thoroughly despicable bigot, unapologetic over his past atrocities but Tarantino at least gives him a satisfying conclusion.
As usual Tarantino's craftsmanship is well on display. His dialogue feels at once typically otherworldly yet completely natural. With few exceptions the cinematography passes by beautifully with little of the directorial flair that can often break the illusion. As with Django Unchained the films Achilles heel is in the editing. It seems Tarantino, along with the audience, is still morning the loss of Sally Menke. The opening shots drag on far beyond the point of spectacle, the chapter breaks merely serve to stall the proceedings and the first hour could stand to be significantly trimmed. The film pick up momentum significantly once we enter Minnie's Haberdashery and doesn't drag again until the final moments.
The Hateful Eight is unlikely to go down as Tarantino's finest film. It's a compelling mystery drama clothed as a Western but does very little new with the material. Filmmakers have been trying to destroy the romance of the Old West since the days of Soldier Blue and while Tarantino brings a fresh new take it isn't worth the slog of the films weaker moments. When it works though, it works. Fun, shocking, tense, even sad at times. It's the kind of film I'm willing to call a flawed gem, something that shines to me and maybe you too.
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Monday, 11 January 2016
Top 10 of 2015
So 2015 kind of flew by and while it was a rich and full year of films, many scoring highly, I still struggled to fill out a top ten. Make no mistake I saw my fair share of films, possibly more than any other year, but there was a distinct lack of films that specifically tweaked even my broad range of turn-ons. With much of the good stuff falling just short and even the two Marvel movies turning out fairly vanilla it's been a frustrating thing to watch. But thanks to playing catch up on DVD and courtesy of Bristol's Cube Microplex I have managed to film ten films releases in 2015 that made the grade.
Now bear in mind I didn't manage to see everything so if you're surprised that Sicario, Inside Out, Brooklyn or Bridge of Spies are absent just assume I would have otherwise added them. This also applies to films already out in the US but which won't reach my eyes until early 2016. Hence The Revenant and The Hateful Eight being omitted. They may appear in my Top 10 for the following year though. So without further ado:
10) Steve Jobs
I'll be the first to admit that Aaron Sorkin is a hit and miss scriptwriter (an opinion that may change when I finally mainline The West Wing) but Steve Jobs is a solid hit. A duel acting masterclass from Fassbender and Winslet with supporting turns from Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogan and Michael Stuhlberg. Thanks to Danny Boyle's direction the two hours of solid tech talk flows seamlessly and opens a window into the mind of a deeply...well deeply obnoxious human being. That said, Sorkin's version of the Apple CEO is an endlessly watchable creature. Determined, calculating, ruthless Fassbender's Jobs is always in deep thought but every once in a while he seems to be thinking about something other than himself.
9) Trumbo
Granted this is in part cheating since the film won't be released until later in the coming year. Still it's interesting to pick Trumbo since it's ultimately a film that doesn't work. It's the story of the Hollywood 10, ten writers blacklisted during the witch-hunts of the McCarthy era 'Red Scare'. It's something that should be profoundly tragic, ten talented people who were denied a livelihood and many never regained it. Yet Trumbo is one of the most cartoonishly comical films of the year burying Bryan Cranston under a Salvador Dali 'tache and high-pitched squawk. Similarly ostentatious turns come from the likes of Helen Mirren, John Goodman and Christian Berkel as very real figures from Hollywood's past. And somehow it carried itself thanks to a consistently amusing script and a sympathetic performance from Cranston.
8) The Martian
The Martian has appeared on numerous top ten lists already, even at the top of some and well-deservedly. It's definitely one of the most well-crafted films of the year, a smart hard science rescue film that's also incredibly fun and compelling to watch. The quality of which is vastly inflated by the best Matt Damon performance in years, playing the ultimate 'science bro' with a jokey demeanor that never ignores that weight or desperation of his situation. My only regret is that, with it being neither as gripping as Gravity or as emotionally powerful as Moon it just couldn't make it into the top five.
7) The Clouds of Sils Maria
This was a small but endearing look into the representation of women in the arts. Starring Juliette Binoche as an aging actress preparing for an upcoming role as the older counterpart to the ingenue role that once made her famous. Playing off her is an on-form Kristen Stewart as her co-dependent personal assistant who tries to help her come to terms with the role. The interplay between the two is organic and telling as the many layers to both their relationship and the film begin to surface. It's an endlessly watchable curiosity that leaves you pondering days after.
6) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens logically shouldn't work. It's a brazen rehash of the original Star Wars film coloured with a diverse cast and countless nostalgia nods to the franchise, and yet work it does. Sure once iconic moments like the destruction of a planet or an assault on a certain enemy superweapon lose their emotional impact but everything with a new twist feels new and fresh and fun in a way I can't remember Star Wars feeling like. Abrams' cinematography makes you constantly feel in the moment of a swiftly-moving story, the characters and suitably new spins on established archetypes, the old guard cast-members are as smooth as they've ever been and I was genuinely curious to see where things go.
5) Dear White People
This didn't get a wide distribution in....anywhere but in terms of this years comedy offerings it has to be the best. Ostensibly a film about race and racial identity centered on four black students at a predominantly white Ivy league college. Each one is trying discover or establish their own personal identity while dealing with their white peers constantly misappropriating black identity. It's a smart look at race, white privilege, student radicalism and the relationships between different cultures that manages to be brilliantly funny throughout if a little soapboxy at times.
4) Carol
At the time of writing Carol is the big awards-baiting 'issue' movie still being talked about and while it checks all the boxes of such a film it still deserves the recognition. Carol is a sweet, endearing love story between two women completely sold by the performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Refreshingly the struggles of such a relationship in a less enlightened period setting are secondary to the much more personal conflicts between two very different people overcome by a strong attraction. Powerful, emotive and endlessly captivating thanks to a swift and elegant direction by Todd Haynes.
3) Crimson Peak
I know, I know. It isn't scary. It's too melodramatic. It's predictable. Mia Wasikowska is magically able to walk off a broken leg (OK that one's kinda valid). Thing is while Crimson Peak has all of these problems it still contains everything I love about Guillermo Del Toro while still being a very compelling Gothic Romance. Big, bombastic, entertaining characters, elaborately grim sets and a central love story that is at once a complete pastiche yet still wholly believable. This was a film that I loved from start to finish.
2) Ex Machina
This was a film that came out at the start of the year and stayed in my consciousness throughout. A smartly written film that encompasses a range of topics from trans-humanism to gender dynamics. It pitches itself as a hard science fiction film until the very last moments when it turns into a grim horror and yet never loses its aesthetic identity. Driven by smart, well-characterised performances from Dominhal Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and a deceptive turn from rising star Alicia Vikander.
1) Mad Max: Fury Road
Well What else could it be? Fury Road is hands down some of the most fun I've had in the cinema this year. Easily the best action film since The Raid 2, proof that you can make an old-school, eighties bone-cruncher that fits in a modern world that reflects modern issues. Imperator Furiosa is one of the most badass action women since Ellen Ripley, Tom Hardy makes an iconic role his own and George Miller builds a fully realised post-apocalyptic wasteland with its own culture and nuances. There's no film in 2015 that has provoked as much feeling or thought as Mad Max and that's why it's my film of the year.
Now bear in mind I didn't manage to see everything so if you're surprised that Sicario, Inside Out, Brooklyn or Bridge of Spies are absent just assume I would have otherwise added them. This also applies to films already out in the US but which won't reach my eyes until early 2016. Hence The Revenant and The Hateful Eight being omitted. They may appear in my Top 10 for the following year though. So without further ado:
10) Steve Jobs
I'll be the first to admit that Aaron Sorkin is a hit and miss scriptwriter (an opinion that may change when I finally mainline The West Wing) but Steve Jobs is a solid hit. A duel acting masterclass from Fassbender and Winslet with supporting turns from Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogan and Michael Stuhlberg. Thanks to Danny Boyle's direction the two hours of solid tech talk flows seamlessly and opens a window into the mind of a deeply...well deeply obnoxious human being. That said, Sorkin's version of the Apple CEO is an endlessly watchable creature. Determined, calculating, ruthless Fassbender's Jobs is always in deep thought but every once in a while he seems to be thinking about something other than himself.
9) Trumbo
Granted this is in part cheating since the film won't be released until later in the coming year. Still it's interesting to pick Trumbo since it's ultimately a film that doesn't work. It's the story of the Hollywood 10, ten writers blacklisted during the witch-hunts of the McCarthy era 'Red Scare'. It's something that should be profoundly tragic, ten talented people who were denied a livelihood and many never regained it. Yet Trumbo is one of the most cartoonishly comical films of the year burying Bryan Cranston under a Salvador Dali 'tache and high-pitched squawk. Similarly ostentatious turns come from the likes of Helen Mirren, John Goodman and Christian Berkel as very real figures from Hollywood's past. And somehow it carried itself thanks to a consistently amusing script and a sympathetic performance from Cranston.
8) The Martian
The Martian has appeared on numerous top ten lists already, even at the top of some and well-deservedly. It's definitely one of the most well-crafted films of the year, a smart hard science rescue film that's also incredibly fun and compelling to watch. The quality of which is vastly inflated by the best Matt Damon performance in years, playing the ultimate 'science bro' with a jokey demeanor that never ignores that weight or desperation of his situation. My only regret is that, with it being neither as gripping as Gravity or as emotionally powerful as Moon it just couldn't make it into the top five.
7) The Clouds of Sils Maria
This was a small but endearing look into the representation of women in the arts. Starring Juliette Binoche as an aging actress preparing for an upcoming role as the older counterpart to the ingenue role that once made her famous. Playing off her is an on-form Kristen Stewart as her co-dependent personal assistant who tries to help her come to terms with the role. The interplay between the two is organic and telling as the many layers to both their relationship and the film begin to surface. It's an endlessly watchable curiosity that leaves you pondering days after.
6) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens logically shouldn't work. It's a brazen rehash of the original Star Wars film coloured with a diverse cast and countless nostalgia nods to the franchise, and yet work it does. Sure once iconic moments like the destruction of a planet or an assault on a certain enemy superweapon lose their emotional impact but everything with a new twist feels new and fresh and fun in a way I can't remember Star Wars feeling like. Abrams' cinematography makes you constantly feel in the moment of a swiftly-moving story, the characters and suitably new spins on established archetypes, the old guard cast-members are as smooth as they've ever been and I was genuinely curious to see where things go.
5) Dear White People
This didn't get a wide distribution in....anywhere but in terms of this years comedy offerings it has to be the best. Ostensibly a film about race and racial identity centered on four black students at a predominantly white Ivy league college. Each one is trying discover or establish their own personal identity while dealing with their white peers constantly misappropriating black identity. It's a smart look at race, white privilege, student radicalism and the relationships between different cultures that manages to be brilliantly funny throughout if a little soapboxy at times.
4) Carol
At the time of writing Carol is the big awards-baiting 'issue' movie still being talked about and while it checks all the boxes of such a film it still deserves the recognition. Carol is a sweet, endearing love story between two women completely sold by the performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Refreshingly the struggles of such a relationship in a less enlightened period setting are secondary to the much more personal conflicts between two very different people overcome by a strong attraction. Powerful, emotive and endlessly captivating thanks to a swift and elegant direction by Todd Haynes.
3) Crimson Peak
I know, I know. It isn't scary. It's too melodramatic. It's predictable. Mia Wasikowska is magically able to walk off a broken leg (OK that one's kinda valid). Thing is while Crimson Peak has all of these problems it still contains everything I love about Guillermo Del Toro while still being a very compelling Gothic Romance. Big, bombastic, entertaining characters, elaborately grim sets and a central love story that is at once a complete pastiche yet still wholly believable. This was a film that I loved from start to finish.
2) Ex Machina
This was a film that came out at the start of the year and stayed in my consciousness throughout. A smartly written film that encompasses a range of topics from trans-humanism to gender dynamics. It pitches itself as a hard science fiction film until the very last moments when it turns into a grim horror and yet never loses its aesthetic identity. Driven by smart, well-characterised performances from Dominhal Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and a deceptive turn from rising star Alicia Vikander.
1) Mad Max: Fury Road
Well What else could it be? Fury Road is hands down some of the most fun I've had in the cinema this year. Easily the best action film since The Raid 2, proof that you can make an old-school, eighties bone-cruncher that fits in a modern world that reflects modern issues. Imperator Furiosa is one of the most badass action women since Ellen Ripley, Tom Hardy makes an iconic role his own and George Miller builds a fully realised post-apocalyptic wasteland with its own culture and nuances. There's no film in 2015 that has provoked as much feeling or thought as Mad Max and that's why it's my film of the year.
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