There are very few movies with a reputation as bad as that of The Hunting Party. It’s mean-spirited, gory and not afraid to offend its audience, and those are just the positive things…

It starts with cattle baron Gene Hackman mistreating his wife Candice Bergen, possibly as compensation for his failure in bed (although this was unclear, maybe due to the jumpy editing, as this interlude is inter-cut in the UK with some non-BBFC-friendly animal slaughter).  It’s nothing personal, as he swiftly moves on to stubbing out his cigar on prostitutes in a clunky metaphorical way.  It’s an early prototype for Hackman’s Western Villain character (see Unforgiven and The Quick and the Dead), and he’s immediately right at home, leading a bunch of equally odious rich friends on a hunting trip using new-fangled rifles which can drop a target at 800 yards.  At this point, ranch hand Oliver Reed makes the bone-headed decision to kidnap schoolteacher Bergen, as he wants to learn to read (?) The rest of the film follows them as Hackman changes the purpose of his trip and pursues Reed,  Bergen and their gang across the desert – as was common at the time, Almeria stands in for the desert areas of the US.

"Look, forget the rape, how about some peaches?"

Reed is more sympathetic than usual, despite playing his typical unshaven thug, and Bergen looks pretty, in much the same way as she did in Soldier Blue a couple of years earlier  – she must have tired of atrocity-based westerns after this.  I suspect her rough treatment and subsequent acquiescence/ Stockholm Syndrome is the thing that offended critics the most  – she seems willing to tolerate rape and kidnap once she’s given a few peaches by Reed, in the single worst-judged comic interlude I can remember.

While most critics dismiss The Hunting Party as nothing more than a mean-spirited excuse to cash in on Spanish tax breaks and the permissive attitude to violence ushered in by The Wild Bunch a few years earlier, it’s actually a tense and reasonably intelligent depiction of obsession and its damaging effects. It’s certainly a better movie than the compromised and dull Shalako, which really looks like a multi-national attempt to make a western.

TV veteran Don Medford handles things more competently than most of his low-budget contemporaries, progressing the story at just the right speed and getting fine performances out of the multi-national cast. There’s also a terrific melodic score in the Morricone vein by Italian composer Riz Ortolani, only stumbling in the aforementioned ‘peaches’ scene. There’s nothing worse than broad European comedy underscored by plucked strings, though that didn’t stop most spaghetti westerns from attempting it. Even Leone was unable to avoid embarrassment in this type of scene.

"This back projection will make me look ridiculous!"

As for the much-criticised gore, if anything the movie underplays the effects of being shot with a rifle from 800 yards, and is nowhere near the Savini-style splatter-fest that you might be led to expect. Given the era, you also get any number of unsubtle Vietnam metaphors, unavoidable with hindsight but also coherently handled in a western context.

All the cast play villains in one way or another, although some have doubts about the increasing headcount, leading to a continuous reassessment of the audience’s loyalties. It’s admittedly a harsh and unforgiving story, but that’s exactly the point, and Medford has the integrity to carry the story through to its only logical conclusion.

It’s not for all the family, but for western completists, it’s one of the more interesting movies of the early ’70s boom.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Vanishing on 7th Street is the latest movie from Brad Anderson, who has had a mixed career since his breakthrough with Session 9. It’s a Twilight Zone-style story, also owing a bit to the old Stephen King novella The Langoliers (filmed indifferently for TV by Tom Holland in 1995). A few random characters are isolated by darkness encroaching on their everyday environments in Detroit. When I say darkness, that’s literally what it is, creeping in at the edge of the screen and removing any unfortunate bystanders from existence, and forcing our heroes to keep themselves well-lit and hold back the night.

John Leguizamo in Vanishing on 7th Street

You’ll probably know already if you’re likely to enjoy this set-up, and Anderson tries the patience of even the most committed Rod Serling fan in the movie’s early stages, while our less than admirable hero (Haydn Christensen) takes his time to meet up with the always-irritating Thandie Newton in a bar. Fortunately for us, the other two main characters are played by newcomer Jacob Latimore, as the son of the missing bar owner, and John Leguizamo as a movie theater projectionist. AMC get prominent product placement due to this, which makes the movie’s non-existent theatrical run even more of  a mystery.

The budget is very low, the effects are just about passable, and its not a movie to watch if you’re waiting for a pat explanation of the  events, but there are enough weird and scary moments to keep you entertained if you’re willing to go along with the premise. And if you don’t ask why the main characters don’t set the whole city on fire rather than gather round one generator with a limited fuel supply. It’s great to see Leguizamo playing a sympathetic character for a change, and he takes the chance to act everyone else off screen.

Anderson eventually comes up with a graceful ending, if not any sort of logical resolution, and I suspect it’s the lack of an easy answer that accounts for the negative reviews. While it’s not earth-shattering,  Vanishing on 7th Street is quirky and memorable and is worth your time.

Mild Peril Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Related articles

• Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) (cinemaroll.com)

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld takes the central role of Mattie in the Coens’ new adaptation of the classic Charles Portis novel True Grit, as a young girl searching for her father’s killers.  Jeff Bridges gets the eye-catching role (ouch) of Reuben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn, aged gun-hand, and Matt Damon plays the dandy  Texas Ranger LaBeouf, dragged along with Rooster in Maddie’s quest.

"I'm a foolish old man who's been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpie in trousers and a nincompoop"

Despite the brilliance of the novel, most people will be viewing the movie in light of the 1969 Henry Hathaway adaptation which won  John Wayne his only Oscar, and seeing how Bridges measures up. (To be honest, I feel that John Wayne has done more damage than good to the reputation of the western. This is a little unfair, as Wayne was perfect for as lot of his roles, defining an entire era of the genre, and later on using his archetype to make deliberate contrasting points. However the two became so closely aligned that his  limitations have become viewed as those of the entire genre).

The good news is that Bridges makes the part his own by staying close to the novel’s original description, and in fact this is the path taken by the Coens for the movie as a whole. Steinfeld is essential to the movie’s success, and thankfully she seem to be a real discovery, easily out-acting Kim Darby in the original. Similarly, Matt Damon turns in one of his best performances, and isn’t afraid to send himself up as a man with an inflated view of his own achievements.

As with all movies by the Coen brothers, True Grit treads a fine line between making a serious genre movie, and parodying that genre of movie. Here they retain a lot of the novel’s sly and witty dialogue, which was lost a bit in the broader humour of the earlier adapatation, and their love of wordplay is perfectly aligned with Portis’ sensibilities. The Victorian-era dialogue is used not just for comic effect but to remind us of the precise era in history, in a similar way to Deadwood or The Assassination of Jesse James (which shares cinematographer Roger Deakins with this movie).

So forget the 1969 version and enjoy this as a great version of a great novel.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Related articles

• “True Grit” (2010) or “No Country for Young Girls” (markewilk.wordpress.com)
• Movie Review No.49: True Grit (2010) (filmdump.wordpress.com)
• True Grit (themoviereport.net)
• True Grit (thesefilmsarelinked.cabinpressure.co.uk)

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

A downbeat and atmospheric adaptation of Daniel Woodrell’s bestseller, Winter’s Bone stars Jennifer Lawrence as a girl searching for her father in the bleak setting of the Ozark mountains.  As she risks losing her home and custody of her younger siblings, she ventures into unsafe territory and puts her own life at risk in an attempt to uncover the truth.

Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes

Director Deborah Granik keeps the mood sombre, making the winter in Missouri look particularly uninviting, all blues and greys and broken landscapes. In fact she overdoes it a bit, deliberately stacking the cards by neglecting the natural beauty of the area. Similarly, there’s one interlude of live bluegrass performance, the least you could expect in this setting, but the spare acoustic soundtrack is largely designed to unnerve the audience, lending thriller atmospherics to scenes that otherwise don’t earn them.

To reinforce this approach, the cast members have been chosen for their haggard and weather-beaten qualities. Lawrence is the exception, and is so good in the central performance that she hardly appears to be acting at all. There are a couple more familiar faces: Garrett Dillahunt plays the shifty local sheriff, and John Hawkes takes the honours with a performance that gradually wins your sympathy against the odds.

In the end it’s hard to recommend Winter’s Bone to a mainstream audience as its single-mindedness and meticulously created atmosphere spills over into a relentless downbeat mood, with only a couple of sly jokes to alleviate the grimness. If that’s your thing, then  you’ll find it rewards your patience fully.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Related articles

• On Location: The Frozen Ozarks Of ‘Winter’s Bone’ (npr.org)
• Winter’s Bone Interview (mrmovietimes.com)
• Winter’s Bone (mrmovietimes.com)

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

I first saw the Skyline trailer last year, and it looked impressive in a post-pub sort of way, so I was looking forward to its release despite it being from the Strause brothers, makers of the much-maligned AVP: Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem. However I’m now coming late to this on DVD, and in the meantime it’s picked up negative word of mouth to almost rival its antecedent.

It’s your basic alien invasion plot, and pitches you into the drama immediately as bright lights descend from the sky. I was relieved that there wasn’t going to be any of the ‘getting to know annoying characters’ stuff that scuppered Cloverfield, but before I had time to blink, the dreaded ’15 hours earlier’ card appeared.  (I don’t know about you, but I hate this sort of thing; unless there’s some clever reason for messing about with time lines, I just want to be told the story)

The characters turn out to be exactly the sort of people who deserve to be crushed under giant alien feet: the central couple (played by Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson) spend all their time arguing about being offered a job with lots of money, which is not an endearing trait in a recession. TV veteran David Zayas comes across a bit better as the building superintendent, but the yuppie friends are cannon fodder.  Some of the criticism is correct but it’s fish in a barrel stuff. Of course Eric Balfour is better suited to quirky supporting roles than leading man roles, and most of the supporting cast don’t approach his level of professionalism.

What? Behind me?

Thankfully it doesn’t take long before the aliens bring some much-needed action to the scenario, and this is where the movie delivers.  Some surprisingly expensive-looking damage is wrought to the area outside the central apartment, and it’s not limited to shadows and badly-lit model shots. Once the dawn breaks on the morning after the invasion, we get to see some huge scaly ships and beasts decimate the cast. The effects shots are as impressive as the earlier scenes were tedious, and I expect that most of the potential audience will be happy with the balance this way round.

Dramatically it’s a bit hard to defend, but I have to admit that the action scenes put to shame movies with ten times the budget of Skyline. I would have given it a qualified recommendation if it wasn’t for the bizarre  finale, where Balfour and Thompson rediscover their love for each other and the movie goes into space and completely loses its marbles. It’s certainly memorable and I suspect the movie will be looked on more kindly in a few years time.

Mild Peril Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Redeye, barman

If ever a title was guaranteed to get me in a cinema, it’s Cowboys and Aliens (although the strategy didn’t work for Zombie Strippers). When I was a kid, my dad was a big cowboy fan, and I couldn’t understand why he’d watch a formulaic dusty shoot-out in a one-horse town when all the universe beckoned, along with an infinite variety of scaly enemies. Forty years later, and it’s true that you  turn into your parents…

So I went into Cowboys and Aliens hoping for a 80/20 mix in that order, and this is just one of the things that Jon Favreau and the various writers get exactly right. Some reviews have criticised the movie for not subverting the genre, or doing anything to surprise the audience;  I’d argue that there are some things that you not only expect but demand from a movie like this, and deep political statements are not one of them. There’s plenty of room elsewhere for profundity.

This is not to say that it isn’t a smart movie;  the tone is pitched perfectly with a slight wink but never resorting to broad comedy, and the cliches are ticked off without being hammered home. And there are plenty of in-jokes for fans of both genres. Some irony-free critics have called it humourless, and it’s their loss.

Daniel Craig is perfect as the monotone hero determined to make up for his past life and do the right thing. He looks like he’s made out of cowhide, and I found myself wishing that this was a genuine 100% western so we could see him in more punch-ups and shootouts. For the first third of the movie, the only concession to SF is the mysterious bracelet on Craig’s wrist, and the movie ambles along pleasingly, introducing a strong supporting cast: Olivia Wilde as the love interest, Clancy Brown as the local preacher/doctor with a nice line in wisecracks, Sam Rockwell as the bespectacled big city boy who can’t shoot, and Harrison Ford as the Gene Hackman character who rules the area despite the efforts of the honest sheriff Keith Carradine.

When the aliens actually appear, their technology seems to be aligned to the time, full of gears and mechanical parts – of course this makes no sense but it looks nice. The aliens themselves owe a lot to Giger’s Alien design, except when they run, adopting a crab-like stance suited to fighting men on horseback.  Thankfully the aliens are not the limp glowing Spielberg type, and want nothing else but to engage in a fight to the death, and the locals are equally glad to reciprocate. This idea seems to have offended a few critics, who seem determined to view this movie through their own preconceptions.

They kidnap a bunch of townspeople and the stage is set (sorry) for the big showdown. Along the way, Craig remembers his past, Harrison Ford learns to be a better father and to respect the native American, and Rockwell learns to shoot at the exact moment it becomes necessary. And Walton Goggins turns up, always a plus.

While none of this will surprise you, it’s beautifully made and so good-natured that you’d have to be in a bad mood not to enjoy it. It treats the goofy idea with an admirably straight face and Craig has never been this good. After Iron Man and this movie, Jon Favreau is no longer just the bloke from Swingers.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Related articles

• Cowboys & Aliens: 10 Things I Liked, 5 Things I Didn’t (filmschoolrejects.com)

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Largely forgotten Europudding of a western, uniting Connery and Bardot, two of the biggest stars of the time.  It’s based on a story by Western veteran Louis L’Amour, although it also bears a strong resemblance to Elmore Leonard’s story Hombre, filmed a couple of years earlier with Paul Newman in the title role.

It’s your basic fishes out of water story, with smug patronising Europeans finding their years of culture and civilisation to be useless in the face of the harsher elements of the new world. (Of course this assumption is also a bit patronising in itself;  the British Empire wasn’t built on polite language).  Their hunting party moves on to Apache land and is soon under threat from understandably miffed natives, including Chato played here by Woody Strode.  Presumably this is based on the same character to be played a few years later by Charles Bronson in Chato’s Land, with equal disregard for ethnic authenticity.

Is this thing on?

Among the supporting cast you’ve got Stephen Boyd as a leering villain and assorted fine European actors, including Jack Hawkins who had undergone throat surgery a few years earlier; as a result he wears a series of unlikely high collars and cravats, as well as being dubbed by Charles Gray. Even more unlikely is the presence of English comic actor Eric Sykes as a butler called Mako – no idea what to make of that. Honor Blackman plays Hawkins’ hideous wife, who is clearly destined for an unpleasant end at the hands of the Apaches – or she would be if the censor didn’t usually intervene with no concern for continuity.

But it’s Connery and Bardot who are the star attraction – the tag-line says  ‘Sean Connery is Shalako! Shalako means action! Action means Bardot!‘ which can’t be logically possible unless Sean Connery is Bardot…  Connery’s wig and accent are a bit disconcerting, but that’s nothing new; Bardot pouts and flutters her eyelids without doing anything approaching acting, although she does fire a gun at one point. Both stars look good throughout the action and manage the inevitable clinch when the plot starts to flag.

Edward Dmytryk directs adequately but doesn’t seem to have the stomach to deliver the violence that the story more or less demands to make its point (and which had become the norm in movies filmed in Almeria like this one).  This is especially the case if you compare Shalako with its contemporaries like Don Medford’s spectacularly harsh The Hunting Party, or even Valdez Is Coming, which leave this movie looking like the compromised star vehicle it undoubtedly is.

Mild Peril Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

"Martin Vanger, Kobayashi, Redfoot, Henrik Vanger..."

Excellent Swedish adaptation of the first in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. Michael Nyqvist stars as crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recruited to investigate the death of a young girl 30 years previously in a remote part of Sweden. Noomi Rapace plays emo bisexual computer hacker Lisbeth Salander who ends up on Blomkvist’s side in the battle against assorted evil authority figures.

Both actors (when did actresses become actors?) fit very well into the Larsson descriptions, although maybe maybe Nyqvist takes ‘grimly determined’ to unnecessary levels. Rapace is also shorn of any softer edges, which is a bit of a mistake in that she takes on an air of invincibility as a result.

Speaking of which, Nyqvist appeared in both Beck and Wallander; from the latter he’s brought along Lena Endre who plays Millennium magazine’s editor here, and from the former Peter Haber and Ingvar Hirdvall. Both of these play against their established type, and Haber’s terrific performance adds some much-needed flair to the general understatement going on all around him. The only other familiar face to me is Sven Bertil Taube, star of Puppet on a Chain and The Eagle Has Landed in a previous life.

Overall it’s a fine version of the novel, and probably works better if you haven’t any preconceptions. Even if you have, the faults are nitpicking and you’ll be entertained without being bored.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Brosnan and Neeson

I love a good western; hell, I love a bad western. Unfortunately we don’t get many these days, but here’s one and it’s 95% good.

Liam Neeson chases Pierce Brosnan across some startling scenery at the end of the civil war, from snowy mountains to desert plains, and there’s a fair bit of gory violence along the  way, as well as a fine supporting cast of villains (Michael Wincott, Ed Lauter and Xander Berkeley among them). Thematically it’s similar to The Outlaw Josey Wales in its view on the  pointlessness of living for revenge; I wondered if the casting of two actors born on the opposite sides of the Irish conflict was just coincidence.

Seraphim Falls is beautifully made by TV director David Von Ancken and photographed by John Toll. However, it all gets a bit mystical at the end, when various characters turn up representing the Devil and Greed, and leaving the viewer uncertain as to which bits really happened. Given the harsh reality of the first 2 hours, it’s a bit of a let-down,  at least for me, even if the title should have given it away.

Well worth watching, if only to see Brosnan acting rather then looking like a mannequin.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more

Reunited with director Tony Scott for the third time, Denzel Washington plays a New Orleans ATF agent brought in to investigate the bombing of a car ferry. A shadowy FBI agent  played by Val Kilmer introduces him to the latest surveillance technology, which can look in detail at the events of exactly four and a half days ago (no, don’t ask me).

The movie then becomes a combination of romance, police procedural and time/space paradox story, all filmed with Scott’s usual over-cranked style. As with Man On Fire, there’s a terrific score by Harry Gregson-Williams and inventive visuals courtesy of Scott and DP Paul Cameron, and Washington, Kilmer and Jim Caveziel do their best to give it some roots in reality. It’s the sort of movie that works well on  second viewing (there must be a joke here somewhere), even if you don’t fall for the ‘science’ involved.

The DVD is well presented but only contains some short extra features. Otherwise, it’s a very entertaining movie.

Mild Peril Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Mild Peril - movie reviews and more