Categorie archief: Films

Cloverfield

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

(2008, USA)

Director: Matt Reeves
Written by: Drew Goddard
Cast: Blake Lively, Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Stahl-David

Running Time: 85 mins.

The team behind TV-series Lost, Alias and Felicity brings us a cinema experience that features much of the mystery and excitement that made those series such huge TV hits.

Cloverfield has been shrouded in mystery for obvious reasons. In the short trailer we could only see some realistic-looking disaster footage. What the disaster was, remained unknown until the movie premiered last month. Word of mouth did the rest. A giant monster attacking Manhattan? The best disaster movie since…well ever? Cinema-goers rushed to see it in swarms. After all, it sucks to be clueless when everybody’s discussing this phenomenon, doesn’t it?

Smart promotion, that’s for sure. But is this really a good movie? Well let’s just say the hype is well justified. In it’s short running time it manages to provide more thrills than a whole season of Lost. There is a brief introduction where we meet a group of friends. They’re having a goodbye party for one of them and videotape the events taking place. About ten minutes later the disaster starts. Buildings start collapsing and people are running scared. The group go outside to check it out and get thrown into a whirlwind of catastrophes.

Off course, one of the group members keeps on filming all the time. Even when he and his friends are attacked in a dark subway tunnel by some small insect-looking creatures. That the supposedly amateurish footage looks so sharp and covers exactly the right material is just something we’ll have to accept. After all, we are part of the disaster and don’t have time to think. The actors are, just as in Lost, model-like pretty and sophisticated. Producer J.J. Abrams should go find himself a new casting agency. The performances are good, but at least some more ‘real’ people would help the viewer to care more about their fate than with this fashionable bunch.

The Blair Witch Project hyped a style of film-making that has since been put to good and less good use. Cloverfield is an example of how it should be done. The images and soundtrack put the viewer right into the action. With its steady-cam shots and well-hidden special effects it brilliantly succeeds in making the audience part of the disaster. We are not merely observing Tom Cruise battling aliens in War of the Worlds. We have to stay focused on the screen all the time or we’ll get crushed or eaten alive.

The metaphor for 9-11 is striking. We have heard these screams of panic, and seen images of this ash-grey destruction many times before in news coverage. Typically for the team behind this movie, there is no explanation for the events taking place. It doesn’t matter. The ending is well-timed, and makes us pray for another rollercoaster ride that is just as thrilling and involving as Cloverfield is. It won’t be easy to accomplish.

Rating:

Gone in 60 Seconds

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: H.B. Halicki
Written by: H.B. Halicki
Cast: H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre

Year / Country: 1974, USA
Running Time: 98 mins.

Stunt driver H.B. Halicki ventured into film with this independent flick that features the longest chase scene in film history. Halicki did everything himself; producing, acting, writing, directing and of course performing the many car stunts the film contains. The result is a somewhat unbalanced but nevertheless entertaining piece of popcorn cinema.

The story revolves around Maindrian Pace, a professional car thief who accepts the job to ‘collect’ 48 cars within a week. He and his colleagues start stealing cars all over L.A., but run into trouble when they attempt to nick a yellow Ford Mustang from 1973. Pace has to outrun the entire police force through several states, wreaking havoc wherever he goes.

The lack of story is compensated with car stunts galore, and Halicki knows how to pass on his passion for automobiles. Enthusiasts will revel at the sight of all great classic models on display here. Action fans will certainly enjoy the powerful stunt work, and movie fans in general might enjoy the seventies haircuts, atmosphere and music.

Still it feels a bit empty. Perhaps it’s the lack of personality of the characters, or it might be humor that is missing a bit. In any case it feels like a true ‘friends and family’ movie, which is something all cinema fans should definitely encourage. Besides, there is plenty to enjoy. The build-up is already reasonably suspenseful and once the chase starts, there is barely time to breathe. Halicki certainly deserves credit for realizing his dream and creating a one-of-a-kind movie in the process.

Rating:

Biography: H.B. Halicki (1940, New York – 1989, New York), also known as Toby and ‘The Car Crash King’ started his career in the towing business of his family. As a teenager he decided to move to California after losing two brothers. By the time he was 17, Halicki owned and operated his own body shop, while he simultaneously collected a wide range of automobiles. In 1974 Halicki made his feature debut with Gone in 60 Seconds, for which he contributed his enormous collection of cars. Several of those were damaged beyond repair during the shoot. After the film Halicki continued collecting cars, and he became owner of one of the largest private car collections in the world. In 1989 when Halicki was shooting Gone in 60 Seconds 2, he was killed when a telephone pole fell on him during a stunt.

Filmography: Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), The Junkman (1982), Deadline Auto Theft (1983)

Donnie Brasco (1997)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘In 1978, the US government waged a war against organized crime. One man was left behind the lines.’

Directed by:
Mike Newell

Written by:
Joseph D. Pistone (book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia’)
Richard Woodley (book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia’)
Paul Attanasio (screenplay)

Cast:
Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco / Joseph D. Pistone), Al Pacino (Benjamin ‘Lefty Two-guns’ Ruggiero), Michael Madsen (Sonny Black), Bruno Kirby (Nicky), Anne Heche (Maggie Pistone), James Russo (Paulie), Zeljko Ivanek (Tim Curley), Gerry Becker (Dean Blandford), Robert Miano (Sonny Red), Brian Tarantina (Bruno)

The imposing but low-ranking mobster Lefty (Pacino) meets Don the Jeweller (Depp). Donnie’s connections check out, so Lefty takes him in as a friend and associate. It turns out to be a mistake of historical proportions. Donnie is really an undercover FBI-agent named Joe Pistone, whose mission is to infiltrate the Mafia.

This movie is based on a true story. Joe Pistone managed to infiltrate a fraction of the New York Bonanno family in the late seventies and wrote a book about his experiences. The happenings in the book have been somewhat altered to create a more tense mob thriller. A choice that has turned out well. There are certainly moments of great tension, such as the scene where Donnie has to take his boots off in a Japanese restaurant in which he has hidden a microphone. Or the jail scene in which Donnie’s pals are discussing the way ‘the rat’ should be murdered when discovered.

The acting in this film is especially well performed. It is truly amazing how much sympathy Pacino arouses as the hapless mobster Lefty. We know he’s a cold-blooded killer (26 hits under his belt), but we almost cry for him when we see his desperate schemes tragically fail. Depp certainly holds his ground as Pacino’s partner in crime. It’s intriguing to see how he becomes more and more like a wiseguy, which is especially apparent when he acts alpha male around his wife and threatens a fellow undercover agent.

The film moves with great speed. In reality it took Donnie years to come close to the crew of Sonny Black (Madsen), but in the film this is done within two scenes. Some things have been dramatised such as Donnie’s relation with his wife Maggie (Heche), who understandably can’t deal with her husband’s absence. Also the ending in which Lefty is sent for (to get whacked), is done to dramatise the movie. In reality it was Sonny Black who got killed when Donnie’s identity was discovered. Mind you, these are only observations. All film making choices are well justified and every scene altered from reality gets the impact that it is aiming for.

The art-direction is another achievement that deserves mention. The New York scenery looks great, as well as all the terrible outfits that the wiseguys dress in. Altogether, Donnie Brasco is a remarkable movie that lost none of its impact over the years. It’s certainly not easy to just fuhgetaboutit.

Rating:

Quote:
LEFTY: “Sit down there. You were gonna walk out on me? You don’t walk out on me. I walk out on you.”

Trivia:
The newspaper picture of the murdered boss is the famous picture of murdered mob boss Carmine Galente, who was killed in a Brooklyn restaurant in 1979.

Vanishing Point

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Written by: Malcolm Hart, G. Cabrera Infante
Cast: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger, Victoria Medlin

Year / Country: 1971, USA
Running Time: 94 mins.

This classic carsploitation movie really has two main characters; Kowalski and a 1970 white Dodge Challenger. That’s right, the same Dodge Challenger used by Tarantino in Death Proof. Kowalski is a born driver who has no real purpose. Except to bring the Dodge from Denver to San Francisco. He drives across Colorado, Nevada and California with the police on his tail who want to bust them for some minor felonies.

Kowalski is assisted by the DJ of a radio station named Super Soul, who provides him with police frequency info. He also entertains his listeners with a groovy rock soundtrack. Through flashbacks we learn more about the cool Kowalski. How he is a Vietnam vet, a former cop, and a professional road racer. Over the years he has lost everything, including his girlfriend. The flashbacks also offer some sort of explanation for his unexpected action at the end, though it remains mysterious.

The excellent race scenes and car stunts alone make this film worth your while. But apart from that, it offers an interesting view on existentialism. It’s about a guy who just drives and only stops to tank, buy some speed or meet the occasional strange and colorful character like an old snake catcher, a pacifist biker and two weird hitchhikers’ who want to rob him. The beautiful landscapes also help in making this a very enjoyable road trip.

Rating:

Biography: Richard C. Sarafian (1930, New York – 2013, Santa Monica) was an American screenwriter, actor and director who started his long career by directing episodes for successful western and crime series. In 1981 he produced what is probably his greatest success; The Gangster Chronicles, an emmy-winning TV series about the rise of Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. He also portrayed real-life gangsters Jack Dragna and Paul Castellano himself in the films Bugsy and Gotti.

Filmography (a selection): Maverick (1961, TV episode), Bronco (1961, TV episode), The Roaring 20’s (1961, TV episode), Cheyenne (1961/62, TV episodes), Terror at Black Falls (1962), Lawman (1961/62, TV episodes), The Gallant Men (1962/63, TV episodes), 77 Sunset Strip (1962/63, TV episodes), The Twilight Zone (1963, TV episode), Andy (1965)
Ben Casey (1963-65, TV episodes), The Wild Wild West (1965, TV episodes), Batman (1966, TV episodes), Jericho (1966, TV episodes), The Iron Horse (1967, TV episode), The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967, TV episodes), I Spy (1966-68, TV episodes), Gunsmoke (1965-68, TV episodes), Run Wild, Run Free (1969), Fragment of Fear (1970), Vanishing Point (1971), Man in the Wilderness (1971), Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973), The Next Man (1976), The African Queen (1977, TV), Sunburn (1979), The Gangster Chronicles (1981, TV series), The Bear (1984), Wildside (1985, TV episodes), Eye of the Tiger (1986), Street Justice (1989), Solar Crisis (1990)