Mubi Monday: Gosford Park (2001)

There are many things that could be compared to Gosford Park. It was basically responsible for the hugely successful TV show you may have heard of, Downton Abbey, it explores the class divide in a way that has been a staple of British entertainment for decades (I am sure many came beforehand, but I always view this kind of thing as a relative of the wonderful Upstairs Downstairs), and it shows people bickering and veering off into conversations as they figure out who they are obliged to be nice to and how they can maintain, or improve, their own social standing. I couldn't help thinking of another unlikely comparison point though, and that was Blow-Up. There's a murder at the heart of the plot here, but is it as important as the ongoing hustle and bustle of everyone trying to go on about their lives?

The plot here is quite simple, although things get a bit more complicated in the third act. It's the 1930s. A group of rich and famous (some famous in the arts, some just famous for being rich) gather at a large estate for a weekend of relaxation and shooting, two things that many other people wouldn't assume go hand in hand. Many of those in attendance have their own agendas, whether they are part of the posh crowd or part of the serving staff, and there are one or two people doing their best to portray themselves as something they're not.

If there is anyone in the cast list that you dislike, don't worry about that. Like an anthology movie, this is so stuffed with variety that you just need to wait a moment or two until you get to something more suited to your personal preference. I won't summarise every character, and will undoubtedly forget to mention a couple of notable names, but this cast includes the excellence of luminaries such as Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Richard E. Grant, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Tom Hollander, Clive Owen, and Ryan Phillippe (don't be too put off by his accent, it's a deliberate choice). Everyone is doing absolutely stellar work, possibly boosted by their chance to work with the celebrated Robert Altman.

As well as directing, Altman gets himself a writing credit alongside Balaban and Julian Fellowes, although it certainly feels as if the majority of the groundwork was put in place by Fellowes. There's the usual busy dialogue, with many conversations continuing as the camera moves to and from wherever it seemingly decides to wander in each scene, and everything is pieced together incrementally to eventually give viewers more information about each of the most central characters and the deadly development that causes the weekend plans to be derailed.

Please don't come to this if you are looking for an intricate and well-plotted murder mystery. Although it has that element at the heart of it, and that was at the heart of the marketing (from what I recall), Altman and co. are much more interested in the relationships between all of the characters, the fragile spiderwebs that wrap around a huge room, sticking together in some places and easily snapping apart in others. 

Much like a wedding at some large country venue, this is a gorgeous affair that gives you time and space to wander around and admire your surroundings, eavesdrop on numerous conversation and make snap judgements about people, and then be stuck there while arguments start to develop and you become increasingly anxious and uncomfortable as nerves fray and composures crack. Not literally, but it does a great job of bringing those feelings to the surface as you watch things unfold from the comfort of your safe viewing environment.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House (2016)

Oz Perkins has now made three movies, one of which I have yet to see. His directorial debut, February AKA The Blackcoat's Daughter, is one that many people stumbled across, only to find that they were very impressed by it. It was an atmospheric work, one that jumped around time and space, piecing together a puzzle that revealed a spooky and sad picture.

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House is another atmospheric work, and also jumps around time and space, AND ALSO pieces together a puzzle that reveals a spooky and sad picture. It shows Perkins to be more confident in his abilities, and more confident in the patience and abilities of anyone viewing his film.

Ruth Wilson plays Lily, a nurse who ends up working in the home of Iris Blum (Paula Prentiss). Iris has written some enjoyably creepy work, but Lily doesn't normally read such stuff. She's too easily scared. But she decides to check out something that Iris wrote, something that she thinks may be tied to the real history of the house in which she has found herself.

Dark and oppressive, yet also light (thanks to the nature of the lead character), I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House is a traditional ghost story in almost every sense, apart from the way in which certain scenes are lined up alongside one another. It's all very much on a par with the kind of atmospheric tales you know and love from Henry James and Shirley Jackson, but Perkins also does himself a favour by not including absolutely every trope and creaky door you might expect.

Wilson gives one of her best performances in the main role, and she never really does less than very good indeed in her work. She's there to do a job, to care for someone who has nobody else at her side, and she often walks through the house like some kind of illuminated will-o'-the-wisp. Prentiss has a lot less to do, the film belongs largely to Wilson and Lucy Boynton (playing Polly, another young woman who is inextricably linked to the house), but does just fine.

Perkins has a great knack for taking the elements of a particular subgenre and reshuffling them in a way that allows his films to feel both fresh and veritably overflowing with blood drained from many tales that have been told before. Perhaps not the best kind of film for those who have enjoyed some mainstream bumps and jumps, this should still strike a chord with horror fans who can enjoy a modern spin on some gothic melodrama and tragedy.

Beautifully constructed, nicely scored (by Elvis Perkins), perfectly cast (there's even a nice small role for Bob Balaban), and effectively spooky, this deserves to be seen and appreciated by patient viewers.

8/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Sci-Fi September: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

If you've already seen Close Encounters Of The Third Kind then you may think that it's not a film worth revisiting every few years. I'd argue that it is. The sound and light show that makes up the final half hour will remind you of how great cinema can be when providing spectacle that comes after a steady build-up. If you haven't already seen it then do yourself a favour and get to it ASAP.

Bashing Steven Spielberg is pretty popular among many film fans nowadays, and has probably been popular for some time. Looking at even some of his best movies, and this is one of them, it's easy to see why people can pick apart his style, his flaws, that schmaltziness that he's so fond of. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind has all of his usual tricks, but it also has such a fantastic ambiguity to the whole thing, and such a big heart, that it's still able to sit astride the sci-fi genre like, well, a giant mothership overlooking many other shining lights.

Richard Dreyfuss, Cary Guffey, and a few other people all find their lives greatly changed when they witness some UFO activity. It is, unbeknownst to them, only a small sample of something that has been happening in a number of different locations. The increased activity seems to be building up to something big, something that the U.S. government needs to keep hidden from most of the public. But many of those who have already observed the extra-terrestrial visitors have an obsessive need to see them again. Where will that need take them? And are the aliens coming in peace?

Yes, you get a lot of times when the camera starts off close to a character and then pulls away as they look somewhere offscreen in amazement. You also get plenty of the lens flares that one day collided together and gave birth to J. J. Abrams. And the cinematography, by Vilmos Zsigmond, often places people in the way of extremely bright lights - either spotlights, UFO lights, or just dazzling sunlight. All of these things are Spielberg 101. There's also a rousing score by John Williams, a cute kid (Guffey) in the middle of the action, and plenty of reverence for cinematic classics of the past.

None of these things take away from how great the movie is. With so many to choose from, saying this score is one of the best from Williams is high praise indeed, and I stand by that compliment (mainly for that brilliant 5-note motif and the audio experience of the grand finale). It's also worth noting that the subject matter lends itself perfectly to all of these Spielbergian tricks.

The performances are pretty perfect from everyone involved. Guffey doesn't say much, but he's a great child actor and reacts well to what's supposed to be happening around him. Dreyfuss is brilliant, making the most of yet another great role handed to him by Spielberg. Whether he's sculpting mashed potatoes or struggling to communicate to his wife (Teri Garr) just what he's going through, his display of conflicting emotions conveys so much more than the majority of the script. Melinda Dillon goes through a similar range, as the mother of Guffey, and her few scenes with Dreyfuss make for some of the best scenes in the film. Well, the best scenes not featuring UFOs. Francois Truffaut moves from his usual directorial role to act as Claude Lacombe, an expert in UFO activity who hopes to soon be able to prove that one or two of his theories are correct. He's a great presence whenever onscreen, quiet, graceful and intelligent, and it's easy to see why Spielberg persuaded him to take on the role. Last, but not least, Bob Balaban rounds out the core group of main players, spending a lot of time alongside Truffaut, playing a translator. He may not have as much to do, but he's a worthy addition to the cast.

If this had been made today then I think it would be a perfect film. There are hints of darkness here and there, but nowhere near the darkness that Spielberg would be able to handle so expertly in the 21st century. The special effects hold up well, for the most part, but it's hard to not see the crudity of some moments, especially in the first half of the film. And there's just too much lens flare. Yet it remains an effective, moving piece of work. It's a cinematic experience unrivalled by 95% of films released in the past three decades, and that's why I still rank it as highly as I do. As do many others.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Third-Kind-Blu-ray/dp/B004HZY8OS/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1409952353&sr=1-2&keywords=close+encounters+of+the+third+kind

Lady In The Water (2006)

Lady In The Water is, in so many ways, a film that is hard to take in while watching. It's so ridiculous, so self-indulgent and so messy that it's mesmerising in that way that bad cinema can be. The easy joy of mocking the film is tinged with a slight sadness that some aspects (some of the cast, the production design) are good. The biggest problem with the film is writer-director-star M. Night Shyamalan, who decided to crash and burn in a display of arrogance that should never have been indulged.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays the titular character, named Story, encountered one evening by an apartment building superintendent, Cleveland Heep, played by Paul Giamatti. She is in danger and needs to get home, but she also has something very important to tell at least one of the tenants living in the building. One man in particular, played by M. Night Shyamalan, may be the most important person among them. He may be the man destined to write a story that will change the world.

Yes, that's correct. M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed a movie in which someone is destined to write one of the most important works of the 21st century, and decided that he would be the best person to put in that role. Never mind the fact that he has a supporting cast that includes Bob Balaban, Jared Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Freddy Rodriguez and other contenders. It's all down to him. I didn't mention the actresses - Cindy Cheung, Sarita Choudhury, Mary Beth Hurt, etc. - because, sadly, they are all stuck in roles that are either purely expositional or just support for the men all jostling for position as the best person to help Story. At least, that's how it seemed to me.

Created as a modern fairytale, the movie actually works, almost, when fully committing to that approach. There are fantastical creatures (both good and bad), there is an opening narration, there are some nice, magical touches here and there. Unfortunately, everything else is designed to make the whole thing seem up to date and cool, which has the exact opposite effect.

The cast, for the most part, do well with what they're given. The weakest person onscreen is, you guessed it, M. Night Shyamalan. He'd already proven why he developed a career behind the camera as opposed to in front of it with cameo roles in his earlier movies, but he suddenly believes that he's a worthwhile addition to a pretty solid ensemble cast. No. No, he isn't.

I could say more about the movie. There are more small things worth praising and more minor criticisms that could be written here, but the shadow of Shyamalan's ego blocks out everything else. Giving more time over to the movie almost feels like giving too much attention to a toddler having a major shit fit in the middle of a supermarket. The movie came out, it was suitably chastised and now we should all just move along and stop staring.

4/10

The region-free Bluray is here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-Water-Blu-ray-Paul-Giamatti/dp/B000JU7KAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1368710961&sr=1-1&keywords=lady+in+the+water

Altered States (1980)

Altered States is a Ken Russell movie and that means it has some entertaining weirdness. If you've ever seen a Ken Russell movie then you should know to expect some entertaining weirdness. If you haven't seen a Ken Russell movie before then you've been warned. Appropriately mourned by film fans when he passed away at the end of 2011, Ken Russell was a man of vision and daring. You might not always like his work but you'll be damned if it's easily forgotten.

The plot of this movie concerns a scientist (William Hurt) conducting experiments on himself with the use of sensory deprivation equipment and a hallucinogenic substance. The results are astounding and unexpected, leading the scientist to believe that he may actually be witnessing lifeforms from way back in time. In fact, he also believes that he is physiologically altered during his sessions. This is something that his colleague/helper (Bob Balaban) doesn't want to believe and neither does the man allowing them to use his lab space (played by Charles Haid). As the experiments continue, everyone becomes more and more worried about the sanity of the scientist. His wife (Blair Brown) can't stop him and fears for his mind but becomes even more worried when she allows herself to be convinced that maybe he's telling the truth.

There's plenty of psychobabble and philosophical musings here, thanks to the script by Paddy Chayefsky (adapting his own novel), and Ken Russell compliments the words with surreal and truly bizarre visuals. The effects throughout are pretty good, often wrapped in a shroud of drug-induced haze.

The onslaught of strange ideas and strange imagery may have been too much to bear if Russell hadn't managed to get himself a great cast to hang everything on. Hurt is, of course, a great actor and someone who possesses the intelligence to convince in a role such as this one. Bob Balaban, Blair Brown and Charles Haid all lend great support and the way they are torn between helping out a brilliant scientist and wanting to keep him safe is fairly well realised, considering the outlandishness of the central premise.

Funnily enough, for those more familiar with the work of Russell, this is actually a more straightforward movie from the man compared to many of his other films. Yet it still has plenty of individuality and personality, certainly enough for you to recognise it as the product of a film-maker who was never less than interesting.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Altered-States-DVD/dp/B000B7KXN6