Catching up -

[jack_ryder]

The Devil's Rejects

A throw back to '70s extreme cinema with a clear love of the genre. I haven't seen "House of a Thousand Corpses" to which this is the sequel, but this stands alone in it's own right. Sid Haig's "Captain Spaulding" is enough for me to want to see the first film - one of the most engaging evil clowns I've seen in ages. Rob Zombie clearly enjoys his cast of human monsters and is effective a film maker to make us side with them at the end. Great 70s southern rock sound track too. Finally heard Lynyrd Skynryd's "Free Bird" - butt of a thousand jokes.

Recommended for fans of 70s exploitation cinema (esp. Texas Chainsaw and Hills Have Eyes.)

Immortel

European SF comics translated to film by the artist, Enki Bilal. Looks amazing, and has the bizarre quality of most of the cast being computer generated. Similar (in ways) to "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and "Sin City" in that it was filmed on virtual sets. Thomas Kretschmann, the ship's captain in Jackson's "King Kong", plays a resistance leader in the future, rescued and possessed by the god Horus. It also has one of those amnesiac super women that appears to the Euro SF answer to Japan's schoolgirl with amazing powers. Worth seeing on DVD but occasionally resembles a series of Playstation cut scenes edited together, than a film.

Oldboy

The best revenge film I've seen in ages. Wasn't sure I had the stomach for some of the sequences but the film making is masterful. Ultimately, I think, a horror film but I don't want to say too much about it for those who haven't seen it, as it's a film very much dependent on the viewers' journey with the main character.

All the above films are available on DVD from your local video library. Here's one that isn't - yet.

Mind Game

I'd read about this film on various Japanese film sites as being one of the highlights of Japanese animation so far (even above Howl's Moving Castle - which I found disappointing.) I managed to acquire a copy of "Mind Game" (never mind how) and was blown away. Fans of conventional animé would hate it - it's mostly made in a very spiky, grungy European style of animation (similar to Triplets of Belleville) whilst throwing in occasional bursts of computer animation, hyper-oxygenated animé style and bright, psychedelic colours, depending on the mood of the characters, or their situation, or what the story requires. It's also autobiographical for the most part, based on the manga by Robin Nishi, but takes weird side journeys that make it blossom into something unique. It's certainly for enthusiasts of the potential of animation rather than those who prefer their Japanese animation to come with a side order of giant robots.

Comments

[jack-ryder.livejournal.com]

Rob liked "House of 1000 Corpses" but I'd only heard bad things about it. Therefore I haven't seen it. "Devil's Rejects" is quite well made with some scary scenes and protagonists who only become (slightly) sympathetic because the character out to kill them shows themself to be as monstrous if not more.

I was surprised I liked it, but according to some critics (such as greygirlbeast) it is light years ahead of "House of 1000 Corpses in terms of film making alone. Devil's Rejects has been my first exposure to Sid Haig, a legendary figure in 70s trash cinema, so his performance piqued my interest in "House of 1000 Corpses", even though I'm not expecting much (and will only watch it when murasaki_1966's out of the room.)