In the latest British historical film from the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), The Damned United is a sports movie not really about sports, but about the crazy personalities that populate them. Certainly on a much smaller scale than Morgan’s previous two films, the story here is probably one not known to most outside of Great Britain, or to most non-soccer fans (i.e. the majority of Americans). Despite this, the film is in many ways more satisfying to watch than Frost/Nixon or The Queen.
This satisfaction mostly comes from watching Morgan’s fave Michael Sheen deliver his best and most noticeable performance to date. I say "noticeable" because he finally plays the character that people will take away from the movie, unlike Frost/Nixon where Frank Langella stole most of the accolades and The Queen where the contemporary figure of Tony Blair overshadowed Sheen’s great character work. In Damned United, Sheen is manager Brian Clough, the star, an unpredictable, ruthless, cocky asshole that you love (or hate, but in a good way).
Structurally, the film operates in two time periods, in the present (1974) where Sheen’s character takes over Leeds United (English soccer/football’s best team) replacing the team’s most accomplished coach Don Revie, and in the past (about five years earlier) showing Sheen’s rise from his humble yet wildly successful beginnings as coach of a couple lower division teams. One of my only issues with the film is that the initial sequences in the past take a while to get going or at least get to the core of the film (Sheen’s competitive feud with Revie). I found the 1974 sequences much more engrossing and was a bit bummed to get pulled away at the best parts to jump back in time. However, the film quickly picks up steam in both time periods and finishes strong with a great scene involving Sheen groveling to his longtime assistant manager Peter Taylor played by Timothy Spall (who he undeniably needs to succeed).
This film may not immediately appeal to everyone given the subject matter, but once audiences realize the movie is primarily a great story about the friendship between two men (Clough and Taylor) and the long-simmering feud between two egomaniacs (Clough and Revie), more interest should be created. If nothing else, see the film because Sheen, Spall and Revie (played by Colm Meaney – yes, from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine for all you Trekkies out there)) are all outstanding. Or see the film because overall all it’s one of the better ones out there in the thus-far barren wilderness of 2009 films.
View this Damned United, The movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!
Just a bit over a week ago, a little film popped onto my radar: Paranormal Activity. The ghost film, shot on a budget of just $11,000 or so, was premiering across the country in a rather clever format: midnight screenings near many of the country’s largest universities. Coupled with strong early reviews, the buzz began to build. When I tried to attend last Friday, the showing was already sold out, as was the case elsewhere. This weekend, the movie opened wider, and next week, thanks to the website reaching a million hits, Paramount will release it nationwide. People, we have a bona fide phenomenon on our hands.
If you’ve heard that Paranormal Activity is 2009’s version of The Blair Witch Project, the comparison is just. The movie is shot on a handheld camera and features only four actors. It relies on sound effects and moving doors to spook the characters and the actors, and spook it does. Paranormal Activity is one of the freakiest movies in years.
The plot is simple: a couple has moved into a house together and set up a camera in an attempt to capture the creepy things that go on at night. As it turns out, Katie (played by Katie Featherston) has been haunted by something since she was eight years old, though whatever is bothering her seems to come and go. Lately, it has returned, and thanks to her rather curious boyfriend, Micah (Micah Sloat), the two begin to experience an increasing number of disturbances.
Paranormal Activity is authentically scary. Writer/director Oren Peli knows that it’s the basic, realistic bumps in the night that scare the average person, and that’s exactly what he delivers. That creaking on the stairs or in the attack. The door that slams shut out of nowhere. The sense that someone else is in the room with you. These are the frightening things Peli takes advantage of, and he uses them within a well-written, well-acted film that feels a lot like it’s real footage.
Sure, once some bad things start happening to the characters you’d assume they’d go to a hotel immediately, or that Micah would stop asking, “What the hell was that?” night after night, or that he would learn to keep his mouth shut. But these are nitpicks. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, not because it’s full of a ton of thrills but because the “footage” feels like it could be taken by anyone. Peli crafts some incredibly simple but effective scenes: the powder footsteps, the woman standing still for hours on end, the dragging sequence. There are some images in this movie that will stick with you for a while; I’m getting shivers as I write this in the large, empty house where I’m spending the night.
Like The Blair Witch Project, this movie may only work on its first go around (have you watched The Blair Witch Project recently and realized how boring and non-scary it is?), but that’s OK. This is a movie meant to be watched in a dark theater with a horror-loving audience. People will whimper, others will close their eyes and many will laugh at how scared they are over something so seemingly harmless.
It’s rare to find a horror movie that is actually scary, but Paranormal Activity is one of those movies. It won’t be nearly as effective the next time I see it, but the movie is one of the most frightening experiences in recent memory.
View this Paranormal Activity movie review at its original location – FilmJabber!
Sam Raimi’s return to horror – Drag Me to Hell – failed to register with viewers as it faded into the pits of heck faster than a cow at an Australian barbecue. It’s a shame, because the movie is an entertaining blast, full of demon hauntings, crazy old gypsie women and more than one kind of gross bodily fluid splattering all over the place. The movie, more a comedy and than a fright flick, rings similar to Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy in some ways, only with a bigger budget and more recognizable actors. (more…)
Snow storms can be blinding. I can’t say I’ve been in one where I haven’t been able to see, but there was a movie released a few weeks ago that relies on this premise, so it must really happen. After all, Hollywood never lies. But in other news, I popped the all-new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-Ray into my player this afternoon to check out all the nifty special features packed within – and got lost. (more…)
Every once in a while a movie comes along that defies expectations, that rocks its very essence, that destroys all hope of anything ever succeeding it. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not that film.
If X-Men 3 was a disappointment – and it was – Wolverine is a mitigated disaster, full of hammy dialogue, rushed storytelling and crappy special effects. The good news is that the movie is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, which means you can watch those embarrassing effects in crystal clarity. (more…)
Capitalism: A Love Story, the new well-timed (as always) film by Michael Moore, strikes hard and cuts to the heart of yet another one of the country’s key issues, the manipulation and greed at the core of our capitalist system. Moore traces the history of our capitalist system from our constitution, which mentions little to nothing about it, all the way through to our current economic meltdown. Moore follows the style set predominantly in his past two films, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, relying more on the stories of the victims than those of the perpetrators to tell his story. Part of this probably spawns from the fact that most of the villains in his docus wouldn’t step within a 100 feet of Moore, let alone give him an interview. It seems that the Charleton Heston-esque image killing may not be standard course for his upcoming film endeavors.
With season six looming, NBC is releasing The Office: Season 5 on DVD and Blu-Ray this Tuesday. With the 26 episodes comes the typical bonus feature culprits – deleted scenes, episode commentaries and a gag reel – but in this case, that’s actually a good thing.
As has been the case with other seasons of The Office, the deleted scenes are the highlight of the collection; each episode is filmed with a goal of 38-or-so minutes, which is then whittled down to 24 minutes or less for television. This means that for each episode, 25-40% of the footage is left on the cutting room floor. Most of this footage is actually quite entertaining. Overall, there’s three hours worth of deleted scenes, many of them laugh-out-loud funny. (more…)
From the producers of Little Miss Sunshine comes another seemingly bright dramedy titled Sunshine Cleaning, about two down-and-out women who start a crime scene cleaning business. Though I’m generally not fooled by the “from the producers of” marketing spin films are often given, I did fall for this one: following the trailers, casting and even early reviews, Sunshine Cleaning did seem like another funny drama. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to sink your teeth into here.
Those expecting Superbad things from director Greg Mottola’s follow-up comedy Adventureland may be disappointed. The R-rated drama-comedy, about a young man in the 1980’s who desperately takes a job at a trashy carnival and finds first love, is a well-made and engaging film, but it isn’t nearly as funny as Superbad, nor is it meant to be.
Jessie Eisenberg, Kristin Stewart and Ryan Reynolds star in the film, which, if anything, can be compared to the classic John Hughes films of the ’80’s. While it definitely offers more swearing and at times crude humor, at its heart is, well, heart, and believable nuances that capture youthful love surprisingly well. Adventureland is now out on DVD, but, unfortunately, the DVD doesn’t have much to offer. (more…)
Paramount, in its never-ending battle (along with the other studios) to make money off of movies they’ve already released, is re-releasing How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days on DVD and Blu-Ray on August 25, 2009. The movie, which stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson as two opposing forces each trying to break the other, was an entertaining little romantic comedy when it came out, though it never quite lived up to expectations. (more…)
Snow storms can be blinding. I can’t say I’ve been in one where I haven’t been able to see, but there was a movie released a few weeks ago that relies on this premise, so it must really happen. After all, Hollywood never lies. But in other news, I popped the all-new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-Ray into my player this afternoon to check out all the nifty special features packed within – and got lost. 
With season six looming, NBC is releasing The Office: Season 5 on DVD and Blu-Ray this Tuesday. With the 26 episodes comes the typical bonus feature culprits – deleted scenes, episode commentaries and a gag reel – but in this case, that’s actually a good thing.
