The Descent was a remarkably tense flick about a group of female cavers who find themselves trapped underground in an unexplored cave system, and at the mercy of humanoid-but-oh-so-bestial cave-dwellers who had a hankering for some lady-meat. The confident direction by Neil Marshall only introduced the creatures half-way, resulting in a film of two distinct sections (similar to the structure of From Dusk Till Dawn).
Most notable was the slow-burn clausterphobic build-up, half-seen glimpses of the cave-dwellers, before the movie descended into a brutally tense climax.
The UK version of The Descent had a downbeat ending which capped the film perfectly, while the US release had Sarah, one of the female caves, escaping.
The Descent 2, this time helmed by Jon Harris, starts immediately after the events of the first film. Sarah is found, but it appears that one of her fellow cavers, Juno, was a Senator's daughter. Suffering from amnesia, Sarah accompanies a search party back into the cave system.
This time we know what's waiting in the caves, and we just want the movie to get on with it; that's one of several flaws in the sequel.
The bestial cave-dwellers are more muscular than in the first film, meaning it's harder to accept the outcomes of the various fights. I recall the scrawnier beasts in the first film just being more "real", more "natural".
There's enough gore to keep genre-fans happy, and an unpleasant moment when Sarah finds herself in a shit-pit (I can find no better way to describe it). The direction is competent, but by its very nature could not imitate the contrasting two-half structure of the first.
The disappointing ending, however, blatantly (and rather cheaply) sets up the premise for a second sequel.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Nyarlathotep
H.P. Lovecraft was an American writer of gothic horror fiction. Born in 1890, he wrote extensively between 1917 and 1935. Many articles already exist on his most common themes and the Cthulhu mythos he created - I'm not going to rehash those. I want write about what is certainly my favorite short story penned by any writer - Nyarlathotep, written in 1920.
Nyarlathotep is a character who has "risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries", and wanders the earth, collecting followers by astonishing them with experiments in strange, other-worldly magic. The followers are led through "hellish moon-glitter of evil snows", and eventually enter a dream-like state in which they glimpse the end of the world.
The story encapsulates nearly everything I find intriguing about H.P. Lovecraft.
"Screamingly sentient, dumbly delirious, only the gods that were can tell. A sickened, sensitive shadow writhing in hands that are not hands, and whirled blindly past ghastly midnights of rotting creation, corpses of dead worlds with sores that were cities, charnel winds that brush the pallid stars and make them flicker low. Beyond the worlds vague ghosts of monstrous things; half-seen columns of unsanctifled temples that rest on nameless rocks beneath space and reach up to dizzy vacua above the spheres of light and darkness. And through this revolting graveyard of the universe the muffled, maddening beating of drums, and thin, monotonous whine of blasphemous flutes from inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond Time; the detestable pounding and piping whereunto dance slowly, awkwardly, and absurdly the gigantic, tenebrous ultimate gods the blind, voiceless, mindless gargoyles whose soul is Nyarlathotep."
This ranks as one of my favorite paragraphs of prose I've read. It's confusing, bizarre, and maddening because it makes little practical sense. But at the same time, it's the closest I've come to a nightmare in words (and has a wonderful rhythm when read aloud)
And that's what I love about H.P. Lovecraft in general. I love being scared and awed - they're base human emotions that everyone should experience - and he's one of the few writers that does it for me.
Think of those night-terrors you had as a child - now read some H.P. Lovecraft and experience that as an adult.
The full story can found elsewhere.
Nyarlathotep is a character who has "risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries", and wanders the earth, collecting followers by astonishing them with experiments in strange, other-worldly magic. The followers are led through "hellish moon-glitter of evil snows", and eventually enter a dream-like state in which they glimpse the end of the world.
The story encapsulates nearly everything I find intriguing about H.P. Lovecraft.
- His prose is poetically polemical, and full of nightmarish visual imagery.
- The story hints at a much larger mythos than directly addressed.
- The narrator is an innocent thrust into events he doesn't necessary understand.
"Screamingly sentient, dumbly delirious, only the gods that were can tell. A sickened, sensitive shadow writhing in hands that are not hands, and whirled blindly past ghastly midnights of rotting creation, corpses of dead worlds with sores that were cities, charnel winds that brush the pallid stars and make them flicker low. Beyond the worlds vague ghosts of monstrous things; half-seen columns of unsanctifled temples that rest on nameless rocks beneath space and reach up to dizzy vacua above the spheres of light and darkness. And through this revolting graveyard of the universe the muffled, maddening beating of drums, and thin, monotonous whine of blasphemous flutes from inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond Time; the detestable pounding and piping whereunto dance slowly, awkwardly, and absurdly the gigantic, tenebrous ultimate gods the blind, voiceless, mindless gargoyles whose soul is Nyarlathotep."
This ranks as one of my favorite paragraphs of prose I've read. It's confusing, bizarre, and maddening because it makes little practical sense. But at the same time, it's the closest I've come to a nightmare in words (and has a wonderful rhythm when read aloud)
And that's what I love about H.P. Lovecraft in general. I love being scared and awed - they're base human emotions that everyone should experience - and he's one of the few writers that does it for me.
Think of those night-terrors you had as a child - now read some H.P. Lovecraft and experience that as an adult.
The full story can found elsewhere.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Rec 2
When I saw Rec (2007) last year, I was more than slightly impressed by the gradually escalating tension, and the horrifying last five minutes. Set almost entirely in an apartment building in Spain, it started innocuously with a reporter and a cameraman accompanying a few firemen on an emergency call. A short while later, a resident, afflicted by a psychotic contagion (becoming a fast-moving zombie in everything but name), bites a fireman. The contagion spreads, and the apartment building is locked down; anyone escaping would be shot. I won't spoil the rest of the film for you, but we're left wondering about the fate of the reporter.
Rec was filmed from the point of view of the cameraman - although I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay-style shaky-cam, it worked well in the movie; it provided a sense of immediacy that amplified the tension.
Rec 2 (2009) picks up a few minutes after the first film. An armed quasi-military squad (think SWAT) are asked to bodyguard a researcher and another cameraman while he collects a sample of blood from the building. Of course, things go very bad very quickly.
The shaky-cam is shakier, more so in the action scenes and sometimes it's difficult to adequately tell what's happening to who. It's not overly annoying, though; if the filmmakers wanted viewers confused and disoriented, it worked. There's certainly some inventiveness - a zombie is dispatched with a firework thrust down its throat, leading to a remarkable scene in a dimly-lit corridor; the shaky-cam highlights the shear anarchy of what we're witnessing.
The slow build-up of the first film is largely discarded, and there's more Zombie-huntin' with guns. It doesn't have the sparse, linear, plotting of the first film, but chooses to throw in a few curve balls.
The ending implies that the demonic contagion will spread to the outside world, and sets up the premise for Rec 3. If Rec 3 retains the immediacy and intimacy of its two prequels, I can see it being a success with genre-fans.
Rec was filmed from the point of view of the cameraman - although I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay-style shaky-cam, it worked well in the movie; it provided a sense of immediacy that amplified the tension.
Rec 2 (2009) picks up a few minutes after the first film. An armed quasi-military squad (think SWAT) are asked to bodyguard a researcher and another cameraman while he collects a sample of blood from the building. Of course, things go very bad very quickly.
A rather unexpected diversion in the film introduces three teenagers; they're goofing around with a video camera, when they make a bad decision and find themselves trapped in the apartment. The kids are annoying in a way that only kids shoe-horned into a movie can be (i.e. destined for peril), and serve as a minor plot point..
The end of Rec implied a religious connection to the contagion, and this is further amplified in Rec 2. The researcher turns out to a be a priest involved in fighting this outbreak of demonic possession. This gives Rec 2 a certain 1970's old-school feel (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). This may have resonated more in largely catholic Spain, but I had trouble accepting this at several points (especially during the Exorcist-like interrogation of one of the teenagers).
The slow build-up of the first film is largely discarded, and there's more Zombie-huntin' with guns. It doesn't have the sparse, linear, plotting of the first film, but chooses to throw in a few curve balls.
The ending implies that the demonic contagion will spread to the outside world, and sets up the premise for Rec 3. If Rec 3 retains the immediacy and intimacy of its two prequels, I can see it being a success with genre-fans.
Friday, February 26, 2010
The Finest Martial Arts Fight Ever Filmed
Drunken Master 2 (1994) contains the finest martial arts fight ever filmed. The beauty is in the athleticism of the participants, the beauty of the choreography, and the care and attention on lavished on the editing, lighting and environment.
My favorite sequence in the fight is when Jackie leads with his right shoulder, swinging his left leg back and into the air...
...tips his centre of balance towards his opponent...
...reaches out to strike with his right hand, but is blocked by his opponent's outstretched arms...
...his opponent retracts, leaving Jackie on one leg and tipping over ...
...his opponent swings his right leg out to kick Jackie...
...and forces Jackie back.
The fluidity of this sequence is startling, leaving you wondering how they choreographed the intricate interplay between both protagonists. Bear in mind that the above sequence is barely half a second in length and is surrounded by equally as exquisite choreography.
Jackie, after drinking industrial alcohol halfway through the fight, also demonstrated a stylized, cinematic version of Drunken Boxing.This was actually a satire of actual drunken boxing (which funnily enough, does not demand that you are drunk, but requires that you sway and totter, followed by suddenly releasing the moment and attacking the enemy) .
This stylized, alcohol-fueled form of fighting, featured aspects from the Eight Immortals school of Drunken Boxing. Myth has it that after being invited to a banquet and getting drunk, the Eight Immortals were attacked and in their inebriated state invented a new form of kung fu.
Here are screengrabs of each of the eight forms (you have to see the filmed fight to truly appreciate them).
1. Lǚ Dòngbīn (呂洞賓), the drunkard with internal strength. Jackie later played him again in The Forbidden Kingdom.
2. Elder Zhang Guo (張果老), the drunkard with the swift double-kicks and deceptive kicking backflips.
3. Lan Caihe (藍采和), the drunkard with the sudden deadly waist attacks. Note the wide angle "fish eye" effect, effectively framing the movement of Jackie and his opponent.
4. Hé Qióng (何瓊), the drunken woman flaunting her body, distracting her opponent, and then launching into vicious attacks
5. Iron-Crutch Li (李铁拐/李鐵拐), the cripple with the powerful right leg
6. Han Xiang (韓湘子), the drunken flute player with the powerful wrists. In this section Jackie uses straight-line attacks.
7. Royal Uncle Cao, the drunkard with the a powerful throat lock. In this part of the fight Jackie also slaps the side of his assailant's head, and punches him in the chest, Dim Mak style
8. Zhongli Quan (鐘離權), the drunkard holding a wine cauldron in his arms. The circular motion knocks your opponent to the ground.
This is a picture of Zhongli Quan from Chinese literature (note the cauldron and its congruence to Jackie's hold on his assailant above)
I can't think of many other movies that have a fight sequence as intricate as that in Drunken Master 2. What's more remarkable is that Jackie was over 40 years old when he filmed this movie. That's testament enough to his dedication to martial arts cinema.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Hyperion Cantos
The Hyperion Cantos are the finest science fiction books I've ever had the privilege to read. There are four book in the series.
The biggest compliment I can give to the books is that for two years after I finished the series, I kept returning to books, re-reading passages that made shivers run down my spine. The plot twists and turns throughout the books, with all the plot threads explained (to at least some degree) in the final book.
- Hyperion
- The Fall of Hyperion
- Endymion
- The Rise of Endymion
The biggest compliment I can give to the books is that for two years after I finished the series, I kept returning to books, re-reading passages that made shivers run down my spine. The plot twists and turns throughout the books, with all the plot threads explained (to at least some degree) in the final book.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Disturbing French Movies
One of the great qualities of cinema is its ability to disturb, to move you to the dark places in your soul. Some people will not find any value in this, and will actively shun such movies. Others, like myself, enjoyed being scared, being made uncomfortable, and left with sour bile in our gullets.
I like being disturbed. I search out these experiences in movies, and for some psychosocial reason, French directors have started to specialize in some of the more memorable ones.
Here's three that I saw recently over the course of a night. Next morning, my senses had been bludgeoned into bloody submission, and I spent the whole day sipping hot milk and eating biscuits.
Martys
We start the film as a young woman menaces and kills a middle class French family with a shotgun (with bonus ludicrous gibs). Her friend joins her at the end of the massacre, with the tense middle of the film involves the mother of the family who just won't die. The final third of the film takes a left turn and becomes a completely different movie - a meditation on pain and suffering, with extreme scenes of brutal torture.
Inside
A pregnant woman gets terrorized by a hooded figure. The brutality comes from the violence and terror that's inflicted on not just a woman, but a PREGNANT woman. Occasional cutaways shows the baby in the womb reacting to its mother's ordeal . Again, it's a French film.
Irreversible
Again, another French film. It's told in snippets in reverse. The camera constantly swoops and sways from side to side - it's extremely disorienting (but not in the crappy Michael Bay shaky-cam way). The soundtrack of the movie includes a low rumble that's designed to make you feel nauseous.
I like being disturbed. I search out these experiences in movies, and for some psychosocial reason, French directors have started to specialize in some of the more memorable ones.
Here's three that I saw recently over the course of a night. Next morning, my senses had been bludgeoned into bloody submission, and I spent the whole day sipping hot milk and eating biscuits.
Martys
We start the film as a young woman menaces and kills a middle class French family with a shotgun (with bonus ludicrous gibs). Her friend joins her at the end of the massacre, with the tense middle of the film involves the mother of the family who just won't die. The final third of the film takes a left turn and becomes a completely different movie - a meditation on pain and suffering, with extreme scenes of brutal torture.
Inside
A pregnant woman gets terrorized by a hooded figure. The brutality comes from the violence and terror that's inflicted on not just a woman, but a PREGNANT woman. Occasional cutaways shows the baby in the womb reacting to its mother's ordeal . Again, it's a French film.
Irreversible
Again, another French film. It's told in snippets in reverse. The camera constantly swoops and sways from side to side - it's extremely disorienting (but not in the crappy Michael Bay shaky-cam way). The soundtrack of the movie includes a low rumble that's designed to make you feel nauseous.
The Road
The Road is a grueling experience to watch. It's based upon the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name.
Set ten years after a disaster has wiped out most life on the planet, it's the story of a man accompanying his son across a post apocalyptic wasteland. The world has turned to dust and ash, and the color scheme of the film reflects that. If that isn't gloomy enough, we learn that the boy's mother commits suicide because she can't bear raising a son in that grim environment.
The journey consists of one desperate scrabble for food after another, while dodging bands of cannibals hunting prey. One particularly grim scene involves the discovery of a human farm in a cellar - people kept alive and locked up while limbs are hacked off for food.
Eventually, the man dies, but the son finds some sort of partial salvation.
Set ten years after a disaster has wiped out most life on the planet, it's the story of a man accompanying his son across a post apocalyptic wasteland. The world has turned to dust and ash, and the color scheme of the film reflects that. If that isn't gloomy enough, we learn that the boy's mother commits suicide because she can't bear raising a son in that grim environment.
The journey consists of one desperate scrabble for food after another, while dodging bands of cannibals hunting prey. One particularly grim scene involves the discovery of a human farm in a cellar - people kept alive and locked up while limbs are hacked off for food.
Eventually, the man dies, but the son finds some sort of partial salvation.
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