Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life

 For a documentary about capital punishment, Into the Abyss seems to be much more preoccupied with existential and poignant issues than political debate. Such is to be expected form Werner Herzog who never gets bogged down in a “message” movie but instead, strives to unearth the delicacy and transience of life. He says from the opening scene that he doesn't think anyone should be executed as if to get it out of the way. The director seems more interested in the nature of death and how it affects those surrounded by it and how life is so fleeting that the wrong decision can lead down a path of formidable consequence.

The documentary examines Michael Perry, 27, on death row. When Herzog and his crew meet him, he is 10 days away from execution. The death penalty and a life sentence for his accomplice Jason Burkett was the punishment handed out for a triple homicide in 2001. The murders stemmed from the two young men’s desire for the victims’ red Camaro sports car. Herzog interviews family members of the victims and the perpetrators and others affected by the murder – even the staff who help administer the lethal injection.

Herzog remains unseen in this film. He is only present in his questions from behind the camera offering great insights, empathy and irreverent humour. The main focus is on the subjects of the film. Herzog remains objective, sympathetic and occasionally amused by his interviewees.

A recurring mantra for many of the people presented in this film is that they: “just don’t think about it”. Apathy, even ignorance is bliss in this society. Also, there is a perverse preoccupation with cars and guns amongst some of the characters which indicts American culture. The nature of violence, too, is so casual, so transient, its perpetrators and victims barely give pause to the consequences and circumstances surrounding it.

The presence of belief is another recurring trait amongst the subjects. This is by all means God fearing country. Where the belief in a spirituality is mirrored by the belief in the American Dream - the possession of cars, guns, money can lead to some sort of fulfilment. This is a world where the many characters have been broken –by violence, by a lack of education, by a lack of opportunity. These broken and lost souls have nowhere to be except in the lines outside of societal conventions where chaos and crime exist. This is a film of overwhelming sadness – there is much pain, loss, regret, and little hope.

The film’s glint of redemption, perhaps, comes from Fred Allen the captain of the so-called “Death houses” who administered somewhere around 125 executions. A professional, even a tradesman, one day inexplicably broke down at one of the executions (one no different than any other) and decided then and there that he could not continue in this role – despite losing his pension. It’s as if the casual and ambivalent attitude to violence and death cannot be sheathed nor ignored – it will always overcome us. He is more interested in the “dash” (the punctuation between the dates of birth and death on a tombstone) and how one lives it, and how fleetingly precious it is.

Killer Joe

Kentucky fried noir. That’s one of way of describing this frankly, bat-shit crazy adaptation of Tracey Lett’s play. This movie from Oscar-winning director William Friedkin certainly has noir-ish elements, i.e. hapless anti-heroes, a femme fatale, double cross, betrayal, etc., but it is firmly rooted in Southern American literature. Think William Faulkner or Tennessee Williams that has been beaten to a pulp by Jim Thompson and you’re nearly there. The film is dark, twisted, often hilarious, frequently repulsive, and features superb performances, one of which by Matthew “is it time to take off my shirt yet?” McConaughey. One thing is certain about this film though: you never quite know where it’s going and it is certainly never dull.

The plot revolves around a dysfunctional (putting it mildly) lower class family. Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) is married to his second wife (Gina Gershon) and has two children: Chris (Emile Hirsch and) Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris is in deep trouble with drug dealers to whom he owes a substantial amount of money - money he most certainly can’t come up with that is until he learns of his biological mother’s life insurance policy worth $50,000. Chris has no trouble convincing his father and sister to go along with the plan and hires a Texas police detective (moonlighting as a contract killer), nick-named Killer Joe (McConaughey) to carry out the murder. The only problem is, neither Chris nor Ansel has a retainer and Joe insists on taking some sort of collateral in order to carry out the contract…

William Friedkin, who has given us such memorable classics such as The French Connection and The Exoricst, shows no signs of slowing down in his fourth decade as director (he’s 76!). Tracey Lett’s (who previously wrote Friedkin’s 2006 bizarre thriller Bug) screenplay obviously has no problem with alienating its audience with giving us not one honourable character to root for. Newcomer Juno Temple is one to watch as the hapless Dottie conveys a child-like innocence in a world where innocence seems to be long, long gone. McConaughey, however, is the real revelation. After languishing in a decade of emetic romantic comedy, McConaughey has taken a role that is the antithesis of romantic leading man and imbues Joe with a deep coldness and icy violence.

The Smith family are literal embodiments of the American Dream turned horribly nightmare-ish where the land of opportunity has turned them into murderous cads. This is an ensemble family picture about a particularly nasty family in a particularly nasty world. Joe acts in many ways as some sort of moral crusader and strives to assume a patriarchal role where there previously was none. Joe’s “seduction” of Dottie is so murkily ambiguous that the audience doesn't know whether to be scintillated or repulsed. And speaking of repulsion, the last 20mins of this picture have to be seen to be believed. 

4/5

Killing them Softly

Andrew Dominik’s third feature is an interesting, often entertaining but also frustrating crime thriller which reunites the Australian film-maker with Jesse James star Brad Pitt. The film features severe brutality and wonderful performances but the elements that should have stayed in the subtext are beaten into the audience as much as much the hapless characters.

Adapted from George V. Higgins’ novel and set in New Orleans against the back drop of the Wall Street Banking Crisis and the 2008 Presidential election, Killing them Softly is a crime thriller with a socio-economic message not so much on its sleeve but carved on its forehead. Scoot McNairy (Monsters) and Ben Mendelsohn (last seen in The Dark Knight Rises) play two naïve crooks who agree to rob a Mob-protected high stakes poker game for a local small time gangster named the Squirrel (The Sopranos’ Vincent Curatola). The bosses suspect Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), the game’s manager who is more guilty for his negligence than his complicity. Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), an efficient and clinical hit man is brought in by a mysterious lawyer (the ever great Richard Jenkins) - with connections to an unidentified network of authorities inside and out of the underworld - to clean up the entire mess.

Dominik seems to relish in deconstructing audiences perceptions of gangster-genre veterans such as James Gandolfini, Curatola, and Liotta. The three are somewhat weak characters who are simply small fish in a very big and dangerous pond. Liotta particularly is a quivering, cowering tragic character – completely removed from the swagger he exemplified in Goodfellas. Gandolfini too retains some of his magnetic threatening persona but he is a hit man with a broken heart and a broke n liver from his alcoholism and penchant for prostitutes. The rest of the supporting cast is superb with Sam Shephard, Richard Jenkins and Slaine (seen in Ben Affleck’s The Town and Gone Baby Gone) all delivering strong but all-to-brief contributions to the film. Pitt is maintaining his consistency with another confident and compelling performance. He imbues Cogan with empathy – exemplified by his tact of assassinating his targets “softly” – yet he is direct and unyielding in his objectives. His speech at the climax of the movie set against Barack Obama’s election victory speech is electrifying and among Pitt’s finest work.

Killing them Softly is a violent film. The beatings are rough and severe and you feel every punch – every broken tooth, every crack in the jaw, every smashed nose. The gunshots aare loud and frightening. The gangster life is in no way romantic or glamorous. It’s a kill or be killed environment and those who hesitate to be ruthless and driven in their mission are victims. It’s a Darwinian environment where “hope” and “change” are just words printed on dilapidated billboards.

 

The plot of the film is very simple but Dominik rather slows down the action and focus on the characters. It’s almost surprising the film ends when it does as one does not know what to expect or where the story is heading. There is an uncertainty in the pacing of the film that is quite apparent. Furthermore, rumours that Dominik’s original cut was 2 and half hours (the finished film is a brisk 97 minutes) give weight to the belief that Dominik had much more ambitious plans. It’s easy to speculate about the reasons for such a massive cut to footage (studio pressure perhaps) but Dominik seems to mistrust his audience to “get” the sub textual themes and motifs. It’s painfully apparent that the heist and subsequent fallout is an allegory for the Economic Crisis and the cutthroat crime underworld is not dissimilar to corporate America. Dominik doesn’t believe in understated or subtlety but Killing them Softly is an entertaining ride nonetheless. One cannot help ponder whether this film was destined for something much, much more.  

10 Movie Villains Who Weren't Really that Bad

A great story more often than not needs a great villain for our hero to fight and to vanquish. Villains often define our heroes and exist only to torment and create anarchy. No one likes a mass murderer, a master criminal, or a violent thug – but sometimes these villains aren’t pure evil. Morality and nobility are not always simplistic and black and white. Good and effective art examines these cracks in society and illuminates the grey that “heroes and villains” occupy. Sometimes their actions are justified and even right! The villains below are not moral or noble characters – but they are examples of these shades of grey. More often than not these villains are products of their environment and have been affected by the world around them. These are some of the villains that I have always sympathised or at least understood. So now let’s have a look at 10 of our Movie Villains Who Weren’t Really Bad and let the arguments begin!

1. Det. Bobby Monday in Premium Rush

We begin this list with the most recent film where Joseph Gordon-Levitt must deliver a mysterious envelope through the NYC rush hour while being pursued by corrupt cop Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon). Shannon’s Det. Monday is under pressure from Chinese loan sharks to get the envelope which will clear his debt. Monday isn’t inherently evil – he’s a desperate man. Sure, he accidentally kills a Chinese gangster but he didn’t mean it! Monday isn’t some scheming genius hell-bent on making the protagonists’ lives misery. He’s a man desperately trying to save his own skin and those cocky little cyclists who have no regard for the rules of the road make his life a living hell. Monday is a victim of serious bad luck and smug cyclists who think they own the roads!

2. Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins

Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul does try to destroy Gotham but his evil plan is nowhere near the anarchy of the Joker or the mass annihilation of Bane – his is about creating a utopia. In comparison to his successors the microwave emitter releasing fear gas is a pretty innocuous plan to unleash on Gotham. The gas will make people freak out in panic but we don’t see anyone die. The crime wave that would ensue would galvanise the authorities to aggressively clean up Gotham and shut down the violent underbelly once and for all. Ra’s may have a funny way of showing it, but he’s out to save the world! And then there’s his greatest pupil (Bruce Wayne), who he treats like his own son only to be repaid by having his mountain dojo blown up and left for dead. Talk about an ingrate! 

3. Bruce the shark in Jaws

It’s a shark! Bruce (as he was dubbed by the film crew) doesn’t have any evil intentions nor is he premeditated. He’s a shark after all! The reasons how Bruce ended up in the Amity beach is ambiguous but the Great White is completely lost and out of his comfort zone. Obviously Bruce’s regular diet is not available to him on the New England coast. He probably never saw a naked girl skinny dipping before – how was he to know it wasn’t a tasty fish?

4. Biff Tannen in Back to the Future Trilogy

Let’s get something straight: Biff Tannen is an asshole. He’s a bully and he’s a cad but he’s not that bad. He’s not a villain. He’s so much fun to watch when he’s being a complete douchebag. In BTTF2, he throws some local kids’ ball onto a roof. Those kids were playing in the unsafe street where any number of dangers could’ve befallen them. Biff probably saved their lives. His older self understandably wants to make a better life for himself after being a lackey to George McFly his entire life. Who can blame him for trying? He will always be endearing for the line: “make like a tree and get the hell out of my car”.

5. Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds

This one is tricky. Landa is a Nazi. He is the ‘Jew Hunter’. He is a murderer. Landa however is serving in one of the most feared armies in history. His hesitation or his compassion in the Nazi administration would lead to certain death. He even tries his hand at heroics by offering to end the war – killing Hitler and the entire Nazi command for the Allies. He’s as tired of the German’s as the rest of the world and plots to blow Hitler to hell – albeit at a terrible cost to his forehead!

6. Loki in Thor

As much as I loved last year’s Thor I did feel there was a lack of a menacing villain. Loki isn’t really revealed to be the villain until well into the second act and even then, he is not inherently evil. He feels betrayed and unloved by his adopted family. He is guilty of some sibling jealousy which we have all felt at some stage in life. Loki deals with some shocking discoveries (he is in fact an adopted Frost baby) and his arrogant brother Thor. It’s a very Shakespearean plot but the bard’s characters were a lot more ruthless and Machiavellian than the God of mischief. Loki does amp up the bad in The Avengers even killing beloved Agent Coulson but in Thor it’s all very teenage angst stuff.

7. Roy Batty in Blade Runner

Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty in Blade Runner seems like an avenging angel of death throughout the film. He gruesomely murders Tyrell by crushing his fingers into his “maker’s” eyes and he is responsible for hapless JF Sebastian’s death (although this is not seen on screen). Batty is a highly evolved android who simply wants to prolong his life. He is angry with “God” and the world around him. His true “humanity” is shown by saving Deckard’s life after showing him how easily he could’ve squashed him like a bug. For an android, Batty also has remarkable emotion and depth delivering the celebrated monologue - “tears in the rain”.

8. Magneto in X-Men

Magneto has a justifiable gripe with the human race. He was a survivor of the holocaust and knows a thing or two about persecution. His hostility towards the human race is completely understandable. His plans over the X-Men Trilogy have varied but they usually involve genocide of the human race. That does sound a little extreme but Magneto warns of the “war” between humans and mutants and how human nature is to turn against those that they do not understand and fear. If Magneto could be assured about the human race’s intentions towards mutants I’m sure he could be talked out of genocidal schemes.

9. Bill in Kill Bill

The problem I have always had with Tarrantino’s revenge magnum opus is how he undermines the revenge by the end of Vol. 2. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is on a quest of retribution for the murder of her unborn child, her soon to be husband, her wedding guests and the attempted murder of herself. In Vol.2 we learn that the Bride barely knew her new fiancé and was clearly having a shotgun wedding (no pun intended) to get over the disintegration of her relationship with Bill (David Carradine). The wedding guests were practically strangers to her as well. Her unborn baby survived and is reunited with her mother at the end of the film. Bill even admits he “over-reacted”. I always thought they could have tried to get past it and raise their daughter together as only deadly assassins know how.

10. Hans Gruber in Die Hard

I’ve always felt through repeated viewings of Die Hard that John McClane is the real villain of the movie. Gruber and co and nowhere near prepared for the sheer brutality that McClane unleashes upon them. Gruber does murder Takagi in cold blood – but that is nothing compared to the sheer psychotic insanity McClane perpetrates on Gruber’s crew. At one point in the showdown with the über-henchman Karl, McClane screams: “I’m gonna kill you, then I’m gonna cook you, then I’m gonna fucking eat you!” Not to mention Karl is trying to get McClane in revenge for killing his brother and after McClane taunts him. He actually taunts him after killing his brother! Hans Gruber who wants to steal bearer bonds in a terrifically executed heist is the villain? Are you kidding me?

Looper

Looper is set in a dystopian 2044 where time travel is controlled in secret by organised crime. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Joe, a “looper” whose job it is to assassinate targets sent back from the future. Joe and his colleagues are under threat when the unseen powers-that-be decide to “close the contracts” of all the loopers and begin sending their future selves back in time for execution. Levitt comes face to face with his future self (Bruce Willis) and fails to execute his target. Joe must track down and kill his older self before his contract is terminated.

Rian Johnson has proven adept with three different genres (film noir, con movie, Sci-Fi) but to dismiss him as a genre director would be wrong. Brick, The Brothers Bloom and now, Looper all have an idiosyncratic charm and wicked humour that has become a staple of Johnson’s work. Looper is certainly the most ambitious of the three and Johnson proves himself more than competent with a bigger budget and a mega-star in Willis.

The acting is expectedly terrific. Levitt superbly apes the cadences of a Die Hard-era Willis and injects his character Joe with a desperate violence and sadness. Willis is in suitable bad-ass form again who is willing to do anything for what he thinks is right. Blunt is also a wonderful addition to the cast whose character will greatly benefit form repeated viewings as her motivations do not become apparent until the third act. Jeff Daniels also stars in a supporting role as a gangland boss sent from the future who controls the Loopers and effectively the present in 2044. The real acting tour de force however comes from 10-year old Pierce Gagnon who commits a blistering performance of depth and intensity the likes I have never seen in an actor so young.

Looper poses many questions and gives a very un-Hollywood take on the future. Over thirty years into the future, China seems to be the dominant economic force, yet the characters deal with in silver and gold as currency. Solar panelling is never focused upon but every car and building seems to have one. Johnson has built an intrinsic and detailed world but these details remain in the background and will certainly reward future viewings much like Sci-Fi’s magnum opus Blade Runner. It is, however, the time travel aspect of the film that gives us the lasting thought provoking questions: nature versus nurture and whether violence is a cyclical result of both. Willis’ character seems hell-bent on violently clearing up his past to preserve his future but the violent past will always come back in haunting retribution.

Johnson has not delivered a classic but Looper is a fascinating and exhilarating film. It may not to be everyone’s taste but this could have “cult status” written all over it. This film, with its high concept, seems like it would be a studio-backed blockbuster, particularly with the inclusion of Bruce Willis and Joseph-Levitt Gordon who have had their fair share of mega hits. Yet this is an independent production that is an original screenplay. Johnson, like Christopher Nolan and to a lesser extent, the Wachowski siblings, has shown that a proven property or franchise is not the only product for the mainstream film market. Film-makers like Johnson have something to say and limited resources to say it with – proving cinema’s future very bright indeed.

 4/5

Premium Rush

Premium Rush has plenty of thrills, spills and excitement but an unbalanced tone and a weak third act leave this bicycle action movie just behind at the finish line.

Wiley (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is a fast living bicycle courier in New York. Wiley has romantic issues with his co-worker Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) and competitive issues with his rival Manny (Wolé Parks). The courier job is one that pays lousy but Wiley gets to ride his bike all day – without breaks. What appears to be just another job, Wiley must deliver a mysterious envelope to Chinatown during “premium rush” by 7pm before Michael Shannon’s corrupt cop Bobby Monday can catch up with him.

Writer-Director David Koepp (writer of classic Jurassic Park, director of not-so-much-classic Secret Window) keeps the rush consistent throughout the film. If only there was more premium. There are visual flares throughout the movie – the opening shot of Gordon-Levitt flying through the air in slow motion; the integrating of a Google-maps type device with real time photography; and particularly the scenes where Levitt must decide the best route through traffic that won’t lead to a violent death – but the film is lacking a tighter screenplay and more developed characters.

Levitt is an endearing screen presence but after leading roles in 500 Days of Summer and supporting action roles in Inception and The Dark Knight Rises I feel like I’ve seen the same character several times. I would like to see him stretched a bit further like his roles in Mysterious Skin and Brick. There’s not much to his Wilee character other than he is a trained lawyer and only rides his bike for the “rush” and the fear of sitting behind a desk. The romantic subplot between Levitt and Ramirez seems like an afterthought as does the love triangle with Parks’ Manny.

Michael Shannon playing the role of the villain makes his character more sympathetic than if it was in lesser hands. Shannon is a terrific actor and will hopefully turn on the malignance in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel next year. That malignance is much needed and Koepp’s screenplay has reduced the villain to a more benign threat than he should be. The real peril of the movie is the rush hour New York traffic rather than Shannon’s Det. Monday.

Premium Rush is fun and exciting but falls short of being anything more. There are plot holes and throwaway characters but Levitt, Shannon and newcomer Ramirez are such talented actors that the film never becomes unbearable. Much like the protagonist’s bike, Premium Rush has no brakes and rides headfirst without much thought – narrowly avoiding a devastating collision.

3/5

Marvel Avengers Assemble

We’ve had reboots, prequels, sequels, three-quels, trilogies, quadrilogies, anthologies and everything in between in the comic book genre, but Marvel Avengers Assemble is certainly the first of its kind. Years in the making amidst fan boy’s high expectations, massive studio promises and feverish anticipation, the team up geeks’ dreams are made of is finally here. And what a glorious and shameless crowd pleasing blockbuster it is!

The plot is almost inconsequential when it enables the team up of Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Evans’s Captain America, Hemsworth’s Thor  and Ruffalo’s (replacing Edward Norton as the “Big Guy’s alter ego) Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Aided by S.H.E.L.D. agents Black Widow(Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), the superheroes assemble to thwart the evil plan orchestrated by the adopted and malignant brother of Thor - Loki. Loki previously seen in Thor last year, plots world domination by allying with an alien army hell bent on destruction and enslavement of the planet.

The real star of this show however, is writer-director Joss Whedon. The film lives or dies by the careful balancing act of these huge cultural and cinematic icons. Sceptics would assume that the pithy sarcasm of Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark would over-shadow this ensemble and make this Iron Man 3. However, thanks to Whedon’s superb screenplay and assured direction every hero gets his due and moment to shine. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the film is that no single hero emerges as the “star”.  Sure The Hulk has some of the finale’s most exhilarating and amusing moments but the other characters all have their essential roles to play in this “team”. This is a carefully executed ensemble piece realised by terrific actors who are clearly having about as much fun as the popcorn throwing audience.

Whedon also deserves praise for the delightful balanced tone of the movie. The film has more laughs than most of the recent Adam Sandler output combined but still retains an emotional core. Hiddleston as Loki chews any scenery around him but never verges out of his sinister malignance and is wonderfully imposing as a villain. The only issue is that he is never a real threat that would emphatically challenge these heroes – something surely will be addressed in the eventual sequels.

The first summer blockbuster of the season is here and sets the bar with a mercilessly pleasing vengeance.

4/5