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Film & TV on DVD - John Doe News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

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Film & TV on DVD - April 2008

Iron Man (2008) - Trailer Included

April 30th 2008 00:00

Ore Mined and Polished

The nice people at Paramount sent John Doe a press invite for Iron Man on Monday night and he just has to thank them for their kindness. It is admittedly fun seeing a super-hyped movie before the global release and geek boys spoil the surprises.

Iron Man arrives this week

Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Bridges, Terence Howard, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow

Stan Lee must be loving the financial rewards of movie adaptations. Kudos due to him since his reign as the comic book king in an era where the medium was considered intellectually defunct. Expanding his dominance over the genre, Iron Man is the first production Marvel has fully funded.

The character of Iron Man is not as widely worshipped as his other creations like Spiderman, X-Men and The Hulk, but is certainly as richly drawn. The film version definitely falls into the kiddie friendly category, opting for a “rock’n’roll” approach to the violence (established as AC/DC’s Back in Black blares over the opening) and side stepping many opportunities for a satire on pro-war propaganda, instead this is a non offensive action comedy.

Taking the anti hero Tony Stark out of Vietnam and transporting him to modern day Iraq for a more contemporary feel the film does attempt to remain true to the source in many other respects.

The story begins as the nihilistic, self serving and egotistical weapons inventor/manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) peddles his wares in the desert.

After a successful demonstration of his latest WMD his convoy is promptly ambushed and an injured Stark is left near dead. Evil terrorists abduct him and demand he build the weapon of choice for them to use in there perceived fight for freedom.

Degraded, fearful and humiliated Tony is awakened to his destructive life’s folly and plans a metal skinned escape. Using only the raw materials available he constructs a bullet proof prototype Iron suit that also has the benefits of increasing his strength and even achieves flight over short distances.

It’s enough for him to evade the clutches of bad men and soon he is back on US soil with a change of heart and a new found determination for true heroics, as Iron Man

The Dude is a villian, Air America is a hero - welcome to the dawn of steel

John Doe says:
It’s unfair to compare Iron Man with adult minded fare like Batman Begins or Sin City because of its distinctly family minded execution. When sizing it up against its obvious competition like Daredevil, Electra and Fantastic Four the film is above average. It’s light, fun entertainment, sometimes witty, occasionally exciting and boosted by two stellar performances. The staggering FX bear a Hollow Man style on the simulated design and development scenes. The inspired set pieces and costumes are excellent.

According to imdb.com the Director Jon Favreau (Made Zathura), describes the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed "Superman", with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, "RoboCop" and "Batman Begins".

Well he did get part of it right, the Robocop stamp is on just about every sound byte and frame that captures the mechanical giant in the lens. In fact at about the half way point JD yearned for someone like Paul Verhoeven at the helm to play with the ripened social commentary that is never plucked. It would have been nice to see a little blood in a story with so much carnage, what we get is the A-Team slug shot philosophy.

As for the espionage it really isn’t present aside from a token sub plot that is never fully realised and of course the element of Q gadgets galore. An unresolved love interest thread is unfortunately given more time than the spy angle.

It’s certainly not all bad, credit has to go to Favreau for at least holding back and never unleashing a full bodied CGI assault of quick edit action that drags on to be remembered as a blur, there is strength in economic combat.

If anything the film is too controlled in its delivery. The build up to the conflicts is more enjoyable than the events. The film wants to achieve terminal velocity and lift off but the clanging and crashing only ever feels like a leisurely jog instead of a supersonic sprint of pounded steel. The real joys arrive whenever Stark is tweaking the suit, honing features, witnessing each new evolution and the preparation for battles.

The screenplay is full of humour, some works, others are experiments in cliché, this is a obviously a set up for sequels. JD loves films that take their time to develop characters or anticipation, but the pacing of this seems off because there really is no pay off or plot, the journey is the essence for audience satisfaction or disappointment.

The highlight of the film is the lead characters. Robert Downey Jnr (Less Than Zero, Zodiac, Chaplin) is charismatic and charming as the playboy/bubble boy who like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz finds out he has a heart. Even great in lame films, here you can tell he had a fair bit of free reign and according to gossip much was improvised in rehearsal.

Matching, if not exceeding his co star, Jeff Bridges (Big Lebowski, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) goes all Lex Luthor, shaving his head cue ball bald. Taking aplomb in every dialogue delivery his daunting performance is far from the sleep walking through a role that many other big name stars deliver when answering the siren call of a massive pay-check for a potential franchise.

The rest of the players are rather forgettable. Standing beside a pair of titan thespians only highlights how lacking Gwyneth Paltrow (Royal Tenenbaums) is in onscreen energy, passion and presence. As the 007 Money Penny clone, Pepper Potts she stops the movie in its tracks whenever she appears and sadly can’t even muster up chemistry with her fictional love Tony Stark.

Terrence Howard seems to channel Cuba Gooding Jnr as the military sidekick, boring as you would expect.

John Doe is a little over critical in his review, Iron Man is truthfully good popcorn fodder. The reason for the less than stellar critique is due to the obvious sanitising or aversion to potentially dark moments. Several times, in the action and character scenes there is room for substance that is neutered. Wisely Favareau is career minded and caters to the studios “please everyone” creed any time things begin to get a bit edgy, something the idealistic JD hates.

Read Cib's review for Iron Man HERE

Iron Man - The Trailer

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Action, In Cinemas, Fantasy/Adventure, Comedy

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Acting with James Franco – A Video Tutorial

April 24th 2008 00:01

Meet James Franco - Acting Teacher

James Franco - The sharing kind

"Acting is an art form and you want to take roles that are challenged and it's more of a challenge I think to play dark characters. Not that I want to always play those, but it is a challenge and challenges are rewarding and fun." – James Franco

James Franco (Spiderman) is one of those actors who hasn’t really been in any great films yet but there is something about him that John Doe thinks shows potential. After all this is a guy who played James Dean rather convincingly in a TV movie, was good in The Dead Girl and In the Valley of Elah plus he paints in his spare time.

In The Dead Girl opposite Rose Byrne

Breaking out with the Judd Apatow cult series Freaks and Geeks, he is the star of the much anticipated stoner comedy from the Aptow/Rogens team called Pineapple Express. He is also due to appear opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s Milk biography.

James Franco with the rest of the cast of Freaks and Geeks

Enough preamble, the clips below come courtesy of funnyordie.com and they definitely fall into the “funny” category. JD has been flummoxed as to why he even likes the guy, who is usually the kind of pretty boy actor that he despises but the footage below goes along way to explaining the attraction.

Franco the scholar

Offering lessons in the art of acting, Franco is completely self effacing, parodying his craft. The cool thing is they still have some educational value in the rudimentary sense.

Using his brother Dave as a pawn/student, he downplays thespian airs instead opting to border on derogatory. The idea is to coach amateurs on how to emote effectively and perform in front of a green screen. Removing any sense of celebrity ego he is happy to joke about masturbation habits and the stupidity of make believe monsters and yes, even the green goblin.

So grab a pen and paper, sit back and prepare for Acting with James Franco – A Video Tutorial series.

Part 1: Acting With James Franco – “Sense Memory”

Part 2: Acting With James Franco – “Green Screen

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Film News and Views

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The Mist (2007) - Trailer Included

April 22nd 2008 23:57

The Unseen Villiany Within

The Mist is due to be released on DVD in Australia on the 19th of June

Writer/Director: Frank Darabont
Based on the Novella by: Stephen King
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, William Sadler, Sam Witwer, Toby Jones, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, David Jensen

“As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?” - Ollie

Stephen King is one of the most prolific writers of any era. He has penned in excess of 50 novels that have in turn been translated into more than 75 movies, TV Shows and mini series. Not counting his excursions into drama (Eg: Hearts in Atlantis, Stand By Me) most of his Horror/Thrillers have been mediocre at best. There have been three cinema adaptations that are masterpieces, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone and Brian De Palma’s Carrie. Several mediocre efforts that hold some merit like John Carpenter's Christine, Rob Reiner’s Misery and Bryan Singer’s Apt Pupil. For the most part sadly the majority of celluloid excursions have wasted opportunities and ended up sub par or worse as downright trash.

Hitting cinemas last year, The Mist is a supernatural horror film that can proudly become the fourth exercise in terror to be confidently deemed a cinema gem. Based on a novella from The Skeleton Crew it’s taut, disturbing and painfully clever. This is a journey into nerve wracking trembles spearheaded by humanity’s destructive reaction to fear of the unknown.
“I can't accept that. People are basically good; decent. My god, David, we're a civilized society.” – Amanda

A lazy synopsises would be that it’s the Cube and Lord of the Flies cross bred or is that in bred with a traditional Twilight Zone monster movie. It’s not John Doe’s style to be lazy though, hence the 100 plus words before he even gets around to discussing the film in question. So here is a brief introduction to this tale that hopefully remains spoiler free.
“The end of times has come. Not in flames, but in mist.” – Mrs Carmody

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is a movie poster artist, as the camera focuses on him working the nods to the stories original author and the tone of the film are immediately present. David is presently painting illustrating a film version of the Gun Slinger, part of King’s Dark Tower western trilogy. As a violent electrical storm rages lightning flashes revealing that on the walls are posters for John Carpenter’s The Thing and The Fog.
“Now listen people. We are experiencing some kind of disaster. I don't know whether it's man-made or natural, but I do know that it's definitely not supernatural. Or biblical. And no offense Mrs. Carmody, but the only way we're going to help ourselves is to seek rescue. We're going out.” - Brent

Abandoning his work as nature’s fury is unleashed, Drayton takes his family into the basement as a massive tree is uprooted and shatters the window where he was seated only moments earlier.

The next day all his calm, a heavy mist sits at the foothills of the surrounding lake. An olive branch is offered to Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), his obnoxious lawyer neighbour and so David, his young son Billy and Brent drive into town to get supplies to repair the damage to their respective houses.

En route police and army vehicles blast by towards a mysterious military science base known as Arrowhead located in the mountains just outside of the sleepy town in Maine. The subject of gossip and folk lore little is known about the experimental compound and unconcerned the trio continue onto the local hardware store.

Once inside more activity erupts as a frantic man bursts into the confines of the warehouse store with a bleeding nose. Startling the customers with claims of his companions swift and unseen fatal encounter within The Mist….suddenly an air raid siren blares and the threatening mist engulfs the shop….it begins.
“It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude.” – Bud Brown

I have a bad feeling about this

John Doe says:
So you don’t get the wrong impression, this film does have faults. It’s not perfect and the first half an hour misleads you into believing it’s just another “B” grade horror. It’s easy to settle into believing that you are in for a dose of enjoyable schlock entertainment.

The early FX shots are a little on the tongue in cheek side, but all that changes once its true purpose is revealed. The velocity increases and a claustrophobic study of the fundamentals of a clawing paranoia and desperation emerge. Comparisons to The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are much more appropriate.

Misconceptions are abruptly removed when suddenly the tension snowballs, the terrifying special effects improve and importantly you become invested in the plight of these trapped characters. By the time the story hits its apex there are few equals to its superior visuals and heart exploding suspense. There is the imminent doom and cold menace of a great white shark rolling it eyes into the back of its head for an inevitable attack.

Now is probably a good time to mention how much JD despised Writer/Director Frank Darabont until this point in his career. He was a man who even managed to bleed any sense of menace or danger from prison (The Shawshank Redemption) and like Spielberg had a saccharine quality to his work that left me repulsed for all the wrong reasons.

In The Mist Darabont’s knowledge of cinema language and deft audience manipulation finally becomes apparent. There is a restrained expertise in the staging and pacing. Cleverly minimising the soundtrack, don’t expect to be warned in advance of impending destruction here. The minimal score is supported by unpolished cinematography that frames shots for maximum impact and urgent editing from the technical team behind The Shield. The result is a social commentary of realism that is inescapable, a tone that salutes the dense atmosphere of his inspirations.

Best of all the film follows through on its pitch dark promises with a finale of such melancholy devastation that Johnny refuse to discuss it with those who have not yet witnessed it for themselves.

The script tightens and the imaginative FX accelerates as each scene proceeds, it’s akin to bamboo shoots up the fingers nails. None of these peripherals would coagulate without the dedication of the cast who are committed to convincing us this is all really happening.

Thomas Jane (Thursday, The Velocity of Gary) backs up his charismatic performance in the under seen real life cop thriller Stander and scene stealing turn in Boogie Nights. You believe his on-screen intelligence and obsessive survival instincts.

Marcia Gay Harden (The Dead Girl) is truly repulsive as the religious zealot all to eager to believe in Gods blood thirsty desires. Inspiring such hatred in the pit of your stomach that it’s hard not to reach into the screen and throttle her. This is a fearless performance that embraces the pack mentality with a fervour that should be rewarded.

All the players including William Sadler, David Jensen and Andre Braugher excel in there parts.

Johnny D loves being surprised by films and when he saw the trailer for this, frankly it looked derivative and judged it to be a poor mans version of The Fog. How wrong he was. Under estimation can sometimes lead to excitement, it wasn’t until about half way through that he realised he had read the original novella, but this didn’t detract from the shocks that the film offered.

The DVD release will have both the original version and also Darabont’s intended cut that is black and white, which I can only imaging adds another level to the creepy feel. So next time your looking for a frightfest on a rainy night, switch all the lights out and prepare for some quality chills in The Mist.

If you would like find out some of the stories secrets, then visit Bryn’s brilliant review over on horrorphile.net

Spoiler Warning - The trailer for the Mist that hints at where the story goes.