Sex, Leins & Videotape #7: Paignton’s resident film critic Tom Leins puts this week’s DVD titles through their paces.
Less a film, more of an extended mood-poem, Gideon Koppel’s Sleep Furiously (New Wave) 
is a delicate, ruminative documentary that focuses on the inhabitants of Trefeurig, a dwindling farming community in mid-Wales.
What initially seems dreary and unfocused soon develops into something far more engaging and the slow, unscripted scenes take on a peculiar poetry of their own. The evocative soundtrack courtesy of Cornish electronica artist Aphex Twin gives the movie instant kudos and his ambient Drukqs-era tracks offer a recurring aural motif throughout the film. Admittedly, during some of the slower passages I could have done with a blast of Come To Daddy or Windowlicker to jolt me out of my torpor! Although Sleep Furiously contains some truly wonderful scenes, the slow rural pace will dissuade viewers with short attention spans from committing themselves wholeheartedly. What’s more, as the film finally drew to a close I certainly slept soundly, if not furiously. Approach with caution!
Elsewhere in Wales, Summer Scars (Soda) sees a posse of Welsh juvenile delinquents indulge in a selection of less sedate pastimes. Our erstwhile protagonists bunk off school and head down to the woods for a day of aimless larking around. Before long they cross paths with Peter, a dishevelled vagabond with a warped sense of humour. Peter befriends the impressionable youngsters before tormenting them with a series of increasingly bizarre mind-games. Demented hobo Peter (played with relish by Kevin Howarth) recalls Morrell, Paddy Considine’s character in Shane Meadows’ brilliant A Room For Romeo Brass, but unfortunately the comparison doesn’t do Summer Scars any favours. Meadows’ unhinged coming-of-age yarn is a far more confident proposition and, clocking in at just over an hour, Summer Scars seems awfully slight. Although director Julian Richards provides some genuinely stomach-churning moments and delivers a creeping sense of unease throughout, Summer Scars ultimately suffers from a muddled sense of purpose. Eden Lake it ain’t.
Considering Greg McLean caused a major splash back in 2005 with his debut feature Wolf Creek, it’s a surprise to learn that his 2007 follow up Rogue (Icon) has been languishing in distribution limbo for so long. Pete (Michael Vartan) is a jaded travel writer dispatched to the Outback to examine the burgeoning tourist trade. He duly finds himself gawping at crocodiles on a boat tour led by the feisty Kate (Radha Mitchell). As the uneventful tour draws to a close Kate decides to investigate a distant distress signal, despite the protestations of her reluctant passengers. Inevitably, their boat is soon ruptured by gigantic crocodile and our motley crew of survivors find themselves marooned on a tidal outcrop in a desperate fight against the enormous Croc. After a seriously slow start, Rogue develops into a quietly effective spine-tingler. McLean exploits his characters’ fear of the unknown, and cranks the tension up one notch at a time. Fans may be surprised to learn that McLean has toned down the visceral shock tactics of Wolf Creek in favour of a more subtle approach this time around. Although the beast makes its presence felt – one unlucky day-tripper at a time – Rogue doesn’t quite signal the return of the ‘creature feature’. It may be surprisingly minimalist, but it’s also weirdly insubstantial.
Capcom’s classic arcade franchise Street Fighter retains an undeniable fascination years after its introduction, and it won’t surprise anyone to see movie producers have another bite at the cherry. Unfortunately, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Optimum) is another wasted opportunity. What should be a gleeful excuse for rampant carnage is derailed by a dubious plot involving Chun-Li’s long-winded search for the mysterious men who killed her father. Strangely, the producers have only opted to use a handful of classic characters. Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk) and Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan) deliver the goods, but M.Bison (played by Neal McDonagh) is depicted as a suave Irish businessman rather than a fascistic tyrant! In fairness, cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (whose previous directorial credits include Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds) delivers a flashy, good-looking picture, but the nonsensical narrative undermines any progress. It may be far better than the Jean-Claude Van Damme/Kylie Minogue debacle from 1994, but this limp, confused offering doesn’t bode well for the rest of the series. Here’s hoping that Bartkowiak’s successor resists the temptation to graft a lame sub-plot onto the actual street-fighting!
Next up: amateur hour in the Cockney underworld… Jack Said (Optimum) quite possibly represents the nadir of the London gangster genre. Although the early stages aim for stark Sin City-style sophistication Jack Said soon shows its true colours – and they aren’t pretty! The art-house pretensions are quickly rendered ridiculous by the clunky dialogue and weak acting, and the barely coherent narrative seems like it is being made up by the cast as they go along. The threadbare plot involves an undercover cop who infiltrates a vicious criminal gang, unleashing all manner of slap-dash carnage as he goes. The producers have pulled off quite a coup by recruiting Danny Dyer to star in their movie, but crazily he doesn’t even get the lead role! (That dubious honour goes to a chunky no-mark called Simon Phillips.) Admittedly, not even Dyer could have saved this mess, but that kind of misjudged casting-call typifies this movie’s botched objectives. Make no mistake: Jack Said is excruciatingly bad.
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