Sex, Leins & Videotape #14. Paignton film critic Tom Leins gives us the low-down on an eclectic selection of new DVD releases.
First up this week is Moon (Sony), a hyper-stylised slice of art-house sci-fi courtesy of Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son). Ostensibly a tribute to the classic sci-fi movies of Jones’ youth, Moon is a moody, unpredictable triumph. Sam Rockwell stars as Sam Bell, an astronaut stranded on the moon as part of a Lunar Industries energy-mining scheme. As the end of his three-year contract approaches, his solitary existence is thrown into chaos when he encounters his own clone!
After three years on the moon, Sam’s perception of reality is starting to frazzle at the edges, and when the lonely astronaut encounters his own double after a freak accident, and the duo struggle to adapt to life together, each suspecting the other of being a clone. Man on the moon Sam Rockwell is an engaging focal point, and his double-edged performance is increasingly impressive as paranoia seeps into his mundane existence and his fragile mind starts to unravel. The movie was written with Rockwell in mind, and the character actor delivers the goods throughout. With nods to Alien, Solaris and 2001, Moon is well aware of its illustrious predecessors, and although it doesn’t quite achieve instant classic status it is a fascinating character study of one man and his doppelganger. Quietly surreal rather than totally tweaked, this is one slice of lunar lunacy that’s well worth checking out.
Comedy actors come and go, but Will Ferrell is still going strong after a decade in Hollywood. His latest tongue-in-cheek offering is a remake of the cult 1974 sci-fi series Land of the Lost (Universal). Ferrell stars as Rick Marshall, the latest in a long line of maladjusted Ferrell buffoons. A disgraced scientist who has become a national laughing stock after a fist-fight with a dismissive TV presenter, Marshall pieces together a Tachyon Amplifier in a bid to claw back his credibility. Unexpectedly his hardware actually works and propels him and his chums into a desolate parallel universe ruled by lizards, dinosaurs and monkeys!
Ferrell’s remake plays fast and loose with the source material, transforming Marshall’s inquisitive children Holly and Will into a perky research assistant (Anna Friel) and a knuckle-headed survivalist (Danny McBride). Our intrepid trio stumble headlong into the titular land of the lost and lark around for an hour and a half before giving up the ghost and heading home. Ferrell and McBride are responsible for a handful of rib-tickling scenes, but the movie itself feels frustratingly half-baked. Despite some gloriously weird gags, all too often Land of the Lost feels like a kid’s movie with all of the kids clumsily edited out.
If you’re desperate to see Will Ferrell and Danny McBride trading quips you should ignore this and seek out ‘Eastbound & Down’, instead. The duo’s brand new comedy focuses on McBride’s washed-up baseball star who returns to his home-town to teach a high school gym class, only to clash with Ferrell’s brash car dealer, and just about everybody else!
Po-faced ensemble dramas have surged to prominence in recent years, with filmmakers of all persuasions eager to cash-in on Crash’s Oscar-grabbing triumph. The latest movie to follow in Crash’s critically acclaimed tyre-tracks is Crossing Over (Entertainment in Video). The movie follows the tangled lives of an assortment of troubled immigration agents and desperate illegal immigrants in modern-day LA. Director Wayne Kramer has a seriously uneven track record, and his previous efforts have veered from the sublime (The Cooler) and the ridiculous (Running Scared). Crossing Over is neither sublime, nor ridiculous – merely a glum, ham-fisted attempt examination of racial politics.
The curiously age-less Ray Liotta stars as a sleazy immigration inspector who accepts sexual favours in return for unwarranted Visas. Since his haggard turn in Narc a few years ago, Liotta has seemingly got younger each year, and I can only assume that he has a (Dorian Gray-style) painting in his attic that looks a lot like Harrison Ford! Anyone who was impressed by Ford’s sprightly turn in the 4th Indiana Jones movie will be disappointed to see quite how old Ford appears here. As the central character (an aging immigration cop with a conscience) Ford lacks the energy to give the film a real sense of purpose, and his sluggish demeanour typifies the film’s lacklustre approach.
Described by director Wim Wenders as his “most entertaining film”, dreamy 1994 travelogue Lisbon Story (Axiom Films) is now back on DVD after a spell out of print. The movie follows the strange journey of sound recordist Phillip Winter (Rudiger Volger), who travels to Lisbon at the behest of his old friend Friedrich, in order to help him complete a film project. When Phillip arrives in the Portuguese capital his friend has seemingly vanished without a trace, and he immerses himself in the city’s musical underbelly in an effort to track down the missing filmmaker. After an intriguing start Lisbon Story lapses into whimsy and the meandering narrative feels frustratingly undercooked. There are a smattering of charming scenes throughout the film, but Lisbon Story lacks the requisite bite to entice casual viewers. Even Wenders’ obscure offerings are worthy of further inspection, but unfortunately Lisbon Story is too unfocused for its own good and won’t win the German auteur any new fans. Wenders may consider it his “most entertaining film” but casual film fans will beg to differ…
Loading ...
Recent Comments