The Illusionist

Year: 2010
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Screenplay: Jacques Tati, adapted by Sylvain Chomet
Starring (voice only): Jean-Claude Donda and Edith Rankin
Running Time: 79 minutes
Genre: Animation, comedy, drama

Summary: Paris, 1959, Tatischef (Donda) barely makes a living as a stage magician in the rapidly vanishing world of music hall. Hoping the situation will be better abroad he moves to Britain, but finds that London is in the grip of rock 'n' roll fever and, while playing a wedding, is invited by a drunken Scotsman to make his living in the Highlands. In a small town in the islands of Scotland, Tatischef is a sensation when he performs in the tiny local pub, and the landlord's daughter, Alice (Rankin), believes that he is really a magician. Alice stows away with Tatischef and the two make their way to Edinburgh, where they both have to make the choice about what they really want from life.

Summary: Okay, first of all this movie is nothing to do with the 2006 film of the same name with Edward Norton and Jessica Biel. Instead, this movie is based on an unproduced script written in 1956 by French comedian Jacques Tati, which was handed over to French animator Chomet by Tati's daughter, Sophie, in 2000 two years before her death. The script had apparently been written by Tati as an attempt to reconcile with his eldest daughter, Helga Marie-Jeanne Schiel, who he had abandoned when she was a baby, and the film has been heavily criticised by some for not including a dedication or mention of Schiel in it's credits. The screenplay was originally set in Czechoslovakia, but Chomet relocated it to Scotland, where he was working at the time the film was made. The animation is very well done with a great eye for locale and period detail, also Chomet's exagerrated style really captures the feel of the Tati films. In common with Tati's films the movie is virtually silent and that which there is is pretty difficult to make out. Tatischef speaks French and Alice speaks Gaelic and neither can understand what the other is saying. Tati was very intrested in his films having an international audience and, realising that humour rarely works in translation, he made his films almost silent, relying on elaboratly designed silent comedy set-pieces, usually involving his innocent and old-fashioned alter-egos pitted against baffling modern technology all of which is captured here, although don't expect a laugh riot, the comedy is very gentle. Focusing on the relationship between Tatischef and Alice, who have a father-daughter
relationship throughout, the movie has genuine heart.
Tati himself appears very briefly in a clip from Mon Oncle (1958) playing in a cinema. In the scene watch out for a poster advertising Chomet's own The Triplets of Belleville (2003).
The movie is well worth watching for fans of animation.

Swimming with Sharks

Year: 1994
Director: George Huang
Screenplay: George Huang
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes, Benicio del Toro, T.E. Russell
Running Time: 93 minutes
Genre: Comedy, drama, Hollywood

Summary: In Los Angeles, California, film-school graduate Guy (Whaley) works as an assistant to powerful studio executive Buddy Ackerman (Spacey). One night, Guy shows up at Buddy's house and holds him hostage at gunpoint. During the course of the night the two relive the endless barrage of insults, abuse, humiliation and betrayal which Buddy has heaped on Guy while he has been his assistant.

Opinions: When watching this movie it is tempting to speculate on just what George Huang experienced in Hollywood to give him such a devestatingly bleak view on the place and on the people who live and work there. It is depicted as a brutal, savage jungle where everyone will line up to stab you in the back and the most horrible cruelty and betrayals are not only permitted but actively encouraged. The movie back and forth between the hostage situation in Ackerman's home and the flashbacks which make up most of the running time to Guy's experiences on the job. This is the movie which really brought Kevin Spacey, who also co-produced the film, to the attention of A-list Hollywood and he makes the most of his role as the loathsome executive spitting an endless stream of orders and the most horrible insults at a machine-gun pace and it is fair to say that he has some classic lines. Many rumours have circulated over the years as to who Ackerman is based on with real-life producers Scott Rudin and Joel Silver named. It's also worth noting that at one time Huang worked as an assistant to Barry Josephson, who was Senior Vice President of Development at Sony Pictures. The thing is that everyone else in the film is pretty much overshadowed by Spacey, although they all do well enough in their roles. Also the story has it's share of clicches and depends in several places on coincidence.
It is worth watching though for Spacey and some hilarious dialogue. A final note though is, according to the non-fiction book Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind, the film could be a pretty mild version of what life is really like in a movie studio.

"You are nothing! If you were in my toilet I wouldn't bother flushing it! My bathmat means more to me than you."
-Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey) in Swimming with Sharks

"Scott Pilgrim" by Bryan Lee O'Malley

I know that previously I've reviewed the first and second installments of the six volume Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels individually, but since I read the other four books back to back over the past day I decided to cover them all in this one post:



Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (2006): Scott Pilgrim finds himself pitted against Ramona Flowers' third Evil Ex-Boyfriend, Todd Ingram who, due to his vegan lifestyle, has developed devestating psychic powers and, to make matters worse, Todd is dating Scott's ex-girlfriend Envy Adams, who Scott has still not managed to get over after she broke his heart over a year previously and who is now a world-famous rock star.



Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (2007): Two months after the events of the previous volume things are finally going well for Scott and Ramona. However the lease is up on the tiny apartment that he shares with his best friend and roommate Wallace Wells, meaning that Scott has to find somewhere to live and worst of all get a job for the first time in his life. Add to that he is being pursued by the half-ninja Roxie Richter, Ramona's Evil Ex-Girlfriend.



Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe (2009) Now turned 24 and living with Ramona Flowers, Scott has to start facing up to adulthood properly for the first time. As well as being forced to face up to his own less than exemplary romantic history, Scott has to defeat Ramona's fifth and sixth Evil Ex-Boyfriends, the Katayanagi Twins and their robot army.



Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (2010) Ramona has vanished and Scott has fallen into despair. He faces his toughest challenges attempting to pull his life together, find Ramona and confront Gideon Graves, the seventh and most powerful of her Evil Ex-Boyfriends.

Summary: These comics blend comedy, romance, coming of age drama, bizarre fantasy and numerous references to indie rock music, vintage video games, movies and comics. The comic is drawn in the style of a Japanese manga comic and is simple but effective. The dialogue is clever and witty and frequently hilarious with almost every page peppered with humorous captions and details. The Scott Pilgrim comics also have the almost unique ability to be at turns hilarious, exciting and also genuinely moving. Definitely among the best comics that I've read in a long time.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Year: 2010
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenplay: Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall, based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Hader
Running Time: 112 minutes
Genre: Comedy, romance, fantasy, action

Summary: In present day Toronto, Canada, Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is an unemployed 23 year old slacker who plays bass in a struggling band called Sex Bob-Omb, lives with his sarcastic gay best friend Wallace (Culkin) and is dating a 17 year old high school student named Knives Chau (Wong). Scott's life is shaken up when he meets mysterious American delivery girl Ramona Flowers (Winstead) and falls madly in love with her. However, in order to win her heart, he must encounter and defeat each one of the seven members of the League of Ramona's Evil Exes.

Opinions: This movie is based on the six-volume series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley and, like the graphic novels, it blends comedy, romance, coming of age drama and surreal fantasy with references to video games, indie rock music, movies and Japanese animation and comics into a hilarious and heart-warming whole. The movie utilises a whole range of cinematic techniques including animation, on-screen captions and stylish camera angles which perfectly replicate the look and feel of vintage video games and Japanese anime. The movie is very well performed by a talented cast, and brilliantly directed by Wright.
This is a superb and stylish comedy.

"Scott, if your life had a face I'd punch it."
- Kim Pine (Alison Pill) in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

"Drama City" by George Pelecanos

Year of Publication: 2005
Number of Pages: 291 pages
Genre: Crime, thriller

Summary: In Washington D.C., Lorenzo Brown has recently been released after eight years in prison on drugs charges. Determined to lead put his criminal past behind him and lead an honest life as a law-abiding citizen, Lorenzo takes a job at the Washington Humane Society, patrolling the streets of the city looking for abused and neglected animals. Although Lorenzo's resolve is constantly tested by his old friends and cohorts who are still dealing drugs on the same corners.
Helping Lorenzo stick to the straight and narrow is his parole officer Rachel Lopez. Although popular, dediacated and very good at ther job, Rachel has her own demons to fight, mainly her alcoholism.
However, a stupid misunderstanding over territory between two rival drug gangs flares violently out of control when a vicious killer guns down two members of a rival gang, setting in motion a chain of events which threaten to destroy both Rachel and Lorenzo.

Opinions: George Pelecanos is the author of fifteen novels to date, all set in and around Washington D.C.. He is also a journalist and a producer and writer for television, most notably on the HBO series The Wire, and most recently The Pacific and Treme. Drama City is a gritty and powerful novel dealing with themes of drugs, violence, alcoholism and animal cruelty as well as what leads people to take up crime and how hard it can be to change, even with the best of intentions. The book moves between various characters and storylines which come together in the last quarter. It is a tough, brutal story which is nevertheless laced with grim humour and also genuine compassion. It's well written and moves at at lightning fast pace. Pelecanos fans might be interested to look out for a brief cameo from recurring Pelecanos character Derek Strange early in the novel.
Naturally the book will appeal to any fans of The Wire, but should also appeal to fans of general crime fiction.

"Drama City be more like it"
"Like them two faces they got hangin' over the stage in those theatres. The smiling face and the sad."
"City got more than two sides."
-George Pelecanos, Drama City

"Neuromancer" by William Gibson

Year of Publication: 1984
Number of Pages: 317 pages
Genre: Science-fiction, cyberpunk, thriller,

Summary: The novel is set in an unidentified future Earth where people live in vast crowded cities and floating space-stations. In this future, biological and technological modifications of the human body are common and life is dominated by "the matrix" a vast computer network which links together every computer network on Earth and which the user accesses by plugging in his or her nervous system and experiences as a three dimensional landscape known as "cyberspace" with information appearing as a physical form. The plot revolves around Case, a "console cowboy" (a computer hacker who is paid to enter the matrix and steal information from companies and individuals), however after double-crossing his employers, they maim his nervous sytem rendering him unable to access the matrix. Addicted to the experience of accessing cyberspace, Case is left broke by his fruitless search for a cure for his condition, and ekes out an existence in the violent criminal underworld of Chiba City, Japan.
His prospects change when he is contacted by beautiful and deadly Molly, a "razorgirl" who has had her instincts and reflexes artifiicially augmented, has artificial lenses permanently grafted over her eyes and retractable razorblades concealed under her fingernails. Molly's employer has a cure for Case's condition and is willing to allow Case to stay cured under one condition: That he returns to the matrix to steal from one of the most powerful and dangerous networks on Earth.

Opinions: This book is almost certainly one of the most important and influential science-fiction works of the past thirty years. It popularized the sub-genre known as cyberpunk and stands as pretty much the definitive cyberpunk text. It also popularized the term "cyberspace" (which was coined by Gibson in his 1982 short story "Burning Chrome"). Storywise, the book is a noir-style pulp fiction thriller in futuristic guise. It's written in the language of the future world which can be quite overwhelming and demands a lot of attention form the reader and packed with dense and surreal imagery. The main problem with the book is that it can be very difficult to follow in places but it is worth making the effort because the event-packed plot moves at a breakneck speed and is told with striking language which approaches hard-boiled poetry. Interestingly, despite the fact that the book deals with computer technology which is a field which obviously has made vast advances since 1984 it has aged pretty well and doesn't really appear all that dated, the only thing that really shows it's age are the descriptions of cyberspace itself, which would probably be a lot more crowded if it were written today.
The book was followed by two sequels: Count Zero (published in 1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (published in 1988) together they make up "The Sprawl Trilogy" ("The Sprawl" is a location in the three books and refers to the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis (BAMA) a massive urban sprawl which covers pretty much the whole East Coast of the United States)

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"
- William Gibson, Neuromancer

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Year: 2003
Director: Stephen Norrington
Screenplay: James Dale Robinson based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Starring: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh and Max Ryan
Running Time: 110 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, action, adventure, superhero, science-fiction, steampunk

Summary: The year is 1899 and a mysterious villain known as The Fantom has arranged a raid on the Bank of England designed to point to the Germans, and this is followed by a raid on an airship factory in berlin designed to point to the British. With the countries of Europe at each other's throats the world stands on the brink of an all-out World War. The only solution is to recruit a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" consisting of hunter and adventurer Allan Quatermain (Connery), Captain Nemo (Shah) who owns the world's only submarine the Nautilus, vampire Wilhelmina Harker (Wilson), the completely invisible thief Rodney Skinner (Curran), the apparently indestructible Dorian Gray (Townsend), American sharpshooter Tom Sawyer (West) and the tormented Doctor Henry Jekyll with his violent alter ego Edward Hyde (Flemyng). Brought together by the mysterious "M" (Roxburgh) the group have to conquer they're own personal demons to save the world.

Opinions: This film has the benefit of a really interesting central idea, that of bringing together characters from 19th century adventure stories, such as Allan Quatermain (from the novel King Solomon's Mines and it's various sequels and prequels by H. Rider Haggard), Captain Nemo (from the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne), Wilhemina Harker (from the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker), the "Invisible Man" (from the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells), Dorian Gray (from the novel The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde), Tom Sawyer (from the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and others by Mark Twain) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (from the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson). However the movie, which was hated by critics despite being relatively successful at the Box Office, never became the franchise which it so obviously was intended to be.
The movie had a notoriously difficult shoot with one of the biggest sets being destoryed in a storm and a great deal of tension between director Stephen Norrington and star Sean Connery (when asked why the director didn't attend the premiere Connery snapped "check the local asylum"). Also due to the nature of using already created characters some charcaters had to be changed, added or dropped depending on whether or not the film-makers could get the rights to use them. The character Tom Sawyer was added at the request of the studio (20th Century Fox) in order to make the film more accessible to an American audience. The film was also the subject of a lawsuit brought against the studio by writers Larry Cohen and Martin Poll who claimed that the film plagarised a script they had written called Cast of Characters which the studio had previously rejected. The writers claimed that the studio hired Alan Moore to write the graphic novel based on the Cast of Characters script. The idiocy of this claim is heightened by the fact that the lawsuit focused on two characters (Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray) which did not appear in the original comics and were added for the film. Despite dismissing the claim as "absurd nonsense" the studio settled out of court, which infuriated Alan Moore who thought that he had been denied the chance to exonerate himself. In the end after this film Sean Connery announced his retirement from acting and Stephen Norrington declared that he would never make another film again (although he has changed his mind) and Alan Moore has severed all ties with the movie world (despite the release of the movies V for Vendetta (2006) and Watchmen (2009) based on his comics).
It is not a good film by any means, basically hurtling from one special effects packed action sequence to another with a minimum of story or character development. The special effects are good and the action sequences are well done and do provide some excitement but it is all really predictable, and with so many interesting ideas it just feels like a wasted opportunity. It is also worth mentioning that the movie has absolutely nothing in common with the superb graphic novel series aside from the title and central premise.