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Once (DVD)
by GentleGenius
RELEASED: 2006, Cert. 15
RUNNING TIME: Approx. 85 mins
DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY: John Carney
PRODUCER: Marketa Irglova
MUSIC: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
MAIN CAST:-
Glen Hansard as the guy
Marketa Irglova as the ... girl
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FILM ONLY REVIEW
The guy, whose name is never revealed, earns a few Euros/pence busking on the streets of what I assume is Dublin.
Out of the blue steps a Czech girl (also whose name is never revealed) who stops to listen to the guy. She chats to him and is rather persistent despite him not being very responsive. As the initially stilted conversation opens up, the guy learns that the girl, who is a single parent living in the city with her mother and child having left her husband, has a deep love of music, and plays the piano.
Both the guy and the girl are raw from their last romantic failures, gradually sharing their feelings via music. Before long, they develop a deep attraction towards one another, but.....where does this attraction lead? Watch the film to find out.
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The first thing which caught me about Once was the opening scene, of the guy busking, strumming his beaten-up old guitar whilst singing a Van Morrison song...and might I add, rather well. Once the girl appeared, I was intrigued to know how their liaison would develop, or otherwise.
I was quite impressed with Glen Hansard's acting, as he came across as totally natural and a thoroughly nice bloke with a sensitivity and depth to his personality. I saw the girl as a rather playful sort of character, with Marketa Irglova playing her part fairly well. Both actors bounced off and complemented one another beautifully at times, but it did take me a little while to get used to their accents, so missed some parts of their conversation early on in the film.
As the pair made music together, I found some of it extremely good, it being in the singer/songwriter genre, but there were for me a couple of dodgy offerings too.
Although music entwined with romance is the essence of Once, and bearing in mind that I'm a devout music lover especially when it comes to all things Irish, I surprised myself by finding that I would have preferred to see more emphasis placed upon the guy and the girl's relationship development, with the musical element being pushed into the background just a little more. Some of the music came across as extremely loud, and I found it especially so on the songs that I wasn't so keen on.
Once for me has more of the element of a play about it than a film, but such did come across as a refreshing change. I felt a great sense of honesty and down-to-earthness about the way the whole thing was constructed, it telling a story from ground level about ordinary people leading ordinary lives, with hopes and dreams that tumble around their heads which are seeking a way to evolve into reality. However, it is their talent which makes them extraordinary.
I also felt a huge warmth emanating from the whole atmosphere of Once, some of it being reminiscent of a section of my own youth, even though that was forty odd years ago. This warmth came from the guy's relationship with his father, the girl's with her daughter and mother, plus the general ambience oozing forth from an Irish working-class domestic lifestyle. Although the film is set in modern times, I felt as if I'd stepped into a tardis and travelled back to a world which was less acquisitive and far more comfortable than what I largely see around me these days.
As I continued to watch with interest, lowering the volume during the parts when the music got just a bit too loud for me, I became aware that I was making up scenarios in my mind as to how Once would end....but that was where just a tiny smidgeon of letdown seeped through in that what did happen, turned out to be not as I'd hoped. Consequently and despite the warm feeling I got from the whole film, I was left in the lurch somewhat, dangling on a little string of frustration in that I wanted to grab hold of the script and re-write the ending to suit my own expectations.
All in all though, Once is a sensitively made, warm film that I have a feeling may play on my mind for the next few days, but in the nicest possible way. Aside from the ending, the only things I'd change would be to steady up the camera work a bit, it being slightly shaky at certain points, and reduce the volume on some of the music....perhaps omitting one or two tracks completely. This is one of those films which made me wish I was Irish! I do think it may be worth paying another visit to Once at some point in the future, as I feel there possibly were a few veiled, under the surface little bits and pieces that I may not have picked up on or absorbed first time around.
In summary, I do recommend Once to lovers of music which falls far, far outside of the dance, rap, hip-hop genres, together with any potential viewer having a well-developed sense of romance. This isn't a film for people who place a lot of importance on action, special effects and hype....it is a fairly slow-moving tale which focuses on the personalities and potential closeness of two people who are drawn together through music.
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At the time of writing, Once can be purchased from Amazon as follows:-
New: from £2.72 to £25.68
Used: from £2.58 to £16.00
Collectible: only one copy currently available @ £5.99 (appears to be used)
Some items on Amazon are available for free delivery within the UK, but where this doesn't apply, a £1.26 charge should be added to the above figures.
Thanks for reading!
~~ Also published on Ciao under my CelticSoulSister user name ~~
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Warm Bodies (DVD)
by carlz2001uk
On a long 10.5 hour flight yesterday to America I was eager to watch a movie to break up the time. The options seemed okay, could have been better, but Warm Bodies seemed the one I would favour most. Over recent years with The Walking Dead TV series I have really got into zombie films. The brief clip that was shown seemed to show an odd ... blend of zombies, comedy and love but figured it would be okay to pass the time.
With a cast of Nicholas Hoult who seems to be everywhere at the moment and John Malkovich, the cast seemed to be decent enough that any 'naffness' of the film seemed to be intentional and is a very much a tongue in cheek film. The film follows R (Nicholas Hoult) who is a zombie, but a zombie with a difference, and who has a conscience no less. After a zombie apocalypse has wiped out the majority of the world as we know it, there are two definitive groups of people that occupy the planet, the survivors and the zombies. The film in quite a clever way shows the two groups as a community each in their own right, with the zombies walking around in packs and communicating in their own funny little way. The survivors have made their own little world with a 100 foot wall separating themselves from the zombies. John Malkovich' daughter is the second lead character Julie, and she rebels against her father by spending the majority of her time outside of the wall in an effort to feel independence and freedom. On an encounter which sees R and his friends feasting on some humans, Julie is saved by R and kept safe by him in an effort for him to get close to her. She is of course terrified, but soon realises that R is different and has feelings, something which zombies aren't meant to have. The film has many references to Romeo and Juliet, most obviously the balcony scene. There is also the fact that the two lead characters are called R and Juliet. Although the film doesn't offer any explanations of why the apocalypse happened, it really isn't needed at all.
The acting was good, and Nicholas Hoult did really well with his portrayal of a conflicted zombie! It was decided that the zombies would not blink and I in parts found this really difficult to watch as you could only imagine how uncomfortable this was in some of the longer scenes when the camera was on the actors for longer periods of time. The actress playing Julie was good and the two gelled well together and even though he was a zombie and she wasn't, the chemistry between the two meant it was completely believable.
In a completely unorthodox way, this movie takes the typical rom-com and firmly turns it on its head. It has romance, it has comedy, it also has zombies and lots of gore, but oddly it actually works. As I mentioned before it is slightly naff, but I do get the feeling that this was completely intentional. With a budget of $35 million it gives you some idea of the amount of effects, etc. Its a middle of the road budget which was spent well, making the budget holders a whopping $115 million in the box office, I hadn't even heard of it so was surprised it had done so well. Like me though, many 'zombie fans' will often watch all of the released films as they are so few and far between.
Watching on a 6 inch TV screen in the headrest in front, which didn't have the sharpest of screens I've ever seen (!), please forgive me if I don't go into too much detail about the special effects. I would normally break this down however I don't want to say it was amazing when it may not have been! The effects did seem actually pretty decent, I think there were a few dodgy moments that didn't look the best, but as I say I can't be entirely sure. One thing I'm almost positive about is that for fellow fans of The Walking Dead, effects wise it didn't seem anywhere near as good as that, however that particular TV series has picked up quite a large following over its few short years and made by Fox, it will have a ginormous budget so I won't make comparisons too closely to that.
All in all, I would say this is a fairly decent film. It's not going to win any Oscars but its fun, tongue in cheek and an easy watch. Give it a watch but don't rush out to find it.
(As an explanation, yes I am writing this review while still in Vegas but the time difference has completely mucked up my sleeping patterns!!).
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Robocop (DVD)
by SWSt
For those of you old enough to remember you will already know that Robocop was a landmark 1980s film. At school, the world was divided into two camps: those who had seen Robocop (despite the 18 Certificate) and those who hadn't. The danger with revisiting such things, of course, is that things you remember fondly from 1987 as a youth ... don't look quite so good when viewed with an adult's eyes 25 years on. Happily, for the most part, Robocop has stood the test of time.
In the near future, the police are run by corporations. In one American city, OCP run the police and are looking to make it more efficient. Their solution? Robocop: a cyborg policeman who never sleeps, hates crime and is virtually unstoppable. Unfortunately, there are those on the police force that don't want a robot cop, and others within OCP who want to use the Robocop programme to further their own interests.
What works surprisingly well in Robocop is the setting. It is clearly "the future" but a "near future" where things are just subtly different. There are no flying cars or incredible machines and everything is still pretty recognisably late 20th or early 21st century. However, it offers a potential (and all too plausible) vision of the future, where big corporations rule and corruption and violence are commonplace. The setting is hugely atmospheric and actually gives the film a convincing, gritty look. The near-future setting also means that the film has not aged as badly as some other sci-fi films.
Sadly, what has not stood the test of time quite so well are the special effects. Robocop himself is pretty much OK, mostly because he is a real person dressed up in robotic armour. Where it relies more heavily on effects, though, things start to fall apart with some dodgy green screen effects and stop motion animation. All the sequences featuring the fully robotic ED-209 look awful (Ray Harryhausen c. 1960), whilst a sequence towards the end where someone falls out of a window is laughably bad. Thankfully, since the rest of the film is pretty good you are prepared to overlook this.
Whilst the plot might not be particularly taxing or innovative it does play with some interesting ideas (the humanising effect of technology, concepts of revenge, perceptions of law and order) and provides a suitable framework against which to set the action. The film's real strength is that it combines emotional elements (Robocop recalling who he is/was) with enough action to keep your average young adult happy.
Key to that appeal is that Robocop is a pretty violent film. Although some segments might look rather tame to modern eyes, the shootouts are satisfyingly bloody. Violence in Robocop is nasty, painful and very, very red. This won't be to everyone's tastes, but if you are a fan of 80s excess, then Robocop is just what you need. For this reason, I suspect it's will maybe appeal more to blokes, although that's not to say women won't enjoy it.
The film actually operates on a couple of different levels. On the one hand it's a straightforward 80s action film - full of explosions, bloody shootouts, car crashes and so on. On the other hand, there are some nice satirical elements that have proved to be scarily accurate predictions of the future. In particular, the dumbed down TV news sequences (complete with carefully coiffed, patronising anchors ) are accurate reflections of the modern media, whilst the machinations of self-obsessed CEOs and uncaring corporations who will do anything in pursuit of profit ring even truer today.
The thing that surprised me most when I came to re-watch Robocop after a hiatus of over 20 years was how bad some of the acting was, ranging from wooden to incredibly cheesy. Peter Weller is fine as Murphy/Robocop and whilst he might not be the greatest actor in the world, his expressionless face and flat voice is perfect for the cyborg cop. Ronnie Cox is also impressive as OCP Executive, Dick Jones turning in an appropriately sleazy performance which just falls short of pantomime villain. Kurtwood Smith is chillingly cold as Clarence Boddicker, although the performances from his band of not-so-merry men are rather more stereotypical.
It's around the edges that things start to fall apart. Robert DoQui is rather cheesy; the sort of "tough police precinct captain" that the Simpson's would lampoon, whilst Nancy Allen is bland (and unconvincing) as Murphy's cop partner r Lewis. No-one is exactly bad, it's just that some of the performances are a little stilted and cheesy and don't match the tone of the rest of the film.
Despite some dodgy effects and mediocre acting, Robocop has stood the test of time pretty well and has a bit more substance to it than most 80s actioners. Unsurprisingly, given how fondly it is remembered, a Hollywood remake is in the works, which is A Bad Idea. Apart from improving the effects, it's hard to see what could be done to Robocop to enhance it through a remake. Instead of spending £10 on watching any future re-make at the cinema, just spend £3 to get hold of a DVD of this version. It's bound to be better.
Basic Information
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Robocop
1987
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Running time: approx. 102 minutes
Certificate: 18
(c) Copyright SWSt 2013
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