Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 October 2003

History tells us that the exact opposite happened.  Due to conflicting schedules, most of his cast couldn’t find the time to arrive early for valuable rehearsals.  This included Johnny Depp, fresh off the success of Chocolat, and French actor Jean Rochefort (The Man On The Train) who had spent his last seven months learning English so he could tackle the leading role.

Gilliam continued on but once principal shooting began, things only got worse.  A savage storm on day two left the set in disarray.  On day five, Rochefort developed a prostate infection and had to return to France for treatment.  He would never return and the film was never completed.  It was officially “abandoned”.

Lost In La Mancha is a very insightful look at just how difficult it is to make a motion picture.  Throughout the production, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe shot a lot of “behind the scenes” footage which they initially thought would make a great adage to the dvd.  Instead, their footage has wound up on the big screen in this compelling documentary.

Terry Gilliam remains an optimist throughout it all but from the very start of the shoot, you can see the rumblings from his crew who sense trouble is brewing.  I give credit to all those involved with the initial movie in allowing their thoughts and ideas to be publicly expressed here.  It would be so easy to hide all this material and seeing it, in all its realism, makes it one of the year’s most refreshingly honest releases.

Jeff Bridges, who worked with Gilliam in The Fisher King, narrates the film.  The pictures though do all the talking and despite the unfortunate mess and loss of money that resulted from it all, you can’t help but chuckle at the bad luck that befalls them.  Big names directors Woody Allen and Robert Altman express their support for the film on the poster which serves as a huge endorsement.  They’re not wrong.  It’s destined to be a cult classic and one enjoyed by filmmakers for years to come.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 October 2003

It’s a story which begins a little too slowly.  Sarah Morton is a wealthy writer suffering from a case of writers block.  She has always written detective murder mysteries but wants to do something different to answer her critics.  Helping her out is editor John Bosload (Dance) who offers his French villa to Sarah as a place to go, clear her mind, and write in peace.

It’s everything that Sarah was looking for an almost immediately she’s put pen to paper.  The relaxing atmosphere is soon to be upset when John’s teenage daughter, Julie (Sagnier) arrives to stay.  Sarah is furious with John for omitting to tell her this before she came.  Julie is a sexually promiscuous girl who brings home a new man every night.  She’s got no qualms with her body either and frequently swims in the pool and walks around the house topless.  Ozon makes sure we don’t miss this either with frequent extended close ups on Sagnier’s large breasts.

Sarah and Julie are at odds but soon become friends with Sarah drawing on Julie’s personality and stories as inspiration for her new book.  She starts fumbling through Julie’s diary, spying on her around the house and asking quizzical questions about her past and relationship with her father.  It’s the kind of story you’d expect Sarah to be writing about rather than actually experiencing which makes it all the more ironic.

My mind tended to waver at stages as some scenes were completely useless and offered nothing to the story.  One for example, sees Sarah plug in her computer using a double adaptor.  Why it was included I do not know.  Any doubts regarding the screenplay and some of the interesting developments will be answered by a very appropriate conclusion which I strongly approve of but will not spoil.

It may be a French production but most every word is in English and so the beauty of the location (and its star) will not be lost in the chore of reading subtitles.  You should never judge a book by its cover and if you have any doubts while watching the film, remember to wait till it’s fully over before reaching a definitive conclusion.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 October 2003

Unlike his previous works, there isn’t an intricately complicated story unfolding.  A five member posse known as the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad viciously kill an entire wedding party during a small ceremony at an isolated church.  Or so they thought.  The bride (Thurman) survived and spent four years in a coma as a result of shocking gunshot wounds.  We know this woman only as her code name, Black Mamba.  Her real name is spoken on two occasions but it is bleeped out to prevent us hearing it.

Awaking from the coma, Black Mamba only wants one thing – revenge.  On a piece of paper, she writes the five names of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad members and begins her quest.  In Volume One, she will kill Vernita Green (Fox) and O-Ren Ishii (Liu).  In Volume Two, to be released early next year, I assume she will go after Budd (Madsen), Elle Driver (Hannah) and Bill (Carradine).  I feel somewhat cheated in that I will have to pay twice to see all of it.  The film should have been released as one three-hour movie but the powers that be thought better of it.

I’m not a big martial arts fan and perhaps this contributed to my reluctance to accepting this film.  There are some well choreographed battles and swordfights but nothing truly original or outstanding.  I’ve seen this many times before and there is a strong similarity with The Matrix: Reloaded.  Evidently different though is the amount of violence.  This is the most sadistic release of the 2003 year and the film has been censored accordingly in Australia.  Whilst nothing was cut, some scenes are shown in black and white as the sight of red blood was “deemed” too confronting.  Sigh.

Why you do need to see this movie is because it’s a Quentin Tarantino picture.  It oozes with class and style.  He has a warped sense of humour and I had to chuckle at the couple of Star Trek jokes he somehow wove into the screenplay.  He has also mastered the art of finding the perfect movie soundtrack.  Like he did in Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, there are extended sequences where a pumping music track is played against no dialogue.

Disappointment is my reaction to Kill Bill: Volume One in that I have the highest expectations from Tarantino and in this case, he didn’t fully deliver.  Then again, I’ve only seen half of the movie so perhaps I’ll change my appraisal once I return from the four month intermission.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 October 2003

The director of Matchstick Men is Ridley Scott, a talented craftsman who was all but forgotten three years ago.   He made Alien and Blade Runner early in his career and in 1991 earned his first Oscar nomination for Thelma & Louise.  Scott’s next two films, White Squall and G.I. Jane, floundered but like a true Hollywood underdog, he bounced back with Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.  Both films saw him covered once again with acclaim and two more Oscar nominations were in order.

If you look closely at all the abovementioned films, you can see Scott is a man who loves action blockbusters of epic proportions.  Until now, he had never directed a comedy but having seen Matchstick Men, he’s comfortably adjusted his style to pass the test.

It’s a quirky film with a smart screenplay from brothers Ted and Nicholas Griffin.  It’s about two con-men – Roy (Cage) and Frank (Rockwell) who swindle suckers out of their hard earned money.  They’ve been partners for years and Roy has put together quite a nest egg.  Roy’s troubles are not financial – he’s got quite a few phobias that are severely limiting his enjoyment of life.  He’s scared to be outdoors, his house has to be impeccably clean at all times, he’s seeing a shrink, and he’s on medication to help with these psychotic problems.

At a strip club (hilariously known as the Spearmint Rhino), Frank meets the wealthy Chuck Frechette (McGill) who he’s lined up as the next target.  Roy however, has even more dramas in store when he discovers he has a 14-year-old daughter, Angela (Lohman) who comes to stay with him.  She’s a troubled girl, he’s a troubled guy and together they seem to find just what each other needs.  The isn’t much room for relationships though in the life of a con-artist and Roy’s going to have to make some tough decisions…

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a predictable, melodramatic sob story.  The actors deliver precision performances in that you suspect, but are never quite sure, who is pulling all the strings.  You’ll watch with keen interest waiting to see if your hunches are proven true.  The three leading cast members strongly add to their already impressive year.  Cage is following Adaptation, Rockwell is following Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind and Lohman is following White Oleander.  When you’ve two well received movies in the one year, you know you’re on a roll.

Matchstick Men isn’t being promoted with the same force as Gladiator and Black Hawk Down so make sure you don’t overlook it when heading to the cinema.  There ain’t much else on at the moment (in terms of both quantity and quality) so this should temporarily fill the void.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 October 2003

During the first half of Calendar Girls I made a mental note that I must describe this as a “hidden, feel-good gem”.  We’re looking at a group of experienced actresses having fun delivering lines from a script inspired by a remarkable true story.  The audience was in hysterics and I too found myself laughing at some of the comical scenes.

It’s the story of best friends Annie (Walters) and Chris (Mirren) who have to go through the tragedy of seeing Annie’s husband lose a short battle with cancer.  It’s the worst moment in Annie’s life but she wants to create something positive from the situation.  The couch in the waiting room of the hospital is dreadful and she’d like to raise a thousand pounds to pay for a new couch to make those anxious moments a little more comfortable for anyone else who comes through.

The local women’s group, known as the Rylstone Women’s Institute, always makes an annual calendar with pictures of scenic views and other standard photos.  Chris uses this concept but with a twist – she wants to make a calendar only this one will feature photos of the elderly ladies from the group in all their naked glory.

Yes, this is a true story and if the calendar were a dreadful failure, I wouldn’t be here typing a review right now.  What Annie and Chris created was a calendar that would sell all over the globe and in over $1,000,000 has been raised to date.  Not only did this money pay for the couch but it paid for a new leukaemia wing at the hospital and it changed all these ladies’ lives forever.

It’s a delightful story but the film loses its way in the final half which is an unfortunate shame.  Despite her successes with the calendar, Chris has troubles at home with a husband who misses her and a son who needs her.  This aspect is looked at but not explored.  It’s glazed over to the detriment of these characters and you start to realise this whole production has been well and truly glossed up to make it more appealing.  There’s a passage in the film in America where the girls all appear on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno (who does make a cameo) – it adds zero to the story and halts any emotion and momentum.

Academy award nominated actors Helen Mirren and Julie Walters light up the screen and do shine in these roles.  I haven’t seen the real calendar but I don’t think the ladies that posed would have looked quite as good as these two.  95% of the audience at my screening were women and they simply loved Annie and Chris.  A bad word was not spoken by anyone leaving the cinema and it will brighten the day of any patron.