Joe Cornish's directorial debut is released on DVD today, and is a credit to the talent in British filmmaking being given a chance to express themselves when given confidence by producers and other creative talent behind them.
Cornish, the taller one of Adam and Joe fame, was always the more technically proficient of the pair. Whilst Adam Buxton concentrates on stand-up comedy and acting, Cornish was the one who would be more technical and more indebted to his influences. The pair often parodied 'Star Wars' using replica action figures to mimic everyday situations or soap-style scenarios, years before 'Robot Chicken' did the same thing.
Cornish attempts to take on the horror genre - a genre that has proved fruitful in recent years for British filmmakers, most clearly by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead (and the role for Nick Frost in the film is a clear nod to this), and having the same producers on board meant that they clearly believed Cornish could deliver.
And he does, taking a fantastical scenario. It is Bonfire Night in a South London council estate, a group of hoodies spot a meteor falling whilst attempting to mug a young nurse. They kill the alien invader that pops out of the meteor, and carry on. Then the alien's friends crash land seeking reckless bloody revenge on the youngsters.
Cornish has many reference points - the siege set up is akin to John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, the use of bikes as a mode of transport for the youngsters a la Elliott and friends in E.T. ; the meteor and alien laying siege to where it lands is like Predator and the monsters look more like mutated werewolf than alien, perhaps a nod to John Landis' An American Werewolf in London.
Critics will say what is so original or progressive about a film that is so open about its reference points, an argument to throw back is that with the proliferation of the internet and the openness or acceptance of parodies, this is the way forward. And Shaun of the Dead did much the same thing when mimicking the work of George Romero and other zombie films. The distinguishing characteristic of the film is the realistic portrayal of the hoodie culture and the young men playing them, whilst all unknown, do invest a level of authenticity in the performances.
Cornish, for so long, a person people have been waiting for has arrived and can feel vindicated in being able to have made the film he wanted to make.
Attack the Block is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray from Optimum Releasing and is certified 15.
Showing posts with label Optimum Releasing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Optimum Releasing. Show all posts
Monday, 19 September 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Animal Kingdom - DVD review
Lauded upon its cinematic release in the early weeks of this year, David Michod's debut feature Animal Kingdom is released on the 11th July on DVD and Blu-Ray from Optimum releasing.
Michod's epic feature tells the story of fictional family the Cody family, a rag-tag of differing brothers in terms of personalities and personas, who have had a successful run in bank robbing in the urban milieu of Melbourne.
Interestingly, the first character we see (and to whom we will follow throughout the narrative) is Joshua, later christened J, who is an outsider to this group even though he is related. Joshua has moved in owing to the death of his mother from an overdose. And so the Codys attempt to fit him into the mould of themselves, a fresh pair of legs for the fight. Overseeing all of the boys is their mother, who may be the most evil of the lot Janine Cody, played with chilling presence by Jacqui Weaver (who was Oscar nominated for her portrayal).
The most potent member of the group is Pope Cody (Ben Mendelsohn) who plays the family of one another, and deals with the corrupt cops. Once things take a turn for the worse, Pope decides to take revenge against the police force. Added to the mix is the one honest police officer, Det. Nathan Leckie (played by Guy Pearce) who sees the innocence in J and attempts to get him to testify against his brothers.
The familiar tropes of gangster genre are evident here; people looking out for themselves, the manipulation of others, ulterior motives, the use of violence to problem solve, the lack of periphery female characters, whilst the one present woman Janine, is more memorable and problematic than the men. But as always with crime families the idea of mortality and law is second to blood running thicker than water. Janine loves her boys, all our career criminals so will not have a bad word said against them, and will defend them to the end.
Michod interestingly twists the narrative structure, by using the fact that they are career criminals against the construction of the character's identity focusing on the claustrophobia of being stuck indoors and hiding from the police, and making it clear that they are unable to do anything apart from break the law.
Whilst indebted to The Wire in terms of constructing a portrait of criminal activity with heavy psychological undertones and elaborating on violence without pandering to intelligent viewers, Michod shoots with a keen eye for detail and uses the city of Melbourne as a character itself - bright exterior with suburbia looking good in the heat, but with a merky criminal underground taking place in the cold light of day. He might be indebted to American influences such as Baltimore's finest and Scorsese's crime epics (most importantly Goodfellas) but you do get the impression that this is distinctly Antipodean about this production.
Featuring stunning performances uniformly from the cast, expertly shot and editing with a tantalising screenplay in harmony with his own confident directorial debut; Michod should be proud to have given this gift to the world, from half a world away.
The DVD extras include the obligatory making of documentary, trailers and interviews with the director and cast; how much a director's commentary would have been needed in this instance.
Available on DVD (£17.99RRP) and Blu-Ray (£22.99) from Optimum Releasing from Monday 11th July.
Michod's epic feature tells the story of fictional family the Cody family, a rag-tag of differing brothers in terms of personalities and personas, who have had a successful run in bank robbing in the urban milieu of Melbourne.
Interestingly, the first character we see (and to whom we will follow throughout the narrative) is Joshua, later christened J, who is an outsider to this group even though he is related. Joshua has moved in owing to the death of his mother from an overdose. And so the Codys attempt to fit him into the mould of themselves, a fresh pair of legs for the fight. Overseeing all of the boys is their mother, who may be the most evil of the lot Janine Cody, played with chilling presence by Jacqui Weaver (who was Oscar nominated for her portrayal).
The most potent member of the group is Pope Cody (Ben Mendelsohn) who plays the family of one another, and deals with the corrupt cops. Once things take a turn for the worse, Pope decides to take revenge against the police force. Added to the mix is the one honest police officer, Det. Nathan Leckie (played by Guy Pearce) who sees the innocence in J and attempts to get him to testify against his brothers.
The familiar tropes of gangster genre are evident here; people looking out for themselves, the manipulation of others, ulterior motives, the use of violence to problem solve, the lack of periphery female characters, whilst the one present woman Janine, is more memorable and problematic than the men. But as always with crime families the idea of mortality and law is second to blood running thicker than water. Janine loves her boys, all our career criminals so will not have a bad word said against them, and will defend them to the end.
Michod interestingly twists the narrative structure, by using the fact that they are career criminals against the construction of the character's identity focusing on the claustrophobia of being stuck indoors and hiding from the police, and making it clear that they are unable to do anything apart from break the law.
Whilst indebted to The Wire in terms of constructing a portrait of criminal activity with heavy psychological undertones and elaborating on violence without pandering to intelligent viewers, Michod shoots with a keen eye for detail and uses the city of Melbourne as a character itself - bright exterior with suburbia looking good in the heat, but with a merky criminal underground taking place in the cold light of day. He might be indebted to American influences such as Baltimore's finest and Scorsese's crime epics (most importantly Goodfellas) but you do get the impression that this is distinctly Antipodean about this production.
Featuring stunning performances uniformly from the cast, expertly shot and editing with a tantalising screenplay in harmony with his own confident directorial debut; Michod should be proud to have given this gift to the world, from half a world away.
The DVD extras include the obligatory making of documentary, trailers and interviews with the director and cast; how much a director's commentary would have been needed in this instance.
Available on DVD (£17.99RRP) and Blu-Ray (£22.99) from Optimum Releasing from Monday 11th July.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Animal Kingdom DVD Preview
Hey all, just to let you know that the critically lauded Animal Kingdom will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray from Optimum Releasing and ThinkJam on Monday 11th July
My review will follow in due course, but giving you a heads up, as the check disc arrived this morning and I am watching the film now - looking forward to it
http://www.optimumreleasing.com/
www.facebook.com/thinkjam
ANIMAL KINGDOM tells the gripping tale of seventeen year-old J (James Frecheville), as he fights for survival in a vicious criminal family and the detective (Guy Pearce, The King’s Speech and Memento) who tries to save him. Pope Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade detectives, is in hiding, surrounded by roughneck friends and family. Soon, Pope’s nephew, J, arrives and moves in, but when tensions between the family and corrupt cops reach breaking point, J finds himself at the centre of a cold-blooded revenge attack that turns the family upside down.
Writer and director David Michôd’s brutal and captivating depiction of Melbourne’s criminal underbelly heralds the arrival of an intense new voice to contemporary Australian Cinema.
The film has received awards and nominations worldwide, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Jacki Weaver, and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival.
My review will follow in due course, but giving you a heads up, as the check disc arrived this morning and I am watching the film now - looking forward to it
http://www.optimumreleasing.com/
www.facebook.com/thinkjam
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