Author: Jason Day

Future movie releases…w/e 12 April 2013

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First Position – this documentary, that has won a clutch of film festival awards stateside, follows several young ballet dancers as they compete for a handful of scholarships and contracts to elite dance schools in America. The official website has the low-down here; it will be showing at key cities only.

Flying Blind – Helen McCrory is an aerospace engineer who begins an affair with a younger, Muslim man (Najib Oudghiri) who sparks a security scare when their passion for each other is found out. The official site is here, with screening locations here.

The Gatekeepers – in this documentary, six former members of Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service agency, talk about their past actions and decisions during the Six Day War. The official site is here.

Oblivion – epic and exciting looking sci-thriller, as one would expect form a Tom Cruise film. A future earth has been decimated beyond recognition following a conflict with an enemy known as the Scavs. Cruise is one of the few humans stationed on the planet but his life is changed when he rescues a beautiful stranger and the future of mankind is in his hands. Isn’t Cruise bored of saving the planet by now? He needs some new plots. Official website is here; the film will be showing nationwide.

The Place Beyond the Pines – real-life couple Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes star as, respectively, a circus motorbike stunt rider and his lover who has just given birth to his son. Giving up the big tent life, he starts committing a series of robberies. But ambitious cop Bradley Cooper is on his tail. IMDb has the low-down here; the film will be showing at most cinema across the UK.

Scary Movie 5 – really? Number 5? Surprised the series hasn’t run out of steam by now but, with Lindsey Lohan on board this time, perhaps the horror movie parody franchise’s death knell has been rung? Jam packed website but the jokes seem strained and obvious. Showing nationwide.

Simon Killer – Brady Corbet stars as Michael, handsome but with a slightly off-putting air to him who strikes up a relationship with exotic Parisienne prostitute Mati Diop. From the makers of Martha Marcy May Marlene. Official site is here; showing at key cities only.

Theorem – The BFI continue to show a series of films the then hated, now revered, Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. This titillating sexual morality tale sees Terence Stamp as the handsome drifter who insinuates his way into a middle class house by sleeping with the father, mother (Sylvana Mangano), daughter, son, even the maid (Laura Betti, who won the best actress award at the Venice Film festival). The BFI’s site has more details here, including screenings in London, Scotland and Penzance.

And on Wednesday 17 April…

Olympus Has Fallen – President Aaron Eckhart is captured when terrorists take over the White House. Just happening to be inside is disgraced former Presidential bodyguard Gerard Butler. His insider knowledge is used to save the day. Actioneer showing at most big UK multiplexes, the official website is here.

And on Thursday 18 April…

Evil Dead – remake of Sam Raimi’s fondly remembered cult zombie horror from 1981. Five friends holed up in a remote cabin find a book of the dead and promptly summon the characters up, just to pass the time of day. And they instantly regret it. Showing nationwide; the official website is here.

 

Future movie releases…w/e Fri 5 April 2013

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All Things To All Men – no official site, but Facebook has a catchy poster here to draw you in. A thief is caught up in a game of cat and mouse between a cop and a London crime boss. The cast list includes mainstays of British film and theatre Toby Stephens, Rufus Sewell and Gabriel Byrne. MC Harvey is in support! Showing nationwide.

The Expatriate – it’s never a good sign when a film goes through a name change. Usually a sign of poor box office somewhere and a hasty re-marketing plan to hope the sh*t doesn’t stick, but Yahoo! Movies list a few examples here and other explanations. This one, originally called Erased, was retitled due to high piracy rates on initial release. Hmmm, depends on how good it is if you believe that. No official site, but IMDb has the low-down here; Aaron Eckhart is the ex-CIA man who is hunted by his former employers when they suspect he is part of a conspiracy. Showing at key cities only.

A Late Quartet – I love how Fox Film have banned the trailer for this film from their own website for people in the UK on “copyright grounds”; how else will you pull people in to see a film about the in-fighting, egos and health of a string quartet celebrating their 25th anniversary?! Not with this dull and perfunctionary website that’s for sure. The incredible cast includes Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener so a shame we in the UK can’t see a bit of them at their best. Will be showing at most UK cinemas.

Mahmut & Meryem – Turkish historical romance about a young Sultanate heir who is more in love with the daughter of a monk (!) than following his father’s dreams for him of ruling as a tyrannical Emperor. The official Turkish site for this beautiful looking film is here; English speakers may want to use IMDb. London screenings only.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green – Disney whimsy with Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton as suburbanites who dream for a child of their own. Their wishes come true when young CJ Adams turns up on their doorstep one stormy night. Official Disney site is here; will be showing nationwide.

Papadopoulos and Sons – more credit crunch cinema, this one sees a multimillionaire facing rack and ruin when the latest financial crisis takes everything from him. Except the down and out Fish and Chip Shop he co-owns with his estranged brother. The official site is here and contains details of Cineworld screenings here.

Spring Breakers –  Selena Gomez is a party girl who, along with three friends, find themselves busted one night for possessing drugs. Local thug James Franco surprisingly bails them out and takes them on a spring holiday they’ll never forget. Who needs lawyers when you have James Franco with a full wallet?! Official website is here; showing all over.

Thursday Till Sunday – Chilean set drama about innocence and loss, seen through the eye of a 10 year old during a family car trip. Official Day for Night studios site is here with the trailer; showing at key cities only.

Cockneys vs. Zombies (2012)

image film honor blackman cockneys zombies
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Film review, by Jason Day, of Cockney’s vs. Zombies, the East End retirees take on the walking dead horror, starring Harry Treadaway and Michelle Ryan.

Horror

 

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Future movie releases…w/e 29 March 2013

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Finding Nemo 3D – a box office smash and firm favourite for anyone who loves animated film, this UK-wide re-release has the added benefit of being shown in 3D. Disney’s official UK site has a summary and trailer here.

Good Vibrations – British drama about Terri Hooley, a record store owner who helped develop Belfast’s punk scene. No official site, but there is a Facebook page here. Showing at key cities.

The Host – author Stephanie Meyer’s follow-up to her colossally successful Twilight series of books sees a young girl (Saorise Ronan) risk everything to save the people she loves when an unknown presence takes over humanity, erasing their memories. The cast is full of fitties, but wonder if they will have sex in this series? Controversial! The official website is here; showing nationwide.

In the House – the French Woody Allen (in terms of output and quality if not humour) Francois Ozon directs this thriller in which a young man (Ernst Umhauer) insinuates himself into the house of a classmate, the son of his teacher. He writes about this for the teacher who is amazed at his intelligence, but the boy’s presence unleashes a series of uncontrollable events. Official website here is in French; for those who need some info in English, check out IMDb. Key cities only.

King of the Travellers – Shame this didn’t come out last year, when the TV series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding was the talk of the tabloid debate circuit and this drama, about a traveller avenging the death of his father, would have had great topicality. Showing at key cities only, the official Facebook page is here.

One Mile Away – Penny Woolcock’s film follows two Birmingham street gangs and their attempts to resolve the post code war between both sides. Official site is here; screening dates and locations are here.

Point Blank – the BFI screen John Boorman’s stylish 1967 crime thriller, with Lee Marvin as a criminal just released from Alcatraz and seeking revenge on those who got him jailed. But can he function in this new world? The BFI has screening locations here.

We Went To War – in 1970, director Michael Grigsby made a documentary about soldiers returning from Vietnam. Here, he returns to the three men he originally followed, updates their stories and finds links with soldiers returning from current conflicts. The official website is here and The Guardian carry an obituary here for the director, who sadly died on 13 March. The film will be on a limited run only.

And on Wednesday 3 April…

Dark Skies – You wait years for a film about unseen forces taking over the bodies of suburbanites and then two come along in the same week. What are the chances?!  This comes from the producers of Paranormal Activity; not an indication of much quality if you ask me, but the official Tumblr site here has some fun stuff in it. Showing nationwide.

 

Der Heilige Berg/The Holy Mountain (1926)

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Director: Arnold Fanck. UfA/Parufamet. (U)

SILENT

 

 

Producer: Harry R. Sokal.
Writers: Arnold Fanck, Hans Schneeberger.
Camera: Sepp Allgeier, Helmer Lerski, Hans Schneeberger, Arnold Fanck.
Music: Edmund Meisel.
Sets: Leopold Blonder.

Leni Riefenstahl, Ernst Petersen, Luis Trenker, Frida Richard, Friedrich Schneider, Hannes Schneider.

SYNOPSIS

Diotima (Riefenstahl) is an acclaimed dancer who lives in the Alps. She falls in love with Karl (Trenker), a reckless mountaineer and adventurer and the two become engaged. Karl’s best friend Vigo (Petersen), a young alpine sports competitor, develops a boyish crush on Diotima. Karl, on seeing them in a friendly embrace, mistakenly sees an affair and challenges his friend to a treacherous mountain climb. Vigo accepts and they head off into the dangerous weather conditions, Diotima chasing after them.

REVIEW

The extraordinary roller-coaster that was German cinema after the First World War and during the 1920’s encompassed the deranged, outward visual fantasies of Expressionism (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, 1919), mammoth mythical epics from the Germanic past (Siegfried, 1924), slice of life realism ‘street movies’ (The Joyless Street, 1925) and movies such as this, the ‘Bergfilm’ (mountain film) which extolled the rugged, beauty of alpine nature and physical outdoor pursuits, a very German occupation.

The best of these were made by ‘Dr’ Fanck who made a series of these romantic dramas, most or all of which starred his repertory company of actors/stunt people such as Trenker, Petersen and Riefenstahl (more of whom later). The story is unabashedly simple, but narrative always took a back seat on the snow plough in Fanck’s films as the scenery, sports, heroics and comradeship were the focus.

He does create an interesting character in Diotima though. We need no titles to tell us that this woman is the embodiment of her surroundings. A raw and untamed sexuality, we first see her as a silouhette slowly appearing and almost merging with the landscape. Diotima is the land, air and water; her opening dance has her swirling on the coast, conjuring up a tempest as her movements become more energetic.

Fanck does not present his setting as some glittery, tinsle-strewn winter wonderland. The picture postcard beauty of the Alps is off-set by the violent nature of these environs, the increasing aggression of the weather clearly matching the heated emotions of the characters as the love triangle develops. There are swirling rivers , biting winds and deathly avalanches that not only shape the mountains, but also the lives of those who worship these hellish peaks. There are some lovingly filmed moments; Trenker imagining a mighty palace of ice as a home for him and Riefenstahl as he becomes delirious during a storm and the blue-tinted night time search party, lit by flares.

Fanck’s prologue explaining that there is no trick photography is no false claim, the daredevil skiing and mountaineering sequences were largely filmed on location and features the actual stars.

The performances are largely neglected, but Trenker makes a stout hero and Petersen’s throbs with the right sort of hormonally challenged enthusiasm. Riefenstahl was most certainly a better director than an actress and, given the fitful, epileptic dance she employs, a far greater actress than a hoofer.

Comfortably viewing with hindsight, this is a seductive but slightly dangerous film. One can pick out and analyse the calling cards of proto Nazism in the sweet symbolism. It is in fact difficult to divorce one’s thinking from going down that mountain path, particularly considering Riefenstahl’s later career as the most technically and artistically gifted film-maker employed during the Nazi regime, making a handful of documentaries that would propel and then destroy her career. But Fanck’s film still stays on the right side of the peaks, as an otherwise innocent fusing of the deep bond, respect and love between man and nature, a respect for our world that is mostly missing from modern cinema.

Future movie releases…w/e 22 March 2013

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Compliance – if you like your drama freaky and creepy, then try this on for size. A fast food restaurant manager (Ann Dowd) receives a phone-call, apparently from a policeman, saying one of her employees (Dreama Walker) has stolen money from one of their customers. Taking it upon herself, Dowd starts an investigation herself, following instructions from the policeman, no matter how invasive they become. Based on true events according to the media nonsense. Official Magnolia Pictures site is here; showing at key cities.

The Croods (3D) – animated fun from Disney/DreamWorks about the first modern stone age family who set off an adventure when their cave/home is destroyed. So…The Flintstones in 3D then? Official UK site is here and will be showing all over.

I, Superbiker: Day of Reckoning – Motorcross championship lover? Check this out then. Official site is here and will be showing at these cinemas across the UK.

Identity Thief – Jason Bateman discovers that Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) is living the life of Reilly on his credit cards in this comedy from the director of Horrible Bosses. Official website is here and will be showing nationwide.

Jack the Giant Slayer (3D) – big-run on 3D movies this week. Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) stars in the title role, a young farmer who reignites a war between men and giants when he accidentally opens up a portal between our two worlds. It’s up to him and Ewan MacGregor et al to save the day. Directed by X-Men’s Bryan Singer. Official Warner’s site is here; will be showing nationwide.

Neighbouring Sounds – Brazilian cinema continues to chuck out some searing drama, in this BFI/Sydney Film Festival nominated drama from director Kleber Mendonca Filho. A security firm is hired to help protect a group of bourgeoise people after a spate of petty thefts, uncovering simmering prejudices and tensions. Official website is here and it will be showing at key cities.

Post Tenebras Lux – this won best director at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Using a series of unconnected images from past present and possible futures, the film centres around a wealthy industrialist facing a family crisis after he moves with them away from the trappings of modern society. Film screenings are here.

Reality – slightly self-absorbed sounding comedy from director Matteo Garrone with Aniello Areno as a fishmonger who appears on a reality TV show and finds he loses his own sense of reality. It might have worked and been more topical 10 years ago. Official website is here; will be showing at key cities only.

Reincarnated – Speaking of self-absorbed glory trips, this documentary follows US rapper Snoop Dogg as he travels to Jamaica to record an album with Diplo. Unsurprisingly, he thoroughly immerses himself in Rastafarian culture, to the point where he emerges as ‘Snoop Lion’. So, My Year Smoking Dope then. Official site is here and, mercifully, it will be showing at key cities only.

The Servant – From the diabolical to the perfect, a welcome airing for Joseph Losey’s seminal, creepily sexy swinging sixties thriller in which posh James Fox hires obsequious Dirk Bogarde as his manservant when he moves into a plush London townhouse. Bogarde insinuates himself and ‘sister’ Sarah Miles into the fabric of Fox’s life until they slowly start to revert roles, watched by suspicious girlfriend Wendy Craig. A masterpiece in character observation and wicked social irony, it helped turn Bogarde from matinee idol into a serious cinema actor. Showing in London at BFI cinemas only, its restoration kicks off this year’s Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, due to its obvious queer subtext.

Small Apartments – Little Britain’s Matt Lucas stars in this adaptation of Matt Willis’ novel, adapted by Willis himself. Lucas is the hairless eccentric obsessed with Switzerland who lives in an apartment block with other odd-balls, including Johnny Knoxville as a drug-addled rocker. When his brother James Marden dies, he finds that he has been left a key to a safe deposit box in Switzerland…containing a large sum of money. Sounds cute; wikipedia has a few more details and this will be showing at key cities only.

Stolen – Nicholas Cage has been released from prison for a bank robbery he committed years ago, but has to rob again when old partner Josh Lucas returns from the dead to claim the booty he thinks Cage still has. Just to make sure he pays up, Lucas kidnaps Cage’s daughter. Poor, poor box office returns might explain why the film originally called Medallion was hastily re-named. Wikipedia has some details here, but will be showing UK wide.

And on Monday…

12 In a Box – Miranda Hart co-stars in this British comedy about a school reunion dinner with a twist when 12 people are offered the chance to collect a £1m if they can rough it in the country. Official website is here; showing at key cities only.

And on Wednesday…

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – sequel to the 2009 actioneer with Channing Tatum; Tatum returns with Duwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The GI’s are  framed as traitors by baddie Arnold Vosloo, so they’re out to save their reputations and get revenge. Official UK website is here; will be showing nationwide.

Trance – Rosario Dawson is the hypnotherapist hired to help art auctioneer James MacAvoy recall where he hid a stolen Goya for criminal Vincent Cassel. But the line between the real and unreal becomes increasingly blurred. Official website is here and the film will be showing all over the UK.

Cloud Atlas (2012)

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Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski. Cloud Atlas/X-Filme/Anarchos et al (15)

ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY

 

 

Producers: Stefan Arndt, Alex Boden, Grant Hill, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski.
Writers: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski.
Camera: Frank Griebe, John Toll.
Music: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer.
Sets: Hugh Bateup, Uli Hanisch.

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Robert Fyfe, Gotz Otto, Sylvestre Le Touzel.

SYNOPSIS

Jumping between different time periods and based on David Mitchell’s novel, the lives of seemingly unconnected people across the ages are brought together as their actions impact on others in the past, present and future. One soul turns from a killer into a hero and another sparks a revolution that reverberates across centuries and throughout the cosmos.

REVIEW

I love the ephemeral existence of going to the movies. How a film can lift you up to take you far, far away from the thuddingly dull mundanity of everyday life for a precious couple of hours and plop you in another world, either one recognisably like the one you will go back to or something completely different. Cloud Atlas, encompassing as it does so many worlds, is a valiant if not entirely successful example of this.

It resembles a beguiling, dazzling but uncomfortable mash-up of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) and David Lynch’s Dune (1984, the poster closely resembles that wobbly sci-fi epic’s). Despite sharing those film’s tendencies to reach far beyond its grasp, it has a lot more heart amidst the artifice and grandeur than they ever managed.

As Forrest Gump once noted about boxes of chocolate, “You never know what you’re gonna get” and you certainly don’t with Cloud Atlas.

No surprise then that Forrest himself (Hanks) crops up in one of the panoply of roles on display. He is game if nothing else; successful isn’t always at the forefront of your mind though when you see him as either a vicious, Dublin gangster with a mouthy ‘Oirish’ accent or a balding, garrolous Scottish landlord. Where he does strike lucky is in the futuristic sequences as a schizophrenic goat-herder romancing Berry or a terrifying ship’s doctor slowly poisoning rich passenger Sturgess.

But when you’re playing seven different roles, as most of the cast are, you have a high betting average of getting at least one of them right. The casting agents deserve all the plaudits for probably sweating blood and tears to assemble these people in one film.

The rest of the starry cast are pretty much up for it and there are some stylish turns amidst the dross: Berry as a seductive Jewish emigre, Broadbent as a bent publicist imprisoned in an old people’s home and determined to escape, Bae as a monotone, revolutionary clone in futuristic Korea. D’Arcy impresses the most in his roles, whether as a gay, whistle-blowing scientist in 1930’s Britain and 70’s America or a blankly efficient futuristic interrogator.

Latex.com could probably have floated themselves on the stock exchange after the exemplary overtime the make-up team put in to making the cast look (slightly) dissimilar for each characterisation.

The problem with film’s such as these, massive in scale and scope, disparate stories stretching across centuries of existence, is  the need for an effective link to weave all of the elements together. Intolerance failed on a huge level; using Lillian Gish as a woman eternally rocking her child in a cradle merely baffled WWI audiences and frustrates modern viewers. Cloud Atlas has a similar problem; the remnants of some good stories on their own are quite strong, but without an effective link in the narrative until much later in the film, they seem quite adrift.

When the theme of the film becomes apparent (a few choice lines that hug the stories together), it’s difficult to tell whether one is knocked side-ways by the film-makers’ audacious approach, relieved that a somewhat gruelling journey is over or simply desperate to go the toilet. Probably all three at the same time, though difficult to tell in what order (at 2 hours 44 minutes in duration, the latter feeling might figure largely).

The propensity for film-makers to make such large-scale films when something more concise would suffice is a matter for further debate elsewhere, what isn’t is their writer’s lack of humour to sustain an audience on such long trips. Apart from Broadbent’s scenes as the publicist, seen in flash-back sustaining serious injuries from a well positioned cat when he is trying to lose his virginity, there is something of a funny-bypass here. Still, the images are sometimes quite incredible and it’s fun to scratch your head and try to piece together the celluloid jig-saw.

 

Future movie releases…w/e 15 March 2013

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Beyond the Hills – Romanian drama about the close friendship between two nuns. A film festival fave, the lead actresses shared the best actress award at Cannes and writer/director Cristian Mungiu received a gong for best screenplay. The IFC Entertainment site has a few more details here; the film will be showing at key cities.

Maniac – in this remake of the 1980 slasher movie of the same name, Elijah Wood is the disturbed young man who develops an unhealthy obsession with artist Nora Arnezeder. IMDb has a few further details here (and not too many happy views from fans of the first film, but with a title like this, surely no one was expecting Citizen Kane?), it will be showing at key cities only.

The Paperboy – interesting trailer, amazing performance from Nicole Kidman who dumbs down and trashes herself up as a peroxide tramp out to get husband John Cusack out of jail – by hook or by crook. Zac Efron comforts her as only he seems to be able to in films that also feature attractive film film stars of a certain age. The official site is here and it will be showing at key cities only.

Red Dawn – 80’s remakes continue, this time Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are the kids who try to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers. Will be showing nationwide; the official site is here.

Shell – Scottish drama from writer/director Scott Graham about a young woman (Chloe Pirrie) who works in an isolated petrol station and her difficult relationship with her father (Joseph Mawle) who is still distraught after his wife left him many years before. The official website, with screening details, is here.

The Spirit of ’45 – a new Ken Loach film always grabs some attention on the film circuit. Here, the old goat of socialist cinema looks at how a sense of unity spread amongst the British following the end of the second world war, how long it lasted and how a sense of community could be rediscovered today. Interesting website here lets you enter some details about yourself and get a result for ‘Your ’45’, a run down of how your life would have panned out had you been born in 1945. With this in mind, my name is Barrie and I have 35 years left to live. Great, just enough time to learn how to play the bagpipes. Website also contains screening locations and dates here.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – clearly basing the lead character on Siegfried and Roy, this comedy stars Steves Carel and Buscemi as wizards of the Las Vegas strip but facing competition from street magician Jim Carrey. Olivia Wilde co-stars. The official  site is here and it will be showing nationwide.

Vinyl – Phil Daniels stars in this dramatisation of a music hoax when a group of washed up rockers pass a young band of pretenders off as the performers of a new punk single. Didn’t Milli Vanilli get their Grammy’s taken off them for this? Official site is here, cinema screenings here.

Welcome to the Punch – stylish looking London-set crime thriller with James MacAvoy as a detective who gets a second chance to nab master criminal Mark Strong when Strong’s son is injured during his own heist. Official IFC Entertainment site is here, the film will be showing nationwide.

Stoker (2013). Review of the kooky horror starring Mia Wasikowska

Promotional image Stoker (2013). Kidman, Wasikowska, Matthew Goode.
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Director: Chan-wook Park. Fox Searchlight/Indian Paintbrush/Scott Free. (18)

HORROR

Producers: Michael Costigan, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott.
Writers: Wentworth Miller, Erin Cressida Wilson.
Camera: Chung-hoon Chung
Music: Clint Mansell.
Sets: Therese DePrez

Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Weaver, Dermot Mulroney, Alden Ehrenreich, Phyllis Somerville, Ralph Brown, Lucas Till.

SYNOPSIS

Shortly after the sudden death of her beloved father (Mulroney) on her 18th birthday, quiet and introverted India’s (Wasikowska) life is disrupted by the appearance of his creepy brother Charlie (Goode), a man whom she had never heard of. Her unstable, alcoholic mother (Kidman) is immediately attracted to him and, despite her initial revulsion, so is India, particularly when her suspicions about him killing their house-keeper and aunt are confirmed.

REVIEW

It isn’t often that something other than the visual imagery and performances in a movie form the backbone of my film review. I’m an ardent silent movie fan and will say a million times until everyone is bored of it, I’m with Alfred Hitchcock when he said “the visual is first, the oral supplementary”.

But it’s with the giddy delight of someone first discovering the magic of cinema that I report Stoker is an exception to this rule, containing some of the finest sound design and editing of any modern motion picture.

I don’t just mean the music, although Clint Mansell’s eerie, cold score, grand and operatic but with echoes of another bleak production (Silence of the Lambs, 1991) also hits the mark and complements the odd action perfectly. But it’s the background snap, crackle and pop, loaded with meaning, that impress the most and linger long after the closing credits have faded.

Wasikowska’s character is a quiet virgin whose sexual awakening is chronicled as the story progresses, but it’s the ingenious background noises that signal this more than Chung’s camera could ever reveal (though more of that later). Preparing food for her father’s wake, she rolls a hard-boiled egg around on a table, its shell breaking and crunching with deafening significance. Her first sip of wine sees her eyes open wide in delight, but drowned out by her slurps as she chugs the lot back heartily. After she and uncle Charlie have killed her would be rapist, she showers and masturbates with vigour thinking about him, the drops of water noisily splashing loudly around her.

It’s a difficult story to pull off on the big screen, especially when a mainstream American studio such as Fox is behind it and Park was a brave man to choose a story that encompasses fratricide, murder, consanguinity and incest. But then Park, the South Korean director noted internationally for his ultra-stylised violence in Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, is not your usual run of the mill director. He indulges his and cameraman Chung’s eye for painterly composition, eye-catching colour schemes (Kidman’s luscious strawberry blonde hair and key mood change outfits could have leapt straight out of old style Hollywood melodramas; Goode’s piercing blue eyes drain to a dull grey before changing back,  the reds and oranges of Kidman’s house) and titillating visual motifs (the spider, clearly used to represent the arachnid uncle Charlie, scuttles across the floor and over Wasikowsa’s body before disappearing between her legs). This is a modern day Grand Guignol horror in the style of a perversely sexualised Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

Surprising to find Prison Break star Miller as the scribe behind this distinctive, wilfully bizarre coming of age romance. There are some juicy lines for his stars to get their teeth into and the characters are intriguing, though it may have more to do with the back room boys input that the film ends up as a stylish assault on the senses rather than a clever check-list of weirdness.

The performances are all commendably strange, possibly due to the fact no one seems to blink. You’ll find yourself hypnotised watching the wide-eyed and gorgeous Goode as the fox stalking this chicken coop. Wasikowska plays India as if she was a homicidal Wednesday Addams with a Daddy Complex but inebriate Kidman is the keenest of these players, managing to always appear slightly drunk, words vaguely slurred, bearing slouched, staggering a little. She’s pathetic but sympathetic at the same time.

Future movie release…w/e 8 March 2013

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Babledom – the city is growing ever larger and threatens to overwhelm the citizens that live in it, in director Paul Bush’s collection of images and music in this elegy to modern life. The official website is here and it will be showing at key cities only.

Broken – Cillian Murphy and Tim Roth star in this British drama about a young girl in North London whose life changes after she witnesses a violent attack. Will be showing at key cities only and the IMDb page is here.

Fire With Fire – Josh Duhamel and Bruce Willis have both been busy of late so it’s surprising to see them starring together in which Duhamel is a firefighter who has to contend with the white supremacist (Willis) he is testifying against. So, Backdraft meets Mississippi Burning. Facebook page is here but, rather oddly, will be on a limited run only.

Gelmeyen Bahar – Turkish drama about a beautiful young girl who falls in love…after she has settled into an arranged marriage. On a limited run in London only, the official site for those of you au fait with Turkish is here; IMDb has some information here.

The Guilt Trip – Billed as the first (and possibly the last) mother-son road movie, this comedy stars Seth Brogan who pops into see Mom Barbra Streisand whilst embarking on the road trip of a lifetime…and she joins him. The fun for most audience members will be to try and avoid singing the ‘Barbra Streisand’ lyrics from Duck Soup’s recent song. Showing nationwide and the UK website is here.

Oz The Great and the Powerful (3D) – In this prequel to The Wizard of Oz, James Franco stars as the man who will one day be that wizard. He meets three warring witches (Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis) and sets about helping the people of this strange land. The official Disney UK site here is impressively designed and the film will be showing nationwide.

Parker – Jason Statham’s cinematic ‘efforts’ have perhaps lacked something in the past. Like most things that make good movies good. Having Jennifer Lopez as his leading lady is a step in the right direction, but judging by the trailer on the official site here, this looks like a rehash of what he’s done before. Showing nationwide.

Robot & Frank –  Frank Langella is the elderly jewel thief in this comedy whose son (James Marsden) gives him a robot to help his physical and mental health, rather than placing him in a nursing home. The official site is here and it will be showing at key cities only.

Side Effects – Steven Soderbergh has announced his retirement from movie-making before (as Vanity Fair reminds us in this piece from January) so forgive me for not quite believing that this pharma-thriller is his swan song. Jude Law is the doctor prescribing a new anti-anxiety pill that has ramifications for couple Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara. The official site is here and the film will be showing all over the UK.