Shut up, Crime!

Blu Review: SUPER
18 – 92mins – 2010
Written by: James Gunn
Directed by: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blakehart, Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, Rob Zombie
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The second film I’ve watched in a fortnight which takes its bow on home video despite the kind of considerable star clout you would normally expect to carry a film to multiplexes with ease. But while The Resident (reviewed HERE) was a genre flick from an iconic studio which was overshadowed by a bigger hitter, James Gunn’s Super is a positively tiny indie production so audacious and unpredictable it borders on schizophrenic, which also suffers from being released in the trail of a major blazer with a spookily analogous concept.*

Super is another ordinary-sap-decides-to-fight-crime-in-a-homemade-outfit comedy – although when I say comedy I do mean it in the blackest sense imaginable; seriously, the ‘18’ rating is well and truly earned here with a torrent of uber-violent, uber-profane and uber-uncomfortable scenes which are just as likely to make your jaw drop as chuckle in amusement. Rainn “Dwight Schrute” Wilson is perfectly pitiable as Frank D’Arbo, a bitter and enraged sad sack who takes the law into his own hands after his junkie wife Sarah (Tyler) runs off with conceited dealer Jacques (Bacon).

Inspired by a religious TV mascot (Nathan Fillion cameoing as “The Holy Avenger”) and touched by the “Finger of God” (voiced by Rob Zombie) in a surreal dream sequence involving a lobotomy and alien tentacles borrowed straight out of Gunn’s 2006 tongue-in-cheek sci-fi Slither, Frank believes it is his destiny to become “The Crimson Bolt”, a superhero with absolutely no super powers whatsoever, but a startling proclivity for smashing small time criminals around the head - with a monkey wrench. The scene in which he crushes the skulls of two queue jumpers at a movie theatre is both hysterical and disturbing in its graphic excessiveness.

The brilliant Ellen Page (Smart People, Whip It!, Inception) is as infectiously exuberant as ever as comic-store-clerk-cum- kid-sidekick “Boltie” (real name Libby). Her enthusiasm to join Frank's questionably delusional cause veers from excitable to dangerously unsettling yet it's hard to see her as anything but adorable (well, except in one scene...) and she frequently steals the show (“What the fuck's a 'Robin' anyway?!”).

As this frankly atrocious crime fighting duo ransack the town in their quest to keep the streets clean of scum (“Don't steal! Don't deal drugs! Don't molest kids! You don't butt!”) the comedy ranges from the raucous to the awkward – this is, after all, a real world diegesis where they look like twats and can't fight for shit – but as the film heads for its climax and Frank sets out to win back Sarah from Jacques' drug-peddling clutches the death toll rises exponentially as, somewhat contradictorily, the film reveals its very human heart.

Crucially, no matter how diabolically brutal the ass kicking or excessive the gore (and, trust me, it is), you're still willing Frank to win; to overturn injustice and make something of his depressing and uninteresting little life. Super certainly isn't for everyone: you'll either love the savagery or be appalled by it, but after watching this last night and initially grading it with an ambivalent “3 ticks” my appreciation grew throughout today and I'm now looking back on its kooky, outlandish qualities with inflated affection. "The Crimson Bolt" and "Boltie" will definitely be getting a second spin in this CR@B's crib.


In a CR@B Shell: Barmy, brutal and sadist, yet concurrently gut-busting and bizarrely sympathetic, James Gunn's multifarious Super is a highly-strung and subversive off-beat treat for fans of twisted, insolent comedy – but it's definitely a perturbed little pup.
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* You already know which film I'm referring to, so I won’t mention it by name like EVERY other critic thus far has done, but I will link to my REVIEW, ever desperate am I for some cross promotion :-b

Rollerbelle

DVD Review: WHIP IT
12A – 107mins – 2009
Screenplay by: Shauna Cross
Based on her debut novel Derby Girl (2007)
Directed by: Drew Barrymore
Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Alia Shawkat, Daniel Stern, Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Juliette Lewis, Drew Barrymore, Landon Pigg, Eve
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Exasperated by the humdrum banality of backwater life in Bodeen, Texas, 17 year-old Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) dream of escaping to more exciting climes. But whereas Pash has the prospect of attending an Ivy League school to look forward to, Bliss still has to find the flint to ignite her passion.

That flint, it transpires, is Roller Derby, the adrenaline-pumping contact sport on skates where teams of women battle it out to speed around the track and overtake the opposing squad. Lying about her age, Bliss signs up for the perennially pummelled Hurl Scouts and soon becomes a poster girl for the Austin outfit.

But what will her straight-laced, pageant-obsessed mother (Marcia Gay Harden) make of this dangerous and rebellious new hobby, and how long will Bliss be able to keep her real age from her amiable but underperforming teammates, especially with bitchy rival Iron Mavon (Juliette Lewis) on to her deception?

Yeah, I know, on paper Shauna Cross’s screen adaptation of her own novel sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? A team of losers welcome in a new team member who transforms the underdogs into super pups, only for personal issues to throw a spanner in the works and leave the star player out of action for the upcoming Championship final, yada, yada, yada, yawn.
But – and this is a mammoth, obese but – trust me when I say Whip It truly bursts to life on screen: the characterisation is charismatic, the dialogue is witty and razor sharp (“You guys came in second out of two teams! Yeah, let’s celebrate mediocrity!!”) and every scene is crackling with an inspirational vibe which hides any hint of mawkishness under a crash helmet, knee pads and an abundance of attitude.

Maggie Mayhew, Bloody Holly, Rosa Sparks, Jabba the Slut, Eva Destruction, Smashley Simpson – these roller derby chicks are tough, but they’ve also got a quirky sense of humour and it’s hard not to crack a smile at their vibrant, culture-riffing pseudonyms and garishly OTT uniforms. It is no wonder that Bliss found this alternative world to be a thrilling release from her clueless father (Daniel Home Alone Stern) and pushy mother, and her coming of age in and out of skates is a joy to watch.

You wouldn’t be laughed off the circuit for thinking Drew Barrymore’s surprisingly proficient directorial debut was set during the 1980’s. From the frankly primeval beauty pageants Bliss is forced into entering, to the Styker t-shirt she wears while dating local rocker Oliver (Landon Pigg), the pinball machine they play in the local arcade and the vinyl record collections they peruse, Whip It is filled with many a charming and quaint eccentricity which underlies Bodeen’s evolution vacuum.

And yet this is concurrently such a thoroughly modern roller-motion picture, channelling such timeless themes as empowerment, independence and fighting for what you believe in with such a funky sense of unconventional cool that it is hard not to admire Bliss’s giant V-sign to tradition.

The confident-yet-cute Ellen Page once again scores with a winning performance as the girl who will become Babe Ruthless, but the entire ensemble cast are likewise superb at conveying their characters with such genuine conviction that they really jump out of the screen. Watching Bliss and Pash mockingly dance along to the radio while changing the lyrics to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is a personal highlight, if only because it is the kind of nutty, carefree thing I can remember doing at that age. And this morning… *cough*


In a CR@B Shell: Shauna’s snappy script and a splendid squad promote Whip It from sports movie mediocrity to genre frontrunner. A sweet, colourful and accomplished directorial debut from Drew, I challenge you not to fall in love with this charming and spirited indie flick.
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Invasion of the Dream Extractors

Cine Review: INCEPTION
12A – 148mins – 2010
Written by: Christopher Nolan
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Caine, Lukas Haas
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Christopher Nolan certainly likes to have fun bewildering his audience. Whether it's playing with the laws of time (as he did by playing Memento's narrative backwards) or science (real magicians magic-up a parade of clones in The Prestige), you know that every film the Batman Begins director has crafted is an intrinsically constructed labyrinth which requires your full and unwavering attention to journey from the opening titles to the exit sign of the end credits.

His latest mind-bending cinematic experience is no different. Inception delves into the subconscious and makes the indefinite dreamscape its multi-layered, physically unconfined play pen. Streets stretch upwards, stairs are never-ending, trains smash across roads and buildings bend in on themselves in some truly awe-inspiring sequences soundtracked by Han Zimmer's epic synth orchestration – but Inception's substance is equally as impressive as its out-of-this-world style, and nothing is ever included just because it looks cool.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a skilled “extractor” – a spy who can infiltrate other people's dreams to steal their ideas – whose repressed guilt over his tragic past has seen him sacrifice his old life and still threatens to sabotage every new mission he accepts. The 'shade' of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), haunts Cobb's mind with vicious intent – can he ever overcome his grief and dream in peace?

Cobb and fellow extractor Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are charged with their most difficult case to date: to implant rather than extract an idea into banking heir Robert Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) dreams; an idea which will see their mark dissolve his deceased father's (Pete Postlethwaite) company. In exchange for this act of corporate espionage, their client (Ken Watanabe) offers Cobb carte blanche; he will legally be able to return home and be with his children once more.

Cobb and Arthur reassemble their team of specialists – including sedative chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and form-changing 'Forger' Eames (Tom Hardy) – whilst simultaneously training student-come-dreamscape 'Architect' Ariadne (Ellen Page). The newcomer's ignorance allows the audience an introduction to the mind-boggling, scientifically bonkers internal logic which holds the film together. It's lazy – but essential – exposition; Ariadne asks all the questions we're silently screaming at the screen, and we completely identify with her initial resistance, but Nolan's creation is just too alluring to resist.

Intercepting Fischer on a ten hour flight, the Extractors connect themselves up to the sedative-administering device and dive straight in to his rain-drenched dreamworld. From herein, Inception becomes a sci-fi heist movie (even the climax is set within an illusory bank vault), with the secondary players (specifically quick-witted Eames) providing light relief from the seriousness of the morally-corrupt mission. Truth be told, beyond assisting in plot formalities and reacting to Cobb's troubled moods as he battles his personal demons, there is little else for the team to do besides banter, but they do it well: granting personalities to these two-dimensional characters.

Although bound to its mechanical constraints, Inception is a technically accomplished epic blockbuster which covers all corners: intelligent, action-packed, visually gorgeous and original. Furthermore, the acting is first rate: Hardy provides a spirited turn bouncing off of Gordon-Levitt with glee, and Page is as plucky as ever, while DiCaprio impressed me just as much as he did in Shutter Island – another film where his intense burdens threaten to defeat him.

Sure, there are some flaws to the logic-disregarding diegesis: people are entering other people's dreams for gawd's sake (and I'm not entirely satisfied with the sudden "oh yeah, you'll be sent to limbo" contrivance, considering for the first hour of the film we were told that to wake from a dream you simply had to be 'killed'. Perhaps a second watch will quell my concerns?), but Inception is such a brave, immaculately constructed, boundary-crumbling vision that you're totally engaged and inspired nonetheless. And besides, when do dreams ever make complete sense?


CR@B Verdict: A refreshingly original imaginarium, Inception requires your full attention as it layers on the internal logic and decorates it with stunningly mindboggling landscapes and exhilarating set-pieces. You may find yourself lost in the dreamworld – but you certainly won't fall asleep. Three cheers for 'Architect' Nolan.
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The Tension and the Smart

DVD Review: SMART PEOPLE
15 – 91mins – 2008
Written by: Mark Jude Poirier
Directed by: Noam Murro
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church , Ashton Holmes
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Sometimes the smartest people have the most to learn

So reads the tagline to this quirky indie comedy drama from the producer of quirky indie comedy drama Sideways (2004), and such a seemingly paradoxical statement has never been more accurate than when you are first introduced to the lead protagonists in Noam Murro’s debut feature film, Smart People: Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is an arrogant and apathetic English literature professor who has lived with his haughty, smart alec loner of a daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page), since his wife died some years ago and his suppressed son, James (Ashton Holmes), moved away to college to spread his wings.

Lawrence ’s adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), is an indolent, unemployed free-loader who nevertheless never lets his dire situation get him down. Against Lawrence ’s wishes, Chuck ends up moving in to chez Wetherhold at the same time that the miserly college proff starts dating Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), a former student who treats Lawrence at the hospital after a minor accident. That is pretty much it in the way of plot, but Mark Jude Poirier’s witty script energizes the eccentric characters with sharp dialogue and zinging banter as this small scale character piece unfolds: Will Lawrence ever be able to love again? Will Vanessa ever learn to ‘chillax’ like a 17-year-old should? And will Chuck ever be able to stand on his own two feet? Oh, the angst!

It is a testament to the quality of the actors involved that you warm to these wholly unlikeable characters. Page and Haden Church are particularly engaging; spunky, acid-tongued Vanessa and her zany party animal of an (adopted) uncle’s polar personalities spark and clash in surprisingly unexpected, unconventional and unexceptable ways. Perhaps the key to the film’s success is that, underneath all the barbed comments and unsociable attitudes, these are recognisable people and their relationships are astutely observed. We could all learn a thing or two from Smart People.


CR@B Verdict: Bear with these pretentious brain boxes and they’ll win you over as they learn their most valuable lessons outside a classroom. With lesser performances this skeletal film could have fallen flat, but the repartee between the ensemble cast make Smart People a smart choice.
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