Laa-thaa-phii (Ghost Game)

Again, a ghost story. This time from Thailand.

A game show is held in an old war camp in Cambodia. The goal is to stay longer than the other contestants, despite being scared out of your wits and having to fulfill disturbing tasks, like chaining each other to torture devices and cracking open skulls.

Initially, we are fed the 'history' of the camp, where a war lord tortured and killed prisoners and - one fateful May 9th - his soldiers and himself. The game show takes place in the first days of May, of course.

There are 11 contestants in all, two of which are the winner and runner-up of the previous year's show. Why they would be allowed to participate again and, indeed, why they would care to is never discussed over the course of the film. They are only suspected of manipulating their opponents to walk away with the 5 million price (5 million Thai Baht, that is). Another contestant was placed in the group by the production company. What her function is is never is explained either.

Anyway, some of the people start seeing ghosts. Specifically, the ghost of one woman, who was hanged in the camp right before the big bad military boss went nuts and killed everyone. And when May 9 finally clocks in, people start dying. First, the entire TV crew disappears from their post in the studio, only later to be found slaughtered elsewhere, some practice self mutilation (one with chisel and hammer) and other are killed by a shape shifting ghost.

Only once does one contestant (last year's winner) try to help one of her suffering opponents, while everyone else merely stand by horrified and watch others die.

Nice premise, could have been much scarier, though. Too many holes in the plot to be fully enjoyed.

4/10

All or Nothing

Leave it to Mike Leigh to bring you down with a beautifully spun story about people living in a nondescript apartment complex, with no rewards for there daily struggles, just barely making a living.

The family this film revolves around are couple Phil and Penny Bassett and their two overweight kids Rachel and Rory. Phil is a cab driver, accepting of his dreary life and never making a fuss about anything. His wife Penny works on a supermarket check-out and has to put up with Rory's insults. Rory himself just lies around on the couch all day, jobless and lazy. Rachel works as a cleaner at an nursing home.

Their neighbor's life's are no better. There is the single mother, getting lip from her daughter, who gets abused by her boyfriend and finds out she is pregnant. One of Phil's colleagues lives in the complex, as well. His wife is a drunk and the daughter wanders about making trouble.

There are no ups in their lives, only the occasional down. It is one particular tragedy that breaks open the small collectives of wounds of the Bassett family but makes Phil and Penny understand each other a little better.

from Roger Ebert's review: Watch carefully how it happens, and who reacts to it and how, and you will see that Leigh has made all of the neighbors into characters whose troubles help to define their response.

Sad and desperate, but also beautifully told and acted.

7/10

Mama

I like a good ghost story. Especially when it is as pretty as this. Sure, it looks goth and is macabre, but I find it pretty nonetheless.

Jessica Chastain (sporting an unfortunate hairdo) stars alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (of Game of Thrones fame) as couple Annabel and Lucas taking care of two little girls named Victoria and Lily. When Luke's twin brother went of the rails five years back, he shot two work associates and his wife and took off into the woods with his two girls. They ended up in a cabin, also inhabited by a ghost, who mainly lived in the wall.

After the ghost did away with the father, the girls spent the next five years there, growing savage and calling the creature Mama. Luke never gave up looking for his brother and nieces and they were eventually found and after spending some time in psychiatric care, were handed over to him and Annabel, while under the watch of one Dr. Dreyfuss, who slowly pieced together the story of this Mama the girls keep referring to.

Unfortunately, Mama came with the girls into the new house and becomes very jealous of Annabel. Luke ends up in a hospital after a fall down the stairs and Annabel is left to fend for herself. She finds out the story Dr. Dreyfuss has pieced together after he disappears while trying to solve the enigma of Mama by going back to the cabin the girls were found in (he doesn't make it out again).

Mama was separated from her own child when held in an insane asylum. She escaped, kidnapped the baby and ended up falling down a cliff with the child. While Mama fell into the water, the baby's blanket got caught on a branch and the two were again separated in death. She haunted the area looking for her baby ever since. Annabel and Luke try to get rid of the ghost by offering the remains of the child, that had been stored away in some government facility because nobody ever came to claim them, as a trade for Victoria and Lily. In the end, they have to make a huge sacrifice.

Some of this is truly scary. One can recognize Guillermo del Toro's producing hand in this.

8/10

Octopussy

In case you wondered, 'Octopussy' is a woman. She lives on an island with women on it. Lots and lots of women. And, yes, Bond beds her.

Now that we got that out of the way, here's the story in a nutshell:
Bond has to follow a general stealing jewelry from the Russian government. The trace leads him to an Afghan prince and the title-giving Octopussy. He unscovers some plot that involves...wait for it...nuclear weaponry. And Fabergé eggs. Obviously.

The locations this time around are East Berlin and the much more exotic India. Some of the character's names include Kamal Khan (the Afghan prince), Orlov (the general), Gobinda (bodyguard and henchman), Mischka & Grischka (circus artists), Gogol (Russian writer a Soviet general) and - my favorite - Penelope Smallbone (assistant to Moneypenny). None of the cast names rings a bell for me (other than the usual suspects).

This features an abundance of ridiculous and very obvious one liners, that more often than not miss the mark (I think). It's all very silly, really. Also, if you suffer from Coulrophobia, do not watch this!

Ok, maybe that's just me. I was never much a fan of the franchise, only having seen the occasional film (and remembering Goldfinger rather fondly). I only became a fan when Daniel Craig took over and decided to watch all Bond films - from earliest to latest. It looks like anything that become before the re-vamping with Craig as Bond was not for me (I suspected as much). At this point, I'm in it for the villains, who are not much to speak of in Octopussy.

4/10

Big Night

Brothers Primo and Secondo came to America to make it in the restaurant business, but there little Italian place is failing while the restaurant across the street - run by Pascal - is thriving.

Primo is a very gifted chef but unwilling to compromise his art because a 'philistine' customer wants a side order of spaghetti with meatballs to her risotto (starch with starch!). His younger brother is trying to keep their business running but knows they need money fast to keep the place open.

Secondo comes to Pascal for financial help but Pascal offers him a way to make some business. He will call up an 'old friend', a famous jazz musician to come and eat at their place to get some publicity.

Now the brothers start working towards the big night feverishly. And if that alone didn't keep them busy, they also both have trouble with the women in their lives - Secondo is cheating on Phyllis with (of all people) Pascal's girlfriend Gabriella. And Primo has his sights set on the flower lady Ann, but is to shy to even ask her out.

Then the big night comes and all their friends and neighbors have been invited, but the guest of honor takes his time. When it gets later and later - and the guests get drunk and start dancing around the room - Secondo decides it is time to eat - big shot jazz musician or no. Everyone agrees that the food is divine. As the night progresses, Secondo gets more and more nervous about the coveted guest and the publicity and word-of-mouth he should have brought the restaurant. In the end, he never shows. And he was never going to because Pascal neglected to call him in the first place in a rouse to drive the last nail into the restaurant's coffin and convince the brothers to word for him.

An absolute joy to watch.

from Roger Ebert's review:Big Night is one of the great food movies, and yet it is so much more. It is about food not as a subject but as a language - the language by which one can speak to gods, can create, can seduce, can aspire to perfection.

9/10 

The Twilight Zone: Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room

John "Jackie" Rhoades is a small time crook, doing odd jobs for the slick George. Here he paces a small room, biting his nail, waiting for George to call about the next assignment. When George does call and Jackie cannot get any details out of him over the phone, it only makes him more nervous.

Eventually, George drops by and tells Jackie that he has to man up and kill a man, something Jackie has never done before and obviously does not have the guts to do. He describes himself as "nickels and dimes". But he is left with the choice to kill or be killed. They set to meet again in the room at 2.30 a.m., at which time the hit should have been done.

When he is alone again, Jackie tries to get his courage up by talking himself up in the mirror. But then his mirror image starts talking back. The two Jackies start fighting over their life of petty crime and occasional stints in prison. This other half of him wants Jackie to get his life on track.

George calls again to check on whether or not Jackie is actually going to do as he is told. When he comes at the agreed time, however, Jackie has not even left the room and the target is alive and well. What George didn't see coming is that this "nickels and dimes" guy is not going to take any shit anymore and knocks George down before chasing him out the door.

In the last scene we see that Jackie has traded places with his former mirror image.

Wonderful acting by Joe Mantell, who later appeared in another episode of The Twilight Zone.

8/10

Gulliver's Travels

This film had me worried that Jack Black might go the way of Adam Sandler - appearing in films of constantly declining quality. He seems to have found his footing again (recently starring in the promising looking Bernie, which I will report on as soon as I have seen it), but Gulliver's Travels was one of his low points.

It starts off with Gulliver, who works in the mail room of a newspaper in NYC and is in love with the travel writer Darcy, handing in a sample of his 'writing'. Of course, he copied everything out of various guide books and websites. Anyway, he gets immediately sent off to a three week boat trip to Bermuda. And I mean immediately.

The infamous Bermuda Triangle takes you straight to Lilliput, apparently. There, being bigger than anyone else and coming from a (at least technically) more advanced society, he tells tall tales and beats off the villainous armada that repeatedly tries to kidnap the princess to become a lauded hero. He proceeds to behave like a giant tool and recreates time square plastered with billboards of himself (among other ridiculous, non-funny feats).

Of course, the guy the princess is supposed to marry does not buy a word Gulliver says (there is always that one non-believer in a comedy, isn't there). He goes over to the dark side and ends up blowing Gulliver's web of lies. Subsequently he gets shipped off to some mysterious, scary place, where he himself is suddenly the small person.

When Darcy - pissed off at having to do the Bermuda assignment herself now, despite her seasickness - is captured by the evil forces now running Lilliput, Gulliver's only friend comes to get him back and together they save kind and country.

Lame and painfully void of humor, which is doubly shameful as a shitload of money obviously went into this project.

<sad-headshake>

2/10

Film Quote

from The Seventh Seal

Quartet

At Beecham house, a home for retired musician, the annual concert celebrating Verdi's music is organized by the residents themselves.

Among them is a trio of singers, famed for their rendition of "Bella figlia dell' amore" from Rigoletto. The piece is a quartet and the fourth member of their group, the diva-esque Jean (former wife of one of the male voices in the quartet), has just waltzed into Beecham House. Her arrival has upset her former husband Reggie, who at first tries to avoid her whenever possible.

The concert this year is of particular importance, as any revenues are crucial in keeping Beecham House funded. The head organizer Cedric suggests that the quartet should perform their Rigoletto piece, which will surely increase interest in the concert. It does take some convincing, though, as Jean does not want to sing because some of her higher notes may break.

She changes her mind, however, when she learns that her former rival on the opera scene will perform an aria from Tosca ("Vissi d'arte", if you're intersted).

This is Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut and the cast is phenomenal. It includes Billy Connelly, Michael Gambon and the wonderful Maggie Smith as the ageing diva Jean.

I wanted to love the film and hoped for some more comedy, I guess. In the end, I merely liked it.

6/10

Never Say Never Again

This is the one James Bond film that is not officially part of the series. From the very first instant - when the beginning credits set in - we know that everything is different. There is no shadowy figure in the round seeker of a gun turning towards the camera and shooting followed by a song performed by the superstar of the moment. There is a different M, a different Q, even a different Felix.

But the story is very James Bond-y and the original 007 is back (again). The location is as exotic as ever and the cast is fantastic: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, Edward Fox, Kim Basinger, Rowan Atkinson. The fashion (other than Bond's classic tuxedo) is painfully 1980's.

The woman in the picture does not only commit a typical 1980's fashion crime, she is also totally bonkers. For instance, she insists on being the best lay Bond has ever had and wants him to put that in writing. James, of course, has been handed a pen out of Q's little shop and shoots her with it. The crazy bitch is not the only woman that ends up in Bond's arms before he saves the day.

Some more recurring themes: a casino and some deep sea diving. Nothing new, but an interesting attempt of trying to secure a piece of the franchise cake. It remains the only one thus far.

6/10

In the Company of Men

Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy) are assigned to a different location within their company for six weeks. Chad is a classic asshole (at one point he has a male intern drop his pants to see if he has the 'balls' for this job) and Howard wants to pretend to be a douchebag of similar size so they agree to wine and dine a girl simultaneously and then breaking up with her at the same time - all within those six weeks.

The girl Chad (of course it's Chad) picks is Christine (Stacy Edwards), who is deaf (added bonus!). They take her out and send her flowers. Howard is not as good at this as Chad and actually falls in love. Christine falls for the charm of Chad.

When Chad and Christine go to lunch in week four, with him being all sweet and charming (you want to punch him in the face for playing that lovely girl like that) they run into Howard and Christine realizes for the first time that the two know each other.

When Howard confesses his love, Christine tearfully breaks up with him and apologizes for not having been honest from the start. This prompts Howard to spill the beans of what they were doing, which leads to a fight ("You, you are fucking handicapped! You think you can chose?"). A few days later, Christine confronts Chad, who goes back to asshole mode, saying that he wanted to let her down easy, but "fuck it".

In the last chapter of the film, we realize just how big an asshole Chad actually is.

from Roger Ebert's review:
We find a level beneath the other levels. The game was more Machiavellian than we imagined. We thought we were witnessing evil, but now we look on its true face.

8/10

Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)

One of the earliest films in the classical sense and it is...science fiction. How about that?

It runs for only 14 minutes and it took people to the moon long before we were even close to considering space travel.

It is humorous, introduces us to weird characters and gave the world the often used, iconic image of the (man in the) moon with a looking glass, checking out what those weird little people on earth are up to.

An absolute must-see.

10/10