EEL GIRL

EEL GIRL (2008)
NZ
Directed by Paul Campion

CAST:
Julia Rose - Eel Girl
Euan Dempsy - Obsessed Scientist
Robyn Paterson - Military Officer

PLOT:
     In a secure military laboratory, a Scientist has become obsessed with the strange half-eel, half-human creature he's studying. When she beckons him to her, it's the call of a siren...

REVIEW:
     While researching the fun facts for my reviews I look at what other films the director has worked on or directed. Sometimes they have a very interesting film history and other times it's almost bare. It's when I run across short films directors have done that still fit somewhat in the horror genre I try to do a review of those films as well to sometimes to get a better feel for their works. Some of the fun of checking these shorts out is seeing that a lot of the cast from one film is involved in the shorts if they were made close together. Usually when this happens they film the two back to back or even when filming of the feature length film. One of the good thing about this is that the cast and crew are more in synch after working together. And sometimes these shorts are just one off films made to get backers for a future endeavor or just to get their name out in the market. Yet one of the better aspects of short films is that the creators have complete control and due to this is sometimes better, remember I said sometimes, than the other films they have worked on.

     The acting is in Eel Girl is for the most part okay. No one really sticks out except for Julia Rose who portrays the title character Eel Girl. Rose has to communicate sexualness through layers of makeup and prosthetics, which some of that isn't hard as she's naked throughout the whole short. Due to this her trying to sell seduction works, yet is very odd at the same time. The poor soul of Eel Girl's seduction is Obsessed Scientist played by Euan Dempsy. Dempsy is the odd ball out, as he, or Julia Rose, speak not one line of dialogue the entire film so everything has to be communicated through body language and gesture. Dempsy has to act the letch who sneaks around behind his supervisor's back to get his satisfaction and not get caught. A lot of his actions and gestures, while not meant to be, are comedic due to to him, acting wanton is basically licking your lips very slowly. Needless to say, Dempsy just doesn't sell it very well.

     The story for the short is very simple and easy to follow, which is a creature of unknown origin is trying to seduce a scientist that likes to take looks at said creature and pays the price for it at the end. Even though the short is called Film Girl, it has more in common with the siren stories from myths as the creature somehow is able to ensnare her prey. The makeup effects is genuinely the main reason to watch the short as all special effects shots are done in camera and from what I can tell no CG is used at all through out the production which is a nice considering that most film makers rely too heavily on it now. From what I can tell of the film, this was a demo reel more than anything else to get funding for another film, which I reviewed before this one. The reason I say this is that both films climaxes end very nearly the same with the same effects shot which is the main reason to watch this to me. Yet unlike the other film by director Paul Campion I reviewed earlier, to me this one had the better end effect shot. Campion though knows how to set his shots and get what he wants out of the camera with a limited amount of time the films runs for. The one downside is the story, as it just felt like there was more to tell but couldn't due to this being a short. All in all the film is a fun watch yet is lacking in story and the acting is, meh, at best.
     
BEST DEATH:
     The post bath snack of Eel Girl.

BEST LINE:
     Sorry none really stuck out on this one.

FUN FACTS:
      The small red flashing lights in the electrical panels in the observation room are flashing out the Eel Girl script in binary code.

     45 gallons of black methocyl (KY Jelly) were created by Weta Workshop to fill the bath.

     Director Paul Campion also directed the film The Devil's Rock.

WRATH OF THE TITANS

WRATH OF THE TITANS (2012)
US
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

CAST:
Sam Worthington - Perseus
Liam Neeson - Zeus
Ralph Fiennes - Hades

PLOT:
     Perseus embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, who has been targeted for capture by his traitorous son, Ares, and his brother, Hades who are working with Zeus' father.

REVIEW:
     When Clash Of The Titans was remade, I was kinda excited to see it. Needless to say the disappointment was there at the end of the movie. It had a great set-up, yet lousy follow through with some interesting set pieces thrown in. To bad Mads Mikkelsen's character Draco didn't survive to be in this one as he was one of the few things good with the remake. The 3D in that one also didn't help the movie. Well two years later the sequel to the remake is out and here I go with the review for it. I have to say first that I love Greek mythology and the family dysfunction and constant in-fighting trying to top one another and the complete disregard for the people that pray to them as it is ripe to be plundered for film and story, yet it seems as if no one really knows how to do it truly right.

     Sam Worthington isn't going to win any Oscars anytime soon, but I can say he knows what he's good at playing. As Steven Seagal and Arnold Schwarzenegger were action icons in the 80's, Worthington can easily be considered one for this new generation of film goers. I will say that he has improved since the remake, and can actually show some real emotions in this one unlike the previous one. Liam Neeson reprises his role as Zeus from Clash Of The Titans as does Ralph Fiennes as Hades. I really like both actors as they know how to act, sadly in this most of the time I really felt like they were going through the emotions rather than really trying. Thankfully toward the end of the movie when they could in character go out and have fun their expressions show that they are finally having fun for a change, even at the end after everything is done and each one has their final words. And it seems like in each movie one actor steals the movie. In Clash it was Mads, as I mentioned before, and in this one it is Bill Nighy as the god Hephaestus, the creator of the Tartarus and the labyrinth that protects it. Nighy is just fun as he knows his role isn't the biggest in the movie, yet to me he just comes in and sweeps all the other actors to the side as all attention is on him as he chews the scenery around him, even with Bubo in the scene. Which I got a good laugh out of by the way, and also the fact the filmmakers put this nod in to the original Clash.

     One of the things most people complained about the remake of Clash for was the use of post-conversion 3D they used. Thankfully that problem is fixed in Wrath, although it's not the best use of the technology I've seen. Some scenes are really well done in 3D, such as when we see Cronos move his arms and pieces fly from them as well as lava flowing off. I will say that the 3D did piss me off at one point. That scene took place in Perseus' village when it is attacked by a hell hound, which is a dog like being with two heads and a snake like head as a tail that can can hiss and bite. Now that I set up the creature, the scene is it was running ramshod through the village killing people and destroying humble abodes as it goes. Once Perseus has the creature somewhat contained the tail comes into play. Now that part didn't piss me off, what did is when the full screen all of a sudden went to a widescreen format. You know the type. Black bars on the top and bottom. And then the snake tail tries to bite Perseus and we're giving a view of the snake-tail lunging forward. Which in turn is set to go out of the viewable picture frame, and guess what, the damn snakey thing is shown over the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Great way to take a person out of a film by doing that as you ruin what your eyes were used to seeing. What's even worse is that right after that the screen goes back to full screen. I was not a happy camper due to that. Film is supposed to suck you in and make you forget you're in a theater, not make you remember that after only fifteen minutes in.

     Director Jonathan Liebesman did both good and bad in this film. The good is that he knows how to pace a movie to keep things moving, sometimes at a breakneck pace as the story is always moving toward a goal. Speaking of story, this movie has a major father issues as that is the key to the whole story. From Kronos coming for his son Zeus, to Zeus giving all to save his son Perseus, everything revolves around family and fighting for them. Now the bad Liebesman did in the movie. He mistakes a moving camera, shaking and up close for dynamic footage, which in return makes the action skewed and hard to follow at times. The perfect example of this is the minotaur fight. The action is hidden for most of the fight and the only steady shot during the whole confrontation is close ups of the beast and close ups of Perseus. I will say the special effect are actually very well done throughout when you can see them for an extended period of time. One thing the story could have done better though is include more of the children of the gods, as for this film not only do we get Perseus, but we also get Toby Kebbell who plays Poseidon's son Agenor, which actually helped the story. And they even eluded to Rosemund Pike's Queen Andromeda being a demi-god as well. Yet the story turned sour with the end as it felt like the writers didn't know what to do, so they put a whole bunch of cheering which just felt forced and tacked on. I will say that Wrath Of The Titans is much better than the Clash remake, yet no where near what it could have been with the rich mythology to pick and choose from.

BEST DEATH:
      Kronos wiping out an entire city with the wave of his arm.

BEST LINE:
     I am great.

FUN FACTS:
     Javier Bardem was considered for the role of Ares, though role went to Edgar Ramirez in the end.

     Director Jonathan Liebesman's last movie he directed was Battle: Los Angeles.

     Sam Worthington, who was a finalist to play James Bond before Daniel Craig was cast, has blurred vision.

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (2010)
FI
Directed by Jalmari Helander

CAST:
Per Christian Ellefsen - Riley
Peeter Jakobi - Santa
Jorma Tommila - Rauno

PLOT:
     In Finland an archaeological dig unearths an ancient tomb. Afterward strange things start happen around a herding village. Only one boy knows what's really going on and no one wants to listen until it's to late.

REVIEW:
     I first heard about this movie when the list of movies for Fantastic Fest 2010 was announced last year and thought that it would be an interesting just based on the premise alone. Then December rolled around and I started trying to find it with not a lot of luck. I actually wanted to have this review out on Christmas itself in honor of the day, and also due to it was a Christmas movie. Well needless to say that didn't happen unfortunately so I was resigned myself to having to wait for the release of the American DVD version of the movie. Then a couple days ago the movie became available and I got my copy of it finally. So I just wanted to say sorry about reviewing a Christmas movie past Christmas, and this is just way of fixing what should have came out last month, and not waiting until Christmas this year to review it as I can't wait that long!

      I'm going to start with my one gripe about the movie. It's small a gripe, as I'll say later in this paragraph, but it is a gripe. Now the movie already had me with the isolated and frozen setting and it just kept on building on that helplessness throughout the movie. I should also say that it's shot so beautifully  where it just helps draw you in more. You can actually tell distance and depth in the film. Even when some of the shots are helped with CG it really doesn't pull you out of the movie, but it is my one gripe with it as well. I understand it's hard to get over a hundred actors running at one time as well as having a kid hanging from a helicopter, as it calls into child endangerment issues, but you can easily tell it was either green screened or a full CG shot. I know this is a a smaller movie and didn't have the budget of bigger films but nothing really pulls me out of movies like discolored CG in movies especially one so well shot and put together where the setting is as much part of the story as the characters. But that's my one gripe with it and I know I said the same thing about TRON LEGACY and CG, but it's true. If filmmakers just spend an extra month on CG I'm sure most of my gripes with modern film will disappear. 

       Now that that's over I can go ahead and say I love this movie. From its plot to the way it's achieved. Nothing in this movie slows it down once it starts rolling and it's all a build up to last scene which makes so much sense as how Helander ended the movie. Even though the movie starts out slow it certainly doesn't stay that way after all the characters are introduced. Things start going wrong quickly and the adults don't know what is truly happening and the one person that does, his warnings are ignored until it's to late and things have already started going bad. Omni Tommila does a wonderful job as Pietari, as he is the center of the film and if he tried to play up his role the movie would have fallen apart. Thankfully he didn't. Tommila just has that classic childhood innocence about him that just shines through the film. Who didn't have a childhood imaginary fear, from clowns to puppets, where you thought it was so true that you would do anything to keep yourself and your parents safe when you were young. I know I had one. Lightning and thunderstorms. When I was small, I was terrified by them. Now I just love watching storms roll in and the breathtaking light shows that come with it. Well this movie takes that fear that Pietari has and makes it real which is just one of the reasons why I love this movie so much. It takes something that has happened to everyone and puts it on screen. One scene that stand out is when Pietari sets a trap in the fireplace for Santa that almost kills his father. I'm not going to say what it is but I did laugh out loud once the trap was shown. I should also mention that the chemistry between Pietari and Rauno is just amazing to watch as well, as there is true emotion there that isn't and can not be faked.

     I'm trying to stay away from going to much into the story as it will give away to much and half of the fun is seeing the twist in the movie that. I didn't even it coming and it hits bluntly, but because of this I was laughing and disturbed at the same time. Because of that twist it put the movie on that "I love this" level. While the movie does get dark as it firmly tarnishes a cherished mythological figure, it still has that child like fun and wonderment that keeps it from going overboard. I will say the movie is not for kids. Far, far from it in fact, but it has that classic '80s movie feel that isn't there in movies anymore, where that balance of silly, fun, creepy, and scary are perfect in that cheesy but not over the top way. While the film is firmly self-aware of what it's doing, it doesn't go overboard trying to be outrageous in what it does, as the director knows when to pull back to keep from slipping over that line as where so many other movies do. If I had seen Rare Exports last year it would have easily been on my top 10 list. And I can easily say that this will be required viewing for me every Christmas time from now on.
      
BEST DEATH:
     Even though there is only one death on screen, it has that shock value to put it here.You'll know it when you see the movie.

FUN FACTS:
     The characters of the father Rauno and son Pietari  are in real life also father and son.

     Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is actually the prequel to the short films Rare Exports Inc. and Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions that came out in 2003 and 2005 respectively and can be found online.