Stuff I Saw & What I Thought Of It

I saw two films today, and one was vastly better than the other, though you could fairly say they're apples and oranges. But, the lesser of the two certainly wasn't bad.

Daybreakers - Starring: Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Lucas


I saw this at the cinemas with Candice and I was unsure what to expect. It's a U.S. - Australian co-production, and Australian films so often fail miserably, especially genre pieces (my opinion, being honest, y'all). But, I get pretty stoked when an Australian movie isn't a miserable piece of shit (Wolf Creek? AWESOME.) so I wanted to give it a chance.

For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's a near-future vampire film, set in America but made in Australia. Basically, humans have nearly died out, and this is a problem for vampires for obvious reasons.

I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't without it's flaws, but it managed to overcome them. Flaws first. Ethan Hawke looked tired and bored, but it kinda suited the role; Willem Dafoe's character was totally out of place in the movie and had an actor with less innate awesomeness been cast it would have been horribly, horribly wrong. Isabella Lucas still can't act, but she's pretty, and that's all she really needed to do. Jay Laga'aia is such a dude and ought to have been a much bigger character. Claudia Karvan and Sam Neill... They're both incredible, and Sam Neill plays a sufficiently suave and charismatic baddie, but Claudia was criminally underused. She made her underwritten role interesting, and she was engaging to watch. Towards the end it seemed they'd run out of things to do with her but kept her onscreen anyway. And lastly, it was freakin' awesome seeing parts of Brisbane in the film. Woo! So nice to -not- see New York for once. But when the plot took to the countryside it was so blatantly the Australian countryside that it was way to jarring and weird. Perhaps to an American audience it would go unnoticed, but to me it was really off-putting and completely brought me out of the setting. Make us believe it's America, or don't bother, kthnx.

Beyond this stuff, it suffered a few of the usual things that horror flicks often do; some characters appear only to die, and so it's hard to give two turds about 'em. There were some truly stupid scares. One involves a bat (yup) suddenly flying across the screen, but it was a cheap fright and laughable after the fact. And by the end it all resorted to a cheap hack-n-slash resolution, which I enjoyed but didn't do the thoughtful beginning complete justice.

Okay, okay, so now you're thinking "I thought you said you liked it? Was there -anything- good about it?" And yes, there was. All the lame-o stuff can be forgiven because it's so stylishly done, and praise-baby-jebus, none of the vampires sparkle (although the main character's name is Edward, and he's equally sad and mopey). In fact there was a cute bit where they did the whole no-reflection thing, but for the most part, it didn't build any mythology beyond the whole "we're dead and we drink blood and sun is bad" deal.

I would go so far as to say that the opening scene was actually quite poignant, and the introduction was thoughtful and interesting. The premise isn't subtle in its allegory, but it was nice to finally have a vampire story that isn't schmaltzy, tweeny or horn-baggy (there were lots of titties, but not the sexy kind). The narrative lost it's thoughtfulness towards the end, but the action is so nicely done that I was totally okay with that. And, the music was incredible. Seriously, my favorite things about this entire film were Claudia Karvan and the score.

I was unsure when I left the cinema whether I enjoyed it so much because it was that great, or because I didn't really expect much of it, and the more I ponder it, the gloss wears off and the more I think "yeah, I'm not really wetting myself anymore". That said, it's perfectly competent and enjoyable, and if not worth the cinema ticket (my ticket and a frozen cola was $21 and change! I miss my student card), definitely a DVD rental.

Adam - Starring: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Amy Irving, Peter Gallagher

Now, I admit, I downloaded this one. Now, before y'all reprimand me, let me explain myself. I saw the trailer for this a good while ago on Apple and I got that wonderful shivery feeling when you just know something is going to be special. And I waited... and waited... I don't know if never received a theatrical release in Lose-stralia, but I had my eye out and never found it showing. So then I was looking for it on DVD, and I've not yet found it. So I downloaded it, and I can assure you that I will be buying it first chance I get.

This movie is -magical-. I adored it from start to finish. It's a quiet little film and it just wandered into my heart, took a polite little seat in the corner and never left.

Adam tells the story of a young man with Asperger's Syndrome who begins a friendship with a woman who moves into his building. Hugh Dancy is absolutely understated and sensitive in his portrayal of Adam and avoids all the lovable-nutcase-by-numbers overacting that so many other actors would. Rose Byrne is enchanting in a completely effortless way as Beth. She's not ditzy or quirky just believably sweet. Neither of them try to orchestrate sympathy and the entire film is really quite sensitive and beautiful without being sentimental or schmaltzy.

My heart broke about a million times. I related to Adam so completely and I was touched by Beth's quiet, unsure bravery. And the soundtrack was equally beautiful and I downloaded it (from iTunes) immediately after. It seems these days Joshua Radin and The Weepies are on the mandatory checklist for indie film soundtracks - not that I'm complaining.

I really don't want to give too much away about this film. I just want you to go watch it. So, go watch it. Now. Go on.

Stuff I Want To See and Stuff I'll Probably Skip

A Single Man - I saw the trailer for this and felt like my brain had been fucked roughly with beautiful awesomeness and it's absolutely at the top-top-top of my "Wanna See" list. Point of interest: it's produced and directed by Tom Ford. Yup, -that- Tom Ford; the fashion designer who's as delicious as he is freakishly talented.

From Paris With Love - Oh, BOOOOO. This film looks like a steaming pile of crap. Jonathan Rhys Mayers is a delightful chappy, so that's a shame. Too bad that John Travolta decided to take a big filthy turd all over this film by trying too hard to be a dude and ending up looking like a complete and total tool. For serious, I thought to myself "Man, if J-Trav forces it any harder, he's going to end up with a distended and bleeding anus". Still, I'm basing this on the trailer, so I could be proven wrong, but I won't be spending money to find out.

Clash of the Titans - Sam Worthington. Greek gods. Nuff said, gimme my ticket.

The Wolfman - I -want- to be excited about this, but every time I think about Benicio Del Toro mackin' on Emily Blunt I vomit into my mouth a little. He's a dude, but Emily is a beautiful angel. A beautiful. Perfect. Angel. Even if I managed to get used to that image, he still looks totally out of place. I dunno, I still clinging to the possibility that it will be as awesome as I want it to be.

Alice In Wonderland - I guarantee you that after seeing this I will be squealing non-stop for an entire week at least.