Early January Round-Up

Gangster Squad

Back from Gangster Squad and I can’t be bothered writing much about it because I don’t have that many ideas. Yes, it’s that fucking unmemorable. So I will simply reiterate the qualms of other commenters with whom I agree: the direction and scripting were for shit – paint by the numbers dreadful.  As a result all the characterisations were either utterly flat (Brolin) or hysterical (Penn). No, I can’t remember many of their names. Yes, this is a bad sign. Much of everybody’s dialogue and other delivery came across as stilted (I single out Brolin's voice over as bottom of the barrel). Not that he had much to work with. His character is so fucking stupid it lacked the tactical nouce to bust out of a paper bag, much less effectively challenge a crime syndicate. A good thing those gangster foes were afflicted with stormtrooper syndrome and their own form of mental retardation. Maybe the bronzing lotion and foundation everyone was caked in were lead based. Set design elements were all kind of perfunctory and uninspired. Oh well the cinematography was great and there were a lot of pretty people strutting around in nice clothing. I frequently enjoy the performances of a fair number of those BP’s involved too, so I’m glad they are getting work to fuel their coke habits or whatever floats their boat.

One other criticism that keeps cropping up is how overused the plot elements were. And it’s true, the script was built over the bones of several long, long dead horses. But in itself this doesn’t have to make for a completely unenthusiastic viewing. The plot elements of another recent gangster flick Svatur Á Leika were more than assorted pickings from the boneyard, they were cribbed (via the source novel?) entire from other fictions - but the film still felt fresh and energetic. The miserably uninspired reworking of Goodfellas' coke-fuelled gun sales/family dinner/drug muling sequence was a washout though.

In Brief:

Justified is back and two eps in I’m not disappointed, so hallelujah.

The Future:

The Master has finally arrived. I have thus far successfully resisted acquiring a small screen version of Lawless in lieu of its February release date so I’m hoping for some big screen cinematics.

Retro:

Inspired by Ray Winstone delivered dialogue in the dire 2012 Sweeny feature (“Yaaw niiicked yeeew fuccking slaaggg!”), I revisited Scum which has only kind of stood the test of time. The sledgehammer comes out often and is frequently wielded with too much abandon for my tastes. The use of rape as a kind of “crown jewel” of debasement and brutalisation now seems lazy and left me uneasy. Within the context of the film entire, Archer’s character was an authorial intrusion too far, although I had this response to previous viewings also. His polemic to the guard over tea felt particularly artificial. On to Boys from the Blackstuff next, I guess.

Marie Antoinette has aged well. It amused and later inspired a short fit of wiki-browsing vis-à-vis French Revolutionary happenings and character bios.

Found my self in need of new boat (= commute = engaging but not demanding) movie yesterday and found an Unforgiven DVD for $9:00 bucks that hit the spot. By the time the Ned, Will and the Schofield kid were meandering across the plain towards Big Whiskey I'd had my fill of the tepid soundtrack, but otherwise my enjoyment hadn't diminished much. True, the film has some (very) weak dialogue, which transforms scenes that could have been mood enhancing into dramatic filler. True also many of the supporting roles are standard tropes without a lot of added interest. Three of the principles, however, all have something a little more interesting going on, particularly Hackman's Little Bill.

Poor dialogue and "before" characterisation of the Schofield Kid combine disastrously to under power his emotional turn about/reveal and therefore one of the films big thematic cards. Another thread that falls flatter than it should is the "sex workers unleash more destruction than they expect when they turn to a power they don't understand and can't control". This was explored much more effectively and with greater emotional impact in The Dark Knight thanks to an earnest and absorbing bit of speechifying by Alfred. Even there we were later sold short by the films need to sell toys to the 12-year olds.

The thing that keeps me coming back to Unforgiven every so often is the somewhat contradictory interplay of two sequences - on one hand the myth busting interactions between Little Bill, the biographer Beauchamp and English Bob in the jail; On the other, the climactic saloon shoot out. In the  former the gunslinger myth is deconstructed and inspected, in the later reconstructed.

But to what effect? Read one way Munny's epic saloon slaughter be viewed as an illustration of Little Bill's sermon on the roll of chance and a level head vs. speed. Munny himself comments to Beauchamp how he's always had luck when it come to killing folks and the hasty bullets of his opponents do indeed go wild. Past sequences also constantly reinforce how past his prime Munny is and that he walks away unscathed is as much due to others incompetence as to his own skill.

But in Munny the reconstructed gunslinger is a perfect storm: a fast and accurate individual who's sociopathic (in Munny's case alcohol fueled) ability to remain calm under extreme pressure hasn't dimished with age; Little Bill's cynical depowering of the role played by individual prowess in survival only serves to heighten the sense of awe at Munny's achievement when he guns down five men.

Perhaps the most important question being asked is: "What kind of person is it that's able to remain calm under such circumstances?"

As for Unforgiven  being the final word on, or ultimate revision of, the Western genre? Weeeel, I feel The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has something (a lot) to say in reply to that claim. But really, the full stop won't come until someone stuffs Terrence Malick, Bruno Dumont and Takashi Miike into a telepod together and the emergent chimera adapts Blood Meridian.