My PulpFilm reviews 2004-2005:
Beauty Shop
dir. Billie Woodruff
Slightly embarrassingly, I have to confess that I quite like Queen Latifah, and I usually enjoy her performances, no matter how dire the film (Bringing Down the House springs to mind). Despite the varying quality of her output, Latifah is a reliable lead to anchor a story around, and this is no different in the fairly entertaining Beauty Shop. A spin-off from Barbershop 2 (I sadly missed that canonical masterpiece, but anyone who didn’t may recall Latifah’s character showing up in it), this film is concerned with Gina (Latifah) and her efforts to run a beauty shop in Atlanta: mostly an excuse for a smorgasbord of amusing characters and loosely-connected scenes. Among the bizarre ensemble, the standouts include Alicia Silverstone, sadly missed since her Clueless heyday, the charming Djimon Hounsou and most importantly the imperious Jorge Christophe, Gina’s Austrian former boss and scheming rival, a performance of sheer camp divinity by Kevin Bacon, resplendent in wavy blonde locks. His scenes are easily the most memorable and enjoyable in the film (the mere sight of him is enough to induce hysterics), although I could have done with a post-credits addendum to show his comeuppance. Please note this for the DVD release, director Billie Woodruff!
The storyline is on predictable rails from the start, and some of the subplots (one concerning Gina’s musically gifted daughter, as well as the inevitable romance between Latifah and Hounsou) are quite tiresome. But the actual body of the movie, set in the shop and involving non-stop rapid dialogue between the beauticians and the customers (a ‘device’ lifted from the Barbershop films) diverts the attention merrily for the 104 minute running time. Even if you find yourself counting down the minutes waiting for Kevin Bacon to appear again (as I sometimes did), there are certainly worse ways to spend an afternoon at the pictures.
***
Metropolis
dir. Fritz Lang
One of cinema’s most startling and influential visions of the future, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was recently screened at the Tyneside with the jaunty Professor Marty Marks providing a live piano rendition of the original score. The German silent film, made in 1926, is impressive in that it still has the power to amaze today—despite having (once-revolutionary) special effects that the modern moviegoer might now scoff at. Metropolis is a world that has become the archetypal futuristic dystopia in film: huge, towering skyscrapers housing the educated and privileged, whilst the working masses toil underground. Films like Blade Runner, Minority Report and even Batman are clearly indebted to Lang’s artistic vision. There are obvious social and religious parallels: the rebellion of the underclasses, technology out of control, the idea of a single ‘savior’ figure to unite everyone peacefully—but one does not even need to delve that far into Metropolis in order to enjoy it. Visually it’s still a wonder—from the towering, inventive set design to the gorgeous, expressionistic lighting and camerawork. Being a silent film, the acting veers dangerously and often quite hilariously over-the-top, especially Rudolf Klein-Rogge’s demented performance as the scientist Rotwang. More impressive (and truly iconic) is Brigitte Helm in the dual role of the gentle and pastoral Maria and her famous robotic clone. The lovely Marty Marks, a musicologist from America, played the full score perfectly as well as providing some information on the film itself—adding to what was a wonderful experience that is essential for anyone interested in cinema.
*****
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
dir. Stephen Hopkins
One would think that the life of renowned British comic actor Peter Sellers would make for a fascinating film—looking at the tumultuous life of the man behind Inspector Clouseau and Doctor Strangelove. Unfortunately, despite the thematic trickery of director Stephen Hopkins (of 24) and a quite brilliant imitation by Geoffrey Rush in the lead role The Life and Death… does not live up to expectations. Its real shortcoming is the story it’s trying to tell: you may find yourself wondering if, in fact, Sellers’ life was deserving of cinematic representation at all.
As Sellers himself repeatedly affirmed, he was quite devoid of a personality: despite his incredible comedic talent and the characters he created, Sellers the man was a blank mystery. This is not the best of starting points for any biopic. The film is full of pitch-perfect recreations of big events in Sellers’ life: the peerless John Lithgow turns up as the feisty Blake Edwards, director of The Pink Panther; Stanly Tucci is a sly Stanley Kubrick; and Charlize Theron mostly sits around looking gorgeous as second wife Britt Ekland. Rush, at centre-stage, gives a showy but undeniably challenging performance, seemingly a new character every ten minutes. However, when the story concentrates on Sellers’ domestic life—his womanizing, his tantrums, his long-suffering first wife (Emily Watson) and children—the film drags and constantly repeats itself. The more dramatic material simply isn’t weighty enough to justify the two-hours plus running time. As it stands, Sellers is a quite stunningly acted, but unfortunately rather run-of-the-mill portrayal of a man both fascinating and dull in equal proportions.
**
The Incredibles
dir. Brad Bird
I've been a fan of Pixar's output since from the first Toy Story to Finding Nemo, but by the last film I was beginning to feel twinges of doubt that their unbeatable formula was starting to wear thin. You know: take some funny-looking creatures, be they fish, toys, monsters or bugs, buddy a couple up and send them on a whirlwind adventure, meeting a lot of crazy oddballs on the way. Sure, it makes for an entertaining hour and a half, but it had all become rather pedestrian. Trust director (and Pixar outsider) Brad Bird, who was behind the magnificent The Iron Giant, to galvanise the studio with this terrific new film.
The Incredibles does well to remind us what it is that makes Pixar movies so much better than most of the other animated offerings we are served up by big studios. Instead of simply throwing money at big actors and creating a character around them *coughSharkTalecough*, here the characters are beautifully filled out and then perfectly matched to their voice actors (the glorious Holly Hunter should be particularly singled out here). The film is also consistently funny, but it doesn't resort to the broad, scattershot comedy of Shrek 2, which was a series of over-the-top sketches, throwing out as many pop culture references as it could to please the adult audience. Bird's script is witty and clever, and peppered with just the right amount of visual gags and set-pieces.
As a superhero story goes, it's top-notch. It smartly avoids the 'origin story', which has crippled the pace of many films like it, and instead dives right into the characters, who are all perfect: the strong, reliable father; the flexible, adept mother; the ice-cool best friend; the angsty and protective teenager who just wants to disappear, and the bundle-of-energy son. Their characters are perfectly defined, and their superpowers all fit perfectly. It's what makes the final act of the film work so well: not only does The Incredibles have some of the most exhilarating action of any film released this year, but throughout you can feel the characters shining through, which makes it all the more exciting and involving.
The Incredibles digs a lot deeper and darker than other Pixar films have ever dared. The family depicted feels truly realistic, and the message of embracing your individuality isn't hammered down your throat in a traditionally cloying manner. Villains brandish guns at children and play drinking games over a report of a city being ransacked by an evil robot, our hero is cruelly tortured both physically and psychologically, and there are even references to divorce and the break-up of the modern family (Helen also clearly suspects her husband of having an affair). But this is not to say that the movie isn't a rollicking good time: filled with laugh-out-loud moments and wonderful action set-pieces, I left with a huge smile on my face. One of the most memorable and successful films of the past few years, for sure, and a very worthy follow-up from Brad Bird.
*****
