Special Vehicle Races

Galactic War update. Day 96-97

What I Watched This Week #123 (May 6-12) The Loveless dir. Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery/1981/1h22m The Loveless is the debut film of both director Kathryn Bigelow and star Willem Dafoe who plays Vance, the brooding leader of a biker gang stopping over in a small town on their way to Daytona. While there he forms a connection with Telena (Marin Kanter), the abused daughter of local *sshole Tarver (J. Don Ferguson). Set in the fifties, this feels much more modern and is permeated by a persistent threat of violence that feels more tragic than exciting. This is very light on plot and comes across like a deconstruction of the Marlon Brando film The Wild One, with it having practically the same plot. But where that film, and Brando's character, seemed to represent some sort of freedom, here Vance and his gang feel imprisoned, chained to their bikes and destined to die on them. This is a cheap, independent production which gives it a gritty, almost sleazy tone that matches the characters well. Dafoe is excellent in the lead, always feeling dangerous yet vulnerable at the same time. It does seem a bit directionless at times, and feels longer than its runtime, but this is still a great, modern interpretation of the 50's biker movie. 7/10 Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver dir. Zack Snyder/2024/2h3m I'm gonna be honest here, I don't remember a f*cking thing about this film. 1/10 The Shop Around the Corner dir. Ernst Lubitsch/1940/1h39m Later remade as the Tom Hanks film You've Got Mail, The Shop Around the Corner stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan as Alfred and Clara, two bickering gift shop employees who are unknowingly falling in love with each other via a lonely hearts column. This is a very predictable romantic comedy, but that doesn't matter when it's full of as much charam as this. Stewart is naturally excellent as the leading man, though his character can be a bit too much of a jerk at times. Sullavan is a worthy adversary for him, giving as good as she gets. However, I did find she turns into a sweet little wifey a bit too easily at the end considering how she's been treated by Alfred at times. They are surrounded by a cast of memorable and well rounded supporting characters, my favourite being the messenger boy Pepi (William Tracy) who is all about the hustle. 7.5/10 The Expendables dir. Sylvester Stallone/2010/1h43m Sylvester Stallone is Barney Ross, the leader of a group of meaty, manly mercs who are sent out to kill the dictator of a small nation who is actually the puppet of real bad guy, ex-CIA sh*thead James Monroe (Eric Roberts), who you know doesn't f*ck around because he has Stone Cold Steve Austin as his main henchman. Totally generic and with an awful script this is pure nostalgia bait for fans of 80's action films. The first thing I had to get over were the character names; Jason Statham is Lee Christmas, Randy Couture is Toll Road, Jet Li is Yin Yang (y'know, cos he's Chinese) and Terry Crews plays Hale Caesar. The second thing is the copious use of awful looking CGI blood splatter. You'd think that a film that was supposed to be a love letter to over the top action films from the 80's that they would use practical effects for stuff like that. Staying true to old school action films, the characters are all one note, Statham is the knife guy, Jet Li is the martial arts guy (again, because he's Chinese) etc. There are some fun moments, and it's always a blast seeing Terry Crews taking out a corridor full of baddies with an automatic shotgun, but for the most part this is an underlit, forgettable mess. 4/10 The Limey dir. Steven Soderbergh/1999/1h29m Tough English criminal Wilson (Terence Stamp) is in LA to avenge the death of his daughter, which he blames on record producer Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda). This is a brilliant neo-noir that is made even better by the use of jump cut editing and the non-linear structure which really puts you in the mindset of Wilson. The fractured state of the film really adds an unpredictablity to proceedings. Stamp is a threatening presence in the lead, always moving with a purpose. I particularly love how he constantly uses cockney rhyming slang which just confuses everyone he talks to (to quote one character “there's one thing I don't understand. The thing I don't understand is every motherf*cking word you're saying”.) At once both very flash and very gritty, this feels like it would be perfect if it were in black and white. 9/10 Perfect Days dir. Wim Wenders/2023/2h4m Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is a middle aged Tokyo toilet cleaner who lives a simple life alone where he enjoys the little things and seems content. Throughout the film his encounters with various people like his co-worker Takashi (Tokio Emoto) and his niece Niko (Arisa Nakano) slowly reveal more layers to his character culminating in an incredible ending where all of his emotions are released in a sustained close up. A contemplative and meditative minimalist slice-of-life drama (it was about fifteen minutes in before I realised that I didn't have the subtitles turned on) this is a film that takes its time to build up its main character through repetition of routine much like Jeanne Dielman I also love how his isolation is shown through his use of outdated technology; he listens to casette tapes and takes photographs of trees with a film camera, but it is also this that brings him close to people. A beautifully warm film that leaves you feeling content in the world and wanting to be more like Hirayama. A masterpiece up there with Wender's earlier film Paris, Texas. 9.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week!

Galactic War update. Day 94-95 Recycle those bots!!

Lolita (1997) dir Adrian Lyne An adaptation of Vladamir Nabakov's controversial novel about a man's affair with his 14 year old stepdaughter. It stars Jeremy Irons as the main character, Humbert Humbert, and Dominique Swain in the title role. Both are very good. I'm a big fan of Jeremy Irons and his voice is perfect for this as there is a lot of narration, from a future Humbert trying to explain why he did what he did, even though he knew it was so wrong. There's good support from Melanie Griffiths, as Lolita's mother, and Frank Langella as the seedy playwright who also takes an interest in Lolita. It's well made with a score by Ennio Morricone (one of his better ones, might just make my personal top 10). Given the subject matter it's not that explicit. Other than one very dimly lit night-time scene, the only nudity is of Langella. Swain was 15 at the time it was made so a body double was used for some scenes. The film seems to sometimes make her look older than she was, I think to represent us seeing Lolita through Humbert's eyes as he tries to justify himself, but other times she seems much younger with lots of bubble gum and childish playing around. I first saw this a couple of years after it was released, but could remember very little of it. I do recall there being a campaign to ban it, from people, obviously not having seen it, thinking it was promoting adults having s*x with underage teenagers. It doesn't do that at all. It starts a few years after the main story, making quite clear the consequences for Humbert. 8 / 10