Zero Dark Thirty - A Case of Too Much Hype?

 

       Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty has been so massively hyped leading up to its release here in the UK. Five star reviews, Oscar and Golden Globe buzz, it’s even topped the list of some critics best movies of 2012.

       So obviously I had to go and see it, and… it left me slightly underwhelmed.

       That’s not to say Zero Dark Thirty is a bad movie, far from it. It is a good film. With several strong performances throughout, a very matter-of-fact and largely apolitical retelling of the events that sparked the hunt for Bin Laden, some tense scenes and occasional bursts of sudden violence  - this is a well-put together and engrossing film.

       But film of the year? Am I missing something?

       Undoubtedly the real story behind ZDT is far more interesting, both in terms of the actual events that the film is based on, but also what transpired during the making of the film.

       Firstly, the real events – the film is presented largely in a slow burning and investigation-heavy manner, with the drama often downplayed and grounded, and much of the action scenes being portrayed realistically – which begs the question: why not just make it a documentary? Films like The Impostercan attest to reenactments being merged seamlessly in with the documentary format to great dramatic effect, if they so wished to present it in that way.

       Admittedly the ending raid on the compound is a tense affair, even though we already know of the eventual outcome. It’s just a shame we need to crawl along for most of the movie seeing talent like Mark Strong do nothing but shout and/or look exasperated until we finally get to that point.

       Secondly, the fact that Kathryn Bigelow was already making the film (formally about the fruitless search for Bin Laden) when the events that transpired at his compound made headlines around the world - which then drastically altered the shape of the film into the finished product - is in itself so intriguing. Maybe they should have made that film instead: the film about the making of a film about the hunt for Bin Laden.

       So perhaps the film falls victim to its own hype. With all the raving about Jessica Chastain’s performance as the lead character ‘Maya’ (she’s up for an Oscar), I couldn't help but scrutinize her performance closely during the film. Yeah, she’s pretty good in it, but for every well wrought and subtle scene of her wordlessly conveying her troubled state or mind, parts where she is seen tittering with her female friend and shouting at her bosses like a lunatic seem strangely forced. Again, this could just be a case of too much hype before watching the film, leading to an over scrutinizing of her acting.

       Either way, I guess it's a good thing that they made this film about the events surrounding the killing of Osama Bin Laden, rather than some cheesy generic action flick. We may see those yet to come in the future, but at least Zero Dark Thirty was the 'serious one' that came first.

       At the end of the day, it is a good film, but as a movie experience? Sorry, but I preferred The Hurt Locker…

31 Jan 2013

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Ramblings: Why do people love snow so much?

        So recently we have had loads of snow. And I haven't updated my blog with any posts. Because obviously snow affects that sort of thing...

        Anyways, this was just some ramblings I scribbled down the other day - might just end up posting these every now and then just so my blog stays alive.

        So here you go:

        Why do people love snow so much?

        It’s cold, wet, and dangerous – a nuisance that people and the media constantly complain about. There are worries about getting snowed in; that chance that you may get trapped somewhere, warnings, accidents, panic buying, closures and cancellations.

        And yet every time it snows people revert to a giddy and almost childlike state. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter get flooded with comments, pictures, and anecdotes. Snow takes over everything for a while – but why?

        Perhaps it’s because the world around us is transformed – often happening overnight – and it is this sudden change that delights the senses. It’s as if our minds can’t fully comprehend how it happened and therefore somehow seems magical.

        It’s kind of like pouring a massive bucket of paint across the whole country – except that it is only water – a harmless everyday substance that’s not going to choke you with suffocating fumes.

        We know that it takes work and effort to change something – whether it be a redesign, a makeover or simply the colour – (that's why we love it when sunsets colour a landscap) and it's this bright white blanket of change over such a big scale that delights us so.

        That's why we love snow. Not snow itself (we can just look in the freezer for that), but its power to alter a picture, change a view, cover a landscape for a temporary time, usually manifesting within a short space of time (eg: overnight) and with no significant lasting effects – its just water after all…

25 Jan 2013

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Track of The Week - Neon Workout feat. Mirana - Hot Water

        This week’s track is by Neon Workout featuring Mirana and is entitled Hot Water.

        Have a listen here:

        Whilst listening to a lot of 80s vibe electro tracks on YouTube I came across this gem (exclusively only available to listen on NewRetroWave’s channel).

        Starting with a funky bassline, this tune goes to the next level once Mirana’s sweet disco-styled vocals drop. It's infectious and guaranteed to get your head nodding - despite the fact that the song is basically just about taking a shower! Maybe that's what happen to be craving in this recent freezing cold weather.

        You can listen to more of Neon Workout’s 80s electro goodness by going to his Soundcloud page or Facebook for more info on what he’s up to.

        Mirana hasn’t actually featured on that many decent tracks as of yet, but one song of her's entitled Dark Ride is also pretty good – check it out! She also has a fan page on Facebook.

        Right gotta go – I have a sudden urge to have a nice warm shower…

24 Jan 2013

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Why Only Tarantino Could Have Made Django Unchained

 

       Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Django Unchained was released in cinemas on Friday and was largely met with critical acclaim. Having watched it myself on opening night, here are some thoughts I was left with.

       Djangoisn’t a bad movie by means – it was, in fact, rather good. But what I wanted to instead discuss here is the more interesting topic of how this is inescapably a ‘Tarantino movie’, what that means in terms of the viewer: how that affects audience perception (prior to and during viewing); but also in regards to the wider scope of all of QT’s films.

       In fact, after thinking about it for a while, I‘ve come to the conclusion that no-one else could have even attempted to make a film like this.

       The thing about Tarantino is that his movies and is name are inseparable. It’s almost impossible to find a single review or article about Django without his name being attached, usually within the first few lines. His style is so distinct that whilst it makes sense that his name is front and centre when marketing the film – when you really think about it, it’s almost crazy that one name can be such a succinct shortcut for a pretty clear idea of what to expect from watching the film, certainly in terms of its tone and direction.

       It’s a marketer’s dream – all they pretty much need to do is announce that it’s Tarantino’s latest film and people will flock to see it, regardless of what it is about. Other directors such as Tim Burton may be able to claim this to a similar degree, but even his films lack consistent levels of quality and cannot guarantee the same consistent style and tone.

       ‘Tarantino-esque’ has become an adjective for aspiring film students who seek to ape his style, a shorthand for film reviewers, writers, and well, pretty much everyone when describing a film that contains similar and familiar characteristics from films of QT’s back catalogue.

       Let’s run through the list shall we:

       Homages to exploitation era and grindhouse films, typified by bloody ‘cartoon’ violence, strong themes of revenge and retribution; creating memorable characters from both genre actors and (now increasingly) Hollywood megastars, cheeky cameos and recurring actors, witty quick-fire dialogue exchanges and/or monologues, eclectic music choices, etc, etc…

       It’s not that he invented these things - rather that his love for these things from the various movies that he himself has been influenced by, causes him to uses them all (to undeniably great effect) in his films and it is this resulting mash-up that has made QT stand out as a filmmaker. Box office success means that he is given the freedom to do whatever the hell he likes next – in other words carry on making these kinds of films - thus causing the emergence (and later perpetuating of) the idea of Tarantino’s ‘style’. It all feeds back into itself.

       And thus, we have Tarantino making the same kind of film repeatedly.

       “Yeah”, but you might say, “He has made other genres of films! He did a war movie with Inglorious Basterds, he did a western with Django Unchained…”

       Well not really. These are merely the settings of the stories. Sure, certain tropes may be lent from those genres and homage’s paid, but the genre is unmistakably ‘Tarantino’ - the crazy mashup of all the aforementioned things he likes to do in his films - the stories just happen to take place in the setting of Nazi Germay or pre-Civil War America.

       It's not that Tarantino can't make other types of film, he just doesn't particularly want to. More to the point, he doesn't have to - as his name attached to a project so assured what the end product will be like that the Weinsteins pretty much give him carte blanche to do what he pleases. And so he just keeps doing what he wants to do.

       Is this such a bad thing? On the whole no – his films are never bad films and are enjoyable enough to watch. Hell, I’ve gone to see every new release of his in the cinema from Kill Bill onwards. They guaranteed to be entertaining, funny, tense and visceral experiences. But could the stigma of his ‘style’ actually sometimes be to the detriment to his films? I would say also say yes.

       This most obviously rears its head when you throw in the controversial topic of slavery in Django. Apart from the very basic “Slavery is bad, look how horrible it was!”, the film doesn't really go much deeper than that, any serious messages or issues to be explored being undermined by the rest of the film’s irreverent tone and comic violence. But that's another can of worms that I don't have time to go into right now. Check out the forums on IMDB for such discussions and more.

       I guess what I’m trying to say is that Tarantino can get away with it – he’s that kind of filmmaker. Pretty much any off kilter choice he makes in his films can be explained away by his ‘style’ or ‘unwillingness to play by the rules’. It just gets a bit tiresome when the result means that his films go on a tad too long or him giving himself a cameo (he struggles to act fullstop - let alone do it with an ‘Australian’ accent). Perhaps he just need someone to reign him in a little or he may run the risk of his films ballooning to the point of becoming a parody of themselves.

       As much as I enjoy his films and what he does, I would love for him to perhaps just do a straightforward, serious, dramatic picture - keeping his undeniable talent and flair as a director intact whilst resisting the urge to include the things that he so loves that have now become almost clichés within his own films.

       But in all likelihood that’s never going to happen. That wouldn't be very ‘Tarantino’ of him now would it…

20 Jan 2013

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Electro Fighter presents - Walternate's 80's Simulation mix 2: Digital Days

Download link: HERE

        New mixtape incoming! A sequel to last year’s Walternate’s 80’s Simulation mix - Electro Fighter presents… Walternate’s 80’s Simulation mix 2: Digital Days.

       You can listen to it by going to page on Mixcloud by clicking HERE, or just press play on the player below!

Walternate's 80s Simulation mix 2: Digital Days by Kinsta on Mixcloud

      Once again, dripping with 80s goodness, this mix I ideal for cruising around in your fluorescent Delorean or doing some hard pumping exercise to a Dolph Lungren workout video!

      Special thanks to NewRetro Wave whose YouTube channel provided much of the inspiration for the tracks used in this mix. Check it out - as not only are the tunes awesome but also there is plenty of great photography and artwork!

      You can also visit his blog HERE.

      There will definitely be more mixtapes coming later this year, even another Walternateone – but that will be focused more on vocal and/or pop styled retrowave tracks – so watch this space!

      In the meantime, you can check out the original Walternate’s 80’s Simulation mix HERE.

      Or visit my Mixcloudpage to listen to all of my previous mixtapes.

18 Jan 2012

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Spring Cleaning

 

       Happy New Year and that.

       Apologies for the lack of recent updates - I’ve been away for few days – a combination of laziness and being busy with doing some spring-cleaning.

        Here are some ramblings I started writing during that time that I thought I would share. Normal service will resume shortly afterwards…

Spring Cleaning

    

       I don't get to go home that much so my room here is pretty much how I’ve left it since when I was a teenager, the last major clean up I did being about ten years ago.

       There are even remnants of before that time – games and toys tucked away in draws, stacks of collectible cards and stickers kept together with rubber bands that have long since perished, posters from FHM magazine dated 1998… the list goes on.

       I felt like doing a proper sort through of absolutely everything in the room, top to bottom, going over every single nook and cranny, getting rid of everything I didn't actually need or that didn't hold an overwhelming degree of sentimental value. As a general hoarder of things it was amazing how much junk I had accumulated over the years. Never being one to throw anything away, I always maintained the sense that any object, no matter how random, would find a use some day, in some way.

       But recently I have refocused on what is really of importance in my life and where the real value in things lie - to prioritise that which is enriching in some way and what’s just clutter. I have too many CDs that I would probably never listen to again, too many videogames that I would never even have the time or patience to play. The walls were once covered almost every square inch in flyers for clubbing events from back in the day. The ones that had fallen off I had never bothered to replace, leaving a patchwork of ancient promotional material. In the end, they all had to go. I needed the walls to be bare and white again.

       You know what doesn't last ten years? Rubber bands (as I mentioned earlier, they dry out and disintegrate), sellotape (it stiffens, goes brown and falls off the paper), and white tac… that stuff just becomes a gross sticky, bitty mess that's a pain to get off the walls. I literally spent hours having to scrub it off the wall with tissue paper – sometime even taking bits of the wallpaper with it.

       There were also an ungodly amount of thumb tacks removed – so many that they couldn’t all fit back in the box that they supposedly came from. Again, some of them were a pain to remove– a few of them even coming from posters affixed to the ceiling, only accessible by precariously balancing on chairs and tables.

       The only posters that I did keep up were a few on the slanted portion of the roof, among them the crab from The Prodigy’s Fat of the Land album, Mulder and Scully standing side by side, the first Batman film and the iconic poster for Jaws - depicted rising from the depths to consume a nubile young swimmer.

       I also have a lot of boxes. Boxes filled with stuff from school and the early days of uni – mostly photos and letters – both of which have largely become extinct in this day and age where emails, texts, Facebook and digital photos prevail. Although you probably still have those saved somewhere on a hard drive or an online account, digital files lack that uniquely personal touch and don't have quite as strong emotions attached to them. Reading an old email although nostalgic, also seems second hand - a cold, mechanical copy of what somebody else created - whereas with a letter you know that that person once held the paper that you hold now, they moved the pen that scribbled those words, all the spelling mistakes, crossing outs, handwriting tics and little doodles informing you of something more of their character than an email or Facebook message ever could.

       It's the same with the photos in the photo albums, nearly all of mine having been taken with a disposable camera. There’s no editing, photoshopping or cropping – just a perfect snapshot of the moment, with all of its beautiful honest imperfections – each one a small miracle that it turned out well - as often you had no idea if you got a good shot or not, a mystery that slumbered whilst you waited patiently for the film roll to finish so that you could go to a camera shop somewhere to have them developed.

       All these I would keep – memories feeling at once both distant but strangely also like it was only yesterday – a bittersweet reminder of the frighteningly fleeting nature of our own mortality. Some of these people are now married, some have kids, some I have never heard from again, and some are tragically no longer with us. Some I still speak to, but most I do not. My life has changed drastically since those times, but still I feel guilty that I have neglected keeping in contact with certain people – ironic that whilst technology has increasingly made it easier to do so it has also become so much easier to be non-committal about it all and gradually sink into malaise.

       Or perhaps I’m just scared that seeking them out now in an attempt to reconnect in some way will only lead to disappointment: disinterest or simply indifference either on my part or theirs - a jarring disparity with the memory of that person and the love and camaraderie that we once held as evidenced in these many letters and photographs. Something that I wouldn't want to tarnish with an oh-so-casual Facebook friend request or message.

       If money and time were no object I would travel the world and seek out every person that had had a positive impact on my life. Meet them face to face, on their terms, in their environment. Just to see where they were, what they were doing and how much they have changed. To smile, shake their hand and say thank you.

       But unfortunately I am currently poor and pressed for time. Yeah, it sucks. May have to put that one on the back burner for a while.

       Anyway, back to the spring cleaning…

Early Jan 2013

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