NIGHTFLYERS
Psycho’s murderous mom goes all apeshit HAL in space.
Directed by Robert Collector (credited as T.C. Blake). Screenplay by Robert Jaffe, based on the novella ‘Nightflyers’ by George R.R. Martin. Starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Michael Praed, John Standing, Lisa Blount, Michael des Barres, Glenn Withrow and James Avery. Year of release: 1987. Running time: 89 minutes.
SPOILER WARNING – this in-depth review contains plot spoilers for both the book and film versions of George R.R. Martin’s novella ‘Nightflyers’ – so tread carefully.
Nightflyers is a late, if unremarkable addition to the ‘horror in space’ subgenre popularized in the early 1980s by the success of Alien in 1979 (with other notable entries including Galaxy Of Terror, Inseminoid, Forbidden World, Saturn 3 and Titan Find). Adapted from a 103 page novella originally published in an expanded form in 1981 by noted sci-fi and fantasy author George R.R. Martin (the man responsible for birthing the television champ that is Game Of Thrones), this curious oddity from 1987 is essentially a ‘ten little indians’ survival story set in deep space aboard a spacecraft under the control of a sentient and murderous computer; wherein the spacecraft itself (dubbed The Nightflyer) becomes an inescapable death trap. Set some 400 years in the future (although the filmmakers oddly chose to relocate it to the 21st Century), the story takes place in a far flung corner of the galaxy where a scientific team of humans is assembled to embark on a deep space mission of discovery – a journey which may well lead to first contact with a mythical alien race. Team leader Karoly d’Branin is keen to seek out a nomadic race of aliens known as the Volcryn, whom he suspects to be the oldest beings in the galaxy (an intriguing idea, but frustratingly, one which ultimately has no bearing on the outcome of the actual plot and is only introduced as a catalyst to set the story in motion). D’Branin’s monomaniacal obsession with the Volcryn is referrenced throughout the novella – but barely touched upon in the film.
Genre darling Catherine Mary Stewart (The Last Starfighter, Night Of The Comet) leaped at the chance to play her first adult role; here essaying project co-ordinator Miranda Dorlac (Melantha Jhirl in the book), who is described in the novella as being ‘… big in every way: a head taller than anyone else on board, large-framed, large-breasted, long-legged, strong, muscles moving fluidly beneath shiny coal-black skin.’ Oh yeah, and she ‘sexes’ with pretty much the entire cast of characters in the book (alas, none of which happens in the film). Interestingly, nearly all the character names (aside from Royd Eris) have been made less futuristic and exotic-sounding and I guess more mainstream friendly – for example Karoly d’Branin becomes Michael D’Brannin (played by British thesp John Standing, who also appeared in The Elephant Man). Fellow limey Michael Praed (best known at the time for playing the titular Robin Of Sherwood in the popular British TV series) plays the mysterious Royd Eris, here making his first big screen appearance in a major role. Aside from Catherine Mary Stewart, Praed and British rocker-turned-actor Michael Des Barres; who plays ‘class 10 telepath’ Jon Winderman (Thale Lasamer in the book) – the rest of the cast is mostly made up of relative unknowns; Lisa Blount being perhaps the only recognizable face (filling a pivotal role in John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness that same year). Here playing linguist Audrey Zale (Lindren in the book), however, she is given little to do beyond type stuff and look pretty. Originally there was a second linguist (Dannel) in the novella, but the two characters have been merged into one for the film. Then there’s Glenn Withrow as biologist Keelor (Rojan Christopheris in the book) – a character who drops his shit way too fast and for no apparent reason other than being THAT GUY who drops his shit way too fast and for no apparent reason – at least Veronica Cartwright lost her bundle with grace and believability in Alien and Bill Paxton with endearing humor in Aliens. Veteren TV actor the late James Avery plays visual documentarian Darryl Fontaine (a character who was originally a female xenotech Alys Northwind in the book). Another britisher Helene Udy plays Lilly (cyberneticist Lommie Thorne in the book) – a computer cryptologist who prefers the company of machines more so than humans. And finally rounding out the supporting cast is newcomer Annabel Brooks who plays Eliza, Winderman’s personal physician and class 3 telepath (Agatha Marij-Black in the book).
Yup, like it or not – eighties glam makes a comeback.
The novella’s straight-forward narrative initially unfolds as an engaging Agatha Christie-style mystery; with the perpetrator’s identity concealed and suspicions immediately pointing towards the ship’s elusive captain Royd Eris – before shifting more appropriately to the ship itself. As various members of the research team become intrigued with delving into the mysterious and reclusive behaviour of the ship’s captain (he never appears in person; preferring instead to interact with his passengers via a holographic projection from inside his sealed-off command deck) and each person attempts to insinuate themselves into his privacy for the sake of sating their own curiosity (is Royd a psychic assassin?) – a series of gruesome and seemingly freak accidents begin to befall the inquisitive interlopers. In a somewhat bizarre and creepy backstory; we soon learn that Royd’s sociopathic mother had Royd cloned from her own DNA as a sexual plaything for herself, but died soon after his inception. Possessing powerful psychic abilities; his mother was able to imprint aspects of her own personality on the ship’s artificial intelligence – where she has essentially become a literal ghost in the machine; living on as the very ship itself. There is no denying the second half of the novella isn’t nearly as focussed or compelling as the first – becoming dangerously convoluted once the ship is forced to interrupt its journey for repairs when the hull is breached due to explosive decompression and all the characters are required to leave the ship in order to carry out these repairs. It is a stretch to believe that every single member of the research team would be adept at piloting EVA pods while conducting emergency repairs in zero gravity – but hey, what do I know? Perhaps in 400 years time skills like these will be as common as changing a tyre.
Michael Praed based his look on every Duran Duran video ever made.
The biggest problem with the film though occurs when Royd is essentially side-lined from the narrative for a good half hour or so at the end of Act One; while Winderman becomes the main antagonist; the story shifting suddenly from being all about Royd and his ship being ‘possessed’ by the evil presence of his dead mother – to being nothing more than yet another run-of-the-mill ‘homicidal killer on the loose in the confines of a spaceship’ scenario (much like Sunshine and Event Horizon). The result of this lazy plotting being that interest quickly evaporates and the film never fully recovers. This unnecessary expanding of Winderman’s role really is at the core of what essentially drains all mystery and intrigue from proceedings – thus leaving us feeling oddly nonplussed and disengaged. And much of the background exposition regarding Royd’s mother (and her telekinetic abilities branding her a witch and social outcast) has also been taken from Royd and given to Winderman to explain. The ending of the novella too is quite different from the film; with Karoly d’Branin left to drift alone in space finally encountering his beloved Volcryn, while aboard the Nightflyer; Royd is killed by his mother, but is able to imprint himself successfully on the ship’s AI (thus gaining control of her) – as Melantha (Flying Dutchman-like) takes on the role of ship’s captain, determined to continue her pursuit of the Volcryn. The film, however, jettisons all this in favor of something far less interesting; where Royd’s mother (here named Adara) is revealed to be an actual physical presence aboard the ship (being kept all this time in a secret cryonic freezer vault) – only to be reawakened in a murderous rage; as she attempts to kill Miranda and Royd with Sith lightning; before the two escape her pyrotechnic clutches in the latter’s pod and the ship explodes (of course).
Sure, kinda’ creepy – but where’s all the blood?
The other major issue which seriously affects the film is a complete lack of actual horror – with the gore being toned down considerably from how it is depicted in the book. The novella’s one big shock moment – where the mentally unstable telepath Thale Lasamer’s skull explodes Scanners-style in front of everyone (after he is administered a psychic sensitivity-enhancing drug called esperon; in an attempt to get a better fix on a sinister presence he senses onboard the ship) – is a supremely important, not to mention hugely visceral shock moment, which is sadly missing in the film. It’s a scene which should serve the same purpose as the shower scene in Psycho or the chest-burster in Alien – something so shocking as to let us know in no uncertain terms that suddenly all bets are off and we are now at the mercy of the unexpected. Winderman in the movie does eventually succumb to a fairly graphic demise thanks to an automated surgical unit under Adara’s telekinetic control (a rogue laser scalpel amputates his left arm at the shoulder and cuts his skull in half at the jaw, all with an astounding lack of blood) – but this has virtually nothing to do with him taking esperon. The only effect on his character from taking the drug in the movie is that it allows him to mind-meld with the ship’s AI and receive a massive info-dump about Royd’s backstory with his mother (exposition which was originally given to Melantha by Royd himself in the novella). Without this gruesome exploding of Winderman’s skull being the catalyzing event which creates an urgency in the research team to learn if Royd himself is responsible (thereby giving them justification in delving into his personal affairs) – their preoccupation with uncovering the truth isn’t nearly as convincingly motivated as it really should be; thereby creating a major lack in credibility as far as character motivation is concerned. Also, this moment when Winderman’s skull explodes could have been – and should have been – the tour de force shock moment of the entire film. Just why the filmmakers shied away from exploiting this remains a total mystery. The info-dump, by the way, which Winderman delivers to Miranda in the film flat-out states that Adara’s ‘spirit’ considers her son’s romantic yearnings towards Miranda as a threat in presenting the possibility that he may be taken away from her by this ‘other woman’ – an intriguing, if admitedly ‘on the nose’ idea which is never touched upon in the novella – but seems more likely inspired by Norman Bates and his mother issues as seen in Psycho.
Wait – a pipe organ in space?
The finished film is fairly brimming with a litany of other plot contrivances which aren’t in the original source. A good example of this is the demise of D’ Branin – which is also handled in a clumsily-staged and ludicrous manner. With the uncertainty of his ultimate fate in an earlier draft screenplay I read (and the source novel ie: being left to drift alone in space in an EVA pod) being, I guess, deemed to be lacking in drama and replaced instead with Adara (somehow) conjuring up a vision of what I guess is meant to be the Volcryn; which acts as a decoy in luring D’ Branin in his pod to investigate; before (once again, somehow) blowing him to smithereens with a bolt of Sith lightning – wait, what? When was this ever justified as being an ability Adara possesses? The earlier draft of the Nightflyers script does stay truer in many respects to the source novella (Winderman’s death, for example, happens much sooner – and in a more gruesome fashion), although the ending again climaxes with the destruction of the ship – albeit not at the hands of a revived Adara, but due to a collision with the Volcryn itself. It remains unclear just who was responsible for the radical changes this earlier and arguably more faithful draft seems to have undergone in subsequent rewrites (as reflected in the completed film) and why these changes were made.
I do get the impression these wildly unnecessary (and not very good) departures from the source material may point to production difficulties; a possibility backed up by the fact that helmer Robert Collector reportedly left the production during editing and requested his name be removed from the credits: hence the pseudonym T.C. Blake. Collector later went on to pen the shamefully underappreciated big screen adaptation of H.F. Saint’s brilliantly-conceived yet unfilmable novel ‘Memoirs Of An Invisible Man’ for Chevy Chase in 1992. The screenplay adaptation for Nightflyers itself was handled by the film’s writer/producer Robert Jaffe; a genre vet best known for his memorable adaptation of Dean Koontz’s Demon Seed in 1977 and his original screenplay for the horror comedy Motel Hell in 1980. The wildly eclectic production design by John Muto (Night Of The Comet, Species) is interesting in its blending of various cultural aesthetics: Art Deco, Goth and Moroccan – while there definetly seems to be an Overlook Hotel vibe from Kubrick’s The Shining going on here as well. And the visual effects by Gene Warren’s Fantasy II company (who had previously supplied visual effects for The Terminator) are fine for the most part in spite of the obvious budgetary limitations. While the synth-heavy score by first-time film composer Doug Timm (tragically murdered two years after composing this; his one and only film score) is sadly lacking in setting the appropriate tone with its jarringly jaunty opening theme. I cannot seriously recommend this film to anyone really; aside from those obsessed with everything George R.R. Martin and lovers of 80s low budget sci-fi splatter films (and 80s glam hair and lip-gloss). And even then I’d be inclined to say give it a miss and read the book. Actually, considering the film has never been released officially on DVD and is only currently available as a manufactured-on-demand VHS-sourced ‘grey market’ rip – this shouldn’t be hard to do.
2 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
JAMES CAMERON’S DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D
Once more into the abyss.
Reviewed on Tuesday 26th August 2014
A National Geographic Entertainment Presentation. Directed by John Bruno, Ray Quint and Andrew Wight. Presented and Executive Produced by James Cameron. Running time: 90 mins.
A feature documentary which details an attempt by filmmaker James Cameron in 2012 to mount an expedition to the bottom of the ocean in an experimental one-man submersible of his own design with Cameron himself at the helm. Known as ‘Deepsea Challenge’, not only was this incredibly risky history-making expedition Cameron’s deepest dive so far (being more than twice the depth of his dive to the Bismarck in 2002), but it was also the first manned solo descent to the deepest place on Earth – the Challenger Deep – a forty mile long abyss at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench (over 35,000 feet below sea level). As I was watching this latest Cameron-produced undersea documentary, I was reminded of something Bill Paxton, actor and long-time friend of Cameron’s, revealed in a 1998 AFI doco profiling the career of the legendary filmmaker, “Jim just has to be challenged on such a level I think that he thrives on the pressure in a way. He almost loves the idea that when somebody says ‘That’s impossible’ he loves to take that baton and say ‘I’ll show you how impossible that really is’ and go and do it. He almost strikes me as a guy in another century who would’ve been an explorer.”
Growing up in the 60s in a land-locked Canadian town not far from Niagara Falls, the oceans always held a fascination for the young James Cameron – thanks in part to a steady diet of undersea television documentaries presented by French oceanic adventurer Jacques Cousteau. As Cameron tells us in the opening moments of Deepsea Challenge 3D; sure we’ve landed human beings on the Moon and robotic rovers on Mars and yet there still exists here on Earth an area the size of North America which has yet to be explored – an ecosystem teaming with life as alien as anything we can imagine – the deep ocean floor. After attending an audio-visual presentation by diver Frank Falejczyk while still in high school, Cameron was inspired enough by ‘the first person to breathe oxygenated liquid’ to write a short story composition which would later provide the basis for his undersea sci-fi epic The Abyss in 1988. Thanks to lessons paid for by his father, young James’ passion for scuba diving began a year before his family moved to Southern California – where he finally got to see the ocean for real as a seventeen-year-old. But it was the idea of deepsea exploration which really fired his young imagination – his passion for storytelling eventually leading him to the deepest depths of the Atlantic Ocean for the making of Titanic in 1995.
Addressing the fact that he seemed to literally vanish from the public consciousness between the success of Titanic in 1997 and the release of Avatar in 2009, Cameron semi-seriously questions whether he is actually a bigtime Hollywood director who also dabbles in deepsea exploration – or a deepsea explorer who dabbles in feature filmmaking. According to his wife Suzy Amis Cameron, Jim is most happy these days being at the bottom of the ocean seeking out ‘critters’ – than he is being on a film set (not that he doesn’t still enjoy filmmaking – he is quick to add; with not one, but three mammoth Avatar sequels currently in the works). If anything, his success as a filmmaker has allowed him the financial freedom to pursue his other great love – that of scientific enquiry (he was, after all, president of the science club back in high school). As a title card proudly proclaims at the end of this particular doco: 68 new species of deepsea animals previously unknown to science were discovered as a result of the various test dives leading up to the Challenger Deep dive in 2012. Amusingly, during a preliminary dive in the New Britain Trench, a whole chicken is used as bait to attract ‘critters’ – resulting in the chicken being literally stripped bare by a veritable swarm of shrimp-like creatures called Amphipods – comically leaving a still intact gleaming skeleton; like something from a Warner Brothers cartoon.
The Trieste
As depicted in dramatized re-enactments, the last time a manned expedition to the bottom of the Challenger Deep had been attempted was 52 years previous in 1960, when US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard descended in a bathyscaphe (a deepsea submersible designed by Piccard’s father) to a depth of 35, 797 ft. The clouds of silt kicked up by the Trieste on touchdown, however, essentially obscured any potential for the occupants to observe anything of note while on the ocean floor for the twenty minutes they were there, before dropping their ballast and beginning their three hour ascent to the surface. As a result, this expedition was less about science and more about bragging rights. Don Walsh, incidently, was personally invited by Cameron to be in attendance as a guest aboard the support vessel during the various dives leading up to and including Cameron’s own Challenger Deep descent. There’s a nice moment where, during Cameron’s final preparations, Walsh advises him that if he is still alive the split second after hearing any disturbing loud bangs – he should pay it no heed and just continue on with the dive; taking comfort in the fact that he is indeed still alive (this relates to a tense moment experienced by Walsh himself during his own historic descent aboard the Trieste where, after passing 30,000 ft, the outer Plexiglas window pane cracked, shaking the entire vessel). This advice soon comes in real handy when Cameron himself is spooked during a similar scare while in the cramped confines of the command sphere during his own descent. For anyone familiar with the fate of Michael Biehn’s character in The Abyss (his submersible suffers catastrophic structural failure and implosion due to the crushing pressure) – the risk of instant death is a very real possibility at these extreme depths. As Cameron poetically makes a point of earlier; during the fiery forging of the spherical steel command capsule (with its 2.5 inch thick walls) – in the unthinkable event of the capsule being breached and imploding at such crushing depths; the pressure would be such as to cause the water to rush in at hypersonic velocity and Cameron would be instantly chummed into a bloody meat cloud.
Houston, we have a problem.
Devised and built under a veil of secrecy in a nondescript suburban workshop in Sydney Australia (under the supervision of Australian engineer Ron Allum), the submersible’s highly unique vertical design is meant to accommodate a rapid descent; so more time can be spent exploring the ocean floor (hence, in Cameron’s words, the ‘racing green’ color of the vehicle). Cameron and his hand-picked team of predominantly Aussie experts are pushing the envelope here as far as what is technologically possible – creating no shortage of high-stakes drama. During a preliminary descent near New Britain Island (just north of the coast of Papua New Guinea), the sub experiences potentially catastrophic life support system failures which create more than a few tense moments for Cameron and his team. As does the last ditch attempt to launch the sub in a dangerously choppy sea at night, directly above the Mariana Trench itself – a truly harrowing sequence which almost brings the expedition unstuck.
On the 26th of March 2012, Cameron’s descent lasted just over two and a half hours. His recorded depth on touch down was 35, 756 ft. He had planned to spend around six hours exploring the ocean floor, but due to a hydraulic fluid leak which affected the sub’s manipulator arm and starboard thrusters – was only able to spend two and a half hours on the bottom, before making his ninety minute ascent to the surface (as to what it was he found down there – I won’t be revealing here).
Although Cameron’s detractors have painted him in the past as being somewhat demanding on his film sets; one who doesn’t suffer fools gladly (as he could, if need be, do everyone’s job as well as – if not better than – anyone else), it is interesting to see how Cameron has mellowed over the years and appears far more easy-going than we have been lead to imagine. He is clearly a person who expects the same degree of enthusiasm and commitment from his collaborators as he puts in himself; an expectation which I must say is valid to a degree; as I know from my own experience on some of my own film projects; it can be quite disheartening having people working on something who don’t necessarily share your own level of enthusiasm; as they tend to contribute less than their full potential, which can be an irritation in the pursuit of fulfilling a particular vision the filmmaker is attempting to achieve. As actor Michael Biehn pointed out in the aforementioned AFI documentary on Cameron, “Jim is a perfectionist, there’s no doubt about that and he is very demanding – but no more demanding on anybody else than he is on himself. And for me it was always exciting having somebody demand more from me – than less; somebody who wanted the best from me; the most I had to offer.”
Success!
There is no denying Cameron is a true visionary and modern-day renaissance man; a person who has acquired profound knowledge and proficiency in numerous and varying fields. Cameron’s old employer Roger Corman best summed up Cameron’s versatility and wide-ranging abilities in his introduction to Christopher Heard’s 1997 biography on Cameron, Dreaming Aloud, when he identified Cameron as having “a unique combination of analytical, creative and technical skills” – skills which he applies effortlessly to all aspects of filmmaking. It’s an observation which Cameron regular Arnold Schwarzenegger elaborated upon in the same biography, “Working with Jim Cameron is unique because he is basically everything! He writes the screenplay, he comes up with the concept, he directs the scenes. He wants to do his own lighting and he wants to work the camera himself. He wants to do everything. You see him using the smoke machine and you see him putting on the blood and trying to do the makeup even though the makeup and special effects people have done it already. But he has to try and improve on it somehow. So he really has his fingers in every aspect of the movie. That is why a Jim Cameron movie has that look, that special, unique look.”
Despite the fact that out of all the feature-length documentaries he has been involved with; he receives sole director credit only on the 2004 Titanic doco Ghosts Of The Abyss, (having co-directed the others – this new one excepted) there is definitely a unifying ‘Jim Cameron look’ to all of his documentary features. And Schwarzenegger’s observation that Cameron has his fingers in virtually every aspect of every production is clearly evident in this latest one; even though he is only credited here as Executive Producer. Interestingly, one of those credited as co-director on Deepsea Challenge 3D is John Bruno, a longtime pal and close colleague of Cameron’s who first worked with him as a special effects supervisor on The Abyss in 1988 and was present aboard the Russian support vessel the Akademik Keldysh during Cameron’s initial deepsea dives on the Titanic wreck in 1995 (he also earlier directed the Taarna sequence from The Heavy Metal Movie and later helmed the underrated Dark Horse comic book adaptation Virus in 1998). Also credited as co-director on Deepsea Challenge is Andrew Wight, the highly respected Australian adventurer and documentary filmmaker whose terrifying ordeal being trapped in an underwater cave system in 1988 was retold in his documentary Nullarbor Dreaming and was later the inspiration behind the Cameron-produced, Australian-lensed dramatic feature Sanctum in 2011. A close friend of Cameron’s, he had also collaborated as producer with Cameron on the filmmaker’s previous deepsea documentaries Ghosts Of The Abyss, Expedition: Bismarck and Aliens Of The Deep. Tragically Wight was killed in a helicopter crash shortly before the Challenger Deep expedition was due to depart Sydney for the open sea in early February 2012. A terrible loss which deeply affected Cameron and everyone involved in the project.
Deepsea Challenge is a fascinating and revealing insight into the James Cameron few outsiders get to see (but whose frequent collaborators clearly admire and respect): the intrepid enthusiast, the inspiring leader, the doting spouse and father. And technically-speaking, high-end expeditionary documentary filmmaking doesn’t get much more thrilling than this. Events are evocatively captured in remarkably cinematic and involving 3D by Aussie lensers Jules O’Loughlin (Sanctum) and John Stokes. And the Hans Zimmeresque score by Aussie composers Brett Aplin, Amy Bastow and Ricky Edwards does much to sustain the tension. This is a must-see film for any Cameron fan and anyone with an interest in oceanography and slick, high-end documentary filmmaking.
5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed in 3D at the Event Cinemas Megaplex Marion, Adelaide, August 26th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
PREDESTINATION
Brain-bending time travel yarn enjoyably confounding.
Reviewed on Tuesday 5th August 2014
Written & directed by Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig. Based on the story ‘All You Zombies’ by Robert A. Heinlein. Starring: Sarah Snook, Ethan Hawke and Noah Taylor. Running time: 97 mins.
What if you could go back in time and get away with killing those who ruined your life? Would you do it? A time-travelling hitman in the employ of the US government is sent back to the early 1970s in order to take out a terror bomber before thousands of New Yorkers are killed in a massive explosion. Along the way he meets a bitter magazine writer who was wronged several years earlier. The writer is offered an opportunity he can’t refuse; to be given the chance to settle a score with the person who destroyed his life – by returning to the past.
Predestination is the third Aussie feature from identical twin filmmakers The Spierig Brothers: the writer/producer/directors responsible for Undead and Daybreakers. A sci-fi thriller adapted from a short story written in 1958 by Robert A. Heinlein (the celebrated author whose other works ‘The Puppet Masters’ and ‘Starship Troopers’ were also adapted for the big screen) – Predestination (on the surface at least) appears to be a precursor to concepts seen in later films such as The Terminator and Time Cop. I have not read Heinlein’s original story ‘All You Zombies’ – upon which this is based – but from all accounts it is a remarkably faithful adaptation. This story is perhaps one of the most complex time travel yarns ever, as it features loops within loops within loops – so if you’re the sort of person who has issues dealing with the conundrums and paradoxes inherent in the concept of time travel, then this film will most likely drive you crazy. Others, however, who enjoy the challenge of deciphering tightly-woven puzzle box movies will find much to enjoy and ponder over in the hours and days after seeing it. This is not say the movie is incomprehensible – it’s not – something which can be wholly attributed to the careful thought and consideration gone into the screenplay by The Spierigs. And despite the narrative bouncing back and forth between various time periods – jumping as it does from the 80s to the 70s to the 60s and back again – the filmmakers make certain we are clued in to where we are at any given time thanks to distinctive variations in art direction and cinematography. Production Designer Matthew Putland and his art department and Vanessa Cerne’s highly-detailed set decoration are instrumental in creating these very different looks. The 60s space program flashbacks, for example, have a very specific retro 60s future feel to them (and could easily take place in the same universe Kubrick created for 2001: A Space Odyssey) – contrasting nicely with the other time periods.
There are so many plot twists and turns and reveals in this movie, that it’s almost impossible to talk about without giving anything away. However, there is one reveal I simply must mention (don’t panic – it happens early on) – if only to credit the remarkable central performance by Sarah Snook. Although Ethan Hawke receives top-billing in the credits (and it is his face alone which appears prominently on the poster), it really is up-and-coming Aussie actor Sarah Snook who is the star of this particular film. Her dual role as transgender patient Jane/John (she was born Jane, but becomes John) is perfectly realized and I would not be at all surprised if she received well-deserved recognition for her masterful performance at the next AACTA awards (Australia’s own Oscars).
While the plot takes a little while to get going, with the first half of the film revealing Jane’s recounting of her life in flashback, while the second half ramps up momentum when she becomes embroiled in Ethan Hawke’s character’s hunt for the so-called ‘Fizzle Bomber’, it is this race-against-the-clock momentum and mystery of Source Code combined with the multi-layered characters and various time frames of Cloud Atlas which makes Predestination such a compelling, if at times complex, and yet enjoyably confounding experience.
4 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed at the Palace-Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide, August 5th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
Can’t wait for this one! Jamin Winans, the visionary Colorado-based writer-director of the indie sci-fi smash INK has launched the trailer for his new film THE FRAME – a mind-bending science fiction mystery which features Winans’ distinctive visual style and terrific performances from newcomers David Carranza and Tiffany Mualem.
View the trailer here:
Winans has amassed a huge and enthusiastic fan base since releasing his films via guerrilla self-distribution. His 2005 short film SPIN (also known as ‘God is a DJ’) has over 15 million hits across YouTube and won over 40 festival awards.
In 2009, Jamin and his producing partner wife Kiowa self-released the sci-fi smash INK which quickly hit number one on The PirateBay. The Winans embraced the piracy, citing the incredible exposure could only help the film, “Independent films’ largest battle is against obscurity, not piracy.” As a result, INK has now been subtitled by fans into 30 languages from all over the world. INK fans have also been spotted sporting cosplay costumes from the film at various sci-fi conventions. The couple’s highly-anticipated follow-up THE FRAME will be released this fall. And as with all of the Winans’ previous films, their latest offering has been produced and shot exclusively in their home town of Denver. So be sure to show your support for independent sci-fi filmmaking and check out the trailer and stay tuned for further exciting details regarding the film’s official fall release!
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
NICK CAVE 20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
A life in a day.
Reviewed on Wednesday 6th August 2014
Directed by Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard. Written by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard & Nick Cave. Featuring: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Kylie Minogue, Ray Winstone and Blixa Bargeld. Running time: 97 mins.
A fictitious day in the life of writer/musician Nick Cave; less a straight bio on the artist’s life and more a stylized character study; 20,000 Days On Earth is much more than just a great (sort of) documentary – it’s a brilliant film regardless of type.
Although best known in alternative music circles as a former Melbourne punk icon and later as the long-time frontman with his band The Bad Seeds, Cave interestingly views himself primarily as a writer – making little distinction between writing song lyrics or writing prose or writing film screenplays. Indeed, cinephiles may also know him by his collaborations with fellow Aussie John Hillcoat and his scripts for Hillcoat’s harrowing 1988 prison drama Ghosts … Of The Civil Dead (which Cave also appeared in and co-wrote and performed the score) and The Proposition, Hillcoat’s highly regarded 2006 outback western (which Cave once again supplied the score for, along with long-time musical collaborator Warren Ellis). Interestingly, Cave was also at one time hired by Ridley Scott to write a sequel to Gladiator which was ultimately left unproduced; which would have seen Russell Crowe return as a resurrected and immortal Maximus leading armies into battle down through the ages.
A long-time ex-pat now living in the English seaside town of Brighton (with his wife and twin sons), Cave ruminates on the past, his views on creativity and his one-time preoccupation with documenting the weather. During a psychotherapy session early on in the film, Cave delves into his carefree and happy childhood memories and reveals that his only significant fear in life is losing his memory – as he believes that it is memories which make us who we are as individuals. In a poignant twist while visiting his archives to identify some photos sent by his mother, Cave reveals he has very little recollection (presumably due to his substantial drug intake) of anything of his life in the 1980s. And later in the film the theme of memory again arises when Kylie Minogue joins him for an evening drive. Cave asks her what her own biggest fear in life is and she replies “Being forgotten and alone.” During this touching reunion Kylie also reflects on their only performance together; singing a duet with Cave on the hit single ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ and the two discuss their shared admiration for INXS frontman Michael Hutchence (whom Kylie was dating at the time she recorded the song) – Cave revealing he always admired Michael’s on-stage confidence; to which Kylie reveals he was actually short-sighted – so much so in fact that he once wore his contact lenses to a gig just to see what the crowd looked like and was so overwhelmed by the sea of admirers – he never did so again.
This catch-up with Kylie is one of several dotted throughout the course of the day where, whilst driving to and from various appointments, Cave is joined by some of his past collaborators and current friends who seem to magically appear in the car with him to impart their reflections and recollections on working with the man himself. In addition to Kylie, English actor Ray Winstone (who had a significant role in The Proposition) joins him to reflect upon fame and ageing and complain about the car heater – which Cave has set at 23 degrees – fogging up the windows, while former bandmate Blixa Bargeld reunites with Cave to reveal his reasons for leaving The Bad Seeds under what appear to be less than happy circumstances. During this catch-up Cave also reflects on his songwriting and reveals that if he has progressed at all in his writing ability since the band’s early days – it is in his desire to edit his material and keep his songs at a resonable length – as he now feels many of those early songs were less effective being as long as they were (a revelation which oddly appears to leave Blixa slightly miffed). Cave next visits his long-time Bad Seeds collaborator Warren Ellis at his rustic home overlooking the proverbial white cliffs of Dover; where Cave presents him (as requested) with two stuffed birds in a cage. Over a lunch of cooked eels, the two reflect on a past gig where jazz and blues icon Nina Simone supported the Bad Seeds and Ellis reveals he souvenired a wad of used chewing gum she had stuck to the piano – which he has kept to this day (safely wrapped inside a towel Simone had used to wipe the sweat from her brow). Aside from finding much to enjoy from the telling of these amusing anecdotes (Cave’s recollection of the time bandmember Roland S. Howard was urinated upon at a gig in Berlin is also very funny), we also gain a rare insight into Cave’s creative process; where the key to songwriting, Cave reveals, is counterpoint: placing two disparate objects next to one another and seeing what happens. For instance you might have a child, then introduce a Norwegian psychopath. And then a clown. And if nothing immediately comes to mind – you kill the clown. If there’s one surprising revelation I took away from this portrait of Cave, it is realizing just how droll the guy is (difficult to fathom I know – considering the inherent darkness of much of his creative output). He’s not outwardly amusing, but he does possess a sly wit. He jokes that when he and his wife Suzie first met he was in a very bad way – going to church, addicted to heroin and she pleaded with him to stop his dangerous and self-destructive ways. So he did – “I stopped going to church.”
As one would expect, Cave’s music features prominently throughout the film (the incidental music again composed and performed by Cave and Ellis) with two Bad Seeds songs played in their entirety; once in the recording studio with the current line-up and later at a live reunion gig at the Sydney Opera House (which conspicuously includes Bad Seeds former member Barry Adamson on stage with the band). The gorgeous anamorphic cinematography by Eric Wilson (Submarine, The Double) lends the film a classy feature sheen not usually seen in digital era documentaries and while fans of Cave will no doubt rush out to see 20,000 Days On Earth, it is also very much a film which will appeal to those who might be unfamiliar with the man and his work.
4 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed at the Palace-Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide, August 6th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
JODOROWSKY’S DUNE
The most influential sci-fi film never made?
Directed by Frank Pavich. Appearances by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, Chris Foss, H.R. Giger, Diane O’Bannon, Richard Stanley, Nicolas Winding Refn and Gary Kurtz. Year of release: 2014. Running time: 90 minutes.
A documentary feature recounting the creative development behind the making of the legendary 1975 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel ‘Dune’ which was ultimately abandoned just prior to filming.
I first became aware of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s aborted production of Dune upon the release of Alien in 1979; when visionary genre fave Dan O’Bannon made mention of it in such magazines as Fantastic Films. As he recounted in these publications (as well as the making-of movie tie-in The Book Of Alien published that same year) O’Bannon found himself prematurely back in LA at the end of 1975 (having spent an extended period living in Paris) with half his possessions back in Paris and the other half in storage; essentially living on the couch of his friend Ronald Shusett – mourning the collapse of Dune. It was this predicament which led to O’Bannon and Shusett’s collaboration on the Alien screenplay. Also published in 1979 was a beautiful art book compilation of the work of British sci-fi artist Chris Foss – 21st Century Foss (which included a preface by Jodorowsky himself) – which is where I first saw and fell in love with many of the incredible and sumptuous designs Foss had created in Paris for Dune. So needless to say; when word came out this feature-length doco was in the works, I got very excited. And what can I say but, wow. Frank Pavich and his team have done a remarkable job putting this together.
Originally published in 1965, Herbert’s sprawling space epic takes place eight thousand years in the future where humanity has spread out across the galaxy, colonizing whole star systems. The focus of the story is the desert planet Arrakis, the only place in the known universe where a mind-expanding spice called Melange is harvested. The spice is crucial for interstellar commerse, as it allows mutant navigators to ‘fold space’ and travel vast distances through the cosmos via the power of thought alone. The hero of the story is Paul Atreides, the teenaged son of a ruling family based on the planet Caladan. When the Emperor of the Known Universe sends Paul and his family to Arrakis to oversee spice production; the Atreides’ sworn enemies the Harkonnens launch a surprise attack – wiping out the Atreides and forcing Paul and his mother Jessica to flee into the deep desert, where they are befriended by the planet’s indigenous population known as the Fremen. Believing Paul to be the embodiment of a prophesied messiah, the Fremen elect him as their leader as they wage fierce guerilla war to force the Harkonnens off-world and take back control of spice production and live out their lives in self-determination.
Jodorowsky’s take on ‘Dune’ would have departed quite substantially from Herbert’s text – especially with regards to the ending. From the very beginning he explains he set out to approximate the experience of an LSD trip in the viewer – not so much the effects of a trip per se – but more to generate a sense of profundity and wonder. In a case of life imitating art; Jodorowsky (also referred to as ‘Jodo’ by his fans) likens his attempt at making ‘Dune’ to a spiritual quest to change the world; affectionately referring to his creative collaborators as ‘spiritual warriors’ – which fascinatingly apes his on-screen role as The Alchemist; gathering together disciples in his previous film The Holy Mountain. And there are amazing synchronicities at play during Jodo’s gathering of his spiritual warriors – in the sense that he always appears to be in the right place at the right time in finding and approaching his dream team of chosen collaborators. For example, after a less-than-fruitfull meeting with special effects pioneer Doug Trumbull (his first choice as visual effects supervisor) – Jodo happened to pass by one of the few LA cinemas screening John Carpenter’s expanded student film Dark Star, paid for a ticket and was impressed enough with the visual effects to seek out the film’s credited special effects supervisor Dan O’Bannon. In an amusing sound bite, O’Bannon recounts his subsequent initial meeting with Jodo; sharing a joint and experiencing an almost supernatural – dare I say it – spiritual epiphany with the visionary director. The first of Jodo’s spiritual warriors though to join the cause was celebrated French comic book artist Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud; who was immediately tasked with setting the visual tone for the projected film; producing over 3000 storyboard images. Others involved in the designing of Dune include British sci-fi book cover artist Chris Foss and Swiss surrealist painter H.R. Giger (the Oscar-winning designer of Alien four years later) – both of whom appear on camera. Sadly Moebius, however, was too ill to contribute to the doco and Dan O’Bannon had already passed away in 2009. Dan’s widow Diane knew Dan at the time of Dune’s production and relates in the documentary some of the correspondence she received from Dan while he was residing in Paris – detailing his enthusiasm for the project and his unbridled excitement in working shoulder-to-shoulder with such luminary artists (all of whom Dan would later bring to the table for Alien by the way).
Larger than life, Jodo himself comes across as such a supremely genuine and affable personality that it is easy to see how he was able to win over so many creatives in his quest to get the movie made. He also demonstrates a canny ability in figuring out what appeals to the various people he approaches. His ‘gamesmanship’ in tricking Salvador Dali into accepting the role of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV by negotiating an appearance fee of $100,000 per minute of screen-time (the total being 3 minutes on-screen) – as opposed to his initial asking fee of $100,000 per on-set hour displays a shrewdness of acumen which is breathtaking to behold. Another example of this astute ability is when he entices the massively obese Orson Welles into appearing as the evil Baron Harkonnen (after he had at first refused) – by promising to hire the head chef from his favorite Parisian restaurant to service him for the duration of the shoot.
Director Pavich has assembled an impressive array of on-screen commentators in addition to Jodorowsky himself, including some of the key people involved; artists Chris Foss and H.R. Giger (as mentioned) feature prominently, as does producer Michel Seydoux. Drive helmer Nicolas Winding Refn also makes an appearance; as he is the only person on the planet who can claim to have experienced Jodorowsky’s version of Dune; having spent an evening with the eighty-four year-old director talking him through the 3000 storyboard images and concept art. There has even been talk in geek circles of a possibility that Refn may actually consider helming an animated version of Jodorowsky’s vision for Dune based on these storyboards.
As to the film’s legacy – it’s interesting to speculate whether or not the late 70s sci-fi craze sparked by the success of Star Wars would have actually occurred had Jodorowsky’s version of Dune been made – and inevitably died at the box office (it was, after all, a film with a relatively high budget and an estimated three hour running time). Perhaps there would have been no Star Wars at all? And likewise it’s interesting to ponder whether or not there’d also be an Alien had Jodorowsky’s production of Dune gone ahead – since O’Bannon would most likely never have had the impetous to drag his typewriter out of storage in LA and force himself to write (in the wake of Dune’s collapse) and develop the screenplay which became Alien. If this had been the case then just imagine all the subsequent sci-fi horror films which would never had been made in the wake of the release of Ridley Scott’s highly influential film. Without Alien, there would never have been the Galaxy Of Terror Roger Corman knock-off; showcasing the talents of one James Cameron for a start – which may never have subsequently led to Cameron ever having a career as a director. And there’d probably be no Blade Runner either (well, not as we know it) – as Scott only took on that particular project in desperation to throw himself back into work after abandoning his own helming of De Laurentiis’ Dune (following the untimely death of his older brother in the early 1980s).
If I have a criticism of this otherwise impressive documentary it would be that some of Pavich’s unsubstantiated claims of influences which Jodo’s version of Dune possibly had on subsequent sci-fi movies are a bit of a stretch. While I can accept the image of goggles being ripped off to reveal wires in empty eye sockets from 1980’s Flash Gordon appears to be a direct steal from Jodo’s storyboards; some others (such as the ‘single shot’ pull-back through the Milky Way which opens Contact being inspired by the continuous opening shot from Jodo’s boards) are somewhat dubious and could easily be considered as nothing more than mere coincidence. So is this the most influential sci-fi film never made? A missed opportunity? Quite possibly. But I do prefer to think of it more as a creative springboard from which an entire generation of great films (and filmmakers) were able to come into being thanks to its untimely demise – forever ensuring that Jodorowsky’s unfilmed Dune will be universally recognized as a monumentally important catalyst in the history of sci-fi cinema.
5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
THESE FINAL HOURS
A race to discover what really matters at the end of the world.
Reviewed on Friday 18th July 2014
Written & directed by Zak Hilditch. Starring: Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Jessica De Gouw, Kathryn Beck, Daniel Henshall and Lynette Curran. Running time: 87 mins.
An extinction-sized asteroid impacts in the North Atlantic – sending a gigantic wall of fire circling the globe at supersonic speed. The wave of destruction will reach Perth – Australia’s western-most city – in twelve hours. It is clear from the outset that society has already broken down, although it is unclear how long it has been since the inevitable impact of the asteroid became apparent – perhaps a matter of days or weeks. There is anarchy in the streets of Perth. A naked body hangs from a light pole. Spray-painted messages to absent loved ones adorn the walls of abandoned homes. A makeshift barricade of shopping carts blocks access to a suburban street with a hand-painted sign: ‘Stay The Fuck Away!’ Plumes of black smoke billow from Perth’s tallest buildings in the distance. Abandoned motor vehicles lay strewn across empty highways. Strung-out junkies roam the streets, hacking people to death with machetes. Strangers copulate in public. A suburban family celebrates Christmas early for the sake of the children, before euthanizing the kids and then themselves. It is during the chaos of this societal breakdown we meet James (Nathan Phillips), a young man cheating on his girlfriend Vicky (Kathryn Beck) with Zoe (Jessica De Gouw) – whom he learns is pregnant with his child. In a selfish move, James leaves Zoe on her own to face the end so that he may spend his final hours with Vicky, getting shit-faced at a wild end-of-the-world party held by Vicky’s brother Freddy (Daniel Henshall). While on his way to the party, James stumbles upon Rose (Angourie Rice) – a young girl in peril looking for her father and rescues her. Now James must decide within himself what is really important – to continue on to the party as planned or help Rose navigate this increasingly hostile environment and find her father.
Australia appears to have a tradition in producing apocalyptic stories. There’s the Mad Max series of course and the recent The Rover. But it really all began with Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel ‘On The Beach’ (twice adapted for the screen in 1959 and 2000). Zak Hilditch’s fourth and most ambitious feature also recalls other ‘pre-apocalyptic’ thrillers such as Miracle Mile and Knowing – a sub-genre begun with On The Beach – films which, by their very nature; pose the question ‘what would you do if you only had hours to live?’ How would you spend the time?
This film is unapologetically disturbing and intense, the centerpiece being the backyard rave party; resembling the rave from Matrix Reloaded; only with way more nudity. This party-to-end-all-parties also features unbridled hedonism, Russian Roulette, copious drugs and group sex. Needless to say – this is not a film for everyone. But having said this, it does feature a terrific performance from relative newcomer Angourie Rice as Rose – a definite new talent to look for in the future. Nathan Philips, on the other hand, is okay – but not nearly as convincing in the lead as James.
There is a maxim in screenwriting which states that what a character ‘wants’ propels the narrative; while what a character ‘needs’ fulfils the character arc. What James ‘wants’ is to spend his last few hours “getting fucked up” with his girlfriend (whom he doesn’t love) and to “block out” the horror of the end of the world at the party-to-end-all-parties. What he ‘needs’ is to be with the woman he loves (Zoe) – as the world comes to an end. And it is James’ interaction with Rose which ultimately brings him to this realization that his surface yearnings – the ones he thinks he wants to fulfil – are entirely superficial in comparison to what his inner soul ultimately needs.
Uncompromising, with moments of shocking violence; there is a paplable sense of dread and foreboding sustained throughout this film. And unlike Deep Impact or Armageddon – there is nothing here to save humanity from the inevitable – no Robert Duvalls or Bruce Willises. We’re basically fucked – and we know this from the start. So if you go into this aware there is ultimately no salvation for anyone, then you may have an okay time. Everyone else will probably leave the theater in a bit of a daze and in need of a couple of stiff drinks and a need to re-evaluate what’s important in their lives – which perhaps may not be such a bad thing.
3.5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed at the Palace-Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide, July 18th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
EUROPA REPORT
Where hard science, sci-fi and found-footage converge.
Directed by Sebastián Cordero. Written by Ben Browning. Starring Christian Camargo, Anamaria Marinca, Michael Nyqvist, Daniel Wu, Karolina Wydra, Sharlto Copley, Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler, Isiah Whitlock Jr. Year of release: 2013. Running time: 90 minutes.
A manned space mission to Europa (a frozen moon of Jupiter) is sent to determine whether or not life exists in the oceans beneath the satellite’s icy crust. When a series of unforeseen disasters threaten to derail the mission, sacrifices must be made.
In 2005, legendary filmmaker and deep-sea explorer James Cameron produced and co-directed Aliens Of The Deep; an IMAX 3D documentary detailing Cameron’s teaming with NASA scientists and marine biologists for a deep-sea expedition to explore the abundant eco-systems surrounding hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The documentary posits the idea that since these organisms do not require sunlight (as other terrestrial creatures do) – but gain their energy from the super-heated and sulfurous vents; they may well resemble alien life which may exist elsewhere in the solar system – particularly below the icy surface of Europa; where liquid oceans are thought to exist. I bring this up because, in some respects, this 2013 film Europa Report could easily be considered a ‘fleshing out’ and extrapolation of concepts raised in Cameron’s doco. It employs the ‘found-footage’ conceit to present itself as a fictional documentary and is the first English language film directed by Ecuadorian filmmaker Sebastián Cordero (incredibly it was shot over a period of eighteen days).
Cordero’s film has often been compared to Gonzalo López-Gallego’s 2011 found-footage movie Apollo 18, although López-Gallego’s film is more like a straight-out horror than a hard science sci-fi like Europa Report. And while Cordero’s film is considerably less goofily entertaining than Apollo 18 – it does surpass its predecessor by maintaining attention to detail in the logistics of its found-footage aesthetic, ie: the camera is never where it could never be and the retrieval of the footage is entirely plausible (issues which most found-footage films otherwise fail to address for one reason or another). And unlike most other found-footage films, Europa Report is composed almost entirely of locked-off static shots (eschewing the nausea-inducing shaky-cam usually employed in such fare) – the reason being there are numerous cameras mounted at various vantage points throughout the ship recording events. The only times we ever really see the camera moving around is during scenes where it is attached to space-suited characters during EVAs on Europa and space-walk scenes. Ironically, this lack of kinetic dynamism in the cinematography tends to lend a laid-back momentum to proceedings – which kind of negates the possibility of generating any real excitement. Structurally too, the film has its problems. The non-linear aspect of Europa Report doesn’t really add a great deal and, if anything, makes the unfolding narrative unduly confusing at times. But having said this – it really is the startling final reveal in the film’s last few moments which makes up for all previous narrative issues – making the journey ultimately worthwhile and memorable.
As one would hope from a film of this type; the performances are low-key and natural (particularly during the pre-flight on-camera interviews) and the actors do well in conveying the idea we are watching real people – as opposed to just fictional characters. The international cast is mostly made up of lesser known faces; with the most recognizable actors being Michael Nyqvist (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Sharlto Copley (District 9) – the latter chewing less scenery than usual and giving a rather nicely understated performance. The stand-out performance though for me belongs to Dan Fogler (a stand-up comic known more for his voice work) who appears as Doctor Sokolov; an enthusiastic mission specialist back on Earth. Being unfamiliar with him as an actor; I immediately figured him to be an actual mission specialist brought in to fill the role.
By no means a visual effects extravaganza; the sparse use of computer generated VFX (sparse due to budgetary restrictions more than anything) work well in giving an impression of the environment, without taking focus away from the human element. The minimalist score by Bear McCreary (Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series) is also effective in creating a semblance of tension.
While hard science sci-fi films are always a welcome diversion from the usual pulpy cross-genre fare on offer and should be embraced whenever one appears, Europa Report doesn’t quite hit the mark as a fully engaging experience. Although having said this – it is still most definitely worth a watch; especially for lovers of deep space exploration themed sci-fi or cosmology in general.
3.5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
That rarest of things – a VFX milestone with heart, vision and a soul.
Reviewed on Friday 11th July 2014
Directed by Matt Reeves. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver & Mark Bomback, based on characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, premise suggested by the novel ‘La Planète des Singes’ (The Planet Of The Apes) by Pierre Boulle. Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Running time: 130 mins.
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the follow-up to the surprise hit of 2011 – Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes – itself a prequel-cum-reboot of the popular sci-fi series begun in 1968, which led to five movies and two TV series in the 1970s. Dawn unfolds ten years after the events of the previous installment – where the human population of the world has been essentially decimated by the simian flu pandemic. A pocket of human survivors based in a gone-to-seed San Francisco are facing the prospect of societal collapse once their fuel supply runs dry in a matter of weeks – while the apes, who have established their own village in the redwoods outside of Frisco (under the leadership of Caesar), have had virtually no contact with humans for two years, believing them to have died out completely. The apes’ idyllic existence is soon threatened however when surprise contact is made and the humans demand to be given access to a hydro-electric dam (located in the heart of the apes’ territory) which they desperately need to reactivate in order to survive. An uneasy agreement of cooperation between the two camps is quickly established – however, a tragic chain of events and misunderstandings soon leads to the possibility of armed conflict and all-out inter-species war.
Helmer Matt Reeves maintains consistency of tone set by Rupert Wyatt in the first film, although there has been some criticism levelled at Dawn – that it is way too ape-centric – that we see more of the apes and get to know them better – moreso than the human characters. But, as it turns out, this was entirely deliberate on the part of the film’s director; as it is really the ape characters he is primarily concerned with here. And interestingly (and much like George Romero’s original Dead Trilogy), there are no continuing human characters from the previous film, with the primary ape characters: Ceasar, Koba, Rocket and Maurice being the only ones making a return from the initial installment. And hopefully it’s an approach which will continue with possible future entries (personally, I’m hoping the lost space mission briefly touched upon in Rise will be the focus of the next movie – effectively making it a direct remake of the 1968 original).
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul; which has always been an issue with CG characters having that creepy ‘dead-eyed’ look; contributing to the uncanny valley (most notably in Robert Zemeckis’ first forays into CG animation). But here it is clearly apparent this is no longer an issue. One can look into the eyes of these ape characters and sense a soul behind those eyes – an astounding achievement which cannot be understated. In fact, the CG graphics and performance capture are so seamlessly integrated that we are tricked into believing we are no longer watching visual effects – but real living, breathing, and, most importantly – FEELING performers right there in front of the camera. This is a milestone not only in performance capture – but a milestone in visual effects – period.
Of the principal apes, Koba and Maurice are just as fully-rounded characters as Caesar. Koba (a Bonobo) is almost pathologically distrustful of humans; due to the terrible pain and suffering he underwent in the animal testing lab in Rise. Maurice the Orangutan, on the other hand (being a former circus performer) is more forgiving; having experienced positive, as well as negative aspects of human beings. Toby Kebbell as Koba, by the way, gives just as astonishing a performance as Serkis does as Caesar. The scene where Koba suddenly snaps into stereotypical ‘dumb animal performing monkey routine’ when he is caught snooping around the human colony is a brilliantly conceived and executed moment which speaks volumes about how cultural stereotypes are perceived and accepted by people mistrustful of those cultures.
With regard to the movie’s themes, it would be fair to say there is a definite Shakespearean vibe going on here. The apes’ cardinal rule and fundamental mantra “Ape not kill ape.” is really the moral lynchpin of this particular story – posing a major moral dilema for Caesar. Caeser must learn what it means to be a leader – that sometimes unavoidable issues arise where rules cannot be helped but be broken. The unfolding drama is compelling in that we desperately want the humans and apes to overcome their distrust of one another and co-exist peacefully. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say human nature is mirrored in the apes – as lack of empathy for ‘the other’ creates an environment for distrust to thrive and misunderstandings to develop; leading to the possibility of conflict and ultimately violence, bloodshed and war.
Unlike some other big summer action blockbusters this year; which have purported to have incorporated thinly-disguised commentary on important issues (Godzilla, Captain America 2) – but haven’t really, Dawn is a film which can truly claim to be saying something of social value. This is not to say the film is at all heavy-handed or preachy – not at all. Its themes are carefully woven into the fabric of the narrative; so as to reveal themselves effortlessly within character and story.
There is a consistency of vision and integrity to this reboot series which has never really been seen in many other franchises. And there is clearly a long-term vision at play here – so if you are planning to see this film, but haven’t seen the previous installment, then I strongly suggest you do before seeing this one. I hadn’t revisited Rise until the night before seeing Dawn and it really does put everything in context. On a nerdy note, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes ends up on countless sci-fi geeks’ alltime greatest movie sequels lists; along with The Wrath Of Khan, The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens, it is seriously that good.
5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed at the Event Cinemas Megaplex Marion, Adelaide, July 11th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
CHARLIE’S COUNTRY
Perhaps the most socially important Aussie film of recent times.
Reviewed on Wednesday 9th July 2014
Directed by Rolf de Heer. Written by David Gulpilil & Rolf de Heer. Starring: David Gulpilil. Running time: 108 mins.
Veteran Aussie actor David Gulpilil plays Charlie; an indigenous old-timer struggling to maintain his cultural heritage (and his dignity) in the face of increasingly draconian laws implemented as part of the notorious Northern Territory government intervention program (apparently created in order to curb the scourge of alcoholism amongst the Aboriginal population living in remote outback communities). We first meet Charlie, living alone in a humpy (a makeshift shelter) in one such community – where he happily gives up his weekly allowance to members of his extended family and bums handfulls of cigarettes under the pretense of smoking them himself – only to later dispose of them in his own camp fire (revealing it to be his attempt to force his compatriots to curb their intake of harmful tobacco). Charlie’s relationship with the local cops (who are meant to enforce the intervention) is at first conciliatory, with Charlie assisting them in tracking down cannabis dealers – but the absurdity of white fellas’ rules in the eyes of black fellas (they confiscate his newly-made hunting spear; declaring it to be an offensive weapon) – forces him into a position where he crosses over to the ‘wrong side’ of the law.
This, Rolf de Heer’s latest film (co-written with David Gulpilil), is clearly inspired by the actor’s own life experiences and was selected into competition in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival – where Gulpilil himself was named Best Actor. A veteran of over thirty films and TV series, the sixty-one year old Aboriginal performer is without a doubt an Australian cultural icon and national living treasure; with some of his best remembered roles featured in such films as Nicolas Roeg’s 1971 Walkabout (his big-screen debut with Jenny Agutter), Peter Weir’s The Last Wave in 1977 and Crocodile Dundee in 1986.
Despite the seriousness of the plight of present-day Aboriginals, the film itself is surprisingly less earnest or maudlin than one would expect. In fact, the message the film ultimately delivers is an extremely positive one; full of great promise and optimism. And there are some genuine moments of levity woven throughout. For example; Charlie and his best mate Pete’s good-natured bush humor is beautifully conveyed via their mechanical ingenuity in keeping a vehicle on the road which would otherwise be in the mechanic’s shop in pieces.
The cinematography by Ian Jones (who had lensed Rolf’s previous indigenous-themed films The Tracker and Ten Canoes) again captures the primal beauty of the Aussie outback – in this case the wetlands of the Northern Territory’s top end. Likewise, the multi-layered sound design by James Currie and his team is superb in conveying the distinctive ambience of these remote locales (particularly in the use of insect sounds). And the day-to-day monotony of jail is brilliantly conveyed by de Heer and his long-time film editor Tania Nehme – recalling the opening sequence from the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona (albeit – in a far less amusing manner). If I were to have any quibbles – it would be during an extended sequence where Charlie goes bush; where he verbalizes his thoughts to himself (and in doing so – to us) which teeters at times on the brink of being a little too ‘on the nose’ – however, the effortless believability of Gulpilil’s performance ultimately saves this from being a major issue.
Being an incredibly moving and heartfelt portrait of the man himself; this movie undoubtedly belongs to David Gulpilil – as he appears in virtually every scene. And regardless of one’s own color or cultural background; his performance here alone makes this a must-see – a film which all Aussies can embrace and feel suitably proud of. Absolutely one of the best films of the year.
5 stars out of 5
Star ratings: 1 – poor / 2 – below average / 3 – good / 4 – excellent / 5 – unmissable
Viewed at the Palace-Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide, July 9th 2014.
Greg Moss is a film school graduate with a background in directing music videos and is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter. He likes creative people, feeding the cat and watching genre movies. Greg can also be heard on the Blu-ray commentary track for the 1980 sci-fi thriller Saturn 3, out now from Scream Factory.
mossfilm 