Flick of the Day: Jurassic Park

When I was 7 years old, in the summer of 1993, I was brought to the cinema to see a new film. Unlike today, I knew absolutely nothing about what I was about to see. As one gets older, very few things surprise you on the silver screen. You become overpowered with the amount of previews and reviews and blogs and advertising spots to such an extent that you are never surprised by what you see in the cinema and very often have built up your own expectations to such an extent that the film can never live up to it. What made that film I saw in the Forum Cinema in Glasthule so exciting was that I had no expectations, I hadn't read the book or seen the trailer. That kind of experience is something that sadly I cannot relive again and am unlikely to experience again. However, what I can do is re-watch that film and experience the excitement once more of entering Jurassic Park.

On a stormy night in some remote jungle location, a team of workers and security personnel are delivering some unseen creature to its new enclosure. A terrifying accident occurs and a worker is killed. John Hammond, played by the elder statesman Richard Attenborough,  the visionary showman and founder of InGen is forced to bring in outside advisers for his new theme park. This is a park unlike any that have come before. This is a park filled with animals that have not existed on Earth for 65 million years. Hammond invites the gruff but brilliant palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant, played by the always excellent Sam Neill, and  palaeobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, played by Laura Dern. Along for the weekend are Jeff Goldblum's oddball mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, an oily lawyer named Gennaro and Hammond's grandchildren Lex and Tim. The grand scale of Hammond's vision soon becomes apparent and how through the wonder of scientific hokum they have managed to recreate living, breathing dinosaurs on a tropical island off the coast of Costa Rica, Isla Nublar. Were this just a trip to the zoo, albeit a quite magical and dangerous zoo, it would not be half as entertaining as it is. The arrival of a tropical storm, as they are wont to do on tropical islands, combined with sundry errors on the part of Hammond's team of wizard like geneticists leads to the inevitable outbreak of chaos. What follows is a hugely entertaining game of survival as the visitors to park seek to escape with their lives.

Given how much cinema has become overrun with their usage, it is easy to forget how much of a novelty the CGI effects used in Jurassic Park were upon its release 20 years ago. It was only true judicious use of this ground-breaking technology combined with life-sized animatronics that Steven Spielberg was able to deliver on the vision of Crichton's best-selling science fiction adventure. Looking back now, the CGI hasn't dated horribly and still looks impressive while Stan Winston's animatronic creations help give the various dinosaurs character as they run amok. The scene involving the raptors on the loose in the kitchen is still as thrilling as it always was.

Given the visual hoopla on display, it would be easy to fall into the trap so many disaster movies fall into of casting shall we say sub-par performers in the leading roles. I am thinking here of some of the cast of bridge trolls that populate the god-awful 1974 Charlton Heston starring Earthquake (Tagline "When The Big One Finally Hits L.A."). Spielberg thankfully fills the cast with some fine actors. Sam Neill, perhaps the finest antipodean talent of a very talented generation of actors, is superb as the rock around which the cast is built. Laura Dern has since gone on to develop a fine career as character actor and Dicky Attenborough brings gravitas as he always did. There is even an arm-tingling performance from Samuel L. Jackson and a deliciously slimy turn from Wayne Knight as the duplicitous Dennis Nedry. Jeff Goldbum remains one of my favourite actors to this day and he has great fun playing the wacky Malcolm.

The summer blockbuster has changed immeasurably in many ways since Spielberg invented the genre with Jaws in 1975 and in many ways for the worse. Gone are the days when films need to be based off anything as substantial as a best-selling book. I think the nadir has to be basing a film on a theme park ride but who am I to judge? In any case, Jurassic Park still stands out today for its technical prowess and lashings of adventure. Why not watch it once more, luxuriate in the excitement of your youth? I know I will.

Flick of the Day: Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

It can often be a fool's errand to revisit the things you loved from your childhood. For whatever reason, you can never really go back and enjoy the pastimes of your youth with the same level of engrossment. Very often, you find that the films, music, books and games and other elements of pop culture were not as good as you had thought at the time and worse than that you tarnish the memory of what they meant to you. Myself, well I can quite vividly remember singing Bryan Adams hit "Everything I do (I do it for you)" over the end credits of today's flick of the day in the Adelphi cinema in Dublin in 1991. As a child it was my favourite movie and this never seemed to diminish with another viewing. Suffice as to say, it is many years since I have sat down and watched it and for all that I have just said, I was tempted back into the Sherwood Forest of my youth where Robin Hood had an American accent and the Sheriff of Nottingham was a wondrously camp version of Hans Gruber from Die Hard. Today's flick of the day is the immortal Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

We meet our titular hero, played with cocksure abandon by a Kevin Costner at the height of his powers, in the cells of a Jerusalem prison after his capture during the last crusade of Richard the Lionheart, King of England. In a dashing escape he befriends and saves the life of a Muslim prisoner named Azeem, played by Morgan Freeman who indebted with his lie, vows to return to England with Robin. While Robin is making his way home, we learn that his father played by of all people Brian Blessed, has been murdered by the treacherous Sheriff of Nottingham. Nottingham is a wonderful over the top turn from Alan Rickman whose characterisation is a joy to behold throughout. Before long Robin arrives back on the shores of Dover and in an interesting geographical twist arrives in Nottingham not long thereafter.Befriending the lovely maid Marian, he vows revenge on his father's killer.

There is much here which the hip cynical twenty something in us all could find fault with not least Costner's inability to attempt an English accent, the appearance of Christian Slater as Will Scarlet and an ability to play fast and loose with both history and geography however for me, this is as enjoyable a romp as I once believed it to be. All of the leads give strong performances in a feel good adventure movie sense and in Rickman's Sheriff, the film has one of the most entertaining and scene stealing performances ever. Rickman portrays the villain as a buffoonish prig filled with pithy one liners. It is a delight.

[the Sheriff has said he'll cut out Robin Hood's heart with a spoon] 

Guy of Gisborne: Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe? 

Sheriff of Nottingham: Because it's DULL, you twit. It'll hurt more. 

Apart from this, the film delivers some great action scenes and successfully builds the tension as the film wears on and Robin is forced into a final confrontation with the dastardly Sheriff.

So then Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is that rare treat (from my perspective anyway), a childhood film which is as enjoyable 20 years later as it was on release. Sure it is over the top and glossy but it is just too much fun not to get dragged in. In comparison to the decidedly po-faced Russell Crowe version from 2010, this will have you cheering Robin on at the end and perhaps even singing along to Bryan Adams as well.

Flick of the Day: The Raid: Redemption

According to Homer Simpson "Everybody knows Rock achieved perfection in 1974". Whatever about the truth of Homer's assertion, everybody knows that the action genre reached its high point with the release in 1988 of John McTiernan's Die Hard. Since then there have been derivatives, there have been sequels and there  have been high concept action pictures galore along with the usual direct to DVD tripe starring the fallen idols and the never been but along the way the genre has become moribund and worst of all dull. Perhaps today's flick of the day is redemption then in the unlikely form of an Indonesian film directed by a Welshman Gareth Evans, The Raid.

The Raid

In the slums of Jakarta, there is a 12 storey building controlled by a ruthless gang lord. On the orders of the higher ups, a 20 man Swat team begin a dawn raid on the building with the aim of taking down the bad guys. Of course as is so often the case with these things, their arrival is expected and they quickly become bogged down and the body count rises. In some spectacular action scenes, the remaining members of the team must fight their way through 15 floors to get their man and escape with their lives. There are a few twists along the way but ultimately it is one extended battle. Each of the characters brings their own baggage, the leader Rama has a pregnant wife at home and a brother he hasn't seen in years while the gang lord Tama has bought every cop in town to keep himself safe.

No discussion of this film would be complete without noting the incredible level of violence that prevails throughout. Much like the hardbitten action cinema coming out of South Korea and Hong Kong over the last few years, this films wears its lust for blood on its sleeve. In general I am not a fan of excessive violence unless it forms a necessary part of the tale and in this case it does. Whereas the likes of Drive are violent for no apparent reason other than some pretentious commentary on society, The Raid is a violent tale of violent men and all the better for it.

The real strength of the film is the choreography of its fight scenes. Incredible isn't the word, I have seen nothing like it. One particularly gruelling scene climaxed to cheers and applause in the cinema where I saw it. Fast paced and balletic, they are gripping throughout. The film has been a real audience winner wherever it has appeared, winning the audience award at the recent Dublin International Film Festival. There is not much else that can be added really. It's stupid, violent and a lot of fun. After  the last few years, it may just be the shot in the arm, the action genre needed. 

Flick of The Day: The Goonies

During my review of Super 8 earlier this month, I noted its similarity to classic film's like today's flick of the day The Goonies. Perhaps the biggest link between the two and the strongest aspect of both films is the interaction between the child actors, which gives the film a great sense of being true to life. The dialogue feels lived in. The other similarity is the sense of adventure and this is perhaps why The Goonies is fondly remembered so many years after its release.

The Goonies

From a story by Steven Spielberg, this is the tale of a gang of misfit kids from the "Goon Docks" neighbourhood of Astoria, Oregon who will soon be split up as a group of developers seek to turn their homes into a golf club. The stellar cast includes a very young Sean Astin as Mikey, Josh Brolin as his older brother Brandon and that most 80's of actors Corey Feldman. With nothing to do on their last weekend in the town, they hang about as teenagers are wont to do. While looking through the attic where Mike's historian father keeps some aged local history exhibits, they stumble across a Spanish map belonging to a famous Pirate, One-Eyed Willie. Becoming convinced that Willie's treasure is buried just off the coast of Astoria, they set off to find it. Along the way they fall into the hands of the evil Fratellis, a gang of wanted criminals. This being Spielberg, they eventually stumble onto Willie's trail and have to face a number of quirky and dangerous obstacles and booby traps as they race to get to the treasure before the Fratellis. 

This film is a thrill ride from start to finish with the kind of adventure filled storyline that appeals to all ages. The search for buried treasure is the kind of premise that has filled cinemas from the days of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to Raiders of the Lost Ark. While the child cast rely on the usual tropes, (the fat kid, the pretty cheerleader, the Asian kid with gadgets), they are so well drawn as clichés and the dialogue so true to life that they remain charming throughout. Their is enough humour to carry things through.

Elgin Perkins: Hello guys. I'm Mr Perkins, Troy's father. 

Richard 'Data' Wang: I know Troy. He's that cheap guy. 

Brandon Walsh: My dad's not home Mr. Perkins. 

Elgin Perkins: Is your mommy here? 

Brandon Walsh: [scarcastic] No, actually she's out at the market buying Pampers for all us kids. 

Elgin Perkins: [feigning laughing] Papers Joe. You can give these to your father to read through and sign. I'll be by to pick them up in the morning.

As usual with Spielberg, this is never a film that talks down to its youthful audience, nothing is sugar coated for a childhood demographic and perhaps that is why it still appeals to adults even today. Perhaps one of the worst development of the last 20 years has been cinema created purely for 5- 10 year old's with no thought for the parents forced to sit through it. One can't help but look back at this film with nostalgia, it is a triumph on all fronts. Its perfectly melds the need for action set pieces with old fashioned storytelling. The film spawned a number of poor imitators in its wake but none had the lasting impact of Richard Donner's film. Donner coaxed performances from the child actors by playing little tricks on them. They were not allowed to see the full scale model of Willie's pirate ship until they filmed the scene for the first time. Thus their reactions were genuine childhood wonder and this feeds throughout the film.

While very few of the cast, Josh Brolin apart, would go on to great fame and success, they each excelled in their own little way in this film. Donner would go on to make all four of the increasingly turgid Lethal Weapon franchise but this is perhaps his best work. All in all, a very enjoyable film and one to seek out if you haven't seen it yet. It is one of those touchstones of growing up in the 80's and 90's. 

Flick of The Day: Super 8

Today's flick of the day, Super 8 is an ode not just to the 1970s childhood of creator, JJ Abrams but to the kind of child friendly films created by Steven Spielberg in his heyday. As has been noted elsewhere, this film owes a debt to the likes of E.T and The Goonies but quite specifically to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

Super 8

In the winter of 1979, Joe Lamb loses his mother in a work accident and he and his father, the town Sheriff are left to find their feet. The film fasts forward to the following Summer with Joe and his father sharing an increasingly fraught relationship. Joe spends his days making a zombie movie on a Super 8 camera with his friends including best friend and bossy director Charles and the object of his affections Alice. Late one night, they sneak out to film at the local railway line. As they play with make-up and lighting, a heavy freight train thunders into view. A  car suddenly appears driving down the tracks, causing the train to derail in a fiery wreck. Before long, the military arrive and the motley crew flee the scene. Of course, strange things begin to occur around the small town. The military deny there is anything wrong but Joe and his father are not so sure. As things began to go awry and the military lose control, Joe and his friends try to find out what has been causing it and come to a shocking discovery.

This really is a fine effort at the kind of feel good sci-fi film created by Spielberg. The kids are terribly precocious and entertaining with particularly fine turns from Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney as Alice and Joe. The film exudes the kind of heart that was so evident in E.T and The Goonies and is filled to the brim with period elements and pop culture giving it an authentic feel. The teenager with a new invention called a Walkman, listening to Blondie. The kids sing along to My Sharona and a news broadcast talks of the 3 Mile Island disaster. It drags you into this little world and before long you are rooting for the small townsfolk against those pesky Air Force men.

As the film moves toward a finale, it becomes obvious that it is as much a story of Joe and his father coming together and grieving over the death of his mother. I suppose the difference between this and some of Spielberg's efforts is Abrams is not gifted when dealing with emotion. Remember how sombre and quiet E.T was at times. Super 8 always feels loud and bombastic even in tender scenes. That said, overall there is much to enjoy. This is a story driven Hollywood blockbuster and there is no 3D in sight. Be thankful for small mercies. It is a damning indictment when making a film that is effectively a homage to another director is a cause for celebration.

Perhaps I am too harsh though for in a Summer of tripe like yet another Transformers film, this is the best film I have seen bar John Michael McDonagh's The Guard.  I predict a bright future for some of the child actors and look forward to the next effort from Mr Abrams. Well worth a trip to the cineplex.

Flick of The Day: Source Code

British director Duncan Jones created a sleeper hit with his 2009 low budget sci-fi flick Moon with a stand out performance from Sam Rockwell. It successfully played with perceptions of reality to create a modern take on the perils of artificial intelligence. He is in similar territory with his latest film though on a much more Hollywood style budget. Today's flick of the day is Source Code.

Source Code

Jake Gyllenhaal is a US Army Captain who takes part in a military experiment. In the aftermath of a train bombing in downtown Chicago which kills hundreds, he is given the ability to experience the last 8 minutes of the train journey through the eyes of a dead passenger. In an effort to solve the crime, he must experience those final 8 minutes numerous times, each time adding more clues to the final mystery. Of course this is not the whole story as we are repeatedly led to question the reality of what we are seeing and indeed the inherent possibilities. Gyllenhaal's only contact with the real world is an Air Force Captain named Goodwin played by Vera Farmiga. As time ticks, he must solve the crime before the bomber strikes again and find the truth about why he himself has been selected for this mission.

Jake Gyllenhaal has built a career on bringing a quirky intensity to his roles and having a keen eye for an interesting project. In a relatively short career he has taken on roles as disparate as Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac, showing a great range of talent. He is then perfect of the kind of film which this is. To enjoy you really have to sit back and suspend your disbelief for a moment. After all, this is the kind of film where characters utter lines like the below with a straight face.

                                             "This is not time travel. This is time re-assignment."

That said, It is not my intention to denigrate the film for it is very entertaining at times and delivers an ending which is both pitch perfect and very smart in its own way.

Th real strong point of the film is that by keeping the viewer in the dark for so long as to the true intentions of the plot, that it allows them to create their own idea of what is happening and thus retains interest until the final reveal. This of course an old film making trick but it is used to good effect. What better way to keep a mystery engaging then to leave people to draw their own conclusions till the critical point.

All in all, this is a worthwhile piece of work and a cut above the standard multiplex fare. It requires you think along the lines of Christopher Nolan's recent Inception and anything that improves  the standard of Hollywood action pictures above the thrashy likes of Michael Bay and his oeuvre deserves praise. While not a classic, it is an entertaining picture and worth a look.

Flick of The Day: Spy Game

The cold war in general and espionage in particular has been a well that many film-makers have gone to over the years. It is in short a well travelled genre however very few have tried to chart the machinations and manoeuvrings of a life spent in the service of the CIA during this period. Today's flick of the day, Spy Game does so through the eyes of two career spies, who were once friends but now estranged.

Spy Game [Blu-ray]

Set in 1991, the film opens with Nathan Muir, played with unselfconscious cool by Robert Redford, on his last day in the Agency. He is alerted that an old colleague who he has not spoken to for years, Tom Bishop ably played by Brad Pitt, has gone rogue and been captured while trying to break somebody out of a Chinese prison. It quickly becomes apparent that the Agency wish to disassociate themselves from Tom and leave him to rot. Nathan is brought in to give the top brass a run through of Tom's career. Told in flashbacks, the story begins in Vietnam before the final pull out in 1975 and details how Nathan recruited him before moving onto their escapades in the eastern bloc, Berlin and Beirut. In a two hour running time, it packs in a hell of a lot of assassinations  double crosses and political manoeuvring. By the end, Nathan realises he has to act to save his old friend in a poignant finale.

In the hands of director Tony Scott, this is an overly flashy film and at times, it gets in the way of what is a great story. There is enough material here for a better director to fashion a true classic rather then the merely engrossing thriller it is. There is a wonderful feeling of authenticity and a great script really gives the film an air of living history.

Tom Bishop: All right, so what else? What else do I need to know? 

Nathan Muir: Put away some money so you can die someplace warm and don't ever touch it. Not for anyone, ever. 

Tom Bishop: Okay, is that it? 

Nathan Muir: Don't *ever* risk your life for an asset. If it comes down to you or them... send flowers.

That said, this is a well crafted film with much to enjoy. Redford gives a performance better then anything he has delivered in years and Pitt is well cast as the young idealist who gradually gets dragged into the web of international espionage.

If anything, the film doesn't make enough use of some of the talent at its disposal. The likes of Charlotte Rampling and Omid Djalili pop up in blink and you will miss it roles as we move at pace from the Jungles of North Vietnam to the streets of 70's Berlin and the chaos of the war in Beirut. There appears to be genuine chemistry between Pitt and Redford and this is important because this relationship is the crux of the entire film. Is Nathan willing to put himself on the line to save an old friend?

Overall, it is an enjoyable and thoughtful walk through some of the darker days of the cold war. Pitt and Redford give strong performances and the film feels short enough at just over two hours. While the various music video stylings of Tony Scott can grate at times, overall it is well put together. An engrossing well made thriller, worth a look.

Flick of The Day: The Day of The Jackal

The relative success or failure of a film today is generally measured, at least by the film industry, in terms of its box office prowess. However, it goes without saying that in the history of cinema, so many of the truly great pieces of art made little or no money for entirely valid reasons. It has often been the case that a perfectly acceptable film has failed to find an audience.Today's flick of the day, The Day of the Jackal is one such film. Based on a best-selling novel and with an expensive location shoot, this political thriller was a failure on its release in 1973.

The Day of the Jackal

Set in 1963, Jackal is the story of the attempts of the OAS, a network of French soldiers formed with the intention of killing French President Charles De Gaulle in retaliation for his betrayal of Algeria. After a string of failures and in desperation the OAS decide to hire a foreigner, a contract killer known only as The Jackal. Played with a cool detachment by Edward Fox, chosen as he was a then relative unknown, the film charts his meticulous planning for the main event which climaxes the film. Running concurrently to this is the efforts of the French police to capture the Jackal, led by Inspector Lebel, played by the ever ever wonderful Michael Lonsdale. The film is tense and engrossing and climaxes with a dramatic and surprising ending on the streets of Paris.

Jackal is directed by Fred Zinnemann, perhaps best remembered today for High Noon and From Here to Eternity, the film is a solidly rewarding thriller. The film oozes substance and expense throughout, with a strong supporting cast of British theatricals including a young Derek Jacobi and a host of European location shoots. This would all be for nought were it not for the fact that film is genuinely entertaining with a strong performance from Edward Fox, giving the character an icy self-assuredness. It helps of course that Forsyth's source novel is filled with the kind real world detail and historical events that give this film an air of realism and raise it above the rest of the genre.

Though a box office failure, this is an interesting thriller and well worth a a reappraisal. As with almost all original stories, this was the subject of a remake in 1997 starring of all people Richard Gere and Bruce Willis. Suffice as to say, though only loosely based on the original, it was awful though perhaps worth viewing if only to experience the breathtakingly horrible Irish accent sported by Gere.

In the final reckoning, this is a decent if not spectacular 70's thriller with a strong cast and an engaging tale at least partially drawn from recent French history. If anything, it shows that you cannot judge a book by its cover or a film by its box office takings. Zinnemann would direct two more film's before his death in 1997 while Edward Fox has built a solid career as a TV actor. Well worth a look.

Flick of The Day: The Great Escape

Some subjects and events in history have been explored so many times in various guises throughout the history of cinema, that one would imagine that there is nothing more that could be added by yet another film on the topic. The Second World War is surely one such topic, having been a staple of Hollywood from its inception to at least the mid 1960's followed by a mini-revival in the 90's. There are too many fine films on the War to list here but some highlights would include The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, and today's flick of the day, The Great Escape.

The Great Escape

From director John Sturges, this is one of the classics of the genre. With an ensemble cast of some of the biggest actors of the day, this is an old school adventure tale of the highest order. The Germans as is their wont have spent a small fortune capturing various allied prisoners of war and irritated at their continuous attempts to escape decides to dump all the bad eggs in one basket, from which there will be no escape. There is the Americans; Steve McQueen as a pilot with a penchant for motorcycle stunts and a bit of a rebel and James Garner as a man who can acquire things inside the prison. The British; led by Richard Attenborough, a gentleman with a steely resolve. An Australian, played by James Coburn and a Pole played by Charles Bronson who excels in digging tunnels. Together they plot an escape by digging three tunnels out of the camp. The film is an action packed adventure culminating in  an attempted mass escape.

Treated with contempt by critics upon its release, it is only in recent years that the film has been reappraised as the classic it is. From the motorcycle stunts attempted by McQueen which had never been seen on the big screen before then to the groundbreaking way in which it manages to handle a fundamentally tragic tale with warmth and a good deal of humour, this was a far superior film to others of its era like The Battle of the Bulge or The Guns of Navarone. It has one of the great ensemble casts in terms of male actors of the era, including a cultural icon in perhaps his most iconic role, Steve McQueen. This is not to mention the fantastic work by less starry names of British cinema like Donald Pleasence and David McCallum. This is a film with an emphasis on action rather than dialogue but there are some memorable quotable lines in there.

Sedgwick: Danny, do you speak Russian? 

Danny: A little, but only one sentence. 

Sedgwick: Well, let me have it, mate. 

Danny: Ya vas lyublyu. 

Sedgwick: Ya ya vas... 

Danny: Lyublyu. 

Sedgwick: Lyubliu? Ya vas lyubliu. Ya vas lyublyu. What's it mean? 

Danny: I love you. 

Sedgwick: Love you. What bloody good is that? 

Danny: I don't know, I wasn't going to use it myself.

Based on a true account from a former POW, the film amends a few details but is largely historically accurate apart from increasing the importance of the American involvement which is no surprise in an American film. If there is one criticism of the film, coming in at nearly 3 hours, it does feel overlong. That said, a rainy afternoon can be easily batted away by catching this on TV. A classic adventure film with a great ensemble cast, this is well worth a look.