Tape (2001) with Trailer

Three high school friends reconnect one night in a hotel room to remember events that happened 10 years earlier. Summary of the film in one line, though there is more to it than just three characters talking to one another for 90 minutes. Director Richard Linklater has interwoven a complex tale of intrigue and perception. The film opens up with Vince (Ethan Hunt) in his hotel room as he prepares himself for what seems like a wild night out as he chugs on beer, scrunching and throwing cans across the room. When the door knocks, enters the second of the films three characters Jon (Robert Sean Leonard-Dead Poets Society). As they reminisce about the past, things soon turn to a more serious matter of a girl they both knew.

The conversation shifts to the girl Amy (played by Uma Thurman), who Vince use to date and Jon had sex with in high school. Vince pursues and pesters Jon on what happened on their eventful night. He wants details on how, why and where. As he goes on and on at Jon (who becomes more and more agitated in his line of questioning), he finally admits to coercing her into having sex with him. Vince being unhappy with his explanation continues in asking him how. With Vince's continual questioning, Jon finally admits to possibly raping her. As this is said, Vince goes to his bag where he reveals a tape recorder where he has been recording their conversation and replays Jon's confession. It becomes all too apparent that Vince has an ulterior motive for meeting up with his old high school buddy.

With such a brave approach to having one setting and only three characters who interact with such verve in dialogue that is all too intellectual yet highly believable where one tries to gain a moral high ground on one another. As they argue with one another the camera goes back and forth like an audience watching a tennis match as argument is battered back and forth, it is such an involving way to participate in their personal debate. An experimental technique which works!

The confines of the room may restrict the action but it's a film where the characters drive the narrative forward to what is an intriguing debate about perception about an event that happened 10 years ago. Where one person remembers an event in one way another person views it differently. Each actor is given enough to work with where each character is smart and articulate, where one can seem like the protagonist and then become an antagonist in one line of dialogue.

The story adapt from a stage play shows its origins in it's one set, dialogue full narrative where it's all down to the actors to pull you in, in it's exchanges between one another as information is feed to us and where not everything is as clear as mud. When you feel one character is gaining the upper hand on the argument it suddenly turns and the other character is in fact the one who is right. It raise a lot questions which not all may be answered but is thoroughly enjoyable thought provoking debatable film.

Acting 4.5/5

Technical Merit 4/5

Narrative 4.5/5

Entertainment 4/5


17/20

   

Buried (2010) with Trailer

A man in a box. 90 minutes filled full of gripping and nail biting suspense. A claustrophobic inducing film and if you've never suffered from claustrophobia you may well feel like you do by the end of this film. Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is trapped in a box under ground. An average ordinary joe public who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. How, why and when he got there is eventually revealed through the clever use of a prop (the mobile phone). When he is informed by his captors that they intend on using him to extract money from the US government he has only till 9pm to succeed. A race against time with air running out and anxiety setting in.

It's a physically exhausting journey as the action never strays away from the only character we see on screen. Ryan Reynolds gives an outstanding and mesmerizing performance of man trapped in a coffin with all manners of human emotion on display through the films tight ninety minutes. He starts out disorientated, frightened, angry, frustrated, helpless, resigned and then subsequently regains new hope. It's a dizzying array of emotions which we, as the viewer cannot help but feel sucked into.

With extremely clever use of camera angles and placement, we never get a hint of it being set anywhere else but inside this coffin. Director Rodrigo Cortes has admirably allowed us to imagine the world on the outside from within the confined space, via conversations through a mobile the kidnappers have left for our protagonist to communicate to his own people to negotiate a deal for his whereabouts and release. The  mobile phone, initially his one aid, the only hope in providing a contact with the outside world becomes almost a hindrance when he is put on hold at the point of reaching someone he feels may be able to help. Twisted and torturous in equal measures.

The technical aspect is something which has to be applauded. With the use of lighting from a zippo lighter, mobile phone display screen to a torch, provide differences in tonal colour. Occasional blackouts and pull aways into blackness only adds to foreboding sense of hopelessness. Close ups and tracking shots within the confined setting are brilliantly used and very effective at conveying a sense of limited space.

As the story progresses to it's logical conclusion, it's an amazing achievement at how much more suspense and dramatic turn, can come from just a man in a wooden box. When you think things can't get any worse for Paul, it can and it does. Does he make it out? You'll hope he does (and you'll have to watch it to find out) and when you do get to the end, if you are anything like me you will just want to get up,stretch out and breathe, as you will feel like you've been trapped in that damn coffin, short on breath and restricted by walls that seem to be closing in with every passing minute.....

Acting 4/5

Technical Merit 4.5/5

Narrative 4/5

Entertainment 4.5/5

17/20

Battle Royale (2000) With Trailer

What would you do if you had to kill your best friend? Could you do it? What about someone you didn't care about? Someone random? Someone you come into close contact with everyday, work college, school friends, family members?....well here's a film where a class of school kids are pitted against one with the purpose to kill and be the last pupil standing. If they refuse, a brace fitted to their neck will self destruct and kill them. Only one can be crowned the "winner".

Set in the an alternative future where unemployment is rife and the youth have become rebellious, adults of the world see an alternative, the Battle Royale Act. A combination of reality tv and a government legislation where if the young do not behave, they will become the latest "contestants" in this brutal, hyper stylized and ultra violent game show. It's kill or be killed with only 3 days to compete!

A class of 42 are drugged on their way to school and are bought onto a deserted and isolated island where they are told the rules of the game and set the target for survival. In the frame is their teacher (played in his usual straight faced, deadpan manner Beat Takeshi) who oversees their progress. Each one of them is given a randomly selected backpack which may include weapons ranging from guns, knives and crossbows to non weapons like binoculars, saucepan lid and megaphone. Added to the mix are two "volunteers" who are experienced contestants and are doing it for fun.

Beyond and behind the multitude of executions and flashes of dark humour lies a satirical and social message of the loss of innocence and the step into adulthood, where life in the workplace can be a cruel and cutthroat environment. It's a metaphor for what life can be like although exaggerated in very extreme way.

With 42 characters to focus on you may feel that the development may be hampered as there is only so much time one can remember who is who and what purpose they have in driving the film forward plotwise. Some are just on-screen to die a quick bloody death, whereas some we follow on a journey of  mayhem leaving a trail of bodies. A few rise to the challenge whilst some others resist and try to fight back in an effort to escape. That's the films only flaw as we are only really left with a few to root for. In a way it helps disguise the real heroes amongst the villians.

From the extreme and sometimes convoluted deaths, there are stark contrasts with occasional touching moments and it can become slightly unsettling. It's not something for those who are appalled easily as the humour isn't obvious and to some may be slightly twisted. As certain situations arise throughout you are left considering what the film is trying to say. A visceral ride where nothing is taboo and the violence is glorified to such extent that may leave you feeling numb. A rebel without of cause? Look deeper, you'll see the bigger picture.

Acting3.5/5

Technical Merit 4/5

Narrative 4/5

Entertainment 4/5

15.5/20

Cube (1997) With Trailer (contains a lot of plot points which may spoil ones enjoyment)

A group of strangers wake up to find themselves trapped in a never ending maze of rooms which all look identical but differ in colours and with some sprung with traps....That's all there is to it, to this simplistic yet highly inventive science fiction flick. Shot on a shoestring budget where each room is in fact just one room, lit and filmed in such a way, where our perceptions are skewed and the reality of thousand rooms seem possible.

Each person seemed to be picked at random where no one remembers how and why they were put in this giant maze. With the first character we come across merely on screen for a matter of minutes, is soon getting sliced and diced into a million pieces, we know it probably won't end well for the remaining people in the cube. The people that are left include a cop, a maths student, a doctor, an office worker, an escape artiste and an autistic adult. Each display the usual genre traits found within a film like this. A conspiracy theorist who suspects everything from the government to aliens, to a driven and angry man who will do anything to get out, a pessimist who see no point, to a maths whiz who may have the answer to solve the puzzle of the cube...which leaves our idiot savant. They all have a part to play in escaping to the real world and the only way they will do it, is by working together.

It's an original and obsorbing idea where the reason and logic of why they were ever put there isn't the driving force of the narrative or the most important thing. The questions are bought on by the characters when they bicker and argue about the purpose and reasoning behind the cube. The unravelling of each character is the main focal point and the inventive use of the rooms drives the film forward. As time goes by,  more secret is revealed. It's a study of the hidden side humanity and psyche.

Great use of low angle shots and tight close up provide a great sense of claustrophia which reflect in the characters' actions and repsonse to each other. As time wears on and hope begins to wan you already know where things are leading up to. A film not without faults though with such great ideas and vision it's hard not to like it's concept. Sure, some of the characters may seemed like they've just rolled off the factory line at villians r us but overall the characters are fully explored with each

given clear personality and purpose within the narrative.

Simple yet very effectively woven story with many clever ideas which pulls them off successfully and leaves you wanting more. With all small successful independant films though you know sequels will be made and made they were. They're not a patch on this original concept. Cube 2: Hypercube believes more is better and Cube Zero (a prequel)  tries to explain the unexplainable. Watch only to remind yourself what a great film this is, otherwise avoid.

Acting 3/5

Technical Merit 4/5

Narrative 4/5

Entertainment 4/5

15/20