Countdown to Liquor Day

If you have yet to see any of the TV show or the last feature film, Trailer Park Boys may be hard to get into as the humour is extremely subtle and easy to miss, but don't let that dissuade you. The story is largely irrelevant but it follows three unemployed, alcoholic, pot-smoking trailer park residents in Canada who are in and out of jail for drug dealing and petty robberies. After hundreds of stupid ploys to get rich quick, Julian (the one with a rum and coke in a glass with ice in EVERY scene, even whilst performing the robbery, which although we've come to expect still cracks me up) convinces his mates they can dress up as bank security guards and clean out the safe by imitating the weekly cash pickup. Their home-made uniforms are an absolute joke; bullet-proof vests made of cardboard wrapped in black gaffer tape that were so silly I almost hoped they would work. The film leads up to this robbery but focuses more on their day-to-day lives like the heinously alcoholic park owner, Lahey, who tries to destroy anything they set out to do. Mind you I don't think I've ever seen an actor play a crazy drunk as well as John Dunsworth, I'm not easily fooled but I think he may actually be tanked in these scenes. Other characters who are getting stoned genuinely look the part; and the films documentary style really makes you believe every second. Highly recommended if you are keen on dry intelligent humour.

'The Class' in English...

Perhaps I have been so well conditioned by American cinema that I was often waiting for certain disgruntled students to pull out a butterfly knife and take a literal stab at their teacher during Laurent Cantet's Entre Les Murs (The Class). I can't say I've ever seen a film which so poignantly displayed a 'modern' classroom, and managed to do so whilst crossing a cultural boundary as large as the French would be so quick to pronounce. At no point did I feel this snapshot could be pigeon-holed as French, or even European. Luckily our two languages have so many similarities the subtitles do a good job of translating cross-culturally. The brave but subtle realism of the student-teacher interaction reminded me of how simple things were whilst in high school; we knew what we liked, we knew what we hated, and didn't have qualms about verbalising either. Certain lines are blurred upon maturing as we feel the need to conform to social norms whether it be in a workplace, tertiary institute or even a social gathering. These kids have a certain honesty to life which I truly revere...

I found that many of the teacher's rebuttals to the unfounded statements made by cocky students made me quiver. This took me back to my adolescence and smacked me with the difference between what I understood and what I did not, reminding me of my father's repeating statement about how 'kids think they know everything'. It made the situation all the more intense, and if you allow me to be draconian in my criticism, the acting was believably 'real' and the classroom scenes were so enthralling I didn't want them to end. Any exposition involving the teachers seemed almost secondary yet it did give me a sense of what might have been going on behind closed doors at my own high school, such as emotional breakdowns or arguments over a students future. "We can't substitute ourselves for the parents" says a colleague, yet this is exactly what the lead teacher ties himself up in by saying the wrong things and becoming much too emotionally involved. It was brave for him to tell a goth who is trying to be 'different' that he's simply conforming himself, but he eventually goes too far.

Stunning film, highly recommended. This was released in 2008 so it shouldn't be difficult to get a hold of. For the purists I have used the French poster not the US DVD cover =P

Untitled, Unrelated

Between stretched leather
Bound by thoughts
Dog ears expose uncompleted leafs
Meanwhile days and dates
Inaudibly shriek to be remembered
Within these walls flat lined sheets
Scream to be fulfilled
Yearn to be discovered in forty years time
Rabid with content forgotten
If these bleached sheets could talk
What would they say?
“Remove me from my sheath
Cast a gust upon my skin
To exfoliate and disperse
Forty years of gathered dust
Peel open my innards
Blurred into wordage and coffee stainage
The pattern of my stomach lining
Tells my fortune, and possibly yours”

Is it acceptable check our brains at the cinema door?

I've watched countless films over the last decade which I knew were going to be horrific but which I sat through regardless (films such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the Saw series come to mind). I simply tell myself I'm not always in the mood for an intellectually stimulating film, but how often can one lower their expectations and simply go along for the ride before they find themselves questioning the motives of certain filmmakers? Can we just accept directors setting out to make mindless films?

There will always be various demographics of movie-goers. If a director makes a 2-part, 6 hour biopic of a Socialist revolutionary he is without a doubt inclined to lose a large chunk of the viewing public. So on a purely fiscal level, making a 100 minute action flick based on a comic book superhero makes sense. Though shouldn't we always expect quality regardless of which category a film falls into? We have recently been privy to exceptional comic book films and very bland biopics, so having to check your brain at the door can be read as an insult from the filmmakers: it's almost as if they set out to make a dumb film and have spent millions of dollars doing so. Wanted is a good example of such a film; solid action, half-decent acting, and a plot strong enough to keep you from being bored. Yet I can't help but look at it from a critical viewpoint and realise that aside from the action scenes it wasn't at all memorable, whereas films such as Terminator 2 succeed in being amazing showcases for action whilst still giving you something to think about after the credits.

The difference lies in the creators. Can we truly expect the same quality of film from the director of Nightwatch as we can from the director of Aliens? The answer is no, and anyone who says otherwise has delusions of a Utopian film industry. I shouldn't be ashamed of my love for certain mindless films but it's easy to lose credibility after exclaiming that you enjoyed the first Transformers or The Hills Have Eyes remake. Yes I had to check my brain in before the films commenced, but I honestly believe Michael Bay and Alexandre Aja both set out to make gawkable action and deeply disturbing horror respectively, therefore achieving their goal. What these films lack in intelligent dialogue or characters they make up for in tension and straight-up fun. If these two things are done well we should just accept certain people are going to seek certain films. Sure, 'done well' can be seen as subjective, but I'm referring to certain elements such as the CGI and the action choreography which are arguably stunning in Transformers, and obviously what the film was being marketed on.

Whether the lack of intelligence is intentional or not, mindless genre films will always be made. Some are better than others but we have to acknowledge that there are people who (believe it or not) don't want to think when they sit down to watch a film. This is an open market for 'popcorn' cinema which has been around since Charlie Chaplin, and yes there is good popcorn (Iron Man) and bad popcorn (G.I Joe: Rise of the Cobra), but we cannot expect everything to be at the same standard. If you don't agree with these arguments, don't watch these films. Make a stand and help fund smaller, independent studios who actually need your money, and don't blame filmmakers for creating trash when there is clearly a massive market for such films! If you read this please comment so we can have other points of view!