13 Tzameti Review

This is the short story of Sebastian, (George Babluani) a 22 year old roofer who finds himself down on his luck when his mysterious employer suddenly overdoses and dies before he receives payment for his services. Times are hard for Sebastian, so when he happens upon an envelope with a train ticket and a paid hotel room in Paris for a seemingly lucrative job opportunity meant for the recently departed, he decides to follow the lead himself.

He soon finds out that he may have bitten off more than he could swallow. As soon as he arrives, he is strip search and locked in a room awaiting his "sponsors". The decision of whether or not he would like to participate is soon made for him. He will not be at liberty to leave until his task is complete, that is........if he survives.

I was very interested to see this film when I found out what the plot was about. Unfortunately, I feel very strongly that I would have enjoyed this film much more if I knew nothing about it. This is the reason that I left the synopsis as bare as I did. That being said, this movie was far from ruined for me. I enjoyed it a great deal, for many reasons more than just an intriguing plot. My only hint will be that it reminded me of a Spanish film I saw a few years ago called "Intacto".

The first thing I loved about this movie was the cinematography. It was shot in black and white, which did well to convey the darkness of the overall subject matter. Many of the shots were reflections, where the subject is shown in the reflection of a mirror or a window. I have always like these shots and the film maker did a great job fitting them in with fluency. There were also many shots in which only the subject was in focus, and a large portion of the screen was out of focus. This not only draws more attention to the subject but it adds to the feelings of confusion and disorientation that Sebastian was feeling. These techniques shot in black and white gives the audience a visually stunning view of this picture.

I found the acting to be very good, especially with respect to George Babluani, who I believe is the brother of the director, Gela Babluani. All other supporting cast members brought their talent to the table in this film as well.

The only real downfall of this film is the amount of time it takes to for the real story to begin, although I don't know if it could have been shortened in the beginning without losing parts of the story. When Sebastian does arrives to his destination, the pace quickly speeds up. It may just take a slightly more patient viewer to get that far.

Everyone who has read my reviews knows that I tend to be more partial to foreign films with unusual plots and I am a big sucker for great camera work. If you share my enthusiasm for either or both, I would highly recommend this film. Anyone else that would just like to see a good suspense thriller can enjoy this film just the same.

Double feature of the week: One Crazy Night (A Tom Noonan Extravaganza)

This week’s double feature is kind of like a double double feature. No, it’s not a quadruple feature. There are only two movies…. But they’re both connected in two separate ways. First off, they both tell the story of a single night. This is actually something you find somewhat often in cinema, especially in the horror genre. Both Spanish horror films, “REC” and “REC 2” take place in the same night. And Romero’s classic, “Night of the Living Dead” is a simple story of one hellish night. There is definitely something to be said for a story that can establish, develop and complete a character arc over the course of twelve or so hours. Some comedies have had success in this as well: “Dazed and Confused”, “Superbad” and “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” to name a few.

The other way that these two films are connected is by a common actor. Both of these films contain the stylings of a performer that I’ve grown to enjoy more and more over the years. His name is Tom Noonan and I think he’s about twelve feet tall. You may know him as the Francis Dollarhyde (The Tooth Fairy killer) in Michael Mann’s “Manhunter”. Or you may know him as Frankenstein’s monster in Fred Dekker’s “Monster Squad”… or maybe even as Cain in “Robocop 2”. Either way, he’s one of those guys… with one of those faces…. And those guys never get enough credit.

The first feature this week is Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train” (1989). This film tells three separate stories from beginning to end, one at a time, all revolving around a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis. Musical greats, Scremin’ Jay Hawkins, Joe Strummer and Tom Waits all have parts in this film. Steve Buscemi, Cinqué Lee (brother of Spike Lee), Nicoletta Braschi and the adorable Yuoki Kudoh also have parts. Tom Noonan shows up for a small but pivotal part in the “Ghost” segment of this film. “Mystery Train” is a fantastic film and one of my favorites from Jarmusch’s filmography. He does a great job of making three small intertwining stories come together as an homage to the home of Sun Studios, Graceland, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.

Our next film this week is writer/director Ti West’s horror throwback “The House of the Devil” (2009). Mr. Noonan plays a much larger role in this one. I suspect that the part was actually written for him. The film is about a young college student who is hired for the night to babysit for an elderly couple on the night of a lunar eclipse. She spends the first part of the film dancing around to her walkman, watching TV and eating pizza. Soon she begins to suspect something is very wrong in the house. I would say that one of the true stars of this film actually is the location and how it was shot. This house makes the perfect creepy spot for an 80’s splatter film to take place. You spend about the first half of the movie just wandering around, opening doors and exploring the layout. I’ve actually heard a lot of complaints about this. Some say that this film just takes too long to get going. I disagree. I think the long build up is perfect. It’s shot on 16mm and the costumes and props make this film a very authentic look at the early 80’s. No cell phones or ipods, I even noticed the old style twenty dollar bill that she uses to pay for the pizza. This film even brings Mary Woronov out of retirement and has a cameo by Dee Wallace. I dig this movie a lot. It’s rare to find a slow burn horror film nowadays and this one comes together geniously.

Enjoy.

Double feature of the week: Post Apocalyptic Funtime II

So, here we go. It’s my first double feature sequel. I did the first ‘Post Apocalyptic Funtime’ back in April. I liked it so much; I decided to do it again. As I said before, a post-apocalyptic world is a backdrop that I will always be interested in. The story being told very often takes a back seat to the world it exists in. It could be a heartfelt drama, fantastical sci-fi or undead horror. I’ll be into it either way. What I tend to be most interested in are things such as set and costume design. If the story takes place 20 years after the apocalypse, does the present world look as though it’s been lived in for the past 20 years? Likewise, if the apocalypse was more recent, do you still see traces of modern technology and architecture?

This week’s first feature comes to us from one of the most critically acclaimed directors of all time. His acclaim comes for good reason. Andrey Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” (1979) is about a man, a ‘stalker’, who’s mental gifts enable him to lead people into the Zone, a restricted area that contains a room that your most secret desires will come true. We follow him as he guides an alcoholic, washed up writer and a quiet scientist searching for answers. This film takes it’s time to say the least. It clocks in at 163 minutes, many of which are spent watching long shots of scenery and people doing next to nothing. It’s a very patient film and requires a very patient audience. But for those of you willing to take the journey, Tarkovsky delivers one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema ever created…… again.

And in this corner…. Our next film is a little less critically acclaimed. Donald G. Jackson and R.J. Kizer directed “Hell Comes To Frogtown” (1987) starring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as the titular Sam Hell. Sam is one of the very last fertile men in the nuclear wasteland the world has become. So, as one would guess, he is kidnapped by a group of beautiful women in an attempt to repopulate the Earth. It’s kinda like that game you and your cousin used to play in your Dad’s makeshift bomb shelter (a.k.a. root cellar). Only this time, the mutants are already here and not the result of inbreeding. Before he can spread his seed, Sam must rescue the fertile women from the grips of the gigantic mutant frog like things that now rule the world.

This film came out a year before Roddy Piper would star in John Carpenter’s classic Book of Mormon adaptation, “They Live” as an unemployed loser who finds a pair of magic glasses that allow him to see the world as it truly is. Unfortunately, the Academy wasn’t quite ready to award a man that jumps from the top ropes wearing a skirt….. If they only would have written his character a little more autistic….

Enjoy.

Double feature of the week: A Nasty Case of Stockholm Syndrome!

This should be a good topic. Even beloved animated features about a young woman falling in love with her captor (instinctual defense mechanism to avoid the bi-polar rage of a dangerous monster) have explored this topic. Beast did such a good job of crippling Belle with fear that she eventually took even the smallest pleasantry (like not killing her) as a grand romantic gesture.

We’ll kick this week of with a great performance from Terence Stamp in William Wyler’s “The Collector” (1965). In this film, Stamp plays a socially awkward bank teller whose hobbies include: nature walks, dousing rags with chloroform, collecting butterflies and locking beautiful art students in his basement/dungeon. Ok, so his collection of art students isn’t very extensive… he actually only has one, but she’s pretty special. The Stockholm Syndrome doesn’t take right away though. Sometimes she has to fake her affection at first. But as the film progresses, tension and melodrama seem to constantly take turns in the driver’s seat.

The second film of our double feature has, over the years, become one of my favorites. It also did wonders to reaffirm my crush on Christina Ricci. Vincent Gallo writes, directs and stars in “Buffalo ‘66” (1998). Gallo plays Billy Brown a man fresh out of prison in upstate New York. He does what most of us would do right after a five year lockup. He kidnaps a ballerina (Ricci), makes her pose as his wife and sets out to find and kill the Buffalo Bills placekicker that he blames for ruining his life. The plot is far from the only thing about this film that is unique. His technique of shooting this film seems as though he went to film school simply to learn which rules to break. Most notably, he has absolutely no regard for the 180 degrees rule. As a result, some of the scenes are confusing and disorienting. The end result of this film as a whole however shows how much fun you can have when an original story is told by a visionary storyteller.

Enjoy bitches....