Film & Books Criticism
Where as the Music Journalism section of my site is basically my writer's CV this section is more like a diary, offering my thoughts on the latest books I've read and the films I've seen either on DVD or at the cinema. I use to write film reviews for the webzine musicOMH but when I moved onto other publications I stopped writing about films so this is a good opportunity for me to talk movies...and books!To view my published books go here
ALAN MOORE & THE MOVIES
Written: 19th December, 2008
I’ve written a second article for the academic magazine Media Magazine. It’s really aimed at sixth-former students so it’s quite a fun and lightweight magazine but with some intelligent and well-written features/interviews. The December 2008 issue features a piece I’ve written on the film adaptations of Alan Moore’s graphic novels; this is obviously to coincide with the forthcoming release of the heavily-hyped Watchman film.
BABYLON A.D.
Released: 2008
Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu & Charlotte Rampling
Big, butch and basically Arnold Schwarzenegger for a new generation, Vin Diesel has only made a couple of films that I like. Okay, I know I’m in a minority when I say I quite enjoyed ‘The Chronicles Of Riddick’ but what the hell, there have been worse SF films made in the past few years. ‘Pitch Black’ has become something of a cult classic and justifiably so; and ‘A Man Part’ was an okay Hollywood action thriller. I haven’t even bothered with the ‘Fast And The Furious’ films. ‘Babylon A.D.’ in my eyes is not quite as good or as visually enthralling as said SF films.
The basic premise is that Vin Diesel, as a ruthless, badass Russian-based mercenary named Toorop, is offered a lot of money (by Gérard Depardieu as a weird looking rich Russian) to escort a young girl called Aurora from a convent in Central Asia to New York City which means crossing the barren waste lands of Russia; and this is at some point in the future when everything in Eastern Europe is basically a bomb site governed by renegades and thuggish military. There is a quasi-religious aspect to the film that I won’t go into suffice it to say Aurora is pregnant with twins (she’s from convent where there are no men – how can she be pregnant?) and there is an obscure but powerful religious sect that want her because they believe her children could be Messiahs. Inevitably in a mercenary film where a burly, tough-talking man is travelling with a good-looking young woman, they develop feelings for each other and the ending is never what the mission had initially dictated so in that sense the plot is clichéd.
It’s an SF film but there’s nothing really science fiction about it expect some unimpressive visuals and a little bit about cyponetics at the end. They also had an opportunity to go in depth about cloning but they just don’t bother. Apparently the director, who didn’t have the final cut of the film, fell out with the studio and is not happy about what the film executives have chosen for the ending. I’m not surprised, it’s lousy; it’s a typical, feel good ending so if you have an enquiring mind and you want to know more about the twins you’ll be disappointed. And ideas of the future are embarrassingly clichéd (everybody is poor, food is almost non-existence, energy supplies are running out, etc.,) which doesn’t do anything for the film. Basically, the SF wrapping is only there to provide the filmmakers with a chance to blow things in front of the cameras. The mostly hip-hop driven soundtrack doesn’t help matters either.
Vin Diesel is not the best of actors, hell, I’m not even sure if he is an actor or just Vin Diesel. He’s handed some rubbish dialogue but as usual he’s in a couple of really cool fight scenes (in the Arctic and NYC) but even then, because of the quick-fire editing and speedy camera work, you can hardly make anything out. Michelle Yeoh doesn’t have that much to say as Aurora’s guardian nun and as for Aurora herself, well; she’s a tad on the annoying side.
If you’re an SF nut like me you’ll watch this regardless of what the reviewers say, most of whom have trashed it, but we all love a chance to see different visions of the future on screen. However, ‘Babylon A.D.’ is less science-fiction and more clichéd Hollywood action.
Review by Neil Daniels
Other Realms
Written: 30 June, 2008
When I was a kid, obsessed with science-fiction, fantasy and horror – basically “weird stuff and alternative realms” – I would devour the latest comics that were stocked at my local newsagents, mostly Marvel and DC. The best of which was Batman and Captain America, not superheroes in the conventional sense (i.e. superhuman) but normal people who have for various reasons become highly skilled and extremely dangerous and you’re not quite sure if they’re “good” or “bad.” They’re anti-heroes for want of a better term. Those comics with a human element interested me more because it is possible for somebody to behave like that in real life (Rorschach in Alan Moore’s fantastic Watchmen.) Anyway, for years I stopped buying comics largely because my meagre finances didn’t allow me the luxury of affording them but recently with the low cost of online shops like Amazon I’ve gotten back into comics and have discovered (or re-discovered in some cases) such greats as the aforementioned Alan Moore as well as Neil Gaimen, Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis. Whoever says comics don’t provide food for thought are definitely wrong. So many ideas, so well written, and in some cases, very literary and intellectual.
Neil
Current Reading List
Written: 1st May, 2008
‘Heavy Metal Painkillers’ by Martin Popoff
‘Across The Universe’ by Alan Moore
‘The Dark Knight Returns’ by Frank Miller
‘The Rise And Fall Of Phil Spector’ by Mick Brown
‘The Woods’ by Harlon Coben
‘The Watchman’ by Robert Crais
‘The Overlook’ by Michael Connelly
‘Pies And Prejudice’ by Stuart Maconie’
‘The Bloody Reign Of Slayer’ by Joel McIver
R.I.P. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
Written: 23rd March, 2008
Most of you will know by now that the great science-fiction author, prophet, scientist and all round genius, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, died last week and was buried on Saturday in a non-religious ceremony in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. I’ve been a fan of his since reading ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ when I was a teenager. From there I moved on to other masterpieces like ‘The City And The Stars’ and ‘Childhood’s End.’ I’ve also enjoyed his recent collaborations with Stephen Baxter. I understand that there will be two move novels published under his name and most of his books will probably be republished. I urge you to read him if you haven’t already done so.
So long voyager…
Neil.
The Future Ain’t What It’s Supposed To Be
Written: 5th March, 2008
Like most people I go through phases. At the moment for reasons my subconscious may only be aware of I am particularly obsessed with futuristic fiction. I’ve just finished reading John Twelve Hawks magnificent opus ‘The Traveller’ – book one in the ‘Fourth Realm Trilogy.’ It’s a fast-paced sc-fi thriller, which as most critics pointed out on it’s publication, is a fine concoction of themes from ‘The Matrix,’ the TV show ‘Millennium,’ ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ If that won’t entice you to read it, what the hell will? ‘The Traveller’ has a convoluted plot which I won’t attempt summarise suffice to say it’s an updated version of Orwell’s ‘1984,’ set in Prague, London, LA and New York. Book two is already out while book three is published later this year.
I’m about half way through Cormac McCarthy’s very bleak sci-fi novel ‘The Road.’ And whatever the more literary writer’s like McCarthy say, ‘The Road’ is indeed science fiction. Many other writers of such high esteem have written SF novels but always declined to even admit that what they have written is, in fact, science fiction. Probably because they don’t want to be associated with the likes of such pulp masters as Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein even though there’s nothing wrong with that.
PD James, Kazuo Ishiguro, Michel Faber and Jeanette Winterson have all penned sc-fi tells. Fortunately the great JG Ballard is not ashamed to proclaim the importance of the genre nor his adoration of it.I’m also surprisingly fond of ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.’ To be truthful I thought I’d loathe it especially having sat through the ‘Blade’ TV series which was just dire. Okay, the story is tampered with (and it’s always a pleasure to see fan boys get upset about these things) but it provides enough action, suspicion and intrigue to make me look forward to the rest of the season. And to encourage a younger audience not familiar with the first two films there’s a lot of sex appeal in ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ with Lena Headey cast in the lead role and my favourite Summer Glau as Cameron, a Terminator sworn to protect John Connor from Skynet.
See you next in the future!
Neil.
Groupies & DVDs
Written: 8th February, 2008
I’m currently reading the latest tome by the most famous groupie in rock – Pamela Des Barres. I admit that I’ve never read ‘I’m With The Band’ her famous (infamous?) opus about her sexual encounters with certain rock stars so I didn’t know what to expect from this work; I mean, what else does she have to say that she didn’t exploit in her two memoirs? Her second book being ‘Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart: A Groupie Grows Up.’
‘Let's Spend The Night Together: Backstage Secrets Of Rock Muses And Supergroupies’ is actually her fourth book; it’s a collection of interviews she’s conducted with various groupies. It’s obviously self-indulgent and vain and perhaps they overstate their importance in the rock world but it’s an entertaining read.
In terms of DVD’s I’ve been absolutely glued to ‘24’ season 6 and I had to catch up with ‘Lost’ before Sky began airing season 4 so that meant I had about a week to watch season 3. They’re not the only US shows that have held my attention for weeks; I’ve just began watching ‘The Lost Room,’ a mini-series made by the Sc-fi Channel. It’s weird so that means I’ll like it.
Neil.
New Year Treats
Written: 1st January, 2008
I certainly can’t complain about the stuff I received over the Christmas period:
‘Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles, 1974-2001’ by Don Felder (Book)
‘Let's Spend The Night Together: Backstage Secrets Of Rock Muses And Supergroupies’ by Pamela Des Barres (Book)
‘Slash’ by Slash & Anthony Bozza (Book)
‘South Of The Pole’ by Vick Wright (Book)
‘Blade Runner’ (5 Disc DVD)
‘The Ultimate Bourne Collection’ (DVD)
‘Spaced’ (DVD)
‘24: Season 6’ (DVD)
‘The Lost Room’ (DVD)
‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ (DVD)
‘Shooter’ (DVD)
‘Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance’ (DVD)
‘Long Road Out Of Eden’ – The Eagles (CD)
‘All The Roadrunning’ – Mark Knopfler/Emmylou Harris (CD)
‘Systematic Chaos’ – Dream Theater (CD)
‘Mothership’ – Led Zeppelin (CD/DVD)
Neil.
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