Randy "The Ram" Robinson, once at the very top of the wrestling business, performing in major arenas around the world in front of thousands, now scrapes a living wrestling in high school gyms in front of a hundred people while also working part time at a supermarket deli counter. Who else could embody this man but Mickey Rourke. A major star in the 80's, before a decade of hard living left him at the bottom of the scrap heap, with an almost unrecognisable face, taking parts in films that Rourke himself called "creative sell-outs". With The Wrestler, Rourke has created a role for the ages which, if there's any justice, should catapult him back to the top and garner big awards recognition. He perfectly captures the essence of a man who, through any cost, wants to keep doing the thing he loves. A character that is, in turns, b eautiful, heart-breaking, brutal, sometimes pathetic, but never less than real. Of course, Rourke deserves the plaudits, but respect must also go to director Darren Aronofsky and screen-writer Robert D. Siegel. Siegel has written a beautiful script, that delves beneath the garish costumes and pantomime fighting to reveal the heart and soul of a world that, while often derided, mocked and ridiculed, is rarely given the respect it deserves. For Aronofsky, The Wrestler represents a change of pace from his previous films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), and shows what a versatile director he is, and also what a great director of actors he is, guiding Rourke and Marisa Tomei (who does wonders with the cliched stripper part). If your not a wrestling fan, then you will still enjoy this. If your a wrestling fan, you will love this glimpse behind the curtain, and you will have fun spotting the real life wrestlers (R-Truth, Ernest "The Cat" Miller) and organisations (ROH, CZW), and this would make a great companion piece with Barry Blaustein's superb documentary Beyond the Mat, as both look at an industry that uses it's performers before spitting them out when it's finished with them, and yet they keep going, spurred on by the cheers of the crowd. A beautiful and stunning film that I absolutely loved from start to finish. Go see it, please.
cosmobrown's Reviews
Displaying Review 26 - 30 of 44 in total
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If you asked me to sum up Alien in one word I would choose the word perfection, for Ridley Scott's Alien is exactly that. A masterclass in how to make an effective science-fiction/ horror film, Alien hasn't aged a day since it's 1979 release. It isn't afraid to slowly build up the story and characters, not resorting to easy scares but instead slowly and agonisingly ratcheting up the tension until we, as the audience, are literally begging for a release. Scott's direction (on only his second film) is incredible, the design of the film was, in it's day, groundbreaking (it's since been ripped off countless times) and the screenplay elevates Alien from it's B-movie roots into something quite extraordinary. The use of sound and music helps add to the uneasy, claustrophobic, downright scary atmosphere, but Scott also isn't afraid to use silence, which allows our imagination to fill in the gaps and leap to sometimes horrific conclusions. That's the masterstroke of Alien; what isn't show is infinitely more scary than what is. H.R Giger's Alien design is immediatly iconic and original, and it feels like a character in it's own right rather than a plot device. The cast inhabit their characters so fully, and it's a great ensemble (Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton). So many great scenes spring to mind when someone mentions Alien (the chestburster/ face huggers scenes are classics). I literally love this film so much. It's film-making at it's finest. There are few films where you can honestly say that you wouldn't change a frame or a second of the film, but Alien is one of them. Absolutely brilliant.
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How do you follow Ridley Scott's Alien, an abject lesson in sci-fi/horror perfection? That's like having The Beatles as a supporting act. However, James Cameron gave it a real good go with Aliens. It does what a good sequel should do; acknowledge it's roots while simultaneously expanding the mythology, upping the scale and threat and generally giving us, the audience, more. Taking a more action-based direction, Cameron keeps the pace electric, the thrills constant and the action exciting, as a group of stereotypical army grunts team up with Ripley to try and exterminate a planet full of aliens. While Scott's film gave us one alien, Cameron ups the ante considerably with a planet full of the acid-blooded xenomorphs, allowing for some exciting and exhilirating action scenes, handled brilliantly by one of the masters of the genre, James Cameron. Sigourney Weaver is of course excellent as Ripley, while Michael Biehn (fresh from tackling another Stan Winston creation, The Terminator), Bill Paxton ("Game over man, Game over!") and various other tough looking guys impress in their roles. Cameron can direct action scenes in his sleep, and Aliens is testament to that. An exciting, thrilling,badass, well made film, that disproves the theory that all sequels are shit.
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Following two undisputed classics like Alien and Aliens, directed by two modern masters in Ridley Scott and James Cameron, is a daunting task for any director. For it to be the debut feature of a young film-maker whose only previous credits consist of music videos makes it a very daunting task indeed. That young director was David Fincher, future director of classics like Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. His trademark style is stamped all over Alien 3 and it's a competent, well made sequel. Fincher famously fell out with the studio over their constant interfering and walked out on the movie at the post-production stage, so if all had gone swimmingly, Alien 3 could have been even better than it is. Setting the action on a all-male prison planet, and reverting back to a singular alien plotline, Alien 3 has enough of the hallmarks of the series while simultaneously bringing enough original ideas to the fore to create a nice balance. Sigourney Weaver is excellent as Ripley, and Charles Dance is cool as the prison doctor. However, the rest of the characters could have benefitted from a little more fleshing out. They all just come across as generic cockney prisoners. It doesn't help that with their shaved heads and drab prison clothing it's hard to tell them all apart. That being said, Alien 3 is a visual treat, with incredible set design and Fincher's deep shadows and moody colour pallete. It has enough big set-pieces and tense moments to entertain, although the CGI alien was a poor choice. It's not nearly as effective as the practical models used in Scott's and Cameron's movies. While not a patch on the previous two films, Alien 3 has enough good and original and exciting moments to warrant a watch. Plus it has a great ending (which was subsequently ballsed up by Alien: Resurrection).
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Was a fourth installment of the Alien franchise really needed? 20th Century Fox's accountants would argue yes, I would argue no. Alien 3, while not a masterpiece, capped the series off well with Ripley's death. So a fourth sequel would either have to be Ripley-free or, through some contrived plot device, bring her back. They went with the latter. At least they hired some interesting names to bring it to the screen. Joss Whedon, the God behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was in charge of the script, while French visualist Jean Pierre Jeunet (The City of Lost Children, Delicatessen) was handed the directorial reins. Unfortunately, the sum of the parts did not equate to the same as the total. The film is a bit of a mess truth be told. It looks great (this will come as no surprise to anyone whose seen Jeunet's previous fiilms), with great cinematography and art design. However, the tone is muddled, never achieving the intensity and terrifying atmosphere of the previous films, while too much emphasis is put on action. It eschews the intelligence, slow build and excruciating tension of Scott's, Cameron's and, to a lesser degree, Fincher's films for a more direct, action-orientated style which, while entertaing, fails to truly grip you and drag you in. Sigourney Weaver returns (with an $11 million paycheck, more than the entire budget of the original Alien) and seems to relish Ripley's colder, more sexual and animalistic direction, while the always watchable Ron Perlman is the other highlight. Jeunet does craft some impressive set-pieces (the underwater sequence leaps to mind) but doesn't seem comfortable amongst the big-budget, action arena. The final third, featuring the birth of an alien/human hybrid based on Ripley's genes, descends slightly into the comical, with a creature that looks like mashed potato. Alien: Resurrection is a decidedly mixed bag. It has the good (Weaver, the underwater scene, Jeunet and team's design work), the bad (the uneven tone, the lack of genuine tension) and the ugly (the odd looking alien creature). An inauspicious, and frankly unnecessary, end to the Alien franchise.
