Showing posts with label Ron Perlman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ron Perlman. Show all posts

Thursday, 27 January 2022

Nightmare Alley

Year:  2021

Director:  Guillermo del Toro

Screenplay:  Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan, based on the novel Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn

Running Time: 150 minutes

Genre:  Thriller

In 1939, Stanton "Stan" Carlisle (Cooper) is on the run from a shady past when he finds refuge in a travelling carnival, befriending fortune teller Zeena the Seer (Collette), her alcoholic husband (Jenkins), Clem (Dafoe) who runs the carnival's "geek show" and exhibition of "human oddities", and Molly (Mara) whose act consists of her being electrocuted.  Learning the secrets of the inner workings of the carnival, and particularly the tricks behind pretending to be clairvoyant, Stan approaches Molly with a proposition that they work the scam together on wealthier marks.  Two years later, Stan and Molly are successfully working their act for the wealthy elite of New York City, when Stan is approached by Dr. Lilith Ritter (Blanchett), who has her own idea for a scam, but as the stakes are raised to more dangerous levels it becomes increasingly unclear who is playing who.

Guillermo del Toro is probably best known for his work in the horror and fantasy genre, most notably Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), this however is not a supernatural or a fantasy film, although it is pretty horrific at times.  This is a modern day film noir, in fact the novel by William Lindsay Gresham has been filmed before in 1947, in the heyday of the film noir.  This film presents a throughly bleak portrait of human nature, almost everyone in the film is working some kind of scheme, or con, although some more innocent than others.  Bradley Cooper is good as the silver tongued charmer who hides very dark secrets and is capable of occasionally lashing out with shocking violence.  Cate Blanchett plays psychologist Lilith Ritter as a classic femme fatale all blood-red lipstick and golden gowns.  Toni Collette plays the smalltime carnival fortune teller who teaches Stan the tricks of the trade.  Rooney Mara plays the innocent, wide-eyed Molly who becomes the conscience of the film and, crucially, the only one perceptive enough to see where they are headed.  Willem Dafoe has a ball as the cruel Clem who keeps a caged man as the sideshow "geek", forcing him to bite the heads off chickens.  The twilight world of the carnival is brilliantly evoked, all mud and dirt and broken-down seedy glamour.  Del Toro is a master of disturbing but beautiful images, and he evokes a cold, bleak world, even New York is wintery streets and palatial but sterile hotel rooms and offices, The film has a complex, twisting plot, punctuated by occasional, brief, shocking bursts of violence.  While it may be too bleak for some viewers, it is a striking latter day film noir, and one of the best new thrillers that I've seen in a long time.         



Bradley Cooper and Rooney Mara in Nightmare Alley

Monday, 10 October 2016

Drive

Year of Release:  2011
Director:  Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay:  Hossein Amini, based on the novel Drive by James Sallis
Starring:  Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks
Running Time:  100 minutes
Genre:  crime, thriller

Ryan Gosling stars as the unnamed Driver, a mechanic and part-time movie stunt driver who occasionally moonlights as a getaway driver.  Living a quiet, solitary existence, his only friend is his employer / manager Shannon (Cranston).  However, the Driver soon finds himself drawn to his neighbor Irene (Mulligan) who lives alone with her son, Benicio (Kaden Leos), her husband, Standard (Isaac), is in jail.  However when Standard is released and forced into taking part in a robbery, the Driver has to take extreme measures to protect Irene and Benicio.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a fantastic visual stylist, and here he turns Los Angeles into a seductive, neon-drenched netherworld.  Despite being set in the present day, the film has a kind of retro, 1980s feel about it, accentuated by Cliff Matinez's pulsating synth score, but the Driver himself could almost be a Western hero, the Clint Eastwood-style Man With No Name.  Certainly, with his silk jacket emblazoned with a scorpion logo on the back, the blank-faced Gosling turns in an iconic performance with very little dialogue, communicating a lot with just a quick look and the twitch of his mouth.

Mostly, this is a slow-moving film, but it is punctuated with sudden bursts of graphic violence (warning:  the violence is pretty shocking, especially as it often erupts so suddenly).  The storyline is fairly predictable, although this isn't really a plot driven film, it's a mood piece.  Also Carey Mulligan really isn't given much to do at all, and the other principal female character, Christina Hendricks' Blanche, has barely any screen-time at all.  However, Bryan Cranston is striking as the always unlucky Shannon.

It may be too slow and too brutal for some, but it is a ride worth taking.

Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling in Drive    

Saturday, 8 January 2011

Season of the Witch

Year: 2010
Director: Dominic Sena
Screenplay: Bragi F. Schut
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Claire Foy, Robert Sheehan, Ulrich Thomsen, Stephen Graham, Christopher Lee
Running Time: 98 minutes
Genre: Period, action, adventure, horror

Summary: In the 14th Century, two knights fighting in the Crusades, Behman (Cage) and Felson (Perlman), are sickened by the slaughter of innocent people, including women and children, and so decide to leave. Returning home to Europe as deserters, they find their homeland ravaged by the Black Death. Arriving in a town, they are soon arrested, but are offered a pardon if they agree to help transport a young woman (Foy) accused of witchcraft, and who the town's priests believe caused the Black Death by sorcery. The knights are to take her on a dangerous six day journey to a remote monastery where she is to be put on trial and where it is believed the monks will be able to undo her magic. They are accompanied by a third knight (Thomsen), a priest (Moore), an altar boy who wants to become a knight (Sheehan) and a convicted swindler (Graham) who is to serve as a guide. As they embark on their already perilous journey, they soon disover that, despite being bound in chains and held in a cage, their prisoner is not as defenceless as she appears.

Opinions: This movie blends road movie, buddy movie, supernatural horror and medieval action-adventure. However, it is less than successful. Nicolas Cage is not a bad actor at all, he can be very good, but he is annoyingly inconsistent, and it is fair to say that he has made more than his share of turkeys. Certainly he does not convince as a fourteenth century knight. Ron Perlman, however, is impressive as his fellow knight, who provides the film with much needed screen presence and intentional humour. Claire Foy, best known from the BBC television version of Little Dorrit (2008), is impressive as the accused woman, managing to appear both innocent and sinister. In fact, it is a real pity that she is not given more to do.
Visually, it ranges from beign quite good, to some truly horrendous special effects. The producton design is quite effective though and the senes shot on location look good.
The script is very silly in places, and it is not particularly scary. However, there is enough action, and both intentional and unintentional humour, to keep up the interest. The movie will probably become a cult film in the future and is probably best checked out when it is shown on late night TV.


Nicolas Cage in Season of the Witch