Category Archives: Media

Movie Review: 28 Days Later

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This was originally written in 2008.

(Failed) Application Review of a Blu-ray Disc Review requested by http://www.dvdfile.com/

Twentieth Century Fox / 2002 / 113 Minutes / R Street Date: October 9, 2007

Think The Omega Man meets George Romero, but much better than that fusion suggests. Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine) and screenwriter Alex Garland (Sunshine) bring a needed infusion of intelligence and genuinely disturbing violence to a genre whose last iteration before 28 Days was the silly Resident Evil.

The story is fairly straightforward. A group of animal rights activist release chimpanzees infected with a ‘rage’ virus. It quickly jumps to humans and then spreads rapidly throughout Britain. The ‘infected’ are extremely violent, and in one of great twists for the genre, they run, even when they are on fire. This makes them far more terrifying than most zombies on film. Kudos to Boyle for this innovation, and as a device it shows up in later zombie films like the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead and the Resident Evil sequels. Jim, the protagonist (Cillian Murphy – Red Eye, Sunshine), awakens in a hospital 28 days after the infection began. He had been in a coma and so survives. He wanders about deserted London bewildered, searching for someone. These are the most potent scenes in the film. Seeing an enormous city like London simply empty is a powerful, frightening image, especially in the wake of 9/11. That Boyle got the municipal government to help him shut down central sections of this huge city is a testament to his commitment to the final product on meager $8 million budget.

Further credit is due for intellectually and emotionally unnerving the viewer. A disease outbreak is a realistic premise. So the emptiness and loneliness of the metropolis is far more effective and upsetting than the ‘gotcha’ and ‘boo!’ sequences with a loud musical cue so common to horror films. This is intelligent horror. Shortly Jim meets the infected, and we see them maniacally chase him for the first time. He is then saved by two other survivors, one of whom is Celina (Naomi Harris, the vodoo witch in the Pirates 2 and 3). Jim then seeks out his parents, who have died. Their home is warm, comfortably middle class and familiar, which significantly ramps up the fright value of the infected’s attack within their home. Again Boyle uses reliably social imagery – a comfortable home – to disturb the viewer more believably than any psychopath carrying an ax. Jim and Celina then discover a father (Brendan Gleeson – Gangs of New York, Troy) and his daughter (Megan Harris).

A signal suggesting a cure for infection sets them on the road to an army base. Along the way, they incipient family enjoys a brief idyll in a green countryside, a nice breather for the audience, and suggestive of hope in the future. Everything falls apart when they arrive at the base. The soldiers are unruly and intend to rape Celina and the daughter in order to begin repopulation. Jim fights back, and the film slides, unfortunately, into an action mode at the end. Normal, bashful Jim too quickly becomes a lethal foe against trained soldiers. Gleeson’s character having died earlier, the trio escapes.

This is a smart film, particularly for a genre noted for stupidities like splitting up without flashlights to search for the killer. The premise is believable, and there is a delicious irony in showing animal rights activists, with which the audience may sympathize, setting off the pandemic. The group reacts in mostly believable ways to the situation. The violence, while severe and bloody, is not gratuitous. The infected are grotesque and highly violent, so the violence necessary to defeat them reflects that. Only the end really disappoints. The soldiers, accustomed to strict discipline, too quickly become rowdy hooligans, and Jim’s rapid mutation into a powerful killer is unbelievable. Boyle’s point is to parallel our own inhumanity to the infected, but honestly, I’d take the soldiers over the infected anyday. This just didn’t work well for me, nor did the rescue happy ending.

Video: How Does the Disc Look?

Yikes! If you own the DVD, you might rather invest in a good-upscaler instead of this disc. The differences will be negligible. The film was shot entirely (but for the last few minutes) on hand-held digital video, and it really shows. Boyle apparently even worsened the already hazy picture in post-production in order to achieve a ‘gritty urban realism,’ as he says in the commentary. This does not move me I must say. Grit, herky jerky camera angles, dropped frames, etc. strike me as gimmicky (Gladiator, Assault on Precinct 13 remake). Why develop better photography if you won’t use? If it this is the director’s intent, then so be it, but quite honestly it shouldn’t be. Image detail is little better than VHS in someplaces. Try to look at Jim’s face at 7:18., for example. Colors are punchier, one of BD’s big advantages over DVD, and high bit rate (37kps) reduces the most glaring artifacts (halos) of the DVD. But depth of perception isn’t much better. The image looks ‘flatter’ than most BDs. The aspect ratio is 1.85.

Audio: How does the disc sound?

The audio is a vast improvement over the video. Fox has included its typical DTS-HD MA track, an improvement over the DVD’s Dolby Digital. It is rich and full. The soundfield is well-used in scenes with gunfire and the rage of the infected, including good use of the LFE. The balance is solid, and dialogue very audible. Most impressive to me was the music by John Murphy. It is creepy, atmospheric, and fits well the film’s gloomy tone. Again, unlike many horror movies it lacks the cheap ‘gotcha’ music cues to make the audience jump. Instead the loneliness and gloom of this post-apocalyptic world is well conveyed in the steady, disturbing music. Spanish and French Dolby 5.1 track are included, as are subtitles in Spanish, Cantonese, and Korean. The commentary is in 2.0 Dolby Digital.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Fox has finally started included supplements on its BDs, and hopefully, with the conclusion of the format war, these will expand. The supplements are ported over from the DVD, plus an alternate dream sequence ending. They are not rendered in 16×9, 1080p, except for one alternate ending and the trailers. The commentary is quite good. Boyle and Garland provide lots of information, and to their credit, admit to plot holes, cheap effects, moments of bad writing, etc. This is not the usual cheerleading or bland technical commentaries (like the Star Wars commentaries, e.g.), nor was it rambling inanity à la Resident Evil. They are not drunk, bored, or silent for long stretches, and they even provide commentary on the deleted scenes and alternate endings. Well done. The deleted scenes are well presented, but clearly not cleaned up (as on the Star Wars discs). Good explanations for cutting them were provided, and none are really necessary or missed, but for the sequence on the medical train. This would have made a solid edition, and the commentators explain why it was cut. The alternate endings are pretty interesting and bleaker than the theatrical cut. Two include Jim’s death from a gunshot wound included in the theatrical cut. I found that more realistic than the current ‘happy ending,’ but again the directors explain why it was not chosen. Also included is a ‘radical alternate ending,’ that while interesting, is clearly infeasible. The dream ending is simply bizarre.

The other supplements are less useful. A music video (6 min.) by Jacknife Lee is included. A compilation of film scenes set to bland repetitive rock, I found it more promotional than good. Trailers include two for the film, plus the sequel, Sunshine, Alien vs. Predator, and From Hell. The storyboards (2 mins.), production picture gallery (18 mins.), plus an on-set polaroid photogallery (4mins.) are mildly interesting, and again to Boyle’s credit, he narrates them, but they bored me after awhile. Finally comes the requisite making of (24 mins.), a rather bizarre piece. The first half has nothing to do with production but is a collection of scientists and ‘futurists’ telling us how infectious diseases are far more prevalent than we think, and that a pandemic like the one is film is around the corner. Even Boyle, to his discredit, joins in. Not since the Black Death have we seen anything like the scale of death found in this film. I found this exploitative and rather ridiculous. The second half is actually the making of. It is reasonably thorough, although I dislike these because they deconstruct the effects that undermine my willing suspension of disbelief. I’d rather think the zombies were real than watch them get made up.

Final Thoughts

I am not a great fan of the zombie genre, so the running, psychotic zombies was not treason. Genre aficionados will disagree. Rather I found it intelligent, reasonably believable horror, a genuine rarity. The performances are solid, and the low celebrity profile of the actors increases the realism. The music is powerful and fitting. The script is smart; the dialogue and character action believable. The video is hard to recommend, but its poor quality reflects directorial choice, not a BD failure. But the audio is excellent, and the supplements, especially the commentaries, show care. They are not just promo fluff. Recommended for those who don’t already own the DVD.

Buy Guide Video: 5/10 Audio: 8/10 Extras: 3/5 ROM: 0/5 Value: 4/5 for non-owners of the DVD; 2/5 for owners

Movie Review: The Godfather

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CAPA Makes an Offer You Can’t Refuse

One of the joys of summer for cinephiles in Columbus must be the Summer Movie Series of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts. (For the schedule, go to http://www.capa.com/movies/schedule.html). For 34 years, CAPA has been running old classics in the wonderfully atmospheric Ohio Theatre. If you have ever wondered what movie-going once was – before the bubble gum overdrive of the contemporary multiplex – this is probably your best shot here in Columbus. Borrowing from the original presentation (back in the 1920s) of movies as a part of a larger show, CAPA enlivens the event with piano music, a spoken introduction, a cartoon, some previews and an intermission. Contemporary movie-goers may find all this distracting and slow-paced, but it does harken back to an earlier manner of film presentation, and that is fun in itself. Before multiplexes and movie ‘theaters,’ films were presented in opera houses and ‘movie palaces.’ Kudos to CAPA for trying to hang onto to some of that.

The best film of this year’s series is The Godfather (only Dr. Zhivago comes close). As most readers of The Other Paper have probably already seen this film, and several times at that, I’ll keep the synopsis short and focus on convincing you to go see this titan one more time.

The story of course is well known. In the late 1940s, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) rules a powerful, politically well-connected mafia family in New York City. He is a family-man, however, and most of the tension in the film is generated by the admirably close family loyalties of the characters contrasted with the violent illegality of their daily lives. Deeply dividing the mafia families in New York is the question of the burgeoning trade in narcotics, and the fallout includes an attempt on the Don’s life. This brings one of the Don’s sons, Michael (Al Pacino), who had stood outside the family business, back in. Michael is capable and sympathetic (a war hero even), but when he joins the family business, we quickly see his lethalness. Much of the emotional impact of the film comes from following his narrative arc – from affable and promising young man to silent, homicidal mafia kingpin.

The rest of the movie is a working out of Michael’s rise under the shadow of his father’s assassination attempt and the inter-mafia family violence of the rising drug trade. First time viewers may be surprised that, despite the title, Brando actually has relatively little screen time and is not Don for most of the film. The story is less about Vito than the passage of power from Vito to Michael and its impact on ‘la famiglia.’ I will stop here for first-time viewers, but the denouement is justly famous.

The film is, as we all know, a landmark. It was ranked number two out of the top 100 American movies in the 20th century by the American Film Institute (Citizen Kane of course was number 1). It garnered 11 Academy Award nominations and won (only!) three. It is even the number one ‘user-rated’ film on IMDB.com! Almost any list of world or American cinema inevitably includes in its top 10.

But you say you know this already and want to know why you should go back again?

1. The script. Perhaps one reason for the film’s great vigor is the basis of its script in the excellent eponymous novel by Mario Puzo. Puzo, a professional writer (not a Hollywood hack) with purported contacts to Cosa Nostra. He brings more narrative gravity to this mob story than other good mob movies with original scripts like Donnie Brasco or Scorsese’s various efforts. Rather than re-invent the wheel, director Francis Ford Coppola wisely stepped aside to let Puzo write the screenplays for all three Godfather films. Indeed, the may be one of the few films superior to its original novel (the Exorcist also comes to mind).

2. The narrative. The story is deep, complex and rich. Good films – like good books – can withstand and reward repeated viewings, and bring you back to uncover more detail. Coppola and Puzo particularly deserve credit for identifying the drug trade as a deeply dividing traditional organized crime in the United States. As John Gotti, arguably the last don, protested on his arrest, the Cosa Nostra had some sense of proportion or “rules” (Gotti’s own term). During the film, Brando counsels one supplicant to justice instead of vengeance, and the assembled dons of the families agree that the drug trade is to be controlled. Yet as the FBI slowly eradicated the mafiosi in the 60s and 70s, into the vacuum stepped less restrained street gangs, directed by extremely vicious Latin American syndicates in the 1980s and well-connected ‘New Russians’ in the 1990s. The Godfather is a window into a world of ‘temperate’ organized crime that scarcely exists anymore and prompts us to wonder if we might not be better off with them than what followed. The film has the required length to let us meet each character and develop an empathy with them. Such a film about the Cosa Nostra works because we care about the characters and are crushed that they live so violently. A story about gangbangers is less powerful, because while they too live violently, we don’t care much about them anyway.

3. The performances. James Caan, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall were all nominated against one another for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1973. Brando of course took the Best Actor Award (famous for the faux-reception speech). And in general, Coppola does an astonishing job wringing good performances from his large ensemble cast. Even Talia Shire (Rocky’s girlfriend) and those long-lost folks playing Tessio, Carlo, Clemenza, Salazo, etc. do a great job. This is not a modern, celebrity-driven vehicle. Coppola actually sublimates the egos of his cast to the requirements of the film and so improves their performances. For those who study the technique of film-making, this is a case study in solid performances across a major ensemble cast.

So is there anything wrong with the movie? One might quibble with the ‘action’ sequences. When Sonny (James Caan) beats up Carlo, you can tell his punches aren’t connecting. Similarly when Sonny (spoiler ahead) is assassinated, its hard to believe he would have survived the first few rounds to make it out of the car (for the awful death scene). But these are trivial concerns, raised by the age of CGI F/X. Perhaps a more significant narrative problem is the likely aftermath (spoiler ahead) of the closing massacre. Its hard to imagine a slaughter of that magnitude would not have brought down the combined vengeance of the remnants of all the families, as well as major police investigations. I generally find in the films, that the Corleones murder with greater impunity than is realistic, but we’ll have to trust Puzo.

Recommendation: First-time viewers: This is a no-brainer, it’s so good. But wait to see it at CAPA in widescreen and not just on DVD. Repeat Viewers: If you haven’t seen it in awhile or ever in the theater, this is an excellent opportunity. A film of this quality can withstand and reward multiple viewings, and chances to catch it in a theater are rare. Die-hard fans: So, like me, you own the DVD collection and can quote lines from all three films. Well, then just take a friend or go to see it one more time to support our friends at CAPA. 5/5 stars.