The Manchurian Candidate (1952) For International Life

This week marks the re-release of John Frankenhemier’s, 1962, political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate. This is the film’s second re-release having also been distributed in 1988. A modern remake also hit cinema’s in 2004 with Denzel Washington staring as damaged soldier, Ben Marco.

Based on a novel by Robert Condon, the original screenplay adaptation lists the likes of Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Lawrence Harvey and Janet Lee as its stars.

Released in the pre Kennedy era, The Manchurian Candidate was an eerie almost prophetic vision of what was to come for America off screen. Largely unappreciated in its time, this weeks re release will have an audience much more accepting of the film’s conspiracy theories.

Raymond Shaw, an escaped Korean War POW, is given a heroes welcome on American soil by the adoring public and his overbearing, dominant mother played by the Oscar nominated, Angela Lansbury. He is awarded the Medal of Honour for his services in the field where he supposedly rescued his unit from behind enemy lines.

His commanding officer Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is plagued by nightmares of his time in Korea, recalling how he was subjected to numerous mind control experiments. He soon begins to doubt his memories from the war and also begins to wonder about the legitimacy of Shaw’s rescue.

1962 was dominated by the supposed threat from communism and this fear is heavily exploited in the film, particularly by Lansbury. Her character is a right wing caricature, relentlessly hounding communist ideals at every turn.

The assassination plot has particular resonances since the murder of former President John F Kennedy. Very few public showings of The Manchurian Candidate were screened following those events. Recently it has been discovered that Kennedy’s killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, regularly made trips past a Dallas theatre where the film was shown. Oswald also bought a rifle similar to that shown in the film. The disturbing parallels between the chilling final scene and the assassination of Kennedy severely curbed the film’s popularity in the subsequent years of its original release. Rumours that Sinatra used his influence to cut the film’s circulation are unsubstantiated with Michael Schlesinger, who helped re-release the film in 1988, saying it was more to do with a share of studio profits than the death of JFK.

Clearly dated in terms of its pacing, cinematography and acting, the film does however quickly become captivating. The stern, structured voice over gives it a stiff nostalgic tone. Frankenhemier creates tension and confusion by splicing images and memories together which elevates the already sky high levels of paranoia.

In the world of 2010, MGM’s cinematic re-release of The Manchurian Candidate will still be relevant to audiences as it has been in the past. The threats to the western world are now so numerous, ranging from anything between, South Korea, Afghanistan, global warming and Facebook. We are now told to be paranoid about so many things, it is nice to see how little humanity has changed in over 40 years.

A couple of reviews I did for Front Magazine.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh (2010)

After the pre Obama, politically angst driven, Part One, Ms Badu returns with a love themed collection of southern sass for Part two of her New Amerykah trilogy. Dirty 70’s funk rhythms evoke images of smoky inner city bars where everything is filmed in slow motion. Cooler, smoother and slicker than your average, Part Two has rare songs that seem static, before gliding back into lucid

grooves.

The Wolfman (2010)

Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins star in this confused and frightful attempt at a Werewolf movie. Any potentially scary moments are rushed through and the film poses far too many questions about what a Werewolf actually is. Central to the plot is the romantic involvement between Del Toro and Blunt but unfortunately, they have about as much chemistry as a tomato and a bunion.

24 Day 8 - 12AM-1AM

In typical 24 fashion, as the clock ticks into the morning hours we find ourselves no closer to stopping the days events. I say “we” as if the audience are a vital element in finding the nuclear rods that are about to cause mass destruction in New York. Almost as though we’re overseeing the investigation, ready with our cheers of approval for a job well done and with daggers sharpened for just about anyone who isn’t Jack Bauer. Mr Farhad Hassan, a dagger to you sir. As it happens we needn’t bother with any sharp objects for Farhad, when his own stupidity is more than useful in speeding up his own demise.

He already has a track record of running away like it’s the last 30 metres of an egg and spoon race whenever the pressure is on. After the failed assassination attempt on his brother, shortly after stabbing a police officer, he ran from the wreckage. Minutes after realising he was no longer in control of today’s events, he clubbed a terrorist with a pipe and seconds after being told to stay still, his running days are brought to an end after he is shot in the back while trying to dash from the eyes of pursuers. All this means is that he is now unable to give CTU conformation of the terrorists he was working with.

Bauer is now heading the operation thanks to the deal he made with Hastings for the charges against Renee to be dropped. His plan to draw the terrorists out, is to feed the news false information that the injuries Farhad sustained are not life threatening, in the hope that one of them will come to finish the job. He even gives out the location of the hospital he will be staying in. An iphone application to check on his heart rate is also available but the Facebook mini game “Farhad Hospital Check Up” had to be scrapped because of licensing issues.

If there is anything I have learned about fictional terrorists over the years, it is that they are not subtle. Remember how in the Godfather, they tried to off Vito Corleone while he was in the hospital? Quietly, in the shadows. Not this terrorist group, no thank you. Leave that sneaky creep, creep shadow business to the Italians. To ensure Farhad wont talk, a young recruit is sent with a bomb strapped to his chest to make sure he and the rest of the patients are blown into tiny little pieces.

The young suicide bomber is halted by Chloe, who is able to disable the bomb remotely. Did anyone understand how that was done by the way? Gunshots to the lifeless corpse alongside a perfectly healthy heart rate monitor brings about the realisation that he has been duped. Visibly terrified throughout, he shows his commitment to the cause by evading capture and barricading himself in a chamber of some sort inside the hospital, awaiting instructions on how to set the bomb off manually.

In other, non bomb related news, Cole and Dana have dumped the bodies from last weeks episode about 3 foot deep in a swamp and Presidents Taylor and Hassan have a stand off that only emphases my disappointment at seeing Taylor marginalised so far.

The next hour should be tension filled with Jack and company trying to break into the chamber and stop the bomb from being set off.

Jack Bauer fact for week 6: Los Angeles will never name a street after Jack Bauer because no one will ever cross it.

Alice In Wonderland (For International Life)

http://internationallife.tv/Alice-Wonderland

The sun may have been creeping out from behind the clouds recently but with MP scandals, the recession and the frosty seasonal chill, this has been the winter of discontent. Film has often been seen as a form of escapism and perhaps the ultimate escapist tale, Alice In Wonderland, returned to cinemas last week.

An exhibition showcasing a variety of contributions from a number of directors is to be held over the first two weeks of March, celebrating one of cinema’s most iconic stories. Fresh from a titanic fight between Disney and Odeon, Alice In Wonderland will re-establish itself as one of the pioneering franchises in the history of cinema with its latest incarnation, Tim Burton’s 3D spectacular.

Its first big screen appearance was Hepworth studios’ 1903 adaptation of Lewis Caroll’s original tale. Almost confined to the realms of history, the film has been restored by the British Film Institute using the last remaining, incomplete print and can be seen on their website (http://www.bfi.org.uk/nftva/work/alice.html).

The film itself spends a lot of time showing Alice getting bigger and smaller, using some impressive camera trickery considering the production is now well over a century old.

Briony Dixon, Curator of Silent Film at the BFI said: "For the actual restoration process, we took the original film and scanned it at about twice the resolution of a high-definition television.”

Taking the record for the longest film produced in England at the time, audiences had to sit for a staggering 12 minutes until the end credits. In today’s cinemas of course that amount of time would not even cover the trailers before Tim Burton’s feature starts, which stands as one of the first made-for-3D films following the success of James Cameron’s Avatar.

Also on the exhibition schedule is a dreamlike Anglo-French adaptation courtesy of Dallas Bower, whose use of stop motion animation to create Wonderland and its melting pot of characters was also ahead of its time. The film was made in 1949- long before stop motion became widespread in the 60’s.

Not forgetting that, despite being a childlike fairytale, Alice In Wonderland has many darker interpretations, audiences at the exhibition will also be able to see Dennis Potter’s Dreamchild (pictured above). Based on an earlier TV drama of his, Potter delivers a nightmarish adaptation as an elderly Alice recalls her relationship as a 10 year old with the shy, stuttering Charles Dodgson. The film seems particularly relevant in today’s climate of social paranoia, with regular headlines written about older men courting young children.

Also included in the BFI programme is Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer’s 1988 film Alice. Created in a deliberately crude style with menacing designs lending the film a pervading sense of unease and dread.

The BFI’s monthly strand of screenings and workshops for 11-25 year olds, Future Film, will also be hosting the Mad Hatter’s film school, giving enthusiasts the chance to interact and create parts of the 1903 Hepworth version- from the images to the soundtrack. In the midst of all this 3D fantasy it is interesting to see a concept where the public will actually be able to reach out and touch images on screen rather than simply pretending to do so.

Alice’s may be a story with many interpretations, but the one thing that remains constant is each director’s will to use challenging techniques to create visuals that grab viewer attention. In the latest example 3D technology seems the perfect platform to create a Wonderland without boundaries, and Burton has the pedigree in fantasy to achieve just that.

Remembering the Naughties: No Country For Old Men (For International Life )

http://www.internationallife.tv/Remembering-Noughties-16

“Change” was the catchphrase of 2008. America had inaugurated its first black President and a sense of optimism captured hearts and minds across the globe. This optimism was preceded by a change in the global economy. Yes, in 2008 I, like yourselves I’m sure, was busy buying whatever mindless garbage I could get my greedy, debt laden hands on, blissfully unaware of the impending doom. Oil soared to over $100 a barrel and the world was plunged into a dubiously unforeseen credit crunch. China attempted to blitz the world into ignoring its human rights record, with a spectacular opening ceremony for an Olympics dominated by the superhuman displays of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. With the Oscars approaching it is appropriate to look back at this time two years ago, when the awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, were handed out for the Coen brother’s No Country For Old Men.

No Country For Old Men; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; U.S.A; 2008

Summary: A hunter finds a group of dead bodies, a stash of heroin and $2 Million in the middle of the desert. Believe it or not Mr Llewelyn Moss, this is not your lucky day. After much sleepless deliberation, Moss decides to take the money fully aware of the risks involved.

The hunter soon becomes the hunted as Moss, played by Josh Brolin, is stalked by contract killer, Anton Chigurh, one of film’s most menacing and dispassionate villains. Arbitrary and yet somehow moralistic at the same time, every last minute of his screen time is smothered with tension. The off beat unpredictability of Chigurh is created superbly by Oscar winner Javier Bardem. Normal people just don’t think the way Chigurh does, with the man's unusual choice of weapon adding to his mystique.

Tommy Lee Jones plays aging sheriff Tom Bell. Rigidly old fashioned, Bell doesn’t like guns and the new ways are wearing him down. One step behind both Chigurh and Moss, the sheriff is in close attention trying to help Moss. Fresh corpses are an all too common sight for the old man and the help he offers the protagonist falls on deaf ears.

Fully deserving of the Oscars it received, the Coen brothers delivered an edge of your seat masterpiece. Superbly shot and typically well written, No Country For Old Men is one of the Noughties best thrillers. Brilliant but brief cameos by Woody Harrelson and Kelly Macdonald are proof of this film’s all round pedigree.

Memorable moment:The exchange between Chigurh and an elderly man who works in a petrol station. Tweaked by an innocuous bit of small talk, Chigurh presents the man with a choice that will ultimately decide his fate. Heads or tails is the question with no explanation of the consequences. Like Two Face, Chigurh absolves himself of any guilt, removing himself from the decision process. In his mind, everyone is guilty, everyone deserves it and chance will decide if he pulls the trigger. There is a later moment in which his perception is challenged but the nerve jangling tension of the petrol station scene is unmatched.

Best Line: Anton Chigurh: Don't put it in your pocket, sir. Don't put it in your pocket. It's your lucky quarter.

24 Day 8 - 6PM-8PM

With all the controversy surrounding John Terry this week, I’d like to stick my hat into the ring and suggest his act of betrayal wasn’t all that bad. Okay, he had an affair with his friend’s wife but in 24 land that’s the equivalent of forgetting to cover your mouth when you sneeze. Judas type events happen so frequently, those who tell the truth are the ones who should be strung up. Think back to Nina Myers, Tony Almeida, and now Farhad Hassan and the revelations about Terry are about as heart-breaking as dropping a cream egg.

The planned assassination of Omar Hassan comes to a pulsating climax, with his brother Farhad in close attendance. The files planted on the reporter, Meredith Reed’s computer, show blueprints of the UN building the US and Islamic Republic’s presidents are holding talks. A bomb is suspected and CTU Director Hastings, orders the evacuation of the building. The threat however, as suggested by Jack and Chloe, comes from the streets outside. As the expensive motorcade attempts to escape, hired Russian killer, Davros, lies in wait to set off a bomb hidden under a man hole. Last minute communication between Jack and Chase, sorry I mean Cole, allows the young agent to speed alongside the President’s car and ram him out of the way of the eventual explosion.

Learning of the failed attempt, Farhad showcases his skills as a future President, by dealing with a setback about as calmly as a girl from My Super Sweet 16 discovering her daddy bought her a diamond encrusted back scratcher in pink instead of fuchsia. He hastily makes his exit, conspicuously stabbing a police officer in the neck in front of his sister in-law and niece before running off. Still, he faired rather better than Davros who ends up shot and killed by, yes you guessed it, Jack Bauer. Farhad’s bigger plans are soon revealed as he goes to buy nuclear weapons material from the Russians.

Meanwhile an interesting little subplot is developing between Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff ) and her, abusive ex boyfriend. Having changed her name from Jenny to get away from him and a presumably turbulent past, Walsh has been tracked down. Now settled into a new life with current boyfriend Cole and weary of his attempts to blackmail her, she gives him the keys to her apartment and says he can stay but just for one night. Normally I’d say that was a gloriously optimistic proposition but then, she’s clearly been watching the show and realises that he’ll probably be dead by midnight anyway. Smart move Walshy.

7PM onwards also sees the return of Renee. Last season saw her slowly emerge as Jack Mark 2, with lady bits. The former FBI agent had suffered through the traumatic loss of her boss and former lover, along with finding her principles compromised while working alongside Bauer. Having gone through a breakdown so serious her hair changed colour, Renee accepts a mission to reactivate a former cover of hers as a partner to the nuclear wielding Russians.

Jack, who by now must feel like Dante in Clerks, is so concerned about her well-being, he joins Renee under cover (no, not in that way) to ensure her safety. It isn’t her safety he should be worried about though as Renee’s patience, with a known associate of the Russians, runs out spectacularly. Coercing his arm into a vice with the promise of removing the criminal’s electronic tag, the dark haired temptress carves through his wrist with an electric saw.

The extent of shock on Bauer’s face suggests that this isn’t a lady we should be messing with. Bring on the next hour!

24 Day 8 - 4PM-6PM

Think about what you did yesterday. Rubbish wasn’t it? Sure that new top you bought in preparation for Friday night looks great and the chicken and bacon wrap you had for lunch was probably the best thing you’ve ever eaten but you probably didn’t even try to assassinate anybody. I doubt you even interrogated a single person? Don’t worry though, 24 is back. For another day, 24 little hours are set to bring us action, subterfuge, explosions, car chases, foot chases, gun fights, office politics, not a single toilet break and of course, Jack Bauer.

It is a strange series, 24. Some of the names, faces, terrorists and Presidents change but essentially, we’ve been watching history repeat itself for 7 years now. While we’ve learned how to spot the subtle signs of treachery and the bead of sweat that shouts, deceit, nobody in 24 land has even bothered. Golden rule, Jack Bauer knows everything. Yet after almost a decade of saving the free world, he still has to do things the hard way and the hard way kicks arse.

Day 8 and Jack has recovered from the life threatening condition of last season and is living the cosy life with his granddaughter in New York. Desperate to abandon his terrorist chasing, butt kicking past behind for good, Jack has decided to move back to L.A with Kim and her family. Not so fast Mr. It isn’t long before trouble finds him and drags him back into a world he knows far too well.

A former informant is upset because the members of his terrorist cell are trying to kill him, boo hoo. He tracks Jack down and demands immunity in exchange for information on an assassination plot to kill an Arab leader, currently in Washington for a UN summit. It is agonising to watch as Jack desperately tries not to get involved. I enjoy seeing him relentlessly hunt down villains as much as the next man, woman or child but this time I felt he needed a break. Give him the first few hours off then let him get stuck in.

Contact with CTU requires Jack to get the suspect to a nearby helipad where he can be picked up and pumped for information. An axe to the chest and helicopter explosion later, Jack sources info on someone close to, Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor), President of the Islamic Republic.

Hassan and his family are in Washington to sign a treaty allowing an American inspection of his homeland. Slightly off putting is the casting of one of India’s most recognisable actors, as an Arabian President and the dissimilarity between him and his family. They look nothing like each other. They might as well have cast, me, Liza Tarbuck, Beyonce, Tony the Tiger and Nick Jonas.

CTU has been recommissioned and it’s shiny. Almost too shiny, I’m already starting to wonder if the glossy walls and glistening screens are this season’s obligatory mole. The humans are as incompetent and self involved as ever. New director, Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson) fills the job description of “pig headed, stickler for the rules” brilliantly. Word to the wise Hastings, Bill Buchanan: dead, Ryan Chappelle: dead, Tony Almeida: insane, Erin Driscoll: daughter dead, George Mason: dead, Larry Moss: dead. All former CTU directors, none of which trused Jack to get the job done and look where they are now.

Files are found on the computer of a reporter intimately close to Hassan, which implicate her in the assassination attempt. Ignoring the advice of both Chloe (yep she’s back too) and Jack, Hastings is unwilling to consider another suspect and after some persuasion allows the pair to conduct their own investigation but offers them no support.

Now, I realise the futility of the question before I even ask but how is a retired agent with no jurisdiction or official power, given a free reign to chase and potentially kill terror suspects? The answer of course is, because it’s Jack Bauer you idiot! But still…

Farad Hassan is so at odds with his brother’s political and personal westernisation, he is revealed as one of those involved in the plan to murder him.

So strangely, we know what to expect. There will be twists and turns, decoys and double crosses. The main threats will change and change again and by tomorrow (in 24 time) we’ll probably be back where we started again. Personally I’m waiting for Ethan Kanin, President Taylor’s Secretary of State, to show himself as the slimy two faced liar I’ve had him pegged as, for no particular reason, since last year.

Avatar

Even before its release, Avatar, James Cameron’s first film in 12 years, was hailed as the groundbreaking event that would change cinema forever. Like the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs, here on after, the established techniques would have to adapt or die as Cameron’s epic 3D wonderland captured willing drone like audiences.

The year is 2154. Earth’s resources are on the wane, the planet is dying and in order to save it, the Military have travelled to the distant planet Pandora, where a priceless mineral, Unobtanium, is inconveniently buried beneath a tribe of the planet’s inhabitants, who aren’t willing to leave.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is an ex-marine paralysed from the waist down. He is given the opportunity to aid earth’s mission by controlling an Avatar body, created from his decease brother‘s DNA, mixed with that of the indigenous Na’vi species.

The Avatar programme is used to improve relationships by providing a familiar blue face for the 12 foot tall, pointy eared Na’vi people to interact with, in the hope that this will smooth their relocation plans.

The humans are cast as the archetypal colonists villains, lead by a war hungry blunt instrument and the epitome of corporate greed. Yes I do mean the Americans. Colonel Quartich (Steven Lang) is straight from a comic book. Is there a such thing as 0D? Unreasonably grating and implausibly aggressive, as if he were the avatar controlled body of one of the rabid wolf like creatures that attack Jake on Pandora. His chiselled jaw and “kill all the savages” mantra make him a farcical cartoon.

When Sully ends up separated from his team on a scouting mission his life is spared by the beautiful all action Na’vi princess Neytiri. Despite his childlike knack of getting into trouble, he is offered the chance to assimilate himself amongst the Na’vi tribe, something no human has ever been able to do.


A good chunk of the film is dedicated to Jake’s exploration of the wildly tropical Padoran lands and Na’vi customs. The planet is beautifully made. Herculean trees and glowing plant life. Beasts that make earth’s tigers and bears look as though they were imagined by a far inferior mind than Cameron’s. Sorry God. The level of involvement required to engage in the story’s evolution and Sully’s transition from marine informant to tribal leader, is around the same amount needed to enjoy the trailer.

However, Cameron’s use of CGI to create something quite literally out of this world is done to perfection, even though I felt the 3D experience somewhat underwhelming and at times, distracting. Sure, dandelion specs float across the eye line as though they were but inches away but rest of the subtle textures and changes in depth were not worth the inflated ticket price. Added to this the darkness of the 3D glasses made sure that blues were not as blue, greens were not as green and the other wonderfully arranged colours of the Na’vi homeland are never as vibrant.

It is easy to buy into the tribal culture. Primitive yet complex, the Na’vi interact with their plant life and animals spiritually through receptors in their tales and it is difficult not to wince as the humans destroy almost every inch of nature they can.

Whether this film will instigate a change in cinema’s landscape is still up for debate, after all, the concept of 3D has been around for over half a century. The box office appeal of Avatar will ensure that future blockbusters will be even more expensive to make but as of yet, the superfluous addition of 3D remains nothing more than decoration.