Five Essential... Bruce Willis Films

Tom Jolliffe selects his Five Essential Bruce Willis films…

By the time the 80’s were in full swing, the muscle bound action hero era was at the forefront of blockbuster movies. Stallone was in his pomp, and so to was Arnold. The mono-syllabic tough guys with square jaws, rippling 12 packs and far more baby oil on their bods than is actually required, reigned supreme. Still, by the time the 80’s were heading to a close, it was clear there was room in the market for a few everyman tough guys to offer a slightly more relatable hero, a more sympathetic hero, and a more vulnerable hero.

As well as Mel Gibson, who became synonymous as the deranged Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon, even more successful was Bruce Willis, who threw his hat into the action ring in 1988. However, though he’s fired many a gun and set off many an explosion, Bruce Willis has successfully ventured into many genres and taken some well calculated risks over the years with young up and coming film-makers. Turkey’s aside, Willis has a career that has largely entertained and offered diversity. Here is the essential Bruce Willis!

5. The Last Boy Scout (1991, dir. Tony Scott)

A total guilty pleasure. Willis offers us a darker version of John McClane. As Hallenbeck he’s an outright bum, a shit, and a burnout who has to pull himself out of the gutter to solve his latest case, aided by comedy sidekick Damon Wayans. Last Boy Scout is pure excess. It’s one-liners aplenty, style over substance (thanks to Tony Scott’s visuals-first approach), and with some excellent action set pieces. Willis is superb and his deadpan delivery is hilarious. Willis and Wayans bounce off each other brilliantly, while Shane Black's script is stock full of brilliant black humour.





4. The Sixth Sense (1999, dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

Before M Night Shyamalan disappeared up his own backside, he introduced himself to the world with this brilliant film about a boy who sees dead people. It’s a film reliant so much on it’s young star, Haley Joel Osment, as well as Bruce Willis. The two hold the film magnificently. While the film may lose a little once the twist is revealed, it is still very well made, and impeccably acted. The only downside following its release was that it started a whole spate of “twist” films in the first years of the new millennium. M Night has also failed to come close to equaling this since, and his films of late have been woeful.




3. Twelve Monkeys (1995, dir. Terry Gilliam)

A fantastic science fiction film from Terry Gilliam. This is the crazy Python stalwart at his best. The film is well designed and challenging, and Willis proved here that he’s a great actor, not just a movie star. Brad Pitt also shines in a role which earned him an Oscar nomination. The film looks great, opting for a bleak, cold and grimy view of the future. Gilliam’s attention to detail is put to good use to create one of the best sci-fi movies of the last two decades.






2. Pulp Fiction (1994, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

Following such a brilliant first film like Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino had an uphill task even coming close to repeating his success in his sophomore effort. However, with great aplomb, he manages to match it toe-to-toe. Many will in fact stand rigidly in the corner of Pulp Fiction as QT’s best work, though I’m still too much in love with Reservoir Dogs to ever switch corners. There are so many standout roles in this piece, and the award plaudits headed the way of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta and Uma Thurman. In any other film Willis’ performance could have earned him an Oscar nomination. He’s superb here, making full use of his screen time. The film is a work of genius, which as yet, Tarantino has not come even close to matching since.


1. Die Hard (1988, dir. John McTiernan)

The career defining role of Bruce Willis. Die Hard is quite possibly the best action film ever made. It’s fantastic! Why? Well it’s got it all! It’s got awesome set pieces, the best action hero ever, the best bad guy ever, the best henchman ever, the best douche-bag reporter ever, the best incompetent chief ever, the best partner who protagonist never meets ever, the best slime ball with eyes on lead's wife ever, and the best FBI partnership ever! The humour is simple and brilliant. The film is consistently funny, with great gags, without even trying too hard. The film has a lot of great set ups and pay offs (the bare feet, the watch). But best of all is the pitting of the wise-cracking monkey in the wrench, Bruce Willis, against the sharp suited criminal mastermind, Alan Rickman. Die Hard is infinitely repeatable, with new brilliant subtleties to be unearthed with every re-watch. Action movie perfection.


Honourable Mentions...

The Fifth Element, Die Hard 2, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Die Hard 4.0, Sin City and Hudson Hawk (nah, just kidding!).

Agree? Disagree? We'd love to hear your comments...

Tom Jolliffe

Essentials Archive

Special Features - A conversation with producer Daniel Pleacoff

Jon Dudley interviews Daniel Pleacoff, producer of Treasure of the Black Jaguar...


Tell us a little about this project.

Daniel: The project originally started with Masayuki Imai who was doing a film out in L.A. and the production wasn’t going really well, it was just kind of a mess. Cameron Van Hoy, who is the producer of this Treasure of the Black Jaguar project and an actor in the film, was an actor in [Masayuki Imai’s original film] as well. Basically he went to them and said “look, we want to make a better film for you guys, this film doesn’t do Masa justice.” He went to them and raised the money and we made Treasure of the Black Jaguar.

Treasure of the Black Jaguar was originally a script Cameron [Van Hoy] had come up with a few years back, and it was an homage to Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It’s about three guys that go out into the desert also looking for something valuable and realising that their greed actually turns the three characters against each other. So we have the same thing with a new directing style and a new way of telling the story from maybe a younger perspective, a younger point of view - on a more indie kind of scale.

What was the reception of the film after it was screened at Raindance?

Daniel: We were very surprised. We were very happy to have a very warm reception to the project. We didn’t really know what to expect when we first went in to the project and so we were happy to find out that people really enjoyed it. So far what we’ve gotten [as feedback] is the directing of the film is very stylistic and that they are a lot of cool moments, a lot of cool shots. The geography we had was absolutely beautiful and that really added a lot to the production value. It was just an amazing journey the whole way through, from the point of view of the story, from the point of view of us a film makers because we had a little crew out in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere, not knowing if anybody was ever going to see it, and here we are! We have been very grateful for the reception so far and it’s been very kind.

Has the positive feedback enabled you to secure distribution for the film?

Daniel: Just from the U.K. we have already started to get a lot of interest. After last Saturday’s screening at The Apollo Cinema we had a bunch of meetings set up for this last week. We went to Sony, Paramount, Warner Brother’s, so now we’re talking, we’re announcing, we’re sending out screeners and negotiating, just to understand what options are available to us. I personally just flew back from Rome just before this screening. I came straight from the airport here. I met with some Italian distributors who are very interested. They are yet to see the film, I’m sure they will love it but in the mean time it’s just the trailer which has gotten us a pretty long way so far.

Masa Imai is a rather [well] known actor in Japan so for us we’re very lucky to have him. So we know, just through him alone, we’re pretty confident we’re going to have a good trail in Japan and the people of Japan are going to get to see it. Basically the idea was that if we had him we could get at least one market for sure! We also actually have a follow up movie also with Masa Imai called Miracle Man. That’s the next movie, we’ve shot, completed, we’re in the post [production] process right now, just picking up the colour and sound. Hopefully we’ll be screening it next year, maybe even as soon as January.

Does that mean you will enter it to the Sundance Film Festival?

Daniel: We’ve submitted to Sundance, we’ve submitted to Slamdance, we’ve submitted to Tribeca. We’re confident about Tribeca, Sundance and Slamdance we’re still waiting on where we’ll probably find out in November. We don’t really know. Just out of this last week from the last screening we’ve got a lot of indication from the festival. Now we’re just deciding on the best strategy for us. In a year from now we expect to have it worldwide as fast as we can, explore our market potential and follow that up with our second movie, also starring Cameron Van Hoy and Mike Dreyer and Masa Imai.

They [Van Hoy and Michael Dreyer] both put in great performances in Treasure of the Black Jaguar. The performances helped keep the audiences attention. We had a lot of problems along the way, things we didn’t expect. This was collectively our first feature film that we have all worked on together. We’re really excited to know that it’s possible, that we were able to do it, that we can move forward from here and have our second follow up film.

Are you able to reveal the budget at all?

Daniel: I want everyone to see it first.

Of course. You don’t want people to judge the film against the budget?

Daniel: We don’t want people to judge it against the budget because at the end of the day it all came down to people. There was a lot of relationship and at the end of the day it just came down to people working really hard. The value of the film is more of the hard work put in to it and not so much the actual hard dollar. I’d love to tell you [the budget]!

You’re a very young producer in this business. What did you do prior to this project?

Daniel: Well, I’m twenty five years old. I’ve been making movies since I was twelve years old with my buddies. It’s always been a passion of mine even though my parents hated it. They wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor or something! And this is a very risky business. But I’m alive only once in my life, I get one chance to do what I really want to do.

When I was nineteen I was very lucky. I got an internship working on Saturday Night Live for two years in New York. So I was at NBC for two years and I really got to go around the block and I got to understand what it was like to be in the industry. I made a lot of great relationships while I was there. Then after that I just worked my way up. I PA’d [personal assistant] for a number of years, I was a script supervisor, I was a boom operator. I’ve done everything there is to do in film so for me now as a producer, all those elements of ‘how can we put together a film’, when I’m on set I know what everyone else’s job is. I also know the problems they might expect and now I’m in a better position to expect problems and try to avoid them. Each time around I always try to be better and better and better, look at the mistakes I’ve made in the past and fix them for the next project.

So in that sense was this film a learning curve for your second project [with Masayuki Imai]?

Daniel: Treasure of the Black Jaguar was absolutely a learning curve. There were a lot of things we didn’t really expect and that was maybe my own ignorance really, I just didn’t know certain elements and what to expect. So the second time around I was a lot more prepared, a lot more organised because at the end of the day I was really like a one man army. I did the job of maybe twenty people and so that meant three or four months with three or four hours of sleep a night and I was traumatised at the end of it! At the end of the whole process I just wanted to be gone and thought ‘never again will I do it this way!’ I hope to continue building and raise more awareness of the project. It will reach a time when it will just be smooth sailing.

What is it in particular about Treasure of the Black Jaguar that you think will attract and engage audiences?

Daniel: The performances themselves are very good. The actors that we had are studio actors, they had already been vetted. Mike Dreyer has been in The Sopranos, Cameron Van Hoy has been in several films and worked with Academy Award winning actors. He was in the TV show Crash with Dennis Hopper which was the TV version of the film. Timothy Murphy has been in a number of films himself. Right now he has an amazing commercial out in the US that has gotten him a lot of awareness which could put this [film] on the map even more. He’s an Irish actor so all these things come together. At the end of the day the story is about the treasure of the Black Jaguar, a real story from ancient Mayan history. The whole 2012 thing has been an issue, people don’t know what to expect, they don’t know if it’s the real thing. Either way people seem to be enchanted, myself included, in the idea that something might happen on that day and so anything that has to do with a mysterious object that brings about greed will intrigue [audiences], especially in the middle of the desert.

We shot about four hours outside of L.A. and so we had this amazing geography, mountains and canyons and cliffs. It was a hard thing to shoot because we were out there with very little luxury. We were sending down our equipment on a rope! Down forty or fifty feet into a canyon, and it’s expensive stuff! We had to be very careful.

Yes I can imagine! I saw on the end credits that the film was shot entirely on location in California, like you mentioned. What was it like organising locations and sets?

Daniel: Well the only design elements were the interior locations, the brothel sequence for example. We literally shot that in a bar and we had our set designer who really did a great job in bringing to life the room, the feel, the look, the colours, the entire ambience of what we were trying to get. But as far the exteriors go the desert really spoke for itself. We shot in a little town called Lone Pine where John Wayne did all his movies. Stage Coach was filmed there and a lot of other famous western films, so we were very proud to be a part of that. This movie in my opinion is a classic American independent film and I’m very glad with the reception we’ve had from a European perspective. But like I said, we really didn’t know what to expect.

Treasure of the Black Jaguar trailer:


Read our review of the film here.

Jon Dudley is a freelance film and television journalist and his 17-minute short film Justification was shown at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

A Legacy of His Own: A Doug Liman Profile (Part 2)

With his latest film Fair Game released later this year, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of director Doug Liman in the second of a two part feature... read part one.

“I’ve always been a huge action film fan and a couple of friends of mine were in marriage therapy,” explained screenwriter Simon Kingberg as to the origins of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). “The way they were talking about it sounded kind of aggressive and mercenary. I just thought it would make an interesting template for a relationship inside of an action film.” Mayhem and chaos ensues when two married assassins are contracted to kill each other. “One of the ways that you write it is that all of the action sequences in the film have to be, in some form, expressions of where these characters are in their marriage… Instead of two people having a fight at the dinner table about the salt, they’re actually doing it with assault rifles.” The film student found himself a supportive mentor in Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman (A Time to Kill); the script which served as Kingberg’s thesis for his Masters of Fine Arts captured the attention of Nicole Kidman (The Hours) who got Brad Pitt (Se7en) to play her husband. Unfortunately for Kidman, she had to drop out because of her commitment to the remake of The Stepford Wives (2004). “Because of all the romantic controversy around Mr. and Mrs. Smith, there was a lot of talk about the casting of that movie,” stated director Doug Liman. “Angelina Jolie [Salt] was not my first choice. When people hear about the other actresses we were considering, they say, ‘Wow, you were really lucky that that didn’t work out and you ended up with Angelina.’ What people don’t realize is, had it worked out with a different actress, I would have created a different character.” The action-comedy which cost $110 million to make stars Vince Vaughn (Be Cool), Adam Brody (Jennifer’s Body), Kerry Washington (Ray), Keith David (Platoon), Chris Weitz (About a Boy), Rachel Huntley, and Michelle Monaghan (Trucker). Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide and received nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film and from the Irish Film and Television Awards for Audience Award Best International Star (Brad Pitt).

Venturing once again into television, Doug Liman directed the pilot episode of Heist (2006). The seven episode series created by Mark and Rob Cullen centres around a gang of crooks that attempts to rob three different Beverly Hills jewelry stores at the same time. The NBC aired program stars Marika Dominczyk (Who Do You Love), Dougray Scott (Enigma), Steve Harris (Minority Report), Michele Hicks (Northfork), David Walton (Fired Up!), Billy Gardell (The Deported), Reno Wilson (Crank), and Seymour Cassel (Rushmore). Riding on the commercial success of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Liman helmed the pilot episode of a proposed 2007 TV spin-off featuring Martin Henderson (The Ring), Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious), Lauren Birkell (The Babysitters), Shane Brolly (Underworld), Anthony De Longis (Roadhouse), Michael Kelly (Changeling), Julia Ormond (First Knight), and Rebecca Mader (The Devil Wears Prada). Relocated to the suburbs, contract killers John (Henderson) and Jane Smith (Brewster) commit assassinations while trying to deal with their marriage issues. Set six months after the original picture, Simon Kingberg described the series, which failed to be picked up by a television network, as being “Married… with Children with guns.”

Adapting a science fiction book by author Steven Gould, was next on the cinematic agenda for Doug Liman. David Rice (Hayden Christensen), who posses the ability to teleport himself to anywhere around the world, is pursed by a shadowy government organization. Jumper (2008) was an elaborate production which filmed in 20 cities in 14 countries between 2006 and 2007. “The teenage boy inside of me was just fascinated with the idea of how outrageous teleportation could look,” confessed Liman, who decided to change the actor portraying the main character two months into filming. “I recast the male lead because Tom Sturridge [Being Julia], who was playing David Rice, just couldn’t play twenty-five. He was eighteen.” Impressed by his performance in Shattered Glass [2003], the director hired Hayden Christensen to replace Sturridge. The cast switching had a ripple effect as Rachel Bilson (New York, I Love You) took over from Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) in the lead female role. The $85 million science fiction production features Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Diane Lane (The Perfect Storm), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger), AnnaSophia Robb (Race to Witch Mountain), Max Thieriot (Nancy Drew), Jesse James (The Butterfly Effect), Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Kristen Stewart (Panic Room), Teddy Dunn (The Manchurian Candidate) and Barbara Garrick (The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond).

Along with the casting issues, there were special effects matters that needed to be addressed. “I was just thinking, ‘How could a guy who can teleport, fight?’” stated Rob McCallum, one of the six storyboard artists who worked on the picture. “So you were really pushing yourself to try to think of inventive, cool, spectacular ways that you could use the jumping talent that these characters have.” In charge of translating the storyboard images to the big screen was Weta’s visual effects supervisor Erik Wingquist. “The concept of what a jump looks like changed and evolved a little over the course of post-production,” remarked Wingquist. “There are shots in the film that use still array footage but not in the same way we saw in The Matrix [1999]. The Matrix was largely about stopping time whereas this is about using slower shutter speeds on those still array cameras to end up with a streaky motion-blurred image as the perspective is changing.” The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films nominated Jumper for Best Music; at the Teen Choice Awards Rachel Bilson won for Best Movie Actress – Action/Adventure, while Samuel L. Jackson contended for Best Movie Villain. In response to the suggestion that Jumper, which earned $222 million worldwide, is the first installment of a proposed trilogy, Hayden Christensen replied, “This has been definitely been set up in a way that will allow for more films, and Doug has been careful to make sure he’s created characters that will have room to grow.” Empire magazine agreed in its movie review which stated, “[It’s] Limans’ least charismatic action and the least developed, but it stills packs some crackling action into its brief running time and lays foundations on which a great franchise can be built.”

Trading fiction for facts Doug Liman chose to adapt the memoir Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House by Valerie Plame. In retaliation for her husband’s (Sean Penn) public accusations that the intelligence reports on Iraq had been falsely manipulated, the American government reveals Valerie Plume (Naomi Watts) is a CIA operative. “When I read [Jez & John-Henry] Butterworth’s first draft on Fair Game [2010],” explained the New York filmmaker, “I got to page five and thought, ‘I love the characters of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.’” The theme of the story resembles an action-comedy blockbuster previously helmed by Liman. “Anyone who has seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith knows that [the subject of] husband and wife married spies is something that I find particularly interesting. There are some similarities with Fair Game too. Only one of them is a spy, but it’s still a husband and wife maintaining a marriage against the backdrop of all the lies that come with that kind of job.”

“I personally wanted to go to Baghdad and see with my own eyes before talking about an operation that takes place in Iraq in Fair Game,” revealed Doug Liman. “Every location we went to, the security team would say how many minutes we could spend at that location. They showed us the classified report from the day before of how many attacks there had been in the city. It was about thirty-five pages long. Little of this stuff is in the press but it really brought home how real the danger was for us.” Time was not a commodity the moviemaker could afford to waste. “The longest we got in any one spot was twenty minutes. The rationale was that the moment the car stopped and we were spotted getting out to film, someone was making a phone call and forces were being mobilized to attack us.” Liman made sure to take extra security measures while conducting the principle photography. “As much as possible I delegated the filming, trying to keep as low a profile as possible. If we were told it was a very dangerous location, sometimes I wouldn’t even get out of the car. The camera was a gigantic ‘look at me’ and it was safer for everyone if it was held by an Iraqi crew member.” Questioned about Iraqi War pictures being cursed at the box office, Doug Liman replied, “A lot of the other movies that have been about the war or dealt with the war have not been great movies. In fact, they’ve been motivated more by politics than by story, and that’s been a turn-off to audiences.” Fair Game stars Ty Burrell (The Incredible Hulk), Iris Bahr (The Last Exorcism), Bruce McGill (The Insider), Sam Shepard (The Notebook), Satya Bhabha (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), David Denman (Big Fish), Brooke Smith (The Silence of the Lambs), Michael Kelly and Noah Emmerich (The Truman Show).

Doug Liman remains active in television as he is involved with producing I Just Want My Pants Back (MTV, 2010); a group in their twenties struggle to make a life for themselves in New York City. The cast for the comedy features Kim Shaw (Greetings from the Shore), Chris Parnell (Looking for Kitty), Peter Vack (Consent), Jordan Carlos (Ghost Town) and Elisabeth Hower (New York Lately). Another small screen project for Liman is the CIA operative series Covert Affairs (USA, 2010) staring Piper Perabo (The Prestige), Christopher Gorham (The Other Side of Heaven), Anne Dudek (Park), Peter Gallagher (The Hudsucker Proxy), and Kari Matchett (Civic Duty).

Next on the cinematic to-do list for Doug Liman is an adaptation of the alien invasion novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka about a solider trapped in a time loop which sees him reborn each morning to fight again. “All You Need is Kill [2012] is a project that I’m developing at Warner Brothers. It’s an amazing script,” stated the director. “It delivers all of the wiz-bang satisfaction of a big Hollywood effects movie, but it does it in a completely original way.” Attica, a film in the works about the 1971 prison uprising, has a personal significance to the moviemaker. “After the uprising was put down, the inmates were weary of talking about the events – guards had been killed and no one wanted to add a murder charge to their record. My father’s job was not to prosecute; it was to find out the truth about what had actually occurred.” Liman continued, “Ultimately he succeeded, and his report is a riveting page-turner. But the people whose job it was to prosecute the crimes wanted my father to reveal who had admitted to what. When my father refused, they threatened to hold him in contempt of court and throw him in jail. The commissioners with whom my father had produced the report gave my father a hacksaw as an act of solidarity.”

There is also an untitled moon project rumoured to be starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko). “I think the greatest accomplishment in our lifetime really was the Apollo program,” observed the director. “And rather than just tell a history of the first lunar landing, I want to make it relevant to a young audience by having the group today recreate what the Apollo program did forty years ago.” Other possible movies include Jumper 2 and a fantasy tale. “Nick Tungsten, Nightmare Hunter is a project I’ve been developing for years because it’s an action movie set entirely inside a child’s nightmare… It’s an adventure film for the proletariat.” Contemplating his cinematic philosophy, Liman mused, “I really believe that filmmakers should entertain. There’s nothing I hate more than a movie that preaches.” The director added, “A Doug Liman movie is one where there is no villain. Everyone has their different viewpoints, so who says that the person you’re following has to be the hero? I think it’s much more interesting to have the grey areas”.

Visit Doug Liman's official blog at 30 Ninjas.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Frustrated Ramblings: My Guilty Pleasure #1 - Alfie (2004)

DJ Haza reveals his guilty pleasures in more "Frustrated Ramblings Of An Aspiring Filmmaker"...

We all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to film and television. That one film or television show that you know deep down is absolute tripe and you shouldn’t be watching it. But you do. It may be something that makes you laugh, but your friends don’t see the humor. It could even be a cheesy drama that strikes a chord with you and pulls at your heart-strings. Maybe even a certain film that reminds you of a certain time, person or place in your past and brings back happy memories. For me one of those guilty pleasures is Charles Shyer’s 2004 remake of Alfie. I know!

The original Alfie (1966) is a gem of British cinema and starred the similarly gem-like Micheal Caine. To some it may seem as a travesty to remake such as classic. To others maybe even a crime against cinema. Lewis Gilbert’s 1966 classic was nominated for five Oscars, so how could the remake better the original? It doesn’t really. It’s not a stitch on the original in terms of cinematic importance or stature. Shyer’s Alfie cost a whopping $60,000,000 and only grossed $35,000,000 worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an average rating of 5.6/10. Evidence that not everyone shares my fondness of the modern incarnation. But I still enjoy it.

If the modern version of Alfie is on I can’t help but watch it through to the very end. For me it’s slick, stylish and has a great soundtrack. When I’m watching it I can’t help but smile. Every inch of the integral filmmaker inside me screams that I should not like this film. I cannot like this film. But I do. It isn’t really a film I would have liked to have made myself and I’m sure that when I first heard the original was being remade I probably made an internal protest within my own head. But… it entertains me. This is why….

Jude Law is perfect for the sly and seductive lothario in the remake. Despite having a distinct lack of acting talent Law doesn’t need to do much more than act natural if half of the tabloid rumors about his personal life are true. He fits the bill of charming and selfish down to a tee. Alfie’s wardrobe is immense. From his range of exquisite suits, shirts and ties down to his Prada lace-ups it is a wardrobe that is stuffed full of high end named labels. He always looks sharp even when dressed down and I for one would kill for a wardrobe like that.

New York City is a stunning setting with its bohemian coffee shops, towering sky scrapers and trendy bars. Plus it looks even better at Christmas. Since I visited the city for a week around New Year's 2005 I’ve always wanted to go back. The city was then, as it is in parts of the film, blanketed with white snow and lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree with all the trimmings. With other shots like the ones set beside the Brooklyn Bridge as it lights up the East River at night it looks simply stunning.

The soundtrack is pure audio bliss with a collection of 13 original songs, and a rewrite of the 1966 original title song, written by Dave Stewart and Mick Jagger. A beautiful fusion of rock and blues give the film another edge of class. I have even gone as far as to buy the soundtrack and I am indeed listening to it this very second as I electronically scribble way.

Perhaps the icing on the cake is the inspired casting of Sienna Miller. Not because she makes the part her own or nails the American accent perfectly. Who cares about that? The scene in which Alfie shows his unhappiness at his current girlfriend Nikki painting in his favourite shirt is one of my most enjoyed. Not because it has any real story telling merit, but because Nikki, played by Miller, precedes to take the shirt off and continue painting in her pants and boots whilst sucking on a cigarette. What more could you want?

Like I’ve said – it’s not from some sort of filmmaking appreciation I enjoy the film. It’s just nice to watch. I know that some of the exterior shots of New York City were shot in Manchester, Liverpool and the Port of Tilbury and when intercut with cityscape shots of Manhattan make it look like New York. I know that Jude Law is a shit actor, but he doesn’t have to do much acting. I also know that the clothes in Alfie’s wardrobe wouldn’t fit over my writer’s stomach, but I’d squeeze them on somehow.

What people have to remember about the latest incarnation of Alfie is that it is of a different time. The original was making an abrasive statement of London in the swinging 60’s where as this one is more about having fun. Alfie proves that you don’t need big money or a flash job to enjoy life. Even those with humble surroundings can get our kicks. He’s got a roof over his head, some nice threads and a beautiful city to play in so why not go out and enjoy life. There is also of course the obligatory closing moral about being careful of burning too many bridges in life.

At this point I must admit that I am uncertain as to whether I am trying to justify my fondness of Alfie to you the reader or myself. All I know is that Alfie himself leads a pretty decent life and he lives in a world where all you need is nice clothes and a city to play in for one to be happy. The film’s offering of escapism to a world where your only concern is who’s bed your going to be sleeping in tonight seems pretty good to me. You may, and probably do, disagree. You know what? I may just stick the DVD on this evening, kick back and enjoy. Excuse me whilst I go and wash hands. I’m feeling very dirty right now.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

Special Features - Too Much Trailer?

A frustrated Jamie Baker on movie trailers and their habit of giving away just that little too much...

Trailers are one of the most important advertising techniques used in the promotion of films. With the increased accessibility to view them, not only through television and cinema, but also countless other new media devices, we are constantly subjected to their glossy, energetic intrigue which battles for our desire to watch the features they promote.

Originally trailers were used to entice the viewer by showing us snippets of the film; its individual uniqueness and qualities i.e. the genre, whether it is suspense or comedy, and its main contributors. Basically its appeal and why we should pay to go and see a particular film.

But it seems many advertisers are ignoring these simple rules and instead subjecting us to mini versions of the films which reveal all the best bits and even tell us the ending quicker than you can chuck your popcorn at the screen.

With so many films being released each month and each one battling for our attention; many advertisers seem to have the ethos of ‘the more we show them, the more likely they are to come’.

As my frustration has grown, I have realise that it is often films of poor quality that feel the need to grab our attention by bombarding us with as many key details they can squeeze into three minutes, even if it means showing us scenes that are not even in the film.

One of last year’s most anticipated horrors (to me at least) was Case 39. It looked to be a chilling, supernatural thrill-ride with a leading star and an accomplished supporting cast (a rarity from the genre). But because I watched the trailer first I left the cinema feeling cheated.

Apart from the fact it was a lacklustre film anyway, every major scene or incident is already exhausted in the trailer, and it even includes additional scenes that are not featured in the film in a bid to deter and confuse us, as without these red herrings we would know exactly how the film unfolds, who the clandestine antagonist is, and how the film concludes. I became a victim of the increasingly common crime of the trailer being better than the film.

The idea that only films with obvious potential, do not need to exploit themselves by revealing all is advanced by recent successes such as Paranormal Activity.

Paranormal Activity was last year’s sleeper hit and much of its success and revenue came from its clever advertising campaign and the efficiency of its trailer. Rather than showing us any of the film, we instead find ourselves looking at an audience, on the edge of their seats, in the pitch black, flailing and screaming as they watch the film before us.

The ingenuity of this trailer emerges from its simplicity. It only reveals as little as it needs to and leaves us with a great anticipation to indulge in the thrilling experience of those that already have in the trailer.

The creative minds behind many trailers need to learn that even if the film they are promoting is not going to win a bagful of Oscars, at least do not cheat the audience into watching the film as ultimately the effect is a nullified viewing experience.

As Paranormal Activity holds testament to, many of the most memorable trailers do not even feature a single frame of the film, and much of the experience of watching a film can include the hype that precedes it.

So to finish... Scott Pilgrim does get the girl, the piranhas do eat everybody and yes, he does get him to the Greek. Aaaah that’s better!

Jamie Baker

Where Did All The Good Spoofs Go?

James Ellis on the demise of the spoof...

I wanted to start this article all contrived describing to all the uninformed masses what a spoof was. Literally what the spoof dictionary definition was. I was even going to add all the silly abbreviations one finds in a dictionary, make the start of the article look really cool and give myself off as some quasi-cosmic film critic: Universally intelligent and wise beyond his years (basically Kim Newman sans hair). If I did that you would probably skip to somewhere else realising everyone knows what a spoof is. What I really want to talk to you about is the recent fall of this once great, well-funny genre.

The spoof genre is often confused with satire; spoof is a light-hearted mockery of a subject (often other films), whereas satire is the exaggeration of story, characters, language etc to the point of the ridiculous. This can be extremely dark subject matter - for instance American Psycho is a very dark satire. The reason I talk of this fall of the spoof is recently while perusing some magazine I spotted on the back cover a full-page advert for the new spoof film Vampires Suck. Looking at the bouncy bold and instantly recognisable font of the poster I knew it was by the terrible twosome of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. This dynamic duo that brought us the superbly awful and unfunny Date Movie, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Meet the Spartans... you know the ones. These two men have really ripped the heart out of the spoof genre and whored it round looking for any pimp studio looking to make a quick buck. They take whichever films are popular and then they take at random any celebrity that has particularly caused any commotion in the press and try to shoe horn them all in together in a vain hope that some sort of humour might come of this. The stories are usually non-existent, the characters are either disgustingly inappropriate cameos of lookalikes, or clichéd mash up of main protagonists from other films; neither likable nor memorable but always boring, stupid and inconsistent. What I worry about is that the younger generation will only have this franchise of films as reference to what a spoof film is and all it can be. That will produce two results firstly we going to have a generation of people who are ignorant to how well a spoof can be made and intrinsically hate them. Secondly we will have a league of cretins, the cretins that keep these films a bankable asset, that love these films and carry on creating movies constantly get worse and more infantile until they release the Spoof Movie movie.

I want to write about the spoof of yore, the one that was a study and observation of films that were ripe for mockery and were done with wit and heart. What all these Date Movie-esque movies miss is a love and respect for the subject that they are mocking. They place celebrity pop culture junk randomly and unintelligently into each of these films. Real spoofs, like Airplane! (1980), take a subject matter or a series of films and make fun of each and every part in such a silly and ridiculous way that you almost fall for it instantly. The plot often takes back seat to the silliness but the characters are always endearing and always hilarious. They also use certain traits in genres and maximise as much hilarity from them. For instance on the aforementioned film Airplane! the plane in question is full of stereotypical characters that have been inspired from watching a slew of disaster films. Take the black characters that talk so much jive that you can barely understand them. Then there is Leslie Nielsen's Doctor - over confident and under competent as well as being stupid and hilarious in equal amounts. The Zucker brothers who created Airplane! and other fabulous spoofs write with such wit and deliver such a barrage of ideas and jokes it takes multiple views just to catch all of them. They have sight slapstick gags, rude and violent gags, as well as playing with words and meanings of how people talk: everyone remembers:

“Surely you cannot be serious”
“I am serious and don’t call me Shirley”

It’s this inspired silliness mixed with wit and cleverness that makes a quality and memorable spoof. The Zucker brothers obviously loved these B-movie disaster films, or at least watched a lot of them, and decided to make a homage by making fun of them. From all of these older films; spoofing has even become a verb, when a character is obviously mimicking something so much he is spoofing it.

There are two camps from whom have made spoof films an art; they are the previously mentioned Zucker Brothers and the Godfather: Mel Brooks. I have talked a little about the Zuckers and will get back to them but this paragraph is dedicated to Mel Brooks who really took this type of witty silliness to another level and one particular film is to account for that: Young Frankenstein (1974). Now please all of those punters that have screamed “but what about The Producers”, do not get me wrong that film is amazing but it isn’t a spoof, it's an out and out comedy. Its absolutely quintessential Mel Brooks but it doesn’t really spoof existing films. So its out. Young Frankenstein or Fronk-en-schtein as its pronounced, is all spoof and its fabulous. First commendations go to the writing. It is so quick witted and so silly that it takes you back to being a teenager and laughing about cocks and boobs. It really is that juvenile but taken to the next level by its level of intelligence. Just because its silly doesn’t mean it doesn’t take an intelligent person to write them, which is where Friedberg and Seltzer always go wrong.

Second commendation go to the actors, once again where the Friedberg and Seltzer seem to fall short, good comedy actors are needed and you cannot get better than Gene Wilder who plays the lead as Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder has an ability to give off an anxious anger that borders on insanity and sadness. He done this in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), playing a character who has a real sense of pathos, that life has beaten him down and he has all but given up and trying to fight it at the same time. Just to watch his jittery nervousness spill into a visible shaking of rage, his voice squeaking and raising in intensity, makes the most mundane of situation an absolute riot. In Young Frankenstein he is the grandson of the famous Victor Frankenstein trying to get out from under of his shadow and put himself forward as a viable scientist. As always Gene Wilder is perfect putting his spin on the proud but mad scientist and applying himself completely to Mel Brooks script. The other stand out actor is Marty Feldman - his Igor is the sarcastic and objective observer that most spoofs need. As easily the silliest looking character its natural that he is the one that sees through all story elements and drama. He winks and nods to the camera making sure that he is on the audiences side and is just enjoying the ride like the rest of us. He also delivers some of the best lines with such a dry dead pan that it barely registers as a joke until you really listen. Once again multiple views are a must to get the full effect of this movie.

Mel Brooks has delivered a good canon of spoof movies; he has also made some ones that have missed the target a little. Titles such as Blazing Saddles (1974) reach the dizzy heights of quality that Young Frankenstein touches but others such as Spaceballs (1987) and Silent Movie (1976) do have their moments but are essentially flawed. The current spoofs are not so much lacking in flaws but rather lacking in any quality and respect for what can be achieved with the mockery of popular culture and a film genre.

The last good spoof was the Austin Powers (1997) series of films, it was obvious to all that Mike Myers had a great love for James Bond and all other spy films and the series were successful by being exceptionally silly and brilliantly scathing. Once again Austin Powers is so loved because it is cleverly written, brilliantly acted, with good knowledge and love of the subject matter.

What I particularly loved was that spoofs were exceptionally rewarding to me personally. As a huge film fan I get a lot of the jokes and realised that spoofs were a kind of prize for being a loyal follower of movies and the industry in general. I felt it was like they had made a film of all the silly things you say when watching a film with your fellow film lovers. Often starting saying “wouldn’t it be funny if…..”. The essential part of creating a good spoof is to firstly be a fan of the films you are sending up and then creatively taking and mocking them to ridicule but never disrespecting them. The Friedberg and Seltzer approach only really responds to a scathing hatred and exceptionally childish approach to humour, which constantly falls so flat. They have forgotten to be fond of the things they are making fun of. They have forgotten to watch these films properly and really understand them. They have forgotten to get decent comedic actors but most of all they have forgotten to be funny and respectful.

As the saying goes, imitation is a form of flattery and if so then Mel Brooks and the Zucker Brothers have paid the most extravagant of all compliments.

James Ellis

A Legacy of His Own: A Doug Liman Profile (Part 1)

With his latest film Fair Game released later this year, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of director Doug Liman in the first of a two part feature...

Being the son of a legendary attorney, who represented some of America’s largest corporations such as Warner Bros and served as the U.S. Senate’s lead counsel in the Iran/Contra investigation, allowed the young Doug Liman to meet a variety of powerbrokers and celebrities. “He was very connected in [the] entertainment [industry],” stated the American director, referring to his father Arthur Liman. “Through him I met Steven Spielberg [Jaws] and got rides on his private plane to California. I’d see Spielberg’s people reading scripts. I was like, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.’” The elder Liman was uncomfortable with the idea. “He thought I should be a studio executive. He wanted me to get married.” Attending Brown University, Doug Liman co-founded the student-run cable television station BTV and served as its first manager. Moving on to the graduate program at the University of Southern California, the aspiring filmmaker got the opportunity to produce the direct-to-video release Getting In (1994). Gabriel Higgs (Stephen Mailer) is on waiting list to attend the medical school at John Hopkins University; to speed up the process he attempts to bribe those ahead of him to drop out only to find himself being the prime suspect in their murders. The cast of the comedy thriller features Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Christine Baranski (The Birdcage), Andrew McCarthy (Weekend at Bernie’s), Calista Flockhart (Fragile), Matthew Perry (The Whole Nine Yards), and Dave Chappelle (Half Baked). Doug Liman had to improvise when shooting the title sequence. The original plan was to film a cat chasing mice; however, the director had to re-edit the footage as the fearless rodents pursued the terrified animal!

“Doug knew he would be okay financially,” stated Jon Favreau (Iron Man) who wrote Swingers (1996) which is loosely based on his own experience of moving out to Los Angeles. “The big thing for him was whether or not he was going to make a name for himself in movies.” However, there was another matter Liman had to address. “Doug’s challenge was to find himself,” continued Favreau. “He had to become Doug Liman, not Arthur Liman’s son. He did that directing Swingers.” Leaving behind New York City and his girlfriend, Mike (Jon Favreau) heads to L.A. to become a film star. When Favreau wanted to star himself and his friends Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers) and Ron Livingston (The Cooler), the major movie studios balked at the project. Doug Liman agreed to direct the picture and sought monetary help from his father who secured $200,000 of financing from a client. “Ever since Swingers,” declared Liman, “I’ve been a fan of picking up footage in a real location without a big crew or fuss.” Beyond the acting, Jon Favreau was an active participant in the production; the 1964 Convertible Mercury Comet Caliente that Mike drives and the apartment in which he lives actually belonged to the star of the picture. “It was the one film that was truly not a sellout,” conceded Doug Liman of the movie which grossed $7 million worldwide and enabled him to capture the attention of Hollywood. The MTV Movie Awards lauded Liman with Best New Filmmaker, the National Board of Review handed out a Special Recognition Award, and the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards honoured Liman and Favreau with the trophy for Newcomer of the Year.

Initially, screenwriter John August (Big Fish) wrote Go (1999) as a short film about a drug deal gone horribly wrong from a single point of view; revisiting the material he decided to expand it into a feature length project by adding two other perspectives. Hired to direct and shoot the nonlinear tale was Doug Liman who worked with actors Katie Holmes (Batman Begins), Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead), Suzanne Krull (The Next Best Thing), Desmond Askew (Fabled), Nathan Bexton (Ropewalk), Robert Peters (A Lot Like Love), Scott Wolf (Emmett’s Mark), Jay Mohr (Hereafter), Timothy Olyphant (Hitman), Jodi Bianca Wise (No Tomorrow), and William Fichtner (Black Hawk Down). Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, the $6.5 million production grossed $28 million worldwide. Movie critic Leonard Maltin thought the story was too derivative and referred to it as “junior Pulp Fiction [1994].” The homage to the earlier movie directed by Quentin Tarantino was not a problem for Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times who wrote, “Go is an entertaining, clever black comedy that takes place entirely in Tarantino-land.” The Independent Spirit Awards nominated Go for Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Polley). At the Teen Choice Awards the picture contended for Breakout Performance (Sarah Polley) and Funniest Scene, while at the Young Hollywood Awards, it won Best Bad Boy (Timothy Olyphant).

With a script written by Liz Gumbinner and actors Grace Renn (Downstream) and Sebastian Siegel (The Family That Preys), Doug Liman produced the short film Indie Is Great (2002). After contemplating what would be his third feature length picture, Liman turned to The Bourne Identity (2002). “I'd read the book growing up and loved it,” said the New York City native. “I got a lucky break and discovered the rights were going to expire; I asked Robert Ludlum's permission to do this film and he gave it to me.” A CIA assassin suffering from amnesia is pursued by the agency that trained him. “The Bourne Identity started with a ridiculous popcorn premise and I tried to make it the smartest movie I possibly could,” stated Liman; he based the character of Alexander Conklin (Chris Cooper), the head of the assassin training organization Treadstone, on his father’s recollections of Oliver North and the time he spent with the National Security Agency. Faced with the challenge of adapting the novel was screenwriter Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton). “When he comes to, his mind’s a clean slate,” remarked Gilroy. “He’s in an environment with no frame of reference. So, you say to yourself, if this were me, what would I do? How can I figure out who I am? The only answer seemed to be, what do I know how to do?”

“I met with a wide range of people when casting for the film, people like Russell Crowe [A Beautiful Mind] and even Sly Stallone [Rocky] at one point,” revealed Doug Liman. “Had I done The Bourne Identity with Brad Pitt [Legends of the Fall] and I did my job properly, you would be saying to me, ‘I can’t imagine Matt Damon [Good Will Hunting] ever playing that part.’ It’s almost a work-shopping process to create the characters with the actors.” Seeking to distinguish the title role from previous action heroes, Liman trained Damon in a particular fighting style. “The martial arts actually ended up being the thing that helped us define Jason Bourne and his entire character. Right after Matt agreed to do the film, we arranged for demonstrations of different martial arts and Kali really inspired us.”

“Bourne was overly chaotic,” stated film editor Saar Klein (Almost Famous), “we went into production with a script that was just a mess.” The attitude of the director and his leading man did not help to ease the rising production tension. “On The Bourne Identity,” recalled Doug Liman, “I had a French production manager who was freaking out because Matt Damon and I were constantly changing the script to do things that felt more consistent and honest with what his character would do.” The originally scheduled 2001 release for the action-thriller had to be pushed back as Liman did a series of reshoots which included the car chase that takes place in the middle of the picture. “I just wanted to come at the genre with a very specific point of view. In the real world, if you’re in a car chase, you’re going to hit a million things and your car is going to end up a total wreck by the end. In The Bourne Identity, I decided to film that he skids. He just looks like he’s going to miss hitting, and then he does hit because it’s human.” Featuring the acting talents of Franka Potente (Run Lola Run), Clive Owen (Duplicity), Brian Cox (Troy), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Congo), Gabriel Mann (Born Killers), Walton Goggins (Miracle at St. Anna), Josh Hamilton (Away We Go), and Julia Stiles (Save the Last Dance), the $60 million Hollywood production grossed $214 million worldwide. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films nominated The Bourne Identity for the Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film while the American Choreography Awards lauded it with the trophy for Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography.

Moving to television, Doug Liman directed the pilot episode of the Fox melodrama The O.C. (2003 to 2007); Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), a troubled and homeless teenager, finds refuge in the posh community of Orange County. Liman also helmed a regular season episode called Model Home (2003), in the series that stars Peter Gallagher (American Beauty), Kelly Rowan (Hook), Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense), Adam Brody (Thank You for Smoking), Tate Donovan (The Office Party), and Rachel Bilson (The Last Kiss).

Returning to the spy genre, the filmmaker produced a movie about a couple of assassins with serious marriage issues.

Continue to part two.

Visit Doug Liman's official blog at 30 Ninjas.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Five Essential... Sylvester Stallone Films

Tom Jolliffe selects his Five Essential Sylvester Stallone films…

From the moment he brought us Rocky, through to giving us Rambo, until his most recent gift, The Expendables, Sly Stallone has been a hero to many a red blooded male. Be it the bygone days of childhood, sneaking Stallone viewings from the video collection of a friends older brother, or having yet another round with the likes of Carl Weathers, Mr. T and Dolph Lundgren in repeat Rocky saga viewings in your adult years, Sly has inspired so many underdogs to strive for their day, or limp-chested flab monsters to pick up a dumb-bell. The man is an icon, and one of the three kings of the action world. Part of the trifector that is the Planet Hollywood gang, of himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Sly commands respect from those around him and will always try to deliver what the fans want (even though he sometimes misfires badly… ahem… Rhinestone!). His latest triumph was in orchestrating perhaps the ultimate assembling of badassedness to ever grace the silver screen, with The Expendables featuring a who’s who of rugged blow ‘em up specialists. Only Sly could have made it possible. With this in mind, and in honour of the Italian Stallion, I bring you: the essential Sly Stallone!

5. Cliffhanger (1993, dir. Renny Harlin)

Very tough to start. Lets be honest, Sly has had his share of turkeys, and given the man’s acting ability on top form, he’s not always pushed himself in his roles. The action genre has made him an icon, but by the same token moved him away from dramatic weight quite often. However, Sly throws himself into his action flicks with aplomb and Cliffhanger is no different. With a fantastic setting, a ridiculously hammy bad guy (John Lithgow) and some ridiculously hammy co-stars (Michael Rooker, Rex Linn), Cliffhanger delivers what action fans desire. There’s some brilliant mountain-set set pieces, and Stallone once again plays the underdog who defies the odds to win.



4. Rocky Balboa (2006, dir. Sylvester Stallone)

16 years after almost nuking the series into submission with Rocky V, Stallone finally got the chance to redeem himself and bring about a satisfying finale to the Rocky canon. This is a wonderful retreat of old territory that gets back to the personal roots of the first film. Though this film is a little sentimental and sloppy at times, it’s rides the nostalgia value well. Watching this on the big screen at the time gave me that tingle in the spine, hairs on neck standing up, rush that I’d not felt at the cinema since I was a kid. When the theme kicked in for the training montage, the butterflies kicked-in in my stomach. By the time the fight was in progress I was lost, gone, 10 years old again! Nostalgia aside, Sly knows well how to engage his audience, and he ticks all the boxes. What’s more Stallone himself delivers a wonderful, heartfelt performance. The film is almost a love letter from Sly, to his own creation, Rocky, but it works.

3. Copland (1997, dir. James Mangold)

Pitting himself against the likes of De Niro and Harvey Keitel, Stallone put aside the normal routine of blowing shit up to do some serious acting. With a beer belly where his six pack used to be, Sly embodies the cumbersome, slightly slow witted Freddy Heflin brilliantly. Copland is kind of Scorsese-lite, but it’s a good film. The cast is huge, and aside from those mentioned, there is also Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Annabelle Sciorra and Cathy Moriaty. Despite ample competition, Sly holds the movie and delivers a great performance, reminding people at the time just why he was once nominated for an Oscar.




2. First Blood (1982, dir. Ted Kotcheff)

Before Rambo become an American icon, a caricature and Ronald Reagan’s adopted son, he was a burnt out, slightly unbalanced Vietnam vet, pushed too far by local sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy) in First Blood. This is far from the explosive insanity of the sequels, which are still delightfully loony, but it’s a grounded fugitive on the loose movie. Only this fugitive is not to be trifled with, especially hiding out in the wilderness, inviting the hunters into his territory. First Blood notches up the tension nicely and features some memorable set pieces, but it’s the character work that most interests. Stallone is excellent, portraying the tortured soul of Rambo well. Despite being a cornered beast, Rambo is still fragile here, and Stallone brings that out fantastically, especially during the famous breakdown scene at the films climax. Despite his excellent, it’s Brian Dennehy though who in fact steals the movie, while Richard Crenna chews scenery nicely.

1. Rocky (1976, dir. John G. Avildsen)

Well, it had to be didn’t it? A classic. One of the ultimate underdog films. Sly delivers one of cinemas most endearing characters. There’s probably a lot of similarity between Rocky and Sly himself and as such he slips beautifully into the character. Rocky isn’t bright, but he’s likeable, and Stallone gets the viewer right in the Stallions corner. Sly puts his all into the role and deservedly picked up a best actor Oscar nomination for his performance. Equally good are Talia Shire as Adrian, and Burt Young as Pauly. As Mickey, Burgess Meredith steals the movie though, which given the amount of first rate acting takes some doing, but Burgess does it! Rocky is an enduring tale, relatable, and infinitely repeatable. Sly has proven himself a master at setting the pulse racing, getting the blood pumping, and the fists clenching. The pattern of training montage followed by fight has become the Rocky staple through five sequels, and the main man always has the odds stacked against him. Despite seeming a little trite in that regard, it never feels it, certainly not in the first, and best of the series.

Honourable Mentions...

Rocky II-IV, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Tango & Cash and Demolition Man. Of course The Expendables in time will be worthy of mention, and perhaps crack final place in the top five one day.

Agree? Disagree? We'd love to hear your comments on the list...

Tom Jolliffe

Essentials Archive

The Unsung Heroes of Film: The Editor

James Ellis on the unsung heroes of film...

Most people don’t realise what goes into making the films we love and adore. There is pre-production - all the writing of scripts and getting everything and everybody together. Then there is the production – all the shooting and explosions and arty bits. Finally there is the post-production – that’s the editing, CGI and music etc. Now while the infamous director holds most of these together, sometimes directors are just brought on for the shooting and leave. But auteurs on the other hand have a passion and style that needs to be satiated. Most directors like to work with the same people, people they can trust and depend on to fulfil their masterful vision. Before I drift into talking about the genius of some directors I want to sing the song of the unsung hero of filmmaking:

The editor.

The editor is the person that takes all the footage and ‘cuts’ it together to create an understandable film. It has often been forgotten amongst audience how much work and craft goes into this, the pacing and tone can all be changed through the editing. Editing has be claimed to be the sculpting of the stone (footage). Greg S. Faller said that an editor should be invisible, the cuts should move seamlessly from one to another creating the least amount jarring for the audience. There are rules to follow - trust me there are a shit load - I have a book called ‘The Grammar of the Edit’ that sets them out. Editors do need to follow these rules but like with any art when they are broken and broken right it makes for such a powerful impact, they can make the film their own.

One of these ‘unsung’ heroes is Thelma Schoonmaker, the long time editor for Martin Scorsese. Now every one knows the explosive directorial style of Scorsese, but ever since their first collaboration on Raging Bull (1980), Thelma Schoonmaker has consistently made sure her style is original, creative and that she pushes the boundaries of editing convention each time. Scorsese and her make a perfect couple. A match made in Heaven some would say. Now put her name into Google and you can get plenty of in depth analysis of her style and life story. I just want to make sure all of you readers just realise what goes into her work, and give her the credit she deserves.

Lets take her first feature film, which was Woodstock (1969) (not with Scorsese), a phenomenal documentary. Editing in documentary is a large part of crafting of the story, especially as I can only imagine what the footage was like from an LSD fuelled festival (don’t quote me on that please, I have no proof I am only speculating). Schoonmaker constantly plays with our expectations of a documentary cross fading between dreamy images of rock stars, instruments and the addled audience. Using the space of the frame intelligently splitting them up into multiple screens so we can see all parts of the performance and festival. With this piece of work we can see a glimmer of Schoonmaker’s brilliant talent, she changed how documentaries could be edited, how they could be sculpted to dictate the subjects tone and makes sure the audience feel like they are there and relating with the legendary atmosphere of the festival. She also earned an Oscar nomination for her efforts.

Her next Oscar nomination was the beautiful-but-brutal Raging Bull (1980), the biopic that would follow the violent life of middleweight boxing champion Jake La Motta. Here I feel is when she showed how a film could really be edited. She would mix classic Hollywood editing with a modern unstoppable staccato of images that cannot be compared and would lead the way for a montage style that is still used today. Her managing of scenes involving Jake La Motta and his family could be seen as a perfect by the book editing of shot reverse shot, letting the actors work the screen, holding on to images so the performances can really shine through. Then when the fight scenes came around her editing knife really starts to slice up the action. She would cut between images of blood, fists, sweat, tears and ropes of the ring and making sure the audience could never get out of fight. Taking Scorsese’s legions of footage; twisting them and turning them so the audience can’t get away from the barrage of punishment that Jake La Motta gives out or takes depending on the fight. I remember watching this film and realising how an editor can put their mark on a film so powerfully. It was here that at the end credits I burned her name to my memory and took a keen eye to her career. Scorsese is a master director picking shots that some times need to be held on to and some that need to be shown but for but the briefest of times. She, unlike the director, won the Oscar for Best Editing. Just one of three she would later earn.

If you are reading this then I would be right to assume that you have a vested interest in films and probably watch more than the average punter. If you have been inspired or intrigued by what I write then please go out and watch or re-watch Scorsese’s film back catalogue from Raging Bull. Look at the time she stays on long takes and when she ups the pace with a tirade of rapid images cut together so cleanly. I see her as the perfect serial killer cutting up her victims perfectly and guiltlessly. Her editing will often mimic Scorsese’s characters emphasising their ability to suddenly shock and eviscerate into violence.

Her last Oscar was also awarded the same time that Scorsese won his first in 2007 for The Departed. Here was the first time, in a feature film, I witnessed non-linear editing. Non-linear editing is when inexplicably action from the same shot is skipped to forward on the movements of the character. Now remember generally in films when a character is doing an action a cut further on of the same shot is a big no-no especially in the ‘Grammar of the Edit”. But to do it right is so effective, the first time it is prevalent in The Departed is when Leonardo Di Caprio’s character is packing to leave his life of under cover police work. The pressure for the character has built up so much that on the one shot of him packing the bag, we see multiple cuts of this shot; almost seamlessly speeding up the action and creating an utter urgency for this character. He needs to leave and this is completely embraced by Schoonmaker utilising a new convention of editing.

I love that this lady of 66 years old, who even in her later years is still breaking rules and making sure she will not be forgotten. Changing how editing and the depiction of images can be conceived so differently when placed together in different ways. Sergei Eisenstein may have created montage editing with The Battleship Potemkin (1925) but Thelma Schoonmaker regularly takes it to the next level.

These films are an essential watch if you want to see how this master sculptor works her stone...

Raging Bull (1980)
The Color Of Money (1986)
GoodFellas (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)
The Departed (2006)
Shutter Island (2010)

James Ellis

Drawn to Anime: A Hayao Miyazaki Profile (Part 4)

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of Japanese animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki in the fourth of a five part feature... read parts one, two and three.

“I certainly do not make animated films just so they will be popular with children,” stated Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. “I try to create what I wanted to see as a child or what I believe my children want to see. We have all heard folktales. You can tell when you read them that they are a kind of encouragement; they assure us that somehow things will turn out alright. Even if something terrible happens, someone will come and save us – Cinderella and Snow White are good examples.” Revisiting the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, the Japanese filmmaker wrote in a planning memo dated April 19, 1995, “Mononoke-hime [Princess Mononoke, 1997] does not purport to solve the problems of the entire world. The battle between rampaging forest gods and humanity cannot end well; there can be no happy ending. Yet, even amid the hatred and slaughter, there are things worthy of life. It is possible for wonderful encounters to occur and for beautiful things to exist.”

Miyazaki had a particular era and goal in mind when developing the project; he wanted to “depict the unchanging nature of humans by overlapping the turmoil of the Muromachi period [1336 to 1573] – just as the medieval framework collapsed – with the upheavals of our era as we head into the twenty-first century. This is a vivid period of action-adventure woven from two threads – a vertical thread of the struggle of humans and spirits over a beast god [boar god], and a horizontal thread of the meeting between a girl [Princess Mononoke who is raised by wolves and is a fierce fighter who despises humans], and a boy [Ashitaka, who has a death curse placed upon him]. This meeting is the key to their liberation.” When describing the central characters, the Tokyo-native, remarked, “The pivotal figure in the story, the Great Forest Spirit, is an entirely imaginary creature with a face of a human, the body of a beast, and horns made of trees. The boy protagonist is a descendent of the Emishi, who disappeared in ancient times after being decimated by the Yamoto regime; the girl looks not unlike a type of clay figure of the Jômon period.”

Desiring to break free of the clichés and biases associated with period dramas, the anime artist placed the castles, towns, and farm villages with rice paddies in the background. Hayao Miyazaki was attracted to the Muromachi era because, “It was a period of mobility, when the distinction between warriors and peasants was less entrenched, and – the paintings show women as craftspersons – society was more broadminded and free.” The animator was inspired by the villains featured in Victorian-age novels. “The evil characters that appear in them are truly dashing. They are lighthearted, generous, and good-looking – the epitome of cool everyone idealizes in our modern society.” Miyazaki added, “I’m frankly so sick of stories where the most negative characters appear with scary faces.”

To illustrate his vision of the picture, the animator created a series of transparent water-colour image boards which were later published in an illustrated book. “In the beginning I wanted to do a fantasy rather than a period drama set in Japan,” revealed Hayao Miyazaki. “However, when I said, ‘Now, let's do it.’ I didn't have the heart for it. Because when you do a Japanese setting, you can't escape from how to style the kimonos and how to represent various other things. Besides that, I kept thinking, ‘This isn't the right time.’ But while I was putting it off, I changed my way of thinking and the core subject gradually changed, so the direction I wanted to take became very clear…I thought that I must make a deeper, more authentic movie. I continually thought about this as we entered the 90's. As I plunged in deeper, I came to look hard at the issue of the true nature of humanity, and to depict the relationship between man and nature and between man and man. Not just superficial ideas like ‘When nature is abundant, humanity will be happy.’” Miyazaki sees tale as being etched in reality, “This film is just reenacting what humans have done historically. After Shishigami's [Great Forest Spirit] head was returned, nature regenerated. But it has become a tame, non-frightening forest of the kind that we are accustomed to seeing. The Japanese have been remaking the Japanese landscape in this way.”

Until the release of Titanic (1997) a few months later, Princess Mononoke was the most commercially successful film in Japan, where it became the first animated movie to win Best Film at the Japanese Academy Awards. At the Mainichi Film Concours, the picture was lauded with Best Film, Best Animated Film and the Readers’ Choice Award for Best Film. Hayao Miyazaki’s refusal to tone down the violence by cutting out footage caused Disney to release the movie under the Miramax label. The legendary American animation studio had nothing to worry about as the film grossed $159 million in worldwide box office receipts.

“There is a book for children, Kirino Mukouno Fushigina Machi [A Mysterious Town Over the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba],” recalled Hayao Mizayaki as to the origins of Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Miyazaki’s Spirited Away or Spirited Away, 2001). “It was published in 1980, and I wondered if I could make a movie based on it. That was before we started work on Mononoke-hime. There is a staff member who loved this book when she was in fifth grade, and she read it many times. But I couldn't understand why it was so interesting; I was mortified, and I really wanted to know why. So, I wrote a project proposal [based on the book], but it was rejected in the end. After that, I thought it would be better to have a more lively character, so I wrote a proposal called Rin and the Chimney Painter. It was a contemporary story with a heroine who was a little bit older, but it was rejected as well. It ended up being a story with a scary old woman sitting on the Bandai [a seat on a raised platform where the manager of a bath house sits] of a bath house.” The animator has had a childhood fascination with the pivotal setting in the movie. “For me, a bath house is a mysterious place in town. The first time I saw an oil painting was in a bath house. And there was a small door next to the bath tub. I wondered what was behind that door.”

“We have made Totoro [1988], which was for small children, Laputa [1986], in which a boy sets out on a journey, and Kiki's Delivery Service [1989], in which a teenager has to live with herself,” said Hayao Miyazaki. “We have not made a film for 10-year-old girls, who are in the first stage of their adolescence.” Chihiro attempts to rescue her parents who have been turned into obese pigs in a supernatural world overseen by a haggard sorceress and dictator Yubaba. While residing in his mountain cabin, the animator developed the concept. “I felt this country only offered such things as crushes and romance to 10-year-old girls, though, and looking at my young friends, I felt this was not what they held dear in their hearts, not what they wanted. And so I wondered if I could make a movie in which they could be heroines.” As for why he chose to have a bath house as place where the gods visited, Hayao Miyazaki chuckled, “It would be fun if there were such a bath house. It's the same as when we go to hot springs. Japanese gods go there to rest for a few days, then return home saying they wished they could stay for a little while longer. I was imagining such things as I made the images [for the film]. I was thinking that it's tough being a Japanese god today.”

“As usual, after the production started, I realized that it would be more than three hours long if I made it according to my plot,” revealed the anime artist. “I had to cut a lot from the story, and make a complete change. I'm also trying to make this film using an ordinary man's eye this time, so I reduced the eye-candy as much as possible and made it simple. I didn't want to make the heroine a pretty girl, but even I was frustrated at the beginning of the movie: I thought, ‘What a dull girl she is’ [laughs]. When I saw the rushes, I thought, ‘She isn't cute. Isn't there something we can do?’ But as the film neared the end, I was a bit relieved to feel, ‘Oh, she will be a charming woman.’”

To clarify the theme of the picture, Miyazaki made use of a real life analogy. “I think this story is similar to that of a girl who comes to, for example, Ghibli, and says, ‘Let me work here.’ For us, Ghibli is a familiar place, but it would look like a labyrinth to a girl coming here for the first time, a scary place. There are a lot of grumpy people here. Joining an organization, finding your own place, and being recognized there requires a lot of effort. In many instances, you must use your own strength. But that's a matter of course, that's living in the world. So, I am making the film with the idea that it is the world, rather than bad guys or good guys. The scary woman, Yubaba, who looks like a bad guy in this film, is actually the manager of the bath house where the heroine works. She's having a hard time managing the bath house; she has many employees, a son, and her own desires, and she is suffering because of those things. So I don't intend to portray her as a simple villain.”

“All of the design that is featured as artwork in the movie is hand-drawn,” stated Hayao Miyazaki. “We have given it a little elegance boost with digital technology. In digital technology, the color hues remain profoundly unstable so I instructed my staff to never trust the computer screen, only the way the color looks to their own eyes on paper. Fundamentally, the animation is all pencil-drawn. In a few scenes we turned to digital to create patterns on the waves or to show bubbling water. As we headed into production on this film, I gathered my staff and I said to them, ‘This is a two-dimensional film. This is our strength.’ There is a fundamental difference in thinking about how to approach a 2-D versus a 3-D film. For example, Yubaba’s head [large as it is] is not always the same size in every scene. Depending on my mood and her mood, the size of her head changes. This is an emotional relationship we develop through scale with the audience, one that we would have to abandon if we wholeheartedly embraced digital technology. I'm holding onto my pencil, thank you.”

“Creation is always a series of regrets,” admitted Miyazaki, “but Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi was an exception. I felt really good when I was creating it. I'd always wanted to visualize a train running on the surface of the sea, and I think we came up with the scene that perfectly matches that image.” Always keen to entertain audience members, the filmmaker stated, “If they find this movie to be exciting, it will be a success in my mind. They can't lie. Until now, I had made ‘I wish there was such a person’ leading characters. This time, however, I created a heroine who is an ordinary girl, someone with whom the audience can sympathize, someone about whom they can say, "Yes, it's like that." It's very important to make it plain and unexaggerated. Starting with that, it's not a story in which the characters grow up, but a story in which they draw on something already inside them, brought out by the particular circumstances... I wanted to tell such a story in this movie. I want my young friends to live like that, and I think they, too, have such a wish.”

Earning $275 million worldwide, Spirited Away became an awards and box office sensation. At the Japanese Academy Awards, the picture won Best Film and Best Song while the Mainichi Film Concours honoured it with Best Film, Best Animated Film, Best Director, Best Musical Score, and the Readers’ Choice Award for Best Film. The movie was lauded with the Oscar for Best Animated Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Film. Spirited Away was also given the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Saturn Award for Best Animated Feature, and the Annies for Best Animation Feature, Best Director, Best Music, and Best Writing.

Desiring an outlet which would allow for creative experimentation without the worries of commercial appeal, the Japanese animation company established the Ghibli Museum in 2002. Stating the main objective for the project, Hayao Miyazaki remarked, “A museum that is interesting and relaxes the soul. A museum where much can be discovered.” Visitors are greeted by a giant Totoro; a roof-top garden features a robot from Laputa, and a vast collection of storyboard, animation cells, and background paintings from the studio’s various pictures are on public display.

The most unique feature at the Ghibli Museum is the specially-made selection of short films screened exclusively at the eighty-seat Saturn Theatre. A group of school children build a play boat only to find themselves tailing a whale in Kujira tori (The Whale Hunt, 2001); Hayao Miyazaki narrates the history of flying with the help of a pig pilot reminiscent of the hero of Porco Rosso (1992) in Kûsô no Sora Tobu Kikaitachi (Imaginary Flying Machines, 2002); spirited puppy Koro gets lost in the city when his owner fails to lock the house gate properly in Koro no Daisampo (Koro’s Big Stroll, 2002); and a sequel to My Neighbour Totoro where five-year-old Mei befriends a child kittenbus and is reunited with Totoro in Mei to Konekobasu (Mei and the Kittenbus, 2002).

“Making a true children’s film is a daunting challenge because we need to clearly portray the essence of a truly complex world,” observed Hayao Mizayaki. “A really dedicated children’s film is something that adults will also find rewarding whereas films made for adults, which consist simply of a kind of adornment and decoration, will leave children deeply dissatisfied. I oppose simplifying the world for children. The fact of the matter is that children know, somehow they intuit and deeply understand the complexity of the world we live in. So, I would suggest that you not underestimate children.”

Enraged by the American war with Iraq, Mizayaki found his follow-up project being profoundly affected by the global conflict.

Continue to part five

Starting Point 1979 to 1996 - a collection of essays and sketches by Hayao Miyazaki.

Ghibli Museum - Official Website

For more, visit Studio Ghibli fansites Online Ghibli, StudioGhibli.net and GhibliWorld.com, along with the GhibliWiki.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.