If I did my job last time we met, you have officially been shamed into joining Netflix. Welcome. But therein lies the rub: I forced you, through gentle berating, to join our ranks and then I left you, alone, to float in a sea of seemingly endless choices. "I'm here," you probably cried into the howling darkness. "What now shall I watch? The choices: they are too vast!" You may have thought I had abandoned you. I didn't. I'm sorry if that's what you thought. Don't be stupid.
Anyway, in honor of last week's royal wedding, this installment of This Week in Instant View will focus on British cinema. Yes, the accents may make large chunks of dialogue nearly indecipherable, but...
You know, I have no idea how to end that sentence. Let's just jump right into, all right? Pip pip cheerio!!!
CHECK IT OUT...WITH RESERVATIONS
Cashback (2006): Listen, I'm not going to lie to you: Cashback is pretty much a rambling mess. But it's a mess largely worth your time. As the end credits roll you will more than likely think to yourself, as I did, "What was all that about?" But don't let that discourage you. There are some very meaningful things going down in Sean Ellis's film about a heartbroken art school student who discovers he can stop time and uses these freeze-framed moments to undress random strangers (i.e. extremely attractive young women) and sketch them in his notebook. There's other stuff going on too--like I said earlier, the film is a big ol' rambling mess--but Cashback is most infamous for its gratuitous nudity. That, however, is not why I'm recommending it to you, dear readers. There is a sweetness to Cashback that is quite winning. There is insight and humor and, sure, tons of tits, but overall it's the charming protagonist and eccentric supporting players that make Cashback a worthwhile endeavor.AVOID IT!
Heartless (2009): Written and directed by respected British artist Philip Ridley, Heartless tells the story of a disfigured young man named Jamie, who makes a deal with a devil-type figure (pointed beard, long hair, bit of a pyromaniac) to be desirable to women or whatever with (predictably) dire results. It's the old "deal with the devil" story, this time with molotov cocktail-chucking aliens and ghostly little Indian girls. There is very little to like about this film--SPOILER ALERT: There is one HUGE thing to like though, so stay tuned--which was kind of disappointing because I thought the trailer was pretty great:
Heartless (2009): Written and directed by respected British artist Philip Ridley, Heartless tells the story of a disfigured young man named Jamie, who makes a deal with a devil-type figure (pointed beard, long hair, bit of a pyromaniac) to be desirable to women or whatever with (predictably) dire results. It's the old "deal with the devil" story, this time with molotov cocktail-chucking aliens and ghostly little Indian girls. There is very little to like about this film--SPOILER ALERT: There is one HUGE thing to like though, so stay tuned--which was kind of disappointing because I thought the trailer was pretty great:But, yeah, Heartless, like Cashback, is a rambling mess. First of all, Jamie doesn't even "sell his soul" until more than halfway through the movie. Kind of weird to hold off on the "deal with the devil" moment in a "deal with the devil" film until twenty minutes before the film ends. Or maybe that's just how it felt. Heartless meanders aimlessly for the bulk of its 114-minute running time.
There is, however, one shining moment (see: SPOILER ALERT) in the sea of crap that is Heartless and that is the scene where Jamie meets the Weapons Man, played by Eddie Marsan, who explains the terms of Jamie's agreement with The Dark Lord. This scene exhibits a grotesque playfulness and verve that the surrounding film lacks. I'd rather watch a film that follows the Weapons Man around as he's paying visits to the Devil's new agents of chaos and laying out what sorts of horrible actions they'll have to commit to keep up their end of the hellish bargain they've struck.
ALSO WORTH CHECKING OUT!
-All of our Docu-Rama films (Brother's Keeper, We Live in Public, Marwencol & Obscene) are available and worth a look.
-I'm about halfway through an anime series called Birdy the Mighty: Decode that is pretty sweet, if you like sci-fi stories about intergalactic, scantily-clad female special agents who share their bodies with bashful, Japanese schoolboys.
-For anime fans: you can't go wrong with Blassreiter.
-And, for Pete's sake, if you haven't watched Party Down yet, do it! What are you waiting for, ya creep?!?
