28 Weeks Later, Memories of Tomorrow, Fay Grim
28 Weeks Later ***1/2
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
99 Minutes
Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity.
I will admit that I was no a huge fan of "28 Days Later." I found that it drifted from its original purpose about halfway through, and I lost interest. Now oddly enough I found "28 Weeks Later" to be a great surprise-intense, gritty, and extremely well made. By the ending it gave me a little bit of chills. This is clearly a better film, even though it does not have the same director or any of the same cast members. Taking place directly after the events of the first, the virus has been quarantined around London, and the infected seem to have all seized to be. Until two children end up discovering a woman (their mother) who appears to have the virus, but is immune to it. And then when her husband kisses her and comes down with the rage infection, it begins to spread again. London is on complete lock down, and the military is prepared to kill anything that they see moving.
Like the first there is social commentary, only here it fits in the broad scope of the film. The ending does in fact leave the viewer hanging for a third film, but I really do hope that they don't because it was chilling on its own. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo did not drift away from the style and feel of the first-often showing the film as a little grainy and dark, with shaky camera movement. Perhaps there was a bit too much shaking cameras, and the movement of the cameras and the speed of the infected sometimes made it hard to see what was happening. But "28 Weeks Later" is a terrific sequel, surpassing the first one, and being a great zombie creature film. This is intense and visually appealing horror film which I enjoyed immensely.
Memories of Tomorrow **1/2
Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi
122 Minutes
Not Rated-Intense Themes
"Memories of Tomorrow" is the second film in a month dealing with the disease of Alzheimer's-the first being "Away from Her." Now "Away from Her" dealt with the same topic in a tender and loving way, and all I could think about while watching "Memories of Tomorrow" was some kind of shoddy made for television movie. Not to say that the film does not tug at the heart, but it is done in a less convincing and less realistic way from the other film. Ken Watanabe is a fine actor, and probably single handily saves this from being complete trash. Watanabe plays Masayuki Saeki, a businessman living in Japan whose trip to the doctor informs him that he has an early onset of Alzheimer's disease. Saeki ends up loosing his job, and as his memory fades his wife does everything she can to make sure he can live a normal life-including making signs and labels on everything around the house. But Saeki still has problems-has feelings that his wife is cheating on him and then forgets that notion later, and is constantly upset at himself for doing this to her. This leads to a third act that is somewhat improbable, and finds the easy way out. "Memories of Tomorrow" is by default a sad film, by the subject matter alone, but I could not care for the characters as much as in "Away from Her." The script makes everybody one dimensional, there are some montages set to pop American tunes that were distracting, and the last twenty minutes became somewhat strenuous. Watanabe is worth seeing, and it's nice to see him play something more contemporary as opposed to the period pieces I am used to seeing him in. He should get more work, and as an Oscar nominee I am shocked that he does not.
Fay Grim ***1/2
Directed by Hal Hartley
118 Minutes
Rated R for language and some sexuality.
"Fay Grim' is the ten year later sequel to an indie film called "Henry Fool." I just saw "Henry Fool" recently and found it to be "alright," but certainly not as good as everyone made it out to be. The saving grace there were the three main performances, Parker Posey, James Urbaniak, and Thomas Jay Ryan (who was Henry Fool himself.) Now there is "Fay Grim," which I found to be a better movie mainly because it doesn't take itself so seriously. "Fay Grim" is a massive and complex tale taking place ten years later where Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is scared that her fourteen year old son is going to turn into a person like Henry. Henry has been missing for years after accidentally killing a man, and escaped on a plane pretending to be the Nobel Prize winning poet Simon Grim (James Urbaniak). Simon is in prison currently. Fay is approached by Agent Fulbright (played by a hilarious Jeff Goldblum) who wants to know if Fay knew anything about the whereabouts of Henry's notebooks, which he dubbed his "Confessions." Simon thought they were a badly written story, but Fulbright believes that they are CIA codes and that Henry was a spy. Fay gets involved in this complex plot involving terrorists as she hunts for Henry to see him one more time.
The humor of "Fay Grim" mostly comes from the fact that you never know exactly what is going on, but the fun is watching the characters respond. "Henry Fool" had this pretentious feel to it, and some of it was gross and parts a little unwatchable (like the throw up scene earlier on). But "Fay Grim' does not take itself seriously, and it just becomes fun. The characters are somewhat different from what they were in the first film, but ten years is a long time and everybody does change in such a large gap of time. The war of terror satire is acceptable, even though it catches you off guard, and the lack of action considering this is an action movie is hilarious. Whenever there is an intense action scene the action is replaced by a series of still photographs. You have to love low budget cinema. The acting is on par with perfection. Parker Posey is almost in every scene and has this screen presence similar to that of Lucille Ball (and the screwball comedy element is here.) Urbaniak was good here once again, and Thomas Jay Ryan was perfect as Henry Fool himself, even though he only shows up for one scene (and its the films best scene.) "Fay Grim" is another one of those films that is coming out in the theatre and HDTV on Friday, and coming out on Tuesday on DVD. Unlike the other films that have followed this format (with the exception of "Bubble" and perhaps "Diggers") it is well worth scoping this one out. I thought it was a better film that the first, and you do not need to see "Henry Fool" to appreciate and enjoy this one. It might help for the back story, but that's it.
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
99 Minutes
Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity.
I will admit that I was no a huge fan of "28 Days Later." I found that it drifted from its original purpose about halfway through, and I lost interest. Now oddly enough I found "28 Weeks Later" to be a great surprise-intense, gritty, and extremely well made. By the ending it gave me a little bit of chills. This is clearly a better film, even though it does not have the same director or any of the same cast members. Taking place directly after the events of the first, the virus has been quarantined around London, and the infected seem to have all seized to be. Until two children end up discovering a woman (their mother) who appears to have the virus, but is immune to it. And then when her husband kisses her and comes down with the rage infection, it begins to spread again. London is on complete lock down, and the military is prepared to kill anything that they see moving.
Like the first there is social commentary, only here it fits in the broad scope of the film. The ending does in fact leave the viewer hanging for a third film, but I really do hope that they don't because it was chilling on its own. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo did not drift away from the style and feel of the first-often showing the film as a little grainy and dark, with shaky camera movement. Perhaps there was a bit too much shaking cameras, and the movement of the cameras and the speed of the infected sometimes made it hard to see what was happening. But "28 Weeks Later" is a terrific sequel, surpassing the first one, and being a great zombie creature film. This is intense and visually appealing horror film which I enjoyed immensely.
Memories of Tomorrow **1/2
Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi
122 Minutes
Not Rated-Intense Themes
"Memories of Tomorrow" is the second film in a month dealing with the disease of Alzheimer's-the first being "Away from Her." Now "Away from Her" dealt with the same topic in a tender and loving way, and all I could think about while watching "Memories of Tomorrow" was some kind of shoddy made for television movie. Not to say that the film does not tug at the heart, but it is done in a less convincing and less realistic way from the other film. Ken Watanabe is a fine actor, and probably single handily saves this from being complete trash. Watanabe plays Masayuki Saeki, a businessman living in Japan whose trip to the doctor informs him that he has an early onset of Alzheimer's disease. Saeki ends up loosing his job, and as his memory fades his wife does everything she can to make sure he can live a normal life-including making signs and labels on everything around the house. But Saeki still has problems-has feelings that his wife is cheating on him and then forgets that notion later, and is constantly upset at himself for doing this to her. This leads to a third act that is somewhat improbable, and finds the easy way out. "Memories of Tomorrow" is by default a sad film, by the subject matter alone, but I could not care for the characters as much as in "Away from Her." The script makes everybody one dimensional, there are some montages set to pop American tunes that were distracting, and the last twenty minutes became somewhat strenuous. Watanabe is worth seeing, and it's nice to see him play something more contemporary as opposed to the period pieces I am used to seeing him in. He should get more work, and as an Oscar nominee I am shocked that he does not.
Fay Grim ***1/2
Directed by Hal Hartley
118 Minutes
Rated R for language and some sexuality.
"Fay Grim' is the ten year later sequel to an indie film called "Henry Fool." I just saw "Henry Fool" recently and found it to be "alright," but certainly not as good as everyone made it out to be. The saving grace there were the three main performances, Parker Posey, James Urbaniak, and Thomas Jay Ryan (who was Henry Fool himself.) Now there is "Fay Grim," which I found to be a better movie mainly because it doesn't take itself so seriously. "Fay Grim" is a massive and complex tale taking place ten years later where Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is scared that her fourteen year old son is going to turn into a person like Henry. Henry has been missing for years after accidentally killing a man, and escaped on a plane pretending to be the Nobel Prize winning poet Simon Grim (James Urbaniak). Simon is in prison currently. Fay is approached by Agent Fulbright (played by a hilarious Jeff Goldblum) who wants to know if Fay knew anything about the whereabouts of Henry's notebooks, which he dubbed his "Confessions." Simon thought they were a badly written story, but Fulbright believes that they are CIA codes and that Henry was a spy. Fay gets involved in this complex plot involving terrorists as she hunts for Henry to see him one more time.
The humor of "Fay Grim" mostly comes from the fact that you never know exactly what is going on, but the fun is watching the characters respond. "Henry Fool" had this pretentious feel to it, and some of it was gross and parts a little unwatchable (like the throw up scene earlier on). But "Fay Grim' does not take itself seriously, and it just becomes fun. The characters are somewhat different from what they were in the first film, but ten years is a long time and everybody does change in such a large gap of time. The war of terror satire is acceptable, even though it catches you off guard, and the lack of action considering this is an action movie is hilarious. Whenever there is an intense action scene the action is replaced by a series of still photographs. You have to love low budget cinema. The acting is on par with perfection. Parker Posey is almost in every scene and has this screen presence similar to that of Lucille Ball (and the screwball comedy element is here.) Urbaniak was good here once again, and Thomas Jay Ryan was perfect as Henry Fool himself, even though he only shows up for one scene (and its the films best scene.) "Fay Grim" is another one of those films that is coming out in the theatre and HDTV on Friday, and coming out on Tuesday on DVD. Unlike the other films that have followed this format (with the exception of "Bubble" and perhaps "Diggers") it is well worth scoping this one out. I thought it was a better film that the first, and you do not need to see "Henry Fool" to appreciate and enjoy this one. It might help for the back story, but that's it.
posted by Eric at
11:59 PM
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