Steve Jobs (2015) review

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Steve Jobs. Tech genius or horrible monster behind the scenes? Why can’t he be both? Aaron Sorkin’s very wordy script doesn’t settle on one or either, but positions itself somewhere in the middle. Jobs is neither portrayed as a complete inhuman monster, nor as somebody who really had a handle on the technical side of computing. He is seen here more as a businessman, somebody who knows the art of the sale rather than the technical abilities of his latest computer. Fans of Sorkin’s television triumphs such as The West Wing and The Newsroom will be in familiar territory.

This isn’t a biopic in the traditional sense. Instead it comprises three segments leading up to the launch of specific product launches in Steve Jobs’ life. These are the launch of the Mac in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988, and the release of the iMac in 1998. Played by Michael Fassbender, there is enough humanity in him for the audience to relate. Much emphasis is placed on his adoption and upbringing as a “broken” person, a direct contrast to the sleek technology he is famous for.

Danny Boyle shot the three segments in different formats (16mm, 35mm and digital) to reflect the advances in technology throughout the years. Apart from that, each segment has the same structure to it, personal and professional issues coming to the fore in the moments before he is due to go on stage and present the new product to the world.

As unbelievable as this setup is (who would get involved in all of this drama mere moments before appearing on stage?) it supports the story. The three products provide context to three stages of Steve Jobs’ life and are appropriately spaced to look at his relationship with his daughter, his relationship with Apple, and his relationships with those closest to him, chief of which are Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, former head of Apple, and Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, Jobs’ long suffering PA.

The disagreements between himself and Steve “Woz” Wozniak (Seth Rogen) form a starting point for his later business disagreements with most of the people around him. Woz insists on an open platform with multiple input slots, all of which the motherboard he has designed can support, whereas Jobs insists on halving the inputs and keeping the system closed, because according to him consumers don’t know what they want. There’s a smaller thread between Jobs and programmer Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg), which subtly tops and tails the narrative.

For technophobes, there isn’t much emphasis on the equipment being used. This is most definitely a personal character drama with the computer products used as a metaphor for Jobs’ personal and professional life. Beyond that you don’t really need to know anything about the equipment or what it does.

After viewing, whatever you think about Steve Jobs will depend on whether you think of him as the alienating genius or the broken man who wants to repair his relationship with his daughter. Truth be told, there is precious little about him that is out in the wider world. And let’s face it, Apple fans are going to buy their products regardless. Whatever your opinion may be of the real man, it takes nothing away from how perfect this story is as a piece of cinema.

Back To The Future (1985) review

By

Simon Prior

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There isn’t much you can say about Back To The Future that hasn’t been said already, such is its wide reaching appeal and charm. What’s not to like about its characters, its adventure story, its exploration of fate and family?

For a classic film there is a lot that has indeed been said. But, for the sake of argument, I’m going to chip in with my two cents regardless.

If you’ve never seen Back To The Future before, it is the story of Marty McFly (Michael J Fox), youngest son of George (Crispin Glover) and Elaine (Lea Thompson) and faced with the fact his parents never amounted to much. He’s friends with Doc Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) who invites him to the Twin Pines Mall late at night to film his latest experiment – a time travelling DeLorean. It’s something to do with the stainless steel construction making the flux… never mind.

After an unfortunate encounter with some Libyans who want their plutonium back, Marty travels back to 1955 in the DeLorean and, lacking fuel to make the return journey, has to seek out a younger Doc Brown to help him get back… to the future. At the same time he interacts with his young parents and his presence means that his future existence comes under threat. No pressure then.

Inevitably time travel stories have plot holes you can drive a DeLorean through, and Back To The Future is no different. What matters is that it’s fun and it’s entertaining. It’s infinitely quotable and filled with enjoyable performances from each of the main cast. Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s script starts with time travel as its concept but it’s really about the characters, about family. It’s also about meddling with the timeline and making your future better for yourself without much effort. Let’s not dwell on that one, it could spoil all the fun.

Christopher Lloyd will perhaps always be known for playing Doc Brown. He’s a classic mad scientist, a ball of frantic energy and invention as his mind works at double speed. Ironic given Lloyd’s introverted, quiet nature in reality. Brown gets most of the best lines (1.21 GIGAWATTS?!?!) and his incredulity about teenager’s lives is a joy to watch.

At the other end of the scale is Thomas F Wilson as Biff Tannen, a typical bully – all muscle, no brains. He and his gang are timeless archetypes. Whether it is 1955, 1985 or even 2015 (as you’ll see in Back To The Future: Part 2) they are people who exist at all points in history.

Of course you can’t discuss Back To The Future without mentioning Michael J Fox. Coming into the project six weeks into shooting to replace Eric Stoltz. It’s hard to imagine anybody else in the role as Fox is a likeable, personable presence. Initially puzzled by his journey to 1955 he soon adapts to this different way of life and bonds once more with Doc Brown.

Put simply, Back To The Future is a popular classic of cinema, and stands up to repeat viewings. Now make like a tree, and get outta here.

Freefall – Part 6

By

Simon Prior

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2016-04-17

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Welcome to Part 6 of my double drabble serial, Freefall. In the last episode, the fugitive Farrow encountered a resident of the planet he had crash-landed on. He turned out to be friendly, but that doesn’t help when Kohra is still on his tail.

If this is the first part of the story you’re reading and want to go back to part one to catch up, just visit the Short Stories section of the site and scroll down to the Freefall heading. Want more? Well there are plenty more short stories for you to read in my ever-growing archive.

I’ll be adding more options for accessing these stories over the coming months – how does a podcast or free PDF files sound? If you have a favourite format for reading stories, drop me a line and let me know what you’d like to see.

“I’m inclined to agree” said Farrow, looking up at the stars for the first time. The shooting stars were becoming more frequent, burning up one after the other. Whatever had attacked them had done so quickly. It had wiped out any possibility Farrow had of getting off this rock any time soon.

“Something’s coming down” said the farmer. “Up yonder.”

Farrow looked up to the same area of sky. It took him a moment to see it against the darkness above, but then there it was. A huge ship, definitely a battle cruiser. That explained the debris hitting the atmosphere. Farrow looked at the old farmer with grudging respect. “You saw that from here without bynoks?”
“I may be old but I ain’t past it yet” came the reply. Farrow looked at the ship again. It seemed to be heading towards them.
“They’re after me.” He didn’t know that for certain, but it made sense. They would never stop chasing him until he was back in custody or dead. Neither option suited him.

“Come on, I’ve got a place for you to hide. They’ll never find you. This way.”
Farrow followed. It didn’t look like he had any other options.

88:88 (2015) review

By

Simon Prior

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88:88 (2015) — The man with the star in his head. Or it could just be a really powerful torch.

I don’t tend to get along with films that avoid a clear narrative in favour of throwing stuff at the screen and hoping it sticks. For the most part, what’s the point? Other than being nice to look at – and the editing here is rather good – your audience aren’t going to get much out of it without reading deeper into your efforts in the hope that they find something, anything, that might redeem the feature.

And, well, 88:88 is another example of a film that I didn’t get along with. It smashes together a collage of random images and sounds in quick succession, with something in the middle about the life of teenagers. There’s some hip hop/rap stuff in there as well, and lots of whispering. And I mean LOTS of whispering.

I have hearing problems, so whispering through dialogue or layering different people speaking over one another doesn’t do me any favours. It alienates me from the film immediately. It’s a shame too, because the whispering mostly contains poetry and I’m not averse to a bit of that on occasion. The audio cuts out quite frequently too, which made me question whether it was my hearing, my television, the stream or the film itself that was the problem. Turns out it was the film. Relief all round.

In terms of the visuals, it presents a disjointed kaleidoscope of images as if plucked from the mind of a schizophrenic teenager. That might have been the intention, to reflect modern life as a succession of quick cuts and unrelated audio clips. Life is uncertain and there are no guarantees, and you could argue that this is represented through 88:88’s anarchic structure.

If this was the intention, it doesn’t work.

After 10 minutes I was sat there wondering if this was a work of genius or pretentious twaddle. After the full 65 minutes I fell firmly in the latter camp. The film’s director Isaiah Medina has talent, but I’m not sure it’s best placed in a feature like this. Narratively dense, smart filmmaking is perfectly fine and I applaud those who can make films that ask real questions about life and existence. The title references both the impoverished (clocks flashing after a power cut) and the concept of infinity (the number 8), but I didn’t feel that was clear from what I was watching. Then again, I might just be the wrong type of person to get something from a film like this. For the record I’m a fan of Godard’s work and the existentialism of Herzog, so I’m not entirely out of the loop on stuff like that.

Overall it’s almost like hypnotic suggestion. It’s not necessarily a film you need to pay direct attention to, you can just let it wash over you. And if that’s what you’re left doing, it almost destroys the purpose of making a film in the first place. If you can sit through the full 65 minutes then you’ve done well, although your life won’t be any better for it by the end. You won’t have achieved enlightenment. You won’t have learned anything meaningful. An episode of Geordie Shore would probably give you a deeper insight into the human condition.

88:88 is not so much provocative as an addled mess that lacks purpose beyond its own air of pretension.

Short Story: I, Zombie – Part 7

By

Simon Prior

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2016-04-15

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Good evening once again peeps, and welcome to part 7 of I, Zombie. For those of you who have followed the story so far, this current run will end with part 10 and then go on what I’m calling a mid-season break so I can write a few more one-off tales that don’t feature the undead.

There will be more news about the future for I, Zombie over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for updates.

It was the first time he had been left alone since waking up in the hotel room. Pops was uncomfortable with this. What if by being alone he would regress? He walked around the room constantly, doing everything he could to distract himself from the hunger. He had not eaten since long before the last zombie attack and now he was facing the unbearable pain that the hunger created.

They had been met with hostility from the armed guards protecting the base when Howard had arrived outside its entrance. There had been more hostility when Pops had climbed out of the jeep. It was only thanks to Jenkins placing herself in front of him that he hadn’t been immediately terminated. She pleaded his case and, grudgingly, they were allowed to enter.

He had been led directly to this room while Howard and Jenkins were taken away for debriefing. He had been alone since then. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed, his sense of time had been taken from him when his life ended. Even so, it seemed like it had been some time since they had left.

He hoped that they hadn’t forgotten about him. That they would return and let him out of this room. More importantly, he hoped that he had been right to trust these people. He could have easily left them behind when the zombies had swarmed him. And yet he hadn’t. It was possibly because he felt closer to the survivors than he did to his undead brethren, but he couldn’t explain why that was so. He continued his slow loop around the room. It might not make his friends return any sooner, but it would at least keep the hunger at bay for now.
After debriefing Howard had gone directly to his quarters, barely acknowledging Jenkins as he made a swift exit. Her eyes questioned him, but she said nothing as he went past. Once there he locked the door behind him and slumped into the chair that sat next to his desk.

Howard looked at his wrist. The makeshift bandage covering his wound was soaked with blood. He carefully peeled it away from his skin to reveal the bite mark underneath. The blood seeped out slowly where the zombie’s teeth had broken the skin. Despite the extent of the wound, it didn’t hurt much.

He knew that this was the end of him. There was no coming back from a zombie bite. He’d seen it time and time again in everyone who had returned from a supply run with the virus running through their veins. Every single person who was bitten turned, without fail. It was just the way it was in this new world. They had all crumbled at the end, allowing their darkest fears to overcome them, to define them in death more than their actions in life.

He resolved to not follow the same path. He would remain strong until the end. Eventually he would have to tell somebody, otherwise he would be putting the whole base at risk. He didn’t want that on his conscience. For now it was too early, he still had a few days left in him and he had a job to do.

Capture The Flag (2015) review

By

Simon Prior

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Capture The Flag (2015) — “You realise it’s not that big, and you can’t touch it from here right?”

This is a bit of an odd one. It’s a Spanish animated film but the English dub was released courtesy of the Irish Film Classification Office, and the story takes place in America.

Mike Goldwing (Lorraine Pilkington) is a young surfer whose family is deeply entwined with NASA and their moon missions. A rich billionaire, Richard Carson (Dani Rovira) decides to fund his own mission to the moon and steal the Apollo XI flag (the one planted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969). On hearing this the US President (Jennifer Wiltsie) resurrects NASA’s moon landing programme in a bid to beat Carson to the moon’s surface.

Meanwhile Mike is trying to get his dad Scott (Adam James), a promising NASA astronaut himself, and granddad Frank (Paul Kelleher) back on speaking terms. They’ve not spoken since the latter was scrubbed from his moon mission at the last minute. To get everyone talking again, Mike sneaks aboard the Saturn V rocket. But this is then launched early following Carson’s sabotage attempt. On board with Mike are his grandpa Frank and his friend (possibly more) Amy (Phillipa Alexander).

Not only are they in a race to the moon against Carson, piloting a ship that Buzz Lightyear would yearn for (or perhaps the evil Emperor Zurg would be more appropriate), but on arrival they must also stop him from mining the moon for Helium 3. His plan is to use it as an ultimate energy source/evil money making weapon. Standard villain fare.

It’s an enjoyable enough adventure, but there isn’t much depth to it. Thematically this is a story about family and friendship first and foremost. There is a distinct undertone of the writers wanting to stick it to the moon landing conspiracy theorists who say we never went in the first place. A nod and a wink to the possibility that Stanley Kubrick directed the moon landing footage is in there (even if it turns out to be a janitor called Jose), and a brace of scientists who bear more than a passing resemblance to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates show up, albeit briefly.

There are massive flaws in logic throughout, as if the script was drafted a few times and elements that should have been removed were kept instead. A subplot about robot servants is introduced late in the day and isn’t developed. The constant bashing of Marty (Rasmus Hardiker), the ginger kid, for his hair colour and clumsiness feels mean spirited and against the major themes that play out elsewhere. His involvement seems to be as the plucky technical genius and comedic foil and little else. Even his pet chameleon, the obligatory pet sidekick, doesn’t like him. But it’s fine because Marty’s a constant bundle of joy and positivity. If he wasn’t, there would be more to complain about.

The main positive is that the story moves at a fair pace, even if the bit you’ve been waiting for – the moon mission – is a long time coming. This section works well until it descends into hammy Bond villain territory, and the return to Earth is covered in a thirty second montage for the inevitable happy conclusion. Enjoyably, if mostly forgettable, family entertainment.

As an extra note, I saw this at the cinema with my four year old niece. She sat through most of the film and enjoyed the silly action sequences, but insisted that the next cinema trip we go and watch Frozen. On the strength of this, I would have to agree.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) review

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Simon Prior

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Cannibal Holocaust (1980) — “And I just jab the knife in here, and he’s dead. Simples.”

Cannibal Holocaust is an incredibly controversial film, one that has been analysed and dissected over the years for its animal cruelty and desire to shock.

In brief, we join an expedition who are looking for a film crew that had previously gone into the jungle and had never been seen again. It’s revealed that the crew are all dead, having embarked on a descent into inhumanity that saw them attack the locals and animals with reckless abandon. Fortunately for everyone, they filmed every step of their trip, which we get to watch after the fact with the returning expedition, in an early example of the found footage genre.

Of course what it’s trying to say is the cannibals are the animals simply because they are seen as being uncultured, superstitious and violent. In reality the film crew are equally as bad, if not worse than the natives. They are there for sensational film footage only, no matter the cost to life or the peril they put themselves under. They are a foolhardy bunch who have no regard for the natural world or, it seems, any other living being including each other.

From a modern perspective Cannibal Holocaust is no more violent or horrific than the latest remake of Evil Dead. The real life animal cruelty is a tough one to stomach, but it acts to truly distinguish this from the other video nasties. It’s certainly not lost any of its power, and for better or for worse it’s one of those nasties that stands out above almost all the others, with perhaps the exception of the original The Evil Dead.

I watched the UK cut version of the film, where most of the instances of real animal death are obscured by film tears or are cut completely. Having compared my version with the original they are relatively minor edits overall, not shying away from the animal cruelty but also not forcing you to watch it in full. These edits were introduced by Deodato himself who, with thirty years of hindsight, apparently realised that the sequences were inherently wrong to film.

On the other hand, in the interests of balance, most of the animals were subsequently eaten by the natives, so there was little wasted. Small comfort to animal rights campaigners, but there lie the facts. Or what we’re led to believe are the facts. It’s just as easy to say that Deodato still considers these sequences to be essential to the film, and only made the cuts to try and publicly absolve him of wrongdoing. Bit late for that, bub.

The soundtrack isn’t unlike all the other video nasty era Italian horror films. That is to say, it’s rather good. More often than not it contrasts wildly with the images onscreen, but works to a far better extent than the similarly titled video nasty Cannibal Apocalypse. At least here there are actual cannibals.

It seems that Cannibal Holocaust is a right of passage style of film. One in which you earn yourself a cinephile badge for having watched it from start to finish. The sad fact is that it’s a well made film and has an important message behind it (just keep repeating “the green inferno” over and over), but unfortunately it will always be known as that film where a bunch of animals are killed for real.

Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) review

By

Simon Prior

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Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) — “Crikey, it’s a copy of the script!”

Whoever decided that Cannibal Apocalypse should be on the video nasties list clearly didn’t watch the film. True, there are many adult themes at play, chief among them is post traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans, and there is a fair share of violence with a bit of zombie-like flesh eating madness thrown in for good measure, but there’s nothing all too shocking about this story. Perhaps that’s my modern sensibilities getting in the way – I doubt very much that it would cause problems these days for anybody. The only exceptions I can think of would be far right fundamentalists and those who faint at the sight of blood.

And that’s one of a number of issues that can seriously hinder your enjoyment. Overlaying scenes of violence with a funky disco soundtrack could work under the right circumstances. Who thought this was a good idea, seriously? It’s noticeably jarring, ruining any atmosphere that might have been building and takes you out of the story completely. At least you can turn it into a drinking game. Take a shot every time John Saxon looks concerned, take another every time somebody gets bitten. Take two shots when the person doing the biting is a zombie cannibal. Expand on it from there.

If anything that title is misleading. It may very well be another classic example of the Italian exploitation horror film, but there is little cannibalism, even less apocalypse, and to describe it as a zombie film is equally dubious. J’accuse, Horror Channel and your incorrect description of the film. “Lots of standing around with very little happening” would have been a more appropriate title. Still, there are a few good moments dotted throughout, it’s just tarnished by an overly dramatic title and a distinct lack of anything of interest happening for vast periods of time.

Apparently it has been praised for its gore in the past. Yes, this is rather good, but there’s surprisingly little of it. Even the slightest bit of extra effort in this area would have paid dividends and almost made it worthwhile. But nope.

Initially the most surprising aspect of Cannibal Apocalypse, apart from that funky disco soundtrack, is the presence of genre favourite John Saxon. Ignoring the fact he seemed to have been blissfully unaware that this was an Italian schlock horror until it was too late to pull out of the project, his back catalogue is filled with appearances in such low budget projects. With this in mind it’s not all that surprising, although his understated performance often contrasts significantly with those of his co-stars. It’s like he stepped into something like Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 or Sleepaway Camp and nobody thought to tell him.

Unlike those two examples Cannibal Apocalypse isn’t so bad it’s good, although it does have its moments. The fact that many of the characters seem to enjoy being bitten, for one – and not by zombies. Quite an odd fetish to affect this small locale, to say the least.

Still, the domestic setting of the whole picture gives it a completely unique appearance when compared to its other video nasty brethren.

Point Break (2016) review

By

Simon Prior

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For all the faults you can aim at Kathryn Bigelow’s original, it was still a hugely entertaining action film with a believable bromance at its core. While this remake has a few entertaining action beats, it’s obviously not a patch on the original and it does make you question why they decided to remake it in the first place. Oh right, of course. Money.

This time round the action has been transferred to the realm of extreme sports enthusiasts. Utah (Luke Bracey) is a former extreme sports fanatic who, after the death of a friend in a stunt jump that went wrong (here’s a thought – take a parachute with you), has signed up as a rookie cop, atoning for his past life or something to that effect. With his barely concealed tattoos and long hair, Utah is a broken man. But what could possibly break him out of this mental fugue and desire to uphold the law?

Why, an undercover encounter with a daredevil gang of extreme sports fanatics who are working their way through a series of eight extreme trials (the Ozaki 8) across the globe, stealing from big corporations as they do so. They are led by the not-Patrick Swayze Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez).

In what I’m assuming is the Gary Busey role from the original, Ray Winstone shows up, receives his pay cheque, then toddles off again. Other than the fact it’s Ray Winstone – and it’s never made clear what accent he’s supposed to have – there’s really no point him being there. And, indeed, the same accusation could be attributed to the rest of this dreary exercise.

There’s no emotional depth to the characters which would inform their actions or their reasons. While there are occasionally breathtaking extreme sports sequences, including an impressive wing-suit flight through the mountains, there is a disconnect between the high octane thrills and the characters that is hard to reconcile.

There are a few scenes or references from the original that are pulled out here. They’re like old favourites made to dance for the paying audience, but almost completely lacking in context. That one iconic moment, where Utah refuses to shoot Bodhi as he makes his escape, is included for giggles. The problem is that in this instance there’s almost no reason for Utah to do this. His bond with Bodhi has the same consistency as silly string or wet bread.

And this leads us to the finale where, much like the original, Bodhi is out on the waves so he can attempt to best one of the biggest surf waves ever. It isn’t a spoiler for me to say that Utah shows up, has a few words and then leaves. It was almost pointless him going there. Much any other scene in the film not involving an action stunt, the scene is lifeless and wooden and ultimately offers no closure.

The only genuinely positive thing I have to say about this car crash is the end credit music, which is half decent. It’s a strange thing to say, but while sitting through this I was yearning for the Bigelow helmed original and its big, dumb, homoerotic nonsense. At least that had a point. In this instance, I reached my breaking point.

Freefall – Part 5

By

Simon Prior

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2016-04-10

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“Keep turning, nice and slow” said the man. He followed the order. The man nodded.
“Good. Now, who are you and what brings you to these parts, stranger?”
There was no need to hide his past. Either this man would shoot him for being one of the enemy, or he would accept him. There were no other options in this war, you were with one side or the other.

“My name is Farrow, I’m a member of the resistance.”
“Is that so?” The farmer thought about this. Farrow kept his hands raised.

Slowly, the farmer lowered his weapon. He waved for Farrow to lower his arms and he did so.
“Ain’t seen one of you round these parts in a while. Most everybody’s moved up along with the front line.”

The farmer looked at the sky. What looked like shooting stars were burning through the atmosphere.
“Looks like there’s been a battle up there. Bad one, too.”
He looked back at Farrow and spat on the ground.
“I’m guessing from the pod you landed in, you’ve got something to do with that, right?”
Farrow nodded. It seemed likely.
“Well now, looks like we have ourselves a bit of a predicament.”

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