Month: October 2011

DRIVE

Stunning, vicious, cold, visceral, glorious, sexually-charged, breathtaking, chilling, gorgeous, arresting – DRIVE is one of my films of the year.

Ryan Gosling is silent and broody to the point of irritation, but carries the weight and predatory confidence of the deadliest scorpion; deadly, quiet, lethal. His ‘Driver’ is an anti-hero of our generation.

The 80s vibe, that riffs from the opening credits, through the electro synth soundtrack and down to the inevitable, violent crescendo, is a perfect fit for the squalid neon backdrop of downtown LA.. But, despite the retro undercurrent, this is a thoroughly modern piece of cinema.

Its dark, foreboding symbolism mixed with an almost continual referential nod to classics gone by (Hallowe’en, Bullit, Scarface to name but three) creates a kaleidoscope of  imagery that – even at its most gruesome – is impossible to turn away from. The use of light, colour, sound, words… or lack thereof on all counts… is encapsulating.

I am in love with this film.

See it.

DRIVE

NB: I’ve just IMDb’d the director, Nicolas Winding Refn, and it turns out he’s directed two films that I’ve been busting to see for ages: Valhalla Rising and Bronson.

They’re next.

 

Fincher, the Girl and the Frog.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a stunning film.

The original, gut-wrenching thriller smashed into my face like an iced bucket of water; it was fresh, cold and very, very dark. I loved it. Admittedly, I am yet to see Hornet’s Nest or Played with Fire.

(Nor have I read the books but I’m sure that’ll change shortly)

However, something I wanted to share today is this awesome trailer for the US re-make of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two words that should send a shudder down any film purist’s back are ‘US’ and ‘Re-Make’ but, this is Fincher we’re talking about kids. David. Fincher.

His last film, The Social Network, was very, very good. The first trailer, which dropped back in July 2010, showed that (with such contentious source material) he really meant business.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that this time ’round, he’s done it again.

It drives and it beats and it rages. Like the film itself will do so too, I’m sure. Bring it Fincher, I can’t wait.

Finally, before I go, I have to share one more thing. There’s a new Muppet film coming soon (no, really) and, to help build buzz and interest, they’ve been gently ripping off the trailers from other upcoming films. Dragon Tattoo is no exception.

This, is perfect.