MOVIE INFO
A man bringing modern transportation to the ancient jungles of Africa discovers one of man's oldest enemies lays in wait for him in this period adventure drama. John Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is the owner of a British railroad firm who is building a rail line through Uganda. A bridge is needed so that the tracks may cross a large river, and engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) is summoned to the African nation to supervise construction. While Beaumont has placed Patterson under a strict deadline, the bridge designer is certain that with his guidance, the local laborers will be able to complete the job in time. However, when several workers are killed in an attack by a lion, Patterson is forced to deal with the animal; while he bags a lion who invades the work site one evening, it soon becomes obvious that there's more than one predator in the nearby jungle. The lion attacks continue, eventually claiming the lives of 130 men, and Patterson and Beaumont finally agree to call in Charles Remmington (Michael Douglas), an expert hunter who understands the nature of the man-eaters and knows how to lure them into his trap. The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a true story, which was previously brought to the screen in 1953, in Arch Oboler's pioneering 3-D adventure Bwana Devil.
I watched this drunk on Friday and here are the notes I made.
VAL KILMER - There is something about Val Kilmer, when he looks interested, he makes good movies they look like this, when he phones it in they look like the shittiest Batman.
TOM WILKINSON - Unfortunate that such a talented actor is giving such woeful dialogue to depict the depravity of his one dimensional character.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS - I thought this was a tale of two Europeans? Val Kilmer is just about attempting to be Irish. But Douglas just isn't trying. And I think i prefer him like that. If anything he sounds more Yankee.
So the film has dated pretty bad in terms of CGI. I thought the first half hour was probably the best set up to a monster movie that I had witnessed in ages. But the lions show up and the special effects are pretty bad. Enough to take you out of the film. But Douglas arrives, offers some swagger, peps it up a bit and shifts the film back into a decent gear. The main star of the movie is the landscape and the film shows a genuinely affectionate portrayal of Africa. Unfortunately this film fails on a few levels.
Shitty writing.
Bad special effects.
Lack of credulity. (It's based on a true story, in real life two lions killed a maximum of 24 people, in the film they have reportedly killed up to 135 and have a Den of human remains that would put Predator to shame.)
Rotten Tomatoes (critics) 50%
Rotten Tomatoes (audience) 43%
Peter - Meter 64%
Last night I got drunk and watched Margaret
MOVIE INFO
Margaret centers on a 17-year-old New York City high-school student who feels certain that she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman's life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world.
The first thing I should mention is that this film sounds great. There is a scene where a bus driver runs over a woman, (and that is not a spoiler because it is in the trailer and no one reads these posts), and it's very jarring, a long build up and the aftermath of that scene is pretty grueling. It ultimately is a film about a breakdown in relationships, the main one being between the mother and daughter. Also it's a film about peoples flaws. There are not a lot of likeable people in this film and at times you are torn on who to champion. Also it's fucking long man. I mean 3 hours. I'm not sure if I saw the extended cut, but I felt like I didn't just watch this film, I survived it. This is also the most Directed film I've seen in a long time. Noticelably long panoramic shots of the city, plus a lot of scenes where the main conversation is drowned out by surrounding conversations. A bit like when Superman sits in a restaurant. Sometimes it works to great effect, other times I felt it a little bit annoying,
The main chick is Anna Paquin, and she must be watchable because I bathed myself in this film for 3 hours. Afterwards, when it finished, I felt lonely. Like I had just immersed myself in a computer game that I had not particularly enjoyed, but had some how become dependent. There's a lot of crying, screaming and more crying. Again, after 3 hours it got slightly graining, but surely she can't be faulted for giving her all. Maybe the director could have reigned it in a little, or simply cut about an hour of the film.
Keiran Culken is good in this, and his scenes are the best because they have purpose.
Jean Reno is good but his scenes are depicting a dull relationship, and unfortunately, it makes his scenes pretty boring too.
Matt Damon falls into the same category, as does Matthew Broderick.
oh and Mark Ruffalo is good, but he is not in it enough, which is probably another failing because his character is instrumental to the plot of the film.
Ultimately this is a good film, with some powerful scenes. I think you could have shaved at least half hour of this film and it wouldn't have missed a beat. It also suffers as one of those films that could end at several points. And by the end, you're fucking willing it to.
Rotten Tomatoes (critics 72%)
Rotten Tomatoes (audience 52%)
Peter - Meter 78%
I can't help thinking that Keiren Culken has a great film around the corner that is really going to launch him. If you don't believe me watch him in SCOTT PILGRIM v THE WORLD and not MARGARET or THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.
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