Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Just incase you were wondering this is Geroge A. Romero's 1978 classic version, not the recent remake. Actually the remake is a good place to start, because it was an enjoyable fun pop corn flick with a completely nonsensical ending. All in all it was alot of stylish fun, but that was it, there was nothing more, no depth, no subtly, no brilliance. Romero's original was the exact opposite, it's gritty and dark, the action is slower, it doesn't try to make you jump every two seconds, or blow your mind with gore. The genius of the original, is that rather than making you jump, it makes you nervous, you genuinely care about the lead characters and their fate. Because the Zombies are so slow and ponderous, the film's main protagonists even make fun of the zombies frequently throughout the film, the terror is complete different. This movie is psychological, it's a slow inevitable death, a sense of real impending doom is built, a slow hopelessness. There's the obvious commentary on consumerism, but that's not what makes the film great. It's all about figuring out how the zombies will get them. Without giving to much away, the films conclusion is one of the greatest in film history, it's cleverly planned, the film has a great balance between careful logic and impending doom, and it's one moment of sheer unpredictable chaos that unravels everything. In many ways it feels like a defence of realism and an attack on consumerism at the same time, but really, it's just a bloody good zombie film. The zombies maybe brainless but this film is anything but.

I only stumbled across this film a year ago and I have to say it is without doubt my favourite De Niro film and my personal choice for his best ever performance. It's a simple but brilliant concept. De Niro is an up and coming comedian, he's convinced that he's the next big thing and when he gets his chance to impress his idol stand up comedian and talk show host Jerry Lewis, he's rebuffed again, and again, and again, until he's driven into insanity. De Niro captures the role brilliantly, as his drive and unrelenting belief in his own ability send him spiralling into madness and kidnapping. There's something terrifying about how cool and maniacally calm De Niro is when he gives his final performance he's so laid back and smultzy given the circumstances, he comes across as an uncaring, obsessed, unrepentant madman. It's hard to take your eyes off him, his performance is so captivating, Scorsese's direction is superb and this film feels more relevant than ever. It warns of the dangers of celebrity fixation and it shows that while it maybe all good and well to have a dream, you can't be completely ruthless in your desire to full fill it. Ultimately this film is creepy as fuck, a true study in obsession, one of De Niro's most haunting and unlikeable characters but one whose decent into madness is utterly captivating. Hmmn....makes me think maybe I should spend less time checking on a certain female singers twitter...ah who am I kidding (checks twitter).

Now it's an absolute cinematic tragedy that this film isn't better regarded. Now don't get me wrong I know why it isn't, it's a B-Movie but that was the point, and yes the girl's dialogue is completely unrealistic but again I feel that's the point. Death Proof is a tribute to the great B-Movies, the music is divine, the action is dark, gritty and realistic and the girls and guys are all uber cool. The girls talk how boys want them to talk in their imagination and that's part of the fun. I was sold on this movie almost instantly, the minute I saw Kurt Russell playing a sleazy creepy psycho-killer I knew I was gonna love it, and then the minute I heard the Down In Mexico by The Coasters I new I was in love, this film is just too cool for school. Oh yes and of course you can't have a great song like Down In Mexico without having the beautiful Vanessa Ferlito lap dancing to it, right? Well whatever, oh and best of all it has one of, if not the best ever, car chase scene in movie history! And do you know what makes it so awesome? The fact that they did every last inch of it, everything was 100% real and it looked amazing. In a decade where lazy CGI has destroyed action scenes, were gimmicky robots battle and crappy Computer generated convertibles crash into one another it was so great to see real cars flying and around and being smashed up. And yes that was Zoe Bell flying around on the bonnet of that car, now that's how you build tension, I was genuinely scared for her life, because she was genuinely risking her life. Brilliant cast + great direction +mind blowing action = Cult Classic.

Now thankfully my friends have recently come around to their senses and actually watched The Cube, so I've been able to refresh my memory on one of my all time favourite horror films. The Cube is the perfect B-horror movie, it strikes the right balance between tension, shocks, gore and an intellectual argument. The concept is great, whack a group of random people from different back grounds, with different skills into a a living breathing rubix cube where some rooms have uber cool traps ready to end their lives, others are safe and they've got to find their way out. It works on so many levels, theres the social tension as this group of complete strangers are forced to co-existed and work together under the most horrific of circumstances. It's a mystery and a social experiment wrapped into one. All the different characters have a purpose and a differing perspective. What I truly love about The Cube is that the cube's origin is never explained, it's all left up to you and the characters to draw the conclusion. The characters come to a superbly telling and true conclusion; after exchanging conspiracy theories about evil corporations they come to a scarily realistic conclusion. The Cube is a bureaucratic nightmare, whoever originally designed is long gone, either retired or voted out, and the project has just continued to go along, for no other purpose than to justify it's own existence. Why put people into it? Because if you didn't you'd have to admit it was worthless and a waste of money, so the system keeps on churning remorselessly. It's such a subtle and true conclusion, it remained me of arms factories in America where they build outdated unused bombers. The factories are too important to the local economy to close, so the government subsidizes them, and the army are shipped outdated bombers that serve no purpose whatsoever, it's a cycle of mindless bureaucracy that cannot be broken. The Cube is far more subtle than it's given credit for, chilling, brutal and intellectually deft.

Quiz Show always feels like a lost classic, in a similar way to The King Of Comedy or even Amadeus, it's played on TV fairly regularly, but it's never quite had the hype to get the wide spread attention it deserves, especially in this country. Quiz Show is a remarkable believable, incredibly well acted historical drama based around the quiz show scandals of 1959, I have to say when I originally saw this film I had no idea that this was based on true history. To be honest it doesn't make a jot of difference the drama plays out perfectly and it works as a stand alone. Now the brilliance of the film is in it's honesty and it's morality. First off it exposes the truth about the television industry, that what is presented as reality is anything but, anything can be faked, everything can be scripted. John Turturro plays a nerdy unlikeable know it all who is the reigning quiz show champion, but the TV executives decide it's time to change things up and they opt for the not nearly so knowledge Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes is of course charming, witty and made for TV. The movie tests the morality of all the lead characters, it feels like an inquisition even though Fiennes is acting dishonestly and cheating you feel for him, you want him to succeed, for just the reasons the "evil" executives anointed him champion. Quiz Show is testing the morality of you the viewer as much as it is the characters. The writing, acting and direction are remarkably well textured and the film is incredible deft delving into the great socialital questions as well as the internal neurosis of the human mind. But most of all it's a brilliantly acted, incredible tense drama.