'The Salt of Life' review:

A follow-up to the delightful Italian 2008 comedy 'Mid-August Lunch', 'The Salt of Life' finds middle-aged Gianni - played by writer-director Gianni Di Gregorio - again struggling to juggle his own life with caring for his demanding 95 year-old mother (Valeria De Franciscis). Di Gregorio again populates his cast with a mix of professionals and non-actors, whilst Gian Enrico Bianchi continues to capture Rome as the eternally sunny and effortlessly charming place of Mediterranean idyll.

But whilst last time Gianni was unmarried, living in a Rome apartment with his mother, this semi-sequel sees the elderly scamp frittering away his inheritance in a gated mansion with hired help, whilst he resides with a wife and a moody teenage daughter, Teresa (played by his real-life daughter of the same name). And rather than revolving around his catering for a group of bickering old ladies, this equally gentle and bittersweet comedy takes a look at mid-life crisis as Gianni ponders his fading relevance in the eyes of the opposite sex and increasing feeling of disconnect from the younger generation - as typified by Teresa's aimless live in boyfriend Michi (Michelangelo Ciminale).



Determined not to become one of the weird old characters he sees discussing football sitting out on the pavement or walking their dog alone in the park, Gianni pursues a number of the beautiful women in his life: among then an affectionate, spirited neighbour; a former flame; and a recently divorced opera singer. Being an Italian film, whether or not Gianni succeeds in having an extra-marital affair with one of these gorgeous, buxom women is not a pressing moral concern (his daughter even jokes about it), instead it forms the basis of a touching and, in the true sense of the word, pathetic portrayal of desperation, mortality and our common need to be desired.

With its star a screenwriter by trade - the scribe of no less than the hard-hitting modern mafia classic 'Gamorrah' - and with his adoption of a loose autobiographical persona, Di Gregorio's movies to date feel something like an Italian version of Larry David's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. Which is not to say they revolve around the comedy of social awkwardness and pedantry, but that on show is a low-key, mundane sort of humour with Gianni very much the butt of life's joke. Yet for all it's poignancy it shares with its predecessor a breezy and joyful spirit that can't help but put a smile on your face.


'The Salt of Life' is on limited release in the UK and is rated '12A' by the BBFC.

'The Skin I Live In' review:

Nothing if not provocative, the cinema of Pedro Almodovar is a frank and blackly comic exploration of taboo subjects told with an uncommon compassion for even the most depraved of characters. His latest work, 'The Skin I Live In', fits in comfortably alongside his best, with a warped tale of mad scientists, drugs, revenge, rape, voyeurism, kidnapping and murder fizzing along with no small amount of humour - or indeed humanism.

The director's one-time muse Antonio Banderas returns to the repertory company to star in this suspenseful, almost Hitchcockian thriller which superficially resembles their last collaboration, 1990s 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' - with the actor again caught up in a romance with one held against her will in a locked room.



However 21 years on, this dangerous obsessive is not a clownish, naive innocent, but a clinical and effortlessly sophisticated scientist who dedicates himself towards bio-engineering a replacement for human skin in his subterranean lab after his burns victim wife commits suicide. This time the lady falling prey to Stockholm syndrome is played by Elena Anaya ('Hierro') and her situation, identity and relationship with Banderas form an intriguing mystery as the expertly constructed plot takes many twists and turns - equal parts disturbing and exciting right up to the climax.

This is one of those times when to say any more about the story would be to reveal too much, as part of its appeal lies in the filmmaker's gift for misdirection and surprise [listen to episode 65 of the Splendor Cinema Podcast for a spoiler-ridden discussion about these themes and twists], so instead I'll just add to the chorus praising Almodovar's breathtakingly sumptuous use of colour and his masterful command of the camera - with some especially majestic zooms as he has fun with a security camera motif.



Really ingenious though is the way replacement skin - and the real-world medical marvel of face transplants - is used as a device to explore notions of identity. How much we're defined by the skin we're in is the film's existential point of crisis. And it's a compelling one, which culminates in a heartfelt and dramatic pay-off.

When reviewing so-called "World Cinema" you often encounter brilliant films - works of genius and even really great pieces of entertainment - that you know stand next to no chance of reaching a wide audience. For most 'Of Gods and Men' would be far too austere and ponderous, whilst even 'Tree of Life' was far too esoteric for the crowds that flocked to see "that Brad Pitt movie". Yet 'The Skin I Live In' has such tremendous, heartening potential for cross-over appeal, thanks to its tight, well-paced and surprise-filled story. It's never less than engaging for a single frame and, with its ruminations on identity and moral complexity (to put it lightly), must also rank among the year's most intelligent and thought-provoking films.


'The Skin I Live In' is out now in the Uk where it has been rated '15' by the BBFC.

'Attenberg', Blu-ray reviews and 'The Skin I Live In' podcast...

Greek oddity 'Attenberg' is out now in the UK. I don't have much memory of it beyond the fact that it was jeered as the credits rolled in Venice last year, and you can read my review of it from last September on What Culture here. It wasn't all that bad I seem to recall (and I think the actress won a prize from the festival jury) but it just left me completely cold. It's a lot like an inferior version of 'Dogtooth' in form and theme, with childlike grown-ups whose unworldly naivete gives rise to some strangely expressed sexual curiosity and odd alternative dance. Nicely shot, mind.

Also up today, reviews of the Blu-ray editions of Jow Wright's stunning 'Hanna' and the Coen Brothers' seminal 'Miller's Crossing'.

Check back tomorrow for my take on Pedro Almodovar's thrilling, disturbing and beautifully realised 'The Skin I Live In' (released last Friday), which is also the subject of the most recent Splendor Cinema Podcast.

'Kill List' Podcast with Ben Wheatley

'Kill List' and 'Down Terrace' director Ben Wheatley came into the projection booth of the Duke of York's yesterday to chat with Jon and I on the latest Splendor Cinema Podcast. Our 64th episode sees us talk to Brighton-based filmmaker about his upcoming horror film, before drifting off into random chatter about 'Planet of the Apes' on Blu-ray.

That podcast is available now to subscribers on iTunes, whilst it'll also soon be available in the embedded player on this blog's podcast page. My review of 'Kill List', which is released next Friday (September 2nd), will be up at What Culture some time in the week.

Also, on an unrelated note, I've just published a huge "top 30 games" feature on What Culture about the lovely SEGA Dreamcast. The near 10,000 word beast of an article can be read here.

'The Inbetweeners Movie' review:

British TV comedies making the transition to feature films have a track record that could charitably be characterised as less than stellar. 'The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse', 'Ali G Indahouse' and 'Kevin & Perry Go Large' are just some examples of what can go wrong when perfectly decent telly fodder gets inflated for the big screen. On paper at least, this year's blown-up cinema edition of Channel Four sitcom 'The Inbetweeners' - which comes with the no-nonsense title: 'The Inbetweeners Movie' - would seem to be following the same dreary trend, especially as it uses the tired "let's take the characters abroad" concept as the basis of its story.

Yet Film Four have bucked the trend winsomely with Ben Palmer - a director of the original series - presiding over what amounts to a high-quality bumper episode of the show. The film maintains a strong gag ratio as well as the astute character observations that serve as the series' best moments, all without jumping the shark in some bombast, hi-octane fashion. It's a consistently funny 97 minutes which sees Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) leave sixth form and embark on a sun-soaked summer holiday in Crete with the familiar aim of getting drunk and getting laid.



However, as anyone who's spent even minimal time in these characters' company before will know, our "heroes" aren't the coolest kids from their school. Jay talks a good game about sexual encounters, but is actually the most shy of the bunch when confronted with the "pussay" he so craves. Bespectacled Will, who again also serves as the narrator, talks himself into trouble at every turn with his boundless pedantry. Whilst Simon is as love-sick and self-involved as ever, especially now that his on-again off-again relationship with Carli (Emily Head) has hit the rocks indefinitely. Only shameless dim-wit Neil is without an obvious personality defect, in a strange way serving as the member of the group with the most appealing world view - even coming across as a good-natured innocent as he performs grotesque sex acts on game OAPs.

The Brits abroad setting allows for the digs at package holiday culture you might expect, but the film takes great pleasure in subverting clichés rather than conforming to them. The attractive girls who instantly and improbably fall for the boys are never treated as tacky FHM eye-candy either (with the vast majority of screen nudity being male) and the dynamic between the four main guys remains as engaging as ever. The actors might be in their mid-late twenties, but 'The Inbetweeners' has always been a far more realistic depiction of youth than we're used to seeing in the sexed-up, hyper-cool world of American "High School" films, or Channel Four's own 'Skins'.

Various narrative norms are also subverted to great effect, with each potential moment of sincere romantic feeling or dramatic heft immediately undercut with humour. This is a balls-out comedy that never pushes the dramatic envelope any further than its audience wants to go. It's content to entertain you, though that's not to say that the touching vulnerability of the four guys doesn't still shine through in a movie which always has its heart in the right place however crass and puerile it gets.

'The Inbetweeners Movie' is out in the UK now, rated '15' by the BBFC.

'Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D' review:

It's been almost a decade since Robert Rodriquez seemed to conclude his 'Spy Kids' trilogy with 'Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over', with the stories of Juni and Carmen Cortez (Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) reaching their conclusion in a star-studded adventure presented in crude anaglyph 3-D. Yet with the current trend in 3D, the series has returned with 'Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D': with new kids - Cecil and Rebecca Wilson (played by Mason Cook and Rowan Blanchard) - a Ricky Gervais voiced talking dog and scratch and sniff "aroma-scope" serving as the titular fourth dimension.

The now-adult Sabara and Vega return to provide some welcome continuity, but with a new family the focus of proceedings, this fourth installment sees Jessica Alba cast as Marissa: a spy step-mom, struggling to connect with Cecil and Rebecca after marrying their father (Joel McHale) and retiring from the espionage trade to raise her newborn baby girl. But when an old nemesis - Tick Tock - escapes prison and seeks to destroy the world by ending time itself, Marissa is brought back into the fold by her old boss, played by the charismatic Jeremy Piven. Piven clearly relishes his role, approaching it with the same enthusiasm that saw the likes of Stallone, Clooney and Buscemi provide such entertaining turns in the original trilogy.



Much of the good-natured, joyously naive spirit of those first films remains intact here, as does the franchise's penchant for earnest, if slightly heavy-handed, moralising about the importance of family. And though Mason and Blanchard never quite recreate the chemistry of the original kids, it's difficult to watch the movie without a smile on your face. Rodriquez admirably continues his own Miyazaki-esque trend for humanising the major bad guys, whilst his decision to give one of the heroes (Cecil) a hearing aid - not to mentioning showing a heavily pregnant Alba confidently kicking ass - also reinforces the overall positive vibe of the piece.

Not only do Rodriquez children's films not talk down to the intended young audience but they don't talk up to them either. The films are aimed squarely and shamelessly at children with next to no concession for adults. It's an imaginative, wish-fulfillment fantasy and the showing I was at was packed with kids - mostly under 10s - who absolutely howled with delight whenever a baby farted or Gervais' comedy dog made a sarcastic observation. He knows this audience and delivers exactly what they want, with even the scratch and sniff gimmick (and I'm sure even he would admit it's exactly that) going down a storm with youngsters. It would seem somewhat churlish and meaningless to point out that all eight fragrances ultimately smell the same: it's hardly the point.



Even the slightly outdated DIY CGI that has become part and parcel of Rodriquez's campy house style and the poorly choreographed fight scenes (which play like something out of TVs slapstick 'Lazy Town' rather than 'El Mariachi') add to the atmosphere of a movie that really is just innocent, imaginative fun in the best possible sense. The scenes following Joel McHale's dad character as host of TV show "Spy Hunter" feel out of place, falling completely flat, and toilet humour reins supreme, but the 'Spy Kids' movies still represent far and away the best live action films that cater specifically to this age group of the last ten years.

'Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D' is out now in the UK and rated 'PG' by the BBFC.

'In a Better World' review:

During Danish Oscar winner 'In a Better World', a child decides to put a violent, school yard bully firmly in his place by beating him senseless with a bicycle pump and then holding a knife to his throat. Now that I see that written here in black and white, it sounds more than slightly sick to say I outwardly cheered with delight at this moment. I'm not even a fan of screen violence but, as someone who was bullied at school, I experience a visceral, instinctive hatred of bullying when I see it on a cinema screen.

Now, if this were, say, a Tarantino film or a vigilante movie like 'Kick-Ass' I would probably be encouraged to allow the violence to take on this disturbing therapeutic quality. Yet the journey the bereaved and angry young Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) subsequently goes on - building pipe bombs in his garage as his response to perceived social injustices becomes increasingly violent - is one that ensures this first act is robbed of any trace of glamour or anti-heroism that it might have otherwise had.



Director Susanne Bier, best known for 2004 drama 'Brothers' (re-made in the US with Natalie Portman), has made a rare and complex film about the nature of conflict and violence, which uses its characters to explore a range of ways people justify violent acts and the way that violence becomes a perpetuated cycle. The link isn't explicitly made but, just as an example, Bier's film is as much about the situation in Palestine (or even that of the recent "rioters" versus the UK government) as it is about individuals and this small cast of characters.

Christian lost his mother to cancer and is filled with rage, accusing his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), of giving up and wanting her to die. He identifies bullies as targets he can actually fight, probably so he doesn't have to keep feeling so helpless. His meek, gentle Swedish friend Elias (Markus Rygaard) goes along for the ride chiefly because he has been included - because he wants to please his new friend and because he now belongs to a small social enclave where previously he was an outcast.



Elias' status as an outsider comes from his being foreign: the son of a Swedish immigrant to Denmark - and it is this that arbitrarily motivates the school bully to pick on him. Here we see an example of violence against those who are different and the way a sort of tribal mentality can take hold (in every case violence is a feeble outward expression of some interior inadequacy). His Swedish father, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt), is a doctor who works in a Sudanese refugee camp. He (literally) turns the other cheek when attacked, advising both children to do likewise, but ultimately his principles are tested when a local war lord comes to the camp asking for treatment.

Somewhere a line is drawn in the sand, the suggestion being that we all have our limits: a personal boundary past which acts of violence and revenge become acceptable. For Anton it is the war lord's shameless gloating about acts of sexualised violence that sends him over the edge, though even then the momentary decision to abandon his most deeply held moral principle - that a doctor should treat those in need regardless of who they are - comes with a certain degree of trauma and regret.



It takes much less for the boys to call Anton's code into question. When an angry mechanic (Kim Bodnia) slaps the doctor for trying to break up a fight involving their sons, the children aren't convinced his pacifist approach is working. Elias later calls his father a "wimp" for walking away from conflict and, when Anton claims the guy lost the argument because he couldn't intimate using violence, Christian responds "I don't think he thought he lost."

Here is an expression of another disquieting yet commonly held truth: that one's own conviction in a moral code is not enough. The children here express a need to win and win unambiguously in public. A need to get the better of one who has wronged them, which is pointless and counter-productive - for society at least, even if the individual might find some satisfaction. 'In a Better World' is a powerful rebuttal to Old Testament "eye for an eye" logic even if it also seems resigned to its inescapable place in our collective psyche.



It's beautifully photographed and the human drama here is compelling and well acted, with the child actors especially strong, but the film is best taken more generally as a polemic. By having the central characters a mix of Danish and Swedish - and by making Anton spend much of the film dealing with similar ethical concerns (admittedly on a much more harrowing scale) in Africa - Bier highlights that this is a universal story. That she tells this larger human story without the sort of self-importance and contrived narrative histrionics common to Guillermo Arriaga films makes it all the more rewarding.

'In a Better World' is out now in the UK and rated '12A' by the BBFC.