herbiehancock

No 284 - Scarface Director - Brian de Palma Well.... before I begin discussing this film, we have to comment on the fact that Brian de Palma made the most brilliantly bad film in existence . And for that very reason we must be eternally grateful. So now we move into surprisingly political territories, but I don't think it really is that much grittier. Or... if it is.... it is offset by the sheer 80's ridiculousness of it all - you can see how it inspired Vice City - all the bad suits and wide collar shirts and mindless excessive violence. It is the excess which is then mocked in films like American Psycho . What a cracking decade it was back then... This film is probably the best I've seen Pacino, his Tony Montana is a terrifying creation - he is a slurring power crazed madman. His quest for power and money - his belief that only this could ever make him happy - is terrible to watch but nowhere near as scary as the paranoia which seeps in once he HAS the power. Montana s...

No 401 - Batman Returns Director - Tim Burton Ah Television... Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover . Also, ruiner of all my attempts at plan and order. Last night whilst scanning the chans I was delighted hear twinkly twinkly music box tones of Danny Elfman , and the see the Penguin's wicker pram prison floating into the sewers . So yes! I know it is a sequel but I'll sort that out in my own time thank you very much... right now I was going to talk about why I love Batman Returns so very much. Gotham city suits Tim Burton's mentality and visual aesthetic. The crumbling, decaying, vandalised shadow of former art deco resplendence . It is the same pseudo- Gothic streak which has appeared in almost every film Tim Burton has ever made. The difference is that in the original Batman, Burton worked with the Joker - a dancing prancing explosion of vivid purples and greens. Joker thrusts himself in the lime light, he is not the shadow dwelling outsider which Burtons uses so frequently...