Underrated Showcase Sunday: Spider

I never realised how great Google was for picking out underrated films. As I went to search up Spider, a 2002 film directed by David Cronenberg and starring Ralph Fiennes, I had to sift through a pile of unrelated stuff before I finally found what I was looking for. Sure, it doesn't help that the much more popular and mainstream Spider-Man was released in 2002 as well. The two films are not to be confused with each other: one is a blockbuster about a guy seeking an outlet through spandex and webs. The other one is a strange independent feature about a man who doesn't know where his brain begins and ends. And no amount of spandex or webs coming out of his hands is ever going to help that.

Ralph Fiennes plays the titular character (also known as Dennis Cleg), who is given a room in a halfway house especially for mentally disturbed people. Here he starts to piece together his memories of his past, which lead to an apparently fateful event which changed his mental stability, and his childhood, forever. Now this kind of story is the benchmark for those Oscar driven films that have people going crazy so at the end of the day, they can get a little golden statue. However, there's something so edgy, yet extremely unsettling about Spider. It doesn't take the outsider's point of view. Cronenberg drives you straight into the mind of Spider. His mind isn't carefully placed out. It is lost, messed up, confused. Spider has a knack for blending fantasy and reality into his possible experiences and memories. This makes for a curious, yet slightly frustrating piece of film that needs a clear head to be able to fully articulate. Looking back on it now, though, it is definitely like anything I've really seen of it's sort. It gives an extremely frightening portrait of a man driven mad by his brain. A lot of that madness comes from the people around him - but I was left with the feeling that his brain was doing the majority of the work.

Underrated Showcase Sunday: Hard Candy

I must be one of the most damaged children of my age. Someone asked me what I am going to watch tonight. I went through my options, coming to the original Straw Dogs, which I decided I wouldn't watch since I've already seen a rape movie this week. If I ever tell people about what happens in Requiem for a Dream, they just look at me strangely. One of my essays on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was basically all about rape (I'm doing the theme of 'revenge', so that's what it all came down to). But by far and beyond the most damaging film I've seen in my life is Hard Candy. Now, I vaguely remember this film during it's release back in 2005/06 or whatever. It was at the beginning of my movie obsession, and it was in the first issue of Empire (Australian movie magazine) I ever got, with a stellar 5 star review. I don't know how popular it was back in the day, but judging by the mixed critical response, I can't help but put it in the 'underrated' category.

Underrated Showcase Sundays: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

A movie that I love dearly, and have seen at least 20/30 times by now is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Surprisingly, very few people have seen this 1930's set comedy starring Frances McDormand as a down on her luck governess and Amy Adams as a budding starlet who takes her under her wing. It is a fairly basic comedy set over the course of a day as Gunievere Pettigrew (McDormand) helps Delysia LaFosse (Adams) deal with her three boyfriends: the naive stage producer Phil (Tom Payne), who she's only with to ensure she gets a part in his next production; the smarmy nightclub owner Nick (the ever brilliant Mark Strong) who owns the apartment she resides in; and Michael (Lee Pace), her piano player, who has just come out of prison and wants her to go to New York with him. There are a few clichés here and there, but the film culminates in such a beautiful way that you can't help but fall in love with it. And it is only fitting to highlight this scene since we've been analysing (and jeez do I hate analysing things) The Shawshank Redemption in class and both that film and this film use the song 'If I Didn't Care' - a song which has been stuck in my head for days now. I know The Shawshank Redemption may be the best film ever made (and it is a fantastic film), but I think Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day uses the song better. Anyway, there are a few spoilers here (since this is one of the last scenes of the film), but I needed it on my blog. Go watch the film now, if you haven't!

Underrated Showcase Sundays - Me and Orson Welles

Time for a confession: I love movies set in the 30's/40's, and backstage dramas. That's exactly what Me and Orson Welles is. It is set behind the scenes of Orson Welles' (played by Christian McKay) 'ground-breaking' stage production of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theatre in 1937. Where exactly does former High School Musical star Zac Efron fit into all of this? He plays Richard, a teenager who convinces Welles that he is good enough to be given a part in the play, and thanks to some ukulele playing skills he gets the role, despite the fact he's still in school. As with most backstage dramas, Richard is opened up to a world of colourful theatrical characters, which just so happens to include Joseph Cotten (James Tupper), and an older woman Sonja (Claire Danes), who he ends up falling in love with.

Underrated Showcase Sundays: The Round Up

Around nine months ago, I had to do some research into the Holocaust, which in turn led to filing through a whole lot of movies on the matter. There was one that particularly interested me: Sarah's Key. What interested me about this one was that it showed an event known as the Vel' d'Hiv Round Up, which occurred in Paris in 1942. This wasn't Germany's doing - it was the French who executed this. What happened was the French decided to take action against the Jews, so they set out to arrest over 20,000 of them one morning. They managed to get just over 13,000, since many Jews were hidden by families in Paris. For the 13,000 that did get arrested, though, they were sent to the Vélodrome d'Hiver - a bicycle veledrome, where there was no bathroom facilities and only one running tap. They were sent there with strict instructions on what they could take (very little), and had to stay in there for three days. After that, they were sent to another camp, before they were deported to Auschwitz. Why am I giving you this history lesson? Because this is the story that is told in the French film The Round Up, which is little seen outside of it's home country.

Underrated Leading Performances of 2011

Last weekend, I looked at the ten most underrated supporting performances from 2011. I couldn't really just give you that list and run away laughing, now could I? It is time to look at the leading performances that didn't get an adequate amount of attention. Here's my ten picks, ranked...

10. Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower

It pretty much sounds like an Oscar success story: an ever dependable actress playing the lead in a true story of a woman working against all odds. Alas, The Whistleblower wasn't received that well and hardly anyone saw it. Maybe the film is a little too dependent on Rachel Weisz being dependable, but she gives a wonderful lead performance that the film itself can never live up to. Her performance/character can be summed up by one line that she utters in the film: "I don't want a scandal, I just want to do my job." And what a brilliant job she does.

Underrated Supporting Performances of 2011

I'm still a good few months away from releasing my official list of favourite 2011 films (I still need to see The Artist, Shame, 50/50, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy etc etc etc), but I may as well start getting nostalgic now. I was watching Melancholia last weekend and I was thinking about how underrated everyone's performances were in that particular movie. Which prompted me to look back at all of the performances that were severely underrated for some reason or another. So instead of showcasing one underrated film, let me showcase ten underrated supporting performances in 2011, ranked...

10. Hayley Atwell in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Chances are that I won't have too many people queueing up to agree with me - this is a choice that comes straight from an extremely mainstream blockbuster. However, I've always been a fan of Hayley Atwell, and I found her to be the most awesome thing about an already awesome movie. While her character may be written as a typical tough girl, Atwell brings her an edge that makes her the perfect companion to Cap - actually, she seems a lot stronger inside than he is. If only she could somehow not age and go on that date with Cap in The Avengers...that would make me happy.

Underrated Showcase Sundays: Another Earth

Underrated Showcase Sundays is a pretty straight-forward: every Sunday I'll shed some light on a film which I think doesn't get enough love. The showcase will be largely unstructured (well, compared to my other reviews) and will often just be random thoughts. It doesn't matter if I've seen it before or not. Tonight's instalment is one which I had never seen until this weekend, thanks to Fatso.

Admit it, you've probably sat there at least once in your life and wondered about the Earth not being entirely what it seems. You probably look out into the night sky and wonder if there is life beyond Earth. Usually, you'd think that life is some sort of extra-terrestrial race. Another Earth doesn't think so. It begins by showing a young woman, Rhoda (Brit Marling) at a party celebrating her acceptance into MIT. She drives home, and as she does so, there is an announcement on the radio that scientists have found another Earth. This is one of those moments where you know exactly where you were when you found out, but unfortunately for Rhoda, what she'll remember is the fact that she caused a car crash, where two people lost their lives. She spends four years in jail, and when she gets out, she seeks closure, by connecting with the accomplished composer (William Mapother) she almost killed and entering a competition to win a trip to the duplicate Earth.

Underrated Showcase Sundays: Quiz Show

Underrated Showcase Sundays is a pretty straight-forward: every Sunday I'll shed some light on a film which I think doesn't get enough love. The showcase will be largely unstructured (well, compared to my other reviews) and will often just be random thoughts. It doesn't matter if I've seen it before or not. Tonight's instalment is one I've seen twice before, and had to go to a whole different country to get myself a copy of it on DVD (that sound more dramatic than what it actually happened).

Right in the midst of my huge obsession with Ralph Fiennes, I found two films of his that I had never heard of before: Strange Days hiding on the thriller shelf at Blockbuster and Quiz Show, which I queued up. Each of them were distinctly great films, offering a look at Fiennes just after his work in Schindler's List - a.k.a the best performance of all time. While Strange Days had him playing the fast-talking, smooth yet kinda seedy street hustler, Quiz Show has him playing a role completely different to anything he has ever done: the vulnerable, well-to-do pretty boy who acts his way into the heart of millions. If you look at Fiennes' filmography, you'll find it rich with varied characters and films, but one performance and film that sticks out for me the most is his Charles van Doren in Quiz Show.

Underrated Showcase Sundays - Chico & Rita

Underrated Showcase Sundays is a pretty straight-forward: every Sunday I'll shed some light on a film which I think doesn't get enough love. The showcase will be largely unstructured (well, compared to my other reviews) and will often just be random thoughts. It doesn't matter if I've seen it before or not. Tonight's instalment, though, is one that I hadn't seen before, and decided to post now as we near the home stretch for the Oscars.

In amongst the chameleon antics of Rango and the big franchise players Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots is the Spanish film Chico & Rita, which was lucky enough to get a place in the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars. It may not be in 3D, nor does it employ the almost 'realistic' looking animation that Rango did, but there is no denying that Chico & Rita is a beautiful, moving tale that could actually serve as a great companion piece to The Artist (I'm guessing). It is a simple tale of two people in love: Chico, a young piano player and Rita, a beautiful singer. Just as soon as they've fallen in love they are torn apart by the allure of fame. Rita is discovered by an impresario named Ron, and takes her to New York where she has a lot of success, and while Chico follows her there, he doesn't take as much as she does. As her star rises, his talent goes ignored, and there's no way that the two could remain together.

Underrated Showcase Sundays - Strictly Ballroom

Ah, weekly features. I figured that the blog needs some more of those (with a bit of luck, you shall see the return of a weekly feature that y'all loved sometime soon). This weekly feature, the Underrated Showcase Sundays, is pretty straight-forward: every Sunday I'll shed some light on a film which I think doesn't get enough love. The showcase will be largely unstructured (well, compared to my other reviews) and will often just be random thoughts. It doesn't matter if I've seen it before or not. For example, I'm starting with Strictly Ballroom, which I first watched three years ago and has had it's place in my DVD collection for two of those years. Let's get into it, shall we?

(NOTE: If this doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense, bear with me. World War 3 is going on in my head right now and I feel like if anyone touches it, it might fall to pieces. It's probably not doing me a lot of good to be staring at a computer screen, but I'm determined to do this.)

Back when I was 13, I had a huge Baz Luhrmann phase. I'm not sure how it started - if my memory serves me correctly, it may have been the million watches of Romeo + Juliet I went through, because back then, I'd never seen anything like it. But between the stylish modernism of Shakespeare's romance, the lavish and spectacular musical Moulin Rouge! and the slightly disappointing and over-ambitious Australia, people tend to forget Luhrmann's first effort, Strictly Ballroom. In saying that, back in it's day (in which I was not alive to see), the film was a huge hit in Australia and it even scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy, losing out to Mrs. Doubtfire. Yet, while Luhrmann has had bigger fish to fry in Hollywood - including his up-coming 3D adaptation of The Great Gatsby - his smaller roots are not to be ignored.