Weekly Recap 16 | Falling Down, Arrival & Doctor Who Series 4

Good news everyone: I’ve just finished my final essay, which means I can now dedicate plenty of time to making some great content. So here’s another 2 week in one Weekly Recap to mark the beginning of my very long summer.

My film course decided to go back to the silent era. And while I’m not entirely sure why, I’m glad it did as it means I discovered Shoes and Suspense. They’re both directed by Weber, who has to be among the most sophisticated filmmakers of her time. Shoes is full of great editing, striking imagery, fantastic music and a phenomenal performance from MacLaren, making this a surprisingly poignant film. Very Kafkaesque in fact, cutting straight to her misery as her life falls apart by being enslaved to the parasite that is her family, just like how the mud that clings to her feet destroys her shoes.  And Suspense just has so much energy compressed into its brisk 10 minutes, with dynamic editing, perfect framing and a fantastic score. It features some of the first examples of split screen editing, as well as a high speed car chase, making it one of the best short films I’ve ever seen. Weber is definitely one of those directors that has sadly been overlooked, as her style is sublime.

Some pre-Code Hollywood now with Baby Face. The acting is (mostly) mediocre and the plot is paper thin, with an abrupt ending that doesn’t feel at all satisfying. But as everyone else says, Stanwyck is definitely the highlight, as her arrogant swagger and manipulative tendencies does make for an entertaining 70 minutes. I suppose the simple story is part of its appeal, but I wish there was more substance and nuance to the whole thing so as to make it properly engaging. 

Here’s a pretty controversial film that didn’t appear to be in line with my tastes, but I gave it a go because of a recommendation. I Care A Lot is a film that I didn’t care a lot about back when everyone was reviewing it, and now that I finally have watched it I wish I hadn’t. This is a highly unenjoyable and poorly presented film, with a lot of pointless scenes and bad performances. Dinklage was the highlight, but the plot itself ranged from mediocre to nonsensical. I only watched it all the way through because I wanted to see Pike die in the most gruesome way possible, so I was most happy that I got that satisfaction (oops, spoilers, but in all seriousness, it’s not worth it). I do like the basic premise, but the message is very poorly conveyed. I guess this does prove why making the villain the protagonist can so easily backfire. 

Some John Carpenter now with They Live. I’d only ever seen one scene before watching the entire film, and that’s where he puts on the sunglasses for the first time, which is absolute genius. The ramping up in scale, first with just one sign shown to be a subliminal message, then many revealing the extent of the mind control, then the people themselves uncovered to be hideous aliens. A hilarious piece of visual comedy, made all the better when he resigns himself to the absurdity of the situation and goes ballistic in a moment of desperation. Unfortunately, that’s the only highlight of this film. It’s a shame I have to say that, as the premise is brilliant, but the vast majority of this film is just so boring, with a really terrible ending.

It’s with this next entry that I remembered Zemeckis can be a good director when he isn’t making Back to the Future, as Cast Away is a very solid film. Though with that said, it’s films like this that reinforce my anxiety of flying. Still, the sequence of the plane crashing is incredible. Frightening and gorgeously crafted, it perfectly sets up the intense survival comedy that’s to come. It’s a shame it moves so slowly, because Tom Hanks is great (though he is upstaged by Wilson) and the cinematography is breathtaking. Maybe not much substance to it – and it does overstay its welcome – but still brilliantly put together. 

This next one was actually the 3rd film I watched on that night! After 2 false starts with Rush and Sonic (I switched them off in the opening minutes), I finally found a film I could actually watch all the way through. Because The Book Of Eli, as shallow as the plot might be, is heaps of fun! The writing is simple in a dumb, actiony kind of way, and yet it still manages to reach for some nuggets of thematic complexity with its subtle metaphors, which does give enough depth to make the story interesting. The stellar cast is just the icing on the cake of this mesmerizing spiritual companion to The Road. It’s strange, because normally I find grey colour palettes to be awfully boring in their visual dryness (look at my Terminator Salvation review as an example of how much that can detract from my enjoyment). But this one employs gorgeous cinematography to bring the ash-stricken world to life, as well as spectacular, long-take fights to make the journey worthwhile. At times, the apocalyptic landscape did get rather dreary – and there were some shots with stark filters blatantly slapped on – but as a whole, I found this film to be utterly beautiful, in both writing and visuals.

A film that took me by surprise this week was Falling Down, as it is not the kind of film I was expecting to possess such a solid screenplay. Douglas and Duvall both give fantastic performances, with not a word wasted, making the two hours an absolute blast as their paths increasingly converge. The cinematography isn’t anything particularly stand-out, but the editing in some sequences is utterly intense, which makes for a very effective method for entering his mentality of absolute frustration at the world. And the comedy is brilliant, with every dark joke landing perfectly, giving way to a tragic spiral of death and despair as he becomes lost to the absurdity of life. 

I finally got round to watching the final film in the Die Hard trilogy. Unlike Die Harder, With A Vengeance actually has the foresight to do something different, with a wild, creative, thrilling plot full of awesome car chases, suspenseful bomb defusing, and hilarious character interactions. As great as Bruce Willis was in the other two, the inclusion of Sam Jackson in this one makes the whole thing way more enjoyable, and Jeremy Irons makes for a fantastic villain. Some bits are a bit nonsensical, and the final showdown is a little anticlimactic to be honest, but huge chunks of this film are actually better than the original. 

But my absolute favourite film for this episode has to be Arrival. I fell in love with it in the cinema and it’s still a masterpiece on my third watch. The Heptapods are a brilliant design, with an utterly fascinating language presented through gorgeous cinematography. The premise of attempting to peacefully communicate with aliens might sound boring on paper, but the writing is imbued with a rare kind of sophistication that makes the entire runtime wonderfully entertaining, with Amy Adams’s phenomenal performance enhancing the emotion to be mesmerizingly poignant. Yet the highlight has to be the opening and closing montages played through the sweet melancholy of On The Nature Of Daylight. Max Richter’s immortal piece may have become a tad overused in other stuff, but it’s for good reason, as it is truly remarkable just how beautiful it is. I’ve always admired films that play about with time and the very fabric of filmmaking, but this one is among the most exceptional in its genius editing. 

And it’s once again time for some Doctor Who. But you know what, there’s no sense in meticulously reviewing each episode, since it would just be me gushing over everything Series 4 has to offer. If you would rather I be more thorough, then let me know down in the comments, as today I’ll save us all time and just tell you that every episode is a masterpiece. Seriously, I can never find any faults in Series 4 (well, there’s always some nitpicks, but that’s Doctor Who for you). Voyage of the Damned is my favourite Christmas special, which kickstarts an entire season of brilliant premises, beautiful production design, engaging characters, entertaining plots, The Doctor being epic, the comedy being hilarious and the tragedy utterly emotional.  At the end of all of that is the masterpiece of The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End, as Davros’s return is gorgeous, with his manic cackling making me fall in love, in a finale that is already lavish in its grandiosity with its abundant cast. And of course, Donna is my favourite companion, as she’s by far the funniest while simultaneously the most vulnerable, showing so many facets of humanity that makes her a wonderfully complex character, which is why her departure is so heartbreaking. 

But it’s a shame the Specials couldn’t continue this ultra high quality, because while they’re obviously still enjoyable, something about them always just felt flat to me. Maybe it’s the subpar plots in The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead; maybe it’s the fact that I’ve never understood the profound admiration for The Waters of Mars; maybe it’s because The End of Time ruins its epicness by being utterly ridiculous; or maybe it’s The Doctor himself turning spiteful, no longer carrying that same level of charm that always hooked me to the screen, with his whiny final words in his regeneration spoiling what had been so beautifully constructed up till then. Or maybe it’s none of these and I just need a break from Doctor Who. Either way, while Series 4 is the gold standard for Doctor Who, the Specials is an omen of just how bad the show is about to get.