andyniess Reviews

American Psycho (2000)

Razor-sharp satire

[9/10 · 1 February 2001]

A powerful attack on mid-80s Wall Street culture, anchored by an Oscar-caliber performance by Christian Bale and smart direction by Mary Harron. American Psycho is the story of Patrick Bateman, a vain and wealthy yuppie whose main interests are vapid pop music and murder. Bateman stands out in a cinemascape overflowing with serial killers: his blankness is more disturbing than any psychotic rant. Bale's portrayal constantly involves and surprises us, able to move effortlessly between coked-up goofiness and cruel violence.

This film should have made much more money, and for those normally put off by horror films the violence and gore are brief: the real focus here is on Bateman, and the society that nurtures him. This character is truly frightening and plausible. For a hard, intelligent look at the modern world's corruption of the American dream you couldn't do better than a double-bill of this film and Fight Club.

Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000 Video)

More than definitive

[10/10 · 30 January 2001]

All of the Beastie's videos from Paul's Boutique forward are flawlessly presented with numerous angles, exquisite menus, commentary tracks, and enough remixes to fill two audio CDs. For example, the electro-rap Intergalactic has 9 camera angles, 6 remixes, storyboards, and "The Robot vs. The Octopus Monster Saga," which is the video extended and presented as a side-splitting mini-Godzilla movie. If you haven't viewed any of the videos, quite a few of them are hilarious parodies like Sabotage, which takes on '70s "tough cop" shows better than any Saturday Night Live skit could aspire to. Even the straight performance videos all have a twist, whether it be rotoscoped animation, fish-eye lenses or just the Boys wearing crazy wigs and outfits. It's more than entertaining, and the time and effort put into this compilation set a new standard for music videos.

Bless the Child (2000)

Unoriginal and Unsatisfying

[3/10 · 30 January 2001]

The scariest thing about this one is the amount of recycling from previous, better horror films. Utilising elements that have worked before doesn't make this a bad film, but using them with no degree of innovation or knowledge of how and why they work does. If you haven't seen The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, or The Omen there might be some surprises here for you. If you have seen any of these films, watch them again instead of renting this pastiche.

Occasionally something interesting pops up, like the Scientology-esque cult filled with the devil's minions. Many of the supporting roles are filled well: Rufus Sewell is a smooth and seductive Satan, Christina Ricci brings some pathos to an otherwise predictable role, and Ian Holm hams it up in the stock part of the priest/researcher with arcane knowledge. Kim Basinger is the whitebread protagonist, and the side of the angels has never looked so boring.

What makes great horror really work is it's distortion and magnification of the dark things residing in the back of our minds that we often refuse to acknowledge. This is horror made by people that don't understand it at all. The Exorcist could scare an atheist into believing in the devil; Bless the Child could turn a pious viewer into an atheist.

Manhunter (1986)

Take it on its own terms

[8/10 · 30 January 2001]

As an adaptation of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon, Manhunter seems at first to be radically abridged in order to fit the film's running time. However, all of Harris' themes are here, conveyed in cold, stark visuals and William Petersen's introspective acting. Hannibal Lecter is introduced here, and although Brian Cox gives an effective performance, it's a cameo role compared to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. As far as I can tell, this was the first film to use an (ex)FBI profiler as its hero. Compared to much of what it has influenced, (TV's Millennium, Profiler, too many movies to count) Manhunter economically shows us the dangers of gazing deeply into a psychotic mind in order to understand it. Plus, the final confrontation sequence is a masterpiece of film editing. Michael Mann's directorial eye is razor sharp, and this is an influential modern film noir worth seeing, or seeing again.