The Neon Demon (and a mini review for Ghostbusters)

http://theneondemon.com/

Where do I begin to paint the picture of how very bad The Neon Demon is? Bad taste, badly edited, overly stylised direction, barely any script, but then again it is "written" by Nicholas Winding Refn (who apparently now refers to himself as NWR so I shall do the same), and he's not exactly known for his dialogue; but no, it's mostly just bad in sense that it leaves the taste of eyeball in your mouth at the end.

This is the story of a girl who wanted to be a model, and who undoubtedly would have made it had she not been so shitty to those helping her to the top of the ladder. I get the metaphors too, modelling is dog eat dog (literally) and if you're big headed and rude to the people helping you on your way up, they're likely to be the ones to push you off the top. I get it. But I didn't really need to sit through 2 hours of strobe lighting and over-long scenes where nothing (and I mean nothing at all) happened, in order to get it. 

It's so sad too because they have some really great people in the cast. Keanu Reeves is criminally underused, Jena Malone, you can do so much better than this honey, what are you doing? And even Elle Fanning who showed real promise in Super 8, is above the level this movie stoops to. Character wise, did we need to know that the crooked motel owner was also a paedophile rapist? Or that the make up artist was a necrophiliac lesbian? No, I really don't think we did, and shocking for the sake of shocking is so very 90s.

I enjoyed Drive, even though it too was over stylised and under dialogue-d on reflection, but at the time it came out it was different, refreshing even. I missed Only God Forgives in cinemas and when I attempted to watch it on TV I only managed to watch about half before I was so bored I gave up. If I'd watched this at home I don't know that I'd have made it half way, but I paid my £8.70 dammit and I was determined to get my money's worth. 

So we're three major films in to NWR's career (I'm aware that in total he's got 13 director credits) and I already feel he needs to try a different tactic, because this one is now old hat. It's clear that after the success of Drive he believed his own hype, and now has no originality left. 

Before the film started there was an advertisement for a season of films that "inspire" NWR. One of those films was Under The Skin. "Inspired" is a funny word when used in this context because if you played Under The Skin and The Neon Demon side by side, you'd see a lot of similarities. The music is one, the look of the film is another. And if you read my review for that movie you'll know what I thought of it. This too has no real point to it, nothing of any value to really say for itself, no likable characters, in fact nothing really to redeem it at all.

The irony is that everyone has praised The Neon Demon and criticised the hell out of the rebooted Ghostbusters, but I actually enjoyed that much more, and thought it more original even though it was a reboot of an existing film. It felt more fresh, the cast were all superb, it features a some fantastic role models for women and young girls, it prominently features both a funny and knowledgeable woman of colour, AND a kick ass and smart gay woman. If you have to pick between the two, go for Ghostbusters. It's not perfect, I think it would have worked better as a sequel rather than trying to be a stand alone movie, but it's been done this way, and as it stands I would much rather see a sequel for this new team of Ghostbusters than sit through the tripe that was The Neon Demon again.

The Neon Demon 1 out of 10 / Ghostbusters 6 out of 10

The Neon Demon Viewing Date - 20th July 2016
The Neon Demon Release Date - 8th July 2016

The Neon Demon Cast Overview:
Elle Fanning ~ Jesse
Jena Malone ~ Ruby
Karl Glusman ~ Dean
Bella Heathcote ~ Gigi
Abbey Lee ~ Sarah
Christina Hendricks ~ Roberta Hoffman
Keanu Reeves ~ Hank
Alessandro Nivola ~ Fashion Designer (uncredited)

Written and Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (with assistance from Mary Laws and Polly Stenham on the script)

Ghostbusters Viewing Date - 11th July 2015
Ghostbusters Release Date - 11th July 2015

Ghostbusters Cast Overview:
Melissa McCarthy ~ Abby Yates
Kristen Wiig ~ Erin Gilbert
Kate McKinnon ~ Jillian Holtzmann
Leslie Jones ~ Patty Tolan
Chris Hemsworth ~ Kevin

Written and Directed by Paul Feig (with assistance from Katie Dippold)

New York Adventure – Day 5

Day 5 has now been uploaded onto my exclusively NY blog, D&Ks NY Experience. For the full blog and all the photos please click: http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/new-york-adventure-day-5-conquering-fear.html

Day 5 was a big day for D and I, in more ways than one. We literally had to conquer our fear of heights and D's vertigo in one day! Below are some photos from Day 5 that you won't find in the D&Ks NY Experience blog along with some more movie related locations...

Starting with the Top Of The Rock

And as it looked in The Adjustment Bureau:

Next we saw the Flatiron Building

And here's how it looked in Spider-Man:

The movie locations continued as we visited 8 Hook and Ladder

Otherwise known as the Ghostbusters fire house

Our next stop was at Ground Zero where we saw the building of Freedom Tower

D tells me she did see a shot of this in The Amazing Spider-Man but there are yet to be any screencaps of this as the movie has only been released in cinemas. In the mean time lets look at the very pretty Andrew Garfield looking down on New York City.

Whilst at Ground Zero we visited St Paul's Chapel, if you don't know anything about St Paul's you can find out more here. It's not been in any movies but it was a very special place that D and I felt privileged  to be able to visit.

Next up we headed on over to Brooklyn to grab an ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory which sits under the Brooklyn Bridge.

After our indulgence we decided it would be a good idea to walk back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge to burn off those calories. Here's a nice photo of the Brooklyn Bridge from on the bridge

And here is virtually the same shot in the Sex And The City Movie

Our final stop of the day was to visit The Empire State Building. The lift ride took it out of poor D and she barely got to see the Observation Deck but here's some of the photos I took

And here's how it looks in Sleepless In Seatle

And there you have Day 5. Remember for the full blog and more photos visit my D&Ks NY Experience Blog using this link http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/new-york-adventure-day-5-conquering-fear.html

And many thanks again to onthesetofnewyork for the use of their screencaps. All screencaps courtesy of http://www.onthesetofnewyork.com/

New York Adventure – Day 4

Day 4 has now been uploaded onto my exclusively NY blog, D&Ks NY Experience. For the full blog and all the photos please click: http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/new-york-adventure-day-4-lady-ks-movie.html

As Day 4 was exclusively taken up seeing movie locations here are some movie related photos from Day 4 that you won't find in that blog...

Columbia University featured in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 and in Ghostbusters.

Here's Mary Jane in the first Spidey standing outside Columbia University. You can see the steps and columns behind her.

And here's the same location as seen in Ghostbusters.

Continuing the Ghostbusters theme we also took in Dana Barrett's apartment building.

We then stopped by the American Museum of Natural History to see Teddy Roosevelt and Sacajawea from Night At The Museum.

Going back the Ghostbusters theme we stopped by the Lincoln Centre fountains - also featured in Sweet Home Alabama. Here's D posing in front of the fountains.

And here they are in Ghostbusters.

Continuing the Ghostbusters theme some more we stopped at Columbus Circle.

And here it is in the film.

After a long day of walking we stopped at FAO Schwarts so I could have a play on the BIG piano, so called because it's big...

And because it was in the Tom Hanks movie Big!

On our way back to our hotel we stumbled across this very spooky looking church - St Patrick's Cathedral - which featured in Gremlins 2.

And to finish off our day we paid a visit to Times Square which has featured in many films, amongst them Gremlins 2, Spider-Man and King Kong.

As I said above, these are just a few of the places we visited on Day 4 so be sure to check out my NY Blog for more http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/new-york-adventure-day-4-lady-ks-movie.html

All Movie screencaps courtesy of Google Images

Ghostbusters

http://www.ghostbusters.com/

It's classic film time once again folks! But this time I didn't need to travel up to London, or visit my local independent theatre to watch an oldie but goodie, as Ghostbusters came to Cineworld for one night only. 

As I was only 3 when Ghostbusters came out I can't quite remember the first time I saw it. But I do remember that I loved it and still love it to this day. It's an undisputed classic with so many memorable lines it's almost criminal.

For the uninitiated, Ghostbusters is a film about three scientists who decide to become spook catchers in New York City. Their first client Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) experiences a supernatural event in her kitchen and goes to the Ghostbusters, Dr Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Dr Spengler (Harold Ramis) for help. They soon discover a coming apocalypse and Dana's apartment block seems to be the gateway. Will they be able to stop it in time? Or will the Environmental Protection Agency shut them down before they have a chance?

If you haven't seen Ghostbusters I suggest you get on it as Ghostbusters 3 (yes that's 3, there is also a Ghostbusters 2 that came out in 1989) is rumored to be coming out next year. The original is (so far) the best though and until now I had not seen it in the cinema. I saw Ghostbusters 2 a few years ago at a special one off screening, not dissimilar to this one, but seeing the original on the big screen was a special experience. 

I don't know what it is about 80s movies but they seemed to get away with so much more than films these days. Or maybe my mum was more accomodating and just allowed us to watch films we were too young for? It just seems to me that films like this and Back to the Future were a staple of my childhood and when I look at them now I see a lot of adult humour that I wouldn't have understood, strong-ish language and some quite scary visuals.

And yet, like another classic 80s film from my childhood, The Princess Bride, I still love Ghostbusters, but I find I love it now for the things I wouldn't have understood as a child. And yet not understanding those things back then certainly didn't make me love it less. I guess it just works on many levels.

Some of the effects haven't aged so well but a great story, written by the stars of the film Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (and according to IMDb, co-written by Rick Moranis, although uncredited? How they know this I have no idea!) and fantastic comedic performances from Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis, and what can only be described as great chemistry between all of the leads, Ghostbusters still thrills today.

If it's on at a cinema near you I recommend you go and see it, if not then you must buy, rent or borrow this off someone today and remember why it's considered a classic. 9.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 15th November 2011

Original UK Release Date - 7th December 1984

Cast Overview:

Bill Murray ~ Dr Peter Venkman

Dan Aykroyd ~ Dr Ray Stantz

Sigourney Weaver ~ Dana Barrett

Harold Ramis ~ Dr Egon Spengler

Rick Moranis ~ Louis Tully

Annie Potts ~ Janine Melnitz

William Atherton ~ Walter Peck

Ernie Hudson ~ Winston Zeddmore

Director ~ Ivan Reitman

Writer(s) ~ Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis