Film Review: IN THE LOOP (2009, Armando Iannucci)

Stars: 4.3 of 5.
Running Time: 106 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Peter Capaldi, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Mimi Kennedy, David Rasche, Steve Coogan, Anna Chlumsky, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison.
Tag-line: "The fate of the world is on the line."
Best one-liner: "Within your 'purview'? Where do you think you are, some fucking regency costume drama? This is a government department, not some fucking Jane fucking Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your shitter with a lubricated horse cock!"

"So you're not resigning? Are you still playing the hawk?" –"Well, in...in a way I'm playing a much cleverer game than that...I'm a fake hawk." Finally the 'awkward, cinéma vérité workplace satire' which allowed THE OFFICE and EXTRAS to resonate so deeply with viewers has been applied to something timely, weighty, and significant- the ham-fisted, bush league, real-life machinations behind global politics. As Khrushchev wrote in a message to JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis, "I have participated in two wars and know that war ends when it has rolled through cities and villages, everywhere sowing death and destruction. For such is the logic of war. If people do not display wisdom, they will clash like blind moles and then mutual annihilation will commence." This statement still applies, of course, but with several major addenda– they will clash and slash and parry like blind moles, but instead of the true face of war, they'll see promotion, demotion, an office with glass doors, or perhaps a shabby cubicle. The incompetence which could erroneously destroy an entire nation can easily be corrected when you're re-editing the minutes to your last policy meeting. People with strong convictions? Those who accept accountability? A dying race. Dying because they are no longer fashionable.

This is all rather heavy, but, make no mistake, IN THE LOOP is extremely funny. Non-stop waggish barbs are flung with HIS GIRL FRIDAY-style rapidity. The performances are spot-on: Peter Capaldi's (THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM) foul-mouthed, weaselly Scotsman;

David Rasche's (COBRA, UNITED 93) soothingly ominous warmonger; Mimi Kennedy's (DHARMA & GREG) earnest, outmatched diplomat;

Tom Hollander's (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2) wishy-washy simpleton; James Gandolfini's hot-tempered, peace-loving General (and his face-off with Capaldi is worth the price of admission alone);

Gina McKee's (CROUPIER, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM) smarmy aide; Anna Chlumsky's (Vada from MY GIRL!) deluged subordinate; and our ostensible 'hero,' the mop-topped, half-assed newbie (Chris Addison). It’s the perfect ‘war movie’ in an era where the top torturer is some pencil-neck writing a policy memo at his desk. Nearly five stars.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988, Ken Russell)

Stars: 4.2 of 5.
Running Time: 93 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis (Charlie's mother on TV's LOST), Gina McKee (NAKED, CROUPIER, MIRRORMASK).
Tag-line: None that I could find.
Best one-liner: [throws Snakes n' Ladders into the fireplace] Rosebud.

Now, I've never read Bram Stoker's (final) novel, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and bet that the finale doesn't involve a giant, prehistoric strap-on. No one would ever accuse Ken Russell (British madman, provocateur, and director of THE DEVILS, TOMMY, and WOMEN IN LOVE) of subtlety, and what he lays out here is aesthetically and conceptually astounding, and ranks among his best works. Visually, it feels almost as if the CREMASTER films were infused with camp: there's classical, painterly compositions; frantic dream sequences approximating 2-strip Technicolor and involving nun rape, the Crucifixion, and a ravenous albino serpent;


jaw-droppingly beautiful shots of yawning caverns and the tranquil English countryside; the disorienting grandeur of the fishbowl lens; and puppet effects that are at once hilarious and macabre.

Hugh Grant is Lord James D'Ampton, our snobby douche hero who faces off against an immortal worm-god with the sort of mild bemusement that only a Brit can get away with.

Peter Capaldi (LOCAL HERO, DANGEROUS LIAISONS) is our bag-pipe playing, snake-charming Scottish archeologist and Catherine Oxenberg (CHARLES AND DIANA: UNHAPPILY EVER AFTER) is our damsel in distress.

But stealing the show is clearly Amanda Donohoe (THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, Roeg's CASTAWAY) as our slithery snake-woman: spitting urine-looking venom on a crucifix

(I think even Andres Serrano is impressed), playing snakes n' ladders, perching herself in trees whilst wearing high heels, seducing boy scouts,

slinking about, wriggling here and there,

and sinking her fangs into a host of fleshy parts.

Yeah, this movie is ludicrous. But it's intellectual, too- surface imagery of white vacuum tubes, hoses, and other snake-like visual puns gives way to a latent primordialist exploration (á la ALTERED STATES) of hermaphroditism, pagan rituals, human sacrifice, original sin, and ingrained Ophidiophobia. Whew! Four stars.

-Sean Gill

2009 Halloween Countdown

31. PROM NIGHT (1980, Paul Lynch)
30. PHENOMENA (1985, Dario Argento)
29. HOUSE OF WAX (1953, André de Toth)
28. SILENT RAGE (1982, Michael Miller)
27. BASKET CASE (1982, Frank Henenlotter)
26. THE DEADLY SPAWN (1983, Douglas McKeown)
25. PELTS (2006, Dario Argento)
24. ANGEL HEART (1987, Alan Parker)
23. KILLER WORKOUT (1986, David A. Prior)
22. FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (1991, Rachel Talalay)
21. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971, Robert Fuest)
20. FRANKENHOOKER (1990, Frank Henenlotter)
19. HELLRAISER (1987, Clive Barker)
18. GEEK MAGGOT BINGO (1983, Nick Zedd)
17. ALLIGATOR (1980, Lewis Teague)
16. LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (1971, Lucio Fulci)
15. THE CARD PLAYER (2004, Dario Argento)
14. SPASMO (1974, Umberto Lenzi)
13. C.H.U.D. (1984, Douglas Cheek)
12. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III (1982, Steve Miner)
11. SWAMP THING (1982, Wes Craven)
10. DIARY OF THE DEAD (2008, George A. Romero)
9. THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988, Ken Russell)
8.
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