Battle for the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1973)

"All knowledge is for good. Only the use to which you put it can be good or evil"

Introduction

When you watch the Blu-Ray versions of the series, they are introduced by the 'lawgiver'. Considering he does not appear in any of the films until Battle for the Planet of the Apes, it seems a bit unneccessary. Even in this film, it is more a cameo of John Huston, rather than a neccessary facet to the film. It bookends the film before flashing back to a period shortly after the end of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. In the time period between the films, a nuclear bomb has killed many humans and all apes can now speak. Considering this has all happened within a human lifetime is shocking - even MacDonald from the previous film has a 'brother' (Austin Stoker) who is Ceasar's (Roddy McDowell) close, human-friend. Differences to the timeline have included a rule whereby the word 'No' is forbidden and 'Apes do not kill other Apes'. But there is a conflict between the species - Gorilla's are angry about their previous enslavement, humans are already a 'lower' class but they can talk. This is the final confrontation between humans and apes.

Back to the Original ...

It seems to me that producers and writers wanted to hark back to the first film and get out of the city-scape and human-dominance of the previous two installments. The apes are the dominant species now - something that has not been the case since Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The existence of Ceasar though is different to the original 'sacred scrolls' text. We don't know where this future will lead. Ceasar is much more understanding and wants humans and apes to co-exist together - but this is an opinion not shared by all. The theme of 'exploration' is tackled further. Ceasar wants to know about his parents - Cornelius and Zira - which MacDonald explains is possible if they visit the Forbidden City. Unknown to the apes, malformed humans are still alive beneath the city - and the visit is shortlived as Governor Kolp (Severn Darden reprising his role from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes) uses this as a reason to strike against the apes, starting a war, attempting to take them out before they continue their dominance of the planet.

One of the few strengths of the film is how it references so many of the previous installments - footage from Escape from the Planet of the Apes, mention of the ALPHA-OMEGA bomb worshipped in Beneath the Planet of the Apes - show how the producers wanted to honour what had preceded in this story. Unfortunately, some awful acting and small-scale sequences made what should've been an epic, huge-scale finale into a whimper of a finish.

"Are their any jobs available on that 'Death Star' thing?"

The Malformed Humans

We know that the 'circle' of events from Planet of the Apes should loop around - and the radiation poisioning of the humans in this film clearly precedes the hugely deformed humans in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Interestingly, when I analysed Planet of the Apes, I noted how - as a planet - the 'apes' dusty location, the endless desert, reminded me of Star Wars and the planet of Tatooine. Due to the negative-associations of the uniforms worn by Nazi's in World War II, it seems that both Lucas and Thompson both used this World War II reference point to design costumes for the villains in Darth Vader and Governor Kolp. Because of this, Kolp seems to be almost Darth Vader in every form - except without the mask and voice. Long, black jacket and over-sized collars. Both have huge physiques that, as they lead their armies, connects their intelligence in leading an army with the brute-force of a wrestler or fighter. Considering that both Star Wars and Planet of the Apes were very-much a part of the Sci-Fi scene in the 70's, I'm sure Lucas considered what made Planet of the Apes successful was the 'alien' look of the planet.

Ape-City if Built

We recall vividly Charlton Heston's mistreatment in the first film, and yet here we see an Ape-City which is built whereby humans play with apes. The Gorilla's are what threatens this - and the death of Ceasar's child is what truly changes his attitude. Gorilla's break rules to get their own way - opposed to fairness and equality. Even Ceasar does not initially believe in the equality which humans expect - the change in this stance is what changes the foundations of Ape-City and the future of the planet.

As we flash-forward again, the lawgiver is revealed to be telling a story to children: apes and humans together, living in harmony. A child asks "Who knows about the future" and the lawgiver replies:

"Perhaps only the dead..."

And a single-tear falls from a Ceasar-statue behind the group. It doesn't really make sense - tears of joy for the continued co-existence of humans and apes? an awareness of the future? (Taylor's - at this stage - future arrival to shake-up the balance?) or did Ceasar want apes to dominate? It really seems like one of those endings that thinks it is more profound than it actually is. Battle for the Planet of the Apes is, very-much, an anti-climax to the saga. Trying to take the film back to its roots, it seems to fail at showing any 'truth' to the apes history. Merely tackling themes which have already been explored and extending a story that we could have mentally filled-in after Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. It is not a suprise that this was the last theatrical-film until 2001, whereby Tim Burton, in the time of Lord of the Rings, Gladiator and Braveheart, would release his own 're-imagining'...

Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)

"Big things have small beginnings"

Introduction

My issue with Aliens is how James Cameron changed what the Alien-story is about. Ridley Scott, in Alien, shows that it is about bigger issues than simply creatures-chased-in-hallways. It is about what it is to be human, issues about class and expectations of life - and what we all desperately seek: answers to profound and philosophical questions regarding faith. Prometheus takes us down the road that Ridley wanted to take us down - no wall-to-wall, "get-away-from-her-you-bitch!", guns-and-gore sequences here. This is epic in scale, personal and creepy with you left wanting more. You ask more questions than you get answers. And this is what Ridley Scott does best with Science-Fiction - both Blade Runner and Alien leave you thinking about the questions raised, rather than simply cramming the film in action.

A Visual Masterpiece

Ridley Scott knows how to frame a shot. Think about the overhead-shots in Mogadishu in Black Hawk Dawn or the awe-inspiring scale of the Colosseum in Gladiator. Scott shoots this film knowing that we anticipate his return to Sci-Fi with baited breath. Every shot, still, is breath-taking. The opening sequence portrays robot David (Michael Fassbender) wander around the spaceship 'Prometheus' as all humans are in hyper-sleep. Camera fixed to shoot symmetrical-doors and rooms alongside exceptionally advanced equipment. Screens that dominate entire-walls. On the one hand, we know the similar aesthetics are akin to the 'Nostromo' - the shape of the doors, the logos and layout of computers. On the other hand, it is a ship of the highest-quality and provides first-class service from Weyland Industries. This is the most important financial-project Weyland has committed to - costing three trillion dollars, according to Vickers (Charlize Theron), our manager of the crew.

Small nods to Alien are littered all over the place - from the meal-time introduction of the crew, through to the planet we visit and the 'space-jockey' reveal. Storms on the planet provide ample opportunity to show the scale of the planet - much-like the 1979 original - and we see the small size of the humans in correlation to what they discover. Like the original, every shot could be freeze-framed and hung on a wall.

Humans and Faith

From the introduction of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), we know that faith is important to her. Despite her huge interest in seeking answers to questions that are found in the farthest reaches of space, and exploring historic sites that existed thousands of years before Jesus, she still wears a cross with pride. This is human - faith and belief is human. We believe in these things because, whether we seek it on earth or in death, we desperately want something more than our small-stay on this planet.

Shaw and Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have differing outlooks that represent their gender. Holloway is stubborn and impulsive, Shaw is maternal and emotional. In one sequence, Shaw shows Holloway how humans are directly connected to the "Engineers" through a DNA sample - it is shot in a way that implies the two are sharing, and observing a positive pregnancy-test.

Being impulsive and passionate, holding onto faith and personally craving a child all connect to our human traits. The two doctors are at odds with David and Vickers - they have different belief systems. Some believe in seeking answers for the sake of understanding mortality, others seeks answers to control mortality and gain immortality.

Death and All His Friends

The overarching theme - from the very first scene - is Death. Almost every character shows a different attitude towards death. There are those like FiField (Sean Harris) and Millburn (Rafe Spall) who fear their death. It is something they do not understand and are not willing to accept. There are those who fear it - but accept it. Shaw specifically has experienced both her parents death - but she accepts this is a part of life. Others understand what it is to sacrifice their life, whilst others want to extend life, and achieve immortality.

Like the quadrilogy, the theme of capitalism and greed does come up, but it is not the same as what we have seen before. Does anyone have the right to control life? That is the bigger question. Wealth and money is merely a means to an end. Aliens manages to deeply explore how greed and money are what fuel the future but, the same capitalist attitude will be what destroys us. Prometheus merely uses this idea as a backdrop - because one thing everyone connects to  - and will experience - is the end of life. Power, wealth and control cannot and will not give life.

Fascinating

I write this following a viewing at an IMAX. It is my first viewing. Still, I want to know more. The final few scenes raise more questions about the future of the franchise. But it seems that Ridley Scott has ensured that the franchise is back on course - it can now explore the galaxy further to ask the questions we seek ourselves. Cinema can be mesmerising and, the fact that this film does not have big guns (indeed, flame-throwers and pistols are the only weapons we see - whilst Shaw clearly states how "this is a science expedition" and weaponry shouldn't be required) and relies purely on a magnificent artist wielding the camera, alongside brilliant actors in front of the camera, mean that this film will last the test of time. David states at one-point how "Big things have small beginnings". The beginning of the Alien saga has an epic-scale asking ginormous questions - it is bigger than any film in the franchise. I will revisit the film and I'm sure I could explore more...

One thing I haven't touched upon is femininity  - a theme that is weaved into Prometheus at its core.

A great reboot that simply reaffirms how great a filmmaker Ridley Scott truly is. Re-establishes what is great about Alien and, at the same time, manages to modernise it with an outstanding cast. But, if you like the Alien series because of Aliens then be a little cautious going in – this isn’t shoot-em-up, guns-blasting territory.

Art Against Knives: THE PRINT SHOP

This was originally published on TQS Magazine on Saturday 2nd June 2012. Every now and then I have written about Art Exhibitions at The Saatchi Gallery and The Hayward Gallery. Hopefully, thorugh writing for TQS I will write much more about Exhibitions in London!

August 2008. Art Student Oliver Hemsley, 20, was in Shoreditch, London, walking with a flatmate. A group of youths, one the age of only 15 years, attacked him. A random street-attack left Oli paralysed as one stab-wound to the neck led to a spinal cord infection, spreading to his brain. Prior to the attack, he had been accepted at Central St Martins College. He was tipped to become a "star fashion designer".

In response to this, Art Against Knives was born. Originally an auction which aimed to raise money and inform others about the situation. Students from CSM were the first artists involved but then it grew - donations from artists including Tracy Emin, Anthony Gormley and Banksy all ensured the exhibition became a national success with coverage in leading publications including The Independent, Vogue and the Evening Standard.

The current exhibition and auction, The Print Shop, is a much smaller affair based within the Boxpark in Shoreditch. These are prints designed by professional graphic-designers at BD Network and produced by young people in East London. Unlike the previous auction, this auction is a testament to the projects AAK has implemented across East London, whereby a weekly workshop in collaboration with Hoxton Hall is available to young people in Dalston. The work on display has been printed by these young people and funds raised will go directly back into these projects to continue to support the thriving arts in the area. The charity tackles the 'root causes' of violent gang culture by offering an alternative in the form of expression through the arts - and the 'Mystical Creatures' and 'Strange Beings' which are on display in the exhibition show a playful attitude towards expression and what is defined as art.

In fact, many of the designs seem to imitate artistic-styles seen across the world in the form of Street Art. Only recently, Shoreditch and Old Street were inundated with Street Art designed by artists ROA, Phlegm and Stik - amongst many others. As an example, ROA enlarges animals which are harmless - squirrels, rabbits, etc - and, through the expressive and rough style of drawing and the large-scale, the animals become threatening and scary. At 'The Print Shop', the animals chosen - wolves, apes and bears - are dangerous but they are turned into decorative art, postcards and canvas bags. As a reflection of what the charity supports, the angry-animals of Dalston, have already turned to art as a way of expression. Other prints have a more cartoon-sensibility, but they still look similar to the street-art that has emerged recently in East London. As an Art teacher, I love how these designs are so professional and will clearly engage teenagers in the area - it is playful, fun and a great example of what Art can be. It does not have to be within a white-space with an elderly patron handing leaflets to you as you walk in - these are art pieces made by young-people, for young-people and so it is relevant to the teenagers in the area. A refined, professional and finished version of the doodles and cartoons completed in the back of an exercise book or a homework-planner. They can relate to it and will realise that art can be those doodles and cartoons.

The exhibition will continue to run between 1st and 14th of June, at Boxpark Unit 55, in Shoreditch. Gallery opening hours are 11am-7pm, with a later-opening until 9pm on Thursday and a shorter-opening on Sunday, by shutting at 5pm. Well worth popping down and supporting a worthy cause.

Visit the site for more information!

The Weekly Review: 04/06/2012

A weekly round-up of what I have been watching, listening to and discussing. Inspired by Ryan's 'Days of the Week' posts, this is a bit more all-encompassing as I think my interest in cinema and art crosses over and between a variety of sources...

End of Half-Term. Results sent off. This holiday is much deserved and with good friends staying for the weekend, I already feel like I have relaxed alot. Hence the lateness of this post. My brother and I spent a night in, whereby we scanned over some classic scenes of Jurassic Park too on Blu-Ray - it is simply unbelievable how well those SFX stand-up. Its only the pastel-colours that haven't stood the test of time. Even Malcolm's 'leather-and-glasses' combo is out-of-date.

Highlight of the Week:

Waste Land - I watched this at The London Film Festival in 2010 (and you can still listen to the episode) and bought the DVD only recently. Sarah on the other hand, had never seen it before. It really is an incredible documentary - better than Inside Job (The competitor which won Best Documentary at the Oscars) and, in my opinion, it is much stronger than Exit Through The Giftshop, another art-documentary released the same year. As playful and 'fun' as Exit Through The Giftshop is, Waste Land shows how profound and life-changing art can be. The art pieces Vik Muniz creates change the lives of his models - it changed some of their goals in life. Art is not expected to control others - but it should open peoples eyes to something. Something they haven't seen before. A brilliant film.

DVD's/Blu-Rays/Cinema

Men In Black 3 - Ready for discussion on the podcast. Next up? The Batman franchise ...

Waste Land - See Above

Super 8 - I'm watching this with the kids in FILMClub. They are all enjoying it, but one student confidently stated how - after watching the film at home - he thought it was great "until the end". I guess I could agree with that.

Music/Podcasts

Tom Jones - Yeah, after last weeks The Voice, I cracked and bought a 'Best Of' Tom Jones. Turns out 'It's Not Unusual', 'She's a Lady' and 'Help Yourself' are the only good tracks. Maybe it'll grow on me.

LAMBcast - The Lammy nominees have been announced. I haven't got a single one. I'm comfortable with that. Well done to everyone who did get nominated!

The Matineecast - Two-time Lammy award-winner - opossibly three... - and its still a great show. Ryan's birthday meant that they discussed High Fidelity with feminist-writer Joanna Chlebus. I can see what Ryan means about the way Rob Gordon (Cusack) becomes a less-likeable guy as you get older. I should rewatch the film but, from what I recall, he cheats and is pretty harsh to the women he has dated. Fact of the matter is, the best sequence is in High Fidelity with Tim Robbins: "So ... shall we leave it at that then..."

David Cross - I had a desperate urge to listen to some of his live stuff. And he remains my favourite stand-up comic. Ever.

TV/Theatre/Art Galleries/Books/Misc

Art Against Knives: The Print Shop - For TQS, I covered this exhibition which is on in Shoreditch. Great cause that highlights some of the truth in East London.

I need to start a new book...

The Prepared Podcast #2: Men In Black 3

Started in Summer 2012 and, titled 'The Prepared Podcast', this short series of podcasts are covering film releases that require 'preparation' before viewing. Because, let's be honest, I doubt you are going to watch Men In Black 3 without watching Men In Black and Men In Black II. And if you have only just watched all the films, this is a great way to get a discussion with film-geeks who have prepared in the same way...

Earlier this month, I released an Avengers podcast reflecting on the previous 5-films in the franchise leading up to the latest Marvel installment. But this time, we discuss the film which knocked The Avengers off the pedastool, and took the Box-Office number-one spot - Men In Black 3.

I managed to pull Jess Rogers from Reel Insight into the recording and, as someone who lives very close to New York, it was fitting that I had somebody who was [almost] a New-Yorker to discuss these very Pro-America, Pro-NYC films.

It was alot of fun to record and I'm sure you should pick up a bit of that fun when listening! If you want to subscribe to the podcast via itunes I haven't added the podcast to the itunes library just yet, so go to the top bar of your itunes player and select ADVANCED, then SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST and enter the following RSS feed:

http://preparedpodcast.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

You can obviously just listen to the embedded player below too ...

All the soundtracks are from the appropriate film-release - with classic Will Smith tunes 'Nod Ya Head (The Black Suits are Comin')' and 'Men In Black' with Danny Elfman's memorable scores from all three films.