theOneliner.com: Handling the Truth

Gosh, golly, zounds and hellzapoppin! We've got another EIFF podcast for your delectation! Join Drew and Scott as they take aim at a massive eight films, including the controversial Antichrist, Fish Tank, The Girlfriend Experience, Breathless, Running in Traffic, The Missing Person, Salvage, and Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee.

First up, Fish Tank, which is one of those grim British slices of Council estate bleakness that we're so good at. Depressing but worthy viewing.

Downhill rapidly for Lars Von Trier's Antichrist. A dreadfully tedious tale of the unexpected consequences of family bereavement, quite what all the fuss is about I cannot understand. Completely devoid of any point or artistic merit, this film boils down to 90 minutes of boring pretension followed by 30 minutes of shitty torture porn. If this film had come from, say, Eli Roth, it would have been rightly ignored rather than hailed as some sort of exploration of the edges of cinematic endeavour. Utter drivel, and should be avoided not for anything that it might contain but for one thing that it certainly doesn't - any interest whatsoever. Pish.

Equally dull proves to be Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, which is essentially financial advice for 'escorts'.

Upping the ante somewhat is Breathless, another entry in the Chan Wook Park-esque sub genre of South Korean cinema output that pushes the edges of what's acceptable in terms of violence and outright bleakness. It only fails on attempting to give its lead character a final act redemption because it's spent so long so effectively building him up as an absolute idiothole. Interesting outing from a fresh young director worth keeping an eye on, but I think perhaps one only for established genre fans.

Back to Scottish shores for Running in Traffic, one of those character pieces about separate, haunted people who's lives wind up intersecting. Sadly, it's a bit crap.

For the neo-noir thriller The Missing Person we join ex-cop turned private detective John Rosow (Michael Shannon) as he's given a new case, to tail one Harold Fullmer who is currently headed across country with a young child in tow. Often blisteringly funny, with Shannon is excellent as the grizzled, alcoholic wisecracking detective given some depth by a 9/11 backstory that's organically told rather than bolted on as an afterthought. Funny, cynical, enjoyable and engaging.

Lock up your daughters, it's another low-to-no budget British horror! Salvage portends to show the horrible results of a military experiment gone wrong, but turns out to be largely empty and also dull. It's a god podcast showing for fans of dullness, at least.

For Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee, Shane Meadows turn his lens on the life and career of respected, experienced roadie known to his friends as Le Donk. Well, not exactly. Le Donk in this case is played by Paddy Constantine, and Meadows follows him around in a Guestian mockumentary fashion, as Donk and young rap luminary Scorz-zay-zee attempt to blag a support act slot for the Arctic Monkeys. Deeply amusing from start to finish, the only thing I didn't like about the film was the Arctic Mokeys' music. Can't be helped, but it's still a highly recommended film.

That's yer lot for now. We'll be back soon!