Current release: DOOMSDAY

This is one that I'd been waiting for a long time. Neil Marshall got good reviews with his first feature, the werewolf movie DOG SOLDIERS. I've still not seen it, but his second feature, THE DESCENT, was very enjoyable. His quest to lighten up the British film industry with decent genre movies continues now as he tries to create a balls-out high-octane post-apocalyptic action film.

He succeeds!

First, let's get the so-called negative stuff out the way. The vast majority of this film (in which Scotland is isolated following a plague, only for England to send a team in looking for survivors when a cure is needed south of the border) is derivative of a good many cult classics that came before it.

The first half of the film is basically ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but with Scotland replacing NYC. The second half of the film is essentially MAD MAX 2, but with the Scottish border replacing the Australian outback. Along the way there's a hint of DAMNATION ALLEY, a sprinkling of MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME and it's all garnished with a bit of ALIENS.

In the lead role (Snake Plissken and Max Rockatansky rolled into one, but female - and rather sexy) we have Rhona Mitra. Yes, she was an original model for Tomb Raider; yes, she used to host the chart on Channel 5. But she makes a decent action heroine and is more pleasing on the eye than Kurt Russell or Mel Gibson (your mileage may vary). So that's good.

Kitted out in full Snake Plissken outfit, she even has an eyepatch, although hers has a neat twist. In fact, pretty much all the homages/thefts (however you want to see it) are given little twists by Marshall.

The recasting of Snake as a braw woman isn't the end of the Carpenter love-fest. Aside from taking much of the plot of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, Marshall also uses the same font on screen as Carpenter did in one of his films that I can't remember (I think it was maybe THE THING) and also does a great job of mimicking Carpenter's early 80s soundtrack music too.

And if that wasn't enough for you, one of the characters is even named Carpenter (MAD MAX director George Miller gets a similar honour).

Talking of MAD MAX, much of the wardrobe comes from the MAD MAX films too. The vehicles and motorbikes are straight out of these films, but so are the leather trousers and punk outfits. I have no idea why George Miller thought that the collapse of society would lead to everyone becoming punk rockers, but it seems to have proved a popular choice for post-apocalyptic chic ever since.

While there are other nods to MAD MAX 2 in particular (especially a scene involving a crossbow and various car-related stunts) the one that I got the biggest kick out of was seeing a MAD MAX style car chase kick off only for the 80s nostalgia levels to be cranked up to 11 when the music kicked in... Two Tribes, by Frankie Goes to Hollywood! Genius. It has the best intro of any record in the history of music, and it's a perfect choice here.

One of the aspects of the film that gave me the biggest thrill was simply the fact that it was set (and at least partially filmed) in Scotland. I've grown up loving these post-apocalypse films from the 80s so to finally see one take place on my doorstep was amazing. The post-apocalyptic Glasgow was well realised (it looks like it does after a Rangers-Celtic derby, but with better clothes) and to see these post-nuclear punks riding around... well, it's like seeing the villains from MAD MAX 2 being played by someone from TAKE THE HIGH ROAD. Brilliant stuff.

One of the more accidental advantages of the film is the timing of its release. While I'm not suggesting for a minute that we all hate each other or are about to start any wars, I do think that, based purely on my own observations, relations between Scots and English are as strained as they have been in a long time. So the fact that we have a film where the English wall up the Scots and do battle with the survivors gains a political edge that it might not have had ten years ago. It's even got a miserable Scotsman taking over the PM job from an Englishman - remind you of anything?

Plenty of other ingredients are thrown in along the way - a brief appearance by Scottish actor Martin Compston is a surprise, some of the action manages to take place in a Scottish castle, Malcolm McDowell's in it, and they even manage to get a chase on steam train.

It looks like a checklist of everything an early 80s post-apocalyptic film could need and delivers in spades. What Quentin Tarantino did for martial arts and spaghetti westerns with KILL BILL, Marshall does here for the 80s apocalyptic genre. If you love the genre as much as I do (and I admit, few of you probably do) this is an absolute riot. If you don't... well, go and see it anyway. At the very least you're supporting a drive from British genre movies; at best, you might even enjoy it...

Current release: IN BRUGES

Two Irish leads (Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell) in a film by an Irish filmmaker (Martin McDonough) - that alone puts this into the Irish cinema category for me, so off I went to see it. It was also the big gala screening at the Dublin film festival this year but like so many other films I wanted to see it didn't fit with my schedule.

Gleason and Farrell play two assassins who are ordered by their boss to lay low (in Bruges, funnily enough) after a hit goes horribly wrong. Gleason loves the place and enjoys taking in the sights; Farrell hates it and wants to get drunk or go home. Hijinks ensue.

Brutal violence rubs shoulders with laugh-out-loud humour; politically incorrect dialogue (mostly from Farrell's character) is peppered throughout with sweet-natured romance and humanity; high-octane shoot-outs fill in the gaps between lengthy dialogue scenes (the writer-director showing why he has a background as a playwright - much of the dialogue is brilliant). It's a mix of tones that all come together into an immensely satisfying whole.

The cast are near perfect (the so often miscast Farrell finally gets another role that suits him), the dialogue sparkles ("Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf!") and the scenic backdrop is used to maximum effect, combined with some pleasingly laid back music.

The film seems to occupy some off-kilter middle ground between LETHAL WEAPON-style action film and melancholic arthouse movie. It's really not the sort of thing you find in your local Odeon very often but is very, very good and you should see it while it's still on.

My EIFF 2008 preview

[Excerpt from a post originally made on the "Tales from the Freakpit" blog]

I will also, as usual, be looking to take in anything with either a Scottish or Irish connection - the former because of my patriotic duty towards supporting Scottish cinema and the latter because, well, I just like Ireland.

On the Scottish front, I'll be checking out Brian Cox's personal appearance (along with his new film RED) and will be taking in STONE OF DESTINY too, which will either be a fun crime caper or a routinely mediocre British comedy.

From Ireland I'll be seeing HELEN, EDEN and FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU. The latter two were on at Dublin when I visited recently but I couldn't make it to either of them. I'll be missing, however, the world premiere of Irish comedy A FILM WITH ME IN IT, because it clashes with other stuff I want to see, including the other Irish stuff. Interestingly, FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU is accompanied by the short film NO REGRETS IN THE WEST, which will mean I'll be seeing that one for the third time. I believe there are a couple of other Irish shorts elsewhere in the programme but I don't think any of them are in my schedule. Still, it's nice to see short films getting a platform at places like EIFF all the same - not just in the shorts programmes but on bills with feature films too, which at least ensures that people who wouldn't think about shorts programmes will still get the chance to see them and maybe think about them more in future.

Jings, that last sentence was huge, wasn't it?