Flickering Myth Movie Blog

The Grey leads the pack at the North American box office

2012-01-29T22:56:00.003Z

Liam Neeson leads The Grey to the number one spot this weekend at the North American box office. The Joe Carnahan directed thriller made $19 million dollars in its opening weekend and the well-reviewed survival thriller is the latest hit for Neeson, who has been able to open three straight films in this time frame to stronger than expected numbers.

Last week's number one Underworld: Awakening had a stronger than expected hold, dropping just 50% week over week for a second place finish with another $12 million dollars. The franchise is showing no signs of slowing down as Awakening, already at $44 million, may end up as the highest grossing entry of the series. It would have to beat Underworld: Evolution at $62 million, and that number seems very attainable.

One for the Money starring Katherine Heigl managed a decent $11 million dollar opening. The bounty hunter-themed comedy was another consistent opener for Heigl who has managed to deliver better than average box office with her last four films. However, One for the Money could end this trend depending on how strong it holds in week two.

Man on a Ledge debuted with a disappointing $8 million dollars. Sam Worthington is having a tough time transitioning from big budget spectacles like Avatar and Clash of the Titans to more realistic material. Whether or not he'll have a career in films that don't require a green screen remains uncertain. He returns to form in March with the sequel Wrath of the Titans.

Red Tails had a decent hold dropping less than 50% and taking in another $10 million dollars over the weekend for a cume of $33 million. Steven Soderbergh's action thriller Haywire took a nosedive this week only managing $4 million in spite of it's marquee cast.

On the awards front, The Descendants is moving back up the charts taking in $6 million this weekend, up from last weekend's total. With the Oscar nominations being announced this past week, the George Clooney-starring drama has received a nice bump. So too has the silent film The Artist, which netted another $3 million this week. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close received a baffling Best Picture nomination, helping the film hold strong in it's second week taking in another $7 million dollars.

Next week is the Super Bowl which is traditionally a slow weekend for the box office and yet there are three more studio releases hitting cineplexes, including the found footage superhero film Chronicle, Daniel Radcliffe horror The Woman in Black and the family film Big Miracle.

Here's your top films for North America:

1. The Grey
Weekend Estimate: $19 million

2. Underworld: Awakening
Weekend Estimate: $12 million; $44 million total

3. One for the Money
Weekend Estimate: $11 million

4. Red Tails
Weekend Estimate: $10 million; $33 million total

5. Man on a Ledge
Weekend Estimate: $8 million

Anghus Houvouras

Cinema: The Noble Art Form

2012-01-29T12:49:00.000Z

Commenting on the commentators with Simon Columb...

On Friday 27th January, John Dugdale commented on the movie industry's heavy reliance on literature; writing for The Guardian, he mentions the Best Picture nominees not based on books, noting:

"Diehard believers in cinema's creative autonomy will no doubt point in the Oscars list not only to The Artist, but also to two self-penned movies by publicity-averse veteran auteurs, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. They'd be unwise to do so, as these films are by no means pure of literary influences. Online commenters have begun to note echoes of DH Lawrence (as well as Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) in Malick's Palme d'Or winner, and particularly The Rainbow's portrayal of one family against a cosmic backdrop; while Midnight in Paris makes no secret of its bookish hankerings, magically granting its present-day protagonist encounters with Djuna Barnes, TS Eliot, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein."

Indeed what contemporary work of theatre or cinema is ever "pure of literary influence"? I can appreciate the highlighting of films exclusively based on the books - but Hollywood will always try and make films that have established audiences. For example, the reason The Da Vinci Code and the two (!!!) versions of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were made was because of the success of the book. I think the same could be said about the producers' decision to greenlight the hugely successful novel-turned-play War Horse and international bestseller The Help. As I understand, in America Extremely Loud and Incredible Close is actually on the High School syllabus. Talk about an established audience to home-in on.

Then again, you always have the films which completely capitalise on the source material but reinterpret it. Do we ignore the unique and artistic quality of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet? The modern-day retelling of Coriolanus? What about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Casino Royale? Both from short stories and expanded upon to become feature-length films with much more depth, meaning and - in the case of 007 - action.

Dugdale clearly rates literature as a higher art-form to cinema, hence the 'debt' he believes cinema owes literature. Leonardo Da Vinci argued painting as the more noble art-form in comparison to sculpture, stating the broad range of skills required: "light, shade, colour, body, shape, position, distance, nearness, motion and rest". In a similar way, cinema requires the combination of literature, theatre, music and art to truly become something incredible. With this in mind, maybe Dugdale cannot see the wood for the trees as cinema is a more noble art form through the way it develops and refines the literary word.

Simon Columb

Thoughts on... The Long Riders (1980)

2012-01-29T11:00:00.000Z

The Long Riders, 1980.

Directed by Walter Hill.
Starring James Keach, Stacy Keach, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Guest, Nicholas Guest, James Remar and Savannah Smith Boucher.

SYNOPSIS:

The story of the legendary bank raids of the James-Younger Gang.

Last year saw the end of Bin Laden and Gaddafi, and a curious morbidity in certain circles made bloodthirsty calls for pictures of the corpses, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the days of the old West. Back when photographs of bullet-ridden cadavers sold for the price of a keepsake locket, there was one man the collectors wanted to see dead more than any other. Schooled by Quantrill’s Raiders in the probably-not-that-noble art of bushwhacking, his name, of course, was Jesse James.

For the James-Younger gang, Missouri after the Civil War was a mess of unsettled old scores. Knocking off Union-owned banks, trains and stagecoaches, their crime spree certainly started as a way of getting back at the government, but there are only so many “permanent loans” you can take from the Rock Island Line before people get wise to your tricks and start putting timelocks on their safes.

Right. No more history cliffnotes. On with the gunslinging and the heart-wringing. That, more than anything, is what The Long Riders concerns itself with. Director Walter Hill certainly points out the historical landmarks, but we quickly sail past, headed for solid storytelling and gripping set pieces instead. His visual style, at least in the shootouts (sooo many shootouts), owes more than a little to Sam Peckinpah. Hill goes as far as he can for as long as he dares to make us feel every bullet rip through every man in the climactic Northfield Bank sequence. History tells us they had it coming all along; Hill makes us wish it didn’t have to be like this.

The Long Riders does hold together on its own merits, if only because we believe that these men are brothers. For a film chiefly about notorious, troubled families, Hill made the obvious, if somewhat ambitious decision to cast four sets of brothers as four sets of brothers. We get the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests, probably the biggest collection of acting brothers in one film since Duck Soup. The simple fact that various groups of men look like each other is our way into the film.

By sheer virtue of the men it chooses to tell a story about, The Long Riders earns itself considerable familiarity with us. After the briefest of title sequences set to Ry Cooder’s rootsy, award-winning bluegrass score, we jump straight into the middle of a bank robbery with the gang. We know them, the locals know them, and, in their way, they respect them. After a century and a half of outlaw ballads, dime-store novels and Hollywood westerns bearing his name, Jesse James and his gang have become the men who need no introduction.

This film, like so many other westerns of the eighties, has been allowed to slip under the radar for too long. It was a genre going out of fashion at the time, with only the odd flash of brilliance like Clint Eastwood’s Pale Rider to remind everyone just how cool gunslingers could be. Any western fan who rates The Wild Bunch or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford would do well to take advantage of this tantalising glimpse into the past lives of America’s most wanted men, played by one of the most fascinating cast ensembles you’ll ever see in Stetsons.

James Keach doesn’t play up to the usual cool and collected persona, showing up more of Jesse James’ violent temper and hypocritical tendencies than any hints of heroism. Then there’s David Carradine as Cole Younger, the cunning, blunt-mannered desperado. He’s coming to terms with his strange attachment to a prostitute with ambition (a supremely feisty Pamela Reed), which involves quite a lot of gambling and knife fights. Stacy Keach and his scene-stealing moustache comprise Frank James, a man fighting against his restless nature and a nagging feeling that he should have outgrown this lifestyle a long time ago.

It’s all compelling stuff, played with finesse and subtlety, but the sparse, episodic structure of The Long Riders feels more like a network TV series reaching the end of its run than a feature film. There’s a handful of stories here that might have panned out beautifully, if they hadn’t been boxed into a 100 minutes of screen time. Spread out over a six part series, who knows, it might’ve been bigger. Or maybe Jesse James was big enough when he was still alive, and no film is long enough or ambitious enough to hold him. Then again, the same could be said about Stacy Keach’s moustache. Spinoff series? Spinoff series.

Simon Moore is a budding screenwriter, passionate about films both current and classic. He has a strong comedy leaning with an inexplicable affection for 80s montages and movies that you can’t quite work out on the first viewing.

Michel Hazanavicius collects the DGA Award for The Artist

2012-01-29T10:50:00.003Z

The Directors Guild of America's 2012 Career Achievement Awards were presented at the Grand Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center last night, with Michel Hazanavicius the recipient of the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, further cementing The Artist's status as front runner for Best Feature at the Academy Awards next month. Of the previous sixty-three recipients of the award only six have failed to replicate their success with an Oscar win for Best Director, while fifty have also went on to see their film collect the coveted Best Picture, including last year's winner, Tom Hooper, for The King's Speech.

Take a look at all of the winners from last night's DGA Awards...

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
James Marsh (Project Nim)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series
Jon Cassar (The Kennedys)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Patty Jenkins (The Killing)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Robert B. Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety
Glenn Weiss (65th Annual Tony Awards)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
Neil P. Degroot (Biggest Loser)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials
William Ludel (General Hospital)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs
Amy Schatz (A Child's Garden of Poetry)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Noam Murro

DGA Honorary Life Member Award
Ed Sherin

Frank Capra Achievement Award
Katy E. Garretson

Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award
Dennis W. Mazzocco

Awards season has been very kind to The Artist so far, with recent honours including Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actor - Musical or Comedy and Best Original Score, along with the Darryl F. Zanuck Award from the Producers Guild of America. The Artist will contend the Best Picture Oscar against The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse, while Hazanavicius is nominated alongside Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Alexander Payne (The Descendants) and Martin Scorsese (Hugo) in the category of Best Director. The Oscars will be presented on February 26th.

The Week in Spandex - The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Strange, Man of Steel, Ghost Rider and more

2012-01-28T10:16:00.000Z

Presenting our weekly round-up of all the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes…

After giving us a sneak peek at The Dark Knight Rises back in November, Britain’s Empire Magazine has now turned their attention to The Avengers, delivering plenty of Marvel goodness within the pages of their latest issue. Along with individual covers featuring new shots of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) – the latter giving us our first glimpse of Stark’s new Mark VII suit – and a special subscriber-only cover depicting said heroes assembled, the magazine also includes some interesting quotes from the cast and crew of the $300m blockbuster. Among the highlights was confirmation from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige that the Red Skull will not make an appearance, with Feige also going on to touch upon the identity of Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) mysterious army: “It's not Skrulls, I've been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we're not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that." Check out ComicBookMovie for a summary of all the info contained in the issue, and head on over to Marvel.com for five new images from the hotly-anticipated ensemble.

Meanwhile, in one final bit of news from The Avengers, English actress and 70s pin-up Jenny Agutter (Logan’s Run, An American Werewolf in London) spoke to the Radio Times about working on the film, with the article indicating that ‘Spider-Man and Iron Man’ were present on Joss Whedon’s set. Now, before everyone gets too excited, you’d have to expect the Spider-Man reference to be a slip of the tongue on Agutter’s part, especially considering that Sony have the movie rights to the character and have The Amazing Spider-Man set for release just two months later. However, seeing as that’s a brand new reboot of the character, is there a chance that Marvel could have thrown a boat load of money Sony’s way for a fan-pleasing cameo from the web-crawler? Sadly, if I was a betting man, I’d have to go with no…

Sticking with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a moment, we already know that the studio are gearing up to go into production on Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 for release next year, but this past week has brought forth some details that may give us an idea of the two mystery movies they have scheduled for 2014. First up came reports that the proposed Doctor Strange feature is about to become a reality, with Joblo posting the following synopsis: "Doctor Strange centres around a New York surgeon, who stops running his practice after suffering injuries in a car crash. He then becomes a drifter and heads to the Himalayas, where he meets a healer and discovers that he has a great psychic power to fight against evil. Doctor Strange boasts powers that includes telepathy, teleportation, energy and astral projection." Meanwhile Captain America: The First Avenger star Neal McDonough told IMDb TV that Captain America 2 will go into production as soon as Thor wraps, while he also said he hoped to follow that up by reprising the role of Dum Dum Dugan alongside Samuel L. Jackson for the long-rumoured Nick Fury solo movie.

While it's unlikely that we'll be seeing Spider-Man in The Avengers, the friendly neighbourhood web-crawler will of course be swinging onto screens this July and The Times of India have posted a new synopsis for the Marc Webb-directed reboot, which reveals that Oscorp will play an important role in the story: "The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero." So, if Oscorp is present, does that mean we'll also get a quick cameo from Norman Osborn...?

Now that young actress Joey King has let that cat out of the bag and confirmed that Talia al Ghul is present in The Dark Knight Rises, it would seem that Liam Neeson has thought 'what the hell?' and decided to follow suit by admitting that he'll be back as Ra's al Ghul: "I can tell you nothing about The Dark Knight Rises, seriously. I was on set for maybe an hour-and-a-half and the director didn’t tell me anything of what it’s about. So, I’m being very honest when I say I have no idea what’s going to happen." Meanwhile star Christian Bale has also been speaking about his on-screen alter-ego, explaining to the New York Daily News how he takes inspiration from the Batman: Year One incarnation of the character and - most intriguingly - revealing to Empire that TDKR may not be his final outing under the cape and cowl after all: "All I know is the likelihood that this will be the last one [but] if Chris goes, 'Hey, I've got another story I think could be interesting,' then yeah, great, I'd go do that. I always assumed it would be three, but I could be wrong." Nolan has of course previously stated that The Dark Knight Rises would be his final Batman feature, although he is expected to remain involved in the franchise in a producing capacity for future installments. Could that be enough to tempt Bale back for a fourth time..?

Wrapping up the best of the rest...

...Having settled their legal dispute over the movie rights to The Crow, Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company are pushing on with their plans to reboot the series, with reports emerging that the two studios have hired screenwriter Jesse Wigutow and director Javier Gutiérrez to tackle the remake. The Crow was previously in the hands of 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Bradley Cooper signed up for the lead role, although there's no word yet as to whether The Hangover star is in the frame once again...

...In a case of 'what might have been', David Bowie's ex-wife Angela Bowie revealed that she was granted the TV rights to Daredevil and Black Widow for a proposed television series during the 1970s, even going so far as to pose for photographs in character (yes, that really is meant to be the Man Without Fear), while the former model was also considered for the role of Wonder Woman prior to Lynda Carter's casting in 1975...

...Last week it was rumoured that Fox were turning their attention to Chronicle director Josh Trank to helm their proposed Fantastic Four reboot, but according to an interview with Trank in HeyUGuys, he could also be in the frame for the X-Men: First Class sequel, should Matthew Vaughn pass on the project. Asked if he'd be involved in either, Trank refused to deny the speculation, stating that "I have been working on some original ideas and things are being talking about, but nothing’s a signed deal yet..." Be sure to check out the full interview for the director's thoughts on his debut feature, which arrives in UK cinemas on Wednesday...

...Attending the premiere of Daniel Radcliffe's latest film, The Woman in Black, screenwriter Jane Goldman has officially confirmed that neither she nor director Matthew Vaughn will be returning for the sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass: "Matthew is not directing [Kick-Ass 2] so it looks like someone else will write and direct which will be exciting." Could this open the door for Mark Millar to make his directorial debut? He seems to be the only person convinced it's even going to happen...

...In addition to the news that child actors Dylan Sprayberry (Land of the Lost), Jadin Gould (Battle Los Angeles) and Jack Foley (30 Minutes or Less) have joined the cast of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel as young versions of Clark Kent, Lana Lang and Pete Ross respectively, the MoS Facebook page also posted a snap of Henry Cavill posing with a young fan, giving us a pretty good look at his revamped costume...

...The marketing machine on Ghost Rider: Spirt of Vengeance has moved up a gear as the clock ticks down to the arrival of Nicolas Cage's second outing as Johnny Blaze, with Sony releasing a whole host of new images featuring the likes of Cage, Violante Placido, Ciarán Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, Christopher Lambert and Idris Elba, along with a number of TV spots and a short behind-the-scenes feature...

...DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns has spoken briefly about the status of the rumoured Captain Marvel / Shazam movie, stating that there's still hope it could see the light of day: "There's always a possibility for Shazam.... and I can't get into the specifics on that, but yeah, there's hope for Shazam." Something tells me that if the likes of Wonder Woman can't get off the ground, such 'hope' is probably very slim...

...The TV Addict has acquired a casting breakdown for the upcoming Green Arrow - sorry, Arrow - pilot, which includes a couple of familiar names including Dinah Lance, a.k.a. The Black Canary, as well as the following description of the Emeral Archer: "Oliver Queen: A 27-year-old reformed bad boy, who after having spent five years shipwrecked on a tiny, brutally dangerous island in the South China Sea returns to town a different man. Or to be more specific, a tortured, thoughtful master of the bow with a ferocious determination to make a difference..."

...And finally, fans of DC Animation may want to check out this clip from the upcoming direct-to-video animated movie Justice League: Doom, along with the following short from Aardman Animations, which features DC superheroes done in the style of Creature Comforts and will soon be arriving on television as part of Cartoon Network's DC Nation...

Gary Collinson

Holy Franchise, Batman! - Arriving this June.

DVD Review - Cash (2008)

2012-01-27T19:40:00.001Z

Cash (a.k.a. Ca$h), 2008.

Directed by Éric Besnard.
Starring Jean Dujardin, Jean Reno and Valeria Golino.

SYNOPSIS:

A master thief attempts to pull off the biggest robbery in history.

The current awards season (2011/12) has been most kind for Jean Durjardin, following his star making performance in The Artist. It’s a wonderful film and a dazzling lead performance. As such, this little known (on these shores anyway) French film from 2008 finally procures itself a DVD release here. Undoubtedly a move to cash in on the critical success of The Artist, this film is an interesting look at the talented star before the big time beckoned.

Durjardin stars as the titular character Cash. He’s a conman and master thief, whose brother was killed on a previous gig. Cash continues scamming where he can. The film is a caper, with twist upon turn. Who’s playing who? Who has the upper hand? It’s all about sleight of hand, misconception, deception and Cash is a master. As the plot motors on, he pits his wits with or against fellow master thief Maxi (Jean Reno) and morally obtuse cop, Julia (Valeria Golino). The film steams through quickly, with sometimes one too many twists and turns to keep up with, but the conclusion is satisfying and the journey entertaining enough.

The cast are very good. If you’ve seen a fair amount of French cinema, you’ll recognise many of the faces. Dujardin leads well. The effortless charisma he displayed in The Artist is clear to see here. It might not be a role with as much depth here, but never the less, he delivers. Jean Reno is reliable as ever. Golino is good, whilst Ciaran Hinds manages to steal his scenes and make his extended cameo memorable.

Technically the film looks good, polished and stylish. The direction from Éric Besnard is vibrant and the editing though sometimes a little too intrusive, adds to the caper element of this. The film feels like a mish-mash of modern film and 60s cinematic style. Bresnard's script is decent enough, though the characterisation is limited in some cases, but probably intentionally as certainly in Reno and Golino’s cases, their characters don’t want to give too much away. Dujardin is allowed to offer us more insight into his characters core, and as lead, it’s what matters. Occasionally the film borders on being too elaborate and a bit far- fetched, but again, it’s not a particularly serious film and it’s never too bothersome. Come the end it sticks together well enough, and certainly manages to keep one step ahead of the audience.

In all this won’t go down as a classic, but it’s a good slice of entertainment. There’s plenty of star power on show and fans, or indeed new found fans, of Dujardin, will find enough here to keep them entertained.

Tom Jolliffe

365 Days, 100 Films #93 - Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)

2012-01-27T12:50:00.000Z

Bobby Fischer Against the World, 2011.

Directed by Liz Garbus.

SYNOPSIS:

A documentary about arguably the greatest chess player of the 20th Century.

Bobby Fischer cuts an awkward figure. Even at the chessboard he seems to be in pain, sitting lopsided to the right, his torso sharply angled into the chair and his head supported by an open palm. If Bobby didn’t appear so deadly serious, you could slap a moustache above his top lip and call him Groucho.

The muscles in his face visibly tense as he attempts to smile in television interviews. In one he sweats so profusely that beads spot across his forehead.

But for all his social retardation, you can’t help but admire his passion and the way his mind whirs when observing the black and white pieces in front of him, calculating moves at a rate beyond most human comprehension. But that mind was fragile as well as formidable. And he became engulfed by the larger chess game of the era, one between the United States and the U.S.S.R. – the Cold War.

Bobby Fischer Against the World pays most attention to the period of his career that typified that international tension – the 1972 World Chess Championship against the holder, a Russian, Boris Spassky. The archive footage of the match and various news reports are accompanied with a wide range of talking heads; some big and unnecessary, like Henry Kissinger; some tiny and pivotal, like Bobby’s Icelandic bodyguard, Saemi Palsson, who would later be the subject of another documentary, Me & Bobby Fischer.

They don’t always know exactly where to look. Some stare to the right of the camera, where the interviewer is presumably seated, others glare directly down it. There’s something unnerving about a biographer looking right at you.

Jump cuts are occasionally used during these talking head shots. For a documentary filmed so conventionally, these cuts don’t quite make sense and could have been easily avoided by showing archive footage in their place, or perhaps zooming in on a still, black and white photograph – a technique with which the filmmakers appear to be obsessed.

The structure lazily avoids narrative satisfaction and is split into chapters, all with chess-pun names. Which would all be forgivable, if it weren’t for the title card Photoshop jobs. The font looks like the bastard offspring of Time New Roman and a cheap, italicised comic sans whore, and the background appears to have been sourced from typing ‘chessboard’ into Google, circa 1999.

As Bobby struggles during the 1972 World Chess Championship, the documentary intelligently splinters off to explore the tangent of his wayward mother, hippy activist Regina Fischer. This history was only hinted at previously, and worked within the narrative to ‘flashback’ to Bobby’s unconventional upbringing. It goes some way to explaining why Bobby is like he is. The rest of the documentary, however, orders itself either chronologically or mundanely.

But despite the filmmakers’ best efforts, the story of Bobby Fischer is a remarkable one, and the 1972 World Chess Championship is a historic moment in the game. The old grandmasters talking to the camera can barely withhold their admiration and awe when describing that match’s 6th game. A symphony of placid beauty, one of them eloquently described it as. At its end, even Spassky stood up and applauded. This isn’t shown, as Bobby demanded that the match was played without cameras present, but the way it’s described. Oh boy, it’s like you were there.

“Genius or madman?” is the question Bobby Fischer Against the World proposes throughout. Perhaps you need to be one to fuel the other, and Bobby certainly seemed to embody both throughout his life. But once the 1972 World Championship was over, he rapidly descended into the latter, sacrificing his genius to cult-like religious organisations and paranoid conspiracy theories. A pariah, a Jewish anti-Semite, his old, blotchy face looks like another person’s.

The story of Bobby Fischer and that remarkable match redeems what is otherwise a below-average documentary.

RATING **

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Films To Watch Before You Die #55 - Bad Boys (1995)

2012-01-27T07:26:00.001Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Bad Boys, 1995.

Directed by Michael Bay.
Starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Téa Leoni, Joe Pantoliano and Theresa Randle.

Bad Boys is the directorial debut of Michael Bay and since the majority of his films have the same shots recycled over and over again maybe it’s the only one of his films with any visual originality, but is great fun nonetheless.

The film is an action comedy that sees Miami cops Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowry (Smith) trying to uncover $100 million of heroin stolen from a police vault. The seized drugs need to be recovered within five days or Internal Affairs warn that the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Force will be shut down. When escort Max is hired for a party and takes along her flat mate Julie (Leoni) what is meant to be a good time soon turns bad when French drug lord Fouchet kills the host of the party, ex-cop Eddie, and then Max.

Unsure where to turn Julie tries to contact Max’s friend on the force, Mike Lowry. However, with Lowry unavailable Marcus has to pose as his partner and find the girl before Fouchet gets to her. Needing to put her in a safe place Marcus takes her to Mike’s flat where she hides out with her dogs, who shit on Mike’s expensive rug. Mike and Marcus try to solve the crime and pretend to be each other as well as keep Julie under control in order to recover the drugs and save their own arses.

Bad Boys is full of over the top shootouts, car chases and hilarious quips and banter between the two partners. Bay’s debut was a huge box office success on a modest budget, but received mixed reviews from critics. The film is criticised as recycling old cop film clichés and stealing plenty of characters and plot lines from a range of other cop movies. In all honesty it was never going to win an Oscar and isn’t exactly the most magnificent film ever made, but it is great fun to watch if you want to switch off your brain.

Bad Boys is a film you must see before you die because of the on screen chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is pretty good. Apparently Bay wasn’t entirely happy with the script and the dialogue so allowed his two main actors to improvise. Despite his pitfalls as a director this was a pretty good decision and Smith and Lawrence, who are petty fun in their own rights, managed to bring to life the dialogue and allow for some great on screen fun.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
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Thoughts on... Final Destination 5 (2011)

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000Z

Final Destination 5, 2011.

Directed by Steven Quale.
Starring Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner
and Tony Todd.

SYNOPSIS:

A group of co-workers face a race against time to escape Death's sinister agenda after they survive a terrifying suspension bridge collapse.

For the last 11 years we’ve watched people get sliced, decapitated, hung, stabbed, impaled, and blown up, among other things, in the Final Destination series. What else could they possibly do in a 5th movie?

Like the first four movies we get someone who has a vision of a horrible accident about to happen and then rescues his friends, and possibly other, from the situation only to have death hunt them down and try to finish what he started. This time around we have Sam played by Fired Up’s Nicholas D’Agosto. He sees that him and his friends are supposed to die in a horrific bridge collapse, but safely gets a handful of his friends off their bus before it happens. Along for the ride are The Walking Dead’s Emma Bell, Tom Cruise look-a-like Miles Fisher, the Friday the 13th remake’s Arlen Escarpeta, Anchorman’s David Koechner, and a slew of people you’ve probably never seen before. As the movie progresses one by one they start to die in the order they would have in the accident they all avoided. Once they learn that death is out to get them they try to do whatever they can to avoid death once more.

In more ways than not this is exactly like the first four movies. Same set-up, characters you don’t care about, bad acting, death’s pattern is the same, etc. They do try and bring back what made the first two movies in the franchise entertaining and fun but they don’t end up executing it well enough. A lot of the deaths still feel very cartoonish because of the heavy CGI on most of them and the 3D adds nothing to any of the deaths.

They do try to add some small things that differ from the previous movies. For instance, if you kill someone who wasn’t already supposed to die then that would cancel out your death and you’d be off the hook. Also what they do with the ending I thought was very creative. I won’t spoil anything but they do find a nice way to tie in this movie with the first movie. While I did like the ending I did not like the, literally, last two minutes because they go out of their way to do something that is just even more ridiculous than most of the deaths in the movie.

As far as the acting goes your not going to find anyone here who is giving a good performance. All of the kids are mostly hamming it up every second their on camera and David Koechner is clearly there just for the comic relief. We get a pointless character in an agent, played by Courtney B. Vance, who is interested in finding out what is happening to these people that survived the bridge accident. Tony Todd makes a cameo appearance that isn’t much but he at least tries in his very short amount of screen time.

The deaths I found to be pretty weak. They actually started off great with the first death but then turned into great build-ups and then blowing it on the actual death. Most of the deaths don’t look too good either because they are all CG and it just makes them look too unreal. Had they at least maybe tried to use some practical effects I think the deaths would have had more impact that just looking like a cartoon.

All in all this movie does have some entertaining moments and the ending, except for the final two minutes, is done really well. It’s not as good as the first two movies in the franchise but it definitely beats part three, and is leagues better than part four.

Jake Peffer

The Comedy Critic - Phwoar Horse

2012-01-27T06:45:00.000Z

Adam Hollingworth casts a satirical eye over Steven Spielberg's War Horse...

There have been many great love stories in the history of cinema. Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca, Rhett and Scarlet in Gone with the Wind, Yuri and Lyra in Doctor Zhivago. Well, this week saw the addition of another great screen romance added to this swooning pantheon, a story of two lovers whose mutual desire and affection transcends the fear and horror of wartime. This love is of course between the heavily-accented country bumpkin Albert and his horse Joey in Spielberg’s latest film War Horse.

This isn’t the first time a sweet bestial romance has attained the kind of colossal momentousness afforded to mere human couples. Indeed, some could read the history of cinema as a sweeping chronicle of man’s growing affection for fitties of the animal kingdom. Oscar favourite The Artist is acutely aware of this fact, portraying as it does the unfaltering romance between a movie star and his dog in the form of a silent film, harking back to the early days of cinema when such affairs were more commonplace and less frowned upon by the law. Where is Valentin’s lady-friend Peppy when his house is burning down with him lying unconscious in it? That’s right; she’s hoarding all his belongings in a mansion paid for with the money accumulated from a career he kick-started for her. Typical gold-digger. The dog is left to save his life. And if it seems unlikely that any man would prefer the amorous affections of a dog to the gorgeous Berenice Bejo, consider that the man in question here is French. Enough said.

Dogs and other small animals have always been man’s best friend though (apart from deer, which if Disney is to be believed are much more likely to be shot), so cinema has always reflected this closeness, for example the heartfelt, childhood-scarring moment when Old Yeller is shot in the face. This is not merely the loss of a friend, but of a true loved one. Kids have got to learn it all from somewhere after all. In any case, it wasn’t long before men and women were hankering for beasts of a somewhat larger nature. Take King Kong for instance. It is still a common misconception that Fay Wray is screaming in terror when a big, strong ape squeezes her tightly in his hairy fist. They are clearly screams of ecstasy, and later on screams of sheer delight at the bravery of her partner in defending her honour from the lecherous advances of creepy crawlies and dinosaurs. Peter Jackson took this even further, and to his credit realised the whole love story with a touch more romance and tenderness than the original. After all, what girl wouldn’t go weak at the knees at the prospect of a private ice-skate around the frozen pool of central park? Kong might be a savage murderer, but that’s no excuse for interrupting his date with a frankly excessive amount of army trucks and rocket launchers. Girls in the thirties just weren’t cut out for that kind of excitement.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that War Horse takes a leaf out of the Airplane! book of horse-loving, but with slightly less off-hand callousness. Albert wouldn’t take off for an emergency in the middle of the night without planting a sensual good-night kiss on Joey’s nose, especially knowing what we do about a horse’s natural anatomical advantages over humans. When angry they can be dangerous lovers, and my mate once watched a really dodgy video proving it.

It is odd that such a breath-taking film should come from the likes of Steven Spielberg. Not only is the closest he’s come to pure screen romance between a young child and a clearly diseased long-necked alien, but for my money he hasn’t made anything worthy of his talents for nearly twenty years. In 1993, you see, he released both Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. The former was always going to be a triumph, being precisely the kind of escapist rollicking adventure he had at that point specialised in since the early seventies. The latter was a much more unlikely success, but lightning truly struck and Spielberg, against all the odds, created to this day the most emotively powerful and sensitive, not to mention artful, fictional cinematic Holocaust piece. This in turn caused Spielberg to miss the boat: he stopped making fantastical adventures and started making worthy serious films, and in the process forgot how to do the former genre well (witness as testament to this the abysmal fourth Indiana Jones film). Instead of making really fun films every agreed were brilliant, we instead got the saccharine A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the terminally dull Munich, and the over-long and more importantly over-rated Saving Private Ryan (the first half an hour is admittedly gruelling and ground-breaking, but the film’s three hours long and most of that is about saving Matt Damon from certain death. Just let him die for god’s sake!)

However, whilst the woeful dead-behind-the-eyes The Adventures of Tintin forbids me from hailing War Horse as a return to form for Spielberg just yet, it is nonetheless an impressively moving and beautiful film. The problems with the often plodding episodic plot are issues with the novel and not with the film, but at their best these narrative tangents effectively illustrate the futility and poignancy of World War One, for example when a British and German soldier combine forces and friendly banter to cut Joey free from barbed wire. Janus Kaminski’s photography is utterly gorgeous, leading to some sublime image-making, from the soldiers mounting their steeds in a wheat-field to the dusky-red return of Joey to Dorset which recalls the close of Gone with the Wind. John Williams’ music is similarly superb, sacrificing memorable leit motifs for a score which complements the emotional dynamic of each scene of the film. Most importantly, it’s really well directed. Spielberg’s staging is uniformly excellent, with some scenes leaving an indelible impression, such as the execution obscured by the rotors of a windmill, and an evocation of trench warfare that is as intense, though not as brutal, as the celebrated D-Day landings battle in the aforementioned WW2 snore-fest.

Oh, and the horse is pretty good too.

Adam Hollingworth

Spielberg set to direct Moses epic Gods and Kings

2012-01-26T18:58:00.000Z

Steven Spielberg (War Horse, Schindler’s List) is close to signing on to direct a Braveheart-esque version of the story of Moses for Warner Bros. The film, which has a working title of Gods and Kings, will include him forming an army, freeing the Hebrew slaves, wandering in the wilderness, receiving the Ten Commandments and parting the Red Sea.

Michael Green (Green Lantern) and Stuart Hazeldine (Exam) have penned the script and the film will have a gritty and realistic tone similar to Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The studio first showed Spielberg the script back in September and talks have now intensified. It is expected that he will officially agree to direct soon and if he does sign on, the movie will likely start filming in early 2013.

Spieleberg is currently working hard on two other films, having just finished shooting Lincoln with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jared Harris, while also starting to make the robot uprising movie Robopocalypse.

Emma Hutchings

Movie Review - Megan is Missing (2011)

2012-01-26T15:40:00.000Z

Megan is Missing, 2011.

Directed by Michael Goi.
Starring Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn and Dean White.

SYNOPSIS:

Megan is an outgoing, confident 14-year-old whilst her best friend, Amy, 13, is not so self-assured. Megan meets a boy online, Josh, and agrees to meet him. Next thing Amy knows, Megan is gone. In pursuit of finding her best friend, Amy tells the police about Josh – but then Amy goes missing too…

Megan is Missing has caused some controversy since its release, banned in New Zealand for ‘glorifying young sexuality’. Elsewhere, mothers are taking away their children’s computers, outright banning them from spending time on the Internet.

The debate about protecting children from the Web is pretty controversial in itself. We have come to rely on technology and connecting to the Internet for all manner of reasons, be them completely innocent, like checking a fact for homework, or something a lot more sinister like ‘Josh’ has in mind. However, whatever anyone’s views on letting their children access the world wide web, Megan is Missing is a shocking story to make you think.

We follow the 14 year old Megan, not particularly a likeable character – but we see she does have a nicer side which she hides to avoid tarnishing her popularity with the ‘cool kids’ who drink, smoke drugs and have a good time. Megan is introduced to Josh, a faceless online ‘friend’ who claims his webcam is busted by his brother, and then chewed by his dog. You’d be sceptical right? Ok, well set your mind back to your early teens and tell me you wouldn’t just carry on chatting to kill the time. It’s a worrying thing, many of us may have chatted to any sort of person when we went through that phase of chatting to people online – and if you think I’m being unrealistic, just look at the popularity of Chat Roulette and other such forums.

Anyway, Megan agrees to meet with Josh – he seems shy, after seeing her at a party and being too nervous to say hello. The two arrange to meet behind a diner – and that’s the last Amy hears from her best friend. Anxious to find out the truth, she chats to Josh who very quickly turns aggressive, and before long is tailing Amy to teach her a lesson for blabbing to the police.

Megan is Missing works to a pretty strong degree in telling us that chatting to strangers is definitely not safe online. It may seem harmless, but meeting up with them is also not a particularly wise move. No one would like to think they are naïve enough to agree to meet someone they’ve spoken to online, but the sad truth is that it happens all the time. Megan’s character may seem a little emphasised and quite unlike anyone you know – but Megan’s do exist, and even those less confident, and less damaged by their past, are still willing to agree to meet with seemingly harmless online friends, who could be as perverted as the predator in this film.

Preaching aside, the film takes an interesting stance on technology. Acting as a compilation of mobile phone video footage (a la IPhones Facetime), alongside news reports and video camera footage, Megan is Missing creates a documentary that takes you to pretty dark places. It’s mostly well-thought out and put together, but a minor gripe I have with this film is its dealings with news reports. I have a limited idea on how US news reports are put together – they do tend to use more visual elements like graphics and cheesy transition effects, but the use of them in the film looks more like parody as opposed to replication, which doesn’t really sit well alongside the sinister subject matter.

The acting in the film is great, Amber Perkins as Amy Herman is a particular highlight. Although some scenes seem to linger a little too long and not seemingly with the intention to discomfort, generally the story plays out effectively. The marketing of Megan is Missing is quite interesting too, as it claims to be a fictional drama ‘based on real events’ – whether this is an amalgamation of cases of child abduction, or replicates a particular case, I am unsure.

Get hold of this DVD and watch for a thought-provoking look at the web, and check out the extras for a shocking statement from Marc Klaas, the owner of Klaas Kids, a foundation which aids parents with missing children – as he himself had a young daughter abducted, raped and killed.

Cat Fyson

Films To Watch Before You Die #54 - The Hurt Locker (2009)

2012-01-26T07:22:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

The Hurt Locker, 2009.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce.

The Hurt Locker is the gritty tale of a three-man bomb disposal team in the United States Army during the Iraq War. With every day being possibly their last as they dispose of hidden and improvised bombs around the dangerous streets of Baghdad the three of them need to work closely together. Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge guard their new team leader Sergeant First Class William James as he works to disarm the IEDs.

However, James is a bit of a wild card and a maverick. His reckless actions and who cares attitude make his team nervous and tensions mount. As each of them try to deal with the ordeal of their job and the possibility of being blown to bits every time they leave the base they clash regularly. Each of them want to make it out Iraq in one piece and count down the days until the tour is over, but for James the rush is irreplaceable and normal life just doesn’t cut it for him anymore.

The Hurt Locker is a tense and edge of your seat movie that brings home the constant threat of death that plagues soldiers whose jobs it is to disarm bombs in a war zone. The constant tension is enough to drive any person mad and the strain shows on the soldiers. Although some critics and veterans have condemned the film as not being realistic enough, they have admitted that it does more than most other modern films to bring the reality of war to audiences. The main criticism is that the uniforms, lack of radio communication and bad behaviour of the soldiers would not be found in such situations, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

The Hurt Locker is a film you must see before you die because Kathryn Bigelow’s low budget film earned her an Oscar for Best Director and she became the first woman to win in that particular category. With a budget of only $15 million it is the lowest grossing film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar and fought off competition from Bigelow's ex-husband, James Cameron, and his immensely expensive film Avatar. A triumph in my eyes for substance over grossly expensive special effects as it was nominated for 9 Oscars and won 6.

D.J. Haza

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Second Opinion - Carnage (2011)

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000Z

Carnage, 2011.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
Starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly.

SYNOPSIS:

Two sets of parents meet to discuss the matter of one child assaulting another. Things steadily go from bad to worse.

Everything about Carnage is quite simple, both the plusses and minuses. I know it’s early in the game to say this, but Carnage might be one of my favourites of the year. Now I know that’s also starting off on a high note, so I’ll be sure to bring it all back down by the end, but first the good aspects.

Taking a look at the film’s synopsis, you might get a bit bored. There isn’t really much more in terms of spoilers than can be discovered by watching the trailer or reading a review. The idea ‘four people talk about their children and by the way they don’t ever leave the home for the entire film, no really, not even to talk to the neighbours’ might sound boring but the time does, to form a cliché, just fly by. I’m sure the short eighty minute runtime helps, but there wasn’t ever a point of my mind wandering or wondering if the story was ever going to end.

The film’s simplicity and short time does have its downfalls. The characters aren’t ever shown under a bright spotlight in terms of their background, apart from one character’s mother calling. The lack of outside influence (the nearest anyone gets to leaving is pressing the button for the lift) and any other prominent characters makes the film feel like a theatre production. This is neither a positive or a negative; it just shows that the movie doesn’t completely abandon the feeling and ideas from the play Le Dieu du Carnage, which Yasmina Reza also wrote.

This other mark of simplicity would fall flat on its backside if the performances and script weren’t up to scratch. Nothing is ever used to wake the audience up, no cheap tricks used to keep the audience’s attention. And that’s what I enjoyed most about the film. The script isn’t laugh a minute (it defines the word ‘dramedy’), but what comedy there is is fantastic. Each character brings along their own worldview and baggage to create tension.

Each cast member gives a great performance. And, I think importantly, no one actor or character is overshadowed by another. You understand one point of view, even if an absolute bastard is bringing it across. Speaking of, contrary to what I just said, I think a little special praise has to go to John C. Reilly.

Despite never fulfilling my wish of saying the words ‘For your health!’ (Internet trawlers will be aware of this other fine, nuanced Reilly performance), the character journey of Michael Longstreet is probably the most fun. Reilly seems to revel in the part, enjoying starting off as a sheep that attempts to make everyone happy, eventually devolving into a booze swilling, cigar smoking git. But that’s just personal preference. Christoph Waltz looks, at times, like he could quite easily kill someone with his bare hands. Kate Winslet throws up everywhere. And Jodie Foster breaks down over art books and aftershave. There’s something for everyone!

Each character’s ups and downs just show that, as said by the characters in the film, that everybody lies. Not to be all Gregory House about it, but the journey of Michael is the prime example. As one thread is discovered, everything starts to unravel for the characters. Because of the lack of time with the characters, you don’t feel as emotionally involved. But this probably helps as you laugh with and at everyone.

The fact that there is only surface shown throughout the film, despite the revelations of each character, means that there isn’t a deep life lesson or moral to be taken from this movie. Which is a great thing. The film doesn’t try to teach you anything; it just shows these four people as they are. The obvious message is that parents are as bad, sometimes worse, than their kids. The final shot displays this easily enough without any of the characters expressing it outright. But as hinted earlier, it’s the typical message you could have gotten just by reading the synopsis or watching the trailer.

The enjoyment comes from seeing these four people break down. Nothing truly horrible happens. Nothing extreme happens. Carnage just shows people suffering from everyday problems. A spouse who spends a little too much time on the phone instead of raising their child. A spouse who tries to make everyone feel better and doesn’t actually stand up for anyone. Typical problems we may all come across. Carnage might actually be a great movie to watch, a simple story, before the leotard wearing super beings of the summer blockbusters come along and make everything explode.

Matt Smith

365 Days, 100 Films #92 - The Unforgiven (1960)

2012-01-25T19:40:00.000Z

The Unforgiven, 1960.

Directed by John Huston.
Starring Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, Doug McClure, John Saxon, Charles Bickford and Lillian Gish.

SYNOPSIS:

A strange old man and a local tribe of Indians start to bother the Zacharys. They claim the Zacharys have something of theirs – a baby girl snatched from them many years ago.

The grave of William Zachary sits in the family’s front yard – a small mound of soil with a modest, wooden cross at its top. At first it appears as a sign of pride, the family’s tribute to their father, a man slain by an Indian arrow. However, as their history unravels before the townsfolk and assorted cowboys, the cross becomes a constant reminder of the mess with which he left them, and the lurking presence of death.

It isn’t the only reminder of death. An old man (Joseph Wiseman) with a sabre has been frequently sighted near the Zacharys’ home, his tall hat casting a disquieting silhouette amongst the reeds. His face is difficult to make out, obscured either by the piercing sun or a wild dust storm. Everyone can hear his God-fearing voice, though. He claims to be an agent of the Lord. He isn’t a man who will simply fade away and die, Ben Zachary (Burt Lancaster) remarks to his brother. He’s the kinda man who needs to be killed.

Ben, as the eldest brother, has positioned himself as the head of the Zachary household. There’s also his mother, Mattilda (Lillian Gish), younger brothers, Cash (Audie Murphy) and Andy (Doug McClure), and adopted sister, Rachel Zachary (Audrey Hepburn). They’re a relatively wealthy, much liked and respected family amongst their Ol’ West community. Until that old man comes claiming Rachel has Indian blood coursing through her veins.

The characters’ prejudice against Indians is fierce in a way similar to Ethan Edwards in The Searchers. Ben and the rest of his men are openly racist towards Johnny Portugal (John Saxon), their best horse tamer, but an Indian all the same. Cash is the most aggressive. He has harboured a grudge since an Indian murdered his father.

The old man’s claims are damaging to the Zacharys’ reputation, and a local tribe have taken interest in Rachel. She might be the long lost sister of one of their men. All this makes the cowboys anxious. They’ve a lot of money tied up in these here cattle, and they don’t want no Indian raiders jeopardising their investments.

In the film’s finest scene, the Zacharys and their men capture the old man. He’s revealed as Abe Kelsey, an old friend of their father who has since gone crazy. He’s brought into their outback court at night, illuminated by torch fire. It’s the first chance you get to really study the man’s face. He’s covered in dust, making the lines in his face look considerably deeper, and one eye appears to be entirely black. With a noose around his neck, he explains his delusional crusade against the Zacherys, his version of the truth skewered by grief, revenge and hate. He speaks with the same fluency and flow of Michael Parks’ preacher in Red State.

John Huston, the film’s director, originally intended The Unforgiven to make a statement about racism in America. He constantly fought the film’s financers, who demanded a less controversial movie. The result is neither a commercial film, nor one that completely tackles racism. Huston would later recall that it’s the only one of his films that he dislikes.

But although the film doesn’t make a statement about racism, the subject still haunts every frame. Rather than propose a socio-political message, racism is made part of the characters and their relationships. Sometimes this is in a purely hateful way, as in Cash. But others are far more complex. Ben flickers between camaraderie and conflict with Portugal, whereas the bond between Rachel and the Indian claiming to be her brother is tragic. Racism is never glorified, but it is portrayed. Doing it that way rings more true to the era.

When the film ends, none of the characters come across as heroic, much like their counterparts a few years later in the Spaghetti Westerns. Instead they look up at the sky, alone in the cold, hard West.

RATING ****

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

The Crow remake prepares to take flight

2012-01-25T15:41:00.000Z

Earlier this week Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company issued a press release to announce that they'd reached an out-of-court settlement over the legal dispute concerning the rights to The Crow and now comes word that the two studios are pushing on with their plans to reboot the series. According to Deadline, scriptwriter Jesse Wigutow (It Runs in the Family) has signed on to tackle the screenplay, while Variety are also reporting that F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall) will handle directing duties.

Based upon James O'Barr's underground comic book series, The Crow first came to the screen in 1994 under director Alex Proyas, with the film becoming notable for the accidental death of star Brandon Lee on set. Following the success of the first movie, The Crow then spawned three sequels - The Crow: City of Angels (with Vincent Pérez), The Crow: Salvation (with Eric Mabius) and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (with Edward Furlong) - along with the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, featuring Mark Dacascos.

Rumours of a remake first surfaced in 2008 when it was reported that director Stephen Norrington (Blade, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman) planned to oversee a new take on the story. After Relativity Media acquired the rights, 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was brought on board last year, with The Hangover star Bradley Cooper then signing on for the title role before the project hit the rocks.

Given that, outside of the original movie, The Crow franchise hasn't really set the world alight, is there really anyone out there who wants to see another?

Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Bruce Woloshyn

2012-01-25T07:47:00.000Z

Trevor Hogg chats to visual effects supervisor Bruce Woloshyn...

“I originally was a broadcast technical director doing NHL hockey and CFL football,” recalls Method Studios Visual Effects Supervisor Bruce Woloshyn who decided to make a career change. “I was at NAB [National Association of Broadcasters] in Las Vegas one year when Discreet Logic first came out with Flame. I was so floored with what I saw. I went back to the hotel, got my wife, and dragged her down to the convention centre. I said, ‘I’m going to work for whoever is going to buy me one of those.’ I was already working at a really advanced commercial facility in Seattle. It was six months later when Bob Scarabelli approached me to come to Vancouver to help start Rainmaker Digital Pictures and we were going to buy two Flames.” The native of North Battleford, Saskatchewan believes that there have been two major changes in the visual effects industry. “One of them is going from analog to digital technology. When I first started the best high end effects were all in television commercials because there’s nothing more expensive per-finished-second than a TV ad. The other biggest thing is processing power and storage. The other day I got a disk space report saying something to the effect that we were utilizing some ungodly amount. It was like 87 terabytes or something like that. All I could think of when we started Rainmaker was that, ‘Who the hell would need a terabyte?’”

“When the tsunami hit Japan it was evident pretty quickly that all of the high definition videotape in the world was made in one place,” recounts Bruce Woloshyn as the issue became a significant concern during business meetings. “Sony couldn’t make HD Cam tape because its factory had been damaged; there was now a finite supply of the industry standard in broadcast videotape.” Having at least one playback machine for each of the various digital videotape formats contributes to Method Studios keeping pace with the rapid advancement of technology. “We need to have all the leading edge stuff to do the leading edge work. When you start with a certain technology on a big project often times by the time the project is over you wouldn’t have thought to use it because there would be something better.” Advancements can happen within a year or even six months resulting in complications when creating a technology for a specific project. “We’re only tied to something for as long as we’re working on a show. The second that’s show is over you’re already thinking of using the next thing.”

“We go and gather lighting references with gray and chrome balls,” states Bruce Woloshyn who makes use of HDRs (High Dynamic Range images) when constructing a 360 degree view of the whole set “so we know exactly where the lights were and how they were placed.” Assisting the effort to blend in the visual effects into the actual footage are reports detailing the body, lens, and positioning of the various cameras. “When pre-vizing shots to be filmed in New York for Man on a Ledge [2012] all of the tools we used in Maya were based on what they would have with them on location. We made little artificial cranes and lighting rigs. That’s not always the case because one of the things you have in your visual effects arsenal is the ability to do anything. When you’re trying to make it look like you didn’t do anything, staying true to what could be done on set is key.” The situation is different when dealing with a stylized reality. “I spent years doing the fantasy world thing for the Stargate [Showtime, Sci-Fi Channel, 1997 to 2007] franchise. It’s a little bit easier in a sense that I used to say to the guys, ‘We just need to make it look cool. It doesn’t need to look real.’” Woloshyn is quick to point out “that the number one thing to come first is the story.”

“My background isn’t acting so much,” readily admits Bruce Woloshyn. “I’m privy to be extras in all kinds of things; it’s only because I’m familiar with the creative powers on the show and its fun.” Providing the cast with verbal and image references is important in enabling them to visualize the scope and scale of the scene. “I know years ago people were worried that the advancement in digital technology meant that we weren’t going to need actors and I was thinking, ‘That’s crazy talk.’ We’re always going to need actors because they are the embodiment of the characters.” In regards to the medium utilized in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), Woloshyn observes, “Although motion-capture to make characters is very effective, it is also much more expensive than having the actor perform. It’s the reason why an animated feature price-per-finished-second is significantly more than a live-action feature.”

“When we were doing Breaking Dawn – Part 1 [2011] at the studio here, it was the only film we were working on that wasn’t being done in stereo,” reveals Bruce Woloshyn. “3D takes longer and everything costs more to do it right. I’ve worked on standard pictures which have had the stereo process applied to them later. We’ve also had a bunch of native stereo shows.” Avatar (2009) is an example of 3D being used effectively. “That story benefited from having stereo applied to it, whereas with other movies does it make a difference? Would it make the story better? I don’t know.” Woloshyn remarks, “It is a gimmick and sometimes a gimmick is fun. I can remember taking my kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens [2009] and absolutely, they did lots of gimmicky work but it was part of that type of movie.”

“I’m one of those guys who do not believe in having me between production and the crew,” states Bruce Woloshyn. “I try to do all the things as a supervisor that I wanted to have done when I was an artist.” The Canadian-born VFX supervisor remains connected to his early days in the industry. “My office is equipped with Nuke and Inferno. I still do lots of my own concept work then hand those files off, and go, ‘This is what I was thinking.’” Woloshyn has a hard time imagining the roles of the production designer and the visual effects supervisor merging into a single job. “I don’t know, especially, on jobs of significant scale that would be hard. I’m working on a movie right now with four visual effects supervisors in the same building because the project is so big.” Even though the memory capacity of computers increases this is not the case with the human mind. “We’re riding on the edge of that right now.” He adds, “Visual effects is a team sport and I’m blessed here in Vancouver at Method to have an amazing team.”

Many thanks to Bruce Woloshyn for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Films To Watch Before You Die #53 - The Matrix (1999)

2012-01-25T07:26:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

The Matrix, 1999.

Directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski.
Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving and Joe Pantoliano.

The Matrix is one of the most iconic films in the modern era and itself draws on iconic films and genres of the passed such as Spaghetti Westerns, Hong Kong cinema, dystopian fiction and Japanese animation. The film references several subcultures including cyberpunk and hacking as well as touching upon religion and philosophy.

The Matrix follows Thomas Anderson (Reeves), whose computer name is Neo, as the truth of the world in which he lives is made clear to him by Morpheus (Fishburne). It is revealed that the world in which Neo has been living is in fact a simulated reality that sentient machines have created in order to harvest energy from the humans that they farm. Huge fields of humans lay dormant and wired into this simulated reality in order to keep their minds pacified. Morpheus and his band of rebels live in the real world, but are able to link themselves into The Matrix in order to fight against the machines programs and free people such as Neo.

Morpheus believes that Neo is the chosen one and will be the one to free all mankind of the machines. As Neo embarks on war with the machines he is trained by Morpheus in ways of combating the machines in the simulated world and how the boundaries that Neo realises in reality can be overcome within The Matrix. However, no one has ever battled against Agent Smith (Weaving) and won, with the computer program being able to manipulate the world of The Martix more than anyone else is able to.

As the rebels battle for survival and freedom they fight against the Agents within The Matrix and sentinel machines in the real world. Neo isn’t sure he is the chosen one that Morpheus thinks he is, but maybe that’s just what he needs to think in order to fulfill his destiny?

The Matrix is a film you must see before you die because it helped move forward and popularise ‘bullet time’ visual effects. ‘Bullet time’ is the art of allowing a camera to seemingly spin around a character of event at normal speed whilst the action unfolds in slow motion. Some of the effects used in the film were truly mind blowing at the time and still hold up to modern day effects.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

Thoughts on... Warrior (2011)

2012-01-25T07:02:00.000Z

Warrior, 2011.

Directed by Gavin O'Connor.
Starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte.

SYNOPSIS:

Two brothers find themselves on a collision course in the biggest 'winner takes all' Mixed Martial Arts event in history.

It would seem that about every year or so we get an inspirational sports movie. Some usually do the same tired thing we’ve seen a thousand times before while others do things we’ve seen before but in a really spectacular way. Which way does Warrior try and test its luck with?

We start with Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy); he’s recently returned home and visits his father Paddy, played wonderfully by Nick Nolte, who he hasn’t seen in about fourteen years. He wants his dad to help him train to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament coming up soon. Paddy reluctantly accepts to try and help his boy as well as possibly grow closer with him since he’s been out of his life for so long. On the other side of the movie we have Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a down on his luck school teacher who tries to make some extra cash in mixed martial arts fights so his family and him won’t lose their house. Eventually he gets a trainer to help him get ready for the same tournament his brother Tommy is participating in. Even though Brendan is an underdog he lays it all out every time he fights and this sets him up to eventually have to go toe to toe with his own brother.

What I really enjoyed about this movie was the acting. All three main actors in this movie do one hell of a job and give it their all just as their characters do in their own situations. Tom Hardy is starting to make a great name for himself. After a good job in Inception and now this we can only assume he’ll be great in the next Batman movie. I haven’t been too familiar with Joel Edgerton before this movie but I have to say that he too is quite the actor. Every time both of them are on screen you just get so wrapped up in their stories that you can’t help but stay glued to the screen. As for Nick Nolte, I honestly haven’t seen him do much better than he does here. He gives a really great performance, one that, at times, will tear you up inside.

The way the stories throughout this movie are told is another great part of the movie. At first it’s a little off putting because it just feels like two different stories going on at the same time that have nothing to do with each other. But once then do cross paths it gets even better and continues strong through the rest of the movie. Seeing this was directed by the same guy who directed Miracle, it doesn’t surprise me that he makes the story so enthralling. His ability to combine heavy handed drama with some of the most intense fight sequences in any movie in quite some time is definitely another highlight of the movie.

There isn’t much more I can say about Warrior that I haven’t already said. It’s great in all the right places and while it does feel familiar at times, it turns right around and does something that you more than likely haven’t seen in any movie before.

Jake Peffer

Movie Review - Goon (2011)

2012-01-24T19:09:00.000Z

Goon, 2011.

Directed by Michael Dowse.
Starring Sean William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, Kim Coates and Eugene Levy.

SYNOPSIS:

A bouncer undergoes a change of career to become the star enforcer of an underachieving ice hockey team.

Let’s get the Rocky reference out of the way to begin with. It’s a sports film, so of course Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is an underdog. Let’s not kid ourselves calling him ‘differently intelligent’, this man is a doofus of the first order. Mr Robert Balboa practically ranks as an Oxbridge candidate in comparison. Frankly, comparisons are unfair and irrelevant in this case. Goon isn’t shooting for the stars; it’s diving for the gutter and splashing around down there so joyfully you can’t help but develop a kind of admiration for it.

We’ll stick with the word ‘doofus’ for Doug. It fits his particular mindset beautifully. The man’s an idiot built like a brick shithouse – but he has no pretensions to being anything else. He’s been working security duty for his local bar, and he’s not terribly proud of it. Neither are his wonderfully Jewish parents (Eugene Levy and Ellen David), who would dearly have loved to have another doctor son. Like Doug’s brother Ira. Except not gay like Ira.

Doug unwinds watching a nice, relaxing, brutal game of minor league ice hockey with Ryan, his best friend (Jay Baruchel). Ryan is never one to keep his thoughts to himself, and good god does he have a lot of thoughts. Many of them about cock. He aims one too many cock jokes at a hockey player in the penalty box and very nearly gets the beating he so richly deserves. Lucky for Ryan (and the story), Doug steps in and headbutts the player so hard the man’s helmet cracks in half.

An offer to join the local team as an enforcer follows. He impresses the coach with his natural instinct for brute force, and he’s transferred to the semi-pro league. Doug is soon swept up into the team dynamic, dedicated to ‘protecting’ his team, even if they can’t win a match to save their lives. It works for us too; an audience who have never so much as glanced at an ice hockey match their whole lives soon grasp the fundamentals of the game, so far as they’re important to the story.

Goon isn’t very different at all to NHL ice hockey. Both of them are really all about the fights. We don’t see authorised bare knuckle fighting this side of the pond (it’s illegal), but in America the fisticuffs is part and parcel of the whole appeal of the game. Coach Hortense (Kim Coates) offers a more...concise definition to his team: “This. Is not. Fucking. BASEBALL.”

This film lures you into the hockey bloodlust in spite of yourself. After all, on an academic level, most of us would be with Eugene Levy, warning Doug of the long-term effects involved in repeated blows to the head. To director Michael Dowse’s credit, these are very believable blows. You can practically hear the teeth cracking in their mouths when Glatt jabs them in the jaw. Seriously, there are so many punches to the face through the course of this hockey season, you wonder how it is that the main supporting character isn’t a dentist.

So we buy the violence; the cracked teeth, the blood on the ice, that all feels real and we like some things to feel real in comedy. But why do we like Doug ‘The Thug’ Glatt? Again, Eugene ‘Voice of Reason’ Levy points out that ‘Thug’ isn’t the greatest nickname to have. Doug is essentially beating people up for a living, but because it’s in a sporting context, this is deemed exciting and satisfying. That can’t be his appeal. Liev Schrieber’s character does the same thing, and he’s a professional bastard, no question about it.

Perhaps it’s because we see Doug take just as much as he dishes out. You don’t grow up to own a skull that cracks a guy’s knuckles without taking your fair share of beatings. He doesn’t moan or sob about going home with a black eye or two at the end of a game. His team-mate LaFlamme (Marc-André Grondin) does, but he’s something of a whining nancy all the way through. Doug has a little more dignity. Sometimes. When he’s not trying to play hockey.

Eva (Alison Pill) has a lot to do with this. Finally snagging a proper supporting role after scene-stealing stints in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Midnight in Paris, Pill takes Eva to very interesting places. Eva already has a boyfriend, but she falls for the big doofus so quickly it frightens her. It kills her to mess him around, but she is genuinely torn. You’ve seen films before, you know who she’ll choose. It’s just that Pill does such an excellent job convincing us we’re wrong.

Goon isn’t the best it could be. Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg have written a fairly solid script, true. What is also true is that Baruchel couldn't resist writing himself an entirely superfluous role, amounting to little more than a cheerleader with Tourette’s. These writers were conscientious enough not to shoehorn in a forgiveness n’ hugs scene with Doug’s parents. They gave Liev Schreiber a believable aging hard man character. So why leave us in a cinema with a character like Ryan for 90 minutes?

Fortunately enough, Ryan all but disappears by the second act. Seann William Scott and Alison Pill take over as the far more convincing couple. Maybe it’s the massive size difference, maybe Pill just epitomises the kind of girl who can’t resist a 3-day beard, but you can’t knock these two onscreen together.

There’s a touching scene about 40 minutes in, as Eva tells Doug there’s no chance for them to be together, where Dowse tries something fairly brave. He pulls out Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep)’. This could have been bombastic or overblown (take your pick); it’s not exactly a subtle sort of aria. Strangely though, it feels right. It hits us where it hurts for the right reasons, not for cheap ironic giggles, but for sincere, well-earned pathos. An unexpected, but very welcome feeling in the middle of a hockey fight comedy. More surprises like this, please.

Simon Moore is a budding screenwriter, passionate about films both current and classic. He has a strong comedy leaning with an inexplicable affection for 80s montages and movies that you can’t quite work out on the first viewing.

War Horse fends off Haywire and Underworld: Awakening at the UK box office

2012-01-24T18:20:00.003Z

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd January 2012...

Steven Spielberg's World War I drama War Horse holds onto pole position at the UK box office in its second weekend, romping home by several furlongs with £3.2m ahead of competition from new arrivals Haywire and Underworld: Awakening in second and third respectively. War Horse has grossed close to £9.6m in just ten days on screens, leaving it just short of the £10.4m amassed by The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn on its second weekend, although that figure was boosted by several days of preview screenings during the school holidays back in October.

In terms of the newcomers, Steven Soderbergh's Haywire banks just shy of £1.2m, while Kate Beckinsale's return to the Underworld franchise give the fourth installment a small boost over its predecessor, pulling in £1.1m compared to the £990k opening of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans back in 2009. Elsewhere, Jonah Hill's latest comedy The Sitter earns £910k to take sixth place, while fellow openers J. Edgar (£413k), W.E. (£163k) and Coriolanus (£157k) all fail to grab a spot in the top ten.

Turning to the familiar faces, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows drops one spot to fourth but continues to demonstrate its staying power as it pushes its total gross towards the £25m mark. Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady falls three to fifth, while Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol suffers the steepest decline of the week, dropping three spots to finish up in seventh. Meanwhile The Artist, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Puss in Boots all slip one place each to occupy positions eight through ten.

Number one this time last year: The King's Speech

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	War Horse	£3,202,493	2	£3,202,493
2	Haywire	£1,197,866	1	£1,197,866
3	Underworld: Awakening	£1,114,327	1	£1,114,327
4	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	£956,434	6	£24,627,233
5	The Iron Lady	£949,517	3	£7,162,492
6	The Sitter	£910,382	1	£910,382
7	Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol	£815,330	5	£16,686,503
8	The Artist	£770,403	4	£3,205,883
9	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked	£568,758	6	£13,111,689
10	Puss in Boots	£568,590	7	£13,645,623

Incoming...

Alexander Payne's Golden Globe-winning comedy-drama The Descendants (cert. 15) [read our review here] arrives in cinemas this coming Friday and it is joined by several other new releases, including 3D animated A Monster in Paris (cert. U), psychological thriller Intruders (cert. 15), Liam Neeson survival thriller The Grey (cert. 15), French brothel drama The House of Tolerance (cert. 18), romance Like Crazy (cert. 12A) and low-budget horror The Devil Inside (cert. 15), which topped the US box office earlier this month.

U.K. Box Office Archive

84th Academy Award nominations revealed

2012-01-24T16:25:00.000Z

This morning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards, with Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone, X-Men: First Class, The Hunger Games) handling the official announcement. Leading the field with eleven nominations including Best Picture and Best Director is Martin Scorsese's Hugo, with Michel Hazanavicius' Golden Globe-winner The Artist hot on its heels with nods in ten categories.

The Artist and Hugo will face off for the coveted Best Picture Oscar against The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse, while Scorsese and Hazanavicius are joined by Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants) in the race for Best Director.

Check out the full list of nominations...

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Director
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor
Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Best Actress
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Original Screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation

Foreign Language Film
A Separation
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar

Animated Feature
A Cat in Paris
Chico and Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Cinematography
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Film Editing
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Makeup
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady

Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Original Song
Man or Muppet (The Muppets)
Real in Rio (Rio)

Animated Short
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Documentary Short
The Barber of Birmingham
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Live Action Short
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Which film do you think deserves to win Best Picture? Be sure to vote in our poll, and feel free to let us know your predictations for this year's Oscars in the comments below...

The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place on February 26th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California and sees Billy Crystal returning as host for the ninth time.

Movie Review - The Descendants (2011)

2012-01-24T07:42:00.000Z

The Descendants, 2011.

Directed by Alexander Payne.
Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard and Robert Forster.

SYNOPSIS:

Matt King is a Hawaiian property lawyer who just so happens to be a descendent of the original native royalty of Hawaii. His family has inherited some of the most valuable untouched land in the archipelago and he’s in charge of facilitating the biggest property sale in the history of Hawaii. King is an absent father and a detached husband and without warning his wife is injured in a boating accident that leaves her comatose. As her health deteriorates the reality of their relationship, his deficiencies as a parent and the horrible reality of finding out that his wife was having an affair.

Writer/Director Alexander Payne’s previous works are renowned for presenting deeply flawed characters in a realistic light. Election, Sideways and About Schmidt are all critically acclaimed for their ability to follow wholly unlikeable characters through seemingly mundane environments and making it all compelling: Jack (Thomas Hayden Church) from Sideways, Warren (Jack Nicholson) from About Schmidt, and Tracey Flick (Reece Witherspoon) from Election.

Payne delves you into the Hawaiian physical and social landscape of the island community to give you Matt's working and environmental context. In a way, Payne then has to provide us and the fairly clueless Matt (at this point) with an insight into his family. His youngest daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) is a rough and tumble tom-boy who's acting out by verbally bullying fellow students. And Matt's eldest daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) has been housed in a boarding school away from the family for being troubled - or so you're initially led to believe. Payne's structure let's you journey through Matt's assumptions and grow through and be awakened to his actually reality. You're filling out Matt's reality because he realises that he's closed himself off from everything.

Enter George Clooney's Matt King, a performance that will possibly gain him an Oscar. Does it live up to the hype? Personally I think his performance as the titular character Michael Clayton will be the performance of his career - but he does some more career best work here with The Descendants. However, knowing the strange moods of the Oscars - he'll be very tough to beat. King's a great character for Clooney. It's a subtler and purposefully restrained performance. Clooney is pitch perfect and really unpredictable as King. He's forced to project deep internal turmoil with an introverted character. The character's arc is great to show off Clooney's range - King is required to deal with grief, traverse the perils of (now single) fatherhood, the rage of betrayal, spite, discovery, and moments of restraint to protect the ideal of his wife in the eyes of her family despite what he's discovered. It's definitely a performance that will stay with you long after you see the film.

The resonance of the characters isn't exclusive to Clooney's Matt King - Shailene Woodley is staggeringly good as Alexandra. It was the best supporting performance by a female actor that I saw last year. Her character requires an immediate and necessary growth and level head with the pressures of this situation and her performance delivers flawlessly. Matt is lost and at times leans really heavily on his eldest daughter for guidance - Woodley's Alexandra receives and absorbs the pressure and is able to fulfil her whimsical teenager and familial rock with the delivery of much more weathered performers. The fact that the performance holds steady (and in my mind exceeds) Clooney's performance may give you an indication of just how good it is.

The supporting cast is fantastic. Nick Krause's Sid (the stoner rock and companion of Alexandra) brings a much needed like to some of the darkness in The Descendants, for the characters and the audience. Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) plays Matt's father-in-law - damaged by the grief of a wife with dementia and now a daughter in a coma lashes out at Matt at every opportunity. Every line is barbed and hits you with such great affect that you don't know what Matt is going to do. It's a performance that punches far above the given screen time. And finally the surprise packet is Matthew Lillard's Brian Speer, who was having an affair with Matt's wife focus and become's a necessary cathartic figure for the film. Lillard previously starred in She's All That, Scream and Scooby Doo - so his brief reactionary performance packs more of a punch if you're familiar with his lighter fare.

The Descendants is a devastating and rewarding emotional journey. Fans and critics of Payne will argue vehemently that this is his best and equally that it doesn't stand against his other works. As will reviewers and critics speaking of Clooney's performance. The Descendants is a film that was over-hyped for me prior to my initial viewing. But in writing about it, and remembering the performances, it's a film that resonates on a lot of levels and I'll definitely be revisiting it.

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com. Follow him on Twitter here: @BLAGatCCO.

Films To Watch Before You Die #52 - Philadelphia (1993)

2012-01-24T07:20:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Philadelphia, 1993.

Directed by Jonathan Demme.
Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen and Antonio Banderas.

Philadelphia is one of the first Hollywood films to deal with the sensitive subject of homosexuality, homophobia and the gay community’s struggle with HIV and AIDS. The film was inspired by the true story of attorney Geoffrey Bowers, who successfully sued the law firm that fired him in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases.

The story follows Andrew Beckett (Hanks), a senior associate at Philadelphia’s largest law firm. Beckett is very capable in the work place, but hides his homosexuality from his employers and work colleagues, despite living with his partner Miguel (Banderas). When Beckett is given a very important case to work on one of the company’s partners notices he has a small lesion on his forehead. Wanting to hide his illness Beckett stays at home in order to try and find a way to hide the lesions, but still finishes his work and ensures the file is in the right hands to move forward.

When the document goes missing and Beckett finds himself in hospital with bowel spasms the company question his ability to work and fire him. Believing that someone had purposely hidden his document in order to instigate his firing due to his sexuality and illness Beckett looks for legal representation in order to sue his former employers. After asking several attorneys to take his case and being told no he turns to personal injury lawyer Joe Miller (Washington). Miller is uncomfortable with the case himself and turns it down, but upon seeing the behaviour of others towards Beckett in public he changes his mind.

As Miller battles to earn justice for Beckett the company argue that he was incompetent. After Beckett falls ill during the case and ends up in hospital the jury votes in favour of Beckett and awards him a vast sum of money for back pay and damages. Beckett falls foul to his illness and on his passing away his family and friends, including Miller and his family, watch home movies of Beckett as a child.

The film was received very well by audiences and critics as it grossed over $200,000,000 worldwide and earned Hanks an Oscar for Best Actor as well as the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ also won and Oscar for Best Original Song.

Philadelphia is a film you must see before you die as it is an unbelievable story of prejudice, homophobia and the suffering it causes. The film signaled a shift in Hollywood towards realistic portrayals of gay and lesbian people, but still scenes that were too intimate between Hanks and Banderas were cut as the filmmakers held back on the homosexual affection within the film.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

Second Opinion - War Horse (2011)

2012-01-24T07:01:00.000Z

War Horse, 2011.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and Toby Kebbell.

SYNOPSIS:

A horse is sold to the calvary and sent to the front during World War I.

The poster for War Horse tells us that horse and boy are ‘Separated by war. Tested by battle. Bound by friendship’. So why is it that even the Greatest Film Maker of All Time™ can’t make us care for either boy or horse, or any other character appearing over the course of 2 and a half hours?

War Horse has it’s problem rooted in three areas:

1. The story is far too episodic to allow the audience to feel emotion or engage with any of the human characters. If you did, then they’re off screen again as the horse moves on to its next owner. This is bad enough, but then some of these characters which you didn’t get the time to invest in reappear at the end for one great big mushy conclusion… only you don’t care by that point. The action scenes are not epic nor are they particularly shocking or hard-hitting. Spielberg set the bar so high in Saving Private Ryan that anything else he (or anyone else for that matter) makes in mainstream film will be compared to it and is destined for failure. The action scenes are fine, but they felt as if they were shoehorned in to give the film any degree of excitement. In another film of World War One, these may have made more of an impact but in War Horse, they add little to the proceedings.

2. The film doesn’t know its audience. It’s too dull and slow for kids; not emotionally engaging enough for adults; not exciting enough for the average popcorn-munching viewer; and nowhere near the standard you’d expect from Spielberg for anyone going to see it because he’s the director.

3. This point hurts my fingers to type it, but it has to be said… The holy trinity of Spielberg / John Williams / Janusz Kaminski is simply too overpowering in War Horse. The trademark Spielberg angles, Kaminski’s oranges and browns, Williams’ cues telling you when to start crying… there's too much emphasis on trying to make the audience feel something, rather than actually making them feel it with a better story, less characters, less corny dialogue, and half an hour less footage.

Despite all of the above, War Horse is far from a terrible film and never reaches the depths of Spielberg’s worst film, Hook. It looks beautiful throughout and the sets and attention to detail of the trenches are excellent. However, it just does not work as effectively and as functionally as we’ve come to expect from the team involved.

Morbometer™: 5.1 OUT OF 10

Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.

Win a Perfect Sense DVD and poster signed by Ewan McGregor

2012-01-23T17:44:00.000Z

OK, it's January and it's all a bit dismal but at the end of this month Perfect Sense is released on DVD. If Ewan McGregor and Eva Green can manage to find love as the world is crashing down around them then we can certainly get through January.

This apocalyptic sci-fi fable has been hailed as “thrillingly ambitious, ecstatically romantic, utterly unexpected” (Time Out), and as “a touching, emotionally resonant and beautifully executed spin on humanity’s final moments that will hit you in the head and heart” (SFX Magazine).

The DVD is released on January 30th and to celebrate we have a cinema poster signed by Ewan McGregor plus a copy of Perfect Sense on DVD to give away to one lucky reader. Take a look at the trailer and synopsis, and read on for details of how to enter the competition...

Directed by David Mackenzie (Spread, Young Adam, Hallam Foe) and written by Kim Fupz Aakeson (To Love Someone, Pure Hearts), Perfect Sense stars Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!, Big Fish, Beginners), Eva Green (Casino Royale, The Golden Compass, Dark Shadows), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, One Hour Photo, The Ice Harvest) and Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Snatch, Page Eight) and Stephen Dillane (King Arthur, 44 Inch Chest, The Hours) in a taut and moving love story.

McGregor stars as Michael, the head chef at a swanky Glasgow restaurant, and Eva Green stars as Susan, an aloof epidemiologist who catches his eye and is hearing reports across the world of people inexplicably losing their senses. They embark on a sensual adventure that sees them experiencing new and unforeseen depths of feeling and moments of pure connection. But is this because they are falling in love or is it because the world as they know it is beginning to fall apart?

We've had a few exclusive Twitter competitions lately, so this time we're offering the prize to one of our Facebook friends...

So, to be in with a shout of nabbing the DVD and signed poster, make sure you like us on Facebook (if you haven't already), and then drop us an email with the subject heading "PERFECT", your name and contact details (make sure to include your Facebook name), along with an answer to the following question...

Which of the following does not see Ewan McGregor co-starring with Ewen Bremner...?

A) Trainspotting
B) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
C) Black Hawk Down

The competition closes at 5pm on Sunday, February 5th.

The Prize Finder - UK Competitions
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The Internet's Armpit... Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate George Lucas Even More

2012-01-23T15:16:00.000Z

Oli Davis presents five of the very best film-related uploads from around the world wide web...

5. Horrible Aftermaths Implied By Movies With Happy Endings

Cracked are always good for oddly numbered, irrelevant countdowns (Top 6, Top 23, etc). Here is an exercise in extreme geekdom, plotting out what would occur after a film’s climax. The effects of an exploding Death Star on Endor, for example, or the World War following the Top Gun’s climactic dogfight. Spoiler alerts, obviously.

4. CG-Free Rise of the Planet of the Apes Footage

Strange how Andy Serkis, in an S&M-style motion capture suit, cuts a more empathetic and believable ape than the computer generated one that eventually made it into the film.

3. The Future of CGI

Michael Bay and Jon Favreau are talking heads in a sarcastic look at the future of CGI (a self-awareness largely lacking from their own work).

2. Moonrise Kingdom Official Trailer

Wes Anderson takes auteurship to new heights of continuity. The trailer for his next film, Moonrise Kingdom, looking exactly like every other Wes Anderson film you’ve ever seen. But the act has yet to wear thin, so if it ain’t broke… just add Edward Norton to make it even better.

1. Red Letter Media's Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review

A 72 minute critical annihilation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. An acquired, dark taste of humour (i.e. lots of rape and murder jokes), but there is a majestic and detailed deconstruction veiled behind it.

Special Mention: Meet Vermin Supreme 2012 Presidential Candidate

An ingenious piece of live satire. It’s pretty funny, and then you realize he’s wearing an oversized wellington boot as a hat. Watch till the end, where Vermin attempts to turn a fellow candidate gay in his closing statement.

Oli Davis

DVD Review - Red State (2011)

2012-01-23T10:36:00.000Z

Red State, 2011.

Written and Directed by Kevin Smith.
Starring Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner, Kerry Bishé, Ralph Garma,n Michael Angarano, Stephen Root, Nicholas Braun and Kevin Pollak.

SYNOPSIS:

After responding to an online sex invitation, three horny young friends find themselves held captive by a group of ultra right-wing Christian extremists determined to unleash their own brand of bloody atonement.

Even the most hardened of Kevin Smith fans would have to admit that the filmmaker has struggled to recapture the comedy gold of his early View Askewniverse offerings with his last couple of movies, so it's refreshing to see that - following the critical lambasting of his previous effort, the Bruce Willis / Tracy Morgan buddy comedy Cop Out - Smith has returned to his indie roots as writer-director (and distributor) of his tenth feature, Red State. Foregoing the usual dick and fart jokes in favour of a dark, mature tale of hardcore religious extremism, Smith had dragged himself way out of his comfort zone, and in doing so he's delivered his best work since Chasing Amy.

Despite being marketed as a horror film, it's actually pretty difficult to describe Red State. Smith himself has called it "Quentin Tarantino by way of the Coen Brothers", and that's probably as accurate a description as you can get, right down to the casting of QT favourite Michael Parks (perhaps best known for his work as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Death Proof and Planet Terror) and Coen Brothers regular John Goodman. Starting out very much as a traditional horror, Red State opens with three teens - Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom) and Nicholas Braun (Sky High) - heading out into the sticks after an invitation for sex from an older woman, Sarah Cooper (The Fighter's Melissa Leo).

Unfortunately for the teens, Sarah is actually the daughter of Abin Cooper (Parks), a Fred Phelps-inspired pastor of the Five Points Trinity Church, a group of right-wing Christian fundamentalists out to punish 'sinners' for their transgressions. Drugged by Sarah, the three friends soon find themselves held captive in Cooper's church and after a hate-filled sermon from the pastor, they witness the brutal execution of a fellow 'sinner' before trying to make their escape. Meanwhile, Special Agent Keenan (Goodman) and a group of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officers arrive on the scene, laying siege to the church before receiving orders from above to embark on a Waco-style raid of the property.

Although it starts out by focussing on the three teens, as soon as Abin Cooper makes his entrance it quickly becomes clear that he’s the star of the show. If you’re familiar with Parks’ work then you’ll already know he’s great, but the veteran takes it to another level with Red State and delivers an absolutely captivating turn as the fanatical head of the Five Points Church. It is without doubt one of the best performances of 2011 and had Red State been directed by Tarantino or the Coens, then Parks would surely have found himself contesting a number of honours this awards season. As you’d expect, John Goodman is solid as the lead ATF agent, while the rest of the supporting cast are also convincing, particularly Kyle Gallner as Jared and Kerry Bishé as Cheyanne, Abin Cooper’s granddaughter.

Smith has often come under fire for his lack of visual style, but Red State is easily his most polished and visually impressive film to date, thanks in no small part to the gritty, documentary-like cinematography of regular collaborator Dave Klein. A taut, unpredictable and gripping piece of cinema, Red State really demonstrates Smith’s coming of age as a filmmaker and if this is what he’s capable of, then it’s a shame that it’s taken him so long to branch out beyond the comedy genre. It’s also a shame that he plans to bring the curtain down on his directing career with his next two-part feature Hit Somebody, and if that proves to be the case, then Red State will certainly stand out as one of the highlights on his filmmaking C.V.

Gary Collinson

Films To Watch Before You Die #51 - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

2012-01-23T07:25:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.

Directed by Jonathan Demme.
Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glen and Ted Levine.

The Silence of the Lambs is the chilling cinematic story based on Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name. The film follows Clarice Starling (Foster), a young FBI agent who has to entertain the immensely intelligent cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) in order to try and capture another serial killer named ‘Buffalo Bill’.

Starling is pulled from her training in order to interview Lecter in his enclosed cell at the Bureau’s Behavioral Science Unit. The former psychiatrist is himself a serial killer and the FBI believe that he can aid their pursuit of Buffalo Bill, who skins the corpses of his female victims. Lecter’s unnerving and evil demeanor puts Starling on edge to begin with, but through regular visits she begins to get to grips with Lecter and a strange relationship forms between them as Lecter takes an obvious liking to her.

The Silence of the Lambs was a huge hit and its estimated $19,000,000 budget was money well spent as it grossed over $272,000,000 worldwide and earned itself a truck load of awards and a very high approval rating from critics and audiences alike. The film mixes the crime and horror genres to great effect and became only the third film to win the top five Oscar categories. Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay as well as Demme winning Best Director and Foster Best Actress.

However, The Silence of the Lambs is a film you must see before you die because Anthony Hopkins' Oscar-winning turn as Hannibal Lecter is one of the all time great performances in cinema. His chillingly evil, yet brilliant Lecter has been voted by American Film Institute as the number one film villain of all time. All that despite Hopkins having just less than 16 minutes of screen time in order to shine.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

Movie Review - The Artist (2011)

2012-01-23T07:17:00.000Z

The Artist, 2011.

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius.
Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Malcolm McDowell, Penelope Anne Miller, Missi Pyle and Uggie.

SYNOPSIS:

A silent movie star faces up to the advent of sound.

Modern audiences may struggle to realise the medium they are watching at the multiplex started without the aid of spoken words and only a musical score to accompany the picture. Sadly, some won’t have even seen a film in black and white. The Artist is both silent and black and white, and is even filmed in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. To those not familiar with aspect ratios, 1.33:1 means (in crude terms) the sides of the cinema screen are not filled, with the film looking like a ‘box’ rather than the usual full screen (typically 1.85:1 or 2.39:1) that we are used to. The effect works well in The Artist because that is how films would have looked in the 20s and 30s and is (literally) the first signs of director Michel Hazanavicius’ intention to make his film stand out from anything else you’ve probably ever seen at the cinema before.

I’d like to point out that 1.33:1 is rare in modern film making but not unique to The Artist; watch Meek’s Cutoff, also released in 2011, to a truely jarring effect of the ratio. But I digress.

The (near) total lack of spoken word, 1.33:1 ratio, black and white, and a non-stop musical score make The Artist a refreshing and welcome change to modern cinema releases. It is funny, sad and charming and rewards the viewer with almost every scene it gives us. I cannot praise the lead actor Jean Dujardin enough for his performance; his face expresses every word we do not hear and that is a talent in itself, and moreover he and the rest of the cast give such strong and understanding performances, knowing the director’s intention to remove the sound, that everything makes perfect sense. I say this because the amount of times I get lost in a film’s plot because the dialogue or performances don’t ring true, or the direction doesn’t allow me to follow or believe what I’m seeing, is far too high these days. The Artist is a simple plot told exquisitely well and is a delight to watch.

For a film which takes its origins from the silent era, it was interesting to watch the director’s choice of lens, angle, and film stock. The Artist doesn’t look or even attempt to look as if it were made in the 20s or 30s but it does have an undeniable revisionist feel to it. It is clearly a modern film set in the past and it looks great, unlike, say, Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German, which presented itself as a film made in the 1940s using the camera and angles and effects of the period. Soderbergh’s film did not work despite being a brave experiment, but I was happy to see The Artist not falling into the same pretentious trap.

Had I seen The Artist last year it would certainly have made my top 10 of 2011, and I hope it gets all the awards it deserves. It is not without its faults, and I think the film works better in its more lively and happier scenes rather than when it gets more serious, as it does in the second half, and loses some of its appeal by getting hampered with too much emotion. This is a minor criticism of an otherwise splendid piece of filmmaking.

Morbometer™: 8.8 out of 10

Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.

Director John Madden discusses The Debt and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2012-01-23T07:01:00.000Z

To most, John Madden will always be the director of such period classics as Mrs Brown and Shakespeare in Love. Oscar-nominated for Best Director on the latter, he steered the film to a staggering 13 Academy Award nominations and seven wins, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Dame Judi Dench. Since then, he’s branched out, adapting Louis de Bernières’s best-selling novel Captain Corelli’s Mandoli, David Auburn’s play Proof and Elmore Leonard’s book Killshot for the big screen. Yet, with his latest movie, Madden takes on a different type of source material – that of the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov, directed and co-written by Assaf Bernstein.

Remaking Ha-Hov as The Debt, it tells a complex story about secrets, lies, history and guilt, starting in East Berlin in the 1960s and continuing in Tel Aviv in 2007. Cutting back and forth between the two, the story sees three Mossad agents (Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas) sent to kidnap a Nazi doctor and bring him to trial in Israel. Over forty years later, the former agents (now played by Helen Mirren, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson) must contend with a secret they’ve kept about the operation for all this time. Below, Madden talks about what drew him to the film, why he loves working with Helen Mirren and his next film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Q: The Debt has been a long time coming. Can you explain why?

A: We filmed in January, February and March of 2009. We ended up finishing the film later because I wanted Tom Newman to do the score and I couldn’t get access to him until September of that year. So we finally finished the film at the beginning of 2010.

Q: What appealed to you about The Debt?

A: Well, it’s extraordinarily compelling and challenging material. It’s thematically weighty. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to tell a story that in one sense is a very pure cinematic genre – the genre of the thriller. But also one that allows a very complex emotional and psychological drama to unfold at the same time. Usually those things pull against each other in a project and you have to stop the thriller for a moment in order to fill in the character and catch up on who they really are. And this film is very different in that way. You understand who these people are through the story that’s unfolding. It all pulls against itself in a really interesting way. An amazing challenge in terms of the material, but a great opportunity as well.

Q: How did you come across the Israeli film, Ha-Hov, that The Debt is based on?

A: Well, I can’t take credit for that. What happened was that somebody who was involved in the original Israeli film, as an executive producer, brought it to the attention of somebody at the agency that represents Matthew Vaughn. And Matthew and Kris Thykier had a company and they essentially saw the completed film and thought it deserved a wider platform. The original film was made in Hebrew and it received quite a limited release inside Israel so not many people in Israel saw it, which I didn’t realise until I got there to film. I thought it would be very well known, but it wasn’t. But it’s such a compelling story and so powerful and very challenging to tell that story in the form of a thriller, without selling the material short. It also frankly evoked a movie that I really like, which is the kind of movie that used to be made in the Seventies, where the thrillers were about psychology and behaviour and character was an essential part of what was going on. Those films are still being made but there’s a definite tendency for certain kinds of thrillers to move off into the total immersion zone. And the psychology is very reduced and very simple, if provocative. So the fact it’s a character story and a human drama…

Q: Do you think we’ve gone through the Bourne phase to return to something more realistic?

A: I think so. It’s funny, one imposes those constructions in retrospect, but the impulse is probably the same. Meaning the impulse to get back to something that is a contrasting colour from what we’re used to seeing now.

Q: What films were you thinking of for inspiration on The Debt?

A: The Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor. Those sort of movies that had political complexity to them. China Syndrome is a different kind of thriller, but had something to say. So much of modern film has been hijacked by the visceral experience, the fairground ride. The most extreme manifestation is 3D, obviously. It’s about how can you bazooka somebody into a really trippy experience. The satisfactions of a film that works with tension and fear and intrigue and mystery and suspense that is also about character has been forgotten along the way. Then you see something like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and you go ‘Wow, that’s a different kind of experience.’.

Q: Did Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman originally intend for The Debt to be a project for Matthew to direct?

A: Yes, in the first instance. Matthew being Matthew, he thought ‘This is a good one for me to direct’, and Jane is his writing partner and does most of the actual writing. The script that I first encountered was very tailored towards being a Matthew Vaughn film. But he understood and acknowledged immediately that a director would have to make the film that he or she saw.

Q: Did you ever have any discussions with Matthew and Jane?

A: Yeah, there were some talks. I talked to Jane at considerable length, but it was fairly obvious that, because they were already engaged on Kick-Ass, which they were about to start shooting and which they’d been writing at the same time, it was not going to work out in terms of the time frame. So Peter Straughan came onto the film and we worked very, very closely on deconstructing and reconstructing.

Q: Given you made this two-and-a-half years ago and you have Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain in the cast, you must be a good talent-spotter…

A: Well, with Jessica, I was very lucky to find her. I absolutely wanted to cast an actress who was little known. I didn’t want ‘How did she turn into Helen Mirren?’ to become the agenda that dominated the film. If it had been another famous actress, that would’ve been the case. But directors are often credited with discovering somebody…

Q: Who else were you considering?

A: It would be invidious to say that! But there were other actresses that I didn’t know, that I was interested in investigating. But to be honest with you, I didn’t get so far with that. Helen was my given. That’s where the casting started. Once I had her committed to the film, the film then became a viable film. That’s the way it works. Obviously there was consideration about finding an actress who had a physical affinity with her. Though I have to say, having worked with Jessica, even if her physical affinity had not been as good as it was, I’m sure I would still have cast her.

Q: And Sam?

A: Sam I knew only from one film. Avatar had been shot but it hadn’t come out. I wasn’t even aware that he’d done these things. Strangely then, as now, people aren’t quite sure who he is. He was in a film called Somersault and I remembered the performance very strongly. It made an impact on me and he just lodged in my mind, as soon as I came across the material. It’s an unusual part. He’s the bespectacled boy in Lord of the Flies; that character – he’s wounded, and damaged, and hidden, but equally he has to have a heroic masculine presence. He just seemed like a very good fit. I went and pitched the film to him in Albuquerque once I had traced where he was (he was there shooting Terminator: Salvation). So I thought, ‘If I think he’s right I’ll pitch it really well and, if I think he’s not right, I won’t pitch it so well!’. So I pitched it as well as I could – he has a very distinctive presence. As it happens, the time-span has probably not hurt us. It’s certainly not hurt us with Jessica. Actually, when it was originally supposed to come out, Sam would’ve been known then. But you know what? People see the movie because of Helen.

Q: Finally, you’ve made another movie with Tom Wilkinson and Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. What’s that about?

A: What would I call it? It’s a comedy but it’s a melancholy comedy about a constituency that is ignored in life and in movies frequently - older people, the grey pound. That’s a line in the film! It’s about the grey pound and the grey opportunities, or lack of opportunities. It’s about people who find themselves at some dead end, either through lack of money or bereavement or physical infirmity or a wrong marriage. And none of these people know each other and they get pointed to a website which is advertising a crumbling Indian palace as a hotel where people can go and retire and outsource their retirement. It’s a very funny idea, and a very good idea, that the character in the film has. That character is played by Dev Patel. They arrive and of course the place is not what it purports to be, as nothing in India really is. And it’s about them colliding with India and with one another. It’s a very unusual piece.

The Debt is released on DVD and Blu-ray today and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is set to arrive in UK cinemas on February 24th.

Movie Review - Red Tails (2012)

2012-01-22T20:17:00.000Z

Red Tails, 2012.

Directed by Anthony Hemingway.
Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Ne-Yo, Method Man, Nate Parker, Elijah Kelley, Tristan Wilds, Theo James, David Oyelowo, Michael B. Jordon, Josh Dallas, Daniela Ruah and Bryan Cranston.

SYNOPSIS:

The true story of the heroic exploits of the Tuskegee airmen during World War II.

As much as I love film, there have been very few times where I’ve actually really anticipated the opening of a new movie. This year marks the arrival of probably the most anticipated film in the history of me; The Dark Knight Rises. But before the month of July can grace us with its presence, Red Tails managed to spark my interest from the very first time I viewed its trailer last year. Star Wars baby-maker and executive producer George Lucas lends his talents to this rather inspirational story about the Tuskegee airmen, their missions and the adversity they were faced with to earn and succeed in those missions.

Who else to lead a cast of predominantly African-American acting talent than Terrence Howard who to me sometimes looks, from the way he delivers his lines and throws his “coolness” into his parts, like he is vying for the title of ‘the next Denzel Washington’. He plays Colonel A.J. Bullard who heads the Tuskegee airmen program and fights and scraps to get his men a mission worth bragging about. After finding themselves doing nothing but “killing traffic” after a slew of assignments blowing up supply trucks and military trains, they finally receive their chance.

Under Colonel Bullard is Major Stance (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who has appointed Martin “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker) as his squad leader. It’s easy to see from the get-go that Julian has some underlying problems which are revealed early in the film. He also has to deal with a hot-shot, fancy flying ace in the form of Lt. Joe “Lightning” Little as a wingman. Blessed with tons of skill, Little often breaks from the squad and does his own thing ignoring orders. Their first real test comes in the form of providing air cover for their white counterparts attempting to movie into enemy Nazi territory. Showing that they are more than capable of fighting the war like every other airmen, they are continued to have missions thrown their way despite the prejudice and scrutiny that they are constantly subjected to.

The most impressive aspect of this film should really come as no surprise. Yes, it was the special effects. They were clear, crisp and put you right in the action. As far as action adventure jet fighting movie magic goes, I’d put Red Tails among the top. The action comes quick and often and delivers on many levels. The only negative portion about the in-flight parts of the film I felt was the chatter. True, all good fighter pilot films have had creative talk and back-and-forth banter but this one seemed to have too much of it. To me, it felt as though some parts of the movie where there was communication between the pilots were kind of forced. Kind of like director Anthony Hemingway needed to fill in some parts of the movie for time reasons so he included extra lines for the actors to recite.

Moving from the best parts of the movie, the special effects, to the worst part. Overall, it felt like something was missing from the film. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it but it just had a feeling of absence somewhere within the story. I know the plot line is simply following the teachings and happenings of literal history but the film seemed to be missing a sort of “zing” or “pop” to really cause it go over the top. Perhaps it may suffer from the fact that we all already know what happens. At least if you showed up and actually paid attention in history class, you do. But there are plenty of other films which are based off of historical events and books, John B. Holway penned the novel of the same name, that still have that substance that leaves you feeling full as you walk out of the theater.

I was also expecting more from one Bryan Cranston who played Colonel William Mortamus, a Negro pilot-hating man who absolutely refuses to give them their due despite the successful missions that they put together. He was in a couple of scenes but then literally disappeared for the rest of the movie. All in all, I would still recommend this film to anyone, especially if you are history buff. Especially, especially if you are a military history buff. Especially, especially, especially if you are an African-American history buff. I give Red Tails “3 reasons to believe that war knows no color out of 5”.

“When you get mad or upset, you turn Red. When you get sick or jealous, you turn Green. When you turn into a coward, you turn Yellow. And you have the nerve to call us Colored.”

Sean Guard
Follow me on Twitter @Sean_Guard

US Box Office - Underworld slays the competition, Red Tails soars

2012-01-22T17:00:00.002Z

It was another impressive weekend at the US box office thanks in no small part to a wide variety of new releases. The fourth installment of the Underworld series continued its string of $20 million + openings, with Kate Beckinsale's return to the franchise propelling it to a $24 million dollar opening. The series has been remarkably consistent and audiences seem to have a limitless appetite for vampire related content.

The George Lucas-produced Red Tails also had a stronger than expected opening. Many analysts were sceptical of an all African American cast being able to generate a strong opening. The World War Two themed action film pulled in $19 million dollars this weekend. George Lucas indicated he wants to do a sequel and a prequel for the film. Just typing 'George Lucas' and 'prequel' in the same sentence makes me cringe just a little. If anyone thinks that's a good idea, wait a few weeks and go see the re-release of The Phantom Menace.

Last week's number one film Contraband had a decent hold, hauling in another $12 million landing it at number three for the weekend. The 9/11 themed drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close opened without much fanfare. In spite of starring two of the biggest box office draws in Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, the movie opened to an unremarkable $11 million. 9/11 movies have been a hard sell. Even with two of the most bankable stars in the world, audiences seemed relatively ambivalent about the movie and the subject matter. American audiences have made it fairly obvious that they have no interest in the subject of 9/11 or the war on terror at the box office.

This week's other new release, the Steven Soderbergh directed action film Haywire, landed with a 'thud'. The film was marketed heavily on the ensemble cast including Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Bandereas, and Michael Fassbender. All those names together were only able to net $9 million dollars in ticket sales.

Next week is another slew of studio offerings including the Liam Neeson survival thriller The Grey, Sam Worthington in the heist thriller Man on a Ledge, and the Katherine Heigl comedy One for the Money. Expect to see The Grey at number one next week with steep drops for Underworld, Red Tails and the rest in their second week out.

Here's your top films for North America:

1. Underworld: Awakening
Weekend Estimate: $24 million

2. Red Tails
Weekend Estimate: $19 million

3. Contraband
Weekend Estimate: $12 million; $46 million total

4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Weekend Estimate: $11 million

5. Haywire
Weekend Estimate: $9 million

Anghus Houvouras

Changing the expectations of cinema...

2012-01-22T12:12:00.000Z

Commenting on the commentators with Simon Columb...

Xan Brooks writes for The Guardian on 19th January about the audience members who demanded a refund (!!!) after realising that The Artist was a silent film:

"Stories like this are reliable broadsheet catnip, because they make us feel so superior to those cultural illiterates who don't read good. What kind of bozo goes to see The Artist without knowing its USP anyway? Who manages to remain so ignorant of the one thing that made the movie a novelty to begin with? Wow, get a load of those morons. Demanding a refund because The Artist is silent? That's like walking out of a Harry Potter adventure angrily protesting that it's full of little kids."

Brooks goes on to comment about how the film is not your usual film - akin to how Drive is not a Fast and Furious heist movie. Rather than feel superior and smug about how ignorant these audience members are it might be better to consider how these audience members were challenged in their expectations of what cinema is. I mean, how many people watched the film without realising it was silent and didn't ask for a refund ... and didn't leave halfway through. How many people have now seen a silent film for the first time ever and realised what a great genre it is ... typing into Google "silent films" to see many pictures of Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton and thought "Hey, I recognise him..." and watched a short video...

In the same way as the two children in Hugo go into their own dream-world about silent-cinema, we can only hope that this film will illuminate a style of filmmaking that is all-but-dead in contemporary cinema. Then when we think about the film winning Best Picture - How many people will watch it purely on this semi-credible award win? "It must be good - it won Best Picture!" they'll say... and then, the start of something beautiful will happen. Film does not just pass the time, film will then emotionally inform, educate and entertain...

Simon Columb

Movie Review - Moneyball (2011)

2012-01-22T09:14:00.000Z

Moneyball, 2011.

Directed by Bennett Miller.
Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright.

SYNOPSIS:

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) atempts to put together a successful baseball team by employing computer generated analysis to draft his players.

Can you really make a movie about all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in baseball and it actually be better than a normal baseball movie with all the action? Moneyball says yes.

Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's. He was a big time prospect when he was younger but didn't last long in the majors when he didn't live up to his potential. His team just lost in the first round of the playoffs in the previous season and they are about to lose the three best players on their team. Billy would like to try something different this season but all the scouts and members of the A's organization just don't understand what else they could possibly do. After meeting with the Cleveland Indians to try and make some trades he meets Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill. Peter has a unique take on the game of baseball and this intrigues Billy enough to buy him from Cleveland. They plan on changing the game of baseball by choosing players based on statistics rather than seeing how they actually play the game. Nobody else likes this idea and thinks they will have one of the worst seasons in their history, but Billy and Peter have faith in their system and plan on doing something that has never been seen before.

You take one look at this movie and you would expect it to be boring because it's a baseball movie but without all the baseball action you would normal get. We get to see things like trades being made, talks about money problems and statistical analysis of players. That's not to say that we don't get to see some of the games every now and again but that's not what the story focuses on. One would never think that could be so engaging and very entertaining. The writing and acting definitely play big parts in why this movie is so entertaining. Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) wrote the screenplay for this and they did a great job combining almost every single aspect of baseball into a good script.

The acting here is top notch and it really is only three actors doing it well for almost the entire movie. Brad Pitt is great as always and here he really brings a lot to this real life character and certainly deserves to be nominated for anything he gets nominated for. Phillip Seymour Hoffman does a great job as well playing the head coach Art Howe. He plays it just like most head coaches in baseball really are and that definitely gave the movie some points for being realistic. Jonah Hill is someone you wouldn't think would give a really good performance, mainly because he mostly does a lot of comedies. But here he actually gives a great performance and shows that he does have some range and we could very well see him doing more than just the types of comedies we've come to know from him.

All in all, the movie is not perfect but what it does put on screen is an effective sports movie that's not just about all the glitz and glamour of being in the spotlight. It shows what really goes on when it comes to trying to put together a successful team and win ball games.

Jake Peffer

Movie Review - Haywire (2011)

2012-01-21T16:32:00.001Z

Haywire, 2011.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Starring Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano and Michael Douglas.

SYNOPSIS:

After being double-crossed on her last mission, a female black ops soldier seeks revenge.

Steven Soderbergh is many things. He is one of the most pioneering directors of digital filmmaking working today and he can squeeze every penny out of a small or large budget. His frames are always interesting, his colour pallet vivid and striking, and he never allows himself to be mundane or obvious strives to challenge himself with new and fresh material, with the ‘Ocean’ trilogy as his only franchise and money-spinners. He is one of my favourite directors.

Having said all of that, it pains me to not have enjoyed his latest project, the supposed action/spy thriller Haywire. If anything, to me this is his weakest film to date.

The core reason, ironically, is because of all of the aforementioned reasons why I love his work so much but in Haywire it just did not work for the genre. This is his first attempt at the spy/thriller/espionage genre and he is hindered by a lifeless, dull and stagnant script which, despite a decent opening 20 minutes, wastes away to nothing rapidly. I could not invest in any of the characters or their motives, especially the lead, Mallory - the hard-done-by agent who is out for revenge for reasons I never really cared about. She isn’t the first and she won’t be the last; it surprised me Soderbergh was attracted to such a by-the-numbers story.

The film is filled with recognisable faces but Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas are there to add gravitas to the poster and Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, and debutant Gino Carano deliver their lines like we’re watching rehearsal footage. It’s poor dialogue delivered badly. Channing Tatum has the on-screen charisma of a burnt match and is about as useful; I’m saddened to see he has the role in Soderbergh’s next picture, Magic Mike.

Soderbergh’s usual experimentation with colour, filter, framing, and editing are all on-screen in Haywire but only serve to hid the bland story and his inability to stage a fight scene with art-house pretensions. The fight scenes look like rehearsals of what was to come and never for one moment did I feel any enjoyment or excitement. I’m all for his usual style when the story and characters serve its purpose but Haywire, like Ocean’s Twelve, is not the right material for that. Moreover, I want to make a point about digital filmmaking and it’s cinematic qualities; this film looked out of place on a big screen, the Red One camera makes the lighting look too flat and almost too real, taking away any cinematic qualities the film may have had. I might enjoy this film better on TV, but the initial damage has been done. I do not and never will advocate digitally downloading new releases, but films which look like Haywire should have their place in that medium.

I don’t want or expect all spy films to copy James Bond or The Bourne trilogy and this is not why I’m against Haywire. I like welcome new styles to familiar stories, but if they don’t work then it’s a case of “nice try, but better luck next time”. The final line in the film is “shit”, which doesn’t quite sum up Haywire, but is not too far from the truth either. Sorry, Steven, but you set yourself up for that one.

Morbometer™: 4.2 out of 10

Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.

The Week in Spandex – The Dark Knight Rises, Beware the Batman, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and more…

2012-01-21T12:44:00.000Z

Presenting our weekly round-up of all the biggest news stories from the world of movie superheroes…

As the comedian W.C. Fields once said, “Never work with children or animals,” and The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan will have found some truth in that this past week as young actress Joey King revealed what probably constitutes a huge spoiler, if it wasn’t for the fact that just about everyone expected it anyway. “I play young Talia al Ghul,” said King in an interview with My Entertainment World, confirming that the character will make an appearance in the hugely-anticipated sequel. “I can’t give too much away because I promised Mr. Nolan I wouldn’t say anything. There are too many secrets about the character and the movie.” Well, there’s one less now, Joey… So, unless Nolan really surprises everyone and we get to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt in drag, I think it’s safe to say we now know the true identity of Marion Cotillard’s ‘Miranda Tate’.

Although Nolan’s big-screen Batman series will come to an end this summer, Warner Bros Animation are busy prepping a return to Gotham City courtesy of executive producer Glen Murakami (Batman Beyond, Justice League, Teen Titans) with the CG-animated series Beware the Batman. Speaking to MovieWeb, actor Kurtwood Smith - a.k.a. Clarence Boddicker - has provided a brief update on the new show, for which he supplies the voice of Jim Gordon. "We've just started [the show]. We've only recorded two, before Christmas. I like the general thrust of the show. It's early in the Batman story. Commissioner Gordon isn't even Commissioner yet, he's just Lieutenant Gordon. He doesn't trust Batman, even though they kind of end up helping each other out on an early case. Batman, in a lot of ways, is learning his way, and the relationship between he and Alfred is developing. It's fun and it's kind of straight in that regard, as opposed to being campy. I think it's going to be good, but it won't be out for at least a year or so."

Fresh from his success at the Golden Globes last weekend, Luther star Idris Elba told MTV that he's signed on to reprise his role as Heimdall alongside the Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston in next year's Marvel sequel Thor 2 - which is now in the hands of director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) - although he was 'unsure' if the character would make an appearance in The Avengers this May. In other Avengers-related bits and pieces Tom Hiddleston spoke to Den of Geek about the upcoming superhero team-up during a promotional interview for Steven Spielberg's War Horse, and co-star Chris Evans also had a few words about the film - and Marvel legend Stan Lee - during a chat with FansShare. Finally, fans may want to check out the unveiling of Hasbro's Avengers action-figure line, which occured during a liveblog chat on the official Marvel site on Friday afternoon.

Wrapping up the best of the rest...

...As the clock ticks down to the cinema release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance next month, SFX Magazine got their hands on a few new images from upcoming film, along with some quotes from co-director Brian Taylor [take a look at the highlights over at ComicBookMovie]. Meanwhile Total Film caught up with star Nicolas Cage, who tried to explain how the latest film differs from Mark Steven Johnson's 2007 original: "I don’t see this as a sequel at all. I see this as Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. The other movie was Ghost Rider. This movie is Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance." Thanks for clearing that up for us Nic...

...The Amazing Spider-Man swung into Tokyo this past week as stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were joined by producers Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach for an hour-long press conference to announce the Japanese premiere of the upcoming reboot on June 30th [watch the press conference here]. Elsewhere, director Marc Webb told Collider to expect a second trailer within the next month, with rumours since emerging that it could hit the web on February 9th and may be attached to Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and The Vow in cinemas the following day...

...Last week we heard that Fox were still keen on pushing ahead with their Deadpool feature and now comes a report from The Geek Files claiming that a 'source' has confirmed that Ryan Reynolds is still attached to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine spin-off, while the studio plan to push both Deadpool and The Wolverine into production this year...

…Meanwhile X-Men: First Class star Michael Fassbender has been talking to IFC.com about the proposed sequel to last year’s prequel, stating that he’d like to continue exploring the complex relationship between Magneto and James McAvoy’s Professor X: “It’s not just like clear-cut enemies; they’re best friends as well. In the comic books, even after they’ve had this sort of rift, Professor X asks Magneto to come back and look after the students at certain points… I think there’s always that complexity in their relationship and we want to keep that alive as possible, because that’s I think a really interesting thing - the conflict there…”

…On the subject of sequels, it looks as though we could be getting a follow-up to 2008’s Hancock, with director Peter Berg discussing the possibility in brief update to ComicBookMovie: “We've been talking about the sequel between us, Will Smith, [producers] Michael Mann and Akiva Goldsman and myself. We're all interested, but we literally just have trouble getting into the same room at the same time. We did have a series of meetings last year and started to hash out an idea for sequel - and Will Smith actually had the idea - so I think it will happen, it's just a question of timing…”

…Warner Bros’ Superman reboot Man of Steel has completed filming in Vancouver, with director Zack Snyder and stars such as Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon now heading to Los Angeles for the final leg of principal photography…

...Shifting to the small screen for a moment and The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the CW network are moving forward with the pilot episode of Green Arrow, albeit under the newly-shortened title of Arrow. According to THR, the show "revolves around the hooded super hero, a wealthy playboy by day who secretly saves the city by night using his enhanced arrows" and is described as "a modern retelling of the legendary comics character..."

…Hero Complex caught up with Harold Perrineau to discuss his voice work in the Blade anime series, with the Lost star admitting that he’d be open to stepping into Wesley Snipes’ shoes for a live-action reboot, should the opportunity arise now that the movie rights have reverted back to Marvel Studios: “You know what … I would shave my head and get into the gym tomorrow if they said that I could play Blade. I’d be in the gym pumping iron, doing kung fu… I would love to play Blade live-action. I think the character is ridiculously cool. I’m never going to be as cool as Wesley Snipes was, but I’d give it a shot…”

...And finally, Quentin Tarantino has revealed his favourite movies of 2011 and there's quite a superhero flavour to his list. X-Men: First Class placed in both his 'Official Top 11' and 'Best Adapted Screenplay' categories, while Captain America: The First Avenger, Green Lantern and The Green Hornet also managed to earn themselves honourable mentions. Guess he’s not a fan of the God of Thunder, then.

Gary Collinson

Holy Franchise, Batman! - Arriving this June.

Win Kevin Smith: Too Fat for 40 on DVD - NOW CLOSED

2012-01-21T09:00:00.001Z

Following the huge success of fan favourites An Evening With Kevin Smith and An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder, the acclaimed filmmaker, writer, actor and raconteur responsible for such diverse movies as Red State, Cop Out, Zack And Miri Make A Porno and Clerks II releases his first new stand-up DVD in five years in the form of Too Fat For 40. Filmed on the evening of Kevin Smith’s 40th birthday before a crowd of rabid fans at the Count Basie Theatre in his home town of Red Bank, New Jersey, this comedy special comes to DVD on 23rd January 2012 (coinciding with the release of Red State on DVD and Blu-ray) as a two-disc edition featuring the full, uncut and unexpurgated three-and-a-half-hour version of Smith’s performance and including a Bonus DVD loaded with extra features including additional encore Q&A footage and a look behind the scenes.

Taking its title from the much-publicized brouhaha (which is hilariously discussed at length during the show) in which Southwest Airlines declared Smith “too fat to fly”, Too Fat for 40 puts the spotlight firmly on Kevin Smith’s brilliantly self-deprecating humour as he pokes fun at his everyday life through anecdotes and yarns all prompted by a one-question audience Q&A.

Absolutely nothing is off limits as Smith discusses very personal and very funny aspects of his private and public life including sex, the problems of being overweight, working with his hero, the late George Carlin, getting stoned with Seth Rogen, being arrested by the Canadian border guards for smuggling, being suspected by the LAPD of child kidnapping and the difficulties of working with a Hollywood superstar of Bruce Willis’ stature – a situation exacerbated by the fact that the Hollywood superstar in question suspects you don’t really know what you are doing. And, naturally, this being Kevin Smith, fellow actor-director and good friend Ben Affleck frequently finds himself in the firing line of Smith’s comedy pot shots.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is make sure you like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, then send a quick email with your contact details (be sure to include your postal address and Facebook or Twitter username in the email), the subject heading "KEVIN SMITH" and an answer to the following question...

What is the title of Kevin Smith's upcoming two-part hockey movie?

The competition closes at 5pm on Sunday, January 29th. UK entrants only please.

The Prize Finder - UK Competitions
Loquax Competitions

By entering this competition you agree to our terms and conditions, which you can read here.

Movie Review - Abduction (2011)

2012-01-20T11:41:00.000Z

Abduction, 2011.

Directed by John Singleton.
Starring Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Michael Nyqvist, and Alfred Molina.

SYNOPSIS:

A youth discovers that the people who raised him aren't his real parents, a revalation that leaves him running for his life.

Abduction is the one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The acting is horrendous, the direction is stilted and devoid of style, the scripts is laughable, and I actually mean you will laugh out loud when you see it because of the horrendously bad dialogue e.g. “I just saw my parents get murdered in front of my own eyes.”

But I had a hell of a lot of fun watching it.

I think it’s really important to first talk about those involved and how they sold out to star alongside the dog from Twilight. John Singleton directs Abduction – yes, the Oscar-nominated director of Boyz n the Hood. He really hasn’t done anything of value since the 90s and let me tell you he brings some hammy and insincere performances from great actors (not in this film but based on their filmography). So instead of his Higher Learning mode we’re seeing him very much in 2 Fast 2 Furious mode. Great actors shamelessly paying for extensions to their houses by starring in this include the wonderful Maria Bello (A History of Violence), intense Jason Isaacs (Good), many-armed Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man 2) and alpha female Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Aliens, Ghostbusters).

How does a film manage to be that bad whilst managing to be enjoyable? Well quite simply it’s the way that every frame of the film is just BAD. It’s a holistic kind of horrible that makes you wonder if it was constructed in the mind of a comedic genius ala Rebecca Black’s Friday.

Abduction is the story of the Twilight dog kid, Taylor ‘Abby McAbs’ Lautner, finding his childhood photos on a ‘missing persons’ website and some stuff happening afterwards. I’ll relay some of the biggest highlights in an effort to speak to the films awesome horribleness.

Act 1…

In the first 5 minutes Lautner rides on the bonnet of a car to introduce his totally awesome character, gets thrown onto the front lawn with WWF grace, scowls lots and insists on looking a little Cro-Magnon, meets ‘the girl’ and wakes up after this awesome night shirtless on the front lawn of the host.

Now Jason Isaacs – what do you do if you find you hung-over teenage son on the lawn of some random person after a big night of underage drinking? Definitely an exceptionally brutal kick-boxing session with awesome JCVD slow-mo round house kicks… Oh yeah this happens. And Maria Bello smiles along as it’s happening like a fucking Stepford wife.

Act 2…

After discovering that the Twilight dog is kind of Jason Bourne’s son and that guy from the Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is his Dad’s (and therefore his) nemesis, we have one of the greatest repressed faux sex scenes ever committed to cinema. Abby McAbs and his lady Muppet McEyebrows – seriously this girl has got the same eyebrows as me and Animal from The Muppets (view comparison here) – are in the midst of a heavy make out session when McEyebrows stops McAb’s advances and says “I’m hungry.” I’m hungry?! The scene goes like so – Makeout, Makeout, Grind, Makeout, Makeout “I’m Hungry!” It’s amazing.

Act 3…

It’s the ending you were begging for – awesomely anticlimactic and in a baseball stadium. McAb’s Dad emerges and Dr Claws it from a distance; it felt like I was watching Charlie’s Angels. Oh yeah and he’s so awesome that he kills Blomkvist with great ease (something that the entire CIA couldn’t do throughout the film). Sigourney Weaver stars as Nathan’s therapist (yeah he’s also in therapy for scowling and round-housing as far as I understood) and spy protector who returns from ‘faked’ death in the end to offer Nathan a place to live and scowl. And boy is her delivery ridiculously Mean Girls chipper. This 80s Sci-Fi Queen is reduced to a joke in this performance.

In a screening full of cynical film critics, the laughter started early in this one. My lady hit me for laughing in the beginning and very quickly found herself laughing uncontrollably too. The more the movie played, the worse and more implausible the story, the more laughter heard reverberating throughout. By the end as the credits rolled there was a standing ovation in the cinema (started by me).

It has to be seen to be believed. Seen right in front of your own eyes. I had a hell of a lot of fun watching this Cleveland Steamer.

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com. Follow him on Twitter here: @BLAGatCCO.

Films To Watch Before You Die #50 - Black Hawk Down (2001)

2012-01-20T07:41:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the fiftieth entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Black Hawk Down, 2001.

Directed by Ridley Scott.
Starring Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, Gabriel Casseus, Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gruffudd, Jason Isaacs, Orlando Bloom, Tom Hardy and Matthew Marsden.

Black Hawk Down is the cinematic depiction of the Battle of Mogadishu. As the Americans make a move to capture the Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid one man falls from a helicopter in the middle of the city and severely hurts his back. As Humvees are deployed from the American’s base at Mogadishu airport a Black Hawk helicopter is shot down by an RPG. The Humvees on route to pick up the fallen soldier are sent off track by a range of roadblocks and militia barricades. They become lost in the violent city and suffer heavy casualties.

As some of the American Army Rangers get to the crash site and set up a perimeter another Black Hawk is shot down. With the team heading to help at the crash sites pinned down and engaged in gunfire neither of the crash sites can get much support apart from two snipers being dropped at the second crash site. As both sites are overrun the soldiers at the second site are killed or captured and those at the first site hold on through the night taking heavy fire. Only a few make it back alive.

The film although telling a true story, was not entirely accurate and its critics say it concentrates on the 19 Americans that died and not the Somalis, of up to possibly 2000, who were killed in the battle or the efforts of the Pakistani military who rescued many of the men who made it out. As you can imagine it hasn’t been well received in Somalia.

Black Hawk Down is a fantastic film that you must see before you die as it really brings home the pressure those soldiers found themselves under amidst heavy gunfire and little options. The frenetic directing really gives audiences a point of view of American soldiers caught in close quarters battle and the film was a massive box office success grossing almost $173,000,00.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

365 Days, 100 Films #91 - Une Femme est une Femme (1961)

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000Z

Une Femme est une Femme (a.k.a. A Woman Is a Woman), 1961.

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
Starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

SYNOPSIS:

This isn’t just any musical comedy. This is a Godardian musical comedy.

“Émile and Angéla’s greatest flaw is that ‘They wrongly believe there are no limits to their everlasting and reciprocal love.’”

These words are printed onscreen at one point during Une Femme est une Femme (A Woman is a Woman). Angéla (Anna Karina) and her lover Émile (Jean-Claude Brialy) are in a rare moment of agreement when it does. For the rest of the film, they bicker. They argue and they fight and they quarrel, seemingly without end in that specifically 60s kind of campiness.

Angéla wants to have a baby. When? Now, tonight. Don’t be ridiculous, is Émile’s main defence. There is no foreground or exposition to their relationship prior to this discussion, bar a frosty exchange of glares in a Parisian book shop. Godard presents these two characters to us as warring from the start, as though they have been at it since the dawn of time. Une Femme est une Femme is only the most recent battle in the eternal conflict of Man Vs. Woman.

Émile’s best friend, Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo), complicates things. He insists that he’s madly in love with Angéla, sometimes even in Émile’s presence. Alfred pops up between the two when they storm off from one another, mischievously either trying to pick up girls with Émile, or charm Angéla into bed, like some enchanted Puck, toying with the emotions of these two mere mortals.

Alfred is a notorious namedropper, behaving with Jean-Luc Godard, the film’s director, like a couple of arrogant school boys. À bout de souffle, the pair’s first film together, plays on a television in the background at one point, Belmondo appearing on both screens. He suggests they all go to see a film that has just come out because “my pal Burt Lancaster is in it” – at which point he stares directly at the camera, pulling a grin cheesier than Brie.

However, the self-reflexivity is not limited to just one character. Both Émile and Angéla constantly break the fourth wall, directly addressing the camera or sharing with it a disdainful look. Before one of their fierce arguments, Angéla tells Émile that they should “bow before we act out our farce”. Both turn and bow to the camera, and then back again to face each other as though nothing happened. “Why don’t you love me!?” Angéla immediately reprises. It’s an explicit statement to the viewer of how we watch these characters’ torment as entertainment. It’s an odd position to be put in, but from the awkwardness, a self-realising laugh arises.

The film’s form itself joins in on the self-reflexivity. Essentially, Une Femme est une Femme is Godard’s parody of this musical genre. Dramatic music will underpin the most ordinary of exchanges, the humour being in the juxtaposition. “Would you like lamb?” Angéla enquires about Émile’s dinner for the night, accompanied by the grandest of orchestral scores usually reserved for Hollywood’s most emotional moments.

Godard tinkers with the soundtrack with the same mischievousness of his characters. A particular scene will begin normally enough, with dialogue, background noise and a musical score – but then everything will fall mute, then just diegetic sound, and then only the music. Like the stopping and starting of a traffic jam, you’re prevented from becoming involved in the narrative. Watching these scenes becomes a frustrating chore, but that’s Godard’s intent. You’d like to think it’s because of some majestic deconstruction of the use of music in film, revealing how a score can affect one’s perception of a scene, or perhaps a distancing example of Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt to make you better understand the cinematic apparatus of which you are a part. More likely, however, it’s Godard’s childish side wanting to see how far he can annoy his audience, cheekily searching for a reaction or a storming out. There is something remarkably admirable about such playfulness, and, for me, it is his greatest trait.

“Why aren’t you sulking?”

“I’m not sulking so you won’t sulk.”

“I’ve finished sulking”

“My turn to sulk, then.”

The above exchange encapsulates the recurring narrative of Émile and Angéla’s relationship, as it does of most couple’s. The initial disagreement is over whether to have a child, but their arguments riff into countless other territories. It’s difficult to keep up with them, and you find yourself not knowing what they’re bickering about. But then again, maybe neither do they.

Yet their quarrelling does have a constant theme: who loves the other more? When you care for someone deeply, it is often easy to assume you love them far more than they do you. It creates a love deficit that is exercised and, hopefully, reassured by these disagreements over nothing. That’s why neither wants to give in, as both feel they should receive an apology; that both require reciprocation, a vindication, of their love. Arguments are a vital necessity in relationships.

Comedy or tragedy? the film constantly asks. Without the music and the campiness, it could easily be the latter. And that’s Une Femme est une Femme most astute insight: relationships are both.

RATING ****

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

It’s ‘About Time’ for Richard Curtis’ new film

2012-01-19T20:42:00.002Z

Three years after his last movie release, Richard Curtis is set to direct a new British film from his own script called About Time, which is being billed as a low-budget time travel dramady. The project is currently in pre-production with Working Title Films and casting is now getting underway ahead of filming in the summer.

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films have worked together with Richard Curtis on both of the big-screen films he has directed, producing Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked. Details about the plot haven’t yet been revealed but Curtis may have been influenced by writing an episode of the time travel TV show Doctor Who.

He most recently wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and is working on a number of other projects including a new collaboration with his Blackadder co-writer Ben Elton, rom com Lost For Words, and Trash for Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours, Billy Elliot).

Emma Hutchings

Thoughts on... M (1931)

2012-01-19T15:25:00.001Z

M, Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder, 1931.

Directed by Fritz Lang.
Starring Peter Lorre and Otto Wernicke.

SYNOPSIS:

In early 1930s Berlin a child killer is on the loose. The police and the local gangsters both independently vow to track him down.

Despite being quite a prolific director, Fritz Lang is a name associated primarily with two films: silent science fiction epic Metropolis and his first sound film M.

M is every bit as stunning as its formidable reputation would have you believe. From the expressive lighting and cinematography to its absorbing narrative and an engagement with German politics of the time, everything about M is top class.

When a number of children go missing in early 1930s Berlin the city begins to panic, suspecting a serial murderer of children. Soon everyone starts to suspect their neighbours and police are aggressively rounding up all the criminals they can. Berlin’s gangsters aren't happy at these actions – increased police interference is bad for business – so they set out to track down the killer themselves.

There are a couple of interesting things going on here. Firstly, the rounding up of anyone deemed vaguely criminal (read: Jewish) and a culture of spying and snitching on neighbours eerily foreshadowed Hitler's rise to power which began just a year after the film's release. Fritz Lang himself became a victim of Hitler's regime initially with The Testament of Dr. Mabuse being banned in 1933 as an ‘incitement to public disorder’ and then his later emigration to the USA owing to his part Jewish roots. It is genuinely fascinating to see a film offering snapshot of Germany just before these catastrophic events, and the dark moody tone of M is foreboding.

Aside from the unique political context there are a lot of other things to like about M. In terms of filmmaking, particularly considering the relative newness of sound, it’s genuinely brilliant. As an early sound film it uses dialogue in interesting ways. Much of the story is still told visually through physical acting or through text on the screen (letters and posters are frequently given lingering shots), and large chunks, particularly the more action oriented scenes, are shot absolutely silently. But when dialogue is used it's fantastic. There's a rhythm to the delivery and a sense of poetry to the script. Dialogue is used when the intricacies of the story can't be explained visually, or when it adds something significant to the experience.

There's an absolutely stunning feat or writing and editing when the two groups – the police and the gangsters – are both simultaneously having meetings to decide how best to tackle the killer. Cross cutting between the supposed heroes and the villains, it shows the similarities and differences between the two sides, emphasising their distinct approaches. Where the police are bogged down in bureaucracy and authority, the criminals use their street smarts and their contacts to formulate a better plan – get every beggar on every street corner to watch for clues to the identity of the killer. Everything is handled so well by Lang that these simple scenes of discussion turn out to be thrilling.

M often takes a lot of credit for influencing the style of American film noirs that were to come around a decade later and it’s plain to see why. M is a dark film and the look of it reflects this perfectly: the cinematography is exquisite, combining expressive framing with striking shadows. This style both looks great and fits well with stories of shady detectives and underworld criminals so it was easily applied to Hollywood films of similar subject matter.

Sadly today there is no complete version of M available – at 109 minutes the most current restoration runs 11 minutes shorter that Lang's original cut (although 109 minutes is certainly an improvement on the 96 minutes that is stored by the German Federal Film Archive). The film works perfectly well in its shorter format, but it leaves you wondering what was missed out. It also ends quite abruptly, which may not have been the case originally.

M should be celebrated as a superb piece of cinema that is just a satisfying artistically as it is entertaining. It might be 81 years old but it certainly doesn’t show its age.

Arnold Stone blogs at spaceshipbroken.com and can also be found on Twitter.

Movie Review - J. Edgar (2011)

2012-01-19T07:34:00.000Z

J. Edgar, 2011.

Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench and Naomi Watts.

SYNOPSIS:

The story of J. Edgar Hoover, who was the founder and head of the FBI for almost fifty years. The man with everyone else’s secrets must make sure his own aren’t revealed, otherwise everything he has worked for could be destroyed.

J. Edgar, the latest offering from Clint Eastwood, came out of the gate with a great start. A promising trailer, both because of the premise and the people involved, but it slowed down instantly afterwards. Gone are the days of Last Action Hero-levels of hubris and self-delusion from studios, meaning you can sometimes judge a movie by the advertising campaign. Sacrilege, I know, but why would a studio heavily promote a film unless it’s a guaranteed success? So was J. Edgar going to be a promising-idea-but-not-good-execution, or was it going to be a sleeper hit made by the A-list?

It is, unfortunately, one of Eastwood’s lesser productions. Like the pre-release build up, the film starts off well (explosions! intrigue! Jack from Titanic all grown up!) but it slows down, almost so you don’t notice, until it’s just pottering around like Hoover in his later years.

The big thing about the man behind the title is that he had so much information on so many different people that he became the most powerful man in America for a few decades. He was so good at hiding his secrets, in fact, that when coming to make this movie it turns out Hoover destroyed ninety nine percent of the paperwork he had. So the film has to tiptoe around the fact they can’t show anything the main character knows about these people, apart from the obvious (President Kennedy slept around? Who knew?). So we have a film about secrets and intrigue without showing much of either, because the filmmakers know as much as we do.

So, like the scene where Hoover unsuccessfully tries to ‘persuade’ someone to give up an award using a fictitious letter full of bluster but no real threat, the film is full of promise but no payoff.

Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black wrote Milk, the story of gay activist and politician Harvey Milk, and has taken on a story with both similarities and striking differences. Whilst Harvey Milk was controversial because he stood up and made a lot of noise, J. Edgar Hoover was controversial because he kept everything quiet, made people guess about him. The main difference and problem, boiled down, is that the film focuses on a man so secretive and notorious that the filmmakers don’t actually have anything concrete on him.

While it’s not the only good thing about this film, which I should really stop having a go at, the acting deserves a bit of special praise. Every character has his or her own arc, and each actor brings us in. DiCaprio looks almost the spitting image of Hoover and his performance is spot on. We care for the character, but we can also see how he’s not exactly well adjusted. Some characters aren’t treated as they should be though.

Hoover’s long-time companion Clyde Tolson, played by Armie Hammer (the twins from The Social Network), has what could be an affecting character arc. The relationship has a few great scenes, but it all gets a bit wishy-washy when it comes to whether Hoover and Tolson stay together at the end. I knew the answer as to whether they stayed together in the end, that was obvious. It was just the ‘why’ aspect that eluded me. There seemed to be an explanation missing, so I didn’t know why Hoover was acting the way he did.

Hoover and Tolson must hide their obvious romantic affections for each other, mainly down to Hoover’s choices, which are shown to be down to the overriding influence of his mother Anne Marie (Judi Dench). Their relationship is summed up well by the story she tells Hoover about a local boy, with the nickname Daffy (‘short for Daffodil’), who shot himself. He’s used as an example because Anne Marie would rather have ‘a dead son than a daffodil for a son.’

While I wasn’t expecting summer blockbuster levels of bang crash wallop excitement, I was still surprised by the lack of oomph from the flow of the story. I thought the story switching back and forth from Hoover’s later years to earlier ones would give the flow a bit of energy and urgency, but it all happens in a slow, meandering sort of way.

I think this is the main problem with J. Edgar. It has great potential, a moving story just waiting to get out, but it all happens so slowly that there’s no urgency. The balance between getting excitement and wonder into a story about the man who founded the FBI and keeping the story slow enough that we can actually digest the actions and consequences each character must take part in hasn’t been achieved.

This means I didn’t care about the characters as much as I should. But don’t get me wrong. Looking back, I just seem to have pointed out the bad points and then said ‘the acting’s alright, I suppose’. The film was good enough to keep my attention and I did leave wishing it was just a little bit better. That’s a lot better than just leaving the cinema thinking ‘well that was boring, couldn’t he have made Inception II: The Streets instead of going for the Oscar?’ Even though he’s blatantly going for the Oscar.

Matt Smith

Films To Watch Before You Die #49 - 127 Hours (2010)

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

127 Hours, 2010.

Directed by Danny Boyle.
Starring James Franco.

Danny Boyle followed up his multi Oscar winning box office smash Slumdog Millionaire with a film that continued his indie roots. I'm sure many offers came flooding in for Boyle to do what he wanted after Slumdog, but he decided to go for a fairly low key film about one man with his arm trapped under a rock.

127 Hours is the true story of Aron Ralston (Franco), who when mountain climbing on his own in the remote Canyonlands National Park without a phone or anyone knowing his whereabouts he managed to get stuck. Whilst climbing through a canyon a rock beneath gives way and he falls into the canyon with the rock landing on his arm and trapping it against the wall.

As Ralston tries anyway possible to free himself he chips away at the rock with a knife, tries to build a pulley to winch the rock up and even tries to cut off his arm with his blunt pen knife. As Ralston fears the worst he begins to ration his food and drink as well as start a video diary on his camcorder. As the days pass by his videos become more and more desperate, he resorts to drinking his own urine and suffers with hallucinations.

On the fifth day Ralston musters the energy to break his own arm and begins to use his blunt penknife to cut through the deteriorating tissue in his arm and when finished takes a photo of the boulder before making his way out. Ralston struggles for several miles before he finds help and is rescued by helicopter.

The film brings to the big screen Ralston’s story first told in his book Between A Rock And A Hard Place. Boyle has told Ralston’s story so accurately that Ralston himself has commented that it is a close to truth as you could get. The film is truly a story of one man’s battle for survival and having the courage to do whatever necessary in order to stay alive. The film earned itself 6 Oscar nominations and was another hit for director Danny Boyle.

127 Hours is a film you must see before you die because the scenes in which Ralston cuts his own arm off are that graphic that during early screenings of the film people were reported to have fainted, needed carrying out of the cinema or been physically sick. Boyle does not spare the audience any of the details and brings the true horror of Ralston’s situation to audiences.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
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George Lucas retires from blockbusters as his Star Wars 3D pension fund gets set to mature

2012-01-18T20:29:00.000Z

In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas has announced that he has decided to quit big-budget Hollywood blockbusters in favour of smaller, more experimental projects similar to those he was involved in before the arrival of his epic space fantasy back in 1977. According to Lucas, the move - which is neatly timed to coincide with the release of the long-gestating WWII action film Red Tails (for which he served as executive producer and financier) - is down to his frustrations with the Hollywood studio system, along with the reception given to recent efforts such as the Star Wars prequels and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Despite Lucas claiming that Red Tails will be his final mainstream film, he has left the door open for a fifth Indiana Jones outing alongside director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford. Lucas is also set to cash his pension in with annual 3D re-issues of all six Star Wars films, starting with The Phantom Menace next month, and there's also the small matter of the proposed live-action Star Wars television series, Star Wars: Underworld. So, considering that outside of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, the last feature Lucas was involved with was 1994's Radioland Murders, and his last 'mainstream' films were 1988's Willow and The Land Before Time, I'm not exactly sure what's he's retiring from, especially if Indy doesn't count. Anyone help me out here..?

Directed by Anthony Hemingway (CSI: NY, Fringe, True Blood), Red Tails tells the true story of the Tuskegee Airman, a group of heroic African American pilots who were called into action during World War II. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Ne-Yo, Method Man, Nate Parker, Elijah Kelley, Tristan Wilds, David Oyelowo, Theo James, Michael B. Jordon, Josh Dallas, Daniela Ruah and Bryan Cranston, and is released in North America this Friday.

365 Days, 100 Films #90 - The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

2012-01-18T15:56:00.000Z

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, 2009.

Directed by Werner Herzog.
Starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Shannon and Xzibit.

SYNOPSIS:

A detective in New Orleans find his life unravelling due to a fierce drug addition.

There’s a story about Nicolas Cage from when he was filming Kick-Ass. He played Damon MacReady, an ex-cop, normally enough, but whenever he donned the superhero suit of Big Daddy, Cage would break up his speech and sound overly husky. When he first did this on set, everyone was a little too confused and respectful to point his ridiculous voice out.

So Cage walks off set between takes to get a drink from his trailer. Matthew Vaughn, the director, understandably concerned, absorbing the puzzled stares of his perplexed cast and crew, went off after him. Cage is already in his trailer by the time Vaughn catches up, so he lets himself in. The small front room is littered with videos of the 60s Batman television series. It quickly dawns upon Vaughn that he’s being Adam West.

Conclusion: Nicolas Cage is insane.

Yet, gloriously so. There’s a bizarre logic to his eccentricity, and an admirable boldness in the way he doesn’t feel the need to explain his actions – all traits that aid his characterisation immeasurably in Werner Herzog’s equally outlandish The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans. It’s a remake of sorts of Abel Ferrara’s 1992 Bad Lieutenant, which had Harvey Keitel in the lead. I wouldn’t really know, though. I haven’t seen that one. Maybe next year.

Herzog and Cage appear to be kindred spirits, much like how the former and Klaus Kinski once were. “Why are there two fucking iguanas on the coffee table?” Cage asks during a stakeout scene, as the reptile begins to serenade him with Release Me by Engelbert Humperdinck.

None of the others in the room can see the signing iguana. Herzog takes this as an opportunity to switch cameras from a professional digital one to a low-grade consumer camcorder. You can tell by the amateurish light typical of homemade movies, and the handheld way in which the camera moves. You get the sense that the rest of the cast and crew have departed, leaving only Cage, Herzog and two iguanas on set, all singing Release Me in a drug induced haze.

Yet how does this fit into the film’s grander narrative scheme? Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a cop in post-Katrina New Orleans. He was dirty before the hurricane, but a back injury he sustained whilst rescuing a prisoner during it has made him significantly more so. McDonagh walks with a permanent limp and a half-hunch, and runs off a consistent intake of confiscated narcotics lifted from the evidence room to dull his injury’s pain. A gun always protrudes worryingly from his waistband like an erection. You need real balls to wear a gun pointing that way.

McDonagh is tasked with investigating the brutal murder of a Senegalese family. He means well, showing a genuine passion for capturing the killers, but his methods are perverse and he often strays into lengthy periods of drug taking. Sometimes it helps. When he pulls out a crack pipe during some one-on-one interrogation time, his suspect becomes so disquieted that he gives up some very helpful pieces of information.

McDonagh’s increasingly outlandish techniques get him taken off the case. Additionally, he has another addiction – gambling. He’s in severe debt and has gangsters on his back about it. McDonagh becomes a man trapped in a corner. And you know what they say about wild animals stuck in corners…

He runs around town picking up drugs like they’re health packages in a video game. He pulls over one guy and gal who’ve just exited a nightclub. Flashing his badge, he confiscates all their drugs and smokes them on the spot. This turns the gal on, so they have sex over McDonagh’s car bonnet. Her boyfriend flounders helplessly in the background as McDonagh pulls the gal’s hair back and sinisterly whispers into her ear “did your parents molest you?”

The film continues to outperform itself on acceptable levels of decency. McDonagh later breaks into an old people’s hope and traps two elderly women. “I’m working on 1 ½ hours sleep over the past three days and I’m struggling to remain courteous,” McDonagh announces as he suddenly appears from behind a door, trimming his emerging stubble with an unexplained electric shaver.

Yet amongst all this chaos, there is a strange, overactive heart to the film. McDonagh and Frankie Donnenfeld, his lover and a prostitute, appear to be sincerely in love. McDonagh’s father, Pat (Tom Bower), battles obsessively with his alcoholism to the neglect of his family’s issues.

During the film’s most subdued scene, which is still a notch or two on the crazy belt above most others, McDonagh takes Frankie to the shed at his family home. He remembers how when he was young, his mother would tell tales of pirates sailing up the Mississippi. Before she died, his mother had bought him a metal detector to look for any spoils that might have fallen from their ships. One day it started to beep, so he began digging and digging and digging, and he found a silver spoon. “And I went, ‘Hey man…this is treasure. This is Pirate’s treasure!’ And I hid it somewhere…I still can’t find it.” The scene ends tenderly, with the crazy man and the whore tentatively searching for an ancient silver spoon in the old family shed.

These oddballs genuinely feel for each other. It makes their actions almost entirely contradictory to their relationships, and a complexity this great within a film so seemingly unconcerned with complexity should be applauded. You’re unlikely to see much else like it.

RATING ****

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Adventurous Calling: John Bruno talks about James Cameron

2012-01-18T14:36:00.000Z

Trevor Hogg chats to the Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor John Bruno about his collaborations with James Cameron...

“I was the first guy to breakup a film into multiple vendors and that was on The Abyss [1989],” states American Visual Effects Supervisor John Bruno who has collaborated with filmmaker James Cameron for over 24 years. The underwater tale starring Ed Harris (The Truman Show) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Class Action) features an Academy Award-lauded technical achievement in the depiction of an alien life form. “It was written in the script as the water pseudopod; there are only 16 shots of that in the movie. Everybody at the time had their chrome guy and their chrome liquid mercury thing but nobody had done water. By taking surface water, motion, reflection and light and wrapping it around a wired frame grid or tube you got a water tube. We had to say, ‘I don’t know what else to do but we’re going to have to tell ILM we’re going to support them in whatever they need to create this.’ John Knoll [Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol] was there as Dennis Muren’s [Innerspace] assistant during that time and he did a lot of the work.”

“Jim said, ‘Here’s the next one, Terminator 2 [1991]. I’ve a liquid mimetic man. How would we do that?’ I said, ‘I recall on The Abyss the first thing that came out of the computer was a chrome liquid surface.’ They split the image and optically composited so to make it translucent. We had one complete digital composite in The Abyss. On Terminator it was the same thing. It was how are we going to do this? I said, ‘He’s going to be a chrome guy. Why don’t we make him gold? It would be different.’ Jim goes, ‘He’s going to look like a walking Oscar!’ We knew we could do it but the big thing was can we do 41 shots of that? ILM needed an upgrade and more money to setup to do it, and that led to Jurassic Park [1993]. You’re mapping a surface over something and lighting the surface. Jim said, ‘Why should I give those guys money? Why don’t we start our own company? That’s why we started Digital Domain.”

“When you see the jet flying it’s on a crane in camera,” reveals John Bruno who received an Oscar nomination for True Lies (1994). “It’s in a motion base on top of a roof where the city is in the background; we had to paint out the motion base. The actors were never more 15 feet off the surface except when they swung out 355 feet over the street to have the fight over the jet. That was pretty hairy. A crane landed the jet and lifted it up when it took off in the Florida Keys. The bridge was an all miniature explosion and the skyscraper was real.” Bruno added jet exhaust and some interactive elements on the ground. “The Harrier itself looks fake doing what it’s doing. Its like, ‘We can do that.’ All we have to do is suspend it on a crane and it looks exactly the same.”

“I was a co-director for Terminator 2 3D [1996],” says John Bruno of the 12 minute short film which served as a mini-sequel. “The cameras were as big as a washing machine. It was shot on 65mm, filmed at 30 frames per second and projected back at 30 frames per second at the Universal Theatre. It’s pretty spectacular even today.” As for his involvement with the Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic (1997), Bruno visited the famous shipwreck. “I made four dives. With Jim it’s about research. Knowing how stuff works. You have to be quite an adventurer. If you’re not into adventure it’s not going to work with him.”

“I came in the last year and a half of Avatar [2009],” recalls John Bruno. “I ended up being a supervisor out of Weta. I came back at the end and helped with the reshoots and the additional footage that was shot. I did the training scenes where Neytiri is showing Jake how to shoot bow and arrow, track an animal and kill it. I shot with Jim all of the Jake Amp Suit Quaritch Fight; that was mostly with the amp suit on another small motion base. It was the same technique we used for the jet. But this time we put the amp suit torso with the actor in it and put him on a small motion base that matched the animation the camera was filming. It was all insane. Once we had that done it had to be in 3D.” The motion capture for the 10 feet tall blue skin characters needed to be tweaked; however, the basis of the performances by the actors was retained. “Once the shot was approved it would nine months before you saw it. By the end of September, October, November, and December, the shots were taking three months.” Bruno observes, “Jim has done nothing but visual effects films and knows how to do everything; he just needs people to do it.”

The Abyss water tentacle...

The T-1000...

For more from this interview, check out Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor John Bruno.

Many thanks to John Bruno for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

DVD Review - Go to Blazes (1962)

2012-01-18T13:20:00.000Z

Go to Blazes, 1962.

Directed by Michael Truman.
Starring Dave King, Robert Morley, Norman Rossington, Daniel Massey, Dennis Price, Maggie Smith and David Lodge.

SYNOPSIS:

Three robbers plan a heist using a fire engine as a getaway vehicle, but their scheme begins to unravel when they are mistaken for real firemen.

British cinema has had many memorable eras during its time. It’s often American cinema that is seen as the leading light in film. That may be because of the glitz of Hollywood and where the money is, masking the fact that often, much has been pilfered from European and Asian cinema over the years. In certain periods of time, Britain has threatened to run side by side with its American cousin without ever looking like overtaking. The 60s was a defining era for British film. We had the launch of Michael Caine, and the beginning of some gritty, grounded, cinema before America's own era of such in the 70s. There was Bond, you could go on all day. As well as that, Britain produced a wealth of comedy, in particular Ealing and of course the Carry On films. Go to Blazes comes from an era where much of the crème of British cinema, and indeed comedy, remains. There’s a lot to compete with, and much to live up to.

Go to Blazes sadly doesn’t punch weight with the heavy-weight entries into Blighty’s cinematic vaults. The idea has promise. Three amiable thieves find themselves unable to master a life of crime. The film opens on a smash and grab heist gone wrong, leaving Harry, Alfie and Bernard at her Maj’s pleasure. However, an idea comes to them. How can they avoid traffic on a getaway? What will traffic stop for? The fire service! In an effort to pull off a significant heist when they get out of prison, they set their sights on obtaining (illegally of course!) a fire engine.

Things keep getting in the way of their quest for riches, such as love interests, and fire and floods that they are expected to put out! It’s screwball, it’s very silly, but the script just doesn’t hold enough interest. We never really build momentum to a big heist. The film jumps from scene to scene quite sloppily, introducing oddball characters who serve no other purpose than to attempt to amuse the audience. Now that maybe true of many comedy films, but the best comedy films have characters who whilst funny, can also further the plot.

That said, the film has three leads who play off each other pretty well. Daniel Massey in particular as the posh Harry, is decent and some might remember him from the brilliant(ly ridiculous) Escape to Victory. Dave King leads the line well as Bernard. Perhaps the most key question that this film raises, would be: “Was Maggie Smith ever hot?” A youthful Dame Maggie appears here, with a rather dodgy French accent that disappears towards the end, replaced by cockney. In answer to that most pertinent of questions though, no… Maggie Smith was never hot. I’m sorry. The remainder of the cast range from unmemorable to bizarrely hammy. Largely due to the script though, they face an uphill task to gain laughter. In the films favour, it looks very good. The cinematography is excellent, and the palette colourful and it’s aided by a good DVD transfer for this release.

This film is one of those you flick through on an early afternoon on BBC 2. You watch for 5 minutes while the ad break on another channel is playing out, then you flick away from it. It’s a forgotten piece of its time, without the wit and creativity to let it last the years and move with the times. Some films are timelessly funny. This one might have amused a little bit in 1962, but nowadays, it just doesn’t offer enough. It’s by no means bad; it’s just not very good.

Tom Jolliffe

Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 line-up announced

2012-01-18T10:48:00.003Z

The UK's favourite fantasy and horror festival returns to its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival this February with Film4 FrightFest 2012. Featuring Argentinean demons, flesh-hungry Russian zombies, mutant cannibals, a Chinese-speaking alien, Asia’s deadliest killers, a Croatian hit-man, Pinocchio obsessed psychos and Jack Nicholson like you’ve never seen him before, FrightFest is set to deliver eleven must-see genre titles, including ten UK premieres.

Alan Jones, FrightFest’s co-director said: “Film4 FrightFest is thrilled to be part of the Glasgow Film Festival for its seventh and biggest year. We’ll be showing eleven fantastic premieres, previews and special events to shock, thrill and amaze over two days - plus those must-meet guests from all corners of the genre. So, be part of the best community spirit in the country while watching the best fright stuff currently on offer. There couldn’t be a better way to delve into 2012 and ready yourselves for FrightFest the 13th in August”

Take a look at the full line-up here...

Friday 24th February

13.30 - Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (dir. Alex Stapleton)
16.00 - Tape 407: The Mesa Reserve Incident (dir. Dale Fabrigar and Evette Wallin)
18.30 - Crawl (dir. Paul China)
21.00 - The Day (dir. Doug Aarniokoski)
23.15 - War of the Dead (dir. Marko Makilaakso)

Saturday 25th February

11.00 - Evidence (dir. Howie Askins)
13.15 - Penumbra (dir. Adrian Garcia Bogliano)
15.30 - Rites of Spring (dir. Padraig Reynolds)
18.30 - Wang's Arrival (dir. Manetti Brothers)
21.00 - Cassadaga (dir. Anthony DiBlasi)
23.15 - The Raid (dir. Gareth Evans)

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.frightfest.co.uk/.

Films To Watch Before You Die #48 - Being John Malkovich (1999)

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Being John Malkovich, 1999.

Directed by Spike Jonze.
Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Malkovich.

Being John Malkovich is a black comedy-fantasy from the mind of Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. The film received 3 Oscar nominations that included Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Keener, as well as Best Original Screenplay for Kaufman and Best Director for Jonze.

The film follows Craig (Cusack), an unemployed puppeteer who lives with his pet obsessed wife Lotte (Diaz). When Craig is given a job as a clerk on floor 7 ½ of a building in New York the film begins to get really weird. The low ceilings do not allow for a normal person to stand up, but that’s not the weirdest thing. Behind a cabinet in one room Craig comes across a hole, which he crawls through and finds himself in the mind of actor John Malkovich.

Craig is able to see and feel whatever Malkovich is doing at the time for fifteen minutes before he is ejected and lands on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. When Craig reveals the portal to his co-worker Maxine (Keener) the pair of them decide to rent its use to other people and make some money. Craig, himself being a puppeteer, begins to find ways of controlling Malkovich and John begins to get paranoid. When John Malkovich enters his own portal he ends up in a world where everyone looks like him and the only words he can utter are ‘Malkovich’.

Being John Malkovich is a film you must see before you die because the story continues with the same madness and randomness that it began with and is well and truly one of the strangest films I have ever seen. Words cannot begin to explain how unbelievably mental this film is and its enjoyment can only be enhanced with alcohol or drugs.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
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War Horse gallops to the top of the UK box office chart

2012-01-17T18:15:00.000Z

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 13th to Sunday 15th January 2012...

Steven Spielberg's World War I epic War Horse jumps straight in at number one in the UK box office chart, with the big budget adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's popular children's novel of the same name banking an solid £3,944,746 from its opening weekend. Although that figure is some way down on Spielberg's other 2011 offering, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which pulled in £6.7m back at the end of October, that figure included £3.25m of preview screenings, giving War Horse a slight advantage over the Friday-Sunday period.

After a third-placed debut last weekend, Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady climbs to second, swapping places with the Guy Ritchie sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, while the Tom Cruise actioner Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol slips to fourth after topping the chart for the past two weeks. Meanwhile David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rounds out the top five, banking £1m to give the Daniel Craig / Rooney Mara thriller just shy of £10m to date on these shores.

In sixth place this week is the Russian-American sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour, which pulls in £740,773 in its opening weekend, while The Artist continues to climb the chart, moving up one spot to seventh in its third week on screens. Elsewhere, family films Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Puss in Boots both fall one place apiece to eighth and ninth, with Steve McQueen's acclaimed drama Shame sneaking in to take tenth with an opening haul of £535,288.

Number one this time last year: The King's Speech

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	War Horse	£3,944,746	1	£3,944,746
2	The Iron Lady	£1,489,528	2	£5,178,349
3	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	£1,403,319	5	£23,106,495
4	Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol	£1,373,539	4	£15,373,252
5	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	£1,046,225	3	£9,872,843
6	The Darkest Hour	£740,773	1	£740,773
7	The Artist	£688,546	3	£1,888,327
8	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked	£681,642	5	£12,461,971
9	Puss in Boots	£679,348	6	£12,993,569
10	Shame	£535,288	1	£535,288

Incoming...

This Wednesday sees the release of Steven Soderbergh's action-thriller Haywire (cert. 15), which features the likes of Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton and Antonio Banderas - while Friday brings forth the return of Kate Beckinsale as Selene in the vampires and werewolves sequel Underworld: Awakening (cert. 18). Also arriving on Friday is Clint Eastwood's biopic J. Edgar (cert. 15) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts [read our 'making of' article here], along with Jonah Hill's newest comedy The Sitter (cert. 15), Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus (cert. 15) and Madonna's historical romance W.E. (cert. 15). Phew!

U.K. Box Office Archive

Special Features - The Irony Lady

2012-01-17T12:01:00.000Z

Adam Hollingworth wonders where the irony is in The Iron Lady...

Did you see Mamma Mia a few years ago? To summarise for those who haven’t, the entire film is pretty much played as a drunken hen weekend on an orgiastic island paradise in a part of the Mediterranean more permissive of appallingly tuneless karaoke than any civilized nation on Earth.

Anyone who claimed that this film was good in the standard sense is clearly stark raving mad, or worse. On the one hand there’s the sainted Meryl Streep interpreting the greatest hits of Swedish disco darlings Abba, a catalogue of songs which were they any cheesier would actually physically turn into a block of Gotland Blue, as if she were playing Hedda Gabler. On the other hand we have Pierce Brosnan ill-advisedly warbling an excruciating rendition of “SOS,” which as a result became perhaps the most aptly titled song in the history of music. The film also allowed a horrified audience to savour the delights of the fine Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard being chased across a rafter by a horny Julie Walters, Christine Baranski gyrating manically atop a petrified young man to “Does Your Mother Know,” and a homosexual Colin Firth being tied to a post and felt up left, right and centre by a vicious mob of dance students last seen waddling along a promontory clad in suffocating speedos to “Lay All Your Love On Me”. Having subjected the unsuspecting crowd to all of the above, the film’s near-geriatric cast of acclaimed veteran actors murder yet another medley of songs which were crap in the first place, only this time dressed in full spandex, flairs and platforms. I can only assume that this was done just in case the audience had forgotten to also gouge out their eyes when they rammed hot pokers through both ears to make the pain go away.

Watching Mamma Mia, let us be absolutely clear, was the most embarrassing experience of my young life. It is also, with the exception of 3D Smurf-porn favourite Avatar, the highest grossing film in British cinema history.

If you’re wondering how this atrocity came to pass, allow me to shed light into the abyss. When I said the film wasn’t good in the standard sense, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t think it was a good film. On the contrary, Mamma Mia is a trash masterpiece. It’s good precisely because it is so inhumanly bad, but the real accomplishment therein that unlike The Room and Troll 2 this film knows how bad it is and proceeds to embrace its own rubbishness and have a damn good laugh about it. Meryl Streep is supposed to take “The Winner Takes It All” as seriously as when Cleopatra puts an asp to her breast in mourning for Mark Antony, and Pierce Brosnan singing is supposed to sound like an elephant being violated with a piano, because it’s all done in the spirit of irony.

It is surprising, then, that having created one of the great ironic films of the past few years, rejecting the glitzy seriousness of most movie musicals in favour of the tacky cliché-ridden corniness that is actually symptomatic of most stage musicals, irony is completely absent from The Iron Lady, also directed by Phyllida Lloyd and again starring Meryl Streep.

If the transition from frothy camp to a serious work about the life of probably the most controversial British politician of the last century seems like a recipe for disaster, then guess what: you’re absolutely right. The Iron Lady is a woefully stupid film precisely because it lacks the irony that prevented Mamma Mia from being stupid, or the irony that purposefully made it a sublimely stupid tribute to binge-drinking depending on how you view it. If The Iron Lady seems to aspire to worthiness it is because the film is unabashedly the Meryl Streep show, and we know from experience that this is at its best one of the greatest shows on earth. It is so entirely the Meryl Streep show that key members of the Thatcher cabinet appear only in the form of actors sporting the appropriate hairpiece, and even her husband Denis doesn’t get much of a look in: in fact for most of the film he’s already dead. Lloyd knows that Streep’s performance is the only thing going for the film, and as such throws everything else to the lions. This is probably for the best, as Streep delivers a typically bravura piece of acting, attaining utterly convincing verisimilitude alongside genuine dramatic depth, intensity and subtlety. She last won an Oscar nearly thirty years ago, and in the intervening years it has gotten to the stage where if she isn’t nominated the world will probably crumble in on itself leaving a small black hole singing “Dancing Queen” with its last gasps. If she wins next month it will be a deserved victory for a great performance, but don’t for one second think that this will excuse a highly problematic film.

There seems to be an inherent Feminist agenda to this film: it’s directed by a woman, written by a woman, starring a fiercely intelligent and cultured actress, and it’s about a woman who was the most powerful person in the country during the 1980s. Scenes of Thatcher bullying her all-male cabinet are played with gusto and not a little amount of admiration for her vicious admonishments. The flashback of her ousting by the same weak men is met by the decrepit present-day dementia sufferer with an angry tirade against the male sex, and a curiously jarring fear that she neglected her traditional maternal responsibilities: her relationship with daughter Carol is uneasy, and her husband’s ghost departs with the words “You’ll be fine on your own, you always were.” The heavy use of flashbacks conjures sympathy for the universal sense of degeneration that comes with old age, as they stem from a vision of a senile old lady who comes across not unlike Lear on the heath. Madness derives from helplessness when once the individual was all-powerful.

The filmmakers clearly used the political happenings of the Thatcher era to relate a personal tale of feminine struggle and the hardships of losing one’s power, both political and personal. Yet the film is foolish not to recognise the irony of portraying a woman proud of her working-class origins, which further set her apart from her peers, who as a leader crippled working class industries. Nor does it see the irony of creating a reverential silence around her pivotal Francis of Assisi line “Where there is discord, we will bring harmony,” when however you feel about her politics surely the one thing she failed to do was achieve this very harmony from discord. The result is a film that is worthy of no more serious analysis than that afforded to Mamma Mia.

Adam Hollingworth

BAFTA reveal the nominees for the 65th annual British Academy Film Awards

2012-01-17T10:36:00.000Z

Following on from its success at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, The Artist leads the nominations for the 65th annual British Academy Film Awards with nods in an impressive twelve categories including Best Film, Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius) and Best Leading Actor (Jean Dujardin). The acclaimed silent feature will contest the Best Film Award against fellow Golden Globes winner The Descendants, along with Drive, The Help and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, with the latter receiving eleven nominations in total.

Meanwhile Hugo picked up nine nominations, with Martin Scorsese contesting the Best Director gong against Hazanavicius, Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), in addition to being this year's recipient of the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship.

The nominees were announced this morning by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and actress Holliday Grainger at BAFTA HQ, and you can check out the full list right here...

Best Film
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Outstanding British Film
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Richard Ayoade (Submarine)
Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur)
Joe Cornish (Attack the Block)
Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus)
Will Sharp (Black Pond)

Film Not in the English Language
Incendies
Pina
Potiche
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

Documentary
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Arthur Christmas
Rango

Director
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

Original Screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Guard
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Leading Actor
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Michael Fassbender (Shame)

Leading Actress
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Viola Davis (The Help)

Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March)

Supporting Actress
Carey Mulligan (Drive)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Judi Dench (My Week with Marilyn)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Original Music
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Cinematography
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Editing
The Artist
Drive
Hugo
Senna
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Production Design
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Costume Design
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Make Up & Hair
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady
My Week with Marilyn

Sound
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Special Visual Effects
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

Short Animation
Abuelas
Bobby Yeah
A Morning Stroll

Short Film
Chalk
Mwansa the Great
Only Sound Remains
Pitch Black Heist
Two and Two

Orange Rising Star Award (public vote, previously announced)
Adam Deacon
Chris Hemsworth
Tom Hiddleston
Chris O'Dowd
Eddie Redmayne

BAFTA Fellowship (previously announced)
Martin Scorsese

The winners will be annouced during the British Academy Film Awards ceremony on February 12th.

Films To Watch Before You Die #47 - Cinderella Man (2005)

2012-01-17T07:31:00.000Z

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Cinderella Man, 2005.

Directed by Ron Howard.
Starring Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill and Paddy Considine.

The beautiful story of boxing legend James J. Braddock is brought to the big screen in a fantastic and touching tale set during the American Great Depression. The Irish-American fighter was once a contender, but is forced to give up boxing after badly breaking his hand. With jobs few and far between Braddock’s unable to find regular work as a long shore man and he and his family struggle to make ends meet.

When a last-minute drop out gives Braddock the opportunity to fight and make a little bit of money he comes up against the no. 2 contender in the world. Despite many believing Braddock’s best days are behind him he wins the fight with a knockout. With the possibility of a world title fight against Max Baer the underdog continues to train and fight.

As Braddock earns money he uses some to pay back the government for what was given to him during hard times and not only is he a hero in his neighbourhood, but soon the entire country. As his amazing rags to riches story sweeps the country the sports writer Damon Runyan calls him ‘The Cinderella Man’ and he becomes the person representing the hopes and aspirations of the American people all struggling in the depression. In one of the greatest fights of all time Braddock began as a 10 to 1 underdog, but went on to beat Baer and become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Cinderella Man is a stunning true story about one man’s desire to do right by his family and feed their starving mouths anyway he can. From the hardship he suffered he went onto become what he always dreamed of being – the World Champion. Braddock found himself truly at rock bottom and not only took money from the government, but begged those at the boxing commission to spare him any change they had.

Cinderella Man is a film you must see before you die because it is a truly inspirational story of hardship, hopes and aspirations. In times when many feel hard done by and believe they are struggling to make ends meet Braddock’s story sheds a little light on what true poverty looks like and that you can change your situation.

D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

Second Opinion - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

2012-01-17T07:04:00.000Z

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2011.

Directed by David Fincher.
Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Joely Richardson, Goran Visnjic and Geraldine James.

SYNOPSIS:

A journalist teams up with a troubled computer hacker to search for a woman who has been missing for forty years.

I must reiterate that I couldn’t wait for this film. After seeing the original – I was optimistic that Fincher’s authorial style and the talent involved could enhance the viewing experience that I had with the Swedish original. But at the end of the day, despite the revamp, after having seen the original - I couldn't help but feel that I'd met this Girl before.

Infamous journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is publicly discredited and in the process of litigation he’s hired by aging philanthropist (Christopher Plummer) to aid in his search for his niece that's been missing for forty years. During the process of his investigation he requests for a research assistant and is paired with loner, researcher (read: hacker) Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).

David Fincher is one of the rare working auteurs in Hollywood. His distinctly dark style, suspense inducing, oppressively claustrophobic cinematic spaces and affinity for somewhat dark subject matter have developed a massive and rabid following. Se7en, Fight Club and The Social Network represent his best filmic feats and there is stylistic continuity between these great efforts and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Swedish setting, with its endless nights, blindingly bright snow covered areas and bleak, harsh Eastern European architecture becomes great fodder for Fincher's lens.

The Swedish original has an identifiable 'style' for the flashback sequences - but Fincher's permeates throughout. The specific off colour darkness that began in Se7en, evolved in Zodiac, but defined the look of The Social Network carries through to Girl, and it's this treatment of the source material that I was looking forward to in this film. Fincher's treatment of violence is also a feature in is previous efforts that made me look forward to Girl. Fincher's Zodiac contains one of the most frightening sequences of cinematic violence that I've experienced - and for those of you familiar with the source material there is one iconic and horrific sequence that Fincher portrays without pulling any punches. I do want to shout out the attention to detail in a violent act later in the film (without spoiling the plot) where you see what damage a golf club can do to a face - which had me audibly gasp.

The dream pairing of Trent Reznor / Atticus Ross and Fincher from the Academy award-winning score of The Social Network is back for Girl and it's a fantastic mix of the metallic and the organic in the electronic sphere that subtly amplify the emotional trajectory of each scene. It's another fantastic score and knowing the previous scoring of Fight Club to a comparable electronic score I wouldn't be surprised if they received another call up from Fincher for future projects.

For me I much preferred Craig's interpretation of Blomkvist than the original portrayal from Michael Nykvist in the Swedish version of 2009. I found Nykvist unlikeable and emotionally bland in male protagonist role. Craig is likeable, relatable and has the range to portray vulnerable in a very accomplished way. The Girl story for the opening two acts of the film really feels like following two totally divergent storylines. Craig's performance made him as important as the audiences' uncontrollable and overwhelming fascination with Lisbeth.

Now Rooney Mara (The Social Network) had to fill the unbelievably big acting shoes of the dynamite Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth from the Swedish Girl [2009] and soon to be international star of Prometheus). Rapace's Lisbeth had more of her backstory enunciated in the Swedish Girl to play to so there are some key unique differences in the portrayal. Rapace seems to be a more physically imposing character that Mara and the change in stature automatically made her more vulnerable to some of the heinous things she has to overcome. She's also a more human Lisbeth; the slivers of back story windows into her warmth that she's had to hide with layers and layers of physical and emotional roadblocks she's had to erect out of a life of abuse. Mara does a fantastic job of making such an iconic role, and performance her own despite the proximity of the Swedish Girl and demands notice on the international acting scene. Lisbeth is a sought after and intense role that required an investment from Mara to give her authenticity and layers - she's pretty mesmerising.

I really enjoyed this new interpretation of the Girl. The opening stanza of the film where the different stories are occurring to give the characters context dragged slightly for me but the dynamite 3rd act more than made up for that. My biggest regret is that I'd seen the original and was familiar with the story because it took the punch out of the major plot points/twists for me. If you've never seen/heard of the story and you love Fincher- you'll really enjoy this one. If you have seen/read the original story it may feel a little been there done that Girl - and I liked not understanding what she was saying…

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com. Follow him on Twitter here: @BLAGatCCO.

The Internet’s Armpit... Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Submit to Zooey Deschanel’s Sickly Sweetness

2012-01-16T19:03:00.000Z

Oli Davis presents a selection of the very best film-related uploads from the world wide web...

There’s a distinct Christopher Nolan connection to this debut installment of the Internet’s Armpit. Statistically, you’re never more than 50m away from someone who believes that either The Dark Knight or Inception are the greatest films of recent times.

5. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? By Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Back in 2003, when our family computer was the size of a fridge, ironically labeling itself as a Tiny product, and you had to wait until no one was on the landline phone to use the Internet, Zooey Deschanel, dressed up like an Elf in Elf was my first non-Sci-Fi related desktop wallpaper. I adored her. Now she’s almost unbearably cutesy. Well, she was unbearable before her recent divorce… but now she’s kinda the most beautiful woman in the world again.

4. Inspiration for The Dark Knight Score?

Hans Zimmer, composer of The Dark Knight and Inception scores, and innovator of the noise ‘BLLLLEAAAAURRRGGHHH’ at the end of movie trailers, has had his work compared to the score from Edith et Marcel, a biopic of Edit Piaf from 1983. It spins a tangled web, the score for Inception having been entirely sampled from Piaf’s song Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, and one of its actors, Marion Cotillard, having played Edith in 2007’s La Vie en Rose.

3. Pingu’s THE THING

This is a version of John Carpenter’s The Thing imagined via claymation Pingu. As one of the YouTube commenters points out, this only makes it more terrifying.

2. Mixed-Up Movie Captions 2012!

From Something Awful’s excellent forum, Photoshop Phriday, this week’s installment has the goons placing quotes from films over screenshots from others. See here.

1. THE LION KING RISES: (Original) Dark Knight Rises Trailer Parody

Not content with distorting just one piece of childhood nostalgia, the Internet has manipulated Disney’s The Lion King as well as Pingu to its ungainly desires. Trailer mash-ups have become oversaturated as of late, but this one is particularly well observed.

SPECIAL MENTION - (Skyrim) Macho Dragon Mod

I received both The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, for Xbox 360, and a Randy “Macho Man” Savage action figure for Christmas. Charlie Sheen would call that “winning”.

Oli Davis

Movie Review - Carnage (2011)

2012-01-16T18:41:00.003Z

Carnage, 2011.

Directed by Roman Polanski.
Starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly.

SYNOPSIS:

Two sets of parents meet after their children are involved in a fight but their increasingly childish behaviour leads to chaos.

Take four solid actors, (Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Cristoph Waltz and John C. Reily) a respected director with a controversial past, (Roman Polanski) a story based on a French play ("God of Carnage") mix them all together and you get Carnage.

After their son is hit with a stick and badly injured by another boy, the Longstreets (Foster and Reily) invite the Cowans (Winslet and Waltz) over to their apartment to discuss the situation and try to find out why the Cowans son harmed theirs. At first everyone is willing to work things out and try to get along for the sake of their two sons, but after a while things start to get out of head and escalate into everyone showing their true colors.

At first glance this movie might not look like much. Essentially, you have only four characters who spend the entire 79 minute running time in one location bickering and yelling at one another over an altercation with their children. Doesn't sound like too much but what you get on screen is actually quite entertaining. The cast plays a big part in making this movie enjoyable. All four actors are clearly having a good time in their roles and each get their own little moments of hilarity throughout the movie.

In the beginning the movie is a tad bit slow, which isn't a good thing for a movie this short. For about the first ten to fifteen minutes you're kind of watching just wondering where exactly this could possibly go but once the characters start to let loose that's when the movie picks up and starts to get more interesting and definitely a lot more funny. The only major flaw here would be that once you get to see all the characters for who they truly are, they all become somewhat unlikeable. That could definitely turn off some people but I was enjoying all the arguing and bickering so them being unlikeable didn't concern me too much just as long as they were making me laugh.

Overall, the movie isn't a laugh a minute comedy but it is funny enough and the actors are all good enough to make this a solid movie.

Jake Peffer