A Date for your Diary (Out this week - 04/11/11)

You know it's not a classic week when I go with a foreign language movie as the top choice. Please don't take that the wrong way, obviously I understand that cinema was mostly born in France and that high quality pictures are produced around the world every year, however because I'm mainly in thrall of tinseltown my excitement levels for American product is usually higher (I know more about it for a start) so it's unusual if a little delightful to see a Norwegian drama taking the top spot, film of the week is Oslo, 31 August.



Oslo, 31 August

Almost documentary style in it's realism and hand-held closeness, this Scandivian pic, which comes with very complimentary reviews, follows a thirty something former drug addict on the day in question as he struggles with choosing a future that can provide the comfort he craves.

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Jack Goes Boating

Philip Seymour Hoffman directs and stars in the big screen adaptation of an off-Broadway hit by Robert Glaudini, essentially a romance between lonely people in New York counterbalanced by the disintegration of another couples relationship, it's the kind of plot you imagine PSH would be drawn to. Also starring Amy Ryan.

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Machine Gun Preacher

Sam Childer's biopic (hell's angel turned heaven's warrior) that I've followed since it's initial planning stages, also marks the first step of Gerard Butler's new career, although probably won't be his entry into the Oscar race.

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Tower Heist

Shock horror, it's a Ben Stiller/Eddie Murphy comedy that actually looks quite good, possibly because of it's on the nose plot about disgruntled workers sticking one to the capitalist system, but also because of the fantastic supporting cast (Gabourey Sidibe, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda and Judd Hirsch).

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The Future

Miranda July's indier than thou style may put off viewers with low levels of quirk tolerance (especially if the thought of her voicing monologues from a soon to be adopted cat makes you wince) but the trailer hints at exploring the staleness of relationships and the importance of finding the real you.

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Straw Dogs

Updated and relocated to the deep south it's highly unlikely that Rod Lurie's movie will have half the impact or cultural resonance of Sam Peckinpah's gory 1971 thriller. Appalling box office, less than $11m, in the US indicates there isn't even a market for this uncalled for remake.

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Anatolian Eagles

The Turkish Top Gun....Sort of... Five diverse candidates line up for the opportunity to fly fast jets in the Turkish Air Force. Is the jet squadron so small they only take 5 pilots a year?

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Human Centipede Part 2

Now the stink over it's initial "banning" from the BBFC has cleared the cut (about 8 seconds) version is still aiming for the gorno crowd, it's a shame as Tom Six's follow-up with it's avant garde black and white cinematography and it's meta plot about an obsessive film fan re-enacting the original human centipede could've been an involving character study.

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In Time

Is Justin Timberlake a bona fide filmstar? Probably not but at least he gets to run around a lot in Sndrew (Gattaca) Nichol's latest sci-fi thriller set in an alternative future where time is the only currency. Interesting concept at least.

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Weekend

Much buzzed about gay romance with Tom Cullen and Chris New's one-night stand in Nottingham getting perilously close to something more over the course of one weekend of drugs, sex and intimate chats. I've heard relentless raves from the LGBT community and the festival circuit so maybe I can be persuaded to catch it.

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Will

A treat for Liverpool football club fans here with Stephen Gerrard getting more screentime than pitch time in recent months. It's a heart warming story about an orphan travelling across Europe to see the Champions League final with the tickets his Dad bought. Trivia fans note Bob Hoskins plays a kindly publican and the film is only showing in the North West.

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Gunfighter's Pledge

Luke Perry and C. Thomas Howell reappear from under the rock they've been hiding under since the mid 90's to star in a revenge Western with a central gunfight that's completely spoiled in the trailer. It's been in limited release since Monday but no-one seems to have heard about it.

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Junkhearts

Brit indie about a haunted soldier, a determined rough sleeper and a hedonistic prostitute and the deeply depressing relations between them. Guardian film critic Jason Solomons cameos as a barman, that makes me so mad as any jobbing actor (including myself) would have killed for that role and they give it to a critic. Shame.

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

If laotung, the concept of childhood friend being bound together for eternity, in any way appeals then you can probably add a blob or two to the rating here. Two narratives, one in modern Shanghai the other in 19th century feudal China, explore the meanings of sisterly love.

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