Busy-ish week with lots of fine looking European movies competing for our collective attentions this weekend. Which, for the uninitiated basically means I will largely ignore the supposed big hitters that will blast their way into the box office charts -even the plasticine based one which looks quite good - and instead focus all my attention on the arthouse circuit this weekend. I suppose one of the real tragedies of our age is that even though there are three very highly praised foreign language pictures this week, any one of which could have made my film of the week, none of them has opened in as few as 5 cinemas let alone the 425 that The Hunger Games is still holding on to. Oh well, eschewing messed up relationships and miniature trees I have chosen Corpo Celeste as the runs like a gay film of the week.
Last week no-one was surprised to see Katniss Everdene smash it on the box office chart both sides of the Atlantic as well as Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Sweden, as well as virtually everywhere else, so I get no kudos for jumping onto that particular bandwagon, even if I haven't personally added to it's gargantuan haul. This week we have dancing teens and wrathful Gods but I suspect Ardman Animation have the necessary edge to be next weeks number one with Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists
Corpo Celeste
Coming of age dramas might seem like a done to death genre but Alice Rohrwacher Cannes hit seems to take a interesting twist focussing on the confirmation classes of our heroine Martha and her readjustment following a recent upheaval.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
The trailer certainly hints at the complex moral and religious layers confronting young Catholic girls.
Babycall
Noomi Rapace gets the opportunity to shine as a character both far removed from her revelatory turn as Lisbeth Salander as well as sharing some common DNA as a young mother escaping an abusive past who accidently overhears a shocking event somewhere in her apartment block. Superior Scandinavian thriller.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Bonsai: A Story of Love Books and Plants
Looking slightly more surreal is this South American picture flicking between two timelines - the present where a writer tries to impress his new found love and the past the story the writer is telling of a previous relationship and how it failed. Looks really intriguing, but also only showing in one cinema.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists
Aardman are back with their first feature length hand crafted animation since The Curse of the Were Rabbit. Hugh Grant plays the less successful than ambitious Pirate Captain intent on winning the Pirate of the year award, with David Tennant as Darwin who gets caught up with his nefarious plans. Imelda Staunton and Selma Hayek are along for the ride.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Tiny Furniture
Five films in before the first US production and even this with it's vague indie stylings feels miles apart from the bombastic blockbusters that usually clog up screens. Flirting dangerously with an overdose of quirk the trailer at least gives us a glimpse of the multi talented (writer/director/actor) Lena Dunham who will be one to watch out for in the future.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Les Lyonnais
Probably forgettable French crime drama, based on a true story, that nonetheless looks epic enough in scope to consider itself as an vague relative of the Godfather trilogy and more recently Mesrine. It'll be interesting if this finds an audience.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Streetdance 2
Back when the first Streetdance came out a couple of years ago I remember being really captivated by the 3D trailer which promised the dancers jumping out of the screen at you, it's interesting the inevitable sequel is underplaying that aspect which perhaps shows the public loss of interest in 3D screenings. Anyhoo this looks like it will still appeal to the same crowd as the rest of the dancing movies with it's mix of beautiful people and displays of rhythm. I think Tom Conti learnt his French accent from watching "Allo Allo".
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Switch
I am assured it has a very limited cinematic release as well as the DVD issue this trailer points to even if I can't find a listing that proves that. Eric Cantona, who has done an awfully good job in changing career from footballer to actor, must run through a lot of streets to prevent bad things happening to fellow runner Karine Vanasse. Or something like that anyway.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
3
Two things struck me whilst watching the trailer for this Tamil language action romance. Primarily I really like the graphic where the heart monitor turns into writing, lovely job, and then I decided I need to go to India to give some lessons in kissing as the leads miss each others mouths twice in quick succession and clearly need help.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Wrath of the Titans
It seems slightly disingenuous to end with this mythology sequel especially as it seems infinitely better than it's 2010 forebear. That said expect it to fail miserably at the box office and for the studios to continue to doubt the leading man credentials of Sam Worthington. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are on hand to do some thesping as a couple of the Gods in need of Perseus' aid.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Coming of age in Italy (Out this week - 30/03/12)
Friday, 11 November 2011
Next stop, Gonzo (Out this week - 11/11/11)
Weirdly, in spite of the fairly OK mix of movies out this weekend all I want to do since I wrote the title of this post is stare at the palindromic date. I hope I don't glance at the clock just after ten past eleven for fear of my head exploding. Of course this weirdness may be due to the stonking amount of alcohol I've had to drink in readiness for our film of the week: 
The Rum Diary
Johnny Depp isn't quite Hunter S. Thompson in this adaptation of his earliest, yet latest to be published novel about a journalist heading to Puerto Rico and finding nothing but booze and money laundering. Co-starring Richard Jenkins (wearing the best syrup in 2012) and written and directed by Withnail & I helmer Bruce Robinson, this has to be better than it's paltry US box office implies.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Arthur Christmas
I really don't like the over-commodification of Christmas, and I say that as an Atheist, however I believe the celebration should be reflective of it's religious roots and not just an excuse to flog toys for two months. Yes, this is an Aardman animation so it's probably OK but you won't catch me near it. James McAvoy stars with Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Trespass
Joel Schumacher directed the worst movie I have ever seen in a cinema, no not Batman & Robin which was at least campy and bright but the utterly charmless action flick Bad Company yet I still return time and time again to see if he can top that. Nic's Cage and Kidman look like their having cheesy fun in this hostage in your own home flick so it might just be watchable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Immortals
Tarsem Singh directs this latest foray into Greek Mythology, with the help of the producers of 300. Plenty of flesh in the trailer and an extraordinary visual aesthetic make this one to watch even if we expect the narrative to fall down in the same way Tarsem's previous outings have down. All eyes will be on future Superman Henry Cavill, but the brilliant supporting cast includes famous faces like Mickey Rourke and John Hurt.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Awakening
Nothing to do with Sleeping sickness this homegrown horror flick seems to have been trailering for months, and inspite of it's ubiquity I can safely say I have no intention of watching this derivative nonsense - with Rebecca Hall and Imelda Staunton - in a cinema.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Rockstar
This Bollywood rom-dram hasn't done much to conceal it's major plot in the title. Unless it turns out to be about India's most famous diamond cutter? I haven't seen the trailer yet so I'm on the edge of my seat about this...
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Wuthering Heights
Andrea Arnold has taken an awful lots of risks in her unique adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte gothic romance, with the casting of a black actor as Heathcliffe, anachronistic dialogue and a foreboding sense of doom creeping across the moors throughout this won't selling to the bonnet and bodice crowd, but it will make for a fascinating look at the novels themes.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Black Pond
British comedy that's getting a very limited release, possibly due to the dark nature of the concept - upper middle class family have to deal with an unexpected corpse - the surrealist trailer - or the not quite interesting enough cast list of Simon Amstell and Chris Langham.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Kill Keith
But hey that's pure genius compared to this utter dross of a sort of Tarantino parody (although really only in the title) which mixes pointless celebrity cameos and on the cheap special effects with jokes that feel old and tired in the trailer let alone in real life.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Saturday, 20 November 2010
He who must not be named gets the upper hand (Out this week - 19/11/10)
I'm writing this in advance, so some of the excitometer scores are yet to be confirmed, but saying that I'm still taking a punt on the film of the week. I would love to pick out the Cuban romantic animation Chico and Rita, but frankly unless the reviews are dreadful the box office champ and my own personal film of the week is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
Adrift
No, it's not the Open Water sequel, but instead a Brazilian drama about a 14 year girl old on holiday discoveries her fathers (Vincent Cassel) infidelities and developing a burgeoning romance of her own.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Broken Sun
Australian drama set during the second World War charting the shifting relationship between a suicidal veteran and an escaped Japanese POW as the former returns him to the camp across the outback as each discover how war impacts the soul of a soldier.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Chico and Rita
Adult animation, partly hand drawn, partly CGI, about a Cuban couple (a singer and a pianist) who love each other too much for the relationship to last longer than thier international tour.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Dream Home
Satire on the housing crisis and the desire for a better home with Josie Ho running amock on her would be neighbours after a housepurchase falls through. Some inventive deaths look inevitable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Guzaarish
I'm curious to see what the tone of this Bollywood drama starring Aishwarya Rai will be. The plot concerns a magician fighting for euthanasia following a major accident.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
And so it begins, the (first half of the) final chapter of J K Rowling's wizard franchise. I expect Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) will appear to gain the upper hand at the end of this installment with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and chums looking like their beaten. The massive Brit cast includes (deep breath) Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Miranda Richardson, Imelda Staunton, Julie Walters and Alan Rickman.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Life Goes On
British drama, set among the Indian community, about a husband and father, leaning to cope following the sudden passing of the wife he idolised.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Silent Army
Drama about child soldiers in South Africa, as told through the eyes of a white reastauranteur who searching for his neighbours kidnapped son. Surprisingly this was the Dutch submission for last years Foreign Language Oscars.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Uncle Boonmee who Can Recall his past Lives
The least likely Palm D'Or winner in years directed by Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul looks at the final hours of the titular character as he remembers his life. Lyrical, spirtiual and in some places quite surreal. A beautiful but enigmatic experience.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Another Year
2010. Dir: Mie Leigh. Starring: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Oliver Maltman and Peter Wight. ●●●○○
Mike Leigh's process is often as fascinating as the final product. His modus operandi involving months of improvisation and character building with the actors before a full structure is agreed upon. This normally results in a slice of life that occurs over a very short time period, maybe a few weeks or months. In Another Year the timescale of the piece is extended so we see the relationships subtly develop through four seasons.
The films opens, naturally in Spring, with an introduction to our central couple within their individual workplaces. Geologist Tom (Broadbent) gets excited about mud and sand in a vast warehouse of samples, Counsellor Gerri (Sheen) attempts to help insomniac Imelda Staunton (in a very brief role). Like Leigh's previous Happy-Go-Lucky the positivity of these characters dovetails nicely with the downbeat nature of most of their friends, indicating this film may also be a lovesong to happiness.
Their closest friend is Lesley Manville's Mary, a ditzy secretary who works with Gerri with borderline alcoholism and a desperate crush on Tom and Gerri's (sorry,I'll try not to do that too often) 30 year old son Joe (Maltman). The film mainly charts the friendship between the central couple and Mary as the year progresses.
The relationship between Gerri and Tom is nicely drawn, as much unspoken as spoken, with the occasional tough word between them fitting naturally with the ease in which they cuddle and gossip at the end of each day. Mary is a grotesque creature which Lesley Manville does well to tame, her performance showing the softness within, the scene where she meets Joe's girlfriend is a masterclass and deserves award consideration on it's own. Although I would argue that the drunk scenes are largely overplayed with almost sit com level wobbling around.
Away from the characterisations though the film falls apart. Why would Gerri and Tom even try to maintain a friendship with the montrous Mary? How come everyone in their universe is either perpetually drunk or cracking open a bottle of wine (I lost count of the drinks for any of the major characters)? Does the happiness of the central coupling mean the peripheral characters must balance karma with their depression and loss?
Worst of all is the heavy handed symbolism of the piece. In each season we return to the allotment of Gerri and Tom, the seasonal themes of planting, growth, harvest and death are mirrored exactly in the action, and even in the production design. There's little chance of missing what Leigh is trying to state in these sections, and yet I was still left at the end wondering what the point of it all was.
Ultimatly I couldn't connect with Mike Leigh's latest slice of miserablism.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Alice in Wonderland
2010. Dir: Tim Burton. Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Crispin Glover. ●●●○○
Back on the 5th March the 2010 year of film really started, sure I had seen 8 films in cinemas already, but Alice in Wonderland was the first of my top 20 films for 2010, it was among the elite that had sparked my attention before the year had even vaguely begun. I am sad to say that it was also the first minor disappointment from that list.
Effectively this is a sequel to Lewis Carroll's well-loved children's nonsense novels in which Tim Burton - notably backed by Disney - returned Alice (Mia Wasikowska - Defiance) to a Underland torn apart with civil strife. With Alice recast as a saviour to the populace, forever destined to slay the Jabberwocky.
It all begins with an utterly pointless and ill-conceived bookend involving a snotty suitor proposing to Alice in front of a crowd of unpleasant toffs. Naturally these segments are there to show how our heroine fails to fit into the real world, and how she grows in confidence to be able to confront these caricatures by the end of the film. It's a dreadful idea but at least it's mercilly quick.
Running away from the problem leads Alice to fall back down the rabbit hole, having forgotten her previous visit she falls into the same mistakes (drinking, eating, leaving keys on tables etc.) as the last time, only without the buckets of tears. Of course she meets all the characters we know and love from the books, including the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), The Red and White Queens (Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway) and The Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), as well as a host of British establishment actors in the other roles (Matt Lucas, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton).
This being a 3D kids film there then follows a few chase scenes, some silly jokes and pointy things being pointed at the camera to prove the 3D works. There are some moments of mild peril - crossing the moat or the final confrontation - but on the whole these are pretty tame due to the target audience.
It's hard to know whether it hit the right balance, in excess of $300m in the U.S. receipts seems to indicate it got it right, even when adjusted for 3D premiums. Personally I would have liked to have seen a much scarier version - I think kids can take a lot more fears than we give them credit for - maybe even to the level of Pan's Labyrinth or Tideland both of which clearly owe a debt to Carroll's work. Perhaps a little less action would have been preferable as well. I've found that following too many chase sequences together can be really boring.
On the plus side the design, as you would expect from a Burton film, is fantastic with Art director Stefan Dechant (Avatar) proving once again that he can master an imaginery world. Colleen Atwood's (Silence of the Lambs, Big Fish) costumes were also first class, although frankly I would have been surprised if she hadn't pulled it off here.
I would also like to congratulate two of the performers who really stood out for me, and I don't include Johnny Depp whose performance was utterly baffling. The first was a triumph of casting in Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse, capturing the fierceness of the animated character (even if it wasn't in keeping with the origins). The second was Helena Bonham Carter, who clearly relished in every moment of her screentime, some of her line readings were absolutely delicious ("I do like a fat pig to keep my feet warm", anyone?) and i would glady watch the film again just to see her.
Overall I would say this was a missed opportunity, but enough moments work for it to be worth a visit.
Monday, 4 January 2010
20 for 2010 - Number 14 (Untitled)
If you thought yesterdays preview was short on substance then you'll hate number 14, the untitled Mike Liegh project.
Leigh has directed some of the most insightful movies of the last 30 years, showing a real reflection of UK society with it's fussy middle classes and downtrodden working class. His last 2 productions (Vera Drake and Happy-go-Lucky) have garnered acclaim and award hauls for thier central performances, even though you could not imagine characters any further apart emotionally.
With this project he's reuniting with some of his most accomplished stars, including Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent and Lesley Manville.
As yet there are no details available with regards to the plot - Leigh's signature style of developing the characters and story thorugh improvisation and discussion means there probably wasn't a story until the cameras started rolling - but I'm sure we'll hear more as it rolls into cinemas towards the end of the year.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Taking Woodstock
2009. Dir: Ang Lee. Starring: Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Liev Schreiber and Emile Hirsch. ●●●○○
Taking Woodstock is a pleasant diversion, it allows you to drift back to a past you don't really remember and experience it all over again without investing yourself emotionally. To the characters Woodstock is something that happens around them, a force greater than gravity that they can merely allow to flow over them.
The story follows Elliot Tiber (an excellent Demetri Martin) as he attempts to rescue his parents motel by brokering a deal between the organisers of the Woodstock festival and a local land owner. We meet his emotional mother (Imelda Staunton) and his put upon father (Henry Goodman), his neighbours (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Emile Hirsch and Eugene Levy) and finally the festival organisers and hangers on.
Generally Tiber is in awe of these people, emotionally free and with the confidence to plan such an event, and spend all day in leather waistcoats. It becomes clear that Tiber is an outsider, desperate to forge ahead with his own life but shackeled to the run down motel.
The second act concerns the preparations for the festival from the moment the booking is made to the realisation that this festival will be bigger and more memorable than anyone can imagine. It is hard to believe now that the freeway was effectively closed from Manhattan island all the way to upstate New York, or that this concert changed counterculture forever both being the highlight of the hippie era and marking the first step of it's downfall.
Watching the film you can identify with the first, we are shown repeated scenes of traffic james, however due to the nature of the narrative, from seeing the events unfold from Tiber's largely passive eyes, we can only surmise at the latter. Tiber doesn't even make it to the stage. He spends the first two nights tripping with random hippies and taking pot with his parents. The third day was, of course, a wash out of enormous proportions - we do spend some time sliding in the mud to prove it.
Individual scenes are brilliant. The Earthlight production of Chekhov's Three Sisters is a surreal delight, and the final conversation between Tiber and his father as they skirt around the issues of Elliot's sexuality and his mother's erratic behaviour is artfully written.
I just wish this could have melded with the whole better, or that we left the cinema with a better understanding of how the world changed that summer.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Imelda Staunton
Happy Birthday to
Imelda Staunton
53 today
A beautifully comic actress who stormed the awards circuit 3 years ago as the eponymous abortionist in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake. Look out for her in the forthcoming Taking Woodstock.
