Happy Birthday to
Robert Forster
68 today
Forster boths confirms and shatters the Quentin Tarantino effect. In 1997 Tarantino rescued him from career obscurity with a plum role in Jackie Brown. The performance was enough to garner a Academy Award nod. However rather than a revival into the mainstream Forster has managed to pick poor project after another, proving why his career was where it was in the first place. I think he'd better give Quentin a quick call.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Robert Forster
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Film News (11/07/09)
It's another slow news week, that's 2 in a row. I hope it picks up soon otherwise I'm going to have to start reporting on the endless rounds of comic book castings, or the lurid personal lives of dead celebrities. Anyway to the news:
High Alert
Octogenarian film-maker Norman Jewison is to return to the directors chair for the first time since 2003's The Statement. High Alert is said to be a comedy about panic in the threat of war, and will almost be a rutrn to the themes in his first film: The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming. It'll be interesting to see what laughs can be had out of the situation post Iraq.
Lost Symbol
More details are beginning to spill about Dan Brown's 3rd Robert Langdon adventure. It's set exclusively in Washington and centres around the formation of the Masons. Whilst funny handshakes and the thought of another bad haircut sitting atop of Tom Hanks might put you off, the $470m Worldwide gross of Angels and Demons pretty much guarantess this hitting cinemas sometime in the next 3 years.
Friday, 10 July 2009
Out this week (10/07/09)
Slightly more films than last week, even if you include the one I missed which is at the bottom of this post. Saying that, there are no releases to really jump up and down about, and the winner is only doing so well because the excitometer runs on a formula and by rights it should be a good film, with some decent reviews. So go to the cinema and check out The Private Lives of Pippa Lee to see the stellar cast, just don't expect to be amazed by it.
Bruno
It's hard to have missed Sacha Baron Cohen playing dress up on the Red Carpets of the world over the last month or so. I'm not sure whether his Gay Austrian Fashionista follow-up to Borat will have as much to say about the state of prejudice in America, or whether the jokes will be more on Bruno, and by extension all gay men, than the "guests".
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Cloud 9
If watching septuagenarians bumping uglies is your sort of thing then this is the film for you. Ursula Werner is torn between her husband and her lover in the German drama.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Fired Up
Teen comedies don't do it for me generally, but this with it's plot revolving around 2 boys going to cheer leading camp in order to pull girls is not only showing a dearth of ideas in the genre, but also appears to have no jokes. Watch the trailer if you don't believe me.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●○○○○○○○○○
Ichi
Ichi is a blind sharmisen player. Are you now expected a sad tale about a girl begging in the back streets of Japan and being ostracised by society - think again she's also a kick-ass sword fighter. Woo.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Private Lives of Pippa Lee
I'm not really as confident with the quality of this female mid-life crisis movie as a 7 blob rating indicates, but with a cast led by Robin Wright Penn and supported by Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello, Shirley Knight, Julianne Moore, Monica Belucci and Keanu Reeves has to be worth seeing for the quality thesping. By the way have you noticed how Keanu is a much more believable love interest when he's wooing an older woman?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Shortkut
Bollywood conman comedy, with most of the caper taking place around a film set. Anil "Who wants to be a Millin-eer" Kapoor produces.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
35 Shots of Rum
Claire Denis (Beau Travail, S'en fout la Mort) is one of the most exciting European directors working today, and this father-daughter relationship drama looks to be continuing that. It's had some excellent reviews and should be worth a look.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Red Mist
Hospital set horror movie that opened last weekend, but I completely missed it. The soul of a vengeful coma patient is able (through some miraculous wonder drug) to jump from person to person putting a plan of revenge against the uncaring medical staff into action.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Recap Ivedik 2
If you think it's bad that I didn't post about a obscure horror last week, that try to look away as I mention this Turkish offering that came out in February, and apparently has taken over £100k (if you believe BoxOfficeMojo). When you consider all the reviews I can find about the extended TV sketch are really harsh that's quite an achievement.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Running: Week 5, Day 4, Run 3
Went out later in the day than I normally would, so interesting to see how that affects my average speed:
8.1 km in 44 minutes, or 10.9 kmph. Not great, but not terribly embarassing.
Chris Cooper
Happy Birthday to
Chris Cooper
58 today
With apologies for being a bit late in the day. I'm afraid I often pass over Chris Cooper due to him sharing a name with an old friend of mine and my friends face comes up in my head. This is tragic because not only is he a person in his own right he's a hugely expressive and competent actor. Coming soon for him are the short collection New York, I Love You and Julie Taymor's return to Shakespeare with The Tempest. Both should be worth watching, even if the second proves to be a little barmy.
I also heard a rumour some months ago that Cooper had replaced Paul Dano in voicing one of the Wild Things. I've not seen any evidence though (or even a change in imdb) so I guess we'll just have to wait and see on that.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Public Enemies
2009. Dir: Michael Mann. Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup and Stephen Dorff. ●●●●○
The future is here. Forget about James Cameron, Pixar and the whole 3D gimmick, Michael Mann is ushering in the greatest change to cinema since the creation of widescreen. The future (even when it's the past) is digital. And it's crisp and beautiful.
So, I went to see Mann's latest on Friday, and spent the weekend considering the film and how it affected me. Plotwise there is little I can tell you that you can't find out from Wikipedia. Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger, the folk hero like American bank robber from the 30's, Marion Cotillard the coat-check girl he falls for and Christian Bale the G-Man chasing him down.
But the story, and it's inevitable end, is scarcely the point. Mann excels at showing the relationship between the criminal and the cop, at highlighting the differences and similarities between the two. In Heat we understand the dedication that both sides have to their profession, in Collateral we sympathise for both Tom Cruise's hired killer as well as the dogged cops frantically trying to stop him.
The film certainly doesn't disappoint here, we see how Dillinger and Purvis are both driven and exacting men. They both understand the importance of planning the job in detail, and choosing the right team. However we don't get under their skin in the way we have with Mann's back catalogue. The feds are essetially ciphers with no back story or emotions. Dillinger fares better with some interesting insights into his brushes with fame, and the moral exactitude he brings with him to his work; as opposed to the ambitious mafia and pshychopathic mobsters he mixes with. Depp works fine with what he has, the trademark half smile he carries giving the audience a taster of the depth of character, but it's only a start to understanding the man.
Instead it's up to Marion Cotillard (as Billie Frechette) to carry the acting honours. She beautifully conveys how out of depth she is with the world of gangsters and the variations in her attitude are perfect. Another stand out is Stephen Lang, as one of the seasoned Southern agents Purvis calls up. He manages to convey more depth with a look and a way of standing than Bale does throughout the film. I look forward to seeing more of him soon (he's in Avatar).
The screenplay is better with the action scenes. The robberies themselves may seem rushed and interchangeable, although I expect that's deliberate, but the Prison break at the beginning and the woodland shoot out are incredibly tense, and fully draw you into the action.
Kudos to Mann's direction for making these scenes really work.
Congratualtions are also due to the sound mixers, the gunfights sounded exceptionally real and dangerous (and the crowd scenes so alive with rhubarbing) that I was hooked to every pindrop. I'm ashamed to say I completely forgot Elliott Goldenthal was scoring, so I don't expect it's one of his greatest efforts.
I started the review talking about the digital cinematography, and this for me is the highlight of the film. Mann has proved that hand-held camera techniques and up close digital filming can work in a period setting, and can be gorgeous. Every shot seems to be perfectly fit, every angle worked out. With digital film it feels different to the viewer, more immediate, more real. I love that.
Overall this is an incredibly film to watch and listen to. It's just a real shame I didn't feel more about the characters.
Running: Week 5, Day 3, Run 2
I love hills, I especially love running up and down hills in order to improve my hill running capabilities. More than anything I love running up an incline, turning round running down and repeating ten times.
(I hope that a hint of sarcasm was clear there.)
5.7 km in 33 minutes or 10.3 kmph (but I don't care because I was running up and down a hill).
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Trailers - Inglorious Basterds
In August 2 bona fide auteurs will be showing their latest visions to the British cinema going public. The first of which will be Tarantino with his World War 2 epic: Inglorious Basterds. I'm a huge fan of Quentin, even when he misfires it's worth seeing, so I'll definitely be at the front of the queue when this comes out.
Join me next Tuesday for the second auteur...
Basterds opens on 21 August 2009.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Running: Week 5, Day 1, Run 1
Tried to better my performance from last Thursday today, and I'm pleased to say i just about made it:
9.7 km in 53 minutes or 11 kmph. So well on the way back to where I should be.
Ned Beatty
Happy Birthday to
Ned Beatty
72 today
Ned's been having a career resurgence recently. After years in the b-movie's he had a pivotal supporting role in The Walker, Charlie Wilson's War and In the Electric Mist (which we're still waiting to hear if it goes straight to DVD here in the UK). Coming soon will be a role in Michael Winterbottom's latest with Casey Affleck and Jessica Biel.
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