Marion Cotillard

Happy Birthday to

Marion Cotillard

35 today

So many great actresses, especially ones whose first language isn't English, disappear after winning an Oscar, or at least make a string of flops. No so for Marion who has followed up her turn as Edith Piaf stealing scenes from Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. Over th coming year we'll get the opportunity of watching her beguiling American tourists in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris and fighting deadly bacteria in Steven Soderbergh Contagion.

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Tamara Drewe

2010. Dir: Stephen Frears. Starring: Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam and Tamsin Grieg. ●●●●○



Here in the UK we have two left leaning broadsheets; The Independent (which I persoanlly am a reader) and The Guardian which hosted Posy Simmonds comic strip about a Country Girl returning from London, loosely based on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Maddening Crowd. Therefore I hadn't come across her award winning prose, nevertheless having seen the big screen adaptation of 'Tamara Drewe' I feel as though I may have done. The four panel with a joke structure clearly evident in the way Moira Buffini's screenplay had been developed.



The plot follows Gemma Arterton's title character (by the way I have no idea why the inverted commas are on the title card) as she hops between the beds of hunky farmhand Luke Evans, guy-liner wearing drummer Dominic Cooper and married novelist Roger Allam.

All the while the action is underlined and pushed along by the greek chorus of writers (beautifully introduced - "Lesbian Crime" indeed), resident at the retreat run by Allam's long-ssuffering wife Tamsin Greig and a pair of feckless teenagers who fantasize about Cooper's heartthrob band.

It is these sojourns into the lives of the other vilagers that provides the most delight in the film, the love life of Tamara being almost bland in comparison. Grieg plays the abandoned wife, toiling away in her farm kitchen, to perfection. No doubt honed after years of experience at the BBC radio soap "The Archers".

Both of the girls (Jessica Barden and Charlotte Christie) are also perfectly cast, carefully balancing that fine line between boredom and petty vandalism of youth without any indication of malice. The stand out though is Bill Camp (venerable US stage actor with too far too few film credits) as a Hardy biographer wrestling with writer's block and a shifting sense of self-confidence.

The witty banter between the characters is juicy enough to keep you interested, although the tendency to end each scene with a punchline, either comic or dramatic, is quite wearisome. This illustrates the difficulty in basing a film on a comic strip (I refuse to call it a graphic novel). Indeed you could probably watch one scene per day for a few weeks and get as much enjoyment. Some of the vignetttes are brilliant: see Tamsin Greig talking direct to the camera about her husbands infidelity, Jessica Barden's imagined tryst with Cooper and Camp and Evans arguing over the correct insult for Allam's philanderer.

I suppose the trouble with all this is that it doesn't really add up to much, the whole film feels like an extended sketch show. Even at the point that Tamara makes her final choice there's no real explantion why, not even a "she wins him back" scene, the storyline simply ends with an obvious inevitability which perhaps director Stephen Frears couldn't be bothered to explain. Saying that if I could choose between them I probably would have made the same decision - yum yum.

Overall I would say this is a lovely film to catch bits of, and I expect it to become a Saturday afternoon staple, but it fails to fully hand together.

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Tuesday Trailers - Another Year

Now the astute among you will realise that a) we're still in September and b) this weeks feaured trailer is for a film to be released in November which means we're running early with the showings. The reason for this is simple - as you know I tend to prefer prestige pictures, the kind that get awards notice. These films are released in the fall in the US and Januray in the UK. In order to fit all the January releases I want to see I need to start their trailers on the first week of November and so everything else gets pushed back too. So here we are with the first of the big rush. And few could argue wit wanting to see Mike Leigh's latest masterpiece so it's a great way to kick off the season:



Another Year is released on 05 November 2010.

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Naomi Watts

Happy Birthday to

Naomi Watts

42 today

It's been nearly ten years since Naomi Watts hit the mainstream with David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and whilst the full brilliance of th film took some time to sink in there was little doubt that Naomi would go far. Since then she's done some great work in both genre and art-house fare but nothing's quite hit the headlines in the way that film did. Coming up are the minor looking Woody Allen (based on recent reports from Toronto) You will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, the psychopath thriller Dream House and a chance to play Marilyn Monroe in Blonde all of which look very interesting propects.

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Going to the Dogs (Film News - 25/09/10)

What is the best way to kick off this weeks film news? Should I just pass directly into the plethora of delightful stories that have filtered through and thereby ignoring the gaping chasm since my last entry? In fact it's been 21 days since I last mentioned any news - that's two entries missed. So here are my excuses. The first week (11 September) there was nothing that interested me, not a single news story that made me read the article in full and last weekend I couldn't access my computer. So now I have two very busy weeks of news to get through. In fact there's so much news I can't even put them all in the labels... Anyhoo I'd better just get on with it, don't you think:

Darling Companion

Certainly the most intriguing story is Lawrence Kasdan's third entry into his loose collection of films focussing on the outlook of his generation. This will centre around the stale marriage between Kevin Kline and Diane Keaton, and their dog (of the title) who runs away during a wedding. A bunch of late 50 somethings will then join the search and will find their lives permanently affected for btter or worse.

I'm a big fan of The Big Chill so if this works in a similar way then that will be really interesting - catching up on similar characters some thirty yeas on. I also like the idea of the action being kicked off by a runaway dog. Indeed the title indicates the dog will feature quite heavily, either in terms of it's presence or it's escape. The dog lover in my likes that concept a lot...

The Big Chill used music to evoke emotions, as thie hits listed at the top of the album cover illustrates.

Read on for crime dramas, beauty pageants, hired killers, television adapatations and the end of the world as well as masses of casting news.



Killer Joe

Hired killers are usually reasonable box office successes, so it was a surprise to few people to learn that Tracy (writer of August: Osage County) Letts' morality tale about two siblings who hire an assassin to kill their mother. Emile Hirsch is rumoured to play the murderous son with the female half of the pair yet to be cast. What is unlikely is the casting of Matthew McConaughay as the man they hire. o that is weird.

Robopocalypse

Following the disappointing box office run of Terminator: Salvation you would have imagined that further movies that explore robots rising up against humanity wouldn't get aything close to a greenlight. Well, we were wrong as this robot-apocalypse movie based on the novel by Daniel H. Nilson (what, really?) is under development with Steven Spielberg involved. That name alone should make you think that the project may just make some money, although given the rate that Spielberg starts and drops projects I wouldn't try to hold breath for this one.

Wicked Lovely

Beauty Pageants have really been portrayed on film, usually as the butt of a joke like in Miss Congeniality or Little Miss Sunshine Now I wouldn't normally dare to make any judgements about the rights and wrongs of these events, but I am certainly interested in seeing a story based around evil faeries at these events. Wicked and Lovely indeed.

Untitled Crime Drama

Casey Affleck has been talking about an upcoming almost Boston set crime drama - in that the book it's based on is set in Boston but the film adaptation won't be. That's an intriguing option as Boston appears to be becoming the crime city du jour for modern films (see The Town, The Departed et al). Andrew Dominik, of Jesse James fame, is set to write and direct.

Untitled Barry White movie

It's rare for a film based on a television show to work, but this latest idea from Joel Schumacher is based on a running joke from a TV series so you have to doubt whether it will work. The running joke in question comes from Ally McBeal where Barry White would occasionally cameo as himself in order to dispense love advice to the main characters in the office toilet. Shocking.



Casting news - I'm getting tired and bored now (I've spent 6 hours at my computer this morning trying to remove a virus, so please forgive me this) so here is a catch up in the quickest way possible. Elliot Gould is the latest extension to Contagion, Tim Burton will use Winona Ryder and Martin Landau to voice Frankenweenie, Roman Polanski's Gods of Carnage has picked up one of the most extraordinary casts with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Matt Dillon and Christoph Waltz, Joaquin Phoenix will be Leonardo DiCaprio's lover in Hoover (which is nice), Al Pacino and Joe Pesci are both in talks to join Bobby De Niro in I heard they Paint Houses (definitely worth celebrating that), Josh Brolin will be in Labor Day and not Young Adult as originally rumoured, Jennifer Garner and Mark Wahlberg (or is it Joaquin Pheonix) are in The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Sigourney Weaver is up for Rampant and, finally, Rachel Weisz will be sexually adventurous in 360.

I'll do the release date updates next weekend, along with mentioning any new films that have lumbered into production.

Stay safe.

Ben

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Cops and Robbers (Out this week - 24/09/10)

I don't think this weeks top film will surprise anyone, it comes with a high degree of pedigree, a top notch cast and a solidly entertaining trailer. That said there are plenty of other films out there this week that might be worth a look, from the return of Dante to black comedy from Bobcat Goldthwaite so feel free to investigate. Film of the week is Ben Affleck's The Town.



Anjanna Anjaani

The usual plotless Bollywood movie that self describes as a comedy musical romance. Appears to involves a lot of bars from reading the cast list - including a gay bar and a stripper club.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○



Confucius

The life story of the world's most famous philosopher lumbers into theatres having cleared up in it's native China. As much as I admire the great man himself, as well as leading actor Yun-Fat Chow, I can't see this filling up the local mulitplex.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Eat Pray Love

I think I'm overscoring Julia Robert's latest vehicle, the big screen adapatation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir/self-help guide but let's be honest however simperingly naff this looks there is an inbuilt audience and the travelogue aspect looks pretty. Look out for Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins and Javier Bardem in supporting roles.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○

Enter the Void

I want to be more interested in Gaspar Noe's latest avant garde release, following the soul of a murdered teen as he watches over his sister, but I think the artiness of the concept might make it a marmite movie.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Frozen

High-concept thriller (I know, the jokes keep coming don't they) with three faceless twenty somethings marooned on a ski-lift for no real reason other than it makes a nice set up. Watch as they slowly succumb to frostbite and insanity.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

The Hole

Joe Dante, the viosionary director behind Gremlins, has returned with this family horror about a bottomless pit (filmed in 3D so it might feel bottomless) underneath the basement of a couple of teenagers. Weird and PG rated scary stuff comes out. Bruce Dern hams it up in the supporting cast.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○

Peepli Live

It's that vry rare thing - a Bollywood movie that's been screened to the critics. It's story of poor farmers who threaten to commit suicide in defiance of court orders to give up their land and then become the centre of a media storm seems fascinating too. Probably worth seeing.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

The Town

It might be pure genre, but Ben Affleck's bank robber follow up to the assured and measured Gone Baby Gone is impressing critics and audiences alike with it's grounded characterisations and edge of the seat action.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○

True Legend

If you fancy some more action to go with your Chinese history lesson than Confucius is providing than this Qing dynasty revenge drama may just be for you. Man Cheuk Chiu and Michelle Yeoh are among the high kicking cast.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest

Delayed part documentary, part reenactment of George Mallory's illfated expedition up the worlds most famous mountain. Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson are among the voices.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

World's Greatest Dad

Robin Williams is the failed writer - who fakes a suicidal journal for his son after he's killed in a autoasphyixiation erotic act that goes wrong - and then finds himslef in the centre of an outpouring of unwarranted grief. Possibly the dictionary definition of black comedy.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Given that I've hardly been around the last couple of weeks it's unsurprising that I've missed the odd release but before I go into those I will just point out that last weeks Devil managed a final score of 3 on the excitometer, none of the other provisional scores have changed and there was no effect of Winter's Bone as the top film.

From 17 September 2010

I'm Still Here

I think I can be forgiven for missing this infamous faux-documentary which was only outed as a performance piece in the last couple of weeks. Joaquin Pheonix has spent the last 18 month pretending to go off the rails and trying it out as a rapper. We'll see what this actually does to his career, though, before judging it's success.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

10 September 2010

Dabangg

Corruption in the Utter Pradesh police forces is the focus for this Bollywood thriller.

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Swansong

Subtitled the Story of Occi Byrne I haven't been able to find much out about this Irish drama, other than it's Irish, it had a limited release in Ireland where there were enough fans to give it an average rating of 8 on imdb. Go Occi Byrne, I say.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

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Michael Douglas

Happy Birthday to

Michael Douglas

66 today

It's not too long now until Gordon Gekko returns to our screens to remind us that greed is good and lunch is for wimps. I'm hoping there's some more useful advice in the screenplay. I'm also looking forward to Haywire in 2011, and very much hope that won't be Mchael's last speaking role.

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Catherine Burns

Happy Birthday to

Catherine Burns

65 today

Whilst not strictly speaking a child star Catherine is mostly remembered for her Oscar noinated performace as Rhoda in Last Summer (1969) when she was aged just 24, and playing considerably younger. After a solid but unspectacular career in television she stopped acting in 1984. Anyone know what Catherine did next?

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Tuesday Trailers - Social Network

I fully confess that David Fincher's Facebook movie has snuck up on me. At the beginning of the year whilst I was curious to see it there was no way it was high on my agenda - it stars Justin Timberlake for goodness sake - so much that it failed to hit my top twenty anticiapted films. Saying that the pre-release buzz is now deafening and the trailers so far have easily been the most interesting of the year.



Social Network is released on 15 October 2010.

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Bill Murray

Happy Birthday to

Bill Murray

60 today

By always finding the pathos in the comedy and the wit in tragedy Murray has managed to carve a unique niche in modern movies whe sarcasm meets with depression. Notoriously hard to pin down it's unsurprising I'm not on edge about any of his future films.

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Sophia Loren

Happy Birthday to

Sophia Loren

76 today

A true cinematic idol, Sophia holds a special place in the pantheon of filmic deities. What's more she looks sexy even whilst applying lippy.

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Jeremy Irons

Happy Birthday to

Jeremy Irons

62 today

I was a little surprised to see just how attractive Jeremy was in his younger days (I'd honestly never though of him in that way) and then I was incredibly shcoked to discover he's a Portsmouth FC fan - but then I suppose someone has to be...

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Personal News

The more observant among you will probably remember that I was due to run the Nottingham marathon last weekend.

Well the good news is that I did it. Unfortunatley my time was well down on the previous year (4 hours 11) so next year when I ramp up the training again I will go back to daily blogging of my runs... I know it's dull but it really does help with my motivation. Apologies in advance.

Ben

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On a Father Hunt (Out this week - 17/09/10)

I'm in an awkward position this week as I'm completing the round-up of releases too early to have confirmed scores for the excitometer on 5 of the 12 films hitting multiplexes. Any one of those films could turn out to be excellent, or at least slightly better than I'm currently predicting. That said they are highly unlikely to reach the critical heights of our film of the week Winter's Bone.



Devil

M. Night Shyamalan, as producer of this high concept horror (strangers trapped in a lift wit Satan himself), is all over the publicity. Given his poor form as a director of late I'm sure that will be considered a big mistake.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○ (This is a provisional figure)



Distant Mirage

British film tackling the issues of arranged marriages and spousal abuse in the Indian community. Probably not for the faint hearted.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○ (This is a provisional figure)

F

As in exam failed mark. Watch a number of faceless students barricade their teachers into the school, I expect this is a commentary of the zombiefication of teenagers.

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Horde

Talking about Zombies, Paris is beset by them in this dirty looking French horror. I doubt it's a good investment.

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Ik Kundi Punjab Di

From Bollywood this week comes a simple story about a girl who wants to be treated like one of the guys, and the struggles against society to make that so. The poster (she's carrying a hoe) appears to be selling a certain attachment to chauvinism.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○ (This is a provisional figure)

Just Wright

In such a poor week sows ears like this basketball player/sports agent romantically attachments begin to look a lot like silk purses. With Common and Queen Latifah guiding the action and plenty of hoops to watch too this may be sightly diverting.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

The Kid

Nick Moran surprises with his first film, a harrowing tale of a abused child falling into bare-knuckle boxing as a method to channel his inexorable inner rage. Despite a stellar British cast this still looks largely missable.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

Night of the Demons

I'd say this was an unnecessary remake, if anyone actually cared about the original enough to be insulted by it. As it is this will probably suffer the same fate as the earlier version.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

The Other Guys

Buddy Cop Comedy - so nothing original here - with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as the two least competent detectives on the precinct who find themselves deep in a massive case; with hilarious consequences. Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock play slightly more successful versions of our heroes.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Release

Bristolian made gay prison drama involving catholic priests, psychopathic inmates and inappropriate relations with the guards. Gets extra credit for stirring long hidden fantasies in the trailer.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○ (This is a provisional figure)

Savage

Irish thriller about a journalist involved in a serious crime who slowly finds his sanity creeping away as a result. Compared (and not completely unfavourably) to the early work of Scorsese.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○ (This is a provisional figure)

Winter's Bone

Jennifer Lawrence, who first came to everyone's attentions in The Burning Plain, is now getting some very serious awards attention for her strong willed teenager trying to find her father's who absconded leaving the family home as bail. Modern Noir at it's most powerful.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○

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George Chakiris

Happy Birthday to

George Chakiris

76 today

Professional dancer Chakiris would almost certainly has a completely forgetable career if he hadn't crossed erica twice and again across the Atlantic in order to get in role in the West End prodution of West Sie Story. Curiously enough when the musical was filmed his experience was almoat irrelevant as his part was changed from the Jet leader Riff to Shark boss Bernardo.

Here he is argueing with fellow Oscar winner Rita Moreno about the benefits of America:

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Salt

2010. Dir: Phillip Noyce. Starring: Anjelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski and August Diehl. ●●●○○



It's been a summer of disapponting action films, with self-importance and low thrills being the order of the day. With that in mind it was great to see a big dumb action movie like Salt which cleverly remembered exactly wha it was there to do in the multiplex, to thrill and entertain.



Evelyn Salt (played with suitable intensity by Anjelina Jolie) is a high ranking CIA operative who is shockingly outed as a former KGB spy in the first act and then must go on the run to a) rescue her kidnapped husband b) prove her innocence and c) prevent a third world war. It's all formulaic stuff with car chases, big explosions and shoot-outs.

The formula works, however, and the pace of the film is so relentless seguing from set piece to set piece that you don't notice the plot holes until well after the credits have rolled.

Director Noyce has previous form with this kind of action movie, having helmed the Jack Ryan movies Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger in the early 90's and it's good to see him back in the realm of this kind of blockbuster and in good form.

Jolie nails the role, managing to find all the shades in Salt's persona as well as proving her personal action credentials (much more than Wanted or Lara Croft ever really managed). Schreiber and Ejiofor both hit their marks in key supporting roles, and I'm very interested in seeing how the relationship between Anjelina and Chiwetel develops over the planned sequel.

Overall I'd highly recommend Salt as a leave your brain at the door action film, fast and furious it's worth the trip to the cinema.

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Tommy Lee Jones

Happy Birthday to

Tommy Lee Jones

64 today

Not to be confused with Clay Shaw, Tommy Lee's grounded and taciturn performances are full of granduer and subtlety that makes you want to watch even his most money grabbing gigs (although probably not the next Men in Black).

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Tuesday Trailers - New York I Love You

I've been holding out for this collection of shorts for some time, obviously since it was first announced as the follow up to the critically successful Paris je t'aime but also on the blog I was talking it up prior to the unfinished Tornoto debut back in 2008. So after many false starts I'm delighted to be able to finally get a chance to catch it in October (even if frankly I prefered the rough cut trailer with Mika over he top of it).



New York, I Love you will be released on 08 October 2010.

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Melissa Leo

Happy Birthday to

Melissa Leo

50 today

When most actresses receive Oscar nominations you often see a slight reduction in the number of projects they get involved in as the paycheque increases and the willingness to work drops. Not so for Melissa who is still averaging over 6 film per year and most of tose still look like they should be avoided.

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Ian Holm

Happy Birthday to

Ian Holm

79 today

The diminutive and versatile character has been resting the last couple of years, but in spite of that and his advanced years it's a real testament to his popularity and talent that the bloggers out there still want him to return as Bilbo Baggins.

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Frolicking in the Countryside (Out this week - 10/09/10)

Closely fought campaign for film of the week with two big comedies slugging it out for the top spot. I'm not sure which of them will take the box office crown, or if Milla Jovovich Will steal it away from them. In the end I've plumped for the British option (got to support the local produce) and will be going to see Tamara Drewe



Alamar

Low key Mexican family drama about a five year old getting aquainted with his father whilst learning how to fish. Either mesmerising or twee depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○



Boss Engira Bhaskaran

Standard Bollywood romantic comedy with the titular hero turning his life around on discovering love. Ahhh.

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Cyrus

Just failing to make the grade this week is the latest film from the Duplass Brothers, and their first departure from their mumblecore background. John C. Reilly plays lonely divorcee falling for Marisa Tomei only to have to compete with her obsessive son Jonah Hill. Catherine Keener also stars.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○

Going the Distance

It seems to have been previewing for months but the latest Drew Barrymore rom-com finally opens properly this weekend. Still looks saccharine and twee mind.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

My Son, My Son, What have ye Done

Warner Herzog has amassed a knock out cast (including Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, Chloe Sevigny and Michael Shannon) for this why dunnit murder mystery set in the quiet suburban driveways of middle America, but there seems to be little thought as to why we should watch.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Easily the most annoying trailer of the week, with director Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich re-teaming for the fourth installment of zombie battles based on the superior computer games.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

The Runaways

The all-girl rock band on which this biopic is based had significantly more impact in the States than over hear, and I doubt even the presence of Twilight star Kristen Stewart can generate excitement. Michael Shannon has his second film this week and Tatum O'Neal (remember her?) gets a minor role.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Tamara Drewe

Based on Posy Simmonds comic strip, as reproduced in the Guardian, which was in turn based on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Maddening Crowd, the Stephen Frears comedy should tick all the right boxes for a pleasant night out.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

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Virginia Madsen

Happy Birthday to

Virginia Madsen

49 today

Not many reformed scream queens go on to pick up Oscar nominations, but Virginia's performances in both Candyman (screamy) and Sideways (awardy) weren't ordinary by any stretch. Next up is Red Riding Hood (I may be the only guy over 11 looking forward to that) where she plays the titular fairy tale heroine's mother.

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Colin Firth

Happy Birthday to

Colin Firth

50 today

We're over two thirds of the way through 2010 now and Colin's performance in a Single Man is still the outstanding male performance of the year so far. He has some more obvious awards contenders this year with The King's Speech but I'm yet to convinced that I want to see that - over to you in the comments.

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Michelle Williams

Happy Birthday to

Michelle Williams

30 today

I like the former Mrs. Heath Ledger, not just because she's an exciting and varied screen presence, but also because she comes across as very normal in real life; there just isn't an ounce of self importance around her. Some high profile projects coming up including oscar bait Blue Valentine and Noah Baumbach's next film, but I'm most interested in seeing Take this Waltz.

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The Last Airbender

2010. Dir: M. Night Shyamalan. Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Shaun Toub. ●●○○○



I must confess to the feeling of trepidation before seeing M. Night's latest blockbuster (and make no mistake it has taken a significant amount of money). All over the internet the vultures and naysayers have ripped apart The Last Airbender, delighting in the further degredation of their former champion. However in spite of these opinions and of my own furtive cinema trip I ended up beign pleasantly surprised.

Please don't get me wrong this is not a good film, it isn't even a competent film, but it is far from the steaming pile certain online critics have painted it as.



In short the story concerns the legendary last member of the Air nation (newcomer Noah Ringer) who is destined to control the elements and defeat the war-mongering Fire Nation led by Cliff Curtis and his exiled son Dev Patel.

If that synopsis seems a little rushed it's because the entire film is a shortened version of a Nickelodeon anime-style serial, the mythology and history for the universe in which it is set was originally designed to be spread over some 15 hours of television and condensing it into a 100 minute film (or one paragraph) means cutting corners and explaining character motivations through voiceover or montage. M. Night has to find time to squeeze in some pretty extensive set pieces and the images and concepts that the audience familiar to the original series will respond to. What is therefore lost is the delicate matter of expanding and filling this society.

Lets start with the positives. "Bending" elements is quite cool, and the CGI usage to complete this works on the big screen. Towers of water, balls of fire and heaving mud clots are fascinating to observe in action. Dev Patel and Shaun Toub (especially) as the exiled Prince and his loyal uncle are very strong, putting in performances far better that the film deserves. The costumes and score are both high quality on the technical side.

On the other hand a lot of other stuff lets them down. The rest of the actors range to the boring - Aasif Mandvi, a word of advice, try varying your delivery every now and then - to the utterly indefensible - Jackson Rathbone proving once and for all that nice skin and cute eyes are no substitute for talent. Not I'm not going to condemn Noah Ringers performacne as he really had so little to do he didn't get a chance to shine.

The biggets failure was in coherence however, both the screenplay and editing meant that we couldn't understand what was really going or get the devotion to the quasi-spirtual connection to the elements. There was also little attachment to the characters as a result, as one major supporting character sacrifices her own life (for a fish, apparently) I had to stifle a yawn. There were also some howlers of badly written lines, to provide exposition or to explain the motivations that we condensing the story meant couldn't be trusted to the audience i.e. "We have to show them that we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs." and "Again, I offer my condolences on your nephew burning to death in that terrible accident."

Overall I would have to say The Last Airbender is entirely avoidable and not worth spending any money on, but if you wanted to have it on in the background of a club the visuals are exciting enough for that to work.

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Tuesday Trailers - Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

Welcome back to Tuesday trailers- we've been gone for a few weeks mainly because there were lots of Tuesdays in August and few films toloo forward to in September. But now September is here and we're looking forward to October it's going to pick up again (I hope you're keeping notes). First up is this little known Oliver Stone movie which is slipping quietly into the multiplexes. Astute readers will know we've seen this trailer befor - when it nearly opening in May - but we've got it again now. May I take this opportunity to wish Micheal Douglas best wishes for his treatment.



Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps opens on 08 October 2010.

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Political Throwback? (Film News - 04/09/10)

Festival season is upon us, everywhere you look there are raves for one film or seething criticism for another. Naturally Venice, Telluride and Toronto will be acting as useful sieves for deciding what to watch over the next few months - or at least how excited we will be about some of the upcoming releases. Black Swan, for instance, is suddenly even more interesting. Elsewhere there some minor stories, often at least partly related have begun to filter through.

Farragut North

George Clooney has made a directorial career of looking back at the past where we could view events with historical perspective. It therefore makes sense that his next film, the first to have a modern setting, has a theme that harkens back to the political insider pictures from the mid 20th century like The Candidate and The Best Man.

Beau Williamson's play on which this is based, and which in turn is adapted from events on the Howard Dean campaign trail in the 2004 Presidential election, sees an enthusiastic staffer slowly come to the realisation that politics is all about back-stabbing and out-maneuvering the rivals. In fact reading that this may be closest thematically to Primary Colors, offering almost a flipside of the ultimate upbeat ending of that film.

Clooney's already assembling an impressive cast with Star Trek's Chris Pine set to reprise his acclaimed stage performance in the lead and to be surrounded by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei.


Here's a publicity shot from Chris Pine stage performance in the role - can anyone explain what the blood on his forehead is about, or should I wait until the film is released.

I've always been a huge fan of films that actually look at adult themes and adult situations and exposing the shenanigans that take place inside the political campaign arena will certainly be worth a good look at. Can't wait.

Read on for teenage gladiators and a satisfying snick.



Hunger Games

With the Potter and Twilight 'literary' franchises about to reach their conclusions it's small wonder the studios are hunting high and low for their next high grossing adaptation. Deadline have decided that their next bet will be Suzanne Collins' best-selling trilogy about teenagers fighting to the death in gladiatorial contests in a future dystopian and totalitarian USA.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2

David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse) has been mentioned alongside the next Wolverine film for some time now, but that hasn't stopped a very interesting rumour about Darren Aronofsky reportedly circling the project now that the Robocop reboot is definitely off his dance card and with The Fountain star Hugh Jackman having a first choice director clause in his contract it's not looking like the deal is done for Slade just yet. Saying that I actually want to give both of these talented directors a word of solemn advice - don't do it. It was not the directing of the first Wolverine film that made it fail it was the shocking script and the clear profiteering of the project, do something you really want to do for yourself you won't regret it. Thank you.



Admittedly there is one good reason for watching Wolverine...

By the way I'd like to apologise for no Production News this week - I haven't really had the opportunity to scour IMDb to catch up with the latest schedules. I doubt there's much going on anyway and the segment will definitely return in October.

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Just going with it (Out this week - 03/09/10)

I would love to say that we're spoiled for choice this week, that there are 14 films of excellent quality and a wide range of styles and genres. Unfortunately most of them at first glance appear to be absolutely dreadful... I expect Dinner for Schmucks will just about win at the box office, but for film of the week I'm going for Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy



Bonded by Blood

British Gangster movie based on a real life quartet of drug dealers who were brutally murdered in Kent in 1995. Very sweary.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○



Certified Copy

The run-in between French acting giants Gerard Depardieu and Juliette Binoche may have soured reception for her latest showcase but Kiarostami's first non-Iranian movie, about a gallery owner and a novelist slowly falling in love should stir all the right emotions.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○

Cherry Tree Lane

I don't know if September sees the official start of the horror season but there's quite a few out the week, one of the most interesting is this Brit effort which sees a suburban couple hijacked by a group of hoodies intent of wrecking revenge for being shopped in for a previous crime.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Chhevan Dariya

Punjabi musical celebration of marriage, oddly enough part US funded. Still not interesting enough though.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Dinner for Schmucks

The original concept (from the French film this is ripped off from) is a competition to find the most annoying dinner guest and during the meal one of guests manages to ruin his hosts life. This American remake decides that having Steve Carell mug through supper is clearly not enough so opens the film up. Please avoid.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Jonah Hex

Part Western, part gothic horror, part comic book adaptation of a lesser known property. Watch it for Megan Fox oddly soft focused throughout the movie, or because it flopped so badly in the states. Actually with a cast including Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Michael Shannon I'm not completely turned off by it.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

The Last Exorcism

Horror movie two takes the traditional exorcism route, only adds a modern twist in the form of a fly on the wall documentary crew filming a con artist exorcist who on his last job actually comes across a real demon. It's had some good notices.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Nandalala

For the fourth time I am mentioning this slightly offensive looking Bollywood road trip following a child and a man with learning difficulties try to find their lost parents. It's unlikely to be actually out this week either...

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Soul Boy

As in Northern Soul, the British derivative of the Soul music scene that flowered in the 1970's and forms the backdrop of this Stoke set coming of age drama.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○

Splintered

This is the nasty horror movie, also from the UK - making it a bumper week for homegrown releases, that you probably won't be wanting to see at the muliplex. Unless you like sweaty chesty girls screaming for mercy.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

The Switch

Artificial Insemination has become the rather unlikely film trend for 2010 with Jennifer Aniston now following J-Lo in using the turkey baster for a different purpose. Jason Bateman reportedly steals the show as the neurotic best friend and Juliette Lewis also shows up.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

22 Bullets

Jean Reno has decided to go straight after a long career in the Marseilles Mafia, naturally they drag him back in by attempting to assassinate him. Then it turns into a revenge fantasy - I don't know if the 22 bullets refer to the times he's shot or the number of people he must kill for revenge.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

We are Family

Bollywood film, partly set in Australia (interesting trend there too), where a devoted mother and divorcee meets her ex husband new girlfriend and starts to take on her career orientated outlook - to hilarious results no doubt.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○

Why did I get Married Too

Following the moderate success of Tyler Perry produced Precious back in January the writer/director and star of the Madea franchise has decided to release his first personal project here in the secular UK. Given it's a direct sequel and the Christian ethos isn't subtle I can't see it being a massive hit here. Cicely Tyson and Louis Gossett Jr. are among the supporting cast.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○

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Pauline Collins

Happy Birthday to

Pauline Collins

70 today

Shirley Valentine herself has a lot to be celebrating this year, not only is it a special birthday for her but she's also got a pivotal supporting role in the upcoming Woody Allen picture You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (and it doesn't look awful). I think that deserves a plate of egg and chips to celebrate.

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Salma Hayek

Happy Birthday to

Salma Hayek

44 today

I didn't dare making that picture any bigger for fear of it coming out of the screen. By golly she knows how to sell her assets. If only Salma put half as much effort into choosing her films, Grown Ups and Cirque Du Freak were the last two both of which left a nasty taste in the mouth. Nothing in the pipeline looks particulary satisfying either.

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