Happy Birthday to
Colin Firth
51 today
Coming off his spectacular, if a little late, Oscar win Firth is in a fascinating point at his career in that he can choose any project he likes, like the con caper remake Gambit, from which this picture is taken minus Cameron Diaz, or his suspect role in LeCarre adaptation Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Both of which look like their well worth catching.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Colin Firth
Friday, 9 September 2011
Autopsy of History (Out this week - 09/09/11)
Things are looking pretty grim in cinemas here in the UK, and I don't just mean the subject matter of the few films that come close to getting me into cinemas. I'm not sure why it is but the first couple of weeks of September have been pretty poor the last couple of years, I imagine that the end of the summer holidays (and here it really feels like summer has ended ended) means that the kids quadrant won't be watching new movies but it's too soon for the serious awards fare. Of course there's bonnets and brides which should get a few punters in but for me the film of the week is Post Mortem.
Post Mortem
Most South American film industries have a proud heritage of looking back at the darkest periods of their history so it's no surprise that Chile wants to address the 1973 Coup against Salvador Allende. Taking the unusual route of charting the furtive relationship between a shy morgue worker and a burlesque dancer who goes disappears in the aftermath, this film illustrates the parallels between assessing the bodies and the broken state.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Jane Eyre
If this latest adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic gothic novel breaks out then expect the arthouse cinemas to have the twinset and tweed crowds queuing round the block for that nice Judi Dench and a few period costumes. I probably sound cynical as news from the US is that Cary Fukunaga's film with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender is a superb retelling that could even reap some awards notice.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Troll Hunter
If you're getting fed up with found footage horror movies then stand by for a shot of adrenalin from this Scandinavian monster mash with a bunch of students coming across a troll hunt and getting up close and personal with the grotesque beasties.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Friends with Benefits
You have to wonder if Mila Kunis talked to Natalie Portman during the making of Black Swan, or whether they took the professional rivalry to heart, whatever happened Kunis seems to have drawn the longer straw on the shagging mates stories, coupled with Justin Timberlake and supported by the extremely talented Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson and Patricia Clarkson. Some of the trailer looks quite funny too.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Lonely Place to Die
There are two Brit thrillers out this week, of which this Scottish set kidnap drama looks slightly more efficient and terrifying with a quintet of mountaineers rescuing a trapped girl, but finding a whole lot of trouble from shady underworld types. Shame the trailer gives away each of the deaths.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Mere Brother ki Dulham
It's a well worn story in this bright and fast moving Bollywood release with a downtrodden brother desperately trying to arrange a marriage for his superstar sibling. Naturally when he finally finds a suitable match they end up falling for each other. Utter hokum of course, but fun looking hokum at least, with a surprisingly feminist leading lady.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Teja Bhai and Family
Malayalam gangster comedy about a notorious con trying to go straight for love. The trailer looks as complex and incomprehensible as you can imagine.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Colombiana
The first of the American big releases to get squashed by The Help's fantastic box office run shares a common heritage with many of Luc Besson's feminist heroes but it seems Zoe Saldana drug cartel orphan doesn't has the emotional heft of Leon or Nikita.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Holding
More homegrown violence set against the very best of Britain's National Parks with this "heart-pounding suspense thriller set on a farm in England's beautiful rugged Peak district". Not too far from where I live then.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Topol
Happy Birthday to
Topol
76 today
What's surprisingly about Topol's resume is not that his star-making performance on stage and screen in Fiddler on the Roof dominates but that (in terms of films at least) he's done very little else. Sure there was an unsatisfactory Bond and Flash Gordon but there's been just 7 features since 1971 - he's hardly built a career around his Oscar nod. Mind you no-one can take the role of Tevye without being compared to him, so here's a bit of him in action:
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
One Day
2011. Dir: Lone Scherfig. Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson, Rafe Spall and Ken Stott. ●●●○○
One Day is a beloved book. David Nicholl's 2009 romantic novel spent an age at the top of the best-selling lists, won the 2010 Galaxy book of the year and inspired dozens of books clubs to cluck over the changing fortunes of Em and Dex. I hated it, but it succeeds at what it tries to achieve.
The 2011 page to screen adaptation has crashed and burnt on the international box office, taking just $21m so far in global sales and failing to even achieve the number one spot in the UK. Fans of the novel have nitpicked over every details, loathing the cuts and despairing of Anne Hathaway's accent. I liked it, but it fails to hits it's goals.
I say all this to illustrate the massive gap between the written word and cinematic art, between our expectations of literature of film, between each patrons empathy and understanding of the characters and situations presented. Or one man's meat is another man's poison.
The central conceit of the novel is that it follows our soulmates over 20 anniversaries of their first meeting, catching up with their trials and tribulations by presenting their thoughts on each St. Swithin's Day between 1988 and 2008. In the novel there is political and cultural parallels to the death of yuppieism and disillusionment with New Labour which are jettisoned for the film and replaced with sly commentary on changing fashion and technological advances (curiously though Emma local swimming baths remain freakishly unchanged for the majority of the films running time, no neo-facist supergym identity or slide concessions there).
Although plenty of experience of romantic comedy staples will ensure all readers/viewers are keenly aware Em and Dex are meant to be together they both drift aimlessly away from each other for the majority of the novel, delving into increasingly unsuitable relationships and experiencing alternating highs and lows of personal and professional success. Only in the final reel when Dex has had fatherhood thrust upon him and Em finds hidden layers in confidence through her children's novels can either character grow up and admit to the mutual attraction and the necessary compromises and strains in any relationship. In the novel we get an insight into the motivations of the central couple, experience their inner monologues each year to feel their yearning, and yet oddly it's only in the film that I fully appreciated the relationship had to wait for 17 years before it had a ghost of a chance of succeeding, that until then it would have failed.
That success lies in the casting of the central couple. Anne Hathaway has form playing the intelligent girl refusing to trade on her looks (Devil Wears Prada, to some extent Love and Other Drugs), and indeed she doesn't disappoint, underplaying the caustic Em and allowing the vulnerability to shine through. (To address the elephant in the room the accent was fine, inconsistent but only in a "I have a regional accent that I'm ashamed of" way which worked in the context of a de-politicised movie but would not have been the accent of the Trotskyite anti-war demonstrator we have in the novel). Sturgess too is on top form, humanising the frankly ghastly Dexter, a character I despised in the novel, his haunting eyes remind us through the 'Largin' It' period of ultra-excess that underneath the coke-snorting swagger there's a little boy who's lost his ability to communicate with real people.
Rafe Spall is also deservedly picking up plaudits as Emma's long term boyfriend Ian, a failed stand-up with a manic desire to please and an instinctive shuffling presence. Although like in the novel there's little explanation to why the couple ended up settling for each other as both seem to be aware there's no future in the relationship. Ken Stott also does a fine job as Dex's father, stand-offish and decidedly British the one to one he has with Dex at the end is knowing and full of acceptance of their shared experiences.
Why then, if the performances are generally so good, does this film fail? It's purely because Nicholl's has adapted it from his highly acclaimed book. Being keenly aware of the fans delight in seeing their favourite scenes and hearing their favourite quotes he over-indulges their fantasies retaining the idealised language and packing in the most delicious incidents. And whilst pronouncements such as "If I could give you just one gift, do you know what it would be? Confidence. That or a scented candle." or "I love you, Dex, so much. I just don't like you anymore." are just as delightful on the screen as you would hope the average five and a bit minutes per year gets exhausting. By messing with the timelines and reducing the number of visits, as sacrilegious as that sounds, might has eased that tension. Really what was the point of playing "Where are you Moriaty?" without any understanding of the rules or context of the game, except to please the hardcore fans, and when a year is reduced to three strokes in the pool you have to wonder why it was worth even putting up the graphic.
Spoilers in the net paragraph - I couldn't think of another way of explaining my dislike of one one plot element.
I also have a big problem with the ending of the film, no not 2006 with it's crushing inevitability, but the storyline that links 05 to 06, given the lack of time spent on Em's maternal ambitions and the weight of the final conclusion it seems like a faked pass in very poor taste.
Spoilers over now.
Lone Scherfig directs with the same crisp detachment that she made An Education but without the purposeful plot of her previous films more was needed to keep the audience engaged.
Overall whilst One Day is nice enough and a passable way to spend a lazy afternoon it can only really be considered as a disappointment to the legion of book-lovers to whom this adaptation was squarely aimed.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Contagion
It's getting really close now. As we slip into September looking at October's trailers we're getting closer and closer to this, my most anticipated movie of 2011. And whilst I was worrying over the summer about whether it could live up to my expectation, the clever marketing and nifty trailer, which promises a grotesquely real take on a global pandemic, only confirm my initial excitement for Soderbergh's latest. Take a look and tell me what you think.
Contagion is released on 21 October 2011.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Running (04/09/11)
Right now I am in agony. I don't know what I've done but my left knee has really been giving me hell over th e last couple of days, so much sop that today I had to walk for a bit. What's really annoying is that this is coming with just a week before the Marathon so I'm going to have to make a decision about whether to continue with the race (after all I shouldn't run injured). Of course looking at the knee there's nothing wrong with it, no swelling, so it's possible its all psychosomatic. Anyone out there prepared to give me some advice?
5 runs
33.3 miles
4 hours 30 minutes
So that's an average speed of 7.42 mph
Saturday, 3 September 2011
You've got to Know when to Hold 'em (Film News - 03/09/11)
It's not been much of a week for film news, even trawling through IMDb looking at new movies going into production hasn't done much to whet my appetite for upcoming cinematic events. Of course there are a couple of reasons for that. Firstly it's the last week of the summer, ending with the US Labor Day weekend and what a perfect excuse to go away and relax for a bit. We've also seen the Venice and Telluride festivals kick off with Toronto coming on their heels next week, marking the final stage of 2011, the awards baity film releases. So with publicists and creatives mixing it with the Press at a variety of exotic locations, it looks like an inopportune moment to talk about what's going to happen in a couple of years time. Of the few stories I have spotted there has been a music related theme, even if utterly tenuous, so please enjoy the inserted youtube clips, and with the choices there should be something for everyone.
The Gambler
When I first heard that Martin Scorsese, William Monahan and Leonardo DiCaprio - the director, writer and star of 2006 Oscar winning The Departed - were getting back together to remake The Gambler I immediately felt my heart leap. At last legitimacy for Kenny Rogers' most famous ballad and unnecessary TV adaptation. Alas they were talking about a different better, the 1974 Karel Reisz drama which starred James Caan as a respectable middle class professor who is controlled by his addiction to gambling.
Like all good addiction movies it traces the compulsion from a harmless hobby to when it begins to cost Caan his family, home and even his professional integrity. Indeed the famous tagline, on the poster below, says it all.
The film is loosely based on a short story by Dostoyevsky and it's unclear right now how much Monahan will stick to the original film or return to the book for inspiration, or indeed when this will slot into the three hectic slates. One questions I really want to know though is why they didn't ask Tobey Maguire, Leo's poker buddy who's currently being sued for winning illegally gained funds - essentially money laundering even though he wasn't aware of it.
By the way if you wondering if they ever will remake Kenny's story, you'd better hope not as that Gambler should be left alone with his personal miseries. Let Kenny tell you all about it:
Read on for bountiful bouquets, rejected child actors and a belted dream as well as the latest list of films heading into production.
L'Ecume des Jours
It's a bit of a non-story but due to the scarcity of exciting stuff I'm running with it anyway. Do you remember several months ago we heard about a forthcoming collaboration between bonkers French director Michel Gondry and gamine Gallic Goddess Audrey Tatou? Well, it now has a title, which I would translate but I can't find a definition of Ecume anywhere. Anyone able to help? Anyway joining Tatou will be Romaine Duris (they have a long history of starring together) in the fantastical love story with philosophical subplots and beds of flowers (it's adapted from the 1947 novel by Boris Vian, so that hasn't come from nowhere). With those elements now known suddenly this seems like a perfect vehicle for all involved.
Cameron Crowe's Kids movie/My Name is Marvin
Crowe has scotched the rumours of a Say Anything sequel this week, although if you remember I had my personal doubts from the very beginning. So of course that's led to an avalanche of alternative theories of what he might he be working on next, in spite of the six year wait we've had for We Bought a Zoo. One popular thought is he will return to the Marvin Gaye biopic (My Name is Marvin) first planned several years ago, an artist to which he is still utterly in awe of (and who can blame his). Crowe's a former music journalist, which I guess everyone who's seen Almost Famous knows and this will be a fascinating bridge between his documentary work and narrative cinema.
The most recent alternative, which he's even admitted to writing, is a kids movie based on the child actors he didn't cast in We Bought a Zoo. Read about it in this excerpt from an IFC interview.
“This woman that I work with, Gail Levin, is a great casting director. She’s always finding new faces,” he said. “The kids she found for ‘We Bought a Zoo’ are so exciting. We met with all these actors, and they would leave the room and it was a situation where I would turn to Gail and say ‘They’re not right for this one, but I want to write something where we can work with that person.’ That was the genesis for writing a whole new script which I’ve been working on while we were doing ‘We Bought a Zoo’ and finishing this Pearl Jam movie.”
Which to me does not seem like a good enough excuse to make a movie, but maybe it will showcase great talent so I shouldn't be so sniffy.
Casting News
Only one casting bit that caught my eye this week but it's such a doozy I can't imagine that any film fans weren't on the cusp cheering the news that Anne Hathaway may be joining Tom Hooper's production of Les Miserables as Fantine. The phenomenally successful musical scored by Claude-Michel Schönberg has taken an painfully slow route to the screen, surprising given it's inbuilt audience, but with the casting of Hathaway alongside Hugh Jackman who last got together at the Oscars proving they both have the lungs to knock their respective roles out of the park. Fantine is a relatively short role in the story (no spoilers here though) but she does get the most famous song "I dreamed a dream", which no doubt all of you have heard a variety of takes on it, including this version from Glee.
Production News
Very few new films moving into pre-production this month, one can only assume that August with all the school holidays and festival planning it evokes has left Hollywood short on pencil pushers ticking boxes. That said the following productions all look worth seeing. There's Robert Redford's press ethics drama The Company you Keep, which will hopefully not be spoiled by Shia LaBeouf. Thematic sci-fi Adaline has come and gone before so it may just disappear again, naval adventure Here there be Dragons which almost certainly not be Robert Zemeckis' next film and the Bret Easton Ellis scripted Bait. Yet another film that casts sharks as the bad guys as a revenge seeking nerd feeds the yuppies to them.
Sharks just want top be loved, stop hating on them Hollywood.
Eileen Brennan
Happy Birthday to
Eileen Brennan
79 today
Yay! It's a Clue related birthday. Not that I'm tempted to quote Mrs. Peacock at all, however it's great to celebrate the oscar nominated performers special day. Um... I don't really know what to say now... But if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, then we would just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence.
Friday, 2 September 2011
Deep within the suburbs there are stirrings of life (Out this week - 02/09/11)
‘Eid Mubārak to all my readers celebrating the end of Ramadan. You can tell it's that time of year because some of the biggest movies out this week will be catering to their celebratory audience, indeed I suspect this weeks Pakistani release will be in the top half of the box office figures, maybe even taking the top spot against the lacklustre competition. It's a dreadful week frankly, with a massive 15 releases only getting an average of less than 3 on the excitometer. That said there is an interesting trio of top releases which may be worth looking into headed by Greek comedy Attenberg, our film of the week.
Attenberg
Curious looking dramedy about a bored young woman, repelled by the concept of sexual contact and obsessed with synth-pop band Suicide and the documentaries of David Attenborough (whose name inspires the title). It's already garnering a cult following for it's deadpan humour and playful set-pieces.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Fright Night
Campy horror remake with Anton Yelchin discovering his mysterious neighbour Colin Farrell is a blood-sucking, teenager-abducting vampire. The delightful supporting cast includes David Tennant, Toni Collette and Chris Sarandon.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Hedgehog
The title is curious enough to have me interested and the plot synopsis, about a determined and pessimistic pre-teen who's life is turned around by two bizarre characters in her apartment block, doesn't disappoint in this Franco-Italian offering.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Kill List
Extremely well reviewed British independent horror from Ben Wheatley, the director of Down Terrace, the plot starts as a hitman taking one last job and soon turns into something far most sinister. Expect uncompromising violence with tough to take atmosphere.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Anchor Baby
Depressing looking Canadian immigration drama with the pregnancy that forms the centre of the plot really anchoring the expectant mother Joyce to US soil in the pursuit of the American dream.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Art of Getting By
Is Freddie Highmore, the child star of Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory really an adult? He must be now he's falling for Emma Roberts and trying to find his own identity threw his painting in this graduation blues romance.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Bodyguard
Traditional Bollywood actioner with Salman Khan as the titular assistant, which the reviews indicate fluffs the ending.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Bol
This will be big. A family drama set in teeming Lahore with a home full of daughters (unusual for films from Pakistan) forging the lives they want regardless of their circumstances and tribulations.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Mankatha
And the trio is complete with this Tamil thriller about a gangland killer who might also be an undercover cop, with a trailer that promises the necessary quota of car chases and explosions.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
It's broken records in Hong Kong, providing the 3D audiences the flying dagger and pert breasts the additional dimension has been calling out for. The trailer looks ghastly but I suspect it won't be the plot that draws the punters in.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Apollo 18
Found footage horror (yawn) explaining why we've never been back to the moon. It's out tomorrow and I've yet to see a single review which is probably a sign the distributers are horribly embarrassed about the quality of the picture.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
The Dead
Enough of the low-budget zombies. It was fun to start with but I'm bored of it now, especially as each new Brit indie that focuses on the undead threat seems to have less and less originality.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Robotropolis
Looking like a cheap Terminator rip off, set inside a single factory where the robotic workforce unionise for better rights and begin to exterminate the support staff.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Self Made
Curious semi-documentary, with an interesting idea that the reviews indicate has been wasted, with a group of random Londoners attending a method acting course interlaced with the short films they then make utilising their new found skills and psychological insights.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Weekender
Last week we had Powder with it's po-faced look at indie miserablism, this week it's the turn of the Madchester rave scene with bezzie mates doing what it takes to keep one step ahead of the killjoy coppers and the shady drug dealers.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Salma Hayek
Happy Birthday to
Salma Hayek
45 today
There's no denying that Salma Hayek's career is at least in part based on her obvious sex appeal. Sure she's a great actress too, but let's face it without the snake dance in From Dusk to Dawn there never would have been an oscar nominated performance in Frida. The next project for the Mexican bombshell is Oliver Stone's Savages where she'll power walk her way through the drug cartels, see the picture for an idea of how it works.
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