2011. Dir: Kenneth Branagh. Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgaard. ●●●●○
The dominance of Marvel comics over the summer schedules for 2011 has got off to a good start with the fun and gorgeously designed Thor. Hopefully for them they can keep the ball in the air with the rest of the slate which now has a lot to live up to.
The film opens with a piece of Lord of the Rings style backstory with Sir Anthony Hopkins booming out the relationship between the Norse mythology, our Godlike heroes of the film and the villainous Frost Giants. It's a tale of bloody combat with the Frost Giants virtually totally annihilated and Odin's (the king of the Gods and father to Thor) appetite for war spent. So far so medieval monarchy, you could transplant Odin for any European king in the dark ages, any anti-hero from Jacobean theatrical tradition and his motivations would be a perfect fit, suddenly the decision to hire Kenneth Branagh as director makes perfect sense.
Flash forward many centuries (the Gods appear to age slower than men, although this leaves a small plot hole where a very young Thor would not have made an impact enough to be written about by ancient Scandinavian cultures) where Thor, all smirking self-confidence and irritatingly impatient, is about to attend his coronation. A small team of Frost Giants break into the Asgardian vaults so Thor mounts a war party to seek revenge for this infringement. For this thoughtless lack of diplomacy Odin banishes his firstborn to Earth with his mighty hammer and the hope that he'll learn some humility and the concept of self-sacrifice.
The film then breaks into two parallel storylines. In one, a delightful New Mexico set comedy, Thor is getting to grips with life on Earth and falling for Astro-physicist Natalie Portman, whilst in the other Odin's other son, Loki, is plotting and schemeing his way onto the throne of Asgard.
Chris Hemsworth gives a solid central performance, cocky and unlikeable in the first act, he shows great comic timing in his interactions with the mortals and even when he's given awful dialogue (there are some strange phrases that seem neither Asgardian in tone or like someone trying to fit in) he commits so much it works. When he goes into a pet shop it's a great comic scene that sells the character and his relationship with the world around him. Plus he is extraordinarily cut. Portman doesn't have much to do, sure she comes across much better than most Marvel heroines, clearly able to hold her own intellectually with the rest of the characters and doesn't have a scene where she needs to be rescued, however she mainly spouts unlikely scientific statements and builds up a desire for Thor. The other earthbound cast are fine, Stellan Skarsgaard and Kat Dennings as Portman's colleagues are great value, with the former particularly struggling to keep a straight face.
There are so many characters in Asgard few of them get enough of an opportunity to build character, only Tom Hiddleston's Loki with his multiple Machiavellian schemes (it's truly difficult to keep track on what he's actually doing) displays any conflicting emotion and whilst he did the job well here I think there's more and better work coming from the young Brit. Idris Elba, as gatekeeper Heimdall, was wasted in a role that promised much but I suspect was left partly on the cutting room floor. On that note at 114 minutes, including a pointless post credits extra scene with Samuel L. Jackson; just pointing the way to The Avengers heavyhanded given the few chucklesome mentions of other characters which had slipped in the script ("Is that Stark technology?", "I have a colleague working on Gamma Radiation" etc.), the time flew by and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a significant number of deleted scenes once the DVD roles around.
Branagh shows a sure hand with the comic and Asgard formal scenes, clearly using all his experience from adapting Shakespeare, and he is surprisingly adept with the action set-pieces I found I knew exactly what was going on during them, however there is a slight issue with the character, if you know Thor cannot be killed as he is a God then the tension is drained. Only the final battle in Asgard surprised me in it's conclusion, and it's clearly open for a sequel I just hope that possibility isn't just dusted over in The Avengers.
My major complaint about Thor is the totally unnecessary 3D filming. Not only does very little happen that justifies the additional expense, but the murkiness of watching through glasses totally ruins the spectacular design of Asgard. I can honestly say that watching the trailer on my cheap laptop was a superior experience because of the bright and crisp colours that watching the print at the cinema. Alexandra Byrne's costumes and Bo Welch's production design deserve so much more than showing the film in 3D.
Overall I'd say Thor is well worth the trip to the cinema. Sure it's no X2 but it's a fun comic book adaptation with some fine performances that will keep you entertained throughout. That said do your best to watch in 2D.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Thor
Richard Jenkins
Happy Birthday to
Richard Jenkins
64 today
He's been around for years, paying his dues in television, stage and screen (including a minor role in Hannah and her Sisters) but it took an ethereal but very human role of the deceased patriach in "Six Feet Under" for Jenkins to really be noticed by casting directors. Sinc then he's been a highlight in many movies, earning his first Oscar nomination for 2007's The Visitor. Coming soon are shaggy dog tale Darling Companion and, at the other end of the scale, card game con artists gangster movie Cogan's Trade.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Senna
Can you believe there isn't a single June release that interests me this year. Frankly it's going to be good to have a break from regular trips to the movies, unless something really surprising comes along. I was considering posting a trailer for one of the big hitters, maybe giving my prediction for which film will take the box office crown or win critical plaudits for the month. Will it be X-Men First Class, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Green Lantern, The Beaver or Bad Teacher all of which look like they could bring in solid business or inspire some positive write-ups. In the end though I'm going to show the trailer for a British documentary about a Brazilian that just may become one of the leading contenders for an Oscar nod at the end of the year. Plus I'm a bit of a petrolhead and clearly remember that fateful race in May 1994.
Senna is released on 03 June 2011.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Theodore Bikel
Happy Birthday to
Theodore Bikel
87 today
Actor/musician Bikel is probably best remembered for his dogged but good natured sheriff chasing Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones, or as his virtual cameo in My Fair Lady as the one expert they really need to dupe. What you probably don't know is that he's a keen folk musician and recorded a number of folk albums over the years. Here he is just last year:
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Running (01/05/11)
Not a fantastic week really, least distance in 6 weeks and yet the speed was down on last week. To be perfectly honest I think it's being back in Manchester, as I'm alone in the house there's no-one to go home and gloat about my time to. (Pathetic, isn't it). On the plus side I am now at the top end of the BMI healthy weight range. I'm now 11 stone 4 lbs, which means I've lost 36 lbs in 13 weeks, which I think is pretty impressive.
5 runs
20.1 miles
2 hours 57 minutes
So that's an average speed of 6.82 mph
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Truth and fiction (Film News - 30/04/11)
It started off quite slow this week, with very few stories capturing my imagination and when one did come along I wasn't too sure whether it was true in the first place. Oddly though that element of whether the story was real or fiction actually struck me more than the story itself. This links to an interesting discussion on the Slash Film podcast a couple of weeks ago about the development of internet news. Essentially the crux of the argument was that the range and breadth of film news sites, and the growth of 24 hour news culture means that there's a desperate need to be the first with the stories and commentary has a habit of being treated as fact without the due journalistic veracity. The team cited several internet rumours that ended up being treated as true before any fact-checking had taken place. The full discussion can be heard here. By the way if you're not a regular listener then I suggest you do start getting it, I don't always agree with the guys and their preference for blockbusters and exploitation cinema (at least in the films they discuss) can be a little wearing but it's usually worth a listen for their insightful commentary.
As a nod towards that idea of most stories coming to nothing, whilst being perfectly aware that only between 30-40% of the movie projects I mention actually get made, and as a tribute to 50 years of the UK betting shop I'm going to give my own odds for each of the news stories that caught my eye of ever making it to a cinema near you. Starting with the story that began it all:
Secret Door
Last weekend a tweet, reportedly from American Zoetrope (the production company set up by Francis Ford Coppola), announced Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst would be teaming up for their 3rd collaboration. 10 pages from the script, which indicated it was set in 1940's Paris and concerned three depressed and existential characters, were also released. Within hours the story was viral, appearing on many reputable news sites including empireonline and The Playlist.
By the end of the week this turned out to be complete rubbish - there's no word on who created this story or why (seriously who is aching for Dunst to play a suicidal French woman enough to pen a script and fake a twitter account?) - but all of the major players have said it's not true. 
Both of Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst's previous collaborations, The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette (above) have been fascinated movies so I will confess I was hoping this story had some truth in it.
Odds of getting made: 200-1. It's possible the hoax is a hoax, the whole project is real, and Sofia just wants a little privacy in putting it together. More likely the entire internet was over-excited about nothing.
Read on for paranoid elves, inadequate serial killers, strippers, scams and a chance to go back and make thongs right. As well as the latest in UK release date news.
Amnesty
Ron Howard and regular producing partner Brian Grazer have optioned the Max Landis script which is described as a mix between Lord of the Rings and The Bourne trilogy. Landis is, of course, the son of John and is clearly building a reputation as a script writer of genre fare (horror pic Chronicle is currently in pre-production) although is has to be said this particular high concept seems to big to really work.
Odds of getting made: 50-1. Ron Howard's a bit of a sink-hole for new projects, buying up scripts then burying them in development woes. The subject matter also seems far too far fetched to actually work.
The Hive
Camp master Joel Schumacher, of Batman sequel fame, is putting together a quickie thriller pitting an emergency services operator against a killer from her past to save a young girl's life. Clearly the killer hasn't been that successful in the past either. Generally Schumacher does better with these low-key thrillers than with bigger films - see Phone Booth for example - so this might have the sort of dark effective aesthetic to keep us on the edge of our seats. That said it's being written by Rich D'Ovidio whose past credits include Thirteen Ghosts and Exit Wounds so I might be being over optimistic. Also I'm not sure how the plot relates to a hive, but for the sake of keeping the post colourful I have included a picture of the inside of a beehive to the left.
Odds of getting made: 2-3. Tragically this is the most likely of this weeks stories to be made. Easy to make, script finished, director willing to make any old crap.
Magic Mike
Great news this week for teenage girls and creepy older guys in dirty macs, Channing Tatum will return to his stripper past (see below for the evidence) for a movie that is partly based on his experiences. The story will revolve around an older stripper (Tatum) passing on his accumulated wisdom and patented baby oil secrets to a new kid on the block, with the idea that the movie will expose the sleazy and gritty elements of the Chippendale industry. Tatum's Haywire director Steven Soderbergh will be directing the project, and therefore holding off his impending retirement for just a little while longer.
Odds of getting made: 5-1. Soderbergh usually makes the films he says he's going to make, although it can often take a while. The idea of a movie involving Channing Tatum stripping should also get the punters in so everyone's happy.
Ponzi's Scheme
Ponzi Schemes are a little bit difficult to explain, but ultimately they work by using the money from new investors to pay back old investors but without any real organisational activity, you then borrow from one investor to pay another. Providing you are getting new investors then the older investors (and the creator) will profit but once the investors dry up the whole process collapses in on itself. Invented by Italian immigrant to America Charles Ponzi at the turn of the 20th century these schemes have been operating pretty consistently over the last 100 years. So it's no surprise that a film of his life is being planned.
At this point Milos Forman, the oscar winning director of Amadeus and The People vs. Larry Flynt, is attached to work from a script by Mitchell Zuckoff. This sort of flawed hero is exactly the kind of guy Forman gravitates to however his rate of working has never been quick, barely hitting 3 films a decade, and he's an old man now, so don't expect this one any time soon.
Odds of getting made: 66-1. Whilst interesting this isn't really a story that is absolutely begging to be told, and Forman probably isn't in a rush at 80 to make another movie.
Replay
The time travel comedy, about a 40 something who gets the chance to give his younger self some great advice thereby improving his own life, was first mentioned here in connection to Ben Affleck's post Town directorial options however he's chosen Argo so it's moved on to Robert Zemeckis, who has form in time travel movies. Whether the story ends up being as fun as Back to the Future (below) or, as I previously suggested, feels like a knock off of 17 Again remains to be seen.
Odds of getting made: 3-1. It's the sort of story that does reasonably well at the box office, but don't be surprised if there's another director change before it gets made.
Release Schedules
Even the release schedules, which should give us plenty to think about over a five week month, have remained depressingly static, with just a couple of new movies hitting the forthcoming schedules.
The Skin I live In - I've heard slightly conflicting accounts of the plot in Pedro Almodovar's long awaited team-up with Antonio Banderas. Will this be a revenge fantasy, or a study of a man obsessed, or maybe both. We'll soon know from Cannes, but still a couple of months before most of us mortals will catch it. Develop new medical technologies on 26 August 2011.
Melancholia - Another movie, set to debut at the Cannes festival in a couple of weeks, is Lars von Trier end of the world movie as seen through the point of view of two sisters, now coming in the early autumn. Let planets collide on 30 September 2011.
The Descendants - It's not the first film to stake out a release date in the middle of the Oscar season, but I think it's fair to say Alexander Payne's Sideways follow-up is probably a strong contender in next years field. Re-connect with your children on 20 January 2012.
Frankenweenie - The March release date always seemed a little bit optimistic for Tim Burton's latest foray into stop motion animation, so it's not surprise to see this shift where it's currently the furthest ahead (over 520 days) I'm looking at any films release. Resurrect your pet on 05 October 2012.
Perhaps more interesting than these changes has been the DVD releases over the last few weeks, essentially the month of the long, straight to DVD, knives. Unsurprisingly, given the even smaller name recognition on this side of the pond, wrestling flop The Chaperone starring Triple H hasn't made it to cinemas. Nor has Wes Craven's other return to the slasher flick My Soul to Take which was due to be released in January then just disappeared. Most surprisingly of all is the straight to video release of Love Ranch the brothel drama that saw Helen Mirren collaborating with hubby Taylor Hackford, and was in my most anticipated movies list in 2009 and 2010. It's a real shame.
Cloris Leachman
Happy Birthday to
Cloris Leachman
85 today
Even in her mid eighties Cloris' career is still going strong, thanks at least in part to a lucrative stint on "Dancing with the Stars" and her recent chucklesome performance in New York, I Love you. Of course none of the films she has coming up in any way appeal to me, but it's good to see there's plenty of work out there for this clever character actress.
Friday, 29 April 2011
By Odin's Beard (Out this week - 29/04/11)
Summer's Here!!! We know this not because certain birds are singing, or flowers budding, or even the increasing temperature, but becuase the cinema schedules tell us so. The first of the tentpole movies has been unleased onto the unsuspecting movie public today (although actually it's been on at UK cinemas since Monday) and what with the positive reviews, and the fact that it's the one comic book adaptation this year that interests me, I'm going to say the movie of the week is Thor.
Thor
Marvel have cornered this end of the blockbuster season, with the Norse God taking over the spot from Iron Man last year, even the marketing here in the UK has emphasised this is from the same studio. Chris Hemsworth is the headline but quality supporting turns from Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins should be expected.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●○○○
Cedar Rapids
Indie comedy starring Ed Helms ("The Office", Hangover) as a naive insurance salesman sent to the annual insurance convention. Unfortunately he meets up with other, less strait-laced colleagues - including John C. Reilly - who slowly begin to push him towards an inevitable breakdown. Sigourney Weaver also stars.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Farewell
True life spy story about the eponymously codenamed Russian who slipped secrets to his CIA counterparts in 1981. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica plays our anti-hero with Guillame Canet, Willem Dafoe and Fred Ward among those using his info to good use. Solid looking movie that highlights a lesser-known element of the closing of the cold war.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
I Saw the Devil
Kim Jee-woon flips genre's agian with this Korean revenge movie to end all Korean revenge movies. The plot essentially involves a cop who repeated captures and tortures a killer before letting him go and starting the process again. Expect lots of gore.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Insidious
Original Saw director James Wan has teamed up with Paranormal Activity producer for a derivative horror that's still managed to make back something like 30 times it's budget in US cinemas alone. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne have a haunted son, Barbara Hershey comes along for the ride.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Chalo Dilli
A Bollywood version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles with a cool headed female protagonist finding herself travelling with the ladies man from hell. Akshay Kumar has a supporting role which should guarantee a crowd.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Shadow
Italian horror movie, that's taken a couple of years to secure a UK release. Concerns a young soldier on a biking expedition running into some unsavoury locals who like nothing more than chopping up strangers. You have to wonder if there really are weidos like that in every rural space?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Tracker
Ray Winston is a Boer (who does this casting?) paid to find Maori murder suspect Temeura Morrison in this UK/New Zealand co-production. That's a great combo of actors and the film hints at British war atrocities during the empire's heyday however there's a definite sense of familiarity over the whole project.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Veteran
Messy looking british movie about an Afganistan vet (Toby Kebbell) finding it difficult to adjust to life in the council estates following his repatriation. It all ends in mass gunfights with marauding hoodies and Brian Cox. Unlikely to be a subtle investigation into the struggles our troops face.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Naturally I missed a couple out from last week:
Island
Janet McTeer, Colin Morgan and Natalie Press are the torn apart family rediscovering each other and working through their differences in this drama set on a lonely Scottish island.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Ko
Tamil movie that opens with a bank heist and from then on proverbial really hits the fan. Frankly Tamil releases are even harder to find a synopsis for than other Bollywood entries and the trailers bonkers crazy so that's all I can give you.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Celeste Holm
Happy Birthday to
Celeste Holm
94 today
To anyone who suggests that the glamour of old Hollywood is gone I would like to remind you that Celeste, star of Gentleman's Agreement and All About Eve is not just still alive but still working in her nineties. And any headshot with pearls on just screams glamour to me.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Mary McDonnell
Happy Birthday to
Mary McDonnell
59 today
One of the biggest disappointments about Scream 4 was the criminal underuse of the talented and reliable Mary McDonnell as Sidney's aunt and mother to the new generation's protagonist Emma Roberts. Don't get me wrong she did a great job wih only half a dozen lines, but I can't help feeling some character development ended on the cutting room floor. Poor choice from the editor there.
