Films

The Reader

2009-01-17T10:43:00.000-08:00

Day three, film three. On the third day and the second attempt I saw 'The Reader' (the multiplex showing was sold out so we went to an independent cinema). With Kate Winslet winning the golden globe the other night expectation should be high. But Kermode and Empire both gave it average reviews. I my little world that makes things about even. Again.

First the bad things, of which there are a few. Firstly the pace, this is something that Empire and Kermode moaned about. On another day I might not have been so patient. Then there is the german accents. With half the cast being german this could be the reason for it. Still it's annoying. And it leads me to my final complaint. This is a film that is hoping to win awards, it's not some paint-by-numbers hollywood popcorn movie. So why does it treat it's audience like simpletons? The german accents certainly aren't required for the story. Given the subject matter we aren't going to forget where we are. A major plot point is a trail against former nazi death camp workers. A survivor testifies at the trial, so we know that she is Jewish. Later in the film we are in her apartment, and straight away there is a chanukah (jewish candle thing) in the middle of shot. Then she tells us about how her mother died in Israel. We get it, she is jewish. Again the dialog doesn't exactly give you a chance to forget.

Now on the the good. The story is fantastic, and Winslet is great. I mean they are both amazing. Really, really good. Even with the complains above I still loved this film. I could see how it could drag if you weren't in the mood. But if you are in the mood then it's worth every minute and certainly worth going to two cinemas to see it.

Che: Part One

2009-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Day two, film two. The day is tuesday, the film is Che: Part 1. Having not heard a review of this yet and with the Globes passing it by (Del Toro is superb) Che had less to live up to than Slumdog. On writing the last sentence I realised something. Che Guevara is the poster boy for a generation of wannabe marxists and the most famous none English speaking political Hero (he isn't my hero but I know a lot of people for who he is). So fair is fair I guess. Che and Slumdog follow a similar style of story telling. Che flicks between the big man's meeting with the UN and the revolutionary war in Cuba. Where as Slumdog switchs between the present day events surrounding the show and the life of the Slumdog himself. But were as Slumdog races out of the blocks at a million miles an hour and doesn't slow down, Che takes its time. Even during the fight scenes there is no rush to a climax.

The film is very much about the man and how he came to be respected and idolised the way he is. It shows how he was calm a capable whatever was thrown at him. Be it the UN, the war wounded, or gunfire and grenades. As I said Del Toro is brilliant, from the first minute he commands the screen and your attention. Want to watch part two as soon as soon as possible.

If you are willing to sit through two hours of war and all round hard times then it is certainly worth it. If you can't sit through that then go watch bride wars and don't bother complaining.

P.s. I'm watching the footie tomorrow so there won't be a film till thursday. I'm as sad as you.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

Day one, film one. The day is Monday, the film is Slumdog Millionaire. Given the Golden Globe results last night I was expecting a lot from Danny Boyles latest effort (also due to all the other praise that as been awarded to this film).I feel I should confess before we get started. I'm not the mans biggest fan, always struggle to care for his characters and struggle to stick with the plot all the way through. Feel that he doesn't build tension well, just starts off at quite a high level and sticks with it. I'm worn out 3/4 of the way through and checking my watch.

This is both my review of slumdog millionaire and all other Danny Boyle films (excluding 28 days later which is fantastic). Which makes me think I'm missing something. I really liked the start of the film with the kids, reminded me of City of God, the innocence of children conquering everything. But by the end I wasn't sat there wanting the happy ending, more waiting for it. Solid 7/10, fun but not fantastic.

Week of Films

2009-01-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

This week I will be returning to edinburgh for the coming term. As such I will regain the ability to watch new films (at home the only cinema near by is a family cinema and as such can't show anything good). To celebrate this fact I will try to go to the cinema every night for a week. With films like The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire, Defiance, and Che: Part 1 showing this will not only be easy but it will also be enjoyable. Might try and report back after every film or just do a Kermode style sum up at the end of the week. This plan will either result in me giving up on films altogether or falling deeper into a anti-social addiction to award season films. Which one results in a win for society i'm not sure, but having an excuse to be anti-social does make things easier.

Pub argument about The Dark Oscar Winner

2009-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

I think I was one of the few people that didn't feel infinite sympathy for Heath Ledger upon the announcement of his suicide last year. It isn't that I didn't like him as a person or respect him as an actor, in fact I quite liked him, it is that suicide is irresponsible, specially for a father. That might seem cold but it is still a crime and many religions agree that you shouldn't take your own life. And this is where the Oscar talk comes in. Ledger's Joker was fantastic, ten times Jack Nicholson's camp performance. I'm not saying Ledger will only get nominated/win because he died. I'm saying that people will talk about his (or not) nomination/win because he died. And this makes it hard for me to fish out who is serious and who is a sheep.

If you haven't guessed by now the topic of Ledger and the Oscars came up at the pub the other night. As did the question "So if not Ledger, then who?" Which caused me a few problems. All I could come up with was Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges and Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War. I didn't do very well (Hoffman got that nomination last year). I did much better with why I couldn't.

It was friday night when we talked about this and as such I hadn't had chance to watch any of this weeks films. Including "The Reader". Add "The Wrestler", "Che: Part One", "Milk", "Frost/Nixon", "Revolutionary Road", and "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button". Also "In Doubt" (But not "Changeling" as I was very disappointed with it) as the Globes have Hoffman down as in a supporting role. This list is not only Oscar fodder but also yet to be released in the UK. This is the problem with talking about Oscars now, it's way too early.

Back to the Golden Globes and I have another problem. Ledgers competition. Two of the other nominees are for tropic thunder. That is they believe that five of the films on the list above have nothing to offer in terms of supporting men to compete with tropic thunder. There is a reason that the Globes are before then Oscars, publicity. Hopefully this year they can have another purpose, giving the Ledger sheep the token offering they require.

Movie Mash Ups.

2008-12-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

Just flicked through a few of these shoe based movie mash ups. Some are a bit crap, some genius. Anyway, if you're got a few minutes it's worth a look.

Empire Jan 09: What I've learnt.

2008-12-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

Off the front cover there were four things that got me excited. Firstly, Public Enemies. Looks great, like a good untouchables (I know that will annoy some people, sorry). However I never was sure how much the 30's setting of the untouchables put me off it as a film (Sean Connery and De Niro put me off a lot that is for sure). I'm certain that this will not be anything like heat, but not in a bad way. It will be good. Bloody good. Hopefully it will be more about the characters and the story than the time and the place. Films that define places and eras and don't care about being interesting wind me up no end.

Frost/Nixon. Still as excited. It looks amazing. It looks like detail to the truth is important. Not as important as displaying a spectacle, which is what the interview was (so I've read, not being alive and all). Couldn't be better timing box office wise too. With everyone talking US politics this should make a killing, which makes me happy.

Wolverine. Well, yeah. Still excited but not desperate. If someone offered me a copy of Frost/Nixon or Public Enemies right now I'd tear their hand off (the same applies to Doubt and benjamin button to lesser extents). I'm just more than happy to wait for the release to crawl around. I know it will be good just it's not going to change my life. In any way. At all.

Ghostbusters. It might happen, is the BIG news. Nothing worth blogging about let alone putting on the front page.

Is it just me or can the Dark Knight be put to bed already. It has been released on DVD now, why am I still reading about it? Is it's empire's new star wars (which has a massive article on Holiday Special AND an half page bit Clone Wars. Get over it!)? It's not going to win any oscars. It was good, but not godfather good. Gets seven pages. WTF? And Hugh Jackman. He gets a million pages thanks to Wolverine and Australia (which I couldn't be less excited about). A little diversity goes a long way. I enjoy reading empire in several little sessions before bed, but I don't want to have to read a bit about Hugh every night. Nor do I want a Hugh-fest one night either. He is not that interesting (yet).

Back on the positives and oscars are on their way. I take the awards quiet seriously, they affirm my opinions (head grows even bigger). And the oscar candidates look good. The Wrestle, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, Frost/Nixon, Che, Benjamin Button, The Reader and Changeling (which I've still not seen, see the post 'flu'). With all these films heading to the cinema in the next 3 months I'm a happy chappy. The Golden globe noms are out. Britain has a good showing. In Bruges has three.

Lesbian Vampire Killers looks terrible but the teenage boy in me will make me watch it. That and the fact it will give me the chance to have a good debate (read argument) with my feminist, vegan friend who will find it degrading.

Flu: The Gift and The Curse

2008-12-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

I've been busy over the last weeks. Work and partying in equal measures. After a long week and one hell of a friday night I sat, with what a thought was just a deserved hangover, and had a ponder. Post ponder and my plan was no more booze this week outside of watching football. This meant more time for getting my ass to the cinema. I was happy. As the saturday dragged on and I waited for the 5:30 game I started to notice something was amiss. Sure I've woken up with a sore throat and no voice before, but this was more. Nose full to bursting and the acute pain of the hangover headache being replaced by the dull thud of a head cold. Flu was on its way.

Monday morning, having not left the flat since friday. Woke up feeling terrible but dragged myself out of bed to the office. Two hours later and I'm on my way back home again. Where I've stayed till now. But what to do with myself? Watch films of course.

The Gift. The great thing about flu is that once you accept that you are useless then you just have to stick it out. Plant yourself in bed or on the sofa and do nothing*. The asterisks here signifies nothing that can't be done without leaving your bed/sofa. Perfect for watching films. Six in three days to be exact.

The curse. Other than the being ill that is, is two fold. Communication. Having watched the best, worst, or any in between film is only so satisfying if you can't blabber on about it to a like-minded individual. Which is hard. You can't talk so you can't talk to people. And unless you have infected all your mates then you can't chat online (if you are so inclined). Overdose. Two films a day is not that special, we have all done rocky/star wars/godfather/alien/LOTR/... marathons in our time. But to repeat this day after day after day is, well numbing. Not that I didn't enjoy watching the films it's just things didn't stand out as much. Except that is for Juno. If it is the soundtrack, which I was addicted to for a while, or that I genuenly love the film I'm not sure. But Juno stood out. Today I'm aim to watch just the one film. Thank you for smoking.

Kolja and Caos Calmo/Czech and Italian Jack and Sarah/Subtitle headache

2008-12-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

I went to see Kolya last night entirely on a friends recommendation. I fact I found out later that it was on the recommendation of a friend of a friend. So I wasn't expecting much. What I got was a Czech Jack and Sarah. But where Sarah is a five year old boy who doesn't speak the language and Jack is a fifty year old womanising musician who married the mother in a sham for money. And replace posh bit of london with hard times in Russian controlled Czech Republic. It is the grandmother who dies and the mother escapes to west germany. As the boy is russian the Man's mother won't help him so he turns instead to the long list of notches on his bed post. The old bloke changes his ways and the boy grows to love his step father. The film is obvious but never gets cheesy and doesn't bottle it with the ending.

Instead of leaving the cinema after watching the film like normal people me a my friend hung around for a bit to eat. As we were finishing eating a showing of Calm Chaos was starting. Why not? we thought. Strangely this film can also be described in terms of Jack and Sarah. After a trip to the beach with his movie star brother, during which they both save a woman's life, italian Jack returns home to find his wife dead and his distraught daughter asking why hand he not answered his mobile. Italian Jack seems to handle the whole thing very well except for promising his daughter to wait for her outside the school gate all day everyday. Although people notice this is a bit odd no one appears to want him to stop it. While italian Jack keeps his cool everyone else around him seems to be losing it. We see this through an increasingly bizarre series of meetings mainly in the park outside his daughters school. The peak of the weirdness comes in two scenes. When italian jack returns home to find his brother smoking crack, argues about it and then joins in, and when italian Jack has gratuitous and uncomfortable sex with the woman he save at the beginning. What I'm getting at is that this film seemed to just be a series of odd events with nothing particular to say. Also 50 year old Czech Jack had more charisma then italian Jack.

One good film followed by one not so good one, both sharing parts of their plot with Jack and Sarah. And both having crap subtitles. I'm not talking about the accuracy of the translation (I don't speak Czech of Italian) but the way in which they are displayed. Normally I have no problems with subtitles and I'm still sure that they are a million times better than the best dubbing. But why did both films choose a font so tricky to read at speed? Anyone who word processes anything will know that there are certain fonts for showing your style and certain fonts for reading. So I'm left assuming that the font selection was deliberate as a means of conveying style or meaning. But this doesn't add up either. Firstly I think what's being said will convey more style than the way it's written so make it as readable as possible. Secondly I doubt any film worth translating sticks with just the one style all the way through. Finally I'm sure that any statement you are trying to make with your font style will be lost in the course of the film as there is nothing to compare it to.

So, film makers, distributors or whoever is in charge of the subtitling of films. Choose your fonts carefully, that is if you want people to know what the actors are saying.

TDP: The Lives of Others

2008-11-29T05:22:00.000-08:00

Having a film like the lives of others on the list was always going to cause problems. I wanted to watch this film from the first time I heard about it. But when are you in the mood for a Stasi based thriller? By a stroke of luck two of my friends, one German, one Austrian, were in a similar position. Both knew about the film but had like myself had missed it on its release. This was perfect. My knowledge of european politics is terrible and having watch the Baader-Mienhof Komplex a week ago I was eager to learn.

I saw the film like a Shakespearean tragedy. At the start of the film all the main players are in near full support of the incumbent political system. With only a sniff of corruption and rebellion. Subtly but surely the fabric starts to unwind. The three leads are brilliant. The Stasi office is outstanding. My only complaint with the film would be the final 10 minutes. Which take place after the wall has come down and are quite melodramatic, unbelievable and really makes light out of the tension that the film builds. Although I must add that having two people who knew a lot about the issues on hand to talk to afterwards was a great help to understanding where the film was accurate and where it took liberties.

Would I recommend the film? Yes, to everyone. Especially someone with an interest in the subject.

Yes I did like this film and I will certainly watch it again. Just as soon as I find a pair of german speaking central europeans affected by the soviet influence in post war politics.

Empire Jan 09

2008-11-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Having just picked up my copy of the new EMPIRE film magazine I'm quite excited. The cover is packed. Here are the most exciting bits in order of excitement.

1) Public Enemies (a.k.a. Heat II) : Michael Mann's new film staring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.

2) Frost/Nixon : Certainly the most exciting film of next year.

3) Wolverine : Everyones favorite X-mans origin story.

4) Ghostbusters 3

Will be back soon with more on the issue once I've had a chance to read it. Must watch Ghostbusters this weekend.

TDP: Syriana

2008-11-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

Part two in story of 'the dvd pile': Part four, Syriana. First I feel like I should justify way Syriana is in the pile. I bought it a long time ago having heard good things about it. Sadly I was in a bit of a ADHD mood the day I sat down to watch it. This meant that after the first 15 minutes hadn't grasped my entire attention I started messing around and very quickly I was barely watching the film at all. Once it had finish I just assumed that I was the films fault for being dull not mine for being hyperactive. This time around I had spent an hour playing football earlier so hopefully I would be more subdued.

I'd sum up Syriana as a subtle Crash about the oil business instead of racism. But did I like it? Would I recommend it? and will I watch it again? These really are the questions that tell you everything about how you feel about a film.

I did like it, but I didn't love it. It's certainly very well made and the story is top class. The acting can't really be faulted, but there is the question of why Clooney got fat for the part. But everything is too subdued, it feels as if you are watching from a distance. There are a few times in the film where really huge things happen and we don't seem to pause at all to take it in. The pace of the film just continues at exactly the same rate. Which means that the ending, which is thought provoking and exactly right for the film, is rushed over with no time to savour it.

Would I recommend it? Yes, to almost everyone. The eco friendly message of the film isn't rammed down your throat like an inconvenient truth. Also I think my problems with it a possibly just a matter of taste. And I think I will watch it again. I get a strong impression that you see more this film the more I will see in it. Just got to think of a name for the pile it is going into.

Here is the imdb page.

The dvd pile

2008-11-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

Having just watched another film from my dvd pile I wanted to write about it. First I thought it best to share the story behind my dvd pile.

I while back a was at a bit of a loose end so I decided to watch a dvd. The problem was what to watch. With me having had a severe case of dvd-buying addiction for quite some time I had a lot of choice on my hands. Too much choice. So instead of watching a dvd I instead created a 'too watch pile' of films I felt I should be watching. This meant no guilty pleasures, no top gun, no anchorman, nothing I could quote from at all. But this still left things way too open. Time to get serious. Out went films I loved and films I could recite the whole cast along with their characters name. Casino gone, seven gone, pulp fiction gone. What was I left with? A bunch of films that I considered average and films that I simply hadn't got round to seeing at all. I was proud of myself. I some strange way I felt as if I hadn't wasted any time. In fact, with all the time this would save me looking in future I'd actually made time.

A few days later and I'm bored again. Perfect time to get started on my newly created dvd pile. I was eager and smug but that wouldn't last. I had the unwanted task of selecting a film that I didn't really want to watch. Because if I really wanted to watch it them it would be in the pile. This was going to be harder than I thought. So I gave up and suffered through so crap on tv instead. Not feeling so proud any more.

Thankfully the next time I confronted the pile I managed to pick one. Pan's Labyrinth.