This is why I love YouTube and hate Yahoo Movies.
Whenever a new trailer gets released over at Yahoo I can never watch it, mainly because my shite Telecom broadband cannot even handle streaming an SD version of the trailer, so I have to resort to YouTube. Still, you can find pretty much anything you're looking for on that site and it only took me a couple of minutes and there I had the first trailer for Michel Gondry's latest flick, 'Be Kind Rewind'.
If I wasn't excited about the project beforehand.. I am wetting my pants with anticipation now! It looks to be a little bit more mainstream friendly than his earlier efforts yet still retains that bizarre and quirky artistry that has won him fans all over the world. Seriously - can a pitch get any better than this movie? (two video store clerks have to remake a bunch of famous movies because they accidentally wiped them all) Jack Black and Mos Def look like they might have some great chemistry together and I cannot wait for this one.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sunshine
So I unexpectedly got a half day at work today - and what did I do? You bet, I watched a movie. Now while I have only seen one of the previous weeks releases I was far more interested in seeing the ones that came out today and one of them happened to be on my 'must see' list for the year. That movie is 'Sunshine', the latest feature from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later). I have always been a fan of his - LOVE Trainspotting and like 28 Days Later so was intrigued to see what he would bring to the table for a sci-fi genre film.After watching it, it's clear that Boyle has used his experience with 28 Days Later to give us a near classic sci-fi thriller that is let down by a preposterous third act. A lot of people have called it 'Alien meets 2001' which I think is pretty spot on. The whole way through the film you will be on the edge of your seat, always with a sense of unease that disaster is just around the corner. Not many directors can manage to create that nailbiting tension - the sort of tension that is still around even in the most banal of scenes and I applaud Boyle for his use of close-ups, blur effects and an excellent score.
With a movie about one object - you wouldn't think the imagery would be one of the best things about the movie but Boyle suceeds in showing off how truly magical the Sun's beauty can be. Take for example the scene where Searle asks to have the observation room filtered to 3.1% of the Sun's true brightness. He's only allowed 30 seconds before lasting retina damage but the beauty it brings has an almost ethereal quality to it. I can see why they named the ship Icarus, after the fictional Icarus who fell to his death after flying too close to the Sun in order to better appreciate it's majesty.
While the plot for his latest movie is lifted straight from your run-of-the mill disaster flicks (It's 2057 and the Sun is dying - fast. A crew of 8 have been sent on the Icarus II to re-ignite the Sun before it's too late) he manages to distinguish this sci-fi disaster flick from the rest of them by having an ensemble cast that actually works well together and speaking lines that don't carry A grade cheese with them. Boyle wanted the cast to act as if they had been crampt in with each other for a very long time (They have been away from Earth for 16months) and in order to achieve this he got the principle actors to spend a couple of weeks in almost jailcell like conditions with communal living quarters - the whole shebang. It definately shows in the performances, with Cillian Murphy as the physicist and Chris Evans as the engineer peforming particularly well. There's something about Cillian's eyes which are totally disarming - they have a piercing and unreadable quality to them. I must also single out Cliff Curtis as the ships psychologist - I didn't detect the grating kiwi accent once. Oh and there's always the delightful Rose Byrne, providing some eye candy as the mission's pilot.
The desire to have the cast act as a believable crew was part of a larger goal for 'Sunshine' to shy away from the Star Wars and Star Trek world of Sci-fi and portray a plausible fiction. For the most part Sunshine acheives this sense of reality but there is a major problem in the third act when we are greeted with a bizarre plot twist from way out of left field which will alienate a lot of viewers. I won't give it away but it involves the Icarus I (Their ship wasn't called Icarus II for no reason). For all the scientific plausibility of the film it gets shot down by this ridiculous conclusion. I also didn't really love the ending - I don't know whether it's just me but when I watch movies like The Core (god I can't believe I am referencing that movie in a review or even acknowledging I saw it) or Deep Impact etc I like my endings to be full of spectacle and this one was a bit of an anticlimax. I can see where the director was coming from with the shot he closed with but I was hoping for something with a little more spark.
Would I reccomend seeing it? Definately, it's the best sci-fi to come out this year by a long way - a lot better than The Fountain which was too pretentious for its own good. Just be prepared to be let down a little by the ending.
A weak 4/5.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Movie Update: WCS and Junebug
So I have finally got back into my more regular movie watching habits - none of this 1 movie a week rubbish. I admit I was a bit jaded and all movie'd out for a while but now I am right back in there and can't get enough - only the fact it costs $14 to see each movie is deterring me from seeing anymore than 3 movies at this years World Cinema Showcase.
On Wednesday night I saw Black Snake Moan, the latest movie from director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow). Set in the deep South the movie revolves around a recently seperated black man, Lazarus (Jackson) who spends his days tending to his farm and listening to the blues. His routine is interrupted when he comes into contact with Rae who is left lying on the side of the road after being badly beaten by one of her lovers. Lazarus quickly learns the girl is deeply troubled, mainly with a rather bad case of nymphomania. He decides the best way to cure her of this dreadful disease is to tie her up to his radiator with a great big fuckoff chain. While she doesn't keep the chain on for that long it does make for some rather humourous scenes - especially when the local pastor comes round for dinner.
I didn't totally dig the film but I loved bits and pieces, like the scene where Lazarus plays the blues at the local joint to a rapturous crowd. Ricci gives an amazing performance as the nymphomaniac Rae, her Addams Family days are definately way behind her now. Also of note is Justin Timberlake, who gives a decent performance as her estranged lover/would be husband. It's not for everyone but I would encourage you to go see it when it comes out in a few months, especially if you liked Brewers first feature. Oh and you get to see Ricci in ALL her glory ;)
My next film for the Showcase was Suburban Mayhem - an Aussie film which stars talented local darling, Emily Barclay. She is unrecognisable from her role in In My Father's Den and her performance easily lives up to the hype her Best Actress award at the AFI's set up. The movie is part mockumentary and part dramedy, revolving around the aftermath of her father's homicide. The film opens with her talking to the camera and her penchant for fame and fortune is signalled to us right from the outset. As the movie progresses we learn even more about her fucked up pyschology - the fact her brother Danny chopped off a convenience store clerk's head, the accolade of having fucked a guy for every letter of the alphabet, getting her brothers mate to kill a friends dog - you get the idea.
The movie starts out as a very funny black comedy but ends up more on the drama end of things - which makes the eventual reveal of how her father actually died even more disturbing. I personally preferred it when it was content to laugh at the horrific nature of her personality, instead of confronting us head on with it. Later attempts at dark humour with her boyfriend Rusty didn't really work as well for me as the stuff at the beginning of the film. I guess the scriptwriters bust their wad a bit early. I really liked the movie though and you should definately try hunt it down - Emily Barclay is certainly our best actress working today which is more than enough reason to see it.
Lastly I finally saw Junebug, the acclaimed drama cum comedy that got critically praised throughout last year, ending up on a whole load of top ten lists. I can see why it got the praise but I didn't perhaps fall for it as much as others have. Don't get me wrong - Amy Adams is excellent in the movie, with scenes ranging from the hysterical to heartwrenching. The movie is based around Madeleine, an art dealer who comes to smalltown Southern USA to meet with an eccentric artist. It just so happens her partner's family live nearby so they figure it's as good a time as any to meet the parents. What follows next is a poignant look into the difference between how people live out their lives depending on their social circumstance.
It's clear that Johnny ( Ben Mckenzie - The O.C) is jealous of his brothers success, he has a beautiful partner, has a better sexlife and has had a good education. He is working at a run-of-the-mill job and living at home with his girlfriend and her parents. There is a really tragic scene between him and Madeleine when she trys to teach him about Huckleberry Finn to help him pass his English paper only to have her help misconstrued. Alessandro Nivola is good as her partner although half way through the movie I recognised him from Goal and then I kept thinking of him having a Newcastle accent the whole way through the movie.
It's not for everyone, while it's only 100 or so minutes the movie takes it's time in getting there and is punctuated by a lot of silences and shots of the landscape or various empty places around the house - I guess to signify the kind of stifling and isolated existance these characters live with. It's the whole ignorance is bliss thing I guess - I certainly couldn't live or relate to the people who live along the bible belt of the States but in their own way they do have a real humanity to them. Amy Adam's Ashley is testament to that.
On Wednesday night I saw Black Snake Moan, the latest movie from director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow). Set in the deep South the movie revolves around a recently seperated black man, Lazarus (Jackson) who spends his days tending to his farm and listening to the blues. His routine is interrupted when he comes into contact with Rae who is left lying on the side of the road after being badly beaten by one of her lovers. Lazarus quickly learns the girl is deeply troubled, mainly with a rather bad case of nymphomania. He decides the best way to cure her of this dreadful disease is to tie her up to his radiator with a great big fuckoff chain. While she doesn't keep the chain on for that long it does make for some rather humourous scenes - especially when the local pastor comes round for dinner.
I didn't totally dig the film but I loved bits and pieces, like the scene where Lazarus plays the blues at the local joint to a rapturous crowd. Ricci gives an amazing performance as the nymphomaniac Rae, her Addams Family days are definately way behind her now. Also of note is Justin Timberlake, who gives a decent performance as her estranged lover/would be husband. It's not for everyone but I would encourage you to go see it when it comes out in a few months, especially if you liked Brewers first feature. Oh and you get to see Ricci in ALL her glory ;)
My next film for the Showcase was Suburban Mayhem - an Aussie film which stars talented local darling, Emily Barclay. She is unrecognisable from her role in In My Father's Den and her performance easily lives up to the hype her Best Actress award at the AFI's set up. The movie is part mockumentary and part dramedy, revolving around the aftermath of her father's homicide. The film opens with her talking to the camera and her penchant for fame and fortune is signalled to us right from the outset. As the movie progresses we learn even more about her fucked up pyschology - the fact her brother Danny chopped off a convenience store clerk's head, the accolade of having fucked a guy for every letter of the alphabet, getting her brothers mate to kill a friends dog - you get the idea.
The movie starts out as a very funny black comedy but ends up more on the drama end of things - which makes the eventual reveal of how her father actually died even more disturbing. I personally preferred it when it was content to laugh at the horrific nature of her personality, instead of confronting us head on with it. Later attempts at dark humour with her boyfriend Rusty didn't really work as well for me as the stuff at the beginning of the film. I guess the scriptwriters bust their wad a bit early. I really liked the movie though and you should definately try hunt it down - Emily Barclay is certainly our best actress working today which is more than enough reason to see it.
Lastly I finally saw Junebug, the acclaimed drama cum comedy that got critically praised throughout last year, ending up on a whole load of top ten lists. I can see why it got the praise but I didn't perhaps fall for it as much as others have. Don't get me wrong - Amy Adams is excellent in the movie, with scenes ranging from the hysterical to heartwrenching. The movie is based around Madeleine, an art dealer who comes to smalltown Southern USA to meet with an eccentric artist. It just so happens her partner's family live nearby so they figure it's as good a time as any to meet the parents. What follows next is a poignant look into the difference between how people live out their lives depending on their social circumstance.
It's clear that Johnny ( Ben Mckenzie - The O.C) is jealous of his brothers success, he has a beautiful partner, has a better sexlife and has had a good education. He is working at a run-of-the-mill job and living at home with his girlfriend and her parents. There is a really tragic scene between him and Madeleine when she trys to teach him about Huckleberry Finn to help him pass his English paper only to have her help misconstrued. Alessandro Nivola is good as her partner although half way through the movie I recognised him from Goal and then I kept thinking of him having a Newcastle accent the whole way through the movie.
It's not for everyone, while it's only 100 or so minutes the movie takes it's time in getting there and is punctuated by a lot of silences and shots of the landscape or various empty places around the house - I guess to signify the kind of stifling and isolated existance these characters live with. It's the whole ignorance is bliss thing I guess - I certainly couldn't live or relate to the people who live along the bible belt of the States but in their own way they do have a real humanity to them. Amy Adam's Ashley is testament to that.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Miyazaki's Latest Film Announced!
Had to post this, Miyazaki is one of my favourite directors so a new film from him sends me into a delirious state. The title of his newest film is 'Gake no ue no Ponyo' (Ponyo On A Cliff). The film is due out in Japan sometime in 2007 and is based on the story of the Princess goldfish Ponyo who dreams of becoming human and a 5 year old boy called Sosuke.
More info at Ghibli World
Can't Wait!!
More info at Ghibli World
Can't Wait!!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
World Cinema Showcase - March 15th - April 4th
For those of you wanting something a little different from what’s showing at the multiplexes at the moment and are hanging out for the annual International Film Festival that comes around each July, the World Cinema Showcase is here to help tide you over while you wait. In it’s ninth year now the showcase has built a reputation for screening movies that perhaps won’t get a proper theatrical release and giving audiences the chance to see some lost classics on the silver screen (this year it’s The African Queen). And if that isn’t your thing there is the opportunity to see films like Little Children and Black Snake Moan before they get a proper release.
This year has a particularly good lineup with almost 30 films showing. Whether it’s the American indie films, the powerful documentaries or European art house that floats your boat there is something to suit your tastes. The opening film this year is The Namesake, from director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair) – an adaptation of the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. USA Today calls it ‘an engaging and moving film with a universal story about the bonds of family as told through two generations of a Bengali family.’
My personal picks for the fest include the 1951 classic, The African Queen – which was the first colour film for both Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Black Snake Moan, from the director of Hustle and Flow has had some great reviews and fans of Samuel L. Jackson should definitely check it out. With a plot that includes nymphomania, the blues and interracial sex it’s certainly intriguing. Out of the documentaries, ‘Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing’ catches my interest – mainly because of the furor they caused when they stated on tour that they were ‘ashamed’ that President Bush was from Texas (their home state) and consequently lost half of their fanbase.
I don’t want to end up listing the whole line-up (it’s hard though – believe me) but briefly I also plan on seeing Infamous – that other Capote film and Little Children, a movie about what goes on behind the façade of the upper middle class. Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta and with a cast that includes Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly and child star come good, Jackie Earle Haley you should definitely take a look. If I still have enough money left over I might also check out Lemming – if only for the chance to see Charlotte Gainsbourg act again as she was amazing in The Science of Sleep.
On the New Zealand side of things, Suburban Mayhem shows that Emily Barclay’s performance in 2004’s In My Father’s Den was not a one-off, winning the Best Actress award at the Australian Film Institute’s most recent awards ceremony. Waves, a documentary about Chinese international students at a New Zealand high school is screening again on the back of it’s success at the International Film Fest so don’t miss it the second time around.
The Showcase runs from March 15th – April 4th at the Academy Cinemas with ticket prices varying from $10-$14 depending on what time of day you want to go. There are booklets dotted around town with details on all the films plus the schedule for the whole showcase but you can also access the information online at their website. As an extra incentive if you visit the website there is a chance to win one of ten double passes to a screening of your choice by answering the question on the homepage. No I’m not going to tell you the answer – it’s incredibly easy.
More info at:
The World Cinema Showcase Website: Academy Cinemas Website:
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The Good German
Never one to turn down a free screening (hell I'd see Norbit if it was for free) when Rialto offered their Film Club the chance to see The Good German a day early I wasn't going to turn it down! For those of you who have been wondering just what the hell Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Oceans 11) has been up to lately The Good German is the answer. In a true homage to classical 1940's Hollywood Soderbergh's latest outing is a noir murder mystery in the spirit of films like Casablanca and The Third Man. In a remarkable move Soderbergh elected to film his homage using only techniques available to 1940's filmmakers. Some people will call this arrogance. I call it a filmlovers wet dream.If you like your movies action packed with frenetic editing and gravity defying stunts you're in the wrong place. If however you recognise names such as Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich and know Casablanca for reasons other than it being at the top of Africa then I have a feeling you will dig the movie as much as I did.
Set in Berlin at the end of World War II we meet Jake Geismer (George Clooney, having no problems with looking like a 40's movie star) who is here to cover the Pottsdam Peace Conference. His driver Tully (Tobey Maguire - not so successful) is a typical product of the war, making the best of his situation by playing both enemies against each other and making money at every opportunity. We soon meet Tully's girlfriend Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett - another amazing performance) who as the wife to an SS secretary is highly desired by both sides. When Tully claims he can bring the Russians her husband and ends up in the river with 100 grand on him and a bullet in the chest the film launches headfirst into a noir murder mystery of the highest order. Both sides want the whole thing to be forgotten but Jake is determined to get to the bottom of it, regardless of the cost.
The movie is, for the most part, a great homage to the 1940's noir and romance stories that characterised the golden age of Hollywood. The performances are solid - especially Blanchett as Lena Brandt, backing up an equally impressive performance in Notes on a Scandal. She is one of the few working actresses who have that classical beauty of the 40's and would have been right at home with the likes of Bergman and Dietrich. Soderbergh also uses Blanchett to remind us just how alluring black and white film can be. Clooney is very good too although his star status does make it a bit harder to maintain the illusion that we are watching a typical 40's film. Maguire was adequate but in my opinion it was a bad bit of casting, especially given the timing - Spiderman 3 comes out in May, making his spidey persona even harder to ignore.
The script doesn't help either - swear words which screenwriters of the time wouldn't have even dreamt of getting past the production code pop up far too often. This incessant swearing forced me out of the period illusion. Along with the swearing, the other major problem I had with the film was the sexual explicitness - which for most audiences probably won't matter as it is no worse than your typical Hollywood movie. However this is NOT your standard Hollywood movie and if you are trying to maintain the illusion of a 40's noir it would have helped to stick to the production code. Half of what made these films so great was the innuendo that you were bombarded with. With a far worse form of censorship than today, the Hays Production Code meant that screenwriters had to be increasingly cheeky and clever in getting across the same message without actually showing it on screen. When we see Tully straight out doggystyling Lena somehow the film loses just a bit of it's magic.
The Good German is not everyones cup of tea and if your film appreciation has a timespan that ends in the mid 80's you will find the pacing dull, the effects unrealistic, some of the acting melodramatic and the story increasingly hard to follow. For the rest of you - give it a chance, you might just discover the beauty of golden age Hollywood - believe me it gets much better than this one. And for the true filmlovers, you owe it to yourself to see this. Afterall unless you're very lucky it's the closest you will ever get to seeing Casablanca on the silver screen.
A tentative 4 stars.
Showing now at Rialto.
Best Week At The Movies In Ages!
Two main reasons:
1) The Science of Sleep finally gets a theatrical release after having premiered at the International Film Fest in July last year. If you missed it then you have no excuses - you owe it to yourself to watch this movie. If you loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind then you will totally dig it - Science of Sleep is easily on a par with that one. Not to mention it has Gael Garcia Bernal in one of his best roles to date :p Charlotte Gainsbourg (sp?) is also really good, I found her so damn attractive in this movie, I guess because she isn't what you would traditionally call attractive but I found myself drawn to her nonetheless.
I thought it was only going to come out at Rialto but it's actually showing at Queen St too so you you can't bitch about having to travel to go watch it. Watch it before Gael hits the mainstream and you can claim you owned him beforehand like I do with Scarlett hehe :p
2)The DESCENT!!!!! After what seems like an age it finally comes out in cinemas here. I saw it April last year when I was in England and even in broad daylight on DVD it was the scariest movie I have seen in a long, long time. I showed it to my friends at a movie night and they all agreed. If you want to see the first truly scary horror movie in a long time then go see it. I am tempted to actually watch this own again to see how an audience reacts to it - especially the viewfinder moment heh! Although the fucking advertising department had it in one of the trailers I saw recently before a movie - way to go ruin the best part of the movie nongheads.
Oh and it is the directors cut version not the stupid watered dawn typical Hollywood ending that US audiences got.
A few more reasons why this week rocks:
The Good German is out - Steven Soderbergh's homage to 1940's noir in the spirit of movies like The Third Man and Casablanca. Shot only with 1940's technology this is a filmlovers wet dream and the closest most will get to seeing Casablanca on the silver screen. Not to mention Cate Blanchett looks absolutely GORGEOUS mmmm. Black and White really does bring out some beautiful results. It's not perfect but I definately recommend it to most audiences. (Full Review forthcoming I think :p)
NEW Spiderman 3 footage - thanks to AICN and NBC you can watch an 8minute sequence of the upcoming film which features a kick-ass fight between Spidey and Harry Osborne (James Franco)
Link here:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31776
or direct download (be warned its 200+MB)
http://flash.sonypictures.com/video/movies/spiderman3/Spiderman3_480p_4000kbps.mov
Not sure if that link still works though, Sony might have taken it down already.
Only 1 WEEK till Hot Fuzz and Miss Potter come out!!!
Less than 1 MONTH till 300 and Pan's Labyrinth!!!
1) The Science of Sleep finally gets a theatrical release after having premiered at the International Film Fest in July last year. If you missed it then you have no excuses - you owe it to yourself to watch this movie. If you loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind then you will totally dig it - Science of Sleep is easily on a par with that one. Not to mention it has Gael Garcia Bernal in one of his best roles to date :p Charlotte Gainsbourg (sp?) is also really good, I found her so damn attractive in this movie, I guess because she isn't what you would traditionally call attractive but I found myself drawn to her nonetheless.
I thought it was only going to come out at Rialto but it's actually showing at Queen St too so you you can't bitch about having to travel to go watch it. Watch it before Gael hits the mainstream and you can claim you owned him beforehand like I do with Scarlett hehe :p
2)The DESCENT!!!!! After what seems like an age it finally comes out in cinemas here. I saw it April last year when I was in England and even in broad daylight on DVD it was the scariest movie I have seen in a long, long time. I showed it to my friends at a movie night and they all agreed. If you want to see the first truly scary horror movie in a long time then go see it. I am tempted to actually watch this own again to see how an audience reacts to it - especially the viewfinder moment heh! Although the fucking advertising department had it in one of the trailers I saw recently before a movie - way to go ruin the best part of the movie nongheads.
Oh and it is the directors cut version not the stupid watered dawn typical Hollywood ending that US audiences got.
A few more reasons why this week rocks:
The Good German is out - Steven Soderbergh's homage to 1940's noir in the spirit of movies like The Third Man and Casablanca. Shot only with 1940's technology this is a filmlovers wet dream and the closest most will get to seeing Casablanca on the silver screen. Not to mention Cate Blanchett looks absolutely GORGEOUS mmmm. Black and White really does bring out some beautiful results. It's not perfect but I definately recommend it to most audiences. (Full Review forthcoming I think :p)
NEW Spiderman 3 footage - thanks to AICN and NBC you can watch an 8minute sequence of the upcoming film which features a kick-ass fight between Spidey and Harry Osborne (James Franco)
Link here:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31776
or direct download (be warned its 200+MB)
http://flash.sonypictures.com/video/movies/spiderman3/Spiderman3_480p_4000kbps.mov
Not sure if that link still works though, Sony might have taken it down already.
Only 1 WEEK till Hot Fuzz and Miss Potter come out!!!
Less than 1 MONTH till 300 and Pan's Labyrinth!!!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepard is the second effort from Robert De Niro as director (his first being 1993's A Bronx Tale). Combined with a talented screenwriter (Eric Roth; Munich, Ali) and an awe-inspiring cast including Matt Damon, William Hurt, Michael Gambon, John Turturro, Alec Baldwin, Angelina Jolie and even Joe Pesci in his first appearance on screen in eight long years the film announces its lofty intentions early on.The movie opens in 1961 just after the Bay of Pigs fiasco where we meet Edward Wilson (Damon), a high ranking official of the CIA which was set up after World War 2 to do what the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) did in wartime. The movie is framed from 1961, taking us frequently back through Edwards past, from his formative years as a talented poetry undergraduate at Yale to his recruitment into the Skull and Bones secret society and then from there to working as a secret service agent for the OSS. Most of the movie is viewed through Edwards eyes, as we see his experiences working as a secret agent and the effects it has on his family, forcing him to make great personal sacrifices in order to serve his country. Damon gives another solid performance, capping off his excellent turn a few months ago in The Departed. His character Edward is the perfect spy - 'a serious S.O.B with no sense of humor' and it is his determined isolation from any real emotion that makes him so valuable to the C.I.A even if it means sacrificing his relationship with lovers, his wife and even his son.
At 167 minutes the film certainly isn't lightweight and while I never really felt the running time drag out I don't think that will be the case for everyone. It's a slow burning thriller without the frenetic pacing of other spy movies. Those going into the movie expecting massive pyrotechnicss and grandiose action sequences will be dissapointed as the movie is much more in the vein of a cold war spy novel with double crossings and cat and mouse games at every turn.
Another dissapointment is for all the big name cast half of them might not have even bothered to turn up. Joe Pesci, in his first screen role since Lethal Weapon 4 gets one scene, and it's only a couple of minutes long. Call me greedy but I wanted to see more from the guy who gave us the infamous 'Funny how?' in Goodfellas. De Niro too only gives himself a few minutes but then I don't begrudge that considering he was directing it. Angelina Jolie does an adequate job but she doesn't really have much to do either, just mope and whinge about her husband never being there (He leaves for London one week after their marriage and comes back 6 years later) At least William Hurt (on form as usual) and John Turturro (such an underrated actor) get decent supporting roles.
If you can get past the hefty running time and don't go in with the wrong expectations - (no Angelina Jolie is not going to get her kit off no matter how alluring she might be) then you will enjoy it. There are some great performances, even if some characters didn't get as much screentime as I would have liked. Overall The Good Shepherd is a decent thriller worth watching, although I wouldn't rush to the cinema to see it. Perhaps leave it for a lazy Sunday afternoon on DVD.
7/10
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Australia Trip January 2007: Sydney
So having just got back from Brisbane a couple of days ago and with nothing to do for a couple of days before work starts again on Friday I thought I would do a couple of blog entries about my first holiday overseas without the parents (woohoo!!) to alleviate my boredom - I mean it's not like I am going to be doing much for the next month or so when my bank balance is $1500dr heh. So first up on my holiday was one of the most beautiful cities in the world - Sydney, It isn't beautiful in the classical sense like say Athens or Rome but the geography of the place and some of it's buildings like the Opera House make it absolutely worth visiting.
Because I'm a student we got the cheapest flight possible over which was a $212 LAN Chile flight - not bad for the money considering they gave us breakfast and we got in-flight entertainment, even if it didn't work properly compared to the $300+ we paid for the return trip from Brissie where you had to pay $ to get water let alone movies. Flight left at 5.45am so we had to be up really early in order to get there on time - I almost ended up going back to sleep because the website was saying the flight had been delayed - good thing Richard persuaded me that we should head in anyway otherwise we would have missed the flight - not cool.
Arrived at Sydney around 8am and got picked up kindly by Richard's old friend Reese. Dumped our stuff at Richard's rellies in Forrestville and then headed out to Blacktown for some breakfast - got some yummy pancakes with maple syrup for a decent price. After that we headed into Darling Harbour because as it was Australia Day we knew the place was going to be packed out beforelong - walked around there for a bit then caught the train to Circular Quay to perv at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge before having a couple of beers by the water. Hung around and watched a jet cane around the harbour which was impressive and then watched some parachutists jump out of a plane a few thousand feet above and then land in the middle of Circular Quay - not the sort of stuff you see on Waitangi Day thats for sure. It was amazing the amount of flag-waving and general cheeriness that was around during the day, that sort of nationalism is part of why they are so damn good at sport but it has it's downsides too.
People by the Sydney Harbour Bridge watching all the boats go by - Australia Day 2007.
Headed back around to Darling Harbour and watched all the boats parading around even some older 17th century ones - would have loved to go on one of those but ah well. Then we headed back out to Blacktown and grabbed some beer - A 24 pack of Pure Blonde. I have no idea why they don't sell 12 packs over there much really - it's either a sixer of you have to go all out and get 24 - what about the people who just want to have 6 each?! 24 is a bit exessive but even so we got through them all well before we left Sydney. So yeah had a barbie on the rooftop of Reese's apartment then headed back into town for the fireworks - which we kind of missed because we were too late for getting a park so had to content ourselves with watching from the car - got a decent video of it though. We were thinking of partying it up but both me and Richard were too tired so ended up falling asleep before midnight! shh, don't tell anyone!
Saturday we slept in and had bacon and eggs for brekkie then Reese picked us up again and we went to the Beach although it was really windy and a bit overcast so didn't go for a swim - did get some cool pictures of the swimming pools they have by the rocks on most beaches and of the view near Bigola Beach. Stopped off at Wahroonga mall for lunch then headed home for a few hours before going out to Darling Harbour - we went to a really nice cocktail bar and had a couple of caipirinhas and a zulu warrior which was very fruity but very nice then headed to Pontoon and then Pier 26 before eventually heading home around 2am. It wasn't a huge night (that was to come when we got to Gold Coast heh) but it was an enjoyable relaxing one.
Sunday we pissed around at Richards Aunt + Uncles for far too long - probably because we were playing Topspin on Xbox trying to get our ranking to number 1 before we left the next day (We ended up at number 3 - Pete Sampras was just too damn hard). Eventually we got around to leaving the house and headed out to Dee Why beach - the weather was better but the swell was still a bit rough so I didn't bother hiring a board, instead just went for a bodysurf in the reforms. Was a nice little beach but next time I head out to Sydney I am definately making sure I get to Bondi. Got back to Forrestville at 7pm and then headed over to the local RSL (Equivalent to NZ RSA) which make the ones over here look like tinhuts - they have really cheap beer, pokies, big screen tv's playing tennis, cricket, football, rugby etc and a buffet to get decent priced food from. Unfortunately we got there too late for a feed but did take advantage of 4 person rounds costing $15 heh. Grabbed Dominoes for dinner and then watched the cricket where Jacob Oram almost pulled off an amazing run chase against Australia. In the end we lost by 8 or 9 wickets but it was a good effort.
Monday was the last full day in Sydney and as Richard had to go to a lunch thing with a prospective employer I headed over to the cbd to see my first movie of the holiday, Breaking and Entering a drama starring Juliette Binoche, Jude Law, Martin Freeman and Ray Winstone directed by Anthony Minghella - also scripted by him for the first time in ages. I enjoyed the film but wasn't awe-struck. Pacing was a bit off and the overall story was too generic - it has been done better in other films eg Dirty Pretty Things for the whole immigrant struggle in 21st century London thing etc or Closer for the whole relationships falling apart thing. So yeah after that I met up with Richard at Darling Harbour and we went to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World where we saw all sorts of species local and exotic - from Moon Jellyfish to Koalas it was certainly better than Kelly Tarltons thats for sure. The only let down was the penguin exhibit because our aquarium over here does that one better. Headed back out to Parramatta after that to see Reese one last time before we left for a meal. Went to Hooters which is a massive restaurant chain over in America and other parts of the world - in fact I hear one is opening in Newmarket fairly soon. Really though it's just a glorified Dennys with chicks in hot orange shorts. Was a decent meal though and good to eat out for a change.
Tuesday was our last day in Sydney - had to get into town around mid-dayish to put our baggage away intime for the 4.20pm departure to Gold Coast. A word of warning to anyone thinking of taking the train up to Brisbane - never ever take it at night - it was one of the worst journeys I have taken, especially the time from around 10pm till getting off at Casino at 3.45am. The seats are really uncomfortable and it is really hard to get any sleep with all the stopping and people hitting you as they walk past in the aisle. The first few hours were alright though as we got to see some pretty scenery. So after a 16hour coach and train journey from Forrestville in Sydney we arrived at the Gold Coast - which I will blog about soonish - complete with more pics and maybe a couple of youtube vidoes hehe.
Because I'm a student we got the cheapest flight possible over which was a $212 LAN Chile flight - not bad for the money considering they gave us breakfast and we got in-flight entertainment, even if it didn't work properly compared to the $300+ we paid for the return trip from Brissie where you had to pay $ to get water let alone movies. Flight left at 5.45am so we had to be up really early in order to get there on time - I almost ended up going back to sleep because the website was saying the flight had been delayed - good thing Richard persuaded me that we should head in anyway otherwise we would have missed the flight - not cool.
Arrived at Sydney around 8am and got picked up kindly by Richard's old friend Reese. Dumped our stuff at Richard's rellies in Forrestville and then headed out to Blacktown for some breakfast - got some yummy pancakes with maple syrup for a decent price. After that we headed into Darling Harbour because as it was Australia Day we knew the place was going to be packed out beforelong - walked around there for a bit then caught the train to Circular Quay to perv at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge before having a couple of beers by the water. Hung around and watched a jet cane around the harbour which was impressive and then watched some parachutists jump out of a plane a few thousand feet above and then land in the middle of Circular Quay - not the sort of stuff you see on Waitangi Day thats for sure. It was amazing the amount of flag-waving and general cheeriness that was around during the day, that sort of nationalism is part of why they are so damn good at sport but it has it's downsides too.
People by the Sydney Harbour Bridge watching all the boats go by - Australia Day 2007.
Headed back around to Darling Harbour and watched all the boats parading around even some older 17th century ones - would have loved to go on one of those but ah well. Then we headed back out to Blacktown and grabbed some beer - A 24 pack of Pure Blonde. I have no idea why they don't sell 12 packs over there much really - it's either a sixer of you have to go all out and get 24 - what about the people who just want to have 6 each?! 24 is a bit exessive but even so we got through them all well before we left Sydney. So yeah had a barbie on the rooftop of Reese's apartment then headed back into town for the fireworks - which we kind of missed because we were too late for getting a park so had to content ourselves with watching from the car - got a decent video of it though. We were thinking of partying it up but both me and Richard were too tired so ended up falling asleep before midnight! shh, don't tell anyone!
Saturday we slept in and had bacon and eggs for brekkie then Reese picked us up again and we went to the Beach although it was really windy and a bit overcast so didn't go for a swim - did get some cool pictures of the swimming pools they have by the rocks on most beaches and of the view near Bigola Beach. Stopped off at Wahroonga mall for lunch then headed home for a few hours before going out to Darling Harbour - we went to a really nice cocktail bar and had a couple of caipirinhas and a zulu warrior which was very fruity but very nice then headed to Pontoon and then Pier 26 before eventually heading home around 2am. It wasn't a huge night (that was to come when we got to Gold Coast heh) but it was an enjoyable relaxing one.
Sunday we pissed around at Richards Aunt + Uncles for far too long - probably because we were playing Topspin on Xbox trying to get our ranking to number 1 before we left the next day (We ended up at number 3 - Pete Sampras was just too damn hard). Eventually we got around to leaving the house and headed out to Dee Why beach - the weather was better but the swell was still a bit rough so I didn't bother hiring a board, instead just went for a bodysurf in the reforms. Was a nice little beach but next time I head out to Sydney I am definately making sure I get to Bondi. Got back to Forrestville at 7pm and then headed over to the local RSL (Equivalent to NZ RSA) which make the ones over here look like tinhuts - they have really cheap beer, pokies, big screen tv's playing tennis, cricket, football, rugby etc and a buffet to get decent priced food from. Unfortunately we got there too late for a feed but did take advantage of 4 person rounds costing $15 heh. Grabbed Dominoes for dinner and then watched the cricket where Jacob Oram almost pulled off an amazing run chase against Australia. In the end we lost by 8 or 9 wickets but it was a good effort.
Monday was the last full day in Sydney and as Richard had to go to a lunch thing with a prospective employer I headed over to the cbd to see my first movie of the holiday, Breaking and Entering a drama starring Juliette Binoche, Jude Law, Martin Freeman and Ray Winstone directed by Anthony Minghella - also scripted by him for the first time in ages. I enjoyed the film but wasn't awe-struck. Pacing was a bit off and the overall story was too generic - it has been done better in other films eg Dirty Pretty Things for the whole immigrant struggle in 21st century London thing etc or Closer for the whole relationships falling apart thing. So yeah after that I met up with Richard at Darling Harbour and we went to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World where we saw all sorts of species local and exotic - from Moon Jellyfish to Koalas it was certainly better than Kelly Tarltons thats for sure. The only let down was the penguin exhibit because our aquarium over here does that one better. Headed back out to Parramatta after that to see Reese one last time before we left for a meal. Went to Hooters which is a massive restaurant chain over in America and other parts of the world - in fact I hear one is opening in Newmarket fairly soon. Really though it's just a glorified Dennys with chicks in hot orange shorts. Was a decent meal though and good to eat out for a change.
Tuesday was our last day in Sydney - had to get into town around mid-dayish to put our baggage away intime for the 4.20pm departure to Gold Coast. A word of warning to anyone thinking of taking the train up to Brisbane - never ever take it at night - it was one of the worst journeys I have taken, especially the time from around 10pm till getting off at Casino at 3.45am. The seats are really uncomfortable and it is really hard to get any sleep with all the stopping and people hitting you as they walk past in the aisle. The first few hours were alright though as we got to see some pretty scenery. So after a 16hour coach and train journey from Forrestville in Sydney we arrived at the Gold Coast - which I will blog about soonish - complete with more pics and maybe a couple of youtube vidoes hehe.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Oscar Nominations Out!!
Ok so the Oscar nominations have finally come out and I am a hell of a lot more happy with them than the Golden Globes (for the most part) I mean come on, what were you thinking putting both Clint and Mel's pictures down in the best foreign film section - they are fucking American backed, American made movies - just because they speak a different language it doesn't make it a foreign production. Grrr. Ok mini-rant over - here is the full list of nominations complete with my picks. I can hardly do any worse than I did for the Globes (7/24) but you never know.Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Has to be Forest Whitake for this one, that is where all the buzz is going. Although Leo could win it now that he isn't competing against himself with two nominations like in the Golden Globes. Last King of Scotland has been getting rave reviews and everyone has been saying what a powerhouse performance Whitaker gives in it so I am going with the hype.Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED
Oooo, nice list. So great to see Alan Arkin there, he was absolutely hilarious in Little Miss Sunshine and Mark Wahlberg was wicked in Departed, kind of chanelling his I Heart Huckabees persona. I actually thought Alec Baldwin was just as good but ah well. I am picking Eddie Murphy for a comeback award - the man has been doing some seriously bad movies over the last few years and finally it looks like we might be seeing the Eddie Murphy of old. Djimon Hounsou was really good in Blood Diamond - definately one of my favourite actors. This one is actually really hard to pick aside from Eddie Murphy, could go to any of them really so not going to pick a second most likely winner.Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN
Awesome that Meryl Streep got nominated, she lifted that movie from the same mindless pap to something pretty damn good. If it wasn't for her performance Devil wouldn't have been half the movie it was. Saw Volver last week and Penelope definately has given her best performance in ages - she should do more native speaking roles. Plus Almodovar is TOTALLY in love with her cleavage - and I ain't compalining :p However Helen Mirren is the obvious front-runner for this one so I am picking her, with Penelope Cruz as number 2 and Meryl an outside chance.Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL
Rinko Kikuchi - damn straight, that was an amazing performance. Haven't seen Notes On A Scandal or Dreamgirls yet (seeing it tonight) but Jennifer Hudson seems to be the early favourite. I would love Abigail Breslin to win too though, best child performance since Freddie Highmore in Finding Neverland (didn't beat that one though) I am picking Jennifer Hudson and then Rinko Kikuchi.Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE
Has to be Monster House. Was the only decent animated feature to come out last year and for a childrens film it had a lot of pace and intensity, it was even pretty scary! Lots of voice talent too and it showed that performance-capture animation can actually work.Achievement in art direction
DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PAN'S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE
Hmm, I am hoping Pan's Labyrinth wins judging by some of the promo stuff I have seen - looks so fantastically beautiful.Achievement in cinematography
THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE
Children of Men. Hands down. That single tracking shot around the seige of Bexhill was amazing. Best peice of camerawork I have seen all year. Maybe Pan's.Achievement in costume design
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN
Oooooo now this is a toughie!! Zhang Yimou has always had gorgeous costumes - just look at Hero and House of Flying Daggers although those dresses in Devil Wears Prada were delightful. But then Marie Antoinette - damn those were some impressive costumes. I don't think enough people have seen Curse of The Golden Flower yet so I am going to pick Marie.Achievement in directing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93
Another toughie. I will be pissed if Clint gets it again for Letters instead of Scorsese for Departed but I doubt he will. Although out of all these the one I most want to win is United 93. Second only to Science of Sleep last year. I feel it might be a bit too much of a political choice though. Would love it if Babel or Departed won too. In order of preference: United 93, Babel, Departed, The Queen, Letters From Iwo Jima.Best documentary feature
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY
Iraq In Fragments was pretty good but this is really all about An Inconvenient Truth. No question.Best documentary short subject
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS
No idea.Achievement in film editing
BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93
Some people hated the disjuncture of the editing in Babel cutting away from the Moroccan story when it was at its dramatic climax to the subdued Japanese won but personally I think some of the edits worked in perfect counterpoint. Ah well. This is a hard one as I loved the editing in all of them. United 93 was by far the most intense experience I have ever had in a movie theatre so thats my pick.Best foreign language film of the year
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER
Ok, the only nomination list I am pissed off with. Ok sure Volver wasn't Almodovar's best but it was damn good. GRRRRRR. Without Volver I am left to choose Pan's Labyrinth although I hear Water is really good too.Achievement in makeup
APOCALYPTO
CLICK
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Click? lol. Pan's Labyrinth but I wouldn't be pissed if Apocalypto won as that had awesome makeup too.Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Gustavo Santaolalla, BABEL
Thomas Newman, THE GOOD GERMAN
Philip Glass, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Javier Navarrete, PAN'S LABYRINTH
Alexandre Desplat, THE QUEEN
I think Gustavo won (rightly) for Brokeback so can't see him winning again this year. I have heard the Pan's Labyrinth score is really good so picking that one.Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"I Need to Wake Up" - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS
"Love You I Do" - DREAMGIRLS
"Our Town" - CARS
"Patience" - DREAMGIRLS
Haha, 3 songs for the same movie! Well I will get back to this one tonight after having seen Dreamgirls.Best motion picture of the year
BABELTHE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE!!!! I would love it if it won but I don't have the balls to go out there and say it will. Babel, or Departed with Little Miss Sunshine an outside chance. If Letters wins... @$!!
Best animated short film
THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS
No Idea.Best live action short film
BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY
No idea.Achievement in sound editing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
Great sound in Apocalypto and Blood Diamond has to win something it was pretty damn good.Achievement in sound mixing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
DREAMGIRLS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
ditto.Achievement in visual effects
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS
This one isn't hard - POTC:DMC - the first time in history where I could no longer tell the CGI join. Took me ages to figure out it was Bill Nighy behind that amazing CGI work.Adapted screenplay
Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, CHILDREN OF MEN
William Monahan, THE DEPARTED
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta,LITTLE CHILDREN
Patrick Marber, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Borat got an Oscar nomination!!! Result!! I reckon it will go to The Departed though. Possibly Children of Men.
Original screenplay
Guillermo Arriaga, BABELIris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Michael Arndt, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Guillermo del Toro, PAN'S LABYRINTH
Peter Morgan, THE QUEEN
Ooh thats tough. Has Guillermo won before? He has done some great screenplays although they all follow the same fractured narrative format. Little Miss Sunshine was an awesome script. Paul Haggis got it for Crash I think. Would lovei if Sunshine got an upset but don't think it will ultimately.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Pendulum and Marie Antoinette
So a little update for you. Or myself. I am really just talking to myself on here, but hey - it passes the time. Thursday night was the long awaited return of Pendulum at Fu (albeit without their much heralded live performance from Fabric in October.) Links to that performance can be found here and here. What we did get though was the added bonus of Chase and Status. Well really just one of them as the other was over playing in Europe - kind of makes sense when you can cover two bases at once - or three in Pendulum's case. Still, it would be so much more awesome if we could have had both of Chase and Status and all three of Pendulum. Ticket prices would have been close to $70 but what the hell.I had tried to con my flatmate into going with me but unfortunately he is still convinced Pendulum has been thrashed to death even though they have released a whole album since he decided that heh. I did get Campbell to come and one of his mates, along with a whole bunch of NZRavers and assorted acquaintances. I got to Fu at just on 11pm to be greeted by a bunch of desperate onlookers who had neglected to get their tickets ontime. Thankfully what I thought was a big fuckoff queue was just the doorsale waiting list so I walked straight in. Headed down there and paid my $2 coat check (Yes, fuck you Studio et al with your $4 charge grr) and grabbed the customary beer and took in the surroundings - had a chat with the regulars and nabbed my spot on the dancefloor.
I tend to go to the left hand side of the dj booth and then slowly work my way towards the front without being too aggresive. You look a bit too eager if you walk right up to the front when the dancefloor is only 1/3 full heh. There is actually quite a bit of strategy involved in timing your approach, wait just 5 minutes too long and if the person infront is a real head then you have no shitshow in hell of getting inthat front row until 4am. Thankfully everyone (everyone sane that is - counting me out) needs water so I tend to get a decent spot after a while even if I have to wait for ages.
Bulletproof was playing when I went onto the dancefloor. Not really my style but he did play a few smashers like TC - Gameover. Considering Fu is normally dead until 12.30am the fact that it was full to the brim by 12 shows how huge Pendulum have gotten since their last tour here - and this was on a Thursday night! Next year with the live show it will have to be somewhere like Studio or St. James - the demand is that huge. Chase + Status were up next at 12am in his debut appearance on NZ shores. Well they certainly made an impression. I was a little surprised at the fact he (don't know which one of them came over) was playing a pretty heavy set with only a few liquid tunes. In Love feat. Jenna G got played of course - and got an insane response. My favourite tune of his set though has to be The Funktastics - Honey, gotta love that vocal and then probably Mutt - Hot Lick Squeeze. That is what liquid is about right there. Mmmmm.
Pendulum stepped up just before 2am and the response was unbelievable - I had screaming voices coming at me left right and centre combined with one of the speakers that was about 2metres away from my eardrum - talk about post-gig ringing in the ears! From memory most of the Hold Your Colour album got played combined with a heap of classics - Another Planet, Vault, Voyager etc even though some of them were just teases - such as Spiral. Dissapointed that Masochist didn't get played but such is life. Blood Sugar was insane, but I was a bit let down that they didn't really have any new material for us. TC - Game Over got played again (not only did Riddle play it just as I walked in, but also Bulletproof, Chase and Pendulum!) It's a heavy tune though.
About halfway through the set there was a pause for a bit of breaks, prog and even some Rage Against The Machine!! Was good for a change from the norm I guess. The only let downs were the lack of new tunage and a few of the doubledrops and mashups ala Andy C's sets didn't quite work. It was Gareth who played and he was originally a producer. El Hornet is the badman dj - pity he didn't come down to. Ah well - who am I to complain? It was an INSANE gig. Up there with the best of the year. Have a look at this YouTube video of 'Number 1' and some pics showing just how rammed it was. It doesn't convey the hotness though but the fact I could actually get water out of my shirt afterwards shows how damn hot it was in there.
It's hands in the air time:
Spot me:p
And onto the next thing: Marie Antoinette. I have been waiting for this for a good few months now after seeing that awesome, awesome trailer. The New Order song that plays over the top of the trailer fits it so pefectly - it may even be my favourite trailer this year. Despite the movie getting some badish reviews after its Cannes premier my curiousity wasn't going to go away easily so of course I was going to watch it within the first few days of release - even if I did still have ringing in my ears from Pendulum the night before.
Basically it's a very loose (in terms of historical events anyway) representation of the life of Marie Antoinette, a teenage Queen of 18th century France who was remembered for her excesses. The film begins in Austria just before she gets married off to Louis XVI in a bid to consumate the Franco-Austrian alliance. It then follows her as she settles into life at Versaille and works through the cold reception she initially gets from Louis, ending at the start of the French revolution and their fleeing of Versaille.If you go in to Marie Antoinette expecting a traditional Merchant-Ivory sort of costume drama then you will be dissapointed, maybe even shocked. It is very much a modern take on Marie Antoinette's experience, something that has a lot more in common with the characters in her previous efforts, Lost In Translation and The Virgin Suicides. Artists that feature on the soundtrack include Aphex Twin, Air, The Strokes, New Order etc so that shows what sort of vibe the movie is aiming to portray. Sofia is much more concerned in conveying the sense of isolation Marie felt living in a strange court far away from her home and the pains and joys of adolescence.
The use of modern music works in its favour and against it - sometimes the song choices work brilliantly like 'I Want Candy' by Bow Wow Wow being played over the 18th century equivalent of a girls night in. God the food on display was gorgeous. Which is very much what the film is about - display, surfaces and apperances. Coppola serves up a visual feast of sumptuous display where everything on screen looks like it took hours to prepare. The costuming and set design warrants a viewing on their own. Kirsten Dunst is good as Marie, especially in shots where she is lying on her bed with just stockings and a fan - talk about sexy! That's more to do with her beautiful body than acting ability though. Which she doesn't really have to work on considering the film is pretty minimal on dialogue - choosing to tell it's story through visuals alone.
Would I reccomend the film? Yeah probably. I admit I was a little dissapointed as the whole modern take on things didn't completely work as some elements were jarring. The visuals on display are amazing though and stopped the movie from being a complete dissapointment. It would be interesting to see what a more traditional take on things would have been like though. So go see it if you have a penchant for stunning costumes, gorgeous palaces and decorative pastries :p Don't see it if you want another traditional costume-drama or can't handle the lack of dialogue and deliberate pacing. I would write more on the film with more coherence but this is just an off the cuff post that I am making on hardly any sleep. The film won't be in my top ten of this year but will get an honourable mention.
Next up is The Queen, Night at The Museum and Happy Feet. Possibly Deja Vu. I am aiming to see them all before the end of the year as I have been awfully slack of late watching movies. Probably because I just stormed through season 1 of Lost in less than 72 hours. Now I know what I have been missing out on!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Crank
So having exhausted all my options at the local cinema all that was left was Flushed Away, Crank and Unaccompanied Minors. Flushed Away was probably the best bet but I wasn't in the mood for a animated feature today. I chose to go see Crank, Jason Statham's latest vehicle which couldn't be any more mindless if it tried.
I guess the concept pretty much determines what sort of movie it's going to be. A guy gets drugged with the 'Beijing Cocktail ' - a posion that causes you to die the moment your adrenaline isn't anywhere near redlining. Chev Chelios, freelance assasin (Jason Statham) is the unfortunate victim thanks to a hit gone wrong and he has only a few hours to take out the guys responsible - who are dumb enough to leave his apartment with a DVD titled 'FUCK YOU' in capital letters.
I won't go any further into the plot (which when talking about a movie like Crank is borderline oxymoronic) and instead go on to the thing that pissed me off the most about the movie. I was prepared to go with the setup and the mindless action and thrills that I knew was inevitable. What I wasn't prepared to go with was the consistently frenetic over-the-top stylising of the directors. Flash forwards? Check. Slow-Mo? Check. Split-screen? Check. Titlecards? Check. Illogical subtitles popping up? Check. I didn't think it was possible but they have outdone Tony Scotts' Domino for sheer ADD directing. If you ever wanted to know what Grand Theft Auto: The Movie would feel like - Crank is the answer. The sad thing is that this is actually a reason some people would go see it. Dear me.
Aside from the interesting concept the movie doesn't approach anything near originality, containing pretty much every action cliche in the book. It's almost as if the directors are going through the motion ticking everyone off as they go. Mexican bad guys with stupid haricuts? You bet. Gratuitous tits and ass? Of Course. Gravity defying car chases? Without question.
I would only recommend it if you are on ADD or enjoyed Tony Scott's Domino, as this one has a lot in common. If you enjoyed Domino you probably have ADD anyway :p That or you just want to see Amy Smart get banged doggystyle in public.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Departed
So I finally got to see this after being turned off by its $15 blockbuster tag.
Definately recommend it if you haven't seen it already. A return to form for Scorsese after the good, but not great Aviator and Gangs of New York.
For those of you who haven't seen Infernal Affairs (the chinese crime thriller on which it is based) the plot revolves around all of Scorsese's trademark themes: Family, Religion, Trust, Betrayl, Identity etc but more specifically about two rookie cops working for either side of Boston's crime world. William Costigan (Di Caprio) is determined not to follow the crime ridden steps of his family and upon graduating he is sent to work undercover for Boston crimelord Frank Costello (Nicholson) in the hope of bringing him down (The police believing his criminal background would give him some credibility). The other, Colin Sullivan (Damon) has been raised by Costello since he was a young boy and now wants to pay him back by giving him inside information that will save his ass and keep the cops from busting him. Eventually both parties learn that they have a rat, who inform their informants. As each side tries to out the rat before the other the tension reaches boiling point and Di Caprio and Damon give us some of the best cat and mouse games I have seen at the movies in a long, long time.
The acting is excellent across the board. Di Caprio seems to get better in every movie I see him in and he totally nails his character. Damon's performance is also up there with his best and Alex Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg prove an excellent supporting cast, injecting the film with some much needed humour to counter the increasing tension.
There are some great scenes in it, particularly the rooftop face off between Damon and Dicaprio and the vibrating phone call between them as well - one of the most intense scenes I have seen this year.
Soundtrack is excellent, including 'Gimme Shelter' by the Rolling Stones and 'Comfortably Numb' by Van Morrison.
I forgot to mention Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello who is almost a shoo in for awards season. His performance is so extravagant though that it does threaten to enter the realm of parody. Thankfully it never quites get there and we are left with another great performance. The guy is a complete fucking psycho, whether he is obseriving at how someone he shot in the head 'fell funny' or whether he is waving a dildo around at a blue movie theatre. The guy lives and breathes violence. He also gets some of the best lines in the movie, e.g 'I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want the environment to be a product of me.'
So yeah, if you're a fan of Scorsese or a decent crime thriller, go see it :p
Only warning I would put on it is the level of violence - not for those of slight sensibility. The last 20minutes in particular are extremely shocking and oh so brutal. One character (I won't give it away though:p) got headshot out of nowhere, BOOM motherfucker, you're gone. Yup. dead. Fuck...
Solid 8/10 I reckon.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The Grudge 2
Well, exams are over for 2006. I can finally breath a long overdue sigh of relief and begin my three months of professional bumming. I have some extra hours lined up at Video Ezy but only enough to pay my bills so expect to see more regular updates as I sit at home with no money heh. Anyway, on to the topic.I hadn't originally planned on seeing The Grudge 2 today. I went down to the cinema with the intention of seeing Scorsese's latest - The Departed (a remake of the chinese crime thriller Infernal Affairs) but upon learning that it was at blockbuster pricing and therefore I couldn't use my six dollar discount card I opted for the aforementioned. I kind of regretted buying a ticket straight after though, especially considering I had only just been warned off the movie by a friend of mine. His thoughts can be viewed here. I decided to throw caution to the wind and go watch it anyway.
So, how was it you say? In short - A dire remake and sequel that hurls yet another kick in the balls to a genre which is rapidly losing any originality it had left. Movies like Saw come out and wow people with their original storylines and intense psychological mindgames but then become diluted by Hollywood's desire to capitalise on anything that shows even a hint of originality, cue Saw 2, Saw 3 and the just announced Saw 4. Does anyone seriously think that a fourth Saw movie is going to have one ounce of the smarts and freshness that made Saw so succesful in the first place? Or that a second Grudge movie is going to find any interesting new material that wasn't already covered in the pretty mediocre original? Under the current production system - not a shitshow in hell. The sad thing is though is that these movies continue to make money and only encourage Hollywood to keep piling them out on its production line. Kids continue to go see these movies based on their slick advertising campaigns and flashy myspace pages. It irks me to no end. Hell, I went to see it too so I guess I can't be too pissed off at them.
I think there are two major problems with the movie. The first is the three different storylines driving the plot which seem to come and go with no apparent connectivity until right at the very end of the movie. We have three schoolgirls who go to the haunted house of the first movie to pull a prank on one of the unpopular girls at the school, with predictable results. Then there is the family in Chicago who have to deal with the problems of step-moms while there is some seriously creepy stuff going on in one of the neighbouring apartments. And finally we have Audrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn) and a journalist who are in Tokyo investigating the reasons behind her sister Karen's death (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who was the principle character in the first movie. They don't exactly lend themselves to an interweaving storyline. As the movie progresses the film constantly cuts between the storylines without any narrative or artistic motivation. Five minutes of one storyline then 15 of another followed by 3 or 4 of the third one then back again. All the changes between locations and storylines were increasingly pissing me off at the films lack of focus. And when I was just about ready to scream at the screen the director closes the film with a rapid montage that is meant to satisfy the chaotic mess that has gone before it. Sorry mate, it doesn't work like that. Inteweaving narratives can work amazingly. Crash, Traffic, and to a lesser extent Syriana, are all excellent examples. However none of them are horrors.
The other major problem is that essentially, the film relies on the same type of horror the whole way through the movie, and it hasn't really changed from the first movie either. Ok sure jump-cuts and fast edits of creepy looking kids will make you jump the first few times you see them but it quickly becomes tiresome. Even the best sound design can't help lengthen the scare factor of these creepy kids. The law of deminishing returns applies big time to this movie. I imagine I wasn't alone in my dissapointment at the films reluctance to explore other scare tactics than the ones established in the first film. It isn't hard to pick when the creepy kids are going to emerge after the first few minutes. Showers, mirrors, dark rooms, scenes with only one character on screen all scream 'here comes another pasty kid with black overlong hair making croaky cat hissing noises'. After about twenty minutes the joke is up. The Grudge 2 is a one trick pony.
There are other problems with the movie - way too long is spent trying to flesh out the backstory of the curse, too many characters get thrown to the wayside in the balancing (hah!) act of the different storylines and the stupid sidetrack to Kayako's mother. But to be honest I really don't want to waste my time writing about them when the other two points have already gotten my feelings across.
The best horror movies are ones that don't try and balance interconnecting storylines. They focus on individual characters or a small group trapped in one place, forced to deal with increasingly complex psychological issues and the ever present threat of the unknown. I am thinking of films like Saw, Hard Candy and The Descent. While Saw has sold out Hard Candy and The Descent are beacons of hope for the horror genre, showing that it is still possible to find some originality in this abused genre. I just hope like hell that Hollywood doesn't end up abusing these two either.
Final Verdict: 4/10. If you liked the first one you will find the second one passable, even if it doesn't have one inkling of originality. To be honest if you want to watch a good horror movie your only option at the moment is to go to the video store as there is nothing of note playing a the cinemas. Wait till Hard Candy comes out on the 23rd November. Don't waste your money on this one.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Little Miss Sunshine
Been a long time since my last post. Sorry about that.I have had a shitload of work with uni. Why do they have to plan it so that all the assignments for my various papers are due within a few days of each other. It results in many missed lectures and an acute lack of sleep. Anyway, enough about University, on to more interesting stuff.Well tonight I finally got my ass back down to a movie theatre and went and saw 'Little Miss Sunshine', the darling of last years Sundance Film Festival. Before I heap a whole load of masturbatory praise on this little gem I have to acknowledge that for the first 20minutes I was questioning all the hype this film has been getting since Sundance. I will go into my initial ambivalence later but in the end all that matters is that Little Miss Sunshine may well be one of the funniest and most endearing films of the year.
The film begins with an extended montage introducing us to the different members of the Hoover family, complete with all their eccentricities. We have the cranky grandfather with a penchant for heroin, the suicidal uncle who has just been released from hospital, a Nietzche reading depressive teenager vowed to silence, an overbearing father determined to live his life by a yet-to-be published generic self help mantra, the beauty pageant obsessed Olive and a mother who is desperate to hold this dysfunctional family together. If that ain't a dysfunctional family then I don't know what is.
I know dysfunctional families are becoming a bit of a cliche in indie movies nowadays but this one really works. After the brief introduction setting up the characters the film launches us on a 700 mile road-trip to California where Olive will compete in the 'Little Miss Sunshine' beauty pageant. Olive won the regional under-10 pageant after the original winner had to pull out, only there is no-one to take her. The family cannot afford to leave Frank on his own when he is meant to be on 24/7 suicide watch but at the same time Olive has been wanting this dream too much to not let her follow it. Naturally the whole family crams into their bright yellow VW and heads to California. Over the course of this 700 mile road-trip the Hoover family will go through a whole host of trials and tribulations, from a stolen corpse and a hilarious encounter with the law to multiple emotional breakdowns, a desperate scooter journey in the middle of the night and a VW that is stuck in 3rd and 4th gear (cue a hilarious running joke). To say this movie is offbeat is an understatement.
The acting is uniformly excellent. Steve Carell proves he is more than just a comic actor, showing his dramatic range and getting laughs without reverting to his more familiar persona. Alen Arkin's comic timing is excellent and steals almost every scene he is in. Abigail Breslin gives us one of the best child performances in many years, achieving that elusive goal of being utterly charming without that saccharine cuteness that seems to plague many young starlets. Paul Dano makes the most of a role which gives him little dialogue, communicating everything through his body posture and facial expressions. As the parents of this dysfunctional family both Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette give strong performances, determined to keep this family unit together.The soundtrack has been largely composed by Devotchka, whose song 'How It Ends' featured on the trailer of Everything Is Illuminated. 'Till The End of Time' fits the movies offbeat wandering core to a tea while contributions by Sufjan Stevens, Rick James, Score and Tony Tisdale round out what will surely be one of the best soundtracks of the year. If the Hollywood studios have any sense I would expect to see Devotchka popping up a lot more in the future.
Offbeat indie movies have a tendency to be a bit hit and miss, with some episodic scenes falling out of place with the overall tone of the movie. This is what I was thinking during the beginning of the film and is one of the only problems I have with it. The scenes at the Hoover household felt a bit mis-matched and set up an offputting disjointed tone to the movie. In retrospect though, by the end of the film it is obvious that these early scenes are always working towards setting up the hilarious and heartfelt crescendo of the final act.
When the Hoover family finally get to California they are greeted with something that far outweighs anything they have had to put up with on the long road to get there. As the movie satirically points out, for all their dysfunctions the Hoover family is starkingly ordinary in relation to the image obsessed families of these beauty pageants who are little more than dressed up barbies. I don't want to spoil the ending for you because it is best experienced without prior knowledge but let me just say that it turns this disturbing sexualisation on its head in one of the most hilarious and satirical final acts I have seen in recent memory. As you leave the cinema you just try not walking out with a grin from ear to ear, safe in the knowledge that perhaps being perfect isn't all it's made out to be. In a society obsessed with winning it is important to remember that it is our peculiarities and dysfunctions that truly bind us together.
Final Verdict: A solid 8/10. It is rare to find a movie these days that manages to be hilariously funny yet without sacrificing the deeper issues that surround the film.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Lady In The Water
Lady In The Water marks the 7th feature film by M.Night Shyamalan and the 4th since he smashed his way into the Hollywood A-List with The Sixth Sense, and possibily the greatest twist in recent memory. After the massive critical acclaim heaped on The Sixth Sense admiration for Shyamalan seems to have gradually petered out, especially after The Village came out 2 years ago, polarising audiences everywhere. Fans of the director hoping that The Village was just an anomoly, a small sidetrack on his path to greatness will be dissapointed to hear that Lady In The Water is going to be recieved just as ambivalently as The Village was. Indeed after watching Lady In The Water i have begun to wonder whether Shyamalan might just be a one-trick pony. For those of you looking for that well hidden twist, stop now. There isn't one. This film is completely unlike anything you could imagine from Shyamalan. Indeed parts of it are so far out there in left field that one has to wonder, what WAS he thinking?The basic outline of the movie follows Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti), a superintendent working in an apartment building who one evening rescues a woman from the swimming pool. Only she is no mere woman, she is a NARF from the 'Blue World', come here to spread enlightenment and re-awaken mans lost innocence. It is up to Cleveland and his friends to protect her and ensure she fufills her quest and makes it back to her world. To do this they must find the guardian, the healer, the guild and the symbolist who will protect her from the Scrunt desperate to stop her. Bizarre? Well that barely scratches the surface.
Many people are going to hate this movie, not dislike, but utterly dispise. Whether you enjoy the film or not will depend largely on whether you buy into the premise in the first place. Afterall, this is a 'bedtime story' as the promo would have you believe. However last time I checked bedtime stories didn't have Paul Giamatti curled up in the foetal position with a milk moustache eating cookies. Yes, that is in the film. Scenes like the above are really going to strech most peoples ability to go with the film. I am not even going to into the intepreting cereal boxes scene. It is for this reason that a large proportion of the audience laughed through most of the reason. Shyamalan makes it SO hard for you to immerse yourself in such a bizarre world. It is much easier to just sit back and laugh at the outlandishness.
It's not all bad though, Christopher Doyle is in charge of the cinematography (of Hero fame) so you know we're in comfortable hands. The film looks excellent and the acting is good for the most part, managing to overcome the limitations of the script. Giamatti and co try so very hard to hide the inherent humour in some of the lines but at times it's just impossible not to laugh.
One particular aspect that I did enjoy was the continual dig at the movie critic character. I wouldn't be surprised if Shyamalan put him in because of the critical reception to The Village. As one would imagine, the critic doesn't come off to well by the end of the movie. Speaking of Shyamalan he continues his Hitchcockian habit of appearing in all his movies only this time its extended to a full on supporting role. 'Delusions of grandeur' come to mind when thinking of his character, you could easily extend that out to the movie as a whole unfortunately.
Shyamalan had 100% creative freedom on this one, with next to no interference from the studios. Its very rare for a director to get final cut these days, with good reason. While i do feel Hollywood bigwigs are a pain in the ass they at least stop some of the more downright bizarre ideas of directors getting past the editing process. Something Lady In The Water is desperately in need of.
2 1/2 Stars.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Shapeshifter - Soulstice
I have had this album for a week now and it's still on heavy rotation. I must say if you haven't already bought it yet go out and get it. You won't be dissapointed. It's a real step up from their last album, Riddim Wise. There is a greater musicality and depth to each of the songs and this album has more crossover appeal to the non drum and bass crowd.They are playing on Saturday September 16th @ the St James with the Auckland Philharmonia. The last time they played with them was at Groove In The Park Feb 2005 to a crowd of 20,000+. Was an amazing gig and I have no doubt this one will be as good if not better. If you haven't got a ticket yet then I am afraid you missed out. Fear not though, due to the unprecedented demand they have scheduled a second gig the following night at Studio. This one is without the Philharmonia though.
Here is the tracklisting for the album:
New Day Come
In the Rain (featuring Ladi 6)
Earth
Bring Change
Electric Dream
Equinox
Southern Lights (featuring KP)
Heat of the Moment (featuring Kye)
Stryka
One
The Ride
Summer Haze
I can't fault any of these. Bring Change has been around since Sept 05 and has been getting airplay on George for the last few months. This one will go off live I can tell. My other favourites are In The Rain, Electric Dream, One and Summer Haze. Although the whole album is excellent. In The Rain is less of a drum and bass tune and more a roots/soul one. Love it. Electric Dream is electro drum and bass, as the title suggests. Works really well. One has to have the best lyrics on the album by far, "Don't you go and let the world weigh you down.. should you ever fall.. I will be around to pick you up and keep you away from harm.." Beautiful. I expect to see a few teary eyes in the crowd when this gets played at the gig. I will endeavour to take some video clips and then upload to Youtube and link via that onto the blog. Heres hoping anyway.
So, yeah - Go buy the album! Support NZ artists!
Monday, August 28, 2006
United 93
Wow. Fucking Wow. Is about all i can say. That may well be the most intense cinematic experience i have ever witnessed. And that is saying something when it was previously Grave of The Fireflies. I don’t see how you can possibly say it was boring, but some people have. My only thought is that the docudrama approach didn’t appeal to them? God we are so caught up in hollywood classical realism that anything that seems even remotely different prevents us from an emotional engagment with it? Come on.. If you have seen Bloody Sunday which was also directed by Greengrass in the same manner then you will know what to expect.
Personally i think by shooting it as a docu-drama with no name actors and some people even playing themselves makes it so much more intense. And the fact that we know what happens only makes it worse. The sense of dread is almost unbearable. Especially when we learn of little details such as the fact that United 93 was still on the ground waiting to take off when the first plane hit the trade centre.
I was wondering whether i would cry when i watched this, and for the first hour i thought i wasn’t going to. I mean i felt awful and i was completely riveted but it wasn’t until their calls to their loved ones that the gravity of the situation was finally brought home to me. These people are never going to see their children/grandparents/wifes/lovers again. Ever. Just listening to their messages and quiet dignity about accepting their fate made it so tragic. And then the passengers who decided to take action and try and stop them from taking it over.. fucking hell. You have to think, would you have done that if you were in the same position?
Perhaps that is a problem, their predicament is so far out there beyond my imagining that i can’t possibly begin to even think about what it would have been like to experience that flight. I only have what we see on screen. But boy what a document we have.
More about the look and feel of the film. Basically the film is shot in real-time with no sound and no big name actors bringing in any extratextual baggage into the film. A completely realist, cinema verite approach. Greengrass isn’t forcing you to feel emotion, he is simply presenting the facts as best he can given the evidence we have about the event. There is no crescendo of music with the planes hitting the tower or close-ups screaming at us to cry. The grief just comes naturally, in waves and waves and waves. I had to turn away from the screen it was that intense. I had my eyes closed and my hands clasped over my mouth trying to hold in my sobs.
I think you get the picture. This is an incredible experience. It is NOT entertainment. If you go there looking for entertainment you will be dissapointed. As i sat there in the theatre and heard the crunching of popcorn i just had to grimace. United 93 cannot be any further away from a popcorn movie if it tried. Don’t these people understand there is something implicitly wrong with fucking eating popcorn and munching on ice-creams from the candy bar when watching something like this? Their indifference really disturbed me.
I don’t doubt that some of you will find it boring. Its a sad result of the prevalence fo classical narrative cinema in Hollywood. The way it is shot will prevent a lot of people from finding some sort of entry point into the film. However i also feel that a lot of people are going to be really affected by this film and that it will act as a way to work out some sort of suppressed grief over what happened that day.
9/10
Go see it. But for godsake don’t take in popcorn.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
24 - Season 5
Hell Yes. I am SO amped. Jack Bauer is the man, not just the man but THE MAN. The James Bond movies could really learn a thing or two from the likes of him as it would give the series a much needed adrenaline boost. The last few bond movies have been dissapointments for me, I am still waiting for another Goldeneye.Anyway 24, is there a better TV Show right now? I am kicking myself for not getting into it right from the start. It took my 7th form English History teacher of all things to get me into it! Thank god for him, i started with Season 2 and haven't looked back. Finally got around to watching Season 1 a couple of months ago which was pretty damn good. The show has come along way since then though. My enjoyment could have been lessened by the fact I already knew Nina was the one who killed Jack's wife. Still, i can't believe they managed to hold back that MAJOR twist until a couple of hours before the days end. Damn good scriptwriting. Thats what 24 is renowned for though, managing to keep every second of every hour of that single day so engaging.
My personal 24 highlight would have to be when Jack was ordered to kill Ryan Chappel in Season 3 (?) Man, that rivals anything i have seen on FILM. Period. Maybe this is why I am so excited about the return of 24? The only downside is that I will be staying in a lot more on Friday nights. In a way that is a positive though - less money spent on Shisha etc.
The only other gay thing is that the 2 hour Season Premiere starts Friday night, and guess what? It's the second day of the 38th International Film Fest. Ah well. Film fest comes first, as much as I love 24. I will just have to catch the encore screening on Saturday night after i come back from the Shortbus screening.Speaking of the Film Fest, I cannot wait! It seems like aaages since last years one, by far the best two weeks of moviegoing from 05. The fact that i still play the Tarnation theme on a weekly basis over a year after seeing the film is just one example of how good last years selection was. This year promises to be almost, if not just as good as last year. The only downers being the absence of Volver and Babel. I am sure they will come out soon after though.
I have decided on the rather suicidal plan of watching 20 movies at the fest, 9 more than last year. How on earth am i going to get any university work done I wonder? I mean my devotion goes so far that I have even decided to skip a lecture to watch OilCrash. But I believe the information contained within that documentary will far outweigh any insight gained in a couple of hours of lecture time. Aint Peak Oil a bitch.
I am running out of things to talk about, aside from the sheer awesomeness of Jack Bauer. I mean the guy actually DIED and they still couldn't kill him. Thats right. DNT that shit mofo! Everytime the preview trailer gets shown on TV3 atm you will find me going Ooooorah! Yeaaaah! [insert any other appropriate aaah]
Only 14 hours 45minutes until the Film Fest 'opens' I put it like that because the official opener is The Wind That Shakes The Barley. The first screening however is The New World. I am seeing both. Aren't I cool? Other films i am seeing over this weekend include The Valet, a french farce from the master, Francis Veber. Dave Chappel's Block Party by Michel Gondry and Jet Li's last foray into martial arts - Fearless. That was just Friday. On Saturday I am also seeing Iraq in Fragments, a documentary on life in Iraq from multiple perspectives. Then Shortbus, possibly the most sexually explicit film to come out in a mainstream release, lets see how it compares to Baise Moi. Finally on the Sunday - An Incovenient Truth with Al Gore, showing just how periously close to devasting climate change and Brick - a neo-noir set in high school. Hows that for an original idea?
The next 2 1/2 weeks are a movie geeks wetdream. With the added bonus of 24 what more can I ask for? Well maybe Volver, come on organisers! please! please! I am begging here..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)