tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279881882024-03-07T23:13:11.478+00:00Irascible Ian's Personal BlogThe intermittent musings of a grumpy old fart.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.comBlogger268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-56773893186565511982013-09-22T19:10:00.000+01:002013-09-22T19:23:23.460+01:00Bursledon Brickworks Open Day: Blitz at the Brickworks!<h2>Two Years On</h2>
<p>Blimey! It's two years since I returned from a 3 month contract in Switzerland and said (in my most recent blog post before this one) that now that I was back in the UK I'd be blogging more frequently!</p>
<p>Oops! I've been busy. What can I say?!</p>
<p>The short version of a rather tedious story is that two years on, and more by accident than design, I have moved out of London after 35 years of officially being based there, and returned to the city where I spent my late teens and early working life: <strong>Southampton</strong>.</p>
<p>I now live in a suburb of Southampton called <strong>Bursledon</strong>, and have done so for the last year. Actually, strictly speaking, I live in the <strong>village of Lowford</strong> in Bursledon, but given that the Royal Mail now refuse to recognise Lowford as a valid address, Bursledon is good enough!</p>
<h2>Bursledon's Claims To Fame</h2>
<p>A year after my move here I still hadn't visited the area's two biggest claims to fame: the <strong><a href="http://www3.hants.gov.uk/windmill.htm" title="link to Bursledon Windmill (external web site)">Bursledon Windmill</a></strong> and the <strong><a href="http://www.bursledonbrickworks.org.uk/" title="link to Bursledon Brickworks (external web site)">Bursledon Brickworks</a></strong> (which actually appears to be just over the Bursledon border in Swanwick!), touted as "the last steam driven brick works in the country".</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0105.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0105.jpg" width="570" height="425" border="0"/></a>
<p>So three weeks ago, having seen their web site advertise an Open Day about <strong>Trains! Trains! Trains!</strong>, I decided to put things right with regard to visiting the local amenities, starting with a trip to the Brickworks. My old school friend <strong>Dave Ashford</strong> and his parents came along too.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0100.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0100.jpg" alt="Two steam engines" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
<p>Of course Sod's Law says that the web site details proved to be incorrect (giving an incorrect date for the open day) although Dave and I had a fascinating tour of the brickworks, with an excellent volunteer guide. We learnt that there would be another open day around the subject of <strong>The Blitz</strong>, and so three weeks later I returned, as did Dave with his wife Ping and son Xiaoyu, to find it a little busier than our previous visit.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0080.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0080.jpg" alt="The Ashford Family with a steam vehicle" width="570" height="454" border="0"/></a>
<h2>Open Day: The Blitz</h2>
<p>On normal days the steam-driven brick works are not running because it costs about £200 to fire everything up, but today the heavy Victorian machinery was up and running. In the open forecourt at the back of the brickworks all sorts of extra activities were going on.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0093.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0093.jpg" alt="Vintage Car" width="570" height="431" border="0"/></a>
<p>As well as numerous 'war time' exhibits, live entertainment was provided by the likes of the <strong>St Andrew's Pipe Band</strong>, <strong>Now That's Jive Dance Group</strong> and <strong>Steve Green</strong>, a <strong>Frank Sinatra</strong> 'Singalike'.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0082.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0082.jpg" alt="Defenders of the Realm" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
<p>At a fiver for admission, and a LOT of volunteers working hard to make the day a success, I thought the day was good value for money, and the canteen even more so. It must be tempting when you're trying to raise funds to squeeze your captive audience, but I thought the £2.70 I paid for a hot egg and bacon bap, and £1.30 for a generous slice of Lemon Drizzle cake good value for money.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0099.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0099.jpg" alt="Now That's Jive Dance Group" width="570" height="410" border="0"/></a>
<p>There were a bunch of activities for the kids, but by far the most popular was the small radio-controlled speed-boat racing stand. Even though this activity incurred an extra charge of £1 a go, there was no shortage of eager young captains. Kids love their toys as much as the grown-ups do!</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0094.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0094.jpg" alt="Relaxing by the vintage cars" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
<p>All-in-all, it was good way to spend a couple of hours, thanks mainly to a LOT of hard working volunteers.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0098.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0098.jpg" alt="Blacksmith at work" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
<p>If you've never been to the brick works, I highly recommend a visit - especially on an open day such as this.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0095.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0095.jpg" alt="Radio-controlled boat racing" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
<p>Two more open days are planned for this year: an <strong>End of Season Steam Up & Halloween</strong> event on the 20th October (2013), and <strong>Christmas at the Brickworks</strong> on the 24th November.</p>
<a href="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/Large/5L1B0103.jpg" title="View at full size"><img src="http://fastandfluid.com/IanSmithUKBlog/images/2013/September/2013-09-22/5L1B0103.jpg" alt="Frank Sinatra singalike Steve Green" width="570" height="420" border="0"/></a>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-80405241333461247082011-09-24T18:25:00.000+01:002011-09-24T18:25:28.821+01:00I'm Back!<p>Switzerland was pretty much a disaster, although it taught me one important lesson: Go with your own gut instincts and research and don't let agencies and those with vested interests fool you into thinking that you are being 'too negative' unless they're the ones taking on board all the risk!</p>
<p>Suffice to say a cost of living about two to three times that of the UK (£1500/month for a YMCA-like room where hot water wasn't available most of the time - how stupid does one have to be?!) was a shock. The Swiss devaluation of their currency, on top of a pretty miserable work experience and complete lack of any sort of life outside work were the last straw.</p>
<p>I've been back in the UK a couple of weeks now, and already feel rejuvenated and back to 'my old self'.</p>
<p>Last Saturday I got to go to the launch of <strong>The Persuaders</strong> Blu-ray set, and got to hear an excellent Q&A by <strong>Sir Roger Moore</strong>, conducted by <strong>Barry Norman</strong> and got to shake hands and get an autograph from the former Saint/James Bond/Brett Sinclair himself.</p>
<p>Last night I went to see indie-pop rockers <strong>Hard-Fi</strong> at the Forum in Kentish Town and it was an awesome gig. Anthemic tunes of the sort <strong>Oasis</strong> were once famous for.</p>
<p>Aside from that I've been ridiculously busy starting up my <strong><a href="http://www.fastandfluid.com">new company</a></strong>, catching up on all the huge announcements Microsoft made the week before last, and doing daily updates (no, honestly!) to the new <strong><a href="fastandfluid.blogspot.com">fast and fluid</a></strong> Windows 8 -themed blog. If you're a developer in the Microsoft workspace I definitely recommend you check the blog out - I'm very proud of it and have had great feedback on it from the few who've discovered it!</p>
<p>I have an interview for an interesting new contract next Tuesday. So, fingers crossed, things are on the look up for Silverlight developers (the lack of demand for which was the only reason I ever considered Switzerland in the first place - ironic that Credit-Suisse moved contractors off the Silverlight projects when it was clear they had to let people go).</p>
<p>Hopefully, I'll get time to update this personal blog more regularly, now I'm back home.</p>
<p>Stay tuned!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-68069497712559677252011-06-05T12:29:00.000+01:002011-06-05T12:29:14.430+01:00New Blog: A Grumpy Brit in Switzerland<p>I've just moved to Zurich in Switzerland to start a six month contract.</p><p>I've only been here a week (and haven't started work yet - that happens tomorrow!) but have decided to start <strong><a href="http://agrumpybritinswitzerland.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a new blog</a></strong> to document my "Swiss adventure".</p><p>My <strong><a href="http://agrumpybritinswitzerland.blogspot.com/2011/06/welcome-to-living-and-working-in.html" target="_blank">first post</a></strong> at the new blog has already been made, and I'll hopefully be updating it at least once a week.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-80723628544721121552011-01-24T10:19:00.004+00:002011-01-24T11:08:37.451+00:00Chart Hyping and The Increasing Power of the Supermarkets<p>In the latest <strong><a href="http://ukblurayreview.blogspot.com/2011/01/episode-4-grown-ups-hole-switch.html" target="_blank" title="link to latest podcast blog entry">UK Blu-ray Review Podcast</a></strong> I have a bit of a whinge about the fact that Amazon now effectively own the film world, with only the super-markets offering any sort of competition.</p><p>Amazon totally dominate online shiny disc sales, they now own the biggest film resource <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com" target="_blank" title="link to The Internet Movie Database">The Internet Movie Database</a></strong> (or imdb as it's better known), and last week added <strong><a href="http://www.LoveFilm.com" target="_blank">LoveFilm</a></strong> to their acquisitions so that they now pretty much own film rental too.</p><p>I have no idea what the Monopolies Commission does these days, but I'd have thought this is just the sort of thing they should be investigating. However, I suspect that they'll be pointing out that there's always HMV (which announced the closure of 60 stores a few weeks ago and had its supplier credit insurance guarantees removed last week) and the supermarkets.</p><p>The idea that the supermarkets offer any kind of alternative to 'proper' shiny disc stores is laughable. Each week they take just <strong>two</strong> of the tens of titles released on Blu-ray each week and decide to stock them and promote them.</p><p>When I worked in the record industry for a few short years, I was shocked to find that we actually paid money to get showcased in the <strong>New Release</strong> racks in <strong>HMV</strong>. If we didn't cough up we were consigned to the alphabetic racks which most casual buyers never look at.</p><p>Worse, if we hoped to be flagged as one of four 'Single of the Week's in <strong>Our Price</strong> we actually had to delay a release until a slot was available. Yup, these slots weren't chosen - they were sold in advance to the record labels who felt they had most chance of a genuine chart hit if they paid out enough cash to become visible to potential purchasers</p><p>I don't know how the supermarkets work, but I'm pretty sure that the two new titles they select each week are not based in any way on merit, or appropriateness for their market, but on how much money the distributors are prepared to pay to be visible. How else to explain a family supermarket like Sainsbury's choosing a torture-porn title from the makers of <strong><em>Saw</em></strong> over a family classic (beautifully transferred to hi-def) like <strong>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang</strong>?</p><p>When I launched the podcast I wanted to give a rundown of the best selling Blu-rays each week. The only chart that can make any sort of claim to provide this is the official one from <strong><a href="http://www.theofficialcharts.co.uk" target="_blank">The Official Chart Company</a></strong>. The trouble is it's controlled almost totally by the hyped titles being sold in the supermarkets. I can predict without fail which new entries there will be each week, based solely on checking what two titles Sainsbury's and Tesco's have chosen to stock in any given week.</p><p>And that's just wrong!</p><p>My local Sainsbury's have their own chart, which doesn't even pretend to reflect any kind of reality. This morning for instance it shows two new entries of <strong>The Other Guys</strong> and <strong>Devil</strong>, both straight in at no.1 and no.2. These titles only officially go on sale today, and aren't even out on the shelves of the store displaying this chart yet. So how can they be top of the Sales chart? It's farcical.</p><p>I'm wondering if I should just put together my own chart, based on my own reviews. Far too many great Blu-rays are getting completely ignored because the supermarkets won't stock them, Amazon aren't promoting them and those who made them can't afford the back-handers involved in getting greater visibility.</p><p>It all reminds me of an old saying from my former record label boss, when I used to complain at the back-handers and the fact we spent a fortune flying our acts in from abroad for free Radio 1 Summer roadshow performances we weren't paid for, when despite having Top 10 hits the BBC STILL refused to add our chart hits to their playlist.</p><p>We were in the endlessly farcical situation of having the BBC tell us our records 'are too dance, not enough pop' to be played on Radio 1, while Kiss FM would tell us 'you're too pop, not enough dance' to get on Kiss. Call me cynical, but I'm pretty sure the real reason was that we just couldn't afford to grease the right palms at either of those organisations where decisions were made.</p><p>I remember my boss telling me "It's called the music business, Ian. And it's all about the business, and nothing to do with the music.". It seems the movie (and shiny disc) business is no different. Naive of me to think otherwise I guess.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-86140181261202101732011-01-17T23:57:00.000+00:002011-01-17T23:57:05.193+00:00Podcast Feedback<p>When I decided, three weeks ago, to start the New Year with my first podcast - reviewing Blu-rays which are my main non-work activity at the moment, and have been for some time - I don't think I realised how much work I was setting myself up for.</p><p>It's not just producing the podcast itself single-handedly that's the problem but the hours of 'behind the scenes' work to set up web pages for the titles reviewed with screencaps, links, trailer etc.</p><p>I'd very soon realised that there are a lot of hard-of-hearing people who love watching Blu-rays but seem to be ignored by many of the podcasts, so it was a pretty high priority to get a good web-site up and running, with a downloadable transcript of the podcast for those who couldn't 'listen' but would be more than happy to 'read'.</p><p>I seem to have had to survive on 5 hours sleep a night (especially at weekends when the podcast is produced) for the last couple of weeks, but I think it's been worth it. I've been really impressed with the speed with which everything seems to have taken off. Those advice pages saying "Just start and practice and improve. Don't wait until everything's perfect" are bang on the button I think.</p><p>Despite many horror stories on their podcast fortunes ("Apple just don't care") iTunes actually took the podcast on board after just one week, and although it's annoying that the image to represent the podcast is still missing from <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/uk-blu-ray-review/id413729126" title="link to iTunes page for the web application" target="_blank">the official iTunes page for the podcast</a> even though it was correctly submitted and displayed in a preview test, everything else has gone very smoothly. Within a few hours of being approved my podcast was the first to show up in a search in the podcasts area for 'Blu-ray'. Nice!</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.libsyn.com" target="_blank" title="link to LibSyn account">LibSyn</a></strong> have turned out to be the perfect podcast hosting partner, after my awful start with a UK company who seemed incapable of doing anything that worked, not even having a 'Contact Us' process that worked. As part of their deal they even provide an iPhone/iPad application for downloading podcasts on those devices via a fun customised app. That will take a few more weeks to appear (Apple's App Store approval process is notoriously slow) but it's good to know it will be there.</p><p>But in the meantime the biggest surprise has been the feedback on the podcast that's appeared on my iTunes page (below). All five star reviews so far. I'm sure there will be some lower ones as more people discover the podcast, but being told you're better than the BBC's Kermode and Mayo podcast (which I download religiously every week) is one hell of a nice compliment</p><img src="http://UKBluRayReview.com/images/iTunesReviews.jpg" alt="Screenshot of favourable reviews on iTunes" width="500" height="243"/><br />
<p>In case you haven't heard the podcast yet, or seen the associated web pages, check out the <strong><a href="http://UKBluRayReview.blogspot.com" target="_blank">UK Blu Ray Review podcast blog</a></strong> for all the links, an in-page MP3 player for the podcast and the latest news.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-60367504072948012332011-01-09T21:30:00.000+00:002011-01-09T21:30:45.259+00:00Podcast Woes Solved (fingers crossed)<p>Having moved to a new podcast hosting provider (the excellent <strong><a href="http://libsyn.com/3/" target="_blank" title="link to LibSyn web site">LibSyn</a></strong>) I'm happy to report my podcasting woes appear to be over, although it's been a ridiculously crazy week getting everything sorted.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOyowbX_33NT80A-Jo5sBZFMVWnOVpVX4rroqMWjCnkLlxFeXMrxT2xqnbmE3eqpcqBqGU6T0zYc8-xBsvHtEGx83kem7e_yxgTf57Gx1xLI_7NtzUucYxRN0-2Dmr9hwCH0/s1600/Episode2BlogBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="94" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOyowbX_33NT80A-Jo5sBZFMVWnOVpVX4rroqMWjCnkLlxFeXMrxT2xqnbmE3eqpcqBqGU6T0zYc8-xBsvHtEGx83kem7e_yxgTf57Gx1xLI_7NtzUucYxRN0-2Dmr9hwCH0/s400/Episode2BlogBanner.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<p>I'm not on iTunes yet (that takes time and a few more episodes) but with LibSyn's help I've managed to get an in-page MP3 player for the <strong><a href="http://ukblurayreview.blogspot.com" target="_blank" title="Link to UK Blu Ray Review podcast blog">UK Blu-Ray Review podcast blog</a></strong> up and working with the podcast (the trick is to use a WordPress plug-in which can be hacked to work with Blogger :-))</p><p>I've also managed to get the podcast on the <strong>FeedDemon</strong> feed reader so that you can subscribe to the podcast with an RSS reader. Even better if you subscribe using the blog RSS feed you get the MP3 of the podcast associated with that blog entry in the feed as well.</p><p>None of this stuff is very well documented, although LibSyn have a couple of tutorials that give you clues as to how to get started, so I'm feeling very proud of myself, if totally knackered having averaged about 5 hours sleep a night for the last week.</p><p>Of course that's the easy stuff. I now need to find a way of improving my presentation and audio editing skills. I'm hoping that will improve with more time and more experience. Fingers crossed!</p><p>I've also been working hard on accompanying web pages to go with each Blu-Ray that gets reviewed, that include hi-res ScreenCaps, the title's Trailer and a transcript of the review from the podcast.</p><p>I'm very happy with the results, but am now ready for a week's break. Alas, it's going to be a tough week in 'the real job' and the commute just seems to get worse instead of better.</p><p>Only 7 more days until the next podcast becomes due.</p><p>Help! What have I set myself up for?!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-1244525245314327232011-01-03T00:04:00.002+00:002011-01-03T00:16:08.170+00:00New Year, New Broom, Same Old Technology Issues (Ian launches a new podcast)<p>I've used the new year to do some tidying up of various blogs and Twitter accounts. <strong>ShinyDiscs.com</strong> is gone, and its associated Twitter account renamed to <strong><a href="http://www.twitter.com/UKBluRayReview" target="_blank">UKBluRayReview</a></strong>.</p><br /><p>I also used the New Year break to finally get a long-planned weekly audio podcast launched, mainly because of my old boss <strong>John Mitchell</strong> who's recently discovered podcasts and loves them, but like me has struggled to find good film review or shiny disc review podcasts. You know there's something wrong when podcasts are 90 minutes in length and that's just for one film. Downloading them invariably reveals that the so-called film review podcast is actually two flat mates arguing for most of the podcast about what they just had for dinner, or who messed up at the last social event they attended!</p><br /><a href="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/UKBluRayReview/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/FirstPodcast.jpg" width="500" height="153" /></a><br /><p>As with my ill-fated video podcast experiments, struggling with the technology has been a nightmare. I won't bore you with the details of how difficult it is to get sound clips extracted from Blu-Rays to help illustrate reviews, when each Blu-Ray seems to have developed a different method for hiding away the audio you need to grab and convert to a podcast friendly MP3 format.</p><br /><p>But that was as nothing compared to the frustration in spending a couple of days rushing to get the first podcast ready in a timely fashion only to find that your chosen podcast hosting company are absolute crap.</p><br /><p>You can find out more about the specifics if you click on the image above advertising the new podcast. I'm hoping to have a proper podcasting provision service working by the time the next podcast is ready (next Sunday) but in the meantime if you're patient and don't mind a slow download you can click the image above and then click on the <strong>Temporary download</strong> link on the podcast home page to get hold of my first attempt at podcasting.</p><br /><p>There are problems with this first episode. The review of <strong>Scott Pilgrim vs The World</strong> is too long, the volume level for my intro is a bit too low, and the Top 10 sales countdown could do with being a bit shorter. But those are things that will be easy to fix with time as I get more experience. If you download the podcast and give it a listen let me know what you think. What don't you like? What DO you like? And what suggestions have you got for improving the podcast (apart from finding somebody with a more podcast-friendly voice?!)</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-22176811295877707092010-09-20T20:47:00.004+01:002010-09-20T21:18:34.618+01:00Movie Meme #3: The Sixth Sense (1999)<img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/HeaderSixthSense.jpg" alt="Movie Meme#3 The Sixth Sense (1999) - M.Night Shyamalan quote describing the appeal of ghost stories around the world" width="500" height=321" /><br /><br /><h3>About the Movie Meme</h3><br /><p><strong>The Sixth Sense</strong> is the third entry in my movie meme for 'films I can happily watch over and over again', and which I'm revealing one film a day over the period of a month. You can find photographic 'clues' to all 31 of the films I've selected in my introductory post about the meme <strong><a href="http://irascian.blogspot.com/2010/09/movie-meme-films-i-can-happily-watch.html" target="_blank" title="My original post on the meme">here</a></strong></p><br /><h3>The Film</h3><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap15.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" /><br /><br /><p>Child psychologist Malcolm Crow (<strong>Bruce Willis</strong>) is celebrating an award for his work when an unhappy, and clearly disturbed, ex-patient he wasn't able to help breaks into his home and shoots him before committing suicide. A few months later, the disillusioned psychologist agrees to take on a child, Cole Sear (<strong>Haley Joel Osment</strong>), who has similar problems to the ex-patient he wasn't able to save. But Crow struggles to help the child, and finds the case dominating his life to the extent that his previously happy marriage now seems threatened. Can he help the boy who is convinced he is being haunted by dead people, and succeed with this patient where he failed with his previous one?</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap03.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" /><br /><br /><p>At the time of release the film was widely praised for being that rare thing - a 'horror film' that women were happy to see. So happy that many were going to see it a second time, mainly to revisit the film after its surprising (to most) twist had been revealed right at the end of the film. Much as had happened with Hitchcock's <strong><em>Psycho</em></strong>, the film's director begged reviewers not to reveal the 'surprise' twist, and most thankfully complied.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap17.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>The film has received mixed reviews once its initial flourish of success was over. Some are now pooh-poohing the film claiming it is 'totally reliant' on its twist ending for effect, and if you take that away there's not much left. I strongly beg to differ. I suspect more of the recent negativity towards the film is revision of history based on the 'law of diminishing returns' that has become evident with <strong>M. Night Shyamalan</strong>'s subsequent films to this, which was his debut. With each successive release, just when you think the director couldn't possibly release a worse film, he proves you wrong, whether we're talking <strong>Signs</strong>, <strong>Lady In the Water</strong>, <strong>The Happening</strong> or <strong>The Last Airbender</strong>. It's hard to watch any of those films and make the connection with this far superior piece of work.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap06.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" /><br /><br /><h3>Background to Why It's On My Meme List</h3><br /><p>I saw this film on its first theatrical release, encouraged by the enthusiastic press reviews and explanations that one should see it quickly before someone spoilt it for me (I wish I'd done the same for <strong>The Others</strong> and <strong>Shutter Island</strong> - both excellent films, ruined by knowing the twist ending before seeing the film). I came out the theatre feeling annoyed with myself for having been so stupid as falling for the set-up that leads you down a blind alley at the start of the film - a scene that seemed so fake, I'd actually issued an 'Oh come on!' out loud at the cinema just after the first caption indicating time had passed appeared. Others have guessed the 'twist' based simply on the much-repeated trailer that features Joel Osment's troubled character finally breaking down and confessing to his psychologist 'I see dead people', but if the twist were the only thing that made the film, as some have suggested, it wouldn't stand up to repeated viewings the way it does.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap16.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>For me the twist isn't the main thing about the picture (and, to be honest, I think the much earlier <strong>Jacob's Ladder</strong> does a much more shocking twist with the same basic idea), it's the simple, clear and consistent story telling that make the film work. The needed horror touches are all there, and add chills down the spine no matter how often I view the film, but essentially this is a love story which, presumably, is why women flocked to see it again and again on its theatrical outing. It's a love story between a psychologist and his patient, between a terrified child and his even more terrifed mother, and between a man and his wife who realise their marriage is going wrong but can't seem to quite put their fingers on why. It's a film that needs a large box of Kleenex by your side because if you're not blubbing like a baby at several key points in the film, well you have a heart made of stone.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap14.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>The main story is a fairly simple one, but in a world where screenwriters are usually writing their scripts on set as actors are waiting for the latest franchise to be filmed, it's one that has been polished to perfection. The central conceit may require something of a leap of faith ('How could the central character not have known over all that time?') but once you buy into that conceit the rules are strictly adhered to. Shyamalan builds up intriguing sub-plots that all carry the main story through to a conclusion that on first viewing totally shocks you, but on subsequent viewings reveals itself as the only possible outcome. It's never dull and even though I've seen it many times, if it suddenly show up on TV and I have other things to do I invariably find myself watching the end credits where I'd just expected to 'watch a minute or two to remind myself of what it was like'.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap13.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>The direction is classy, without being too showy, and M Night Shayamalan shows remarkable restraint with his first feature film. There's really nothing surplus to requirements or any weak scenes that add padding to the script. Some may regard his choice of colour palette and use of the colour red to subliminally warn the audience that something is amiss as erring to the pretentious, but it works and isn't over-used to the point of distraction, the way it has been in other films. Even his own, now obligatory, cameo serves a useful purpose and moves the story forward.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap10.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" /><br /><br /><p>Acting wise, everything is pitch perfect - in stark contrast to Shyamalan's later films. Newcomer <strong>Haley Joel Osment</strong> is simply astonishing in the title role. Off-screen in the 'Making of' he comes across as a scary, precocious American 'adult trapped in a child's body', but in the film he comes across as an astonishingly vulnerable and emotional 10 year-old. It's not hard to see why his performance, like that of <strong>Toni Collette</strong> as his mother, was oscar-nominated. The relationship between mother and son, one terrified out of his wits but not wanting to scare his single mother, the other upset at how ill her son appears to be, and fighting hard against all the experts who think she is exaggerating, is core to the sympathy one feels for these characters and the commitment we make to them on their journey.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap18.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>But it's perhaps <strong>Bruce Willis</strong>' performance that is the most surprising. Leaving his cliched 'dumb action hero' persona behind him, Willis plays vulnerable and sympathetic - and it actually works! It would have been easy to overplay the role, and lose the audience in the process, but Willis judges wisely and his performance is never overly-sentimental, nor wooden. It's a shame we don't get to see him play more roles like this.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap09.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="271" /><br /><br /><p>The (still) high rating on <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/" target="_blank">Internet Movie Database</a></strong> for <strong>The Sixth Sense</strong> shows I am not alone in finding this film better than its 'one trick pony' detractors would imply. I suspect that the reason M. Night Shyamalan's subsequent films have still done relatively good box office (despite the universally terrible reviews from both critics and the public) is because even with all the evidence to the contrary fans hope to see a spark of the greatness the director showed in this film, but then seemed to completely lose on his subsequent efforts. It's an astonishing debut, and an astonishing piece of work in both the writing, acting and directing stakes. It's just a shame that none of those responsible for this success seem to have gone on to do anything anywhere near as good subsequently.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseScreencap19.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="270" /><br /><br /><h3>Shiny Disc Release</h3><br /><p>The Blu-Ray transfer of the film is good, but not stunning. On the plus side, there is very little grain or digital noise, and no evidence of print damage. On the negative side the the picture is surprisingly soft most of the time. There is no director commentary track, which is probably a mixed blessing given the writer/director's penchant for self-aggrandisement, and the featurettes, which typically run at 40 minutes a piece are supplied in standard definition rather than High Definition. Director boasting aside, the 'Making of' feature does give some real insight into the actors' interpretations, particularly the short but remarkable performance from <strong>Donnie Wahlberg</strong> (brother of the much more famous, but seemingly less talented <strong>Mark Wahlberg</strong>), and an interesting argument between <strong>Bruce Willis</strong> and <strong>M Night Shyamalan</strong> about how laid back his performance had just been.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SixthSenseShinyDisc.jpg" alt="The UK Blu-Ray is skimpy to say the least but has the advantage of costung under a tenner online." width="500" height="206" /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-3593021483045303502010-09-18T23:36:00.002+01:002010-09-19T00:06:41.305+01:00Movie Meme #2: A Single Man (2009)<img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/HeaderASingleMan.jpg" alt="Movie Meme#2 A Single Man (2009) - Tom Ford quote describing the film as a deeply spiritual story" width="500" height=321" /><br /><br /><h3>About the Movie Meme</h3><br /><p><strong>A Single Man</strong> is the second entry in my movie meme for 'films I can happily watch over and over again', and which I'm be revealing one film a day over the period of a month. You can find photographic 'clues' to all 31 of the films I've selected in my introductory post about the meme <strong><a href="http://irascian.blogspot.com/2010/09/movie-meme-films-i-can-happily-watch.html" target="_blank" title="My original post on the meme">here</a></strong></p><br /><h3>The Film</h3><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap00.jpg" alt="The film opens with a surrealistic dream sequence where George imagines the scene of the car crash where his lover Jim died" width="500" height="208" /><br /><br /><p>Adapted from a novel by <strong>Christopher Isherwood</strong>, <strong>A Single Man</strong> is, to quote the blurb from the back of the British Blu-Ray release, "a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition, and ultimately, the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life. Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, [the film] tells the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters, ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim."</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap01.jpg" alt="George imagines lying down to rest with Jim" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><h3>Background to Why It's On My Meme List</h3><br /><p>When I saw the online trailer for this film (a different one from that included on the UK Blu-Ray release) I was blown away by the sheer poetry of the imagery. I don't think I've ever seen such a stunningly beautiful piece of work - a sort of movie version of one of those coffee-table books that are full of stunning photographs. A couple of friends warned that the film was 'slow, boring and pretentious' but having missed the film on its theatrical run, I couldn't wait to see it on shiny disc. Happily, I was not disappointed, and despite the fact it's been on sale for barely four months I've already seen it more times than I watch most films in a decade. Each viewing shows new subtleties, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is a film I'll still happily be rewatching in a decade's time.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap02.jpg" alt="Jim's death is a black stain on George's life where he's existing rather than living, and has decided to make today his last day." width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>A surrealistic opening scene shows us the scene of a car crash, and it becomes clear that we are witnessing George's dream interpretation of the moments just after his partner Jim was killed in a car crash. From this moment on we move forward through 24 hours of George's day, starting with his awakening to find a large black stain on the bed where his partner should be - a metaphor for the dark stain on his life caused by his partner's absence. As George dabs his finger in the messy black ink and scratches his lip, we're being set up for the rest of the film with the message that Jim's car crash has been 'the kiss of death' for George.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/Singleman_Screencap17.jpg" alt="Flashbacks show us how much happier George was in his life before Jim's death" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>Flashbacks throughout the running time of the film show us how the two lovers met, hinting at their happiness together, but we start with the day George learnt of his partner's death in a cold, emotionless phone call from a relative of Jim's (<strong>Mad Men</strong>'s Don Draper in the form of actor <strong>John Hamm</strong> no less) who makes it clear George will not be welcome at his partner's funeral.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/Singleman_Screencap05.jpg" alt="George learns of Jim's death in a heartless phone call from one of Jim's relatives" width="500" height="210" /><br /><br /><p>I have to confess I've never been a huge fan of <strong>Colin Firth</strong>, finding him bland and rather charisma-free in most roles, even that of Mr Darcey in the BBC's award-winning TV mini-series <strong>Pride and Prejudice</strong> which made him a household name. However his oscar nomination for this film is totally deserved, and would be if just for the scene where he takes the phone call bearing him bad news. It is an amazingly subtle piece of acting, showing the simmering anger, upset and disbelief raging beneath the polite exterior of a college professor who's been taught that appearance is everything. The phrase 'career best' is over-used, but surely applies here. Firth is in practically every scene in the film, and there isn't a duff line or move in any one of them.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap06.jpg" alt="George struggles with life in his daily routine" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>What's astonishing about the film though is the quality of the acting from even the most minor supporting cast member. I've long been a fan of <strong>Julianne Moore</strong>, but she's been over-exposed playing pretty much the same role (herself) in recent outings, so her performance here as a 60's fashion icon and George's best friend who's still in love with him, complete with an impeccable British accent, is a pleasant reminder of how good she can be when given a role to get her teeth into.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap20.jpg" alt="George struggles with life in his daily routine" width="500" height="208" /><br /><br /><p><strong>Matthew Goode</strong> can also be hit and miss, but as George's lover Jim, he too is note perfect in a performance that shows why George was so happy, and feels that now Jim has gone he has nothing to live for. <strong>Nicholas Hault</strong>, best known for his work in the excellent ITV youth drama <strong><em>Skins</em></strong>, also delivers in a tough role where we're never quite sure of his motives, and which requires him to deliver a convincing American accent (he succeeds!)</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap12.jpg" alt="Matthew Goode plays George's lover Jim, here seen in a flashback sequence" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>Even the relatively minor role of a Spanish hustler who bumps into George and has a short conversation with him at a liquor store is beautifully paced and played. Everything about every little bit part smacks of attention to detail and perfection. <strong><em>The Times</em></strong> called the film " a thing of heart-stopping beauty" and I find it very hard to disagree.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap15.jpg" alt="Tom Ford's direction leads to a film which The Times called 'a thing of heart-stopping beauty'. I can't disagree." width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>The beauty of the film is undoubtedly down to the perfectionism of its first-time director and co-screenwriter, <strong>Tom Ford</strong>. Every scene is perfectly paced, with subtle visual clues to show us George's state of mind and indicate where his character is heading. The use of desaturated colour to show George's general depression, bursting into over-saturated color whenever he remembers why life is worth living is just one of the visual tics the director uses to underscore the narrative thrust of the film. As one would expect from a former fashion guru, the director's taste is impeccable, and his choice of popular (but not too popular!) music from the 1960's, coupled with one of the most haunting scores I've heard, from original composer <strong>Abel Korzeniowski</strong>, are the icing on the cake of a film that is pretty much perfect in every way.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap10.jpg" alt="Nicholas Hoult plays a young student, fascinated by the humanity of his college professor and worried that he seems to be very unhappy" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><p>Those friends who found the film 'slow, boring and pretentious' have completely missed the point in my opinion. One hears a lot of complaints about the 'brain dead' blockbuster garbage that Hollywood is producing these days, and how it means the death of cinema. When films this perfect - so perfect I really can't find a single flaw in it - are still being made, I don't think we have too much to worry about. The Oscars may have snubbed it when it came to dishing out the actual statuettes, but for once BAFTA got it right. I can't wait to see what <strong>Tom Ford</strong> does next!</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleMan_Screencap14.jpg" alt="Set design is perfect, and the film contains much iconic imagery, such as this shot of George's car parked alongside a large poster for Alfred Hitchock's Psycho movie" width="500" height="209" /><br /><br /><h3>Shiny Disc Release</h3><br /><p>The UK Blu-Ray transfer of the film (which is region locked :-( ) is stunning, reproducing the different digital effects perfectly. There's a lot of grain and noise in parts of this film, but that's deliberate. The Blu-Ray was issued with a 16-page full-colour booklet and a slipcase, despite the fact it retailed at a lower price than is usual for a very recent title like this. There's a very short <strong><em>Making of</em></strong> and a trailer, but the standout extra is a commentary from the co-screenwriter and director <strong>Tom Ford</strong>. He explains the reasons for his decisions throughout the film, highlighting all kinds of subtleties that you may miss on just a couple of viewings.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/SingleManShinyDisc.jpg" alt="The UK Blu-Ray from Criterion comes with a slipcase and 16 page booklet." width="500" height="204" /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-9882309201392874882010-09-18T16:33:00.002+01:002010-09-18T17:24:22.051+01:00Movie Meme #1: The 400 Blows (1959)<img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/The400Blows.jpg" alt="Movie Meme#1 The 400 Blows (1959) - Francois Truffaut quote describing the film as quite pessimistic" width="500" height=340" /><br /><br /><h3>About the Movie Meme</h3><br /><p><strong>Les Quatre Cents Coups</strong>, to give the film its original French title, is the first entry in my movie meme for 'films I can happily watch over and over again', and which I'll be revealing one film at a time over the next 31 days. You can find photographic 'clues' to all 31 of the films I've selected in my introductory post about the meme <strong><a href="http://irascian.blogspot.com/2010/09/movie-meme-films-i-can-happily-watch.html" target="_blank" title="My original post on the meme">here</a></strong></p><br /><h3>The Film</h3><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap01.jpg" alt="Jean-Pierre Léaud (left) plays Antoine Donel, who becomes the class clown and frequently plays truant from school with his best friend René (centre)" width="500" height="212" /><br /><br /><p><strong>The 400 Blows</strong> takes its name from the French expression meaning "To sow wild oats" or "to raise hell". A semi-autobiographical film, made in black and white to save costs, by famed New Wave film director <strong>Francois Truffaut</strong> <em>400 Blows</em> is an astonishing free-form account of young adolescent <strong>Antoine Doinel</strong>'s experiences as circumstances conspire against him, told very much from the boy's point of view. The film follows Antoine as, neglected by his parents, he plays truant from school, sneaks into movies and to the funfair, steals a typewriter and then, with disasterous results, tries to return it.</p><br /><h3>Background to Why It's On My Meme List</h3><br /><p>I first saw this film, like several others on this meme list, when I was in my late teens. I guess that's probably the most impressionable period for most movie fanatics. I saw it on late-night Friday/Sunday night TV, rather than at the Southampton cinema that I used to attend most Sunday afternoons, having become obsessed with cinema after being given a Super-8 camera for my birthday. Like the other films on this list which I saw for the first time around the same period, I caught it more by accident than design, intrigued by a rave review in <strong><em>The Radio Times</em></strong> I read just before intending to head for bed, and found myself incredibly moved by it.</p><br /><p>On paper it sounded like the sort of pretentious French nonsense ('Is there not a proper story?') I would usually avoid but I was gripped from the start, despite the 'loose', apparently largely improvised, dialogue and the obvious disadvantages of a foreign language film that was transmitted in black and white with sub-titles. Thanks to the advent of DVD and then Blu-Ray I've rewatched the film many times, and it still moves me as much on subsequent viewings as it did on the first.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap02.jpg" alt="Antoine's parents argue frequently, with his mother having no love for the child she bore out of wedlock, and his step-father being more interested in his weekend rallies than parenting" width="500" height="213" /><br /><br /><p>A large part of the reason the film has the reputation and longevity it has is due to the incredible performance from the lead actor, a very young <strong>Jean- Pierre Léaud</strong>. As Antoine Doinel, Léaud gives a performance that is significantly enhanced by the free-form 'natural' New Wave filming style which favoured location work over studio sets. Unlike many of the other films on my meme 'comfort' list this film is widely acknowledged as a true movie classic, and was key to the success of the originel French 'La Nouvelle Vague' (New Wave) film-making movement.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap03.jpg" alt="A rare moment of joy, on 'The Rotor' ride at the fun fair. This scene has special memories for me as I have a similar, rather vague, memory of enjoying the exact same centrifugal forces ride on a rare trip to Battersea Fun Fair in London as a young kid" width="500" height="211" /><br /><br /><p>More than 30 years (and multiple viewings) after first seeing it Leaud's performance still astounds. It's the actor's completely natural performance, combined with stunning writing and directorial work, that mean the film is the first choice on my list.</p><br /><p>For a simple example of what I mean by 'natural performance', take the relatively simple scene mid-way through the film where Antoine's mother shows her first and only act of kindness towards the boy she never wanted and is incapable of loving, as she tucks him up in bed one evening. There is nothing at all in the dialogue to indicate her treatment of the boy is in any way fake. The idea that she is being manipulative to keep Antoine quiet about the infidelity he has witnessed whilst playing truant from school is ALL in Léaud's eyes and facial performance.</p><br /><p>What's really astonishing is to discover, many viewings later, that the actor's dialogue, like everyone else's, was entirely dubbed in post-production because the film-makers couldn't afford the higher costs of filming sound on location.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap04.jpg" alt="Worried that her son will tell his step-father about seeing his mother kissing a stranger whilst playing truant from school his mother fakes affection to keep him on-side" width="500" height="213" /><br /><br /><p>I challenge anybody not to be moved by the young actor's tearful but under-stated reaction when he is pushed into a police van to be sent away to a remand school, or by that final, crushing freeze-frame shot at the end of the film as Antoine realises that although he has achieved his dream of reaching the sea he has no idea where to go or what to do next. There is no Hollywood treacly sentimentality here, and the film is all the more moving for it.</p><br /><p>Truffaut's real-life story is apparently much bleaker than portrayed here, in a film which is surprisingly upbeat, given the sadness of the central storyline. It's not hard to guess why the film's co-writer/director decided to change the story to reflect the more optimistic, 'young scallywag' real-life personality of its lead actor. In a 'life imitating art' scenario Léaud apparently played truant from school to attend the auditions in Paris, when he saw them advertised in a local paper.</p><br /><p>Despite Truffaut's initial impressions that the boy was better looking and less skinny than he'd envisaged for a part intended to tell his own life story, the director quickly recognised that Léaud really was the embodiment of the spirit of the central character he'd based his script on. His decision to adjust the tone of the film and the personality of its central character so that the film became a true collaboration between the director/writer and the young actor who, astonishingly, had never made a film or even acted before, was clearly the right one.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap05.jpg" alt="Antoine is interviewed by a psychologist at the boy's remand home where he is sent for stealing a typewriter. The quick-cut editing of the interview, deliberately emulating TV documentaries of the time, was considered controversial when the film was initially released." width="500" height="213" /><br /><br /><p>Whilst the conclusion of the film, and its overall tale of a child let down by every adult he encounters, is a sad one the film has many joyous moments and celebrations of youth: the pranks at school, the 'Pied Piper in reverse' scenes with the P.E. teacher, a trip to the fun fair and a puppet show, as well as the genuine loyalty of the schoolfriend from a much wealthier middle-class family who comes to be the Leaud character's only real friend are all highlight moments, enhanced by an excellent music score from composer <strong>Jean Constantin</strong>. That these moments are all achieved without even a hint of false sentimentality is no mean achievement.</p><br /><p>The film is technically a real tour-de-force too, with some wonderful framing in its unusual (at the time) cinemascope format, as well as some very clever, genuinely innovative directorial tricks, which include clever whip-pans, the staccato 'TV style bad-edit' of the scenes showing the character's interview with a psychologist that so shocked critics when the film was originally released, and that crushing, final scene where Leaud's character achieves his previously stated wish of making it to the sea, only to then realise he has no idea where to go next. This final moment, captured so perfectly in a sudden, abrupt freeze-frame followed by an optical zoom, is one that would be copied by many other film-makers in the years after the film first debuted (perhaps most notably at the end of <strong>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</strong>). The ending is as powerful today, as it was audacious when originally released.</p><br /><p>Truffaut and Leaud went on to make several more films that explored what happened to the Doinel character, but none were as perfect as this astonishing first film. More than 50 years after its original release, and after multiple viewings, it still astonishes and reveals new subtleties on each re-viewing. It is a quite astonishing piece of work from both lead actor and director, and one I never tire of re-visiting.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/400Blows_ScreenCap06.jpg" alt="The film's final shot - an optical zoom and then freeze-frame on the face of Antoine as he realises he does not know where to go next, was considered audacious at the time of release. It is an effect that has been much copied since." width="500" height="212" /><br /><br /><h3>Shiny Disc Release</h3><br /><p>You can buy the film on UK DVD for a bargain <strong>£6.99</strong> online, but if you want an HD version you'll need to pay around <strong>£21</strong> for the US import Blu-Ray from <strong>Criterion</strong> (as well as a region-free Blu-Ray player to play it on as it's locked to <strong>Region A</strong>). In truth the film doesn't really shine in High Definition owing to the quality of the source material, but what you do get on the US import is a superb English-language commentary, packed full of research and interview quotes in the English language, as well as the French language commentary 'interview' that is the only real extra on the UK release. Despite having seen the film many times over the last 30+ years, the Blu-Ray commentary track revealed new insights and depths to the film which I hadn't picked up on before, even after multiple viewings. So, even at the premium import price (which includes all import duties if ordered from <strong><a href="http://www.movietyme.com" target="_blank" title="link to MovieTyme site">MovieTyme</a></strong> the Blu-Ray is my recommended version!</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/MovieMeme/ShinyDiscs400Blows.jpg" alt="The region-locked US Blu-Ray from Criterion is the best version available of the film costing £21 including delivery from MovieTyme.com, but the British DVD is currently available at a bargain price of £7 from hmv.co.uk and amazon.co.uk, having initially retailed for £13.99." width="500" height="430" /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-34165347705284173732010-09-11T18:02:00.004+01:002010-09-11T18:16:45.038+01:00Movie Meme: Films I Can Happily Watch Over and Over Again!<p>OK, so it's been a while since I last updated my personal blog, but now I've got no excuse because I've been tagged by <strong><a title="Brian Sibley's blog" href="http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com">Brian Sibley</a></strong> to take part in a <strong><a title="Brian's Film Meme" href="http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/film-fun.html">Film Fun Meme</a></strong>. The whole thing was kicked off, so far as I can tell, by <strong><a title="Good Dog's blog" href="http://thoughtwad.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-of-what-you-fancy.html">Good Dog</a></strong>.</p><br /><p>The basic idea is that you post the films you can happily watch multiple times. The rules are as follows:<br /><ol><br /><li>Provide a non-exhaustive list of films you’ll happily watch again and again. [Note you don't have to match my 31, which I artificially chose to fill a month's full of daily blogging!]</li><br /><li>There is no rule 2</li><br /><li>Reprint the rules.</li><br /><li>Tag three others and ask them to do the same.</li><br /></ol> <br /></p><br /><p>I'm going to break Rule 4 because it seems unfair to saddle others with work (but if you're reading this <strong><a href="http://wwwthelastpictureshow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Steve Langton</a></strong> I shall be disappointed if you don't take up the challenge!)</p><br /><p>The meme has got me thinking hard about what my 'comfort' films are vs the ones I really admire but wouldn't want to necessarily sit through multiple times. You might think they're both the same thing, but in my case that's definitely not true. Some of my 'comfort' films depicted below can also irritate the hell out of me because of the poor continuity, the badly written dialogue in places, or just things that really could have been better. Others are 'comfort' films because they just seem so perfectly constructed and composed in every way.</p><br /><p>I'll start posting mini-reviews of each film, one-a-day over the next month, starting next Saturday (18th September 2010) and indicating why they are on my list. See how many films you can guess from the small photo clues below, and if you want to take up the challenge of compiling your own meme please add a comment with a link to your meme for others to follow.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/FilmFunMeme.jpg" width="500" height="2159" alt="31 films I can happily watch over and over again" /></p><br /><p>Bonus points if you can identify the film which is STILL only available on VHS. And also if you can identify which titles will be available in HD Blu-Ray format by the end of the year!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-21758388074733916622010-01-03T16:14:00.002+00:002010-01-03T16:16:58.047+00:00Blu-Ray Review: Sunrise (1927)<img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/Reviews/Sunrise_2010-01-03/Sunrise0.jpg" alt="Sunrise: A Song of two Humans (1927)" width="400" height="200"/><br /><p>One of the things I love about cinema is that it's an art form that hasn't been around that long - just 100 years more-or-less. This makes it possible to follow the history and growth of the medium from its very beginnings.</p><br /><p>Alas, too many of the early 'film studio' books that documented the early years have been out of print for years so that the main source of historical information these days tends to be in the form of DVD and Blu-Ray releases: either of the old films themselves, the best of which contain accompanying historical commentary tracks or small booklets, or of new historical documentaries made by the studios to celebrate an anniversary.</p><br /><p>An excellent example of the latter is the 6 hour documentary on MGM Studios history, introduced by <strong>Patrick Stewart</strong>, that was put out as three two-hour TV documentaries in the United States and given away as a double-sided DVD with import sets of the Blu-Ray versions of <strong><em>The Wizard of Oz</em></strong> and <strong><em>Gone with the Wind</em></strong>.</p><br /><p>One of my new year resolutions (again!) was to delve a bit more into older 'classics' that were made before I was born or which I missed as a kid when TV was the main way of catching up on old classics, in an era when video tape recorders and DVD players didn't exist. Fortunately <strong><em>Eureka</em>'s "<em>Masters of Cinema</em>"</strong> imprint has now started releasing some of the most important or interesting classics on Blu-Ray. Curiously "Title #1" in their Blu-Ray series is NOT their first Blu-Ray release, arriving at the tail end of 2009 when other titles came out in 2008, and I really haven't been able to work out how their odd title numbering system works, but "Title #1" seemed a good place to start. And "Title #1" is <strong><em>Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans</em></strong> by the highly praised German silent film director <strong>F.W. Murnau</strong>.</p><br /><p>I should be upfront here about the fact that I find many of the old so-called classics dull beyond words, and I've never really been a fan of the so-called wonderful 'silent era'. Even as a kid from the generation that returned home from school to find children's hour prefaced with 'Laurel and Hardy' episodes on BBC1, I tended to want to turn over to the other channel.</p><br /><p><strong><em>Sunrise</em></strong> has been described by several critics as 'the most beautiful silent film ever made', and won oscars for Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Actress in 1928 so seemed to be a good film to start with, even though the thought of watching a silent film that runs for more than 90 minutes doesn't sound like much of a treat. The film was originally released just two days before the first talkie, and, apparently, was commercially a flop, despite all the critical praise it's received over the years.</p><br /><p>Fortunately many of these silent classics have been issued with new music recordings that improve the 'silent' experience, and <strong>Sunrise</strong> is just such a title with the original mono Movietone score being joined by an 'Alternate Chamber Orchestra Score' in stereo that really enhanced the viewing experience for me. If you're watching the film for the first time, and assuming you're not a film student who insists on seeing the film 'as it would have been seen in 1927', I'd recommend going with the new stereo recording soundtrack over the original Movietone one.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/Reviews/Sunrise_2010-01-03/Sunrise1.jpg" alt="still image from Sunrise" width="400" height="300" /><br /><p>The basic plot, adapted from a German-published short story, is a deceptively straightforward one. A farmer with young wife and child in a marriage that's going stale has an affair with a 'city girl' who tries to lure him away from his farm, suggesting that he arrange a boating accident that kills his wife so that he can sell his farm and join her permanently in the City. In the event, the farmer can't go through with the murderous act, and he and his wife re-find their lost love on a day trip to the big metropolis. A storm arrives as the couple head for home and the wife goes missing, presumed dead. Nevertheless, realising the error of his ways, the farmer tells the City girl he is not prepared to resume his relationship, just before rescuers find his wife alive and well. This last point is a 'happy ending' apparently forced on the director by the Fox film studio - it seems nothing much changes in Hollywood!</p><br /><p>The set-up and failed attempt at the murder are dealt with in the first 20 minutes, and the bulk of the film is spent covering the farming couple's reconciliation trip to the big city, where they visit a church wedding service, get pampered at a hair salon, have a professional take their photograph, and visit a circus fair and dance hall - all in a city that looks rather futuristic for its time.</p><br /><p>This probably sounds less than thrilling, but what makes the film work is that it's a story of emotions - a story that's incredibly well told and still works well today. If you're a fan of cinema, basic story-telling well put together, excellent acting and direction or just quite spectacular special effects (no, really!) then <strong>Sunrise</strong> really is the must-see that its 8.3 score on <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018455/" target="link to imdb page for the film">imdb</a></strong> indicates it to be.</p><br /><p>It's easy for those of us who aren't film students to dismiss film of this era, with its implicit exaggerated facial poses, dated dress sense etc seeming so irrelevant to today's times, but films like <strong>Sunrise</strong> demonstrate that in reality human nature and story telling really hasn't changed one jot in the last 100 years - it's just the technology and fashion that's changed. Thankfully the over-exaggerated gurning that plagues most silent films is mainly absent from this film, and the performances from <strong>Janet Gaynor</strong> and <strong>George O'Brien</strong> are superb, even subtle at times. It's not hard to see why Gaynor won the Best Actress oscar for her performance in this film.</p><br /><p>For me, there were some very pleasant surprises in the film. There was a lot more humour than the dark subject matter had indicated: from the farce of the couple accidentally breaking a photographer's sculpture and trying to cover it up by substituting a golf ball for its broken head, to the slapstick of a drunk and an escaped pig and a dress that has straps which won't stay up, to the naivety of the 'out of town' couple. 'Come again', the hair salon owner says (via cue card) to the departing couple. 'And you must come and visit us' says the farmer's wife, sincerely by way of response.</p><br /><p>But what surprised me most about this beautifully put together film was the special effects. There are one or two back-projection scenes where one can spot the joins (eg where the couple are kissing in the middle of a busy street and the traffic backdrop 'jumps' but the couple don't) but there are other scenes, such as one where the farmer walks across busy traffic, where I still couldn't work out how it was done. Murneau uses special effects - most of them, amazingly, performed 'in camera' - to help tell a story that would otherwise need sound, and as a result is able to convince the viewer over 90 minutes that sound really isn't needed. Indeed I barely noticed that this was a 'silent' film I was watching! There's some wonderful dissolve sequences too, such as the opening title scene where a drawing of a train station dissolves into the real thing, or where 'The Man' is tormented by images of 'The Girl from the City' carressing him.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/Reviews/Sunrise_2010-01-03/Sunrise2.jpg" alt="still image from Sunrise" width="400" height="311"/><br /><p>You can view the trailer for <strong><em>Sunrise</em></strong> on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFJtblnLX1s" title="link to Sunrise trailer">YouTube</a>. However note that this is not taken from the Blu-Ray and doesn't, in my view, give the best indication of what the film is like.</p><br /><p>As for the picture quality .. well if you're expecting a million pound makeover look elsewhere. The original print was destroyed by fire in the 30's and the two versions presented here (a Movietone version, and a shorter, but better preserved, Czechoslovakian version) have been pieced together from various fourth or fifth generation copies. The accompanying booklet details the various sources and explains that it's impossible to tell what the 'definitive' or originally edited film looked like. Different copies of the film use different takes, and two camera's were used so that the Movietone score could be accommodated on US prints which meant some cropping of the picture to accommodate it on the film strip, vs the non-Movietone version that could use the full frame. No attempt at repairing print damage has been attempted and although there is a high throughput of about 26-30MB/sec on the 1080p restoration Blu-Ray I suspect that the difference for most between the DVD and Blu-Ray versions, at least on smaller screen-sizes, is minimal because of the softness of the source material. A few crazy people on Amazon are talking about this Blu-Ray featuring a pin sharp picture - they clearly need to make an optician's appointment - and quickly!</p><br /><p><strong>Sunrise</strong> is indeed the classic many have said it is. <em>Masters of Cinema</em> have produced an excellent, comprehensive Blu-Ray version of the film, complete with an informative booklet about the restoration and a 'must hear' historical commentary track from cinematographer <strong>John Bailey</strong>. I can't wait for their Blu-Ray versions of the same director's <strong><em>City Girl</em></strong>, and also the classic <strong><em>Fritz Lang's "M"</em></strong>, scheduled for release on Blu-Ray on 22nd February.</p><br /><p><font size="smaller">More info on this title on the supplier's website: <a href="http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/sunrise_2/" target="link to Sunrise page on Masters of Cinema website">supplier's web site</a></font>.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-6823229653423628602009-12-31T13:59:00.001+00:002009-12-31T13:59:19.927+00:00My Top 10 Blu-Rays of 2009<p><strong><em>This review first appeared on </em><a href="http://www.shinydiscs.com" title="link to ShinyDiscs web site">The ShinyDiscs.com web site</a></strong>.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_1_BattlestarGalactica.jpg" alt="No. 1: Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Series" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>It's gritty, well-acted, beautifully written and despite the 'science fiction' tag is all about the characters - NOT the effects or aliens! The 'revamped for the noughties' <strong><em>Battlestar Galactica</em></strong> thankfully bears little relation to the bad hair/cheese-fest low budget series of the same name from the early 70's.</p><br /><p>We've had a lot of high quality TV series from the States, and against all the odds, <strong><em>Battlestar Galactica</em></strong> proved to be right there amongst the best written shows that shine light on the human condition - shows like <strong><em>The West Wing</em></strong>, <strong><em>The Sopranos</em></strong> and <strong><em>Six Feet Under</em></strong>. Disillusioned former <strong><em>Star Trek</em></strong> writers were given the chance to produce the show they really WANTED to make, and the years of frustration with a tired, formulaic franchise that they'd previously been working on well past its 'Sell by' date helped them produce one of the best written drama series ever shown on TV.</p><br /><p>Best of all, <strong><em>Battlestar Galactica</em></strong> has a beginning, a middle and an end, and just when you think you know where it's going, it changes tack on you (like the whole 'parallel Iraq' storyline that dominated the middle season of the series). Five years of one of the best shows on TV is now available in a reasonably priced tin box set that includes not just the mini series that kicked the whole thing off, but also extended versions of transmitted episodes (as well as the originally transmitted episodes), and extra one-off 'specials' as well. There's also a surfeit of episode commentaries and 'making of' featurettes that dissect the whole phenomenon.</p><br /><p>This is the definitive set and the only thing excluded is the one-off 'special' <strong><em>The Plan</em></strong> (which retells the main story, but from the robotic Cylon adversary viewpoint), issued after the series ended. Since this late offering (available as a region free Blu-Ray in its own right, albeit on US import only) turned out to be a huge disappointment and represented a drop in quality compared to the main series anyway, its omission is no great loss.</p><br /><p>Admittedly the series 'dark and gritty documentary style' with its profusion of grain and shaky-cam means this isn't a '3D window on the world' hi-def experience, but the series was shot using HD cameras and it looks far better on Blu-Ray than it did on terrestrial transmission or on the originally issued DVD sets.</p><br /><p>If this had been shown on one of the major terrestrial channels like BBC1, it would have had a far bigger cultural impact outside the critics, media watchers and fan boys that caught onto the show through word of mouth and took the show to their hearts. It makes the 'overly polished turd' that is <strong>Russell T Davies</strong>' <strong><em>Doctor Who</em></strong> look like the infantile, poorly written, hammily acted, overly clunky garbage it is, and it's depressing to see the dominance of 'nostalgia over quality' where mainstream science fiction is concerned, with <strong><em>Battlestar Galactica</em></strong> never entering the popular consciousness the way the inferior Time Lord remake from the BBC did.</p><br /><p>Bottom line: <strong><em>Battlestar Galactica</em></strong> is an essential purchase, even if you don't ordinarily like science fiction. If you can't afford the 'Limited Edition' Blu-Ray tin, HMV are currently offering the DVD equivalent in their instore sale at £70. At that price, it's a complete steal. Miss it at your peril!</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_2_ThePrisoner.jpg" alt="No. 2: The Prisoner - The Complete Series" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>This ground-breaking ITV series from the 60's has had more releases on DVD than I've had hot dinners, with each successive release being apparently justified by a gradual improvement in picture quality (the first DVD release was like a really bad VHS recording!) The Blu-Ray edition packages the previously available extra's with an authorative paperback book detailing the origins of the series in an annoyingly over-sized cardboard case, but it's the picture quality that makes this an essential purchase - it blows all earlier editions away. Serious money has been spent on restoring a show that was thankfully shot in colour using expensive film cameras, and it looks absolutely stunning, albeit in 'old school' 4:3 format.</p><br /><p>Admittedly, some of the stories are dated, and a few of the seventeen 45 minute episodes that were filmed are clearly 'filler' material, but when the series hits its stride nothing comes close (not even the expensive 'modern' remake starring <strong>Ian McKellan</strong> that Sky have put together).</p><br /><p>Saturated colours, blemish-free prints, and stories that were thought-provoking and challenging mean that it's worth purchasing this series on Blu even if you own all the previous releases on DVD: the improvement in picture quality is THAT good. 'I am not a number. I am a free man.' has even more relevance in today's world of high surveillance, privacy-inhibiting laws than it did in the 60's.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_3_Moon.jpg" alt="No. 3: Moon" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>If you like your science fiction to be a non-stop CGI action popcorn rollercoaster ride, then <strong><em>Moon</em></strong> probably isn't for you. If, on the other hand, you like science fiction that's intense, thoughtful and mind-bending then <strong><em>Moon</em></strong> is a film you have to see.</p><br /><p><strong>David Bowie</strong>'s son, <strong>Duncan Jones</strong>, turns in a truly astonishing debut film as writer/director on this beautifully constructed slow burner that will have you thinking over its implications for days after you've seen it. Jones builds tension and cleverly constructs a story where the twist that a weaker director wouldn't have revealed until the end, makes an appearance 20 minutes into the main story.</p><br /><p>Cleverly playing on expectations set by similarities to previous classics like <strong><em>2001</em></strong> and <strong><em>Solaris</em></strong>, the film is a true sci-fi classic in its own right, and comes across more as a masterwerk from some established master like Scorsese, than the debut feature from some 'punk who used to make music videos'!</p><br /><p>And if <strong>Sam Rockwell</strong> doesn't get a 'Best Actor' nomination for his performance in this film then there really is no justice in the world. Don't<br />rent this one - buy it because you'll want to watch it several times over to discover its beautifully sign-posted subtleties and clues. The attention to even minor details in this film is astonishing. It also looks gorgeous on Blu-Ray, which is all the more astonishing given its unbelievably low 'indy' budget.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_4_TheHurtLocker.jpg" alt="No. 4: The Hurt Locker" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>Words like 'Iraq' and 'war' were the kiss of death at the box office, so it seemed like <strong><em>The Hurt Locker</em></strong> - a documentary-style fictionalised account of three bomb disposal experts working in Iraq - was on a trip to nowhere when it was theatrically released.</p><br /><p>However a film that makes the esoteric Top 10 of a magazine like <strong><em>Sight and Sound</em></strong>, and gets called <strong><em>The Film of the Decade</em></strong> by <strong>Robert Duvall</strong> is worthy of anybody's attention, and I wasn't disappointed!</p><br /><p>If you've seen the excellent US HBO TV series <strong><em>Generation Kill</em></strong> then you pretty much have the bare bones of what to expect here - except that <strong><em>The Hurt Locker</em></strong> condenses and intensifies the feel of that mini-series, managing not just a much shorter running time, but something with even more of an emotional punch to it too.</p><br /><p>Unfortunately, UK purchasers get short-changed (again!) with the Blu-Ray release since it is lacking the commentary track from its female director, <strong>Kathryn Bigelow</strong> that the US release features, but the film is so powerful that the UK release makes my Top 10 anyway. An astonishing film, well presented in HD on Blu-Ray disc!</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_5_TheWizardOfOz.jpg" alt="No. 5: The Wizard of Oz" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>Lovers of classic movies have been spoilt with expensive restorations this year. <strong><em>It's A Wonderful Life</em></strong>, <strong><em>North by Northwest</em></strong>, <strong><em>Brief Encounter</em></strong>, <strong><em>The General</em></strong>, <strong><em>Sunrise</em></strong>, <strong><em>Saturday Night, Sunday Morning</em></strong>, <strong><em>The Red Shoes</em></strong> and <strong><em>Quo Vadis</em></strong> were just some of the classic films that received great high definition makeovers this year. (Side Warning: Avoid <strong>Alfred Hitchcock</strong>'s <strong><em>The 39 Steps</em></strong>, a truly dire 'restoration' that looks no better than a VHS release)</p><br /><p><strong><em>Gone with the Wind</em></strong> would have made my Top 10 (and is highly recommended, if only for the amazing quality of the HD transfer and the unbelievably generous extra's) had this hi-def release not just pipped it to the post in terms of being a better 'film' (For me <strong><em>Gone with the Wind</em></strong> is just rather over-hyped soap opera!)</p><br /><p>The movie looks better than it could have done on first release, and although the UK release is worth consideration despite its unbelievably naff 'Singalong version' packaging, its the lavish US region free 'Ultimate Edition' import you want if you care about movies, including as it does an extra double-sided DVD disc with a 6 hour documentary on the history of the MGM film studio (which is also included with the region free US import of <strong><em>Gone With the Wind</em></strong>!). This documentary is presented in three two hour 'episodes' by <strong>Patrick Stewart</strong> and is worth the asking price of the import in its own right.</p><br /><p><strong><em>The Wizard of Oz</em></strong> is a timeless classic, and the over-saturated Technicolor land of Oz has never looked as gorgeous as it does on this Blu-Ray release which features not just the film itself, but hours of generous and informative extra's too.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_6_TheDayTheEarthStoodStill.jpg" alt="No. 6: The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>The decision to do a remake of this classic from the 50's, starring a wooden <strong>Keanu Reeves</strong> and a lot of modern CGI nonsense in a tale about aliens warning us that they're watching us and can't allow us to destroy our planet seems timely. Alas, the resulting film was terrible, but its release was a good thing because it meant that we got a restored version of the original black and white classic on the HD format, to tie in with all the new film's publicity.</p><br /><p>Play the old 1950's film next to the new version and even the most gadget-obsessed teenager who argues that he doesn't 'do' black and white films will be forced to agree that the original version is by far the superior release.</p><br /><p>This timeless classic holds up well, and the Blu-Ray transfer is flawless - a convincing argument that even old 4:3 ratio black and white classics can enjoy the benefits of the high definition revolution.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_7_StarTrek.jpg" alt="No. 7: Star Trek XI" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>The original TV series was a classic, albeit one that outright stole most of its ideas from the less widely known <strong><em>Forbidden Planet</em></strong> (which was released on HD-DVD, so where is the Blu-Ray release of THAT title?!) Alas, the film versions of the first two TV shows bearing the 'Star Trek' legend never lived up to the hype of the original shows, a fact verified by this year's release of restored versions of all ten original films on Blu-Ray. Even in high definition it is astonishing how flabby and downright dull they all seem, frequently proving to be just elongated versions of the weakest episodes of the original TV series.</p><br /><p>Then along come <strong>J J Abrams</strong> to bootstrap the whole franchise and, despite a misleadingly 'generic' trailer, and a writer/director with a reputation for sometimes getting carried away with 'style, gimmicks and endless repetition over substance' he delivered on all fronts this time round, giving us a film that old and new fans could embrace.</p><br /><p>The Blu-Ray looks amazing and represents the state-of-the-art in special effects and digital grading. Coming so soon after the theatrical release, Paramount could have cashed in with a double-dip and a first 'bare bones' HD release, but there are enough extra's, albeit of the rather formulaic 'making of' variety, to keep the most ardent fan boy happy.</p><br /><p>Apparently some Trekkies are refusing to watch the film because of the 'parallel timestream' reboot that Abrams' writers built into the script to free themselves from having to conform to complicated plot developments that have arisen over 40 years of the franchise. Their loss! Talk about burying your head in the sand and missing out on a treat!</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_8_MidnightExpress.jpg" alt="No. 8: Midnight Express" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>OK, so this is more of a 'personal favourite' than a 'true classic' per se, and I struggled to choose between this and <strong>David Fincher</strong>'s excellent <strong><em>Fight Club</em></strong> Blu-Ray release, but in the end nostalgia won out and I was very happy to see the big leap in picture quality improvement over the previous DVD with the release of this title on Blu-Ray.</p> <br /><p>Based on a true story, the book's a 'must read', and I've never understood why director <strong>Alan Parker</strong> went with a far-fetched and inferior made-up ending when the real story is much more dramatic and exciting. Nevertheless the film is a gripping, if sometimes harrowing, account of a young American drug smuggler's time in a brutal Turkish jail, with a career best performance from the late <strong>Brad Davis</strong>.</p><br /><p>At a time when too many films from the 70's and 80's receive a lacklustre HD transfer (Don't get me started on Friedkin's post-processing 'rape' of <strong><em>The French Connection</em></strong> on Blu-Ray) that adds little over the DVD equivalent, it was a relief to find this dark, gritty film looking so good on the Blu-Ray format.</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_9_MadMen2.jpg" alt="No. 9: Mad Men - The Complete Second Season" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>Arguably the best drama series currently being shown on television, <strong><em>Mad Men: The Complete Series 2</em></strong> maintained the high standards set by the Emmy-award winning first season.</p><br /><p>The writing's the thing, but the high production values of this tale of advertising and marketing men (and women) in the early 60's mean that the show looks best in glorious high definition.</p><br /><p>The Blu-Ray release doesn't disappoint with stunning picture quality and a ton of accompanying commentary tracks for the episodes. If you haven't caught the show because the BBC have done their usual trick of constantly shifting it around the late night schedules when nobody's watching (WTF do they do that?!) then now's the time to catch up with it on Blu-Ray.</p><br /><p>If you missed the first season there's a special bundle that packages the first two seasons together for a very reasonable price. This is high quality drama that's given the time it needs to breathe, beautifully acted and written, perfectly wedded to Blu-Ray viewing!</p><br /><img src="http://www.shinydiscs.com/Images/2009Top10/Top10_10_Watchmen.jpg" alt="No. 10: Watchmen - The Director's Cut" width="400" height="100" /><br /><p>It was a bit of a toss-up between this one and <strong>Coraline</strong> to be honest. I'm not a big fan of animation, even of the CGI variety, so the fact that <strong><em>Coraline</em></strong> was even under consideration is a testament to its quality.</p><br /><p>But the opening title sequence to <strong><em>Watchmen</em></strong> swung it for me. Was there ever a better opening sequence for a movie? Issued in far too many versions, the <strong><em>Director's Cut</em></strong> is the version I'm choosing (or the 'Ultimate Edition' if you're happy to import), not least because it's the first time I've seen the over-hyped Blu-Ray special features used to such good effect.</p><br /><p>The director's walkthrough of the film, where he stops and starts the film periodically, is an excellent use of the format and the picture-in-picture feature really works on this title. Admittedly the film is too slow burning for many (<strong><em>Iron Man</em></strong> or <strong><em>Spider-Man</em></strong> this isn't!) and criticisms that the director stayed perhaps a little too close to the original comic book, and made far too much use of his camera's slow motion feature, are valid. But for those with the patience to sit through the film's near 3 hour running time, this is a real treat.</p><br /><p>The film is an astonishing accomplishment, albeit one that didn't fare well at the box office. The Blu-Ray (in all its different release formats) more than does justice to that accomplishment.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-5724005058263675052009-11-08T16:29:00.003+00:002009-11-08T16:42:11.940+00:00Shiny Discs Web Site<p>A couple of weeks ago, my <strong><a href="http://www.shinydiscs.com" target="_blank" title="link to Shiny Discs web site">Shiny Discs web site</a></strong> domain name came up for its annual renewal, and I decided to let it go. Work has been such that I never seem to get any time to work on it, and it's been left abandoned, just wasting hosting costs for the last year.</p><br /><p>However I had a last-minute change of heart late on Friday afternoon, had the domain renewed, and spent Saturday working on the outline for the site.</p><br /><p>Using <strong>Silverlight</strong> I've been able to get something approaching what I originally intended in terms of visual display for the 'This Week's new Releases' section and the 'Next Week's New Releases' section. One other change I'm making is the site is going to concentrate only on Blu-Ray releases. The site shows that this week there are SIXTEEN new releases, and next week there will be TWENTY-FIVE so the format is clearly gaining traction. These days I only ever seem to get time to watch Blu-Rays anyway and I can't remember the last time I bought a DVD.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/ShinyDiscsSnapshot.jpg" alt="Screenshot of the first cut of the Shiny Discs Web Site" width="400" height="315" /><br /><p>It's early days yet. Although the user can now use his mouse to 'browse through the rack' of new releases, there is additional work to be done so that when a title appears 'head on' a popup of statistics and review summaries is visible. I think this will be a fun interface and quick way of checking what's coming up without having to read through a long review or watch a half hour video podcast.</p><br /><p>Not that I've given up on the video podcast idea. It's just that the length needs to be reduced to under 10 minutes so that podcasts can be played, via YouTube which limites you to 10 minutes, on an iPhone and iPod. I also need to find a way to reduce the crazy render times and increase the ease with which I can grab clips from Blu-Ray to make for a more interesting 'show'.</p><br /><p>Please go and have a play and let me know what you think - just remember it's early days yet. Also note that the site runs on Microsoft Silverlight, which is similar to Flash except that it's not from Adobe (and is much better :-P). If you don't already have that installed you will be prompted to download it. It takes less than a minute to download and runs on both Mac and PC, supporting Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.</p> <br /><p>Stay tuned!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-2030067395982010212009-05-09T09:44:00.005+01:002009-05-09T11:09:13.800+01:00To Boldly Go...<p>A crazy workload means that this 'personal' blog is languishing a bit, but I wanted to put up a quick review for the new <strong>J J Abrams</strong> movie <strong><em>Star Trek</em></strong>, which opens this weekend, and which I saw a preview of at the London IMAX on Thursday night.</p><br /><p>I was a big fan of the original series, and am of an age where I remember the first transmission. I was dead set against it because, as a kid, it replaced my favourite programme <strong>Doctor Who</strong>, which went out at 5.15pm on Saturdays. I remember the Saturday morning paper hyping the show up with talk of 3D chess, futuristic special effects, and success in the States. Begrudgingly, I watched it to see how a show that didn't feature time travel, weekly cliff-hangers or a crotchety old guy could possibly be any good. Of course by the end of the first episode, featuring humans infected so they become 'gods' with laser-firing glowing eyes, I was totally hooked. The production values were light years ahead of anything that the ridiculously low budget of Hartnell/Troughton -era <strong><em>Doctor Who</em></strong> could afford, and the writing gave a depth that always left you thinking about the show long after it had finished.</p><br /><p>I put my love of the TV series down to why I just don't get the whole <strong>Star Wars</strong> phenomenon. I rewatched this again recently and it was just as crap as I remembered it being when I first saw it at the cinema in the late 70's - poor dialogue, a really annoying, screechy female character, really poor pacing, and a basic, cliched, paper-thin story a five year old could have put together. This just wasn't a patch on the quality of the average 40 minute TV episode of Trek, so far as I was concerned. So yes, even before the execrable 'prequels' I thought the 'Star Wars' series was lame, and I find it astonishing that it's only now the wider opinion that George Lucas just can't write a good story, with any kind of depth or subtlety, is starting to become a popular one. But, as ever, I digress...</p><br /><p>Of course we then had the <strong>Star Trek</strong> movies. The first one was so lame, slow and self-reverential I pretty much gave up on the franchise. More by accident than design, I did get to see the last film (<strong><em>Star Trek: Nemesis</em></strong>) when a friend couldn't use his press preview ticket. At a time when <strong><em>The Two Towers</em></strong> was the film everyone was waiting for as the Christmas blockbuster, this extremely dated film was on a hiding to nothing. On a cold December day in an almost empty cinema where even the promoters couldn't be bothered to show up and welcome us, it was pretty obvious that the franchise had run its course and was well past its 'sell by' date. The over-hyping of the movie (particularly from <strong>Patrick Stewart</strong> who, at every possible opportunity, talked up the film as being MUCH better than its predecessor) seemed like a gross act of betrayal on the part of the cast and crew.</p><br /><p>This new 'reboot' of the franchise, is apparently down to the work of one man: <strong>J J Abrams</strong>. I'm a fan of nearly all the work that carries his name (although his TV Series <strong><em>Alias</em></strong> lost it around Series 4, presumably because the man was too busy working on other things). I love his <strong><em>Lost</em></strong> series and I don't agree with the endless whingers who complain that nothing ever gets explained. Everything gets explained - you just have to commit to it. It's a show of real depth and longevity. I love the way the show drops clues to things that they know they're not going to resolve until a season or two later. In these post-MTV days where everybody wants (demands!) instant gratification, that's not popular of course - but hell, go watch the new <strong>Doctor Who</strong> if you want instant gratifcation, ill-developed story lines and cheap stunts!</p> <br /><p>I missed Abrams <strong>Mission Impossible 3</strong> (the idea of another <strong>Tom Cruise</strong> vanity project didn't appeal) but was pleasantly surprised by <strong><em>Cloverfield</em></strong>. The puke-making, low budget, shaky-cam trailer which debuted with the release of the <strong><em>Transformers</em></strong> movie allegedly had the internet abuzz with expectation. I just yawned and marked it down as 'one to avoid' (based mainly on still being bitter over the 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back from having gone to see <strong><em>The Blair Witch Project</em></strong>, which had similar 'hand held, shot live' pretensions). My bad! When I caught the film on Blu-Ray recently, I loved it.</p><br /><p>The trailers for the new <strong>Star Trek</strong> movie did nothing for me. They were far too generic in a 'popcorn action movie' way that implies poor special effects, no real character depth, and minimal story telling. The trailer seemed to have lost all the 'magic' of the series which had sustained me through all the broadcast episodes of not just the original series, but also <strong><em>The Next Generation</em></strong> and <strong><em>Deep Space 9</em></strong> (I'm afraid <strong><em>Voyager</em></strong> was a yawn, and <strong><em>Enterprise</em></strong> was just embarrassingly amateur, I left the Trek 'universe' many years ago). So I was going to wait for the DVD before I bothered to watch this one.</p><br /><p>Then came the inspired marketing trick of the 'pre-premiere' showing to a group of fans in Texas. Before the official world premiere in Australia, a group of Trekkies were invited to a special viewing of a 'restored print' of the second Star Trek movie, allegedly to help promote the first release of the film on the high-definition Blu-Ray format. A grubby, damaged print lasted less than 10 minutes before the film apparently snapped and Leonard Nimoy walked on stage to 'apologise' and ask the audience if they'd rather see another film instead. The buzz from the original die-hard fans who'd previously dissed the re-booting of the franchise, spread over the net within hours. Against all expectations, they loved the new film, and their enthusiasm was contagious. Now THAT'S what I call brave - and great - marketing!</p><br /><p>So, encouraged by favourable reviews from TV show fans, I went to see the film on Thursday - and the enthusiastic reviewers have got it right. It's a great movie! Not a masterpiece by any means, but a great, intelligent, thrill ride, with witty dialogue, real character depth, a superb cast (with one slight exception that really jarred) and (irritating shaky-cam aside) brilliant effects and direction.</p><br /><p>Most important of all, it has great writing that really lets the characters breathe. Every 'supporting' character's presence in this film is justified, and they are all given credible, interesting stories. There aren't many films where a day or two later I'm thinking 'I'd really like to see that again'. <strong>Star Trek</strong> is one of those few films.</p><br /><p>The only real problem I had with the film was <strong>Simon Pegg</strong>. He plays the ship's engineer 'Scotty' and his role is clearly that of 'comic relief'. Thankfully the film is past the half-way mark when he makes his first appearance, which really jars because his constantly shifting 'Scottish' accent is truly dreadful - seemingly because he has whole sentences where he forgets to do it, followed by others where he remembers and overdoes it! Although he has great comedic acting skills I think he's been seriously miscast in this role.</p><br /><p>Thankfully the other characters are all - to a man/woman - superb. All of them manage to portray the strengths of the character WITHOUT resorting to impersonation. I know <strong>Michael Sheen</strong> (<strong><em>Frost Nixon</em></strong>) is continually lauded for 'getting the esence but without doing a straight impersonation' thing, but in his case I don't buy it - all his characters to me come across as a variation on his <strong>Tony Blair</strong> impersonation. But I think the <strong>Star Trek</strong> cast DO all get this in a far better way. So much so that it's impossible to single out any one actor for an astonishing performance. They're all (Pegg excepted) excellent!</p><br /><p>There are some minor niggles - <strong>Leonard Nimoy</strong>, who originally played Spock, is over-used (and it's sad to see how much he's physically aged over the last few years) and some of the pat phrases from the TV show re-appear a few times too often. But none of that deters from the fact that this is a really fun movie, that respects the original series, but also adapts it for modern sensibilities.</p><br /><p>I can't wait to see where J J Abrams and his crew take the new franchise next time around. In the meantime, I think the hype is justified. If you're waivering about seeing the film vs waiting for the shiny disc version - I'd say go see it at the movies (ideally the IMAX - the film doesn't suffer from the 'soft focus over-stretched' problems I had with <strong><em>Watchmen</em></strong>). This is a film that really deserves to be seen on the big screen. Highly recommended!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-42643151980979431892009-04-10T13:46:00.004+01:002009-04-10T21:19:30.385+01:00Fifty Dead Men Walking<p>It was several hours after attending the advance preview screening of <strong>Fifty Dead Men Walking</strong>, which was followed by a Q &A with director <strong>Kari Skogland</strong>, that I realised I'd actually already read the book by <strong>Martin McGartland</strong>, on which the film is based.</p><br /><p>It's not hard to see why I should have failed to recognise the story on screen from the book I'd read earlier, despite the huge impact the book had on me at the time I read it. The film starts with McGartland (<strong>Jim Sturgess</strong>) in an anonymous location on a snowy day, checking underneath his worn-out old car for the signs of anything unusual - a bomb perhaps? As he tries to start the engine a black balaclava'ed figures appears from nowhere, shooting him several times at point-blank range. The scene itself isn't fictional, but is nowhere to be found in the book. It, or something very similar to it, happened AS A RESULT OF McGartland publishing his 'tell all' book, which apparently pissed the IRA off even more than his working for them as a 'tout' for the RUC had done.</p><br /><p>As the film tells us in its closing titles (spoiler alert!), McGartland is still under cover and still has no contact with his family.</p><br /><p>At the Q&A that followed last night's Southbank screening, the writer/director revealed that although she spoke to the IRA 'tout' long and often, and also changed some things as a result of his input, contact was always by phone calls which he controlled, and had to be at his behest. So there is no happy 'reunited with his family' ending here for those who like their films happy and smiley!</p><br /><p>After the opening 'grab their attention' attempted assassination, the remainder of the film tells a fictionalised account of McGartland's involvement with the IRA and the RUC from its logical beginning, starting in 1987 and ending around 1991. It bears little relation to the strong memories I have of the main character's real life which seemed to comprise never-ending periods of boredom and poverty, alleviated by sudden explosions of activity and a great deal of hatred.</p> <br /><p>Essentially, this is a story of an RUC informer ('tout' as the IRA call them)working his way up the IRA ranks so he can feed information to the British - information that, it is claimed, saved the lives of the 'fifty men' of the title. But it feels like a very different story from that told in the book: A sanitised one in many ways (which, I suspect, will shock those who haven't read the book because this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Hollywood film or anything approaching it!) The McGartland of the book came across as a much harder, angrier, less sympathetic person, and the intrinsic evil of the IRA (and to a much lesser extent the British puppet-masters) seeped from every page.</p><br /><p>In Skogland's film McGartland becomes the cheery everyman, a sort of Irish version of the young <strong>Paul McCartney</strong> (hard to get the actor <strong>Jim Sturgess</strong>' previous work in the Beatles musical <strong><em>Across The Universe</em></strong> out of my head!), a sort of 'street urchin with a good heart who stands by his girl'. More importantly, the film tries to tow an independent, 'fair-minded to both sides' line, which doesn't really work given the inherently violent and controlling methods of the IRA at the time. The approach adopted makes the film seem a lot less political, and perhaps more personal, than the book so it's not hard to see why McGartland may be upset. The director has made a film 'for our times', with particular relevance to the situations in Agfhanistan and Iraq, so that suddenly the story in the book that had me thinking 'Thank God I'm nowhere near that barbaric mess and wasn't involved' has me thinking 'Maybe it's not that barbaric and could happen anywhere'</p><br /><p>In the Q & A session with the director afterwards, McGartland's presence (not physically - he's still in hiding) seemed to dominate the proceedings. The interviewer's opening question revealed that McGartland had been somewhat 'grumpy' about the film to the press, and a quick search on the internet shows him contacting even the likes of the rather innocuous <strong><em>Empire</em></strong> magazine to complain that he does not endorse the film in any way. The director seemed cagey whenever the subject was brought up (as it was, repeatedly, by people wanting to better understand what the source of disagreements was), but it was hard to ascertain who, if anyone, was in the right here. A quick 'Google' has Sturgess revealing that McGartland was apparently unhappy with the IRA torture scene, which he never witnessed in real life, and at the Q&A the director just kept to the 'a book does not necessarily make a good film' storyline. Clearly the rather heavy-handed disclaimer about the film merging characters and depicting some events differently, which appears at the start AND end of the film is the result of McGartland's intercession and a (failed) attempt to placate him somewhat. (You can read more about McGarttlan's objections to the film and its director <strong><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7609856.stm" target="_blank">here</a></strong>)</p><br /><p>None of which really matters, given how powerful and gripping the film is! A 'based on truth' thriller, with real flesh-and-blood characters (no blacks or whites here - just LOTS of shades of grey) is preferable to a documentary version of the original book (which I highly recommend!).</p><br /><p>Skogland has produced a gritty, grungey, powerful and deeply impressive film that manages to shake off the rather obvious shortcomings of its first 5-10 minutes, such that you're gripped and sat on the edge of your seat right to the conclusion two hours later. Admittedly the film is not an easy watch in places. It clearly has 'indy' origins (no glossy '3D window look' Blu-Ray on its way here!) and I thought it got off to a poor start as soon as the 'reel 'em in' assassination attempt opening was over. I've never been a fan of the Paul Greengrass school of wobbly, hand-held, puke-making cam that we get in abundance here. Nor am I a huge fan of the 'bleach' process that highlights the whites and the blacks at the expense of colour or lack of film grain, but at least this time around it's somewhat more warranted, matching the gritty and dark story being told. At the end of the day it's the performances, and the sheer humanity of those caught up in events, rather than the technical aspects of the film that stay with you long after the final credits have rolled.</p><br /><p><strong>(Sir) Ben Kingsley</strong> may be a bit of an up-himself knob-head in real life (he comes across that way in interviews!), but you can't deny the guy can really act, and the few reviews I've read sniping at his performance here as McGartland's British 'handler with a conscience' can only be based on personal grievances with the actor himself. His performance is never less than rivetting and totally believable. From any other actor this would be considered a 'career best', but Kingsley's work is of such high calibre that one can only revel at the fact he's managed to use his incredible, chameleon-like qualities for totally transforming himself into another character yet again.</p><br /><p>But it's <strong>Jim Sturgess</strong>, fighting against all the 'just a pretty face' odds, who delivers the most surprising, and most impressive, performance. It's no surprise to hear that he stayed in character from the moment he landed on the Emerald Isle. His accent is, to these ears, pretty flawless, and his performance as a difficult, duplicitous, dishonest character that we have to somehow empathise with is never less than convincing. This is, in many ways, HIS film even more than it is Skogland's. If he can steer clear of being the 'pretty boy flavour of the month' with the film magazines and continue to make wise choices, as he appears to be doing, he could become a huge talent in the industry rather than just another graduate from the Orlando Bloom school of (non-) acting!</p><br /><p>As for the film itself - my quibbles are minor. I love punk bands like <strong>Stiff Little Fingers</strong> (and <strong>The Ruts</strong> too - my era! Oh, the memories!) - but not when they're so dominant in the mix I can't hear the dialogue. And I know it's all about a documentary-like, gritty feel, but at times the Greengrass-influenced shakycam goes too far. And the intro and outro captions seem rather preachy and trite (this may be at McGartland's insistence of course).</p><br /><p>But on an evening when I felt so shattered I nearly gave the film a miss, I found myself wide awake and enthralled throughout.</p><br /><p>The director has made it clear that this opening weekend will 'do or die' for the film - especially its chances of getting a release in the United States, urging those who liked the film to 'tell their friends to go and see it, preferably this weekend'. I have no hesitation in doing so. It's a powerful, absorbing and compelling piece of work. We need more films of this sort of calibre (although whoever's behind the marketing of the film could surely have done a better job - where's the 'official' web site with images etc to decorate this blog entry?!).</p><br /><p>Ignore some of the pettier newspaper reviews (whose research is so poor they think the director is male) that imply the film is merely 'average'. It isn't! They are confusing the film with an event (20 years of Irish politics) and marking the film accordingly. Just go and see it. It's an excellent, powerful movie, and much better than anything else I can see advertised this weekend. Highly recommended!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-20430094885301568862009-04-07T13:14:00.005+01:002009-04-07T14:06:17.346+01:00A Tag of No Importance<p>I have been <strong><a href="http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/tag-of-no-importance.html" target="_blank">tagged by Brian Sibley</a></strong>, which means I have to post six little-known facts of no real importance about myself</p><br /><p>So here goes...</p><br /><ol><br /><li>The first TV program I remember seeing as a child, arriving back from Cyprus where we didn't have TV, was <strong><em>5 o'clock Club</em></strong> with <strong>Muriel Young</strong> and two glove puppets as I recall. I saw it in an overnight hotel we stayed in after arriving by plane in England, before travelling to live with grandparents in Leeds for a few weeks. I remember more about the tiny black and white TV set in the hotel room. than the show itself, and it's about the only memory I have from arriving back in England.</li><br /><li>The first film I remember seeing was <strong><em>The Wizard of Oz</em></strong>. Again, I don't remember much about the film other than my mother complaining loudly that the film appeared to be in black and white when the pictures promoting the film had implied it was in colour. Of course as soon as Oz itself appeared the picture changed to colour and I explained what had happened to my mother as I heard a loud click during the projector changeover: "They forgot to turn the colour on. I just heard them switch it on". Oh, the innocence of youth!</li><br /><li>I played the recorder at school. I think I was quite good and it encouraged me to try other instruments including the trumpet (hopeless), the violin (even more hopeless) and the guitar (I still have a Gibson Les Paul and Marshall combo amp but haven't used them in ages).</li><br /><li>In my late teens I was given a Super 8 camera for my birthday, which is when my love of movies and movie-making began. I filmed some school trips and made a 20 minute silent film about my mates' disco called "Squint Eye Mangle" - a title I stole from the B-Side of a <strong>Marc Bolan</strong> single at the time. I got a kick every time I heard the deputy headmaster at 6th Form College have to read out the title when announcing a lunch-time screening in Assembly a couple of mornings!</li><br /><li>The first concert I attended as a teenager was <strong>T.Rex</strong> in Edmonton around the time they were at their peak. I was allowed to travel down from Southampton to London on my own for the first time (a) to queue up to buy the ticket and (b) later to attend the concert. It all turned a bit sour when I returned home after the concert to a stern lecture from my father. Whilst away my mother had gone through the pockets of my Parka coat to empty them for washing and found a plastic syringe holder with plunger. We used them at school, 'borrowed' from the Chemistry class, for water pistols but nothing would convince my mother it wasn't used for drugs! She should have been more worried about the fact I insisted on buying a satin jacket after the trip to buy the ticket!</li><br /><li>I was the only member of the family who didn't want us to get a dog. I'd always been scared of them and my parents got a Pyrannean dog which initially terrified me because they're the size of a horse. In the end I became the one who walked her most and did the chores and became a 'dog' person, although I still have an aversion to silly, yappy canines that look more like rats than dogs! My parents bought me a Newfoundland puppy as a birthday present when I moved into my own home after University and I hope to own another Newfie when I get around to retiring. I named my newfie 'Animal' after the Muppets character because of her spiky hair - a name which my mother changed to 'Annabelle' when walking with me and needing to call her, through embarrassment! My biggest regret about working/living in London is not being able to have a dog.</li><br /></ol><br /><p>I think I'm supposed to tag six more people now. I'll have to have a think!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-34378939378185352982009-03-15T14:52:00.007+00:002009-03-15T17:06:01.298+00:00Watching The Watchmen (a pointless IMAX experience)<p>The joys of London's IMAX booking system meant that despite booking well in advance of the film opening, and using my 'advance' BFI membership pre-booking notification (ha! ha!) to boot, I got to see <strong>The Watchmen</strong> a week after everybody else. A week is a long time where films like <strong>Watchmen</strong> are concerned because it seems like the whole world and its wife has been twittering their impressions of the film after seeing it on the opening weekend.</p><br /><p>As it turned out, suffering the delay just to see the film on IMAX was a mistake on my part. <strong>The Watchmen</strong> is NOT a film that needs to be seen on IMAX because, unlike <strong>The Dark Knight</strong>, the film was not shot using special IMAX camera's, and nor does it have any 3D scenes</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/Watchmen1.jpg" width="400" height="622" border="0" /> <br /><p>'The IMAX experience' this time round simply means you're watching a larger, but softer, blurrier version of the film that is being shown in normal theatres. It felt like watching an iPlayer TV programme up-rezzed to 'full screen' size on a computer monitor, with the same end result: you kind of wish you'd just seen it at its original resolution even if it meant it was smaller. So, rather like the 'amazing never before seen' giant water projection display (actually a fuzzy blue light mess nobody could really see) used to officially launch the film's opening on The Thames last week, 'the IMAX Experience' this time around, has been seriously over-hyped. And if my Friday night was anything to go by 'The IMAX Experience' is no different from a normal local cinema experience (are you listening Clapham Picture House?!) with several minutes needing to be spent before the film started to clean my seat of popcorn and coke cup debris before I could sit on it. Cinema owners keep complaining about the competition from shiny discs - but when they charge the equivalent of the cost of a Blu-Ray disc that I can keep and rewatch (my Watchmen ticket cost an exhorbitant £13.50 with travel costs on top) and treat their customers in such a cavalier manner I am tempted to join those on the sidelines applauding the fact that cinema attendances are on the decline. Nobody needs experiences like this when they can have a much nicer, controlled environment at home.</p><br /><p>The week's delay in getting a decent seat did give me one advantage: it gave me the chance to see what others reaction to the film was and prepare me for the worst. The reaction seemed to be more polarised than I can ever remember about a new film. Comments were very clearly divided between 'four out of five stars' fans who'd read the comic book but thought the film flawed because it stuck too slavishly to a format that doesn't work for cinema, and 'zero or one star out of five' newcomers who found it 'too long, too slow, and too boring because nothing happens'.</p><br /><p>I haven't read the comic book, and the warning signs from so many dismissive reviews might have had me cancel my attendance were it not for a review in <strong>The Daily Mail</strong>. Alone, out of all the mainstream papers who at least recognised the quality of much of what was put on screen, England's most bigotted and homophobic tabloid gave the film a pitiful 0 out of 10, concluding "This despicable trash will find an audience among sad sociopaths, deranged pseudo-intellectuals and brutalised, immature men of all ages." Coming from the cesspit world of opinion that is The Daily Mail that sounds like a 'Must see' recommendation to me! I'm still trying to work out why they didn't include a reference to homosexuals in their diss, given that one of the main characters walks around naked, showing off what fans keep referring to as 'the big blue wang' in several key scenes!</p><br /><p>Worried that I needed to have read the comic book first, I managed to get a quick look at the US import (region free) Blu-Ray of <strong>Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic</strong> (recommended - and MUCH better than the other pitiful comic book adaptations I've seen on Blu-Ray). The Blu-Ray runs for twelve 25 minute chapters, with a total running time of five and a half hours, which just goes to show how different the perception of time can be with different mediums. The two episodes of the Blu-Ray 'comic book' I watched seemed perfectly paced. The exact same story as a film, running at a considerably lighter 2 hours and 45 minutes, seemed overlong and plodding by comparison. Go figure!</p><br /><p>For what it's worth I DON'T think you need to have read the comic book to enjoy the film - and there is a LOT in the film TO enjoy. But you do need to set aside your preconceptions about what a comic book movie should be. This sure ain't no <strong><em>Superman</em></strong> or even a <strong><em>Dark Knight</em></strong> - it's far less mainstream than that.</p><br /><p>Ultimately, I felt the film was a good one, but not a great one. Its comic book origins are all too clear and the director has over-egged the comic book aesthetic with endless slow-motion and gimmicky 'straight out of a comic book panel' camera angle shots. I think the main problem is that the basic narrative in the comic book appears to be one of those 'the character thinks out loud, pseudo-intellectualising the action with a comment in every panel' stories. This may work very well in the comic book medium, but doesn't really work on film, where the scribbled comic book comments become overlong, rather tedious narrative that just slow everything down. My guess is that the comic book had a thin central narrative running through the 12 different issues, with each issue focussing on a single character. Transferred to the medium of film this doesn't work: just as you're getting into the story of one character the story stops abruptly and moves on to another. Although this worked for the director's earlier <strong><em>Sin City</em></strong>, this time around the narrative is too dense, the characters too many, and the intellectualising too engrained for this to really work.</p><br /><p>All that being said, I had to admire the film for what it was attempting. And the 'twist' conclusion with its moral dilemma genuinely surprised me (whilst making perfect sense and not resorting to the usual silly super-hero deus-ex-machina ending it looked like it was heading towards - hoorah!).</p><br /><p>It's an over-used phrase, but <strong>Watchmen</strong> really is a film I admired rather than outright enjoyed. You sort of admire the work that's been done, but can't help wondering why anybody thought it needed to be undertaken in the first place. Part of me feels sad that this interesting experiment is likely to be deemed a failure given the box office figures that are being reported. The opening weekend was fairly strong, but still less than those for the director's previous <strong>300</strong>, which cost a lot less to make, and was much more mainstream in its appeal, and the box office appears to be fading fast if the second weekend takings are indicative, now that the core fanboy demographic have moved on. It looks as if the film will struggle to approach break even point, hardly surprising given the obscene amount of money that seems to have been spent on marketing it. I'd like to see Hollywood make more thoughtful, experimental films like this instead of the mindless 'action' formulaic fodder they usually specialise in, but for that to happen films like this need to turn a profit - a big profit, and not just one based on overly optimistic follow-through DVD sales.</p><br /><p>If you haven't seen <strong>Watchmen</strong> yet, and can endure nearly 3 hours in a cinema seat, I'd encourage you to go and see the film if only to help the flagging box office (That important consideration aside, I'd say wait for the inevitable Blu-Ray, complete with extended Director's Cut) Don't set your expectations too high, and I think you'll enjoy it!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-38491878820224480242009-02-22T10:43:00.003+00:002009-02-23T15:57:29.516+00:00The Curious Case of David Fincher's Latest Film<p>With less than 48 hours to go until the oscar winners are announced, I finally got to see David Fincher's <strong>The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</strong> in a 'digital presentation' at my local picture house in Clapham.</p><br /><p>I wouldn't describe myself as a huge fan of Fincher. I loved <strong><em>Se7en</em></strong>, <strong><em>Fight Club</em></strong> and <strong><em>Zodiac</em></strong>, but thought <strong><em>Panic Room</em></strong> was an extremely average 'thriller' best suited to TV prime-time. And I think all of Fincher's films are too long. <strong>Benjamin Button</strong> clocks in at just under 3 hours so the director's rather self-indulgent trend doesn't seem to have been broken with this latest oscar-nominated offering.</p><br /><p>I left this film until last because of the luke-warm reviews from the British critics - the vast majority of whom seem to think it should NOT have been nominated for an oscar. I'm sorry to have to say I agree with them. OK, maybe it's worthy of a technical oscar for the special effects, but 'Best Film' or 'Best Director'? Gimme a break!</p> <br /><p>I thought <strong><em>Forrest Gump</em></strong>, which many of the critics have compared this film to - it shares the same writer - was a seriously over-rated film (not a bad one, just not one that deserved the 'Film of the Year' oscar) and alas, <strong>Benjamin Button</strong> plays out like <strong>Forrest Gump II</strong>, but without any of the original's charm or humour. Ridiculously neat and tidy, and overly-sentimental, one-sentence platitudes are laid on with a trowel in a series of anecdotes that make little sense, have little commonality, and just give the impression that the script-writers had no idea how to tell a basic story. Things pull together in the second half, when we finally start on the main story (a life-long romance) but it's not hard to see why friends talk about having walked out of the film before it finished - I nearly did the same myself, I found the first half so disjointed and irritating.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/BenjaminButton.jpg" width="400" height="201" border="0" /></p><br /><p>As the film opens we have a dying Daisy, played by <strong>Cate Blanchette</strong>, asking her daughter to read out loud a diary in her bag. The diary is that of one 'Benjamin Button', who turns out to have been the love of the dying woman's life, and the film then progresses as a series of 'out loud' readings that translate into episodic flashbacks, interrupted every 10-15 minutes by trips in real time back to the dying hospital bed scene. These constant interruptions become increasingly irritating because there's really nothing to say at the hospital (apart from one very obvious, cliched revelation about the daughter's father mid-way through the film), and the film-makers have to invent a rather silly 'Is Hurricane Katrina going to hit the hospital before Daisy dies?' sub-plot to try and justify the constant switches between the past and the present. This sort of tired story-telling has been done so often before we feel we're watching a re-run of countless other movies - except the constant time switches were justified in other films. Here, it becomes very obvious that they are only needed because the flashback scenes are so disjointed and irrelevant to each other (and also to the main romance theme that will start about an hour into the film) that the editors had no way of putting the various clips together so that they made any kind of sense.</p><br /><p>The central conceit of the film - that Daisy's life-long love Benjamin (<strong>Brad Pitt</strong>) is a child who ages backwards, starting the film as an 'old man' baby and growing eventually into an Alzheimer's inflicted 5 year old - is surprisingly easy to take on board because the effects and make-up are so well done. However they just come across as a gimmick that wasn't really needed to tell the central message of the story, which seems to be about 'the meaning of life, death and loss'. The effects scenes in the latter part of the film don't work quite as well as the earlier ones - there's something not QUITE right about the 20 year-old Pitt compared with the 80 year-old one, so that just as one is starting to become immersed in the central story, one is taken out of it somewhat. Admittedly, things have come on quite a bit since the last time this sort of effect was used (to show a young <strong>Patrick Stewart</strong> and <strong>Ian McKellen</strong> in <strong><em>X-Men III</em></strong>) but it's hard to see it as much more than a mildly diverting gimmick that utlimately lessens the film rather than enhances it. And it's scary to think that in 20-30 years time, given the current rate of progress, punters will probably be able to see the likes of <strong>Richard Burton</strong> or <strong>Steve McQueen</strong> at any age in their career, playing new parts in new movies!</p><br /><p>I'm glad I stayed to the end of the film, if only because the performances from Pitt and Blanchette are as perfect as one would expect them to be. But the whole thing felt like the pretentious, overlong, nonsensical piece of film-making many have accused it of, and it's hard to understand why this has been nominated in the 'Best Film' or 'Best Director' categories. Even in a digital presentation too much of the cinematography felt too dark and at times impenetrable (I'd even go so far as to say 'poorly lit') and overall I was disappointed with what felt like a wasted opportunity to tell a genuinely moving story.</p><br /><p>Hopefully the American Academy will reflect the decisions made by the British Academy at last week's BAFTA's, and just give the film a few 'technical' oscars. Anything else would be a grave misjustice.</p><br /><p>We'll all find out tomorrow morning (here in the UK - tonight for US readers) who the real winners are. I think this is the first year I've seen ALL of the films nominated, with a trip to Clapham Picture House later today meaning that I will also get to see all the Oscar-nominated short films as well. My gut feeling is that the supposedly leaked <a href="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4782/1235075752496jc8.png" target="_blank">letter showing the oscar results</a> (which the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/oscars/7903045.stm" target="_blank">BBC have reported is a hoax</a>) will reflect the final results. There's one or two minor disappointments in that list for me personally (most notably in the 'Best Film' and 'Best Actor' categories) but nothing too upsetting compared with past crimes (<strong><em>Chicago</em></strong> as 'Best Film'? - give me a break!) I almost wish I didn't have to work tomorrow so I could stay up all night and watch the results come in.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-75190454260021364512009-02-13T20:57:00.003+00:002009-02-13T21:18:17.302+00:00ChannelFlip's Film (DVD) Review Show<p>A few days ago I had an email from <strong>Ian Christie</strong>, CEO of <strong><a href="http://www.channelflip.com" target="_blank">ChannelFlip</a></strong>. It looked like one of those blanket emails I get occasionally, and asked if I'd be interested in a partnership deal that involved embedding a video player in my web site to promote a film review show the channel runs that could earn me advertising revenue.</p><br /><p>I've had similar requests in the past (especially when my web site was attracting ridiculous amounts of traffic when I was producing the <strong><em>Lord of the Rings</em></strong> web logs) and have always turned them down. I've always thought there's something a bit tacky and desperate about blogs and web sites that carry advertising material. They annoy readers and usually turn out to earn the web site author mere pennies in revenue anyway.</p><br /><p>Ian's note about the target audience for the film review show being 'savvy young men' (that'll be the 'young, dumb and full of cum' audience filling our multiplexes with endless American 'humour' and dumbed-down action movies then!) sounded alarm bells from the get-go. However, having only just blogged about the lack of a good DVD review show on the web I decided to have a look anyway.</p><br /><p>I nearly gave up when the latest show kept giving me a 'Video not found' error every time I clicked to watch the latest show (a review of <strong><em>Don't Mess With The Zohan</em></strong>), but fortunately the problem seemed to have been rectified when I tried again 24 hours later, and I have to confess at the end of my first viewing I was left rather impressed.</p><br /><p><embed class='castfire_player' id='cf_b58db' name='cf_b58db' width='550' height='342' src='http://p.castfire.com/ID29l/video/46860/man_on_wire_2009-01-07-101210.flv' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowFullScreen='true'></embed></p><br /><p>The show, presented by <strong>Justin Gayner</strong>, is horribly mistitled in my opinion. As a <strong>film</strong> review show it lacks the appropriate timing of the excellent <strong><a href="http://www.spill.com" target="_blank">Spill</a></strong> site which publishes amusing cartoon-based reviews of films in the week of American release. And the iPlayer can always be used to watch the British <strong><em>Film 2009</em></strong> if films are your main interest. ChannelFlip's show is actually more of a DVD review show since it typically reviews 'films' a week or so after they've come out on DVD, months after the theatrical release. The first editions of the show suffer from the usual 'how do you make a talking head interesting?' problem (an issue I struggled hopelessly with when I posted early 'alpha' editions of 'The Shiny Discs Show' around this time last year). This 'talking head' problem is one that even professionals on multi-million pound salaries haven't been able to solve, as viewers of <strong>Jonathan Ross</strong>' well-scripted reviews on the BBC's <strong>Film 2009</strong> will testify, but it's good to see that more recent editions of the <strong>ChannelFlip</strong> film show have latched onto the fact that a few appropriately timed After Effects animations, as well as the usual film clips, can dramatically improve the pacing and entertainment value of the show.</p><br /><p>The presenter is passionate and energetic, can write, and clearly knows his stuff, although admittedly the somewhat theatrical presentation style will not be to everyone's taste (I'm a bit bored with this shouty 'Project! Project! Project!' style myself if I'm honest).</p><br /><p>But, all-in-all I do think the show has pretty much got it right, which is a bit scary when you're about to launch your own effort into what you thought had been a pretty empty playing field. The ChannelFlip film show doesn't outstay its welcome, running for a pert five or six munutes, is entertaining and amusing for the most part, gives more of the flavour of a film than a purely written review can do and, perhaps most importantly of all, doesn't freeze or stutter while you're trying to watch it. You can also subscribe to it via iTunes. All-in-all it's a pretty impressive debut.</p><br /><p>Regular readers will know that I'm not keen on American comedies of the type that unfortunately make up the two most recent shows, but if you look back you'll see that the programme makers have shown great taste in the past, highlighting some really excellent films. I've chosen to embed (above) the show that reviewed one of my favourite films of last year - <strong>Man on Wire</strong> - from a few episodes back, so that you can watch it directly (click on the image up near the start of this blog entry). If you like what you see make sure to pop over to the <strong><a href="http://www.channelflip.com" target="_blank">ChannelFlip web site</a></strong> to see more of the same, and find a link to subscribe via iTunes.</p><br /><p>ChannelFlip also produces short web shows that cover comedy, the web and gadgets amongst other things. Well worth checking out if you get the chance. In the meantime I like the show enough to have added it to my iTunes feed so that's a recommendation right there.</p><br /><p>In the meantime, <strong><a href="http://www.shinydiscs.tv" target="_blank">ShinyDiscs.tv</a></strong>, when it finally launches, will be premiering with a weekly show of about the same length (just under 10 minutes), but will be focussing entirely on Blu-Ray reviews, with a main 'Blu-Ray of the week' review, a quick precis of the other releases of the week, a look at the sales chart and a brief news section covering upcoming releases. I'm also looking to launch in simultaneous web/video and pdf editions so that those who don't have time to watch video can read at their leisure. Look for an official announcement about the launch here at the end of March.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-39842183059862606842009-02-08T14:58:00.004+00:002009-02-08T15:47:43.229+00:00And the award goes to...<p>It seems fortuitous that on the day I've set aside for the BAFTA's (don't get excited I'm just watching it on TV like everybody else - the days of being shoved into a pen on a red carpet and shouting myself hoarse trying to get a celebrity to look my way for a photo are thankfully long past) this blog should get an award from "Premio Dardos".</p><br /><p>'What's that?' I hear you ask (I had to ask it too!). Well let me quote from Steve's blog (Steve was the guy who nominated me) <strong><a href="http://wwwthelastpictureshow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Last Picture Show</a></strong>:</p><br /><p><em>"The Dardos Award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."</em></p><br /><p>It seems rather odd to win this award in the year I've done least blogging. I was proficient (at least with my shiny disc reviews) until February last year when I decided there was a 'gap in the market' for a VIDEO review of weekly shiny disc releases. Too many people are jumping on the video bandwagon (when actually the information would be quicker to impart and more useful in simple, written form) but I genuinely think film/DVD/Blu-Ray reviews can be done better via the video medium (if only to include clips and give a genuine flavour of the product being reviewed) and here in the UK fans are not being catered for at all by the main broadcasters.</p><br /><p>Of course if I'd known work would get so manic, and the hurdles would be so large, I'd probably have abandoned the whole idea, but with work drying up on March 6th I'm cautiously optimistic that <strong><a href="http://www.shinydiscs.com" target="_blank">ShinyDiscs.tv</a></strong> will formally launch its weekly <strong>Blu-Ray Review</strong> show at the end of March.</p><br /><p>Anyway.... If this blog entry reads like it's being rushed - it is. This year, instead of waiting for a DVD release after the gongs have all been given out I've tried to see all the oscar-nominated/BAFTA-nominated awards BEFORE the ceremonies, even though that's meant far more trips to the local cinema than I'd normally indulge in. Today is BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television) Awards day of course. For what it's worth I'd like to see <strong>Danny Boyle</strong> win 'Best Director' for <strong><em>Slumdog Millionaire</em></strong>, <strong><em>Milk</em></strong> walk away with 'Best Film' (it was emotionally the most engaging - <em>Slumdog</em> was too ridiculous a fairy tale with cartoon charicature 'evil' grown-ups and silly question coincidences meaning it failed to totally win my heart) and most of the acting awards too, with the possible exception of 'Best Supporting Actor' which <strong>Heath Ledger</strong> deserves for <strong><em>The Dark Knight</em></strong>, not because he's dead but because if you can't see the genius present in such diverse performances as <strong><em>The Brothers Grimm</em></strong>, <strong><em>Brokeback Mountain</em></strong> and <strong><em>The Dark Knight</em></strong> then your eyes must be closed! Alas, one nominated film <strong><em>Gomorrah</em></strong> remains to be seen (which thanks to having to work Saturday I only discovered had been delivered - on Blu-Ray - last night) and with just a few hours left until the BAFTA's start broadcasting I'm cutting it a bit fine!</p><br /><p>However, to complete my 'award recipient' obligations, here are the 'five best blogs' I subscribe to in my RSS feed. I follow these guys religiously, and nominate each of them for a 'Dardos Award':</p><br /><p><strong><a href="http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Brian Sibley: The Blog</a></strong><br /><br />Not strictly-speaking film-related, but a mish-mash of the many subjects that Brian's interested in. He's a huge film buff of course, and regularly appears on shiny disc as the 'talking head' film expert, especially where Disney, Tolkien, C S Lewis or Wallace and Gromit are concerned, as well as having been a broadcaster at the BBC for many years and a brilliant author too. His latest blog entry has a beautifully written and insightful review of the new Disney 3D CGI film <strong><em>Bolt</em></strong> on it - so go check it out. I feel very blessed that Brian is a mate and I get the chance to discuss movies with him regularly (although I'm sure his partner David gets bored to death as we compare notes), but his dedication to his blog, always updated daily, never fails to impress me and is what causes me to make my first award.<br /><p><strong><a href="http://www.filmstalker.co.uk" target="_blank">Filmstalker</a></strong><br /><br />is not so much a blog as a film site. Run by Richard, up in Scotland, its my main news source and although Richard and I have had lots of disagreements (I think we just like different things!) his hard work and passion are always evident. He's actually down in London to blog about the BAFTA's today, and his dedication (he has a full-time job and filmstalker is just a hobby) never fails to impress me. He runs a great site and loves talking to his readers.</p><br /><p><strong><a href="http://thoughtwad.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blowing My Thought Wad</a></strong><br /><br />is always a good read, from a writer who knows his stuff and knows good quality when he sees it (although I'm struggling to forgive him for his dissing of <strong><em>The Dark Knight</em></strong> and over-enthusiasm for <strong><em>Wall-E</em></strong> which I thought was fundamentally flawed in structure, pacing and story-telling :-P). Blogger 'Good Dog' at least makes me feel I'm not totally alone in thinking that the Americans are the only ones producing good drama these days and that <strong><em>Doctor Who</em></strong> and <strong><em>Torchwood</em></strong> are for the most part an infantile embarrassment to our notion that we Brits can produce good drama. Of course it helps that at times he's almost as cantankerous as me ;-)</p><br /><p><strong><a href="http://reelfanatic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Reel Fanatic</a></strong><br /><br />is another great read, from a passionate film buff. I don't know how the writer, based in the States, manages to hold down a full-time job, and still post a daily critique of film and television news and events, but he does a fantastic job of it, and unfailingly responds to any and every comment made too. A real class act! Add it to your daily RSS feed checks!</p><br /><p><strong><a href="http://wwwthelastpictureshow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Last Picture Show</a></strong><br /><br />This one's a very recent discovery, and looks like a bit of mutual back-slapping on my part since the author, Steve Langton, nominated my blog for an award. Truth is Steve's love of film shines through his every post, and I also enjoy following him on <strong><a href="http://www.twitter.com/stevelangton" target="_blank">Twitter</a></strong>. Steve's based in Derby, not far from where I attended university (Loughborough) and shares my love of great punk bands that I saw perform live at many venues in the area in the late 1970's. The fact that he has such great taste in films as well is a bit of a bonus.</p><br /><p>That's it. Gotta go. The <strong><em>Gomorrah</em></strong> Blu-Ray is calling.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-78593026471628761572009-02-04T04:33:00.003+00:002009-02-04T05:00:19.229+00:00Vicky Cristina Barcelona<p>First off, let me "'fess up" and admit that this isn't really a film review - it's a Blu-Ray review. Although <strong>Vicky Cristina Barcelona</strong> is officially released to UK cinema's this Friday (6th February), the region-free US import has been available with 'next day delivery' for the UK from <strong><a href="http://www.movietyme.com" target="_blank">movietyme</a></strong> for a couple of weeks now, with the film having received its Stateside theatrical release way back in August last year.</p><br /><p>The Blu-Ray is over-priced at around £21 - especially since it's a vanilla disc with no extra's at all - but that's what you get with the falling value of the pound, and at least you're going to get a crystal clear picture if you decide to opt for the Blu-Ray over a trip to your local flea-pit. One note of caution on the picture quality front though - the film looks like it's been 'Tango-ed' because of the ridiculous colour grading that's been performed on the film, presumably to make it clear the movie takes place in a hot country.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/VickyCristinaBarcelona.jpg" alt="Vicky Cristina Barcelona promotional picture" width="400" height="353" /><br /><p>The film's title summarises the story perfectly: it's about two friends (Vicky and Cristina) and their trip to Barcelona! Vicky is straight-laced and conventional, having a last holiday with her best friend Cristina, before she gets married to a rathr dull lawyer. Cristina is her opposite - a, promiscuous, artistic, 'free spirit' who has commitment issues and, it transpires, low self-esteem despite obvious talent. The film is essentially the story of the two girls meeting a Spanish artist Juan (<strong>Javier Bardem</strong>) who cheekily introduces himself by suggesting the two spend a weekend with him 'making love'.</p><br /><p>Cristina is attracted, Vicky is appalled and Juan's ex-wife, who has disappeared abroad after trying to murder her husband, returns not quite sure what she thinks.</p><br /> <p>The marketing of the film has been interesting, to say the least. Despite being a Cannes Film Festival award winner, the standard film trailer (not included on the Blu-Ray but which I caught at the cinema last week) and all the advertising I've seen makes no mention of the fact that this is a film written and directed by <strong>Woody Allen</strong>. I suspect this sublimation of the writer/director is deliberate, given the extremely negative reviews his last few films have received.</p><br /><p>As the title suggests the film sees Allen moving on from London (where his last three films were made) in favour of Spain, and the move seems to have done him the world of good. Most critics are lauding this as a 'return to form' for the elderly director with 43 films to his name, although a few are at pains to point out that this is still a long way from the director's peak a couple of decades ago.</p><br /><p><strong>Javier Bardem</strong> shows surprising leading man charisma, turning a character that might have seemed seedy in other's hands, into a sexy, passionate, noble type whose purpose in life seems to be to bring out the best in others. I don't think I'm giving too much away when I say that the impact his character has on the lives of all the people he meets improves their lot, even if it means characters completely change what they have perceived to be the important things in life up to their point of meeting him. If nothing else, this film proves that Bardem's award-winning performance in <strong><em>No Country For Old men</em></strong> (aka 'the performance with the silly wig') was no one-off fluke. Given Allen's notorious difficulties in dealing with actors (he allows no rehearsal time and allows only one or two takes) the results on display here are quite astounding.</p><br /><p><strong>Scarlett Johansson</strong> and <strong>Rebecca Hall</strong> give strong, totally believable and sympathetic performances as the Cristina and Vicky of the title, but when <strong>Penelope Cruz</strong> turns up in the second half of the film, as Juan's psychotic ex-wife, she totally steals the film (and not JUST for her much publicised 'lesbian kiss' scene with Johansson's character). She is at turns fiery, sensitive, bonkers and amusing, often within the same short scene.</p><br /><p>The film does rely a little too much on narration to 'fill in the gaps', and feels particularly artificial in that you can 'hear' Woody Allen reading it even though it's actually <strong>Christopher Evan Welch</strong> performing the role. But this is a small criticism when so much about the film is so enjoyable. Allen is careful not to judge any of his characters, or even indicate which of the two widely different world views held by Vicky and Cristina are the 'right' ones, leaving the viewer free to simply fall in love with the characters and the simple story he's set up.</p><br /><p>I found the film a subtle, beautiful piece of work - albeit one that is rather like a rather exotic, but light desert: very enjoyable at the time, but not anything that strikes you as particularly substantial or necessary when reviewed in the cold light of day. While Allen's touch is deft, and his choice of music sublimely in keeping with the film's mood and themes, for me it's the ensemble cast that steal the picture and make this a 'recommended' viewing.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-9089294900636728612009-02-01T17:19:00.002+00:002009-02-01T17:39:43.917+00:00Revolutionary Road<p>Although <strong>Revolutionary Road</strong> has garnered a few award nominations, it hasn't grabbed any of the really big nominations, and so was not on my list of films that I really needed to see BEFORE they hit shiny disc.</p><br /><p>However, a particularly gruelling week at work, followed by some tedious study on Saturday morning left me wanting some escape from all the drudgery and so I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go and see the film at my local cinema, The Clapham Picture House, now thankfully outfitted with pristine digital projection.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/RevolutionaryRoad.jpg" width="400" height="426" alt="Kate and Leo in Revolutionary Road" /><br /><p>Despite a high rating on <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com" target="_blank">imdb</a></strong> the response from the British critics seems to have been somewhat luke-warm, with one or two pathetically resorting to mean-spirited attacks on Leo DiCaprio's 'weasily' face as some sort of critique. Nearly all reviews have emphasised the bleakness of the piece, with many concluding that this new essay on American Suburbia, set in the 1950's, is a much lesser work than director <strong>Sam Mendes</strong>' earlier 1999 treatise on the same subject, <strong><em>American Beauty</em></strong>. Seemingly <strong>Revolutionary Road</strong> is in dire need of some of the black humour that helped elevate that piece. So, I was all set up for a film of unremitting despair and dreariness. Thankfully I got a beautifully directed and acted piece about the break up of a marriage in the 1950's, which had real intelligence and depth and - weren't you paying attention critics? - several moments of black humour too.</p><br /><p>As the film opens we meet Kate and Leo's characters, April and Frank Wheeler, strangers flirting with each other across a crowded room, quickly falling in love. Most reviewers have tried to play down the hype around this reunion of Winslet and DiCaprio - their first film together since the collosally successful <strong><em>Titanic</em></strong> - pointing out that these are two very different characters from the star-crossed, iceberg-bound lovers who many wanted to see reunited again. The couple will indeed spend most of this new film's running time tearing each other apart. That being said, I think these could very well be the same couple, with the film effectively showing that romantic feelings (or lust) do not necessarily make the best starting point for a good, long, happy marriage. We're not long into the film before realising the couple are having problems. April has aspirations to be a professional actress, but her first amateur dramatics production is a disaster, with her own performance being the worst thing about it; whilst Frank is stuck in an office job he hates but suffers in order to provide for his family and young children. He finds himself so miserable and unhappy that it's hardly surprising he ends up having a one night stand with an infatuated doe-eyed secretary. Marriage-wise, things can clearly only go downhill from here.</p><br /><p>Unfortunately, this first, short section of the film suffers greatly from comparisons to <strong><em>Mad Men</em></strong>, the Emmy-award winning series about ad men in the early 60's. The characters look and act the same, the set design (particularly of the offices and restaurants) look and act the same, and the basic story seems to be the same. All that's missing are the more soap-y elements necessary to keep a show running over 13 hours of prime-time TV. So comparisons are inevitable when the film starts off failing to offer anything different.</p><br /><p>Fortunately things take a turn about 20 minutes in, and from then-on the film becomes a gripping, acting tour-de-force as the lives of the young married couple who feel they are 'special' compared to those around them, unravel.</p><br /><p>When April sees a chance for the family to escape their dull, suburban, unhappy lives, by escaping to Paris for a new life, it seems that maybe there will be a 'happy ever after' ending after all, despite their seeming naivety about what awaits them in Paris. Neighbours and friends are incredulous, if a little envious, but events soon conspire against the couple as multiple chickens seem to come home to roost at the same time and the planned escape starts to fall apart in spectacular<br />fashion.</p><br /><p>Most reviews have centred on <strong>Kate Winslett</strong> winning performance as a depressed housewife, but for me DiCaprio's performance is the real relevation, and the far more interesting performance of the two. He has a much less sympathetic character to play but beautifully expresses the pain, sadness and anger his character experiences without resorting to histrionics. He is never less than 100% convincing, and the pain in his eyes is hard to bare. The actor has come a long way from the ridiculous 'pauper' acting as Jack that he gave us in <em>Titanic</em>.</p><br /><p>Winslett delivers, as one would expect her to, based on previous form, but I couldn't help feeling this is the same Winslett act we've seen so many times before -Kate doing her teary, worthy, Oscar-nominated thing. It just felt a little too 'clever' to be entirely believable for me.</p><br /><p>That being said, I was gripped by the film, right to its rather startling and abrupt end. The film takes its time to tell its story and tells it well, and the cinematography, from stalwart <strong>Roger Deacon</strong> is<br />stunning. It may not be a 'feel good' movie, but it's nowhere near as bleak as some critics have implied, and we're blessed that Hollywood can turn out strong, intellectual fare like this amongst all the banality<br />of gross-out 'comedies' and mindless action flicks that are guaranteed to put teenage bums on seats and turn a hefty profit.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-31010738562533860182009-01-25T12:28:00.007+00:002009-01-25T13:28:15.065+00:00Checking out the Ocar Nominated Films<p>Good new movies are just like the buses at this time of year - a long time waiting for something good to show up, and then suddenly everything arrives all at once. We have the endless awards ceremonies to thank of course, but there does seem to be something wrong when my local PictureHouse has five screens showing nothing but oscar-nominated movies in the one week. If only one were faced with such tough decisions as to which film to see at your local cineplex all year round!</p><br /><p>In an attempt to be more informed for watching the Academy Awards this year I decided NOT to wait for the shiny discs, most of which come out AFTER the awards ceremony, but actually check the films out on theatrical release. Alas, such is the poor memory of most that recent marketing machinations mean we're suddenly in a situation where most companies release films to the general public AFTER they're nominated, rather than months before, as used to happen. I can't help feeling that <strong>The Dark Knight</strong> (OK, I know it's fantasy which never does well, but even so...) and <strong>Christopher Nolan</strong> have seriously lost out because the film was released a few months ago rather than next month!</p><br /><p>I saw <strong><em>Milk</em></strong> last week (and blogged about it <strong><a href="http://irascian.blogspot.com/2009/01/milk-it-for-all-its-worth.html" target="_blank" title="link to my blog entry on 'Milk'">here</a></strong>) <br />but used the weekend to catch up on three of its rivals.</p><br /><h2>Slumdog Millionaire</h2><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/SlumdogMillionaire.jpg" alt="Slumdog Millionaire poster image" width="400" height="300" /><br /><p>If my local cinema at Clapham is any measure of success <strong>Slumdog Millionaire</strong> looks like a slam-dunk for the 'Best Film' oscar. Two weekends running they've had to display "All performances sold out" even at 11am in the morning. Certainly if there were an award for 'Best Marketing' this film should win it. The decision to advertise the film as if it were a <strong><em>Mama Mia!</em></strong> 'feel good' movie is an inspired one, even if it totally misrepresents the film and the director is unhappy with the deception. Punters who will likely be shocked at the torture scenes that appear at the start of the film, but feeling beholden to stay to the end because they've already paid, will by the end feel they've been on a journey and seen a worthy film, even if it wasn't the one they'd been sold.</p><br /><p>Personally, I thought <strong>Slumdog Millionaire</strong> was a very good film, but not an excellent one, and not one I'd give 'Film of the year' to. I liked the direction, whilst accepting that it may have been a bit too 'flash' in places for some, and there were some truly amazing shots of Mumbai and the slum area in the film. The young actors (or non-actors, as director <strong>Danny Boyle</strong> has indicated) are very impressive and the early scenes are moving and realistic. Unfortunately the later scenes in the story timeline, featuring the 'grown up' lead appearing on TV show <em>Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?</em> or being tortured are less successful. <strong>Dev Patel</strong> seems a nice enough chap, but this is a 'no acting really required' role for the most part, and it's scandalous that BAFTA have decided to nominate Patel for 'Best Actor', seemingly because of his nationality rather than any evidence from the film. Our hero has entered a TV competition purely to be seen and reunited with his childhood girlfriend. The trouble is there is no chemistry between Patel and his beautiful female lead, and I didn't believe in their 'life long love affair' for a second.</p><br /><p>The story itself, described by director Boyle as 'a fable' is also too far-fetched to have any credibility. We are asked to accept that each question our hero is asked on the TV quiz show just happens to coincide with some obscure event that happened to our lead character on his life journey. This is silly enough as it is, but that they also happened to be asked in the correct chronological order to events in the lead's life, told as background between each question, is just ridiculous. Apparently this is carried over from the book the film is based on, but for me it just made the whole film's story ridiculous and contrived.</p><br /><p>And I'm going to upset several Indian friends who are big fans of the film's composer <strong>A.R. Rahman</strong>, when I say that for me the music intruded far too often, and seemed to distract from, rather than enhance, the on-screen visuals. When music actually takes you out of the film, as it did on a couple of occasions here, there's something wrong.</p><br /><p>None of this should stop you going to see the film. Like the execrable <strong><em>Mama Mia!</em></strong> it seems to have struck a chord with the general public, and certainly it's a MUCH, MUCH better film than the poorly-written and directed Abba spin-off. In many ways it marks a return to form for director <strong>Danny Boyle</strong> after the extremely disappointing, derivative <strong>Sunshine</strong>.</p><br /><br /><h2>The Wrestler</h2><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/TheWrestler.jpg" alt="The Wrestler promotiion" width="400" height="229" /><br /><p>If I was slightly disappointed with <em>Slumdog Millionaire</em>, I was even more so with <strong>The Wrestler</strong>.</p><br /><p>The 'low budget movie' warnings should have alerted me of course, and in fact if it wasn't for so many enthusiastic reviews about the film itself, and Rourke's performance as 'The Wrestler' of the title I would no doubt have given this one a miss. Which, given my lack of enthusiasm for the actor I should have done. I'm not sure if it's the excessive ego, the rudeness and bad manners, or a strong dislike of the yappy little dogs that he's obsessed with, but I find myself avoiding any interviews with this 'difficult' personality.</p><br /><p>Most reviewers said this was a 'character piece' rather than a movie about wrestling, but Lord there's a LOT of tedious wrestling in the film, especially in the first hour. The 'trailer home trash' real life story has been done, to much better effect I think, a hundred times before I think, and even the cliched 'let's have no real start and no real end' approach to the film, which others are claiming is 'brave' seem cliched to the extreme. It's like one of those tedious documentaries about people fallen on hard times, with no real let-up or variation on a tired, well-known theme. I found the film hard work and it's one you'd have to pay me to sit through again. Yes, Rourke gives an incredible performance - but is reliving the events of your life and playing yourself REALLY an oscar-winning ACTING performance? Not for this viewer. And not, it seems, for most of the public. Despite the rave reviews, the cinema was almost empty where all other screenings were full and it has already switched to matinee performances only.</p><br /><p>My money's still on <strong>Sean Penn</strong> in <strong><em>Milk</em></strong> for the 'Best Actor' winner, although he has some serious competition in the form of <strong>Frank Langella</strong> in ...</p><br /><h2>Frost/Nixon</h2><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/FrostNixon.jpg" alt="Frost/Nixon promotion" width="400" height="333" /><br /><p>A 'talking head' movie is one I'd definitely avoid at the cinema - wait for the DVD instead. However, I'm glad I went to see <strong>Frost/Nixon</strong> before the awards ceremonies all kick off. The film, transferred from the London stage, was gripping, tense and beautifully acted throughout and whilst I kept thinking I was watching 'Blair vs Nixon' rather than 'Frost vs Nixon' because of <strong>Michael Sheen</strong>'s over-familiar act, that didn't detract too much.</p><br /><p>In many ways the film reminded me of <strong><em>Good Night, and Good Luck</em></strong>, a 'better' film in my view, but one shot in black and white which undoubtedly put a lot of potential viewers off. This more mainstream political drama is likely to prove more popular with the general public.</p> <br /><p>The direction from <strong>Ron Howard</strong> is perhaps a little pedestrian, but I think the material demands the sort of subdued subtlety that's in evidence here and the story plays to Howards' strengths rather than his weaknesses. But, ultimately, this isn't Howard's film or Sheen's - it's Langella's. As Nixon he gives a career-best performance of great subtlety and depth. I'd hate to be the voter having to choose between this performance and Penn's for the oscars this year.</p><br /><h2>So Who Should Win?</h2><br /><p>Personally, I think <strong><em>Milk</em></strong> deserves the 'Best Film' oscar - I found it more 'genuinely' moving than any of the other contendors. But I also think the subject matter (about an openly gay politician) means it hasn't a hope. I haven't seen <strong>Benjamin Button</strong> yet (not released in the UK until next month), but am already getting the sense from early critical reviews that I'll find it too contrived and sentimental to win me over. I suspect <strong>Slumdog Millionaire</strong> will win, and if so it certainly wouldn't be as ridiculous a result as a few years ago when <strong><em>Chicago</em></strong> won!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27988188.post-3124041501779124492009-01-17T03:52:00.006+00:002009-01-25T12:52:10.816+00:00'Milk' it for all it's worth<p>It's been a while since I last blogged, as the pressure of work, video, and preparations for new Microsoft certification exams seem to have taken over every available minute :(</p><br /><p>But a bout of insomnia gives me a chance to blog about the excellent trip to BFI Southbank I made a few hours ago to see<br /><strong>Milk</strong>, the oscar-nominated film about the murdered San Francisco gay rights politician <strong>Harvey Milk</strong> who rose to fame in the 70's.</p><br /><img src="http://www.iansmith.co.uk/image/Milk.jpg" alt="Milk promotion" width="400" height="218" /><br /><p>Director <strong>Gus Van Sant</strong>'s films can be a bit hit and miss for me, and I frequently seem to take a contrary view to the general critical response, so that for example while I loved <strong>Elephant</strong> (a sort of retelling of the Columbine massacre in a very smooth, free-form, poetic style) which the critics didn't seem keen on, I really disliked <strong>Paranoid Park</strong> which the critics loved, but which I thought was badly-shot, self-indulgent, 'arty' tosh.</p><br /><p>Then of course there's the oscar-winning <strong>Good Will Hunting</strong>, which wasn't a bad film, but one that really didn't merit all the hype it received at the time of release.</p><br /><p>Thankfully, <strong>Milk</strong> marks a return to form for the director after a series of independent 'art house' movies, as Van Sant moves back to a more mainstream style of filming, with a biopic that is individual, powerful, moving, incredibly well acted and couldn't have arrived at a more appropriate time given what's happening in California with Proposition 8.</p><br /><p>The film opens with titles over archive black and white footage showing the police raiding and arresting gay men in bars for simply being there. This was a time when men could be arrested for the simple act of holding hands, and to a modern audience the footage, showing men in suits sat at tables covering their faces so as not to be caught on camera as the police barge in to arrest everyone, comes across as quite shocking. Manhandled and stuffed into police vans like sardines, it's quite incredible to think this is real-life footage from not that many years ago.</p><br /><p>Despite the shocking introduction, the main theme of the movie is a celebration of one man's vision of hope, with Milk fighting for the rights of minorities and against injustice being kick-started by the murder of a gay friend on Castro Street in San Francisco. Perhaps unintentionally (the film was made before Proposition 8 came into being) the film also helps to show how placid and resigned we've become to losing such hard-fought rights in a time when there's far LESS homophobia about.</p><br /><p>Proposition 8 shows that history, yet again, is doomed to repeat itself, and as actor <strong> James Franco</strong> (who plays Milk's lover in the film) and screenwriter <strong>Dustin Lance Black</strong> pointed out in the Q & A that followed tonight's screening, few people - even modern gays who live close to where these events happened - seem to know the story of Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay politician.</p><br /><p>Black's screenplay is based on extensive original research by the author, and the film features some of the real life characters in Harvey's life at the time. He has written a wonderfully warm, personal script full of humanity and life that doesn't try to paint Milk as a saint, but as someone of good heart, not moved to politics, who just felt he'd done nothing good in his life by the age of 40 and rose to meet the demands of a situation that was so unfair that it demanded action. Milk has flaws: a sexual attraction to weak, unlikeable, mentally unstable men being perhaps the main one and the flaws are portrayed here in a way that makes the man far more real than the simple 'hero' he's often been painted as.</p><br /><p>Director Van Sant has put together a clever collage of real life footage of events at the time, together with original dramatic scenes, but if the film is one man's show (it isn't, as ALL the cast, including <strong>Josh Brolin</strong>, <strong>Emile Hursch</strong> and the afore-mentioned <strong>James Franco</strong> give performances that make the characters seem real flesh and blood, not actors giving 'oscar winning' performances) it's <strong>Sean Penn</strong>'s. Those used to seeing Penn play angry, violent characters are in for a shock, his performance as the amiable Harvey Milk is full of joy, humour and sly asides that make you totally forget Penn the actor, as you watch Milk the politician as if he were still alive today. Where I'd be rooting for an oscar win for the much under-rated (until he died) <strong>Heath Ledger</strong>, I'm now leaning more towards Penn for what surely counts as a career-best performance. And with a career as impressive as Penn's has been, that's no small compliment.</p><br /><p>The screening tonight, at the BFI Southbank in London, advertised a post-screening Q&A session with director Gus Van Sant, covering his entire career, as part of the <strong>Guardian Talks</strong> series of events. As it turned out, we were treated to two Q&A's - the one advertised, and then an extra one concentrating specifically on <strong>Milk</strong> with Van Sant being joined by his screenwriter and one of his lead actors.</p><br /><p>By all accounts Van Sant is a shy man, and he's certainly a quiet one, not naturally given to giving long answers to quite involved questions, some of which came from the audience, but most of which came from a professional on-stage interviewer. Nevertheless he held the audience for the 30 minutes he had on stage, intercut with excerpts from his earlier work. He was self-deprecating and told some amusing anecdotes, such as how he spent 6 years trying to persuade Universal to support his 'shot by shot' remake of <strong>Psycho</strong> before <strong>Good Will Hunting</strong>'s awards success suddenly turned a studio's position of 'Not interested' to 'That's a fantastic idea'!</p><br /><p>While dismissing critics opinions, particularly with regard to the highly controversial <strong>Psycho</strong>, he seemed to admit that in this particular case they might have been right, saying that the film made him realise that simply copying shots isn't enough to recreate something, and that Hitchcock himself was the main ingredient that made the original film work, an ingredient that was clearly missing from his own remake despite featuring an 'exact' copy of each original scene.</p><br /><p>I was surprised, watching the <strong>Good Will Hunting</strong> film, to see <strong>Ben Affleck</strong>'s brother <strong>Casey Affleck</strong> in the film, thinking him a very recent recruit to the world of film acting (he is sensational in <strong><em>Gone Baby Gone</em></strong>, <strong><em>The Assassination of Jesse James</em></strong> and <strong><em>Lonely Jim</em></strong>), but Van Sant revealed that actually the much-publicised relationship between himself and 'new to film' Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, came about through him knowing Casey.</p><br /><p>I'm a big fan of <strong>James Franco</strong>'s work (and NOT just because he's so pretty, although I'm sure that probably helps!) Perhaps best known as Peter Parker's best friend Harry (aka the son of The Green Goblin) in the Spider-Man movies, or as the front-man for the current Gucci "men's fragrence" magazine campaign, his best performances have been in movies like <strong>In the Valley of Elah</strong>, <strong>Pineapple Express</strong> or even the critically mauled <strong>Flyboys</strong>. He's an incredibly versatile actor, and gives another excellent performance in <strong>Milk</strong>.</p><br /><p>So it's disappointing to report that in person he comes across as a bit of an inarticulate, rambling, empty head - at least if his long-winded, content-free replies to the couple of questions directed his way at tonight's Q & A are anything to go by. It seems to be the pattern with really good actors - I remember feeling the same way about a similar Q&A at the same venue with <strong>Cillian Murphy</strong> around the time <strong><em>Sunshine</em></strong> came out. It's best, I guess, to just judge actors on their work and perhaps only allow them the limelight when they're doing that work, to avoid the shattering of illusions!</p><br /><p>So far as the film itself is concerned, it seems unlikely that <strong>Milk</strong> will win the BAFTA or oscar for 'Best Film', even though it's been nominated. Not because it's not worthy (I really believe it is), but because <strong>Slumdog Millionaire</strong> seems to be winning all the marketing campaigns, after a slow start where it looked like <strong>The Dark Knight</strong> (probably my favourite film of last year) was going to be a shoo-in.</p><br /><p>Tomorrow (erm, later today), I shall be seeing <strong>Slumdog Millionaire</strong>, hoping that it's significantly better than director <strong>Danny Boyle</strong>'s last film <strong>Sunshine</strong>, which proved to be a huge disappointment (by all accounts 'Slumdog' is a significant return to form, so fingers crossed), and on Monday I shall be seeing <strong>The Wrestler</strong>, if only to see if Sean Penn's most fierce competitor for the upcoming 'Best Actor' oscar <strong>Mickey Rourke</strong> (I'm not a fan based on his personality and previous work) really does deliver the performance all the critics are saying he does.</p><br /><p>Expect my thoughts on these other oscar contenders to follow later this week. In the meantime I highly recommend <strong>Milk</strong> despite the subject matter perhaps appearing a bit too minority-oriented to be of interest. The film goes on general release in the UK next Friday: 23rd January 2009.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13442419547110456696noreply@blogger.com4