Catch Up if You Can...

I have failed to write anything for this blog for a little while now, and the longer you put something off, the less appealing and chore-like it becomes. So, having watched at least 6 films and the BAFTA’s since I last managed to say anything about anything, the task of playing catch up seems nigh-on insurmountable. My solution is to get this all out of the way in one foul/fowl (?!) swoop/post, which will involve a significant reining in of my natural verbosity, but probably an excellent exercise in succinctness and brevity. So here goes…

Cinema trips:

Youth in Revolt (Miguel Arteta, 2010) – Ronseal. Meaning - does exactly what it says on the tin. A witty and slightly-too-eloquent comedy with plenty of sex, cringing and genuine LOL moments. Best line: “I want to tickle your belly button… from the inside”. More Cera please, we like it!

The Wolfman (Joe Johnston, 2010) – Tonally confused and funny for all the wrong reasons, most notably starring Anthony Hopkins' evil twin who can’t act for toffee, this was more than disappointing. I thankfully realised about 10 minutes in that this film was going to be total dross and so managed to enjoy myself by predicting the entire plot from one ridiculous set-piece to the next. Highlight being the Hulk-style Werewolf smackdown at the end. There are hints of what could have been a great film here, before it got mired in development hell. The lighting is spectacularly haunting and chiaroscuro, the ancestral home is spooky as hell and the transformed werewolves are a wonderful homage to the original’s B-movie prosthetics. Combine this however, with atrocious scripting, last minute spatters of unnecessary gore and jarring CGI transformations into afore-mentioned 50s werewolves, and the whole thing falls to bits. Overall – lame.

The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2010) – intense and beautiful, perhaps a little too much of the former, my heart was thumping in nervous anticipation for too much of the running time! The visual imagination in this film was simply stupendous. The 'fantasy' scenes harken back to Jackson’s earlier Heavenly Creatures (1994), but with more maturity and a considerably higher budget. Aside from a slight drop in interest due to a bit of 2^nd act meandering (which I must admit mars almost all of Jackson’s directorial efforts for me), this film was astoundingly good. Justice done to a stunning piece of literature. In short, brilliant.

And a bit of home viewing:

Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008) – Crikey Jolie can act when she wants to. Still there’s something anachronistically modern about her face, which I always find distracting in a period drama. Minor face-quibbles aside, this is another directorial triumph from Eastwood (almost makes me want to see Invictus), the film is incredibly well-paced, beautifully shot and forms a wonderful portrait of a woman fighting for her child, and her rights, in a world that casts her as irrational before she’s even opened her mouth. With corrupt policemen, uncaring journalists and vicious mental nurses seeming greater villains than the perpetrator of the horrific child murders at the centre of the film, Eastwood asks uncomfortable questions throughout and leaves you with a feeling of grim determination to make the world a better place once it’s over. Nice one, Clint.

Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1998) – It’s a crime that I hadn’t seen this film prior to last week. Now rectified, I can carry on expounding the genius of Tarantino with confidence. Does anybody soundtrack better than QT?! As slick, smart and violent as you’d expect. Ace.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Nicholas Stoller, 2008) – watched this last night. Silly, but thoroughly enjoyable. As my boyfriend and I are the only people in the world not to have seen this film already, there’s no need to say anything else.

And finally…

The BAFTAs – made medium-entertaining viewing this year. Well, considerably better than the Brits anyway, which was ghastly. Herewith my observations:

- Very glad that Hurt Locker took best film and director, I mean, yes Avatar was very exciting and all, and it can have all the Oscars it likes, but the BAFTAs should award more worthy films than CGI tent pole pictures (in my humble opinion). So huzzah.

- Kristen Stewart is a bit of a div (or has had a late-onset awkward teenager phase), her posture is even worse than mine.

- Relatedly, Twilight fans should be exempt from all public voting systems. And the gene pool in general.

- Colin Firth is a funnier man than I anticipated.

- Even though I know Attenborough won’t live forever, Prince BLINKIN William should not be allowed within a spit of a position at BAFTA.

- Christopher Waltz seemed a very charming chap.

- I wanted Moon to win more awards, if you haven’t seen it – go. Go now.

- I’m still very much in love with Kate Winslet.

Right. That’ll do pig.

Image from dailymix.com

Lustful. Cautious-erm-ful

Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2008)

I was going to title this review 'Me love you long time', but then I decided it was too rude. Much like this film. I am by no means a prude, but this DVD (extended from the original cinematic cut, so my friend from HK tells me) REALLY lingers on the sex scenes, all of which are intense and often violent. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but I wonder if it was strictly necessary to see quite that much bum in a non porn film.

Anyway, that aside (and I must stress, I wasn't offended, just a little surprised) this film was everything you'd expect from Ang Lee - absorbing, beautifully shot, and re-he-he-heally long. Like, close to 3 hours long, and it ends on a bit of a ppffhh, like a damp firework.

This is sounding like a bad review, when I really don't want it to. I was captivated by this breathless, suspenseful portrayal of our heroine and her compatriots entangled in a dangerous web of lies, played out against the stunning backdrop of the rain-washed streets of Japanese-occupied China. I loved the way that layers of detail in the background and incidental characters - extras even - spark your interest when you don't expect it. Wei Tang as the female lead is tremendous, and like the camera, and all the characters, you simply can't take your eyes off her.

I can't find a tangible way in which to fault this film, I just ought to have checked the back of the box first to know by just how much I was going to miss my bed time. And how glad I'd be that I watched it without anyone else in the room. I think it's warped my hamster's fragile little mind.

Image from Xinhuanet.com - thanks

Pixar vs. Dreamworks - smackdown

SO true...

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/pixarvsdreamworks.jpg

Nice work guys.

Generation J. J.

Having done no film viewing whatsoever this weekend (shock! horror!), I have only a random thought to contribute. Isn't it about time somebody made a filmic adaptation of a Douglas Coupland novel? And how amazing would it be if that somebody was fellow zeitgeist-er J.J. Abrams? There's a combo I could get excited about.

Such a film would need someone at the helm who was as unafraid of playing with accepted medium conventions as Coupland is with his novels. And I reckon Abrams is the man. The only other director that has the same 'now'-defining power, to my mind, is old QT, but there just isn't enough violence in Coupland's material to satisfy him. Plus, he's not really an adaptation guy. So I'm voting Abrams. I don't even particularly care which novel it is, though my personal favourites are Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma.

If only more than 3 people read this blog, we could start a petition or something. Oh well.

I had a little look on imdb.com, just to make sure there isn't already a Coupland film and I'm just talking arse, and it looks, tantilisingly, that All Families Are Psychotic is in some sort of development, but with no further details. AND there's a TV version of jpod. Who knew? Christ, I might have to start watching TV.

Image from bartsbookshelf.co.uk - thanks

Strictly Luhrmann

Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann, 1992)

I borrowed Strictly Ballroom from a friend recently and then found myself rather reluctant to watch it. I don't like dancing films, I don't like romantic films, and I especially don't like anything that might inadvertently, however tangentially, remind me of (small voice) Dirty Dancing (Emilio Ardolino, 1987). Ugh. All in all, I've no idea why I borrowed it in the first place...

So, with some trepidation, and the boyfriend pointedly leaving the room after napping on my lap for the first half hour, I sat down to watch. My nervousness was somewhat abated by the fact that Luhrmann has, in the past, proved capable of making me like films that had any other director made them, I almost certainly wouldn't have. Nor even deigned to watch them most likely. Finding in favour of Mr. Luhrmann here, see exhibit A - William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996) and exhibit B - Moulin Rouge(2001). And struth! He's only gone and done it again!

Despite being about dancing, despite being about guy meets girl, about guy and girl fall in love through the magic medium of montage, about girl goes through a miraculous transformation from absolute munter to smoking hottie in less than 3 weeks, about how all the other main characters realise, through guy and girl, the overarching importance of love 'and dancing your own steps', and bad guy gets comedy comeuppance including losing his wig... you get the idea. Despite all of this, I loved it! I loved it. Luhrmann imbues the whole thing with such a wonderful sense of irony, one eyebrow raised and tongue firmly in cheek.

Well-scripted, neatly shot, gorgeously costumed/made-up, with a great soundtrack and not too long (this is becoming more important to me by the day!), Strictly Ballroom is a great great film. If you haven't seen it, do. You might surprise yourself. It even got a bit dusty at the end.

Image pinched from someone else's blog: http://coffeewithamee.wordpress.com/ (thanks)

Films I am Looking Forward to for 2010

Films coming out in 2010 that I'm excited about (sub-set - those that are on the Empire website so far)... in vague order of release...

• Youth in Revolt (more witty awkward late-teen comedy with Michael Cera - hurrah!)
• The Wolfman (old school B-movie horror with A-list cast and budget - more hurrah!)
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (will probably be crap but I do love my young adult fantasy adaptations)
• Ponyo (more Miyazaki! I love it! I'm hoping for an underwater Kiki...)
• The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson is the king! [apart from Kong, that was a shame], hopefully a Heavenly Creatures with LOTR experience under his belt, will Ronan be the Winslet of her generation?! I reckon yes)
  
• Micmacs (Will anything be as good as Amelie ever again? We can but hope...)
  
• Capitalism: A Love Story (His methods are appalling, but Moore is always good for a bit of righteous left-wing rage)
  
• Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton/Lewis Carroll - a match made in heaven)
  
• Iron Man 2 (Most unexpectedly ace film of 2008, now with Mickey Rourke!)
  
• Robin Hood (gotta be better than Costner...)
  
• Toy Story 3 (Pixar can do no wrong in my eyes, in any dimension. Can't wait!)
  

And films I'm not...

• Sex and the City 2 (I'd rather die in a car crash)

Image from moviesmedia.ign.com