Quick Round-up: Movies

I seem to have seen so many films recently, on TV, DVD and at the cinema and I've not had time/inclination to write a lot about each one. So for the sake of completeness, I'm going to zip through what I've seen here, starting with TV drama Page Eight (2011), a slow yet solid tale of espionage starring Bill Nighy. Then there was Bringing Up Baby (1938), the hilarious screwball comedy that sees Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn trading barbs as they try to track down the titular Baby, a pet leopard on the loose, and Hepburn tries her darndest to snag her man. I've seen this film before and it's an absolute hoot, so I was eager to get Andrew to watch it to see what he thought - for the same reason we watched The Birdcage (1996), the hilarious US remake of La Cage aux Folles starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple who are shocked to learn 'their' son is to marry the daughter of a Republican senator. Funny and unexpectedly touching, The Birdcage doesn't do a great deal for the gay cause, but it's hard to be offended when everyone's having so much fun. 

A change of tack to documentary and Sarah Palin: You Betcha! (2011), where Nick Broomfield investigates the strange world of the one-time VP hopeful through interviews with family and friends. And once it becomes clear that Broomfield is making an honest documentary rather than a puff piece about how amazing Palin is, the access to family dries up pretty quick. I didn't think that Broomfield set out with a liberal agenda per se, but he soon uncovered a lot of dodgy back story and delusion behind the soccer-mom smokescreen that painted a convincing and scary picture of Palin. 

Panned by the critics and shunned by audiences, I went into John Carter (2012) with an open mind (and a buy-one-get-one-free email voucher from Disney) and was completely blown away. I cannot see why everyone is down on this movie, it's exciting, it's funny, it's original and it is much better than many other CGI sci-fi epics I can think of (yeah, Phantom Menace, I mean you). I've not stopped talking about it to friends and colleagues since. Taylor Kitsch is hunky and a hero to route for as the title character, a widowed US Civil War veteran who is mysteriously transported to Barsoom/Mars where he gets caught up in the red planet's own internal fights. Filled with spectacle, non-irritating CG characters, suprisingly dark moments and much more, John Carter's fully-realised world is one I'd love to go back to in future films, but alas that's unlikely. 

Special effects on a much smaller budget and screen made last Christmas' The Borrowers (2011) a believable and fun tale that up-dated Arrietty's family and found them living under Victoria Wood's floorboards. Stephen Fry's scientist gets wind and determines to expose the little folk to the world in a plot that is bigger than the Ghibli movie but less sweetly engaging. A much more odd interpretation of a classic children's story, Wes Anderson's stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) features an assortment of indie voices plus George Clooney and Meryl Streep as Mr and Mrs Fox, and a laconic tone that suits the story to a tee. 

After reading William Goldman's novel I revisited The Princess Bride (1987) on DVD. I didn't get the big deal the first time around, and while I can see why it has earned cult status, like the book before it I still felt it was lacking an extra something to expand the idea of a parody fairytale into a roaring success. What the movie did was make me want to watch Cary Elwes really letting loose in Robin Hood: Men in Tights again! The Princess Bride felt oddly low key as a whole, something that could also be said of Monsters (2010), the economically made movie about two characters who are thrown together to travel across alien-infested landsThe low budget meant that this was more a character study than a John Carter style action-fest, with the CGI aliens only briefly glimpsed. Perhaps actually it is more of a love story than anything else, as well as a pretty trip around the jungles of Central America. 

Finally, last Wednesday we went to the cinema to see The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012), in 3D, Aardman Animation's latest claymation feature. The most joyfully silly movie I've seen since The Muppets, The Pirates is packed full of sight gags and witty lines, run through with an earthy Britishness and randomness reminiscent of Monty Python. While not as consistently laugh-filled as Chicken Run, I found The Pirates more satisfying than Curse of the Were-Rabbit and left the cinema with a massive smile on my face. And that concludes the movie part of the update!

You, the Living (2007) / Adventureland (2009) / Hot Rod (2007) / F (2010)

You, the Living / Du Levande (2007) caught my eye in the schedules as it was billed as a Swedish comedy. It was fairly amusing... and decidedly odd. There was no narrative as such, merely a collection of 'sketches' or vignettes featuring ordinary moments of daily life in a very raw, dramatic yet blackly comic style. The tone put me in mind of Sound of Noise but that was a much more linear movie, with a point to it. The indecipherable impetus behind You, the Living didn't end up making for an unsatisfying whole, I quite enjoyed the movie... I'm just unable to articulate why I liked it. Weird.

Much more straightforward was Adventureland (2009), an American comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg as a geeky kid who ends up working at the titular theme park for the summer between high school and college. While there he befriends Kristen Stewart, who plays a variation of her unreasonably mopey misery-chick schtick from the Twilight franchise but manages to be less irritating with it. Oddly he falls for and ends up dating the park's resident cool chick (in a bit reminiscent of Bandslam's geek-gets-the-girl genre subversion) but it's obvious who he should really be with. It's a slight movie with an unoriginal premise yet Adventureland is hugely enjoyable, mainly because Eisenberg is so damn charming and cute. He's like Michael Cera with less attitude. The supporting cast are a wonderful array of freaks and misfits, including a small role for Bridesmaids' Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader (who also crops up in Hot Rod below), plus a turn by Ryan Reynolds as a likable bastard.

An evening of pizza, wine and chat at our friend's flat last Friday also involved watching the fabled Hot Rod (2007). Twice. Watching with a group of friends is not normally how I like to see a new movie, but the reverence that certain of my mates show this film made for a pretty hilarious experience. And from what I had the opportunity to see, Hot Rod turned out to be pretty hilarious, full of really silly, unexplained humour that wouldn't be out of place in The Muppets (although some of the racier stuff would need taming). Andy Samberg's daredevil/idiot lead is endearing and not just stupid, and his relationship with his stepfather, Ian McShane, is deliriously deranged - his goal is to earn enough money through stunts to save his stepfather's life... so that Rod can kick his ass. There were many bits that had us all laughing out loud, from the 'cool  beans' sequence, the wacky grilled cheese sandwich and burrito fight and my favourite, the random dancing Chinese guy who gets a montage of bill posting and crotch thrusting... It really is a movie that has to be seen to be believed. And quite rewatchable as it turns out.

While recuperating from a manky cold this week I watched the British horror/thriller simply titled F (2010) - no relation to US high school Othello adaptation, O (2001). After an opening set up that sees teacher Mr Anderson (David Schofield) head-butted by a pupil and thus more resigned and timid in his role, the movie settles in to the confines of the school campus after most of the inhabitants have gone home. Unfortunately for the cleaner, secutiry guards, headmistress, secretary, woodwork teacher, Mr Anderson, his daughter and her boyfriend, they're still in residence when a gang of hoodies turn up to kill them off, one by one. The growing menance is effected by tight camera angles, right up in the victims' faces, and some creepy choral/lullaby music when the speechless, faceless bad 'uns turn up to bash, stab, burn, maim, slice, axle-grind and generally murder all involved. There's not much character development or even really any plot after the first 10 minutes of set up, just a series of offings. No explanation is given as to why these hoodlums are committing these graphic acts or even who they are - are they connected to the guy who headbutted Mr Anderson? The script doesn't care, there are plenty of people to be bloodying up to bother with motivation. The lack of impetus leaves the film feeling a bit hollow, although it is effectively chilling. Thankfully the final scene/ethical dilemma is a real humdinger and makes the previous 80 minutes well worth the price of admission (y'know, if I'd seen it in a cinema).

G-Force (2009)

basics...
From the sublime Inside Men to the ridiculous G-Force... A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer production that sees Zach Galifianakis (wow, spelled that right on my first guess!) as an FBI bod in charge of a crack squad of talking guinea pigs, who are out to prove their worth by investigating Bill Nighy's tech-mogul's plot to take over the world. Or something.

brilliant...
G-Force has a good set up and delivers a lot of wham-bam special effects, chase sequences and flashy CGI that would no doubt keep kids entertained for hours. There are also quite a few references to more adult films that are enjoyable and helped to keep my attention away from the films flaws. I particularly liked the line 'Yippee-ki-ay coffee maker!', a Die Hard reference that none of the film's target audience should know.

but...

The sad thing about G-Force is that it never really lives up to the fun-sounding premise that guinea pig spies might suggest. There's not enough fun to be had with the fact that these are guinea pigs! The film takes itself a tad too seriously - Galifianakis is basically a straight man to some ok-CGI lumps of fluff with impressive voices (Nic Cage, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, Penélope Cruz, Steve Buscemi and Tracy Morgan) but a weak script, by something called 'The Wibberleys'. That credit explained a lot... The plot - the mole is actually a mole in the ranks and plans to wipe out humanity through killer kitchen utensils - is silly and there are plot holes and contrivances galore. It seems churlish to say that about what is clearly a kids movie, but there should be so much more to this thing that special effects, shouldn't there? I don't think it's a big ask for a tighter script and less clunking scenes like the one in which Galifianakis suddenly decides to tell the little spies he got them from a pet shop

briefly...
G-Force left me annoyed at the squandered potential that a film featuring spy-fi rodents and this cast might imply.

The Muppets (2011)

basics...
The Muppets return to the big screen for the first time in years. Massive Muppet fan Walter and his brother Gary (co-writer Jason Segel) learn of Tex Richman's (Chris Cooper) plan to tear down the disused Muppet Studios and set out to convince Kermit and the rest of the gang, who have gone their separate ways, to reunite and put on a telethon to save the theatre from destruction. 

brilliant...
I had high hopes for The Muppets, and when I heard that Jason Segel would be scripting and starring I prepared to lower them a little. How wrong I was. What Segel, writing partner Nicholas Stoller and director James Bobin is a celebration of everything that is fantastic about the Muppets, that is respectful of their history and celebrates their unique brand of comedy in a fresh, modern way. It is as much a film as a love letter to everything the Muppets were and are, in much the same way that Hugo and The Artist drew on and celebrated early cinema. Hilarious from start to finish, the human cast, including Amy Adams and a host of cameos from the likes of Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jim Parsons and Whoopi Goldberg, are just as funny but thankfully do not overshadow the Muppet performers. Once the story is set in motion (and the plot's nothing new, a similar 'theatre-in-jeopardy' macguffin was used in TV-movie It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie) and the Muppets get back together, the humans fall into the background and Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Swedish Chef et al get to be their incredibly funny selves. The references to the original Muppet Show, including a lingering shot of Jim Henson's photograph, are touching and connect the new movie with the modern Muppets. Some of the best bits of the movie: the introduction of 80's Robot; the inspired song and dance numbers, including Oscar winning Man or Muppet; the myriad of Muppet cameos from the TV show - nearly every shot with multiple Muppets features one or two familiar faces; the montage sequence and travelling by map; and the part that had tears of laughter rolling down my face: Clarissa and the Chickens performing 'Forget You'... Priceless.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the unexpected bonus that preceded the movie in the form of the Toy Story Toon: Small Fry, a short that sees the whole of the Pixar gang reunited. A Happy Meal sized Buzz stows away in the toy's new kids' backpack while regular Buzz is inducted into a Forgotten Toys Anonymous therapy group. The magic of Pixar is well and truly captured in just 7 minutes. I'm also rather looking forward to new animation Brave, which was trailed alongside 3D Beauty and the Beast.

briefly...
The best Muppet movie in years, I left the cinema with a massive grin on my face, full of enthusiasm and praise for such a lovingly-crafted film.

Dogtooth (2009)

basics...
A Greek drama about a very strange family - three unnamed young adults are kept confined to their home and grounds by their mother and father - motives unknown - when the idyllic, safe life they live together becomes threatened by internal and external forces.

brilliant...

This movie is weird. It's a good weird though. Slow moving and low key, the movie works because the actors are so believable and the slowly emerging realisation of their hermetically sealed lives is so creepily and effectively defined. The three children are schooled by their parents, who deceive them in many ways in order to protect them from the outside world. When airplanes fly overhead one of the parents will occasionally throw a toy plane into the garden so that the kids think they are really small objects, not far away. There is no TV, no books, nothing to indicate to the children that life goes on beyond their world. The only contact with the outside is their father's female employee who is brought around periodically to have sex with the male child in order to curb his sexual impulse. The older of the two sisters becomes violent and determined to see what's on the other side of the hedge, leading to some bloody scenes that were difficult to watch. Dogtooth's plot is minimal, but director Yorgos Lanthimos creates a compelling, disturbing family drama that it is difficult to shift from my head.

but...
It is a little too obtuse at times, and I don't see myself wanting to rewatch Dogtooth again soon. I quite liked the lack of explanation or motivation of some of the characters, but others would probably want more resolution. The open ending would probably frustrate some viewers too. I found it rather apt.

briefly...
Atmospheric and chilling, Dogtooth won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it worked for me.

Documentaries: The Diamond Queen, The Story of Musicals, Little Matador, The Cricklewood Greats

The Diamond Queen (2012)
Andrew Marr's 3 part series about Queen Elizabeth II, made as part of the Diamond Jubilee year, was a fascinating insight into the monarch and her life. Marr had fantastic access to a multitude of royal engagments over the past year, from state visits to Australia and Ireland, to the Royal Wedding and on to smaller occasions like the Garden Party and the Queen's Speech. Far from being the royal propoganda that Republicans have claimed, I found The Diamond Queen to be a measured approach to a woman who has a unique position in the UK, the Commonwealth and the world and who is not always understood or fully appreciated. Through his investigations Marr explored the Queen's past, her family life, her devotion to her job and came to the conclusion that she works hard, moves with the times and is still, in her eighties, eager to be a force for good where she can. I already admired the Queen and I'm looking forward to the updated version of Ben Pimlott's peerless biography, so this programme provided an excellent introduction to the Jubilee year. Long live the Queen!

The Story of Musicals (2012)
Another 3 parter, this one had a wider focus than the last. It should have been called The Story of British Musicals but that's no matter, it did a solid job covering many shows I've seen - Cats, Billy Elliott, Blood Brothers - many I haven't - Les Mis, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera - as well as plenty I'd never even heard of. Spanning several decades, the series interviewed many of the big players in the genre, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh to Elaine Paige and, erm, John Barrowman, and it felt pretty comprehensive and packed full of interesting back stories and anecdotes. Most of the interviewees seemed to have a good sense of humour and a perspective on the musical's place in the world while having massive respect for the producers and stars - and after seeing this documentary I can certainly see why. If nothing else, The Story of Musicals made me want to get out and see even more of them!

Little Matador (2011)
Another movie in the True Stories strand, Little Matador is oddly an Irish movie about child bull fighters in Mexico. It follows 3 bull-bothering hopefuls, each of whom has their own reasons for pursuing a life as a matador, from pushy parents, absent parents and a young girl's desire to be a famous female matador... if only she didn't run crying when the bulls run at her. I didn't really have an opinion on bull fighting before watching this documentary - most of the images of stereotypical matadors I have come from Looney Tunes cartoons. I quickly realised how distasteful and barbaric the 'sport' is - it's basically aggrivating and then torturing a riled up creature, before savagely thrusting a blade into it's brain. The successful matador then receives the bull's shorn off ears as a grisly trophy to display triumphantly to the baying crowds. You'd have thought that this sort of practice would have died out with the gladiators of Rome, but apparently not - there are even matador schools in Mexico, training children to do this stuff. It's horrible. I had to look away when the bulls were murdered. I'm no animal rights activist but I can see no up-side of this practice in the 21st Century, no matter how much it's part of the Mexican/Latin culture. The documentary itself left me feeling sad for the 3 delusional children, who deserve to be loved by their parents and allowed to be young, to play and to enjoy life, not taught to face down angry bulls before slaughtering them. 

The Cricklewood Greats (2012)
Ok, I'm cheating now, this wasn't an actual documentary but rather a mockumentary of those rather earnest types of show on BBC4 that celebrate a particular era/icon of film. I'm including it here as it was a fun one-off, and to take the edge off Little Matador. As co-writer, director and 'presenter', Peter Capaldi has created a very funny, almost touching piece about a fictional British film studio that would be believable were it not for the presence of Kelly 'Emma from Hustle' Adams and Tim 'Yates from The Royal Bodyguard' Downie as a number of different actors from Cricklewood's roster of stars. Gently mocked are silent comedies, Hammer-type horror schlock, monster B-movies and Carry On camp. Everything is played straight with a firm tongue in cheek - my favourite scene has Capaldi ('playing' himself) visit the site of the Cricklewood Studios with a 'historian' (Alex MacQueen) and strolling through the Wickes DIY store that has been built in its place, pointing out where the toilets used to be and sensing the aura of the old Studios. Ludicrous and oh so very based in fact - the fact of these types of documentaries.

The Boy Who Was a King (2011)

basics...
A True Stories documentary about Simeon II, King of Bulgaria for a couple of years before he was toppled and exiled in 1946 aged 9 when the Soviets invaded. 50 years later Simeon unexpectedly returned to Bulgaria and won the 2001 election to serve a term as Prime Minister. 

brilliant...
What a fascinating story! I never even heard of this unique part of royal history. The disjointed narrative style of the documentary pieces together the various parts of the tale by interviewing various Bulgarians who remembered Simeon fondly, as well as Communists and the ex-King himself. So through these personal insights we learn of how the young boy king (Tsar) came to the throne so young, and how he was exiled to Egypt with his family. Archive interviews with the young Simeon show him to have been a very level headed businessman, not filled with anger towards his country, seeing himself as a victim of a certain set of circumstances more than anything else. His return to Bulgaria decades later saw him greeted by hoardes of adoring 'fans' eager for him to come back to them, but once in power as PM, a role that was seemingly thrust upon him unbidden as per the monarchy, the dream of Simeon's return turned sour. He found that it was difficult to bring about the social change that Bulgaria so needed in the post-Soviet world and his supporters, including one man with a royal tattoo, became disillusioned. A particularly interesting moment came for Simeon at the British Queen Mother's funeral when he was sat as PM on the world leader's side of Westminster Abbey, across from the other royals - his surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha indicates his relation to our own royal family. It's curious to see how fickle the finger of history can be to monarchies when comparing the UK's with Bulgaria's.

but...
The langourous style of the documentary is infuriating at times and cries out for the more conventional tropes of the genre such as captions indicating who speakers are and narration to link the pieces together. 
 
briefly...
A compelling tale of an unconventional monarch told in a novel, albeit slightly annoying, style. 

Bandslam (2009)

basics...
Will Burton (Gaelan Connell), a somewhat geeky type with a penchant for indie music and writing letters to David Bowie, moves to a new school and ends up best friends with ex-cheerleader Charlotte (Aly Michalka) and manager of her band, who he renames I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, in preparation for a school battle of the bands.

brilliant...
I had certain expectations about Bandslam. The title and front cover of the DVD, as well as the presence of Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame led me to believe that this would be a fluffy music-filled confection to warm my cockles, and that Hudgens would at least turn up in the first 20 minutes. Happily, Bandslam turns out to be much better than expected, and a much different film. Like Todd Graff's Camp before it, Bandslam subverts the sugary teen movie cliches with wit and fresh characters. Connell is an unusual lead, he's an unknown and quite ordinary looking (he's no Zac Efron) but he has charm and a good line in sarcasm, plus has Lisa Kudrow playing his mother. He was bullied at his previous school because his dad was a drunk driver responsible for a hit and run, and later in the movie his friend Charlotte's dad dies. This depth to the characters' backstories and emotional baggage leads to a more reasoned, less fluffy movie than I'd imagined. That's not to say that Bandslam is sad or dour, rather it is grown up and is aware that there are not always happy endings, but the journey is the fun part. Hudgens downplays well as moody Sa5m (the 5 is silent), who tries to be Will's girlfriend in competition with his love of music and the band. As for the musical numbers, there are a few, but this is no musical: the performances are mainly in the last 20 minutes when the Bandslam competition actually takes place. The big showpiece is a cover of Boy George's Everything I Own, a quirky, offbeat choice in a movie full of them. It totally makes sense. About the only predictable thing in Bandslam is the choice of cameo at the movie's end.  
 
but...
Although I did really enjoy Bandslam a great deal it would have been even better with a peppier script, with some more memorable gags. And more Lisa Kudrow. But then every movie needs more Lisa Kudrow.

briefly...
Subverts expectations (and a misleading title/advertising campaign) to become a worthy companion piece to the similarly refreshing Camp. Todd Graff is a director to keep an eye on.

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2009)

basics...
A documentary from the recently created Disneynature brand, the film focuses on the lives of the unusual lesser flamingos of the Lake Natron in Tanzania.

brilliant...
Part documentary, part nature-porn, with a life-span narrative to hang it all on, Crimson Wing started out slow with lots of pretty shots of landscapes and soon became an enveloping, pleasurable experience, combining the silky tones of Mariella Frostrup's poetic narration with stunning photography and genuinely interesting creatures. These flamingos fly back to Natron every year to breed - what's weird is that Natron is incredibly salty and not much survives here, yet the flamingos build nests from the salt and bring up their chicks on it. This leads to some of the chicks' downfall as they wander about in the water, get coated in salty crud which then hardens on dry land, weighing them down like concrete ugg boots and leaving them prey to various carnivores. There's less information here than in an Attenborough documentary and the pace is more relaxed, with a quirky soundtrack that makes Crimson Wing stand out as more than just a documentary about pink birds. The images of running flamingos was rivettingly hypnotic and awe-inspiring.

but...
There's an argument to be made that the flowery script is too airy fairy at times, and that more importance is given to the lives of the flamingos than is appropriate. And sometimes the images are not just nature-porn wonderous but computer wallpaper placeholders. I find it a bit odd that this is being released by Disney as there's nothing particularly Disnified about it, it's a UK/US/French co-production with the Disney name slapped on the DVD box. Although honestly, would I have picked this up if it hadn't?

briefly...
An uplifting, beautiful story of a surprisingly fascinating creature and its equally intriguing habitat.

Coriolanus (2011)

basics...
One of Shakespeare's lesser known plays (I had never read/seen it and had no idea of the plot going in) Coriolanus was brought to life by Ralph Fiennes both in front of and behind the camera. Bringing the Bard's words to a modern-day setting, filmed in war-scorched Serbian towns, Coriolanus is a popular soldier who grudgingly becomes consul in Rome, but his reluctance to adhere to the requirements of the role lead to his ousting at the hands of the people. 

brilliant...
Seeing an unknown Shakespeare production without prior knowledge of the characters and plot can be a risky affair, especially when the original language is retained. Thankfully, Coriolanus was pretty easy to follow, helped in no small part by the use of on-screen captions, the news-reader (Jon Snow!) commentators/chorus and the present-day settings. Fiennes gives the production a visceral, muscular look and feel, the camera rarely staying still. The dialogue seems to be stripped back to the bare essentials too, with only a few scenes of speechifying, and none of the exposition/solliloquy of Hamlet or King Lear. The cast are uniformly excellent, from gruff Gerard Butler, Coriolanus' on-again-off-again enemy/ally; Brian Cox's manipulative Menenius, who's final scene is devastating; and the sheer force of nature that is Vanessa Redgrave's Volumnia, our hero's mother. She's a really strong character, of Lady Macbeth proportions, in a sea of masculine power. It could have been easy for the character of Coriolanus to be unlikable - he's surly, never gives a reason for his reluctance to serve the people and is quick to anger - yet Fiennes makes us care for him while leaving motives open to interpretation. This is a film that I found myself discussing long after we'd left the cinema. It is a very powerful piece of cinema. The more I think about it the more I like it, from the music, the camera work and the direction to the story and cast. Brilliant.

briefly...
A stunning Shakespearean drama that delivers action, drama and spectacle, I don't expect to see another thriller this year that will match the impact of Coriolanus. 

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)

basics...
A French action-comedy-drama-fantasy-sci-fi hybrid based on a comic book series, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec shares sees our titular heroine going all Tomb Raider in early twentieth century Egypt before chasing a pteradactyl around Paris in the search for a cure to revive her tragically-injured sister.

brilliant...
There's nothing that extraordinary or adventurous about this film, other than the opening 15 minutes in Egypt, which borrows liberally from Indiana Jones and director Luc Besson's own The Fifth Element. It's an exciting beginning, preceded by a typically French prologue featuring narration that wouldn't be out of place in Amelié. Where the movie comes into its own is when Adèle returns to her home town, Paris, to find her one hope for saving her sister's life, a barmy professor, is being put to death for unwittingly bringing a prehistoric monster back to life which is now terrorising the city's residents. What follows is a quirky, oddly subdued and suprisingly emotional tale of sisterly love and unfortunate coincidence, backed up by some amusing fish-out-of-water comedy moments from a revived Pharoah and his minions. Wacky, inventive and with a particularly gallic Besson sensibility, Blanc-Sec is a charming movie, with a plucky, interesting heroine at the centre of it all. 

but...
It seems churlish to complain that the film is not adventurous enough, but the title promises more than the film delivers - this is no country-hopping travelogue movie, but it certainly whets the appetite for any possible further adventures. I didn't really need to see Louise Bourgoin's boobs though, as pretty as they were. 

briefly...
Not reaching the dizzy heights of confection that made Amelié dazzle, Adèle Blanc-Sec's Diverting Adventure is still more exciting and inventive than many of its peers.

Hugo (2011) & The Artist (2011)

basics...
I have decided that were I able to travel back in space and time to any period, I'd choose to go back to twenties Hollywood to witness the spectacle of the movies - the birth of sound, of animation, Walt Disney, a time when movie stars were Stars, not celebrities, when they retained a mystique and weren't like mere mortals like you or I. And through Hugo and The Artist, two critically acclaimed movies set around the period I'm talking about, my dream came true, for a few hours at a time at least. 

Hugo is an atypical Martin Scorcese fantasy about a young boy (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a Paris train station with a broken clockwork man for company. Through his friendship with Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) he discovers silent-movie pioneer George Mélies (Sir Ben Kinglsey) working in his station.

The Artist is a French-made movie set in Hollywood, in black and white, full-screen, and silent. They really don't make them like that anymore! The stars and director of the OSS 117 spoofs reunite to create a film that doesn't parody early silent movies, rather it celebrates the ingenuity of the form and uses the same story-telling devices to construct a plot akin to Singin' in the Rain (talkies coming along to make silent stars redundant) that still manages to feel fresh and involving in a world of CGI and special effects.

brilliant...
Both movies are utterly magical - but I'd have to say that Hugo was suprisingly the one I found most enjoyable. Hugo looks beautiful, the train station set is gorgeous and Scorcese's camera-work, even in 2D, is breath-taking. Butterfield and Moretz are charming and surrounded by some fantastic English actors, including Kinglsey and Richard Griffiths, and the fantastic 'villain' played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who turns out to actually have a heart in a very real way. Once the young protagonist discovers who Mélies is, or was, the movie becomes more than an adventurous fantasy and turns into a love-letter to the filmmakers of the early 20th Century, and the whole thing becomes even more magical and exciting. 

The Artist is less about spectacle and history than it is proof that special effects do not make a movie more exciting, and that you don't need a honed speech to present emotion on screen. A lot of plaudits have been given to Jean Dujardin for his star turn as George Valentin, yet the person who made the film come alive even more than he is the stunning Bérénice Bejo as superbly named Peppy Miller. Every moment she is on screen is a sheer joy, there is so much enthusiasm and warmth emanating from her. Together, Dujardin and Bejo are a formidable double-act, and they are complemented by brilliant mime-work from James Cromwell and John Goodman. There are some ingeniuous sequences, including one of Valentin's dreams in which he can hear sound effects but not speak, and the final frenetic tap number. A clip of Safety Last! is shown at one point, with the audience reacting to the tense yet funny aspect of the final climbing scene, and the spirit of this edge-of-the-seat emotion that early movies strived for is replicated in the potentially bleak final act of The Artist. I really wasn't sure if either lead character would survive. It was nice too that the movie shied away from a traditional romance - Valentin never really reciprocates the adoration that Miller feels for her hero, and this is to the film's credit and it's ability to subvert expectation.

briefly...
Two beacons of originality and creativity in a medium awash with remakes, star-vehicles and trash, Hugo and The Artist are easily the best movies I've seen or expect to see for some time.

Shelock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2010) & Sherlock: Series 2 (2011)

basics...
The continuing adventures of celluloid Holmes and Watson, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in Victorian London, plus the return of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and John, modern day problem solvers on a TV budget.

brilliant...
Very little seems to have been written, at least in the things I read, discussing these two very different adaptations in the same breath, which is odd considering they both back in sequels released/broadcast within a few weeks of the other. The movie is a less cerebral, more visceral, action-packed affair than the trio of new episodes, yet each 'product' is recognisably Sherlock Holmes, and each is a joy to behold. Key to each is the chemistry between the duo of actors in the starring roles - Downey Jr and Law seem so comfortable sparking off each other, while Freeman is a knockout as his (platonic) love for quirky Cumberbatch's super-sleuth translates through to the audience. A Game of Shadows is more fun, more assured than its predecessor, and the inclusion of both Stephen Fry, as Holmes' brother Mycroft, and Jared Harris as nemesis Moriarty are masterstrokes. The TV show has an equally compelling villain in Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty, and the final episode, in which he sets Sherlock up for an almighty fall was nail-biting stuff. Damn Stephen Moffat's love of cliff-hangers!

but...

I reiterate my complaint from my review of Sherlock: Series 1: 3 episodes is not enough! Even if they are each feature length. While it's nice to see Noomi Rapace on screen in A Game of Shadows it would have been even better if her character had something useful to do - the dearth of female characters gives a real boys' own adventure feel to the film. Women are better served in the TV version, particularly Lara Pulver's Irene Adler - I hope we see more of her next series (although in the infamous naked scene we've already seen quite a bit).

briefly...
Worthy successors and happy bedfellows, each adaptation/version has a lot to recommend it. 

Post Christmas TV & Movie Round-up

Once I come back from the in-laws in January, and have finished my next Open Uni story I'll update on the great TV series that finished in December (The Killing II, Rev, Merlin) but for now I thought I'd update on a few one-offs I've watched in this no man's land between Christmas and New Year.

Following a viewing of the original on Christmas Eve, on Boxing Day we settled down to watch Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) over dinner. While not quite as innovative or original as the first, this film gets off to a strong start with inventive (and believable) new ways of separating Kevin from his family. This time they go to rainy Florida while he ends up in snowy New York, with his dad's credit card, and, inconventiently, recently escaped burglars the Wet Sticky Bandits. More time is spent this time around on the main set piece of Kevin attempting to murder the Wile E. Coyote-related burglars with ingeniously placed holes and buckets. There is some great comedy to be had with reliable Tim Curry as an over zealous hotel concierge and some good continuity gags from the first film, such as Harry still having Kevin's front door handle burned onto his palm. The pigeon lady's emotional arch isn't as touching as the scary neighbours in Home Alone, especially as the scenes between Kevin and his mother are where the real heart of the film lies.

A couple of programmes starring Alexander Armstong and Ben Miller caught my attention on Channel 4 the other night. First we watched The Best Bits of Armstrong & Miller (2001), which featured highlights from the duo's final Channel 4 sketch show, and not any of the first 3 series for unknown reasons. I remember laughing along to this series when it went out, though many of the sketches I'd forgotten. I remembered Nude Practise though, which sees the characters running an inexplicable naked vets... Odd. Some of the best bits are the running gags and one liners, such as the inspirational teacher who tells his class to 'fuck off' as soon as the bell goes, or the camp TV gossip columnists who open the episodes. It's all good stuff, up there with the best of their BBC work.
I suppose the purpose of this strangely scheduled clipfest was to help promote the sitcom pilot that preceded it, also starring Armstong and Miller as a pair of Edwardian fops, Felix and Murdo. It was a curious set up. Written by Simon 'Men Behaving Badly' Nye it had an oddly disjointed, undercooked feel. I suppose, as a pilot episode, it's flaws can be forgiven, especially as Armstrong and Miller's central performances were so reassuringly well delivered. If it were to run to a series I'm not sure I'd be tempted back, but we shall see.

Another comedy one-off, on BBC2, was I suppose a pilot too, for a TV version of the Radio 4 programme I've Never Seen Star Wars. Oddly though, this has already been on TV, on BBC4 and hosted by Marcus Brigstocke. The terrestrial (mainstream?) version here was hosted by Jo Brand and featured Stephen Fry as the guest, apparently because he had time among his other many projects to fit in a bit of boxing, ear piercing, building flatpack furniture and watching Only Fools & Horses. It's an interesting premise for a show, thought I think it would work better without the studio bit and if it just featured footage of the guest enjoying the new experiences. To be fair, it was the attraction of Brand and Fry that drove me to the special, which I suppose was the point, and I doubt I'd bother with it again unless the guest was someone of interest.

There's a second episode of It'll be Alright on the Night airing before the year ends, but I'll write about the first to cover both. This is one of the few shows I'll make a point of watching on ITV, even more so now that isn't-he-dead-yet Dennis (S)Norden doesn't host it. Griff Rhys Jones is a much more agreeable guide to the pratfalls, fluffs and plain weirdness that makes up the long running blooper-fest. I'd seen several of these clips before, but that didn't make them any less funny. From the Blue Peter presenter dropping the Trafalgar Square Christmas star to Martin Clune's inability to write a prescription, there's something so funny about the material found on this show. I love it, and am not ashamed to admit it!

Christmas TV & Movie Round-up

We began the Christmas break on the 24th by not leaving the flat and enjoying the time together. This trend continued through the big day itself - we plan to go out today and visit the sales for a bit - and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Our Yuletide viewing began on Christmas Eve by popping in the DVD of Home Alone (1990), a festive classic that I've not seen for years. What struck me on this watching was how little of the film is actually made up of Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) fending off the hapless burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci). Even though I must have seen the movie lots in my youth there was plenty to enjoy, and it had us laughing out loud at the hilarious set ups and prat-falls. A great way to ease into the festive mood.

The only TV Christmas special we watched that same night was Outnumbered, which saw the unlucky Brockman family trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to go away on holiday. It was a nice little piece, with superb performances from Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, who would pop up again on Christmas Day. We happened to catch and laugh uproariously at a Best of Les Dawson 25 minute special too, just before bed.

As usual, I was up first on the 25th, excited to open my presents. While Andrew had his breakfast we watched the Disney animated TV special Prep & Landing (2009) and the two shorts on the DVD. The 22 minute piece sees elves Wayne and Lanny teaming up to prepare a house for Santa's visit, almost causing a disaster and then saving the day. It's a good natured film, with the highlights being the modern takes on the old-fashioned Santa scenario. So technology is imployed to scan for 'creatures stirring', to test the temperature of Santa's milk, and to knock out waking animals and children - this ingenuity is what the Tim Allen movie The Santa Clause only began to address. I enjoyed the piece, and the Operation: Secret Santa (2010) short as well, especially as the latter featured Betty White as Mrs Claus.

As with most recent years, the TV didn't stray away from BBC1 all evening. Following a successful and tasty lunch of chicken, potatoes, veg and all the trimmings, we podged out on the sofa with the festive edition of Top of the Pops, sadly still fronted by personality vacuums Reggie Yates and Fern 'Amazing' Cotton. Again, as usual most of the best songs of the year (for me) were either skipped through in the round up sections or completely missed out - where's Melanie C, goddammit!? There was a memorably weird performance from Will Young and his dancers, the women holding their pony tails aloft, and a nice albeit brief set of clips featuring the late Sir Jimmy Savile, and some atrocities from Olly 'punch me' Murs, some new group called Little Mix and the massively over-rated Jessie J. All in all a pretty piss poor effort.

Much better was her majesty The Queen in her usual 3pm slot, talking about the importance of family and doing her mother of the nation bit. Thank goodness Prince Phillip didn't take a turn for the worse.

Full of food and not really having the need or want to move from the sofa, we settled down with the rest of our fizzy rosé to watch Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), a movie we first saw on its release in 3D at IMAX. Even without the bells and whistles and size of a barn door extras, this is still one of the best non-Pixar CGI movies, full of loving sci fi references, subversions of cliches and utter randomness - an example of the latter being the President's decision to play a little of the Axel Foley theme, and later, the alien spaceships' password/dance machine playing Aqua's 'Roses Are Red'. The voice cast are excellent and the action is non stop, as are the laughs. A perfect way to unwind on Christmas afternoon.

Later on that evening we saw the sequel to 2009's animated TV special, The Gruffalo's Child, in which the titular protagonist goes on a hunt into the dark woods to find the mythic, scary creature of the Mouse, only to encounter Snake, Owl and Fox. It was pretty much the same storyline as The Gruffalo, except with the roles of Mouse and Gruffalo switched. I didn't feel that this special was quite as magical as the original, but it was sweet enough.

Another sweet Christmas special came in the form of Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, which wasn't as beautifully realised and pretty as A Christmas Carol, yet still had so much heart and warmth, mainly as a result of Claire Skinner's peformance as a strong minded mother dealing with the loss of her husband in wartime and the disappearance of her children along with the Doctor in a snowy winter wonderland where the trees are alive. She also comes across an odd group of people intent on culling the forest, and the extended cameos from Arabella Weir, Bill Bailey and some other bloke are dotty and wonderful. I'd quite happily see Skinner joining the Doctor on his travels once he leaves Amy (and sadly Rory) behind - he needs a strong willed older woman to counter his youthful (looking) exuberance.

I didn't write a full post on Strictly Come Dancing this year, mainly as I only dipped into it here and there, and only watched a couple, including the final, from beginning to end. I do wish I'd watched more though, as I particularly became entranced by Harry Judd's performance. And it seems the judges and rest of the public were too as he won over the dumb blonde Chelsee whatnot from something or other. Judd impresses with his well-toned body, polite demeanour and stunning dancing ability. I did watch the whole of Strictly Come Dancing Christmas which saw the return of all of the 2011 contestants in a disappointing finale, following one-off performances from Charlie Brooks, Simon Webbe, Debra Stephenson, Barry McGuigan and the deliriously potty Su Pollard. It was a camp spectacle that out-gayed even the series proper.

Final treat of the evening was the first return of Absolutely Fabulous (following an hour's break from the TV as Eastenders came on to depress the shit out of an undiscerning audience). The first two series of Ab Fab will never be beaten, and indeed I'd lost faith with the show so much I didn't even see Series 5, but I was hopeful for a return to form for this revival. I was pleased with the result. It may not be a classic, and the plot involving Saffy's ex-prison companion / Patsy's drug dealer was uninvolving stuff, yet the performances from all the J's (Jennifer, Joanna, June, Jane and Julia) were as if the show had never been away and the jokes on modern celebrity were well aimed. The highlight was of course the unnecessary yet somehow essential dream-cameo from Sofie Gråbøl as The Killing's Sarah Lund. Wearing her trademark jersey and hunting around Edina's bedroom for evidence, she made me ache for more (my thoughts on The Killing II will follow at a later date). The main annoyance with this and the next two Ab Fab specials is that now my 'complete' DVD boxset is no such thing! 

All in all a rather wonderful day's viewing complemented a peaceful, loving Christmas day with the man I love.

The Name of the Rose (1986)

basics...
A curious movie, set in the 1300's, in which monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his novice Adso (Christian Slater) find themselves in an abbey where a series of murders seems to be linked to a mysterious book. 

brilliant...
I've not seen a film quite like The Name of the Rose. It has a serious crime story coupled with comedy from Sir Sean, alongside a host of grotesque supporting turns from the likes of Ron Perlman's hunchback, with a bit of sex and gore thrown in. Oh and there's a great sequence within the labyrinthe passages and MC Escher-like stairways within the abbey. Somehow these disperate elements combine to form an intriguing whole. The mystery works for the most part, although the revelation of how the murders have been committed and why isn't particularly exciting. The film looks pretty stunning, with the German and Italian countryside doing a good job alongside the massive sets to make Rose look gritty, cold and fairly grim. 17 year old Slater looks mighty fine, despite the pudding bowl haircut, in a completely unnecessary seducation scene too. 

but...
Connery keeps his Scottish burr, Slater is American, and the other monks spout a variety of European accents. This is a bit jarring, particularly as Shir Shean plays everything with an effortless grin which makes his investigations look all too easy. There were some rather unpleasant effects involving blood and guts too. 

briefly...
An oddly likable movie with some neat ideas and authentic-seeming settings, even if the accents are a bit wide ranging.

The Flaw (2011)

basics...
A True Stories documentary about the financial crisis of the past few years, how it happened and how it could have been prevented had anyone cared to stop and think.

brilliant...

The Flaw would sit well alongside Starsuckers and Countdown to Zero as an example of an entertaining documentary that shines a light on a less palatable part of the modern world. Where the other films took on the media and the threat of nuclear disaster, the flaw looks at the state of the global economy before and after the financial crisis. Pieced together from interviews with leading economic figures, cartoons of the 50's that celebrated consumer society and graphics that attempt to explain the numbers behind the sub-prime mortgages, stock futures and other impenetrable financial double-speak, The Flaw is as enlightening as it is baffling. It takes a large view of the crisis and then picks out smaller, personal viewpoints from people who are mortgaged to the hilt and a young man who used to work on Wall Street and now gives tours there. I can't say I understood everything that was discussed, but it was all a very convincing indictment of all of us who believed that wages could keep going up alongside house prices and falling consumer prices. The confusion was more a result of my own understanding and resistance to numbers than a fault of the film.

briefly...
Making finance fun, or at least a bit more accessible than previously, The Flaw filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge and entertained me while doing so.

Enid (2009)

basics...
A biopic of prolific children's author Enid Blyton, starring Helena Bonham Carter.

brilliant...
Enid is a good solid drama that casts some darkness on the popular author, showing her as driven, cold with her own children and desperate to be liked by other people's. Blyton's childhood is shown briefly to illustrate how her father walked out on her mother and brothers, informing Enid's flights of imagination as a way of protecting herself and denying the reality of her abandonment. This translated into her rose-tinted stories of the clichéd lashings of ginger beer, as well as her frosty marriage to her initial publisher, played by Matthew Macfadyen. She proves capable of finding love with married Denis Lawson but is unable to show her children any affection. It is a credit to Bonham Carter that she makes Enid so likable in spite of the many flaws the script reveals in her character, conspiring to make the writer worthy of our sympathy.

but...
A touch more balance would have been good, as I have read since that one of Blyton's daughters refutes the fact that she was a good mother as much as the other supports this view. 

briefly...
Solid work with a typically enjoyable and off-beat turn from Helena Bonham Carter.

Sound of Noise (2010, Leeds Town Hall)

basics...
The third and final film we saw at the International Film Festival, Sound of Noise is, like the film the previous night, difficult to describe without sounding insane. It's a Swedish crime drama, about a gang of anarchists who terrorise a city by... playing unusual pieces of music on a hospital patient, in a bank, using heavy plant machinery and on electricity powerlines. Oh and everything the group play on is rendered mute... for music-hating detective Amadeus Warnebring (Bengt Nilsson). See how hard this is to describe??

brilliant, but...

It would be a little unfair to compare Sound of Noise with Detroit Metal City as they are very different prospects, united only by an unusual approach to music and comedy and my having seen them on consecutive nights. However, Sound of Noise suffers in comparison as although it has a lot of inventive content, it takes itself far more seriously than DMC. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy Sound of Noise - I think part of my resistance is that it was a busy work week, with 3 subtitled movies one night after another... I could have done with something a bit lighter to finish the trilogy. The cast underplay the roles, keeping everything low key, not even questioning the preposterousness of the film's premise, which really helps the audience buy into the odd reality in which Warnebring and co exist. The musical compositions themselves are the movie's highlights, ingenious sequences of novel music-making that actually work as melodies. There are not enough moments of musical exhilaration though, and the characters can be frustratingly laid back.

briefly...
A weird Swedish hybrid of comedy, crime drama, musical and romance that would work better with a greater degree of knowingness.

Detroit Metal City / Detoroito Metaru Shiti (2008, Leeds Town Hall)

basics...
Our second trip in 3 consecutive days at the Town Hall's Film Festival saw us settling in for a Japanese comedy-musical about Soichi (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), a young man who dreams of singing trendy pop songs but somehow ends up lead singer for a death metal band who sing about rape, killing and gore.

brilliant...
I had no idea what to expect from this - the blurb in the Festival programme made us want to see it but didn't explain a lot - and I'm still not quite sure what it was! Whatever Detriot Metal City is it's utterly hilarious - Matsuyama is alternately adorable, gormless and, when made up as DMC lead singer Johannes Krauser II, terrifying. The plot is wacky, unpredictable and oddly touching, while the rest of the characters are either bat-shit bonkers (DMC's sadistic manager, who likes to put cigarettes out on people and likes it when the band's music get her 'wet'), a celebrity cameo (Gene Simmons of Kiss plays DMC's biggest rival for death metal icon status), or sweetly adorable (Soichi's mother, who seems oblivious to everything but knows much more than she lets on). Full of day glo pastels in Soichi's perfect world, muted soft focus in his childhood home, and black dystopian goths in the metal clubs, Detroit Metal City is a visual treat. 

but...
It could have been shorter, losing some of the running around and overlong battle in the finale. 

briefly...
An odd delight, Detroit Metal City is daft and it knows it, which just adds to the enjoyment. I've not seen anything this camp and scary since Lordi won Eurovision.