27 posts tagged “cinema”

Which do you prefer? City life or country living?

Without a doubt city life. I grew up in the country and London terrified me to the extent that I vowed I would never live here. After graduating it became immediately obvious that if I was going to get a job in the media I needed to be in London.

So I arranged a couple of interviews at temping agencies, found somewhere to stay for a couple of weeks, packed a few things in a bag and jumped on a train. Didn't know a soul but on my second day I was at the National Gallery when I bumped into someone I knew at University.

That's London for you. I've been here for 17 years now and I can't imagine living and working anywhere else.

Lets face it no where else would satisfy my cinema and theatre addiction and give me such a wide variety of cuisines to dine on beforehand!

My Flickr pages are full of other reasons I love London

Walking to work one summer's morning

Saw this film this afternoon. It was made on a shoestring budget of just £48,000 and shot in five days. It's a mockumentary-style feature about five days in the life of Le Donk, a washed up roadie who has 'discovered' a young rapper Scor-Zay-Zee.
The only other thing you need to know is that the Arctic Monkeys are in it. Briefly.
It's 71 mins long, entertaining and laugh out loud funny. Oh and I love Paddy Considine. No I do, really I do.

Have seen a lot of very good foreign films recently (Sin Nombre, Broken Embraces, Mesrine....) but there has been a bit of a gap opening up for a good English language film that is just, well, entertaining.
The trailer for (500) Days of Summer looked promising and I heard it described as an anti- rom-com which suited me being quite a picky fan of that genre.
It isn't a love story we are told, well it is, but not in the conventional sense. Boy - Tom, meets girl - Summer, falls in love but right from the start you know that is doesn't work out. Tom is a romantic, Summer isn't. The story flips backwards and forwards between the start of the relationship and the end with quirky little treatments and touches.
Not only did it live up to expectation but can I just say that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Dechanel have joined the 'Stan List'. In fact Gordon-Levitt makes me think of an American James McAvoy. What d'ya think?

Anyway, it is funny, amusing, quirky and although slightly predictable it just manages to keep on the right side of the sentimental-cringe line. I mean any film where the couple bond over a mutual love of a Smiths song has got to be good in my eyes.
I'll be adding it to my Sunday evening comfort movie DVD collection as soon as it is available.
Here's what some others thought of it:
Daily Telegraph: ...it’s surprisingly palatable, even sweet, if you can deal with the movie’s nervous habit of leap-frogging from one formal gimmick to the next.
Time Out: ...if it just misses being this generation’s ‘Annie Hall’, it’s still deliciously refreshing, sweet and fizzy. A sherbet dip of a movie.
Rolling Stone: ...the sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad (500) Days of Summer hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen.

Nicked this from Minim although I have edited it a bit as I get the impression it was originally devised as a bit of sly market research for computer manufacturers. Haven't done one for ages but I really like reading them...

Alcohol: Wine and at the moment I'm going through a rosé phase
Believe in God?: No I don't believe in God or Gods
Chocolate: Montezuma's because they do vegan truffles
D&D character: Adam. He's the only person I know who plays
Eggs: Soft boiled, gotta love a runny yolk
Food: Yep but have a particular penchant for south east Asian and Japanese
Gemstone: Er...only have semi precious that I've made into necklaces and the choice of stone depends on the colour scheme
Hairdresser: Shingo at the Witches Hut. Genius who never lets me down
Icecream: Dairy upsets my stomach sadly and if I was going to risk it I'd have cheesecake
Jeans: Gap, boot cut, short fitting, stretch
Karaoke choice: Private performances only, my voice is best not shared
Left or right handed: right
Music: Oh gawd this is tricky because it totally depends on my mood and what I'm doing. My favourite band is Muse and I do lean towards guitar-based music but I listen to all sorts from Classic FM at work to Edith Piaf on a sunny Sunday morning
Nationality: British
Occupation: Journalist
Perfume: Jo Malone French Lime Blossom
Quest: To win the lottery, buy a flat in Covent Garden, get a personal yoga instructor and become a patron of the arts. Failing that just to enjoy life as much as possible, it's the only one I've got.
Rant: At the moment, still railing at the NHS for its treatment of my Mum
Seafood: Nommy, nommy, nommy (except whelk and sea snails).
Twitter: Yep for work (increasingly useful) and pleasure (fun and informative)
Uncontrollable urge to: Buy more theatre tickets
Vice: Only because of the amount I spend on it: Theatre and cinema
What I wear to work: Casual/smart-casual/smart depending on mood and/or meetings
X-men character: Can I go for Wolverine because I fancy Hugh Jackman?
Yesterday I: Cleaned the windows, hoovered, met a friend for tea and cake at Patisserie Valerie in Soho, bought friends membership at the Royal Academy and went to the breathtakingly beautiful John Waterhouse exhibition there, went to see Broken Embraces at the Clapham Picture House. (I had the day off work, my Friday's aren't normally so indulgent)
Zodiac sign: I'm full of bull

Must admit that I've been agonising over what to say about Tarantino's latest effort. I had my reservations as anyone who visited my blog yesterday will know but sat down with my mind firmly set on 'pop corn movie' and hoping at least to be entertained.
It's not that it was one of what I like to call 'three star-er's' ie a film that is OK, not brilliant but not terrible. Three star-er's don't make me agonise over what to say about them. I suppose the key problem is that it is both brilliant and terrible.
Brilliant because, as Mark Kermode says in his review for Radio 5, which I've linked to below, Tarantino has an incredible skill with set pieces of dialogue. There are some great performances as a result.
But terrible because it is way too long and indulgent and if Tarantino had been sat next to me I would have slapped him and told him to get over himself.
There weren't many people in the cinema as it was a weekday matinee but one person walked out three quarters of the way through and at the end someone actually applauded which I think says it all.
And, I know Waterbaby disagreed with a comment that Ginger Sister made on my last post about the gratuitous violence well I think that a lot of the violence is gratuitous, in this film. I had to look at the seat next to me on a number of occasions.

Here are some other reviews but I'd just like to point out that I've singled out Mark Kermode because on this film his views are on the money and I don't very often feel that way about a review.

Mark Kermode - Pretty much summed up above really
Guardian - Quentin Tarantino is having what Martin Amis readers might call a "Yellow Dog" moment - something which happens when, following a worrying, mid-to-late period of creative uncertainty, a once dazzlingly exciting artist suddenly and catastrophically belly-flops, to the dismay of his admirers
And the movie blog (video embedded below) Summed up starts out great but not enough action and too long

I hate it when films are described as the 'new' something because it invariably means they are a poor imitation and, well, lack the originality of the first for which they were so charming or memorable.
But the trailer for Sin Nombre, described as the 'new City of God' on some posters, looked really promising and without reading anything else I decided to give it a go.
And I am so glad I did. It is certainly a contender for one of the films in my top five this year (and I see a lot of films).
Sin Nombre is set primarily in Mexico and tells the story of Willy, a gang member on the run, who meets Sayra who is travelling from Honduras with her family to attempt to cross the border with the US and start a new life.
It is at times brutal and touching. Edgar Flores plays Willy and from what I glean on the internet is a relative new-comer to the world of acting but nonetheless puts in a startlingly emotional performance. He has such an expressive face that it gives him an incredible screen presence.
There is also a beauty to the gritty realism which isn't really suprising as this is the diretorial debut of Cary Fukunaga who was a cinematographer. He also wrote the film.
It has a couple of hand over mouth incidents but not where you would expect. City of God shocked, this does too but in a different way.
It is really good, go and see it.
I can't find an embedable version of the trailer without the annoying American voice over* but if you click here it's on the Empire website.

What the professionals say:
The Times "To say that this brutal, brilliant film about Central American migrants travelling through Mexico doesn’t pull its punches is an understatement."
NY Times "The caressing, honeyed light in “Sin Nombre” beautifies and softens every ugly moment in this equivocating (inspirational yet hard-boiled) story about geographic and moral border crossings."
Empire "Captivatingly naturalistic performances and cinematography almost makes up for the lack of a larger political framework."

* It just completely ruins it with that stereotypical trailer voice-over that booms something akin to: "He was on the run... she was looking for a new life". I think the simpler European trailer is far more evocative.

What prevents your city/town from being the best place in the country to live?
Submitted by Cherney.

It is the best place to live - in the world. It's London for goodness sake. I mean just on my way to work everyday I get to see this unique and stunning piece of architecture

Houses of Parliament

And this

City skyline

It has the best theatre, cinema's, restaurants, pubs, architecture, comedy, music, museums great open spaces and a public transport system that kinda works. What more could you ask for?
But then I am biased because I can't imagine living anywhere else.

There is a great Dali film but this ain't it. I have a small fascination for the Spanish surrealist painter having seen some of his work in galleries and visited Cadaques, Figueres and the home of Gala, his wife, in Catalunya but it wasn't that that made me want to see this film. It was the potential for it to be car crash cinema with Robert Pattinson taking the pre-Twilight lead as Dali.
It follows the painter's early years at art school and his relationship with the poet Frederic Garcia Lorca. It is a relationship Dali denied for years, we are told at the end the film, and if he'd seen this film he's probably wished he'd never opened his mouth.
Pattinson looks uncomfortable with an accent that travels as much as character does during the film. The only thing I can commend him on is the brave choice of role (I wonder if he'll ever attempt anything similar now he's a superstar) but can only assume the casting director had a massive crush on him during his audition. You can almost feel the directors frustration at trying to eek out a half credible performance.
It is a shame because it is an interesting story but the film never really gets under the skin of the relationship despite the best efforts of the rest of the cast. Whoever plays Dali in the future needs to have far more depth and scope in their acting ability.
However, I must just add that there was some great cinematography and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as last years worst film, Incendiary. There was an attempt to do something a little different that just didn't quite come off. Oh and it silenced the many giggling Twilight fans drawn by a chance to see 'Edward' while waiting for New Moon in the Autumn.
Here are some other reviews and a trailer clip:
Telegraph
Variety
Guardian

This has been on my 'one to watch' radar since I saw the trailers which hinted at a gritty, real-life thriller. Fifty Dead Men Walking is inspired by the autobiographical book by Martin McGartland, a petty criminal growing up in conflict-torn 1980's Belfast who is persuaded to spy on the IRA by the British police.

Jim Sturgess plays Martin and is definitely a talent to watch out for while Ben Kingsley plays his handler. The fate of informants if discovered is a brutal death and something Martin is forced to witness in order to gain trust. The further into the IRA's organisation he gets the bigger the stakes and the tenser the film gets.
There is certainly plenty of grit and the realism is never far away. Indeed in one interview Jim Sturgess revealed that kids had thrown stones and yelled abuse at him while filming in Belfast.
All in all, the promise in the trailer lived up to expectation and more. I could barely tear my eyes away from the screen.

Wouldn't have chosen this but Mosh really wanted to see it and it's had glowing reviews from some film reviewers whose opinions I respect so decided to the treat him (well it is his birthday tomorrow).
I think my favourite scene sums it up. The heavy metal band whose five minutes of fame was twenty years ago are on 'tour' in Europe. They turn up to play a gig in a bar where there are about a dozen people, one of whom is sat in an arm chair near the 'stage' moshing away.
It's a very entertaining film and quite touching in places. Definitely recommend it even if you don't like the music.