Somers Town (no escape from the footy)

Somers Town
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

I was looking for something to watch on I-player as I needed a rest from the football. In the film section they had two Shane Meadows films "a home for Romeo brass" and his recent short "somers town". I'd missed the latter when it came out and this brief coincidental footy reminder aside it's a little gem. Starring the amazing Thomas Turgoose it's a simple tale of two odd ball foreign teenagers (polish & midlander!) wandering around London's Kings Cross.

It's only an hour long so too much explanation could be pointless but it's nicely shot, the acting is good especially Turgoose and as usual Meadows shames film makers with 100 times his budgets. So give it a go.

The Third Man still quite good shock!!!

How much did Orson Welles pay the cinematographer on theThird Man?

Went with S and W to Crystal Palace to the increasingly excellent Crystal Palace Pictures Film Club to see TTM and even though I've seen it before was blown away again. It's audacious, famously Orson doesn't turn up for a hour and Joseph Cotton and Alida Valli have to hold the film. The fact that Vienna looks great in all it's crumbling shiny cobbled wonderfulness helps. But it's the fact that every shot Orson Welles is in looks fantastic that makes the film so great the last 20 minutes are startling. Oh and last scene is great too.

The only stumble in the whole film is the scene when Cotton and the British Officers enter the sewers and they are surrounded by rushing water and well you know what and there are rats running in the distance and Cotton turns and asks "What is this place?" sorry I had to laugh. That quibblette aside it's a joy from end to end.

Fillim Review

Biggish Screen Entertainent
To Gypsy Hill with R,W,S,T to excellent new idea the Crystal Palace Pictures. It’s a film club based in Gypsy Hill tavern and they are showing good films every two weeks for the next year. Last night was “In Bruges” and I may be the last person to say this but it’s brilliant. A wonderful small film with great acting even from Ralph (rhymes with malf honest) Fiennes, The only down side I was gagging for some Belgium beer afterwards ( had to “settle” for pint of Pride hardly a chore).

I think the whole thing is an excellent idea, we had a short film first an animation by John Shepherd (?) which was good and then he talked about the film which was fun. In a world of surround sound 5:1 flat screens and microwave popcorn it’s good to have somewhere where those of us who like seeing films with other people can go locally. It’s the Third Man next time so bring you world weary cynicism, some wellies and a zither!

Dawn of Space Age

Dawn of Space Age
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Big Screen Weekend:

Went to the flicks twice this weekend had some catching up to do.

First was MOON by Duncan Jones which is really good a simple cheaply but well made scfi thriller set on the moon. Excellent simple twisty story.

There's been some talk of cheap effects but I loved the Space 1999 style lunar models, that's what the moon looks like!
Sam Rockwell is excellent as the only actor! If you've not already I think you should catch it.

Next up and down to earth with a bump is The Hurt Locker by Katherine Bigelow who's always great at action . This one is set in Iraq and about UXB squad and is tense as F*CK. Excellent small cast and well done full on action. Not as comic book as some of her other films.Again if you like action I should check it out.

Weird addendum: Came out the flicks slightly wired from the tense scenes to find it all go on in the Middle of Greenwich, a guy rolling around on the floor claret every where. Fortunately I think it was old wound on his calf that had opened up and his mates where helping him but it was a bit intense.
Had to have long walk down my the river in moon light to blow away the Adrenalin!

OOH! Gauge railways.....

Best trains set ever



the Strangely campest and also deeply freudian train set ever
(warning contains the music of Sarah Brightman)

See this film now!

...It might just change your life!

I waited over night to see if I still felt/think the same way and I do.

This may be old news (it came out in 1959) but if you haven't seen Les quatre cents coups (400 blows) by François Truffaut you should make sure it's the next film you see.

We saw it last night at the BFI and I was frankly smitten by the end of titles. I would suggest also you see it at a cinema, don't worry it won't be full of texters and crisp munchers (unless they think it's Jacky Chan film) and it looks wonderful, so deserves a big screen showing.
It's the tale of the downward path unwillingly taken by a bright charismatic young Parisian 13 year old. It's difficult to say what's best about the film:

Jean-Pierre Léaud's incredible performance in the lead role

The stunning detail of the lost world of 1950's Paris (every car a 2CV, the shabby stair wells, funfairs etc)

The perfect music

The striking involving photography

The simple detailing of how various adults and systems (including his hapless parents) through ineptitude, distain, thoughtlessness and malice drag down and try to break the spirit of a sparky young lad.

It's very similar to Kes (I'm sure Ken loach has admitted the influence) so what's not to like.Lastly it's not overly worthy (or long!) and has a famously powerful if ambiguous ending.
Special big thanks to G for sorting out the tickets and for listening to me prattle on as usual but you really should see the Beastmaster!

King Arthur & the Ikea Knightly round table

They tortured me....... with machines.....

I don’t believe in pleasure being guilty but there’s a hint of something not entirely worthy about liking sword and sorcery films. So I did try not to enjoy “King Arthur” on BBC1 just now. It got panned when it came out and now I regret not seeing it as it’s a huge trifle of a film, full of all the nonsense you want from the genre.

Let’s tick off the essentials for great Sword Sorcery film.
Spurious historical setting Tick
Rampant anachronisms Tick
Random mummerset accents Tick
Sketchy understanding of British geographyTick
Hot feisty fighting babes in artful leather gear and not entirely suitable for chilly Albion filmy gauze of the shoulder dresses (with strangely hot posh accents) Tick
Rubbish fake snow Tick
English character actors busily chewing the scenery Tick
Appeals to truth, beauty and nebulous freedom Tick
Ray Winston back to his “we use to be fast “Robin of Sherwood best “Do we have problem” indeed Tick
It even had a cool fantasy novel mapTick

Top stuff to look out for:

Stellan Skarsgård as mad eyed Saxon Fascist full of suitably glum Scandinavian gloomy depression and random violence.
A cool pet hawk nicked from 80’s classic the Beastmaster
Oh and some fighting on a frozen lake nicked from Serge Eisenstein

Tonight’s Lottery Ticket

Film Review: Saturday night at the Movies

To London's busy London to celebrate with E&R&R&S..... Happy birthday E

We went to the Curzon and had a marvellous time seeing the excellent "Slumdog millionaire".

I've always liked Danny Boyle's work but I think this is his most complete cohesive film for ages. It's a modern thrilling fable set in Indian charting the childhood of 3 slum kids and is set around a miraculous gameshow appearance by the main character. I won't do the plot here as you'll have heard about it elsewhere. Just give some thoughts.

Firstly Ignore all the "feel good film of year nonsense", that is if you are expecting "My best friend's wedding" or "calendar girls" it's feel good only in the way that really good art makes you feel more alive excites you, entertains and engages. It's not feel good in the general meaning i.e. rolling skating with Dalmatians tampon ad "feel good" patronising nonsense let's kick ABBA to death way.
What to say:

• Slumdog looks great with excellent Kinetic camera work.
  
• It sounds good particular the scene on the train where they start playing the M.I.A track see below (if it seems a little 2007 I think they had problems releasing the film which is madness because it so good).
  
• The kids' acting especially the little kids is really good.
  
• Boyle credits poor people with a rich life which although hard isn't dull or meaningless but without being tedious, worthy and wholemeal about it, it's not a lecture on extreme poverty but doesn't trivialise hardship either. One thing to mention is that it does have violence in it from the start, nothing extreme but you don't get through life in ghetto without the odd black eye, bust lip or being turned over by the cops.
  
• My only complaint was that the Curzon's aircon was faulty, there must have dust or something blowing out because I got something in my eye towards eye just for a moment not for long what with my steely manly eyes mind you....
  


• So in short Slumdog Millionaire is definitely worth a trip to flicks, (it won't look as good on the small screen, India is after all a big country.)

Here's Danny Boyle playing doing magic with light!!

Here's the Clash sorry MIA paper planes

Putney swope

The wonders of you tube I have no idea what this from/about you need to wait till the girls stop jumping for the weirdness to really to start it's some kind of musical about the horrors of ad agencies.

In a Lancaster far far away

this may only appeal to fans of Star wars and War films!

Blue Sky thinking

It was lovely day yesterday so I made a film. Part of my one a week plan.

You can see it here over at Post Industrial Light & Magic. Even If you are not a fan of parks and Hawksmoore chruches you'll like the Epic 45 tune that goes with it.

If you've not heard Epic 45 give yourself a treat and go here they are ace, send 'em a cheque and they'll send you a disc. So enjoy both.!

Juno a good film, I do it's Juno....

Juno (2007) Jason Reitman.

Off to London's fashionable London with E&R to see new "indie smash" Juno at Curzon Shaftsbury avenue.

Putting aside the pale and interesting types in the bar with their hair and knowing clothes, who seem to come for the coffee rather than the celluloid (the Curzon does have a fair number of older culutre fans, the legion who keep the theatres full) and of course bitter misanthrops like me, I quite like the curzon. I've never known why the theatres are so far underground, but they show good films and that's the point really.

May contain spoilers: if you don't want to know anything about the film stop here.

So Juno, I was interested to see this because it's been raved about . I was wary at first because I'd read that the kids in film spoke in a procious way and they do but it's not annoying. I think we are all too obsessed with "realism" in film and a realist film about teen pregnancy would be a silent film punctuated by five minutes of shouting and a load of texts messages. So the lead character's (played really well by Ellen Page) easy and snappy eloquence is engaging and brings you into the film.

The films set in a small (northern)American over the period 9 months well (7ish) and seems to be based in retro nowish , the kids don't have mobiles, listen to cd's, they look stuff in free newspapers. The film (and this was one of my only quibbles) had a slightly overdone 70's air which it didn't need, it had a look of the kids of Degrassi St. Some of the sets seemed to have been croqueted (sic). It was similary in tone to Ghost world (2001 Terry Zwigoff) if not as bleak.

This aside the film is well paced, is funny (I laughed a number of times) and touching without being mawkish. Ellen Page is a compeling lead and plays the balance to between adult/child in most 16 year olds really well. Fortunately the High School scenes are more Gregory's girl than the usual teen film fare, do you think there will be another good British school film sometime soon?

So a really good film with excellent supporting acting by Allison Janney and JK Simmons as Juno's parent, Michael Cera as her boyfriend and even a painfully gaunt looking Jennifer Garner is good as a desperate adoptive mother.

My only other caveat would be that the indie rock sound track it a little heavy handed, sadly a lot of this music (much as I love it) is being spoilt by use in phone ads etc and I just thought the film didn't need to be so achingly cool, it has enough going for it already. But being gauchely over the top is a teenage phase so may be it's suitable after all, also it seems to be selling by the shed load, so what do I know!

In conclusion Juno a good, funny, touching film well acted and written, well worth your £10.

I wanted to post a tune to go with Juno, the soundtrack is full songs by and like Belle Sebastian so why not check out current faves Los Campesinos particularly "it started with a Mixx" which is apt for the film as there are scenes about making compilation cd's in Juno.

Oh and here's the Degrassi st theme.

Love will tear us apart...

Control: Review:

Went to see the Anton Corbijn new film about Joy Division Control last night. It’s really good, far better than I thought it might be. Even though I know a great deal about JD/New Order et al I was fully engaged delighted and moved. One of the excellent tricks it pulls off is, is not falling into the trap that Ian Curtis’ death was inevitable. The sad things the film shows well, is that he did have choices and a future, if he could have got over what in most lives would be a medium sized blip his life would have fine. After all “rock star has more than one wife” is hardly news. It does come back to the whole “no adults” being around in rock it’s a bit glib and I’m not belittling depression or epilepsy but he really just needed a little support and perhaps a break from touring.

The other aspect of the film which is great is the recreation of late 70’s Britain, people have said it looks like another country but it looks familiar to me! Corbijn shows again the fact that 1960’s took a long time rolling out across Britain. Ian Curtis grew up in world were people still got married young mainly so they could have sex, where news from the “underground” came through hard to find books by William Burroughs or via Iggy and Bowie’s records and where having a girlfriend from Belgium is the height of exoticisms.

Obviously the film would have failed if the concert performances where poor but they are really well done, Sam Riley (as Curtis) inhabits his character amazingly well and from the many times I’ve seen New Order the actors playing Barney, Steven and Hooky look the part. One interesting thing is that Riley occasionally looks very like Steve Morris, (he was up his role in 24 Hour Party people!) This could be coincidence or maybe Steven Morris picked up some of Ian Curtis mannerisms?

So, a wonderful film, go and see it.

Extra points:
Don’t go to see any film especially Control at the Trocadero. Because:
A: they keep their prints in a bath full of sand, dust and horse hair.
B: they employ a one eyed projectionist with the DT’s
C: when you have a moving cinematic experience coming out into a garish hell hole full of video games and trinkets stalls fresh from a souk is a bit full on.

New Order will never escape the accusation of being rightwing if they go around picking Hitler’s secretary to play Ian Curtis’ girlfriend.

It’s evidently clear we now all live in Chicken Town.
John Cooper Clarke’s strident poem/rant appears in Control but also popped up strikingly and a little jarringly at the end of the Sopranos the other week.

Lessons from History

Finally got round to watching Downfall (Der Untergang) Oliver Hirschbiegel 2004
Last night. It's really good as most people already know.

Only a couple of things to add:

The idea that this is all ancient history is belied by how long many of the senior Nazis lived, many of them are still around or died only in the last decade. The contrast with their millions of victims' short and terrible lives is stark. From the late 50's onwards these senior Nazi lived seemingly comfortable middle class lives in (from the background of their interviews ) chintzy cosy homes, did they get army pensions? The excellent health care in Germany keeping them alive for many years. In some ways it's hard to see how they "lost" as their post war lives on the surface were little different than if the Nazi's had prevailed.

The other thing that has always troubled me was whether these Fascists get paid for their interviews and therefore profit from their terrible crimes. Traudl Junge is well known to anyone who's seen the "World at War", her younger self even more striking and as carefully made up and groomed as she is in the scenes at the start and finish of Downfall. She has also popped up in many of the other "Nazi" docs that fill the tv schedules. I suppose it's similar case to the general debate about criminals profiting from their crimes except like in many other areas the Nazis are just maybe an extreme exception.

Watch this Film

Interior/exterior
Here are a couple of late night films which were above the usual straight to video fare.

First up was Open Range by the much maligned Kevin Costner (2002).
An excellent elegiac western. It’s a retelling of that eternal western story, the gunfight at the Ok corral. Costner plays a civil war veteran who has teamed up as a cattle drover with an aging trail boss played by Robert Duval. After an opening rainstorm a member of Costner’s group of drovers is murdered by ranch hands working for (a hammy) Michael Gambon as the evil Irish American ranch owner. So the classic battle between the open range drovers and the ranchers begins. The conflict escalates when the youngest of the party is injured and Duval and Costner seek refuge in a town. Here they meet Doctor’s wife Annette Bening who tends for the boy and for whom Costner falls for, all of which leads to a final reckoning

The whole film is shot beautifully, it’s a rainy western, and the rain is just part of nature and not some heavy handed metaphor. The acting as you would imagine from Duval is excellent, but Bening is good, playing the aging frontiers women well. The film presumably deliberately has strong links to John Ford’s masterpiece My Darling Clementine (1947). Costner’s use of landscape, the eternal ragged western town, the middle aged world weary protagonists, the slow deliberate pace echoing the expanse of the west is very much a nod to Ford. So if you like a western why not mosey on down to Open range (sorry).
.
We need to talk about Kevin...
Mr Costner isn’t to everyone’s taste and is the butt of a few media jokes, I’m not sure why, yes he takes himself seriously but which film star doesn’t. He appears in grandiose genre films hardly a crime. I think his main crime as far as the media is concerned is that he’s a star in spite of what they think and that he makes films which hark back to the unfashionable 50’s instead of whichever era is the current fave.

Plus Field of Dreams is ace.

The French are known for their sexy seductive films, that have added to the myth of French as top chien in the world shagging stakes. I have my suspicions they talk about it more than they do it. They do however treat sex in an adult way. Very few British films treat sex as an important or normal part of life. 9 songs by Michael Winterbottom attempted to do this but was essentially a French style film that happened to be set in Brixton.

Which brings me to UNE LIAISON PORNOGRAPHIQUE Frédéric Fonteyne, France, 1999.
The title probably harms the film more than it helps explain its content, making it sound like some dodgy channel 5 fair, it would be better described as simply “the affair”. Basically two 40’s somethings Nathalie Baye and Serge López meet each week in a hotel (via a contact ad), to have no strings sex. In a nice touch Fonteyne reveals the explicit (but mild) scenes slowly, at first everything is done behind closed doors.

This being France there is plenty of time for earnest coffee stirring and a “meaningful” commentary by the characters to their respective shrinks/confidants. Gradually the “just sex, no emotion” pact crumbles and a relationship develops.

Several things make this an interesting film firstly its characters are middle class, like they are in many of the best French films. Not the posh middle class of Richard Curtis or linentastic toffs of Merchant Ivory but normal middle class types. In France these are the people who go to see films and want to see films about themselves. In Britain the sort of life most people life or aspire to life isn’t shown on film. We have loads of the heroic Poor, Mike Leigh (his middleclass characters tend to be wanky or cliched) or Ken Loach and of course endless toffs but not the people in the middle.

The other striking thing is that if not exactly hideous gorgons the lead couple are average looking types with the odd wrinkle and the hint of a gut. In the UK if anybody gets laid they are usually floppy haired hotties or American.

The film although not a masterpiece (it’s slightly spoilt by the desperate urge to be meaningful) is worth watching.

If you like this you should check out the much better if more abstract and the bleaker Vendredi soir . This 2002 Claire Denis film is a modern classic genuinely sexy but dark (in every sense of the word) less revealing and less desperate to impart heavy handed meaning than Fonteyne’s film. Maybe you could have a double bill.

Also in a similar vein is Eric Rohmer Les Nuits de la pleine lune, (1984)
a period snap shot of Parisien life, as a young women Pascale Ogie tries to decided between two lovers Tcheky Kayro and Fabrice Luchin one rural, one urban. Worth seeing, Rohmer although not to everyone’s taste has a distinctive eye and has moments of brilliance.

and the living is easy....

Watch this Film: an occasional series.

After braving the sun this morning I headed idoors, my flat’s not large but it’s sunny. With the windows open the sun light through the ash tree outside and breeze stirring the leaves. it’s most pleasant. While I pottered and F1 cars whizzed around the sounds of summer came in. I was about to turn the box off and listen to some tunes, when a film came on, I didn’t know what it was but the opening shots of Venice and the appearance of Kathryn Hepburn made me watch more.

The film turned out to be Summertime (1955) by David Lean.
It was fresh gem to me, it’s the classic story of a repressed American (Hepburn) brought to life by exotic foreigners. This would be a clichéd tale but for a few things firstly David Lean shoots Venice lovingly, it looks marvellous and beautiful. With long shots of churches and canals (you know Venice), close ups of statues etc. The pension Hepburn rents has one of the best views in the world!

The other thing that lifts the film is of course Kathryn Hepburn’s acting, she plays an ageing office worker on a long saved for tour of Europe. She is at once attracted by and repelled by the passion and beauty of Venice. Her awkwardness at dealing with travelling alone and yet reluctance to accept companionship and ultimately love is genuinely moving. This being the grown up 1950’s the film doesn’t settle for easy sentiment. If you’ve not seen it, search it out. Here’s a good article on it from a video club.

I know these tunes may be a bit obvious but they came up when I was looking for pictures for this post.

Ella sings Summertime
The Sundays sing summertime

Summary of Some Summery Summer stuff

Tired of those boring list of things you must have/do particularly as they randomly dump on stuff you like because it’s not A: expensive. B: on sale in New York C: more than a month old.

After some inspiration from here. I humbly offer some suggestions take them up or don’t or suggest some of your own or don’t. It is the summer let’s enjoy it.


The new HEM ep: Do yourself a favour and get the new HEM songs. Try their first cd rabbit songs (yes I know it’s a crap title) it’s a good way in or their ep of covers I'm Talking with My Mouth (2002). You won’t regret it. Promise.


Old Sharpe: Have enjoyed UK History reshowing of Sharpe (from way back in 1993). Apart from being big dumb fun. A couple of things spring to mind, why do old programmes look old? Sometimes it must be old tapes etc making them look old but also fashions in lighting etc changing. Old Morse seem exist in pea soupers from the exessive use of smoke machines.
Another thing how many peak time ITV films would have long passages in subtitles these days. I’m sure (and maybe in later Sharpe’s they do this) now a days we would have some English thesp doing the full “allo, allo” rather than fine Spanish actress like Assumpta Serna.
The thing that saves Sharpe apart from having great characters (some who get shot in their first 5 minutes on screen) war is hell after all. No, the aspect that brings the whole thing a live is Sean “is tha owl or Blade” Bean because he takes it so seriously he carries it all, otherwise it would fall apart under the weight of the whole 10 extras running back forwards on some hill side in Portugal production values.

It’s good but would you join the S.A.S to express your love.

Youtube does answer the question on everyone’s lips who’d win in a fight between Sean Bean and Daniel Craig!



Campari
Now I am man I put aside childish things. I think along with olives, capers and of course anchovies, Campari separates the men for boys or broads from the babes. It’s a proper grown up drink, the perfect aperitif.
Campari and soda is the classic but I prefer it with either bitter lemon or grapefruit juice and lemonade plus big slices and big ices.

In Venice we had it with sparkling procesco and huge local olives. It’s a northern Italian thing, there’s a pleasingly large sign for it as you approach the Lido from Venice and it is the perfect thing to sip in your flannel suit as you watch lithe young things dance in the surf prior to having a brain haemorrhage (spoiler warning). WAITER!
Oh and the bottle’s looks cool too.


Strawberries
Bought a punnet of English strawbs this weekend added a splash of Campari (half a cap full) with castor sugar to let them macerate and mixed in some sponge, custard and cream to make an excellent trifle.



Badges!
Found this site this week. What I like about it is that it’s just one page but it’s useful, if you want to know where the quote “badges, we don’t need no stinking badges” comes from or is quoted in popular culture, this is the page for you.
Perfect!




My tomatoes:
I made a mistake and fed them before they had set fruit (apparently everyone knows this) so they are a bit tall. I can see flowers so hopefully I may get fruit. My worry is my basil will go over before they have chance to meet on my plate. Boo!






Y tu mamá también by Alfonso Cuarón
I’m behind the curve on this, it came out 2001 but Film 4 had a gap between showing their usual 5 films and showed one, not in English. It’s a really cool sexy film with engaging characters and good pacing.

It helps that the lead actress Maribel Verdú is gorgeous and the two juveniles male lead are convincing too. The mock portentous voice over is a little over worked but the ending is very striking and moving.
More Spanish films please film 4 preferably not at time when I’m crying with tiredness. (NB. no one ever watches films they video or sky plus)