vWv124's Tiny Beam of Light

Shining a tiny beam of light on some great films you might not know existed (and the odd blockbuster too).

October 29, 2009 • 1:41 pm 1

Nowhere Boy (2009) dir: Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor Wood’s latest music themed film is an account of the relationship between a young John Lennon (Aaron Johnson) and the two influential women of his early life Julia (Ann-Marie Duff) and Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas).  I had no particular expectations for the film and I had to get up at the crack of dawn (for me) to see it – especially as I was feeling guilty about not having yet seen a single film at the London Film Festival (too busy working on my own film). And today is the last day! Anyway it was worth it.

I was momentarily thrown by Aaron Johnson as he was clearly a lot older than the character he was playing at the start of the story (a couple of years is an eternity for a growing teenager) so I couldn’t orientate myself to when the story was set. However, once  the film began to move through the story I got over it – he gives a cracking performance that has an essence of the public persona of John Lennon. Aaron Johnson is going to be huge when Kick-Ass opens next year.  I don’t know how accurate the film is with regard to John Lennon’s life but without these two women it implies that John Lennon songwriter, musician and Beatle may never have existed. I also have to say that I was genuinely moved by the story and characters. Call me soppy but it was weirdly emotional.

Almost forgot. The score by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory was really interesting too – it was kind of traditional but with hidden ‘Beatlesque’ elements – I liked it.

Filed under: drama, film, movies, music , , , , , ,

August 25, 2009 • 5:22 pm 1

Mesrine: Part 1 & 2 (2008) dir: Jean-François Richet

Never heard of the guy, Jacques Mesrine, France’s Public Enemy No.1 during the 1970s, but it turns out that he (in the film anyway) has a certain amount in common with John Dillinger in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. Robbing banks, getting imprisoned, escaping (four times!), courting the press, being a celebrity and seeing himself as an honest villain and a friend of ‘the people’.

This film though is a lot grittier and works better in my opinion. Here Mesrine is also, quite frankly, a violent and brutal monster (jamming a gun into his innocent wife’s mouth as he tells her his friends are more important to him than her) yet Vincent Cassel’s terrific performance makes you like him, even when he’s smashing a glass into another thug’s face.

Split into two films ‘Mesrine – Part 1 – Death Instinct’ and ‘Mesrine – Part 2 – Public Enemy No 1′. This is a big budget two part movie and it shows. There’s a huge amount going on as the story moves chronologically through a series of events in the gangster’s life. There’s a thoughtful, interesting story with depth, tons of interesting characters, interspersed with action and a lot of violence. The whole shebang is skilfully executed by director Jean-François Richet who brings an element of authenticity and realism to it rather than Hollywood gloss.

Tiny spoiler alert: skip the next paragraph if you want to know nothing about what happens in the films.

I’m not really giving anything away in mentioning that the two movies are bookended by Mesrine’s death. What’s clever is although we know that he dies and how it happens during the opening titles of Part 1, when it’s played out again at the end of Part 2 it’s told from a different perspective with all that we now know about the man – and it still manages to rack up the suspense – even though you already know the outcome.

This is quality stuff, great film making and was a deserved mammoth hit in France. Don’t let the subtitles put you off. If you can see one film after the other – with a short break between the two to let you recover and get your breath back.

Filed under: action, cinema, drama, entertainment, film, movies, thriller , , , , , ,

August 24, 2009 • 9:43 pm 0

The Hurt Locker (2008) dir: Kathryn Bigelow

Sorry for the long delay between posts but I’m working on my own movie at the moment (my first as director!) so I haven’t seen as much as I’d like.

Been a long while since Kathryn Bigelow’s last movie, ‘K-19: The Widowmaker’, and like that film and much of her other work ‘The Hurt Locker’ centers around a male group.  This story is based on writer/producer Mark Boal’s experiences when he was working as a journalist in Iraq circa 2004 and concerns a US bomb disposal team in Iraq – a volunteer team that work in and around Baghdad disarming Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). They do this every day knowing that they can be blown to kingdom come at any moment.

This is very much an independent film where both Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal have full creative control and it shows. Shot on super 16mm in 44 days this is a film with some incredibly tense sequences and well choreographed action. Surprisingly, one of them is the slowest gunfight I’ve ever seen which takes place between a sniper and the US soldiers over a distance of 1 km as the combatants watch each other through high powered telescopic sights. You wouldn’t think such a slow sequence could be so intense and suspenseful and is a masterclass in film making on its own.

As the team go from one disposal mission to the next I had a quick look around the audience and people actually were leaning forward and sitting on the edge of their seats. And I thought that was just an ad man’s phrase!

Shot primarily in Jordan, the director teamed up with Ken Loach’s regular director of photography Barry Ackroyd. They shot with 4 cameras simultaneously, then after each take all the camera positions would change so that the actors had no idea where the cameras would be, so the actors had to stay focused at all times. This has given the film a documentary style immediacy which generates excellent performances especially from Jeremy Renner as the team’s new bomb specialist.

It’s been out on limited release already in the USA and is definitely a film worth seeing. It doesn’t take sides or go into the politics behind the war, but follows the experience and personal trauma of a small group of soldiers.

Filed under: action, cinema, drama, entertainment, film, movies, war , , , , , , ,

June 9, 2009 • 4:32 pm 0

Looking For Eric (2009) dir: Ken Loach

Well here’s a film from the UK’s most undervalued director that will hopefully appeal to a wider audience giving the director some much deserved mainstream success.

Eric (Steve Evets) is suffering from depression, his life is crap and he was last happy when he saw Eric Cantona play soccer for Manchester United. As he drowns in despair, he starts seeing Eric Cantona, his hero, who begins to give him advice on how to change his life around.

Like Ken Loach’s other films, this is still a story with a social aspect at its heart but here it is wrapped in some touching comedy.

It was a pleasure to watch the interaction between the two Erics. Ken Loach (unusually for a filmmaker) shoots his films in sequence and the actors are never given a full script -  they don’t know what’s coming next. So, when Eric first sees Eric Cantona his expression and reaction is priceless. The film is really good stuff.

Apparently, Eric Cantona originally approached Ken Loach with a slightly different idea, based around a Leeds United fan who had switched allegiance to Manchester United when Eric Cantona move there. The fan lost his job, his friends and family. From there screenwriter John Laverty developed a new idea which eventually turned into the screenplay for this film.

It’s worth noting that the film is not really about football, (I’m not a big fan of it), so if you hate football/soccer – don’t let the football aspect put you off.

The French love Ken Loach, the Brits love the French Eric Cantona, hopefully this is a marriage that will play to a wider audience.  It’s been picked up by IFC for America – so even you lot in the good old US of A have no excuses.

Filed under: cinema, comedy, drama, entertainment, fantasy, film, movies , , , , , , , ,

 

December 2009
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Looking forward to:

Tiny: Unstoppable
Medium: Centurion
Ginormous: Avatar

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