What lovely weather, lets hope it continues...

Doing these columns on a Sunday is getting increasingly tiring, this is supposed to be a day of rest and I’m up at 6.30 writing? I think I might change the day but for now I’ll keep this up. If you haven’t watched Rocknrolla yet for fear that Guy Ritchie has lost his touch I suggest you watch it. Rocknrolla is a return to form in a London gangster romp that as we know suits him down to the ground. The film is easier to follow than revolver; it has some very watchable characters like Lock Stock and Snatch and it throws in some original idea's from the seasoned director. Guy Ritchie takes on the Russian Billionaires buying up land, football clubs and anything they can get their hands on! He deals with homosexuality and makes it very very funny; the parts I’m talking about are the funniest in the film, just watch for Gerard Butler’s reactions. Watch it because there’s no school like the old school and Guy Ritchie is the f*cking head teacher.

I did watch more movies this week but cant remember them for the life of me, which is a bad sign. Instead I’m going to do a preview thing of the next few weeks in cinema.

Wolverine: Xmen Origins
Next Wednesday, not this Wednesday I will be going to see the first of what is to be a very good summer. Wolverine in some ways is the Marvel comic film I have been waiting for about 5 years! It has Gambit in it and he’s not just a name on the screen (damn you Bryan Singer!) He’s a character. Whether or not Taylor Kitsch will do the raging Cajun any justice is yet to be seen but he looks the part. Of course it also introduces Deadpool, the deadly wise cracking assassin and lets face it there’s no one better to play him that Ryan Reynolds who has practically made a career out of wise cracking. What of the title character, well Hugh Jackman was born to be Logan it’s that simple. There is no way anyone else could play him now; Jackman plays Wolverine with great conviction. Playing the perfect anti hero that regularly flays his victims in the comics cant be easy but he does it so well. So let’s hope that this continues in what will be a great start to the summer, Claws crossed.

Star Trek
The week after I will be going to see this re invention by surely the lord of the geeks JJ Abrams. The man responsible for the irritatingly long but terribly addictive Lost has put it on himself to bring back star trek. He’s a brave man but despite the first few seconds of that awful trailer “I am James Tiberius Kirk!” the film seems to doing well. Early screenings indicate that the critics are eating it up and the fans that have seen it love it. Simon Peggs in it which is enough to get me to the cinema and Zachary Quinto (Slyer) looks like he has perfected the younger Spock and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.

There are still more to come out after that, Transformers, Terminator and many more. Right I’m off to church…

I feel I'm close.... I am close

This weeks entry is bound to be a short one, just thought I would lower expectations a bit before I get started. Yesterday I saw my face on a cinema screen; it wasn’t a very big one but still a cinema screen. It was weird but I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, we weren’t short-listed which I think is a crime! We were clearly one of the better ones on the day but you can see for yourselves as soon as it’s gone up online, I will of course post it. Down to what I have been watching this week, last night I watched Lucky Number Slevin, I had already seen it but it’s a great crime caper. I have never liked josh hartnett so much as his character Slevin, he wisecracks his way through the underworld of two rival gangs, though he spends half the film getting beaten up. Bruce Willis gives a cold performance as a hired killer setting poor old Slevin up for a fall. It is a great film with a great script; I recommend this one to anyone.

I also watched the film that got me into cinema in the first place, Jurassic Park. The whole trilogy for a fiver in Sainsburys, snip! The first one, clearly the best one is a landmark in cinema. Mostly for its effects, as most of the digital shots still stand the test of time and look sublime. The film is classic Spielberg Blockbuster with great characters although I never realised how irritating the kids were! Its suspenseful and everything an entertaining movie needs to be entertaining. Taking it back again I also watched the first Terminator and apart form the score sounding like it was done on a Casio keyboard it was just as good as I remember. One thing I never noticed before is how Arnie moves his eyes to as far as he can see before moving his neck, its so subtle but brilliant, exactly how a robot would look around as its surveys a scene.

Finally a new film,

Finally a new film, Déjà vu with the ever-dependable Denzel Washington who still hasn’t been able to better his performance in training day is good in this. He is convincing as an ATF agent, yeah I had no idea what the ATF was either! America has far to many agencies, great for films though. This is beside the point as Denzels character is shown a technology that allows people to view the past and eventually send a person back. It’s a little hard to follow at first but its basically the same theory as in Event Horizon, you know the whole folding time and space to pass through wormholes. Its good though, thrilling when it needs to be and some real big set pieces from Tony Scott, though Mr Washington does look uncomfortable doing tender moments.

Well that’s it for now, I have to make breakfast and look for jobs I wont get.
Keep reading and watching please.

Kids films and films with a little edge

Ah Easter, a lovely bank holiday full of kids movies and lots of people off work. Of course that’s not really an issue when you’re unemployed. It’s been an interesting week for film, I have seen quite a lot and kids movies are a big part of that. I watched Tron midweek, I couldn’t resist as I had just read a brilliant feature about it in an issue of Empire magazine. The feature showed just how ground breaking it was and after watching it again I would have to agree. The CGI was well ahead of its time, it looked like an 80’s arcade game but then that’s what it would have looked like in the story. It’s that it was made and that it was made so well that counts, of course now they are doing a sequel and you can check out the little sneak peak here on youtube…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPGWYAUF3v4



Another family feature I watched this week was Over the Hedge, a CGI animated tale about furry creatures taking on the world of humans. As usual any CGI animated film that isn’t Pixar never really hits the spot, Over the hedge is very much the same. It does have some funny characters. Its laugh out loud moments are usually down to Steve Carells bonkers squirrel that clearly has ADHD. I also had a week of classic movies, watching Truman Show; I had forgotten just how good it was. Its hard to think anyone ever thought Jim Carrey could do anything serious before it but he is amazing in this film. The Truman show is funny and moving and covers so many themes, from religion to media and what was to becomes the huge rise of reality TV, its all there.

Another controversial film I saw this week was Starship Troopers. Not often though of like that but very much so. The whole film is a statement about neo nazism, to the point where one of the characters appears at the end draped in what clearly is supposed to be an SS uniform. It was controversial in that viewed from a certain point of view it can be seen as a pro nazi film, it glorifies young adults using violence to gain what they need and clearly shows propaganda working its way into the populace. Of course apart from all that it is a fun movie and is supposed to be viewed as a satire of all things nazi but what the hell, do you want to know more?

Finally I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the new version. It’s a good film in its own right but when compared to the original there really is no competition. Lets compare Willy Wonka’s, Johnny Depps’s Wonka is funny and weird in an endearing way, you warm to him straight away and even though he tries to be sinister it just doesn’t work. On the other hand we have Gene Wilders Wonka, who not until the end are you really sure of him, half the time he seems sinister, the other half your not entirely sure just how same he is.

That’s it for now, over 500 words! Wow there was a lot to say and no time to say it.
So keep reading and keep watching…

It's all about the writing...

I’m very tired and having trouble of remembering what I’ve seen this week! The last couple of days I have been filming a sci-fi short film, I wont attempt to explain what the hell its about cause quite frankly I don’t know. I was acting in it, as the one and only character, it’s nerve racking and probably the last time I’ll do it. I use to think I was alright in front of the camera or on a stage but I seem to just end up being the same miserable (nose bleeding) loser in every thing I do. I think I’ll stick to my writing for now.

As for the writing, writing a screenplay is not easy but a lot of fun and is moving forward slowly but surely. I saw the Boat that Rocked over this week, a film about a pirate radio station with an amazing cast. I read a review before I saw this saying that there is no real plot and what there is, is to thin. Bear in mind first of all that this is a Richard Curtis movie, undisputed king of British rom-com. Now think about Love actually and its multitude of characters and how their stories tied together. The boat that Rocked may have had a paper thin plot but like love actually there were a multitude of characters to write for, unlike love actually which had a whole city to play with for all its characters this was on a boat. This smaller setting meant that most of the characters stories were lost on you and even the ones that weren’t didn’t really have any impact. It was funny though and should be seen as a little brit comedy gem.

I have also watched an inconvenient truth, a film about Al Gore’s presentation about climate change. Its very admirable that Al Gore has taken this on and the message does come across. It’s very American in its presentation but I did get the feeling that’s who it’s really aimed at. The Majority of the statistics that he presents basically have the rest of the world saying, “Ok we’re doing our bit, what about you?” and pointing at America. See it if you want some interestingfacts if you want to know about climate change, google it.

Last and definitely for least was yet another Nicholas Cage stinker called Next. A story of a man who can see his own future but masquerades as a Vegas Magician. Being honest this DVD broke down half way through but I really wasn’t that fussed, Nicholas Cage’s career has taken a nosedive of recent years and Next is just another step down. Its not Mr Cage’s fault, mainly the choice of films. Next is very badly written, awful lines that you really need to see to believe. Not to mention the awful special effects in what is supposed to be a big budget blockbuster.

Anyway I’m off, keep reading and watching please it all helps.