Terje Sorgjerd spent a week in Norway capturing the aurora borealis and it has resulted in a stunning short film.
Shot in and around Kirkenes and Pas National Park, which borders Russia, it used an all-in-one motion control dolly.
The music track is “Now We Are Free” by Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer from the Gladiator soundtrack.
> Terje Sorgjerd at Vimeo
> Facebook page for TSO Photography
Universal have announced the Blu-ray release of Brian De Palma’s Scarface on Blu-ray in September.
The 1983 crime drama charts the rise of Cuban gangster Tony Montana (Al Pacino) as he arrives in Florida with his friend Manny (Steven Bauer) and starts working for a local crime boss (Robert Loggia).
Written by Oliver Stone and featuring a score by Giorgio Moroder, the film has grown in popularity and influence over the years (especially with footballers, rappers and people who work on Wall St) with the AFI listing it in their top gangster films of all time in 2008.
For this edition, the main selling point is the hi-def transfer, a 7.1 audio mix and a new batch of exclusive extras created especially for this release.
Some of the bonus features are carried over from the previous DVD version, but let’s hope they also keep the impossibly funky music bed which was on that menu.
BONUS FEATURES (*Denotes all new content)
Elizabeth Taylor has died in Los Angeles aged 79.
The actress was being treated for symptoms of congestive heart failure had a history of ill health over the last two decades, even though she always take care of her health with a healthy diet and supplements like kratom capsules.
She gained fame and recognition for roles in National Velvet (1944), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
In addition she was also one of the major stars of her era, attracting worldwide fame and attention from the press as she married several times, won two Oscars and had a high profile relationship with Richard Burton.
Born in London in 1932, Taylor relocated with her family to Hollywood as World War II broke out and became a child actress already had a contract with Universal, making her screen debut in There’s One Born Every Minute (1942).
It was her lead role as a teenage jockey in the family drama National Velvet (1944) that established her as a major star and by the end of the 1940s she made the transition to adult roles.
But it was her part as a spoled socialite in A Place In The Sun (1951) that established her acting credentials and took her career to an new plateau.
As her celebrity bloomed in in the 1950s, fuelled by tabloid coverage of her private life, the more serious roles dried up with the exception of Giant (1956) and Raintree County (1957).
But at the end of that decade her performances in two Tennesse Williams adaptations gave a huge boost to her career: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) earned her back-to-back Oscar nominations.
The terms of her contract at MGM meant that she reluctantly made BUtterfield 8 (1960) and although she won the Best Actress Oscar for her part she later criticised the film and attracted controversy for “stealing” her co-star Eddie Fisher from his then-wife Debbie Reynolds.
In 1960 she became the highest paid actress in the world when 20th Century Fox paid her $1 million dollars to play the title role in Cleopatra, a production which quickly became a high profile disaster which almost bankrupted the studio before being released in 1963.
During the filming she began a relationship with her co-star and future husband Richard Burton, causing another wave of coverage from the tabloid press as both were married at the time.
Her passionate and tempestuous relationship with Burton was one of the most high profile ever seen in Hollywood, fuelling acres of newsprint and speculation.
It was mirrored on screen as they co-starred in The V.I.P.’s (1963), The Sandpiper (1965) and, most memorably, in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
Directed by Mike Nichols from Edward Albee’s play about a bickering couple on the campus of a New England college, it was a groundbreaking film with its shockingly profane language (for the time) and stark depiction of marriage.
Taylor managed to turn her gamourous image on its head, playing a frumpy and embittered housewife and her role won her a second Best Actress Oscar.
This marked a high-point in her career and although she appeared in subsequent films with Burton, such as The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians (1967) and Boom! (1968), the times were changing as the old Hollywood order gave way to a new generation of actors and filmmakers.
By the start of the 1970s her star power had considerably waned and films such as The Only Game in Town (1970) with Warren Beatty, and Zee and Co. (1972) co-starring Michael Caine are now forgotten oddities.
Over the next decade her off-screen celebrity took centre stage as she divorced Burton after a decade together and then remarried him in 1975, only to divorce him again a year later.
Occasional appearences in films such as The Blue Bird (1976), Winter Kills (1979) and The Mirror Crack’d (1980) were overshadowed by her increasingly colourful private life which involved charity work, a close friendship with Michael Jackson and a cameo in The Flintstones (1994).
In the 1990s, she suffered from health problems including hip operations, pneumonia, a benign brain tumour and in 2004 it was revealed she was suffering from congestive heart failure.
> BBC News obituary
> Various links and tributes at MUBi
> More on Elizabeth Taylor at Wikipedia, MUBi and the IMDb
Vanity Fair’s recent in-depth piece on the making of All The President’s Men (1976) has some fascinating pieces of information about the classic political drama.
Written by Michael Feeney Callan, the author of a forthcoming Robert Redford biography, it reveals the following:
Make sure you read the full article here.
> All The President’s Men at the IMDb
> Find out more about the Watergate scandal at Wikipedia
> Buy All the President’s Men on DVD from Amazon UK
Werner Herzog’s new documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams is getting released around the UK this week.
The film follows Herzog’s exploration of the Chauvet-Pont-dâArc Cave in southern France, which was discovered in 1994 and contains paintings and markings dating back thousands of years to the Paleolithic era.
Not open to the public, Herzog managed to get permission to film inside the cave with a small crew and specially modified 3D cameras and lights.
A remarkable film about an awe-inspiring place, you can read our full review here.
Unusually, the cinema chain Picturehouse is releasing it through their distribution arm and it will be screening at selected locations across the UK.
Tonight there will be special preview screenings after which Herzog will do a live Q&A session with Jason Solomons beamed live to cinemas (more details on that here).
From Friday it will be showing at the following UK cinemas in 3D and 2D, so just click on the links below for more details.
PICTUREHOUSE CINEMAS IN 3D
PICTUREHOUSE CINEMAS IN 2D
OTHER CINEMAS IN 3D
OTHER CINEMAS IN 2D
>Â Official site
>Â More reviews and links about Cave of Forgotten Dreams at MUBi
> Find out more about Werner Herzog and the Chauvet Cave at Wikipedia
>Â Facebook group
>Â Details of a live Q&A with Herzog (via satellite) on March 22nd
Lord of the Rings fan site The One Ring has posted two photos of director Peter Jackson, which show how the director has changed over the last 10 years.
On the left is a photo from June 2001, where Jackson posed on the set of Bag End with a pipe for âWomenâs Dayâ magazine from June 14th 2001.
On the right is Jackson on the set of The Hobbit, which has just started shooting in New Zealand, ten years on.
[Click here for a larger version]
> The One Ring
> The Hobbit film project at Wikipedia
British musician and composer Jon Hopkins has made four tracks available via Soundcloud.
If you saw the low budget sci-fi Monsters last year then you would have heard his evocative ambient score and he has also worked with Brian Eno in addition to producing his own acclaimed albums.
He has posted four tracks on Soundcloud, a music site popular with many professional musicians, including a remix of David Lynch’s recent single I Know.
You can listen to them below:
Jon Hopkins – Monsters Theme by Jon Hopkins
David Lynch – I Know (Jon Hopkins Remix) by Jon Hopkins
Jon Hopkins – The Wider Sun & Vessel by Jon Hopkins
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers (Jon Hopkins Remix) by Jon Hopkins
> Jon Hopkins
> More on Jon Hopkins at Wikipedia
> Buy the Monsters Soundtrack via iTunes or Amazon UK
Director David Lean began as a film editor and throughout his career stressed the importance of how things cut together.
When he broke into the industry at Gaumont Studios in the late 1920s doing odd jobs, he worked his way up to editing newsreels and feature films such as Pygmalion (1938) and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942).
This laid a solid technical foundation for his illustrious career as director which included Great Expectations (1946), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).
For his last film A Passage to India (1984) he combined his directing and editing roles, as this clip from an episode of The Southbank Show in 1985 demonstrates:
His colleague and fellow director Ronald Neame once said:
David Lean was a great director, but he was an even better editor. He was one of the greatest editors of all time.
> David Lean at Wikipedia
> Editor Walter Murch on Editing
The social networking and microblogging service Twitter is five years old today.
Since launching in 2006 it gradually exploded in popularity and now has an estimated 190 million users around the world who generate millions of tweets a day.
Like Facebook and YouTube it has become a massive extension of the web as people exchange all kinds of information
This presentation by co-founder Jack Dorsey is a fascinating insight into what inspired the site and how it began:
Like any other area of life, the film world has its share of people using the service ranging from filmmakers to automated services.
Obviously a lot of users are talking about their lives or plugging projects, but here are a few I like:
DIRECTORS / WRITERS
USEFUL
> Find out more about Twitter at Wikipedia
> Links to film related people on Twitter at Listorious
DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
The Kids Are All Right (Universal Pictures): A perfectly pitched comedy-drama about family tensions, director Lisa Cholodenkoâs third film is also a showcase for some stellar acting. When a Los Angeles lesbian couple, Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), discover their two teenage kids, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), have got in touch with their biological father (Mark Ruffalo) it causes various complications.
As with Chodolenkoâs previous films, this is very much a character piece exploring the intricacies and complications of human relationships. But it is a step up from her last two films, applying a light touch to potentially heavy issues, and much of the enjoyment comes from the actors fitting snugly into their roles, especially the two leads who have their best parts in years.
> The Kids Are Alright LFF review
> Buy it on Blu-ray or DVD on Amazon UK
Out of Sight (Universal Pictures): Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s novel, this 1998 film re-energised Steven Soderbergh’s career and starred George Clooney as a bank robber who falls for a US marshall (Jennifer Lopez). Scott Frank’s screenplay captures the wit of Leonard’s dialogue and the lead actors have a striking chemistry together. It was the first leading man role for Clooney that worked and Lopez hasn’t done anything remotely as good since.
The supporting cast is especially stellar with Ving Rhames, Catherine Keener, Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks, Don Cheadle and Steve Zahn all turning in fine performances. For Soderbergh it was a chance to demonstrate his directing skills in a mainstream picture after years in the indie wilderness with a smart flashback structure, clever editing and a glorious musical score from David Holmes. Although not a big hit, it proved a turning point for Soderbergh and Clooney, helping to establish their credentials as they juggled interesting projects alongside the star-driven Ocean’s trilogy over the next decade.
> Out of Sight at the IMDb
> Buy it on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon UK
La Signora Senza Camelie (Eureka): Two of Michaelangelo Antonioni’s early feature films from the 1950s are re-released on Blu-ray this week and although not as important as his work in the next two decades, they are an interesting snapshot of his early career. His second feature is about a shop assistant named Clara (Lucia BosĂŠ) who, following a chance casting, becomes as major screen star in mainstream movies. When her husband persuades her to do a more serious production based on the life of Joan of Arc tensions erupt.
A fascinating look at show business from Antonioni’s unique perspective, it explores themes that would be flashed out in later works (mystery, identity, performance). It also provokes an interesting discussion about the director’s intentions, exploring the notions of a popular and arthouse cinema, without appearing to come down on one side or the other.
The transfer is excellent, preserving the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio and the special features include:
> La Signora Senza Camelie at the IMDb
> Buy it on Blu-ray at Amazon UK
Le Amiche (Eureka): This 1955 film marked Antonioni as a director to watch on the interantional stage. Based on an article by Cesare Pavese, it explores the life of a Roman woman (Eleonora Rossi Drago), who leaves the Italian capital to work at a boutique in Turin.
The supporting cast includes Valentina Cortese, Yvonne Furneaux, and Franco Fabrizi and the film is notable for its elegant compositions and the way in which it juggles multiple characters. The transfer is excellent and it is a real pleasure to experience a film like this in high definition, even if it isn’t quite the same stature as the director’s later work.
The extra features, which like the other disc were shot by Joe Swanberg, include:
> Le Amiche at the IMDb
> Buy it on Blu-ray at Amazon UK
ALSO OUT
Along Came Polly (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Charlie Wilson’s War (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Evan Almighty (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Jack Falls (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / Normal]
London Boulevard (EV) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Ray (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Skyline (Momentum Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Sleepers (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Sympathy for the Devil (Fabulous Films) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Other Boleyn Girl (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Tudors: Season 4 (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Universe: Season Five (Go Entertain) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Universe: Seven Wonders of the Solar System (Go Entertain) [Blu-ray / 3D Edition]
Ultimate Wave – Tahiti (BPDP) [Blu-ray / with 3D Version]
Wild Child (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
> UK cinema releases for Friday 18th March 2011
> The Best DVD & Blu-ray releases of 2010
A rare TV interview with Bruce Lee that was lost for many years has surfaced on The Internet Archive.
Filmed for The Pierre Berton Show on December 9th 1971, the martial arts legend discusses various aspects of his career up to that point including:
[via Brain Pickings]
> Bruce Lee at Wikipedia
NATIONAL RELEASES
The Lincoln Lawyer (Entertainment): A lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills. Directed by Brad Furman and co-starring Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, John Leguizamo. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (Warner Bros.): The latest film from Woody Allen follows a pair of married couples in London: Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), and their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Chalet Girl (Paramount/Momentum): A working-class girl (Felicity Jones) lands a job in a posh ski resort and discovers her natural snowboarding genius while dating the bossâ son. Directed by Phil Traill and co-starring Bill Nighy, Ed Westwick, Brooke Shields and Tamsin Egerton. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Anuvahood (Revolver): An ‘urban comedy’ about a wannabe London drug dealer (Adam Deacon) who encounters a local villain (Richie Campbell) . [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
ALSO OUT
Submarine (Optimum Releasing):A comedy which follows a 15-year-old boy with two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to stop his mother from leaving his father for her dance teacher. [15] [Read our full review here] [Trailer]
Route Irish (Artificial Eye): The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend’s death and sets out to discover the truth. Directed by Ken Loach. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Ballast (Axiom Films): Acclaimed 2008 drama about A single mother and her embattled son struggling to survive in a small Mississippi Delta township. Directed by Lance Hammer. [Reviews] [Trailer]
Between the Canals (Avalon Films): Irish crime drama which follows three small time criminals from Dublin’s North Inner City. Directed by Mark O’Connor.
Benda Bilili! (Trinity Filmed Entertainment): Documentary about a Kinshasa band which has acquired a global following. Directed by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye. [Reviews] [Trailer]
> Get local cinema showtimes at Google Movies or FindAnyFilm
> UK DVD & Blu-ray releases for Monday 14th March 2011, including Let Me In and Gasland
Director Steven Soderbergh recently spoke to Kurt Andersen of Studio 360 and confirmed that he wants to retire.
When I first heard this story, it was hard to believe.
Why would an A-list director who has succesfully criss-crossed the indie and studio worlds just throw in the towel?
It first surfaced when Matt Damon said in December:
âHeâs retiring, heâs been talking about it for years and itâs getting closer. He wants to paint and he says heâs still young enough to have another career.Heâs kind of exhausted with everything that interested him in terms of form. Heâs not interested in telling stories. Cinema interested him in terms of form and thatâs it. He says, âIf I see another over-the-shoulder shot, Iâm going to blow my brains out.â â
It turns out Soderbergh said this to Damon after a few drinks and he wasn’t expecting it to get out.
But in the recent discussion on US radio show Studio 360, he has confirmed that after making his current projects (which include Contagion, Haywire, and upcoming Liberace biopic) he plans to stop making films.
You can listen to the section of the interview where he talks about his retirement here:
I’m guessing he felt somewhat burned by his experiences on Che (2008), an ambitious project which didn’t find an audience, and Moneyball (2011), the film which fell apart before being made by Bennett Miller.
Maybe he needs to recharge his creative batteries?
You listen to the full 45-minute conversation:
> Steven Soderbergh at Wikipedia
> Studio 360
Last November Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel sat down for a chat with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin at the Web 2.0 summit.
As the CEO of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment he is one of the key players in the industry and the 45 minute discussion focuses on the economics of the entertainment business and the challenges of the digital age.
Some key points from the discussion are:
There is also a flash of his famous temper around the 30 minute mark in a question about piracy.
> Ari Emanuel at Wikipedia
> Web 2.0 Summit
Jesse Heiman is an actor who has worked with David Fincher, Sam Raimi and Steven Spielberg, but you’ve probably never heard of him until now.
Over the last decade he has carved out a career as a background extra, racking up a tremendous amount of appearances in films such as Spider-Man (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002) and The Social Network (2010) as well as TV shows including Glee (2010), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007) and Entourage (2005).
This collection of clips is an impressive show reel:
He’ll also be seen this summer in Transformers: Dark of the Moon as a Mail Room worker.
[via Buzzfeed]
> Jesse Heiman at the IMDb
> More on Extras at Wikipedia
The second film from director Duncan Jones is a satisfying sci-fi thriller which manages to pack invention and emotion into a neat 95 minutes.
Laying out the plot of Source Code is tricky as much of the pleasure of the film lies in how it gradually reveals its hand.
The basic set up is this: US soldier Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up to find himself on a Chicago bound train, sitting opposite a woman (Michelle Monaghan) who appears to know him.
After a short time, the train explodes and he realises he is part of a futuristic military program which allows him to continually experience the last 8 minutes of a commuter’s life in order to discover who planted the bomb.
Supervised via video link by a military scientist (Jeffrey Wright) and a fellow soldier (Vera Farmiga), Colter finds out more about the suspected bomber on each âpassâ and why he was selected for this mission.
To the filmâs credit, it manages to add a few more layers and twists without ever getting lost in complications, despite the nagging feeling that there are gaping logic holes with regard to the âscienceâ in the film.
What exactly is the source code? How can people communicate in the way they do in the film?
But we are basically in an extended, upscale episode of The Twilight Zone where none of that really matters when you are actually watching the film (although a post-screening discussion might be a different matter).
It moves quickly and efficiently as Gyllenhaalâs character gradually uncovers the truth and Ben Ripley’s script combines elements from films such as Groundhog Day (1993) and DĂŠjĂ Vu (2006) as it explores the tensions and mysteries of a fantastical situation in a particular location.
This is familiar territory for Duncan Jones, as his debut feature Moon (2009) explored similar areas (although in a different context) and he handles the bigger budget and action sequences with an impressive ease.
Generally, the exterior locations of the train are blended well with the interior set of the train, although there are moments when the CGI and green screen aren’t fully convincing (a dramatic jump from a train is jarring).
But DOP Don Burgess and Jones manage to explore the location of the train well, getting across the claustrophobia and drama packed inside the carriages before visually opening out the film as it gets nearer the climax.
The performances suit the material well: Gyllenhaal is a solid lead, playing a more likeable version of his soldier in Jarhead (2005); Monaghan is a charming foil, whilst Farmiga and Wright bring a convincing level of military authority to their roles.
Chris Baconâs score also adds a nice touch of urgency, effectively channelling Bernard Herrmann, and there is more than a dash of Hitchcock to the film as it centres around a MacGuffin (in this case a bomb) and the plot is a lean affair in which one sequence propels into another.
Although a mid-budget movie, reportedly made for around $35m, it could do better than expected as various elements combine in satisfying ways.
The action and suspense gives it across the board appeal; the central character is an honourable soldier who may strike a chord with flyover states; the twisty narrative will be a talking point among movie fans; and the surprising emotional chemistry could snare the date movie crowd.
Even if it doesn’t make a huge impact theatrically there seems an assured shelf life for Source Code as a sci-fi thriller with brains and ideas, even if some of them donât seem to fully add up when the film is over.
> Official site
> Source Code at the IMDb
> Reviews of Source Code at Metacritic
Spike Jonze has directed a short film called Scenes from the Suburbs which is a companion piece for Arcade Fire‘s album The Suburbs.
The first trailer has now landed in the week that it screens at SXSW:
Featuring a cast of unknowns, it is set in a future America where war is raging and the suburbs are segregated from the rest of the nation.
> Arcade Fire
> Spike Jonze at Wikipedia
This neat video showing the evolution of movie title design was edited by Ian Albinson for for the SXSW “Excellence in Title Design” competition screening.
> Art of the Title
> More on the Title Sequence at Wikipedia
> The masterful title sequence for Enter The Void
A smart and beautifully crafted coming-of-age story marks an auspicious directorial debut for Richard Ayoade.
Set in Swansea and based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel, it explores the growing pains of 15-year old Oliver (Craig Roberts) as he falls in love with classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and also struggles to prevent a new-age neighbour (Paddy Considine) from splitting up his father and (Noah Taylor) and mother (Sally Hawkins).
The time period is elusive as the lack of mobiles and computers hint that it could be the late 1980s (at one point a character mentions going to see Crocodile Dundee) or early 1990s, although presumably it has been left deliberately vague to emphasise the universal nature of the story.
It contains many familiar genre elements (articulate protagonist, voiceover, teen problems) but Ayoade manages to bring a fresh visual approach and combines it with just the right levels of comedy and emotion.
Roberts makes for a highly agreeable lead, with his articulate wit undercut by a natural insecurity about people and the world, whilst Paige manages to be both elusive and down-to-earth.
Together they make a charming pair as they go for walks on the beach, watch small fires outside industrial estates and struggle to deal with the stuff of teenage life.
The supporting roles are perfectly cast: Hawkins is a dowdy but humane presence, Taylor is a quietly withdrawn but affectionate patriarch and Considine is hilarious as spiritual guru (almost like a British version of Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia).
At one point Oliver says that he imagines his own life as a movie and what really elevates this above most home grown British films is its obvious love for cinema.
Not only are there playful visual references to zooms but there is a real visual style here as it leaves behind the clichĂŠs that litter home grown films (council estates, cockney gangsters, country houses) and instead takes its cues from US and French directors.
Some have already observed Wes Anderson as a stylistic influence (Rushmore being the obvious touchstone) and there are numerous visual hat-tips to French new wave directors such as Truffaut and Godard with the use of jump-cuts and hand-held camera work.
The world of British comprehensive schools is also vividly depicted: the frustrated teachers, playground taunts and unreasonable peer pressure are all evoked with hilarious accuracy.
DOP Erik Alexander Wilson and Ayoade create a world filled with interesting compositions and use of colour, giving the local British settings an unusual richness.
There are also lots of impressive little touches, such as the recreation of Open University TV programs, the way in which characters speak (Considine is especially good in this regard) and even a brief cameo from executive producer Ben Stiller.
Gary Williamson’s impressive production design and Charlotte Walter’s costumes also help shape the world of the film and give it an extra visual lift.
Andrew Hewitt’s atmospheric score and the specially-composed songs by Alex Turner add to the melancholy vibe without ever descending into mawkish sentimentality or overpowering the story.
Mainstream audiences might not initially embrace the quirky style of Submarine but over time it could become a firm cult favourite as its common themes and inventive approach hit home with viewers.
On paper this is a film that contains many familiar elements but the execution is really something special and marks Ayoade as a director to watch.
Submarine opens at selected UK cinemas from Friday 18th March
> Official site
> Reviews from the IMDb
> Find out more about the novel at Joe Dunthorne’s site
On Pi day it is worth recalling Darren Aronofsky‘s 1998 debut feature Pi (or Ď)Â which established him as a director and remains a compelling US indie.
The atmospheric tale of a reclusive maths genius named Max (Sean Gullette), it explores his obsession with number patterns and how they can explain life as various people take an interest in his experiments including: a former teacher (Mark Margolis), a shady Wall Street firm (how prophetic that seems now) and a Hasidic sect.
As he delves further into the underlying patterns of numbers that may (or may not) explain things he suffers from crippling headaches and paranoia.
Filmed in 16mm black-and-white and made for just $60,000, it was a breath of fresh air when it broke out of the Sundance Film Festival in 1998.
Here was a film a world away from the hardening conventions that surrounded the festival in the late 1990s but it managed to create a buzz, winning the drama directing award and later the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
Although he recently admitted cringing when revisiting the film, it still stands up as a bold and original mix of David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1976) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974).
The intriguing ideas, distinctive editing, powerful use of sound, inventive lensing by Matthew Libatique and a bold electronic soundtrack by Clint Mansell all helped paint a powerful picture of a man caught between madness and genius.
In the lead role, Sean Gullette is terrific and would briefly appear in Aronofsky’s second feature Requiem For A Dream (2000) before going to do a variety of other projects.
It was acquired at Sundance by Live Entertainment (later to become Artisan), the independent studio who a year later would have a massive breakthrough hit with The Blair Witch Project (1999) before being acquired by Lionsgate in 2003.
What struck me on first viewing was how alive and inventive it was for a low-budget film.
There was no navel-gazing, no acoustic guitars on the soundtrack, it wasn’t about the relationship problems of white people and the ideas were genuinely interesting without being pretentious.
There are some similarities with Christopher Nolan’s Following (1998): that was also a debut feature shot in black and white on 16mm that screened in Park City, Utah during 1998, although Nolan’s film was at the Sundance off-shoot Slamdance.
Aronofsky went on to make the ambitious-but-flawed The Fountain (2006), the gritty, acclaimed drama The Wrestler (2008) and dark, psychodrama Black Swan (2010) but there is an urgency and energy to his debut that is well worth experiencing if you’ve never seen the film.
> Official site (it is still up!)
> Find out more about Darren Aronofsky at Wikipedia
> IndieWire interview from 1998 with  Darren Aronofsky and Sean Gullette
> Buy Pi on DVD from Amazon UK
> Find out more about Pi Day (March 14th) at Wikipedia
This trailer by Joseph Brett recuts Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) as a US indie movie.
Note the correct aspect ratio, sans serif title font, use of atmospheric music and the clever choice of clips from the film.
It makes you think about how certain elements of the original (especially shot composition and pacing) seem more left-field in retrospect.
The music is ‘A Slight Return Home’ by Woodpigeon (iTunes link here).
> Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the IMDb
> The Trailer Mash
Raw first person footage of the Japanese tsunami conveys the utter devastation wrought by the recent earthquake.
This video shows the tsunami hitting the Miyagi Prefecture in the city of Kesennuma last Friday (March 11th) and was first broadcast on the Japanese channel TV Asahi.
It is Japan’s worst disaster since World War II and so far 1,627 people have been confirmed dead, 1,923 injured, and 1,720 missing.
These numbers are expected to increase, with some estimates of casualties in the tens of thousands.
To donate money to relief efforts just click on the following links:
People in the US can also make an easy $10 donation to the Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999.
For more information just click on the links below.
> Google Crisis Response
> More on the 2011 Tsunami at Wikipedia
> Get the latest coverage from BBC News
DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
Let Me In (Icon Home Entertainment): The US remake of the 2008 Swedish vampire film was surprisingly excellent, even surpassing the original in some respects, and relocates the action to New Mexico during the early 1980s. There a young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) befriends a mysterious girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) who has moved in next door with an older man (Richard Jenkins).
Directed by Matt Reeves, it evokes the time period brilliantly and certain sequences are superbly orchestrated, especially one dazzling set-piece involving a car. Michael Giacchinoâs wonderfully creepy score and the wintry location shooting helps create an effective atmosphere of dread. Although it bombed at the box office, appreciation for this film will grow over the years.
> Buy Let Me In on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK
> Read our longer review of the film
Gasland (Dogwoof Entertainment): A brilliant documentary written and directed by Josh Fox that explores US communities affected by natural gas drilling and the legislation that was passed during the Bush administration. Based on the director’s personal experiences, it is a diverting and powerful film about politics and the environment.
Fox travels around the country to interview various home owners about their experiences with gas companies engaging in reckless drilling and manages to capture some startling footage on camera. Nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, it is one of the best non-fiction films of 2010.
> Official site
> Buy Gasland on DVD from Amazon UK
ALSO OUT
71 – Into the Fire (Showbox Media Group) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Altitude (Anchor Bay Entertainment UK) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Jackass 3 (Paramount Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Legacy – Black Ops (Revolver Entertainment) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Misfits: Series 1 and 2 (4DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
My Bloody Valentine (3D) (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / 3D Edition with 2D Edition]
The Arbor (Verve Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Beyond (Arrow Video) [Blu-ray / Normal]
This Is England ’86 (4DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
> UK cinema releases for Friday 11th March 2011
> The Best DVD & Blu-ray releases of 2010
In 1972 film writer William K. Everson, novelist Anthony Burgess and actor Malcolm McDowell sat down for a TV discussion about Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971).
Among the things they talk about are:
Notice how Everson seems to be talking to camera without the aid of an autocue and how abruptly the thing ends.
> Find out more about William K. Everson, Anthony Burgess and Malcolm McDowell at Wikipedia
> A Clockwork Orange at the IMDb
Austrian artist Wolfgang Matzl has created a 60 second version of Inception done in paper stop-motion.
> Wolfgang Matzl
> Inception at the IMDb
One of the most powerful earthquakes since records began has hit the north-east coast of Japan, causing a massive tsunami.
Wikipedia already have a detailed page about the event, with the following information:
These various videos and photos convey the devastation:
Google have created a Person Finder so people can look for lost loved ones or post a note saying they are safe.
BBC News have live coverage with regularly updated video and information.
> Find out more about the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami at Wikipedia
> Get the latest from BBC News and CNN
Battle: Los Angeles (Sony Pictures): Sci-fi action film about a Marine platoon fighting an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena.[12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Fair Game (Entertainment One): Political drama about CIA agent Valerie Plame and her diplomat husband in the run up to the Iraq War. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer] [Read our review]
The Company Men (Universal): Drama about workers struggling to cope with corporate lay offs during the current recession. Directed by John Wells and starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Rosemary DeWitt.[15] [Reviews] [Trailer] [Read our review here]
Hall Pass (warner Bros.): Comedy about a married man granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife. Directed by The Farrelly Brothers and starring Owen Wilson and Christina Applegate. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
The Resident (Icon): Horror film about a young doctor suspects she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn apartment. Directed by Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
ALSO OUT
His & Hers (Element Pictures Distribution): Documentary about Irish women and their views on men. Directed by Ken Wardrop. [Trailer]
Legacy: Black Ops (Revolver): Conpsiracy thriller about a solider on the verge of a breakdown. Directed by Thomas Ikimi and starring Idris Elba, Eamon Walker and Monique Gabriela. [Trailer] [Reviews]
Norwegian Wood (Soda Pictures): Drama based on the 1987 novel by Haruki Murakami about two lovers struggling to deal with their past in 1960s Tokyo. Directed by Tran Anh Hung and starring Rinko Kikuchi. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Life Goes On (SD Films): British-Asian drama about family struggles. Directed by Sangeeta Datta and starring Om Puri, Sharmila Tagore and Girish Karnad. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Living In Emergency (Arts Alliance): A documentary about humanitarian group MÊdecins Sans Frontières who provide emergency medical help to distressed countries. Directed by Mark Hopkins. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
> Get local cinema showtimes at Google Movies or FindAnyFilm
> UK DVD & Blu-ray releases for Monday 7th March 2011, including Life in a Day and Traffik
It didn’t find an audience in the US but this drama is a thoughtful depiction of the American workplace during the current recession.
Exploring the contemporary economic malaise through the lens of a fictional Massachusetts company GTX, the story focuses on various employees as they gradually feel the effects of corporate downsizing.
The principle focus is on a cocksure sales guy (Ben Affleck) in his late 30s; his veteran colleague (Chris Cooper) and the company’s co-founder (Tommy Lee Jones) as they all try to deal with the pressures applied by their cost-cutting CEO (Craig T Nelson).
As they have to deal with the soul destroying effects of losing their white-collar livelihoods, they all struggle to cope with unemployment and its impact on their personal and professional lives.
Director John Wells has had an illustrious career in television with megahits like ER and The West Wing, and like those shows his debut feature deals with white-collar workers and contemporary social issues.
Some will criticise the film for not dealing with those lower down the economic food chain, but it is arguably more daring to examine the soured dreams of the American middle class.
Although by no means perfect, it is a restrained but compelling portrait of people coming to terms with the uncertainty and despair following the financial collapse of 2008.
Wells has assembled an excellent ensemble cast: Affleck convincingly displays the arc of a complacent man gradually humbled by circumstance; Rosemary DeWitt is an effective voice of reason and love as his wife; Jones brings a wise, grizzled anger to his part whilst Cooper paints a haunting portrait of an older worker in despair.
The supporting turns are also of a high standard: Nelson makes for a ruthlessly logical boss; Maria Bello is his conflicted hatchet woman; whilst Kevin Costner has his best role in some time as Affleck’s blue-collar brother-in-law who offers him work.
Set in sterile corporate offices or suburban houses, the hiring Roger Deakins as cinematographer was a master stroke: not only does he light these environments with his customary skill and taste, but he also brings a visual elegance to the film which is so well executed you barely notice it.
This is not a film with especially earth shattering revelations, as anyone with a brain can deduce that unemployment leads to misery and despair.
But the screenplay, based on extensive interviews and research, is filled with painfully accurate touches: the outplacement seminars designed to help laid off workers; the corporate obsession with the stock market; the quiet agony of trying to get re-employed, the effects on loved ones and the struggle to re-establish an identity defined by a job.
Coming at time when America and Europe is only just coming to terms with the scope of the late 2000s recession, the film is powerful reminder of the Capitalism gone horribly wrong.
No doubt that is why audiences have largely stayed away from the film, as this is a raw subject, perhaps too close to home for many individuals and families affected by job losses.
There are times when the screenplay and guitar-inflected score reach for sentimental uplift, but overall the message throughout is fairly subversive for a mainstream American film.
Not only does it point out the callow nature of corporate America but also highlights the emptiness of material possessions and shallow thinking that played a part in inflating the sub-prime mortgage bubble.
An unusually bold film, it deserves credit for confronting an issue that will unfortunately be around for some time to come.
> Official site
> Reviews of The Company Men at Metacritic
> Find out more about the late-2000s recession at Wikipedia
Life magazine have unearthed new photos of Hitler’s wife Eva Braun, including one of her dressed up as Al Jolson’s character  in The Jazz Singer (1927).
The 30 photos cover most of Braun’s life, from her childhood through to her time with the fascist dictator, but it is the one of her dressed up as Jolson that can be safely filed in the folder marked ‘creepy’.
According to the magazine she was a big fan of the first major talkie and liked American movies, especially Gone with the Wind (1939).
The photos were discovered and quickly confiscated by the U.S. Army in 1945 and only recently released by collector and curator Reinhard Schulz.
You can see the full collection of photos over at Life.com.
* UPDATE 11/03/11: The US National Archives are now saying that they had the photos all along *
> The Jazz Singer at All Movie Guide
> Find out more about Eva Braun at Wikipedia
This ingenious trailer mashup manages to mix The Hangover (2009) with Daniel Craig’s recent Bond films, Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).
Although it barely made a dent at the US box office, the story of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame makes for an impressive political drama.
Despite being one of the key world events of the last decade, the Iraq War has proved to be box office poison for films attempting to deal with it.
Films such as In the Valley of Elah (2007), Body of Lies (2008), Stop-Loss (2008) and Green Zone (2010) have all shunned by mainstream US audiences who presumably don’t want to dwell on the painful consequences of a politically divisive conflict.
So it proved with Fair Game, which explores how the Bush White House leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) in retaliation for an article her diplomat husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) had criticised the justification for war in 2003.
But despite the lack of interest from US audiences it is an expertly assembled piece of work and easily director Doug Liman’s best film in years.
After an opening which establishes Plame’s background as an undercover operative the drama begins when Wilson is asked to travel to Niger in order to ascertain whether they have sold uranium to Iraq.
After concluding that there’s no substance to the claim, he is enraged when the White House use his report as part of their justification for war, prompting him to write an angry counter-blast in the New York Times.
This then triggers a rebuttal by syndicated columnist Robert Novak which outs Plame and triggers not only the end of her career but a political scandal involving Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby (David Andrews) and undercover operatives endangered by the leak.
Some will have issues with the details of the script by Jez Butterworth and John Butterworth, which is largely based on the Wilson’s two memoirs.
But whatever the interpretations it weaves reporting, details and anecdotes to powerfully evoke the heady rush to war in 2003 when the Bush White House was keen to steamroller any dissent regarding the invasion.
It is also a powerful depiction of a marriage thrown into turmoil as many in the media establishment initially side with the White House having swallowed the justifications for war.
Watts is convincing as a working CIA agent, conveying her frustrations with agency politics and the consequences for her life and career.
Penn inhabits his role effectively, as one might expect, even if his performance does involve a fair bit of scenery chewing as he seeks to defend his wife and principles.
In small but significant supporting roles, Sam Shepard, Noah Emmerich, Michael Kelly and Bruce McGill are all good value as Washington insiders.
The real star though is Doug Liman and the film represents a new creative lease of life for him after making studio fare such as Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) and Jumper (2008).
Serving as his own cinematographer for the first time since Go (1999), the visuals have a compelling immediacy and the narrative moves at a decent pace despite cramming in a lot of material into the 105 minute running time.
The world of Washington circa 2003 is also effectively evoked by Jess Gonchor’s production design.
It may be some years before mainstream US culture is ready to digest the Iraq War – it took a decade before films like Platoon (1986) revisited the deep scars of Vietnam – but Fair Game is an honourable and well made reminder of the nature of the government who engineered the conflict.
Fair Game opens at UK cinemas on Friday 11th March
> Official site
> Reviews of Fair Game at Metacritic
> Find out more about the Plame Afair at Wikipedia
Aside from being a great director David Lynch has some mean skills in the kitchen.
Around the release of Inland Empire (2006) he made these cooking videos where he prepares some quinoa and organic broccoli.
Shot in black and white, they are set to some moody music as the director mentions the qualities of quinoa (“they say that it is the only grain that is a perfect, complete protein”) and he tells a mean anecdote about his travels in Europe involving paper money and sugar water.
I could watch a whole series of this.
Designer Olly Moss has done two new posters for the films of Duncan Jones: Moon (2009) and the upcoming Source Code (2011).
[Click here for a larger version]
The latter premieres at SXSW in Austin, Texas this week and opens in the UK on Friday 1st April.
[Via Sound on Sight]
> Olly Moss
> Duncan Jones at the IMDb
> SXSW 2011 Film Lineup
Daniel Craig stars in this Bond-themed two-minute short for International Women’s Day.
Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, it was scripted by Jane Goldman and voiced by Dame Judi Dench (reprising her role as ‘M’).
> International Women’s Day
> Daniel Craig at Wikipedia
Stanley Kubrick died on this day in 1999 and here are a series of people paying tribute to him.
Steven Spielberg remembers their relationship:
Tom Cruise recalls working on Eyes Wide Shut (1999):
Nicole Kidman also remembers working on what would be Kubrick’s final film:
Here is a BBC News report the night he died:
In 2001, his regular producer Jan Harlan, director Martin Scorsese and wife Christiane Kubrick joined Charlie Rose for an hour long chat around the release of the documentary Stanley Kubrick, A Life in Pictures.
There is also this montage (by YouTube user vezina2001) set to the music of Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard:
Then there is this montage of all his films:
> Stanley Kubrick at MUBi and Wikipedia
> BBC News on Kubrick’s death
Sean Parker has given a revealing interview where he gives his views on The Social Network and his tensions with the filmmakers.
In the film, which charts the founding of Facebook, Parker (Justin Timberlake) becomes an important adviser to founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) before being let go after an incident at a party.
Zuckerberg has already disputed aspects of the film but in an interview with Slate, Parker not only reveals his feelings but discloses how Sony showed him an early cut of the film.
“Sony screened the film for me and a couple of friends, which was nice of them, given that they knew I’d hate it. My friends were up in arms at the end. They were screaming and one of them got drunk and started yelling at the woman from Sony, ‘He’s going to sue you! He’s going to sue you!’ and I’m like, ‘Shut the f**k up! Be quiet please. Let’s be dignified here.”
He then talks about director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin:
“I’m watching it and thinking this is really interesting. This character is definitely not me. It is a plot device created by Aaron Sorkin to tell the story that Aaron Sorkin wants to tell. At the same time I’m looking at David Fincher’s work [the film’s director] and saying this is brilliant and this guy has an obsessive devotion to accuracy.”
It seems there were tensions with Sorkin:
“My interactions with Sorkin were agonisingly weird. He is by far the weirdest person I have ever met. I had dinner with him and a few hours before I got an e-mail from his assistant saying, ‘Sean, this does not need to be a long conversation. Aaron is only going to use it to win your trust.’ ” He laughs loudly. “I went, ‘What? What is this guy thinking?'”
[The dinner turned out to be] “like the most phony, stilted conversation … It was as if he had scripted our conversation and when I deviated from the script, he came back to it.” I am laughing too much to eat as Parker builds up to his story’s punchline. “He was also twitching through the entire meal. Like uncontrollably twitching. Shaking in fact … I don’t think he won my trust.”
In addition he also gave an interview at the DLD conference in Germany with author Paulo Coelho where he talked about how his character was portrayed in the film:
> Review of The Social Network
> Mark Zuckerberg’s opinions on The Social Network
> /Film on the truth of The Social Network
> More on Sean Parker and Facebook at Wikipedia
A working version of the floating house from Pixar’s Up has been created by the National Geographic Channel.
As part of their series “How Hard Can It Be?” engineers built a basic house structure and lifted it into the air for over an hour using 300 weather balloons.
More photos can be seen below and at My Modern Net:
[via Brainpicker and My Modern Net]
> Find out more about Up at IMDb and Wikipedia
> National Geographic Channel
> Sad but moving story about a young girl who wanted to see Up
DVD PICKS
Life in a Day (Entertainment One UK): A user-generated documentary sourced from footage shot by thousands of YouTube users on a single day last year – July 24th 2010.
Directed by Andrew MacDonald, the project began as a partnership between the video sharing site and Ridley Scott’s company Scott Free, eventually ending up with 80,000 submissions from users around the world.
Although more of an experiment than a regular feature, it is a fascinating document of people around the world and director Andrew MacDonald and his team of editors did a great job of editing down the 4,500 hours of footage.
The end result is only 94 minutes but movingly depicts a wide range of human behaviour from over 140 nations and is given an added kick by the score by Harry Gregson-Williams.
> Life in a Day channel at YouTube
> IMDb link
Traffik (Acorn Media):Â This classic 1989 TV mini-series broke with tradition by presenting a more global and realistic depiction of the drug trade. Over six episodes it wove three stories involving a Pakistani poppy grower (Jamal Shah) and local drug lord (Talat Hussain); a German smuggler (George Kukura), his wife (Lindsay Duncan) and two cops after him (Fritz MĂźller-Scherz and Tilo PrĂźckner); and a British politician (Bill Paterson) and his drug addicted daughter (Julia Ormond).
The writing, direction and acting are excellent and it won three BAFTAs and an International Emmy for best drama. Although it was later remade as Traffic (2000), directed by Steven Soderbergh and relocated to Mexico and the US, the original has a greater depth and richness to it.
> Buy Traffik on DVD from Amazon UK
> UK viewers can watch the series for free on 40D here.
ALSO OUT
And Soon the Darkness (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Cabin Fever/The Blair Witch Project (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Drag Me to Hell/Heartless (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Ip Man 2 (Showbox Media Group) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Mad Dogs (2 Entertain) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Madagascar (2 Entertain) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Phenomena (Arrow Video) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Ride Around the World (BPDP) [Blu-ray / DVD]
Saw: The Final Chapter (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / DVD / 3D Edition]
The Kid (Revolver Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD]
The Long Kiss Goodnight (Warner Home Video) [Blu-ray / DVD]
WWE: Survivor Series – 2010 (Silver Vision) [Blu-ray / DVD]
> UK cinema releases for Friday 4th March 2011
> The Best DVD & Blu-ray releases of 2010
Conan O’Brien recently did this spoof of those Apple videos about the iPad 2.
> More on iPad 2 at Wikipedia
> Team Coco
Charlie Sheen has now launched his own show on the internet called Sheen’s Korner.
After a week of manic and erratic interviews which have seen the actor’s profile skyrocket, he has now taken to the web, racking up nearly two million Twitter followers in a week and launching his own web show called Sheen’s Korner.
It mainly consists of Sheen sitting around with his friends, looking into the wrong camera and rambling about things.
This whole episode is playing out like a modern day version of Howard Beale’s meltdown in Network (1976).
Just substitute ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore’ with ‘winning’.
> Charlie Sheen at Wikipedia
> Network at the IMDb
