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Prestigious Priest
Nov. 23rd, 2005 04:17 pmThere's going to be a film of Chris Priest's The Prestige! -- with David Bowie as Nikola Tesla! -- directed by Christopher Nolan of Memento fame! -- and Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as the two magicians Borden and Angier. How cool is that? (Very.)
Is this the first film of a Priest novel?
Is this the first film of a Priest novel?
The Weird Sisters -> RadioPulp
Nov. 9th, 2005 02:32 pmEveryone who might care about such a thing probably knows this already, but just in case, here's the casting for the band in the upcoming Harry Potter film:
Jarvis Cocker .... Band Lead Singer
Jonny Greenwood .... Band Lead Guitar
Phil Selway .... Band Drums
Steve Mackey .... Band Bass Guitar
Jason Buckle .... Band Rhythm Guitar
Steve Claydon .... Band Keyboards
Apparently there are MP3s around the place, if you can't wait to hear what that comes out like...
Jarvis Cocker .... Band Lead Singer
Jonny Greenwood .... Band Lead Guitar
Phil Selway .... Band Drums
Steve Mackey .... Band Bass Guitar
Jason Buckle .... Band Rhythm Guitar
Steve Claydon .... Band Keyboards
Apparently there are MP3s around the place, if you can't wait to hear what that comes out like...
The Brothers Grimm
Nov. 8th, 2005 10:55 amWell, it's no Brazil, but we enjoyed it. It'd be nice to see Tery Gilliam doing more with his talents, but I guess he has to pay the rent somehow, and as fantastical effects-laden occult tosh goes, this is streets ahead of the likes of Van Helsing.
If you don't like insects and the like, there are quite a few gruesome moments. In fact the whole thing is pretty gruesome for a 12A: two severed heads, a minced kitten, a ghastly eyeless face, a rabbit being flayed and gutted... yikes! And that's not counting the truly terrifying array of dodgy wandering accents being put about by Messrs Damon, Ledger and Pryce.
Overall: go to see it with fairly moderate expectations, and you won't be disappointed.
If you don't like insects and the like, there are quite a few gruesome moments. In fact the whole thing is pretty gruesome for a 12A: two severed heads, a minced kitten, a ghastly eyeless face, a rabbit being flayed and gutted... yikes! And that's not counting the truly terrifying array of dodgy wandering accents being put about by Messrs Damon, Ledger and Pryce.
Overall: go to see it with fairly moderate expectations, and you won't be disappointed.
Pane e Tulipani
Nov. 2nd, 2005 10:51 amWent on impulse last night to see this Italian film, which is a few years old now but of which I hadn't really been aware.
We both enjoyed it lots, on the wee screen at the IFT which is rather like someone's living-room only smaller, although it's a very European film if you know what I mean. (No, not like that, although there it does ave shower and massage scenes.) Apparently a Hollywood version is in the works, by the team who made Moonstruck, so heaven knows what that'll be like -- although this was planned to be set in New Orleans (to the original's Venice) so maybe it won't happen at all now.
It's a sort of Shirley Valentine meets Baghdad Café meets Death in Venice, if you can imagine that (only without the death). A neglected middle-aged woman winds up by herself in Venice and rediscovers life -- sounds rather cheesy in summary, and I guess it is, but really it's so charming and nicely played that you don't really mind it. Bruno Ganz, last seen playing Hitler in Downfall, does a very different turn as a Icelandic waiter with a strange way with words... and there's what might be a Brazil-like ending if you screw your eyes up slightly.
Apparently the lead actor is really playing the accordion herself, too, which we were wondering about as we walked home, sad people that we are.
We both enjoyed it lots, on the wee screen at the IFT which is rather like someone's living-room only smaller, although it's a very European film if you know what I mean. (No, not like that, although there it does ave shower and massage scenes.) Apparently a Hollywood version is in the works, by the team who made Moonstruck, so heaven knows what that'll be like -- although this was planned to be set in New Orleans (to the original's Venice) so maybe it won't happen at all now.
It's a sort of Shirley Valentine meets Baghdad Café meets Death in Venice, if you can imagine that (only without the death). A neglected middle-aged woman winds up by herself in Venice and rediscovers life -- sounds rather cheesy in summary, and I guess it is, but really it's so charming and nicely played that you don't really mind it. Bruno Ganz, last seen playing Hitler in Downfall, does a very different turn as a Icelandic waiter with a strange way with words... and there's what might be a Brazil-like ending if you screw your eyes up slightly.
Apparently the lead actor is really playing the accordion herself, too, which we were wondering about as we walked home, sad people that we are.
Corpse Bride
Oct. 25th, 2005 10:18 amJust a quickie -- was good, everything you would expect really. Nice plot, nice acting (especially Helena B-C, and it's not often you'll hear me say that), nice animation, nice Danny Elfman music, what's not to like!
And trailers for good things coming up -- Brothers Grimm, King Kong, new Harry Potter...
Actually it's now apparent that this month is a mini-Golden Age of cinema. New films by Miyazaki, Nick Park, Burton, Gilliam and Jackson in more-or-less successive weeks? Come on!
And trailers for good things coming up -- Brothers Grimm, King Kong, new Harry Potter...
Actually it's now apparent that this month is a mini-Golden Age of cinema. New films by Miyazaki, Nick Park, Burton, Gilliam and Jackson in more-or-less successive weeks? Come on!
Film criticism
Oct. 17th, 2005 03:56 pmThe other day I watched the film of The Cider House Rules, which had been on TV. The lead character, Homer Wells, grows up in an orphanage in the 1930s where they have a weekly film night -- but it's always the same film, King Kong, the only one they own. Later on Homer is taken to the cinema to see the Olivier Wuthering Heights, and when he comes out his date asks what he thought of it. He says:
"It was good, but it was no King Kong."
This immortal line filled me with great joy, as I'm sure it will some of you.
"It was good, but it was no King Kong."
This immortal line filled me with great joy, as I'm sure it will some of you.
Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Oct. 16th, 2005 08:40 amIt is as good as people've been saying. Possibly even better than The Wrong Trousers!* Go and see it right away, why don't you.
* Although nothing to quite compare with the final chase in that film, surely one of the finest sequences ever committed to celluloid...
* Although nothing to quite compare with the final chase in that film, surely one of the finest sequences ever committed to celluloid...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Jul. 31st, 2005 08:46 amThis film comes with a lot to live up to. A book that's firmly buried in the psyches of a generation. A cult predecessor from the early 70s. And the weight of Tim Burton's career, which after Planet of the Apes and Bg Fish was starting to look a little derailed.
So down we trotted to our local Odeon. (Which is apparently about to close, and not surprisingly -- the cinema was less than a quarter full, for one of the biggest openings of the year, at only £3.50. We'll have to start going to the UGC, which is 15 minutes' walk rather than 5 :-()
( What I thought (includes spoilers) )
So this is my only real recommendation of the summer blockbusters so far, which seem to have been even more derivative, witless and forgettable than usual. Maybe we're seeing the early death-throes of this unhealthy skew in the market.
So down we trotted to our local Odeon. (Which is apparently about to close, and not surprisingly -- the cinema was less than a quarter full, for one of the biggest openings of the year, at only £3.50. We'll have to start going to the UGC, which is 15 minutes' walk rather than 5 :-()
( What I thought (includes spoilers) )
So this is my only real recommendation of the summer blockbusters so far, which seem to have been even more derivative, witless and forgettable than usual. Maybe we're seeing the early death-throes of this unhealthy skew in the market.
