tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55448929841364276342024-03-19T08:56:04.779+00:00Beyond The MultiplexMy ramblings and musings on a number of films, you may not agree, it would be boring if you did.
Who am I to judge anyway?Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-7281771209323737752019-11-25T23:47:00.002+00:002019-11-25T23:47:55.369+00:00Knives Out<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span class="s2">I had no expectations going in to see this film. I’ve seen two of Rian Johnson’s films and I didn’t think much of Looper and I very much enjoyed The Last Jedi. The cast is one of the major selling points here. Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Daniel Craig and Christopher Plummer are all great draws. I loved seeing Don Johnson again after so long, and to see M. Emmet Walsh is a joy.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">Anyway Plummer plays a rich successful author with a hideous family. He’s 85 years old and is found dead one morning. There is then an investigation and many twists and turns that really play with Police procedures, as any whodunnit does. </span></div>
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<span class="s2">The joy here is that the film appears not to conform to all the rules, or does it. I couldn’t really care who did or didn’t do it, I found it far too enjoyable. I don’t think there are enough joyous films made for adults, these films used to be the stock trade of cinema, thirty or forty years ago. Long may these films continue. Wonderful, I want to see more not too demanding, enjoyable films</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-41603317329189583782019-10-11T14:41:00.002+01:002019-10-11T14:41:27.569+01:00Greed <div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">With films such as The Big Short (Adam McKay, 2015) in the recent past capitalism has not had a good rap really. Even going back to It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) and Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) we see that money doesn’t bring that much happiness per se. Here we have Sir Richard McCready, ‘Greedy’ to his friends and enemies alike on the verge of celebrating his 60th birthday on a Greek Island.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">McCready, played by the sparkling toothed Steve Coogan, is a clothes retail magnate who built an empire with small beginnings, and grew it with shady deals. Any comparison to any Arcadian is, well you know.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The theme of his 60th birthday party, apart from excess, is Rome and the film Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)- so he has a gladiatorial arena built on this Greek island. First of all by Bulgarians, and then eventually Syrian refugees.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I’m not sure how many times Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom have worked together, but they have a substantial working relationship. You can see the blossoming of it here, Coogan is so comfortable in his role, even in that of such an unlikeable character. It’s all very post modern as well, shifting times and places, going back and forth. It’s all like find the lady I suppose you have to look closely. The film says as much about global economics as it does about this industrialist. He is emblematic of bigger travails. ‘Only connect’, E.M. Forster is referenced as saying at the beginning, but then so to be honest is Chekhov.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-49347175062292440992019-10-11T11:54:00.003+01:002019-10-11T11:54:44.696+01:00Bad Education <div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">As opposed to, well you know. Banish all thoughts of Pedro Almodovar, Jack Whitehall and even Charlize Theron, most of the education here is good. Well maybe not in being a good influence on your children. Hugh Jackman plays Dr Frank Tassone, an inspirational school superintendent, like a super head, a chief education officer or someone in charge of an academy chain in England. He’s loved by everyone it seems, he’s in charge of a very successful school, enabling students to achieve, making it to Ivy League Colleges etc. He’s also credited with helping house prices sky rocket in the vicinity of the school. A good school creates demand and can be the centre of a good community. As well he’s a man of taste and wealth, and seems to be as liberally perfumed as Mr Gustave.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">However, there’s always a however. The school is on the verge of building a skywalk, an $8 million bridge that the students will love, right. The school newspaper sends a reporter to cover the skywalk story, just to really say ‘yay, we’re getting a skywalk!’ in speaking to the superintendent she’s inspired to write what she wants to write, dig deeper, impose herself. That’s where the kernel of the story is.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It’s a cautionary tale of not taking things at face value and also a case of looking at why someone might throw someone else under the bus. That it’s a true story is even more interesting, what was the film where they said ‘some of this stuff actually happened’. I’m not what was done was in the interests of comedy, but that’s where it all ends up.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-65837293586807069502019-10-08T09:24:00.000+01:002019-10-08T09:24:00.525+01:00Jojo Rabbit<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I was a bit squeamish about this film to be honest and faced the prospect of it with some trepidation. It being a comedy, with Nazis in it. It gave me some apprehension. I remember having exactly the same feelings about It’s Life Is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997), and then being entranced by that film.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Here we have Jojo who, at the age of 10, takes his first steps towards manhood. Living in Nazi Germany this involves going to camp, of the Hitler Youth, he discusses this with his friend Adolf Hitler, played by Taika Waititi, as you do at the age of 10 (in Nazi Germany). The camp, run by Sam Rockwell, is very reminiscent of the pack in Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012), with a similar amount of inappropriately dangerous activities organised for children; knife skills, killing small animals, throwing hand grenades etc, for the boys that is.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The film is really about the choices we make and who can influence those choices. Jojo’s mother, played by Scarlett Johansson does her best to be a good influence on him. Her influence and her views become apparent throughout the film, it’s all about breadcrumbs I guess.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">This, though, is the last days of the Second World War and there have been plenty of cinematic examples of what happened then. It’s all played with a heavy amount of humour, which we’ve seen before as well. I was reminded though of The Book Thief (Brian Percival, 2013) with its end of day’s vibes, the German army recruiting anyone that could hold a weapon.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Although it could be argued that the film is flippant, it could be said that’s done for entertainments sake. The film does attempt to discuss weighty issues and does show the Nazis in their true light. It does as well show that not all Germans were Nazis, it shows as well that friendship and love means an awful lot and that people can change, with the right influences.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-87009414711473228782019-10-05T23:38:00.003+01:002019-10-05T23:43:27.261+01:00Days of the Bagnold Summer<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bold"; font-size: 17pt; font-weight: bold;">Days of the Bagnold Summer </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">(Simon Bird, 2019) I suppose that one of the skills of good film making is to surround yourself with good people. Simon Bird has done that here, but of course it was up to him to use all of these elements to his advantage. The story concerns itself with a teenage boy and his mother spending a Summer together in suburban England. He should have been away in Florida with his dad, but it didn’t go to plan. It’s another story of a child growing up trying to fit into the world, he though listens to death metal wears black and doesn’t want to engage per se. So his mother spends time trying to connect with and re-establish the relationship they had when he was younger. </span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">The producers talked about how in the US they make films like this and Ghost World springs to mind as a prime example of a good Summer film. I suppose another element in all of this is acceptance. This can be accepting those around you, seeing people for what they are and ultimately accepting yourself. Often that’s a difficult skill, being comfortable with yourself.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">There is here as well a sparkling cast with some lovely performances. Monica Dolan and Earl Cave do a fantastic job of mother and son. They’re supported ably by Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig, among others. Simon Bird got some very good performances out of his actors.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I’ve had a really good few weeks listening to the soundtrack of this film, by Belle & Sebastian. It was quite interesting to see how the music fitted in to the film and not the other way round really. Their music has been inspired by the suburbs, as has so much great British music. It’s great to see it come to life through another medium here.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-10492809634880464482019-10-05T19:14:00.002+01:002019-10-05T19:14:42.189+01:00Joker<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText-Bold"; font-size: 17pt; font-weight: bold;">Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Well, there has been a lot of care given over to the making of this film. You cannot deny the impact that performances of this character have had in the past, namely Jack Nicholson’s and Heath Ledger’s. Here then Joaquin Phoenix is given his chance to inhabit this role, and of course he does so. Todd Phillips does his best to press all the right buttons, set the film in 80s, have an 80s Warners logo at the beginning, give it a Scorsese, Mean Streets, King of Comedy air. It’s also far grittier than most other Batman films, Gotham City really is an awful place to live it seems. There also seems to be such a massive problem with reality here. It could be argued that a lot of what happens goes on in Arthur’s head. This is apparent with all the inconsistencies in the story-telling. Maybe that’s what superheroes are, meta beings invented in our imagination, now that’s novel.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-21448150349674368192019-10-05T14:23:00.003+01:002019-10-05T14:23:33.114+01:00Our Ladies<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText-Bold"; font-size: 17pt; font-weight: bold;">Our Ladies</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">(Michael Caton-Jones, 2019) Am I wrong to be nostalgic? I couldn’t give a fig, I was swept away by the Tigermilk reference at the beginning. The story is reminiscent of those heady late 90s Belle & Sebastian stories, which is none too surprising in that this in an adaptation of Alan Warner’s late 90s novel ‘The Sopranos’. I was thoroughly entertained by the book and that story of five girls and their day in Edinburgh. Of course it’s another story of growing up and finding your way in the world, and as well another story of friendship. It’s an age old story with many examples in the past, but not always told with as much love as here. There are lovely tropes here as well, big town and small town, being on the cusp as well as the big wide world, appearances deceiving and that delicate time when actions and choices can reverberate across the decades. We also have here a group where anyone can say anything to anyone, at least in theory. The director, Michael Caton-Jones, was lucky to have such subject matter to work with, but also having the skill to make the best of these elements. He then made master strokes with the choice of music to put more flesh on the bone. </span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-63426757272110458202019-05-28T00:46:00.000+01:002019-05-28T00:46:14.809+01:00BooksmartThere’s been a long tradition of American films set in and around High Schools, from Rebel Without A Cause to Grease, the Breakfast Club, Clueless and Superbad and beyond. The cadre is now joined by Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019) the story of two girls about to graduate who have set themselves apart from their classmates. In the leading roles we have Beanie Feldstein, sister of Jonah Hill, and Kaitlyn Dever playing Amy and Molly; two Booksmart girls who’s heroes include RBG and Michelle, they also have a Warren 2020 bumper sticker. Molly is the class president and reminds her colleagues of this at any given opportunity. She and Amy have shied away from parties to get into their college of choice, they discover though that all the party animals are still getting into their college of choice as well. The rest of the film is of course all about the consequences of this discovery. It features over bearing parents, supportive teachers, an unusual use for a stuffed panda and lessons in what friendship is. The film basically follows a rom-com formula and is not too demanding really, it’s less than annoying as well. It’s actually more of what we need, lower budget films, with a decent script and engaging performances.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-61506544257405654802018-10-19T09:08:00.002+01:002018-10-19T09:08:39.704+01:00Swimming With MenSwimming With Men (Oliver Parker, 2018) may not be the most groundbreaking of films. It’s story follows a well trodden path, but of course does not tread water (boom-boom). Our hero is Eric (Rob Bryson) who we see from the beginning is an accountant that takes solace from his swim in the pool at the end of the working day. It seems that life has little meaning, his wife (Jane Horrocks) is moving in different circles as she’s a newly elected councillor and seems to have more purpose in her life than he does, along with different priorities.<br />
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Being an accountant, Eric is course good with numbers and calculation. It’s this prowess that introduces him to a group of male synchronised swimmers that he meets at the pool. They are having problems with a routine and Eric point out that there is a mathematical solution in that they need an even number of swimmers to succeed, so they should lose a man from the group. The swimmers discover that Eric’s personal circumstances have taken a turn for the worse. This leads to them eventually deciding that they need to increase their number for the routine to succeed. The group then recruits Eric so that they can save the routine and save him at the same time<br />
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There then follows a charming film about group dynamics, striving for a common goal and navigating your way through life. Eric finds that there is a Fight Club style element to the group. The first rule, he finds, is not to talk about swim club. It’s more than that though, it’s about brotherhood and moving away from mid life drift and ennui. The film therefore gives us an equation as to how one might stave off a lonely death, do stuff. Find something to do, preferably with other people, there’s possible longevity in common purpose. There’s charm in this story and this film and an emotional maturity as well, it’s worth taking the initial dip and immersing yourself in this.<br />
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Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-71196222594974646212018-10-18T23:56:00.001+01:002018-10-19T00:01:02.968+01:00The Day I Lost My ShadowThe Day I Lost My Shadow (Soudade Kaadan, 2018) The story of Sana and her son and what they do to survive in today’s Damascus, torn apart by the never ending civil war. In the normal course of events in their day; the electricity is switched off, they glory in having running water, Sana clears up broken glass at work and they live with the fear that the war might come ever closer and into their apartment.<br />
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Events spiral out of all proportion after they run out of bottled gas in the apartment and Sana goes off in search for this with a friend and her brother. They survive an incident with a taxi driver evading a checkpoint and then face further misfortunes. This leads the intrepid trio almost spiral down a rabbit hole where they maybe don’t end up in wonderland but in the middle of and environment where they meet a number of characters who offer a number of different challenges and opportunities, with varying degrees of good and poor fortune.<br />
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Maybe this is the experience of living in a war zone, especially when the war in question is a civil war. Maybe you don’t always know which way up and down is, and who is on which side as they may have changed since yesterday. The film highlights that the victims of these wars are ordinary working people, it’s their lives that are turned upside down, it’s they that become collateral damage, when all they are trying to do is to live their life.<br />
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It’s these people that live in the shadows and as the title suggest it’s death that takes these shadows away. The distinction is made with Hiroshima, where all that was left of the dead was their shadow. This is a fine film that reminds us what happens when a nation falls in on itself and maybe it’s the act of these people living, or attempting to live a normal life, that will eventually lead a country lie Syria out of darkness.<br />
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<br />Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-9057651074076811882018-10-13T22:51:00.000+01:002018-10-13T22:51:03.159+01:00You Were Never Really Here<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Utterly bizarre and marvellous film. It’s about a hitman called Joe who lives with his mother, he’s engagingly played by Joaquin Phoenix. Thing is that his past is always with him, as is normal, but this seems to skew his world view somewhat. We have then this mix of violence and the surreal as Joe travels through his waking dreams. Lynne Ramsay as ever weaves a delicate and beautifully balanced film, she and the novelist Jonathan Ames are such a wonderful storytellers, this is sublime. Even though I’m not sure of what I’ve maybe seen.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-11410608865288348082018-09-09T02:11:00.000+01:002018-09-09T02:11:24.973+01:00Hurricane<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The film, we are told at the beginning, is based on actual events, which makes some of what you see quite shocking. That is the way that these pilots were treated by some British pilots and the authorities in Poland after the war. The general consensus seemed to be that they, over time went from escaping the Nazis and then suffering the Soviets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It was a well told story with decent performances from Iwan Rheon and Stefanie Martini. Ms Martini did well to show some of the experiences of women serving in the armed forces in WWII. It seems that, depressingly, women could play their part but some men would only let them do this on their terms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I did worry some times, watching this, as it looked to as if it was a film that was filmed as economically as possible. There were lots of CGI used in the dog fight scenes, but the filmmakers just about got away with that. There were a few scenes with some interesting prosthetics for characters that had suffered from fire in the cockpit. At least they were shown in this film, Christopher Plummer’s character suffered burns damage in The Battle Of Britain (Guy Hamilton, 1969) but was not shown with his injuries, a chance missed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">What also can’t be ignored is how the film discusses the role of Poles, and foreigners in general, in Britain. The film was of course set in 1940, but context is provided by it being a a film made in 2018. It’s not unreasonable to draw parallels with the experience of foreign personnel in Britain during and after WWII and after Brexit. 56% of Britons wanted foreign personnel repatriated after WWII, such gratitude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">On the whole I enjoyed the film and I was caught up in the story. It was well told and was a fitting tribute to the brave personnel that took their part in winning freedom for us all.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-86224212628468812302018-09-08T00:41:00.002+01:002018-09-08T00:58:04.996+01:00Billy Liar<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(153, 170, 187); font-family: GraphikApp-Regular; font-size: 15px;">Billy Liar (John Schlesinger, 1963) is the engaging tale of Billy Fisher, wonderfully portrayed by Tom Courtenay. The film was produced by that triumvirate of British talent; Keith Waterhouse, John Schlesinger and Richard Rodney Bennett. Billy is a clerk at an Undertakers but dreams of being much more. We see his daydreams of being a victorious leader in the country in his mind, Ambrosia. He also has pretentions of writing for a comedian in London and leaving his Bradford home. He’s living with his long suffering mum and dad, and his grandmother. He has a dark secret in his wardrobe of 200 calendars that he was supposed to have posted for his employer last Christmas. He also has a very complicated love life. All of this is further complicated by him being economical with the truth. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The film catches England in that crux of change when World War Two bomb sites were being built upon and those buildings that had survived the war were being demolished for progress. It was also the cusp of that time when teenagers and young people were being invented; going to coffee houses, dances, riding motorbikes and talking back to their parents.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The film as well is like a celebration of British acting talent with not only Tom Courtenay nay, but also Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Rodney Bewes, Leonard Rossiter, Mona Washbourn and Helen Fraser. In that as well it links the past with the future, wonderful stuff.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-38029885044079999782018-09-01T21:15:00.003+01:002018-09-02T17:44:07.770+01:00BlacKKKlansman<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I can’t say if it’s the film of the year but it’s one of them. This is the story of how a black police officer, Ron Stallworth, from Colorado Springs infiltrated the KKK, or the organisation, as they call it, in the early 1970s. What Spike Lee does though is makes it relevant to today’s America. The shame of course is that it’s relevant to today’s America. The shame is that it’s the President that has made this relevant to today’s America. The wonderful thing is that Spike Lee can concoct a wonderful narrative, he can build drama, he can get great performances from his actors. It’s not just a wake up call for us all, it’s a great film as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The beauty of this film, as should happen with good fiction, is variety of potential conflict and the uneasy interaction between a number of characters. So it’s not just about Ron’s interaction with the KKK. It’s also about his interaction with the black students organisations at the local college. His burgeoning relationship with Patrice, the organiser of one of the organisations. His interaction with other officers in the Colorado Sprngs Police Department. Here, there’s one officer Philip who is Jewish and the film explores his conflicts that arise from this story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It would be easy to portray the KKK as buffoons and leave it there. But what happens is that we see what a menace they can be and what their intent is as well. Chillingly we hear and see the efforts the Grand Wizard, David Duke, made so that the Klan would become a main stream political organisation. A pressure group that would exert influence on main stream America. All of this at the same time as being a deeply racist and prejudicial organisation.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-76855369157363189462018-04-02T18:09:00.000+01:002018-04-02T18:09:30.043+01:00Ready Player One<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This is a film that Spielberg has been leading up to for all of his life. Here we have Wade, a gamer in Columbus, Ohio 2045, playing a massive VR game called Oasis. This has nothing to do with Mancunians in questionable headgear, more to do with the Californian scientists in the Fast Show, as if they were more tech savvy that is. It’s a film about a future where people are subjugated, in a number of ways, it’s about capitalism and socio-economics. It also has a voice over, I never generally trust films with those.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I have to say that I found the beginning of the story to be a bit boring, obvious and underwhelming. The whole film came across as a more benign version of the Matrix, combined with elements of Scooby Doo and Vanilla Sky. You can see that there is love in the film, Spielberg and his crew enjoyed themselves, and often that’s enough. They made a film that pleases them, great. The film will please a lot of people, it’ll do well on TV on Bank Holidays. Intrinsically though that is not enough. Spielberg has and will make better films than this, but over the years he has earned the right to make films like this. It is possible to wallow in shallow entertainment, but like a Chinese takeaway, you’ll soon need more.</span></div>
Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-8415573118280829082017-11-14T23:14:00.001+00:002017-11-14T23:19:25.612+00:00Babette’s Feast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have to tell you about a great cinematic experience I’ve had. On Saturday, I saw the ever excellent, Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987), which was put on by the marvellous Rusthall Community Cinema, which is in a village abutting Tunbridge Wells. The Community Cinema was set up a couple of years ago and it has flourished under the stewardship of Eugene Gardner and the rest of its volunteers. The film is the story of Babette, who through some twists ends up being the housekeeper to two sisters living on the unforgiving Danish coast in the late nineteenth century.<br />
Babette, we learn, is French and is recommended to the sisters by an erstwhile singing teacher and suitor to one of the sisters, a M. Papin. In fact Babette is actually more of a companion, who works for nothing, as the sisters cannot afford to pay her. A friend of Babette’s, in Paris continues to enter her into a local lottery and one day, after many years in Denmark her numbers come up and she wins 10,000 Francs.<br />
To coincide with the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sisters departed, Pastor father’s birth, Babette offers to cook a French feast for the sisters and the villagers, using the proceeds of her win to pay for this. There then follows the famous feast. In the depiction of the preparation we see languorous and lush sequences of the food in the kitchen, that bring to mind painted images of such by old masters.<br />
The, film as well, treads that well-worn path in talking about redemption, forgiveness and eventual acceptance. What it does though is to show that with age, it’s often easier to forgive, especially when you’ve got a full stomach and you’ve had a few.<br />
Now, in Rusthall on Saturday, the community cinema people and a local café, the Daily Bread, did their very best to recreate this meal before we saw the film. They did a stupendous job. We had a magnificent seven course meal which were reminded of throughout the film.<br />
Rusthall Community Cinema certainly strives to earn its stripes as an event cinema destination. At previous films the volunteers have dressed for the occasion, especially for the Grand Budapest Hotel and Bridge of Spies. The Sunnyside Hall is normally adorned with appropriate ephemera. They really make an effort to make the films come alive. They organise discussion groups to chew over what we’ve just seen. This effort, though, was above and beyond the call of duty and made for an extra special evening.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-51347480110955076002017-01-27T21:11:00.000+00:002017-01-27T21:11:45.528+00:00T2 TrainspottingWhen Irvine Welsh published Porno, his sequel to Trainspotting, in 2002, Adrian Fry was most perturbed and complained that I wouldn't be able to red it on the bus owing to the cover featuring a blow up doll. Fourteen or so years later comes T2 Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 2017) the film sequel which, according to the credits is based on Porno and Trainspotting. So we have Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie and Diane dealing with the consequences of the first film.<br />
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The film begins in Amsterdam with Renton running on a treadmill, we’re treated to a montage about the city, akin to an earlier about London. This one though features Johan Cruyff and Robin van Persie doing the business for the Dutch national team. Partially due to a collapse on the treadmill; Mark returns to Edinburgh. Here he meets up with friends, families, acquaintances and old haunts.<br />
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Of course the past hangs over everyone, as happens in life. There is the habit as well that as people get older then reminiscences grow and you spend more time in the past. Mark, Simon, Spud and Begbie spend a lot of time in the past, using this experience to inform the present. This is explored as well in looking at the relationship between father and son; and how this can ead to the recognition that not all traits need to be passed on. This is the same with Edinburgh which we see as a city of change, it’s discussed in the film how gentrification has not reached all the districts of the city though. Edinburgh is recognised as being more cosmopolitan and how European money has been aiding the regeneration of post industrial areas, for the time being.<br />
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One of the best things about this film is that Danny Boyle has not remade Trainspotting. This film features an excellent soundtrack that rivals that of the first film. The film though has a much different tone than the first film. That was about men in their twenties this is about men in their forties. There are exhilarating moments, there is conflict, there is drug misuse. However the characters have moved on, along with the audience.<br />
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Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-59162140361043638882017-01-23T23:13:00.000+00:002017-01-24T15:24:42.533+00:00I, Daniel BlakeWhen I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016) was released there were arguments and discussions in the press as to how accurate the film was. Iain Duncan Smith, the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, argued that it was not and Damian Green, his successor, argued in a similar way. Unfortunately it transpired that Green hadn’t seen it and described the film as ‘monstrously unfair’. Which it seems is a fair description of the Tory welfare policies that led to writing and making of the film.<br />
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The story and its scenarios was constructed by information divulged by Department for Work and Pensions employees and members of their union; the PCS. This would indicate that there are staff members are far from comfortable with the situations portrayed in this film and what they are called to do. This is evident in the film where a job adviser is told off by her manager for giving too much help to a claimant. Part of the problem would be that the DWP staffing budgets have been cut meaning that the time that they can spend with claimants would be reduced.<br />
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The story is that the eponymous hero, Daniel Blake, suffers a heart attack whilst working as a carpenter. Due to his heart condition he is told not to work by his doctor and the nurses who care for him. He should then receive Employment and Support Allowance, but he is assessed as being fit for work because he says that can put a hat on and that he could walk fifty metres. He is then cast into a bureaucratic, cold and uncaring system; which has him having to look for work and proving that he is doing so, while he should be resting and recuperating.<br />
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With the film being set in Newcastle and featuring the stories of working class people returns us to familiar territory for a Ken Loach film. He has highlighted injustices in the past and illuminated some people whose plight does not often see the light of day.<br />
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In this story Daniel befriends Katie, who has moved to Newcastle with her two young children from London after they were evicted from their accommodation. We see the struggles they go through and the choices that they are faced with. These choices, of course, are the result of circumstance and consequences. The point is made that when you have nothing, or next to nothing, then you can easily end up in situations that are far from perfect; making choices that you should not have to make.<br />
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This film shows up the human cost of cutting welfare. These cuts cannot discriminate so that they only affect so called scroungers. As depicted in the film the cuts and the system they lead to leave some people behind. Digital by default is a mantra used here as well. If for whatever reason you are not fully participating in the information age then the government may not help you and you may fall behind, or worse. If your condition, or state of health, has a temporary effect, or you’re able to perform simple tasks there apparently is no excuse for you not working, you’re fit for work and should look for work. Here this includes a major heart condition that slows and doesn’t necessarily stop you.<br />
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When I think about the cultural impact of this film and the heap of bureaucratic snares that are depicted I’m reminded of Kafka, Swift and Lewis Carroll. There is a ridiculous element to this, the state does seem to have evolved into that role of the red queen eliminating problems in a cold had heartless manner, whilst the relatively caring king seems to be ineffectual. I read an article that said that filmmakers today should be asking questions and it wasn’t necessarily their place to answer them, rather like here.<br />
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Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-80661097552092344612016-11-11T21:31:00.001+00:002016-11-11T21:31:22.342+00:00Nocturnal Animals Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford, 2016) a story about destruction basically. Amy Adams plays Susan an art gallery owner who is deeply upset with her life, so much so that she has bouts of insomnia. Her ex-husband sends her a manuscript of his novel which preys on her mind further. It puts into perspective her current marriage and of course her first. The book helps her look afresh at her professional life and revisit some decisions she's made in the past. I loved this film, full of intrigue and suspense. Ford seems to know how to convey internal conflict with great aplomb.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-82748928179109150472016-10-14T22:12:00.002+01:002016-10-14T22:12:35.052+01:00 Brimstone Well Brimstone (Martin Koolhoven, 2016), as the title may indicate, is a western mired in a battle between good and evil. We meet Liz who with her husband and their children live in a small frontier community, she is a midwife and we soon find out that she is mute. A new preacher arrives in town and Liz takes an instant dislike to him. There then follows a story about death, accusation and redemption. It's a world full of misogyny and mistrust, where men display unspeakable behaviour, truly awful. There are some moments in this film where I had to hide away they were that horrible to look at. It maybe that Martin Koolhoven had this in mind when he was making the film, you certainly empathise with the characters. There's at least one Chien Andalou moment here. There are great production values on display here, the film is well shot but I'm not sure about some of the content I saw here and it was all a bit far fetched really.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-79771995684701781452016-10-14T22:09:00.001+01:002016-10-14T22:09:40.889+01:00Their FinestTheir Finest (Lone Sherfig, 2016) this a film set in the early forties in London and concerns itself with the then British film industry. Being in the middle of World War II there were of course films being made for propaganda purposes. Here we see the production of a film about the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk in 1940. To make the film more relevant to women there is a recruitment of a female screenwriter to write the slop, as they call it, dialogue for women in most other parlances. The film does give just coverage and space to the role of women in the war and how people's perceptions changed as to what women could achieve. There is a natural humour in the film which makes the film hilarious on occasion. Some of that is due to the performances especially Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy, Sam Claflin and Rachel Stirling, but also due to the freedom the director gave her actors. There is as well a healthy acknowledgment of the nature of living in wartime and how you can be talking to someone one minute and then they're dead the next. The film is nostalgic, but with good reason, it never really strays into sentimentality, it stays true to its intentions and to the believability of the situation, as well as keeping well within the language of film.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-2136269065674663952016-10-12T21:32:00.005+01:002016-10-14T22:10:11.337+01:00The Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, 2016) seems to have been the controversial film de jour. To my mind it's a violent film about a violent time, being Georgia of the 1820s and 30s. The events of Nat Turner's life led him to the slave uprising of 1831, a violent act that was resolved with violence. At an early age he'd been set up as a leader and because he had the ability to read eventually became a preacher in his own community and then farmed out to put other slaves in their place. That then led to his realisation of what he could achieve. All of this is set in place in very well made, written and acted film. Full of nobility and beauty, befitting the importance of the subject matter.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-59184486803265332962016-10-12T21:32:00.001+01:002016-10-12T21:32:13.165+01:00Dearest SisterDearest Sister (Mattie Do, 2016) is that curious mix of a Lao/Estonian co-production. Nok has been hired to look after Ana in the capital. She's married to Jakob, an Estonian working for an NGO. Conveniently Ana has started to be given winning lottery numbers by the dead. This though makes people think Nok has been stealing money. No one seems to trust anyone else here, with good reason in most cases. There's a long tradition of Asian horror films which the subtle and not so subtle touches on display here are a fine addition.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-32662450023066475932016-10-12T21:31:00.002+01:002016-10-12T21:31:28.875+01:00American HoneyAmerican Honey (Andrea Arnold, 2016) a tough watch really, not only for the length of the film. The film was concerned with Star who at 18 hooks up with a group of door to door magazine sellers in the southern states of the US. She's recruited by Jake (Shia La Boeuf) who acts like a Fagin figure training impressionable youngsters to get people to buy subscriptions. Although they use trance and hip hop rather than Lionel Bart. It's a film about growing up but also about putting up with the necessary to get along. When you're 18 and you find a sense of belonging it's often difficult to break away from that. There's a great ensemble cast and as ever a largely improvised script.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544892984136427634.post-90619534986674576582016-10-12T21:30:00.001+01:002016-10-12T21:30:20.804+01:00The Unknown GirlThe Unknown Girl (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2016) tells the story of Jenny, a doctor in Liege. She has a guilt hanging over her due to the death of the eponymous girl near her surgery. She decides to do some investigating herself and uncovers some unpalatable truths about her community. The film was largely but there could have been a bit more pace.Alain Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10602674640872004068noreply@blogger.com0