The Borrower Arrietty

The trailer for the new Studio Ghibli is here!  Excitement!  I'm actually halfway through watching Ponyo right now, and I'm amazed at how well chosen (and what profile) actors they manage to get now.  I guess the English version of Arrietty won't be with us for a while, but it will have some trouble being anywhere near as good as BBC's adaptation of The Borrowers with Beverley Callard's daughter, Shaun of the Dead's mum and Spiller's half-scissor...

Speidi breaks up

Heidi Montag poses for a photo shoot to commemorate the fact.

SADFACE

Where The Wild Things Are

You wouldn't think that the director behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation could fuck up the film that produced one of the most amazing-est of trailers of ever.  But he did.  I  watched Where The Wilds Things Are last night and despite the consistent brilliance of Catherine Keener (who had all of 10 minutes screen time) and some pretty stunning monster designs, this was a colossal waste of time.  After watching this and Away We Go last week, I just wish Dave Eggers would steer clear of my film-viewing experience.

The Brothers Bloom

Rian Johnson's follow-up to his high school noir Brick is a looser, more accessibly film that its predecessor. Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are Stephen and Bloom, con artists and brothers, whose cons are as complex as "Russian novels", complete with symbolism, complex plot arcs and a wide array of supporting characters. That old staple, the "one final job" (Bloom longs for "an unwritten life"), involves a jaunt across Eastern Europe with eccentric, lonely millionaire Penelope (Rachel Weisz), during which the Brothers Bloom will fleece her of her fortune.

The problem with most con movies is that the number of twists the plot manufactures precludes feeling for its characters, a problem that The Brothers Bloom isn't immune to. However, much like he did with Brick, Johnson marries two disparate genres with considerable success. His second film is shot through with a Wes Anderson-like sensibility but, unlike Anderson and his numerous imitators, Johnson has a broader palette to work from and a willingness to cut loose that works in his favour.

Whilst not without its faults (the first 10 minutes detailing the brothers' first con stick too close to the Anderson formula and the ending lacks any real emotional punch), there much to love in the detail, not least a marvellous comic turn from Weisz and a typically relaxed, amusing one from Ruffalo.

Urban Legend

One of the spate of tongue-in-cheek thrillers that proved so popular in the wake of Scream. A group of pretty university students are being picked off by a serial killer obsessed with urban legends (of “the calls are coming from inside the house” variety). The opening scene strikes the appropriate balance between laughs and scares, but it’s all downhill from there. Led by a gormless Alicia Witt, there’s some fun to be had watching the hot teen stars of the late 90s that never quite made it (Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid) get slaughtered in predictably “inventive” ways. But when the only thing you take away from a movie is how bad Joshua Jackson looked with blonde hair, you know there’s something wrong.

Avatar

Let me say straight off the bat that I'm a big James Cameron fan. Not only do I love The Terminator and Aliens but I'm also a sucked for True Lies and had a year-long obsession with Titanic when it was first released, one that hasn't dimmed as considerably as it perhaps should have done. So I was looking forward to Avatar with bated breath.

The story, effectively a Dances with Wolves/Pocahontas-type story wherein disabled army recruit Jake Sulley (Sam Worthington) is tasked with improving relations between Earth and a race of aliens called the Na'Vi. With the help of an initially-curmudgeonly-but-not-for-long Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), Jake's mind is transferred into an avatar to aid his integration into the alien race. Of course, Jakes begins to have second thoughts about his objective (to persuade the Na'Vi to move so that Earth can extract a valuable mineral - Unobtanium - from underneath them) as soon as pretty Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) bats her big blue eyelashes at him. Lessons about the importance of environmental awareness and true love across all boundaries ensue.

On a purely visual level, Avatar is spectacular. The claims that this film will change the face of cinema aren't wrong. The 3D effects are eye-poppingly impressive, never more so than in the stunning climax which demonstrates an incredible flair and attention to detail that you just can't find in your typical Michael Bay hack job. Also impressive is the level of care that has gone into rendering the Na'Vi's facial expressions, which is certainly realistic enough to make it feel like you're watching a performance rather than a CG-rendering.

The story is trite but so are most of Cameron's films. But what made Aliens, The Terminator and T2 stand out was the director's myth-making ability, to create an immersive, interesting world around a military horror film in the first instance, and a chase narrative in the second. Even the Upstairs Downstairs love story in Titanic was told with such confidence and bombast that resistance proved futile in being swept away by the self-consciously "epic" nature of the love story at its centre. Unfortunately, this director isn't much in evidence here. The Na'Vi are a jumbled mess of Hollywood's ideas of "ethnicity" and the audience is asked, at various points, to identify them with Native American, Aboriginal, Middle Eastern and New Age culture. These broad strokes are crippling, meaning that the Na'Vi never really seem to have a coherent belief system and comparisons to the similar but far superior Princess Mononoke don't do Cameron any favours.

To Avatar's credit, it never drags over its three hour run and works as high-octane entertainment, but after a twelve-year wait it's a disappointment to Cameron fans and, one suspects, that once cinema has caught up with the special effects on display here, the film itself will fade fast in the memory.

Children of Men

Based on a short story by PD James, Alfonso Cuáron's dystopian fiction is yet another interesting change of pace for the Mexican director following his successful stint on the Harry Potter series. Set in the near future, Children of Men imagines a world in which human beings are no longer able to reproduce. The world has collapsed and only Britain soldiers on, albeit in a rather beleaguered fashion; in the opening ten minutes we see a bomb going off in a coffee shop, illegal immigrants being kept in cages and billboards covered in ominous graffiti such as "Whoever dies last, turn out the light".

Persuaded to help join his activist ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), Theo (Clive Owen) agrees to assist in gaining a young refugee woman, Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), safe passage to the coast. Although it is hidden from Theo at first, Kee reveals that she is pregnant and that she hopes to make her way to the Human Project, a group of scientists based in the Azores that hope to find a cure for human infertility.

The film drops us straight in the action, smartly offering us little in the way of exposition and instead positing itself as a franctic chase narrative as Theo and Kee attempt to make their way to the coast. Cuarón's vision of the not-too-distant future is spot-on. Murky, depressing and grey, it's not too far removed from today's London which, of course, makes the movie's political subtexts all the more apparent. Although the action scenes are undeniably impressive - especially a couple of outstanding one-shot sequences - the layered characterisation and performances (Owen in particular) help to invest the viewer in the outcome of the story. Technically flawless, this is testament to what a skilled writer/director Cuarón has become over the course of just six films.

Hamlet at Wyndhams Theatre

After buying backseat tickets many many months ago, I finally got the opportunity to see Jude Law as Hamlet last night at the Wyndhams Theatre. I've not seen Hamlet performed before and, of the Shakespeare I've seen, I do tend to prefer the comedies. I've got such entrenched ideas of the tragedies - which I read and studied to death at university - that any variation angers me. I've also got a thing against people in the audience that laugh because most people tend to be a laughing in a "I understood that particular play on words because I know, read and understand Shakespeare. Therefore I must laugh to make sure everyone around me knows that I got the joke even when the joke isn't laugh-out-loud funny." But that's just my cross to bear and I realise I can be a bit of an arse about these things.

Anyhow...this was a solid Hamlet. Nothing spectacular of life-altering but a respectable stab nonetheless. Jude Law was great in the lead role. At first I was put off by his performance, which begins loudly and only increases in volume. He also has a propensity to move his arms about a lot and hop about the stage. Before the First Act was over it seemed as if Law's Hamlet was stark-raving mad already when at least part of the play's tragedy is its central character's sure descent into insanity. What become clear is that underneath this bravado, pomp and circumstance is something altogether sane. During his soliloquys, Law exposes this part of the character to the audience and makes them understand the sadness behind the broken man. The "to be or not to be" soliloquy, delivered by a barefooted Law as he wanders in from the snow, is, as expected, a highlight. This great speech about the gap between thought and feeling is so haunting on the page and just as effective in performance.

The set is regal and bare, plain even but it suits the mood of the play. The lighting is used in particularly effective ways and the production is notable for its careful use of shadow and darkness. Unfortunately, given Law's impressive central performance, the rest of the cast don't really deliver. Penelope Wilton plays Gertrude as a dowdy, nervous woman, thoroughly modern and utterly out of place amongst the other players. I don't necessarily have a problem with Gertrude being played as a sympathetic character (indeed, most of her "crimes" could be read as symptoms of Hamlet's burgeoning madness), but such a homespun interpretation jars completely with the tone of the play itself and ensures that her onscreen death and Hamlet's sudden outpouring of grief as he holds her corpse carries very little emotional weight because of it. Gugu Mbatha-Raw also botches her part and lends precious little to the part of Ophelia.

The underwhelming effect of the rest of the cast does tend to dampen the power of Law's astonishing central performance. It's a solid, impressive production on many levels but, Law aside, it doesn't quite shine.

Hush

Adequate low-budget Brit thriller. A young couple, Zakes and Beth (William Ash and Christine Bottomley), are driving down the M1 when they see something scary in the van up ahead, a woman chained up and screaming. When they stop at the next service station Beth gets snatched and Zakes begins a dangerous pursuit of the man in the white van. Writer/director Mark Tonderai manages to muster a few good scares and keeps things moving at a fast lick. Ash's believable performance helps as well, although the now predictable "fleshing out" (Beth had a one-night stand with another man and is considering calling off her relationship with Zakes) of the characters before the film drops them into peril is poorly written and, in the end, serves little purpose. There are also one too many genre clichés to make Hush stand out against the likes of, say, Eden Lake.

Far From Heaven

A masterpiece of American cinema, standing at the pinnacle of Todd Haynes' career so far and featuring a career-best performances from Julianne Moore. Cathy and Frank Whitaker (Moore and Dennis Quaid) are, to all outward appearances, the perfect couple. He the successful businessman, she the doting wife and mother; the very image of familial bliss in 50s Hartford, Connecticut. Yet beneath this facade lies a different truth. Frank is a closeted homosexual and when Cathy catches his in the arms of another man she requests that he seek medical assistance in "curing" his condition. As Frank struggles with his sexuality, Cathy also reaches crisis point. Increasingly alienated from her husband, she turns to her black gardener, Raymond Deagon (Dennis Haysbert) for friendship. The close-minded residents of Hartford are quick to judge, and Raymond's daughter Sarah is forced to bear the consequences when a group of boys knock her unconscious after taunting her about her father's "white girlfriend". Meanwhile, Frank has fallen in love with a young man he met whilst holidaying in Miami and the Whitakers divorce. After her best friend turns her back on her, Cathy returns to Raymond only to discover that he is leaving town, believing it to be in Sarah's best interests.

Haynes is clearly inspired by the films of Douglas Sirk, specifically All That Heaven Allows. The colour palette, Elmer Bernstein's score and direction all point towards 50s melodrama. By recreating the feel of these so-called "women's pictures" today, Haynes is able to bring to the surface the various sexual, social and pyschological tensions that Sirk implied but was never able to say outright. The danger with any reworking is that it can come across as a smirking pastiche, something which this most definitely is not. It's a wonderfully constructed homage to Sirk, one that is able to make explicit all of his more troubling themes.

As such, this is a movie about surfaces. Not only the surface of a person's skin, or that of a "perfect" marriage but of how we perceive ourselves and each other as individuals. Both Cathy and Frank subject themselves to similar kinds of self-dellusion, that they are in love. Frank's revelation to Cathy that he has fallen in love for the first time and that he had no idea "how that felt" is heartbreaking, not just because it exposes the lie behind their marriage but because it exposes how Cathy feels towards Raymond. The Whitakers' separation is handled with an appropriate restraint; their final conversation with each other is over the phone and concerns Cathy's carpool days. The relationship between Cathy and Raymond is similarly subtle. The audience understands their connection (on a physical, emotional and an intellectual level) without their being any need of the script spelling it out.

The performances are all top-notch. Quaid and Haysbert have perhaps been overlook, both providing stellar work here, but Julianne Moore's Cathy is so perfectly realised, both by writer/director Haynes and by the actress herself, that she pretty much overshadows everyone else here. Never once drifting into camp, it's a masterclass in composed melancholy which has drawn comparisons to her (actually very different) performance in The Hours, which was also partly set in the 50s.

This was the movie that made Haynes, one of the most prominent figures of New Queer Cinema with Safe and The Karen Carpenter Story, respectable in Hollywood. No doubt it helped him enormously in gathering together an A-list cast for I'm Not There, his experimental take on the life of Bob Dylan. This, however, is likely to be the film for which he is remembered for some time, the perfect combination of director, writer and star.

Trailerwatch: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

It looks sort of...endearingly cheap? The first few shots of this film kind of creeped me out but I'm pretty sold on it after seeing this trailer. It looks like something you might have seen on CBBC in the late 80s. There's a few good jokes in there as well, and it's nice to hear Meryl sound all motherly ain't it?

I Love You, Man

A "bromance" that is more entertaining than it has any right to be, largely thanks to the effortless chemistry between its two leads. Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) has just proposed to his loving girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) but she's concerned over his lack of male friends. Keen to find a best man for his wedding, Peter begins interviewing potential candidates, leading to a couple of humorous misunderstandings before meeting Sydney (Jason Segal), a slacker type who encourages uptight Peter to let loose. What follows is a comical reappropriation of rom-com clichés as played out by two straight men. It's a solid concept, although the relationship's inevitable complications, thrown in towards the end of the movie, feel cursory and aren't explored with any real depth. I Love You, Man also, on occassion, feels a little too loose. The actors have clearly been given free rein to improvise, leading to some dialogue that is very funny indeed, but there are a couple of scenes that run on longer than they need to.

That said, this has more belly laughs than your average romantic comedy and the lead performances are just as good as you would expect. Rudd is particularly impressive. Mining The Office and other comedies of embarrassment, his Peter Klaven may be cringe-inducing (his attempts at giving Sydney a nickname are especially funny) but he's also instantly likeable and the movie pretty much coasts by on his charms alone.

Trailerwatch: Dorian Gray

Only a teaser and a fairly poor one at that. Whilst Colin Firth looks like he'll make a decent Henry Wooton and Rebecca Hall's presence can only be a good thing, this looks like a goth romance that completely ignores the source material. I mean, Dorian Gray is meant to be gay right? I know there's that thing with Sybill Vane but to anyone who's read the book it's pretty obvious that Dorian's interests lie elsewhere. The casting of Ben Barnes doesn't thrill me either. He was wet in Easy Virtue and can't see him being a good fit for Dorian but I suppose I'll wait and see.

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

A marvellous contemporary update of Shakespeare's tragic romance. Building on camp aesthetic, hectic editing and beautiful visuals that marked his earlier film Strictly Ballroom and went on to play an even greater part in Moulin Rouge!, Luhrmann's MTV-inspired masterpiece displays an uncanny understanding of his source material. Exposition is kept to a minimum. Instead we're treated to ecstasy-infused dances in drag (a glorious interpretation of Mercutio's Queen Mab speech), a colourful gas station brawl and a soundtrack that includes Prince, The Cardigans and The Wannadies.

Wisely choosing to preserve the original language of the text, Luhrmann's "Verona Beach" setting (actually a mixture of Miami and Mexico City) highlights the melodrama of Shakespeare's story, something which this movie has in spades. The hot young cast are perfectly spearheaded by DiCaprio and Danes, both of whom have never been cast better. Fast, furious and gloriously watchable.

Trailerwatch: Alice in Wonderland

I flip-flop between being excited about this and realising that Tim Burton hasn't made a good film in ten years. In theory, Burton's aesthetic is perfectly suited to Alice. I just hope it doesn't have any gothic trappings, because it really doesn't need any. Mia Wasikowska should make a good Alice (she's ace on In Treatment) but why does this trailer make it seem like Johnny Depp is the only star on show here? The Mad Hatter isn't that big a part in the books and whilst I don't have a problem with A-list cameos from Depp, Anne Hathaway and the like, it's Alice's story, not theirs. The CGI looks a bit ropey too.

Pleasantville

A charming, clever satire of 50s American ideals and the need for self-liberation. Brother and sister David and Jennifer (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) are transported from the present day into a 50s black-and-white TV sitcom called Pleasantville, a world of good manners and happy families. As the teenagers' liberal attitudes and ideas spread amongst the population, the monochrome world of Pleasantville springs gloriously into Technicolour. As a metaphor for the importance of liberal thinking, it's inspired, and it becomes even more pertinent when the town's moral majority begins to separate out from the "coloured" population.

Joan Allen, as a suburban housewife discovering her sexuality for the very first time, is particularly moving and provides the movie's emotional touchstone, embuing director/screenwriter Gary Ross' enterprise with genuine feeling. A masturbation scene to better anything shown in the American Pie movies and Fiona Apple's cover of Beatles classic "Please Send Me Someone To Love" stand out, but this is a film to savour on almost every level.

A few of my favourite actors

Actors by ben1283 on Polyvore.com

Almost Famous

A whimsical, semi-autobiographical take on early 70s rock 'n' roll by Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe. Fifteen year-old aspiring rock journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit, earnest) is hired by Rolling Stone magazine to write a piece on emergent new band Stillwater. Travelling on the road with the group, he falls in love with "Band-Aid" (distinguished from groupies by their love of the music rather than the musicians) Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), who is carrying on a one-way affair with lead guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup).

As far as dewy-eyed nostalgia flicks go, this is very good indeed. Primarily a coming-of-age story, William's gradual disenchantment of his idols, their petty in-fighting and, in particular, Russell's poor treatment of Penny, provides a nifty mirror into a world that was, as William's mentor, rock journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) puts it "dying out". Crowe's ear for good music serves him well here too, as evidenced in a rousing group rendition of Elton John's Tiny Dancer. Hudson's playful, enigmatic performance as Penny Lane is the jewel in the film's crown but it's rounded out by some impressive ensemble performances from Hoffman, Frances McDormand (as William's concerned mother), Fairuza Balk and Zooey Deschanel.

17 Again

Sometimes it goes to show that a film needn't be original to succeed. The screenplay for 17 Again, the latest Zac Efron vehicle, doesn't have a jot of originality but still manages to be sharp, funny and heartwarming. Matthew Perry stars as Michael O'Donnell, a star basketball player at high school in 1989 who packed in his chance of a scholarship to marry his girlfriend Scarlet (Leslie Mann) when after she tells him she's pregnant. Fast-forward to the present day and Scarlet has kicked him out of the house, bored with his constant complaining that he never got to fulfil his potential. Magically transformed by some kind of janitor-cum-spirit guide (the one plot element that the script bungles) into his old seventeen year-old self (Efron), Michael re-enrolls in high school with the idea of re-living his glory years and attending college. Along the way he befriends his son, who's being bullied, and his sulky teenage daughter who is dating the school bully.

It's as cheesy as you'd expect, with Michael realising the importance of his wife and children just as it seems to be too late (it isn't, of course). However, Efron's winning central performance and some spot-on pop culture references help make 17 Again shine. There's also something undeniably entertaining about a prudish, moralising middle-aged man trapped in Zac Efron's twinkish body. Whether he's preaching abstinence in a sex education class or trying to convince a trio of admiring girls that they need to respect their bodies, he's consistently amusing. Some nice supporting turns from the ever-reliable Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon as Michael's sci-fi obsessed best friend help round things out nicely. A surprising winner.

Trailerwatch: An Education and Percy Jackson

An Education. Seems like a pretty straightforward story this. Young girl who plans to go to Oxford meets a dashing young man who shows her a different life, packs in her plans for academia much to the chagrin of her older, wiser parents before realising that glamour ain't quite what it's cracked up to be and learns a few life lessons. In the past. The trailer is well put together, but this glamorous "other" life that the young girl is being offered seems to amount to having drinks with Dominic Cooper. Not that that isn't a pleasant experience in itself but...I'm presuming there will be more to that in the film itself. Carey Mulligan's already won herself some awards buzz and her roles in Public Enemies and the upcoming Brothers can't harm her chances. I've only seen her in Bleak House so can't really say much but the supporting cast is reliable. Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Emma Thompson and personal fave Olivia Williams (she's wearing glasses so I'm guessing she'll be playing the role of "Stern Task Mistress"). Not sure how I feel about Nick Hornby scripting. My fond memories of High Fidelity were muddied by the so-so adaptation, About A Boy and his rubbish YA novel but this looks more serious than lightly playful. And at least it has a woman at its centre rather than one of Hornby's patented manboys.

The second trailer is only a teaser and not a very exciting one at that. Percy Jackson and The Olympians. I believe this one is based on a series of children's books but until they bring out a more exciting trailer then I'm not that bothered for looking it up. "From the director of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" doesn't exactly bode well, Chris Columbus not being the most inspired of directors. Are Greek myths coming back into vogue? Sam Worthington (still not seen him in anything and I'm not that fussed for Terminator: Salvation so I'll wait until Avatar to form a judgement) has Clash of the Titans on his plate so maybe they are. Hope so. This looks pretty CGI-tastic though.