Category: film

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off OST

…or lack thereof

If you have never seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, stop reading now. Immediately. Get yourself over to Play or Amazon or something and go get yourself a copy. Order it, download it, watch it and then come back.

Right, everyone else – still here? Good.

Believe it or not I managed to make it to my 17th year without ever seeing this film. My good friend Bodger, upon discovering my apparent deprived childhood would not let me leave his house again until I had seen it. Twice. Needless to say we were late for college that day.

Many, many things have been said about this film – none of which I’m going to try and emulate or even beat (perhaps another time), however one area that’s not touched upon that often is that of the awesome soundtrack to the film.

From the manic synths of Sigue Sigue Sputnik through to the soft, dulcet tones of The Smiths; the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off OST is a wonder to behold. Except… it doesn’t actually exist.

That’s right, perhaps one of the most bizarre yet luminescent and nostalgic collections of music ever to placed into one film was never actually released as an album.
The reason? The director, the supremely talented John Hughes, was worried about the mix of songs being ‘too eclectic’ to see as an album.

According to Wikipedia, he said:

“The only official soundtrack that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ever had was for the mailing list. A&M was very angry with me over that; they begged me to put one out, but I thought “who’d want all of these songs?” I mean, would kids want “Danke Schoen” and “Oh Yeah” on the same record? They probably already had “Twist and Shout,” or their parents did, and to put all of those together with the more contemporary stuff, like the (English) Beat – I just didn’t think anybody would like it. But I did put together a seven-inch of the two songs I owned the rights to – “Beat City” on one side, and… I forget, one of the other English bands on the soundtrack… and sent that to the mailing list. By ’86, ’87, it was costing us $30 a piece to mail out 100,000 packages. But it was a labor of love.”

Amazing.

Thanks to a mixbag of research and Wikipedia, I’ve managed to hunt down a full track list for what would’ve been the FDO:OST.

  1. “Love Missile F1-11” (Extended Version) by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
  2. “Jeannie” (Theme from I Dream of Jeannie)
  3. “Beat City” by The Flowerpot Men
  4. “Main Title / Rebel Blockade Runner” by John Williams (From, Star Wars)
  5. “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” (instrumental) by The Dream Academy (a cover of a song by The Smiths)
  6. “Menuet Célèbre” by (Zagreb Philharmonic Chamber Studio)
  7. “Danke Schoen” by Wayne Newton
  8. “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles
  9. “Radio People” by Zapp
  10. “I’m Afraid” by Blue Room
  11. “Taking the Day Off” by General Public
  12. “The Edge of Forever” by The Dream Academy
  13. “March of the Swivelheads” (a remix of “Rotating Head”) by The (English) Beat
  14. “Oh Yeah” by Yello
  15. “BAD” by Big Audio Dynamite

And – minus a few that I couldn’t find in the library – I’ve managed to throw [most of] them down into a handy little Spotify playlist.

Enjoy.

Franco, Franco, Franco

James, not General


I think this could be a new theme…
————-

So first off, let’s try not to ignore the film-based road my happy place has taken of late – this is no bad thing. It’s always kind of been there to be fair, whether it’s ranting about the amount of cock in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, or shooting the breeze about Cameron’s opus – of film, I am a fan.

Second, blame Tron: Legacy. You may fight with me on this, but that film spoke to me on so many levels and has since prompted me to not only seek out more, better cinema but also – if the mood takes me – write about it afterwards.

With that in mind, we arrive at James Franco.

He’s been popping his head up a fair bit recently; first (after many a recommendation) I finally sat down to watch MILK, the true life story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. Anyone who knows this film will be aware that it is indeed a rather awesome Sean Penn flick but, unless you’ve actually seen it, what you might now know is that James Franco puts in a best-supporting-actor-worthy turn as Harvey’s long time partner and supporter, Scott Smith.

Milk is wonderful.

Dealing with the liberation of homosexuality in 1970’s San Francisco, the film opens with a love scene. Note; a love scene. Not gratuitous sex scene, but love. Two men, loving each other. For a film telling the story of how to overcome the bigotry and phobias associated with that time, the best way to bring your audience on side is to show them the one thing that everyone was fighting for: the freedom to love. Forget how the story unfolds or how well Harvey’s tale is told, for want of a better turn of phrase – this opener nails it. If you haven’t seen it, seek it out. At once.

I guess at this point it might be worth nothing that my hitherto experience of James Franco had only been through his fairly basic turns in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. If you’re reading this in the future, I’m talking about the Toby McGuire ones, not the Andrew Garfield one(s). The trilogy in question is worth a separate post on its own (but if you’re interested in the short version they rate in this order, 2 then 1 and finally, the worst, 3). Franco is… good… but not exactly stand-out. Admittedly with not much to go on, he masters father/son angst quite well. Alas, that’s pretty much all he has to go on. Well, that and murderous revenge, but they’re kinda the same thing anyway.

The point being: I’m only now exploring Franco’s filmography. So forgive me if this is old ground for some of you.

Moving on.

The day before seeing Milk,  I turned the TV on to discover James Franco appearing on ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio‘. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s basically kick-ass Hollywood superstars being interviewed in front of a group of theatre/film/acting students.

It’s a bit Parky, but actually – as the subject matter is mainly about the film(s) that said star has been a part of – it’s actually quite watchable.

Franco comes across as warm, funny and intelligent. Not that he wouldn’t be, but still – it’s nice to see. If you have the opportunity to see it all, then do so. Like I said,  he’s very funny [his story about how he nearly lost the part in 127 HOURS – which I am yet to see – because director, Danny Boyle, thought he was stoned is a key highlight] and evidence of this can be found in his frankly hilarious ‘Acting with James Franco‘ series on Funny or Die.

Which leads finally, to his most recent film –

HOWL

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
.
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
.
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
.

— Excerpt from Howl, Alan Ginsberg

Howl, if you’re unaware, is a poem by Alan Ginsberg and I’ll be honest, before reading about the film of the same name, I had never actually heard of it before. Which, when you think about it, isn’t that great and – even though I was happy to go in cold as it were – I left the cinema wishing that I had actually done my research on the piece beforehand and, if you’re making plans to see it yourself, then I’d recommend you read it too.

Hell, even if you’re not planning on seeing the film, just read the damn poem.

That aside, onwards to the film.

Created in documentary style and based upon both courtroom notes and actual recordings with Ginsberg himself, the film flits between interviews with the poet discussing HOWL and the obscenity trial that surrounded it. The film-makers originally set out to make just that: a documentary.

But they didn’t actually want to make just another documentary, hence the dramatisation element. HOWEVER, it’s super important to know [so important in fact, that you’re told before the film even starts] that all of the scenes are based upon actual events. The interplay in the courtroom is based upon the actual courtroom notes, the interviews with Ginsberg are taken from actual recordings and the whole thing comes together with a fantastic sense of authenticity and truth that it’s quite hard not to be captivated by it all.

Something that has divided critics so far however is the use of animation throughout the film. Obviously a whole film dedicated to one particular poem would be a bit weird if it didn’t actually include the poem itself. While some parts of it are recited by Franco channelling Ginsberg in full-blown beatnik, 1955-Californian laid-back angry mode [see image above, right], the main parts are shown through animation.

Not just any animation, admittedly. This work is based upon illustrations by Eric Drooker that appeared in his “Illuminated Poems” collaboration with Ginsberg from the late 90s. So, worthy of the attention, right?

I’ll be honest with you, while watching the film I wasn’t actually that stimulated by them and actually, kind of wished they weren’t there. I’ve already said that this was my first experience of Howl and so, I guess I just wanted to interpret the words for myself – to create my own images and my own visuals, not watch someone else’s.

But, my mind was changed before my feet even left the cinema.

I caught Howl at The Gate Picturehouse in Notting Hill. A lovely little cinema and actually, the perfect venue for a film like this [sidenote: don’t see Howl at the Odeon] and, in their endless awesomeness, they’d organised a Q&A after the film with one of Ginsberg’s contemporaries, Michael Horovitz.

Mad as a bag of badgers and delightful with it, Horovitz spent the 45mins after the credits rolled telling stories about Ginsberg’s birthday parties [only half The Beatles came, not all of them] and how censorship is unevenly spread across different mediums such as radio vs film vs publications etc.

Insightful? Probably.
Hilarious? Definitely.

One thing he also touched upon though was how he felt about the animated parts film and he made a fantastic point when he said:

“The animation is superb. Not because it visualises the work, not at all. But because it shows one thing that films like this often miss out on; and that is the journey of creation. Normally you’ll see the artist, the creator of work, just sat at his desk and then the next thing you know, the words – or the art – is there. The animation in this film really brings that burning inspiration to life — what it’s actually like to have those words flow through you from inception to ink. For that, I think they stand up well.”

Like I said, it completely changed my mind on it. If/when you see HOWL, consider the animated parts in that light and I guarantee you’ll enjoy them much, much more. I know I will.

 

In closing –

Franco is great. Understated, poignant and gentle.
The film deserves an arthouse cinema [there’s that point about the Odeon].
Read it first.

 

ETC.

 

Limitless: The Clear Pill

Creative print advertising on the tube shocker…

I spotted the above ad on the tube just over a week ago…
You may have seen one like it yourself.

Tweet Tweet

I knew exactly what it was for, instantly. But that’s me; I read film blogs, subscribe to Total Film magazine, I write about the films I’ve seen – basically, I’m into my film.

The other 2.6m people using the London Underground every day however might not all be self-confessed movie geeks and may not have jumped to the same immediate conclusion, and that’s no bad thing. Allow me to explain:

If you are one of those people then let’s quickly get this out of the way; that there above – believe it or not – is a rather awesome advert for the new Bradley Cooper film, LIMITLESS. The film is about what happens to a guy when he’s given the chance to become more than who he is. To become the best he could ever be. All achieved simply by using the full potential of his brain. A potential that’s unlocked thanks to the swallowing of a daily pill.

A clear pill.

It looks good right?

I thought so too when I first saw the trailer. However, what they’re doing with their marketing campaign is fantastic. This film could’ve easily just slipped out without anyone noticing and before you know it, it would’ve come and gone by Easter. But with this whole ‘NZT‘ drive, they [the studio, the agency behind the campaign, everyone involved etc] are onto a winner.

Reasons why this works:

  • Bradley Cooper’s most recent ‘hit’ was The A-Team, however he’s probably known to most for his leading turn in the epic post-bachelor party comedy, The Hangover. Those films aside, he’s only ever really played supporting roles which means for a very short time – to the public at least – he has one of those faces.
    You know he’s famous but you can’t quite place him. Just the sort of celebrity face you’d see adorned on a piece of two-bit above the line advertising. A point proven just yesterday when someone in my office held up the equivalent advertisement in her copy of Metro and asked “Hey, wasn’t he in The Hangover? He can’t be doing too well [if he’s doing ads like this].”
    –
  • The advert itself is brilliantly written. It is just like one of those shoddy medical ads that you would see on the tube. The call to action, while completely nullified as it asks you to SEND AN SMS WHILE YOU ARE UNDER THE GROUND is AWESOME as it ASKS YOU TO TAKE A PHOTO OF THE AD TO REMEMBER and, that itself is actually quite compelling because the copy and the thought behind it keep you thinking long after you are outside and above ground – your interest is piqued enough to genuinely follow through on it.
    –
  • It’s a word of mouth, dare I say it – ‘viral’ marketing campaign, that genuinely inspires conversation. How? By offering up a point of entry to a story that you don’t know exists yet. This is not your average movie poster, oh no. In fact the only clue that this might not actually be what you think it is is the URL ‘showfilmfirst‘ which is a site set up to offer early screening tickets to [from the looks of things] films that don’t have the traditionally large studio backing. However, what you take away is THE CLEAR PILL.
    –
    Google that and what you get?

Google Clear Pill

That URL (or that call to action for that matter) isn’t anywhere on the ad, but still people are sharing it –

Ross Tweet Tweet

In fact, if I was writing the wrap up document for this campaign say in about a month or so from now (after the film has hit and the numbers have come in), I’d include that very screen grab.

Bam! Sale! Job done! Cheque please!

Go spend some time poking around the clear pill website, my favourite part so far is the epic ‘we don’t give a stuff about you’ small print.
I’m off to buy my ticket for Limitless. Like I said, it looks pretty good.

—

Minor addendum; the plot reminds me of the short story Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. That’s worth a look too.

—
—

Parallels

I found this yesterday via one of my favourite blogs, Brandflakes for Breakfast.

It’s a great ad. Not because of the product it’s selling, or because of the star that features (although I doubt anyone else could pull it off quite like Dafoe) but ultimately, it’s a wonderful story – extremely well told.

Admittedly it’s arguable what the video is actually selling; it’s obviously Jim Beam, but it could quite easily be Greyhound too – especially given the language structure around choices and decisions etc.

Either way, it’s a stellar piece of film-making.
Good job.

Aronofsky, Aronofsky, Aronofsky

Present, Past and Future. In that order –

When Natalie Portman first appears on screen in Black Swan, delicate, fragile and introverted, you wonder how such a mouse-like creature will hold an entire film together. Her voice is a whisper, her presence and confidence could be measured in minus figures and, within minutes, Natalie Portman has already disappeared and you’re encapsulated in the gentle, yet brittle world of the ballerina, Nina Sayers.

If you’re new to the work of Darren Aronofsky then I recommend that you immediately seek out his relatively short back catalogue and get yourself up to speed. This man will be [and arguably already is] one of the great cinematic directors of our time. His other films — The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream (RFaD) and Pi to name but three — deal with similar issues as Black Swan and present them in his now trademark emotional and agonising way.

When Nina first hears the ruffles of the Black Swan, your subconscious clock starts ticking – something is coming, something dark, something raw… something is coming. The sense of dread is almost overbearing and, like the films before, once events are set in motion your only remaining option is to sit back and watch while each subtle twist of fate creates an evermore spectacular train crash toward to the end.

Claustrophobic camera angles only serve to magnify the pressure and stress that Nina feels (similar to that of The King’s Speech – another modern great, and one that I’ll come back to another time) in the main, from close behind her head; as if the out of body experiences that she feels are yours to share with her and, as you constantly wish for the screen to show you more, you too feel her anxiety and her strain as the world closes in.

Black Swan is nothing short of brilliant.

Everything I’ve read about it to date focuses on one of two things; the first the fact that Natalie Portman put herself through such an arduous and intense training programme to truly appear like a ballerina and second, the lesbian love scene between the two main protagonists, Lily (Mila Kunis) and Nina. Both of these points are worthy of attention yes, but to focus solely on these two things would do the underlying currents of the film a genuine disservice.

I feel like I’m repeating myself somewhat [my last film-based post waxing lyrical about the hidden depths behind Tron: Legacy] however, Black Swan is yet another production of many depths and it interweaves different themes throughout. Here we have a story about the madness of obsession, duality and self-expression. But also – on a whole other level – a telling tale of oppression, belonging and pain that will be known too well to anyone who has ever danced with the devil that is self-harm; the self-imposed standards of perfection, the endless parental smothering and the brief, yet searing elation that comes from pushing yourself off the edge completely, only to smash, broken, on the daggers below… To be lost in oneself truly has never meant so much as it does to Nina Sayers, desperately trying to uncover the darkness and passion that’s required for her lead role(s) in Swan Lake.

Yes there is masturbation, yes there is lesbian love, but see this film for more than that. See it for a gut-wrenching trip through a world you may know nothing about. See it for a glimpse into the world of that of the professional ballerina. See if for Natalie Portman’s best performance since Leon and arguably, of her entire career.

More on Aronofsky…

A few weeks back, before seeing Black Swan, a fellow film-loving friend and I held our very own Aronofsky weekend. Between us, we worked out that we hadn’t actually seen all of his films. We’d both apparently seen The Wrestler and Pi, but while my friend hadn’t seen The Fountain, I myself, shockingly, hadn’t seen Requiem for a Dream (although having actually owned it on DVD for several years, I’d never actually got ’round to watching it).

If you haven’t seen it, be warned: it does not make for comfortable viewing. However, if you’re strong of heart and mind, seek it out. In fact, I would argue that (like we did that weekend) it would be worth watching Aronofsky’s films in the order that he made them. The power and strength of RFaD, mixed up with his young, unrefined, ‘this is how I want to make film‘ mentality, truly shines through his earlier work and yet, as you move forward through the catalogue, you absolutely can see his art developing right before your eyes. If it’s his experimentation with existential love-storytelling through The Fountain, featuring Aronfsky’s first foray into the arena of special effects and also his first true “Hollywood” film, or his deep dive into the physical and emotional suffering that is The Wrestler; at each point, his work evolves.

Keeping with The Wrestler for a moment longer, Arnofsky has gone on record and stated that he considers it to be a companion piece to Black Swan. Brother and sister if you will. However, the latter is still very much his most accomplished work to date. The nuances, the subtleties… at each point throughout the film there’s a gentle nudge that Nina is slowly coming apart at the seams. With The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke’s Randy only has to face the very real demons that exist in his life; those of a broken family, an addiction to pain and a constant struggle for companionship. Portman’s Nina, by contrast, has demons both in her day to day life but also, crucially, those that manifest themselves in her head – Incredible. Inescapable. Indescribable.

Throughout all of Aronofsky’s films the same themes rear their ugly heads:

PAIN.
OBSESSION.
SELF-HARM.
ADDICTION.
LOSS.
ANGER.
STRAIN.
PRESSURE.

And, all of the above, seemingly SELF-INFLICTED.

And it’s this, that leads me to the third and final part of this post. That of The Wolverine.

In case you were unaware, Darren Aronofsky’s next film will be Wolverine 2, aka ‘The Wolverine’. Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as the healing factor-blessed mutant and, if you were patient enough to stick around after the credits for his first outing in X-Men: Origins, then you’ll know that the next installment promises to cover off Logan’s time in  Japan. But this is not what excites me.

Hugh Jackman was said to be thrilled when Aronofsky signed on to direct; having worked with each other previously, the pair are said to be good friends. This bodes well for a franchise that even though did well commercially, was widely panned by the critics. The ‘origin’ story of Wolverine is a much darker tale, one that encompasses family betrayal, adultery and patricide. Pencilled by the endlessly talented Adam Kubert and written by Paul Jenkins, the book itself – simply titled ‘ORIGIN‘ – is a moving attempt at telling a story that hitherto had never been told. Alas, in the first film, this source material was hardly touched. Wolverine’s exploits in Japan however (Claremont/Miller, 1982) are still widely recognised as being some of the greatest of Wolverine’s rich history and Aronofsky has promised to deliver.
But this is not what excites me.

As a character, Logan deals with many, many problems within; memory loss, heartache, blood lust, a constant battle with the feral side of his nature that he keeps locked up and away from the human race, a healing factor that, while keeping long term injury at bay, does not shield him from any pain he might endure…
This is what excites me.

These themes, these issues if you will, in the hands of Aronofsky are all ripe for his visceral style of film-making. In the very first X-Men film, Rogue asks Logan [about his claws]: “When they come out, does it hurt?” Logan’s response is almost muted through the pain he is so numbed to by now; “Every time.”

That one response. Those simple two words. They – to me at least – signify everything that could be great about an Aronofsky take on this flawed, yet supremely (anti-)heroic comic book character. The pain. The anguish. The day to day struggle with the ‘red mist’…

Black Swan was great, but The Wolverine has the potential to do something quite magnificent to a genre that has never encountered anything like Aronofsky before.

When the dust settles, I predict that as an audience member, you will leave the theatre knowing what it must be like to not only feel those sharp, metal claws slice their way out from under your own skin but also, the pain and agony of choosing to do so…

If you leave with that alone, then Aronofsky has done his job and, for the Marvel film-making industry as a whole, things will be very different indeed.

— Updated: as of March 17th 2011, Aronfsky has officially stepped down. Sad times. —

Tron: Legacy

As the first post for 2011, a film review isn’t a bad way to kick things off. By now I would expect that a fair number of you have already seen this film (and if you haven’t – the end of this review will tell you do so immediately), so I’m happy to put my thoughts down.

Similarly to The Social Network, I was quite lucky to see this film quite a bit before general release; having been able to attend both the London and LA Premieres as well as attend a special private screening (with an introduction from the director and co-producer) a short while thereafter. Three times I’ve seen it now and, if you asked me if I wanted to see it again – I’d say yes.

Here’s why –

Tron: Legacy is not an action film.
Tron: Legacy is (probably) not the film you’re expecting it to be.
Tron: Legacy is not the next Matrix (or Avatar for that matter).

Tron: Legacy is in fact a beautiful piece of work that has the potential to be criminally overlooked as its reviewers label it too simple and too over-reliant on flash special effects/under-used 3D. This is wrong. Very wrong indeed.

The allegory of celebrating life and creation over that of man-made technology and machines has never been more clear and telling. The Father/Son/Clu three-way relationship that is placed at the heart of the piece is, when it finally plays its hand, probably one of the most powerful moments in the entire film.

Believe everything you read and you’ll go in thinking that the story is in fact the weakest part of the whole; “Sam goes into the Grid to find his Dad. 3D awesomeness ensues. Light cycles etc… Finale, the end.” is quite possibly the laziest way to look at this work. The second time I saw it, not only did I end up picking up several parts that I missed the first time ’round – Clu/Flynn’s similar sounding rousing speeches to the crowds being one example (and this happened again on the third viewing too), but I also came away with a  much deeper understanding of the film’s key message; the creation of life is the most beautiful and imperfect forms of perfection that man can ever strive for. Ignore it at your peril.

See it. Look harder at what the film’s trying to tell you and let it flow through you.
You’ll see.

What else can I cover off here?

The cast are great; Olivia Wilde in particular shines as she casts a sense of wonder and amazement across all that she surveys with a strength and beauty that I haven’t seen in anyone since Samantha Morton’s killer turn as Minority Report’s life-deprived pre-cog, Agatha. Michael Sheen, channelling Ziggy Stardust, only really shines when he’s forced to tone down the camp delivery (later scenes scenes with Clu proving better than his openers with Daft Punk) and show the face behind the mask.

Garrett Hedlund is believable as Flynn Jnr – his father’s drawl pouring out gently as if his own, lending nicely to the DNA of both the film’s history as well as that of his own make up. There’s also a sweet cameo from Cillian Murphy (potential for more in future instalments?) hanging out as Dillinger Jnr and of course, finally, there’s Jeff.

Hey! Jeff!

He’s almost perfect and probably, unlike Michael Sheen, at his best in his earlier scenes where he’s tasked with conveying this gifted, lost soul who’s been trapped on the grid, away form his family, his life – coming to terms with his fate, for all these years. It’s steeped in pathos and reeks of an actor at the top of his game, delivering loss, pain and sorrow in mere glances to his surroundings.

What definitely didn’t work for me was the the rather large nod to His Dudeness, The Big Lebowksi.

When Flynn says to his Son “You’re messin’ with my Zen thing man.” it comes across as both clunky and entirely unnecessary. I don’t know why or how the director left it in, it drops you back into the real world of ‘Oh, I’m watching Jeff Bridges here. He’s The Dude remember?’ and totally out of sync with the rest of the film. I would probably say that that is my only gripe with the entire picture actually. I mean, even Jeff’s other turn as a CGI’d ageless version of himself, Clu, is better than this knowing wink; rubbery chin aside (in places), Clu proves to be breathtaking and, in certain areas, mind-blowing. The Dude is not welcome here.

So what about the 3D then? Is it worth paying that little bit extra to see it in this format? I’ve spoken with a couple of folk about this issue and I guess it depends on what it is you go in expecting. 3D in the traditional sense is that you go in, throw on your plastic specs and then, for the rest of the movie, things are thrown out of the screen – into your eyes – with enough vigour to make you start moving your hands around in front of your face (just in case you can actually touch them).

Modern day 3D not so much. 3D today is a lot about depth and making you believe that you’re actually in the picture you’re experiencing. Avatar achieved this (so much so that, post-Pandora, many Avatar viewers experienced depression after discovering that the world they experienced was in fact only fictitious and was not actually a viable choice for their next holiday adventure) and Tron: Legacy does the same – with the 3D effect adding a sharp and enticing sheen to an already futuristic vision. To my mind at least, it works.

Finally, one simply cannot put pen to paper when talking about Tron: Legacy without mentioning the frickin’ awesome soundtrack.

Yes I moaned that Daft Punk’s appearance in the film is slightly fudged and, under Michael Sheen’s stewardship, seemed shoehorned at best. But that’s just talking about their appearance. If you look past that, that car crash of a cameo, and look for their presence in the film then – from the moment the lights go down – the soundtrack hits you like a cricket bat to the face.

It is nothing short of superb. 2010 was an awesome year for OSTs with Scott Pilgrim and The Social Network putting forward awesome contributions but, for sheer electrifying amazement, Tron: Legacy nabs the number one spot. If you use Spotify, then listen to it right now. If not, then go buy it/download it… It is nothing short of awesome.

In closing, Tron: Legacy is a beautiful, beautiful film. If you’re going to see it, see it big and see it loud (the IMAX offers probably the best experience in this case).

Until next time.

the social network

— a film by David Fincher

I am a fan of David Fincher. I’ve seen everything since Alien3 and loved nearly all of it. When it was announced that he would be lensing ‘the facebook movie’; among the naysayers, I was not.

A few months back, the trailer hit.

Superb. This past Monday I was invited to a preview screening care of Sony Pictures and it left my brain buzzing.

First off; the film on its own is a fantastic watch. Although, and it is an odd comparison to draw, very much like Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the social network I think will only speak to people of a certain age. What is that certain age? I don’t know.

Actually, scratch that. it’s a generational thing. Fact.

Whatever way you look at it, the social network really is a great film; there is Fincher throughout, but quietly. Almost like he’s whispering in the background and steering gently from afar. His custom clean, dark-shaded visuals, of which he is a master, are there but the flights of camera-based fancy are almost non-existent (save for a set of stunning establishing shots at Henley on Thames; tilt-shifting never looked so good).

This is a Fincher film all over but he’s adult enough to step back and let it shine on its own. Good job.

For me, the title ‘the social network‘ itself is an interesting play on words, in that while it’s obvious that it refers to the software platform that our protagonists are squabbling over, it also resonates as a nod to the group of friends who started out on this journey together and furthermore, the ensemble cast that present them to us.

Jesse Eisenberg is perfectly believable as the nerdy but gifted Mark Zuckerberg character (a point to which I’ll come back later) and holds the film together well. For anyone that’s ever watched a single episode of The West Wing, the throwaway remarks and razor sharp dialogue will be distinctly Sorkin and, although the story is boldly told from different perspectives and narratives, it is clear that ‘Zuck’ is our hero; anti-, tragic or otherwise.

Justin Timberlake, as Napster founder ‘the evil Sean Parker’ is surprisingly very good. I’m not sure why I say ‘surprising’, I’ve always thought that he’d be quite a good actor however, there’s always something nudging at you when he’s on screen. That small voice in your head saying ‘Hey… Hey! That’s Justin Timberlake up there!’, but once you get past the first 10mins or so it settles down and you can enjoy his performance which, by the way, is as good as he is dislikeable. You want to punch him in the face. A lot.

Spider-Man-in-waiting, Andrew Garfield, is probably my favourite thing from the whole film. You feel his pain, his hurt, his lack of judgement, his anger.. All of it. He is a very talented actor and, for someone so young, brings immense gravitas to what could’ve quite easily have been just a one note role.

Fincher explains in the production notes that he’d never worked with such a young cast before (Aaron Sorkin also mentioning he’s never written so young either), so he pushed for take after take after take, sometimes up 80 or 90, just to make the language more casual

“If you’re not speaking at speed, then I won’t believe it”.

When Eduardo Saverin arrives late one night looking worn out from flying, it’s because Andrew Garfield had been shooting that scene for five hours and his exasperation shines through. It’s a punishing, yet fantastically rewarding technique. Love it.

Finally, on the casting front at least, a hefty hat tip to Armie Hammer who to plays both the Winklewoss twins with an ease that is almost unnatural. I’ll admit, he’s the only one of the main cast I haven’t seen in anything else before, however if he can play two of himself with ease (I can’t imagine the line learning, shooting technique, SFX etc that were needed for that casting decision), then he definitely deserves some special attention.

Sounding like Xerses from the 300 and towering over Jesse Eisenberg like a pair of Grecian Gods, he embodies the Harvard final final club elites perfectly. Jeremy Irons would be proud.

So what of the film? Well, it’s a tough one. The different times I’ve talked about it with friends and colleagues since viewing have produced multiple responses;

  • “It’s an Aaron Sorkin script, with a Fincher wrapping.”
  • “It’s a modern day myth”
  • “It’s all still so fresh.”

I’ve said it a number of times already, the film is great… BUT you find yourself watching it all with a healthy pinch of salt. I’ve read interviews with Mark Zuckerberg. A lot of interviews. His views on privacy, sociology, business… all of them are there if you look hard enough and there are certain characteristics which don’t come through in the film. Yes, we’re six years on (just six years) and no doubt he’s changed a fair amount but still, some of it didn’t ring true for me.

Which actually, isn’t that surprising given that Zuckerberg was the only one who refused to meet with the film-makers before, during or after production. C’est la vie. When you watch this film, remember you’re watching the characterisation of a real person. One that has been drawn and painted, by others, without any approval from the source. That’s all.

Let’s put it this way; if you’re under 40 and you have a Facebook account, see this film. If you’ve been a part of (or worked within) a start-up culture, see this film. If you’re a fan of Fincher or Sorkin, see this film.

The aforementioned bold decision to not stick to one core narrative will leave you wanting more, reaching for those parts still left untold and somehow feeling that you weren’t given the full story…

But I guess that’s the point.

No matter if you end up seeing the the social network or not, the final word has to go to Zuckerberg himself:

“We build products that 500 million people see…
…

..
…if 5 million people see a movie, it doesn’t really matter that much.”

Perfect.

Hunter Prey

This post needs some introduction. Around 8mins worth to be precise…

That was Batman: Dead End. A fan film released (I would like to think at least in part) in response to Joel Schumacher’s two Batman ‘interpretations’ of the late 90s; Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. If you can take a moment and throw your mind back to before Heath Ledger, before Christian Bale… all the way back to Burton.

What Schumacher did to Bob Kane’s source material was nothing short of horrific and, at a time when the series was at its darkest (and not in a good way), Sandy Collora turned ’round and delivered Dead End to prove that if George Clooney wasn’t about to step up, he was.

Fast forward seven years and Sandy gets a go at his own full-length feature; Hunter Prey.

— image via Film School Rejects

While not given the largest of releases, I was lucky enough to catch Hunter Prey at the Science Fiction Film Festival and, a few things aside, I wasn’t disappointed.

First off, I went in fully expecting it to be crap. I mean really crap. Proper B moviesville. But in the BEST of ways. I’m a sucker for certain genres you see and bad sci-fi is up there with werewolf flicks and Fincher. Alright, Fincher isn’t a genre, but you get the idea.

Bottom line, Hunter Prey is pretty damn good. Yes there are a few timing issues (the film could do with some tighter edits) and some of the scripting is hilarious but – and this is a massive BUT – to call this film bad sci-fi would be both hugely unfair and actually, just plain wrong; what Sandy has achieved in this film is nothing short of awesome.

The opening gambit – ship carrying alien prisoner crashes on strange planet, said prisoner escapes in the carnage, survivors head out to hunt it down, cat-and-mouse ensues – is not too dissimilar to another great sci-fi B movie, Pitch Black. However, what our alien prisoner is capable of is much, much different to anything Riddick could ever and would ever do.

I could say more, but to do so would reveal a key plotting device/twist which I would go nuts about if anyone told me. So there we’ll leave it.

Personally? I love bad low-budget sci-fi and I loved Hunter Prey. Like I said, there are some low points (it’s too long), some high points (great plot) and some bloody fantastic points (the character designs are nothing short of spectacular).

My verdict?

If you’ve got eight quid to spare, then pick it up. It’s not perfect, not by any stretch, but if anything I’ve said above chimes with you, then you shouldn’t let this pass you by.

It’s been a few months sine I’ve seen it now and it definitely needs revisiting…

Finally, if you liked the Batman fan flick that kicked this off – then you should check out City of Scars. Not a Collara pic, but still pretty damn good.

Whatley out.

Star Trek

‘things that annoy me in film’

_____________________________________________

This post has been a long time coming. Mostly coming out at parties over a particularly intense bout of drunken geekery, it’s a point that has niggled with me about Star Trek ever since I first saw it that day back in May.

The. Best. Film. I. Have. Ever. Seen.

Thing is, I’m a bit of a film buff. I’ve loved film for as long as I can remember. My Dad taking me to see Superman IV at the cinema when I was kid. Holding hands, walking around in the dark. THAT theme tune. It was amazing. Better yet, it was believable.

Years passed. Burton’s Batman came and went. The older I the more adventurous my taste in film became; I remember one afternoon after college I bought Romper Stomper, Scum, Mean Streets and Taxi Driver (all on VHS – thank you very much Mr Light), in a rather awesome four for £20 bargain.

“You need to lighten up mate.” said the chap behind the counter. I laughed, said it was research for a new project (I was studying performing arts, specialising in directing for that particular term – I was soaking up everything I could get my hands on), he looked at me funny and it was only when walking away did I realise what I’d said.

The Matrix arrived. I remember thinking ‘THIS is the Star Wars of our generation.” Up to this point, in the history of film, no one had ever achieved anything like it. Neo and his acolytes were about to tear up the sci-fi genre and hand it back to Hollywood; “Thanks, we’re done.” But they didn’t. They went and released Matrix: Reloaded. While I’m a big fan of The Animatrix (the nine animated shorts released before the first sequel), the next two parts of the trilogy left me a bit empty. The effects are good, the story isn’t that bad. They just aren’t as good as the original. It happens.

However, Matrix Reloaded sticks out for me for one thing and one thing only. What am I talking about? The first 20 seconds of this…

See it? That bike stunt? Right. Stay with me on this one.

In a world that is governed by rules, how is it that this street bike is able to drive off the top of that truck, from a standing start, land and continue – at top speed – without the truck catching up and crumpling the rider(s) under its wheels?! It’s an impossibility defined by the laws of physics. Yes, the laws of the Matrix can be bent, even broken, but by people. NOT by machines. A bike is as much a bike in the Matrix as it is a bike out on the streets right now. When this happened on screen I snapped back into reality and was suddenly more concerned about my next helping of popcorn than I was about Trinity and her high-speed escape.

Illusion, shattered.

Which brings us back to Star Trek.

In the film (and if you’ve not seen it, you may as well stop reading right now), Spock jettisons Kirk off the Enterprise for insubordination and he finds himself wound up on an ice planet not too dissimilar from Hoth. The landing pod tells him to remain where he is (his escort will arrive shortly), but naturally, being James T. Kirk, he decides to get out and find his own way.

This being Star Trek, of course things don’t run smoothly. Within a few minutes Kirk’s being chased by a snowy-white sabretooth tiger-esque creature [UPDATE: turns out this is a ‘Drakoulias‘] who clearly fancies him for lunch. Kirk runs. The ground rumbles and said feline bear gets picked and hurled into a nearby mountain…  by something much bigger.

This thing –

A bright red, prolapsed rectum-based ‘Hengrauggi‘. The design story behind this particular creature is pretty awesome; the way chief concept designer Neville Page finds inspiration from animals that already live and breathe in our world today is quite extraordinary. Everything from the way the jaws work, the positioning of its joints, all the way through to which way the cameras will be pointing when ‘Big Red’ finally erupts onto our screens.

The work of a truly talented artist.

But there’s just one issue I have with it – Evolution.

In what universe would evolution create such a creature? And I’m not talking about the size of the Hengrauggi or in fact the scarily fast oral appendages that it uses to capture its food (completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen before).

No. I’m talking about the colour of the damn thing.

This is an ICE planet. How would a huge creature such as the above get away with being BRIGHT RED on a planet that seems to spend the majority of its time covered in a blanket of white snow? You can’t be a hard-ass predator if your prey can see you coming from bloody miles away!

Case in point; sharks.

Dark on top, white underneath. Why? They’re predators. One of nature’s oldest and most perfect of killing machines. Swim above and look down, you’ll struggle to see it. Swim underneath and look up? The same. Not being seen (until it’s too late at least), is a defining feature of any decent-sized hunter. Yes the Hengrauggi starts off underground, perhaps burrowed under the surface awaiting its prey in the same vein as a trapdoor spider. Even so, surely then this would create a darker, more naturally-coloured creature. One that blends in with its surroundings, not stick out like a sore thumb.

Sigh.

Look, I know this isn’t a massive point and overall Star Trek was by far and away one of the best (and most successful) films of 2009, but still. If you’re intent on keeping the world and universe that your characters exist in believable, then being mindful of the rules that you’ve created (or those that already exist) will go a long way to keeping it real.

From the IMAX I was transported into the Star Trek universe and there I stayed. Until Delta Vega. From there I was thrown back to my seat with a bump. Damn you Hengrauggi. Damn you to hell.