#22 S. Darko: Trailer Impressions

This blog contains SPOILERS for ‘Donnie Darko’.

Before you read please watch the trailer…

S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale, Official Trailer (2009)

For those that haven’t worked it out, S. Darko is the sequel to the classic ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001). It’s going straight to DVD so it will not turn people away from watching the original (if it could). Now I am really torn, at first I was disgusted about someone even thinking of making a sequel and from the trailer I was horrified. Then I watched it again and I’m interested how it will turn out? At least they got Daveigh Chase to return to the role of Donnie’s younger naive sister Samantha and not someone else. It’s also the return of the tummy condoms that tell people where to go and the bubble wall thing, because we have all missed them both and there… “powers”.

The things that look stupid are mainly the comets. What’s up with that honestly? Then there’s some thing with a missing child? Then there’s a shot at 2.03, where, I don’t know who it is but a fire ball comes out of her hand? That’s stupid, that’s so stupid? What is she Pyro from ‘X Men 2’ or the Human Touch? There seems to be more of a super hero theme going on unlike the original which was about time travel. Then there’s also some veiny guy who looks like Edward from ‘Twilight’ (1.59). There is also some guy running around saying the world is going to end, who just looks like an idiot (first seen 0.55). So ‘S. Darko’ is a mix between a super hero movie, a vampire movie, and the original sci-fi film. Bad combination.

Oh and I can’t stop there, then there’s some bird thing flying towards earth, as if a Phoenix has a grudge against American teens. Finally there seems to be a strong Christian scenes that if they mention God or Jesus will really really put me off.

Now the reasons why I want to see it. To be honest for a straight to DVD films it looks ok. Ok being the slight chance I would go out of my busy way to see it. The thriller aspect of the film looked good. I was really curious to every thing, all the little questions that were asked in the trailer are part of why I want to see it. Also there some guy who looks like a younger slightly more attractive Steve Buscemi (1.24), which made me laugh. Then the titles role before cutting to the weirdest thing about the film. Samantha sitting in front of Frank, didn't he die? But as a friend said to me “bunnies named frank never really die…”. However it could be him because Frank never died in the original. Sure Donnie shot his but then time rewound and Frank was alive. This last bit when he says “Wake up”, that was cool to me.

So to sum up, I’m not going to go out of my way to see a bizarre remake however if we cross paths then I obviously will watch it and right a review (which will most likely destroy it). Really if they took out all the vampires, phoenixes, super heroes and left in the Buscemi’s younger twin, I would be thinking something else. I could have even got a cinematic release. Really I thought what with 'Donnie Darko', Donnie was a messed up kid and saw invisible bunnies who told him when the world would end even if it didn't it just rewound (or something). And it was only in the end there are different ways of interpreting it, what's why it was fantastic. I doubt 'S. Darko' will carry on the trend not only with that but with a lot of thing.

Oliver Hunt

#21 The Results Are In! Oscar Winners!

So the Oscars are now over and thus ending the big chain of award seasons. Now the Academy Awards are over and the winners are walking away with there little golden statues, we can talk about who won and if they deserved it. Like pretty much any awards ceremony that has happened this year It was somewhat quite predictable at times. Like how ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ ran away with eight, yes that’s right, eight Oscars. Not bad for a film that was planned to go straight to DVD.

First thing that I didn’t recognise at first was that the ceremony was very, how should I say… minimalistic in comparison to other years. There where no massive plastic statues and there was a lot of TV screens use which was fantastically set out. I tip my hat to the set designer. For every time an actors award came up the previous winners came on to announce the winners which was acutely quite nice to see. A couple of parts where tacky like when Ben Stiller came on dressed as Joaquin Phoenix, It was funny don’t get me wrong I found it quit funny however it wasn’t necessary in a presides awards ceremony.

So of course ‘Slumdog-‘ has was worth something but did it need to steal the show? Other films such as ‘Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’ were total lift in the dark only picking up small awards like ‘Best Achievement In Art Direction’ and ‘Best Achievement In Makeup’. However at least it won some awards unlike Eastwood’s fantastic drama ‘Changeling’ which got not nothing. I saw this film, it was good, it was bloody good and why it won nothing is beyond me. But this just shows how many classics have come out in a small space of time. However I was glad the Danny Boyle won best director because he does deserve it after filming ‘Slumdog-‘ but part of me wanted Gus Van Sant to win because I as starting to become a big Van Sant fan after watching his great indie films like ‘Elephant’ (2003) and ‘Last Days’ (2005). Hopefully in the future (close future) Van Sant will release another film that gets him some critical apprise. When Boyle took the stage he began jumping up and down like Tiger (from Winnie the Pooh) and after everyone and had given a puzzling look to the person sitting next to them he explained his actions on stage. Aparently he had promised his children, when they where young, that he would do so.

Now with the actors awards, firstly

“The award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role goes to…”

Penelope Cruz won the Best Supporting Female award for her psycho role in Allen’s 'Vicky Christina Barcelona’. I haven’t seen the film only the trailers so I can’t comment on if she is good or not but good on her. If I got to pick who I wanted to win it would be Taraji P. Henson from ‘Curious Case-‘ . Then came Best Supporting Actor and if anyone can’t guess who won your not in for a shock.

“The award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role goes to…”

Heath Ledger. Heath’s parents and sister went on stage to accept the award whilst a tearful audience (Adrian Brody and Brad Pitt to name a few) honoured his legacy. Heath really did go out with a band however I’m curios is history will repeat its self next year if he is nominated for his last film from director Terry Gilliam ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’. We will have to see if I’m still writing by then. Continuing on, another not so surprise was the Leading female award…

“The award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role goes to…”

Kate Whinslett, so give me a second whilst I applauded her. Second over. So she won for her role in ‘The Reader’ congratulations, I guess now I have to watch it. And Lastly,

“The award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role goes to…”

Not Mickey Rourke. Even though he’s been though hell and back he didn’t get the Academy Award it went to Sean Penn for his gay ol’ role in ‘Milk’. I loved ‘Milk’ and I do think he deserves it so badly because he was completely un-mislabel in that film however I kinda felt that Rourke would win it. Even if he had upset the Academy a couple of years ago I think he should have had a chance.

For the rest of the winners head on over to Empire Online, TotalFilm.com or pretty much any film web site.

Oliver Hunt

20# Arthouse vs. Multiplex

As everyone who regularly reads my blogs knows, I love Arthouse cinemas. And if you have been to one even once you will fall in love with it. My local Arthouse cinema is the Duke Of York’s Picturehouse in Brighton. My first trip there was to see last years rather disappointing ‘Quantum Of Solace’ and even though the film was a big flop the cinema was just like the holy grail of film going experiences since most of my life I have been going to the boring multiplexes like Cineworld and ODEON. So thought I would write my thoughts down and try to convince all you beautiful people to go and support the building because thousands of people flock into the multiplexes whilst the Arthouse cinemas a loosing money.

Once I went I had to go back, again and again and again. And I still plan to go every week unless the film I want to review is not on. When the latest film isn’t on, they play classics such as Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ (15/03/09) and they even have trilogy nights like ‘Lord Of The Rings’ all nighters (which gets me exited). Last month they had a ‘Kill Bill’ night and if you have met me and we have talked about film you’ll know how big of a Tarantino fan I am. But its not just classics that get shown its foreign films like ‘The Class’. The reason why I love a cinema that plays classic films is because people who weren’t into films or even alive during the films release can know what it was like when the films first came out years back.

The Duke Of York's cinema opened in 1910 and was one Brighton's first picture palaces and also one of the first cinemas in the world. Know how many of you knew that one of the first cinemas in the world was so close to home? When walking through the doors and waiting in line for your ticket just looking behind the desk and seeing all the classic movie posters like Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ placed on the walls you know your in good company. And at the confectionary stands not only do they sell the old packet of sweets or pop corn but also some very British coffee and cakes.

Now on the flip verse its time to talk about the multiplex’s. However in stead of talking about every single on I’m going to talk about one I went to the other day, the ODEON by Brighton’s sea front. This time when walking though the entrance I was welcomed by a long queue. On the walks are the latest poster for such films like ‘The Pink Panther 2’ it didn’t really fell the same. How ever a rather positive to going to a multiplex is the amount of screens so if you don’t want to see on film you can always change your mind. Then at the confectionary stand they have the same sweet/salt popcorn, cheesy nacho’s, ect. But this time they are crazily high priced that for someone with out a job can’t afford. At least ODEON lets you take in your own food unlike Cineworld who confiscates food from the outside world as if it’s a scary foreign thing with germs or something. Then you get into the screen and have you legs crushed in the claustrophobic seats. Then the films start and unlike at the Duke Of York were everyone respects the movie and shuts up, you hear girls giggling and cocky lads talking. This is actually what happened to me when I saw ‘The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’. I was amazing why no one told them to shut up. But then again no one really cares unlike they do at a Arthouse cinema.

Really what I want you to get from this is that you should at the very least go to see a film at the Duke Of Yorks. It cosier, the people who work there and the people who go all have a passion for films. If you yourself have a love for films you will feel right at home.

Oliver Hunt

#19 Review For ‘Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’ (2009)

Director

David Fincher

Cast

Brad Pitt

Cate Blanchett

Julia Ormand

Screenplay

Eric Roth

Certification

12a

Running Time

165min

The first thing I’m going to say is that ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was not based on a true story. Looking back on director David Fincher’s filmography, he has done some rather fantastic films. He has directed such great films like ‘Fight Club’ (1999), ‘Zodiac’ (2007), ‘Se7en’ (1995), so it’s easy to see the connection between Pitt and Fincher and the great work they have done. And with another great film under his belt he’s is really doing well for himself even if he’s not really been noticed by the non-film fanatic audiences.

The story revolves around a man called Benjamin, who instead of getting older like the rest of nature, goes the opposite way and grows younger (on reflection of the story its was absolutely insane to write a story about a man growing younger). Anyways, he grows younger every day whilst watching the people around him grow old and die. The story takes the protagonist all around the world for nearly three hours so remember you have to sit through half an hour of adverts at most cinemas (I only say this becuase my bum was numb by the end of the film). The film obviously has its touching parts’ especially at the end and had people around me sobbing quietly, it also had a great blend of comedy and drama to play with the audiences emotions.

A couple of positives for the film, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett have a great connection though out the film. During the romantic scenes it seems as if they are destined to be with each other (as cheesy as that sounds). Apart from the two main characters there was some other great acting talents like British actor Jason Flemyng. Also the story is very interesting however seems to get bland towards the end. At least it’s different from a lot of films that come out. I guess during this period of serious films such as ‘Milk’ and ‘Frost/Nixon’ its nice to see something that’s plays heavily on the emotions that ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ didn’t.

Now for the negatives, even though it won an award for its use of CG I thought it was very over used and noticeable which distracted me at parts during the beginning of the film. Also I loved the first half of the film because it was all old and magical seeing Pitt getting younger, however towards the end of the film it seemed more ordinary and even slightly boring due to the fact that it lost its spark that it had at the beginning. However it had to be in it to tell the rest if the story and tie up the loose ends.

With ‘Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’ I couldn‘t help but feel that it was trying to be a modern ‘Forrest Gump’ (1994)but with a twist. His seemingly ridicules life is full of brilliant character (who each influenced his life in a different way and great locations around the world from New Orleans to Moscow, the character of Benjamin was definitely a traveler. Even though my opinion of the film may seem contradictory at times, the point I'm trying g to get out is that it's a great film and all but it's not going to be remembered as a classic like 'Forrest Gump' was. I think that if you are going to the cinema then you should go see it after other films which I not need to mention, but it’s great for couple to go see. We will have to see this sunday what the Acadamy thinks on Fincher's lastest flick.

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Oliver Hunt

#18 Horror Remakes And Why They Never Work

With today being Friday 13th (oh watch out for that bad luck), I thought I would write about the now growing craze, to remake classic horror films. Today is also the day that Michael Bay’s remake of ‘Friday 13th’ is released (in the UK). But what I have been asking my self is why people like Michael Bay think, in there sick little heads, that it is a good idea to recreate the film but also destroy it’s spirit. To show what I am getting at I thought I would show the horror classics that are either being remade or having another sequel-

Friday 13th

Evil Dead

Evil Dead IV

The Birds

Nightmare On Elm Street

The Thing

Predator

And then the remakes that are all ready out…

The Grudge

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Dawn Of The Dead

The Amityville Horror

The Omen

The Hills Have Eyes

The Wicker Man

28 Weeks Later

It is beyond me. Is Hollywood said there will be remaking ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Taxi Driver’ again there would be riots in the streets, so what gives them the right to do it with horror films? Bottom line is that it is all because of money. People like Michael Bay don’t care about the history of cinema (mainly with Bay because he get away with only using CG) and kills the spirit of the films. Do you think anyone could kick ugly alien ass like Kurt Russell did in ‘The Thing’. No. Why they don’t channel all that “creative” thought power into some new slasher franchise like ‘Dead Silence’ (2007). But they just think “well we can spend time thinking of new ideas but then why not just remake a classic and throw Will Smith in”.

Everyone knows that Japan is one of the biggest distributors of crazy horror films. From ‘The Grudger’ to ‘The Ring’ to ‘Dark Water’, Japan has released some of the sickest horror films ever. But once Japan has had there glory with there new hit, Hollywood has to grab and remake for it to stay alive. But it’s not just film that J-Horror has influenced but also videogames, they truly do make the most bizarre scary films.

I remember watching 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning' and thinking this was some god work but channelled in the wrong places. What I am saying is that it's not all so bad but at the moment is the UK and Japan who are leading the Horror creativity at the moment with America either making spin-offs or Americanising the foreign films because for some reason they don't think that American audiences can handle subtitles. A few years ago New Line Cinema released 'Freddy vs. Jason' which to b honest wasn't that bad, in fact it was quite interesting watching two un-killable psychopaths to battle. What let it down was the cliché teenagers and silly dialog.

In a interview with Bruce Campbell (who played Ash in the original 'Evil Dead') he talked about how he thinks the remake of 'Evil Dead' should be which i agreed with, he said "The remake? Whatever. I'd be most interested if they went back with a 16mm camera and used no actors you've ever heard of. Because that's what The Evil Dead was - five kids in a cabin in rural Tennessee in 1979." If they did that then the film would be a succses and fans would be all over it (myself aswell also being a fan of the films).

Well on a final note; if ‘The Birds’ actually gets made in 2011, you can put your ear to the ground and hear ol‘ Hitchcock turning in his grave. This is just another piece to the on going evidence to show that Hollywood and other big companies are crushing creativity for money and not a love for films. Oliver Hunt

#17 BAFTA Part II: The Results

Well what can I say, pretty much everyone and their dogs, know that ‘Slumdog’s Millionaire’ was the big star of the night. With Boyle’s latest hit film scooping up a grand total of seven films all the other great films felt left in the shadows. Films like ‘Milk’ and ‘Frost Nixon’ being certainly left out; it just supported my theory of the films being release simply at the wrong time. If they were shown earlier or maybe later they would definitely have been noticed more. Having said that thought doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel that ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ didn’t deserve that many awards because it truly did but it certainly over shadowed others films.

However one film it didn’t get so over shadowed was Fincher’s ‘Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’ which won only three awards. Even though it won several awards Brad Pitt didn’t get to leave his seat after loosing Best Supporting Actor to you know who… Heath Ledger. An interesting part to the evening was when Michael Sheen and David Frost (the person Michael Sheen was playing in ‘Frost/Nixon’) went on stage to read the winner for Best Original Screenplay.

Now lets focus on the British films. I was glad to see that Steve McQueen (not to be mistaken for the other McQueen from ‘Bullit’) win THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for his film ‘Hunger (2008). Martin McDonagh won himself a BAFTA for his latest flick ‘In Bruges’. McDonagh had previously won himself an Oscar for his first short film ‘Six Shooter’, so it is interesting to see that he has won a award for pretty much everything he has done (includes his plays ‘The Pillowman’). Which begs the question if it is just a flook or is he the next big thing. And lastly film to win OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM was the Chinn and March’s film ‘Man On Wire’.

The last thing I’m going to say is that I am glad that Mickey Rourke won the award for LEADING ACTOR, and had a rather touching and funny speech in which he swore twice. As I said in my review for ‘The Wrestler’ I think that Rourke deserves some acclaim for his role I the film. Having said that I was sad that Van Sant’s latest film ‘Milk’ was a bit left out. I really thought they deserved HAIR AND MAKE-UP, but we will have to see if I receives anything when the Academy Awards come rolling in. Oh and Terry Gilliam has now been excepted into the BAFTA’s which was… nice.

For all the rest of the winners I have put them below.

BEST FILM

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Christian Colson

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

MAN ON WIRE – Simon Chinn, James Marsh

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD

for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film

STEVE McQUEEN (Director/Writer) – Hunger

DIRECTOR

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

IN BRUGES – Martin McDonagh

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Yves Marmion, Philippe Claudel

ANIMATED FILM

WALL•E – Andrew Stanton

LEADING ACTOR

MICKEY ROURKE – The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS

KATE WINSLET – The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR

HEATH LEDGER – The Dark Knight

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

PENÉLOPE CRUZ – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

MUSIC

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – A. R. Rahman

CINEMATOGRAPHY

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Anthony Dod Mantle

EDITING

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Chris Dickens

PRODUCTION DESIGN

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

COSTUME DESIGN

THE DUCHESS – Michael O'Connor

SOUND

SLUMDOG MILLIONARE – Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Eric Barba, Craig Barron, – Nathan McGuinness, Edson Williams

MAKE UP & HAIR

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Jean Black, Colleen Callaghan

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD

NOEL CLARKE

Oh yeah and Kate Whinslet won, again.

Oliver Hunt

#16 BAFTA Part I: Predictions

Ok this is only a small blog I thought I would do before the live show tonight. Well let’s start, the British Academy Of British Film and Television Arts was founded in 1947 and is hosted every year in London. It has been referred as the British Academy Awards even though it also recognizes video games. Some of the best actors and directors have received a gold face BAFTA such as Daniel Day Lewis (2008 for ‘There Will Be Blood’). This year is an amazing year so really its not a big deal if someone wins over others but It will be interesting.

This is not who I want to win but who I think deserves it. If there is two coloured in it is because I couldn’t choose which one. The time of writing this is 05.09pm Sunday 08th February. The BAFTA’s are on BBC 2 at 8pm and BBC 1 at 9pm.

BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER
IN BRUGES
MAMMA MIA!
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN Milk
BRAD PITT The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP Doubt
KATE WINSLET The Reader
KATE WINSLET Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Doubt
HEATH LEDGER The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI The Wrestler

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
SIMON CHINN Producer – Man On Wire
JUDY CRAYMER Producer – Mamma Mia!
GARTH JENNINGS Writer – Son of Rambow
STEVE McQUEEN Director/Writer – Hunger
SOLON PAPADOPOULOS / ROY BOULTER Producers – Of Time And The City

DIRECTOR
CHANGELING Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON David Fincher
FROST/NIXON Ron Howard
THE READER Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING Joel Coen / Ethan Coen
CHANGELING J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES Martin McDonagh
MILK Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON Peter Morgan
THE READER David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
GOMORRAH
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
PERSEPOLIS
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

ANIMATED FILMPERSE
POLIS
WALL•E
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Alexandre Desplat
THE DARK KNIGHT Hans Zimmer / James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE A. R. Rahman
WALL•E Thomas Newman

COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

SOUND
CHANGELING
THE DARK KNIGHT
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE
WALL•E

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
IRON MAN
QUANTUM OF SOLACE

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
FROST/NIXON
MILK

With the ones I have missed out it was because I can’t decide which one due to either not seeing the films or I wanted more then one.
After the show I will write a second blog writing about who won and my thoughts on it. Enjoy the show tonight and if this goes down well I will do another one for the Academy Awards 09.

Oliver Hunt

#15 Commercials At The Cinema

This is a blog I have been meaning to do for a while now ever since I have started to take notice of the commercials before the feature film. When I was young I never even noticed the long parts before the screen opening and the film actually beginning. Because of this I don’t know if it’s a recent thing or has been going of for years but I think that it is terrible to have to make your paying costumers to wait half an hour for the film to start. I also noticed that the multiplex's such as ODEON were much worse then my local art house cinema Picturehouse Duke Of Yorks, which it's very surprising when you think about it.

I understand when they show film trailers because its advertising more films to go see but when there is numerous car adverts it is just a waste of time. Ok so maybe the odd one or two should be shown but when it just doesn’t stop it ends up being frustrating. We watch thousands of adverts a day from billboards, magazines and of course television. Is it just another way to cram advertisements down our throats?

After seeing the same car insurance advert on TV then again on the side of a bus I don’t need to see it where I escape life, the cinema. One of the points of the cinema is to forget what’s going on in your life, but when they parade around obnoxious adverts in a dark room, I just annoys me. If I want a TV I will know to look on a websites or go in store I wont forget the stores or brands so why be so persistent with what you are selling? Whether over time it will faze out or get more intense something should stop it. I don’t pay £5-£7 on advertisements or trailers for that matter I can watch them in the comfit of my home. With advertisement getting more extreme I doubt that it going to stop.

Oliver Hunt

#14 Review For 'Milk' (2009)

Director
Gus Van Sant
Cast
Sean Penn
Josh Brolin
James Franco
Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black
Certification
15
Running Time
128min

First of all I’m not going to talk about the film but about 2009. I have very high hopes for the rest of the year if in the first two months there has already a ton of great movies. 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'The Wrestler', 'Frost/Nixon' and 'Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' just to name a few. And now Gus Van Sant’s never masterpiece ‘Milk’. I think that 2009 with be remembered as one of the great years for movies.

Now on to the film review. ‘Milk’ is directed by long time director Gus Van Sant. His other controversial films being ‘Elephant’ which was about the events surrounding the Columbine shootings and ‘Last Days’ which followed the life or musician Kurt Curbain in his final hours. Van Sant definitely strikes again with this in your face film about homosexuality and its struggle for expectance. It centres round Hervey Milk who was the first openly gay elected office. With Van Sant being gay himself it felt like he could finally express his inner self with the script. What I mean by this remark is that in all this films I have seen, there has always been a gay kissing scene, and with this film being about gay liberation it feels like sort natural over just being thrown in there.

One of the main things to why ‘Milk’ will suck in audiences is because of the acting talent. Firstly Josh Brolin was the… antagonist. Well I guess so because he was the opposite to Harvey Milk (one being Catholic the other gay). For the first time I have really have truly enjoyed James Franco on the screen (I haven’t seen ‘Pineapple Express’ yet). He didn’t steal the lime light from Penn or any other character and added to the hole ensemble along with the other cast members. Now on the Emile Hirsch who people will most likely now from ‘Speed Racer’ (2008) and ‘Lord Of Dogtown’ (2005), is definitely one the characters that stands out. With his reassembly small role I left the cinema remembering his impact on the movie. I think this could be a not so much a big break but Emile will definitely start to be noticed by not only me but hopefully other directors/producers. Now last but not least Sean Penn, before I saw the film a gay friend of mine asked if Sean Penn was homosexual himself, to which I simply replied no. Penn does such a good performance that I am sure that he deserves the Oscar over Rourcke and Pitt. But in fairness I would love to see Rourke win it and I haven’t seen ‘Curious Case-‘ yet so its hard to say.

Really the reason why people should go see this film is mainly for the acting of the script. Not that it’s a bad or boring one but the film has other things going for it. Mainly the acting but also the way Van Sant directed it with subtle little film experiments that he did with his other films. For instance though out the film there is a lot of reflected surfaces used. But now I am really torn with the Academy Awards like I said Penn for Best Male Performance but im wondering who deserves Best Director Boyle, Fincher or Van Sant. It definitely a good year for the Oscars and it is very unlikely that I will be disappointed.

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Oliver Hunt

#13 Hollywood’s Answer To Creativity

First of all I would like to apologize for not posting a blog for a while but I have just been busy sorting out a little film project I have going at the moment but I will try keep up, just bare with me. I would also like to that the die hard people who keep reading my blog and would love some ideas from the readers about what to write about.

Where to start? Every year Hollywood keeps churning out terrible films that makes everyone wonder why it’s still the film capital of the world. A recent example is the awful looking (I say looking because there’s no way I would pay to see it) ‘Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans’. A prequel to the 2003 flop ‘Underworld’ and ‘Underworld: Evolution’ (2006). After two rubbish blockbusters you would have thought they would have got the message. However, apparently not because it doesn’t matter if the film is good or not, because if it has Will Smith in it, hundreds of sheep with flock in to the cinemas.

In fairness Hollywood does occasionally releases the odd good film, when there are in the mood. Films like Eastwood’s ‘Changling’ (2008) and Fincher’s ‘The Curious Case OF Benjamin Button’ (2009), which has hit the awards circuit, try to do something for modern cinema the just playing it safe with a sequel. Sequels on they other hand aren’t the worst thing. I’m not condemning them, after last years ‘Dark Knight’ it can only show a progression in great sequels (and the Harry Potter films I guess). What I am getting at is that Hollywood believes that it can stop thinking of new ideas and use ideas from a book or an action figure like ‘G.I.Joe’ (ok it looks) and it should come to a halt because with all there resources (or money) they should make new classics.

Hollywood’s plan is to just keep releasing sequels, adaptations and remakes with movie ‘stars’ (if you can call them that) year after year. What’s the point making new fresh films when the can just remake a popular 80’s television show? Why take a risk and try to push cinema like Gus Van Sant (Milk, Last Days, Elephant) does when they can make a great animation and build a franchise; mark my words there will be a ‘Wall-e 2’ or ‘Up 2’, ok maybe not the last one but 'Monsters Vs Aliens 2'. I would prefer to go see a documentary about a 1960’s journalist at my local Arthouse cinema then see the latest high concept movie.

Oliver Hunt