No news is not so good news

Finally got round to watching the Oscars last Friday (even though we all know by now who the winners were), as I like to watch the whole ceremony. My highlights included

James Franco- It has been well documented that Mr Franco was not the most popular of hosts, somewhat mismatched with Anne Hathaway and portraying an air of detachment to the whole proceedings, but his facial expressions were a treat and his almost stoner like presence was a welcome relief from Hathaway's try hard giddy girl routine. That and seeing him in a white leotard during their skit of Black Swan was a hoot.

Luke Matheny- The director and winner of Best short film for God of Love gave the sweetest most genuinely excited speech of the evening.

Kirk Douglas- It was slightly awkward watching him try to move around the stage but the old timer still showed a cheeky charm.

Cate Blanchett's dress- Best of the evening for me, just the right side of quirky.

It is the Bradford Film Festival this week and there are many screenings and talks going on. I missed out on going to the Terry Gilliam talk, however tomorrow I will console myself with the screening of the classic 'Labyrinth' which they are showing on the big screen in all its glory. Expect Graham and I will be singing "You remind me of the babe" all the way home.....

Filming for Forgotten Reverie- Blackpool Bridge, Meltham 11th February 2011

Day 1 of filming of 'Forgotten Reverie'.




This began in the rolling countryside of Yorkshire, at a hideaway picturesque location called Blackpool Bridge, near Digley Reservoir in Meltham. With the narrative of the poem, we wanted to create a dreamlike memory. of lost love and regret and we wanted to find somewhere that would evoke a melancholy mood.

After a very muddy and long walk through the Yorkshire countryside, we found the hidden gem of Blackpool Bridge and shot some footage there, along with the surrounding fields. This will be layered with some close ups.

Breathless in Paris

Have just returned from a wonderful long weekend in Paris and thought I would share some film related findings of my journey. As a fan of the french new wave it was a personal desire of mine to see the final resting place of Francois Truffaut, one of the leaders of the movement. The cemetery in Montmarte has many pioneers of the French arts buried there and it is a testament of how high they hold their regard for artists and creative innovators.

Francois Truffaut's grave at Montmarte Cemetary. A true pioneer of filmmaking

The streets of Paris are awash with stunning architecture and picturesque views that have inspired many films and is somewhere that ignites the creative passions, a place steeped in iconic scenery. And has made this part time filmmaker yearn to get back behind the camera.

Henri George Clouzot's grave at Montmarte Cemetary. The director of such French classics as 'The Wages of Fear' and 'Les Diaboliques'.

End of the year review

Its coming to the end of the year and I thought I would partake in a personal cinematic round up of 2010. In terms of film, it has not been a vintage year and I cant recall as many highlights as last years diverse and eclectic treats, yet there has been still delights to be had and thoughts to be provoked.

So here goes....

Top 5 films of the year

5)A Single Man (Tom Ford)

A visually exquisite piece of cinema that was simultaneously poetry to the eyes as well as the ears. Restrained, absorbing and delicately shattering, Tom Ford's first feature film was a period film of style that also achieved substance, notably by Colin Firths subtly devastating portrayal of a man aching with grief yet finding beauty in the simplest of forms. Beautiful.

4) Four Lions (Chris Morris)

Easily the most quotable film of the year and one of the funniest. Chris Morris' suicide bomber comedy is easy tabloid fodder but the film manages to pull laughs from an extremely incomprehensible situation. The final scene manages to encapsulate the horror of the predicament and remains with you long after the credits roll. That and the sight of the Honey Monster at full pelt.

3) The Social Network ( David Fincher)

Who would have thought a talky film about the birth of Facebook (the devils work) would be so damn intriguing. If Mark Zuckerberg is really a intelligent yet pathetic and slimy piece of work then Jessie Eisenberg plays him to a tee. Equally affective were Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin and Armie Hammer (great name) playing both twins via CGI Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (great name also). The trailer also contained one of the best uses of song for the year with a choir version of Creep that was spine tingling.

2) Inception ( Christopher Nolan)

The anti blockbuster blockbuster was the thinking persons summer extravaganza of the year. Leonardo Di Caprio gave his second performance of the year as a man bordering at the edges of sanity and stricken with guilt over a lost wife (see also Shutter Island). He was complimented by a great cast, in particular Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy-a future star in the making and new object of affection in our household (more so by my other half proving his a man's man that it is ok to like). The visuals were dazzling without detracting, the plot was dense but enthralling and Di Caprio again proves himself to be the go to guy for mentally tortured, multi layered characters. Some may argue that it was clever (or tried to be) for its own good, but embrace the spectacle and just be glad that this blockbuster wasn't a remake or a sequel for once.

1) Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)

Winter's Bone hardly troubled the multiplexes yet those who sort out this film were richly rewarded. The story of Ree Dolly, an Ozark mountain girl, trying to find her drug dealing father in order to keep the family home is one of simplicity that grips the viewer into a truly absorbing redneck noir thriller. The film has a sparse, subtly menacing quality to it, aided by the cinematography, each frame a microcosm for a land that is unforgiving and brutally insular. It is a film this reviewer would like to aspire to and one that gets under the skin like a winters chill and once takes hold, is hard to shake off.

Special mention to

The squirm while you watch award:

Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos)- The story of three teenagers confined to an isolated country estate by their own father is one of the most thought provoking and somewhat controversial films of the year. I did not include this in my top 5 of the year, purely because it is a film i would not watch again. And maybe that is the point, it is such an eerie, calculated piece of cinema that should be experienced, though not for the faint hearted, and will make such an impact on the viewer that it will not be forgotton, for better or worse.

The guilty pleasure of the year award:

Whip It! (Drew Barrymore)- A teen movie about a misfit schoolgirl finding escapism and fulfillment from her small town syndrome by playing Roller Derby sounds like a plot that in other hands, may have been another mawkish High School Musical type affair. But in the directorial debut hands of Drew Barrymore, Whip It! becomes a punky spunky girl power ride. With feisty female leads and a genuine heroine to root for, the film is a joyous ode to the the odd girl rites of passage and made me want to get my skates on. By the way in case you were wondering my Roller Derby name is Disgrace Kelly :)

Re-release of the year

The Red Shoes (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger)- This was the first time I have seen this 1948 classic and I was grateful that I had the chance to witness it on the big screen. A glorious, sumptious movie that follows a young ballet dancer who is torn between her love of the dance and the man she loves. It was a film that reminded of the absolute beauty of cinema and how, if you are in love with the medium, like myself, that it continues to dazzle and astound. The infamous Red Shoes sequence is a dazzling tour de force of cinematography and editing and left me with tears in my eyes at the wonder of it all.

Tron Legacy Preview- 28th October 2010 IMAX, Bradford

After visiting the Bradford Media Museum website (as i so frequently do), I stumbled across a link to get tickets for a 23 minute preview of the new Tron Legacy film showing in 3D in the IMAX screen. Knowing how much my boyfriend Graham is anticipating this film, due to his love of the original (though with this brings an air of interpretation and hope that the legacy, ahem of the film will not be tarnished) and the bonus that Daft Punk are scoring the movie, I duly followed the instructions to get my hands on these coveted items.

And so, with ticket print out in our feverish mitts, we journeyed to the Media Museum in Bradford on a cold Thursday night to an eerily quiet Museum save for a collective of admittedly nerdy fanboys. We were told we could go up the IMAX, though once we went up the stairs, we had to join an already impressive queue (we ourselves were 30 + minutes early, see what i mean about fanboys). I have never been to something like this before and despite my fairly subdued interest in the film, compared to Graham's (and the fanboys) nervous excitement, I did find myself getting giddy with the prospect of being first to see the footage.

Once the doors were open, we took our seats as central as possible, to maximise enjoyment and donned our 3D specs, that were reminiscent to scuba goggles. As we waited we were surrounded by various conversations of film and learnt that if you had not seen The Dark Knight, you had not lived...apparently. And as the lights went down, we were greeted with a message, revealed in a typed online message style, slightly cheesy but nevertheless fun and reinforced the message that we were part of a select few to see the scenes first.

The preview began and we were shown a few chapters, noting the scene numbers, of the movie, starting with a set up of the narrative to establish the cause and effect to come. Sam Flynn is told that his father may still be alive, having previously been lead to believe he had died years ago. He visits his fathers old Arcade and is transported into the Grid, this leading us up to a couple of snippets of the action sequences that surely must be the selling point of the film. And this is where the scenes came alive. Personally I am not a huge advocate of 3D, I believe that if it is done correctly then it can enhance and enrich a film, however I do not agree with the notion of recent times, that sees many films jumping the 3D band wagon as it is so hot right now. However if any film could prove the point of using 3D, I feel this may just be your movie. The 'Disc Wars' scene (which of course produced seat jerking excitement for the fanboys :) yes Graham including you) showcased the level of spectacle and depth that 3D can offer and the subsequent light cycles footage, had me fully caught up in the world of Tron and was simply like nothing I had even seen before, yet managing to retain the Neon/Dark aesthetics of the original.

When the film is released in December, it remains to be seen whether Tron Legacy will live up the hype and promise of the early footage. Yet if this is a case of style over substance, the viewers are surely in for one hell of a stylish treat. I feel that this will be truly maximised by seeing on the biggest loudest screen possible, if you are lucky to be near an IMAX, that should help. And for someone like myself, who is more a fan of intimate, restrained narratives, Tron Legacy will be a nice change and a chance to enjoy the pure spectacle of cinema.

Review of Leaving Las Vegas

Ok.....so my friend Raj bought Leaving Las Vegas on DVD and needed to try to work out in her head what she had just seen. Knowing her usual film taste, this seemed somewhat of an odd choice for her to pick and she wanted to talk about this with someone else. The someone else being me. I have never personally watched the film before, despite its credentials, I just never felt the urge to watch it.

But being a dutiful friend, I felt I would give this a go and give her the much needed feedback she required. I had also just finished reading the Director Mike Figgis' book 'Digital Filmmaking' (an excellent read for amateur filmmakers) and due to my enjoyment of his book and the references to the film within the text, I thought it quite apt to give it a viewing.

Unfortunately as much as I wanted to like the film (due to my new admiration for Mr Figgis) I could not say it was an experience I enjoyed. And perhaps this is the point -a story about an alcoholic and his relationship with drink and a prositute he meets hardly screams feelgood factor. Yet for all the downbeat misery that the film evokes, there is much to admire within the frame. Figgis directs expertly creating a living neon nightmare for his protaganists, set within the backdrop of the garish faded soul of Las Vegas. The music (which Figgis was responsible for aswell as directing) enhances the narrative, the score mixing between bluesy jazz melancoly and sweet melodic sounds that almost conjures up shades of a lullaby.

Nicholas Cage went on to win the Oscar and all the plaudits for his portrayal of Ben, a man who is sleepwalking (or perhaps sleepdrinking) through life after his wife leaves him and he loses his job, his last goal in life, to literally drink himself to death. Yet to me, the heart of the film belonged to Elisabeth Shue as Sarah (or Sera as she likes to spell it), the prostitute, who wants to love and be loved in return. The cliche of the tart with the heart may loom, but Shue plays this with such conviction that an already depressing film, turns into near heartbreak as she cannot make her simple dream come true. She is the centre of the narrative, exuding compassion and empathy rather than the nihilistic Ben, whom she latches to when she is cast aside by her abusive pimp. Shue's character will remain in the memory when the films hangover has worn off.

Leaving Las Vegas is a difficult watch, there is no Hollywood ending and no cinematic gloss to comfort the viewer. It is the anti fairytale of girl meets boy, one where no one will be saved, though a form of redemption may be found for Sera. It is a bold, brave film but like an alcoholic beverage that you have overconsumed, it is one I would not re-stock in my booze cupboard.

Hollywood & Women Pioneers

Tutor: Rona Murphy 26th June 2010

Saturday film school to focus on the idea of women in the American film industry and to examine the work of Kathryn Bigelow. How far have women progressed in the film industry?

Whilst many signficant strides have been taken for women to work within the film system, the evidence suggests that they are still in the minority particularly in the area of directing. Many women take on roles in production but they are mainly working on 'womens film' such as rom coms, and melodramas. Film is still seen as a male dominated area and this can be traced back to the beginning of cinema.

One could argue that in the early days of film, it was simply a matter of physicality that led men to dominate the area. With the first cameras being heavy and labourous, it was something a man could manouvuer that a woman could not. However thesedays with smaller kits and a bigger availibity this should surely address that issue?

The female’s relationship with cinema and her role within it has been a social struggle since the very origins of the film medium began. There was a need for better representation that was originally conceived onscreen, to go beyond preordained constructions of the female form and allow them a rightful position in the narrative rather than occupying screen space for their desirability. Though it was not only achievable if female filmmakers emerged, the industry certainly required, and deserved, the input of more women, who have been (and continue to be) in the minority of the studio workplace. From the early days of cinema, through the studio era to present day, women have been producing, writing and directing films, to create their own visual identity however much of the work they created has been lost or destroyed over time. Dorothy Arzner was a female director from 1922 to the 1940s who set a new a new standard for women in film by trying to push the subjective. Actress Ida Lupino, emerged as the most prolific of her time, deciding to take more creative control over the roles she was surrounded with. She created her own production company, to make films of a modest budget to tackle subjects that Hollywood rarely touched.

Returning to the modern day cinema, women are beginning to be recognised to co-inhabit the space on the screen and justifiably be more than visual stimulus. Yet as the movie business is finally taking those tentative steps towards bringing a social equality to the industry, they are still reluctant to lose the tradition of Hollywood. The ethos of the boy’s film club is still present in contemporary cinema with directing and the film spectator still being viewed as a primarily male area. www.indietalk.com/showreel states that only 4 of the top 100 films of 2005 were directed by women, and though they have begun to take more roles in the executive end of the movie business, they are still rarely chosen to direct.

Someone who is taking on the boys club and redefining the action genre is Kathryn Bigelow. Aside for the glaring fact that she is the first female to win the best director Oscar, there is much more to this filmmaker that deserves analysis. Key to Bigelow's position in comtemporary cinema is that she is has body of work that showcases her auteur stylistics, her famed action sequences and her playful genre-bending tendencies. She started as a painter and an artist and this is evident in her use of lighting and framing within scenes, she was also heavily influenced by Sam Peckinpah whose violent westerns would provide reference for her own films. Though she is known for her action films, Bigelow first appeared in avant garde films using these notions in her early work and she was associated with 1980s feminist cinema.

Kathryn Bigelow's first taste of cult success was with her 1987 film Near Dark, a Western/Vampire hybrid that also contained aspects of melodrama with the vampire family unit central to the plot. Her breakthrough movie was Point Break (1991) a action-heist-thriller in which an FBI agent Jonny Utah (Keanu Reeves) must uncover the culprits of a string of bank robberies by going uncover as a surfer and infiltrating the gang behind the crimes. Whilst doing so he becomes involved in an intense friendship with the leader of the gang Bodhi (Patrick Swayze)whom it transpires is behind the robberies. It is this aspect which turns the action picture off kilter and provides a new viewpoint for the audience, turning mainstream entertainment into a gender challenging male melodrama. It is the men who are objectified in this film, shot in some scenes in an almost fetishistic manner, particularly Bodhi who becomes the fixation for both Jonny and the audience, his hippy, yet masculine physic, complete with golden tresses becoming problematic for the hero of the piece. The only female character interestingly, is presented as a tomboy with an androgynous look complete with short cropped hair. Yet as Bigelow casts these characters and plays with the gender stereotyping, she still delivers the action sequences with aplomb, adapting her cameras to create fluid, rhythmic sequences. Bigelow manages to combine the concept of pure cinema, where it is simply to entertain and excite, but also with a subversion to challenge ideas of masculinity and femininity.

Kathryn Bigelow took a eight year break after her 2000 film Weight of Water struggled to find its audience. Different to her previous work, the film followed a non linear structure which alienated a lot of her audience. After working in Television for a while, she returned to film with The Hurt Locker(2008) for which she again took on a male orientated genre, the War film, and continued to show her autueristic nature with innovative camera work and keen viewpoint on highly charged maschoism. She was rewarded with the Best Director Oscar and though some may argue that see received this for simply being female (Sigourney Weaver commented she only won 'because she has breasts) she has proved that a female filmmaker does not simply have to make womens films for women but can bring her own personal vision and blend this with artistic competency to provide cinema with progressive, entertaining narratives.