In a couple of weeks a movie comes out where Chris Pine and Tom Hardy will fight over Reece Witherspoon, as spies. Now I love Tom Hardy, but this movie looks terrible.

In Fire Down Below, Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum fight over Rita Hayworth in the Caribbean, with a wartime, espionage undertone.

Now, tell me that film stars are still as good as they were?

They don’t make em like they used to. Not the films, the stars.

campfire-headphase asked: Hi there, on your review of girl with the dragon tattoo, I have to agree with you on all but one thing. The end of the movie is meant to happen like that- that's what happens in the book. And you have to realise that it is a big thing for Lisbeth to want to open her heart to someone, which is what makes it so heartbreaking. It isn't 'Hollywood' at all, it's how the book was written. Thanks

I’ve never read the book. If that is the case the film doesn’t do anywhere near enough work in that area. I understand it is a big deal for her to let someone in, I didn’t realise she simply fell in love. That’s a shame. I was basing my film review on the film, as I feel all film reviews should be based. Thank you so much for engaging. A lovely message to receive

**WARNING - May contain a spoiler or two**

It’s not that Niels Arden Oplev isn’t a capable filmmaker, it’s just that David Fincher is better. This film is better than the Swedish original. Fincher can, and has, collaborated with better people and the result is a film that is far more interesting than the very good crime thriller that Oplev oversaw.

In the hands of Fincher, Zaillian, Reznor & Ross and this cast, it truly is pulp crime elevated to a near Kubrickian status. I say that because there is clearly so much homage in this film to The Shining. There are nods to Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut also, but The Shining is referenced most prominently, to the extent that certain shots are clear homages. And it fits. The idea of the secrets of a place and its inhabitants. The sense of isolation from the rest of the world, emotionally as much as physically is ever present and oppressive.

This is such a beautiful looking film, delivered far more matter of fact than the Swedish version, which allows the evil to sit there, staring back, underscored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s sublime score.

And where did all the laughs come from? Zaillian’s words and the superb performances of Plummer and Craig allow some real gallows pulp moments that are genuinely funny.

At the heart of it is Rooney Mara, deservedly Oscar nominated for a fearless performance. Admittedly, Noomi Rapace deserved more award recognition for her portrayal. Both get to the heart of a truly memorable character. Unfortunately, and this was the only real flaw for me, Mara has to spend the final moments looking yearningly at Craig, and then fleeing into the night, giving the central relationship a Hollywood romance fleck that this brilliant story of primal, physical dependent friendship doesn’t need or deserve. It’s as if even in a film as dark and uncompromising as this the girl still needs to want to a girlfriend above all else. That sucks.

It’s a small detraction from a fantastic piece of work. Amazing credit sequence which almost mocks Daniel Craig’s Bond associations and features Karen O delivering a prophetic version of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. Some sequences are pure comic strip, whilst the rest is a masterclass in camera led meaning and feeling. The fact that Fincher knows this is pulp, and plays with those conventions is what stop it reaching Shining/Kubrick levels of wonder, but that feels deliberate, it’s more stylistically playful whilst still forcing us to witness uncomfortable darkness through the lives of brutal men, a terrifying family and a brave, valiant, intelligent, unique woman.

Filmmaker Scott Tanner Jones came to Filmstock with his partner in crime Armando Ballesteros promoting his wonderful short Plainview.

He left an enigmatic figure but by the time he returned with Carbone’s Birthday he had cemented his place in the upper echelons of Filmstock folklore.

He’s now a very good friend of mine, and is seeking help to complete his debut feature Take Care.

His Kickstarter campaign is a week or so old, with over a fortnight to run. The link is here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/498987293/take-care-0

I am not just excited because it’s a friend completing a feature, I’m excited because it looks great, features collaborators from Plainview and as a result I know it’s going to be a heartfelt, well performed drama that resonates on many levels and God knows we need more films like that in the world and I for one am going to do my bit to try and ensure this film gets completed.

Do the facebook thing here -

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TAKE-CARE/161482910534201

And for goodness sake add to the meagre twitter following here - 

https://twitter.com/#!/TakeCare_amovie

He deserves it, if for nothing else than his mercurial and epic song a day blog which made the world a better place for the duration of its run (except maybe when I guested)

http://everythingisgoingtobealright.posterous.com/

It’s very sweary and pushes the boundaries of acceptability, but it’s funny. Really funny. 

I think it’s down to the four central performances, of all which are pitch perfect in their comic timing and their emotional cores. It’s a motley rabble, but they lift average material to something repeatedly watchable by revelling in the material, their chemistry and the moment.

Utterly confused at the end. Are my critical faculties on the wane? Or maybe the final reveal didn’t quite live up to the promise of the rest of the film. Not knowing the equilibrium doesn’t detract from what is a well performed and thoroughly enjoyable old-fashioned ghost story. 

The cast are superb, and the script has a nice frisson to it in the relationships that keep you guessing throughout. Beautifully shot in perfect locations it’s classically restrained and all the better for it. I just wish the end was better.

On the surface it might seem like the film ticks boxes of what British cinema does at its most pedestrian but sewn into its fabric are flourishes of dialogue and banter, subtext and Spanish horror stylings that lift it way above this. A very promising feature debut, although don’t watch the special features because the self same director doesn’t come across well, getting Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys title wrong and saying some utterly ludicrous things about filmmaking, whilst going for exactly what Kubrick went for with The Shining, but somehow suggesting it’s all his idea. 

Whilst this is an enjoyable film, with much to commend it, The Shining it is not.

Soderbergh lets loose with a great cast in exotic locations with a slim, pulpy espionage action movie. It’s essentially a series of action sequences with a female fighter he has taken and (sort of) created an actress out of. At parts it doesn’t all hang together around her, despite the strong attempts of established actors around her.

Good trash, a proper dumb eighties action movie, but good, thanks to David Holmes’ score. And look at that poster. It’s great, and tells you exactly the sort of movie you can expect.

Like Keaton I feel out of step sometimes with the world around me. Not quite fitting in to the way the world is. Never more so than when watching a silent film, live scored, introduced by Jim Broadbent and being overcome with joy and escapism that I rarely get from modern cinema. Maybe I have to reclaim my mode of viewing, create opportunities and environments for sheer immersion. Maybe I don’t.

All I know is that I have never seen this full film, and last night experienced pure joy at the power and wonder of cinema, feeling blessed that Keaton existed, and exists forever on celluloid. This Romeo & Juliet tale is full of pathos, love, cheek and some of the most incredible physical action sequences ever.

Not just remarkable for 1928, but simply remarkable. No one has done anything like it since. Proof that CGI can never make up for the imagination of humanity, coupled with human application. Houses and buildings fall balletically, trees fly with a man attached, a man stands parallel to the ground in a hurricane. He slips, and bends in shapes computers would struggle to make look real.

We laugh, we gasp, we smile. We constantly smile.

A true work of genius.

All hail the modern Australian crime saga. First Snowtown, now Animal Kingdom. Similar aesthetics, similar tone. Similar attention to detail.

A profound mix of the tragic and the social. Strong senses of family and volcanic tensions.

Animal Kingdom is beautifully written, superbly directed and exquisitely performed. 

The comparisons with Goodfellas in the marketing are wayward in my opinion. There is much more in common here with the stark, sprawling nature of the likes of Gomorrah than its bravura American counterparts. 

The sad, cyclical nature of crime families, the tragic descent into complicity of youth caught in the crosshairs. Serious, hard cinema. Brilliant.

May only be a couple more of these posts before I close the book on this chapter. But yesterday we shared a wonderful day at the UK premiere of the film that has been such a remarkable surprise for us.

Yesterday was another reminder of how blessed I am, and how lucky we are. 16 months after we shot the film and we took over 21 people to our first public screening on these shores. And you can say what you want about Luton, but it’s thanks to Luton, and the people there that we could do that. And, in Luton. We do festivals right.

I don’t want to go into what I didn’t like about yesterday, from a festivalgoer/filmmaker point of view because it will detract from how humbled I was, and how much I want to thank those people that came out.

It meant so much to me, from those who attended to those couldn’t but sent love, to realise how supportive, loving and good my friends and family are. Beautiful. 

Photo by @eltard

—————

It’s Natural To Be Afraid. UK Premiere. Roll Of Honour.

Me

Justin

Roma

Kate J

Tardis

Drakey

Chiara

Chris

John

Julie

Mark

Katie

Kate F

Tom

Lisa

Ma Fox

Pa Fox

Pa Doherty

Alex

James

Nish

Tom M

Bob

Danielle

Danielle’s friend (Lauren I think?)

——————

The only real downer was Steve missing it, which sucked, but in all in all, it couldn’t have been better. So thank you. It’s been an amazing 14 months and yesterday was some damn tasty icing.