DJ BoBo - "Vampires Are Alive"

Lordi have a lot to explain...

Take this for example, Switzerland's entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest: A goth dance track!

"The horror... The horror..."

Letters From Iwo Jima

"Letters From Iwo Jima" is Clint Eastwood's take on the Battle of Iwo Jima told from a Japanese perspective. It is a companion piece to "Flags Of Our Fathers" which tells the same story but from the American point of view.

Told mostly through the eyes of General Kuribayashi (the man leading the island's defense) and Private Saigo (a foot soldier), the film covers the period from the Japanese army's preparations in advance of the American invasion to their eventual defeat.

Eastwood manages to create a moving (and horrific) portrayal of the battle; in lesser hands it could have come over as "just another World War 2 film", but here he successfully shows the utter futility of war and this is made all the more compelling because it is told from the perspective of the side that is usually portrayed within films as the "enemy". It is an even-handed film, although your sympathies are with the Japanese, neither side is shown as "angels" - both Japanese and American soldiers are shown carrying out dishonourable acts, but these are the acts of individuals rather than nations. Based on the strength of this film, I'd now like to see 'Flags Of Our Fathers', which I missed on its original release, just to see how Eastwood handles the story from the other side.

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Of Jasper Morello

A friend pointed me in the direction of this little gem on YouTube.

Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this Gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his Plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself. The chance discovery of an abandoned dirigible leads Jasper through uncharted waters to an island on which lives a terrifying creature that may be the cure for the Plague...

Because of its length it's in three parts, here are the links to Part 1 (if you can't use the embedded object above), Part 2 and Part 3.

The Science Of Sleep

Following the death of his Mexican father, Stéphane (Gael García Bernal) moves to Paris to be nearer his mother. Here he falls in love with Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) the girl who lives next door. However, the path of true love never runs smoothly as Stéphane spends much of his time living in a dream world.

"The Science Of Sleep" is written and directed by Michel Gondry, who previously directed "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" - one of my favourite films of 2004 (which is pretty good going considering it starred Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet; two of my least liked actors). In this film Gondry shows that same level of visual flair that he has brought to his other films and music videos, notably the cardboard 'dream TV studio' and the cave brimming with items made from felt, however it lacks the emotional resonance of "Eternal Sunshine".

I don't think this is down to the acting; Bernal and Gainsbourg are both good and they are ably supported by the rest of the cast. For me the problem lies with the script, "Eternal Sunshine" was scripted by Charlie Kaufman - one of the best screenwriters around, having also scripted "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation." and "Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind" - whereas "The Science Of Sleep" is the brainchild of Gondry alone. The film starts well, full of charm and whimsy, but without someone to rein in Gondry's excesses, I felt the film overstayed its welcome and became dark and depressing towards the end.

Hot Fuzz

I went into this film with very high expectations, it's the first film that I've been itching to see in 2007 (others include '300' and 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End'). I'm a big fan of the works of Messrs Pegg & Wright - I've watched 'Spaced' more times than I care to remember and I loved 'Shaun Of The Dead'. (I'll happily admit to watching 'Shaun' at the cinema twice on the first day of its release!)

So, with such high expectations, was I disappointed? No. Although 'Hot Fuzz' lacks 'Shaun’s' brilliance (zom-rom-com), it is still a very enjoyable comedy taking the American action film (guns, cars, big explosions, male bonding) and dropping it in a sleepy English village.

If you've managed to miss the hype for 'Hot Fuzz', this Robert Rodriguez-scored trailer should give you an idea what to expect.

I'm now planning my next viewing of the film...


I-Spy At The Movies: Two Oscar winners have uncredited cameos in the film. Can you spot them?

Babel (The Final Post)

Eureka! I've finally found out the name of the piece of music that is used during the helicopter scene.

It's "Iguazu" by Gustavo Santaolalla and the reason why I thought it was familiar is because it's also on "The Insider" soundtrack - it popped up on iTunes on random play this morning.

Notes On A Scandal

The scandal in question is an affair between a teacher (Cate Blanchett) and fifteen year old boy, while the notes are provided by a bitter, lonely older woman (Judi Dench).

An interesting drama (psychological thriller?) from Richard Eyre (director) and Patrick Marber (screenwriter) - two people best known for their stage work - adapting Zoë Heller's novel.

Blanchett is good as the idealistic Sheba but the film belongs to Dench who is truly disturbing as Barbara; the film is interspersed with vitriolic narrative rants from her character. She brings the sort of menace to the screen that was sadly lacking from 'Hannibal Rising'.

Hannibal Rising

Having finished the book last weekend and seen the film yesterday, this will be a combination on my thoughts on both of them.

"Hannibal Rising", as the title suggests, covers Hannibal's early years. One of the elements missing from "Hannibal" (the 2001 film) that was covered in its 'sister' novel was hints at events in Hannibal's childhood; "Hannibal Rising" fills in any gaps that the earlier novel may have had. (The latest film's/novel's 'shock' revelation will come as no surprise to anyone who has read "Hannibal".)

The story is ostensibly a revenge story; without giving too much away, a young adult Lecter hunts down and kills off those people who wronged him during his childhood. The book and film are almost exactly the same (save a storyline about stolen artworks which appears in the book), which isn't a surprise as they were both written by Thomas Harris (the author of the other three Lecter novels).

If I have a problem with "Hannibal Rising" - the film is watchable and the book flies by at quite a pace - it is that it demystifies and attempts to humanise Hannibal Lecter, I'd rather his past had been kept a mystery. In "Red Dragon" (my favourite of the novels, which spawned my favourite of the films - Michael Mann's "Manhunter") 'Hannibal the Cannibal' is dangerous and manipulative; although you learn very little about him and he isn't the story's main character, he certainly makes the biggest impression. The later Lecter stories (especially the films) paint Hannibal as more of an anti-hero. Now we learn that Hannibal became a monster because of the bad things that happened to him in his childhood. Here he is portrayed as a vigilante; in the orphanage where he grows up he only picks fights with bullies and later he hunts down and metes justice on war criminals. As a fan of the earlier Lecter stories, this seems like one story too many, an unnecessary 'prologue' to the series...

Babel (Again...)

One lesson I don't seem to have learnt is that if you don't enjoy a film first time around, don't go to see it again...

Last night I went to see Babel again* and my opinion of it didn't change from my first review. Although one sequence that I really liked, that I forgot to write about first time around, was the helicopter flight sequence (probably because at the time I was trying to work out what the piece of music being used was).


*I should add that I went to see it again as part of an evening course I'm doing, rather than out of choice.

The Decemberists

How to describe The Decemberists? A blend of Barenaked Ladies meets folk...

Last night's gig at Nottingham Trent University was a very enjoyable 100 minutes. I'm not totally familiar with their material (I've only listened to one of their albums a couple of times) but that didn't really matter on the night. I wasn't sure how the gig was going to go; were the band po-faced musicians or did they have fun with the audience? My question was answered by the very tongue-in-cheek intro that was performed just before the band came on. From there on out we were treated a really good set, with a fair bit of banter with the audience thrown in for good measure, culminating in the band members swapping instruments for a mad encore. Definitely someone I'd see again.

The Fountain

"The Fountain" is the fifth film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky; "Pi" and "Requiem For A Dream" being the best known of his earlier films. "The Fountain" has suffered a troubled history - it was originally slated for production in 2002 as a big budget vehicle ($75m) for Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, but 'creative differences' between Pitt and Aronofsky lead to the production being shut down. Aronofsky then kick-started the project again in 2004 with a smaller budget ($35m) and two new lead actors.

I have a problem writing about this film for the simple reason that I didn't understand it... At the point where I thought I had a good idea of what was going on, the carpet was pulled from under my feet and I ended up leaving the cinema utterly confused.

So what I do know? The film is told through three interwoven story lines set over three time periods: the past, the present and the future. The two main actors Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz appear in all three stories as Tomas/Tommy/Tom and Isabel/Izzi respectively. In the past a Spanish conquistador is on a quest to find the Tree of Life supposedly worshipped by the Mayans, in the present a doctor is looking for a cure for brain tumours (which may come from a rare tree from South America) to save his dieing wife and in the future a man is travelling through space in a giant terrarium with a dieing tree to a nebula (that the Mayans called Xibalba) in order to give it new life.

My confusion comes around what, in the context of the film, is 'real' and what is 'fiction'. The past story line may be fiction, maybe it's the past and the future that are imagined, perhaps it's all real...

Despite my incomprehension of "The Fountain", it was an engaging film. The main performances were strong (and this comes from someone who isn't a Rachel Weisz fan), it is visually stunning (Aronofsky used micro-photography of chemical reactions for the film's nebular effects rather than CGI to give it an organic feel) and Clint Mansell's score compliments the emotions of the film well. Like "Pi" I suspect that this film will probably make more sense following a second viewing.

Rocky Horror Show

Yesterday I went to see 'Rocky Horror Show' on stage...

Again...

I'm not sure if this was the third or the fourth time I've seen it, but it's a show that keeps dragging me back for more (pun intended)...

I caught the earlier of the day's shows (6pm), which meant that there wasn't a great deal of dressing-up (and although I was in costume, I have to admit that I didn't go the whole hog myself) and the audience wasn't at its most vocal - lots of 'virgins' I suspect... (Rumour has it that the later show ran 20 minutes longer because of the audience participation!)

Nevertheless, it was (as always) a great show! Due credit has got to be given to Brian Capron as "The Narrator" and David Badella as "Frank 'N' Furter" - it was a close run race over who stole the show. Capron built up a great 'rapport' with the audience, but you could tell that Badella absolutely relished his role; making it feel fresh - not something that's easy to do considering anyone playing Frank lives in the shadow of Tim Curry's original performance. Given an opportunity, I'd quite happily watch another performance of this production.

I suspect it's time for another viewing of 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' on DVD...