The feature directorial debut of Chris Morris depicts a group of bungling suicide bombers and alternates slapstick comedy with sombre satire.
When Four Lions was first announced, this promised to be another taboo-shattering project from one of the most brilliant satirists of his generation. After pioneering work in radio (On the Hour) and television (The Day Today, Brass Eye) which lampooned media and politics with diamond-sharp precision, it seemed like a bold and fascinating prospect.
Set in an unnamed northern town, it centres around four disenchanted young men: Omar (Riz Ahmed) is the unofficial leader and determined to become a martyr for oppressed Muslims around the world; Waj (Kayvan Novak) is an impressionable recruit who does what Omar says; Barry (Nigel Lindsay) is a white Islamic convert obsessed with operational detail; and Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) is struggling trying to train crows to fly bombs through windows.
Morris has said that he conducted an enormous amount of research into the subject of Islamic extremism in modern Britain and there are veiled references to the July 7th bombings, the failed attacks of 2007 and other stories of home grown terror since 9/11.
There are many sequences which depict the incompetence of young men trying to cause terror and frequently failing. But perhaps the most interesting thing is how Morris complements their comic idiocy with the shallow despair of front line jihadists trying to find meaning in murder.
The result is an interesting patchwork that falls somewhere between comedy and drama. In terms of Morris’ previous work, it is a long way from the slick ingenuity of The Day Today or Brass Eye and much closer to the creepy discomfort of Jam, the television version of his radio show Blue Jam.
But even these comparisons aren’t exact. If anything, this is a spiritual sibling of In the Loop, another film about the War on Terror, directed by Armando Iannucci who previously worked with Morris on The Day Today.
Although that film focused on the political hypocrisies behind the War on Terror, Four Lions depicts the moral absurdities of the War of Terror.
Where it really hits home is in the relentless focus  on the desperation of suicide bombers as they struggle with the moral and practical dimensions of killing themselves for an ideal.
Comedy often arrives in surprising bursts, often involving surreal touches like processed cheese, rap and a group sing-along to Toploader’s Dancing in the Moonlight.
This hilarity is tempered by more ambiguous scenes involving the strange motives of ‘family men’ who think that it is moral to kill innocent people or are just too confused to even tell the difference.
The acting is of a high standard, especially Riz Ahmed in the main role who gives his character a surprising emotional depth despite the buffonery going on in other sections of the film.
Like In the Loop, the script is undercut with a biting intelligence but is less successful than that film in giving a wider context to the motives of the main characters.
There are scenes in the final third that touch upon the security forces response to terrorism but – without giving too much away – they don’t quite paint the rounded picture Iannucci achieved with his film.
Overall this is ultimately a brave and commendable attempt by Morris to tackle a tricky subject. For the most part it works well, but the film where he unleashes his many talents to full effect probably lies somewhere in the future.
We have 3 copies ofWhere the Wild Things Are to give away on Blu-ray, courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment.
This adaptation of Maurice Sendakâs much loved 1963 childrenâs book has been expanded to a feature length film and is about a young boy (Max Records) who ventures to a magical land where he is anointed king by a group of strange creatures.
Director Spike Jonze has crafted an ambitious and moving treatment of the book and the result is a magical film – one of my favourites of last year in fact.
The casting is excellent: Records is not a typical child actor, with a raw quality that fits just right whilst the voice cast is every bit as good.
The choice of James Gandolfini to voice Carol (the wild thing Max becomes closest to) was inspired – brilliantly playing off his Sopranos persona, it highlights his joy, vulnerability and anger.
Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose and Paul Dano also chip in with excellent vocal performances, making their characters as varied and complex as they should be.
The Australian locations, beautifully captured by cinematographer Lance Acord, also add a visual richness to the film which wouldnât have been the same if done on green screen soundstages.
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Some adults may complain that Jonze has made a childrenâs film that slants towards to older audiences, but this is exactly what makes the film special.
Instead of sugar coating the story and patronising the viewer, he has (along with co-screenwriter Dave Eggers) treated the source material and cinema audience with the respect they deserve.
To be in with a chance of winning a copy of Where the Wild Things Are on Blu-ray just answer the following question:
Which film starring Catherine Keener did Spike Jonze direct in 1999?
The closing date is Monday 31st May and winners will be notified by email.
Where the Wild Things Are is released on DVD & Blu-ray on Monday 10th May
Me and Orson Welles (cinemaNX): This enjoyable period drama set in 1937 is about a teenager (Zac Efron) who joins the Mercury Theatre production of âJulius Ceasarâ directed by a young Orson Welles (Christian McKay). Directed by Richard Linklater and co-starring Claire Danes, it was shot in the Isle of Man back in the spring of 2008 and lingered on the shelf after failing to get a distributor at various festivals. However, production company CinemaNX released it theatrically themselves (a rarity for a national release in the UK) sharing print and ad costs with Vue Entertainment. For the DVD release they have struck an exclusive arrangement with supermarket behemoth Tesco. [DVD]
The Railway Children (Optimum Home Entertainment): Adapted from E. Nesbitâs novel, Lionel Jeffries 1970 film adaptation quickly established itself as perennial favourite amongst family audiences and after a re-release at cinemas last month arrives on DVD and Blu-ray. It is the tale of a family forced to move from London to a house in Yorkshire after the father is imprisoned on a mysterious charge. There the three children, Roberta (Jenny Agutter), Peter (Gary Warren) and Phyllis (Sally Thomsett), are entranced by the nearby railway and become friendly with the locals, such as the station porter (Bernard Cribbins) and the Old Gentleman (William Mervyn) who takes the 9:15 train. It was a critical success on its initial release â receiving three BAFTA nominations â and has since become a much loved film through regular broadcasts on television. [Blu-ray |Â DVD]
Iron Man 2 (Paramount): The hotly anticipated sequel to the 2008 blockbuster is all set to rule the UK box office this weekend as it kicks off the summer season. Interestingly it opens here a week before the US, which suggests Paramount are keen to build buzz in international markets before it opens in the States. The story sees billionaire inventor Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr) reaping the acclaim as an all-American hero who has âsuccessfully privatised world peaceâ due to his fantastical suit. Problems begin when the US military and a rival defence contractor (Sam Rockwell) want access to his technology; a mysterious Russian inventor (Mickey Rourke) is hell bent on revenge; and Stark faces a major health from wearing the Iron Man suit.
The elements that made the first film such a success (Downey Jnr’s lead performance, the chemistry between characters) are stretched to unfortunate lengths as too many supporting characters from the wider Marvel universe are introduced (including Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson). It is still entertaining – and is a guaranteed hit – but Marvel and director Jon Favreau may regret the S.H.I.E.L.D plot elements in anticipation of the upcoming Avengers movie. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A]
The Last Song (Walt Disney): A drama centered on a rebellious girl (Miley Cyrus) who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father (Greg Kinnear), where they start to reconnect with one another through their mutual love of music.
Developed alongside the Nicholas Sparks novel by the same name, this looks like another attempt by Disney to make Miley Cyrus into a leading lady. The US reviews suggest this might be a trickier task than expected. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / PG]
Gentlemen Broncos (20th Century Fox): A comedy about an aspiring fantasy writer (Michael Angarano) who has an idea stolen by an acclaimed novelist (Jemaine Clement) is under pressure to come up with a hit book.
Directed by Jared Hess (who made the breakthrough indie hit Napoleon Dynamite) this is something of a curiosity. Its release was delayed and when it did open in the US a few months ago was utterly savaged by critics, which makes its commercial prospects here fairly limited. [Ritzy & selected Key Cities / 12A]
A Disappearance Of Alice Creed (CinemaNX Distribution): A low budget British film about the kidnapping of a young woman (Gemma Arterton) by two ex-convicts (Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan).
Written and directed by J Blakeson it was shot in the Isle of Man (a popular location for production because of its generous tax breaks) and it screened at the London Toronto Film Festivals last year. Given the better than average names for a film of this size and a decent marketing effort, this could attract a reasonable audience who don’t fancy seeing Iron Man 2. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Erasing David (Picturehouse Cinemas): A documentary from director David Bond that explores the amount of personal information being gathered by various organisations in modern society. [Gate Notting Hill, Picturehouse Stratford, Ritzy & Nationwide]
24 City (New Wave Films): A hybrid drama-documentary from director Jia Zhang-ke about the changes in modern Chinese society as it undergoes its current economic miracle. [ICA Cinema & Key Cities / U]
A Boy Called Dad (Kaleidoscope Entertainment): A British film directed by Brian Percival about an absent father (Ian Hart) who returns to his family just as his 14-year-old sone has himself become a father. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Vue Shepherds Bush & Key Cities / 15]
Cleo From 5 To 7 (bfi Distribution): A BFI reissue for Agnès Varda’s 1961 film about a singer (Corinne Marchand) who befriends a young soldier (Antoine Bourseiller) about to ship out to Algeria. [BFI Southbank & Key Cities]
Housefull (Eros): A Bollywood film directed by Sajid Khan about ‘the worldâs unluckiest man’ starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone [C’Worlds Ilford, Shaftesbury Ave., Odeon Greenwich, Vue Acton & N’wide]
The Milk Of Sorrow (Dogwoof): The winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin last year, deals the fears of abused women during Peru’s recent history. [Odeon Panton Street & selected Key Cities / 12A]
Revanche (Artificial Eye): An Austrian film about a man (Johannes Krisch) deadened by thoughts of revenge in the wake of a crime that was to grant him and his girlfriend a new life. Written and directed by GĂśtz Spielmann. [Curzon Renoir & selected Key Cities / 15]
Valhalla Rising (Vertigo Films): Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, this historical drama is set in 1000 AD and follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) and a boy named Are as they travel with a band of Vikings in pursuit of a Crusade. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Ritzy & Key Cites / 15]
Yesterday U.S. regulators gave the go ahead for Cantor Futures Exchange, a market that will give speculators a way to bet on expected movie box office receipts.
The major Hollywood studios and cinema chains are staunchly opposed to the trading of movie futures contracts, calling it a form of legalized gambling.
“…united in our opposition to a risky online-wagering service that would be detrimental to the motion picture industry”.
I think they have a point.
Given the amount of people in the industry with access to sensitive information about various projects isn’t there a huge risk of insider trading?
Although studios have apparently already tightened up how tracking numbers (the data that essentially predicts how much a film is going to earn) are released, information will always find a way to get out.
There is a certain irony that this was approved just days after President Obama finally decided to clamp down on the casino-style capitalism of Wall Street banks that almost caused the global financial system to collapse.
Isn’t there a lesson to be learned from the Goldman Sachs story currently unfolding?
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has included a ban on movie futures trading in the financial reform bill that is set to be debated in a committee today (Wednesday).
Cantor Fitzgerald, the backer of the futures market, said in a statement it appreciated the “excellent work” of the commission, with a final decision expected in June.
My prediction? A major scandal, which is then swiftly adapted into a movie.
Murch once had a shrewd observation about the impact of film on audiences:
I believe that one of the secret engines that allows cinema to work, and have the marvelous power over us that it does, is the fact that for thousands of years we have spent eight hours every night in a “cinematic” dream-state, and so are familiar with this version of reality.
The sequel to Iron Man is a sporadically entertaining follow up to the 2008 original but suffers by introducing a raft of new characters from the wider Marvel universe.
When the first film was about to be released, it was something of an unknown quantity: the Iron Man character was not as famous as Batman, Spider-Man or Superman; it was self-financed by Marvel; lead actor Robert Downey Jnr had been through some well documented troubles; and Jon Favreau was new to directing a tent-pole release like this.
Despite those question marks, it was a genuine mainstream success that proved a major hit at the global box office and was warmly received by the critics, to the point where this sequel is one of the most hotly anticipated blockbusters of the summer.
The basic story of this franchise concerns a billionaire inventor named Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) who, after being captured by terrorists, invents a robotic suit that allows him to atone for his past as an arms dealer.
This one starts with him reaping the acclaim as an all-American hero who has “successfully privatised world peace”.
However, various problems emerge: the US military and a rival defence contractor (Sam Rockwell) want access to his technology; a mysterious Russian inventor (Mickey Rourke) is hell bent on revenge; and Stark faces a major health from wearing the Iron Man suit.
Like the first film, this has solid foundations: the lead characters are engaging and funny (especially Downey Jnr, who was perfectly cast in the lead role), the blend of banter and action is good and there are some terrific visual effects from ILM, especially the blending of the mechanical suit with the CGI one that flies around.
The problems emerge when characters from S.H.I.E.L.D. start to turn up, principally Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).
If you stuck around until the end of the credits sequence for the first film, you would have seen a cameo from Nick Fury and later that summer in The Incredible Hulk (another Marvel character) Tony Stark his own post-credits cameo.
But this to me hints at a wider malaise amongst Hollywood studios, who now pander too much to the geek community.
It is a trend that has gathered pace since the enormous success of the X-Men and Spider-Man films over the last decade.
With the rise of events like Comic-Con, it seems like studios have become addicted to chasing this market, to the point where there are detailed panels and press conferences about films months before they are actually released.
In the case of Iron Man 2, it seems like a lot of compelling elements have been drowned out by trying to cram in all of this other stuff designed to make comic book fans gasp ‘awesome!’ when they read about it on sites like Ain’t It Cool.
This extended fanboy hype and pre-judgement is already a major problem, but in the case of this film the more compelling elements, such as Stark’s relationship with his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his conflict with the military, get crowded out by other stuff.
There was one stretch where Mickey Rourke’s character (who is pivotal) seems to be off screen for such a long time that when he returns, it seems like he’s been on holiday.
When the big climax arrives, it doesn’t have the necessary impact because so many threads have been weaved in order to get there.
This is a shame because much of what is in the film is pretty good: Downey Jnr still makes an arrogant billionaire genius to be likeable; Paltrow suits her role nicely; and in key supporting roles Rourke and Rockwell are good value.
Plus, some elements seem to have been literally cut out: one notable moment from the trailer is absent from the film, although why this is the case when it lasts about 20 seconds is hard to fathom.
For the next film, I hope that the film-makers strip away the S.H.I.E.L.D. elements and focus on the basic stuff that works.
It is worth remembering that there is value in not pandering to the masses. Did Orson Welles obsess over what audiences wanted when he made Citizen Kane? Did Francis Ford Coppola unveil work-in-progress footage to screaming geeks when he made The Godfather?
In the case of a huge franchise like Star Wars, it was depressing to note the drop in quality when George Lucas started pandering to what he though fans wanted in the prequels. Instead of Han Solo we got Jar-Jar Binks.
“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.”
In the case of blockbusters I’d humbly suggest studios and directors trust their own vision rather than trying to cram in elements that play well at comic book conventions.
This is still going to be a massive film at the box office but if it focused on its core elements, it could have been a better one.
Mad Men Season 3 (Lionsgate): One of the best Blu-ray releases of the year also happens to be the third season of the best show currently on television. Depicting the professional and personal lives of those who work at fictional New York ad agency Sterling Cooper, this series is set during 1963 and explores tensions with the new British owners, the ongoing personal conflicts (and infidelities) in the office and the gradual changes in US society.
The first two seasons touched on events such as the 1960 US election and the death of Marilyn Monroe, but this series manages to gradually combine the serious social changes of the era with the complex emotional situations facing the characters, culminating in brilliantly orchestrated season climax. *Read our full review here* [Blu-ray / DVD]
Avatar (20th Century Fox Home Ent.): James Cameron’s futuristic sci-fi epic about a paraplegic marine (Sam Worthington) who ventures to another planet and becomes one of the alien natives through a host body (or ‘avatar’) was a box office phenomenon that surpassed expectations to become the highest grossing film of all time. After a 12 year absence from feature films Cameron utilised ground breaking visual effects to craft a tale that was a dazzling 3D experience at cinemas and one that resonated with cultures around the globe.
Although some of the dialogue didn’t match the eye-popping visuals, there was something pleasing about the way in which vast technological resources of the Hollywood machine were used to create a film with a simple anti-war, pro-environmental message. Because the Blu-ray release is so hotly anticipated, it is worth stating that there are no extras at all on this version. Cameron said he didn’t have the time to do them right and there will be a fuller package later this year with extended extras. Also, for this release Cameron has opted to use go for the 1.78:1 version (that was screened in IMAX cinemas) and not the 2.35:1 version that most people saw in 3D at the cinema. Despite that, the Blu-ray transfer is stunning and the visuals (including the live action sequences) are rendered with stunning detail and depth. [Blu-ray / DVD]
The Kreutzer Sonata (Axiom Films): Based on a story written by Leo Tolstoy in response to Beethoven’s eponymous composition, director Bernard Rose dissects a modern marriage between a wealthy philanthropist (Danny Huston) who becomes possessive of his pianist wife (Elisabeth Rohm). Following up his superb drama Ivansxtc, Rose continues his reworking of the great Russian novelist’s work, and this is the second part of a planned trilogy.
Danny Huston, who was outstanding in Ivansxtc, returns with another excellent performance, and the film is an interesting exploration of fairly juicy themes including love, sex and obsession. Whilst not quite as good as its predecessor, it represents another interesting chapter in Rose’s career outside the Hollywood mainstream. [DVD]
ALSO OUT
Prince Valiant (Eureka) [Blu-ray / DVD] Saving Private Ryan (Paramount Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray] Smokin’ Aces (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray] Sword of the Stranger (Beez Entertainment) [Blu-ray] The Girlfriend Experience (Revolver Entertainment) [Blu-ray / DVD] Mad Men: Seasons 1-3 (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / DVD] Carriers (Paramount Home Entertainment) [DVD] Dillinger (Icon Home Entertainment) [DVD]
Alfred Hitchcock was famous for the brief cameos he made in his own films and this compilation is a reminder of the fun that can be had looking out for them.
I think my favourite is the one from Lifeboat (1944) but it is also interesting to note what he does in them.
Note that some involve a musical instrument: in Strangers on a Train (1951) he carries a cello; Rear Window (1954) sees him near a piano; and Vertigo (1958) sees him carrying a bugle.
Another motif is that he often walks across the scene from left to right.
Date Night (20th Century Fox): Mainstream comedy about a married couple (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) who attempt to spice up their relationship with an evening at a restaurant only to find themselves mistaken for someone else.
Mark Wahlberg and James Franco co-stars and it is directed by Shaun Levy who made Night at the Museum and Cheaper By the Dozen. Fox can expect decent business (the basic concept has an in built appeal to males and females) but the whole thing smells as a bit beneath the level Fey and Carell normally operate. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15]
It’s A Wonderful Afterlife (Icon): A British comedy the centres on an Indian mother who takes her obsession with marriage into the world of serial murder.
Starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, Steve Morphew and Sally Hawkins, it was directed by Gurinder Chadha and Icon will be hoping to replicate the success of Bend It Like Beckham. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 12A]
Centurion (Warner Bros/Pathe): A period action drama about the ill-fated Ninth Legion of Roman soldiers marching north to Scotland to wipe out the Picts and their leader.
Starring Dominic West, Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko it is directed by Neil Marshall (Doomsday, The Descent) and might attract viewers looking for a cross between Gladiator and Dog Soldiers. [Nationwide / 15]
Extract (Paramount): A US comedy from director Mike Judge about the owner of an Extract plant (Jason Bateman) who tries to contend with myriad personal and professional problems, such as his potentially unfaithful wife (Kristen Wiig) and employees who want to take advantage of him.
Although this has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, it could find an appreciative cult audience like Judge’s last film Idiocracy. [Nationwide / 15]
Agora (Paramount): Historical drama about Hypatia (Rachel Weisz), a female philosopher in Roman Egypt, who falls in love with her slave (Max Minghella).
Directed by Alejandro AmenĂĄbar, it explores how the astronomer-philosopher came into conflict with the Christian leaders of Alexandria. Although it premiered at Cannes last year to decent reviews, the fact that it has taken so long to reach UK screens suggests decent box office could be limited. [Nationwide / 12A]
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ALSO OUT
Cherrybomb (Blue Dolphin): Drama starring Rupert Grint in which three teenagers go on a wild weekend of drink, drugs, shop-lifting and stealing cars. [Empire Leicester Square & Key Cities / 15]
The Calling (Guerilla Films): British drama set in a convent starring Brenda Blethyn, Rita Tushingham, Susannah York, and Amanda Donohoe. [Gate Notting Hill, Picturehouse Greenwich & Key Cities / 12A]
Dance With Me (Orev): British drama about a middle-class couple (Adam Napier and Johanne Murdock) having a spot of bother. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus & Key Cities / 15]
Dogtooth (Verve Pictures): An acclaimed drama directed by Yorgos Lanthimos about a highly unusual family whose children are shielded from the outside world. It won the Prix Un Certain Regard at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. [Gate, Odeon Covent Garden, Renoir, Ritzy & Key Cities / 18]
The Joneses (E1 Entertainment): A comedy starring David Duchovny and Demi as part of a fictitious family who pretend to be real as part of a marketing experiment. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15]
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (Soda Pictures): A behind-the-scenes documentary about an opera directed by Frederick Wiseman. [Curzons Mayfair, Richmond, Wimbledon, PâHouse Greenwich & Key Cities / 15]
Life During Wartime (Artificial Eye): The latest film from director Todd Solondz which is an unofficial sequel sequel to his classic 1998 film Happiness, using different actors to play the same characters. [Curzon Soho, The Gate, Renoir, Ritzy & Key Cities / 15]
The latest season of Mad Men is another reminder of why it is one of the outstanding TV shows of the past decade.
Depicting the fictional New York advertising agency Sterling Cooper during the early 1960s, it explores lives of those that work there and the quality of the writing puts it on par with landmark shows such as The Wire and The Sopranos.
Created by Matthew Weiner, it centres around creative director Don Draper (Jon Hamm), his wife Betty (January Jones) and and various characters at the agency such as Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss), Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Roger Sterling (John Slattery), Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) and Bert Cooper (Robert Morse).
It has deservedly won huge critical acclaim along with consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Drama since it first premiered on US cable channel AMC in 2007.
Season One introduced us to the world of Madison Avenue in 1960, a place filled with surface glamour and backward social attitudes where many of the characters struggle to deal with their professional and personal lives.
Season Two explored the enigma of protagonist Don Draper, his mysterious past and professional ambitions, as well as examining the changes during 1962 for various female characters in the office.
Season Three is set during 1963 and explores tensions at the agency with the new British owners, the ongoing personal conflicts (and infidelities) in the office and the gradual changes in US society as it entered a tumultuous decade.
One thing that distinguishes Mad Men from the mediocrity of contemporary televison is just the intelligence of the writing but the fact that it somehow manages to highlight contemporary uncertainties through the prism of history.
Much of the early appeal of the show was the excellent period detail, but the show’s astute probing into emotional issues (divorce, social attitudes) against the backdrop of famous events has proved to be a killer combination.
The first two seasons touched on events such as the 1960 US election and the death of Marilyn Monroe, but this series manages to gradually combine the serious social changes of the era with the complex emotional situations facing the characters, culminating in brilliantly orchestrated season climax.
Although the period details are excellent, the show mines a lot of dramatic irony out the way in which characters often seem initially oblivious to seismic events: characters flirt whilst the March on Washington can be heard on the radio; a man turns off the TV just before Walter Cronkite is about to make an important announcement.
This series picks up soon after the events of Season Two and Don is still having fidelity issues (taking a special interest in a local teacher) whilst Betty has her own dalliances, despite recently giving birth to a son.
Meanwhile, at the ad agency, tensions continue with the new British bosses and many of the staff have to face big changes in their working and personal lives.
Perhaps the biggest development this season is the way in which the changes in American society closely mirror those of the main characters. In the hands of less skilled writers this could have been clunky but Weiner and his team pull it off with taste, skill and intelligence.
With its detailed period look, costumes and production design it is perfectly suited to the high definition Blu-ray format. On a purely technical level, it is one of the best looking shows I have ever seen on an HD television.
The 13 episode box set has is supplemented by various featurettes and audio commentaries on key episodes, with insights from the show’s creator Matthew Wiener, cast members and directors.
Over the three discs the extras include the following:
Audio Commentaries: On the Blu-ray there are several commentaries from cast and crew (a lot more than is usual for a TV series) with two for each episode. Matthew Weiner is a ubiquitous presence on the tracks with some insight and context for the creative choices in each episode, but the commentaries from actors are also insightful and witty. The sheer amount of commentaries might seem a bit much, but for a show as layered as this, they are a welcome addition for aficionados.
Mad Men Illustrated (HD, 14:01): One thing you may have noticed about the popularity of Mad Men is the various avatars fans use online (especially Twitter) based on characters from the show. (The official website has a section where you called MadMenYourself). These drawings are the work of illustrator Dyna Moe who knew an actor on the show and was initially recruited to do Christmas cards for the cast and crew. When she put them up online they were an instant hit and her subsequent illustrations of characters and scenes from the show have become something of a phenomenon. This short featurette is an extended interview with her alongside her work.
Clearing the Air (HD, Part 1 25:28 & Part 2 19:58): This lengthy two-part documentary is a fascinating exploration about the history of how tobacco companies advertised cigarettes to the American people. (Fans of the show will remember the pilot episode featured a plot line about a tobacco company and this season also features a key plot strand involving Lucky Strike) It features several academics, historians and experts who discuss the often ingenious ways in which tobacco companies sold the myth of tobacco, from recruiting Hollywood stars, to downplaying research and how various different companies targeted different demographics. For instance, we find out that Marlboro initially targeted women despite later becoming famous for the image of the ‘Malboro Man’ and an eye-popping revelation about Philip Morris brands.
Flashback 1963 (HD): This is an interactive photo feature that charts the big historical and cultural moments of the year.
Medger Evers: Unsung Hero (HD, Part 1 39:13 & Part 2 31:15): Another two part documentary, which explores the life of civil rights campaigner Medgar Evers, the NAACP field secretary who was assassinated in his driveway in 1963. Told through lengthy interviews with Medgar’s brother, Charles; his widow, Myrlie; and daughter, Reena. A moving portrait of a one of the key figures in the battle to end segregation.
We Shall Overcome: The March on Washington (HD, 16:56): A simple but powerful feature in which the full audio of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” in August 1963 is accompanied by images from the March on Washington.
Mad Men Season 3 is released on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 26th April
John Meroney reports on how the footage was discovered:
No one has seen this episode in the decades since; the kinescope has been locked away, until now.
My friend Wayne Federman, a writer for NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, unearthed the broadcast, condensing it from its original 23 minutes (without commercials) into the six-minute version you see below.
(Federman is planning a retrospective of Reagan’s television career for next year’s Reagan centennial.)
The Ghost is a skilful political thriller examining the aftermath of the War on Terror which reflects the life and career of its director Roman Polanski.
Adapted by Robert Harris from his own novel, the story sees a journalist (Ewan McGregor) agree to ghost write the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), who bears a striking similarity to Tony Blair.
When the writer sets to work at the PM’s residence in Martha’s Vineyard, he finds out that his predecessor has mysteriously drowned and some other unnerving things.
Lang could be guilty of war crimes, specifically colluding with the US on torturing terrorist suspects, and after talking to his wife Ruth (Olivia Williams) and assistant Amelia (Kim Cattrall) he uncovers murky inconsistencies about the political leader’s background.
The first and most obvious aspect of The Ghost is the quality of the film making. Although it isn’t up there with his best work (Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist) it is a highly absorbing and technically proficient thriller.
Its stately pace and considered approach are so old fashioned as to be positively revolutionary in these times, but it is a reminder that a veteran European director can still make a relevant and accessible film about contemporary issues.
I still have grave reservations about Ewan McGregor’s ability to do an accent but his overall performance is perhaps the best work he has done in quite some time.
Brosnan has much less screen time than I expected, but the easy charm, intelligence and thinly-veiled vanity he brings to the role is spot on. It might just be his best ever performance.
The real revelatory turn though is from Olivia Williams, who reminds us that this isn’t just a satire on the Blairs. Far from being a Cherie Blair clone, she is pitch perfect in an intriguing role, filling it with subtlety and nuance.
Given that the vast bulk of the film takes place at a house in America, the production design is first rate. The interiors were shot at studios in Berlin, with the island of Sylt in Nothern Germany ably doubling for a rainy Martha’s Vineyard.
Despite the technical expertise, including some nice widescreen cinematography from Pawel Edelman (who shot Polanski’s Oliver Twist and The Pianist), there is a distracting score by Alexandre Desplat, which – for the first half of the film at least – is filled with jaunty, vaguely comic rhythms and melodies that somewhat dilutes the sense of menace.
Some may expect this to be a broad satire on Blair’s enthusiasm for US foreign policy under the Bush Administration, but to the film’s credit it is more nuanced than that.
Indeed, the politics are not as cut and dried as they might initially seem. Although the climactic twist is something of a let down, there is a mournful tone to the film which captures both the disillusion with Blair and impotence citizens feel in the face of political leaders waging wars with no foreseeable end.
For some reason this film is called The Ghost in the UK and The Ghost Writer in other territories (although the print I saw it on said the latter), but the discrepancy is an interesting one as the title proves to be more than just a marketing after thought.
In a literal sense it describes the journalist (who is never named) but it could also refer to Lang, who is literally in a political afterlife and whose past actions continue to linger. But in an ironic twist – that no-one could have foreseen when it went into production – the real ghost of this film is Polanski himself.
Although it can be contentious to judge any work through a biographical lens, this film is a notable example of life and art colliding in an extraordinary way.
Although the controversy about that is yet to be resolved, all the way through The Ghost Writer I couldn’t shake the parallels between his life and what was on screen.
Like Lang, Polanski is forced into exile in a foreign country with the threat of prosecution; he has a murky past coming back to haunt him and he is also charming, skilled and flawed.
In the novel one could get the idea that the ghost writer is a version of Robert Harris, an initial supporter of Blair and a close friend of New Labour architect Peter Mandelson, who became disillusioned by the Iraq War.
But with the film adaptation, it struck me that the audience is invited to put themselves in the ghost writer’s shoes (there is probably a reason he is unnamed). Considering the parallels between Lang and Blair, the film actually becomes a fascinating insight into the career and life of Polanski.
In the the fascinating 2008 documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, the LA prosecutor Roger Gunson commented on the recurring themes of the directorâs work:
âEvery Roman Polanski movie has the theme [of] corruption meeting innocence over waterâ
The infamous events of March 1977 could be interpreted in these terms: Polanski (corruption) met Samantha Geimer (innocence) over water (Jack Nicholsonâs jacuzzi).
With The Ghost we again have corruption (political crimes and CIA intrigue), meeting innocence (a journalist discovering dark things) over water (drowning writers, political torture involving waterboarding).
Although ghosts are impossible in the literal sense, it is spooky the way Polanski’s life and career haunts what could be his last ever film.
There had been expectations that it would hit the Number 1 slot and could have a $30 million opening, but it failed to hit the top slot which was instead claimed by the DreamWorks animated film How To Train Your Dragon, which is in its fourth week of release.
* UPDATE 19/04/10: Variety are now reporting that Kick-Ass was the Number 1 film of the weekend as Lionsgate opened it early on Thursday and are counting those grosses in with their final figure. This allows them to claim the weekend, although the figures are so narrow I still think the studio are going to be disappointed with this opening. *
It is worth pointing out that Kick-Ass was an interesting case study as it was funded outside the studio system and was a rare example of a high profile indie film having a shot at making some decent cash.
Things looked promising as it was being released by Lionsgate (the only major distributor outside of the big six major studios) and they have a strong track record in releasing edgier films – like the Saw franchise – to a wide audience.
Kick-Ass seemed to be tailor made for them: it looked like a superhero movie; it had lots of carefully cultivated buzz on the geekier websites (AICN, CHUD); and it was a film that directly appealed to a hipper, younger audience.
This meant that Lionsgate felt they had a potential breakthrough hit on their hands and they spent heavily marketing the film. Some have speculated they acquired it for $25m and $40m on prints and advertising, including TV ads like this.
Going in to the weekend it had decent reviews (76 on Rotten Tomatoes, 67 on Metacritic), online buzz, awareness and it was on a load of screens with little in the way of serious rivals (the main one being the US remake of Death of a Funeral).
By the end of the weekend it had only grossed $19.7m and had been (narrowly) beaten to the top slot by an animated film that had already been out for three weeks.
Why did it under perform?
My guess is that it played well to the male-skewing fanbase but just didn’t connect with the wider audience due to the violence, the in-your-face tone of the film and the fact that it was not a conventional super-hero movie at all.
Distributor Lionsgate’s exit polling indicated that 60 percent of those who saw Kick-Ass audience were male and 50 percent was under 25 years old.
In essence, the geeks raved and went to see it but the wider audience didn’t.
Given that the accepted formula for a film’s theatrical gross is to multiply the opening weekend figures by 2.5, this would suggest Kick-Ass is only going to gross around $65m.
This might seem a respectable number for an independent production but in order to greenlight a sequel and build a franchise, they’d be looking for a higher number.
Although the film had created levels of hysteria amongst fanboys not seen since Watchmen, it is a salutary reminder that creating a genuine mainstream hit outside the studio system remains difficult.
The Last Emperor (Optimum Home Entertainment): Bernardo Bertolucci‘s 1987 epic explores the extraordinary life of Puyi, who became the Emperor of China at the age of 3 and ended up as a lowly gardener after his country was engulfed by twentieth century events. Told in flashback, the epic scope of the narrative is matched by the lavish visuals which include remarkable use of real life locations in China. It was the first Western production allowed to shoot inside Beijing’s Forbidden City and the recreation of various historical periods remains a remarkable technical achievement. Vittorio Storaro‘s sumptuous cinematography matches his finest work and the film deservedly won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. [Buy the Blu-ray / Buy the DVD]
Inland Empire (Optimum Home Entertainment): Director David Lynch followed up the critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive with an even weirder mystery. Shot on digital video, it tells the story of an actress (Laura Dern) who becomes ever more disturbed after her strange experiences with a director (Jeremy Irons); her co-star (Justin Theroux; husband (Peter J. Lucas). Add to this a strange Polish couple and a trio of giant stage-bound rabbits (voiced by Naomi Watts, Scott Coffey and Laura Harring) and you have arguably Lynch’s most surreal film. Shot over two and a half years, without a formal script, the bizarre symbolism and obtuse narrative are strangely compelling. Not for everyone but for Lynch fans it is an essential purchase. [Buy the Blu-ray / Buy the DVD]
ALSO OUT
Earth: The Complete Series (2 Entertain) [DVD] Hamlet (2 Entertain) [Blu-ray / DVD] Nine (EV) [Blu-ray / DVD] Poseidon (Warner Home Video) [Blu-ray / DVD] Stag Night (Kaleidoscope Home Ent.) [DVD] The Box [Icon Home Entertainment] [Blu-ray] The Men Who Stare at Goats (Momentum Pictures) [Blu-ray / DVD] Bitch Slap (Momentum Pictures) [DVD] Boogie Woogie (E1 Entertainment UK) [DVD] The Stepfather (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) [DVD] The Thick of It: Collection (2 Entertain) [DVD] The Thick of It: Series 3 (2 Entertain) [DVD]
I’m not sure when Bill Murray started moonlighting as a roadie but this video from SXSW last month shows him helping out The Like and playing the tambourine before the cops show up.
Dear John (Paramount/Momentum): A romantic drama about a US soldier (Channing Tatum) who falls for a conservative college student (Amanda Seyfried) while he’s home on leave. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom (yes, the man who once made My Life as a Dog) this is aimed squarely at female audiences who lapped up The Notebook on DVD, and as such it could do reasonable business. Random fact: this was the film that ended Avatar’s long run at the top of the US box office. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A]
Cemetery Junction (Sony Pictures): The latest project from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant is a coming of age tale set in Reading during the 1970s that involves three men working at an insurance company: Freddie (Christian Cooke); Bruce (Tom Hughes) and Snork (Jack Doolan). Loosely based on Gervais’ own background, he’ll be hoping that the more introspective tone won’t put off audiences expecting to see the David Brent dance for the 76th time. [Nationwide / 15]
The Ghost (Optimum Releasing): Based on the novel by Robert Harris about a a journalist (Ewan McGregor) who is hired to write the memoirs of a former UK Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan), who may or may not have sinister motives. Directed by Roman Polanski, who has had an eventful year to say the least, it premièred to generally warm reviews and will undoubtedly intrigue upscale audiences, especially as the PM character is unofficially based on Tony Blair. [Odeon Leicester Square, Tricycle Kilburn & Nationwide / 15]
Repo Men (Universal): A sci-fi thriller set in the near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit, the story centres on a repo man (Jude Law) who struggles to meet the payments on his heart and has to go on the run. Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, this got scathing reviews in the US and makes you wonder what happened to Jude Law’s career. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 18]
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ALSO OUT
Boogie Woogie (Vertigo Films): A comedy of manners set against the backdrop of contemporary London and the international art scene, starring Amanda Seyfried, Gillian Anderson, Stellan SkarsgĂĽrd, Christopher Lee and Joanna Lumley. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Coronet Notting Hill & Key Cities / 15]
City Of Life And Death (High Fliers Films): A Chinese film which dramatises the Nanking Massacre of 1937. Directed by Lu Chuan and starring Liu Ye and Gao Yuanyuan. [Curzon Mayfair, Gate & City Screen / 15]
Crying With Laughter (Britfilms Distn.): First-time feature from director Justin Molotnikov set in Edinburgh about a comedian (Stephen McCole) and a fan (Malcolm Shields) who wants him to attend a ‘reunion’. [Apollo Piccadilly & Key Cities / 15]
The Heavy (Parkland Pictures): A gangster thriller about a hard man (Gary Stretch) recently released from prison who is upset with his politician brother (Adrian Paul). [Key Cities / 18]
Give Me Your Hand (Peccadillo Pictures): A road movie from French director Pascal-Alex Vincent, about teenage twins hitch-hiking across France to attend the funeral of their mother. [Cine Lumiere, Shortwave Cinema & Key Cities]
The Manchurian Candidate (Park Circus): A re-release for the classic 1962 conspiracy thriller starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey. [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / 12A]
The Market (The Works International): A low budget British film about a Turkish salesman from director Ben Hopkins. [BFI Southbank & Rich Mix / 12A]
Beeswax (ICA Cinema): Another blast of Mumblecore (hopefully the last) which sees two sisters in their mid-30s go in and out of jobs in Austin, Texas. [ICA Cinema]
Bananas!* (Dogwoof): A documentary from Swedish director Fredrik Gertten about a raft of class-action lawsuits taken out against the Dole Food Company, which has used controversial chemicals on their banana plantations in Nicaragua. [ICA Cinema & Key Cities]
Paathshaala (Eros): Bollywood film set in an Indian school starring Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Ali Haji and Nana Patekar and directed by Milind Ukey.
Kubrickâs film is notable for the iconic production design from Ken Adam who made his mark designing the villain’s lair in Dr No(1962).
That brought him to the attention of Kubrick who then recruited him to design the set for his new ‘Cold War comedy’, about the global chaos that could be unleashed if the wrong person pushed the wrong button.
Adam rightly received huge plaudits for his recreation of the Pentagon’s War Room, which has become one of the iconic sets in film history.
For more details on the event just visit The Barbican’s website here.
A comic-book adaptation with a difference, Kick-Ass gleefully subverts and pays homage to the super-hero genre.
The plot transfers Mark Millar’s comic to the screen which involves a geeky teenager (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a superhero named Kick-Ass, which brings him in to contact with a mob boss (Mark Strong) and his son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse); and a crime-fighting father (Nicholas Cage) and daughter (Chloe Moretz) who have revenge in mind.
After a decade of superhero movies – and more sequels and reboots to come – this is something of a cheeky teenager of a film: foul-mouthed, sly, violent and yet strangely innocent.
Embracing the superhero mythos, it also simultaneously debunks it: ‘Kick-Ass’ himself has no powers and is simply a teenager in a funny costume, whilst the other characters who suit up are mostly played for blackly comic laughs.
Crammed to bursting with references to superhero films (I lost count of the visual nods towards the Spiderman, Superman and Batman films) it is aggressively aimed at comic book fans and those who take Comic Con a bit too seriously.
This isn’t an entirely bad thing as it has a punchier attitude than most of the superhero adaptations made by the major studios and also spoofs the insatiable online consumption of comic book material.
Although when it opened a couple of weeks ago there was an expectation by some that it would be ‘controversial’, I don’t think the comedy violence or the fact that a young girl swears really bothered anyone who actually saw the film.
A key scene is a fight sequence when Kick-Ass takes on some thugs outside a diner and a nearby teenager screams to a friend that it is ‘awesome’. It almost embodies the film and its fans in microcosm.
Despite having some notable qualities, the film does have its drawbacks: it isn’t quite as subversive or clever as its fans might claim (Mystery Men covered similar territory back in the late 90s) and Matthew Vaughn still has limitations as a director when it comes to shooting and plotting a film.
That said, there are aspects that intrigued me.
If you look at the credits you’ll see that there are no less than four credited composers (John Murphy, Henry Jackman, Marius de Vries and Ilan Eshkeri) and what sounds like a lot of temp music which Vaughn got so attached to that he left in rather than use a freshly composed score. (Look out for sequences featuring what sounds like Murphy’s music for 28 Days Later and Sunshine)
The other issue that leapt out was why the major studios turned this film down as it seems certain to nail the lucrative fanboy demographic they usually crave.
Obviously there would have been concerns about some of the swearing, violence and general air of political incorrectness.
But given that major studios have released fairly extreme fare for mainstream audiences like Hannibal (brains being eaten), Bruno (extreme sexual content) and Bad Boys 2 (insane violence), I’m surprised when they get all prudish.
Perhaps the larger question that crossed their minds was whether it would breakthrough to a mainstream audience.
This meant that Vaughn had to raise the budget independently outside the studio system before selling the distribution rights to various studios such as Universal in the UK and Lionsgate in the US.
Quite how he and his producers managed to raise the reported $28m budget (which is very high for an independent production) is another interesting question but in the long run I can’t see this losing money.
When it opened in the UK a couple of weeks ago, it was overshadowed by Clash of the Titans and How To Train Your Dragon but has since earned a highly respectable ÂŁ7m.
But how will it fare when it opens in the US this weekend?
On the plus side Lionsgate have a solid track record in marketing edgy fare like the Saw films to the masses.
On the downside, it is tricky to get mainstream awareness for a film like this, essentially a post-modern superhero comedy, and I suspect that some audiences outside New York and LA will find the swearing and comedy violence a little off putting.
Add some reportedly less-than-stellar tracking numbers and perhaps there is cause for concern at Kick-Ass HQ. But although it plays like an expensive cult film, in the long run I can see it having a long shelf life on DVD and TV.
Kick-Ass is tailor-made for geeky-fanboys, but then there are a lot of those about.
The Bicycle Thieves (Arrow Films): A welcome re-release for Vittorio De Sica‘s classic 1947 neorealist film about desperation and struggle in post-war Italy, is the tale of a poor man (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his son (Enzo Staiola) searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs to be able to work.
Based on the novel by Luigi Bartolini, it was adapted for the screen by Cesare Zavattini and used non-professional actors to create a telling picture of poverty in post-war Europe. A landmark film in many ways, it still contains scenes of great power and is ultimately a very moving depiction of the love between father and son.
The special features on this re-release by Arrow Films include:
Timeless Cinema: A documentary on Vittorio De Sica
Theatrical Trailer
Original Poster Artwork & Lobby Stills
Henri-George Clouzot’s Inferno (Park Circus): A hybrid documentary and part reconstruction of Henri-Georges Clouzot‘s unfinished project L’Enfer (‘Inferno’), an enigmatic film about a hotel manager who becomes possessed by the demons of jealousy. The story of how this project got made is a fascinating one: Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea managed to persuade Clouzot’s second wife, Inès de Gonzalez, to give permission to use footage from Clouzot’s original film, which they then supplemented with interviews of cast and crew members.
Wonders of the Solar System (2 Entertain): One of the best TV series to air on the BBC this year sees Professor Brian Cox visit notable locations around Earth to illustrate how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the Solar System. The five episodes explore: the Sun; the Rings of Saturn; the atmosphere of Earth and Titan; the size of planets, volcanoes and the moon Io; and the search for life on other worlds, focusing on Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Cox is an engaging and informative host and along with the BBC shows Galapagos and Planet Earth, it is well worth checking out on Blu-ray as it is full of stunning imagery that looks fabulous in HD. The show’s better than expected ratings pleasantly surprised BBC bosses, who according to Cox’s Twitter account have commissioned another series, called ‘Universal’, which they begin shooting next month. [Buy on Blu-ray / Buy on DVD]
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ALSO OUT
Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 – The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / DVD]Â Being Human: Complete Series 2 (2 Entertain) [DVD] Dolan’s Cadillac (Momentum Pictures) [Blu-ray / DVD] Law Abiding Citizen (Momentum Pictures) [Blu-ray / DVD] Raging Phoenix (Showbox Media Group) [Blu-ray / DVD] The Descent: Part 2 (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / DVD] Tombstone (Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.) [Blu-ray] Bad Behaviour (Lionsgate UK) [DVD] Blood and Oil (2 Entertain) [DVD] Clint Eastwood: Westerns (Warner Home Video) [DVD] Crude (Dogwoof Digital) [DVD] Ghost Machine (Anchor Bay Entertainment UK) [DVD] Glee: Season 1 – Volume 1 (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [DVD] Henry Lee Lucas – Serial Killer (Lionsgate UK) [DVD] Humpday (Momentum Pictures) [DVD]Â I’m Gonna Explode (Artificial Eye) [DVD] OSS 117: Lost in Rio (ICA) [DVD] Starsuckers (Network Releasing) [DVD] The Big I Am (E1 Entertainment UK) [DVD] Vietnam (Fremantle Home Entertainment) [DVD] We Live in Public (Dogwoof Digital) [DVD]
If you’ve just been listening to me on the radio with Ian Collins on talkSPORT, then here is a fuller list of classic cars from films we were just talking about.
Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger (Dir. Terence Young, 1963): The Bond films in the early 1960s were a massive cultural phenomenon with Sean Connery playing the iconic British spy. Goldfinger perhaps remains the apex of the Connery-era with its famous villain (Gert Frobe), Bond girl (Honor Blackman), theme song and setpieces.
Along with his licence to kill, shaken-not-stirred Martinis and Walther PPK was Bond’s silver Aston Martin DB5 which featured an oil slick, smoke screen, ejector seat, radar tracking system, machine guns, and revolving license plates. [IMDb / Amazon]
1968 Ford Mustang GTin Bullitt (Dir. Peter Yates, 1968): Famous for an extended car chase – frequently cited as one of the best in cinema history – this thriller sees a San Francisco cop (Steve McQueen) who is assigned to protect a mafia informant before uncovering a more sinister plot involving an ambitious senator (Robert Vaughn).
The famous car chase had Bullitt in a dark “Highland Green” 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 CID Fastback, chasing two hit-men in a “Tuxedo Black” 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum. [IMDb / Amazon]
1963 Volkswagen Beetle in The Love Bug (Dir. Robert Stevenson, 1968): The 1968 Disney film The Love Bug featured a Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie, his driver (Dean Jones) and love interest (Michele Lee).
It went on to star in 4 sequels Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas, and Herbie: Fully Loaded. One the iconic cars to emerge in post-war Europe, its popularity and awareness were boosted by the Herbie series. [IMDb / Amazon]
Mark II Mini in The Italian Job (Dir. Peter Collings, 1969): It is hard to imagine now, but this late 1960s caper film about British criminals (led by Michael Caine) stealing gold bullion from Turin wasn’t a huge success on initial release. Over the years it gradually became something of an institution due to its witty (and heavily romanticised) evocation of the Swinging Sixties.
Although the film contains some memorable cars (including a Jaguar E-Type and Aston Martin DB4) it is synonymous with the Mini, three of which are used for the climactic getaway, thankfully all cars have a great motor trader policy. The cars used were the Mark II Minis and they are driven down staircases, storm drains, over the FIAT factory and – most memorably – into the back of a moving bus to the sounds of Quincy Jones’ famous soundtrack. [IMDb / Amazon]
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Vanishing Point (Dir. Richard C. Sarafian, 1971): Down the years this film has established a formidable cult reputation. The story involves a Vietnam vet named Kowalski (Barry Newman) who drives from Denver to San Francisco, refusing to stop for the police – who soon start to chase him – and becomes a media sensation after being championed by a blind black disc jockey (Cleavon Little).
Although not a big hit at the time, it captures the black counter-culture mood of early 1970s America and the white Dodge Challenger has gone on to inspire albums (Primal Scream’s 1997 Vanishing Point) and other films (Quentin Tarantino used the same model in Death Proof in 2007). [IMDb / Amazon]
1971 Pontiac LeMans in The French Connection (Dir. William Friedkin, 1971): One of the classic crime movies of the 1970s was this gritty tale of New York narcotics detectives “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) tracking down the source of heroin coming into the United States.
It also contained one of the most remarkable car chases ever put on screen, in which Doyle frantically chases an elevated train. It was made all the more remarkable by the fact that it was shot for ‘real’ in Brooklyn, New York with terrified observers avoiding Doyle’s car, which was driven by stunt driver Bill Hickman. [IMDb / Amazon]
Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6 in C’ĂŠtait un Rendezvous / English Title: “It Was A Date” (Dir. Claude Lelouch, 1976): One of the most jaw dropping and riveting examples of a car on film is this incredible short film (under 10 minutes) showing a high speed drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning.
Shot in a single take, with a gyro-stabilised camera mounted on the bonnet of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6, it has been shrouded in rumour and controversy for years due to the illegal nature of how it was filmed. It is thought that the sound of a Ferrari was dubbed on, even though the car was probably a Mercedes. Jeremy Clarkson once said it “makes Bullitt look like a cartoon”. [IMDb / Amazon]
1975 Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (Dir. Lewis Gilbert, 1977): The second iconic Bond car appeared in the late 1970s in the heyday of the Roger Moore era. The plot saw 007 try to stop a madman (Curt Jurgens) from taking over the world with the help of a KGB agent (Barbara Bach).
But the highlight for car enthusiasts was the sequence involving a Lotus Esprit which also doubled as a submarine complete with rocket launcher and mines. At the time of shooting only two of these Lotus models were available, and the film helped boost it’s image with what was a groundbreaking stunt sequence for the time. [IMDb / Amazon]
1974 Dodge Monaco in The Blues Brothers (Dir. John Landis, 1980): The ‘Bluesmobile’ was the long suffering cop vehicle that John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd drove on their ‘mission from God’ in the popular 1980 comedy. After the extended chase from their concert gig in the film, a 106-mile trip to Chicago in which they are chased by the police and Neo-Nazis, the Bluesmobile collapses as the Brothers arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center.
The film used 13 different cars to depict the Bluesmobile, all of which were former police cars purchased from the California Highway Patrol, and were mocked up to look like Illinois patrol cars. [IMDb / Amazon]
Modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT in Mad Max (Dir. George Miller, 1979): The low budget Australian thriller that launched Mel Gisbson as a star was the story of a traffic cop who hunts down the crazed motorcycle thugs who kill his family.
Featuring plenty of car chases, there are many memorable vehicles in this film but no more so than the modified car Max eventually drives, a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT. The actual model used in the film (and the 1981 sequel Mad Max 2) is currently at The Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, Cumbria. [IMDb / Amazon]
DeLorean DMC 12 in Back to the Future (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1985): One of the major box office hits of the 1980s was this clever tale of a teenager (Michael J Fox) who inadvertently travels back in time thanks to a maverick professor (Christopher Lloyd) who has built a time machine into a Delorean car.
Interestingly, the Delorean never really took off as a car after the company went bankrupt in 1982, but it has become synonymous with this film and in 2007 a limited number were produced again. [IMDb / Amazon]
1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California in Ferris Buellerâs Day Off (Dir. John Hughes, 1986): The late John Hughes directed several films that captured the growing pains of teenagers in Reagan’s America, but this tale of a Chicago whizz-kid (Matthew Broderick) who plays truant with his girlfriend (Mia Sara) and best buddy Cameron (Alan Ruck) was arguably his funniest.
A key subplot was that they used a vintage Ferrari to drive around own in, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California which forms part of a key scene towards the end of the film. [IMDb / Amazon]
1976 Ford Gran Torino in Starsky and Hutch (Todd Phillips, 2004): A bit of a cheat this one, as the film version of the long running TV series about two LA detectives also featured the famous red Ford Gran Torino with the white stripe down the side. In truth this remake wasn’t really up to much (Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson didn’t really have the chemistry of Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul), although the car remains one of the most iconic of TV shows in this era.
Ford built 1,000 replicas of the “Starsky and Hutch” car in the spring of 1976, due to the TV show. [IMDb / Amazon]
The Tumbler in Batman Begins & The Dark Knight (Dir. Christopher Nolan, 2005 & 2008): Of the bat-mobiles that have graced the big screen, the one in the most recent films with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman was the most radical. Invented by Wayne Industries’ Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), it resembles an armoured vehicle and is powered by a massive jet-booster.
The vehicle does not have a front axle, a design which was influenced by the ‘spinners’ from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The film’s production designer described the machine as a cross between “a Lamborghini and a Tank”. The second film saw a nifty Bat-bike (the Batpod) hidden within the main body of the vehicle. [IMDb / Amazon]
It has been in The Evil Dead films, the Spiderman trilogy and most recently appeared in Drag Me to Hell, driven by the elderly gypsy woman who can’t get a mortgage.
If you have any classic film cars, leave a comment below.
Given that we are in an election period here in the UK, when politicians say what they think the public wants to hear, this bout of truth telling from George Carlin is a breath of fresh air.
Shelter (Icon): A psychological thriller about a doctor (Julianne Moore) specialising in multiple personality disorders who comes across a particularly troubling and potentially dangerous patient (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
Directed by MĂĽns MĂĽrlind and BjĂśrn Stein, this arrives in the UK with zero buzz and – despite the presence of a genuinely great actress in Moore – seems likely to die quietly at the cinema before an afterlife on DVD and TV. [Nationwide / 15]
Whip It (Lionsgate UK): The directorial debut of Drew Barrymore stars stars Ellen Page as a teenager who throws in her small town beauty pageant crown for the world of roller derby.
Marcia Gay Harden plays Blissâ disapproving mother, while Barrymore, Kristen Wiig and Juliette Lewis play roller-derby stars. The main challenge for this film is the US-centric subject matter but it could appeal to a female-skewing audience looking for something different. [Nationwide / 12A]
I Am Love (Metrodome Distribution): Tilda Swinton stars in this Italian family drama directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Russian-born woman who has married into a wealthy Milan family. [Chelsea Cinema, Curzons Mayfair & Soho, Richmond / 15]
I Know You Know (Network Releasing): A drama about a young boy who suspects his dad (Robert Carlyle) might be working undercover for MI6Â [Apollo Piccadilly Circus & Key Cities / 15]
The opening titles of a film can be very revealing as to how a film turns out and some (especially those by Kubrick and Hitchcock) can be iconic in their own right.
Why is this?
Partly I think it’s a statement of intent on behalf of the filmmakers but there is also something magical about the anticipation of what you might soon be experiencing – is it going to be Citizen Kane or White Chicks?
You never really know until it starts to unfold but the opening titles often give a tantalising glimpse of what lies ahead, be it good or bad.
With that in mind, web designer Christian Annyas has posted an amazing selection of movie titles which are arranged by decade, from 1929 to 2009.
The third instalment in Romeroâs ongoing zombie saga sees the living dead take over the world and only small pockets of human resistance survive. One group of survivors, a motley crew of scientists and soldiers, are holed up in a 14-mile long underground missile silo where tensions begin to erupt as the zombie hoards surround them.
The bleakest and goriest of Romeroâs zombie films to date, Day Of The Dead has often been overshadowed by its more illustrious predecessors, but in recent years it has found greater appreciation, with Tom Savini‘s ground breaking make-up effects and the social commentary on Reagan’s America becoming more apparent.
This Blu-ray edition features a restored presentation of the film, a new hi-def soundtrack, four alternate sleeves, a double-sided poster, a 24-page collectorâs booklet âFor Every Dawn There Is A Dayâ, plus a very special collectorâs comic â âDay Of The Dead: Desertionâ â featuring a brand new âBubâ storyline.
Two all-new documentaries were also commissioned for this release: In âJoe Of The Deadâ (directed by Calum Waddell) Joe talks about his career in movies – from his early appearance in the little-seen Pittsburgh horror outing âEffectsâ (which also featured Romero regulars Tom Savini and John Harrison) to his small parts in âDawn Of The Deadâ and âKnightridersâ and his work as Captain Rhodes in Day Of The Dead.
In âTravelogue of the Deadâ (directed by Naomi Holwill), we join Pilato as he travels across Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow in October 2009 celebrating the 25th anniversary of Day Of The Dead and witness him meeting the fans, reciting his most famous lines from the movie – live and on stage – and drinking with the best of them.
Calum Waddell also penned the âFor Every Dawn There Is A Dayâ collectorâs booklet, which is an essay on the making of the movie that collects brand new interviews with Romero, Savini, editor Pasquale Buba, assistant director/composer John Harrison and actors Joe Pilato, Lori Cardille and Gary Steele.
I recently spoke to Joe about the film’s Blu-ray release and you can listen to the interview here:
This interview with Netscape founder and Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen from last year is fascinating.
As the author of the first widely-used web browser (Mosaic), a serial investor (in companies like Digg and Twitter) and a board member in key web companies (Facebook and eBay) he is in a good position to comment on how the web is changing the world in which we live.
Why the economic crisis of 2008 didn’t affect Silicon Valley in the same way as the 2001 slump did (although the ongoing recession will have a long term effect)
Day of the Dead (Arrow Films): The third film in George A Romero‘s zombie trilogy has often been regarded as something of a letdown after the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead (1968) and the iconic Dawn of the Dead (1978). It does lack the vitality of its predecessors but over the years has become a more telling satire of the Reagan era than many realised at the time.
Set inside an underground US military complex as zombies have overrun the earth, it explores the tensions between various army and scientific personnel as well as depicting the possibility of ‘humanising’ a zombie. Tom Savini’s landmark make-up effects still hold up strongly and Romero’s direction is smarter than some gave it credit for at the time. The Blu-ray comes with a raft of new extras including new commentaries and featurettes. [Buy the Blu-ray / Buy the DVD]
Delicatessen (Optimum Home Entertainment): With Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s latest film Micmacs not getting the love or attention it deserved at UK box offices, Optimum have re-released the 1991 that put him on the map. Along with co-director Marc Caro, he crafted a delightfully surreal tale about a clown (Dominique Pinon) who moves into a run down apartment building with a delicatessen on the ground floor and falls in love with the butcher’s daughter, Julie Clapet (Marie-Laure Dougnac).
Shot entirely in and around the delicatessen, it is inventive and displays a remarkable visual flair reminiscent of silent comedy and proved very influential, especially on subsequent TV commercials. I’m not sure why there isn’t a Blu-ray version yet, but if you haven’t already got the DVD it is highly recommended. [Buy the DVD]
Funny Games U.S. (Kaleidoscope Home Ent.): Michael Haneke‘s U.S. remake of his own 1997 film was a gruelling affair, even by his own dark standards, but remains a powerful piece of work. Made in 2007, it followed the exact same story with a well-to-do couple (Tim Roth and Naomi Watts) and their son who are slowly terrorised by two mysterious young thugs (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbett) whilst at their holiday home.
Some critics were appalled by what they saw as the pointless sadism of the film, but the fact that it provoked such a hostile reaction – often from the very bourgeois perspective the film directly assaults – was perhaps telling. It is a genuinely horrific film, with little in the way of catharsis or intellectual ambiguity, but remains a bracing and intriguing example of a director revisiting his own material for a different audience. [Buy the Blu-ray / Buy the DVD]
George Carlin: Collection – Volume 1 (Anchor Bay Entertainment UK): A collection of four of the great US comedians best stand up performances taped for HBO which include: George Carlin – On Location – University of Southern California (1977), George Carlin Again (1978), George Carlin at Carnegie (1984) and George Carlin on Campus (1984).
Brilliant observations about life are mixed with some hilarious social commentary and these groundbreaking performances demonstrate why he is still one of America’s greatest comedians, just two years after his death. [Buy the DVD]
* N.B. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is out on Blu-ray this week and would normally be one of my picks. However, the box set consists of the theatrical cuts (with hardly any extras) and I’d recommend waiting until the extended Blu-ray editions come out. *
ALSO OUT
30 Rock: Season 3 (Universal/Playback) [Buy the DVD] Married, Single, Other (2 Entertain) [Buy the  Blu-ray / Buy the DVD] The International (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) [Buy the Blu-ray] Universal Soldier: Regeneration (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Buy the Blu-ray] Who Dares Wins (Arrow Films) [Buy the Blu-ray] Battle Royale (Arrow Films) [Buy the DVD] Big Bad Mama (In 2 Film) [Buy the DVD] Burn Notice: Season 2 (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Buy the DVD] Chappelle’s Show: Season 2 (Best Medicine) [Buy the DVD] Feast Trilogy (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Buy the DVD] Forever Green: Series 2 (Network) [Buy the DVD] Geisha Assassin (MVM Entertainment) [Buy the DVD] Ghost Hunt: Complete Series 1 (Manga Entertainment) [Buy the DVD] Ginger Baker and Friends: Live at the Jazz Cafe (Voiceprint) [Buy the DVD] Laurel and Hardy: Collection (Lace) [Buy the DVD] Le Professionnel (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Buy the DVD] Smokin’ Aces/ Smokin’ Aces 2 – Assassin’s Ball (Universal Pictures) [Buy the DVD] The Bridge (Metrodome Distribution) [Buy the DVD]
Clash Of The Titans (Warner Bros.): A big budget remake of the 1981 film, loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus (Sam Worthington), who ventures on a dangerous mission to defeat the evil god Hades (Ralph Fiennes), before he can seize power from the all powerful Zeus (Liam Neeson) enslave earth. Directed by Louis Leterrier, it features lots of battles against creatures and demons and has been converted to 3D quite recently although it was shot on regular 2D cameras. Warner Bros will expect bad reviews but given the massive marketing push can expect a decent opening weekend before bad word of mouth spreads. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A]
How To Train Your Dragon (Paramount): The latest film from DreamWorks Animation is based on the 2003 book and is the mythical story of a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who learns how to fight the dragons that plague his village by befriending and taming a smaller one. Featuring the voices of Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, and David Tennant. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the writing and visuals are very solid, whilst the 3D (especially in the flying sequences) achieves a pleasing sense of exhilaration. Decent reviews plus the Easter holiday weekend will mean a high family turnout and it will be a major surprise if this doesn’t take the number one spot. [Vue West End & Nationwide / PG]
Kick-Ass (Universal): Perhaps the most interesting release of the week is this post-modern superhero film based on the comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. It tells the story of teenager (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a super-hero named Kick-Ass after purchasing a costume (even though he has no powers or training) and soon finds himself involved with a local gangster (Mark Strong); his son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse); and a highly trained father and daughter vigilante duo (Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz). Directed by Matthew Vaughn, produced by Brad Pitt, and written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, the film was independently financed – at a budget of $28 million dollars – and gleefully subverts the superhero genre whilst also paying homage to it. Internet fanboys will lap this up but whether it can break through to a mainstream audience is a big question. The violence (although comic in tone) and fruity language will likely alienate older audiences, but if it can hold its own in a very competitive weekend then it could turn out to be very profitable indeed. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15] (Previews 26-28 March)
Psycho (Universal): A re-release for the classic thriller from Alfred Hitchcock about a woman (Janet Leigh) who ends up at an isolated motel run by the enigmatic Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / 15]
City Of War: The Story Of John Rabe (Metrodome Distribution): A drama starring Steve Buscemi in the real-life tale of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38. [Empire Leicester Square / 15]
Double Take (Soda Pictures): A film by director Johan Grimonprez that uses footage of Alfred Hitchcock from 1962 and 1980 to paint a surreal picture of his life. [BFI Southbank, Curzons Mayfair, Wimbledon & Key Cities]
Kakera – A Piece Of Our Life (Third Window Films): A Japanese drama from director Momoko AndĂ´ about a college student, her boyfriend and medical artist who makes prosthetic body parts. [ICA Cinema]
Remember Me (E1 Entertainment): A romantic drama about two lovers (Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin) in New York on the eve of the 9/11 attacks. [Odeon West End & Nationwide / 12A]
Samson & Delilah (Trinity Filmed Entertainment): Australian film about a couple living in a remote community in the Central Australian desert. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Barbican, Empire Leic Sq., Renoir, Tricycle & Key Cities / 12A]
Morris has said that he conducted an enormous amount of research into the subject of Islamic extremism in modern Britain and there are veiled references to the July 7th bombings, the failed attacks of 2007 and other stories of home grown terror since 9/11.
