Never Let Me Go

Having read almost every review of this film for the past year and a bit, what I am about to say may upset every person in the world because I am going to be completely honest and that seems to contradict everything people are saying about it. So this...

is the film I am talking about. Now as you may know, i did read the book earlier and I loved it. I mean 5 out of 5 is a pretty good recommendation. I love Carey Mulligan and I have been looking forward to seeing this film since I read a small one paragraph about it in an old old old edition of Vanity Fair over a year ago. But I am a practical person, I didn't get too excited about it because when you look forward to a film a little too much you will be let down, a lot. So I was practical going in to the film and I was only let down a little bit.
The excitement of the book is in the not knowing; you want to keep reading so you can find out just what is going on. It's never really, properly said; there are weird little phrases that the characters use, and as the novel progresses we start to realise what these words really mean. But in the film the mystery is dissolved right at the start of the film and what is left is a pale, shallow adaptation of an exciting and thought provoking story.
If you've seen some of the recent trailers and reviews, you know the story already and I won't be spoiling any surprises. The three main characters Tommy, Kathy and Ruth are clones, raised in an idyllic English boarding school under the tight watch of their guardians. They indulge in sport and art and until new guardian Miss Lucy arrives, the ignorance of youth. But Miss Lucy spoils the surprise and tells them that they will grow into adults and not reach middle age because they will start being called in to make "donations", meaning their vital organs will be harvested until they "complete". Part of the romance of the novel is not knowing, just like the mystery and romance of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is not knowing whether or not Deckard is a Replicant. Ridley Scott gets this and that's why the film adaptation Blade Runner is such a respected, classic film.
The performances were amazing, nobody, not even me, can take that away from Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley. The film is lovingly shot and beautifully photographic, which is no great surprise considering what other films cinematographer Adam Kimmel has worked on. But none of this can save the lack of character development in the film. The relationships make no sense what so ever and the sheer speed with which we are whipped through the story is staggering and I fear, like the fourth Harry Potter film, those who have not read the book would not understand either the story line or the complexities of the characters.
I had a real problem with this film though I am sure people will enjoy it. I personally wouldn't bother, but it is a pretty film filled with good performances.

Rango

On Monday it was Josh's turn to pick a film which meant that we went to see this...

because Josh is secretly a big kid. I didn't really have any great desire to see Rango but it was surprisingly funny. From little Johnny Depp themed in jokes to broader western tropes, the premise of Rango is that a domestic chameleon falls out the back of his family's car in the middle of the desert. After much stumbling and meandering he ends up in a little town called dirt where, seeing as nobody knows him and he is a budding young actor, he slips into the role of western renegade and all round fierce-don't-mess-with-me good guy. He quickly becomes the towns new sheriff and after his luck has him ridding the town of the dreaded hawk with one bullet, he becomes and instant hero and friend to all towns people. The water in the town is running dry and it's up to Rango to find out why.
I found the characters all really unique and charming, the voice-work well handled (what a star studded cast - Bill Nighy, Alfred Molina, Isla Fischer, Abigail Breslin) and the smattering of western film tropes. Rango is actually rather a delightful little film. The adventures and action are enjoyable, the folklore captivating, I actually laughed out loud on a number of occasions, I don't know what else to say except that you should see this film. It is a fun little guilty pleasure.

SOOOOOOO EXCIIIIIITED!

Doctor who: Apollo 23 (book)

when my obsession with Doctor Who started verging in to fangirl territory I started collecting the Pandorica action figure set, each of which comes with one of a two part audio story set and I decided (as I was already collecting the new comics) I would try my hardest not to miss a doctor who story, whether it be a book, comic or audio story (but not the podcasts because only british people are allowed to download them). So I went out and bought this...

and I started my venture. On the whole I find this Doctor Who story incredibly interesting but completely derivative. The language I think is designed for a lesser mind (ie children) but the ideas are completely captivating. The basic premise is that the American's (who else) have stumbled upon something they don't quite understand, that allows them to walk from the earth to the moon. This allows them to set up a kind of top secret prison base on the moon where they can "process blanks". I won't spoil what that is all about but the whole premise of the experiments they perform on the moon base (for how could America set up a secret prison base on the moon and not run experiments on the prisoners) questions what it means to be human. Throughout their visit to the moon Amy and the Doctor are faced with many life threatening situations, but it's when the Doctor gets stranded on Earth with Amy and the TARDIS still on the moon when the shit really hits the fan.
Overall I found this story light, easy and enjoyable, an interesting adventure for the Doctor and his current companion. I found that Justin Richards struggled a little with the personality of the new Doctor as I imagined the David Tennant Doctor on many occasions throughout and not the Matt Smith Doctor. This should change after another season when people start to turn to camp Smith.

Wated on the Young

Yesterday I whisked my lovely hard working friend away from her workplace early and raced down to the Sun Theatre in Yarraville because it was the last day they were playing this

and I really wanted to see it. Two weeks it ran for at Nova, pathetic really considering it is Australian and everything the critics have said about it has been positive, yet people still won't go and see it. Anyway, let's get back to the film.

We had the cinema to ourselves so we had the comfort of being in a homely-living-room type setting which allowed us to whisper about what we were watching and to exult shocked squeals without reserve when shocking events prevailed. I was not prepared for the level of violence in the film at all and I sat clenched and anxious the entire film thinking someone was going to shoot some one else, or get shot themselves.

The themes dealt with in the film are rather intense but fitting considering the school yard and cyber bullying epidemic news and current affairs programs have told us is going on right now. In fact this epidemic has gotten so bad that the clip of an Australian boy fighting back against his supposed bully going viral was headline news on NBC in America.

This film basically centres around two step brothers - Zack is the cool, rich sporty, jocky guy who holds parties in his mansion for everyone on a seemingly weekly basis, and Darren the dorky, sciencey brother who stays in his room when the parties are on doing his physics homework. The parents of these boys are no where to be seen and the popular Zack has been getting away with too much for too long. When the beautiful and intellectual Xandrie develops a crush on Darren, Zack and his band of sluts and thugs decide she needs to be taught a lesson about the social hierarchy of the school. Drugged by Zack's two slutty girlfriend's and lured into the out of bounds basement of the house by the boys, you can basically guess what happens next.

In such a modern world, it doesn't take long for rumours to start spreading around the school, and that's when things really get crazy. I found the flashes of "what if" moments clunky and distracting, making it a little hard to follow what was actually happening in the film or in the imaginations of the character's, but these moments did work to make the tension almost unbearable.

The story twisted and turned and ended rather unexpectedly, which was refreshing, but overall I found the film rather surreal. The lack of adult figures throughout made the school setting almost fantastic and the film rather bizarre. I have been thinking about it non-stop since though, so I guess it did it's job.

Howl

Yesterday, being Monday, Monday being cheap movie day at Nova, I went to see this

because I love Allen Ginsberg and this is about the obscenity trial surrounding his most popular (or at least most famous) work, Howl. From the moment James Franco started talking I knew we were in for quite a treat, his diction was perfect and from my own listenings of Allen Ginsberg's recorded readings of such works as America, it is clear to see that Mr Franco has come a long way with his talent since the days of Freaks and Geeks (not that he wasn't completely charming in the high school drama, but he's Oscar nominated now, he has come a long way).
The film on a whole was interesting. The premise I found intriguing; aspects of the court case acted out as Franco drawls on in his convincingly Ginsberg way, describing his writing processes, his love affairs, growing up, experiencing the world and life, what appears to be his first public reading of Howl to a crowd of his friends and peers. This was all fine, I found the aesthetics incredibly appealing and the use of colour for the present tense of the film and black and white for the past was evocative and made the film easy to follow. Throughout the black and white sequences famous images of Allen Ginsberg were recreated and contextualised, familiarising the film for those familiar with Ginsberg.What I didn't like about the film were the intermittent animations representing the themes of the poem. I thought as an adaptation and thematically the animation worked well to break up the obscenity of the trial with a kind representation of the work on trial, but aesthetically, I didn't think that the animation was so modern and three dimensional when the rest of the film was so vintage and reminiscent of an evocative and bygone era. I imagined the animated sequence would look more like this

but it was ugly. perhaps this was because the poem was considered to be vulgar and ugly when it first arrived on the scene, but unlike the films unsuspecting and ignorant lawyer for the people, I should not like to presume the motivations of the filmmaker.
If you are interested in gaining an insight into a unique trial (reenacted from actual court records and recordings) as well as a stirring portrait of a pioneering public figure then go and see Howl, it's short, it's pretty and it's good.

Never Let Me Go (book)

I've been reading a lot of older books for a while like every Sherlock Holmes novel and story I could get my hands on, The Bell Jar, some Doctor Who books and comics and graphic novels, a bunch of classic penguins, but I bought Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro as I had a voucher and every book over $9.95 seems expensive now since the classic penguin outburst, but the voucher made it reasonable so I bought it.

From the moment I started reading I was captivated and could not help but want to read on. So many questions are posed throughout the novel but it's hard to talk about the answers without giving the enjoyment of the book away. The premise is that there are three central characters being raised in a snooty sounding boarding school focused on the importance of art and raising their pupils under a cloud. We know nothing of the children before they are at the school, but we know from Kathy's reminiscent narration throughout that a mysterious future awaits all who pass through the halls of Hailsham. Kathy flits between old and new memories weaving warmth with depravity and a kind of warped reasoning only a child could possess.
Readers are driven by the questioning; who are these people? What happens to them when they graduate? Why is Ruth such a bitch? Why does Madam look at them in that way? What genre is this? What is it that makes us human?
The truth us heart wrenching but the novel is beautiful. It remains equally haunting an heartwarming throughout the third and final part of the novel, drawing us in to a building, unspoken, everlasting love that mesmirises and overwhelms. It is difficult to speak about Never Let Me Go without spoiling the experience so I'll leave it there. I read this book in three days, quicker than I've read a book since I read the first Harry Potter novel and The Outsider (which doesn't count because it is really short and I read it in one day, sitting in the sun on the holidays.) I could not put it down and neither will you. I can't wait for the film to come out.
Read this book.

Certified Copy

A couple of weeks ago I went to Nova on cheap Monday by myself to see this

and absolutely loved it. From viewings of Taste of Cherry and Close-up I know that I absolutely adore the varied work of legendary Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and thinking none of my usual film buddies would want to see a slow burning character film in three different languages, I just went alone. I was the youngest person in the cinema by at least 30 years.
Chameleon French actress Juliette Binoche is breathtaking, charming, disarming and insufferable as Elle, a single mother and antiques dealer with an appetite for confrontation and beauty. We meet Elle in a difficult time in her life as she is clearly infatuated with art critic and writer James Miller, who is in turns charmed and annoyed by her. The nature of their relationship is evolving before our eyes and in amidst heady conversation of love, loss, art, beauty, philosophy and relationships we are left with a unique portrait of modern love that crosses many borders, many language barriers and differing points of view.
I can't explain too much more about the plot without spoiling the film completely. Do as little research about this film as you can bear before seeing it and you will be rewarded with a simple and effective tale of two people stuck in the crossroads of miscommunication and determination.

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

It certainly has been a while since I blogged about anything at all. But I have started an internship at the Melbourne International Film Festival and while looking for outlets to spread the word about a competition that is being run at the moment (that is freakin' awesome) I have been looking at a lot of local film blogs and have found myself thinking "I could do that". So I shall. As of.....nnnnnnnow.

The last film I went to see was this one.

Poster design by The Cimarron Group
at Greater Union on Russell Street.

I had no idea it was based on a short story by existential sci-fi legend Philip K Dick when I went into the cinema and didn't know until right at the end, but as soon as I saw that little note pop up in the credit's I suddenly understood why the film is as good as it is. I don't often like the big budget, big action Hollywood blockbusters but I enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau greatly. The idea that all our decisions and choices are being controlled by a bureau of angels disguised as FBI agents that can freeze time and come and go as they please making sure you stick to the plan is one that has plagued me late at night on many an occasion, particularly when an astutely annoying uni assignment had us building sets to make a film in Second Life and quick ventures away from the RMIT island out into the wide world of second life had me thinking of my consecutive philosophy lectures and the idea that we're the avatars and someone is making us go to university and to the supermarket and to learn french and to sleep etc kept me awake for many an our. So basically what I am trying to say is that this film was right up my alley. I think the sci-fi's that "could happen" work particularly well in your classic format Hollywood film production, but this works well as a romance as well. The central character hero politician David Norris, played by a straight but as ever effectual Matt Damon, meets and falls in love with contemporary dancer Elise, played effectively by a surprisingly charming Emily Blunt, who he was never meant to meet. After an accidental glimpse into the world of the adjustment bureau Norris is handed the ultimatum, keep quiet and stay away or you'll become a vegetable. When another chance meeting has his heart a fluttering the big guns are brought in and the star crossed lovers are in for one hell of an uphill battle. The ending is complex and unexpected and the adjustment bureau is a refreshing turn in the often alien obsessed sci-fi genre of late. I am inspired to read more Philip K Dick and shall go and do that now.