Before I Forget
Features
This is an insight into a subculture that, it's fair to say, doesn't get a decent crack of the cinematic whip: the demi-monde of the ageing, former-gigolo, gay Frenchman. The first few minutes - an unhurried inspection of an unpleasant coughing fit of someone we can only assume is seriously ill - doesn't promise much fun.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
Blood, guts and bullets
Features
For some reason I thought it would be fun to gather all the Italian-made western DVDs and tapes I could lay my hands on, and watch them in the order they were made. An interesting experiment, which maybe I could turn into a book, or a long article on the development of one of the most peculiar and popular cinematic sub-genres.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
Casting the news: McBride of Satan, the 'smeargate' film
Features
If ever anyone had a face for cellulite, it's Damian McBride. Sorry, celluloid. If ever anyone had a face for celluloid, it's Damian McBride. The 34-year-old former adviser to the prime minister is, we're pleased to announce, the subject of Guardian/film/films' latest multimillion pence blockbuster – McBride of Satan – a political thriller offering a chilling glimpse into the very heart of power and the fat-clogged arteries that surround it.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
Claws out
Features
In slow motion, Hugh Jackman rises out of a tank of blue liquid. He shakes the water from his mutton-chop whiskers, veins throb in his neck, his shoulders bulge, claws extend, and he lets out an almighty, woodland- clearing roar. "If we get it right," says Jackman animatedly, "people are going to go, 'Fuck yeah!' That's the reaction I want. If we don't get that, I haven't done enough."
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
DVD review: Mike Leigh at the BBC
Features
For anyone who has come to the Salford director's oeuvre late, this is a wonderful six-disc look at the early days. Abigail's Party - as toe-curlingly embarrassing as anything from Larry David or Ricky Gervais - is the famous one, but Nuts in May and Grown-Ups run it very close in sharp, observational comedy. Alison Steadman and Roger Sloman's veggie duo in the former are as indelible as Steadman's famous monster, Beverly. A reminder, too, how many of these gems arrived via Play for Today or BBC2 Playhouse series. Nothing remotely like them exists in today's BBC.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
DVD review: The Baader Meinhof Complex
Features
A very lengthy history of the far-left terrorist group that shocked Germany from 1968 onwards. It is written by director Uli Edel and Bernd Eichinger, who also did the screenplay for the impressive Downfall; its Hitler, Bruno Ganz, is present here again as the voice of reason and boss of the federal police. The kicking-off point for this group's radicalisation is seen as the brutality of the police reaction to a protest at the visit of the shah of Iran. Like most of the violence and explosions in the film's 145-minute running time, it is convincingly real. Featuring more smoking than you'll ever see in an episode of Mad Men, even when its antiheroes are in prison, it is an interesting re-enactment of a startling historical period often overlooked today.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
Film picks
Features
Rendition8pm, Sky Movies Drama
Source: Guardian Unlimited
Date Published: April 17, 2009
