Matt's Blog

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 November 2011

I live a pretty busy life and so I don’t spend that much time watching television.  I could probably count on one hand the number of television shows that I’d watch on a regular basis.

 

One of them, however, is The Inbetweeners.  A friend introduced me to the show and I picked up the DVDs of the first two seasons whilst in London last year.  The third and final season recently came out in Australia.

 

When I heard that stars Simon Bird and Joe Thomas would be on the Gold Coast to promote The Inbetweeners Movie, the “fan boy” in me jumped at the chance to speak with them.  The film is fantastic (you can read my review here) and here's how the interview went down...

 

Oh, and you can download a 5 minute extract of the audio from the interview by clicking here.

 

Matt:  I’m here today with Simon Bird and Joe Thomas.  Guys, welcome to the Gold Coast!

 

Simon:  Thanks for having us.

 

Matt:  Schoolies week is on at the moment and it’s very appropriate that you guys are here given the theme of the movie.  Do you guys have the equivalent of schoolies week in the UK?

 

Simon:  We do but we don’t really holiday in the UK.  We have two sets of exams – one when you’re 15-16 and one when you leave school at 17-18.  After both of those, people usually go on a holiday with their friends.

 

Because we don’t have anywhere nice and hot like the Gold Coast in our own country, we kind of go over to other people’s countries and ruin them.  In this film the boys go off to Malia which is a resort in Crete.  There are a few other places in Europe that the English school kids tend to go like Thalarki and Magaluf.

 

From what I’ve heard, it’s very similar to schoolies week.  People are letting off steam after their exams and it’s their first holiday away without their parents.  That’s the idea behind the film – these four characters have just finished school and they go off on their first holiday abroad.

 

Matt:  One of the things I love about the TV series is that there are so many laugh out loud, cringe worthy moments.  What do you guys think when you see these scripts for the first time?

 

Joe:  Sometimes I think they’re mugging me off.  They’ve just come up with a list of crazy things we can make Joe do.

 

Simon:  That is true!  The writers have told us that.  Joe has really been through the wringer.

 

Joe:  Most of my body has now been on public display.  There’s not much left to sell.  There’s what – one testicle left and part of my penis?

 

Matt:  What’s with all the public nudity in the series?  It’s again a theme in the film.

 

Joe:  Boys just do end up naked and I don’t know why it is.  There was a documentary about these types of holidays and a lot of these lads seem to be naked for no reason in the early evening in the street.  I don’t know what it is.

 

Simon:  Walking around the Gold Coast actually over the last couple of days, I’ve noticed there are a lot of Australian lads who seem to enjoy showing off their bodies.

 

Joe:  To be fair to the Aussies, they have much better bodies than the English.  In general, English men should keep their clothes on. (laughs)

 

Matt:  Well you’re doing ok with your own tans.  Most people I see come over from the UK are usually here to get some sun.

 

Joe:  Well thank you.  Simon actually has quite an oily complexion.  Simon has at various times been described as the Jewish one from the show and the Arab one from the show.

 

Simon:  Yeah, I have naturally dark skin so I pick up a tan quite easily.  Joe is more of a “burner”.

 

Joe:  I’m more of a classic English skin type.  I had to plaster my self with sun cream yesterday…

 

Matt:  So you had a chance to get around the Gold Coast yesterday?

 

Simon:  We did but not as much as we’d like actually.  This is a flying visit and we’re off to Sydney later today.  We’ve been doing interviews most of the time but we got a chance to do some jet skiing which was brilliant.

 

Matt:  I guess I should get back to the show and particularly the movie.  A lot of people in Australia won’t be familiar with The Inbetweeners.  It’s had a much smaller release here than it has in the UK.  All four characters are so distinctive.  Did you guys have much of a say in how they were created and developed?

 

Joe:  It was more left to the writers.  They looked at what they had to work with and literally wrote the show around what we like and what we were capable of.

 

The writers were friends growing up and these characters are based on themselves.  I think you do find that if you look at a group of boys, there will be these “stock types” within them.

 

Simon:  You’ve got the dumb one, you’ve gone the dirty one…  Like Joe said, the reason the show works is because it’s based on real life and real experiences.  These characters are based on real people.

 

Joe:  Yeah, we’ve increasingly met them in our travels. (laughs)  What the writers have done with the movie is instead of going with the dramatic extremes of storylines, they attempt to capture what would actually happen to four average lads who go on a holiday like this.  They’re not exceptional in any way.  This is the experience that most people would have.

 

Simon:  A lot of the comedy comes from their expectations not being met.  They view this holiday a bit like a film – like it’s going to be epic and legendary but in reality it’s more of a disappointment… just like this film. (laughs)

 

Matt:  Hahaha.  No, we can’t say that.  Your own profile in the UK as the series has built up over the last three years – have you found yourself getting recognised more and more?

 

Joe:  Yeah but it’s quite confusing because I play a character called Simon and Simon plays a character called Will.  If we’re together and someone calls out “Simon” then we genuinely have no idea who they’re talking to.

 

Simon:  It started as such a tiny show and the first series didn’t get many viewers at all.  Then something happened in between the first and second series and no one can put their finger on what it was.  The DVD sales started taking off and for the first episode of the second series, we had millions more viewers and it was the same for the third series.  We’re just very grateful.

Matt:  So where did the movie come from?  There have been so many great TV series but why make a movie of The Inbetweeners?

 

Joe:  I think Iain and Damon had an idea of making a show about a lad’s holiday.  First of all, they wanted to bring this genre of “teenage comedy” to the UK.  You see a lot more of this style of film coming from the United States.

 

Alongside that, they though the holiday would work because it’s a good “bite sized chunk” for a film.  The series itself has reached a point where they can’t take it much further because they’ve done their final exams and graduated.  It’s the last hurrah for these four boys together and they may not see each other this.

 

Simon:  It was a risky decision for Iain and Damon to make the film because there have been a lot of films made, especially in England, of sitcoms.  A lot have done very badly both at the box-office and critically.  We knew it was a risk but luckily, it seems to have paid off.

 

Matt:  The box-office in the UK has been ridiculous.  Four weeks atop of the chart and it’s now in the top 25 of all time in the UK.

 

Joe:  Yeah.  We expected the film to find an audience but everyone was surprised by how successful it has been.  We are chuffed with how well it’s done in the UK.

 

Matt:  Is this the part now where the studio will want to sign you up for fifteen sequels?

 

Simon:  Fortunately, it wasn’t made with a studio.  Iain and Damon, the producers, made it with their own production company so they’re beholden to no one which is great.  It means they won’t do anything unless they think it’s going to be as good.

 

There have been discussions about the possibility of a sequel but no decisions have been made as yet.

 

Matt:  And the TV series?  Is it done?

 

Simon:  I think the TV series is probably done to be honest.  It felt like such a step up in doing the film and it would feel like we’re going backwards to return to the TV series.

 

Joe:  Also, we don’t know where the TV series would now take place unless they all got kept back a year for an undisclosed reason. (laughs)

 

Matt:  I should finish up by asking that if the show has wrapped up, what lies in the future for you guys?

 

Simon:  Joe and I have got some other shows on England.  Joe’s in a very successful show called Fresh Meat which is about university students and is written by the guys that made Peep Show.  I’m in a show called Friday Night Dinner which is a sitcom about a family.

 

We’re actually both writing a show together with our friend Jonny Sweet that is set in World War I.  Joe and I knew each other before The Inbetweeners.

 

Joe:  If you are an aficionado of The Inbetweeners, there’s an episode in series 2 where they go to a nightclub in London.  Will’s would-be date fobs him off for another more suave gentleman who accuses Will of talking like he’s from a black and white film.  That’s our friend Jonny Sweet who is the third member of our “gang”.

 

Matt:  Thanks guys and I hope you have a great time travelling around the rest of Australia.  I look forward to talking the movie up for all it’s worth.

 

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 November 2011

 

It’s at this point every year when I put together my awards show preview.

 

In the three months between December and February, the hunt will be on in earnest for those coveted Oscar statuettes.  Whether we like it or not, an Academy Award is the most recognisable honour in the film community.  Films nominated get a boost at the box-office and actors nominated can use it to help further their careers.

 

December is littered with critics awards with the two most important groups being in Los Angeles and New York.  Their choices are likely to shape the early markets.  By January, we’ll have had the two critical lead up awards – the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.  If you’ve got those sitting on your mantelpiece, you’re all but assured of an Academy Award.  The last minute lobbying and advertising will take place in February in the lead up to the ceremony itself on 26 February 2012.  We can then sit back, relax and do it again in 12 months time.

 

When I look at “top 10” lists from critics and bloggers across the globe, you see so many worthy choices.  There are small films, independent films, foreign films.  Sadly, these are almost always overlooked when it comes to the Academy Awards.  The big studios campaign hard and have a strong hold over voters.  In the end, we’re left with a group of winners and nominees that are fairly predictable.  Sure there are a few surprises but it’s not hard to identify what films and performances will be recognised by the Academy.

 

In my blog from this week last year, I picked 10 films that I thought would be nominated for best picture.  I scored 9 out of 10 (choosing Another Year in place of Winter’s Bone).  This was before a single critics award had even been announced.  My choice for best picture was The King’s Speech and yep, it went on to win.  I also included all 4 acting winners amongst my commentary.  You can check out that blog by clicking here.  I’m not at all trying to gloat (as many other pundits would have had similar picks) but rather I’m trying to emphasise the predictable nature of award season.

 

On that note, I thought I’d run through the major contenders for this year.  Most of the contenders are yet to be released – they are saved for year end so as to be fresh in voters mind.

 

Those which have already been released that are in with a chance include Midnight In Paris, The Help, Moneyball, The Ides Of March and The Tree Of Life.

 

I won’t cover those in much detail but rather, I’ll give you a look at the contenders will see in Australian cinemas over the coming months.  I’ve provided a brief plot overview from the Internet Movie Database.  Here they are…

 

War Horse

Release Date In Australia:  26 December 2011

Director:  Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan)

Starring:  Tom Hiddleston, David Thewlis, Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Jeremy Irvine

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Follows a young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend.

 

The Iron Lady

Release Date In Australia:  26 December 2011

Director:  Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!)

Starring:  Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Olivia Colman

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.

 

Hugo

Release Date In Australia:  12 January 2012

Director:  Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Gangs Of New York)

Starring:  Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Release Date In Australia:  12 January 2012

Director:  David Fincher  (Fight Club, The Social Network)

Starring:  Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellen Skarsgard, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a young computer hacker.

 

The Descendants

Release Date In Australia:  12 January 2012

Director:  Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways)

Starring:  George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Release Date In Australia:  19 January 2012

Director:  Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In)

Starring:  Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.

 

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Release Date In Australia:  19 January 2012

Director:  Sean Durkin

Starring:  Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy, Brady Corbet

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.

 

J. Edgar

Release Date In Australia:  26 January 2012

Director:  Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby)

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Ed Westwick, Judi Dench

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.

 

Shame

Release Date In Australia:  9 February 2012

Director:  Steve McQueen (Hunger)

Starring:  Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister Cissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

 

My Week With Marilyn

Release Date In Australia:  16 February 2012

Director:  Simon Curtis

Starring:  Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Ormond

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of The Prince and the Showgirl.

 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Release Date In Australia:  23 February 2012

Director:  Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader)

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Max von Sydow

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  A nine-year-old amateur inventor, jewelry designer, astrophysicist, tambourine player, and pacifist searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks.

 

The Artist

Release Date In Australia:  TBA

Director:  Michel Hazanavicius

Starring:  Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman

Plot Overview Per IMDB:  Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

 

This year’s best picture race has been made murky by a rule change – there will now be between 5 and 10 nominees depending on the support level for the top films.  This makes it hard for me to give a set list in my predictions.  Assuming there could be up to 10, I thought I’d list out my top predictions in order of likelihood…

 

1. The Descendants, 2. The Artist, 3. War Horse, 4. The Help, 5. Midnight In Paris, 6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, 7. Moneyball, 8. The Tree Of Life, 9. Hugo, 10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

 

My early pick for best picture is The Descendants – a film I was lucky enough to see at its Toronto Film Festival world premiere.  I can’t wait to see it again and it’ll be hard to beat in this year’s race.

 

In terms of the acting categories…

 

Best actor is a tricky one this year.  George Clooney is wonderful in The Descendants and the Academy may wish to give him a best actor statuette to match his best supporting actor win from a few years ago.  However, there are two great actors who are yet to win any Oscars – Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt who will be fighting hard for J Edgar and Moneyball respectively.  DiCaprio has been getting raves for his performance (the film not-so-much) but I’m going to go out on a limb and choose Pitt for the win.  I think he’s brilliant in Moneyball.

 

Best actress sees Meryl Streep again in contention and likely to pick up her 17^th nomination for The Iron Lady.  Viola Davis (The Help) and Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) will give her a run but I think at long last, Streep will finally pick up Oscar number 3.

 

Best supporting actor is wide open.  Many names have been thrown around and we won’t get a clear picture until a few critics awards are announced.  Two veterans lead the discussion – Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close).  I have to lean towards Plummer at this stage but I’d also love to see Albert Brooks (Drive) in contention.

 

Best supporting actress sees Octavia Spencer (The Help) well out in front in early markets.  Given the huge support for her film, I think she’s a near certainty (a big call I know).  Others in this category will need to do some serious campaigning to unseat her.

 

I’ll be keeping you all updated on the race over the coming weeks through my blog.  May the best film win!

 

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 November 2011

Burning Man is the latest Australian film to be released and it’s been getting some terrific reviews.  Both Margaret and David on At The Movies gave it 4.5 stars.  Director Jonathan Teplitzky was recently in Brisbane to promote the film and I had a chance to sit down with him for 10 minutes to ask a few questions…

 

Matt:  This is your third feature film.  There was Better Than Sex in 2000 and Gettin’ Square in 2003.  Both of those films were excellent I might add.  I wanted to start off by asking where you’ve been for the past 8 years?

 

Jonathan:  The last two years have been making this film.  Two years before that we were writing.  So there were only about 2-3 “lost years” where I was doing other things.

 

10 years ago my partner passed away and I did Gettin’ Square soon after that.  It was a great film to do given it was a comedy.  After that, it was a time to take stock.  I had a young son and I had a serious of projects where the script never quite got to where I wanted it to get to.  The more you do it the more you realise that you have to be working to a good screenplay otherwise it’s too fragile.

 

Matt:  Now that you have a couple of films under your belt, have you found it easier dealing with studios and financiers?  Can you rely a little now on your reputation?

 

Jonathan:  You hear horrific stories of Martin Scorsese trying to raise money for films and so it’s never easy.  As filmmakers you have to be incredibly humble because you’re in such a privileged position – someone is going to put out millions of dollars for you to make a film.  That aspect of it is never easy but when you start talking about doing new films, people take your track record into account without a doubt.  Hopefully that helps.

 

Matt:  Well it certainly did in this case.

 

Jonathan:  Very much so.  I’m moving on now towards an even bigger film and when people see Burning Man they go “ok, this is a serious director who we can trust with this project.”

 

Matt:  You touched on it before but can you tell us a little about the background of this story?  I know it’s a fictional tale but it was inspired by certain events in your life.

 

Jonathan:  My partner passed away 10 years ago.  I had a young son at the time and as time went on, I found that I was thinking about it as an experience a lot more and wanting to respond to it in a creative way.  I really wanted to find a way of expressing the kind of unusual experience that I went through and that I’m sure many other people go through as well.

 

That was the starting point and then I had to find a way of telling the story that is entertaining, funny and moving.  I wanted to be a visceral, emotional film which is why I tried to tell it in a fractured kind of way?

 

Matt:  I wanted to ask about that because it is fractured.  When I saw it for the first time it forced me to pay very close attention to try to understand the order of events.  What were you trying to do with that style?

 

Jonathan:  In a very simple way, it’s about a man who’s life is fractured so I tried to use the structure as much as I could to infuse the story of his life with that of the audience’s own experience watching it.

 

The structure in a sense represents his emotional, psychological landscape.  His whole life has turned upside down and the experience, particularly in the year after the events, is a very surreal and strange place to be.  On one hand, you have been gripped with sadness and tragedy.  On the other hand, there’s a certain exhilaration because suddenly, all the rules that you’ve lived by seem to have been thrown out the window.

 

In many ways, it’s a deluded state but also a wonderful experience.  You’re trying to weigh up all these things whilst also trying to numb the pain and get some kind of control over your emotional state.  That can result in a lot of self destructive behaviour.

 

Matt:  Matthew Goode’s first scene in the film is a cracker.  Often a film takes a little while to get going and introduce the characters.  The first scene here is of him masturbating in front of a prostitute.  Is that what you were trying to do – get the audience straight in from the start?

 

Jonathan:  When you make a film in this way you need to throw the audience in the deep end straight away.  If you pussy foot around for too long, they’re going to resent going there with you.  That’s why the first 3 or 4 minutes up to the car crash is like it is – it just gives you a sense of his world we’re dealing with.

 

I also found that many people have liked the film because they’re not led by the hand.  It’s not sentimental and there’s an energy that leaves a lot of things open.

 

Matt:  How’d you get Matthew Goode?

 

Jonathan:  I met Matthew through a mutual friend in London.  We kind of met at a time when he was looking to do something different and challenging.  We talked for 3 to 4 weeks on and off.  He loved the script and found it quite confronting but he really wanted to do it.  He knew that if he wanted to break out as an actor, this was the sort of material he needed to do.

 

Matt:  He’s putting together a great resume actually.

 

Jonathan:  He is.  Something like this really shows what he can do in a big way.

 

Matt:  I saw you mention in another discussion that it’s a film that could be set anywhere but ultimately, you went with Sydney.  Why is that?

 

Jonathan:  I thought about doing the film in other parts of the world but in the end, there are very few places that are as good as Australia in terms of setting up medium budget, independent drama.

 

Matt:  The film had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival which I was lucky enough to attend.  Did you get a lot of interest from international investors and distributors?

 

Jonathan:  There was a huge amount of interest.  We got a great response from everyone in Toronto.  There were fantastic audience Q&As and really big screenings.  On the second screening, it was the biggest screen that I’ve ever laid eyes on.  It was a great way to premiere the film.

 

Matt:  I’ll finish up by asking what’s next?  You mentioned that you have another big project in the works.

 

Jonathan:  It’s called The Railwaymen and it stars Colin Firth.  It’s a big WWII drama about a guy that is tortured by the Japanese on the Burma railway, survives, and then goes back many years later to confront his torturers.  It’s a great film about humanity, forgiveness and the thirst for life.

 

It will probably be shot in Scotland, Thailand and Queensland so we’ll be in the jungles around the Gold Coast for a few weeks.

 

Matt:  Well I hope Burning Man is a big success at the box office and best of luck with your future endeavours.

 

Jonathan:  Thanks very much.

 

You can read my review of Burning Man by clicking here.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 November 2011

  

The Brisbane International Film Festival is now well underway and I’ve seen a mixed bag of films so far.  A few early movies left me going “meh” but things have improved over the past 48 hours.

 

Crowd numbers seem to be strong (at least at the films I’ve attended).  A screening of The Human Centipede 2 at 12:30am on Sunday morning was sold out – that says it all I think. 

 

Not so impressive what was happened after the film.  Here’s what happened according to the Facebook post – “POOH FOUND IN FOYER - is it yours? Yes that's right folks I just spoke to a very dismayed Jordan Bastian from Tribal Theatre in Brisbane who tells me that not only did 2 people faint at the screening of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 last night, but someone also did a huge POOH (read SHIT) in the foyer! Some poor staff member had to scoop it up this morning but apparently it was pretty damn disgusting and ...pretty damn huge! I guess it's kinda funny but it's also quite disgusting, I honestly feel for the poor girl who spent the morning scooping it up.”

 

Just when you’ve thought you seen everything, huh?

 

Don’t let that detract you from getting to BIFF over the remaining days.  It runs until Sunday and tickets are still available for most sessions.

 

Here’s a look at what I’ve seen so far.  I’m using a score out of 5 (as opposed to my normal gradings) because that’s how I was required to vote on the BIFF audience forms that you hand in at the end of each movie.

 

Tabloid

 

This documentary is about a former beauty queen who kidnapped her ex-boyfriend and used him as a sex slave for 3 days in 1977.  The story made headlines around the globe for being so bizarre.  The topic is interesting but I was hoping to hear events from a few more perspectives (e.g. such as the authorities).  We only get a limited view and I’m none the wiser as to what really happened.  Score:  3/5.

 

This Is Not A Film

 

The backstory to this film (if that’s what we call it) is more interesting than the film itself.  Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was banned from making movies for 20 years and placed under house arrest.  With the help of a friend, he somehow made a documentary about his life cooped up at home and he smuggled it out of the country on a USB stick hidden inside a cake.  It’s a sad story but listening to Panahi talk about his life and his previous works couldn’t hold my attention all the way through.  Score: 3/5.

 

Higher Ground

 

Two friends of mine enjoyed this but I was disappointed by Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut.  I didn’t know what the film wanted to say and it seems to go along at such a slow pace.  Maybe it was just an allergic reaction to some of the religious themes.  Score: 2/5.

 

A Dangerous Method

 

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding this film but I found David Cronenberg’s latest to be a tad disappointing.  All three characters are trying to outsmart each other through the power of persuasive argument but parts went over my head.  It also felt like we’d only seen part of the story.  I’d have preferred to have seen the sequel – to discover why Carl Jung became such a brilliant psychiatrist.  Score: 3/5.

 

Le Harve

 

Le Harve is a sweet French drama centring on a guy with a sick wife who befriends a young illegal immigrant and helps him flee the country.  If you believe in the saying that “good things happen to good people” then you’ll enjoy this.  A lovely drama.  Score: 4/5.

 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

 

Crime / spy thrillers are one of my favourite genres and Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is worth your money.  It’s an anti-Hollywood movie.  We don’t have some cool spy who finds all the clues with apparent ease.  Instead, we have an old man who hardly says a word – waiting for others to open their mouths and reveal their secrets.  The cast is terrific and so too is the 1950s décor.  Score: 4/5.

 

The Human Centipede 2

 

I’ll be honest – this features the most shocking material that I’ve ever seen on the big screen.  The film has no plot and I wouldn’t ever suggest that you go out and see it.  That said, it was worth it just for the experience and the audience reactions were priceless.  Score: 3/5.

 

Take Shelter

 

Take Shelter features a fantastic performance from Michael Shannon as a guy has these visions of an apocalyptic event.  My problem with this film is that it didn’t end in a satisfying manner and there were a few plot developments that didn’t sit right with me.  Score: 3/5.

 

Tyrannosaur

 

Tyrannosaur is easily the best film I’ve seen so far – a heartfelt drama about two very unlikely people who form an important connection.  He’s a violent man who lives alone and is on a path of self-destruction.  She’s a religious woman who is abused by her husband at home.  I was blown away by this movie and the mesmerizing performances by both Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman deserve awards attention.  Score: 5/5.

 

I’ve got 10 more films to see over the next 6 days and hopefully I’ll have a lot more good news to report in next week’s blog.