Public Enemies

Dir. Michael Mann

1933. America. Great Depression (much like today).

John Dillinger is a bank robber and the Fed’s public enemy number one. At that the director of the police is J. Edgar Hoover (who later became President of the United States… thought I’d throw in a bit of history) and he employs Melvin Pervis played by Christen Bale to catch John who is played by the chameleon Johnny Depp.

John is pursued, John gets captured, John escapes (by very cheeky methods), it’s a cat and mouse game film. This is a very long film. Only negative. There were several times that I thought they could have ended this film however, being a biographical piece it dragged. Yet being a long film, it was able to keep me interested in how John Dillinger was either going to escape or get captured by the police.

Public Enemies was filmed in HD format instead of the classic 35 mm (the same way as to how Collateral was filmed). I really like this style of filming for two reasons. One, it makes the film look like a really well made, expensive student film and two, it feels so much more real for the viewer. You can see every open pore on the actors face. They say that with the rise of the HD format, it will do what the talkies did for the silent movie actors. No Vaseline on the camera lenses for Marion Cotillard (granted she wouldn't need it as she is stunning!) who was brilliant as John Dillenger’s ‘girl’ Billie Frechette.

Production design: amazing. Because of the style of filming, you can see every nook and cranny. It was merely the cheery on the top for the whole feel of the film.

One of my favourite bits in the film is when a really awful gangster bloke finally gets shot down (and good riddance), its out in the open and with the beauty of film you get a very unique moment. You get to see his last breathe. Blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s those types of subtle moments, which makes great films.

This is a really good film that will probably feature highly in next year’s Oscars. I would watch it though in the comfort of your own home as the length of it can be a bit too much in a cinema.

Favourite moments in Cinema: Part one.

In no particular order…

SPEED: The bus explosion. Just after the guy says to Keanu “Hey Jack, you’ve forgotten your muffins”, the one fluid motion of the action. Bus goes by, Jack goes to his car, camera moves round the car, car Jack and bus are in frame and the BOOM!

SPEED: The moment when Jeff Daniels’ character knows he is going to get blown up. There is the flicker of realisation, a millisecond where he looks like he’s mustering all the courage/ dignity that he can before BOOM!

FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: the movement of camera through the woods at the end with all the Orcs from Aragon to Boromir, in the same time, the reaction of the Hobbits when Boromir is shot down and they think “fu*k it, we’ll take these Orcs on”.

FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: The aerial shot of Arwen being chased by the Nazgul, always gives me tingles.

ALL LOTR FILMS: I think Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) is brilliant!!! At the end of FOTR when hes saying that he'll never leave Frodo's side, TTT when he's talking about having to go on and the strength/ goodness of people and in ROTK when hes carrying Frodo up Mount Doom. Basically any Sam moment at the end of the films and generally when he is crying. Heartbreakingly brilliant. I hope I can tell Sean in person one day that I thought, actor wise, he was the best thing in LOTR for me.

FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: sorry, I know there are loads, but I think its one of the best films. The whole breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner... speech and then the flying apple.

GLADIATOR: EVERYTHING! But the lighting in particular when Maximus could chop of the other gladiator's head in the areana and he just stands there, bathed in shafts of light.

28 DAYS LATER: The Aeroplane. The subtly and the magnitude of what it means for the plot. Simplicity at its best.

GROSSE POINT BLANK: Dan Aykroyd running from the car towards the house. Always makes me giggle.

MASTER AND COMMANDER: Basically the whole film but its heart breaking when one of the crew commits suicide.

JARHEAD: I loved the whole philosophical edge to this film. What is a knife if it can’t cut anything… pointless. The bit when Peter Saaragard is told that Jake Gyllenhall and himself can’t shoot someone because the target is going to get bombed. His reaction, amazing!

There are more but I can’t remember them at the moment :)

£3 DVD GAMBLE…it’s cheaper than a cinema ticket!

Let’s face it, this Recession sucks pickled eggs! Even though news reports say that despite these hard times, people are spending money on experiences rather than material possessions, money is still in the equation.

 

I love experiencing new films in a cinema but my bronze coins in my purse say “NAY! Be-gone!” to the regular trips that I am oh so used to.

 

A cinema trip these days can cost up to £10+, so why not instead you just stay in a watch a new DVD.

 

DVDs these days are from the £3 mark up (thanks to places like Fopp), or even less if you venture to the used and resold world of Cdex (located in the Arndale centre) where you can gamble with the qualities of movie from £1+.

 

This week I ventured into this hollowed ground and purchased; Pathfinder £1.50, The Wedding Date £1, National Treasure 2 £4, making a grand total of £5.50 (which in total was a better spend that watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince £15!)

 

Pathfinder

I’m finding I want my retrace my path to where I parted with that £1.50. Can’t seem to get through this film without my thoughts wandering. Not good! Still, I really like Karl Urban as an actor though. A must see with him in is Star Trek. Kick ass film!

 

The Wedding Date

This was one of those films that you see, don’t like but then you find yourself watching it again and end up daydreaming that one day, one fine day, you’ll be lucky enough to meet a guy like the male prostitute Dermot Mulroney and he would fall in love with you and you’d live happily ever after and have lots of children and a lovely house in the country…

 

A hum, Sorry, back to reality. This is a lovely little rom-com made from an America perspective that shows Britain in an interesting light. From the lar-de-dar lifestyle in what looks to be Notting Hill to the random guy in the pub (who I’m pretty sure was dubbed over) saying “I’d shag her”. We aren’t in an Austin Power’s film people!

Still, it’s a fun film and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Best line was delivered by Sarah Parish “Oh god! I think I’ve come” J

 

National Treasure 2

Now, I am not a fan of Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbour? BIG no-no!) but on the rare occasion he makes a film that reminds me of watching films with my family as a child. Big action, big scenery, a script that is well researched but lacks fluidity in places and big name stars.

Like The Wedding Date, National Treasure 2 takes a little trip over the pond to visit good old London Town. Here you get to see Nicholas Cage been rather funny mimicking the British Accent. The big flaw with the English part of the film was when they had a car chase in London. Hello?! Have the script writers actually been to London? No way they could have had a car chase, one word; traffic! But that’s me again forgetting that this is just fiction.

I love the fact that Helen Mirren has finally been recognised by Hollywood and is making a steady and regular appearances in films. Also Justin Bartha needs to get given a main role in a film and soon! I think he is really good! He’s attractive, has an interesting voice and has very good comic timing.

On the whole this is a hangover movie, where you don’t have to really follow the plot and just be awed by the explosions and nice scenery.

 

So, next time your thinking about going to the cinema to watch a film that may or may not be good, but worried about spending the money, don’t go. Go to Fopp or Cdex and get a cheap film for around £3 and who knows, it might be your next favourite film of all time and you get to keep it straight away! And if it’s not any good? Pass the film on, it cost you £3 and it was cheaper than a cinema ticket.

Proactive time wasting...

At the moment I am not in work. It is in my nature to be proactive with my time. That is why I decided to film a monologue I wrote in 2002, after being absolutely gutted at the ending of Sparkhouse which, apart from the ending, I loved!

So here it is, the monologue is called 'Lost Love'. I had some problems with tape quality, but I did the best I could with what I had.

Harry Stinker!

Oh Dear!

I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this past weekend. Personally I think my time would of been better spent watching Transformers again!

There are so many problems with the Harry Potter series. Visually, Harry Potter films stand out from others. The Half Blood Prince in particular is visually stunning. Not stunning enough for me to forget the awful acting (Ginny and Hermionie in particular) and very loose script (nothing is really made of the Half Blood Prince plot line).

It lacked the energy of the Prisoner of Azkban or The Goblet of Fire.

Having said all that praise has to be accredited to Draco Malfoy a.k.a Tom Felton who has consistently shone out in all of the H.P films as a really really good actor. I'm surprised that I haven't seen him in any other main stream films recently. He played tormented soul brilliantly!

Also hats off to all the Deatheaters in the film and the girl who plays Ron's girlfriend who thankfully provided comic relief.

Looking forward to...

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

(500) Days of Summer

(music, love, great actors... could you want anything more???)

Game

(or Gamer) (looks terrible but brilliant at the same time).

The Hurt Locker

( Kathryn Bigalow directs in a 'near-perfect' action war film).

The Time Travellers Wife

(I think Rachel McAdams is such a brilliant actress, there is not one of her films that I dont like her in)

Music

One of the things I enjoy so much about watching films is listening to the music. For example “Push” was a tad boring at times. The script just lost the pace more than once in the film. However I liked it and the one thing (apart from Chris Evans) that sold it to me was the music. The urban landscape just came alive and the action matched the beats.

I find myself whenever I am listening to music I can visualise places, characters and plot lines. Music is amazing! Don’t worry readers, I am getting to a point. Having said all of that, I would now like to introduce you to one James Kelly from Manchester, England. Give him a chance, listen to his music, tell me what you think...