Tales from the Freakpit

The end / the beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:33:00 +0000

This is the last time I'll be posting to this particular blog. I am, from now on, concentrating solely on my interests in Irish and Scottish film. Apart from anything else, they're far less represented in the blogosphere than the other things I cover, so it's not like there's a shortage of sources if you want to read coverage of horror, cult movies, documentaries, current releases etc.

For a couple of reasons, I'll be leaving this blog online for a few weeks but then it'll be deleted for good. Rather than leave it floating out there forever, I'd rather get rid of something that will not be getting maintained.

So if you only came here because of, well, any reason other than the Irish/Scottish stuff really, then I guess you don't need to bother coming back, but I thank you for reading. If you are, on the other hand, interested in either Scottish or Irish film (or both!) then be sure to pop back and visit me over at www.gaelmovies.com whenever you can.

A bunch of recent releases

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Okay, it's decided. I will be abandoning the scattershot approach of the Freakpit and very, very soon this blog will be replaced with a brand new one. If you're here for the coverage of documentaries, spaghetti westerns or any other marginalised form of movie then I apologise but let's be honest. There are countless blogs out there devoted to such things and lots of them have a great deal more effort put into them than this one.

The Scottish and Irish stuff has been getting more and more common of late and that's the interest on which I'm going to concentrate. But before I hammer the final nails into the Freakpit's coffin and start talking about tartan and blarney, I thought I'd finish off with a brief round-up of a bunch of recent films that I never got round to reviewing.

FROST/NIXON boasts a couple of decent lead performances and is a gripping enough film about a fascinating incident. It was probably the best of the big Oscar movies but was still rather conventional and unspectacular, a testament to how weak the last year or so has been for films.

AUSTRALIA was almost every single type of awful. I'll single out the expression-free Nicole Kidman trying desperately hard to act (again) as being the "highlight" but really it's difficult to know where to start, or end, when describing just how much this film stinks of terrible.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED slips a little towards the end of the film when the actual wedding goes on forever - to the point where you genuinely feel like you're watching an entire video of the wedding of two people you've never met - but otherwise is a fine ensemble piece dominated by an incredible Oscar-nominated turn by Anne Hathaway.

MILK was an entertaining study of important true events, a nice reconstruction of time and place and a showcase for a great performance by Sean Penn but as far as biopics go, it was another case of ticking boxes.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD was a fantastically dark look at fifties American suburbia and the futility of the American dream, with good performances for the most part. Miserable, cynical and various other adjectives that people also use to describe me all apply.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D. Yeah, this one's a bit out of place. On the one hand, I like 80s slashers, including the original of this. On the other hand, I despise the current trend of remaking every film ever made and try not to give them my money. So I got into this one using a voucher I had been given, so my conscience is clear. It's in 3D, it's got gore and female nudity and Tom Atkins is in it. If none of those things interest you, steer clear because they are literally the only things that come close to being reasons to see it.

THE CLASS is the Cannes prize winning French drama combining semi-improvisation and verite style to take a look inside a school full of troubled kids. It's all well handled but don't go expecting easy answers to anything. Or any kind of answers at all. I can't make up my mind if it's a terrifically realistic look at the problems of modern education or if it's just a cynical expression that there's nothing we can do to help these people, no matter what we try.

GRAN TORINO is another entertaining entry in Eastwood's canon as he plays the miserable old war vet who hates pretty much everyone. He's a racist bigot, some Asians move in next door, blah blah blah. Yeah, you know what's coming, but Eastwood proves again why he's such an interesting director (and storyteller, more importantly). Not without flaws (and is it right that a racist is so funny?) but still a crowd pleaser all the same. This is what Dirty Harry looks like when he's retired.

Watch this space for updates on the status of the blog. Bye for now.

Quick Scottish/Irish update (10 March)

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Further to my last big Irish and Scottish updates, here's a couple of little bits of extra information.

If you missed BBC NI's entertaining and touching documentary OVER HERE, fret not. If you're quick enough, you should still be able to see it on the BBC iPlayer.

Various Irish film sites are reporting that the film WC is getting a limited release from March 13th. Check your local arthouse for details. Not seen this one so can't give you any steer as to the quality.

If you're in or around Glasgow on March 28th, there's a special screening of HELEN at the CCA, by the Irish directing duo Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor (aka Desperate Optimists) who will both be in attendance for an interview. You may remember I saw this one at EIFF last year and didn't like it that much. Too cold and distant for me and just didn't ring true, but it was probably the most beautifully shot film of the 50-odd movies I saw at the festival. I'm not going to enthuse wildly about the film, but the Q&A should be interesting, particularly for low budget or aspiring filmmakers. Ticketed event, but free.

Scottish animated short HERZOG AND THE MONSTERS is now available on the BBC Film Network.

Irish film update (5 March)

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Big Irish film update today. Let's crack on...

At the IFI in Dublin, this month's Ireland on Sunday screening (on Sunday 8th, i.e. this weekend) is the documentary WHAT AM I DOING HERE? by Trish McAdam which I am not familiar with at all (this is the world premiere after all) so head over to the Irish Film Institute to find out more.

Also at the IFI, this month's archive screening is the vintage DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE (which I've just heard is going to be introduced by Jim Sheridan). At the risk of destroying my credibility... I've never seen this.

Declared by me to be the joint best film of 2008, Declan Recks's EDEN has just been released on DVD in the USA so for those of you who are either in America (ooh, a wee Irish film pun there) or have multi-region DVD players, buy a copy. Still no sign of it appearing in the UK despite picking up a distributor. Admittedly it's the same distributor who picked up KINGS and I'm still waiting for that to get any kind of a UK release.

While we're talking about DVDs, Lance Daly's excellent KISSES is released to buy on DVD tomorrow, but only in Ireland. I've heard nothing about it getting a UK distributor yet and certainly nothing's been submitted to the BBFC as I write this, so this might be your best bet to see it if you haven't already done so.

Two Irish films are on release in Ireland at the moment. The Liam Neeson/James Nesbitt drama dealing with the legacy of the troubles, FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, is playing at all of four cinemas (as far as I know). I've been too lazy to look up any reviews but it won a couple of awards at Sundance. Looks interesting, so if any of you are in Dublin, Dundrum, Cork or Galway why not go and see it. I'd hope that Neeson and Nesbitt coupled with the fact that it's directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel should be enough of interest to get it some kind of UK release, but I've heard nothing so far and the fact that its release in Ireland is so limited doesn't seem like a great sign - unless it's testing the water before a major release. If anyone know anything about a UK release let me know.

Slightly less likely to get a UK release I fear (although I hope I'm wrong) is the Irish animated romp THE SECRET OF KELLS, which played well at JDIFF last month. It's had some cracking reviews so if you've seen it let me know.

I suppose I could just organise a day trip at the weekend - fly over to Ireland first thing in the morning, see THE SECRET OF KELLS and FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN, pop into the shops to buy a copy of KISSES and then fly home again but even my love of Irish cinema doesn't stretch to such lengths. Actually that's a lie, my love of Irish cinema does... but my bank balance doesn't.

Belfast Film Festival recently announced its programme. There's a lot of Irish feature films playing, including John T Davis's documentary TAILWIND which I've missed at a couple of festivals. I mention this one specifically because it was on BBC NI a few days ago and I forgot to mention it here. I think that was an edited down version though, so if you get the chance go and see the full length version of this documentary about the Northern Irish contribution to World War II.

Their programme of Irish shorts features a whole heap of short films and no less than 14 of them have been covered here on this blog, most of them favourably, so why not go along and see some of them. I'm not going myself. I was tempted, particularly since I have never been there (and I believe my ancestors came from there so I could do the whole stereotypical tourist thing) but I'm reserving my holidays for the various other film festivals that I've still got planned for the year, including many more Irish ones. If there had been some really cheap flights I might still have been tempted with a last minute thing, mind you.

If you go to over to Youtube, the festival has posted a whole bunch of trailers showing at the festival, split into features and documentaries.

Going back to the subject of BBC NI, and to make up for not mentioning TAILWIND, a similar subject (this time American soldiers in Northern Ireland) is covered in OVER HERE which airs on BBC NI next week (9th March, 9pm). If, like me, you live elsewhere in the UK, you can get the regional variations of BBC on Sky Digital and such services.

Just to prove I'm not totally limited to this part of the world, I'll mention that there are a few Irish film festivals in American this month. San Francisco started today and is on tomorrow as well; Seattle is shortly after that; most significant is the Chicago Irish Film Festival. This runs from the 6th to the 11th of this month - features include classics and new films, such as THE INFORMER and KISSES. They'll also be showing a bunch of shorts, including Conor Ferguson's ATLANTIC which you'll recall I declared the fourth best film of 2008. So if you happen to be reading this in Chicago - first of all, hello from Scotland, and secondly, go and see some Irish films. Especially ATLANTIC.

Finally, Irish films are represented at this year's London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Neasa Ni Chianain's FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU, covered in this blog back during the Edinburgh film fest, is playing on 6th and 7th of April (paired with SPOTLIGHT: GAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, a short film about gays in Ulster). Short films at the festival also include the Irish films MAN HUGS by Aoife Sullivan (26th March) and JAMES by Connor Clements (6th April), the latter also having been covered in this blog.

Scottish update (4 March)

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Okay, a bunch of Scottish-related film updates for you. I am seriously considering replacing the Freakpit with an all-new blog concentrating on the Scottish and Irish stuff by the way. Just so you know.

Richard Jobson's cult-destined Edinburgh action film NEW TOWN KILLERS, which I really want to see but have missed thus far, is playing at the Belfast Film Festival, which just announced its programme.

The Scottish short film THE HAPPY DUCKLING is playing as part of a collection of short films for kids at the DCA in Dundee on the 21st and 22nd on March. Additionally, there is a special event with the filmmakers on the 21st.

The MacRobert in Stirling is showing Alfred Hitchcock's fantastic version of THE 39 STEPS on 20th March and is also having a "Tartan Day" screening of STONE OF DESTINY on 4th April.

The Hippodrome, Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema (completed in 1911) is nearing the end of its restoration and should open its doors as a cinema again in April. Check out these pictures on Flickr and try telling me you don't want to watch films in places like this.

BAFTA Scotland has announced the nominations for this year's New Talent Awards. First of all, well done to Rose Leslie for her nomination for NEW TOWN, as I thought her great performance was one of the few endearing characteristics of this BBC misfire.

What I really wanted to point out however are the nominations in the fiction category, as all three of them - FLASHED, I'M IN AWAY FROM HERE and LIFE OF A PIGEON - were covered by me in my recent round-up of the stuff I saw at the Glasgow Film Festival. LIFE OF A PIGEON also scored an acting nomination for Owen Gorman. Well done to all involved with all three films.

Talking of LIFE OF A PIGEON, I believe that you can actually watch it on the director's website at www.billycampbell.co.uk so off you go and do that now. There's another film he made as well, ISLAND TO ISLA, but I've not watched it (yet).

While we're on the subject of the shorts I saw at Glasgow, I should also point out that you can see FOUR FUR A FIVER on Youtube. Go here to see this short documentary.

Finally, again on the subject of Scottish short films, one of Scotland's most successful shorts, CRY FOR BOBO, is available on the BBC Film Network.

That's all for now. There's an Irish update coming tomorrow night.

GFF09: AGE OF STUPID

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:18:00 +0000

AGE OF STUPID is the latest in the series of documentaries about how we're ruining the planet and there's not much time to do anything.

Taking the concept a little further than usual, director Franny Armstrong (of MCLIBEL fame) presents the film with a futuristic framing device in which a man watching over an archive of Earth's history (played by the great Pete Postlethwaite) examines the evidence and wonders why we chose to destroy the planet when we had the chance to save it.

The concept's a little more imaginative than normal but delivers more of what we've come to expect. It's going to be a hard task to conquer the prevailing attitude of "it'll be okay in the end" and AGE OF STUPID won't do it without help. That's where the film's clever marketing strategy takes over though, and there will be all sorts of ways to see this film in the coming months.

From a purely cinematic point of view it's a well-made film with an important message but you can never escape the feeling that you're being lectured to. However the aim here is not just to make a decent film, it's to save the planet and you have to applaud it for doing it in such an engaging way. See it.

GFF09: WHO KILLED NANCY?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:12:00 +0000

Alan G Parker's documentary (following up on his book) aims to clear the name of Sid Vicious by examining the events surrounding the mysterious murder of Nancy Spungen.

It's an interesting insight into the punk era and particularly the New York scene at the time. Unfortunately Parker is so dedicated to Vicious and his life that the majority of the film becomes about him rather than the kind of investigation the title promises.

After a brief dalliance with the subject at the start, the closest we get for much of the film is an examination of how Vicious came to be mixed up with Nancy and various other people before finally returning to the subject towards the end. Even then, despite a few people clearly pointing the finger at one individual, there's not much more than a "we can't find him" and that's that.

The film is certainly worth seeing for anyone with an interest in the scene and in that respect it's a good documentary; but for a film calling itself WHO KILLED NANCY? it doesn't really deliver the kind of film I was expecting.

GFF09: ONE EYED MONSTER

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Isn't it just typical? You spend your life waiting for a film about a psychopathic, dismembered phallus going on a killing spree and then two of them appear at once.

Hot on the heels of Frank Henenlotter's BAD BIOLOGY comes this low budget horror comedy in which a group of youngsters head off to a remote cabin to film an adult movie only for an alien to turn Ron Jeremy's fame into a crazed monster.

You can't make a film like this and not have it be tasteless, but as far as it goes this film is a lot less crass and misogynistic than BAD BIOLOGY. Many of the gags are genuinely smart rather than just relying on the obscene ridiculousness of the situation and the cast look like they're having a blast making it.

It's just as stupid and cheap looking as Henenlotter's effort but by dropping some of the nastiness in favour of some characterisation, ONE EYED MONSTER just edges it in the battle of the killer... nope, sorry, I just can't believe I'm even writing this.

GFF09: THE UNBORN

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:14:00 +0000

If you've been to the cinema recently, you may have noticed a large poster for this horror film (produced by Michael Bay... sigh) featuring an attractive young lady in a pair of ill-fitting panties. It would be all too easy for me to suggest that this was done because this by-the-numbers slick-but-empty badly-acted piece of crap is not going to be remembered by most of its target audience for anything else except that young lady in her underwear.

So easy, in fact that this is exactly what I'm going to do.

Gary Oldman, you were in THE DARK KNIGHT for God's sake... can you really be this desperate for a quick buck?

GFF09: GRACE

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:08:00 +0000

In this indie horror flick, a woman's pregnancy turns nasty when her baby, having apparently been stillborn, suddenly comes back to life and... well, you know it's not going to be good.

The horror genre is not exactly light on films about kids going bad, from THE OMEN to JOSHUA to... actually, now that I mention it, I notice that JOSHUA came out on DVD recently and it's been retitled THE DEVIL'S CHILD, with a wee banner saying "aka JOSHUA" underneath it. AKA? AKA? It's not AKA anything, that's the film's sodding name. One of the best things about JOSHUA was its subtle approach to the material, something echoed in the name of the film. Why not just go the full way and call it something like THE REALLY EVIL CHILD WHO WANTS TO MURDER DADDY or some such crap?

Sorry, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, familiar territory, etc. GRACE tries to bring something new to the table here but unfortunately that something new is just taking the usual story and making it more unpleasant. Some of you might think this is a good thing - after all, a lot of horror has gone off in this direction of late - but for me it's a cheap trick which adds nothing and ends up doing more harm than good.

Granted, I'll admit that as much as I like gory, nasty horror there are some things I don't like seeing and one of them is violence involving pregnant women. GRACE, with its combination of this and baby-based horror just left an unpleasant taste.

The film, which was made for a low budget, is very slickly done and that disappoints me even more. I'd love to see the director Paul Solet work on a better script because he's clearly blessed with both a love of horror and a lot of talent but sadly GRACE is just plain unpleasant, and not in a good way. His abilities and those of the lovely and talented Jordan Ladd are sadly wasted here.

GFF09: I SELL THE DEAD

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:23:00 +0000

It's directed by Dubliner Glenn McQuaid and it seems to be maybe, possibly set in Ireland (Ron Perlman even sports an Irish accent) so I feel justified in attaching the Irish film label to this one, even though it's really an American one. The time the film is set in is equally vague, but it looks kind of Middle Ages like.

Dominic Monaghan and Larry Fessenden play a couple of grave robbers who spot a way to make a bit more money but, as you'll have guessed by the fact that this was part of Glasgow Film Festival's day-long Frightfest event, things go horribly awry.

The old favourite of having a man on death row (Monaghan) telling his incredible story to a priest (Perlman) has been done before but there's something grim about it that always lends a bit of weight to a horror film. Sadly a bit more weight is what this film could have done with.

There are some good gags in the script and the leading duo have some chemistry, but by and large the film doesn't sustain the gag ratio successfully enough for what is essentially a comedy film with horror trappings.

The budgetary restrictions also leak through in many parts of the film. Clearly made for little money, the film feels too claustrophobic in places. I don't mean that in a good way either, I just mean that all too often it feels far too much like the film has been made on a tiny soundstage - even when it's on location.

Credit to McQuaid though, he does do a grand job of getting a lot of the moody lighting and smoke-draped countryside just right, creating a perfect homage to the old Hammer films and sundry other British imitators of the '70s. It's a shame then that the US location work eventually overwhelms the mood of the piece, with a beach-set showdown involving some zombie-like creatures destroying the atmosphere that McQuaid worked so hard to generate. For most of the running time it's an effective Hammer tribute but the beach scenes just make it feel like another American made-for-DVD cheapo.

That may well be the case too, since I don't see it troubling a cinema any time soon. If you're getting friends round for a late night film romp, you could certainly do a lot worse than this likeable little movie but in the end it's a film that never quite overcomes its humble resources.

GFF09: DOROTHY

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:38:00 +0000

DOROTHY, or rather DOROTHY MILLS if you want to give it the name it seems to have been released under in other territories is an Irish/French co-production. I mention this not just because of my enthusiasm for Irish cinema but because it perhaps sums up what a mixed bag this film is.

In the lead, we have Carice van Houten. Now I thought she was terrific in Paul Verhoeven's BLACK BOOK - not only did she did she manage the impressive feat of still looking sexy while covered in excrement, she turned in a terrific lead performance which carried the whole film. Having not watched anything she's done since, I was glad of the opportunity to catch her in some rather different material.

So, a Dutch lead actress, playing an Irish woman. Okay, interesting. In the supporting cast we have the wonderful Scottish actor Gary Lewis, again playing Irish. Van Houten ends up sounding like a curious Irish/American kind of thing while Lewis sports a kind of Ulster/Scottish hybrid accent. Both good performances, mind you, just a little odd.

That's in keeping with the film though. The story isn't terribly new (woman turns up in small town, weird things happen, hostile locals, dark secret from the past, etc.) but it's an enjoyable mash-up of horror staples. Again it contributes to the mixed up feel of the film - at times it wants to be Hollywood teen horror, at other times it's more in keeping with the traditional WICKER MAN style of story. You know the one, outsider stumbles across weird rural community who do things differently.

Good use is made of the sparse Irish landscape, the cast is solid enough and director Agnes Merlet manages to get some good tense scares out the material. As much as the film is a passable way to spend the time however, the real reason for watching it is Dorothy herself.

I must confess that when young Jenn Murray was nominated at the IFTAs for her performance it passed me by. I'd never heard of her, never heard of the film and my attention was focussed on some of the more well known material. Shame on me. As the teen girl haunted/possessed/whatever by the spirits of, well, loads of people, Murray packs as much emotion and versatility into the role as it can possibly allow. It's thanks to her incredible efforts that an otherwise fairly average horror film becomes extremely engaging indeed.

The downside is that the film suffers whenever she's not around, although van Houten and friends manage a reasonable job of keeping things ticking over. But the star of DOROTHY is Dorothy.

JDIFF09: Irish Film Board Shorts

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:27:00 +0000

My final post about the stuff I saw in Dublin concerns the IFB Shorts. To tell the truth I'd already seen most of them in Cork, but I enjoyed them so much I thought I'd come and see them again.

For my verdict on THE ROOSTER, THE CROCODILE AND THE NIGHT SKY (Padraig Fagan), GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY (Nicky Phelan), OF BEST INTENTIONS (Brian Durnin) and THE DOOR (Juanita Wilson), see one of my previous posts from Cork by clicking here. I'd like to change my mind about THE DOOR though and bump it up to 9/10 as well. I'll admit it, I was actually half asleep when I saw it in Cork and only gave it a 7. But it's brilliant, as are the other shorts I've just mentioned.

For my opinion on SPACEMEN THREE (Hugh O'Connor), click here for another post from last year's Cork fest, while my opinion on AN RANGER (PJ Dillon) can be found here. Regarding the latter, I actually like it even more this time round and I could swear it looked a lot better than I remember it looking at Cork. Maybe it was a projection thing; maybe it's because I was sitting much further forward in the cinema? Whatever the reason, it's still a great little film.

So that leaves the shorts which I saw at Dublin but hadn't seen before...

SHAPES (Alan Brennan) is a cracking little horror film which manages to cram more suspense, fright and memorable boogiemen into its five minutes than the majority of Hollywood blockbusting remakes manage in their ninety painful minutes. (8/10)

HOOR (John Kennedy) is an amusing look at three young boys who have saved their pennies for a trip to the local prostitute. Today they will become men. Nicely done with a pleasing punchline. (7/10)

COLOUR CONTAMINATION (Louise Bagnall) is an animated short which sees a man's cosy black and white world turned upside down by an invasion of colour. Sure, it's a bit weird, but it's amusing, stylish and an enjoyable three minutes of craziness. (7/10)

JDIFF09: Chantal Akerman

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:01:00 +0000

I only took in two films in the Chantal Akerman retrospective at Dublin, FROM THE OTHER SIDE and SOUTH. Both films are structured in a similar fashion - straightforward interviews to the camera mixed with long, lingering takes on the areas at the centre of the films. The former concerns the plight of Mexicans on the border with the USA and their attempts at crossing it to a new life; the latter film focuses on a town in the American south which has recently seen a horrific racist murder of a black man.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE achieves mixed results. While some of the interviews tell gripping and heartbreaking stories, there are others which don't really add too much to the overall picture. That's also a flaw in the seemingly endless shots of the Mexican towns where these people live, as Akerman points her camera, starts recording and then... does nothing. How long are we expected to stare at a wall, a person sitting in their garden or some traffic?

Doubtless there are plenty of people out there who will tell me it's art, and I'm sure it is, but it's not the kind that excites me. It's certainly not helped by the less than perfect quality of the sound and picture. I realise these things were probably made on a low budget but if you expect me to sit and watch scenes like this there should at least be something to set them apart from a random guy with a camcorder sitting in a street.

The quality also affects the interviews, though that's a problem which is improved upon in SOUTH.

This one is a better film in general. First of all, there is an overall flow to the interviews in SOUTH, building a complete picture and a complete story, as opposed to the somewhat scattershot nature of the interviews in FROM THE OTHER SIDE. The film is also a lot shorter, meaning the prowling shots of the town don't outstay their welcome as they did in the earlier film. Most of all, those same shots seem to serve a purpose, none more so than the final shot which is a simple shot from the back of a vehicle as it drives along a road - a shot which carries a strange power as you consider the victim's gruesome fate.

JDIFF09: YELLOW BITTERN

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:55:00 +0000

YELLOW BITTERN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LIAM CLANCY, to give it its full name, is a documentary which does exactly what it says. To fans of the man and his music (along with his brothers and Tommy Makem) the documentary is undoubtedly indispensable viewing. What is interesting to me however is that this was one of the most enjoyable films of the festival for me - and I'd never heard of the guy.

Having recently watched BBC4's FOLK AMERICA series, I'm rather surprised, since there seems to be a bit of a crossover there, but this tale of the Irish folk musician who went to America and influenced the likes of Bob Dylan on the folk scene was all new.

It's beautifully shot, without a doubt, but the real strength of the film (not to take away anything from the skill with which Alan Gilsenan has put it together) is that Clancy is a man who has lived a full and varied life but is also a very down to earth and likable fellow. He's not just a singer, he's an entertainer and gifted raconteur and I'm glad that, in the guise of this excellent film, I got to spend a couple of hours in his company getting to know the man and his touching life story.

JDIFF09: HEART OF FIRE

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:54:00 +0000

HEART OF FIRE (or FEUERHERZ) is the story of a little girl adopted as a child soldier into the conflict in Eritrea after her sister comes to take her home from the school where she has been staying.

The film certainly has a heart, that's for sure; everything seems to have been done with the nicest intentions. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of good performances by the kids and some nice locations, there's little to recommend this one.

The story, what little there is, never seems to get going. From the off, a showdown with the girl's estranged father seems a certainty and yet the payoff never really arrives; aside from that, there's little to the film other than the occasional well-staged action sequence joined together by interminable scenes of people travelling across the country.

JDIFF09: WITHNAIL AND I

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:52:00 +0000

I felt a bit left out at this screening since it seemed to be largely made up of people who were more than familiar with the cult British movie as opposed to people like myself who have sat with a copy of the film at home for years without getting round to watching it.

The story of two unemployed, booze-fuelled actors who go on a bender in the countryside with affectionate Richard Griffiths, the film certainly has its share of quotable dialogue and funny moments but it's just not entirely suited to my taste. I can't quite put my finger on what was wrong but I found large parts of it slightly depressing - in that respect it would make for a good (if unusual) double bill of grim 80s Britishness alongside RADIO ON.

I'm glad I finally saw it, and with an appreciative audience, but I think the chances of me ever joining that dialogue-quoting elite are pretty slim.

JDIFF09: MISE EIRE

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:50:00 +0000

Undoubtedly the highlight of the festival for me was to see this 50th anniversary screening of what is probably Ireland's most important film, and certainly my favourite Irish film. Of course I've seen it on DVD but to see it on the big screen is special, particularly when it was accompanied by George Morrison receiving JDIFF's lifetime achievement award.

Long-time readers of this blog need no introduction but for the benefit of others, Mise Eire is a documentary from 1959 which details the rise of nationalism in Ireland from 1895 to just after the Easter Rising of 1916. Told entirely using archive material (Morrison is a tremendously important archivist as well as a gifted filmmaker), the film is slickly pieced together and wrapped up in a truly memorable score by Sean O'Riada. Alternating between a melancholy, haunting elegy for Ireland's dead heroes and a rousing, patriotic theme, the score's importance cannot be overstated.

A fitting tribute to a great filmmaker and a great film.

Scottish & Irish film update (23 Feb)

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Yes, I know, I still have Dublin and Glasgow film festival coverage outstanding, but there's a whole bunch of Scottish and Irish stuff I want to mention first.

The Cameo cinema in Edinburgh will be showing the Oscar-nominated shorts next month. The live action ones, including Ireland's NEW BOY, will be shown on Monday 23 March.

Filmhouse in Edinburgh has a few of interest coming up. A monthly "Made in Edinburgh" season kicks off in March with a screening of RESTLESS NATIVES on Thursday 12 March. The season continues until August and if they don't use it as an excuse to show the Bill Douglas trilogy I may have to go on a killing spree.

Stanley Kubrick's restored Irish-themed BARRY LYNDON will be showing from the 20th to the 26th of March, again at the Filmhouse. The same cinema will also be showing more screenings of the multiple-IFTA-winning HUNGER (9th and 10th March) and the brilliant footy documentary ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT (10th March), co-directed by Douglas Gordon.

Talking of IFTAs, I just watched the highlights of the ceremony (courtesy of BBC NI) and while it was a bit crap, it was brilliant to see George Morrison get a lifetime achievement award and have the documentary feature award named after him. Wonderful.

GFT in Glasgow are showing a couple of films based on great Scottish books. If you missed them in Edinburgh, check out the GFT programme for March to see screenings of the classic versions of JEKYLL & HYDE and THE LOST WORLD. GFT will also be showing INFINITE SPACE, directed by Scottish documentary filmmaker Murray Grigor, and MORVERN CALLAR by Lynne Ramsay. The latter's nowhere near as good as her RATCATCHER but she's not exactly churned out lots of films so make the most of it.

South of the border, there are some screenings of interest at the BFI. On 23rd April they'll be showing the new version of MAN OF ARAN, the classic documentary given a new score by British Sea Power. They will also be showing a preview of the screen adaptation of FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING on 9th April.

Talking of BFI, they now have a Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/BFIfilms) which features some really great archive footage including a load of Scottish stuff.

Freakpit Oscar Diary 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:01:00 +0000

My coverage of the Dublin and Glasgow film festivals will continue shortly. In the meantime, it's time for an interlude for the annual Oscars event. Not much pre-event coverage from me this year, but I couldn't resist another summary of the awards ceremony as it happens. Or as it happens here in the Freakpit at least.

23:30 An hour and a half before the show even begins and I'm already wondering why I bother watching Sky's tabloid-style coverage. And they've not even got round to plastering Claudia bloody Winkleman across my TV yet. Just Fern Cotton and her mad devil eyes.

00:58 I don't believe it. The UK coverage is going to be Claudia Winkleman AND Gok Wan? WTF. That's where my money is going? Here's an idea for you Sky, if you're going to throw your cash around and steal the Oscar coverage away from free channels, at least spend your money on some decent presenters and guests. And you know what else? I really, really don't give a shite who made the bloody dresses.

01:53 Cheesy yes, but Jackman's opening routine was pretty enjoyable. Penelope Cruz gets the first award speech out the way and already we've ticked off the "art is important" and "I'm just a kid from a little town called..." cliches ticked off the list. She didn't cry though.

02:12 First few awards out the way, no really big upsets. Apart from how upset I am. So far it's £15 down for a return of 32p. Not looking good.

02:29 Okay, this will be far and away my worst ever gambling performance at the Oscars. I am now onto the comfort eating already, so it's one Mars muffin and a bottle of Red Kola while I try to figure out who the hell those presenters were. (Apparently someone from TWILIGHT and someone from MAMMA MIA)

02:49 That's a double snub now then for my celtic cousins with both IN BRUGES and NEW BOY missing out in their categories. More importantly, I'm losing a serious amount of money.

03:37 Okay, there are still no real upsets on the cards at all. Fair enough, I was happy for Heath Ledger's win and that MAN ON WIRE got the documentary award... but it's really not doing me any favours on the gambling front.

04:03 Wow, that guy that did the music for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE really knows how to disappear off the stage quickly. Bemused looks all round. As for the UK TV coverage... as if Winkleman wasn't bad enough, it appears Stephanie Beacham is auditioning for a role as the world's most miserable bag. Someone needs to slap her until she cheers up, or get someone else into the studio who might look like they want to be there.

04:58 Well in the end there were barely any upsets at all. The only one that I really got was Penn winning over Rourke but that wasn't really enough to stop me making a monumental loss on the gambling front. Thankfully MAN ON WIRE winning at the BAFTAs a few weeks ago means I'm still overall in profit on the awards ceremonies this year. As for the Oscars, I'm a bit disappointed - I like Danny Boyle so happy to see him win there, but SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE simply wasn't the masterpiece it has been painted as and in that respect I found this year really disappointing.

05:00 As tempting as it is to stay and watch another half hour of post-ceremony chat between Winkleman and someone from the News of the World (he said sarcastically), I'm off to bed. It's five in the morning.

JDIFF09: WERE THE WORLD MINE

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:08:00 +0000

This film is a musical, and it takes place in a high school. That would give me legitimate cause to refer to it as a "high school musical" but just in case that looks like a cynical attempt to draw in extra blog hits by mentioning the phrase "high school musical" I'd like to point out that this film is nothing to do with Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. So I won't mention it.

The film, inspired by Bill Shakey's Midsummer thingy, tells of a boy who fancies another boy in his school and, during the course of staging the school's Shakespeare musical, he manages to bewitch the object of his desire into fancying him - however, in the process he takes it a bit too far and turns most of the town gay.

The film is a serious misfire. Much of the supposed humour seems to stem only from watching previously homophobic people become gay. It's funny at first but pretty quickly runs out of steam. It might be different if there were an engaging story and cast at the heart of the film but there is very little story except that everyone's gone gay and the cast are largely free of any screen presence whatsoever.

Being a musical, there would still be hope for the film if it could produce a few memorable musical numbers but it fails on that front too. There's something endearingly ludicrous about musicals but here that just doesn't really transpire - the sets and dances are pretty mundane and the songs completely forgettable.

The director introduced this film by telling us that it started life as a short film - I'd quite like to see that, as this feature feels very much like it's still a short film, expanded way beyond the running time required to run out of ideas.

JDIFF09: THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LIES AROUND THE CORNER

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:50:00 +0000

When a young man suffers amnesia as a result of a car crash which also kills his parents, his grandfather takes on the task of helping him find himself in this Bulgarian film which is probably the best of the new films I've seen at Dublin so far.

The cast do a grand job with a script that knows when to fire up the emotions and when to exercise restraint, and it all looks beautiful whether it's the flashbacks to the early 80s spent in a refugee camp or the present day scenes which unfold like a combination of road movie and tourism advert against some stunning scenery.

The script is a slowburner but that only makes it all the more satisfying when the film creeps to its emotional payoff and an ending that ought to bring a few tears to the eyes to cinema audiences everywhere - assuming it gets a release.

JDIFF09: SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Written and directed by king of weird Charlie Kaufman, SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK focuses on theatre director Phillip Seymour Hoffman as he tries to come up with a new play while battling illness and failed romances.

I hated this film. Hated, hated, hated it. There's come great acting, a decent score too, but there was just something about it that grated. The combination of gratuitous weirdness for the sake of weird, the general air of misery and despair, of doomed love, of hopelessness, the obsession and simulataneous triviliasation of death, the general mood of cynicism, pessimism and general mean-spirited unpleasantness. I don't know, there's nothing there that I've probably not enjoyed in other films, but on this occasion it really got to me and when the two hours finally dragged to a close I just left the cinema feeling really, really angry.

A horrible film.

JDIFF09: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TIME TRAVEL

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:35:00 +0000

Three friends meet in a pub (two geeks and one non-geek, the geeks being led by Chris O'Dowd) and stumble across a rift in time which happens to be occupying the gents' toilet. Hilarity and sci-fi shenanigans ensue.

Or so you'd think. Despite the occasional funny gag, laugh-out-loud moments are thin on the ground and for a comedy it's not that funny. Since the comedy is its primary purpose that's not good and the prospect of scoring a few extra points with decent sci-fi action never happens since it descends into the usual time travel questions and the effects are seriously hampered by the limited budget. This is a British film after all.

You could still scrape by in a film like this if you had the right chemistry but sadly it isn't to be. The three leads don't ever feel like three guys who hang out regularly and as lovely as Anna Faris is, she never feels like anything other than the token American guest star.

All in all a missed opportunity.

JDIFF09: EAMON

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:22:00 +0000

It was a packed house for the world premiere of this new Irish feature film from acclaimed short filmmaker Margaret Corkery, which tells the story of a hyperactive young boy, his selfish mother and her current boyfriend.

The lead peformances are all terrific and the film is a visual delight but it doesn't really feel like a finished product to me. The Q&A mentioned afterwards that it was the result of the Catalyst Project and that the script began with a workshop and was banged out in 20 days. Unfortunately it could probably have done with significantly more time being polished.

It feels like an easy criticism to make of a feature film from a predominantly shorts-based director, but the film really does look like a short film expanded to feature length. There's a lot of time spent emphasising the problems of each character and not enough getting the story moving. In short, we end up with a film that spends too much time getting to its destination and not enough time when it gets there.

Like HELEN, which I saw in Edinburgh and is playing in Dublin this week, the film leaves me in no doubt that the director is a major talent when directing but really needs a better script. The film feels, in both story and visual terms, like EDEN and RATCATCHER but never quite strikes the same balance of arty direction and solid script.

It's a very promising first feature but not without its flaws.