The Big & Small Screen

HBO Documentary Films Presents - WARTORN 1861-2010

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:46:00 +0000

HBO’s upcoming documentary called WARTORN 1861-2010 from executive producer James Gandolfini, premieres this Veterans Day, November 11th at 9pm on HBO.

Civil War doctors called it hysteria, melancholia and insanity. During the First World War it was known as shell-shock. By World War II, it became combat fatigue. Today, it is clinically known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a crippling anxiety that results from exposure to life-threatening situations such as combat.

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Boardwalk Empire Preview Clip

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:30:00 +0000

I am enjoying the first season of this new HBO show but like any series I know it will get even better with age. Seeing Steve Buscemi finally be given the chance to lead an original HBO show after so many years is great and he seems to be relishing the role of Atlantic City big shot Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson.

If you haven't been watching it may be a little late to get into it but better late than never I guess. Here's a preview of tonights episode.

Leonardo DiCaprio & Ellen Page Unscripted

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:40:00 +0000

A Look at Mad Men Season 4

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:27:00 +0000

Movie Review - Exit Through The Gift Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:02:00 +0000

I had originally gone to the movies to see the new Jonah Hill movie Cyrus but that was jammed so ended up with tickets to Exit' which was on the 'to do' list anyway. This was one of those movies that I knew nothing about (other than my familiarity with the street artist Banksy) when I entered the theater and it ended up being one of the best documentaries I have seen for some time.

The movie is directed by the renowned English street artist Banksy who has lived his whole career anonymously while creating some of the most original underground art in the last twenty years. What was particularly interesting about the film is that you walk in thinking it will be about Banksy, and it is in parts, but really the central focus is on a Frenchman living in Los Angeles.

We meet Thierry Guetta living with his family in LA running a vintage clothing store but his major quirk is that he has become obsessed with filming everything that happens in his life and I mean everything. His kids, eating, waking up, working, driving, it is all committed to camera for no other reason that he feels compelled to record his every waking moment. This obsession ends up working in his favor when he begins to befriend and film local LA street artist Shepard Fairey and French artist Space Invader. Reels of tape are made, collected and stored as he tells these artists he is documenting their work with a view to creating an authoritative documentary of street art.

From the beginning when you see Guetta interviewed he comes across as a rogue, a charmer, a chancer and someone who sees reality quite different to everyone else! His compulsions to capture the worlds best street artists reach fever pitch when he begins to hear word of the mysterious English artist Banksy. He does all he can to connect with him eventually meeting up with in Los Angeles and getting himself an invitation to London so he can spend time filming the artist and they end up bonding to such an extent that for the first time Banksy allows part of his process (but never his face or real voice) to be exposed.

What we see during this film is really the transformation of Guetta from a man obsessed with documenting the work of others to an actual 'artist' who gives himself the moniker Mr Brain Wash (don't ask!) and ends up with his own show in Los Angeles. The director himself comes to realize he has created a monster when Guetta's work follows that of the artists he so admires with a painful lack of originality. Yet his utter force of personality and seemingly unshakable self belief creates success and in the words of the director "There's no one like Thierry, even though his art looks like everyone else's."

The movie ends with director wondering what he has done in telling Guetta to go and create his own art and his comment "I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that anymore." sums things up perfectly!

At 87 minutes this is a perfectly timed documentary and frankly the film ends before you know it. Welsh actor Rhys Ifans does a great job narrating with an understated tone throughout even when Guetta is at his most amusing and amusing this film certainly is. One of the biggest surprises is just how funny some of the scenes are with Banksy's direction clearly infusing proceedings with his own very strong sense of humor.

The movie is showing in small theaters all around the country right now so catch it while you can and enjoy a refreshingly different movie experience.

Rating: ****

Parting Potter Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 06:24:00 +0000

For all you wand wavers out there get the Kleenex (or a more green alternative!) ready as November sees the launch of the first of a two part ending for the money making wizard franchise. Warner Brothers have just released the new promo poster below which is chock full of darkness and woe.

Big Brother 12 - CBS Summer Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:23:00 +0000

You know it's summer when CBS rolls out it's favorite pool party of a reality show Big Brother. Now about to commence it's 12th edition, another 13 contestants will live among each other in the Big Brother house under the watchful eye of a surprisingly big television audience. Julie Chen returns to host the show and play master of ceremonies each week when a contestant is evicted in the live Thursday night episode.

In the past I have waxed lyrical about why I watch this triumph of vapidity and so I won't rehash that here other than to say it remains my annual guilty pleasure on TV. It's also the one piece of trashy TV in a mix of otherwise high quality summer viewing schedule featuring Rescue Me, True Blood, Entoruage and Mad Men.

So for now let's get ourselves excited about next Thursday's BB premiere and settle back for a summer of evictions and backstabbing ... nice!

Paranormal Activity 2 Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:13:00 +0000

When Paranormal Activity came out last year it was compared to The Blair Witch Project as a triumph of low budget film making. It also took the honor away from 'Blair Witch as the scariest movie I have ever seen, yes ever. So it seems the comparisons continue with the sequel due on the Big Screen this October and already people are describing it as a 'cash grab' and never likely to have the same impact as the original.

I am inclined to agree with that POV purely due to the fact that a studio throwing money behind the sequel of an ultra low budget movie almost always means you lose the originality and creativity that a director must find when funds are lacking. That said the director of the original, Oren Peli, is serving as producer so maybe Paranormal Activity 2 will buck the trend ... let's hope.

Spoiler Alert - if you haven't seen the original this teaser trailer does give a few things away about how it ended.

Movie Review - Get Him to the Greek

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:29:00 +0000

I have done a total 180 in my opinion on the star of this movie, Englishman and modern day dandy, Russel Brand. When I first stumbled across him a few years back I found it hard to believe that there was so much fuss being made about such little talent back in my homeland but Get Him to the Greek has convinced me that he is actually one of the better comic actors in movies today!

I like anyone else living in the US had my first real exposure to the brand that is Russel Brand with the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall which was a lightweight but laugh filled popcorn flick. He gave me a good chuckle in that film but this time out he is the star of the show and uses his top billing to full effect giving a surprisingly believable performance as a drug-addled British rock star trying to revive his career.

Of course he hasn't done it alone. It doesn't hurt that the film was written by Nicholas Stoller who wrote Yes Man, one of my favorite comedies of the decade in 2008. It was also produced by the man with the magic touch, Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People) who seems to be so in touch with the movie zeitgeist right now it's scary! Brand is also partnered on what is essentially a debauched buddy flick by the always excellent Jonah Hill who is fast turning into one of my favorite young actors.

So the movie is really set on a basic premise. Aaron Green (Hill) works for Pinnacle Records In LA and has been told by his music mogul boss Sergio (played with aplomb by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs) to go and get retired rocker Aldous Snow out of retirement in London to play a 10 year anniversary show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The movie is set during the three days or so it takes for Aaron to convince Aldous that it's both the right thing to do and to do it on time. The joy in this film is that you really don't care whether he makes it to LA in time or not because the pair have so much fun getting there including a highly memorable stop at NBC's Today Show.

Brand and Hill have great chemistry together and are supported by a first class cast including Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss, the veteran actor Colm Meany and incredibly Metallica's Lars Ulrich who was one of many amusing cameos (I loved the hilarious appearance by Harry Potter's Draco Malfoy in a nightclub!). I think the line of the movie for me was when Aldous goes to visit his ex wife only to find her living with Ulrich and he asks the famous drummer to 'go sue Napster you Danish t**t!' In fact that line is one of the more tame utterances from Aldous. This is not a film you would ever want to take your grandma to see but if you want a quick lesson in very crude but very funny English slang then go check it out. I loved it.

Rating: ****

The Office - Web Exclusive

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:46:00 +0000

The Office just finished it's latest run on NBC so for those of you that are missing the NBC hit here's a web exclusive featuring Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper. Watch as the two girls recount meeting other cast members before the show started filming. It’s very cool to see what a small world it is and how all these actors were connected even before taking a job in Scranton!

True Blood Season Three

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:58:00 +0000

It took me a while to warm up to this HBO show but I think that was partly due to my crazily high expectations from series creator Alan Ball who had previously given the world my favorite TV drama today in Six Feet Under. But I have now gone from warmed up to avid fan! This show really got the wind in it's sails in season two and I am more than a little bit excited at the prospect of the new season which begins on June 13th.

Movie Review - The Messenger

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:25:00 +0000

For a directorial debut Oren Moverman shows he has a very steady hand when dealing with emotionally hard hitting subject matter. This is not a movie for the faint of heart. Not that you will see blood and gore but I challenge you to find a more emotionally honest movie dealing with the effect the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have here at home.

The Messenger offers us a window on what is a little talked about job in the services, that of the officers who are tasked with informing family members that their loved ones have been killed in action. Such a subject is hard enough to portray on screen sensitively in peacetime never mind when the US Army (the service depicted in the movie) is actually fighting a war.

Luckily we have two leads in The Messenger who do a near perfect job representing the two officers we follow as they notify families of their loss. Ben Foster (Six Feet Under, 3:10 To Yuma, Pandorum) and Woody Harrelson (no introduction needed for this guy) excel as two men thrown together to carry out their mission. Foster continues to impress in each role I see him in and here as the young Iraq war veteran with 3 months left before he leaves the army he once again nails the part. His character of Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery is in turmoil. Clearly dealing with his own PTSD he is ordered to spend his last 3 months with Captain Tony Stone (Harrelson) who has been with the Casualty Notification Team significantly longer.

Stone is a 'by the book' guy that notifies families exactly as the Army asks. No touching the NOK (Next of Kin), no emotional expressions of personal sympathy as protocol must be followed at all times. Montgomery simply cannot follow Stone's lead and soon becomes personally involved with a wife whose husband was just killed in action. The taboo around this, coupled with Montgomery's inability to lead a semi-normal life makes for very intense scenes where the smallest of gestures speak volumes. The pair eventually accept each others differences and the movie reaches a very 'real' ending of acceptance that when things are broken there is often no fixing them.

Foster and Harrelson have a great on screen chemistry together and show no fear in giving very raw performances. But where the movie really has the most impact is it's suburban settings where two officers in Army Class A uniforms (Service Dress) walking up to a front door prepare to offer the worst news a family can hear. Each of the notifications represented in the films are slightly different but I was struck by how hard each one was to watch. You know it's fiction but the impact on the viewer is like a hammer blow every time. Director Moverman doesn't go for histrionics but instead shows the anger and disbelief that any family receiving this kind of news must experience.

This is not a movie for a Friday night at home with a few drinks. It's frankly quite a draining experience but one that is so worthwhile for giving us a glimpse into a little talked about role of the services. If you want to see acting, directing and script writing close to the top of their games you can rent it now on DVD.

Rating: ****

Inception - The Japanese Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:24:00 +0000

I guess I never really thought about whether or not filmmakers tailor a trailer (you like that!?) to a specific market but as Twitch Film recently pointed out the Japanese trailer for Inception shows a whole lot more of Ken Watanabe than previously seen in Western versions.

Watanabe is perhaps Japan's most recognizable actor on the international film stage thanks to roles in The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha, Batman Begins, Letters from Iwo Jima and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. He is also one of only eight actors of Asian descent nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. In 2003 he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Last Samurai.

So if you are a Watanabe fan or just curious to compare this trailer with the only i posted a couple of days ago click below.

Sex and the City 2 - Premiere Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:06:00 +0000

The ladies of SITC2 were out in New York last night for the Premiere of the latest big screen installment of the HBO hit. Whatever you may think of the show or the movies you have to take your hat off to the four leads for continuing to look pretty much exactly the same as they did when the TV show was in full swing!

The movie opens on Thursday and has one of my favorite taglines Sex in the City 2, Carrie On!

Photos c/o Huffington Post.

Inception's Perfect Cast

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has assembled some of my favorite actors for his next movie, Inception due out July 16th.

Michael Caine, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy star in a a truly original thriller where, as the movie tagline says 'Your mind is the scene of the crime'. Films come and go and there are good ones and bad ones but if you put this caliber of actors on screen together it's a pretty safe bet you will end up with a winner.

As Martin Scorsese knows so well DiCaprio is arguably the best actor of his generation and apart from his innate acting talents his script choices are always dead on. This is the movie of the summer for me and I can't wait to enter the crazy world shown in the trailer below.

Would You Pay $20 to See a Movie?

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:06:00 +0000

If you live in Manhattan you might soon be doing just that. On Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that select theaters in New York City will charge $20 to see the fourth installment of the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After.

Now obviously movie ticket prices have been creeping up for years which we accept if it's at a reasonable rate but the advent of 3D has given theaters the opportunity to create an unprecedented price hike. When I saw Avatar in 3D I paid $16 and thought it was a bit steep but rationalized it by the fact that it was Avatar and all the well justified hoop-la that surrounded the movie on it's release. However not every movie is a James Cameron directed blockbuster and frankly there is no way I would pay to $16 to see some of the very average content on offer week to week.

Naturally New York is what it is in terms of price. Lattes, apples, apartments, clothes, whatever ... if you buy it in Manhattan you are very likely to pay more than anywhere else in the country. So maybe NYC movie lovers won't balk at $20 for a movie but I have a feeling theaters elsewhere in the country will have a hard time selling that price to families wanting a Friday night out for less than $100.

So unless I'm at a film festival watching a movie I can't see anywhere else I won't be paying $20 to see a film anytime soon. There is quite enough choice in terms of small independent theaters willing to offer new, old or independent films for half the price if not less and I will be supporting them all the way to the bank.

George Clooney is The American

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sat, 22 May 2010 23:56:00 +0000

It's hard to say if this movie is going to work or not as my initial reaction to the trailer is that it's a kind of calmer Bourne movie for the 40+ set. As far as casting Clooney in the lead well he has a hard time putting a foot wrong at the moment and box office is sure to be respectable regardless of how taut a thriller The American actually is.

This Focus Features (the specialty films unit of Universal Pictures) production is directed by Anton Corbijn who is best known as a photographer of bands like U2, REM and Nirvana and the music videos of Depeche Mode and Metallica. So clearly he is an artist but helming a thriller with today's number one Hollywood leading man is something quite different and I'm quite curious to see whether or not he can pull it off.

The story is hardly original casting Clooney as an aging assassin agreeing to to 'one last job' (yawn) and with such a formulaic premise there is going to have to be some top class acting, action and dialogue to keep me interested. Anyway the trailer is below so take a look and who knows maybe you will get more from it than I did.

The American opens in the US on September 1st.

Network TV and the Rise of Basic Cable

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Since I arrived in the States 10 years ago I have never had too much time for the programming of major TV networks. ABC, CBS, NBC and to a lesser extent FOX have always been too tame, too cautious and frankly too bland to excite my TV taste. I very quickly realized that if you were going to have a TiVo full of quality television shows then you needed to splash the cash for HBO and Showtime.

This week with the news that Conan is taking his brand of very popular late night talk to TBS the 'Big Four' have to be asking themselves some very soul searching questions about the rise of non-premium cable channels. Admittedly I still some enjoy network shows but they are becoming smaller in number as years pass exacerbated by the maddening decisions like that of NBC to end the 10pm original drama in favor of a week of Leno and we all know how that ended.

The Office is still must see TV (remember that phrase of days gone by!), I will be getting my CBS Big Brother fix again this summer and while Simon Cowell is around I will most likely tune in to his X-Factor show which he has promised to premier in 2011. But as I sit here I struggle to name any other shows from the four networks that really do anything for me. What I am much more interested in is the renewal of Southland on TBS and the next seasons of Mad Men and Dexter on AMC and Showtime respectively and of course pretty much anything on HBO.

One thing cable companies don't allow you to do is to save money if you choose not to watch the major networks. If I could do this and watch those few shows I am still watching online I would do it in a heartbeat.

Cannes for Free

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:15:00 +0000

The good folks over at Auteurs have teamed up with Stella Artois to give movie lovers like you free viewing of some of the more famous flicks that have appeared at the famous festival in years past. Pick from such lauded directors as Federico Fellini, Jacques Tati, Masaki Kobayashi and more to get your fill of free quality films that are guaranteed in to be in good old fashioned 2D!

The 2010 Cannes International Film Festival runs from May 12th to May 23rd and this year welcomes Tim Burton as Jury President.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:51:00 +0000

If you are going to see Kick Ass this weekend it's very likely you are going to want to check out this flick too. From the director of Shaun of the Dead (LOVE IT!) and Hot Fuzz (Just OK!) comes the new comedy starring uber-softie Michael Cera. Learn more at the official movie site or just check out the teaser trailer below.

A&E's Lawman Stops Shooting Following Lawsuit Against Segal

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:19:00 +0000

I really wonder who is still watching A&E's Lawman other than insomniacs and the socially challenged. Well now it seems they will have to rely on reruns or TiVo'd episodes of Steven Segal's much maligned 'ride along' cop show.

According to Variety the famous F-List actor has had a sex trafficking lawsuit filed against him (they do have a tendency to hamper an actors ability to get work). In the article the paper says 'the sheriff of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana, pulled the plug on the show Wednesday after word surfaced about the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by a former assistant of the actor, Kayden Nguyen.' It's just so ludicrous that one of the worlds most lowbrow actors gets on a cop reality show and then gets accused of such a heinous crime. If it was virtually any other charge you might wonder if it's all just a stunt to crank up failing ratings!

The show was in production for Season Two when the allegation was made and so your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not we will see the pony-tailed legend back on A&E again ... you can probably guess the outcome I am hoping for.

Doctor Who: Series Premiere – The Doctor’s Love for Humans

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:27:00 +0000

The cast and production team discuss the Doctor’s particular attachment to humans and why he seems to love Planet Earth in a special way.

Movie Review - Alice in Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Well dear friends I am back again. It's been a hectic past few weeks as I say goodbye to the day job I've had for the last 8 years and launch my own company (not movie or TV related ... yet!). Once again I must take a moment to apologise for my lack of activity here at the Big & Small Screen and can only say it feels GREAT to be back!

So having not been in a movie theater for a very long time I decided tonight the film that would get me back in front of the Big Screen would be Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Let's be honest it was an easy pick to make as any film fan with a pulse must show some amount of interest at the new creative collaboration between messers Burton and Depp. We also can't forget Mr Danny Elfman who once again provides the soundtrack to Burton's latest flight of creative fancy.

If you don't know the story of Alice in Wonderland by now I'm not going to be the one to tell you. I have to assume that any visitor to this blog who is actually 'reading' it has heard of Alice, the Mad Hatter and a Cheshire Cat at some point in their lives and if you haven't well call your parent, guardian or whoever raised you and ask them what on earth they were thinking!?

With any classic story the challenge is to offer a fresh take on what is so familiar to so many. When you think 'Alice' you think Burton and when you think 'Mad Hatter' don't you automatically think Johnny Depp? Even before this movie got made it would have been hard to imagine anyone else directing it and any other actor playing that role. So what did they come up with and did it actually work?

Well for starters 3D was wholly unnecessary. In Avatar it felt right and you could tell the director had this technology in mind through out the shoot. On the other hand the 3D effects in Alice while decent enough were frankly superfluous. There can't be many directors that can create a world so wonderful to look at that 3D becomes a distraction. The recreation of the Cheshire Cat was rendered beautifully in seamless CGI along with the perfectly cast Tweedledee and Tweedledum (the excellent Matt Lucas). Helena Bonham Carter was pitch perfect as the Red Queen and in a wonderful surprise for me one of my favorite actors, Crispin Glover, was barely recognizable as the evil Queen's henchman. As we have digressed into a cast review I should say I was underwhelmed by Anne Hathaway playing the White Queen but 100% bowled over by the outstanding performance given by the super Mia Wasikowska who took the lead role of Alice. For someone whose resume is as short as it is her performance was assured beyond her 20 young years.

So the story was everything you expected it to be with the obligatory tea party, potions to make you shrink and more playing card motifs than you can shake a hat at and overall it was enjoyable enough. I will admit I was expecting to be a little more blown away than I was and maybe that's the expectation that 3D is creating for movie goers these days. The story was fine and the majority of performances were on the money but I guess it lacked that very special spark that keeps a film in your heads for days after. Being English I loved the role call of my mother country superstars, with smaller but no less delightful roles going to Barabra Windsor, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry and even TV's Paul Whitehouse.

All in all a fun couple of hours at the Multiplex but this version of Alice won't go down in history.

Rating: **** (or *** plus!)

Doctor Who; Who are the Daleks?

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:36:00 +0000

Matt Smith, Alex Kingston, Steven Moffat, and Piers Wenger talk about the Doctor’s mortal enemy - and why the Daleks continue to menace the galaxies

Weekend Box Office

noreply@blogger.com (Guy) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:44:00 +0000

1. Alice In Wonderland - $34,509,000

2. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid - $21,800,000

3. The Bounty Hunter - $21,000,000

4. Repo Men - $6,151,240

5. She's Out Of My League - $6,015,000

6. Green Zone - $5,962,940

7. Shutter Island - $4,755,000

8. Avatar - $4,000,000

9. Our Family Wedding - $3,800,000

10. Remember Me - $3,278,000