In the oven...

Colin Firth Special 
We've all been inundated with reviews of The King's Speech. So I thought I'd do summit a little different. Look out for a feature spanning Colin Firth's career, including recent peaks and many, many troughs.  


After Sundance
As we speak, Park City, Utah is packed to the rafters with movie echelons for Sundance 2011. They're cooking up deals, schmoozing with hotties, avoiding the notties (unless they're influential of course!). And I'm not. Piss. Oh well, the best I can do is to pluck out the highlights, create a concise little feature, and pretend I was there. I'm sure Utah sucks anyway. 

On the beat: My grueling festival schedule

Just spent three hours plotting my schedule for Glasgow Film Festival 2011. Safe to say, I'll be a busy lass in February. I hope to post reviews, chat and gossip after each screening/event, and I've included links to trailers below (mostly for new releases). In the meantime, hold all calls...


Wednesday 16 Feb 

Opens GFF 2011

West is West (GYFF) - GFT 


Thursday 17 Feb
Glasgow, I Love You (Great Scots) - GSA 
Opening Gala: Potiche - GFT 


Friday 18 Feb 
Kramer vs. Kramer (Meryl Streep Retro) - GFT 
Lonesome Road (GSFF) - CCA 
Road, Movie (Beyond Bollywood) - GFT
GSFF Opening Launch Party - CCA 


Saturday 19 Feb 
Story Design in Short Fiction (GSFF) - CCA 
Panel 1 of GSFF - CCA 
Submarine (Best of British) - GFT 
Kramer vs. Kramer (Meryl Streep Retro) - Cineworld  
Howl (State of the Independents) - GFT 
Digicult Party (GSFF) - CCA 

'Aching portrait of silent despair
and communal discord'
- Time Out  

Sunday 20 Feb 
Sophie's Choice (Meryl Streep Retro) - GFT 
Archipelago (Best of British) - GFT 
Fair Game (Gala) - GFT 


Monday 21 Feb 
42nd Street (Ginger Rogers Retro) - GFT 
Ces amours-la (European Cinema) - Cinemworld 
Little White Lies (Gala) - GFT 
Island (Great Scots) - Cineworld 






Tuesday 22 Feb 
Why Make a Film about These People? (The Stasi are Among Us) - CCA
Jadup & Boel (The Stasi are Among Us) - CCA 
In a Better World (European Cinema) - Cinemworld 
Working Creatively in a Dictatorship (The Stasi are Among Us) - CCA 
Gutter Magazine Launch Party - CCA 


Wednesday 23 Feb 

Life, Above All - Adaptation of Allan Stratton's
 novel Chanda's Secrets

Mark Millar Workshop (Superheroes in Glasgow) - CCA 
Route Irish (Best of British) - GFT 
The List Magazine's Surprise Film - GFT 


Thursday 24 Feb 
The Bridges of Madison County (Meryl Streep Retro) - GFT 
Life, Above All (It's a Wonderful World) - Cineworld 
A Cry in the Dark (Meryl Streep Retro) - GFT 


Friday 25 Feb 
Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers Retro) - GFT 
Pam Hogg (Fashion in Film) - GFT 
WORLD PREMIERE: You Instead (Great Scots) - Cinemworld 

World Premiere of You Instead
A rock 'n roll love story at TITP 2010

Saturday 26 Feb 
William Burroughs (Stranger than Fiction) - GFT 
The Flying Scotsman (Stranger than Fiction) - GFT 
Oranges and Sunshine (Best of British) - GFT 

Winner of Best Narrative
SXSW 2010 

Balibo (It's a Wonderful World) - GFT 
Mother's Day (FrightFest) - GFT 
Hobo with a Shotgun (FrightFest) - GFT 


Sunday 27 Feb (The last day of the festival) 
Tales from the Shipyard (Great Scots) - GFT 
Tiny Furniture (The State of the Independents) - GFT 
Closing Gala: The Eagle (Gala) - GFT 


Then breathe. And continue life as it was before.  

On the beat: Glasgow Film Festival Press Launch

Last Wednesday, I joined Central Scotland's film glitterati at the press launch for Glasgow Film Festival's (GFF) 2011 programme. An evening of double delights; awesome programming and free stovies. The grand old bash - marking the festival's seventh year - was hosted by Co-Directors Allison Gardner & Allan Hunter, with key speakers including; Scott Taylor (Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, one of the main funders of GFF), Matt Lloyd (Director of Glasgow Short Film Festival GSFF), three adorable members of Glasgow Youth Film Festival (GYFF) who demonstrated their quirky Ok Go style trailer, Arches music programmer (whose name escapes me) and actor and co-founder of Sigma Films, Alastair MacKenzie, brother of Young Adam director David MacKenzie (I'll mention this duo again in a jiffy). However, stovies aside, the highlight of the evening was most definitely the preview of GSFF's hysterical trailer by David Ferguson. It's Southpark in Sauchiehall Street, "A'll no huv that". 

   

'Mainstream to arthouse, vintage to futuristic'
~ Allison Gardner, GFF Co-Director

The sad news is, that - with over 250 filmic delights on offer - it is impossible to see them all. So, following a week of stewing over the programme and each strand (GFF has many mini-festivals within its main programme), here are my 'anticipated' festival highlights. Drum roll, please...

Glasgow Film Festival (GFF main programme)

In comparison to mega-festivals such as Cannes, Venice and Toronto, GFF is a fairly small operation. But it's a respected one. And any respected film festival boasts a WORLD PREMIERE, right? Earlier I mentioned the uber talented MacKenzie brothers, well, their new movie, You Instead (you know the one filmed at T in the Park 2010?), premieres for the first time EVER as part of the 'Great Scots' strand. And this my friends, is my TOP highlight. By a mile. That said, I'm also psyched about the Meryl Streep Retrospective, notably the screening of A Cry in the Dark (1988). I've loved that movie since I was eight years old, and can't wait to see it on the big screen. 

Of course, film festivals are not all about sticking to what you like. They're about pushing the boundaries of taste. Genre experimentation. Self-exploration. Well, I'm no comic nerd. I'm not enthused by Ironman, Superman, Spiderman, err... Cockroachman, or the likes. The closest thing I own to a comic is Maw Broon's Cookbook. Basically, I'm an uncool mum minus the offspring. So my challenge as it were, is to infiltrate Mark Millar's Workshop (part of the new 'Superheroes in Glasgow' strand), where the Kick-Ass, Wanted author is set to share his graphic-novel wisdom with Glesga's quirky nerd populous, and me, Maw Broon. 

  

Glasgow Short Film Festival (GSFF)

Returning for a 'feverish fourth year' to the CCA, this year's GSFF welcomes an international jury for the GSFF Short Film Award, which now stretches across eight categories. I'm looking forward to the DigiCult party and - being a fan of all things exile - entries to the Lonesome Road category, particularly Canopy Crossings, my firm favourite to scoop the award. I'll also be heading along to the panel discussion: Is Filmmaking a White Middle-Class Career Choice?, which I'm certain to blog/tweet/and shout about, given the topic.  

Glasgow Youth Film Festival (GYFF) 

In this mini-fest, I'm most looking forward to Hearbeats, the follow up to Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother (GFF 2010). This little delight got Cannes talking. And it's about to get Glasgow talking. Appropriately scheduled on Valentine's Day, ah! bliss! Come forth, modern lovers. There's also some awesome workshops programmed, such as How to Write a Film Script and Film Nation: Make a Film in a Day. Neither of which I can attend because I'm too bloody old. Is there a trend appearing here!? 

Well, that's a wrap. The festival runs from 17-27 February (GYFF runs 16-26 February). During this time, I expect to have little sleep and lots of wine. Keep checking for reviews, festival chat and perhaps some star spotting. And who knows, perhaps Cockroachman will take off.   

Done in 60 seconds: films over the last month

Here's a quick blast through some films I've seen at the cinema over the last month or so (prior to the inception of this here bloggy thing).

'It's Kind of a
Shite Story' 

It's Kind of a Funny Story (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck) 

trailer

One of the most lethargic narratives I've experienced in a long time, making 1hr 40 mins seem like 4 hours. I witnessed three people check their watches 35 mins in (one of whom was my friend). Never a good sign, really. 

I mean I hate giving up-and-coming Brit actors the stink-eye, but newbie Keir Gilchirst just doesn't cut the mustard for a lead role. This isn't down to performance alone. In general, the characters are poorly developed and downright forgettable. Certainly, the presence of Zach Galifiankis (The Hangover, Due Date, Up in the Air) motivated me to see the film, but his character (Bobby) is a tedious, semi-funny dude with piss-poor dialogue. 

To add insult to injury, the film ends with a feeble nod to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (mental hospital + comedy, see what they did there?) replacing Chief with some Ethiopian dude, which ignited a few disapproving sighs from a worn-out audience. It was a cringeworthy moment, which gave me a screen-beamer. I don't enjoy screen-beamers.

It's marketed as angsty, but it ain't got no angst. It's marketed as comedy, but it ain't funny. I'm told the book is ace, but that ain't no consolation. Turns out it's kind of a shite story. Don't waste your green. The only positive thing to emerge from this cinema visit was a random meeting with Kevin from Eggheads. 

filmdocta prescribes 1 star(and that's generous) 

Somewhere (Sofia Coppola) 

trailer

'Coppola should focus less on becoming an auteur and more on the enjoyability of her work'

A self-conscious satirization of Hollywood's shallow star system, Coppola's latest installment is definitely more Virgin Suicides/Lost in Translation, than Marie Antoinette, which is quite surprising given the glitzy subject matter.


Somewhere tells the story of Hollywood actor Jonny Marco (Stephen Dorff) and his relationship with his daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) who is dumped on him by her mother. It's trademark Coppola; unspoken dialogue, listless characters, themes of alienation, scenes of daily minutiae, and lots and lots of silence. Even the opulence of Chateau Marmont - where the film is mostly set - is muted. It certainly proves Coppola is back in her comfort zone, but it feels more like old ground, and quite frankly I'm a tad bored.

Sure, it's tender. Sure, it's subtle. And credit for an awesome soundtrack (signature track is Strokes - I'll Try Anything Once). But I need more than a very droll, subtle catharsis following a very droll, subtle journey. It's one of those films everyone says they liked, but didn't. Coppola should focus less on becoming an auteur and more on the enjoyability of her work. Ooooh catty! 

filmdocta prescribes 2 stars 

Done in 60 seconds: 127 hours review

Last night - cheating on my local haunt (GFT) - I galavanted to Ashton Lane to catch Danny Boyle's new one-man journey, 127 hours, at the Grosvenor.  Here's the verdict in 60 seconds. 

'Never forces you to feel.
You just do.' 

First, my expectations: Tragic hero falls down hole ('oh fuck!'), regretful flashbacks ('I've been such a dick'), gory amputation ('this is what I deserve' *hack hack*), catharsis ('now I'm a good guy' *smile smile*).

The end.

And it's kinda all of that, but then unpredictability was never going to be its strong point, narratively speaking. And of course Boyle is no stranger to the flashback and hallucination sequence, it certainly boasts that signature trippiness we've come to expect from him post-Trainspotting. The surprise, however, lies in its lack of self-indulgence. There's a narrative fragility. A liveness. Like you're watching a documentary; you know damn well that wildebeest is up shit creek, but you watch anyway. Just in case. Then comes an amputation. It's gory, but no gorier than a ferocious mauling.


Then there's the visual scrumptiousness (apologies, I've not had my dinner). From the panoramic shots of Canyonlands, Utah, to Boyle's quirky mise-en-scène in the canyon. It's visually remarkable.   

An edgy battle of will that never forces you to feel. You just do. Forget DVD, this film demands cinematic viewing. If you liked Castaway and/or Into the Wild, charge on. If not, dinnae bother. 

filmdocta prescribes 4 stars.