“Jar Jar Sex Candyâ€: The Phantom Menace Revisited
‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,’ the most anticipated film of all time (?) was released into cinemas and bankrupted poor old book publishers, Dorling Kindersley.
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Pinocchio Platinum Edition DVD
Pinocchio
Pinocchio comes to DVD, for the third time, in a newly remastered two disc special edition to mark the 70th anniversary of the picture.
Milk
Milk
1985 saw the release of the 14th official James Bond film, A View to a Kill and marked the swansong of Roger Moore. It was also notable for being the first James Bond film to not premiere in the UK. The film had its charity premiere on May 22nd in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Now, you might be asking what is the relevance of all this, if any? The film premiered in San Francisco as a special thank you to the city for its participation in the making of the blockbuster, but also to gloss over some controversy that threatened the making of the film. The scene that caused the outrage was set in City Hall and involves the film’s villain, Max Zorin (a suitably insane Christopher Walken), shooting an official in his own office. Sound familiar? No? Have I just ruined the movie? Suffice to say, Harvey Milk’s impact was as important then as it is now, almost halting 007 dead in his tracks, and I’m sure he would have been amused by that fact. … Continue Reading
The Top 5 Films That Almost Were
Independence Day
The DVD release of the new Indiana Jones movie opened my eyes to the horror that is development hell. In one of the interviews, Steven Spielberg claims that the release of Independence Day sidetracked the script for Indy 4. Excuse me? Independence Day? I think we should all count ourselves lucky that we were spared the sight of Harrison Ford flying a WWII fighter jet into the side of a flying saucer. Makes KOTCS look spectacular, right? This prompted me to take a look through my DVD back catalogue to find other films that almost turned out completely unrecognisable. … Continue Reading
Entertaining news bloggers needed
We are looking for more news bloggers to carve a little place for themselves on various sections of our site.
Lightspeed Champion takes on Cat Stevens!?
Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
Yep, you heard it right. Mr. Devonte Hynes, a.k.a. Lightspeed Champion, is playing a one-off show at the British Film Institute on London’s Southbank, on December 11.
The Oscars’ documentary short list
Big Screen Little Screen has rounded up trailers for all fifteen documentaries shortlisted for the Oscars. The list must be cut down to five for the Oscar nominations.
New Watchmen trailer – watch now
“Maybe someone’s pickin’ off costumed heroes.” There’s a new trailer online for the hotly anticipated movie adaptation of the greatest graphic novel ever, Watchmen.
‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ DVD
CERT: 12A
UK DVD RELEASE DATE: 10 November 2008
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
STARRING: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Kate Allen, Shia LaBeouf
THE MOVIE
“Nuke the fridge.” This phrase seems to have been banded about quite a bit in relation to Indiana Jones’s latest cinematic adventure – which arrives in UK stores this week. ‘Nuke the fridge’ is a reinvention of the oft-used phrase “jump the shark“, supposedly pinpointing the exact moment when the Indiana Jones film series lost the plot and the respect of fans worldwide. I love to be in the minority and I love to stand up for an underdog, and gosh darn it, I just love ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.
The moment in question sees Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) fleeing from an atomic blast in a 1950s picture-perfect town etched out of plastic in the middle of the desert. He finds his sanctuary in the form of a lead-lined refrigerator and seals himself inside. The ensuing nuclear blast throws the fridge, and Indy, clear of the devastation and the audience heaves a collective sigh of relief. However, the resulting silhouetted shot is pure Steven Spielberg and I immediately forgave the illogical sequence. Spielberg effortlessly places Indiana into 1950s America, a world as alien to him as it is to us.
Revisiting ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ offers up a whole new viewing experience. No, George Lucas hasn’t digitally altered the chipmunk in the opening sequence or added a hundred new monkeys to the Tarzan-inspired vine swing, but we know what to expect – and what’s good about the film becomes a lot more obvious: they got the little details right. The classic-style Paramount logo, the font for the opening credits, the references to past characters, and John Williams’s triumphant score (before all his stuff started to sound the same). ‘Quantum of Solace’, the twenty-second James Bond film, suffered from a case of ambiguity: no vodka martinis, no ‘Bond, James Bond,’ and no Monty Norman theme until the final moments. ‘Crystal Skull’ has enough nods to its roots, both audibly and visually, to make it feel like a natural continuation rather than a pointless reinvention. Indy isn’t trying to compete with the Bruce Waynes or Jason Bournes of the world. He’s trying to recapture the heyday of 1980s entertainment, when heroes were free to be infallible and action scenes didn’t always have to be followed by a shot of the characters in pain, literally licking their wounds. Indy simply places that signature fedora back onto his head and he’s ready for another round. This is pure escapism for the whole family.
Harrison Ford is sixty six years old, and he does a damn fine job of kicking ass and taking a beating. However, he’s sixty six fricking years old; of course they were gonna bring in a sidekick to take over the action and, predictably, he became the victim of critical fanboys. Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) is a pretty thankless role, though luckily it has been cast with a pretty likeable actor. LaBeouf takes over much of the stunt work, particularly during the chaotic jungle chase sequences, and he holds his own as an action hero. Sure, he’s no Indiana Jones, but he gels well with Ford and ‘Raiders’ returnee Karen Allen, and as teen sidekicks go, he’s pretty inoffensive and proactive.
The same can’t be said for Ray Winstone’s Mac. He plays a double/triple/quadruple/whatever agent that inexplicably shouts most of his lines and feels like he’s walked in from an episode of ‘Only Fools and Horses’. As Indiana is trailed by his four (!) sidekicks during the film’s climax, Winstone definitely stands out as one pointless sidekick too many.
Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) is an interesting if unmenacing villain, declaring psychic warfare on Indiana without…actually…doing anything, but who cares? Blanchett has fun with the role; the accent and haircut being enough to ensure she’s a memorable if not villainous foe.
However, in a wider sense, Blanchett’s role speaks to perhaps the biggest flaw: missed opportunities. Why bring the delightful Karen Allen back into the fold only to give her very little to do? Why tease us with images of the Nazca Lines without fully exploring their significance? Why blacklist Indiana as a communist and then drop the storyline completely? The film feels unfinished; an obvious victim of numerous rewrites and the demands of three Hollywood bigwigs in the form of Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford.
For all its faults, we should be grateful that ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ turned out as fun as it did. I won’t speak of the plot-holes, the unfortunate use of CGI, or the ludicrous climax, but I will say that personally, it captured my imagination the way films used to do when I was kid. Maybe I was blinded by nostalgia or predisposed to love it no matter what (just like ‘Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace’) but it’s classic family entertainment.
It’s simple. It’s fun. It’s popcorn. And that’s what Indiana Jones has always been about.
THE FEATURES
The film has been given the 2-disc special edition DVD treatment by Paramount and the obligatory Laurent Bouzereau documentaries are typically thorough and entertaining. The moviemaking process is covered from conception to post-production and the documentaries feature on-set interviews with most of the key cast and crew members.
It’s nice to hear from Lucas and Spielberg about the development hell this film lingered in, but what’s missing is an exploration of the film’s reception. Though reviews were generally positive, this film was never embraced fully by the fanbase and it would be nice to hear Lucas and Spielberg’s thoughts as to why this was. Also missing are any deleted scenes and an audio commentary but these will no doubt appear in the inevitable re-release.
‘Sono Viva (I Am Alive)’
CERT: TBC
UK RELEASE DATE: London Film Festival
DIRECTORS: Dino Gentili, Filippo Gentili
STARRING: Massimo de Santis, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Giorgio
‘Sono Viva (I Am Alive)’, is the lovechild of Italian TV screenwriters and first-time directors Dino and Filippo Gentili, and follows the impoverished Rocco as his consciousness blossoms and he discovers he is ‘alive’.
In production for five years following the granting and retracting of government funding and the subsequent reliance on a personal loan, ‘Sono Viva’ was shot in twenty-three days and illustrates twenty-four hours in the life of the principal protagonist.
Rocco is a poverty-worn, unemployed labourer on the verge of having his house repossessed and it’s this situation that forces him to take the peculiar job of watching over a dead body. An almost mute man that walks through life without experiencing it, his encounter with the corpse ‘Silvia’ and her self-absorbed kin awakens his compassion and subsequently induces him to defend what for the first time he truly believes in: avenging injustice. By entangling himself in Silvia’s life, he discovers unknown strengths, and in this conscious discovery he accepts his place in existence.
Combining elements of thriller, ascetic realism and drama genres in equal parts, ‘Sono Viva’ is an ambitious film. With its use of gritty and sometimes disturbingly protracted cinematography, and investigation of incestuous and overlapping themes of life and death in its portrayal of an anesthetised man, it offers a fresh look at the genre.
Unfortunately the potential hinted at in the film’s opening is almost eclipsed by a character that is hard to understand, lazy continuity errors, misplaced shots and a soap opera soundtrack, all of which reveals the inexperience of the directors.
Clearly influenced by both David Lynch and the Italian Realists, Dino and Filippo Gentili definitely have something important to say; they just haven’t found their pitch yet. But with a sold-out showcase and the exposure that accompanies a London Film Festival release, by their next outing there’s no doubting they’ll be breaking down barriers.
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