The Cinemasitter

Author: Cinemasitter

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 6

    Date: Tuesday 18 September

    Films: 3 – Flying Blind; Notorious; The Night Elvis Died

    Beverages: 1 americano, 1 tea, 1 tea sipped then misplaced, 1 lemonade, 1 peppermint tea (after hot tip from bar staff), 1 lager

    Biscuits: None

    Verdict: Nice mixture of films today. The British low-budget Flying Blind was nicely shot and well performed, but the script soon revealed itself as a heavy-handed political statement hiding beneath a token love story, focussing on the relationship between a young Islamic student and an older woman (Helen McRory) who happens to work for the MOD. More at home on ITV.

    Notorious continued the Hitchcock strand, and made an interesting switch from some of his more action-centric thrillers like North by Northwest. This was Hitch in more subdued form, with Cary Grant taking a back seat to Ingrid Bergman in the lead, and suspense is built up around who knows what, rather than anyone chasing a MacGuffin. Cracking stuff.

    Finally I dipped my toe in to the Catalan season with The Night Elvis Died, a Lynchian drama with splashes of the surreal about townsfolk trying to put on their traditional Passion Play amidst financial woes and many personal problems. It’s not nearly as straightforward as that sounds though. Themes bubble up to the surface, but don’t try looking for a conventional plot. Absorbing, frustrating, amusing and beautiful, in pretty much equal measure.

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 5

    Date: Monday 17 September

    Films: 2 – Untouchable; The Lodger

    Beverages: 1 cappuccino, 2 teas

    Biscuits: 2

    Verdict: Another disappointing number of screenings today, due to review writing and Take One editing duties. However, both were great choices. Untouchable was an unashamedly feel-good drama about the relationship between a paralysed rich guy and a poor immigrant ex-con who becomes his carer. It might sound like Oscar-bait, but it’s a genuine joy to watch, with excellent performances from the two leads.

    The Lodger, Hitchcock’s classic silent suspenser from 1927, was an atmospheric treat: the great man doing everything in his power to cast suspicion on Ivor Novello’s mysterious boarder. It might not be able to compare with the best of Hitch’s works, but it’s undoubtedly a strong stepping stone to greater things. The new score by Nitin Sawhney was too insistent at times for my liking, but still added layers of tension to the action on screen.

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 4

    Date: Sunday 16 September

    Films: 1 – North by Northwest

    Beverages: 1 coke

    Biscuits: 1

    Verdict: A poor performance today, thanks to the combination of a late night last night, a long-ish film today and a need for an early night. North by Northwest as terrifically entertaining on the big screen as ever it was, with Cary Grant at his most suave and Hitch clearly having a ball with several classic set-pieces rubbing shoulders with each other. Preceding the film was a talk by director Richard Bracewell on Hitchcock’s technical expertise, examining his use of montage, composition and point of view shots. Fascinating stuff, if necessarily brief.

    Must try harder tomorrow.

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 3

    Date: Saturday 15 September

    Films: 3 – Rebecca; War Witch; Dead Before Dawn 3D

    Beverages: 1 americano, 2 cokes, 1 red wine

    Biscuits: 1

    Verdict: Hopes for a four-film day were sadly dashed, but there can be no finer way to begin a festival day than seeing a classic Hitchcock, which Rebecca unquestionably is. The big screen really allows the gothic visuals and sumptuous sets to immerse the audience, while Hitch’s camerawork subtly suggesting the offscreen presence of the first Mrs De Winter works a treat. Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in the lead roles are great, but the icing on the cake is a supporting cast that includes Nigel Bruce AND George Sanders – legends both.

    After that came War Witch, a drama about a young girl brutally recruited in to a rebel army in the Congo and her attempts to deal with the atrocities she is forced to commit. It sounds harrowing and it occasionally is, but director Kim Nguyen sensitively portrays the violence and trauma that Komona undergoes, never allowing the film to become an ordeal. On the contrary, it’s a moving and rewarding experience.

    Dead Before Dawn 3D rounded off the day with a welcome dose of silliness as zombie demons (a.k.a. Zemons) threaten to take over the world, in a homage to The Evil Dead among many, many others. The cast – including another legend, Christopher “Great Scott!” Lloyd – give it their all, summoning up plenty of giggles if not outright guffaws.

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 2

    Date: Friday 14 September

    Films: 3 – Hope Springs; Camp 14: Total Control Zone; The Pleasure Garden

    Beverages: 1 cappuccino, 2 teas, 1 coke

    Biscuits: 2

    Verdict: First full day of the festival began with a catch-up screening of Hope Springs, which I missed last night as it clashed with Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love. A few decent moments aside, Hope Springs felt artificial and often descended in to the painfully predictable. Meryl Streep reprises her role from Mamma Mia, while Tommy Lee Jones plays Tommy Lee Jones. Best bits played over the end credits.

    Camp 14: Total Control Zone was eye-opening if nothing else – the true story of a man who escaped from a North Korea labour camp, where he had spent his entire life. Some pretty hideous stories emerge, and though director Marc Wiese admirably lets him speak for himself, the documentary would have benefited from a longer stay in the editing suite.

    Finally, the Hitchcock Revisited strand kicked off with The Pleasure Garden, the director’s first full-length feature from 1925. Plenty of laughs, thrills and saucy goings-on in this ripe melodrama about two dancers on the London stage. A few unmistakable Hitch touches help it rise above the average.

  • CamFilmFest Diary: Day 1

    Date: Thursday 13 September

    Films: 2 – Tabu (pre-festival film so doesn’t really count); To Rome With Love

    Beverages: 1 cappuccino, 1 tea, 1 glass of red wine

    Biscuits: 1

    Verdict: Good start. Tabu was a damn good warm-up, with its impressive and imaginative storytelling, followed by Woody Allen’s lightly enjoyable divertimento – an entirely inconsequential work but with enough laughs and silliness along the way to make it worth seeing. Those looking for any resemblance to the real world should apply elsewhere.

  • 32nd Cambridge Film Festival

    Cambridge Film FestivalIt’s now only a few days until the 32nd Cambridge Film Festival kicks off. From Thursday 13th September I will once again be hanging around the screens and bar at the Arts Picturehouse where most of the action takes place, as is my wont (though there’s a fair few screenings in other locations around the city too, like Emmanuel College and the Buddhist Centre). For me and many others, it becomes a second home.

    Last year I was a general festival volunteer, but this time I’m on the editorial team of Take One, the official festival review. So I’ve been busy planning which films I want to see (all twelve films in the Hitchcock strand for starters) and which I’ll be reviewing, as well as helping out with the general editorial preparation. I’ll specifically be overseeing the daily edition of the magazine, which may only be a two-sider but will still be enough to fulfil my childhood ambition of becoming a newspaper editor. I can only hope there will be an opportunity to bark “Stop the press!” at someone.

    So if you don’t see much from me on this blog during the next two weeks, it will be because I am busily occupied with writing or editing film reviews. I urge you to visit the Take One site between 13-23 September, as we aim to cover every single film screened. I’ll try and post updates here too as and when I can, but do stay in touch on Twitter for regular festival chatter.

  • Review: Total Recall (2012)

    Going where many, many futuristic sci-fi thrillers have gone before, Total Recall 2012 is an instantly forgettable experience. Say what you will about the Schwarzenegger-starring 1990 original, it at least had personality – chock full of the blunt satire and unapologetic violence that are the hallmarks of its director, Paul Verhoeven. This new version is so bland it barely has the strength to stay up on the screen. What makes it doubly frustrating is that there was plenty of scope for a different take on the story – a deeper and darker exploration of the rabbit-hole plot, with its multiple memories and shifting loyalties, while remaining faithful to the spirit, if not the letter, of original author Philip K. Dick. Does no-one remember a little film called Inception?

    Full review: Total Recall | Cinema Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

  • Memories of The Regal Cinema

    I’ve started a new blog that aims to document the history of the old Regal Cinema in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, which closed in 1985. I’m looking for personal stories and recollections, along with any images or memorabilia that may exist. Why The Regal? It was the first cinema I ever visited, when my dad took me to see E.T. in 1982. For me, it’s important that interesting parts of a community’s history aren’t forgotten, especially cinema-related ones, and it seemed as if The Regal was in danger of being entirely lost in the mists of time. So I’m hoping to fill in the gaps of its story, and perhaps by doing so celebrate cinema itself.

    You can visit the site here: regalcinema.blogspot.co.uk

  • Who’s afraid of the big black bat?

    Here’s an article I wrote for TAKE ONE about how Batman has been re-interpreted down the years, and asks if it’s time to move on from Christopher Nolan’s take on the character:

    If Christopher Nolan’s phenomenally successful adaptations of DC’s enduring caped crusader have taught us anything, it’s that some characters belong in the shadows. Cinema audiences just can’t seem to get enough of Batman, the darkest of superheroes. In the two film franchises he has starred in so far – Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, which concludes this month, and the original series begun by Tim Burton back in 1989 – he’s been at his most popular, and best, when literally and figuratively shrouded in darkness. Indeed, so successful was he that for years it seemed as though the only comic-book adaptations that could generate success at the box office were those whose central characters were either as morally conflicted or as psychologically scarred as Bruce Wayne. Yet the difference between these two approaches is vast: night and day, you might say. There are different flavours of dark, and, as successful as the current Batman series has been, a change of direction might now be in order.

    Full article: Who’s afraid of the big black bat? | TAKE ONE