The Cinemasitter

Category: Take One

  • Review: Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

    It’s an incredibly brave – or incredibly foolish – person that tries to film a Shakespeare play in under two weeks while officially on leave from work. That Joss Whedon felt he was up to the job should come as no surprise; this is a man who for years has thrived on similar challenges, be it directing a film version of an all-too-quickly cancelled TV series (Firefly) or creating a musical episode for a hit primetime show (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). As a low budget take on a familiar play, it’s an entertaining enough diversion: the low-key approach adds to much to the overall charm. But the flip side of that is there is a slimness to the end product which prevents it from being more fun that it might have been.

    Full review: Much Ado About Nothing | TakeOneCFF.com

  • We Went To War Q&A with Rebekah Tolley

    On Monday 20 May I hosted a Q&A with Rebekah Tolley, producer and co-author of new documentary We Went To War. Directed by the late Michael Grigsby, it’s a terrific film and I was very pleased to have the opportunity to raise its profile a little.

    Here are some photos of the event (courtesy of Chris Boland), held at the ever-obliging Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. Thanks to all who came along and supported it.

    My original interview with Rebekah for TAKE ONE

    Photos: Chris Boland

  • Cineworld-Picturehouse vs. the Competition Commission

    On TAKE ONE’s website, I argue the case for why Cineworld’s buyout of the Picturehouse chain might be a good thing:

    Now that Cineworld’s purchase of the Picturehouse chain has been referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading, we all have an opportunity to have our say on an issue with the potential to affect filmgoers up and down the country. Initial fears from Picturehouse customers (us among them) that their cinema-going experience was about to be compromised, or worse, removed altogether in a round of “cost-savings” and “streamlining”, have so far proved to be unfounded. It has been, as promised, business as usual. Assurances from Cineworld that Picturehouse Cinemas would be run as an entirely separate business unit under their corporate umbrella, and that their independence would be maintained, appear to be true, though admittedly it is still early days.

    Full article: Cineworld-Picturehouse vs. the Competition Commission | TakeOneCFF.com

  • Review: Mud (2013)

    There’s much to be said for wallowing in MUD, director Jeff Nichols’s leisurely yet captivating follow up to his 2011 drama TAKE SHELTER. This Southern Gothic spin on WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND is a gently absorbing tale of adolescence gone awry, and boasts a beautifully judged performance by Matthew McConaughey, currently on something of a roll. A clutch of strong supporting performances and a satisfying pay-off make this one of the most purely enjoyable films of the year so far.

    Full review: TAKE ONE | Mud | TakeOneCFF.com

  • Review: We Went To War (2013)

    The late Michael Grigsby’s final film is a follow-up to his 1970 documentary I WAS A SOLDIER, which examined the effects of the Vietnam war on three young men who had returned home. WE WENT TO WAR catches up with the same veterans over 40 years later to see how the passage of time has affected them. It is an outstanding and immensely moving portrait, examining how the burden of war is passed down through generations, affecting not only the soldiers themselves but also their families and communities for years after the event. This toxic pain is shown to manifest itself through an inability to communicate with loved ones and many other depressingly familiar traits: battles with alcohol, drugs, crime, depression and violence. All are alluded to here in a very understated way.

    Full review: TAKE ONE | We Went To War | TakeOneCFF.com

  • Review: Hell Is a City (1960)

    Britain’s Hammer film studio didn’t just make gothic horrors and dodgy sitcom spin-offs. In 1960 Val Guest directed his own adaptation of Maurice Proctor’s crime novel HELL IS A CITY, a fast-paced and gritty noir set on the streets of 1950s Manchester. Its lead detective may be a cop rather than a private eye, but this is a lean and mean yarn nonetheless, with two men on either side of the law battling it out ‘up north’.

    Full review: Hell Is a City | TakeOneCFF.com

  • Interview with John Logan

    Last week at Watersprite (the Cambridge International Student Film Festival) I was given a chance to sit down with one of their guest speakers, John Logan. He was very funny, clearly passionate about his trade, and generous with his time. The full interview is now up at Take One (link at the bottom of this article). Thanks again to all those at Watersprite who pulled off what was, by all accounts, a great festival.

    John Logan – the writer behind GLADIATOR, THE AVIATOR, HUGO and SKYFALL – was in energetic and affable form at this year’s Watersprite Student Film Festival in Cambridge. A lively speaker, he extolled the virtues of poetry as a means to learning the craft of scriptwriting: “Poetry teaches economy.” The 51 year old playwright-turned-screenwriter, nominated for three Oscars over the course of his brief yet productive film career, is keen to raise awareness of the debt owed to history in today’s cultural landscape: “Know the continuum of writers”, he urges. “If you want to learn how to write, read Shakespeare’s Hamlet. And then read it again and again, until you know and understand it completely.”

    Full article: Interview with John Logan | TakeOneCFF.com

  • Review: Song for Marion (2013)

    A modest film with modest charms, SONG FOR MARION sees Terence Stamp on impressively dour form as a husband faced with the prospect of losing his wife to cancer. After the darker subject matter of earlier works like THE COTTAGE and LONDON TO BRIGHTON, director Paul Andrew Williams’ latest is – despite the subject matter – a slighter affair, and perfectly timed to capitalise on recent ‘grey pound’ hits like QUARTET and THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL. In truth, there is nothing here that hasn’t been seen many times before, but its most affecting moments can be put down to the strength of its cast, who provide much-needed dramatic ballast when the plot’s flimsiness threatens to sink it.

    Full review: Song for Marion | TAKE ONE

  • Review: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

    Steven Spielberg’s futuristic, melancholic take on the Pinocchio story is arguably the director’s most uncharacteristic and yet most personal film to date. It might not be an obvious choice for Valentine’s viewing, but this is a tale of unrequited love: maternal love, childhood love, innocent love. The irony, of course, is that the source of this love is a machine, not a man, but that doesn’t stop it from being a deeply affecting fairy tale in its own right.

    Full review: A.I. Artificial Intelligence | TAKE ONE

  • Review: The Ghost That Never Returns (1929)

    Note: This review was written during the British Silent Film Festival which ran in April 2012 in Cambridge. For various reasons it was ‘lost in the post’, but I thought, better late than never. 

    Made in the dying days of the silent era, THE GHOST THAT NEVER RETURNS is proof (if proof were needed) that cinema was exploring some very interesting places before talkies came along and stopped much of its innovation dead in its tracks. This occasionally dazzling Soviet-produced tale of rebellion in South America follows prisoner Jose Real (Boris Ferdinandov) who, after serving ten years inside, is entitled by law to a single day of freedom – a day from which no-one has ever returned alive.

    Full review: BSFF 2012: The Ghost That Never Returns | TAKE ONE