From Netribution
The London Film Festival will close tonight with the world premiere of the feature debut from artist Sam Taylor-Wood, Nowhere Boy. It takes a look at the early years of John Lennon, when he was being brought up by his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas in a fantastic performance), getting into music, and taking guitar lessons from a young squirt called Paul McCartney. Suchandrika Chakrabarti reviews.
From Netribution
Starsuckers is the second feature-length documentary from writer/director Chris Atkins, who made the BAFTA-nominated Taking Liberties in 2007. The film takes an in-depth look into celebrity culture – and sleb journalism – and the results are both laugh-out-loud funny and worrying.
The issue of made-up stories making their way into showbiz gossip columns was discussed by George Clooney and Kevin Spacey at the press conference for Men Who Stare At Goats last week (after the London Film Festival press screening).
Of course, there was nothing new about the debate, but it was intriguing, hearing two celebrities, who have been hounded by the media, describing how it feels, right in front of us. In fact, we got to watch it happen – in each of the two press conferences I saw Clooney in (Goats and Fantastic Mr Fox), he was besieged by a number of questions about his private life, namely when the hell he was going to get married and have kids. Some of the non-tabloid journalists later complained about this hijacking of precious press conference time. Who really cares? Well, as Starsuckers shows, we’re all meant to, because caring about slebs makes us buy stuff…
From Netribution
An Education, which has its UK premiere tonight at the London Film Festival, is based on a short memoir written by newspaper journalist Lynn Barber, which was published in Granta. The story was adapted for the screen by Nicky Hornby, and stars Carey Mulligan in an acclaimed turn as 16-year-old Jenny (based on the young Lynn), and Peter Sarsgaard as David, the older man who shows her what life is like beyond school and the suburbs.
From Netribution
Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox will have its world premiere at the London Film Festival’s opening gala tonight. Suchandrika Chakrabarti reviews.
Ahead of the London Film Festival’s opening night tomorrow, here’s a round-up of some highlights from Suchandrika Chakrabarti.
The LFF’s press screenings begin before the festival begins, and carry on during it, with the previews of the big gala films, like the opening night’s Fantastic Mr Fox (gosh, they do love a bit of Wes Anderson) and the George Clooney-starring The Men Who Stare at Goats, are saved for the morning of the screening. So you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer for those.
In the meantime, you can read on for reviews of the latest Matt Damon movie and the mockumentary stylings of Michael “George Michael Bluth” Cera…
From Netribution
“Anyone can be a filmmaker. What’s really hard is to make a good, interesting film. A computer doesn’t help you write a better novel; writing in a notebook longhand is just as good.
“So technology can’t do the job for you, but it can make the medium more accessible to more people… Within a short time, I could get 30,000 people coming to my site, from countries where Rage doesn’t have distribution, and they’re talking to each other about the themes they relate to in it. That’s something that’s so new and extraordinary, really.”
Orlando director Sally Potter’s latest film, Rage, will be the first feature-length film to premiere on mobile phones. With an ensemble cast including Eddie Izzard, Judi Dench, Diane Wiest, Jude Law and Steve Buscemi, the first of seven episodes of the film will be streamed on Monday on Babelgum’s free mobile platform, across the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with a new episode of the film every day. The mobile launch will be closely followed by the DVD launch, an interactive satellite premiere across a number of UK cinemas (including the British Film Institute) and a live-stream on Justin.tv.
Phew. How can one film work in so many formats? Netribution asked Suchandrika Chakrabarti to meet up with Potter and find out.
From Netribution
Jackboots on Whitehall has been called the “British Team America,” countless times for its use of puppets, but there’s a lot more to the film than that.
It gives us an alternative World War II scenario, in which the Nazis managed to invade Britain. The debut writer/directors, brothers Ed (25) and Rory McHenry (22), have managed to entice an impressive array of stars into lending their voices to the film, including Ewan MacGregor, Rosamund Pike and Alan Cumming as a very camp Hitler.
From the latest issue of Film & Festivals magazine:
For some successful feature film directors, the music video has provided a useful training ground. For creating a mood, a visual signature or crafting a short, soundtracked story, there is no better medium. The director doesn’t need to worry about getting a script together, auditioning (let’s just use the band, that’s what the fans want to look at) or even making much sense. Yet, if the director does a good job, the video will play back in listeners’ minds every time they catch a bit of the song – just think of Blur’s Coffee & TV (1999), with that adorable little milk carton on a mission to find the missing Graham Coxon. You see?
Working with an act that’s about to become big – or is already there – can also introduce an existing fan base to the director’s work. Cast your mind back to 1999 and Fatboy Slim’s single, Praise You, the one with the amateur dance troupe giving an impromptu show in an anonymous shopping mall. The song hit number one in the UK charts, and the video, directed by (and featuring) then-rising star Spike Jonze, deserved its three MTV Video Music Awards, and made its director hugely famous.
The added advantage of making a music video is that it can really help the director to get noticed by powerful people, for instance, when Drew Barrymore scouted out McG to direct Charlie’s Angels (2000). Similarly, Björk’s admiration of Michel Gondry’s videos for his formed-in-school band, Oui Oui, led him on the path to the successful career he now enjoys.
Here’s a look at five directors have made the leap from music videos to feature films:
Amelia Gentleman’s article in The Guardian about a day in the life of an elderly care home is very hard to read, but very necessary, and compassionately written. The constant contrast between the residents’ past lives and their undignified present existence persistently reminds us that this could be our future too. She doesn’t criticise the quality of care that the patients receive, but just shows us what it feels like to grow so old that we become helpless again.
After the jump, a few examples of what I mean:
