Films seen so far this year: 108
Films seen this week: It's A Wonderful Afterlife, Way Down East, Whip It (again), No Greater Love, REC 2, Bananas!, When You're Strange
Review Footnotes
Just occasionally, it can be very frustrating to not have quite enough room to say everything you want to say about a film. With that in mind, here are a few footnotes to some recent film reviews.
Clash of the Titans
The main thing I wanted to talk about here was that they'd obviously cut out a huge amount of material, all of which was probably to the film's benefit. (I've yet to see a Director's Cut of a film that didn't make it abundantly clear why most of the extra stuff was cut out in the first place.) The evidence for this in Clash of the Titans is as follows:
1. Danny Huston gets barely half a line as Poseidon. Hard to believe he was cast just to dress in a toga and say less than five words. Other familiar names are also listed on the imdb (e.g. Agyness Deyn as Aphrodite) yet are barely glimpsed in the film.
2. They definitely cut down several scenes between Alexa Davalos's Andromeda and Kaya Scodelario (Effy from Skins) as her handmaiden – I counted at least two moments where Kaya's character started to speak and the scene abruptly cut elsewhere. 3) One of the trailers shows a scene between Andromeda and Perseus that didn't make it into the final film – presumably they cut down this sub-plot because Sam Worthington would have been required to show “emotions”.
Whip It
There wasn't too much I wanted to add to my Whip It review (see it – it's brilliant) other than the fact that all the characters are really well drawn and that I didn't get a chance to say how good Jimmy Fallon is as 'Hot Tub' Johnny Rocket, the roller derby MC. Some of his (presumably improvised) lines are very funny. I also wanted to talk about roller derby names in general – each name has to be completely unique and coming up with your name is a big part of roller derby. Also, I just wanted an excuse to write the words Smashley Simpson again.
Salvage
I completely forgot to mention that Salvage was all filmed on the Brookside Close. Durrr.
Kick-Ass
I don't really have much to add to my Kick-Ass review either, other than to point out that in the comics, Dave doesn't get the girl.
Trailerwatch: Cherrybomb
Okay, so while I'd heard of Cherrybomb in that I knew it was out soon and that Rupert Grint was in it, I didn't know anything else about it until just now, when I went looking for trailers for this section of the blog. This looks to me like it could go either way. In its favour, it has a great young cast – Grint appears to be playing significantly against type, which could go a long way towards helping him escape the shadow of Ron Weasley. Similarly, Robert Sheehan is something of an upcoming star, thanks to his part in the brilliant TV series Misfits and I've been a huge fan of Kimberley Nixon (who has something of the Carey Mulligans about her) ever since Wild Child and Easy Virtue. (She's in Angus Thongs too, but not so's you'd notice). On the minus side, Grint and Nixon are both doing Irish accents (Sheehan's Irish, so he gets off lightly), which could easily go horribly wrong. Also, for a supposedly official trailer, this is a pretty poor quality one and doesn't give you much of an idea of plot except that best friends Grint and Sheehan both fall for the same girl. Also, God knows what the smoke cannisters and rabbit mask are all about. Not long to wait, anyway, as it's out on April 23rd.
Top 10 Films On Release This Week (as recommended by me):
Only one new entry this week with just Drew Barrymore's wonderful directorial debut Whip It making it into the top ten. Of this week's releases, I also liked Italian drama (with extra added Tilda Swinton) I Am Love and British comedy The Infidel but I didn't like either of them enough to squeeze them into the top ten. Speaking of which, Whip It has pushed out Euro thriller Storm, which is still well worth seeking out if it's still playing. I doubt City of War will be around for much longer, either, so check that out if you can. How can you resist a film that features Steve Buscemi singing “Hitler! Has only got one ball!”? Exactly. No new interviews this week either, but look out for our press conference coverage with Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum for Dear John next week. Also, you can still read our exclusive interview with the lovely Sylvie Testud here and our exclusive interview with Salvage star (and upcoming Doctor Who guest star) Neve McIntosh here.
1. Whip It
2. Kick-Ass
3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
4. Lourdes
5. How to Train Your Dragon (3D)
6. Shutter Island
7. City of War: The Story of John Rabe
8. Ondine
9. I Love You Phillip Morris
10. The House of the Devil
DVD of the Week: Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (out Monday 12th April, RRP £15.99)
This week's DVD of the Week is Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno, which is easily the weirdest film you'll see all year. Co-directed by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra, the film is part documentary, part restoration and part reconstruction of French director Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1964 film Inferno, long considered one of the great lost films. As shooting began, Clouzot became obsessed with taking the film in a new and unprecedented direction and began filming scene after scene of op-art-influenced, experimental test material, before the project was eventually abandoned. Worth seeing for its extraordinary experimental test footage alone, this is a fascinating documentary that offers a tantalising glimpse of the film that might have been, but also serves as a cautionary tale of a project and director spiralling out of control. Highlights include a gorgeous shot of Romy Schneider /films/romy-schneider-film-star-1144.html letting smoke play over her face, but there's an incredible scene with her sexily toying with a Slinky that justifies the price of the DVD on its own. Brilliantly edited and visually extraordinary, this is a genuinely fascinating film that's a must-see for film fans everywhere. Extras include: trailers, an interview with the directors and a comprehensive 57 minute Making Of documentary. Highly recommended.