March 2009 Archives

FILM distributors Entertainment specialise in not providing press previews of films if they can help it.

Which goes against the grain when punters deserve to know whether a film is worth seeing or not.

The Haunting in Connecticut was not ready in time to be seen for today's edition of the Birmingham Mail.

But, having now just seen it, here's my first review to help you to decide whether or not to splash your cash.

A COUPLE of dates for you to look forward to, er, next year....

Toy Story 3 (3D) will be released on July 23, 2010 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, December 10, 2010.

And for the following year... Spider-Man 4 is now slated for Friday, May 6, 2011 with Transformers 3 to follow on, you've guessed it, Wednesday, June 29, 2011.

The growth in the digital marketplace is also such that on April 10 next month, the seven major releases will all be screening somewhere in the country on disc and not conventional print.

It's another milestone in cinema history and will be viewed with dismay by some people who prefer 35mm prints.

But the great thing about digital is that it should make it easier for foreign and more independent films to get screen space around the country.

Well, that's the theory.

I seem to recall that was also supposed to be the idea behind multiplexes.

But, like Heart FM, BRMB and Smooth FM, the multiplexes' gravitational pull towards safety-first programming often seems to restrict choice between competitors instead of enhancing it.

HAVE YOU noticed how more and more films are opening on Wednesdays?

A quick look at the future slate for the next few months reveals that the following movies are all set to be released in the middle of the week.

April 1 - The Boat That Rocked.

April 8 - Dragonball Evolution

April 22 - Outlander

April 29 - X Men Origins: Wolverine

May 27 - 12 Rounds

June 3 - Terminator: Salvation

June 24 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

July 1 - Ice Age 3 (3D)

The reasons for this are twofold.

The idea of having two cinema tickets for the price of one on 'Orange Wednesday' has helped customers of the phone company to generate 20 million box office visits in the five years of the scheme.

And, in the crazy world of film statistics, distributors can begin to claim new records for 'biggest opening for a wet weekend in March' etc.

But, beyond this, I think it's actually a sensible move.

Week after week there are typically between five and seven new movies opening across the country each weekend.

Now, even for people like me, that's a lot of new product to cope with.

Traditionally, then, Joe and Jo Public will see what's on and opt to see one film at the weekend.

But, in choosing one new film, they're limiting their chances of ever seeing any of the others on the silver screen because, before they know it, there will be another five along the following week.

What the Wednesday releases are doing is giving people a bit of excitement.

Today, for example, I went to Cineworld Broad Street to the first public screening of Knowing which was released without a press preview.

Astonishingly, even at 12.30pm, the cinema was half full.

People were clearly excited about seeing a new film from popular star Nicolas Cage that had been directed by Alex Proyas, the man behind I, Robot.

So much so, they wanted to see it first. Even if it was a Wednesday.

The front row of Screen 11 was quite funny to see because it had one person in every other seat.

Each one clearly a real fan who wanted to see the film his or her own way.

What the Wednesday screenings means is that customers will tell all of their friends what they think of a film during the rest of the week at work, school or uni, thus spreading 'word of mouth' reviews before the weekend.

More importantly, these cinemagoers are now also 'in credit' with their time.

And, if they fancy, say, either The Damned United or Traitor this weekend, they will have a fighting chance of being able to find the space in their busy lives to get along.

All of these films will be reviewed in The Birmingham Mail on Friday, when we'll also have an interview with Michael Sheen in which he reveals what he'd say to Brian Clough's son Nigel if he bumped into him in the street...

MICHAEL Sheen is back in cinemas from Friday in The Damned United, a fictionalised version of Brian Clough's 44-day reign at Leeds.

The Port Talbot-born star has previously played Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost with great success, now he's Cloughie to a T.

But who does Michael support himself?

The answer, when I met him last week, turned out to be a curious one...

Brought up in Liverpool from the age of five to eight, Michael says he became a fan of the Keegan-Toshack era, the very team Clough faces when leading out Leeds United at Wembley for his first match in charge after succeeding title-winning Don Revie - the 1974 Charity Shield final.

But when his family moved back to Wales, Michael says his rugby-loving father didn't say he could keep his allegiance from afar.

"When Toshack became Swansea manager, I followed them," says Michael.

"Then it became Chelsea when my favourite player Glenn Hoddle became player-manager.

"Now, becuase of Brian and Nigel Clough, I'm a Derby fan!

"When I was growing up, I remember Leeds were the big time at the time, but how much I liked them depended on who I knew who liked them and what I thought of them.

"And how I was doing with my Panini stickers. I'd like them more if I had more stickers, and not as much if I had less."

Don't miss this Friday's Birmingham Mail for my full interview with Michael Sheen, director Tom Hooper and twice Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon). We'll also be giving the final score for The Damned United...

HOW sad the news this morning that actress Natasha Richardson has died at the age of just 45 following a skiing accident.
Her premature death comes just a year to the week after we lost ace film director Anthony Minghella in 2008 and so soon after the Attenborough family lost family members in the Tsunami.
Life is all about the living, so my heart goes out to Natasha's two children, Michael, 13 and Daniel 12, as well as to her husband, Liam Neeson, mother Vanessa Redgrave and sister Joely Richardson.
I've never met either Natasha or Liam, but I'd actually been thinking about the Schindler's List star a lot recently.
It's been fascinating to see how his most recent movie, Taken - which I'd hugely enjoyed when it was given a relatively low-key release here last September - has been a really big hit this year in the US, where it's still in the top ten.
He's such a big, strong man in the film doing anything to save his daughter, so Liam will doubtless be beside himself that, in his life, he couldn't imitate his art.
Liam almost died himself nine years ago after colliding with a deer but he remains a magnificent screen presence.
In the fullness of time, let's hope that Liam finds it within himself to carry on working once he manages to come to terms with his sad loss, thus inspiring his boys to find their own place in life.
For the rest of us, I hope Natasha's death doesn't put anybody off skiing.
Over a period of years when I was younger I really pushed myself along for six months with some really fine Austrian teachers and it was the greatest thing in terms of helping me to mentall come to terms with losing my own father at the age of just 59.
The last day I went skiing, before the financial constraints of bringing up children kicked in, I was lucky enough to have a day of wonderful weather so that I could ski off the very top of Mt Blanc all the way down into the Chamonix valley.
I'd missed the chance some years earlier when the weather wasn't right.
When the day finally came I grabbed it with both hands, whereas an American woman in our party bottled it at the very top and had to be escorted back to the lift.
For me, though, it's a memory I'll always treasure.

THE new Julia Roberts and Clive Owen thriller Duplicity earns its (12A) certificate from one use of strong language and moderate sex references.
But in no way could this be considered to be a film suitable for children in the broader sense.
It is going to be too long and complex to hold the attention of any child, so the BBFC's lack of discretionary powers makes this a missed opportunity.
A 15 rating would have kept the kids out and made more adults more likely to want to see it.
Don't miss my review of the film on Friday, March 20 along with my Julia Roberts / Clive Owen interview from when I went down to London last week to meet them.
Julia was looking good... but is not my type. Funny that.
So who is the prettiest, most desirable actress I've ever met?
Easy.
Sharon Stone, when she came over for Martin Scorsese's Casino in 1996... now there really was a Pretty Woman.

THERE have been so many dog movies this year already that my children - and one young man in particular - has kept asking 'When can we have a dog?'

My wife wondered if I should take our children to see Marley & Me in case they wanted one even more.

But, having already seen the film, I figured they ought to see it in the secret hope it would put them off.

So far... so good!

Since they saw the film on Saturday, not once has any of our three asked for a dog.

I reckon it has made them realise just how hard it would be to look after one.

How restrictive it would be.

How the dog might wreck our house (including the children's things and not just our sofa).

How it would mess everywhere.

How it would smell.

And how, after all that, it would die.

Yup, the good news is that our house is set to remain dog free.

Yippee!

I remember meeting the dog which played the most recent Lassie when it came to Brum some three years ago. It was a beautiful thing,with a lovely long coat.

But that meeting taught me two things.

Even Hollywood dogs lose hairs.

And even Hollywood dogs smell. Make that Smell. Or even SMELL.

And if there's two things I can't stand it's dog hairs and dog smells. Yuk.

Until the day comes when I can afford to live on a farm with a dog that earns its keep outdoors, no way will there be one coming through my front door.

Thanks Marley. You've played a blinder.

I WENT to see Marley & Me today for the second time - and enjoyed it just as much my first viewing back in January.

I'm no fan of Jennifer Aniston, but I reckon she plays the role of a mum putting her children first to perfection.

And she's a good match for husband Owen Wilson, whose crazy nose and drawl somehow always engage me.

This film is most suited to children aged eight and over and all of my children really enjoyed it - though I wouldn't have take our near six-year-old youngest if she hadn't got elder siblings.

Hollywood does not find it easy to make family dramas which have a connection with real life.

But I think Marley & Me is one of the best of its kind of the whole decade and, as such, is a great film in its own right - though obviously not in the way that cinephiles find the likes of Citizen Kane to be a great film.

Sometimes, just putting a few smiles on faces and sending audiences home with genuine tears in their eyes is all that most people want from a night out and this is the best in class since Mamma Mia!

Having already tried my luck in Screens 4, 5, 6 and 8 with other films, today's screening also gave me the chance to see a film in the Odeon New Street's Screen 2 for the first time since the cinema's splendid refurbishment

Particularly if you pay extra for one of the premium seats the middle then this is now one of the best proportioned screens in the city, along with the likes of Screens 5, 6 and 7 at Cineworld Broad St, 1 and 19 at Vue Star City and even Screen 2 at the Electric, Station St.

For those with long memories, Odeon New Street Screen 2 is the right hand side of the old circle from the days when it was also a concert venue.

By the way, if you have legs like a giraffe, the screen in Birmingham with the most leg room in between rows is Screen 12 at Cineworld Broad St.

Vue Cinemas at Star City is going to play a role in hosting what organisers hope will be the world's largest film premiere.

Climate change film The Age of Stupid will be screened in a solar cinema tent in London's Leicester Square on Sunday.

And Vue will be the first multiplex to have a live satellite link so that audiences around the country can all enjoy this unique environmental film together.

The Age of Stupid is set in 2055, and the world has been devastated by climate change.

Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite plays a man living alone, who narrates the film around the central question - "why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?" while looking at archived TV footage from 2008.

Directed by Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and produced by Oscar-winning John Battsek (One Day in September), the £450,000 budget for the film was raised entirely by "crowd-funding".

Postlethwaite will arrive at the West End premiere in a special solar car, provided by Cambridge University's Eco Racing Team.

He will be joined on the "green" carpet by a glittering array of British talent, all lending their support to the film.

The event will also support "Not Stupid"; a campaign to build awareness around climate change that has been established by the film's director Franny Armstrong.

From 5.30pm on Sunday, March 15, Vue audiences will get the opportunity to see the green carpet arrivals, watch the film from 6pm and then see the post-film Q&A from 7.30pm via a live satellite link-up.

Tickets are £10 each. They can can be purchased online from www.myvue.com or by phone via 08712 240 240 or directly from box offices at participating cinemas.

The Age of Stupid is being released nationwide on March 20.

JUDE Law is to be one of the special guests at the first Minghella Film Festival.

All of director Anthony Minghella's movies are to be screened again this weekend to commemorate the first anniversary of his most untimely death.

Friends, family and fans will gather on the Isle of Wight where his family is based to remember one of the greats of British cinema.

For full details, visit www.minghellafilmfestival.com

But Jude Law fans might light to know that there will be a screening of the 74-minute documentary Jude Law Climbing Cold Mountain from 2.30pm on Saturday at the Quay Arts Centre, Newport followed by an interview with the star himself from 3.45pm. Tickets are £10 and available from 01983 822490.

Other films showing on the island this weekend include Truly, Madly, Deeply (PG) (Friday, 6.30pm for 8pm) at Cineworld, Newport, hosted by Alan Rickman and Michael Maloney.

Jude Law, Guy Barker and Gioia Minghella will help to introduce The Talented Mr Ripley (15) from 2.30pm on Saturday at the Medina Theatre, Newport, followed by Lord David Puttman and Kevin Whately joining Gloria Minghella MBE for a black tie gala screening of the Oscar-winning hit The English Patient (15) from 6.15pm for 7.30pm in the same venue.

Sunday's screenings include Mr Wonderful, Breaking and Entering and Cold Mountain.

I remember meeting Anthony Minghella for the first time in March, 1997 when The English Patient was release. Your overwhelming impression was that he was a supremely talented man who just loved making films.

To have been cut short in his prime just 11 years later is most unfair and has probably robbed the cinema-going public of the chance to see at least half a dozen more movies that he might have directed, never mind the ones he was also producing.