The Skin I Live In

Introducing Mireia Nicolas the first guest blogger to the Films blah blah blah world, hopefully she'll provide many more. A great review for a film I recently had a lot to say about in Small Films For Big Cinemas

La piel que habito / The skin I live in (Pedro Almodóvar, 2011)

Almodóvar has always been a love-him-or-hate-him kind of director, especially in his (and my) home country, Spain. I must admit that, even though I loved Volver with all my heart (he always manages to get the best out of Penélope Cruz) I was on the hate-him side. I always thought he gave an awful image of Spain – I was worried the irony in his colourful films, so outrageous and crazy and stereotypical, so evident for the Spanish audiences, would be lost on others and make them think Spaniards were actually like this, and quite frankly, in a world where people think Mexican hats are Spanish and that Spain is somewhere between Venezuela and Brazil, it was kind of thanks but no, thanks. Anyway, I am digressing.

One of my best friends found a job in Montreal and before leaving, he suggested we go see The skin I live in and for tapas (don’t judge us, we are Spanish). I was slightly wary, but I am not going to see my friend for a very, very long time so I accepted. Boy, were we in for a ride! The skin I live in can’t be described easily, nor can I talk about its plot freely. It tells the story of plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Lergard, (played by Banderas) who is obsessed with his mysterious patient Vera, (played by Elena Anaya). Vera/Anaya wears a full-body cat suit and spends her days doing yoga and creating art. She is secluded in a room in a big, beautiful estate near Toledo (Spain), where Banderas lives with his housekeeper, Marilia (played by Marisa Paredes, another constant actress in Almodóvar’s world) and the service. Soon we learn Lergard/Banderas has been experimenting with genetically modified human skin, in humans. The film goes back and forth in time, showing moments that explain us who Lergard, Vera and Marilia are.

Formally outstanding, the film offers some moments that are truly uncomfortable, so much that rumour has it during its premiere in Cannes some people started giggling nervously, the kind of giggle you can’t supress when you feel so awfully uncomfortable you either start giggling or just go away. The characters are tortured, crazy, deranged, their actions only comprehensible to them. The music is tortured, crazy, deranged – the soundtrack is excellent, sharp violins that go hand in hand with the images and keep the viewer on the edge of the seat. Banderas’ acting is outstanding, although his accent is a bit off at times, an Andalusian trying to speak in a normal Spanish accent – something anyway that only a very picky Spanish speaker like me would notice. However, it is not a film where he speaks a lot, a trait which is awfully unsettling – every time he is about to speak you worry he will do something terrible. Dr Ledgard is truly scary. Elena Anaya’s Vera is mysterious, alluring: her eyes tell a thousand stories in every single close up, her skin glows and glistens, her face wonderfully perfect, wonderfully crazy. She is the key to Bandera’s obsession, and it is only in the very end that we understand why. Marisa Paredes once again proves why she is one of the great actresses in the Spanish-speaking world, her character nurturing but at the same time unfriendly.

All in all, The skin I live in is an unsettling, impressive film that will leave you without words. Go and watch it. 8/10.

Your Highness

"Your Highness proves its the king of masturbation humours but little else"

Your Highness is a comedy film that has a basic medieval premise that should equal laughs and a cast that should provide them and fill cinemas, however it seems to do none of these things. The biggest bemusement I have with this film is the cast, Natalie Portman makes another appearance on our screens and James Franco was clearly having an off day when he said yes to this. Portman seems to be everywhere at the minute, she's turning into the female Matt Damon. Whereas James Franco seems to do a gem of a film followed by an absolute stinker - Milk followed by Date Night, 127 Hours followed by Your Highness - Commonly known as Oscar-flop syndrome (Unintended double meaning referring to his uncomfortable Oscar hosting)

The comedy veteran Danny McBride tries to not only provide the laughs but keep this mess of a film together, and he's clearly the most natural comedy actor in this film. Hipster queen Zooey Deschanel plays Belladonna the virgin love interest but her casting only made me look lovingly towards the 500 Day Of Summer dvd in the corner of the room. The final strange casting I could have done without was Damian Lewis playing a "brave" knight who turns rogue, somebody please tell him that a serious actor doing comedy rarely works.

This was a very unfunny film where the jokes all seemed to be written by a 14 year old, Your Highness proves its the king of masturbation humours but little else. It's attempt at humour is at times insulting and offensive. As it began to push past the 90 minute mark my patience started to wear thin the ending couldn't have come soon enough.

Small Films For Big Cinemas

"In a time when we have lost the UK Film Council we should be championing great British films, instead we are being swamped by the left overs of the summer blockbusters. "

Fancy going to see a great new film this weekend? Well I hope you live in a big city or you may be in for a lengthy car journey, this is what many will face this weekend with the apparent non-release of Kill List and The Skin I Live In. I know there are some great independent cinemas around the country that need out much needed attention, however the this post concentrates on the distribution of films by Odeon Cinemas, this should not be viewed as an attack on them but a question of how one of the largest cinema companies in Europe decides what films to screen.

After the great reviews Kill List has been getting I planned to book tickets for its opening weekend at my local Odeon (Coventry) however I soon discovered the film is not been shown at all. Instead my local Odeon is screening Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 now in its 8th week and dominated by hits such as The Smurfs 3D and new release Friends With Benefits. After searching the Odeon cinemas where I could watch Kill List I found out it is only being shown at only 10 Odeon cinemas. In fact the nearest Odeon showing Kill List is in Manchester roughly 78.29 miles from my house. In a time when we have lost the UK Film Council we should be championing great British films, instead we are being swamped by the left overs of the summer blockbusters. The same applies with The Skin I Live In, although I put its marginalisation down to it being a foreign language film (Spanish) even the stardom of Antonio Banderas could not give it a bigger presence in Odeon cinemas.

Although I am not a professional film critic or do I work in any capacity for the film industry, I do know that the screening and distribution of films works on a supply and demand system and that Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2's long run this summer is a testament to its box office success. The box office takings both Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Smurfs 3D can in my opinion be partly explained by their 3D versions. I urge you people in such "big cities" (Manchester,Liverpool, London, Edinburgh) to go and see the films that are slipping under the Odeon radar.

The Michael Haneke Dissapointment

Recently, Lovefilm decided to reignite my previous Michael Haneke passion by sending me The Seventh Continent. Although The Seventh Continent is Haneke's first film, this was my third taste of the Austrian film-maker's work, slotting in behind Caché (2005) (Hidden) and Funny Games (1997). However, my love for Haneke came to a sudden end about an hour into The Seventh Continent as I became bored with the tedious lives the film centred on. My relationship with Haneke seemed like it would blossom as I threw myself into his collection, yet beyond Caché I only managed one and a half additional films before throwing in the towel -- maybe I've given in before experiencing the best of Haneke?

Caché was marketed as a thriller and promised suspense -- this really was not the full picture, more a way to draw in the audiences.The film centres on a Paris family, that of Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil), his wife Anne (Juliette Binoche) and their school-age son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). The household start receiving strange tapes showing the outside of the house, the tape goes on for a couple of hours and shows members of the family leaving and returning.What follows is not the excitement you may expect. Instead, it turns into more of a moral tale which may leave many disappointed.

Funny Games is more a stereotypical thriller about a break-in that leaves the household inhabitants feeling under attack in their own home. What Caché lacked, Funny Games made up for and still left the viewer with a clever Haneke after-taste. This time the only thing I could criticise Haneke over was the needless English language remake in 2008 -- if Haneke is responsible for the recent trend in remakes I would have asked for a divorce a long time ago.

Haneke's weak point is his obvious preaching. There is absolutely nothing bad with giving a political message on a film, but his insistence on spreading his ideology is counter productive for his art -- his films end up feeling like indoctrinating propaganda with some story in the middle.

Trust

Just a quick message before I get going -
Further to the notes in the description in this blog, I will be trying to post a new review if not every day, every other day. If for some reason you don't hear from me you could either send out a search party or congratulate me for getting a "proper" job. Like already stated in the description most reviews will be a result of the latest lovefilm dvd rental and if I'm waiting on the post then I'll try and post a review I did that currently sits on another dormant blog. - Hope that makes things nice and clear for everyone. Now for the main attraction.

Following the theme of reviews on new DVD releases (Little White Lies) I recently watched Trust (2010). The film is directed by David Schwimmer aka Ross from friends and is based on a screenplay by Andy Bellin and Robert Festinger. The film stars Liana Liberato as Annie Cameron a 14 year old girl that becomes close to a boy called Charlie that she befriends online played by Chris Henry Coffey. As a young innocent Annie becomes close to Charlie her parents played by Clive Owen and Catherine Keener seem to humour their daughters new found friend while both seem distant. Owen's character Will is heavily wrapped in his work while Keener's character Lynn has her attention on her son, who is moving away to college.. These circumstances push Annie to further interact with Charlie and their online relationship grows. However, as Charlie tells Annie his real age is 20, which then he admits is actually 24, Annie becomes unsure of her new found friend.

Charlie pushes forward relentlessly and arranges to meet Annie, who upon meeting him discovers Charlie's real age is 35. He nevertheless convinces her to come to his motel room, where he rapes her. Even after Annie's awful attack she believes Charlie and her are soul mates and he loves her. The majority of the film focuses then on the aftermath of the attack dealing with both Annie's relationship with Charlie and her father's attempt to understand and deal with the attack. However the middle part of the film seems to fall down after the interesting early development of the relationship between Annie and Charlie, although it does find its feet once again towards the end.

Schwimmer's intention for the film comes across as a film to educate adults on the difficult subject of Internet grooming, and although the topic seems to have lost media attention in the past couple of years, it is a worthy portrayal of a uncomfortable topic. Its cinema presence seems awkward and by accident and may end up finding its true calling on the small screen (or at parent education classes). It tackles the subject in the most clichéd way possible but clichés are clichés for a reason, I guess! Anyway, they do become slightly obvious and the whole film seems to lack subtlety at times.

Verdict It's interesting to see a difficult subject such as this on the big screen and we should credit Schwimmer for its quality and his conviction to bring it to life -- it tackles it head on but does it well.

Little White Lies

After my last post about the newly released dvd Submarine I thought I'd give you lot another one, this time its French comedy-drama Little White Lies. Like most of the films I rent I knew little about this foreign language film except that it had received praise and there had been a lot of talk about actress Marion Cotillard. The film centres on a group of friends that go ahead with their holiday despite the recent scooter accident which has left their nonfriend in hospital fighting for his life. The rest of the gang head for the holiday home but of course cut their holiday down to only two weeks in what we're lead to believe is a justifiable tribute.

What follows is a two and a half hour lacklustre adventure through the groups lives, the highlight is early on, when Vincent confesses his attraction for Max.

"I love your hands"

The problem I find with foreign language films is when they attempt comedy like Little White Lies flirts with from the onset it seems to get lost in the subtitles. When Vincent tells Max his true feelings there is a sense this should provoke a big laugh, I could only manage a giggle chuckle.

The rest of the film is taken up with contrived dramatic moments for each and every character, with each one that follows becoming more obvious than the last. Marion Cotillard's character is by far the most appealing character as it seems to have more depth, while the rest of the characters battle with a mixture of relationship breakdowns, sexuality and weasels. Each dramatic moment seems to be accompanied by a song posing the question when does a soundtrack become utterly pointless and forced?

The most annoying thing about the film apart from its unnecessary length is that its most annoying quality is even mentioned in the script. Spoiler alert Max's boat house friend (sub -character) finally break the news that Ludo has died of his injuries. With the climatic emotional scene in full swing they are all told how their selfish lives and lies have meant they have ignored their friend when he most needs them. The most annoying example of their selfishness is the holiday in the first place and then when one of the friends goes to ask advice about his love life while Ludo lays in hospital near death - Ludo even looks away and thus seems to suggest he's wondering how on earth he became friends with these people in the first place.

Verdict Little White Lies has its funny moments and the development of the characters will keep anyone half interested but the film is let down because of its length and thus by the end I did not care about the lives of these people. The film seemed like Guillaume Canet had read the "directing a comedy drama for dummies", it ticked all the boxes but it didn't do much else.

Submarine

It is difficult to think of a better way to start a directorial career other than “Submarine”, especially when you think it comes from the mind of someone that many will know best from Channel 4’s The IT Crowd and his character Moss. However “Submarine” is much more than something new from an unknown face, if the critics have not already given it the superlatives it deserves then the audiences surely will. This coming-of-age story set in Wales ticks all the boxes that will win fans over. Taken from Joe Dunthorne’s comic novel we see the film through Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) eyes and his unusual take on the world around him. Although the teenage problems he faces, such as his virginity, the declining relationship of his parents and his new found love interest Jordana (Yasmin Paige) may seem unremarkable and common place in a teenage orientated films, Oliver brings a surreal take on events and many laugh-out-loud moments, all of which set the film apart.

The fifteen-year-old Oliver’s self-monologue and his self-conscious belief that his life is the fictional work of a tormented director gives the film some of its best moments. “I’ve tried smoking a pipe,” he muses, “flipping coins – listening exclusively to French crooners” – cut to a Serge Gainsbourg LP sleeve – “I’ve even had a hat phase”. The inner working of Oliver’s troubled antics is played out over the events of his mother’s (Sally Hawkins) possible romance with the next door neighbour Graham (Paddy Considine), who is a crazy, mullet-styled self-help guru…What else would you expect in Wales in the 1980’s? Oliver of course then takes it upon himself to hold his parents’ marriage together, and protect his melancholic dad (Noah Taylor), while trying to negotiate the working of a first love.

Ayoade’s style although refreshing is also the acknowledgment of many credited influences (Wes Anderson) and at times is both a revelation and portrays the experience of meeting an old friend. The most obvious example of this is the collaboration of Ayoade and Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner who wrote and sang the five-piece soundtrack. Their joint venture is a virtue to their long standing friendship and leaves some scenes reminiscent of liner notes from possible Arctic Monkeys album artwork. For those that relish the film as many have, the chance to turn to Turner’s songs will offer solace between the next watch of this sure to be cult hit..