'We lived in farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're gonna live on the internet!'

The Social Network

Facebook is a global phenomenon. Whether you use it or not, love it or hate it, you know about it. It makes life public, relationships a ‘status’ to be updated and to Facebook someone a verb, so why not make a film about it?

Some of my friends thought this to be the worst idea in the world, asking why would anyone go and see a film about Facebook? But The Social Network revealed itself to be about much more than stalking the fit bloke you met last night. As it detailed Mark Zuckerberg’s epiphany or his stolen idea, depending what side you fall on, the film manages to discuss the price of friendship, intellectual property and the unique exciting inventions our generation can produce. It begins with Mark being dumped by his girlfriend for his condescending and degrading attitude. He comes off as socially inept and too smart for his own good by then going back to his campus to ‘blog’ about the break up and creates his own girl comparing website called facemash.com. We are not meant to ‘like’ Zuckerberg seeming like a misogynistic immature teen with too much time on his hands despite his Harvard education but he does appear to be quite funny. He crashes the Harvard network and it is this angry drunken experiment which gets the attention of the school board and the Winklevoss twins. The boys have an idea for a social network exclusively available to the Harvard network. They pitch it as a kind of dating website as ‘girls want to date Harvard guys’. Zuckerberg agrees and the inception of Facebook is placed into flashbacks as we begin to see the two ongoing legal battles involving Zuckerberg and co-founder Eduardo Saverin and the Winklevoss brothers. The web of Facebook history is slowly unravelled whilst friendships disintegrate and Napster creator Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake, shoe horns his way in.

Mark Zuckerberg is played intelligently by Jesse Eisenburg who portrays him as a boy frustrated that people don’t think as fast or as uniquely as him and manages to hold the audience between love and hate during his rise (or demise) into billionaire status. Justin Timberlake is perfectly slimy and opportunistic as the enemy of the music business and the home grown Andrew Garfield holds the break out performance for me, whose naivity you can’t help but sympathise with and gives a brilliant comic performance with his overbearing girlfriend played by Brenda Song. David Fincher has certainly put his stamp on the film and one of highlights is the boat race scene in which Fincher blurs the edges of the screen, making the Thames look like a miniature town and the race seem frightening and tense. I particularly enjoyed the use of Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King or more commonly known as the Alton Towers music! This however is the longest single portion in which we can recognise Fincher’s usual traits. The film is primarily a character drama, in sunny picturesque settings and very different to the directors previous films. I would also say the nature of the films setting, being in an American college with such prestige as Harvard, will make it harder for the audience in the UK to relate to their politics of social status. The characters can come off as spoilt, privileged and inaccessible at times particularly within the legal settings as Americans do love to sue one another!

Despite these flaws I did however thoroughly enjoy The Social Network. I found the subject matter poignant and intriguing without letting too much seriousness take over as the humour was pitched correctly and with perfect timing. I would recommend it to anyone who is intrigued by the Facebook legal battle, fans of David Fincher to see the possible change of direction for him and for anyone who enjoys deconstructing the ludicrous nature of the obsession with the internet particularly Facebook and the nature of friendship versus business.

Emily x

'Jackass 3D' Trailer HD

This got a massive response on my FB, so I thought I would post on here also, for more info on the film, see Emily's news post.

Kayleigh xxx

'Do you like scary films Sidney?'

Kayleigh’s Top 5 Horror Film recommendations for the Halloween weekend.

If you’re not the (undead) life and (damned) soul of the party this weekend then I have a few horror film recommendations that will make your heart thump in your chest and your blood run cold. As a massive fan of horror, I have belligerently trawled through sequel after sequel for the ultimate scare; here are just a few of my favourites.

5. The Amityville Horror (2005) Directed by Andrew Douglas, starring Ryan Reynolds.

The story begins with George (Reynolds) and Kathy (Melissa George) Lutz and her three children from her previous marriage looking for a dream home. 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York is on the waterfront and is a massive, beautiful home coming in under below market value, so what’s the catch? As the estate agent explains the house was a scene of a brutal murder – Ronald DeFeo Jr shot and killed his parents and three younger siblings three years before claiming voices in the house had persuaded him to do it. The story is based on a novel by the same name which documents the alleged true experiences of the Lutz family after they moved into the property. Almost immediately the family becomes subject to unexplained and supernatural goings on. What ensues is a clever and scary film, George becomes the main target spending most of his time in the basement hearing voices…Ryan Reynolds turn here is brilliant, a stark contrast with the characters he plays in films like Blade: Trinity. The children are subject to seeing all sorts of ghouls and both babysitter and priest get a nasty surprise. This film will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end, with a disturbing clip at the end of the credits.

For fans of: House On Haunted Hill, The Haunting, Jeepers Creepers.

4. Drag Me To Hell (2009) Directed by Sam Raimi, starring Alison Lohman.

Loan officer Christine Brown (Lohman) is desperate for a promotion and in rivalry with another member of staff refuses a loan to an old gypsy woman Mrs Ganush, demonstrating her ability to make tough decisions. What proceeds is one of the funniest yet still disturbing fight sequences I have seen, as Christine makes her way to the parking lot beneath the bank, Mrs Ganush is waiting for her. After this violent fight, she curses a button from Christine’s coat. Christine and her boyfriend Clay Dalton (played by the brilliant Justin Long) visit a fortune teller who informs her that she is being haunted by a spirit. Over the next three days Christine experiences genuinely frightening attacks by the spirit, disgusting nightmares and faces a very large decision if she wants to rid herself of the curse. Again as a staple with many horror films, the massive twist at the end of the film assures the uneasy feeling lingers with the viewer. Alison Lohman is amazing as the long suffering Christine trying to make a name for herself at work, be accepted by her boyfriends parents and ultimately wanting a marriage proposal. The film also has moments of comedy genius, a staple of Sam Raimi’s early work in The Evil Dead films.

For fans of: The Evil Dead Trilogy, ‘The Dark Age’ Episode 8 Season 2 Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Jennifer’s Body.

3. Final Destination (2000) Directed by James Wong, starring Devon Sawa.

Not the sequels or the 3D version, I’ve gone with the original and best film in this series. Alex Browning (Sawa) has a premonition that the flight he is about to get on will end in not only his death, but also the deaths of his graduating class. When the events in his premonition begin to play out in reality, commotion ensues and Alex plus a teacher and a handful of students are left behind, only to watch the plane explode into flames from inside the airport. This film is one of my favourites as it was original; the idea that death has a plan intrigued me. Although this film is gorier than my previous choices, ten years on it is still very affecting. The opening sequence is one of the most terrifying moments in horror. As the film progresses each of the survivors is bumped off in elaborate ways (see teacher Valerie Lewton) but Alex and friend Clear (Ali Larter of Heroes fame) aim to try and cheat death, figuring out the sequence of who’s next from Alex’s premonition and saving both Carter and Alex from near death experiences. Another classic horror ending ensues with a fright and the assurance that death wins in the end.

For fans of: Saw I, The Butterfly Effect, White Noise.

2. The Omen (1976) Directed by Richard Donner, starring Gregory Peck.

Although there is an excellent remake of this film - The Omen 666 released in 2006, I have chosen the original as a stand out scary film. Now I’m not a particularly religious person but as I was brought up as a Catholic anything to with the devil still has the ability to play with my mind. I first saw this film when I was about fourteen at a sleepover. These sleepovers basically consisted of what can we rent from Blockbuster that will scare us the most? The Omen fitted the bill perfectly and we all felt rebellious watching it. The story is of an American Ambassador to Britain - Robert Thorn (Peck) who adopts a child in Rome without his wife’s knowledge shortly after his own child dies during childbirth, they name the child Damien. Mysterious events start to unravel from Damien’s fifth birthday, his nanny hangs herself, priests who warn the ambassador are burned or killed and after too many coincidences, he finally decides to go looking into Damien’s past. His discoveries lead him to believe that Damien is the antichrist. A striking and unforgettable score from Jerry Goldsmith (who won an Oscar for his work on the film) adds to the evil undertones of the film, every look by Damien is punctuated with foreboding Latin chants - "Sanguis bibimus, corpus edimus, tolle corpus Satani" Latin for "We drink the blood, we eat the flesh, raise the body of Satan", interspersed with cries of "Ave Satani!" and "Ave Versus Christus" Latin for "Hail Satan!" and "Hail, Antichrist!". As with the previous three films, the tale never ends well….

For fans of: The Exorcist, Sphere, The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

1. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Directed by Wes Craven, starring Heather Langenkamp.

For my top choice, I’ve gone with a film that is very close to my black heart, again viewed at a sleepover when I was about twelve, this film left a lasting impression on me. Forget the sequels, comic strip and awful rap song and just concentrate on the first film in the franchise. This film transgresses the boundaries between reality and dreams. If you die in your dreams then you die in real life, whom of us hasn’t had a dream that felt so real you jolted awake and feared to fall asleep again? Following in the vain of John Carpenter’s series of Halloween films, A Nightmare On Elm Street concentrates on teenagers and the morality around teenage promiscuity. A burned man with a hand that has knives for fingers tortures the inhabitants of Elm Street, stalking their dreams and Tina (Amanda Wyss) tells her friend Nancy (Lagenkamp) about these dreams, only Nancy has experienced them first hand. When Tina is brutally murdered her boyfriend is blamed and the teenagers fight to keep their sanity and stay awake. Nancy is an excellent protagonist; she is a strong willed girl that knows to look deeper than what is on the surface and finally uncovers the horrible truth about the burned man – Freddy Krueger. The success of the film is keeping your villain under wraps, Freddy is more of a threat half seen in the shadows dragging his knives along pipes in his boiler room (which subsequent films failed to recreate) than a tumult of blood and gore. I would suggest this film as an excellent introduction to horror and also the version released in 2010 as it is more of a re-imaging than a remake, Jackie Earle Haley is excellent in the role of Krueger.  You all know by now that the ending will never satisfy the audience as a Disney film would and this never fails to disappoint and after the first viewing, a few titters at the nineteen eighties effects. All of this however adds to the charm of the film, to this day I still get chills if I hear a scraping or rapping on a window, images of Freddy always come to mind.

For fans of: Halloween, The Grudge, Thir13en Ghosts.

Other horror you might enjoy:

Zombies – Dawn Of The Dead, Shaun Of The Dead, Resident Evil.

Serial Killers – Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Creep, Urban Legend.

Supernatural – Pitch Black, Cabin Fever, Carrie, IT.

And just to cheer when Paris Hilton dies – House Of Wax (2005).

Kayleigh xxx

News!!

• British Baggins

Martin Freeman has reportedly been cast in the role of Bilbo Baggins in the fourth film of The Lord of the Rings saga, The Hobbit. I am a big Freeman fan, particularly after his turn as Dr. Watson in the recent BBC adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

• Paul

A new trailer has appeared online for sci-fi comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two best friends travelling across America in search of UFOs. The film also features Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver and the voice of Seth Rogen. With a cast like this the film should tick all the boxes but I'll reserve judgement until I see it! 

Source: Empire Online - http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=29230

• Jackass?

Jackass 3D has broken records at the US Box Office, earning $50 million on its first weekend of release.

Other News;

• Keith Richards is confirmed to join the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

• Mike Leigh has pulled out of a trip to Israel after they passed a law which ‘requires non-Jewish immigrants to pledge loyalty to a "Jewish and democratic" state’ - http://www.imdb.com/news/uktopnews

• The Guardian’s website is including a top 25 in each genre for its film season, the first is comedy at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/oct/18/the-comedy-25-have-your-say

All news obtained from http://www.imdb.com/and http://www.empireonline.com/

All pictures from Google Images www.google.com

Emily x

Tamara Drewe

Based on the Graphic Novel by Posy Simmons, Directed by Stephen Frears and starring Gemma Arterton.

I really like Gemma Arterton, granted her turns in Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time were very similar, but she plays the part of the ethereal princess so well! I was in two minds about whether to see this film but was gently persuaded by my parents and sister, you see I have a little aversion to very ‘English’ films. I don’t want the rest of the world to think we all live in the countryside or London. I am all for English films and was appalled to hear of the plans to scrap the British Film Institute because of funding. The confusing thing is it’s funded by the Lottery, but I suppose that’s what you get when the country goes conservative, it’s bled of colour and creativity, but I digress. When I found out that the film was based on a graphic novel, my interest was further sparked because if you haven’t guessed already I’m a very literature motivated person!

Tamara Drewe is the story of a young woman who is a journalist and has to return home to the small village she grew up in, in order to renovate and sell her family home. Before we meet Tamara however we meet some of the local characters. Beth Hardiment and her award winning crime writer husband Nicholas run a writers retreat where the film begins, as an inspiring writer I was pleasantly surprised at this part of the sub plot and immediately could empathise with writers struggling to compose and be published. Throughout the film there is a strong sense of inspiration, Nicholas bases his characters on his neighbours, the quintessential American Bill Camp is inspired by the scenery and Tamara is inspired to write a semi-autobiographical novel from her own experiences. Even the hilariously funny Dominic Cooper as Ben Sergeant is inspired to write songs about the women and fans he comes into contact with, I cannot emphasise the importance of music in film. One of the stand outs in this film is a fan of Ben’s; Jody Long played by Jessica Barden is the epitome of a teenager in love with her idol. Her obsession with Ben will stir memories in any woman about her crush on an idol - from Robbie Williams to Robert Pattinson.

Although Tamara is central to the plot, the film does not revolve around her. Many of her actions cause the other characters to act on feelings of want, jealousy and lust – mainly the male characters! They are all linked to Tamara and her past in one way or another. However you don’t feel as if the entire plot is waiting on Tamara. As a viewer you become fond of Ben and his oafishness but like any good romantic comedy fan you also know that he and Tamara are not meant to be, that spot is reserved for the first love/ex-boyfriend Andy. This is not without its mishaps and one of the pleasures of this film is that Tamara is a very real character, a real person who makes mistakes.

The comedic relief is rife,  with the writers providing much of it – a lesbian crime fiction writer, a man struggling to write about Thomas Hardy, countless unpublished writers and the incessant line of women who come to the retreat for Nicholas and his ‘crime writing weekends’. All the credit goes to Tamsin Greig in her turn as the long suffering Beth, she portrays the character as vulnerable yet not without a sense of humour, after finding her husband has been cheating she begins to cry but can only say ‘I’ve stood in the cake mix!’.

All in all I think Tamara Drewe is a very well written, entertaining British film. It shows Gemma Arterton’s talent in an understated yet moving performance and highlights how many under the radar amazing British actors and actresses we have. However, I do feel that the end of the film was a little rushed, Tamara never fully revealed herself and we didn’t get a grand reconcile between her and Andy, just a quick smooch on the doorstep. I hoping the open ending means a sequel is in the works….

Kayleigh xxx

News!!

(Does what it says on the tin).........

• It seems to be the year for 25th Anniversary’s although it seems hard to believe that means 1985 and some of my favourite films as an 80’s addict! The first is possibly my favourite film. It is The Breakfast Club and was written and directed by the god that was John Hughes (I'm not biased!) whose untimely death only came to remind us all of his greatness. You can expect a blog posting in the future featuring me gushing about his greatness! 

The Guardian has a slideshow and pictures of the reunion screening (but employed someone pretty unfunny to write the captions) http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2010/sep/22/breakfast-club-reunion#/?picture=366940019&index=9 .

• The second is the not so timeless but still amazing Back to the Future. This time travelling comedy shot Michael J. Fox to stardom and made the DeLorean a global phenomenon. To celebrate its anniversary it is to be re-released in cinemas on the 1st October and I’m quite tempted to see it on the big screen.

• Sacha Baron Cohen is to star as the late great Freddie Mercury in a biopic of his life. But don’t get too excited as the film hasn't even been written yet but Cohen seems a good choice considering his ability to change appearance (and ethnicity in some cases) and his vocal talents portrayed in Sweeney Todd.

*

Cohen? / Mercury? 

• Michael Douglas made it to the premiere of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps this week despite announcing he is battling throat cancer. He didn’t speak to reporters but looked surprisingly well with Catherine Zeta Jones. His co-stars Shia LeBeouf, Josh Brolin and doing for the Brits, Carrie Mulligan (I like to think of her as Sally Sparrow) were also there and I am really looking forward to seeing the film if the trailers are anything to go by.

**

Douglas and Jones

• It has been reported that there is to be a spin-off television series of Goodfellas, the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film starring Ray Liotta. Don’t know if I like the thought of this, the film stands alone as a brilliant retelling of one gangster’s entire life in the mob. Let me know what you think!

• Lastly a new Harry Potter trailer was released today; I have nothing to say but eeek!  - http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=28994

* http://flashyourstache.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/sasha-barron-mercury/

** http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2010/sep/21/wall-street-money-never-sleeps#/?picture=366905981&index=2

Emily x

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

‘You're pretentious, this club sucks, I have beef. Let's fight.’

A review of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Directed by Edgar Wright starring Micheal Cera.

For a film based on a graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim has a lot to live up to. For the general consensus, Scott Pilgrim will be put in a league with all the other comic book/graphic novel adaptations from the last few years. However, Scott Pilgrim delivers a KO right to the jaw of the likes of Iron Man 2, Spiderman 3 and Ang Lee’s adaptation of The Incredible Hulk.

This comedy/action film is based on the comic book series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley and directed by Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead/ Hot Fuzz fame. We are thrown straight into the middle of Scott’s life from the outset of the film, much like the latter films mentioned. The audience meet Scott’s new high school girlfriend when his friends do, Knives Chau played beautifully naïve by Ellen Wong, as well as being introduced to Scott’s band Sex Bomb – omb. This sets the precedent for the fast paced dynamic of the film, accompanied by a pumping, bass filled soundtrack with songs written by Beck. Music is an important theme throughout the film, with three of the evil ex’s being defeated by Scott and his bass. Soon Scott meets the girl of his dreams (literally as she turns up in his dream on roller blades) in Ramona Flowers – all kooky and dry wit and breaks up with Knives who is devastated. From Sex Bomb – omb’s first round in a battle of the bands contest, Scott learns in order to be with Ramona he must defeat her ‘seven evil exes’ who have formed an allegiance. Beginning with Matthew Patel as a strange combination of pirate/bollywood star, we as the audience also learn it’s not going to be easy for Scott. He defeats Matthew and we get a small snippet into Ramona’s past life containing many a battle.

My personal favourite ‘evil ex’ is Lucas Lee played by Chris Evans of Not Another Teen Movie fame. Lucas is a cocky mixture of Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis, with a Christian Bale esque gravely tone. His team of stunt doubles attempt to do the most damage to Scott, however Lucas reaches his demise when demonstrating a dangerous skateboard stunt Scott tricked him into because, ‘There are a lot of chicks here’. The most telling part of Scott’s story is through the defeat of Ramona’s next ex. Todd Ingram is also a bassist and dates Scott’s ex-girlfriend Envy Adams, who cruelly dumped Scott when famed called for her. Her name is telling of a range of emotions Scott felt when she was discovered before his band and also the betrayal he felt through Envy and Todd’s relationship. However through the defeat of Todd, though not plain sailing, Scott realises he can finally put Envy in his past. The most telling part of Ramona’s story is through her next evil ex Roxy Richter, the battles are taking their toll, Scott causes their relationship to falter somewhat as he is unable to process her dating history.

For any fan of old school gaming this film will bring back a sense of nostalgia, so many of the graphics made me feel like a kid again playing my Sega Mega drive, especially in the final acts of the film. Scott harnesses the ‘Power of Love’ and the ‘Power of Self Worth’ – with the help of a huge sword provided by the 1 Up life he gained from defeating the Katayanagi twins, Ramona’s five and sixth evil ex’s during another round of the battle of the bands. Unfortunately for Scott, Ramona’s final evil ex is G Man-Graves, the sponsor of the battle, Sex Bomb-omb sign with him and Scott is forced to quit the band with the excellent Young Neil (played by Johnny Simmons) replacing him on bass. The final act of the film sees Scott alone and ready to win Ramona back whilst defeating Gideon ‘G Man’ Graves at his new super club Chaos Theatre – which isn’t really chaotic at all. A very video game ending follows with Scott able to resolve his issues throughout the film.

Michael Cera is ‘that guy’, the character he plays so well, geeky but loveable. In Scott Pilgrim however his edge of arrogance adds a new layer to his repertoire, mirroring his excellent turn in Youth In Revolt. The fact that Scott is somewhat a super hero only adds to Cera’s credence whilst he continues to help the geek chic revolution of smashing stereotypes (thank you Tobey Maguire).

Kayleigh x