Son of Rambow

Son of Rambow

No I haven’t seen it yet, but honestly how can a film fail when you have casted fantastic actors like these. I will be very surprised if this is not going to be one of my favourite films of 2008.

Tonight I will attend a preview of it with a Q&A with director Garth Jennings after the film. Garth Jennings is one of my director heroes as he is the man who directed The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and yes I happen to like that film a lot. And not only because of the excellent casting of Slartibartfast.

I have been banging my head for forgetting to take my copy of The Guide with me today. It would have been awesome to have his signature beside the one from Slartibartfast. I might have a go at buying a copy in my lunch time here in Notting Hill.

Son of Rambow trailer
Official site

I have seen some more films recently, and you can find them here. There haven’t been any great ones since Juno.

I know it is kind of on the low site, the writing here, but honestly there is not that much to write about. I guess today’s horoscope (do I believe that crap? No! But sometimes they are just very accurate) is very true:

You’re not sorry to be seeing the back of March. You’ve got a nagging feeling that you haven’t done your best this last month. You’re right. But you know you’ll do better in April. Think ahead, positively.

So I picked up my script yesterday, felt completely alienated from it, but will put my teeth back in it and finish it. There.

Rain from my brain

Piccadilly Circus in the rain

I am struck by a severe (blog) writers block (and wondering who is interested in reading all this crap shit stuff anyway), so a couple of notes and then I am off.

When I took this picture 2 days ago (without having an umbrella at hand but not minding the rain) I focussed on the reflections on the pavement, I am annoyed now that I did manage to cut off the top of the umbrella on the left.

Some words about the Oscars:

I was very pleased to see Marion Cotillard winning the Oscar for best actress. La Vie En Rose was one of the best films I have seen in 2007 and she is to blame for that. Fantastic performance.

I was also pleased to see Juno win best Screen Play. Appreciating films like Juno with an Oscar is encouraging, Juno has been made on a low budget, and it proves that it can be done: making a great film on a low budget. Have you seen it yet?

I don’t share the hype about No Country and have not seen There Will Be Blood (not in the mood for a film like that).

Some short film reviews:

  • The Bucket List, even though a bit too Hollywoody in some places is wonderfully uplifting, despite the fate of it’s two main men. Jack Nicholson is funny. And, as you know, I love actors who can act with their eyebrow. Jack is a master.
  • I thought Jumper was crap. Hayden Christensen doesn’t have any on screen charisma, and the story was so bad I left the cinema before it was finished. Only high point in this film is Jamie Bell.
  • Be Kind Rewind. I so looked forward to this one, the trailer looked great, Jack Black is spot on for the role, and I love Mos Def. And I loved, loved, loved Michael Gondry’s The Science of Sleep. Be Kind Rewind has a great premise, and the parts where they “swede” existing films is great, but the story was messy and unfortunately I have to say that overall I didn’t like it very much.

March is going to be a train travel month. With film shoots (for work that is) planned in places like Oliver Lucas’ Shropshire (I strangely look forward to that, even though the man is a made up character in a play!) , Exeter (a visit to England’s beautiful Devon and close to south Coast at last) and Edinburgh (mmm yeah talk Scottish to me). I will try to plan the shoots in a way so I can stay over for the weekend and see bits of the country. Not the least because I desperately need a holiday as my head is on the edge of exploding.
More about this soon.

Yo ho yo ho

Davy
You owe me your soul…

When you are reading this, we are in the cinema.

And we are watching, are you ready for this: Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End

And I can hear you think: What?? No!

No! No! NO! NO!! This can’t be true. Not that film again. You have seen it 15 times in the cinema already. You got the DVD! I thought we were passed this!

Yeah, well I am kind of not.

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My hands are shaking

The name is Nighy, Bill NighyThe internet connection at home will be down until Monday (and has been down since Monday and it drives me nuts) and having been out of the office yesterday – no possibility to write at all. So I apologize for the radio silence. I am afraid it is going to be a somewhat messy post. But one with style and grace and deliciously long legs.

The networking evening
Shortly: nothing happened.
As said, being shy and selfconscious, meeting new people at an event like this is not easy for me. A couple of unexpected tips and tricks things helped me – a lot.

A good friend send me some awesome pictures of Bill – and said “Think about those when you have to talk to people. It will put a smile on your face”. It did, in fact it worked so well that I, from now on, am going to do this every single time I have to meet scary new people like this. One of those pics is currently my windows background. And hitting it home, one of my male(!) colleagues who noticed that – “God he has really long legs hasn’t he?” Oh yeah he does. Rock legs.

Sam (my screen writing tutor) who was there too said “Don’t take it too seriously, just pretend you are walking around in a comedy”. That helped too.

And finally – one of my male classmates, who has loads of experience in the film industry told me:
“I hate this.”
Me “Me too.”
“I am incredibly shy.”
Me: “Oh tell me about it. I hate to have to sell myself and my story like this. I don’t want to do it.”
“Me neither.”
“But we have to.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll take a drink and then we will cast ourselves into it together.”
“Good plan.”

And so we did. It was somehow comforting that he was just as intimidated by the whole setup as I was.

In the end I did try to pitch my story to a producer, but my pitch sucked so much that I saw him switch off his ears after 1 minute. I wanted to die. He politely waited till I was finished. Still did give me his business card and than ran off. (Not quite but it felt like that). I promised myself to shut up from that point on and not do any attempts to pitch my story to anyone that night. I got some more producer business cards just by mentioning “rom-com” but know that those are “producers” who probably haven’t produced a single film yet. And I know one film needs to be their first, but I find it hard to take producers without business cards seriously.

Basically there were a lot of people around pretending to be more than they really were. The Nancy Meyers and Duncan Kenworthy’s won’t come to events like these. I won’t either, not before I have learned how to pitch my story in no longer than 30 seconds. So that’s my goal.

Good things that came out of this meeting:

  • In the tube on my way there the title for my film popped up in my head. So that’s one thing off my to do list.
  • It was quite nice to meet my class mates in a non class room environment.
  • I can talk to people without shrinking in front of them (when concentrating, not taking it too seriously and by thinking about photos like these).

Tonight it’s Cirque du Soleil, tomorrow it’s another day of work on the 60 seconds short.

A short remark about the miniature Trabant on the kebab stick: it was a clean kebab stick! And we just pinned the car on it in order to move it across a green screen. You won’t see the stick in the final result of course, and the stick made it easier to move the car around than fish wire. Green screen work is really cool to do, and by experimenting we learn a lot about it. The 11th of February you will hopefully see what I am talking about.

Sunday is reserved for writing on my no longer title less script, and on Monday I will need a holiday even more than I do already.

Enjoy your weekend.

Oh one more thing- Quantum of what?
Maybe someone had a couple of Wodka martini’s too many chosing a title like that?

Apart from the title,
something to look forward too.

The Good Night – a rom dep and D.I.R.L: 6

Movie Maniac

OK, The Good Night

Lorenzo (owner of the now closed THE Cafe) already told me about this movie a year ago, they had shot a short sequence in his cafe. That was reason enough for me to see it. Bonus was that both Martin Freeman and Simon Pegg are in it too. Two of the funniest actors in Britain in one film. Surely that would guarantee a funny rom-com.

Surely I can be wrong about things sometimes, as this is the first Rom-Dep I have ever seen. I have never been this depressed watching a wannabe rom-com, it wasn’t funny at all and I haven’t seen any real romance either. What a crap script. What a crap movie!

And then I wonder – how the hell did it get made? Who puts money in crap like that? And than you read that it is written and directed by Jake Paltrow, which is indeed the brother of, and Gwenneth was in this film too. And I thought – shit – I wish I knew someone famous, because then I would be making my film next year.

So fully depressed I left Screen 6, and walked directly into Screen 5 where I injected myself with instant feel-goodness. Yep, find your pen and mark it up – Dan in Real Life – viewing number 6 was a fact.

I have just heard a first version of our 60 seconds film soundtrack and wow, it sounds quite cool. It needs a bit of adjusting but it is going to be a great thing to have a soundtrack tailor made for our short short.

I am in the middle of a screen writing class weekend. My script hasn’t been analyzed yet (will be tomorrow) but during the 30 minutes we had to stand outside because of a fire alarm, my tutor told me that it has moved a million miles (in the right direction) from my first version. Just hearing that is enough to keep me going with this script. That and the fact that I truly love my story.

Have a great weekend too.

Let my love open the door

I picked it up, walked to the counter to pay and suddenly realized how pathetic it must have looked. I wanted to say – this is going to be a prop for my short – it is not for Valentine’s day – but I didn’t say anything. I just paid and walked out – with my new red heart shaped bowl. It is a great prop. And the wooden man (a New Yorker who lives with me) agreed with me totally.

The silver coloured heart in the bottom has a chime inside. I bought it in a shop in Notting Hill because I really like the sound and shape, and because it might be a prop too. I didn’t buy it because I am obsessed with hearts or anything, you know me better than that.

I saw Dan in real life again today in the Chelsea cinema. I love this film so much, it’s funny and touching and I laughed a lot and cried and I think Steve Carell is so adorable in this film. The fact that I know the soundtrack inside out made it an even bigger pleasure to watch. I apologize to all other viewers for singing along in the cinema and I want a soundtrack like that if I ever get my film made.

Sneak preview

Sneak preview

We made a film. It is not finished yet, we need to edit it, but yesterday we were out in the beautiful weather London is offering us at the moment and I found myself directing actors, composing shots and generally feeling more at ease doing all this than I ever thought I would.

The actors couldn’t have been more perfect, they were great and so nice to work with.

We will edit it hopefully this week, and yes, yes, yes we will upload it as soon as it is finished. Overall it was a great experience.

I just got a mail from my film partner, and the rushes seem to look “promising”, which is good!

It is only a 60 seconds film, so nothing major, but it is something I seriously have contributed to. I meet a lot of people who say they want to make short films but never do it. We did it, and however the end result is going to be, I feel good about it.

I took the above picture yesterday. I know there isn’t that much to see, I do have some nice stills from the actors too, but I need to have a talk with them first to ask if it is OK to publish them.

And I can’t wait to make the next one.

There are things to say

Coping Strategies was special and touching and I am happy I saw it. I saw the first of only 2 cinema screenings and the cinema was filled with people who either were connected to Yarrow or had been involved in the making of the film itself. The film (28 minutes) is about Shahid, a young man with learning disabilities, who breaks free from his doting mother for a new life of romance, independence and indulgence. Bill Nighy makes a short guest appearance as his social worker. The film was both funny, touching and surreal.
More about the short shoot and giving a presentation »

Love+Rock: Change the world

Love+Rock: If I could change the world
(Her legs seem to be growing, she is unconsciously turning into a lanky girl. Nothing wrong with lanky people though, on the contrary)

Blame Bill for reading Eric. And Eric for singing this song.

I saw And when did you last see your father with Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent this weekend. This is one of those movies where not that much happens but it gets to you anyway. Jim Broadbent is playing Colin’s dad, he gets terminally ill and the film is about the last period of his life. About looking back and talking about things that have been left unspoken for a lifetime.

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Once (8.5/10) – review

Once

If you think that music is not that powerful a medium think again. I saw Once tonight, at last.

Of course I am a tragic romantic to begin with, I had no real idea what the story was about, but I already cried during the second song. There is so much beautiful beautiful music in this film, the story is nearly secondary to it. It’s about meeting someone at the right time on your path through life.

Hear and see Falling Slowly on youtube, buy some tickets for you and your (boy/girl/whatever) friend and watch the film in the cinema, the music alone will make you enjoy the film.

What I also find interesting about this film is that it has been shot in 17 days for a budget of about £75.000. That is impressive. Yes there is shaky camera work. And yes the acting is not always as sharp as we are used to. Nevertheless, I think it’s a great little film worth seeing.

Something that really amazed me while watching this film was the fact that the woman sitting in front of me was filming the film with her handheld video camera. This film is part of the Raindance Film Festival and I don’t know how stupid she thought they were in the cinema, but she got stopped filming during the film. And there was a rather large welcoming comittee waiting for her at the end of the film. How stupid can you be?

Back to music, Anton Corbijn’s Control (rave reviews all over here in the UK) is lined up for this weekend as well and thanks to Bill reading his autobiography: I am now pushed into an Eric Clapton revival too. This weekend will be filled with 2 songs. The above mentioned Falling Slowly and Eric Clapton’s If I could change the world.

I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could
Change the world

Oh baby, if I could.

Lady Chatterley – review (9/10)

Lady Chatterley

I don’t know if I love this version of Lady Chatterley this much because it is about true love but it might have something to do with it. The music alone made me cry several times, and the nature shots were very nicely integrated into the story. Yep there are several scenes of a sexual nature but nothing shocking, I found them tender and true. And there is full nakedness too, which I thought beautiful as the story is about finding yourself and about discovering love. I particularly loved the scene where the two main characters (Lady Chatterley and her lover) are running around naked in the pouring rain, it is beautifully liberating.

I didn’t know the book before I saw this film, and I know the story is set in England (the book is written by D.H. Lawrence), but the fact that this film is a French version of the story didn’t really bother me. I had no problems with the game keeper (Jean-Louis Coullo’ch) either, I could understand why she fell for him. (some reviewers have said that he wasn’t hunky enough, well he was for me).

I was very happy that this version of the film, although being French, chose to end the story in such a way that tragic romantics like myself did not have to leave the cinema completely heart broken.

Recommended? I certainly think so!

Pies, animals and Sparkle

Films I have seen recently:

Evan Almighty
[rating:1/5]
Yes it is as bad as you think it is. Morgan Freeman deserves so much better than this. And another example of the fact that stupid scripts do in fact get made into block busters. It’s a ripoff from Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey which I thought was quite funny.

Waitress
[rating:3.5/5]
Lots of pies, and one of the better recent rom-com’s, but just not as good as I hoped. The sad story here is that the first time writer/director of this film, Adrienne Shelly got murdered while working on this film. She was only 40 years old.

The Hoax
[rating:3/5]
A casting error? Richard Gere, I like him, but he doesn’t fit in this film. I was not engaged in the character at all. The story was kind of interesting, but not the best film I have seen.

Transformers
[rating:3/5]

The sound effects are awesome and so are the cars turning into big robots scenes. The story is far out, but it’s entertaining, for the most of it.

Films I really look forward to:

Sparkle
by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger and
They made Lawless Heart – do I need say more? If you can write a line line “I once faked a broken heart but I ran out of energy” and have that performed by a farmer (played by Bill Nighy) – that’s when my heart starts jumping. That farmer was called Dan by the way. Ring any bells?

It hurts a bit to know that they had casted Bill Nighy for the role now played by Bob Hoskins (I think – and not bad either) or Anthony Head who is in it as well, and another reason to go and watch it. But problems with funding messed up the production plans, and Bill had to move on to other projects. Still a film I really look forward to and I am going to a Q&A session with the makers of this film next weekend.

Lady Chatterley
Wow, the music in the trailer makes me feel like falling in love. Very powerful, I hope the story is as good.

Eagle Vs. Shark
Love the poster.Saw the trailer – looking fantastically quirky! I love quirky.

Hallam Foe
I saw Billy Elliot again yesterday and I cried like a baby again. I love to see Jamie Bell in this new film.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – review (7.5/10)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Today at the box office:

“Hello”
“Hello, what can I help you with?”
“A ticket for Pirates please.”
“Pirates no longer runs in our cinema.”
“What? You got to be joking.”
“I am not.”
“You can’t just take Pirates off the program, I wasn’t finished with it.”
“Aha, well …”
There is a movie review in there, somewhere »