The Kite Runner – DVD out now

The Kite Runner is based on successful the book of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. The film is centred on two friends growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970’s. One boy Amir is a wealthy Pushtun and his friend the eternally loyal Hassan is the son of his Hazara servant. The boys’ great friendship changes when one day Hassan is attacked and Amir, while witnessing it, doesn’t go to help. Amir is overcome with guilt over his cowardliness but can only deal with this by distancing and ultimately causing Hassan and his father, Ali to be driven out of the home. Then in 1979 the Russian’s invade Afghanistan when Amir and his father flee to America. Years later when Amir is happily married he finds the childhood friendship and the debt to Hassan pulls him back to a much changed, dangerous and Taliban controlled Afghanistan.

This was always going to be a difficult film to make, the book it is based on is rich and detailed, and also much loved. I was moved by the book but felt overall strangely unmoved by the film. The child actors are great although I felt that there was not enough exploration of Amir’s guilt over the attack on Hassan. Also I felt that the film overall seemed to focus more on life in the USA rather than the original friendship, and the ultimate journey of redemption that Amir makes. There was also lots of stereotypes in particular on the return journey. For me as well the ending felt rushed and almost feels wrapped up like a made for TV film. Not a patch on the book, which is a shame.

From the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ISBN 978-0747566533

http://www.kiterunnermovie.com/

Directed by Marc Forster

Starring:

Khalid Abdalla – Amir
Atossa Leoni – Soraya
Shaun Toub – Rahim Khan
Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada – Omar
Zekeria Ebrahimi – young Amir
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada – young Hassan

The Road – Due to be released later this year.

Heres another picture from The Road the film that is based on the Cormac McCarthy book of the same name.

The film is due for release later this year and will star Viggo Mortensen.

A web site has just been launched and can be found at:

http://www.theroad-movie.com/

The Happening – Out on DVD Now

The Happening is the latest movie by the writer / director M. Night Shyamlan who has made films like The Sixth Sense, Signs and more recently The Lady in the Water. This movie opens in New York when for seemingly no reason there seems to be a collective desire by people to commit suicide. The story then shifts to Elliot Moore (Wahlberg) and his wife who flee the city with their friends’ child. They ultimately join with other displaced people and start unravelling the mystery of the happening – Moores idea is that it appears that nature is fighting back he cant be right or is he?

I’m finding it hard to begin commenting on this film, I suppose I wanted reviews I had read on the films release to be wrong and that there was something redeeming about this film – unfortunately the reviews were right. The story is clumsy the plot so glaringly obvious its hard not to equate it with watching a 50’s B movie, rather than one of the more promising directors to emerge in the past few years. There is no subtly about this film, which may work when watching a horror or action movie but a film that is trying to explore natures ability to bite back it seems totally out of place. The script painfully points out the obvious and Elliot Moores analysis of the situation and leaps of knowledge are quite frankly laughable: (whats doing this? Is it the grass? The grass is speaking to each other? etc) I was left wondering with his uncanny ability to analyse any situation why he wasn’t running NASA or up for the Nobel Prize rather than teaching in a high school.

Another problem is the acting: Wahlberg is so awkward and unable to handle the material (and its not rocket science) he fails to make anything look realistic, and likewise Deschanel also gives a clunky performance that generally only requires two facial expressions from her – frowning and mild surprise. There is also no chemistry between the couple, who are supposed to be married but have no interaction spark or any vague understanding – its almost painful to watch.

The overall idea is not a bad one, I just feel it was handled badly; it almost made me wish that the happening were happening to me!

Director & writer: M. Night Shyamlan

Mark Wahlberg – Elliot Moore
Zooey Deschanel – Alma Moore

http://www.thehappeningmovie.com

Quantum of Solace – James Bond 007 – out on DVD now

This is the latest in the Bond movies and the second in the newly rebooted post Bourne Bond.

Quantum of Solace picks starts just after Casino Royale finishes with James Bond out for revenge for the death of his love, Vesper. Bond’s quest takes him across the globe finally ending in Bolivia where he uncovers a plot that involves a corrupt environmental company run by a Dominic Greene (Amalric) seemingly intent on owning a barren area of land. In the process Bond makes a companion out of the beautiful Camille – who is also after revenge. In the meantime M tries rather unsuccessfully to keep Bond in line and she begins to questions everyone’s loyalty as a traitor is found in the ranks.

I loved the rebooted Casino Royale; it was exciting and took Bond into new territory with Daniel Craig looking like a man who could kill with his bare hands (and crack a walnut with his thighs!). Casino Royale also gave us a thoughtful Bond with a tender side that hadn’t been previously seen, a really interesting beginning to what was previously, for me, a largely one-dimensional character so there was a lot to maintain and improve on in the next Bond film. Unfortunately for me Quantum of Solace didn’t live up to expectations. The film feels hurried and just like an add on. I can swallow the concept of the timeline occurring straight after the previous movie but this film bounces from one action scene to the next with little story. Craig is as good as he can be in a role that largely just requires him to act like action man and nothing else. Judi Dench is the only character with amusing lines and personality, and maybe that for me is the main disappointment from such a good start with the rebooted franchise the clever scripting has already disappeared. Even the special effects occasionally looked hurried and unfinished – which for me was pretty much the overall effect of the movie.

Director: Marc Forster

Starring:

Daniel Craig - James Bond
Olga Kurylenko - Camille
Mathieu Amalric - Dominic Greene
Judi Dench - M
Giancarlo Giannini - Rene Mathis

http://www.007.com/

First Look at Russell Crowe in the Ridley Scott directed Robin Hood

Heres the first picture of the new Ridley Scott film Robin Hood which reportedly stars Russell Crowe as both Robin Hood and the Sherriff of Nottingham (apparently!).

The film is due for release on 14 May 2010.

This picture was released on USA Today

Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) in Cinemas Now.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this film for ages, it has consistently had amazing reviews and something different was promised than the usual vampire movie I’m pleased to report that I wasn’t disappointed.

This film centres around a lonely 12 year old by Oskar who begins a friendship with newly moved in neighbour, Eli a girl who looks 12 but is in fact a much older vampire.

This film is so much more than the very short synopsis that I have written. It is a film that deals with many deep issues; isolation, love, romance, bullying, fear, hate, murder, theft and even grooming (this occurs in a completely unexpected way). In fact all of the themes in this film are given a twist and presented in a way that makes you look at the issues in a totally different light.

The friendship and budding romance between Oskar and Eli is handled sensitively and with tenderness, in this film a brush of a hand speaks volumes in the silent snow covered backdrop. Oskar’s has an innocent unquestioning acceptance of Eli’s strange behaviour; she insists that she’s not a girl she’s ‘something else’ and she appears at windows that are several floors up and then states ‘I flew’ and he doesn’t even ask ‘how?’ This relationship is vital to the film as these fragile and damaged characters slowly bond and begin to need each other (the young actors are amazing).

This is a film that visually is isolated and stark, the setting is a snow covered Swedish housing complex in the 1980’s, grim, drab, rundown, ugly and neutral. The snow visually creates a blank canvas in which the two central characters exist. This is also a film that is shot through with visceral red and the pain of Oskar’s struggle to be accepted at school, images that will stay with me for some time.

Go and see it before Hollywood remakes it.

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Oskar - Kåre Hedebrant
Eli - Lina Leandersson

Adapted from the book – Let the Right One In by John-Aivide Lindqvist
ISBN-13: 978-1847241696

http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/

Terminator: Salvation

New Terminator: Salvation concept art work has just come on line.

theres some amazingly detailed images that provides us with a taster for the film which is to be released on June 3rd :

Click here for Terminator Salvation Concept Art

and heres the link to the offical website:

http://terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com/

New Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Trailer

A new international trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been released and can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9memLopBGBM

The film is going to be released on the 17th July 2009

Offical Website:

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthehalf-bloodprince/

Eden Lake out on DVD now

This is a British ‘horror’ movie from the same team that made The Descent in 2005 it is directed by first timer James Watkins. Eden Lake concerns a couple (Jenny as Steve) getting away from it all with a romantic weekend at a rural beauty spot. Their idyllic weekend is spoilt by a gang of local kids hanging around the lake, Steve makes the mistake of confronting the gang and a struggle ensues, a gang member pulls a knife which ends in a pet dog being stabbed – the gang then decide to exact a revenge. This begins at petty thievery, they go onto steal the couple’s car and this then quickly spirals into extreme violence in which involve the couple being chased cat and mouse through the woods.

This film does have a lot of good points not just in the way it is shot; the couple loosing control of the situation as it slowly gets out of hand and the situation becomes more extreme, adults becoming belittled and over powered by a group of kids. I also liked the idea of a gang mentality – the dominant ringleader urging others onto more and more brutality – all recorded for prosperity (and blackmail) on a mobile phone.

I found the overall story though quite predictable and even the ending (which I
won’t describe) which has a surprise twist didn’t really work for me and although a premise for any film is needed the UK (overall) doesn’t have the wide expanse of woods or land to make this all together plausible – one thing about the UK is that more often than not you are close to a road, house village etc. This is not a land where you can run for days and not come across civilisation – although maybe I’m just being picky on this account.

I think that the major flaw in this film comes from the clunky and cartoonish stereotyping – the yuppies; lovely sweet, articulate, affluent (they even take scuba gear to a camping trip by the lake) and then the chavs; inarticulate, brutal, violent, knife wielding and rude (although they have the right mobile phones). It is a shame that all working class people in this movie are depicted as brutal, stupid and without humour or compassion. I can understand it being hard to stand up to a group when you are a child but the behaviour of the adult ‘chavs’ in the movie though does its best to go for the easiest shock tactics and I’m sure that ever Daily Mail will be very scared.

It isn’t a bad film; it’s just not a great one either which is a shame as it is well shot and acted but what a waste of the excellent rising star Thomas Turgoose – shame on you.

www.edenlakemovie.co.uk

Director James Watkins

Starring
Kelly Reilly as Jenny
Michael Fassbender as Steve

The Road – a Novel by Cormac McCarthy

I’ve just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy a very simple but very powerful book. It provided me with a lot of food for thought and I would recommend it totally.

A movie of the book is currently in production and should be about this year – no date has yet to be fixed on this. I’m hoping that the film lives up to the power of the book. I’m excited that Viggo Mortensen is in the film as he’s a great actor. I’ve managed to find a photograph of the production and will be following developments over the coming months.

The Road – The movie:
Starring Viggo Mortensen as the Man
Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy
Guy Pearce
Robert Duvall

For further information on the book:
http://www.cormacmccarthy.com/
ISBN 978-0-330-44754-6

The Changeling – Out on DVD now.

This is based on the true story of Christine Collins, a Los Angeles based single mother who in 1928 returns home from work one day to find her son, Walter, is missing. Months after his disappearance she is told by the police that he has now been found. In fact he is still missing and the police replace him with another boy, in an attempt to create some positive press news instead of tales of police corruption and incompetence over his disappearance. The police persuade her that the boy is her son even though he is obviously not. Christine refuses to accept the attempts at authority to impose this cuckoo in her nest and fights back against them, a course of action that gets her committed by the police to an insane asylum. She still continues to fight back.

As well as this being a story about one mothers search for the truth this is also a tale of deep corruption in the LA police force and for me there lies the problem. Clint Eastwood is usually an accomplished film maker who treats his subjects fairly. I feel, for me, that in the case of this film that he spreads his net too wide. Yes Christine's story is a compelling one and yes the police are corrupt but I feel the focus should have been on one area and not both. I feel that although she was thrown into an asylum for no reason (along with others) even this plight is glossed over. Previous police corruption, is glossed over, and for me even the court case is glossed over. I also didn’t feel much compassion for Christine, she accepts the cuckoo child and is photographed with him, she complains, shouts (and whines) but for me it seems she is mainly lead in her quest by the Rev Gustav A. Briegleb (Malkovich) who seems like the overriding driving force in clearing her name, yet I know nothing of his motives for undertaking helping Christine and he is afforded no other screen time than saying ‘I am going to do … for you Christine’, or ‘I have brought someone to see you Christine’ etc.

Overall for me a good film but disappointing for an Eastwood directed movie not a great one.

Director and Cast Information:

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Staring Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins

& John Malkovich as the Rev Gustav A. Briegleb