Clone (2010)

‘Clone’ starring Matt Smith and Eva Green.

Romantic and cute, then all sorts of though provoking - if you watch Clone and don’t get into an argument with someone over the idea of human cloning I owe you a medal. Or some more argumentative friends.

For Matt Smith fans – of which there are plenty. You get two lots of Matt for your money. Kind of.

Rebecca (Eva Green) and Tommy (Matt Smith) spend a summer together as children before Rebecca’s family move to Tokyo. Twelve years later Rebecca comes back, seeks out Tommy and begin the relationship hinted at during their childhood.

After a fatal accident, a distraught Rebecca is unable to face the thought of never seeing Tommy again. She opts to give birth to his clone and raise him as her own son.

Rebecca struggles with how to deal with being in love with the person she is raising as her son. As he grows to look more like the adult Tommy the emotional confusion deepens.

Surprisingly for a science fiction, well anything really, the scenario is believable. Cloning is set in an understandable and remarkably day to day context and the motivations behind creating a clone are entirely plausible.

Clone looks lovely. In a bleak sort of way. With a lot of moody beach scenes and shots, pretty much regardless of the action. Romance, heartbreak and inner turmoil play out against the same background.

It has a decidedly calm feel to it. The story never really picks up the pace, even the usually frantic Smith is subdued-ish. Instead it unravels steadily. With the odd moment of madness such as the accident which kills Tommy and the culmination of Rebecca and Tommy’s relationship - when the truth is finally revealed.

Confusingly it is also billed as ‘Womb’ – same film, different title. And yes, you get to see his bum.

Who’s that face?

Matt Smith (Doctor Who) plays Tommy

Eva Green (Camelot) plays Rebecca

Hannah Murray (Skins) plays Monica

Natalia Tena (Harry Potter) plays Rose – she’s on screen for a minute or two, go get a cup of tea and you’ll miss her.

Lesley Manville will probably be a familiar face too. She’s pretty much been in a different TV series or mini-series every year for the last 20 years.

Fast and Furious 6

Fast and Furious 6 is coming to Glasgow, with scenes being filmed from late August.

Due to be released on the 24^th May 2013 keen eyed Glaswegians may recognise Cadogan Street (down by Central Station) and Broomielaw (north side of the river) as a heads up for anyone who might want to chance their hand at watching some filming – that’s where you are going to want to be. Up until early September when they are due to pack up.

I’ve never watched a Fast and Furious film and the plot line hasn’t been released for this one yet. I do however understand that there are fast cars, a lot of Vin Diesel and presumably copious amounts of fury. So I imagine the new one will be a lot like that.

And potentially with a little Rihanna.

So happy days.

 

NT Live :Frankenstein in Glasgow

This Sunday is the last shot for theatre fans to catch Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein at the GFT.

Before anyone starts freaking out, these performances are pre recorded and beamed out to a select number of cinemas for a limited number of screenings.

And this is the last of them in the area.

Currently there are no plans for DVD release, no plans to air it on the television and a theatre re-run isn’t on the cards.

Sunday’s screening has Jonny Lee Miller taking on the role of the Creature with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Victor Frankenstein.

I was swithering about this one. At £12 a ticket hanging back for the DVD looked like the more sensible option but as it is I’m currently off to buy tickets. Being informed does truly ruin good plans.

You can get them here.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) 12A

When one of the main actors is Robert Downey Jr, you can expect nothing less than the film to resemble something close to the ‘Robert Downey Jr Show’ he’s quite the scene stealer.

In Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows he is at least fairly matched by Jude Law who is as exasperated as any good Watson should be.

Holmes and Watson

The film looks great, plenty of high octane stuff. Explosions a plenty. Some pretty nifty camera work too. With at times a slightly disorientating number of slow motion shots there are also more of the same style of ‘deduction’ sequences as there were in the first film. Effective enough, but not as impressive as their first outing.

The Watson/Holmes relationship should be – and is in this adaptation – fun. At no point should they be dowdy, serious old men. And hurrah! Downey Jr and Law inject the feeling of – if he wasn’t my best friend in the whole wide world… I would have killed him by now, perfectly.

Despite my blatant love for the whole Arthur Conan Doyle inspired dynamic and this adaptation’s leading men. Jude Law’s moustache even gets a pass despite the general wrongness of a moustache without beard. Holmes however is a little too concerned about the banter between himself and bezzie mate Watson, his deductions take the back seat for much of the film, and when he is being terribly clever it is made overly obvious by changes in filming styles. The audience knows to assume he’s a clever chap and this assumption is relied upon a little too heavily.

It does give up some decidedly quotable lines, my particular favourites during the sequence with the horse. ‘Dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle’. Fun little lines like these really make the film which is much more of a family blockbuster than a mind melter. I do applaud the decision not to introduce another love interest for Holmes – Watson aside – as it gave it the chance to stand alone without going all gooey. Removing the need for a damsel in distress.

Noomi Rapace takes the female lead, but she’s rarely in distress. Plus she can take care of herself. Which is refreshing.

Director Guy Ritchie isn’t trying to appeal to fans of the books here. I suspect the target audience is more along the lines of Robert Downey Jr fans. In its defence it doesn’t try and sell itself as serious or particularly close to the original stories.

What it is, is fun and fast paced with plenty of purpose built for 3D moments which made it a good-looking view at the cinema.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is out on DVD and Bluray on the 14^th of May.

Star Trek (2009) 12

It’s Star Trek Jim, but not as we know it.

Filming for the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster has just wrapped up but isn’t due out in cinemas until May 2013. Plenty of time to get more people hooked on the newest Star Trek reimagining.

I think the far left is Simon Pegg. Hard to tell.

Chris Pine stars as James Kirk. Born on an escape shuttle he never meets his father, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) who only lives long enough to save his entire crew and pregnant wife from a hostile Romulan ship lead by Nero (Eric Bana). Nero is determined to wipe out each of the Federation planets, making him our bad guy.

Kirk, back on earth, twenty or so years later is bright but rebellious and after a bar fight of all things, is recruited into Star fleet to begin his training.

He’s charming and exceptionally cocky. So of course eventually comes to blows with Spock (Zachary Quinto) but gets on wonderfully with Bones (Karl Urban) who nearly drove me mad before I managed to place him as Eomer from Lord of the Rings. He happens across future Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) who thankfully manages to sound Scottish without just sounding rough.

So many names, and twice the amount of Spock there technically should be. Yet the team from the original series takes shape throughout the film. Also including Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Sulu (John Cho).

Director JJ Abrams despite being the executive producer of Lost has put together a film which if you briefly ignore the time travel is fairly straight forward. Boy grows up without father, has authority figure issues, is a bit of a chancer, turns out to have a series of positive personality traits, beats the bad guy then becomes captain of the SS Enterprise. Fairly straightforward.

I think it’s safe to mention Kirk finally gets the ‘Captain’ added to his name by the end of the film, this baddie is defeated and Nimoy seems to be sticking around for the sequel despite officially retiring in 2010.

If anyone reading this has seen the Star Trek film with the whales… This one is a lot better than that.

Plus, the blooper reel is one of my favourites.

Sherlock Series 1 (2010)

Because woe is me I haven’t bought the second series of Sherlock yet.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson the series is made up of three film length episodes.

BBC Sherlock promo shot

Any adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories needs to be pretty damned clever and co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have outdone themselves on this one.

I attempted to do a little round up of what Gatiss and Moffat have been involved in for anyone who is unfamiliar but gave up. I’ll point you toward imdb instead. I’m fairly certain they must wander around the BBC joining in on projects, cause these boys have it covered.

The three episodes are as follows:

A Study in Pink – brings the series bang up to date with John still dealing with his experiences in Afghanistan, he’s got a psychosomatic limp, a cane and a head full of nightmares. He moves on in with Sherlock. Goes on an adventure involving a deranged –yet brilliant- cabbie and comes out the other end walking tall. Sherlock very quickly proves he’s very good at being a genius, but not so good at being with people.

The Blind Banker – Sherlock gives making the police look dim a second go as he is once again called in by Scotland Yard. This time it’s a break in, two murders and a code which needs to be cracked. Impressively, even at this point in the series Sherlock Holmes having a swishy coat and a Blackberry rather than a deer stalker and a ye olde magnifying glass makes sense. The people who do Cumberbatch’s shirts however, need to wise up and get him some that fit.

The Great Game – the consulting detective, the consulting criminal and one hell of a cliff hanger. Sherlock has a series of mysteries to solve – each one bringing him a step closer to the fantastically played Moriarty (Andrew Scott).

Like I said, swishy.

For anyone who has read the original short stories there are quickly recognisable nods to them throughout. Which I will warn you now, are much more fun to point out if you are watching with someone who has also read the stories.

For anyone who enjoyed the series on TV, the DVD is worth a look. The pilot episode, which runs along the same storyline as A Study in Pink is included and proves the good throwing extra cash at a great programme can do. If you are interested in this sort of thing/nosey then the differences between the pilot and the first episode make for an enjoyable albeit prolonged game of spot the difference.

It is funny, clever and hits you right in the feelings. What’s more, it’s something a little different.

 

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Scott, Rupert Greaves, Una Stubbs and Louise Brealey.

 

Wee babes the lot of them.

 

 

Starter for 10 (2006) 12A

Unlike its American counterparts Starter for 10 is a story of student life without the bikinis or the kegs – and is all the better for it.

Before hitting university many of us could have told you more about the American College system, as told in the plethora of films running along the same lines as American Pie, than we could about the institutions and general goings-on within your average university.

We shouldn’t forget that British kids do stupid things too.

Set in Thatcher’s 1980s Brian (James McAvoy) is an Essex boy who certainly manages to fit in a few stupid moments. Through hard work and enthusiasm manages to make it into Bristol University. A general knowledge buff he gets onto the quiz team taking part in University Challenge where he meets odd ball, uptight team leader Patrick (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Alice (Alice Eve) who he develops quite the crush on.

Infatuated by the pretty posh blonde Alice, Brian fails to notice political activist Rebecca until it is almost too late.

There is the expected undercurrent of a shifting class system, but that’s the era for you. Rather than straying into dangerous (for a rom-com) lecture territory the film focuses on the characters, letting the feeling seep through their dialogue every now and again.

Brian is well meaning but a bit of a prat. Very much like any new student, certainly like many of the ones I’ve come across – myself included.

It is very sweet, awkward, entirely dorky and quintessentially British without resorting to a top hat.

In Darkness (2011) 15

Iranian film, ‘A Separation’ must truly be something to behold to beat ‘In Darkness’ for the Foreign Language Film Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards.

In Darkness is the lingering story of Leopold Socha the film’s reluctant and unexpected hero. Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is a sewer inspector in Nazi occupied Poland. He happens across a group of Jews who instead of choosing between being shot in the street or being sent to a concentration camp are taking a chance – turning to the potential safety of the sewers.

Socha is instinctively an anti-Semite, and has an eye for making a profit. Despite the five hundred Zloyt reward for each Jew handed over to the authorities, Socha plans to make as much money from the Jews themselves by charging them for protection, then handing them over. Profiting twice.

He finds them a relatively safe location in the sewer system. Underground the atmosphere is tense, realistically shot there isn’t enough room for the camera to retreat from the action. People are hemmed into the dank depressing sewers and so is the viewer.

The lighting adds to what was always going to be a tough watch. Seemingly only lit by small handheld lamps the oppressive nature of being underground is intensified.

Despite focusing on the 11 people Socha is helping, the plight of the ordinary man and woman in occupied Poland is never forgotten. Cutting not only to the horrors above ground – ten innocent Polish men hung in the street for the murder of one German soldier – but to normal situations, the pressure of suspicion and tender moments of family life.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland, a Polish veteran herself, In Darkness is based on a true story. Krystyna Chiger the young girl in the film went on to write The Girl in the Green Sweater which too describes how the small group survived thanks to Socha.

There are a number of holocaust stories out there, The Diary of Anne Frank and Schindler’s List are two well known concentration camp stories, but back in the cities there is clearly a story which needs telling too. In Darkness sits the viewer down for almost two and a half hours of exposure to the horrors of the holocaust, the cruelty of the Nazi regime and the inhumanity of greed and power.

Far from an easy watch, In Darkness is an eye opener. It ruthlessly carries on; even the lighter moments are tinged with tension. Occasionally a character will burst into laughter but this isn’t comic relief, simply the portrayal of the human reaction to stress.

Half way through the screening the film paused for a minute or two – some technical difficulty or another. The audience stayed silent for the entire impromptu break. A testament not only to the film’s action but to the remarkable performances all round.

War Horse (2011) 12A

Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse follows Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) and his horse Joey from field to farm. Then all the way to France after Joey is bought by the British cavalry at the beginning of the First World War. Albert eventually follows, determined to find him and bring him home.

If you haven’t already read the book, didn’t see the play and happened to miss it when it was in the cinema first time around you can still catch War Horse in the GFT from Monday 19 to Wednesday 21.

If you meant to but still haven’t seen it after this opportunity, it is nothing short of sheer carelessness.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, War Horse of course looks amazing and during award season was quite rightly nominated for a remarkable number of sound and visual effects awards. As well as being Oscar nominated for Best Motion Picture.

Award season credentials firmly in place, on to the cast. Now, not being a particularly big fan of horses –too big, kind of funny looking – even I was won over by this film which unarguably has a one in the starring role, credited or not. There is just too much horse based screen time for Joey to be seen as anything else.

The named cast is large, the main characters change as Joey moves from owner to owner as Albert’s journey continues parallel once he makes it to the trenches. Their journeys finally come to a head after a truly stunning sequence tracking Joey as he runs through no man’s land.

Every time Joey moves on from one group of characters to another I had the urge to drag the action back to where it was, continuing to develop the human’s tales rather than the horse’s. Only to feel the same way with the next set of characters.

Though as a result, you are exposed to such a range of human experience, all differently affected by the war. From cavalrymen, deserters, boys on both sides of the trenches and the civilians swept up in passing.

It is almost a shame that War Horse is based on a novel with a young target audience as there is so much dark story telling potential lost in its slightly simplistic, optimistic delivery.

My Week With Marilyn (2011) 15

Marilyn Monroe has two distinct reputations. Always portrayed as either the sex symbol or the deranged actress.

My Week with Marilyn touches on both, with enough middle ground to make Michelle William’s version of Marilyn entertaining whilst staying believable.

At times childlike and at others reassuringly powerful Marilyn is a woman torn between her own insecurities and the consequences of her fame. Men want her and the public adore her – poor Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) didn’t stand a chance.

Colin manages to wing it onto the set of “The Prince and the Showgirl” as third assistant he fetches, he carries and he catches the eye of a lonely Marilyn Monroe.

Not that he complains, who would? It’s the Marilyn Monroe.

Their relationship is sweet, not quite innocent but he is a good boy and she is a married woman.

Kenneth Branagh gives a convincing performance as Sir Laurence Olivier, his distaste for method acting and ‘easy’ untrained fame means he is the only one not fawning over Marilyn. Acting, direction and writing aside. This alone makes him my favourite character.

Thing is, people love Marilyn. It’s why Michelle Williams was criticised so heavily for being chosen to play her and it is why she is still so much of an icon today. As a result you come away from the film safely with very much the same impression of her as you went in with.

An easy and entertaining film. William’s gives an impressive performance, Branagh is solid (he does infuriated very well) and it was nice to see Emma Watson without the wand.

My Week With Marilyn comes out on DVD on the 16^th, this Friday.