There was a lot of chaos about the end of August, especially on Twitter. "Goodbye August" was a good one. And another certain, more predictable trend "Hello September" started & continued into the week. Shame that we, as a civilisation, have lowered our public dialogue to simple catchphrases. This could be, & probably is due to either marketing tweeters or a number of famous tweeters. It might actually be due to couple of non famous tweeters that have 10's of 1000's of followers & tweet every minute of every day (no names mentioned)
Anyways, as usual, I look on films released every week, & one caught my eye. The Skin I Live In. I was sceptical about seeing it at first but, as soon as i heard the incredible reviews, I just had to. And boy was it worth the fiver.
Shown at The Little Theatre in Bath, the Pedro Almodóvor Spanish film premiered at the 2011 Cannes film festival and many critics thought it should have won the Palme D'Or instead of Terence Malick's 'The Tree Of Life'. But, that was also very good, & I see why it did win.
'La Piel que Habito' was absolutely stunning. It looked really polished, superbly well though out, cut & the narrative structure could not have been better. As a film about a surgeon Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), the sterilised clean look somehow, reflected on what the story was about. As a man that managed to save his wife from a ravenous fire, receiving 99% burns to her whole body, he later lost her to suicide due to the sheer & utter shock she induced whilst looking at herself. Their daughter witnessed this fatality right in front of her.
After learning that his daughter was raped & later would face the same fate as her mother before her through fear, paranoia & madness, Ledgard finds a way to exact a justifiable revenge on her daughter's trauma & death, but also creating something that his late wife could of been. The main central twist is so huge that I cannot reveal much, but, it will be worth it & is one of the best & shocking film twists of the year. The immediately rocketed to the top 5 films to see this year & is a must see film. Don't let the subtitles bother you. They don't really matter!
I wouldn't have seen this film if it wasn't for cycling to Bath instead of wasting a fiver on the train. Worth the pain!
Randomly, after seeing the Renault Ad with Clare Maguire's Ain't Nobody (Breakage Remix) playing, I spotted the classic shot of Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast At Tiffany's eating a danish pastry & drinking coffee in the window of Tiffany's. I had never seen that film before, and felt that I was missing out. So, after much searching, found it on DVD.
I must say, it is fantastic! Hepburn is mesmerising as Holly, the New York socialite caught in her own fantastic world & the real world in a film original written by Truman Capote. Even though she knows that the real world i all around here, she chooses to live in her own. The main relationship between her & Paul (George Peppard) a writer really gets embroiled in her story. Her accent in particular is a charm in itself. The character certainly overshadows everyone else, including Peppard. Her story is encapsulating & can has more substance than you think. The whole film is stolen by Hepburn's Oscar-nominated performance. In my view, her best role of her acting career. A film well worth watching Audrey Hepburn's performance alone.
After reviewing the film, I got a little message from Audrey herself via her twitter @MsAudreyHepburn. I'll let you make you're mind up who she really is.
Another film I saw just recently was the Inbetweeners movie. Again, I felt a bit sceptical about seeing this, despite my love of the TV series & phenomenal success on the big screen
'Kevin & Perry Go Large' suddenly just popped into my head and I see why. Although not as appealing as The Inbetweeners, it applies to a similar demographic, but at a different moment in time.
When it cam to sitting down in the cinema only just yesterday, I felt a lot of frustration when they chose to show 30 minutes of trailers & adverts before the film, which frankly, is a joke & a waste of time. Considering the film was only 95 minutes long, I wanted it to start just to get my moneys worth. although, being a Première Club member, managed to get 40% off with a nice print out voucher via email. Sweet as.
The beginning scenes of the film were funny, but a bit sun standard for any coming-of-age comedy drama. But these guys will later go on to perform acts of sheer stupidity coupled with random acts of nudity, sex, violence & bodily functions. Anyone who's seen the film or knows about it, will know what I mean about the dancing. Coupled with the "Manchester" boy bit, they combine more some absolute silly hysterics that are genuinely funny, especially for fans & viewers of the TV show.
The major letdown was the main human plot to the film. It was weaker than I thought & leaked real feeling & emotion, although the Simon bits were handled well with great skill, but with soppy dialogue, unfortunately. It does get rescued by the relationship they have with a group of girls. Along with the ridiculously funny moments throughout, the 4 girls bounce off the 4 guys, Will, Jay Simon & Neil really well, doubling the potential for more comedy & drama.
I did expect more interaction with each of the guy's developing relationships with the girls. Another 5 minute would do nicely. But the dialogue they had didn't really develop much & apart from Will's girl friend Alison and Simon's girl friend Lucy. I felt that Lucy should of said much more to counteract with Simon, but it was handled really well in the moments they had together. All will be become clear in the film.
Will's relationship with Alison was OK at best, but was more about Will's virginal aspirations. A touching, but cheesy moment did kind of rescue it, but, was kind of a route I've seen before in American Pie.
One thing about The Inbetweeners Movie that was perfect was the casting. The group of girls was superbly cast & worked well with each of the lads. The other minor characters that reappeared throughout the film worked well, including a lone English tourist on his hols.
I was really happy with the ending, with everyone I liked in the film having their own unique enjoyment. I really felt that Neil's relationship with one of the girls Lisa was spot on & was the most enjoyable to watch, despite Jay's contrasting relationship with a girl not to his liking.
Despite one or two minor technical problems. The one where Neil's voice & sound dip down & back up near the end is one that slipped through the net. One or two minor pull focus shots didn't quite work, but, nonetheless, everything else was spot on. Don't expect a big movie with pumping sound & perfect voice quality, cause, it's not that kind of film. It is a purely British film all about the characters & story and how they develop & change throughout the length of the film.
Here's a sneaky peek of what's in store of probably the most successful British film of the year. A major surprise to both me, critics & everyone else, including it's core audience loyal to the TV show.
Believe me, it is well funny, filthy & proper good fun.
Cinema listings can be found here at The Inbetweeners Movie
Peace x
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