Last Flag Flying Review

Richard Linklater's new film Last Flag Flying is in UK cinemas from 26th January 2018. I caught it at London Film Festival and reviewed it for Starburst Magazine. Here's a snippet of my review:

"Richard Linklater delivers his most mature film to date in Last Flag Flaying, starring a trio of acting heavyweights; Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell and Laurence Fishburne. After offering some of the greatest films about boyhood, high school parties, college days and finding young love while travelling, Last Flag Flying sees the director on melancholic form with a film about war, death and growing old (not so) gracefully..."

Read more of my review of Last Flag Flying at Starburst Magazine here. 

Here's the trailer:



More from the London Film Festival 2017

 

21 Years Trailer: Celebrating Richard Linklater

Alright, alright, alright... looked what just popped up on my Twitter feed yesterday. I had no idea that there was a documentary being made about director Richard Linklater's career so far from Slacker to Boyhood.

The trailer has got a wealth of stars who have appeared in his films from Billy Bob Thornton through Keanu Reeves and Jack Black all the way back to Wooderson himself Mr Matthew McConaughey. Like director Jay Duplass says, Linklater is one of the most interesting and varied directors working in film at the moment, particularly with his 12 year experiment Boyhood having just been released to great critical acclaim this year.

Check out the trailer below and then click on Linklater's filmography to ensure you haven't missed any of his films. If you haven't seen Dazed and Confused, the Before trilogy and Waking Life, those are my recommendations for where to start.



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Top 5 Films to Look Forward to in June 2013

Each month, I will pick 5 films that I am most looking forward to, starting with June 2013. This month we have Brad Pitt in an action horror blockbuster, the return of Richard Linklater (for the second time this year), James Franco and Seth Rogen playing themselves and plenty of Michael Shannon. In fact we have two films about the end of the world, two featuring Shannon and two featuring Franco. After Earth is also out this month but though I love the idea that Earth has evolved to get rid of the human race, it also looks a bit like a vanity project for Will Smith and his son (and let's face it that household needs NO more income).

Behind the Candelabra starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas also narrowly missed this list. I wasn't at all interested in seeing it as I barely even know who Liberace is but at a Slackers Club free screening, I was blown away by the two central performances so I would highly recommend it.

Anyway enough about the other films not presented here. Instead here are the top 5 films I'm looking forward to in June:

The Iceman (7th June) Starring Michael Shannon as a real life hit man who led a double life, killing people for a living but hiding it from his ordinary family. It's the first of two Shannon appearances on this list but will likely be the best performance of the two. The supporting cast includes Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and James Franco and it sounds too weird to be true. Unfortunately it is both brutal and frighteningly true.

Man of Steel (14th June) The next Michael Shannon film on the list sees him taking the old Terence Stamp role of General Zod against new Superman Henry Cavill. I started off thinking this was going to be a dull attempt to Nolan-ise a character that would not fit into the dark, down to earth, realistic style of The Dark Knight but actually the copious trailers and TV spots have been growing on me and I'm more than willing to give this latest incarnation of Superman a go. Also it has Amy Adams so... yeah.

Before Midnight (21st June) The concluding(?) part of a beautiful trilogy about flirtation, falling in love, letting go, re-connecting and finally marriage with kids will see the welcome return of Jesse and Celine who met 18 years ago one night in Vienna. Or on a train headed for Vienna anyway. Now the couple are perhaps older, wiser and on holiday on a Greek island, I can't wait to see where Linklater and the cast take this ever developing relationship. It's starting to feel a bit like the book One Day if we keep meeting these characters so infrequently. I hope this one gets a bit tragic with the couple facing the realities of life together and maybe the possibilities of love and happiness together being not so sweet and simple.

World War Z (21st June) Not sure if this is worth getting excited about because they've clearly made a huge mess of the book but on the other hand it's not every year we get a huge Hollywood blockbuster featuring the zombie apocalypse. So many things worry me about this adaptation (the messing with the book's narrative, the over use of CGI, the reshoots etc) but I can't help but be intrigued to see how it turns out. No doubt it will be more action than horror to keep it kiddie-friendly but never mind.

This is the End (28th June) I get to see this on Tuesday thanks to the Total Film screening club. It should be a self-indulgent silly mess with all these stars playing themselves (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Danny McBride etc) but the trailer looked pretty funny so here's hoping this is a film lover's comedy dream with plenty of cameos and references and an apocalyptic plot to keep things lively.



So that's my June sorted. I'll be happy if I see even half of these in the cinema! What are you looking forward to in June?

Ethan Hawke in The Purge and Before Midnight

Ethan Hawke is all sorts of awesome and over the next month(ish) there are two films to look forward to featuring the star; The Purge and Before Midnight. The Purge trailer really surprised me a while back. Usually I'm pretty good at guessing the film from the first few frames or at least the first few seconds of a trailer but when I saw this, I had no idea what it was.

I hadn't actually heard anything about The Purge until I saw the trailer. The opening laid out the premise that sounded completely implausible and ridiculous. Then once it got into the action, I was hooked. For some reason it reminds me of a 90s film I used to LOOOOOOOOOVE as a kid called Judgment Night with Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr and Denis Leary. That was about a group of guys stuck in a ghetto with a madman on their tale chasing them down because they wtinessed a murder. Perhaps it is the dark tone, lighting and all set over one night thing that reminded me of The Purge.

The Purge is set in an America where the government have decided to let everyone have one night off from being law abiding citizens. The night is called the purge and is a way for society to let off steam and apparently has been very effective in reducing crime the rest of the time. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey play a couple who lock all the doors and bar all the windows to their big, nice house and wait for the purge to pass. Then one of their kids lets a terrified stranger into the house and a group of masked psychos come a-knocking to get their prey back out.

No matter how ridiculous that premise sounds, I can't wait to see this film! Crime without consequences and people having to protect themselves from all kinds of degenerates without the help of the emergency services. Get me a ticket! It also reminds me of the upcoming You're Next which also has masked psychos causing madness after a home invasion.

Here's the trailer for The Purge:



Then if that isn't enough Ethan Hawke for you or The Purge just doesn't sound like your kind of thing, Before Midnight is finally out later in June. (Holy crap it's nearly June already?!) This could be the final part in what has been a beautiful trilogy about falling in love, rekindling an old flame and now marriage. Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have crafted beautifully written characters and revisiting Jesse and Celine is a constant pleasure. Set on a beautiful Greek island seeing the couple finally settled down with kids, I'm really hoping this is going to be a somewhat happy ending for the pair but who knows?

Here is the trailer:



Which bit of Ethan Hawke are you most looking forward to? Anyone seen either of these yet?

Check out more trailers on I Love That Film here.

Side By Side vs Sound City

I had a fascinating double bill of two documentaries on Sunday; Side by Side followed by Sound City. One has Keanu Reeves asking the greatest living directors in cinema all about their thoughts on film vs digital formats and the other has Dave Grohl reminiscing on the studio where Nevermind was recorded back in his Nirvana days.

Both these documentaries dealt with the technologies of creative media production in accessible but differing ways. Side by Side is concerned with film and looks to the future more than the past and Sound City is concerned with making music and mostly looks to the past. Both offer a history of producing entertainment/art with Sound City focusing only on artists that have recorded at the legendary but now defunct recording studio. Side by Side focuses on Hollywood and American independent filmmakers mostly and gets a fairly balanced look at the differing opinions of many filmmakers on the digital vs film debate.

Both documentaries feature a roll call of famous talent from their respective mediums; Side by Side has Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Richard Linklater, Danny Boyle, David Fincher whereas Sound City has Paul McCartney, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor, Stevie Nicks and many more.

Side by Side details the history of film and the encroaching spread of the use of digital technology from sound to editing to cameras. Sound City details the history of the studio before Dave Grohl collects together an array of musicians to record an album on the old Sound City production board. Both the films seems to mourn the passing of a more traditional way of making their arts.

I was in awe of both of these documentaries and their stunning access to major players in both the music and film industries. If you have any interest in films or rock music, you will most likely be enthralled by both of these films. They are not just a testament to a bygone age and a consideration of the modern technologies and what has been lost and gained, they are also a unique chance to hear many legends speak their mind about their passions.

Sound City trailer:



Side by Side Trailer:

BERNIE: A real life Robin Hood

Bernie is first of all the story of a murderer but also it is the story of a man who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. In Richard Linklater’s film, Bernie is played by a cuddly, effeminate Jack Black in a role that requires him to do some rare emoting rather than just singing, dancing and acting the fool.

Bernie is based on a true story and Linklater structures it with talking heads from the Texan townsfolk, some real, and some actors and spins a yarn of a soft man bitten once too many times by a hardened old crone (Shirley MacLaine) and eventually driven to killing her.

Marge Nugent and Bernie are inseparable after the pair meet at the funeral of Marge’s extremely wealthy husband. As the local mortician, Bernie is loved by all the townspeople and particularly the little old ladies who he dotes on, especially after their partners pass on. Bernie could be a sinister character but not in the hands of Linklater and Black. Instead he is a simple man; a good Christian, loving friend, caring community member and harmless helper to Marge. And possibly gay the film also suggests for good measure.

Marge on the other hand is a miserable old miser; wealthy but estranged from her family and the townspeople and with only Bernie for company, she finds him an easy target for manipulation. The pair go on fancy first class holidays together and Bernie becomes her slave as the domineering old woman becomes too much for even this soft-hearted big old teddy bear of a man to take.

So eventually Bernie does the unthinkable and if Linklater’s film was not a true story, it would be beyond belief. Bernie hides his dastardly act from those around him through a number of nefarious means and the true story takes a turn for the even more surreal as Bernie goes to court but the ordinary townsfolk rally around him.

The real life Bernie is a far more interesting enigma than what is presented here. Linklater makes him a saint, spending Marge’s money on making the community better and helping the church, the children and the local businesses. He takes little for himself, in effect robbing the rich Marge and sharing the wealth amongst the poorer struggling townsfolk.

Bernie is portrayed almost as a modern day Robin Hood, Jack Black giving a wonderful performance as the sweetheart at the centre of a scandal, miles away from anything he has done before. If the real Bernie did distribute the wealth so selflessly from the greedy old hag to the people of the town, then the world really does need more Bernies right now. He may be a murderer but the greed of some of the richest people in this world could be seen as far more destructive then killing one selfish old bag for her cash.

However Linklater’s film could have done with exploring the darker side of the character a little more. There had to be more ambiguity to investigate rather than painting MacLaine’s Marge and Matthew McConaughey’s DA Danny Buck as the straightforward villains and Bernie as such a simple, smooth and saintly sinner.

Bernie is pretty light on laughs and takes its time getting going but is worth catching for an interesting Jack Black performance and a tantalisingly twisted true life story.

Check out the trailer below and read this article by the real Marge's nephew if you want to know how truthful the film is:

Iron Man 3, Bernie and 21 & Over

I have three more preview screenings lined up over the next fortnight; Iron Man 3, Bernie and 21 & Over. April is turning into a very busy month for film screenings. I already had Evil Dead, Olympus Has Fallen and The Look of Love in the bag but now I have three more to add to the list.

While I'm not the biggest comic book lover in the world; Iron Man, Batman and Hellboy are definitely my three favourite comic book characters and Robert Downey Jr has been consistently charming and funny in the last two Iron Man films. The addition of Shane Black on writing and directing duties is the biggest draw though. Shane Black has written some brilliantly witty and action packed scripts and his directorial debut with Downey Jr starring was the wonderful Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. That film made me fall almost completely in love with Downey Jr and is a huge reason for his successful comeback surely. If only it had done the same for Val Kilmer.

Also that Superbowl spot for Iron Man 3 that just featured a bunch of people falling out of a plane with Iron Man deciding what to do next was pure marketing genius. THAT's how to get me interested in a film (without showing me too much of the story)! I hope Kingsley is as epic as he looks! Here is the Superbowl spot if you haven't seen it, plus the full trailer:





Bernie re-teams director Richard Linklater with Jack Black after the success of School of Rock. I'm looking forward to seeing this as I've got a lot of love for Linklater and it looks pretty quirky, fun and with an interesting and slightly different role for Black than normal. Still, it's really just filler until Before Midnight gets here! I sure hope that nice Mr Matthew McConaughey is playing a slightly more pleasant character than in Killer Joe though! Check out the trailer below:



Finally there is 21 & Over which looks pretty funny but I wouldn't be surprised if all the best bits are in the trailer. I guess it could potentially be this generation's Ferris Bueller. Or it could just be a horrible mess full of crass stereotyping. I want to hope its as fun as the trailer looks in places. Check it out:



Any of these take your fancy?

Before Midnight Before You Know It!

Here's a new picture straight from the set of the just wrapped trilogy closer Before Midnight, courtesy of Total Film.  Ever since Before Sunset left fans dribbling for more in 2004, people have speculated about whether we would ever get to see Jesse and Celine back together again.

Then today comes the news that not only is the film definitely going to happen, it's already wrapped in Greece and will be hopefully sold to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival which starts today!

Anyway here's the picture.  Look forward to more on this soon.

Read more over at Filmoria.

Why I love that Sundance Film Festival

It's just a week until the Sundance Film Festival 2012 opens its doors on 19th January.  Showcasing new work from independent filmmakers from all around the world, it's always a good place to start searching for the next big thing.

Documentaries, dramas, short films and features are all given their time to shine in the many venues of the festival, held annually in Park City, Utah.  Peter Biskind's brilliant book Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film details the festivals humble origins through its rise to the largest independent film festival in the USA.  Biskind's book is highly critical of Harvey Weinstein and is less than complimentary about the success of Miramax through it's distribution of indie films often picked up at the Sundance Film Festival.  But the book does highlight why Sundance is such an influential and important fixture on any movie lover's calendar.

People might be wary of the commercialisation of the independent sector and film festivals like Sundance and Cannes that are becoming more and more about selling mainstream product masquerading as quirky indies but there is no doubting the importance of this festival and others like it to young, low budget drama and documentary filmmakers.  Incredibly popular films like Saw and Four Weddings and a Funeral got a huge boost from their screenings at Sundance before becoming box-office behemoths. 

Sundance has also kick-started the careers of some of the most excting directors of our generation.  Tarantino took Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and despite not winning anything in competition and a slow-start to the box-office success of the film, there is no doubt that its popularity is indebted to its start at Sundance.  And without Tarantino, we wouldn't have the masterpiece Pulp Fiction and one of the most exciting prospects for 2012, Django Unchained.  The same year, Robert Rodriguez took his $7000 action movie El Mariachi to the festival and the praise heaped on it kicked off his career that would take in kids movies (Spy Kids), Tarantino collaborations (Sin City, Grindhouse) and sequels/remakes (Desperado) to his original DIY creation. 

Similarly, Sundance can be thanked for the career launching of indie/mainstream straddlers Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater.  Clerks and Slacker, none more cheap, independent and inspiring were screened at the festival leading to interesting and diverse careers for both filmmakers.  Smith might misfire every time he tries to go mainstream (Jersey Girl, Cop Out) but his recent Red State suggests a return to form as well as a risky move away from letting the big corporations handle distribution.  Linklater has similarly flirted with the mainstream with the successful School of Rock but is probably best loved for his indie charmers Before Sunrise and Sunset.

Among other films that have benefitted from their showcasing at Sundance are Primer, Memento, Precious, Little Miss Sunshine, the phenomenon that became The Blair Witch Project and last year's Another Earth.  And that's without even mentioning some of the great documentaries that have been given an all-important push by their prize-winning turns at the festival; Hoop Dreams, When We Were Kings, Murderball, Supersize Me and Senna among many, many others.  It really is a breeding ground for young talent who have struggled to make interesting, independent films on small budgets.  And if they happen to get picked up by rich distributors ready to spread the word of these little gems in return for profits, then so be it. 

This year Quentin Dupieux brings his surreal-looking follow-up to Rubber to the festival.  Despite being titled Wrong, I hope it gets it head-fucking right.  The First Time sounds like a sweet bit of teen romance and The Imposter looks like one of the documentaries to keep an eye out for.  But after Aussie crime drama Animal Kingdom's success, perhaps new Aussie mystery Wish You Were Here (again starring Joel Edgerton) is the film that has the biggest chance of smashing through to the mainstream.  Only time will tell.  One thing I know for certain is that I wish I was at the Sundance Film Festival to find out.


The festival kicks off next Thursday and just in case you didn't know, unfortunately I won't be there.  Anyone reading this going?  Anyone heard of any other hot tips for this year?  Anyone think indie film is being ruined by the commercialisation of film festivals like Sundance?  I'd love to hear from you.