Rev Stan's film blog

Competitive, the Harry Potter trio?

This is quite cute. Lots of it on the DVD extras please Warner Bros.

Leaving (the hard way)

French film Leaving opens with a couple in bed. Husband is asleep. Wife is laying on her back staring at the ceiling. She gets up and crosses to the bedroom door and disappears off down the corridor. Moments later a gun shot is heard.

*potential plot spoilers* The film then rewinds to six months earlier in the couples life. Suzanne, the ever elegant Kristin Scott Thomas, is planning to go back to work after 15-years spent raising her family with her Doctor husband, Samuel (Yvan Attal). Samuel is reluctantly paying for some out-buildings to be converted into a physiotherapy studio for her and it is during the building work that she meets Spanish labourer Ivan (Sergi Lopez).

Even before an accident brings her and Ivan closer together it is evident that she relishes the project and new lease of life it gives her outside the family routine. Suzanne and Ivan embark on a passionate affair but racked with guilt she confesses to her husband and promises not to see Ivan again. But the love and passion between the two, coupled with the new life it engenders for Suzanne means it is a promise she can't keep, so she leaves her husband.

One of the best cast films of next year?

The cast of upcoming X Men First Class just gets more and more interesting. Not only does it have Stanley favourites James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender and the interesting Aaron Johnson but now Nicholas Hoult has joined the team.

It's good to see acting talent being chosen over brawn and looks for a comic book movie and with Matthew Vaughn at the helm it is definitely going to be on my watch list next year.

Hearthbreaker: Is a French chick flick more chic?

A gorgeous, swarthy French man who breaks hearts for a living? Yep that's the premise of this French chick flick.

A French chick flick? But surely French films are chic, stylish and sophisticated, not fluffy, contrived and unfunny like rom-coms tend to be?

Well Heartbreaker certainly has a storyline straight out of writing rom-coms 101.

*Potential plot spoiler* Alex is hired to split up unsuitable relationships by flirting with the girl. He, assisted by his team of sister and brother-in-law are hired to break up a couple ahead of their wedding which is just a week away. And he falls for the girl.

There is Gallic charm aplenty in the form of Romain Duris as Alex and Johnny Depp's missus Vanessa Paradis as the sophisticated and chic bride-to-be/love interest Juliette. And some delightful rom-com moments such as when the two leads re-enact the famous dance scene from Dirty Dancing.

But there are also some odd moments of slap-stick, usually centred on the brother-in-law who desperately wants the heartbreaker role, which just don't quite fit.

The pace is baggy in the middle and without the Dirty Dancing scene towards the end to lift the film the whole thing was in danger of falling a little bit flat.

So is a French chick flick more chic? Well Romain Duris certainly brings a big dose of je ne sais crois to proceedings and it has the glamourous Monaco as it's back drop but overall it's just a mildly pleasing rom-com that happens to be French.

If you do go and see it, make sure you get the version with English subtitles and not the awful dubbed version. (Hate dubbing with a passion. It should be banned.)

The professional view

Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it two stars saying: "This French attempt at a high-concept Hollywood-style rom-com falls pretty flat, despite Romain Duris's nifty dance moves."

Little White Lies recommended it enjoying the heist movie approach saying: "It exudes the air of authentic European chic that Steven Soderbergh tried and failed to capture in , whisking its bedazzled audience from the streets of Paris to the hills of Monaco where everything is bathed in the golden glow of wealth, health and success."

I'm not sticking the trailer at the end of the post, as I usually do because I can't find a version that isn't dubbed.

Definitely the sort of Twilight-nerdy fan thing I like

Someone over at Twilight blog has watched Eclipse while painstakingly noting down which scenes the songs from the soundtrack (including bonus tracks) appear in.

Brilliant. It's the sort of thing that bugs me when I'm listening to certain songs on the sountrack - but not enough to be actually bothered to do the same thing. So thanks, Twilight blogger.

And yes, I agree with their verdict, it is a real shame the Florence + the Machine song is buried in the end credits.

And here is the beautiful, beautiful Florence song which would have worked in so many other places, Jacob carrying Bella for example...

Download 04 Heavy In Your Arms

Twilight Eclipse - the verdict

  

Definitely had different expectations going into this one compared to New Moon. I really loved New Moon as a book but not so much Eclipse.

I always thought Eclipse would benefit from a film makeover to put a bit more dramatic tension in it. The book seemed bogged down with back story, building up to a big scary battle that was ultimately neither big or scary - only baddies died and none of the goodies ever really looked threatened, well OK, so Jacob gets a little bit roughed up.

Anyway back to the film. Before I went to the cinema I had a reply to a tweet saying that the film closely followed the book, which made my heart sink a little. And it did closely follow the book.

There is a lot of back story which made the pace a bit soggy at times but, I enjoyed the film more than the book for several reasons.

Firstly the book is tome-length (Stephanie Meyers was suffering from the JK Rowling successful writer-indulgent editor syndrome) so condensing it down to two hours means a lot of guff is inevitably cut. 

Off to see Eclipse this afternoon

Yep, I'm excited. The reason? Well I have to confess that the book is my least favourite - too much character stuff and a big build up leading to a damp squib ending (wrote my thoughts on all four books after reading them here). But a bit of Hollywood interference might just raise it's game a little.

And there is no crucial scene that I loved in the book that I worry the film makers will mess about with so I can head to the cinema feeling completely relaxed and hopefully come out entertained. If not there are always all the fit young men to look at. 

Will no doubt be posting my 'review' tomorrow.

The young Potter trio goofing around on set

Love this sort of stuff. I'm hoping lots of it ends up on extras on the final DVD's

Meryl Streep to play Margaret Thatcher?

Apparently Meryl Streep is in negotiations to play Margaret Thatcher in a new film about the former British Prime Minister scripted by Julian Fellowes. And my immediate reaction is: eh?

I normally don't have a problem with American actors playing Brits and vice versa - if they can master the accent then it shouldn't matter - but there are certain roles that it just doesn't seem, well, quite right. It would be like having an American Harry Potter, for example.

Naturally there are questions as to why it isn't Helen Mirren but I don't think we have to roll out the Dame for every big Brit biopic.

I'm sure Meryl would do a great job but there must be other British actors who could do just as well. But who?

Interesting that Jim Broadbent is up to play Denis. Now that is genius casting.

Michael Sheen and Toni Collette cast in Jesus Henry

Came across this story over on Talking Films about a film comedy in which Michael Sheen and Toni Collette have been cast opposite each other.

I've long been an admirer of Toni Collette, she's an actress with great depth and happens to have been in a couple of my favourite comfort films: Muriel's Wedding and Little Miss Sunshine.

And then there is Michael Sheen who is an outstanding actor (I'm hoping to get to see him play Hamlet on the stage next year). He doesn't shy away from working on contrasting projects - he's played Tony Blair, David Frost and Aro the head vampire in Twilight! I think he'll do a good turn in a comedy.

It's definitely a film I'm going to be looking out for.