Rev Stan's film blog

First pics appear of Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black

A pic has appeared of Daniel Radcliffe, looking rather mature for his age on the set of The Woman in Black.

And I admit that at the moment I'm more intrigued to see the film based on the Susan Hill novel than I am the final installments of the Harry Potter franchise despite being a bit of a fan. Why? Well I'm already nervous about what Warner Bros have done to the final book - they've been taking more and more liberties as the series has progressed.

But The Woman in Black intrigues me because I saw it on the stage a number of years ago. It was the first play I'd seen in many years and came at a time when I was already regularly going to the cinema. I remember sitting through it thinking 'this would make a great film'.

It will also be great to see Daniel Radcliffe get his teeth into something different. He won me over as actor on stage in Equus and now the Harry Potter shackles are off.

And the #LFF ticket allocations are....

OK so I'm impatient. I called up the BFI to find out what tickets I'd got from the postal ballot rather than waiting until Oct 1 for the envelope to plop onto my door mat.

I wasn't holding out a lot of hope as @polyg had already found out that she'd only managed to get one ticket from all those she'd applied for - The King's Speech.

Of all those I'd applied for, The King's Speech is the one I'd chose over all the rest and...drum roll...I got a ticket too. Hurrah!

And I did manage to get one other ticket, for Blue Valentine, the Michelle Williams/Ryan Gosling film.

Shame I didn't get one of the gala's but still, not a bad start to my first ever London Film Festival

Winter's Bone - an indy gem

It's great when a film that has a trailer that excites you lives up to expectation and when it proves to be one of those rare low-budget gems, even better.

I think what grabbed me most in Winter's Bone was the authenticity of the setting. Shot on location in the remote and poor communities of the Ozark mountains in Missouri the homes, yards and bars couldn't be more real. Set against a bleak winter back drop it is such realism coupled with performances that are superbly underplayed that gives the film a palpable sense of danger and tension from the outset.

Seventeen year-old Ree Dolly, played by relative new-comer Jennifer Lawrence, is bringing up her young brother and sister for her mother who has an unidentified illness, most probably something mental, and absentee drug-dealer father. She takes them to school, does their homework with them, chops wood for the fire and even shoots squirrels when there is not enough food to eat and money has run out.

When the police call on her to let her know that her father has put their house up as a bond and subsequently disappeared days before trial it sets Ree on a long and dangerous search for him among a community where loyalty runs to an almost feudal level and mistrust of authority is a given.

This one I can't wait to see

I've still got my fingers crossed for LFF tickets for The King's Speech otherwise I'll have to wait until its UK release in January. But wow what a cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter, Michael Gambon, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle and Guy Pearce. Yes, Guy Pearce. I'm excited to see him in a period drama like this.

I'm Still Here the mock/umentary but is it any good?

I'm glad @polyg suggested going to see this because it's certainly given me plenty to think about and I probably wouldn't have gone of my own choosing.

So the big question is, is it or isn't it a mockumentary about Joaquin Phoenix giving up acting to try and become a rapper? I googled Phoenix and the latest story is that writer/director/producer Casey Affleck has said that it is a hoax after saying that is isn't - all part of the marketing ploy perhaps?

Before I explain my reasons for thinking it's likely a mockumentary I should probably explain a bit more about the film. It basically follows the over-weight, unkempt hair and bushy bearded Phoenix as he embarks on a hip hop career. Phoenix appears to be going through some sort of personal crisis or breakdown treating those around him abominably. It is apparently warts and all showing him taking drugs and messing around with call girls.

So here goes, my evidence for why I think it's a fake:

• Casey Affleck is Joaquin's brother in law and I think you'd have to be a pretty evil bastard to show off a film of a member of your family behaving so badly and making such a fool of themselves.
• And would he really let a member of Phoenix's staff do that* to him while he slept
• I genuinely don't believe an actor would behave with quite such a degree of self importance and treat people like that.
• If he really was changing his career I would expect the documentary to examine in far more detail why he'd chosen hip hop in particular but this is all mysteriously skirted over.
• The feeling that it is all just a big joke is always there lurking in the background and I was waiting for the big reveal.

Am I supposed to like Tamara Drewe?

The character that is, rather than the film as a whole. But even in that there lies a problem.

I've not read any of the comic strip so I'm not sure how likeable Tamara is supposed to be but from the moment she climbs over the fence with her arse hanging out her denim shorts she just comes across as self-serving, smug and a little bit arrogant. And when she ultimately gets just what she want, when she's actually decided what that is, it is well, a little bit galling. 

Maybe I'm being a little harsh or maybe it is just the fault of a film that is a little bit schizophrenic. It tries to focus on too many things at once. There are some interesting bits and characters. For example the wonderful Tamsin Greig as the ever-supportive successful novelist's wife who suspects her husband is having yet another affair, which was the strongest storyline, and the two smutty-mouthed teenage girls who provide a sort of commentary of what is going on and most of the laughs.

It's not that I didn't enjoy Tamara Drew, it has some lovely moments and some good laughs but for a film that steers towards a happy ever after ending the just desserts aren't dished out in all the right places and I'm not sure what the point of some of it is.

The aggregated reviews:

Rotten Tomatoes gave it an aggregated review score of 78% so perhaps it's just me.

Metacritic - Not released in US until Oct 8. I suspect it might do quite well in the US because of it's quaint Englishness.

Fingers crossed for the London Film Festival ticket allocation

I've never gone to see anything at the London Film Festival before mainly because I found the choice too overwhelming. But this year I joined the BFI so I could do it and do it properly.

So I've scrutinised the brochure, well sections of it as it just to keep the level of choice down to something more manageable and chosen six films, mainly to keep the cost down. The opening and closing galas - Never Let Me Go and 127 Hours - are among the six but I'm not holding my breath. If I get just one of those it'll be amazing.

I've also applied for tickets for the Members Screening which I'm assured is always a good one.

And the remaining three?

Well there is Blue Valentine the new Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling film that looks like a refreshingly simple production for an American film.

Then there is The King's Speech. The presence of Colin Firth is enough to have me excited but there is also Oscar talk around this one and lets face it he was robbed by Jeff Bridges, probably, I haven't seen Crazy Heart.

Little Darcy-Firth impressed me so much in a Single Man than he'll have to do something pretty bad to stop me rushing to see him. And if Mr Firth wasn't enough, it's a costume drama and Queen of the costume's Helena Bonham Carter is also in it. I'm excited already.

And the third film is Black Swan which I was drawn to by Vincent Cassel who I loved, loved, loved in the Mesrine films. This one is set around the ballet but is a thriller which is just sounds, well, intriguing. It could be rubbish though but I hope not.

I may dip into one or two of the small foreign films nearer the time depending on what I get tickets for out of those I've already applied for.

I can barely take the wait.

Clips of The Tempest emerge - and yes they include a glimpse of Ben

Thanks to yetanotherbenwhishaw blog for alerting me to this. It's a BBC piece on Helen Mirren at the Venice Film festival and includes some tantalising clips of Julie Taymor's The Tempest including one or two glimpses of Ben Whishaw's Ariel.

You can view it here on bleedingcool.com

I'm intrigued by the two sides of Ariel they show. From what I remember of the play - it's been a few years since I saw it on stage - Ariel can be all sweetness and subservience towards Prospero but has a bitter, angry side having been bound to him for so long. The clip shows hints of this duality, of course in Taymor's interpretation, Prospero becomes Helen Mirren's Prospera. I also like the way she's played up the sorcerer/ess side of Propero/a.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be showing at the London Film Festival, unless it turn out to be the mystery film, so I'm left waiting for a UK release date and I'm not hopeful of anything this side of Christmas.

Going the rom-com Distance

There were 30 minutes between my seeing this Drew Barrymore/Justin Hill rom-com and Kristin Stewart vehicle The Runaways. Purely a timing thing, Going the Distance started earlier and that was it, but I'm glad I did because I'm not sure The Runaways would have been as enjoyable as a Sunday afternoon film.

I'm not saying that Going the Distance is an amazing film just a light, entertaining, at times nicely-scripted romantic comedy that has just enough edge to make it stand out from the usual banal fodder.

As the name suggests it's about a couple trying to make a long distance relationship work. Erin is a summer intern at the New York Sentinel and meets and falls in love with Garrett but at the end of the summer  she has to return home to California. 

Yes there are some moments that seem to be straight out of 'Rom-Com 101' but what I liked is there is plenty of potty humour between Garrett and his flat-mates, indeed I laughed out loud several times. It also has the appropriate amount of tear-jerking 'rom'. So I laughed, I cried and I'll certainly watch it again on a Sunday night when it's on Sky.

Aggregated review ratings:

Metacritic: 51% from the professionals, 4.5/10 from the readers 

Rotten Tomatoes UK: 52%

Is Cyrus the 'must-see indie comedy?

I'm always dubious when films are described as must-see but there is still a part of me that is quietly hopeful that it actually does live up to the label. So does Cyrus deserve such enthusiastic recommendations?

Well, it is definitely a slight step apart from the usual comedy fodder. For a start the premise is a little twisted.

John (John C Reilly) has been divorced for seven years but hasn't moved on. His ex is getting remarried and invites him to a party to try and get him to socialise. He meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) and they immediately hit it off.

All is going well until John meets Molly's 22 year-old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) who still lives at home. Cyrus is all charm and accepting of his mum's new boyfriend. But the mother-son relationship is not conventional and John quickly begins to suspect that Cyrus is actually manipulating the situation.

Cyrus is definitely a dark comedy with plenty of unconventional fodder to laugh at and a few suitably uncomfortable moments. Jonah Hill surprised me, he was almost unrecognisable putting in a subtle performance as the slyly duplicitous Cyrus and Reilly does a great job as the depressed but trying and increasingly paranoid John.

And Tomei seems to be carving out a nice and refreshing little niche playing against the typical hollywood actress roles.

The premise works well, it is well acted, funny and awkward to watch as a dark comedy should be but must-see? Not quite. Very good but not that good.

Aggregated review scores:

Metacritic: 74% from the professional reviews and 6.3/10 from visitors to the site

Rotten Tomatoes UK: 81%