West is West

Sequel to East is East, which was set in Bradford. Om Puri reappears as the father of seven children, and decides to take his somewhat wayward teenage son Sajid to Pakistan to visit his first family, who he abandoned about thirty years ago. Linda Bassett stars again as the long suffering Bradford based wife. Funny but also at times poignant.

The first grader

Heart warming film about an 84 year old Kenyan man who turns up at a remote primary school in the Rift Valley asking to be educated, as the government had just introduced a policy of basic education for all. He struggles against local and national bureaucracy and politics, aided and abetted by the school teacher. There are some flashbacks to the period when he was a Mau-Mau revolutionary fighter, and the violent way in which that force was put down by the British army. It was based on a true story and the film was shot at a real school, and used the actual pupils rather than actors, which gave the film a genuinely warm feel. I saw the film at the London film festival.

Archipelago

I saw this film at the London film festival, and it was one of the most tedious films I have seen in many years. According to the write up for the festival it "makes astute and authoritative observations on the malaises of the middle classes". For me it was just a string of boring squabbles and arguments between various members of a dysfunctional family that I just didn't care about at all. Just about the only saving grace was that the film was shot on the Isles of Scilly, so there was some nice scenery. During the film I was so bored that I had both a good nap and went out and got myself a nice bucket of popcorn, and then proceeded to annoy all around me by munching my way through it.

Black Swan

Good thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky, director of the Wrestler. Features Natalie Portman as a lead ballet dancer whose mental and physical state is under extreme pressure from dancing the role of the Black Swan and White Swan in Swan Lake. I saw it at the London film festival at the end of October.

Loose cannons

I am backtracking a bit here, to the London film festival in October. Probably my favourite film at the festival was an Italian film called Loose Cannons, directed by the Turkish - Italian director Ferzan Ozpetek, who also directed one of my other favourite films, Fate Ignoranti (Ignorant Fairies). This film is set in the lovely walled town of Lecce, making me want to go there on holiday. It is a story about two gay brothers wanting to come out to their pretty conservative pasta factory owning family. I particularly liked the fact that the film explored not just the two brothers, but also several of the other characters in the family. I think Ozpetek is a very sensitive and insightful director.

A very long engagement

I saw this at home using my Lovefilm subscription (which I have just upgraded so I can have a massive three films at home at any time!). It is a French film, set around the first world war, and five soldiers who are sentenced for desertion or self mutilation, and are sent over the top towards the german lines. The story is centred around the fiancee of one of the condemned, who attempts to learn more about his fate. The fiancee is played by Audrey Tatou, who appeared in Amelie. I enjoyed it, as a soft gentle film, despite the subject matter. It was also interesting to see a bit of the first world war from French eyes - not a single mention of any role played by the British!

The blind side

I watched this on my iPad whilst on holiday in Australia. It is a true story of a white American family in Memphis becoming the legal guardian of a 17 year old black boy who is homeless and a pupil at their childrens' school. He is a natural for an American football player, which is a game I don't follow. It is not a super heavyweight film, but I found it interesting and uplifting, if a bit sanitised at times. Sandra Bullock excels as the determined mother and Kathy Bates has a small part as a part time tutor.

Buried

I watched this film on a flight from Hong Kong to Sydney and found it pretty absorbing, but not one for those who suffer from claustrophobia. It is a one man show set entirely in a coffin somewhere in Iraq. The actor has been buried alive, but luckily was left with a mobile phone, so can phone all and sundry, to encourage them to come and find him and dig him out. He thinks of everyone short of the President.

The Kids are All Right

Saw this film at the Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue, which must be a prime contender for the worst cinema in London - entrance is via an "entertainment" complex full of loud squawking machines.  Also, the cinema was very warm, and it was a late evening showing, so I didn't get off to a good start.  However, I enjoyed the film, albeit I though it was possiblty ten minutes too long.  Annette Bening and Julianne Moore were excellent as a California based lesbian couple with two teenage kids.  Mark Ruffalo plays their sperm donor Dad, who re-enters their lives.  The actors playing the kids were very good, and overall it was a very sensitive, and at times amusing, portrayal of the stresses and strains of a family.  According to Wikipedia, the film takes its title from the song and rockumentary by The Who, and is not to be confused with that other well known film, The Kids are Alright!

The Social Network

I saw this film on the basis of the strong reviews it had in Time Out and in the papers generally, but both I and Mark, who came to the film with me, were pretty bored with it.  I just didn't find the whole subject of how Facebook came into being at all engaging - I had seen a TV interview with the producer who said that it was a human interest story, rather than a story abotu Facebook, but I would disagree. 

I thought the main actor, Jesse Eisenberg, playing Mark Zuckerburg, spoke far too fast, and often about techy things.  Also, there are a couple of scenes which are shot in bars or nightclubs, where I really struggled to even hear what the actors were saying.  Justin Timberlake is vaguely interesting as Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, but I found the legal cases with the Winklevoss brothers and with Eduardo Saverin pretty tedious.

One saving grace of this film was that I saw it at the very nice Renoir cinema in London, and had a yummy ice cream to keep me happy during the boring bits.

Food of Love

This film is based on a David Leavitt book, the Page Turner (which I haven't read).  Supposedly the book was originally set in Rome, but the film has been transposed to Barcelona.  The director is Ventura Pons - supposedly quite a well known Catalan director, but not one I have come across.  The story is essentially a coming out one, set around an 18 year old aspiring pianist (Kevin Bishop), and his relationship with an internationally renowned concert pianist (Paul Rhys) and his manager.  Juliet Stevenson stars as Kevin Bishop's mother, with an American accent.

I enjoyed it - it's not an amazing film, but perfectly watchable, and I like most things shot in Spain / Catalunya.

Trailer is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTCwVAvatU8

Remember me

I thought this was a very good film, set in New York, about two twenty somethings (played by Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin) who are both dealing with personal loss in their lives.  Piers Brosnan is perfect as a self-obsessed workaholic father of one of them, whilst Ruby Jerins is great as a sensitive, funny ten year old sister.  Robert Pattinson manages to evoke a great deal of moody, tortured emotion.  There is a twist in the tale, which I didn't see coming, but based on some of the online reviews, others did.  Directed by Allen Coulter

Trailer is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Vg3fqIWGs

The King's speech 23/10/2010

This is a great period piece, set around the abdication crisis in the UK in the 1930s.  Colin Firth excels as the Duke of York, who suffered from a terrible stutter, and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist - he cuts through all the pomposity of royal etiquette, and establishes a genuine friendship with the Duke.  Timothy Spall stars as Churchill - quite a transition from Auf Wiedersehen Pet in the 1980s.  The film gave me a greater understanding of the difficult period in Britain ahead of the Second World War, and would go well with "A gathering storm" which portrays Churchill in roughly the same period, with Albert Finney in the lead role.

I saw this film as part of the London Film Festival, at the Vue in Leicester Square.