Showing posts with label Danny Boyle. Show all posts

Klaxon! The countdown to Empire Live (2016's Ultimate Film & Entertainment Weekend) has begun!

We are less than a month away from what has become one of the greatest film conventions for film fans ever.  I am of course referring to Empire Magazine's Empire Live to be held at The O2, September 23 - 25 2016.  If you are looking for details about what is going on at Empire Live  just head to the middle of this page and skip my reminiscing.

Empire Live 2016
Empire Live 2016   

It's about time! The scoop on all the 40th Anniversary celebrations for the restored re release of Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth in London (walking tours, special screenings, books & music releases) - UPCOMING EVENTS

The Man Who Fell To Earth 40th Anniversary Events When it comes to sublime storytelling there are few that can match master auteur and eternal outsider Nicolas Roeg for vision, originality or technical knowledge. 

     I am a huge fan of his work, always original, always more about art surreally reflecting; nuances of story, broader life, social context, creating mood and mind states, than a linear story arc, always surprising and always drawing out incredible performances from his cast for his films. 

     It would appear that the 40th Anniversary of Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth is going to be a big year with The Man Who Fell to Earth released into cinemas from September 9th, Special screenings with introductions from Mr Danny Boyle and The Man Who Fell To Earth Costume Designer May Routh, walks, books and of course the 40th Anniversary 4K restored home re-release will be be available from October 24th in varying formats. Upcoming events include the below list which is expanded upon further below:

27 August - The official, definitive making of The Man Who Fell To Earth book is available for preorder!
9 September: Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth will be launched into UK cinemas!
9 September: Hackney Picturehouse Special Event - The Man Who Fell To Earth with introduction from Danny Boyle and after party!
9 September: Curzon Soho David Bowie Day - Walking tour and The Man Who Fell To Earth Screening with introduction from Costume Designer May Routh  #savecurzonsoho
9 September & 28th October: The Original Soundtrack for The Man Who Fell To Earth will be available on CD & vinyl for the first time!
24 October: The Man Who Fell To Earth Home Release is launched!
25 October: David Bowie's The Man Who Fell To Earth play - Lazarus starring Michael C. Hall lands in London!

The Man Who Fell To Earth 40th Anniversary re-release The Man Who Fell To Earth Original Soundtrack The Man Who Fell To Earth Book
40th Anniversary re-release The Man Who Fell To Earth Original Soundtrack The Man Who Fell To Earth Book [enlarge]

The Establishing Shot: 127 Hours Review

127 HoursDanny Boyle is ace. The guy has come up through the ranks of filmmaking to be one of most talented Directors working today.

It’s easy for filmmakers to stay on a winning wicket i.e. suddenly extend a hit film into a trilogy, or thinly disguise obvious natural extensions of their previous films into new films. But not Boyle, his style may be consistent; bold colours, sharp editing, digital cameras, ambient music, underlying socially conscious themes and visual trickery but each of his films is audaciously different. Seriously is there a Director with a more brave and challenging resume? Mercenaries, small time hoods, Sci-Fi, Zombies, Romance, Drugs, Bollywood and now a true life extreme sports tale.

127 Hours
And Boyle gives as much as he takes he’s very active in the film community, inspiring aspiring film makers and very loved by the locals in his home town (which he was made a freeman of last year). I’ve met Danny Boyle and it would be very hard to find a nicer guy in a square mile of London (approximately 12,450 people per square mile).

But his films aren’t for everyone and if you have a discussion with any 3 people – opinions on his films will definitely vary but each person will have a Danny Boyle favourite, whether it be; the brooding made for TV The Nightwatch, the intensity of the one room (OK mostly one house) Shallow Grave, the astounding gritty creativity of Trainspotting, the dark Sci-Fi of Sunshine, the edginess of 28 Days Later or the sheer joy of the against all odds Slumdog Millionaire.

Looking at Danny Boyle and listening to this down to earth, nice guy you wouldn’t think that he must have balls the size of brass knockers to make the films that he does. Being original every time and not resting on his laurels (1 Oscar, 1 BAFTA another 52 wins & 20 nominations) as well as going against the grain of conventional success.

I myself have loved some genius bits of Boyle’s film and not so much other bits; I haven’t enjoyed some of his films and loved others. But I was eagerly anticipating 127 Hours after being completely press ganged by the wonderfulness that is Slumdog Millionaire and hearing about his long standing eagerness to adapt 127 Hours.

Early this year I was amongst a small gathering of people that were lucky enough to be the first in the world to see the 127 Hours trailer Danny Boyle spent the 2 previous days getting the trailer ready for the viewing and was actually late for the screening because the trailer was still rendering up until he left for the QA session. You can read my write up of this here!

Danny Boyle’s been wanting to adapt Aron Ralston’s story “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” since 2005. Previously I was vaguely aware of his story. So here’s the synopsis - 127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet?
100

Well the book’s written by Aron himself so we’ve got an idea of the outcome but how we get there is the important bit.



127 Hours starts with trademark Danny Boyle visual styling (a 3 way shot, a theme that recurs throughout the film) set to a thumping soundtrack, we find Aron in his apartment packing for a trip. Finding all the bits necessary for a weekend climbing expedition in the Canyonlands National Park, Utah. A part of the world renowned for its awe inspiring natural beauty and remoteness. Aron is then in his RV heading off the grid, next he’s flying over dirt paths on his mountain bike and eventually hiking the trails taking him into the heart of the Canyonlands.

Here he bumps into 2 lost girls (Kate Mara & Amber Tamblyn) and we get our first insight into who Aron is. He’s an engineer who loves the outdoors and considers it his second home. Engaging, confident and capable – he shows the lost girls where they are, where they want to be and a spectacular off the map way of getting there. They part company without turning around to say goodbye Aron heads off on his quest. Shortly after this “complications arise when….” Aron finds himself trapped under a rock for 127 Hours. It’s Man vs. Nature at its most frustrating – Man sure of his abilities and Nature ever present, unreasoning, indifferent and ultimately unmovable.

We watch voyeuristically as Aron’s meager supplies dwindle and he slowly physical and mentally deteriorates. Initially with curious fascination at how this seemingly deft man deals with the situation, but slowly as all the cockiness drains away with his life force and Aron descends into a state of intermittent delusion, we watch in horror as alone and trapped he contemplates the unthinkable and then finally we are close to tears (if I didn’t know the guys on either side of me there may have been – in my defense I did hear a couple of man sniffles and saw at least one eye wiping) as the crux of the story reveals itself –


---------------------------------------(Here Be Spoilers)
127 Hours is really about Aron’s journey from who he is to someone else via realizations about life as his situation becomes increasingly dire. It’s Man vs. Himself.

Wherein lies the biggest issue (and spoilers) I have with 127 Hours. I enjoyed 127 Hours. I was swept away by it. Kudos to Danny Boyle for making a visually and auditory engaging tale and particularly for the final bit of the film which despite knowing the story took me by surprise. However! James Franco is good as Aron, so good in fact that he comes across as nothing less than highly likeable. But it seemed to me that 127 Hours hinges on Aron only being able to free himself physically when he makes some stark realizations about himself and in doing so freeing himself mentally. In the book this may come across better as you have pages to get under Aron’s skin but between the music video visual magic and James Franco being so likeable this falls a little flat.
---------------------------------------(Spoilers End)

Yea, the other thing I didn’t like was that I felt the visual trickery and pop music distracted and deflated the gravitas of Aron’s story somewhat. I thought the subject matter and Franco’s acting could have been supported a bit more seriously, in fact I think it probably made Franco’s job more difficult trying to build credibility with a character in a dark place with all the lightness around him.

After many viewings and in years to come when 127 Hours has passed into urban Zeitgeist and Franco picks up his Oscar – Aron may well be thought of someone who needed to change and 127 Hours hailed as a modern visual classic but after my first viewing yesterday That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The Skinny
Excellent performances all round, beautifully shot, visually and auditorily engaging tale of the human spirit slightly let down by visual gimmicks and poppy style music. But I’ll be in the queue to watch it again. If James Franco is hosting the Oscars does that mean he can’t win one?

Outstanding
Pretty much any scene with James Franco in it was good – but I will say that there is a scene where Aron is under the rock, and things are becoming fairly intense as he is delirious and understandably in a bad way. The music and the visuals start building as Aron is checking his arm for feeling by prodding it with his knife. The tension mounts and it’s unbearable. He punctures his arm and an audible hiss is heard as the gas produced by his decomposing arm escapes allowing the tension to drop. This is also the catalyst for Aron’s next move. Powerful stuff.

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn

127 Hours

More info:
Over at the 127 Hours website

The Establishing Shot: Movie-Con III - Day 1 - 127 Hours, A Town Called Panic , Never Let Me Go, Judge Dredd

Empire's Movie-Con? I hear you say In case you are unaware of Movie-Con it’s a weekend of film related goodness hosted by Empire Magazine at the BFI. Loosely basely on SD Comic-Con but described by Chris Hewitt (Empire’s News Editor and sharp witted Movie-Con host ) as “Comic-Con Business Class. It’s smaller, more intimate and bespoke.”

These sort of conventions are increasingly being used as a platform to engage with fans and early adaptors to generate buzz and gauge the early reaction for core audiences to titles.

Now in its third year Movie-Con has organically grown into a 3, well a 3 and a half days affair. The 300 or so Conner’s can expect an opening party, trailers, early footage, preview screenings, talks from the people behind the films and to interact with fellow film lovers.

To understand the utter awesomeness last year of Movie-Con amongst the early footage, previews (Funny People, Inglourious Basterds', The Hurt Locker, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus) amongst other notables both Robert Downey Junior and Guy Ritchie popped in to talk about Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man. You can read my coverage of last year’s Movie-Con here!

With many big studios increasingly recognising that the in-roads to International Markets are opening up at a grass roots level – UK fans are getting more love and attention. The US still gets first dibs on the bulk of the pie, but we are increasingly seeing some of the good stuff earlier as well a lot of the home-grown stuff before the US. As examples of this; we got to see a teaser trailer for Danny Boyle’s awesome looking 127 Hours, footage from the future classic Brighton Rock, and exclusives like confirmation that Karl Urban is too be Judge Dredd and that Jason Flyming will be Azazel in Matthew Vaughn's upcoming X-Men: First Class.

Movie-Con is also a platform for smaller independent titles to be introduced to potential audiences last year we got to see bits and hear about the surreal Bunny and the Bull this year we were introduced to the just as mad but charming Belgian A Town called Panic.

Initially I was going to blog each day but found taking notes detracting from the main reason I was there (to enjoy and engage) as well as Empire have a blow by blow report of events up at the end of each day over here! Which actually frees me up to give my commentary of the proceedings rather than spend too much time on the details of what happened.

So onto Movie-Con III.

Day 1 round up:
Chris Hewitt opened Movie-Con with his customary jibes and the sparkling wit that has just earned him a contributor role on Film 2010, (back on screens in October). Highlighting the only 2 rules for Movie-Con:
  1. No cameras
  2. Go see all films presented twice
127 Hours
Danny Boyle and Producer Christian Colson opened up Movie-Con by showing us a teaser trailer for 127 Hours. In fact the trailer’s colour grading was only completed earlier in the day so that it could be seen at Movie-Con. Empire then told us that 127 Hours will be closing the London Film Festival this year. It was at about this point it dawned on me how great Movie-Con III was going to be.

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? - Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The teaser trailer is beautifully shot as we have come to expect from Danny Boyle it’s; bold, colourful, compelling, introduces us to a new world and incredibly well shot. It shows James Franco as a bold outdoors man mountain biking, he is clearly master of his domain, loving life. He meets 2 girls on a trail and takes them off the trodden path and more into Beach territory (we see them find there way into a crystal blue pool). He then jogs off on further adventures where it all goes horribly wrong. James Franco shines and women will want to be with him and men will want to be him. I loved the trailer and I can’t wait to see 127 Hours.

Danny Boyle and Christian Colson then went onto do a QA session for the 'Conners. Look the teaser trailer was great but the in all honesty the real draw was been able to listen to Danny Boyle talk, he was awe inspiring, incredibly engaging and inspirational talker. I would pay the price of film admission just to hear him talk. He had the crowd on the edges of their seats waiting on his next line.

Headlines from the QA:
  • The incident happened in 2003, he read the book in 2005 and has been wanting to make the film since then, he met with Aaron but only got the go ahead after Slumdog Millionaire and a scecond meeting.
  • He loved James Franco in Pineapple Express and there is a nod to this in 127 Hours
  • Making 127 Hours was a real challenge as there is no relying on locations, villains, huge sets or incidental characters
  • Two camera men were used to create a protagonist/antagonist relationship
  • Boyle wants the audience to feel they are with Aaron for 127 hours
  • The film shoot and post production was compressed, shooting started on March 15 and it will Premiere on September 12.
  • The measurement of success of 127 Hours is: will the audience root for Aaron to do the unthinkable? I’m paraphrasing to avoid possible spoilers.
  • He would like to do an original musical and possibly an animated film
  • He would not be making another Sci-Fi Film (Booooo!)
  • Sci-Fi fans are really hard to please
I have met Danny Boyle and this audience interaction pretty much sums up this bold film-making genius:

Audience Member: Hello, I’m from (same town as Boyle) and I was wondering of you had any advice for film-makers starting out? This could be considered by many to be a fairly lame and generic question (there was actually an audible sigh, when he asked). But bear in mind that this might be the guys only opportunity to ask his hero (or someone he greatly respects) a question, whose answer may make the world of difference to him.

Danny Boyle responds in kind:
  • Work with your mates, peers, people whose opinions you respect.
  • Keep at it, keep at it, keep at it
  • It’s weird you sit down there, looking up here at the people on the stage thinking “I’ll never get up there, they won’t open the door for me. But there is no door. Keep at it and one day you’ll be sitting up here and some young guy will be asking you the same question one day”
Being the opening night, every one still finding their feet at Movie-Con and everything happening quickly So the only part of Danny Boyle’s huge personality that may not have come across is just how done to how down earth he is.

Hammer & Tongs present: A Town Called Panic.
I didn’t know anything about A Town called Panic - apart from that it was recently screened as part of Film4’s Outdoor Summer Screen Festival at Somerset House on a double bill with Team America.
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