Serious Ladies // Sundance Film Festival 2015

This video was brought to my attention by hellogiggles.com if you have a spare hour and a half watch it! I did have a mini twitter outburst over Lena Dunham but I take that back now. Thank you ladies!! <3 <3 <3 

A Nest of Serious Contenders - Birdman

So with awards season well in the swing of it all I thought I would do a couple of reviews on some of those that are set to win big. I have chosen to start with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (the unexpected virtue of ignorance).

Set in a Broadway theatre, we follow the story of an aging actor, attempting to reclaim a former glory after playing a movie superhero in a fictional franchise by putting on a play. This play looks to be some kind of kitchen sink drama mixed with influences from Harold Pinter. Michael Keaton plays our lead Riggan, he is the director, financier and actor in this play. Along with his worries over the play that he is struggling to get off the ground. To add pressure he has his daughter Sam working for him, whom has recently been released from rehab.

Michael Keaton endears himself to us automatically as the famed ex-batman actor makes the subject matter so perfect, you wonder if this is how it must feel to go from literal superhero to zero (this is just a pure coincidence thought that I had). Keaton is incredible in this role and one hundred percent deserves any recognition he gets in this award season. Keaton is a powerful story teller and is without a doubt been passed over in Hollywood far too many times.

Keaton’s supporting cast are also equally strong and flawless, with Naomi Watts as the emotional starlet working with an impossible co-star played by Ed Norton, whom himself proved to be a hero of comic performance. On the other side of the scale we have Zak Galifianakis a serial comedy actor turning to focus on the drama as the accountant Jake to Keaton’s director. Jake strives and struggles to keep everything moving with the play, holding all the chaos together; Galifianakis leaves no doubt that he could pursue more drama heavy scripted content. But the real star second only to Keaton’s Riggan is the wide eyed and wonderful beauty Emma Stone as Sam. Stone lays a heavy base of what Birdman is about: the search for love, acceptance and how we all strive for these things. This is the performance that I’ve really been waiting to see from Stone, whom I’ve sometimes found to be slightly on the wishy washy side with her performances.

There are many things that really excited me with the overall design but for me it was the editing and the score that really got to me. The film was beautifully edited to be one continuous shot around the theatre. Filmed around this broadway venue, all the external shots are just outside of the theatre making the continuous shot feel less ‘staged’. There are beautiful pauses in time where the ordinarily bustling space is quiet or you can hear the clatter around the building whilst the audience looks down a dressing room corridor. The overall flow of the film was nothing short of flawless in it’s editing. 

The Score is possibly one of the most interesting musical accompaniments to a film I’ve seen in quite some time, the last piece that really had me stunned into silence was Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia. Using only a drum kit to provide the score Antonio Sanchez creates a piece that is it is truly unique, with the wonderful crescendos from the symbols and soft brushes to create wonderful smooth undertones. 

With a whopping 140 Nominations and 2 Golden Globe wins and 111 other award wins, I expect this picture to win big at the Oscars. Not only does Iñárritu’s picture have great dramatic gravitas, but it carries a great amount of comedy which is heartfelt and purposeful. It is in its comedy that I think will make it much more appreciated by the academy than its other contenders in the Best Film awards at the Oscars. Any other Oscar-worthy picture I usually find that once watched I rarely go back, but Birdman is definitely worthy of an encore. 

Under the Dome - a Dystopian Present - A touring analysis

This has been written in pieces over the last months as I have been here there and everywhere. Since I finished the second series of Under The Dome I’ve had a lot of time to ponder it. So finally here are my thoughts on it! 

I had spent most of 2013 stuck in a world created by Michael Grant called Gone, a story that really grabbed me and kept my interest for the entirety of the 7 book YA series. I couldn't stop talking about it, It had been a while since a series had me so captivated and excited.  I wanted everybody/anybody to read it so I could have someone to talk about it. After talking to a friend about it he said to me that I had described the premise of Stephen King’s Under The Dome. Now I won't get into the debate of which came first or which is better and as there are many similarities in the principle of both stories, one of which is the Orwellian nature of the stories. However, there are also some stand out differences. Under The Dome begins with one of our principle characters burying a body and driving away when this explosion hits the ground splitting a dairy cow perfectly into what looks like a biology cross-section. The carcass slowly folds to the ground it becomes apparent that the thing that slices the animal in two is a transparent wall. We then follow various scenes that depict various vehicles crashing into the yet unidentified 'Dome'. Our principle cast is diverse and entertaining, with familiar faces which include Dean Norris as Jim 'Big Jim' Rennie, who fancies himself as the man in charge of the town. Norris is known by many as the suspicious cop Hank in mega-hit Breaking Bad, switches it up and plays the town’s love to hate character. We have Mike Vogel as Dale 'Barbie' Barbara and Rachelle Lefevre as Julia Shumway, moving the story along becoming a power couple in the community whilst they struggle to keep everything and everyone together. The younger cast are equally as talented with Angie and Junior played by Britt Robertson and Alexander Koch respectively providing a deeply disturbing relationship in the first few episodes.  Also Samantha Mathis appears as Rose a beloved cafe owner.Not wanting to spoil any plots, I won’t go into the details of the second season but I can guarantee that it is a treat. 

Now I have failed to mention the book, which I haven't read, and if my ‘to read’ list and it only keeps getting longer with thanks to Goodreads. With a happy coincidence though I have discovered that I had forgotten my audible subscription so Under The Dome read by Raul Esparza kept me busy on the many hours of travelling around in October. After both watching and listening, I can’t help but think these need to be looked at as two different entities. Stephen King is a great writer he can churn out a book like no-one else, thought he started the novel in 1976 but didn't finish it until the mid 2000's. What the producers of the serial drama did however is add extra depth to the characters that make this series not just another science fiction series that will go on for 10 series and become a little bit over the top. It feels like you are watching a social experiment without being gimmicky and clichéd. It’s watching simple human nature dealing with isolation in the face of being watched by other’s, a total Orwellian idea, watching the best and worst of the human condition as people step up for a community or become more and more self-serving. The science fiction is more of a side note of the drama, it’s there and keeps the story progressing but it is not what keeps you watching. It is the characters behaviours which are so captivating. 

If a Sci-fi is what you are rafter then this is not for you but if you are more up for a drama that has fantastical and science fiction contexts then this is your show. 

N.B. I have to note that when sat on the tube listening to the audiobook, I really did laugh out loud when King makes reference to the movie re-working of his book The Mist! Laughing on a train uncontrollably when no-one know’s what you’re listening to is incredibly liberating.