Paul's Talk

24 Hour Party People

Tony Wilson was a martyr in love with martyrdom itself at least as much as with the cause that drove him to it. Taking himself painfully seriously, perhaps because no one else ever seemed to, he searched long and hard for his revolution until he found it in the now legendary "Sex Pistols" concert in Manchester. Almost immediately punk gives birth to post-punk as bands like "Joy Division" (eventually giving way to "New Order"), "A Certain Ratio", "The Buzzcocks" and "Happy Mondays" rise to prominence under Tony's "Factory Records". That the rise (and fall) was mostly in his own mind is alluded to in the film. His record company, after all, went notoriously bankrupt a scant few years after its creation and it had never owned any of the songs it had released. What began with a bang quickly ended with a whimper as the "Madchester" music scene faded into the mainstream.

Was it truly a musical revolution? There is no denying the quality of the bands behind it or the fact that its effects (Manchester was one of the birthing grounds for goth and pretty much spawned rave culture singlehandedly) are still being felt today but it is not unheard of for once prosperous industrial cities fallen on hard times to produce unique and uniquely agressive music. I suppose the subject is irrelevant since it was a revolution in Tony Wilson's mind and he treated it as such. There is something touching and amusing in equal measure about this Cambridge scholar's desperate attempts to intelectualize and legitimize what he saw as the most important artistic current of his time. He refers to Shaun Ryder as the greatest poet since Yeats and, god bless him, he means it. He lost money on every single one of "New Order's" debut albums he sold due to the intricate and expensive packaging. When 20 people show up to the grand opening of his money pit of a club, The Hacienda, he cheerfully reminds everyone that there were only 12 people at the Last Supper. He was a fan first and foremost and a businessman least of all. For a little while the inmates truly did run the asylum in Manchester until it all came crumbling down.

The music is the film is exquisite, of course, and not entirely limited to Factory bands. "Siouxsie and the Banshees", "Iggy Pop" and "The Clash" all make appearances and others such as David Bowie and "The Smiths" are mentioned specifically and with a purpose. The film is nothing if not in love with music itself and amused by the behind the scenes process of creating it. It is far too short to serve as even a crash course in the Manchester scene, but it is certainly effective at condensing it into quite the experience. It certainly helps if one is already familiar with the events presented (which would render the death of Ian Curtis, for example, an already poignant scene even more poignant) but it is hardly required. The film stands firmly on its own, elevated by the strength of its direction (Michael Winterbottom can do no wrong), the music and the intoxcatingly unique persona of Mr. Tony Wilson.

Road Trip: Beer Pong

Why did they produce this? Was it to spite God and I?
I bet you it was.

Watch Beerfest instead.

Small Town Ecstasy

Come see father of the year doing drugs with his kids!!

A scary look into the life of a divorced 40-year old dad living with his kids, aged 13, 15 and 18. Going to raves, smoking weed, and doing drugs.

Blind Date

Why didn't I watch something else?
I bet you'll think it's as bad as I did.

Deadgirl

This is not your ordinary love-story where boy meets girl, love erupts and they live happily ever after. Or do they?

Any how.. this is a interesting look at the state of sex-starved teenagers of today.
Two fuck-ups, Rickie and J.T are doing what teenagers mostly are doing when they are bored out of their heads. They drink 2-3 beers at the old mental hospital, get shit-faced and trash the interior.
But what will you do when there's no 3 o-clock in the afternoon poontang to get your hands on?
See it now and thank me later ;)

X-Men Origins - Wolverine

Fuckin' crappy B-Movie!
The McGyver version of X-Men.. quickly assembled from spare parts.

If I were a real Wolverine fan, I would mail-bomb Marvel for what they have done with this.

Anamorph

I like nothing about this movie except the artworks.
It was boring and not very well played. You can tell that Willem Dafoe doen't want be a part of it. Clea DuVall is as annoying as ever. Why do they insist on giving her parts?

Watch something else!!

Mysterious Object at Noon

Maria Full of Grace

An impressive film which shows a realistic story based around drug muelling. Great performances all around, but particularly from Catalina Sandino Moreno who played the lead character.

A Drama which really pulls you in and see the circumstances from different viewpoints.

Definitely a recommendation ? an instant favourite for me.

Buffalo 66

Quite slow moving at times, but a very unique and original storyline with a lot of character. I am very impressed with the performance from Vincent Gallo in this film, who incidentally Directed and wrote this too. Christina Ricci was also great in this film.

A progressive tale, which draws you in and constantly challenges your view on the situation throughout.

Intriguing and enjoyable, a great Indie Flick.

Persepolis

Totally unique, a film portraying a message that would benenfit many people to watch. Animated in sillouette style, this very serious subject matter is tackled controversially, yet in an educational way.

This film isn?t just about Culture, Religion, Polictics, battle of the sexes or Coming of age ? it?s a combination of all.

Refreshingly unique

Persepolis

Totally unique, a film portraying a message that would benenfit many people to watch. Animated in sillouette style, this very serious subject matter is tackled controversially, yet in an educational way.

This film isn?t just about Culture, Religion, Polictics, battle of the sexes or Coming of age ? it?s a combination of all.

Refreshingly unique

Persepolis

Totally unique, a film portraying a message that would benenfit many people to watch. Animated in sillouette style, this very serious subject matter is tackled controversially, yet in an educational way.

This film isn?t just about Culture, Religion, Polictics, battle of the sexes or Coming of age ? it?s a combination of all.

Refreshingly unique

Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)

A young woman receives a phone call from her boyfriend telling her that if he doesn't get 100,000 Deutchmarks within 20 minutes he's a dead man. It tells of the consequences of the phone call in 20 minutes of real time three times over, each containing a slightly differing timeline, thus showing how minor incidents or coincidence can have a massive knock on effect to not only your life, but those around you. Run Lola Run is very much a product of its time; the techno soundtrack, grunge fashion and fascination with the mathematics of probability (ie "the butterfly effect") all reek of the 1990s, but Run Lola Run still feels strangely fresh, probably because of its brisk, no-nonsense pace and 75 minute running time meaning it never gets too caught up in pretentious navel gazing. I could have lived without some of the directorial affectations that made it feel a little too much like a music video in places, and the coincidences are of course extremely unlikely, but the urban crime element gives it a Luc Besson-esque flavour that makes for an entertaining and original experience.

Lat sau san taam (Hard-Boiled)

A renegade cop teams up with an undercover agent to bring down a gun runner with a massive arms cache hidden in a local hospital. John Woo is pretty useless when it comes to anything but action, so it comes as little surprise that his best film by far includes very little else. And action it has in spades! The now familiar tough guy cop clad in sunglasses and duster coat, leaping through the air in slow motion, twin pistols blazing has now passed into cliche territory, but Woo invented it. Woo's artistic take on action influenced everyone from James Cameron to the Wachowski brothers and Robert Rodriguez would probably be gainfully employed behind the counter of the nearest Taco Bell without this film. The action is non-stop and absurdly over the top, and if it weren't it wouldn't have worked half as well. It's an exploitation flick cunningly disguised as a cop thriller, and the combination of brilliantly choreographed violence (the extended takes of the hospital shoot out in particular) and super-cool leads makes for an unpretentious, action packed blast. The birth of the modern action movie.

The Holy Girl (La Nina Santa)

Martel defies the canonized "Catholic" topics by alienating the values of love,detest and sickness.Inner sickness,vacant passion and finally,that tempest called teenage years.The languid pace of the film doesn't repulse the viewer,on the contrary...I felt more repulsed by the holiness of certain characters,thus giving me a reason to disrespect their religiousness.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

What a fuckin' disappiontment!
The director/screenwriters/producers has cut out everything that was interesting and made the book good in order to make this into a boring magical episode of Dawson's Creek or Gilmore Girls..
Way to much emotional teenage angst crap and close to none backflash of Tom Riddle makes this the worst Potter movie so far!.... Ooh! That's right.. One of the actors/actresess character will be not so alive and kicking in the next episode.. like you hadn't heard already.

Up

I wonder whether Pixar wanted to embrace old age or express its sentiment towards the longing for youth.Beats me,Up is a jolly portrait of 2 largely different personalities,with the same passion for journeys beyond imagination.Spot-on for Pixar indeed yet it left me with an unsatisfactory opinion in my head.Inside jokes aren't as they used to be and the whole sub-plots were pretty inferior to what Docter and co. did in Monsterers Inc.The dogs are cult animations though!!!

Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked)

A fantastic cast, but unfortunately it falls pretty flat.
Even with the help of great acting, this fails to bind you to the story because Richard Curtis jumps over much that would have nice to see and the characters just becomes 2-D.
It's like he intentionally builds up to much that he then can't handle. Resulting in a feeling like, "and then?".
And yes, there are to many characters for you to concentrate on just one.
I'll give it an "OK", and leave it at that.

In the Name of the Father

The tragic and touching tale of the wrongly imprisioned Guilford Four, plus others, is brought to life by Director Jim Sheridan, with a first class cast, led strongly by Daniel Day-Lewis and Pete Postlewaite.

This true story is a harrowing watch of corruption and cover ups and delivers a strong, powerful storyline.