Don't Worry About Me - DVD - 10/4/10

David has a one night stand with Liver Bird Karen when she visits London. In the morning it's fairly obvious that it has meant more to David than Karen. He seems oblivious to this and when he finds a presentation that she is to deliver that afternoon in the hotel room he jumps on the Megabus to Liverpool in order to give it to her. That leads to an awkward confrontation with Karens boyfriend and David being stranded in Liverpool with no money to get home. When he decides to use his last few pounds to bet on a dog race the girl in the bookies takes pity on him, lends him 20p to take his stake up to three pounds and gives him a hot tip which wins and the two of them decide to spend the afternoon together spending the winnings.

It's not much of a plot really and, to be honest, it's not much of a film. Much was made about it being Saint David of Morrisseys directorial debut but for me that isn't something to get excited about. Morrissey is much loved, even revered, by the industry but I don't "get" him. He appears to be an actor who has spent most of his career in fairly average roles in fairly average shows. Sadly, for him, he has now progressed from average actor in average roles to average director of an average film.

The film stinks of "made for TV" due, in part I am sure, to it's low budget but due more to Morrisseys own life in TV. He seems to have been unable to make the transition from small to big screen. This may be because the bulk of his own career has been in television where the aesthetic is different. His experience of working in cinema includes highlights such as "Basic Instinct 2" and "The Reaping"...not exactly films destined to inspire you to dizzy artistic heights.

The problem with the film is that Morrissey, like many Liverpudlians, has a romanticised view of his city and the people in it. "Salt of the earth", "...funniest people in the world", "earthy", "honest" etc etc. In truth Liverpool is a fairly drab, grubby town where you have a better than average chance of being stabbed or robbed by gangs of teenagers. I've come over all Boris Johnson here...I won't be apologising though. The "professional Northerner" schtick runs through this film and where the characters from Liverpool are all honest, funny and gritty the Southerner, David, is workshy, offensive and shallow. The North is "real" and the South is "fake".

If this had popped up on BBC 1 on a holiday Monday it would have been diverting but as a "proper" film it is flawed in more ways than you could count. Characters with no real depth (other than someone having a brother with Downs Syndrome and another who has a mother with depression...I'm not making this up), genuinely awful script moments, a scene where a man beats up a giant teddy bear because a girl he has known for less than six hours has fallen out with him; do I need to go on.

David Morrissey then ladies and gentlemen, a man who appears in lots of television programmes, several dreadful films and who has now made a dreadful television movie and is attempting to pass it off as a real film.

Avoid.

An Interview With Rod White April 2010

Rod White is the Head of Programming at the Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh. You may well have seen him introducing some of the films he has chosen and, if you have, you'll know that he is a man who knows his movies. MyFilms2010 chanced its arm and asked if he would answer a few questions for us...amazingly he agreed. On the surface these questions may seem a bit trite but actually they are incredibly clever questions designed to give an insight into who the real Rod White is...at least that's what I'll be claiming when I submit my application for a press pass to this years EIFF.

In order to lure Rod into a false sense of security I began by asking him what the first film he could remember going to see was. No doubt this threw Rod as he is probably more used to being asked clever questions about the underlying messages of Kazakhstani film noir from the 1970's. "It was definitely "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which is still a personal favourite, and, if I'm not mistaken, it was at the city centre ABC in Dundee." This threw me a little bit...like you I expected the Head of Programming at the Filmhouse to have been taken to see "La Dolce Vita" at a small boutique cinema in Rome by his bohemian parents while holidaying there. The fact that he went to see "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in Dundee would appear to show that he is an "ordinary" man and not some sort of cinema snob. Interesting.

I have a couple of films that I use to "judge" people. That makes me sound incredibly shallow doesn't it? That's because I am. The films that I use to judge whether or not I can be "proper" friends with someone are "The Exorcist" (I know, I know...utterly predictable and a bit Mark Kermode) and "Lost in Translation". What about you Rod? "Obviously I wouldn't be so judgmental Paul but if forced to choose one...let's say "Tremors". In case you're wondering...yes, that "Tremors". Luckily for me I really like "Tremors" and so there is a good chance that one day I could become friends with Rod. If you don't like "Tremors" then you can't...actually, that's not quite true but I'm trying to put you off attempting to hassle Rod in the Filmhouse bar by shouting "I LIKE TREMORS TOO...PLEASE BE MY FRIEND".

I went to school with a boy called Harold Howarth. He used to break wind into his hands and then shove them into my face. I hated him...understandably I think. If I could punish him by locking him in a room and forcing him to watch one film on loop for eternity it would be "The Spirit". What about you Rod, what film would you choose to punish someone? "Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge"...because my cruelty knows no bounds!". There you have it, don't upset Rod White because if he ever has the power to punish you for upsetting him (and under New Labour that day may not be far off) then you will have to watch "Moulin Rouge" for all eternity. You see...it was all "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and quirky, cult monster movies a minute ago but now he's going to lock you in a room and force you to watch "Moulin Rouge".

On a more serious note I asked Rod why he thought industry bashes like the Oscars and the BAFTAs insist on "ghettoising" foreign language films like "Un Prophete" (which by any standard was the best film of last year but was ignored in the best film category and lumped into the foreign language basket") and focus only on English language films. "They don't know what they're looking for with foreign language and so they tend to go with films that speak the universal language of sentimentality. That wasn't always the case". I think that's the best answer I've heard to that particular question and it made me feel a bit better about films like "Un Prophete" and "The White Ribbon" being overlooked for awful films like "Avatar" and "An Education". Thanks Rod.

If I had my own cinema and I had the chance to choose what film would play on its last ever day of business it would probably be "A Matter of Life and Death" because it's the one film I can watch time and again and never tire of. What about you Rod? If the Filmhouse were to close its doors tomorrow what film would you programme to be its epilogue? "It would be "The Third Man" - it's the best British film ever made and, selfishly, it's probably the film I've played more times than any other in my time programming here at the Filmhouse".

So, what have we learned from Rods time on the couch here at MyFilms2010? Nothing really, except that, clearly, he loves films...I can't think of a better qualification for being in charge of programming film at the best cinema in Edinburgh. Can you?

The Blind Side - Cineworld - 6/4/10

Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Republican.

Evangelical Christian.

Interior designer.

Big hair.

American "football" fan.

Former cheerleader.

A woman who "does" lunch.

What I'm saying is that this is the type of women I should loathe!

I believe in a womans right to choose.

I support gay marriage.

I lost my faith a long time ago.

The type of girl who would "cheer" is the type of girl who would never have shown any interest in my acne ridden face as an adolescent.

I have nothing in common with Leigh Anne Tuohy.

This story of how she took a homeless African American into her home and her family, supported him through high school and fostered his athletic talent is the type of story that normally has me running for the toilet in order to throw up.

It's mainstream, Oscar friendly, schmaltz of the worse sort.

That might make what I'm about to say a bit of surprise.

I LOVE LEIGH ANNE TUOHY.

I cried tears of genuine emotion on more than one occasion throughout "The Blind Side" and by its end I wanted to book a flight to the States and embark on a pilgrimage to find Tuohy and pledge my undying love and devotion to her.

Much was made about "The Blind Side" being a piece of Republican propaganda and pro-Palin preaching given the similarities between the two women. That should have been enough to stop me from even going to see this film...but I went and I'm really glad I did. Oh, that hurts to type. In truth this isn't a propaganda piece and the similarities between Tuohy and Palin are cosmetic, instead this is a heartwarming story of one families ability to reach out to someone in need. It's that simple and it's that complicated.

The importance of Tuohys religion is only given import by commentators with an agenda I would wager. There are films with more sinister and overt religious messages ("Knowing", "Battlefield Earth" being just two examples) that are offensive to people of faith and non-believers alike. "The Blind Side" isn't one of them. This is about doing something nice for no other reason than it's the "right" thing to do.

The world would be a better place with more people like Touhy and her family...I'm pretty sure they are far from perfect and that they have made as many mistakes as the rest of us but that doesn't detract from the significance of what they did for Michael Oher. Their faith is insignificant to the story...their are Jews, Muslims, Atheists and who knows whatists who do similar things every day.

Oher went on to become an American "football" star...but this story isn't about him. This is the story of Tuohy. Her charity, love and kindness are inspirational. I think I'm starting to gush and ramble here...that is only due in part to the story, the rest of my gushy rambling is because Tuohy was played by Sandra Bullock and I love Sandra Bullock too.

Oh, this whole review is going to have to be deleted before anyone reads it.

I'm giving this 24 hours and then I'm replacing it with a scathing attack on the film and the Tuohy family!

No One Knows About Persian Cats - Cameo - 5/4/10

An Iranian film that follows two teens, Negar and Ashkan, as they attempt to secure the visas and passports that will allow them to leave the country and play some concerts in London. At the same time they need to gather musicians to play with them. What follows is, at least in part, an arresting look at life in a repressive regime for young people who simply want to play and make music.

I am a music obsessive...the posters on Ashkans wall for Joy Division and The Smiths could have been taken from my own adolescent walls...but I have to be honest and say that this film was ruined for me by the music. At times it felt like I was watching a Jools Holland Iranian special...and that isn't my idea of a good night. The music of Negar and Ashkan was fairly typical indie fare and, for my ears, tolerable but the heavy metal efforts of another group, the rap and the more traditional music all made me wish I had a remote control in hand to zap forward.

"Persepolis" covered very similar ground and managed to do it in a visually arresting way and with a more assured look at the regime that makes little things like music and fashion crimes. Director Bahman Ghobadi doesn't manage to do anything as interesting visually and there is little explanation for those who know little about life in Iran. Sadly, what had the makings of an interesting film never quite delivered and I was left wishing for the end to arrive long before it did.

March 2010

The big film of the month of March was "Crazy Heart". Sadly it was also a big disappointment. Only the performance of Jeff Bridges elevated this above made-for-TV status and the performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal almost negated Bridges...seriously, this was a stinker from her.

Two highlights of the month for me were "The Headless Woman" which was absolutely brilliant and "Kick-Ass" which was absolutely brilliant but in a totally different way! However, there is no doubt that the best film of the month and of the year so far was Warwick Thorntons "Samson and Delilah"...which I haven't been able to stop thinking, or talking, about since I saw it. It should win the Oscar for best picture next year...the fact that it won't says everything about the film industry and nothing about the film. GO AND SEE IT.

Lourdes - Filmhouse - 2/4/10

Written and directed by Jessica Hausner "Lourdes" tells the story of a group of pilgrims visiting the site where Bernadette is alleged to have seen the virgin Mary several times in a grotto on the site. Now many hundreds of thousands visit the site (which resembles a sort of Catholic Disneyland) each year in the hope that they will be cured of all manner of ailments. It is in this setting that Hausner creates a slow moving and intimate tale of what happens when a miracle (apparently) does take place.

Christine (Sylvie Testud) is a young woman who is paralysed from the neck down due to MS. She is utterly reliant on others for everything from getting dressed to eating. While visiting Lourdes she recovers all of her physical faculties and, it appears, we are witness to a miracle. The reaction of the other members of her party vary from wonder to suspicion to anger and hostility.

Despite being the possibility of this being an advertisement for Lourdes and Catholicism Hausner avoids either and also manages to avoid adopting a tone of mockery. The setting and the religion are almost incidental here. Instead we are given an insight into the world of Christine; we sense her frustration at being confined to a wheelchair, we feel her longing for a relationship with a man, we empathise with her attempts to show who she is while so many see her simply as a wheelchair. It is a terrific performance from Testud and even when the inevitable miracle arrives it never seems anything other than convincing.

There is no doubt that the "Lourdes" phenomenon is one that entrances some and horrifies others but this isn't a film about the morality of people with serious illness traveling many hundreds of miles in search of a miracle cure, this is a film about what happens to someone when they receive what they were most desirous of. Hausner has crafted something that is interesting and that connects emotionally with its audience. A film that has much to say but not about what people would expect it to.

My Own Private Idaho - DVD - 1/4/10

After the success of "Drugstore Cowboy" Gus Van Sant was able to turn his attention to a project that had been dear to his heart for many years. The result was "My Own Private Idaho" which takes, at least in part, the story of Shakespeare's Henry IV and retells the it with Portland rent boys in place of royalty.

The result is a, now, notorious and magnificent film. The beautiful but flawed River Phoenix stars alongside Keanu Reeves as Mike and Scott respectively. Mike is a narcoleptic down and out while Scott is the heir to an incredible fortune. Together they sell their bodies, steal and hang out with the other outsiders populating the back streets and abandoned hotels of Portland.

At times Van Sant takes wholesale sections of Shakespeares script but, unlike his shot for shot remake of "Psycho", he adds elements all of his own to leave us with something that is quite unique and never anything less than fascinating.