Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia
Curse of the Golden Flower'

Plot Outline
China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou).

His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems dubious.

For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter.

Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path?

Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.

Overall Impressions:
As with his previous films, the visuals were vibrant and uplifiting contrasting the actual ongoings. I guess this comes from myths and folk stories in the land of China, but its all so tragic. I must admit I also got quite a bit bored with the plot. I could tell this because I was paying a lot of attention to the detail that had gone into the choreography and the sets. The narrative shouldn't allows this really, but it did.

In now way am I suggesting that if you've seen one Chinese film you've seen them all, but this one didn't seem as fresh and shocking to me plotwise as say Hero did. That said I can say as a huge plus the attention to detail is immaculate. The ninja assasins will be sure to gain appluade from many fans like myself. They were fricking cool, but ninja's always are. The fight scenes, costumes and sets all deserve a big-up. The only thing that lets in down in my opinion is the depressing and far from interesting plot.

Visually amazing. Otherwise so so. (5.5 out of 10)

Next'

Plot Outline

Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick called The Golden Man, this is a story about Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) who has a secret which torments him. He can see a limited two minutes into his future.

Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lays low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings."

But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.

Overall Impressions:
The reviews I had read for this and general word on the street was, this is bad, really bad. I almost didn't bother seeing it. In the end I did & I'm glad I did, as I thoroughly enjoyed this. Okay Nicolas Cage has terrible hair but maybe that's where he gets the power, who knows?

Working out the structure in a time-travel / premonition film, you have to give it restrictions, in this case 2 minutes, otherwise there's always the option of, well why did he not do it earlier? Fine 2 minutes works, but for it to truely allow further scope we need a variable, that's where Jessica Biel comes in. The one phenomenon in whose presence his two minutes can be stretched further.

A well written film for sure, sure there is room for improvement, better bad guys, Julianne Moore's character explained a bit more (and less bitchy attitude), it also would have been nice to see more of the legendary Culumbo (Peter Falk), but hey we're in a policestation, as a Verbal Kint once said.

A little thing worth note: It's based on a book called The Golden Man & then adapted to a screenplay by someone called Goldman. Is there a story there I wonder?

Kinks aside, decent paranormal sci-fi that looks cool as well as keeping you thinking. (7 out of 10)

Blades of Glory'

Plot Outline
When rival figure skaters Chazz Micheal Micheals (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) go ballistic in an embarassing, no-holds-barred fight at the championships, they are stripped of their gold medals and banned from the sport for life. Now, three and a half years on, they've found a loophole that will allow theme to compete: If they put aside their differences, they can skate together - in pairs figure skating.

Overall Impressions:
I don't really know why I put off watching this one. It's a good team, I guess I was just dubious of Will Ferrell and Jon Heder clashing. Fortunately this isn't the case. They actually manage to both do well without appearing to steal each other's lime-light. Neither have anything new to bring to the picture, but we don't really care, we love watching the stuff they do so well. It's resembles Dodgeball a little bit with the competing and random mascot and TV advertising campaigns, but again this is no bad thing. If you like this kind of humour, it's another one to defnitely catch.

A pretty silly film that ensures you're entertained throughout. (7 out of 10)

The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer'

Plot Outline
As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people’s lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In The Future Is Unwritten, from British director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times.

The Clash endure as icons, not just for their music but also as a band who stood for something above and beyond commercial success. In a world increasingly lacking in inspirational cultural figures, their story is an epic adventure, with Joe Strummer’s explosive personal force at the epicentre.

With unique, authorized access to Joe’s personal archives and astonishing unseen footage, Temple digs deep beneath the myths which surround the Clash and punk in general to place Joe in the broader cultural context of the world during the last half century. The Future is Unwritten is a ripped, raw, cut-up, hand-spliced patchwork of iconic images and found footage, news clips, films, TV ads and unseen home movies, purely evocative of time, place and of the individual that was Joe Strummer. The Future Is Unwritten is a film to celebrate Joe’s life in the same style he lived it, and portrays him fully, not only as lead singer of ‘The Clash’ but also as actor, filmmaker, thinker, poet, artist, philosopher and icon.

Overall Impressions
Including 8mm family films from Joe's childhood and a performance from the 101ers, his pre-Clash R&B/pub-rock band. There are interviews with Joe's squat-mates from the early 70s, Mick Jones and Topper Headon of the Clash, and numerous other people (including big celebrities such as Johnny Depp, John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Jim Jarmusch) who either worked with Joe or were influenced by him.

My only reservation is that the documentary film might be slightly overwhelming to someone who was unfamiliar with Strummer's work, or the broad outlines of his history (as I was), but I think even a complete novice like myself would have to come away impressed by the sheer scope of Joe's legacy, both in terms of music and the influence he left on his friends and admirers.

Bringing the film festival to an end, I think it was a great choice of film, inspiring & uplifting, it reminds me that documentaries can be just as interesting as fictional narratives, provided its is handled well, as is certainly the case here.

If I now compare this to Gilbert and George which the festival opened with. This is a huge step up. I guess the main reason is though they are both biographies, this one has a larger legacy, in addition it can be called a legacy as the man has passed on. There is little dramatic impact in saying, you might see these dudes walking around outside later & oh by the way they're art is being exhibitioned at the Tate if you compare it to, this guy fricking ruled, but now he's dead. Harsh but a true fact.

Interesting, Inspiring, Uplifiting & Educational - Highly Recommend (7.5 out of 10)

Kya Love Story Hai'

Plot Outline
"Kya Love Story Hai" is a story of a carefree and wayward youth, Arjun (Tusshar Kapoor), who experiences love-at-first-sight with Kaajal (Ayesha Takia). It isn't a typical meet-cute situation - he follows her for some time before breaking the ice. For Kaajal, Arjun is a mere acquaintance but the latter is in love with her and afraid of conveying his feelings.

A situation arises when Kaajal comes across a letter, which Arjun has written for the the girl he loves but she doesn't lnow to whom he is referring. Arjun deliberately asks her how she would reciprocate his love if she were the girl he was in love with. Kaajal's reply leaves Arjun self-introspecting, making him mysteriously disappear from the scene.

In the mean time, a successful and snooty enterpreneur meets Kaajal. Following some heated verbal scuffles with her, he cocludes that she would make am appropriate life partner because she was a stabilizing influence and kept him mellow.

When Arjun returns, during an astonishingly coincidental encounter. he finds Kaajal engaged to this enterpreneur. How this work out for Arjun from here form the crux of the film.

Overview
Well with such an original plot, I couldn't wait to see this one. Oh dear is my sarcasm too transparent? Fine, I have no idea whatsoever why I went to see this & why I'm bothering to give it an individual post. It's mediocre at that. The opening song with Kareena Kapoor is pleasant, despite the over-usage of the word 'Rocking' that seems to be the trend with the Mumbaiyya's these days, but does it have an underlying message or is it simply mocking Tusshar saying, look my career is doing so well, hahaha, look at you doing the same role you did with me in two films back in the days when we were both newbies.

Anyways, Tusshar is efficient in the film, it's a shame he doesn't get better work though, he is good at being the one you feel sorry for, ie; looks smarter sulking rather than smiling, perhaps he needs to move to the Ram Gopal Verma camp? Well .. here's hoping Shootout at Lokhandwala brings back an interest of the prospective employers to him.

Ayesha looks good, and acts okay, she kinda reminds me of Juhi Chawla which isn't such a bad thing I guess. Then there is the enterpreneur (Karan Hukku), he has the model build of a taller Salman Khan going for him but not much else.

The songs barring the opening song are plain mediocre not helping to uplift the otherwise dull ongoings.

Stay away, you'd be better off watching the other 100's of films with the same plot from decades ago. (3 out of 10)

Short Films
Student Drama'

Title: Willow Drive
Runtime: 16 mins 43 secs
Directed by: Jakob Rirvik
Synopsis: In a quiet suburb, a boy listens to his father's old records, and a woman faints when she tries to leave her house. A bittersweet romance and a dream of another place.
Black & White for no real reason, this flick is pretty close to 50 First Dates. The woman keeps fainting, having a chat

& then forgetting the boy. That's pretty much it. *Shrugs*

Title: Needlewood Antiques
Runtime: 14 mins 45 secs
Directed by: Naoki Maeda
Synopsis: Welcome to Needlewood antiques, a shop full of characters, a shop full of mystery, a shop full of surprises. Ron and Sive receive an eviction notice and know their business is doomed. They are paid a visit by a mysterious stranger who turns out to be something of an angel.

Between this one and the one below we seem to have
Lock Stock. This one is about an antique store on the verge of being
evicted and a mysterious customer who has no cash & leaves a
painting with the store as a temporary guarantee. Little does the store
know its true worth until ...

Title: Raspberry Ripple
Runtime: 18 mins
Directed by: Patrick Whittaker
Synopsis: Young rock star Des Gilroy suffers a stroke on stage and spends the next forty years in NHS nursing homes as a cripple. He is eventually expelled for a series of misdemeanours and is forced to move in with his brother. An argument with the squatters next door escalates into a full-blown war with neither side preparing to take prisoners.

Alright, the young rock star in multiple repeated
flashbacks falling on the stage I really couldn't care less about. What
did keep me glued is the bitter old bugger he is now & how he
handles the squatters and every other problem he has with his wits,
resources and charm. He maybe on a wheelchair but he's certainly
someone you would not won't to get on the wrong side of.

Title: Unto This Last
Runtime: 29 min 20 secs
Directed by: Laura Schroeder
Synopsis: After her mother's death, Mira finds out that her mother had a lover called Samir and that her father knew about it.

A good look at emotions, conflicts and forgiveness.
Obviously the deceased loved each and every one of the three, the
daughter, the husband & the lover, but can the three come to terms
with it with her no longer in the picture. This is what the film was
about to me. About how the three cope and take things on board. The
father (apart from his hair) & daughter were great, the lover Samir
was a little uneasy & wooden. In the end I think it's the daughter
that end up being the hero in this. Surprisingly this didn'tseem
lengthy, so they definitely got the drama down well.

Thoughts Overall: As a set of shorts, the student ones have pleased me most I think, in that there has been a consistency held between the quaility of them. With some of the previous sets I saw, how good or bad they were was quite erratic, especially the 'experimental' ones, but I can't really dis them for being experiments.

All of the above had some corny dialogue and limitations in their scope, but nothing that money couldn't fix, so I give them all a thumbs up for the future.

Short Films
Student Animation'

Title: Pingpongs
Runtime: 5 mins 30 secs
Directed by: George Gendi
Synopsis: A married couple despite loving each other for many years have perhaps not spoken about certain feelings.
A nice little short about precisely what the synopsis says. The beginning is humrous as it conveys the idea of Ping Pong and Basketball merged as a sport. Th main idea being ut across being the lack of similarity in the thoughts of the man and wife. That said a certain compromise is found as in most marriages/relationships.

Years on they manage to remain true to each other, yet still haven't found the scope of communication. The man doesn't understand the feeling of his significant other as he feels if she had the need, she would ask & so he never does. A universally seen problem, perhaps both should find out a deeper understanding of the other & how they function & what they need. They finally do, one hopes they wold much earlier. Kinda depressing but uplifiting and educational. Simple drawing animation but quite effective in that I clearly identified with the characters.

Title: My First Taste of Death
Runtime: 9 mins 40 secs
Directed by: Laurie Hill
Synopsis: On Dodo Island, I face a deadly struggle with my nemesis the demented sea scorpion.
A story written at a very young age that many years later he has gone to make into a film, this is a fantasy film that resembles a little bit of King Kong mixed in with Jurassic Park. It is a tragedy of a young chap who upon finding harmless little dinosaurs on an island off shore, realises he must investigate further. As he tries to pursue his discovery he fights for his life in the dangers of the waters.

Rather a deep sentiment has gone behind this considering it was written by a child. I guess most thoughts of children are purer than us so-called adults. The animation here too is hand drawn pencil work, with a lot more shading as opposed to prmarily outlines like the above. Still effective, still impressive.

Title: Adjustment
Runtime: 6 mins 30 secs
Directed by: Ian Mackinnon
Synopsis: A diarist searches for flickers of hope in a drama of technical and emotional obsesion.
By far the best short I've seen. Techinically as well as the effectiveness of it. The flicker books are very effective and the use of 'live action' around it all. The integratio of drawing into it all is exceptional. The wow factor of how it looks so slick put aside, even the story is moving. It's about how the artist is so involved with his drawing he seems to miss what is happening around him & his girlfriend ends up leaving him.

As he finds himself drunk one night as she returns for her things, she realises that nothing has change since she left and this confirms the end for her. As she leaves she shuffles some of the diary cards upon which its all drawn. When the guy flicks through them, we see a number of mixed panels that we have seen before, but this time ordered in such a way it looks as though he is suffocating her. Though this wasn't true literally, it still wasn't far from the truth.

Title: George Grows
Runtime: 2 min 24 secs
Directed by: Martin Schmidt
Synopsis: Little George is one year old, when he experiences the shock of his life.
Very good. George crawls slowly and grows in age as he does, it is really as simple as that. Old and frail Grandpa George bumps into a little baby in his path .. & so it all begins again. It kinda reminded me of this picture on the right, showing the inevitable. It's supposed to portray reincarnation, I wonder if that's what the short was getting at?

Title: Mother
Runtime: 6 min 33 secs
Directed by: Christoph Steger
Synopsis: Mother is an animated documentary about a life devoted to the dead.
I almost got bitten for not liking this by one of the organisers who begged to differ. It was about the running of a funeral service. Now for the first two, maybe three minutes I was interested, then they should have just stopped. The average person with a TV probably knows about everything the woman is narrating, especially with a show like Six Feet Under practically based on it.

Title: Yarn .. Good Light is Essential
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Reka Gacs
Synopsis: On a lonely night, a woman who is always waiting for 'the one' is in a nostalgic mood. What is there to do?
I'm not really sure this is the synopsis I would have given it, then again I'd probably struggle giving it one. It was a rather surreal little piece where the drawings blended from one thing to another. Kinda like where all the money goes these days on special effects. A tad reminder of the old school way of doing it. It is effective and kept me interested visually, I'me really not sure if there was a written plot behind it though.

Thoughts Overall: As a set of shorts, I think this has been the best lot yet, in that they all in my opinion I would rate above average. Considering these have all been done by students, I think the future of film isn't as doomed as people may think. An enjoyable watch :)

Okay, so you probably don't follow the categories anyway, as it's not all that visible (my bad) and the fact that it's not all that likely that you think you read something here that you can't find by searching (if you're really inclined to find it), but this is only a matter of time. It's not like I've publicised or reached a level of blogging whereby I should, but slowly and steadily itll happen, hopefully less slowly & more steadily.

Back to the point, I've added a category called 'Koffee with Ram' which will be my encounters at the coffee shops. I seem to have so many of these that it only makes sense to blog it. Vish had told me to do this earlier and showed a certain surprise that I didn't considering how I enjoy rambling so much, so here it is. Post No.1 of probably many to come. -- This is just the intro'

Fracture'

Plot Outline
When a meticulous structural engineer Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) takes the liberty of shooting his wife in the head and confesses soon after, the young and sharp district attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) who is on the move to a much higher & prestigious firm decides to accept one last task of prosecuting him. Little did he know that this wouldn't be a simple open and close case.

As Ted is found innocent of the attempted murder of his wife Willy becomes a crusader for justice.

Overall Impressions:
The tagline really does sell this film, it gets you intrigues and through the door. So the question is does it keep you engaged with twists and turns throughout? Short answer: Yes. This is not about a kool psycho like Hannibal Lecter. I had heard people say "Oh, Sir. Hopkins is playing Hannibal again!", nah, not at all. The only common ground it has with the character of Dr. Lecter is that the guy commits murder and he's smart.

This film is about how everyone has a right to exercise and manipulate the law to their advantage, provided it meets the necessary criteria, and this is what keeps you interested throughout. The little loop holes each side jump through to reach their goals, but within the necessary guideleines.

A cat and mouse thriller that keeps you well .. thrilled. :) (7 out of 10)

Short Films
Long Shorts'

Title: Pennyless Decadence
Runtime: 46 mins
Directed by: Julia Keller
Synopsis: A portrait group of art graduates who decide to live an alternative life style in order to engage with art on a daily basis.
Interesting take on Squatters. In essence that's what it is, a documentary about how a life of a squatter can be harsh yet fun. If it was half its duration I would have probably managed to keep an interest. It was certainly educational, but not a life-changing film by any means, in fact far from it. It tells me the plusses definitely do not outweigh the negatives of this lifestyle, however I can now see how easy it can be if it came to being homeless. The biggest problem I had with this is that it got quite preachy about how empty abandoned houses are a disgust and that they should be allowed to remain in them.

My opinion is quite the opposite, if I had multiple empty properties, it would be from my hard earnt money, so its none of they're bloody concern or business because they wouldn't know much about that, having earnt nothing and living the easy life.

Title: The Madness of the Dance
Runtime: 18 mins
Directed by: Carol Morley
Synopsis: Featuring biting nuns and twitching schoolgirls, it's a musical journey through mass hysteria and the madness of normal people.
A surreal yet entertaining piece that talks about how hysteria has been a common trend throughout the ages and how people are often sheep. It would be nice if this mass hysteria remained in the positive areas such as giggling and dancing, unfortunatley alas it also delves on the dark side with mental illness.

Title: Daydream
Runtime: 29 mins
Directed by: Christine Molly / Joe Lawlor
Synopsis: A highly poetic and meditative work, tracing the city of Liverpool during a time of great change and how this moment can be reflected in the emotional world of its citizens.
Even with the synopsis, this doesn't remind me of what this was. It surely couldn't have had that much of an impact on me if I can't remember it. Though it's annoying me. Grrrrr

Thoughts Overall: As a set of shorts, that are advertised as 'Long', I had my concerns and rightly so in one case (Penniless). The others to me were fine. Somebody in the crowd did suggest mini-films would be a better title for the programme in the future.

Short Films Premiere
(By Invitation Only)
Tower Hamlets & Hackney Production Scheme''

All films were produced with the financial support of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Hackney Council, Film London East and The European Regional Development Agency.

Title: The Preacher
Runtime: 13 mins
Written & Directed by: Peter Blach
Produced by: Derek Laviniere
Synopsis: John is a man of God. His faith is put to the test when a man from his past turns up and asks questions.
After preaching that God forgives for all you have done and it is looking to the future that is of importance, it's quite amusing to then run from the past as this stranger shows up and reminds him of it. The jumping around making a scene was a bit much, but if drama is what they were after, you do get people like that out there. Naturally the climax is to fix his ways and face his past and am towards the future, just as he preaches.

Title: Hinterland
Runtime: 9 mins 40 secs
Written & Directed by: Suzi Ewing
Produced by:
Synopsis: Alek has built a new life for himself in London where he works illegally. He witnesses an offence and his newfound stability is put under threat. Dare he come forward and risk losing everything?
That eternal question of whether witnessing a crime and doing nothing about it is just as good as participating, but above this, I think it's a reflection of the weakness of the whole damned system, if you want to report a crime, you just can't do it anonymously, they first want to know who you are, where you live, where your grandma buys her bread from & who your father's gym membership is with. Grrrr. Okay, so I got a little ranty.

Title: Tree
Runtime: 12 mins
Written & Directed by: Phil Dale
Produced by: Liz Chan
Synopsis: A man and woman wander a wood, each unaware of the other until their paths cross by an ancient tree.
This one was pretty cool. The overall feel I got in the end was that it was about people, and how we sometimes mark our territory, etching things into walls & trees. Each etching could have a story of it's own & sometimes it's these stories colliding that bring people together.

Title: Broken
Runtime: 15 mins
Written & Directed by: Vicki Psarias
Produced by: Adam Partridge
Synopsis: It is 1968 and 14 year old Chrystalla arrives in England from Cyprus with her mother and brother to meet her father Solomon after 4 years apart, to find he is not the man he seems to be.
Firstly I thought they went all out promoting this. There were posters and postcards put up, it's the only film in the entire festival where I felt the team behind it were putting in full efforts to get it noticed & for good reason. It's a great little film.

How the family come to learn of his concerns and his comforts in an outsider & how they do cope with it all is what tugs at your heartstrings. Brilliant execution, a balance of emotion, drama & light moments to keep it at equilibrium. Definitely the best of the lot.

Title: The Old Old Very Old Man
Runtime: 7 mins
Written & Directed by: Elizabeth Hobbs
Produced by: Kathrein Guenther
Synopsis: In 1635, the 152 year old Thomas Parr was taken on a journey to meet King Charles I, who ordered an immediate celebration of his longevity, with fatal consequences.
Pretty cool animation short explaining how there did exists back in the day an old old very old man. The King screws the old man over by summoning him thus breaking up his habitat of a routine which causes him to die. Sad but true, he should have been left in peace.

Title: Home
Runtime: 7 mins 10 secs
Written & Directed by: Pier van Tijn and Johnny Burns
Produced by: Igor Degtiarev
Synopsis: Returning to his childhood home, Stewart surprises his mother in a moment of total despair. Awkwardly he tries to find a way to comfort her despite less than ideal circumstances.
Having to break into his own home as his mother is away, young Stewart looks nostalgically through his old toys until he hears a break-in. As he decided to take this matter into his own hands, bearing his baseball bat at the ready he realises, nope it''s not a break-in, it''s his mother who has arrived in a bit of a state. What follows is a little disturbing, yet sweet & certainly amusing. An entertaining little short.

Title: Still Life
Runtime: 8 mins
Written & Directed by: Ninna Bohn Pederson
Produced by: Maeve Lewtas
Synopsis: A woman on the edge of reason encounters a bizarre incident at the end of the road.
I missed this, due to a technical issue at the time..

I'd like to thank Alison who ensured I got a chance to see these even though it was an invite only event.
Thoughts Overall: As a set of shorts, I can see why they got the funding, it was good stuff all round.

Every Good Marriage
Begins With Tears'

Synopsis:

Rebellious London Muslim girl Shahanara is changing from pink hotpants
into a saree, to collect her husband at the airport. She's only met him
once before, when she was married in a union arranged by her
Bangladeshi family... Meanwhile her devout Muslim sister Hushnara is
being groomed for her own arranged marriage, something that at 19 she
doesn't feel at all ready for. Exploring the concerns of both
traditional family members and Anglicised offspring Every Good Marriage
Begins With Tears is Chambers’ first independent feature documentary.

Review
Like his previous short films, Chambers continues to show a talent for finding humorous ways of approaching serious subjects. Considering this began as somewhat of a home family video, it's surprising how well balanced the characters are. The two sisters are almost exact opposites of each other yet share the bond of family love.

To somebody like myself who is familiar with the culture of the Asian household, the accuracy and truth of it all was highly amusing as it contained so many of the stereotypes of characters, that I would write if I was trying to create fictional characters that are funny. Seeing it being done naturally is obvioulsy quite authentic.

To somebody not so familiar with the culture, I think they'd still be highly amused too, but above that a little shocked at the extreme differences between people within the same family & surpised with such friction they manage to hold together so well.

The title (reflected so well here) is quite an accurate description of the Wedding Scene with Asians. The fact that a daughter is brought up & in essence trained to be a housewife and then shipped off to another family with compliments is a pretty standard view of the marriage scenario.

Behind that it becomes customary to make a huge deal out of the event as a sad haunting thing. A daughter that has remained with their parents for 20 odd years and is now moving away where they probably won't see their parents again, is surely a sad thing, but it's become so customary to cry your eyes out and faint (with the sound of Shehnai playing in the background) and make a huge scene that they would still do this even if they were moving next door.

This particular film followed one rebel daughter who stood up for herself and ditched her arranged marriage & another (who though afraid) obliged in her duties and obligations (through love for her parents above guilt) and took upon herself an arranged marriage.

The questions the film asks I guess is whether people should marry for love only, or whether love can grow from the seed of marriage. In the end the answer is in the eye of the beholder, as both girls seem happy with their results, and the process of reaching where they are now is painful and difficult for both.

In a Q&A session after the film with the director, we discovered that a lot of footage & characters (by which I mean family members, partcularly siblings) had been dropped, which makes sense, just to focus upon the most diverse of the characters, the two sisters & their parental units. This way though this is a biography of a family & somewhat of a documentary, it doesn't feel like one, it feels entertaining. This is where it scores well, it gives you an insight into a culture while also entertaining you with a story and large doses of humour. Only if more documentaries did this.

Short Films
Animation'

Title: The Ill fated Romance of the Giraffe and the Ballerina
Runtime: 3 mins 30 secs
Directed by: Nick Wade
Synopsis: In a surrealistic African Savannah cum ballet studio our pointy-toed protagonist learns a valuable lesson about love.
An amusing little story about how Ballerina's are from venus & Giraffes are from Mars. A story about relationships and however fruitful they can initially be, love is after all blind & sometimes though opposites can attract, they're simply not compatible.

Title: Night Shift
Runtime: 8 mins 44 secs
Directed by: Gemma Burditt
Synopsis: A night worker struggles to spend time with his wife - a creature of the day - and turns their worlds upside down with his efforts.
Not purely animation, this one was kinda strange, I didn't really get used to the style, how all the people in it were kinda luminous. I guess I didn't really get past that, I don't think there was much of a story either, just that their lives were almost independent of each other & though they try to fix it, they don't seem to get anywhere. *Shrug*

Title: Pirouette
Runtime: 6 mins 19 secs
Directed by: Franca Chretien
Synopsis: A young bird finds itself the prisoner of an unknown captor with an unusual agenda.
No French birds were harmed in the making of this film. It follows a caged bird who is given a little amusing costume & a french moustache et al, what the man has planned for his own amusement is a little surreal, what he gets in the end serves him right. :)

Title: Potapych: The Bear Who Loved Vodka
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Darren Price
Synopsis: This is the sad-but-true story of a bear who loved to party and a drunk who loved to drink.
One of the best animations of the lot. This is a computer-animated short about a Russian bear named Potapych who makes friends with a man named Mishr sharing vodka drinks and having a good time partying everywhere they go. But then it ends in a poignant but satisfying way. It makes its point: You're nothing without friends and happiness. Wonderful use of Russian-style music and narrator. I really wanna see this again.

Title: Crush
Runtime: 1 min 14 secs
Directed by: Franca Chretien
Synopsis: A young lemon goes for a walk and meets some enigmatic strangers.
Short enough not to get too surreal, but it certainly is strange, the animation is pretty good but the content is just a bit wierd. It literally is the intimidation & demise of a lemon.

Title: Flighty
Runtime: 1 min 18 secs
Directed by: Leigh Hodgkinson
Synopsis: Will the modern phenomenon of speed-dating help butterflies with short lives meet their perfect partners?
Another strange one. There are some strange people out there.

Title: It Ain't Disneyland
Runtime: 6 mins
Directed by: Martin Orton / Greg Villalobos
Synopsis: This challenging documentary – animation deals with the problem of anti-social behaviour in Britain’s inner cities.
A couple of streetwise kids with hoodies were "wandering around talking about how people were afraid of them even though they've lived in the area all their lives and some random gubbins about getting group talks going and some mobile youth center thing going" .. Cheers Demon, for reminding me what this one was, preachy and a bit boring. I guess I'm just not a documentary person.

Title: Zero Degree
Runtime: 8 mins
Directed by: Omid Khoshnazar
Synopsis: Because of his villainous act a soldier is captured in camera cadre. The camera wants revenge…
Kinda like a computer game graphically. This was a good experiemental film & had its humour, but definitely should have been shortened. Following the soldiers struggle against the frame we see them in grows old after 2 or 3 minutes.

Title: Yesterday I Think
Runtime: 5 mins 35 secs
Directed by: Becalelis Brodskis
Synopsis: An iconographic tale of suburban horror humorously expressed in dark, crude elegance.
Another wierd one with a baby causing fear and hate to everyone around them, it was a bit surreal, not really sure if I perceived what they were getting at.

Title: Know The Enemy
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Martin Orton / Greg Villalobos
Synopsis: Sun Tze, ‘The Art of War’ argues that to win the battle you must know the enemy – here applied to bike theft.
Educational dosumentaries peeve me off as a general, but this was okay. It does give some good tips as to how you should go abou securing your bike. In fact since I've had at leas 3 bikes stolen that I can remember, it gave me a reason not to get one.

Title: Walker
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Tanioka Akihiro
Synopsis: A medium memorising light and shadow.
We follow a robot walker and see that it has tripped up due to some obstruction, but its legs carry on moving as programmed to. We then see its perspective, it thinks it is still on course and reaching its objective. I think it kinda reflects a couple of things: firstly robots are stupid!! and secondly that even people can become robots, following a routine so vigorously that they lose sight of their actual path.

Title: Going Native
Runtime: 5 mins
Directed by: Susan Aldworth
Synopsis: An exploration of consciousness- the relationship between a person and her physical brain.
Strange once more, I guess animation does work out well for those with vivid and obscure imaginations. Seriously though, watching this kindof thing reminds me that I'm not all that strange, there's far worse out tthere.

Title: The Battle of Cable Street
Runtime: 8 mins
Directed by: Yoav Segal
Synopsis: Danny enters the magical world of his own sketchbook to face Mosley's 'Blackshirt' fascists.
Very nicely done. A kid and his grandfather walking down the street and then the animation kicks in, taking the two of them back into some kickass times as Cartman would say. It reminded me of The Snowman which nobody can dispute is the best animation ever. Yoav Segal was inspired to make this one by his grandfather Ubby Cowan's involvement in the Battle of Cable Street, London, 1936.

Title: Thoughts of a Falling Glass Man
Runtime: 3 mins 13 secs
Directed by: Adam Aiken / Shelley Revill
Synopsis: A giant robot and his clockwork creatures live in harmony with nature. Suddenly they are under attack.
Fricking Robots. They get everywhere don't they? Anywhoo this one was a wierd Transformers gone terribly wrong for me & I don't even like Transformers.

Title: Sausage Ninja
Runtime: 1 min
Directed by: Christian De Vita
Synopsis: The adventures of a romaing Samurai who who just happens to be a 7 inch tall sausage.
Pick of the lot, for being short & totally kickass. It had the Kill Bill Vol.1 thing going on, with almost the same music too. Just Awesome.

While I catchup the past 2 days of East End film watching entries, may I proudly present some work that is not my own, but is quality never the less ;) ... I have got a few ideas down now & hope to launch something of this nature ofver the next few months. So keep your eyes open.

Short Films
Home Grown #2'

Title: Sucking is a Fine Quality in Women and Vacuum Cleaners
Runtime: 9 mins 40 secs
Directed by: Nina Bradley
Synopsis: One husband's obsession with his mistress causes his wife to reassess her marriage to deadly effect.
Awesome. Without a doubt the best of the lot. A dual narrative in the prespective of the Wife (Michelle Duncan) and the Mistress (Rebecca Hazlewood) we learn how the wife learns of the affair and how she tolerates it a while. We learn how the husband is becoming obsessed with the Mistress and how she tolerates it a while. What happens as their tolerances come to an end & they decide to unite?? I'll let the title leave you in thought :)

Very well acted, very well written dialogue, great camera work, especially the shot with the Wife watching from the tree, I would easily fall in love with her, my own personal stalker, pretty sweet huh? :-P Anyway .. overall Superb!

Title: Midnight Mosaic
Runtime: 13 mins
Directed by: Jess Brownrigg
Synopsis: Two sisters struggle to survive in a parallel society where sleep is illegal.
I found this quite boring, to me it was like watching a short version of Equilibrium (replacing emotion with sleep) without the kickass Gun Kata and witty lines like 'Not without incident' before sweet fight scenes. Quite long for that matter too.

Title: Jigsaw
Runtime: 11 mins 20 secs
Directed by: Paul Fuller
Synopsis: A bored office worker lets curiosity get the better of him when he finds a mysterious box on his doorstep. The film was originally titled 'The Path", but changed to Jigsaw during editing because of the non chronological "puzzle" style the cut evolved into.
Tension filled little thriller, with perfect music, no colour & no words. The man finds a parcel at his doorstep & out it aside for a while, later he opens it and begins the jigsaw puzzle slowly but surely, it seems he was expecting a guest, but he doesn't answer his door or phone, he works at the puzzle with much focus and dedication into the next day, the afternoon, & the evening, he's missed work because of this puzzle that he feels he must complete.

I thought this was quite a profound film, a statement of sorts. If you find you conform to the norm & fit in perfectly, that's the end of you. The process of a person is the progress, once you find your life complete, no goals, no place to move, that's it then -- Khallaaas!

Title: Gal Dem FM
Runtime: 6 mins 40 secs
Directed by: Patrick Fenn
Synopsis: A journalist researching London’s booming pirate radio scene visits the infamous ‘Gal Dem FM’.
Amusing to begin with & interesting how such pirate radio scene types can be merely doing it for fun & have little to no idea what other things out there they are affecting, but as they start doing the show with their little rapping stints, I got bored, but that may just be coz I aint into the whole rapping things, safe..

Title: Growing
Runtime: 10 mins 44 secs
Directed by: David Alexander
Synopsis: A study of three teenage boys, whose idle lifestyle of smoking, joking around and chasing girls, results in tragedy.
This was an extremely well portrayed film. Perhaps giving it a little too much credit by the comparison but it reminded me of Hitchcock, whereby it's not about what you see, but what you don't see that causes the tension and frustration in you. We see the girl get taken away by one of the guys who returns shortly to the other two, a second then takes his leave of absence & returns similarly, as the third twitches away guiltfully, he reluctantly does the same.

His life here-on clearly won't be the same, we can see it in his eyes. The following day he decides to part with these supposed friends of his, without any confrontation, just a simple, I got other things to be doing, see you around kind of way. As he sits alone we see glimpses of what had happened when he had gone to see the girl reluctantly. It ends with what may have been a phone call to her (or not).

Title: Blood and Chips
Runtime: 3 mins
Directed by: Ryan Phillips
Synopsis: A heat wave appears to be fuelling racial tensions in London’s chip shops.
Small, smart little film, showing the assumptions you can make can so easily be incorrect & if you haven't got anything good to say it's probably best to keep your mouth shut. It's a shame the shopkeeper and customer didn't beat the crap out of the racist guy, but hey I guess that would have defeated the point & made them just as bad & all that. :-P

Title: Runaways
Runtime: 10 mins 38 secs
Directed by: Zaheer Ahmad
Synopsis: Emmie and Charlie are running away from their violent father- until he finds them hiding out in an isolated barn.
This has a certain mystery about it. We're not really sure why the kids are running & how he managed to find them, but I guess it's not the point. The aim I think was to show that a parent in the end always loves their children, even if they are terrible at showing it. A little slow, maybe again a little more usage of the scissors at the editing table would have made it more of an impact, but currently the events unfold at a lengthy pace.

Title: Well Heeled
Runtime: 5 mins
Directed by: Jeremy Chopra
Synopsis: Is Anna being stalked as she leaves her art class late one night? Or is it a trick of her imagination?
I genuinely liked this. It flips between two, a shoe-maker fixing/strengthening the heels on some shoes which he places upon a shelf with some others & on the other end we have Anna who's leaving her class and parting with her friend as she decides she needs to get home early. We feel the tension as she walks down some dodgy alleys & feels she may be being followed. When she least expects it she gets her legs chopped off (& I assume bleeds to death). We see her shoes end up on the shelf with multiple others as it reaches the climax.

Title: Zombie
Runtime: 3 mins 7 secs
Directed by: Tessa Garland
Synopsis: A supermarket horror film based on 'Night Of The Living Dead', shot on a mobile phone.
It does look like it's done on a mobile phone & the novelty of the repeating stutter causing a zombie effect grows old pretty quick. I may have liked this if it was under a minute in duration. At it's current length, an absolute no-no.

Almost Adult'

Synopsis
After losing a sister and having no knowledge of where her parents are Mamie (Victoire Milandu) 17, travels to Britain from the Democratic Republic of Congo in the hope of finding a safer life. Immigration authorities send her to Birmingham, where she meets the fragile Shiku (Ann Warungu) 13, and, while they don't share a language, Mamie vows to look after the younger girl and treat her like a sister.

When it is discovered they are not genuine siblings the authorities split them up. Threatened with deportation, Mamie disappears, working in exploitative conditions within the immigrant community and Shiku is put with foster parents who forbid her from having friends.

Review
I thought it was actually quite an accurate portrayal of how the system works & how there is room for misusing/abusing it to some degree, but the larger extent of it is the other way round, the grief caused to asylum seekers due to the ineptitude of the system can be largely damaging.

For an uncaring pompous git like me to make such a statement is a rarity but yea the film got me thinking, I would really not want to fall into a position where my future / life depended on the mercy of the government system. I've had first hand experience (obviously not of the immigrant nature) and the things described in the film portray what I've seen to the tee.

In a Q&A session with the director of the film a few inteesting things were revealed:
Firstly, they had put together enough research to make it as pungent as the subject should be to get the impact it desired, in addition, they only took on board intances that had actually occured in the UK multiple times to people in the position of the principal protagonist.

Secondly, the principal character was in fact from a refugee background similar to the character played & this is the reason she was chosen. She didn't even have an acting background. I found this quite amazing. It kinda made sense thinking about it afterwards as it did seem the language was too natural but only looking back. At the time I watched it it was perfect acting I would have said. This must have been quite a challenge for her and for the director but it certainly has worked out in the end.

A touching and thoughtful film, it made me appreciate where some of these homeless people on the street crop up from. I still have my questions with regards to why they would rather live in this country homeless rather than go back home, but I have a feeling it's one of those things that's probably beyond me to understand, having not been there.

4:30'

Synopsis
This film is about a young boy called Xiao Wu. His existence revolves around school, an empty apartment and the dubious comforts of instant noodles. One day, his routine is subtly transformed by a tenant in the apartment, who is nursing a heartache. Their paths cross only once in a while. Longing for human contact Xiao Wu tries all he can to make a connection through physical and metaphorical walls in that hour between night and day.

A meditation on absence and longing, 4:30 is about a moment, and a boy’s attempt to cling to it, escaping his drab reality. 4:30 traces the relationship between Zhang Xiao Wu and his tenant Jung, a thirty-something Korean man. Told entirely from the perspective of the boy, this story of two very different characters is less about friendship than about a shared experience and appreciation of solitude.

Director's Statement
4:30 was conceived while I was filming my first feature film. I was doing a lot of late night shoots and would normally still be up at 4:30 am. I realised that this is a very lonely time of the day, in fact I think probably the loneliest. It feels too late to go to sleep yet at the same time, too late to be awake. I’ve heard a rumour that the suicide rate at this time is apparently the highest. The premise of 4:30 is built around 2 lonely people who share and probably find a kind of unspoken connection through their loneliness.

Review
"4:30" traces the relationship between Xiao Wu, an eleven year old Chinese Boy and another tenant Jung, a thirty-something Korean man, in the same flat. Told entirely from the perspective of the boy, this story is of two very different characters, above friendship it's about a shared experience and appreciation of solitude. I quite enjoyed it being an avid fan of solitude myself.

It starts with Xiao sneaking to the room of Jung in the early hours of the morning (at the stroke of 4:30), and stealing from him the little things like chopsticks and cigarettes. Just as getting intoxicated is a clear habit for Jung, who staggers home drunk, day after day, chain smoking away, soon stealing for the young boy becomes equally as compulsive a habit. It's quite funny to see as he snoops around in the early hours writing his memoirs based on whatever information he has gathered from his acquisition.

Since it's in the perspective of the boy, there is a lot of mischief and innocence in this film, spanned over the period of about a week, you do get to really know the boy. The scenes in which the principal characters are not interacting, you're always wondering what he'll get up to, as he is quite sporadic and enjoys taunting people.

The relationship between the principal characters however is what makes this amazing to watch. With so little words, there is so much said here that it tugs at your heart strings. Though it's rather a slow film. I certainly didn't get bored at any point. Highly recommended.

Short Films
Home Grown #1'

Title: Big Idea
Runtime: 2 mins
Directed by: Paul McKeown
Synopsis: Marc Norman has an idea, a BIG idea and he wants you to hear it.
An enjoyable little short, lots of jump cuts showing the frustrations of being put on hold and being passed on and on and on after your initial moment of inspiration, to simply to get someone to just listen to you. Having your BIG idea is just the first step.

Title: Time Gentlemen, Please
Runtime: 10 mins 30 secs
Directed by: Zak Emerson / Dan Gifford
Synopsis: Jimmy escapes the rat-race for an utopian quiet life, only to find that his new life has its own set of peculiar problems.
When shorts get over 10 minutes, I always have my concerns about whether the content is there to keep me interested. Thankfully this is one of those rare ocassions. Nicely done. I'd watch this again. We have our principal character who has got on his boat and headed out to a land far far away with a population of zero, (now one).

He sees something he is quite displeased with. Another has come with the same plan as himself, moreover he has a Premium Pub kit, making his own look like a No Frills cheap imitation. A battle of small proportions follows as our hero must fight to claim back what he was out to prove, but to succeed he must face more than just the man who he is up against, he must also combat his own ego..

Title: A Clean Getaway
Runtime: 4 mins 20 secs
Directed by: Barney Sutton
Synopsis: Five men are squeezed into a Citroen 2CV, tensions are high as they plan to do one last mysterious job.
This one had potential but turned out pretty pants. It has a Lock Stock-Snatch type ensemble talking amongst each other as though this were their last job. The driver even looked a bit like Steve McQueen in Bullitt, but turns out they're talking about getting their car go through a car wash. Far rom convincing as their dialogue incorporated much detail that made little sense once all was revealed.

Title: Lawson Looks Up
Runtime: 3 min 6 secs
Directed by: Richard Bradbury
Synopsis: Lawson is a man who has spent his whole life looking down. One day he's given a reason to look up.
Another one with more potential than used. An office worker having a bad day finally looks up as he drops all his paper clips on the floor and is greetd by his secretary with a cup of tea. He looks up but then dismisses her with the line "My hands are full" as he holds a small number of paperclips. Surely there could have been better ways to show this very same message, if you can even call it that.

Title: In Tune
Runtime: 7 min 30 secs
Directed by: Philippa James
Synopsis: Three characters accidentally fall into a miniature musical journey accompanied by the sound of a piano.
The best of the lot and as the title suggests, it''s largely due to the music. A composer struggles to bring some magic to his so-far empty sheet upon his piano. Somehwere in the same building there is an old woman following a routine of her own. the shadow she casts upon an empty flat being viewed across the road has a young lady moving to it, as though it were music. The composer catches a glimpse of this and his compostion begins flowing.

The usage of reflections, shadows and music make this whole piece fit together so well it's amazing. It was entirely in black and white but this only added to the clarity of the shadows used. Well worth a watch given a chance.

Title: Blow Off
Runtime: 5 min 43 secs
Directed by: Cass Marks
Synopsis: Bob and Colin are two retired clowns. Will a puppet from an old routine help them rediscover themselves?
This one was enoyable but certainly a little odd. We meet one of the clowns as a 'normal' person, who heads out to meet with the other. The other is dressed as a clown and in his routine at home with his puppet. The former uses hypnotism to snap the latter out of this and gets him to pack away the puppet.

They then both as 'normal' people head out to the laundry with their suits and bowler hats. The play the waiting game as the machines spin away at their leisure, but in the end they're clothes come out bright and colourful, different clothes altogether & thus they both become a routine once more with the aid of the mysterious puppet. *wink*

Title: Left
Runtime: 7 min 52 secs
Directed by: Jane McGee
Synopsis: Tony sits on the sofa, lazy and content, until his girlfriend leaves the flat without a word. As concern begins to mount, his agitation manifests in strange ways.
Another close contender for the top spot of this batch. All in black and white, we see a man day dreaming at his leisure sitting in his lounge as he hears the door slam. he realises at this point he is alone in the house & so finds ways to entertain himself. As this progresses we see that in fact hos qualities are not much different from that of a puppy, bored, using the absence to create his own mischief, yet eagerly awaiting the return of his master.

When the lady of the house does reurn with the shopping, he finds himself exteremly happy to see her and rummages through the goodies she brings with her. When he concludes there is nothing here for him (Milk & Tuna) he dismisses it and stares at the lady in puppy dog fashion. I'll let you work the end out. ;)

Title: Hook, Line and Sinker
Runtime: 12 mins
Directed by: Leanne Welham / Ignacio Tatay
Synopsis: A man and a boy meet on the canal path. The ritual that follows forces them to face what they have in common.
The man is fishing and the boy watches interestingly. When a fish is caught and not thrown back in quick enough to survive, the boy demands a burial for it. When mocked, he stubbornly begins yelling until it is agreed. After burying it the boy tries to give a prayer and stalls. The old man finishes up for him. The boy then leaves and the old man looks thoughtful as to whther he should continue fishing here or not.

A little on the boring side. A short that could have been shorter. I think it was trying to send out a message of how children are innocent and how within us we all still have this innocence of a child. However in addition it did come off a little preachy in that sense.

Title: Uninvited
Runtime: 6 mins
Directed by: Dan Susman
Synopsis: When a man turns up at Jane’s house she starts to feel uneasy, but nothing is as it seems.
Triyng to be smart and failing I think best describes this one. A break in has been reported and Jane looks as though she has had a beating or two in recent times. The community officer asks himself in and tries to convince her that she should report such abuse.

Disappointed he leaves and then it is revealed to us that she in fact is the thief as she lets herself out of the broken into back door with a pretty sweet Silver DVD player.

Title: Silence is Golden
Runtime: 14 mins
Directed by: Chris Shepherd
Synopsis: My neighbour is a right loony. He's always banging our wall down. I'm used to it. I think other peoples' houses are well weird. There's no knocking - right?
Through the mind of a foul-mouthed young child and through a heavy use of animation we see a nutcase next-door neighbour who knowks repeatedly, causing much disturbance. The mother of the child shields him, but the child finds himself intrigued by the strange old man and his ways. We see a conflicted overview of how he perceives the old man, strange but likable, innocent yet evil, hero yet stupid, etc, etc.

As the old man tragically meets his demise, the child comes to term with a lost neighbour, he vows not to grow up to become like the old man, but it seems that is exactly where he is heading. A bit of a thinker, I enjoyed it, but like some of the previosu ones, a little strange.

With
Gilbert and George'

Julian Cole, the director & producer of this venture first met Gilbert & George when he modelled for them in 1986. He decided back then that he wanted to film them. His moving portrait of the duo has been filmed for over 17 years, tracing their lives from humble beginnings to their role on the world’s artistic stage where they currently stand.

Synopsis
Banned by the authorities and panned by the critics, they are loved and hated with unprecedented ferocity. This film probes the myths and reveals the individuals that are two people inside a single artist, a permanent living sculpture in which they are compelled to be inseparable from each other and their art. This intimate film biography helps open doors to the understanding of their unique visual language, their ‘humanistic art’ and what they believe the real legacy of the art of our times should be.

Review
Before I walked into this screening, I must admit I'd never heard of this duo, I didn't even know this was going to be a biography of sorts. It was the opening of the East End Film Festival. That's all that mattered. Had I known, it probably would have been something I'd have been less interested in, but having watched it I have to say, I'm glad I did. I'm now intrigued to learn more about this duo.

They have performed an enduring and controversial double act for over four decades. This film has been made over the last two & so the opening portion that covered the earlier parts of their lives was quite slow to get kicked off. There was large use of photography and a narration running alongside. At this point I did have my concerns of whether I'd last through this. I didn't really want to be at a slideshow after all.

Thankfully things picked up pace soon after, and it gripped my interest that this was actually a story of the underdog. As it progresses as a journey through their groundbreaking shows in Russia, China and beyond, we see how their work transcends cultural barriers. We also learn that it's through the process that they too found their wings. They were the viewer of their art just as much as the artist.

We are filled in on information about Gilbert & George such as their motto ‘Art for All’ and how they have put it into practice by mounting gallery retrospectives in more countries than any other contemporary artist, in many such instances losing money in the process. Their work is their passion and with a motto like 'Art for All', it's clear that their goal is that people must have the chance see what they have done for all.

Over the span of the next 90 odd minutes it became more an interview over a span of many years during which they struggled yet managed to stumble upon success too, on occasion. The way it has managed to capture a large timeframe is what certainly stands out. You can see that the duo and their mindset has evolved during the film, yet still in unity & they're not acting, these are indeed real people.

I'm struggling to find the reasons why this was entertaining. It's definitely a fan-boy biography, there's no two ways about that. I guess the energy of admiration is what really comes through strongly. It's got to take some guts to film someone over 20 odd years with no real plan. You've also got to have some real faith in them and their work to do so.

What amazes is that it is pretty much a montage of clips held together by decent editing and narration, yet it has managed to find itself a skeleton structure that holds it together strongly. It still works. I think it'd be a little rude to say it seems like a fluke, but a lie to say otherwise.

I guess the goal of the film is to firstly introduce you to these artists, secondly their work, and last but not least show you a little of the life of the artist beyond the art. Here in every respect I believe it succeeds. You walk away with a starnge yet likable duo who express through art how they preceive the world. Their lives are no different from their work really.

The climax is more a 'to be continued' since it ends with this event which is current day:
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best -- until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead–but her life was shattered forever.

Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who’s lost everything, what is there left to lose?

She’s about to find out.

In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him -- a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers’ attempts to understand him. And he’s issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.

The killer videotaped his latest crime -- an act of horror that left a child motherless -- then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.

Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again -- and she’s about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother . . . and a merciless killer’s next victim.

Chapter 14

I met the dark train (as I call it) during my very first case. It is a thing hard to describe. The train of life runs on the tracks of normality and reality. It is the train most of humanity rides, from birth to death. It is filled with laughter and tears, hardships and triumphs. Its passengers are not perfect, but they do their best.

The dark train is different.

The dark train runs in tracks made of crunching squishy things. It's the train that people like Jack Jr. ride. It's a train fueled by murder and sex and screams. It's a big black blood-drinking snake with wheels. If you hop off the train of life and run through the woods you can find the dark train. You can walk next to it's tracks, run alongside as it passes, get a glimpse of the weeping contents of its boxcars. Jump aboard, move through its corpse-cars, through the whispers and bones, and you will reach the train's conductor. The conductor is the monster you are chasing, and has many guises. He can be short bald and forty. He can be tall and young and blond. Sometimes, rarely, he can be a she. On the dark train, you see the conductor as he really is, underneath the fake smiles and three-piece suits. You stare into the darkness, and at that moment, if you look without flinching, you will understand.

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I picked this one up kinda by mistake, there were 2 books that could have been the book I was after, having read it, I know it was The Skin Gods. After reading that I wasn't in a hurry to read another crime novel, but I got through Anonymous Lawyer so fast it came to this quicker than I had anticipated.

So, Shadow Man by Cody McFayden, it's a prettty decent read. Definitely not one of the many books that I've stopped reading past a point. The characters are well written and described. The chase keeps you thrilled, and I was totally gobsmacked when the mystery does unravel. That said, things took a bit of a dip for me in the climax. It wasn't quite how I'd have expected it to end. If anyone else reads this, I'd be interested to get their thoughts on it. The end in particular.

What is interesting is how gripping the characters around the main characters are, I'm tempted to say almost more so than the main characters. All the work force of Smoky as we meet them are individually believable and lovable in their own way. Towering above the rest, (as a figure of speech) was Bonnie, the mute little girl that gets adopted. I figure only a parent could have written her part, having looked up Cody on his website biography, I was right.

He has another book being released in a couple of months called "The Face of Death", I'm certain I'll pick it up, and my logical reasoning is I want to see more of Smoky and the team and their family. Smoky and her train comes a close second place.

In a nutshell: Cody McFayden in his debut gives us a calculated trained killer who calls himself Jack Jr. a direct descendent of Jack The Ripper, or is he? or does it even matter? He has killed and plans to kill again and again until he is caught. He has chosen his own hunter, our protagonist, Smoky Barett, if he were to be the prey per say, she would be the hunter and he taunts her with enough information to keep the chase of cat and mice close - and so the games begin.

There's a bunch of stuffs happening in the background & hopefully you'll see some positive changes here over the next few days. I've already stolen the SnapShot thing from Simone's blog coz I thought it looked nifty. Let me know if it's an irritation & I'll remove it accordingly. As a quick set of bullet points, things that have happened over the last week or so while I've been away from the site.

• My home network is now functioning and I've re-arranged my flat to a more optimised state. It even look neater & by that I mean my TV looks bigger.


• I've had one of those birthday things, 25th this time, supposedly a big one. I was gifted a Director's clapper board by my partner in crime, which was appreciated & quite appropriate. Will have to put it to use soon.


• I've seen Shooter but not written it up yet. -- Entry Published Below!!


• My film script is coming along to the end of Act I (30 pages), hopefully by the weekend.


• Almost 10% of the music on my computer is correctly tagged & I'm becoming quite efficient with the process of it.


• Tomorrow I will have finished the book Shadow Man on my 10th anniversary of my relationship with Cinema.


• The East End Film Festival beginning Thrursday evening has my attention peaked.


• A while back I posted a review for Anonymous Lawyer, The author (Jeremy Blachman) has included a snippet of my review on his website. -- Anonymous LawFirm which is rather nice of him.

More reports soon ...

Shooter'

Plot Outline
Based on the novel by Stephen Hunter the film an action-packed thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine Corps sniper who leaves the military after a mission goes bad. After he is reluctantly pressed back into service, Swagger is double-crossed again. With two bullets in him and the subject of a nationwide manhunt, Swagger begins his revenge, which will take down the most powerful people in the country.

Overall Impressions:
I might come off a little like the boy who cried wolf when I say this but really, it's by the director of Training Day :) and just like the synopsis says it's an action packed film with Wahlberg playing Swagger. Watching his swagger, they should have just called him Wahlberg, he has a pretty distinct swagger.

The action itself is pretty good and this is a very watchable film if this is what you are after. On the other hand the story has little new to offer, it's a generic good-guy fugitive on the loose, finds some peopel he can trust & proves his innocence while looking cool and blowing stuff up, but they have a bunch of snipe shots, smoke bombs, even napalm. As you can imagine, there are several explosions.

All of this is fair and well, like watching someone playing Call of Duty 3 and quite tactically at that, however the little plot that there was, came to ruins for me in the climax. I won't go into it but it got extremely unfeasible. Forgivable? Not so much. --> dropping from average 7 to below.

Worth watching for the Sniper-shots & Napalm though weak plot otherwise. (6 out of 10)

Meet The Robinsons'

Plot Outline
Based on a book by William Joyce the film is the story of Lewis, a brilliant inventor with a surprising number of clever inventions to his credit. His latest and most ambitious project is the Memory Scanner, a machine that will help him find his birth mother so they can become a family. But before he can find her, his invention is stolen by the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy and his diabolical hat and constant companion, Doris. Lewis has all but given up hope when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson whisks our bewildered hero away in a time machine and together they team up to track down Bowler Hat Guy in a showdown that ends with an unexpected and unbelievable twist of fate.

Overall Impressions:
A typical Disney film, of the black is black, white is white variety. Nothing specifically new to show, but its sometimes just what you want from a film, just put your legs up, relax and enjoy. I believe that is the intention of this flick and if so, it certainly succeeds.

I had to look this up (& it's true), when they cracka reference about Cornelius (Wilbur's Father), looking a bit like Tom Selleck, that is in fact not because he does, but because he is voiced by him. I guess South Park and Tom Selleck fans get everywhere these days. ;-)

All the characters are well sketched out, none of the voice actors I recognise, but then again none stood out as plain irritating, in fact most were quite pleasant so that's it really. The animation is good, the plot is pretty tight. Overall well structured, well made film.

Fun film. A generic yet pleasant family entertainer. (6.5 out of 10)

Namesake, The'

Plot Outline
Based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri the film is spanned across two generations of a Bengali family.. It all begins with Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) on the heels of their arranged marriage, as they jet off from steaming Calcutta to a wintry New York where they begin their new life together. Virtual strangers to one another and now living in what is to them a very strange land, their relationship quickly takes a turn when Ashima gives birth to a son.

Under pressure to name him quickly, Ashoke settles on Gogol, after the famous Russian author - a name that serves a link to his secret past and Ashoke hopes a better future. But life isn't as easy for Gogol as his parents wish. As a first-generation American teenager, Gogol (Kal Penn) must learn to tread a razor-thin line between his bengali roots and his American birthright in search for his own identity.

As Gogol attempts to forge his destiny - rejecting his given name, dating a rich American girl (Jacinda Barrett), heading to study architecture at Yale - his parents cling to their Bengali traditions.

As is the case with families their paths keep crossing with both comic and painfully revelatory consequences.. until Gogol begins to see the links between the world his parents left behind and the new worls that lies in front of him.

Overall Impressions:
I'm going to keep this one short. Showing the crossovers of both cultures by using some extreme examples you'll find it hard not to relate with the characters of this film, whichever side you perceive it from. When I say extreme I don't mean stereotypes though. It manages to capture the huge differences between the cultures without showing disrespect to either. Eg; Ashima's first day in New York, alone, hungry she looks through the cupboards, finds some Rice Crispies, adds chilli powder and a few nuts and makes a Chevdo. It's exactly what goes into a chevdo, but it shows how she adapts without losing anything. It's obvious that the idea of adding milk hasn't even occured to her.

In the end, its a film about self-discovery and how we are more reflections of our parents than we care to admit. The message I guess ia that whichever way things pan out in life, you'll find is not so different, yet so different between generations.

From the performances all round, to the background music, to the direction, this is the closest to perfection I have seen in a long time.

Highly recommended for inspiration. A must watch! (7.5 out of 10)

Shakalaka Boom Boom'
UK Rated: PG
Runtime: 129min 41secs
Directed by: Suneel Darshan
Written by: Anurag Kashyap

Plot Outline
Set against the backdrop of the international music industry. Shakalaka Boom Boom delves into the complex relationship of two drastically different men who have one thing in common - their passion for music.

If ruthless, manipulative & cut-throat is considered synonymous with the music industry, these terms certainly do not apply to AJ (Bobby Deol) - the most loved, the most popular singer/composer New york has seen.

If prodigious talent, passion & attitude are considered synonymous with the music industry, then Reggi (Upen Patel) fits the bill. Young and hugely talented he hungers for what AJ has, he craves to be where AJ is - on the top.

As AJ and Reggie face off against each other in a do or die battle, we see envy and betrayal rear both sides. As talent struggles to survive the onslaught of a carefully orchestrated smear campaign, who will be the ultimate winner?

Overall Impressions:
Firstly, what the hell is up with the title? I felt like a right muppet asking for my ticket & it's not frequent that I get that, I mean I've seen some dire films that nobody would bother with but this goes by far the most shameful I've felt asking for a ticket. Secondly this is a classic example of the terrible marketing that our Hindi films seem to get. It's a mere afterthought. All they've bothered with is well we have 2 pretty well known stars and a couple of hot chicks, shove them on the poster & we're done. Okay, I'll vent separately about marketing later, moving onto the film:

It's a great concept. the cut-throat competition holds in any business. It makes sense to make use our musical films by dispalying the music world. The official synopsis is a little ambiguous. The long story cut short is we have AJ the guy already at the number one spot & we have the hugely talented man Reggi who has an attitude as he knows what he's got & he plans to settle for no less than that very top spot where AJ currently resides.

What follows once the characters are introduced is a battle of the two. AJ from his top spot can see this boy has all the qualifications he needs, he is a natural and it worries him. So he uses all his power to ensure that no leaf is unturned to ensure the boy doesn't get his break, publicly maintaining the status of a friend, but back-stabbing at every opportunity he has. Now this is the premise they should have been advertising with. Not the pointless title track which is seen merely in the closing credits.

As the story progresses, we get to see and feel both sides of this battle. The climax is abrupt and a tad forced & cliche'd but with what you have seen by this point through the journey, you wouldn't really ask for any other ending. You'll see what I mean.

Performances
It has to be said both performances are extremely powerful. Upen Patel is doing pretty damned well for himself for his 3rd film. Though neither 36 Chinatown nor Namastey London gave him scope to display his talent, he's hard not to note as one to watch out for. Not merely eye-candy for the ladies. This lad goes far beyond that. Let's hope he keeps it up.

Bobby Deol as AJ is the other big surprise, I mean we all know he can act and is well established in the industry but my god does he play a convincing bad guy. In his moments alone as we see him being eaten away from the inside by the talent that Reggie has, you totally feel for him. His outbursts of bitter pain, though loud at times, get across sharply. The envy, the suffocation, the humiliation, all of it. One of his best performances to date, without a doubt.

The ladies to have their parts but in all fairness they're pretty small. Mostly they are there to fill a glamour quotient, for which they suffice. Celina Jaitley comes across one step ahead, as she has the evil eye about her. Not at all a fault on Kanagana's part, she merely didn't have the scope to shine much in her little role.

Though a miniscule part, Anupam Kher deserves a special mention, though only in a couple of scenes, it's his part that gets the gear oiled up in the second half.

My final thoughts, if you can get past the embarassment of asking for a ticket, or better still pre-book or get somebody else to buy. It's certainly worth a watch.

A reminder of the possible outcomes of competetive spirit. (6.5 out of 10)

Sunshine'
UK Rated: 15
Runtime: 107min 22secs
Tagline: If the sun dies, so do we.
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland

Plot Outline
It is the year 2007, the Sun is dying and mankind fears extinction. Earth's last hope lies with the Icarus II, a spacecraft with a crew of eight led by Captain Kanada. Their mission is todeliver a nuclear device designed to re-ignite our fading sun.

Deep in their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, the crew hear a distress beacon from the Icarus I, which disappeared on the same mission seven years earlier. A terrible accident throws their mission into jeopardy and soon the crew find themselves not only for their lives and their sanity, but the future of us all ..

Overall Impressions:
Once again, disaster movies, big spaceships & all that lark, not really my cup of tea, that said I was impressed. I most enjoyed the subtle scenes where they were staring at the surface of the sun, quite a powerful scene I thought, it shows that not only are these people here to try and save Earth but they actually love the Sun.

I won't add any spoilers, but though the very end I'm okay with, approximately the 15 minutes that preceed didn't seem explained enough to me. I didn't really know what was going on & they could have incorporated an explanation earlier on (or I might just be missing something *shrug*).

Apart from that little twitch, it was all very good. The Sound was awesome, the special effects were not far behind, Even all the performances were pretty damned good. It amused the little geek in me that the Human Torch (Chris Evans) was out on a mission heading to the sun & that the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) has a little ramble about how he is not afraid.

An engaging film. Definitely for the cinema for the amazing Visual & Sound at the very least. (7 out of 10)

Provoked - A True Story'
UK Rated: 15
Runtime: 113min 4secs
Tagline: In prison she found her freedom.
Directed by: Jag Mundhra
Written by: Carl Austin and Rahila Gupta

Plot Outline
Unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband (Naveen Andrews), a battered Punjabi housewife (Aishwarya Rai) and mother of two in London, sets him on fire and kills him. Charged with first-degree murder, she is sentenced to life imprisonment, where she finally finds some peace.

She befriends her cellmate (Miranda Richardson), a wealthy white woman from whom she learns English. Eventually when she begins to open up, her cell mate is so moved by her story that she asks her step-brother (Robbie Coltrane), a highly respected queen's counsel to file her appeal.

She is ultimately freed by the judicial system in a landmark case called Regina Vs Ahluwalia that redefined the word PROVOCATION in yje case of battered women. She was reunited with her children and subsequently given an award by the Prime Minister's wife for her crusade against domestic violence.

Overall Impressions:
I should first say this film is almost entirely in English. There are a few lines of Punjabi with English Subtitles but this is not an out and out Bollywood film, in fact quite far from it. This is no glitz and glamour tale, as most true stories are, it's quite an insight into how badly things can turn.

Thankfully it's one of those instances where the film has a scope to bring hope and emotion to the viewers. It's annoying when real-life stories are brought to the screen with no real sentiment being passed. This one beats that hurdle over hands down.

There are some instances where I though the dialogue could have done with a bit of touching up, some phrases seemed too literally translated from things you may say in hindi and using perhaps a more appropriate slant in English would have worked better. The scene with the police officer at home with his beer bottles seemed quite random. Apart from these small creases, it's a well made film.

Naveen Andrews is far too convincing as the wife-beater its kinda scary. It's good to see however that Aishwarya Rai is doing some films of meaning, she has nothing left to achieve in the world of Bollywood, she has it all, so she can be as picky as she like with her roles & she seems to be choosing wisely.

An emotional film, renewing faith in justice, kindof. (6.5 out of 10)

Mr. Bean's Holiday'
UK Rated: PG
Runtime: 89min 28secs
Tagline: Disaster has a passport..
Directed by: Steve Bendelack
Written by: Robin Driscoll and Simon McBurney

Plot Outline
Mr. Bean is heading to the South of France for a simple holiday in the sun. His voyage from London to the Riveria soon transcends into one of mischief and mayhem as he inadvertantly creates havoc wherever he goes, culminating in an unscheduled and riotous screening of his own video diary at the Cannes Film Festival.

Overall Impressions:
I went into this film thinking, well I know exactly what's going to happen based on the synopsis and the tariler & it doesn't look all that great, but I came out with a smile thinkng I'm glad I gave it the benefir of the doubt. It's simply put - entertaining.

Mr. Bean has the innocence of a child that we can only wish more people had in real life adulthood. On the flipside if that were the case, the havoc that could come about is what his character is all about. Some of the jokes you see coming quite early on, but they've still managed to throw in a good surprise here & there.

Pretty enjoyable & innocent film for yourselves and/or the family. (6.5 out of 10)

Okay so its not that new but hey .. we're in a police station ..
It's XL size coz there was no XXL available ... Off to the gym shortly ;)

Hills Have Eyes II, The'
UK Rated: 18
Runtime: 89min 26secs
Tagline: The Lucky Ones Die Fast..
Directed by: Martin Weisz
Written by: Wes Craven and Jonathan Craven

Plot Outline
As part of a routine mission, a unit of National Guard soldiers stop at a new mexican outpost only to find the isolated research camp mysteriously desreted. After spotting a distress signal in a distant mountain range, the team decides to commence a search and rescue mission into the hills.

Little do they know that these are the very hills that is home to a tribe of canibbalistic mutants who live in wait and this time there is an even larger force of evil at work that is intent on the soldier's very destruction.

Overall Impressions:
Well, I knew not the plot of the film, in fact I haven't even seen the first one, but the publicity is pretty cool. I saw the teaser trailer (below embedded) and found it intriguing. The poster reflected the same. I've got to give it a thumbs up for getting my attention & having pretty good music.

That said, had I seen the theatrical trailer that followed it I probably would have lost interest to the point where I probably wouldn't have watched it. Not my genre of film really. That said for what it is, it's pretty well done. Some moments are quite horrific, some more predictable, a good balance is held between the two.

A few jumps and a few guts and a few partial body parts here & there, if you like that kinda thing, go for it, if not, you may want to give it a miss. (5.5 out of 10)