Underrated Showcase Sundays - Me and Orson Welles

Time for a confession: I love movies set in the 30's/40's, and backstage dramas. That's exactly what Me and Orson Welles is. It is set behind the scenes of Orson Welles' (played by Christian McKay) 'ground-breaking' stage production of Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theatre in 1937. Where exactly does former High School Musical star Zac Efron fit into all of this? He plays Richard, a teenager who convinces Welles that he is good enough to be given a part in the play, and thanks to some ukulele playing skills he gets the role, despite the fact he's still in school. As with most backstage dramas, Richard is opened up to a world of colourful theatrical characters, which just so happens to include Joseph Cotten (James Tupper), and an older woman Sonja (Claire Danes), who he ends up falling in love with.

A Film Like a Migraine, But One You Can Appreciate

Film: Tyrannosaur
Year: 2011
Written and directed by: Paddy Considine
Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan, Paul Popplewell, Ned Dennehy, Samuel Bottomley, Sally Carman, Sian Breckin.
Running time: 92 min.
This film will be released on DVD by Madman Entertainment on June 14th in New Zealand.

Let me be straightforward from the get-go: Tyrannosaur is not a feel good movie. It is not the kind that one can easily crack the faintest of smiles at. I've heard it said many times before that the cheeriest scene in this movie is a funeral scene. Which is absolutely true. This film is exactly like a cracking migraine. It crushes your brain for the entire time, leaving you completely still and transfixed on the screen as if the slightest movement could make the migraine worse. Your eyes are forced to see things they don't want to see, and they want to shift out of focus so that things don't turn out so bad. While the film is heaving this mass amount of pressure onto your head that ensures the most uncomfortable viewing ever, it rips your heart out and holds it in this dark cube, where happiness is about ten planets away. Tyrannosaur may be capable of all of those different, horrible feelings, but I can promise that it is a very good film. It isn't the kind that you can easily sum up as being a "film that I enjoyed". It is a film that I "endured and appreciated".

The Child of 1995

Okay, I’m gonna go right ahead and say it: 1995 wasn’t a very exciting year for film. I mean, when a film like Braveheart wins Best Picture you know it wasn’t a good year. It is probably because I haven’t seen that many films from 1995 – this list of five is nearly everything I’ve seen. If we were talking 1994 or 1996, everything would have been much better. Jeez, Mum and Dad, why’d I have to be born in such a dull year? Here’s my top five, anyway:

5. Dead Man Walking

I watched this one a couple of nights ago and I really liked it. It is one of those interesting ‘good vs. evil’ movies that I like to see, but this one kind of melds the two together in a way that is always relevant and resonant, and particularly great to see on screen. Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn were great in their roles, too.

4. Before Sunrise

I prefer Before Sunset since it is a lot more mature and rhythmic, but it would be nothing without Before Sunrise. It is such a sweet and lovely film, leaving you wanting more but not needing it. Whoever said romantic movies suck obviously haven’t seen this or the sequel. Just the dialogue alone is enough reason to make you take back that statement, and then the lovely company of Jesse and Celine.

3. Strange Days

This was a movie I miraculously found at Blockbuster right in the midst of my Ralph Fiennes obsession, and I’m extremely happy to now have it in my DVD collection. Kathryn Bigelow’s cyberpunk sci-fi flick written by James Cameron is extremely awesome and kick-ass, plus, Fiennes is at his best (if we weren’t counting Schindler’s List, of course). Bigelow’s got mad talent, too. Most of the time I couldn’t believe I was watching a film directed by a woman. This is the kind of film I want to make.

2. Se7en

It has been a while since I saw this, but like most of David Fincher’s films, it was completely awesome. Can anybody make a serial killer thriller as good as him? I don’t think so. I loved the ingenious blend of obsession themes, the seven deadly sins and the violent and graphic content, which is done how only Fincher can do it. And every film is instantly better off if Morgan Freeman is in it.

1. Toy Story

After all of those adult themed movies about serial killers and rape (and of course the adult romance of Before Sunrise), I’ve chosen to top my list with the sweetest little kids movie ever: Toy Story. Okay, so it isn’t nearly as good as Toy Story 3, but it is one of those great movies for kids that doesn’t try and patronise them with singing chipmunks. I blame this movie for making me wish that my toys came alive while I was asleep. Who knows...maybe they did? As an older child, though, I feel gguilty for leaving all of my toys behind. Only a Pixar film could do that.

I can’t really add three cool people who were born in 1995, since there are so few of them thus far, so how about a list of five interesting film-related things that happened in 1995?

Nicolas Cage’s Oscar winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas was released

I couldn’t really say that he won an Oscar since that technically happened in 1996, but how amazing is it to think that 16 years ago he was capable of a good performance? I admit, I’m quite harsh on Nic. However, his performance in Leaving Las Vegas, as an alcoholic looking to drink himself to death in sin city, is nothing short of amazing. Now you’re most likely to find him in crap-fests like Season of the Witch and Trespass, being far crazier than he needs to be.

Mel Gibson’s Oscar winning Braveheart was released

I find it funny that two actors who have their careers down the gurgler now both managed to win Oscars for their efforts in 1995. Mel Gibson didn’t win for his piss-poor Scottish accent in Braveheart (a film which I had to watch in class and became the only one who didn’t like it all that much), but his directing skills. And now what does he do? It would seem that he just yells at people.

Those kids from Let the Right One In were born

Hardly anyone who has achieved fame by now was born in 1995. In fact, probably the most famous 1995 babies were the kids from the awesome Swedish vampire horror Let the Right One In: Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. Hopefully these talented young ones have some more projects lined up!

The highest grossing NC-17 film was released

I for one really don’t get the NC-17 rating that America has (the rules they have around it are so stupid, you guys really need to calm down), especially after the rating was slapped on Shame. One film that did better than any NC-17 film, though, was 1995’s Showgirls, which is also often said to be one of the worst films of all-time. Mind you, it is the only NC-17 to be given a wide release in America, ever. So there you go.

Michael Bay had his debut with Bad Boys

The explosions guy every cinephile loves to hate first touched cinematic soil in 1995. Just a question: did everyone hate him back then? Or was it my fault for coming into this world and bringing him into your cinematic universe? I don’t know, even though I do loathe his idea of a ‘film’ I must say, I enjoy taking the piss out of them. Apart from Transformers. I thought that one was kind of awesome. 

A Woman in Power, A Film Out of Control

Film: The Iron Lady
Year: 2011
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Written by: Abi Morgan
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Julian Wadham.
Running time: 105 min.

The Avengers is receiving a lot of buzz lately, but what about all the films that came before it? Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Iron Man 2...I've seen them all. Somehow, after all this time, Meryl Streep's entry into the saga, The Iron Lady totally slipped my attention. After seeing it, I realise how it fit in: it is an interesting prequel to Iron Man, as Meryl Streep plays a woman who could very well be Iron Man's mother. It could also work as a sequel to Captain America, where we find out what really happened to Steve Rogers after he crashed, and his brain was taken over by Alzheimer's which is why he didn't know that he was asleep for so long. And it totally fits in with Thor, because it used as many crooked angle shots as Kenneth Branagh did with his tale of the Norse God. So I'm shocked to see that Meryl isn't on the poster for The Avengers. Oh...wait. She plays a real life person who was the opposite of a superhero. I never would have guessed from the film.

Tuesday Links and Other Stuff #22

What I'm watching tonight...

Just We Bought a Zoo, literally the only thing out this week. It is like a calm before the storm...there is SO MUCH coming out this month you have no idea. And I guess I'll be watching the last 45 minutes of Dead Man Walking tonight because I felt a little exhausted after seeing Tyrannosaur.

Video of the week...

THIS IS LIKE 2010 HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN WITH INCEPTION. I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE THAT I CAN ONLY TALK AND THINK ABOUT IT IN CAPITAL LETTERS. I JUST WISH JULY 19TH COULD COME SOONER. I'M MORE EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE THAN I AM FOR MY NEXT FIVE BIRTHDAYS AND CHRISTMASES AND EVERYTHING ELSE  MILDLY EXCITING. (if you hate Christopher Nolan, and shame on you, you'll want to steer clear of this site for the next few months).

Plug...
Remember my post about The Cabin in the Woods going straight to DVD here? Well, there's a petition going. Please sign it. Even though it doesn't affect you, but still.

Links...
Tyler reviews one of the finest old film noirs, Sweet Smell of Success.

My Filmviews has started the Ten Best Actresses Relay Race, with a pretty brilliant list. It is going to be every inch as difficult as the actors one!

Kai looks at the top five great films that are too depressing to see again. Once Were Warriors, a.k.a. New Zealand's favourite film (I wish I was joking about that) is on that list. Wow.

Four reviews of The Avengers before the storm of all you Americans (now you know how I feel! you had to wait!) see it: Being Norma Jeane, Cinematic Corner, Aziza's Picks, and "...let's be splendid about this..."

Brittani reviews the coolest movie of the cool, The Adventures of Tintin.

The Kid in the Front Row is at it again, talking with Anna of Defiant Success. This is such a cool series.

Inspired Ground is holding a cool series where she talks to someone about their movie influences. Cherokee chose the amazing Blue Valentine as hers, which as you imagine, produces a very beautiful post.

And finally, there's a list of the ten best Robert Downey Jr. performances on Anomalous Material. Where would we be without him?

Final word...
Who is your favourite character featured in The Avengers? Mine is Agent Phil Coulson. No jokes. He's the best.