ER : Season One

Well I've come to the end of the grist season of E.R. and it's time for a quick look back.

Over the past 24 episodes we've seen Mark's marriage struggle, John has grown in confidence and looks set to make an excellent doctor, Doug come close to settling down with a woman (who wasn't Carol), Peter deal with his ailing mother and Susan tearing her hair out trying to look out for her irresponsible older sister.

As the season draws to a close Mark as statred to get his marriage back on track but is facing a mal practice suit, Carol's marriage to Tag (what kind of name is that?) is called of on the day when he realises she'll never love him like he loves her and guess who is overjoyed at the news. Yes that would be one Doug Ross.
Elsewhere it seems Susan is left holding the baby as her sister goes awol after giving birth and Peter is just about holding it together as he comes to terms with the loss of his elderly mother and how helpless he was in the end to do anything about it.

We also had an episode directed by one mister Quentin Tarantino, 'Motherhood'. Now for the most part it follows the E.R. template (which is already fairly impressive when you consider the one take steady cam shots that can be going for up to five minutes) but there are one or two flashes of the style we now all know. One comes as Carol and Susan lounge in the sun on the roof of the hospital and then stride down the corridor in unison. The other as we get a patient's eye from the trauma table, as Dr Greene peers down into the camera.

Amongst notable faces turning up we've had Amy Ryan (The Wire's sweet Beadie Russel), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing's Josh), Ving Rhames & Micheal Ironside. As well as Gloria Reuben starting to move toward becoming part of the main cast in the second half the series and Ming Na as young stressed out med student Deb Chen.

So twenty four episodes down and many to go but so far it's everybit as compulsive as I remember it when watching the first time round.

Classic Kermode : Revolver

I really have no idea what this is all about..

..but here we have McG making a video of Kirsten Dunst running around Tokyo singing 'I'm Turning Japanese'.

Oh and be warned the video is every so slightly naughty so it may not be totally safe for office viewing.



Edit to add : Apparently it was for an art installation in the Tate Modern, so now you know.

American Indie Season : Garden State

So the American Indie season starts with Garden State. Written and directed by Zach Braff of Scrubs fame it follows listless twenty something Andrew Largeman as he returns to his New Jersey home town for his mother's funeral.

We follow Andrew as deals with his father, reunites with old friends and bonds with Samantha who is a rather odd girl he meets in the reception of the doctor's office.

The script is charming and heart felt, all the characters we meet feel like real people, even those we only meet for a single scene. At the centre of the film is the trio of Andrew, Sam and Mark an old friend of Andrew who is drifting through life. Together these three attend parties, kick around and spend a day on something of a quest to track down an important item for Andrew.

Zach Braff brings a likable quality to Andrew who could easily come across as a cold, detached character but here really does come across as someone who is just waking up after sleeping through years of his life.

Peter Sarsgaard's Mark is all rough around the edges charm and Natalie Portman is simply adorable as kooky Sam which is something that should be applauded given that in the wrong hands the character could of been just plain annoying rather than endearing.

The film is filled with splashes of visual flair as well as Braff shows a strong eye for a striking shot and interesting frame set up in his director boots.

Released in 2004 I think it's fair to say this is probably my favourite film of the last ten years, I can watch time and again without tiring of it and still get moved by it every time. Which is something probably people can tell since I've already posted about the film a number of times and how much I like it.

Anyway so that's the season's kicked off with one of my all time favourites, if you have a minute check the video below which is a summary of the film edited to Thhe Fray's 'How To Save A Life' which fits really well.

The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson's latest film The Lovely Bones is an adaptation of a novel from Alice Sebold. It tells the tale of Susie Salmon a 14yr old girl living in 1970's smalltown America who is trapped and murdered. We then follow both Susie in her experience of the afterlife and her family as they deal with the grief of her death.

The film is solidly made and features some great moments but considering the subject matter it doesn't quite hit the heart as you would expect it to.

Susie's vision of the space between life and heaven as she watches over her family is well realised overall with some nice touches as two worlds over run such as the bottle ships clashing against the cliffs as her dad directs his rage at a lifetime of lovingly crafted models.

There are some darker moments that are quite sinister in there too as Susie confronts the memory of what happened to her. However it also has to be said in places things become a little over egged. Such as the Gladiator invoking fields of golden corn and swirling orchestration.

As for the cast Susan Sarandon is wasted as Susie's grandmother with only really awkwardly including chucks of comedy to work with. Rachel Weiz as the mother basically as nothing to do and is rather unceremoniously sidelined pretty quickly. Mark Whalberg does well as the grieving father looking to find justice for his daughter, but he just doesn't quite make you really feel it.

Saoirse Ronan as Susie is very much responsible for the heart of the film, providing a voice over throughout the film. She is solid but again like Whalberg doesn't quite really push the roll home, which is shame as she dhows promise but just doesn't quite bring home here.

Stanley Tucci as Susie's killer gives the stand out performance bringing to life a creepy and uptight killer next door. He truly makes you feel a little uncomfortable whenever he is around.

Jackson himself stages the film well with a couple of craftily presented sequences (killer and cop follow each other looking round a doll's house and the heavy thud of a safe echoes against Susie's final steps to heaven) but again it feels like he's missed the real heart of the story as we really don't spend enough time with Susie's family to get a feel for their grief and the passage time although cleverly signposted never really feels fluid as we skip through the months.

So overall it's one of those films that comes close to being a very good one but just misses the target, falling short and becoming one that is laudable for it's ambition but sadly ends up an average one.

Sundance

The annual Sundance festival, started by Robert Redford and named after one of best known characters, is the annual film festival that celebrates and rewards the American independent film scene. It's also a place where the major studios go to spend big money in picking up the best films for distribution and to sway the new kids on the block into coming to work with them.

The likes of Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Wed Anderson & Steven Soderbergh can all be marked as some of those who got their big breakout moments thanks to Sundance.

Check out the website for this years festival and if you want to know more I can not recommend Peter Biskind's book Down & Dirty Pictures enough.

The Seasons

I think to help me along with things to pick to watch and write about I'm going to start doing a set of film seasons, like the ones they constantly advertise on Sky. So coming up I intend to do a crime season, a comic book season, a war season, a comedy season. You get the picture (plus of course choices largely dictated by what I own).

But to kick off I going to go with the "American Indie" season. Basically what it says on the tin, a group of films linked by their emergence from the American independents film movement.

So coming up we have the likes of; Garden State, Igby Goes Down, Lost In Translation, Clerks, Mean Creek, The Virgin Suicides, Rushmore, Sunshine Cleaning.

Trailer Of The Day : Toy Story 3

It's been a bit quiet on here recently so lets gets things rolling again with a look at Toy Story 3. It seems that the gang at Pixar are on to another winner with Woody, Buzz and the crew.

R.Tv.O.F.R : Queer - Garbage

Taking it back to the nineties it's a bit of grunge with Garbage's classic Queer.

Things I've Been Watching : Die Hard 4.0

First of all just accept that the plot makes no real sense and ignore the increasingly implausible use of computers and hacking to get heroes and villains from A to B.

Instead just accept this film as a piece of disposable fun and you'll be much happier. Bruce Willis and Justin Long make for a likable double act as the long suffering John McClane and the out of his depth Matt. Not quite up there with Bruce's partnership with Samuel L Jackson in Vengeance but a decent pairing.

As a villain Timothy Olyphant is underwhelming as a villain and really doesn't have a lot to do and Maggie Q's participation is over far too soon. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does well as Lucy Mclane however showing the same fighting spirit as her cinematic father.

But it's the set pieces that count with this kind of film and these hold fairly well as we go from high speed car vs chopper chases in the streets to truck vs jet fighter. Well, ok the jet fighter sequence is all kinds of stupid. The smaller bursts of action are quite strong too, nicely close up and fairly brutal although what should be the dramatic final flourish is fudged and you're left trying to work what exactly has happened for a few seconds plus the pay off line is badly dealt with too. Presumably to do with getting in under a certification boundary.

So overall it will amuse for it's running time but it's disposable and has little real feel of a 'Die Hard' film and you'll have forgotten most of it by the time the credit finish running.

Trailer Of The Day : To Die For

An excellent dark little satire back from the early days of Nicole Kidman's career.

E.R. : 'Blizzard'

Well it's the first post on the continuing E.R. mega marathon and it's top mark up the episode that first really sees the series firing on all cylinders and it's the ninth episode of the first season (I watched about a week ago but haven't yet managed to post about it).

Following on from the drama of relationships being put under strain in the previous episode we open a snowy winter's day in the city and the E.R. is as quiet as a mouse, the nurses are playing games, Mark and Susan put John's leg in plaster as a jape and Jerry is happily singing along to Christmas tunes.

Amongst this Doug is reeling for the announcement of Carol's engagement and planning to head off for a glam holiday with his sales rep girlfriend. So the first fifteen minuets of the episode is relatively light and fluffy fare but then it the show changes gear, there's a massive car crash on the interstate with upto fifty casualties of various seriousness and County General is the only hospital fully staffed and open. It's all coming this way.

What follows is a breathless assault of incident as patient after patient is brought through those swinging doors and the entire team is pushed to the limit. Doug is making calls on people as they come in (are they worth treating? Is it minor? Is it already too late for them?), Mark is doing the best he can to talk a man through birthing his child on the phone, Susan is rushing from case to case and making critical calls, Carol is everywhere and also doing her best to deal with Patrick (Patrick is a recurring character, a friendly soul who is sadly mentally disadvantaged, he's harmless but often inadvertently gets in the way) and Benton has effectively set up an emergency surgery theater in the E.R.

A frantic pace that doesn't let up for the rest of the episode and throws in both shocks, pathos and high drama. 'Bob' the cleaner turns out to have been a surgeon in her native Poland as she delves into an emergency procedure when Susan hesitates, Benton reattaches somebody's leg with the help of a new resident and Doug critically misses a diagnosis as a man dies he'd assessed as non-critical on arrival, whilst his girlfriend tells Carol he still loves her.

It's great drama, yes it does finish on a slightly cheesy note as all gather round for Christmas pizza and sing song but the rest of it so well done it's easy to forgive. If you want to know what E.R. is all about this is the episode that encapsulates it without doubt.

The obligatory Oscar nominations post

Well I guess it's time for the obligatory Oscar nominations post, so here we go with a look at the main 'big' categories;

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
George Clooney (Up in the Air)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

I suspect Jeff Bridges will take this one for well basically being Jeff Bridges. It's as if everyone suddenly realised that he's been around for years and pretty much excellent in everything he's been in. If anyone will take it from him it will be Colin Firth who but all accounts is outstanding in A Single Man. (I am going to have to pack in some cinema time in the next few weeks and catch some of these)

ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

You'd wouldn't have guessed it a few years ago but the smart money appears to be on Sandra Bullock for this one as she puts in a strong performance in between comedy pratfalling (which she also typically does very well too). Of course the Academy loves Meryl Streep so she's always in with a chance and Sidibe could be a strong outside bet. Plus it's great to see Helen Mirron and Carey Milligan in there flying the flag.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Christoph Waltz can dust off his shelf and buy a display case already, having won every other acting award in his category during award season he's pretty much a dead certainty for this one. Which is fine by me as he is excellent in Basterds bringing menace and glee together in one chilling character.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
Mo'Nique (Precious)

Mo'Nigue appears to be the early favourite for this but I think it might end up with one of the performances from Up In The Air and in that case most likely with Vera Farmiga who proves every bit George;s equal in the film.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami (Israel)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos - The Secret of Their Eyes (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Un Prophete - A Prophet (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)

Confess it's only The White Ribbon that I really know anything about this year in a category that isn't as strong as it has been for the last few years but from what I can pick up the film I know about is the leading contender.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy (Up)

I'd love to see Quentin pick this up for Basterds but it's a strong group this year and not easy to call. The Coen's effort I think will prove to esoteric to pull in enough votes I think but Boal's work for Hurt Locker is I suspect the most likely to take the prize.

BEST ANIMATION
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

And the award for Best Pixar Film goes to....UP! Again it's hard to see beyond the Pixar crew for this one but there's a chance of a upswelling of support for Disney's return to traditional hand drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9)
Nick Hornby (An Education)
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche (In the Loop)
Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)

Great to see In The Loop pick up a nomination for this one, from Alan Partridge to the Oscars for out Armando! But I think it's a toss up between Up In The Air with it's timely themes and Precious the adaption of the Oprah Winfrey endorsed novel.

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron (Avatar)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Lee Daniels (Precious)
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

The first of the big biggies and it's basically between James Cameron and his former wife Kathryn Bigelow. Now if Avatar ends up with one of the two major awards I'd prefer it was this one as I can fully appreciate the scale of the project in terms of technical achievement and for that Cameron can be commended. On the other side Bigelow has delivered a great drama with sequences of chair cracking tension and she has been doing well in the award season so far. I think Bigelow is a very slight favourite but it's hard to call.

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

A mixed bag in the newly expanded Best Picture category, District 9's appearance is a bit of a surprise but not a bad one although it was one third a great film, one third a good and one third average - almost exactly in the order through the running time. Up will take the animated film instead, A Serious Man is too oddball to really get momentum, Basterds is a little to tonally unbalanced (and old news). An Education, The Blind Side and Up In The Air might have stood a chance if not up against the three pictures not yet mentioned. Precious stands a chance as it's the kind of issue drama right up the Academy's street and even features good acting work form Mariah Carey or all people. But it seems to be much like the previous category to be a straight up fight between Avatar and The Hurt Locker.

I wouldn't argue that either is a particularly great film but of the two Hurt Locker is the stronger overall as a film. Avatar I felt was nothing that special, technically very accomplished by the paper thin characterisation and plot by numbers meant I was sitting think about the choices behind shot framing and audio design whilst I was watching it for the first (and so far only) time at the cinema. Now this means I really wasn't invested in the film as a story at all and had taken to looking at it with technical critical eyes to keep myself amused through phases of it.

Hurt Locker when I saw it (admittedly quite a while ago now) did hold my attention throughout and it was afterwards when thinking back on it that I thought about the directorial choices and level of performance as supposed to during it. So for me Hurt Locker edges it.

Overall despite the larger list of noms here last year's choices I think provided a better set of films with Slumdog Millionaire, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Reader (although Kate was much better in Revolutionary Road) and Milk.