New Flick's Flicks

Check out the new episode of Flick's Flicks, Picturehouses' own review show.

Disney Vs Exhibition: Mad Hatter

Today ODEON gave up on its boycott of ALICE IN WONDERLAND 3D and agreed to play the Tim Burton film, the last of the big chains to relent and agree to Disney's 12 week DVD release date for the film.

VUE and CINEWORLD gave up on the fight earlier on, after the big three had stood shoulder to shoulder against the Disney giant.

What does this mean? Why would cinema chains boycott what is bound to be a huge hit? Their anger stems from Disney's plans to release the DVD sooner than is normal for films, 12, instead of 17 weeks after release date. This, in the exhibitors view, is detrimental to the theatrical 'window' which is their only opportunity to make money.

From the perspective of a small arthouse cinema which won't be playing the film at all, this might seem like much ado about nothing but what it does reflect is the changing nature of the way we consume film. Theatrical releases, DVDs, downloads, cable, all these experiences have become closer to each other in terms of time frame, so if you miss it here you can see it there. With broadband in every home people expect everything all the time. This is big trouble for big cinema chains, who rely on 'product' as they refer to the films, to make their money (and not just popcorn, as observers have commented. In fact only about 25% of multiplexes income comes from concession sales).

For a smaller chain like us or independents, service and experience are as important as what is playing, so that even if you could download the latest Michael Haneke film and watch it at home, you probably wouldn't. Audiences who like to see arthouse product appreciate the social side of a visit to the cinema as much as the cinematic experience itself. So nothing to worry about here.

For multiplexes, who have spent the last year putting all their proverbial eggs into the basket of the teenage audience, this is a nightmare. For it is those very teenagers the ones most likely to stay at home and consume movies in the new ways that so terrify the studio bosses. Until one of these studio honchos figures out a real way to make money from these new channels, their market share will shrink. The euphoria surrounding AVATAR and 3D might muffle this reality in the short term but eventually it will come back to haunt them. And then I will be able to utter the sweetest four words in the English language: I TOLD YOU SO.

New Podcast - with a new home

Our new podcast is up - where we discuss the Berlin Film Festival, the BAFTAs, and review the week's new films. We also now have a new home at the Picturehouse website...

Splendor Cinema Podcast

Mark Kermode: It's Only a Movie

Film critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode took some time out from his busy book tour to talk to Splendor Cinema and answer our now standard film questionarre. He will be coming down to the Dukes on the 29th March to talk about his new book, IT'S ONLY A MOVIE.

What’s your favorite cinema in the country?
The Phoenix in East Finchley. I grew up going there, that’s where I saw films like THE EXORCIST for the first time, which would change my life. Back then, it was called the Rex, and they used to do double-bills of movies like Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets. They also did late-night double-bills on Fridays, and that is where I got my film education; directors like Cronenberg, Russell, Jodorowsky with films like THE DEVILS, SHIVERS. I recently did a talk there, and I remember sitting on stage, and seeing where I used to sit…I have been now been asked to be a patron of the Phoenix and it's an honour.

What’s your first memory of cinema going?
My first memory, as opposed to the first time I went, because I know my parents took me to see THE JUNGLE BOOK and things like that, my first memory is KRAKATOA, EAST OF JAVA. I don’t remember any of the volcano stuff, but I do recall this one bizarre sequence where Barbara Werle sings a song about being an ‘old fashioned’ girl. Many years later I went into a shop to get the DVD to find the sequence and it was there, but not exactly as I had imagined it.

So you had constructed the scene in your own mind?
Yes, so part of it was there, but the rest was clearly a product of my imagination.

What’s your scariest/strangest/most bizarre cinema going experience?
Scariest has to be the first time I saw THE EXORCIST – it scared the socks off me. The strangest has to be the first time I saw BLUE VELVET at at the Cornerhouse in Manchester. It hit me totally the wrong way, and I was basically offended by it. At the time I was writing for a publication called City Life and I wrote a very snooty review of it. Some days later I was in the Cornerhouse bar, and someone came up to me and said, ‘Are you the guy who wrote the review of Blue Velvet?’ and I thought ‘ Oh people are recognizing me!’ and said 'yes'. He then proceeded to hit me! I have since revisited BLUE VELVET and all the things about it that I hated, are the things that I now think are brilliant.


I know you’re not a filmmaker, but what film-related project that you’ve been involved with give you the most sense of achievement or pride?
You’re right, I am not a filmmaker, and I have never wanted to be a filmmaker. I think the best critics are not frustrated filmmakers. The best critics are ones who want to watch, not make, films. I have been involved, however, with some excellent documentaries (as a journalist, not a director) about some of my passions like THE EXORCIST. The one project I was most proud of though, was getting THE DEVILS, the Ken Russell film, restored and a whole big scene (now known as the Rape of Christ) restored to the print.
To this day Warner Brothers refuse to put this out on DVD. We presented it at the BFI Southbank in its full restored glory, in a season curated by me and my wife Linda Ruth Williams – the world premiere. It took us about four or five years to find the footage which Ken thought was lost forever.

What does the UK film industry need?
David Puttnam was the one who told me this some years ago, what we need, is an exploitation film factory. Like a Roger Corman-type set-up. Where filmmakers who grew up on Antonioni and Godard, can be given a budget, a brief (helicopter, wrestling, 90 minutes) and sent off to learn their craft, learn how to make money and what audiences want. All the top filmmakers from Coppola onwards in America came from that Corman factory and it helps filmmakers learn their trade.

Tickets for IT'S ONLY A MOVIE are still available and you can book here.

Box Office 19-21 Feb

Another week, another AVATAR number one.

1- AVATAR (£2.4 million)
2- PRINCESS & THE FROG (£1.7 million)
3- LOVELY BONES (£1.6 million)
4- VALENTINE'S DAY (£1.57 million)
5- PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTING THIEF (£1.4 million)
6- THE WOLFMAN (£700K)
7- ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS 2 (£602K)
8- INVICTUS (£567K)
9- ASTROBOY (£521K)
10- SOLOMON KANE (£500K)

Box Office Records

Our biggest box office week in history finished yesterday, with nearly six thousand cinema tickets sold. We passed our previous record by about 10%. A few things happened to make this possible: the perfectly timed release of A SINGLE MAN, its Oscar nomination in the bag a week before opening, Valentine's Day, Half term (with PONYO for the little ones), a LORD OF THE RINGS all-nighter which added revenue to a time slot when we'd otherwise be closed, and a sold out show of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S.

I was in Berlin all week, so was spared the really hard work (as someone pointed out on Twitter, maybe I should go away more often), but as always the fantastic staff at the Dukes held it together beautifully.

Rotterdam Roundup

Tim Brown, CINECITY co-director, sent this roundup of his visit to the Rotterdam Film Festival:

A visibly smaller and more focused programme than previous editions, this second festival under the stewardship of director Rutger Wolfson had less of the related installations and exhibitions but was felt by many to be a step up from last year’s programme and highlights a festival in a period of transition. Rotterdam has always been focused on the art rather than the red carpet glitz and glam that dominates other festivals and the fact that many titles from last year’s fest never got picked up for UK distribution says much about the challenging times for arthouse cinema; Rotterdam is always a pleasure and offers a range of delights celebrating cinema at its most innovative that keeps it as an essential visit for organisations such as CINECITY.
We caught around 20 titles with much anticipated THE TEMPTATION OF ST. TONY from Estonian director Veiko Ounpuu living long in the memory. His last feature AUTUMN BALL appeared in CINECITY 2008 as part of our New Europe strand and the rich mix of pitch black humour and visual sophistication was once more present and correct. With many wonderful set pieces and nods to Pasolini and Bunuel - the drumming from Bunuel’s home village of Calanda that appeared in a number of his films provided a suitable climax towards the end of …ST. TONY – the film is a parable about the new compassionless capitalism in Eastern Europe and also features a great turn from Denis Lavant.
The VPRO Tiger Awards were given to AGUA FRIA DE MAR by Paz Fábrega from Costa Rica, MUNDANE HISTORY by Anocha Suwichakornpong from Thailand and ALAMAR by Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio. MUNDANE HISTORY was a particularly effective debut feature from Thai film-maker Anocha Suwichakornpong about a bitter young man who is paralysed from the waist down after an accident and has been appointed a new nurse. The psychological drama explodes in a hallucinogenic ode to the universe and a meditation on our place within it.
US independent film-maker James Benning’s RUHR was a wonderful piece of cinema at its purest, a stunning series of static camera shots of landscapes where apparently little happens. With just 6 shots in all for the 2-hour running time, the little details like a car or plane passing take on a dramatic significance. The final shot of an enormous chimney which belches out smoke is quite stunning.
Other highlights included HIROSHIMA, the first solo feature from Uruguyan Pablo Stoll after the death of his companion Juan Pablo Rebella with whom he made the widely praised 25 WATTS and WHISKY. HIROSHIMA is almost a silent film with the dialogue appearing as inter-titles. The soundtrack is driven by the post-punk and techno that the central character, a slacker, played by Stoll’s brother Juan, listens to on his Discman.