Monday Blues

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the critically lambasted Michael Bay robot porn flick, made an astonishing $387 million worldwide in its opening weekend. It came just a couple of million short of breaking The Dark Knight's record last year.

With that depressing news in mind, things don't get better closer to home. Rudo Y Cursi, despite good reviews and the sex appeal of Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, didn't really take off. The hot weather and Glastonbury didn't help.

A cluster of popular films arrives in July: Public Enemies and Ice Age 3D on Friday, Bruno the week after, and then the film that will wipe us all away: Harry Potter. So that leaves about a week for each film to make its impact on the box office.

I've bought my hat and waistcoat for Friday - hopefully I'll see some of you at our red carpet premiere...

Flicks Flicks

Duke of York's Assistant Manager Felicity Ventom, who is also a talented singer-songwriter, comedian and TV presenter, has a little show call Flick's Flicks. It's monthly round up of movies and events happening at Picturehouse cinemas. She also interviewed the guys behind Rudo Y Cursi the other day, and here it is:

Michael Jackson

The big story obviously today is Michael Jackson's death. I won't mention any of the media circus around his personal life, but one important point to make about his career from a film perspective: his association with filmmakers.

From John Landis' groundbreaking thriller onwards, he always made it a habit to hire top-notch directors for his music videos, including Martin Scorsese (Bad), Spike Lee (They Don't Care About Us), David Fincher (Who is It?), John Singleton (Remember The Time) and Mark Romanek (Scream).

His influence on the music video, which in turn ended up influencing filmmaking styles from the 1980s onwards, can't be overstated.

Public Enemies Review

Well, the press embargo has been lifted and I can indulge you with my review of Public Enemies, which I saw at a screening hosted by the lovely chaps at Universal. It was at the Soho Hotel and they even fed us - mind you, I am not used to this kind of treatment so I was duly impressed!

Off the bat the screening suffered from being projected in 35MM. This film NEEDS to be seen in digital projection to fully appreciate the way it was made. If anything, the 35mm makes it seem like there is something wrong with the film. Thankfully, we'll be screening it digitally so I can't wait to see it again the way the director intended!

No matter what Michael Mann says, this is Heat Redux. Heat with Hats. Heat: the prequel. And that's a good thing. Heat is one of my favorite films of all time and the reason I am a Manniac. The plot and dramatic drive of the film are closely related to that 1995 masterpiece. The principal difference here, apart from the period setting, which he typically captures down to the last detail, is the huge stylist leap he takes by shooting the whole thing in high def digital, rather than film.

While Mann has dabbled in the technology since ALI in 2001, this is the first time he has abandoned film stock altogether. The result, combined with the return of cinematographer Dante Spinotti, with whom he collaborated on every film from Manhunter to The Insider, is one of the most dazzling works of cinematic camera work I have ever seen. The bleached out, dry effect of the digital lenses in the shining broad daylight helps drive home the period, and the nighttime sequences, particularly the shootouts, are spectacular because of the medium's capacity to capture light in a way film could never achieve.

Johnny Depp uses his million-dollar charm to make Dillinger a more sympathetic character than the real life version probably deserves. Bale thankfully abandons the raspy Batman voice and happily blends into the background as committed G-Man Purvis. Billy Crudup gives us hints of the hoover we later learned to hate without telegraphing the sleaze. Beyond the star-studded cast, the supporting players are outstanding, including a couple of refugees from The Wire (Domenick Lombardozzi, Peter Gerety) and Stephen Lang, longtime collaborator of the director, in an outstanding performance and FBI agent Winstead.

Critics argue that Mann's undisputed technical prowess distances him from his characters. I think that like Kubrick, that detachment is in the end more revealing and rewarding than the more immediate payoff. Al Pacino or DeNiro would have (and did in Heat) make the parts more their own. Depp and Bale are putty in the filmmaker's vision.

So, from my own personal perspective; another amazing Michael Mann film. From a commercial perspective, I think that without Depp and Bale this would have a really hard time finding an audience. Running time, subject matter and pace all run opposite the modern trends of popcorn blockbusters.

Box Office

Courtesy of Charles Gant at the Guardian comes this week's Top 10:


1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 516 screens, £8,349,739
2. The Hangover, 428 screens, £2,249,747. Total: £7,716,785
3. Night At The Museum 2, 481 screens, £817,101. Total: £18,290,183
4. Terminator Salvation, 456 screens, £803,873. Total: £12,767,545
5. Angels & Demons, 323 screens, £353,872. Total: £17,939,463
6. Drag Me To Hell, 316 screens, £275,436. Total: £5,945,776
7. Star Trek, 282 screens, £239,909. Total: £20,901,905
8. Looking For Eric, 225 screens, £215,173. Total: £845,052
9. The Last House On The Left, 285 screens, £189,412. Total: £880,716
10. Last Chance Harvey, 242 screens, £159,534. Total: £1,769,174

I was amused at Mark Kermode's review of Transformers which described it as a film with a "rotten heart" and Michael Bay as a "pornographer". I can't say I disagree.

Double Standards

On Friday, the British Board of Film Censors (I mean Classification, apologies) gave BRUNO an 18 certificate. The filmmakers were apparently offered the choice of cutting the film for a 15, but declined.

It seems to me that the BBFC suffers from the double standards that allow unlimited violence and gore into a 15 (or even 12A) certificate, but bans teenagers from seeing sexual references on screen.

Both Ali G Indahouse and Borat had 15 certificates, so what's so different now?

It seems only yesterday that the uproar over allowing the disturbing The Dark Knight a 12A occurred. Have they learnt nothing? Meanwhile, super-violent CGI films like Terminator Salvation and Transformers 2 get 12As. So violence is better than sex? Come on, people.

Public Enemies Review...coming soon

I saw Public Enemies yesterday and will post my full review here very soon. Universal kindly invited me to a screening at the Soho Hotel, and there were some other City Screen people there as well, including our programmer Jason.
As soon as the reviews embargo is up I shall let you know my thoughts on the film. There are many of them.