A trip to the cinema...

When I first decided to write this blog, I was going to talk about cinema, television, pop culture news etc. In the end, it's ended up primarily focusing on Doctor Who. No bad thing, but I rather feel I need to stretch my wings a little if I'm going to make this thing stand out. That said, turning my gaze to recent cinematic offerings is hardly going to acheive that either, ho hum.

On account of not having exams and not going to work, I've had a lot of time to see films, new films! Some of them have even been nominated for Oscars, such as "feelgood film of the decade" (Copyright all newspapers.) Slumdog Millionaire.
It's been said by funnier and cleverer men than me (Stand up Adam & Joe, Richard Herring and Andrew Collins) that Slumdog is not exactly a feelgood film; a child has his eyes burnt with a spoon, the beautiful girl is slashed in the face and water torture. Hardly Mama Mia is it? Taking on board the "feelgood film of the decade" tag overlooks the hardships that these real-life slumdogs are going through, all the terrible things he's experienced all go away with a cheque for a few million rupees and a beautiful girl?

That's not to say that it isn't a great film, it's fantastically clever and adopting the set-up of popular telly quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? as a narrative device is a nice touch. It does have some wonderful moments of comedy too such as the scenes in the Call Centre discussing British culture and Scottish stereotypes. So yes, hugely entertaining film but "feelgood film of the decade"? Not convinced.

Next up was other Oscar contender Frost/Nixon and well...I'm really not sure about this. Much like Slumdog, there is an underdog quality applied to David Frost, that rather conveniently forgets a number of facts for "dramatic" purposes. David Frost, for those that don't know put together one of the first, if not the first (Must research these posts!) primetime satirical sketch shows on television which brought together Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and half of the Pythons. He knows a fair bit, so to portray him as some lightweight international playboy who is far more interested in attending movie premieres than research his material is a tad patronising. With that out the way, it does have a fantastic performance from Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and his telephone rant is a joy to behold, and Michael Sheen is really rather good at mimicking Frost, though I wonder if he'll ever actually....you know, play a fictional character? All in all it's an entertaining film, but I advise you to track down the original Frost/Nixon Watergate interview because it's much, much more interesting.

The final contender for the Oscars I've watched is the utterly brilliant The Wrestler. This is how to do a sports movie; more Raging Bull than Rocky it is of course, far more about the man; broken down Randy "The Ram" than the sport. And although, like Rocky it builds to a final bout, this is no triumphant return to the ring, but I shan't spoil it for anyone. Some have said it's amazing that a film about professional wrestling can be so damned moving though I would point to the fantastic documentary Beyond the Mat. Of course the main theme at the heart of the film is knowing when to give up, when your body starts to fail you and what you do when your livelihood depends on that body being shipshape and this is played to perfection by Mickey Rourke's broken down wrestler and Marisa Tomei's broken down stripper. This time she may actually deserve the Oscar. (Miaow!) I look forward to Randy "The Ram"s next bout at Wrestlemania 25.

Is this where I do a Golden Globes nomination gag?

The final film I've seen this week also concerns ageing, in a similar way to the absolutely magnificent About Schmidt is Gran Torino. Starring and directed by Clint Eastwood it's a very strange sort of film, opening first with a Schmidt style recently widowed misanthrope before turning into a hilarious "old racist learns error of ways" story into a charming, funny coming of age tale which makes the final shift all the more devastating. Eastwood is on fine form as Walt Kowalski, essentially a retired Harry Callahan trying to teach those damned youngsters some respect. Joyously over sentimental, funny and heartbreaking it's surprising this hasn't received any Oscar nods, though maybe it was released too late....though I suppose the overly sentimental category is kind of taken up by Slumdog. I thoroughly recommend Gran Torino when it comes out over here!

I'm hoping to continue my recent burst in filmwatching by catching up on some of last years offerings, namely; W, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Choke and What Just Happened?

Until next I see something worth writing about faithful reader. (Hopefully before the Doctor Who easter special eh?)