Hold On to Your Butts - Film Quiz

Hosted my first film quiz at the Dukes at Komedia tonight - though I'm struggling with flu and was probably not terribly easy to understand in the packed upstairs bar (we had to turn people away!). I think it went well. Anyway, I just wanted to post the amazing art work my friend Joe Blann did for us. The above poster and the below picture round (best picture round ever, no contest). Enjoy!

Keanu Reeves Interview: Neo himself talks about documentary project 'Side By Side'

Quick post to say an interview I did with Keanu Reeves and director Christopher Kenneally is now online, on the website of Brighton's Cinecity Film Festival. The star-studded documentary, based around the current debate about whether or not filmmaking should go digital or stay rooted in photo-chemical processes, sees Reeves interview top people including directors (too many to mention, but dozens of BIG names), cinematographers, actors, producers and beyond. It's so good that I saw it twice in Berlin earlier this year, which is where I caught up with Mr. Reeves.

Anyway, if you live in or around Brighton you can see 'Side By Side' for yourself this weekend as part of Cinecity. It's playing at 15.30 (3.30pm) at the Duke of York's Picturehouse and you can book tickets here.

My review of the film is up here.

'Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai' review:

I don't usually do "spoiler warnings" but if you're incredibly sensitive about plot details then don't read this review. I would hate to spoil this outstanding film for anyone, but it's difficult to talk about properly without mentioning certain events.



That Takeshi Miike has already released his follow-up to last year's remarkable '13 Assassins' should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Japanese director's career. Prolific would be an understatement for a filmmaker who has made at least two films a year since the mid-90s - indeed, according to the IMDB, he has two films in post production right now. But what is surprising is that his latest film - the first 3D film to play "in competition" in Cannes - is every bit as accomplished as that ultra-violent epic, retaining the feudal Japanese setting but telling a very different type of story. There are thematic similarities between the two, but this is more period melodrama than 'Seven Samurai' styled war film - yet it's no less compelling.

'Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai' begins with a lone rōnin (a lordless and therefore jobless samurai) arriving at a wealthy lord's estate, begging permission to use the courtyard to perform hara-kiri - the highly ritualised form of suicide that involves opening one's stomach with a sword, ideally without showing pain, before having your head cut off by a trusted second. We are told that the higher the status of the premises on which the act is committed, the more honour the act will restore. At a first glance it is this belief in proper social order which brings the sombre Hanshirô Tsugumo, played by veteran Kabuki theatre actor Ebizô Ichikawa, to the estate determined to end his life.



But before granting the request, Kageyu - a sort of head caretaker whilst the lord is away on business, played with trademark intensity by Kôji Yakusho - tells Hanshirô a chilling story in order to test his resolve. In the first of two long backflashes which form the bulk of the film, he tells the warrior about another rōnin, a young man named Motome (Eita), who came by recently with the same request - and whose end was extremely unpleasant (as depicted viscerally). Motome, it is soon revealed, did not truthfully come seeking death, but charity - hoping that the lord's house would sooner give out some food and a few coins than go through the inconvenience of assembling the household staff for such an elaborate ritual. However, he is shocked when the house agrees to meet his request in order to make an example of him and deter future "suicide bluffs".

Hanshirô hears this story and is given the chance to withdraw his request. He declines and, in front of the assembled house, reveals that he has his own story to tell. Of course it barely qualifies as a spoiler to say that Motome and Hanshirô's stories are linked and that the former's death has something to do with the later's arrival on the estate, though I will say that how the two stories link is heartbreaking.



With '13 Assassins' Miike playfully mocked Japanese tradition and criticised the country's historic cultural values. He questioned why honour and death are so often linked and had his heroes kick dirt in their enemies faces - fighting for survival rather than as part of some slickly choreographed pageant. Here these criticisms are foregrounded. Social class, poverty and a culture of obligation are targets, as well as the wisdom of bushido. And just as the child-murdering, woman-deforming lord in '13 Assassins' represented all that's contradictory about a society which saw swordplay as equivalent to penmanship and poetry - outwardly representing all that was considered beautiful - in 'Hara-Kiri' such vanity is attacked again.

Here honourable men refuse to be seen in public after having their topknots cut off, yet are quite happy to watch a boy disembowel himself with a blunt wooden stick. In this society the wealthy would rather see the poor gut themselves than break tradition by asking for help. For the poor (or at least for a poor samurai), trying to live in spite of hardship is seen as a shameful practice. Here the vain pursuit of precise, formal beauty has the effect of destroying that which is genuinely beautiful. That Motome is driven to desperation by a lord's cruelty (he becomes rōnin due to a petty dispute between two nobles) and is destroyed by social convention, expectation and tradition leaves the viewer in no doubt that he is an unlucky pawn in a game played by the ruling class.



When a climactic scene of what could be termed "cool" violence does arrive, Hanshirô is totally non-lethal and his only goal is to force his enemies to commit acts of taboo and break from their preciously held codes. He's shown to be a sane man in an otherwise mad world, ruled by oppressive and ultimately meaningless tradition. Whereas '13 Assassins' arguably contradicts its message by staging such a shamelessly entertaining 45 minute massacre at the climax, here the fight itself is framed as the rejection of violence recalling the sudden brawl in Kurosawa's otherwise sedate 'Red Beard'.

Hanshirô is challenging his attackers to slaughter him in cold blood and, in showing that they can do this without threat to personal honour, underlines the futility and madness of the entire social structure - and even of his own public suicide. It's a brilliantly esoteric triumph but one that is every bit as futile as the social structure he abhors. That Kageyu and his underlings are more frightened and moved by Hanshirô's iconoclastic scattering of a elaborate suit of armour than his sad story - or his doomed appeal to reason - is Miike's final sick joke in another thoughtful and resolutely anti-traditional film.

'Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai' is not yet rated by the BBFC (though it'll be nothing less than a '15'). I saw it at the Brighton's CineCity Film Festival at the Duke of York's Picturehouse, though a limited release should be expected in 2012.

Calling all martial arts film fans PLUS Jurassic Park!!!

Back in Venice I saw the exciting new Andrew Lau directed sequel to the 1972 Bruce Lee film 'Fist of Fury' (my favourite Lee feature) 'Legend of the Fist: the Return of Chen Zhen'. Brilliantly, Brighton's Duke of York's Picturehouse is playing the film as late night feature tomorrow (Friday 7th January) at 23.30.

In September my review said (with an uncharacteristic blood lust): "The first ten minutes equals anything in recent memory in terms of adrenaline pumping action. We begin in France during WW1, where a group of Chinese allied to the French are under fire from a German position. Few films tackle The Great War over it’s deadlier sequel and this is probably the most exciting take I’ve seen, as scores of biplanes bomb our heroes and Yen outruns machine guns and scales buildings, gleefully hacking away German soldiers."

Indeed the first 10-15 minutes are outstanding. I recommend Brighton based fans of Bruce Lee movies or martial arts stuff in general check this out tomorrow.



You can buy tickets for tomorrow's showing at Brighton's Duke of York's Picturehouse here.

Also, I have to mention that one of my most cherished films, 'Jurassic Park', is coming to the Duke's on Saturday 15th at 23.30. You can pre-book tickets for that here.



Mr. Toby King and myself have hassled the manager non-stop for a year to get this on the big screen, so please come and pay your respects to "the greatest film of all time".*

*my opinion aged 8.

"Let it snow!": How the Snow Effects UK Cinema Exhibition

Last week much of the UK, including here in Brighton, was covered in snow. Schools were closed, buses were cancelled and middle class suburban homes everywhere were left without their weekly Ocado delivery. But how did it affect the British film exhibition business? I asked a few people in the know at different East Sussex based cinemas to see exactly what they made of the bad weather.

Apparently it isn't always bad news according to occasional Splendor Cinema podcast guest James Tully. James is the marketing manager of Brighton's biggest cinema - an Odeon near the town centre - and he suggested that the snow can in fact have a positive effect on business for the chain depending on the target audience: "If the weather is bad, then the schools are closed so if you are one of the few businesses still open then there is a good opportunity to make money. We see a rise in family business during the day as parents have nothing to do with their kids. But films for a mature audience suffer as older people will not want to risk going out onto snow & ice just to see a film."



Likewise, podcast co-host Jon Barrenechea, manager of Brighton's Duke of York's Picturehouse, says that his cinema can also benefit from the snow. But whereas the multiplex takes advantage of kids off school eager to watch 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One', the Duke's unique atmosphere gives it an advantage in attracting older crowds: "During the Christmas holidays the whole place just feels like a cosy front room in an eccentric’s house. Mulled wine, fairy lights, the Edwardian architecture, it’s the perfect setting for when it snows, so we tend to get busy in times like this, especially recently as people haven’t been able to drive anywhere, they’ve been walking down to the cinema."

The Duke of York's not only has the advantage of a large, loyal and local customer base. It is also based just on the edge of town and sat on two main roads - which are generally usable even in snowy weather, as the fire station next door needs constant access - whilst the Odeon, being in the centre of town, is also accessible to a lot of people. It is a different story for a cinema based in a more remote area, like the Uckfield Picture House. Manager and owner Kevin Markwick told me, "snow has a devastating effect on our business, particularly in a semi rural area like this. People simply can’t get here on country roads. For some reason no one seems to want to walk here either. ['Harry Potter'] business has dropped by 65% since the snow hit on Tuesday [November 30th]." The Odeon's James echos Kevin's concerns saying, "I think it's a tough time for independent cinemas who are programmed weeks in advance, as if their big hit film falls in that week [of bad weather] then their profits fall through the floor."



Time of day is another factor in people's decision to come out to the movies in blizzard conditions too. Whilst day time shows can receive a boost in attendance, James noticed that evening business "declines as guests do not know what to expect by the time their film has finished. If for example you are watching an 8pm 'Harry Potter' that finishes at 11pm, you could emerge to find another foot of snow has fallen, transport cancelled etc." Jon also sees a drop for certain shows. Notably the National Theatre and MET Opera screenings, which are broadcast live via satellite and regularly sell out: "The only times it really affects us is when we have special events like the Operas when people are driving in from out of town."

Another concern is for smaller films with niche appeal. Again James Tully provided his view of what can happen to such films at this time of year: "it's a tough time if you are a distributor of a small film as the film will not get held-over if it doesn't perform well. I hope that 'Monsters' manages to find an audience... It would be a shame after such an excellent marketing campaign to see the film fail at the last hurdle." Customers are unaware of how film distribution works, which creates a problem for the smaller films says James, "People also assume that a film will be playing indefinitely and that if it snows, and they can't go out, then they will see it next week. Unfortunately the reality is that the film probably wont last another week."

All pictures taken by my girlfriend and I whilst snowed-in in Patcham last week.

Cine-City 2010 Opening Night: 'The King's Speech'

Tonight the Duke of York's Picturehouse plays host to a screening of 'The King's Speech' starring Colin Firth as the 2010 Cine-City Brighton Film Festival gets underway. Having won the top prizes in Toronto earlier this year, 'The King's Speech' is thought to be an Oscar hopeful and is directed by Tom Hooper ('The Damned United') and co-stars Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush as it tells the story of King George VI's speech impediment set during his impromptu ascension to the throne during the Second World War. Personally, I am expecting something very safe and establishment that romanticises the monarchy, but I'll give it a chance to impress me during tonight's show. Expect a review later this week.



Cine-City continues until December 5th, where it closes with Richard Ayoade's 'Submarine' (another Toronto hit). Along the way are a host of other big films which include 'The American', 'Never Let Me Go', 'Rare Exports', 'West is West', 'Of Gods and Men', 'Howl', 'Somewhere' and 'Biutiful'. I'll certainly be seeing all of those and reviewing them here over the next two weeks.

If you live in or around Brighton you should come and check out the festival, which also takes place at Brighton's Sallis Benney Theatre and features even more films than I have listed here! Here is the link to the web page again, so you can see for yourself.

'Skeletons' Screening + Q&A with Director Nick Whitfield

Update: The Q+A went really well and Jon actually recorded the audio for a potential future podcast. I will write something up about the film and the event sometime in the week. My original "that night" time frame was optimistic! Come back later for the full lowdown.

Original post: I am delighted (and a little nervous) to be hosting an on-stage Q&A with writer/director Nick Whitfield after a screening of his film 'Skeletons' at Brighton's Duke of York's Picturehouse this Friday (tomorrow) at 6.30pm. This means I need to spend the rest of today watching the screener DVD very kindly sent to me by Soda Pictures, making notes and forming interesting questions. Please come along and check out the film. You will also have a chance to ask Nick your own questions after the show.

'Skeletons' won the Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. Expect a review of the film and a write-up on the whole affair tomorrow night.

'Skeletons' is rated '15' by the BBFC. Tickets can be purchased online via the Picturehouse website.