At the Other Cinema last night I had the joy of watching W.E., the latest Madonna directed film that follows the story of Wallis Simpson and Prince / King Edward. I should say – there are no spoilers in this post!

I wondered about going to this film because I had only seen very negative reviews. The strength of my intrigue, however, to see how Madonna would take this classic story got me there and I was not disappointed! This film is worth watching – ignore the critics and go see for yourself!

Madonna both wrote the screenplay and directed and the results are, quite simply, stunning. I was mesmerised by much of the the film and loved the way Madonna’s skill in choreography shone through some of the carefully constructed walking scenes. Her mix of old and new were also exciting to see …. she uses the classic Sex Pistols ‘Pretty Vacant‘ in one scene … but as I said no spoilers here … you’ll have to see it to find out how!

This is a deep, sad, occasionally funny and sometimes hard to watch film. I think there is an autobiographical element here, and a load of religious symbolism to challenge the heart and mind. Ultimately it’s a film about love and sacrifice.

The two main characters are two very strong women. The film is also directed by a strong woman … and I wonder whether the (mainly) male critics just simply could not cope with so much proper women power around – there is no other conceivable reason for such poor reviews!

As I said above … if you get a chance … watch the film!

I hope to be able to get along to the Rochester Film Salon later this week to watch Daises as I’ve not been for far too long! Anyone fancy coming along with me?

Found this review on the IMDB database:

‘One of the most vibrant and fun art house films you are ever likely to see. Vera Chytilova was merging feminism, nihilism, psychedelic color filters, collage aesthetic, and silent film slapstick into a one of a kind film about two young girls named Marie who decide to self destruct, and be just as wicked as the world. They con men into buying them lunch and ditch them at train stations, get drunk in posh nightclubs, set their beds on fire, and lay siege to whole banquets(this latter bit got the film and the director into a lot of trouble with the Soviet Czech government for “wasting food”). Anyway this is an energetic and vibrant film as you’re likely to find anywhere, and unlike so many great euro art films, this is as fun to watch as it is think about afterwords. I’ve shown this movie to a lot of people and I’ve never had a complaint, it clocks in at just over an hour, so if you’ve got the time, go for it. It’s a one of kind experience(in fact the worst part of this movie is the cover).’

Sounds a great movie!
If you fancy it too, give me a shout!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2522942&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

MILK [Short film] from www.bastienroger.com on Vimeo.

I have just started to experiment with short videos, podcasts as such and so signed up for accounts with Audioboo and Vimeo. Whether I ever get around to putting something there is another business – writing in a public setting is one thing, but for some reason speaking or sharing videos in a public setting seems to be a bigger step for me.

While browsing the Vimeo site I quickly found this short film by Bastien Roger. It’s an incredibly beautiful film which drew me in to the story. It’s only about 10 minutes long but amazing. ‘In this chaos, one man, his glance and dream of purity’.
– go watch as I’m sure you won’t be sorry!

Easily the best movie I have seen this year. Inglorious Basterds is classic Tarantino in so many ways – the spaghetti western music, the bold colours and the way Tarantino draws you in, cause you to smile and even laugh before then hitting you with some shocking action that caused people in the audience to squirm or jump!

I don’t how to describe this film other than being a Spaghetti Western World war 2 film. I realise that makes little sense – you just have to go watch and see what I mean. It’s a violent film but a film which seems set on justice for crimes, on the cost and consequences of actions being put right in some way. There is no sentiment of forgiveness in this film, which some Christians may have difficulty with. There are a number of scenes where Tarantino obviously wants to feel some sense of ‘joy’ at a persons death which is then followed by massive shock at the death of another – the reaction to death seemingly coming from the basis of how we value the character. That in itself pulls up lots of questions of how we value life and how we judge life.

I wouldn’t go too deep into this movie though – its just a great fun film to watch. If you love the Tarantino style, and I do, then this won’t disappoint.