Movie Review - Les Misérables (2012)

Image adapted from Les Misérables film poster.

The day after watching the 2008 film of the same name on TV, we made it around the peaceful protest riots into Belfast city center to pay a visit to the cinema to watch Tom Hooper’s 2012 interpretation of Les Mis (Warning: potentially contains spoilers depending on what you already know of Les Misérables).

At first, when the singing began with the convicts in the ship yard, it took me a minute to acclimatise as it was so different to have so much of the story sung in a movie. I knew it was a musical version before I went but it’s still something that doesn't happen very often. Most of the movie musicals I've seen before had a lot of spoken dialogue mixed in. When it dawned on me that this was very much dedicated to the musical, this opening number felt a bit like the ‘musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ meets ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

As well as all the songs from the stage show, there were also some new additions. One being a new song which we hear Hugh Jackman sing in a horse drawn coach on the way to Paris. Though nothing spectacular or really anything to write home about, it did suit the scene to help add some flavour to the bond Valjean and Cosette are developing and show it as a journey for both body and mind. As well as a little bit of originality to refresh it for the big screen, there was also a change in cast. Movie actors took up the main roles although awesomely there was a part for Colm Wilkinson - the man who made 'Jean Valjean' his own in the stage production of the musical. He plays a Bishop in this. It was a nice touch as he literally hands over the baton candle sticks to Hugh Jackman, a new ambassador for the role. There were some other faces from the stage who made it into the film. Samantha Barks plays Éponine (and is excellent) - we knew we recognised her at the time but couldn’t place her. She turns out to be ‘Isle of Man’ Sam from ‘I’d do Anything’ – the BBC reality show that was casting for the role of Nancy in Oliver, she came 3rd in that and was one of my favourites. Since then though she’s been in the stage show of Les Mis playing Éponine as well as in the 25th Anniversary Concert and also more recently playing Nancy in Oliver… shows how much I pay attention! Another to make it into the film from the stage show is Dungannon born Fra Fee who plays one of the revolutionaries – Coufeyrac.

With the cast featuring mainly movie actors, they did an amazing job with the songs that by all accounts were sung live to camera on set. The only criticism that can be made is that of the singing voice of Russell Crowe who was playing Inspector Javert. His voice did lack that little bit of power to make it a great performance like his fellow stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway but his acting and look were spot on. Don’t get me wrong, he sang his part well, it wasn't like he performed it badly, it was just that his voice doesn't have the properties to really hit home a couple of the songs that character has. If there is anyone hearing these songs for the first time, it wouldn't stand out as being bad in any way. It just wasn't as good as it can be done. If you have heard a very good version of the song 'Stars' though then you'll know what I mean... like this:

The rest of the vocals were hard to find any fault with and combined with the visuals it came into it's own with the close ups and montages. The rendition of the song 'At the End of the Day' was entirely excellent and a huge advert for more movie musicals in the future (if done well like this).

The acting was also great, very believable and sucked you into their world and emotions. So much so, the row in front of us were all in tears. Unlike the usually over the top soppy quality to Marius, in this the rather 'well spoken' actor Eddie Redmaybe was surprisingly likable. Thank goodness they didn't cast Nick Jonas as Marius like they did in the 25th Anniversary Concert - I imagine it's probably best not to have the audience wanting Marius to get left behind in the sewer.

There were plenty of lighter moments too, the main one delivered by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter who added a twist to the Thénardiers. They brought a younger looking but just as devious and funny pair. I loved the added detail here with the movie, rather than just hand movements, they were shown going about their tricks of the trade, something that just couldn't be done on stage. They were also helped a little of course by a surprise visitor!

Another memorable part of this version of Les Misérables which made us laugh (but was maybe only light hearted to a few) was the moment of the sound effect that broke the big fall into the river. For me it was just the unexpectedness of it, I think we were all expecting a splash or a cut away, but the realistic crunchy thud, lol, even just thinking about it has me laugh, ah well! It was just unexpected is all, a nice touch of realism to the not so nice business of suicide. We didn't roll around on the floor laughing mind you, nah it just made us do that awkward trying to hold it in laugh and then we each laughed at the fact we weren't the only one holding back the laughter. The situation being that the row in front were in full teary flow by this point which just made it all the more inappropriate. Another glance at each other of course just made us laugh even more. Belated apology to the folks sat in front of us that night – you probably thought we were callus and uncouth but ah well, we couldn't help it, it just happened.

As well as great acting and singing, the sets, costume, make up and attention to detail were also a pleasure to see. What caught my eye the most were the scenes in Paris. A realistic sized barricade in a realistic location for a start. The fact the houses were part of it too, the windows being used and attacks from roofs etc. A realistic tight and horrible sewer access, unlike the movie we watched the night before which had something like a modern day sized manhole. The sewer itself seemed pretty authentic too! There was even some real next day stubble.

The cinematography was brilliant. From 'fly on the wall documentary' style wobbly cam that moved around the characters (almost examining them), to wide angle still shots on the streets, to shallow depth of field close ups of the actors singing their emotional numbers, to overhead panning complete with CGI landscapes - it all seemed to be there and was all very well done. When needed it was fantastical on a grand scale. At other times, it was subtle, such as with the close ups of characters singing in front of an almost plain background or the delicate touches like the butterfly gently moving it's wings on a metal bar whilst the actors sing to one another through a gate.

It had all the drama, comedy, tragedy and emotion of the stage production but added much more action, realism, grander fantasies and best of all - more context. Anything it did miss was made up for by engulfing your eyes, ears and emotions. My brother-in-law showed us this summary of the plot of Les Mis in emoticons which was doing the rounds on social media sites, it gives a novel summary of the plot which is good for a lol or two.

I've tried hard to find something I remember that I can mark it down for but I can't think of anything beyond what might have been had the Javert vocal also stood out.

Another thing I'd usually say with a film where it is set in another country with characters native to that part of the world is that perhaps it could have been a foreign language film with subtitles - to add to the authenticity of it. That could have been the case with the 2008 movie but with this movie musical, I think that would have taken something away. Based on a West End stage musical - based on a less successful French language version of the musical - based on a book (and perhaps a very old movie that was also based on the book) - it's evolved quite a bit. What part of the evolution this 2012 version uses most is the musical side of it. Though the words to the songs are in English, the music is universal. The language or time period of the language doesn't much matter so it’s just really down to the audience it’s being released to. So with the English language words to the music already being a huge part of what it is and the it's accessability to it's audience requiring this, it fits perfectly. Another point of note was the interesting use of regional accents from around the British Isles which I think worked well overlaid on this French story.

Overall I thought it was one of the best films I've seen in a long time (the best thing I’ve seen at the cinema since the opening sequence of the 2009 Star Trek movie). In giving a rating I’ve tried to take out my fondness for the stage show (as that undoubtedly helped me warm to it) but even after putting that aside, it was very well made, was absorbing, powerful and has the hallmarks of a real classic. And so, it really does have a happy conclusion, they can smile at last! Les Misérables (2012) gets my joint highest score for a movie so far, a magnifique...

Score: 9/10

Per the The A.L.I.N.I Movie Review rating scale:
9 - Excellent - a real classic - lets hope it's re-released at the cinema.

Movie Review - The Graduate (1967)

Film: The Graduate (1967)

I'm not really sure why so many people rate this movie so highly. Perhaps I missed the point?

I'll start with the good parts - I thought it was well filmed and well acted. The use of clever camera angles and strange shots combined with the great Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack were the highlights of the movie. Sadly for this movie, in my view, that does not a good movie make. Beneath all that gloss is a romanticised Jerry Springer-esq story of people with too much time and money who haven't the foresight or sense of what to do with it. It was almost like the characters or script was somehow void of imagination, maybe that was the point but if it was, why would we want to watch it?

By showing us the depths a bored teenager (who must been a joy to be around during his studies) and a bored housewife will go to to be bored with someone else because of the situations they find themselves bored in before realising they're still bored... it's just, well... boring.

I wasn't alone in being underwhelmed. Half way through the movie the other four people I was watching the movie with had become bored by it too (they were also all watching it for the first time) to the point they had given up paying attention to it and merrily chatted away. I probably should have done the same but I tried my best to give it a fair chance.

I think if we'd have been alive and old enough to have seen this movie when it came out in 1967 we might have been more impressed by it, maybe for the novelty value. As children of the 80's however, I think we've been a little more desensitised to this sort of thing - did you see the TV we grew up watching? We were teenagers with Channel 5 on our TVs in our bedrooms. Need I say any more? To summarise; anyone who is shocked enough to care about the story line or who finds the Graduate a master piece for some other reason I'm clueless about, should just be thankful Mr Robinson wasn't 'meeting' both Carl and Ben at the same time whilst also murdering the odd neighbour or two as a coping mechanism to deal with his drug addiction from a prior life of crime that resulted in his witness protection relocation to the suburbs.

Maybe there was a message to do with some deeper meaning to life, love and the issues of growing up (or something) somewhere in there - but if there was, I missed it. I found it to be like watching reality TV without the unintentional comedy or ridiculous moments of revelation that might put you at unease or question yourself.

I think my main thing that disappointed me was that I just felt like I didn't care one way or the other for any of the characters. I tell a lie, I did feel sorry for the passengers and bus driver at the end.

This movie had a plot but a plot all about not a lot, just some dysfunctional wealthy folk swapping body fluids.

Score 4/10

Per the The A.L.I.N.I Movie Review rating scale:
4 = Could have probably done without watching it but meh, it was meh.

Movie Review - Role Models (2008)

Film: Role Models (2008)

From arguments over the stupid names of coffee cup sizes to Jane Lynch playing a character who must have been the predecessor to the Sue Slyvester in Glee. Not to mention a set of rules to put the inflatable weaponry from our wedding to good use, this movie had loads going on. Unexpectedly I should add, I thought Role Models was great, I'm kinda sad I didn't see it at the cinema.

The laughs were regular and spread well throughout the movie. The humour was rude in places but never fell to being too crude even with a few topless scenes ("a bit 'blue for the dads" as Peter Kay would say) and some strong language in places.

Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd's characters were surprisingly likeable and the rest of the cast were great, most noteably Christopher Mintz-Plasse who played one of the kids needing a big and another performance of note from Ken Jeong (of 'The Hangover' fame) who was King in a world of pretend. The cast was very well balanced and there wasn't just the usual one or two stand out acts like you get in some films of this ilk.

The story I didn't see coming as it started off like a teen movie but transitioned in a lot of ways into a feel good film with an whimsical edge. I find it hard to put this movie in any one category and that in a film is something that I like! It was certainly a comedy but it was also part rom com, part teen movie, part bromance - not a combination I thought would go well but you know what, it worked.

You can't go wrong with plenty of laughs and this had many. Nothing thought provoking here, just comedy in a mashup. So for that; Role Models on the good old L.I.N.I.M.R arbitrary 'out of 10', gets a very respectable...

Score: 7/10

Per the The A.L.I.N.I Movie Review rating scale:
7 = Good movie, would watch again. T'was good!

Movie Review - Fools Rush In (1997)

Film: Fools Rush In (1997)

Those Fools Rushed In so quickly that they ended up stuck in the plot of a romantic comedy... those silly fools!

In this movie, a couple who get together randomly find that their cultural backgrounds collide when they take things further but they are helped to overcome it by the power of a seemingly sentient universe with a master plan convieniently kicking them in the right direction to keep the plot going (a master plan from a divine overseer who happens to like the tired old rom com formula *insert nausia*) and pre-destined 'true love' with some added rain in the desert to top things off.

As far as rom coms go it was pretty good: Some of the acting in the big dramatic scenes wasn't the most convincing but there were a fair few good comedy moments and it used the screen well, fitting in smoothly some big scenes of NYC, The Grand Canyon and Las Vegas with the character close ups and dialogue.

The dialogue wasn't too bad and the main characters were more 3 dimensional than the usual rom com though some of the support characters did seem a little bit void of more than one emotion.

The movie starred Matthew Perry of Friends fame and his character wasn't that far removed from the one he played in friends and he played it very well even if you could be forgiven to think Mr Bing had just changed his name and taken a new job.

To be honest, though it was pretty much just candyfloss, it kept my attention and I did laugh out loud and would go so far as to say that I enjoyed it.

However, that was about it, the only thing it left me pondering was how much spare cash do these characters have to spend on travel and how convienient that, as in so many rom coms, one of the characters is usually pretty well off or from a crazily wealthy family and they manage to fit a helicopter into the plot. Is it just because they always have one on hand to shoot the movie with anyway or do they go out of their way for these things?

It was far from anything special but never the less it was worth the watch on TV on a Saturday without football.

Score: 6/10

Per the The A.L.I.N.I Movie Review rating scale:
6 = Decent, I won't be in a hurry to watch it again but if it's on TV... well worth the price of free!

A Reminder of the Movies

Please don't hate me.

With the 20+ movies I've never seen that I intend to see in 2012 as announced in my 2012 list, I've decided to record what I think of them as I watch them. That means I'm going to *cough* review them.

So welcome to a randomly strung out string of posts scattered between all the other stuff that will be imaginatively called...

A Lifeform In Northern Ireland's Movie Reviews

I hear the groans and I do understand, but don't worry! I sincerely don't aim to fall into the trap of actually knowing what I'm talking about even if I might vaguely seem like I might - I just intend to tell it how I sees it. Literally.

But no review is complete without an arbitrary score and my reviews will be no different. A score out of 10 will be awarded gauged on the following criteria.

The A.L.I.N.I Movie rating scale.

10 - Frickin awesome, classic and a half and probably another half or 10 halves, *ARMS OF YAY*!
9 - Excellent - a real classic - lets hope it's re-realsed at the cinema coz our TV is too tiny. w0Ot!
8 - Very good film, recommended and remind me to buy DeVidDeo if I haven't already.
7 - Good movie, would watch again. T'was good!
6 - Decent, I won't be in a hurry to watch it again but if it's on TV... well worth the price of free!
5 - OK, not that memorable but entertaining never the less. Just Meh.
4 - Could have probably done without watching it - not quite Meh - I suppose that makes it just Eh?
3 - All the good bits were in the trailer,  I mean really, why did we bother?
2 - A great goldfish movie - best if you've a limited memory because it was just bad - and not in a good way.
1 - Time I will never get back - why did they steal a part of my life?
0 - WTF!... WHHHHHHHY!... WHAT DID I DOOOOOOO?!

Since Norngirl and I have already watched 5 movies this year that we had never seen before and it's not even the end of January, I figure this might be a good time to start to record these. And so without further delay, well, except a day or so - you know, to give anyone who wants to the time to read this in order to maintain some sort of structure to this blog given this new low - let there be movie/film/flicks/fil'um (that last one is the local pronunciation) reviewablige!

I hereby give this post 10/10 and some serious cinematic arms of yay because it's all downhill from this point in :-D

First up is - The Rom Com: Fools Rush In (1997), well, it is as soon as I make a picture in paint that truly reflects the ambience of this piece. So turn off your cell phones and re-seal that re-seal-able bag you have no intent to ever re-seal... it'll be on your screen before you can scream "Nooooooooooooooooooooo" give or take 200,000 'o's.

El Presidente's Film Festival - Disney Night

Gathering with friends and family in front of the TV, increasingly dressed up or down to suit the event is quickly becoming something of a tradition. El Presidente's film/TV nights have been flying in and great fun they are too. On Saturday it was Disney night.

Disney night comprised of dressing up in our comfiest pyjamas, brining along a packed lunch and a random soft toy and settling down with that and a bottle of vodka whilst decorating cup cakes, oh yeah, and watching 3 Disney movies.

Here is my soft toy Emma the Lemur (a souvenir from one of my earliest trips to Belfast Zoo), and for one night only, in homage to the Jamaican bobsled team she became Emma the Rasta Lemur.

As you might guess, the first movie was the awesome Cool Runnings.

The second movie was the popular Beauty and the Beast and the third was the bright and breezy The Emperor's New Groove - both good cartoons, can't beat some singing furniture in an enchanted castle - though we did wonder if all the inanimate objects that came to life were supposed to be humans, where did the thousands of items of garden equipment come from? Was the place a secret French military barracks before it was cursed - hence why the locals didn't have a clue it existed?

In between the movies was a little cup cake decorating:

Here was my best attempt, a Chocolate Yin to a Buttercream Yang... I didn't feel too much inner peace from it but when I got around to noming it there was a hint of 'Oh Yeah'.

Buffy Night at the Belfast Film Festival

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a must watch show for a lot of us who are now 20 somethings when we were growing up - the combination of apocalyptic supernatural danger, humour and a rather tasty cast was TV gold. So when the chance came up to indulge in some of the best of Buffy at the Black Box for the 2011 Belfast Film festival, we didn't need convincing to attend.

This was my second Belfast Film Festival event this year and the second at the same venue. The set up for this one was a little different to the first. Inside the Black Box the décor was the same as with the Rocky Horror event but there was a sign above the door which highlighted that we were heading into the Bronze - the hangout/bar of choice for the youth of Sunnydale or in this case the geekier side of Belfast.

The screen was 'dead centre' and the tables were all kitted out with bunny sweets and props for audience participation during the showing of the two Buffy episodes.

The first episode was 'Hush', a creepy episode from season 4 (that annoying series with the stupid Riley character and his pointless army men friends), an episode that was great for it's jumpy moments but most noteable for it's lack of dialog - the baddies take away everyones voices so that people can't scream when they rip out their hearts whilst they're still alive.

The second episode was the feature presentation so to speak. A firm fans favourite - Once More with Feeling aka Buffy the Musical - an episode from season 6.

Events got under way with an introduction to the night from our green faced, red horned host.

As I mentioned, 'Hush' was the first screening and it was even better up on the big screen than I remembered it from the small screen, saying that, the puke worthy beginning was even worse in big. Sloppy snogging noises... ewww. Anyways, the show was over very quickly but it was awesome and I was very much in the Scooby Gang frame of mind once again - like a time machine had taken me back a decade.

Between the showing of the dark, spooky, silent episode of 'Hush' and the contrasting bright, friendly, musical episode of 'Once More With Feeling' there was a Buffy quiz. One thing the episode hadn't done (that I could of done with) was to reset my brain to an earlier point when I would have known a few of the answers to the quiz. Thankfully, I was with two people who were not just relying on details from the shows they remembered from over a decade ago. The joy of DVD boxsets and the interwebs - combined with their inner geek - meant our team ended up in an 11 way tie break at the end of the night... d'oh! The tie break question was 'how many Churches are there in Sunnydale', we didn't win.

We all won though when it came to 'Once More With Feeling' - in a Rocky Horror type sing-a-long and with a list of audience participation events ranging from constantly yelling 'Shut up Dawn' at the screen when Dawn opened her mouth to throwing plastic cutlery at the screen when Buffy was does some training with Giles. The 'Shut up Dawn' had to be the most fun, after all Dawn was a really annoying character. Here is a full list we were provided with:

Letting off party poppers when Willow is successful in 'completing' Tara was a funny moment... especially when there was a premature popping somewhere behind us.

The sing along was fun too - I'm not one for singing myself as I know I can't sing in tune to save my life, but I know all the words to the soundtrack so gave it a bit of a go anyway... helped along by the room full of people also singing along.

We ended the show mimicking the 'Grr Argh' Mutant Enemy productions character (that became the famous ending post end theme tune to the show) with the paper versions provided - much fun!

It was great to see what really is a TV show up on a big screen, both episodes the organisers had picked really suited the cinema like showing. And like all good TV shows... this event has to be a cert for a rerun!

Rocky Horror at the Black Box and a meal in Hooligan

The 2011 Belfast Film Festival is well under way and last Thursday night we attended our first Film Festival event of the year. It came only a couple of days before the first year anniversary of us losing our Rocky Horror virginities when we went to see the stage show in the Grand Opera House twelve months ago. This event however was a screening of the film version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) in the Black Box that was attended by Patricia Quinn (Magenta in the film) who gave an interview on the stage before introducing the movie.

Before we made it to the Black Box to meet our friends for Rocky Horror night, Norngirl and I met up after work for a drink at the Duke of York.

After a nice pint of Guinness we headed on to try a restaurant Norngirl had heard good reviews about and that eatery was Hooligan on Talbot Street in the Cathedral Quarter of town. The décor is the thing that will initially stand out, with all sorts of mix-n-match furnishings.

It's quite a sight and probably worth a trip just to sit on who knows what type of chair to take it all in... even the loo's are peppered (like the roof) in newspaper and eclectic art. Then the food arrived. I'd ordered the Fish Finger sandwich and it was absolutley delicious. The chips were perfect and reminded me of those my dad used to cook me when I was young and when he did it he would peel fresh potatoes, par-boil them, fluff them up with a sieve then use sunflower oil in a chip pan until golden brown. I can only assume something similar was done here too - I could have eaten what was a sizeable portion twice over! To go with these home made chips was a sizeable sandwich of breaded fresh fish, garnished and seasoned. It was all absolutely delicious. The presentation of the food was great, no regular plates here, Norngirl's portion of chips even came in a small metal bucket. For pudding we both had the Spiced Plum and Apple crumble with Egg custard. Again the portion size was great and like the main course it was really tasty. For the quality of food and service, the price was reasonable too and I think I would go so far as to say that it is now my new favourite restaurant in Belfast.

Full and happy from our nice meal we walked the short distance to the Black Box met our friends and queued up to present our tickets. Once inside we headed into the main room where there was a small slightly raised stage, a big screen set up to our right and lots of chairs and tables laid out cabaret style between them and the bar.

We found ourselves a table, settled down and got some drinks in and it wasn't too long before some dude whose voice seemed familiar was interviewing Patricia Quinn. The interview was a bit of fun but not the most informative. There were a few random stories, a story of Deep Purple in Dresden and some mention of a memorial Meatloaf didn't attend. Such is the surreal world of showbiz so it seems.

With a fandom styled introduction of the movie from Patricia Quinn we were into the feature presentation of the night as the film started. Like most of the crowd there - we had seen the movie many times before and so, like the stage show, it was one big sing-a-long with the traditional audience participation of heckling the characters.

It was good fun however unlike when I was up dancing with the rest of them at the Grand Opera House last year, I admit that I was one of the few who didn't get up to do the dance to the Time Warp this time. "Booooo!" I know.

I was bopping along in my seat to the songs I like most though and it was great to see the movie on a big screen rather than just on a small TV screen. That really for me is the best bit about the Belfast Film Festival - it gives you a chance to see films as they were meant to be presented and with the audience, who especially in the case of Rocky Horror, really do add to the experience which would never be the same. The funniest audience participantion of the night for instance had to be the during the line "There's no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure" to which the cry from an audience member was "There is in Northern Ireland" or words to that effect.

I really enjoyed the night and it brought back great memories of last years trip to Rocky Horror and also the film festival events. I can't wait now for the rest of the Film Festival events we've booked to go to - like Janet, "I've tasted blood and I want more" - "more, more, more" :)

Lake Placid on a Boat: Belfast Film Festival event

The sun had set, the blue lights of the Lagan Weir shone brightly and we stepped onto the boat. We headed down below deck into a blue/purple glow, in there were benches lining the walls and 3 rows of bean bags strewn across the floor with a big screen the size of the rooms width at the front. Everyone settled themselves in and got comfy. After a quick briefing about the location of life rafts and life jackets, the engine started, the screen came on, the snacks came out and our floating cinema headed out into our very own Lake Placid - the channel of the River Lagan connecting to Belfast Lough.

Yep, we managed to make it to the 'Big Fish' in time to take in another of the 10th Belfast Film Festival's events. This time, as mentioned in the post about the disappointing Queens Film Theatre Quiz, it was a showing of Lake Placid on a boat, in the dark on Wednesday night. We had high hopes and it didn't disappoint. How could it, we were on a boat! (link warning - explicit lyrics)

We had all met by the river after passing by the few hours after work in our own ways. I had intended to go to see a movie but through either my fault or the websites, the showing/movie didn't exist so I then resorted to having a look around the shops, loitering in Starbucks (which for me, as someone who doesn't like coffee or the smell of it, isn't as fun as everyone else seems to think it is) and then when Norn Girl had headed off to her class, waited for her in the Kitchen Bar by Victoria Square with a pint of Guinness – much better!

The time flew by and it was soon time to make the short walk down past another Boat (of the building variety) which on a side note, from the outside almost seems complete now. It was all lit up with its big square frames surrounding its balconies.

We didn't have time to muse though as we didn't want to be late. So we scurried on and got to the 'Salmon of Knowledge' aka the 'Big Fish' in time to meet our friends and get in the queue. Boarding was quick once it was all ready to go and we made it into position ready to watch Lake Placid. Prior to going I could have sworn I'd seen it before but as it was I didn't remember any of the plot so maybe I was thinking of something else. I thought it was a great choice of film though, just the right amount of comedy and jumpy moments to make the tight but friendly environment of the boat the perfect location.

The Lagan Boat Companies' boat that we were in, chugged by alongside the docks and we passed by the Odyssey, the area the Titanic was launched from and the other cranes and buildings lining the docks in that area. Each was fairly brightly lit and we passed some big container vessels and other such maritime truckers who looked on into our wee boat looking a bit perplexed. Had they never seen a cinema boat before!

The noise from the engine was minimal and the sound from the speakers was great. The lights from the rest of the docks wasn't too bright, though at one time we did get glared a little by some floodlights on one of the container ships but that passed as quickly as it had found us. The screen was a decent size in the main part of the boat with a smaller but still big flat screen TV for those sitting/smoking outside.

All in all was great fun and so much more enjoyable than the quiz. Watching a movie rather than talking about them is looking a cert the way to go in this festival. Though the quiz wasn't my cup of tea, this certainly was and I'll be scouring the events listings next year and booking another cinema on a boat experience if they do it again!

We were kinda hoping that they'd start screening more films and make it a permanent thing - though we did realise there is the big question of how many movies there are that are focused about being in or on a lake, river or ocean? There must be quite a few... any good ones spring to mind?

What the QFT in the BFF!?

The 10th Annual Belfast Film festival is well underway and on Sunday night a group of 6 of us went along to have a laugh and take part in the Queens Film Theatre (QFT) Film Quiz. It took place in the foyer of the QFT and we were one of the first teams there.

We got some drinks in and sat chatting and laughing about recent events and were having a good time chatting and writting random thoughts on pieces of paper that then got hung on a big wall. It wasn't long before the room had filled and every seat around every table was taken. The whole thing was building up to be something quite good.

The quiz begun with an entusiastic host, it was quite professionally done and there was even a giant screen used to play some clips of movies and picture rounds. It certainly looked the part.
The majority of people in the room looked to be students and older, it didn't attract a very diverse crowd but it seemed an enthusiastic one. Everything was in place.

And then the questions started....

What a load of pretentious over-specific, fun-ruining waffle.

You expect some tricky questions, after all its the 'Artsy' home of film in Belfast. But for the love of whatever you believe in! It left 3/4 of the room looking at the 1/4 who only had a slight inkling with a perplexed glaze.
The opening statement was that they expected no one to get 2/3's of the 90 questions right. One team scraped the 60 and they were the ones who won and no one came close to them. The rest of us who didn't look to have a degree in motion picture studies or cinematography media or some such, it was a rarity to find something to be able even to guess on, though we gave it our best try anyway.

I don't think they got the point with a quiz that its easy to ask questions people are very unlikely to know the answer to - about any subject! Surely the idea with a quiz is to facilitate people having a good time, providing questions people will search their brain for and have to pick between 4 answers only to find you picked the wrong one and it was your gut feeling that was right after all. That is the fun of a quiz for me. The questions of the event we attended more closely resembled an exam in subjects no one could be expected to revise in.

The most fun round for me was probably the 'guess the bad review round'. In that round the most recent question was about a movie only a mild 24 years old. Another good round was the movie clip round as at least you got to watch a movie and though some were obscure, they were all at least from the last decade.
As for the worst round and the one saved for last... anyone an expert in Sweedish cinema?

You might think this is a bit harsh, that we should have expected to be paying to play a quiz that was aimed towards a neiche of cinema goers when its a film festival and an event at the QFT. That a lot of the questions would be obscure. Well that probably would be the case if it wasn't for the advert on the Belfast Film Festival website that was slightly misleading before we went - especially as they advertised:

"Rounds will include our psychic cinema props round ‘Can You Read My Mind?’ and the Cryptic pajama photo round ‘Lady in Bed’, where you have to identify the actresses under the covers."

Neither of these fun sounding rounds (that at least we could have guessed at) materialised on the night. Instead we had 'name the obscure pre 1980's of a director in a photo' and 'Can you read my mind without any props because that's the only way anyone in the room will get the answer' rounds.

Thankfully as always, the company we were keeping made it a fun night never the less. We may have seen more blank looks on each others' faces and doodled many times more than your average quiz but as always I guess it was an experience. Even if that experience highlighted to us that either us or the quiz people were slightly out of touch to what a fun quiz is all about. In the end our team got 30 points, like us, most of the teams were challenging for last prize from the first question. In fairness to the quiz, last place was awarded a nice prize, that was a nice touch.

Still I think I'll give it a miss next year, once was enough for me. I prefer coming last at the Crusaders Social Club's quiz on a Thursday night, where failing to answer those questions are also part of the fun :)

Next up for our film festival experience: Lake Placid... on a boat, in the dark!

Film, Film, Pow!

Whether it was the film crews on the streets, going to the cinema or noticing how our very own Northern Irish transformer is being built, last week threw a bit a film theme my way.

It’s an odd one really; I spent most of the week very tired and heading to work on auto pilot. Admittedly it was largely due to the week before and the residue from a bad cold and not sleeping properly. I probably didn’t help myself by not going to sleep as early as I probably should have given the circumstances. In my defence though, when I get home and just want to have a bit of a night, the couple of hours after getting home, cooking and doing anything that needs done, just don’t cut it. I’m slower than the average bear and like Yogi that includes my leisure time, once I get started watching a TV show or surfing the net that’s me there for a couple of hours at least. So usually bed time ends up going on midnight, if not later – student habits of old die hard it seems! However after being a bit run down, this lifestyle unfortunately resulted in me becoming a part time narcoleptic upon finally returning home from work on Friday.

So tied and a bit dazed it was odd to be heading to work one morning and to see a mass of large powerful lights surrounding a pub called the Garrick bar on Chichester Street. The place looked like a crime scene from the outside but the trucks and vans parked along the street gave away that they were defiantly home to a film crew and their gear.

Later the same day, heading home this time, I ended up walking down the back of the City Hall. Oddly I stumbled across a Big Red London bus, a red phone box that hadn’t been there the day before and a random tent with anti war slogans on it. Not far from these items was a group of about 30 people and some sort of makeshift set up for outdoor catering. Next to all this a sign saying “Caution Filming in Progress”.

I’m really not sure what they were filming for, but they weren’t isolated events that day as a colleague at work also told me they had seen a film crew at another location in town. It seemed from the London theme that they using the back of the city hall to re-create a London street scene. The Labour advertisement on the Bus combined with the ‘protest tent’ seemed to indicate something political but whether it be a drama or a party political broadcast or even a comedy, that’s for them to know and us to find out! I can’t find anything about the filming elsewhere but maybe before long all will become clear with an appearance of this scene on TV... do let me know if you see it!

To top it off, as I headed down the street a little further, I look down to see a bright tag kicking around on the floor and what do I find just laying there but yet another cinematic link...

Could it be Ben Stiller was in town or as the lable hints, in a wearhouse near by? It's a mystery!

After all the showbiz and in an attempt to relax we decided to have a bit of a date night. Norn Girl and I really do enjoy our random, though usually meal then cinema based, date nights - when we can afford it or aren’t too tired or lazy to head out of the house. We decided that day to head to see a movie that was new out as most others that are out we’ve either seen already or one of us didn't really want to see. We both knew very little about the movie and I hadn’t even seen a trailer for it. I’m starting to find that this is the best way to see movies as you aren’t so disappointed having already seen what are usually all the best bits in the trailer already.

The movie we picked to see was ‘The Hangover’ and I have to say I thought it was really rather good! In the magical world of cinema I don’t mind too much what I’m watching but I do prefer movies that can take me somewhere new and that keep me glued to the screen. For a comedy based around a stag do, it broke the preconceptions I would have had having now seen the trailer. Loads of laughs and a plot that keeps us intrigued by the characters being as unaware as we are as to what happened. An intriguing mystery that puts my earlier one to shame is laid out in front of us, leading from one comedy moment to the next. To top it off it’s not only funny but uses the screen well unlike some comedies (I’m thinking of several romantic comedies I’ve had to watch in recent times) that might as well have been made for TV. Sure it’s a little rude and maybe not one to watch with the kids but if you want comedy that has the potential to make you lol-a-lot and that even managed to include end credits worked in to be a meaningful part of the plot, then it’s a movie worth a watch.

Its reinvigorated a taste for the cinema (if it ever went away) so all being well we’ll be seeing a few more movies in the near future. One movie we aren’t likely to head to is the new transformers one. Although I do love Sci-Fi and I even loved to play with the plastic toys when I was younger, those movies based on cartoons and comic books really never seem to be that good. Having now sat through the trailer a couple of times, it just looks boring and unlikely to be much more than a comic book guys drool fest with special effects as the plot. I probably shouldn’t be too quick to judge but I’m tempted to see something on a whim from now on than something advertised to death before hand.

The biggest piece of advertising I’ve seen so far is the transformer that’s taken up residence in the disguise of the new Obel building. It’s a handy disguise but we can see through it, it seems friendly enough so it’s probably an Autobot and we should be safe but sure we’ll have to see how pretty it is before we know whether we should try convincing it to head back to Cybertron.


Update 06/09/2009

The filming that was going on around Belfast back in June this year has been revealed in the October 09, City Matters (Belfast City Council Residents magazine) to be, "an upcoming Channel 4 drama 'Mo', in which she (Julie Walters) plays the role of the late Mo Mowlam, former Northern Ireland Secetary of State". Another mystery solved! According to the article it'll be on TV sometime next year :)