Never Let Me Go

One of the good things about currently being located in New Orleans - besides the fact the weather is glorious (temperature is in the high 20s-mid 30s every day), the people are amazing, the food is delicious, I've finally begun to understand the rules of American Football and am happily following the mid-term election coverage - is that two films I have been eagerly awaiting and would not have otherwise had access to until post-January in the UK are already out here. The first of which, is Never Let Me Go.

You may remember me harping on about how excited I was for its release some time ago when it was announced as the opening night film for London Film Festival. I waited and waited for my invite to the Gala to arrive, and you know what? Apparently having worked for an independent film PR boutique agency for a couple of months by the time the festival rolls around doesn't qualify you to get an invite to rub shoulders with the industry's finest. I was surprised too. So instead I seethed with jealousy as members of the inner sanctum tweeted about their evenings and Film 2010 cut live to a very drunk threesome of Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, all giggling as much as I would be if even found in the same room as them. I shall now put in 12 months' solid work into tracking down Sandra Hebron, making her my best friend, in order that I might be invited next year. In fact fuck it, by next year I'll be presenting Film 2011. You can count on it.



But back to the film. Yesterday afternoon, while the poor people who are housing me (my family) were all at work, and the weather was lingering somewhere between "I'm going to kill you with heat" and "I'm about to storm all over the place" I dipped into a very nice cinema just on the fringes of the French Quarter to benefit from the Air-Con and Andrew Garfield's face. The film is certainly not for those seeking an action-filled, laughter inducing couple of hours. If you're looking for heart-wrenching performances from two of Britain's finest talents (Carey Mulligan and Andrew "the future" Garfield) and one Britain's sort of OK acting talents (Keira) however, then Never Let Me Go is more than just the ticket. All the more, you will never see as brilliant casting as you will when you compare the difference between the actors who excellently play Kathy, Ruth and Tommy whilst still at Hailsham, and Carey, Keira and Andrew respectively.



Hopefully that will give you some idea. In all honesty I didn't love the film as much as I entered the cinema hoping to. Andrew is simply perfect, it has to be said, and there is some very moving material to be found, but something was missing. Oh wait that's it - Keira's personality. Though she does make some very convincing cat-being-drowned noises during her "love" scenes with Garfield. Geddit? Cause Garfield is a cat? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Great. To be fair to her, Ruth's character is not one the audience is supposed to have warm feelings towards, and it must be very difficult to be on screen with Carey who is essentially everything that Keira has always wanted to be. Soz KK.

A special mention should also go to Charlotte Rampling who once again manages to play Charlotte Rampling in dazzling form. Bravo.

I guess I'd give this 3.5/5 but it is certainly worth seeing for Andrew alone.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

The Social Network is the penultimate film of 2010 which I was actually desperately eager to see. Yes there have been other good releases recently (to be talked about in an upcoming post) and I'm sure there will be others post-HP 7 Part 1, but none which will have me impatiently counting down the days until they are unleashed upon me. Until January that is.

Remember how much I gushed about Inception? I'm sorry Nolan, but Fincher has just trumped you in "the setting the standard for filmmaking" award of the year. Where Inception is visually amazing, The Social Network manages to enthral, shock and tickle without a single action sequence (unless you count the zip-wire from the chimney lol-athon), plot-twist or visual effect exhibition. In truth, that's not quite fair - the seamless creation of the Winklewoss twins is the best faking of twins since Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap. And I'm not even sure if that was even any good - I haven't watched that particular treat in many a year, now - but I do know that once you find out the Winklevii (as dubbed by Eissenberg's Zuckerberg in t'film) are played by two unrelated actors thanks to the help of some clever digitalising of one of the twin's faces - you will nearly spend the entire film just looking out for that. And you won't be able to tell. I promise.

The real star of the film, as everyone will tell you, is Andrew Garfield. His performance is impeccable and honestly, if he continues to be as faultless as he has proven thus far, the film industry may well get a little bit boring when every other actor retires in a slump of depression at the thought of never being as talented as this fine specimen is. But even then, as the virtuoso of diversity, he'll do a pretty bang-up job of replacing literally everybody.

Has anybody else noticed my fondness for bold statements?

I shall leave you with the best trailer of the year along with the promise that if Andrew Garfield does not get given an Oscar very soon I will do something decidedly stupid - the terms of which you can decide for yourself.

R.I.P

I am more than just a fan of Tarantino. I pretty much worship that shark-faced guy. I will defend everything he's ever had even the smallest involvement with until the day I die. You don't like his segment in Four Rooms? Don't care. Not a fan of Death Proof? Not interested. Everything he's ever breathed on (which I suppose includes my older half-sister who drunkenly chatted him up and was eventually stood up by him for a date...yes I casually just threw down that anecdote) is perfection to me. But the films he's created (excluding True Romance etc.) would not be known for their stylised finesse if it wasn't for a true genius in the form of Sally Menke. Everything you've ever admired about a Tarantino film, bar the soundtracks and scripts and Oscar winning performances, was down to Menke. QT, like many of the greatest directors, is well known for his repeated collaborations with members of the film industry; but it is to his collaboration with Sally his films owe the most.

I really don't know what it's going to be like to watch any of Tarantino's future projects without her editing expertise. Not only should we mourn the loss of an industry queen, but also, potentially, the death of Tarantino films. I'm really not ready to let go of my obsession, so here's hoping he can prove me wrong.