It seems quite a while since I last blogged, so this is gonna be packed full of bumpf to keep you procrastinating for several minutes. At least that's the plan.
Everything at the academy has been going well, though since we've had so many screenings, tests and days off, it seems like there hasn't been much class work going on, then again it has been a pretty hectic week. To think we hadn't even begun to film Message In A Bottle this time last week. Crazy. On top of that I helped out with Phil's Galic (the spelling is no doubt wrong there) film, very odd not understanding what actors are saying, thankfully important words like action and cut were in English.
On Thursday we had Richard Attenborough visit the academy, which was the best Q&A session I've attended ever, there have been very few people that have held my attention for that long. It's just a shame he wasn't allowed to speak much longer, but maybe if silly men weren't trying to pitch films to him then there may have been more time for interesting stuff. I found out, through the usual channels, that I have some form of connection to Richard Attenborough, both of us have younger brothers in the motor trade. Ok it's not really a connection but I find it a little interesting. I doubt there are many people who at 85 can tell stories as well as Lord Attenborough, he had me gripped the entire time, every background noise seemed like a crime being committed. The story of loosing his daughter and granddaughter in the tsunami quite heart-breaking and while Andy had told us this the day before, Richard's telling of the story moved me almost to tears, not a manly thing I know.
Some young whippersnapper called James McAvoy was also in the building yesterday and is again today. On Thursday, he walked past us several times, head down, no doubt avoiding any more swooning girls. Before we headed in to the Q&A session with Lord Attenborough, I heard a group of actors (could they maybe be called a 'flock' of actors?) asking each other who would you rather listen to James or Richard and while I thought the choice was obvious, they chose James, simply since he was 'cooler'. Ah, the depth of an actor's brain...
The session with James McAvoy was quite insightful, giving a little bit of depth to how actors and crews have to work together and Mr McAvoy gave some good insight into how things work on a film set and how actors sometimes have little input in the process. The whole thing turned out a lot better than I imagined, with James listening intently to what everyone had to say and every now and again, it was possible to see him as a regular RSAMD student and not just a rising star. Next time though, he should maybe pull up his jeans before he sits down on the floor...
Anyway, here we go:
“When I'm thirty-three, I'll quit. I don't want to be a rock star all my life. I don't want to end up as an Elvis Presley and sing in Las Vegas with all those housewives and old ladies coming in with their handbags – it's really sick.”
Mick Jagger, speaking in 1972, aged 29
Everything at the academy has been going well, though since we've had so many screenings, tests and days off, it seems like there hasn't been much class work going on, then again it has been a pretty hectic week. To think we hadn't even begun to film Message In A Bottle this time last week. Crazy. On top of that I helped out with Phil's Galic (the spelling is no doubt wrong there) film, very odd not understanding what actors are saying, thankfully important words like action and cut were in English.
On Thursday we had Richard Attenborough visit the academy, which was the best Q&A session I've attended ever, there have been very few people that have held my attention for that long. It's just a shame he wasn't allowed to speak much longer, but maybe if silly men weren't trying to pitch films to him then there may have been more time for interesting stuff. I found out, through the usual channels, that I have some form of connection to Richard Attenborough, both of us have younger brothers in the motor trade. Ok it's not really a connection but I find it a little interesting. I doubt there are many people who at 85 can tell stories as well as Lord Attenborough, he had me gripped the entire time, every background noise seemed like a crime being committed. The story of loosing his daughter and granddaughter in the tsunami quite heart-breaking and while Andy had told us this the day before, Richard's telling of the story moved me almost to tears, not a manly thing I know.Some young whippersnapper called James McAvoy was also in the building yesterday and is again today. On Thursday, he walked past us several times, head down, no doubt avoiding any more swooning girls. Before we headed in to the Q&A session with Lord Attenborough, I heard a group of actors (could they maybe be called a 'flock' of actors?) asking each other who would you rather listen to James or Richard and while I thought the choice was obvious, they chose James, simply since he was 'cooler'. Ah, the depth of an actor's brain...
The session with James McAvoy was quite insightful, giving a little bit of depth to how actors and crews have to work together and Mr McAvoy gave some good insight into how things work on a film set and how actors sometimes have little input in the process. The whole thing turned out a lot better than I imagined, with James listening intently to what everyone had to say and every now and again, it was possible to see him as a regular RSAMD student and not just a rising star. Next time though, he should maybe pull up his jeans before he sits down on the floor...
Anyway, here we go:
TV
Lost (SEASON 4 SPOILERS) - Well, as many know, Lost is without doubt my favourite show on television and possibly ever, and once I finished Lost Season 4 the other day,
I realised I was definetly a devout fan of the show, anything it throws at me i'll buy. The disappearing of the island is a stroke of genius and now, things are definetly falling into place, I can almost see the conclusion, waving at me down near the horizon. 34 episodes left and 18 months until the finale, if you were ever interested in Lost, i'd suggest you get into it now before you wonder why you didn't. The imagination from the writers and producers is in my experience unheard of, even in feature film and while the show does have it's flaws, it is easily the most original science-fiction based show in the U.S. and that's the thing, who ever heard of a sci-fi show appealing to the masses worldwide? No doubt there are several (barring Dr Who, there must be a reason why that's such a long running show), though as of yet I've not seen them.
The fact now that the Oceanic Six have to return to the island, along with "Jeremy Bentham" kinda tells us where Season Five is going but it has been announced the format will change slightly. There will now be few flashbacks or forwards and mostly episodes will consist of on-island and off-island happenings, though it's guaranteed we'll find out Rosseau's background as well as Libby's. Roll on January!
Heroes (NO SPOILERS)- Heroes, oh how I did love thee, back in the day when there was a definite villan, storylines could be followed and Hayden Panettiere hadn't yet realised how universally attractive she is. Now though, Heroes, you are filled with dull second rate comic book storylines, 
pointless characters and some of the worst uses of time travel and time-shifting I've ever known. Do I really need to be told thirteen times in an episode, via text at the bottom of the screen that an episode is set one year ago? How much faith does one have in ones audience?...
So, yes, Heroes is going down hill, and fast and if it doesn't pick up, it's possible we may not see another year, though I'm unsure of what contracts are held. The show has dropped to around 7 million viewers in the U.S., which is very poor considering that in season 1, the show was getting up to 16 million viewers. I will watch the show, but only because i'm a completist and generally, unless it's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sort of bad, I feel I have to see something through to the end. I also found this week, that the show is infact aimless, you thought the Lost writers didn't know what they were doing, read the link below. However, the most promising thing in weeks came at the end of this weeks BBC3 episode entitled "It's Coming", I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it but the last minute of the show made me wake up and take notice again, could we see a return to form? The BBC should be credited with one good thing though, if you watch it on BBC3, we're only 2 days behind the American's, most impressive.
pointless characters and some of the worst uses of time travel and time-shifting I've ever known. Do I really need to be told thirteen times in an episode, via text at the bottom of the screen that an episode is set one year ago? How much faith does one have in ones audience?...So, yes, Heroes is going down hill, and fast and if it doesn't pick up, it's possible we may not see another year, though I'm unsure of what contracts are held. The show has dropped to around 7 million viewers in the U.S., which is very poor considering that in season 1, the show was getting up to 16 million viewers. I will watch the show, but only because i'm a completist and generally, unless it's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sort of bad, I feel I have to see something through to the end. I also found this week, that the show is infact aimless, you thought the Lost writers didn't know what they were doing, read the link below. However, the most promising thing in weeks came at the end of this weeks BBC3 episode entitled "It's Coming", I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it but the last minute of the show made me wake up and take notice again, could we see a return to form? The BBC should be credited with one good thing though, if you watch it on BBC3, we're only 2 days behind the American's, most impressive.
Lost (SEASON 4 SPOILERS) - Well, as many know, Lost is without doubt my favourite show on television and possibly ever, and once I finished Lost Season 4 the other day,
I realised I was definetly a devout fan of the show, anything it throws at me i'll buy. The disappearing of the island is a stroke of genius and now, things are definetly falling into place, I can almost see the conclusion, waving at me down near the horizon. 34 episodes left and 18 months until the finale, if you were ever interested in Lost, i'd suggest you get into it now before you wonder why you didn't. The imagination from the writers and producers is in my experience unheard of, even in feature film and while the show does have it's flaws, it is easily the most original science-fiction based show in the U.S. and that's the thing, who ever heard of a sci-fi show appealing to the masses worldwide? No doubt there are several (barring Dr Who, there must be a reason why that's such a long running show), though as of yet I've not seen them.The fact now that the Oceanic Six have to return to the island, along with "Jeremy Bentham" kinda tells us where Season Five is going but it has been announced the format will change slightly. There will now be few flashbacks or forwards and mostly episodes will consist of on-island and off-island happenings, though it's guaranteed we'll find out Rosseau's background as well as Libby's. Roll on January!
FILM
For Your Consideration - To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of This Is Spinal Tap, it was ok, but when I saw it, most of the humour just whizzed right past my head. This on the other hand, had me laughing or at least smirking for most of the film. From the film within a film, to the main actress tarting herself up for when she THINKS she's going to get the award, the film is pure satire and gives some of us an insight into how anyone can create oscar buzz. At the end of the day, it's still only an award. The film reminded me a little too much of Ricky Gervais' Extras, though Extras was that bit funnier, if only for the hilarious celebrity being silly parts.
Zack And Miri Make A Porno - I once had a conversation with someone, who said that all bad films have their premise or setting in the title. This could be true of many boring modern horror movies but not of Zack And Miri. I haven't actually seen a funnier film this year, unless you count Diary Of The Dead but that film was just so bad the only thing you could do was laugh. You know the setup and I bet you could take a good stab at the payoff and if you don't get the payoff by halfway through (like Charlotte) then you haven't seen enough of these kinds of movies. The film is a little gross out in the way American Pie was when it was released, unless you find any form of sex on screen disgusting and then it will be more so, but the subject is played by some over the top characters in ridiculously ludicrous situations that if you don't come out of this laughing yourself silly at the "dutch rudder" gag, then you are far too prude for the 21st century. A special mention must also go to Brandon 'Superman' Routh and Justin 'Dodgeball' Long for being the highlight of the every frame they are in.
The film has it's flaws, the no doubt soon to be infamous poo gag didn't have me laughing since I knew it was coming and parts of the film tryed so hard to disgust me that it just didn't work. Though Seth Rogen has at last been headlining a film that I've loved him in, since I hated both Pineapple Express and Knocked Up yet loved him in the 'B' story of Superbad. Rogen always feels like someone you know, no matter what character he plays, it sounds odd but I almost feel I have some personal connection to him, maybe that's why I want to see all of his films. Elizabeth Banks is particularly good also, though not as funny as she was in The 40 Year Old Virgin, as Miri she plays the straight guy to Rogen's comic and it all works well. A film you should definitly want to check out since there are far too many serious films out at the moment.Also, stay to the end credits for a little more hilarity with Routh and Long.
For Your Consideration - 6/10
Zack And Miri Make A Porno - I once had a conversation with someone, who said that all bad films have their premise or setting in the title. This could be true of many boring modern horror movies but not of Zack And Miri. I haven't actually seen a funnier film this year, unless you count Diary Of The Dead but that film was just so bad the only thing you could do was laugh. You know the setup and I bet you could take a good stab at the payoff and if you don't get the payoff by halfway through (like Charlotte) then you haven't seen enough of these kinds of movies. The film is a little gross out in the way American Pie was when it was released, unless you find any form of sex on screen disgusting and then it will be more so, but the subject is played by some over the top characters in ridiculously ludicrous situations that if you don't come out of this laughing yourself silly at the "dutch rudder" gag, then you are far too prude for the 21st century. A special mention must also go to Brandon 'Superman' Routh and Justin 'Dodgeball' Long for being the highlight of the every frame they are in.
The film has it's flaws, the no doubt soon to be infamous poo gag didn't have me laughing since I knew it was coming and parts of the film tryed so hard to disgust me that it just didn't work. Though Seth Rogen has at last been headlining a film that I've loved him in, since I hated both Pineapple Express and Knocked Up yet loved him in the 'B' story of Superbad. Rogen always feels like someone you know, no matter what character he plays, it sounds odd but I almost feel I have some personal connection to him, maybe that's why I want to see all of his films. Elizabeth Banks is particularly good also, though not as funny as she was in The 40 Year Old Virgin, as Miri she plays the straight guy to Rogen's comic and it all works well. A film you should definitly want to check out since there are far too many serious films out at the moment.Also, stay to the end credits for a little more hilarity with Routh and Long.
Zack and Miri Make A Porno - 7/10
Cry Freedom - Steve Biko was not a man I was familiar with 
before viewing this film, but not only was I educated in who Steve Biko was, I was also entertained by the story of Kevin Kline's character or rather, not entertained, more enthralled. The first half of the film, the Denzel Washington half, was the weakest part of the film and it ultimately felt that this was a set up for the second half. Though just because it was weak, doesn't mean it was bad, infact, Cry Freedom was an amazingly put together piece of work and while Lord Attenborough may not be the flashiest director, he is a great storyteller, both on film and in person as we found out yesterday. The Soweto riots at the end of the film reminded me of another Apartheid based movie, Stander starring Thomas Jane, though that film is quite a different breed, more an action/heist movie, still, worth checking out if you want to know things from the officers perspective of Apartheid. It's just a shame that I may never have seen Cry Freedom or Chaplin had Lord Attenborough not be coming to the Academy. It's a great film that needs no more written about it. Though after viewing both Chaplin and Cry Freedom, I'm now quite interested in seeing some of Attenborough's other directing works.
More Soon!
before viewing this film, but not only was I educated in who Steve Biko was, I was also entertained by the story of Kevin Kline's character or rather, not entertained, more enthralled. The first half of the film, the Denzel Washington half, was the weakest part of the film and it ultimately felt that this was a set up for the second half. Though just because it was weak, doesn't mean it was bad, infact, Cry Freedom was an amazingly put together piece of work and while Lord Attenborough may not be the flashiest director, he is a great storyteller, both on film and in person as we found out yesterday. The Soweto riots at the end of the film reminded me of another Apartheid based movie, Stander starring Thomas Jane, though that film is quite a different breed, more an action/heist movie, still, worth checking out if you want to know things from the officers perspective of Apartheid. It's just a shame that I may never have seen Cry Freedom or Chaplin had Lord Attenborough not be coming to the Academy. It's a great film that needs no more written about it. Though after viewing both Chaplin and Cry Freedom, I'm now quite interested in seeing some of Attenborough's other directing works.Cry Freedom - 8/10
More Soon!
“When I'm thirty-three, I'll quit. I don't want to be a rock star all my life. I don't want to end up as an Elvis Presley and sing in Las Vegas with all those housewives and old ladies coming in with their handbags – it's really sick.”
Mick Jagger, speaking in 1972, aged 29
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