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Live John Garden (Scissor Sisters) soundtrack to silent movie in Exeter

D&CFilm — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:13:50 +0000

The Lost World: cthe silent classic will be treated to a live score from Scissor Sisters John Garden

Scissor Sisters’ musical director and keyboard player John (JJ) Garden has composed a new semi-improvised score for the innovative stop-motion dinosaur picture of 1925, The Lost World at the Exeter Phoenix.

The film, a re-telling of Conan Doyle’s classic, features pioneering stop-motion techniques from Willis O’ Brien just prior to his work on King Kong. Exeter Phoenix is screening this classic with live JJ’s live accompaniment.

Of the new score John says: “The sound of the score references classic sci-fi movies of the 70s and 80s, yet still retains the flexibility of the 1920s accompanist who would improvise their score to the picture.

“I will be improvising the score like in the old days, but using modern technology to achieve a sound that echoes my boyhood memories of seeing this classic silent movie. I probably didn’t differentiate between a silent movie from 1925 and something contemporary like Star Wars or Bladerunner back then, so in my head I am re-imagining the score as if the film was released sometime between 1975 and 1980, with an appropriately synth-heavy sound to it.

“I hope that it enhances the movie and reminds people what a great achievement it was for cinema and the future of sci-fi and fantasy movies in particular”

The screening will be introduced by Aardman Animation’s director Peter Lord.

This is your second chance to catch John perform in the region – he was at the Dartington Barn in June. The event has been organised by Bristol Silent.

• John Garden’s new score for The Lost World, takes place at the Exeter Phoenix on Thursday, October 13 at 7.30pm. Tickets: £7 (£5 concession)

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Kes at the Barn Cinema, Dartington. Part of Interrogate! social just festival

D&CFilm — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:07:01 +0000

Kes: Ken Loach’s classic movie has been releases

Barry Hines’ story has shaped generations both in book form – Barry Hines’ A Kestral For a Knave – and as Ken Loach’s film, Kes. Now on a re-release 42 years after first coming onto the screen, the movie – which is in the British Film Insitute’s top ten films to see before the age of 14 – seems even more poignant.

Kes is being shown at the Barn Theatre, Dartington as part of the Interrogate! social just festival. The poster for the film (not the one where he’s flicking the Vs up – which doesn’t actually happen in the film) says: “They beat him. They deprived him. They ridiculed him. They broke his heart, but they couldn’t break his spirit.”

Not without its moments of touching vulnerability or genuine comedy, the movie, one of the great British films, is worth watching or a re-look if it’s a few years since you’ve seen it.

Kes is part of Interrogate! at Dartington

Here’s the trailer

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Interrogate! film at Dartington Barn: A Better Life

D&CFilm — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:19:45 +0000

A Better Life: surviving on the borderline in LA explored

What to look for in a film that features in the Interrogate! social justice conference? A movie set in LA which focuses the Hispanic community and echoes the Neo-realist classic The Bicycle Thieves, perhaps? Well that’s just what they’ve got in the form of A Better World.

Directed by Chris Weiz, who negotiated swooning Vampires and Werewolves in Twilight: New Moon, in A Better Life the essential vehicle that gets nabbed is transformed from a bike to a pickup truck (used for gardening work), and the boy in now a surly teenager.

Philip French in the Observer called it ‘small, convincing, tightly constructed’, which avoids sentimentality in favour of the thorny story.

Catch A Better Life at the Interrogate! Festival at Dartington’s Barn Cinema.

Here’s the trailer:

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Interrogate! at Dartington film: In A Better World

D&CFilm — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:45:34 +0000

In A Better World: the Danish Oscar winner is at Dartington’s Barn Cinema

Interrogate! the UK’s first social justice festival is at taking place Dartington, Devon. And in the venue’s Barn Cinema they’ll be running a number of social justify type movies

In A Better World, the Oscar Winner for Best Foreign Movie in 2011, is a Danish film which tackles violence, bully and pacifism in the face of a classroom tormentor and a xenophobic psychopath.

The film is renowned for its strong themes and powerful performances.

Catch it at the Dartington Barn, part of the Interrogate! Festival

Check out the trailer:

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Comedy and oppression: The Prison Where I Live screened in Totnes for TTT film night

D&CFilm — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:26:32 +0000

This Prison Where I Live: Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar, but is victimised by the Burmese military junta

The documentary about comedy and oppression, This Prison Where I Live, is being screened by Transition Town Totnes at its TTT film night.

The movie is a feature-length documentary about two comedians. Maung Thura, better known as Zarganar, is Burma’s greatest living comic. Relentlessly victimised by the Burmese military junta, he is now in prison. Michael Mittermeier, in stark contrast, is free to practise his art of humour and provocation as one of Germany’s leading stand up comedians.

The film night is put on with Amnesty International

Transition Town Totnes film night takes place pstairs at The Dartmouth Inn.

The screening takes place on Tuesday, June 14. Doors open at 7.30pm. Film starts at 8pm. Finish by 10.30pm. Entry £4 / 3 TTT Film Club.

There is more info about joining TTT Film Club at the film night. Or for enquires, email Jacqi Hodgson on edap.totnes@transitionnetwork.org

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The City of God of surf movies? Rio Breaks does the rounds of the South West

Tom Leins — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:00:12 +0000

Tom Leins trades bullets for boards as he checks out new documentary Rio Breaks, which is playing in cinemas across the West Country this month.

Rio Breaks: teenage best friends Naama and Fabio are looking to break away from the slums where they were born

As film fans know from watching violent thrillers such as City of God, life in the slums of Rio De Janeiro can be tough, with few viable distractions to keep youngsters on the straight and narrow. Surprisingly, just a stone’s throw away from the notorious Favela do Pavao – an enormous slum dominated by the violent Commando Vermelho drug gang – is Arpoador Beach, the unlikely training ground for a generation of top surfers.

Directed by former music video director Justin Mitchell, (whose CV includes collaborations with Death Cab For Cutie and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists) Rio Breaks follows the fortunes of teenage best friends Naama and Fabio, who harbour dreams of becoming local legends, and carving themselves new lives away from the self-destructive life trajectory offered by the slums where they were born and raised. Under the tutelage of the good-natured Rogerio – who runs the Favela Surf Club in a bid to help local youngsters avoid the pitfalls of life in the slums – Fabio and Naama immerse themselves in the local surf scene, but their potential escape route is far from clear-cut.

The juxtaposition between exotic, sun-bleached beaches and labyrinthine slums is well-rendered throughout, but the hazy pace of the film sometimes threatens to derail its minimalist narrative curve. However, director Mitchell manages to pull the movie back on track as it reaches its finale, delivering an impressively ambiguous conclusion that hints at how easy it is to lapse from carefree surf dude to aimless hoodlum. With a phenomenal soundtrack courtesy of Mr Bongo Records, the prime purveyors of Latin American grooves, Rio Breaks is a vibrant, colourful proposition, and whilst it isn’t perfect, it’s an unusually bittersweet documentary that demonstrates a viable alternative to the bullet-strewn childhoods exhibited in the likes of City of God. Fascinating stuff.

Rio Breaks is at selected cinemas now. Screenings include:

3-9 June – Lighthouse Cinema, Newquay
3-9 June – Apollo Cinemas, Torbay
6-9 June – Cineworld, Isle Of Wight
6-9 June – Cineworld, Jersey
14 June – Lighthouse, Poole + Q&A
17 June – Reel Cinema, Kingsbridge
16 June – Picturehouse, Exeter + Q&A
24-25 June – Savoy Cinema, Penzance
26 June – Glastonbury Festival, UK
26-27 June – Phoenix Cinema, Falmouth
28 June – Regal Cinema, Redruth
28-29 June – Royal Cinema, St Ives

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Film Night at the Tavistock Wharf as part of the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival

D&CFilm — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:10:40 +0000

Tavistock Film Night:an evening of diverse short film by Devon filmmakers at the Tavistock Wharf

There an evening of exciting and diverse short films by Devon filmmakers at the Tavistock Wharf as part of the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival on Tuesday, April 26 at 7.3pm.

All the shorts are by Devon filmmakers, many of them award-winning Phoenix Bursary films – including Mrs Lustleigh’s Fancies, A Very British Circus, as well as Man Cub, Hairy Hands, Making The Difference, Crumpled Up Guy and many more!

The event is being organised by Tanya Morel of Oddbodies, who are renowned for their imaginative, personal and oddly eerie films (catch their Mrs Lustleigh’s Fancies at the Film Night at the Wharf).

Tickets cost £5, for more details visit the Tavistock Wharf site or call the box office on 01822 611166.

• Oddbodies are on the look out for four actresses for their next feature.

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Watch Desire at the Exeter Phoenix

D&CFilm — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:42:01 +0000

Desire: the link between sex and creativity is explored in the movie Desire

Desire explores the link between sex and creativity through the story of a screenwriter struggling with a character who threatens to take over not just his creative and sexual life but his sanity.

Writer Ralph sits alone at the top of his London house, crippled by agoraphobia, emasculated by the success of his soap-star wife Phoebe, unable to complete the screenplay that will rescue his reputation.

With a deadline looming, he invites student au pair Néné from Paris to look after his neglected children, just the missing character he needs. But is she carer, muse, lover or thief?

As Ralph succumbs to his desire, Néné embarks on a passionate relationship with both husband and wife that leads all three into areas of emotional and creative trangression. Who is using whom? Who is writing the film called Desire? And where will it end?

A sexually charged psychodrama starring Oscar Pearce and Tella Kpomahou.

Here’s the trailer

• Read the news story for Desire on D&CFilm
• A Q&A with director Gareth Jones

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Howl in Exeter

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:56:19 +0000

Go bebopping and scatting with James Franco as he reanimates Allen Ginsberg and the performance poem Howl – which caused a furore and obscenity trial at the time – in the film Howl.

The poem went on to become one of the most important verses of the Beat Generation, and James Franco has stepped in Ginsberg’s shoes (we suspect they’re Hush Puppies) perfectly.

Howl
Exeter Picturehouse, Exeter
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17

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Kurosawa classic Ran at the Exeter Picturehouse

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:10:37 +0000

Ran, one of the last films of cinema legend Akira Kurosawa, is loosely based on the King Lear, and getting a one-night only slot at the Exeter Picturehouse.

Ran means chaos or revolt, and according Akira “What has always troubled me about ‘King Lear’ is that Shakespeare gives his characters no past. … In Ran, I have tried to give Lear a history.”

The movie, made in 1985, is an epic which picked up an Oscar for its costume design and the Exeter Picturehouse says it has ‘one of the most enthralling battle sequences ever filmed’.

Treat yourself to watching it on the big screen.

Ran
Exeter Picturehouse, Exeter
Friday, March 11

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Battle: Los Angeles in Devon and Cornwall

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:48:31 +0000

Michelle Rodriguez has punched an action niche for herself since her knockout debut in Girlfight, way back in 2000. Her latest outing is in sci fi flick Battle: Los Angeles.

She’s joined by Aaron Eckhart (who’s also knocking around in Rabbit Hole, out now) in the heavily pushed movie that sees a platoon of Marines face off an alien invasion in Los Angeles.

Battle: Los Angeles
The Plaza, Truro
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
The Regal, Wadebridge
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
White River Cinema, St Austell
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Alexandra Cinema, Newton Abbot
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Scott Cinema, Exmouth
Wednesday, March 8 – Thursday, March 17
Scott Cinema, Barnstaple
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Phoenix Cinema, Falmouth
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Savoy Cinema, Penzance
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Regal Cinema, Redruth
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Central Cinema, Torquay
Friday, March 11 – Tuesday, March 17
Exeter Vue, Exeter
Friday, March 11 – Tuesday, March 17

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Hall Pass in Devon and Cornwall

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:28:48 +0000

The Farrelly brothers (There’s Something About Mary, Me Myself & Irene, and Shallow Hal) are getting older, which is possibly why Hall Pass deals with the supposed angst of the ‘older’ man.

Owen Wilson is given a ‘hall pass’ – what we’d call carte blanche – to do what he may to hilarious consequences?

Kinda reminiscent of Curb Your Enthusiasm season four… maybe.

Hall Pass
The Plaza, Truro
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
The Regal, Wadebridge
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
White River Cinema, St Austell
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Scott Cinema, Barnstaple
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Phoenix Cinema, Falmouth
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Savoy Cinema, Penzance
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Regal Cinema, Redruth
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Royal Cinema, St Ives
Friday, March 11 – Thursday, March 17
Central Cinema, Torquay
Friday, March 11 – Tuesday, March 17
Exeter Vue, Exeter
Friday, March 11 – Tuesday, March 17

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Avatar – Special Edition in 3D in Cornwall

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:09:01 +0000

What’s left to say about Avatar, other than the 3D special edition has nine more minutes, which is good, because one of the complaints about the record-breaking movie is that it was too short…

There’s a bit of sauce, a new death scene, more of Grace’s school and an extra hunting scene.

The word is, if you haven’t seen the 3D Avatar extravaganza then you be well advised to catch it.

Avatar – Special Edition in 3D
Phoenix Cinema, Falmouth
Friday, March 11 – Sunday, March 13; Thursday, March 17

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Never Let Me Go, in Devon and Cornwall

D&CFilm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:20:11 +0000

Never Let Me Go is based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s Booker short-listed tale of the same name. An unnerving story set in the future, it’s directed by Mark Romanek, who was writer and director of that unnerving tale of the early noughts, One Hour Photo.

With a script by Alex Garland, who’s been responsible for making us feel out of kilter with works like The Beach, 28 Days Later, and Sunshine, and with his pen poised to reinvent Logan’s Run, Never Let Me Go has the pedigree to pull at your nerves and keep your brain tingling.

And we shouldn’t overlook the on screen talent of Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, to name but three.

Never Let Me Go
The Plough, Great Torrington
Sunday, March 27, 7pm
The Wharf, Tavistock
Friday, April 8 – Wednesday April 13
Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth
Friday, March 18, Thursday, March 24
The Barn, Dartington
Friday, March 11 – Monday, March 14

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Black Swan in Devon and Cornwall

D&CFilm — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:02:09 +0000

Since his first feature, Pi, director Darren Aronofsky was always one to turn up the intensity, and with Black Swan he’s aided and abetted by cracking performances, most notably from Natalie Portman.

The action – or should that be tension – revolves around the the vying for the position of prima ballerina in a performance of Swan Lake. Natalie as Nina and Mila Kunis as Lily show off their ability to be both like the White Swan (good) and the Black Swan (bad), in a psychological pas de deux.

Read Paul Moxham’s take of Black Swan on D&CFilm

Black Swan
Phoenix Cinema, Falmouth
Wednesday, March 9 – Thursday, March 17
Regal Cinema, Redruth
Wednesday, March 9 – Thursday, March 10; Sunday, March 13
Plymouth Vue, Plymouth
Wednesday, March 9 – Tuesday, March 15

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