NEWS: Tupac Film Announced

Morgan Creek Productions have announced that a film about rapper Tupac is to go ahead this year with Antoine Fuqua at the helm. Good news?


I imagine a lot of people will be excited that "Training Day" director Fuqua will be responsible for the long-awaited biopic of one of the most famous rappers of all time. However, I don't know if it's such a good thing. This is mainly because I didn't like Training Day that much, I thought it was an average movie at best and more proof that as much as I like Denzel in interviews etc. - he is essentially a very 2D actor. In any case, I don't think he'll be slipping into Tupac's shoes. I hope so anyway. But people who liked Training Day forget what other films Fuqua has done - the abysmal "King Arthur", lacklustre "Tears of the Sun" and the Wahlberg bore "Shooter" - all arguably his biggest films since "Training Day". It just shows that if you do some nice, splashy music videos it doesn't mean you got the balls to go over 3 minutes and he might have hit the right notes with his Oscar-loved Washington vehicle, but can he do Tupac justice?

In any case, apparently Tupac's family are happy about it and I doubt it will bring up his violent tendencies including shooting two drunk cops, his part of a gang-rape of a 19 year old girl (something he denied to his grave but was committed for - after having sex with her a few days before she came back and then it all got a bit twisted in the bedroom with his mates). Anyway, it's a tricky subject to handle, a person idolised by millions but with a very chequered past.

Red

Bruce Willis heads up an interesting cast in this comic book adaptation about a group of retired CIA agents who are wanted by ... the CIA. Is it time to put this in a home and leave it to die? Short answer - yes.

Director Robert Schwentke has had a very strange career up to this film. His real break into Hollywood was directing Jodie Foster in the massively average Flightplan and then the ludicrously disgusting The Time Traveller's Wife (which was poorer than the book, if you can imagine such a thing) and now from thriller (if you can call Flightplan a thriller), to drama, to comic book action. I've not seen his first German feature Tattoo which is supposed to be a slightly gory horror neither his follow-up comedy The Family Jewels, but either Schwentke doesn't want to be pigeon-holed, or he can't settle on a genre, or maybe he just doesn't really know what he is any good at. Well let's just say, it ain't this.

Bruce Willis is in retirement getting his kicks by borderline stalking a young woman who is in charge of sending him his cheques (I say young, it's actually played by Weeds Mary-Louise Parker who is actually 46 and looks amazing for it), some agents try and kill him and so he goes on a quest to find out why. The actual plot is ridiculous, I still don't really get the whole picture, something about a cover-up of some mission that has something to do with the Vice President, it's all complete nonsense and the way the characters are introduced is completely lame. Bruce Willis is actually good as his usual cocky yet genuine action hero who oozes charisma, he has aged remarkably well and Parker does a good job as the fish-out-of-water act, in fact you could say the whole film is just her fantasy what with her obsession with romantic pulp novels.

In terms of the rest of the cast, Helen Mirren as a posh British assassin is boring and completely vanilla, the only time she stands out is shooting a massive gun at some cars in an end sequence that is the most long-winded and stupid way of trying to kidnap the Vice President. Who came up with this plan? These guys were CIA? Morgan Freeman who I think could possibly be one of the most overrated black actors ever, apart from maybe Denzel Washington, is a lame duck and the last time we see him can't come soon enough in a rather forgettable fashion. No-one talks about him afterwards thank God. Richard Dreyfuss is some kind of rich businessman behind it all or something, I don't know because I stopped paying attention, but the only real interesting characters were John Malkovich's paranoid schizo (originally to be played by John C Reilly - which would have been terrible), Brian Cox as a suave Russian ex-spy and Karl Urban as the young agent trying to chase them down. Clearly the whole cast had fun shooting the whole thing and this comes across as you watch the movie, but it's a complete disappointment.

The action is okay with the best bits in the trailer and they've tried to flesh out the characters a bit but it doesn't work, instead I thought it was a 'shoot-now-ask-questions-later' scenario where they were never really taking anything seriously. So the novelty of old killers is fun for about 45 minutes, but after that it's hard to keep interested. What with such terrible comic adaptations sprouting up where studios are trying to cash in on the comic buck as soon as possible rather than letting a script evolve for a while, you get fodder like The Losers and remakes of films only recently been made (Hulk/Spiderman/Superman) and unfortunately films like Red.

Retired Extremely Dangerous? More like Really Excruciatingly Disappointing.

Rating: 4/10

Tekken

The King Of Iron Fist Tournament based on the widely popular video game series hits the cinemas. But is it just another Street Fighter or does this pull more punches? Is it game over from round one?

It was only a matter of time until Tekken went from beat-'em-up madness to the big screen. After all, the first game was released in 1994 and Tekken 7 has just been announced as well as the imminent release of Street Fighter Vs Tekken. It's never been a series to give up fighting and with an intriguing storyline, with even more bizarre characters and backstory, there's a wealth of material to be played with. The game also features the toughest Grandad, Heihachi, that has ever existed. However, it's telling to say that Heihachi is a little bit different in the movie. Skinnier, less threatening and looks a bit of an idiot - much like the film.

In it's defence it takes a bold attempt to recreate the atmosphere and energy that surrounds a quintessentially Japanese title such as this. It's all bright lights, ridiculous moves and lots of colours. But it falls down in the same old places that every video game adaptation falls down in - it's too bogged down in simple plot (meaning the video game fans who are the most likely audience won't be surprised by any plot devices) and just looks a bit silly.

Saying that, it could have been a lot worse. Funnily enough, I thought the acting was good. Luke Goss was a highlight and I didn't even mind the bland cardboard beefed up guys too much - they weren't exactly left too much time to delve into their characters. However, the simple idea that Jin (who only came about in Tekken 3 if I remember rightly) is the People's champion coming up from the slums to fight alongside the best in the world is workable. The evil Tekken corporation is commercialism gone mad but for the average cinema-goer, you don't really understand the correlation properly between the Iron Fist Tournament and Tekken. The actual tournament itself seems to be a complete mess, not only is it over quickly with some characters you don't even see fighting, but the fights feel like they are over before they've actually begun. Which is a shame because they're rather good. Another terrible idea they've had is that instead of the globe-trotting that happens in the game, they've tried to recreate different scenes in the middle of the arena - meaning they have put a fake castle or some trees there. It just seems ridiculous.

The father/son/grandfather storyline is a bit dishevelled and even Heihachi comes across as a nice guy, but I can't help but feel there could have been so much more. Jin isn't a nice guy as he appears here either, in the games he's still got a bit of the (literal) devil from his father in him and this evil power would have been far more interesting than the whole revenge thing that the film turned into.

I had pretty low expectations but it does stand-up to some degree thanks to actors like Goss and Ian Anthony Dale. Harmless, brain-dead action that won't completely bore you but I can guarantee once you watch it, you'll never return to it. I doubt there will be another 6 of these.

Rating: 4/10

UK Film Council News - An Insiders Knowledge

Right, usually I wouldn't bother with such things as this but the closure of the UK Film Council and the big uproar that's happened in it's wake has really got to me. Firstly, before this causes so much backlash like my Lost article (death threats aren't great thank you), I WORKED for the UK Film Council so let me give you all a little insight into what kind of establishment this place was.
I doubt this will impair my career within film as not only is it ages ago, but no-one of any importance will read this and they never helped to get me into the film industry anyway and I landed in TV instead. Less money, less creativity, less time, yet more hours. It's what happens when you're not rich or related to someone on the inside.
So anyway, I worked in Development and for all you guys who don't know, this is where scripts get entered, digested and thrown back up. They decide essentially if something is good enough to fund and then they see it through. This department was headed by a woman and with about a team of fifteen people, there were three men, one was a very camp gay man, another an assistant and myself. In fact, rumours spread that they had been told off because they only employed women and it showed a lack of diversity. Naughty naughty. But then, it's widely known that TV, maybe not so much film but definitely TV, is a woman's game - and these girls stick together. I'm generalising, but it's an area where men are completely outnumbered and unless you're gay, you usually have to work harder to get a look in. Either that or you have to be good looking or lick arse. A lot of people would argue this, but more would probably agree.
So, what did these women do at Development meetings and such? Well, and I'm telling you now I'm not a sexist person, they would discuss their ex-husbands, the men they are having affairs with, gossiping about pregnancies, holidays etc. while we sit there smiling, laughing and looking like we're fine with this. I would sit there with the scripts they got me to read (to keep me busy) and we wouldn't bring it up at all. All that would happen is at the end of the meeting, they'd talk about what they're doing for the day.
A commissioning meeting would take place where they would dismiss independent films and only discuss anything that could, or has, a name attached. This means if they can't get any kind of US backing or a big star or director involved, they weren't interested, but they make up for it by commissioning shorts. Cheap, cheerful and representative of young filmmakers. It's bollocks.
They don't give a shit.
One meeting with a screenwriter I was involved with had me getting 10 minutes to quickly read the script and then overhearing one of the producers saying 'yeah, I looked over it last night but the fucking kids were running around everywhere. Doesn't matter, it's not as if we're going to get it made' then laughed. When I went into the meeting it was actually a cool little horror story that wasn't perfect, but she wanted to change it into more of a love story. I fought his corner, which he got excited about as I understood where he was coming from and rest assured I wasn't spoken to by this woman again for the rest of my contract. Also, the film never got made.
They also hated anything that was male-orientated unless it fitted into what they thought was for 'lads' - hence Danny Dyer in 'Severance' for example. Which was worse on page than it was on the screen. They were going crazy over a script that they were trying to get commissioned which was this - and I joke you not - a rich man (which was going to be Pierce Brosnan apparently) has his own zoo and one of the workers there gets in an accident and dies, so the wife of the dead worker goes to complain but ends up working there herself, she then befriends a chimp and falls in love with the rich man who she hated. That's it. If this film did get made can someone tell me because they were in love with it, and it sounded like someone had been sick on a plate and then took a shit on it and poured it down my ears.
So when people are crying that it will affect film, I agree that it's a good thing to promote British film, obviously, but I assure you the UK Film Council was a horrible establishment that paid itself up to £100k a year each for the big wigs and was solely interested in big budget movies that they could slap their name onto instead of putting the money into the actual British industry. Take a look at what films you see their logo in front of, it's very interesting.
In my opinion, they aren't worth a pot to piss in and I hope they find trouble getting another job, but let's be honest, I'll still be making them tea by the time I'm 50.
So don't commiserate because the money we were wasting on these wankers isn't worth it. It's better off going back into film via another route and I think the gutsy decision to close it down was the right one. Why have an inept Film Council? It doesn't make sense. I just feel sorry for the poor Production Assistant who worked there who would cry at her desk because she wasn't being paid enough to make rent and decided she had to give up her dreams and leave to get another career. Meanwhile, the 40-odd year old women are analysing their shoe purchases. I'm not making any of this up. But alas, it's the way of the world in this industry.
No rich parents, no family connections, no hope.
Doesn't matter how hard you work - if you can't pay through your nose to do a job you enjoy, then no wonder creativity in the British film industry is stifled - and it's NOT about piracy. It's about people like the UK Film Council.
Begin death threats now please ...

Inception

"An idea is like a virus" states DiCaprio and seeing as this hasn't left my mind since I've seen it, he couldn't be more correct.

I'm guessing most people have already heard the incredible feedback this film has received and so might walk into it thinking 'how great can this be?' and the answer is, it is perhaps one of the best films I've ever seen.

This isn't like Empire where they throw top marks at everything that's not complete crap (and sometimes even then they don't hold back), but this is a brave, original, perfectly crafted work of art. Yes it's art. Art can still be a commercial success and at least this isn't up it's own arse.

If you're not familiar with what it's about I can tell you the less you know the better. So I'm not going to reveal too much but let's say it's got a unique blend of different genres - action, heist, spy, sci-fi, thriller, horror, fantasy, drama and even a bit of comedy thrown in every now and then. DiCaprio is a man with a haunted past that is able with his crew to penetrate people's dreams.

That's the basis and I don't want to reveal more of the plot than this as it's a review, not an essay. Though I'm sure a lot of film students will have a field day on this film as it beckons more questions than The Matrix ever did. The symbolism, science and pretty much everything is enough to keep your mind busy for a while and what's great is that - it makes sense.

It doesn't patronise the audience by talking to them like a child, but it explains in simple enough terms all the intricacies of how the science of it all works and it is clearly a topic Nolan had thought to death about. Nothing is spared, every possible loophole filled and leaves the audience satisified (unlike the awful writing of Lost for example).

So let's move on to Nolan. There's no denying the man is a genius, he knows how to make a true film and you can see the passion he puts into his work all over the screen. The directing cannot be bettered and I would go as far as to say he is possibly my favourite contemporary director after this film. Not one of his past movies (not just Dark Knight - but Memento, Insomnia etc.) has ever failed to be nothing short of incredible. His confident, brave and bold projects shows that it really does pay to take a chance and take on something most directors wouldn't dare. The fact that he wrote Inception (I'd imagine he let his brother at least look over it) shows that his personal involvement with these films puts people like Bay and more to shame. Nolan has taught us that even subject matter like a comic book hero doesn't mean it has to be anything less than amazing.

Back to Inception though. It's possibly the first time that I have looked at a film and thought the CG looks entirely real. Completely believable. The fight scenes were enough to beat Heat & The Matrix (which if you remember were pretty much the best bits of the respective films) and the action is relentless. Like all Nolan films, not one scene is filler - every single moment in the film is relevant and even at a lengthy 2 and a half hours, I would have stayed and watched the whole thing again happily. It also shows that to have such an amazing scale, you don't need to be in 3D either and that it probably would have possibly ruined the film should people have been too obsessed with the 3D aspect of it. Thoughts?

Either way, the acting was perfect, I even enjoyed watching Page whom I hated before this film. Tom Hardy once again proves he is Britain's best young hope and even DiCaprio works on his Shutter Island performance to give a depth and gravitas I've never seen him do before. Even the score, cinematography, script and basically everything is incredible, I cannot gush about this enough. Fuck Toy Story 3 - if you've got a choice, choose this.

Saying that, it can't be completely perfect right? Well, that's true. For some reason, the first fifteen minutes felt a bit Johnny Mnemonic to me and I started to get a bit wary of where this was going, although luckily that feeling left quite soon. Also Michael Caine jarred with me slightly as I felt like he was just going to turn around and go "Yes Mr. Wayne" at any point. The fact that they go through so much trouble to plant an idea in someones head also feels ridiculous - surely there are easier ways of manipulation? And wouldn't it take someone just to go 'that's ridiculous, why would you do that?' to counteract it? Unless you truly believe it's like a disease and that you get obsessed with it. I don't know ...

However, these are such slight niggling things that all it will do is detract from your enjoyment of what is a perfect piece of film-making. I don't think anyone could argue that the way the dream layers come together at the end is nothing short of a superb piece of storytelling that could have easily gone wrong at any point. And the final shot? That's enough to drive you mad forever.

I can hardly fault this film and to be honest, I shouldn't, because if more film-makers like Nolan were around this truly would be a wondrous world. I'd just love to have a look at what goes on inside that head of his, but I guess this is the closest I'll ever get.
Maybe ....

Rating: 10/10