http://thatcrack.com/mixtapes/dj-ykcor-eskillz-mr-nobody/

[Click here for a guide to Booze Revooze and the rating system used]

From the juiced-box and the soundtrack: Wallace Collection – Daydream

[Press 'play' to trip out.]

Ramblings: Mr Sumpin’

Final Proof: 3 Shots

You know how you drink with a freak, someone truly unique? He talks about crap you don’t know if it’s over your head or is complete BS but for the most part you don’t care as long as he looks cool and his bull doesn’t get in the way of your sh*t. There’s also this pressure to like the guy because he’s kinda intellectual and if you don’t wanna hang with him it means you’re probably a little slow. Sometimes you wonder if the weirdo is just acting that way to be different or if he actually believes the babble he’s spewing but time flows as smoothly as the booze and you don’t check your watch so you might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. Mr. Nobody is that kind of unique.

Mr. Nobody is a movie about choices and about how alternate lives get led no matter what the choice made is. Like i could be in a bar and chose to drink a pint of Heineken, a bottle of red, or a coke. In “La La Land” all of those choices are made and all the separate me’s go on to live their separate lives, ad nauseum (especially if i drink the bottle of wine and chose to keep drinking).

There’s a lot of what Miss Demeanor and i label “Woo-Woo Sh*t” going on in Mr. Nobody but most of the time the flick looked so damn good that the philosophy didn’t get in the way of a good time. i’m not going to lie to you, Mr. Nobody is super philosophical and touches on quantum physics, the butterfly effect and string theory. It’s all presented clearly enough but there’s a lingering aftertaste of, “So what, none of this changes how i gotta pee after three beers.”

What i’m saying is, don’t see this movie buzzed, it’s hard enough to follow even when your dead sober. Because the movie doesn’t go in a straight line but in beautifully drawn circles and curlicues. There is no clear picture, even if the overall design is pretty. Still, considering all the risks Jaco van Dormael took with the directing, he could’ve gone out on a few more limbs with the story.

So yeah, it’s worth seeing if you don’t take it too seriously. Or, it’s worth seeing if you take it very seriously. If you’re just looking for something shiny and pretty to pass the time, choose to pass this one by.

Before we get in any deeper, i carded Clare Stone, who does a magnificent job as Elise at 15, and i couldn’t find her birthdate anywhere. ‘Cause of that i’ll post her photos here—she’s not allowed to go any further.

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

To get into this next section, you gotta listen to this song from the juiced-box (and the movie, of course).

[Press 'Play' for inspiration.]

Sex: 1/2 Shot There’s this crazy trend to have all these super hot girls in movies and to keep them as clothed as a sober Eskimo eating ice cream at Christmas. Seriously, you know what nipple action we get here? Jared Leto nipple action. Twice. Just sayin’.

Diane Kruger (33), almost unrecognizable as a brunette, plays Anna gorgeously. The gorgeous part was easy, the acting part is pure talent, yo.

Mmmmm, Thigh Goosebumps

Sarah Polley (31) does a solid job of playing a whack job that resembles quite a few of my exes.

Coming in as the third wife, we’ve got Linh Dan Pham (36), Vietnamese but raised in France. We almost get a down blouse shot of her in the pool, but ‘almost’ is like masturbating and your hand falls asleep.

Playing Anna at 15, we got British actress Juno Temple who, at 20, is 5 years off the mark.

Juno Entering The Bar None

In a totally understated role (i’m not sure what i mean by this but i read it on a real blog somewhere and thought it sounded intelligent), there’s Natasha Little (40) as Nemo’s Mom:

Here are some of those Silken Butterflies that flit across the screen as briefly as they are beautiful:

Sarah Gravel was ‘Sad Woman’:

Here’s Christelle Cornil (32—she was rockin’ as Coma nurse 1, which means she kicked Coma nurse 2’s ass) in The Bar None:

After that we have a little one for the ladies. A lot of web sites have been ripping poor little Jared Leto (38) a new one but i think he did a solid job here playing nine different roles. Sure, the makeup helped but he held his own and so y’all gotta stop hating on him just because he has more hair than you.

IN AN EXCLUSIVE SCOOP: i offer here irrefutable evidence that Jared Leto is, in fact, Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal’s gay love child. Watch…

+ =

Here are some Jared shots…

Drink: 0 Shots

Not even a reference to drinking. Dry as a bone, babes. Wait, one of the songs is The Andrew Sisters doin’ “Rum & Coca Cola”. Yeah, like that counts for somethin’. Me doin’ all The Andrew Sisters while they’re messed up on Rum & Cokes…now that would count for something.

Rock & Roll: 3 Shots

Speaking of music…

Because Mr. Nobody is all about choices, you get to choose what to listen to as you polish off this blog.

Either Nena – 99 Luftballons 

Or The Pixies – Where Is My Mind

Both are in the movie so either one counts.

While the music in Mr. Nobody isn’t really rock, the songs they used were super eclectic and all kinds of styles. I’ma tell you something: The best thing about the movie is pro’lly the music ’cause the director, Jaco van Dormael, did an excellent job of matching the music to the feeling of the scene. Like Otis Redding’s “For Your Precious Love” when young Nemo falls in love for the first time. Dead on.

Still, they pulled the same crap here that they did in Zombieland. ‘Member how the music in the film was cool but when you looked up the soundtrack you got a load of instrumental crap so i had to post a special blog with the real music from the movie? Well, in Mr. Nobody the director hired one of his relatives to write the music and you can’t believe how impossible it is to find a simple list of the real songs they borrowed for this freaking thing. Thank god for Miss Demeanor who told me to do searches in foreign languages. i found the following on some obscure blog and had to add a couple songs myself that were missing so i can’t swear this is a complete list. Seriously though, you better read this whole list and freakin’ memorize the damn thing ’cause you can’t imagine how many hours i spent lookin’ for it and what a pain in the ass it was to type it all up. Swear to god.

Boring Technical Crap

Written by: Jaco van Dormael

Directed by: Jaco van Dormael

Starring

Diane Kruger – Anna

Sarah Polley – Elise

Linh Dan Pham – Jean

Juno Temple – Anna age 15

Clare Stone – Elise age 15

Natasha Little – Nemo’s mom

Sarah Gravel – Sad woman

Christelle Cornil – Coma nurse 1

Jared Leto – Nemo Nobody

Bottom Line

If you think $58 million for an experimental movie makes perfect sense, then you have the perfect mindset for Mr. Nobody.

10. Misty’s Big Adventure – ‘The Story of Love’

Misty's Big Adventure photographed by Scott Johnston

Steve Bridgeman says:

“So far away from my usual musical taste and yet I think they’re brilliant! Whimsical, thought-provoking lyrics, with a vocal delivery possibly reminiscent of the Divine Comedy? Comparisons to the Flaming Lips might be fair too? They’re certainly the most glamourous band on the list, with lovely ladies on keys, sax and trumpet, and an Erotic Volvo – whatever one of those is – on dancing duties. Dave Gorman loves them, and so do I.”

9. The Big Bang – ‘Come Dance in The Fire’

The Big Bang

JP White Ex- The Gravity Crisis and Silversuit and now promoting gigs as part of This is Tomorrow says:

“Frighteningly intimidating on stage, sound as a pound off it, these were by far the best live act of the list, and certainly for their first two years were top of the tree.”

8. Mr. Nobody – ‘Opera Fan’

Mr. Nobody

Liam Cole of Kidnapper Bell says:

“Sometimes perceptions of a “local” band can be deceiving. Are they a good band or are they good for a local band? Mr Nobody are hands down the best live band I have ever seen. Their sound can be described a product of their wide range of influences however at their core a superb songwriter in the form of James Brough. When they released their E.P. Sweeting it polarised opinion on message boards due to it not really sounding like anything that was around at the time. A sad loss that these guys are no longer playing gigs together.”

7. Tantrums – ‘If I Don’t Try’

Tantrums

JP White says:

“At present the city is a bit dry of real great songs in consistent supply, these don’t have one dud in their set, if they don’t get a deal then it agains shows (as with many acts on this list who didn’t get the break they deserved) that the industry is full of idiots without ears and only a liking for shit.”

6) Miss Halliwell – ‘Soilheaded’

Vitriolic blogger and musical performer, Jeff Stuka says:
“Powered by a musical polymath/borderline autistic with too much imagination and too much time on his hands, The Racists were one of my tips for the future before I’d even seen them live, thanks to one of the most astonishing catalogues of home recordings I’ve ever encountered. As the Racists, they performed a number of incendiary live shows before changing the name to Miss Halliwell in a fit of pique after being asked “are you really racist?” for the MILLIONTH FUCKING TIME! Apparently irony is a concept of limited distribution amongst gig goers. Personnel changes have been many over the years but the musical ambition and creativity of Matt “Miles Per Hower” remains constant and their profile continues to grow.”

5. Untitled Musical Project – ‘I Might Not Be Jimi Hendrix but at Least I’m Not Dead’

Untitled Musical Project

Head honcho at This is Tomorrow, Matt Beck says:

“Trying not to be biased when talking about Brum bands can be tough, but I feel with all the bands on this list I would go and buy their music regardless of where they were from. I first bought an UMP 7″ (in Brighton not knowing they were based in Brum) and loved them since. Shouty, screamy, often raucous and ramshackle with songs that were over in the blink of an eye. These were Brum’s best punk band and are sadly missed.”

4. Calories – ‘Drugged’

Calories

Sunset Cinema Club vocalist and bass player Greg Haines says:

“If you’ve never been in a crowd shouting “Everything is beautifuuUUL-IN-IIIITTTTSSS-OWN-WAY!” then you don’t know anything about Birmingham bands and need to sort it out ASAP. Calories are to this scene what Darth Vader is to Star Wars, there’s just something awesomely simple and intimidating about their current set of massive pop songs. Pete’s harmonic bass-chords and general beast-riff tendencies also make him the only fellow four-stringer in Brum to make me feel inadequate in the plank department.”

3. My Dad Hitla / I Am Zeitgeist – ‘Dopemine’

My Dad Hitla

Andy Roberts, editor of The Blue Whale Blog says:

“The ingenuity of Radiohead, the anger of The Clash, the awkwardness of Nirvana, the almost believable pseudo-mystique of The Beatles, a singer that may have believed he was Jesus at some point, a guitarist with a death-wish discharging himself from hospital with a broken back, a bassist that could smoke Bob Marley under the table and a drummer who was driven to near-insanity hanging around with the other three – My Dad Hitla were complete madness permanently on the verge of true genius.”

2. Sunset Cinema Club – ‘Trees’

Sunset Cinema Club

Pete Stanley from ThePlasticAshtray.co.uk says:

“It’s hard not to get excited about Sunset Cinema Club, awesome musicianship, quirky, individualistic approach to their own music and remind me so so much of The Minutemen. I think great bands all have the same way at looking at music and playing gigs. I’ve never seen them play a bad show or not smile while they are playing. They must be the only band I’ve seen who don’t take themselves too seriously!”

1. 35 Seconds – ‘Grudge Match’

35 Seconds - The greatest Birmingham band of the 2000's

Greg Haines says:
“I followed them as a fan and I played for them as a fan. You couldn’t find a more eclectic mix of characters in any band; it’s a miracle that they ever sat down and wrote anything together, but the end-result was obviously what 35 Seconds were all about. Not many bands can juggle “forward thinking”, “epic”, “heartfelt” and “choruses” without folding up into their own arse holes but 35 Seconds achieved just this with EVERY. SINGLE. SONG. The fact that they were never snapped up by a label of any kind is a good case for having the entire music industry sent to a concentration camp to keep them from spreading their idiot genes any further into the populace.”

A million thank yous to everyone who voted and contributed, please enjoy the mix and we promise to stop going on about it now.

See the full Top 100 countdown here.

Andy

Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence at his wife’s side, Elise, and their 3 children until the day when reality skids and he wakes up as an old man in the year 2092.

At 120, Mr. Nobody is both the oldest man in the world and the last mortal of a new mankind where nobody dies anymore. But that doesn’t seem to interest or bother him very much. The only questions that preoccupy him in the present is whether he lived the right life for himself, loved the woman whom he was supposed to love, and had the children whom he was meant to have… now his purpose is to find the right answer.

Liam Cole, guitarist with Kidnapper Bell has kindly given The Blue Whale Blog his list of the top ten Brum bands of the decade. Submit your own top ten to andrew-roberts@hotmail.co.uk or in the comment box below.

10. The Program

At their peak noone could touch The Program. They were the coolest band in Birmingham and had the songs to match also. I still play their demo to this day, a brilliantly produced slice of throbbing electro indie.

9. The Big Bang

The Big Bang

The first time I saw The Big Bang I was blown away by the fact that a drums and two guitar line-up could have such a huge sound. I spent ages trying to emulate the awesome fatness of their guitar sound. The fact that they had the songs to back it up helped also.

8. Templeton Pek

Templeton Pek

Templeton Pek have been going for a while and have amassed a huge following by working hard (in very much the same way as Blakfish). In many ways bands like Templeton Pek have to work ten times harder because of how overpopulated their genre is.

7. Blakfish

Blakfish

A band that I am more into seeing live than listening to on record. Blakfish have honed their craft and are a fantastic live band. Their inclusion on this list is largely due to the fact that they have worked stupidly hard to get where they are now and have built up a gigantic fanbase through relentless touring.

6. Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner

Inconsistent live, but their first album, Waited Up ’til it Was Light, was my most played album of the year. Theres not a song I don’t like on that album. Johnny Foreigner may never play arenas but they will make a damn fine living where they are at now the world over

5. The Starries

The Starries

The Starries started out as an instrumental three piece that used to clear rooms.They honed their live sound and added new members to become Birminghams answer to Idlewild.The Starries were all about being young, wasted and ready.They also released a few awesome E.Ps.

4. Barry’s Attic

Barry's Attic

Barry’s Attic have been gigging around Birmingham for a while. I only got the chance to see them a couple of months ago. They write electro pop songs and could make any major record label a shed load of money provided they were marketed right!

3. Sunset Cinema Club

Sunset Cinema Club

The first time I saw Sunset Cinema Club I didn’t like them. However I downloaded a few of their songs and couldn’t stop listening to them after that. The song ‘Home Alone‘ had me hooked. Since then I have seen them countless times and they have always been fantastic. If I could pick ten S.C.C tracks I like to put on an album it would be like a greatest hits with no filler!

2. 35 Seconds

35 Seconds

I’ve watched 35 Seconds gig live for about 10 years and seen their sound change with each and every passing demo they released. They gradually morphed from a hybrid of The Smiths/Neds Atomic Dustbin into writing songs as monstrous as ‘Dinosaurs’ and ‘Grudge Match’. Their distinctive sound was helped with the dual guitars taking their cues from Prince and a fondness for dance music.

1. Mr Nobody

Mr Nobody

Sometimes perceptions of a “local” band can be deceiving. Are they a good band or are they good for a local band? Mr Nobody are hands down the best live band I have ever seen. Their sound can be described a product of their wide range of influences however at their core a superb songwriter in the form of James Brough. When they released their E.P. Sweeting it polarised opinion on message boards due to it not really sounding like anything that was around at the time. A sad loss that these guys are no longer playing gigs together.

Söndag var det pannkaksparty hos A. Förekom dessutom lite motsträvigt kanji-pluggande vilket jag förmodligen behövde. Har kommit in i en lathetsperiod som är svår att dra sig ur. Jag skyller på kylan. Vill ju bara ligga och gosa i mitt täcke, titta på film och äta lussebullar. Lyckades kicka-ass i A’s Soul Calibur spel ett tag, tills jag fick kramp i händerna av allt frenetiskt tryckande, och han gick om mig. Nästa gång, Tekken 6. Då djäklar! No mercy.

Köpte biljetter till Stockholms Filmfestival igår, dyrt ja, men det händer ju trots allt bara en gång om året. 7 filmer på 7 olika dagar.

Fantastiske Mr. Fox – Festivalfavorit. Har velat se den ända sedan jag såg trailer för några månader sedan. Stop-motion och Roald Dahl, what could go wrong?

Precious – Jaa, den har Mariah Carey och Oprah. Jaa, den är förmodligen lite förutsägelsebar. Jag har lust att se en inspirations-film á la Billy Elliot, ok?

9 – Undergång med trasdockor. Woho.

Dogtooth – Läste lite ur en “recension” på Weird Science och den gjorde verkligen stort intryck på författaren. Fick mig vilja se den här grekiska filmen där katter är köttätande monster och Frank Sinatra är deras farfar.

Mother – Årets koreanska film. Som vanligt kan man förvänta sig en rätt så sjuk film.

Metropia – Kort men riktigt effektiv synopsis som fångade intresset: “Telefonförsäljaren Roger brukar cykla till jobbet, men när cykeln går sönder tvingas han passera spärrarna till den mörka tunnelbanan – i ett mörkt futuristiskt övervakningssamhälle.” …

Mr Nobody – Blev övertalad av H att välja med den här filmen. Vet inte mer om filmen att huvudpersonen är den sista på planeten som kommer dö av ålder (då cellregeneration är något finns i samhället och gör att folk lever för evigt). Existentiell resa genom huvudpersonens liv.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (work), I didn’t get the chance to see that many films this day. I did, though, have an unpleasant encounter with a member of the film jury, which – if not anything else – convinced me that the winner of the festival’s jury prize will be left entirely to chance and incompetence. I wish the festival leaders had considered their jury choices a bit more carefully. More on this later.

I first became aware of Belgian director Jaco van Dormael with his 1993-film Toto the Hero, which generally got rave reviews and which I liked. I seem to recall that I felt it put an unnecessary sentimentalism to the world of the child protagonist, but I think that was part of its theme. Not having seen the film since its cinema run 16 years ago, I don’t want to compare it with his latest work, which was my first film of the day.

Mr. Nobody is by far his most ambitious project to date. It cost close to $50 million and features at least B-list Hollywood actors. It is filmed at several locations; Belgium, the famous Studio Babelsberg in Germany, in Canada and at several other places. Most of the money, though, must have gone to the impressive special effects which are very, very good. Very complicated fx shots integrate seamlessly with the “real” world and a number of editing tricks and film styles are on display.

The film is not only ambitious from a financial or technical perspective. The story seeks to sum up the entirety of the universe’s existence, and not only this universe. It is at times a period film, a science fiction story and a contemporary love story. It is about storytelling, parallel universes, time travel, religion, immortality and death. Most importantly it is about love.

Jared Leto plays the grown up version of the protagonist Nemo Nobody and he does it well. I think this is his first leading role in a film of this magnitude. Then again, there are not that many films of this scope. In a way I felt the film was never quite only itself, but borrowed from a number of films and from the history of film. Perhaps it had to, but I felt at times that the director had seen the works of other directors he admired and tried to emulate them and, by combining their tropes, hoped to find something personal enough to call his own.
There is a bit of Darren Aronofsky’s the Fountain here, but on an even bigger thematic scale. Kubrick’s 2001 is quoted in some images. In a scene depicting humanity’s pre-existence, the moments before we are conceived, Van Dormael used the Melanesian music from Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line while at the same time putting this music to images of white and black children playing innocently together in a heavenly innocent state. So, in other words, welcome to the beginning of The Thin red Line! The basic concept of splitting destinies – of turning into several future versions of oneself – based on a choice made while standing by a train, is found in the less ambitious Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle Sliding Doors. The drowning in a car scene reminded me of Lars Von Trier’s Europa (By the count of ten you will be dead, as Max Von Sydow laconically narrates in that film). In a way Mr. Nobody is two and a half hours awaiting said count. I could go on, but you get the point.

It is not easy to sum up what this film is about. When the protagonist is forced to make a faithful choice at the age of nine (I think), he is separated into two persons, depending on which choice he makes. Within these two possible characters comes a further three choices – which makes it six characters(?) – based on his choice of girlfriend as an adolescent. One version of himself turns out to be a lecturer in astrophysics, who sometimes enters the action to lecture the viewer about the history and philosophy of the universe. He says there are seven dimensions in the universe; six of these are spatial, while the seventh is temporal. He then poses the question of whether the temporal – time – inhabited more than one dimension. (I take this from memory, so forgive me for any inaccuracies!) To complicate matters further, another one of these personalities takes up writing, creating a fictional world that in the film is presented as just as real as the non-fiction worlds. This fiction takes the action to space (to Mars) and the future. However, another future is also depicted in the film, a future where the protagonist is the last mortal human alive (and thus, the last who remembers love and lust; you don‘t need children if you live forever…) There is a point to this, but I won’t discuss it here, so as not to spoil the film.

While the plot of the film seems incredibly advanced and ambitious, to its credit, we are never lost and most times understand perfectly where we are in the story and what is depicted. Actually, I had no problems with the science fiction elements of the tale. They are well thought and very well executioned. It is in the way the film revolves around the concept of love that I feel it loses itself a bit; it becomes a bit too much.

One kind of love that is decisive for Mr. Nemo Nobody is the child’s love for his parents. Another kind of love is the puppy love between nine year olds, then the lustful love between adolescents and finally the emotional, during and at times hard and stressful love between spouses. Put together, this becomes a whole lotta love, as the song says. Now, if the love theme had been presented a bit more smartly, I wouldn’t have any problems with it. (While it is presented in a complicated tale, this doesn’t make the kind of love on display any more “intelligent” or new to the viewer). Especially irritating is the extremely cliché ridden music the director has chosen for the soundtrack. There are just so many times you can hear Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream… Almost every scene has music that has been used so often before in films that it brings you as a viewer out of the film’s universe and at least I began pondering boredom and references rather than the action taking place before me.

Another unfortunate effect of the music has to do with its placement. When the protagonist as a young boy sees a girl his age, nine, swimming, a lusty soul-number is played, thus turning her into a kind of sex object. This is disturbing and can’t have been the director’s intention. While he wants to tell us that the protagonist falls in love at this moment, there must surely be better ways to sonically enhance this element!

Then there is the fact that all of Nemo’s love stories revolve around three girls that he meets as a young child. I find it a bit far fetched that these same girls shall also be his only interests in adolescence and in marriage. The film is, then, not only about premeditation, but about an emotional stiltedness, as if Nemo doesn’t really evolve during the film and this is the reason for his future being so clearly delineated into his separate possible selves. The name Nemo, by the way, does not refer to the captain of the Nautilus. You’re better served by reading it backwards.

In closing, I’ll venture to say that the word ambitious will surely be used in pretty much every review of this film. (It wasn’t finished in time for Cannes, so it hasn’t been shown that many places yet). While it is certainly intricate, it ultimately doesn’t convince me. While I’m perfectly willing to take any leaps of logic that the film requires of me, I’m not sure that it ultimately adds up. I have a strong feeling that there are internal discrepancies within the fantastic logic. This should have been worked out a bit better, but I think I will need to see the film a second time to really pinpoint these errors. (And the ones I could point out would ruin the ending, so I’ll refrain).The problem is that, as much as I admired the film for what it’s trying to do, it was just a bit too long and ultimately not all that it could have been, so a second viewing will probably not take place in the immediate future. But if you are in the mood for a lengthy love story told in a brilliant technical style and with a basic sience fiction concept underlining it all, by all means take a chance on the film! I think it deserves an audience and it is without doubt a much better film than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was half the rave at this year’s Oscars, and which it also shares some sensibility with. Being the better film of the two, I’m also sure that it won’t find half the audience of Fincher’s unfortunate detour into drivel and mediocrity.

While Mr. Nobody may be flawed, it is at least interesting enough for me to have given it more attention and space than most films. This is more, much more than I can say for the next film I had the misfortune to attend this day. I guess I should have seen the warning signs; it being French the clearest.

Un Lac – A Lake – is a minimalist work about an epileptic boy, his sister and family in an unknown wintry location. This is the second film as writer/director for Philippe Grandrieux, his fourth as director. On this film, he also serves as cinematographer, so he is an auteur in the real sense. The problem is that he is just not a very interesting one. Most of the actors are, for some reason Russian, and it is filmed in France and Switzerland. And the landscape does seem wonderfully oppressing and beautiful at the same time. That is, if any of the images had been in focus. (The images of the brother and sister found to the left are pretty much the only two clear images of the film)

Grandrieux uses a handheld camera style that is extreme in its use of closeups and movements following the characters so closely that we are supposed to see the world as they themselves do. The mother of the family is blind, though it took me some time to decipher this. Many of the scenes are filmed in near darkness and the ones that are not are foggy and out of focus. The brother has a close relationship with his sister, possibly incestuous, but I was never able to tell for sure. His epileptic fits grows in frequency. He is at times very happy for no apparent reason, at times he is moody. One day he is by the cold lake that seems to be the only contact with a wider world. A young man arrives. He says his name is Jurgen. Soon this man starts a relationship with the sister and finally they sail off on the same lake. This is the film. Or what I managed to see of the film.

Do not misunderstand me. I have no problems with challenging films, be it in narrative or in film style. This film, however, is ridiculous, very boring and unbearably pretentious. The dialogue is almost non-existent. Perhaps this is a good thing, for when they speak, they speak platitudes. “You are my sister”, the brother says. Then he adds: “I am your brother”. Yes, well, you had me at sister…

Of course one can read something symbolic out of the minimalist setting and action. The more minimalist a work is, the easier to regard it as symbolical of something. But here even the symbolic meaning is trite and clichéd. Perhaps the director wants to deal with archetypes, with a biblical simplicity. If so, he fails miserably. Is he interested in hidden pockets of humanity, of humanity’s place in an unforgiving and uncaring nature? Well, he doesn’t come even close. Perhaps he wants to talk about female sexuality and awakening. If so, he says nothing new and certainly nothing of interest. – If you want an arty film about this, watch Picnic at Hanging Rock again! You will be grateful for it. Do not waste your time with Un Lac. With the basic setting of these characters in this kind of nature, you have to be pretty incompetent not to make it even slightly interesting or even beautiful even in a harrowing sense. Unfortunately, competence has no place here.
It strikes me that writing even disparagingly about the film, I make it sound better than it is. Give me a camera, this location and these characters and I would have made a better film. Look away, there is nothing to see here! By the way, this was a film I had high hopes for and that I really wanted to like. More the fool me.

It’s not often that I get to hang out south of the river, other than munching on venison burgers and brownies with my friend Emily at Borough Market, so after the Foale and Tuffin press preview, I hopped on the bus to County Hall at Waterloo to see the Water On The Lens exhibition at The Movieum.

The exhibition features behind-the-scenes, underwater photographs taken at Pinewood Studios that will have you wondering ‘how on earth did they do that’? 

Pinewood Studios opened its Underwater Stage (U Stage) in 2005, after 5 years of development by Diving Services UK, making it into a world famous water-filming facility.  It includes a permanently-filled water tank that holds an incredible 1.2 million litre of water.

To achieve their amazing shots, Pinewood create unique settings such as the elegant Parisian apartment above and construct them within the tank, ready for models, actors and musicians to jump in.  The underwater shoots are captured by Phoebe Rudomino of Dive Services UK and they have appeared in films, adverts and music videos. 

Keira Knightly seems to be a big fan of splashing around at Pinewood, as she filmed the scene in Atonement where she is submerged in the fountain, as well as a glam promo shoot in aid of Fresh 20, a water charity. 

Jared Leto also had to hold his breath in an underwater car scene in Mr Nobody.  Other shots include James Blunt hanging out underwater with some hot models, Matt Lucas and David Walliams in Little Britain, the scene stills from Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Boat That Rocked and images of Sharon Stone and Eva Herzigova, who look just as gorgeous under the water. 

The exhibition is sponsored by Hunter Boot, the brand renowned for their waterproof and festival-friendly wellington boots.  Hunter are also showcasing their new collection of lime green and purple wellies, alongside their prestigious Balmoral and classic tall green models. I’ve got my eye on a pair of magenta ones with a Lara Croft-style side pouch and cream fleece detail.  If they keep the Pinewood crew’s tootsies dry and warm, then they must be worth investing in for next year’s Glasto!

Credits:

Imagine                                                                    21 July 2006
The set of a Parisian apartment was recreated in U-Stage for a commercials shoot for Johnson & Johnson’s ‘Imagine’ Total Hydration body wash. The apartment becomes a watery, hydrated version of real life and the model ‘floats away’ at the end of the advert.
Keira for Fresh 2O                                             3 December 2005
 
Photographer Candice shot Keira Knightley submerging in haute couture dresses and jewellery for a photoshoot to promote water charity Fresh 2O.

Mr Nobody                                                       19 December 2007
 
Jared Leto shoots a scene for upcoming feature Mr Nobody (2009) – a sci-fi fantasy that spans two time zones across the 20th & 21st Centuries. In this sequence, Jared Leto’s character is trapped in a car underwater.

Water on the Lens, sponsored by Hunter Boot, forms part of The Movieum of London in the Riverside Rooms, County Hall, Southbank, London SE1 open now until 28 October 2009.
Tickets £12 adults, £10 concessions, £8 children. 

 El lunes día 12 de octubre se otorgaron los premios correspondientes a la 42ª edición del Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Cataluña. La británica “Moon” de Duncan Jones fue la gran triunfadora obteniendo los galardones a la Mejor Película, Mejor Actor y Mejor Guión. Para más información sobre la citada película, podéis leer la reseña realizada por Minos pichando aquí. 

A continuación os presentamos el palmarés completo:

OFICIAL FANTÀSTIC

Jurado: Neil Marshall, Amanda Plummer, Tuomas Riskala, John Saxon y Jordi Battle Caminal.

-Mejor Película: “Moon” de Duncan Jones

-Premio Especial del Jurado: “Enter the Void” de Gaspar Noé

-Mejor Director: Brillante Mendoza por “Kinatay”

-Mejor Actor: Sam Rockwell por “Moon”

-Mejor Actriz: Ex-aequo para Elena Anaya por “Hierro” y para Kim Ok-vin por “Thirst”

-Mejor Guión: Nathan Parker (basado en la historia original de Duncan Jones) por “Moon”

-Mejor Fotografía: Benoit Debie por “Enter the Void”

-Mejor Banda Sonora Original: Teresa Barrozo por “Kinatay”

-Mejores Efectos Especiales: C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, Mac Guff, BUF por “Splice”

-Mejores Efectos de Maquillaje: Kaatje Van Damme por “Mr. Nobody”

-Mejor Diseño de Producción: Tony Noble por “Moon”

-Mención Especial: “The boy who wouldn’t kill” de Linus de Paoli

-Mejor Cortometraje: “One of those days” de Hattie Dalton

CARNET JOVE

-Mejor Película FANTÀSTIC: Ex-aequo para “Dogtooth (Canino)” de Yorgos Lanthimos y para “Les derniers jours du monde” de Arnaud Larrieu y Jean-Marie Larrieu

-Mejor Película MIDNIGHT X-TREME: “Wasting Away” de Matthew Kohnen

NOVES VISIONS

-Mejor Película: “Deliver us from Evil” de Ole Bornedal

-Mención Especial: “Van Diemen’s Land” de Jonathan auf der Heide

-Diploma Película No Ficción: “Best Worst Movie” de Michael Paul Stephenson

-Diploma Película Discovery: “Amer” de Hélène Cattet y Bruno Forzani

PREMIO NOVA AUTORIA SGAE – INSTITUT BUÑUEL

-Mejor Dirección: “Swingers” de Javier Rodríguez Espinosa (ESCAC-Escándalo Films)

-Mejor Guión: “44987373-V” de Robert Ors Griera (Centre d’Estudis Cinematogràfics de Catalunya-CECC)

-Mejor Música Original: “The last drag” de Gonçal Perales Roy (Centre d’Estudis de Tècniques d’Animació de Catalunya · 9 ZEROS)

-Mención Especial por la calidad general del trabajo: “Pin up” de Tania Verduzco (Centre d’Estudis Cinematogràfics de Catalunya-CECC)

ORIENT EXPRESS – CASA ÀSIA

-Mejor Película: “Ip Man” de Yip Wai-shun

ANIMA’T – Premio Gertie

-Mejor Largometraje de Animación: “Summer Wars” de Mamoru Hosoda

-Mejor Cortometraje de Animación: “Le petit dragon” de Bruno Collet

-Mejor Largometraje de Animación para Niños: “Panique au village” de Stéphane Aubier y Vincent Patar

 MÉLIÈS DE PLATA

-Méliès d’Argent a la Mejor Película Europea: “The Eclipse” de Conor McPherson

-Méliès de Plata al Mejor Cortometraje Europeo: “One of those days” de Hattie Dalton

MÉLIÈS DE ORO

-Méliès de Oro a la Mejor Película Europea: “Martyrs” de Pascal Laugier

-Méliès de Oro al Mejor Cortometraje: “Cold and Dry” de Kristoffer Joner, codirigido y producido por Bjørn Arne Odden

Gran Premio del Público El Periódico de Catalunya

-Mejor Película: “Zombieland” de Ruben Fleischer

PREMIOS DE LA CRÍTICA

-Premio de la Crítica Jose Luis Guarner: “Les derniers jours du monde” de Arnaud Larrieu y Jean-Marie Larrieu

-Premio Citizen Kane al director/a revelación: “Dogtooth (Canino)” de Yorgos Lanthimos

BRIGADOON Paul Naschy

-Mejor cortometraje: “Torbellino de hostias” de Adrián Cardona

Premio Ben & Jerry’s

[REC]² de Jaume Balagueró y Paco Plaza

Podéis consultar los Premios Honoríficos aquí.

Briony 

El último film protagonizado por Jared Leto está dando de que hablar. Tanto en su paso por el Festival Internacional de cine de Venecia, como el de Sitges (se proyectó el lunes 5 de octubre), ha demostrado que está hecha para no dejar indiferente a ningun espectador. Entrelazada entre críticas que la vanaglorian y otras que la tachan de pretenciosa, es una de las firmes candidatas de llevarse el palmar este año en el famoso festival de ciencia ficción catalán.

Particularmente le tengo ganas a este film. Y es que si alguien sabe escoger  guiones y papeles a interpretar es el señor Leto. Aparte de ir demostrándonos su evolución como actor y su poder interpretativo (el cual supongo que muchos discernirán de mi opinión, pero soy yo quien escribe el artículo esta vez), se ha sabido rodear de excelentes profesionales de la talla de David Fincher y Darren Aronofsky, y por supuesto que las buenas compañías ayudan. Esta vez nos viene de la mano de un excéntrico y surrealista Jaco van Dormael, director belga no tan famoso como los antes mencionados, pero si muy talentoso, sobretodo por sus guiones.

La historia de “Mr. Nobody” gira alrededor del personaje de Nemo (Jared Leto), un joven felizmente casado con una hermosa mujer (Sarah Polley), una familia y una vida en apariencia normales, que repentina e inexplicablemente da un salto en el tiempo que lo sitúa en el año 2092 y siendo la persona más longeva de la humanidad,  con lagunas que le impiden del todo saber que ha ocurrido. El argumento va atado con la famosa teoría del caos, y como puede cambiar nuestro destino dependiendo del camino tomado por nuestras decisiones. Las críticas al film (tanto las defensoras como detractoras) concuerdan que es una obra con un poder visual encantador y envolvente, al nivel de La fuente de la vida.

Lamentablemente como sucede en reiteradas ocasiones con este tipo de obras poco comerciales y más independientes, no se tiene conocimiento de la fecha de estreno en las salas españolas -es más, como no gane el festival de Sitges, quizás ni se llegue a estrenar en tierras ibéricas- . Hasta ahora todo indica que nos tocará esperar al menos hasta el 2010 (se estrena en Bélgica y Francia en Enero).

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Mas imágenes e información en la página oficial de  MR. NOBODY

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Minos    

]]> http://bcncultura.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/festival-de-sitges-2009-mr-nobody-la-pel%c2%b7li-de-la-jornada-de-dilluns/ Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:19:56 +0000 Daniel http://bcncultura.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/festival-de-sitges-2009-mr-nobody-la-pel%c2%b7li-de-la-jornada-de-dilluns/

Jornada amb marcat accent català, gràcies a la participació de Sergi López, de nou protagonista en un film francès, aquest cop d’una comèdia apocalíptica, Els darrers dies del món (Les Derniers Jurs du Monde), i a The Frost, adaptació de l’obra d’Ibsen El petit Eyolf i dirigida per Ferran Audí.

D’altra banda, han hagut títols destacats com Bronson i IP Man, però de moment parlarem de la pel·lícula que més ens ha agradat de les que hem pogut veure: Mr. Nobody, de Jaco Van Dormael i protagonitzada per Jared Leto (segurament, el més fluixet del film), Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger i Rhys Ifans.

Mr. Nobody s’embarca de ple en un realisme màgic a mig camí entre Synecdoque New York i La ciencia del sueño, afortunadament més propera a l’univers de Kaufman que al de Gondry. La història narra la vida de Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto); el punt d’inflexió es situa quan ha de trïar entre viure amb el seu pare o amb sa mare, després de que es divorcïin; a partir d’aquí, s’obre un ventall de possibilitats sobre els diferents camins que podria haver trïat Nemo a la seva vida, amb una reflexió de Tennessee Williams de rerefons: tots els camins que es poden escollir són tan importants com l’escollit.

La pel·li, per nosaltres una de les fermes candidates al premi a millor pel·li del festival, agradarà i molt quan s’estreni. Esperem que l’espectacular forma de la proposta, un collage visualment captivador, no camufli el  que és una contundent reflexió existencial.

Mr. Nobody keeps holding my interest. It is a Belgian science fiction film, which looks beautifully designed. I hope there is something more to it than just pretty sets, though. The multi-layered stories could get very convoluted–that kind of thing is rarely successful. Jared Leto (Requiem for a Dream) stars, which is pretty exciting. It played at both the Venice Film Festival (where it won for best production designer) and TIFF.

É o seguinte: fala que isso não é bom? Fala e apanha aqui mesmo!

Até a luz favorece! Por isso eu amo fotografia!

*créditos ao 30 Seconds To Mars Believers, de Portugal*

Mr Nobody ciencia ficcíon Europea

Interesante película con toques de fantasia, ciencia ficcion y drama, que llegara este año a los cines y que podra verse ya en el proximo festival de cine de Sitges.

¿ DE QUE VA LA COSA ?

Un hombre lleva una vida normal junto a su mujer y sus 3 hijos. Un dia, da un salto en el tiempo y como por arte de mágia se convierte en el hombre más viejo del mundo en el año 2092. En un futuro donde nadie muere, se ha convertido en el único mortal. Ahora sólo quiere averiguar que ha pasado y recuperar su vida cotidiana junto a su mujer y sus hijos.

Diane Kruger and Jared Leto during a scene in Mr. Nobody

Before the second screening of Mr. Nobody at TIFF’09, the film was introduced by a volunteer festival coordinator; a contingency for director Jaco van Dormael, who was already en route to the airport that day.

“This film will blow your mind,” the volunteer said to the chuckling crowd. “No, seriously,” he continued straight faced. “Good luck wrapping your head around it.” With that he smiled and walked calmly off stage right.

Let it not be said he didn’t warn us.

With Mr. Nobody, writer/director Van Dormael seems to make it his personal mission to mindfuck your brain, eyes and general sense of conceptual narrative into submission.

And like most experiences where you get your brains fucked out, the beautiful moments are plentiful. Even when you don’t know what’s going on or why, you’re still enjoying the hell out of it.

Easily classifiable as an art-house experimental dramadyromanciencefiction film, Mr. Nobody stars Jared Leto as the titular Nemo Nobody. At once a curmudgeonly old man in the year 2092 and an unborn child picking his parents (and every other possible permutation in between), Nobody deals heavily in alternate dimensions; exploring how the simplest decisions, events or even words can completely alter the trajectory of our lives.

Having said that, let me assure you: this is not Sliding Doors.

Or, perhaps it is, but only so much as a paper airplane is like an Airbus A380. The film’s tagline; “Nothing is real, everything is possible” is not just a clever marketing slogan — it is an accurate and succinct description of what to expect from this movie.

Despite the convoluted plot (or, more honestly, inconceivably incomprehensible plot), what you’ll see when watching this film is enough to keep you riveted and, importantly, forgiving.

Subtle colour themes differentiate realities and stories without being overly gaudy, Van Dormael crafts some incredibly complex transitions, the cinematography steals your breath from forests to outer space and a utopian CGI future is as polished and believable as any ever set to film. Mr. Nobody is easily — undoubtedly — one of the most visually jaw-dropping movies this year.

Moreover, just because the greater story is confusing doesn’t mean there aren’t some wonderful parts. Sarah Polley is brilliant (and under utilized) as a manic depressive housewife, Leto manages to show surprising range in his myriad roles and teenage actors Juno Temple and Toby Regbo portray Nobody’s adolescent romance and sexual discovery poignantly, down to the rawest nerve and emotion.

Clocking in at a sprawling 140 minutes, Mr. Nobody is a polarizing film. A friend who was at the premiere gala mentioned that one of the questions posed to the French director afterwards was simply: “Come on. Really?” Such is its ability to come off as pretentious post-modern puff.

Make no mistake though, technically, visually and even if you don’t like or understand it, narratively, Mr. Nobody pushes the boundaries of cinema past all your wildest expectations.

Give it a chance and you’ll come out positively glowing.

Gorgeous, experimental, mind-boggling, disorienting, fiercely complex, incredibly high-concept, and truly original, Jaco Van Dormael’s “Mr. Nobody” is the most fascinating science fiction film I have ever seen. And it’s beautifully shot to boot.

It’s hard to know where to even begin with describing this beast. And it is a beast of a film. Running at two and a half hours, your brain constantly racking and racing, synapses firing at lightening speed to try to keep up with the plot, which fragments and spins in a thousand directions into just as many plotlines, skipping back and forth in time and universes, it is not an easy watch. It is an absorbing experience though, and will be appreciated as a cult favorite for the devoted thinking science fiction fans.

Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto) wakes up one day to find himself the oldest mortal alive in 2092. Humanity has conquered mortality through an endless renewal of cells, and the world now watches in fascination as Mr. Nobody, the last mortal alive, edges towards death. Everyone wants to know the life that he has lived. Nemo, memory fading, spits out contradictory pieces as he is prodded, and no one is sure what happened and what didn’t. Did he fall in love or become a bum? Did he take care of his ailing father or became a successful businessman? Did he die after being rejected by the love of his life or married the first girl he saw at the school dance? Did he drown in a car in the lake or at the bottom of his own swimming pool? Did he drown at all? Or was it a car accident? Wait, how can he be dead and alive at the same time?

These are just a few, I repeat, a few, of the possibilities posed in “Mr. Nobody”. The film is simply sumptuous, a feast for your senses. It references the big bang theory, the nature of time, superstring theory, and memory – the thought that the universes splits whenever you make a decision, and allows countless versions of yourself to exist simultaneously, in parallel universes, living out every possible version of your life. What an idea. What a concept. Haven’t we all thought of this at one time or another, if only for a fleeting second? What it would be like to be able to find out what would have happened when you took the other path. We’ve all been torn at a fork in the road, and free will means that we weight the possibilities as best as we can, with the information available to us at the time, and make a choice. We go on living our lives none the wiser, because time is only linear and proceeds in one direction. That old saying “You can’t turn back time” – imagine if that was not true.

In the end, however, we discover that this is a human story. It all boils down to a little boy and the impossible choice that he faces. It’s a choice that should not be thrusted upon any child, and it was thrusted upon Nemo. Just like that adorable little clownfish who set off on the journey of a lifetime, Nemo set off on his, all of his, actually. The weight of the decision ungluing him at that very moment from the temporal dimension of linear time as we know it, and saw him pursuing all possible lives in parallel. What girl does he end up falling for, what life he ends up living, remains a mystery until the very end. It doesn’t really matter though, because this is a case where the journey actually does matter more.

Even though Nemo supposely only has three main lives in the film, Leto revealed in an interview that he actually plays 12 different versions of one character, and that some we only see in background, one only in one scene. It is an amazing performance. I thought he was great ever since “Requiem for a Dream” and then in “Lord of War.” This role cements him as a solid character actor. His face is somehow suitable for science fiction – it sounds weird, but there is something futuristic about his eyes, you can almost see right through them. He also seems to have a penchant for strange, non-linear characters. I hope he does more of them.

What kind of mind does Jaco van Dormael need to possess in order to come up with a story like this, and then a coherent script to share it with the world, is extraordinary. The fact that despite alternative universes and alternative endings that simply defy the restraints of normal narrative, the plot is surprisingly easy to follow, is another kudo to Van Dormael’s genius. When he came on stage for the Q&A, Ryerson theatre erupted into a spontaneous standing ovation and applause. Van Dormael looked genuinely shocked, and then a look of pure thankfulness spread across his face and he put his right hand over his heart and fell to his knees. It was a mutual love affair.

Van Dormael revealed that the idea came to him over 7 years ago, and he wrote the script as it is, with the multiple plotlines intermixed. Throughout the years, he would go back, rewrite certain plotlines, mix them up some more, then move forward and write more, then go back and rewrite, repeat about 10 and 15 times and 7 years in passing and the result is the final script for the film. It made me dizzy just listening to him in that thick Belgian accented English.

Van Dormael has only made two feature films in a 16 year career, but both films have had a profound impact on the world of arthouse cinema. His 1991 feature debut, “Toto le héros”, a surrealistic story about a guy who believes he was switched at birth with another boy, won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival as best first film. His other feature came in 1996 as “Le Huitième jour”, a film about a man with Down’s syndrome, garnered best actor awards at Cannes that year for both Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne. You can tell that he’s the sort of person that is completely dictated by his creativity, probably to a fault. But I am thankful, to know that someone with such vision exists. And I believe it is a privilege to be able to peek into the mind of such a master, even if it’s through a screen.

In an interview for the Gazette while shooting in Montreal, Van Dormael said “It’s about the infinite possibilities facing any person. There are good or bad choices in life. It’s simply that each choice will create another life for you. What’s interesting is to be alive.”

Agreed. This is a film like no other, and one that will be talked about in years to come. There is no right or wrong choice here. The interesting choice, however, would be to watch it.

Morri, beijos.

“I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid I haven’t been alive enough”
Kan inte vänta tills Mr. Nobody kommer till Sverige. Den har premiär idag i Venice Film Festival. Så lär komma hit om ett par månader.
Regissör: Jaco van Dormael
Skådespelare: Jared Leto, Diane Kruger, Sarah Polley

OUR TOWN: Still the biggest draw in the history of CBC Radio, Jian Ghomeshi and Q return for a new season this morning with special guest

DAMON: on 'Q' this morning

Matt Damon. Damon, in town for the TIFF screening of his new flick The Informant, has now been named the recipient of the American Cinemateque Award next March, following in the footsteps of previous honourees Julia Roberts and Samuel A. Jackson … French DJ David Guetta, who rocked the Guvernment on Sunday night, is scheduled to greet fans at MuchMusic today. His new CD One Love debuted here at #2 … don’t look for Tony Bennett at the opening of TIFF on Thursday. He’ll be serenading fans at Casino Rama …  sidewalk star owner Anne Murray returns to King Street this weekend to host Blue Rodeo, Kim Cattrall, Tom Cochrane, Howie Mandel and Robert Munsch, among

BENNETT: Barrie-bound

others, at the 12th annual Canada’s Walk of Fame Tribute … speaking of veteran music-makers, Loggins & Messina are set to play Fallsview Casino this coming Friday and Saturday nights. Slightly closer to home, The Smothers Brothers play Casino Rama on Friday followed by Black Crowes on Saturday … terminally gorgeous Cheryl Tiegs brightened Breakfast Television this morning in City TV’s new digs at Yonge-Dundas Square … keep wishing you could go on one of those sensational tours of Ontario wine country? Me too. Especially when I learned that more than 90 (!!) Ontario wines will be available for sampling next week at Taste Ontario, a one-night-only event at the Art Gallery Of Ontario: “Tour the best of wine country for only $45!” Hey, I’d love to! … but alas, it’s all sold out.

MS. SOMEBODY: We loved her work as a writer and director on Away From Her, but we must admit we’re really looking forward to seeing her on

POLLEY: on screen again in Mr Nobody

screen again. Sarah Polley, who seems to get better and better each time we see her, co-stars with Jared Leto, Diane Kruger and Linh-Dan Pham in Mr. Nobody, a new TIFF entry by much-admired Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael. Insiders whisper you should add it to your Must List right now … meanwhile Polley’s Oscar-nominated Away From Her leading lady, iconic British beauty Julie Christie, also co-stars in a new Special Presentation film: Glorious 39, from director Stephen Poliakoff … and TIFF-bound filmmaker Joe Dante, currently on jury duty at the Venice Film Festival, will wing his way

CHRISTIE: Polley protegee (AP)

here in time to introduce his new film The Hole as well as a special TIFF screening of the W.C. Fields classic It’s A Gift.

WILL ‘CATCH ME’ CATCH ON?: In the Good Ol’ Bad Ol’ Days, gentle reader, Hollywood took big Broadway musicals and turned them into lavish movie musicals. Now Broadway takes movies like Hairspray and Billy Elliott and turns them into lavish stage musicals. Latest casualty is Dolly Parton’s tuneful 9 to 5, which closed Saturday night. Newest pretender about to open on the Great White Way? The musical version of Catch Me If You Can, the hit Steven Spielberg drama with Leonardo DiCaprio as a compulsive but irresistible

DICAPRIO: with foxy flight attendants in Catch Me If You Can

impostor. Leo is not, I repeat, not repeating his role on Broadway. But with a book by Terrence McNally (The Full Monty) and music and lyrics by Hairspray duo Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman, the show is already creating some boxoffice sizzle.

Still to come in the new year: Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family, and the $40 million musical extravaganza Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, directed by Julie Taymor.

TOMORROW:

new films for Leo,  Zach and Charlize — and 13 Essential directors

-/-

Fem un repàs de les pel·lícules de la Secció Oficial que competiran per endur-se els premis del 42è Festival de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya. Entre les que opten a premi, trobem produccions espanyoles, com la pel·lícula que inaugurarà el festival, l’esperada REC 2, i Ingrid, de les quals ja vàrem parlar a BCNCultura, i Hierro, òpera prima de Gabe Ibañez protagonitzada per Elena Anaya. A més de les ja citades, destaquen altres propostes amb un marcat to hiperrealista que buscaran tant el patiment i l’angoixa com l’admiració i els aplaudiments. Enter the Void, Kinatay i The Children són algunes de les pel·lícules faran les delícies d’espectadors i de membres del jurat, impacients per passar-ho meravellosament malament gaudint de cinema de qualitat terrorífica.

Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Solo contra todos), presentarà Enter the Void; la pel·lícula, estrenada a Cannes i com sempre passa amb les seves pel·lis, no va passar desapercebuda gràcies a la cruesa narrativa i temàtica, com és habitual en el cineasta argentí. Enter the Void, història rodada a Tokio, narra les viviències d’ un jove inestable que es fa càrrec de la seva germana petita després de la brutal mort de llurs pares. La contundència de Gaspar Noé és sempre un bon reclam per veure les seves pel·lis, contrastant amb una fotografia preciosista de la capital nipona. Nathaniel Brown, Marina Stone, Sara Stockbridge, Paz de la Huerta i Olly Alexander són els protagonistes.

Kinatay de Brillante Mendoza, padrí del nou cinema filipí representat per directors joves com Raya Martín o Máximo Oliveros. La trama no s’està per romanços, i l’estil narratiu per menys: consisteix en un brutal segrest amb final infeliç, rodat amb primers plans desbordats de tensió i terror. Brillante Mendoza va endur-se el premi de millor director al darrer Festival de Cannes. La pel·lícula té una posada en escena demolidora i un ritme narratiu vertiginós, accentuant la duríssima trama. Coco Martín, actor habitual de Mendoza, és el protagonista; interpreta a un jove que necessitat de diners es veu implicat en un salvatge segrest. Mercedes Cabral i Maria Isabel López encapçalen el repartiment d’aquest thriller ultrarrealista habitat per prostitutes, drogues, negocis clandestins i sang.

Entre les altres noms que competiran en la Secció Oficial trobem el de Vincenzo Natali. El director de Cube torna a Sitges amb Splice, interpretada per Adrian Brody i Sarah Polley. El debat sobre els límits de la ciència i les friccions morals que provoca està servit: interpreten a dos investigadors que busquen donar un salt en l’evolució genètica. L’anglesa The Children, dirigida per Tom Shankland, proposa una trama, al més pur estil de Los chicos del maíz i de ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?, on els adorables nens es veuen contagiats per un virus que els converteix en assassins d’adults. Pels més morbosos trobem Ne te retourne pas, de Marina de Van, amb Monica Belluci i Sophie Marceau, on una escriptora pateix una série de canvis físics que la trastornen de tal manera que no sap ni qui és.

De Grace, Thirst, Yatterman i The Countess vàrem parlar fa uns dies. De Mr. Nobody, Cold Soul, Accident i Dorian Gray, ho fem ara. Aquest última és l’adaptació del clàssic a càrrec d’ Oliver Parker (Otelo). Ben Barnes (Crónicas de Narnia) és Dorian Gray, Colin Firth és Lord Henry Wotton, amb Rebecca Hall com a Emily Wotton completant l’atractiu repartiment. Mr. Nobody, de Jaco Van Dormael i protagonitzat per Diane Kruger, Jared Leto i Sarah Polley, explica la història d’un home de 120 anys; la dita xinesa sobre l’ anomenat efecte mariposa és el rerefons de la pel·li. De Cold Souls sabem que està protagonitzada pel sempre efectiu Paul Giamatti; d’Accident, que és un thriller urbà dirigit pel director de Hong Kong Soi Cheang i produït per Johnnie To i que va passar força desapercebuda dissabte a la Mostra de Venècia.

Només manquen 24 dies per l’inici del festival. És el moment de fer-se la llista de pel·lícules que un vol veure. Nosaltres de moment apuntem Thirst, Kinatay, Enter The Void i The Children, de la que us ofreim el tràiler a continuació.