The Help Trailer

Having just finished the book, I am incredibly excited to see the film adaptation of The Help. Of course, a book vs film review will be up here just as soon as humanly possible.

The film is already out in the USA - and has had rave reviews so far - but for UK fans, it will be hitting our screens on October 26th. Here is the trailer for those who haven't yet seen it.  Are you excited? Will it be a great book to film conversion or a disaster?

Leave your comments below...

The Avengers get a full trailer!

It needs no introduction from me... just marvel

There was a sneak peak after the credits of Captain America, pictures have been revealed. And now finally – we have a trailer!

Directed by Buffy’s own Joss Whedon, The Avengers isn’t due out until next year but has been eagerly anticipated by fans. The film sees Marvel’s finest including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Hulk all come together to “avenge” the planet. With a cast including Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L Jackson… what more could you want?

My Week with Marilyn gets a new trailer

My Week with Marilyn sees Michelle Williams taking the title role and also stars two of Britain's finest - Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier and Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike. Julia Ormond plays Vivien Leigh and Dougray Scott plays Arthur Miller. Emma Watson also stars in what looks to be a much smaller role - but an important one no doubt as it's her first post-Harry Potter.

The film sees a number of great actors playing a number of great actors – so with very big shoes to fill, can they pull it off? The film is due out in November in the UK. See what you think of the trailer…

Albatross Q&A with star Jessica Brown Findlay and writer Tamzin Rafn

Actress Jessica Brown Findlay had not yet been cast in Downton Abbey - the show she is now recognised for - when she auditioned for the role of Emelia in Albatross. She decided to audition for the role by pretending to be like the character Emelia. When she was cast in the role, they were surprised to find she was actually incredibly shy.

The film was shot on location on the Isle of Man - in the middle of Winter. When asked what she thought of the location, Findlay commented that there was horizontal rain but the people were friendly and the landscape "cinematic". "It comes across so beautifully," she said.

Writer Tamzin Rafn said that when she wrote the scene where Emelia runs into the sea, she imagined it being done in Summer, but was horrified when they shot it on a very cold day. But Findlay cannot take credit for this scene as it was actually filmed by a double - someone a little more accustomed to the cold water.

The racy scenes were a far cry from Findlay's Downton character Lady Sybil but she pulled them off with apparent ease. On snogging her co-star Sebastian Koch, Findlay said that her mother was very jealous - and her dad, well he was less impressed. There is also a lot of swearing in the film, which Rafn admits she was a little suprised by. Some of the cast, she said, ad-libbed and she had to explain to her parents that she didn't put quite that many "fucks" into the script.

Rafn also explained that many changes were made from her original script to the finished product - but ones she seems to be incredibly happy with. When she wrote the script, she made it as funny as possible but it is director MacCormick that she claims added the drama. She and MacCormick also worked closely with actor Sebastian Koch, who feared that Jonathan would come across as nothing more than a pervy old man. He requested more takes to make sure it was just right. Also, Beth was not originally such a major character, but it was decided that she had to be more of an equal to Emelia.

So what is next for Findlay and Rafn? Well Rafn still has her day job and will continue writing in her spare time as she always has (for now at least) while Findlay is off to start filming a new adaption of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth so she'll be going "medieval" with her next project.

Special thanks to Lovefilm for organising such a great screening!

Pictures: Copyright CinemaNX

Tyrannosaur Q&A with Paddy Considine, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan

Thanks to the lovely folks over at the Phoenix Cinema, I was fortunate enough to attend a Q&A session with Tyrannosaur Writer and Director of the film Paddy Considine, along with two of the film's stars - Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan.

Considine talked a lot about this being his directorial debut and showed unashamedly his complete adoration for his cast members. On Colman's performance, he said she was "a force of nature" and it was "a transformation of the soul". There was no gaining weight or changing your hairstyle. This was an entirely different transformation, he explained.

On directing in particular, Considine said that he had worked on so many film sets in the past and just knew that he had to stand out on his own and "make my own stories". He admits that acting is not his primary form of expression.

On Considine's skills as a director, Colman said that he was "so passionate, so fair" and everyone just loved him which made it easier to get things done. The entire film was shot in only four weeks and Colman insists that it was "not long enough".

When I asked all three how they prepared for the film, given the sensitive subject of domestic violence, Considine said he was familiar with the environment, though clarified he did not mean his own parents, Colman said she worked with an abuse charity and read a couple of case studies - which she argued were so horrific that if they were in the film, nobody would have believed they were true. She also said that Eddie Marsan is such an incredible actor that he was terrifying. And as Considine added, it's not acting - it's reacting. When filming one of the dramatic final scenes, Considine allocated a lot of time to allow Colman sufficient time and care to reach the places she would have to reach to really pull off the scene. But then, when it came to shooting, she just "tore the place apart".

All three talked a lot about the script. Marsan and Colman both said they had most of the preparation they needed in the script itself because it was so well written, it was all there for them. Marsan said: "The characters were so clear. It was written by an actor." Even Considine admitted that he didn't write the script just to have actors "improvise" with it. When asked if it was easy to give his script over to his actors, if they had suggestions, he added: "It's easy to give it over to good actors, it's not easy to give it over to wankers [laughs]."

When asked how they kept themselves from getting bogged down in the seriousness of the film's theme - Considine joked that they had a bouncy castle on set. "They do their best work when at ease," he said.

He also stuck up for British cinema and said it was time to stop apologising for British cinema and just make great films - to rapturous applause.

Considine spoke openly about his recent diagnosis with Asbergers Syndrome and explained that he was actually quite relieved to know he wasn't "mentally ill" as he has been told since he was a teenager. He says it has not restricted him in his film-making. He is focused and wrote the script to Tyrannosaur in a week and prefers being "on the outside looking in". He actually found it easier directing as he was running the ship.

So will this be the end to Considine's acting career?... "I will act again," he says. "I've got family. It's alright. [laughs] I haven't done my best work yet. I like to think there's another few discoveries on the way..."

Well Paddy - so do we... so do we!

Review - Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosaur is Paddy Considine's baby. He wrote and directed it and in his own words: "It is the film I always wanted to make." To sum up what the film is about in one sentence would, I fear, do it a disservice. It's a complex tale with many lives interweaving - but at the centre of it all are two people. These two people, both damaged in their own way, form an unlikely bond. Joseph, played by Peter Mullen, first meets Hannah (Olivia Colman) after he has thrown a brick through a shop window and decides to hide in a nearby shop. Alone in the shop, Hannah is forced to talk to him. It is this chance meeting that starts their relationship.

It gives nothing away to say that Joseph is a massively violent and abusive man - the opening scene sees him kick a dog to death in a fit of rage and blurt out expletive after expletive as though there were no other words in the English language. So when Hannah, who we see soon after is a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of husband James (Eddie Marsan), forms a relationship with Joseph, it is jarring but sort of comforting. At least he will be able to protect her from her violent husband, you think - unless he hurts her himself.

There are two moments of animal cruelty in the film, a fair few punches and what can only be called one-sided fights and one incident of utterly horrific human on human violence that will leave you stunned. But if you can get past all of that, this is a cinematic masterpiece.

Joseph opens the film, as I said, by kicking a dog to death. Yet you are still invested in him as the film progresses. Mullen is such a phenomenal actor that he brings you into his constant battle with his violent outbursts. It is something that seems very much beyond his control and watching him try to fight the urge to lash out is compelling viewing indeed. He also doesn't know how to be around people. He is abrasive and snappy. So when Hannah prays for him and shows him kindness, he is moved in a way he doesn't fully comprehend.

 

DIY


Hannah is the most fascinating character of all though. Solitary in her work in a charity shop, she is often devoid of human company. She has a strong belief in God, which she uses to get her through her struggles and goes from happy, smiley "I fell in the bathtub" to shaking with fear vulnerability in a second. Known largely as a comedic actress in Peep Show and Hot Fuzz, Colman has done a performance here that should not just win every British award going but every award - period! She never over-plays the role and gives Hannah just that little bit something extra. She is feisty and conflicted and more than just a one-dimensional victim. She has depths you don't see coming.

All in all, the acting, the script and the direction make for a completely brilliant film. It is a snapshot into the lives of the two leads in the time when their paths converge and where that snapshot will take them is anyone's guess. The only fault I can find in the film is the intensity of the violence, which many film-goers will just find too much to bear. But even that is needed to really bring out the heart of the film.

A perfectly acted and written cinematic masterpiece, occasionally too unbearable to watch.

4.5/5 FOBLES

Tyrannosaur hits UK cinemas this Friday 7th October.

For Q&A with Paddy Considine, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan click here

 

Review - Albatross

Directed by Niall MacCormick and written by newcomer Tamzin Rafn, Albatross is the story of Emelia and what happens to a family who live and work in a beach house when the new cleaner, 17-year-old Emelia shows up. The film stars Sebastian Koch as dad Jonathan, Julia Ormond as mum Joa, Felicity Jones as bookish teenage daughter Beth and Jessica Brown Findlay as the whirlwind Emelia that turns their family upside-down.

Orphaned Emelia has been raised by her grandparents. She is a very forthright character, not afraid to speak her mind - a fact the audience is made aware of quickly as her first encounter with Jonathan is to find him masturbating in his study. Instead of running away and hoping he hadn't heard her (as many would do!) Emelia knocks and stands at the door waiting for his reaction. He tells her she doesn't need to clean in that room. "Are you sure?" she responds. "Seems pretty dirty to me."

Jonathan takes an instant shine to Emelia as she excites him out of his unhappy marriage and writers block. But Jonathan is not the only one who has taken a shine to Emelia. Daughter Beth finds her intriguing and when Emelia is invited to dinner by Beth, Jonathan learns that she is an aspiring writer and offers to teach her creative writing - in secret. After a few sessions of her coming onto him, Jonathan succumbs to Emelia's charms and the two start an affair.

Emelia's two new relationships - with Jonathan and Beth develop simultaneously which is what makes the affair all the more realistic. If Emelia had been friends with Beth first, she wouldn't have considered it. But as she gets closer to Beth, she realises how wrong it is. The fear is not that the parents will split up if the affair is discovered - they are so nasty to each other you want them to break up at this point! - but that Emelia and Beth will end their friendship, a friendship so vital to each of them. This is not just about Emelia teaching Beth how to loosen up - after all, Beth appears to be so into her studies as her own form of escapism from her constantly bickering parents. Emelia is equally impressed with Beth, with her intelligence and quiet determination.

Each character is completely flawed and relatable and the comedic timing of Beth's younger sister Posy is spot-on, offering light-hearted relief amongst the drama. The arguments between mum and dad are hilarious to watch but you know that if they were your parents you'd be shoving ear plugs in just like Beth does. It is this brilliant and perfectly balanced mix between drama and comedy that makes the film such a delight to watch and a gem in British Cinema.

Emelia is a fascinating character, rebellious and outspoken but also caring and desperate to be loved. She clutches to any kind of history she can and struggles constantly with her own identity. She is funny and honest in her ups and downs which makes her immensely likeable. You want her to find happiness and you want her to do well. Watching the impact she has on the family - and them on her - is a thing of beauty.

Albatross hits UK screens on 14th October.

4/5 FOBLES

Pictures: Copyright CinemaNX

For Q&A with star Jessica Brown Findlay and writer Tamzin Rafn click here.