Che – Part 2 (2009) & 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sort of….
Yeah, so I know I said I would be abandoning my recent trend of Monday matinees but sometimes events conspire to make me a liar. Having already taken the day off to stay up for the Oscars I realised I have a number of movies and film events in the pipeline over the coming few weeks, therefore I really should be making the most of my spare time to ensure I catch what else I can when I can, I really enjoyed the first part of Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Che‘ diptych so a cinema visit to round off the project was essential. I’m glad I reconsidered.
‘Che – Part 2‘ follows neatly on from the events in Part 1, concentrating on the revolutionary struggle that the guerrilla icon spearheaded in Bolivia during 1967. In an effort to replicate his earlier successes Che travels incognito to the Latin American battleground and swiftly ingratiates himself with the fledgling Communist revolution against the US bankrolled puppet government of President Barrientos. In a protracted and grim land campaign the uprising is incrementally crushed, the machinations of both the Soviet and American superpowers ultimately rendering the insurrection as doomed to failure. He never really stood a chance.
Together these two films form a powerful cinematic experience, like LOTR ‘Che’ is essentially one film partitioned (yeah I know LOTR was three but you know what I mean) into two distinct segments, I look forward to the DVD/Blu-Ray release to spend a long afternoon puzzling over this enigma. I particularly like the way Soderbergh avoids any obvious psycho-babble to explain Che’s drive and passion, there are no flashbacks in either film to any childhood brushes with authority or some clumsy formative experience that would explain his zealous and all consuming devotion to the cause. The film is much more linear that Part One, there are no trademark Soderbergh hopscotching around the tale’s time-frame, it starts with his arrival in Bolivia, moves through the unfolding events month by month and concludes with his (Erm, SPOILERS) final betrayal and execution. Another first class performance from Del Toro keeps the man ambiguous with a clear aura of charisma that inspired his troops and subsequent student radicals over the past forty years . There were a few unexpected faces in the film, the actress from ‘Run Lola Run‘ as Tania and Lou Diamond Philips of all people as the communist leader Mario Monje, the most surprising appearance however was a blink and you’ll miss it thirty second turn from this blog’s favourite member of FAG. The final few scenes are expertly sculpted, a gripping battle closes the film leading to a sombre yet memorable conclusion. Quite an achievement, more of this type of stuff please? OK, thanks.
So you’re probably wondering what I mean by ‘sort of’. A few weeks ago I noticed in the local press that something called the Starlight Cinema was hosting a free screening of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey‘ in Canary Wharf. So lets see, Minty’s favourite film, being shown in a free screening on his doorstep – how could I possibly overlook this? I ambled over to the venue and realised that the film was being projected in a business hall I had attended a conference at a couple of years ago, not the most auspicious of environments to see the film but I soldiered on. Unfortunately it was soon revealed that the film was being video projected on a small screen and worst of all as the film began it appeared that some technical genius had screwed up the contrast settings, the projection was out of alignment and there was visible interference between the shifting colors on the AV system that was obviously designed for PowerPoint presentations, not film screenings. You can imagine my reaction. I had planned to to pick up the Blu-Ray of the film to celebrate a certain impending anniversary – more on this early next month – so bailed out after the opening ‘Dawn Of Man’ sequence, for a free screening I can’t really complain although I would have been pissed if I’d had to leg it across London for this experience. C’est la vie.
Academy Awards Results 2009
So that’s that for another year. Through the wonders of the Internet I managed to find an illicit live feed to see the events unfold live, anything to avoid a Sky subscription works in my book. I quite liked the different approach to the ceremony, clasping together similarly themed awards to keep things ticking over at a brisk pace. That said there were no real amusing or entertaining moments and I can certainly do without the musical interludes. Jerry Lewis was succinct, Jackman was invisible and forgettable, I wish they’d had a Steve Martin or someone to make some ‘live’ comments thoughout, that makes proceedings a bit more immediate and well, entertaining. Overall a pretty drab and uneventful ceremony, tempered with good night for my countrymen and women though.
Performance By An Actor
Did I get it right? Well, no. Blimey. There has been commentary going around that Rourke’s antics when winning other prizes has soured his Oscars chances, I guess they were right. Penn was good but I really thought Mickey was gonna win.
- Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Did I get it right? Hell yes.
Superb, no surprise but regardless of the tragedy the man deserved this win. I also liked Walken’s slightly off-kilter bow-tie. I can only imagine at how the Internet would have imploded if Heath had lost.
- Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
Did I get it right? Yes.
Us ‘Brits’ have done well again this year it seems.
- Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Did I get it right? Yes.
I guess I’ll have to see the damn film now.
- Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
Best animated feature film of the year
Did I get it right? Yup, and a worthy winner.
- “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton
Achievement in art direction
Did I get it right? Yes.
Good stuff. I’m already looking forward to seeing this again.
- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Achievement in cinematography
Did I get it right? Yes.
Knew it.
- “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
Did I get it right? Nope.
Should have stuck with my first instincts. Bollocks. Nice to see another British win though.
- “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
Achievement in directing
Did I get it right? Oh for fucks sake. No I didn’t. Pretty good speech though.
- “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
Did I get it right? Yes.
Best award preamble, Herzog was ebullient as always. Nice magic trick.
- “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
Best documentary short subject
Did I get it right? Fuck no.
Oh well.
- “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
Achievement in film editing
Did I get it right? Fuck no.
Not a surprise, as soon as Will Smith started reading the nominees I realised I was wrong. Oh well.
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
Did I get it right? No.
Blimey, bit of a shock.
“Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
Achievement in makeup
Did I get it right? Yes.
Phew, glad I changed my mind.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Did I get it right? Nah.
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Did I get it right? No. I’m getting sick of this movie.
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
Did I get it right? Yes. It’s 5 o clock in the morning. Who cares…..
“Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
Did I get it right? Nope.
It was a guess. OK? The clip looked good so I’ll have to track this down.
“La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
Best live action short film
Did I get it right? Nah.
If I’d known there was a another Nazi film in there I would have adjusted accordingly. Never mind.
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
Did I get it right? Surprisingly yes. Happy with that.
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
Achievement in sound mixing
Did I get it right? No. The little robot fella was robbed.
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
Achievement in visual effects
Did I get it right? Yes.
Much more integrated into the story, less ostentatious and a worthy winner.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
Adapted screenplay
Did I get it right? Nope.
Hmm, far from my ideal choice but so it goes.
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
Did I get it right? Nah, but quite happy to see ‘Milk’ take this one.
“Milk (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
Minty's Menagerie 
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