The Happening & In Search Of The Midnight Kiss
It was my birthday last Tuesday and for some reason I really was not interested in the traditional celebratory drink, I must be getting old plus I knew that friends were descending en-masse at the weekend so I’d save my liver until then. I did however want to do something to celebrate so naturally I gravitated to the cinema and the only release that held the slightest interest was M Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Happening‘. I’m not really a fan of his work, especially since sitting through the terrible ‘Lady In The Water’ a couple of weeks ago but what he can occasionally pull off are very effective, tension building sequences which display a certain mastery of cinematic rhythm, editing and sound to construct some nail-biting sequences. For what it’s worth the plot involves husband and wife Mark Whalberg and the cute Zooey Dechanel as teachers caught up in a unspecified terrible event that has struck America. Terrorist attack? Bio-weapon plague? Credit Crunch? Well, not quite…
Well, the best I can say about it is that it’s only 90 minutes long. It is utterly preposterous when the cause of the ‘happening’ is revealed and there is some truly terrible, 
terrible dialogue and absurd plot developments. A couple of spooky moments aside you have a $57 million B movie and hey, I like B movies but not when they think they’re like, really significant and important. The film is obsessed with showing the viewer just how contemporary it is whilst jamming an absurd environmental message down your throat which has probably set back the whole movement a couple of decades. Major spoilers but an amusing dissection of the film here, suffice to say do not bother.
I followed this up with another cinema visit yesterday as last years record number of visits isn’t going to break itself now is it? I had some time to kill before an NFT event so I opted for Philip French’s film of the week, ‘In Search Of A Midnight Kiss‘. The film can be summarised as a monochrome LA set version of Before Sunset where struggling writer Wilson posts a lonely heart column on Craiglist in search of a date for New Years Eve. He 
gets his wish in the form of the abrasive Vivian and they spend an eventful evening together – but what will the New Year bring? This was quite entertaining, in that usual independent, low budget American sort of way. Some taut dialogue papers over some unnecessary scenes and plot faults, overall if like me you find hilarious the prospect of someone being caught jerking off over photo-shopped pictures of his flatmates girlfriend like Wilson does in the films opening scene, then this is worth a watch.
The highlight of the week however was hosted over at the NFT – a premiere of the first episode of Season 5 of ‘The Wire’ with an interview with the series creative mastermind, David Simon. The episode itself was of the usual fantastic 
quality and it was an absolute joy, with spoilers in mind, to see a certain character back where he belongs – fans will know what I mean. ‘Wire’ acolyte Charlie Brooker hosted and Simon gave 
eloquent and detailed answers to the questions, revealing how the seasons were put together with specific areas to examine (the media in Season 5) whilst providing realistic story arcs and never, never cheating the integrity of the varied roster of characters. Here is the opening scene (again, no spoilers but it will give you a flavour of the show), I cannot wait until this is out and I can devote a weekend to the final ten hours of quite simply one of the top five TV shows of all time. Simon revealed that Obama had recently been quoted as saying ‘The Wire’ is his favourite TV show and quite hysterically that Omar is his favourite character – for you non Wire fans Omar is a homicidal bi-sexual career criminal who almost suicidally preys on drug dealers. A perfect role model for the next president I think <oh, the satire…>
Just to round things off let me give you some recommendations of films old and new I’ve caught recently. I watched the magnificent ‘Mulholland Drive‘ with a film theorist commentary that has been posted on the web. This managed 
to clear up some of the questions and mysteries that orbit the film and it is on reflection a much more straightforward tale than I suspected. It’s certainly up there as amongst Lynch’s best along with ‘Eraserhead‘, ‘The Elephant Man‘ and of course ‘Blue Velvet‘ and remains a thoroughly mesmerising film. Plus I really, really like Naomi Watts which helps….
Park Chan-Wook’s follow up to the acclaimed ‘Oldboy‘ was the amusingly titled ‘I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK‘ which sees him dropping the fascination with revenge films for a charming romantic comedy. Yeah, right. interesting to see he’s making a full on horror film, that should be pretty intense. I can also recommend this and this for some classical, traditional Hollywood entertainment.
Flotsam & Jetsam XV
Been quiet for a while hasn’t it? I haven’t had much to blog about as I actually haven’t seen anything on the big screen, it seems that the usual glut of good films that grace cinemas in Q1 of the year has dried up and we are in the barren no-mans land until the summer blockbusters are unleashed. God help us all. I’ve also been busy trying to sort out a new flat which has gone less than smoothly, more on that little adventure later. Nevertheless dear reader I have picked up some interesting little sites and links for your perusal…
Intriguing little project here, an analysis of the opening shots of a number of movies with some thoughtful comments from bloggers such as yours truly. The quiz is pretty tricky, I got 7 from that one and a much better 8/10 out of the easier quiz. Couldn’t get either of the bonus shots, they were a nightmare. You? On the other side of the spectrum, here is a project for only the bravest of film fans.
I’ve been getting into a great podcast called the ‘Hollywood Saloon’ which you can access here. It’s run by a couple of guys who really know their stuff as a couple of LA based film makers and editors themselves who riff on a variety of topics from DVD rip-offs and formant wars, director’s cut special editions, three hour masterclasses concentrating on one director or series of films, a discussion of the best car chases – loads of stuff. The shows themselves are not just two talking heads which even for me can swiftly turn incredibly dull but they’ll employ the soundtrack or musical score to the films they are talking about running under the commentary and discussion punctuated with film clips or interview excerpts which gives the series a much more polished, professional radio transmission quality. Highly recommended.
So, I finally caught up with ‘The Wire’ and finished off Season 4 – don’t worry I’ve kept this all spoiler free as any bitch who spiked this play would be gone fr’ real. I’ve been thinking about it and have concluded that this show is probably the best American TV show ever made, quite how it gets better and better with each Season is just astounding. For me it kind of flatlined in Season 2 but was and is still light years ahead of its HBO peers, ‘The Sopranos’ or ‘Deadwood’ narrowly excluded. Season 4 focuses on the schools of Baltimore and the experiences of four young kids as they progress through the system each to a quite different conclusion and period in their lives – if this season had a motto it would be ‘Kids will learn – its a question of where’. The unobstructed realism culled from the show’s primary creative team being a retired Baltimore cop and journalist, both residents of the city for over thirty years I think is what really elevates this programme amongst its peers. There are zero concessions to melodramatics and cliche, the reality of the show and its characters (naturally based on amalgamations of real people, from street dealer all the way up to the Mayor) lead logically to conclusions and fates where even the most beloved of characters are in peril as events in Season 3 amply proved.
They manage to keep close to a dozen story arcs in the air simultaneously, intertwining and meshing them together to deliver a stunning critique of the current status quo in America. Absolute first class entertainment and I cannot fucking wait for the fifth and final season that recently aired in the states which I understand focuses on the role of the media and press in the whole sick system. For the record my favourite characters is probably Omar. Oh, and Cutty is pretty cool. But then again I can’t exclude Bodie can I? . Or indeed Bubbles or of course Bunk. Well, and then of course there’s McNulty. It would be a crime (ho, ho) to omit the chilling Avon Barksdale of course. Or Stringer. Yup, the show is densely populated with well realised, amazing and engaging characters. I might just have to resurrect my on line download procedures as I don’t think I can’t wait until Season 5 gets a DVD release….
EDIT – Fantastic timing, I’ve just had the NFT schedule for June come through and it looks like they’re premiering the first episode of Season 5 followed with an interview and Q&A with creator David Simon. There’s a man I would genuinely like to shake the hand off and thank for so many hours of sheer entertainment.
For this miscellaneous post here are some film clips based around moving home and getting a new place. Why? Well, life moves on dear reader and after almost five years in Richmond I am attempting to secure a new place by Canary Wharf with a move in date of early next month. If I manage to pull this off it will be quite a coup as I’ll be living within ten minutes of the Wharf itself which has all the amenities I need (Waitrose, HMV, Game, dozens of clothes shops, bars and restaurants, book shops) and I’ll have the West India Key Cineplex on my back door – literally. Tower Hamlets have just extended my contract which means I’ll be able to walk to the office which any Londoner will tell you is a commute that’s rarer than rocking horse shit. Oh, and City Airport is about twenty minutes away for any weekend breaks I fancy taking and my beloved BFI twenty minutes away on the Jubilee line. This is all contingent on my new nemesis, my kryptonite if you will – Estate Agents. Up until now I thought that recruitment consultants were pretty much the most loathsome and dishonest excuses for humanity I’ve had the misfortune to liaise with but these abhorent, decitful, avaricious fucks really are something else. There is a very special layer in hell, a place where the arch prince of lies Asmodeus himself weeps at the monstrously cruel tortures inflicted upon these fuckers in my fevered imagination. Watch this space and wish me luck.
Minty's Menagerie 
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