Empire States: You don't have to be infected with a virulent, killer disease to work here. But it helps.
Posted on Monday March 1, 2010, 09:27 by Nev Pierce in Empire States
Death is the villain you can't beat. Infection is the villain you can beat, slice, mash and shoot repeatedly in the head. Infection makes for great cinema. OK, infection makes for OK cinema, mostly... with occasional stabs at greatness. But it's spreading. Today, you have a choice in your Disease Of The Week movie. There's Extraordinary Measures, which reviewers tell us is essentially 105 minutes of Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser trying to out-scowl each other in the quest to cure Pompe disease (something to do with over-spending until your football club is on the verge of bankruptcy). Or you can catch The Crazies, in which an accidentally applied government bio-weapon turns a town of hick Yanks into fury-fuelled simpletons who keep trying to kill each other. Yes, apparently, this is different from usual. The Crazies is a remake of George Romero's '70s shocker. Not only has Romero made - in Night, Dawn & Day Of The Dead - three of the best films ever about death (ea... Continue reading... Comment Now (10 comments)
Back To TopUnder The Radar: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
Posted on Monday January 18, 2010, 15:54 by Nev Pierce in Under The Radar
Short films seldom find attention in the pages of Empire.
This is because we’d be inundated with up’n’coming filmmakers seeking publicity and sadly there just aren’t enough hours in the day to deliver extensive coverage of these mini-movies.
Done In 60 Seconds is, of course, an exception: Empire’s competition of minute-movie adaptations of full-length features. You can enter it here.
There are also various other initiatives and competitions out there, designed to encourage would-be filmmakers.
This weekend I was a judge at one such shindig – where the prize was professional production assistance and a budget of 20 grand for a 7 to 15-minute feature.
This twist, for those looking to enter ‘The Pitch’, was their film idea had to be... Continue reading... Comment Now
Back To TopUnder The Radar: Athens 09: Black Metal, Zombies and Ouzo
Posted on Friday October 2, 2009, 14:35 by Nev Pierce in Under The Radar
There is more to Greece than feta cheese and ouzo, though both have much to recommend them. I discovered this while serving on the jury at the 15th Athens International Film Festival, last week. This is perhaps the only festival in the world yet to be visited by this blog's regular writer, Mr Damon Wise, but I'm hoping he doesn't read this and realise it, because I want to go again. As well as the hospitality of the festival and the fascinating nature of a city full of culture and contrasts (from the ancient Acropolis to rather more modern anarchist graffiti), there were two films, in particular, which deserve much wider attention. All Tomorrow's Parties is a concert film with a difference - from the ever-industrious and inspiring Warp Films (This Is England, Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee). Directed by Tarnation's Jonathan Caouette and, as the cr... Continue reading... Comment Now (1 comment)
Back To TopOff The Wire: Bond Bombshell
Posted on Monday August 10, 2009, 13:49 by Nev Pierce in Off The Wire
Ten directors have hollered “Action” on a James Bond picture.
And in 47 years and 22 movies, they’ve all been blokes. In the equal opportunity 21st century, this begs a question: isn’t it time Bond was directed by a bird?*
Bond 23 is two years away. Regular writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have been hired alongside Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan to craft a suitably incendiary, continent-hopping action adventure.
No director is attached. Used to be, they’d return for repeat business, but in the last two decades only Martin Campbell has sat in the Big Chair twice.
John Glen holds the record, with five, and it’s 20 years to the week since his last outing, Licence To Kill, opened – nearly slaying Britain’s best-loved filmmaking series.
The film itself is somewhat underrated: it’s a tense enough thriller and, hair aside, Dalton wasn’t a bad Bond. He was just a terribly grave one... all f... Continue reading... Comment Now (70 comments)
Back To TopEmpire States: EMPIRE loves Le Donk, Shane Meadows' latest
Posted on Sunday June 21, 2009, 18:53 by Nev Pierce in Empire States
 One of the most anticipated films of this year’s festival is Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee, the third feature-length collaboration between Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine. It does not disappoint.
Pre-screening hubbub focussed on the fact the improvised docu-style feature was shot in a mere five days… which left me worried, frankly – as if the low-budget, micro-schedule might be used to excuse a dip from the pair’s usual quality (Dead Man’s Shoes, A Room For Romeo Brass). The concerns were ill-founded; this is an actor and director at ease but not at rest: Le Donk is very funny and oddly touching and features a brilliant performance from Considine.
He’s an actor perhaps best known for the sense of edge he can give characters – an unpredictable, feral presence – but Le Donk, a roadie and wannabe music manager, is a lighter creation, daft instead of dangerous and vulnerable beneath his bloke-ish bluster.
He’s got ... Continue reading... Comment Now (2 comments)
Back To TopUnder The Radar: Obsession, death and Edinburgh 3rd report
Posted on Saturday June 20, 2009, 15:26 by Nev Pierce in Under The Radar
Four films today, all of which, to varying degrees, dealt with escape.
Writer/director Andrea Arnold – widely feted for Red Road – returns with Fish Tank and I’ll add my tuppence worth to Damon’s views. It’s an estate-set drama about troubled teen Mia (Katie Jarvis), who dreams of dancing her way beyond the high rises, cheap cider and familial conflict of her confined existence.
Where Red Road was gripping but somewhat dour, Arnold finds humour in unlikely circumstances here (the potty-mouthed exchanges between Mia and her younger sister make the foul-but-funny banter of Superbad appear mild), while visually she finds unexpected beauty in parts of the kitchen-sink surroundings, without appearing studied, self-conscious or patronising.
Jarvis is very good – giving a charisma and empathy to a character who could easily have appeared brattish – while Michael Fassbender underlines his extraordinary talent once again, walking a... Continue reading... Comment Now
Back To TopUnder The Radar: Brilliant Brit Thrillers Ignite Edinburgh
Posted on Thursday June 18, 2009, 19:35 by Nev Pierce in Under The Radar
 Pregnancy, lunar mining and an x-rated Apprentice… The 63rd Edinburgh International Film festival has opened with a good blend of films, including two unusually smart, intriguing British thrillers and the latest from Brit-abroad Oscar-winner Sam Mendes.
Away We Go is the Reading-born director’s fifth feature and based on bar-chatter with fellow journalists*, it’s received a somewhat lukewarm reaction. Of course, this could in part be put down to the relentless cynicism the profession appears to inspire – for while the film has it’s faults, no doubt, it’s also very funny, somewhat charming and definitely, defiantly optimistic and warm-hearted.
The story – a loose term here, it must be said – starts with the six-months pregnant Verona (Maya Rudolph) and boyfriend Burt (John Krasinski) discovering his parents are about to move abroad, leaving them to hold the impending baby… Unmoored, they decide to travel around North Ameri... Continue reading... Comment Now (5 comments)
Back To TopEmpire States: Benjamin Button: World Exclusive
Posted on Friday November 21, 2008, 17:06 by Nev Pierce in Empire States
The first word on David Fincher's latest masterpiece...
You probably shouldn't read this. You should probably cocoon yourself, avoid speculations or declarations and queue for a ticket on Christmas Day (US) or 22 January (UK), when David Fincher's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button will be birthed into the wider world. You should probably show some self-discipline. But, you know, we don't always do what we should. Still, if you want a pure experience, go away. If you want a brief reassurance that your money and time and expectations won't be wasted, know this: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is brilliant and beautiful and beguiling and any other adulatory adjective you can chuck at a movie. Now go away. Still curious? OK. Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is dying. Lying in a New Orleans hospital that's being lashed by nature - Hurricane Katrina is squalling outside - she takes shallow breaths and tells her d... Continue reading... Comment Now (12 comments)
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