Tuesday 24 January 2012

Coriolanus (2011) - A view

Having not watched a Shakespearean film/tv adaption since that glorious 1997 adaption of Macbeth with my old favorite, Brian Blessed. Coriolanus had a tough act to follow.
I am not a Shakespeare fan so this story was unknown to me but it soon neatly unfolded with weird mother son connections and betrayal as one would expect from an Englishman's pen.(I jest)
Coriolanus
The story that we see is that of the soldier Coriolanus fighting to protect Rome from its enemies and then be rewarded by being put forward as the senate. At this point in the film I was beginning to sway (mentally not physically) as to if I would enjoy this, it started to dry up and the long rambling Shakespearean dialogue was beginning to take its toll as I would frequently zone out.
Then came along Jimmy Nesbitt. Have to say I was impressed by the full cast, some great performances but for me James Nesbitt really caught my eye and ear. The Northern Irish accent seemed to suit the Shakespearean dialogue so well and his sneaky role was played to perfection.
There then is a bizarre Jeremy Kyle style TV debate and it is decided that Coriolanus is to be banned from Rome. It all happened so quickly and some bizarre character changes happened far to fast but what happened next for me was the best bit of the film. We see Coriolanus as he is by himself heading to find his sworn enemy Aufidius. Throughout the film we have had close up shots of Coriolanus in battle or in anger showing his aggression, concentration and frustration but now we get wide open shots but beautiful delicate diegetic sound of footsteps and birds. This is framed by beautiful greys and blue as he walks through open landscapes and depicts his confused, lonely and betrayed character.

Coriolanus then gives his life over to his enemies and asks that he may seek revenge with them upon Rome. People come ask them not to, his mum, wife, son and cleaner arrive, crying talk of wombs etc and then he decides to sign a peace treaty. Its all very nicey nicey. Oh yeah and then he gets stabbed to death by the men he had just fought along side. Thee End.

Overall as I said before a brilliant cast and was only disappointed by Jessica Chastain
who plays her role as Coriolanus's wife perfectly but it is pretty much the exact same role as Mrs. O'Brien from The Tree of Life. The loving caring wife who does no`t say to much and always seeks to impress. She is perfect for it but would like to see her in some different roles. I haven't seen her in much else though so should not be tough on her, great actress.

Over all great film, misleading trailer which literally has used only the dialogue that is not Shakespearean to make it seem a bit more relevant. The violent and gruesome scenes could be cut back a bit, no need really and they do not show some beautiful cinematography and instead focus on the fighting side. Id give it a solid B+. Trailer is below give it a watch and let me know what you think.






Coriolanus (2011) - A view

Having not watched a Shakespearean film/tv adaption since that glorious 1997 adaption of Macbeth with my old favorite, Brian Blessed. Coriolanus had a tough act to follow.
I am not a Shakespeare fan so this story was unknown to me but it soon neatly unfolded with weird mother son connections and betrayal as one would expect from an Englishman's pen.(I jest)
Coriolanus
The story that we see is that of the soldier Coriolanus fighting to protect Rome from its enemies and then be rewarded by being put forward as the senate. At this point in the film I was beginning to sway (mentally not physically) as to if I would enjoy this, it started to dry up and the long rambling Shakespearean dialogue was beginning to take its toll as I would frequently zone out.
Then came along Jimmy Nesbitt. Have to say I was impressed by the full cast, some great performances but for me James Nesbitt really caught my eye and ear. The Northern Irish accent seemed to suit the Shakespearean dialogue so well and his sneaky role was played to perfection.
There then is a bizarre Jeremy Kyle style TV debate and it is decided that Coriolanus is to be banned from Rome. It all happened so quickly and some bizarre character changes happened far to fast but what happened next for me was the best bit of the film. We see Coriolanus as he is by himself heading to find his sworn enemy Aufidius. Throughout the film we have had close up shots of Coriolanus in battle or in anger showing his aggression, concentration and frustration but now we get wide open shots but beautiful delicate diegetic sound of footsteps and birds. This is framed by beautiful greys and blue as he walks through open landscapes and depicts his confused, lonely and betrayed character.

Coriolanus then gives his life over to his enemies and asks that he may seek revenge with them upon Rome. People come ask them not to, his mum, wife, son and cleaner arrive, crying talk of wombs etc and then he decides to sign a peace treaty. Its all very nicey nicey. Oh yeah and then he gets stabbed to death by the men he had just fought along side. Thee End.

Overall as I said before a brilliant cast and was only disappointed by Jessica Chastain
who plays her role as Coriolanus's wife perfectly but it is pretty much the exact same role as Mrs. O'Brien from The Tree of Life. The loving caring wife who does no`t say to much and always seeks to impress. She is perfect for it but would like to see her in some different roles. I haven't seen her in much else though so should not be tough on her, great actress.

Over all great film, misleading trailer which literally has used only the dialogue that is not Shakespearean to make it seem a bit more relevant. The violent and gruesome scenes could be cut back a bit, no need really and they do not show some beautiful cinematography and instead focus on the fighting side. Id give it a solid B+. Trailer is below give it a watch and let me know what you think.






Saturday 14 January 2012

My Glasgow Swishblog


My latest wee vid. A swishblog of Glasgow from my perspective. Really enjoyable video to make such a simple process can make such a fun end product. Would recommend giving it a go.
I used my Xperia Ray with 720p video and I rather like the incognito style I was able to achieve. 


Friday 13 January 2012

Moonrise Kingdom Trailer and Wes Anderson



So finally we get a look at Wes Anderson's latest feature. A coming of age romance set in the 60's with a stellar cast of non-wesandion proportions. Ed Norton and Bruce Willis some how fit in perfectly as the camp leader and the local sherif. With a release date rumoured to be this summer I for one am rather excited.
It all of course has come from a short film, BottleRocket. You should give it a watch and get an idea where the Wes Anderson look started. The feature film that was later made based on this short is one of my favourite films and the best Owen Wilson has ever been.
For me it is great inspiration that from shooting a simple short film with a few of your mates it created so many opportunities for Wes. Here is hoping with 2012 I get a few short films out there.




Thursday 12 January 2012

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Crash Corsage - The wedding crashing app


Perhaps an all time low on the app store. My personal favourite bit is that after their app is based on stealing other peoples private* information they reassure you that you "(Don't worry, we'll never regift your email address to someone else.)" Because come on that would be terrible. Somebody's information about their wedding, now thats for everyone to see.




*open directory supposedly but thats ridiculous.

Monday 2 January 2012

Tiny Tim

Napoleon Dynamite meets Elvis.
Listening to some Tiny Tim to get the first working day of 2012 going.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Adventures in Oban


What a curious wee spot Oban is. Have been informed by the SPT in Glasgow all year that it is both the seafood capital of Scotland and closer than I think.
I ventured north easterly with friends for a new years eve experience like no other. Eye opening to say the least. Bags were piped and fires certainly worked but it was getting back to the seaside that was great. A bit of north Antrim nostalgia was created and a wet exploration of castles and a folly were had. Go to Oban, eat seafood, its closer than you would think.