I received an email this morning from our friends over at Spirit Level Film. Instead of me interpreting it for you I figured hey, why not let you read it for yourself! So here you go!
First off is a 50% discount on all films for just 3 days (ends Sunday night) for all our customers and a very big thank you for supporting us in 2012. Simply use coupon code SLF50 at the checkout. It’s applicable across the board – even the films on special offer already.
Secondly, at last we’ve come to a place where we’re comfortable with our admittedly eclectic mix of motoring, art and politics. Combining this with the great access we have to behind-the-scenes operators who move the worlds of these uneasy bedfellows has resulted in a decision to feature many of the unreported conversations and interviews we have with them on our blog. We’ve no idea how they’ll sit side by side but at least it’ll give you an all too rare and first-hand insight from source before you get to hear about it in the news.
We’ll also be launching our sneak preview section – where you can watch extended previews from all our films. Bear with us on this one, it’s under development and got a few days more work – we’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime – here’s wishing you a happy, healthy year to come with everything you could wish for yourselves.
Spirit Level Film is a fantastic website aimed at the distribution of both indie news and products! These websites are all too rare these days so get on over there and see for yourself. Pick up some amazing bargains and see some truly brilliant and inspirational films from the wonderful world of independent cinema! http://www.spiritlevelfilm.com/
Here is a trailer to a documentary series WatchReadReview have worked with and is just one of the many films available:
So far as I can tell, the intended purpose of Steve Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man was to give women relationship advice from a male perspective, which in turn would help them find the right man. While I have no opinion on his words of wisdom, I do have a thing or two to say about Think Like a Man, a film that injects Harvey’s book into the plot of a romantic comedy. Silly and uninspired, it doesn’t analyze his concepts in plausible, satisfying ways; instead, it applies them to manufactured vignettes in which the men are immature brats and the women are conniving and manipulative. There is no truth to any of the characters in this movie. They serve primarily as comedy relief, goofballs we’re made to laugh at instead of with.
Taking place in Los Angeles, the film is essentially a series of interconnected subplots, all examining relationships between specific categories of men and women. Steve Harvey makes continuous appearances on television screens in homes and bars with the specific purpose of promoting his book; the women, intrigued, all decide to buy a copy and apply whatever advice they glean to the men in their lives. At first, the men are thrown for a loop. Then one of them catches wind of what their women are doing, leading them to buy the book and attempt to beat them at their own game. And so we must wade through an implausible and childish battle of wits before reaching a conclusion so neatly gift-wrapped that it seems to have transplanted from a third-rate sitcom.
Here’s a run-down of the couples featured in this film. There’s a real-estate agent named Kristen (Gabrielle Union) and her boyfriend, Jeremy (Jerry Ferrara), who still hasn’t popped the question after nine years of being with her. Not only is she eager to motivate him apply for a job he’s qualified for, she also wants him to stash his collection of sci-fi memorabilia so that she can redecorate to her heart’s content. This would include getting rid of his couch, which has a colorful history to say the least. There’s Mya (Meagan Good), who’s fed up with one-night stands and decides to try out Harvey’s ninety-day plan on her new boyfriend, Zeke (Romany Malco). This will not be easy for him; a smooth talker who knows all the good pickup lines, he’s an unapologetic lothario with nothing on his mind apart from sex.
There’s a caterer named Dominic (Michael Ealy), who’s known for his lofty dreams. His current dream is to be a chef, and indeed, he has a talent for cooking. Into his life enters Lauren (Taraji P. Henson), a powerful executive who wants a man with a six-figure income and his own sense of power. Desperate to impress her, Dominic tells her that he already is a chef and is deciding between two restaurant offers. And then there’s Candace (Regina Hall), a single mom and Lauren’s best friend. She starts dating a man named Michael (Terrence J), who’s domineered by his mother (Jenifer Lewis). Needless to say, no woman is good enough for her son, least of all a single mother. Incidentally, Candace’s son, while perhaps a little too inquisitive, gets along splendidly with Michael.
Serving as both narrator and the annoying fifth guy character is Cedric (Kevin Hart), who spends most of the film acting like a fool and mooching off of Zeke. He’s in the process of finalizing his divorce from his mostly unseen wife, and claims to be all the better for it. All five guys are friends and spend most of their time either in a bar or on a basketball court, where (you guessed it) they waste much of their energy complaining about the women in their lives. Tagging along is a superfluous man played by comedian Gary Owen, who serves no real purpose other than to be the butt of PG-13-appropriate racial slurs. There’s even time for completely unnecessary cameo appearances by NBA players Metta World Peace, Shannon Brown, and Matt Barnes. Former WNBA player Lisa Leslie joins them as they successfully emasculate the main stars in a basketball game.
You know me. I’m usually the first to let a romantic comedy slide, simply because I accept them as nothing more than fantasy. But in this case, something went wrong. Think Like a Man regards genuine relationship advice as fodder for a series of inane jokes. The characters are so shallow, it’s as if writers Keith Marryman and David A. Newman know absolutely nothing about men or women. For all I know, maybe they truly don’t. Whenever Harvey appears on one of the many conveniently placed television sets, he always gives a piece of advice; each one had the potential to be applied to a complex and thought-provoking vignette, one in which the characters have a bit more depth to them. How sad that his book served as the basis for a film that shows no interest in real relationships.
Because it makes no grand gestures, Goodbye First Love is a deceptively simple movie. Essentially, it tells the story of a young woman torn between two men, both of whom she loves deeply but in completely different ways. Its simplicity is cleverly masked by a rather unconventional style, which is about as far removed from a Hollywood romance as it can be. The film flows rather organically, with most of the traditional cinematic enhancements stripped away. It’s less about plot and drama and more about character. It may not be immediately apparent, but we are witnessing a person on the road towards maturity. This isn’t to suggest she began at innocence, nor that she will end up understanding everything; all we know is that she’s in the process of becoming.
Her name is Camille (Lola Créton). When we first meet her, it’s 1999, and she’s a fifteen-year-old living with her parents in Paris. She’s having an intensely physical affair with a teenage boy named Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky), who has given up on school. Despite their repeated assertions that they each are the love of their lives, they argue very easily. This is easy to explain: They’re both still young and naïve, and they don’t yet know what they want out of life. Sullivan yearns to experience the world and plans a trip to South America with a friend of his. Camille is threatened by his wanderlust and continuously threatens to harm herself. If he leaves, he may forget about her entirely and meet another girl. She claims that she’s not looking for anything more than him.
Sullivan assures her that he will only be gone for ten months and that he’ll keep in touch. And so, off he goes. Camille copes as best she can as it transitions into 2000, receiving the occasional letter from Sullivan. In all his letters, he continues his practice of boldly asserting his love for her. They are, in fact, so bold that they come within an inch of being cruel and emotionally manipulative. In one letter, he tells with, rather poetically, that his love for her is holding him back. If he wasn’t so in love with her, if she didn’t plague his thoughts on a daily basis, he might actually enjoy his travels. Quite suddenly, the letters stop coming. A devastated Camille soon ends up in a depression clinic, at which point her father (Serge Renko) tells her that it’s finally time to take the next step.
Never once do follow Sullivan, whose stay in South America lasts much longer than ten months. We do, however, follow Camille over the next seven years. During this time, she finishes high school, attends a design college, studies architecture, and lands a job at a company run by a Norwegian architect named Lorenz (Magne Håvard Brekke), who’s separated from his wife in Berlin and seemingly estranged from his son. We see their relationship develop from employer and employee to casual acquaintances to emotional confidants to lovers. He may not express his love for Camille quite as vocally as Sullivan would have, but it’s obvious that he cares for her deeply. She too cares about him. It isn’t the same as it was with Sullivan, though. There’s more than just physical affection; there’s a clear understanding of who they are.
It isn’t until 2007 that Camille and Sullivan finally reunite. An exact date is not given, but it seems he had returned from South America quite a while ago. He now gets by as a photographer in Marseille, which he likes much better than Paris. Initially, it seems like their relationship has cooled and that they will continue merely as friends. But after a while, it’s obvious that the old feelings have resurfaced. I expected this from Camille, but I have to admit, I didn’t expect it from Sullivan. Memories of her continue to haunt him, and at one point, he tearfully wishes that they were back together. When Lorenz is called away on business, Camille and Sullivan regularly convene and make love, all the while sensing that what they’re experiencing isn’t likely to last.
Having gone this far in my review, I fear that I’ve made this movie sound like a sentimental tearjerker. It’s almost impossible to conceive of given the subject matter, but Goodbye First Love is about as devoid of sentiment as it could possibly be. Rather than indulge in fairytale contrivances, love and relationships are examined in terms of very plausible, very concrete physical and emotional needs. All leads to an indirect and rather languid ending, which is actually treated less like an ending and more like just another scene. As realistic as this may be, my innate American sensibilities had me longing for something a little more distinct. I’m not saying everything had to be wrapped up in neat little package, although some sense of closure would have been nice.
Janette Day and Pippa Cross of CrossDay Productions and Jeremy Cowdrey of Apart Films confirmed today that Camela Galano’s new sales outfit, Speranza13 Media, has acquired international sales rights to the CrossDay Productions and Apart Films-produced Summer in February. Galano will commence sales of the hotly anticipated love story directed by Christopher Menaul (Prime Suspect), starring Dominic Cooper (The Devil’s Double), Emily Browning (Sucker Punch, Sleeping Beauty) and Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival where a ‘first look’ will be screened to buyers.
Currently in post-production, Summer in February is based on Jonathan Smith’s novel about a tragically doomed love triangle amongst a bohemian colony of artists in Cornwall. Set in the years before the First World War, Summer in February focuses on the painter Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), Laura (Hattie Morahan) & Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall), both renowned artists in their own right. The incendiary anti-modernist Munnings, now one of Britain’s most sought-after artists, becomes the centre of a complex and passionate love triangle, involving the young aspiring painter Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning) and Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens), the land agent in charge of the Lamorna Valley estate. Based on fact – and deeply moving – the story is played out against the timeless beauty of the Cornish coast, in the far West of England.
On making the announcement producers Janette Day, Pippa Cross and Jeremy Cowdrey commented “It goes without saying that we and the whole filmmaking team behind Summer in February are incredibly passionate about it. We are thrilled with the amazing cast and especially our very hot trio of stars Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning and Dan Stevens. We cannot wait to show this first look to buyers in Cannes.”
Galano added “I have no doubt, with its hugely talented director and actors, this film will appeal to lovers of the original source novel across the world and those coming to the material for the first time. I am hugely excited to be a part of this.”
As well made as I found The Deep Blue Sea, I’m amazed that it took ninety-four minutes to say what could easily have been said in as little as fifteen or twenty. Adapted from the stage play by Terence Rattigan, it tells the incredibly simple story of a woman who leaves behind a secure but sexless marriage for a passionate but reckless affair. With neither relationship able to give her all of what she wants, she must make a choice between going on living or dying alone. Plot wise, there really is nothing more to the film than that. I have not seen or read the original play, although on the basis of what I’ve read about it, it seems like one of the characters, an ex-doctor, had a much more prominent role than he had in the film. I can’t help but wonder if his inclusion would have made the story seem more substantive and less dragged out.
Taking place in London just after World War II (an opening title card gives us the vague timeline of “around 1950”), the central character is a woman named Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz), whose story is told as a combination of flashback sequences and present moments, the latter of which unfold over the course of roughly one day. At the start, she attempts suicide by downing several aspirins and letting her apartment flood with gas fumes from the furnace. She’s rescued in time. Left alone to reflect, we get glimpses of the events leading up to her attempt. She was married to an older, well-respected High Court judge named William (Simon Russell Beale). Despite his wealth, his status, and his highly proper behaviour, Hester fell out of love with him for his lack of infatuation.
She soon begins an affair with a seemingly high-spirited former RAF pilot named Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston). At last, she finds the physical passion she so desired. William soon catches on, and although he never raises his voice or his hand to her, he decrees that he will never grant her a divorce. Hester moves into Freddie’s inner city apartment, which is an obvious step down from the upscale luxury of William’s estate. What started off so well between Hester and Freddie soon begins to decline. Despite the physical attention he gives her, it doesn’t seem he’s capable of financial or emotional stability. He forgets important events, like Hester’s birthday. He isn’t as cultured as she is, a fact she finds bothersome. It also seems he hasn’t been truly happy since the war ended, and so he drinks in excess.
William will reappear several times throughout the film. After the initial shock of learning of her affair, he finds he’s much more willing to give her the divorce she wants. All the same, he’s genuinely baffled by her rejection of him. Perhaps he wasn’t as physically inclined as Freddie, but did feel genuine affection for Hester. He still does. Why is this not enough for her? She tries to explain it to him, although it comes off as little more than excuse-making – which is to say, she makes everything sound much more complicated than it actually is. This isn’t to say that emotions aren’t complicated, because they very much are, especially in matters of love. However, every conversation she has with William is an exercise in padded dialogue. If she would just trim away the fat and make her point, things would go much more smoothly.
Despite her verbal predilections, the film does feature some exquisitely written passages. The best are reserved for two scenes between Hester and William’s puritanical mother (Barbara Jefford). I will not quote any specific lines for want of you hearing them firsthand. Just know this: Mrs. Collyer repeatedly makes it clear, in her own prim and proper way, that Hester does absolutely nothing right and is not good enough for her son. There’s also one great scene with the ex-doctor, whose name escapes me at the moment; when he checks on Hester after her suicide attempt, he delivers to William a zinger so deliciously witty that he could have easily been quoting Oscar Wilde.
Perhaps it’s because of the story’s innate simplicity that it speaks so fluently in the language of melodrama. One of the most noticeable elements is Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto, Op. 14” (the film does not contain original score material). Here is a piece of music that oozes solemnity from every pore, sounding more like tonal weeping than like an orchestral piece. Long, slow solo sections are played vibrato at the high end of the scale; they’re so strategically placed that they’re obviously intended to represent Hester’s emotional state. There’s no rule stating that movies like The Deep Blue Sea need to be complicated or multilayered in order to work. All the same, filmmakers should give you more of a reason to see something apart from an easily understood relationship problem.
Every reader will be able to relate to this story in some form; it’s its greatest asset due to the questions it asks you and the bitter-sweet tragedy of the conclusion, one we all share or will share once been in love.
I am a twenty year old man who rarely reads the romance novels, preferring its incarnation in film. I just feel a little pretentious reading romance in public, but as any twenty year old man I like science fiction, so the time-travel aspect is well suited and truth be told as I read the novel I began appreciating the intricacy and the well versed nature of the writing and the subject matter; Evan Mandery knows his stuff well and he knows how to write about it to the point of condescension.
The premise of this novel however very much intrigued me, like some my age I have not had a fair share of love but I am very well interested in the notions of coincidence, freewill and destiny and what the hell it all means.
In the novel, weeks before he marries his perfect love – Quentina Elizabeth Deveril, our nameless hero is visited by a stranger claiming to be his future-self warning him not to go ahead with the marriage. What happens next is an amusing, tragic and futile array of other encounters with other future versions of himself each telling him to take up other pursuits all at the cost of cutting Q from his life those years ago; changing diets, learning instruments, building new careers, loving other women – it becomes just as tedious and exacerbating for us as it does for the narrator.
It’s the charade of self-improvement; because at the end of the day you can be and do whatever you think is right, but it will never make things right – the very questions time-travel itself raises.
Mandery is somewhat of a namesake, he definitely meanders through his writing, he is quirky and whimsical and I won’t lie, I am not the most clever or well-versed as some who may read this novel but holy crap, some of the references and literary nods are frustratingly very exclusive and esoterical.
As I said, the notions and ideas the novel conjures are ones we can all relate to, that question as old as time is often pondered on; What if? What if I had decided to date Sally Jennings back in Year 8 instead of pursue my love of damn trading cards? What if indeed… I finished this novel in about 4 weeks, and often found myself asking questions I could never answer, something all readers will share.
That said however, as much as the novel grabbed my attention, Mandery seems to stretch out his word count and intelligence, making these nods that never mean much, just going to show, that he can reference so-and-so, many times I was left thinking ‘who cares?’ you’ll just want the interesting parts back; notably ideas that the hero has for his own novels, the time-travel aspects and the way he felt for Q, I did learn something new about Freud though…
Overall Q: a love story is a love story about love third, a story about time-travel second and an exercise of alternate history by Mandery first. However the narrative and plot work well and I for one became attached to what happened and to the characters as they all struck a chord with me and will do so for anyone who has ever been in love.
I want to talk about the id. See, Sigmund Freud, the crazy granddad of psychology, had a theory. The simple (and mercifully short) version is that the mind is broken up into three areas; the superego, ego and id, the last of these being a sack of basic animal desires and emotions. I feel this last part comes in very handy to explain the appeal of properties such as Real Steel, Transformers and Twilight, as these films’ sole aim is to connect straight to the id of their audiences. Continue reading →
Adventureland is a film, written and directed by Greg Mottola (Paul, Superbad) set in the summer of 1987 about a college graduate, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who has no idea where he is going in life, and so decides to take a job at the local amusement park, Adventureland. Here he meets a whole host of weird and wonderful friends, including a girl called Em Lewin (Kristen Stewart). The film sees James on a path where he will discover who he is and what he wants out of life with some heartache and laughs along the way. Continue reading →
500 Days of Summer, directed by Marc Webb, is an offbeat romantic comedy about a young man’s search for true love. Our main character Tom (Joseph Gorden-Levitt) believes in such a thing as true love and when he meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) he believes he has found the perfect girl. Summer on the other hand has a very different take on love. This film shows Tom’s storey as he spends his 500 days with Summer, and the ups and downs that comes when two people have two very different views when it comes to love.
