Rockumentaries; Cash-ins or Quality? Discussing the recent state of Rock Documentaries as well as some of the classics

Rockumentaries can be either gripping, vital cinematic portrayals of bands, concerts and music topics we love or they can blatantly exist to suck a little more money out of a loyal fan base. Lately it seems like Rockumentaries are predominantly for record companies to sell more merchandise, keep the product alive, make more $$$, such as Shihad's Beautiful Machine, Katy Perry's Part of Me or The Rolling Stones Crossfire Hurricane. Maybe I'm being a little unfair to Kiwi heroes Shihad, and I have not yet seen The Rolling Stones Crossfire Hurricane but anyone familiar with the history of the Rock Documentary form will know that these, at the very least stylistically, hold nothing on classic Rockumentaries such as Gimme Shelter (also The R'Stones), The Last Waltz (The Band) or Woodstock. Here I will discuss some recent Rock documentaries that do it well, some that don't and some older classics that perhaps set the bar and for me still feel very fresh.

Two documentaries released in the last decade on the subject of bands I love, Westway to the World and Joy Division - A Documentary capture successfully the bands essence and put it on celluloid, while telling their story in a way that avoids being purely a cash in. Joy Division - A Documentary, through candid interviews presented an honest view of the bands brief career as well as events surrounding the tragedy leading to the death of singer Ian Curtis. It did not glamorise his suicide as perhaps the fictional cinematic version of the story, Anton Corbijn's Control did so. Although I shouldn't rubbish Corbijn's film, it was also a gripped, well acted and beautifully shot telling of the Joy Division story, if a little biased towards his wife's point of view, being that was the source material. Joy Division - A Documentary focused equally on the bands sound, not just on the tale of Ian Curtis. The effect of the industrial, desolate and grim surroundings of Manchester on the sound of the band is a theme running throughout the film, one that helps provide an understanding of the music of the band beyond Curtis' obsessions and tragic lyrics.

Westway to the World does justice to the story of The Clash, a band with such energy and such a lucky combination of talents. It also shows how those talents can equally be taken for granted within a group and how success can disintegrate a band from the inside. Such quotes as this from Joe Strummer are truly touching and have stuck with me:

"Whatever a group is it was the chemical mixture of those four people that makes a group work. That's a lesson everyone should learn, "Don't mess with it!" If it works just let it... Do whatever you have to do to bring it forward but don't mess with it. And like, we learnt that... bitterly." (Joe Strummer)

Hindsight is indeed a great thing. Westway to the World to me is a well researched and executed modern rockumentary; it doesn't do anything groundbreaking in terms of style but it is fair and does justice to the legacy of the band. Part of this is perhaps due to the direction of Don Letts, who followed The Clash through their career, first as an influential British DJ, then as their video maker and producer and later collaborator and bassist with Mick Jones in Big Audio Dynamite. Yet since the release of Westway to the World we've had another bunch of Clash related documentaries and DVD releases, all of these going further down the path towards cash-ins, such as the compilation of mostly already released live performances - Revolution Rock. Again directed by Don Letts, its another notch to the bands legacy and will no doubt be picked up by every old fan and some new ones in the process. It will probably even gift the surviving members with a bit more towards the retirement fund.

I haven't viewed modern pop Rockumentaies such as Katy Perry's Part of Me or Justin Bieber's Never Say Never, so I can't comment on whether or not this fits into my deduction that Rock documentaries of the 21st century lean more towards cash-grab efforts then artistic statements. Rotten Tomatoes tells me Never Say Never is "As a tour documentary...rather uninspired -- but as a 3D glimpse of a building pop culture phenomenon, Never Say Never is undeniably entertaining". It's of its time at least. But from what I've seen of these documentaries, trailers, glimpses of them here and there-they are far from a honest portrayal of the artist. They instead present a view of the artist as that of one in which they can do no wrong, where the shit on the sole of their shoe is turned to gold by being in the very present of this God on earth.



What I wish is that we were still making Rock documentaries like they were making them in the 60s and 70s. Influenced and part of the Direct Cinema and Cinema Verite movements, documentaries such as Albert Maysles’ Gimme Shelter managed to be self-aware statements on the nature of stardom, the documentary medium itself and cultural changes at the time. Another Rolling Stones documentary, Sympathy for the Devil under the helm of French New Wave innovator Jean-Luc Godard managed to mix his idiosyncratic style with that of a fly-on-the-wall observationale style of documentary filmmaking. Or even The Beatles rarely seen (lately) final film Let It Be, which provides a warts and all glimpse at a brink of destruction. These documentaries, perhaps due to their style or the time they were made were not afraid to show the artists for what they really are. Gimme Shelter particularly grabbed my attention, due to scenes where Mick Jaggar and the other stones are filmed as they watch their own interview and live footage. This kind of documentary style is mind boggling given the vapid, contrived tripe we're supposed to accept as a 'documentary' in this day and age. It's amazing the Stones even allowed the film to be released given the way the filmmakers really pry into the emotions of Jaggar and company, laughing at their own jokes, appearing self-conscious upon hearing interview question answers and finally viewing the death of a concert goers at the hands of one of their hired Hell's Angels security persons at the disaster of a free concert that was the 1969 San Francisco Altamont raceway event.



I should probably write more about Gimme Shelter rather than discussing these other documentaries, but it seems so much has already been written on it. The direct cinema style: the unobtrusive camera work, rough soundtrack, refusal of voice over narrator, are chosen by the filmmakers in their pursuit of truth on celluloid through the documentary medium. Gimme Shelter aims it's camera's eye directly at the band, Jaggar in particular, and shows him coming to terms, or perhaps not coming to terms with the consequences of what they created at the Altamont raceway. It is all fascinating filmmaking, not least for the scene in presents of the flip side to Woodstock, peace and love turned to chaos and death, a decade of dreams coming to a frightful end within this concert setting, as the reality of hate hits down hard on naive hippy concert goers. The people that are hired to keep the peace, the Hell's Angels, prove that violence and anger boiling under the surface is stronger than the intended love of the event.

The Rolling Stones are shown to be responsible for this particular event, even if the complexities of that particular time of cultural change were equally responsible. It is from this train of thought that I come to think about the career of The 'Stones, which perhaps started off this whole recent interest in Rockumentaries when the hype from their current 50th anniversary tour led me to get back into their music and subsequently led me to watch Gimme Shelter. The 'Stones are a very visually documented band and have a lot of different documentary styles under their belt. There are the straight up concert films, such as 1982's Let's Spend the Night Together and the recent mix of concert, staged footage and archival material 2007's Shine-A-Light as well as the earlier more artistic efforts I previously described. It doesn't end here though, this year sees the release of Crossfire Hurricane, a tale of the groups rise to fame, and no doubt it's history and legacy. As well as this, the final concert from their 50th anniversary tour will be broadcast live, pay-per-view over the Internet, direct from the arena in New Jersey. The fans are there, and there's no stopping money and media Juggernaut that is The Rolling Stones from rolling on into it's 6th decade. Will the new documentary or concert be relevant? I don't know, there is a part of me that wants to celebrate watching late 60s and 70 year old's still perform and I will most likely watch both for completions sake, but whether they're necessary or not is another question entirely.

Perhaps I digressed from my original topic of Rockumentaries but it seemed fair to get caught up in The Rolling Stones for a little bit, seeing as how important they have been to the Rock documentary format, at the very least. What I would like to highlight, if I have not done so already, is just how awesome, thought-provoking and multi-layered documentaries such as Gimme Shelter are compared to those being released recently. Perhaps there are rock documentaries out there like this being made and released today, but I assume that if they are, they are being released in the digital space. Innovators perhaps are left to create interesting material for free on YouTube because mainstream releases are dominated by the cash-grab, seen-one-you've-seen-them-all, famous-artist-can-do-no-wrong style of the Bieber or Perry documentaries.

Maybe I'm missed something though, maybe there's more to the Bieber, Perry or even the latest 'Stones' documentary then I know. If you've seen them feel free to comment and let me know.

Other questions that interest me on this same topic;

What are some of the best Rock documentaries released recently?

Are there any similiar in nature, tone or style to classics such as Gimme Shelter?

Is there more to the Bieber and Perry cash-in style documentaries then I give credit for; are these just as, or perhaps even more worth discussing as any classic Rock documentary?

Is anyone going to pay-per-view The Rolling Stones show in New Jersey?

Watch some films online:

Gimme Shelter:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTsWs4FY6Gk

Joy Division - A Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXYsu4do3Go

Westway to the World - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZszfPsOGhI4

Links for further reading:

Interesting review of Gimme Shelter: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fns99n5.html

And finally here's the Stones playing in 1964:

 

Some Favourite Woody Allen Moments

The last few months I've been binging hard on Woody Allen films, so I thought it about time to share my affection for this talented little Jewish man to the world. Here are some of my favourite Woody Allen moments, in no particular order, from a variety of his films and appearances.

Sleeper (1973):

In the science-fiction, semi-silent comedy Sleeper, Woody Allen plays Miles Monroe, a man from 1970s Brooklyn who after a minor operation finds himself cryogenically frozen and subsequently awakened 200 years in the future. In this scene he has just been rescued by members of an underground rebel movement, after being captured and having his personality re-configured by a dystopian government. He is here being coerced back to his original personality through role playing, yet his personality seems to have gotten trapped somewhere else and in particularly genius fashion that somewhere else happens to be in the character of Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire. Anyone interested in theatre or film will no doubt be familiar with that iconic role and seeing Woody act out Blanche with Diane Keaton acting as Stanley in return is just as hilarious and inspired as it sounds.

Deconstructing Harry (1997):

Seemingly one of his most autobiographical, even though he himself denies this, the film follows Harry, a man that can only be understood by the stories he writes. The plot follows Harry as he attempts to travel to his old University to recieve an honourary award, taking a prostitute, a corpse and his kidnapped son along with him. This scenario is just as rediculous and hilarious as it sounds but what makes the film one of my favourites is how creative Allen gets with the whole thing. The short stories that Harry writes are shown within the film in seperate segments, such as one featuring Robin Williams as an actor who one day becomes literally 'out of focus'. This is one of the most memorable scenes from this hilarious film and deserves a watch. I recommend the film and feel it is an almost under-rated entry in Allen's catalogue.


Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

 
One of Allen's best films, released during his creative peak where he didn't miss a beat. It's an ensemble film featuring great performances particularly from Michael Cain, Mia Farrow, Dianne West and notably featuring Ingmar Bergman favourite Max von Sydow. This particular scene finds Woody Allen's intensely neurotic character Mickey reaching breaking point after a failed search for God, about to attempt a suicide. He fails in his attempt and rushes out onto Manhattan streets, where he eventually takes solice in a movie theatre. Allen's character relaxes and even begins to enjoy himself upon watching a Marx brothers film, which allows him to discover a new reason for living. These kinds of cynical yet uplifting existentialist themes is part of what attracts me so much to Allen's filmography. I believe in this scene he found a particularly touching and resonant way to demonstrate how a love of something such as film can inspire one to find meaning in the ever perplexing thing called life.

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

http://youtu.be/NwmVRxRRByg?t=5m15s

One of his more under-appreciated films, but in my opinion one of the strongest of the 90s. Allen plays a (wait for it) neurotic married man, Lenny, who is convinced by his wife to adopt a child. He becomes enamoured with their adopted son, who is particularly intelligent. Due to some impulse he decides to track down the mother of the child, who turns out to be a prostitute and a porn star called Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino) - her stage name: Judy Cum. Lenny tries his best to improve Linda's life, for the sake of his child if he ever wishes to track down his birth mother and chaos ensures. What makes the film is Mira Sorvino's brilliant performance as Linda Ash, playing the prostitute with just the right mix of naivety and innocence, making her quite the charming character. One scene finds Linda describing to Lenny how she found her start in the adult industry. Watch above - it's classic (it's a link rather than a youtube clip because I'm linking you directly to a time within a clip).

Awesome NZ bands part 1 (some old, some new)

Inspired by the Toy Love special LP release at Real Groovy today, here are some NZ bands which are awesome:

RACKETS: http://racketsonline.bandcamp.com/

Three dudes, all swapping instruments, creating catchy as punk in a completely unpretentious way. The awesome thing about a band like this is you can rip through an entire album of theirs in a short amount of time, cause each track is like a minute long. They're fucking great live, tearing shit up every time. Most recent EP is great, but I also suggest checking out the early stuff, which is equally good. They're hardworking, passionate and greatly deserving of a listen.

Here's a great older song by them:  http://racketsonline.bandcamp.com/track/42-and-a-half

STREET CHANT: http://streetchant.bandcamp.com/music

Wild punk chicks (and one dude) who really don't give a fuck and also craft great, hooky, energetic indie punk. They've got three tracks up on their bandcamp which I enjoy very much. They're also great live, of particular note is the raw energy of front woman Emily, who together with Rackets and Tiny Ruins performed at the Vodafone NZ music awards last night with their Toy Love tribute, and tore shit up.

POSSE IN EFFECT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMZ_e648FuQ&feature=youtu.be

Shameless plug.

THE CLEAN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfdw4DBtysg

I particularly enjoyed driving around Dunedin listening to The Clean anthology this year. This song particularly fitted as a soundtrack to the landscape. Here's a live version.

THE ENEMY/TOY LOVE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8ev-GzGZN0

Chris Knox's band before the Toy Love were The Enemy. But with no official recordings, we have to make do with archival stuff like this. As you're probably aware, we now have two new Toy Love vinyl's available on a limited release, one live and one a compilation of the bulk of their recordings. I got the live double LP, but I won't play it till I get a new turntable mat, as I (un-cool music geek moment) wish not to damage the precious grooves by getting dust all through them.

SNEAKY FEELINGS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVCHn7-qBB8

Another snapshot of Dunedin circa-mid 1980. Ahh, so beautiful, so melodic; under-appreciated. The videos a little corny, a little cheap, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

THE CHILLS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9LFhvyTAUk

Why doesn't anyone remember The Chills' 1992 masterpiece Soft Bomb? I don't know, probably because they got dropped from the major label they were signed from soon after release making it subsequently a pretty rare find in music stores.  But if you find it, pick it up, or even just pirate it. It's the, dare I say it, Dunedin-sound (for lack of a better classification) White Album. Great songs, great ideas, melodies, lyrics, from start to finish.

HOMEBREW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AjgWyxJAGQ

So people didn't like their attitude at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards 2012 last night? I thought they were awesome. Great live performance, the right amount of impoliteness, attitude and sticking it to the establishment.  They said cunt, they ripped on John Key. Both things I like.

LEFT OR RIGHT:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_tgdvHl2c

Dunedin rock/reggae/funk/metal/blues with balls! They're great live, toured all the time and released a great full length album this year.

Ok, so I realise I pretty much just talked about my favourite old school NZ bands, but I will make a point of finding some new, currently gigging and emerging NZ artists and writing about them on here. More to come soon. Chur.

EDIT: OH YEAH I FORGOT SCRIBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSUTjPOvaE

[Not a review] Looper

A collective sigh of relief is sounded by a whole universe of film fans upon watching the new film by Rian Johnson, Looper.

Finally a film that gets it right, a great idea, a fully realised script and perfectly executed and directed final product. There a more interesting and original ideas spilling out of the crevices of the film than the handful of other action blockbusters released in our theatres this year. This includes The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus and whatever else people paid money to see. This one is actually worth the ticket price and I may pay to see it again on the big screen.

The plot is great, full of twists and turns and unexpected elements so I won't ruin any of that here. Don't watch the trailer if you already haven't, it's best to see this film with an as limited as possible knowledge of what is going to happen. In saying that, the film is not entirely original, there are some elements lifted from other science fiction films we all love, the usual suspects such as Blade Runner or time travel classics like Back to the Future. Bruce Willis' other time travel classic Twelve Monkeys may even get a nod here or there. But it's not as if time travel cinema has really had the largest cannon of classic films worthy of cult appreciation so it's great to add another one to the list.

What really struck me about the film was how good it's design was. As a vision of a not so far away future, it seemed not implausible. Set thirty years away, we still see cars that look like they probably run on fuel and people living in dirty streets not so dissimilar to the current state of our supercities. This seems like a fair enough approximation of what the future might hold. We've gotten past the 1980s vision of the future of a world of flying cars and great technological advancements, a lot of these advancements are in our world now and it seems safe to assume that the rate of progress will slow down. The film did have some advancements, hovering motorcycles for example, which kept things exciting from an action point of view.

The future depicted in Looper is not an entirely pleasant one. It's dirty, full of junkies, decadent living and rampant crime. It seems to hard to envision a future that won't end up such as this. Except the film did not present a future such as this as one to fear. More it presented it as one to accept. Even with the crime and crooked morality, there was still a hope, a humankind of stubborn perseverance beneath the corrupt and devastated surface. We see this through the regular people, the diner waitress Beatrix, the mother trying to raise her damaged Son on a country farmhouse, these characters provide balance to the junkies, hired killers and professional criminals that elsewhere litter the film. It's just one creative's vision of the future but I certainly bought it, one that was able to portray the future with equal pessimistic and optimistic attitudes.

Oh yeah and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really good, but probably if you're gonna see this film or have seen it, he was big reason for the films initial appeal.

I don't want to discuss too much of the specifics of the film because it will ruin the ride. But I can say that I'm totally impressed by how well realised the writer/directors vision was.

A+

Reminiscing about: The Wall

Pink Floyd's The Wall is an album, stage show and movie. You all probably know it. It's an album that keeps running into me, or I keep running into it even if it isn't one of my favourite albums. It follows me and re-appears through several key moments of life. It's not a perfect album. Don't get me wrong, it's a good album, just not flawless enough to get right up there in my personal canon. In my opinion Wish You Were Here is the best Floyd album, as its the last time the band was truly working together in the studio to craft a piece of aural art in a collaborative fashion. The cracks were showing but the machine was still working. After that it was all ego, money and the business and occasionally inspired art that comes with that. Roger Water's The Wall does manage to one of the more rewarding megalomaniac ego trips turned consumable entertainment. Its the larger media experience of The Wall, the imagery and the themes is what catapults it beyond the music (which is undoubtedly very good) found within. This experience is inseparable from the drawings, stage show and movie. Here's my little journey with Pink Floyd's The Wall.

I first became familiar with Roger Waters' narcissistic concept album as a child, listening to it via my Dad's music collection. I don't remember much from this listen, but I know I was already familiar with Another Brick In The Wall Part Two from the concert film Pulse which I'd rented out from time to time. I was probably between six and eight.

It wasn't until I got a tape copy of it around age ten that I fully delved further than Another Brick In The Wall Part II. To my ten year old mind however it was all a bit too much to handle. I love tracks like Mother now, they're great satirical folk/pop rock songs with a dark edge, but not something that did much for my adolescent mind. What I was really attracted to at this stage was the drawings and animations associated with The Wall. Growing up I often saw the animated clip from the Another Brick In The Wall segment of the school teacher crushing children through a meat grinder. The school teacher looked so nasty, the idea of crushing children into pulp left a huge impression on my young mind. I didn't get the symbolism behind the image, I was attracted to the sickening violence of the image. I would regularly walk past the VHS case at my local video store and stare at the image on the back, of the school teacher and also at the screaming face on the front. These were repulsive but at the same time attractive images.


Symbolism


Flash to me at 11 or 12 and it was now time for me to watch the film. Rented it on DVD yet this happened to coincide with me getting the flu. I was sick, already had a temperature and was having all the awful feverish dreams one associates with this kind of flu. Decided to watch The Wall in this state was not a good idea. My mum was definitely around to attempt to censor me, but I was stubborn. I didn't get past the trailer. Those dark three minutes of hammers, animated monsters, children's faces becoming those of identical ghosts, blood, religious symbolism and rock was enough for my young mind. I turned it off and went to bed, and would sat through no more of the film before returning the DVD. Following this, every time I went to the video store I would have to turn the case of The Wall around as I walked past it. I was truly bloody afraid of the screaming face on the front of it.

Soon the terror I initially felt upon watching The Wall became the very thing I appreciated about it. It took me a fair few months to again pluck up the courage to watch the film again, but when I finally did, I loved it. The film still disturbed me, in particular those ghostly masks on the school children, and the animated sequence to Goodbye Blue Sky, but it was the films disturbing yet elements that I now appreciated. The cluster-fuck of music, psychotic imagery, and the sometimes clashing contributions of Scarfe, Waters and Parker made for an awe-inspiring film experience. Like the album, the film contains its share of flaws, but these can be mostly overlooked and contribute partly to why the film is an interesting experience, such as the clashing live action/animation and musical elements. But the film certainly invaded my thoughts enough for me to come back to it frequent times over the next ten years. Most recently I watched it in preparation for seeing the Roger Water's The Wall stage show live in Auckland. This recent viewing once again reignited my appreciation of the film, as the music and images thrusted themselves upon my life a shotgun blast to the head. The riot of teenagers entering the fascist-like experience of the opening concert set to the tune of In The Flesh, the Jesus Christ pose of Bob Geldof during The Thin Ice, the dark anti-war animation accompanying Goodbye Blue Sky, the flower vagina fight and of course the marching hammers; the film experience felt as fresh and effective as it ever had.  Apparently the making of the film wasn't an incredibly enjoyable time for any of the party's involved (Alan Parker particularly expressed his unhappiness during the films production). I guess sometimes a tense atmosphere creates the most interesting art.



Largely male perspective horrors litter the
film and stage show. Which is interesting
because a large proportion of the
audience were female.

Then finally, seeing The Wall live, In The Flesh in front of me; puppets, pyro, planes, projections, flying pigs and all, was the culmination of a saga lasting more than a decade, reaching back into early childhood memories of listening to Floyd for the first time and being exposed to graphic and inspiring images crafted for The Wall. Its not a show I ever expected to see live, it seemed so ambitious in its first live form that it seemed farthest thing from possible that Waters would decide to resurrect it. But he did, he brought the whole damn thing right to my home country. And I was there with my father, the man who introduced me to Pink Floyd as just a wee young lad. The music and the images were still as haunting and curious as ever, except seeing the school-teacher in fucking gigantic puppet size or watching the Gerald Scarfe animations projected on a wall covering an entire arena was a fully immersive experience, so much more so than listening to the album on vinyl or watch the film. Not that either of those experiences are to be scoffed at, as it is for those that I was introduced to this great, flaws and all, piece of modern contemporary art. Finally, my father and I got up and ran to the front for one of the final songs of the show, Run Like Hell. I'd like to say it somewhat echoed the riot of fans at the beginning of the film (though probably not as intense). Waters was right in front of us, and we were pretty sure he look and laughed as we crossed our arms in the marching hammer salute and thrusted them towards him. We partyed, to a work of art that had disturbed my little mind ten years earlier, in front of the very mind that created it in the first place.

Quite a good little journey really. Here's a video of that moment if anyone's interested.

Six titles that prove film ain't dead yet in 2012

Cloud Atlas
New Zealand release date TBA

The Wachowski sister co-directs with Tom Tykwer of Run Lola Run fame, the Wachowski brother co-writes with all three. More of a success than the failure it could have been if initial reviews and screenings are to go by, Rotten Tomatoes has already scored it a 74%, with 14 fresh reviews to 6 rotten, and given the potential this film had to completely polarize its audience that's a pretty good sign. The film is a sprawling epic, concerning how the actions of people throughout time impact the past, present and future. The film jumps from century to century, with the ensemble cast of Tom Hanks, Helle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Strurgess and Hugh Grant to name a few playing multiple characters, all who undergo changes depending on the period of time. Sounds like pretty complex stuff, the most ambitious film the Wachowski brothers have created since The Matrix and their most successful since the original it seems. Also looks like it returns to themes found within a lot of Tykwer's work, surrounding time, consequence, human relationships etc... Should be visually stunning and a thrilling ride, if a little over ambitious at times. But there's nothing wrong with that.

The Master
New Zealand release date TBA 

Paul Thomas Anderson's first film since There Will Be Blood will be great, no matter what your preference in film. Post World War II America provides the backdrop for a tale apparently inspired by scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Joaquin Pheonix plays a Naval veteran who is tantalized by a religious group called The Cause, the leader of which is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The critics are raving, audiences are jizzing, its gonna be a good one. I'm hoping it will reinstall my faith in Hoffman as a good actor after watching The Boat That Rocked a few nights ago. That film sucked.

Looper
New Zealand release date 27th September

Time travel thriller that sees Jason Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a looper, who kills men sent by the mob from a future in which time travel exists, yet is only available on the black market. The mob one day decides to close the loop, sending future Joe played by Bruce Willis back to be killed. Sounding kind of like The Terminator, giving off the vibe similiar to that of a Nolan thriller and featuring a director whose debut, Brick was as a modern noir comes, Looper has so far recieved no bad reviews (out of 23) and looks likely to be a spectacular event film. We don't get enough good time travel films, a concept which is always a little difficult to pull off, so lets all relish getting one as kick ass as this.

To The Wonder 
New Zealand release date TBA

Terrance Malick's next film and fastest follow up in history might very well be more difficult than The Tree of Life and stands the risk of appealing only to die hard Malick fans, but at the very least it's going to do something interesting with the language of cinema and for that I remain excited. Ben Afflick plays a committment hesitant man caught between a new love affair and the rekindling of an old one, in this tale set in Paris and the States. Initial reviews state of the lack of dialogue, the striking visuals and the subtle performances. Sounds like a good companion peice to Tree of Life. Unlike that film we won't have any massive excursions into the beginning of the universe, nor any CGI dinosaurs, but we have a unique cinematic investigation of love, fear and faith within human relationships. The film will probably make us work for it, but we don't always have to be passive spectators being guided along by the Hollywood machine eh?

Cosmopolis 
New Zealand release date 1st November

Ooohhhh yeah, Cronenburg's back with a brand new addition. Robert Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a Wall Street financial golden-boy who is ferried across NYC to get a haircut from his father's old barber, watching his monetary empire plummet during the course of the journey. Chaos meanwhile erupts around the city, imfringing upon Packer's virtual financial concerns. If the trailer is anything to go by the film looks to be a return to old-school Cronenbury weirdness. Maybe not the body horror, but it looks like there's going to be a lot of paranoia, some violence and probably some surreal imagery wrapped up in a plot obviously influenced by the contemporary political/global climate. It's already had a stateside release, and the reviews are mixed, but for fans of Cronenburg it should be an interesting watch.

Dredd
New Zealand release date 21st September

Karl Urban plays Judge Dredd in this film adaptation of the comic that according to current US reviews - gets it right. Violent, stylish, with a healthy dose of self-satire and humour 2012 is finally in for an action blockbuster that will meet (or most likely excell) expectations. Fuck The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus (Ok, maybe not the former, but the latter can suck a fat one), this looks to be the top Hollywood action release of the year. I was already curious, given Urban's inclusion and also given the strength of the director Pete Travis, who had previously helmed political thriller Endgame and docu-drama Omagh. Its usually a good sign when a director of a high budget, high concept action film has experience and perhaps intellect beyond that genre. Travis in this case looks like he's to Dredd what Paul Verhoeven was to Robocop. 

West Of Memphis

What a fantastic film, made even more fantastic by the appearance of Peter Jackson, Damion Echols and his wife at the screening who gave up nearly an hour of their time to answer questions after the film was screened. I managed to shake hands with all three, so forgive my giddy fanaticism, but I'll try and give a little review of the film.

Having not seen any of the Paradise Lost films at this stage and being a relative newby to the West Memphis Three case up until this screening, I can only judge the documentaries merits on what it achieved alone. I think it probably benefited my enjoyment of the documentary having such a limited knowledge of the case up until now.  The film did a good job of summarising the back history to the case, speeding through the original botched murder enquiry and joke of a trial with enough detail to keep us following the events while not getting bogged down by the sheer amount of content that could be considered for this section. We are introduced to all the people important to the case, through interviews, archival footage and occasionally footage from the Paradise Lost documentaries. Not much though, so anyone that has already seen these films won't feel like its treading water.

In case anyone is completely new to the subject of the documentary, I'll give a brief description. In 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas the bodies of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas were found hog tied, naked, beaten and mutilated, dumped in a local river. Three teenagers were convicted for the crime - Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr and Jason Baldwin, and sentenced to life imprisonment, with Damien Echols given the death penalty. The prosecution during the trial asserted that the children were murdered as part of a satanic ritual. It became pretty clear that they were innocent however and that the police botched the investigation and a whole lot of people failed to do their jobs properly, including the prosecution. Having too much at stake, in terms of their careers, and the careers of their friends, their money and their comfortable lives, they'd rather let an innocent man be killed by the state and let others live the rest of their lives in prison rather than admit any fault.

This inspired the original documentary, Paradise Lost, which did much to help inform the world of the plight of the Echols and company. This film has a large role to play in keeping Echols from being killed, as well as the work of his wife Lorri Davis Echols. It was after viewing the original Paradise Lost in 2005 that Peter Jackson and his wife got involved, providing a donation to help re-open the investigation and free the West Memphis Three. A DNA comparison between the West Memphis Three and the samples originally taken at the crime scene proved none of the convicted to be at the site of the crime. Evidence was also gathered that linked one of the boys step fathers, Terry Hobbs, to the murders. In spite of this, in September of 2008 Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied the request for a retrial, citing the DNA as inconclusive. The decision was then made to begin this documentary, as something more was obviously needed to get through the corruption and incompetency of the Arkansas justice system, to get the three men free, and to put the real murderer of the three boys behind bars.

After setting up all the key events necessary to understand the convoluted nature of the injustice, the film concentrates on building a case for Terry Hobbs as the primary suspect for the murders. In that way the director of the film, as Sir Peter Jackson so rightly put it at the Q & A, becomes just as much of an investigative journalist as much as a documentarian. Family members of Hobbs are interviewed, including his ex-wife who discusses his history of domestic violence. The profile of Hobbs emerges as a violent, disturbed man, one who regularly bet his children and wifes children, and one that is also a pathological liar. The neighbour of Hobbs who lived next to him in Arkansas is interviewed, who tells of one case when Hobbs broke into her house, into her shower and grabbed her breast. She swore to this in an interview, he completely denies it in a later police interview. This is only one of many accusations against him that the film shows him to repeatedly shrug off. His DNA was also found at the site of the crime, in the form of a strand of hair found between the shoe laces used to hog-tie his step-son Steve Hobbs. Further, statements from those who know Hobbs and his family begin to emerge, that refer to the 'Hobbs family secret'. Hobbs' son is confirmed by many of his friends to have confided to them that this secret is that his Dad killed the three boys in Arkansas.

I apologise if I've gotten any of that information wrong, but that is much of basic evidence that the film builds to make a case for Terry Hobbs as the murderer. It indeed seems very likely, although less likely as to whether there will ever be a retrail to convict the real murderer. It seems that the police, law enforcement and justice system of Arkansas are more than happy to keep sweeping the case under the rug in order to protect their own lives. The films ending, explained by Peter Jackson at the start of the film to be not the ending that had hoped for, saw the West Memphis Three released from prison, but only after agreeing to an odd statement of guilt that sees them able to maintain their innocence while still being stuck with the guilty verdict. The film ends with them free, but with the guilty verdict yet to be overturned.

A successful documentary as it managed to get me thinking, in particular about the justice system. This is only one case out of many where innocent men are sent to prison for crimes they did not commit. Damien Echols at the Q and A discussed that he was fairly certain at least three other men that he was on death row with were innocent. One of these is dead, one is not likely to escape execution and one is in the process of clearing his name. Regardless it shows that there is certainly something wrong with justice systems of the world, and especially the death penalty. If this film covers several of the same points as Paradise Lost, and having not seen this I am not totally knowledgeable, I think it is not a big deal as both those films and this one serve the same purpose; to see innocent men free and point a large finger at the corruption of the justice system. It was also a very moving experience, heightened by poetic imagery and a great score provided by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

I believe we need more documentaries on this topic, perhaps some looking at the New Zealand justice system could be warranted. If anyone has any questions regarding what was talked about at the Q and A feel free to ask. It was a good hour of questions and many aspects of the film, the case and Damien's time in prison were discussed.

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*A good follow up documentary to this would be Werner Herzog's recently release Into The Abyss, a look at the lives of men on death row. I have only just began to watch it, but it seems a dark and moving film, features a more serious Herzog (but no less riveting) than some of his recent documentaries.

If anyone has a spare few minutes..

Finished a couple of songs just recently, don't know if any of you fellows want to check them out but I'll link them up here on the off-chance that someone does. They're in a pop-rock/indie kind of genre, which is a departure from the largely hiphop/rap styles that have been the focus of my attention lately.

I'm gonna leave the up to you to decide if they're good or not, but I enjoy them, even if for nothing more then the little bit of self-expression they provide me with.

Check em out on soundcloud:

The Last One Alone (Do It Again)

At Least I'll Have Tonight

Cheers!

Goodbye Nol-Bat, Hello IMAX, Thank You Cinema

EDIT: I was originally going to not discuss much of the content within The Dark Knight Rises but I've since had the urge to so you'd better beware of some SPOILERS when reading this.

While I want to, I'm going to refrain from discussing much of The Dark Knight Rises because I'm sure not everyone has seen it yet. I need to collect my thoughts, as there was a lot to take in during the course of that films two hour and forty five minute running time. It did live up to expectations however, if not succeed them.

It was certainly the darkest of the trilogy, contained all the puzzles and plot twists one comes to expect from a Nolan film and was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. The 70mm photography was incredible, some of the most spectacular I've seen, and I'll return more to that topic soon. Also the dual female leads of Anne Hathaway and Marion Cottilard were particularly well casted.. As was Tom Hardy as Bane, and theres justifiably already a lot of talk about the power of his performance. I felt truely terrified at many moments during the film and I can't think of many other comic book films that have had that effect on me. Fans will probably feel that there wasn't much of Batman being Batman within the film. There was much of Bruce Wayne and his internal struggle, but Wayne actually donning the Batsuit and kicking full superhero-ass was kept to a minimum. I didn't mind this. I believe that the less you see of the Bat, the more effective a screen persona he is. So when we finally see him in full Bat get-up, it is a fantastic release of the tension built up by holding him back.  I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil anything... ..so I'll have to control my urge to discuss the ending...

I had a more general thought during the screening that I feel like sharing as well; that is that we shouldn't let America's terrible weapons laws and the sick mind of one individual stop us from enjoying the collective experience of the cinema. I'm echoing the thoughts of another blog post here: badass digest, but it is entirely true.

Lets not let a sad act of terrorism ruin an artform that is still relevant. I believe going to the cinema is still relevant, immersive and (dare I say it) magical experience. I shared the experience of seeing The Dark Knight Rises with my friend Ultraman, and a sold out theatre of captivated fellow cinephiles, and remained the fantastic experience that seeings films in the cinema has always been for me. Ultraman was inspired to draw this image today after our experience at The Dark Knight Rises last night:

Ultraman and Hambat (Drawing by Ultraman)

Films on the scale of The Dark Knight Rises are not easy to make. The hard work of the scriptwriters, directors, actors, technicians, artists and all other crew should be celebrated. Their hardwork should be experienced, with one another, within the cinema.

On another note, this doodle gives some indication of how I felt witnessing an IMAX film for the first time:

 

Ultraman is a much better artist

So thats pretty much a terrible drawing, but regardless, I couldn't get over just how much crisper, detailed and powerful the IMAX images were compared to the 35mm images. Not just in terms of the size of the screen they covered (which was huge) but also the clarity due to the extra resolution. The action scenes shot within this format (many of which contained CGI which still looked brilliant) were astounding as were the quieter moments, with Nolan using the format for many dialogue heavy scenes, filling the giant canvas with the actors faces.

The 35mm scenes looked so much more grainy, the colours so much less vivid compared to the IMAX footage, at least to my eyes. It makes me wish theatre chains spent all the money it required to update theatres with 3D projection technology on introducing IMAX into more theatres instead. Likewise, directors should film their blockbusters in IMAX rather then 3D. Fuck 3D. IMAX was far more engrossing and spectacular. Fuck your blurry, distorted and dark images that are after a while no more impressive than a pop-put book when I can have the glorious, huge, magnificent true film images that are that of 75mm IMAX. Oh yeah, fuck your high def digital cameras while your at it, your Red epics or whatever, IMAX takes what I love about film and ups it to the next level.

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little carried away over a piece of technology that to most people is probably old news. But it was pretty damn exciting for me. As for the HD digital film comment, I should probably wait to see The Hobbit in its 48fps before I can make a final judgement. But I'm sticking with film, be it 35mm or 70mm for the time being.

I'll be back for more film blogs soon, cause the excitements not over yet. Its FILM FESTIVAL TIME! That could mean some Moonrise Kingdom and quite possibly some Q & A to go with West of Memphis. We shall see..

Peace out ya'll.

The Nolan/Batman/Baroness/Moorcock Week

Its been a while since my last blog post, and in the time I attempted to write a few blogs but for one reason or another I abandoned all of them. I'll try keep up this blog writing a bit more frequently, if only to document for my own sake the music, films or books that I'm into at whatever time, so I can keep track of whatever little obsessions and interests come my way. Its hard to remember what happens week to week sometimes so I think a blog such as this could be useful.

This is the week of Christopher Nolan's latest addition to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises and right now I'm in the middle of getting really amped up for the film screening, which I'll be seeing this Sunday. It will be my first feature film viewing in IMAX and that alone is enough to get me pretty damn excited, seeing as Nolan apparently shot a good hour of the film in the 70mm format. There's other reasons I'm unreasonably excited for the film, for one, Christopher Nolan is a modern cinematic genius, who favours storytelling and character development over action and CGI/technological gimmicks. He still shoots in film and 70mm IMAX is his preferred format so shoots in this where possible. For action scenes he shoots using non-CGI techniques where possible, only resorting to computer imagery when an effect absolutely can't be achieved in camera. He's bringing back huge crowd scenes with thousands of extras, rather then relying on image manipulation to create large crowd scenes. I'm looking forward in particular to seeing these large crowd scenes, such as the destruction of the stadium already seen in trailers of Dark Knight Rises on the big screen, which I believe contains something like 11,000 extras. He has knack for keeping audiences on their feet with clever twists and turns, and frequently delivers satisfying surprise endings. Finally, he has a really strong track record. None of his films made in the last fifteen years suck, and more than a few are already classics, Memento and The Dark Knight probably being the most acclaimed, yet Inception, The Prestige, Batman Begins and Insomnia being great in their own right. I have no doubt that the final of his trilogy will be a great cinematic yarn, and while it'll be a tough task to live up to the hype and expectation leading up to the film's release, we can at least count on it being a better conclusion to this Batman series then what Batman & Robin was to the last loosely connected quadrilogy of films.

Not the right logo but ehh.. its still the best

Oh yeah, and Batman rules. Way more then any other superhero. So if I'm gonna get excited for any franchise film, it'll be this one.

I'll deliver my thoughts or give some form of a ramble on the first early next week. Right now I'm gonna get prepared by re-watching Nolan films. Last night was my first watch of Insomnia, which was a dark psychological thriller with more in common with Memento than his later work. Al Pacino gave a great performance as a well-meaning yet troubled detective whose control over a murder case in a small Alaska town where the sun never sets slips away from him, due in part to sleep deprivation and also in part to his increasingly crooked ways. That's a plot summary without giving much away if you haven't seen it, but its an original and entertaining crime/mystery/thriller, if a little on the melancholy side (not that films such as this should be cheery). The film's strong performances and satisfying ending make the dark journey worthwhile.

The night before that I rewatched The Dark Knight for the first time since when I originally saw it in theatres. It seems certain to me that this is a great film, now that I can watch it distant from the films initial hype and the circumstances surrounding Heath Ledger's tragic death. Ledger's performance as the Joker is great for completely different reasons than Nicholson's in the '89 Batman. I enjoy both takes on the villain for their own individual reasons. The script is damn awesome, with its only faults being the sheer amount  plot crammed into it, especially the first half, which can get a little clustered with separate conversations and events. But this all leads towards several great action scenes and a gripping climax. I love how Nolan manages to incorporate such iconic Batman elements, such as Batman defeating the Joker by dangling him over some sort of ledge, something I remember from the cartoons and possibly also the Burton Batman (need to rewatch that) into his modern day, 'realistic' Batman world. I found Harvey Dent's eventual progress into Two Face far more successful than what I remember upon initially viewing. [SPOILERS] My memories had me believe that Dent died soon after getting his face burnt and way not allowed to truly develop into Two Face. But I was wrong, he is Two Face for nearly the films whole last act, and it is between him and Batman that the films final climax is played out. We then end on a cliffhanger that seems to suggest a third Nolan Batman film was always in the works, although I read some where that he had to to be convinced to make a third. Who knows. I'll continue to watch the rest of Nolan's films, with Batman Begins tonight and maybe Memento or his debut Following after that. Might talk a bit about them in a future blog (but Dark Knight Rises first).

Its been a good week for music and literature for me, as well as film. Apart from getting obsessed with Batman and Christopher Nolan films, I've also been listening to the new Baroness album, Yellow and Green which is streaming online at the moment. Check it out here: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/08/156292608/first-listen-baroness-yellow-and-green. It's totally awesome, and while a lot less metal and a lot more rock and indie than their last few albums, that doesn't put me off. I appreciate them experimenting and going in different directions, and although I'm yet to decide if I like it as much or more than Blue Record, its managed to keep me riveted through two whole listens so that's got to say something. Track Four on the first disc, Little Things is a highlight, as is Track Six on the second, Psalms Alive, both of which have a shitload more indie in them than hard rock. There's dance beats, attractive melodies, tight drums. I'm loving all of it.

I'm also reading a fiction book for the first time in years, that being Michael Moorcock's Behold The Man. Shout out to my mate Ben for lending this to me. I don't often find much fictional literature that I can get into, but this science fiction tale about a man who travels back in time to the time of Christ to witness the crucifixion has got me gripped. Its short, which might be part of the reason. Its also really interesting, kind of disturbing, depressing, but pretty dang original. I'm half-way through, and might write some more on it when its finished.

Also just recently I took a trip back down to my homeland of Dunedin (I'm currently living in the A-U-K) where I caught up with family, friends and the cold climate of that beautiful town. I also went on a bit of an adventure up to Queenstown with my mum, her partner, his son, my brother and his misses. We went Skiing, and although I was the most novice, completely bailing into a mound of snow and backflipping upon my first attempt on the learners slope, I soon got the hang of things and completed several of the Cadrona green runs. Was fucking fun times. Also heres me bungy-jumping:

South Island for the win!

Till next time mother fuckers.

Ten Reasons Why You Should Watch Some David Lean Films

Everyone likes lists, so here's a list. This is regarding a director who until this week I've not been especially familiar with. Now I am! ..to an extent; I haven't yet delved into his early films, so I'll be sticking to discussing the most well known stuff - Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai and A Passage To India. I can tell you, his films are well worth an old look...

10. Camels

A severely under-rated yet extremely majestic creature, the camel appears at first glance to be rather similar to a horse, but upon closer inspection one realises that the camel in fact is far more interesting than the horse. It for starters has two gigantic humps, which probably contain a lot of a liquid and fat (I can't be bothered wikipedia-ing the facts) which I'm assuming allows them to last a very long time on not a heck of a lot in the extremely harsh climate of the middle eastern desert. The cinematographer and film crew working under the direction of David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) manages to get some utterly compelling shots of camels doing there thing. We see them walking, drinking, eating, running and sleeping. Occasionally if you look at the background you can see an extra or two trying to get a camel to sit down. As is usual with most films, the background action is often just as interesting, or perhaps even more so than the foreground. So if you ever happen across Lawrence of Arabia and feel like giving it a shot, make sure you pay close attention to the camels. They were for me the selling point of the film.

9. Gorgeous Super Panivision 70mm Cinematography

Although I watched Lawrence of Arabia on a cruddy 700mb download featuring artifacts and blocky visuals galore, it was originally shot in awesome 70mm film stock giving added scope to the desert locations, making them appear extra huge and awe-inspiring. If there is one film I wish to see a restored copy up on the big screen, it is this one. The endless, barren, scorching, unrelenting deserts crossed by Lawrence during his conquests of old Arabia during WWI appear just as foreboding as they probably are in real life. Shot in Morocco, Jordan and Spain, these desert sequences are some of the most spectacular visuals ever put onto celluloid. Better yet, this is 1962, so the film is free from any CGI to interfere with the gorgeous visual feast that is mother nature. Bask and bow down to the never ending orange infinity that is the desert...

8. Bridges

Well maybe just one bridge in particular but its a pretty cool bridge. Its a Bridge on the River Kwai from the film of the same name, released 1957. Built by British POW soldiers under the jurisdiction of Japanese captors during WWII, the Brits show the Japs up by taking over command of the bridge building and exert far superior engineering skill. Which is kind of funny given that the Japanese are now days far superior to most countries when it comes to engineering. Artistic licence perhaps? Or maybe its one of those other Asian countries that rock the shit at engineering. I'm not too sure. Anyhow, here's a picture of the bridge, the first being pre-British involvement, the second post and near completion. I managed to see Bridge on the River Kwai on the big screen this monday courtesy of re-releases being screened at Event cinemas around Auckland, which is a big mainstream cinema franchise, the last place you'd expect to see releases of classic films such as this one. The film is a true adventure, a glorious piece of cinema history from the heydays of technicolour epics. The screening of this film, along with Lawrence of Arabia is what inspired this blog. I suggest you check them both out.

7. Politics and stuff

Lawrence of Arabia is all about helping Arab tribes defeat the Turks during WWI and then the complexities of what happens after they find success. The Arabs want independence, yet as soon as they gain it find themselves in political turmoil. The British step in to fix the situation, yet it is implied it was always the British imperative to control Arabia. Seems an awful lot like the current political climate, where the major powers of the world battle in the Middle East, supposedly to liberate those peoples from tyrants and end terrorism and all that political rhetoric, yet in actual fact it is to control their resources. Perhaps I'm reading to far into things, but the film observes the Western fetishism of the Middle East, and predicts a future where Western empires move further towards controlling the continent. This is probably not a eureka observation but more something the film expects us to acknowledge. Either way it brings an extra layer to the films plot, making it not just the tale of one extraordinary man but also the politics surrounding the consequences of the actions of an extraordinary man.

6. The Madness of War 

The Bridge Over River Kwai contains a particularly gripping narrative about the madness of the military and of war. We already know war is shit and the film helps to reinforce this widely accepted point. The climax in particular (which I won't spoil) is a nail bitingly gripping example of why war is the most confusing, pointless, bullshit human endeavour. Any filmmaker that doesn't glorify the horrific aspects of war is alright with me. Sure, its 1957 and in the 50+ years since then and now, the anti-war theme in films has been done to death, there is something refreshing about an anti-war narrative that relied on clever scriptwriting and magnificent performances to convey its meaning. There is no slow motion exploding bodies here, just pure, perfect, cinematic storytelling. Which brings me to my next point.

5. Good Stories and Epic Adventures

The traditional Hollywood three-act structure is in effect in David Lean's historical epics, and boy is it employed beautifully. Characters are set-up in the first act, developed intricately and led towards a confrontation. The first act of Lawrence of Arabia sees T.A. Lawrence grow from being an adventurous, reckless and intelligent young person, if slightly aimless, into an experienced, strong and respected leader capable of uniting disparate and slightly barbaric Arab tribes. In the second act we view Lawrence's increasing confrontation against the Turkish enemy, against the Arab tribes that he wishes to unite and against himself, as he is torn between his new found role as an almost-prophet figure of the Arab people and of his Anglo-Saxon heritage. This all heads towards the climax and resolution, finally ridding Arabia from the control of the Turkish. Of course, there are multiple ways to interpret the structure of the film, as it is a 3 hour plus film, the entire first half before the intermission can be view to contain its own three act structure. Complex films are good however and the film certainly delivers an adventure regardless of how you interpret it.

3. Elephants (and landscapes)

Another fantastic animal appears during a pivotal scene in the last film made by David Lean in 1984, A Passage To India. A large intelligent animal common in Africa and parts of Asia, the elephant, when not treated terribly often allows humans to ride upon its back, rather than crushing them to death. The very charming Dr. Aziz in Passage To India takes it upon himself to organise a fantastic day out for a few wealthy English ladies, treating them to a trip to see some famous and spiritually important caves. He pulls out all the stops, including hiring a large decorated elephant complete with a chair fixed upon its back to take them up the hill towards the caves. The magnificent animal has no problem with this, but does demand some celery stalks and a big bath to cool down once reaching the top of the hill. Although the trip to the caves would not go as smoothly as planned and would instigate much of the drama of the rest of the film, before this drama unfolds the trip is really rather lovely, made much so due to the presence of the elephant. David Lean sneaks in some great shots of the Indian landscape in a similar style to the deserts of Lawrence. At the end of the film, set in Northern India near the Himalayas, Lean includes several truly breathtaking shots of mountains, clouds and snow. I'm telling you, this guy shoots nature like nobody else!

3. Fantastic characters and performances

David Lean captured some great performances. Character development is central to why the narratives are so gripping and conveying these characters are brilliant actors such as Peter O'Toole, Omar Sheriff and Alec Guiness. Just like any good auteur director, many of the actors reappear through-out his filmmography. Omar Sheriff plays Lawrence's Arabian comrade Sherif Ali as well as the lead in Doctor Zhivago. Alec Guiness plays Lt. Colonel Nicholson in Bridge as well as Prince Faisel in Lawrence and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India. I really grew attached to the actors portrayal of these characters; they would stay with me for days afterwards. I found Anthony Guiness' performances particularly memorable and felt very sympathetic to his Colonel in Bridge, who takes his traditional British loyalty to misguided new levels as the eccentric and honourable scholar Godbole in Passage. A Passage to India also featured several other great characters, Peggy Ashcroft as Mrs. Moore and Victor Banerjee as Dr. Aziz. Mrs. Moore is the true hero of A Passage to India, a symbol of a new Britain free from imperial prejudices. Dr. Aziz is a charming and sweet man loyal to the British, yet eventually broken by their prejudices and the stupidity of one woman. The emotion, tension and drama that the actors bring out of the narratives, with the help of Lean's superb direction is really something special.

MRS. MOORE! MRS. MOORE!

2. Classic Cinema At Its Best

Most of all, the films are just bloody classic, so If you have an interest in good cinema from a time when scripts and performances mattered most and jerk-off technical wankery aimed at 13 year old male audiences certainly didn't, then you owe it to yourself to view these films. You probably already have, which in that case means me attempting to persuade you is in vain. We need more great cinematic story-tellers like David Lean and less filmmakers only concerned with showing off technical developments. Not saying that there are no films made today with equivalently magnificent story-telling, there are of course plenty of great stories being told in the arthouse, the mainstream and from filmmakers from many different nations. David Lean's epics were however in their time the big blockbusters, the money-makers, something that these kinds of films rarely are in today's market saturated with comic book adaptations and bloated action franchises aimed at teenage males. I guess part of my appreciation of these films comes from a nostalgia for a time before the summer action blockbuster came to dominate cinema screens. The past may always seem greater than the present thanks to our friend hindsight, but if nothing else, these films provide me with a great reason to get excited again about cinema, everyone of them containing their own magnificent adventure. But don't just listen to me, find out for yourself.

1. If for nothing else, watch 'em for the animals

But regardless of rambling about the current state of cinema and the nostalgia for a golden era of cinematic storytelling, if there is one reason you should watch a David Lean film, its for the animals. And if you choose not to see the camels in Lawrence of Arabia or the elephants in A Passage To India, even Bridge on the River Kwai has some pretty awesome shots of birds, bats and other animals. Which makes David Lean kind of comparable to Terrance Malick, if you liked his films, Tree Of Life, Thin Red Line, Days Of Heaven etc. The above picture is not from a David Lean film but it pretty much sums up everything I enjoy about the interesting and goofy animal that is the camel.

So there you go. I've skipped over David Lean's other great historical epic, Doctor Zhivago as I haven't seen it for five or six years and seeing as I'm currently amping off the enjoyment of Lawrence, Bridge and India, I saw it fit to focus on both of those. But Doctor Zhivago, from what I remember was pretty awesome as well.

Go torrent some David Lean today, and experience classic cinema at its finest.