Martin Scorsese to make George Harrison doco

Martin Scorsese has announced at Cannes that he and Olivia Harrison have been collaborating on a documentary about Beatles guitarist George Harrison.

It will be called "Living in the Material World: George Harrison" and looks to be ready for a 2011 release.

With the input of George's wife, Olivia, you can expect to have some deeply personal and illuminating (not to mention never-before-seen) material, and with Martin Scorsese, well, you know you're going to have a quality final product.

There's been so much focus on John Lennon and Paul McCartney, I think it's about time we get an insight into the other Beatles members (maybe one day soon we'll get something on Ringo!).

So as a Beatles fan, I'm looking forward to this one!

Honeymoon in Vegas (Andrew Bergman, 1992)

Surprisingly, better than I expected. From the film synopsis I knew it was going to be a light-hearted romance type of film. It had a simple premise: Jack (Nicolas Cage)’s mother dies and leaves him with a fear of getting married after she warns him against it. We gather that he works as some sort of private investigator, spying on partners who are suspected of cheating. Anyway, he has a girlfriend Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) who wants to get married. Finally, Jack decides to get married to her and they go to Las Vegas in order to marry. However, Jack plays a game of poker and ends up $65,000 in debt to a wealthy, influential shady character, who demands a weekend with his fiancée to clear the debt (clearly, it was a fixed game). After lots of arguing, Jack and Betsy agree and she goes with the man. He whisks her off to Hawaii and we see he is trying to win her heart, saying that he used to have a wife that she reminds him of. After lots of running around on Jack’s part, and Betsy actually getting close to marrying the man, they are reunited when Jack skydives out of a plane in Vegas and she happens to be running away from the man after reconsidering marriage to him, and of course, they meet and get married straight away. 

Interesting thing I noted, there were plenty of Elvis impersonators and Elvis cover songs on the movie soundtrack (such as “Viva Las Vegas”, which reminded me of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and then of course, the fact that Cage introduced Depp to acting). The fact that Cage dresses as Elvis when he skydives with the group of Elvis impersonators seems like the role was cut out for him − or maybe as an enticement to the role, as I know Cage is a huge fan of the singer. So that does bring up a curious note. But regardless, I think Cage did a great job − he really is a fine actor and very emotional so I don’t know how people can view him as plain and “fake”. Even in a pretty average movie like this, he played his role well.

3.5/5

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 to be made in 3D

BBC report that Disney have decided to film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (the fourth film in the series), in 3D.

Not really surprising, given the recent surge in popularity of 3D technology. For many people the third film was pushing it but I guess we won't know until when the film is released (June 2011) if 3D can help to increase the interest in the fourth film.

Nevertheless, I'm a loyal fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean films so I would happily watch it even if it wasn't in 3D.

Le Mépris (Contempt) (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)

Brigitte Bardot − interesting character yet I feel like she didn’t live up to hype of the film. Yes, sure I can understand her part in the success of the film as Godard’s most commercially successful film (and ironically, her least commercially successful film) as a ‘plaything’ for men. But it just seemed like she wasn’t as, I dunno how to describe it, “in your face”, perhaps? She didn’t really have a dominating presence on screen. 

It’s funny because every time I see a Godard film, it’s like I’m becoming more and more used to his style and techniques, almost so much that I don’t notice them. For instance, his use of long takes and tracking shots (particularly in the house scene when Paul and Camille (Bardot) are walking around in towels arguing, filmed in almost real-time), the framing (how all the furniture in the house is set up so “nicely” for the mise-en-scene), as well as the references to books. I also really liked the use of colour (Brigitte’s yellow hair, red robe, blue ocean, etc). (I love ’60s colours.) At one point when Bardot is talking to, I think it was, Paul, the camera uses this slow tracking shot across, as the camera moves left to right. This shot, with its slow almost what some would call a ‘boring-ish’ quality, reminds me of the supermarket shot in Tout Va Bien!. That’s the classic Godard I know and love. 

Interesting how Jacques Aumont, in his article “The Fall of the Gods”, suggests that although Le Mépris and Federico Fellini’s 8½ are both films about films, in 8½ the “anxiety of creation seems in the end to shake off all material constraints”. Of course, these are two different films at heart, but they do have overarching similarities: the camerawork, use of voiceover narration, as well as the references to the nature of cinema itself within the film (as Aumont states, Godard is “the recognized master of the quotational genre”). Actually, when I was watching 8½, I was immediately reminded of Godard in the way they are both films about films − instantly I thought, “this is like Godard!” − it just struck me like that. And also, actually a closer look will also reveal many similarities. In Le Mépris, when Paul came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel it reminded me of Guido’s toga sequence in 8½ too. (And I found out the fabulous Marcello Mastroianni was also considered for the part of Paul in Le Mépris but was rejected by Godard). So I think there are definitely more similarities (or are they just pure coincidences?) than Aumont claims.

4/5

Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette) (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)

I’m beginning to see an interested trend now. I’ve seen a few Italian neorealist films and with The Children are Watching Us most fresh in my mind, these “realistic” type of films seem to be, well, quite negative. I mean, maybe it’s just Vittorio de Sica but The Children are Watching Us ended with the death of one of the endearing characters and Bicycle Thieves almost ends with jail for the father who tries to steal a bike. More significantly, it occurs in front of his son, who is then bawling while the men who catch him in the act threaten to put him in jail. Maybe it’s just the fact that these films are so far from the happy, fairytale Hollywood endings we’re used to that it seems like it’s too much in the pessimist direction when it may be more realistic. 

Also, I’ve noticed children seem to play a big role in his films. Perhaps compared to Hollywood film, children are just given more attention, which in effect seems to magnify their importance in comparison. It’s interesting also to note the father-son relationship, while we hardly get a glimpse of the mother interacting with her son Bruno. Is this more realistic? Maybe it was more realistic for that time, in Italy. Anyway, it was a good film, cleverly made. 

I particularly like how given the title, you expect there to be some bicycle theft involved (which is actually the whole plot) but the way de Sica puts the audience in suspense is incredible. For instance, when the father is first waiting outside the apartment where his wife has gone to “see a woman”, he is curious to know who she is seeing (turns out to be a psychic of some sorts). So when he momentarily leaves his bicycle, the audience is latterly left squirming as we’re expecting the bicycle to get stole. On top of this, de Sica stretches out the scene as long as possible − we see the couple walking back down the stairs, and the whole time the camera is almost avoiding showing the place where the bicycle was. It is as if he is building up suspense so we see the shocked reaction of the husband when he sees his bicycle is no longer there. However, we’re instead shocked with a pleasant surprise when his bicycle is still standing there, untouched and as an audience we almost feel as if we’ve been tricked. Worth watching.