What are the tell-tale signs of the indie film? Aside from Zooey Deschanel and the ‘Official Selection at Sundance’ Logo.

3) Earnest (and Often Unplugged) Songs

There’s a lot of love for the Smiths (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist; 500 Days of Summer) and also anything twee (Juno). The Moldy Peaches or Sufjan Stevens appearing on the soundtrack is not unexpected.

What are the tell-tale signs of the indie film? Aside from Zooey Deschanel and the ‘Official Selection at Sundance’ Logo.

Paul Dano

2) Gawkish, Ponderous Male Leads

Conservative haircuts, good, a body as powerful as Christian Bale’s Trevor Reznik (also preferred). John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland), Paul Dano (Gigantic), Michael Cera (Everything), John Krasinski (Away We Go), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine)

What are the tell-tale signs of the indie film? Aside from Zooey Deschanel and the ‘Official Selection at Sundance’ Logo.

Lloyd Tate, Submarine

1) Beards

There’s probably a bewhiskered male somewhere (Joel in Eternal Sunshine; Burt in Away We Go; Paul in The Kids are Alright). Some of these will ‘bristle’ with intelligence (Frank in Little Miss Sunshine; Lloyd in Submarine; Bernard in The Squid and the Whale).

Christopher Nolan and the 'Man of Steel'

Christopher Nolan is involved in writing the story for the latest Superman

adaptation. Attached is a picture of Henry Cavill, the new Superman (I really liked

Superman Returns, I'm not sure why there was a drive to re-boot the

franchise). Anyway, Nolan is a great writer (look at the screenplay credits for all

his excellent films) so this should be worth waiting for.

I leave with the wise words of Bill, words created by another great writer:

'As you know, l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes.

I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite

superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the

mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique.


A staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter

ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that

character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to

become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman

didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman.


When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent.

His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when

the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the

business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in

with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of

Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is

Superman's critique on the whole human race.'

A Note on the Endurability of Lost in Translation

Richard Corliss (TIME magazine) says this of Lost in Translation: it ‘revels

in contradictions. It's a comedy about melancholy, a romance without consummation, a

travelogue that rarely hits the road.’


These remarks are wonderfully observed- but I never really believed it was a film

about romance. To me it was friendship. It’s about finding someone when lonely in a

hotel (because hotels are plain lonely when you are on your own!). It’s about

fleeting moments with someone who resets your life batteries.

The Guard: A Review

Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, Fionnula Flanagan, Mark Strong.


A hilarious Connemara western (surely a first) propelled by an inspired Gleeson.


Sergeant Boyle (Gleeson) is less concerned with the rigours of P.C than he is about

having a laugh. However, the arrival of Cheadle’s humourless Wendell (an F.B.I agent

concerned about professional ethic and capturing international drug mules located in

the West) threatens to shake Boyle from his comfortable day job. What follows is

straight out of the annals of the mismatched cop comedies (not to make that sound

like a bad thing).


Let’s run roughshod through my quibbles before we unearth all that is good. At times

(although the backdrop of Connemara makes for an effective supporting character)

production quality is revealed as thin. Additionally, I questioned the wisdom of

portraying a Croatian character as a visa-grabber (is this not an overwrought

stereotype ruling the waking prejudices of so many in Ireland?). Finally, repeated

reference to Russian philosophers bears some conceit I suspect.


The film draws influences from Tarantino (the-out-of-the-trunk shot in the scene

with Pat Shortt’s character is Quentin through and through) and, apparently, from

the younger Mc Donagh sibling. Crucially, to anchor the wayward Sergeant Boyle, the

director takes time to craft two worthwile relationships- Boyle and his mother (an

effective Flanagan) and Boyle and Wendell. Wendell, then, isn’t strictly

straight-laced foil. His greatest draw to Boyle (aside from trying to decipher the

Sergeant’s intelligence) concerns an inkling that there’s a shared (although weakly

perceptible) get-to-the-bottom-of-it ethos lurking somewhere.


The film’s best moments are etched in the bewildered faces of those who encounter

Boyle. Mc Donagh, hopefully, will inspire the birth of countless disarming

characters across the island.


Rating: 4/5

Super: A Review

Rainn Wilson as a leading man? For me, his character Dwight Schrute in ‘The (U.S)

Office’ is a world-away from Gareth Keenan (of ‘The Office’). While Gareth's

portrayal is smart and suggestive, Dwight’s is obvious and overstated. Thankfully,

in Super, Wilson dials it down- only he dials it down too far (to the point of

producing a dull character). Miraculously, a turn of pace three-quarters of the way

into the film sees Wilson develop (really quite interesting) shades to his

character. The ending becomes something you could not have anticipated given the

film’s gait up to then: surprising, meditative and penetrating (not to mention

disturbing).


Frank (Rainn Wilson) is generally morose; draws hands that are too big; and looks

stupid when he cries (but cooks good eggs). His life changes dramatically when Jock

(Kevin Bacon) -a drug dealer- ensnares his willing wife Sarah (Liv Tyler). With a

decisive intervention from heaven, Frank becomes the Crimson Bolt, and is later

joined by a kid sidekick Boltie (Ellen Page) on a crime-stopping face-smashing

charge.


Super doesn’t feel like new territory (despite its unashamed attempts) until

somewhere towards the end of the film. The emergence of the subversive Boltie (a

brilliantly barbaric Page) raises proceedings. Frank (up to that point infused with

a nihilistic energy by Wilson) becomes good comic foil for his erratic sidekick.

Their highlight on screen together is a startlingly perversive sex scene.


And then, the dramatic show-down in the drug dealer’s manor. Undoubtedly, here,

opinions will divide (does laughter turn to that of the nervous variety?). My mind

is settled: the conclusion is brilliantly self-reflexive on the superhero canon.

Cinema's best Tracking Shot

This week, the Irish Times asked what was cinema's best tracking shot?

Personally, the scene on Dunkirk Beach in Atonement gets my vote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dqmUgu0SI