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Just as Rachel Weisz opens the London Film Festival in romantic drama 360, she is closing the festival with former play and romantic drama The Deep Blue Sea. As this is the closing film there is just one screening and it is all sold out. The play isn’t even on anywhere that I can find. Sorry guys, looks like we’ll all have to wait until it is released in November.

In the meantime those intelligent people are back to talk to you about the film. Be nice, smile and we’ll all pretend there’s a chance someone can get tickets to see it.

55th BFI LFF Closing Night Gala: The Deep Blue Sea from BFI on Vimeo.

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There is only one positive thing to say about today’s release, and that is the 2 for 1 theme park entry being used as part of the marketing campaign. Other than that there’s not a lot to say.

Abduction
Taylor Lautner is the young man who finds himself on a missing persons website and sets out to unravel who he really is. This has been completely panned by critics, my favourite is from Movieline; “An actor goes to put his hand thoughtfully on his chin, it’s so awkward I became afraid he’d somehow miss and poke himself in the eye.”

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Sleeping Beauty created quite a bit of chatter at Cannes and is soon to be screening on this side of the Channel. Emily Browning fearlessly plays a young student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. Elderly men pay for the opportunity to spend time with a Sleeping Beauty, doing whatever they like… apart from that. Browning’s character becomes haunted by her new job and develops a desire to know what happens to her while she in unconscious.

The film looks deeply disturbing yet oddly intriguing, similar in this sense to The Skin I Live In. Trailer and poster are below…

Sleeping Beauty is on general release on 14th October 2011.

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Extrapolated from the short film Dog Altogether, Paddy Considine’s directorial debut Tyrannosaur follows the tentative friendship formed between eternally angry and violent Joseph (Peter Mullan), and the tragic charity shop worker Hannah (Olivia Colman).

This is not the uplifting story of redemption you might be expecting, the pair don’t solve each other’s problems. The film is far more raw and honest than that, at no point satisfied with walking the expected path. To say there is a plot twist would make the story seem too gimmicky, let’s just say there is a moment that shocked me and which I couldn’t have seen coming.

Tyrannosaur risks falling into the over-subscribed category of the “gritty british drama” yet somehow elevates itself above that. The film is much more cinematic than your average kitchen sink drama; dark shots with a sharp focus raise the production values above its peers.

While Considine has done a brilliant job directing, the emphasis in Tyrannosaur is most definitely on character. Peter Mullan plays a brilliantly layered and emotionally damaged Joseph, a man so irredeemable in the opening scene and yet ultimately a man who we root for. Olivia Colman is at the top of her game, that slight sadness she sometimes allows to show in her eyes during otherwise comedic performances take centre stage as she rises triumphantly as a dramatic actress. Eddie Marsan also deserves a nod for bringing to life character so hateful the audience is against him before he speaks his first line.

Powerful, brutal and honest. An attention grabbing and emotionally raw feature debut from Paddy Considine. Olivia Colman broke my heart and Peter Mullan terrified me. In the months since I saw this film I haven’t been able to shake its shadow. Superb.

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Pray for a rainy weekend as there is a lot to stay indoors and watch this weekend. Forget lazing in the sunshine, now’s the time to get to your local independent cinema and give yourself over to the silver screen.

Drive
The first film this week making everyone #gayforgosling is a rarity: an art-house action film. As such this film about a stuntman/getaway driver should please everyone. Can’t wait to set my eyeballs on it.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.
The second film this week making everyone #gayforgosling is a rarity: a romantic comedy the critics like. As such this film about a father’s life unravelling should please everyone. Can’t wait to set my eyeballs on it.

Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times
The title pretty much explains it all. An in-depth, if pretty stale, documentary about the New York Times.

Killer Elite
“When his mentor is taken captive, a retired member of Britain’s Elite Special Air Service is forced into action. His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader.” This rings a bell for some reason….

Jurassic Park
One of cinema’s blockbuster classics gets a digital re-release. Worth it for Goldblum alone.

Soul Surfer
I could have sworn this based-on-a-true-story film about a girl returning to surfing after losing an arm came out years ago. I’d make a crude joke about giving my right arm to see this film, but she lost her left. Shame.

Mademoiselle Chambon (limited release)
A man becomes a substitute teacher at the request of his son’s teacher. In true French fashion he falls in love with her. Parent’s evening is going to be awkward.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil (limited release)
Very promising looking horror comedy featuring funny men Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine and sexy lady Katrina Bowden. Worth a look I reckon.

Newsreel 1 (limited release)
“Newsreel is a series of movies about London. They do not have spoken word or titles. There are sounds of people, songs, streets and rivers, pictures of movement, buildings, performance and prayer.” Blimey.

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (limited release)
Documentary about “the clothes, the glamour and the decadence of iconic fashion designer Halston.” Hey look, Billy Joel.

The Tapes (limited release)
“Fame-hungry Gemma asks her boyfriend Danny and his media student mate Nathan to film her Big Brother audition. They hear about a sex party and change course, but soon wish they hadn’t as the party goers turn out to be devil worshippers.” Best. Synopsis. Ever.

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