An intriguing trailer has been kicking around the internet for a new Sci-Fi romance called Upside Down starring the recently defended Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess. What makes this trailer particularly exciting is that it keeps being pulled down from around the internet, it is the forbidden fruit of the trailer world.
With a plot involving a second world directly above our own but with opposite gravity, think about it for a moment, it is almost too easy to describe the film as feeling like a cross between Inception and Another Earth. Sadly I like an easy life, so watch the trailer below and marvel at what is a cross between Inception and Another Earth.
Observant people will have noticed that the trailer is French, this is because there is no release date yet in any English-speaking country. For anyone like me with only a few choice French phrases (Où est mon petit-déjeuner?) I have translated the text from the trailer with help from various different translation websites, each giving slightly incoherent responses.
Imagine another world with its own gravity just above ours. The laws of the universes oppose them but nothing can separate them. Next year love will change our view on the world.
Fingers crossed someone wears a thick jumper at some point so I can lump this into the Heavy Knitwear Science Fiction category.
As much as we are obliged to look back over the year just gone, we are obliged to look ahead at the year just beginning. It’s always exciting to look at the next twelve months and all the exciting treats that are coming to our screens. Below are my personal picks of the films worth seeing in 2012, and I’m hoping there will be many more besides, a few gems I haven’t even heard of yet. Continue reading »
As 2011 comes to a close is it my obligation as a film blogger to put together my pick of 2011′s releases. I’ve gone for my top twenty as narrowing it down to just ten would be too harrowing a task and my only rule is that they must have been released in UK cinemas during 2011. This takes us from The Next Three Days (absolutely not in the list) to The Lady and The Artist and is only limited to films I have seen. I’ve also chosen not to speak to the wider Mild Concern team, mostly due to laziness, barring watching Waste Land at Kat’s insistence. This was a decision I have come to regret considering the rambling you will find below.
The scene properly set, let’s get onto the list. Looking back 2011 has been a great year for cinema, here are my top 20 releases of 2011:
The Lady
“The story of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the academic and writer Michael Aris; a true story of love set against political turmoil.”
The Artist (Vue West End only)
The fact that this French silent film about Hollywood during the demise of the silent era is getting a UK-wide release is a testament to just how joyful it is. I loved it so much I gave it the “Best of the Fest” award at this year’s London Film Festival. You will leave the cinema with a huge grin on your face and won’t shut up about the experience at whatever New Years Eve party you attend. Opens nationwide next week.
Hannah and Her Sisters (BFI only)
The BFI begin their Woody Allen retrospective with this multi-Oscar winning comedy drama about one woman’s husbands and their love for her two sisters.
Zelig (BFI Only)
More Allen in the form of a faux-documentary about a human chameleon who can take on the appearance of anyone who is around him.
Considering the fact that I was 4 when I first saw The Muppet Christmas Carol in the cinema, it isn’t hard to see why this particular Muppet film fills me with nostalgic joy every time I see it (and I’ve seen it two and a half times in the past two weeks). Taking a departure from the three preceding films, Christmas Carol does not tell a story about the Muppets themselves, instead retelling Dickens classic tale with Michael Caine as Scrooge and Muppets taking on the majority of other roles. This is the Muppets with a proper plot at last.
Holding the whole film together are The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat as Dickens and his sidekick, acting as narrators and, in a real change for the Muppet franchise, are the only two characters to break the fourth wall and reference the fact that the film is in fact a film. Taking things far too seriously for a moment, separating the story from the endless meta jokes makes the jokes all the funnier and the story more engrossing. It can be hard to care about a character who acknowledges that what is happening to them is not really happening. Rizzo and Gonzo are a great comedic pair and the film wouldn’t work without them.
With celebrity cameos out the window, at last, instead we have an admirable performance from Michael Caine. Possibly not his finest work but he certainly isn’t slacking off in the acting department. From a horrible old man to a truly sad figure, Caine gives it his all. Shame about that dance though…
I may mock the dance, but I will happily perform it whenever anyone asks me too… or if the film happens to be on.
Another thing Christmas Carol has going for it, beyond the humour and the emotion, is that it is pretty scary at times. I’ve had more than one nightmare about Scrooge’s door knocker turning into a screaming face, and the Ghost of Christmas Past is pretty freaky too, something to do with her tiny hands. With most of the other Muppet films everything is so light and fluffy the peril is rarely perilous, here there is plenty to get behind the sofa for.
What really makes Christmas Carol the best of the franchise so far is the songs. For once the songs are fun, catchy and live on beyond the film. “One More Sleep Till Christmas” and “It Feels Like Christmas” will always be accompanied by me warbling along and forgetting most of the words. You may get the sense that watching this film with me is hell as I sing and dance along while chuckling at the childish jokes… You’re probably right but I do it all out of love for the film.
I will finish this ramble with this deleted song, a song which should appear during Scrooge’s trip to Christmas past but which Disney decided wasn’t appealing to young children. “When Love is Gone” is beautiful and it’s removal makes for a slightly jarring moment in the film. Silly Disney!
The Muppet Christmas Carol is amazing and I can’t imagine Christmas without it.
Light the lamp, not the rat, light the lamp, not the rat! Put me out, put me out, put me out!
Muppet Movie Ranking:
1. The Muppet Christmas Carol
2. The Muppets Take Manhattan
3. The Great Muppet Caper
4. The Muppet Movie
