Clips
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REVIEW OF THE RUM DIARY
CLAUDIA: I thought was quite whimsical and very mild – it made me want to go on holiday. But if you’re a Hunter S. Thompson fan expecting madness – it isn’t mad. It feels like it’s a love letter from Johnny Depp to Thompson but that’s not how it comes across.
DANNY: You imagine that Bruce Robinson, the man who made Withnail and I making a film about Hunter S. Thompson would produce a certain kind of movie – it’s not that movie. It has some very funny moments but not nearly enough and you feel slightly disappointed. It’s a very conventional boy meets girl story – it’s harmless which is fine, harmless is harmless but it’s disappointing.
CLAUDIA: I had another problem with it which is that the female character is such a throw back – she’s not even a Bond girl who at least would have a special gadget in their stiletto. This is a girl who just wants to swim naked and wear dresses and it’s ridiculous. -
REVIEW OF THE AWAKENING
DANNY: The Awakening is an English ghost story so it has such a lot to live up to – particularly The Innocents which is the greatest ghost story ever committed to celluloid. It’s a tribute to The Awakening that at least for the first half, it’s not disgraced in that company. It creates a huge amount of atmosphere – it does it exceptionally well. The problems come when things start happening – huge waves of plot crash in from all angles and it all gets muddled which is a shame because this is half of a great ghost story.
CLAUDIA: I definitely liked this more than you. The ending is silly and it feels like they just want to tie up all the loose ends but I loved Rebecca Hall – I love her in everything. -
REVIEW OF ARTHUR CHRISTMAS - Claudia's film of the week.
CLAUDIA: This film is brilliant and that’s a big word for this time of night. I absolutely loved it – we clapped, we cried and it’s funny without constantly bashing you over the head. It has a lot of heart the opening is magnificent, the story is lovely
DANNY: It’s a big success – it’s big and slick but still has a lot of personality – it’s got great charm. The animation serves the story and a very sweet one it is too. -
REVIEW OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS - Danny's film of the week.
DANNY: Andrea Arnold has got balls of steel – she’s taken this familiar story and made it seem completely new by stripping all the dialogue out and telling the story visually. She does it incredibly well – it’s a staggering film and yet weirdly it’s still incredibly faithful to the book which if you really look at it is barely a romance, it’s feral and wild. This is not note-perfect, there are rough edges to this film but I’d rather see Andrea Arnold take a risk than another bog standard interpretation.
CLAUDIA: I agree – I thought it was absolutely beautiful, especially the first hour. There are shots of moths quivering against window panes, the sound is fabulous there’s no music at all until right at the end. The two young actors who play Cathy and Heathcliff are absolutely phenomenal. Unfortunately I liked it less when they were grown ups but it is an exquisite film. -
LIKE THAT? TRY THIS....
CLAUDIA'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARTHUR CHRISTMAS FANS.
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
In this classic Christmas movie, rogue elf Patch, played by Dudley More, struggles with his grotto promotion and leaves the North Pole in favour of New York. A festive hoot.
Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit (2005)
Another Aardman adventure. Familiar friends Wallace and Gromit get into spot of Rabbit shaped bother whilst finding a pest control solution for Toddington Hall’s annual giant vegetable competition.
The Snowman (1982)
Based on a book by Raymond Briggs, the film follows a little boy on an adventure with his snowman when it unexpectedly comes to life. Whilst not technically a feature film, the Snowman is the definitive Christmas animation.
DANNY'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WUTHERING HEIGHTS ENTHUSIASTS.
Fish Tank (2009)
Andrea Arnold has a particular knack of coaxing brilliant peformances out of unknown young actors. Here, Katie Jarvis (who was spotted by the film’s casting director whilst having a fight with her boyfriend on a station platform) makes her scene-stealing debut as 15-year-old Mia, whose mixed up family life is turned completely upside down by the arrival of her mother’s mysterious boyfriend played by Michael Fassbender.
The Spirit Of The Beehive (1973)
Call it what you like - ghost story, Civil War allegory, dark coming of age fable - Spanish director Victor Erice’s haunting film, made under the censorship constraints of Franco’s Spain, is as hard to pin down as it is to forget. Featuring precious little dialogue, this unique film gives itself over to dream-like imagery and a heartbreaking central performance by 7-year-old Ana Torrent, as a young girl whose fascination with James Whale’s Frankenstein turns into an all-consuming obsession.
Sleep Furiously (2008)
Another stunning rural-set film which says a lot with very few words, Welsh director Gideon Koppel’s bittersweet love letter to his hometown, the tiny farming community of Trefeurig, is part documentary, part mood piece. An extraordinary, unusually beautiful portrait of the British countryside and a declining way of life, offset by a beguiling ambient soundtrack from Aphex Twin. -
SCREENING LOCATIONS FOR THE BRITISH GUIDE TO SHOWING OFF
THE BRITISH GUIDE TO SHOWING OFF.
November 11
ICA Cinema LONDON
November 18
Showroom SHEFFIELD
Pictureville BRADFORD
Tyneside FT NEWCASTLE
Lexi Kensal Rise LONDON
November 20
Watershed BRISTOL
November 25
Ritzy BRIXTON
Picturehouse HACKNEY
Shortwave BERMONDSEY
Chapter CARDIFF
5th December
Phoenix OXFORD
6th December
Picturehouse HACKNEY
Little Theatre BATH
Ritzy BRIXTON
Duke of York's BRIGHTON
Cameo EDINBURGH
Picturehouse GREENWICH
Picturehouse EXETER
Picturehouse STRATFORD, EAST LONDON
Cinema City NORWICH
Abbeygate Picturehouse BURY ST EDMUNDS
Picturehouse YORK
Stratford Picturehouse STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
Regal Picturehouse HENLEY
Harbour Lights SOUTHAMPTON
Belmont ABERDEEN
Picturehouse CAMBRIDGE
Gate NOTTING HILL
Picturehouse CLAPHAM
9th December
MAC BIRMINGHAM
Picturehouse EXETER
12th December
Cinema City NORWICH
23rd December
Gulbenkian CANTERBURY -
SCREENING LOCATIONS FOR TABLOID
To find out where Tabloid is showing click here
Credits
- Series Producer
- Jayne Stanger
- Presenter
- Claudia Winkleman
- Presenter
- Danny Leigh
- Participant
- Grace Dent
- Executive Producer
- Basil Comely
