True Detective and TV Atheists

In the last few weeks I have been among those engrossed in HBO's True Detective. For the uninitiated, it follows two police officers who, over the span of 17 years, investigate a spate of serial murders in rural Louisiana. That short synopsis doesn't really do the series justice and it is genuinely one of the best crafted series of television ever made (though I am unsure about the ending).

The central performances are part of what makes the show exceptional. Whilst Woody Harrelson puts in a perfectly fine performance as the flawed, womanising family man Marty Hart it is Matthew Mahogany's role as Rustin Cohle that gives True Detective it's dark dark heart. To help make my point, here's rust on humanity - 

“I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labour under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honourable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.”

Oscar Review - Philomena

I was surprised to see Stephen Frear's Philomena on the list of best Oscar nominees. This is not the comment on the quality of the film but based on the fact that it is not exactly a traditional best film contender. It doesn't have the expansive A-list cast of American Hustle and it doesn't delve into a deep analysis of historical or political issues in the same way as 12 Years a Slave or Captain Phillips. On the flip side, unlike other contenders with a similarly smaller a scope, such as Nebraska, it's rather conventionally written and directed. Perhaps it's ace in the hole was the enthusiastic support it received from Harvey Weinstein, arguable the pioneer of the modern Oscar campaign.

The film is based on the true story of Philomena Lee, an Irish woman seeking out any information on the child she gave up for adoption whilst being in the care of a catholic convent in the 1950s. She reaches out to Martin Sixsmith, a real life spin doctor and journalist, who then takes her on a (fictionalised¹) journey across the US in search of her long lost son. So, does it deserve to be on one of the best Oscar nomination list of recent times?

Oscar Review – Nebraska

Perhaps one day I will do a blog the difference between the greatest film ever versus ones favourite film ever. In short “the greatest” films tend to be large in scope or the important issues they confront though are often dense and lack a certain re-watachable quality (think Schindlers list or Lawrence of Arabia). Conversely, your favourite film may lack the scope or epic quality of the greatest films but are films you can watch over and over again (maybe I don't need to do a post now).

As far as the latter category goes my favourite film is, depending on my mood, 2004's Sideways by Alexander Payne. My affection for this film could (and possibly will) be the focus of another post but its explained, in part, by the fact that it's primary character is a depressed, unsuccessful, wine loving, borderline alcoholic failed writer (possibly don't want to over think that says about me). Given my borderline obsession with Sideways, Payne, perhaps unfairly, has an uphill struggle when it comes to impressing me. The Descendants, though a perfectly decent film, seemed to lack the both the edge and dark humour of Payne's 2004 offering. So, how well does Nebraska meet to my unrealistic demands?

Oscar Review – Her

If you are not familiar of what the term “High Concept” means; essentially it refers to being able to condense the premise of a film, book or whatever to a simple concept. The most cited examples of this tend to be “what if we cloned dinosaurs” or “Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are twins”. Out of all of this year’s Oscar contenders, the High Concept conceit of “a man falls in love with his computer operating system” is perhaps the most eye catching. Her, directed by Spike Jonze, is about that very thing. I must admit that the high concept idea did worry me as I thought it could degrade into a pretentious, avant garde, post modernist, up it's own arse analysis of the meaning of love in a technological age or go the other way and be about an operating system being driven violently insane by jealousy. So what did Spike Jonze do with this high concept?

Oscar Review – Gravity (Spoilers)

In the same way the Oscar academy seems to have a thing for films with a period setting the flip side of this is their track record of overlooking Science Fiction films.  This is to the point where no film of that genre has ever won the top gong (though Sci Fi has often dominates the technical awards). This may be part of a wider cultural phenomenon of critics and filmy types not taking the genre seriously. This view has broken down somewhat in recent years with films like Inception and District 9 earning both critical acclaim and best picture nominations. Perhaps the best chance of breaking Sci Fi's long dry spell is with Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity.

The set up is simple enough. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play two astronauts who, whilst on a space, walk are stranded after their shuttle is destroyed by a debris field caused by those damn Ruskies shooting down their own satellite. It's has been praised as a game changer in both special effects and 3D film making. So how does it stack up? 

Quick Review - BBC Symphony Orchestra Concert - Barbican Centre

At the end of January my friend had managed to arrange tickets to the BBC Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven's 4th and Ravel's Bolero.

So what can go wrong when you have some of the finest musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever composed? Well, nothing.  

The music was played with flawlessly.  

I was more impressed with the Beethoven stuff than I was with the 20th symphony by Rave but it was all beautiful.

Philistine Alert
It was the first time I had been to such a recital and there were some odd things going on that I quite didn't understand. The audience seemed to instinctively know when to clap and when not to clap during the breaks in the music. I am guessing you remain silent at the end of a movement and clap at the end of a symphony. There was also an apparently famous flautist who got everyone in the audience very excited. My friend and I just went with the flow (though I did clap in the wrong place once).

Despite playing the role of fish out of water, I enjoyed the experience of just sitting and letting you mind wonder as the orchestra got on with their job. There are further recitals planned at the Barbican this year and I'd recommend trying to experience an orchestra like this at least once.

Oscar Review - American Hustle

Period pieces often serve as Oscar bait. Having a quick scan over the best Oscar winners since the beginning of the eighties, it seems most have some kind of historical setting. From Gladiator to Titanic from Forest Gump to Lord of the Ringsⁱ the academy seem to like being taken into the past and meeting characters with period hair and clothing. American Hustle provides lots of period clothing and hair and is very aware of it's historical setting and my guess is the Oscar Academy will be impressed. Set in the late 1970s, David O'Russell's American Hustle is a fictionalisation of the Abscam affair, in which the FBI enlisted (in the film forced) con artists to entrap, um I mean, ensnare senior politicians in a bribery sting, using a fake Arab Sheik.

Following closely on the heels of O'Russell's heavily nominated Silver Linings Playbook and starring Oscar winners Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro and with nominees Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams, you have to assume that the producers had the Oscars very much on their mind as they were pulling everything together. So I guess the question is this - does bringing together all this talent in one film actually work and does it deserve the accolades it so very desperately wants?