To celebrate the release of the new Martin Scorcese / Leonardo DiCaprio psychological thriller, Shutter Island, we count down the top 5 movies featuring the clinically insane!

5. Girl Interrupted (1991)

Set in the sixties, Girl Interrupted is a somber drama about Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) – a‘voluntarily’ who checks into Claymoore Hospital after a failed suicide attempt. She befriends some genuinely afflicted patients, amongst them is a pathological liar, an anorexic and a self-harmer. However, it’s Angelina Jolie as the diagnosed sociopath, Lisa Rowe, that Susanna finds herself drawn to. Together they upset their fellow patients by getting into all sorts of trouble. The film was criticized for its sappy delivery of a clichéd female coming-of-age story, which was more about misunderstood teenage angst and less about the complicated inner lives young people face with mental illness. Nevertheless, Jolie won an Oscar for best supporting actress portraying the rebellious and abusive playmate.

Memorable Quote: “Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60’s. Or maybe I was just a girl… interrupted.”

4. Session 9 (2001)

Session 9 is an intelligent take on the horror genre that doesn’t rely on cheap shocks or gruesome special effects to create a deeply disturbing and slow burning psychological thriller.

The film is set in the Danvers State Hospital, Massachusetts. An unashamedly Scottish Peter Mullan leads his crew of hazmat workers to clear the aforementioned condemned building of asbestos. After they stumble upon a collection of sinister taped interviews from former patients, the claustrophobic and dark rooms of the asylum begin to take on a life of their own. Sporting a great cast that includes David Caruso, Paul Guilfoyle and Josh Lucas, the scenery is truly chewed to pieces as the tension ratchets and an unseen assailant starts picking-off the crew one by one. Most critics at the time rightly praised the film’s dark and creepy atmosphere that was low on gore and high on bum-hole-tightening tension.

Memorable Quote: “Satanic Ritual Abuse Syndrome. It was big in the ’80s.”

3. 12 Monkeys (1996)

Terry Gilliam dazzles us with this bat-shit-crazy story of time travel, terrorism and world-ending flu pandemics. Inspired by the French short film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys depicts the world in 2035 devastated by a disease that forced the surviving human population to live underground.

Convict James Cole (Bruce Willis) volunteers for time travel duty to gather information and when he first arrives in the past, Cole is arrested and understandably locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Here he meets Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a world-renowned virologist and certified loon, played with twitch-perfect eccentricity by Brad Pitt. Cole’s sanity is truly tested while incarcerated and the poor bastard has to deal with a WWII bullet in the leg, telephone calls to the future, Jeffery’s insane and psychotic ramblings and the need to eat live spiders for ‘evidence’. Visually arresting, satisfyingly sci-fi and with neat logic to the madness, this film stands out as Gilliam’s finest work to date.

Memorable Quote: “…and if you forget one thing, I will have you shaved, sterilized, and destroyed!”

2. Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Deep breath…

Young Girl has nightmares about lambs. Girl trains with FBI and joins a specialist unit for studying fruit cakes. Girl interviews serial killer in an asylum who is the fruitiest of all the cakes. Fruit Cake discusses eating people and the joys of fine wine. Girl cons Fruit Cake to help catch a Cowboy serial killer who has kidnapped a Senator’s daughter. Cowboy likes to wear dresses made of human skin. Fruit Cake isn’t stupid, begins a game of “quid pro quo” and starts to use Girl for his own amusement. The analyst becomes the analysed and the Fruit Cake enjoys messing with the Girl’s head. Fruit Cake reveals the identity of the Cowboy before eating someone’s face and escaping with an improvised disguise. Girl tracks down Cowboy at his creepy residence complete with hidden dungeon. Girl faces off with Cowboy in the dark and shoots him. Fruit Cake phones girl for a quick gloat before walking off into the sunset. The End.

: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

1.     One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)

Oh come on, what else were you expecting?! An undeniable classic. Simply put, this is a timeless, culturally important and down right entertaining piece of movie history. If you didn’t know, Jack Nicholson plays McMurphy: a sane, if not naive, rebellious recidivist who charms his way into a mental asylum for an easy life where he can live out his sentence for statutory rape. He soon finds living in the hospital difficult and frustrating being surrounded by the genuinely odd and disturbed patients. Match him off against one of celluloid’s all time great antagonists, Nurse Ratchett (Oscar winner Louise Fletcher), and you’ve got a captivating tale that culminates in an attempted escape to Canada. With too many classic scenes to mention (the impromptu boat trip being a particular highlight) the success of this film is thanks to a fantastic script, great direction and an outstanding supporting cast.

Memorable Quote: “In one week, I can put a bug so far up her ass, she don’t know whether to shit or wind her wristwatch.”

This will sell out. Are you gonna be one of the dicks that turns up at the door at 10pm trying to get in and not getting in becasue you’re dim? Yes you probably are. Not me though, becasue i will be getting my ticket on Friday morning. Awwww yeah!

The only tracks I’ve heard off this album are the ones that ATL played. Can not wait! Maybe the most anticipated album in Northern Ireland! YES! YES! YES!

The Menagerie, Belfast, 26th April is the big day!

Tickets are for sale on Friday from www.wegottickets.com

www.myspace.com/lafaro

www.smalltownamerica.co.uk

Andrew Moore reports from the Belfast Film Festival press launch as the critically acclaimed festival returns to the city…

As the home grown stars and press descend upon Belfast’s Black Box to witness the launch of the city’s 10^th Film Festival, running from 15^th – 30^th April, as a genuine lover of all things cinema, you can’t help but be elated how the event has transformed over the past decade.

Starting originally as a small element within the west of the city the has now become a main cultural fixture in the Northern Ireland calendar. Belfast might be an ever changing city, but what has not changed is its everlasting love affair with the cinema.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long, commented: “The Belfast Film Festival has grown to become a flagship annual event in the city’s calendar. It promotes our city and its people on both an international and national stage, and its reputation for innovation and creativity is widely regarded. The city of Belfast is extremely proud of these achievements and we look forward to the 20^th, 30^th and 40^th birthday celebrations and beyond.”

The BFF once again continues to showcase the filmmaking talent coming out of Northern Ireland, with world premieres of locally made productions such as Empire – a film set in Belfast, shot over three years on a zero budget and loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus.

Other premieres include Five Day Shelter, starring BAFTA nominated John Lynch, a highly visual drama interweaving the lives of several characters in a contemporary urban setting over five days.

While indie cinema fans, of the weird and wonderful, are bound to be excited by Colin McIvor’s directorial debut, Cupcake, which tells the tale of a man who inherits his parent’s bakery which promises to be a visual feast for all the senses.

Serving as a reminder to the past is the imaginative Mickey B, a feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, made with serving prisoners as cast, in Northern Ireland’s infamous maximum security prison HMP Maghaberry.

An eccentric range of innovative filmic events once again dominate the programme, including a screening of Stephen Sommers’ modern B-Movie hit, Deep Rising, while the audience sail down the River Lagan. The John Hughes 80s masterpiece, Pretty in Pink, shown in Belfast nightclub Slide. A workshop presented by BBC presenter, William Crawley, dissecting the ‘anatomy’ of the legendary 1957 courtroom epic, 12 Angry Men directed by Sidney Lumet, as well as, screening an episode from the cult 60s TV show, The Prisoner, inside the First Church of Christ which will be followed by a discussion on the importance of architectural heritage in Belfast.

Opening the BFF will be the UK/Irish premiere of Triage, starring Colin Farrell as war photographer Mark Walsh while closing this year’s festivities is the UK premiere of Tetro, the latest film from the institutional Francis Ford Coppola – also his first original screenplay since The Conversation.

In partnership with the Shruti Foundation and Lady Rana, the BFF will also have in attendance, Shyam Benegal – one of India’s most highly regarded filmmakers – who will give a public lecture at the Great Hall in Queen’s University on 22^nd April. Two of his films Zubeidaa and The Making of the Mahatma are set to be screened.

Greenberg starring Ben Stiller will also be shown at the festival...

One of the most appealing prospects of the festival, for most of the public, is the vast range of high profile productions set to screen over the 16 day programme including Noah Baumbach’s – screenwriter of The Life Aquatic, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Squid and the Whale - Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller, the Russian made Tsar – a film about the 16^th Century Ivan the Terrible – as well a showing of Paul Schrader’s – screenwriter of Taxi Driver – Adam Resurrected, the quirky black comedy Dogtooth, the powerful Vincere – based on the life of Bentio Mussolini’s first wife, Ida Dalsar – the visually spectacular Japanese feature Symbol amongst many others.

The BFF also hopes to break the boundaries of offering audiences some visual treats mixing the sights of modern and classic cinema with contemporary sounds of performers such as Denmark’s Efterklang and the USA’s Wooden Shjips.

As a way to support the increasing numbers of aspiring filmmakers, writers and producers in Northern Ireland and their thirst to know more about ‘the business’. Organisers have set up a two day seminar called Northern Exposure = Deal Closure. The event will bring in key London sales agents, distributors, producers and literary talent agents for a series of four industry-focused panel sessions and discussion groups. Confirmed panellists include BAFTA nominee Tony Grisoni (Red Riding Trilogy), Robin Gutch (producer Warp X), Hilary Davis (Banksdale Films), Stephen Murphy (Optimum Releasing) and Nick Marston (Curtis Brown Agency) plus more.

Full information on tickets and the programme in its entirety is now available on the official Belfast Film Festival website at http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org.

The PACIFIC

STARTS 5^TH APRIL 2010 AT 9pm ON SKY MOVIES PREMiERE HD

Executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman are the creative team behind the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Clearly a winning combination. They’re back with another epic war television series. The Pacific has all been filmed using HD and special attention has been given to it to give it a Hollywood theatrical feel.

I’m loving that the series will be shown on Sky Movies Premiere HD, no averts and so it will be viewed in all its glory!

The Plot:

On 8^th December 1941, just over 24 hours after the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbour, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan.  For a decade, tensions had been mounting between Japan and the US, as the Japanese expanded their conquest of a large region including much of China and Southeast Asia.  As a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the United States officially entered World War II, already in its third year of being waged by countries of the Allied powers, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Canada and Australia, against the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy.

Practically overnight, military recruiting offices across the United States were jammed, as thousands of Americans rushed to enlist in the armed forces.  Many of those young men chose to join the Marine Corps, which saw its ranks more than triple in the six months following Pearl Harbour.

The mini-series follows them from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the r  The Pacific tracks the three entwined, real-life journeys of Leckie, Sledge and Basilone and their fellow Marines over the vast landscape of the Pacific in World War II.  Rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Interviews:

James Badge Dale (plays PFC Robert Leckie)

How did you get into the role?

I got a phone call from HBO one day -it had been a long audition process that lasted about six months. I got a phone call saying, “You wanna come to Australia”. And I think that was a life-changer right there. We’re talking about a year of production in Australia. And y’know, Robert Leckie, he wrote a lot. He wrote a memoir called Helmet For My Pillow, about his time in the Pacific theater. He also wrote a book of short stories or vignettes about his childhood growing up in a household of five older sister. It was just invaluable source material to be able to sit down and be able to read about your character, to be able to read about his childhood, and these stories that he looked back on as real formative stories of him as a man. I also had the pleasure of spending time with his wife Vera Leckie and his daughter Joan Leckie and they would sit me down and feed me lunch and tell stories.

Did you approach this character differently because he was a real person?

It’s different. It’s different. Approaching him because he was a real man who wrote about this. This is a real story and his words, his version of events, he was there. And meeting his family… where is that line between honouring him and playing this man and then also creating your own character, so normally the creation happens within me. Through a writer and through a director, y’know, we can all come to a consensus, but this is a different situation. It was a tight rope act. Finding yourself in situations where you say, “Ok, would he have done this?”. Did Robert do this, would he have done this or what is right for the story? Do I need to take some kind of creative license here to help the story along?

How did you build up your relationship with the other actors? Did boot camp help?

Absolutely. I think you spend nine days out in the mud together, y’know, you can get pretty close. Or you can be at each others throats. But they cast very well. All of us seemed to be of like mind and heart. Everybody treated the project with a lot of respect. It’s a special experience to be together for that long and to do things together for that long. You grow a bond. And we all got along very well from the outset.

What kind of impact do you think The Pacific will have on your career?

Um, y’know, probably serving French fries at drive-thrus hugely. Or go back to changing oil in people’s cars man. I don’t know. I’ve been lucky enough to work in this business for a little while and what I’ve learned is that expectations will kill you. It was such an honour and a privilege to play this role and to be a part of this. I feel like I’ve reaped all the benefits I can ask for, y’know? And if someone can connect with the story, then my job is done. If a veteran can look at me and say, “Listen, I think you guys did a good job and that’s what it was like. You reminded me of a certain time”. Or if we can get the story right.

What have you learned from your time on The Pacific?

Working on The Pacific I learned a lot about breaking barriers. I learned a lot about myself and what type of strength I have, or don’t have. If you asked me could I do it again or would I do it again, I don’t know if I could do it again. (Looks off wistfully) That’s a hard question. Can we move on to the next question?

How do you think The Pacific will be received and why do you think people should watch it?

(Smiles) Why should we see The Pacific? I hope people will watch The Pacific and learn a little bit more about themselves and a little bit more about history – American history and world history. But I think more importantly, our show is about price. Our show is about men who went through a certain circumstance that is part of human nature, which I believe nobody should have to go through, but it is part of human nature and it happens in each generation. But how did they get through it? How did they get through it? What price did they pay?

Do you think there’s now less of a difference between the quality of television shows and films?

Absolutely, I think that’s down to a number of things but I think the gap between television and film has gotten a lot smaller and what’s important is a good project is a good project and a good story is a good story. Good storytellers are good storytellers, so whether the medium is television or the medium is a movie theatre, it doesn’t matter as long as you take care. As long as you care about what you do and you take care with it.

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Joe Mazzello (plays Eugene Sledge)

How important was it for you to build up a bond with the other actors in order to make The Pacific more believable?

It was crucial. It was crucial more just to be able to survive the experience with your sanity. Because it was absolutely the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Hands down, across the board. Every single day was a battle, no pun intended. But the guys that I worked with, I kind of  felt like, boy, it’s going to be a lot of actors, a lot of type A personalities, y’know, it was going to be rough, there were going to be fights I felt like. But amazingly we got along so well. We spent every waking moment together, and I’m so happy to be able to say that truthfully. Because I have to say it no matter what. But I really believe it because I’m still so close with all of them. I try to talk to every single one of them. It’s a big cast but everything was so relaxed and we laughed so much. It was great to be able to have that because we knew what we were about to go into was so difficult and so taxing on the mind and the body that if we didn’t laugh and we didn’t enjoy each other so much then I don’t know if we’d have been able to get through it.

How much did the locations and the costumes help you believe that you were actually in a battle in The Pacific?

Everything helps. The weaponry, the uniform, the locations, everything was so authentic from beginning to end that if there wasn’t a camera in your face then you would absolutely believe that you were about to get blown up and about to get shot. I can’t stress enough, it was so difficult, y’know, every single day was just a new challenge to get through. And you felt like you were living it day in, day out. But when you think about all that you did, going through the mud and the running, the explosions and the weapons, at the end of the day, it’s silly a bit, in comparison to what the real men went through, and so you always have that for a context whenever you think you’re big and bad and whatever because these guys really experienced this and it always puts it in perspective.

How much is this a story of heroism?

Oh, completely. It always strikes me when I think of World War II specifically, that these guys were just regular guys. Like, my grandfather served in the Pacific. He owned a deli for his entire life. There were mechanics and painters and electricians. These were not professional warriors, these were kids. And to think of what they went through and then for them to come home and so humbly just say, ‘We did what we had to do’” and then went on living their very humble lives. It just always strikes me and I can’t get that out of my mind that we asked so much of these people and we still do to this day. And it’s just so amazing what they’re able to go through. Of course they’re heroes., y’know, they saved the world.

Why do you think your character wanted to go to war?Was there a social pressure at the time?

Y’know, there wasn’t. For him anyway, I can’t speak for the general population, but for Sledge his great grandfather served in the Civil War, his father served in World War I. He came from a whole line of men who served their country and he wanted to go for that reason. He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to continue that lineage. And his father didn’t actually want him to go. Talk about pressure. There was pressure for him to not go, and he was kept out of the war at the beginning until he finally said, ‘I am going’. And I just feel like the men of that generation had that sense of patriotism and duty to their country. And he wanted to go and of course what he was met with was something that he could never imagine, as prepared as he was.

How do you think starring in The Pacific will alter your professional life?

Y’know I’ve been acting since I was a little kid. Five years old. I had a lot of success growing up and I kind of went away from it for a little while and did kind of the normal things, high school and SATs, the Prom and girls and college. Y’know, I wanted to do all that. I went to USC film school and learned about the other side of the camera. I graduated and just said, ‘Y’know, I’m not done with this yet’. I think acting is something that I am innately the best at, more so, I’d say, than the other things in my life. And I knew that I just wanted to keep doing and I was so fortunate to be able to be in such an amazing project and hopefully it will lead to good things for me. You never know.

How interesting is it for you to get lost in someone else’s life like this?

That’s why I do it. It’s about that moment where you lose yourself completely. And you make it real for you. You actually experience what’s happening and you can feel it. You feel yourself hitting that. It’s so rewarding because you almost kind of smile inside your own head knowing this is authentic, this is actually happening. It’s that rush that makes you want to do this job.

What about attending boot camp? Would you want to repeat it?

Never in my life. Never, ever, ever, ever (laughs). I think that’s the point though. I mean, it was so tough. I lost 12 pounds in ten days at boot camp, if that is any indication of how it is. I was kind of like, ‘C’mon, we’re a bunch of actors y’know’.  ‘You have to be up before 11 o’clock every morning, y’know. Fillet only once a week!’ I thought it was going to be easy. It was not. It was insanely challenging. We were in the middle of the jungle. Boy, I would never want to go through that again. I’m sure many people are happy to hear that.

How did you find working with many different directors on The Pacific?

Oh, it was really interesting because we had some days where we would be with three different directors in one day. And the entire tone of the set was different based on who the director was. Yeah, it was challenging because I’m there the whole ten episodes, from the beginning to the end. And I have to make sure that my character kind of follows a certain line. And so it’s a delicate balance between what the director wants you to do and your own feelings of how the character is supposed to go and the arc. And so I found it really interesting and I enjoyed it. It was kind of a challenge.

———————————–

Jon Seda (plays Sgt John Basilone)

Why did you want to be part of The Pacific? There must have been many actors of your generation that wanted to be in a Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg production?

I feel so honoured and humbled to just be a part of The Pacific. The importance of it. It’s not like any other series or any other series or any other film of that nature. It’s just different. It has a different meaning to it. For me it wasn’t about making a big career move or anything like that. For me it was just being able to be a part of that voice for all these men who sacrificed themselves to give us the freedom that we enjoy today. That was just crazy important for me.

Did the fact that you were playing a real person impact on the way you approached your character?

Well, for me I had the distinct honour to portray Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone and his home state is New Jersey and that’s where I grew up and so I felt even more of a sense of pride and responsibility to try and do the best I could or I would not be able to show up in New Jersey. So I just would hope and pray that I would even have an ounce of the same courage that John Basilone had. So, to let alone have a part in The Pacific, to portray John Basilone was just a humbling experience for me.

John Basilone was a hero but he didn’t realise it, in part because he was cut off from home and the news. Did this make him more interesting to play?

Right. I don’t think John Basilone himself would call himself a hero. I think he was doing what he was taught to do and what he loved to do, which was to be a Marine. And he loved his country and was willing to do whatever it took to help to preserve that freedom that we have. So, I don’t think he would call himself a hero. I think there are hero. I think as soon as they sign on to enlist, that’s a heroic act right there. So there’s many heroes of World War II and I think John would call many others heroes before he would call himself a hero.

Which are the qualities you like about the friendships you guys develop as characters? Because you live in a very extreme situation throughout The Pacific but there’s also time for friendships.

Well, y’know, all these men in the Pacific, it was their family. They all come from different parts of the United States and different parts of the world, but when they’re together, that’s their family and they laugh together, they joke together, they endure pain together, they have victory together. So that’s something from bootcamp for us. Captain Dale Dye and his NCOs, they made sure that we understood that and that was important for us because there’s no way that we would have been able to really bring out the reality of the camaraderie that these men had without going through something that simulated that as well.

How much does the realistic wardrobe and locations help your performance?

It was just incredible. Just from the sets to the wardrobe that we had and just the elements that they put us through, we really didn’t have to act. We were reacting. For example, there was a time in boot camp where a few of us got together and we paused and we were like, ‘What are we doing?’ Are we actually training to go fight somewhere? Or are we doing a show? What are we doing?’ And that’s when it was basically a change for all of us. We all realised how important this was and we were going to have to reach down deep to bring out something that we had never brought out before.

How difficult is it to find intelligent material like this out there?

Something like this comes along not enough as it should. Something like this, it’s a blessing and a gift and to be a part of it, that’s why it’s so important to me because this doesn’t come around that often. From the writing to the producing to all the aspects that it took. The hard work and the years before it tool to actually get to filming. It’s just incredible to be a part of.

How do you think appearing in The Pacific will change your career?

For me, as we grow in life, there’s different times in our lives where we have transitions. Where we are in life effects who you are as a person, let alone where you are career wise. For me, career wise, I can’t even think about that, but what I do know is that this was a defining moment for me as a person and it was a life changing experience, so for me this was, so far, as good as it’s gotten.

Why did you decide to be an actor?

I didn’t grow up wanting to be an actor. No one in my family is in the business. I grew up very sports oriented and had dreams of playing football. After I graduated high school I got into boxing and my dad is a big fight fan so I had some knowledge of boxing growing up and just found a passion for boxing and thought boxing was going to be my… I always dreamt that I was going to be famous. And I always dreamt that I was going to get a big house for my mom and take care of them. I just didn’t know that it was going to possibly be down an acting route. I thought I was going to be a boxing champion one day but for whatever reason this is the path that was presented to me and I’m vey proud and very fortunate to be here.

Have you found it difficult to keep going in this business?

Yeah, this business to me is kind of like the stock market, it’s up and down. You just have to stay strong and keep pushing through and don’t quit.

What would you say is the message of The Pacific?

I think the message of The Pacific is love your family, love your country. Don’t forget where we’ve all come from and don’t ever think that anything can stop us from being what we want to be.

What was the toughest moment on set?

It was definitely the toughest role that I’ve ever been a part of physically but also I think equally, or more so, mentally and spiritually it was a tougher challenge for me. I, for whatever reason, from the first day, I had found out about The Pacific. I felt like something in me was meant to be a part of it somehow. And I carried it throughout even until now and it’s still a little overwhelming when I think about it. But the challenge for me was more mentally and spiritually for me because the enormity of it was just a little overwhelming. It hit you at different times, y’know? You’d look around and look at the set and you’d almost feel like you were transported back in time and sometimes the reality would just overwhelm you. I think physically I was ok, it was more mentally.

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Trailer

First Look

STARTS 5TH APRIL 2010 AT 9pm

ON SKY MOVIES PREMiERE HD

The Pacific Website

Glimpse – Runner

Label: Crosstown Rebels

Released: 24th May 2010

Buy / Order here

DJ & producer Glimpse (Christopher Spero) releases his first full album in May, Runner. The album opens on my least favourite track, which i guess is a good thing, because technically it would be impossible to get any worse. Track 2 ‘If I was Your Girl‘ brings me exactly where i want to go. It has a dark, tech-house feel with a chunky drooling bass. ‘Things To Do In Denver‘ keeps us movin with a deep house track with a lot of vocal samples, this track picks up the pace. The album takes a side step for the next track, its deletes the funk elements and replaces them with some dark, eerie and spooky samples and gives off a trippy vibe. ‘New Beginnings’ is sixth in this ten pack of tracks and it bring up the pace up again. More tech-soul that could make you slip in to a coma or get you shakin’ your ass. The album pushes on and continues to fire more and more influences at us, house synth, jazz piano, bongos, oriental sounds, house vocal samples and stacks more. This is a massively eclectic album, and i guess that’s how an album should be. I think i’d have preferred a couple more big tunes on it like ‘Things To Do In Denver’ or ‘If I Was Your Girl’ I think i went into this album looking it to be a bit more banging, when in fact what i was listening to was a really great producer that was putting out a piece of music that was telling his story about his own influences. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of anything tech-house.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Glimpse Live @ Yello on 20th on March!
www.thisisyello.com

www.myspace.com/glimpserecordings

Album Review: The Go Find - Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight

Released by : Morr Music

Released on: 10th March 2010

The Go Find started off as Dieter Sermeus’ one man band, but by 3rd album they found a full band and an awesome sound.

This album should come with a warning ‘Prepare to be smoothed out, covered in honey and licked on the inside from ear to ear’ Pressing play on this new release will give you a massive flavour of The Go Find, Dieter’s voice is wrapped in digital cotton and the dreamy bass, floaty synth and smooth guitar just whisk you into a supersonic-pop dreamlike state. The album glides on into a deeper tone and becomes a little more serious, but still laced with that same sweetness. We move on and you begin to get a bit of a Darwin Deez feel, which isnt a bad thing and it certainly isn’t old. It just shows as that Mister Sermeus and his band are not just floaty, synth, pop, they have a few helpings of indie to spread about.  The album keeps going and by track 5 i was begining to think i’d heard everything i was going to get off this, but a new set of vocals ease their way into my welcoming ears. There are two guest vocalists on this record, Mintzkov’s Lies Lorquet (‘Just A Common Love’) and a duet with new talent Karo (‘100%’). Both adding something very different and both suit their tracks so well. The Go Find bring the tempo down the end what i think is their best record to date.
I think from starting off as a solo project to what the band is now is a big improvement. Dieter followed his senses and has came up with a real album. These days musicians are told to make every track a single, it may sound like an insult to say that every track on this isn’t a single, but its not, its what makes it a brilliant album to listen to. This record is all pretty easy listening, its track-running is great and picks you up and puts you down just at the right time. This record will be on my phone for a long time.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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With The Hurt Locker being the first war film to be awarded the Best Picture Oscar in nearly 25 years (the last war film to earn the academy’s top honour was Platoon in 1986) we count down the top 5 war films to have been overlooked and forgotten about in recent years.

5. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

Mopey, mumbling, surfer dude Owen Wilson gets a short back and sides and comes over all “John McClane” as we are treated to a surprisingly entertaining chase movie. Set during the Bosnian War, Owen Wilson stars as Lt Chris Burnett who is shot down in enemy territory during a routine reconnaissance mission. When Wilson witnesses his copilot being shot dead in cold blood he finds himself in a race to reach the safety of the extraction zone before the slightly inept Serbian army can catch up to him. Owen isn’t completely on his own as he has the help of gravel-voiced Gene Hackman, who plays his superior officer barking instructions and encouragement over the walkie-talkie before dusting down his flight suit so he can personally “go get our boy back!”  Also watch out for Nico Bellic’s debut performance as the taciturn bad guy before going on to star in GTA IV.

Memorable scene: A brisk jog through a mine field.

As Owen Wilson continues to evade his pursuers he stumbles across an inauspicious, dilapidated train yard. When he notices a young girl ahead of him taking big, unusual steps we realise that he has walked into the middle of a trip-wire laden minefield. As a jeep of AK-47 wielding grunts screech up behind him poor Wilson has only one option:  to make a suicidal dash through the minefield.

4. The Quiet American (2002)

The Quiet American was the second film adaptation of Graham Greene’s bestselling novel of the same name that attempts to deal with the geo-politics of Indochina. Set in 1952 Saigon during the end of the First Indochina War, on the surface The Quiet American is a love story about the triangle that develops between a British journalist in his fifties, a young American idealist and a Vietnamese girl, but it is also deals with the political turmoil and growing American involvement that led to the Vietnam War. Michael Caine is characteristically captivating in his role as the conscientious, English journalist in this slow paced and thought provoking look at the struggles of the Vietnamese people.

Memorable Scene: The haunting final voiceover.

“They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in a few minutes. The rest has got to be lived. They say whatever it was you were looking for, you will find here. They say there is a ghost in every house, and if you can make peace with him, he will stay quiet.”

3. Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Set in Stalingrad in 1942, we find Jude Law making of the most of his talent for shooting Germans between the eyes as he leads a rag tag bunch of Russian snipers against the invading German forces. Fed up with pretty boy Law popping off Nazi after Nazi, the Germans bring in their own specialist counter-sniper (Ed Harris) to pit his wits against the Communist hero within the rubble of a bombed-out city. Dismissing Russian accents as irrelevant and unimportant this tale of cat and mouse plays out with a surprisingly star studded cast including Rachel Weisz, Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins and Ron Pearlman. Based very loosely on real people and events, this film is a whole lot more enjoyable than it deserves to be.

Memorable scene: Welcome to Stalingrad!

The opening scene does well to depict the horror and the hopelessness of being a Russian conscript. After being herded like cattle onto a packed train, the Russian soldiers are literally dropped off on the doorstep of the Battle for Stalingrad. With their only provisions being one rifle and one piece of ammunition to be shared between two, these soldiers are thrust onto the front line by Commissars bellowing through megaphones. Oh, and don’t think about retreating if it gets a bit much, the Russians were more than happy to cut down ‘cowards’ with their own machine gun fire.

2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

The film takes place in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Captain Aubrey of the British Frigate HMS Surprise, played here by Russell Crowe sporting an impressive sun bleached pony tail, is ordered to pursue the French privateer Acheron with the simple instructions to “burn, sink or take her a prize.” In between the stunning battle scenes that will leave your ears ringing we have an interesting ‘bromance’ that develops between Crowe and the ship’s doctor (a wonderfully understated Paul Bettany) that include hissy fits, domestic arguments and sullen looks. It’s nice to see that people weren’t above a bit of sulking 200 years ago. This film is beautiful in every sense of the word, from the immaculate period costumes to the fully recreated ships and the shattering and intense sounds design.

Memorable Scene: All hands down!

Out of all the movies epic battle scenes the first one is the highlight. When the crew’s young officer thinks he caught glimpse of the French ship in thick fog, Crowe snatches the telescope from his hands and peers into the mist. When staring across what appears to be empty sea we see muzzle flashes reflecting in the cloudy smog and our plucky captain realises the ‘S’ is about to hit the proverbial ‘F’. Russell drops to the deck as the wooshing sound of flying cannon balls turn into the horrific crashing of wood being splintered and smashed. And for a minute you find yourself ducking for cover and forgetting you are in the comfort of your own living room. Masterful film making.

1. Three Kings (1999)

Hollywood’s first real attempt at the Gulf War, Three Kings wonderfully portrays the monotony, boredom and confusion of modern warfare where death happens in a split second.  George Clooney leads three U.S. soldiers with nothing better to do than to attempt to steal seized Kuwaiti gold bullion from hidden Iraqi bunkers. During their misadventures they become involved with a badly outgunned and desperate group of Iraqi Shia rebels who have risen against Saddam’s regime but were abandoned by the Coalition. Mark Wahlberg’s acting is truly stretched when asked to play a wooden, thoughtless grunt and Spike Jonze thoroughly entertains in his debut performance as the red neck hick who is paid to shoot guns for a living. The bleached-out colours and handheld cameras create a distinctive look for this story that shows the stupid things men will do when they don’t have wives and girlfriends around them to keep them in check.

Memorable Scene: Tortured by Michael Jackson.

There are too many stand out moments to mentions here; from flinchingly accurate imagery of what it’s like to be shot involving slow motion and x ray vision to hilarious flashbacks revealing how Conrad Vig spent his days before enlisting with the army. But when Wahlberg is captured and interrogated, the Iraqi torturer uses Michael Jackson as a metaphor for everything that is wrong with America. And if clip boards to the face, electricity shocks administered through the ears and being forced to drink oil wasn’t enough, you have to put up with creepy “woohoo” and “yeehee” Jacko impersonations performed in a Middle Eastern accent.

“Please enjoy this refreshing musical beverage, bottled at source from the sparkling clear streams of Camden (and Perth, Australia). What better way to start your immersive experience?”
(Rob Swire, Pendulum)

These hotties play the Ulster Hall, Belfast on May 17th and Dublin Olympia on the 18th!!!
[Tickets]

QFT will host an exhibition of new work by Belfast artist Kev Largey, to coincide with exclusive screenings of Banksy’s new film Exit Through the Gift Shop from Friday 12th – Thursday 25th March.

A popular figure in Belfast’s alternative art scene for over ten years, Kev Largey began his career as a graphic designer and illustrator and quickly moved from designing street wear clothing to creating work on a larger scale.

Kev has created countless exhibitions and large scale murals both inside and out and has collaborated with some of Europe’s best known exponents of street art. His passion for street art has brought him to paint walls in Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, New York and Thailand. The QFT exhibition marks a departure in Kev’s work, with experiments with airbrush and acrylic paints, painting on recycled wood, and work using a mixture of rollers, brushes and spray paint.

The Kev Largey exhibition will launch on Friday 12th March at 6pm – admission free. To see it after the launch, drop in to 20 University Square from 9.30am-11pm, Monday to Friday and 6pm-11pm, Saturday and Sunday.
Further information from www.kevlargey.com
Tickets for Exit Through the Gift Shop are £6/£5 and are on sale now from www.queensfilmtheatre.com

]]> http://panicdots.com/2010/03/a-banksy-film-kev-largey/feed/ 0 http://panicdots.com/2010/03/oscars-winners-list/ http://panicdots.com/2010/03/oscars-winners-list/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:54:14 +0000 Laura S http://panicdots.com/?p=3646 The Hurt Locker has really made something of itself this year, two awards from the academy are firsts, see if you can guess which!  Mostly expected, but Jeff Bridges…about time don’t you think?

Actress in a supporting role

• Mo’Nique in Precious
• Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
• Penélope Cruz in Nine
• Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart

Actor in a supporting role

• Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
• Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
• Matt Damon in Invictus
• Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
• Woody Harrelson in The Messenger

Actress in a leading role

• Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
• Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren in The Last Station
• Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
• Carey Mulligan in An Education

Actor in a leading role

• Morgan Freeman in Invictus
• Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
• George Clooney in Up in the Air
• Colin Firth in A Single Man
• Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Animated feature film

• Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
• The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)
• Coraline (Henry Selick)
• Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)
• The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)

Foreign language film

• Ajami (Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Israel)
• A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, France)
• The Secret of Her Eyes (Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina)
• The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, Germany)
• The Milk of Sorrow (Claudia Llosa, Peru)

Directing

• Avatar (James Cameron)
• The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
• Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
• Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
• Precious (Lee Daniels)

Writing (adapted screenplay)

• District 9 (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell)
• An Education (Nick Hornby)
• Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher)
• Up in the Air (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)
• In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche)

Writing (original screenplay)

• The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
• Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
• A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)
• Up (Pete Docter and Bob Petersen)
• The Messenger (Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman)

Best picture

• Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers)
• District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, producers)
• An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, producers)
• The Hurt Locker (nominees to be determined)
• Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender, producer)
• Precious (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, producers)
• A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, producers)
• Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, producers)
• The Blind Side (nominees to be determined)
• Up (Jonas Rivera, producer)

Art direction

• Avatar (art direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; set decoration: Kim Sinclair)
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith)
• Nine (art direction: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim)
• Sherlock Holmes (art direction: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer)
• The Young Victoria (art direction: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Maggie Gray)

Cinematography

• Avatar (Mauro Fiore)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Bruno Delbonnel)
• The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd)
• Inglourious Basterds (Robert Richardson)
• The White Ribbon (Christian Berger)

Costume design

• Bright Star (Janet Patterson)
• Coco Before Chanel (Catherine Leterrier)
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Monique Prudhomme)
• Nine (Colleen Atwood)
• The Young Victoria (Sandy Powell)

Documentary (feature)

• Burma VJ (Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller)
• The Cove (nominees to be determined)
• Food, Inc (Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein)
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith)
• Which Way Home (Rebecca Cammisa)

Documentary (short subject)

• China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill)
• The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher)
• The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert)
• Music by Prudence (Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett)
• Rabbit à la Berlin (Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra)

Film editing

• Avatar (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron)
• District 9 (Julian Clarke)
• The Hurt Locker (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis)
• Inglourious Basterds (Sally Menke)
• Precious (Joe Klotz)

Makeup

• Il Divo (Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano)
• The Young Victoria (Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore)
• Star Trek (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow)

Music (original score)

• Avatar (James Horner)
• Fantastic Mr Fox (Alexandre Desplat)
• Up (Michael Giacchino)
• The Hurt Locker (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders)
• Sherlock Holmes (Hans Zimmer)

Music (original song)

• Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman
• Down in New Orleans, from The Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman
• Loin de Paname, from Paris 36 by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
• Take it All, from Nine by Maury Yeston
• The Weary Kind, from Crazy Heart by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Short film (animated)

• French Roast (Fabrice O Joubert)
• Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell)
• Logoramam (Nicolas Schmerkin)
• The Lady and the Reaper (Javier Recio Gracia)
• A Matter of Loaf and Death (Nick Park)

Short film (live action)

• The Door (Juanita Wilson and James Flynn)
• Instead of Abracadabra (Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström)
• Kavi (Gregg Helvey)
• Miracle Fish (Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey)
• The New Tenants (Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson)

Sound editing

• Avatar (Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle)
• The Hurt Locker (Paul NJ Ottosson)
• Inglourious Basterds (Wylie Stateman)
• Star Trek (Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin)
• Up (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers)

Sound mixing

• Avatar (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson)
• The Hurt Locker (Paul NJ Ottosson and Ray Beckett)
• Inglourious Basterds (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano)
• Star Trek (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J Devlin)
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Greg P Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson)

Visual effects

• Avatar (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R Jones)
• District 9 (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken)
• Star Trek (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton)