SKYFALL

My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighbourhood. This is my street. This is my life. I am 42 years old, and in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don't know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already.

Sorry wrong film....

Skyfall has had a pretty torrid time making it's way to our screens. First MGM run into heaps of financial shit at the end of 2010, then they declare bankruptcy and leave the film in purgatory, then they come out of bankruptcy and aim for Bond to get a universal release date on November 9th 2012 and then here in the UK, we got it on the 26th October. And breath.

To say people were doubtful about the film's context would be an understatement too; I recall the laughter and mocking when the title was released, plus many thought Sam Mendes would create a more dialogue-driven Bond film rather than one laden with action and thrills. Turns out he did both.

Perhaps the greatest thing about Skyfall is it's balance; this is a fantastically exciting, gripping and edgy film that's as equally sentimental to 007's past as well as being wholly original and current. It's flashy but not cheesy, explosive but grounded and smart but not patronising. Mendes' 50th anniversary outing is quite frankly brilliant.

It's beautifully crafted and handled with Mendes pulling out some of his finest camerawork to date. The stalking sequence in Shanghai is utterly absorbing and elegant with it uses of neon lighting which splits the darkness in two as 007 lingers around corners and blends into the night. It's fucking awesome to be honest.  

I won't evaluate the plot because you've already seen it but I will relay this information; Skyfall is a great film on it's own merits and a damn near-perfect Bond picture. It's a highlight of the year and has certainly eased the pain of those bruises left by the assault that was Quantum of Solace...    

Sadly this babe doesn't make a cameo though. Who else was thinking Bond girl?

UNCONTROLLABLE HAPPINESS.

Every film critic dreams of their first 'proper' review quote used on a film poster or trailer; it's a thing that finally means somewhere out there, distributors recognise you, actually give a shit what you say about their movies, that you are helping the acceleration of the film project in question. Today this happened to me. Whilst browsing YouTube and trailer sites, I came across the new international trailer for my favourite film of 2012, Rust and Bone, a film which I have reviewed twice for Filmoria - once at Cannes and the other a matter of days ago at London Film Festival.

Whilst watching the trailer, I stopped, rewound and lent deep into my iPad screen. Fuck me, I've been quoted. I actually had to double-check that my eyes didn't deceive me but no, my words are there alongside other critics from massive global publications.

I'm obviously thrilled - I've been placed on a film I love so dearly, a movie I want people to embrace, but I'm just as pleased for the site. Filmoria is a wonderful place to work for with some fantastic contributors who all deserve to share this quote with me and to have their words placed on trailers and posters too. The site is worthy of praise and recognition so it would mean a huge deal to me if you readers could do two things: 

1. See Rust and Bone - it's a masterpiece.

2. Visit FILMORIA and view the work of all the brilliant film critics I have the pleasure to work alongside. 

This is a team effort and something that has made me so grateful. Sorry to sound like I'm giving an X Factor sob-story...

Here's the trailer too. Enjoy!

(500) Days of Ruby...

2012 has been a fantastic year for American indie and arthouse cinema; just some of the releases include Martha Marcy May Marlene, Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Perks of Being a Wallflower and now joining this shining list is Ruby Sparks - a brilliantly funny, charming and engaging comedy-drama that illuminates the screen with passion and intelligence.

Beautifully performed, wonderfully scripted and handled with delicately able hands, this is a complete package tied with a silver lining bow. Paul Dano provides a demanding and frequently side-splitting performance whilst Zoe Kazan is blissfully dominates the picture with charming and engrossing energy as his 'dream' woman Ruby.

Ruby Sparks is a fantastical, magical and loving romantic feature and yet another film that I've got to find space for on my top 10 list this year....

...SHIT.

And the BBFC's Dumbest Recent Decision goes to...

Certificate: 12A

Contains Moderate Violence and Threat

So now you can take the kids to see Neeson kicking ten tons of shit out of Turkish terrorists. Although chances are your little ones may question Liam's behaviour for which you cannot respond. They're ears are too delicate to know about the sex trade from the first film...

Many thanks to The Shiznit for creating this fantastic image below which I simply had to share...

Why are Britain's Blu-Ray and DVD Releases so SHIT?

If you're a film nerd and have nothing better to do with your precious time, you may have heard about the backlash that's coincided with the Blu-Ray and DVD release of one of the year's best films, Avengers Assemble.

Considering the film is the HIGHEST GROSSING PICTURE of 2012 beating The Dark Knight Rises, it's fair to expect a reasonably good home media release right? Like maybe a double-disc Blu-Ray with lots of special features and perhaps a nice case/slip-cover? Not much to ask is it Disney and Marvel considering we gave you over $80 million in box-office sales in this country alone?

 Instead us lucky Brits get this shit-fest above; a single disc Blu-Ray with virtually NO EXTRAS (not even a commentary), no slip-cover or fancy edition and even worse, the film has been CUT. This is undoubtedly the most depressing Blu-Ray/DVD release of the year so far considering the sheer potential of this release. Granted the film looks fucking incredible and sounds perfect but that's simply not good enough. Most British retailers are selling this Blu-Ray for £16.99 - certainly at the higher end of the week's releases in price terms and for that money, you get basically fuck all. It may as well be a rental copy. 

 The USA received FOUR versions of the film on Blu-Ray and DVD to choose from. Four. Each of them offering more for their hard-earned bucks. Using an online currency converter, your £16.99 sterling would equate to around about $27.59 US dollars. With that cash, you could afford this...

A set that includes the film on BLU-RAY 3D, Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Copy plus it comes with the ORIGINAL SCORE and a bonus disc of extras. Now scroll back up to the sorry piece of fucking cunt we get. How is this fair?

 Now US Blu-Ray sets are often better than UK releases and one can only assume that is simply the studios and manufactures decisions; US released picture warrants a more comprehensive US home media release perhaps but then surely the pricing should be more balanced? If this US Avengers set was released in the UK, it would probably sell for about £23-25 which would be about $38-40 US dollars, nearly a third more expensive than the actual retail price in America.

 With Blu-Ray truly surging too, many films are getting the update and special edition sets are out in their droves. Check out this UK future Blu-Ray release of Singin' in the Rain...

The three disc set includes the film fully restored on Blu-Ray and DVD as well as a bonus disc featuring in excess of 4 hours extras and comes with a 48 page hard-cover book filled with interviews, images and exclusive artwork. It sounds perfect; the set this masterful film deserves. Plus it's reasonably priced at £17.99, just a single bloody pound more than our version of Avengers Assembled Really FUCKING BADLY. So far so good; a happy Chris here ready to purchase, but wait, the US release? How much is that? $60? So basically £36 for the same thing? What a joke. Oh wait, it's not the same....

Still three discs, same extras, same book, but wait? It also has a photograph pack, a second book including the screenplay, a collectable set of art cards, a limited edition and numbered boxset and what's that? No way. A MOTHERFUCKING UMBRELLA. An umbrella. SERIOUSLY. And that's only £9 more expensive than the UK release. KILL ME.

 Maybe I just care too much, but as an avid and proud Blu-Ray and DVD collector, I'm getting fucking sick of always having second best. Even British films seem to get better, more expansive home media releases in the States and it's quite frankly ridiculous. When we do a boxset or Blu-Ray release right, it can be spectacular; see the forthcoming Hitchcock Blu-Ray collection and the latest Harry Potter Wizard's Collection...

But both of these sets are available in the US for the same price, if not cheaper. I'm getting sick of importing my Blu-Rays and DVDs but it seems to be the only way to get what you deserve for your coin...

Period Dramas AREN'T BORING.

Last night, one of Great Britain's best shows returned to our screens attracting an average of 9.3 million viewers. The show before it, The X Factor, still topped the evening however with 9.7 million. Admittedly it's fairly obvious that more people would tune into the talent show over Julian Fellowes' masterful Downton Abbey seeing as it's appeals to a wider audience as well as airing before the watershed but that's beside the point of this article. Even with a figure as impressive as 9.3 million, so many still believe period dramas are boring and they couldn't be further from the truth. 

 Currently some of the finest shows on television fall into the period drama bracket - they may not all be about aristocrats, lords and dukes, but they still present audiences with a visual representation of a past era. These shows include:

Boardwalk Empire

Mad Men

Parade's End

The Borgias

 And of course Downton. All of these shows offer as much tension, drama, suspense, sex and scandal as any other major television drama but because the casts are often draped in older fashion or aren't constantly tweeting each other on their iPhones, it's not 'interesting' enough. Even a show like Game of Thrones could be considered a period piece in some respects and that's more grisly and depraved than some pornography.

 What period dramas do better than any other television show genre is bring an element of sheer cinematic grace to the small screen. They are lavish, sumptuous entertainment; shows that have been handled and crafted with true artistry and beauty. Often their running times mirror a 90 minute feature film too which only emphasises this point. 

 Yes sometimes the dramatic dialogue changes can take some getting used to as well as the era in which the show is set but that isn't enough to be a prude and think it's uninteresting. Last night's Downton was simply riveting, engrossing drama littered with humour and fantastic performances - everything you could possibly want from a Sunday evening television show.

 It's difficult to covert someone into liking period dramas because for many they are like Marmite but if you haven't watched any of the shows above, do yourself a favour and try. I'm certain you won't regret it. 

Chris' Top 10 Films of All Time in Pictures

Just for the excuse of actually making a list, here's what I like to consider as my top 10 favourite films of all time. It's an incredibly hard list to compile for any cinephile but alas, here we go. I'm sure the vast majority of you will totally disagree with me too...

The 5 That Just Missed Out:

15. Funny Games 

(dir: Michael Haneke - 1997 - Germany/Austria - Artificial Eye - 108 Mins)

14. Touch of Evil 

(dir: Orson Welles - 1958 - USA - Universal Pictures - 95 Mins)

13. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning 

(dir: Karel Reisz - 1960 - UK - Woodfall Films - 89 Mins)

12. Annie Hall

(dir: Woody Allen - 1977 - USA - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - 93 Mins)

11. American Beauty

(dir: Sam Mendes - 1999 - USA - DreamWorks - 122 Mins)

10.

Stand by Me 

(dir: Rob Reiner - 1986 - USA - Columbia Pictures - 89 Mins)

9.

Irreversible

(dir: Gaspar Noe - 2002 - France/Spain - 120 Films - 97 Mins)

8.

Groundhog Day

(dir: Harold Ramis - 1993 - USA/Canada - Columbia Pictures - 101 Mins)

7.

Inception

(dir: Christopher Nolan - 2010 - UK/USA - Warner Bros. - 148 Mins)

6.

Meet Me in St. Louis

(dir: Vincente Minnelli - 1944 - USA - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - 113 Mins)

5.

Pan's Labyrinth

(dir: Guillermo del Toro - 2006 - Spain/Mexico - Estudios Picasso - 118 Mins)

4.

Juno

(dir: Jason Reitman - 2007 - Canada/USA - Fox Searchlight Pictures - 96 Mins)

3.

Toy Story

(dir: John Lasseter - 1995 - USA - Pixar Animation Studios - 81 Mins)

2.

Cache (Hidden)

(dir: Michael Haneke - 2005 - France/Austria/Germany - Artificial Eye - 117 Mins)

1.

Manhattan

(dir: Woody Allen - 1979 - USA - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - 96 Mins)