Solitude 

While, like any knock-out tournament, the film fight format cannot create a ranking for the films I’ve seen this year, it can show one thing (and only one thing): my favourite film of the year. Here are the finalists:

• Team America: World Police
• Million Dollar Baby
• The Life Aquatic
• The Assassination Of Richard Nixon
• Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
• Sin City
• War Of The Worlds
• The Wedding Crashers
• Land Of The Dead
• A History Of Violence
• Saw 2
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Wow, those are some fairly excellent films (except Hitchhiker’s and War Of The Worlds, which won by default), and that’s leaving aside stuff that would have shined elsewhere (Batman Begins was out the same month as Sin City and there was little in it, for example, or pretty much everything in October).

So from the list of finalists, remembering that some better films never made it to the final twelve, the best film of this year is…

The Life Aquatic. While both Sin City and Million Dollar Baby nearly had it, the performances and perfect comic moments in the Bill Murray film take it into the lead. Quirky, but brilliantly so. Every scene adds a little more to the overall charm. A good winner.

Given that a new year is almost upon us, I figured it is a good time to get rid of the feeds I do not read any more. Before this cull, I had 218 feeds in Bloglines. That’s a fair number to keep up with and I don’t think my unread items count has dropped below a thousand in months now. Here’s what has been removed:

• Scary Duck - It’s not gone any worse, it just hasn’t changed at all. I just don’t read it any more.
• Query Letters I Love - Not entertaining enough any more for the throughput.
• New Urban Legends - Debunking urban legends. Good reference, but not feed worthy.
• World Wide Words - Why I ever subscribed to this is beyond me. Resolutely dull.
• Code Snippets - When most of the examples are so out of context and badly done, I don’t want to sift through them in a feed reader for the few gems.
• The Religious Policeman - A well meaning site on the situation in Saudia Arabia, but one whose jaded writing has become more and more stilted.
• Creative Commons - A signal to noise problem: not consistently interesting enough to read.
• Astronomy Picture Of The Day - Although some of the pictures can be quite stunning, there are only so many nebulas I can find interesting. That number was reached some time ago.
• Guardian Unlimited - Again, a signal to noise issue. Of the several hundred items a week, I read maybe 2. Time for it to go.

Far more than that shall be going, but it’s a good start.

For the final film fight of the year, we have a fairly forgettable bunch, with one stand-out exception among the mediocrity. Despite this lack of greatness, we shall continue.

Doom has been a long time coming, with the rights being moved around for years. Was it worth the wait? As expected, no. It’s a terrible and utterly mindless film that both misses the point of the game and pads the storyline out with some horrible faux-science. Despite some previously inspired roles, such as in the otherwise awful Be Cool, The Rock is dire; playing entirely to type, in the most unconvincing manner. Expect all the worst Hollywood action cliches. Do not see this.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, on the other hand, is surprisingly great, despite the awful trailer and eyebrow raising cast. A modern pastiche of classic noir private eye films, this film manages to raise some laughs with an expertly done take on the classic stereotypes of the genre: our hero gets beaten up constantly, the icey cool PI is gay (groomed, not camp), and the sultry lady involved in the whole affair will, and does, sleep with anyone. Throw in a slightly surreal, but well-executed, plot, some moments of inspired comic genius (the corpse in the shower), and some finely pitched characters and you’ve got a hit. Very good film.

You wouldn’t expect a documentary about the mating rituals of a kind of penguin to get an international release but, due to the American Christian right insisting it is proof of the existence of God, it did. Leaving aside the questionable reasoning in that assertion (to me, it suggests the opposite), March Of The Penguins is an okay film. It does exactly what it says it will and no more, and that’s fine; the life cycle of the Emperor Penguin is complex and interesting. Despite this, the cinematic release is fairly unwarranted. It does nothing more than any other nature documentary and suffers when compared to other films.

Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is part of the classic series of books once turned into a kids TV series by the BBC. This big-budget interpretation is quite different, sticking slightly closer to the books in tone, but losing character for it. The Christian allegory throughout the series is front and centre here, where the televisation kept it roughly in the background allowing it to shape events from there rather than saturate the story. There is, of course, nothing wrong with such allegory (the well-meaning lessons therein are to be commended). However, the manner in which they are handled seems fairly superficial and forced, as if someone read an essay on the meaning of the book before touching the screen play. While it is essentially a good kids film, it is nothing particularly special. Shame that.

Though a lot of noise has been made about this film of the musical of the classic Mel Brooks’ comedy, The Producers, the simple fact of the matter is it just isn’t as good as the original. That’s hardly suprising given how excellent that film is. What is surprising, however, is the terrible job that several of the main characters do. Matthew Broderick is the key failure here, with a characterisation both one-dimensional and crudely developed. He isn’t the only problem, with lacklustre performances by many. The pacing is wildly off as well. The climax of the film’s central play is easily a crescendo, followed by too many acts of plodding around wrapping up the story. While this is obviously necessary for the film to make sense, it’s handled in such a dull manner as to drag far longer than it should. Pedestrian, at best.

It should be fairly clear from that lot that the December winner is the fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. With a winner for every month of the year, it’s only a day or two until the Film Fight Finale (who didn’t see that coming?) where the best film of the year shall be revealed.

As all the cool kids seem to be doing it(oh the humour in that link text :P), I think it is appropriate for me to wish everyone who has been reading this site a Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone gets what they want, stuffs themselves silly and watches some bad tv tomorrow. Enjoy!

It seems that the excellent Nizlopi have gotten to number one. I implore everyone to go and buy a copy of this tomorrow to ensure they get the Christmas number one.

I saw them play in Edinburgh a few months back when I went to see their support band for the night, Amplifico. The show they put on is quite unlike anything else, with a double bass, beatboxing, rapping, and folk music mixed together. After that, go seem that play at King Tuts in January (or wherever your nearest venue on their tour is).

Buy it!

I like Asian cinema. Both Japan and Korea have a list of classic films which are more shocking, amusing, insightful, innovative and fun than the vast majority of tripe that gets released in UK cinemas. That’s not to say that the West never produces imaginative or clever films, or that all Asian cinema is better; just simply that the cream of the crop released in this country from Asia (usually through the excellent Tartan Video) is above traditional cinema.

That said, something troubles me when I watch a lot of these films; particularly those of Japanese origin. They tend to have a message and do something quite different, which is a good thing, but there tend to be long scenes that drag over minutae or are hugely superflous to the key concerns. While it seems fairly obvious that directors in that region have a reign less restricted, it is not always a good thing: they suffer from a lack of tight editorial process, something Hollywood tends to be rather good with.

American studios know how long their audiences will sit and watch a film for: depending on genre, actors, and the more specific plot details. These and other factors are then used to calculate an exact run time. The thing you have to understand is that this time, unless the director holds a lot of sway, is not negotiable. Ever seen the Director’s Cut of Donnie Darko or listened to the original commentary? Both make it clear that cinematic cut of the film was much shorter than was intended and that studios won’t give even an extra minute if it can be shown that the extra time will cut into screening times later in the day. Studios can project the costs of such a delay and factor it into their release plan.

With Asian films, it may simply be something lost in translation: the original audiences may expect a little more backstory unrelated to the film, longer panoramics, slower cuts or any number of extending touches that don’t directly affect the story. These simply do not interest a Western audience; any screenwriting course will teach you to remove as much as possible, just as any good prose course will do the same.

The question I’ve come to, then, is whether or not Western distributors, such as Tartan, should edit the films they receive to cater for their audience? Obviously this would be difficult, with a careless or uncaring hand able to remove the spirit of the film with relative ease. My suspicion is that “no” is the best answer, but I can’t help but think I’d enjoy films like “Gozu” more if they were twenty minutes shorter, and I know there was at least that amount of film that could have been removed without changing the core story.

Last night was the finale of the four day Biffy Clyro end of year gigs at King Tuts and what a finish it was.

Arriving at the venue a little later than previous days, it was, again, quieter than the night before. Apparently we missed an early support act of a piper but were in time to see the main support act: comedian Phil Kay. As frantic and manic as always, he amused the crowd for the most part, even if he waned a little towards the end. Jamie Lenman (from Rruben) and Phil Kay could both be seen wandering around the upstairs bar, among other, harder to spot band members.

At 10pm, as was their custom, the band took to the stage for the final time. This time, rather than known material, the set largely comprised material from their unrecorded fourth album. What an eye-opener. In places the new stuff is heavier with less screaming, and in others more melodic; a very wide selection. So as to keep things going, every two new songs was followed by a Biffy classic. The finale of “57″ was immense, the fan picked to sing “A Day Of…” was surprisingly tuneful, and new track “9/10th Prayer Of Bombidimor” was mind-blowingly complex. How Ben kept up the drumming in that, I have no idea.

As a thank you to everyone, on the way out the band gave out Christmas cards (all hand-signed) and mince pies to all.

So, 4 nights, 58 tunes, many poor renditions of Christmas tunes by the crowd, and some truly bizarre support acts later and the four days of Biffy end. Worth every penny.

Day three and the last of the Biffy Clyro gigs at King Tuts based on released material. The atmosphere was much quieter before the gig, with the downstairs bar remaining quiet (there were seats still available) and upstairs at the venue staying pretty room until much nearer the main act’s stage time.

Shame, really, since the support act was the most entertaining so far. Again foregoing another band in favour of something a little bit different, tonight a magician took to the stage. While his finale was entirely underwhelming (a flimsily crafted card trick), the rest of the act was well-performed.

At 10pm, as with previous nights, Biffy took to the stage, this time playing Infinity Land; easily the band’s heaviest album. While “There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake” was the song that really set the crowd off, the highlight of the night had to be the unexpected guest appearance of Reuben’s Jamie Lenman. That said, the encore of “And With Scissorkicks Is Victorious”, which the crowd had been asking for since the first night, went down a treat.

Another great Biffy gig.

Night two of the Biffy Clyro residency at King Tut’s saw a slightly different atmosphere early on. With so much waiting around for the band the night before, and the near non-existent support act (a clown), the earlier part of the evening was much quieter, with much more room and less heat in the downstairs bar.

Upstairs, the merchandise stand were selling a surplus of older t-shirts (not available the night before) and the band were milling around, talking to people and having a few drinks.

Tonight’s support act, while not traditional, was musical. A string quartet trio played a number of songs, largely comprised of Christmas tunes of which no-one knew the second verses. Many poor renditions ensued by the crowd.

While I’ve never been overly keen on the first half of tonight’s album, The Vertigo Of Bliss, I was surprised by just how good it sounded live. I guess that’s how the album was shaped (recording took only 2 days) so it makes sense that it’s such a crowd pleaser. However, there was nothing better than long time set and album closer, Now The Action Is On Fire, featuring the usual thrashing finish with stage diving.

A loud and brash finish, but sadly no encore as it was already running over.

A few months back, arguably the best rock band in the UK, Biffy Clyro, announced that they would play an unprecedented four nights in a row at King Tuts in Glasgow. On the first three nights they said they would play one of their three albums per night, whole and in-order. On the final night, they would play their unrecorded fourth album for the first time. Despite tickets selling out entirely on pre-sales, I managed to get several tickets to each night. So loud band, small venue, absolutely packed.

The first night was the Blackened Sky show. Being their most straightforward and most loved album among the ardent fanbase, this was always going to be a good night.

The support act was… unusual. A clown came onstage and made a balloon animal. Then, while Christmas carols were sung by all, he made his way around the crowd making more balloon animals for the prettiest girls he could see; smart clown.

Then the band took to the stage and slammed through the first album in its entirety. That the crowd knew every word to every song meant that Simon could go easy on the vocals, barely having to sing a note. 57, Just Boy and 27 were stand out classics, but the high point for many was the encore which consisted of old B-side, Hope For An Angel.

An excellent start.