Films: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

I am getting pretty excited about the release of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the UK on September 16th. And I'll tell you why...

Cast:
Gary Oldman
Mark Strong
Tom Hardy
Benedict Cumberbatch
Colin Firth
Ciaran Hinds
John Hurt

THAT'S why! Great big British acting brilliance! There is quite literally nothing wrong with that cast. And if you don't know who they are, shame on you. Google them all this instant!

Here's the trailer for you to enjoy...
TinkerTailerSoldierSpy (YouTube link)

TV: Oliver Twist (2007)

Dir: Goky Giedroyc

Cast: William Miller, Edward Fox, Adam Arnold, Timothy Spall, Tom Hardy, Sophie Okonedo, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Morven Christie, Anna Massey

Surely it's obvious why I decided to rent and watch this TV series in hindsight this last weekend? No? Okay, we'll continue.

First, let me explain that, while I love Dickens, I am not an avid lover of Oliver Twist. I came to this series having read the book, seen the musical and watched half (I'm so ashamed!) of the version directed by Roman Polanski. I don't feel any ownership over the characters, and I am always up for a fresh adaptation of old material.

All this being said, I loved this Oliver Twist remake. It received mixed reviews from die hard Oliver aficionados, claiming that it goes too far in 'modernising' the story. As far as I can see, it is a refreshing, pacy, chilling and expertly cast adaptation.

Miller, an unknown teenager, portrays the protagonist with both a quiet innocence and gutsy character. He is an Oliver who isn't afraid to look Bill Sikes in the eyes and tell him he's not afraid. Go Oliver! Another surprising shock is the Eastern European sounding Fagin that Timothy Spall brings to the table. Gone is the wiry londoner rubbing his hands together, and we have instead the rotund, Jewish entrepeneur who is as charming as he is terrifying.

A real gust of fresh air comes in the form of Bill Sikes (Tom Hardy...*blushes*) and Nancy (Sophie Okonedo). The quintessential dysfunctional couple, the moments they share on screen are bursting with tension. At last, we have a Nancy who makes us understand why she stays with Bill, and a Bill worth sticking around for. As Sikes, Hardy is perfectly menacing and volatile*, balanced beautifully by Nancy's humanity and dependence on him.

Borrowing from the success of their adaptation of Dicken's Bleak House, Oliver Twist makes excellent use of pacey camera work, combined with long, wide shots taking in the grime of London's Dickensian underworld. The attention to detail in the costuming and locations is also very impressive for a 5-part tv series. All in all, I was very impressed. It's sleek, quick and very very watchable. Oliver Twist delivers everything I have come to expect from a BBC adaptation. They are not afraid to take on a well loved story, toss all of the characters, their motivations and the mood of the original story into a mixer, blend them on the highest setting possible, and pour out a spiced-up cocktail.

My rating: **** 4/5 stars

Recommendation: It's not a musical! Enjoy the dark updating of a classic. It comes with a 12 certificate because it doesn't really pull any punches. Quite literally.

* It's worth mentioning that, to me, Hardy would act anything 'perfectly' if you asked him to. Genius.

Films: Inception (2010)

Dir: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy

The tagline simply reads, 'Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime.' That's slightly cheesy, but it will be the only negative point in this review. This is Chris Nolan at his finest. Does he want me to sleep well tonight? No. He wants me to dream about levels and limbo and projections and extractions. Lemme 'splain...

The rundown: Dom Cobb (Di Caprio) is a super specialist in the field of 'subconscious security.' He is able to take a 'mark' into a communal dream, and steal important information from their mind at its most vulnerable. Cobb is a vigilante, battling the demons of a marriage ended in tragedy and his exile from the USA and life with his children. On the verge of breakdown, a voracious Chinese business man, Saito, offers Cobb his most thrilling and complicated job yet; to reverse the art of extraction and instead perform 'Inception' - plant an idea into someone's mind. The mark is Robert Fischer Jr, heir to a multimillion pound energy corporation. The idea is that he should dissolve his father's business. Cobb assembles his team - I love a good ensemble movie! - and they delve 4 levels into Fischer's subconscious. Phew. Still with me?

Can we go back to the ensemble for a minute? Only, I'm mad for a good ensemble, and this is one of the most diverse, exciting and engaging I've seen! Leonardo DiCaprio is brooding, angry and intelligent as the tortured Cobb. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Cobb's pointman, Arthur, who is stable, calm and totally kick-ass at anti-gravity fighting. Yes. Ellen Page comes in as the newbie dreamscape architect, Ariadne. She is innocent and inventive, and she makes the viewer, as they sweat in their seat desperately trying to keep up, feel a little less like a lost sheep - she asks all the same questions! My favourite member of the crew (no points for guessing exactly why...) is Eames, the forger, played by the delightfully charming Tom Hardy. He has great screen presence and fantastic chemistry with all of the cast members - a bit of light comic relief but still in an intense sci-fi thriller kind of way! Watanabe is excellent as the ruthless Saito, who you are desperate to dislike but end up feeling incredibly sorry for!

I can't go any further without mentioning how brilliant Cillian Murphy is as Fischer, who wants so desperately to impress his dying father. Also, Marion Cotillard is sensational as Cobb's powerful and vulnerable wife, Mol. Can I stop for breath now?

*breathes*

This film is amazing. It glides so perfectly from deeply intense and emotional scenes to huge action sequences where stuff blows up and the world literally turns upside down. Shot across 6 different countries, we are transported from a blazing Morroccon street riot to the snow covered mountains of Calgary and an elaborate palace in China. And it's not just the location that changes, but the time in which the story plays out. It is never too hard to follow when we are in the dream world or reality, though, (that is, if the film ever really does show us reality...) and we are given helpful hints (or are they?) which indicate when the characters are in the sleeping or waking world.

I could go on for hours about the flawless visual effects and the dramatic landscapes. I could rave about how everything in the notion of dream extraction and inception completely resonates with real life - kick theory, projections, subconscious ideas and more. But now I'm just regurgitating jargon that you will not understand unless you have seen it.

Let me say one more thing. I hate the idea that people are brainwashed by the grandeur of a project, or the reputation of cult director. I am very wary that everything about a film like this is saying, "like me, love me, I'm everything you need in a film, because I am me..." I went without rose-tinted spectacles on. I came out with a slight headache and a stupid grin. This film is everything we need in a film. It is brilliant.

Wonder what I'll dream about tonight?

My rating: ***** 5/5 stars, duh!

Recommendation: Seriously? Please love this film as much as me. Please don't make me look a fool. Enjoy.

Films:TV:Stuart A LIfe Backwards

Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007) BBCTV

Cast: Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch

I am bowled over by Tom Hardy. Okay, so I have an entirely unparallelled crush on him, but every time I watch him on screen, I am completely convinced that he is one of Britain's greatest living actors.

When Stuart first aired on the BBC, I was a third year English student at Southampton, no TV, no concept of life in the real world. I missed it and I'm sorry. Today, 3 years later, I am soon to be a third year teacher, expensive TV subscription and all too much understanding of events in the real world. This is why Stuart has astounded, shocked, disturbed and moved me. This film has caused me to laugh, look away in horror and weep...and weep. And I can confidently say that it is largely due to the warmth and tenderness with which Hardy portrays Stuart Shorter, an alcoholic, heroin addict and violent offender.

The film - based on real events recorded in the book by Alexander Masters - follows the unlikely friendship of Cambridge boy, Alexander Masters and the homeless and virtually incomprehensible Stuart Shorter. United by Shorter's unique view of 'the system' in the light of the arrest of two homeless shelter workers, the two men go on the campaign trail and much more besides. They drink countless bottles of wine ("It all smells like sick") and cans of beer between them, and Stuart spews out endless, surprisingly philosophical observations about the cruelty and beauty of life.

Hardy is inexplicably attractive as his bumbling, shaky, violent and unpredicatble character. At one moment, he is screaming in anger at 'the man' and the next marvelling in the wonder of nature. He gives all of himself. It is refreshing. Cumberbatch, too, is first rate as the gawky Cambridge boy, suddenly forced to wake up and face head-on the demons that Stuart suffers with. He decides to write a story about his friend. Stuart insists it is not boring. "Why don't you write it backwards like one of those Tom Clancy novels, they're good. Give those nine-to-fives something to think about." And that is exactly what they will get. I cried for Stuart because he was a kind, thoughtful, giving person shut inside a mind driven mad by abuse, alcohol and pain.

I can't review the cinematography or soundtrack for this film (although the Badly Drawn Boy song at the end inuced a second torrent of tears!) because they were both outshone by the acting performances. All I will say is that this film will upset you and shake you through to the core. You know when you are so confused and disturbed that your chest aches and your mind boggles? That is what you will get. No, it is not an easy film to view. No, you will not frown and weep the whole way through. If I could have on loop a recording of the many ways Hardy's Stuart slurs the name 'Alexander' throughout the film, I would play it 24 hours a day. Shorter was fortunate to find a friend in Masters, and a friend who would write his story. There are so many others like him who will live this way, and eventually die and never experience love, friendship or forgiveness. And that's what makes me sad.

My rating ***** 5/5 stars

Recommendation: It is violent and tragic. If you don't like gritty or shocking then don't watch. But you will be missing out on an amazing performance from two fantastic British actors.