Film-a-day: Week 4: 6-12 Feb 2011

More Film-a-day from the past month, kicking off with a double header from the Glasgow Film Festival.

Boy (2010) ****/

This is actually my second time seeing this New Zealand based gem from Taika Waititi, and it was just as good as the first time. I absolutely love all the character and the way they interact with each other, especially in regard to Waititi as Alamein, the Boy in question's father. The relationship between the two is interesting to say the least and gives the film some of it's finest moments, although either of them could hold the film in their own right, which is a great compliment to James Rolleston who played Boy. Not only was this his first acting experience, but he was only picked from a cast of extras when it turned out that their first choice had grown up too much since the casting. He has a wonderful comic timing and is downright perfectly cast, and does an incredible job of playing the lead at such a young age. Boy is an insightful, lovely, funny, sweet, surprising and touching film that should be seen by all. So go see it, egg!

Paul (2011) ****/

My lovely fiancée and I caught this at the festival too, and found it to be a hilariously entertaining film, which adequately filled up my geek quota for the week, as I thought it might. It's puts Simon Pegg and Nick Frost back together again, this time with director Greg Mottola instead of their usual cohort Edgar Wright, and sets them off on a road trip through points of extraterrestrial importance. The relationship between the two is, yet again, wonderful and helps carry the film when it hits the tiniest of dry spells. Don't worry though, they don't last long, and even the highly annoying Kristen Wiig is brilliant here, so something must be going right. The whole film is an utter triumph that solidifies the bond between the two actors as a vital double act that should work together in every second film. Even though separately one is definitely stronger than the other, together they are unbeatable, and this film proves that even without the incredible Wright directing they are still a force to be reckoned with.

After the cut: Mean Girls, Cop Out, Fanboys, The Informant! and Knowing.

Kevin Smith to give up directing

I have been a huge fan since I caught up with a lot of Smith films around about the time Dogma came out on video, so it's with a bit of a heavy heart that I heard Kevin Smith say that his next film 'Hit Somebody' would be his last as a director.

This was in his speech at the Sundance film festival which you can see here. It's 26 minutes long, but having seen some of the Kevin Smith Q&A DVD's it pales in comparison. What the speech is mainly about is distribution of his latest film Red State, and how with this film, Smith is going to break the mould and take his own film out on the road in March, to try and make back the $4 million spent on making the film, before the full US release on October 19th. Where that leaves the international market is another question, but for that reason alone, I'm pretty chuffed with this decision. Not only is it different and interesting for a director of his place to be taking a film like this in such a direction but it is a direct 'fuck you' to the system as it is.

However, the decision has it's critics (as do Kevin Smith's talents as a writer and director) and it doesn't take long to find someone who isn't keen on the idea. However some, like this IFC article, seem more concerned with the fact that it's not a new idea. Twitchfilm even go on to slate his remarks about anybody being able to release a movie in the same way being an entirely plausible idea, "Will this prove, as Smith states, that 'anyone can release a movie'? Not at all. It proves that people with a pre-existing and very large following can release a movie provided that they are willing to spend an extended period of time on the road with it using their own celebrity as a substitute for traditional marketing dollars. It's a smart decision for Smith given the size of his fanbase and the general way he is viewed in the mainstream industry post-Cop Out but hardly a game changer in any way."

This kind of thing, I think it's a little unfair on Smith, who has taken to doing something most directors in Hollywood would shy away from, especially considering within the same speech he announces he is stepping down from the directors chair after 'Hit Somebody' (which I'm more excited about to be honest) to move into helping distribute the new kid on the block's movie. The media at this point are in a frenzy over the speech but I think everyone at this point has made up their minds on Smith and nothing he does will edge them any closer to changing their viewpoint.

Like I've said before, I am a huge fan of Smith and loosing his talent as a director seems crazy to me, especially given his new found lust for making original films out-with his safe zone, where 9 films deep he decides to make a horror, when all he's know so far is comedy-drama. It's an admirable move followed by an odd one, followed by another incredibly admirable move. So, while I'm going to hate the day that Smith's director's chair is put away for the last time, I still have love for the reason he seems to be doing, and I'm confident that if he had another story to tell down the line he would come back out from 'behind the scenes' (who am I kidding, when has he ever been that?) and direct another classic film. Be it 'Mallrats 2' or a war epic, I'd be front and centre when it hit the screen.

With love,

Carl England