FAN THE FIRE Magazine #42 - April 2011

FAN THE FIRE
THE SILENT HOUSE, INSIDIOUS

ISSUE #42 // APRIL 2011
& SOURCE CODE FILM REVIEWS

BEST MAN FOR THE GOB
STYLE BY LINUS WE CHAT TO ARRESTED
DEVELOPMENT CREATOR
MORALES, TINO MITCH HURWITZ &
OAC & YUSUF STAR WILL ARNETT
BUTOLLI
DARK DAYS,
LOUD NIGHTS
AT SXSW
2011
DEVIL IN A ART BY ALED
NEW DRESS
LEWIS, DEREK
VINCENT &
CARLES RODRIGO
+
ALEX SCHIER SUITS UP AND HITS THE TOWN LIKE HOLY GHOST! & TENNIS
ALBUM REVIEWS
ONLY HE AND BARNEY STINSON KNOW HOW
SHUT UP, CRIME!

JAMES GUNN’S CAPER
COMEDY SUPER IS ALL SET
TO BECOME THE SLEEPER
HIT OF THE SUMMER
FRONT EDITOR’S LETTER
The modern gentleman
I
n the Spring/Summer 2011 issue society. More so than ever, the arro- and certainly avoid flip-flops. While I
of Another Man magazine, editor- gance of youth delves deep into public couldn’t disagree more on his views on
in-chief Jefferson Hack interviews perception, and while certainly not men’s shorts (though flip-flips I would
Tom Ford, not about his latest mens- always a bad thing (in the right mea- happily eradicate from this earth), on
wear collection, nor about the follow- sure, it can bring confidence, drive and everything else, he makes fine points.
up to his quite wonderful film debut, A ambition), it can taint and cloud judge- When people say ‘you only live
Single Man, but instead about being a ment, and is perhaps the reason the once’, it is generally applied to taking
gentleman. well-mannered are seen as a surprise. risks and having fun, but hey, why not
With the world forever in a rush, Simmered down from the com- give a good impression of yourself in
treating strangers with respect and pelling 10-page print interview, the the mean time. Certainly the era of the
kindness and looking out for others Another Man website presents Ford’s gentleman is over, but it wouldn’t it be
seems to be a pleasant surprise, rather five easy lessons in how to be a mod- nice if it just popped its head back in.
than the expected norm you might ern gentleman, and the 21st century An all-suited Oxford Street would be a
have assumed some decades ago. Talk man would be advised to take note. dream, with Band Of Outsiders tailor-
of being a gentlemen will likely be To put on the best version of your- ing our nation. Certainly society is still
partnered with the term ‘old fash- self when you go out in the world; to doing alright, but some old fashioned
ioned’ in the same sentence, but what’s work, be engaged, and be passion- charm and romance once in a while
really so un-modern about having good ate; be well mannered, open doors sure doesn’t go amiss, and if we all
manners? for women, stand up to greet and bid look suave and sleek in the mean time,
The ability to read a social situ- farewell people at the dinner table; to well that’s just better still.
ation and measure your behaviour not judge people by their background; Sam Bathe
has become a rare quality in modern and to never wear shorts in the city, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
2 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

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FRONT CONTENTS
April 2011
MUSIC
FEATURES
12 Robert Francis
13 Dels
14 Rob Sheridan interview
16 SXSW 2011
22 The perfect festival
PAGE 16 ALBUM REVIEWS

PAGE 38
24 Album round-up, including Tennis, Holy Ghost!,
We Are Enfant Terrible, Braids and Metronomy
FILM
PREVIEWS
28 Captain America 31 Bad Teacher
30 Mr. Popper’s Penguins 31 Drive
31 Retreat 32 Beginners
FEATURES
34 Super
36 Summer releases
38 Arrested Development interviews
42 Sucker Punch interviews
44 The Eagle interviews
REVIEWS
48 Mars Needs Moms 52 Limitless
49 Insidious 53 The Silent House
50 The Extraordinary 54 Hop
Adventures Of Adele 55 The Eagle
Blanc-Sec 56 Source Code
51 Sucker Punch 57 The Way
DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS

58 DVD round-up, including Monsters, TRON: Legacy,
Meet The Parents: Little Fockers and Coraline 3-D
PAGE 62
PAGE 146 ART
FEATURES
62 Double or quits
80 Streets of rage
90 Vital signs
102 Hurricanes for hire
STYLE
FEATURES
126 Show your spots
136 Let’s kill tonight
146 Teenage wasteland
158 While you were sleeping

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FRONT THIS MONTH WE LOVE
BUMPING INTO JACK DANIEL’S

THE COUNTER
CELEBRITIES IN LA HONEY WHISKEY
lo-
ve
BOB’S BURGERS I SAW THE DEVIL
INNOCENT CRIMES
CAPE DORY BAND OF
PLAYING AT BRADFORD
BY TENNIS OUTSIDERS SUITS
INTL. FILM FESTIVAL
FRONT THIS MONTH WE HATE
THE WONDER WOMAN THE WAIT UNTIL

BOB GELDOF
TV SHOW OUTFIT NEXT YEAR’S SXSW
HA-
TE
THE DAILY JETLAG
LONG HAUL FLIGHTS

POINTLESS REVIEW BAND OF OUTSIDERS’
WITHOUT IN-FLIGHT
EMBARGOES SUIT PRICING
ENTERTAINMENT
MUSIC
12 ROBERT FRANCIS
13 DELS
ROB SHERIDAN
14
INTERVIEW
16 SXSW 2011
THE PERFECT
22
FESTIVAL
ALBUM
24
REVIEWS
MUSIC ROBERT FRANCIS
Backs to the wall.

Robert Francis.
WORDS SAM BATHE
PHOTOGRAPHY LAUREN WARD
L ife must be a whirlwind for Robert

Francis, but one that certainly
sounds like it would be a lot of fun.
One, was critically-acclaimed and soon
made him a name to look out for, even
far beyond the LA scene within which
With things really moving for
Francis in Europe, and his name
perhaps bigger in the likes of France
The talented singer-songwriter-come- he was born and raised. Putting the and Germany than his native USA,
folk-rock frontman started early in LP out on tiny local label Aeronaut the album at last reached stores in the
the music business, and hasn’t looked Records, soon indies and majors were UK late last year and he’s similarly
back since. Bored of school, and with baying at his door, and pairing with At- celebrated a spot playing on Jay Leno’s
ambitions beyond what he was then lantic for number two, and with a full The Tonight Show, alongside other TV
on schedule to achieve in live, at just band in tow, things really got moving appearances.
17, Francis took on the guitar full time in the direction he had wanted. With a third album due out later
and dropped out of high school to Before Nightfall was a much fuller this year, the talented 23-year-old has
embark on his real passion as a career. sounding release. Francis had moved already done a lot with his life, with
Touring with his sister’s band, Hello into folk-rock with a real tempo to it, countless nationwide support and
Stranger, it was a breakneck start to but still keeping the very personal na- headline tours under his belt. His life
life as a musician, but one he grabbed ture it seems his writing always brings. is a far cry from things six years ago,
hold of with two, firm hands. Just two years after Francis released then restricted by a monotonous life
Handling pretty much everything, One By One, 2009’s Before Nightfall this in school, but the future is still getting
in front of, and behind, the studio time took only 3 weeks in the studio, brighter. Look out for where the next
glass, Francis’ down-tempo, emotional as the assistance from a major certain- six might take him, for Robert Francis,
and striking debut album, One By ly did him well. the sky really is the limit.
MUSIC DELS
Run, rivers, run.

Dels.
WORDS LAURA VEVERS
PHOTOGRAPHY CHLOE HAYWARD
I pswich rapper Dels (Kieren Dick-

ens) used to be a visual artist, but
on debut album Gob he manages to
tale of child sex abuse. His urban trou-
badour style of delivery recalls some
of the rawness and power of Dizzee
dystopian anthem that begs to be
played loudly on repeat – preferably
outside David Cameron’s house (you
conjure an uneasy urban landscape Rascal’s debut, but this is definitely a know the address). Kwes-produced
through the medium of sound. On record for 2011. DLR is a minimalistic gem that shows
repetitively hypnotic recent single Goddard- off the melan-
Shapeshifter he claims: “I’m a bird, I’m produced Trump- cholic, almost
a tree, I’m a bike, I’m a plane, I’m the alump is a skillful monotonous qual-
ground underneath your feet, I’m the
rain in the sky, I’m a cloud, I’m the
slice of electronic
grime brilliance, HIS URBAN TROUBADOUR ity of Dels’ voice,
complemented
sun, I’m a star…” Essentially, this boy while Another by Elan Tamara’s
can be anything, and with help from
an all-star production team including
Goddard collabo-
ration, Capsize,
STYLE OF DELIVERY simple but heart-
shattering chorus.
Micachu, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and
the brilliant Kwes, he has fused grime,
sees Dels and UK
hip-hop maverick
RECALLS SOME OF THE Already lauded in
the music press
hip-hop, indie and electronica to cre-
ate a record that is overwhelmingly
original; no mean feat in an industry
Roots Manuva
taking it in turns
to spit anti-
RAWNESS AND POWER OF and gaining air-
play both under-
ground and on
already oversaturated with rap/rock
hybrids and mainstream indie-electro
Tory sentiments
against a backdrop
DIZZEE RASCAL’S DEBUT. Zane Lowe’s Radio
1 show, Dels is set
‘experimentation’. of uneasy beats to be deservedly
Dels doesn’t compromise lyri- and computer huge in 2011. For
cally or melodically in a bid to sound game bleeps. Dickens more than holds such a magical record, the Mercury
commercial either. This is highlighted his own against the formidable Rodney Music Prize seems a fairly expected
on the hard-to hear Droogs, where Smith, and the result is a simultane- shout too.
Dickens tells a painful and uncensored ously powerful and tongue-in-cheek Debut album Gob is released May 2nd
Visualising
downward spirals.
Rob Sheridan.
WORDS SAM WALKER-SMART

MUSIC ROB SHERIDAN
F or twelve years Rob Sheridan has

been the creative force behind
Nine Inch Nails’ iconic and ground-
point I need to pick a discipline and
really grow in it for a while, but for the
moment I’m happy doing a little bit of
to tackle a children’s book down the
line, would it be as dark as your cur-
rent illustrations or a complete depar-
breaking visual output. Album covers, everything. ture in tone?
music videos, posters, websites, apps, RS: I’d like to do something a little bit
photography and stage productions FTF: Under the ‘tourist’ heading on dark, something that maybe feels a
have all been part of his day job as your website you can find some amaz- little edgy to kids, and challenges them
Trent Reznor’s resident art direc- ing photography from around the a bit, while also being very enjoyable
tor. And when not busy with one of globe. Are there particular shots or lo- for adults. I love stories that can cross-
the world’s biggest bands, Sheridan cations that will stay with you forever? over and be just as entertaining to a
manages to put out his own acclaimed RS: Unquestionably post-Katrina New 40-year-old as they are to an 8-year-
illustration and photography work to. Orleans is the first one that comes to old. These days Pixar is doing the best
We caught up with the living legend mind. I’ve never seen devastation like work out there in that department.
to talk gaming, Grammy nominations that. Some many homes and lives in
and children’s books. ruins. It was heartbreaking, especially FTF: If any, what bands or music do
having lived there for a few years. It you like to listen to as you work?
FAN THE FIRE: You were hired at the was nice to be able to go there and take RS: Nothing specific really. If there
tender age of 19 by Nine Inch Nails’ photos and put them online, and hope- isn’t some new album I want to check
Trent Reznor on the merits of your fully help some people better under- out, I’ll usually put on a genius mix in
NIN fansite. How did that feel? stand the sheer scale of that disaster. iTunes, or listen to Pandora. But some-
ROB SHERIDAN: It was completely times if I’m working on something
surreal, I hadn’t even finished my first FTF: The Grammy nomination you re- with a very specific tone to it, I’ll find
year of college. It was like someone ceived for art direction on NIN’s Ghosts some mood music that really fits where
carefully crafted my dream job and I-IV must be quite nice on the CV. How I want the work to go.
then dropped it on my lap. It was a lot did you feel about winning the award?
to process for an awkward 19-year-old RS: It was a bit of a surprise, I certain- FTF: Any advice for digital artists just
kid, I felt like I was quitting school to ly wouldn’t have thought of myself as a starting out?
run off and join the circus. Grammy nominee. Mostly I was happy RS: People often ask me for career
FTF: Is there any particular work with to see that package get some recogni- advice and I have to tell them I’m a
the band you’re especially proud of? tion as I’m really proud of the work we pretty terrible person to ask because
RS: I think I’m most proud of the stage did on it, and by its nature as a deluxe I’ve had such an unusual career path
production we did for NIN’s 2008 package, not all that many people got that it’s hard for me to even know
Lights In The Sky tour. Aside from being to actually see it. what I’d do in a typical career path. But
incredibly pleased with how it turned one thing I’ve always had success with,
out, something like that also gives you FTF: It’s known you’re a bit of a gamer. and seen others have a lot of success
the satisfaction of watching thousands If you could pick a childhood favou- with, is doing really cool work, doing
of people react to it in real-time. It’s rite and a contemporary releases to a lot of it, and putting it out on the
a great feeling watching people really be stuck on a desert island with what internet. Everywhere you possibly can.
be blown away by something you’ve would you choose? Join communities, share it with people
worked on, you don’t get that type of RS: That’s a tough decision! The first in your field, send it to people you re-
feedback with most other mediums. old favourite that comes to mind is spect, post it on every art site you can.
Galaga. I never get tired of trying to If you only post it on your own website
FTF: You’ve found success as a graphic beat my high score on that game. The and hope people will somehow show
designer, photographer and illustrator. classics from that era of arcade gaming up and see it, then you’re going to be
Do you believe that the modern artist had the most amazing complex sim- disappointed. And don’t be overpro-
should be versatile in the digital age? plicity, if that makes any sense. They tective of your work, either. Put it out
RS: It has its benefits, absolutely. For were incredibly simple to play but they in hi-res, let people download it. One
my job, the versatility has been key, had tonnes of little nuances that made of the best ways I’ve gotten atten-
and I love learning new skills and them so addictive and extremely dif- tion to my illustrations is by making
experimenting in new fields. On the ficult to master. Contemporary game? them available as hi-res wallpapers. It
other hand, I’ve suffered a bit from I’m at a loss. Since I’d be stuck on a frustrates me when I see people put-
being a jack-of-all-trades, in that I desert island, maybe I’d have to finally ting their work online as tiny little files
haven’t honed in on one particular get into Minecraft, I hear it’s an amaz- with huge watermarks. Worry about
medium and devoted myself to it. I feel ing timesuck. getting people interested in your work
like in that sense, I haven’t reached before you worry about them ripping
my potential in some areas. At some FTF: You’ve mentioned you would like it off.
SXSW
0
2 1
1
WORDS SAM BATHE
PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICE JACKSON
PICTURED: WE BARBARIANS

MUSIC SXSW 2011
T uesday night is normally quiet

in Austin. Film and Interactive
attendees can be seen wandering the
ing vocals but they’re a great example
of lo-fi that isn’t Best Coast or Wavves,
lacking currently on the music scene.
ous why they were there as support.
Perhaps inevitably, however, they end-
ed up as little more than a weak, if still
streets, but on the music front, events, Weekend played outside, and promising, copy. Spikey and eclectic,
bands, badge-holders and all, there’s following them were Beach Fossils, Mount Kimbie drive a lot from guitar
Day 0
normally little going on. This year? the first revelation of 2011’s festival. effects but the sound on a whole is still
Well, Tuesday was pretty busy. Summery, bright indie, Beach Fossils largely electronic.
Alongside a handful of unofficial are like The Drums, only good, and not Gold Panda were the real stand-
parties, including Syndicate at Purev- formed of four pretentious New York- out of our first night. Reworking
olume House where the line went ers. Where The Drums are so forced synths and samples for a collection
all the way around the block, official on-stage, Beach Fossils just go for it, of powerfully rhythmic tracks, Gold
showcases were already going. dancing up and down and running Panda sound like little else out there,
We hit Emo’s, and it was a pretty about no end; they’re great live. They and while on record Gold Panda’s Lucky
wise choice. Flittering between Emo’s don’t quite have the same energy in Shiner tracks are quite wonderful, but
and Emo’s Jr. (one’s a more regular mp3 form, but check them out in the there’s even more to them live. Play-
inside venue, and the other outside, flesh and you’ll be blown away. ing an incredible 40-minute set with
under a long wooden canopy), already Also under the Emo’s canopy, PS barely a break to introduce himself,
checking off a bunch of bands we I Love You had a lot of hype in the lat- Derwin Panda seamlessly merged
wanted to see at this year’s SXSW. ter half of 2010 and in the run-up to tracks, one into another, and went off
First up was Jamie Woon at Emo’s SXSW. Who knows why? Semi-scream- to rapturous applause. A pretty
Jr., instantly breaking our rule of trying indie, their vocal style was a little incredible end to what we
ing to avoid British bands/artists. He reminiscent of Tenacious D but they had expected to be a
was worth it though. Somewhere be- don’t have the fun or playful nature, quiet opener in
tween James Blake and John Legend, and there’s no spark to their music. Austin.
the R’n’B soul singer draws compari- They’re solid, but certainly nothing
sons to Plan B, who has made it big special.
of late. His voice is powerful and the With Gold Panda headlining things
background music feels fresh, making the night, Mount Kimbie were
great use of classical influences. played just before at expected of
Weekend, up next, couldn’t have Emo’s Jr., and it them on their foray
been any more different. Vocally was pretty into the States. Though
reverb-heavy rock, each track is end- obvi- Operation would have you believ-
lessly driven forward by great percus- ing they’re fairly slipstream indie,
sion. They could have done with their hook-driven rock, quite reminiscent of
stronger guitar and bass, with sopho- The Cribs, in general their music is far
more hooks and sig- more record more reverb-based, often slower and
nature riffs to go Speak Ahh is build- more moany.
against the ing. Heading to The Parish next for
drawl- Teased into hanging 1,2,3, we were treated to a brief snip-
around at Cedar Street Courtyard pet of Fidlar first. If only. A Hives-
for Voxhaul Broadcast, the similarly ish garage that probably shouldn’t
T he LA-based band have been building have made it as far SXSW, we quickly
start momentum in their hometown. Funny returned to the bar, but when 1,2,3
Day 1
of SXSW proper, on stage, they introduced each mem- later came out, they weren’t much bet-
unofficial day shows were- ber and gauged how much the crowd ter either. Playing light rock, they’re
a-plenty on the Wednesday, but liked them from their cheer, entertain- competent enough, and certainly indie
we opted to see some old friends, and ing interludes between the still quite movie soundtrack material, but noth-
the recently resurgent, Eastern Con- captivating tracks. Voxhaul Broadcast ing to particularly shout about.
ference Champions first. Fresh off the play heavy indie rock, there’s a touch Fairly soon we ducked out for
back of a track on the latest Twilight of Angels And Airwaves to them, and Maggie Mae’s, and Errors certainly put
OST, the Cali three-piece debuted a they could go far. on a much better performance. The
bunch of new songs that go further One of the most hyped acts going British band have made significant in-
than all of their material in the past. into SXSW, Yuck have failed to fully roads in the UK over the last couple of
A little similar to best track to date, capitalise on their early potential years and it’s pretty clear why. Playing
Noah, ECC exhibited more variation and haven’t exploded in the way they math-y prog. synth-rock, though they
and all faster songs. Anticipation for would have hoped in the UK, still, big can’t entirely back up standout track ➸
MUSIC SXSW 2011
Supertribe, they’re still great live and etown, and are really captivating live were much better.
wowed the on-looking crowd no end. with a lot of life to their music, and It feels strange still talking about
As is often the case for visit- similar to Beach Fossils the day before, Casiokids as an up and coming band
ing bands, Veronica Falls, playing at put The Drums to shame with a more after they first started to make ma-
Day 1
Beauty Bar, soon announced that they natural vein of joyous post-surf music. jor inroads two years ago in the UK,
were tired and highly jetlagged, but With so many bands playing at though that was about as far as they
vowed not to let it get in the way of a SXSW, there are always going to be acts got. In the US, things are only start-
stirring show. And it didn’t. Lo-fi has that overlap meaning at some point ing to kick off now, and their official
threatened to take over of late and Ve- or other you have to make sacrifices. showcase was pretty packed. Despite
ronica Falls are likely one of the first of Walking up to Club de Ville, our plan an ill-advised amount of awkward
a raft of post-Best Coast bands. While was to ditch Tennis half way through crowd talk between songs, as spacey
the London four-piece’s tracks are and head down to Dirty Dog for White eclectic Scandinavian electro-indie
quite twee, and they similarly lack a Arrows. Pleasingly we stuck it out and goes, they’re amongst the best. Good
‘big’ song, if the rest of the onrush are instead dropped half of the latter’s live too, although their time might
going to sound like this, we’re more set, which we soon realised was a very have passed.
than up for it. I kind of wish they had clever move. 16 bands down after the first full
soundtracked Richard Ayoade’s Subma- We’ve been meaning to write day was a pretty good effort, so when
rine too, rather than Alex Turner and about White Arrows for a while now Casiokids rounded things off at Beauty
his more than depressing, and entirely – though had never seen them live – Bar, despite our legs still full of en-
monotonous, solo effort. and sadly catching them at SXSW has ergy, we called it a night know-
When flicking through the band put us off. They play upbeat indie, and ing fatigue would catch
listings the day before, I picked out though they have a very full sound, a up much sooner
Tennis to go and see, purely based on misguided keytar player (glowing visor rather than
their name. Then after looking into and all) certainly doesn’t help matters later.
them a little online, it seems they’ve as they come across, if anything, quite
been getting some hype, and I quickly irritating, and certainly nothing be-
grew ever more excited about their set. yond average. Luckily to end the
Dashing up Red River to Club de Ville, night we had Casiokids
“
we snuck into what was a fairly packed to venture back to
venue just as they took to the stage, Beauty Bar for,
and the three-piece quickly impressed. and they
Wheth-
Hugely summery, Tennis play soft
vocals off against light, airy indie, but
it feels much stronger than such a
description might suggest.
They’re reminiscent
of Chairlift or
Princ-
er it was en-
tirely relative to
how great We Barbar-
ians were or not, sadly the
more well-known The Naked
And Famous didn’t come close
to making a similar impact.”
MUSIC SXSW 2011
A day “Foolishly we were

tricked into thinking
before fly-
ing out to Austin
we were hanging out in
LA, and while lunching at The
Counter caught sight of Jason Bate-
Jeffrey Tambor
men chomping on a burger two tables
down. It was a big deal. So when on
firmed,
however,
was there
too...”
SXSW’s opening evening our friends
our tickets were
messaged us that at a secret Asis An-
booked the next day.
sari stand-up show Michael Cera was
Part of a great opening
right next to them, it kind of blew our
day at the Lustre Pearl, Dickies
minds. Foolishly we were tricked into
always curate a fantastic line-up, day
thinking Jeffrey Tambor was there too and night, and with the Cali-now-
(a royal Arrested Development fest our they’re
Brooklyn three-piece starting things still pretty
trip would have then become), and up. Now pumping out a heap of new
although that was just a practical joke, great, and with
songs, We Barbarians are really step- huge fireworks set
Cera and Bateman was still good going. ping it up and buzz is building around off behind the stage during
Why was Cera in town? A little a band that has always harboured closer Last Nite, it was a pretty
sleuthing overnight revealed his band, limitless potential. Fast and effort- unique experience.
Mister Heavenly, to be playing, so of lessly rhythmic, Headspace and The Leaving on the last beat of their
course, we were one of the first in line. Wait Is Over especially showcase a encore, we raced back into town for
An ‘indie supergroup’ with members move to slightly less atmospheric, our second We Barbarians show of
from Modest Mouse and Man Man, more straight-up indie, a change that the day, this time at Palm Door. Never
imagine if Wes Anderson crafted an comes off very nicely. Playing with were we to doubt it but the boys were
indie band, this is how they would such energy and vigour, it’s hard not to great again, with Cold War Kids show-
sound. With quite a cultured feel to be drawn in, and even for much of the ing up just before they started, joining
their music, Elysium soon filled up crowd who probably hadn’t seen We a busy crowd lap up every track.
as Mister Heavenly’s stage time was Barbarians before, you could tell they Next up it was another LA affair
approaching, and the crowd were not made a big impression. at The Driskel, the most glamorous of-
to be disappointed. Though the band Whether it was entirely relative or ficial venue at this year’s SXSW; a small
wouldn’t blow anyone away, it’s no not to how great We Barbarians were, side room in the old hotel laid host
Day 2
surprise they’re already signed (and to sadly the more well-known The Naked to Superhumanoids. Filled up on free
Sub Pop no less), and not just because And Famous didn’t come close to mak- popcorn, we readied ourselves for one
of the famous members. Similar to ing a similar impact. Quite samey from of the bands we were looking forward
Modest Mouse, they boast a cultured, the first track to the last, they’re very to most in advance of the festival.
Americana-influenced sound, and a flat live despite obviously going for it. Possessing great rhythm and tempo to
couple of tracks at least have got ‘hit’ Cracking out hit single Punching In A their music, Superhumanoids are like a
written all over them. It was pleasing Dream fairly early on in an attempt to less expansive Local Natives, but that
to see a band back up their promise (or liven up the audience, the New Zea- certainly shouldn’t be counted against
moreover Michael Cera seriously forge landers are surprisingly boring on- them, and with a female singer sharing
a music career), and follow through stage as their music struggles to craft vocals, they still have their own place
on undoubted potential. Two tracks any sort of edge. on the music sphere.
before the end of their set though we Every year at SXSW the organis- Ending another day at Beauty Bar,
had to head off, and for good reason. ers put on a big free show on the lake, this time in their backyard, if we were
In the months leading up to with a couple of the biggest names an- after a quiet end to the night, Miami
SXSW we were a little back and forth nounced gracing the stage. Some guys Horror certainly had other ideas. A
on whether to make the trip. You get called The Strokes headlined 2011’s potent mix of Jamaica and Daft Punk,
the rewards, but the Austin festival Auditorium Shores, and a packed the Australian band know how to
is a crippling experience on body, crowd witnessed one of the best impress and put on a wonderful show,
mind and ears, returning home more events of the week. Playing a ‘greatest and though much of the crowd didn’t
exhausted than ever before, while of hits’ set with a handful of new tracks seem to know every song, everyone
course, having the time of your life in along the way, while The Strokes have was instantly dancing away; the per-
the process. When We Barbarians con- always lacked a certain spark live, fect end to day two. ➸
MUSIC SXSW 2011
A nyone who’s been to SXSW before

will know that day three is the
day you crash. Even if you hit the pil-
a momentous personal occasion. It
was even better then that The Romany
Rye were great too, and Luke Macmas-
front of a busy crowd, and pleasingly
it didn’t take everyone long to get up
to speed with their relentless, part-8-
low the second after getting back to ter’s band are really finding a groove bit electro. We Are Enfant Terrible feel
Day 3
your hotel every night, by the Friday, in folksy Americana. The new songs expansive and unrestrained; very fresh
legs are weary and eyes are heavy, and sound superb, so lookout for another even though there are others quite
we’d been privy to some late night LP later this year. similar. In song make-up and style
catching up with friends after the After a quick sit down dinner (our they draw comparisons to Sebastian
bands had finished too. Day three first proper meal of the festival), we Tellier, but everything they do is much
therefore, was a late starter, although headed to Rusty Spurs for Delorean, rockier and more driven. This is where
we didn’t let that stop us having fun. only to make a very speedy exit. It was CSS should have gone, but with a great
Venturing south of the main actually Dolorean on-stage, and not debut album already hitting shelves,
action to Bar 96, we were pleasantly the Subiza-touting lo-fi dance band we We Are Enfant Terrible will take over
surprised to make it in time for Art Vs. were expecting, so when they did little the Brazilians’ place on the music
Science. Interviewed some issues back, to inspire, we dashed to Latitude 30 mantle.
the electronic band put on quite a live for Gallops instead. Though We Are Enfant Terrible
show, and while some of their music The UK band have been doing well turned out to be a fitting end to the
feels narrow and already outdated, the other side of the Atlantic, and their night, our next three shows were a hat-
other tracks are awesome, and they heavy prog. synth-rock music could trick of non-events. Trekking across
pull off the more than slightly ridicu- catch on in the States. They’re similar town for Yuck, we failed to get into the
lous nature of many songs. to a less spikey early Foals, but much venue before hitting Palm Door again
The reason we hit Bar 96 though harder in their make-up, and certainly for A-Trak, and again finding disap-
was for The Romany Rye, and the last could make big on their potential. pointment. Running late, before the
remnant of The Colour I had yet to After a number of failed attempts French electro master hit the decks we
see live. After double We Barbarians to see We Are Enfant Terrible in the had to dash, only to find MSTRKRFT
the day before (another 3/5ths of the UK, their showcase at Swan Dive at Mohawk, perhaps unsurprisingly,
once quintet), finishing the job (af- quickly became one of our most an- was completely full too. A sad end to
ter previously catching Wyatt Hull’s ticipated performances at SXSW 2011. the day, but on the whole, still a wildly
Cheatahsaurus months ago in LA) was The French three-piece set to it in successful third evening in Austin.
S adly the last day of SXSW 2011,

the sun was out in force for what is
often the busiest (in terms of footflow
left happy and as new fans.
There were two hip-hop outfits
getting buzz at SXSW. Odd Future
of lime wedges into the crowd during
their last track, the three-piece play
lively electro-rock with a strong funk
in Austin) of the whole festival. First were leading the way but actor Donald edge, and with big, accessible choruses,
though we stayed out of the centre and Glover’s music project Childish Gam- they hold similarities to Friendly Fires
Day 4
plotted a journey back to Auditorium bino isn’t doing half badly too. Glover though aren’t quite as catchy.
Shores and the entertainment on of- packed out the expansive Red 7 Patio, One of the bigger names at SXSW
fer. Man Man were first up; an eclectic though charming and funny between this year, at least if you’re a 16-year-
unconventional rock band with a touch songs, the tracks themselves are harsh old emo girl, Panic! At The Disco are
of the dramatic Dresden Dolls about and raw. Even for non-hip-hop fans back touring after a little time away
them, though really it was Middle there’s enough to get into, and after from the limelight, but even two
Brother we were there to see. free-styling with Kendrick Lamar at members short, they still know how
Formed of members from two of the end, plus with Glover’s Community to rock it. With Ryan Ross and Jon
our favourite bands (Matt Vasquez of co-star Dani Pudi in the crowd, it was Walker gone, and their Beatles direc-
Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of quite a show. tion with them, Panic! largely played
Dawes), plus John McCauley of Deer With an hour to kill before tracks off their first album, with only a
Tick, it didn’t take long for the Texan rocking over to Stubb’s for our guilty couple from Pretty. Odd and three new
crown to jump on board. With Matt pleasure of the festival, we at last made ones. The new guitarist is great and fits
rocking a Gibson Flying V, after crowd the trek east of the i35 to ND. Taken into their aesthetic perfectly, although
surfing he lost his strap and funnily over by the Windish Agency, their the touring bassist still isn’t spot on.
powered through a couple of tracks, extensive roster offered quite a line-up The four-piece were pretty impressive
propping it up with his arm until the over the four days but Young Empires though, and threw in a more than ran-
end. Johnny Corndawg even made an were one of the most anticipated, and dom 30 seconds of screamo between
appearance as everyone in attendance didn’t disappoint. Throwing a heap tracks while a technical issue was fixed.
MUSIC SXSW 2011
PICTURED: TURBO FRUITS
A nd with
that SXSW was
over. Odd Future were
still to play at venue on 6th,
but with literally no chance of getting
in so we gave it a miss. Our third time in
Austin, SXSW 2011 was a roaring success. Beach
Fossils, We Barbarians, Gold Panda, We Are Enfant
Terrible, The Romany Rye and Tennis take home our acco-
lades for the best shows, although there didn’t seem to be as much
buzz surrounding one single act as there was two years ago for Wavves,
and in 2010 for Surfer Blood. I guess that’s a good thing, however,
wealth was shared, and praise rightly given across the board.
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Bands, bottles and

blitzkriegs.
The perfect festival.
WORDS SAM WALKER-SMART

MUSIC FESTIVALS
S o said once Mahatma Gandhi,

“unity to be real must stand the
severest strain without breaking,” and
tee of a good time, however, there’s a
special magic to pulling off a legendary
weekend, a lesson never more keenly
promoter the crowd started numerous
bonfires during the Red Hot Chili Pep-
pers’ headlining set, using sections of
the wise man had a point, something learnt than at Woodstock ‘99. Rehash- the so called ‘Peace Wall’ and perimeter
that should be well remembered with ing the same motto used twice before fence as fuel. With an audio tower now
the festival season now officially un- by the titular original and the mud flaming and Chili’s frontman Anthony
derway. With many worldwide to pack soaked Gen X ‘94 Kiedis compar-
their beers and bikinis, the calendar is event Three Days ing the scene to
marked with a summer full of promise, Of Peace & Music Apocalypse Now,
with even spanning the world over.
From the deserts of Nevada to the
proved an epicly
ironic slogan.
THE ‘BUSINESS-AS-USUAL’ the fire brigade
and state troop-
fields of Somerset and the parks of
London, there’s a little loud music to
look forward to for everyone.
With Rage Against
The Machine,
Metallica, The
PSYCHE IS LEFT AT THE ers in full crowd
control gear were
called in.
Glastonbury Festival’s success has
always been down its wide appeal and
Chemical Broth-
ers, James Brown
DOOR FOR 72 HOURS; The night
was flatteringly
truly original atmosphere; a unifying
sense that after the eternity it took to
and The Roots
on the bill, the PEOPLE NEED TO BE described by many
media outlets as
secure that elusive ticket, you’ve been
permitted to enter hallowed ground,
with the whole crowd just happy to be
festival seemed
the best, nay, only
way to see out the
STIMULATED BUT STILL a ‘war zone’, ‘con-
centration camp’
or commonly just
there. Like any good gig the masses are
united by a singular purpose; to chant,
last summer of
the nineties, and
LEFT TO ROAM FREE. ‘complete chaos’.
When the dust
dance and scream away those joyous the business folks finally settled
hours away from a mundane office. It’s knew it. Charg- twelve trailers and
an experience; a real festival should ing over $150 a ticket (a lot for 1999) a small bus were no more and numer-
be something completely alien to the was the first warning signs of an event ous injuries were reported as well as a
rest of your year, an almost tribal vibe soon to forget about the ‘one world, tale of a crowd surfing woman being
where nomadic strangers gather to one people’ message of the original. pulled down into the mosh pit and
pitch up and decide upon that year’s With the insufficient number of toilets viciously gang raped. Three days of
trademark that will annoy the neigh- overflowing too, water fountains ‘Peace & Music’ indeed.
bours continu- overcrowded and What can be learnt from this?
ously at 3am. bottles costing Well while money is required to run
Drugs may a painful $4; at- such events, a high level of greed on
pass around but if
things are pulled
SUNDAY DIDN’T FARE tendees soon took
to tearing open
the promoter’s behalf generally doesn’t
equal success in an environment that
off right, they
won’t be needed,
with the crowd
ANY BETTER, USING the supply pipes
to deal with the
100+ Fahrenheit
thrives on unison and a laid back at-
mosphere. Festivals are escapism, and
crowds are only ever an escalating scale
feeding of each
others’ buzz, in a
CANDLES HANDED OUT BY heat. This was
made worse as
of annoyance away from unreal levels
of carnage. The ‘business-as-usual’
potent mix with
sleep depriva-
A PEACE PROMOTER THE the organisers
more thought into
psyche is left at the door for 72 hours;
people need to be stimulated but still
tion and mild
sunstroke. If the
organisers have
CROWD STARTED providing vendor
malls; ATM’s and
email stations
left to roam free. They need to be able
to spend their own cash as they please,
not be forced to lay out for something
done their jobs,
everyone should
NUMEROUS BONFIRES. proudly display-
ing the dozens of
with every step they take. Equally
it’s the festival-goers’ duty to enjoy
have a safety ha- corporate spon- themselves and try to spread the good
ven to eat, drink, sors. With garbage times, all within the law, to befriend
chill and rock out; cover these basics and human waste covering the ground strangers and scream their lungs out
and, weather permitting, everyone and attendees not permitted to bring together.
should be pretty happy and be able to their own refreshments, looting and Love is the drug, and everyone
leave with the immortally smug “were violence erupted as early as Saturday people remember this, organisers and
you there?” line in their vocabulary. night. Sunday didn’t fare any better, attendees alike, festival season 2011
Promising line-ups are no guaran- using candles handed out by a peace should be pretty sweet.
MUSIC ALBUM REVIEWS
HOLY GHOST! WE ARE ENFANT TERRIBLE

HOLY GHOST! EXPLICIT PICTURES
RELEASED APRIL 11 RELEASED APRIL 4
Around for a number of years now as producers and re- When Crystal Castles first hit the scene and the public
mixers, to say Holy Ghost!’s debut album as musicians almost instantly became fascinated by 8-bit, samples
was eagerly anticipated by those in the know would be and retro-sounding synth, it was interesting to see
a gross understatement. At last wowing people with where electro musicians would take the genre next. It’s
their new live outfit, the New York duo’s self-titled taken a while, but with Explicit Pictures, We Are Enfant
LP doesn’t disappoint and will bring you right back Terrible have at last shown how it’s done, and take over
around to loving electropop again. from CSS as the most fun band around, playing unre-
Though opening with a bang on Do It Again, it’s lenting, instantly danceable music.
the more subtle Wait And See that really sets out Holy Clicks and beats a-plenty, Make You Laugh is the
Ghost!’s stall. Layered and energetic under the surface, perfect introduction to what WEAT are about, soon
silky synth and vocals make their music listenable in ramping up to 100mph, bombarding the listener with
any mood, taking it beyond the throwaway sound you vibrant electronica and singer Clotilde Floret’s smooth
might normally attribute to this sort of genre. vocals layered on top. Though keeping to quite a strict
Mixing it up later in the album with faster and regime, Explicit Pictures still sounds expansive and
slower tracks, peaking with the quite brilliant It’s Not won’t grow tired easily. We Are Enfant Terrible are a
Over, Holy Ghost!’s first major release to the world has band that could sound similar to a lot of other artists
been more than worth the wait, and another gem of a but very firmly hold their own spot on the horizon,
band from wonder-label DFA. SB and don’t they let you know it with a great debut. TM
★★★★★ ★★★★★
TENNIS BRAIDS
CAPE DORY NATIVE SPEAKER
Soon feeling a little like a young, indie She & Him, One of the first from the incoming wave of eclectic,
in part thanks to Alaina Moore’s beautifully sweet post-Animal Collective, atmospheric bands, Montreal
vocals, you’ll quickly fall in love with Tennis. Made up quartet Braids, are a pleasure to have thrust upon us,
of sumptuous harmonies, their music is calming but or more appropriately to their music, sneak up from
never boring, and though at times Cape Dory is simply nowhere, with calmness and assurance.
formed, it still manages remain engaging and much As you might expect from the earlier comparison,
more than just background music. Native Speaker has a real pace and energy to it through-
Right from opener Take Me Somewhere, Tennis’ out. Percussion plays a big part in keeping everything
summery, upbeat nature shines through, as they move moving, although it’s far from the most prominent ele-
through Marathon, the slower Pigeon and onto Seafarer, ment in Braids’ music. Layering guitar, harps, synths
you get the impression their sound won’t grow old. and other general noise delicately over each other,
Cultured but unreservedly fresh and new, Tennis have Plath Heart and Little Hand are dreamily textured,
a special quality that doesn’t come along too often; an though other tracks on the album are certainly much
instant appeal, and you’ll quickly harbour the desire to more regular, falling down the avant-garde-pop route
sway along to every track. that has brought them so many fans. If Native Speaker
No-one can claim Cape Dory will change the world, is a sign of things to come from the music scene over
far from it, but it’s such a delightfully charming album the coming months, we’re all for it, and will be closely
that you’ll be drawn in from the first beat. SB watching Braids in their development too. TM
★★★★★ ★★★★★

MUSIC ALBUM REVIEWS
JAMIE WOON HUNX AND HIS PUNX

MIRRORWRITING TOO YOUNG TO BE IN LOVE
Plan B rejuvenated his once grime career by retro-styl- The quite brilliantly named Hunx And His Punx were
ing his last album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, always going to have to go some to match their pretty
stripping away the rappers sound to make way for a unique moniker, though on debut LP Gay Singles, the
soulful, R’n’B effort. It majorly paid off. Quite literally lo-fi rock and roll band just about managed it, and with
at record stores too. a second album in quick succession, aren’t ready to let
Slow it all down a bit, throw in some James Blake, their quickly-building hype die down. And they sure do
and you’ve got Jamie Woon, sumptuously captivat- deserve to be hyped.
ing ears on debut album Mirrorwriting. With the focus Drawled bubblegum pop through and through,
quite obviously on his vocals, there’s plenty to show- Too Young To Be In Love might lack variation, so get
case, but the backing music certainly doesn’t let him used to riff-led chorus to verse routines until closer
down. Smooth harmonies and catchy vocal hooks on Blow Me Away, but there’s certainly enough to rouse
Lady Luck will have you coming back for more over the your attention and keep it too. With a sense of unbri-
rest of the album, but the whole thing is a soulful and dled fun, Hunx And His Punx race through 10 quick
passionate, yet still understated and perfectly meas- and dirty tracks, not over-thought, nor over-complicat-
ured, LP. At times Mirrorwriting can grow a little boring ed, each has a simple edge that works well for the band.
but there’s plenty either side of the fillers to keep you Though Hunx grow a little tired a couple of listens
interested enough to stick it out until closer, and slow over, they’re brimming with potential and with a little
acoustic number, Waterfront. SB more curation, should wow with album three. TM
★★★★★ ★★★★★
METRONOMY PANDA BEAR

THE ENGLISH RIVIERA TOMBOY
Three years on from their 2008 breakthrough, Nights One of the founding members of the critically-ac-
Out, it feels like an age since we’ve heard from the claimed Animal Collective, Panda Bear took time out
highly-talented four-piece. Singles Heartbreaker and of his solo career until picking things up again in 2004,
Thing For Me double-handedly put them on the map, and now with his third solo LP in seven years, still
though really the rest of the album was pretty great seems still keen to go his own way too.
too; now with expectation on their shoulders, the heat His vocals are instantly recognisable so it might
is on for them to deliver again. take you a couple of listens to take Tomboy on board as
The English Riviera is still undoubtedly a Metrono- a Panda Bear record, rather than the latest from Ani-
my record but it’s much calmer and much less-spikey mal Collective, although whatever the packaging, it’s a
than their best work on Nights Out. A departure? startling and beautiful production. Scaled back slightly
Certainly; still the bright and airy electro-tinged indie from what we’re used to, Tomboy isn’t quite perfection
flows through every track but it’s much more meas- but still manages to effortlessly guide the reader down
ured, slower moving, and though playful, tip toes far a magical and engaging journey, forever meandering
too much. While the unbrash sound could bode well in yet always feeling directed and to a purpose.
the long term, The English Riviera lacks punch and that Despite at times feeling a little cold and discon-
big single or more energetic shining light that made nected, Tomboy will sprawl across ‘best of’ lists at the
Metronomy’s name to date. It might be a grower, but it end of the year, and while it’s not a masterpiece, you
might be some while before you find out. SB can’t doubt Panda Bear holds a talent truly special. TM
★★★★★ ★★★★★

FILM
28 PREVIEWS
34 SUPER
SUMMER
36
RELEASES
ARRESTED
38 DEVELOPMENT
INTERVIEWS
SUCKER PUNCH
42
INTERVIEWS
THE EAGLE
44
INTERVIEWS
48 REVIEWS
DVD & BLU-RAY

58
REVIEWS
CAPTAIN AMERICA:
THE FIRST AVENGER
RELEASED JULY 22 (USA) JULY 29 (UK)
2011 is going to be a big year for
Marvel. It’s the year when the
remaining characters set to appear
in their Goliath 2012 production of
The Avengers will be introduced to
the world. Oh, and X-Men is being
rebooted, too. With three mar-
quee releases in one summer, and
competition from other huge films,
Marvel need audiences to buy into
their newest on-screen characters.
Fan reaction to the Captain
America trailer has generally been
stronger than that afforded to Thor,
Kenneth Branagh’s take on Mar-
vel’s Nordic hero. The WWII set-
ting appears to be working well – it
certainly offers something different
to the countless other comic book
adaptations out there – and the film
has a distinct look about it that is,
say it quietly, rather exciting.
Chris Evans looks to be well-
cast as Steve Rogers, our hero, even
if the CGI-shrunk body shown
off in the trailer does look a little
weird. Plot details, thankfully, are
still pretty thin on the ground, but
hopefully the film’s story won’t be a
throwaway narrative designed sim-
ply as a functional depiction of the
hero’s origin. Director Joe Johnston
and his writers have opted to in-
clude Cap’s most prominent en-
emy, Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), so
there can be no excuse for making
the story feel tacked on. Similarly,
although Marvel need to link this
universe into that of Iron Man and
Thor (brief evidence of which can
be seen in the trailer, if you listen
carefully), they need to be wary of
fumbling those connecting lines, as
they did in Iron Man 2, where the
crossover stuff felt incongruous and
badly thought out.
FILM PREVIEWS

MR. POPPER’S
PENGUINS
RELEASED JUNE 17 (USA) AUGUST 5 (UK)
Based on the children’s book
of the same name by Richard
and Florence Atwater, this film
adaptation stars Jim Carrey
as Mr. Popper, a man obsessed
with business who cares little
for anything else. That is, until
he inherits some penguins.
“Classic children’s film
setup” you may be thinking,
the age old story of a man
who learns to appreciate the
important things in life, but
it’s a classic story for a reason,
and hopefully those involved
in this project will conjure up
the right mix of charm and
warmth. Both of those things
should at least be provided by
the live penguins that were
used during filming, practical-
ly guaranteeing this will pack
out screens in the summer.
That, and the fact that the
source material is frequently
taught in American schools, so
many will be familiar with the
property already.
Mark Waters (Mean Girls,
The Spiderwick Chronicles) is
directing, and he’s a man who
has plenty of experience in
making films with universal
appeal. Another who has that
same appeal is leading man
Jim Carrey, whose output
of late has slowed, but has
proven in the past that he
can do everything that will be
necessary to carry this film.
Current Zack Snyder muse
Carla Gugino will provide sup-
port alongside British actress
Angela Lansbury.
FILM PREVIEWS
RETREAT
will be essential that their script does it isn’t likely to be pulling any punches,
justice to the film’s concept and gives and there is clearly a lot of potential in
its well-cast actors something meaty to the set up for good gags; whether the
work with. Its release will be low key, film will match that potential, how-
RELEASED Q3 2011 (UK) TBC (USA) that’s for sure, but this could be some- ever, is an entirely different matter.
thing different to look out for in 2011, The script was penned by Lee Eisen-
Here’s an interesting one. Cillian Mur- a year of sequels and blockbusters. berg and Gene Stupnitsky who last
phy and Thandie Newton play Martin collaborated on Year One, the critically
BAD TEACHER
and Kate, a couple who head for an derided Jack Black comedy; hopefully
island retreat in an effort to recover things have moved on since then.
from a personal tragedy. Things are
DRIVE
complicated when an unknown man is
washed ashore, claiming that a lethal RELEASED JUNE 24
airborne disease is currently ravaging
Europe. Is he telling the truth? Cameron Diaz, of course, made her
With its minimalist setup, scant name in comedy, most notably with RELEASED SEPTEMBER 16 (USA) SEPTEMBER 23 (UK)
cast list and high-concept story, There’s Something About Mary, and so
Retreat sounds almost Beckett-esque. it should come as no surprise to see Nicolas Winding Refn has had an inter-
First time director Carl Tibbets has put her leading Bad Teacher, an upcoming esting and somewhat unusual career
together a very interesting British cast, comedy about a teacher who is frankly to date. After getting his break with
and as the piece will be so character- unfit for the job. She is jealous of her Pusher, a Danish crime film, he went
centric, it will be important that they colleague Amy (Lucy Punch) who is on to make two sequels before coming
gel. 2011 is set to be a prolific year for dating ‘hot’ new substitute teacher at last to Bronson in 2009, a film that
Jamie Bell in particular, the young Scott (Justin Timberlake) and is also helped put Tom Hardy on the map.
actor having no fewer than five proj- driven primarily by money. That lat- After that, the decidedly uncommer-
ects lined up, the first of which, The ter point comes into focus when it is cial epic Valhalla Rising, in which the
Eagle, having already landed. Retreat is announced that the teacher with the director continued his love affair with
something different for him in a varied highest class average will get a bonus, Mads Mikkelsen, who had also starred
year that also includes a part in Cary and thus she is thrust into competition previously in his Pusher films.
Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre adaptation and a with Amy in more than one way. The Drive is the Danish director’s
mo-capped performance as legendary film is directed by Jake Kasdan, who latest project, and is something of a
character Tintin in Steven Spielberg’s last directed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox change in direction. Originally slated
animated epic. Cillian Murphy is a Story, and features Jason Segel (How I for Neil Marshall (Centurion) the film
British actor who continues to excel, Met Your Mother) and Molly Shannon stars indie darling Ryan Gosling –
his ability to choose interesting parts, (Evan Almighty) amongst others. most recently of Blue Valentine – as a
and to stretch himself, making him a For some of you, the similar Hollywood stunt driver who discovers
stand out in his generation. concept behind Billy Bob Thornton’s that a contract has been put out on
To an extent, Retreat will be hop- 2003 film Bad Santa may have imme- him. A diverse cast unites Gosling with
ing to emulate the success of The Dis- diately sprung to mind, but does the Brit sensation Carey Mulligan, as well
appearance Of Alice Creed, a recent Brit thought of Cameron Diaz spouting as Ron Perlman and Oscar Isaac (who
flick that bore a similar three-character foul language and acting as a bad role will probably be hoping Drive receives
structure. Tibbets also has a writing model for kids sound interesting? Well, a better critical reaction than his last
credit, along with Janice Hallett, and it maybe. The film has been rated ‘R’, so film, Sucker Punch).
At present it is unclear exactly
BAD TEACHER what ‘type’ of film Drive will be; that
is, how much it will be a straight-up
thriller, and how much action there
will be. It is certainly an intriguing
prospect, however, and the collabora-
tion between Refn and his promising
cast will be interesting to see. Gosling
and Mulligan, on current form, are a
potentially great combination of leads,
indeed, everything currently points to-
ward a potentially exciting experience,
come the autumn.
BEGINNERS
RELEASED JUNE 3 (USA) JULY 22 (UK)
In Beginners, Ewan McGregor stars as much time to come to terms with the his role, though the toughest part is
Oliver, whose father, Hal (Christopher first one. The film will carry with it clearly McGregor’s, and the film’s han-
Plummer), hits him with two abrupt that familiar sense of poignancy, the dling of his character’s reactions will
revelations: firstly, that he is gay, sense that time is running out, while be key to its success. Melanie Laurent
and secondly, that he is dying. Well- at the same time Oliver’s life has been (Inglourious Basterds, Le Concert) and
received at the Toronto Film Festival, turned upside down. Goran Visnjic (New York, I Love You)
Beginners is certainly an interesting Issues surrounding homosexu- head the supporting cast. There is a po-
prospect. ality are becoming more commonly tential trap in this kind of film of being
Evidently the brunt of the film explored in cinema – the set up of either cack-handed or overly austere in
will concern itself with Oliver’s reac- this film feels like a natural extension handling big issues, but with its solid
tions to his father’s revelations, all in of that trend. Christopher Plummer cast and an interesting premise, hope-
the knowledge that he may not have should bring the required weight to fully Beginners will live up to both.
FILM PREVIEWS

Shut up, crime!
Super.
WORDS JAMES MURPHY
FILM SUPER
O ver the last ten years comic book

films have taken over cinema.
From the arrival of Spider-Man back in
because of his love of comic books,
Frank isn’t like that. In many ways
he’s your regular human being, who
phrase, “Shut up, crime!”
Rainn Wilson strikes a fantas-
tic balance of being inoffensive and
2002, a new era of old heroes stepped would have probably looked away at a genuinely threatening. He’s best
forward, ripping through the box office crime occurring outside his window, known for playing Dwight Schrute in
and turning once-niche characters into before life was just as cruel to him. The Office: An American Workplace – the
mainstream hits. Since then, every It’s only through a plucky comic store counterpart to Gareth in the British
credible comic book star has had (or employee, Libby, where Frank finds the original. But while Gareth would boast
is about to have) his turn on the big inspiration to turn into The Crimson of his SAS training and never appear as
screen. Last year, however, something Bolt. Without her he’s just a nutter in anything other than laughable, Dwight
changed slightly; the big superhero a suit. can really come across as being rather
films came from cult graphic novels. Frank had a normal, boring life dangerous.
The heroes weren’t heroic or wise or before it was wrecked. He didn’t have His desk conceals an unhealthy
super, and they were the type of people his parents brutally murdered in front array of machetes, maces and throw-
who would have read their own graphic of him, like Batman, but it was the ing stars, and he has a little smile that
novel, if they could. Kick-Ass and Scott domestic equivalent. And what’s more wipes across his face like a sinister
Pilgrim crafted a new style of hero at the home-breaker in question, played force. It’s this smile that Wilson carries
the cinema; the scrawny, geeky slacker, by Kevin Bacon, also happens to be a over into Super. There are times when
and with Super on the surface, Rainn small-time drug dealer, certainly giving you worry for the poor guy’s sanity.
Wilson seems to be following in their Frank reason enough to dislike crime. There are times when you’re not even
footsteps as The In Super we on his side.
Crimson Bolt, a have a hero that The charm of Kick-Ass was that it
hero whose heroic only reaches for was centred in the real world, where
credentials leave a spandex gloves comic book characters are idolised and
lot to be desired. when life goes someone could technically become
Super centres
around Frank, a
THE CRIMSON BOLT IS crappy on him. It’s
completely selfish
one, but with a price. Yet Kick-Ass still
had the benefit of having his bones
seemingly dull,
average guy who
loses his wife
LIKE AN ORIGINAL HERO; and ridiculous,
but at the same
time The Crimson
reinforced with metal after his first
foray into crime fighting went wrong.
Scott Pilgrim had the benefit of be-
to someone far
cooler and edgier
UNAWARE OF OTHER Bolt seems more
real than any
ing in his own world where anything
could be punched into coins and, if he
than him. In order
to win her back,
COMIC BOOK STARS, BUT other hero we see
in the movies. He
failed, an extra life could be granted.
The Crimson Bolt is not a man with
he decides to
transform himself
into a superhero
DRIVEN BY PERSONAL wants revenge
more than justice,
and would rather
high ambition, and certainly one who
could break very easily. It’s Libby that
follows the same route as Kick-Ass,
and turn to crime-
fighting, building
VENGEANCE AGAINST beat the hell out
of a bad guy than
idolising heroes to the point of becom-
ing one, and then realising the true
himself up to
extract revenge on ANYTHING THAT STOPS turn him into the
police. He also
brutal nature of trying to bring people
to justice. It’s her that has to watch a
the guy that stole
her away. But if
you thought Super
HIM FROM LIVING HIS counts queue
jumpers and
people who key
brutal hero in real life situations. The
Crimson Bolt is like an original hero;
unaware of other comic book stars, but
would tread down
the same path as
NORMAL, BORING LIFE. cars as villains,
just like a major-
driven by personal vengeance against
anything that stops him from living
the films that pre- ity of the quietly his normal, boring life. He’s how a
ceded it, Frank’s tutting members hero should be; you really don’t know
personal reasons of the public. And whether to love or fear him. The Crim-
take him down how does he serve son Bolt will have to contend with the
a much darker route, fuelled more by his justice? Well instead of friendly likes of Captain America, Thor and the
revenge than the desire to do good. He spider-webbing as his defence, Frank return of the X-Men this year, but if
tows the line of being a hero and a bit wields a great, bloody wrench, clobber- we really want crime to shut up, there’s
of a lethal villain. ing his way through bones and dealing only one hero we should be calling.
While Kick-Ass was a self-pro- verbal blows like “Don’t deal drugs!”, Super is out now in America, release date
claimed geek who wanted to do justice “Don’t molest kids!” and his catch- TBC in the UK

FILM SUMMER RELEASES
It’s all a
question of
timing.
Summer releases.
WORDS MARTIN ROBERTS
I f you’ve taken the time to look ahead

to this year’s release schedule, you
may have noticed that it’s cluttered,
fixture congestion detrimental to these
expensive projects? History proves
that it is.
of factors can affect results, and that’s
why it’s extremely risky for Marvel
to launch two new franchises in this
practically bursting at the seams, with Let’s start with the latest wave of period; they are needlessly compet-
blockbusters. This is particularly the comic book (and graphic novel) films, ing against themselves for audience
case over summer – a situation we which even by modern standards, is approval. Throw in X-Men and they’re
have long been used to – but through- quite astonishing. We’ve already had dividing their own audience three
out the year as well. There have been The Green Hornet. Next we’re get- ways; it’s difficult to imagine a scenario
years with clusters like this in the ting Thor, Priest, X-Men: First Class, where all three go on to be huge box of-
past, but has there been a year quite Green Lantern, Captain America: The fice successes. Thor, primarily by virtue
so loaded (or should that be ‘overload- First Avenger and Cowboys And Aliens. of being out first, has a good chance
ed’?) with big-hitters? Those films are all released with three of doing good business, although
A quick look back at the box of- months of each other. The world-weary internet reaction to the trailers that
fice figures for 2011 so far shows that public would have to cumulatively shell have been released has been relatively
The Green Hornet is currently leading out well over half a billion dollars sim- muted. Captain America and X-Men,
the way with Rango just behind it. ply to recoup their combined budgets. meanwhile, have garnered more criti-
That may have changed in the interim You may have noticed that three cal attention, but may yet suffer from a
period between writing and publish- of those films come from Marvel. All loss of faith in the studio if Thor turns
ing. Battle: LA is in there too. So there are risky in their own ways – risks out to be pants. Cap, meanwhile, will
have been big(ish) releases already, but compounded massively by their tight have to deal with a possible backlash
it’s from April/May that things really scheduling. Firstly, Thor and Captain against its title – audiences expecting
begin to pick up, when Marvel releases America are both untried franchises a patriotic, all-American orgy may be
its first effort of the year, Thor. And in the current climate and history put off – indeed, Marvel is releasing
so begins a flow of huge flicks aiming repeatedly tells us that some IPs just the film simply as The First Avenger in
to dominate a thoroughly crowded don’t capture the audience’s imagina- some territories to avoid exactly this
market. The thing is, some of these tion in the same way that others do. Be type of reaction. And it’s not as if First
films will flop, or at least fail to sat- it because of the times, or perhaps the Class is going to have it easy, either.
isfy their studios’ expectations – so is film’s artistic direction; any number Granted, they’ve put together an
FILM SUMMER RELEASES
impressive cast and crew, but, as with which is bound to make money. Sure, to The Thing, Hugh Jackman in Real
The Amazing Spider-Man next year, it looks like it’s retreading a significant Steel, Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three
time will tell if people are ready to dive amount of old ground (irrespective of Musketeers reboot, Shrek spin-off Puss
back into a franchise they’ve already so replacing some of the cast members), In Boots, Tarsem Singh’s intriguing
recently been invested in. but it seems almost impossible for it Immortals project, Happy Feet 2, the be-
Whether Priest and Cowboys And not to be a hit. The same cannot quite hemoth that it’s likely to be, Twilight:
Aliens get a look in depends largely be said of Transformers: Dark Of The Breaking Dawn: Part One, Scorsese’s
on how well the others do. Priest will Moon, coming off much-anticipated
compete pretty much directly with the back of ter- epic Hugo Cabret,
Thor – it comes out a couple of weeks rible press for its Mission: Impossi-
after and will probably lose that battle
– while Cowboys And Aliens is unfor-
predecessor, but
will surely, per- WHATEVER HAPPENS, IT’LL ble: Ghost Protocol,
Sherlock Holmes: A
tunately placed towards the back end
of the summer schedule, languishing
in August after countless big releases
haps inevitably,
pack screens out.
There are also
BE INTERESTING TO SEE Game of Shadows,
the US remake of
The Girl With the
– and not just comic book projects.
Things are also looking shaky for DC’s
a few big anima-
tions arriving in
WHAT THAT BOX OFFICE Dragon Tattoo, The
Adventures of Tin-
big-budget spanner-in-the-works
Green Lantern, a Ryan Reynolds-lead
the summer pe-
riod to steal some TOP TEN LOOKS LIKE COME tin: Secret of the
Unicorn and, gasp,
sci-fi actioner which, like Thor, has not
received overwhelming support from
fans. So that’s your comic book line-up
of those precious
audience seats
away. Cars 2 and
DECEMBER 31ST. Spielberg’s War
Horse. And that’s
without mention-
this year: Marvel will duke it out with Kung-Fu Panda 2 ing large-scale
themselves in an effort to establish are obviously the comedies like The
new franchises before The Avengers hits biggest, followed by the likes of Winnie Hangover 2 or horrors like Don’t Be
next year (which could turn out to be The Pooh and The Smurfs. The first two, Afraid Of The Dark and Scream 4.
a bad move if Thor or Captain America in particular, will be big successes. It’s There are going to be disappointed
bomb), while DC will weigh in with true that animated films tend to draw studios this summer, that much seems
an effort of their own and a couple out different audiences – more families certain. Sure, that happens every year,
of young pretenders will hope to tear and kids – but there is also a signifi- but the sheer volume of expensive
audiences away from the big guns. cant crossover audience that could be projects all competing for seats in such
But that’s not even half the story. drawn away from the live-action flicks compact spans of time – in particular
There are some other little franchise or, conversely, kept away from the over the summer – is going to be very
installments – and some new bloods – animated features. interesting to watch for the remainder
waiting in the wings to rain on every- It’s all about competition for seats of 2011.
one’s parade. Slap bang in the middle and screens in the world of cinema. It will be hard work for theatres
of everything is J.J. Abrams’ much- When films fail to perform right off to keep up with the times – they will
hyped Super 8, a Spielberg-produced the bat, ruthless picture houses and need to judge the zeitgeist, see what is
monster movie that received a positive cinemas will strike them off the bill- working and what is not, and sched-
response when the trailer was finally ing, cut the number of screens they’re ule accordingly. But overall, they’ll be
released, and looks set to do big things. shown on and relegate showings to foaming at the mouth at the prospect
There are also potentials in ranks such trickier times such as early mornings of all these big releases.
as The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and late nights. With the schedule Will there be room amidst all this
and Conan 3D; nobody expects big so crowded this year, competition is big-budget opulence for indie-hits and
things of either but they might just going to come thick and fast – box smaller scale successes? We can only
spring a surprise or two. office charts are going to jump around hope so. Hopefully in May, a signifi-
Franchise heavyweights include like crazy and there are sure to be big cant number of people will turn out
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: losers. Zack Snyder’s CGI-fest Sucker to see Terence Malick’s latest, Tree Of
Part Two which has every chance of be- Punch, at time of going to press, seems Life, though we imagine it’ll be on lim-
ing the biggest of the lot. Part One was set to do disappointing business, while ited release, and everybody’ll be watch-
the tenth highest-grossing film of 2010 Mars Needs Moms is proving another ing Chris Hemsworth hit robots with a
and you’d get pretty long odds betting massive flop. hammer anyway. Still, we can dream.
on its sequel not to at least match it in Towards the end of the year you’d Whatever happens, it’ll be inter-
2011. Then we come to Pirates Of The think there’d be a let up, but in fact esting to see what that box office top
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a fourth the big releases just keep coming. ten looks like come December 31st.
film in the giant box-office franchise Spy Kids 4, that long-delayed prequel And then there’s 2012...

FILM ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
interview with
Mitch Hurwitz
& Will Arnett
creator and star of Arrested Development
words by Natasha Peach

I f you speak to television junkies,

never mind comedy fans, what their
favourite shows is, odds are Arrested
FTF: Do you spend much time in
Canada anymore, or are you a full-time
American now?
started playing that song. I was with
my dad and I looked up and there I was
on the big screen. I was kind of embar-
Development will place pretty high in WA: I guess I don’t spend much time in rassed so I didn’t tell him because he
their top five or ten. Canada anymore. I moved down when would have gone crazy. That song just
About a formerly wealthy family I was 20 because there was more for makes me so self-aware; I don’t own it
held together by Michael Bluth when work and to attend the Lee Strasburg in any form, so I never play it, or try to
his father, George, is imprisoned for Institute. That’s what I had to do if I attract attention to myself!
‘creative accounting’, the show only wanted to be an actor. Now we’re years FTF: I’d love it if you were driving,
ran for three seasons before it was canon and I have a family in tow; we live the song came on, and you tried to
celled by Fox, but it’s since amassed a in New York, that’s just the way it is. perform magic tricks from behind the
feverish cult following and kickstarted My mum and dad still live in Toronto wheel… do you like magic yourself?
the careers of Michael Cera and Jason though. WA: [laughs] I do like magic… al-
Bateman, further playing host to the I was actually just up there for though I can’t perform it!
likes of Will Arnett, Tony Hale and Christmas; I hadn’t been back in years
David Cross. and it had changed quite a bit. It was FTF: Do you have experience with dys-
When the opportunity arose to nice though, and despite moving away functionality in your family that you
sit down with creator Mitch Hurwitz I am still a really big hockey fan. It’s drew on for your character?
and aforementioned star Will Arnett, great being a Canadian in America as WA: Well, not really. I mean there is
it’s therefore fair to say we jumped at well because the world that we live in, dysfunction in every family right?
the chance, and one crisp morning in I can watch it at home in the States ‘Dysfunction is the function!’ There
Soho, with four coffees downed just whenever I want, and I do watch every are things though; there are things
before stepping into a room with each Toronto hockey game. that my parents, and especially my
of them, considered ourselves readily siblings, do that I might have drawn
prepared, and pretty darned excited, FTF: Moving on to the topic at hand; from. Mainly the character of Gob
for 30 minutes with two of the most for your character in Arrested Develop- was always based on Mitch Hurwitz,
influential men in US comedy. ment, Gob, did you make the chicken and who he is. Only joking! Write that
Will was up first, and it was a dance up? down though, he will be horrified!
baptism of fire despite leaving it a little WA: [laughs] No, the chicken dance
while before discussing the real topic was actually a very specific bit by FTF: When all the rifts started appear-
at hand… Mitch [Hurwitz] and Jim Valley, ing with Fox and there was the loom-
penned in the writer’s room, then they ing threat of cancellation, did it affect
FAN THE FIRE: Have you ever wanted came down and pitched about what it you and the rest of the cast?
to play someone more dramatic like could be. We were actually just talking WA: Yeah, definitely. You know, there
the role you had on The Sopranos? about it today at lunch; I have a very is that point when it’s kind of depress-
WILL ARNETT: What a terrible first distinct memory of Mitch and Jimmy ing that you are constantly living with
question! I’m kidding. Up to that point coming onto the stage at Fox and say- the axe swinging over your head just
I was taking whatever work I could ing; “this is what this bit is supposed waiting for it to drop. It starts to fuel
get really, and I when I got out drama to be,” and then Jimmy and Mitch did the work, and I know that it fuelled the
school I wanted to be taken more seri- this kind of dance, and I kind of took writing. It was an interesting time, it
ously. I guess I never really considered that and ran with it, pretty much made just felt like there was a kind of screen
having a career in comedy, but then it more aggressive but less ridiculous of animosity between two sides; it was
when I was 30 I had an audition for to look at than the two of them trying very strange and very sad.
Arrested Development and I knew that to do it. Then it sort of became an on-
it was right for me. set joke and manifested into everyone FTF: Did you enjoy working with Da-
FTF: Would you ever like to get back having his or her own dance. vid Cross again on Running Wilde?
into more serious roles again? WA: We’ve actually been doing two
WA: I think that comedy is what inter- FTF: Another of Gob’s trademarks is shows simultaneously. There’s a show
ests me more, but I am very open to the song Final Countdown song for his here called The Increasingly Poor Deci-
doing some more dramatic stuff. I had magic tricks, do you still react now sions of Todd Margaret and Mitch, Jim
a small role in Jonah Hex which came when you hear it? Valley and I wrote Running Wilde;
out last year, and while the film wasn’t WA: I always look around to see if David worked with us on both. That
as successful as we wanted to be, it was anyone is filming, trying to trick me [Running Wilde] was great, although it
nice to do something a little bit differ- into my Gob alter-ego. Once while I appears to be finished now because it
ent from what I had been doing for the was home visiting family I went to never really found its audience. It took
last 10 years. a hockey game in Toronto and they us a while to find what the show ➸
was, and without a huge ratings hit out

of the box, we just ran out of time.
FTF: It didn’t have the same kind of
following Arrested Development found?
WA: No, certainly not the following
“Then he immediately
started getting death
AD had, but it was definitely starting
to generate a something, and then we
were told that it was ‘too little, too
late’. Bummer.
threats...”
FTF: Do your children recognise your
voice in your animation work like De-
spicable Me or Monsters Vs. Aliens?
WA: They’re too little still for those takes me seriously! lot of other factors to click too, like
movies really but every once in a while Me: We do! What do you think about timing and allowing an audience to
they’ve seen stuff that my wife and I this years Prada collection? find you; it’s just unfortunate that they
have been in. We actually happened to MH: I think it’s so bold. I think that is didn’t find us at the time.
be watching TV the other night where exactly what the UK needs. Perfect! College campuses and a lot of
my wife was presenting an award. I was FTF: This is a great start, this is actu- young people did, but they weren’t
watching with our son and he was yell- ally only my second ever interview, counted, so I always found myself
ing at the screen, “Mama! Come here!” Gob, sorry Will, was my first. saying anecdotally to the networks,
We don’t watch ourselves very often so MH: [laughs] You know almost the “Young people are watching! They real-
it was really funny. We don’t just plonk entire time Arrested Development was ly are! The actors are being stopped on
him in front of the television and say running everyone called him Gob, the street and, as vain as this sounds,
‘”Look! There we are!’, it just happened Will’s called Gob, even on my speed we have something great here!”
to be on in the kitchen. dial. Please, though, carry on
FTF: What is it like working with your FTF: Fox didn’t think much of Arrested
wife? FTF: You’ve worked on such a wide Development despite numerous awards
WA: Great, we always have a great variety of TV shows, are there any and a big cult following, what did this
time, it’s not something we do all that you particularly hold dear to your do the atmosphere on-set?
the time though. We have done a few heart? MH: We always had to remind our-
things together, and we enjoy it, but MH: Perhaps obviously, but, Arrested selves not to believe the press, because
we try to plan not to do it too much, Development is closest to my heart. It the press was saying it was a very
just because you don’t want it to be too represented a period of creative risk ‘smart show’, and in a way, I think that
incestuous. When it happens though, taking and finally allowed me to be in a was what really kept audiences away.
we get to spend a lot of time together, position to maintain a vision and grow I think they meant in the best sort of
which is really nice, like on Blades Of a series from what a lot of the actors way – what they meant was that it was
Glory where we had an amazing time. were going through. I feel like we all funny, and it makes you laugh – but it
had a great, though a little challenging, looked like hard work to an audience.
N ext up was Mitch, although it

ended up being a double-play
with his wife joining us, and what a
experience. A lot of exec.’s would roll
their eyes about it but I don’t think the
actors would ever think anything but
So when we would get awards or were
nominated for something we would
have to say to ourselves, ‘just tune it
lovely lady she was too... what a privilege it was to put it all to- out, and make an effort to keep doing
gether, even when we were getting low what we were doing.’
FTF: Hi, I’m Natasha ratings and they took us off of the air. Fox had a kind of funny identity
MITCH HURWITZ: Hi, I’m Mitch, do It might have sounded a little disin- at that time too, in that they really
you mind me asking who you write genuous when they cancelled the show hadn’t been too successful with live-
for? and I talked about how grateful I was action comedy. You’d be hard-pressed
FTF: I’m from FAN THE FIRE, we for the experience but I really, really to find real people in a comedy that
cover film, TV, design, art and fashion; was. I did feel really great at the end of worked, and though they had a series
that kind of stuff. the day, and we had a lot of fun. called That 70’s Show which was kind
MH: Great! Can we talk about fash- It’s a lot of money to make these of successful, it didn’t really have an
ion...? things, and they did allow me, albeit identity. Fox wasn’t really a destina-
Me: OK! Let’s talk about fashion... sometimes reluctantly, to pursue a vi- tion for people who would like a show
MH: I really want to focus this inter- sion, and typically that’s the stuff that like Arrested Development, I think
view on fashion. God– no one ever tends to end up working. You need a many people didn’t find it at the time
because it wouldn’t have occurred to wrote for a particular actor. He was so they liked each other.
them to watch a show after some car- wonderfully awkward.
toons like The Simpsons or Family Guy. I remember pitching that charac- [At this point I was told that I only had
Even though they’re both amazing, the ter to Fox and thinking that he didn’t one question left, when Mitch proclaimed
audiences are just a bit different. really feel like a Fox kid. At that time over the top of everyone; “Thin belts! I
At another time or on another everything was still all about being think thin belts are what will be big this
network it might have been more suc- cool. They wanted a sort of hip, heart- season. I also think that people are going
cessful, but you never really know. It throb kind of character. Ironically now to start finally wearing jewellery on their
does seem though that at that time that kind of kid is the heartthrob now. penny loafers!” I told him to look down
NBC and others like them were taking Now all of a sudden, there are people and on my shoe was a gold cat with emer-
risks by showing things like Seinfeld, like Jonah Hill that are heart throbs! ald eyes adorned with little diamonds. So
and people who liked that sort of adult Geeks are cool! Fox said, “Well... he’s he grabbed my foot to get a better look,
comedy were used to going to NBC. really not going to be very cool,” but I but I forged on, and despite not getting
FTF: Were you pitching it elsewhere or was thinking the whole time, ”Yeah I the chance to ask who he thought was the
just to Fox? know! That’s the point!”, they asked, better actor; Will Arnett or his wife Amy
MH: Well, we pitched it everywhere “Well what’s funny about him?” and I Poehler, I did sneak in something about
really. We told the concept to all of the just said, “Nothing,” but it was hard to the much talked about film adaptation]
major networks in the States, ABC, explain why that is funny.
NBC, CBS, and the newcomer, which For the rest of the casting process FTF: How will the Arrested Develop-
was Fox. I was making it through we only had three weeks, which was ment movie differ given that you won’t
Imagine Television, which was Ron never going to happen. I remember have the same sort of censoring?
Howard’s company, and they had a when Jason Bateman came in, and I MH: Well it’s funny, I mean I always
financial arrangement with Twentieth really didn’t want him to come in; he liked the censoring. It was funnier in
Century Fox, the production company. was a sort of teen idol and I had this the absence of it bad language, almost
So in a way it was kind of predeter- kind of pre-judgement; of course he like a silent beat in music, just fun-
mined that we’d go to Fox because the was wonderful, and we wanted him on nier to fill it in. There was a joke that
owner of the person making it was board immediately. we were playing with for a little while
also the owner of the network. When Gob was the character we couldn’t where the family has just promised to
another broadcasting company wanted cast; we really couldn’t find anyone. not use any bad language, so it would
the show, Fox wanted it too, and we We had his character already written, just be a really clean, which we thought
went with Fox. Nonetheless it could with a long back-story, and I was so would make for some pretty funny
have been cancelled after an hour on surprised no-one heard Gob the way happenings. I think it will be shot in
NBC, you never know, and we lasted I heard him. Everyone kind of though the same way, but we have some pretty
54 episodes on Fox, and they support- of him as this New York cool guy with great ideas to make it fresh. Of course,
ed it. I think, though, if we did it again a swagger, like really street, but I just we need money to make the film, and
today, we would probably just say that kept saying, “No, he’s a country club in the absence of Arrested Development
we should take this to cable. kinda guy. He is entitled.” Finally Will we have all been doing other work to
came in – actually after Fox threatened earn a living, but now we are all finally
FTF: When you started writing Ar- us with cancellation as we couldn’t find in a place to really work on the project.
rested Development did you already Lucia or Gob – and within a second I We were actually kind of faking it
have the first season scripted or did it knew he was it. He saved the day. that Michael wasn’t interested because
develop during casting and as the char- of his fame; we thought it would be
acters developed into their roles? FTF: How did you get the all of the ac- funny to make sweet little Cera the
MH: No, it all came in casting. I had tors to work so well together? bad guy. Then he immediately started
the character Tobias as Jeffrey Tambor MH: We did one or two table reads getting death threats, so we had to
for a while, and a friend said to me beforehand and I had been through retract that... it was still pretty funny
that it was very depressing; “If they are enough pilots already to articulate to though! Particularly because he is such
all in their 50s, it’s really depressing.“ them that we had to ‘fake it to make it.’ a good guy, I mean he is so talented.
I kinda just thought they’d all be in I told them that they would get fired He still looks like a teenager too, which
their 50s! I was a big fan of The Larry if it didn’t work, not by me of course, is good; I am so happy he is a bit of a
Sanders Show at the time, which is very but we needed to show that we could heartthrob now, as he is such a kind,
adult and everyone is 40. I didn’t really do this. I told them to just jump ahead sincere guy. He is Canadian too, which
have a cast in mind either, except for like it was their 100th rehearsal and is a plus, they aren’t as self-centred
Michael Cera; I had seen him in a pilot really go for it. And they did. It was so and are so polite!
and thought he was incredible so he successful. I think though what the Arrested Development re-runs air every
was the only character that I sort of helped most was the simple fact that Tuesday night on FX
FILM SUCKER PUNCH
interview with
Emily
Browning &
Abbie Cornish
stars of Sucker Punch
words by Sam Bathe

FILM SUCKER PUNCH
L eading a largely all-female cast

in Zack Snyder’s action-fantasy
Sucker Punch, Emily Browning and
screen. It really is a testament to Zack
that he got Sucker Punch all the way
from his mind onto film.
darkness that they’re able to tap into;
just as humans we have that side to
us. I just spent a lot of time thinking
Abbie Cornish had both the pressure FTF: What did you like about Sweet about the character and imagining her
and excitement of fronting an unusual Pea? back story and there’s where it came
spectacle on the Hollywood horizon. AC: I just felt that there were so many from for me; I think you get a pretty
But with such a visionary filmmaker layers to her; I was interested in the clear idea in the montage at the begin-
at the helm and audacious project to idea of someone living in those con- ning of the film that Baby Doll’s home
put on-screen, we caught up with the fines; within an imprisonment that life had not been the most pleasant.
film’s leading stars to re-cap probably was placed upon her by the outside
the most exciting project each have world, and what that did to her as a FTF: Is there an actress or character in
worked on to date. human being, as a woman. She had action movies that you drew further
learnt to live by the book, squashed all inspiration from?
FAN THE FIRE: How did you get of the sensitivities of the inner child, AC: My female action hero was my
involved in the film? Was the audition all of the vibrancies of who she is, mum, she was Australian national
process difficult or challenging? deep, deep down inside, and locked it karate champion when I was about 9
EMILY BROWNING: I think it started away so no-one could get to it, no-one years old, full contact champion. It was
out the same way for all of us; we all could harm it. She took on the role of pretty amazing.
put down the same monologue of the protector, the survivor, particu- EB: My mum wasn’t a karate champion
Sweet Pea’s. Then after that, for me, I larly having a sister like Rocket who’s [laughs] but I feel like I have a similar
was called in to meet with Zack, who so wild and free, she really is Rocket’s relationship. She was my main female
was great, and I read the script before reigns. To play and explore that, and role model, and similarly in a physi-
that, which I loved. I thought it was the journey of Sweet Pea releasing and cal way; my mum played basketball
amazing to see such a strong, well- opening up, the journey back to find her whole life and she was a personal
written action film with almost an that place deep down inside and bring trainer for a long time. Every time I
entirely female cast; something you everything back again, was amazing. bring a boy home she wants to arm
very rarely see. Then a couple of weeks wrestle them, and she usually wins, so
later Zack asked me to put myself on FTF: Where did you find the motiva- it was a similar kind of thing for me
tape again, this time reading as Baby tion for your roles and did playing such I suppose. In terms of cinema, defi-
Doll and he wanted me to sing for him a dark and layered character take its nitely there are some very cool female
too. That aspect of it was certainly toll when you were off-set? characters in the Kill Bill movies; I
challenging. AC: I was constantly thinking and think Uma Thurman’s character is just
FTF: Did you worry that you were not processing, not just about the film, amazing, and also the schoolgirl with
going to get the part? but about the relationships, about the pigtails, the Japanese schoolgirl.
EB: Absolutely! I’ve never sung before the metaphors, about the symbolism, The actress is also in Battle Royale, so
in my life, but I wanted this role so about this character; I kind of danced especially in terms of inspiring the
badly, and I love Zack so much, so I a fine line for a little while, between Baby Doll character, she has that same
agreed to do it. I went into my agent’s those things that were inside of her, school girl kind of look, but also is just
office, locked myself in a room and did and then this tough outer shell. I a very stoic, tough character, though
maybe 20 takes before finally telling didn’t know whether to try and em- obviously baby doll is the good guy.
my agent, “you pick it, I can’t even look body it all within the whole film or to
at which one we’re going to send him.” have faith in the book-ends of the film, FTF: What did you make of the film
Then I didn’t sleep for about three days and let Sweet Pea be a dimensional when you first saw it?
until we heard back. character that you see different sides EB: I loved it; completely blown away.
ABBIE CORNISH: I did the same ini- of in different worlds. But certainly, AC: For me it kind of evoked even
tial audition that everyone did, which it was hard to play a role that tough more thought and I’m more and more
was with the Sweet Pea monologue, every single day, and sometimes I becoming fascinated by the bookends
so when I got called back in to actu- would get home and all I wanted to do in the film. I’m kind of fascinated by
ally audition for Sweet Pea I was really was snuggle up, cuddle and be sensi- the symbolism, and every time I watch
excited. I read the script in between tive. It was an interesting thing for me it I see more detail, which is interest-
those two auditions on the Warner because I was playing a character that’s ing because after having worked on it
Bros. lot and was beside myself; I hard on the outside, who’s tough, who for seven months, and talking about it
couldn’t believe someone had come has to drive decisions, who has to look for seven months, to actually watch it,
up with this film, had developed this after her sister, and there is no relief sometimes it takes a while to under-
concept in their mind and managed to for her from that. stand and uncover the film’s subtleties.
transfer it to the paper, let alone to the EB: I think everybody has a certain Sucker Punch is out now
FILM THE EAGLE
interview with
Channing Ta-
tum, Jamie
Bell & Kevin
MacDonald
director and cast of The Eagle
words by Andrew Simpson

FILM THE EAGLE
C hanning Tatum is taking a step

into serious leading man terri-
tory. Known up to now for Step Up
and G.I. Joe, Tatum this year arrives “The guys were
with The Eagle, a historical adventure
taking us into the wilds of Scotland
during the Roman Empire’s dominion
only wearing period
costume most of the
over Britain. It’s an altogether harsher,
more dramatic experience than we’re
used to from him, but Tatum seems re-
laxed with the demands of an arduous
shoot in the Scottish Highlands, breez- time. It was hardly
ily recounting an unfortunate accident
on set as he slips into a London hotel
to talk about a film that may well give
Gore-Tex.”
him a new level of credibility.
“They tried to keep us warm,”
Tatum recalls when discussing how and blossoming friendship across soci- driven to make a gory spectacle.”
hot water would be poured into their etal and class divides. Of the cuts, he says, “I’m glad that
clothes to stave off the cold on-set. Kevin MacDonald (The Last King the film is 12A here, and that is the
“This poor guy was running up and Of Scotland) came to make the film director’s cut. It was rated a hard R
down a hill that was about ten min- as a fan; “I read the books when I was in America, and the studio wanted
utes out of where we were shooting. eleven or twelve and they had a big a PG-13, so we had to make a few.”
He forgot to dilute the boiling water impact on me. I grew up in Scotland, MacDonald elaborates; “They’re very
with river water one time, and once it’s and I couldn’t imagine there being any literal in America. You’re allowed blood
poured down you pull your suit away Romans there, so it captured my imag- on the ground but not in the air,” to
from your body and it just keeps going ination. Then I heard 25 years later which Channing responds, “I’m sorry!”
lower. I had no skin anywhere down that Duncan [Kenworthy, producer] in a voice of mock-apology. The spirit
there to speak of. But we’re good now; had the rights.” His stars, though, had of the team seems unusually good,
it’s pretty regenerative!” some catching up to do. “It was my fa- and MacDonald in the end dismisses
If that seems like an unusually vourite subject in school,” says Tatum, any controversy over the film’s gore, “I
jovial way to recount a pretty gruelling explaining his attraction to the part, think that it’s striving to be historical,
experience, then it is in keeping with “I think because of the stories and the and to put these men’s lives into some
the tone of the conversation. Jamie characters, Gladiator and Braveheart sort of context. In doing that you have
Bell, Tatum’s co-star, is also on hand to were my favourite films. But Kevin was to have a certain amount of horror to
discuss a long, cold shoot. Despite the great. He comes from the documentary show the danger they’re in.”
travails it seems they had a whale of a world, and he inundated me with a lot It was a tough experience, but one
time. “It was childish stuff,” says Bell, of material that I could sink myself that was aided along by a spirit of fun,
grinning ear to ear. “We got to ride into.” as well as an element of competition.
around and throw swords and spears Bell came to the film from a dif- “We’re both competitive with each
on horseback. It was really good fun.” ferent perspective; “I was completely other, and we really pushed each other
The story of The Eagle, even if unaware of the novel, and it was really through some of the harder scenes,”
it takes in some serious themes of the screenplay that I read a long, long says Bell. “You know; who’s got the
honour, reads like the perfect boy’s time ago. After I had met Kevin I then fastest horse, who’s got the best fight
own adventure. Based on Rosemary went and read the novel, which is obvi- scene, who can stay in the river for lon-
Sutcliff’s much-loved The Eagle Of ously a fantastic journey of the same ger!” Tatum agrees . “Jamie and I got
The Ninth, it sees Tatum play Mar- characters.” along so well right off the bat. We had
cus Aquila, a young centurion who The result is a surprisingly physi- to make sure we reminded each other
travels north of Hadrian’s Wall in AD cal adventure story, and one that has of it because we never really laugh
140 to recover the eponymous Eagle, gotten into some trouble with Ameri- until the very last scene, but we were
the standard of his father’s regiment can censors. “We agreed that the film laughing all the time [on-set]. It’s just
which disappeared more than twenty would tell us what the rating should a close-knit family and you go through
years before. Joined by Bell as Esca, be,” Kenworthy explains. “You can’t hell together. I really think that’s what
the slave on whom he relies to pass un- have a film on battle and warfare Jamie and I did.”
noticed amongst the Gaelic speaking without having some violence, but we MacDonald agrees about the ardu-
tribes, it is a tale of an arduous journey weren’t making it because we were ousness of the shoot. “A lot of ➸
FILM THE EAGLE
the shooting was in quite remote that they could definitely take care of Unpleasantness of a different
locations, particularly in the villages themselves. But obviously Channing is kind occurred during a scene in which
up in the Northwest. You had to walk very big, and his character is a trained, Esca, accustomed to the necessities of
quite a long way, it was so windy and formal fighter. We wanted to differen- surviving in the wild, forces Marcus
there was a terrible a patch of weather tiate Esca as a feral, wiry, instinctual to eat a dead rat. “I still don’t know
just before we started shooting. The fighter. We did that in rehearsal.” what they gave us to eat, do you know
guys were only wearing period cos- Tatum, meanwhile, practised Channing?” says Bell, with Tatum
tume most of the time. It was hardly relentlessly with weapons in the lead laughing, shaking his head. “They said
Gore-Tex.” Tatum nods in agreement. up to the shoot. “My first training was it was the gelatin that holds together
“Even if they’d told me it was the probably in the backyard swinging Haribo treats. Bullsh*t!” MacDonald
coldest thing you’ll ever go through around sticks, and I have had training pipes up at this point; “Let’s break
in your life, I still don’t think I would before with martial arts. But you’ve out the rats!” he says gleefully. Tatum
have understood until the second day. got to be really careful. You want to glances at him, amused. “He decided to
You’re soaked all the way through, and make it look like it’s an extension of do a few extra takes because I think he
outside for thirteen hours like that. We you, just a part of you that you’ve was enjoying it so thoroughly. We were
couldn’t get trailers out, and we would trained over and over again.” Portray- literally retching!”
hike in for twenty or thirty minutes. ing a fearless centurion decorated for It is in these scenes that The Eagle
Kevin was carrying cameras and reels bravery, his determination also ex- manages to separate itself from the
out to the set.” If the film’s producers tended to stunt work. “We did almost pack, by acknowledging the harsher
had asked why only Rob Roy had really all the stunts except for the river realities of a warrior’s world. This
shot on location, here was why. scene,” he says, talking about a se- extends to the near total absence of
An often spectacular battle with quence in which Marcus and Esca swim women. “I don’t think it’s ever refresh-
the terrain, The Eagle is a physical, down a dangerous river canyon. “They ing not having women around,” says
CGI-light affair. Bell at least was partly wouldn’t let us go down the rapids be- Tatum, “but I thought it was really
prepared, having had a similar expe- cause it had been raining for a month smart to make the decision to really
rience when making Defiance with straight. The river had risen three feet, stay with these two, and not feel the
Daniel Craig. “The next time I make so it was too dangerous.” You can sense need to fall into the stereotype of
a film and it’s comfortable, that will the disappointment in his voice. needing to have a love story. They re-
be uncomfortable,” he grins. Indeed, Bell seems to agree about the ally just focus on the friendship.” Bell
while the plot becomes increasingly toughness of the stunts, although the agrees, “I don’t know how you bring
silly, the thing that keeps it compelling seriousness doesn’t last for long; “I that convention into the film without
is the convincing physical journey of think when you’ve got your fellow ac- it becoming convoluted. But there was
the two leads. “The physical nature of tors incredibly game for doing a stunt,” a serious lack of women around; way
getting it done was part of the strug- he begins, “and obviously very compe- too much testosterone!”
gle,” says Bell. “In the story, it’s their tent at doing it, it requires you to really Bell was filming Steven Spiel-
endurance and stamina that gets them step up.” Channing instantly guffaws berg’s motion-captured adaptation
through it. I don’t think we had the at Bell’s use of a film title that might be Tintin shortly before making The
same endurance and stamina. There coming back to haunt him now he’s in Eagle. “They’re two completely op-
were moments when we had to keep the serious acting world. Bell protests, posite things. One is technology, one
each other going.” “that really wasn’t intentional at all! is nature,” he says. “You would think
It was not just the landscape You can’t pussy out on them, you’ve that one would be more freeing then
that needed conquering. “I think we gotta step up to it!” The whole table the other, being in nature and having
got very lucky, because we’re very breaks into fits of laughter. that physical environment, which did
good physically,” says Bell, discussing Not all of the shoot was such fun, inform the performance, but I find
the training that went into the roles. though. Of shooting a scene in which that motion capture allows you to ‘fill
“We both have physical backgrounds, Tatum holds nemesis the Seal Prince in the blanks.’ It is a space which is
predominantly in dance, and you can (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet) underwater, inventive and it becomes much more
compare that to things like sword he says, “It’s so cold that when your creative than you can imagine. It’s
fighting or even horse riding. I had head goes under all thought, all air strange to go off to the Highlands of
never ridden a horse before, which was goes out of you, and you are just in Scotland and actually interact with real
a big gamble, but I was very honest shock. He’s supposed to tap me when animals and real people. But it’s funny,
about that. A lot of actors lie, but I he’s ready for me to pull him up, but it works against the way you think.”
learned from scratch.” Bell’s train- he didn’t.” Rahim was unharmed (he It’s an appropriate final note about a
ing, though, was very different from is sitting next to Tatum as he recounts film, and its stars, that impress in ways
Tatum’s. “I tried to bulk up a little bit, the story) but it underlines the risks of you don’t expect.
as we wanted these characters to feel making such a film. The Eagle is out now
FILM REVIEWS
MARS NEEDS
(Joan Cusack) that his life would be There’s a similar problem with Ki, a
better if she were not around. Later friendly Martian who aids our heroes;
he comes to regret this outburst, but besides the fact that her motives for
is denied his opportunity to apologise helping our heroes are paper thin, her
MOMS
DIRECTED BY SIMON WELLS STARRING SETH GREEN, TOM
when aliens from Mars descend in
the night and take his mother away in
order to steal her parenting abilities to
raise their own Martian young.
The story is obviously hogwash,
main character trait – that she learned
about humanity from videos from the
60s – is never well exploited. At least
visually, with her smiling face, she is
easy to like.
EVERETT SCOTT, JOAN CUSACK, ELISABETH HARNOIS, DAN (particularly given some of the later The overall design of the picture
developments) but makes for a decent is pleasant enough but derivative of
FOGLER, DEE BRADLEY BAKER & MINDY STERLING enough parable about loving one’s countless other sci-fi pics and chil-
RELEASED OUT NOW (USA) APRIL 8 (UK) mother that does manage to evoke one
or two endearing moments. Problem
dren’s animations. The 3D, though, is
a non-event. It’s a shame the film’s art
Mars Needs Moms is the final produc- is, the story feels decidedly stretched design doesn’t reflect the same quality
tion from Robert Zemeckis’ Ima- at times, overly hurried at others, and as the motion-capture, which is gener-
geMovers Digital, which was a part of is frequently too eager to have our ally very good. The Martians them-
Disney but has now been closed down. protagonists fall down holes screaming selves are fairly standard tall, thin
Like many of the films produced there, (no doubt because this is a 3-D film). creations with big heads. Their city
it is computer animated and uses the Milo is a likable protagonist, is the kind of clean white metropolis
motion capture technology that Ze- brought to life through some fairly we’ve seen before in better films.
meckis has championed for some time. impressive motion capture work, but With some weird gender politics
Unfortunately, as a send off to the the supporting cast are a mixed bag. thrown in for good measure, Mars
production house, this family-friendly Gribble, the hyperactive boy-trapped- Needs Moms is a decidedly average
feature is mostly forgettable fare. in-a-man’s-body who serves as Milo’s children’s animation. Perhaps add a
We follow nine-year-old Milo sidekick, dangerously risks making us third star for the really young ones,
(voiced by Seth Dusky but, a little bi- hate him before we’re given a chance but most kids (and any accompanying
zarrely, performed by Seth Green, who to discover his importance. Dan Fogler parents) will find this to be of a notice-
is approaching 40, perhaps as a way of plays him as a fast-talking man-child, ably lower standard than many of the
getting a bigger name on the posters) full of adolescent ‘attitude’, but is other children’s films that have been
a basically good kid who, in a classic disastrously unfunny at first. As time released recently. MR
childish sulk, professes to his mother goes by he becomes more bearable. ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
INSIDIOUS
ily haunted by not one, but several Exorcist, A Nightmare On Elm Street and
ghosts, Insidious perhaps inevitably even Ghostbusters along the way, mov-
shares a producer with Paranormal ing between the gothic, the surreal and
Activity. The latter was intermittently the comic to surprisingly good effect.
DIRECTED BY JAMES WAN STARRING PATRICK WILSON, frightening, as well as a reflection of Even the introduction of two nerdy
ROSE BYRNE, BARBARA HERSHEY, TY SIMPKINS, ANDREW attempts by most genres – and espe-
cially horror - to refresh themselves
supernatural experts doesn’t disrupt
proceedings too much, and Wan seems
ASTOR, LIN SHAYE, LEIGH WHANNELL & ANGUS SAMPSON in recent years by adopting the guise to revel in throwing a series of stylis-
of documentary realism. Last year’s tic jumps into the mix, undercutting
RELEASED APRIL 1 (USA) APRIL 29 (UK) second instalment saw the approach audience expectations whilst moving
Horror at its best is a reminder that showing signs of wear and tear, and into new territory. A suitable level of
we are scared by the simplest things. the prospect of that franchise meeting creepiness is meanwhile provided by
While the genre has often been at its Saw could scarcely be less appealing. ghostly widows, clownish murderers
most inventive revelling in excess – a Thankfully Insidious rejects the styles and clawed demons, aided by the pres-
fact to which the work of Dario Ar- of both in favour of a richer tone heav- ence of Barbara Hershey channelling
gento, David Cronenberg and George ily influenced by classic 1970s horror. more than a little of the eerie discon-
Romero amply attests – gore is gen- Using the creaky, picket fenced nect of her mother from Black Swan.
erally more concerned with shock houses instantly evocative of films like An over-reliance on the influence
than in the most primal terror, which The Amityville Horror, Insidious sees of other films has its drawbacks, and
languishes in what we can’t see rather the son of Patrick Wilson and Rose Insidious is not without its flaws. The
than what we can. Byrne fall into a mysterious coma after characters of Wilson and Byrne are
Our fear of the dark, which speaks suffering a seemingly innocuous fall. frustratingly hollow, and while the
to our most base, animalistic survival A series of strange visitations prompts former eventually assumes the film’s
instincts, won’t come as a surprise to the couple to move house, only for key role, his character remains mostly
anyone, fans of horror or not. What is the ghostly presences to follow, as it unemotional and puzzling. This final
more surprising, though, is that James transpires that it is actually the boy, act, in which he travels into a dark
Wan and Leigh Whannell seem to and not the walls, that are haunted. realm known as The Further, also sees
understand this as well. The double act Shifting from generic haunted house Insidious occasionally tip into camp,
behind the first Saw film, and produc- chiller to encompass a range of stylistic becoming more funhouse than haunt-
ers of that most schlocky of series influences, the result is like the movie ed house. But whilst Wan makes a few
thereafter, have a reputation for many equivalent of a ghost train, and while missteps along the way, and his film
things, but subtlety and restraint not remotely original it smacks of has nothing like the thematic power of
certainly isn’t one of them. But having something put together by people who the hundred other films that spawned
arguably contributed more than any- have both seen and understood the it, there remains one more trick up its
one to horror’s forgetting its own roots scares of a litany of horror films. sleeve guaranteed to chill your bones.
in recent years, they now return with Obviously owing a debt to Polter- It may be an essentially shallow ride,
Insidious – which Whannell wrote and geist, Insidious also borrows elements but it will make you scared of the dark
Wan directs – and have just revealed from Twin Peaks-era David Lynch, again. It is a strangely comforting to be
an unexpected, new side to their work. with dreams acting as gateways to the reminded of what that feels like. AS
The story of a suburban fam- supernatural, and includes nods to The ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
THE EXTRAOR-
flash with feisty energy. A director treatment of this iconic city owes
flirting with Hollywood might have much more to Amelie than Leon.
had her racing around some Dystopian At the opening, Besson is burst-
metropolis on a 15,000bhp motorbike, ing with energy and eager to tell his
DINARY ADVEN- or guiding a gang of time-travelling

pirates through Gary Oldman’s brain;
but Besson isn’t flirting anymore, he
story, but he isn’t really sure where to
begin. We follow a number of openly
irrelevant characters and catch snip-
TURES OF ADELE
isn’t even playing hard to get. pets of information on the doctor’s
Adele’s extraordinary adventures metaphysical powers and the raising
see her Raiding a Tomb™ so that she of the Pterodactyl, before zoning in
can enlist the help of a Pharoah’s on our heroine being lowered into the
BLANC-SEC
physician to cure her ailing sister. The Pharoah’s tomb. From here, Besson
physician’s death, a few thousand years never looks back. The long sequence in
ago, is a hurdle that might intimidate the tomb is pure Indiana Jones, with-
a lesser hero, but not Adele. She knows out even a hint of irony or a twist of
DIRECTED BY LUC BESSON STARRING LOUISE BOURGOIN, an ancient Parisian doctor who has originality, but it perfectly frames the
GILLES LELLOUCHE, JACKY NERCESSIAN, PHILIPPE NAHON, mastered the ability to bring creatures
back from the dead; but by the time
energetic nonsense and slapstick that
is to come.
JEAN-PAUL ROUVE, MATHIEU AMALRIC & NICOLAS GIRAUD she returns to Paris, the senile doctor Spielberg and Lucas knew what
has already bitten off more than he they needed to do with Indiana Jones;
RELEASED APRIL 22 (UK) TBC (USA) can chew bringing a pterodactyl back thread the story from one chase to the
Luc Besson, the mastermind behind to life. next as seamlessly as possible. It is a
Leon and The Fifth Element, has shed The rest of the film continues shallow and predictable technique,
his love for gritty action thrillers and in this farcical (and I don’t use that but it is undeniably entertaining when
created a peculiar and whimsical Gallic word negatively) mould, with big game done properly. That is what Besson
fairytale that will almost certainly, al- hunters and pompous detectives on did with The Fifth Element, and he has
most intentionally, not make it across Adele and the pterodactyl’s tail, across not lost this rousing and erratic ability
the Atlantic. The Extraordinary Adven- the Arrondissements of 1911 Paris. over the past decade.
tures Of Adele Blanc-Sec is a fluttering This film feels much closer to Jean Although most of the story takes
and magical romp through a Paris, Pierre Jeunet than Luc Besson; and in- place in Paris, it is a magical and surre-
filled with pterodactyls, Egyptian deed Besson’s bulky compatriot might al Paris that perfectly suits the tone of
mummies, grunting policemen and feel his feathers have been ruffled by the story, and it never becomes boring
cocky big game hunters. It is a wonder- this assault on his artistic territory. as the characters race around in circles.
fully absurdist, decadent farce without Besson has forgone any of the dark- The zipping speed of the storytelling
a smidgen of style or class. ness of his iconic earlier work, and has even drips down into the minutiae of
Adele is a brazen bombshell of a thoroughly embraced the folkloric fan- the editing, with cuts occurring on
heroine: she has the sort of ringlets tasy of Jeunet’s vision. The make-up opening doors, or using visual cues
and curves that have weakened men’s is grotesque, reminiscent of Punch & with dialogue: the story never calms
knees for centuries, and her brown Judy puppets in some antique Romany down for a second. ND
eyes smoulder and purr until they travelling show, and the whimsical ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
SUCKER PUNCH
to the screen. ered Nazis in the trenches of World
Why is Baby Doll’s fantasy a War II while a big robot shoots planes
brothel in which all the female cast out of the sky. Why? Because it’s total-
members are required to wear reveal- ly awesome! Baby Doll must fight three
DIRECTED BY ZACK SNYDER STARRING EMILY BROWNING, ing costumes at all times? Perhaps it’s giant samurai before she can return
ABBIE CORNISH, JENA MALONE, VANESSA HUDGENS, JAMIE all the result of a psychosis picked up
during her troubled childhood, which
and tell the others of her quest. Why?
Because, hello, samurai are freakin’
CHUNG, OSCAR ISAAC, CARLA GUGINO & JON HAMM may have been an acceptable explana- cool, right? This is all an excuse for
tion if it carried even the slightest Snyder to pack as many of his ‘awe-
RELEASED OUT NOW (USA) APRIL 1 (UK) weight. We are presented with Baby some’ ideas as he can into one film, an
If you were looking forward to Sucker Doll’s background in a pop-video of an excuse to show off some occasionally
Punch then it will unfortunately live up opening drenched in slow-motion and impressive but mostly boring special
to its title. If you weren’t, it might live stylised visuals (both irksome Snyder effects, an excuse to have attractive
up to your expectations. traits) and this aesthetic continues women running around in skirts and
Zack Snyder made his name with throughout, diluting almost any sense corsets with guns. And, my goodness,
a good remake of Dawn Of The Dead of character through a vacuum of it’s boring. Dragons! Samurai! Hot
and then 300, which, though it was special effects, poor musical choice and girls! Yet boring. I couldn’t believe the
a box office hit, already bore some deadening violence. runtime was less than two hours.
of the hallmarks that would come to Baby Doll joins up with four And the shame of it all is that the
hinder the development of his career. other (obviously scantily clad) ladies five girls (in particular the main three
Thanks to that early success, he has including Rocket (Malone), who she named above) are well cast. They’re lik-
become a go-to guy in Hollywood, and befriends quickly, and her sister Sweet able. They do their best. They can act.
has recently been handed the mantle Pea (Cornish), who treats her with We want to root for them but we can’t
of resurrecting the Man of Steel from suspicion. Why should they, who have because every time there might be a
cinematic purgatory. On the evidence been unhappily surviving in this place hint of involvement, a hint of charac-
of Sucker Punch, we should all cross our for years, suddenly risk everything for ter, we’re taken away to the next vacu-
fingers very hard for that one. an ambitious outsider? More press- ous distraction. One of the sequences,
Sucker Punch, which is written, ingly, why should they want to act on an almost-unwatchable train battle
directed and produced by Snyder, tells a crack-pot plan that involves finding with faceless CGI robots, thankfully
the story of Baby Doll (Browning), a four arbitrary items? Nevertheless, gives way to something meaningful,
young woman who is incarcerated in a they do, and thus we have the format but by that time you’re just glad it’s
mental asylum after a short prologue of the film. Our ladies must acquire finally over. Bar some decent chore-
which tells the story of her unhappy the items required for escape while ography and effects in the trenches
home life. On entering the institution Baby Doll dances for baying male sequence, the fantasies are tedious.
she overhears her stepfather talking customers, only we never see her So Sucker Punch is a failure, and
to Blue Jones (Isaac), the sinister head dance; instead, we are whisked away Snyder’s worst film. Along with his
of the place, who reveals he will accept to fantasy action sequences in which disappointing foray into children’s
a bribe to have the girl lobotomised. our girls (still scantily clad) must stab, animation last year, this does not bode
From there the film delves into Baby shoot and destroy their way to a series well for Superman. He isn’t without
Doll’s realm of fantasy, in which she of throwaway objectives. Why? If you talent, he just needs to reign himself
has five days to escape the procedure. can answer that question, your name is in, as overall, this is overblown and
Unfortunately, the film’s brains were probably Zack Snyder. shallow. MR
removed long before it found its way And so our girls fight steam-pow- ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
LIMITLESS
sharks and fellow addicts on his tail, as While the freewheeling nature
well as the potentially fatal side effects of the film initially works well, how-
of his new addiction. ever, there is always a danger that it
The film begins with Cooper will fly off the rails and stay there. In
DIRECTED BY NEIL BURGER STARRING BRADLEY COOPER, standing on a ledge of an apartment the end Limitless collapses under the
ROBERT DE NIRO, ABBIE CORNISH, ANNA FRIEL, JOHNNY building, the camera teetering over
the edge and tumbling to earth. It is a
sheer number of storylines it jug-
gles, and the unpredictability that
WHITWORTH, ROBERT JOHN BURKE & TOMAS ARANA vertiginous opening, as well as a meta- initially makes it endearing gives way
phor for Morra’s precarious lifestyle. to inconsistency of tone and narrative
RELEASED OUT NOW Director Neil Burger, most famous for drive. Morra flits between negotiating
Bradley Cooper’s rise continues. After the underrated The Illusionist, creates a corporate merger, winning back his
the breakout success of The Hangover an energetic visual style, brightening girlfriend, being chased by a Russian
in 2009, the speed of his move from the world when Morra is on his kick, gangster, attempting to track down the
TV ensemble actor to leading man has and having letters fall from the ceiling origins of his precious pills, face a mur-
seemed, well, limitless. All of which as he writes. He even has lead seeing der wrap and, finally, make a run for
makes his new film, about a man who earlier versions of himself, a clever way public office. Unable to decide between
goes from obscurity to the toast of the of showing a man thinking a few steps broad comedy, thriller plotting or
town in a matter of days, somewhat ahead. Limitless is at it’s best when character study, Burger instead decides
thematically appropriate. The fact evoking the whirlwind of success, and to do all three, ten minutes at a time,
that his character has been helped by these early scenes steam past in a whirl tying up and resurrecting storylines
a revolutionary new drug is, we trust, of colour and energy. seemingly at random.
where the parallels end. Cooper, meanwhile, is an actor Also, while Cooper may swagger,
Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a built to swagger. In his brashness and he struggles, when required, to add
failed writer recently dumped by his sharp, quipping exchanges with De extra dimensions to his character. His
girlfriend. An underachieving, heavy Niro, he’s like an amped up version moments of emotional vulnerability
drinking slob, his life is seemingly of Gordon Gecko. But despite accru- don’t quite convince, and while Lim-
going nowhere until he bumps into an ing wealth and status, there is always itless will confirm his leading man
old friend following a less than legal a sense that a stupid decision can status, he is yet to prove that he has an
career path. Given a clear pill known as bring it all crashing down. Portraying enduring actor’s range. The same can’t
NZT, Morra is suddenly able to access a character leading a wild lifestyle off be said of Abbie Cornish, who in Bright
and utilise every part of his brain – as the back of a drug habit, mixing with Star showed herself capable to taking
opposed to the usual 10% – and soon dangerous criminals and riding high on roles far more rewarding than that
enough he is learning and thinking at in the boardroom, Limitless is like a of Morra’s girlfriend. In the end the
prodigious speed, finishing his novel in cross between Wall Street and Blow, film is guilty of not really having any
the space of a weekend. where addiction and success are shown idea of where it’s going, and by the
Finding his supplier murdered, to only go hand in hand temporarily. time it reaches what seems like a fifth
Morra steals his stash, and becom- The film isn’t shy about showing the ending, Limitless becomes the very
ing able to absorb and find patterns depths to which Morra will go for both equivalent of drug addiction; there are
in huge amounts of financial data, success and his habit – which may in highs, and it may be fun for a while,
quickly becomes the protégé of Robert the end be the same thing. It could be but in the end it’s a thudding, relent-
De Niro’s legendary financier. But he read as a take on the sorts who caused less road to nowhere. AS
also has to deal with the police, loan the global financial crisis. ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
THE SILENT
abandoned house, it not only sticks trap, and brilliantly switches between
to its leading (and more or less only) different points of view, variously oc-
character’s side throughout, but does cupying the role of heroine, observer,
so in one, single take. Shot on a Canon victim and ghoul. Hernández’s use of
HOUSE
DIRECTED BY GUSTAVO HERNÁNDEZ STARRING FLORENCIA
D5 – essentially an expensive dSLR
– the visuals that cinematographer
Pedro Luque manages to create from
such materials are truly breathtaking,
but that is far from the only reason to
reflections, photographs and shadows
add a whole other layer of affect to the
film, effectively giving himself more
shots to play with, and he uses them
wisely to offer glimpses both of what
COLUCCI, ABEL TRIPALDI & GUSTAVO ALONSO be deeply impressed with what may be might be chasing her and her own frac-
the most bracing sixty minutes of hor- tured psyche. Equally this is matched
RELEASED APRIL 8 (UK) TBC (USA) ror cinema to appear this year.
The Silent House sees Laura
by some brilliantly atmospheric sound
design, and an unsettlingly low key
The camcorder and the horror film (phenomenally played by Florencia score that perfectly matches the eerie
have a love-hate relationship. Whilst Colucci) travel with her father to a unease of what happens on-screen.
The Blair Witch Project offered up all remote, uninhabited house, with the Unfortunately The Silent House
the possibilities inherent in the use of intent of preparing it for sale by its also has a downside, and it lies with
small, handheld cameras, it is fre- owner. Almost immediately strange plot. The use of some fairly obvious
quently the ‘found footage’ concept noises and movements plunge her horror motifs is a little unneces-
that has proved the most influential, into a nightmare as she is pursued sary considering the skill with which
spawning a legion of horror films around the house by ghostly appari- Hernández builds tension without
representing the good (The Last Exor- tions. Seemingly lacking any off-screen them, but The Silent House’s major
cism, Rec), the bad (Quarantine) and lighting, her ordeal is illuminated only drawback lies in its final, significant
the indifferent (Paranormal Activity). by candlelight, the flash of a Polaroid twist, which both stops cold the film’s
The lesson less frequently learned from camera and the halogen lamp that own momentum and demystifies what
films that use this technology well is she carries for the duration. A lonely has gone before. As is so often the case
the way that whatever smaller cameras figure surrounded by near total dark- exceptional filmmaking is at the mercy
lose in terms of pictorial richness they ness, this setup gives The Silent House of plot devices, but while the latter
can make up for in tense, claustropho- a peculiarly monochrome look, adding come up short in a big way, the film’s
bic atmosphere, offering us a uniquely another dimension to its sheer sense first hour announces the arrival of a
intense cinematic experience. of unreality. major talent. The Silent House is the
Thankfully there are some film- This incredible palette is matched most striking (not to mention scary)
makers that have paid attention, and by the brilliantly choreographed, film of its type since Blair Witch, and
the result is Gustavo Hernández’s The continuous 78 minute take in which a dazzling technical achievement. The
Silent House, a stripped back slice of the film was made, an absolute master- image of its heroine standing in silhou-
Uruguayan terror that adopts that idea class in the use of on-screen space. Cir- ette in a doorway, unsure of whether
and throws in a few additional tricks cling its heroine and subtly mapping to cross over, is quite simply the most
of its own. A compelling account of her confinement, the camera sketches iconic horror image of the year. AS
a young woman trapped alone in an the lines of her terrain like a coiling ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
HOP
of becoming a rock ‘n’ roll drummer. moment, but otherwise Hop is popu-
Arriving in Hollywood, he convinces lated with humour that is slow, dated
O’Hare to both accept the existence and mindless, an ADD confection of
of a talking rabbit and to put him up half-baked slapstick and notions of the
DIRECTED BY TIM HILL STARRING RUSSELL BRAND, JAMES while he pursues his dream. healing power of Easter chocolate.
MARSDEN, KALEY CUOCO, BILL HADER, CHELSEA HANDLER, Director Tim Hill, with profitable
monstrosities such as Alvin And The
By the time Marsden has made
the startlingly obvious realisation
ELIZABETH PERKINS, HUGH LAURIE & HANK AZARIA Chipmunks and Garfield 2 in his back about his calling in life there is a chick
catalogue, can make computer animat- uprising on Easter Island, but Hop
RELEASED APRIL 1 ed rabbits and humans not look entire- has already tested the patience of its
Everybody loves children’s films. The ly ridiculous when sharing screen time. audience long before, with nonsensi-
popularity of Pixar’s combination Unfortunately that is about as much cal plotting and a battery of clunky
of child friendly larks with weighty as can be said in the film’s favour, as references to contemporary culture,
themes of mortality, death, friendship Marsden’s apparent twenty-something including an America’s Got Talent
and loneliness has meant a new level (he is 37, and looks it) is subjected to a knockoff hosted by David Hasselhoff.
of critical acceptance of films primarily series of utterly charmless embarrass- Such elements make Hop seem dated
aimed at the under-tens. With studios ments by a talking rabbit, including before it has even hit the screen, and
like DreamWorks (How To Train Your a job interview at a record company more importantly come at the expense
Dragon), Columbia Pictures (Cloudy scuppered by E.B’s playing drums for of any coherent attempt to develop
With A Chance Of Meatballs) and even The Blind Boys of Alabama, and a pub- characters, create believable on-screen
Disney (The Princess And The Frog) be- lic sing-along at a school play in which relationships or actually be any fun.
ing forced to up their game in response Marsden has to fake ventriloquism to Instead the film is left as a series of
to Pixar’s output, parents are now disguise his sidekick’s rendition of I fairly dull set pieces, glossily filmed but
blessed with higher quality cinema Want Candy. lacking humour or sweetness.
with which to treat their children. In amongst all this is a story of Ultimately the final decisions that
Hop, the tale of a blossoming two children struggling with the pres- the two leads make about their futures
friendship between the yawningly sure not to disappoint their parents, don’t really make any sense, but their
named Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) and adults in turn learning to accept lack of personality – nowhere has
and the runaway heir to the Easter that their children’s individuality. Brand’s apparent gift for comic timing
Bunny dynasty, therefore arrives both Marsden contends with paternal and rebellious shtick been so absent
in time for the eponymous holiday and disappointment, whilst E.B’s father – means that audiences, both child
during a period where parents can be struggles to accept his son’s dream and adult, are unlikely to care either
a little more critical about what they even while his number two, a duplici- way. With Easter around the corner,
take their children to see. When the tous Spanish chick, tries to insinuate family trips to the cinema are even
Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Laurie) that he should look elsewhere for an more likely than usual. Where Hop is
decides that the time has come to hand appropriate heir. The latter’s donning concerned, parents would do well to
over the reins to his successor, his of bunny ears in an attempt to con- remember that these days, they are
son E.B. (Russell Brand) elects instead vince his boss of his suitability for the spoiled for choice. AS
to run away and pursue his dream task provides the film’s only amusing ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
THE EAGLE
The Eagle is impressive for its its major strength, and a subtext of
rough hewn physicality. Early set piece civilisation and savagery, underlined
battles with local tribes boast both by clashes with intimidating, mud-
claustrophobic tension and a sense caked tribesmen, gives The Eagle a New
DIRECTED BY KEVIN MACDONALD STARRING CHANNING of all-encompassing perspective, ef- World-esque quality. Neither does
TATUM, JAMIE BELL, MARK STRONG, TAHAR RAHIM, DENIS fectively inhabiting the chaos of the
moment while offering a keen sense of
it shy away from some of the more
unpleasant moments of warrior life:
O’HARE, DONALD SUTHERLAND & DOUGLAS HENSHALL how Roman soldiers act as a unit. one scene sees Esca force Marcus to eat
The team behind the film have a dead rat while hiding in rain-soaked
RELEASED OUT NOW spoken of their aim of making a ditch.
The historical epic has been mis- stripped down ‘Roman documentary’, The Eagle, though, is a film beset
treated. With Troy and Oliver Stone’s and while this may be stretching it a by tonal problems, veering from an im-
Alexander utterly failing to capture little, these scenes have a hard hitting, pressively mature portrayal of violence
the physicality and broken honour realistic feel for both blows and tactics towards the simplicity of its children’s
codes that made films like Gladia- that other similar pictures conspicu- book roots. The script decides to avoid
tor compelling, the space that Ridley ously lack. the brusque formalities of military
Scott’s film managed to open up for Tatum, in his most demanding men and the codes of master and slave,
Greek and Roman adventures has been dramatic role to date, is a physically but while this is excusable up to a
largely squandered. With comic books imposing presence, and Jamie Bell, point, the broad American colloquial-
now the dominant player in the male playing his Briton slave, also achieves isms in which characters speak to each
adventure stakes, only the inexplica- a kind of convincing, wiry toughness. other is jarring, failing to create a con-
bly successful Clash Of The Titans has The chemistry between them works ef- vincing interior world. Bell and Tatum
made any kind of case for swords and fectively throughout, with the two re- are persuasive as two people strug-
sandals in the multiplex. maining torn between mutual respect gling to get along, but not as owner
In that context the arrival of and enmity. Esca has been enslaved by and property, and Tatum doesn’t quite
The Eagle comes as something as a the Romans, yet his life has been saved manage to put across Aquila’s emo-
surprise, and a welcome one at that. by Marcus, and their conflict is inter- tional journey. Most damningly, the
Based on Rosemary Sutcliff’s much estingly explored in a sequence where plot essentially collapses in the final
loved 1954 children’s book The Eagle Marcus has to act as Esca’s slave when third, switching from the visceral to
Of The Ninth, the film stars Channing they are taken in by a Gaelic tribe. the faintly silly. The impression is of a
Tatum as Marcus Aquila, a young There is real drama in the moments film unsure of its audience.
Roman centurion who requests to be where Esca is visibly wrestling with go- The Eagle’s portrayal of warfare
posted to Britain in 140AD in the hope ing along with the con for good. and wilderness offers thrills and intel-
of recovering the Eagle, the standard It has become something of a ligence, managing to be impressive
of his father’s legion that disappeared cliché to praise the cinematography while also offering glimpses of a deep-
20 years before in the wilds of Caledo- of Anthony Dod Mantle (Antichrist, er, better film. A lack of plausibility
nia. An embarrassment that prompted Slumdog Millionaire), but his phenom- and uneasy shifts between serious bat-
the Empire to build Hadrian’s Wall to enal use of natural light combined with tle drama and Boy’s Own Adventure
mark the edge of the ‘civilised’ world, director Kevin MacDonald’s feel for may leave MacDonald’s vision both
the event has been a source of shame imposing environments (developed on too dark for children and not meaty
for Aquila’s family, and he uses the The Last King Of Scotland and especially enough for older audiences, ultimately
first opportunity available to travel Touching The Void) creates an on-screen making it a victim of its own inconsist-
into the wilderness in search of it, with terrain that convincingly needs to ency. In the end The Eagle’s flight is
his slave Esca (Jamie Bell) his ticket be battled by its leads. The film’s feel often striking, but a little erratic. AS
into a new land. for its tough, imposing wilderness is ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
SOURCE CODE
to do what he likes within his eight played well enough that it doesn’t feel
minute jaunts, despite the fact that he stale.
is inside the persona of another man As things move along Stevens
who would’ve had to be omnipresent naturally begins to realise that all may
DIRECTED BY DUNCAN JONES STARRING JAKE GYLLEN- to provide the architecture of his vis- not be as it seems, and the nature of
HAAL, MICHELLE MONAGHAN, VERA FARMIGA, JEFFREY its. As we move on the film offers some
explanations, but none entirely hold
his situation becomes more appar-
ent, thanks in part to interactions
WRIGHT, CAS ANVAR, RUSSELL PETERS & MICHAEL ARDEN water. The plot’s contrivances, though with Goodwin (Farmiga) and Rutledge
(why does the bomber need to be (Wright) who are the faces behind
RELEASED APRIL 1 physically on the train to blow it up? In the source code operation. We seem
Duncan Jones surprised a fair few fact, why does he need to blow it up at them mostly via computer screen, and
people in 2009 when his debut feature, all, since his real target is elsewhere?), thankfully they make the required
Moon, turned out to be really rather are one of its few weaknesses. impression. At the beginning Farmiga
good. Made on a relatively shoe-string What we end up with is a thriller is the typical voice that knows but
budget (for a sci-fi flick, at least) Jones with some great ideas as its founda- doesn’t tell, which is irksome, but
gave us picture which heralded him as tion. It has a significantly ramped-up develops nicely as time goes by, as does
a talent to look out for in the future. budget compared to Moon but hasn’t Rutledge, who benefits (and occasion-
That future is now the present, lost all of that film’s indie sensibility. ally suffers) from some scenery-chew-
and understandably a lot of expecta- Indeed, it isn’t the budget that makes ing work from Wright.
tion has anticipated the release of this film work – had the film been As the film moves towards its
Source Code, his sophomore effort, made on an identical budget to Moon’s, finale(s) it becomes apparent that
which stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera it would probably be just as good. As despite the great setup, those involved
Farmiga. Gyllenhaal plays Captain a result what CGI there is feels a little weren’t quite sure how to finish the
Colter Stevens, a man who has been unnecessary. thing. It feels like a few good endings
handed a very delicate task: to enter But Jones handles the narrative were suggested but then, unable to de-
into the identity of a man who was well, allowing Gyllenhaal’s charismatic cide which was best, Jones has bolted
killed in a terrorist attack on a train lead performance to sweep us along, them all together in a final reel that
and, through this process (known as with only minor bits and bobs of somehow works but doesn’t quite. But
’source code’), identify the person re- trickery along the way. Crucially our it is dramatically satisfying, which is
sponsible for the attack, who is on the protagonist is allowed time to breathe the main thing, and even nudges some
same train. The catch is, he can only as a character even in a film with a affecting emotional notes which build
do this in eight-minute segments (the story that demands things don’t stand on the film’s central theme of indi-
span of the brain’s residual memory, as still for too long. vidual moments, and the value that
explained by Jeffrey Wright’s hobbling The film takes the story’s concept lies therein.
Dr. Rutledge) and so the film adopts a seriously (this leads to a genuine sense All in all Duncan Jones has done
Groundhog Day-esque repeating struc- of meaning underlying the action, as nothing to suggest that his success-
ture, looping back on itself as informa- opposed to popcorn fluffiness), which ful debut was a one-off. This is more
tion is revealed. is to its credit, but doesn’t refuse its mainstream, granted, but it still has
Now, there are some gaps in this audience a smirk here and there. As ideas and isn’t afraid to explore them.
film’s logic, but spend your time focus- Stevens gets involved with the other The bloated ending tries to give more
ing on them while watching and you’ll passengers, most notably Michelle than it has, but this film in general is
deprive yourself of what is generally Monaghan’s delightful Christina, he deserving of credit. Fingers crossed for
a very enjoyable experience. Don’t does the classic announcing-things- that third effort, eh Duncan? MR
bother wondering how Stevens is able before-they-happen routine, but it’s ★★★★★
FILM REVIEWS
THE WAY
rential flow of words pouring from his the frowns of those viewers hoping for
mouth, is suffering from a rare case a touch of subtlety.
of writer’s block. These troubled souls But somehow, despite the simple
– attracted to Tom’s aching, stubborn and sometimes obtuse storytelling,
DIRECTED BY EMILIO ESTEVEZ STARRING MARTIN SHEEN, silence – form a makeshift gaggle, and there is something strangely intimate
DEBORAH KARA UNGER, JAMES NESBITT, YORICK VAN help one another on their respective
journeys.
and mesmerising about this film. Este-
vez and his father, Martin Sheen, have
WAGENINGEN, EMILIO ESTEVEZ & SPENCER GARRETT Estevez’s script never quite does a clear artistic chemistry, and a rare
justice to the indescribable beauty of level of honesty that translates beauti-
RELEASED MAY 13 (UK) SEPTEMBER 30 (USA) the pilgrimage. For each of the lonely fully onto the screen. Sheen is excel-
Tom is playing golf with his Country souls that trudges through these lent as Tom: he is fragile and confused,
Club buddies in California when he mountains, the journey is an ethereal but still ruddy and headstrong.
receives news that his estranged son challenge: mundane and desperate, His explanation, to his doctor,
Daniel has been killed in a storm in the yet brilliant and life changing. But that he is “going overseas to bring
Pyrenees. Daniel was one day into the Estevez imposes a traditional narrative Daniel home” is a peculiarly Ameri-
famed ‘Camino de Santiago de Com- of highs and lows that will be enjoyed can, almost military reaction to grief.
postela’ – an epic two month pilgrim- by even the most hardened of Holly- We watch the walls of his California
age across the mountains from France wood hacks. This is supposed to be an Country Club life come crashing down
to Spain, to the supposed resting place adventure of discovery; but the route around him, and we know he is scared,
of St James. Tom travels to France is all too familiar, the destination all exhilarated, and somehow relieved by
to collect the ashes; and after a tor- too obvious. it all.
mented, sleepless night he decides to The script is overly wordy, filled Another reason for the mesmeris-
take the trip in Daniel’s place, wanting with twee clichés and simple emotional ing beauty of the film is the physical
to better understand the son he never responses for actor and audience alike location of the pilgrimage. This long,
knew. – do “sad”, do “elated”, do “flustered”. meandering path has been etched into
But Tom is not alone for long, for Long sequences that could have been the ridges and fields of the Pyrenees
the pilgrimage is a busy route popu- beautifully rendered in silence are for hundreds of years, and it doesn’t
lated with the world’s devout, over- filled with the blabbering dialogue of a require a religious sensibility to feel
weight, and nicotine addicted. Joost filmmaker too scared to film quietness overawed by the calm, gentle power
is a sensitive and powerful Dutchman in all its untameable beauty. Similarly, of the area. It is not a beauty on the
hoping to lose enough weight to per- Estevez uses crass ghostly hallucina- scale of the canyons of Utah or the
suade his wife back into the bedroom; tions to evoke the painful feelings of mountains of Montana, but it is an
Sarah is a sardonic Canadian with a loss and guilt from which Tom is suf- unassuming beauty that lends the film
smoking problem and a difficult past; fering; and every time ‘ghost Daniel’ a sense of eternal hopefulness. ND
and Irishman Jack, despite the tor- appears on screen you can almost hear ★★★★★
FILM DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS
GLEE: SEASON 2: TRON: LEGACY

VOLUME 1
If you doubted whether Glee
Visually stunning but wholly
inadequate sequel to the
original, and game-changing,
could keep it up rolling into TRON, twenty years on,
season two, the show answers Flynn’s son, Sam, uninten-
with a fairly emphatic ‘yes’ as tionally transports himself
the glee troupe are back for to The Grid and must fight to
another musical school year. get back to the real world.
Film ★★★★★ Film ★★★★★
Extras ★★★★★ Extras ★★★★★
MONSTERS THE GIRL WHO KICKED

Interesting idea, and a great
achievement on such a low
budget, the highly unevent-
THE HORNETS’ NEST
The last in the The Girl Who...
ful adventure film, however, thriller series, Hornets’ Nest
can’t stand up to its over the improves on the disappoint-
top praise. Gareth Edwards, ing second outing to aptly
though, is a director to watch round off the series with
out for in the future. some flair and suspense.
Film ★★★★★ Film ★★★★★
THE LAST LOVECRAFT CORALINE 3-D

The latest entry in the signifi- (Somewhat pointless) 3-D
cantly flagging horror-com- release of the entertaining
edy genre, The Last Lovecraft 2009 animated fantasy film
follow office worker Jeff, who about a little girl who dis-
bored of the daily grind and covers a whole other world
finds himself and a bunch through a mysterious little
of friends embroiled in a door in her parents’ new
monster-heavy adventure. apartment.
Film ★★★★★ Film ★★★★★
BLOODED MEET THE PARENTS:

Fake docu/thriller about a
bunch of hunt enthusiasts on
the wrong end of a rifle scope
LITTLE FOCKERS
The first in the Meet The
when animal rights extrem- Parents franchise for seven
ists turn the tables in quite years, Little Fockers smells of
brutal and torturous fashion. a cash-in, and sadly neither
Slack acting and looking like the script nor film try very
its low budget let it down. hard to suggest otherwise.
Film ★★★★★ Film ★★★★★

FILM COMPETITION
TO CELEBRATE THE
RELEASE OF GLEE:
SEASON 2: VOLUME 1 ON
DVD AND BLU-RAY, WE’RE
GIVING YOU THE CHANCE
TO WIN ONE OF THREE
COPIES FOR YOURSELF
TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING, SIMPLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
GLEE ACTRESS DIANNA AGRON RECENTLY STARRED IN WHICH

SCI-FI ACTION FILM, DIRECTED BY D.J. CARUSO?
A. I AM NUMBER FOUR
B. I AM NUMBER TWELVE
C. IRON MAN 2
SEND YOUR ANSWER TO COMPETITIONS@FANTHEFIREMAGAZINE.COM

DEADLINE 22/04/11

ART
DOUBLE OR QUITS
62
BY DEREK VINCENT
STREETS OF RAGE
80 BY ALED LEWIS
VITAL SIGNS BY
90
CARLES RODRIGO
HURRICANES FOR
102 HIRE BY MILIKEN
GARDNER
Double
orPHOTOGRAPHY DEREK VINCENT (DEREK-VINCENT.COM)
quits
ART
ART
ART
ART
ART
ART
STREETS
OF RAGE
ILLUSTRATIONS ALED LEWIS (ALEDLEWIS.COM)

ART

VITAL
SIGNS
PHOTOGRAPHY CARLES RODRIGO (CARLESRODRIGO.ES)
ART
ART
ART

Hurri-
canes
for
hire
PHOTOGRAPHY MILIKEN GARDNER (MILIKENGARDNER.COM)
ART
STYLE
SHOW YOUR SPOTS
126
BY ALEX SCHIER
LET’S KILL TONIGHT

136 BY LINUS MORALES
TEENAGE WASTELAND
146
BY TINO OAC
WHILE YOU WERE

158 SLEEPING BY
YUSUF BUTOLLI
STYLE
PHOTOGRAPHY ALEX SCHIER (ALEXSCHIER.COM)
Show STYLING LIDA LUND (LIDALUND.COM)
your HAIR & MAKE-UP STEFANIE KRISTANDT (LIGAWEST.DE)
spots
MODELS VALERIYA (MODELWERK.DE) MARKUS S (PLACEMODELS.COM)
Let’s kill
tonight
PHOTOGRAPHY LINUS MORALES (LINUSMORALES.SE)
STYLING SIBEL RISVAN
MODEL DORIAN BLENNMO (SWEDENMODELS)
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT JONATHAN SILFVERBERG
STYLE
CARDIGAN L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT L’ECOLE NATIONAL

PANTS L’ECOLE NATIONAL BOWTIE WHYRED SHOES WHIRRED
JACKET L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT L’ECOLE NATIONAL PANTS WHYRED
SHOES WHYRED BAG WHYRED SUNGLASES ALEXANDER WANG
JACKET L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT L’ECOLE NATIONAL SUNGLASES ALEXANDER WANG
JACKET L’ECOLE NATIONAL PANTS L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT WHYRED BAG L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHOES WHYRED
STYLE
JACKET THE LOCAL FIRM SHIRT WHYRED NECKLESS/CARD HOLDER L’ECOLE NATIONAL
PANTS WHYRED SUNGLASES THE LOCAL FIRM BAG WHYRED SHOES WHYRED
JACKET L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT L’ECOLE NATIONAL PANTS L’ECOLE NATIONAL
GLOVES L’ECOLE NATIONAL BELT WHYRED BAG WHYRED SHOES WHYRED

CARDIGAN L’ECOLE NATIONAL SHIRT L’ECOLE NATIONAL
PANTS L’ECOLE NATIONAL BOWTIE WHYRED SHOES WHIRRED
STYLE
JACKET WHYRED
SWEATER SVENSSON PANTS WHYRED SHOES WHYRED
STYLE
Teen-
age
waste-
land
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ASSISTANT PADDY BOHR
STYLING DOMINIK LAUX
HAIR & MAKE-UP JENNIFER MERTENS PIA VALESKA
MODELS DOUNIA A., CHELSEA MARIANA B., ADRIAN K. & FLORIAN B.
STYLE
W H I L E
Y O U
W E R E
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PHOTOGRAPHY YUSUF BUTOLLI (YUSUFBUTOLLI.COM) MODELS DONNET & COLETTE STYLING CHRISNA DE BRUYN
G
STYLE
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FAN THE FIRE

THE SILENT HOUSE, INSIDIOUS

& SOURCE CODE FILM REVIEWS

DEVIL IN A ART BY ALED

SHUT UP, CRIME!

The modern gentleman

2 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

& much more

PAGE 16 ALBUM REVIEWS

DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS

5 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

FAN THE FIRE mail@fanthefiremagazine.com

SUB-EDITOR COLOUR MANAGEMENT ART DIRECTOR

6 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

BUMPING INTO JACK DANIEL’S

THE WONDER WOMAN THE WAIT UNTIL

LONG HAUL FLIGHTS

Backs to the wall.

L ife must be a whirlwind for Robert

Run, rivers, run.

I pswich rapper Dels (Kieren Dick-

14 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

F or twelve years Rob Sheridan has

16 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

T uesday night is normally quiet

A day “Foolishly we were

A nyone who’s been to SXSW before

S adly the last day of SXSW 2011,

PICTURED: TURBO FRUITS

Bands, bottles and

22 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

S o said once Mahatma Gandhi,

HOLY GHOST! WE ARE ENFANT TERRIBLE

24 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

JAMIE WOON HUNX AND HIS PUNX

METRONOMY PANDA BEAR

25 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

DVD & BLU-RAY

29 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

33 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

O ver the last ten years comic book

35 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

I f you’ve taken the time to look ahead

37 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

38 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

I f you speak to television junkies,

was, and without a huge ratings hit out

N ext up was Mitch, although it

42 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

L eading a largely all-female cast

44 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

C hanning Tatum is taking a step

DINARY ADVEN- or guiding a gang of time-travelling

GLEE: SEASON 2: TRON: LEGACY

MONSTERS THE GIRL WHO KICKED

THE LAST LOVECRAFT CORALINE 3-D

BLOODED MEET THE PARENTS:

58 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

GLEE ACTRESS DIANNA AGRON RECENTLY STARRED IN WHICH

SEND YOUR ANSWER TO COMPETITIONS@FANTHEFIREMAGAZINE.COM

59 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

80 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

86 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011

100 FAN THE FIRE APRIL 2011