What's it All About?

This 2004 film is a re-make by Charles Shyer of the 1966 film starring Michael Caine, this time with Jude Law in the title role, and the location moved to Manhattan (but Alfie's still English). I have not seen the original, so I cannot compare them. I have also never really liked Law as a romantic lead, which is just as well as this isn't really a romantic film.

Alfie is an eternal womanizer who is looking for something else, but can't quite put his finger on it. Will he find it before it is too late? Throughout the film he addresses the camera directly, and I found this a tad annoying, especially as it sometimes interrupted the (albeit limited) conversational dialogue. His shallow shagging around New York, at times, seems as empty and pointless to the viewer as it does to Alfie, although the film is ultimately quite melancholic. One of Alfie's plans to find deeper meaning in his life is to start his own business with best friend, and fellow chauffeur, Marlon (Omar Epps) but we never really find out what this new venture is (I assume it is another chauffeuring business). We just see him having a quickie with one lady Dorie (Ally McBeal's Jane Krakowski) but making excuses as she appears to become attached to him, he then heads off to regular girlfriend, single mother Julie (Marisa Tomei) who is always pleased to see him, and who he essentially takes for granted until she discovers what he has been up to. Alfie then lurches from a one night stand with Marlon's girlfriend Lonette (Nia Long) to a relationship with manic depressive Nikki (Sienna Miller) and an affair with charismatic older woman Liz (Susan Sarandon), on some sort of path of self-destruction as he refuses to acknowledge what is wrong with his life. Should he find what he wants, and should it work out for him, and other such details I will leave for you to discover should you watch the film.

The film is not heavy on plot, although to be fair, there is more to the movie than I have mentioned above. Attempts are made for the viewer to empathise with Alfie, as he does feel remorse when he makes a mess of things. Most dialogue is Alfie talking to the camera directly, and this is not my preferred way of watching a film, I don't really like it narrated like that, although that is a personal thing, and others may not be bothered by that. Very few of Alfie's ladies have much depth. Sienna Miller's character Nikki was most disappointing for me, as her character's mood swings meant that there was so much more potential than was portrayed, in fact her part of Alfie's story was told in interestingly lit, flickery clips that resembled a pop video rather than a feature film. So much more could have been done with this character. I liked Marisa Tomei's Julie, she was a sweet character who seemed quite normal and she (as did Nia Long and Susan Sarandon) did manage to make her character a bit more than two-dimensional, which is not easy given the limited screen time each one had. Law did everything asked of him; I don't think he has the right 'cheeky chappy' type persona that would make the ideal Alfie for me. Again this is a personal preference, in that Law has disappointed me more often than not with some of his more recent films.

What I probably loved most about the film was the soundtrack written my David A Stewart (formally of The Eurythmics) and Mick Jagger with most vocal performances done by Jagger and Joss Stone. I thought it really suited the film, tracks were poppy and catchy and the soundtrack CD alone would probably be great and work out of context. The film is very stylish in its direction and there were a number of key 'mood' words displayed on billboards and as signs in the background. Essentially I enjoyed the film, but I cannot rave about it. It is something a bit different in its direction and production style, with a great soundtrack, which is why I ultimately will recommend it.

The film is a 15 certificate, which I think is fair with a small amount of nudity, sexual and drug references. The running time is a little over an hour and a half. My DVD rental copy contained no extras.

Top 10 iTunes

1. Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
2. Paul Weller - You Do Somthing To Me
3. Jennifer lopez - Let's get Loud
4. Blu Cantrell Feat. Sean Paul - Breathe
5. Jennifer lopez - Get Right
6. Sugababes - Killer
7. In Deep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
8. The Style Council - Promised LAnd
9. The Three Degrees - Givin' Up Givin' In
10. Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

St Stephens

St Stephens 3
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl

Inside St Stephen's Chuch, Budapest

Find Something Better to Do for 90 Minutes

I am a big Brit Flick fan. I think the British have made some fantastic films over the years, at the same time there have been a few duds that have got though on the back of a successful genre. The Rom-Com (Romantic-Comedy) has to have been one of the most commercially successful genres of recent years with films like Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones et al doing their bit for the British economy at the Box Office. Hoping to follow in their footsteps (and sadly failing miserably) is Confetti.

Comedian Jimmy Carr (host of '8 Out of 10 Cats') plays Antoni the owner of Confetti, a top bridal magazine, he and editor Vivienne (Felicity Montague - Alan Partridge's long suffering assistant) come up with a Most Original Wedding competition idea and start the audition process. They narrow it down to three themed weddings, to be organised by wedding planners' Gregory and Archie:

The 'Hollywood Musicals' couple. Tone-deaf Sam and Matt (Jessica Stevenson and The Office's Martin Freemen) dream of a Hollywood Musical style wedding where their family and friends join in on a show-stopping production. They are ably unassisted by Sam's interfering mum (Alison Stedman playing to type) and attention seeking sister.

The 'Tennis' Couple. Josef and Isabelle (Stephen Mangan and Meredith MacNeill) are huge tennis fans who are extremely competitive and desperate to win the contest, that they will do almost anything. They also want Cliff Richard to sing at their wedding.

The 'Naturist' Couple. Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb and Olivia Colman) want to be naked for their wedding. Joanna is new to naturism and isn't convinced she wants to be naked in front of too many people though, especially her mother.

The film is done as a mock 'documentary' and apparently was improvised. They really should have scripted it, or got in some more original actors because, quite simply, the film just isn't funny. The film is directed and 'written' (i.e. conceived) by Debbie Isitt, who I am not familiar with. I was also not familiar with half the cast, but a check on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427089/) shows that most of them have appeared on the TV programme 'Peep Show'. I have not seen this show, but it does smack a bit of an 'Old Boy' network. I would have thought that at least meant there was some chemistry between the couples, if the actors knew each other well. Sam and Matt came across as the only couple even slightly realistic, the rest were nothing more than bad caricatures. The supporting cast of friends and family members were at best, irritating and at worst, amateur stereotypes. One small saving grace were the two wedding planners Archie and Gregory, but they were far from able to hold this dire, predictable film together. The ending (as far as who wins) is also predictable, although they do try hard to attempt to offer you some suspense, but to be honest by this time I didn't actually care. The whole premise of the film and so much more potential for comedy than the final result, I feel this was one big wasted opportunity.

The extras include three alternative endings so you can see what happens if another couple won, and a different ending with the same winners. There are also a few featurettes which appeared to be extra footage of the wedding planners which may be entertaining but I was not prepared to waste any more of my life.

It has a 15 certificate - not to be watched if you are uncomfortable with full-frontal nudity.

Which Hero are you?

Which Heroes Character Are You?
	You are Hiro. You are everyones favorite Japanese tourist. Your time is well-managed and you make sure things get done. On top of that, the girls always want a second chance with you.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Prepare for Landing

I thought I was prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that this film was, but that is not easy to do. For those who are not familiar with this film it is a reconstruction of the fourth flight to be hi-jacked in the USA on September 11th 2001. The other three flights hit their target - the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, this flight, believed intended for the White House or the Capitol Hill, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania killing all on board. There is a lot of info known about the flight - the passengers were allowed to make phone calls, and it was known that they were planning on trying to take over the flight from the hi-jackers, but there are also some gaps, that writer and director Paul Greengrass has to fill in himself, and for the most part appear to be reasonable assumptions. Also, information was available from air traffic control and other planes and visuals in the area.

The film sets the scene early on in the morning of September 11th as we see the pilots and passengers leaving for the airport and boarding the plane. Greengrass goes to great lengths to set the scene through phone calls and conversations with loved ones. We are introduced to nearly all the people on the flight (I cannot bring myself to call them characters) through their ID cards and their names on their boarding cards as they go through the machine. However this is too early in the film to remember exactly who they are.

The flight commences uneventfully (albeit late) and we see a bit of what is happening back on the ground as family members watch events unfold in New York, and the pilots getting messages from the air traffic control warning of cockpit invasions and the crashes into the World Trade Centre. In spite of this they let the hi-jackers in (I don't imagine I was alone in shouting "No!" at the TV, as futile as it was) with very little pressure, in spite of a flight attendant under threat. This is one assumption I found hard to take, that the pilots were aware of the risk, yet caved in seemingly so easily and opened the cockpit door. Once the plane is hi-jacked we see a little of the terrorists, and see that the 'pilot' is not very competent. I am not sure whether that is based on an educated guess from information given by air traffic control, or just how Greengrass wanted to play it.

Generally the depiction of the characters and events seem authentic and 'real', the actors are not known names, and it appears they took the time to meet family members and understand the people they are portraying. The emphasis is in making them seem like regular people like you, and your family or friends, having found themselves in a nightmare situation. I found it very easy to empathise with the passengers and crew, for although I have never been in that situation, they have depicted the story so realistically (based on prior knowledge of events) that you can understand how they feel as they exchange phone calls and the full gravity of the situation dawns on them. I am sure I am not alone in wondering how I would react if it was me, and it is certainly a tribute to those on board that decided they were going to attempt to take the plane. Again, the exact nature of this is open to interpretation, but I feel the portrayal of this aspect of events makes sense and is realistic.

There have been some criticism as to whether this film should ever be made, but I feel you cannot ignore history, nor forget it. If that was the case films like Schindler's List and The Pianist depicting the holocaust in World War Two would never have been made, and equally that is something we should not forget nor let happen again. The film is in no way exploitative of the events and the people involved, but in fact, comes across more as a tribute. If you watch this you obviously need to be prepared for all the emotions of sadness and anger that you would expect, but at the same time there is a positive vibe, over the support that other human beings are able to give to strangers, even when in need of help themselves. The film is very understated, and it seems to me has been made as re-enactment (I hesitate to use the word 'dramatisation' as it makes it sound more over-done - the story doesn't really need more drama) for posterity rather than a desire to garner awards and accolades.

There are some effects in the film, and they seem to be very well done and convincing.

If there was music in the middle of the film, I didn't notice it, only the haunting flute piece played over the closing credits.

The filmmakers donated a percentage of opening weekend profits to the Pennsylvania memorial to this plane. This totaled over US$1 million. All the deceased crew and passengers (excluding the terrorists) have their names listed at the end of the film as a tribute.

Kerepesi Cemetery

Kerepesi Cemetery 22
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl

Kerepese Cemetery, budapest. January 2007.