GM FORECASTS RADICAL CHANGE - The Founder

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16 MEDIA Monday 29 January 2007 thefounder Media thefounder dan@thefounder.co.uk michael@thefounder.co.uk Editor’s Note This week the silver screen sees the return of one its most famous icons, Rocky. For some, there may be the feeling that Rocky overstayed his welcome long ago, but it seems that the sixth film in the series is not only the story of a fictional former champ’s climb back to the top, but also of a filmmaker’s. Love or hate ‘Rocky Balboa’, it is an undeniable personal triumph for its director, the now sixty Sylvester Stallone, who manages to capture just enough of his original ‘Rocky’ films gritty urban spirit to pull things off. Also in cinema is the highly disappointing ‘Smokin’ Aces’. After the impressive ‘Narc’ in 2002, Joe Carnahan creates a film that gets lost in its own obsession with ‘MTV’ editing and never hits the right notes it should. This coming week seems much more promising. Edward Zwick follows 2003’s ‘The Last Samurai’ with ‘Blood Diamond’, a tale of the effects the corrupt diamond trade in Sierra Leone and the effect it has on its protagonists. Although Zwick will most definitely use his trademark typically rousing cheese to affect his audience, expect good performances throughout from Leonardo Di Caprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsoun in a film that has already been nominated for five Oscars. Also this week Darren ‘Requiem For a Dream’ Aronofsky’s fantasy fable ‘The Fountain’, starring Movie News In the world of movie news this week George ‘Mad Max’ Miller the director of Happy Feat announced that although he would be interested in directing a sequel to his comic dancing penguin animation, it will not happen before he has got around to directing the fourth film in his dystopian series. Miller was quoted as saying “There’s three or four films I want to do before I would ever embark on Happy Feet 2, including Mad Max 4, sooner or later”. A fourth Mad Max Film has been on the cards for quite some time now and despite the fact that the fifty year old Mel Gibson is apparently not signed up to reprise his role as the road warrior things are looking more promising than they have for some time in regards towards the production. With the Oscar Nominations finally released for this year Martin Scorsese is apparently the favourite to go home with the best director award being 1-3 favourite for his film ‘The Departed’. This is not the first time Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz makes its long overdue release on UK screens. Although being booed at the Venice Film Festival it has since received a fair amount of critical appraisal and looks set to become an unexpected classic. In the world of DVD releases this week we have reviews on ‘severance’, a brilliantly gore ridden, tension filled, darkly comic film, proving that British cinema seems to have well and truly found a new niche in horror comedies. Also, ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ starring Will Ferrell comes to DVD this week and while never managing to beat the off the wall madness of ‘Anchorman’ certainly succeeds in providing enough laugh on its own to justify a viewing. If you are interested in any our films reviewed on DVD remember they are all available at discount prices through The Founders own link www.cdwow.com/thefounder. I hope that the media section of The Founder proves useful, and remember if you would like to submit a review of a current film or DVD release or have a comment on what you have read in the media section email myself or Dan Nicholls at michael@thefounder.co.uk or dan@ thefounder.co.uk. Thanks, Michael Dean michael@thefounder.co.uk Scorsese has been tipped for this award though. Through out a career of creating such classics as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas he has often been predicted to win this prestigious accolade but it has as of yet eluded him. Will 2007 be Scorsese’s year? We will have to wait and see. Paul Greengrass the director of ‘United 93’ has been signed up to bring the third Jason Bourne movie to screen titled the ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’. But despite this foray into main stream action it seems that the surrey born director hasn’t strayed to far from his political roots as he has announced that he intends to direct a piece based on the book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran called ‘Imperial Life In The Emerald City: Life in Iraq’s Green Zone’ which focuses on the aftermath of the second Gulf War in Iraq. The project is due to start filming later this year and will undoubtedly be yet another thought provoking piece from the multitalented director. All for One and therefore to make him more heroic. Not so the musketeers. While D’artagnan is clearly the hero, none of these men could be described as a sidekick. Indeed, in the later books it is spelled out - while they are all formidable individuals, together they are practically invincible. No matter what, each will always be ready to answer the call of the others, even after twenty years apart. There is a charm to this loyalty, the more so because it is set against a backdrop of corruption and intrigue. In an every man for himself world, their motto is “All for one and one for all”. The characters themselves are By Martin Marshall The College Bookshop (Specialist in out of print, hard to find, and obscure books) When he wrote “The Three Musketeers”, one wonders whether Alexandre Dumas knew that this was it. This was the work beyond all his other stories and plays, beyond even “The Count of Monte Cristo”, that he would be remembered for. Dumas had seen the success of Sir Walter Scott, and believed that a market existed for a French brand of the same type of historical fiction. In his own day Dumas was vindicated in this view, writing and collaborating on a string of successful historical works, first plays, and later serialised novels. It was as a serial that “The Three Musketeers” was first published, appearing in the magazine Le Siecle in the summer of 1844. Immensely popular at the time, it has endured ever since. Dumas wrote, or rather, collaborated with historian Auguste Maquet, on two sequels, and also adapted the novel to the stage. Dumas may also have written a third sequel, “The Son of Porthos”, but the authorship of this book is disputed, and has yet to be proved. Since Dumas, other writers have produced sequels, prequels and spin-offs of their own, while we have seen countless screen adaptations, from the original 1921 silent movies all the way up to the incomparable “Dogtanian and the Three Muskahounds”. So what is the secret of this lasting success? A great part of it, of course, is simply the fact that this is a very exciting adventure story. Forbidden love affairs, intrigue at the royal palace, kidnapping, duels to the death, a great deal of humour, and some almost insane displays of bravado, this book really has it all. Yet one thing, above all others, makes it stand out in the action genre - friendship. One of the notable things about the action hero, as a fictional archetype, is his singularity, particularly in the movies. More often than not, one man stands alone, so as to accentuate the risks he is taking and the magnitude of the task he faces, tremendously appealing and enjoyable as well. We have the noble drunk with the dark secret, Athos. Then there is the charming and spiritual, yet devious and cunning Aramis, never so much a priest as when he was a soldier, and never so much a soldier as when he was a priest. There is Porthos, the gentle giant, simple, loyal, with a punch that could fell an ox and a gift for surprisingly profound comments. And, of course, D’Artagnan, the bravest, most resourceful and cleverest of all. The characters themselves are so captivating that it does not seem to matter that the various adaptations rarely stick at all closely to the plot of the books - we are willing to watch these men do anything. All of them are based, rather loosely, on real historical figures, as are most of their adversaries and accomplices, who themselves are a fascinating bunch. The Cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin, Anne of Austria, the Comte de Rochefort, the Duke of Buckingham, and most of all, the mysterious Milady, all provide a tremendous supporting cast, as do many more besides. In the servants of the heroes, Dumas created not only four more interesting characters, but also an interesting literary device. Read through all of the cycle, “The Three Musketeers”, “Twenty Years After” and “The Vicomte de Bragelonne” (usually published in three parts including “Louise de la Valliere” and “The Man in the Iron Mask”), and note the way the servants develop and evolve. From this, the reader can predict the later evolution of the heroes themselves. Indeed, the tragedy of the adaptations is generally that, not only do they miss out the servants altogether, but that they seldom get more more than halfway through “The Three Musketeers”. The Musketeer cycle unfolds like a great epic. So fast does it move that little mistakes of continuity, like which month it’s supposed to be, or how long it takes to get from one country to another, pass by almost unnoticed. The tone throughout is upbeat and enjoyable, masking the fact that, in many ways, this is rather a tragic tale. Imagine yourself in a world before TV or films and read through them in installments. If you only know the musketeers through the movies the story will surprise you more and more as you get through it. And it will reward you with a tale of adventure that is almost unmatched in scope and ambition. Job Vacancy The College Bookshop is now looking for a new full-time member of staff to start in February. If you’d like to know more about the vacancy then pop into the shop and have a word with one of our staff, and bring a CV if you’d like to apply. I should emphasise, however, that there are, at present, no part-time vacancies. This is strictly a full-time post.
thefounder Monday 29 January 2007 FILM 17 Film Vue Cinemas, Staines Rocky Balboa (12A) By Oliver Bramley Director: Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver. Rocky Balboa is now running his own restaurant named ‘Adrian’s’ (in memory of his late wife), when he is shown a virtual fight that a sports channel have created showing him fighting Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon, played by real life boxer Antonio Tarver. The virtual fight shows Balboa beating Dixon, and this causes much controversy throughout the sports world, and before you know it Dixon’s manager has arranged this fight to take place in real life, as an exhibition match. As in the earlier films of the series we follow Rocky as he trains and becomes fit and ready for the big fight at the end of the film. In 1976 the movie world saw the release of ‘Rocky,’ a film that followed a small time boxer named Rocky Balboa as he was given a shot at the Apollo Creed, the champion. The film became a massive hit, gaining a number of awards, and was quickly followed by four sequels. Although some of the sequels proved to be a success, one of them stood out for being a disappointment, namely ‘Rocky V.’ It was seen as a disappointing way to end such a ground breaking series of films, however, little did anyone know that 2006/2007 would see the worldwide release of ‘Rocky Balboa.’ ‘Rocky Balboa’ sees Sylvester Stallone return to the role of director and star as he seeks to finish the ‘Rocky’ series in a way that he is happy with. It is effectively the sixth in the series, but the lack of number in the title suggests that the creators wanted to repackage a product that was seen by many as a laughing stock due its many sequels. As a huge fan of the ‘Rocky’ films myself I could not wait to see this film, a film that I had always hoped that they would release, and I was not disappointed with what I saw. One thing that I have really noticed with the films is that they take a while to pick up, and are quite slow at times, and this one is no different, however the viewer quickly forgets this when the pace of the film increases greatly when the action really picks up and Rocky begins his training. ‘Rocky Balboa’ is a film that can really affect you in many ways. One moment you may be laughing at the great one-liners, and the next you could be getting all emotional. As a film fan I would say that I truly believe that it will be one of the best films of 2007, and as a ‘Rocky’ fan I would say that this is the best possible way to end the series. Summary: It was always said that another ‘Rocky’ film wouldn’t be possible, but Sylvester Stallone has created an incredible film which has you sitting on the edge of your seat in many parts, and even gives you the idea that the classic montage scene can be created on any set of stairs that you can find (not that I have done so of coarse!). I would strongly recommend that you go and see ‘Rocky Balboa,’ this feel good film will leave a great impression on you. 4/5 Smokin’ Aces (18) a good chance Smokin’ Aces would deliver. But what starts out as a solid, sharp and well paced piece sadly By Michael Dean unravels slowly and descends in to a manic mess with an unnecessary Director: Joe Carnahan twist ending. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ray Li The story is seemingly simple at the otta, Andy Garcia, Ben Affleck, beginning. Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel is a Alicia Keys. Vegas Magician who, after falling in too deep with the mob, has turned informant for the FBI. His ex-friends in the mafia are not too pleased with this and put out a bounty of one The post Tarantino world is a strange place indeed, one in which ultra violent gun totting gangster movies seem just as normal as romantic comedies in our weekly diet of cinematic releases. In the past fifteen years we have been presented with more films featuring wise cracking quirky criminals, embedded in elaborate plots laden with twists and turns, than you could shake an AK-47 at. But as the likes of Mr Tarantino and Mr Ritchie have taught us, when these kinds of films come good on their promises you end up with a couple of hours of exhilarating entertainment. The last time Joe Carnahan directed a film he gave us 2002’s terrifically gritty ‘Narc’, so it seemed there was million dollars on his head. While he awaits his safe transportation in a glitzy hotel, thanks to his considerable price tag, a multitude of hit men and assassins descend on the building. The film then becomes a five way melee between the competing criminals with the FBI agents assigned to protect Israel (played by Reynolds and Liotta) caught in the middle. Despite its simplicity, this set up is executed well in the first act delivering great tension and although borrowing some techniques from previous movies in the genre, it seems as if Carnahan has enough of his own style and imaginative touch to carry it off. As we are presented with the various innovative methods the unlawful players use in order to get to Israel things move along smoothly and entertainingly towards the inevitable big shoot out. But as the film progresses it feels more and more like it is trying to put bits of different jigsaw puzzles together. Liotta and Reynolds give good solid performances but seem to be acting in some other much more serious movie altogether, because at the same time we have group of chainsaw wielding, red neck neo Nazis (definitely the biggest mistake of the movie) dispensing of a floor full of hotel security in the style of some mindless Playstation game. This is a problem that starts to become more apparent as the film progresses. One moment it feels like a hard edged serious gangster thriller and the next it comes out acting like a scatter-shot crime comedy. This losing of the films direction is a real shame because in its more intense and serious moments Smokin’ Aces is actually quite entertaining. Unfortunately, the further the film progresses, the fewer and far between these moments come. At the climax we are suddenly thrown (out of no where) a twist that is not only a disappointing reveal but that also really doesn’t add anything to the film, which after it’s immature middle, has done nothing to merit the kind of sombre finale Carnahan tries to achieve. Summary: Despite some good performances from Reynolds, Liotta and surprisingly Alicia Keyes, as well as occasional nice fragmented moment of action, Smokin’ Aces ultimately never rises above the tired convention of its genre and will undoubtedly be forgotten fast. What potentially could have been a winning hand if things had been kept simple and serious, instead ends up a messy disappointment. 2/5
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GM FORECASTS RADICAL CHANGE - The Founder

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