Trailer: Whip It!

Drew Barrymore has never directed a film before, but she’s starting on a very high note by casting the wonderful Ellen Page as her heroine. Ellen plays a teenage girl who has been brought up as a pageant queen but longs for something more, and gets her chance when she joins a roller-skating team. Drew starred in Never Been Kissed, one of the best teen films around when I was the perfect age for them, and I hope that Whip It! will have the same effect on girls who are that age now.

Trailer: Paper Heart

I mentioned in my previous post that I love films which are made by and about the same person, particularly when that person is charming and talented, like Scott Prendergast or Miranda July. Charlyne Yi is another example, and I can’t wait to see her film, Paper Heart, which blurs the line between fiction and reality as a fictionalised account of her real relationship with ace young actor Michael Cera. I loved Michael in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and from what I’ve seen of Charlyne, I think I’ll love her too. They’re such an adorable couple. I haven’t watched a trailer as many times as this since The Science of Sleep, and that turned out to be an all-time favourite of mine, so I have a very good feeling about Paper Heart and hope it will get a UK release not too long after it’s out in America in August.

Review: Kabluey

With the huge success of films like Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, cute and quirky independent cinema is no longer a niche market. This has always been one of my favourite genres, so it’s nice that it’s becoming easier to see such films at the cinema, but I do sometimes wonder why certain examples get such huge praise while others, very similar and equally entertaining, go just as unnoticed as ever. Kabluey is an example of the latter. I’d be surprised if you’ve heard of it, but if cute and quirky is your cup of tea then you might just love it.

Kabluey mixes realism with surrealism – the main characters (played by Scott Prendergast, who also wrote and directed the film, and Lisa Kudrow) have ordinary, quite depressing lives, but the story is sweet and charming and there are many entertaining moments. Everything is a little bit funnier when one of the characters involved is dressed as a cute blue creature who always looks quite glum.  Look out especially for the moment which provokes the line, “Leslie, call the police, we’re being attacked… BY CHEEEESE!”

I think what’s great about Kabluey is its individuality. It does fit into a genre that’s currently popular, but it doesn’t particularly remind me of any other film I’ve seen. The fact that Scott (seen above, inside his blue costume) had complete creative control over the project means that it’s simply his vision and that doesn’t appear to be diluted by the need to please any industry bigwigs. It’s really nice to see someone left to their own devices and I think more creative types should be allowed to do this, as it has worked so well with Kabluey and also with Me and You and Everyone We Know. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of these artistic solo projects in the future.

Kabluey hasn’t actually been released in the UK, but someone has kindly risked a criminal conviction to put it online for our entertainment, here .

Review: Sunshine Cleaning

For their latest project, Little Miss Sunshine’s producers, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, haven’t strayed too far from what they’re good at. Apart from the same word in their names, Sunshine Cleaning and Little Miss Sunshine also share one cast member, and the two films have a similar tone. Both focus on three generations of one family, including a cute kid and a grandad, who in both cases is played by Alan Arkin. There is even a van at the centre of both stories.

The two sisters who take the lead roles are played by Amy Adams, who I love, and Emily Blunt, who I’m not usually so keen on. Amy was as great as ever as Rose, the older sister whose life has been on a down-turn since her days of being the most popular girl at school, and even Emily created a likeable character as the younger girl, Nora, who lacks direction in her life and is still dealing with the death of her mother, who she can barely remember. Together they start a business cleaning up at crime scenes, which provides us with a few stomach churning sights, but they are balanced out with sweet and funny moments.

Just the other day I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen a really great film in ages (the last was either Milk or Nick and Norah), so I’m pleased to say that I finally found one. Anyone who enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine should definitely see it, as it fills the same function of being cheery but not meaningless. Both of the lead roles are very well performed and I now have much more admiration for Emily as an actress. My only criticism was that it could have been a bit longer as I would have liked to know a little more about what happened next in Rose’s love life.

Trailer: Broken English

This looks like a really nice film, but it’s not helping with my extreme desire to meet a beautiful French boy to fall in love with. “I hope you find a penis!” made me LOL quite literally, but really there is no lovelier sound than a French man speaking English.

Trailer: Rocket Science

This looks good! A sweet American indie film about a geeky teenager who gets into the school debating team. Sounds a lot like Thumbsucker but I liked that film so I’m sure I’ll like this one too.

Review: Paris, je t’aime

I have rarely been as excited about seeing a film as I was about this one, so it was a bit of a worry that I might be disappointed, but I’m very pleased to say with absolute certainty that there was not a thing disappointing about this brilliant film project. The idea is that a selection of the best film-makers in France and worldwide would make a short film each about Paris and love and the love of Paris. It is a treat for Francophiles and film buffs alike, as you can spot all the most wonderful Paris landmarks while keeping an eye out for your favourite film stars and directors.

Paris Je T’Aime is an independent/world cinema-lover’s dream. For me almost every section held some excitement, whether it was an actor from or director of one of my favourite films. Just to explain how exciting this was, let me list all the actors and directors I jumped for joy at the appearance of, and the reasons why: Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), Gus Van Sant (Elephant), Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement), Elias McConnell (Elephant), Steve Buscemi (Ghost World), Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Ludivine Sagnier (8 Femmes), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Elijah Wood (Everything Is Illuminated), Emily Mortimer (Bright Young Things), Rufus Sewell (A Knight’s Tale), Alexander Payne (Election), Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Natalie Portman (Garden State). Most of those films are in my top picks of all time, so if you are still reading this, can I ask why? If you’re not racing off to buy your cinema ticket or at least pre-order the DVD, this is really not the blog for you.

This film is really a summary of every reason that independent and world cinema is so many millions of times better than the commercial blockbusters. I can’t see why anyone would rather watch the latter when actors, actresses and film-makers like these ones exist. The film is mostly in French, even some of the sections with non-French directors and actors, giving it a properly French feel as opposed to packaging Frenchness for an outside audience. France is probably my favourite country for films (think Science of Sleep, L’auberge Espagnol, Amelie etc.) but it’s even better to have the special French touch mixed in with a variety of the most talented film-makers and actors in the whole world. It’s like a pick and mix of film brilliance, and I couldn’t have made it up better myself!

The unusual format of the film may prevent it from getting all the critical acclaim it deserves, but I hope everyone who even slightly enjoys foreign or independent films will see this, because it will open up a whole world of brilliant but often hidden talent that is so much more exciting than the endless series of remakes and sequels provided by the mainstream film outlets. As a taster, here are some of my favourite sections, which I have found on YouTube:

Faubourg Saint-Denis – beautiful and inspiring! Stars Natalie Portman, playing a similar character to Garden State.
Père-Lachaise – two lovely English actors show how British cinema could be just as great as French if we tried.
Tour Eiffel – I don’t normally like mime but this is hilarious and wonderful.