Blade Runner - the worst and the best in a nutshell..

Having watched Blade Runner twice now, I still find that I have no real interest in the plot or the romantic subplot between the characters Rachel and Deckard, and certainly still abhor the sci-fi backdrop. The reasons are very simple; the plot is confusing and over-complicated; the romance comes across as forced and pretentious and the synthetic world in Blade Runner bears almost no resemblance to my life.

That all said, the 'tears in rain' scene moved me deeply the first time I saw it and I have gone onto Youtube time and time again to watch just that. The film's theme of humanity is expressed best here for so many reasons. Whilst keeping the characters in visual context (neon lights are still aplenty and the colours remain dark and grimy) the audience are given a new insight through the script and the cinematography. Both give Roy Batty – the biggest and meanest Replicant – his saving grace as he finally accepts his own mortality. His humanity has just been proved as he saves Deckard from a fatal fall - with the same hand he had stabbed a rusting nail through minutes before, in efforts to stay alive – even though he is no stranger to killing with his bare hands. The moments he describes:

“I watched C-beams...glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.”

he says, will all be 'lost..in time..like..tears in rain.' The recognition of how those moments are what made him human: the ability to appreciate the horror and the beauty of them – proves that humanity is not something you're born with – it can be learned. The camera work lends the scene a lucid grace that emphasises his acceptance with death ultimately when the dove is let go to fly up against the dark, polluted sky which is heavy with rain. The odd angle of this shot draws special attention to it and the meaning of it is – the world stays the same: there is still a dark world with evil and twisted morals below them but he is now free because he is human.

My Forty-Eight Hours

Since I don't have a TV licence yet and don't own a TV either, I haven't watched much TV at all since I moved to Glasgow. Instead I watch a film almost every other night so this was hard!

iplayer, Tuesday 3 November

Last night the girls who share my kitchen put on Sunday's show of the X-Factor and so I watched that. A lot of yelling was involved when I realised that the twins had gotten through and Rachel had dropped down to the last two, and some threw a little mini tantrum (not I..)when Lloyd stayed instead of her. The load up was slow though and the sound wasn't working so we got a staggered and jerky show and we worked out everything from body language and facial expressions which was fun!

BBC Three, 12.20am, Sunday 1^st November/iPlayer, Wednesday 4 November

85 mins

Alisa, Becky. Katie. Derek. Claire. Moony, Jay and Trife. Sam. Uncle Curtis. Pregnant with Trife's kid. Slut who gives blowjobs for drugs and is Alisa's best mate. Girl who hangs herself after she gets beaten up by the scaffs, slept with Trife. Brother, who tries to kill Sam, who threatened to kill Katie. Slut no. 2 cheating on Sam with Jay. M helps Derek get a gun off Uncle. Said Uncle initiates T into the gang by getting him to scar a guy who owes. Alisa and T get back together. Sam kills Trevor. Boom.

Watching this really took it out of me, often leaving me with my jaw on the ground, and when it finished I was in a daze. I watched Kidulthood on iPlayer (my first time) and I picked it to be part of a list of things to watch but it was only at the end the penny dropped that it was a film...not an extremely long TV episode...so I only got round to watching the one thing. It wasn't great either, that when pausing the credits a little button with an S on it leaps out and I realise I could've had subtitles on the whole time! Argh! Going back over “Imgunablowyurfuckinheadoff” made more sense, second time round. I seem to be watching a stream of hard core films these days...in the last 10 days I've seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Pulp Fiction, 8 Mile, The Constant Gardner and I'm wanting to watch This Is England, but I might not for a while!

Kidulthood impressed me most with its camera work though, and particularly liked the ending sequence. I was touched by the scene between Alisa and Trevor (good performance given by Aml Ameen) when he offers to 'take care of them both' even he still thinks the baby is Sam's and they get back together. The cinematography helps me feel shocked as the fight goes on even though I had been shocked plenty enough already (Claire and Jay getting on in front of three other guys and Becky giving a guy a blow job in front of Alisa and another guy for drugs.) As Sam reaches for the bat, you can hear the gravel rattle – which for me really gave it an ominous atmosphere, and the clip is slowed down to accentuate his action and so you know this is going to be big. As Trevor is hit the shot is in slow motion and so you see him fall to the ground as a snappy white out brings you a close up of him unable to get up again. As he is dying another shot is taken with both Sam and Trevor in the frame, both lying parallel to each other, when Sam is being held at gun point and its powerful because you are still unsure about who's going to make it. Throughout the film it's been obvious who stands where on the pecking order but here, both of them are vulnerable and either could die. Trevor dies and unwittingly saves Sam, telling Derek (who has him at gunpoint) that “he's not worth it.” Watching something on iPlayer was good, it loaded up fast and since my DVD drive is mashed, it was good to watch a film even though after 40 minutes I was thinking it was going to finish!

Releases that I'm waiting on..

I have just been on the discussion topic 'What we are looking forward to..' on Moodle, and since not everyone can see some discussions I thought I'd put my answer up on here..

Paper Heart, PG, Friday 6 November 2009.

Starring Michael Cera, and (for me) introducing Charlyne Yi, this film looks good already. Momentarily alarmed as my iTunes starts to sound weird and have voices that didn't belong to the tune playing, I watched the trailer…Although I suspect its plot might be slightly confusing, it looks great. The stars play themselves as Charlyne's character makes a documentary on love and it's puzzling myths, taking her all over America. A modern, and a much cooler, quicker, quirkyer, fun Broadcast News - Paper Heart grabbed me by it's name (is love real or just a fictional thing – something as substantial as paper?) and now has convinced me to go and watch it from its trailer.

The Magic Hour, Friday 13 November 2009.

Having met the film-makers already at a Q&A at the Edinburgh Film Festival, I have always intended to see this film. I have seen clips of the film but since the link doesn't tell me what the film is about but more about the company, I'm afraid I can't remember what it's about exactly…

However: 'The Magic Hour scheme is a groundbreaking UK-wide short film initiative aimed at disabled filmmakers. We are looking for writers and directors with passion and talent to make bold films which portray disability on the screen in a way that is innovative in both form and content.

Film ideas can be up to 20 minutes in length and any genre: drama, documentary, animation or a mixed medium. The Magic Hour wants edgy, challenging, satirical, funny, surprising ideas that have something fresh to say about disability but are accessible to a wide audience.

A total of four films will be produced each with a budget of £10,000. Applications are open from November 3rd to midnight on January 15th 2010. To download guidance notes and application forms click here.

104 films is the production company behind The Magic Hour scheme. We are the UK’s leading production company specialising in disability and film.'

Great people, great company.

Unmade Beds, 15, Friday 11 December 2009.

A brilliant film - I have seen it already at Edinburgh Film Festival. I throughly enjoyed the plot (if a little mad, and far-fetched, but not so much when you think of all the mad nights out and roll them into one and the types of characters - it certainly echoes some life experiences of my own - EXCLUDING, however, donkey heads and crashing out in extremely odd places…) Anyway, the performances are fascinating and it made me a laugh a lot. The director (Alexis Dos Santos) and Fernando Tielve, who plays Axl, are credibly mad - I listened to them at the Q&A after and I almost cried with laughter just seeing them- hence the film's genius quirkiness and loveability. On IMDB, a user comment says: 'A wonderful little gem which is close to perfection.' I agree - and I think those who liked Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, 500 Days of Summer and Away We Go might agree too. Oh and the polaroids…..

The Lovely Bones, Friday 29 January 2010.

I have waited for this film since I was 11 years old, after having first read the book then. This book is revered and sits a small pile of my best books….has anyone else read this book?! I love this book for several reasons but most of all, for its beautiful writing (this is the best way I can describe it), and so I have high, but anxious, hopes for Peter Jackson's adaptation. An exclusive interview with Jackson in the 20th Anniversary Edition (Guest-edited by Steven Spielberg), however, made me very happy. Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) is cast as Susie, the main character, and from that I know the film has great potential to win a lot of awards. In fact, that's why I've had to wait a few more months for its release because in order to be nominated for awards they had to put it forwards from June this year. Rachel Weiz is Susie's mother and this also leads me to believe I will love this film, as her performance in The Constant Gardener (but Fiennes is astounding), still makes me cry! Prepared for things to be left out: 'Jackson wants to be clear that this is a "personal adaptation of the book" by himself and his Rings writing partners, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh.' but that's okay because, as the interview finishes, he comments: 'We assumed everyone's inbetween would be personal to them.' I think that is the best approach there could be, so I'll be there ready with a box of tissues, and a notepad to let you know what I think!, on the 29th.