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UK Cinema On Course For New Record Box-Office In 2012

UK cinema is on course for new record box-office receipts in 2012, with big-screen ticket sales remaining buoyant during an exceptional year of sporting and cultural celebrations.

Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) today announces that in the first 45 weeks of this year (to 9 November), UK film distributors have invested more than £300 million to release 567 new titles, practically as many as in the whole of 2011 (577), giving cinema audiences a wider choice than ever before.

Five of the year’s top ten to date were released in both 3D and 2D digital formats. 3D remains a popular attraction for UK audiences, accounting for £1 in every £6 spent on cinema tickets this year. The top 3D release of 2012 to date is Marvel Avengers Assemble. A total of 39 films have been released in 3D in 2012 to date, compared with 47 in all of 2011.

In the last week of October, when Skyfall was released, UK moviegoers spent £53.2 million on cinema tickets, practically as much as in the whole of the previous month, September 2012 (£55.7 million). To date, 14 million people have seen Skyfall in a UK cinema, equivalent to a quarter of the population.

With a mix of popular films on offer, cinemagoing has kept buoyant despite this year’s other, very powerful attractions. The second week of the London Olympics (w/c 3 August) is the sixth best week for UK cinemagoing in 2012 to date. The first week of the Olympics (w/c 27 July) is the 12th best week for UK cinemagoing in 2012 to date – with 45 weeks of the year now passed. The week of the Diamond Jubilee double bank holiday (w/c 1 June) is the second best week for UK cinemagoing in 2012 to date, behind the one in which Skyfall amassed its record-breaking opening (w/c 26 October).

With UK cinema box-office receipts crossing the £1 billion threshold this week, ticket sales are running 1% ahead of the same point in 2011, with an outstandingly strong and diverse line-up of titles yet to open, including Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Christopher McQuarrie’sJack Reacher, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, Debbie Isitt’s Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger and Mike Newell’s star-laden version of Great Expectations. Bill Condon’s final part of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, released last week, will secure a position in the full year’s top ten titles.

Lord (David) Puttnam CBE, FDA President, said: “UK cinema is ending 2012 in barnstorming style. The box-office is heading for a new record with every chance the momentum will be maintained well into the New Year. Audiences craving cutting-edge entertainment over the holiday season need look no further than their local cinemas.”

29th November 2012
Unto A Good Land: Interview With Ross Barnwell (EDIT – Sneak Peek!)

Ross Barnwell is currently in his final year of university studying Television Production and has written and started directing his final major project ‘Unto A Good Land’ – a First World War based television drama pilot. Ross is working closely with Andy Robertshaw (Spielberg’s consultant on War Horse) on this project and have recently shot the trench scenes at those that he built last year.

I spoke to Ross last week.

What prompted you to come up with the idea?
I was fourteen and studying for my GCSEs when I first read Michael Morpurgo’s other beautiful First World War novel ‘Private Peaceful’. After finishing the book I was put on a coach with my history class and sent off to Ypres in Belgium. Staying in Belgium and immersing yourself in this subject will only ever have one result – no matter who you are. As fourteen/fifteen year olds go people seem to assume that anything with an air of education about it offers them no interest whatsoever. This trip proved otherwise – and is actually a great testament to kids of that age and their willingness to learn once they immerse themselves in a subject matter. I was captivated, we all were. I came home and read Faulks’ ‘Birdsong’, Barry’s ‘A Long, Long Way’ and watched films like the 1979 adaptation of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’.

Writing and directing drama came later. Once I realised this is all I will ever want to do, I just had to find a way of putting my two fascinations together. And what prompted me even further was the lack of factually accurate, realistic First World War dramas. The lucky old Second World War with it’s Saving Private Ryan’s and Band of Brothers’ (to name a few) demonstrate how realistic depictions of war are entirely within our grasp. But it seems that the First World War has a predominant ‘Downton Abbey’ vibe in almost all of the current portrayals. This is something I want to change.

Why the First World War? How will it be put together?
Essentially, ‘Unto A Good Land’ is a 6-8 part television series with episodes aiming to be from 45 minutes to an hour. However, creating this under the bracket of ‘university’ lends itself to some alterations. Our project must be no more than 20 minutes long – so to create a full pilot episode would be out of the question. Instead, I am seeing our production as a pilot of a pilot. The story lines and story arcs remain the same but (without giving away any spoilers!) I have taken certain points of interest that would have occurred later on in the episode/series and have slotted them into the first 20 minutes. I’m a big fan of television drama that doesn’t rush itself and that lets the audience think for themselves and the only way I can feel I am able to demonstrate this in ‘Unto A Good Land’ is by choosing one or two main story features that I can then decorate with my desired themes – even if one of the features is, for instance, a cataclysmic change in a character best fitting episode 4. A ‘pilot of a pilot’ is my get out clause.

What are you hoping for when it’s out?
Myself and our producer Tasha Roche have always wanted to be able to demonstrate how student work can be just as professional as that of industry work. We want to dispel the sweeping stereotypes often associated with student film but, moreover, student television drama. We are looking to enter ‘Unto A Good Land’ into a variety of film and television festivals in order to achieve the aforementioned and to tell the world ‘we’re here!’.

The dream would be for our concept to be picked up. We’ve been so fortunate with our contacts – with arguably the most influential being Andy Robertshaw who provided us with his beautiful set of trenches, along with his expertise, uniforms, props and everything in between. He was also Steven Spielberg’s military advisor on the film ‘War Horse’ so, without any need of an explanation, to work alongside Andy on a project like this is nothing more than a dream come true! Thanks to Andy and co our production values have soared far above what our student pockets would be able to afford which is why I hope there will be some interest out there.

What will we expect when we see the finished film?
A First World War drama that has space to breathe. That encompasses period themes without the typical values of a period drama. Thanks to Andy I had the opportunity to spend 24 hours in his trenches alongside a group of re-enactors. Those 24 hours wouldn’t have been anywhere near what it was like back then but what it did do was allow me to experience the routines. For instance, it was dark by the time we had finished dinner and I put my tin down on the fire step. And that was it, gone for good! I don’t know if somebody had picked it up, or if the mud had just consumed it – the disorientation was unreal. And it was instances like that, that with that experience I was able to consider the mundane and the routine that is often lost in film. I applied what I had learnt, as best I could, to the script.

I want to fight a lot of our preconceived notions of how we perceive many of these characters. For example, we often forget that the Field Marshalls, General-Majors and all the top brass were still people. I am not defending what Sir Douglas Haig did over the course of the war but I sometimes think that we, as an audience, are so wrapped up in these preconceptions of the ‘Blackadder’ type general that we seem to forget that these were intelligent people who had to often make quick and sometimes fatal decisions. I am desperate to make a First World War drama that doesn’t fall into the trap of automatically making frontline soldiers the ‘good guys’ and generals the ‘bad guys’. I want ‘Unto A Good Land’ to be a human account where there is no right or wrong or good or bad but simply reflects the lives that our grandparents led.

With a focus on life beyond the battles and a semi-improviational style I want the audience to forget about the camera and stand with my characters shoulder to shoulder in the trenches.

Anything else you want to get off your chest?!
Our amazing cast of actors. The casting finished the other week and we are taken aback by how fortunate we have been. Jaymes Sygrove (Lieutenant Percy Dennis), Rebecca Birch (Nurse Amelia Amsel), Jonathon Reid (Colonel Browning) and Tony Manders (Major-General Woodhouse) each bring something so unique to their roles and we are incredibly lucky to have them on board. I want (I suppose more than anything else) to fight the stereotypes often associated with these characters. Their interpretations of the character that they are playing and the ability to draw them out of the confinements of the associated clichés is amazing and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be working with them.

EDIT – Sneak peek below!

Unto A Good Land – promo from Ross Barnwell on Vimeo.

29th November 2012
Roman Coppola Presents: Four Stories

Earlier in the year, the Intel Corporation launched a worldwide scriptwriting competition in conjunction with W Hotels to unearth a new crop of creative talent. As part of the Ultrabook Experience program, the contest invited aspiring filmmakers to conjure up a self contained short-film script with only two criteria: To be set at any one of the 43 worldwide W Hotels and feature the Intel-inspired Ultrabook as a key plot point. After receiving over a thousand entries, a panel of high calibre judges headed by Roman Coppola chose 4 winning scripts to be developed into 10-minute shorts. Together with his production company, The Director’s Bureau, Roman paired the scripts with some of today’s most talented young directors and actors to bring the screenwriters’ vision to life. The resulting four original screenplays were each filmed on location at W Hotels across the globe including Washington D.C., W Doha Hotel & Residences, W Retreat & Spa Maldives, and Mexico City.

After a hectic few months of production, the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square hosted the worldwide Premiere of the winning films and BRWC were lucky enough to get a front row seat (well back row really).

First up was Modern/Love based on the prize winning script by Los Angeles based Amy Jacobowitz. Directed with beauty by Lee Toland Krieger (Celeste & Jesse Forever), Modern/Love is exactly what its title suggests; a simple tale of romance set firmly within today’s modern abundance of portable technology and social networking. Both humorously quirky and exceptionally sweet, it features Robert Schwartzman and Naomi Scott regaling their idea of the perfect first date via an Internet messaging service as they look to meet each other for the first time during their long-distance internet relationship. It’s a gloriously lovely tale, and features all the hallmarks of a traditional American indie flick; a great soundtrack, unlucky in love leads and the ever trusted comedy inner monologue…it is set in Doha though, which obviously isn’t in the American suburbs.

Roman Coppola on why it was chosen: “Loved it’s warmth in dealing with contemporary ideas in regards to relationships and the internet. In contrast to the others, it had a more narrative approach that I thought was very well done.”

Watch Modern/Love

Second on the slate, was El Tonto, a short developed from the winning script from Brooklyn’s Ben Saveg. Directed by actress and writer Lake Bell, El Tonto is yet another film out of the drawer of weirdness and stars Kyle Mooney (of collegehumor.com fame) as a lonely American backpacker who strikes up an unlikely friendship with one of Mexico’s much adored mask-wearing luchadores. Evidently inspired by the work of Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Lucha Libre), El Tonto is hilarious from the off and easily the funniest of the 4 films on show despite half of it being in Spanish! Mooney is awkward yet accessible in the lead role showing shades of Jon Heder in what is a very funny performance in a very funny and well written short.

Roman Coppola on why it was chosen: “This story had a graphic quality that drew me in. The lack of dialogue gave it that feeling of a silent film driven by more narrative ideas than narrative exposition. It was also on the shorter side, which was a nice attribute, allowing the story to be more visually told.”

Watch El Tonto

Next up, was my personal favourite Eugene, developed from the winning script by England’s own Adam Blampied, and directed by the up and coming Spencer Susser. Similar to the previous film, Eugene is an awkward and lonely American traveller who finds himself with a surprise companion, only rather than a Mexican wrestler, Eugene’s unexpected friend is a genie in the form of an Intel Ultrabook. Also like the films that preceded it, Eugene was charming, funny and wonderfully shot. Michael Govier is great in the lead role as the innocent chap who just wants a companion. The humour comes quite physically, and the narrative takes quite the unexpected turn as the story pans out. Adam has crafted a great little story with this short, and it really is a joy to watch. If you only have time to watch one of the films, definitely watch this one. If you have the time to watch all the films, then watch this one twice. Awesome.

Roman Coppola on why it was chosen: “The Script had a surrealism and intensity that stood out amongst the others. I found it appealing that the story was adventurous and the conclusion can’t be predicted.”

Watch Eugene

The final film was most certainly the most challenging, and was the only one of the 4 that approached the notion of a short as a piece of abstract artistic expression rather than a simple contained piece of narrative. Written and directed by LA based Kahlil Joseph, The Mirror Between Us is very much a poetic piece and features Nicole Beharie (Shame) and model Dan’ee Doty as friends who embark on a euphoric adventure through the islands of the Maldives. Again, the film looks stunning and relies heavily on minimal dialogue and a collection of dream-like cinematography that is somewhat hypnotic. While I can’t attest to fully understanding the film itself, it was definitely the most artistic of the four, with a very deep narrative that offers more questions than answers and demands full attention. An original soundtrack by Kahlil’s friend, White Lotus, is also a treat.

Roman Coppola on why it was chosen: “I enjoyed the script for its poetic and lyrical qualities. It beautifully integrated the Maldives location and had an abstract and almost musical approach.”

Watch The Mirror Between Us

As a nice little Brucey bonus, Roman Coppola himself wrote and directed a fifth short, starring the ever-brilliant Jason Schwartzman. Hilariously ridiculous in its concept, Die Again, Undead One is Roman having fun with the brief while throwing in a few plugs of his latest film for good measure. In order to see this one however, you’ll have to share the Four Stories page (www.youtube.com/fourstories) via Facebook to unlock this superbly humorous take on modern movie making.

29th November 2012
Casque D’or – Review

Set in rural France during the Belle Époque era, Casque D’or (1952) essentially depicts a love triangle revolving around gangster’s moll Marie (Simone Signoret).

The plot kicks off in a simple and elegantly shot scene in an open air dance hall where Manda (Serge Reggiani) watches Marie dance with Roland (William Sabatier). This scene in many ways sets up not only the story but also the style of the film and its central performances. Almost all the information the audience needs about the characters, their motivations and their feelings towards each other is communicated simply through looks and staging with dialogue kept to a minimum. This theme continues throughout the film and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that it could in fact, be silent and still convey the emotions of the characters thanks in no small part to astounding performances by Signoret and Reggiani.

Signoret’s Marie is in many respects an astonishing character both in the context of the film itself and in the world of cinema. The stunning beauty is able to show a remarkable range of emotions as Marie grows into a complicated and layered modern female film character, who seems to be trapped in the gender politics of the time.

Needles to say Marie’s story becomes more complicated in the films’ second act, with murder, crime and loyalty forming a dangerous backdrop to an ultimately doomed love affair between the beauty and the understated Manda.

The themes and style of the film bare more than a passing resemblance to 1942’s Casablanca and agreeably any fan of the American classic, which again sets a love story in a murky and dangerous world, will more than enjoy Casque D’or.

Like many films of the time the pace of the story can seem a little slow at times to a modern audience but all the groundwork laid in previous scenes both in terms of character development and plotting pays off in style in a brutally dark and heart-wrenching finale.

The new blu-ray version of the film enhances the experience. The crisp black and white photography looks incredibly sharp and in the all important closeups every subtle nuance of the performances can be seen in beautiful detail. The sound is also worth mentioning as the somewhat dated soundtrack never overpowers the minimal dialogue although both can be heard in perfect digital quality.

As a classic of its time, Casque D’or stands out, you’ve doubtless seen the story played out in many modern films, but here director Jacques Becker shows us how its done.

29th November 2012
Film Review: On The Road

It was 1957 when Jack Kerouac’s novel On The Road was first published. Since then, probably every individual who has ever had the urge to leave all their present life behind and go out there to the unknown, has read the book. It has inspired people since the year it was released and seems like its influence is strong to this day.

No good story stays on the paper forever and this year director Walter Salles finally brought the great novel to the big screens. Sam Riley (Control) playing Sal Paradise, the narrator of the story and Garrett Hedlund (Eragon, Thron) in the role of his carefree, adventurous friend Dean Moriarty. Some of the bigger names in the cast list are Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga) who plays Dean Moriarty’s wife and lover Marylou and Kristen Dunst (Melancholia) who is in the role of Dean’s next wife Camille.

The story itself is very simple – young struggling writer Sal Paradise meets Dean and his woman Marylou. Together they go travelling through the States, meeting many people on the road who influence the trip in their own way. The book is based on true events and shows Jack Kerouac’s life in the years of 1947-1950, although in the book he gave all the main characters pseudonyms. The most interesting and vivid character is Dean Mariarty, who urges Sal to enjoy life to the fullest and in real life probably inspired Jack Kerouac the most to finally put all his experiences on the road into a book.

It’s always a real challenge to turn a successful and loved book into a movie. And of course, there will always be people who say the book is better than the film and those who declare the opposite. But me, having seen the movie and read the book few years ago think that what matters with this story is the feeling that comes with it, not the fact that every little detail in the book would also be in the movie.

I remember reading the novel in my room meanwhile travelling to Denver, Colorado, San Fransisco and Mexico in my head – whatever the characters were doing in the book, I was doing it with them. Jack Kerouac managed to create that urge in me for making my life a piece of art. To travel, be reckless, make mistakes, to enjoy every little piece of the day you get and not worry about tomorrow. And back then when reading it, I really did change my life and got into some interesting adventures, always having the book in the back of my head. And I enjoyed the time a lot.

But as it always happens, as the years go by, you tend to forget the stories that you’ve read long time ago and become more what you see and do every day. Which in my case, is a life full of routine and rules. Going to work in the morning, you don’t think of the book that used to urge you to live to the fullest, instead you think of the next morning coffee and your lousy boss.

But seeing the movie and revisiting Mexico, Denver, San Fransisco and New York all over again with the characters that changed me so much back then did it once again. Walter Salles managed to create the same feeling in me using Kerouac’s story that the book created years ago. The 1940’s soundtrack, the atmosphere, even the voice of Sam Riley was exactly what I imagined it to be when I read the book. And now, I was seeing it all in front of my eyes not only in my head.

Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Sam Riley is basically the trio of the movie and they deliver their characters essence really well. Tom Sturridge is also doing a great job with playing the slightly gay troubled writer friend. Kristen Dunst is playing Dean’s second wife, and although I have never liked her, I gotta give her credit for playing the role pretty well. Kristen Stewart, who is always criticized for looking emotionless and dull, takes her acting to a new level. She is dancing, laughing, crying and screaming and looks pretty good doing it. A little casting suprise comes from Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, Hotel Transylvania) who has a very small but quite important role and as in his case, always interesting.

Whatever your reason for watching this movie might be, be ready to enjoy the ride. It will definitely offer you something new somehow. Whether it inspires you to go on a the road yourself and check out the unknown or you just wanted to take a look on topless Kristen Stewart (which, by the way, will be a little bit disappointing), as long as you stop comparing every scene to the book and Kristen to the Twilight Saga, it will be great. Otherwise don’t even be bothered. You will be very frustrated.

There is no point of comparing the movie to the book, because a film will always be a little different from the writing. But I think that the atmosphere and the point of the story that Kerouac told the world last century is shown to the people in the same way this century. You just gotta let yourself loose and enjoy the ride. If you manage to do that, it’s one helluva nice ride.

25th November 2012