Episode 4 Film 2012

Hello and welcome to the show. We are live. If you want to get in

touch, details are on the screen. Coming up tonight...

Childish behaviour runs wild in Roman Polanski's Carnage. Oh my

God! Do something! Show actual mouth. Charlize Theron just won't

grow up in Young Adult. We are meant to be together and I'm here

to get him back. And Elizabeth Bolsun is breaking down in Martha,

Marcy, May, Malene. -- Elizabeth Plus, find out why Kermit is doing

this. It is just to jump to the left. If I do any more I have to

pay royalties. When he and Miss piggy answer our questionnaire

later. First tonight, Carnage directed by Roman Polanski and

based on the play God of Carnage. It stars Jodie Foster and Kate

Winslet. Following the dispute in Brooklyn Bridge Park, she struck a

Lawson in the face. Armed. What else can we say? Carrying a stick?

It is my son's he was hit in the mouth. The parents decide let's be

civilised, let's get together and discuss what happened. Thank you.

There is no reason for us to thank each other. Some of us still have a

sense of community. They are in a very polite suburb and you would

think they get on well. Do you know what they would argue about?

would not let him be part of his gang. Did you know he had a gang?

No, but I'm thrilled to hear it. For the first third of the story is

very polite and everybody's trying to present the best version of

themselves. It is a little recipe of mind. Apple and pear. It is new

to me. It is a classic. And then one thing leads to another and

needless to say the gloves come off. Your son is a maniac. He is not a

maniac. Yes, he is. Why are you saying that? He is a maniac.

starts gaining momentum. Enough with the cell phone already. The

victim and the criminal are not the same. As you think my son is a

snitch? I don't think anything. don't say anything. Foretell breaks

loose and it becomes nothing to do with the boys and their fight, but

entirely to do with these two different marriages and the cracks

Oh my God. Way to go! It is a comedy of people's manners and how

they lose them. You had better watch it. He will be on the edge.

She's horrible. We were nice to you. If we bought tulips. My wife

dressed me as a liberal. something! Shut your mouth.

there's a moral to the story, it's that adults can be more childish

than children. This is what I think. I think I'm going to vomit again.

brilliant line. It is interesting, there's a lot of cuddly movies at

the moment in cinemas. The artist, the descendants, warhorse. Pretty

much everything on show tonight has a slightly different tone. We will

get roaring with Carnage, which has a pint glass of vinegar. You have

these two well-to-do couples and Manhattan who meet up to talk about

their children. They progress very quickly to tearing each other limb

from limb verbally. It is often incredibly funny. The dialogue is

scalpel sharp. Although it is originally a French play set in

America, for British audiences, there will be moments when you will

be heaving with laughter. My reservation is that the play, there

are pretences in the play. This talked about something more grand,

controversial things about human nature. It doesn't really do that.

You just have a lot of people saying expertly unpleasant things

to each other, which is funny but you feel bad for laughing because

you are realise you are watching for middle-class equivalent of a

fight in a car-park. They are ghastly, absolutely ghastly. It

takes umbrella parenting to the next level. I saw the play and it

was absolutely brilliant. More claustrophobic on the stage. I

loved this, although it is that a brilliant week for films. You have

to use laugh carefully because on about a really love something and

then love something but -- spectacularly. It is so contrived

because it is a film of the play. At one point Kate Winslet and

Christoph Waltz... I was shouting, get out! Just run! I do think it is

a brilliant master class in performances. It has a real

ensemble piece. It is beautiful to watch, not one of them is better

than the other, they are all good. Kate Winslet might just enjoy it

because she has the best scene. -- inch it. The whole thing is very

theatrical. You can do a couple of things when you're adapting a play.

You can turn him into a massive cinematic spectacle or you can do

what Roman Polanski has done which his film the play. In terms of the

performances, it is very theatrical. You can pick up your favourites,

but it is about the ensemble. It has a good night out at the theatre

at the cinema. I don't have a problem with that. It is a

freakishly good week for films and there are films we are going to

talk about which linger in the mind and a difficult to get out of your

head. The thing about Carnage, there's one joke and it is a really

funny joke, but once you've heard it, you've heard it and then it's

gone. There are other films that have possibly slightly more to

offer, but it is very, very funny. Next, Jason Reitman reunites with

by a blow Cody for Young Adult and it stars Charlize Theron. -- Diablo

Cody. What are you doing backwards might have you moved back? To of

course not, grows. She is a ghost writer for a Young Adult series.

She comes from a small town. She gets sent an e-mail. She gets an

announcement of our unnamed child. Our little girl. She finds this out

and then hatches a plan to come back and still me away. Body and I

are meant to be together. I'm here to get him back. I'm pretty sure he

is married with a kid on the way. I've got baggage, too. Keep all of

this to yourself. I would find a therapist. She gets incredibly

obsessive about this idea that he might be stuck in unhappiness.

Psychotic. And she will be the one that will repay him from that

unhappiness and give him the happiness he deserves. I am going

to a rock concert. I think there's a chance we may reconnect. Let's

show him what he's been missing. has seen me recently, he knows. But

his wife haven't seen me in a while. We all know somebody who seems like

they are stuck in a certain time in their life and they can't get past

it. They are still obsessing over mistakes they might have made for

people they might have let go. kid -- you kids was so cute in high

school. Funny how those initial instincts can be so right. You may

call these mistakes along the way, but the world will make sure you

end up with the person you're meant to be with. I wanted to make you

laugh -- Young Adult for many reasons, mainly because I love

Diablo. She is great at creating characters who have mixed

intentions and yet she Najet -- never judges them. You can come to

the City with me. I'm a married man. We can beat this thing together.

you could open at a little more. No... Yes, that's perfect. Hey!

are you? Is that book for your niece. Yes, thanks for remembering.

I'll send it to her. There's a character in that one that is based

on you. What? In the book. I named him Ashby but it's so blatantly you.

It will be obvious. We are not supposed to do that, was a poster...

Hey! Nice to see you again. You too. There were tears. Adorable. --

there it is. It is so brilliant. I'm going to be very, very boring.

Very late at night, everyone to sleep. Films that have been

overlooked by the Oscars. Charlize Theron is so brilliant in this film.

This film is fabulous. Diablo Cody wrote Juno, she won an Oscar for

this. This is better. It is smart and darker. Charlize Theron... We

are like best friends! She's amazing. She is absolutely

brilliant in this because she just gives you a little peek into how

tragic and how unwell and how unhinged her character is. She

doesn't behave like any other woman you ever see at the movies. The

supporting cast are fantastic. My favourite thing is the end. It is

the most anti- Hollywood thing. Maybe that is why it has been

overlooked. There's not a lot of learning. It's true. The film is

written by Diablo Cody and her voice is all over it. She made a

big name for herself with Juno. Juno brought me out in hives. I've

been dreading her work ever since. Young Adult, I'm ready to declare

it as genius. It is very different from Juno. There are similarities

in that there's a lot of obscure indie rock references. It's very

different from pretty much everything which comes out of

Hollywood. In a parallel reality, there's a sweet and fluffy wrong,

where the city girl goes back to her hometown and meets her ex-

boyfriend and reconnect. But here he is happily married with a new

baby and she is borderline psychotic. No learning is

absolutely the think it reminded me off. It made me think of Seinfeld,

which made me think no hugging, no learning. In the middle of it, you

have this incredible creation, Mavis, and she is the girl in high

ski -- high-school movies, the prom queen girl who gets her comeuppance

at the end. She doesn't get her comeuppance in this. She is a piece

of work and this is a piece of work. I can't recommend it enough. It

makes me feel very special that I was so on call at school. You're

right. I was incredibly popular! I pick up your point about Charlize

Theron. It is nuts that she hasn't got an Oscar nomination. She won an

Oscar a while ago for playing a serial killer in Monster. This is a

better performers because she hasn't got anything physical. There

she transformed herself. This is just Charlize Theron. Without

giving anything away, it never copped out. A fantastic ending and

the other interesting thing is I like this film more and more the

more I think about it. It is a brilliant, brilliant film. This

year it is the 200th but they have Charles Dickens and to mark that

occasion, Antonio for Countdown her favourite Dickens moment.

Charles Dickens stories have been adapted for the screen more than

any other writers. Many stories were serialised and beautifully

illustrated and act as virtual storyboards for the film-maker.

Here are my top five dickens moments. No. 5, Oliver. Dickens was

famously a magnificent reader of his own work and he travelled the

world thrilling audiences. Towards the end of his life he took to

reading Nancy's death scene from Oliver Twist and the sheer

intensity and drama of it often meant he had to be carried from the

stage afterwards. In fact, he died soon after such a reading in 1870.

This moment from the 1968 musical adaptation put the fear of God into

me as a kid. Sweet Nancy's double murder at the hands of literature's

greatest Boogie man, Bill Sikes, played by Oliver Reed, it just

feels like the worst thing It is the moment that kill Charles

Dickens himself. And then David Copperfield. When he was 12,

Charles Dickens was sent to work in a factory and retains enormous

sympathy for the poor child. This moment from an early, silent movie

from David Copperfield catchers the isolation of the Victorian urchins.

This was filmed only 60 years after the book was written.

Scrooge. Let's not forget Dickens was brilliant at capturing

happiness. I thought this scene from the unbeatable 1951 adaptation

of A Christmas Carol, where Scrooge was taken up to a knees-up to his

old employers, looks like the best time a person can have. I have

always wanted to be at this party. Was there ever a kinder man?

A tale of two cities. This 1958 adaptation is perfection. You can

pick any scene. I love the opening credits. Was there anything more

romantic? The movie starts Dirk Bogarde who was thought too much of

a lightweight in the role of the disillusioned young barrister. But

you can see hints of the deep melancholy he brought to his

greatest role in Death in Venice. The dream always ends in nothing.

But a beautiful dream. You have inspired it. Have I know power of

review at all? Keep my secret. Great expectations. The opening

page of this is the best in literature. The opening scene at

this immaculate adaptation is every bit as good. It is as though both

Dickens and the actor are saying, anything might happen.

SCREAMING. Keep still your little devil.

This man says, my daughter's teacher introduced her class to

Dickens by showing them a market Christmas Carol.

This says, Elizabeth Olsen coming to terms with her former life as a

member of a cult. Do you have the feeling if you

cannot tell if something is a memory or something you have

dreamed? You look like Amos C made. It is about internal struggle with

identity, who took Trust and how to find yourself. Who you identify

yourself with within a group. you like it here? It is great.

People have a band in New York whole life. You can be saved here,

I hope you do. But if you are going to live here, you need to be a part

of things. When she leaves them, she does not belong in her blood

family. The question is, what is your place in the world. Did she

find more love in the community? It is an interesting question. CT. How

far are we? From what? Yesterday. It is about everything that happens

in the Lake House. Sometimes I think I should have come home and

made sure you went to college. don't need your guidance now. I am

a teacher and a leader, you just never let me be that. But I know

who I am. Eight teacher and a leader? What are you talking about?

I would describe it as a sort of paranoia. Someone struggling with

controlling their thoughts and their mind and their actions. As an

actor, that is what is most fun, not knowing at what point she was

going to break. We have to leave. We all have to leave, I know him.

You don't want to live with this. It is almost like a war against

someone that is not tangible for something outside of herself, it is

not tangible. You are not listening to me! Mathur, what happened to

you? Every year, but there are a few

movies which remind me why I fell in love us with films in the first

place. This is one of them. It is spellbinding. Psychological

thriller is possibly one of the most off-putting terms in cinema.

But this is a psychological thriller in the best sense. It is

about what is real and what isn't. You often lose track of that. You

have her in this rural group and then this luxurious Lake House that

they escape from. Physically, they look different. But after a while,

you are uncertain which part of the film you are in. It is expert at

keeping you off balance and on edge. I don't have a bad word to say

about this. It is original, but I would compare it to, interestingly,

it is more of a Roman Polanski film than carnage. I would mention

picnic at Hanging Rock. It has an eeriness and calm. Anyone who has

seen that all know what I mean. It is a fantastic film. If I was

boring about Charlize Theron and how the Young Adult has been

overlooked, this is a crime. You watch this, call me and you will

agree. It is sinister. Nobody is how you think they are going to be.

That is what is so fascinating. Nothing is explicit. Nothing is

absolutely shown. You can only imagine what happened between her

and her sister. You have no idea. Just piecing it together and not

knowing what setting she is going to be in, it is fantastic. She is

phenomenal. She is absolutely mesmerising. The way he shoots her,

she looks so beautiful. There is an amazing scene when she is in a barn.

When you see it, you will understand. This terrible figure,

who is brilliant, Patrick, is there. You'll not get this film out of

your head. It is an extraordinary week for film. There is nothing

that is bad, but please go and see this. I absolutely agree with you.

I'm glad you talked about Elizabeth Olsen. As a breakthrough

performance, it is the first film she has been in. It is incredible.

A lot of that is to do with how she looks. She is a very pretty person,

but there is something alien about her. I don't know if she will ever

give a performance as good as this, but even if she does not, she has

made her mark. John Hawkes, the film wouldn't be the same without

him. The script is fantastic. It lets us know maybe you don't need

to know everything about every character all at once. And maybe

there are some things you do not need to know at all. It is

spellbinding. If we were living in my world, it would walk away with a

bag full of Oscars. It has a fantastic ending. Danny asked, do

we see the same thing when we are watching the same film? He went to

find out. It is a strange way spending time,

going to the cinema. Sitting in the dark and exposing ourselves to a

kaleidoscopic barrage of sound and images, to see life through someone

else's eyes. But film has a unique power to get under our skin and

into our minds. I want to find out about the psychology up of the film

experience, the process that begins the moment the lights go down.

House cinema works on the brain is a hot topic. Edits in films are

getting faster and faster. I want to know how much free will we have

when we watch a film. Just compare this James Bond fight scene from

1971. To this one, in 2008. I have come to Birkbeck University to take

part in the unit -- experiment to find out more about the signs to

the art of filming. I want to watch this clip as naturally as possible.

Reaction times are a factor in this, so please pay attention and answer

as fast as you can. I have seen this so many times but I have never

seen it with my head in a vice. It is fine, go with it. I want you to

put the machine on. If the machine does not work? What was I just

doing? I got you to put your chin Verso this strip could record your

face. The tracker has high-speed infra-red cameras that illuminate

your face and allow us to see where your pupils are and where you are

looking on the screen. We are using this to see how you watch films and

how it relates to what the film- maker is doing to manipulate your

attention. What is manipulating my attention, what tricks do they have

up their sleeve? You think you can take in the whole scene that is in

front of you when you choose. But the skill of the film-maker it is

to guide your attention, take advantage of habits you have in the

real world to guide you to what they want you to look at in the

Dome. It is focus, lighting and the framing. When you are hooked in,

they can edit things to cut to the things we are interested in. I am

Rachel's. There is lots of conventions and film, that have

been there for decades. Cutting from long shots, as you come into a

scene to closer shot. The film maker goes from one viewpoint to

another that he wants you to be interested in. He has to have a way

of doing this in a natural way, so it does not seem as though he is

forcing the viewer to look at something. So we forget we are

watching a film? It should be just as fluid and easy for us to watch a

film as it is to watch a natural seen playing out in front of us.

How does that go in Blade runner? One character is on the left and

one is on the right. When our interests which to one character,

the film-maker cuts to a close up. If you roll back timed to the

beginning of film and the start of the 20th century, film-makers,

through experimentation were getting an insight to these

Technics. And they understand these principles before psychologists

were able to investigate and quantify them. Have you had other

people before me watching the same clip? I can show you the behaviour

of eight people watching this clip. These circles is the location of

one viewer. We have had more to put circles all looking at the same

time. And there is this heat map which tells us how co-ordinated it

is. What you can see is how rapidly attention moves around, but how

focused it is on small areas of the screen. The editing is there to cut

and focus us to new parts of the image. But what is surprising is

viewers would generally look at the same part of the image. So we look

at this shot and the reverse shot, it is quick, then cutting across

and finding the face of the person who is speaking. For the first time

we can use this experiment to show how effective these editing

inventions really are. At your data, your gaze is these red box. And the

lines are when you are making a sweeping movement when your eyes

move somewhere else. Your attention is doing mostly the same thing.

am watching presumably what Ridley Scott, the director, wants me to

watch? He probably knows exactly what he want you to be

concentrating on. He is setting up the shots, lighting it and staging

it. He will know most of the time were you are looking and therefore

were all of the viewers will be looking. It is unnerving. You ask

yourself do we have any freewill whatsoever? For 90% of most

Hollywood movies, we are looking at a small region of the screen, just

about 3%. It is only these individual things we point our eyes

at that make it into our memory. proved we are all looking at the

same thing when we are watching a film. You are reading a magazine

and you come across a full-page nude picture of a girl. Is this

testing my resonance or that I am a lesbian. Does this mean we feel the

same way about what we see? show it to your husband, and he

hands it on your bedroom wall? They can make us look at whatever

they like, but they can't control how we feel for her those images

mesh with whatever was in our minds to start with and that is cinema's

greatest trick and it's the one that makes sure that no matter how

many films I see, they keep coming back for more.

Next, Chronicle, the story of three high-school friends who suddenly

develop superhuman powers. probably won't want this on camera.

Do it. Give me a countdown. This film is about what would happen if

very ordinary American teenagers We opened a movie on a kid who is

dealing with a lot of problems at home. No way! The main character is

a loner. These powers affect him kind of like a temptation. A

temptation to strike back. What is wrong with you? Was it an accident?

Andrew? That is in direct contrast to Steve Montgomerie and his cousin,

Matt. I really wanted, as a big film lover, to approach the found

footage bathetic and create a movie rather than a gimmick or just a

one-off experience. Can you hear that? How creepy is that? A sound

coming up. Probably. I think it reflects on what I think is the

most self photograph generation of all time. Kids are also equipped

with the technology to document their lives, every minute from the

time they wake up to the time they From the first scene of the film to

the last scene of the film, we didn't want any of the visual

effects to take you out of that The other films we have talked

about are very girl heavy. Even Carnage feels like a woman's film.

This is boys. He say that like it's a bad thing. Teenage boys! It has a

cheekiness and I think it has some great scenes high up in the sky. I

really enjoyed it. However, and I'm just going to say this, the device,

which is that everybody shoots everything, I think went one person

too far with the girlfriend who was, do you mind, I've got a camera. I

get it. I do think I'm a little old lady and I think everybody films

everything and puts it on Facebook. I'm possibly of the wrong

generation but I found it a bit contrived. But in general, I said

15-year-old boys would love this. think it is an incredibly pleasant

surprise. The found footage Bangor is what people will pick up on

because they will think of this like Cloverfield. It is a really

nice idea and I hear what you are saying about the script. There are

a lot of explanations for why people last filming. But visually

it works brilliant and without giving away too much, the finale is

completely dependent on there found footage. I'm happy with the film, I

won't criticise it. What is so impressive is the way it changes

tone. To do something realistically about what it is like to grow up as

a teenager in America, teenagers never have personalities. This

movie gives them personalities. You move through different genres. They

are 15, 16, they have superpowers. It is jackass. Them as they explore

their powers, it becomes a bit more sci-fi, then it becomes darker.

This is where the film excels and it starts to show an uglier side of

growing up in America. Award mention that the right one in and

carry. It is not a name to be trifled with. There's a No vote on

March to carry. I'm very keen on this film. It will be very

difficult to pick film of the week. Devilishly hard. There are three

excellent film someone very good one. I will go for Martha, Marcy,

May, Malene. Me too. If you are listening, please also see Young

Adult. It's now time for the questionnaire. This week it is

This sounds like a good question. What is your favourite almost

watched film? Well, probably the market movie. That was sweet.

Starring me. Maybe a film your Martin. Anything you ever watch?

How about breakfast at Tiffany's? Good choice. I can really relate to

Audrey Hepburn's character. She brought up on a farm and then went

to the big city. Just like me. nice. I can't think of any films

about a guy who brought up in a swamp and went to the big city, but

I quite like vanilla sky. It is a very important one for me. It is a

Tom Cruise film. I could have played that role. Really?

imagine yourself playing that role? Perhaps. I can identify with the

character. Total confusion, stuff going on he can't understand and

then he finds out his head but chopped off. It is very dear to my

heart. What? Remind me not to see that movie. They are a couple I

particularly enjoyed working with. Jim Henson is wonderful. Yes!

fellow named Frank Oz. I worked with him a couple of times. If I

could choose a director now to work with, I liked the idea of doing a

film with Martin Scorsese. He is a wonderful director, I love his

style. He seems like a pretty nice guy. Mostly it's about him being a

nice guy. He does have a movie out that is competing with The Muppets.

I know. You're giving the competition screen time. I am.

You're promoting him and his movie when you should be promoting our

movie. That's true. I suppose it would be nice to eliminate the

competition so maybe he will work for us next time! Wow! That's hard.

A what do you think? Bogeyed and the call. We can do their life

story. Hepburn and Tracy. We could be Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Yet! We can dance. Those are all good. I concur. I quite like the

Rocky Horror Show. We could do that part. We could play those roles.

That is a pretty good movie. A huge cult success which I could put my

flippers up and watch any time. It's just to jump to the left. If I

do any more of have to pay royalties! That is all for tonight.

Next week's show will be back at 11:15pm and we will review The

Muppets, The Vow and A Dangerous Method. Playing it out is this must

be the plays starring Sean Penn. It's in cinemas this April. Thank

you for watching. Good night. father is dying and I haven't flown

in 30 years. Fear of flying is not your only problem. That's true.

of the reasons I fell in love with I didn't talk to my father in 30

years. I don't know the first thing about him. All I ever did was

search... You know about the Holocaust? And a general way.

father, did you know your father? In a general way. Would you like to