Episode 11 Film 2013

. And where were you when JFK was shot?

Paul Giamatti and Zac Efron star in Parkland.

Plus, the revenge drama, Vendetta, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The

new film from Wes Anderson. We're happily joined by guess critic Chris

Hewitt. First-up, Jennifer Lawrence recreates her role as Katniss

Everdeen in The Hunger Games Catching Fire. Having won the Games

first up, and Peeta are up against previous victors.

Ladies and gentlemen, the victors of the 74th Games, Katniss and Peeta.

We pick up when Katniss and Peeta are about to go on the victory tour

and everything is just different after the Games and she doesn't feel

like she belongs anywhere. She's not who they think she is. She just

wants to save her skin - simple as that.

She has become a beacon of hope for them. So she has to be eliminated.

The way they won The Hunger Games is unlike any other. The first time

that there were two victors. Help me get through the trip. This trip

doesn't end when you get back home. What do we do? Your job is to be a

distraction. It has such an enthusiastic fan base so I was

energised. Because the fan base is so big, you have to make sure that

you tell the story in the best way possible. You haven't heard people,

Katniss. You've given them an opportunity. They have to be brave

enough. We have to go before they kill us. They will kill us. What

about the other families? The ones who stay? What happens to them?

People are looking to you, Katniss. I don't want anyone looking to me. I

can't help them. The stakes are incredibly high.

Everything in their world has intensified inside and out of the

arena. We get to see a broader scope of the world. See more of the

capital, more of the districts and then you've got another danger with

these guys. We go back in to the games. So, short stick, I would say,

is what the characters are drawn to. This is the 75th year of The Hunger

Games. The tributes are to be reaped on the existing pool of victors. I

have to say goodbye. Katniss. Remember who the real enemy is.

Katniss Everdeen in the first film is a young girl who raises her hand

for her sister - just a gut reaction. And in this movie, she

becomes a warrior. And we do see her start to evolve in to this... In to

what we see as a leader of a rebellion. Go ahead. Her entire

species must be eradicated. Her species, Sir? The other victors.

Because of her, they all pose a threat. Because of her, they all

think they're invincible. She looks amazing in the grey there.

What do you think? Catching Fire is the second film. Sorry, the second

in a quadrilogy. An unglamorous place for a movie to be. And it has

a strange job because it has to take the story from over here and put it

over there in time for the 2-part grand finale. I think it is better

than the first movie. It is lean and slick and relentless and

relentlessly cynical for a movie. The message of the movie is that you

can't trust the government, you can't trust the media and people in

show business. I think that's a healthy message to tell the youth of

today. It is healthier than the toxic guf I used to get from

Twilight. To be honest, I'm 41. And so, I stand back from this and say -

this is a well made peels of Hollywood entertainment. If I was 15

and had to go out and bare knuckle fight 200 other kids to work in a

call centre, this would be my favourite movie of all time. My son

isn't that old. He's almost 11 and he's counting the minutes. He's

literally set his timer for when he can go at the weekend. What do you

think? I liked it. I went in to this movie as I go in to most movies as a

position of ignorance. I didn't know anything about it. I hadn't read the

books. I barely remembered the first movie. I remember enjoying it. There

was one part where someone was disguised as a tree. Otherwise I was

in a position of ignorance. This movie is better than the first, as

far as I could tell. It is more gripping and more adult. It is not

really aimed at kids. I think that 10-year-olds will love it. Jennifer

Lawrence is fantastic. And it is constantly surprising as well.

Things happened that I didn't see coming. I loved the first film. I

think that it is... If this isn't too mean - all about her. If it was

anybody else, it would be fine. But she is - you can't stop staring at

her. It is interesting. One of the things about the movie that it does

so well is that it is two movies in one. You've got this media satire

all about the government and about society and then it turns in to an

action movie. And the action movie is impressively weird. It takes

place in this artificial jungle set in a dome and it is a neat trick to

pull off. Because the thing about this science fiction is often there

are barbaric terrible sports which is secretly really fun to watch. If

anybody remembers the original roller ball, the sport. Which we

were supposed to be appalled by. And I think that Catching Fire does a

good job of that. There's a level of excitement, but it is not too

exciting. The film belongs to Jennifer Lawrence. She elevates the

whole thing. It is difficult for me, having said that I'm 41, a

41-year-old man, I can't talk about Jennifer Lawrence without sounding

like a desperate old pervert, but actually, the series as a whole is

lucky to have her because I think what she does is that the reason

that people fall in love with her off camera is because she seems like

a movie star who may also be a human being. You said she was your

favourite interviewee? She's sparky and not playing a game. She's just

herself, essentially, and she's fantastic in the movie. One of the

things that doesn't work about it is that there's a love triangle at the

core between Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.

And neither of those two are really good enough for her. There's a big

pivotal kiss about halfway through and I watched this with a notable

film critic. And when it happened he went - oh! Almost as if I was

disapproving in some way. It is great. All of that stuff translates

on to screen. Because the thing about Katniss Everdeen shall the

character, and it wouldn't work with many other actresses is that she

seems like an ordinary girl. A Hollywood actress to appear like

she's been made up to not wear make-up. Most other young actresses,

that's what you would get. And she's not a Ripley clone. Most action

heroes are. She's smart and tough but also vulnerable. There are a lot

of scenes where she's put in peril and doesn't know what's happening.

You see it all in the face. But another reason that I think that the

film as a whole is better than the first film, from what I can remember

of the first film s that the cast are better. You still have Stanley

Tucci and also Philip Seymour Hoffman who underplays everything.

You can tell that he's professional because they introduce him and bring

hem on the stage. He doesn't flicker for a second and gets on with it.

But the whole supporting cast, there's really... Yes, all of them.

The sparky characters. And nobody looks bored or resentful or too good

for this. Nobody looks like they're sending an abusive text to their

agent the moment they say cut. Which is rare with a movie like this.

Good, you love it. I love it. I thought that it was long. And I

wanted something to happen at the end rather than her just to open her

eyes - excuse me! Rather than an ensemble for Parkland

which recreates the chaotic events immediately surrounding the

assassination of JFK. Are you going to be OK here? Yeah,

it's a good program. I want everybody downstairs to see the

President. Parkland is about the assassination

of John F Kennedy in a way we've never seen before. It's through the

eyes of the people who were so intimately involved. The man who

accidentally took the home movie of the evidence of the crime. The

brother of the killer. The FBI agent who knew about Oswald the whole

time. It's from the point of view of people who were not witnesses,

necessarily, but actually participants. We've got something.

It's the President, he's coming in. I'm fascinated by stories in the

periphery. The stories that we don't think about and which frequently

turn out to be more powerful and interesting. And the idea of a

rookie doctor who thought that the President was coming in because he

had a cold and then to be covered in his blood. You can't make that up.

It is the President. I know who it is. I need pressure right now. And

when Oswald came in, he was treated by the same team of young doctors.

So the murder victim and the murderer, it's shake peerian. We

might get to keep this one. Do we want to? -- Shakespearean. What if

he dies? We need a confession. The Kennedy assassination and 9/11

are the two most sim inial moments in history. It rels owe nats because

it is a part of our national mythology. I hope that people will

experience the Kennedy assassination as if they were witnessing it unfold

in front of them instead of something that they read 50 years

ago. We have the assasin of the President in our office, ten days

ago. We had him and we couldn't stop him. Jeet us Christ - this was not

supposed to -- Jesus Christ, this was not supposed to happen.

Chris? Can I say that this may have been rushed out in time for JFK's

50th an veraries which is a little bit tawdry. -- anniversary, which is

a little bit tawdry. Based on the other people involved in the

assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald. Unfortunately, this is a little dull

and roped. It is not Parkland. It sits there like a coat on a coat

rack. It doesn't work. It's very samy! It is a shame because it is a

great idea. I can't get over the idea. Chris is right. Some movies

are inspired, most movies are I spired because someone involves

feels very passionate and inspired and wants to bring a story to the

world. Others are made because someone in a studio was browsing on

WikiLeaks and said - it is -- on Wikipedia and said it is the 50th

anniversary coming up. It is interesting to take this very over

familiar scene and look at the secondary characters and make it new

again. But you don't feel, I didn't feel anyway, that you learn

anything. You don't really feel anything. And so that impulse to

commemorate is fine. But that's what details are for. There's a line

where a character says, "Doctor, you have nothing to work with." And that

says it all about the fill. It is referential, which it has to be. And

grown-up. But at other points, it becomes sort of comedy! Yeah, it is

overbearingly sombre throughout. Which you're right, it has to be.

But it is so in your face, it ends up tipping to to camp. There's a

scene, Chris and I were talking about it earlier where the coffin

had to be brought on to the plane so that it could finally escape Dallas

ta becomes - if you are charitable, John Waters, and uncharitable, the

Chuckle Brothers. And I hope that people over there won't see it as a

spoiler but for most, we go in to the film knowing how this is going

to go for Kennedy and how it is going to go for Thomas Waldrom. And

it leaves a -- Lee Harvey Oswald. And there is an inconsequential

moment in there. And the man who filmed the incredibly famous

footage. The sequence of whether they can develop the footage or not.

And you think - well, it's on YouTube. Without want be to be

crass, we do know. I thought that it worked. There were moments and

things in the movie that I hadn't seen or heard before about the

assassination. But that worked for me. But there are moments when it

felt that the movie was slightly cheap. It was a superior fwil am but

didn't have the budget to recreate the film. There is a moment where

Paul Giamatti is filming the famous film and he's in dal they clearly

can't afford the procession to go past so they had the camera on her.

We want them. But you know you're in trouble pretty much straight way

way. Kennedy is wheeled in to the Parkland Hospital and who turns

around only Zac Efron! If that was me, and if I'm ever in a position

where my life depends on Zac Efron, you can wheel me straight back out

and leave me in the car park. He manages not to burst in to song, but

that's about it. I think that the casting with Zac Efron is

disastrous. And Jackie Weaver, the great Jacki Weaver who plays Lee

Harvey Oswald's mother. They pitches everything at such a level of

cartoonishness, it's like she'll leave the funeral in the Mystery

Machine. It capsizes the movie. I think it's a shame. There are

moments when you get a sense of what the movie could have been. Made by a

brilliant journalist. You might be right there, but apparently he was

passionate about making the film and the director there and himself. And

you can imagine himself just gathering all of the research and

all of the information. It's not a bad movie. Just a pointless one. It

doesn't have the department of Oliver Stone's JFK. There's an actor

that crosses over from both, Gary Grubs. And when he walks in you're

thinking - I may as well watch JFK now. And it is so much more detailed

and so much more momentum behind it and so much more passion.

Next, The Family starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer as Mafia

whistleblowers who are relocated to France with their families for

safety. Once you turn on the mob, the mob

turns on you. Welcome to witness protection. Try to fit in. This is a

story about a mob family who have to keep being relocated because they

can't quite do that. Peanut butter. After the dog food. Stupid

Americans. How was day? Fine. My character is Bell Blake. She's pet u

lent one moment and then kicking somebody's... I never know what I

can say and not say? Is that swearing if you say that?

Hey, boys, if this is your approach to women, you're not going to get

very far! It is lawless in a way. They're making up their own rules

and I think that that dangerous recklessness is a feeling to people.

You're going to take that silverware and put it back where you found it

nice and easy or else I'll break both your arms. I like the outlaw

thing and going against the establishment. I'm the plumber. You

said five minutes. That was 45 minutes ago. The idea of the family

sticking together was one of the appeals. I didn't kill him. I took

him to the hospital. Why did you beat him to a pulp? He's the only

plumber within a radius of 20 minutes. He made you wait. He was

trying to rip me off. Put yourself in my shoes. I wouldn't have beat

him up. Who is going to fix the pipes? Who's going to rebuild the

supermarket that burned down the day we got here. We had a good time and

I'm sorry that we hadn't worked together earlier. What do you think

you're doing? The idea of working with Robert De

Niro as an actor is a little bit daunting. But one of the biggest

surprises for me is how accessible he is. I think what's nice about

this film is you do see how much they love each other and why they

want to stay together. I think ultimately that's what the movie is

about. That family bond and the lengths that people will go to to

preserve that. Your family is the incarnation of

evil. The clean-up operation. Get that family out of there. I've got

to find my kids. Alright, before we ask you both your

opinions. Let me start with a tweet. The Family is a surprisingly

entertaining crime comedy that blurs the lines between bleep violence and

cartoon hilarity! Not this family. It's not that movie. I wish we

didn't even have to speak about this film. Black comedies are notoriously

tricky to pull this off. This is done in clown shoes. There is one

joke which is essentially that the French are all rude and

condescending and teenage boys are all acne ridden sex pests. And

because of that, as a nation, they should be beaten to death and

dragged behind cars. Which seems disproportionate and grotesque. If

you wanted to save yourself the ?10, draw yourself a cartoon of a little

man with a moustache and a beret with a string of onions and Robert

De Niro coming in with a chain saw. I've saved you the tenner and you

haven't had to see him on the screen further soiling his legacy with the

same facial expression since 1989. Michelle Pfeiffer is always

unbelievably good. I love everything about her. I do. I know that you're

both looking at me with sympathy. I like Michelle Pfeiffer. They do OK.

They say their lines. No-one walks at the camera. But for me, this is

probably the worst film of the year. I absolutely hated it. This was an

ordeal for me watching this. And it is monumentally misjudged from frame

one to frame eight million. And one of the reasons is that there's a

scene towards the end where Robert De Niro has to watch Goodfellas in

the movie and nobody points out that he looks like Jimmy Conway. We're

watching a better movie than the one we're in. It is better because the

director, who is French. I should point out that it is weird. I'm

assuming that he is being chased through the streets of Paris. I

assume in the way that he thinks that the film is edgy and dark, that

he thinks that that scene in particular is a bit clever and a bit

Charlie Kauffman. I don't know how much money Robert De Niro needs or

why he's doing this movie. He might just like working? It is not that.

South of France? I want it on record that if it is the money, I will

donate. I will go on to the telethon and I will give pretty much to stop

him doing this. And it is so weird with Robert De Niro because for my

entire adult film going life, he's been doing this. He's been parodying

the early great roles that he had for longer than he played the early

great roles. This has been going on for some time. He owns New York.

When does it end? He doesn't officially own New York. He owns

areas and a restaurant! Chris is right, the tone deafness about the

film. You realise that you're supposed to be laughing because

Robert De Niro and people beating people to death. It is incredibly

violent. It is partly produced by Martin Scorcese. You only know that

you're supposed to laugh because the jaunty accordian music kicks in and

there will be a response for me where you cower. That's what you end

up doing. OK, he says worst film of this year.

Next, Danny Dyer goes on a Death Wish style revenge in the low budget

drama, Vendetta. There was a time I would have bled

to keep the red in the Union Jack. Them days are long gone.

Vendetta is a sort of a remake of Death Wish. A vigilante type of

movie. I pla a character called Jimmy Vicars, SAS highly-trained

killer. I'm going to annihilate you. His mum and dad are killed in the

most horrific way you can possibly think. There's nothing to stop them

doing it again. There's me. And I basically go on an urban

safari through London torturing and killing people. Let ne go, man,

please! One by one in the most creative ways you can possibly

imagine. If you want to take a stand. You've

got to be tall. Taller than you've ever been. Finish these guys a

then... You'll vanish. It's OK to turn awe way from the

screen every now and again, I understand. Because it can be quite

horrific. They don't deserve to live. They need their hearts torn

out. Where is he? We shot this in three weeks. A 6-day week. Shot it

for ?100,000 and you would think that that is impossible. That's not

even like a catering budget on most films. This script lands on the

floor and I pick it up and go... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

This is what I've been waiting for. You see that this is a good piece of

entertainment. Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

?100,000. Three weeks long. It's impressive? Yeah, and it looks

great. Danny Dyer is impressive because he has become a bit of a

punching bag. But underneath all of the finger pointing, he's an

underrated actor and he can deliver. And he's an effective presence in

this movie. Having said that, it's a little bit like it wants to be Death

Wish, but it is actually more Death Wish 4 meets a Rambo. It doesn't

work as a thriller. But he's effective. I think that there are

many worse things going on in cinemas than Kieron Dyer movies and

this week, we've seen two of them. -- Danny Dyer. I think that Danny

Dyer is underrated and I think that the way that he's treated by members

of the critical fraternity is kind of a little bit repellent, actually.

Not everybody goes to a nice school and has a certain background. He's

trying to pay his mortgage and the work that he does, he brings a lot

of commitment to the table. At least sometimes. And he is here what he

always is, which is a talented erratic actor with, I think, a lot

of presence on the screen. You know, who has made some fairly bad career

choices. But you know... Look, the film is incredibly long and

incredibly violent. Yes yeah, it is about 105 minutes, it feels about

140. It is almost Games 2 territory. He's not helped and the cast is not

helped by the fact that it looks there. But I think that it is better

directed. And some of the lines here have never been said by anyone who

hasn't just got off a space ship. No actor should really be asked to

deliver those kinds of lines. There's at least one character whose

final word is "bruv". Another character who compares something to

piss rain. I don't know what it is. Everybody should try it once in

their lives. And Danny Dyer himself. One scene in particular he's with

his ex-wife and it is poignant and then he has to stay there and say -

can I use your bathroom. Which no actor should have to do. But I think

that the film itself is cliched. But no no more so than there. And

anything that Liam Neeson has done in recent years. I wish if had more

snap. It is a little bit long and pomp us at times. There's nothing

wrong with that. There could be a sequel. Vendetta and Vendetta.

There's a blitant appeal for a sequel halfway through the credits.

Film of the week? The Hunger Games for me. I would say Catching Fire

for me. There's another one? There is a film called Computer Chess

which has a limited release. It's absolutely charming. It is strange

and wonderful. It's the story set back in the early 1980s. A group of

rival computer programmers who have rival chess programs. It starts off

at '80s nast algia and then becomes weirder and funnier. So if you can

see Computer Chess, I would very much recommend that you do. Thank

you very much. That is all from us. We'll be back at the same time next

week when we review Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and the remake of Carrie

and Jeune Jolie. We'll leave you with a look at The Grand Budapest

Hotel. That will be in cinemas from February. Thank you for watching.

Goodnight. Why do you want to be a lobby boy?

Who wouldn't? At The Grand Budapest Hotel. And so, my life began. Junior

lobby boy in training under the strict command. Many of hotel's most

valued and distinguished guests came for him. I love you. I love you. She

wasle dynamite in the sack, by the way. She was 84. I had older. I

became his pupil and he was my guardian and counsellor. The police

are here. Tell them I'll be right down. She's been murdered and you

think that I did it! You're looking so well, darling. You really are. I

don't know what cream they put on you at the morgue, but I want some.

This is the last will and test am. A painting known as Boy with Apple.

Who is Gustav H? I'm afraid, that's me? This is in code and you might

need a magnifying glass. I want road blocks for every train station for

100km. Get in. I want 50 men and ten blood hounds ready in five minutes.