Episode 13 Film 2013

Hello and welcome to Film 2013. We're live and if you want to get in

touch the details are on the screen now.

Coming up on tonight's show: Daniel Radcliffe gets poetic as Allen

Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings. Are you a writer? No, I'm not. Well,

you're not anything. Bruce Dern's on the road in

Nebraska. Your old man is somebody. And Spike Lee remakes Korean classic

Oldboy. Wherever you are, I will find you.

Plus James Franco and Jason Statham team up for Home Front and we take a

look at George Clooney in The Monuments Men. Danny is here and

we're joined by guest critic, Kevin Maher. First up is Kill Your

Darlings which recreates a chapter in the lives of the beat generation

just before they were famous. Daniel Radcliffe leads the cast as poet,

Allen Ginsberg. You want life, the want the world on fire. Security.

What the hell are you doing? And you are? I play Allen Ginsberg. He goes

to Columbia University. He falls head over in love. The illusion is

this figure. Who introduces me to William Burrows and Jack and then

everything goes wrong. I want you to meet our host. I have been in a

relationship with an older man for seven years at this point and I am

ready to get out of it. He is a professor who won't let me go. I am

having trouble finding a way of freeing myself from him. So I murder

him. Yes. We're going to make sure nobody remembers him. All the

writers are caught up in sort of the aftermath of that murder. It is not

a laughing matter, but I think it is important to take the fame of these

characters or the fame they later achieved out of the equation and see

if the story stands up on its own. Be careful, you are not in

wonderland. I have heard the strange madness long growing in your soul.

But you are fortunate in your ignorance, in your isolation. You,

are who have suffered, find where love hides. Give, share, lose. There

is something about their, you know, what they stood for at the time that

I think is the reason they continued to find relevance with every

generation of teenagers who are looking for some rebellions.

The death of morality. It is a severe decline in standards. The

relationship between Allan and us was important. The irony of these

relationships is when you meet somebody and takes you under their

wing and sees possibilities in you that you never saw before. They

encourage you to grow, but never as high as themselves. You are ordinary

and I made your life extraordinary and in the same way they tell

writers and writing class that you have to metaphorically kill your

parents, you have to surpass or cut this person out of why you are life

in order to find your own voice and become yourself. And that to us, was

the heart of the movie. I only want you both to be lovely about this

film. With that in mind. Go ahead. You might be disappointed. Everyone

knew Harry Potter was destined for a life of drug abuse and it does work

on that level. I can't be as enthusiastic as you really. I think

there has been a lot of terrible films made about the beat and this

isn't a catastrophe. It needs mob more than likeable. The directing is

over excited. The performances are sturdy. I love Daniel Radcliffe. I

will be gentle with you, I think maybe there is two films here, isn't

there? There is the film at the start which is about the beat poets

and the great film is about writers are often about fictional writers,

Wonder Boys and there is a reason that this is so which is because

films about writing and about the creative process are boring. The act

of writing is dull to watch and the mistake, the first-half of this film

makes is to show you a film about creative writing which is nail my

face to the seat! They get around that because you

have this thing with Daniel Radcliffe where writing perhaps the

most crazy, intense, physical act of anyone's life. Daniel Radcliffe

stands up and pleasures himself. We have all done that. I am doing it

wrong because I have never gone that far. It can't decide what kind of

film it wants to be. It has this historical nugget at its heart, a

true crime story, but it doesn't want to be that movie. It wants to

be this rug rats history of the beats. Almost like a Jack Ass with a

library card. The characters that you have been

for the first 60 minutes have come across... You think it is a

nightmare... For the first nightmare 60 minutes the protagonists have

turned out to be twangers. I am going to be positive again about the

performances. When you encounter Burrows sat in a bathtub. And Daniel

Radcliffe, I can only quote a friend of mine who said Daniel Radcliffe is

improving and that's true and that's not meant to be the grotesque

backhander that it sounds like. He is working hard here. Allen Ginsberg

was working hard to fit in and to find... You don't believe he is

madly in love with that boy and then he is heart broken. I was hooked.

Can I, because I think you are both adorable, but wrong. Freda Cooper

sent a text, " One of the best films I have seen this year." I just

wanted more. I wanted more of the murder. I wanted more, I wanted more

of William Burrows to be honest. I was thinking, "What is William

Burrows up to now?" The women were always sort of sent off to go and

stick the kettle on and be shot at. It is hard to identify. At one point

a character... You are not happy. A character at one point says,

"Hayman, let the prisoners out and let's have fun." What's the matter

with that? A star, don't listen to them!

Next, Director Alexander Payne follows up The Descendants with

Nebraska. Veteran Bruce Dern stars as Woody Grant who thinks he's won a

million dollars. We are now authorised to pay $1 million to

Woodrow T Grant. You didn't win anything, it is a scram. I guess it

is a father, son road trip from Nevada to Nebraska. It is none of

your business. It is. I am your son. The son tries to give the father

some shred of dignity. We can't drop everything and go to Nebraska. It is

a selfless and a selfish act in that sometimes we try to give others

dignity to make ourselves feel better for being associated with

them in the first place. I never knew the son of a bitch wanted to be

a millionaire. It was the perfect length for a screenplay. It was

comic and sad. How much longer is he going to be around? The oldest

cliche is the truest 90% of casting is directing. I choose actors that

gave me a vivid version of real. Why didn't you tell us you was rich?

David said not to. We would like to see what $1 million looks like.

Bruce Dern is a smart actor and he had a good sense of what the

screenplay required, plus the guy had read the script. He had a bit of

time to consider the character and to become that character to some

degree. I was aspiring the acting style has a degree of the flatness

of real life and in real life people can be quite flat. Everybody saying

how Woody Grant is a millionaire. That's no big deal. If I met Woody

Allen it would never occur to me to say, "Why did you shoot Manhattan in

black and white. " It would never occur to he moo, I would accept it.

I understand it is unusual in today's cinematic landscape to shoot

black and white, but it is not unheard of and it is a perfectly

beautiful form. You talk about having kids and how many you wanted

and stuff like that? No. And why did you have us? Because I liked this

girl and your mother is a Catholic so you figure it out. So you and mom

never actually talked about whether you had kids or not? I figured if we

kept on screwing, we would end up with a couple of you. You love this?

Yes. Relax. Relax. When you see the plot and see the trailer, you have

to approach a film like this with trepidation and caution because it

seems, you know, preriged for an old person, child, on a journey, the

straight story so many films that would use that device to jerk tears.

Maybe because it is Alexander Payne and because it is the one director

to doesn't have a number of people. He married this material beautifully

and at every point he could be going for the emotional jugular it takes a

left turn. Are you a fan of pain in general? I am a fan of pain. Not

that, we are all a fan of pain. Pain is good. I am hit and miss with

pain. Some of the films, they feel a bit cold, emotionally they feel

cold. It feels like he doesn't be on the side of his characters. He has a

big brain and he is a philosophy student and he has a bigger fish to

fry when he is telling stories and sometimes he misses his characters.

This film, it worked, the world view worked.

People get hung up about things like 3 D, 3 D has never been a problem in

Hollywood. In effect, this film, I think was what is so remarkable, it

is the decheeser, it is the perfect antidote no to that. Alexander Payne

is the perfect director for this material. There is times in the past

that he felt like he is sniggering at his characters. He doesn't do

that with Bruce Dern's character, Woody Allen, but is no one to be

trifled with and he is the can TAsserous figure you don't see in

movies. It is beautifully made. It is funny and brave as well because

you know, it seems it is a wonderful life. American films told us, small

places are wonderful places and full of people who would lay down and die

for you. Actually what he says is small towns are terrible places. It

is not cheaply cynical, but it is cynical enough and it is bracing, it

is a movie that feels like because it is a faer and son -- father and

son road trip, any moment it will give you a big cuddle, but it

doesn't, it smacks you around the head and tells you to grow up.

I found it moving, but it never goes, "This is what you are going to

be." Those two boys who played the brothers, there was a clip there of

them. They are funny, right? I'm going to take issue, I didn't laugh

out loud. It is a wry chuckle movie, isn't it? If only because with the

brothers, that's an Alexander Payne weak spot, he can't spot a fat

person without letting the camera linger on them for a nudge in the

ribs about that one. The amazing thing is president wife of Bruce

Dern... June Squib. The wife of an 80 c-year-old man is

an 80-year-old woman and not a dolly bird. Did you think when you first

saw her, who is that? We are preprogrammed by Hollywood movies to

think that a man of certain years will always have a younger woman

with him. Even with nasal hair like that! She

had great moments, didn't she? Bruce Dern is monumental here and Stacey

Keetch. She has a flashy moment that I didn't go for. It seemed that the

one moment was out of character. That's not what you said off camera!

She was in Alexander Payne previous movie. If June Squibb's name is not

being read out for awards, we need to go to LA!

It is brilliant. Spike Lee has remade the 2003 Korean

classic, Oldboy. It is a man obsessed with revenge and finding an

explanation for why he was kidnapped and locked away for 20 years. There

is strong language. Hello. Can anybody hear me on the

outside? The suspect is the victim's former husband and father of the

surviving child. This guy is put in prison for 20

years and is confronted by his worst demons, himself. Your father has

been missing for 20 years. If I could somehow bring him here, do you

think you could forgive him? I could try. What happened? He showed up

last night. I need your help. I haven't seen the guy in 20 years.

Hello Joseph. How was your first day of freedom?

Action! We had to respect the original stories, but make it

different. The director gave his blessing to josh and myself and said

whatever you do, make your own film. You might want to think about what

you are doing here. I have been thinking about it for the last 20

years. Spike creates an ambiance where anything goes. Everything was

challenging emotionally and physically I still have muscles that

haven't bounced back and it has been a year! I pushed it mostly because

of Spike. Break it down -- when you break it

down, it is a cold-blooded revenge film. You never stopped to ask the

most fundamental question of all, why did I let you go? That voice is

quite extraordinary. What did you think? I hope one day there will be

a documentary about the making of Spike Lee's Oldboy. It would be

incredibly depressing, but it will be required viewing. You will find

out what happened when the executives turned around to Spike

Lee and demanded the 40 minutes came out of this movie, making a screwed

up idea more screwed up. You will find out what happened on set when

Spike Lee had this weird identity crisis and spent half the movie over

directing everything in sight and then spent the other half wandering

out to get Starbucks and left the work experience kid in charge and

you will find out what happened between Spike Lee and one of the

stars of the film here. For some reason, I can only presume it was

bad blood between them. He has been encouraged by spike Spike Lee to

deliver an embarrassing performance. It starts out, I guess it is

supposed tor more rid ate and it ends up Christopher Biggins.

But it is not his fault, is it? I don't think it is. It is the script.

And it is also, it is hard to talk about this film. It is hard for me

to find any positivity towards it. There is a million ways you can

approach it and everyone of them is a criticism and you don't want to be

too snooty about it and you don't want to feel the original was so

much better, but there is a fundamental difference and it sounds

pretentious, but it is not. It is important in the Korean film it was

about a bad, angry man who gets sent to prison for 20 years and he

becomes badder and more angry and on his first day out of prison he tries

to rape somebody and there is a twist that kind of gives him the

tiniest slither of redemption. He goes to prison. He is redeemed and

he becomes a superhero killer. He is transformed. Is it that you are both

grumpy, that they made a remake at all? In no, it pains me to say this

because the arguments put up about remakes are similar policic. I love

Spike Lee. He is a talented director and a lot of the early movies he

made are important to me and a lot of other people. This doesn't feel

like a Spike Lee movie because it always has something of him in it

and has a spark and signature and humour and this is the most

humourless film. It is like a Christmas cracker that had the joke

taken out of it and the toy taken out of it. There is all these

flamboyant moments. There is men in cravets and it is so joyless and you

have to, in the end, it becomes like an autopsy. You are dissecting it

and pointing the finger and trying to work out what went wrong. I think

the executives came in with the pruning sheers and taking out 40

minutes... That might have done it. It is the middle is troubled. There

is no middle. There is a beginning and an end and what should be the

second act, are you have a couple of jokes and references to the original

Oldboy and then the explanations of what's going on in the plot because

the film seems afraid it will forget what is going on in the plot. But if

you are a 16-year-old kid and you are going with your mates, do you

think they would like it as a bit of violence to watch? I'm trying to

think of something positive to say and it is really hard. Maybe with

the original Oldboy in mind and with the bench mark set lower, it is a

technically made film. It looks nice. Josh Brolin loses his beer

belly. This is like a superhero movie. This film is made in America

and it made $850,000 and you make $850,000 just from people who want

to come in out of the cold and have a hot dog.

The next film has Sylvester Stallone. Why did we move out?

Beautiful house. Horse trails. What else could we ask for? I miss mum.

Me too. It is about a family who suffer a tragedy. I leave my old job

behind and I try to be a stay at home dad. We move to a part of the

country where we try to live a happy life together. Loser. Give it back.

You want it, get it? There is a little fight in the playground which

you take part of, right? Yeah, I kind of start the whole thing. I

want this thing settled and I mean now. This is my fault, I taught her

to defend herself. Under that happy lifestyle is something quite

sinister. Feuds, they exist. If someone has an issue with me,

keep it down. Don't want my kid involved. Jason kind of stumbles

across the hornets nest of bad characters. I am the ringleader. I

have worked with Sylvester Stallone many, many times. I recognise what a

brilliant writer he is. It has a great quality to it and that's what

got me in. Take him out. It is never that easy. There is man with a gun

trying to get into the house. I got the kid. Help. Dad. I'm really

scared. Please hurry. Kevin? Can I say I saw this film 20

minutes after seeing Oldboy so this to me was like a purifying, edifying

balm after a merciless shower of sheet. It is a script that's been

knocking around for ages. It feels like a lovely innocent throw back to

the 80s. It is a sour drug deal that goes wrong and an attempt to lay low

in the middle and a bullet, bullet laden climax at the end, job done. I

had high expectations, it is Staham. Jason Statham, James Franco, this

film should be fantastic. It is not fantastic. Come on. I am not going

to complain about a film that's insular, small town, and no one ever

says top him, "Why is your accent like Jason Statham, the famous

English actor?" I am going to complain about the action scenes.

Maybe I'm being picky, but I think for an action movie, the action

scenes and the fighting should be fantastic. I just want a fight that

takes place comprehensively. If this film was being shot, I don't think

because it is an action movie you can toss this stuff off. If it was

someone's leaving do being shot on a camera phone, you would remove the

camera phone and give it to the woman in accounts. This man has no

idea how to shoot a fight sequence. Bobbing up and down behind a pillar.

Lovely cross cutting all the way through. The bald guy He is not

there anymore. He has gone. Your expectations are too high. I did

like it. What about the supporting cast? They are brilliant. James

Franco is doing this for some kind, there is some private little joke

going on. He is chuckling away to himself.

You are, I don't know what to say, what's your film of the week? Home

Front and Nebraska. It is Home Front and Nebraska. No! That's all from us

and we will be Back next week when we review The Hobbit: The Desolation

of Smaug. Phone me! Fill The Void and Robert Redford in All is Lost.

To play us out, we have the new trailer for the monuments man. Thank

you for watching. Good night. Mr President, we are at the point in

this war which is the most dangerous to the greatest historical

achievements known to man. The Nazis, Amsterdam, Paris. Let's

protect what's left and find what's missing. How many men? For now, six.

Well, with you, it is seven. We are going to need your knowledge. We are

going to need your skill. We went through basic training in England.

Oh boy. We have been tasked with the fining

and protecting of over myself million pieces of stolen artwork.

This is why Hitler didn't bomb Paris. Well, he bombed London. I

know that. You are not going to have the equipment a or the man power.

The Nazis are taking everything with them. I am interested in what you

saw there? Thousands of pieces. We are going to have to jump ahead of

the third army and get into Germany. You can wipe out an entire

generation and you can burn their homes to the grown and somehow they

will still find their way back, but if you destroy their history and

destroy their achievements it is as if they never existed. That's what

Hitler wants and that's what we're fighting forment