08/11/2013 The Film Review

the Olympic old muddle. We will have the latest tennis from

the ATP world finals in London. `` gold medal. Now it is time for

Film Review. Hello and welcome to Film Review on

BBC News. To take us through this week is Mark Kermode. What have we

got? We have Gravity where Sandra Bullock and George Clooney get lost

in space. We have how to survive a play, about how many people took

their destinies into their own hands. And we have Seduced And

Abandoned which is supposed to be a look at the movie business. Gravity,

I want to see this. We have talked about this before. At the London

film Festival we were talking about it in the rain. Everybody pretty

much knows what the setup is. The director is the one who made the

best Harry Potter film. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are out

in space when they receive news and avalanche of space debris is heading

their way. The next thing you know, they are essentially knocked out

into space. The rest of the film is a story of how two people flying

around in space can or cannot find their way back home. Here is a clip.

Wait. The tank is empty. We are going to hit hard. Grab anything you

can. What do I do? ! What do I do? ! This is amazing. You have to imagine

that on the biggest screen you can find. Also... You are going to save

the 3`D thing. You will we cant be helped career of rubbishing 3`D. It

is an exceptional film inasmuch as I would recommend you see it in 3`D.

It is the only case I have seen in which I ain't the 3`D is so

intrinsic to the story, intrinsic to the design. The film is beautifully

lit and I had less problem with the light lost you get from 3`D glasses.

A lot of it is surrounded by the abyss of space. The characters

floating in the middle of the screen overcomes the problem is of 3`D

breaking the edge of the frame. But it is kind of a fairground ride of a

film. I don't mean that in a bad way. This is a film that wants to

visually engulf you, overwhelm you, spin you around and leave you

completely discombobulated. The way it does it best is on a massive

screen. It hurts me to say this, and in 3`D. The way the visuals have

been done is extraordinary. It disintegrates the boundary of what

you think of as animation and what you think of as live action. The

interesting thing is, it is a popcorn movie, it is 91 minutes

long. When was the last time you saw a science`fiction film that was 91

minutes long. It is 91 minutes, do the thing and then out. A lot of the

dialogue is very generic, and I really enjoyed it. It is one of

those things you have two C in the biggest, loudest possible way. And

for once, and for once only, in 3`D. Now you are not going to talk. How

To Survive A Plague is cultural story? It is a documentary type

film. They got together a coalition of people, they came together to

have some kind of organisation when the government and the health bodies

were failing to deal with the emerging AIDS crisis. One of the

things that is most extraordinary is it is done from 700 hours of

footage. You hear from people who did the most incredible things in

terms of organising disparate groups, firstly to draw attention to

the situation but then develop a level of organisation that both the

government and the pharmaceutical companies would say, they know

better than us, they know how to deal with this. It is very moving.

It is very, very powerful. It is often heartbreaking and sad. But it

is ultimately uplifting and it is a call to arms and an indication of

what can happen when desperate groups of people in bleak

circumstances come together and say, how can we make this situation

better? They change their world. They do. This is a mock

documentary, to raise money for a film which will take Last Tango In

Paris to Iraq. Here is a clip. The reason I wanted to do this film

is because the movie industry has changed. I don't know how much

longer it can go in the age of this technology. It is splintering the

audience. You go back to recreate this

experience. You go back with another chance to do something you want to

do in film`making. You will watch Seduced And Abandoned over and over

again. He goes to the Cannes film Festival and discovers it is glitzy.

Yes, we already know that. But then they discover when it comes to

films, art is secondary to money. Yes, we know that. You see them

raising money for the film. Remember the film, The Greatest Movie Ever

Sold and that did this story much better, much funnier and with much

more point. This one suffered from a level of indulgence. It was very

pleased with itself and it thought you would be pleased to spend time

with these people. It is a lot less smart and funny than it thinks it

is. The good news is, The Selfish Giant is brilliant? It is brilliant.

It is inspired by the Oscar Wilde story to some extent, but also Kes.

It is heartbreaking, it is beautifully played. She is a

wonderful director. I want as many people as possible to go and see

it. It is worth getting excited about. It also engages in one of our

problems as society, which is asserting kids don't fit in. The

story is, The Selfish Giant wants to keep the kids out of his garden, but

what he does not realise is if the kids don't have anywhere to play,

the garden will wither and die. Of these kids are sidelined by society

and it is wonderful, and you should see it. Your DVD is The Great

Gatsby? It is a film adaptation. I was not sold by the 3`D on this for

example. If you see it in the cinema, 2`D is better. But they have

taken a look at it which I think will capture the imagination of

younger audiences. Anything that rings audiences back to that novel

is wonderful. It is a bit like having the book shouted at you. The

Great Gatsby 2013 is not about paying? This is a good, sincere and

solid attempt. That is it that this week.

Thanks for watching. It has been a busy day of whether

and we will keep you updated on the latest of the Typhoon as it heads

towards Vietnam. Back home you will