FilmFan's List of Must-See Classic Films You Should Have Seen

I wrote the list below in 1998, after repeated pestering from a couple of American friends who got fed up with me saying "Have you seen so-and-so?" and them always saying "No". (Hence the slightly patronising tone). I will edit it at some point (I have no idea what I was on about with the asterisks - ignore those) but I'm posting it now because a few people on Twitter have asked me for a similar list and I want to be able to link to it.

Matthew (@FilmFan1971)

 A Lot Of Catching Up To Do: Matt's List of the Must-Sees You Haven't Seen. 

The Top 20. 

I hate the question "What's your favourite film?". Even "favourite films" is hard - the person who asks usually doesn't have a spare half-hour. However, for your benefit, I have narrowed it down to twenty, though if I stop to think about it for more than a second, I'll immediately start adding to it ("The Conversation", "The Hustler", "Heathers" etc.) See how difficult it is? Right. So, you'll notice that the first 14 films are all "classics" (all but "Vertigo" are in black and white), then "Play It Again, Sam" is my favourite Woody Allen movie, and the rest are my favourite '80s movies. "Miller's Crossing" is the only film from the 90's, because I assume you've seen most of the best '90s movies. Anyway, the 20 listed here are the Absolute, Cannot Go Wrong, All-Time Greatest, Watch Them Over and Over, Best Movies Ever. Included here are seven or eight of the Best Screenplays Ever Written, by which I mean that the dialogue itself is, quite simply, perfection. I've marked those with an asterisk (*). Here we go, then. And remember - you asked for it...

□ 1) Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ 2) Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder) *
□ 3) Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder) *
□ 4) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz) *
□ 5) Murder My Sweet aka Farewell My Lovely (Edward Dmytryk)
□ 6) 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet)
□ 7) It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
□ 8) Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges) *
□ 9) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel)
□ 10) The Third Man (Carol Reed)
□ 11) His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks) *
□ 12) Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer) *
□ 13) Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick) *
□ 14) The Day The Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise)
□ 15) Play It Again, Sam (Herbert Ross) (but it's really a Woody Allen movie).
□ 16) This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner)
□ 17) The Sure Thing (Rob Reiner)
□ 18) Dangerous Liasions (Stephen Frears)
□ 19) Withnail &I (Bruce Robinson) *
□ 20) Miller's Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen) *

Okay. That's The Big Twenty. (The check boxes are to encourage fanatical tendencies - there's no shame in having a 'Films To See' list, so you might as well go the whole hog and start ticking boxes. You'll be surprised at how satisfying it is...) The names to note above are: Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks and Frank Capra. These guys are the Grand Masters - you can't really go wrong with any of their movies, and you really should check out their whole filmographies. In the meantime though, there now follows A Really Big List Of Classics, broken down by decade, and in more or less alphabetical order. Ready? Here goes...

Silents 

Don't underestimate the silents. Buster Keaton's films are as funny as any modern comedy. The films in brackets are not necessarily as enjoyable as the others, but are, nonetheless, essential viewing. (Also, I am now switching fonts, as otherwise I'll be here all night!)

□ The General (Buster Keaton)
□ Sherlock Junior (Buster Keaton)
□ Greed (Erich von Stroheim) (and I'm not just saying this because it's McTeague.)
□ Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
□ The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)
□ Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
□ (The Birth of a Nation) (D.W. Griffith)
□ (Battleship Potemkin) (Sergei Eisenstein)
□ (The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari) (Robert Wiene)

1930s

If the star is more important than the director, then they're in brackets after the film.

□ The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, d. Michael Curtiz)
□ Destry Rides Again (James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich)
□ Duck Soup (The Marx Brothers) □ Freaks (Tod Browning)
□ Gone With The Wind (I don't really have to explain this one, do I?)
□ It Happened One Night (Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, d. Frank Capra)
□ King Kong (Merian C. Cooper)
□ Little Caesar (Edward G. Robinson, d. Mervyn LeRoy)
□ Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (James Stewart, d. Frank Capra)
□ Public Enemy (James Cagney, d. William Wellman)
□ Pygmalion * (Anthony Asquith)
□ Stagecoach (John Ford) □ Tarzan And His Mate (I kid you not).
□ The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke)
□ The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ Top Hat (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers)
□ Way Out West (Laurel and Hardy)
□ The Wizard of Oz (I'm not explaining this one either...)

The genre I've left out here is the "Monster Movie" genre - any of the old Universal Horror films are worth a look. The best are Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931) and The Invisible Man (1933).

The 1940s 

□ The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wellman)
□ The Big Sleep (Bogart and Bacall, d. Howard Hawks)
□ The Big Heat (Fritz Lang)
□ Brief Encounter (David Lean)
□ Cat People (Jaques Tourneur)
□ Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
□ The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford)
□ The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)
□ I Know Where I'm Going (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
□ The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)
□ Laura (Otto Preminger)
□ The Maltese Falcon * (Bogart, d. John Huston)
□ Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford, d.Michael Curtiz)
□ Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton)
□ My Darling Clementine (John Ford)
□ My Little Chickadee (W.C. Fields and Mae West - in the same movie!)
□ Out Of The Past (Robert Mitchum, d. Jaques Tourneur)
□ The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges)
□ The Philadelphia Story (Cary Grant, James Stewart, Katherine Hepburn)
□ Red River (Howard Hawks)
□ Scarlet Street (d.Fritz Lang, and featuring The Great Dan Duryea)
□ Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ The Shop Around The Corner * (James Stewart, d. Ernst Lubitsch)
□ The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Bogart, d. John Huston)
□ White Heat (James Cagney, d. Raoul Walsh)

The 1950s

□ Ace In The Hole (Billy Wilder)
□ The Caine Mutiny (Bogart, d. Edward Dmytryk)
□ Forbidden Planet (Fred Wilcox)
□ Guys and Dolls (Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, d. Joseph L. Mankewicz)
□ High Society (Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, d. Charles Walters)
□ High Noon (Fred Zinneman)
□ In A Lonely Place (Bogart, and The Great Gloria Grahame, d. Nicholas Ray)
□ Invaders From Mars (William Cameron Menzies)
□ The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold)
□ Jailhouse Rock (Elvis, d. Richard Thorpe)
□ Magnificent Obsession (Douglas Sirk)
□ The Man With The Golden Arm (Frank Sinatra, d. Otto Preminger)
□ Niagra (Marilyn Monroe, d. Henry Hathaway)
□ Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon) (Jaques Tourneur)
□ Night of the Hunter (Robert Mitchum's best film, d. Charles Laughton)
□ North By Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ On The Waterfront (Marlon Brando, d. Elia Kazan)
□ Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
□ The Quiet Man (John Ford)
□ Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean, d. Nicholas Ray)
□ Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks) □ The Searchers (John Ford)
□ The Seven Year Itch (Marilyn Monroe, d.Billy Wilder)
□ Shane (Alan Ladd, d. George Stevens)
□ Singin' In The Rain (Gene Kelly, d. Stanley Donen)
□ Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder)
□ Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ A Streetcar Named Desire (Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, d. Elia Kazan)
□ Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
□ The Thing (From Another World) (d. Howard Hawks)
□ Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
□ The Wild One (Marlon Brando, d. Laslo Benedek)

The 1960s 

□ The Apartment * (Billy Wilder)
□ Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman, d. Stuart Rosenberg)
□ Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers, d. Stanley Kubrick)
□ (Easy Rider) (d. Dennis Hopper)
□ A Fistful of Dollars (Clint Eastwood, d. Sergio Leone)
□ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Sergio Leone)
□ The Graduate (Mike Nichols)
□ A Hard Day's Night (The Beatles, d. Richard Lester)
□ The Hustler (Robert Rossen)
□ The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford)
□ The Manchurian Candidate (Frank Sinatra, d. John Schlesinger)
□ Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger)
□ The Naked Kiss (Sam Fuller)
□ Night of The Living Dead (George A. Romero)
□ The Odd Couple (Gene Saks)
□ Peeping Tom (Michael Powell)
□ Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner)
□ Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
□ Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Albert Finney, d. Karel Reisz)
□ The Servant (Joseph Losey) □ Shock Corridor (Sam Fuller)
□ 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
□ Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (Davis vs. Crawford, d. Robert Aldrich)
□ The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)

The 1970s

□ Alien (Ridley Scott)
□ American Graffiti (George Lucas)
□ Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)
□ Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
□ A Clockwork Orange * (Stanley Kubrick)
□ The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
□ Dark Star (John Carpenter)
□ Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet)
□ Grease (Randall Kleiser) □ The Godfather (I and II) (Francis Ford Coppola)
□ Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby)  Jaws (Steven Spielberg)
□ Little Big Man (Arthur Penn)
□ Love and Death (Woody Allen)
□ The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston)
□ Manhatten (Woody Allen)
□ M*A*S*H (Robert Altman)
□ Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam)
□ Monty Python's Life of Brian (aka The Life of Brian) (Terry Jones)
□ Nashville (Robert Altman)
□ Norma Rae (Martin Ritt)
□ One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman)
□ The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula)
□ Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam)
□ Rocky (John Avildsen)
□ Saturday Night Fever (John Badham)
□ Sleeper (Woody Allen)
□ Star Wars (George Lucas)
□ Summer of '42 ( Robert Mulligan)
□ Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
□ Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer)

I'm assuming, rightly or wrongly, that you'll have seen most of the "classic" eighties movies, or at least be familiar with them. Here's a quick "off the top of my head" list though, just in case.

The 1980s 

□ Back To The Future * (Robert Zemeckis)
□ Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan) (But see Double Indemnity first).
□ Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
□ Diner (Barry Levinson)
□ Excalibur (John Boorman)
□ Gregory's Girl (Bill Forsyth)
□ Heathers (Michael Lehrmann)
□ King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)
□ Matewan (John Sayles) □ Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
□ The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
□ Salvador (Oliver Stone)
□ The Terminator (James Cameron)
□ Tootsie (Sydney Pollack)

And finally, an appendix. You may have noticed the absence of foreign films. This was deliberate - I've saved them for last. This list is by no means exhaustive, but is a good start. Pretty much all of the following directors have several classics to their name. I suggest that if you like any of these, then you should check out other films by the same director. You won't be disappointed.

Classic Foreign Films

□ Alice In The Cities (1974, d. Wim Wenders)
□ Beauty and the Beast (1946, d. Jean Cocteau)
□ La Bete Humaine (1938, d. Jean Renoir)
□ Betty Blue (1986, d. Jean-Jaques Beineix)
□ Bicycle Thief (1949, d. Vittorio De Sica)
□ Breathless (1959, d. Jean Luc Godard)
□ Day For Night (1973, d. Francois Truffaut)
□ Days And Nights In The Forest (1970, d. Satyajit Ray)
□ Diabolique (1955, d. Henri-Georges Clouzout)
□ La Dolce Vita (1960, d. Federico Fellini)
□ Grand Illusion (1937, d. Jean Renoir)
□ Jean de Florette (1989, d. Claude Berri)
□ Le Jour Se Leve (1939, Marcel Carne)
□ Persona (1966, d. Ingmar Bergman)
□ Rashomon (1950, d. Akira Kurosawa)
□ La Ronde (1950, d. Max Ophuls)
□ Small Change (1976, d. Francois Truffaut)
□ That Obscure Object of Desire (1977, Luis Bunuel)
□ Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down! (1988, d. Pedro Almodavar)
□ The Wages of Fear (1953, d. Henri-Georges Clouzout)

I'd better stop now, or I'll be adding to these lists forever. Anyway, I hope this helps. If you want a '90s list, let me know.

Note: While transferring the above list to Letterboxd (in September 2012), I added the following 14 films:


Creature From The Black Lagoon
The Fountainhead
A Face in the Crowd
Notorious
Bonnie and Clyde
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Intruder (directed by Roger Corman, starring William Shatner)
Dirty Harry
Five Easy Pieces
Night Moves
Superman
Flash Gordon
E.T: The Extra Terrestrial
The Breakfast Club

Cut-out-and-keep guide to players in Twitter Fantasy Film League

Song of the Rocketeer - FilmFan1971 / Matthew Turner

Hungry Men In A Black Prometheus - montimer / Ben Mortimer

Kidnap - EthanRunt / Andrew Jones

Three Steps Till Thursday - oh_pollo / Paul Owens

3D: The Movie - littleestpicshow / Mike P Williams

Frederick and Farwell's Excellent Adventure - andyffgibbons / Andy Gibbons

Joss Auckland's Spunky Backpack - webstl / Leon Webster

Burn Hollywood Burn - nrm1972 / Neil Mitchell

Rolled-up Shirtsleeves - ErisLovesMovies / Eris

Dancing With Duela - Gyropitus / Marcus Woolcott

Meat Tornado - alexcrawford / Alex Crawford

Prognosis...Negative - iambags / Jonathan Bygraves

The Bark Knight Grows - WHO IS THIS, PLEASE?

Cellar Door - MrAdamDolan / Adam Dolan

Pre Dawn - stuartmiddleton / Stuart Middleton

Space Jam Round 2 - lewmos / Lewis Hunt

Street Fighter: The Movie 2 - The Revenge of DeeJay - SamFaulkner87 / Sam Faulkner

Untitled Alan Smithee Project - PatrickJGamble / Patrick Gamble

The Hollywood Massacre - TGP73 / The Ginger Prince

Television Show: The Movie! - LondonFilmFanatic / London Film Fanatiq

Twilight of the Long Night of the Hunger Games - MaxRenn / Stuart Barr

A Film About Something - lovetttodd / Emily Anderton

Hashtag of the Titans - elbows_selbo / Tom

Les Enfants du Paradis: Le Sequel - stefanpape29 / Stefan Pape

Stick That In Your Pipe - curlytopjim / Jim McKeown

Oscar Gould - WHO IS THIS, PLEASE?

Avastar - WHO IS THIS, PLEASE?

Long Live Disco! - MissDiscodolly / Melanie Moss

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead - TheFFL / Mr Birch

Gymkata II: The Legend of Parmistan - WHO IS THIS, PLEASE?

Back to the Future IV: There And Back Again - ihateonionrings / Julia Rosa

The Crystal Ring of Kings - BinkyBird / IckleBlackBird

Archive of tweets from the 2011 San Sebastian Film Festival

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Totted up film count and it turns out I saw 24 films in my 8 days at #sanseb11, which is pretty good going, I think.
24 Sep

RT @trim_obey Tim Robey
by FilmFan1971
I'll take Jean Dujardin over Gene Kelly any day. And to counter all the Gosling/Hardy hetero man-love, I'm just besotted with Bérénice Bejo.
23 Sep

RT @trim_obey Tim Robey
by FilmFan1971
Well, you won't be getting an ARTIST backlash from me. One or two niggles, but it absolutely glows. (B+)
23 Sep

RT @trim_obey Tim Robey
by FilmFan1971
So Michael Fassbender was at last night's San Sebastian bash. The whole atmosphere was furtive and charged, like Hampstead Heath after dark.
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Talk about dedication to duty. Plane landed an hour ago and now I'm heading into town for a screening. #hardcore
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Very jealous of @trim_obey and Neil Smith, both of whom are watching The Artist right now. Grumble grumble missing best film of fest grumble
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Had a great flight. Spent the whole thing discussing posters and taglines for Wild Bill with one of the producers. #wildbill #sanseb11
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@Matt_Cinephile @Phil_on_Film I don't think I could afford to do any others but I will do San Sebastian every year from now on.
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Spent small fortune but totally worth it. Saw some great films, ate some great food, had some great weather, met some great people. *sigh*
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
All checked in. So sad to be leaving. I'll definitely be back next year. Totally hooked now. #sanseb11 #Donostialaostia #festivaldepintxos
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Bear in mind, a) not counting films I saw in UK beforehand, so no Tiranosaurio; and b) I didn't get to see The Artist #sanseb11 #Donostia59
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Next five would be: 6) La Voz Dormida, 7) Either Way, 8) Miss Bala, 9) The Deep Blue Sea and 10) 3.5 hour George Harrison doc. #sanseb11
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
So my San Sebastian Top Five is unchanged: 1) Arrugas, 2) Wild Bill, 3) Martha Marcy May Marlene, 4) Where Do We Go Now?, 5) Shame #sanseb11
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Quite impressed with myself. Partied till 4am, wrote 2 reviews, slept 3 hours, packed, saw 3 Musketeers at 10 then made it to airbus. #phew
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Things I liked about The Three Musketeers: Juno Temple, Mads Mikkelsen, Juno Temple, some of the fights, Juno Temple, Aramis, Juno Temple.
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
3 Musketeers *almost* enjoyably silly rather than just plain stupid but every time there's a good bit there are four or five terrible bits.
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also, if I never see James Corden on screen again, it'll be too soon. #threemusketeers #sanseb11
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather see The Three Musketeers done *properly*, thank you. It lost me at the opening scene.
23 Sep

RT @trim_obey Tim Robey
by FilmFan1971
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (D) is unbelievably silly. Not much Dumas, plenty of Dumbass. (Let me be the first to wear that joke out.)
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Airport bus has free wi-fi! Hurrah! View from bus window: twitpic.com/6p76m4
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today's final San Sebastian film...er...The Three Musketeers. #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #swords
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Yesterday's films: Las Acacias (excellent) and Americano, which at least had Salma Hayek doing a smoking hot song / striptease combo.
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Final two reviews of the week (Soul Surfer and Mlle Chambon) done. Tomorrow: The Three Musketeers and then, reluctantly, heading home...
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
It isn't really clear from this photo but that's a Spanish G&T. In a pint glass. #ginandginandginandtonic twitpic.com/6ozo25
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Ladies, he was wearing a leather jacket and a white shirt. You're welcome. #sanseb11 #Fassbender #mancrush
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Fassbender stalking...achieved! Chatted to Liam Cunningham (next to him) but bottled out of chatting to the man himself. #fassbender
23 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Great last night at San Sebastian. Sitting round a restaurant table arguing about Snowtown. Stalking Fassbender later. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Ay, Salmita! #americano #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #LFF
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Las Acacias very good. Simple but effective story about a truck driver giving a woman and her baby a lift. Catch it at the LFF. #sanseb11
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
In conjunction with @trim_obey's imminent tweet, the poster for Las Acacias. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6osc5u
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also, when San Sebastian say "press lounge", they really mean it... twitpic.com/6oqx28
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The scene of the crime (see earlier Twitpic). #sanseb11 #lasbotasgrandes twitpic.com/6oq0ya
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
More evidence of San Sebastian's general niceness: seats provided for superfans / stalkers. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6opvnh
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Spot the film journalist... #sanseb11 #Donostia59 twitpic.com/6opuom
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@PeterBradshaw1 The cordero y patata portions in the Keler tent get smaller every day. Other than that, it's business as usual...
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@GuyLodge After San Sebastian I can never go back to mere nibbles. It's pintxos o nada.
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
So I'm going straight from all-day festival press screenings for San Sebastian into...all-day festival press screenings for the LFF.
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also, Olivia turned out to be quite the gifted impressionist + did note-perfect impressions of Considine, Mullan, Marsan and Meryl-as-Thatch
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Lovely 40 minute interview with Olivia Colman for "Tiranosaurio". She had some great Meryl-as-Thatcher stories too. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but those two Spanish actresses were leaving Fassbender's hotel at 2am and they hadn't been in the bar...
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Loud sobs are also because The Artist screening takes place two hours after my plane leaves tomorrow. *LOUD SWEARING NOISE* #sanseb11
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Last full day at San Sebastian. *LOUD SOBBING NOISE* #sanseb11
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Tomorrow: round-tabling Olivia Coleman and hoping to fit in three more films. Gutted to be leaving on Friday. #best #festival #EVER
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also, this happened... twitpic.com/6ohqrm
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Great night out with the Wild Bill team. Met Liam Cunningham and the lead from La Voz Dormida but missed Fassbender by a matter of minutes.
22 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Very disappointed with Rampart. Started well but slowed to a painful crawl and then fell apart. Shame. #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #rampart #meh
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Relaxing at the film festival... #sanseb11 #Donostia59 twitpic.com/6oc26l
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Some waves. #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #waves twitpic.com/6oc24n
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
A mango and blackberry sorbet, earlier. #sanseb11 #comeforthefilms #stayforthepintxos twitpic.com/6oc0rh
21 Sep

RT @JigsawLounge Neil Young (UK)
by FilmFan1971
#Donostia59 discovery WRINKLES (Arrugas; dir. Ignacio Ferreras) crashes into Jigsaw Lounge's 2011 top ten at no.5 jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/tens/
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I don't have enough for a top ten yet but La Voz Dormida, the George Harrison doc and Deep Blue Sea are at 6, 7 and 8. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
San Sebastian Top 5 so far: 1) Arrugas, 2) Wild Bill, 3) Martha Marcy May Marlene, 4) Where Do We Go Now?, 5) Shame. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Seriously considering going for a dip in the sea, Bradshaw-style... #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #dontmakemecomehome
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Thrilled that everyone seems be loving Arrugas / Wrinkles. @JigsawLounge put it in his top ten of 2011 and everything. It will make mine too
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY don't want to come home. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner

Saw Bai Ling (one of the jury members) earlier. She is *tiny*. Very tempted to make bai-lingual joke but politesse prevailed. #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Hoping to interview Dexter Fletcher and Charlie Creed-Miles now... #wildbill #Donostia59 #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Wild Bill really excellent. Great cast and a fantastic lead performance from Charlie Creed-Miles. Superb soundtrack too #sanseb11 #wildbill
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Weirdly, I did, in fact, end up sitting next to Frances McDormand in Wild Bill. Didn't realise till the lights went down though... #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Seeing Happy End after all. Well, I say "seeing". I'm in the dress circle... #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Might have to give Happy End a miss. Too much misery for one day. Also, the weather. Currently trying to take pictures of waves. #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
May have to stay in seat a while. Something in eye. #lavozdormida #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Completely destroyed after La Voz Dormida (The Sleeping Voice). Longest round of applause so far too. It's on at the LFF - don't miss it.
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today's films: La Voz Dormida, Happy End, Wild Bill and Rampart. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

RT @trim_obey Tim Robey
by FilmFan1971
Have arrived in San Sebastian, which is experiencing famine. @FilmFan1971 has apparently eaten them out of pintxos.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Really enjoyed Either Way, a slice of bittersweet Icelandic minimalism about two guys doing roadwork in the middle of nowhere. #sanseb11
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Weird film festival coincidence: Tarzan comics make appearances in both Le Skylab and Either Way. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
21 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Finished the "Newsletter Five". Now off to see Either Way. Press screenings at midnight. It's a different world, I tell you. #sanseb11
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Is there an actress who looks a hell of a lot like Kate Beckinsale but isn't Kate Beckinsale? Because if there is, she's here. #sanseb11
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Eating delicious free seafood risotto in the press lounge. I think it has single-handedly cured my hangover. #sanseb11
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Going to miss Primos after all, thanks to forgetting to change the time on my laptop. Like an idiot.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Annoyed that I missed Kore-eda's I Wish this morning. Stupid whiskey.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Lovely, lovely Burn: twitpic.com/6njak1
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I could murder a can of Burn right now.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Joe Utichi and Dexter Fletcher in the Keler tent, earlier. #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #wildbill twitpic.com/6nv60h
20 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
Heterogay hysteria for Michael Fassbender at #SanSebastian2011 has risen to new levels. He's coming here from Barcelona on his motorbike
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Probably only going to manage two films today: Primos and Either Way. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I was interviewed (in Spanish) by a film crew earlier. God knows where that'll end up. #sanseb11
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@Dexfletch Nice to meet you earlier. Looking forward to the interview tomorrow. Also, you forgot to tell me the Misfits story...
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Reviews of San Sebastian films (4): Abel - viewlondon.co.uk/films/abel-fil… #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #abel @DonostiakoUdala
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Reviews of San Sebastian films (3): Pina - viewlondon.co.uk/films/pina-3d-… #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #pina @DonostiakoUdala
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Reviews of San Sebastian films (2): A Separation - viewlondon.co.uk/films/a-separa… #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #aseparation @DonostiakoUdala
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Reviews of San Sebastian films (1): Tree of Life - viewlondon.co.uk/films/the-tree… #sanseb11 #Donostia59 #treeoflife @DonostiakoUdala
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also Soul Surfer and Mademoiselle Chambon, though I may leave those till tomorrow.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Right. Not moving from this spot till I've reviewed Drive, Page One, Tucker & Dale, Warrior and Crazy Stupid Love. *sobs*
20 Sep

RT @SpodoKomodo Indy Datta
by FilmFan1971
I think the easiest film in the world to finance at the moment would be a Fassbender/Gosling sex drama. Hands off my idea, the Man!
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
One of my favourite things about San Sebastian: walking over this bridge every day. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6nt16w
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Feeling a bit better after these pintxos. Suppose I'd better go and review the Goslings. #goslingweek
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@montimer I'm seeing Wild Bill tomorrow. Really looking forward to it. #wildbill #sanseb11 #Donostia59
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Just spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the Keler tent hanging out with the Wild Bill team. Still hungover though.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Inside the Keler tent. #sanseb11 #kelertent twitpic.com/6nsjyo
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
.@yo_damo and @joeutichi, hard at work in San Sebastian. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6nsjfa
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The Keler Tent. San Sebastian's best-kept secret. Free food and beer... twitpic.com/6nsflu
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Good work, the weather. Good work. #sanseb11 #thatsmorebloodylikeit twitpic.com/6nr2qc
20 Sep

RT @NinjaWorrier Amber Wilkinson
by FilmFan1971
@JigsawLounge @filmfan1971 @PeterBradshaw1 Going to try to get a ticket to Arrugas today... after all your praise.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The weather is unspeakably gorgeous today. Unfortunately I have to spend the day indoors, writing. With a hangover. #diamondshoes #tootight
20 Sep

JigsawLounge Neil Young (UK)
by FilmFan1971
my 'Hollywood Reporter' review of Ignacio Ferreras' #Donostia59 highlight, WRINKLES (Arrugas) hollywoodreporter.com/review/wrinkle…
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Hideously hung over. I blame @JigsawLounge and his blasted double whiskey "nightcap". #sanseb11 #resacademierda #noesjusto
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@DrooPadhiar Animated drama based on best-selling Spanish graphic novel about a character with Alzheimer's going into an old people's home.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
UK distributors! Please pick up Arrugas / Wrinkles. It really is excellent. Best film of #sanseb11 for me, so far.
20 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Really enjoyed Le Skylab. Multi-character coming-of-age drama by Julie Delpy. Highest compliment I can give it is it reminded me of Together
20 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
twitvid.com/NRKD8 - Bite-sized micro-review of the fab Arrugas at #SanSebastian2011
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
View from the Keler tent. #sanseb11 #Donistia59 twitpic.com/6njckc
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Poster for Arrugas (Wrinkles). #sanseb11 #Donostia11 #Arrugas twitpic.com/6njbtj
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
A can o' Burn. twitpic.com/6njak1
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
San Sebastian, earlier today. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6nisbi
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Jury didn't show. Someone must have tipped them off. Hmmm. Maybe it was me? Damn you, Twitter!
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Got to Le Skylab screening early. Sitting next to reserved seats. There's a one in seven chance I'll be sitting next to Frances McDormand...
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Best news of all: I have found a place that sells Burn. Brought 10 cans back from Paris and 10 wasn't enough. May up that to 20. #canoburn
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Princess Catherine Deneuve's dresses (one like the weather, one like the moon, one like the sun) also wonderful. #sanseb11 #donkeyskin
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
.@punkyscudmonkey It's the expression on the throne cat's face that really makes it. That's just the tip of the iceberg though, weird-wise.
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Well, that was properly mental. The sight of Jean Marais on a throne made of a giant stuffed white cat will stay with me for some time.
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Despite gorgeous weather, am about to watch Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin, which is apparently a musical about incest. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
It is probably coincidence but Neil Smith has arrived and the weather is suddenly glorious. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
First reaction to Crazy Horse: get an editor, Wiseman! Painfully dull first hour but gets better. #sanseb11 #crazyhorse
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@arrugaspelicula Excellent news! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Already telling everyone I meet to see it...
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
According to @arrugaspelicula, they are working on a UK theatrical release. Excellent news. Website here: www.wrinklesthefilm.com
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Turns out they had a copy at the fnac stand in the press centre. #Arrugas #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6nbaj6
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I must have some more of that tortilla de bacalao. Sooooo good. #sanseb11 #comeforthefilms #stayforthepintxos #returnthreestoneheavier
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Hmmm. Could maybe find small child and get him / her to buy ticket for me. Yeah. That'll work.
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Sad to be missing Suske en Wiske: Texas Rangers. Also, weirdly, A Cat in Paris (at the LFF) is "kids only". Adults can't even buy tickets!
19 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
twitvid.com/CUOHO - My grotesquely petulant outburst at #SanSebastian2011
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@Phil_on_Film @anaavalon Miss Bala is really good. Seeing Crazy Horse today. Unless there's a film called Goodbye, Crazy Horse.
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Might head to fnac and see if I can find the Arrugas graphic novel. I love fnac. Fnac, fnac, fnac. #fnac
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Should clarify that #Arrugas is much more of a drama than a comedy-drama. May have had something in eye at end. Cloud scene also. #sanseb11
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Arrugas possibly my favourite film of the festival so far. I suppose a UK theatrical release is too much to hope for? #sanseb11 #Donostia59
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Looking forward to Arrugas (Wrinkles). Not looking forward to the amount of work I have to do today. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today's films: Arrugas, Crazy Horse, Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin and Julie Delpy's Le Skylab. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
19 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Looking forward to Arrugas tomorrow. Animated comedy-drama based on Paco Roca's Spanish National Comic Award-winning graphic novel #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Kursaal with blue sky background. #sanseb11 #Donostia59 twitpic.com/6n1bqj
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Half of the queue for Les Demoiselles de Rochfort. Other half stretched round to where we were standing. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6n15ur
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Weirdest thing about The Deep Blue Sea: Tanya's mum from #EastEnders is in it. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
.@lennyqb @peterbradshaw1 Three particular winners there: the cod tortilla, the meat-filled peppers and the "gavilla". #pintxos
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Topless / half-naked actors so far: Elizabeth "Peggy" Olsen, Janet McTeer, Carice Van Houten, basically everyone in Shame. #sanseb11 #nekkid
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
This is turning into A Very Naked Festival. Completely naked actors so far: Fassbender, Mulligan, Williams, Sarah Silverman #sanseb11
18 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
twitvid.com/ITNSO - @FilmFan1971 and I review some pintxos #SanSebastian2011
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The Deep Blue Sea was excellent. Powerful, intense, emotionally draining. Weisz astonishing, Hiddleston equally good. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@PeterBradshaw1 Why didn't you come to the bar opposite the Principal? I think you secretly *wanted* that McDonald's...
18 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
Could there be anything more unforgivable than going to McDonalds in San Sebastian? *sobs with self-loathing* #SanSebastian2011
18 Sep

RT @Phelimo Phelim O'Neill
by FilmFan1971
That George Harrison documentary reminded me of the existence of this rather lovely and catchy song (not in the film): youtube.com/watch?v=yaA7TV…
18 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
twitvid.com/OKWFZ - Just saw Les Demoiselles De Rochefort at #SanSebastian2011
18 Sep

RT @JamieDunnEsq Jamie Dunn
by FilmFan1971
Loving these ramshackle little videos from @PeterBradshaw1 — lovely cameo from @FilmFan1971 too. The multi-platform future of criticism
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Looking forward to Terence Davies' reimagining of the bit where Samuel L Jackson gets bitten in half by a shark. #thedeepbluesea #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The size of the audience for Take This Waltz this morning has panicked me into arriving 40 minutes early for The Deep Blue Sea. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Man, I am really going to miss these pinxtos. Current favourite: the creamed cod wrapped in red pepper. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The sun is out! THE SUN IS OUT! That's more bloody like it. San Sebastian just got 20% more beatlutiful. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Off to see Jacques Demy's Les Demoiselles de Rochfort, which is one of those films I always think I've seen, but haven't. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I liked Take This Waltz, though it's too long and not without problems. Notable for impressive dramatic performances from Silverman + Rogen.
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
A much better picture of Sarah Polley at the Take This Waltz press conference. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6mt65k
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@JigsawLounge I didn't make it in the end - was all the way across town after Shame. Walked back and went for beers and pinxtos instead.
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Sarah Polley at the press conference for Take This Waltz. #sanseb11 #takethiswaltz twitpic.com/6mt0yj
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Enormous queue for Take This Waltz. I hope Sarah Polley gets to see a picture of it somehow. #sanseb11 #takethiswaltz
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Blue sky alert! BLUE SKY ALERT! #aboutfuckingtime #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6mqwbu
18 Sep

RT @yo_damo Damon Wise
by FilmFan1971
I rather liked Albert Nobbs. It´s a bit soapy, one scene is straight out of Little Britain, but it´s like a BBC1 remake of Boys Don´t Cry
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today's films: Albert Nobb's, Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz and LFF closer The Deep Blue Sea. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Albert Nobbs-related confession: I spent the whole film thinking Janet McTeer was Haydn Gwynne. #sanseb11 #albertnobbs
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Enjoyed Albert Nobbs. Glenn Close typically brilliant but most moving performances are by Mia Wasikowska and Janet McTeer. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
View from top floor of Kursaal. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6mqc2v
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Commitments Bingo! Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher are all in Albert Nobbs. #imeldaquirke #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Considering the size of this screening room (basically a concert hall), there are a *lot* of people here for the 9am Albert Nobbs. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
If we are playing Screening Room Bingo I can now yell "House". I won't though, obvs. #sanseb11
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Kursaal by night. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6mi65y
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
I would like you all to imagine this *without* the grey bits... #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6mi5uy
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@Jason_EntFocus The weather is terrible but the films, the food and the city are all wonderful. Best. Festival. EVER.
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@giruaro If by "it", you mean Fassbender's cock, then yes, I have. #putitawayFassbender
18 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Valuable lessons learned #28: Never sit behind the person doing the electronic subtitles. #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
That Fuck Yeah Michael Fassbender blog is going to have a proper field day with Shame... #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Not only that but after controlled experiment, have discovered that just to check Twitter ONCE on data roaming costs a pound. A pound!
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Trekked across town in a raincloud in order to see Shame, aka Michael Fassbender: Sex Addict. Now ridiculously early *and* soaked. #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Loved Martha Marcy May Marlene. Adding my voice to the "star-making turn from Elizabeth 'Peggy' Olsen" buzz. #sanseb11 #Donostia59
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
About to watch Martha Marcy May Marlene. Really looking forward to it. Cinema completely full. #sanseb11 #alsoLFF
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
The ONE TIME I leave the country and Guardian Weekend runs a Christina Hendricks shoot. *sobs*
17 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
Rumours that Michael Fassbender will be at #SanSebastian2011 have caused the biggest outbreak of heterogay mancrush behaviour I've ever seen
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Honestly, San Sebastian. Is a little bit of blue sky really too much to ask for? Is it? #donostiahostia #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Just snagged ticket for Finisterre tonight, on recommendation of @JigsawLounge and @NinjaWorrier. Now off to attack some pintxos. #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Looking forward to this tomorrow, except for the fact that it's got Aaron Johnson in it. #albertnobbs #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6m72q9
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
My Good Friend Nadine Labaki, writer-director-star of "Where Do We Go Now?" #sanseb11 flic.kr/p/3EPkpt
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Story is about a community of Christian and Muslim women trying to prevent violence breaking out in their village by distracting the men.
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? is a worthy follow-up to Caramel. Very funny, wonderful comic ensemble. #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
...let's say the experimental nature of many of the pinxtos, e.g. combining 3, 4 or 5 things on one piece of bread. Like Scooby snacks.
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Everyone had told me, repeatedly, that the food was amazing but I wasn't prepared for the general pinxto system (so to speak) or the...
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Typical row of pintxos EVERYWHERE YOU GO. #sanseb11 #omnomnom twitpic.com/6m52mj
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
About to watch the new film by My Good Friend Nadine Labaki (another one that's also at the LFF). #sanseb11 4sq.com/r8ujpf
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Liked Silver Tongues this morning. Tricksy little thing. Falls into trap of con artist movies though, i.e. you know not to believe anything.
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Somebody call Saul Bass' lawyers... #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6m4z2s
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
My favourite bit: "Albert Nobbs (108)...or dinner ". #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Exclusive photo of @JigsawLounge's exquisitely prepared festival schedule. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6m4xi7
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today's films: Silver Tongues, Where Do We Go Now?, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Shame, aka Michael Fassbender: Sex Addict. #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Did talk to Miss Bala though. And the very lovely Pilar Lopez de Ayala. And the director of Miss Bala. #missbala #sanseb11
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Wangled my way into the area with "las bips" (VIPs) at the opening night party. Spotted Clive Owen, missed Carice Van Houten by 15 minutes.
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
.@PeterBradshaw1 @joeutichi @NinjaWorrier You all left before "las dulces"! Oy, por Dios, las dulces... #sanseb11
17 Sep

RT @PeterBradshaw1 Peter Bradshaw
by FilmFan1971
twitvid.com/TMQAB - @FilmFan1971 is very keen on the human tapas platter at #SanSebastian2011
17 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Miss Bala was excellent. Could have been made by Los Hermanos Dardennes, judging by all the back-of-head shots. Gripping stuff. #sanseb11
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Now seeing fourth film of the day (Miss Bala), then off to opening night party. Oh, and the food is AMAZING. #sanseb11 #pintxos
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Didn't really enjoy No Habra Paz Por Malvados (No Rest for the Wicked). Great beginning, great ending, unholy mess in the middle. #sanseb11
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@El_Duderino81 @cameocinema You'll love it. Less humour in it than I expected but utterly involving from start to finish.
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
@ArtsAllianceM On reflection, might have passed the same person who was whistling it twice in 5 mins. But *felt* like everyone whistling it.
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
To give you an idea of how comprehensive it is, they do the Travelling Wilburys years. #georgeharrisondoc #sanseb11
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Scorsese's three and a half hour George Harrison movie was excellent. Now know more about George Harrison than ever thought possible.
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Heh. Everyone is whistling "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". #georgeharrisondoc #sanseb11
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Interval in 3.5 hour George Harrison doc. Glad I decided to watch it. Really enjoying it so far. Although have heard first 2 hours are best.
16 Sep

RT @Fino76 Fininho™
by FilmFan1971@
@FilmFan1971 3 1/2 Hours? My Sweet Lord.
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Tweeted earlier that Scorsese George Harrison movie was three hours long. It's not. It's THREE AND A HALF HOURS. #wholelottageorgeharrison
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Also, Ella Purnell on the right there. #sanseb11 #intruders
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Clive Owen and Carice Van Houten at press conference for Intruders. #sanseb11 twitpic.com/6ln0im
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Embarrassing few moments there where I was forced to confront the fact that I don't know how to work a Nespresso machine. #bravenewworld
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
That said, a) they should have called it "Hollowface" and b) I spotted where it was going very early on. #intruders #sanseb
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Enjoyed Intruders. Atmospheric, creepy, good performances from Clive Owen and Ella Purnell (Young Keira in Never Let Me Go). #intruders
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Lessons quickly learned #1. Roaming charges are insane (£30 went in a matter of hours) but there is free wifi almost everywhere. #sanseb
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
That Scorsese George Harrison movie is THREE HOURS LONG! Has Thelma Schoonmaker died? #sanseb
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
All accredited. Off to first film of the day: Intruders, with Clive Owen. #sanseb #yeahsanseb #shorterhashtagwin
16 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Hanging out with @NinjaWorrier. Already eating like there's no tomorrow. #sansebastian #needshorterhashtag #sanseb 4sq.com/nb73OC
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Clouds from plane. #clouds #tomemycloud #monkeymagic twitpic.com/6lcerx
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Was very tempted to take their laid-on car (driver's placard read "View") and claim "honest misunderstanding".
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Is anyone a fan of the band The View? They were on my plane. I sat next to their tour managers. How bad is it that I hadn't heard if them?
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
We all got moved to the extra leg-room seats at the front in the end. #boringplaneshit
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
We're alive! Ha ha! I kiss the sweet ground. (@ Aeropuerto de Bilbao (BIO) w/ 4 others) 4sq.com/pV1qFT
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
No row 13 on this flight. Six of us have been assigned seats in a row that doesn't exist. Currently standing at back of plane...
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
But fuck it, I'm hungry.
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Seems a bit silly to be eating fish and chips in a pub at Heathrow when I'm 4 hours away from "THE BEST FOOD YOU'LL EVER EAT" (TM).
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
All checked in for San Sebastian. Now have...um...an hour and 45 minutes to ki- er...to while away somehow.
15 Sep

FilmFan1971 Matthew Turner
Today: finishing off the last of the week's reviews and, oh yes, flying to San Sebastian.
15 Sep

Interview with Vera Farmiga - 18th October, 2009

Promoting: Up in the Air
Venue: The Mayfair Hotel
Interview type: Press conference


Question (Q): It's a joyful script to listen to. It must have been a pleasure for you to read. How did you assess your character when you first read the script? Alex is a similarly free-spirited character, but of course with hidden depths that we discover later.

Vera Farmiga (VF): Yeah. I didn't have the luxury of reading the script without knowing what happens in the end, so I had preconceived ideas. And it was challenging to play a woman who was very much like a man. And oftentimes, when a woman behaves this way, it can be interpreted as – it was difficult for me to – it was a fine line, I found to tread, to have the softness and yet to sort of take control of her sexuality and unapologetically make demands that usually you see men making in scripts. And I really liked the male perspective on heartbreak that I hadn't read before.

Q: Obviously, unemployment features quite heavily in the film. Do you have any interesting experiences of being fired?

VF: I worked as an air-conditioning technician for Fedders & Emerson Fine Cool Air Conditioning, as a customer service representative, who repaired air conditioners over the phone, as much as I was able to tell them whether the VTU was too large a unit for the space they were trying to cool or whatever. And I guess I was too chatty on the phone. I didn't get fired, but they did want to demote me, take me off the phones and give me more of a clerical position, but I just shortened the chat.

Q: There were lots of real-life locations used in the film. Did that present any particular challenges?

VF: What was most amusing for me was to see the fanaticism that George attracts. I mean, that was overwhelming and so odd. For me, no-one ever knows who I am, they always think I'm a producer on the film, but watching George having to deal with that, and him having just to simply open a door and close it and then there's a standing ovation that goes for blocks! And he's so gallant and gracious and takes his bow. But I didn't think that it impeded any of the work.

Q: In the nude scene, was that really you? And if it was, how comfortable were you with it?

VF: I had shot this when I had about six pounds more trunk in my badunk-adunk. I was pregnant and I did do the scene. But I think my bottom had become too large (laughs). I didn't think so – I think that's a question for Mister Reitman, because I did attempt to do the nudity. I got to certainly choose my body double and I thought Jason did a good job of selecting someone that was pretty accurate – my body double, Trish has been in many films. Perhaps on the DVD extras...

END

Interview with Anna Kendrick - 18th October, 2009

Promoting: Up in the Air
Venue: The Mayfair Hotel, London Film Festival
Interview type: One-on-one


Q: It's a joyful script to listen to. It must have been a pleasure for you to read. How did you assess your character when you first read the script? Your character is a bit more explained from the word go, but we do discover a bit more about her and about her background. What appealed to you about it?

Anna Kendrick (AK): First it's that sort of rare thing, this girl who's so intelligent and complicated and her character does not revolve around a romantic storyline. And that was enough to make it fascinating in itself because it just doesn't happen, you don't read scripts like that. And I guess I'm normally so timid in real life that I get really excited by characters who get to kind of tell people off and telling off George Clooney was pretty awesome.

Q: There's a wonderful scene where you go to pieces in the airport after receiving a text message from your boyfriend. How much of that was in the script and how much of it was you on the day?

AK: You mean in terms of the crying? I don't really remember what was in the script exactly, other than that she just starts crying. And I knew that, like so many of the scenes that in some ways are really heartbreaking for me and for Natalie (Anna's character) and there's almost this desire to play it really heartbreaking and really unfunny, I think. I knew it was supposed to be funny but that it couldn't really be funny for me. And it was a long day of sort of trying different noises and it was kind of brutal, because I was so upset all day. And Jason would demonstrate occasionally, because he knew I was running out of juice, various squeaks and moans and wails and stuff and trying to find the right thing that was still not funny to me, but hopefully funny to other people.

Q: There were lots of different real-life locations in this film, including several different airports. When you had the meltdown, was that in an actual airport lounge?

AK: Well, actually, it was in a hotel lobby. It was a little uncomfortable. I guess because it was a hotel, we could sort of shut down the lobby, so there weren't that many looky-lous, but it was still just the space and the extras and even though they're part of the film, you don't really know them and it's still sort of embarrassing, but I think on that particular day it was less about other people and was just more about the space and feeling very – I wanted something to grab onto, it was a very uncomfortable day.

Q: Your character has her views of love and life deeply challenged in this film. Did it affect your own views on those in any way? Was it hard to resist them when someone as seductive as George Clooney is trying to lure you to the lone wolf side?

AK: I think obviously Natalie has really considered ideas about what she wants and what she expects and I don't have many of those same ideas, so I know that there are things that I want and expect from life that I won't get and refuse to accept just yet. But her views on love are not my views on love.

Q: You've gone from playing quite a small role in Twilight, which was obviously a huge success, to playing a lead role in this film, which will obviously be a big success too and against George Clooney, which is amazing. How did you feel when you got this role?

AK: I was sort of shocked beyond belief, because I thought Jason hated me. My audition was very strange and I think Jason was not trying to psych me out by not showing any kind of enthusiasm, but I thought he hated me and then when I got the job I was so shocked and I thought, 'Oh, he's just like that – he's just going to be a tyrant on set', but he's very, very nice. But yeah, I was very surprised and thrilled beyond words, I mean, the script is so beautiful. And I sort of didn't really think that George was doing it – for whatever reason, I just assumed that it was too good to be true, for a script to be this good and to be working with George Clooney. I just thought it was one of those things that was rumoured and then Jason told me the Italy story and I got really excited. And that was one of those moments where I was sitting at lunch with him trying to act like, 'Oh, right, of course I'm going to be in a movie with George Clooney, because I do that sort of thing'.

END

Interview with Jason Reitman - 18th October, 2009

Promoting: Up in the Air
Venue: The Mayfair Hotel, London
Interview type: Press conference


Question (Q): The film's based on a book, isn't it? If I read the book, would I recognise it in the film?

Jason Reitman (JR): Yes and no. The book is about a man who fires people for a living, this man Ryan, who obsessively collects Air Miles, but if I had directed the book exactly as it was, these two lovely ladies next to me (co-stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick) would not be here, because their characters are not in the book.

Q: That sounds like a considerable difference. So the book was source material but you were then able to fly with it, as it were, to take it beyond whatever's on the page?

JR: The way I use source material is, I kind of see it as a toolbox. Usually there's a story that I want to tell and I'm looking for the right words and I'll read a book, I'll read an article and suddenly it'll just be the language that I've been looking for to say something that I've needed to say or ask something that I've been meaning to ask and at that point it just becomes a toolbox of ideas that I can either follow literally or sometimes I take someone's dialogue and give it to someone else or, in this case, I really took the main character who – I liked his occupation, I liked his life philosophy and from there I built the plot around him to ask the questions that I wanted to ask.

Q: I read that you wrote the role of Ryan with George Clooney in mind. Is that correct?

JR: Yeah, I wrote the role with him in mind and with Vera and Anna in mind too. It's easier for me to write when I know who I'm writing for – that's often how I identify the voice of the character. I had met Vera before and seen many of her films and I knew the things that she was able to do that no other actress is capable of doing and it was because she's able to walk that very fine line of being aggressive and feminine at the same time that I was able to write Alex the way I did. It was because I saw Anna in Rocket Science and knew the kind of sparkling brilliance of her mind and how fast she is that I was able to write Natalie the way I did. And look, if you're going to make a movie about a guy who fires people for a living and you still want to like him, that actor had better be damn charming and I don't think there's a more charming actor alive than George Clooney. I was just very lucky he said yes.

Q: What would have happened if you'd written it with him in mind and he'd said no? Do you then go to a Clooney clone? A George Cloney?

JR: I don't think there is such a thing? I'd have probably just ended my career right there and then. The story is actually kind of funny – I'd been writing it for six years and I told his agent, 'Look, I'm about a week away or a month away from finishing it, but in the middle of that I'm going to Italy on vacation with my wife' and he said, 'Well, if you're going to be in Italy, you should just go see him!' And I said, 'That sounds like an awful idea. I don't want to go see him if he hates my screenplay' and he's like, 'No, no, no, just go, he'll love to see you'. So I said, 'Well, look, I'll send him the screenplay and if he enjoys it, then certainly, I'll drop by'. So I get to Italy and I call his agent up and I say, 'Did he like it?' and he said, 'Yeah! Go see him!' 'But did he like the screenplay?' 'Just go, look, here's the address'. So I drive there, I get to his address in Como and one of the first things he says to me is, 'So, what are you working on these days?' I said, 'There's a screenplay, it's called Up in the Air' and he said, 'Oh, I have to find that – I gotta read that' and for two days, my wife and I stayed in his home and I was just trying to prove that I was a man to George Clooney. I played basketball with him, I hadn't done that since eighth grade, I never drink, I tried drinking with George Clooney. He opened four bottles of wine between the three of us, so for an evening I – I don't know how I didn't die of alcohol poisoning and finally, about the end of the second day, he disappeared for a while and, I don't know, he walked into the room and he said, 'I just read it, it's great, I'm in'. And those are words that I feel changed my life and probably one of the greatest moments I'll ever remember from my career.

Q: One of the fun things about the film is that it balances against the darkness of everyone getting fired and then the optimism of these people finding new jobs and kind of the cherry on top of that is the song that came in at the end of the credits. Was that dumb luck? Was that something you were looking for? How did that come about?

JR: That was dumb luck. After Juno, I've gotten kind of used to teenagers sending me songs with the idea that it'll appear in one of my films. But I was speaking at a college in St Louis and a man in his mid-fifties came to me with the song. That was unusual. And he handed me a cassette tape. So, first off, I had to find a place to actually listen to this, but we found a car with a cassette deck and I really was ready for something ridiculous and instead on came this voice, which you know is in the credits now, and he introduced himself, explained how he had lost his job after being there for a decade, decade and a half and he was now in the middle of his life, trying to figure out the purpose of his life and he started singing this song that is not the greatest song ever written, but it's an authentic song. And I guess my feeling was that we're in the middle of one of the worst recessions on record in America and about a million people had lost their jobs in the last year, but we really have no experience of who these people are – they're just often numbers on newspapers' mastheads, percentages – and here was a guy who was able to sing, very authentically, about how he felt about it and I felt what better tribute than to end the movie with it. And I knew, halfway through listening to it that it was going to be in the credits.

Q: One of the pleasures / sadnesses of the movie are the interviews that are conducted by Anna's character and Clooney's character, with apparently real people. How was that done? Obviously J.K. Simmons is an actor, but were some of the others genuine people who had lost their jobs?

JR: Well, when I started writing the screenplay seven years ago, the economy in America was very different – we were basically at the tail end of an economic boom and I decided to write a corporate satire about a man who fired people for a living and I wrote comedic scenes in which people lost their jobs. And by the time it came to shoot this film, it just wasn't funny anymore and I couldn't go about shooting these scenes as written. And we were scouting in St Louis and Detroit and the idea just came to me, that we should try and use real people, so we put an ad out, in the newspaper, in the Help Wanted section, saying we're making a documentary about job loss and we're looking for people who would go on camera and talk about their experience. We had an overwhelming amount of response and we brought in a hundred people and twenty-five are in the finished film. So, outside of the people you recognise, like J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifianakis and Pamela Jones, everyone else who loses their jobs in this movie is a real person who came in and sat down at a table with an interviewer and for about ten minutes answered questions about what it's like to lose your job in an economy where really, there's nothing available and you have to consider some very dire decisions. And then after that we fired them, so 'We'd like to now fire you on camera and we'd like you to either respond the way you did the day you lost your job or, if you prefer, you can say what you wish you had said'. And this would turn into improv scenes in which they would pelt our interviewer with all sorts of questions that he did not know the answer to, about their severance, about why they lost their job instead of Jeff and, you know, it just went on and some people were really angry, some people got emotional and cried, some people were very funny. And I'm so grateful for their participation in the film, because I could have never written the type of things that they said.

Q: You've got a history of writing strong female characters, like with Juno and then this film as well. Do you think there's a shortage of those in Hollywood right now?

JR: Yeah, I think that's why I write them. I like to write original films and I think many of the men's stories have been told and so many of the women's stories haven't and I've fallen in love with many really smart women over the course of my life – the most recent and presumably the last one being my wife – and I enjoy it and I enjoy spending time with my wife talking about these scenes. The best thing I've ever written, I only wrote half of and it's the scene in this movie where Vera and Anna talk about what they look for in a man at each of their ages and the only way I could write that is I asked my wife to have a conversation with herself at 18 about what she looked for in a man and so everything that they say is true to her, which breaks her heart every time she watches it, but I basically laughed at her for five minutes. But no, I enjoy writing for women and I enjoy working with great actresses and I've just been very fortunate, I've made three movies now and throughout all of them, from Maria Bello on Thank You For Smoking and with Ellen and Jennifer on Juno and then not only Anna and Vera on this one but also Amy Morton and Melanie Lynskey, I've just been surrounded by great actresses that I hope I can work with more and more.

Q: You mentioned that you started this script seven years ago and obviously you've had a couple of films come out in between that time – Thank You For Smoking and Juno. Does that mean you put this on the back-burner for a while, while you did Thank You For Smoking? How does the time-line work?

JR: The time-line is that no-one would make Thank You For Smoking and so I started looking for something else to write and direct and I found this book, I fell in love with it and I started writing it and then out of nowhere, a millionaire – one of the creators of PayPal, who had sold PayPal to eBay for one and a half billion dollars with his partners – decided he wanted to make movies, he read my script, he got it from a friend, he called my agent and said, 'Hey, I'd love to make this movie' and he wrote a cheque for six and a half million dollars and made Thank You For Smoking, so all of a sudden, I wasn't writing Up in the Air anymore. I made Thank You For Smoking, went back to writing Up in the Air and then Juno came into my life and was just this irresistible screenplay that I knew if I didn't direct, I would regret for the rest of my life. The interesting thing was that I basically finished the screenplay after Juno and about five years in, I had basically got to the end of the script having never gone back and reread what I'd been writing and as I read from start to finish, I watched myself grow up. You know, over the course of the six years that I wrote the script, I became a professional director, I bought a home, I got married, I became a father and I watched myself in the first act be kind of a cynical guy in his 20s who was really just a satirist and then over the six years I became, I don't know, a bit more sophisticated as a writer and I also realised at least what was important in my own life and that really changed Ryan's journey as I continued to write.

Q: There are lots of real-life locations in the film, including several different airports. Did that present any particular challenges?

JR: Oh, it's a total pain in the ass. Shooting in airports is very difficult and we shot in four international airports. There was actually a fair amount of access and because American Airlines was our partner in this film, basically our trade was that they were our airline and they gave us access to all their check-in gates as well as their departure gates, but still, all the actors had to go through security every day, on the way to the set. And I think they would, on purpose, put George through as much security as humanly possible. I'm surprised he didn't get pat down every time he went through. And you know, we can't bring our own food in there, we have to bring in our own electricity, we have to bring in our own wire for our generators through an airport – it was really tricky.

Q: Anna Kendrick says that she thought you hated her after her audition. Why did she think that?

JR: Well, one, I'm a mean guy, but two... I wrote the role for Anna and Anna auditioned against thirty of the best actresses of her generation. I needed to know that she could actually do it – I basically saw her in one movie. I thought, 'Oh, she's great, but I need to see her actually read the lines.' And when she came in, I didn't want her to get psyched out by saying, 'Hey, I wrote this role for you' because then she'd probably freak out and not be comfortable, because then it would be kind of hers to lose, but since I'm a horrible actor myself, in trying not to show that I was already a huge fan of hers, I probably wasn't as nice as I could have been. It's kind of like when you meet a pretty girl but you don't want to show her that you think she's pretty, so you're trying to act as straight as possible and then you're not acting like yourself and then pretty soon you're acting like a jerk.

Q: I just wanted to tell you how much everyone enjoyed the film. When Anna gets dumped by text and Clooney says the line “I guess it's kind of like firing someone over the internet”, the whole cinema was in stitches.

JR: That brings up something worth mentioning and that is that this is the first film that my father (Ivan Reitman) and I have actually worked on together. I'd avoided doing that with the first two, because I wanted to make a name for myself and once I'd made a couple of films there was nothing that would make me more proud. Now, my father wrote one line in this movie and that line is “Oh, it's kind of like firing people online”. It's a MONSTER line, it gets applause every time the movie plays. If the reaction to that is a ten, the next biggest reaction to a line is a four. So, I don't know, I'm a little jealous, but it's a really proud moment for me. It's as if he's a baseball player, he can just, like show up and go, 'Oh, you want me to hit one? Sure, I'll hit one' and then he knocks it out of the park.

Q: One of the pleasures for film fans is when well known actors turn up in tiny roles. You mentioned JK Simmons, who has a very unselfish cameo and also you had Sam Elliott in the film. How much explanation do they need?

JR: Well, once I gave them a great role, like the ones I gave to Vera and Anna, I presume that on the next film they'll come in free and do three or four lines of dialogue each. No, I invited all of them to come in and do those roles and they've all been very gracious and have done them. I try and keep strong relationships with them so that when I ask they come back and do these roles. When I started my career, my biggest goal was I want to be a director that actors want to work with. Actors make movies, not only fiscally but they make them work and I just knew that the only way I'd ever be a successful director in the way that I want to be a film-maker would be if good actors actually wanted to work with me. And I'm slowly working my way towards that and I look at people like Sam Elliott, who would show up for a day and do that role and that makes me more proud than anything.

Q: Could you talk about your choice of music in your films? Is that drawn out of your personal taste? What was the case with Up in the Air?

JR: I start up an iTunes library while I'm writing the screenplay and I'm very specific about music and there are some very personal things for me. I originally thought this movie was all going to be done to Hank Williams music and then I got into the edit and realised I was wrong and I started moving into kind of folk music, but yeah, it's very personal for me.

END

Interview with Paddy Considine - 27th October, 2009

Promoting: Le Donk & Scor-zay-see
Venue: Warp Office, London
Interview type: Round table


ViewLondon (VL): Who were your influences as a kid? Did you grow up watching films? Are you a bit of a film buff?

Paddy Considine (PC): Yeah. I'm not a film buff now, in terms of, you talk to some people about a film and they can tell you when it was directed, what film stock it was shot on, who did the catering and all that, but I was hugely influenced by films and television. When I was really young I was just totally obsessed with the escapism of Star Wars and the Superman movies, Clash of the Titans, things like that. It wasn't till I got a bit older, when I saw Rocky, that was the first film really that I watched and kind of went, 'Oh, wow'. Also, on TV there were things like Walter, Stephen Frears' film, I still remember that, the night it went out, on Channel 4, the first night of Channel 4. And then it turned into a lot of sort of drama, Alan Clarke's stuff, which was speaking a bit more about where I was at the time. And then the world opened up when it got into the Scorsese stuff and Coppola, who I think is the most astonishing film-maker living. Why he doesn't make films now, I don't know. And then the more realist territory, that kind of work. Ken Loach's Kes, for example, is my favourite British film ever made. I think when you see such naturalism in the performances, you're growing up in that kind of place, it speaks to you.

VL: Can you talk us through how Le Donk came about? You'd made short films with the character beforehand, hadn't you?

PC: Yeah, we did. We'd had him for a long time. I was just mimicking guys around the music scene in Burton-on-Trent, the little town we lived in. I just started mimicking these characters for mine and Shane's amusement and then after Shane started making films and I did Romeo Brass with him, we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands, really – I was back on the dole and stuff trying to get work, so in that time we found ourselves making short films and I just put on wigs and put in teeth and would just do characters. We literally had nothing planned, we'd just grab a floppy hat and a wig and some teeth and create characters – it was liberating to do that, to go into town that day and say, 'Can we get into Burton Albion football ground?' to do some filming and that's how the short films came about. Le Donk was like that, it was just literally put the hat and wig on, let's go for a drive and see what happens. And we would go round people's houses who weren't expecting us to be there – it was a bit unfair, really, on some of them, but Le Donk would just pile in the house and away you go. And we always found it funny, but we always just thought it was just an in-joke and would only be funny to us.

VL: When did you decide to use him in a film?

PC: We tried to do something bigger with him before – we wrote a film with him as the main character but it didn't work. Whenever you tried to script him or anything, it was just bad, it just didn't work. He just has to sort of be alive and let this stream-of-consciousness come out of his gob and let him get on with it. But he wouldn't go away and so we got the opportunity to be at this Old Trafford gig where the Arctic Monkeys were playing and we just took him up there and made a story up and it just all fell into place. And it really was how it happened, Scor-zay-zee came on board, all the stuff about him walking around and plugging in a keyboard is true. And it was really liberating – I think I'd got a bit fed up of waiting around for other people to tell you when you can go and be creative. There's a process with making films and a certain way of doing things and with Le Donk we just thought, 'We didn't use to have to do this, we didn't use to have to have script meetings and wait for you to give us the go-ahead' so we just did it off our own backs and hoped that people liked it and if not, it was just an expensive in-joke. Well, not dead expensive, but a fifty grand in-joke.

VL: Speaking of in-jokes, I love the gag with [co-star] Olivia Coleman's baby. You didn't just think, 'Well, let's just use a different baby?'

PC: Oh yeah. No, it was just one of those things of like, if that's how big it is, we'll just have to get around it. And it's part of the charm. Because a lot of references have been made to things that have influenced this film, like Saxondale, and it wasn't that at all – I've only ever seen half an episode of that. I was working in Canada years ago and it was more stuff like the Trailer Park Boys and this Canadian film called FUBAR, which was also all improvised, like Le Donk. I thought that was fantastic and I showed it to Shane. So it's more from that than anything we've seen over here, although someone made a reference to Paul Calf's Video Diaries, which was fair enough – he was a bit ahead of his time in terms of how reality goes and everything.

VL: Since you mentioned Saxondale, someone mentioned at the Edinburgh Q&A that Steve Coogan ripped Saxondale off Le Donk because he'd seen the videos. Is that true?

PC: Well, the truth of it is, we'd shot the short films and when I did 24 Hour Party People, I gave Steve all these shorts that we'd done and he watched Romeo Brass and he watched these shorts and he really liked them. That's as much as I know about it. And then when it crops up years later as a series about a roadie in the Midlands it's like, “That's Le Donk”. I'm not kidding you – I had about a dozen calls and texts that day, who knew, going, 'Have you read this thing? It's Le Donk.” So you can call it coincidence. I think the point from us is, I don't care if Steve saw Le Donk and digested it and somewhere in his head then forgot it and came up with a great original idea – I don't care about that. I think our annoyance was that we want people to know that we did not rip off Saxondale, that's the only important thing.

VL: What have you got coming up?

PC: I'm doing a film called Submarine, with Richard Ayoade. We're shooting it in Wales and it's a great little character, a bit of a David Icke-style guru. It was just fun to do and with Richard, who's directing it, there wasn't a second thought about doing that film. I just really wanted to work with him.

END

Interview with Kevin Spacey - 15th October, 2009

Promoting: The Men Who Stare At Goats
Venue: Vue West End, London Film Festival
Interview type: Press conference


Q: Did you approach the characters as if you were recreating a real-life person, or did you start from scratch?

Kevin Spacey (KS): To me it was all in the script. I mean, there are times when you're playing someone who really lived and there is a responsibility about trying to make that as accurate as you can and even if it's not an impression, to embody that person, particularly if an audience happens to know who they were. But in this case, nobody knows who any of these characters were, so you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want. And also, my character was the most fictionalised of all the characters in the film, unlike the other characters.

Q: Have you ever had any paranormal experiences?

KS: I think working with George Clooney is about as paranormal as it gets.

Q: Did you go home and practise some of the psychic techniques that you learnt, or were you actively encouraged to do this by the director?

KS: I can admit I ran into a lot of walls in Puerto Rico. I never got through any of them.

Q: You've been away from the screen for a while, focusing on the stage. I wondered if you were waiting for the right script before you take a lead role again or are you just taking a break?

KS: I don't know – I did three movies last year, I did two movies the year before, I did two movies the year before that. I don't know what this break is you're talking about (laughter).

Q: Well, obviously you had the voiceover in Moon and the supporting role in Men Who Stare At Goats, but I meant an actual lead.

KS: Oh, an *actual lead*. No, I don't do those anymore. (laughter) No, I just finished two films in a row in which I'm the *actual* lead. I did a film called Casino Jack, about Jack Abramoff, who was a Washington lobbyist and a comedy I just did called Father of Invention. But I suppose I've been focused on building the theatre company over the last six seasons and things are going very well there so I had an opportunity to go out and do a couple of movies that I really enjoyed – I enjoyed the scripts and enjoyed the experiences of doing them. But my priority for the next six years will continue to be the Old Vic and I'll make films when they both suit my schedule and also to suit what interests me.

Q: There's a documentary that's just come out, called Starsuckers, that looks at the way that newspapers run made-up or exaggerated stories about celebrities. Do you think the media's obsession with celebrity is out of control?

KS: I don't get it. I don't understand the notion of people who might call themselves journalists, or who are in the profession of that, who would just make up stuff. I don't understand it as a function as a human being, I don't understand why that's of interest to somebody, to write something that's absolutely false in the hopes that 1800 outlets will print it. Obviously we live in a time – and maybe we always have, I don't know – where if you even bother to say, 'Oh, that story has no whit of truth to it', then they don't write that that story is false, they write that you have denied that that story was true, which is not the same thing as saying 'What we wrote was absolutely wrong'. So there's some people who choose to fight these kinds of things in the courts and there's some who choose to just go, 'You know what? It's yesterday's news, it's fish wrapping and I'm not going to worry about it'.

END

Interview with George Clooney - 15th October, 2009

Promoting: The Men Who Stare At Goats
Venue: Vue West End, London Film Festival
Interview type: Press conference


Q: Were there long discussions about the tone of the movie?

George Clooney (GC): The book, and there was a documentary done as well which was also very funny, it had such a unique tone, and I thought Peter just nailed the script. This is a script that’s been around town for a while, and all of us have been aware of it for a bit, it was named as one of the best un-made screenplays, so we were all anxious to get our hands on it, and see if there was a way we could do it, and [director Grant Heslov] had the right ideas.

Q: What was it like working with Ewan McGregor?

GC: After the restraining order, it was really hard to actually work with him. (laughter) It’s sort of shocking how absolutely fun and normal he is. We talk about the motor-cycle trips he takes around the world and down through Africa. He fits into this group of actors that are really fun to work with, they’re all professional, they do all their work before they show up, and so by the time you’re on the set, there isn’t a whole lot of misery. There’s the work between “Action” and “Cut” and then the rest of the time, you remember the rubber band fights, it’s fun. Actual food fights. I’m a big fun of his.

Q: Did you approach the characters as if you were recreating a real-life person, or did you start from scratch?

GC: It was whatever the script called for. We’ve done films before, like Good Night and Good Luck, where we had a great responsibility for accuracy, but this is one where we thought there’s something funny to be had, and we could just do it.

Q: Why has it been so hard to make films about the Iraq war, and are we now in a stage where we can make war films that will work?

GC: Any topical subject, if it’s Hollywood, will be a couple of years later, because you’ve got to write it, produce it and distribute it, so automatically you’re never going to be right on the cutting edge of stories. I think that we’ve been a little too close to the situation, and at times it’s such a polarising moment that it’s hard to make films that directly deal with that subject matter, since we’re in the middle of it still. We didn’t think of this as an Iraq war film, it’s a very different story completely. I’ve done an Iraq war film with Three Kings, which holds up and seems to be still relevant. I think this one is just a glancing blow at Iraq, it happens to take place there.

Q: You can’t seem to stop working with Grant [Heslov], writing and producing. Directing you in this, what was that relationship like on set, and who’s the boss?

GC: Grant’s the director, he was the boss. That’s the fun of it, directors are the dictatorship. I had nothing but faith in him, he’s incredibly talented and smart, so I’m lucky to be his friend for almost 30 years.

Do you believe in the paranormal?

GC: I’m not a big believer in much of that. Everybody goes through déjà vu and things like that, but I’m not a big believer in many of those things, I find them to be mostly coincidence.

Q: On a similar note, did you go home and practise some of the psychic techniques that you learnt, or were you actively encouraged to do this by the director?

GC: We kept trying. Busted a few clouds. It’s funny, there’s things that are made up in this screenplay, but the wackiest things are actually the real ones. When you read the book and you read about them literally trying to run through walls, they really did that - they believed they could.

Q: The script had been around for a while. Was there a eureka moment which caused you to take the script on as producer?

GC: These screenplays after they’ve been around for a while - even when they’re really good screenplays, things get attached to them and they get harder and harder to get made. There’ll suddenly be 30 producers and other people brought on, and it gets this baggage to it, that it really requires everybody being willing to come in. (So we were lucky to get) Kevin and Jeff and Ewan all being willing to come in and play ball and have fun on a film that isn’t necessarily a slam-dunk. It’s not Transformers.

Q: How was it working with the goats?

GC: Yesterday I was a fox (at the Fantastic Mr Fox press conference), now I’m working with goats. I tell you, this goat was a particularly nice goat. We spent a lot of time together. He wanted to go over the dying around me, so we worked on that for a while. The funny thing is, the goat was a great actor. He’d work it and really stare at the camera. If we could get Ewan to do that, it would help.

Q: Do you think the media’s obsession with celebrity is out of control?

GC: I’m the son of a news-man, I grew up around news. I can understand the issue which is, as papers are losing subscribers and they’re getting less and less outlets - it’s a tricky thing. You’re going to have to sell papers. The problem is, there’s so little reporting anymore. Someone will write a story and it’ll be in 1800 outlets from one person’s story. You’ll have no recourse, it’ll be false and you go, “It’s not true,” and they’ll say, “We’re not saying that, a London tabloid has said it,” and they’re re-printing and re-printing things that aren’t necessarily true. I understand why it happens, but it’s certainly an issue.

END

Interview with director Marc Price and actor Alastair Kirton - 6th October, 2009

Promoting: Colin
Venue: The Horror Room in the Movieum, London
Interview type: One-on-two


ViewLondon (VL): Where did the zombie point-of-view idea come from?

Marc Price (MP): I was always a fan of zombie movies and I thought it would be great to make a zombie movie but I wanted to something that – to me, as a zombie fan – I thought I hadn't seen before. And the idea of doing a movie from the perspective of the zombie gave me so much to play about with, such as the lack of dialogue – I thought it would be interesting to use the language of film to engage an audience rather than a bunch of actors running around saying how they felt, which is how I write dialogue, because I'm just not very good. And I had Alastair very much in mind to play Colin. So it grew from there and then we looked at what locations we had available to us and other actors we wanted to work with who we knew and we based the script on that. And there were a couple of scenes that were kind of over-reaching but I felt that was important as well, because it's a challenge and it's fun.

VL: So, Alastair, were you there right from the beginning? You knew each other before?

Alastair Kirton (AK): Yeah, we'd worked on a couple of short films together. I think I was pretty much in Marc's mind when he first came up with the idea.

MP: No, you were at least fourth or fifth choice (laughs).

AK: (laughs) Thanks, man. Yeah. Dean Gaffney wasn't available. Yeah, Marc pitched the idea to me really early on. He didn't have a script, so he used wooden stirrers and sachets of sugar in a coffee shop to mark out the film and I knew he wanted me to do it when he stopped saying “And then Colin gets hit in the face with a hammer” and started saying “And then you get smacked in the face with a hammer and bundled into a car”, so I was like, “Oh, brilliant, he wants me to play a zombie. That's...terrifying.” But yes, I wanted to get involved and having worked with Marc a couple of times before, I really love the way he approaches things. Just his enthusiasm and joy at film, really. And we had a lot of the same reference points, movie-wise. So when you go into a project like that it's nice to know you're both on the same page and working towards the same goal.

VL: So are you both big zombie fans then? What was your first zombie movie?

MP: Dawn of the Dead was mine. We'd borrowed – of all the films – Ah'm Gonna Git You Sucka. My aunt had taped it for us and on the tape at the end it wound down and there was the end of Ghostbusters and we were like, 'Oh great, Ghostbusters' so we watched the end of Ghostbusters and then that wound down and then something else had finished and Dawn of the Dead was starting, so we missed the title but it was the shot of waking up and all the chaos in the television studios. And I just watched it, thinking 'This is fucking amazing' and then the tape ran out! And I was like 'Argh! What's this movie called?' I was about 11 then. And then, when I was 14, I think Alex Cox had it on Moviedrome and it came on and I recognised the shot straightaway and then it just blew me away. I couldn't believe all that amazing stuff was happening so early in a movie.

VL: Which zombie movies were a big influence on the film?

AK: Well, Day of the Dead was a big influence, in terms of Bub [a named zombie in the film]. Marc said that when he watched Day of the Dead he got really deeply emotionally concerned for that character. So Marc gave me Day of the Dead – I'd seen Dawn and a few other things, but I hadn't seen Day of the Dead – so we watched that and Bub was obviously a big influence. But then we kind of just chatted about what we thought the best way to approach it was. The idea was really to think that he didn't have much vision, he was just a creature very much caught in his own small circle of consciousness and just the way he approached things, the way he picks up objects and plays with them like a child, that was how we approached it.

VL: Tell me about the special effects, because the effects are amazing for such a low-budget film.

MP: In terms of make-up effects, we were really lucky to have someone like Michelle Webb. We put out a sort of casting call to make-up people and we said 'Hey, why don't you come? You're going to have to bring your own equipment because we don't have any money but you have total freedom to create any zombie you like, providing we have the ones that we need for the sequence'. And all the make-up people who came down were fantastic with that, but what Michelle Webb [make-up artist on X-Men: The Last Stand] did that was exceptional was that she'd show us how to apply these make-up effects ourselves and leave her equipment with us and say 'Okay, see you next week – good luck with the week's filming'. And then she'd come back, see what we'd done and say, 'Right, okay, you can do this now...' and she'd help us and teach us more. And where that ends up being a truly amazing thing is you've got someone like Justin Hales (who owns the production company with me, because he knows how to set them up), who's normally a very technically-minded guy, he's now an amazing make-up artist. And that's just through wanting to do something, not wanting to wait around for us to start filming. We were even leading the make-up session at Raindance with him.

AK: I think the other thing that really helped was the fact that, being shown how to do it and you knowing how to capture things and the way to shoot things is that you just worked out the best way to cheat stuff, like the eye gouge and the face being pulled off. It's knowing what you can do with make-up.

MP: And then how to light it and what the camera should be doing to sell it.

VL: Did that all come from trial and error or from Michelle pointing you in the right direction?

MP: It was more a case of what I'd read about film productions in the past. And also the setting I wanted to apply to the movie, how in the stiller moments where there isn't that human influence, the camera's fairly static or smoothly gliding along, but whenever the human is the dominant force we wanted it to have that sense of panic and franticness in the camera. And in the case of the street battle, if the camera was smoothly moving around then you'd see that none of those people are actors and none of them are capable of faking a decent fight (laughs).

VL: How did you decide on Colin as the name of the film?

MP: It's my dad's name. And I thought it was a gentle enough name and then we have him biting someone's face and ripping someone's arm off.

VL: What was the biggest difficulty? I imagine there must have been times when the low budget meant you couldn't quite get something you wanted?

AK: There was one make-up effect that we wanted to do, which was after the street battle, when Colin has a hammer lodged in his head and we tried so hard to get the damn thing to stick. We tried latex, we tried sellotape and I think the last thing we tried was four rubber bands, which were cutting off the circulation to the top of my head. And then we walked out and Marc was like, 'It's on the wrong way round', so we just lost it.

VL: Which scene are you most proud of?

MP: I think the street fight, what with the explosions and the very small amount of people we had there to shoot that scene and how we dealt with that, in terms of framing.

AK: I just enjoyed the slower, more pensive bits, like the bit with the pigeon. Just the little bits, like Colin on his own and being a bit vulnerable, from a distance.

VL: What's your next project, both of you?

MP: We're working together again on something else. It takes place entirely on a Halifax bomber, returning from a mission over Europe. The plane's badly damaged, it's limping home and a creepy creature attacks one of the gunners. But it's not like the monster's killing everyone on the flight, it's only attacking this one guy. It's called Thunderchild, which is the name of the plane and hopefully it's an exercise in tension and it'll be an exciting ride.

END