I mentioned the French gangster/prison film A PROPHET back in H.A.V.O.C.#5 ? Well I saw it recently.If you liked THE GODFATHER,if you loved GOODFELLAS,if you thought SCARFACE was the best film ever made,if you have a good stomach for extreme screen violence then YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS FILM!I'm here flicking through the thesaurus trying to find adjectives to describe this brilliant film.The phrase moral ambiguity comes to mind.The hero/villain commits some terrible acts but you cant help rooting for him.Unlike MESRINE which we showed in ATHYFILMCLUB recently,the hero/villain played by VINCENT CASSEL came across as a buffoon at the end of the movie.The hero/villain in A PROPHET comes across as a fairly reasonable guy who stuck in a situation not of his own making does what he has to to survive.If you have already seen this film you'll probably think I'm some kind of sociopath at this stage, but no, its just the way the film plays.
Last week I saw A SINGLE MAN starring COLIN FIRTH and directed by fashion designer TOM FORD.Needless to say the movie looked fabulous.All the clothes,houses,cars,everything looked sumptuous and all the period details (1960's) were spot on.It also starred NICOLAS HOULT,he was the kid in ABOUT A BOY,he's grown up and now looks like an all American poster boy.JULIANNE MOORE also stars and does a great British accent. Recommended.
I'm in a kind of good humour and I haven't got much to rant about so I'll stay with the positive stuff.Out at the end of the month is Sundance Grand Jury prize winner WINTERS BONE which I talked about before?The story of a 17 year old girl looking for her crank cooking criminal dad. Its set in the Ozarks in Southern Missouri.By all accounts its got a great soundtrack.Lots of banjo music!The film brushes aside all the DELIVERANCE cliches that we've been listening to for God knows how long.I'm going to try to get director DEBRA GRANIKS first feature DOWN TO THE BONE (starring VERA FARMIGA from UP IN THE AIR)on Amazon or somewhere.Cant wait ,love having a film to be excited about.WINTERS BONE put it in your diary.I'm predicting it will be one of my films of the year.
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| H.A.V.O.C. and celeb chef discuss ATHYFILMCLUB business |
That'll be fun making a top10 or top5 or whatever of my "Films of the Year".I kinda have to do it now that that I'm doing a blog.Oh the pressure.Only kidding no pressure,well maybe just a little.Because I started H.A.V.O.C. all gung ho doing one a week certain ATHYFILMCLUB committee members are puttin the hammer on me to keep it up at that pace.Well I'll try but I cant do everything..........
Went to the ELECTRIC PICNIC last week with the CHAIRMAN,we conducted some official promoting of all thing ATHYFILMCLUB had a great time.
More next week?
Hugh Hyland.
