After cinemas in Bray and Greystones closed, the area was left with only one place to watch films. The Mermaid Arts Centre regularly exhibits arthouse films however they mainly programme contemporary films and tend to show larger releases.

Kinoteka Bray was started up in January 2010 as a way for interested people to get together and watch older and classic arthouse films. The club focuses on subtitled films and some of the films they shown so far include Bande à Part (France, 1964), Teorema (Italy, 1968), Tampopo (Japan, 1985) and Nosferatu (Germany, 1922). Kinoteka Bray aims to create a friendly environment where films can be screened and discussed informally. With beer.

Screenings are free and usually take place on the second Tuesday of each month though you should check the Kinoteka Bray website or follow them on their Facebook page to keep up to date with events.

Their next screening will be on Tuesday 14th Feb at 8.30pm and they’ll be showing Kontroll – Nimród Antal’s 2003 cult black comedy about a gang of ticket inspectors in the Budapest underground. It’s a film I’ve never seen but keep meaning to pick up some time.

I’ll leave you with a couple of the posters from their screenings last year that you might have seen around Bray. Beautiful work from the group!

If you run a film club and you’d like me to highlight it, give me a shout at nicola@averagefilmreviews.com and I’ll be happy to see what I can do!

The Orange BAFTA awards are almost upon us and I thought it was about time I wrote about them.

Also Orange wanted me to, so it made sense all around… Orange are massive supporters of cinema and with their sponsorship of the BAFTAs they're front and centre for promoting film-going in the UK. Not so much in Ireland… if only one of our mobile operators would pick up on what Orange is doing…

Anyway, Orange's two big offerings for film fans are their 2-for-1 Orange Wednesdays for Orange customers – it's been going for years now, since 2003, and it's been a huge success. I mean, who doesn't want a free cinema ticket every week? Also they've recently launched the Orange Film To Go app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It allows you to view great films on your Apple mobile devices and also get a free film rental every week. Each week it's a different film so check the Orange Film To Go microsite for more details on that. You'll need a code to access these offers so make sure you visit the sites to see how to get them.

To celebrate the BAFTAs they're also offering extra prizes to those avail of their Orange Wednesday's or Orange Film To Go codes. Check out the Orange Film Pulse page on the BAFTA website to find out more about what you have to do to enter. The prize this week is VIP tickets to the BAFTA awards, pretty cool hey? As far as I know there's a new prize up for grabs on Monday so check back to see what that is.

The Orange Film Pulse page itself is actually a little more interesting that just a competition site. I'd probably be talking about even if they hadn't asked me to. What it does is it's collating… the… "buzz" about films and giving the film a rating. So it's looking at tweets, facebook likes, ratings on film sites etc. Could be a handy tool if you're wondering what film to see this weekend? For example, the top film right now on Film Pulse is Chronicle with 94/100, compared to 72/100 for Man on a Ledge, the highest other new release this week. Worth keeping an eye on.

However, onto the BAFTAs themselves.

BAFTA PREDICTIONS 2012

In case you haven't noticed, the awards season is in full swing and one of the big indicators for the Oscars are, of course, the Orange BAFTA awards. It's said that some 10% of the Oscar academy are also members of the BAFTA jury so that's a reasonable swing right there. That said, if you look back at past winners, there's obviously a bias toward UK productions and films with UK interest, same as the Oscars and US interest.

But without further ado, here are my predictions. Be sure to let me know yours in the comments!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jessica Chastain for The Help
• Carey Mulligan for Drive
• Judi Dench for My Week with Marilyn
• Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
• Octavia Spencer for The Help

Personally… I'm not a fan of Carey Mulligan and I didn't like Drive. But I think she has a strong shot at a BAFTA here. Drive was critically very well received, especially in the UK, but it was oddly passed over at the Oscar nominations. I don't know if this makes it more likely that she'll pick up a BAFTA instead but certainly the fact that she's English does. That said, Judi Dench was better in My Week with Marilyn.

However, if I'm going on performance, I'd give it to Octavia Spencer. So that's my prediction.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Christopher Plummer for Beginners
• Jim Broadbent for The Iron Lady
• Jonah Hill for Moneyball
• Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn
• Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Ides of March

Momentum is behind Christopher Plummer at the moment and it was definitely a good enough performance, in a solid film, to warrant it. However… I think the novelty of Kenneth Branagh as Sir. Laurence Olivier might swing it for him here. Jim Broadbent was great, as usual, but in a poor film, Jonah Hill feels a bit like filler and Philip Seymour Hoffman could play that role in his sleep.

So… it's a tight one, but I'm calling it for…. Christopher Plummer…. no, Kenneth Branagh, Kenneth Branagh.

BEST LEADING ACTRESS

• Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
• Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
• Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn
• Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin
• Viola Davis for The Help

I'm suprised to see Bérénice Bejo in here. I wouldn't have thought the role of Peppy Miller was a leading one and she's up for supporting for the Oscars. I'm split here between Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton, mainly because The Iron Lady was such a disappointment. I wonder if the BAFTAs will see fit to award it anything. Tilda Swinton had such a presence in We Need to Talk About Kevin and it was a better film. No doubt Maggie Thatcher being such a controversial political icon will have some effect on the voting… I just have no idea what that effect will be.

Another tight one but I'm calling it for… Tilda Swinton. I'm fairly sure I'm wrong though.

BEST LEADING ACTOR

• Brad Pitt for Moneyball
• Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• George Clooney for The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin for The Artist
• Michael Fassbender for Shame

Aside from Brad Pitt, all of these guys are in with a shout as they were all great performances. I'm gonna call Gary Oldman though because Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy it was an excellent film and I think the BAFTAs are the only place it's going to be rewarded, and they know it. That said, I'm fairly certain it's Clooney who'll be walking away with the little golden man at the end of the month.

BEST BRITISH FILM

• My Week with Marilyn
• Senna
• Shame
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• We Need to Talk About Kevin

As much as I'd love to see Senna pick this one up, I think it will be Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Don't get me wrong though, like I said earlier, Tinker Tailor is an excellent film – it was in my top 10 of 2011. It's just that Senna was higher. I just think that the chances of a documentary about a Brazilian F1 driver taking home a BAFTA over Tinker Tailor or We Need to Talk About Kevin are slim to none.

BEST FILM

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Drive
• The Help
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

With Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy picking up Best British Film, the way here is clear for The Artist to win Best Film. The buzz for this film is immense and I think it's going to take it home here.

That's it for the predictions, what do you think yourself? Have I got them completely wrong? I've probably got them completely wrong. I guess we'll find out on Feb 12th.

http://filmtogo.orange.co.uk 

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Chronicle chronicles the story of three high school boys who find themselves with the somewhat unusual ability to move objects with their minds… or, you know, telekenisis. So it’s kind of a sci-fi film and if you don’t know already, I’m a sucker for any film with a bit of sci-fi in it.

A lot of people are calling this a superhero film, but personally I think that belies a narrative that really is a little more complex. It’s not a superhero film. Just because you have extraordinary powers, doesn’t make you a superhero. This is much closer to a coming-of-age / teen drama, more Carrie than Captain America if you will. And it’s far more interesting because of it.

Now I have a no spoiler policy on this site so I’m not going into what exactly happens to makes this film different rather, what makes it admirable. With Chronicle, Josh Trank and Max Landis (son of John Landis, in case you were wondering) have set out with a relatively small budget, to make a genre film with a splash of originality. Something which is so often lacking in films about teens. These days, all that seems to happen to teens is that they fall in love. Or get wasted. Or both.

Trank and Landis take their three central characters, put them in a fantastical situation and, I believe, manage to create realistically immature and distinct responses for the three of them. Which is not to say that the characters are perfectly drawn… It’s short runtime means that it relies on us recognising certain tropes. Which is fine as a storytelling device, except that one of them could have done with a little more work – I didn’t know who he was meant to be and thus some of his actions were a little confusing. To be generous I’m going to say that perhaps he’s a stereotype who’s little used in film and if you’d gone to an American high school, perhaps he’s very recognisable… *shrug*

There are decent performances all round from the cast. Dean DeHaan has the most interesting role so he’s probably one to watch for the future. In real life they’re all a little older than they should be but I think they pull it off. The jovial relationship enjoyed between the three very different characters comes off as eminiently believable and, as their powers increase, the way their relationships change is well handled by the script and the actors.

However, while I enjoyed the film, it’s not without it’s faults… It could have been 5-10 mins longer and slightly refocused – spending a little less time spent on the powers and a little more on the characters would have led to a tighter film and set us up a bit better for the ending. Speaking of the ending, I thought it was good, I imagine a lot of the budget was spent on it and it looked decent for a $15 million dollar film. It may not sound that cheap but for what they were trying to do, it kind of is.

The biggest, biggest problem I have with Chronicle is that it’s “found footage“. I tire of found footage. I find it gimmicky and I just don’t see the point. Ok, it works for some films – as much as I disliked 2/3 of the Paranormal Activity films, the whole home video / CCTV thing made sense – here not so much… I can see no reason this couldn’t have just been shot normally. It would have avoided two big question marks – Why do they keep shooting? Who edited this footage? It takes you out of the film for no good reason.

So, yeah, if you can get past the whole “found footage” thing, Chronicle is a surprisingly good watch. I’m not sure it would entirely be worth paying the £15 peak time ticket price of a Leicester Square cinema – especially with the decent, not mind-blowing, effects – but it’s well worth your €10.

7/10

It turns out that he needs our help to distribute his new short film via a platform called Distrify. I’d never heard of it before so I decided to look into it.

What I found was that Distrify is a way for independent film-makers to make money distributing their films online. It’s a type of Direct to Fan (D2F) model and as far as I can tell, the big difference between Distrify and other most distribution models is that it incentivises the social aspect of watching films. The concept was dreamt up by film producers Peter Gerard and Andy Greene and they got funding in late 2010, so it’s a pretty new company and it looks like one worth supporting.

The gist of it is that, a film-maker makes his film available through Distrify for a fee and starts to shout about it around the place. When a person comes across the film they are given various options… The basic model is that they can watch the trailer and immediately rent the film and/or buy it, though other options are available. The difference with Distrify then is that, when a person shares the film, they are able to make a commission on anyone else who buys or rents it.

Course, you might share a film out of the goodness of your heart, but I think that being offered a commission makes you far more likely to do it. Plus, I’m sure there are plenty of independent film-makers out there who are pretty unlikely to get their films into a multiplex and are tired of putting their films up for free on YouTube and Vimeo. Plus if no-one’s linking to them over there, then no-one’s even going to be watching them. Distrify seems to be a way that a film-maker’s’ friends and fans can help in rewarding the hard work put into making films, while being helped a little themselves.

So that’s what I’m doing here. Terry Gilliam is one of my favourite film directors and he’s chosen to distribute his new short film The Wholly Family, about an American family in Naples, in this manner. For only €1.99, you can see his film in HD through the player below. You too can also share it via Facebook / Twitter or by e-mail.

Or rather, they want you to serenade your loved ones… yes. That’s more accurate. I’m sure they’d sing to you if you asked them to though. Well, maybe.

Anyway, obviously this is a little different from my usual posts. It’s a sponsored post but then I wouldn’t write about it if I thought it was crap.

In my life outside the site, I’m very interested in how companies are trying to do different things with social media and brand messaging. With this Serenade Your Date campaign, Heineken are doing just that.

For Valentine’s Day, Heineken have created a Facebook app that will allow you to send a personalised “serenade” to your hopefully-soon-to-be-more-than friend. You just pick Who, Why, What and Why Me and off it goes. Than you just have to hope they say yes.

They’ve also organised an 8 hour live global event called Serenade Live on 9th February which will be streamed on Heineken’s YouTube Channel. So yes, this is a pretty big deal. It sounds to me like one of the biggest social media campaigns going.

If you want to get involved, and you are over 18 (or whatever the legal drinking age in your country is) pop along to the Facebook Serenade Your Date app and give it a go. Don’t forget to also have a look at the live event on 9th Feb 2012 – things are kicking off at 6pm UK/IRL time.

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Well folks, the wait is over. It’s finally here! Hmm… actually, it’s not really a trailer. It’s an announcement piece apparently. That seems like some kind of statement of intent to me. A trailer must soon be following.

As soon as we get another trailer or a clip or two I’ll start up a proper clips and trailers post, but for now you’ll just have to be content with this.

Yesireee, the Step Up guys are takin’ it to sunny Miami.

I am rather upset to see that Scott Speer is at the helm for this one rather than Jon M. Chu. Chu directed Step Up 2: The Streets and it’s surprisingly good follow up Step Up 3D. Unfortunately he seems to be working on G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Bigger and better things… I guess. Well bigger budget anyway.

That said, I’ll definitely be catching this one when it comes out. I know this means there may be something wrong with me but… what can I say? I do love a good dance movie so and Step Up 3D was hilarious fun, so… oh well.

As a result, I went into Man on a Ledge only knowing that it starred Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks and Jamie Bell. And I put it to you that this is the best way to be. So if you haven’t seen it you can stop reading now. Not that I’m going to give away spoilers, I do, of course, have a no spoiler policy, but it’s worth not even having any expectations.

Course, from the title, Man on a Ledge sounds like a high concept thriller… but it’s actually not. Which was somewhat disappointing to me but how or never. The premise is that Sam Worthington plays a disgraced cop, convicted of a crime he swears he did not commit. He’s exhausted his last appeal and now faces 25 years or so in prison. He’s obviously not happy about this. To tell you any more would be giving things away so I’ll move right along.

What you get with Man on a Ledge is a tight, taut thriller. It’s relatively short, at 102 mins, and it manages to pack a surprising amount of plot in that time. Crucially though, and you’d think this would be something that more films would focus on, the plot makes sense. Well ok, being honest, there’s a couple of rather large plot holes, but they’re nothing that are worth focusing on. You can skim over them with ease.

What keeps the film moving is it’s tight structure. It never gets boring as, with almost clockwork precision, an interesting plot point is revealed nearly every 15 mins. This makes it feel a little like an extended TV show, but that’s not to its detriment. If it’s a TV show, it’s a good one with much higher production values and a rather more talented cast than you might generally get on TV. Except on HBO. They get some serious stars over on that channel…

Another thing that I enjoyed about it, though it is part of what firmly takes it out of high concept territory, is that there’s a bit of levity to it. We don’t spend all our time being very serious on the ledge. There are some great and very funny scenes with Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez, good fun as supporting characters. Rodriguez is certainly an actress I’d like to see in more English speaking roles, I think she could be a great comic actress. Her next role is in Will Ferrell’s Casa de mi Padre, so here’s hoping my hunch is right! And, of course, that Will Ferrell’s new film is actually funny…

My only real criticism of Man on a Ledge is that there may be a slight dragging toward the end.. but I think that has more to do with Ed Harris. He seemed a little confused as to why he was there. He never seemed comfortable in the film. Perhaps he just never got on board with the concept… All in all though, Man on a Ledge is a neat little thriller. It’s probably not going to set your world on fire, but it’s well worth a look.

6.5/10

The first thing I’ve found out is that it’s got a bit of a mauling in the press… but then that’s not something that I generally worries about. Some of my favourite films have been mauled by the press. Granted, they tended to be a bit heavier on the special effects and explosions, but hey. So what? Ok. I don’t know if this is really going to be my type of film, but with the Oscar nominations, I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Second was that, from the description on IMDb, it kinda reminds me of Hugo. I’m sure it’s nothing like Hugo but the kid looks a bit like him and if you look at the official summary below… and you leave out the September 11th stuff… it kinda does…

A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

… there’s a kid who’s an inventor, and there’s a key, and a lock. And France. It kinda does.

Anyway, further digging proves that it’s nothing like it.

In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close a young boy, played by Thomas Horn, finds himself on a scavenger hunt after coming across a mysterious key left by his father. Before his father was killed in the September 11th attacks it was an activity they had shared and, holding on to that memory, Oskar is compelled to investigate what the key means.

Presumably it has nothing to do with George Méliès. That’d just be weird.

RELEASE DETAILS

release date: 17 Feb 2012
director: Stephen Daldry
writers: Eric Roth (screenplay), Jonathan Safran Foer (novel)
cast: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock
genre: drama
running time: 129 mins

Official website: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close @ WarnerBros.com
Official facebook page: facebook.com/extremelyloudandincrediblyclose

Anyway, you can read more about the film over on that post because what I wanted to highlight here was the YouTube competition that was organised around its release.

The concept was simple but it was pretty cool. They wanted to find the UK’s spookiest ghost story. They invited people from all over the UK to sumbit videos of their original ghost stories to The Woman in Black YouTube channel. Stories had to be under 2 minutes but the videos could be as simple as someone just making a recording from their phone’s camera. It was open to all ages but as far as I can see there was a rather youthful bent to the entrants.

Just before the Christmas the 10 finalists were announced, chosen on the basis of their story’s creativity, originality and writing style. Those 10 went to a public vote… The prize? The winner of the competition would get a trip to the world premiere in London but better yet their story would be read out by Daniel Radcliffe himself for inclusion on the DVD release of the film. Not bad hey?

Well, the competition was quite the success and it was great example of a company doing something a bit more original with social media to promote a film. I don’t know how many entries they got in total but there are 175 on their playlist on the official YouTube channel – youtube.com/thewomaninblackmovie. You can see all the competition entries over there but I’ve got the top 10 here for your viewing pleasure.

The winner in the end was Nicola Torch, a 16 year old from Lancashire, with her story entitled “Fear of Hue”, which you can see below. Congrats Nicola, hope you enjoyed the premiere and looking forward to seeing your ghost story on the DVD!

RELEASE DETAILS

release date: 10 Feb 2012
director: James Watkins
writers: Susan Hill (novel), Jane Goldman (screenplay)
cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer
genre: thriller, ghost story
running time: 113 minutes

Official website: www.thewomaninblack-movie.co.uk
Official facebook page: facebook.com/TheWomanInBlackUK
Official Twitter feed: @WomanInBlackUK

The Woman in Black YouTube ghost story competition finalists

Candy Bones by Paul Bristow
The Woman of the Graveyard by Lukas DiSparrow
The Treehouse by Holly Knowles
The Fall by littlemonkeygun
HACK by mothergoose8619
Cassie’s Ghost by Cinzialix
The Calming Mist by Alice
A Ghost Story by Natiekins
The Dead House by Jasmine Thorburn
Fear of Hue by Nicola Torch (winning entry)

See the rest of the competition entries over here.

Candy Bones by Paul Bristow

As usual, I’ll be doing an Oscar predictions post closer to the time but for now, as it seems to be becoming a tradition… I’ve done an Academy Awards 2012 A4 printable prediction ballot for you to fill out and do with what you wish. I’m not saying you should organise a pool amongst your friends or anything but like… you know, the form is handy for that type of thing…

This year I decided to redesign the Oscar prediction ballot form because I wanted to fit in more categories. It is still printable on 2 A4 sheets but I’ve kept the biggest categories on the first page so you can just not print the second if you want to keep it simple.

Feel free to send me your predictions as well, I am ever curious to know what other people think. You can e-mail your ballot form to nicola at averagefilmreviews dot com and if enough of you do I’ll announce the person who got most right on the blog on the 27th. I may even have a prize for the first entrant who gets all 21 right.

Anyway, to get the prediction ballot click the links below. I’ve done a pdf version this year as well. Oh, and I also put some tie breaker questions in for y’all.

DOWNLOAD THE WORD DOCUMENT HERE

DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE