Martin Cuff Consulting

A silver dollar moon, flanked by wild, apocalyptic, Dali-esque clouds emerged over Sarajevo Film Festival’s famous outdoor cinema yesterday; an apt counter-point to Woody Allen’s more mundane, kitchen-sink comedy “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger” appearing on the massive screen.

It’s an ensemble piece about a group of disgruntled Londoners. These are all glass-half-full kinds of folks (maybe that’s what comes of living in London?) but they’re driven by some new-agey persuasion that they deserve better. So they try to change their lives, mostly by ditching hopeless and uncooperative partners along the way. In doing so, however, not one of them gets what they want and few of them even get what they need. Actually, in spite of the last part, it sort of reminded me of real life, except with Woody Allen narrating. And since it is in fact a Woody Allen film, it’s quirkily and steadily entertaining enough. Smiley rather than laugh-out-loud. I doubt anyone other than Woody Allen could have gotten this film to the big screen though, or attracted such an all-star cast.

Cleveland Square and the Notting Hill areas were external locations, but London itself also seems like a bit of an unloved spouse here; it’s always present but not much is made of it.

Last night at the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Fairies and I took ourselves off to Novi Grad to see The Ghost Writer, a middling-to-good film based on a captivating premise: what the hell was Tony Blair thinking when he took the UK to war?

Based on Thomas Harris’s novel, here it’s a fictional former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), who’s holed up in a borrowed house on a wintry barrier island. He hires a ghost writer (Ewan MacGregor) to re-write his non-threatening, non-controversial but eagerly awaited memoirs. But there’s foul play involved, a pending War Crimes trial, the CIA, extraordinary Rendition, Iraq, murder, the whiff of an affair, an evidently more shrewd, capable and ruthless wife. Olivia Williams once again just acts every one else off the screen, she’s transcendent as the brainy, brittle, forthright former First Lady.

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Robin Hood was by far and away my favourite childhood hero: the gang of mates hanging out in the woods far away from adult supervision, singing lewd ballads, cooking bangers over an open fire, the being super cool with the bows and arrows business, and making a living beating the crap out of the King’s men. And all the time wearing a fetching green: bonus!

So I eagerly awaited this latest rendering of the Robin Fable – this time by master revisioner, Ridley Scott. Think of it as “Robin Begins”, a reimagining the whole “before Robin Hood was Robin Hood” thing – (which I guess kind of misses the point of bothering retelling a much loved story? I refer to Tim Burton’s Alice as a yet more criminal version of this trend.)

I won’t even bother explaining the plot. Not that it’s unengaging, it’s just frakkin convoluted. But it’s Ridley Scott – and (grudgingly) Russell Crowe – and they still hold it all together in a compelling and really rather enjoyable way. The battle scenes are brutal, the detailed portrait of Medieval life is remarkable, the cast is stalwart and universally fine. If you’re wanting japes-ing, wisecracking, thigh-slapping Merry Men, watch Bad Boys. But otherwise sit down, shut up and hang on. (more…)

“Life in a Day” is the Ridley Scott-produced, Kevin MacDonald-directed doccie that’s shooting TODAY – 24th July 2010 – on location near you (and you, and you, and you…) I’m thinking The Qatsi trilogy meets A Day in the Life of…. series of coffee table books, only messier and more inspired.

As the blurb says: “Life In A Day” is a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature film: a documentary, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.”

So what are you waiting for? Get on set.

Fascinating Podcast from Heart of Hollywood (Retro 1260 KGIL) radio on Runaway Productions and the fight to keep production in California: here.

Hollywood can now issue permits realtime. Wow. But it’s still the overwhelming sense of entitlement that astounds me…..

Endgame : crikey. In the post-World Cup euphoria, it really is just too easy to forget quite how far we’ve come.

Endgame is a real-life political thriller that charts the efforts of Michael Young, unlikely hero, to facilitate secret talks between the bitterest of enemies: the ANC government-in-exile and members of the Afrikaner elite. Against a backdrop of brute violence, thuggish intimidation, smuggled correspondence, surveillance, counter-espionage, and the bullish extremism of members of both groups, Young’s idealistic negotiations uncovered a mutual sense of humanity and respect that ultimately resulted in the unbanning of opposition parties, the release of Nelson Mandela (belated happy bday, Madiba), dismantling of apartheid and the birth of the miraculous, unlikely, vibrant nation of modern South Africa.

So: “crikey” was what went through my mind all the way through the film. I kept wanting to grab the air stewardess and say “Did you see this? Have you seen this?” and share my amazement and excitement. I’m not sure if it’s actually great cinema, but I found it powerful, personal and passionate – and I’m increasingly believing that that is in fact what great cinema’s about. If you’re South African, it’s a must-see.

Endgame – shot and beautifully brushstroked in drained, grainy, 80’s home-movie style – jumps from South Africa, to the ANC hq in Lusaka, to London, with the stand out location being the elegant Mells Park near Frome in Somerset, where the meetings took place (though this was actually shot somewhere in Berkshire – I’m trying to find out where.) There’s a scene on the rugby field at Stellenbosch High School too; that one I recognised for myself.

I’m not, generally speaking, a huge fan of politicians. My encounters with them – real or fictional – always leave me feeling a little bit tainted by all the spin and hypocrisy. State of Play, then, (starring portly Russell Crowe and flobby Ben Affleck) buys neatly into all of my wildly pre-conceived notions of political conspiracy and personal sleaze: hence I loved it.

Based on an old Beeb mini-series, the movie is a taut thriller about a curmudgeonly reporter who tries to protect his college roommate. That roommate now happens to be a congressman who’s heading a committee uncovering massive graft – and who happens also to be screwing his secretary. Twists, turns & thrills aplenty are driven relentlessly forward by a truly stellar cast (Rachel McAdam stands out).

And as the charmin’ly genteel southern home of all that Vice and Corruption, Washington DC is almost a character in itself. Even the Watergate Building plays a part. I found myself wanting to visit – which, given my opening gambit of this post, seems almost perverse.

Whilst on the subject of remakes, the US version of the creepy Swedish chiller “Let the Right One In” is also nearing our screens. Made by the same guy who made Cloverfield, it was originally slated to shoot in beloved Colorado, but ended instead in incentives-rich New Mexico. Clearly understanding the maxim that “No Publicity is Bad Publicity”, the host town of Los Alamos has even allowed itself to be named in a movie that features (if the original was anything to go by) alcoholism, child abuse, bullying, pedophilia, poverty and gangs – let alone the small problem of Vampires in their midst. In the spirit of July 4th, I shall be generous and allow that Americans may be able to pull off English language versions of good foreign movies (even if Death at a Funeral sometimes proves they don’t even get the English bit right). The trailer looks like it rocks.

Honestly, I’ve never paid much attention to the artist currently known as Snoop Dogg; I’ve always just sort of zoned him out as someone entirely crass and lacking in talent – a kind of incomprehensible, ubiquitous Paris Hilton, but black.

Sometimes though, he’s just impossible to ignore. Boombox reports that Mr. Dogg recently “directly approached the government of Liechtenstein with a request to use the whole nation as a video set. While Liechtenstein is indeed very small (about 61.7 square miles total), Snoop was only rejected because the country didn’t have enough time to properly get things in order to meet the rapper’s timetable.”

The full story here. That puts a whole new spin on “Making Your Jurisdiction Film-Friendly.” Word.

Little gets the Redhead into a froth, but news that HBO is creating a mini-series out of George R. R. Martin’s bestselling ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels was met with barely disclosed excitement in the Evans-Cuff household. The novels, set in a fictional and mystical land of kings and mercenaries and soothsayers and madmen, are indeed a thrilling “must read” (which almost, almost converted me to Fantasy novels) – so I trust that “Game of Thrones” will live up to our domestic hype.

And yet: where would you choose to film a mythical, medieval world of machievellian machinations where winter is indeed coming? Not Northern Ireland, surely?? Yet Northern Ireland First Minister, that hapless cuckold Peter Robinson, has announced that’s exactly what’s going to happen, stating: “In June, HBO will begin filming Game of Thrones in the Paint Hall – a nine part television series that could potentially be worth £20m to the local economy.” Read the full article on the Belfast Telegraph site. Paint Hall is a former Belfast shipyard converted to a movie studio, and most notably the site of production of City of Ember which, serendipitously enough I actually watched for the first time last night….

The casting for the film is complete and mostly pretty spot on. Live for Films also reports that the N.I production is now looking for extras – especially male, horse-riding ones. Details here. I could relocate for a bit. Honestly. Giddyup.