Cleve Film Fest

Archive for June, 2011

Jun
16

The Town

The other day when I was shopping for Homeware I saw The Town had just been released on dvd so I treated myself to that and a big bar of chocolate and settled down for Friday night movie night.

The Town is set in Charlestown, America and it portrays a realistic and gritty view into what this rough and violent city has to offer. The storyline is nothing new in terms of crime drama but it is intense and emotional, and Ben Affleck who also directs the movie plays the leading role and gives one of his finest performances to date.

SPOILER ALERT ENDING REVEALED

Here is the story in a nutshell. Doug McRay (Ben Affleck) places himself in a very difficult position when he falls in love with the bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). After taking Claire hostage following the robbery the gang decide that she may need to be silenced and McRay decides to take this upon himself. He stalks Claire until he takes an opportunity in the laundrette to talk to her. When he sees how distressed she is due to the kidnapping he begins to fall for her, and a complex relationship is formed. Of course she does not know his true past and the relationships is being built on a series of lies so McRay can conceal his real identity. Parallel to this the FBI are trying to uncover the culprits for the robbery and are getting closer and closer to pinning it on MacRay and his gang. When the FBI agent leading the case hears a recorded phone conversation between the victim and one of the suspects which clearly portrays them to be having a relationship he begins to question Claire’s involvement. The FBI agent appears at her house to show photos of the suspects and when she sees MacRay she is mortified and heartbroken. MacRay manages to talk her round and convinces her he will never hurt her and never forgive himself if he lost her and he asks her to runaway with him so they can start a new life together but she refuses. During the gangs final job they get busted and all hell breaks loose on the streets of Charlestown but MacRay gets away unscathed. In a final bid to catch MacRay the FBI convince Claire to lure him in by asking him to meet her, but she gives him a secret message that only he would understand and he realises that she does still love him.

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Jun
1

A must see, even if you hated education: An Education

Let’s be clear from the outset here: I wasn’t in any way excited about watching this film. Okay, the premise sounded interesting, but it didn’t exactly compete in my mind well with the other films of the time. So it was a risk, really, me watching this. I was all prepared to hate it and then when I saw it guess what? I loved it. It was actually just what I needed.

Starring Carey Mulligan – of Never Let Me Go fame – An Education is exactly that, charting one young girl’s summer as she meets a dashing and handsome businessman in the shape of American Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State, to name but one). It starts off simple and quickly turns sinister, with a very interesting story carefully interwoven with a period drama that is actually really very good. Now there’s a paragraph I didn’t expect to be writing when I sat down to watch this film…

An Education is also stylish. From the smart opening scenes, the music is well times and mixed with a sometimes hilarious brand of humour that exactly mirrors the intricacies of the time. In other words, it’s a film for people who don’t usually watch films, but also a film that is crafter brilliantly, making it appealing to both the avid cinema goer and the comedy lover.

Buy or download An Education to see some Great British actors and a slew of interesting narratives mixed with a story that you won’t see every day (a much better buy than those custom rings you keep seeing on QVC, make no mistaking!).

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Adolph Hitler reportedly liked Clark Gable more than any other actor. When Gable was flying combat missions in World War II, it was said that the German dictator offered a large reward to anyone who could capture Gable and bring him to Hitler alive and unharmed.