The King’s Speech Stars Talk Stammers and More

Recently I was lucky enough to go along to a charity premiere screening of The King’s Speech. Director Tom Hooper, actor Colin Firth (who’s still got it at 50, seriously I nearly melted into the floor like Alex Mac, remember Alex Mac? That was awesome… urm… where was I… oh yeah), and comedic veteran Michael Palin who’s charity The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, were there to speak to us press types about the film and stammers. Check out what Hooper said about staying away from the traditional period drama (aka the usually boring kind), how Colin Firth’s speech patterns were disturbed, and why Michael Palin thinks films that show stammering are a good thing by clicking here.

‘Flight of the Conchords’ Brett McKenzie Singing With Muppets?

Yes that’s right, well sort of. Brett McKenzie, the short half of the FOTC double team, has signed on as music supervisor for the new Muppet movie (of which it really doesn’t have a name). Sounds like Jason Segal who’s co-writing the film with his Forgetting Sarah Marshall buddy, Nicholas Stollen (hmmm stollen cake… What? It IS Christmas you know…), is sorting out some tuneage too. The ultimate pair of musical buddies, or just a weird combo? I don’t like it when my favourite folk parody band go their separate ways, it hasn’t worked so far. They’re one couple that work better together. But that’s just my Meg side rearing its curly-haired head.

Click here for more info from The Film Stage.

Herzog’s ‘Grizzly Man’ takes Nutcase to a Whole New Level

Cover of Grizzly Man

I’ve been wanting to watch Grizzly Man for years. FACT. So I finally got around to it last night, because I don’t procrastinate in minutes, I procrastinate in months. That’s just the way I roll. So around 48 ish (give or take 10 or more, or less, heck I don’t care) months later I decided; yeah, I’ll give it a whirl. My first thought when I saw Timothy Treadwell, the man who’s gone down as a legend as the mother ‘ucka who thought he was a bear but then unfortunately got eaten by one and took his long-suffering girlfriend Amie with him, looks a bit like a mixture between Chuck Norris and Woody Harrelson. The second thing I noticed is that Herzog began the movie with Treadwell talking about facing death everyday with the grizzlies. Yeah, that’s subtle foreboding right there in a NUTshell (geddit? Nut? Mad? Ha ha, such fun).

There’s no denying that this is a beautiful and interesting documentary. The man standing in front of the camera makes it so with his belief in his love for the bundles of brown fur and his methodical must-record-everything ways. But at the same time, he manages to make it uncomfortable, worrying and downright disturbing. This was a guy who clearly had issues with humanity and society, just civilization in general really. Confused and disheartened by the human world, it seems that Timothy Treadwell wanted to find a way to escape. Nature represented to him, his freedom. Unfortunately in that natural world he chose an unlikely companion: the grizzly bear. Maybe they symbolised to him, the misunderstood creature that he was, like a weird psychological transference of his own issues of not being loved and of not being protected onto a wild animal in a (supposedly) relatable position. Maybe he felt a connection with them that went deeper than any connection he’d felt with his own kind. Hmm. Touching, but mental.

Most people can guess how a story about a man who wants to live with the bears, nay, BE a bear, is going to end. Badly. And it does. Even more tragic is that the young girl with him, Amie, died too. The documentary falters somewhat in the rehearsed interview sections, a couple of tho people involved (particularly the physician and the ex-girlfriend) come across as if they themselves are one tortilla crisp short of a nachos bowl… But despite this annoyance, Grizzly Man never loses its momentum or becomes boring, Herzog’s editing momentum teamed with Timothy Treadwell‘s seemingly bi-polar personality sees to that. This is a must-watch.

‘Tree of Life’ Trailer: Roots Run Deep…

Terence Malik must be one hell of a soulful man. Now I’ll admit, I’m all for pondering (wo)man’s place on earth, and connection to nature etc etc, but The Thin Red Line had me as bored as a cucumber waiting to be used in a sandwich (it’s not the first salad item you think of adding is it?). Anyway, I still like to try to find my deep affinity with life and so on, so things like Malik‘s trailer for Tree of Life will constantly appeal to me. Plus I’m not going to lie to you, I’m a Brad Pitt fan (seriously, who isn’t?), and a Sean Penn fan (seriously, who is?), and this new woman who everyone is currently talking about (A LOT) Jessica Chastain doesn’t look half bad either. So, what’s there to complain about? Nowt.

Check out the trailer below and get familiar.

Video of the Day: 2010 Movie Mash Up

Gen I – you’re a frickin super video-editing genius.

My video of the day, probably of the week, is this Filmography 2010, masterfully put together by Gen I.

I love the combination of awesome tracks killer clips, and a little bit of “oh no he didn’t, put that in there did he?” scenes. Yeah, okay some folks have point out that a few of the films were really released in 2009, and yeah there may be four too many clips of Iron Man 2. But so what? I’m not bovvered, are you?

Anyway, click play to enjoy. If a little tear wells up in your dry eyes, then post a comment to show your MASSIVE or minute appreciation.

When will it End???? Unstoppable Review

Image via Wikipedia (yep this hawt-e has a pretty large role. It's not all bad...)

Yes, I went to see Unstoppable, a relatively long time ago, but if you still haven’t seen it, and you’d like to hear my musings about its ability to make you bite your nails (the long and short of it? It won’t ruin your manni) then hit the link here.

UNSTOPPABLE won’t have you biting your nails off, but it may make you want to take a little comforting chew…

Oops!

Since starting work on a couple of movie websites, I have thoroughly been neglecting my own blog. Tisk. Tisk.

I have since slapped myself on the wrists and am going to try and keep it up to date with some inane movie ramblings that will hopefully get me back on track!