White House Down

So, it has been a little while since I felt inspired to write something on here. Perhaps it's because it has been a little while since I saw a film I felt the need to write about?
Anyway. This week Boyfriend and I went to see White House Down. Or as I prefer to call it; Die Hard 3.5.
It's true you could easily substitute John and Emily Cale for John and Lucy MacLane. Although I suppose at this point Lucy would be older than twelve, bear with me, believe that Die Hard exists outside the time constraints of our universe.The father figure in this case, played by Channing Tatum, could be modeled on McClane's inept attempts at fatherhood. McClane is isolated from his children by time and distance, Cale is locked out of his daughters life by a lack of contact and her preoccupation with things he doesn't understand; politics, social media. They are trapped in a building being attacked by terrorists and there is someone important they need to protect (Holly, The President). Although no one initially believes that Cale/McClane can save the day, of course he manages to. Good guy hides from bad guy, good guy fights and wins against bad guy, destroying some part of the white house along the way, more bad guys come in, repeat. There is even a part where one of the terrorists loses his brother and swears to bring down the person who did this. It's hard not to draw parallels with Die Hard.
The movie is like a buddy cop situation for father and daughter and the story is entirely predictable but the beauty of this movie is in the execution. The casting of Jamie Foxx as the president draws an obvious parallel to the current administration, and the role makes the most of him as the "bad-ass leader of the free world". The developing relationship between Foxx and Cale is the central story here. The beginning sets up carefully that Cale is essentially a failure in everything he has ever attemped. His daughter has spent all morning on her phone, ignoring him. His marriage has fallen apart. He is unable to get a job as anything apart from a glorified taxi driver to a senator. Maggie Gyllenhaal runs through a list of his unsuccessful past in the first few minutes of the film. The president tells him to "stop lying to kids". His former wife is annoyed by him being late and missing out on his daughters life. Yet as soon as the guns come out the president places his full trust in Cale. Most of the action scenes are one on one combat and there are countless shots of Cale sliding over tables, chairs, small walls... well anything really... It's clear that the director is trying to keep the frame 'busy' and keep movement going at all times. They make for an interesting pair and bounce off each other which does keep viewing interesting. If you compare this with its sister movie, Olympus has Fallen, while the trailers make them appear the same, there is a major difference. While Olympus tries to emphasize the gravity of the situation and continually reminds us that Bad Things Are Happening, White House Down looks at the inherent comedy of the typical American Patriotic Action film.
There are ludicrous moments, for example in an utterly ludicrous sequence where Cale and Sawyer are in the President's limousine driving round and round the fountain in the middle of the White House  the windscreen is blacked out and the president is trying to figure out how to assemble and use a rocket launcher in the back seat.The bad guys here are cartoonish and one sided, their motivation is thinly veiled.You get no real satisfaction from them being taken out, but that doesn't mean you don't feel good when the good guys win. The film ends with a Emily waving the Stars and Stripes heroically on the White House' front lawn. It's fun, light-hearted, and doesn't slip into the "I'm OK but how is the country?" overdone patriotism trap that others have fallen into; Vantage Point, Olympus has Fallen et al. Although you might instantly (like Boyfriend) guess the outcome of the entire plot five minutes into the film, it's fun and enjoyable. It's always good to see a film that doesn't take itself too seriously and is able to poke fun at itself and it's genre. That said there are certainly a plethora of haters out there, so I wouldn't necessarily take my word for it. It's always worth doing your research.

The BBC Philharmonic play Sibelius, Shostakovich, Foulds and Nielsen. Saturday 26th October 2013 at The Bridgewater Hall.

The BBC Philharmonic play Sibelius, Shostakovich, Foulds and Nielsen. Saturday 26^th October 2013 at The Bridgewater Hall.

John Storgards, Conductor

Guys Braunstein, violin

Zoe Beyers, guest leader

The Bridgewater Hall is a dramatic venue, narrowing at the stage, which leads the eye towards an intriguing focal point; a large pipe organ. So here, beneath a blanket of stars, John Storgards takes us on a journey from evocative Northern Finnish landscapes, wind and snow swept Russia, Scottish glens and the peaceful Welsh Valleys that ends in the idyll of a tiny Danish Island.

The evening begins with Sibelius’s Tone Poem ‘The Bard’, a reflection on mortality. Beginning in a harp led stillness, The Bard explores string textures and colours with a dark, moody bass line, contrasting with violins at the very top of their compass. The music ebbs and flows, ocean-like, from the reflective to eruptive surges of sound. The piece ends with a certain finality meditating on death and reunanciation.

Shostakovich’s violin concerto is an opportunity for incredible virtuosity and Guy Braunstein is an energetic and charismatic performer whose enthusiasm for the piece is matched by a great playing ability. The concerto is in four parts; Nocturne, Scherzo, Passacaglia and Burlesque with a lengthened cadenza linking the final two movements. The Nocturne begins with the orchestra setting down the melodic language that will define the rest of the movements, and builds as the solo begins to elaborate and expand the ideas. The overall tone of the Nocturne is repressed, as though the violinist is holding back the devil about to release into the scherzo. All eyes are on Braunstein as the movement concludes with the violin breathing a sigh of relief, which elicits an audible gasp from the audience before launching into the ‘diabolical’ scherzo. If the tone of the Nocturne is suppression of emotion and a reflection of Soviet censorship at the time, Scherzo is a complete reaction against it. Braunstein plays with unimaginable speed and clarity of tone. While the orchestra suggest the music of the Russian peasants the solo swirls like snow above it, playing an intricate game of cat and mouse. The Passacaglia is a return to similar form of the Nocturne, but with astonishing emotional depth.

The second half is a well-balanced follow up to the first, with two pieces of similar lengths and moods to the first. Both pieces in the second half are by composers who were reflective of their surroundings and the natural world, while Foulds was a collector of folk music and wrote for Indian classical ensembles, as well as Western, Nielsen never forgot his roots in Funen, his family background and his obsession with the natural world. Foulds’ Keltic Suite is reflective of the landscapes of Celtic countries. The first movement – The Clans- makes use of the Scotch Snap and drone basses to evoke a generalised ‘Scottish-Celtic’ atmosphere especially in the pastoral second subject. The programme notes suggest the second movement – A Lament- is intended to evoke Wales, and the third – The Call – is Irish in inspiration. The second movement possibly owes more to Foulds own background as a cellist (with the Halle, in whose home this suite is tonight played) combining the melodic cello with a delicate harp line. The concluding part, The Call, is a combination of march and jig which has the audience toe-tapping and ready to dance.  This makes use of violin parts styled more as ‘fiddles’ than typical violin writing and this is an opportunity to show off the skill of the orchestra itself.

The evening ends with Nielsens ‘Sinfonia Semplice’ which, contrary to its popular name is anything but simple. Nielsen intended his sixth symphony to be a departure from his other works, and that he thought it would be more amiable and smooth. The piece begins with a mood of untroubled innocence, but this is soon coloured with dissonance in the brass and a grim outburst of sudden noise. The second movement also experiments with colour using an unusual group of instruments; piccolo, clarinets, bassoons, a trombone and a small group of percussion. Although the strings have remained tacet in the Humoreske, the next – Proposta Seria – is intense and dark again, experimenting with string texture in much the same way as the earlier pieces this evening, it also feels restrictive, the strings taking most of the melody with brief accents of the other timbres. The final movement – Tema con Variazoni – sets out the melody, unusually, in the bassoon but the 9 variations that follow move further and further from the original motifs. Although the orchestra had by now found their feet and settled into the music, the piece failed to capture the drama and excitement of the Shostakovich.

The overriding theme of the evening exploring textures and colours for strings was an intriguing one, as we journeyed across Europe in stunning and contrasting pieces. Although the evening petered away towards the end, the audience remained captivated by an enigmatic performance from both soloist and orchestra.

Conversations Arnie has with studio execs

Conversations that Arnold Swarzeneggar has had with studio execs

OK Roger, how do we get rid of this guy?

I’ve got one

<enter Arnie>

Ok Arnie so you’re a cop, who also teaches Kindergarten…

I’m in

I had a dream last night about reading a script that was about a man who had a dream about going to Mars…and then  he went to Mars…and then I did the script

So basically it’s you and Danny Devito…

I’ll do it

Here’s one that he DEFINITELY won’t do

<Arnie enteres>

You’re a guy who give’s birth…

I love it

Aliens

I was sort of looking forward to this one, Boyfriend gave me a few hours to recover from Alien before we started on this one, and I was worried about what might have happened to Sigourney drifting alone in space with no night cream. When we woke up on Sunday morning I suggested we stick this on while having our scrambled eggs and I don’t think I have ever seen him so happy. Perhaps for the third installment I shall wear heels, lacy underwear and nothing else? Mmm shoes….

Anyway…

Aliens is set 57 years later and features Paul Reiser as a bit of a twat. Where the first film (I’m getting sick of pushing the italics key) is considered to be a haunted house, the film in the plural is a rollercoaster. It’s a true monster movie, like an episode of the x-files when they got all high-budget and lost track of their own conspiracies.

The film opens with Sigourney luckily being picked up by a scavenger but soon finds herself aboard a ‘company’ ship, coincidentally it’s the same shadowy ‘company’ that sent her out to unmapped planet from the initial film with the message ‘crew expendable’, however this time they blame her entirely for the destruction of her ship and refuse to believe the alien of the title exists. This is understandably a bit traumatic for poor Sigourney, and luckily her face can still express this (57 years later, surely there was SOME botox?) she has nightmares and wakes up in cold sweats, but luckily her cat is still about to comfort her. Inevitably the slimy Paul Reiser talks her into returning to planet that caused the end of her friends as they have inexplicably lost contact with the settlers who are now on the planet. Now this is a small planet and to me it seems a little coincidental that as soon as Sig’ wakes they want to head out to explore the ship where all the little aliens are sleeping? It later turns out Mr Reiser is responsible for this (how didn’t I see that one coming?)

On the lil’ planet Sig’, Reiser and their marine buddies (who include Bill from Twister and Kyle Reese from Terminator) try to stay as far from the impregnated colonists as they can, but luckily they’re already dead, excluding one incredibly intense little girl. But what else could be scarier than surviving alone in an airvent after you’ve seen literally everyone you know destroyed. It’s enough to make the most Seth Rogan among us into a Kenneth Branagh. Despite the fact that Sig has been brought along as an advisor everyone steadfastly ignores all of the advice she proffers and thus they end up cornered by the aliens.

Again the best part of this film is the bits you don’t see (and I mean this in the best way possible) when the remote sentries are firing into dark corridors and all we (and Sig and her mates) see is the countdown until they run out of bullets. Super creepy. Thankfully the smarmy Reiser gets his just desserts when he locks Sig and child outside with multiple aliens, but it turns out there’s one in the room with him. Again the camera cuts away after the look of horror on his face. Great.

The film ends in a similar way in that Sig nearly escapes but then has to head back for something she “forgot”, this time it’s the little child that she discovered at the beginning of the film. Here the film lulls you into a false sense of security, haven’t I seen this before? At least this time I can explain where the steam comes from…then suddenly, bam, alien queen in weird and slightly sticky lair. Sig races out and she is picked up by the scary android that bleeds milk and again they head off into space in hyper sleep. It finally seems that Miss Weaver has found her family the strangely sexy Kyle Reese and the full-on little girl who has barely spoken a word since the film began. aaaahhh

There’s definitely more blood and guts in this film, which I have to say is not what draws me in, and its gotta be the original film for me every time. I watch this as an entirely different genre of film and it’s hard really to see it as a sequel because it seems to do it’s best to distance itself from the first while moving on with the alien mythology, not only are there aliens and face-huggers now but also a queen alien and her weird, gooey nest which seems to be their natural habitat. They skulk about, they communicate. They LEARN. We know they’re clever because they build their nest under a cooling tower and they cut the power in order to better access the humans.

I know I gotta stick with these if I want Boyfriend to take me to Sex and The City 3.

Alien

This Friday I returned from work to find Boyfriend spooning his alien quadrilogy box set as, after a full week of waiting each day for the postman, the blu-ray box set had finally arrived. Que weekend of film watching (in which I am included) and extra-features-watching (in which, thankfully I’m not).

It’s not like I’ve not seen this film before, but apparently now it will be a whole new experience… Touched up, cleaned up…beautified…Boyfriend is particularly excited by a piece of footage of chains hanging form the ceiling in which apparently you can see the alien itself hanging in wait, which was indiscernible in the original movie.

I’ve always enjoyed a good haunted house movie and there’s something truly haunting about Alien, it’s basically just Sigourney Weaver wandering around in the dark and, inexplicably steamy, corridors of an ikea-built spaceship with a Tupperware containing a ginger cat. Daunted? Me too.

The first 30 minutes of Alien could be about anything. A group of 7, two women and five men, on the towing ship ‘The Nostromo’ heading for earth. Where they’ve come from; forgettable. What they’re towing; irrelevant. The film begins in eery silence panning through empty silent space, and then round empty silent corridors of spaceship. I almost expected to see a white net curtain blowing in the breeze and hear a clock striking thirteen. The crew are woken from hypersleep by the ships computer (the aptly named ‘Mother’) as they receive what is probably a distress signal from an unmapped planet. After arguing about it for a bit they head down to the planet (all of them, apparently it’s ok to leave ones super pricey spaceship drifting aimlessly in orbit) some of them head into the alien ship and faff about a bit before they discover some eggs…now this is where it gets interesting!

John Hurts unfortunately is the first to go, as a spider like creature begins to hug his face and stick it’s thingy down his throat to lay eggs inside him. They take him back to the ship and it turns out it’s impossible to remove the face-hugging thing. Now if this isn’t some kind of metaphor for rape I don’t know what is. Dan O’Bannon retreats to his ping pong ball decorated room and sits in silence. Err Dark Star anyone? Later the thing detaches itself and dies, but sadly folks, all IS lost for poor John Hurts. The alien creature pushes its way out of his chest thereby killing him, it looks suspiciously like some kind of phallus drenched in blood, which is exactly what I want to see before bed time…

Fast forward 24hours and this creature has about quadrupled it’s size and killed the entire crew apart from Sigourney, who weaves her way about, going back for engine coolant, to set the self destruct systems and for her cat. How disorganized. The best part of Alien is the fact that you hardly see a thing. The death of Veronica Cartwright is interesting as all we actually see is the alien wrapping it’s tail around her leg. This is followed by more shots of Jonathon Creek, oh no sorry I mean Sigourney, running around looking terrified while the sound of her friend and crewmate being aliened to death is heard over the intercom. We then see just a leg dripping in blood and Sigourney screaming. Fantastic. No gore. Barely any blood. I’m loving it. Alien is the perfect horror movie. It contains the unknown and underestimated threat, a few jumps and deaths that we don’t have to watch. Down with Saw …bring me Aliens.