Great British Comedy: Extras

Absolutely classic:

JB.

Quote of the Day

"In the struggle between the stone and the water, in time, the water wins."

-Chinese Proverb.

Glastonbury 2011

Even as I write this, the greatest festival in the world is taking place in a massive muddy field in the west country of Somerset. I thought I had it bad last year, but this year my glastonbury depression has reached new levels. Radiohead playing another secret show at the Park Stage, Mumford & Sons playing one in a tent (after rocking the living shite out of The Other Stage), Pulp playing a surprise gig...the list of things I've read about with extreme envy just grows larger and larger. I could even appreciate that U2 would have been good to see, despite Bono being an absolute prize bellend.

However, I stupidly watched Coldplay's headlining set last night and, simply put, it was one of the best performances I've ever seen...and I wasn't even there. Knowing the atmosphere around that Pyramid Stage, I can guarantee however that everyone who was there had one of those moments you'll never forget:

And there's still a day left...faaaaaaaack.

New Radiohead

Oh yes...

JB.

Actor Files: Paul Giamatti

Mr. Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (no, I'm not making that up) has fast carved out quite a career for himself. This being despite not looking remotely like your typical "Hollywood Leading Man", in fact, quite the opposite. However, this just makes his rise to the top all the sweeter - the fact that a man who could quite easily pass as a child molester carries films on his back with consummate ease - and it's all because he is such a great actor.

"Growing up I didn't know where I was headed, except to the grave or maybe to the gutter. I went through wanting to do a lot of things, but acting wasn't one of them. I didn't really know what I was going to do until after my father died. Going into acting was as much a surprise to me as to anyone else, and I was even more surprised to find that I could make a living doing it"

His career started playing memorable supporting roles in films such as "Private Parts", "Donnie Brasco" (when I first became aware of him) and "Saving Private Ryan". His first major role came with a little known film called "American Splendor" which is based on the comic book of the same name - about a man who does pretty much nothing. His performance is nothing short of brilliant, despite the shortcomings of the film itself, and I thought to myself for the first time "I want to be that man".

Proving he could play the lead role, then came his breakout role in 2004's "Sideways". Easily one of my favourite films of all time and a performance that inspired me in more ways than you could imagine. Just seeing a real bloke going through life's shit-house up on screen was an absolute treat and it continues to inspire just about everything I do today, for whatever that's worth.

"It'd be disingenuous to say I don't like attention - I'm an actor for God's sake - and it's flattering and all, but attention was never my big goal. I just like to work and have a good time. This whole business feels kind of intense, like a bad fit. Round peg, square hole. But whatever, I'll take it."

After Sideways, the offers came rolling in. "Cinderella Man", "The Illusionist" etc. However, now Giamatti is one of the few actors ever to carve out a genre all to himself. In the past few years every film he's starred in seems to be the story of the hapless everyman who we want to root for, despite largely being a complete degenerate. "Cold Souls", "Barney's Version", the recent "Win Win" - he's got the market cornered - and I, for one, now make it a point to see everything he comes out with. The man is brilliant. Nuff said.

Long may his streak of excellence continue.

Big up!

Photo of the Day

Because even during a riot, there's always time for lovin':

John.

Submarine

Is a wonderful British film from first-time director Richard Ayoade. I watched it yesterday and got extremely homesick. The soundtrack is by Alex Turner. Here is a song from it:



That is all.

John.

Where Are They Now?

Back in London in the years of 2003-2005, we were in the midst of a full blown indie revolution as far as popular music goes. You could barely swing a cat without bumping into yet another band yielding an album's worth of terrific material and festival slots all over Europe to back it up. Literally, almost everything that came out was great, subsequently storming the charts and booting the corporate garglings of Britney et al to the curb.

However, it very recently occurred to me that I don't listen to any of these bands nowadays. Save a couple of course. So the question begs. What the fook happened? Let's have a look shall we?

The Libertines - Riding the tidal wave of "Can't Stand Me Now" in the summer of 2004, they now of course, quite famously, disbanded due to Doherty's absolute vagrancy.

Kaiser Chiefs - Remember them? You couldn't change radio channels without hearing a song from their debut album back then. Now? Well, they've got a new album coming out. What, you're not bothered in the slightest? Me neither.

Franz Ferdinand - Went from Mecury-award winning, world dominating, stick-thin indie darlings to...well...**tumbleweeds rolling by**.

Razorlight - I'll be the first to admit, their first album is class. I still stand by that. However, since then, like some Voltron-like menace, Johnny Borrell became, simply put, the biggest arsehole in the universe. Plus "America" could be the worst song of the decade.

The Zutons - Again, amazing first album. Incredible live act. Fell off the face of the earth.

Kings of Leon - I'm thinking of a phrase, one that defines where you sacrifice everything you ever believed in for monetary gain. It'll come to me...give it a minute.

The Coral - No-one cares, but in my opinion these boys are still great. I'll put it down to poor marketing.

Bloc Party - Cracking in 2004. Progressively worse since. However they were quite mindblowing at Glasto 2009, I'll give them that.

The Killers - Oh how I miss the Hot Fuss days. Remember, when they wrote tunes?

Editors - Never that great. The world soon found out.

Athlete - Proof that enough V Festival appearances can actually turn you into a steaming hot turd.

Hard-Fi - Rock for young offenders? What could go wrong?

Keane - After Tommy-kins got all charlie'd up, the first casualty was their music. Which now sounds like Yazz...eating a dry weetabix.

Ordinary Boys, Starsailor, Snow Patrol...the list goes on.

Thus leaving it to two bands who have breezed through the test of time and must now surely stand as the two best bands from this forgotten era. Step forward Kasabian and the Arctic Monkeys. They alone stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries, making great music and pushing the envelope every time. Good work chaps.

Maybe I'm romanticising the whole time out of proportion. Maybe it's unrealistic to expect all of these bands to move with the times and keep bringing out good shit. Who knows? All I know is that it was fun while it lasted and the tunes live on.

Peace

JB.

Dialogue of the Day

"One night I'm gonna come to you, inside of your house, wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat"

Haha, classic Plainview from "There Will Be Blood" (2007)

Director Files: Christopher Nolan

In a new feature of this blog, I will be paying tribute to both actors and directors that I admire unashamedly. This week, Mr. Christopher Nolan.

So, I very recently completed the entire backlogue of Nolan's films (in reverse order, quite fittingly) and one thing that startled me was the almost unfathomable leaps forward each of his films has brought. His career started with a short called "Doodlebug" which is not, as the name might suggest, about a cuddly animated friend. Instead it's a brief journey into a man's insane mind. This theme would become prevelant later in his career.

Next is Nolan's first feature and it's called "Following". Made on a budget of six thousand quid, it is a quite brilliant noir mystery about a man obsessed with following people, until he becomes the followed. (Dun dun duuuuuuuuun)

From there he then made "Memento", which is a certified classic of modern cinema in my opinion. To write a story as complex and thrilling is one thing, to do the whole thing backwards is just pure genius and once again, a huge leap foward from his previous work. Note: If you have not seen this film, stop reading this rubbish and do so...at once.

2000's "Insomnia" is the one film he didn't write. However his directing turned a pretty basic plot into a top drawer, moody, crime story. Then came "Batman Begins". Now, I'll be the first to admit that I scoffed when I heard that a new Batman film was being made. However, I'd say that now it's probably my favorite of all the series. Nolan brought dirty, filthy realism back to the franchise and actually got it right, as far as what Batman's all about.

Next came "The Prestige" which was a brilliant period piece, which again I highly recommend, with yet another stinging twist in the tale. Then came "The Dark Knight", which I don't even need to talk about really do I. It speaks for itself.

However, just when you think old Chrissy boy can't get any more stunt-tastic, or complex, or both, out comes "Inception" - which, I hope, taught the whole world that not every summer blockbuster has to be a mindless pile of robots punching each other, or indeed that a character-driven, highly intelligent piece of work can be just as entertaining for the masses as Kevin James falling on a dog turd (or whatever "fat bloke" film he's doing now)

I think what's most impressive about Christopher Nolan's work is his ability to merge mind-bending stories with equally breath-taking visuals but somehow avoiding all the cliches you'd expect with this marriage of ideas. The Dark Knight, to me, doesn't feel like a summer blockbuster at all, it's more an intimate story about people, with severe personality problems, trying to do each other over. Marvelous! After all, the key to good storytelling is to create characters that we actually care about, regardless of their situation and whether the budget is 6 grand or 6 billion, and of today's current crop of film-makers, no-one does this better than Nolan.

I'm just glad to be around while this man is making films. Can't wait for "The Dark Knight Rises". Maybe on this film, Nolan can achieve his greatest directorial feat yet, getting Christian Bale to stop doing this:

Maximum respect blud.

JB.

The Other Side Of The Fence

This week was my first experience with casting. As in, actually renting out a studio and holding auditions with actresses for my upcoming short film. It was an extremely interesting experience from top to bottom.

First up, putting an ad on LA Casting. Now, anybody reading this who is, or intends to be, an aspiring actor in Los Angeles please take note of the following; if you are submitting yourself for a role, it is essential to add a note to your submission. Even if it's just a throw-away line like "this project sounds great, I'd love to be involved" it's worth it. For a project as miniscule as mine, relatively speaking of course, I had around 200 people submit for one part. Involuntarily, I found myself scanning through head-shots and the ones with "notes" attached immediately stood out.

Secondly, get yourself a reel. Even if it's shot in terrible light and with an iPhone (as I'm pretty sure some of them were), get something on there. I can't even begin to explain how much it helps to see someone in action. Also, the way LA Casting is structured, the people with a reel, or even an upload of one thing you were in, go immediately to the top of the page one. Jaaaaazz.

Finally, and this might seem obvious to some, make sure your headshot and resume are in good order. It's tough enough getting seen among 200 people and casting directors will be restricted by time, leaving me, for example, room for just 24 audition spots. So, the last thing you need is to eliminate yourself by just not having the correct formatting.

As for the auditions themselves, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself blown away on several occasions. Auditioning is an art-form in itself and to see people come in a hit it for six was an absolute pleasure. It's a curious thing though, with some people you can literally be left awe-struck by their acting but that one person comes in and reads and they just are the person you wrote. It's pretty much undeniable. I'm not entirely sure if this fact is comforting or utterly terrifying.

So fingers crossed we should be on the move again soon. Of course though, production has already been pushed back a month due to conflicting schedules, location problems, national holidays, crocodiles, angry rabbits....you name it. As I've already learned though very very quickly, when it comes to making films, nothing is easy. And I do mean nothing.

However, (insert motivational closing line here).

Peace and snuggles,

JB.

Food For Thought

A fascinating article from The Guardian:

"The world needs a new Marx, but keeps giving us Malcolm Gladwell's" - John Harris

John.

Tunes Currently Cleansing My Palette

1) How Many More Times (Live) - Led Zeppelin

2) The Plains / Bitter Dancer - Fleet Foxes

3) West Ryder Silver Bullet - Kasabian

4) Punch-Drunk Melody - Jon Brion

5) Things You Do - Q-Tip

6) The Hellcat Spangled Shalala - Arctic Monkeys

7) Faded High - Gayngs

8) Violin Concerto in D Major - Johanne Brahms

9) Any Colour You Like - Pink Floyd

10) Star 69 - Common

Well, it's official...

...the world is going to Hell. I have come to this conclusion upon hearing today that "The Only Way is Essex" won a BAFTA. Yes, an award from the British Academy of Film & Television. Yes, The Only Way Is Essex. No, sadly I'm not making this up.

"Okay guys, I want you to all pose like absolute vacuous, mindless, idio.....oh wait, that's perfect" *Click*

I give up. I really do. Rather than waste my energy indulging in an angry rant about this travesty, I'm just going to quietly go and stick my head in a microwave. Soon the brain cells will be distant memories.

JB.

Why Actors Should NEVER Become Musicians:

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Aaaaaaaaa....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!