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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

A Universal release of a Marc Platt, Big Talk Films, Closed on Mondays production. Produced by Platt, Eric Gitter, Nira Park, Edgar Wright. Executive producers, Ronaldo Vasconcellos, J. Miles Dale, Jared LeBoff, Adam Siegel. Co-producers, Joe Nozemack, Lisa Gitter, Steven V. Scavelli. Directed by Edgar Wright. Screenplay, Michael Bacall, Wright, based on the Oni Press graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley.

Scott Pilgrim - Michael Cera
Ramona Flowers - Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Wallace Wells - Kieran Culkin
Lucas Lee - Chris Evans
Stacey Pilgrim - Anna Kendrick
Kim Pine - Alison Pill
Todd Ingram - Brandon Routh
Gideon Gordon Graves - Jason Schwartzman
Envy Adams - Brie Larson
Julie Powers - Aubrey Plaza
Young Neil - Johnny Simmons
Mark Webber - Stephen Stills
Roxy Richter - Mae Whitman
Knives Chau - Ellen Wong

An example of attention-deficit filmmaking at both its finest and its most frustrating, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" blends the styles of videogames, sitcoms and comicbooks for a mostly hollow, high-energy riff on the insecurities of young love. With Michael Cera in the title role, twentysomethings and under will swiftly embrace this original romancer, which treats the subject as if there were nothing more important in all the universe, though anyone over 25 is likely to find director Edgar Wright's adaptation of the cult graphic novel exhausting, like playing chaperone at a party full of oversexed college kids.

In semi-square Toronto, 22-year-old indie rocker Scott (Cera) is dating high school girl Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) when he spies the hipster chick of his dreams, fuchsia-haired Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But before the two can sail off into the sunset, he'll have to cut things off with Knives and defeat Ramona's seven "evil exes" (a motley bunch of former beaus, ranging from superstud Chris Evans to a weaselly Jason Schwartzman) in a series of "Mortal Kombat"-style death matches -- not so simple for a slacker with the spine of a dandelion.

Whereas creator Bryan Lee O'Malley spread the story over a six-volume graphic novel, Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall choose to focus on the fighting, cutting short the series' observational genius in favor of "Kill Bill"-esque confrontations (though Quentin Tarantino gave himself four hours in which to dispatch five people). Unfortunately, Scott hardly has time to be smitten before he's smiting Ramona's exes, and if he must be seeing stars, it'd be nice if she (not her kung fu-savvy old flames) were the reason.

Still, "Scott Pilgrim" is a feat of economical storytelling, rendered in the vernacular of small talk and text messages. For a young man with no job and limited ambition, Scott leads an unusually drama-filled life, and Wright innovatively uses split screens, sleight-of-hand editing and onscreen narration to help cover considerable ground in limited time, while leaving room for half a dozen big action setpieces. As ensembles go, the pic packs one of the most crowded lineups in teen-movie memory, with Scott fending off input from his sister (Anna Kendrick), gay roommate (Kieran Culkin), fellow band members (Mark Webber, Alison Pill and Johnny Simmons) and his own league of exes (most notably Brie Larson, as the girl who "kicked his heart in the ass").

The fact that we can keep all these characters straight while intuitively following the movie's unique vidgame logic is a testament to Wright's never-dull directorial skills. That said, Cera makes it hard to care; while his comic timing is impeccable, he's finally played the wilty wallflower one too many times. Watching Culkin steal every scene he's in, it's hard not to wonder how much less predictable he -- or any number of non-wet-noodle alternatives -- might have been in Scott's shoes.

Scott may not seem worthy of either Ramona or all the attention their relationship attracts, but Wright invests the world with an infectious energy that's hard to resist, even if the whole affair makes "Twilight" (or Trapper Keeper poetry) seem profound by comparison. Watching "Scott Pilgrim" is the cinematic equivalent of dating a high school student, as the film depicts a world in which boredom is the gravest possible offense. But there are different kinds of boredom, and Wright's whimsical flourishes (reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City" adaptation) can't trump the ennui that accompanies a story whose life experience cuts off at drinking age.

Style, then, becomes the level at which we must appreciate Wright's work. His choices are clever enough, from the 8-bit Universal logo that opens the film to a laugh track-backed, "Seinfeld"-scored domestic scene, though such creative cartwheels draw our attention away from the character stuff that is the movie's strength. Music (from such alt-rock stars as Beck, Metric and Plumtree) helps smooth the breakneck transitions and reps the pic's next biggest focus, after the not-unimpressive mano-a-mano showdowns. What's missing is the quality time that would make us feel Scott and Ramona might be suitably matched to take on the world together.

Camera (color), Bill Pope; editors, Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss; music, Nigel Godrich; music supervisor, Kathy Nelson; production designer, Marcus Rowland; art director, Nigel Churcher; set decorator, Odetta Stoddard; costume designer, Laura Jean Shannon; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), Greg Chapman; supervising sound editor, Julian Slater; re-recording mixers, Chris Burdon, Doug Cooper; special effects supervisor, Arthur Langevin; visual effects supervisor, Frazer Churchill; visual effects, Double Negative, Mr. X; stunt coordinator, Brad Allan; fight coordinator, Peng Zhang; assistant director, Walter Gasparovic; second unit director, Brad Allan; second unit camera, David Franco; casting, Allison Jones, Robin D. Cook, Jennifer Euston. Reviewed at San Diego Comic-Con, July 22, 2010. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 112 MIN.


With: Satya Bhabha, Shota Saito, Kaita Saito.

Pogledao sam AFTER.LIFE Agnieszke Wojtowitz-Vosloo, film koji sam dosta očekivao zvog interesantne podele koju čine Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson i Justin Long i koncepta na liniji William Castlea (setimo se filma MACABRE) - nažalost, film je daleko ispod očekivanja i renomea svojih zvezda.

Činjenica da je Christina Ricci gola maltene ceo film ipak nije dovoljna da prikrije greške ueled kojih se film zapravo sve vreme vrti u krug i da nema opravdanja za insistiranje na dilemi dali je glavna junakinja stvarno mrtva ili je zatočenica psihopate koji je ubeđen da može da komunicira sa mrtvima.

da je postavljen kao čisti suspense film AFTER.LIFE bi imao više svrhe. Ovako on nelagodno luta između trilera i pseudo-morbidne studije nepostojećih karaktera. Pokušaji autora da sve obogate nekom vrstom cinizma i crnog humora čine da sve deluje još bednije jer to je sve usiljeno i najobičniji je pokušaj da se film pretvori u nešto cool kad već nije dovoljno sadržajan.

Duodramska kičma filma koju čine Ricci i Neeson podseća na odnos između nje i sam Jacksona u BLACK SNAKE MOAN s to što je MOAN zanimljivija priča.

Neeson se ozdržao od hammy glume u glavnoj ulozi koja bi se očekivala od ostrvskog glumca u vincentpriceovskoj ulozi. Ricci takođe čini sve što može a Long u potpunosti odaje svu ispraznost materijala u krajnje neubedljivoj ulozi. Ipak, reklo bi se da su za ovaj fijasko glumci najmanje krivi.

Uostalom, film je slikao inače vrlo pouzdani DP Anastas N. Michos a sve izgleda kao TV film, dočim su Radiohead dali za završnicu filma svoju "Exit Music" (ekipa im se zahvaljujuje na špici) što samo pokazuje o velikim očekivanjima od ovog filma.

Na žalost, uz svu hrabrost i radikalnost u izboru uloga, Christina Riss je u karijeri snimila više promašaja nego pogodaka. Uprkos ambiciji izraženoj kroz ostatak elemenata, AFTER.LIFE je jedan od tih s tim što ta promašenost neće toliko smetati Neesonu i Longu kao njoj.

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Pogledao sam film SHIFTY Erna Creevyja, vrlo pristojan rediteljski debi iskusnog pomoćnika i reditelja kraćih formi u kome se na  seriozan način tretira život engleskih kriminalaca, bez glamura ili humora koga je bilo poslednjih decenija.

Ono što je osnovni problem SHIFTYja jeste prilično konvencionalna priča koja pokušava da spoji tvrd realizam sa dramaturški konvencionalnim zapletom koji uključuje i preokrete i na kraju filmu pomalo nedostaje uverljivosti.

Međutim, Creevy je dovoljno vešt i ekonomičan da film do kraja ostane nepretenciozan i da u okviru kriterijuma savremene britanske drame poput dosta sličnog LONDON TO BRIGHTON ostane debi posla koga bi voleo da vidim i sledeći film tog reditelja.

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Sinoć sam pogledao GET HIM TO THE GREEK Nicholasa Stollera, svojevrsni spin off filma FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (inače ovaj pristojan naslov među Apatow produkcijama smatram najprecenjenijim) u kome se po prvi put pojavljuje Russell Brand u ulozi imaginarne britanske rok zvezde Aldousa Snowa. Iako Jonah Hill ima malu ulogu u tom "izvornom" filmu, ovde on igra drugog junaka, gimpastog službednika diskografske kuće koji treba da dovede divlju rok zvezdu od Londona do Los Anđelesa na koncert. To pomeranje glumca iz uloge u ulogu unutar franšize tek počinje poređenja sa dobitnikom nagrade za najgori srpski film 2006. godine.

Film nudi zaista pristojnu količinu jako duhovitih gegova, laugh out loud momenata i sl. Međutim, to na kraju u ukupnom zbiru ipak nije dovoljno. Najpre zato što se dosta mehanike gegova ponavlja, zatim zato što priča u suštini ima samo početak i kraj i ozbiljan problem sredine, i konačno, što je možda i najveći problem, nema onog prepoznatljivog elemnta kod Apatowa a to je emotivna razmena između junaka. Na kraju cele priče, niko se tu suštinski nije promenio, nijedan nije ništa naučio od drugog a neki odnosi koji su postavljena kao problematični na početku a na kraju bivaju neubedljivo reafirmisani.

Humor i duhovita gostovanja poznatih rok muzičara tek delimično pokrivaju tu suštinsku prazninu ovog filma.

Muzika kojom se Aldous bavi je do te mere simbioza raznigh opštih mesta o rok zvezdama da na kraju nije baš ni jasno koju vrstu zvezde ovde parodiramo. Neki poznanici misle da je to parodija na Liama ali ovo je široko postavljena parodija u kojoj na kraju nije jasno da li je u bilo kojoj fazi svoje karijere Snow zaista bio potentan roker.

Jonah Hill i Russell Brand su sjajan spoj i talentovani komičari ali u ovom filmu oni ne odlaze ispoid površinskih efekata.

U tom smislu transformacije likova i nekog idejnog plana, paradokalno, vrlo slični i na drugim nivoima slabiji A3 je zapravo mnogo efektniji film, koliko god to neverovatno zvučalo. U njemu možda emocija i lekcije koje su junaci naučili jedan od drugog možda nisu proživljene od srane publike ili vešto plasirane ali barem postoje na nivou koncepta za razliku od GET HIM TO THE GREEK koji je neobično isprazan u domenu gde bi Apatopw trebalo da bude jak.

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Dir: Edgar Wright. US. 2010. 112mins

Fully embracing the media-saturated, videogame-centric worldview of its ineffectual early-20s hero, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a fizzy blast that may not offer many lasting rewards but certainly generates an impressive headlong rush along the way. Director Edgar Wright's hyper-stylish follow-up to Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead displays his rapidly evolving visual panache, even if this action-comedy suggests a slackening of his interest in emotionally complex characters.

    Scott Pilgrim allows Wright to continue his penchant for parodying film genres while simultaneously making top-notch replicas of the movies he's mocking.

Opening domestically August 13, this Universal release will be heavily supported by a hip twentysomething crowd that's well acquainted with Wright's and star Michael Cera's previous work. But the question remains whether this fanboy-friendly entry can expand beyond its base, especially with the more mainstream comedy The Other Guys opening a week earlier.

Heartsick garage-rock bassist Scott (Cera) instantly falls for the cute Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but their blossoming love affair faces a serious obstacle in the form of her seven evil ex-lovers, who come to battle him one at a time. He must vanquish all seven if he is to keep Ramona.

Based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's acclaimed graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim allows Wright to continue his penchant for parodying film genres while simultaneously making top-notch replicas of the movies he's mocking. Coming-of-age romances and comic-book/kung-fu films are the targets here, and Wright stages Scott's series of fights with Ramona's exes as bravura, over-the-top allusions to the frenetic, gravity-defying confrontations in videogames, staving off repetitiveness with humour, inspired choreography and impressive effects work.

But despite the film's engaging visual strategy – which beyond its references to videogame design also fluctuates between different aspect ratios and heightened states of reality – Scott Pilgrim pays far less attention to its story's emotional through-line. Cera plays a variation of his familiar ironic-dweeb persona, and although his deadpan delivery helps ground the film's fantastical tone, his studied detachment undercuts audience interest in Scott's pursuit of Ramona. And where Wright's zombie-comedy Shaun Of The Dead managed to balance laughs and scares with real heart, Scott Pilgrim tends to treat its characters as human equivalents of the shiny avatars in videogames, able to do astounding physical feats but unable to convey much soul.

Members of the UK film industry have reacted with anger, bafflement and dismay at today's shock DCMS decision to abolish the UK Film Council.

"What does it mean?" asked David Thompson of Origin Pictures, who said that he had first thought the news was an April Fool's Day trick. "It's hard to say what's behind this," Thompson said. He added that the UKFC was already restructuring and was "leaner and meaner" in the face of the economic downturn.

"It's hard to say more without having a clue of what they (the Government) are proposing." He added: "if the UKFC funding is cut, it would be a chronic blow."

Others expressed bafflement that the abolition of the UKFC came only weeks after the new coalition Government had said it wasn't going to merge the UKFC with the British Film Institute.

The DCMS Statement today talked about Government "establishing a direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute." Did this mean that the BFI was going to take over the investment of Lottery money in film production? Nobody seemed to know yet.

What was clear today is that even the best connected industry figures were caught on the hoof by the Government move. "My reaction is one of total surprise and horror," said film finance expert John Graydon of RSM Tenon. "It seems to have been done without any kind of consultation, at least with the industry. It has come completely out of the blue. I don't understand how a decision like that can be reached without any thought or consultation."

Jane Wright, Managing Director & Executive Director at BBC Films, was striking a similar tone. "I found the news deeply shocking. It really did come out of the blue," Wright said.

She added that the abolition of UKFC was bound to cause "uncertainty" in British production circles. "I don't fully understand, even with the missives that have gone out, what this exactly means for the range of activities which the Film Council did."

Paul Trijbits of Ruby Films was yet another industry executive in shock. "This is literally a bolt from the blue for everybody in the industry, including the UK Film Council," Tribijts said. "There has been no consultation, no evaluation, very little consideration of how to take forward the different parts that the film industry does. The (DCMS) statement begs many more questions than it answers."

UK producers group Pact reacted in a subdued manner. Chief executive John McVay said: "We strongly welcome the coalition's commitment to the two most important interventions in the market, namely the National Lottery funding and the film tax credit. These both ensure that we can produce indigenous feature films and also attract inward investment which, combined, sustain our vibrant, dynamic and successful film industry and we look forward to working with the government as they develop their thinking on how this essential public support will be delivered in future."

Lord Puttnam, president of the Film Distributors' Association, said in a statement: "Today's announcement proposing the abolition of the UK Film Council, which would appear to have come out of the blue, will take some time to digest fully. Over the past decade, the Film Council has been a layer of strategic glue that's helped bind the many parts of our disparate industry together. It is sure to be widely missed, not least because the UK cinema industry is in the midst of a fundamental transformation at the heart of which is digital roll-out. On the welcome premise that Government and Lottery support for film will continue, I look forward to discussing ways in which a new, coherent plan for film can be developed and implemented to benefit audiences throughout the UK."

Notting Hill director Roger Michell of Directors UK, the professional body for UK film and television directors, called the announcement "catastrophic... for the film and the broader creative sector." Michell, whose credits include Venus, Enduring Love and television series The Buddha Of Suburbia, continued: "We should not forget that film is an industry and one in which the UK excels both at home and abroad. We employ 36,000 people and contributed over £4.5bn to GDP in 2009. This is an astonishing decision by government – without the merest hint of consultation with either the wider film industry or the UK Film Council itself. The decision flies in the face of economic sense."

Ако смијем да примијетим, четврти задатак је некомплетан пошто недостаје брзина кретања метка  .

to se podrazumeva da svi znaju

Pogledao sam 32. DECEMBAR Saše Hajdukovića, dugometražni film iz Republike Srpske. Prilično je neobično u istoj semici kad si gledao INCEPTION ili Moffatovog SHERLOCKa, dakle vrlo napredna dela vrhunskih kinematografija suočiti se sa jednim od prvih ostvarenja jedne koja je na svojim počecima.

A sudeći po ekipi filma 32. DECEMBAR, zaista je ekipa uglavnom bazirana na novim ljudima i nije previše kadrova uvezeno iz Srbije što je sjajno. Republika Srpska je poslednjih godina pod Dodikovim vođstvom postala prijatno sklonište srpske filmske mafije jer su našli ljude koje još uvek nisu uspeli da zavrnu te su od njih uzeli ogroman novac za SVETOG GEORGIJA i TURNEJU. Međutim, posle Zečevićevog novog filma NEPRIJATELJ nije bilo najava da će Republika Srpska uskoro ulaziti u neke ambicioznije vizije naših filmadžija. Iako su na tim filmovima mahom radili ljudi iz Srbije, na tim produkcijama je ipak bilo angažovano dosta i lokalne radne snage pre svega glumaca, tako da ovi filmovi jesu u izvesnom smislu pomogli razvoj kinematografije, ali ne u onoj meri u kojoj je trebalo.

32. DECEMBAR spada u vrstu filmova koje su kod nas legitimisali ljudi poput Miroslava Momčilovića i Srđana Koljevića neuspešno kopirajući zapadne i latinoameričke melodrame sa više irpepletenih priča. U tom smislu, 32. DECEMBAR najbolje definiše opis jednog mog druga koji je za njega rekao da je dobar "na momčilovićevski način".

I zaista 32. DECEMBAR je bolji Momčilović od samog Momčilovića sa tim adutom što se dešava u Banjaluci u jednom, za mene, potpuno novom ambijentu, a novom i za regionalni film, i sa novim "nepotrošenim" glumcima kojima kvalitet igre varira ali su zato uverljiviji kao nova lica i ne nude "poznato zlo" srpskog glumišta.

Neiskustvo ekipe je evidentno na planu realizacije rediteljskog koncepta tako da 32. DECEMBAR varira u rasponu od izgleda studentskog filma do nivoa prosečnog srpskog profesionalnog filma. Is pod naslaga takve neujednačene realizacije ipak prepoznaje se rediteljski koncept i određena osmišljenost.

32. DECEMBAR je nesumnjivo baziran na opštim mestima, ali ih dosta srčano plasira tako da Hajduković u suštini uspeva da iskomunicira svoju ideju publici i da likove vrlo jasno situira & motiviše. Ono što raduje to je da film iz Republike Srpske zaista u potpunosti pripada žanru urbane melodrame i da nimalo ne podilazi teškim istorijskim temama ili još gore koketiranju sa festivalima i stranim fondacijama kao što smo navikli od filmova iz Federacije.

Sasvim je sigurno da bih prema ovom konkretnom filmu bio stroži da dolazi iz Srbije i da se dešava u Beogradu, ali ako uzmemo sve u obzir, ovo je sasvim pristojan početak jedne nove kinematografije koji veliki deo svojih konceptualnih nedostataka duguje nezdravnoj klimi koja vlada u jačim kinematografijama koje je okružuju.

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Inače, Enki Bilal je uradio strip prequel

The 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival kicks off shortly and all 51 titles to screen at the eleven day event have just been announced.

Sundance and Cannes this year had a few bright spots amidst otherwise bland looking line-ups, Toronto however has the opposite situation with only a few weak entries amongst an extremely strong array of films.

Here's the full list of what's set to screen - makes me wish I could be there to cover it.

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERES:
• Richard J. Lewis' "Barney's Version"
• Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan"
• John Madden's "The Debt"
• Im Sang-Soo's "The Housemaid"
• Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech"
• Francois Ozon's "Potiche"
• Ben Affleck's "The Town"
• Mike Leigh's "Another Year"
• Woody Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Biutiful"
• Julian Schnabel's "Miral"
• Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe"
• Sylvain Chomet's "The Illusionist"
• Kim Jee-woon's "I Saw the Devil"
• Andrew Lau's "The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen"
• Tran Anh Hung's "Norwegian Wood"
• Rachid Bouchareb's "Outside the Law"
• Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's "A Screaming Man"
• Anurag Kashyap's "That Girl in Yellow Boots"

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:
• Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go"
• Mike Mills' "Beginners"
• John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole"
• John Curran's "Stone"
• Richard Ayoade's "Submarine"
• Michael Winterbottom's "The Trip"
• Nigel Cole's "Made In Dagenham"
• Eric Lartigau's "The Big Picture"
• Rowan Joffe's "Brighton Rock"
• Tony Goldwyn's "Conviction"
• Kiran Rao's "Dhobi Ghat"
• Will Gluck's "Easy A"
• Malcolm Venville's "Henry's Crime"
• Ryan Fleck and Anna Bolden's "It's Kind Of A Funny Story"
• Pierre Thoretton's "L'Amour Fou"
• Andrucha Waddington's "Lope"
• David Schwimmer's "Trust."

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERES:
• Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Jack Goes Boating"
• Danis Tanovic's "Cirkus Columbia"
• Susanne Bier's "In a Better World"
• Alain Corneau's "Love Crime"

CANADIAN PREEMS:
• Derek Cianfrance's "Blue Valentine"
• Rodrigo Cortes' "Buried"

OPENING NIGHT:
• Michael McGowan's "Score: A Hockey Musical"

Kakav ponizhavajuci lajnap za Kan. Godine negativne Kanske selekcije su uchinile chudo za gotovo sve ostale vece festivale.

Leonardo DiCaprio may be pulling out of Mel Gibson's next directing gig, but Jodie Foster isn't shying away from the embattled Hollywood star.

Sources tell me she fully expects a theatrical release of The Beaver, the dramedy she directed about a man (Gibson) who develops a friendship with a hand puppet. Foster also costars in the flick.

While Foster is still working on the final cut of the film, she can't be too far from finishing because...

Earlier today, the Motion Picture Association of America handed The Beaver a PG-13 rating for "mature thematic material, some disturbing content, sexuality and language including a drug reference."

However, Summit (the studio behind the movie) has yet to decide on a release date. "It's probably not going to be something like two years from now, but they're not sure if it will be this year or next year," a source said, adding, "Jodie is committed to this movie."

Foster has kept mum about the movie and how her longtime pal's turbulent private life will affect it. As we first reported, the movie has apparently already recouped its $20 million budget through foreign sales.

Reps for Foster and Summit did not comment.

Mel Gibson called Oksana Grigorieva 30 times after she left him the night of February 18, Radaronline.com reports.

Eight of the "terrorizing" calls resulted in insane voicemails with phrases such as "f*cking disloyal and f*cking weak" and "such a f*cking slut" and "low life slut" peppered throughout. In one two-minute voicemail he drops 23 F-bombs.

A source familiar with the case told Radar Mel called Oksana repeatedly between 8 pm and 6 am with the goal of keeping her up all night.

"Just making sure you're awake, if you were trying to sleep. Because I am awake--and you deserve to be," he said in a voicemail. And: "Don't ever sleep again. Don't sleep as long as I don't sleep."

The day began peacefully with a placenta ceremony outside of Mel's Malibu mansion, according to TMZ. Following an Australian tradition, Mel and Oksana had buried their baby daughter's placenta in the backyard and were watching as the gardener planted a tree in Lucia's honor.

Oksana reportedly smiled at the gardener, sending Mel into a jealous rage, and things went downhill from there.

QuoteOksana reportedly smiled at the gardener, sending Mel into a jealous rage, and things went downhill from there.

Kurva!!! Dobro je i prošla posle svega!!!

Melster je gadan igrač.

Evo malo surove sprdnje sa Melom:

http://www.cracked.com/video_18202_mel-gibson-gets-disturbing-phone-call-from-future.html?cp=1&pid=1&wa%5Fvrid=18203

U pitanju je video od oko minut i po. Definitivno Not Safe For Work.

Pre nekih godinu dana, recimo, pogledao sam seriju od tri TV filma RED RIDING koje je po romanima Deavid Peacea snimio Channel 4. Tada nisam pisao o njima jer sam čekao da se pojavi dobar titl koji bi mi pomogao da uhvatim sve reči koje severnjaci izgovaraju u ovom ostvarenju punom aluzija, detalja iz epohe i rekonstrukcije jednog vrlo bizarnog slučaja u kome se prepliću rad serijskog ubice, politika i građevinska mafija u jednom CHINATOWNOovskom, Ellroyevom maniru.

Došlo je vreme za reprizu.

Prvi film RED RIDING: IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1974 režirao je Julian Jarrold, iskusan televizijski reditelj koji se pomalo oprobao i na filmu, a kao i sva tri filma scenario je po knjizi napisao Gilliamov scenarista Tony Grisoni.

Ova priča smeštena u 1974. godinu podseća na filmove iz tog perioda o beskompromisnim novinarima koji nailaze na zavere i dovode svoj život u opasnost. Zato i ne čudi što novi Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield u glavnoj ulozi dosta podseća na Warren Beattyja iz filma PARALLAX VIEW a triler je više uzrok raspadanja junakove psihe kao kod Ellroya ili Polanskog nego konkretne aktivnosti na nivou zapleta.

Otud junak polako silazi sa svog izvornog koloseka istrage nestanka nekoliko devojčica i potencijalnog serijske ubice u lični istraživački rat protiv lokalnog građevinskog magnata koji je povezan sa policijom i vlastima i na određeni način upleten u ubistva, odnosno postaje opsednut majkom jedne od devojčica.

Samo tri filma jedan za drugim čine zaokruženu celinu pošto pojedinačno oni započinju neke stvari koje i zaokruže a neke ostavljaju otvorenim. U tom smislu teško je filmove posmatrati kao pojedinačne celine. Međutim, kao priča o prvom junaku u nizu onih koli se upliću u chinatownovske mahinacije na severu Engleske, 1974 donosi čitavu seriju sjajnih uloga, sa Garfieldom na čelu koji je prošao veliku transformaciju od zbunjenog nerda do hunky novinara beattyjevskog profila.

Jarroldova inscenacija je filmska, energična, sa veštim korišćenjem trake od 16mm koja svemu daje specifično zrno i velikom uverljivošću svih situacija, od dramskih do izliva neočekivanog nasilja.

Za razliku od tipičnih britanskih gangsterkih filmova koji već imaju prepoznatljiv milje i likove, RED RIDING se izdvaja po tome što se bavi miljeom u kome se nalaze drugačije ličnosti potpuno izdvojene od tog gangsterskog kanona i korumpirane na jednom potpuno drugačijem nivou.

* * * / * * * *

In an strong year, Venice has set 22 world premieres in competition for the Golden Lion, including works from Coppola, Schnabel, Tykwer, Kechiche, Miike and more.

The selections include Sofia Coppola's father-daughter story Somewhere featuring Elle Fanning; Saverio Costanzo's The Solitude of Primary Numbers; Tom Tywker's Berlin-set love triangle Three, Vincent Gallo's low budget Promises Written in Water about a terminally ill girl; Abdellatif Kechiche's Venus Noire based on the true story of a South African woman used as a circus exhibition; Julian Schnabel's Miral about Hind Husseini, a Palestinian woman's effort to open an orphanage in Israel staring Frieda Pinto; Mario Martone's three-and-a-half hour Italian unification costume drama We Believed; and Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff set on the 1845 Oregon trail starring Michelle Williams.

Biennale President Paolo Baratta and artistic director Marco Mueller announced the programme today. This edition marks something of a turning point for Venice, as it makes Mueller the longest serving artistic director in the fest's history, surviving Italian political currents for seven editions.

Different from last year's competition line up — which had five first-time directors — this year's competition is defined by a crop of young, yet experienced filmmakers. Many of them, such as Coppola, Tykwer, Kechiche, Takashi Miike (with 13 Assassins) and Darren Aronofsky (whose Black Swan, as previously announced, opens the festival) have previously competed at Venice. Organisers asserted that the median age for competition directors this edition – at 47 – is the youngest ever. The sole competition debut is Ascanio Celestini's Black Sheep (La Pecora Nera), previously a theatre piece remade for film and shot from the POV of a mental patient.

Notable omissions from this edition include the George Clooney starring The American by Anton Corbijn. Shot in Italy and the first recipient of Italy's new tax credit the film seemed like a lock – particularly considering Clooney's tenure on the Lido. In fact, Clooney himself as a Lido no-show is quite a surprise.

Mueller explained that The American's US distributors (Focus Features) will open it Sept 1 Stateside and were interested in the opening film slot, which instead went to Aronofsky's Black Swan from Fox Searchlight. The decision suggests filmgoers can expect another powerful film from Aronofsky whose The Wrestler took the Golden Lion in 2008.

Other Lido no-shows include Terrence Malick's long-gestating Tree Of Life, although it could show up in Mueller's "surprise film" competitive slot which is announced at some point during the festival. Italy's Pupi Avati is no where to be seen on the line up although his Una Sconfinata Giovenezza was originally "leaked" as one of four Italian titles in competition. Subsequently it was "leaked" the film would be out of competition – creating speculation that he or his distributors RAI Cinema pulled the film.

Finally, the UK, for a third year running, is totally absent from this year's Venice competition (although the UK has a strong showing in Toronto). The UK is represented with 6 titles in Horizonns (Orizzonti) line up.

Other films in competition include Canada's Barney's Version with a star-studded cast including Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti as a fearlessly politically incorrect character by Richard J. Lewis. Monte Hellman's 12-years-in-the-making Road To Nowhere is about a filmmaker who gets involved in a crime while shooting on location.

In addition to Kechiche, France guarantees some Gallic star power with Francois Ozon's Potiche about the wife of a rich industrialist who takes charge during a factory strike staring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu as well as Happy Few, Antony Cordier's follow up to Douches Froides.

The Italian offer of Celistini, Costanzo and Martone is rounded out by Carlo Mazzacurati's tragi-comic La Passione starring Coppa Volpi winner Silvio Orlando as a washed up film icon who finds a muse in a young TV starlet from Italy's Fandango.

Chile's Pablo Larrain represents Latin America in competition with his Tony Manero follow up Post Mortem; Greece is on board with a new film by indie filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari whose Attenberg is described as an odyssey and an "urban Eastern." Russia brings Silent Souls from Aleksei Fedorchenko while Basque director Alex de la Iglesia represents Spain with A Sad Trumpet staring Carmen Maura about two clowns in love with the same trapeze artist.

Asian titles include Hong Kong action master Tsui Hark's first go at Lido competition with Detective Dee And The Mystery Of Phantom Flame. From Japan, Tran Anh Jung's anticipated adaptation Norwegian Wood joins Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins.

Out of competition, The Affleck brothers Ben and Casey each bring titles. Ben Affleck's The Town is about a bank robber who falls in love with a clerk he holds up, while brother Casey Affleck brings his documentary I'm Still Here: The Lost Year Of Joaquin Phoenix. Fox's first Italian production in 30 years – the Michele Placido directed Vallanzasca – Gli Angeli Del Maleabout the notorious Italian criminal Renato Vallanzasca stars Kim Rossi Stuart and Filippo Timi with Paz Vega; Gorbaciov - Il Cassiere Con Il Vizio Del Gioco by Stefano Incerti with Divo and Gomorrah star Toni Servillo as a compulsive gambler; John Turturro's canzone Napolitana documentary Passione; Andrucha Waddington's Lope a historical epic staring Sonia Braga, Alberto Ammann and Luis Tosar about playwright Lope de Vega are just some of the films on offer.

Four 3D pictures – Oxide and Danny Pang's The Child's Eye 3D; Nadia Ranocchi and David Zamagni's All Inclusive 3D; Takashi Shimizu's Shock Labyrinth 3D; and Zhang Yuan's Space Guy 3D, China's first 3D production, will screen out of competition but be eligible for the Persol 3D film prize.

Mueller's Controcampo Italiano section continues in its all-Italian line up and brings the entire Italian offer to 41 across all sections. The US is the second strongest with 19 films in a year that offers works from 34 countries – up from last year's 27.

Paolo Baratta opened the press conference confirming that Venice's budget is a stable Euros 12m ($15.1m) of which Euros 7.7 m ($10m) comes from the state. He said the economic crisis led to the creation of the new – free formatted Orizzonti section – but asserted that the change will "be permanent."

Venice's 67th edition runs Sept 1-11.

Venice 2010 lineup

IN COMPETITION
Black Swan, dir. Darren Aronofsky (US) [opening film]
La pecora nera, dir. Aascanio Celestini (Italy)
Somewhere, dir. Sofia Coppola (US)
Happy Few, dir. Antony Cordier (France)
La solitudine dei numeri primi, dir. Saverio Costanzo (Italy-Germany-France)
Silent Souls (Ovsyanki), dir. Aleksei Fedorchenko (Russia)
Promises Written In Water, dir. Vincent Gallo (US)
Road To Nowhere, dir. Monte Hellman (US)
Balada Triste de Trompeta, dir. Alex de la Iglesia (Spain-France)
Venus Noire, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche (France)
Post Mortem, dir. Pablo Larrain (Chile-Mexico-Germany)
Barney's Version, dir. Richard J. Lewis (Canada-Italy)
Noi credevamo, dir. Mario Martone (Italy-France)
La Passione, dir. Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku), dir. Takashi Miike, (Japan)
Potiche, dir. Francois Ozon (France)
Meek's Cutoff, dir. Kelly Reichardt (US)
Miral, dir. Julian Schnabel (US-France-Italy-Israel)
Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori), dir. Tran Anh Hung (Japan)
Attenberg, dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari (Greece)
Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame, dir. Tsui Hark (China)
Three (Drei), dir. Tom Tykwer (Germany)
Surprise film to be added Sept 6



OUT OF COMPETITION
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, dir. Andrew Lau (China-Hong Kong) [opening film]
Machete, dir. Robert Rodriguez (US) [midnight opening film]
The Tempest, dir. Julie Taymor (US) [closing film]
Vittorio racconta Gassman - Una vita da Mattatore, dir. Giancarlo Scarchilli (Italy) [tribute to Gassman]
The Town, dir. Ben Affleck (US)
I'm Still Here, dir. Casey Affleck (US)
Sorelle Mai, Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
Niente Paura - Come siamo come eravamo e le canzoni di Luciano Ligabue, dir. Piergiorgio Gay (Italy)
Dante Ferretti - Production Designer, dir. Giangranco Giagni (Italy)
Notizie degli scavi, dir. Emidio Greco (Italy)
The Last Movie, dir. Dennis Hopper (US)
Gorbaciof, dir. Stefano Incerti (Italy)
The Girl In Yellow Boots, dir. Anurag Kashyap (India)
Showtime (Yongxin tiao), dir. Stanley Kwan (China)
Sei Venezia, dir. Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
Zebraman, dir. Takashi Miike (Japan)
Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, dir. Takashi Miike (Japan)
The Child's Eye 3D, dirs. Oxide Pang & Danny Pang (China-Hong Kong)
Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male, dir. Michele Placido (Italy)
All Inclusive 3D, dir. Nadia Ranocchi (Italy-Austria)
Raavanan/Raavan, dir. Mani Ratnam (India)
1960, dir. Gabriele Salvatores (Italy)
La prima volta a Venezia, dir. Antonello Sarno (Italy)
A Letter to Elia, dirs. Martin Scorsese & Kent Jones (US)
Shock Labyrinth 3D, dir. Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Surviving Life (Prezit svuj zivot), dir. Jan Svanmajer (Czech Republic-Slovakia)
L'ultimo Gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo, dir. Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy)
Passione, dir. John Turturro (Italy)
Lope, dir. Andrucha Waddington (Spain-Brazil)
Space Guy (Taikong xia 3D), dir. Zhang Yuan (China)

GOLDEN LION FOR THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2010: JOHN WOO
Reign of Assassins, dirs. John Woo & Su Chao-Pin (China-Taiwan-Hong Kong)

SPECIAL SCREENING
Wanda, dir. Barbara Loden (US, 1970 - restored)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO
Lost kisses (I baci mai dati), dir. Roberta Torre (Italy) [opening film]
20 sigarette, dir Aureliano Amadei (Italy)
Il primo incarico, dir. Giorgia Cecere (Italy)
A Woman, dir. Giada Colagrande (Italy)
Tajabone Abdullah Seye, dir. Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
Ma che storia, dir. Gianfranco Pannone (Italy)
Into Paradiso, dir. Paola Randi (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO SHORT FILMS
Come un soffio, dir. Michela Cescon (Italy)
Sposerò Nichi Vendola, dir. Andrea Costantino (Italy)
Bassa Marea, dir. Roberto De Paolis (Italy)
Achille, dir. Giorgia Farina (Italy)
Niente Orchidee, dir. Simone Godano & Leodardo Godano (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO OUT OF COMPETITION
Tarda estate, dirs. Antonio Di Trapani & Marco De Angelis (Italy)
Il loro Natale, dir. Gaetano Di Vaio (Italy)
Ward 54, dir. Monica Maggioni (Italy-US)
Flaiano: il meglio e passato, dirs. Gianfranco Rolandi & Steve Della Casa (Italy)
Se hai una montagna di neve, tienila all'ombra, dirs. Elisabetta Sgarbi & Eugenio Lio (Italy)
Fughe e approdi, dir. Giovanna Taviani (Italy)

RETROSPECTIVE: ITALIAN COMEDY - THE STATE OF THINGS (1937-1988)
The Make Believe Pirates by Marco Elter (Gli allegri masnadieri 1937)
Imputato, alzatevi! by Mario Mattoli (1939)
Non ti pago! by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1942)
6x8/48 (Tutta la città canta) by Riccardo Freda (1943-45)
Botta e risposta by Mario Soldati (1950)
È arrivato il cavaliere! by Steno and Mario Monicelli (1950)
Guardie e ladri by Steno and Mario Monicelli (1951)
The Bachelor by Antonio Pietrangeli (Lo scapolo, 1955)
episode of Un giorno in pretura by Steno (1954)
Le pillole di Ercole by Luciano Salce (1960)
The Thursday by Dino Risi (Il giovedì, 1966)
L'onorata società by Riccardo Pazzaglia (1961)
Il mantenuto by Ugo Tognazzi (1961)
Le lièvre et la tortue by Alessandro Blasetti, episode of Three Fables of Love (1962)
La manina di Fatma by Vittorio Caprioli, episode of Cuori infranti (1963)
Catch As Catch Can by Franco Indovina (1967)
Io non spezzo... rompo by Bruno Corbucci (1971)
Il domestico by Luigi Filippo D'Amico (1974)
Beach House by Sergio Citti (1977)
Febbre da cavallo by Steno (1976)
Fracchia la belva umana by Neri Parenti (1981)
Eccezzziunale... veramente by Carlo and Enrico Vanzina (1982)
Vacanze di Natale by Carlo ed Enrico Vanzina (1983)
Il ragazzo di campagna by Castellano and Pipolo (1984)
Il commissario Lo Gatto by Dino Risi (1986)
Compagni di scuola by Carlo Verdone (1988)

Venice 2010 lineup

IN COMPETITION
Black Swan, dir. Darren Aronofsky (US) [opening film]
La pecora nera, dir. Aascanio Celestini (Italy)
Somewhere, dir. Sofia Coppola (US)
Happy Few, dir. Antony Cordier (France)
La solitudine dei numeri primi, dir. Saverio Costanzo (Italy-Germany-France)
Silent Souls (Ovsyanki), dir. Aleksei Fedorchenko (Russia)
Promises Written In Water, dir. Vincent Gallo (US)
Road To Nowhere, dir. Monte Hellman (US)
Balada Triste de Trompeta, dir. Alex de la Iglesia (Spain-France)
Venus Noire, dir. Abdellatif Kechiche (France)
Post Mortem, dir. Pablo Larrain (Chile-Mexico-Germany)
Barney's Version, dir. Richard J. Lewis (Canada-Italy)
Noi credevamo, dir. Mario Martone (Italy-France)
La Passione, dir. Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku), dir. Takashi Miike, (Japan)
Potiche, dir. Francois Ozon (France)
Meek's Cutoff, dir. Kelly Reichardt (US)
Miral, dir. Julian Schnabel (US-France-Italy-Israel)
Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori), dir. Tran Anh Hung (Japan)
Attenberg, dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari (Greece)
Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame, dir. Tsui Hark (China)
Three (Drei), dir. Tom Tykwer (Germany)
Surprise film to be added Sept 6



OUT OF COMPETITION
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, dir. Andrew Lau (China-Hong Kong) [opening film]
Machete, dir. Robert Rodriguez (US) [midnight opening film]
The Tempest, dir. Julie Taymor (US) [closing film]
Vittorio racconta Gassman - Una vita da Mattatore, dir. Giancarlo Scarchilli (Italy) [tribute to Gassman]
The Town, dir. Ben Affleck (US)
I'm Still Here, dir. Casey Affleck (US)
Sorelle Mai, Marco Bellocchio (Italy)
Niente Paura - Come siamo come eravamo e le canzoni di Luciano Ligabue, dir. Piergiorgio Gay (Italy)
Dante Ferretti - Production Designer, dir. Giangranco Giagni (Italy)
Notizie degli scavi, dir. Emidio Greco (Italy)
The Last Movie, dir. Dennis Hopper (US)
Gorbaciof, dir. Stefano Incerti (Italy)
The Girl In Yellow Boots, dir. Anurag Kashyap (India)
Showtime (Yongxin tiao), dir. Stanley Kwan (China)
Sei Venezia, dir. Carlo Mazzacurati (Italy)
Zebraman, dir. Takashi Miike (Japan)
Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, dir. Takashi Miike (Japan)
The Child's Eye 3D, dirs. Oxide Pang & Danny Pang (China-Hong Kong)
Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male, dir. Michele Placido (Italy)
All Inclusive 3D, dir. Nadia Ranocchi (Italy-Austria)
Raavanan/Raavan, dir. Mani Ratnam (India)
1960, dir. Gabriele Salvatores (Italy)
La prima volta a Venezia, dir. Antonello Sarno (Italy)
A Letter to Elia, dirs. Martin Scorsese & Kent Jones (US)
Shock Labyrinth 3D, dir. Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Surviving Life (Prezit svuj zivot), dir. Jan Svanmajer (Czech Republic-Slovakia)
L'ultimo Gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo, dir. Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy)
Passione, dir. John Turturro (Italy)
Lope, dir. Andrucha Waddington (Spain-Brazil)
Space Guy (Taikong xia 3D), dir. Zhang Yuan (China)

GOLDEN LION FOR THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2010: JOHN WOO
Reign of Assassins, dirs. John Woo & Su Chao-Pin (China-Taiwan-Hong Kong)

SPECIAL SCREENING
Wanda, dir. Barbara Loden (US, 1970 - restored)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO
Lost kisses (I baci mai dati), dir. Roberta Torre (Italy) [opening film]
20 sigarette, dir Aureliano Amadei (Italy)
Il primo incarico, dir. Giorgia Cecere (Italy)
A Woman, dir. Giada Colagrande (Italy)
Tajabone Abdullah Seye, dir. Salvatore Mereu (Italy)
Ma che storia, dir. Gianfranco Pannone (Italy)
Into Paradiso, dir. Paola Randi (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO SHORT FILMS
Come un soffio, dir. Michela Cescon (Italy)
Sposerò Nichi Vendola, dir. Andrea Costantino (Italy)
Bassa Marea, dir. Roberto De Paolis (Italy)
Achille, dir. Giorgia Farina (Italy)
Niente Orchidee, dir. Simone Godano & Leodardo Godano (Italy)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO OUT OF COMPETITION
Tarda estate, dirs. Antonio Di Trapani & Marco De Angelis (Italy)
Il loro Natale, dir. Gaetano Di Vaio (Italy)
Ward 54, dir. Monica Maggioni (Italy-US)
Flaiano: il meglio e passato, dirs. Gianfranco Rolandi & Steve Della Casa (Italy)
Se hai una montagna di neve, tienila all'ombra, dirs. Elisabetta Sgarbi & Eugenio Lio (Italy)
Fughe e approdi, dir. Giovanna Taviani (Italy)

RETROSPECTIVE: ITALIAN COMEDY - THE STATE OF THINGS (1937-1988)
The Make Believe Pirates by Marco Elter (Gli allegri masnadieri 1937)
Imputato, alzatevi! by Mario Mattoli (1939)
Non ti pago! by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1942)
6x8/48 (Tutta la città canta) by Riccardo Freda (1943-45)
Botta e risposta by Mario Soldati (1950)
È arrivato il cavaliere! by Steno and Mario Monicelli (1950)
Guardie e ladri by Steno and Mario Monicelli (1951)
The Bachelor by Antonio Pietrangeli (Lo scapolo, 1955)
episode of Un giorno in pretura by Steno (1954)
Le pillole di Ercole by Luciano Salce (1960)
The Thursday by Dino Risi (Il giovedì, 1966)
L'onorata società by Riccardo Pazzaglia (1961)
Il mantenuto by Ugo Tognazzi (1961)
Le lièvre et la tortue by Alessandro Blasetti, episode of Three Fables of Love (1962)
La manina di Fatma by Vittorio Caprioli, episode of Cuori infranti (1963)
Catch As Catch Can by Franco Indovina (1967)
Io non spezzo... rompo by Bruno Corbucci (1971)
Il domestico by Luigi Filippo D'Amico (1974)
Beach House by Sergio Citti (1977)
Febbre da cavallo by Steno (1976)
Fracchia la belva umana by Neri Parenti (1981)
Eccezzziunale... veramente by Carlo and Enrico Vanzina (1982)
Vacanze di Natale by Carlo ed Enrico Vanzina (1983)
Il ragazzo di campagna by Castellano and Pipolo (1984)
Il commissario Lo Gatto by Dino Risi (1986)
Compagni di scuola by Carlo Verdone (1988)

Twelve titles hailing from regions as diverse as Burkina Faso and Chile have been selected for the seventh edition of the official Venice Days sidebar, set to unspool during the 67th edition of the Venice Film Festival.

Nine are world premieres and four are first-time features. Giorgio Gosetti, the section's delegate announced the line-up in Rome today.

This year, Venice Days opens with Bertrand Blier's The Clink Of The Ice, an irreverent comedy about illness and death from France via Wild Bunch.

Films to topline the section include The Life Of Fish, directed by Chile's Matias Bize, which takes place during one night as a young man reflects on his life. Santiago Cabrera (Che) stars. Oscar winner Danis Tanovic presents Cirkus Columbia, a comedy-drama set before the first Balkan war — a co-production from Herzegovina, France, the UK, Slovenia, Germany, Belgium, and Serbia. The US brings The Happy Poet from Paul Gordon about a young person who opens a health food restaurant as a means to fight the economic slowdown.

Two titles hail from Italy: Antonio Capuano's L'Amore Buio – a Naples-set drama that will be distributed nationally by Fandango. Heaven Without Hearth from Giovanni Davide Maderna and Sara Pozzoli is a film that shifts between the public and private life of a director.

From Belgium-France-Germany comes Noir Ocean directed by Marion Hansel set aboard a 1970s French Navy vessel located off the Polynesian coast; while the Canada-France co production Incendies by Denis Villeneuve centres on a brother and sister who take a journey to their roots to uncover a tragic past.

The four first works in the section are Italy's Et In Terra Pax co-directed by Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, described as a Pasolini-esque story of adolescence; a Burkina Faso-France co-production entitled The Place Between by Sarah Bouyain about a young Parisian who returns to Burkina Faso to find her mother. From Colombia, Jairo Carrillo and Oscar Andrade bring Pequenas Voces, a civil war animation inspired by children's art that was seven years in the making, and finally Turkey's Majority, an Istanbul-set Romeo and Juliet story by Seren Yuce via the Match Factory.

Venice Days is a non-competitive section however the first works, as all in Venice's official selection and sidebars, are eligible for Venice's official Luigi De Laurentiis Lion Of The Future Award, which comes with a $100,000 prize. Additionally, the European Parliament's Prix Lux will screen three finallists for their prize, which offers subtitled distribution to the winning film in 23 European languages and distributes the films through the European Union. The finalists are Illegal by Olivier Masset-Depasse, Akadimia Platonos by Filippos Tsitos and When We Leave by Feo Aladag..

The Venice Festival runs from September 1-11.

na šta li liči taj hellmanov noir road to nowhere...

On i Daryl Duke su snimili neke filmove koji su ti mnogo značili.

Reprizirao sam i drugi RED RIDING film IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1980 koji je režirao James Marsh poznat po uspelom dokumentarcu MAN ON WIRE. Ovaj deo je najmanje podignut uz pomoć titlova, manje-više je bio razumljiv i bez njih. Marsh donosi daleko konvencionalniji rediteljski postupak od prvog Jarroldovog filma, i za razliku od 70s filmmakinga u odnosu na 70s setting, Marshov film nema naročito istaknut identitet u vizuelnom, a ni u pripovedačkom smislu, pretvara se u relativno rutinsku policijsku dramu o nekorumpiranom policajcu-birokrati koji razotkriva zaveru korpumpiranih pandura i shvata da su oni koristili ubistva Yorkshire Rippera kako bi prikrivali neke svoje kriminalne radnje.

Iako je kvalitet na visokom nivou, Marshov film nema ni snagu ni rediteljski pečat prvog dela trilogije.

Inače, zanimljivo je da se kao DP na ovom filmu angažovao hrvatski snimatelj Igor Martinović.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

Paul Giamatti is set to play former Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev in a TV movie for HBO and Playtone reports Variety.

The story revolves around Khrushchev's 13-day trip to the US in September 1959 which took place at the height of Cold War tensions.

Khrushchev famously got angry when told his planned trip to Disneyland was cancelled due to security concerns.

Tom Hanks will executive produce, but the project is only in the earliest stages of development at present.

Sasha Grey ("The Girlfriend Experience") has joined the cast of the indie drama "I Melt with You" reports XBiz Newswire.

The story is being kept under wraps, but the film is said to examine pain in terms of the modern male psyche. Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe and Jeremy Piven play the male leads.

Grey plays a muse named Raven who helps one of the men realize that nirvana can only be found after death.

Mark Pellington is directing from a script by Glenn Porter. Shooting kicks off near Big Sur in Northern California next month.

Pogledao sam BOY A Johna Crowleya po scenariju Mark O'Rowea koji je adaptirao roman Jonathana Trigella. Reč je o još jednoj produkciji Channel 4 koja je uspela da stigne do ozbiljne bioskopske i festivalske sudbine.

Na planu dramaturgije, BOY A ima krupne probleme, naročito u samoj završnici sa krajem koji previše insistira na nedorečenosti, dvosmislenosti i simbolici što je u neskladu sa do tada izgrađenim realizmom. Međutim, ono što je impresivno jesu gluma svih glavnih aktera, dakle Andrew Garfielda, Peter Mullana, Katie Lyons i Shauna Evansa koji zaista uepvaju da se izbore sa vrlo delikatnom pričom o mladiću koji izlazi iz zatvora gde je odležao kaznu zbog ubistva koje je počinio kao dete i sada sa novim identitetom pokušava da se uklopi u život za koji je nespreman, i da se suoči sa opasnostima koje nosi njegova prošlost dodatno ugrožena potragom za novim identitetom koji sprovode tabloidi. 

Dramaturškli problemi filma BOY A proizilaze iz dosta pretencioznog pokušaja da se spoje konvencije antičke drame i realističkog postupaka i tako oštri i striktno kauzalni preokreti ne deluju dovoljno uverljivo, osećaju se kao intervencija autora u odnosu na vrlo upečatljive likove koje su glumci ostvarili.

Kad je reč o glumcima, zanimljiv curio je da Andrew Garfield igra glavnog junaka koji se u flešbekovima, u detinjstvu (gde ga igra drugi glumac) igra Spider-Mana. Verovatno će ovaj detalj u godinama koje dolaze biti landmark detalj za geekove.

U svakom slučaju, BOY A je obavezna lektira za ljubitelje britanske socijalno angažovane drame.

* * * / * * * *

Dobar film ,udara u srce ,pa je idealan uz neku podrsku zestine.
Slazem se za kraj filma.
Decak polako uci o svemu sto je propustio tokom odrastanja u zatvoru:, kako da bude prijatelj,kako da se udvara  zenama...sto bi reko arsen dedic opet uci jesti ,hodati...
U toj svojoj socijalnoj nespretnosti izgleda prilično zbunjeno i bezopasno, kao netko kome fali koja daska u glavi.
Kako film odmice atmosvera je takva da on sve vise rizikuje da bide izlozen kao prevara.
Mentor je sjajan, miran a opet na ivici da eksplodira ili prosto taj glumac tako deluje na mene.Nepoverljivo.
Volim ovakve filmove.

Ako neko do sada nije pogledao kratki film Spike Jonzea I'M HERE, preporučujem da to uradi. iako sam fan njegovih spotova ali ne i filmova, Jonze ima dara za igranu formu u kraćim formatima i to savršeno pokazuje ovaj film u kome čak i najakutniji hipsterizam deluje simpatično.

Pogledao sam SHANK Mo Alija, još jedan od filmova koji se nadovezuju na youthsploitation talas u britanskoj kinematografiji i televiziji i direktno se nadovezuje na fenomene poput SKINSa sa kojim recimo deli i Kayu Scodelario u podeli. Od poznatijih glumaca iz youthsploitationa možemo videti i Adam Deacona iz KIDULTHOODa, ali u ovom konkretnom slučaju oni nisu garant bilo kakvog kvaliteta pošto je SHANK očajna britanska parafraza Bessonove produkcije BANLIEU 13 samo bez dobre akcije i efektnog parkoura (premda parkoura ima pomalo) u kome je akcija zamenjena beskrajnim besmislenim dijalozima a shakycam u spoju sa nekim artificijelnim i jeftinim montažnim efektima čini film bezmalo nepodnošljivim za gledanje. Svakako da je jedan deo problema prositekao i iz vrlo oskudnog budžeta ali se nekako od Britanaca nije očekivalo da snimaju exploitation koji je tako i materijalno i idejno jeftin. SHANK je film koji nema apsolutno nikakvu ideju kako da unapredi svoj budžet od 400 000 funti i na neki način prevaziđe zaista strašnu oskudicu u kojoj je snimljen i stoji kao jedan od retkih britanskih filmova koji su stigli do bioskopa a da su zaista svedeni na puku prevaru publike.

Like

Zlatko razume šta znači biti alfa mužjak. Citiram iz Internet priručnika za osvajanje žena:

QuoteYou have to be the MAN who has all the sexual power. And when a woman (no matter how hot) sees and
feels the presence of a man whom she recognizes as the dominant one while SHE isn't, she does what every
woman does - that is SURRENDERS to the more powerful being. And all that acting like she's hot and
knows she's the stuff and all those other "head up in the air" tricks are just a test and a way to weed out all
the men who are less powerful than her and don't know their role as a MAN."

sta, eriops je zlatko juric?

Sa izvesnim zakašnjenjem pogledao sam OSS 117 - RIO NE REPOND PLUS Michela Hazanaviciusa, jednu od najboljih savremenih Bond-parodija. OSS 117 je serija snimljena po romanima Jean Brucea koji je bio svojevrsna preteča Iana Fleminga i pisao je vrlo strejt špijunske romane po kojima su u početku snimani "ozbiljni" filmovi. Slično Toddu Philipsu u STARSKY AND HUTCH, Hazanavicius je sa popularnim komičarem Jean Dujardinom koga znamo po Kounenovom filmu 99 FRANCS napravio reboot tih ekranizacija kao komediju, parodiju svih konvencija na koje se oslanjao.

Međutim, ono po čemu se Hazanavicius razlikuje jeste što je i u prvom i u drogom OSS117 filmu pokazao izvanrednu rediteljsku veštinu, sjajan dar za vizuelne gegove i to samo na nivou humora već i na planu filmskih referenci, citata i rekonstrukcije epohe, kako na nivou production designa tako i tehničkih anahronizama. U tom smislu, slično STARSKOM, i OSS 117 nije predaleko od uzora koje parodira, ovo u suštini jeste špijunski triler i ima svoje borilačke i akcione scene ali je sve dopunjeno vrlo često suptilnim, i još češće politički nekorektnim humorom koji sve onda gura u jasniju parodiju. Taj spoj sa ozbiljnošću izvornika koja je sama po sebi smešna i dopunskog humora čini dobitnu kombinaciju.

Dok se film smešten u Kairo bavio sudarom naslovnog agenta sa islamskim fundamentalistima i odbeglim nacistima, u nastavku su to samo nacisti i Kinezi, a na njegovoj strani su agenti MOSSADa pred kojima stalno ima spontane antisemtiske ispade, otkrivajući duboku ksenofobiju degolizma. I uopšte, LOST IN RIO jako insistira na kontardikcijama degolizma

Jean Dujardin je naravno sjajan u glavnoj ulozi, između ostalog i zato što nije groteskan poput Mike Myersa već je zgodan kao Sean Connery sa blagom izopačenošću koja ga istovremeno čini i potencijalnim akcionim herojem i frikom koji headlinuje komediju. Upravo je sam Dujardinov izgled kao spoj hunkinessa i komičarske ružnoće paradigmatičan za stilsko opredeljenje filma.

Međutim, ako je CAIRO najavio da Hazanavicius može mnogo da pruži u vizuelnom smislu, onda je RIO to dokazao kroz niz sjajnih, bezobraznih polemika sa Hitchockom (koji je u Rio smestio svoj NOTORIOUS na koji se OSS 117 delimično nadovezuje) povrh svih onih koje se dotiču Bonda, francuskih krimića i sl.

Teško da ima filmova koji mogu dostići lepršavost komičnog promišljanja filma epohe kao što je to uradio DOWN WITH LOVE Peytona Reeda ali Hazanavicius je jako blizu toga.

* * * / * * * *

Irish film-maker Neil Jordan has signed up to write and direct the feature version of Paul Murray's novel Skippy Dies.

Billed as South Park meets Tom Brown's School Days, Skippy Dies follows the adventures of two unlikely room-mates, Skippy and Ruprecht, at a public school in Ireland.

The project will see him collaborating with regular producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen of London based Number 9 Films, who also produced Jordan's The Crying Game and The End Of The Affair. James Flynn of Littlewave Film Productions, who was behind Jordan's 2009 feature Ondine, is also producing.

Recent Number 9 credits include Made in Dagenham, which will have its world premiere in Toronto.

Paul Murray is represented by Rob Kraitt at AP Watt.

Ja mislio da si na letovanju.

Tražio si moje impresije oko filma "Time traveler's wife" i ja ih impresovao. A, ti ništa. Ne sviđa ti se forma ili sadržina?

Na ovom forumu s filmovima je bila nepregledna masa "novih poruka" pa mi je promakla. Pročitaću.

Bottom Line: Hard to say who won this battle but Universal should be rewarded at the boxoffice.
SAN DIEGO -- Chore No. 1 is accomplished: The fanboys and girls gave a resounding shriek of approval to Universal's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" at Comic-Con following its "surprise" screening here at the comic book-driven event that has become a kind of Halloween for adults. But the question remains: Will anybody else care?

Director/producer/co-writer Edgar Wright ("Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz") has successfully reproduced the imagery and worldview of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel, itself a mash-up of ordinary characters lost in a world of manga, video games, music videos and comic book iconography. It's fair to say that a significant number of moviegoers would count that as no achievement at all, but none of them is likely to see a movie called "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

So Universal should have a youth hit in the domestic market when the film opens next month. A wider audience among older or international viewers seems unlikely.

Scott Pilgrim -- O'Malley flatters himself by borrowing the last name of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" hero -- is played by Michael Cera, Hollywood's go-to guy for dewy-eyed male innocence that somehow isn't cloying. Scott is a geeky kid in Toronto -- check that, he's a geeky twentysomething playing bass guitar in a talent-free garage band who should be getting on with his life instead of playing guitar and dating a high school girl.

Everyone from his younger, scandalized sister (Anna Kendrick) and weirdly gay roommate (Kieran Culkin) -- weird not because he is gay but because Scott chooses to sleep in the same bed with him and "nothing" is going on -- to fellow band members (Mark Webber and Alison Pill) wonders about that 17-year-old, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), in his life.

Perhaps it has something to do with the devastation caused a year earlier when his ex (Brie Larson) broke his heart and, worse yet, became a rock star.

None of this matters when Scott's eyes seize on Romana Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a mysteriously dangerous woman with constantly changing hair colors, who totally "vamps" him. He is so obsessed with her -- and she seems to return the favor albeit with some reluctance -- that he is willing to battle to the death her "seven evil exes" to win her heart.

Why must he battle former loves extending back to seventh grade? Who knows? Certainly no intelligible explanation is forthcoming. It's a touchstone of the current multitudes of young comic book and graphic-novel readers and, by extension, moviegoers, that such explanations don't matter. That's just the way it is.

So the rest of the movie is taken up with heroic duels with ex-boyfriends -- no, check that, also one ex-girlfriend from when Romana was "going through a phase" -- where the fights revolve around battles with fists, poorly staged martial arts, bellowing musical instruments, flashing knives and, yes, half-and-half. The latter, you understand, defeats a vegan ex-boyfriend (Brandon Routh).

The movie does everything its makers can dream up to imitate a manga: Screens split in half and then in half again. Action speeds up or slows down. Comic book word sounds -- "whoosh," "r-i-i-i-i-n-g," "thud" and the like -- pepper the screen. Backstories about exes are told in rudimentary sketches. The movie frame becomes a graffiti zone where the filmmakers can insert all sorts of written commentary including the fact that a character has to pee. How edifying is that?

What's disappointing is that this is all so juvenile. Nothing makes any real sense. The "duels" change their rules on a whim, and no one takes the games very seriously, including the exes, who, when defeated, explode into coins the winner may collect.

Certainly Cera doesn't give a performance that anchors the nonsense. His character sort of drifts, not really attached to any idea or goal other than winning the heart of an apparently heartless woman while dissing a girlfriend who, despite her "youth," seems ideally suited to his slacker personality.

This is a discouragingly limp movie in which nothing is at stake. A character can "die," then simply rewind video and come back to life. Or change his mind about his true love and then change it again. Scott Pilgrim's battle isn't against the world; it's against an erratic moral compass.

Opens: August 13 (Universal Pictures)
Production companies: A Marc Platt/Big Talk Films/Closed on Mondays production
Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brei Larson, Alison Pill, Audrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman.
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenwriters: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Based on the graphic novel by: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Producers: Marc Platt, Eric Gitter, Nira Park, Edgar Wright
Executive producers: Ronaldo Vasconcellos, J. Miles Dale, Jared LeBoff, Adam Siegel
Director of photography: Bill Pope
Production designer: Marcus Rowland
Music: Nigel Godrich
Costume designer: Laura Jean Shannon
Editors: Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
Rated PG-13, 112 minutes

14 cases of actors getting cut entirely from notable films

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=418356115162&ref=mf

Dođav... pa ovo je... odlično. Proklet bio Cripple, sad si i mene uvukao u ovaj krug loženja na SP.

Circle of Trust

Circle jerk more like...

Reditelj MISFITSa radi film po Richardu Curtisu

British director Tom Harper ("This Is England") is set to direct "Lost for Words" for Working Title says Deadline.

The story follows a movie star approached to star in a film by a Chinese director and after flirting with her translator he falls for the director.

Penned by Richard Curtis and his brother Jamie, actors Tom Cruise and Hugh Grant have previously been linked with the project.

Harper replaces previously attached director Susanne Bier and filming kicks off in January.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/god-in-the-gunfight-an-interview-with-director-tony-scott/

Reprizirao sam debitantski film Neil Jordana ANGEL koji sam gledao dosta davno i tada mi je ostavio utisak debija u kome je Jordan otprilike posejao seme svojih raznih opsesija ali se svakom od njih efikasnije i zaokruženije bavio kasnije u svojoj karijeri. Ipak, činjenica je da ovde imamo melvilovski krimić (Jordan će kasnije rimejkovati tog autora), bunuelovski apsurd, specifični irski milje, fascinaciju nižerazrednim zabavljačima, bizarne porodične odnose, temu gubitka razuma, film-osvete a dotiču se i lokalne političke trzavice koje će obeležiti njegove najprihvaćenije filmove.

ANGEL ne uspeva da uklopi sve ove motive u efektnu celinu i reklo bi se da se raspada po šavovima kada zapravo ne bi sasvim funkcionisao u skladu sa standardima i tada i sada aktuelnih art-house poigravanja sa krimi-žanrom kakva su u to vreme pravili Francuzi ili Wenders. U toj, vrlo ozbiljnoj art-house ligi, Jordan uspeva da zaigra već sa svojim debitantskim filmom, međutim uprkos tome ANGEL nije remek-delo kakva će proizvoditi kasnije.

Isto važi i za višeslojnost koja krasi njegove najinspirisanije filmove, o čemu će Baća uskoro imati detaljan tekst, a nje u ANGELu nema - sve slojeve Jordan ovde izbacuje u prvi plan što doprinosi dezorijentisanosti filma. Međutim, isto tako ANGEL je film koji iza svoje razbarušenosti krije vrlo suptilno plasiranu preciznost hitchcockovskog kalibra koja se oseća u vrlo odmerenom manipulisanju detaljima što samo pokazuje Jordanov potencijal koji će već u sledećem filmu u potpunosti biti realizovan.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

Cripple, ovo je baš za tebe

Elem, počnimo redom:

Mira Škorić - Neka hvala (Srcekradica, 1998)

"Neka hvala" sam svojevremeno okačio kao primer metalskog narodnjaka iz devedesetih, itd, itd.

I danas dobijem komentar od izvesnog DarDtime, kaže:

   "Stolen from Adelina Ismaili - Ushtrine time do ta bej"

Što je ovo:

Adelina Ismaili - Ushtrine Time Do Ta Bej

Adelina Ismaili singing "Ushtrine Time Do Ta Bej" (I Will Raise My Own Army) with a compilation of images from the War in Kosova, the late Ibrahim Rugova, and other pertinent pictures.

Na stranu što sam se potpuno zbunio kad sam (ponovo?) saznao da je Rugova pokojni, na stranu tvrdnja da je Škorićka ukrala pesmu (mislim, domaća estrada... šta reći a ne ispasti pametan), ali da je uspela da 1998. ukrade pesmu od Šiptarke iz 2010, e to je već nešto! 

Dakle, još jednom, živio drug Jutjub!

Ti znaš da ja štujem Miru Škorić i njenu metalsku fazu iza koje je stajao Zlaja Timotić.

Once upon a life: Paul Murray

As an awkward teenager at an all-boys Catholic school, novelist Paul Murray discovered a new, cooler version of himself through the subversive and thrillingly foul-mouthed Guns N' Roses. But if channelling Axl Rose impressed the school bullies, it had its downside...

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    * Paul Murray
    * The Observer, Sunday 20 June 2010
    * Article history

Paul Murray as a teenager Paul Murray as a teenager.

In 1983, a young man named William Bruce Bailey arrived in Los Angeles from Lafayette, Indiana. He had left his home and family, and soon he would leave his name behind, too. William Bruce Bailey became W Axl Rose, lead singer of the hard rock group Guns N' Roses and the unlikely hero of a small group of academically gifted boys in the South Dublin school of Blackrock College.

As I turned 14, I didn't have any serious interest in music. A couple of years earlier, in a kind of patriotic fervour stoked by the massive success of his single "Lady in Red", I had bought Chris de Burgh's album Into the Light and been burned badly. Later I started listening to Def Leppard; I took personal pride in the six (six!) hit singles taken from their platinum-selling LP Hysteria, and the fact that their lead singer was for tax reasons domiciled in Ireland. But I was never entirely happy with Def Leppard. Their ringlets were a little too bouncy, and when, in the middle of their big hit, "Pour Some Sugar on Me", Joe Elliott squealed, "Do you take sugar? One lump or two?" I felt an inexplicable sense of embarrassment.

I still remember the day that my friend David "Muller" Mulryan gave me a C90 tape of Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses's first album. I had heard about these guys. Controversy stalked them at every turn. Their songs tackled such subjects as child abuse, drug abuse, the daily horror of life in LA. Word had it that Axl Rose had chosen his nom de guerre because it was an anagram of "oral sex", and added the mysterious prefix "W" so that his initials would spell WAR. Most shockingly of all, their LP featured gratuitous swearing. "You're fucking crazy," Axl sang in "Crazy". "So fucking easy", he sang in "It's So Easy".

From the vantage point of 2010, after two decades of hip-hop in which needless profanity has been taken to stratospheric new heights, it's impossible to describe how subversive this once seemed. Nobody had ever sworn on a record before. Suddenly civilisation balanced on a knife edge. In the US, Al Gore's wife, Tipper, was building a political career around the threat to society posed by "explicit lyrics", and as I listened to the songs at very low volume on my stereo that night (Muller had helpfully placed an asterisk beside the swearier numbers) I felt an exhilarating sense of danger and transgression. Here was an artefact of an adult world that I had never encountered before, an adult world that my parents, I knew without a shadow of a doubt, would revile. To me, still living the weird, cloistered life of a child, it seemed nothing short of a portal into reality.

A week later, I bought my own copy of Appetite for Destruction on cassette. By that stage the controversial cover art, which featured a monster attacking a robot that had just raped a flower seller, had been banished to the inlay and replaced by a more tasteful portrait of the band as skulls, arranged in a kind of Celtic cross. I brought it home and put it on at a low volume. The sound quality was exactly the same as the C90, but by spending £5.99 of my limited resources on his music I believed a new and deeper bond had been created between Axl and me. I was demonstrably on his side and, in return, something of his power and swagger had been transferred invisibly to me. For the first time, I had fallen for the central promise and illusion of capitalism – that owning something changes you, that by purchasing a product you somehow absorb its beauty or its power or its dynamism into yourself. So had my friends, who'd all bought the album, too, in spite of the fact that we were living proof that it didn't change anything.

On the face of it my friends and I, academic honour-rollers drawn together by mutual awkwardness and a shared interest in the works of Raymond E Feist, had little in common with a bunch of LA junkies infamous for stealing money from their groupies after having sex with them. Certainly in terms of what actually happened, my average day had little in common with Axl's, as I was painfully aware. Axl did not have a healthy breakfast of two Weetabix plus one boiled egg every morning. He did not spend half an hour in school-run traffic in his friend's mum's car, forced to listen to a radio station that, in my memory at least, played no other song but Phil Collins's "Another Day in Paradise". I doubted whether table tennis figured in any serious way in Axl's day, whether before class or at lunch break.

And yet, when I put on my cassette, and heard the police siren and threatening riff that opened the first song, "Welcome to the Jungle", it made perfect sense to me. Because behind the rolling green rugby pitches, the castellated walls, the lovely groves of trees that our parents saw as they dropped us off, school was a jungle, every bit as lawless and feral as the gang-run urban ghettos of LA, although unlike the ghettos we also had an art room and put on an opera every Christmas. And in this jungle my friends and I were like a bunch of myopic slow-moving gazelles, easy prey for more or less everyone.

Our tormentors came in many shapes and sizes. Richard Black was what you might call the "classic" bully, thick of arm and low of intelligence. He had hit puberty at around eight years old and all through primary school, while the rest of us were figuring out how to transform our Transformers, he had towered above us like King Kong's attitudinally maladjusted, Benson & Hedges smoking, compulsively masturbating younger brother. By 11, however, he had dramatically stopped growing, and now almost everyone was taller than him, which cruel twist of fate had, in a rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light type way, pushed him to new extremes of violence and terror.

More insidious and common were people like Liam Conboy, scion of a wealthy family, who had worked out that it didn't matter what grades he got and so devoted himself instead to undermining the system and those pitiable chumps who tried to play by its rules. Apart from a freakishly large head, Liam Conboy didn't have the physical presence of Richard Black, but he made up for these shortcomings in sadism and persistence and knowing just what buttons to push. Richard Black would strangle you with your own tie or throw you into the thorn-bushes; but Liam Conboy was the one who would spit down your back, pour Pot Noodle into your schoolbag, spread rumours about your mother.

In hindsight, the Hobbesian state of affairs isn't hard to understand. A 14-year-old boy is a seething torrent of sexual anxiety; a single-sex Catholic boys' school, therefore, is like a sexual-anxiety Large Hadron Collider. Almost overnight we had been transformed by powerful new desires, but we didn't yet know what we'd been transformed into, and without any girls in the vicinity on which to try out our new sexual identities, those identities were permanently in question. Uncertainty manifested as a hysterical homophobia. Hitherto innocuous things became signifiers of the dreaded "gayness". Dropping a pencil was gay. Feelings were, by and large, gay. Being hit on the head by a Frisbee, even though it wasn't strictly speaking your fault, was gay. Life became a desperate and unending struggle to demonstrate one's "straightness" to the satisfaction of one's peers.

Beating up nerds was the most reliable means of establishing your heterosexual bona fides, but for those whom God had not favoured with a good bullying physique, music played a crucial role. It articulated the nameless emotional chaos going on inside, and also, more importantly, provided role models – men with prominent guitars, facial hair and unapologetically tight trousers – by compulsively imitating whom we could bring shape to our amorphous lives. From a mildly diverting alternative to football, music and musicians suddenly became an obsession. Axl, Eddie Van Halen, Anthony Kiedis, Robert Smith: these were our new leaders. The recent arrival of the Walkman enabled the merging of music and life as never before; we listened to them so intensely we felt we were on the point of actually channelling them. We romanticised them out of all proportion. They were the living embodiment of their music, who never did anything boring or mundane. But they were also just like us. When he wasn't taking heroin, smashing up a hotel room or having sex with groupies, I imagined Axl avidly reading The Dragonlance Chronicles or playing "The Last Ninja" on his Commodore 64.

There is nowhere a teenager would less rather be than in his own skin, and though from here this mimesis-cum-worship seems odd if not downright vampiric, at the time it provided a blessed escape from the stifling prison of myself. For several weeks, the curious synthesis of me and the person I imagined Axl Rose to be conducted himself happily through the school. I let my hair grow, though it seemed to want to shape itself into a bouffant. I took up gratuitous swearing ("Does anyone want a game of fucking table tennis?"). Also, though I was still in two minds about heroin, I started smoking cigarettes.

This caused consternation among my friends. "What are you doing?" they said. "Do you want to get cancer? And detention?"

I was surprised by their reaction, as Axl Rose could quite clearly be seen smoking in most of his pictures. So what if it was against the rules? Didn't they want to be like Axl?

The realisation that they did not opened my eyes. Suddenly I understood why we got bullied all the time. We were yes-men, collaborators, shills of a stupefying educational system and the ferocious ambition of our parents. We had sold out our youth in order to flesh out their fantasies of us aged 27 with neat haircuts and good jobs in the financial sector. Everything we had – Debating Club, Prize Day, Evil Dead night at Neal's house – was built on a lie. Well, I'd had enough. "Eat it, suckers," I told them, and went outside to smoke.

At first I enjoyed life as a rebel. The bullies were surprisingly receptive to my new direction – the smoking particularly impressed them, and often after throwing me into the thorn bushes or pouring Pot Noodle into my bag they would stay to share a cigarette with me. But I quickly began to feel dissatisfied. Apart from smoker's cough, and nausea from all the breath-freshening gum I was chewing, was my life really any different? I was still stuck in school, this unworldly, girl-less prison where nothing real ever happened; if the other prisoners approved of my new persona – well, so what? There were other problems, too. I really wanted to see this new film Weekend at Bernie's, but having dismissed my friends I had no one to go with. Worse, Guns N' Roses's new album, GN'R Lies, was a pallid affair consisting of a live set of early material and four acoustic songs, one of which, "One in a Million", seemed to paint Axl as a pathetic racist and homophobe. I couldn't fight the growing sense that Axl and I were, after all, not the same; and were he ever, as I had frequently fantasised, to visit my school, he would be more likely to side with the bullies in throwing my lunch under the bus than engaging me in a conversation about, for example, who should play Judge Dredd if they ever made a movie.

Like any drug, I was learning, music's effects were limited; and as they wore off, I looked around to see all my old problems and anxieties loyally awaiting me. In this nightmarish comedown I had the terrifying thought that my parents were right: that life didn't change in a moment, no matter how seismic that moment appeared to be. Instead, it moved only gradually, and imperceptibly, and according to forces external and internal that you were only dimly aware of... And then, as I changed for gym class, I noticed David "Muller" Mulryan wearing a new T-shirt. It featured a black-and-white picture of a semi-naked and glowering young man. "It's Jim Morrison," Muller explained. "From the Doors."

"Wow," I said. "What's that he's wearing?"

"Leather trousers," Muller said.

"Wow," I said again. This guy really looked like he knew the score. Unlike Axl, you could tell he'd read a book or two. Maybe he liked Raymond E Feist.

"Make me a tape?" I asked Muller. "Sure," Muller said. We went into the gym. I couldn't concentrate on indoor hockey. I was deep in thought. Leather trousers, I was thinking. Leather trousers. The world around me seemed to fade out. Everything was about to change.