David Bishop's Desert Island Collection

Continuing our Desert Island Collection feature here at FlickeringMyth, David Bishop presents his choices...


MOVIES

1. Jerry Maguire – Sweet, moving and harks back to the Golden Years of Hollywood
2. Fargo – The greatest crime thriller ever made
3. Jurassic Park – The birth of a new age of cinema
4. Blade Runner – As complex as it is elegant, the depth within this film is staggering
5. Tremors – B-movie magic with Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward on top form
6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Not the Python’s most well put together film but easily their funniest
7. Videodrome – Cronenberg’s most sub-verse and experimental work. Films are rarely this original
8. The French Connection – The greatest film to come out of the New Wave of Hollywood. This is properly gritty cinema
9. Yojimbo – One of Kurosawa’s best and most influential films
10. Toy Story – Possibly the most flawless film ever made

TELEVISION

1. The Wire - It has to be really. So good it’s now made television drama redundant
2. Doctor Who – Both old and new series have produced some of the best science fiction and fantasy television ever
3. Arrested Development – Endlessly quotable and brilliantly subtle. Demands multiple viewings
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – One of the most consistently inventive and daring shows on mainstream television. It didn’t get much better than this
5. QI – I think it’s impossible not to love this show
6. Battlestar Galactica – Does for science fiction what The Wire did for the crime genre.
7. The X-Files - Later series suffered but the first few seasons were near perfect. The chemistry between the leads elevated the show into something truly special
8. Veronica Mars – The best teen drama since Buffy. Shame no one watched it
9. The entire work of David Attenborough – If you’re stuck on a desert island, it would be a good idea to find out about the wildlife
10. Deadwood – Less of a TV show and more of a ‘How to Swear’ guide. Brilliant stuff

Click here for more of our contributor's Desert Island Collections, and please feel free to leave your thoughts (or indeed, your own choices) below...

David Bishop

British Cinema: The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2010)

The Disappearance of Alice Creed, 2010.

Written and Directed by J Blakeson.
Starring Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan.


SYNOPSIS:

Two guys kidnap Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) and demand two million dollars from her father. However things aren’t quite what they seem and everything starts to fall apart.


In essence this is a fairly gimmicky film, a cast considering of three actors (Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan) and only a few sets, mostly set in a small apartment. However this is a finely made and very well acted thriller, even if it does get a tad overblown by the end.

The opening sequence shows the two kidnappers preparing the room, which will hold their captive, in meticulous detail. The room is soundproofed, the bed bolted to the floor and chains bolted to the bed. They proceed to dig a hole in the woods, marking the area with a brightly coloured cloth attached to a nearby tree. Everything about this is fairly un-nerving, with no dialogue, showing the cold, clinical precision involved in the early stages of the kidnapping. It’s clear from the outset that these guys are professionals and have been planning this for quite some time.

The actual kidnapping is even more disturbing, as they pull her into the back of their van, gag her, pull a bag over her head and take her to the room. She is then tied up, stripped, photographed and forced to piss in a bottle. This is very uncomfortable viewing and surprisingly to see such a mainstream actress go from Bond Girl to a role where she isn’t afraid to look unattractive. Marsan and Compston may get the bulk of the dialogue and screen time but it’s Arterton who really impresses.

However the real key to the film’s brilliance is the directing of J Blakeson, which switches from horror to some fairly humorous moments such as Danny (Martin Compston) trying to flush a bullet casing down the toilet. The shift in tone doesn’t feel jarring but instead offers moments of light relief for what is a pretty unrelenting couple of hours. These moments are few and far between though and Blakeson’s ability to ratchet up the tension in a matter of seconds, and then build it up to breaking point is mesmerising.

The actors also rise up the challenge of the material superbly, Eddie Marsan switches between cold and calculated to outright panic brilliantly and his double act with Compston is both believable and surprising in its development. Arterton also brings so much more to the role than helpless victim, supported by a script which gives her a lot more to do that you would expect, and proving more than capable of portraying the shifts in her character.

There is the odd occasion where the script gets overly fussy and starts to lay on twist after twist, most of which are fairly easy to predict, but the quality of the direction and the acting rise above it and produce a finely crafted thriller. It may be a film to admire rather than love but it is quality filmmaking nonetheless.

David Bishop

Movie Review Archive

British Cinema: Four Lions (2010)

Four Lions, 2010.

Directed by Chris Morris.
Starring Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Adeel Akhtar, Archer Ali and Preeya Kalidas.


SYNOPSIS:

After accidentally killing his own men at a training camp in Pakistan, Omar (Ahmed) returns to England to form a suicide terrorist cell with ideas of blowing up a major British target. Unfortunately his co-conspirators are less than helpful.


At first glance this sounds like a very bad idea; a comedy about five incompetent Jihad suicide bombers attempting to blow themselves up while killing innocent people in London. For some this is going to be too close to the bone and too flippant towards recent events.

Luckily Four Lions proves to be sensitive in its portrayal of this delicate story and does this by humanising the characters without justifying their actions. An effort is made to find a reason for these actions and it is made very clear that the problem stems from a preposterous belief system programmed into them from birth, an idea perfectly illustrated in a scene between Omar and his son, where he compares the Lion King to their fight against the west. The first reaction is to laugh at the absurdity of such a scenario but that’s until you realise the plausibility of it. How else would people become so convinced that becoming suicide bombers is the best course of action for their fight against western civilisation?

This scene perfectly demonstrates the balance of comedy and pathos and those expecting a laugh riot in the style of Chris Morris’ television projects will likely be disappointed. Considering the obviously controversial subject matter; there is a surprisingly gentle tone and this is down to both Morris’ unobtrusive direction and the strength of the main performances.

Riz Ahmed as Omar is possibly the reason the film is as successful as it is. While handling the comedy well, which ranges from sharp wit to Spinal Tap absurdity, he provides the viewer with a window to a world we have been accustomed to hate and fear. Instead of playing Omar as a highly organised, sadistic, one-dimensional villain, he emphasises the character’s confusion and frustration. Witness the scene where he’s trying to get his friend Waj (played brilliantly by Kayvan Novak) to embrace his cause. Not only does he get Waj confused; but himself as well. Somehow trying to teach others what they are doing is right manages to convince himself of the opposite.

The danger with all this however is that the film could easily have copped out and not been as forthright as it ultimately is, or worse could have let the main protagonists off the hook. Fortunately the writers and director have the courage of their convictions and without spoiling anything, any worry you may have over the maker’s political leanings can be quickly put aside by the time the end credits role up.

All of this makes it sound like a worthier and more subdued experience than it actually is, but there are some very funny moments. Obvious examples are the bickering between the five (yes five, the title will make sense when you watch the film) guys, mostly over what needs to be bombed (one suggestion includes mini babybel), how to sit in the videos outlining their demands, trying to get one of the team to punch themselves in the face and most importantly why bombing a Mosque will help rather than hinder their cause.

However the overriding sensation on leaving the cinema will most likely he one of sadness rather than elation and considering the subject matter that is entirely appropriate.

David Bishop

Movie Review Archive