My Year Without Film: Me And Winkleman

I have not seen a single film in the cinema this year*. There are a number of reasons for this, many of which I will approach in this hopeful series of posts about my somewhat oddly dependent relationship with film. But just to make it clear that this is an unusual state of affairs, I saw 132 films in the cinema last year. This year none. I’ll probably tell you what the ten worst ones were over the next few weeks. But I really, really like going to the cinema.

So the real reason I have not been to see a film? I was ruling myself out of the Film 2010 job. It was not a job I wanted and it struck me as someone who occasionally sees the odd film and reviews them, I was clearly top of the bookies list. Turned out that when I went to the bookies I wasn’t. Mark Kermode was. Well he hasn’t got it (not that he wanted it as he said effusively last week on his podcast in the manner of a man who knows he has not got it). But I, like the bitter grape eating Kermode, would not want to do it. The Film Programme, as it is nominally called, deserves someone better that Barry Norman (a rather dull pedantic reviewer as you can see below the cut), Jonathan Ross or indeed Mark Kermode. And Claudia Winkleman may just be it. more »

Pete Baran in Do You See • 6 Comments

My Year Without Film: It Takes Two To Make A Film Be Right

(It takes three to be banished from my sight)

So why haven’t I seen any films this year*? Beyond the FilmX reason, I blame James Cameron. Perhaps it is a bit of an over-reaction to boycott ALL films because the self styled King Of The World finally deigned to make a film after ten years, but what a film. Avatar, and its rubbish font, has been so all encompassing that someone has to take a stand. And don’t scoff, I didn’t see Titanic in the cinema, and he didn’t make a film for ages. So me boycotting Avatar has form.

What I am boycotting is not so much the blue anthropomorphic noble savage bobbins of the extravagantly long movie. I am not even boycotting Sam Worthington not being digitally edited out of the film, even though it was clear from Terminator Salvation that he was as wooden at Harrison Ford’s pre-movie career material of choice. more »

Pete Baran in Do You See • 6 Comments