Submarine - Review

The geek shall inherit, indeed. Richard Ayoade proves there’s more to him than playing one of the most loveable nerds in comedy* with his directorial debut Submarine, from his own screenplay. Ben Stiller executive produces and pops up in a literally-blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.

Set in a Welsh coastal town in the 1980s, Submarine is the very, very funny, touching and nicely-observed coming of age story of Oliver Tate, brilliantly played by Craig Roberts in what I only hesitate to call a star-making turn as it’s such an over-used description. Oliver is a faintly creepy and endearingly awkward kid with illusions of grandeur, prone to fantasising about the overblown outpouring of grief that would come after his death, or a film crew following him around recording his every move. He has a “word of the day”. “I don’t know what I am yet”, he states, after listing the affectations he had tried to adopt (pipes, coin tossing, staring at the horizon, brief hat phase). Under Ayoade’s direction, Oliver is more than a stock “quirky outsider” figure, becoming a character you do care about, despite his self-obsessive traits.

The plot centres on his romantic pursuit of casually cruel yet vulnerable pyromaniac Jordana (“She’s marginally unpopular, thus increasing the likelihood of a romance between us”), and saving his parents’ marriage (“They don’t even row, they just have discussions”) by preventing his mum from falling back into the arms of a new-age guru old flame. The plots strands appear as chapters marked by hilariously over-wrought dramatic music, which matches Oliver’s teenage sense of self-importance perfectly. As good as Craig Roberts is, it seems almost unfair to single him out when the supporting cast is, without exception, fantastic – Noah Taylor is a highlight as Oliver’s tragicomic dad, while there are great turns from Sally Hawkins and Paddy Considine too.

The cherry on top is the gorgeous soundtrack of original songs by Alex Turner; Piledriver Waltz in particular is well worth a listen. Submarine gets its German release this week and is already available on DVD in the UK. It is my favourite film of 2011 and I cannot recommend it highly enough.



*Alright, maybe I am just looking for excuses to link to clips of The IT Crowd now.

CineCologne – 4 festivals in one

This month brings a treat for film fans to brighten up the darker, increasingly colder November days. Under the CineCologne umbrella, four individual mini-festivals are taking place in the city throughout the month. Kicking off proceedings this week are Soundtrack Cologne and Exposed. The former focuses on film music, with screenings of music documentaries and a workshop and concert featuring Scottish composer Patrick Doyle, while Exposed showcases films by first-time directors. GOF is most excited about the European First Films category, which features the directorial debut from the very talented Richard Ayoade (until now best known and loved as the ultimate geek, Moss, in The IT Crowd), Submarine. This film will get its own blog in the very near future, and it’s certainly one of the festival highlights. Other Exposed categories include debut films focusing on Cologne itself and country-of-the-moment Greece, while this festival draws to a close – unfortunately on Sunday already – with a silent movie “Historic Debut”.

Part 3 arrives next weekend, in the shape of Unlimited: four days of European short films, followed at the end of the month by Cinepänz, the children’s film festival. Anyone expecting a week of talking cartoon animals and storybook characters is in for a surprise however, as the programme offers a wide range of films, some tackling weightier issues such as teenage transsexuals (Romeos) and parental mental illness (Überschnappt – "Gone Bananas").

While some of the screenings and events require accreditation, there’s still plenty on offer for film fans in and around Cologne over the next few weeks.

Really not sure about the promo trailer for the event though – has GOF missed a trick or is this just...bizarre?

Venice / Toronto – 10 films to get excited about

September is bonus month on the film calendar, with major festivals taking place back-to-back throughout the first half of the month. Between them, Venice and Toronto fit in perfectly with the month’s back-to-school vibe by offering cinephiles a host of shiny new films to look forward to in the coming months, as well as highlighting the awards-baiters and Oscar hopefuls.

Working on the assumption that her guest pass fell victim to red tape, and accepting with a heavy heart that she won’t be catching up with George, Matt and Keira this year, GOF has been perusing the coverage over the last couple of weeks from the comfort of her desk and now presents, for your consideration, her ten films to get excited about from the transatlantic twosome’s 2011 crop:

The Ides of March – George Clooney’s fourth feature as a director/star is a neatly-timed political thriller following a Democratic candidate as he aims for the White House. Scandal, naturally, ensues. Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Evan Rachel Wood also star, making it an exciting prospect for 2012.

Shame – Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of a sex addict won him Best Actor in Venice. Carey Mulligan gives support as his sister, while Steve McQueen’s direction and the shots of New York came in for great praise in Venice.

Anonymous – a slight genre-change for disaster movie stalwart Roland Emmerich, looking at the mystery of the true author of Shakespeare’s works, with Rhys Ifans.

Trishna – Michael Winterbottom (the man behind GOF faves The Trip and A Cock and Bull Story, amongst others) offers an Indian spin on Tess of the d’Urbervilles, set in the present day, with Slumdog’s Frieda Pinto and Riz Ahmed (Britz) as the leads.

Contagion – already gaining a reputation as the *other* film where something nasty happens to Gwyneth Paltrow’s head, Steven Soderberg pits an all-star cast against a global pandemic. Looks to be a real feel-good one.

Take this Waltz – Sarah Polley got good reviews for her debut Away from Her a couple of years ago. She follows it up with a tale of a young married couple facing crisis. Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams star.

A Dangerous Method – The Talented Mr Fassbender plays Carl Jung opposite Viggo Mortensen’s Freud and Keira Knightley’s “erotically disturbed” psychiatric patient.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tomas Alfredsson (Let the right one in) directs another all-star cast (Oldman! Hurt! Firth!) in a film adaptation of John leCarre’s spy novel classic. It got rave reviews at Venice despite missing out on any awards. Oh and the trailer drips class.

Poulet Aux Prunes – Following the animated gem that was Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi serves up another Iranian-set tale. Comparisons with Amelie seem inevitable, especially due to the whimsical trailer, so it might not be to everyone’s taste. If it strikes the right bittersweet mix however it could be a treat for fans of that style.

Drive – Ryan Gosling (him again) has described this as “a John Hughes movie with head-smashing”. After watching the trailer, I can’t quite decide if it looks quite brilliant or a bit dodgy, but I’d give it a go.

Also piquing interest: Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen in “cancer comedy” 50/50, new takes on Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, Alexander “Sideways” Payne directs George Clooney in The Descendants and Roman Polanski shuts Jodie Foster, John C. O’Reilly, Kate Winslet and the wonderful Christoph Waltz in a room and waits for Carnage.

Worth a read

From The Observer this weekend: Mark Kermode's take on what's wrong with blockbusters

Super 8 - a Spielberg fan reviews

At a time where remakes, sequels, adaptations and re-imaginings have pretty much cornered the market in summer ‘blockbusters’ it’s ironic that one of the most “original” stories to arrive at the local multiplex in the past couple of months is a quite blatant homage to another director. JJ Abrams’ Super 8 is scattered with nods to Spielberg, particularly to Close Encounters and of course, ET – if you’re geek enough you can mentally count them: small town setting? Check. Absent parent? Check. Mysterious alien visitation involving shady authority figures? Check. John Williams-esque score? You know the answer by now. Joel Courtney even bears more than a passing resemblance to ET’s Henry Thomas, and there’s a retro-bike chase scene, for crying out loud. Cynics might say that this is all hardly a surprise with the man himself sitting in the producer’s chair, but then fully enjoying a Spielberg movie often involves getting your inner cynic to shut up for an hour or two. And, for all the parallels, the film never feels derivative, even if it’s doesn’t entirely live up to the movies it fondly recalls. The emphasis is also more on action (the train crash that sparks events is an impressive set piece) and mystery than on bonding with a cuddly alien. JJ Abrams has also put his own stamp firmly on it – the brief glimpses of the ‘visitor’ until the final reveal are similar to the technique he used in Cloverfield, and the “film within the film” over the end credits is a great touch. You can tell Abrams has a great deal of affection for the period and the Super 8 medium. While it’s true that the story could feasibly have been set in the present day, given the ubiquity of camera phones and accessible digital technology, the 70s setting adds to the nostalgia and mystery. While it might not quite recreate that (movie cliché alert!) “Spielberg magic”, the government cover-up story is a little undercooked and the final-act confrontation with the extraterrestrial was, in my opinion, a real let down, it’s still a highly enjoyable film on its own merits.

How to make a kick-arse trailer, courtesy of David Fincher and co.

1. Great music


2. Great editing


3. Give nothing away, whilst making each scene almost instantly recognisable to those who have read the book.


4. Sit back and enjoy the sound of a million appetites being whetted...