Great Scott!!

It won't have failed to escape even the most casual of film geeks, pop cultural observers and 80s nostalgia fans that today, Wednesday 21 October 2015, the world catches up with the future as predicted by the classic 1989 sci-fi sequel, Back to the Future Part 2.

Like many of my generation, I've held a deep-seated affection for the trilogy since childhood, when I announced to my babysitter at age 6 that Michael J Fox was the handsomest man I'd ever seen. The first film is my favourite (as well as one of my all-time favourites), and I celebrated my most recent birthday with a screening of it. To this day, just a few notes of Alvin Silvestri's joyous score give me a genuine thrill. And then there's the sheer 80s awesomeness of this:

I hardly need to out myself as a BTTF fan girl.

The second film, in which Marty & Doc travel forward to today, is slightly harder to love. In grand trilogy tradition, it's the darkest in the series, featuring domestic violence, dystopian visions & murder (while all the first film really has in that department is a fairly light-hearted take on incest, and the small matter of obliterating your own existence). Part 2 does very well however in cross-referencing the first film and juggling time lines. Characters are played quite successfully at different ages or from different generations (despite slightly shonky age makeup). 

On a recent rewatch, I was interested to see just how much of the future the film got "right" - and it's not as crazily wide-off the mark as you might think. In the first 20 minutes alone there are references to biofuels, facial rejuvenation, wearable tech, sketchy legal processes, excessive

film sequels, invasive advertising, 80s nostalgia, inflated prices and being surrounded by screens. Elsewhere, there are nods to emerging technology: payment by thumb, news drones and hover boards. That might be a pretty generous view - much of the above can be considered obvious targets and of course the film's not alone in it's hit-and-miss predictions. Most obviously, Doc's reassurance to Marty that "where we're going, we don't need roads" has proved wildly over-exhuberent even by his standards. The film also failed to predict the rise of the ebook - books have dust-repellant paper - and seemed to believe that Japan would be the world's dominant economic power, and perhaps even more egregiously, faxing would still be "a thing".

We're now as far from 1985 as that year was from 1955, and the best proof that the films have stood the test of time is the level of fandom and devotion they continue to attract - last year, Secret Cinema staged a BTTF immersion event in London, and this week, fans will converge in Los Angeles for the We're Going Back fan extravaganza, with tickets costing up to $880 (perhaps they're hoping you'll be smiling too much at the inside joke to wince too hard at the price). The event will also feature the premiere of the Back in Time documentary - a more achieveable treat once it gets a broader release.

However you choose to wallow in some classic 80s nostalgia, you can rest assured that, as long as Robert Zemeckis lives, we'll be spared any "reimagining". Bonus cause for celebration!

Victoria - believe the hype

There's a slight chill in the air, paths are strewn with conkers and, as if it couldn't be made any more official, Starbucks are hawking the "pumpkin spice" lattes. Ladies and gentlemen, summer has left the building. Welcome to autumn.

Which seems like as good a time as any to look back at what has undoubtedly been the film of the summer here in Berlin: Sebastian Schipper's rough diamond Victoria.

The film had its debut back in February at this year's Berlinale, and generated a healthy amount of buzz before its general release in June. Since then, it has dominated cinemas across the city and was a mainstay of the city's various open air screens, with showings with cast members and the director in particular selling out fast. At parties this summer Victoria was a reliable smalltalk fallback option - "habt ihr den schon gesehen?" proving a useful icebreaker on many occasions. (And if you haven't caught it yet, it's not too late; the film is still showing at multiple venues across the city).

As with so many great films, the less you know going in, the better. The elevator pitch could be summed up as: Spanish girl meets Berlin boys, adrenalin-fuelled hi-jinx ensue. The titular Victoria (Laia Costa) is a newcomer to the city from Madrid, and speaks no German. At the end of a night in an underground techno club (just in case you needed reminding what city you are in), she runs into a band of four "real Berliner" guys, led by Sonne (Frederick Lau), who has the gift of the gab and just enough bad boy charm. There's banter, some definite sparks, an invitation, but then an old debt resurfaces, a favour is asked, and the night takes what a sense of British understatement demands I call "a turn".

The one thing that is perhaps harder to have avoided beforehand is the talk of the film's USP: it was filmed in one long continuous take, a method that the filmmakers repeated three times before getting one they were happy with, and which picked them up the Silver Bear for cinematography at the Berlinale. A similar technique could be seen in this year's Oscar winner Birdman, but in Victoria, the effect is not at all stylised and much rawer. Just as the trailer promises, this is a film that grabs you and doesn't let you go. And yet there's more to it than that. Both the acting and writing lend the film an unexpected emotional heft, probably best demonstrated in a scene between the two leads in a cafe, which also provides a brief breather from the action. From there on out the film rarely lets up, and I spent the best part of one particularly fraught scene with my hand clamped over my mouth. 

The film also works well though as a statement on where the ever-changing, ever-growing city is currently at. 'New Berlin', in the form of Victoria, who like many has fled the economic crisis in her Southern European home to make a better life and a fresh start in Berlin, collides with 'Old Berlin': four guys born just after the fall of the wall, who came of age during the capital's "poor but sexy" phase. It's a film set in a a city that delivers on the hedonistic thrills it promises, but just as capable of slapping you in the face with reality, and despite criticism from some quarters of the implausibility of the plot, the film reflects this to some extent. 

After cleaning up at the German Film Awards earlier this year, where it won in six of the seven major categories it was nominated in, the film was recently shown at the Toronto International Film Festival to very favourable reviews. The UK premiere follows at the London Film Festival on October 16. Somewhat unfortunately, given the high mix of German and English dialogue, it is not eligible as Germany's entry for Best Foreign Film at next year's Oscar's, but safe to say, it's unlikely to be the last you hear of Victoria.

Post-Oscar recap

The highs:

• The speeches: especially Graham Moore's for Best Adapted Screenplay, Patricia Arquette's (whatever was said in the press room later, her initial message on-stage was welcome) and Pawel Pawlikowski for just powering on through
• Eddie Redmayne's reaction to his win - so damn endearing
  
  
  
• Common and John Legend's performance of Glory - beautiful. And then, David Oyelowo having his tears dried by Oprah,
• Lego Oscars! And The Lonely Island jumping about like loons.
• Julie Andrews

The lows

• Neil Patrick Harris: somehow, Not Particularly Hilarious (though I did think the Birdman underwear skit paid off)
• The extended break in transmission in Germany which meant we missed JK Simmons' win
• Birdman's Best Picture win - mainly because it cost me first place in the prediction sweepstakes
• The interminable ad breaks
• McConnaughey's beard

The cringe

• The Pro7 red carpet
• John Travolta
  

Oscar predictions

Overhyped, stale, out of step with cinemagoers, self-congratulatory and frequently ill-judged - but, truly, what celluloid junkie doesn't love themselves some  Oscars all the same?

This year, girl on film is leaving the glamour of her sofa and PJs behind for a viewing party at Berlin's Film Cafe with fellow Oscar nerds.

With just a couple of hours to go (and a couple more caffeine boosts to be imbibed) before the ceremony kicks off, here are my predictions for the big 6...

The supporting categories, along with Best Actress, are largely considered to be done deals. Honestly, it would be a pretty significant upset if any one other than Patricia Arquette, JK Simmons and Julianne Moore take home the gold, and they'd all be well deserved (side note: Still Alice is yet to be released here, but c'mon, it's Julianne Moore)

The other categories are potentially harder to call. Best Picture and Director looks like a two-horse race between Birdman and Boyhood, and they could well be split as was the case last year with 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. However, given the amount of box office buzz American Sniper has been generating over the past couple of weeks in the States, it's not totally inconceivable that it could pull off the night's biggest upset/surprise. Ditto Bradley Cooper for Best Actor, although Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne remain favourites. It's the category I feel least confident predicting, though based on how much Oscar loves a personal struggle biopic, Redmayne has the edge.

For my money, Innarritu will take Best Director for Birdman - technically a very impressive film that somehow left me slightly cold. Boyhood to take Best Film - I enjoyed it a lot, though really, I'd prefer to see it go to either Grand Budapest Hotel, the most entertaining of the bunch for my money, or Selma, the most moving - and whose omission from the directing and acting categories really does baffle.

But that's just my two cents...

Popcorn at the ready!