On Air

For the first time in a while (due to holidays, weddings and such) I was on Cambridge105 again on Saturday for some film reviews with 'Bums on Seats'. The show featured four reviews and an interview with Aline Conti, the programmed coordinator of the Cambridge Film Festival. It was a great show, with some pretty hilarious moments as well as some great reviewing (well, at least we thought so!). Toby was hosting again, and you can see shots of my fellow reviewers Simon and Jenny in my AlterBlips folio (Toby doesn't like having his photo taken, but he's the background blur on the right in the Blip!)

The first film reviewed was 'Total Recall', the Colin Farrell remake of the Arnie original - loosely based (like all good sci-fi) on a short story by Philip K. Dick. The plot sees Farrell's blue-collar worked Doug Quaid attempt to take a memory holiday only for him to discover his memory is already falsified and he's a secret agent. Cue a glorious, effects-laden chase movie with double- and triple-agents and some serious mind-warping along the way. Needless to say I liked it, as did Simon and Jenny, but Toby remained unconvinced (he only actually liked one film this week!)

And that film was 'Shadow Dancer', which from the trailer looks like it might be an all-action type thriller but is in fact an awesomely tense little piece. Sure Clive Owen's in it (and does get an awesome entrance by huey) but then he's mostly acting like a spy should, hiding in an office and the occasional car. The real attraction is Andrea Riseborough as Colette McVeigh, the would-be IRA bomber who is caught and turns traitor in an attempt to protect her family, delivering a great performance that is both understated but brimming with emotion at the same time. Nods also to the supporting cast, especially her family. Also the cinematography was really nice and compact, with lots of close ups on the cast to get their reactions and small scenes - I especially liked the filming of the son's birthday with the shots of Aiden Gillen and Brid Brennan (as Colette's brother and mother) framed by the garden walls.

The third film was 'The Watch' and that was when the silliness descended on the show. It's not the best film ever, and Simon quite rightly summed it up when afterward he said it was a good job we didn't have to pay for it (due to having Unlimited cards, so technically we paid, but only £1 by the end of the month!). There was a few good moments of fun, but it seemed to be missing a plot, and just felt a bit lazy - but we did reserve kudos for Richard Ayoade (known mostly for the 'I.T. Crowd' but also an awesome director) for comic genius in what will hopefully be his Hollywood calling card.

The final film reviewed was 'The Imposter' but I didn't see it so made do with taking shots and listening to the others review it. It's a mixed docu-drama about the disappearance of a young boy and his apparent discovery in Spain three years later - when in fact the boy found is a French con-artist who comes back to the US and attempts to live the other boy's life. It didn't go down especially well with our group (though it's getting high praise nearly everywhere else) as it did't really seem to focus on some important aspects of the story (such as what has really happened to the lost boy) and also didn't give a balanced argument (cutting out most of the police response).

So all in all a pretty good show, and at some point soon there'll be a podcast to share with everyone!