5 Live Octoberfest

Last week, between the 11th and 13th October, BBC Radio 5 Live put on a number of live shows in Sheffield.  Until a week before, I knew nothing about it, when a friend from work announced he had a spare ticket and would I like to go.  The ticket in question was for Kermode and Mayo's Film Review show, it was like Christmas had come early.

The event took place at the Crucible Theatre, of which I had only seen during televised footage of the snooker.  It was a simple set up, and whilst I don't know what I expected to happen, it quickly became apparent that they were doing their usual radio spot live in front of us.  Part of that included the Top 10 Review, so to make use of the live audience they asked for volunteers to provide their thoughts on any of the Top 10 they had seen.  Some did their contribution as part of a pair, and I felt very sorry for the gentleman who followed the first lady to speak reviewing Looper.  It was a fantastic one line review, that I personally wouldn't have tried to follow.

I was really taken aback by the relaxed approach to the whole event.  I never imagined live radio broadcasting to be the most stressful of activities, but Kermode and Mayo were amiable and talkative between segments, with Kermode even taking the time to sign autographs and pose for photographs.

The best part of the event had to be the interview with Mark Herbert of Warp Films.  Ever since watching Dead Man's Shoes, I have been a fan of Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows.  Only later to find that Warp Films played a huge part in a great many projects involving the two.  For those unfamiliar with the work of any of the above, check out:

www.warpfilms10.com

It gives a great overview of what these guys have achieved and created, as well as details of Warp Films 10th anniversary celebratory event.  They are screening Dead Man's Shoes at the Magna Centre in Rotherham, with those involved in the original score, and guests, re-imagining the soundtrack live whilst the screening takes place.  Along with a host of other screenings and music events, £20 is a steal.  It's an early bird price, and with the event taking place on November 17th they probably won't be around much longer.

Check out the podcast of Kermode and Mayo's live event here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/kermode

Looper packs a punch...

Heading in to see Looper, I had made an effort to not look further than the theatrical trailers for information about what was in store for me.  Undoubtedly there was not much more to find out at that point, but I had a good feeling about Looper being something special, so I didn't want to take any chances.

One thing I was aware of, was the talk surrounding Joseph Gordon Levitt's prosthetics and attempt to mimic Bruce Willis.  The talk seemed to turn to ridicule in some instances.  I fully believe it enhances JGL's performance, and really adds that 'younger Bruce Willis' element.  JGL does a great job of his expressions and speech patterns as well.

Whilst they have great material to go on with the story, Bruce, JGL, and Emily play brilliant parts (Emily's character Sara has a fabulously dirty mouth).  But the performance that had me on the edge of my seat was that of Pierce Gagnon, the child playing Cid, Son of Emily's character Sara.  He has great comedy timing, is freakishly natural in front of the camera, and really nails some emotionally charged scenes.

The film starts, sets the scene, introducing the Loopers in a near future world, who act on behalf of those in a future 30 years further on.  There are some great touches to this not so distant future, solar powered cars (where cars are used and battered with solar panels crudely attached to them), and over crowding from increased population to name a few.  But the best thing it does here is not dwell on, or over think, time travel.  You know the bare minimum, even during dialogue between the 2 Joes (JGL and Bruce), this way it doesn't become a thread to pick at, distracting you from the main story.  It's illegal, and used only by criminals for the purposes of getting rid of people, this is then where the Loopers come in.

Then, once the stage is set, and the film gets in to it's rhythm, I thought for a brief moment that it was going to end by the numbers and predictable.  All this Twitter hype for the few days previous would have been just that...hype.

Then something quite remarkable happened, and it was like being punched in the face by the fist of awesomeness.

To start with, I thought the film had come to a rather abrupt and premature end.  Then, I realised that I'd been hit with the twist.  But even after that, after the credits, walking out of the cinema, and even on the drive home, the sheer brilliance of what I'd just seen was still sinking in.  So many different aspects of the relationships between people are examined during the course of the film, not least between the different incarnations of Joe, and it's only with the final twist that it all gets brought together.

A great tonic to the fast paced, explosion fest, blockbusters of the summer, Looper is a film that I will enjoy watching the second time just as much as I did the first.