Kelly's Filmy Things #6

"The Round Up Blog of 2010"

We've all eaten our mince pies, we've all celebrated the new year, so I thought maybe now's the time to reflect upon an emotional roller-coaster of a year for The Film Obsession and me. 

Starting off in January (Because that's the most chronological order you can do when writing about a year), I celebrated my 20th birthday, had gone into the 2nd term of my first year at Sussex University, and was trying to make the blog a little bigger. 

From then until April I was reviewing films and started my obsession with Twitter, to which I have now made some excellent friends. That one little social networking device can bring wonderful things, as I am about to explain...

By the time May came round, I thought it might be an idea to start a YouTube page giving my thoughts and opinions on films of the moment. Although it was (and still is) cringingly horrible to watch myself back, the videos produced a lot of views with just under 10,000 watches. I've paused for now, but 2011 has come along bringing with it a sparkly new video camera, so look out for more of those! In this month as well, I had finished my first year of Film Studies and got a job at HMV in Brighton, Churchill Square!

As I carried on vlogging and blogging, the views on this website started to rise a little which meant I had some sort of following. Then the lovely Phil and Kat came along (on Twitter) asking for writers to contribute to Blogomatic3000. I applied and after a trial week of successful posts, they let me write my words on their website! July was when the posts started to fly in... This was the month that I posted the trailer analysis for Paranormal Activity 2, which is now the most viewed blog on my website with over 30,000 views. Ridiculous, right? I still find it hard to imagine people who I've never met reading my work. It's a lovely, silly feeling, that is. 

August was really special. Blogomatic3000 sent me to my first press screening, which was Scott Pilgrim - One of now, my top 10 films. I was sent screeners of Kandahar Break, Love Life and Night Before The Wedding to review by American film companies, and met my good old buddy Monty who I would be nowhere without at press events. And then September came round which caused even more of stir as I exclusively interviewed David Whitney (the director of Kandahar Break) and went to the launch party of StreetDance 3D! Plus, getting into the London Film Museum to meet the team behind Blogomatic3000 was great fun! We geeked out probably as much as we could over film. 

October came and I started back to University, now in my scary, everything counts, 2nd year. But this was the ultimate month for the blog. I hit 10,000 views which was incredible and I only went and got a press pass for The London Film Festival, to which me of all people, was allowed to sit in the same room with the likes of Keira Knightly and Hilary Swank - Now THAT is absolutely bloody amazing. Another amazing thing is I met some lovely people at the festival including Hemanth. His laugh is like Buble's voice to my ears. And I met (finally) the brilliant HeyUGuys team who are literally the nicest people ever. 

After this immense month I actually did have to start doing proper work for a proper degree, so the posts die down a little towards the end of the year. One last junket I did get to attend was the Paranormal Activity 2 event, in which a hotel was paid for, a screening at Paramount Studios was taken place, and a Paranormal reading of ghosts and spirits in the London Tombs occurred. I've literally never, EVER, been so terrified in my life. Without the help of Jo, I think I would of actually passed out, but she kept me grounded... Until we ran from the room, and when I say ran, I believe neither of our feet touched the floor at one point we moved so fast. 

How immense is that? Me, a girl from Crawley who moved to Brighton to study film is hanging around with top journalists? It's just crazy. I'm not showing off in this blog, I'm giving a sense of my appreciation and love for what I do. It's overwhelming the amount of privileges I've been giving and can only hope that 2011 brings with it even more heart stopping excitement (Because when I was gazing into Andrew Garfield's eyes at the Never Let Me Go conference, my heart did stop). 

Happy 2011 everyone!

Never Let Me Go ***** - London Film Festival Review

For Blogomatic3000

This film has the ability to have as little impact as possible - It's an ambitious and unique storyline adapted from a book, stars children as some of the main focus and uses British boarding schools and countrysides as it's main setting. But the fact of the matter is, this film is absolutely astonishing. Coming out of the cinema heartbroken yet amazed at the quality of acting and character this film brings, it was a real surprise to the senses.

Starting off with the storyline, it could quite easily have become a sci-fi enhanced, super technical thriller. But this modest tale about young children growing up in a "special" secluded school, discovering their fate is already set out (that being they were created as clones to keep the human race alive past 100) just provides the originality of the tale. You grow with each and every person on screen and connect with their every emotion. The film is set in the 70s, 80s and then 90s, so at no point are we surrounded by stainless steel wear or electronic touch screens. We're watching doctors operate on people as their organs provide lives for people who gain deadly illnesses. But the people we're watching are clones. The idea that they're not original is strikingly shocking, as is the tale when the film goes on.

The acting is incredible. We have Keira Knightley (Ruth) starring as the almost evil character on screen. She's perfect for this posh private school girl. We have Andrew Garfield (Tommy) who plays the timid romantic lead who is entirely enchanting. And then we have the superb Carey Mulligan (Cathy). Her vulnerability is almost hard to handle by the end because you're just so caught up in her world. Adding to this, you do have to pay credit to the children playing the younger versions of these characters. Izzy Meikle-Small plays a spitting image of Carey in the film. Charlie Rowe (Younger Tommy) and Ella Purnell (Younger Ruth) all add to the realism these kids bring and you believe they are younger versions. They pick up on each other's habits and bring such a fluid performance.

The cinematography is beautiful. Scenic views of beaches, fields and remote areas bring a true a English vibe to the film. The world becomes yours and that's what makes it so crushing. It really is a testament to how much pain you can handle in a story. You come out of the cinema silently and sombre, but with such a sense of pride after what you've just witnessed. Kazuo Ishiguro (who wrote the original novel in 2005) stated he wanted to take 100 pages out of the book because the film is so good. Although many people have said it doesn't touch the book's detail, the film on its own is just beautifully curious.

I've really never seen a film quite like this. The reaction you gain from this is such a bizarre one it's hard to describe. Ranging from admiration to complete and utter sadness, this story will take you through the motions gradually, impacting each time something new to the narrative hits you. Mark Romanek (Director) has created a masterpiece waiting to gain as much credit as it deserves. Considering he's come from a background of music videos, this must have been pretty far-fetched for him. But he's totally created a captivating and soul-filled film.

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Just to show how good Mark Romanek's direction is, take a look at this scene from One Hour Photo (2002):