Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

A fantastic, vibrant, rags-to-riches love story. Check out my previous post for a little more on this gem and the trailer, below. Remember, it’s in cinemas now, so go see it!

Sunshine (2007)

Danny Boyle’s epic sci fi revolves around seven astronauts and their journey to reignite our dying sun by dropping their payload – a stellar bomb, into it. Sunshine is visually stunning but the characters are one-dimensional and for me, disappointing. Capa (Cillian Murphy – Breakfast on Pluto, The Wind That Shakes the Barley) does his best alongside Cassie (Rose Byrne – Damages, 28 Weeks Later), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Cellular) and the rest of the edgy, bored crew. Some complained about the sudden pace and direction change in the last third of the film, although there’s no denying that the bomb room – where the actors are able to stand on any four sides of the cube without falling off, looks fantastic. Sunshine’s plot is very similar to Event Horizon (1997), starring Sam Neil and Laurence Fishburne.

Millions (2004)

Sandwiched between Boyle’s horror (which would spawn an unnecessary, but very competent sequel) and his sci fi Sunshine, Millions tells the story of two little boys Damian (Alex Etel) and Anthony (Lewis McGibbon) who discover a suitcase full of money. Millions is a colourful, funny and big-hearted tale lifted high above similar productions due to its warmth and detail. Ronnie (James Nesbitt), plays the boys concerned dad. Another stella soundtrack supports the film with a quality bit of Muse during the heist sequence.

28 Days Later… (2002)

28 Days Later put Cillian Murphy in the spotlight and Danny Boyle back on the map as he rebooted horror films in general. Danny Boyle’s “Infected” (rage-filled super fast monsters sometimes mistaken for zombies), have been emulated in movies (the Dawn of the Dead remake) and several video games (Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil 4) ever since 28 Days’ release but the originals remain most frightening over six years on.

Jim (Cillian Murphy) trudges through a staggeringly empty London before teaming up with Selena (Naomie Harris), Frank (an excellent performance by Brendon Gleeson) and Hannah, his daughter (now a musician who looks like Marilyn Manson but sounds like Avril Lavigne – no, I don’t understand either).
Visually 28 Days is superb, filmed almost entirely in digital and the ending in 35mm. A deserted London and scattered remnants of humanity really hit home and it all feels horribly plausible. Also the violence is truly disturbing and in parts, sickening.

Many consider the second half of the film to be weaker when we are taken out of London. Personally I like the second half a lot, from the dialogue dealing with existence to the beating rain following the film’s mid-point watershed. I like the desperation, the chase and the isolation when Jim is split from the group. I also like the soldiers and Sergeant Farrell’s rant about mankind only being around for the blink of an eye. I also (also, also!) reckon Christopher Eccleston gives an excellent performance as Major Henry West and the In a House, In a Heartbeat crescendoing music sequence of the final act is superb.

The Beach (2000/I)

Many thought The Beach a disappointment while environmentalists got hacked off when the production decimated Ko Phi Phi Lee beach to shoot what they considered to be a more accurate representation of paradise. I’d argue that The Beach is a good film, from Leonardo DiCaprio’s narration to his downward mental spiral. This also marked a turning point as Boyle cast DiCaprio rather than McGregor for the starring role of Richard. Plenty of rumours have bounced around over what Ewan has or hasn’t said, but it’d be awesome to get him and the rest of the Trainspotting cast together for another Danny Boyle-helmed Trainspotting sequel (see the video at the bottom of this post).

I’d agree with the guys at CineFiles (see bottom of post) who mention that little girls were probably expecting the heartthrob they’d seen in Titanic, only to get an entirely different animal – one who would go a bit bonkers during the course of the film, culminating in a neat video-game sequence. Incidentally I’m a big fan of DiCaprio’s work, in my opinion he gets better and better. See Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator or his superb performance in Blood Diamond if you don’t believe me.

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

Ewan and Diaz team up for this patchy comedy. Some moments sparkle, others don’t. It’s certainly worth a watch anyway, if only for the karaoke scene and cool animation sequence near the end.
I’ll flesh this one out when I get my hands on another copy as I haven’t seen it in a couple of years.

Trainspotting (1996)

Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same name (written in phonetics, with dashes instead of speech marks), Trainspotting made Ewan McGregor a superstar and Danny Boyle the director of the day. Trainspotting is one of those fabulous British films that reminds the world what we can create when we put our minds to it. Or what Danny Boyle can create, haha.

One thing that irks me is how some believe this magnificent piece of cinema glorifies drugs. After first seeing this film I was revolted by the idea of sticking a needle in my arm, being so desperate that I’d hunt through mine and other people’s poo for suppositories and/or getting aids and a brain haemorrhage. Oh and then there’s the cold turkey scene with the dead baby crawling on the ceiling. No, I didn’t really get the glam part of the film. Perhaps I should watch it again? It’s my theory that the people who think Trainspotting says drugs are cool are the very same people who think that Slumdog casts India in a poor light, depicting it as one giant slum with zero merit. For a start, it doesn’t. It actually made me want to go and experience India for myself – more than ever before (and I’ve been talked to a lot about India in the last few years by family and friends). Second of all, it’s a film about someone who has grown up in a slum. Get it?!

Shallow Grave (1995)

Alex Law (Ewan McGregor), Juliet Miller (Kerry Fox) and David Stephens (Christopher Eccleston) are somewhat offensive flatmates looking for a forth. When their new resident ODs and pops his clogs in his room they discover his suitcase full of money (a recurring theme in Boyle films). Things get dark from hereon in, with the three opting to keep the money, but at what price? Which raises another question – what would you do? Shallow Grave is awesome due to it’s clever script and the chemistry between the three brilliant leads.

Danny Boyle Talks Trainspotting 2

An interesting short interview with Danny Boyle discussing Trainspotting 2, which he says will be very loosely based on Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting book sequel “Porno”.

The CineFiles – The Films of Danny Boyle

This is an awesome video where three Americans discuss all of Danny Boyle’s films up until Sunshine. It’s almost half an hour in length but well worth a watch if you’re interested in Danny Boyle’s films.

Initially I wondered if the film would feel rather fragmented – after all, it must be difficult to explain how a boy knows all the answers to Who Wants to be a Millionaire and make a coherent whole. I needn’t have worried though. I can’t think of many films that manage to fit violence, swearing, laughs, travel, a love story and a torture scene together and leave you feeling great by the end of it all.

The three central characters, Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanay Hemant Chheda, Dev Patel), Salim (Azharuddin Mo. Ismael, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Madhur Mittal) and Latika (Rubina Ali, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Freida Pinto) are born slumdogs, gradually working and thieving their way through adolescence. We watch them grow up and witness the answers to the game show’s questions in between snippets of Jamal’s appearance on the show itself, hosted by the slimy Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor).

Having never been to India it’s difficult for me to say how accurate some parts are. Ultimately the story is sheer make-believe, but I got the feeling that despite Boyle’s endearingly whimsical storytelling I was also seeing parts of the real India, with energetic backdrops, interesting and diverse characters and clever situations.

The score compliments the film nicely – during the action sequences your pulse pounds along to the drums and M.I.A. provides two fitting tracks – most notably Paper Planes when Jamal and his brother Salim are riding around on the tops of trains.

I mentioned a few posts back that some consider this film to be a return to form for Danny Boyle. While I’m not going to retract my comment when I said he’d never left, I would like to point out that this film has much more heart than both Sunshine and 28 Days Later. It has a great deal more in common with Trainspotting (although ultimately this is less harrowing) and Millions.

Stay for the excellent credits sequence by the way – most people in the cinema did (such is the film’s enchantment over the viewer). Go see it, it’s something special!

Expect a follow-up post in the next day or two dedicated to Danny Boyle’s films to date.

M.I.A.’s Paper Planes:

Slumdog Millionaire sees the slum-dwelling Jamal Malik (Dev Patel of Skins fame) as a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire?. As there have been many real-life instances in which professors and the like have cheated to get on the show in India, it’s been made considerably more difficult, with questions on advanced physics popping up early on. For this reason when Jamal starts to win, suspicions arise and the story of how he comes to know the answers unfolds. I’m gonna try and see this pretty sharpish because apart from being by one of my favourite directors it sounds like just the ticket to lift the spirits at this rather grim time of year.

Completely unrelated, here are two little clips of stand-ups talking about Australia and the Australian accent, courtesy of a Polish friend. Pretty funny stuff:

Sunshine's Icarus II

Spaceships must look cool

All good sci-fi spaceships should look memorable. Take the Imperial Star Destroyers or the Falcon in Star Wars. They are instantly recognizable for their shape and detail and that’s why we love them. Other less well known films like Event Horizon and Sunshine both have awesome looking spaceships, the former of which was based on Notre Dame cathedral (perfect for the eerie subject matter of the film).

Spaceships must look credible

Spaceships will most probably never fly the way they do in the movies in our lifetimes. There are many technical factors that stop us from zapping through the cosmos at light speed. Nevertheless, as with most fiction, things should at least look and feel credible and spaceships should look like they could fly and be practical enough to house and sustain a crew. Movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Serenity and its TV series Firefly and Sunshine do well in showing the functional interiors of spaceships and their passengers living within them.

An intelligent ship/ship’s computer/robot/voice

Ship’s computers are cool. Think HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact there must be countless films and stories that have such a character and often they employ a soothing woman’s voice. Like HAL, A.I. characters are interesting because there’s always the opportunity for them to go rogue and turn on their masters and crew. Even if they don’t, it’s nice to have the option!

the Event Horizon

A cool and unpredictable crew

In the TV series Firefly we are introduced to a diverse crew all with different pasts and unique outlooks. In Star Wars a farming boy called Luke, a reclusive old Jedi name Ben, two lovable rogues Han and Chewbacca and the galactic princess Leia are thrown together to travel in the Falcon. While I love Danny Boyle films I just couldn’t get into the characters in Sunshine as there just didn’t seem to be much to the characters to get into. There was none of the likeable chemistry prevalent in his other films like Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, so when everything went tits up I didn’t much care. For this reason the Sunshine experience left me feeling cold, despite the awesome special effects and beautifully crafted spaceship. Also because the film I’d been to see in the cinema about a week before had been Rocky Balboa, which left me feeling so uplifted that I wanted to jump over park benches there and then (and it was late on a school night when I came out of the cinema).

Sterile and busy interiors with nice features

Sterile whites are a given. Nice and clean is the name of the game. On the other hand busy is also good. Sunshine’s Icarus or Firefly’s Serenity? both fit the mission and the crew like a glove. Points of interest can also come in the form of cool looking ship hearts/cores, like the one in the Death Star and Event Horizon.

Sunshine's gold spacesuit

An oxygen garden

Sunshine, for all its faults had the marvellous “oxygen garden”. This was an actual garden inside the spaceship used to produce oxygen for the crew to sustain them on their long voyage to reboot the sun. Apart from looking pretty and breaking up the monotony of the usual spaceship interiors, it actually had a practical use. Silent Running, a cult 70s sci-fi film (and indeed an influence for Sunshine) focused on a similar domed garden in space after all plant life on Earth had been destroyed. Orders to destroy the dome were defied by the ship’s botanist who chose instead to save the last surviving dome at any cost.

A dangerous cargo

Serenity and Firefly have the Tams who are wanted the galaxy over, Sunshine and Event Horizon have their dangerous interlopers and the former has an actual stellar bomb as its payload. Alien has its …well, Alien. We’re talking about dangerous cargo and being stuck in claustrophobic places in the darkness of space. Something threatening onboard always works well to introduce a spot of tension.

Weapons and speed/travel

While not essential, weapons mounted on spaceships are always good. For one thing they allow the crew to initiate or defend themselves during exciting space dogfights. Speed, notably light speed, enables the spaceship to travel fast (but even with light speed, it would take us 4.3 years to get to Proxima Centauri, our nearest star). Other theoretical means of space travel include the wormhole and having a good old sleep in cryogenics (used in the Alien franchise quite a bit) until you reach your destination. It’s a lot more complicated than all that though, so you might want to read a book on space travel or earn a degree in something science-y to learn more.

Spacesuit-clad crew of Event Horizon

Trophies and trinkets

Predators like their trophies and …erm, well I actually don’t know why I put this heading up, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few trophies and past exploits scattered around the ship now would it?

A rich history

“It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs,” boasts Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon. As soon as we board the ship alongside our heroes we realise the Falcon is another character in the story. A quite different spaceship is the Event Horizon, which while splendid is also rather scary and its history is told through a number of horrific incidents prior to the film’s climax.

Quagga

I’m sure these points are just the top of the iceberg, so please reply to add some of your own if you think of any.