Out Now – 9th November 2012

We have actually seen three of the films out this week!

Argo
Somehow Ben Affleck has managed to make a film about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis into a funny Hollywood satire that doesn’t make light of the serious drama of a real-life international incident. It’s a strange beast but good.

The Sapphires
Three country song-singing Aboriginal sisters and their cousin get turned into a soul group by a bar worker, before travelling to Vietnam to entertain the troops. It might not be Stephen Colbert getting a buzzcut in Iraq on Obama’s orders but it is a joyful watch.

People Like Us
After his estranged father dies, a salesman discovers he has a half-sister he knew nothing about. It possibly gets a tiny bit incestuous. Now is that a story that’s going to make it into the Christmas newsletter?

Here Comes the Boom
To make money for extra curricular activities at his school, a biology teacher becomes a mixed martial arts fighter. Hang on, isn’t this a sillier version of Warrior?

Love Bite
In fictional Rainmouth, a werewolf is eating virgins. This may be the one time an orgy is declared as a public service.

Alps (limited release)
To help people with the grieving process, a business offers a service where people impersonate recently deceased loved ones and recreate classic scenes from their past life. Tim says that if Charlie Kaufman were to make a Greek film, it would look a lot like this.

Grassroots (limited release)
This is the perfect time to release a film about a grassroots campaign to get someone elected to the Seattle City Council. It’s not like anyone’s got American politics fatigue and is relieved the Presidential election circus is over or anything. Hello Cobie Smulders!

The Joy of Six (limited release)
A set of half a dozen (see what they did there?) short films out of Soda’s New British Cinema programme. Some bright new directors, including Romola Garai, and some established acting talent. Hello Judi Dench!

Mother’s Milk (limited release)
The combined power of Jack Davenport and Tom Hollander star in this drama about the troubled relationships within an English family. Stiff upper lips at the ready please.

My Brother The Devil (limited release)
Yet more gritty drama from the East End – this time British Egyptian teenage brothers have to survive the streets of “gangland London”. It sounds familiar but this might be the one to see: at the time of writing, 16 critics have given it a 100% fresh rating.

East End Babylon (limited release)
A “rockumentary” that tells the history of London’s East End over the past 100 years, leading to the formation of local band The Cockney Rejects, which seems more than a little self-important. They apparently united their joint passions for music and West Ham and released a punk cover of West Ham’s song “I’m forever blowing bubbles”, one of the more unlikely choices for a football terrace chant.

Aurora (limited release)
A 42 year old man, “troubled by obscure thoughts, drives across the city to a destination known only to him”. I am no more enlightened by this than you.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (limited release)
Documentary about stop-motion king Ray Harryhausen, who is now 92 years old.

Argo – LFF Review

In 1979 the American Embassy in Tehran was invaded by Iranian students and militants. For more than a year the American civil servants who worked in the Embassy are held hostage in the building in which they used to work. Just as the Embassy was invaded six diplomats managed to escape. Initially taken in by the Canadian ambassador the escapees become the subjects of a bizarre and fantastical rescue mission by the CIA.

Argo is a strange beast. The film opens with the American Embassy being stormed and six characters with bad haircuts escape amidst panic and violence. The tone is set for a serious drama about a serious international political event. As we are introduced to the CIA, and most importantly Ben Affleck as CIA specialist Tony Mendez, the tone remains serious – the six escapees must be rescued or all manner of unpleasant things might happen. However the minute John Goodman as John Chambers, Hollywood make-up expert and CIA… make-up artist, enters the film alongside Alan Arkin as film producer Lester Siegel the films starts to mix its tense drama with tongue-in-cheek Hollywood satire.

The plan that Mendez is pushing is one in which he, Chambers, and Siegel fake the production of a Sci-Fi adventure filming in Iran so that the six fugitives can be smuggled out of the country. As events in Iran are treated with a po-faced frown the parallel exploits of the characters (and I do mean characters!), are a light-hearted sideways look at Hollywood hype and many a line is delivered in such a way that Goodman and Arkin may as well turn to camera and give a knowing nod and wink.

With this odd mix of tones Affleck (taking on directing duties too) risks making a film that jars and fails to fully convey the seriousness of the real-life drama at its heart. Somehow Affleck actually makes this work with the silly Hollywood segments serving as a light relief to the endless angst and worrying from the characters (this time with no distinct personalities at all) in Iran. Argo is the perfect mix of humour and drama; it gives you a dramatic situation to keep you hooked but keeps you genuinely entertained as events unfold.

One place Argo does misjudge things (ignoring some historical inaccuracies) are in its climax. As the plan reaches fruition and the motley crew finally try to leave Iran we are presented with a seemingly endless stream of near miss disasters. Absolutely nothing happens until the absolutely last possible second. Even their plane tickets home aren’t confirmed until the woman checking them in has searched the bookings once. The film is tense enough without every “will they make it?” moment being followed by another five.

Argo is a rare example of the fun historical/political drama and is in UK cinemas 7th November 2012.