torrascotia

I was in attendance at the Edinburgh Premier of this back in 2010 and despite a couple of attempts at a rewatch, I only managed to complete this 15 years later. The draw for any cinephile from the Edinburgh area is obvious. This film is a love letter of sorts to the cityscape of Edinburgh. Despite being set in the 1950's, the city is still recognisable in this film. Even if Jenners is no more.

The downside of this film however is its heavily melancholic tone, which sets it apart from other Tati movies. Its only this year I have dipped into the live action movies, so the main character meant nothing to me in 2010. But understanding the man as well as the Cameo cinema segment now, the film has taken on a greater meaning.

The story concerns what happens when an aging magician entrances a Gaelic speaking girl, who thinks his magic is real. She follows him to Edinburgh, putting him in the position as her caretaker, which isn't easy on his meagre income. The story is apparently about Tatis' relationship with an estranged daughter, hence the uncomfortable feel of the movie. This is probably why I tapped out of it at previous rewatch attempts. And the bad news is that that sadness only increases as the movie progresses. This begs the question of whether The Illusionist as it was made matches Tati's vision. My guess is that Tati fans have taken umbrage with the production for a number of reasons. One being the heavy emotional tone of the finished product. While this is a fantastic film to look at, especially if you know Edinburgh, its not a happy watch, which is a massive let down.

There is an obvious split in the reviews of this movie and its clear to see why. The people who voted this down were either expecting something else, or they dont like being laughed at.

Banger is a comedy/police movie in which Cassel plays a middle aged DJ who was at the top of pecking order but is now relegated to a warm up DJ for artists who were "inspired" by him. The local police realise his position and give him the opportunity to get one over on a younger DJ, in order to get him back on top. But this comes at the cost of risking his and his daughters safety.

What Banger gets right is the superficial and laugh out loud DJ/Producer culture. All the way down to the use of Ableton and the hardware synths in the studio, to the back to back DJ sets. In short this movie will hit the spot if you are an actual DJ/Producer, but maybe less so if you are the one on the dancefloor. The comedy also works well, maybe too well as it openly mocks the scene. Hence the butthurt reviews. I laughed more in this than in other movies billed as comedies. It has a high production value and has a great cast. But the cameos of the French artists were lost on me. If you are into the French scene then that will no doubt be another bonus. This was an easy watch and had no obvious political agendas being screamed at you. My only negative was the score which wasn't my kind of electronica, but I am sure it will be for others. Finally an electronic music movie that gets the details right and isn't trying to suggest its an ultra dark scene that will leave you dead from drugs (Beat) or is childish like Kevin and Perry. Worth seeking out.

I was just too young to properly engage with the UK punk scene, my only recollections of The Damned were a stint on The Young Ones. I do remember Captain Sensible bothering the charts in the 80's due to magazines like Look In. But I do like watching docs about bands from scenes which passed me by and regardless of the genre, the gripes are pretty much all the same.

This documentary does the usual origin story with a few famous talking heads. There are some tracks but not enough for it to end up a concert type movie, which has less interest for the non fans. The Damned seem to be one of these known bands, but not one that ended up with mainstream financial success. So its quite a downer of a documentary. This is about the guys who didn't quite make it, or had chances to but spurned them due to bad decisions. But who never gave up, probably due to lack of options. The problem with bands who are around for so long is their original fans will have matured out of being "into music" or will have died off. So bands like this are limited in earning potential or popularity. The lifestyle of being on the road at that age also comes across as a hard slog, not an enjoyable ride like it would be in your 20's. So its no surprise after 40 plus years, some of the band are no longer on speaking terms. At the end of the day this is nothing but a job. What does come across though is there are probably ways they could be more financially successful with the right management. The question is whether their punk mentality would get in the way, like it has since the 80's. An interesting watch, just not always a happy one.