neriS eht
College Tribune | November 25th 2008
MUSIC FILM
11
5 films to... give you that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling The Santa Clause
time zone is different and it’s hard to make time to call your friends at home so most of the time, I email them. When you come home, it’s hard to catch up really because you’ve missed a huge part of their life. Not that your friends have moved on, but things have happened that you haven’t been a part of so you have to catch up.” Bolger discusses her part in her new film set to be released next year. “I just filmed The Iron Cross in Poland which is a WW2 movie. The main character is played by Roy Scheider, who unfortunately passed away there back in February. My character is Kashka and she is in love with the young Roy Scheider. So when he’s looking back on his life during the war, you see that they were very much in love and it’s a tragic love story without giving anything away.” She had to learn a new skill for the role and doesn’t remember the process fondly “I did have to learn Polish for the role. It’s so different;
the linguistics of it all is very complicated and it’s also just very different to how we speak. I’ve done the American and English accent. For this I did a semi-English semi-Polish accent but when I had to speak actual Polish that was in a real polish accent which is so hard. For the Tudors as well, you had to do Latin; there are pages of Latin prayers. Now I feel like I just need to speak English for a while!” And after concluding the mini-rant, she laughs. As for her favorite skill, she ponders a moment remembering all the talents she’s learned. “I have to admit the Fencing for Spiderwick was kind of cool. I felt pretty great being able to walk on set and use a sword successfully; it was pretty cool. I think everyone should carry one around.” There’s a fan page dedicated to the actress but Bolger seems embarrassed by the fuss. “It’s sort of surreal but I never ever look at those kinds of things. Most of the time you almost don’t want to know what people are saying, good or bad. You take it all
with a pinch of salt and I never do the Face Book or Bebo thing.” “You get the odd moment where one person looks to another and there’s an eye movement and a head tilt but Irish people are great, there’s never that awkward moment. Ireland is fantastic for that so I’d never move; I think Ireland is so grounding and is the best in my opinion.” As for the best moment in her career, Bolger has a definite memory which brings a smile to her face. “I especially remember doing the Storm Breaker premier which was on Leicester square and walking out and just being so overwhelmed by all these people who came to see your movie.” She concludes cheerfully “It’s just the best feeling in the world to be able to say that people are happy with what they’re seeing on screen. It’s amazing when people are laughing and enjoying it and it’s great to sit there at the premiere and just watch people and their reactions. It’s strangely fulfilling.”
Not so happenin’ WHAT JUST HAPPENED ★★★★★ Plot: The film portrays two weeks in the life of a successful Hollywood director and begins with Ben (Robert De Niro) in the pre-screening a mediocre movie with an inappropriately gruesome ending. Despite the bad reaction the film received, loose-cannon Brit Jeremy Brunell (Michael Wincott) refuses to alter it. The rest of the film focuses on Ben trying to make Jeremy change the film, spend time with his kids from his failed marriages and convince Bruce Willis (played by himself) to shave his ridiculous beard for his next film role. Verdict: Filled with the usual clichés of Hollywood life including prima-donna actors, drug-induced directors, the alimony loving exwife and desperate new actresses sleeping their way into the film industry, the movie doesn’t really
After investigating a noise on the roof, Tim Allen ends up killing Santa Clause in a freak accident. Don’t worry, it gets happier. Allen puts on the Santa suit and becomes contractually bound to being the new Santa. He tries to deny the whole incident as a dream but cannot hide his hair turning white, his ever growing beard and morbid obesity. Although this film has been tainted, like so many others, by horrific sequels that will soon undoubtedly reach Santa Clause 8; revenge of the elves, it’s still a charmingly Christmassy movie that has a nice mix of humour and schmaltziness.
The Snowman Nothing quite says Christmas like the missing link of the Venetian boy’s choir singing about his beloved magical Snowman. Completely wordless, it tells the tale of a boy who builds a snowman that comes to life that night. After quietly investigating the boy’s house, the snowman and the boy go for a ride on a motorcycle. However, the story will really having you aching to decorate a tree by firelight when the two take flight over the boy’s town, go right past the pier until the reach to the Northern lights all to that lovely tune, Walking in the Air.
Home alone
offer anything new. Although humorous in parts, the jokes are predictable and dragged out. The life of a Hollywood producer could be an interesting subject but this really
isn’t enough to be the sole plot of a two hour film. Seriously, did anything actually happen? KATIE GODWIN
The always loveable McCauley Culkin at his best here as 8-year-old Kevin McAllister who after having a fight with older brother, Buzz is sent to his room where he wishes for his family to disappear. After a mix-up the following day, he is accidentally left behind when they leave for a holiday over Christmas. It turns out to be quite the adventure as Kevin has to defend his home from blundering bandits, Harry and Marv, with a series of im-
possibly complicated booby traps made form household items. There’s very little not to like about the film and the ending is bound to make u feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Love actually Even as love is the theme, this is not necessarily just for the nauseatingly lovedup (although they’ll like it too); this film has a nice dollop of how disastrous it can be too for the cynic in all of us. With Christmas time in England taking hold, the story delves into a few interweaved stories of both lonely and smitten people of all ages who are desperately falling in and out of love despite lack of interest from their interests, jobs, responsibilities, spouses and language barriers. Not everyone ends up happy but the film’s Christmassy feel makes it incredibly pleasing.
Blackadder’s The Muppet’s Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol is an essential Christmas watch. However with the numerous interpretations, it’s hard to pick just one; so here’s two. Narrated by Hugh Laurie, the Blackadder take gets an original twist. Ebenezer, who is the black sheep of the Blackadder family due to his compassionate nature, is shown by the ghost how truly rotten people are and he realises his true caustic Blackadder-ian self. In The Muppet’s Christmas Carol, Kermit, Miss Piggy and co. come together with Michael Caine as Scrooge to tell their musical version. Hugely touching and always funny, it’s a great alternative to all those stuffy versions. Anyway, people who don’t like the Muppets have no souls.
CATHY BUCKMASTER