Yes film fans, its that time of the week (as in the end of the week – yippee!) And the fantastic team at The Reel Film Show have the best way of celebrating. Its a bite sized film show that brings you this weeks top films to watch at the cinema all in one whole minute!!!
Presented by little old me, this should be the only style guide you need to know your way around your local multiplex, so share it with your friends, and most importantly book that ticket to the cinema and watch some great movies!
Gone in 60 Seconds brings you the big movies that are being released every week and gives you a quick indication of whats hot at the cinema so you can make your mind up on what to watch over the weekend!
This week there’s something in it for everyone, boys, girls, cyclists!!! So make sure you tune in and subscribe to The Reel’s ace You Tube channel which is officially launching in the next two months. So beat the crowd and be part of a film going revolution!
Well its been a fantastic start to the year, and I’m really pleased to say that things have gone swimmingly. At the very start of 2012 I was lucky enough to do some live presenting work for the Visa International Women’s Artistic Gymnastics at the O2, in front of 6000 people (wow!), and I’ve also been part of the Olympics and Met Police’s Forward Defensive exercise which you may have seen on the news last week in preparation for the games ahead.
Well, I’m keeping my options open, exploring as many different types of opportunities as possible to make sure I find where my niche really is, and where I can make a difference as a presenter. Although I’ve had some great opportunities so far, these don’t mean anything unless I can showcase my talent to all the future producers and production companies who are looking for the next person to fill your daytime / entertainment slots.
Filming in the Everyman Cinema
So you may have seen on my previous post at the start of February I was very pro-active and decided to collect together my footage from 2011 and put in on show to the world. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all the great people I’ve been lucky enough to interview thus far, I’ve had a blast and due to all the excitement of it, I’m pretty sure that with all the best intentions I was slightly trying to run before I could walk.
What do I mean by this? Well, my advice is although your instinct is good, having only been in the field of presenting for less than a year, my understanding of the need of the television industry is not as experienced as people who have worked in it for a good number of years and are top of their game.
The people I’m talking about here are my mentors of sorts, The Presenters Studio.
This company helps turn aspiring presenters into confident and working presenters, not by magic, but by invaluable and inspiring guidance. My very first presenting taster tape was created by The Presenters Studio and was my biggest asset last year. It allowed me to surpass all the other showreels sent to Leicester Square TV and get a phone call and a meeting the next day and ultimately land the job!
Throughout the year I’ve been lucky enough to stay in touch with Gareth and Leon, the founders of The Presenters Studio and they’ve been wonderful in supporting what I’ve been doing to date, but also in providing further guidance and recommendations.
So, this is where we are now, having sent my latest showreel to them, they were very straight down the line with what did and didn’t work. Yes, I have had a lot of work to showcase from the last year, but it wasn’t collated together in an engaging and stand out way.
One year on, my brand has evolved, my style in presenting has become much more confident and experienced and I need to get myself to the next level. Cue taster tape 2. Last week, I spent a gloriously sunny day re-shooting on location a brand new taster tape which will not only incorporate all my best work from the last year, but will hopefully help me to get to the next level by presenting it in a way which is engaging and once again will stand out from the rest of the pile.
Getting your ammunition right is the key to success and investing in yourself is the best investment you’ll ever make, so as you can
Presenting and driving isn't as easy as it looks...
see from some of these pictures attached, working with the best will, fingers crossed, give me a new taster tape to die for! As we all know, I love film, chatting about it, writing about it and gossiping about it, so what better setting than to be based in a cinema! With the help of the wonderful Everyman Cinema who sponsor my radio show http://www.facebook.com/filmfridayridgeradio we were able to invade the premises for one afternoon and provide a couple of presenting links that even Mark Kermode would be jealous of!
So there you have it, I’m sure when you see the finished product you’ll agree with me in saying that it was all worth it, and that you should never take criticism as a negative, but as a learning point, and you should most importantly work with the best if you want to be the best, and that’s what I’ve aimed to do.
Aspiring presenters, you should check out http://www.presenterstudio.com and get some valuable advice from the people who really know the industry inside out.
Warning – this is not a film to watch if you are tired or even semi-tired, its twists, turns and complexities will have you rolling around and still trying to figure it out when you actually get home, curl up in bed, desperate to finally sleep and are glad that this is 2011 not 1973 (boy, the fashion sense was bad back then!)
I love a cat and mouse film (no not Tom and Jerry the movie) but something all the more sinister. In fact when I was a wee nipper in the 80’s my dad would sit me down in front of TV shows showing a healthy bit of espionage and I was hooked. Everything from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. through to The Avengers and even the The Saint – anything with a bit of charm, mystery, and immense coolness had my vote (age 8!).
So you can understand that there was an element of excitement going to review Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for next week’s Film Friday radio show at The Everyman Cinema in Oxted. What I love about this cinema is that its retro feel was the perfect setting for a 1970’s spy drama to unfold. I was in the minority of young people going to watch the film, its general audience were those of an age who remember the day of the great spy dramas well, and in-fact, with all the new up-coming trailers playing, I had one incredibly keen mature spy fan sat behind me, telling his partner that he wishes all this ‘modern tosh’ would just hurry up and make way for the real entertainment that was about to unfold. I couldn’t help but slightly chortle to myself and agree with him. Tonight and this cinema was not a place for new action releases, vampires, werewolves and aliens, it was a place to transport us back to the glum, cold problematic era of the early 1970’s where gentlemen were still highly regarded and massive street car chases were not necessary.
Most of my notes throughout the film were made even before the opening credits. There is a beautifully rich opening sequence to the film which sets the scene and time so perfectly in every element that it’s almost like a documentary, an insight into the inner workings of ‘The circus/MI6.’ One thing that I wanted to point out was the cinematography, it had a beautiful grainy effect which allowed it to be just that little bit under crisp that you actually felt that this film was pulled out from the archives and run on 8mm film having been shown for the first time in thirty years.
The most dramatic action sequence happens in the first few minutes and from then on, it’s about listening intently and playing an extremely complicated game of Cluedo in your head as you follow Gary Oldman’s excellently executed character George Smiley’s quest for finding the mole in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Oldman’s choices of films are something to be admired, and this is no exception. You can tell that a great actor, and of course a privileged actor is able to make clever choices about their film roles and that is probably why after Kung Fu Panda 2 and Harry Potter he wanted to remind us once again that he is the real deal – after all what other actor out there at the moment, can have you knowing what he’s thinking from a shot angled at the back of his head – pure power!
Not leaving all the praise over to the mighty Oldman alone, this welders son is joined by an absolutely stellar cast of Britain’s finest male actors. John Hurt, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong all have excellent turns throughout this film and it really does keep you second guessing with who you believe and who you trust. Their strong portrayals of the helm of MI6, their subtle individual glances, along with the clever editing and a fantastic soundtrack makes you feel you’re in on the game, you’re being asked your thoughts on who you think is the mole, and it makes for a thoroughly engaging couple of hours.
What I particularly loved is the lack of obvious action. This was more of a snapshot of what the great British spy work was all about, it’s not blown up cars, excessive running and guns a-blazing every twenty minutes, its pure adrenalin of the guessing game which is why you cannot afford to take your eyes off the screen for one minute – let alone any sort of toilet break! The slow pace is deceptive because the intelligence of this film is so fast! This film may be coloured as brown as a 1970’s sitting room, but it is by no means beige!!
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a solid film, captured in a manner completely of its time, its gripping, intellectually fast paced, and still keeps you analysing and guessing the morning after. Who was that character’s connection to so and so? Why were they at that point? Etc, etc… A stellar spy drama and something that the Hollywood studios should learn from, an oldie but a goodie!
Its showing all this week and next at The Everyman Cinema in Oxted as well as all major cinemas in London town!
Finally – whilst I was away the team from Leicester Square TV attended the UK premiere for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and managed to catch up with the lead actor Gary Oldman himself –
Fanatical about Film in a Perfect Way... 