Recently by Michael Mclean

So did you see Avatar?

Probably the most hyped film of the year and with the possible exception of The Dark Knight, the most anticipated.

What did you think of it? Did it live up to your expectations, one thing is for sure the film is certainly living up to the hype at the box office; the film has made more than $300 million dollars in seventeen days.

It sounds like the plot from a Hollywood movie: celebrity arrives in a country to be guest of honour at a high profile event, only to be arrested on a 30 year old international arrest warrant and carted off to prison to await extradition.
It seems Hollywood plot lines are not always as far fetched as we are sometimes led to believe.

Farrah Fawcett of Charlie's Angels fame passed away at 09.28am in America this morning, she had been battling anal cancer for the past two years she was 62.
Thought never known for her fantastic acting ability, she was the ultimate 70's pin up. The shot of her posing in her red swimsuit is an image which graced millions of bedroom walls around the world and she became the acceptable face of sex for dads and teenage boys alike.
Though her poster never hung on my wall, (70's icons for me was Bruce Lee) Farrah Fawcett - Majors was the talk of the playground, alongside Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman, for many she was the perfect woman, she was a Charlie's Angel, she was married to the Steve Austin; the Bionic Man and she was in our homes every Tuesday night and the topic of conversation in playgrounds and offices across the UK the following day. She kept hairdressers in business during the 70's with tens of thousands of women around the world walking into salons and asking for a 'Farrah Hair'. How many 70's retro bars have her image on their walls? How many groups of women have struck the pose made famous by the television series while on their nights out? We see it from a distance and straight away we know it, though many know Charlie's Angels from the 2 films starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, I am old enough to say that I remember it from my youth, and you know what I remember it fondly.
I think I only ever saw her in two or three films at the cinema after she left Charlie's Angels, I remember her being in a Sci Fi film called Saturn 3 which she had a major roll and smaller roles in Cannonball Run and Logan's Run, but for me she will always be Jill Munroe one of the original Charlie's Angels which ran from 1976 - 1980 and even though she was only in it for the first series, she is the image the series will always be known for, And for me she will always be part of my childhood and one of my first ever icons.

If you thought you could get away with it, would you steal? If you thought there was no way that you could get caught would you take something that didn't belong to you? I know most if not all of you will say no, so what would make anyone think that theft was right? It's a serious question what would make you think that stealing was ok? If no one was getting hurt? If it didn't take from someone who couldn't afford? If they could afford it?
You know what all of that is crap, right is right and wrong is wrong, no gray area, people teach their children that stealing is wrong, yet so many people think that buying, downloading or watching a bootleg DVD is perfectly ok, you know what? You can't have it both ways.

Over the last few weeks there has been a huge story regarding the leaking on the internet of an almost completed copy of X MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. I first found out about the story when browsing the Harry Knowles website Ain't it cool.com and found a headline stating that it was not interested in posting any reviews of the Wolverine because they could only have come from an internet leak. I started to look around and it didn't take me long to find a site where I could download the film, I have to admit I was shocked at how easy it was to find the site, I have a fact for you, not for one second did I ever think about downloading the film, its not something that I would do, not just because I think film Piracy is wrong, more because I think film piracy is completely and utterly wrong.
Why would some one take something designed to be shown on the big screen and chose to see it via some tiny, nasty stolen copy, incomplete with bad sound, distorted pictures, digital break ups in the picture, and the property of some film company stamped across it every few minutes or worse still have someone stand up and walk across the picture to go and buy popcorn or use the toilet.
I had a conversation with a guest today who was very proud of the fact that he had downloaded a copy of the film and launched into telling me about it, I stopped him and asked him why? One of the first things he said was it was good but it didn't have all the special effects. I stopped him and asked him why? He just looked at me blankly and continued, why would you want to watch a film without all of the special effects completed? On a film like Wolverine it would be like buying a Porsche without the engine. I was so glad to hear that the industry had really gone to town in how hard they plan to attack anyone involved with the theft of the film and that is exactly what it is, theft. I am glad that the FBI have been called in to investigate, I am glad that Fox News fired Roger Friedman, a reporter with 10 years service who wrote a review of an illegally down loaded copy of the film. You know what, he deserved to be fired, you work for an industry reliant on films, the studios and the people involved, yet you steal from all those people, you deserve everything you get.
So to all of the people who this week have told me that they hear Wolverine is not that good, you know what I say? Did I ask you for an opinion on stolen property? I will wait for the film to open and see it in the manner it was intended and as always make up my own mind.

Well the Oscars are over for this year, and for the most part the right films got the awards, Slumdog was crowned king of the millionaires and Kate Winslett finally ascended to the top of the pile.

The ceremony was served up with the usual glamour and glitz, big hair, big frocks and big egos, now that's exactly what we have come to expect from the biggest movie event in the film world, actually it's the biggest celebrity event anywhere on the planet full stop. So how did this year's show perform? Well it was dull, the highlights went with the awards, which is as it should be but never is. My highlight was the wonderful song and dance number performed by first time host Hugh Jackman, I have to say I was and am a big fan of the best film montages featuring Billy Crystal who is still my favourite Oscar presenter, but I was very impressed with Jackman's performance, problem that was it, the rest of the show was just by the numbers, kind of; no highs, no lows just ordinary.
For me Slumdog Millionaire winning the night was a massive highlight, but in terms of a spectacle in was all so very safe, Danny Boyle was touching and honest, Kate Winslett was cute, but needs to have a word with her dad about the hat, but it was all so very, very safe.
Funny and dangerous would have been Mickey Rourke winning the best actor and then having to go on stage to receive his award, the censors would have been more nervous than singer Chris Brown at a hen night party, but the academy didn't see fit to award the best male acting performance of the year, instead they went with the second best and almost had a heart attack, when Sean Penn started his speech with "Thank you, you commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this," and used it as a platform to voice his support for same sex marriages and equal rights for all. It was a speech that called out for respect for all but was an acceptance speech that was lacking in respect for one important person, his wife! His body language when he won the award was just amazing, she had to grab and kiss him as he strode toward the stage without any hesitation or acknowledgement to the beautiful woman sitting lovingly next to him, and then he thanked everyone and the world involved with the project for their work and support except his wife who just sat there and smiled.

By the way this is a just personal observation, But I just thought if you have the time and presence of mind to advocate same sex marriages, equal rights, president Obama, Mickey Rourke surely you have ten seconds to thank the mother of your children and the person you have shared your life with for the last decade and a half.

Well with a few hours to go till the Oscars, the juries; according to the organisers have submitted their ballots and the auditors are now counting the votes. Yeah right.
Who are they trying to kid? Are we really expected to believe that one of the most carefully scripted events on the face of the planet will leave it to the last couple of hours to make sure that there are no cock ups. That they will just leave it up to chance that the editors have not selected the correct music and clips to accompany the winners on their walks up to the stage. There was a list leaked onto the internet this week which is supposed to show a number of the winners, the academy has dismissed this as a fake, they are probably telling the truth, but when you look at the list it names Slumdog Millionaire as picking up best film and best director for Danny Boyle, Mickey Rourke for best actor and Kate Winslett as best actress, strange how they are the favourites in each field. I would have to say that most of them are probably right, with the possible exception of Kate Winslett who may lose out to Meryl Streep, but I would like Kate to win it.

If I had to chose the big prize Winners I would go for;

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke
Best Actress: Kate Winslett
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz

I think that Slumdog Millionaire will be one of the big winners taking home five possibly six awards out of the 10 nominations. But if you look at my choices, you will see that most of them mirror the leaked list, that's because this year we have a very wide selection of films vying for the big prizes, but the potential winners stand out in their field, I will be gutted if The Curious Case of Benjamin Button picks up more than a few technical awards, though its not a bad film, it really doesn't live up to the level of hype surrounding it.
There are two awards that I think are locked down, Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger, because he deserves it and Best Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz, because her performance lifts the film to a new level and her only real competition is Amy Adams for Doubt, her one problem is she is completely over shadowed by two towering performances.
Look for one suprise tonight. The best animated film will go to Bolt over the big favourite Wall-E, though Wall-E is a great film, if the voting was just based on the first two thirds of the film, it would win the award hands down, but its not and that's what makes Bolt the better film, its complete from start to finish, great premise, great animation, and wonderfully well done.
More than anything, tonight I hope that the awards go to the right films, no underlying themes, political trends, just credit where credits due.

Well the Oscar nominations are in and though they have shown a small level of risk in the nominations for best film, once again the Academy have shown a total lack of imagination and buried their heads in the sand when it comes to the field of fantasy and commercial success.
The Dark Knight is not mentioned in the categories of best picture and best director. The film is a stunning piece of film making and whether or not you liked the film or refused to get sucked into the hype surrounding it. It is a brilliantly made film, if Christian Bale's over blown Dirty Harry voice impression got on your nerves, its still a brilliantly made film, if the film was over shadowed by the untimely death of Heath Ledger, it is still a brilliantly made film. But the academy has chosen to over look this fact, Nolan should have been nominated for best director, there is a question mark over whether he would have won, but he should have been at least nominated.
Now this is may be just my opinion, but I have seen all but one of the films nominated as best picture and Nolan should have been among the list of directors up for the prize. It as a piece of work is stunningly well made, all of the reviews referring to the film have praised the level and skill of the direction and for many critics and audiences alike, it was regarded as one of the best films of the year, so why does the academy choose to ignore what so many see as obvious.
Now the current favourite to win best picture is the Brit flick Slumdog Millionaire, which I think is a fantastic film, it's full of everything that I like about film making, a good narrative, strong performances, witty and intelligent direction and a sense of originality that is lacking in most of your standard Hollywood fodder. Danny Boyle is without doubt one of the most talented directors around when he is left to his own devices, from he first burst onto the scene with Shallow Grave, he has shown that he knows how to communicate with the audience in a way that will engage and entertain, he then moved onto what I consider one of the best British films I have seen Trainspotting, original, funny, shocking and still brilliant, the only thing wrong with the film is that it put the director onto the radar of some of the big film studios, now for some there is no down side to that, but with the big investment comes big involvement, and the next couple of films A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach show a lack of Danny Boyle in the end product, they compromise on the dark side of humanity and a flair for depicting what exists in all of us in favour of a more straight forward approach to story telling and the results are there for all to see.
I have to say that I think that Slumdog Millionaire is a real return to form for the director and the leads in the film are just great, I had the pleasure of meeting two of the stars of the film at a special premiere screening of the film that took place at the Odeon Birmingham a couple of weeks ago and both Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor were both funny, entertaining and very humble about the success of the film.
For one of the biggest stars in the world of Bollywood Anil Kapoor shocked me by being nervous about the reaction of the audience to his film, this is a man behind some of the biggest Bollywood films and he stood there in a corridor physically nervous about his film, it gave him a really human quality and though his role in the film doesn't require him to really bond with the audience or to have them siding with him, it made me think that he was a nice guy, there were no photographers around, no screaming fans, just me, him and an event manager, it was actually really refreshing to see him ask one of the people involved in publicising the film to wait while we finished our conversation. Dev Patel on the other hand was full of wonder and instead of the audience being star struck, he was blown away by the level of attention he was getting, he quite simply had no clue as to how the audiences had bought into the film and how successful the film had been in terms of winning awards, at the time the film had won 63 awards from New York to Florida, Chicago to Berlin including a number for himself as best newcomer, Now do I think Dev will win best actor over Mickey Rourke or Frank Langella, no I don't, but I think his performance is great and perfectly and in line with the quality of the film, Is it a good leading actor performance, but its not a show stopping performance like that of the lead character in The Wrestler, which is probably the best performance as a leading man in contention for an award, but the performance of Dev Patel should not be overlooked, it is fresh, naive and ultimately perfect for the film and it would be criminal if he didn't get the recognition he deserves on this side of the pond as well as the rest of the world.
Which is exactly what should have happened to The Dark Knight and Christopher Nolan, maybe he should have played it safe and made an epic, historical, biopic which based on the security blanket the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wraps itself in would have been guaranteed to take home the big prizes.

Hollywood has an obsession with taking a classic and thinking it can do better because the technology has advanced and that should make the film even better, it will also introduce it to a new audience, sometimes it makes sense but sometimes you just think what planet are you on? Here is a hint, Why would you want to remake Psycho, you cannot improve on what is already there unless you remake it shot for shot, and then what is the point, if you want to bring the film to a new audience, rerelease it, clean up the print re-master the soundtrack, and show it as a classic example of film making. Lets not beat about the bush, its about money, we have it the film makers want it, and when you cant think of something original, they sometimes fail to think at all and just remake something that they know the audiences have seen and loved, now there are some great films out there that never got the recognition they deserve and some will say they deserve to be remade, but that would be doing it for the right reasons, but when I hear rumours that someone intends to remake John Carpenter's 'The Thing', which was itself a remake of the 1951 film 'The thing from another planet', I know Hollywood has run out of Ideas, now I could be wrong and they turn out a film that blows my mind, but bring me the tornado.
I can see the opportunities of remaking the 80's musical drama Footloose with the director and star of the High School Musical franchise because the story is one that could easily be updated to present day and pull in a whole new audience the will sing along and be charmed by the innocence of the story, the catchiness of the title song redone by the Jonas brothers or 'Lets hear it for the boy' being belted out by the winner of American Idol.
Very recently I read about a studio wanting to remake the Bruce Lee martial arts classic 'Enter The Dragon', and it chilled me to the bone, I love the film and think of it the same way as I do The Thing, but its a film which has much more to do the enigma that was and still is Bruce Lee, it can never be said that the film was a brilliant piece of film making, it was just a low budget James Bond style /secret agent cash in, but the near mythological status afforded to the star of the film raised it to so much more, it was seen as Bruce Lee's breakthrough film (he was the first actor to be offered a million dollars for a film role) but Bruce Lee made the film not vice versa.
There is no one out there who comes close to having the physical presence of Bruce Lee, the myth was based on the fact that this man could live up to the on screen reputation, any place, any time, any where. You know he could kick you ass and give you a spiritual explanation on why he was doing it in the same breath.
Newer is not always better, for decades I have been waiting for a film producer to update 'The Creature From The Black Lagoon' because I not only would like it to be redone with special effects that will get the audience on the edge of their seats, but its always been seen as a B move that punched above it weight. But when you take a film that is pretty much as good as it gets and you are arrogant or misguided enough to think you can do better by're-imagining' the film, then when you are left to face the press, critics and most importantly the audiences, you know what, you deserve the ass kicking you have set yourself up for.

I want you to try and do something for me, name five British actors, I know, where's the challenge in that? You want a challenge; ok then, name five British actors who happen to be black? Still think that this is easy?
For such a multi cultural nation, why is there a dearth of black actors and actresses on the UK's television screens?
Now let me start with this, I am not a fan of just putting a black face on screen because its black, what I want to see is acting roles going to the best actors, irrespective of what colour they are. I want to see new and challenging characters gracing our television screens, not just the stereotypical portrayals that we see in soaps or crime/police series, I want to see a character that has a personality not a personality type, that can reach the audiences hearts and minds, not just an audience demographic, and most importantly characters that will take the programme forward rather than just fill a gap when a viewer group says the show needs a black character.
Its not as if we don't have the talent, people will recognise the name and face of Colin Salmon, who pops up in films and television series and was mentioned as a possible James Bond before Daniel Craig claimed the role and turned in a great performance. (I have to say the idea of a black a black James Bond may have made good tabloid headlines but in reality it was never going to happen)
But how many of you have heard of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Marianne Jean Baptiste, Naveen Andrews, Adrian Lester, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Marsha Thompson, Lennie James or Thandie Newton. If I strike lucky you may have heard of one or two of them, but did you know all of them are British? Did you know all of them are regulars on American television and movies, with series like Lost, The Wire, Without a trace, along side films such as American Gangster, Secrets and Lies, Hotel Rwanda. All of them have made a major impact on the other side of the pond yet are still relatively unknown in their own country, three of them have been nominated for Oscars, yet have almost know public profile in this country. I have to say that one of my favourite programmes on television at the moment is The Wire, it quite simply is fantastic television and Idris Elba who was in it for three seasons was a revelation, but do you have any idea he is?
One of the first black actors I remember seeing regularly on British television was Eamon Walker was played Marigold in the BBC series 'In Sickness and in Health' now that may now have been the first series to feature a black actor as a regular cast member, but it was the first one that I recall after the dreadful Love Thy Neighbour, which placed racial stereotyping on mainstream television.
Marigold was a character that was in the series because he was everything that the bigoted lead Alf Garnett hated, he was gay, he was educated, he was handsome and he was black, the character became the nemesis of the main character, but the two shared a bond of sorts. He protested that he hated him; he insulted him, mocked him but ultimately lost out to him in every episode, but along with the insults came a respect, one that allowed no one else to ridicule or mock the character. Marigold gave the series in a new dimension and took it forward. Now think about it when was the last time you saw Eamon Walker on television, he vanished from his role as Malcolm Haynes on The Bill in 1989. But fear not he is alive and well and making a good living on US TV and on the stage.
That was over 20 years ago and we don't appear to have come very far, mainstream roles seem to go to people with a profile rather than the best acting talent available, rappers and stand up comics seem to becoming a regular feature on British television. What happened to the stars of the future that learn their trade in drama school and then master their skills on the stage before becoming the household names they deserve to be? What has happened to producers and casting directors working on high profile or big budget films who base casting on quality rather than potential viewing figures. With the possible exception of Guy Ritchie who seems to casts his films to represent the environment of the story he is trying to tell, mixing all creeds and colours, with varying degrees of success, the subject seems to be one overlooked by the industry.
Just because someone graces the front pages of the national newspapers does not make them talented performers. Yet time and again they get roles they really don't deserve, while years of study, training, determination and hard work are overlooked on this side of the pond.
Why is it that the cream of Britain's acting talent has to cross the Atlantic to have their talents recognised, surely talent is talent no matter what the colour?

What a summer it's been, Mamma Mia sang all the way to a massive £55 million pounds in the UK and the Dark Knight dominated to a fantastic £46million.
The two films have been the two biggest hits of the summer with British audiences; the success of the films highlights the difference between British and American audiences. Mamma Mia captured the hearts of a nation looking for a smile, while the Dark Knight had the wow factor. In the states Mamma Mia took a very respectable $135 million dollars, The Dark Knight took just over half a billion dollars and now holds second position in the list of all time biggest grossing films. I have to say that although Mamma Mia has had the audiences dancing in the aisles the film really isn't my kind of movie.
The Dark Knight on the other hand is, I cannot overstate how good I thought this film was. If the film is not a very, very strong contender for the best picture Oscar and Christopher Nolan for best director or at least nominations, then there is something very, very wrong with the voters at the academy.
As far as I am aware the usual speech goes something along the lines of

"The Oscar for best picture goes to... Its not the Oscar for best picture in a category that we like goes to...
I have to add that I think Heath Ledger is superb in the role of the Joker and his performance is one of the best I have seen this year, but I don't want any sentiment to tarnish any awards that the actor may get, he should only get an award if his performance was the best not his last.
Fantasy films let alone comic book inspired movies never seem to come into consideration with the possible exception of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which was awarded as much for the achievement in filmmaking as it was for the quality of the films. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tend to favour drama, biopics and historical epics.
Star Wars, Raiders of the lost ark, Close Encounters, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bladerunner, E.T were all worthy of winning the best picture Oscar, the last two were not even nominated for the award. I thought the best film is the best film irrespective of the source material or subject matter, the best example of film making that year
But you know what? Only time and the powers that be will tell.